Hong Kong: CE to lead delegation to Beijing Chief Executive John Lee will lead a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region delegation to Beijing to participate in the third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for October 17 and 18. Mr Lee said that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt & Road Initiative (B&RI), adding that the forum is a key event of the country and an international forum at the highest level in promoting the initiative. With the support of our country, I am honoured to lead the high-level delegation to proactively take part in the forum to showcase Hong Kong's commitment to contribute to the joint development of the B&RI as advocated by the country." Led by the Chief Executive, official members of the delegation include six secretaries of departments and directors of bureaus, namely Financial Secretary Paul Chan, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang, Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau and Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong. Together with Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Woo Ying-ming, Director of the Chief Executive's Office Carol Yip, Head of the Chief Executive's Policy Unit Stephen Wong and Commissioner for Belt & Road Nicholas Ho, a total of 11 senior government officials will take part in the forum. In addition to senior government officials, the Hong Kong SAR delegation comprises 59 members from political and business sectors. "The delegation will proactively share with the international community on Hong Kong's strengths on various fronts, including our role as the prime functional platform in promoting the high-quality development of the B&RI, our professional services, as well as our unique advantage of enjoying strong support from the country and being closely connected to the world," Mr Lee noted. Mr Lee will return to Hong Kong on October 19. Click here for details of the acting arrangements during the absence of the Chief Executive and the six secretaries of departments and directors of bureaus. Additionally, as a result of the forum, the Executive Council will not convene its meeting on October 17. This story has been published on: 2023-10-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Dialogue particularly important for China, US now: Chinese vice president Xinhua) 08:14, October 13, 2023 Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with the U.S. representatives who are in Beijing to attend the fifth meeting of the China-U.S. Eminent Persons Forum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said on Thursday that under the current circumstances, it is particularly important for China and the United States to strengthen communication and dialogue at all levels. "By doing so, it helps enhance mutual understanding and trust, build consensus, properly handle differences and create favorable conditions for practical cooperation in various fields," Han said when meeting with the U.S. representatives who are in Beijing to attend the fifth meeting of the China-U.S. Eminent Persons Forum. As the world's two largest economies, China and the United States share far more common interests than differences and need to strengthen win-win cooperation on economy and trade, science and technology, as well as meeting the climate challenge, Han said. Han said that China has always viewed and handled its relations with the United States in accordance with the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. Han expressed the hope that representatives at the forum will have candid exchanges and make proposals on the development of China-U.S. relations, wishing the forum complete success. The U.S. representatives said that U.S.-China relations are important to both countries and the world at large, and they looked forward to discussing cooperation and achieving practical results through the dialogue at the forum, while contributing wisdom to bringing U.S.-China relations back onto a sound and stable track. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with the U.S. representatives who are in Beijing to attend the fifth meeting of the China-U.S. Eminent Persons Forum in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Ambassador Makunts, US Senator Fetterman discuss security challenges that Armenia, its region currently face Newspaper: Armenia trying to smooth over strained relations with Russia Russia approves agreement to open consulate general in Kapan, capital of Armenias Syunik Province MFA spox: We salute to journalists who stand on side of justice, cover truth related to Armenia, South Caucasus PACE co-rapporteurs to make monitoring visit to Armenia MFA: Armenia not yet responded to proposals received from Azerbaijan in September Yerevan hosting international conference on 100th anniversary of Armenian Cinema Armenia legislature vice-speaker: Azerbaijan president not a peacemaker at all Embassy in Baku: Germany supports Azerbaijan-Armenia talks, with European Council Presidents mediation Hakob Arshakyan: There is one original military map but Armenia, Azerbaijan have access to it Noubar Afeyan: Arresting, charging Ruben Vardanyan is psychological pressure on worlds 10 million Armenians Greece sends humanitarian aid for Armenians displaced from Karabakh Armenia National Security Service exposes terrorism preparation Zakharova: Armenia leadership is purposefully destroying allied relations with Russia Azerbaijan announces capture of elderly Armenian man Russia MFA spox accuses some Armenia media of Russophobia and nationalism Maria Zakharova: Moscow stands ready to host Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs meeting in near future Bidens new possible nominee for US Deputy Secretary of State was educated in Soviet Armenia Turkey presidential lawyer joins Hrant Dink murder trial PM: Unit within National Security Service is set up that will ensure security of communications via Armenia EU monitoring mission in Armenia announces full activity by opening headquarters in Yeghegnadzor city Pope Francis says he loves the sea but hasn't been there in almost 50 years Pashinyan: Quite a large flow of forcibly displaced people from Karabakh are applying for Armenia citizenship Leapmotor to become Stellantis' 15th brand Armenia delegate: Russian natural gas being sold to Europe via Azerbaijan pipeline should not prevail over democracy Newspaper: Karabakh MPs holding closed discussions in Armenia US State Department: Any violation of Armenia sovereignty, territorial integrity will bring serious consequences James Webb telescope manages to measure exoplanet temperature Belgium allows owners to be buried alongside their pets Azerbaijan, Pakistan are developing military cooperation Armenia official: Our goal is to get license to operate the nuclear plant until 2036 Economy minister proposes China companies to be engaged in Armenia industrial parks, dry port projects Proposals being submitted to EU delegation regarding support for forcibly displaced Armenians from Karabakh discussed Armenia ombudsperson sends petitions to relevant agencies regarding Karabakh ex-defense minister Levon Mnatsakanyan Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem cancels controversial deal related to Cows' Garden estate Germany FM to visit Armenia, Azerbaijan Vahan Kerobyan, Alkis Vryenios Drakinos discuss projects being implemented by EBRD in Armenia (PHOTOS) Head of EU civilian mission in Armenia briefs President on details about their monitoring Dollar, euro fall in Armenia Armenia Anti-Corruption Committee chief: We have solved March 1, 2008 case Armenia deputy PM, Japan envoy discuss opportunities for development of bilateral trade, economic relations Karabakh parliament speaker imprisoned by Azerbaijan contacts relatives twice from Baku Samkharadze: Georgia wants to become regional leader by contributing to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations normalization Yerevan received, responded to Russia proposals on process of Armenia ratification of Rome Statute, MFA says Border with Azerbaijan is calm, there is no tension, head of EU monitoring mission in Armenia says in Yeghegnadzor Karabakh president negotiated with Azerbaijan special services? EU monitoring mission in Armenia opens headquarters in Yeghegnadzor Holding Snoop Dogg concert in Armenia is vital, PMs office says Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issues Red Flag Alert for Azerbaijan in Armenia Armenia, Romania MFAs hold political consultations in Bucharest World Bank: Economic activity growth increases, insignificant inflation recorded, exports drop in Armenia Armenia, Iran sign memorandum of understanding on strengthening cooperation, workforce exchange Alexander Spendiaryan 152nd birth anniversary events kicking off in Yerevan Blinken mentions Armenia during US Senate hearing Newspaper: Armenia PM announces cancellation of point 9 of November 2020 trilateral statement Karabakh president receives French, Italian members of European Parliament Russian peacekeepers continue to remain in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia MoD says Red Cross helps elderly people left in Karabakh to relocate to Armenia (VIDEO) Central Bank chief: Armenia residents deposits increased by about 25% EBRD regional director to Armenia finance minister: We are ready to assist those displaced from Karabakh Armenia labor, social affairs minister attends Armenian-Iranian forum in Tehran European Union increases humanitarian funding to Armenia by about 1.7M Dollar, euro go up in Armenia Armenia PM, Poland envoy address humanitarian situation of forcibly displaced people from Karabakh Ardshinbank has been recognized as the "Best Corporate" and "Best ESG Bank" in Armenia by Euromoney magazine Turkey border bridge renovation, furnishing underway, Armenia official says Armenia official: Enclaves issue will be clarified when peace treaty with Azerbaijan is signed Armenia official: Positive thing about North-South project is that we entered construction phase in some sections Ethnic cleansing in Karabakh received pin-drop silence by American media, US presidential nominee says Armenia economy minister: Trade relations with Russia are very important to us Armenia official: We have certain idea about construction of railway in Meghri sector, we are waiting 74 films to be screened in Armenia during 19th Rolan International Film Festival for Children and Youth Yeraskh steel plant project being implemented, it is being moved, it will be nearby, Armenia economy minister says Azerbaijan pledges guarantees to Karabakh Armenians after its blockade, genocide Karabakh ombudsman: Who needs forums, lengthy speeches if international community fails to prevent genocides? Maestro Sergey Smbatyan: Process that could have had only one outcome is resolved Legislature vice-speaker complains about reduction of programs in Armenia IT sector UNICEF Armenia: Next batch of humanitarian aid sent to Syunik Province Central Bank of Armenia reduces refinancing rate by 0.25 points, sets it at 9.5% Martin Schuepp: Red Cross is helping people left in Karabakh Finance minister: Armenia economic growth potential currently estimated at 5.5% Armenia official: The money we were allocating to Karabakh should be enough to fund all programs Parliament deputy speaker: Armenia has no contender in high tech Newspaper: Karabakh army handed over ammunition not to Azerbaijan, but to Russian side Canada ambassador about sanctions on Azerbaijan: There is also dispute within Armenia regarding them Audi Q6 e-tron launch delayed until at least Spring 2024 Armenia Investigative Committee official: 8 of 16 persons captured by Azerbaijan are Karabakh leadership members 4.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Turkey 14 individuals were tortured, and 64 died on the move from Nagorno Karabakh. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Council of Europe to prepare package of measures in response to refugee influx in Armenia Mher Grigoryan and EU Ambassador exchanged ideas on regional developments Minister of Defence had a meeting with the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of PRC Yeremyan Projects has launched the regional first livestock complex in Tashir community Rights of Karabakhs imprisoned former leadership are protected, Azerbaijan ombudsperson claims Finance ministry: Armenia economic growth target will be maintained at 7% level in 2024 Elnur Mammadov: Most points in peace treaty have been agreed upon by Azerbaijan, Armenia Statement: Alma-Ata Declaration has no mention of former union republics of ex-USSR Dollar drops, euro rises in Armenia Armenia defense sector capital spending planned in amount of around $1.4 billion in 2024 Lawyer: Maestro Sergey Smbatyan is acquitted BusinessWire India New Delhi [India], October 13: The 10th India CSR Summit & ESG Forum, sector's most awaited and prestigious event curated and hosted by CSRBOX commenced yesterday marking a historic milestone of a decade of CSR compliance in India. The two-day event is a hub for sector visionaries, thought leaders, professionals and change-makers committed to shaping the future of the Indian impact ecosystem through CSR, sustainability, and social impact. Following dignitaries including our special guest Dr. Sanjeev Balyanji, Hon. Union Minister of State, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India attended the inaugural session of the event. * Atul Kumar Tiwari (IAS), Secretary, Ministry of Education, Skills Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India * Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India * Isabelle Tschan, Deputy Resident Representative UNDP India * Swati Munjal, President, of BML Munjal University In his keynote address, Dr. Sanjeev Balyanji hailed India CSR Summit as the nation's largest and only platform which enables businesses, CSR Foundations, Government, NGOs and consulting organisations to network and work together and congratulated it for providing an inclusive platform to country's social development sector. He called upon businesses to come forward to utilise the area expertise to offer feasible solutions to pressing social and environmental issues. The summit also saw the unveiling of much anticipated India CSR Outlook Report 2023 traversing the ten years of CSR compliance journey in India. The revered sectoral publication features insightful visualisations, providing a comprehensive overview of the landscape of CSR in India. Over the years, the granular analysis of the report has elevated it as one of the essential resources for the industry professionals, policymakers and CSR stakeholders. "Standing on the precipice of a decade, CSRBOX group looks forwards to be the force multiplier in the sector and enabling many more decades of India's social impact ecosystem instilled with the spirit of doing good in a better way," said Bhomik Shah, CEO and Founder, CSRBOX when asked about the event. The summit also hosted the 9th Dalmia Bharat-CSRBOX CSR Impact Awards which celebrates and encourages organizations and projects creating sustained change and lasting positive change in the society. This year, the awards received a record breaking number of applications inviting CSR projects across fourteen distinguished categories like Healthcare, Education, Rural Development and Infrastructure among others. The two day power packed event has a remarkable line-up including 45+ discussions, spotlight talks, product presentations, panel and roundtable discussions. It will culminate on the 12th of October with sessions like corporate roundtable by I-Venture@ISB and live micro-clinics focused at engaging corporates through experiential learning for social good. The 10th India CSR Summit & ESG Forum 2023 continues to be a catalyst of change, fostering collaborations, and recognising the transformative power of corporate social responsibility. It serves as a testament to the commitment of organisations and individuals who are the driving force of impact in the social ecosystem. 9th Dalmia Bharat-CSRBOX CSR Impact Award Winners: (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Dr Vivek Joshi, Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) within the Union Ministry of Finance, spearheaded two crucial meetings on October 12, aimed at expediting the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Scheme. The meetings took place at the Regional Office of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in Chandigarh and included officials from the states of Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, read the Ministry of Finance press release. These discussions revolved around the imperative need to ensure a seamless and efficient implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Scheme to extend its benefits to artisans and craftsmen engaged in traditional trades. The scheme seeks to provide comprehensive support to individuals involved in 18 identified trades. This support includes access to skill training, collateral-free credit, modern tools, market linkage assistance, and incentives for digital transactions. The scheme aligns with the vision of inclusive development, "Sabka Vikas," as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dr Joshi underscored the importance of state government field officials' role in expediting the enrolment of beneficiaries, swift verification, and seamless registration processes to ensure that eligible individuals can access the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Scheme, read the press release. This program is not only about preserving traditional skills but also transforming traditional craftsmen into entrepreneurs of the future. Throughout the meetings, comprehensive presentations were delivered by key government entities involved in the scheme's implementation, including the Union Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME), the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), the Regional Directorate of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (RDSDE), and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). These presentations offered detailed insights into the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Scheme and provided updates on its progress in various regions, read the release. As these efforts to boost traditional crafts and skills continue, it is clear that the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Scheme is a pivotal tool for empowering artisans and promoting inclusive development in the region. The active collaboration between state governments and central authorities underlines the commitment to realizing the vision of an economically vibrant and culturally rich India. (ANI) The Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation met in New Delhi on Friday and discussed 'fog planning' ahead of the winter season. The meeting was chaired by the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, and attended by Minister of State General (Retd) VK Singh, officers from the ministry, DGCA, Airports Authority of India and other related organisations. Introducing the subject, Minister Scindia said that the proactive approach to his ministry, and other stakeholders has led to a significant decline in flight cancellations and flight diversions during the fog period despite an increase of 22 per cent in the number of aircraft movements in the past two years, as per a release. In 2021-22, 124 flights were cancelled out of 136,374 total aircraft movements, which amounted to a 0.09 per cent, rate of cancellations. The figure declined to 86 cancellations for 166,927 total aircraft movements in 2022-23, leading to a 0.05 per cent rate of cancellations. Similarly, in 2021-22, 58 flight diversions took place from the 8 main fog-prone airports which declined to 14 in 2022-23. The minister said fog is a weather phenomenon generally confined to a few thousand feet above ground level contributing to poor visibility -- below 1,000 meters. During fog conditions, visibility deteriorates due to the presence of water droplets and dust in the layer of air close to the ground. The period between December 10 and February 10 each year is usually considered a fog period. Scindia said that every year DGCA undertakes an exercise to ensure that airlines and aerodrome operators take actions to prepare themselves for fog conditions well in advance so that disruptions and services in terms of flight cancellations and diversions are minimized. The minister said that there are 6 airports that have CAT III landing facilities and the flights are able to land with low runway visual range. He said that CAT I capability will be enabled in 8 airports while facilities will be upgraded from CAT I to CAT II in 4 airports. (ANI) NewsVoir New Delhi [India], October 13: Shrewsbury School UK, an esteemed institution of academic excellence and international repute is proud to unveil its inaugural campus in India, solidifying its commitment to fostering global education and collaboration. The new campus, nestled in a picturesque location of Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) chosen to mirror the beauty of its UK counterpart, is set to offer an engaging educational environment to students in India and around the world. Jagran Social Welfare Society, a 25-year-old educational pioneer, has collaborated with Shrewsbury School UK, to become the iconic school in India. Shrewsbury School UK was founded by Edward VI in 1552 by Royal Charter and was the first public school in the UK with a proud legacy of more than 470 years. Sir Charles Darwin is recognized as one of its most notable alumni. This campus in India is a testament to Shrewsbury's dedication to providing exceptional learning opportunities for students beyond the United Kingdom. Scheduled to welcome students starting from the academic year 2025-26, the Shrewsbury International School, India Campus, will seamlessly uphold the time-honored academic standards, values, and holistic approach that the Shrewsbury School, UK, has embodied and embraced for generations. Shrewsbury India is designed as a co-education boarding school for ages 11-18 and will have 800 students at its full strength. It will be one of the largest co-educational residential schools in Central India in a state-of-the-art 150-acre campus. The students will study the English National Curriculum leading to Cambridge International IGCSE examinations undertaken in years 9 and 10 to qualify students for entry into A Level courses with final examinations at the end of years 12 and 13. By merging the best practices of both the UK and Indian education systems, the curriculum promises a diverse and enriching educational journey for all students. As part of the school's launch, a meet-and-greet was conducted at the Le Meridien, Connaught Place on the 24th of August. A panel discussion with Tim Haynes, Governing Chair, Shrewsbury School, UK, Hari Mohan Gupta and Abhishek Mohan Gupta from the Jagran Social Welfare Society, promoters of the Shrewsbury School in India, and Maghin Tamilarasan, Director International Development from the Shrewsbury School, UK, was also held on the topic "Preparing global citizens: Challenges and Opportunities in International School Education". The panel also emphasized the close educational ties between India and the UK and how this partnership can drive in pedagogy, research, and cross-cultural understanding. Participants will explore the potential avenues for collaboration and exchange of ideas that will strengthen the education landscape in both countries. The launch of this off-shore campus heralds an unparalleled opportunity for Indian students to experience a highly-acclaimed British education without leaving their homeland. With this initiative, Shrewsbury School aims to nurture global citizens who possess a profound appreciation for cultural diversity and a well-rounded understanding of global affairs. Tim Haynes, Governing Chair of Shrewsbury School, UK, expressed his enthusiasm about the upcoming school, stating, "We are thrilled to embark on this new chapter in Shrewsbury School's rich legacy. The introduction of our offshore Indian campus enables us to share our storied educational heritage with the wider global community and the young, developing minds of Indian students. Rooted in academic excellence, coupled with a commitment to inclusivity, diversity and personal growth, we empower young minds to thrive in an ever-evolving world." Hari Mohan Gupta, Chairman Governing Body, Jagran Social Welfare Society, said, "We are delighted to partner with Shrewsbury School, which aligns seamlessly with our vision of nurturing young minds to develop into empowered global citizens. Through this collaboration, we aim to bring a world-class educational experience to India, where students can thrive academically, culturally, and socially. The launch of Shrewsbury International School, India Campus, marks a pivotal moment in our commitment to shaping the future leaders of our nation." This momentous development has been made possible through a dynamic partnership with the Jagran Social Welfare Society in India, a shared advocate for transformative education. As Shrewsbury School anticipates the inaugural intake at the India Campus, applications for enrollment will open in July 2024. Interested students and parents are encouraged to visit the school's official website for comprehensive information and admission procedures. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) After completing the first schedule, the film's team and star cast gathered today in Mumbai to commence the second schedule. Taking to Instagram, Shanaya shared a picture with the team of the movie and wrote, "The craze and excitement around #VRUSHABHA -The Warriors Arise is growing everyday! Schedule 2 begins today in Mumbai, and will be shot over October - November 2023. The makers will announce the worldwide theatrical release date on the auspicious day of #Dussehra." https://www.instagram.com/p/CyVyRgKxMzx/?img_index=2 The Mumbai schedule of the film will continue until November 2023. Apart from her and Mohanlal, the film will also star Zahrah S Khan and Telugu actor Roshann Meka in the lead roles. The film is being produced by Ektaa Kapoor. A few days ago, producer Ektaa made the announcement about her new film 'Vrushabha' in collaboration with actor Mohanlal. Taking to Instagram, Ektaa shared a picture featuring herself, her father-actor Jeetendra and Mohanlal. She wrote, "Posing with d legend n the genius !!!! JAI MATA DI so excited to b working with the actor par excellence @mohanlal. Balaji Telefilms partners with Connekkt Media and AVS Studios for VRUSHABHA - a Pan India bilingual Telugu Malayalam Film starring megastar Mohanlal. High on emotions and VFX, the film is an Epic Action Entertainer transcending generations. Touted to be one of the biggest films of 2024, VRUSHABHA, directed by Nanda Kishore, goes on floors later this month and will be released simultaneously in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi." The film is an epic action entertainer transcending generations. 'Vrushabha', directed by Nanda Kishore, will be released simultaneously in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. The makers will announce the worldwide theatrical release date on the auspicious day of Dussehra. (ANI) The fair is jointly organized by the South Indian Book Readers Association and the Madurai District Administration. This year, publishers and sellers have set up more than 200 stalls, which have thousands of books from different genres and different authors. Former Tamil Nadu DGP Sylendra Babu visited the book fair and requested that the people of Madurai come and visit the book fair with their children and buy their children books, as reading is the single most important skill that can take the children to the top. "I call upon all the people living in Madurai to please come with your children, show them around buy a few books. The best books in the world are here on display. Get them motivational books, science books, and fiction books, and make them read. Reading is the only single skill that can enlighten our children and take them to the top anywhere in the world," he told ANI. (ANI) After Malkangiri, the service will also be extended to Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, and Gajapati districts. A fleet of 36 buses was launched in the first phase, and more than 1000 buses will be deployed in a phased manner under this scheme, an official said. As per the plan, in the coming days, these buses will ply between panchayats and blocks and between panchayats and the capital city of Bhubaneswar. CM Naveen Patnaik himself purchased a ticket for Rs 10 and travelled in a bus to check its comfort. Meanwhile, the opposition BJP has launched a fierce attack on the BJD-led government. Referring to the use of the party's conch symbol on the buses, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jayanarayan Mishra said, "The IAS officers who should have been impartial are working on the basis of the party. Then what should we think? Here the government is working like a party, we will meet the Election Commissioner of India at New Delhi and submit a report regarding misuse of power." But the tribal villagers of Malkangiri are happy as they see buses on their roads for the first time. (ANI) One associate professor of dermatology and one assistant professor of dermatology have been deputed at Rajamundry Central Prison to take care of former CM Chandrababu Naidu, Jail authorities said on Thursday. Naidu was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) last month for his alleged involvement in a multi-crore skill development 'scam' case. Chandrababu continues to be in judicial custody for 33 days in the skill development case, he was granted anticipatory bail by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the Amaravati inner ring road case till October 16 on Wednesday. The ACB court here on Thursday granted permission to the Andhra Pradesh CID to issue a Prisoner in Transit (PT) warrant for former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu in connection with an alleged multicrore-rupee Fibernet scam case. The ACB court in Vijayawada ordered to produce the Telugu Desam Party chief physically between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm on Monday. This is the third graft case, after the skill development case and the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case, in which Naidu was named as the accused. The Fibernet scam is a case of alleged manipulation of the tender process to allot the work order for Phase-1 of the AP Fibernet project of Rs 330 crore to a favoured company by flouting the rules and manipulating the tender process. The scam allegedly happened when Naidu was holding the portfolio of the energy, infrastructure, and investment departments. CID alleged that several irregularities took place from the allotting of tenders till the completion of the total project, causing huge losses to the government exchequer. (ANI) A two-day mega parent-teacher meeting (PTM) across all schools under the Delhi government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) began on Thursday. The PTM is being organised over two days to help parents attend it at their convenience, according to officials. Delhi Education Minister Atishi on Thursday said that the parents have played a vital role in "Delhi's education revolution". "We are happy that a joint Mega PTM is being organised in all schools under the Delhi Government and MCD. This time, we are conducting a PTM for two days, so that a maximum number of parents are able to attend this. In the last 8 years, parents have played a vital role in Delhi's education revolution," Atishi said. The Delhi Education Minister and Deputy Mayor of MCD Aaley Mohd Iqbal interacted with parents and students during the parent-teacher meeting. A circular issued by the Delhi Government's Directorate of Education (DoE) said that parents and teachers are the two vital pillars responsible for all-round development of a child. "Therefore, the interaction between them is indispensable for the betterment of the academic performance of students," stated the circular. Calling the parent-teacher meeting an important platform to facilitate this interaction, the circular added that longer duration would help more parents attend it. The first-ever parent-teacher meeting across all Delhi government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools was conducted in May this year. That time, parent-teacher meetings were held in over 1,500 MCD schools and 1,000 Delhi government schools. After it came to power in the civic body, the Aam Aadmi Party said it would bring MCD schools at par with those of the Delhi government. Implementing Mission Buniyaad, which focuses on promoting foundational literacy among younger students, and regular PTMs in MCD schools are part of its plans in this direction. (ANI) Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Air Staff attended the annual Eastern Air Command (EAC) Commanders' conference held from October 12-13 at Air Force Station, Tezpur. He was received by Air Marshal SP Dharkar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, EAC and was introduced to all Commanders and Senior Officers. The Chief of the Air Staff reviewed the operational preparedness of the Command and expressed satisfaction with its major achievements. In his address, the Chief of the Air Staff emphasized the importance of maintaining a high operational preparedness and ensuring the operational readiness of all platforms, weapon systems and assets. He stressed the need for root cause analysis of all accidents and incidents, improve maintenance practices to boost mission effectiveness and focus on physical and cyber security at all times. He urged all Commanders to continue their efforts towards providing a safe operational flying environment. The CAS also awarded trophies to Stations for achieving excellence in the fields of Operations, Maintenance and Administration. (ANI) According to Malappuram police, the accused CISF officer Naveen along with a customs official and an employee involved in handling luggage were co-conspirators. "Each time a consignment has been brought successfully they get Rs 60,000. Of this Rs 55,000 is given to the Assistant Commandant and he shares it with the customs officer," police said. Police said that the three accused were using separate SIM cards to contact each other. "Four arrests have already been made on the basis of information for smuggling gold. The role of the CISF officer has been found in this investigation," police said. Malappuram police have registered a case against the CISF official. Further investigation is underway. Earlier a passenger was detained after gold worth Rs 50 lakhs was recovered from his possession at Kochi airport. The gold was recovered in cylindrical-shaped capsules from a passenger who arrived from Jeddah on Sunday. (ANI) In September 2023, the DA&FW received a remarkable 11,198 public grievances, making it the department with the highest number of public complaints in the month, read the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare press release. Within Group A, which encompasses departments handling more than 500 grievances, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare emerged as the top performer in the Grievance Redressal Assessment and Index for September 2023. The CPGRAMS has been successfully integrated with the Common Service Centre (CSC) portal, where the DA&FW received the maximum number of grievances. During September 2023, the department received a significant 5,167 grievances through the CSCs, which accounts for approximately 46.14 per cent of the total grievances received, read the press release In September 2023, out of a total of 11,585 grievances (including 387 carried forward from the previous month), the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare disposed of 8,830 grievances, leaving 2,755 grievances pending as of September 30. From January to September 2023, the department received a total of 100,832 grievances, consisting of 5,145 carried forward from December 31, 2022, and 95,687 new grievances. The DA&FW achieved a disposal rate of 97 per cent during this period, read the press release. These achievements underscore the department's commitment to addressing public grievances promptly and efficiently, ensuring that the concerns and issues of farmers and individuals associated with agriculture are resolved in a timely manner. The report indicates that the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has made significant progress in the redressal of public grievances, aligning with the government's efforts to enhance transparency and efficiency in governance. (ANI) Describing the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) Summit as a Mahakumbh' of parliamentary practices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the legislative bodies are an important place for debate and deliberations. Addressing the ninth P20 Summit at Yashobhoomi in the national capital on Friday, PM Modi said, "This summit is a 'mahakumbh' as it represents a convergence of parliamentary practices of the world. India landed on the Moon and hosted the G20 Summit successfully. Today, we are hosting the P20 Summit. This summit is also a platform to celebrate the power of the people of the world's largest democracy (India)." "We feel privileged to be hosting the ninth P20 Summit in India. We represent a country, which is the mother of democracy and the world's largest as well. Parliaments or legislative bodies across the world are important places for holding discussions and debates," he added. Addressing the inaugural session of the ninth P20 Summit, Inter-Parliamentary Union President Duarte Pacheco said peace has to be maintained in all continents, including the Middle East, and efforts should be made globally in this direction. His statement assumes significance amid the ongoing Israeli air strikes and ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza, following the terror attacks that have, so far, left over 1,300 dead and more than 3,300 injured. "It's impossible to talk about sustainable and developmental goals and talk about a future without peace. We need to defend peace in all continents including the Middle East. Peace should be on the front page. Even a single death is too much," he said. While the G20 member countries attended the event, Canada was conspicuous by its absence at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20). Earlier this month, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, at a press briefing, informed that apart from G20 countries, 10 other countries and international organizations will participate in the P20 Summit and so far, 50 Parliamentarians and 14 Secretary Generals, including 26 Presidents, 10 Vice Presidents, one Committee Chairman and the IPU President have confirmed their participation. Speakers and heads of delegation of Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Spain, European Parliament, Italy, South Africa, Russia, Turkiye, Nigeria, Australia, Brazil, UAE, Singapore, Japan, Egypt and Bangladesh were present at the event. The itinerary on the inaugural day of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) and Parliamentary Forum includes two separate sessions on Friday. The first session comprises a discussion on 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' with Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), showcasing achievements and accelerating progress. The second session will be on 'One Earth Sustainable Energy Transition-Gateway to Green Future'. (ANI) Namma Metro, Bengaluru's public transportation metro train network, has witnessed a remarkable surge in passenger numbers following the commencement of full train services on the entire purple line. This surge culminated in a momentous achievement as over 7 lakh passengers rode the metro on a single day last Wednesday. The complete operationalization of the Purple line, which kicked off earlier in the week, has played a pivotal role in augmenting the ridership of Namma Metro. Recognizing this remarkable milestone, Bengaluru Central Member of Parliament, PC Mohan, expressed his elation, stating, "Congratulations to Bangalore and the 7,01,455 passengers who chose our Metro on Wednesday, a resounding endorsement of our city's unwavering commitment to sustainable urban mobility." The Purple Line metro extension service started between KR Pura (Krishnaraja Pura) to BYPL - (Byappanahalli). The line also connects key residential area of Whitefield to the Central Business district of Bengaluru. It was built at a cost of Rs 363.48 crores. Earlier, Bengaluru central MP PC Mohan had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to commence services on the new stretches of the Purple Line without postponing operations for a formal inauguration ceremony. The Bengaluru central MP also interacted with commuters on the Metro during the rush hour. "Engaged with commuters at Majestic Metro Station to address the reported surge in crowds during peak hours since the full launch of Bengaluru Metro's Purple Line. Collected feedback for future action and will liaise with the authorities to address this concern effectively", the MP posted on X Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his happiness at the commencement of the extension service that completes the critical Purple Line network on Namma Metro. "Absolutely delighted by the commencement of services on two key stretches of the Purple Line of the Bengaluru Metro. This marks another significant step in enhancing 'Ease of Living' for the residents of Bengaluru." the Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X. Namma Metro's latest accomplishment underscores its vital role in addressing the transportation needs of Bangalore's growing populace and its significant contribution to enhancing the city's sustainable urban mobility infrastructure. (ANI) Various reports indicate that the water level of the Caspian Sea has decreased by one meter in recent years and could drop by 9 to 18 meters (30 to 59 feet) by the end of the 21st century. Although climate change contributes to this process, Russias construction of dams on the Volga River has played an important role in reducing the amount of water entering the Caspian Sea. This will have significant and serious implications, including a decline of the sea water level, a considerable retreat of the sea and increase of the land and coastal area especially in upstream countries (Russia and Kazakhstan), challenges to the operation of ports and shipping, as well as environmental consequences, particularly the drying of protected areas and wetlands. BACKGROUND: The Caspian Sea is the worlds largest inland body of water, variably described as the worlds largest lake or a full-fledged sea and is shared between Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The Caspian is connected to open waters through the Volga River and Volga-Don Canal. In recent years, several reports have been published regarding the decrease in the water level of the Caspian Sea. According to one estimate, Caspian water levels could drop by 9 to 18 meters (30 to 60 feet) by the end of the 21st century, thus losing about a quarter of its area and uncovering about 93,000 square kilometers (36,000 square miles) of dry land an area roughly the size of Portugal. In recent months, Iranian officials have warned several times of the negative consequences and according to Kazakhstans Ministry of Ecology, the area of the body water declined by more than 22,000 square kilometers, and over a half of them belong to the Kazakhstan section of Northern Caspian Sea. There are two main reasons for the decreasing water level of the Caspian Sea. The first factor is climate change including warming, absence of precipitation and increasing evaporation from the Caspian Sea. Sea levels are rising due to global warming in many parts of the world, however, scientists note that warming and increased evaporation are likely to play out differently for inland seas and lakes. In the case of the Caspian Sea (technically a lake), scientists anticipate rapid declines in water levels in the coming decades and centuries, since evaporation is not balanced by either river discharge or precipitation. The second factor is Russias construction of dams on the Volga River and the reduction of water entering the Caspian Sea. About 130 rivers flow into the Caspian Sea, however, in the upstream of this lake about 80 percent of the water comes from the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, while the Ural and the other Russian rivers play an important secondary role. In recent years, Russia has built 40 dams on the Volga River and 18 more dams are under study and construction. This has reduced the flow of water entering the Caspian Sea. Moreover, the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia have led to a sharp decrease in the import of agricultural products from Europe and the U.S. This has increased the exploitation of Volga water resources for the development of agriculture, especially wheat cultivation, in the surrounding areas of this river. According to a Kazakh expert, Russias intensifying use of upstream water hastens the rapid decline of the northeastern Caspian, which is also the location of Kazakhstans economically vital Kashagan oil field. Indeed, despite the increasing alignment between Tehran and Moscow after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Iranian officials blame Russia for the rapid drop in Caspian water levels. Ali Salajegheh, Irans Vice President and Head of Irans Department of Environment voiced the hitherto most outspoken criticism in August 2023: water inflows, especially the one through the Volga River, into the Caspian Sea have been blocked by the neighboring countries. We hope to be able to settle the issues of the water rights and contamination within the framework of the Tehran Convention. IMPLICATIONS: The Caspian Seas decreasing water level has several important implications. In the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea from August 2018, the water level was determined to be -28, meaning 28 meters lower than the water level of the oceans and open seas (relative to that of the Baltic Sea, which is used as a reference point to measure fluctuations in the Caspian water level). The current water level has reached -29 meters. This decrease can affect the determination of the baseline, which forms the basis for defining the scope of internal waters, territorial waters, fishery zones, common maritime space and sectors. The decreasing water level increases the area of land and beaches of all Caspian coastal countries. However, the advancing coast is larger in the upstream countries Kazakhstan and Russia, than in Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran. Due to technical, geographical and legal complications, the baseline is not specified in the Caspian Sea Convention, where it was decided that the methodology for establishing straight baselines shall be determined in a separate agreement among all the Parties. Technical and expert negotiations on determining the baselines have been ongoing for over four years and have yet to be concluded. Therefore, the decreasing water level could lead to changes and amendments in the designated points of the baseline by Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and affect the process of final agreements with Iran. The decreasing water level in the Caspian Sea and the advancing coast will also have a negative impact on ports and docks as well as transit and shipping, especially along the coasts of Kazakhstan and Russia as two upstream countries. It will become difficult for ships to dock in the ports of Aktau, Quryq (Kuryk) and Atyrau in Kazakhstan and the ports of Astrakhan and Makhachkala in Russia. Moreover, most of the Volga Rivers channels have not been repaired or even dredged since the fall of the Soviet Union, increasing the risk of serious accidents and making portions of the river impassable for all vessels, except the smallest and lightest. The severe lack of dredging has made the waters shallower, which has increased the difficulty of moving ships through the Volga and Volga-Don Canal. It is clear that the decrease in the water level of the Volga River and the Caspian Sea will aggravate these problems. Decreasing water levels also poses challenges and threats to the ecosystem and environment of the Caspian Sea, particularly in coastal areas. Indeed, if the northern part of the Caspian, whose shallow waters have a rich fauna, would dry up, this would have major ecological consequences. It could also threaten protected areas and wetlands such as the Volga Delta in Russia and the Gulf of Gorgan (the largest gulf in the Caspian Sea) and Miankala Lagoon on the south-eastern shore in Iran. Also, the drying of wetlands and the advance of the coast can lead to the production of dust and affect the weather of coastal countries. The process will also have a human and social impact. Ecological changes can lead to migration and population decline in coastal cities and villages around the Caspian Sea. The experience of the drying Aral Sea clearly shows the potentially significant human and social consequences of ecological changes. CONCLUSIONS: These potential consequences are current and short-term. Yet the long-term effects and results of this process give rise to an even larger concern. The Caspian Sea level is projected to fall by 918 meters in medium to high emissions scenarios until the end of this century, caused by a substantial increase in lake evaporation that is not balanced by increasing river discharge or precipitation. The ecological results would clearly be disastrous. According to Nature, a decline by 918 meters will mean that the vast northern Caspian shelf, the Turkmen shelf in the southeast, and all coastal areas in the middle and southern Caspian Sea emerge from under the sea surface. In addition, the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay on the eastern margin will be completely desiccated. Overall, the Caspian Seas surface area will shrink by 23 percent for a 9 meter and by 34 percent for an 18 meter drop of sea level. To overcome this very serious challenge, Caspian coastal countries should put integrated, coordinated and comprehensive policies and approaches on the agenda. In this process, it is very important to maintain and continue the flow of water from the rivers, especially the Volga to the Caspian Sea. This could compensate for an share of climate change losses such as air warming, sea water evaporation and precipitation reduction. About the author: Vali Kaleji, based in in Tehran, Iran, holds a Ph.D. in Regional Studies, Central Asia and Caucasian Studies. He has published numerous analytical articles on Eurasian issues for the Eurasia Daily Monitor, the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, The Middle East Institute and the Valdai Club. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The Congress party held a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting in view of the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls at the AICC (All India Congress Committee) headquarters in Delhi on Friday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, MPs Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal and other party leaders attended the meeting on the occasion. According to the sources, the Congress is likely to finalise the first list of around 140 candidates for the forthcoming assembly polls in the meeting and the list is likely to be released on Sunday. After the CEC meeting, a screening committee meeting of the party will also be held for discussion on the remaining names of the candidates for the assembly polls. Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to undergo assembly polls on November 17. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies. The election would be conducted in one phase in the state and the counting would be done on December 3. In the 2018 assembly elections, Congress won 114 seats with a vote share of 41.5 percent while BJP got 109 seats with a vote share of 41.6 percent. The last state assembly polls 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. Earlier today MP CM Shivraj Chouhan launched an attack on Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi claiming that the Congress was making false promises to the people. "The Congress is lying for votes. Earlier too (during 2018 assembly polls), Rahul Gandhi promised that all loans would be waived within 10 days. They (Congress)were forcing them (Rahul and Priyanka) to make false promises. This was Congress' policy of getting votes by confusing the people." Earlier on Thursday, addressing a public gathering in Madhya Pradesh's Mandla district on Thursday, Priyanka Gandhi announced the Congress's Padho-Padhao scheme. "Under Padho-Padhao Yojana, monthly aid of Rs 500 will be given to the students from Class 1 to Class 8. Similarly, Rs 1000 a month will be given to students of Class 9 and Class. Rs 1500 a month will be given to students of class 11 and Class 12,"Priyanka Gandhi had said. (ANI) As per BSF Rajasthan, on the intervening night between October 12 and 13, alert BSF troops intercepted a Pakistani drone that violated Indian airspace and shot it down. During a search of the area, one packet of heroin weighing approximately 2.2 kg was recovered, BSF said. The value of the seized drug has been estimated to be worth Rs 12 crore in the international market. The recovered Pakistani drone was found in a completely damaged condition. The heroin and drone recovered by the Border Security Force will be handed over to the authorities concerned for a detailed investigation. BSF Rajasthan in a post on X said, "On the intervening night of 12-13 Oct' 2023 a Pakistani drone that violated Indian airspace has been intercepted & shot down by Alert BSF troops in Gen area Srikaranpur. During search 01 packet (Wt 2.20 kg approx.)of suspected narcotics has also been recovered." Earlier this month, BSF recovered one packet of heroin from a paddy field on the outskirts of Dhaone Khurd village in Amritsar. In September, the BSF has recovered a drone and a bottle containing heroin from the paddy fields near the Rajatal village in Amritsar. The recovered drone is a Quadcopter, a model made in China, according to a statement. BSF has also recovered a packet weighing approximately 2.5 Kg, suspected to be heroin from a farming field near Gatti Rajoke village in Ferozepur. (ANI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended the felicitation programme held by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee on Friday. Lauding the Sikh community at the event, the minister said the contribution of Sikh Gurus to the country cannot be repaid for years. Addressing the gathering at the event Amit Shah said, "Be it India's freedom struggle, fight against the Mughals or fight against Britishers, partition or sacrificing for the country, the Sikh community has always been one number one." He said the whole world today is following the teachings given by Guru Nanak Dev at a time when all religions were fighting for their respective sects. He praised the Sikh community for moving forward taking both religion and Karma equally. "Under CAA, PM Modi gave citizenship to those Sikh brothers who wanted to come here from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan. This Panth has done so much for the country, society, and humanity. The contribution of Sikh Gurus for this country cannot be paid back for thousands of years," Shah said. Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), initially made its debut in the Lok Sabha in 2016, seeking to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955. After its introduction, it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee and their report was finally submitted on January 7, 2019. The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill on January 8, 2019, but it lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha. The Bill was reintroduced to the 17th Lok Sabha on December 9, 2019, by the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, and was subsequently passed on December 10, 2019. The Rajya Sabha followed suit and passed the bill on December 11, 2019. The purpose of the CAA was to grant Indian citizenship to illegal immigrants who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The Act was specifically designed for migrants of six different religions - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from three countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. According to the Act, an individual is eligible if they have resided in India during the last 12 months and for 11 of the previous 14 years. The Act relaxed the residency requirement from 11 years to five years for the specified class of illegal migrants. The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee also felicitated the Home Minister at the event. Earlier on October 11, Amit Shah unveiled the statue of Mahant Shri Chandnath Yogi at the Shri Baba Mastnath Math in Rohtak. Praising PM Modi's governance, Shah said, "For many years we waited for construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya...we kept fighting and in 2019 the country made PM Modi Prime Minister again and one day without letting any bloodshed happen, he did the 'Bhoomi Poojan' of Ram Mandir..." Earlier on Tuesday, Amit Shah launched the Bharatiya Janata Party's election campaign in Telangana where he lauded the work done under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reign in the last nine years saying "Modi hai to mumkin hai." (ANI) People on Friday performed Ganga Aarti in Varanasi in support of Israel in its ongoing conflict with the terrorist organisation Hamas based in Gaza. A large number of people participated in it. People also raised slogans for Israel. The participants said that they were with Israel in its fight against Hamas and prayed for its victory. "We want a world where there are no terrorists. The goals of the terrorists will never be successful. We are with Israel and we would like to see its victory. We did Aarti today for the realisation of this," said Rajesh Shukla who organised the Aarti. He said that India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the message of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam". "The message is that the whole world is one family. And it ought to be kept safe and united. The terrorists are against this vision. In the Hamas attack against Israel, many people including children and elderly were killed mercilessly. Through this Aarti we want to tell the terrorists to stop killing innocent people and stop attacking Israel," he added. Last night in Varanasi, a group of people took out a candle march in support of Israel in its fight against Hamas. The latest conflict was started after Hamas on Saturday crossed the border, launched a surprise attack in Southern Israel killing civilians including children and women and taking scores of Israeli citizens as hostages. Meanwhile, the Israeli Consulate in Mumbai posted on X that they are overwhelmed by the support of ordinary people in India. "We are overwhelmed by the support of ordinary people in India who are writing us emails, making phone calls, putting banners, organising prayers for Israel. We will win the war against HAMAS-ISIS terror. Please tag us in the photographs and videos of the events that you are organising in Israel's support. We will be happy to share them and say THANK YOU," the Israel Consulate said in the post. Earlier in the day, Israeli defence forces armed with tanks positioned themselves on the country's southern border with Gaza after the military on Friday called for the evacuation of all civilians from the besieged Gaza City. The Israeli Defence Forces asked civilians to relocate from their homes and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza for their own safety. The IDF stated that citizens should return only when advised to do so. It also asked citizens to not approach the area on the security fence with Israel. In a statement shared on X, IDF stated, "The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, as shown on the map. The Hamas terrorist organization waged a war against the State of Israel and Gaza City is an area where military operations take place. This evacuation is for your own safety." The Israeli Defence Forces asserted that they will continue to operate with "significant force" in Gaza and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. Meanwhile, Hamas dismissed Israel's orders for Palestinians to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip, asking the residents to stay put, the Times of Israel reported. Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said that the death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 and more than 3000 have been injured. At least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, CNN reported citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. (ANI) A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi sought reply from Uttar Pradesh Government on the plea by Ansari. Ansari has challenged Allahabad High Court's Lucknow judicature order dated September 23, 2022 whereby the HC has overturned trial court order. HC has convicted Ansari under the Section 2/3 of Gangsters Act and sentenced him to five years' rigorous imprisonment. The HC has set aside the trial court order which acquitted him in the case. HC order has come on the UP government appeal against trial court judgement. A Lucknow Court on 23 December 2020 acquitted Ansari under offence of Section 2/3 of The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act. The case against Ansari was lodged at Police Station Hazratganj, District Lucknow. Charge-sheet in the matter was filed against Ansari and 24 other co-accused. The prosecution alleged that that the accused Ansari and other co-accused is a gang which commits heinous offences, including murder, extortion, kidnapping and abduction etc.(ANI) In the ongoing petition for medical termination of the pregnancy of a married woman who is over 26 weeks pregnant, the foetus gets another three days to live as the Supreme Court on Friday sought a report from AIIMS on various aspects, including whether the foetus is suffering from any substantial abnormality. The apex court also listed the matter on October 16 for further hearing on matters relating to the termination of over 26 weeks' pregnancy. The report was sought from AIIMS keeping in mind the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. The case at hand revolves around a plea for the medical termination of a pregnancy by a married woman, aged 26 years, and the proceedings have ignited discussions about the intersection of pro-choice legislation and the protection of fetal life. The court was hearing a woman's plea seeking termination of 26 weeks' pregnancy whereas the Centre has filed an application seeking recalling of the top court's order by which the lady's petition has been allowed. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra asked the AIIMS medical board to give a report on various aspects including one that whether the foetus is suffering from any substantial abnormality as provided by subsection 2(b) of section 3 of the MTP Act. The top court noted that an earlier report by AIIMS opined that the child appeared to be normal but to avoid any doubts, it is seeking another report. The top court also asked to carry out their own evaluation of the mental and physical condition of the woman and sought to know if there was any evidence to suggest that the continuance of full-term pregnancy would be jeopardized by drugs prescribed for treating her mental ailment. The top court also asked AIIMS to find out if the woman is suffering from postpartum psychosis and what kind of alternate medication is available to protect the foetus. The top court asked the woman to appear before the medical board at 2 p.m. today. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Centre, told the Supreme Court that they were not able to persuade the woman for not going for termination of pregnancy. ASG Bhati appealed to SC to separate the determination of the law and the woman's case, as she is still vulnerable. ASG Bhati has taken the court through the MTP Act and told the SC that India is pro-choice legislation and hence women's autonomy is important. ASG Aishwarya Bhati told the SC that we have not found any single country that goes beyond 24 weeks. The court also raised the point on the aspects of how to define life. "Is life viable outside the womb or is it a living creature when it is conceived," the court said adding that it is not going into this. However, CJI pointed out that they permit termination for foetal abnormality because it would affect the quality of life of parents as well as the child's quality of life too. ASG Bhati informed the court that once the woman agreed and appealed to leave it on the medical opinion as it depends from woman to woman. She assured the court that the state would do whatever is required to take care of the child. The woman's lawyer Amit Mishra told the SC that the woman is 26 years' old who got married in Dec 2017. The woman's lawyer told the SC that she got heavy symptoms of post-partum psychosis after her second delivery and complaint of abnormal behaviour. The lawyer submitted to SC that her treatment started in Oct 2022. When CJI remarked that they shall ask the AIIMS to give report medicine to cure post-partum psychosis that has caused foetal abnormality. ASG Bhati told the SC that the ultrasound report suggests it is normal. The woman's lawyer told the SC about her medical conditions and said if she does not take medicines for even a single day, she can't sleep, gets hallucinations, attempts to commit suicide and even tries to harm her child. "That's why the children are with the woman's mother-in-law," the lawyer told the Supreme Court. The matter was referred to the three-judge bench after the two-judge bench on October 11 gave a split order on the married woman's plea seeking termination of her 26-week pregnancy. The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave a split order on the married woman's plea seeking termination of a 26-week pregnancy as one of the judges ruled against the termination while the other judge expressed disagreement and said that the woman's decision must be respected to undergo the procedure of termination of her pregnancy. A two-judge bench of justices Hima Kohli and BV Nagarathna gave the split decision while hearing the Centre's plea seeking recalling of its earlier order allowing the woman to undergo the procedure of termination of her pregnancy. Justice Hima Kohli said that her judicial conscience does not allow her to permit termination. Expressing disagreement, Justice BV Nagarathna said that the woman's decision to undergo termination of her pregnancy must be respected. The woman has submitted an affidavit stating she does not wish to carry out her pregnancy due to her mental condition and ailments. On October 9, a bench of justices Hima Kohli and BV Nagarathna directed the woman to visit the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, AIIMS, New Delhi on October 10, 2023. The court had also directed the AIIMS to admit the petition to undergo the procedure of termination of her pregnancy at the earliest with follow-up as may be advised by the treating doctors. Yesterday Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati apprised the court about the fact related to termination of pregnancy to a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. She told the court that the medical board had opined that the baby had a viable chance of being born, which may cause foeticide. The court on Tuesday also noted that AIIMS doctors are in a serious dilemma and directed AIIMS to defer the medical termination of the pregnancy. (ANI) Delhi Police on Friday detained AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) workers protesting against the arrest of AAP MP Sanjay Singh by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi Excise policy case. AAP workers staged a massive protest outside the AAP office demanding the release of Sanjay Singh. "There has been no evidence against Sanjay Singh, but only because he is a big leader of the Opposition and speaks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is reason why he has been arrested. The protests will continue until Sanjay Singh is released", said AAP spokesperson Reena Gupta. The Aam Aadmi party have been protesting in several parts of India demanding Sanjay Singh's release. Earlier, AAP workers also staged a protest in Mumbai and were detained by the Police. Speaking on Sanjay Singh's arrest and the raids by Central agencies, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai targeted the BJP and said "This is going to continue till the 2024 elections unless the BJP loses." Earlier this month AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal visited Sanjay Singh's residence. On his arrest, he said "The ED officials searched his entire house but found nothing. However, they still put him under arrest in the evening. The arrest shows PM Modi's growing desperation and frustration as the elections are drawing near. The coming together of the Opposition forces under the INDIA bloc has got him rattled. Sanjay's arrest has only bared PM Modi's frustrations," Sanjay Singh, MP, was arrested by ED on October 4 in connection to the Delhi liquor policy scam. Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Friday moved the Delhi High Court challenging his arrest in the Delhi liquor scam case and has also challenged the remand granted by the trial court. The Delhi liquor scam case or the excise policy case pertains to allegations that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge that has been strongly refuted by the AAP. (ANI) In the statement, BSF stated that in its drive against the illicit trafficking of drugs and narcotics, it carried out a joint operation with the Cachar Police of Assam on Thursday, October 12, 2023, during night hours. While acting on a specific input about a large number of illicit trafficking of Yaba tablets in a car on NH-37 coming from Silchar towards Karimganj side, drugs worth Rs 26 crore were recovered and seized, the statement added. Accordingly, the joint team of BSF and Cachar Police intercepted the car at about 9 PM near the general area of Srikona, Silchar and carried out a thorough search of the vehicle and recovered 26 packets of Yaba tablets (containing 10,000 tablets in each packet), total 2,60,000 Yaba tablets worth Rs 26 crore concealed in the cavity of tail light and upper differential cavity (rear side of the vehicle), as per the statement. The seized Yaba tablets along with the car have been handed over to the police station, Sadar, Silchar of District Cachar (Assam) for further legal formalities. Further, the statement mentioned that Mizoram and Cachar Frontier, Border Security Force have seized a total of 7, 97,070 Yaba tablets since January this year. (ANI) In a heartfelt plea to the Indian government, Dr Ramesh, a Professor at Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, has requested the safe return of his wife, Dr Radhika, who is currently stranded in Israel due to the ongoing conflict in the region. Dr Radhika had embarked on a two-month training program in Israel, which has now become a source of distress and concern for her family. Dr Ramesh revealed, "My wife left for Israel for a two-month training program... Because of the ongoing conflict, she is in trouble. I got messages from her that she is currently safe but is under a lot of stress. I request the government and the Prime Minister to rescue her and bring her to India under Operation Ajay. Her parents are also worried. My son is also eager to meet his mother." The professor further shared that Radhika's parents are equally worried about her safety, and their son eagerly awaits the return of his mother. Meanwhile the Ministry of External Affairs has begun Operation Ajay to repatriate Indian citizens who wish to return from Israel. The first chartered aircraft carrying 212 Indian citizen arrived in New Delhi today. The returning Indian citizens were received at the Airport by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. "Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them and bring them back home safely. We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the flight crew of this Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly and back home to their loved ones" Chandrasekhar said at the Delhi Airport. Meanwhile, as the Israel-Hamas conflict entered the seventh day on Friday the Israel Defence Forces on Friday warned civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes. The IDF is looking to intensify its attacks on terrorist targets in the Gaza City region and possibly launch a ground invasion in response to Hamas's deadly onslaught against southern communities the Times of Israel reported. The IDF said that it had carried out airstrikes against 750 targets belonging to Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip overnight. Israel is responding to the Hamas' attack on October 7 that has left over 1,300 Israelis dead. (ANI) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will launch the fourth phase of Mission Shakti from his official residence on Saturday morning. As per a release by the state government, the Chief Minister will flag off a women empowerment rally that will traverse through various intersections in Lucknow, concluding at the 1090 intersection. Additionally, the Chief Minister will participate in the Mission Shakti program organized at Lok Bhavan, where he will honour 25 women along with three distinguished female guests. The event will be attended by both Deputy Chief Ministers and senior officials. Superintendent of Police of Women and Child Security Organization Ruchita Chaudhary said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will flag off the women empowerment rally from his official residence at 10:30 am on Saturday. The rally's route will commence at 5 Kalidas Marg and culminate at the 1090 intersection, passing through Udadevi intersection, Clark Avadh, KGMU intersection, Koneshwar Temple, IT intersection, and Polytechnic intersection. Eminent women from the respective police stations will be present at these stops of the rally. During this time, women and daughters of the area will also be present. The event will serve as an opportunity to disseminate information about Mission Shakti and various schemes related to women's empowerment. The Superintendent of Police said, "In the rally, there will be an impressive lineup of 80 pink scooties, six four-wheelers, 20 Dial 112 vehicles (female PRVs), and ambulances. The lead vehicle in the procession will be an open gypsy featuring the 1090 mascot. Equipped with a Public Address System (PA system), this vehicle will broadcast jingles related to Mission Shakti and women empowerment throughout the event." Raveena Tyagi, Superintendent of Police at the Women and Child Security Organization, said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will inaugurate the Mission Shakti special campaign by lighting the ceremonial lamp at Lok Bhavan at 11 am. During the program, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will pay tribute to three distinguished women guests, including Padmashree Hema Prabha Sotia, ISRO scientist Ritu Karidhal Srivastava, and HCL CEO Roshni Nadar. He will also honor 25 women from various departments in the state with mementos, including 15 women from UP Police. During the event, both Deputy Chief Ministers, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brijesh Pathak, along with senior officials such as Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, Home Secretary Sanjay Prasad, and DGP Vijay Kumar will be present. The program will be broadcast live in all districts of the state, where Minister in-charge and other departmental officers will be present. The Home Department will present the achievements of Mission Shakti, and a short film showcasing the progress of Mission Shakti Abhiyan will be screened. (ANI) The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that the Telangana Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on November 30. Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and the Congress in the upcoming assembly election. In the previous Assembly election held in 2018, BRS managed to win 88 seats out of 119 and had a dominant vote share of 47.4 per cent. Congress came in a distant second with 19 seats. Its vote share was 28.7 per cent. Earlier in the day, the Congress party held a CEC meeting in view of the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls at the AICC (All India Congress Committee) headquarters in Delhi. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, MPs Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal and other party leaders attended the meeting on the occasion. Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to undergo assembly polls on November 17. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies. The election would be conducted in one phase in the state and the counting would be done on December 3. In the 2018 assembly elections, Congress won 114 seats with a vote share of 41.5 per cent while BJP got 109 seats with a vote share of 41.6 per cent. The last state assembly polls saw the Congress coming to power, with veteran leader Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister. (ANI) Telugu Desham Party (TDP) spokesperson Kommareddy Pattabhiram on Friday expressed his serious concerns over the health condition of former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and said that his party is taking legal recourse to shift party chief either to a super speciality hospital or a government hospital where all medical facilities are available. Addressing the media here, Pattabhiram claimed that the health condition of Chandrababu is at high risk and the jail authorities are giving the correct details on the health problems being faced by Chandrababu. "On the one side Chandrababu is suffering from dehydration and on the other he has some skin allergy issues. The medical treatment extended to him inside the jail is not at all satisfactory. The kind of medicines being administered to Chandrababu, the quality of drinking water and other issues are causing serious concern to the whole State, he observed. If a similar situation continues for another couple of days, Chandrababu is likely to get kidney problems and other serious ailments affecting his organs," Pattabhi said. Pattabhi further said that after the latest health bulletin not only his family members, but also the whole State and in fact, the whole world, is expressing serious concern over Chandrababu's health condition. "On Friday the family members of Chandrababu met him through mulaqat and after coming out they were more worried about his health issues," he said. Pattabhiram further alleged that deliberate attempts were being made to seriously 'hit' the health condition of Chandrababu. "Not only is the safety and security of our leader under threat now, but his health condition is also causing a serious concern for all of us," he added. He further demanded the state government for sending the doctor's team which has been serving him for the past two to three decades be allowed to treat him inside the jail till he is shifted to a super-speciality hospital or a government hospital. "We are also approaching the court on this," Pattabhi added. Claiming that timely medical assistance is not being provided to Chandrababu Naidu by the Andhra Pradesh government in Rajahmundry central prison, the son of the TDP chief, Lokesh said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Reddy would be responsible for the further deterioration of his father's health. In a post on X (former Twitter), Nara Lokesh said, "There is an undeniable and immediate threat to Chandrababu Naidu's life. He is being deliberately harmed. His safety is unquestionably at risk. CBN is facing a dire situation, dealing with mosquitoes, contaminated water, weight loss, infections, and allergies, all without access to timely medical assistance." "The GoAP is trying to administer steroids to him. What is it that the Government doctors and administration are trying to hide? If any harm befalls Chandrababu Naidu garu, Jagan Reddy will be responsible," he added. Nara Bhuvaneswari, wife of Chandrababu Naidu also expressed concerns about her husband's well-being and stated that current circumstances made by the state government can pose an immediate threat to the former Chief Minister's life. Earlier, a team of dermatologists on Monday examined former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in Rajahmundry Central Jail after he complained to the jail authorities about his skin allergy. One associate professor of dermatology and one assistant professor of dermatology have been deputed at Rajamundhry Central Prison to take care of former CM Chandrababu Naidu. Naidu was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) last month for his alleged involvement in a multi-crore skill development 'scam' case. CID said that TDP chief Naidu is the prime conspirator in this case. (ANI) Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president Rajkumar Verka on Friday announced his resignation from the party adding that he is going to Delhi to rekindle ties with Congress. The former Punjab minister, who left Congress in June last year and joined BJP, announced his decision to quit BJP during a press briefing at his residence in Amritsar today. He said that joining the BJP was a big mistake and termed his rekindling ties with the Congress party 'ghar wapsi'. "After thinking for many days, I have decided that I am leaving the BJP. I am resigning from the BJP. After this, I am leaving for Delhi right now. I will join the Congress party," Verka said at the press briefing. He added, "I can say with certainty that BJP does not have a tradition of taking everyone along." Verka also claimed that if any party can work for the interests of Punjab, it is only Congress. Verka further said that as he rejoins Congress, many other former members of the party in Punjab will also bid goodbye to BJP and will rejoin Congress. After holding the press conference, Verka left for the airport, from where he will go straight to Delhi and meet the Congress top brass. In fact, recently during Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's visit to Amritsar, there were discussions on Verka leaving BJP to join Congress. Punjab BJP called Verka's decision to quit the party "unfortunate" while also wishing him luck. "It is very unfortunate. When he joined the BJP, he was given respect. He was made the Vice President of the Punjab State BJP. He was also nominated as a member of the top core decision-making committee of the party," Punjab BJP Spokesperson Anil Sarin said while speaking to reporters in Patiala. Sarin further said, "If he is leaving, and that too for joining the Congress, I think Raj Kumar Verka has to answer what the reasons were that he had left Congress and joined the BJP. And now what has happened in the Congress that he is joining it back. He has to answer. He must have had some political expectations that he thought could not be fulfilled here. But still, I would say that a person leaving the family is unfortunate. I wish him good luck." (ANI) A bench comprising of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice Sanjay Karol dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed challenging the election of Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Steel Jyotiraditya M Scindia to the Rajya Sabha from the State of Madhya Pradesh. The said Special Leave Petition challenged the framing of a preliminary issue in the election petition filed against Scindia to the effect of whether mere registration of an FIR constitutes a "pending criminal case" liable to be disclosed in the nomination papers of a prospective candidate under the Representation of People's Act, 1951, and the dismissal of the review petition filed challenging the order which the said preliminary issue was framed. While dismissing the said Special Leave Petition, the Bench observed that no case for interference with the Impugned Orders was made out by the Petitioner. Scindia was represented by Senior Counsels NK Mody and Siddharth Bhatnagar along with advocates Fareha Ahmed Khan and a team from Karanjawala & Co. Advocates, led by Tahira Karanjawala, Partner. The Petitioner was represented by senior advocate Anoop George Chaudhary. (ANI) Ahead of Telangana assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Raghunandan Rao met the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) at BRK Bhavan, Tankbund, Hyderabad and filed a complaint against four government officials of Siddipet district whom he alleged of favouring the Bharat Rashtra Samithi party. "The Chief Minister and Finance minister come from Siddipet district, so all the officers are working for the BRS, they are taking care of BRS leaders only. If anything goes wrong in the village, they are not filing FIR against BRS instead they are filing cases against BJP and Congress. So I urged the chief election officer that there is a Siddipet CP and ACP who worked for 15 years in the constituency. We have also given two or three examples of incidents like railway inaugural function incidents and other issues that were taken before the CEO," Raghunandan alleged. "The second complaint is against Harish Rao's OSD whose wife is a councillor in the Dubbaka constituency. He was already trapped by the ACB four years back and he is reinstated with any case, now he has been given a promotion," he told ANI. "The third complaint is against the EDSC corporation. All these officers are intentionally breaking the MCC rules, they are favouring the ruling party, so I have logged a complaint against four people to the CEO," he said. Earlier on Monday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that the Telangana Assembly polls are scheduled to be held on November 30. The counting of votes will be done on December 3, the poll body added. Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and the Congress in the upcoming assembly election. In the previous Assembly election held in 2018, BRS managed to win 88 seats out of 119 and had a dominant vote share of 47.4 per cent. Congress came in a distant second with 19 seats. Its vote share was 28.7 per cent. (ANI) Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) members on Friday held a protest in Kerala in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Holding up placards, the SDPI members chanted slogans against the ongoing Israeli counter-offensive in Gaza. One of the placards, said "India with Palestine". Earlier in a statement, the SDPI said that it would hold demonstrations in district centres in "solidarity with the Palestinian people who are fighting for the liberation of their homeland". "The Israeli Zionist regime is killing people inch by inch through severe measures like cutting off drinking water, essential medicines and electricity. The agreements and peace terms made through international peace talks have been violated and the Palestinian people have been made refugees in the land of their birth," SDPI said. "Also, Palestinian civilians are being killed and imprisoned on a daily basis through military interventions. It's the struggle for survival of the struggling Palestinian people that is going on now. The Israeli government is fully responsible for the current bloodshed and massacres. It is the duty of all humane people to show support and solidarity to the freedom struggle of the Palestinian people," it read. Earlier in the day, the locals in Hyderabad, and elsewhere, staged protests in support of Palestine after offering Friday prayers. Massing in a street after the Friday prayers, the protesters chanted "Gaza will never die" and "Long live Palestine". As the numbers swelled, a police contingent arrived at the scene and went about breaking up the protest and removing the demonstrators from the spot. A similar protest was also organised at Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir, with the demonstrators chanting slogans against Israel and America. As the Israel-Hamas conflict entered the seventh day, the Israel Defence Forces called for an immediate evacuation of Gaza. In a statement, the IDF said that all civilians of Gaza City must move from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza. At least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, CNN reported citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. At least 36 people have died and more than 650 have been injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that more than 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, CNN reported. He further said that nearly 218,000 of those are sheltering in 92 schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency. Earlier in the day, Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said that the death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 and more than 3000 have been injured. He also touched on the ongoing efforts to collect the bodies and bring them to Tel Aviv for identification before handing them over to their loved ones. Calling it a "tedious and detailed process", he noted that Israel has never in history faced such a situation. "Unfortunately the number of Israeli casualties has risen to 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers and more than 3000 wounded. There is a massive national effort involving almost all of the security organisations and many of the ministries of the Israeli state, which is focused on taking the bodies from the same communities that we spoke about yesterday, like for instance ... and other communities and the entire southern area, collecting the bodies, bringing them to a centre in Tel Aviv, identifying them and then making sure they are next to their kin. Their loved ones are able to take them and to provide them with a final and respectable burial that's ongoing," Lt. Col. Conricus said. (ANI) "A high-powered IED connected with three 10-kilogram LPG Cylinders was spotted by an alert Road Opening Party near Langait," the Indian Army stated. According to the officials, the IED was planted on the National Highway that connects Kupwara with Srinagar. "Almost 1000 civil vehicles and 200 defence vehicles crossed the spot where IED was planted. The IED was detected by the column of an Air Defence Unit present in the area," the Indian Army said. Earlier in the day, Security forces detonated three suspicious gas cylinders found in Ganapora village of Kralgund in north Kashmir's Kupwara district, according to an official release. The suspicious cylinders were detonated in a controlled manner by the Army's road opening party (ROP) in collaboration with the 30 Rashtriya Rifles (30RR) and Handwara Police. The Jammu and Kashmir Police stated in an official release, "In a swift response to a potential security threat, the ROP of 25 ADP in collaboration with the 30 Rashtriya Rifles (30RR) and Handwara Police, successfully detonated three suspicious small gas cylinders found along the roadside in Ganapora, area of Kralgund Handwara in Kupwara district." "At approximately 8:00 am, the ROP of 25 ADP discovered three suspicious small gas cylinders concealed under some bushes, approximately 100 meters from the Ganapora crossing, leading towards Udipura," it added." Recognising the potential danger, the security forces acted promptly to assess and mitigate the threat. At around 1030 hours, the joint team of 30RR and Handwara Police safely detonated the suspicious cylinders," it stated further. (ANI) "A number of senior SAD and BJP leaders from Punjab met the AICC General Secy KC Venugopal to express their desire to join INC. KC Venugopal welcomed them," Congress posted on X (Formerly Twitter). Earlier in 2020, Akali Dal broke its ties with the BJP following the massive protests against three central farm laws, which were later withdrawn by the government. Earlier today, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Jagat Prakash Nadda appointed Jatinder Pal Malhotra as the State President of the Chandigarh BJP. "BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda has appointed Jatinder Pal Malhotra, as State President of Chandigarh, BJP. This appointment comes into immediate effect," the BJP's official release said. This appointment comes into immediate effect, it added. Earlier in July, BJP appointed former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar as its state unit chief. The BJP and Congress are gearing up for assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram to be held later this year as well for next year's Lok Sabha elections. (ANI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday called on the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take immediate action against Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for flagrantly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951 ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. Former law cell convener of BJP advocate Pankaj Wadhwani, while speaking to ANI said that he has filed a complaint against AICC National General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi for announcing the Student Scholarship scheme in Mandla, citing violation of the Model Code of Conduct. In his complaint to the Election Commission of India on Friday, Advocate Wadhwani said that Gandhi's announcement aimed at wooing the public for votes. The complaint stated that during a public address in Mandla district on October 12, Gandhi clearly gave an inducement regarding giving Rs500 to Rs1500 per month to every student from class 1 to 12. The complaint further read that it is clear that this tempting announcement has been made without any concrete plan just to influence the voting," the complaint read. "After the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, on October 12, Priyanka Gandhi held a meeting in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh in which she announced to give Rs 500 to 1500 for the education of children. This announcement is a direct inducement to the voters and a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Along with this, it is also a violation of the Madhya Pradesh Representation Act. The complaint regarding this matter was sent to the Election Commission at Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi. Taking cognizance of the complaint, the investigation has been initiated," Wadhwani said. Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to undergo assembly polls on November 17. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies. The election would be conducted in one phase in the state and the counting would be done on December 3. It is noteworthy that Congress AICC national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi announced a scholarship scheme for school students in the state worth Rs 648.80 crore on Thursday. For the students of classes 1-8, Rs 500 has been announced, Rs 1000 for students of classes 9, and 10 and Rs 1500 for classes 11 and 12 students. (ANI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday said that the Congress will release the list of candidates for Chhattisgarh assembly polls on the first day of Navratri, October 15. "The list will be released on October 15. After discussion and suggestions and considering the party survey, the list has been finalized. CEC has completed its work," said CM Baghel, claiming that the list of candidates will be very good. He further said that at the request of party members, the list was not released in Pitru Paksha. "Winning ability is the only criteria followed in the selection of candidates. We also tried to offer maximum tickets to women," he added. Earlier in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, MPs Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal and other party leaders attended the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting on the upcoming Chhattisgarh and Telangana Assembly polls. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India announced dates for Assembly polls in 5 States. Polls will be held in Mizoram on November 7, Chhattisgarh on November 7 and November 17, Madhya Pradesh on November 17, Rajasthan on November 23 and Telangana on November 30. The counting of votes will take place on December 3 in all the states. Of the five states, polling in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases. The Model Code of Conduct has come into force with the announcement of poll dates. According to the Election Commission of India, voting for 20 assembly seats in Chhattisgarh on November 7. The remaining 70 seats in Chhattisgarh will go to polls on November 17 alongside all 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh. Congress stormed to power in Chhattisgarh in the 2018 elections, winning 68 of 90 seats in the state assembly. The party had a vote share of 43.9 per cent. BJP won 15 seats and had a vote share of 33.6 per cent. (ANI) In a joint operation, the military intelligence unit (Southern Command Liaison Unit) of the Army and Pune city police busted a fake recruitment racket and apprehended a man for allegedly defrauding 42 youths of Rs 1.8 crore under the pretext of recruiting them into the Army, the officials said on Friday. The accused have been identified as Pandurang Karale, aged 45 years, hailing from Sangli district of Maharashtra. According to the officials, the complainant Mahesh Pandharinath Dhaka, aged 35 years, a farmer from Satara district, had filed a complaint against the accused following which an FIR was registered in Kondhwa Police station of Pune city police on Thursday. The Kondhwa police registered an FIR against Karale for offences related to cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code."In February 2022, Mahesh Dhaka visited Pune for work and overheard a conversation at a restaurant in the Kondhwa area, where the accused Pandurang Karale claimed to have connections with senior army officers and offered to help with army recruitment. Dhaka then agreed with Karale, who promised to enlist candidates in the Territorial Army for a fee of Rs 6 lakh per candidate," the officials said. As per the officials, over the course of several months, the accused collected Rs 1.8 crore from various candidates eager to join the army. The money was handed over to Karale in multiple instalments at different locations including Kondhwa, Pune. "Karale conducted fake medical examinations and even sent hall tickets for a written test via WhatsApp. However, when Dhaka pressed for further details, Karale kept postponing the dates and failed to provide any concrete information," the officials further stated. Further investigation is underway. (ANI) Ahead of Rajasthan assembly elections, state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday asserted that everything is smooth in the Congress party. "Everything is smooth in the Congress party. People across the villages are saying that there's no anti-incumbency and there is not a wave against the government...The people in Rajasthan are welcoming all the schemes...Rajasthan is the first government that does not have a wave against the government..." CM Gehlot said. The Rajasthan Assembly consists of 200 constituencies that will be contested. Since its formation, the state has been dominated by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress secured a victory in the last elections in 2018 with 101 seats. The party is yet to release its list of candidates while the opposition in the state- Bharatiya Janata Party has released its first list fielding as many as 7 MPs in the assembly polls. The Congress will begin its election campaign for the upcoming assembly election in Rajasthan on October 16 with "Kaam kiya dil se, Congress fir se" as its slogan, state party president Govind Singh Dotasra said on Sunday. Dotasra, while addressing the media after the meeting of the State Congress War Room, said that the party will keep the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) on its priority list and start campaigning from Baran district and cover 12 districts of eastern Rajasthan where the canal is proposed for meeting out drinking and irrigation water for the people. "Congress will start its campaign 'Kaam Kiya Dil se, Congress Sarkar Phir se' from October 16. We will begin it from the centre's broken promise on ERCP (Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project)... We will start in 12 districts from October 16... We will do meetings in every district where at least one lakh people will come..." Dotasra said. Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Jaipur, Dausa, Karauli, Alwar, Bharatpur, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk and Dholpur will be part of the Congress' poll campaign in eastern Rajasthan. The Election Commission of India on Wednesday changed the poll dates of Rajasthan Assembly elections from November 23 to November 25. The counting of votes will take place on 3 December. Earlier on Monday, the Election Commission announced the schedule for Assembly polls in Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana. (ANI) The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday assured the Supreme Court that former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu will not be arrested till October 18 in the FiberNet scam case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi also issued notice to the government on the plea of Naidu challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court order denying him anticipatory bail in the case and posted the matter for hearing on October 17. "Issue notice. The standing counsel for the State of Andhra Pradesh accepts service on behalf of the respondent State. List this matter on Tuesday. If the State wants to file a counter-affidavit, they may do so by Monday with a copy to petitioners," the bench stated in its order. During the hearing, senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Naidu, told the bench that a warrant had been issued to produce Naidu for Monday in connection with the FiberNet scam case. Luthra raised concern regarding an imminent arrest and asked for a stay on the production warrants. The bench asked the Andhra Pradesh police to "stay its hand" till then. "Stay your hand. Tell the court that you are not arresting him till then," the bench told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who was appearing for the State. At the court's insistence, Rohatgi agreed and assured the bench that Naidu would not be arrested till October 18 and the local court would be informed to adjourn its proceeding in the case till Wednesday. The top court was hearing Naidu's special leave petition against an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court refusing to grant him anticipatory bail earlier this week. The bench is also seized of another plea filed by Naidu seeking quashing of FIR registered against him rooted in a skill development scam. He has challenged the High Court judgment rejecting his plea for the quashing of FIR. Naidu is currently in judicial custody. Naidu has sought quashing of FIR registered by AP-CID in the alleged Rs 371 crore skill development scam on the ground that the police did not obtain prior sanction from the Governor as mandated under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act. The FIR against Naidu was registered on December 9, 2021, and he was added as accused number 37 in the case on September 7, 2023. Section 17A of the PC Act was not complied with as "no permission was obtained from the competent authority", the plea stated. As Naidu was the Chief Minister at the time of the commission of the alleged offence relating to the skill development scam, the competent authority would have been the Governor of the state. Naidu, presently the Leader of the Opposition, the national president of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), called the action against him as "an orchestrated campaign of regime revenge and to derail the largest opposition, the Telugu Desam Party". This motivated campaign of harassment has been allowed to continue by the Courts unabated despite patent illegality in the FIR, the appeal stated. (ANI) Nepal has airlifted a total of 253 students board the rescue flight of Nepal Airlines as the war between Israel and Hamas grows intense. Nepal Foreign Minister NP Saud greeted the students onboard the flight. "Total 253 Nepali students board the rescue flight of Nepal Airlines. Foreign Minister Hon @NPSaudnc greets the students in the aircraft, which is taking off from Ben Gurion Airport Tel Aviv shortly," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal posted on X, earlier today. "Foreign Minister NP Saud greeted the students onboard the flight," the post added. Notably, Nepal Airlines Airbus 330 aircraft with an occupancy of 274 passengers took off from Tribhuvan International Airport in the early hours of Thursday including the Foreign Minister NP Saud. A cabinet meeting has decided to send the Foreign Minister to bring back those who have signed up to return home. As the war between Israel and Palestine continues to enter its 6th day, the whereabouts of one Nepali student are yet to be ascertained. Officials at the Foreign Ministry stated that a search is underway utilising all possible measures. Meanwhile, two Nepali students injured in the attack of Hamas have been discharged from the hospital while two continue to be under medical supervision. The latest move of the Nepal government comes in the wake of the death of 10 students from Nepal in Kibbutz near the Gaza border after Hamas terrorists opened fire on them on Saturday (October 7). The Nepal government on Sunday confirmed the death of the students, who were in Israel under a 10-month internship in the agricultural sector. The death toll of Israelis stands at over 1300 as of now. The majority of them are civilians and more than 3000 are wounded. The IDF spokesperson, earlier today, has said about 300,000 soldiers have been deployed on the Gaza border claiming that they would ensure that the Hamas will be shorn of its military capabilities by the end of the counter-offensive. (ANI) Reaffirming US commitment amid the ongoing war with terror group Hamas, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US stands with Israel "today, tomorrow and every day" as it defends its people and shared values. Blinken expressed his understanding of the horrific situation Israel faced following the brutal attack by Hamas, and he acknowledged the deep determination within Israel to prevail. Addressing the media, US Secretary Antony Blinken also recalled the horrific condition after the gruesome and brutal attack by Hamas. "United States stands with Israel today, tomorrow, every day...I think it's almost impossible for any of us to comprehend on a human level with what Israel has experienced at the hands of Hamas these last few days. But we are determined to be with you as you defend your people and defend the values that join us together," Blinken said. He added, "What we've seen, I think, will be very hard to erase from our minds and certainly our hearts. But I sense a fierce determination in Israel to prevail, and prevail Israel will, and the United States is here as your partner to help ensure that you do". Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked Blinken and the US for their continuous support and added that the security and defence of the Israeli people is the highest priority at the moment. "One thing is clear. Because of that day - it's the highest number of Jews ever killed since the Holocaust - I think we must be clear that this is not only unacceptable, which the president said, but the sense of security and defence that the people of Israel deserve is something which is of highest priority so that these pictures will never occur," Herzog said. He added, "So we thank you deeply for your friendship and your visit. And I'm hopeful that it will also add another brick in our fight for security for all our people, so that they one day we can project the vision of peace after overcoming, prevailing, and winning". Earlier in the day, Blinken also met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and affirmed US' commitment to support Israel. "The message that I bring to Israel is this -- you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side," The Times of Israel quoted Blinken as saying. He added, "That's the message that President Joe Biden delivered to the prime minister from the moment that this crisis began". Notably, the death toll in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports. The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said. (ANI) This conversation marked their first interaction since the restoration of diplomatic ties between Tehran and Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported. The leaders engaged in the discussion on Wednesday, emphasising "the need to end war crimes against Palestine," Iranian presidential political affairs aide, Mohammad Jamshidi posted on X. "Islamic unity was stressed and both believed the regime's crimes and the US green light will cause destructive insecurity for the regime and backers," Jamshidi said. Both leaders highlighted the importance of Islamic unity and expressed concerns over the actions of the Israeli regime and the perceived support from the United States, which they believe could lead to destructive insecurity in the region. Crown Prince MBS stressed the "necessity of adhering to the principles of international humanitarian law and expressed deep concern for the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, along with its impact on civilians," Al Jazeera reported citing Saudi state news agency SPA. He also mentioned that Saudi Arabia was actively making maximum efforts to engage with international and regional parties to halt the ongoing escalation of the conflict. The ongoing violence has resulted in significant casualties, with more than 1,200 Palestinians in Gaza and 1,300 people in Israel reported killed, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials. Notably, Saudi Arabia and Iran recently resumed diplomatic relations in March, under a China-brokered deal. This reconciliation marked the end of a seven-year period of hostility between the two nations. Riyadh severed ties with Tehran in 2016, following the invasion of Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran by protesters, triggered by Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shia scholar. The conversation between the leaders of Iran and Saudi Arabia underscores the potential for a renewed diplomatic approach to addressing the Israel-Hamas war, reflecting the changing dynamics in the region following their diplomatic rapprochement, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI) Expressing deep concerns over recent statements of designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun openly endorsing Hamas and issuing threats against Indian Consulates in G7 nations, including Canada, the Hindu community here has "implored" the Trudeau government to take immediate action the Khalistani leader. In an urgent email on Thursday addressed to Canada's Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc, the Hindu Forum of Canada (HFC) has called for immediate action against Pannun. In a worrying development, Pannun, known for his involvement in Khalistani activities, has openly threatened to shut down Indian Consulates in G7 nations, which includes Canada. "On October 21st, from G7 Nations, from Canada to Australia, Sikhs for Justice is going to shut down terror houses of India in Vancouver, Washington DC, London, Frankfurt, and Milan. The People of Palestine shut down the Indian terror house in Ramallah and remove Renu Yadav," Pannun said. "Such statements must not be tolerated. We implore the government of Canada to take immediate action, as we are deeply concerned about the safety of our community. This kind of hateful video and speech is exacerbating hatred and violence," the HFC said. Furthermore, the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) founder's past expressions of animosity towards Canadian Hindus, as exemplified by his statement, "Canadian Hindus, leave Canada," have raised alarm within the Hindu community, prompting their call for government intervention to ensure their safety and well-being, the HFC said. Hindu Forum Canada has consistently stood in solidarity with Israel in condemning the actions of Hamas terrorists responsible for the loss of innocent lives. Their stance aligns with the global condemnation of terrorist attacks, as echoed by Canadian political leaders at all levels of government, including the Prime Minister of Canada, it said. The Hindu Forum of Canada, in their appeal to Minister LeBlanc, has requested that if Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is not a Canadian citizen, his entry to Canada be barred. If he is indeed a Canadian citizen, they have urged that he be thoroughly investigated and, if necessary, charged in connection with hate crimes, given the nature of his statements and threats. This ongoing situation underscores the need for a comprehensive response to address the concerns of the Hindu community and to ensure that divisive rhetoric and threats are not tolerated. It also highlights the broader issue of addressing the influence of Khalistani activists and their impact on various communities. (ANI) A flight carrying the first batch of Indians, who were stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war, landed in New Delhi under 'Operation Ajay' on Friday morning. As many as 212 Indian nationals from Israel have arrived at the Delhi airport. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar was present at the airport to welcome them. With folded hands, Chandrasekhar greeted the returning Indians. He then interacted with the students. The union minister reassured the passengers, saying India's commitment to the safety of every Indian is unwavering. Prime Minister Modi is determined to protect them, he added. "Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them and bring them back home safely. We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the flight crew of this Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly and back home to their loved ones," Chandrasekhar said. An Indian national who returned from Israel told ANI, "This is the first time that we are facing this situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as possible so that we can go back to work as earliest as possible..." The first batch of Indian passengers boarded the flight from Tel Aviv to India under Operation Ajay on Thursday. On the occasion, Indian Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla said that the Indian Embassy in Israel is working to ensure the well-being of Indian nationals in war-torn Israel and informed that under "Operation Ajay" the embassy will help Indians who want to return to India. "As I said yesterday, the Embassy of India in Tel Aviv has been working continuously to ensure the safety and welfare of all our Indian citizens in Israel. Yesterday, the external affairs minister announced Operation Ajay to help those Indians who wish to return to India. And today, under Operation Ajay, the first flight is going back to India," he said. He added, "It's going to have almost 200 Indian citizens - students, caregivers, and business professionals, and we are trying to ensure that we have a similar flight in the coming days. We will have, one flight tomorrow...I would like to reach out to my fellow Indian citizens here and urge them to remain calm and stay safe by following the local safety advisories and I want to tell them that we're always there with them. We are standing with them." In an exclusive interview with ANI, an Indian citizen returning back to India in the first flight from Tel Aviv thanked the Indian government for assisting in the tough times and asserted that they have got a lot of help through "Operation Ajay". Earlier on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "As announced by EAM yesterday, Operation Ajay has been launched to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to come back. The first chartered flight will be reaching Tel Aviv later tonight to pick up the Indian citizens and is likely to return to India tomorrow morning," the external affairs ministry spokesperson said while addressing a media briefing here today."We are keeping a close watch on the situation in Israel." The MEA spokesperson also said that there were no Indian casualties so far."We haven't heard of any casualty so far," he said."Around 18,000 Indians are in Israel. There is conflict going on and it is a matter of concern. Indians advised to follow advisories issued by our mission," Bagchi said. "Operation Ajay" was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday. The Indian embassy in Israel is providing assistance to Indian companies and has set up a helpline for Indian citizens in need of assistance. The MEA had set up a 24-hour control room in view of the escalating conflict. The control room will help monitor the situation and provide information and assistance. Earlier, the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar chaired a meeting to review preparations for "Operation Ajay". (ANI) Massive images of Israeli hostages, including of babies, elderly men and women were projected at the side of the United Nations headquarters in New York, demanding the release of the hostages in Gaza. The images of the hostages projected at the UN headquarters, by a group of Israelis living in the US, included 4-year-old Ariel, 85-year-old Yaffa among others. A message projected at the UN headquarters reads, "Abducting Israelis civilians is a crime against humanity," "Hamas is ISIS," "Bring them home now." The Command Centre in the US for the families of the hostages called for the release of all hostages, whose captivity they noted is against international law. It demanded for immediate facilitation of humanitarian corridor to provide medicine and essential provisions. In addition, the Command Centre called for the intervention of world leaders, particularly Arab World. Command Centre activists in New York said, "The world must know. The world needs to wake up. We will not rest until our brothers and sisters, who were violently and murderously kidnapped, will come home to their families." Earlier on Thursday, locals held a demonstration in Tel Aviv and urged the Israeli government to exchange hostages/prisoners with terrorist group Hamas. The demonstrators have called on the Israeli government to talk to Hamas and ensure that the women and children who are held captive are released. They used placards and raised slogans to raise the demands. "The government of Israel should talk to Hamas to ensure that the women, children and civilians who have been taken hostage should be released," a local protesting in Tel Aviv amid Hamas attack on Israel told ANI. Another protesting local said that the government should pull out all stops to make sure the kidnapped hostages are released. On Monday, Israel''s ambassador to the United Nations said that Hamas terrorists were holding as many as 150 people hostage in regions across Gaza after their raids on southern Israel on Saturday. Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, on Friday said that the death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 and more than 3000 have been injured. He also touched on the ongoing efforts to collect the bodies and bring them to Tel Aviv for identification before handing them over to their loved ones. Calling it a "tedious and detailed process", he noted that Israel has never in history faced such a situation. "Unfortunately the number of Israeli casualties has risen to 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers and more than 3000 wounded. There is a massive national effort involving almost all of the security organisations and many of the ministries of the Israeli state, which is focused on taking the bodies from the same communities that we spoke about yesterday, like for instance ... and other communities and the entire southern area, collecting the bodies, bringing them to a centre in Tel Aviv, identifying them and then making sure they are next to their kin. Their loved ones are able to take them and to provide them with a final and respectable burial that''s ongoing," Lt. Col. Conricus said. "It is a tedious and long and detailed process, taking lots of resources. We have never, ever in our history been forced to deal with such a situation and it is ongoing. It will take days and as we match and identify more and more of the Israeli bodies that are uncovered in the communities, we will have more information about missing persons," he added. (ANI) Israeli defence forces armed with tanks are positioning themselves on the country's southern border with Gaza after the Israeli military on Friday called for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City. The Israeli Defence Forces has asked civilians to relocate from their homes and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza for their own safety. The IDF stated that citizens should return only when advised to do so. It also asked citizens to not approach the area on the security fence with Israel. In a statement shared on X, IDF stated, "The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, as shown on the map. The Hamas terrorist organization waged a war against the State of Israel and Gaza City is an area where military operations take place. This evacuation is for your own safety." "Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the military said. "Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians," it said. The Israeli Defence Forces asserted that in the following day they will continue to operate with significant force in Gaza and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. Meanwhile, Hamas has dismissed Israel's orders for Palestinians to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip and asked the residents to stay put, the Times of Israel said. At least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, CNN reported citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. At least 36 people have died and more than 650 have been injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that more than 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, CNN reported. He further said that nearly 218,000 of those are sheltering in 92 schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency. Earlier in the day, Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said that the death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 and more than 3000 have been injured. He also touched on the ongoing efforts to collect the bodies and bring them to Tel Aviv for identification before handing them over to their loved ones. Calling it a "tedious and detailed process", he noted that Israel has never in history faced such a situation. "Unfortunately the number of Israeli casualties has risen to 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers and more than 3000 wounded. There is a massive national effort involving almost all of the security organisations and many of the ministries of the Israeli state, which is focused on taking the bodies from the same communities that we spoke about yesterday, like for instance ... and other communities and the entire southern area, collecting the bodies, bringing them to a centre in Tel Aviv, identifying them and then making sure they are next to their kin. Their loved ones are able to take them and to provide them with a final and respectable burial that's ongoing," Lt. Col. Conricus said. "It is a tedious and long and detailed process, taking lots of resources. We have never, ever in our history been forced to deal with such a situation and it is ongoing. It will take days and as we match and identify more and more of the Israeli bodies that are uncovered in the communities, we will have more information about missing persons," he added. (ANI) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday arrived in Israel with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola to express solidarity with the Israeli people in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack. "I have arrived in Israel with @EP_President to express our solidarity with the Israeli people in the wake of the horrific Hamas terrorist attack," the European Commission President wrote on 'X'. United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin also arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday even as high-ranking US officials continued their reachout efforts in the region. On arrival in Tel Aviv, Lloyd Austin said that US support for Israel was ironclad. "Just landed in Tel Aviv. Today, I'll meet with Prime Minister @netanyahu, Minister @YoavGallant & other senior leaders to demonstrate that America's support for Israel's security is ironclad & talk to them face-to-face about their defence needs. We stand w/ the people of Israel," he posted on X. Meanwhile, as the Israel-Hamas conflict entered the seventh day, the Israel Defence Forces called for an immediate evacuation of Gaza. In a statement, the IDF said that all civilians of Gaza City must move from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza. The IDF asked civilians to distance themselves from Hamas terrorists who are using them as human shields. The IDF said they will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. Hamas has dismissed Israel's orders for Palestinians to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip and asked the residents to stay put, the Times of Israel said. At least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, CNN reported citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. At least 36 people have died and more than 650 have been injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that more than 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, CNN reported. He further said that nearly 218,000 of those are sheltering in 92 schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency. Earlier in the day, Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said that the death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 and more than 3000 have been injured. He also touched on the ongoing efforts to collect the bodies and bring them to Tel Aviv for identification before handing them over to their loved ones. Calling it a "tedious and detailed process", he noted that Israel has never in history faced such a situation. "Unfortunately the number of Israeli casualties has risen to 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers and more than 3000 wounded. There is a massive national effort involving almost all of the security organisations and many of the ministries of the Israeli state, which is focused on taking the bodies from the same communities that we spoke about yesterday, like for instance ... and other communities and the entire southern area, collecting the bodies, bringing them to a centre in Tel Aviv, identifying them and then making sure they are next to their kin. Their loved ones are able to take them and to provide them with a final and respectable burial that's ongoing," Lt. Col. Conricus said. (ANI) The US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns expressed shock over the attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing, and offered full support to the victim. This comes after an Israeli embassy staffer was hospitalized after being attacked in China's capital city Beijing, The Times of Israel reported citing Israel's Foreign Ministry. "We are shocked by today's attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing. I spoke with Israel's Ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, and have offered our full support to the Israeli Embassy and Israeli community in China," the US envoy posted on X (formerly Twitter). The diplomat is in stable condition, the report said. A motive behind the attack, which did not occur at the embassy is being investigated, Israel's Foreign Ministry said. Israelis and Jews across the world have been advised to be on alert on Friday as terrorist group Hamas has called for a "day of rage," The Times of Israel reported. In its first statement following the Hamas strikes on Israel, China urged both sides to "exercise restraint" and embrace a "two-state solution." Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Thursday talked with Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, chief advisor of the Presidency of Brazil, over a phone call and exchanged views on the ongoing conflict, Xinhua reported. Noting that China is "deeply saddened" by the rising tension between the Palestinians and Israel and the huge civilian casualties, Wang said China opposes acts that harm civilians and condemns violations of international law, the China-based news agency said today. He said China supports the United States Security Council in holding an emergency meeting on the Israel-Hamas conflict. According to the Israeli Defence Forces, the death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has crossed 1,300 and more than 3000 people have been injured. Hamas terror group launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, with a barrage of rockets being fired into Israel. Hamas has dismissed Israel's orders for Palestinians to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip and asked the residents to stay put, the Times of Israel said. At least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, CNN reported citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. At least 36 people have died and more than 650 have been injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. (ANI) Director Pawo Choyning Dorji, known for his acclaimed film 'Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,' has returned with a "thought-provoking" narrative in his latest offering, 'The Monk and the Gun', the Bhutan Live reported. This gem of a movie, representing Bhutan at the Academy Awards, weaves together humour, social commentary, and a deep exploration of the clash between Western values and a traditional South Asian culture. These are one of the moments when a filmmaker's unique perspective shines a light on the complexities of culture clash and societal change. Set against the backdrop of Bhutan's transition to democracy in 2006, 'The Monk and the Gun' takes viewers on a whimsical journey through a society grappling with change. Dorji, who spent time in both Bhutan and the United States, brings a unique perspective to the table, shedding light on how Bhutan's slow-to-modernize kingdom is perceived by the outside world. The juxtaposition of his experiences creates a rich tapestry for storytelling, the Bhutan Live reported. One central question the film playfully explores is, 'What would a monk want with a gun?' This enigmatic premise paves the way for a shrewdly satirical fable in which Western ideals collide with the deeply rooted culture of Bhutan. The film keeps audiences guessing about the characters' motivations, creating a sense of suspense that pays off beautifully in the end. The film's humour arises from the Bhutanese citizens' bewilderment at the concept of elections, something they refer to as if it were a "new pig disease." "In contrast to the American emphasis on popular rule, Bhutan's transition to democracy is voluntary rather than revolutionary. The director cleverly uses this situation to comment on the increasingly polarized American political landscape. It highlights how some Bhutanese citizens are content with their existing system, even passing up the opportunity to choose their own leader in favour of their beloved king," Bhutan Live reported. As the film unfolds, it becomes clear that not everyone is happy with the changes taking place in Bhutan. The titular monk, portrayed by Tandin Wangchuk, represents a voice of dissent, questioning Bhutan's shift from Buddhism to consumerism and self-interest. Dorji masterfully keeps the monk's intentions ambiguous, challenging the audience to interpret his actions. This subtlety adds depth to the story, allowing for various interpretations. The central plot device, an antique rifle from the US Civil War, becomes a symbol of Western influence in this remote Himalayan kingdom. The pursuit of this rare firearm by multiple characters, including a shifty American named Ronald Colman, underscores the film's critique of how Western concepts have infiltrated and sometimes corrupted Bhutanese society. This critique extends from mass-exported notions of toxic masculinity found in James Bond movies to the global dominance of products like Coca-Cola, according to Bhutan Live. "While Bhutan's introduction of elections may seem empowering, Dorji's film raises a poignant question: Is this shift away from a collective civic identity toward a more self-interested American mentality truly progress? Through intricate storytelling and a well-designed puzzle of interconnected elements, the film gradually unravels its underlying message. It's in the film's humorous and immensely satisfying finale that the true intent of the narrative becomes clear," Bhutan Live reported. In 'The Monk and the Gun', Pawo Choyning Dorji invites viewers to reflect on the impact of Western influence on a society that has remained relatively untouched for centuries. With humour, wit, and a touch of mystery, he ultimately suggests that Bhutan has valuable lessons to offer the world, even as it navigates the challenges of modernization and democracy. As the film represents Bhutan on the global stage, it also serves as a reminder of the power of cinema to bridge cultural divides and ignite meaningful conversations about our ever-evolving world, as per Bhutan Live. (ANI) Thousands of Afghan families in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are concerned about their stay in Pakistan after the government proposed a deadline for the unregistered foreigners to leave the country before October 31, The News International newspaper reported. The News International is an English-language newspaper in Pakistan. The deadline is for undocumented foreigners who neither possess any proof of registration (PoR) card issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees nor any visa or other document to legalize their stay in Pakistan. There are reports that thousands of Afghan families are also believed to have obtained Pakistani CNICs through fake documents. The government decision has triggered concern among all families and individuals settled in urban and rural parts of KP. Only the refugees possessing PoR cards or any other document that legalize their stay have been told not to get worried as they will not be deported in the coming drive. Meanwhile, a number of political leaders and people from other walks of life have asked the Pakistan government to take care of the honour of the Afghan families settled in the country as guests for decades. As per officials, there are around 0.7 million Afghans living in various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as refugees. The highest number of these refugees, over 221,300, are settled in the provincial capital, according to The News International. Thousands of other Afghans are also believed to be living in KP without any document that legalizes their stay in Pakistan. A large number of unregistered families have started packing up to return to Afghanistan after the authorities set October 31 as the deadline for their deportation. Scores of these families are entering Afghanistan daily via Torkham. The Federal Investigation Agency and other agencies are collecting the details of those who obtained Pakistani CNICs in the last several years and own properties and businesses. An official of the FIA said they are working on such cases and have recently arrested a few officials of a government department involved in issuing fake CNICs to foreigners. Police have arrested hundreds of unregistered Afghans during the current year under 14 Foreigners Act for not possessing any documents. Besides, according to police, 385 Afghan nationals were arrested for alleged involvement in crimes in the provincial capital during the current year, as per The News International. (ANI) Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Friday visited the 24/7 control room set up in New Delhi as part of Operation Ajay. He said India continues to monitor the situation in Israel and provide necessary information and assistance. He further said the government is always committed to the safety of Indians abroad. "Visited 24*7 MEA control room set up in New Delhi as part of #OperationAjay. We continue to monitor the situation and provide necessary information & assistance. The government is always committed to the safety of Indians abroad," the MoS wrote on 'X'. Meanwhile, a flight carrying the first batch of Indians, who were stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war, landed in New Delhi under 'Operation Ajay' on Friday morning. As many as 212 Indian nationals from Israel arrived at the Delhi airport. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar was present at the airport to welcome them. With folded hands, Chandrasekhar greeted the returning Indians. He then interacted with the students. The union minister reassured the passengers, saying India's commitment to the safety of every Indian is unwavering. Prime Minister Modi is determined to protect them, he added. "Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them and bring them back home safely. We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the flight crew of this Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly and back home to their loved ones," Chandrasekhar said. Earlier on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "As announced by EAM yesterday, Operation Ajay has been launched to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to come back. The first chartered flight will be reaching Tel Aviv later tonight to pick up the Indian citizens and is likely to return to India tomorrow morning," the external affairs ministry spokesperson said while addressing a media briefing here today."We are keeping a close watch on the situation in Israel." The MEA spokesperson also said that there were no Indian casualties so far."We haven't heard of any casualty so far," he said."Around 18,000 Indians are in Israel. There is conflict going on and it is a matter of concern. Indians advised to follow advisories issued by our mission," Bagchi said. "Operation Ajay" was launched by PM Modi to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday. The Indian embassy in Israel is providing assistance to Indian companies and has set up a helpline for Indian citizens in need of assistance. (ANI) Taliban in Afghanistan has refused to accept aid from Pakistan for earthquake victims, Pakistan-based The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Afghanistan was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake last Saturday, leaving at least 1,000 people dead and affecting many villages. There was further damage when another quake hit the region on Wednesday. Pakistan offered support to the country as Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar announced sending rescue and relief teams along with essential aid. However, the consignment and rescuers were not dispatched to Afghanistan after Kabul refused to give clearance. Although there was no official word from either side, the current tension between the two countries seemed to be the main reason for the Afghan rejection. As per The Express Tribune, the main reason Pakistan did not send rescue and relief teams and the aid was because of the Afghan Taliban's reluctance to accept them. The development was seen in the context of ongoing tension between the two countries over the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan's recent series of moves that include the deportation of all illegal Afghan immigrants, visa policy for Afghans and restrictions imposed on Afghan imports, further complicated relations between the two countries. At a weekly news briefing on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan expressed deep sympathy with its Afghan "brothers and sisters, as they face a very difficult situation following the earthquake that took place a few days ago". "Pakistan also stands in solidarity with its Afghan brothers and sisters and remains in contact with the Interim Afghan Government to meet any needs that they may have during the relief and recovery efforts," she added without further sharing details as to why Pakistan did not dispatch aid to the neighbouring country yet. Meanwhile, the spokesperson strongly condemned the "indiscriminate and disproportionate" use of force by Israeli authorities against the civilian population in Gaza and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. "We are deeply concerned about the fast-deteriorating and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza due to the inhumane blockade and collective punishment by Israeli forces. The decision to cut off electricity, fuel and water supplies is unjust and should be reversed, as it would severely impact the lives of the Palestinians residing in the enclave," she stressed, as per Dawn. (ANI) Stating that India has been making great strides in the field of space exploration, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet said that there is no limit to what an inspired and dreaming Indian population can achieve. Pesquet was on his first visit to India, where he met with Indian Space Research Organisation S Somanath. He also interacted with the leaders of the space community, the young entrepreneurs, and the students. "French astronaut @Thom_astro @esa was all praise for India as he concludes his first visit to the country," the French Embassy in India posted on X (formerly Twitter). Pesquet also heaped praise on India's Moon and Mars space missions, adding that the Gaganyan project will inspire the entire nation and ultimately change the world. Taking to X, Pesquet stated, "My first time in India, and I can see how this won't be the last! From Mars to the surface of the moon, and soon humans in orbit, India has been making great strides in space exploration, and the world is noticing. It's been very energizing to speak to the leaders of the space community, the young entrepreneurs, the students and the pupils and realize how they dream and make things happen every day." "With the Gaganyaan project, India is strongly engaging in human spaceflight with their own capsule and rocket, and it's easy to see here how this will inspire the entire nation, and ultimately change the world: there's no limit to what an inspired and dreaming Indian population can do," he added. https://x.com/FranceinIndia/status/1712752777343226096?s=20 Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters. This program will make India the fourth nation to launch a manned spaceflight mission after the US, Russia, and China. The Gaganyaan mission entails the safe transportation of astronauts to space and back. A crucial component of this mission is the deployment of drogue parachutes, which play a pivotal role in stabilizing the crew module and reducing its velocity to a safe level during re-entry. On August 23, India took a giant leap as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the Moon's South Pole, 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. While, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has accomplished the launch of Aditya-L1, its inaugural Solar Mission. Aditya-L1 is the first space-based observatory class Indian solar mission to study the Sun from a substantial distance of 1.5 million kilometres. It will take approximately 125 days to reach the L1 point. Earlier on September 24, 2014, India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered into an elliptical orbit around planet Mars, making India the first nation to succeed in the Mars mission in the very first attempt. (ANI) Responding to an email questionnaire sent by ANI on the recent Israel-Hamas war that has engulfed the Middle East region, the Iranian Ambassador to India, Iranian Ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi, distanced his country from Hamas' recent attack on South Israeli communities along the border with Gaza. The full transcript of the email questionnaire is as follows: ANI Question: What do you think about recent developments in Israel? Iraj Elahi-Iranian Ambassador to India: What surprises me the most is that we still rarely see an accurate representation of what really happens in Palestine. Israel commits countless atrocities against innocent Palestinians in Gaza, yet a significant portion of the media continues to overlook the Palestinians. Instead, they choose to concoct new evidence against Hamas to justify the criminal actions of the occupiers and the siege of Gaza. The Zionists act as if Palestinians are not human, suggesting that no one should care about their ceaseless suffering. This behavior illustrates the sheer brutality Palestinians endure. Regrettably, their voices and demands continue to be overshadowed in the media. No one dares to question why they should be deprived of basic human necessities like water, power, medicine, and other essential needs. The vast majority of the media deliberately ignores the truth, turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the voices and faces of Palestinians whose only "fault" is being born in Palestine. ANI: There are reports by Western media that Iran helped plot attack on Israel over several weeks? Your comment on that. Iraj Elahi-Iranian Ambassador to India: Western media tries to deny the independent power of Hamas by attributing recent developments to Iran's support. However, in truth, the strength of Hamas stands as an undeniable fact, and it remains an independent player that can steer the course of events on its own. As the Supreme Leader has stated, Hamas executed this operation without the assistance of Iran. Nonetheless, Iran will always support the Palestinian cause and the legitimate resistance of the Palestinians, consistently condemning the ruthless violence and occupation by the Zionists. ANI: Iranian President and Saudi Crown Prince discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Wednesday, in the first telephone call between the two leaders since a China-brokered deal between Tehran and Riyadh to resume ties. If you can talk about the discussions? Iraj Elahi-Iranian Ambassador to India: Iran and Saudi Arabia, like other Muslim countries, have already announced their staunch support for Palestine cause. However, they decided to engage in dialogue to better understand each other's viewpoints and assessments regarding recent developments, with the aim of reaching a more common understanding. During the conversation, both sides emphasized the necessity of ending hostilities against innocent people and the crucial need for unity within the Muslim world in opposition to the criminal acts of Apartheid regime. ANI: Iran is known to be one of Hamas's biggest benefactors, contributing funds, weapons, and training. What will you say on that? Iraj Elahi-Iranian Ambassador to India: The Palestinians have independently embraced the path of truth, and they have become an inspiration for everyone resisting oppression. We admire the Palestinians; our hearts are with them and we support their legitimate resistance against the apartheid regime. ANI: What about the peace in the West Asia region and Middle East region? We have seen massive changes there. Like Abraham accords. Do you think that all is going to square 1 and this will have a fallout on the whole of the region and the world? Iraj Elahi-Iranian Ambassador to India: Zionist extremism is the primary cause of instability in the region. As long as the basic rights of Palestinians are denied, no external solution can achieve stability. In other words, any plan that doesn't address the root causes of the conflict is destined to fail. The wounds of Palestine continue to bleed, affecting the entirety of West Asia. I believe that stability is unattainable without recognizing the rights of Palestinians. External solutions proposed by outsiders may only destabilize the region and worsen the overall situation. ANI: UK Foreign Secretary and USA Foreign Secretary are in Israel. President Biden said that his administration has warned Iran not to escalate the conflict between Tehran's proxy Hamas and Israel. your comment? Iraj Elahi-Iranian Ambassador to India: As we said Iran played no role in the recent developments. It was the inevitable and foreseeable response of the Palestinians to the continuous oppression by the apartheid regime. Western media tries to attribute this to external factors, especially Iran, to hide the role of Zionist regime as the primary cause of the conflict. Furthermore, the US and its allies are deeply concerned about the emergence of new conflict fronts, as they recognize the vulnerabilities of the Zionist regime. (ANI) The two discussed making Intellectual Property (IP) more 'Global South' friendly. "A good meeting with Daren Tang, Director General of @WIPO. Discussed the benefits of a closer India-WIPO relationship. Focused on making IP more Global South friendly. Also spoke about the promise of space technology and traditional knowledge respectively," Jaishankar posted on X (formerly Twitter). The WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. It is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations. Creators and innovators worldwide use IP to translate their ideas into assets. These properties create economic and social benefits that improve the lives of people everywhere, according to WIPO. India is a part of several WIPO Treaties including IPO Convention (1975), Paris Convention (1998) and Vienna Agreement (2019). India was also the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty. Earlier on Thursday, EAM Jaishankar led the Indian delegation in the 23rd Council of Ministers (COM) meeting and the 25th Committee of Senior Officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held in Sri Lanka In an official press release, MEA said that in the meeting India assumed the role of the Vice Chair of IORA for the year 2023-25, followed by the Chairship in 2025-27. Prior to this meeting, the IORA Senior Officials reviewed the entire range of IORA's ongoing and future work and activities for 2022-27. The COM adopted the Colombo Communique and the 'IORA Vision 2030 and Beyond', among other IORA-related documents. (ANI) The Lahore police on Thursday launched a crackdown and arrested more than 230 protesters of the All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA) Punjab, many of them teachers, who were holding a sit-in outside the Civil Secretariat against the proposed privatisation of public schools, amendments to pension regulations and end of leave encashment, Dawn reported. Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper. The alliance launched the protest campaign on Tuesday and blocked the Lower Mall for traffic. The protest turned into a sit-in after the government turned a deaf ear to the protesters' demands. A total of 34 organisations representing the employees from various Punjab government departments, including health, education and higher education, along with members of the All Pakistan Clerks Association (Apca), were participating in the sit-in. Lahore police and district administration launched a crackdown on the protesters, including teachers, early on Thursday morning and arrested 91 of them. The protest's organisers dispersed after the police action. As per Dawn, it's worth noting that some women who were also a part of the protest were allegedly subjected to baton charge and were arrested. Pictures and videos circulating on social media showed police launching baton charges at the protestors. The policemen could also be seen torturing the students who reached there to show solidarity with their teachers. AGEGA and Punjab Teacher Union President Chaudhry Muhammad Sarfraz said it was regrettable that the teachers, including women, were severely tortured and were shifted to lock-ups while fake cases were registered against them. He demanded the government release the employees and also take back its leave encashment notification and said that the state oppression could not force them to end the protest. He said more than 100 employees from different departments, including the school education and higher education departments, APCA members and nurses were arrested in Lahore. One of the protesters, Tariq Zaidi, told Dawn police had launched the first operation on Wednesday night and arrested 80 workers while another operation was launched on Thursday morning when 150 more employees were arrested. He said police took away their camps, chairs, tables and other equipment and declared the arrest of only 91 employees. Earlier, Islampura police registered a case against the protesters on the charge of attacking the policemen. (ANI) EXETER, N.H. Doug Burgum has a lot to say but not much time to say it. The GOP presidential candidate and current North Dakota governor trails in the polls with less than a month until the third Republican debate and a little more than three months until a New Hampshire primary in late January. Burgum, 67, is one of the lesser-known GOP contenders. He is lagging in recent polling at just 1% as of Oct. 2, according to a Morning Consult survey. He is tied with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and is ahead of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The North Dakota governor was the final candidate to qualify for the last Republican debate. But he's surging forward with his campaign and pushing an agenda he believes will make the U.S. stronger and Americans happier. "When we announced on June 7 that we were running this year, we said there's three things we're going to focus on: the economy, energy and national security," Burgum said early Friday at a New Hampshire town hall sponsored by the USA TODAY Network. Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum speaks during the Seacoast Media Group and USA TODAY Network 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Town Hall Forum. Burgum has been an underdog before First entering politics as a gubernatorial contender in 2016, Burgum was seen as a long shot, trailing by 49% in the GOP primary. But voters chose the underdog candidate who went on to win the governor's race by 20%. Though voters say his message resonates and differs among the other contenders in the Republican field, they aren't sure he has what it takes to make it to the White House. "Unfortunately, I still have this thing in the back of my head though the man's at 2%. Where is he going to go with this?" said John Sweeny, 74, after hearing Burgum speak Friday. A retired appellate judge, Sweeny traveled to Exeter from the Hudson Valley in New York to see Burgum. Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum speaks during the Seacoast Media Group and USA TODAY Network 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Town Hall Forum held in the historic Exeter Town Hall in Exeter, New Hampshire. Burgum: 'Addiction is everywhere in our country' Burgum said addressing the addiction epidemic would be a top priority in his administration because it affects every family, community and business throughout the United States. The issue is personal for Burgum and his wife, who struggled with addiction for more than two decades. She entered recovery and later decided to come forward and open up about her experience. "This is not a Republican problem. It's not a Democrat problem. Addiction doesn't discriminate," he told town hall guests. Burgum said he would treat addiction and mental health as a health care issue, ensuring that there's a reimbursement system that supports mental health and that jails can serve as proper health care facilities for those who are struggling. "We're working to break that cycle. It'll make our community safer. It's going to break the cycle, and guess what, fiscal conservatives? It costs a lot less," he said. Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum speaks during the Seacoast Media Group and USA TODAY Network 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Town Hall Forum. Burgum on technology, innovation and energy Burgum said that as president he would address environmental and energy policies and that the country's top leader should understand the intersection of the economy, technology and innovation on energy production. Burgum said his state, North Dakota, has set a goal to become carbon-neutral by 2030 with no new mandates or regulations. "We're doing that through innovation, not regulation," he said. He said failing energy policies are taking away American jobs and outsourcing them to China. "If we think that somehow we're going to save the environment by outsourcing our dependence to them (China) ... we're in a cold war with China, absolutely we are, and then we increase our dependence on them," Burgum said. Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum greets supporters after the Seacoast Media Group and USA TODAY Network 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Town Hall Forum held in the historic Exeter Town Hall in Exeter, New Hampshire. Burgum: 'Serving the customer' The governor and former businessman touted his experience in the governor's office and working for the everyday American. "I will never be a senator. I will never be a congressman. I have zero interest. I'm an elected leader," he said. "My whole mentality is about serving the customer and taking care of people." The message resonated with Jo-Ann Jacoby, 76, of Exeter. She said she likes the way Burgum speaks and described him as "down to earth." "Some of the others just brag about themselves and insult everybody," she said. "I don't like that." Oct 13, 2023; Exeter, NH, USA; Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum greets supporters after the Seacoast Media Group and USA TODAY Network 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Town Hall Forum held in the historic Exeter Town Hall in Exeter, New Hampshire. The current Governor of North Dakota spoke to prospective New Hampshire voters about issues during the hour-long forum. Mandatory Credit: Josh Morgan-USA TODAY ORG XMIT: USAT-731985 ORIG FILE ID: 20231013_ajw_qu0_093.JPG This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 5 key takeaways from the Doug Burgum town hall in N.H. Former Vice President Mike Pence meets with New Hampshire voters Friday, the latest Republican presidential hopeful to participate in this weeks 2024 town hall forums hosted by Seacoastonline and the USA TODAY Network. The presidential forums will be held at the historic Exeter Town Hall on Front Street in Exeter, New Hampshire, an iconic location that has long been a favorite of presidential candidates. It's where the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, spoke in March 1860, shortly before launching his successful campaign. Pence is the first former vice president in modern times to run against the president under whom he served. He will take questions from voters at 3 p.m. Doors open at 2 p.m. Here are five things to know about Mike Pence ahead of the event. Mike Pence broke with Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 During most of his four years in the Trump administration, Pence was exceedingly loyal to President Donald Trump, being careful to never steal the spotlight from the president and keeping any disagreements they had out of sight. That changed on Jan. 6, 2021, when Pence refused to use his ceremonial role overseeing Congress acceptance of the nation's electoral college vote to try to overturn the election. Trump branded him a coward, and Pences safety was threatened by rioters storming the Capitol. Pence has since said Trumps actions disqualify him for a second shot at the White House. "I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States, Pence said while launching his campaign in June. And anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again. Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks to the crowd during a Labor Day Picnic on Sept. 4, 2023 in Salem, New Hampshire. Political career before Donald Trump While Pence entered the race with high name recognition, he argued he was well known but not known well. Hes sought to reintroduce himself to voters as a former Indiana governor and congressman. In the U.S. House, he was a leader among conservatives pushing back on government spending, including a Medicare drug benefit and President George H.W. Bush's signature education bill. As Indiana governor, Pence pushed through tax cuts and expanded health care through an alternative Medicaid program. He also drew national attention for signing and then backtracking on a bill that critics said would have allowed businesses to deny services to LGBTQ people. Before being elected to office, Pence was the host of a conservative radio talk show that he called Rush Limbaugh on decaf. Fighting abortion is a long-time cause for Mike Pence Pence regularly tells voters that his fight for the babies was his motivation for running for Congress, where he was willing to shut down the federal government in 2011 in an effort to defund Planned Parenthood. As Indianas governor, he signed one of the nation's most restrictive anti-abortion laws. As vice president, he was the Trump administrations most prominent opponent of abortion. And as a presidential candidate, hes criticized Trump and other rivals for not taking a strong enough stance on an issue that Pence said requires unapologetic leadership. He has vowed that he wont rest or relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in the country. Pence supports a nationwide ban on abortion, as opposed to the state-by-state approach adopted after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade last year. Former Vice President and Mike Pence, a presidential hopeful, is interviewed by a Fox News reporter as his wife, Karen Pence, looks on in the spin room after the Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Mike Pence calls Donald Trump populism a 'road to ruin' for GOP Before Pence rode Trumps populist wave to the White House, his political hero was former President Ronald Reagan. Now that Pence wants to return to Washington as president, he's warning his party that Trumps populism is a road to ruin. Will we be the party of conservatism or will we follow the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative principles? Pence said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in September. "The future of this movement in this party belongs to one or the other - not both. Pence is trying to revive Reagans three-legged stool rubric of uniting social, economic and defense conservatives. Hes criticized Trump for not being sufficiently conservative on restricting abortion and reforming federal benefits, as well as accusing him of wanting the U.S. to retreat from playing a strong international role. Pence said that the populist movement in the Republican Party would rather substitute our faith in limited government and traditional values with an agenda stitched together by little else than personal grievances and performative outrage. Presidential hopeful and former Vice President Mike Pence greets people as he arrives at a campaign event at American Legion Hall Post 27 in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on August 4, 2023. Mike Pence wants to restore civility in public life Pence has long called himself a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order. He frequently references his faith and has said he can create the conditions for solving the big issues facing the nation by restoring civility in public life. It's always been our aspiration to treat others the way we want to be treated, to show that you can take a strong stance on your principles but be respectful of differing viewpoints, he told USA TODAY. Democracy, he argues, depends on heavy doses of civility. Part of the reason Im running," he tells voters, "is because I think theres a real desire across the country for us to elevate the debate." Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attends a Labor Day Picnic on September 4, 2023 in Salem, New Hampshire. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Pence: 5 things to know as he courts 2024 NH voters Photo: The Canadian Press Former Aurora, Colo., Police Department officer Jason Rosenblatt, left, looks at his attorney, Harvey Steinberg, as they leave the courtroom after Rosenblatt was acquitted of charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain after a trial in the Adams County, Colo., courthouse Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in Brighton, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Jurors convicted a Denver-area police officer of homicide Thursday and acquitted another of all charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing. Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault by a 12-person jury. They found officer Jason Rosenblatt not guilty. Roedema, who kept his head bowed after the verdict was read, faces up to three years in prison on the more serious homicide charge. Rosenblatt hugged his supporters as he walked out of court. McClains mother listened to the verdict from the front row, where Attorney General Phil Weiser had his hand on her shoulder. Sheneen McClain held her right hand high in a raised fist as she left the courtroom. She expressed disappointment in the verdict. This is the divided states of America, and thats what happens, she said as she walked away from the court house. McClain died after being put in a neck hold by a third officer and pinned to the ground, then injected by paramedics with an overdose of ketamine. Roedema and Rosenblatt were charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault all felonies. However, the jury as it went into deliberation was asked to consider a lesser form of assault for Roedema, the one he was found guilty of. The third Aurora officer and two paramedics were indicted on similar charges, but the paramedics have more counts. Roedema and another officer who was not charged held down McClain while paramedics administered the ketamine. Rosenblatts attorney had pointed out during the trial that he was not near McClain at that point in the confrontation. Attorneys for both defendants pointed to the ketamine as the cause of McClains death. Roedemas attorney said the officers were forced to react when McClain resisted and allegedly reached for the gun of one of the officers, a claim prosecutors disputed. Don Sisson, a defense lawyer for Roedema, has said officers had to act in the moment to protect themselves. They didnt get to watch the video over and over and over for three weeks before they get to act, he said Tuesday during closing statements. As the split verdict was read, Roedemas wife leaned forward in her seat with her head down as Rosenblatts wife patted her back. Sisson declined comment after the verdict was issued. Judge Mark Warner set sentencing for January 5, 2024. The three officers charged were the first on the scene and the ones who took McClain down the ground. At least three officers not charged were involved in restraining McClain at some point during the confrontation. One of them, officer Alicia Ward, testified for the prosecution that she had her hand on McClains head when the ketamine was administered but did not apply pressure. Ward said she would have applied pressure if McClain resisted at that point, but said she did not need to. The case initially did not receive widespread attention, but protests over the killing of George Floyd the following year sparked outrage over McClains death. His pleading words captured on body camera footage, Im an introvert and Im different, struck a chord. A local prosecutor in 2019 decided against criminal charges because the coroners office could not determine exactly how the 23-year-old massage therapist died. But Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ordered state Attorney General Phil Weisers office to take another look at the case in 2020, and the officers and paramedics were indicted in 2021 by a grand jury. The killings of McClain, Floyd and others triggered a wave of legislation that put limits on the use of neck holds in more than two dozen states. Colorado now tells paramedics not to give ketamine to people suspected of having a controversial condition known as excited delirium, which has symptoms including increased strength that has been associated with racial bias against Black men. Roedema and Rosenblatt did not testify in their defense at trial. Their attorneys blamed McClains death on the paramedics for injecting him with ketamine, which doctors said is what ultimately killed him. However, prosecutors argued that the officers restraint of McClain contributed. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber told jurors that Roedema and Rosenblatt also encouraged the paramedics to give McClain ketamine by describing him as having symptoms of excited delirium that they had learned about in training. But he said the officers did not tell them anything about McClains complaints that he could not breathe, something prosecutors said happened six times. Sheneen McClain sat with attorneys for the state in the front row of the courtroom during the trial, part of her quest to remind the mostly white jury that her son was a real person. She watched the encounter being played over and over again along with graphic photos from his autopsy. During testimony that stretched over three weeks, witnesses were limited to offering what they perceived someone to be doing or saying in the video. The video clips did not always provide a complete picture of what was happening, but Judge Mark Warner said the jurors were the only ones who could decide what they meant, just like any other piece of evidence. McClain was stopped Aug. 24, 2019, while walking home from a convenience store on a summer night, listening to music and wearing a mask that covered most of his face. A 911 caller reported him as suspicious, and the police stop quickly became physical after McClain, seemingly caught off guard, asked to be left alone. He had not been accused of committing any crime. The encounter quickly escalated, with Officers Nathan Woodyard, Roedema and Rosenblatt taking McClain to the ground, and Woodyard putting him in a neck hold and pressing against his carotid artery, temporarily rendering him unconscious. The officers told investigators they took McClain down after hearing Roedema say, He grabbed your gun dude. He later said Rosenblatts gun was the target. The initial statement was heard on the body camera footage but exactly what happened is difficult to see. The prosecution urged jurors to be skeptical, saying Rosenblatt said he could not feel anyone reaching for his gun. But defense lawyer Sisson pointed out that McClain said I intend to take my power back, which he argued showed intent. Paramedics injected McClain with ketamine as Roedema and another officer who was not charged held him on the ground. He went into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital and pronounced dead three days later. The doctor who performed McClains autopsy, Stephen Cina, has said he died of complications from the ketamine while also noting that occurred after the forcible restraint. However, Cina was not able to say if the death was a homicide or an accident or if the officers actions contributed to McClains death. Dr. Roger Mitchell, another forensic pathologist who reviewed the autopsy and body camera video, found their actions did play a role. He labeled the death a homicide. Under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor Generals prosecutors, the State Bureau of Investigation completed the pre-trial investigation and sent to court an indictment against six police officers of a company of the Berkut riot police, who were directly involved in the mass shootings of Euromaidan activists on 20 February 2014. Source: Office of the Prosecutor General; State Bureau of Investigation; an Ukrainska Pravda source in law enforcement bodies Details: Ukrainska Pravda stated that these are Dmytro Isakov, Roman Panchenko, Yevhen Pronoza, Yevhen Taranukha, Volodymyr Trepachov and Oleh Shabash. PHOTO: THE OFFICE OF PROSECUTOR GENERAL The investigation established that police officers of the Berkut company, which was subordinate to the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv, used their service smoothbore and automatic firearms, loaded with live ammunition, to shoot the protesters on Instytutska Street in Kyiv on 20 February 2014. As a result, 48 protesters were killed and 90 sustained gunshot wounds. Subsequently, the muder weapons were stolen, damaged and hidden. Some of them were recovered and identified during the investigation. As for the other 14 police officers of this unit, who were also involved in the shootings, the State Bureau of Investigation said that the investigation is at the final stage. The indictment was sent to the court for consideration in absentia, as the defendants are currently hiding in the territory of the aggressor country and have become citizens of the Russian Federation. A custodial measure of restraint was also imposed on the defendants in absentia. 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! What started as a wellness check ended with a man found dead inside his south Georgia home, police said. Officers were called Thursday, Oct. 12, after Margaret Sullivan, 67, was seen walking barefoot in a neighborhood on St. Simons Island, according to Glynn County police. A concerned individual took Sullivan to a fire station, and officers took her back home, police said in a news release. They said they tried to reach her husband, 66-year-old Lawrence Francis Sullivan, when they arrived but found him dead. His body was taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy, authorities said. His cause and manner of havent been determined. Margaret Sullivan was taken to a hospital in Brunswick for an evaluation. Her condition wasnt known as of Friday, Oct. 13. Police didnt release additional details but said the incident is under investigation. St. Simons Island is about 80 miles south of Savannah. Child welfare check turns violent as man opens fire on caseworkers, Nebraska cops say Cops ignored dying man in jail for 3 days, leading to slow, torturous death, suit says Midnight distress call leads police to private plane that crashed in woods, GA cops say Commentary: BRI paves way for peaceful development, common prosperity 08:17, October 13, 2023 By Ye Shan ( Xinhua This photo taken on Oct. 10, 2023 shows a decorated train at the Chinese-built Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP) in Munshiganj, Bangladesh. (Xinhua) As a key pillar of building a global community with a shared future, the BRI has brought concrete benefits and inspired hope worldwide, and will continue to pave the way for the peaceful development and common prosperity of the world. BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- During the past 10 years since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed by China, the wisdom and insight that are at the heart of the initiative have greatly contributed to the peaceful development and common prosperity of the world. Since its launch, the BRI has evolved from ideas into action, from a vision into reality, and from a general framework into concrete projects. It has been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform. According to the white paper titled "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future" released on Tuesday, by June 2023, China has signed more than 200 BRI cooperation agreements with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations across five continents, yielding a number of signature projects and small-scale yet impactful projects. Over the past decade, BRI cooperation has delivered real gains to participating countries. It has helped to resolve global development challenges, uphold world peace and improve the global governance system. The BRI has become a catalyst for peaceful development. Faced with huge challenges in the international community, China facilitates world peace and development under the framework of the BRI, without interfering in other countries' internal affairs or playing geopolitical games. This aerial photo taken on May 9, 2023 shows a port in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province. In 2013, China proposed the idea of building an "economic belt along the Silk Road" in Kazakhstan, which, combined with the proposal of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, eventually became the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) Through policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people exchanges, the initiative has promoted the joint efforts of countries to safeguard world peace and advance common development. It has become a just way to uphold peaceful development in accordance with the principles of the United Nations. In war-ravaged Iraq, rebuilding homes and boosting the economy are top priorities. In 2015, China and Iraq signed a cooperation document on jointly promoting BRI cooperation. In recent years, a large number of projects, including a huge power plant in Wasit Province and a sewage treatment plant in Babylon Province, built by Chinese enterprises, have been successfully implemented. These projects have promoted local economic and social development, and the improvement of people's lives has fundamentally eliminated the root causes of instability, consolidating the security situation that has improved in recent years. The BRI has brought opportunities for regional peace and stability and created a model for achieving common development, said Abdulla Al Saleh, undersecretary for foreign trade at the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy. The deepening of BRI cooperation has strengthened the driving force for global development and laid a more solid foundation for all countries to pursue common prosperity. China has hosted the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation twice, providing an important platform for participating countries and international organizations to expand exchanges, increase mutual trust and strengthen ties. The BRI cooperation has also overcome difficulties in infrastructure connectivity and made new progress and breakthroughs in international trade and investment, as well as industrial and financial cooperation. This aerial photo taken on Feb. 6, 2020 shows the Parapeti Bridge in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The Parapeti Bridge is one of the four longest bridges of the El Espino-Charagua-Boyuibe Highway project, a flagship project within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). (Xinhua/Xin Yuewei) By the end of June 2023, China has signed agreements on industrial capacity cooperation with more than 40 countries. These countries have expanded cooperation in traditional industries, and explored cooperation in emerging industries. Meanwhile, China has signed 21 free trade agreements with 28 countries and regions, and a total of 13 Chinese-funded banks have established 145 first-tier offices and branches in 50 BRI partner countries. In the process of BRI cooperation, China has dispatched more than 2,000 agricultural experts and technicians to over 70 countries and regions, helping reduce rural poverty in Asia, Africa, the South Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean by developing modern agriculture and increasing farming incomes. China has also aimed at achieving common prosperity by helping participating countries construct industrial parks and providing guidance for Chinese enterprises to create jobs for locals through high-level industrial cooperation. The World Bank has estimated that by 2030, BRI-related investment could lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty. As a key pillar of building a global community with a shared future, the BRI has brought concrete benefits and inspired hope worldwide, and will continue to pave the way for the peaceful development and common prosperity of the world. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Photo: SFU Simon Fraser University was given top marks by an annual national post-secondary rankings for a 15th time in the last 16 years. Maclean's Magazine ranked the Burnaby post-secondary first overall in its 2024 report today, Oct. 12, of comprehensive universities in Canada. The category shortlists schools with a "significant amount" of research activity and a wide variety of programs that include professional degrees. "I am so proud of our community and all the work from across the university that has led to this result as we work to advance an inclusive and sustainable future, together," said SFU president Joy Johnson in a statement. "Inspiring students, talented faculty and world-class educational programs distinguish SFU as a leading community-engaged research university. Our priorities are to build on these strengths to enhance the student experience, advance reconciliation and promote equity, diversity and inclusion across SFU." Breakdown Like 2023's rankings, SFU placed first in categories like best overall operating budget, student services, available student awards and library resources. The school also placed in the top three for reputation, student/faculty ratio, available faculty awards, social sciences and humanities grants, and medical/science grants. "The last year saw SFU continue to grow and build on its commitment to staff, students and faculty and our shared values," a release reads. "The Courtyard Residence building opened its doors to nearly 400 first-year students this fall and the Evolve E-Bike Share Program rolled out to give people a new, sustainable way of getting around Burnaby campus." Maclean's report classifies Indigenous languages, environmental science and sustainable energy engineering offerings as standout programs at SFU. The magazine, however, gave the Burnaby school a fifth ranking for total research dollars and ninth for available scholarships and bursaries. According to its research, Maclean's said SFU hosts nearly 12,800 full-time undergrads and almost 4,700 graduate students It's nearby UniverCity community on Burnaby Mountain, created on a goal of sustainable living, currently has a population of about 5,200 residents. Methodology Macleans yearly report puts Canadian universities into three categories: Recognizing the differences in types of institutions Levels of research funding, diversity of offerings Breadth and depth of graduate and professional programs The magazine then uses the most recent and public data available from Statistics Canada to compile and rank the schools, which need to have 1,000 full-time students or more. The success rate of a post-secondary's students and faculty, including major national academic awards in the last five years, account for a combined 40 per cent, 20 per cent each, of the final score. A school's resources total 22 per cent of the final ranking, 18 per cent from student support and 20 per cent by reputation. Hundreds of Afghans who risked their lives to work with the UK in Afghanistan and fled the Taliban are now stuck in neighbouring Pakistan as they wait to be relocated to the UK. Some have told the BBC their days are spent living in fear, as Pakistan starts a crackdown on migrants without visas after cross-border tensions rose. New court documents from Britain show that many face longer waits in part due to instructions by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - apparently to save money - banning their accommodation in hotels in the UK in all but extreme cases. The UK runs two schemes to resettle Afghans in Britain. The first is the Afghan Relocation and Assistance policy (ARAP) and the second is the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). The first is for Afghans who worked directly with British forces and their families, while the second is for those who worked in British-run civil schemes or are in vulnerable minority groups. Marzia, an assumed name, was an English teacher for the British Council. She is heavily pregnant and has been waiting for a UK visa for eight months. "My physical and mental health are not good," she says. "When the Taliban took over Afghanistan our lives were in danger. We had to live in hiding." Marzia is just one of many Afghans who worked for or with the UK before the Taliban retook power in 2021. Others include translators for the British army or worked on British-led projects to encourage democracy and equality. All were told they qualify for one of the UK's resettlement schemes. All are in Pakistan because the UK asked them to come to process their visas. Some have been here for months, others for more than a year. They have no legal access to education or work. Most we spoke to did not want to be quoted. Those who did asked for anonymity; we have changed their names. Many told us they were afraid of repercussions on their case, or that they or their family in Afghanistan could be targeted by the Taliban. The Taliban government has said there is an amnesty for Afghans who worked with international forces. Now there is a new fear: Pakistan has announced a crackdown on illegal migrants and plans to deport any without the right paperwork from the start of November. Marzia says her passport was taken by the UK authorities on her arrival and that her Pakistan visa has now expired. In late September she says she was told by her caseworker at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) - her point of contact in Pakistan - that she should not leave her guest house. That has meant she has already missed a doctor's appointment and doesn't know what to do about the birth. "It's impossible for me to give birth to my baby inside my hotel room. There isn't any facility [or] anyone to help me," she says. "Me and my baby's health will be in danger. We worked for them, [now] it's time for them to help us." People walk close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Torkham, in September Five other people with expired Pakistan visas also said the IOM, or their guesthouse quoting the IOM said, that they should not leave the premises. When asked, the IOM told the BBC that they had "not given the advice mentioned", saying: "IOM only advises to leave information about their whereabouts at their accommodation reception when leaving the premises to ensure follow up and support when and if needed." British cost-cutting Their plight comes as the British government and several ministers are sued by two Afghans, who say that their promised resettlement has been delayed in part by a November 2022 decision made by Mr Sunak. An email from the prime minister's office, submitted as evidence to the High Court in London yesterday, shows that Mr Sunak wanted to "manage the flow" of ARAP cases. His direction stated that those on the scheme would only be flown to the UK once suitable housing was found. Hotels were no longer an option. The email says that this "should represent an overall net saving to the taxpayer". Other emails show that the Ministry of Defence thought this applied to both UK schemes. Lawyers for the two refugees said that Mr Sunak's directive had effectively halted relocations - no visas had been issued between December 2022 and July of this year unless accommodation had been secured - and that this was done to save money. The government's lawyers said that accommodation in Pakistan was "not ideal" but "adequate", that those on the scheme had access to case workers and that there was "no legal obligation" for the government to provide education in this situation. While resettlement attempts had 'accelerated' this month - the BBC understands there are still flights bringing some Afghans to the UK - the government lawyers said there would still be about 2,300 in Pakistan on one scheme alone at the start of November. Waiting for answers We spoke to people on both of the UK government schemes. There is no way for the UK to process visa applications in Afghanistan so those approved for the schemes are asked to make their own way to a third country - usually Pakistan - for final checks. Even leaving the country is difficult; there is a long waiting list in Afghanistan for passports and obtaining a visa for Pakistan can take months. We spoke to several people who, despite the amnesty, said they lived in hiding from the Taliban government. In Pakistan, the UK government pays for their rooms and food, and many told the BBC that they had been told to bring minimal money to avoid issues at the border. They say they were told or assumed they would only spend a few weeks in Pakistan but have found themselves stuck with no answer from the UK. One charity that works to campaign for Afghan interpreters, the Sulha Alliance, told us that many had waited for more than a year - some were nearing two. Children stuck in limbo are missing out on education The group's co-founder Sara de Jong said the schemes were essential lifelines, but that "their execution has been too slow and ineffective". "Too many Afghan interpreters and others, who we promised to bring to safety more than two years ago, are still left in Afghanistan, or waiting in Pakistan or other third countries," Prof de Jong told the BBC. A UK government spokesperson said: "We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK, and will arrange and pay for their travel when suitable accommodation in the UK has been secured." "The UK has so far brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan resettlement schemes." This figure includes British citizens and others with settled status already who were evacuated from Afghanistan during the operation in 2021 as a government website explains; 21,526 were on the ACRS and ARAP programmes. The government's lawyers have said there is no set time within which a visa must be issued or people must be relocated to the UK. 'Our lives are 100% in danger' Jamal was a translator with the British army. He proudly shows me pictures of his time in uniform. He has spent more than five months in Islamabad and is currently staying with his children and wife in one room. He is unable to work legally, the only lessons his children have are English lessons online. "I left my parents in Afghanistan who need my support. I don't have a job here. My children missed a year of education because of Covid. After that the Taliban came [and] we missed the education of our children in Afghanistan. Now we also missed the children's education in Pakistan." He is joined by Qasim, who worked with UK authorities. He has spent six months living with his family of 10 in one room. He says he wishes he had not come. "In Afghanistan, girls can't get an education, but here none of my children can either," he told us. He feels that by joining the scheme, he would be at more risk were he to return. "Before we left Afghanistan, if our lives were at 50% danger, now they are in 100% danger." Their fear of the police in Pakistan has intensified. While they say that they were always aware of the risk of being stopped while on the street, a little over a week ago others on the ARAP programme told them that police had entered their hotel in the early hours, taking several to a police station, only to release them a few hours later. "After the police started raiding hotels, Afghans have been under a lot of stress - it has caused them psychological problems," says Qasim. "This is a severe action that no one can tolerate." Some Afghans are already leaving Pakistan ahead of its planned crackdown on migrants Jamal agrees, saying that there are "no guarantees" he won't be among the next to be arrested. The BBC has been shown a message from the British authorities saying that they "are continuing to work with the Pakistani authorities to resolve issues around expired visas and will take action to quickly resolve incidents should they arise". But like others the BBC spoke to, Qasim and Jamal remain nervous. As with Marzia, they do not have their passports and their Pakistan visas have expired. 'British government - do something quick' We asked the government about the legal status of those on the ARAP and ACRS programmes in light of the recent crackdown by Pakistan authorities on illegal migrants, but were not given a response. Pakistan has said its efforts to crack down on illegal migrants are not specific to Afghans. However, the minister who announced the policy said that 1.7 million Afghans live in Pakistan illegally. Analysts say the move is the result of increasing tension between the two countries - Pakistan has accused the Taliban of harbouring militant groups that attack Pakistanis. Afghanistan denies this and says that Pakistan police are harassing Afghans even if they have proper documentation. The fallout will affect the many Afghans who have fled across the border to Pakistan over decades. Amid the politics, those on these UK government schemes wait daily for an email or call that they will be leaving. "I supported them; I stayed with them side by side; shoulder by shoulder, and I supported them on the frontline, but I don't know what the British government is doing with us," says Jamal. "They left us behind, many years ago." "My request to the British government is to please, do something quick, and take us to the UK because [it is not] good for us here." The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) and the International Inbound Travel Association (IITA) on Thursday announced that the organizations have entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a shared goal to grow international visitation to destinations and properties across Native Nations and communities in the United States. Thursdays announcement comes after the MOU was actually signed in front of more than 350 attendees at AIANTAs 25th Annual American Indigenous Tourism Conference last week at the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. On an ongoing basis, AIANTA seeks to grow its partnerships around the world to attract more tourists to Indian Country. The goal is to get international travelers from outside the United States to visit tribal lands while traveling to the United States. As AIANTA continues to grow our partnerships across the globe, its important to have an ally with strong international travel practices like the International Inbound Travel Association, who shares in our mission to define, introduce, grow, and sustain American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian tourism in the U.S., AIANTA CEO Sherry L. Rupert said. Strengthening linkage between AIANTA and IITA will help inbound travel operators work better and more efficiently with our Native Nations and communities. The MOU will also aim to educate IITA inbound operators on how to do business with Native-owned businesses as well as sell Native tour products. "Strengthening the linkage between our associations will help our members make connections and better understand how to work with one another," said IITA CEO Lisa Simon. With a mission to grow inbound travel to the U.S. by providing the best and widest range of product, services and information to the international travel trade, IITA serves as the bridge to international inbound business and is committed to serving the needs of its members and to advancing the industry as a whole. For 25 years, AIANTA has served as the only national organization dedicated to advancing cultural tourism in tribal nations and communities across the United States and was established by tribes to serve tribes to address inequities in the tourism system. Governed by an all-Native board of directors, AIANTA serves as a united voice for the $14 billion Native hospitality sector with several key accomplishments, most notably its successful legislative work that led to the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act (NATIVE Act) funding in 2018. Tribes who are looking to start or expand their cultural tourism footprint can find resources at www.aianta.org and visitors interested in learning more about Native culture can visit www.nativeamerica.travel. To learn more about the International Inbound Travel Association, visit https://inboundtravel.org/. About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. " Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net Photo: The Canadian Press Police say they have arrested and charged a 97-year-old nun in a sexual-assault case involving allegations dating back decades to residential and day schools in northern Ontario. Ontario Provincial Police say they arrested Francoise Seguin of Ottawa on Wednesday after an individual contacted them in late 2022 about the alleged incidents. OPP spokesperson Bill Dickson says the incidents are alleged to have taken place in the 1960s and '70s at St. Anne's residential school in Fort Albany First Nation and Bishop Belleau school in Moosonee, Ont., as well as a detention facility in Sudbury, Ont. Dickson says the case involves a single victim who was a young person at the time, and the force is not aware of any others at this time. Seguin has been charged with three counts of gross indecency, a repealed Criminal Code offence used today in some historical sexual-assault cases. She is scheduled to appear in court in Moosonee on Dec. 5 Isaac Asimovs iconic science fiction collection I, Robot tells the story of androids created at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. The androids range from Robbie, who is nonvocal, to Stephen Byerley, who may or may not be a robot he is so humanlike that people cant tell. Yet each model is made of the same elementary components: the binary code of ones and zeros. The differences in behavior between the simplest robot and the most advanced one, nigh indistinguishable from a human being, is simply the sequence of these two digits. All computer languages are ultimately rendered in ones and zeros, even artificial intelligence programs todays equivalent of Stephen Byerley. But though this technology is relatively new, the concept its hinged on is not. The idea that rearranging elemental units just so can produce powerful, even seemingly magical results appears all around us. It manifests in everything from technology and science to religion and art a pattern I focus on in my work about how literature intersects with science, technology, engineering and math. Some of the examples of this pattern that I find most fascinating are also the most ancient: They come from Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism that first appeared in print in the 12th century C.E. Building blocks of creation Integral to Kabbalah is the notion that Hebrew letters are the building blocks of the cosmos. According to mystical interpretations of the creation story in the Book of Genesis, God brought the world into being by creating the alphabet, then assembled the earth and sky by recombining letters. God is portrayed as an architect and the Torah a blueprint in the creation of the world, Jewish studies scholar Howard Schwartz writes in his book Tree of Souls. The way the letters of the alphabet emerge and combine has an uncanny resemblance to the combining and recombining of strings of DNA. The letter aleph, often believed to symbolize the oneness of God. Ben Burton/BRBurton23/Pixabay The Sefer Yetzirah, or Book of Creation, which Torah scholar Aryeh Kaplan called the oldest and most mysterious of all Kabbalistic texts, describes the Hebrew letters as having great power. In Rabbi Kaplans translation of and commentary on verse 2.2, God engraved the letters out of nothingness, then permuted them into different combinations and weighed them. Each letter represents a different type of information, Kaplan wrote. Through the various manipulations of the letters, God created all things. From mud to man In Jewish storytelling, Hebrew letters sacred power can be manipulated into combinations that animate inanimate matter. Such is the case of one of the earliest humanoid robots or androids in literature: the golem, a manlike creature made of clay. While there are numerous versions of this Jewish legend, the notion that letters animate the golem is common to them all. The mass of molded earth becomes lifelike when its maker intones secret combinations of letters. Engraved on the golems forehead is the Hebrew word for truth, , comprised of the first, middle and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet which Jewish tradition interprets to mean that truth is all-encompassing. The golem sometimes helps the Jewish community, or sometimes wreaks havoc, depending on the story. But the golem also represents something bigger: With mystical knowledge, man imitates Gods act of creation. To deanimate the creature, its maker must remove the first letter written on its forehead: , or aleph, which represents the oneness of God. That leaves , the Hebrew word for dead reflecting the Jewish tradition that there is no truth without God. Coding everywhere you look Like the golem, robots, androids and even AI are powered with recombinations of elemental units. Instead of Hebrew letters, the units are ones and zeros. In both instances, the specific permutation makes all the difference and all these creations have inspired speculative stories about what happens when familiar building blocks are rearranged. The creature in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein arises as an assortment of body parts. Novelist Margaret Atwoods Crakers are humans 2.0, bioengineered from reshuffled genes. In science fiction writer Ted Chiangs novella Seventy-Two Letters, which draws from golem legends, dolls move according to the sequence of letters on a parchment placed in their backs. Such patterns are not just the stuff of fiction, nor are they limited to computer science. Permutative coding is all around. Music notes are arranged to form a melody; gene sequences are combined to form an organism. In all living things owls, geckos, people, roses the instructions encased in DNA comprise recombinations of the same four nucleobase pairs. The biological difference between a complex human and a simple bacterium is the order in which the nucleobase pairs are arranged. Hugo de Vries, a biologist working at the turn of the 20th century, observed that the whole organic world is the result of innumerable different combinations and permutations of relatively few factors. Each rung on the DNA ladder is made up of pairs of four base nucleotides: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T). Martin Steinthaler/Moment via Getty Images Power of sequence Not all combinations work neither in science nor in storytelling. In On the Nature of Things, a famous poem about philosophy and physics, the first-century Roman writer Titus Lucretius Carus cautions that we must not think that all particles can be linked together in all ways, for you would see monsters created everywhere, forms coming to being half man, half beast Fantastical imaginings aside, the core idea stands: Not all permutations yield viable results. To put it in terms of modern biology, genes with certain combinations of the four nucleobase pairs would not lead to a functioning organism. Writer Jorge Luis Borges explored similar ideas in The Library of Babel, a short story about a library-like universe filled with books that contain every possible permutation of 25 characters. Most amount to nonsense strings of letters that bear no meaning. What sets apart something that works from something that doesnt is sequence. The difference between the behavior of a simple robot like Asimovs Robbie and the behavior of AI so complex that it seems sentient boils down to the sequence of ones and zeros that instruct it not altogether dissimilar from the way a single letter is the difference between animation and deanimation, or creation and destruction, in Jewish folklore. The potential consequences of AIs novel permutation have caused fear and uncertainty. Yet perhaps there is some comfort in the notion that, as the Bible says, : Theres nothing new under the sun. Rocio Benabentos, Mark Finlayson and Mendel Hendel contributed feedback for this article. 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: Rhona Trauvitch, Florida International University. Read more: Rhona Trauvitch receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Federal Trade Commission is suing a doctors group that provides anesthesia services to dozens of Texas hospitals, including many in Dallas-Fort Worth. The FTC alleges that U.S. Anesthesia Partners has bought some of the largest anesthesia groups in the state. With this portfolio of practices, the group has raised prices for its services much higher than they originally were, according to the suit. In Dallas-Fort Worth, U.S. Anesthesia Partners provides services for 57% of all anesthesia cases in hospitals, and is six times larger than the next largest group in the area, according to the suit. The lawsuit is significant because it has targeted both the physicians group and the private equity firm behind it, and also because it has highlighted a practice that has become commonplace in health care, said Atul Gupta, an assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Theres nothing unusual about what the private equity firm did, Gupta said. Its the same modus operandi where the private equity firms roll up the physician practices, they increase their market power in the local market, and then they exploit that advantage in the negotiations with insurance. The FTC accused the physicians group and the private equity firm that finances it, Welsh Carson, of exploiting the fact that anesthesia services are critical to modern surgery; hospitals need to offer anesthesia services, and patients, their employers, and insurers must pay for them, even if choices dwindle and prices go up. >> BREAKING NEWS << Today's other top stories in Fort Worth: Suspect in Bluebonnet Circle shooting identified Parents demand better communication after school shooting, bomb threat 56-year-old cafeteria worker identified as employee killed on Fort Worth ISD campus Get free alerts when news breaks. In a statement on its website, U.S. Anesthesia Partners called the lawsuit overreaching and misinformed and denied that the group had violated anti-competition laws. According to the suit, U.S. Anesthesia Partners started by acquiring physician groups in Houston before setting its sights on Dallas and Fort Worth in 2014. It acquired six physician groups in the area before, in 2016, it added Sundance Anesthesia of Fort Worth to its growing collection. Sundance had an exclusive contract with Texas Health Resources Southwest Fort Worth hospital, according to the lawsuit. The groups chief operating officer celebrated the acquisition, saying: it was a huge win, thats a key THR site we didnt have. Great work, according to the complaint. Private equity firms first became interested in health care entities in the early 2000s, Gupta said. After the 2008 financial crisis, the trend cooled before resuming, and now private equity firms own hospitals, nursing homes, physicians groups and more. Private equitys unique financing structure can sometimes be beneficial to companies, Gupta said, but health care operates a bit differently. The evidence is very consistent, said Gupta, who has researched the effect of private equity ownership of nursing homes. Across different segments, whether its hospitals, nursing homes, physicians practices, research has found that prices go up. This means that the prices a physicians group bills to an insurance company will increase. The cost paid by the patient usually increases as well, in the form of increased co-pays or deductibles. The federal government accused Anesthesia Partners of increasing prices in multiple ways. First, by acquiring so many practices, it could reduce competition in local markets and increase prices. Second, the group entered into price-setting agreements with independent anesthesia groups it had not acquired, so that almost all providers in a local market were charging more, the suit claimed. In its statement, U.S. Anesthesia Partners said its prices are consistent with industry practice and are reasonable and necessary to support a viable medical practice and rising labor costs. Generally, consolidation of any kind in health care will cause the cost of services to go up, said Charles Miller, a senior policy adviser with Texas 2036. Market consolidation has helped to increase the high cost of health care in the U.S., both as it affects individual people and the cost of the health care system as a whole. The United States pays more for health care than any other rich nation in the world, but typically has worse health outcomes than its peers that are paying less. A first step toward tackling health care costs and increasing competition in health care markets, Miller said, is to increase transparency on who actually owns different entities in health care and how much they are charging for their services. Photo: Courtesy Rick Boguski. Rick Boguski, left, is fighting for justice for his brother Darryl, who is blind, has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and is autistic. Sentencing for a Saskatchewan man charged with sexually abusing disabled residents at Shepherds Villa in Hepburn didnt proceed Wednesday in Rosthern Circuit Court and has been postponed until January 2024. Brent James Gabona, 53, had pleaded guilty in March to three counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual exploitation of a person with a disability. The Crown prosecutor withdrew two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation of a person with a disability. The family of one of the victims travelled from Alberta to Rosthern for the sentencing hearing, which had been set in March for Oct. 11, and were disappointed Gabona wasnt sentenced. Gabona remains out of custody. Rick Boguski is fighting for justice for his brother Darryl Boguski who is blind, has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and is autistic and was victimized by Gabona. He had applied to the court last year to have the ban on publishing Darryl Boguskis name lifted and in June 2022, a Saskatoon judge lifted the ban. Its a slap in the face to Darryl, the other victims and vulnerable people everywhere, Rick Boguski said about the delay in sentencing and Gabona still a free man. Where is the justice? The Crown is seeking a 15-year sentence for Gabona. Gabona was arrested on May 10, 2022, and charged with five counts of sexual assault and three counts of sexual exploitation of a person with a disability. Rosthern RCMP say that on April 19, 2022, they got a report of sexual assaults that occurred at a care facility in Hepburn. Their investigation determined that between 1992 and 2009, five adult residents of the facility were sexually assaulted by a male staff member. Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an unprecedented evacuation warning to a population of over 1 million people in northern Gaza and Gaza City to seek refuge in the south ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) Turmoil and misery, anger and anguish. Not even a week has passed since war exploded across Israel and neighboring Gaza. But on both sides of the heavily fortified border, the pain and fear of war is visceral. That is evident in moments easily overlooked in the chaos. In Tel Aviv, a young woman, alone in the dark, crouches to light one of scores of candles kindled in memory of the hundreds of Israelis killed in a brutal assault by Hamas militants. In Gaza, medics lean over a man half-buried in the rubble of a building hit by one of countless Israeli airstrikes punishing the enclave, his face dusted in pulverized concrete. As sirens warn of yet another rocket attack, an Israeli father wraps his little boy in his arms and hunkers in the dirt. With Israels military warning Palestinians to vacate the northern half of Gaza, flatbed trucks filled with frightened residents wind through traffic in search of refuge. A firefighter is silhouetted by the flames of a forest fire on the outskirts of Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nicolas Aguilera) Oct. 6-12, 2023 Firefighters work to extinguish a forest fire on the outskirts of Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina. A couple dances on the street during a national strike in Guatemala City to support President-elect Bernardo Arevalo. A supporter of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Daniel Noboa carries a cardboard cutout of the candidate while biking to attend a political rally in Quito, Ecuador. Brazilians who were caught in the latest Israel-Palestinian war kneel down in thanks on the tarmac as journalists cover their arrival at an air force base in Rio de Janeiro. This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published in the past week by Associated Press photographers in Latin America and the Caribbean. The selection was curated by Associated Press Photo Editor Tomas Stargardter in Mexico City. Follow AP visual journalism: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com An Arizona man who pleaded guilty in March to charges connected to the shooting of a New Mexico State Police officer in September 2020, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday. Alexander Uballez, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced that 31-year-old Robert Benjamin Nelson was sentenced to prison for the attempted murder of a federal task force officer and discharging a firearm during a federal crime of violence. Nelson pleaded guilty to the charges March 22 after a mistrial Jan. 17. US JUDGE UPHOLDS NEW MEXICO GOV. GRISHAM'S SUSPENSION ON GUN-CARRY RIGHTS IN PUBLIC PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS "Today, bravery prevailed over cowardice and truth over irrational hate," Uballez said. "Federal law enforcement officers work every day to make our lives safer. When their lives are put at risk by someone who trained himself to fear police through fantastical internet videos, we will serve decisive justice to protect our protectors." The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a release that on Sept. 12, 2020, New Mexico State Police Sgt. Sharron Duran, who was working as a U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Task Force Officer, pulled a pickup truck over being operated by Nelson, after he was seen following another vehicle too closely. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP When Duran approached Nelsons truck from the passenger side, he raised a .22-caliber pistol and shot at the officer three times through the window, the DOJ said. NEW MEXICO POLICE OFFICER CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER IN FATAL SHOOTING OF BLACK MAN AT GAS STATION When Duran approached Nelsons truck from the passenger side, he raised a .22-caliber pistol and shot at the officer three times through the window, the DOJ said. The first shot caused the passenger window to shatter, and shards of glass struck the officer in the face and eyes. In an effort to shield her face, Duran raised her hands, and the other two bullets hit her in the hands, causing permanent injury to one of her eyes and both hands. She fell to the ground but immediately got back up to return fire as Nelson sped off. CORRECTIONS OFFICER ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING DRUGS INTO NEW MEXICO JAIL An Arizona man who pleaded guilty to federal charges connected to the shooting of a New Mexico State Police officer working as a Homeland Security officer in 2020, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Wednesday. Duran then got back into her vehicle and chased after Nelson, who was traveling west on Interstate 40, before pulling him over again. Nelson then attempted to grab a rifle from the floor of his vehicle, and Duran waited for backup officers to arrive. He was then apprehended without further incident. "These types of shootings are brazened, violent acts, absolutely without justification and a threat to our entire community," FBI Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda said. "An attack on a federal Task Force Officer is a federal crime with serious consequences. Todays sentencing reflects the FBIs unwavering commitment to ensure that all those responsible for violence crimes against law enforcement officers are brought to justice." Original article source: Arizona man pleads guilty to attempted murder of federal officer, sentenced to 30 years TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) The Tulare County Sheriffs Office says they arrested a Delano man wanted for the death of a 30-year-old in July. But deputies also revealed that their suspect, 32-year-old Martinez Lombera of Earlimart, was also on the top ten most wanted list for a kidnapping. Investigators say around 1:00 a.m. on July 22, deputies were called to a shooting in the 200 block of Road 148 in Delano. When they arrived at the scene, they found 30-year-old Francisco Valencia of Delano shot to death. On Thursday, 32-year-old Martinez Lombera was arrested in Delano for Valencias death after a short pursuit with the Delano Police Department. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Lombera was also on Sheriff Boudreauxs Top Ten Most Wanted List for a 2022 kidnapping. He is currently being held without bail. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tulare County Sheriffs Office at (559) 733-6218. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) has filed to run against House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for Speaker. We are in Washington to legislate, and I want to lead a House that functions in the best interest of the American people, Scott wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The late-stage announcement from Scott a seventh-term lawmaker who was on few peoples radar as a potential Speaker contender is an apparent protest against Jordan as House GOP lawmakers are set to hold a Speaker candidate forum Friday afternoon. I dont necessarily want to be the speaker of the House. I want a House that functions correctly, but the House is not functioning correctly right now, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Scott told reporters he had no intention of running for Speaker this morning. I care more about the conference and that its doing our job than I care about who the Speaker is. I truly do, Scott said. When I woke up this morning I had no intention of doing this. I believe is if we as Republicans are gonna be the majority, we have to do the right things the right way. And were not doing that right now, he later added. Top Stories from The Hill Some lawmakers including Scott have pledged their staunch opposition to Jordan. During Thursday nights closed-door conference meeting, Scott stood up and announced his opposition to Jordan, according to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and another House Republican. On Friday, however, Scott denied that his bid is an anti-Jordan effort, telling reporters Jims a friend of mine. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters Friday morning that there was nothing that Jordan could do to get his support. Before Scotts announcement, Rogers said that he planned to vote for McCarthy. Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) is seen following a House Republican Conference meeting where they held a secret ballot for their next candidate for Speaker on Friday, October 13, 2023. Fridays candidate forum comes after Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), whom Republicans narrowly nominated Wednesday to be Speaker, abruptly withdrew from the race Thursday evening as it was clear he would not get the support from Republicans needed to win on the House floor. But now it is not clear that Scalises chief competition, Jordan, can get there either. I assume a large block of people that work for Steve will probably start out with Austin, said Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who is supporting Jordan. Even before Scott jumped into the Speakers race, Jordan faced an uphill climb to clinching the gavel. Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the News Alerts newsletter At least two lawmakers Scott and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) told reporters Thursday night that they would not support Jordan. The Ohio Republican called and met with holdouts Friday morning, according to a source familiar, and after the morning conference meeting but before Scott officially entered the race Jordan evoked confidence in his changes for winning the gavel. We got broad support across the conference; I feel good about where were at, but we got a candidate where members are gonna ask you more questions, well go from there, he told reporters, later adding I feel real good about the vote. House Republicans are once again working to elect a Speaker after eight Republicans joined with Democrats last week and voted to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the position. Scott referenced McCarthys ouster when discussing his Speaker bid. A couple of days ago when eight Republicans, eight Republicans with 208 Democrats to take the Speaker of the House out. Thats the wrong thing to do, he said. And so we have to stop that type of stuff. If were gonna be the majority party we have to act like the majority party. Aris Folley contributed. Updated at 1:12 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will send a senior defence official to China's top international security forum in October for the first time in four years, officials said on Friday. China will host foreign defence officials in Beijing on Oct. 29-31 for the Xiangshan Forum, styled by Beijing as its answer to Singapore's annual Shangri-La Dialogue. Reuters has reported General Liu Zhenli, the head of the military body responsible for China's combat operations and planning, has emerged as the top contender to replace Defence Minister Li Shangfu , who has not been seen in public for more than six weeks. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The appointment of Liu to replace Li was likely to happen before Beijing holds the security forum, which a U.S. representative is also expected to attend, analysts told Reuters. U.S. security ally Australia has previously sent a defence assistant secretary to the forum, which has not been held since 2019, before a diplomatic dispute erupted between Beijing and Canberra that is now thawing. "As it did for the most recent iterations of the forum held prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Defence will be represented at the 2023 Beijing Xiangshan Forum by a senior official," a spokesperson for Australia's Department of Defence said in a statement to Reuters. Chinese and Australian defence officials held their first meeting since 2019 in March, a week after Australia's AUKUS partnership with U.S. and Britain unveiled details of a plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines from the early 2030s, which China opposes. The deportation on Wednesday of an Australian journalist who had been detained in China for three years on national security charges is the latest step in warming ties between Beijing and Canberra. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who came to power last year with a goal of stabilising relations with Australia's biggest trade partner, said he expects to visit China this year, the first visit by an Australian leader since 2016. While China has said it poses no threat to Australia, Australia has been stepping up its participation in military exercises with its allies, from amphibious drills in the Philippines to navy exercises with Japan, the U.S. and India, amid concern about Chinese pressure on self-ruled Taiwan. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham; editing by Robert Birsel) Australians will cast the final votes on Saturday in a referendum that will set the tone of relations with the countrys First Nations people for decades to come, as polls show almost certain defeat for Yes supporters and Indigenous campaigners who have long appealed for change. Voters are being asked to approve an amendment to the constitution to recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and to create a body the Voice to Parliament of Indigenous people to advise the government on matters that affect them. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had called it a simple proposition, but months of debate have revealed a complex mix of hostility and apathy toward the proposal on a scale likely to consign the matter to Australias long list of referendums that failed to win the popular vote. To pass, the Voice needs a majority Yes vote nationwide and in at least four of six states a feat only accomplished in eight of the past 44 referendums since the first was held in 1906. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The last referendum to pass was in 1977, before the arrival of the internet in Australia, and well before the rise of social media that has helped polarize debate and supercharge the spread of misinformation around this vote. On Thursday two days before polls closed a YouGov survey of more than 1,500 prospective voters, gave the No camp a commanding lead of 18 points 56% to 38% with the remainder undecided a pattern roughly reflected in several other polls. Voting is compulsory in Australia, so turnout is expected to be high. A No campaign worker hands out leaflets outside an early voting center on October 4, in Ballina, Australia. - James D. Morgan/Getty Images For love of country Vote-counting will begin when polls close at 6 p.m. local time around Australia (early morning Eastern time), and a result is expected within hours, if the vote is as decisive as most polls predict. If those polls prove wrong, itll be a monumental upset and a shock victory for Albanese, who has approached the campaign as a personal mission. This week, he returned to Uluru, the huge rock formation in the countrys center, where Indigenous leaders agreed in 2017 to reach out for constitutional recognition. Sitting in the dirt holding hands with Indigenous women, his eyes welled with tears as they sang a traditional song. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sits with Indigenous leaders in the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park in central Australia on October 10, 2023. - Stringer/AFP/Getty Images Explaining the emotional moment to reporters later, Albanese said: To be able to sit in this red dirt, there was a sense of how big Australia is, our culture, and the incredible privilege. Albanese has pitched this vote as an expression of love. This is a campaign about love for our fellow Australians, and about respect, Albanese said. But its also about love of ourselves, whether we have the courage to love what Australia is. It isnt something that began when a few ships came in 1788. This is Australia, that fullness and richness of our history. In the final days of the campaign, Yes campaigners reiterated the message, releasing statements urging people to choose love over spin and sending text messages that spoke of the need to win hearts and minds. Indigenous leader Noel Pearson, one of the architects of the calls for constitutional change, said in a speech to the National Press Club in September that the largest motivation for voting Yes was the love of country. It is not the love of each other that joins us, it is our mutual love of country we dont need mutual affection to succeed in this referendum, said Pearson. Amar Singh, Noel Pearson and Rachel Perkins join Yes supporters and local residents during an event in Sydney on October 7, 2023. - Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images No love for Yes campaign However, a leading No campaigner mocked Pearsons speech, accusing the Yes campaign of promoting empty slogans. The Yes campaign, its the vibe. Everythings love. Like theyve had a few joints, Nyunggai Warren Mundine said to laughs from the audience at a No event in Brisbane on the same day as Pearsons address. We are about real solutions, accountability, all the billions of dollars that got spent, we want outcomes, said Mundine, a member of the Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr and Yuin people and leader of the Recognise a Better Way campaign group. The Voice was conceived to get better outcomes for the most disadvantaged Indigenous Australians among 800,000 people or about 3.8% of Australias total population of 26 million. Of 19 targets aimed to Close the Gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, some statistics are worsening, including the standard of development for children when they start school, the number of children in out-of-home care, and the rates of adult imprisonment and suicide. If the referendum fails, Albanese said he will respect the democratic vote of the nation and wont legislate a Voice to Parliament. I dont believe that it would be appropriate to then go and say, oh, well, youve had your say, but were going to legislate anyway, he told the told the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Insiders program on Sunday. If the referendum fails to pass, therell be no change in the constitution or policy governing Indigenous affairs. Mundine told his audience in late September that the No campaign would be seeking better outcomes through greater economic participation and accountability. When we get up in the morning on the 15th of October, after weve defeated this Voice, were going to make those people accountable, Mundine said. Were going to make those kids get to school. Were going to make people get into jobs and run businesses and invest in their communities. And were going make their communities safe and make sure those family and community values are back there, he said, without explaining how that would be done. No more virtue signaling. No more dividing us, he continued. Were all going to put our shoulder to the wheel and were going to make all these politicians and all these people do the job and make sure they spend our money properly. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Federal marshals have arrested a man accused of attacking a man with a knife in Caldwell County. Jonathan Pearson is facing several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon and breaking and entering. He was taken into custody Friday morning in Burke County. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man accused of knife attack on the run in Caldwell County, authorities say Marshals said they tried to arrest him at a home in Granite Falls last week, but he was able to elude them. This led to a manhunt near Lakeside Park. As a precaution, several schools in the area kept students inside and had extra law enforcement on campus during the search. VIDEO: Man accused of knife attack on the run in Caldwell County, authorities say Authorities are searching for an inmate who walked away from the Francisquito Conservation Camp in Santa Clarita on Thursday. Marcelo S. Caparrotta, 53, was last seen around 7 p.m., and authorities with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation immediately searched the campgrounds and buildings but were unable to find him, authorities said. Caparrotta is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 184 pounds. He has brown eyes and graying hair and was last seen wearing gray sweatpants and a white thermal shirt at the facility. CDCRs Office of Correctional Safety, the Los Angeles County Fire Department and local law enforcement agencies have been notified of Caparrottas disappearance and are assisting with the search, a news release said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Caparrotta was admitted to Francisquito Conservation Camp from San Bernardino County on June 30, 2022, to serve a six-year sentence for injury to an elder causing death or great bodily harm. The inmate is a second-striker and was scheduled to be released from CDCR custody in June 2024. Anyone who sees Caparrotta or knows where he is can contact the Francisquito Conservation Camp Commander at (661) 296-4409, any law enforcement agency or 911. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Bail was reduced for a man who was arrested after a fatal shooting during an attempted armed robbery in early August. Tayshaun Lamar Spearman, 18, had his bail reduced to $50,000 during an appearance Wednesday in front of 9th Judicial District Court Judge Patricia Koch. Spearman was arrested by the Alexandria Police Department on charges of second-degree murder and armed robbery after a victim called about an attempted robbery on the night of Aug. 4. Police: 18-year-old Alexandria man dies after struggle during Friday night armed robbery Updates: Sanity evaluation, plea agreement continue cases of 2 Rapides men accused in homicides ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The victim called from the 2100 block of North Bolton Avenue, telling officers he'd been beaten and robbed at gunpoint near Mimosa Drive and Tupelo Court. The victim said that the gun was fired during a struggle. Meanwhile, a second call was received about a gunshot victim who had arrived at Rapides Regional Medical Center. The man, also 18, was identified by the department as one of the men involved in the attempted robbery. Don'Tavius Dontrell Ceasor died later at the hospital, according to police. Spearman was arraigned Wednesday, pleading not guilty to felony charges of aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery with a firearm. A pretrial conference has been set for March 27, 2024. Spearman, who provided an Alexandria address when booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center #1, updated his address while in court. He provided a Dallas address, and Koch ordered him not to return to Rapides Parish for anything other than his court dates. He bonded out of jail Thursday afternoon. This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Bail reduced for Tayshaun Spearman in deadly August robbery attempt Would-be bank robber asks for keys to vault MEMPHIS, Tenn. A man who tried to rob a Cordova bank Tuesday afternoon left without any loot. Police have released pictures of the would-be robber when he entered First South Credit Union on Germantown Parkway just before 3:00 p.m. Police said the suspect implied he had a weapon and threatened to harm employees if they did not give him the keys to the vault. The bank employees told the suspect they did not have the vault keys, and the suspect eventually left the bank without any money. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The suspect wore sunglasses, a black mask, a fluorescent yellow safety shirt, black gloves and an orange skull cap. He also carried a black backpack. He is facing a charge of attempted bank robbery. If you have any information that can help investigators, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) An estimated 4,000 eclipse watchers are expected to flood into Nevadas White Pine County for Saturdays ring of fire eclipse. Thats the equivalent of the entire population of Ely, the countys largest town. Great Basin National Park is considered prime astronomical real estate to see the annular eclipse, and theres another question that has come up. What will the parks bats do when the sky goes dark? Officials are waiting to see. Watching, maybe listening is a better word, according to Brian Hamilton, Integrated Resource Program Manager at Great Basin. A Mexican free-tailed bat. (Photo: Ann Froschauer/USFWS) Hamilton said he is using accoustic sensors to monitor bats activity during the eclipse. They typically come out at night to eat insects. A Mexican free-tailed bat one of the most common species at Great Basin can fly 100 miles in a single night as it searches for food. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement A colony of 10,000 bats, a modest number as bat colonies go, can consume over 300 pounds of insects in one evening, according to the parks website. The eclipse will reach its peak at Great Basin National Park just before 9:30 a.m. Free eclipse glasses will be available at the parks two visitor centers. Parking is expected to fill up fast and officials urge everyone to be patient. (NASAs eclipse explorer) A recent cold snap could mean many of the parks bats have already migrated to warmer climates. Hamilton said there has been some thought that bats will come out, and not all bats migrate. While the Mexican free-tailed bats might be gone by now, western big-eared bats are still around. They hibernate in caverns in Great Basin. How to take photos of the eclipse without damaging your phone, camera Bats range in size from the worlds smallest mammal, a bat the size of a bumblebee, to bats with 6-foot wingspans. Bats make up 20% of the worlds mammal population, according to the website. Bats are in trouble everywhere, according to the National Park Service. Within the last 40 years, bat populations have declined dramatically. Many bat colonies have been devastated due to interference by man. Insecticides and other poisons have been introduced into the bats food chain. There has been severe loss of habitat for bats. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. A 44-year-old bank manager from Battle Ground Washington pleaded guilty to Bank Fraud and Aggravated identity theft at the U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Thursday. The money was primarily taken from elderly clients who were less likely to check their accounts, according to the court. Eight victims have since been identified, including one woman who had more than $566,000 stolen from her retirement accounts. Former Wells Fargo branch manager Gorman. Brian Davie is said to have used unauthorized cash withdrawals, transfers, and cashiers checks to steal the money. In total, Davie embezzled S1,279,840 from various victim accounts. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He had worked for Wells Fargo in Battle Ground Washington from March 2014 until June 2019 when he was fired. According to records, Davie hid the criminal activity by frequently exchanging cashiers checks until their amounts were small enough to cash without triggering reporting requirements. Some of Davies victims reportedly had dementia or limited English skills and were less likely to understand banking transactions. In one case, Davie took steps to prevent a relative from being able to monitor an account through fear of them detecting the banking discrepancies. Davie then deposited some of the stolen money into an account under the name of a relatives business. Wells Fargo has already reimbursed victims for their losses. Prosecutors are recommending a four-year prison sentence, however, the actual sentence will be determined by Judge Settle who will consider multiple statutory factors. This case was investigated by the FBI and Wells Fargo. A BBC Arabic reporter and Gaza residents tour of Gaza Citys Al-Shifa Hospital became understandably emotional Thursday. Adnan Elbursh and his cameraman encountered scores of people in serious condition due to the airstrikes from Israelsome of whom even the cameraman knew. Among the dead and wounded, my cameraman, Mahmud, has seen his friend, Malik. Malik has managed to survive, but his family have not, Elbursh said. This is my local hospital. Inside are my friends, my neighbors. This is my community. Today has been one of the most difficult days in my career. I have seen things I can never unsee. The hospital lacks space due to the number of victims, Elbursh said, adding that the dead [are] being given no dignity and the injured [are] being left in pain. According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 1,537 people have been killed thus far in Gaza, with 6,612 wounded. A local BBC reporter gives a testimony from one of the hospitals in Gaza. They have reached full capacity long ago pic.twitter.com/i2GPoZ5Q8v Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) October 12, 2023 Read more at The Daily Beast. A BBC programme for children barred from schools in Afghanistan has been described as a "learning lifeline" by the United Nations. The show is being used in secret school lessons, the BBC has learned. Its name, Dars, means lesson in Afghanistan's official languages of Dari and Pashto. The ruling Taliban prohibits girls from receiving secondary or higher education. On the day she was told she could no longer come to work at school, Afsana, who is a teacher, lost her purpose in life. The 28-year-old worked at a secondary school for girls in eastern Afghanistan. Now, like some other former teachers in the country, she has set up a secret school. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Twenty-five students, all girls, between the ages of 12 and 18, gather in her basement. The only tools she has are a whiteboard, a phone and the BBC Dars programme. With no signal in her makeshift classroom, Afsana downloads short videos of the show to play to the students, who then write her a summary of what they have seen. "My students watch with interest and passion," she says. "Their hopes have been raised and they are still dreaming for the future." The show, which has just launched its second series on TV, online and radio, is hosted by BBC female journalists who themselves fled Kabul more than two years ago, after the Taliban's return to power. Any form of learning "provides safety hope and opportunity", says Yasmine Sherif, the executive director of Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations global fund for the education of children in crisis. "Community-based education or remote learning, such as the BBC's Dars programme, offers them the learning lifeline which they so desperately need," she adds. I am from Afghanistan too and work as a producer on the show, which covers subjects such as maths, history, science, and information and communications technology (ICT). While it keeps students in touch with their education, it is not a replacement for school. Until girls and women are allowed back into the classroom their future in Afghanistan is bleak. The Taliban government says the bar on girls' education in Afghanistan is temporary and once a curriculum in line with Islamic and Afghan traditions is put in place, girls will be able to return to the classroom. However, this has not satisfied many Afghan observers who say hopes of schools being reopened have been dented by the increasing restrictions imposed on women. "This country has become a graveyard for our hopes," says 21-year-old Razia from Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. Her life completely changed when she was stopped from going to classes in the final year of her journalism degree. "Afghanistan is a prison we are trying to escape," she explains. Razia makes her younger siblings watch the programme, including her 12-year-old sister who dreams of becoming a doctor. But life is tough in Afghanistan for young women. "We cry every day. We have totally lost our self-confidence. I even feel resentful towards every man in the country," Razia admits. In the late 1990s, during the Taliban's previous rule, an entire generation of Afghan girls faced the same devastating restrictions on education. A fortunate few, including myself, went elsewhere. I now work in the UK and have lived here for more than 20 years. However, for the majority of girls in Afghanistan, like my cousins, marrying young became the norm. Today they are having to relive their trauma as their teenage daughters face the same fate. Where to find Dars BBC News Afghanistan TV and radio satellite channel BBC News Pashto and BBC News Dari Facebook and YouTube channels BBC Persian TV FM, short-wave and medium-wave radio Another person who watches Dars every week is 16-year-old Amina, who hasn't set foot in a classroom for more than two years. She misses the routine that school provided and without classes to attend she spends her days with her mother learning to cook traditional Afghan dishes. A friend recommended the BBC programme Dars to her and she says watching it makes her feel she is regaining a small amount of control over her life. "There hadn't been a proper educational programme to learn something new, so when Dars started, it gave me hope," she reveals. Amina tells us via a WhatsApp voice message that she used to feel as though the world had forgotten about girls in Afghanistan. "I was wondering if there are people out there that care about me," she says. "I hope one day I will be able to go back to school, but until then Dars can help me to feel connected with my classroom." Some names in this story have been changed for security reasons. SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) Rescue crews in Sevier County had to deal with a lot of different obstacles when rescuing a hunting dog this week near English Mountain. Rocks, confined spaces, sharp edges and a bear; those were the obstacles firefighters with Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department and several other Sevier County emergency agencies had to face when rescuing a hunting dog from a cave. Bull elk poached in Anderson County, TWRA offers reward for information We set-up a rope system, firefighter Tori Downing and myself descended into the cave. She was ahead of me and as she was moving deeper into the cave she stops turns around and goes weve got to leave,' Captain Jon Lanier with Waldens Creek Fire and Rescue said. I went, well, this is over she goes theres a bear in here.' ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement They left the cave and came back on Wednesday once they got the all-clear that the bear was no longer there. That is when firefighter Christian Ellard and a team went into the cave to continue their search and it ended with good news. I saw the antenna from his collar sticking out of a hole, Ellard said. When I said that they told me to go ahead and attempt the rescue. I told them we can rescue this dog, hes in a good position. In the cave with Ellard was Andrw Wojturski from the Sevier County Fire and Rescue Squad. He just got his ropes certification earlier in the week and let his recent training take over in assisting with the rescue. 6 Storm Team Starwatch: How you can catch the annular solar eclipse this Saturday I felt confident with my skills. I had a really great teacher for the course, Wojturski said. I just wanted to do what I could and use the skills and knowledge that I learned from him to hopefully, successfully rescue the dog and we were luckily able to. This rescue could not have been done by one agency alone and Captain Lanier is happy with the turnout. Waldens Creek could not have conducted this alone, Sevier County Rescue could not have conducted this alone, Captain Lanier said. Things like this is where we come together and it truly took the entire team, all of the departments working together to make this happen. The joint team consisted of rope rescue technicians from the Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Sevier County Fire & Rescue, Sevier County Volunteer Rescue Squad and Catons Chapel/Richardsons Cove Volunteer Fire Department. The dog named Charlie was successfully pulled from the cave. He was returned to his owners last night with an empty stomach and only a few scrapes. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. Guinness Open Gate Brewery Chicago, foreground, at 901 W. Kinzie St. in Chicago, is seen on Aug. 6, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) Weeks after opening, the property housing the buzzy new Guinness Open Gate Brewery in West Loop already a booming tourist attraction is set to change hands. Fred Latsko, a Chicago real estate developer, has listed the building at 901 W. Kinzie St. for sale and hired the commercial brokerage firm JLL to look for a buyer. Advertisement Latsko Interests manages properties in six states, but most of its commercial holdings are in Chicagos Gold Coast neighborhood. A mix of luxury and nationwide companies operate from Latsko buildings, including Lanvin, Lululemon, Citi Bank and Intermix. Six brokers from JLL have been tasked with finding a buyer for the 15,000-square-foot space, CoStar News reported. The brewery will remain operational even if the building changes hands, Irish Central reported Wednesday. Advertisement While the landlord is selling the property, the business is not for sale, a Guinness Open Brewery Chicago spokesperson said. Guinness is fully committed to the space, the West Loop community and is thrilled to have had such a strong opening two weeks. Chicagos hotly anticipated Guinness brewery was announced in 2021, and opened Sept. 28 to thirsty crowds. Twelve to 16 beers, mixing Irish specialties and local drafts, are on tap every day, alongside a full-service restaurant and bakery. Guinness has also committed to donating 10,000 loaves of bread a year to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Tribune previously reported. Latsko applied in April to have the area around the brewery rezoned from an industrial commercial district to a downtown mixed-use district, according to city documents. Guinness has been found on taps around the world for more than 260 years, starting with the St. James Gate Brewery in Dublin. Arthur Guinness, the companys first master brewer, famously took out a 9,000-year lease on the brewery in 1759 and began exporting the now-iconic black Guinness porter beer in 1796. Guinness is now produced at more than 50 breweries worldwide, but only Open Gate Breweries welcome the public for tours. Open Gate Breweries also opened in Dublin in 2015 and Baltimore in 2018. As both of these locations are owned by Guinness, Latsko and JLL are pitching the Chicago brewery as a unique chance to raise a glass to private ownership, Latsko said in a statement. Its time to pass the torch, or in this case, the tap, to new stewardship, Latsko said in a statement. Keely Polczynski, managing director of capital markets for JLL and one of the brokers representing Latsko in the sale, declined to comment Thursday, saying that the brewery was not yet officially on the market. Advertisement JLL has not started contacting potential buyers and has not made projections for how much the brewery might sell for, Polczynski said. A source close to the deal told CoStar News earlier this week that brokers expect to fetch upward of $20 million for the space, previously home to the Pennsylvania Railroad Depot. The brewery will remain operational as the property changes hands. A source close to the sale said that the presence of the Guinness brewery in the space is backed by a 10-year lease, which will remain even if the building is sold. CoStar News also reported that Guinness expects to net upward of $1 million in operating income each year. NEW BEDFORD The city has completed a deal to acquire the former National Guard Armory from the state for $10 so that it can be redeveloped. The deal included the state providing $3.8 million in roof and structural repairs to the building, which were recently completed. The imposing stone structure at 5 Sycamore St. was built in 1904 for the Massachusetts Army National Guard and is the centerpiece of one of New Bedfords National Register Historic Districts, according to a press release. Following its closure as a military facility in 2004, the armory was under the care and control of the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. It remained vacant and boarded up for over a decade and was damaged by a fire in March 2009. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement DCAMM sought private developers through a request for proposals, but didn't receive any viable offers. The Mitchell Administration approached DCAMM in 2016 to explore an arrangement in which the city could take ownership of the building. Structural repairs done in advance of purchase The city and DCAMM ultimately negotiated the deal in which the state completed the necessary structural repairs to the building before transferring it to the city for $10. Mayor Mitchell submitted the purchase-and-sale agreement to the City Council in 2022, which approved it. The state repairs were needed before the city took possession to make the historic structure viable for private redevelopment, according to the release. Mayor Mitchell noted the citys Armory building is one of the most significant and endangered historic buildings in New Bedford, having suffered decades of decay since it was declared surplus property in 2004. Its significance derives not only from its architectural interest but also from its role in supporting reserve units comprised of New Bedford residents who served and in some cases died in every American War since World War I. He added, Im proud that we have been able to save it. Mayor will work with council to solicit redevelopment proposals Mayor Mitchell will work with the City Council Property Committee in the coming months to solicit proposals to redevelop the site, according to the release. Its always great news when we can save and protect a historical building. As we all know, the New Bedford Armory is such a building, and Im happy to hear that the city of New Bedford was able to purchase it from the commonwealth of Massachusetts for $10, said Ward 2 City Councilor Maria Giesta. As chair of the City Property Committee, I will be working closely with Mayor Mitchell, his staff, and my colleagues on the committee to solicit proposals from developers to redevelop the area of the Armory. This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford seeking developers for historic armory building The parents of three Beech Grove high school students are suing a Beech Grove school board member for defamation after they say the board member falsely accused their sons of theft. The lawsuit against board member Rick Skirvin came after an incident in mid-August in which the parents say Skirvin falsely accused the three students of stealing candy from a local Walgreens. Joseph Williams, the attorney representing the parents, told IndyStar that the parents of the three Black students filed a defamation suit because they want an acknowledgment that Skirvins behavior is unacceptable. We want our kids to be kids and we want our kids to be able to go buy candy on a Saturday afternoon without having to fear that someones going to follow them, take pictures of them, and turn them into the school board for crimes they didnt commit, Williams said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement More on the Beech Grove incident: Encounter between Black teens and Indiana school official stirs outrage The parents said Skirvins actions echoed those of similar incidents of racial profiling of Black children and men that have sometimes led to their death or being injured. Skirvin, who is white, did not have an immediate comment as of Friday afternoon, saying that he was consulting his lawyer. After information about the alleged theft landed on the desk of the Beech Grove superintendent, the parents of the three students brought up the incident during a September school board meeting, asking that the district investigate Skirvin and that he resign from office. When later asked about the incident by IndyStar, Skirvin said that he rejects accusations of any wrongdoing and did not witness the crime himself but was passing along information to the school. Skirvin has served for nearly 17 years on the school board and is currently the Republican candidate for Beech Grove mayor. IndyStar reporter John Tufts contributed to this report. Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy. Carolines reporting is made possible by Report for America and Glick Philanthropies. As part of its work in Marion County, Glick Philanthropies partners with organizations focused on closing access and achievement gaps in education. Report for America is a program of The GroundTruth Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening local newsrooms. Report for America provides funding for up to half of the reporters salary during their time with us, and IndyStar is fundraising the remainder. To learn more about how you can support IndyStars partnership with Report for America and to make a donation, visit indystar.com/RFA. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Beech Grove parents sue school board member over theft allegation Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, speaks during a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bouhabib, in Beirut Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Amirabdollahian blasted the United States for calling for restraint in the region while at the same time allowing Israel to "commit out crimes" in Gaza. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) BEIRUT (AP) Irans foreign minister warned Friday that if Israels attacks on the Gaza Strip dont stop immediately, the violence could spread to other parts of the Middle East. Hossein Amirabdollahian is on a tour that took him to Baghdad before Beirut, and later in the day he went to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Iran heads the so-called axis of resistance that includes powerful militant groups in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq. Amirabdollahian spoke to reporters in Beirut after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, during which the two officials called for an end to Israels attacks on Gaza. He also met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the speaker of parliament. There have been concerns that the war could spread to Lebanons border where Hezbollah fighters have been on alert following Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Saturday that left hundreds of people dead. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement On Thursday, Israels military struck two of Syria's main international airports, in Damascus and Aleppo, putting them out of service. Flights were diverted to an airport in the coastal province of Latakia. The strikes came after shells were fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Sporadic acts of violence along the Lebanon-Israel border over the past days left three Hezbollah fighters dead on Monday. Israels military said one Israeli soldier was killed in an anti-tank missile attack on Wednesday. U.S. President Joe Biden has warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict, sending American warships to the region and vowing full support for Israel. What is funny is that at a time when America is calling on parties for self restraint, it is allowing the criminals in the fake Zionist entity to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza, Amirabdollahian said. He warned that if these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity dont stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility. He did not elaborate but it was an apparent hint that Iran-backed groups could join the war. Senior Hamas official Ali Barakeh told The Associated Press this week in Beirut that allies like Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah will join the battle if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation. Amirabdollahian said: America cannot send weapons and bombs to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza and at the same time calls on all sides for self-restraint. Amirabdollahian called on the foreign ministers and the leader of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a grouping of 57 countries with important Muslim populations, to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. After meeting Mikati, Amirabdollahian said the aim of his visit to Beirut is to preserve security in Lebanon amid regional tensions. What is important for us is security in Lebanon and how to preserve calm, Amirabdollahian said. He added that what Hamas did over the weekend was in response to the policies of Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The International Red Cross issues its Belarusian branch an ultimatum: If its current head is not dismissed, the Belarusian branch will no longer receive funding. Minsk showcases children taken from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to foreign diplomats visiting Belarus. Minsk announces the creation of a new chain of stores selling seized property. The UN deems Belarus jailing of RFE/RL journalist Ihar Losik a violation of international law. Meanwhile, witnesses report an explosion at a railway station near Minsk that is used extensively by the Russian military. Subscribe to the Newsletter Belarus Weekly ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Join us IFRC urges dismissal of Belarusian Red Cross head The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) demanded that its Belarusian branch dismiss its chief, Dzmitryi Shautsou, after he bragged about taking children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to Belarus. The IFRCs board said on Oct. 4 that it has given the Belarusian branch until Nov. 30 to dismiss Shautsou, or else it will suspend the branch and urge all stakeholders to stop cooperation with it. Shautsou, who admitted in July to the Belarusian branchs involvement in the forced deportation of children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to Belarus, is accused of having breached the Red Cross rules on neutrality and integrity. He was also shown in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraines Donbas region wearing military clothes adorned with the letter Z, which is a Russian pro-war symbol, and publicly praised the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus. The IFRCs investigation concluded that Shautsou breached Red Cross Red Crescent Fundamental Principles, misused the emblem, and breached the IFRC integrity policy, and that he is solely responsible. Back in July, the IFRC said it was not made aware of Shautsous visit to the Russian-occupied city of Lysychansk and is not involved in any of the (Belarusian branchs activities), including with children. Meanwhile, Belarusian state media said the Red Cross Belarusian branch voted unanimously on Sept. 7 to keep Shautsou in office. At the meeting, Shautsou vowed to continue helping children in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine by bringing them to Belarus. According to official estimates, Russia has abducted over 20,000 children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, although the number is likely much higher. Belarusian authorities have themselves confirmed hosting Ukrainian children taken from Ukraine. Belarusian opposition activist Pavel Latushka said in June that he provided the International Criminal Court (ICC) with information that allegedly detailed the forced transfer of over 2,000 Ukrainian children from at least 15 Russian-occupied Ukrainian cities to Belarus with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko s approval. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Childrens Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for organizing the illegal transfers. The European Parliament called on the ICC to issue a similar arrest warrant against Lukashenko for his complicity in the crime, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the ICC to do the same for Shautsou. Read also: Stolen generation. Russia systematically abducts children from Ukraine, gives them to Russian families Minsk shows abducted Ukrainian children to foreign diplomats Belarusian state media aired images of authorities in the Belarusian city of Navapolatsk showing a group of children taken from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine to foreign diplomats. Belarusian authorities claimed the two-day visit included 18 foreign diplomats from states including, but allegedly not limited to, China, India, Syria, Pakistan, Qatar, Mozambique, and several post-Soviet states. The Belarus-accredited diplomats reportedly visited the places where 44 children from the Ukrainian cities of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk are kept, and examined the kids living quarters and places of study, which they attend together with Belarusian peers. Diplomats were given the opportunity to see the living conditions and infrastructure and talk to the children in order to form their own opinions of the situation, Russias ambassador to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov, claimed. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry warned of the visit on Sept. 30, noting that Minsk aims to legalize the illegal movement 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, the ministry added. We strongly reject all accusations made against Belarus on this matter, the Belarusian Foreign Affairs Ministry said. Belarus launches retail chain selling seized property The Belarusian Justice Ministry announced on Sept. 27 that a new chain of stores selling property seized by the state has been launched. While the sale of confiscated goods and property has been an option on online platforms for a while in Belarus, there are now physical retail locations in the countrys cities of Vitsebsk, Homiel, Mahiliou, and Hrodno. New stores are reportedly projected to open in the cities of Minsk and Brest. The new retail chain raises concerns amid Lukashenkos ongoing crackdown on those who oppose his regime. There are at least 1,500 political prisoners in Belarus, and their prison sentences are often accompanied by the confiscation of assets and hefty fines. The state-owned enterprise behind the retail chain, BelYurObespecheniye, sold Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskayas apartment after it was confiscated, as well as the belongings of former presidential candidate and political prisoner Viktar Babaryka. Read also: That diamond ring? It may have helped pay for Russias war UN deems jailing of RFE/RL journalist in Belarus violation of international law The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has deemed Belarus jailing of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Ihar Losik a violation of international human rights law. The working group concluded that Losiks arrest was based solely on his journalistic activity and his exercise of the freedoms of expression and association. The U.S.-based rights group Freedom Now said the conclusion was made following a legal petition it filed with the international law firm Dechert LLP. Losik was a freelance writer for RFE/RL and the author of a Telegram channel that was the mouthpiece for political protests in Belarus after the fraudulent 2020 presidential election. Belarusian authorities sentenced him to 15 years in prison in December 2021 on several charges, including organizing mass riots and the incitement of social hatred. They also labeled him a so-called terrorist, a term often employed by Minsk to justify the imprisonment of those who opposed Lukashenkos regime. Unfortunately (Losik) is just one of the many journalists imprisoned in a country that has repeatedly used the judicial system to punish dissent, Freedom Now legal officer Adam Lhedmat said. We call on the government to abide by the Working Groups decision on the freedom of press in Belarus. His wife, Darya Losik, was sentenced to two years in prison following an interview where she said her husband was illegally convicted. Belarusian authorities accused her of facilitating alleged extremist activity, and rejected her appeal against her prison sentence in March. Back in March, Losik was transferred to a medical facility after Belarusian authorities claimed he attempted suicide while undertaking a hunger strike in solitary confinement. Read also: Kyiv, Moscows opposing attitudes toward Soviet past shape two different futures Monitoring group: Explosion reported at Belarusian railway used by Russian military Belarusian Hajun, a watchdog group that reports on the movement of Russian troops and weapons in Belarus, reported an explosion at a Belarusian railway used by the Russian military on Oct. 5. According to Belarusian Hajun, residents of Kalodzishchy, a village near Minsk, heard an explosion at around 11:20 p.m. local time. Belarusian law enforcement reportedly questioned the villages residents the following morning and told them that a so-called terrorist attack had occurred at the Aziaryshcha railway station. The Community of Railway Workers of Belarus, a group of Belarusian railway workers who oppose Lukashenkos regime, reportedly confirmed the location of the explosion. Citing preliminary information, the group said the blast likely damaged a portion of the railroad used for unloading and offloading cargo and military equipment. Aliaksandr Azarau, the head of BYPOL, a group of former Belarusian law enforcement officers who oppose Lukashenkos regime, said Belarusian authorities are searching for three individuals who they claim are responsible for the explosion. However, Belarusian authorities have yet to comment on the alleged incident. Giving Russian forces access to Belarusian territory and railways has been one of the central ways through which Minsk has supported Moscow in its war against Ukraine. Russia relies on Belarus railway system to transport troops and equipment to and from the front line in Ukraine, as well as to Russia. After the start of the full-scale war, several railway sabotage attempts aimed at thwarting the Russian militarys movement within Belarus have been reported. Putin and Lukashenko's love-hate relationship Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (L) seen during the 2nd Eurasian Economic Forum on May 24, 2023, in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images) The Spotlight segment provides readers with the historical context of contemporary events in Belarus. At first glance, Putin and Lukashenko have a lot in common: They have both turned their countries into tinpot dictatorships, have been in power for over two decades, continue to glorify their Soviet pasts, actively suppress their respective civil societies, and help each other circumvent Western sanctions. But Putin and Lukashenkos relationship hasnt always been smooth. Lukashenko laid the foundation for closer ties with Russia in 1999 by signing a treaty on the creation of a so-called Union State with Moscow, suggesting, among other things, a shared currency, parliament, and border agreement. At the time, Lukashenko had his eye on possibly leading the Union State this obviously didnt work out for him. After nearly a decade, Lukashenko put his foot down and went against Russian interests by refusing to support Russias invasion of Georgia in 2008. To this day, Minsk does not officially recognize the parts of Georgia illegally occupied by Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Belarus also did not recognize Crimea as Russian after Moscow illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, although it has since changed tack. Despite earning Belarus the title of Europes last dictatorship and isolating the country from the international community, Lukashenko has historically attempted to conduct Belarus foreign policy independently of Moscow. However, the Belarusian economy continued to rely heavily on Russia and even more so after the fraudulent 2020 Belarusian presidential election, which rendered Lukashenkos regime a global pariah. Below-market oil prices bestowed to Minsk by the Kremlin have been the crutch of the Belarusian economy. However, tensions came to a head in 2019 when Moscow attempted to make Belarus pay for its crude oil at market price. As a result, Belarus is estimated to have lost $300 million in 2019 alone. Russia also led so-called trade wars with Belarus over sugar imports from 2005 to 2007, dairy products in 2009, and fruit in 2019. In essence, Russia has often leveraged its economic power to get political concessions from Lukashenko. Lukashenko resisted further integration and repeatedly maintained that deeper economic and military integration with Russia would threaten Belaruss sovereignty. Despite claiming to support Russia in its confrontation with NATO, Lukashenko sabotaged the establishment of Russian military bases in Belarus. Before the massive protests in 2020, the existence of two military reconnaissance units that have been in Belarus for 25 years rent-free was jeopardized. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Lukashenko ousted two of his rivals, citing their alleged ties with Russia. In 2020, 33 Russian men, reportedly employed by Wagner Group, were detained in Belarus. Lukashenko claimed they arrived to destabilize the country prior to the elections. But after the Kremlin assisted Lukashenko amidst massive street protests following a fraudulent presidential election in 2020, the Belarusian dictator went all-in on Putin, relying on Russias financial, military, and political assistance. Putin promised Lukashenko law enforcement support to ensure security in Belarus and a $1.5 billion loan. A number of Union State integration roadmaps were finally signed, Lukashenko admitted he would recognize Crimea as Russian, welcomed Russian tactical nuclear weapons, and turned Belarus territory into a staging ground for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a training range, and the refuge for rebellious Wagner mercenaries. Yet, as Belarus became fully dependent on Russia, Lukashenko is still attempting to restore his agency by offering himself as an intermediary in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine or having the Belarusian Foreign Ministry send out non-public letters to the EU and several European diplomats calling to restore the dialogue with Belarus. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A Tennessee church is mourning the loss of one of its pastors after he went into cardiac arrest during a triathlon. While competing in the Ironman 70.3 Memphis race on Saturday, Oct. 7, through downtown Memphis, pastor Tim Shelton went into cardiac arrest, according to an Oct. 9 Facebook post from Bellevue Baptist Church, where he preached. He died a day later. Known for his kindness toward everyone, Tim touched many lives as he consistently lived out the faith he professed, the church said. While we grieve Tims absence, we grieve with much hope, and we rejoice that he is now in the presence of the Lord Jesus. Shelton was pastor at the Tennessee church since September 2002, working with adults and families, according to his LinkedIn. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The Memphis Ironman organization confirmed Sheltons death in an Oct. 8 Facebook post, saying he signaled for support while competing in the swimming section of the triathlon. The races safety team then gave Shelton immediate medical assistance, race officials said. The athlete was transported to a nearby hospital where they continued to receive critical medical treatment and care. Sadly, the athlete passed away (Sunday), the post says. People who knew him through church or other aspects of his life took to Facebook to post tributes and memories with Shelton. One woman noted she went to his church said he welcomed her and her husband with open arms in her Facebook tribute. He made the couple feel part of his family and was someone they always could count on, she said. Ive been struggling for hours to find the words to describe what this amazing man means to me. Though my husband and I have only known him for five years, he has made more of an impact on our lives then I can even describe, she wrote. Another pastor from the church, according to his Facebook, said Shelton was a friend, pastor, confidant and encourager during all the time he worked with him. I thank God for Tim Shelton. I pray the Lord would help me to be more like Tim Shelton, Collin Whitney wrote. His service will be at Bellevue Baptist Church on Saturday, Oct. 14 and is open to the public, followed by a private graveside service, the church said on its website. He leaves behind a wife and five sons, according to the churchs post. He and his wife would have celebrated their 25th anniversary on Oct. 17, according to his obituary. Teen football player dies in crash on day of homecoming dance, Minnesota officials say Driver flees crash that killed woman and is fatally hit by another car, Alabama cops say Renowned diver dies while exploring deepest underwater cave in US, officials say Germany has delivered a new batch of military aid to Ukraine, including all-terrain tracked vehicles and satellite communication terminals, the German government announced via its website on Oct. 13. The new aid package includes: Read also: Spain to send 6 Hawk air defense missile systems, much needed ammunition as part of aid package to Ukraine - 4 multi-purpose Bandvagn 206 (BV206) tracked all-terrain vehicles; - 4 border patrol vehicles; - 2 HX81 tank tractors; - 2 tank trailers; - 50 UAV detection systems; - 82 SatCom satellite communication terminals; - 100,000 first aid kits; - 27,477 backpacks. Read also: Germany to transfer more IRIS-T and Patriot systems to Ukraine ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Recent media reports said that the German government has placed an order with defense contractor Rheinmetall to manufacture 100,000 155mm artillery shells for the Ukrainian military. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine The Biden administration is putting $7 billion into regional hubs around the country dedicated to producing hydrogen energy touting the funds as an effort to fight climate change and create jobs. These hubs are clusters of facilities located in the same geographic area aiming to produce and consume hydrogen as well as related infrastructure such as pipelines. They are located in Appalachia, California, the Gulf Coast, the mid-Atlantic, the Midwest the Pacific Northwest and an area referred to as the Heartland that encompasses the Dakotas and Minnesota. An administration official told reporters Thursday that the hubs will create tens of thousands of jobs and catalyze more than $40 billion in private investment. Hydrogen energy is created by separating hydrogen from oxygen in water molecules producing hydrogen energy. The administration has touted it as a potential climate solution, as hydrogen can be used in industries such as aviation and steel manufacturing that are otherwise difficult to cut emissions from. With this historic investment, the Biden-Harris Administration is laying the foundation for a new, American-led industry that will propel the global clean energy transition while creating high quality jobs and delivering healthier communities in every pocket of the nation, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a written statement. However, climate advocates have said this type of energy is only an effective solution if the hydrogen production process is powered by new clean energy sources. They argue that if the creation of hydrogen energy is powered by existing energy sources, even clean ones, they are taking up energy that could be put to other uses and that may be replaced by fossil fuels. On a call with reporters Thursday, an administration official said that some of the hubs will use new clean energy, while others will rely on electricity thats already on the grid or other existing power sources. Erik Kamrath, federal hydrogen advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a written statement that there need to be strong guardrails to ensure that U.S. hydrogen does not create an emissions mess. In particular, he pointed to forthcoming guidance from the Treasury Department, which is weighing how to determine when hydrogen is considered clean in order to be eligible for a separate tax credit. Weak Treasury guidelines will severely compromise any climate benefits from the H2Hubs, Kamrath said. Nevertheless, administration officials touted the hubs as a win for the planet. A press release said that they are expected together to reduce 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide of carbon dioxide emissions from end-uses when hydrogen is used instead of other fuels each year. On the labor front, an administration official said multiple hubs will have project-labor agreements, which are labor agreements negotiated with unions. The seven regional hubs will encompass 16 total states. The Appalachian hub will span West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, will be powered by natural gas, and its emissions will be captured and stored. The California hub will be powered by renewables and biomass and will look to power public transit, heavy-duty trucks and port operations. The Gulf Coast hub will be centered in the Houston area and will be powered by renewables and natural gas. The hub in the Dakotas and Minnesota will power the production of fertilizer. The mid-Atlantic hub will span Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey and will be powered by renewable and nuclear energy. The Midwest hub, encompassing Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, will power steel and glass production, heavy-duty transportation and aviation and will produce hydrogen from renewables, gas and nuclear. The Pacific Northwest hub will be in Washington, Oregon and Montana. President Biden is expected to announce the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law during a visit to Philadelphia. The announcement received at least some praise from the other side of the aisle. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in a written statement that she was so proud West Virginia will continue its tradition as an innovative, energy-producing state. Updated at 10:07 a.m. ET For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Joffrey Ballets Frankenstein has everything you want for the spooky season: a gothic setting, sci-fi wizardry, a dash of hedonism, death and destruction and gasp-worthy shock value. Throw in the Joffreys exquisite dancers, a world-renowned design team and the masterful late choreographer Liam Scarlett, and its not hard to see why missing Frankenstein during its two-weekend run at the Lyric Opera House is not an option. To be clear, this Frankenstein is not the family-friendly, green-faced ogre of pop culture Monster Mash lore. Scarletts take is more closely aligned with Mary Shelleys 1818 novel, a fantastically macabre tale with shadows of the Greek god Prometheus and Miltons Paradise Lost. Advertisement The story centers on three characters: Victor Frankenstein, (danced Thursday by Jose Pablo Castro Cuevas), Elizabeth (Amanda Assucena) and Creature (Jonathan Dole). Cuevas and Assucena handily capture the emotional arcs of their characters and the demands of Scarletts unapologetically lavish choreography most evident in their first and third act pas de deux. They begin as naive young lovers whose lives turn out to be horrifyingly grim. They are first shaken by tragedy as Frankensteins mother dies birthing her second son, William. The elder son departs for university, leaving his promised bride behind. Even then, this blithe flirtation is still hopeful. Scarletts treatment of Lowell Liebermanns lush original score has Assucena and Cuevas traversing the entire stage with apparent reckless abandon. Look closer. With more overhead lifts and finger turns than you can count, Cuevas shows his cards as a formidable partner and commanding soloist while managing the heavy psychology of a brilliant young scientist who manufactures a man then has to live with the consequences of playing in Gods sandbox. Assucena remains the more optimistic of the two, and the couples fraught emotional dissonance is partly why, together, she and Cuevas are so intoxicating. Advertisement Jose Pablo Castro Cuevas and Amanda Assucena in Joffrey Ballet's "Frankenstein" at Lyric Opera House. (Cheryl Mann/HANDOUT) Dole spends a fair portion of the ballet lying on a slab in a gothic operating theater or, later, crouching behind leafless trees at Frankensteins Swiss chalet, spying on his maker. His looming presence is a tease, and just a fraction of what makes Frankenstein provokingly thrilling. At university, Frankenstein and his best mate, Henry (Xavier Nunez), the latter bullied by an ensemble of boisterous, braggadocios classmates, learn anatomy and cadaver dissection. As those less serious scholars pal around at the pub with a few comfortably numb courtesans, Cuevas steals away to the lab on his own and, using a set of steampunk contraptions, drives electric current into Doles inanimate body, bringing life to a pile of flesh. The scene is an example of ballet at its finest, with some of the worlds best artists coming together to make inconceivable theatrical magic. Finn Ross (projections), Gateway Pyrotechnic Productions, David Finn (lighting), John Macfarlane (scenic and costumes), Liebermann (whose score is realized by music director Scott Speck and arrestingly performed by the Lyric Opera Orchestra), and, of course, Scarlett have created a perfect container. It is then on the dancers to do it. And they nailed it. This must be how audiences felt the first time they saw Marie Taglioni rise onto her toes as a sylph then fly above the stage on invisible guide wires: wonder-filled. Its magical. Jose Pablo Castro Cuevas in Joffrey Ballet's "Frankenstein" at Lyric Opera House. (Cheryl Mann/HANDOUT) And as Creature, Dole gives the performance of his life thus far. In just four seasons, he now emerges as a dancer to watch, tackling all the complexity of an unnamed wretch conflicted by an inexplicable, insatiable need to sow chaos not to mention some really hard dancing. The Creature is tormented by an uncontrollable urge to inflict physical pain. Hes more conniving, though, in imposing psychological trauma, a nuance Dole makes masterfully clear. This is perhaps most evident in a brilliant ballroom scene, which has Creature weaving in and among a dizzying mass of waltzing couples. He vanishes then appears again and again, each time with a smirk on his mangled lips then he destroys Frankensteins family. Dole, Cuevas and Assucena are just a few of the thrilling performances on offer in Frankenstein, not least of which include Jeraldine Mendoza as Justine, the household friend falsely accused of killing William, brilliantly danced by young Sheppard Littrell. As usual, keep an eye out for discerning character roles by Christine Rocas and Miguel Angel Blanco, the latter back in the fray after departing the company last season. And theres terrific, intricate ensemble work as the cherry on top. Spoiler: Everybody dies. Plot twist: The manner and order by which many of these characters take their last breaths have been changed from the original. Mary Shelley has Victor Frankenstein dying of illness while trying to kill Creature, hoping to save others from enduring his familys fate. In his last rite, he implores those around him to continue that mission. I created a rational creature and was bound toward him to assure, as far as was in my power, his happiness and well-being, says Shelleys Frankenstein. Miserable himself that he may render no other wretched, he ought to die. The task of his destruction was mine, but I have failed. Advertisement Here, Frankenstein makes a mess and, overcome with grief, cant endeavor to try and clean it up. Scarletts Frankenstein kills himself with a pistol, leaving Creature to mourn his maker and walk into a towering wall of fire. It is the acts of men which deprived the wretch of his most basic needs: compassion and companionship. Scarlett does not make clear that Frankenstein makes a choice to deny Creature a partner when given the chance to spare his family. Frankenstein creates a monster not by his hand, but by his deeds. Am I to be thought the only criminal, says Shelleys Creature, when all humankind sinned against me? Scarletts Frankenstein doesnt have to be Shelleys. But the novel has a mad scientist owning up to his mistake while the ballet simply ends him, believing his Creature to be nothing more than a monster. 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 > Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic. Update: This story has been changed to correct the name of the projections designer. Advertisement Review: Joffrey Ballets Frankenstein (3.5 stars) When: Through Oct. 22 Where: Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes with 2 intermissions Tickets: $36-$205 at 312-386-8905 and joffrey.org Malaysian Muslim wave Palestinian flags during a rally to show support to the Palestinian people, outside the national mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Vincent Thian/AP) In Muslim communities across the world, worshippers gathered at mosques for their first Friday prayers since Hamas militants attacked Israel, igniting the latest Israel-Palestinian war. Clerics in Pakistan give emotional sermons in support of the Palestinians In the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, a cleric at the pro-Taliban Red Mosque pleaded with God to send special help to the Palestinians. Advertisement Oh Allah destroy Israel! Break it apart into pieces, urged Abdul Aziz in an emotional sermon in a packed mosque, where around 900 worshippers congregated for Friday prayers. The mosque has links to the Pakistani Taliban and is known for backing calls to help the Afghan Taliban across the border. In July 2007, government forces laid siege to the mosque in a deadly military crackdown that killed at least 100 people. Advertisement In his special prayers and sermon, the cleric asked God to help all those who wanted to join the jihad, or holy war, in the Palestinian territories. Oh Allah make it easy for them to reach there, and bless us with the death of a martyr, he declared, his voice reverberating through loudspeakers. Similar sermons were held at mosques throughout the country, including the major urban centers of Karachi and Lahore. Radical Islamist parties held anti-Israel rallies after Friday prayers. Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel because of the issue of Palestinian statehood. Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan In sermon, speaker urges Egyptians to rally behind their homeland in sermon, speaker urges Egyptians to rally behind their homeland In a sermon broadcast on Egyptian television, the speaker, Ayman Abou Omar, stressed the importance of being aware of the value of the homeland and manintaining security, especially during what he described as such a critical time. The dangers are great, the challenges grave, he said, urging Egyptians to unite behind their state, leadership and army. Without security, there is no state, he said. Advertisement He prayed for Egyptians, their army and president, and asked God to help the Palestinians and aid them in preserving their land. Egypt, which made peace with Israel decades ago and has long served as a regional mediator, is staunchly opposed to resettling Palestinians on its territory, both because of the costs involved and because it would undermine their quest for an independent state. Egypt has taken unprecedented measures to reinforce its border with Gaza and prevent any breaches, a senior Egyptian security official has said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. Mariam Fam of APs Global Religion Team Malaysians rally in Kuala Lumpur in solidarity Some 1,000 Muslims rallied in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, after Friday prayers to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Chanting Free Palestine and Crush the Zionists, they burned two effigies draped with Israeli flags. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, 98, was among those attending the event. Advertisement Seventy-five years ago, they took away Palestinian land to establish Israel. Not satisfied, they continued to take more land, Mahatjir said. Its not just about seizing land. The people of Palestine are subjected to torture, murder, imprisonment, and long detentions. Hamas did what they did due to decades of oppression (by Israel). Dozens more people attended a smaller rally outside the U.S. Embassy that shut its doors to visitors as a security precaution. The rallies ended peacefully. Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia In Indonesia, prayers for Gods protection and for the absent Islamic leaders in Indonesia appealed to all mosques in the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation to pray for peace and safety for the Palestinian people. The chairperson of the Indonesian Mosque Council had urged all mosques to perform the Qunut Nazilahto prayer, one made for protection, to ask for Gods help so that the conflict in the Gaza Strip would end quickly. Advertisement The appeal from the nations former Vice President Jusuf Kalla is in line with most Indonesian Muslims, who stand with Palestinians. The prayer was held along with the Salat Al-Ghaib, or prayer for the absent. In a sermon at Abu Bakar Al Shidiq, one of the most conservative mosques in Jakarta, a cleric called for mobilizing our power and efforts to help the Muslims in Palestine. Prayer is a weapon for devout Muslims, he added, For those of us who have not been given the opportunity by God to take up arms to defend the honor and religion of our Muslims brothers, then we can take up our weapons by raising our hands asking God for His blessings. Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan, Jakarta, Indonesia Andrew "AJ" Freund plays with toy cars at a family event in McHenry County. AJ was placed in a foster home at birth because he was born with drugs in his system, but his parents worked to regain custody. (Family photo) In what is believed to be the first successful prosecution of its kind in Illinois, a former child welfare worker was found guilty Friday of child endangerment in the beating death of 5-year-old AJ Freund in Crystal Lake, but his supervisor was found not guilty. Carlos Acosta, who was the case investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, was found guilty in McHenry County court of endangering the life or health of a child. He was found not guilty of reckless conduct. Advertisement Lake County Judge George Strickland said he could not find Acostas supervisor, Andrew Polovin, guilty of either charge because he did not know how much Polovin knew about AJ being abused. Strickland handled the case because all McHenry County judges recused themselves. Carlos Acosta listens to McHenry County State's Assistant Attorney Randi Freeze as she delivers the states closing argument during the trial for former Illinois DCFS employees Acosta and Andrew Polovin before Lake County Judge George Strickland on Oct. 13, 2023, at the McHenry County Courthouse. (Gregory Shaver/Northwest Herald) . Advertisement AJ died in April 2019 after being beaten by his mother, JoAnn Cunningham. She is serving a 35-year sentence for his murder. The boys father, Andrew Freund Sr., was sentenced to 30 years in prison for convictions related to covering up the murder by burying the boys body in a field. Acosta, who is free on bond, faces two to 10 years in prison or probation. He is a former McHenry County Board member. Polovins attorney, Matthew McQuaid, said he and his client were grateful for the verdict. I never thought he committed a crime, McQuaid said. He said Polovin, who was fired by DCFS, is working in another field. This was believed to be the first successful prosecution of a child welfare worker in Illinois, McHenry County States Attorney Patrick Kenneally said. He said AJs family supported the prosecution and was relieved by the verdict. Advertisement Andrew Polovin talks to his defense attorney, Matthew McQuaid, as Lake County Judge George Strickland found him not guilty on Oct. 13, 2023, at the McHenry County Courthouse. (Gregory Shaver/Northwest Herald) As for DCFS, Kenneally said he hoped it would bring accountability to the agency. We hope its a shift in the landscape, he said. Weve been running across at least as long as Ive been here a significant deficit in the ability of DCFS to investigate these cases, to get us accurate information and to help us keep children safe. ... We hope that it is a conclusion where some minor good has come from that unspeakable tragedy. The case centered on events that occurred Dec. 18, 2018, four months before AJs death, when police called Acosta to investigate AJs possible child abuse. At that time, Cunningham had called police to report her ex-boyfriend had stolen her cellphone and her Suboxone, a drug used to treat heroin addiction. When Crystal Lake police responded, Officer Kimberley Shipbaugh reported that the house was disgusting, with a ripped-up floor and ceiling, broken and open windows, and feces and urine throughout. When she asked about a large bruise on AJs hip, she said the hairs on her arm stood up when the mother prompted AJ to agree that the dog did it. Immediately suspecting abuse, the officer took AJ into protective custody. Advertisement Later that day, when a doctor asked how the bruise happened, the boy told her, Maybe someone hit me with a belt. Maybe Mommy didnt mean to hurt me. The doctor recommended that a physician trained in child abuse conduct a more thorough examination and that AJ not be released to his mother. But Acosta ended protective custody, and let AJ go home with his father, with no further medical exam. The judge found that Acostas reports were dishonest by repeatedly omitting important warning signs of potential abuse, such as the mothers mental illness, apparent recent drug use, marks on AJs face and terrible living conditions. The case should have been viewed in the context of the familys long-standing dysfunction, the judge said. Cunningham had lost custody of AJ for 18 months when she gave birth to him with opioids and benzodiazepines in their bodies. She had a history of heroin use, as recently as March of 2018, had repeated calls to the police alleging she committed domestic violence against AJs father, had repeatedly threatened suicide, and previously lost custody of a foster child. Strickland said Acostas failures were a proximate cause of AJs death, and called the explanation that the dog caused the bruise laughable. This is a refusal to investigate, the judge said. Advertisement Because the judge found Acosta guilty of child endangerment, prosecutors said, he could not by law also convict him of reckless conduct. Defense attorneys Rebecca Lee and Jamie Wombacher had argued that prosecutors and their witnesses were using gross speculation and the benefit of hindsight, with later knowledge of AJs death, to scapegoat Acosta. They said DCFS was violating a court order limiting the number of cases for each investigator. 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 > At the end of the day, Lee said of DCFS workers, theyre making judgment calls. Even if DCFS workers were overloaded with cases, the judge said in his ruling, they should have gotten help from the police, prosecutors, doctors and the Childrens Advocacy Center to look into the case. I know that you werent supervising anything, the judge told Polovin. He particularly ridiculed Polovins comment in a text message about AJs bruise being caused by a dog, That looks nasty, but if thats what the kid says. As far as Im concerned, you completely abdicated your responsibility in this case, the judge told Polovin. However, because I dont know exactly what you knew and when you knew it, I cannot find you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Advertisement The judge said he was haunted by videos of AJs mother repeatedly taunting her son about how he might report her to authorities. At the end of the day he was failed by the adults in his life, the judge said. He died, he was tortured to death. He deserved due process. AJ never got due process from DCFS. He died suffering, and I hold the two of you and DCFS responsible for that. In his Oakbrook Terrace office on Oct. 12, 2023, David Meilahn holds a 1983 photo of himself making the first commercial cellphone call alongside his wife, Gail Meilahn, and technician Jeff Benuzzi. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) There are more than 300 million cellphone customers in the U.S. David Meilahn, a suburban Chicago insurance agent, was the first. Advertisement In a Soldier Field parking lot, 40 years ago Friday, Meilahn bested 13 other early adopters in a promotional race to see who could activate their preinstalled car phones and make the first commercial cellular call in the U.S. Meilahn won a check to cover the car phones cost and a footnote in the history of the transformational wireless telecommunications industry. Advertisement There was even a Jeopardy answer about his accomplishment you can look it up on your smartphone. This was part of my 15 minutes of fame, said Meilahn, 74. Everybody thought it was really a neat novelty that I became the first cellular phone call. But it wasnt as important the first year as it is today. Its just part of every persons life. In days of yore, before phones were smart, they were tethered to walls and going mobile meant stretching a tangled cord across the room. All of that changed on Oct. 13, 1983, when Ameritech Mobile Communications, then a subsidiary of AT&T, launched the first commercial cell service in Chicago. Chicago was both the birthplace of the cellphone and the epicenter of the nascent technologys development. In 1973, Motorola executive Martin Cooper made the first cellular call in New York with a brick-like prototype built by the then Schaumburg-based company. Engineers at AT&Ts Bell Laboratories built out an experimental system in the Chicago area in the late 1970s, refining a network to hand off calls as users traveled from one cell to the next. [ Vintage Chicago Tribune: Dick Tracy and handie-talkie paved way for Motorolas first cellphone call in 1973 ] In June 1983, Ameritech filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to turn the experimental cellular network into a commercial one. The Ameritech system covered a 2,500-square-mile area across the Chicago metro, providing service from Lake Forest to Geneva to Beecher. It got the green light from the FCC on Oct. 6 and went live one week later. Ameritech decided to launch the service with an over-the-top publicity stunt, inviting 14 contestants to participate in a tag-team race to make the first commercial cell call. Contestants stood by their cars while technicians ran across a Soldier Field parking to install a chip and activate a mobile transceiver in the trunk. The drivers then hopped in and placed a call to another car in the lot, where Robert Barnett, president of Schaumburg-based Ameritech Mobile Communications, was waiting to answer. Cubs announcer Jack Brickhouse was on hand to provide the play-by-play of the event dubbed The Great Cellular Race. Advertisement Meilahn, who owns an insurance agency now based in west suburban Oakbrook Terrace, won the race. His fleet-footed partner was technician Jeff Benuzzi. A River Forest native, Meilahn had been using a radio phone in his car to close insurance deals on the fly. When his car was stolen out of a Burnham Harbor parking lot in the summer of 1983, he bought a new vehicle and went to get another radio phone. His installer recommended he go with the newfangled cellular service being tested by Ameritech, even if it meant waiting a few months before the system was up and running. After the cellphone was installed, Meilahn got the invite to participate in the promotion. Benuzzi told Meilahn that he might not be the fastest across the lot, but that his experience would allow him to seat the chip properly and quickly. Once completed, he would hand the keys to Meilahn to start the car and fire up the phone. The other piece of advice Meilahn received was to wait until all of the lights on the phone were done flashing before trying to place the call. He entered the number but didnt hit send until the phone was fully booted. The other phone rang, and Meilahn got the good news from Barnett. There was just a simple Hello, congratulations, as I recall, Meilahn said. Advertisement At some point during the event, Barnett also placed the first international cell call, to one of Alexander Graham Bells grandchildren. Meilahn was feted with a post-race celebration under a tent and was awarded an oversize check for $2,809 to cover the cost of his mobile cellphone equipment and installation. The actual bill, it turned out, was higher, but Meilahn appreciated the windfall nonetheless. I think I paid around $3,600 they were very expensive at the time, Meilahn said. But they presented me with this large check and, technically, they were giving me a free phone for having won the race. It many ways, it was a call heard round the world in the rapidly changing telecommunications industry. In January 1984, AT&T was broken up into eight companies by federal regulators to settle an antitrust lawsuit. AT&T kept its long-distance and equipment manufacturing businesses, while seven regional Baby Bells took over local calling operations, with Ameritech covering Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio. Ameritech also kept the pioneering mobile phone service, which evolved into a major regional and eventually, national player. In 2000, the mobile business became part of Verizon, a company formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, which had purchased Ameritech Cellular only months earlier. Advertisement AT&T, whose history dates back to Bells invention of the telephone in 1876, reemerged during the new millennium as a diversified telecommunications giant with everything from mobile phones to pay TV. In 2005, AT&T was gobbled up by SBC, a renamed former Baby Bell whose holdings included the 5-year-old Cingular wireless service. The merged company kept the AT&T name. In 2006, AT&T acquired BellSouth, another former Baby Bell that had partnered in Cingular. With ownership consolidated, it changed the name of the wireless service to AT&T in 2007, establishing one of three dominant cellphone companies in the U.S. Verizon had 114 million pre- and postpaid mobile phone customers at the end of the second quarter this year, followed by T-Mobile at 95.6 million and AT&T at 87.9 million, according to industry analysts MoffettNathanson. Chicago-based U.S. Cellular, the former namesake of the White Sox ballpark now known as Guaranteed Rate Field, is a distant fourth with 4.1 million mobile customers, according to MoffettNathanson. The growth of cellphones far exceeds what Barnett and Meilahn imagined during the launch 40 years ago. During the 1983 race event, Barnett said business users were the target customer, and predicted that 300,000 people in Chicago and 3 million nationwide would want cellular service in the very near future as it expanded to other markets, according to a video interview. Advertisement At the same time, Barnett tamped down speculation that cell service would replace traditional landline phones. We dont see at this point in time that it would replace the telephone service that we know ordinary residential customers have, Barnett said. Over the years, Meilahn progressed from an installed car phone to a handheld device, and has also made the transition from analog to digital, which dramatically improved the quality of cellular calls. But the biggest evolution was the advent of the smartphone, which turned it into a ubiquitous multimedia device, and an indispensable 24/7 appendage for many users. He currently uses an iPhone 14. Meilahn also migrated through several carriers as they merged and reemerged over the years, including Ameritech and Verizon. He signed up with AT&T last year, bringing him full circle to the parent company where it all started 40 years ago. His 15 minutes of fame, which included local and national media coverage, has occasionally bubbled back to the surface over the past four decades. The call, for example, was a Jeopardy answer in 2017 under the category Invention & Discovery. Advertisement It read: On Oct. 13, 1983 David Meilahn & Bob Barnett made the first calls on a commercial one of these, talking to Bells grandkid. Others are less impressed by his accomplishment. When shopping for a new phone, his wife, Gail, invariably tells the salesperson that Meilahn made the very first commercial cell call in the U.S., a feat which he said is lost on a younger generation raised on smartphones. 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 > The salespeople generally respond with, What color do you want? he said. Meilahn also touts the groundbreaking call on his insurance agencys website. But even he initially thought the cellphone might be short-lived. In the beginning, no one knew it was going to be here 40 years later, Meilahn said. I honestly believed that something was going to come to replace cell service at some point in time. These days, Meilahn is just one of 300 million-plus cellphone users in the U.S., albeit the only one with 40 years of history and the savvy of a septuagenarian. Advertisement As such, he has a piece of advice for those customers who have followed in his footsteps. You go to a restaurant and you see four people at a table and theyre all on their cellphone looking at something, Meilahn said. Dont forget to have a conversation. But its just a wonderful tool. You cant live without it, really. rchannick@chicagotribune.com Yolexi Cubillan, 19, holds her newborn, Derick Alexander Cubillan, after meeting with nurse Naeemah McMillon of Family Connect Chicago, on Sept. 28, 2023, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) Yolexi Cubillan worried as she waited in line with her infant son and hundreds of other Venezuelans at the Illinois Department of Human Services. Around her, babies cried as men and women clutched folders with immigration documents. She had been waiting for four hours. Yolexi, 19, gave birth to her son, Derick, in Chicago a little over a month ago, but the asylum-seeker doesnt have money to buy diapers, baby formula or clothes, much less a stroller or a toy. Advertisement She had just received her sons Social Security card, and was hoping to use it to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. But, after waiting all day with her newborn, she was told she was at the wrong office. She needed to go somewhere else. Meanwhile, authorities still havent released her sons birth certificate to her because she doesnt have the right documents. Im really sad because if I want to bring Derick home, he needs a passport. And in order to get a passport, he needs his birth certificate, she said in Spanish. Its all impossible. Advertisement Over the past month, the Tribune followed Yolexi in her struggle to secure a birth certificate and benefits for her U.S. citizen son, waiting with her in chaotic, hourslong lines in a mix of county and state offices. Her efforts often ended with little progress and no solutions. Driven by political and economic instability in her home country, Yolexi is one of more than 18,000 migrants who have come to Chicago in the past year, now being funneled into a set of tenuous social services that are struggling to keep up. Employees at government offices and nonprofits tasked at helping migrants have told the Tribune they are overworked and understaffed. Lines can often snake outside office buildings and tempers flare. In at least one instance witnessed by the Tribune, police were called to help restore order. More than 7.3 million Venezuelans have left their country of origin, making it the second-largest displacement in the world, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In July, the Tribune followed Yolexi and her boyfriends family (plus a dog) on their journey from the border town of El Paso, Texas, to Chicago. Thousands of families like them have arrived in the city over the past year. Yolexi Cubillan, 19, left, and her boyfriend's family look for shelters on their phones while standing outside Union Station in Chicago on July 15, 2023, after riding a train for 18 hours from Denver to Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) A visit to Cook County Following the Sept. 3 birth of her baby at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Childrens Hospital, Yolexi was at home, pensive. She wanted to bring her baby to meet her family in Venezuela during the first years of his life, but she didnt know how she could. She had received a packet from the Hyde Park hospital where she had delivered with instructions to go to the Cook County clerks vital records office downtown to obtain her babys birth certificate, a document that would allow her to apply for SNAP benefits. On Sept. 18, wearing a brown winter coat and mascara for the occasion, she left her 2-week-old baby in the care of family in the beige house with peeling blue steps in south Chicago they called home. The commute to the Loop would take hours. When she finally arrived at the County Building, she went to Room 120 where she got into a line with other Chicagoans seeking permanent documentation. After about 30 minutes of waiting, a woman in a cubicle called her over. Yolexi sat down and the women exchanged quick pleasantries. Right away, the employee realized she couldnt help because Yolexi did not have an identification card that met official requirements. Advertisement I literally want to help, but I cant do anything. I really cant, the woman said. She gave Yolexi a list of acceptable forms of identification in Spanish: Lista de documentos para solicitar el acta de nacimiento, acta de matrimonio, y acta de defuncion. List of documents to request birth, marriage, and death records. The acceptable forms of documentation were either a U.S.-issued or a consulate identification card or two other forms of identification such as utility bills or bank statements, which Yolexi didnt have and had no idea how to get. When migrants arrive at the border, their documents are often taken from them by Border Patrol, and they are given a piece of paper with their picture that functions as their identification. Many, like Yolexi, dont have passports. Yolexi Cubillan, 19, from Venezuela, sits at her table while taking a break from cooking at home three days after giving birth on Sept. 6, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) Because of the diplomatic breakdown between the United States and Venezuela caused by the countrys far-left president, Nicolas Maduro, there are no active Venezuela consulate offices in the United States for Venezuelan citizens to obtain their documents. This is a struggle for Cook County, said Angela Wright Madison, director of vital records for Cook County. The biggest challenge for us is with the country of Venezuela. Migrants from other countries other countries in Central America can go to their consulate office here in the United States and get assistance. Advertisement Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough said her team is doing its best to respond to Venezuelan migrants by expanding the types of documentation they will accept, but the office has to make sure it isnt issuing vital records to scammers. She said the clerks office hasnt seen many migrants coming for birth certificates, but has seen many seeking wedding certificates. They have some people in the office who speak Spanish, she said, but language can also pose barriers. The unstableness of the government. Its really unfortunate. These people are in the middle. They would stay in their country if it wasnt just total chaos there, and they fear for their lives, Yarbrough said. Yolexi took the form from the Cook County office listing acceptable identification types. She folded down the creases in the paper and carefully put it in a plastic folder with her other documents. She has no means of getting the required documents on the list. Yolexis entire interaction with the county employee lasted just five minutes. She was picked up and brought to the house where shes staying with her boyfriend, Fabian, in Englewood. At home, she stared at a pile of open letters on her kitchen table shed received from the hospital and the Illinois Department of Public Health, most of them in English, which she cant read. Yolexi Cubillan, 19, from Venezuela, cooks at home three days after giving birth on Sept. 6, 2023, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) I miss my parents, and I feel a little guilty that Im not giving them the privilege of seeing my son, she said. Advertisement No county administrator or official reached by the Tribune could answer how Yolexi could obtain her sons birth certificate without proper documentation. A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, Mike Claffey, said, Under state law, a parent can apply for a birth certificate through a county clerks office or IDPHs Vital Records Division. If they submit a valid foreign government ID we would review their documentation and provide a birth certificate if their information can be verified. But the government identification Yolexi provided to the county was rejected. And no one told her she could reach out to the state for verification. Program never meant for this many people Four days later, on Sept. 22, Yolexi received Dericks Social Security card in the mail. Cook County Health has seen over 200 pregnant women among the thousands of migrants who have come to the city since last fall, and the Social Security application paperwork can be done at the hospital, according to Cook County Health spokesperson Alexandra Normington. The Social Security Administration takes the process from there, and the average processing time is about two weeks. Yolexi called the states human services office to figure out what to do next. The piece of cardstock with Dericks Social Security number would be the key to getting the help she needed for the food stamps but not the birth certificate, a representative from the office told her over the phone. But she would need to go to their office in Sauganash a 40-minute drive from home. Advertisement On Sept. 25, Yolexi was dropped off at the Illinois Department of Human Services office, where hundreds of migrants from Venezuela lined up outside waiting for an appointment. She, like others in line, was hoping to be seen by the program serving foreign-born victims of trafficking, torture, or other serious crimes, known as the VTTC. In place of a diaper bag, she had packed a lunch box with Huggies and an extra baby jumper, and carried Derick in a carseat shed received from the hospital. He wore a white jumpsuit that read I am the future. Yolexi Cubillan, 19, kneels next to her newborn, Derick Alexander Cubillan, while waiting to enter an Illinois Department of Human Services office on Sept. 25, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) The VTTC office on the sixth floor of the high-rise provides eligible individuals who may not qualify for other federally funded public benefits programs due to their immigration status access to food, cash and medical benefits. These days, the employees mostly see Venezuelans. During Yolexis visit, the office couldnt fit everyone, so people were moved outside. The line wrapped around the building. This program was never meant for this many people, human services employees working that day told the Tribune. According to one state worker, the organization of the intake was so bad that day that migrants tried to make their own list of names. If they werent on their self-made list upon arrival, they would have to go to the back of the line. But the list added to the chaos, as people disagreed about the order and tried to move their way to the front. State workers called Chicago police. Advertisement Immediately after Yolexi arrived at the IDHS office, she sat on the curb and watched as police tried to organize the group of people. No! No, no, no, no! shouted one police officer, pushing a migrant out of the way. Por alla! Vamos entonces! Go over there, lets go! Officers argue with a group of migrants about the arrangement of the line to enter outside an Illinois Department of Human Services office on Sept. 25, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) Venezuelans shouted and maneuvered their way to the front, and as the police pushed them away from the door, their bodies crammed together. Trying to keep their place in line, their heads and bodies pressed up against the glass wall of the building. They frantically tried to explain that they were waiting in line, waiting for help. Amid the turmoil, a Ukrainian man seeking refuge came to the office and asked to be seen. He was immediately ushered by a human services employee up to the family community resource center on the fifth floor. Ukrainians fleeing their country are eligible for an immigration process similar to the one for Venezuelans, said Anne Smith, executive director and regulatory counsel of Ukraine Immigration Task Force. Ukrainians and Venezuelans use the same protocols to apply for parole, or permission to temporarily enter the United States, she said, and both groups have been redesignated for an additional protection called temporary protected status. State officials say they are doing what they can to provide wraparound services for new arrivals from Venezuela at city shelters. In September, they served over 6,000 through case management and information and referral, said director of communications Rachel Otwell. Advertisement Yolexi waited outside for more than two hours to be called up to the sixth-floor office. Once inside, she spent another two hours waiting. But Yolexi was able to get authorization on Dericks Link card to receive SNAP benefits. Unfortunately for Yolexi, she was told she needed to go to a different government office near her house to activate the PIN. Its like they dont want to give it to us. Three days later, on Sept. 28, Yolexi received a visit from nurse Naeemah McMillon with Family Connects Chicago, which arranges in-home appointments for new mothers through the Chicago Department of Public Health. Yolexi Cubillan, 19, left, talks with nurse Naeemah McMillon of Family Connect Chicago, a program that provides an in-home appointment for new mothers through the Chicago Department of Public Health, in her home in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood on Sept. 28, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) McMillon said Yolexi is the first mother from Venezuela to work with Family Connects Chicago. McMillon stayed for over four hours, using a phone translation service to communicate. She taught Yolexi how to breastfeed correctly, gave her information about the Medicaid she now qualifies for, signed her up for a diaper delivery service and made sure she knew about English language programs and support groups. Yolexi learned from McMillon that on the first of every month, she is supposed to receive over $200 on the Dericks Link card. But she doesnt know the address of the office she needs to go to activate it. And, even with McMillans help, she still doesnt know if shell be able to get a birth certificate. Still, she does have an advantage. Yolexi, unlike many families who have recently arrived from Venezuela, has a permanent address where she can receive letters and at-home visits from the hospital. Advertisement Other families are not so lucky. Valentina Cartaya, 25, from Venezuela, was in line two days after Yolexi at the human services office in Sauganash. She cradled her baby, Aitana, just 22 days old. Cartaya and her husband, Antonio Palma, were there to get Aitanas Social Security number and birth certificate, they said, which they hadnt been able to receive in the mail because they didnt have a permanent address. They were staying at the Inn of Chicago, a city-run shelter in Streeterville, and had been at a police station for days before being moved to shelter. They had been to the vital records office downtown two times and had been turned away because they didnt meet identification requirements. They dont have their Venezuelan passports. Its like they dont want to give it to us, Cartaya said in Spanish. That worries us, because we dont know what were going to do. We dont know where to go to get help. They look at us differently. At home in Englewood, Yolexi has been adjusting to living with the family of her babys father, caring for a new being that requires constant attention. Shes learning to feed Derick every two hours and find pockets of time to squeeze in rest when she can. Her body is still recovering. She cant sit comfortably. Advertisement Its been hard, she said. But when you take on a life of responsibilities (with a baby), this is the type of thing you have to do. She cradled Dericks head in the crook of her arm as he cooed softly, wiping the milk that dribbled down his chin. Yolexi Cubillan, 19, holds her newborn, Derick Alexander Cubillan, after meeting with nurse Naeemah McMillon of Family Connect Chicago on Sept. 28, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) She spends her free time cooking, cleaning and catching up on sleep. At night, she cries thinking about her parents and siblings thousands of miles away. Her mom calls every day, which she said helps calm her. She sends dozens of photos of the baby in return. Yolexi said she knows she has to do her best to adapt. These are similar challenges that undocumented immigrants have been facing for decades, said Erendira Rendon, vice president of immigrant justice at Resurrection Project, a nonprofit organization in Pilsen that helps defend immigrant rights. Its a frustrating situation that many folks are in, not just Venezuelans. There are currently over 3,000 migrants staying at police stations around the city many sleeping outside, without safety nets. Advertisement They look at us differently. There are Venezuelans and then there are migrants from other countries, Yolexi said. Moments like cops pushing people waiting in line for human services are part of her daily reality. She said she has to turn away when sees migrant families on the side of the road in her neighborhood. nsalzman@chicagotribune.com China still an investment hot spot for multinationals Xinhua) 08:22, October 13, 2023 JINAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- China remains a hot spot for global investment, where the market offers sustained fresh opportunities and growth points, noted representatives of multinationals and industry insiders at the fourth Qingdao Multinationals Summit held in the coastal city of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. Themed "Multinationals and China," a major objective of this year's summit is to promote economic exchanges between Chinese and international enterprises and encourage multinationals to invest in advanced manufacturing, modern service, high-tech, and green industries in China. Participants visit the "Multinationals and China" thematic exhibition, a complementary event to the fourth Qingdao Multinationals Summit, in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng) Covering topics including greater efforts to utilize foreign investment, new trends in industrial investment layout, and international cooperation in the digital economy, the three-day summit, which closed on Thursday, has drawn top-level managers from 416 multinationals. INVESTMENT PARADISE The enormous market potential, mushrooming emerging industries, abundant industrial clusters, and high-quality talent pool have endowed China with strong economic resilience, which injects persistent confidence for foreign companies to keep investing in China, noted participants at the summit. "China is one of the largest industrial and consumer markets around the world. An enterprise of a certain size cannot further expand leaving the Chinese market," said Sean Yan, head of marketing in northeast China of Konecranes, a Finnish company specializing in the manufacture and service of crane and lifting equipment. Konecranes has recently decided to put its North-East Asia headquarters in Shanghai. "All that we are making further progress in, such as organizational structure, personnel, products, and research and development, are to better meet the needs of the Chinese market," said Yan. In line with the ultra-large market, China's manufacturing industry is quite complete, and its position in the global industrial and supply chains is constantly improving, bringing new growth points to the development of multinational enterprises. China is far more than a big manufacturer and consumer; it is also a major innovator. Its pillar industries are gradually shifting from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, such as automobiles, materials, and electronic components, according to Tetsuro Homma, representative director and executive vice president of Panasonic Holdings Corporation. Participants walk past a bulletin board displaying names of participating enterprises during the fourth Qingdao Multinationals Summit in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng) Having entered the Chinese market for 45 years, Panasonic, the Japan-based multinational, now has about 50,000 employees in China, and the sales volume in the Chinese market takes up a 27-percent share of its global total. The company boasts an R&D fleet of almost 10,000 researchers in China, and its investment keeps mounting. SHARED OPPORTUNITIES This is the fourth time for the German industrial automation company Festo to attend the Qingdao summit. Li Feng, COO of Festo BR GCN &general manager of Festo Production Ltd., noted that China's determination to advance higher-level opening up and share development dividends has reaffirmed Festo's further localization drive in the Chinese market. "During Festo's 30 years in China, the stable and safe business environment has laid the foundation for our development. The strong support of relevant policies and the intellectual property protection for multinationals is also an important factor in multinational companies' global layout," Li added. During the summit, an event incorporating a series of promotions and briefings structured around the themes of attracting foreign investment and supporting the long-term stable development of foreign-funded firms was also launched. Participants talk during the fourth Qingdao Multinationals Summit in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng) "China's investment agencies are pragmatic and service-oriented. They are able to actively respond to various challenges and are ready to help enterprises solve any problems. This adds to many multinationals' willingness to tap deeper into the Chinese market," said Andy Liew, general manager of nVent Enclosure APAC, a leading designer and manufacturer of electrical enclosures. LONG-TERM CONFIDENCE The World Investment Report 2023, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, shows that in the past two years, although global cross-border direct investment has shown signs of recovery, the growth momentum is clearly insufficient and still faces a lot of uncertainty. Amid the rising protectionism and anti-globalization wave, China's commitment to further opening up has sent out a positive signal for global investors. A report, "Multinationals in China: Certainty in the Uncertain Global Investment Environment," published at the summit by the Ministry of Commerce, shows that measures to optimize the foreign investment environment China implemented in 2022 have proved effective. From 2020 to 2022, China's FDI inflow grew at an average annual rate of 12.5 percent, and the country saw over 40,000 foreign-funded enterprises newly established each year. "It's impressive to see how much the world appreciates China's development," said John R Adler, CEO of ZAP Surgical Systems, Inc., a leading innovator in the field of surgical robotics. "We all feel we need to be here because this is a great opportunity for us." Downstream President of Saudi Aramco Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani speaks during the opening ceremony of fourth Qingdao Multinationals Summit in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng) "We believe the mutual respect, partnership, and collaboration between our two nations have never been stronger," noted Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, downstream president of Saudi Aramco, a world-leading energy company. He added that the company inked contracts worth up to 8 billion U.S. dollars with its Chinese partners this year to expand its presence in the world's second-largest economy. "I believe we are only in the early chapters of a much bigger story. Because while the present day is promising, the future is even brighter," said Qahtani. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Think of it as the reality check budget. As a candidate for mayor, Brandon Johnson had a neat and clean plan to raise $800 million from new taxes in order to pay for a sweeping progressive agenda that undergirded his campaign. Advertisement Now that hes in office, Johnsons new reality of actually running the city and being responsible for its fiscal health seems to be setting in. The $16.6 billion budget Johnson announced Wednesday was a reality check in two ways. First, the menu of taxes he proposed as a candidate was nowhere to be seen. And second, the progressive plans he once promised have been toned down at least for now by the fact that the city cant afford to pay for all that Johnson and his backers would like to do. Advertisement Were still getting to know this new mayor, obviously, and the budget merits careful study as City Council hearings start next week. On first review, it appears that when Johnsons progressive ideals clash with the responsibilities of his office, he is willing to forgo, postpone or scale down his wish list in the interest of closing a $538 million budget gap. Johnson deploys a delicate balancing act here. He seeks to preserve the progressive vision longer term while dealing with the political and budget constraints he faces as CEO of the city, in the here and now. [ Digging into the numbers in Mayor Brandon Johnsons budget ] Its one budget, he said Wednesday. Were talking about years and years and years of historical neglect. Thats a commonsense position, perhaps even one that will prove acceptable to the progressives who helped put Johnson in the job. Finesse like this is something Mayor Lori Lightfoot lacked. Months into her term, Lightfoot already had reversed her initial opposition to the controversial Lincoln Yards megadevelopment and supported relocating General Irons metal shredding operation from tony Lincoln Park to Chicagos environmentally degraded Southeast Side. With these abrupt about-faces, Lightfoot lost the support of many progressives and never got them back. Johnson, too, built high expectations during the campaign with a wish list of progressive pledges. There was a sweeping vision for investing in neglected communities, reopening six shuttered mental health clinics, doubling the number of summer jobs for Chicagos youths, ending environmental racism and handing many public safety actions carried out by Chicago police officers to civilians. None of Johnsons proposed new or increased taxes are in his budget plan. The reality of holding office has sunk in. Advertisement With the revenue side of Johnsons budget facing constraints, the big question heading into his address Wednesday was whether he would persist with some of the big spending plans he laid out during the campaign. He isnt doing that, either. Instead in a fiscally prudent aspect of the budget Johnson deftly is postponing or paring down some of the ideas that got him elected. Hell open two idled mental health clinics, on a pilot basis, not the six he promised. The summer jobs program will grow by 4,000 new positions, but Johnson still is short of doubling the number of young people getting jobs through city programs, as he once promised. At the Chicago Police Department, hell add jobs here but cut them there, while keeping total spending about even with this year. The head count of cops assigned to community policing will more than double, and a few dozen more police will join the office responsible for complying with a federal consent decree. But cuts will come in the number of patrol officers, as well as those devoted to narcotics, gangs, vice and other tasks, and its not clear whether an estimated 1,700 vacancies will get filled. Johnsons approach to environmental oversight gives a glimpse into the careful balancing act between progressive promises and budget-based realities. Wednesdays budget address touted a new Department of Environment, but the mayor is adding just a handful of positions and limiting enforcement powers, in an apparent effort to keep a lid on costs. Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > In short, the reality check budget, on first read, appears to be a balancing act between ideal and achievable. Advertisement And without a doubt, certain planks are less than ideal. For example, the $150 million allocated for spending on a surge of asylum-seekers arriving from the Texas border likely is several orders of magnitude too small. And the reliance on tapping the surplus from tax increment financing districts for nearly $50 million in city revenue is a regrettable throwback to the quick-fix tactics of his predecessors. At least, Johnson is steering clear of the scoop-and-toss tactic of refinancing city debt, which reaps derision from credit rating agencies, though his reliance on refinancing to balance the budget will bear watching. And he has set aside more than $300 million for pension payments beyond the actuarial minimum amount a fiscally responsible CEO move if ever there were one. Johnsons address received enthusiastic support from the City Council. The mood may temper as the public, and even the council, digs into the details over the coming days. If this is what a reality check budget looks like from our still-new mayor, its at least based on relatively sound cost management without giving up on the progressive agenda that got him elected. David Greising is president and CEO of the Better Government Association. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. U.S. Sen. Charles Percy, an Illinois Republican, answers a question during an interview in his Washington office in 1973. (Charles Tasnadi/AP) Last month, the United Nations issued a warning in its report Gender Snapshot 2023, predicting that should current trends continue, more than 340 million women and girls will live in extreme poverty by 2030 and close to one in four will experience moderate or severe food insecurity. The problem is hardly new, and neither are attempts to address it. It was in the 1970s that the U.N., the World Bank, the U.S. government and others turned their attention to the challenge of world poverty and womens place within it. Advertisement In fact, 50 years ago this month, Illinois U.S. Sen. Charles Percy introduced an amendment to the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act that directly targeted womens poverty. The amendment called for economic aid to support programs that integrate women into the national economies of developing countries. The Percy Amendment provided the language that launched hundreds of programs for indigent women from Afghanistan to Zambia that the U.S. government still funds today. Before 1973, most international aid neglected women entirely or else positioned them as mothers, either as childbearers whose reproduction needed to be curtailed or as child rearers who required help on issues of health and education. With the Percy Amendment, women were considered, in the lingo of the day, as potential income generators. The amendment came with a faith that paid work for women would lift them and their children the poorest of the poor out of the direst poverty. Advertisement The amendment bore Percys name, but it grew out of a transnational women in development movement that pointed to the gender inequality built into existing economic programs. It reached the U.S. government when a small group of women met in the State Department in September 1973. This was the moment when liberals in Congress were reformulating policy on economic aid to focus less on large-scale infrastructure projects and more on local poverty alleviation. The concern with anti-poverty programs was called the New Directions mandate, and it had nothing in it on women. Virginia Allan, deputy assistant secretary of state, and Mildred Marcy, womens activities adviser at the United States Information Agency, along with a handful of others, decided to draft language that recognized that jobs, training and technology should go to women as well as men. Through personal connections, they asked Percy, a liberal Republican with presidential aspirations, to sponsor their amendment. The amendment cost nothing, and it nodded to women at a moment of growing clout for the feminist movement and rising concern with global poverty. But for better or worse, it passed precisely when development aid was under assault. On the left, critics condemned foreign assistance as a form of economic imperialism and a Cold War tool that provided cover and support for military action. On the right, conservatives denounced it as liberal internationalism and wasteful government spending. [ Metra Mehran and Natalie Gonnella-Platts: The world should pressure the Taliban to allow girls a proper education ] Outside the U.S., leaders in the global south objected to development aid that compromised the sovereignty of their nations, and they called for structural changes in the global economy that would level a playing field that gave the economic advantage to the wealthier nations. And poor people themselves rebelled against dam projects that displaced them from their homes, family planning programs that amounted to bodily coercion and high-yield miracle seed crops that favored wealthier landowners. It was in this troubled terrain that the Percy Amendment landed. Amid upheaval and reform, the United States Agency for International Development created a Women in Development office in 1974 and gradually funded a growing stream of programs that attempted to integrate women into a new generation of global anti-poverty programs. Today, we take it for granted that economic aid goes to women as well as men. In the microcredit boom of the 1980s and after, USAID, the World Bank and dozens of NGOs directly targeted women, envisioning them as entrepreneurs and better credit risks than men. Recent studies have found, though, that microcredit, which provides small loans for tiny businesses, does not routinely increase womens profits, household income or consumption. With ill-paid work, hours of unpaid care labor, growing debt and inadequate public services, women can be integrated into national economies without ever alleviating their poverty or their daily grind. Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > Much has changed since the Percy Amendment passed in 1973. In its most recent policy statement, issued earlier this year, USAID takes a more capacious approach to gender that addresses, as it should, human rights, education, health, leadership and freedom from gender-based discrimination and violence. Advertisement But what about ending poverty? It appears only sporadically in the 79-page statement under the broad goals of gender equality, womens empowerment and equitable participation in the economy. And aside from a general call for access to resources, services and jobs, the statement offers few specifics that would make a serious dent in poverty or in the skewed distribution of global wealth. So what did the Percy Amendment accomplish? It called attention to women, pointed to the value of their labor and insisted on including them in the training, credit and labor-saving technology provided to men. Worthy goals and worth remembering, as long as we acknowledge, too, that the kinds of programs it launched were not enough to end womens poverty. As the U.N.s Gender Snapshot suggests, a war on global poverty requires a more concerted, multilateral international effort with a larger transfer of resources from the wealthier nations to the poorer ones. (The cost isnt small: The Gender Snapshot calls for an additional $360 billion per year.) And it also requires a substantive commitment at the international, national and local levels to redress the inequities in the household, workplace, welfare state and global economy that still hold women (and men) in poverty in much of our world today. Thats the tall order that we need to remember alongside the Percy Amendment. Joanne Meyerowitz is the Arthur Unobskey professor of history and American studies at Yale University and a public voices fellow of the OpEd Project. She is the author of A War on Global Poverty: The Lost Promise of Redistribution and the Rise of Microcredit. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. The law school at Harvard University in Massachusetts is seen in July. After a student group at Harvard blamed Israel for the violence, Lawrence Summers, a former university president, condemned the universitys leadership for not speaking up. (Billy Hickey/The New York Times) On Thursday, a vehicle trolled around Harvard Square bearing screens with the names and likenesses of some of the Harvard University students who had signed on to a public statement blaming Israel for the brutal attacks on civilian families within its own borders. Earlier, Bill Ackman, the billionaire CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, had said that other CEOs in his sector had asked for the names of the students, lest one of them inadvertently hire one of them. Tempting as it surely was for those infuriated by the students naivete, we dont condone any of that public shaming of young people who are still formulating mature political opinions and the expression thereof, and who may not have even fully known what was going out in their name on social media. Its un-American. Advertisement But when it comes to administrators, thats a different matter. This week, universities as a group overwhelmingly failed to condemn the unspeakable Hamas attacks, instead mostly offering mealy-mouthed statements that did not so much support their own Jewish students in their hour of extraordinary need as anger and upset them. Very few administrators intuited the echoes of the Holocaust pouring out of tablets and phones on their campuses; or, if they did, they were scared to say so. Most would have been better saying nothing, although college presidents now feel pressure to make statements about everything in the outside world, lest they be criticized for silence. Advertisement For the last few years, colleges have been able to issue anodyne progressive statements designed not so much to lead as to follow, and Israel has been part of a crude post-colonialist narrative that has taken hold on many campuses and become the only acceptable point of view. Within the last few days, those in administration buildings, as well as those in residence halls, have discovered that, in times like these, when figures they have deemed sympathetic are slaughtering civilians in their own homes, there are consequences for merely parroting that reductive line of thinking. Especially when many of the dead were themselves left-wingers, highly critical of the Israeli government. Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > Yes, donors got upset. Yes, buildings might not now get built. Yes, people who make ill-timed statements and throw them to the wind might find it has quickly blown them back in their faces. Yes, employers might think twice about whether a job candidate shares their values. Free speech goes both ways. And this week, some well-paying law firms and Wall Street entities woke up, said they had their limits and that blaming Israel for the slaughter of its own innocents exceeded them. They have that right and students now should be protected from harm but given a chance to absorb that painful lesson. Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. Letter writer Walt Zlotow (Apartheid state in Gaza, Oct. 10) quotes some United Nations resolutions to justify the armed resistance such as we witnessed this past weekend. I have no connections to either side in this centuries-old struggle and am sure both sides have valid arguments as to how they have been wronged. But when you become terrorists and kill innocent women, children and grandmothers going about their daily lives, you lose the sympathy and support of the civilized world. Advertisement I doubt this is what the U.N. had in mind. Bill Adamson, Naperville Advertisement Belief in rights for all When England inflicted unjust taxes and other ways of life on the colonists, Patrick Henry said, Enough! and wrote, Give me liberty, or give me death! When we freed ourselves from England, we became colonizers for our Manifest Destiny through the near extinction of Native Americans. When England colonized India, Gandhi said, Enough! and gained mass support for Indians own freedom to govern. For 75 years, Israel has been colonizing Palestinians, making life more and more difficult until it has now reached the breaking point under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition. Over the past few weeks, we have seen even Israelis rise up in mass protest against his policies, which threaten their democracy. Many resolutions have been presented to the United Nations over the years, documenting the human rights abuses against Palestinians, all without United Nations action. Is it any wonder that Palestinians say, Enough! and are open now to any who would help them to some kind of real freedom? When we believe only war is the answer, then hopelessness takes over. But when we believe in rights for all, then a two-state solution discussed with sincere diplomacy becomes a reality. Not in the future, but now. Advertisement Karlene Mostek, Chicago Hamas stated purpose In her letter (Oppression of Palestinians, Oct. 10), Mary F. Warren writes without the history of the Middle East. Starting in 1948, more than 800,000 Middle Eastern and North African Jews lost their homes a larger number than the Arabs who were displaced. These Jews were often oppressed in their homelands. Does Warren think they have a right to be angry, too? Does she think they wanted to leave their homes, work and possessions? Where does she think they were supposed to live? In 1948, Arabs living in the region were told to leave by their Arab leaders who intended a quick victory over the Jews that did not happen. Does Warren understand what from the river to the sea means? It means to destroy Israel and all Jews. Regarding Walt Zlotow, there is no apartheid. Arabs in Israel can be doctors and serve on the courts or in the military if they so choose Israel is their country too. The blockade keeps out Iranian bombs. Hate is taught in the schools in Gaza. Women suffer under Hamas they face honor deaths. And does Zlotow think these mothers want their sons and daughters to blow themselves up as suicide bombers? Advertisement The purpose of Hamas is to destroy Israel and the Jewish people. Zlotow has but to read the groups charter to see this. For Palestine and its people to progress, Hamas tyranny needs to come to an end. Listen to the president. Barbara Blond, Chicago Stop sowing the seeds Following World War I, the victorious Allies made a big mistake: They saddled Germany with all the blame for the war, hamstrung its armed forces and imposed reparations designed to constrict the German economy for decades. In this way, they set the stage for the rise of the Nazis with their policies of vengeance and genocide. The Allies learned from their mistake. After World War II, the United States aided the restoration of Germanys economy. The U.S. helped reform West Germanys armed forces, restore Germanys federal system and establish a democratic form of government, and it welcomed the Germans into the comity of western European states. All this happened not merely because the Allies wanted Germanys help in the conflict with the Soviet Union, but also because they had seen the connection between the perpetuation of poverty, powerlessness and despair and the rise of the Nazis. Advertisement When will we see that same connection regarding terrorist groups like Hamas? After the anger of the moment subsides and it will we must pursue a strategy that includes pressuring Israel to alter its policies in the territories it occupies, withdraw Jewish settlers from the West Bank and allow the Palestinians the same opportunities that all people deserve to prosper and live in dignity. To do otherwise will only sow more seeds for future terrorist uprisings. Michael W. Drwiega, Wilmette Hamas is responsible Readers will see coverage of the damage done to Gaza during Israels response to the horrific terror attack Israelis suffered at the hands of Hamas. I would like to remind anyone who thinks, Maybe Israel is going too far? that war always involves collateral damage to civilians. Thats why war is horrible, and governing powers shouldnt start wars. Hamas is the governing power of Gaza, and Hamas started this war with a sneak terror attack that included coldblooded executions of hundreds of Israeli civilians, including 260 attending a peace dance celebration. Also, there was mass kidnapping of women, children and the elderly. In one Israeli town, 40 young children were found executed, with some babies decapitated. Not collateral damage, mind you, but purposeful medieval slaughter. Its tough to read about, but it happened, and we must not turn away. Advertisement if you find yourself feeling sorry for Gaza civilians, remember that they have Hamas to thank for what is befalling them. Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > Gary Katz, Long Grove US involvement in war How many billions of American dollars will be wasted fighting Israels war? This country keeps jumping from one quagmire to the next with no end in sight. This country sticks its nose in everybodys business. Everybody seems to think this county has an endless supply of money. When will our piggy bank run dry? I dont believe that the average person knows how much a trillion dollars is. Our own country is deteriorating faster every day, and we keep spending like there is no tomorrow. Ron Morgucz, Willow Springs Join the conversation in our Letters to the Editor Facebook group. Advertisement Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. Under an abnormally hot October sun, a group of passengers started dancing to September by Earth, Wind & Fire and Dancing Queen by ABBA while singing along to the 70s hits they requested from the DJ during their afternoon boat ride along the Chicago River. Requesting songs and remembering the lyrics was a particularly important part of this special cruise for dementia patients and their caregivers organized by the University of Chicago Memory Center with the help of Senior Living Specialists Chicago. Advertisement Dr. Kaitlin Seibert, who was a musician before becoming a doctor, works at the Memory Center and said she uses music in her practice. The part of the brain that engages music and creativity is often spared in patients with Alzheimers, she said, so those things are a really great way that patients can still connect. Guests enjoy a special dementia-friendly Odyssey Chicago River cruise on Oct. 3, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) The two-hour Odyssey Chicago River cruise, which touched off at a Streeterville dock on Oct. 3, was assuredly wheelchair-accessible and available at a discount for anyone diagnosed with any form of dementia, as well as their caregivers. Advertisement With several partner organizations, such as Great Lakes Clinical Trials and Belmont Village Senior Living, the cruise was organized in part by Mike Delaney, whose wife of 51 years, Geri Delaney, died in April after being diagnosed with Alzheimers nearly seven years ago. He said he wanted to be a part of this years cruise because he remembered the care his wife received at UChicago Medicine and how she wasnt at all just a number. Despite his tremendous loss, he said it was important to him to support the work and really give back. I was looking at it through the eyes of someone who was on this journey and yeah, the caregiving gets intense, and you get into a rut, he said. Every day begins to be like the day before. The beauty of something like this cruise is its something new. The caregiver doesnt have to go through a whole lot of planning, and its something for both the caregiver and the person who requires care to just get out and have a good time. Delia Medina takes a photo with her mother, Guadalupe Nava, during a special dementia-friendly Odyssey Chicago River cruise on Oct. 3, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) The cruise was made dementia-friendly and also ADA accessible in a number of ways, said Tessa Garcia McEwen, licensed clinical social worker at the Memory Center. The boat had outdoor viewing decks at the same level as the indoor seating so passengers were able to see the sights from outside or inside through the glass without having to go up or down any stairs. There was extra time for check-in and boarding as well as a lot of communication with attendees leading up to the event to make sure everyone knew and felt comfortable with the plans. The onboard staff was trained on dementia-friendly practices, McEwen said, such as making eye contact and trying to be straightforward while also understanding that someone with memory challenges is likely sensitive to body language, word choice and tone. Theres so much educational opportunity in dementia care, especially out in the world with different staff, like fast-food chains, because Ive seen people get really frustrated, McEwen said. We almost have to train the world to be more compassionate. The cruise featured music, movement and arts, three things McEwen said are excellent for the brain and can help with quality of life. People on the cruise were encouraged to request their favorite songs and soon began singing along and dancing. The staff passed out adult coloring books because, McEwen said, art is an activity that keeps you calm and works the creative part of the brain that is sometimes retained during memory loss. Mike Delaney recalled that during the lockdown part of the pandemic, when you couldnt get out and do anything, he and his wife got involved with Art Is ... In, a Memory Center program that sent home weekly art kits with all the supplies for a new project for someone with memory loss to do with their caregiver. Advertisement Geri and I thought it was so cool, and we always felt cared for, Delaney said. Paige Conti, 43, came on the cruise with her mother, Annette Conti, 74, and said it makes a big difference having activities and options. Paige Conti and her mother, Annette Conti, take in the sights during a special dementia-friendly Odyssey Chicago River cruise put on by the University of Chicago's Memory Center team on Oct. 3, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) We never really get to do these kinds of things because of her condition, and its nice to have a dementia-friendly environment, Paige Conti said. The idea for the cruise came from a UChicago patient who told McEwen about a cruise she and her husband were going on to Alaska for people with memory changes, McEwen said. She talked to Amy Keefner, with Senior Living Specialists of Chicago, and the two decided to bring a version of the cruise to the Chicago River. The first cruise in 2018 was organized in six weeks and had about 140 people on board. It was scaled back slightly to allow for more space on board, with about 100 people in 2019 and about 115 people this year. The pandemic put the cruise on pause for a few years. In addition to patients from UChicago, there were people on this years cruise who had come from other groups, including local adult day centers and Lorenzos House, which helps families dealing with early-onset dementia. Advertisement Seibert, who was also on the cruise, said its hard to find dementia-friendly activities, and people dealing with dementia are often left sitting at home. Socialization, sunshine, they get to move to the music, all of these things are really important in dementia care, Seibert said. Jessica Roote, left, of Belmont Village, dances with Maria Saxena, as Marias son, Ravi Saxena, watches during the dementia-friendly Odyssey Chicago River cruise, Oct. 3, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) Ravi Saxena, 50, went on the cruise with his mother, Maria Saxena, 81. She was diagnosed with Alzheimers about three years ago, and Ravi Saxena said it was wonderful to see her getting out and socializing. Maria Saxena spent much of the cruise on the dance floor pulling up almost anyone she could see to dance with her, which her son described as her having a lot of get up and go. It helps me believe that shes actually having fun, Ravi Saxena said. She goes to a day care center and even though she doesnt report back on how things are going there, you can kind of trust that shes doing good out there when you see her doing good in here. sahmad@chicagotribune.com Xi: Boost Yangtze economic belt's role 08:26, October 13, 2023 By Cao Desheng ( China Daily Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects on Wednesday a historical and cultural block in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, where he learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture. XIE HUANCHI/XINHUA Innovation key to green, high-quality development push President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to further promote the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, to enable it to play a greater role in making breakthroughs in core technologies and in maintaining the national security of food, energy and industrial and supply chains. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark on Thursday while chairing a symposium in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, on advancing the development of the economic belt. He emphasized the need to adhere to green development and coordinate ecological conservation and socioeconomic growth through technological innovation, and to make the national strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt better support and serve Chinese modernization. Jiangxi is part of the economic belt, which consists of 11 provincial-level regions, stretching from inland Sichuan province in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to coastal Shanghai. Official data shows that the region covers 40 percent of the country's population and accounts for over 40 percent of the national gross domestic product. Since China made the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt a national strategy seven years ago, Xi has chaired four themed symposiums. The first three were held in Chongqing in January 2016, Wuhan, Hubei province, in April 2018 and Nanjing, Jiangsu, in November 2020. During Thursday's symposium, which also was attended by senior officials from the central authorities and relevant provinces and municipalities, Xi commended the significant achievements in implementing the development strategy of the economic belt, highlighting the efforts in environmental protection and innovation-driven development. However, he pointed out that it is important to recognize that ecological conservation and high-quality development of the economic belt are at a critical turning point, and there are still many difficulties and problems that need to be resolved. Noting that the development of the economic belt is crucial to the overall development of the country, Xi said it is necessary for the regions involved in the national strategy to coordinate development and security, and play a greater role in maintaining the nation's security in such areas as food, energy, industrial and supply chains and water. It is important to make greater efforts to protect the environment of the basin of the Yangtze, the country's longest river, and to avoid excessive development, Xi said. He underlined the need to reduce carbon emissions and pollution and enhance green development through industrial transformation. Regarding innovation-driven development, Xi called for transforming the strength of the economic belt in scientific and technological research and talent resources into fresh momentum for development. Progress must be made in making breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, promoting the modernization of industrial and supply chains and enhancing the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, he said. Strategic emerging industries should be developed, and integration of the digital economy with the real economy should be promoted, he added. Xi also emphasized the need to leverage the geological positions of the economic belt to better connect domestic and international markets. Greater efforts should be made to expand international economic cooperation, better leverage the role of free trade pilot zones along the Yangtze River, act as a pioneer in institutional innovation, and explore new paths for building a higher-level open economy, he said. Xi emphasized the need to strengthen regional coordination and integration, with a focus on interprovincial cooperation, ecological governance and shared development. Efforts should be made to enhance regional transportation connectivity and ensure that policies are consistent, rules are uniform and actions are coordinated among regions involved in the economic belt, he said. While asking officials from Party committees and governments at various levels to shoulder their responsibilities for promoting the development of the economic belt, Xi said that various enterprises and social organizations should be guided to actively participate in the development of the economic belt. It is also necessary to increase input in manpower, materials and financing, he added. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) At the Shanghai History Museum, an exhibition of 1,000 vintage brooches artfully illustrates the shifts in trends over the past century. They have been collected over the course of a decade by Zheng Yingyan, and at one point, she owned more than 3,000 of them. These items of personal expression have long been used to convey a range of ideas, from individual taste and social standing, to more general political, social, and cultural concepts. Brooches made between the 1920s and the '80s were generally made of synthetic materials and exemplify the use of sophisticated jewelry-making techniques. "What fascinates me is the history and stories behind them," Zheng says, adding that she decided to use her collection to examine the changing ideals of the century through the rise of fashion jewelry from an Eastern perspective. As the brooches' temporary keeper, she chose to present her collection to the public in chronological order so that visitors can get a sense of how ideas of beauty change over time. The exhibition is divided into six sections, each documenting a specific period in the development of brooches. Most have a past. One example is the Jelly Belly series produced in the United States by Trifari. Set up in 1925 by Giovanni Trifari, the company was known for its stylish designs and quality construction, and capitalized on the increased interest in costume jewelry during the Depression, when many women couldn't afford real jewelry. During World War II, factories including those that made fashion jewelry were commandeered for military use. Trifari was tasked with fitting fighter aircraft windshields, in addition to making military insignia. The windshields were made out of a clear plastic called Lucite, a material that was plagued with faults. As even a minor flaw leads to them being discarded, Trifari turned waste windshields to ingenious use, meticulously reshaping the material to resemble crystal. These affordable new Lucite pieces, the popular Jelly Belly series, were once cult classics, and some even incorporated Chinese motifs, which were popular at the time. The company made its first foray into Eastern style in 1942 with its Ming collection. Using red enamel, imitation jade, and rhinestone, Trifari boldly interpreted elements like the tiger, dragon, the mandarin duck and the ax to conjure up an interpretation of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) design. Zheng began collecting brooches out of professional need. As a former China Central Television host, she was not allowed to wear necklaces or bracelets on air, but was permitted to wear brooches. "Starting then, I developed a huge interest in the beauty of brooches." She says that her deep affection also stems from the belief that the brooch is a reflection of one's inner self, and takes on deeper societal and personal meanings. "People often ask me which of my numerous brooches is my favorite, and I always reply that it's the one I am wearing," Zheng says. "This has nothing to do with its price, but rather the fact that it expresses my mood and feeling on the day, which I believe is the most important factor." The exhibition, which has attracted lots of interest, opened on Sept 25 and runs until Feb 25. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, chairs a symposium on advancing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and delivers an important speech in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 12, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has called for further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt to better support and serve Chinese modernization. Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks Thursday at a symposium he chaired on advancing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. He stressed the importance of fully and faithfully implementing the new development philosophy in all respects, prioritizing eco-environmental progress and pursuing green development. Xi said the region's development should be led by scientific and technological innovation while ecological and environmental protection and economic and social development should be advanced in a coordinated manner. It is also imperative to strengthen synergy in policies and work to make long-term plans, seek long-term solutions and lay a foundation for lasting stability, he added. The symposium was attended by Premier Li Qiang, Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. They are all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Remarkable changes have been made in the region in the past eight years since the implementation of the Yangtze River Economic Belt development strategy, and it has turned into a consensus to promote well-coordinated environmental conservation and avoid excessive development, Xi said. Advancing the high-quality growth of the Yangtze River Economic Belt relies fundamentally on the sound ecology of the Yangtze River basin, he said. The ecological red lines along the river that had been drawn must be upheld and placed under oversight, he said, calling for continued work to enhance comprehensive environmental treatment to reduce the amount of pollutants at the sources of discharge. Xi underlined cutting carbon emissions, curbing pollution, increasing vegetation and pursuing growth in a coordinated manner. Noting that the green transformation and upgrading of industries should be the top priority, he urged efforts to nurture and expand green and low-carbon industries and vigorously develop green technologies and products to turn ecological assets into economic assets. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, chairs a symposium on advancing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and delivers an important speech in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 12, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Xi also stressed the need to turn the advantages of the economic belt in sci-tech research and talent into advantages in development, to actively explore new frontiers, and to foster new drivers of development. He said continued efforts should be made to strengthen the core competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, develop advanced manufacturing, enhance coordination along the industrial chains, promote the extension of industrial chains for competitive industries, and cultivate emerging industries. Xi called for better playing to the strengths of the economic belt in terms of its location and connectivity to provide strategic support for the creation of a new development pattern, while actively promoting high-standard opening-up and expanding global economic cooperation. Free trade zones along the economic belt should play a larger role in institutional innovation so as to gather experiences and explore new paths for establishing new systems for a higher-standard open economy, he said. Xi stressed the importance of focusing on boosting regional coordination and connectivity, and urged provinces and cities along the Yangtze River to further promote inter-provincial consultation, joint ecological protection, as well as collaboration and shared benefits across the region. He called for efforts to steadily advance the construction of a community with shared ecology and interests, and promote coordinated regional development. He also urged efforts to further elevate the integration of regional transportation, deepen cooperation on government services and optimize the business environment. Efforts should be made to fully tap the value of the Yangtze River culture that is relevant to the present times, and build the Yangtze River basin into a golden tourism belt with international appeal, Xi added. Noting the importance of the Yangtze River Economic Belt to China's overall development, Xi urged efforts to strike a balance between development and security, and to see that the region plays a larger role in safeguarding national food security, energy security, water security and the security of key industrial and supply chains, and thus contributes to the country's overall security. Xi urged related authorities to advance major reforms in key areas, guide enterprises and social organizations to actively participate in the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the people. In his remarks, Li stressed the importance of strengthening the conservation of the Yangtze River with sustained efforts and improving the compensation system for ecological conservation. Ding called for efforts to open up inland areas as well as areas along the coastline, the Yangtze River and borders in a coordinated way, and form synergy for high-quality development by promoting high-level coordination. Photo taken on Oct. 1, 2023 shows a fireworks display in Macao, south China. [Photo/Xinhua] A series of events will be held this month to mark the 20th founding anniversary of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (PSCs) (Macao), also known as Forum Macao. The events include a high-level symposium, an exhibition, a trade fair and a culture week for China and the PSCs, the secretariat of the forum said on Thursday at a press conference. The symposium, to be convened on Oct. 20, will discuss how Macao's advantages, scientific and technological innovations, and modern finance can effectively help with economic development in China and the PSCs. The exhibition, scheduled on Oct. 20-Dec. 20, will review the development of the forum during the past two decades, and introduce its contributions to the exchanges and cooperation between China and the PSCs. The secretariat also said it will set up a pavilion to showcase the unique images of China and PSCs at the trade fair to be held from Oct. 19 to 22. The 15th culture week between China and PSCs aims to present the cultural charms of China and PSCs with performances, gourmet food, handicrafts, and workshops, the secretariat added. Lhasa, the capital city of southwestern China's Tibet autonomous region, has explored new ways to add greenery suited to its own unique terrains. South and North Mountains Afforestation Project launched in 2021 stands as a vivid example of the plateau city's efforts to improve the environment in an effective manner. This photo taken on Oct. 11, 2023, shows the Potala Palace seen from the Nanshan Park in Lhasa, the capital of southwestern China's Tibet autonomous region. (Photo by Qin Qi/China.org.cn) According to the plan, by 2030, 137,800 hectares of green areas will be added across the South and North Mountains in Lhasa. In 2022, the city added a total of 37,247 hectares of green areas. On Oct. 11, 2023, Li Baoping, an official of the Lhasa Municipal Forestry and Grassland Administration, introduces the implementation process of the South and North Mountains Afforestation Project at the Nanshan Park in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet autonomous region. (Photo by Qin Qi/China.org.cn) Local forestry and grassland authority has made efforts to find effective ways to turn the mountains green. "We have planted varying kinds of trees in accordance with the altitudes," said Li Baoping, an official of the Lhasa Municipal Forestry and Grassland Administration . Li explained that trees were widely planted in the areas below 3,900 meters, while shrubs were largely seeded in the areas between 3,900 to 4,000 meters. To better protect the mountains and local ecology during the afforestation process, local authority has adopted multiple ways to plant trees. For the areas with the altitude between 4,000 to 4,100 meters, the city sealed off the mountains to facilitate afforestation; for the areas between 4,100 to 4,200 meters, the city adopted spot-planting method, making sure species are planted with the right techniques in suitable places, Li said. Li said he was deeply touched by the unity and passion for the afforestation project demonstrated by the people of different ethnic groups. "Due to the rugged mountain roads, we had to carry the seeds and other materials up to the mountain by human," Li said. "People of different ethnic groups, including Han, Tibetan, and Yi, actively involved themselves in the work and made their contributions to the construction of a beautiful Lhasa." The afforestation project has greatly improved the local environment. It is expected to add about 49.8 million metric tons of water storage, release a total of 193,000 metric tons of oxygen, and generate around 1.49 billion yuan (US$203 million) of ecological value per year. The project has also greatly boosted local people's sense of gain and happiness. In the first 10 months of this year, the number of people involved in the project reached 380,000, and a total of 1 billion yuan of salaries were paid to them, Li said. "It's fair to say that we have achieved win-win results in protecting ecology and increasing residents' income," he said. On Oct. 11, 2023, Zhaxiqupei, a Tibetan forest ranger working at Nanshan Park, shares his tree-planting experience with journalists, at the Nanshan Park in Lhasa, the capital of southwest China's Tibet autonomous region. (Photo by Qin Qi/China.org.cn) Zhaxiqupei, a Tibetan forest ranger who worked at Nanshan Park since 2012, exclaimed over the tremendous changes he saw in the mountain. He said when he first came to the place 10 years ago, it was a barren mountain full of sands and stones, severely lacking the conditions for planting trees. The planting team tirelessly dug pits on the stones, put saplings into the pits, refilled those holes with soil, made bigger puddles, and then watered those saplings on a regular basis, Zhaxiqupei recalled. After the unremitting endeavor made by all the working staff, the saplings finally survived and have grown up into big trees. Now, the seeds of the fruits on the trees falling in the soil are growing to be towering trees. "Our saplings finally have their own children," Zhaxiqupei said with a smile. Planting trees is not merely a job for many staff working in the mountains, it has been incorporated into their everyday life. Zhaxiqupei was encouraged to see the once-barren mountain turning into green land, and believed afforestation would bring more tangible benefits to his life. Now, planting trees in the mountain has become a ritual for Zhaxiqupei to celebrate the important moments in his life. "Last year, I planted a total of 43 trees at the altitude of over 4,000 meters to celebrate my 43rd birthday," the veteran park ranger said proudly. Israelis and Palestinians urged to hold discussions 08:41, October 13, 2023 By Jan Yumul and Zhou Jin ( China Daily Consequence of conflict warned as UN figures show 250,000 displaced Both the Israeli and Palestinian sides are urged to return to negotiations and stop the weeklong bloodshed and humanitarian disasters. The Arab League on Wednesday called on Israel to end its siege of the Gaza Strip while Israel formed a unity government and a war cabinet. The Arabian appeal was made during the 22-member regional organization's emergency meeting in Cairo. They also warned that the conflict could spiral out of control and urged international parties to sponsor genuine peace consultations and develop a road map with a timetable. At least 2,500 people have died on the Israeli and Palestinian sides, The Associated Press reported. The Arab foreign ministers condemned the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians and pushed for the release of hostages, detainees, and prisoners. Moreover, United Nations figures showed more than 250,000 people have now been displaced or have lost their homes in Gaza. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday that China supports the Arab League to play a key role in the Palestinian issue, saying China and Arab countries share a similar position on the issue. Both sides call for a cease-fire and to end the violence as soon as possible, and condemn actions against civilians to prevent further escalation of the situation and ensuing humanitarian disasters, Wang said. He reiterated that the root cause of the recurrence of the conflict is that the peace process in the Middle East has derailed from the right track, the foundation of the two-state solution has been undermined, and relevant United Nations resolutions have not been effectively implemented. China stands ready to maintain communication and coordination with all parties, including the Arab League, to actively facilitate peace talks and make relentless efforts to bring the peace process in the Middle East back on the right track, he said. 'Clogged political horizon' Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, the secretary-general of the Arab League, said the current crisis was created by the longtime "clogged political horizon" and the expansion of Israeli settlements, which limited the chances for peace through the UN-recognized two-state solution. China has no selfish agenda on the Palestinian issue, and sincerely hopes that Israelis and Palestinians can live together in peace, China's Special Envoy on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun said on Thursday. During a phone conversation with Rafi Harpaz, the deputy director-general in charge of Asia-Pacific affairs of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhai said China stays firm on the side of peace and justice, and is willing to work with the international community to promote peace talks between the two sides so as to create conditions for peace. Harpaz said Israel will make all-out efforts to protect Chinese citizens in the country. Israel formed a unity government and a war cabinet on Wednesday to oversee the conflict. The new cabinet brings former defense minister and leader of the centrist-right National Unity Party Benny Gantz to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government. US President Joe Biden has talked with Netanyahu and declared support for Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has embarked on a multicountry Middle East tour. Blinken landed in Israel on Thursday. After Israel, Blinken was expected to head to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Reuters reported. The first US aircraft carrying ammunition for Israel arrived in the country on Tuesday, Xinhua reported. Israel and Hamas traded more fire on Thursday in Gaza, Agence France-Presse reported. Wang confirmed on Thursday that three Chinese nationals were killed, two are missing and several were injured in the Palestine-Israel conflict. "We are deeply saddened by the passing of the victims, and extend deep condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured," Wang told a daily news conference. The Chinese diplomatic missions are doing everything they can to coordinate efforts to treat the injured and deal with the follow-up work, Wang said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. [Photo/Xinhua] President Xi Jinping has called on east China's Jiangxi Province to write its chapter in Chinese modernization by tapping into its strengths and improving its weak points. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection of the province from Oct. 10 to 13. Xi stressed the importance of emancipating the mind and making pioneering efforts. Jiangxi should firmly adhere to its positioning in creating a new development pattern, tap into its characteristics and strengths, and focus on a high-quality, green and low-carbon development, Xi said. He also called on the province to consolidate its foundations while developing new strengths, strive to lead both the promotion of high-quality development of old revolutionary base areas and the rise of the central region, and make sound efforts in advancing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. During the inspection tour, Xi visited the cities of Jiujiang, Jingdezhen and Shangrao. He inspected the shoreline of the Yangtze River, local enterprises, a historical and cultural block and a village. On Tuesday afternoon, Xi visited a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang. He walked in the rain to inspect the landscape along the river embankment and asked about the water level, water quality and the work including flood control. After listening to briefings by local officials on the progress of relevant work, Xi called the Yangtze River "the bond" of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and underscored that all work to protect the river must be undertaken from a perspective of a community of life featuring harmony between humanity and nature and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Xi then inspected Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about the enterprise's efforts to build green and intelligent factories as well as promote energy conservation, and reduce pollution and carbon emissions. He stressed continuous efforts to push forward digital and intelligent transformation to build a world-leading refining and chemical enterprise that is eco-friendly and intelligent. The petrochemical industry is an important economic pillar, Xi told the company's staff, calling on them to make new contributions to China's energy security while advancing the high-quality development of the industry. On Wednesday morning, Xi visited the city of Jingdezhen, known as the "porcelain capital." At a historical and cultural block, Xi learned about the craftsmanship and procedures of porcelain making, and the efforts to maintain the inheritance, innovation and foreign exchanges of ceramic culture. Noting that fine traditional Chinese culture has survived uninterrupted since ancient times, Xi stressed that porcelain is both a treasure and calling card of the Chinese nation. He underscored that talent from various sectors should aid design and R&D innovation across the porcelain industry to further amplify the name of the "millennium porcelain capital." Then Xi went to AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd., where he inspected a helicopter general assembly workshop and a pilot station. Noting that aviation equipment forms an important part of China's manufacturing development, Xi asked the corporation to pursue an innovation-driven approach, invest more energy in independent R&D in key and core technologies, strive to establish an advanced manufacturing system and develop itself into a first-class global helicopter company. On Wednesday afternoon, Xi visited a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao City, which is situated in the center area of the national wetland park for the source of the Raohe River. There, he learned about the park and its wildlife conservation efforts. Xi also talked with teachers and students of a fine arts college painting at the village square, encouraging them to study hard to hone their craft. Learning that remarkable progress has been achieved in advancing local signature tourism, the tea industry and rural revitalization, Xi voiced delight, and noted that the beautiful natural environment is in itself high-quality natural endowments for advancing rural revitalization. The key to rural revitalization lies in strong primary-level Party organizations, he said, calling on such organizations to play a leading role in increasing rural incomes and ensure the solid implementation of the policies formulated by the Party for the benefit of people. Chinese modernization encompasses the modernization of both urban areas and the agricultural sector and rural areas, Xi told villagers. He expressed the hope that they would effectively protect nature while integrating the traditional image of the village with modern elements to make the village more beautiful. During his inspection, Xi was also briefed about the work of the CPC provincial committee and the provincial government of Jiangxi, and he lauded the achievements that the province has made in various fields. He called on Jiangxi to actively prepare for the next generation of industries and build a modern industrial system with the region's distinct features and strengths. Jiangxi should nurture a number of high-tech industries, foster nationally influential industrial clusters and develop the digital economy while firmly following the path of ecological protection and green development and pursuing all-round green transition, he said. Xi stressed that Jiangxi should become a pacesetter of reform and opening-up in the inland areas, develop the port economy, promote the construction of key cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and nurture regional logistics hubs and commercial centers. He asked Jiangxi to coordinate with and serve the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and get deeply involved in joint efforts to advance the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi urged Jiangxi to deepen reform in key areas, improve the business environment, and expand institutional opening up with regard to rules, regulations, management, and standards. Priority should be given to the development of the agricultural sector and rural areas, which should be modernized at a faster pace, he said, calling for firmly maintaining the bottom line of food security and further industrializing the agricultural sector. The fruits of reform and development must be shared by the people in old revolutionary base areas, which is a bottom-line task in realizing common prosperity for all, Xi said, stressing efforts to strengthen the implementation of the employment-first policy, and improve public services and the social security system. Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi on the inspection tour. Flash Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the HaKirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 12, 2023. [Haim Zach/GPO/Handout via Xinhua] U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Thursday, pledging support and more weapon deliveries for Israel. In a live broadcast statement alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken said that more shipments of U.S. arms were "on the way." A cargo plane carrying the first shipment of advanced weaponry landed in Israel on Tuesday. "As long as America exists ... we will always be there by your side," Blinken said, reiterating U.S. President Joe Biden's pledge on Tuesday that Washington will provide additional military assistance to Israel. Netanyahu vowed that "just as ISIS was crashed, Hamas will also be crashed." He urged the international community to cancel ties with Hamas, adding that contacts with the group "should be sanctioned." The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday launched a surprise attack on southern Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties, with a death toll amounting to more than 2,600 as of Thursday. Flash Senior Iraqi officials have held talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian over the escalated Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Amir-Abdollahian met with Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji upon arrival at the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Thursday, during which the Iranian diplomat warned that "what is happening in Gaza will affect the region." The Iranian minister "called for providing appropriate conditions to stop the killing of civilians in Palestine," said al-Araji's office in a statement. Later in the day, he was received by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani. The two touched upon developments of the conflict, Israel's siege on the Gaza Strip, and the poor humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Al-Sudani underlined the need for the international community to take action to save the Palestinians from their plight, according to a statement by his media office. Also on Thursday, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that Amir-Abdollahian has departed for a regional tour to countries including Iraq, Lebanon and Syria in light of the current developments in Gaza. Israel continues massive airstrikes on Gaza and has halted water and electricity supply to the besieged Palestinian enclave after Hamas-led armed groups launched an incursion into Israel on Saturday. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, at least 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Flash A man holds a girl in his arms and evacuates from a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 12, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Thursday talked with Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, chief advisor of the Presidency of Brazil, on the phone, exchanging views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Wang, also director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, said that China and Brazil are both major developing countries and emerging markets, and have been maintaining communication and coordination on strategic issues of common concern. China is willing to work with Brazil to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state and jointly lift the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership to new levels constantly. They also exchanged views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Amorim said that as the rotating president of the UN Security Council for the month of October, Brazil will host an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Friday, adding that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has issued an open letter calling on Israel to stop its air strikes and protect children. Amorim added that the key to resolving the conflict is to resume peace talks, and Brazil is willing to closely coordinate with China to jointly de-escalate the situation. Noting that China is deeply saddened by the rising tension between the Palestinians and Israel and the huge civilian casualties, Wang said China opposes acts that harm civilians and condemns violations of international law. China calls on all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate regional tensions as soon as possible and prevent further expansion of the conflict, Wang said, adding that the top priority is to ensure the safety of civilians, and open corridors for aid so as to avoid a serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Pointing out that the Palestinian issue is the core of the Middle East issue, Wang said the crux of the matter is that justice has not been done to the Palestinian people. This conflict once again proved in an extremely tragic manner that the way to solve the Palestinian issue lies in resuming genuine peace talks as soon as possible and realizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation, he added. Wang said China calls for a more authoritative and influential international peace conference as soon as possible to push the international community to reach a broader consensus based on the "two-state solution" and formulate a timetable and road map for it. Noting that the United Nations has the responsibility and obligation to play its due role on the Palestinian issue, he said China supports the Security Council in holding an emergency meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, agrees to focus on humanitarian concerns, clearly calls for practical measures to a ceasefire, an end to violence, protection of civilians, and the formation of a binding international consensus. Wang stressed that China is willing to maintain communication, coordination and close cooperation with Brazil and relevant parties in this regard. Flash This photo taken on Oct. 11, 2023 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. [Photo/Xinhua] U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced Thursday that he is withdrawing from the House speaker race after failing to garner enough support from the House Republicans. "I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee," Scalise said. "If you look at where our conference is, there's still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together, and it's not there," said Scalise, adding that "there are still some people that have their own agendas." On Wednesday, Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, won the speaker nomination in a 113-99 vote over Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. A win of only 14 votes by Scalise indicated the deep divisions among House Republicans. The Louisiana Republican's latest decision will throw the party into more chaos, as it struggles to find someone who would reach the required simple majority threshold in the chamber to elect a speaker, with a slim 221-212 Republican majority. A number of House Republicans have already said they won't back Scalise in a vote of the full chamber, including those who support Jordan, the right-wing Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and those who are loyal allies of Kevin McCarthy, who was unprecedentedly booted out of his position last week. McCarthy's ouster revealed the growing differences between the conservatives and moderates within the Republican party, which has caused turmoil and essentially paralyzed the House. "The unsettled situation reflected deep rifts in the GOP that could prolong the race and lead to a drawn-out fight on the House floor," said an article recently published by The New York Times. "Until a speaker is elected there's not going to be anything meaningful happening in the House, and the clock is ticking on the 45 days the government will stay open," Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, has told Xinhua. The House is also under pressure to take action following the escalated Palestinian-Israeli conflict. With no leader in sight, none of the legislation can move forward, leaving Congress in limbo. Flash U.S. "unilateral coercive" measures against Venezuela are part of a system of "sanctions, extortion and blackmail," Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said Thursday from Moscow, according to Venezuelan media. "It is a system of sanctions ... that sought to asphyxiate the Venezuelan economy to pressure the Venezuelan people to change their political course," Rodriguez said during her speech at the international forum of the sixth Russian Energy Week. "The 930 unilateral coercive measures, that are illicit and illegitimate, are still intact against Venezuela," said Rodriguez. She argued that the sanctions have caused extreme damage to the Venezuelan oil industry, which historically generates the highest percentage of foreign currency for the South American country. "The impact on the Venezuelan economy is brutal," she said. Although since 2021, the country "has been experiencing a process of economic recovery and growth." Rodriguez said that the "geo-strategic" targets of U.S. sanctions have been oil exporters such as Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. She warned that the strategy of sanctions plus wars has become the "central axis" of U.S. foreign policy. Orange farmers harvest wealth from green mountains Xinhua) 09:09, October 13, 2023 This aerial photo taken on Oct. 10, 2023 shows orange orchards in Fengjie County in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Xinhua/Huang Wei) CHONGQING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Yi Shoucai, an orange farmer in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, has a name that can be translated as "Easily Guardwealth," yet it was not easy for him to make a fortune in the first place. Yi, 50, grew lychees in south China's Guangdong Province for seven years before deciding in 2004 to return to Chongqing's Fengjie County to start his own business -- growing oranges -- in Ouying Village, his hometown. Fengjie, which sits on mountains overlooking the Yangtze River in the heart of the Three Gorges Reservoir region, and its adjacent areas have everything orange trees need to flourish, including abundant sunlight, reddish sandy soil and balanced rainfall. The experienced fruit grower started with 5 mu (0.33 hectare) of orange trees, but his high hopes were dampened by his initial harvests. Yi made only around 4,000 yuan (557 U.S. dollars) from a disappointing production of less than 5 tonnes of oranges annually. Yi's biggest challenge turned out to be a nearby cement production plant which produced a great amount of smoke and other waste, forming a gray cloud that shrouded the village. "Orange tree leaves were all covered with ashes. I would get gray too from head to toe after a short while of working in the field," he recalled. Few people wanted Ouying's fruits due to the severe air and soil pollution, even though Yi sold them at a lower price. Some of his fellow orange growers gave up and left the village to seek jobs outside. The lean and robust man persisted for years and the time finally came for his orchard to thrive. Local environmental protection authorities shut down the cement production plant in 2013 in accordance with the law amid a nationwide fight against pollution. Guided by the vision of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," Fengjie, Chongqing and the entire China have abandoned development at the cost of the environment and shifted to the path of green growth. With the dust cloud disappearing, mountains in Ouying Village were a brighter green again. To boost orange growing and processing, Fengjie has since made continuous efforts to encourage using organic fertilizers, overhaul road and irrigation infrastructure, introduce new species of orange trees, and provide farmers with the latest knowledge. "As the environment improved, soil quality also became better. We also keep updating farming skills. Our oranges are becoming sweeter and bigger with a more pleasant color," Yi said. Now, 962 households in Ouying Village cultivate more than 7,500 mu of orange trees. Every household can rake in an average of over 100,000 yuan annually. Seeing a sweet future, Yi has expanded his orchard to over 30 mu and his annual income can reach 300,000 yuan. This man indeed has a fortune to guard. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Flash Campaigns have delivered their final pitch to Australia's voters ahead of the landmark Indigenous Voice referendum. Millions of Australians will head to the polls on Saturday for the country's first referendum since 1999, and decide whether the constitution shall be changed to establish the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which would advise the federal government on all issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. "We have an opportunity for Australia to do better. To do better to show respect for the first Australians. But also to do something for ourselves, as well, because we will feel better. We will feel better about ourselves on Sunday with a yes vote," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a press conference in South Australia to boost support for the "yes" vote. In order for the constitution to be changed, at least 50 percent of Australians as well as a majority in at least four out of the country's six states must vote 'yes' in the referendum. According to opinion polls, the proposal is set to be defeated. The latest survey by British-based market research company YouGov, which was published on Thursday, found that 56 percent of Australians intended to vote against altering the constitution. Peter Dutton, leader of the federal opposition and the "no" campaign, told state media Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that Albanese had made a "catastrophic mistake" early in the campaign by failing to provide details of how the voice would work. "He's instinctively won their hearts because Australians do want better outcomes for Indigenous Australians, but he hasn't won their minds," Dutton told ABC radio. Dangshan in E China's Anhui boasts thriving pear industry People's Daily Online) 09:36, October 13, 2023 An aerial view shows a pear orchard in Dangshan county, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Tao Tao) Dangshan county in east China's Anhui Province is emerging as the "pear capital of the world." According to recent data, at the end of 2022, the pear cultivation area in Dangshan spanned over 400,000 mu (26,666 hectares). Of this, 250,000 mu of land is dedicated to the cultivation of suli pears, or crisp pears, with over 60,000 pear trees aged for more than 100 years. Dangshan offers optimal conditions for growing crisp pears, with its flat terrain, loose soil, defined seasons, concurrent rainfall and heat, plentiful sunshine, and an environment meeting all major criteria for pear cultivation. "Dangshan is renowned for its production of high-quality, crisp pears," said Tang Ming, Party chief of Dangshan county. "The pears grown here exhibit a beautiful shape, a refreshing and crispy texture, a delightful melt-in-the-mouth experience, and high sugar content." Wei Zunpeng picks pears at his orchard in Dangshan county, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Tao Tao) In the late 1950s, Dangshan embarked on a sand control project. Recognizing the benefits of planting pear trees in sandy soil, the county developed horticultural farms and orchards along a former course of the Yellow River. Consequently, the cultivation of crisp pears thrived and expanded throughout Dangshan. During the 1960s and 1970s, the cultivation of crisp pears in Dangshan saw significant growth, showcasing its capability to balance ecological and economic benefits. The pear planting expanse reached an impressive milestone of over 500,000 mu during this time. Wei Zunpeng, a local from Liangli village in Liangli township of Dangshan, has devoted over 40 years to pear tree cultivation. With 20 mu of his land dedicated to pear farming, Wei's family depends on the fruit as their main source of income, drawing an annual revenue of 100,000 yuan ($13,709) from their pear harvest. Liangli township is recognized as the cradle of the Dangshan crisp pear. Presently, 90 percent of Liangli village's land is committed to cultivating this variety of pear. A view of a pear orchard in Dangshan county, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Miao Zijian) Today, Dangshan county boasts nearly 1 million mu of continuous orchards, producing an annual yield of 910,000 tonnes of crisp pears. The brand value of Dangshan's crisp pear stands at 19 billion yuan[JB1] , with the total output value of the entire industry chain reaching 11 billion yuan. Tourists enjoy pear picking at an orchard in Dangshan county, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Miao Zijian) The county has developed a comprehensive fruit industry chain encompassing production, storage, canned processing, cold chain logistics, sales, and services. A substantial investment of 432 million yuan has been dedicated to establishing a crisp pear industry cluster in Dangshan. This initiative includes the construction of standardized factories covering 17,183 square meters, renovation of existing factories spanning 5,300 square meters, installation of 10 new production lines, improvement of three existing production lines, and the creation of a fruit preservation cold storage facility with a capacity of 147,500 cubic meters. Dangshan has established a national cold chain logistics base, which covers an area of 2,316 mu and has a storage capacity of 1.18 million cubic meters. Photo shows a pear orchard in Dangshan county, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Miao Zijian) This facility has made significant contributions to the growth of the cold chain logistics sector, promoting the integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. It has also played a pivotal role in advancing rural development and increasing farmers' incomes. As a result of these endeavors, Dangshan has risen as the foremost county in fruit processing across the nation. In 2022, the county attained an impressive output value of 630 million yuan, specifically from pear paste production. Dangshan county boasts over 3,100 e-commerce companies, more than 60,000 online stores and micro-businesses, and employs over 150,000 individuals in e-commerce logistics and related sectors. A farmer displays freshly picked pears at an orchard in Dangshan county, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Miao Zijian) Annually, the county produces upwards of 450,000 tonnes of canned fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, and beverages. These goods are exported to destinations including Japan, the U.S., Canada, and the European Union, generating annual sales revenue of over 3 billion yuan. Dangshan is a major exporter of concentrated pear juice and pear pulp, supplying multinational food corporations like Nestle and PepsiCo. These products account for roughly 20 percent of global market share, earning annual export revenues of $50 million for the county. (Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming) Zelensky visits NATO headquarters to secure military assistance 09:43, October 13, 2023 By Deng Xiaoci ( Global Times Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly made a surprise visit to the NATO headquarters in the hope of securing aid from the military alliance on Wednesday local time. Chinese analysts commented on Thursday that Zelensky's NATO headquarters visit, his first since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in early 2022, was an obvious sign of his growing concern over NATO diverting assistance from Ukraine to Israel. They also pointed out that the US and NATO's assurance of continuing aid to Kiev is fragile as the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict is becoming "a hot potato," especially as many of these countries face election campaigns, testing the will of key allies. At NATO, Zelensky said he was counting on the West to supply more air defense support, long-range missiles and artillery to help his country "survive this next winter." And he said that "of course, everybody's afraid" that Western assistance would dwindle as the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues, the New York Times reported. Top NATO officials sought to reassure Zelensky by pledging more than $2 billion in additional military aid to be delivered before winter sets in. Likewise, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed on Wednesday that Washington's military support for Israel will not compromise its commitment to Ukraine, the AFP reported. However, the New York Times, which reported the visit, cited unnamed "senior officials" as saying that Ukraine might have cause for concern, given the situation in Israel and the budget fight in the US Congress that threatens American war funding. At least some of the American weapons flow could dry up in a matter of months if the money is not approved quickly, according to one senior US official who spoke to journalists in Brussels on condition of anonymity. It is natural for Zelensky to take note of the outbreak of the fresh Palestine-Israel crisis, but as long as the conflict is limited to Gaza, the US-led West would not have to divert significant military resources to Israel, as Hamas is in fact no match for it, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Time on Thursday. What the US fears is the spillover of the conflict, which could lead to a full scale Middle East war, with other Muslim and Arab countries getting involved, and the US is gearing up in the region to deter Iran, Li explained. Still, it is likely to be a challenging winter for Ukraine. The war of attrition puts great pressure on NATO member countries and the US, especially because many of these countries are entering election season, and the public is strongly opposed to diverting resources toward war, analysts said. Having the resources to balance two conflicts is one thing, but having the political will under domestic pressure to actually do so is another, Li said. Within the US, supporting Israel is a matter of "political correctness" and enjoys bipartisan agreement, however the case for Kiev is more complicated, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday. Kiev's domestic corruption issues have impeded US policymaking when it comes to military aid, where Republicans would like to ensure the funding is spent in the right place, causing fractures within the Congress, Song said. Opposition to continuing current levels of support to Ukraine is undoubtedly rising, so the Congress is likely to impose restrictions on aid, Li noted. "However, whether they will completely refuse aid to Ukraine, personally, I believe the likelihood is low. The US still needs to assist Ukraine, even if the funding from the Congress is reduced or, in the most extreme case, not allocated at all." It is worth noting that even without the emergence of the latest Palestine-Israel crisis, US and Western military assistance to Ukraine had already reached tipping point, with several European countries already announcing decisions to stop aiding Kiev, Cui Heng, a scholar from the China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday. Objectively speaking, supporting Israel, at the moment, is more urgent and of greater geopolitical importance for the US and the West than supporting Ukraine, Cui pointed out. The 2024 election is the most important thing for both the GOP and the Democrats, and there are issues that take greater priority over Ukraine, such as China-related matters and the Jewish lobby, which are key to the vote, Cui said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Chinas unyielding border stance never shaken by Indias strategic drift toward US 09:55, October 13, 2023 By Global Times ( Global Times Illustration: Xia Qing/GT In a quiet manner, China and India held their 20th round of corps commander level meetings. China's Ministry of National Defense (MOD) announced on Thursday that the meeting was held at the Moldo-Chushul border meeting point on the Indian side on October 9 and 10. The two sides had a positive, in-depth and constructive discussion on resolving the remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector in a mutually acceptable manner at the earliest possible date, the MOD noted, adding the two sides agreed to maintain the momentum of communication and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and to maintain the peace and tranquility on the ground in the border areas. The press releases of the latest two rounds of talks look mostly similar, with slight differences. For example, the news release of the 20th round added "a mutually acceptable manner" when referring to future resolution. Obviously, this indicates the current stumbling block - the present-day terms negotiated by the two sides are not mutually acceptable, Liu Zongyi, secretary-general of the Research Center for China-South Asia Cooperation at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times. Based on Liu's observation, the biggest obstacle in making a breakthrough in corps commander level meetings lies in India's objective, which is not simply reaching disengagement of troops from friction points, but to use the talks to compel China to withdraw and allow India to carry out patrols and occupy Chinese territories in certain areas. India has been thinking highly of itself lately, including in relevant talks. India perceives its current position in the triangular relationship of India, China and the US to be analogous to China's position during the Cold War era among the triangular relations of China, the US and the Soviet Union. A "non-treaty alliance partnership" has emerged between India and the US. Given India's favorable geopolitical circumstances, it believes China needs to ease relations with India so as to deal with the strategic pressure exerted by the US, Liu said. The US, on the other hand, has indeed been cozying up to India, siding with New Delhi in the border dispute, granting it higher status and more flexibility on major global issues, to serve its Indo-Pacific Strategy to contain China. It wishes to see tensions escalate, even flare up, between China and India. However, the reality is proving that India's effort to play the US card against China on border issues is futile. "China will not make major concessions to India on border disputes, particularly on territorial issues, due to concerns over India's strategic drift toward the US," Long Xingchun, a professor at the School of International Relations at Sichuan International Studies University, told Global Times. As long as the talks continue, there will be no collapse in bilateral ties, no new military confrontation or conflict. The meeting itself is a diplomatic posture, Long said. A future resolution of China-India border issues will depend on China and India, not any other third party. China and India are independent sovereign countries, neither will allow a scenario which could turn themselves into cannon fodder of the US when the latter pursues its hegemonic self-interests. "India wants to borrow the power of the US, but it is reluctant to be taken advantage by the US," Long added. Both China and India are developing countries with aspirations for development. China has the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, while India has the dream to realize modernization. In 2022, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India aims to become a developed country within 25 years. To achieve this goal, India needs a stable peripheral and international environment, rather than pooling significant energy and resources to border disputes. From this perspective, there is huge common interest between China and India. Resolving controversies, including managing border disputes, is crucial for both countries to achieve their respective objectives. The vast majority of the ongoing turmoil and chaos in the world is instigated and interfered with by the US, driven by its hegemonic and self-interest motives. Fortunately, despite the friction between China and India, both countries have maintained a relatively stable dialogue mechanism. Progress has been limited, but they are firm in resisting another outbreak of conflict. In the end, it must be China and India themselves who will bridge their gap, while avoiding to be tripped by outsiders. Experts note that in the China-India border dispute, India is the side that always wants more, and with US endorsement, refuses to make any compromise. Disputes won't be fixed in that way, and that method of dealing with problems might backfire. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 ISTANBUL, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Two ships departed from Ukraine and Russia crashed in Turkiye's Marmara Sea on Friday, local media reported. The Haberturk Daily, citing the General Directorate of Coastal Safety, said on its website that the accident, which occurred near the Marmara Island of the Balikesir province, caused damages to the ships. According to Haberturk, the 130-meter-long dry cargo ship "Haje Halimeh," loaded with wheat, was sailing from the Ukrainian port of Izmail to Valencia, Spain. It added that the other ship, the 169-meter-long bulk carrier "Asomatos," loaded with grain, was en route from the Russian port of Kavkaz to Ashdod in Israel. Marine Traffic, an online vessel tracking platform, said Haje Halimeh was sailing under the flag of the Comoros while Asomatos was with the Panama flag. There were no casualties, the daily said. Chinese Police offer $68,400 reward for telecom fraud ringleaders in northern Myanmar 10:11, October 13, 2023 By Global Times ( Global Times A total of 706 telecom scam suspects from northern Myanmar were handed over to China in three groups, as local public security authorities in Southwest China's Yunnan Province continue to strengthen border police cooperation with law enforcement departments in Myanmar. Photo: Chinese Embassy to Myanmar Chinese police are offering a reward of 100,000 to 500,000 yuan ($3,680 to $68,400) for clues leading to the arrest of two key ringleaders of a criminal syndicate in northern Myanmar that has been targeting Chinese citizens in telecommunications and online fraud. Since the beginning of 2023, the frequent occurrence and significant losses caused by telecom fraud cases related to false investment and heavy financial losses have triggered concern and widespread backlash among the public in China. China and Southeast Asian countries have vowed to protect people from gambling fraud and related crimes through joint special operations. To combat cross-border telecom fraud, police forces of China, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos also launched a special joint operation, with the aim of combating telecommunications fraud and online gambling crimes, according to media reports. Two wanted fraud ringleaders, Chen Yanban (also known as Bao Yanban), Xiao Yankuai (also known as He Chuntian) linked to organized criminal activities in northern Myanmar and who have been responsible for carrying out telecommunications fraud targeting Chinese citizens, have been identified by police from Hangzhou of East China's Zhejiang Province and Kunming of Southwest China's Yunnan Province. The illegal proceeds generated by their criminal activities is believed to be significant and has led to social harm across China with individuals deceived into making bogus investments. According to the investigation launched by the police, the criminal facts of Chen Yanban and Xiao Yanblock are clear and the evidence is conclusive and beyond reasonable doubt. At the same time, the public security organs also urged the two suspects take the initiative to surrender to the police, so as to strive for leniency. The police also called on the public to help arrest the suspects. Public security organs will give rewards of up to 500,000 yuan to those who provide effective clues and assist in the arrest. In recent years, following intensifying crackdowns by Chinese public security authorities and the continuous deepening of international law enforcement cooperation, telecom fraud criminal groups that were previously hiding in Southeast Asian countries have gradually relocated to northern Myanmar. They mainly operate in the areas in Myanmar which are adjacent to the Chinese cities and prefectures such as Xishuangbanna, Pu'er, Lincang and Dehong in Yunnan. A total of 706 telecom scam suspects from northern Myanmar were handed over to China in three groups, as local public security authorities in Southwest China's Yunnan Province continue to strengthen border police cooperation with law enforcement departments in Myanmar, according to Xinhua News Agency. After sustained and effective crackdowns, 2,317 telecom fraud suspects from northern Myanmar have been successfully captured and handed over to China, including 23 behind-the-scenes "financial backers," organizational leaders, and core members, along with 94 fugitives listed online. Public security authorities will thoroughly investigate all available evidence, while cracking down on fraud, and they will deeply seek to disrupt associated crimes within the domestic markets, ensuring a comprehensive crackdown and strict legal punishment. High pressure on cross-border crimes, telecom fraud in particular, has significantly disrupted space for overseas fraud activity, and the number of telecom and internet fraud cases in China has shown a clear declining trend in recent days. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) ISTANBUL, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said human rights violations aimed at innocent civilians in Gaza were "unacceptable" in a phone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Friday. According to Turkiye's Presidential Office, Erdogan said that his country is providing aid to people in need and Western countries should do more to reduce tensions and avoid actions that do not promote peace. The Turkish president told Macron that Turkiye suggests resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict permanently based on a two-state solution, and if all parties approach the issue with sincerity, a solution can be found to bring peace to the region and the world. Also on Friday, Turkish military aircraft landed in Egypt, carrying on board a shipment of medical and relief aid that will be delivered to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. The humanitarian aid is being handed over to Egyptian authorities for delivery, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported. On Oct. 7, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched a surprise attack on Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes. BEIRUT, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A Lebanese photographer was killed, and six other reporters were injured on Friday evening from Israeli attacks on Lebanon's southern village of Alma al-Shaab, Lebanese TV channel MTV reported. Israeli forces attacked a vehicle carrying journalists, killing Issam Abdallah, a Lebanese photographer working for Reuters, and injuring six other reporters working for international agencies that include Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Al-Jazeera TV channel, it said. It reported that the injured people had been transferred to hospitals. In a statement released by Lebanon's Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned Israel for "directly targeting journalists" in its attacks on Lebanon, and wished "a speedy recovery" of the wounded reporters. Israel stepped up its assault on southern Lebanon on Friday by bombarding the area around the towns of Al-Dhahira, Alma al-Shaab, and Yarin, according to Lebanon's National News Agency(NNA). According to NNA, the bombing on the outskirts of Alma al-Shaab led to a massive fire. In response, Hezbollah announced that its fighters had attacked four Israeli border sites in response to Friday's attacks on several southern Lebanese towns, prompting the Israeli army to use a drone to attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The tension on the Lebanese-Israeli border escalated after Hezbollah on Sunday morning fired dozens of missiles toward military sites in Shebaa Farms in support of the surprise attack on Israeli towns launched by Hamas on the morning of Oct. 7. The situation escalated again on Monday after members of Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement (PIJ), infiltrated northern Israel from Lebanon and clashed with Israeli forces, prompting the Israelis to hit several areas in southern Lebanon, killing three Hezbollah members. In return, Hezbollah attacked the Israeli Pranit and Avivim barracks in northern Israel Monday evening with guided missiles and mortar shells. On Wednesday, Hezbollah attacked the Israeli military site of Al-Jardah near the Lebanese border with guided missiles, claiming the shelling caused "many" casualties among the Israeli forces. Trans Domestic Terrorism NEWS PROVIDED BY Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights Oct. 13, 2023 NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ -- There is a violent streak among trans activists that is underreported in the media. The following events all took place this year. February 2023National Public Radio (NPR) ran a story on Rainbow Reload, a group of trans activists training with firearms in New Hampshire. While NPR usually opposes the 2nd Amendment, in this particular story, NPR frames these activists in a heroic light noting that LGBT people are under attack across America. One member of Rainbow Reload said he joined the group because "there's been an uptick in groups that have been protesting drag story times and drag shows. And it felt like I needed to learn how to protect myself." NPR concludes the piece with the line "the guns over their shoulders a source of security in a world that feels full of threats," further highlighting the sense that trans activists are in an armed conflict for their survival. February 2023Approximately 150 trans activists stormed the Oklahoma Capitol. Sporting trans flags, these radical protestors occupied the atrium of the Capitol building to oppose legislation aimed at protecting young people from medical procedures for "gender reassignment." The trans activists then broke into the balconies chanting "This is our house!" March 2023When three King County Sheriff's Deputies served an eviction notice on Nathan Stolsig, a man pretending to be a woman, he opened fire on the deputies and a shootout ensued. One of the deputies was shot when a bullet struck him above his body armor. Stolsig, who went by the name Eucytus, was a trans activist and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He was affiliated with Antifa and had been preparing to be evicted by barricading his apartment. Surrounded by the deputies with no way out, Stolsig took his own life. The local NPR social justice reporter presented this story as a tragic suicide of a trans individual and left out that Stolsig injured a deputy in the shoot out and his ties to Antifa. March 2023Audrey Hale, a woman pretending to be a man, entered the Covenant Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee, and proceeded to go on a shooting spree. In the span of approximately 15 minutes she fired over 200 rounds and killed six people, including three nine-year-old students. Immediately following this tragedy, local police reported that Hale had written a lengthy manifesto. Local police also confirmed the attack was targeted, and there was strong reason to believe Hale's transgender identity played a part in attacking the Christian school. At the time of writing, Hale's manifesto has not been released. Many LGBT groups have been calling for the manifesto to be withheld from the public. March 2023Several hours after the shooting at Covenant Christian school, Joselyn Berry, press secretary to Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D), posted on Twitter a GIF from the movie "Gloria" showing a woman holding two pistols with the caption "Us when we see transphobes." While Berry would resign in disgrace several days later, her GIF appears to justify using violence against people who disagree with transgenderism. March 2023Hundreds of trans activists took over the Texas Capitol to protest legislation that would protect children from puberty blockers and genital mutilation. The radical protestors began chanting and then staged a die in "to symbolize how many trans lives that could be lost if the legislation became law." March 2023When the Kentucky State Legislature overrode Governor Andy Beshear's (D) veto of legislation to protect minors from transgender procedures, hundreds of trans activists stormed the Kentucky Capitol building. Capitol security and the Kentucky State Police struggled to remove protesters from the gallery. Nineteen people were arrested. March 2023In response to the Covenant Christian School shooting, approximately 400 radical leftists stormed the Tennessee Capitol building. Supported by Democrats in the State Legislature, the protesters attempted to shift the focus of the tragedy at Covenant Christian School to focus on gun control rather than the targeted attack by a trans radical. March 2023Police in Colorado Springs arrested William Whitworth, a man pretending to be a woman who goes by the name Lily. Whitworth began behaving violently and threatened to go on a shooting spree at local schools when his family called the police. When police arrived, they found Whitworth drunk in his room and arrested him charging him with two counts of "attempted first-degree murder." The local district attorney's office confirmed that "Whitworth is in the process of transitioning to female." April 2023Wyoming Minority Whip Karlee Provenza (D) posted a meme of an elderly woman shooting an AK-47 with the caption "Auntie Fa Says, Protect Trans Folks Against Fascists and Bigots." Auntie Fa is a reference to Antifa. Further the meme implies anyone opposed to transgenderism is either a fascist or a bigot and should be resisted with physical violence. April 2023 Etsy, the popular e-commerce site dedicated to the buying and selling of handmade and vintage items, has a slew of merchandise that promotes violent transgender rhetoric. One such item is a "Progress Pride" flag with an AK-47 assault rifle superimposed on it and the caption "ARMED QUEERS BASH BACK." A sweatshirt reads, "Respect my pronouns or yours will be was/were." Meanwhile, there is a t-shirt with the picture of three daggers and the words "Protect Trans Kids." A sticker of a cat holding a knife reads "Respect my gender pronouns or I will identify as a problem." Another sticker of a sword features the phrase, "Respect my pronouns or die by my sword." April 2023After San Francisco State University students could not shout down former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, a mob of radical transgender activists stormed the stage. Turning out the lights, they used the chaos to rush past her security. Police eventually got her out of the room, but not before a man in a dress punched her several times in the head. Gaines was then trapped for three hours in an empty classroom surrounded by the transgender activists. One of the mob demanded cash to ensure Gaines' safe passage off campus. April 2023A male teacher, who pretends to be a woman, threatened to shoot his students at Fox Chapel Middle School in Spring Hill, Florida. The teacher was upset about students making fun of him on social media. When school administrators recommended he talk to the school guidance counselor about his "bad thoughts," the teacher admitted that he "wanted to shoot some students." April 2023Hundreds of pro-transgender protesters tried to disrupt a debate at the University of Pittsburgh featuring Michael Knowles. Knowles had previously raised the ire of transgender activists when he declared that transgenderism needed to be eradicated from public life. When the debate began, a few radicals that got past security tried to shout down Knowles; however, they were unsuccessful. Outside of the event the protestors set off fireworks and other explosives. They burnt Knowles in effigy. Police had to lockdown parts of campus for nearly two hours. Order was not restored until 90 minutes after Knowles finished his remarks. April 2023During a debate on banning transgender procedures for minors, Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-Missoula), a man pretending to be a woman, said, "The only thing I will say is if you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments, I hope the next time there's an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands." Because these comments appeared to be in reference to the shooting at Covenant Christian School and implied that the law would threaten the very existence of the trans community justifying their further retaliations, Zephyr was sanctioned by Montana State House and barred from debating on the legislation. When the Montana State House moved to pass the legislation, trans activists stormed the Capitol building. The radicals proceeded to take over the gallery and attempted to break the doors of the chamber when Zephyr was not permitted to speak. As part of their demonstration, the trans activists threw red gloves, symbolizing the "blood on your hands" that Zephyr had threatened earlier. Riot police were sent in to restore order. In the ensuing clash with the mob of trans activists, seven radicals were arrested. April 2023Trans activists vandalized the home of Utah State Senator Mike Kennedy. The radicals spray painted "FASH" (an abbreviation for fascist) and "THESE TRANNIES BASH BACK" on the front of his home in response to legislation he introduced to protect children from transgender procedures. April 2023Thomas Jay White, a man pretending to be a woman going by the name Tara Jay, is a prominent trans influencer on TikTok. In a recent video, White threatened to shoot anyone that prevented him from using the women's restroom. In another video, White claims he wishes he could see several high profile figures who have spoken out against transgenderism hanging from a rope and contemplates throwing a party to celebrate their deaths. April 2023A group of concerned citizens from Protect Texas Kids protested an all-ages drag show held at Fort Brewer and Pizza in Fort Worth. They were met by black-clad counter-protesters from the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club. Many of the counter-protestors were equipped with tactical gear and armed with handguns and long guns. At first, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club members began screaming in the faces of the protestors while they were silently praying and proceeded to use pepper spray on the protestors. This was not the first time the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club has attempted to intimidate Protect Texas Kids with violence. The gun club has gone to at least 16 demonstrations to verbally and physically harass the protestors. The Club is affiliated with Antifa. May 2023Trans activists disrupted a meeting of the Westwood Regional School District in Bergen County, New Jersey when the school board voted to allow schools only to display the American and state flags. The trans activists shouted down the school board members, and police were required to remove unruly speakers from the microphone to restore decorum. June 2023When mostly Armenian and Hispanic parents protested the Glendale Unified School District in southern California for indoctrinating their children, trans activists, answering a call from Antifa, confronted and physically attacked the parents. Three people were arrested on various charges. August 2023When parents demonstrated outside of the Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters urging the district to implement a policy to notify parents if their children identified as transgender, trans activists confronted the parents. The scene quickly turned violent as the trans activists attacked the parents and the police that were attempting to keep the two groups apart. Two trans activists were arrested and several more were taken into custody. SOURCE Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights CONTACT: 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The Tony Award-winning musical Miss Saigon" is heading to the Philippines in March 2024. Im absolutely thrilled to be bringing my spectacular new production of Miss Saigon to Manila," producer Cameron Mackintosh said in a statement. "Without a doubt, it is the best production of Saigon I have ever produced, with one of the most brilliant casts that have ever performed the show around the world," he also said. "I cant envisage another show of this scale being done in Manila for the foreseeable future. GMG Productions said Miss Saigon will be staged at the Theater at Solaire, which recently brought another award-winning musical, Hamilton, to the Philippines. GMG Productions chief executive officer Carlos Candal noted the deep connection Filipinos have with Miss Saigon as it provided a platform for artists like Lea Salonga, Jon Jon Briones, Joanna Ampil, and Rachelle Ann Go to showcase their skills and passion. Miss Saigon is a retelling of Giacomo Puccinis classic opera Madame Butterfly. Set up during the 1970s Vietnam, this follows the journey of young Vietnamese woman Kim amid the Vietnam War, who falls in love with an American G.I. named Chris. Mackintoshs production of Boublil and Schonbergs classic musical first premiered in Londons West End in 1989. It has been seen by 38 million people around the world, and has been staged in 32 countries in 15 different languages for the past 34 years. The new production of Miss Saigon opened in London in May 2014 and has since won nine Whatsonstage Awards. The Manila staging comes after the musicals successful run at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Other details about the Manila staging are not yet available. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) Malacanang has released the list of regular holidays and special non-working days for 2024. Under Proclamation No. 368 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, the EDSA People Power Revolution anniversary was missing from the list. The Office of the President maintains the respect for the commemoration of the EDSA People Power Revolution. However, such was not included in the list of special non-working days for the year 2024 as February 25 falls on a Sunday, the Office of the President said on Friday. There is a minimal socio-economic impact in declaring such day as a special non-working holiday since it coincides with the rest day for most workers/laborers, it added. However, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on Dec. 8, which falls on a Sunday next year, was included in the list of special non-working days. While the peaceful revolution is not declared as a regular holiday, it is almost always declared a special non-working day by every chief executive since the 1986 historic event that toppled a dictator. The new proclamation, however, added the Chinese New Year on Feb. 10 and the Christmas Eve on Dec. 24 as special non-working days. Meanwhile, Eid'l Fitr and Eid'l Adha have been declared national holidays under the same proclamation. "The proclamations declaring national holidays for the observance of Eid'l Fitr and Eid'l Adha shall hereafter be issued after the approximate dates of the Islamic holidays have been determined in accordance with the Islamic calendar (Hijra) or the lunar calendar, or upon Islamic astronomical calculations, whichever is possible or convenient," it stated. Malacanang said the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos is advised to recommend the actual dates on which Eid'l Fitr and Eid'l Adha holidays will respectively fall. Here are the regular holidays under Proclamation No. 368: Jan. 1 New Year's Day March 28 Maundy Thursday March 29 Good Friday April 9 Araw ng Kagitingan May 1 Labor Day June 12 Independence Day Aug. 26 National Heroes Day (last Monday of August) Nov. 30 Bonifacio Day Dec. 25 Christmas Day Dec. 30 Rizal Day On the other hand, the following were declared as special (non-working) days: Aug. 21 Ninoy Aquino Day Nov. 1 All Saints' Day Dec. 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary Dec. 31 Last Day of the Year Additional special (non-working) days: Feb. 10 Chinese New Year March 30 Black Saturday Nov. 2 All Souls' Day Dec. 24 Christmas Eve CNN Philippines correspondent Rex Remitio contributed to this story. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) Transport group Manibela is bent on holding a nationwide jeepney strike, which is set to begin on Oct. 16. The group has been calling for the suspension of the Dec. 31 deadline for the mandatory jeepney franchise consolidation, a component of the government's Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program. "Ang tigil pasada dere-derecho po ito kung hanggang saan abutin ang aming sikmura ng gutom," Manibela chairman Mar Valbuena said during a briefing on Friday. [Translation: This jeepney strike will continue for as long as our hungry stomachs can bear.] Valbuena said around a thousand PUVs are expected to gather in Mendiola, Manila to protest the modernization plan. However, other transport groups including Magnificent 7, Mighty 1, ALTODAP, UV Express Alliance of the Philippines, Pasang Masda, FEJODAP, ACTO, and Busina said they will skip the transport strike "Hindi po kami makikiisa, kami po'y magsiserbisyo at magbibigay ng serbisyo sa ating mananakay nationwide," Magnificent 7 chief Ka Obet Martin said in a joint presser. [Translation: We will not join, we will serve and provide service to our riders nationwide.] Manibela was supposed to stage a three-day transport strike in July, the first day coinciding with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s second State of the Nation Address, to protest the modernization program. It was suspended due to the threat of heavy rains. CNN Philippines correspondent AC Nicholls contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The National Security Council (NSC) on Friday said it would push for the designation of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group which led the attack on Israel, as a terrorist organization under the Anti-Terror Law. Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel last Oct. 7, resulting in thousands of deaths among both Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The NSC condemned Hamas and its "terrorist assault" against the state and people of Israel and said the proposed designation would be made in solidarity with the country. "This was a deadly and barbaric terrorist assault on Israel targeting its civilian population and Israel has every right, as much as any nation, to defend and protect itself from this attack which has already claimed more than 1,200 lives, including that of two (2) Filipinos, and wounded some 3,000 others. Three (3) Filipinos are still unaccounted for," the NSC said. Israel retaliated against Hamas' attacks by launching airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory under the militants' control. A total of 1,547 people have been killed in the exclave, according to the state's health ministry. Meanwhile, over 1,200 have been killed in Israel, CNN's live coverage of the war reported. The NSC added that the terrorist designation would be a priority agenda of the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC). Under Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terror Law of 2020, the ATC may designate an individual or group, whether domestic or foreign, as terrorists. This is upon finding probable cause that those in question have committed or attempted to commit acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury, extensive damage to public or private property, and the development, possession, and transportation of weapons, among others. In the Philippines, the designation means the government can arrest suspected terrorists without a warrant and detain them for up to 24 days before they must be presented to a judge. It also allows the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze the assets of individuals and organizations. The Islamist militant movement of Hamas is based in Palestine. It has been designated as a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada, and Paraguay. (CNN) A pristine asteroid sample that could serve as a time capsule from the early days of our solar system has finally been revealed. The rocks and dust contain water and a large amount of carbon, said NASA administrator Bill Nelson, which suggests that asteroids may have delivered the building blocks of life to Earth. The sample is nearly 5% carbon by weight, making it one of the highest concentrations of carbon to be studied in an asteroid, according to Dr. Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Far exceeding our goal of 60 grams, this is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever returned to Earth, Nelson said. The carbon and water molecules are exactly the kinds of material that we wanted to find. Theyre crucial elements in the formation of our own planet. And theyre going to help us determine the origin of elements that could have led to life. The sample, collected from the 4.5 billion-year-old near-Earth asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission, arrived on Earth in a capsule on September 24, dropping from the spacecraft and landing in the Utah desert. Since then, scientists have been hard at work studying the wealth of material more than they expected just inside the top of the canister to conduct an early analysis. The results of that analysis, and the first look at the sample, were shared during a live NASA broadcast from the agencys Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday. Its the largest asteroid sample returned to Earth. There was so much bonus material when the scientists opened the canister that the team has yet to open the bulk sample. A treasure chest of extraterrestrial material Over the past two weeks, the science team analyzed some of the rocks and dust using a scanning electron microscope, taking infrared measurements and conducting a chemical element analysis. They also used X-rays to create a 3D model of one of the particles to reveal its composition, revealing a scientific treasure of carbon and water content, said OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta. The first analysis shows samples that contain abundant water in the form of hydrated clay minerals, and they contain carbon as both minerals and organic molecules, Nelson said. The team shared detailed images of the particles revealing the water-bearing clay minerals. That is how we think water got to Earth, said Lauretta, who is also a University of Arizona Regents Professor of Planetary Sciences. The reason that Earth is a habitable world, that we have oceans and lakes and rivers and rain, is because these clay minerals landed on Earth 4 billion years ago to 4 and a half billion years ago, making our world habitable. So were seeing the way that water got incorporated into the solid material. The analysis also revealed sulfide minerals, a critical element for planetary evolution and biology, iron oxide minerals called magnetite that react to magnetic fields, and other minerals that could be important for organic evolution, Lauretta said. The science team was excited to detect organic matter and a wealth of carbon, which is an essential element for all life, said Dr. Daniel Glavin, OSIRIS-REx sample analyst and senior scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. Were just beginning here, but we picked the right asteroid, and not only that, we brought back the right sample, Glavin said. This stuff is an astrobiologists dream. Going forward, the team will look to see just how much chemistry evolved on Bennu to determine whether the building blocks of life created peptides, or chains of amino acids that form proteins, Glavin said. Meanwhile, still waiting inside of the canister is a whole treasure chest of extraterrestrial material, Lauretta said. What the sample could reveal When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft closely approached Bennu three years ago, it extended a Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism head, or TAGSAM, toward the asteroid and fired a blast of nitrogen gas. The burst of gas lifted rocks and dust all the way from 19 inches (50 centimeters) beneath the space rocks surface. That debris flowed into the TAGSAM head. The TAGSAM also had 24 surface contact pads that touched the asteroid and trapped fine-grained material. The device has been removed from the capture ring, sort of like removing a boot from a ski, Lauretta said. During the removal, material slipped out of the TAGSAM flap, a check valve designed to keep material inside the sample collector. The flap struggled to close due to some rocks that kept it open after collecting the sample in 2020. The rocks measure a couple of centimeters at the longest, he added. Over the next couple of weeks, the curation team will continue to carefully disassemble the TAGSAM head to reach the bulk sample within. Once they do, the team expects to have a good estimate of the entire mass of the sample. Together, the dust and rocks collected from Bennus surface and its interior could reveal the history of how the asteroid formed and evolved over time. These insights will also shed light on the space rocks overall composition, which could help NASA determine how it might deflect the asteroid, which has a chance of impacting Earth in the future. The much-anticipated reveal has been seven years in the making, from the OSIRIS-REx missions launch in 2016 to the capsule landing last month. Some have looked forward to the moment for even longer. Lauretta, who helped develop the mission during its earliest stages, has waited nearly 20 years to see the sample and glean the insights it might reveal about our solar system. Our labs were ready for whatever Bennu had in store for us, said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASAs Johnson Space Center. Weve had scientists and engineers working side-by-side for years to develop specialized gloveboxes and tools to keep the asteroid material pristine and to curate the samples so researchers now and decades from now can study this precious gift from the cosmos. Scientists will analyze the rocks and soil for the next two years at a dedicated clean room inside Johnson Space Center. The sample will also be divided up and sent to laboratories around the globe, including OSIRIS-REx mission partners at the Canadian Space Agency and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. About 70% of the sample will remain pristine in storage so future generations with better technology can learn even more than whats now possible. Rocks tell you a story, Lauretta said. The greatest mystery that were facing right now is, how do you go from a ball of mud to something thats alive? When do you make that transition? The deepest desire is that were going to make some progress in trying to figure out why is it that were here in this universe. This story was first published on CNN.com, Unprecedented asteroid sample contains crucial elements, NASA says in historic reveal" The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention recently awarded $550,472 to Bedford County for the maintenance and expansion of the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, according to a news release issued by U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th. The funds will allow the task force to conduct thorough forensic exams, continue ongoing partnerships with prosecutors and increase the number of agencies involved in investigating ICAC-related crimes, according to the release. Griffith in a statement said he is proud to have supported the Bedford County Sheriff Office's ICAC program since his previous stint in the state legislature. "Victimizing our nation's children is one of the most heinous crimes a person can commit," Griffith said in a statement. "This funding by the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention is crucial in ensuring the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force can continue its important work of preventing, investigating, and prosecuting Internet crimes against children." Your home (probably) doesnt have a lien. The City of Council Bluffs inadvertently sent out letters this week warning residents they will find a lien notice inside. The envelopes actually contain a solid waste bill, which is due Nov. 15. We apologize for the printing error on the Council Bluffs solid waste bill envelope, which incorrectly displays lien notice enclosed instead of the intended solid waste bill enclosed. Rest assured, there is no lien notice included, only your solid waste bill, the city posted on its official Facebook page. A lien is a legal claim against an asset, such as a residential property, to ensure that a debt is eventually repaid. Having a lien on your home would mean that you couldnt sell or transfer the property without removing the lien by paying the debt. For example, the City of Council Bluffs would place a lien on a property for failing to pay a solid waste bill for more than 60 days after its due. Need to know if your property has a lien? The Iowa Judicial Branch says to check with the Pottawattamie County Recorders Office which offers acess to online searchable records or to hire a title company or attorney to conduct a search for you. The Nebraska Broadband Office is moving to the next phase of efforts to ensure access to reliable broadband for all Nebraskans. As part of this effort, there will be ongoing public engagements across the state, including a series of nine public meetings and an open comment period from Monday THE BASE YARD, an area at Ohana Pool and Spa that received the brunt of the damage from the Maui wildfires in August, is seen above. Lowell Jepsen said eight of his vehicles were burned to the frame, while many others were significantly damaged. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Kandia Camara, Cote dIvoires Foreign Minister, was elected Thursday October 12 Speaker of the countrys Senate, the first time a woman will lead the upper house of the countrys legislature. The 64-year-old diplomat landed 91 votes out of 97. She was appointed member of the house Monday October 9 by the countrys leader Alassane Outtara. Mrs Camara was the only candidate for the seat of the Senate Speaker. The voting process of the chamber based in the political capital Yamoussoukro took place in the presence of the Vice-President of the country Tiemoko Meyliet Kone. I will strive to be a President who brings people together, she said after the vote. The country held mid-September senators elections. 64 were elected while 33 including Mrs Camara were appointed by the President. Camara will head the institution until 2028. She was appointed Foreign Minister in 2021, first time ever a women held the position in the history of the West African country. Washington (CNN) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel Thursday to pledge that the United States will never falter from its support for Israel as he condemned Hamas litany of brutality and inhumanity as evoking the worst of ISIS. The message that I bring to Israel is this: you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to, Blinken said in remarks alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. We will always be there by your side. The top US diplomats trip, days after Hamas deadly attacks in Israel, is another show of support as the Biden administration seeks to bolster the countrys defenses and stop the conflict from expanding or spreading. The visit also comes as the US seeks to help secure the release of hostages, including American citizens, held by Hamas and as the death toll, both as a result of Hamas attacks and Israeli strikes in Gaza, continues to grow. Following his departure from Tel Aviv Thursday, Blinken will travel to Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. Across each of these engagements, well continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages, Blinken said at a press conference. The White House said Thursday that a handful of the 14 missing Americans are believed to be held hostage. At least 27 Americans have died as a result of the Hamas attacks, they said. While on the ground in Israel, the top US diplomat met with the families of Americans killed or taken hostage by Hamas, and vowed that were doing everything we can to secure the release of the hostages, working closely with our Israeli partners. Deputy Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Steve Gillen, who traveled to Israel with the US delegation, will stay on the ground here to support the efforts to free their loved ones, Blinken said. Throughout his public remarks in Israel, Blinken expressed condemnation and horror at the brutality of the Hamas attacks. The Israeli government shared graphic photos and videos, Blinken said, of the atrocities committed by the terrorist group: babies slaughtered, bodies desecrated, young people burned alive, women raped, parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents. Netanyahus office publicly posted three such photos on the social media site X following their meeting. Its hard to find the right words. Its beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see, Blinken said at a press conference in Israel. The US been adamant with other nations about the need to unequivocally condemn Hamas attacks, the top US diplomat said. I understand on a personal level, the harrowing echoes that Hamas massacres carry for Israeli Jews, indeed, for Jews everywhere, Blinken noted, describing his own identity as both a father and Jew. There is no excuse. There is no justification for these atrocities, he said in his remarks alongside Netanyahu. This is this must be a moment for moral clarity. The top US diplomat did not explicitly speak of restraint from Israeli forces but said he discussed with Israeli officials the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. No country can or would tolerate the slaughter of its citizens or simply return to the conditions that allowed it to take place. Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens again, Blinken said. As the prime minister and I discussed, how Israel does this matters, he said, reiterating that respect for civilian life is what distinguishes democracies from the likes of Hamas. Blinken also stressed that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. We also talked about possibilities for safe passage for civilians who want to leave or get out of the way in Gaza and thats a conversation, a discussion that we will pursue in the coming days including some of the countries that well be visiting, he said at the press conference. Following his meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken met with a 24-year-old Israeli-American survivor of the music festival massacre during an unannounced visit to a donation site in Tel Aviv. If theres any way to help, first priority, first priority are our friends and family that are now in Gaza, an emotional Lior Gelbaum told the top US diplomat. Were thinking of them and were trying to do everything we can, he replied. Were trying to bring them home. In remarks alongside Netanyahu, the top US diplomat echoed the the crystal clear warning the President Biden issued yesterday to any adversary state or non-state thinking of taking advantage of the current crisis to attack Israel: Dont. He said some military support has already arrived in Israel and more is on the way. As Israels defense needs evolve, we will work with Congress to make sure that theyre met. And I can tell you, there is overwhelming, overwhelming bipartisan support in our Congress for Israels security, Blinken said. He did not explicitly speak of restraint from Israeli forces but said he discussed with the Israeli leader the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. No country can or would tolerate the slaughter of its citizens or simply return to the conditions that allowed it to take place. Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens again, Blinken said. As the prime minister and I discussed, how Israel does this matters, he said, reiterating that respect for civilian life is what distinguishes democracies from the likes of Hamas. Blinken also stressed that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. The European Union has provided Mauritania with a 10.5 million grant as the European bloc expressed keenness to support the North African country in many areas including the fight against illegal migration. Mauritanian Justice Minister Mohamed Mahmoud Ben Abdoullah Ben Baya who also doubles as the countrys interim Foreign Minister signed the deal with Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas, on Wednesday October 11, Mauritanias State-run news agency AMI reports. The agency did not provide further details of the deal but said both sides discussed all issues of common interest, including those related to irregular migration. Schinas also stressed the EUs commitment to support Mauritania. Mauritania, due its geographical position, has become an important transit site for migratory movements, including for irregular migrants journeying to Europe, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) notes. King Mohammed VI has called for strengthening the spirit that drives multilateralism to preserve the worlds stability and peace, stressing the need to boost synergies to address common global climate and socioeconomic challenges. In a message to the main plenary of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that began this Friday, October 13, in Marrakesh, the Monarch said the economic, social, and political developments witnessed in recent years require a reform of the institutions and rules governing multilateralism whose basic principles should be consolidated. Global challenges necessitate for global solutions which can only be devised within a framework of unity and mutual respect between nations, said the Moroccan Sovereign in his message read out by Royal Advisor Omar Kabbaj. The King also stressed the need to improve the global financial architecture to make it more equitable and inclusive, describing the WB-IFM Annual Meetings as the best forum for dialogue and constructive debate on the proposed overhaul. Since it is our common destiny to live on this planet, there is no way for any country to shape its future without taking into account that of other countries, said the Monarch. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the WB and the IMF, together with the international agencies and institutions forming the pillars of the global multilateral system, showed great diligence and responsiveness, said the King, noting that these international financial institutions provided crucial support to many member countries trying to mitigate the economic and social impact of the pandemic. As an African nation, Morocco fervently hopes that the Continent which now has a voice within the G20 through the African Union will be able to hold its rightful place in other international bodies and push forward its economic and social agendas, said the Monarch in his message. African countries are among the nations that are suffering the most from the consequences of climate change, even though they are among the countries whose activities contribute the least to global warming, added the King, calling for a revision of the rules and frameworks governing debt which should to take account of the constraints affecting the ability of the most indebted low-income countries. By 2050, Africa will be home to a quarter of the worlds population. It should benefit, today, from conditions that enable it to broaden its room for maneuver and harness its potential to meet the needs of African populations in an increasingly uncertain, unsettled world marked by profound paradigm shifts, said the King. He also shed light on globalization which has led to tangible improvements in living standards, enabling large swathes of the worlds population to escape poverty, stressing that globalization has not been without adverse effects, especially in terms of growing inequalities. Morocco is a land of peace, cultural cross-fertilization and coexistence between different faiths and cultures, besides its unique geographical position at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East and Europe, said the royal message, hailing the countrys economic openness and cooperation. We are committed to the different agendas of the international community, whether they concern economic development, the fight against climate change, combating terrorism and money laundering, or addressing the growing cyber security threat brought about by the digital revolution, said the Monarch. I have made South-South cooperation a priority in our open-door policy, pursuing in this regard an approach based on co-development with our sister nations and friends on the Continent, he stressed. At the domestic level, and since the early 2000s, we have implemented major social and economic reforms in Morocco as well as a large-scale infrastructure program. Concurrently with this, we have made sure to preserve macroeconomic balance because we consider that this guarantees economic sovereignty and resilience, underlined the Monarch. Morocco has adopted a balanced economic policy that serves human development. I have made the latter a foremost priority since I ascended the throne, and this policy has been reinforced since the Covid-19 pandemic. In this regard, I have launched an unprecedented project to achieve universal access to social protection, said the King, citing the benefits of this policy. Our economy has shown remarkable resilience in a complex, uncertain global environment marked by a succession of inconceivable shocks in recent years, said the King, noting that Morocco has strengthened its position as a haven of peace, security, and stability, as a credible partner and as a regional and continental economic and financial hub. Hosting the Annual Meetings of the WB & IMF in Morocco is the result of a longstanding partnership with the Bretton Woods institutions, a sign of trust in Moroccos institutions, infrastructures, and recognition of the Kingdoms commitment to stronger international relations. The plenary session brought together a large number of figures from the world of finance, leaders and policy makers, as well as economic experts and representatives of civil society from around the world. King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan and Prince Moulay Rachid, delivered, on Friday, a speech before the Parliament on the opening of the fall session Here follows the full text of the Royal Speech: Praise be to God, May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, His Kith and Kin Honourable Members of Parliament, It was the will of Almighty God that a tragic earthquake should strike our country, leaving behind thousands of martyrs and injuring a great many people may they recover quickly, with Gods help. This has been a most painful experience which has affected us all, the King and the people, from Tangiers to Lagouira, from the east to the west of our country. Almighty God says: Say, Nothing will happen to us except what God has decreed for us. True is the Word of God. I pray to Almighty God that He may stabilize His land, out of mercy for the weak and the needy among His servants, for He is the Most Merciful. Earthquakes cause destruction, but we intend to rehabilitate and rebuild the devastated areas. I therefore stress the need to continue providing assistance to the stricken families, to speed up rehabilitation and reconstruction in the affected areas, and to make sure basic services are available. Beyond the horrific nature of the tragedy, what alleviates our suffering and, indeed, makes us proud, is the reaction of civil society and of all Moroccans in the homeland and abroad who have shown heartfelt, spontaneous solidarity with their afflicted brothers and sisters. I also wish to commend the Royal Armed Forces and the various emergency and security agencies, government authorities and local governments for the sacrifices they have been making to rescue and assist the people living in the stricken regions. I should like to reiterate my thanks to our friends and to sister nations that showed solidarity with the Moroccan people and stood by us during those painful circumstances. Ladies and gentlemen, This tragedy has shown that authentic Moroccan values have prevailed. They have enabled our country to overcome adversity and crises, again making us not only stronger, but also more determined to forge ahead, with unwavering confidence and optimism. That is the spirit and those are the lofty values ingrained in our DNA. We see them as the cornerstone of our unity and of the cohesion of Moroccan society. These rallying national values are enshrined in the Kingdoms Constitution. They apply to and are embodied by all the components of our authentic Moroccan identity and are also fully in line with universal values. I am referring, in particular, to the values that form the bedrock of our unified national identity: Firstly: Religious and spiritual values, at the forefront of which are the values of Maliki Sunni Islam, which is based on the Commandership of the Faithful, and which calls for moderation, openness to others, tolerance and inter-faith, intercultural coexistence. This is what makes Morocco a model of coexistence between Moroccans, Muslims and Jews alike. Ours is a country in which other faiths and cultures are duly respected. Secondly: The national values underpinning the Moroccan nation, and which are based on the monarchy. The latter is unanimously supported by all Moroccans; it brings together all components of the Moroccan people. Its pillar is the strong cohesion and the mutual allegiance Beia between the throne and the people. Love of the homeland and unanimity on the nations unity and territorial integrity are among Moroccos long-standing, immutable values which unite Moroccans, and which bring together all the constitutive components of our rich, diverse, yet unified identity. Thirdly: The values of solidarity and social cohesion between groups, generations and regions; this makes Moroccan society closely-knit, with different segments supporting and reinforcing one another. We call for continued adherence to these values because they consolidate our national unity and family cohesion; they also preserve human dignity and enhance social justice. This is all the more necessary, given the profound and rapid shifts which are at work in the world today, and which have led to a noticeable decline in the value system. In fact, values are sometimes abandoned altogether. Ladies and gentlemen, It is in keeping with the spirit of these national values which consider the family and family bonds to be sacred that I have addressed a letter to the Head of Government asking for a review of the Family Code. According to our Constitution, the family is the pillar of society. Therefore, I have always sought to make sure the conditions conducive to family cohesion are in place. Society will not function properly if the family is not cohesive or is imbalanced. Family disintegration makes societies lose their moral compass. Therefore, I have been working to enhance our identity through major projects. Among these is the large-scale social protection project, which I consider a pillar of our social and development model. By the grace of the Almighty, we shall begin the implementation of the program for the provision direct social assistance at the end of this year. To give concrete substance to the values of social solidarity, which are deeply ingrained in Moroccans, I have decided that this program should not be limited to the payment of family allowances. I have made sure it also includes some social segments that need support. This assistance will concern school-age children as well as children with disabilities, newborn babies and also impoverished and vulnerable families without school-age children, especially those supporting elderly people. Thanks to its direct impact, this program will contribute to raising the standard of living of target families and will help fight poverty and vulnerability, in addition to improving social and human development indicators. Society is more productive and proactive when it is deeply committed to solidarity. It also becomes more resilient to contingences and fluctuations. I have instructed the government to adopt a comprehensive approach for the implementation of this program, in keeping with the principles of the framework law on social protection adopted by Parliament. It should be implemented in a gradual manner, taking into account the funds allocated, the optimal scope of the coverage, the amounts to be disbursed and how the assistance is to be managed. It should also be a model of successful implementation, based on the system for targeting beneficiaries under the unified social registry, making sure modern technology is properly leveraged. In this regard, I wish to stress the need to uphold the principles of solidarity, transparency and equity, and to provide assistance to those who deserve it. I call on the government to give priority to the rationalization of current social benefit schemes and ensure their effectiveness as well as the sustainability of their financing. I also insist on the need to uphold the principles of good governance for the implementation of this project in its entirety; a special monitoring and evaluation mechanism needs to be set up for the projects continuous development and evaluation. I am sure you are aware, ladies and gentlemen, of the role Parliament plays in terms of embodying and disseminating these time-honored values, as well as in the implementation of major projects and reforms and in ensuring the countrys mobilization and its vigilance to defend the nations causes and its best interests. I can think of no better way to close this address than these words by the Almighty: And they will say: Praise be to Allah, Who has removed from us (all) sorrow: for our Lord is indeed Oft-Forgiving, Ready to appreciate (service). True is the Word of God. Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh. King Mohammed VI received, Friday in Rabat, the President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva. The audience took place just after the speech delivered by the Sovereign at the opening of the Fall session of the Parliament, to which the chiefs of the Bretton Woods institutions were invited. The World Bank and the IMF are holding their annual meetings in Marrakech, from October 9 to 15. A flagship event that brings together more than twelve thousand participants, including 190 official delegations led by finance ministers and central bank governors. Following the royal audience, the IMF Managing Director expressed, in a statement to the press, her gratitude to King Mohammed VI for the warm welcome extended to participants in the WB/IMF Annual Meetings. It is a great honor to be received by His Majesty the King. This Royal audience was an opportunity to express our gratitude to the Sovereign, the government, and the people of Morocco for their warm welcome at our Meetings, she said. This audience was also an opportunity to show our solidarity with Morocco, particularly after the earthquake of September 8, Kristalina Georgieva said. For his part, the President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, commended the efforts exerted by King Mohammed VI to generalize social protection, as well as his leadership and commitment to promoting the living conditions of Moroccans. I commend the efforts of His Majesty the King to promote social protection in the Kingdom, Banga told the media following the audience. Banga said he was very honored by this royal audience, expressing his appreciation of the warm hospitality reserved by Morocco for participants in the WB/IMF Annual Meetings. He took the opportunity to reiterate the World Banks support for Morocco in this post-quake period. In his speech before the two chambers of the parliament, the Sovereign vowed that the earthquake-impacted areas will be rehabilitated and reconstructed and announced that the program on the granting of direct social assistance will be implemented by the end of the current year. To give concrete substance to the values of social solidarity, which are deeply ingrained in Moroccans, I have decided that this program should not be limited to the payment of family allowances. I have made sure it also includes some social segments that need support, underlined the Moroccan Sovereign, indicating that this assistance will concern school-age children as well as children with disabilities, newborn babies, and also impoverished and vulnerable families without school-age children, especially those supporting elderly people. Thanks to its direct impact, this program will contribute to raising the standard of living of target families and will help fight poverty and vulnerability, in addition to improving social and human development indicators. Several notable items appear on Tuesdays North Platte City Council agenda, including a proposed study of the future building needs of the Police Department and main fire station. The 5:30 p.m. meeting in the City Hall council chamber, 211 W. Third St., also includes a public hearing and vote on whether to seek a $4.5 million federal grant to further help the city recycle troubled properties for new homes. Tuesdays meeting will be broadcast over Spectrum cable channel 180 and livestreamed on the citys YouTube channel. For online access to the latter and the meetings agenda book, visit ci.north-platte.ne.us/government/city-council/agendas-minutes. Council members will be asked to approve a $40,000 agreement with the Davis Design architecture firm of Lincoln to conduct a space needs assessment and site feasibility study for the citys Public Safety Center. The Police Department and Fire Station No. 1 have shared the 1956 Memorial Hospital building at South Jeffers and G streets for several decades. The city bought it after Memorial and St. Marys hospital merged in 1975 to form todays Great Plains Health. Three council members cited the aging condition of the former hospital last fall in opposing the voter-approved half-cent sales tax increase to upgrade North Plattes recreation facilities. About 65.3% of voters backed that proposal in November 2022. Councilmen Ed Rieker and Mark Woods and Councilwoman Donna Tryon suggested at the time that City Hall might also need to be replaced. City Hall received an indoor facelift earlier this year. The proposed study will be looking at all options, City Administrator Layne Groseth said Friday. Five firms responded to a request for proposal to do the space needs and site study, City Engineer Brent Burklund said in a council memorandum. Davis would present its study report to the council Jan. 15 under its proposal. Davis Designs team would also include TC Engineering Inc. and CG ID Architecture, both of North Platte, and Redstone Architects Inc. of Bingham Farms, Michigan, which specializes in law enforcement and public safety design. Burklund is a partner in TC Engineering with Tom Werblow, his immediate predecessor as part-time city engineer. The proposed $4.5 million grant application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments PRO Housing Funds would cover much the same ground as a $1 million state Rural Workforce Housing Land Development Program grant that North Platte received March 27. If received, the federal grant would help the city to gain title to troubled properties, remove their environmental hazards, update their utility services and rehabilitate homes that can be saved. It would further the citys plan to acquire infill or vacant lots or properties with condemned buildings and get them to a point where rehabilitation or new construction may occur, Planning Administrator Judy Clark said in a council memo. Once acquired, the city would put the properties up for sale at a reasonable price with the intent to incentivize affordable housing construction. Proceeds would go back into a city revolving fund for further purchases. The grant would be available for use citywide but focused on areas considered low- to moderate-income according to U.S. Census Bureau information. The new owner would be required to follow affordable-housing guidelines in building a new home for occupancy or rental, Clark added. North Platte would contribute $270,000 from its general fund as city matching funds, Clark said The citys efforts in obtaining decrepit properties have been limited thus far to a $50,000 revolving fund. The $1 million state grant, which came from Nebraskas share of federal COVID-19 relief, called for a similar local match in city funds and the value of city staff time. In other business, the council will: Hold first-round debate on a trio of ordinances selling three city-owned lots in North Platte Industrial Park for $15,000 apiece to Hamilton Builders LLC. Owner P.J. Hamilton and Wayne Schmeeckle of Fort Morgan, Colorado, are seeking the lots to put up two steel buildings and likely a third to serve expected support firms for the Sustainable Beef LLC plant being built by Schmeeckles firm, Schmeeckle Bros. Construction Co. Decide whether to approve renewal of the citys workers compensation and liability insurance policies with the League Association of Rick Management. Groseth said in a memo that city officials have made adjustments to their coverage that will cut the citys premium by about $45,000. Hold second-round debate on a revised draft ordinance raising the occupation tax from $10 to $500 per machine for games of skill with betting capacity. Such machines would have to be closed from 1 to 8 a.m. under the ordinance, which received initial 6-2 approval Oct. 3. Hold second-round debate on an ordinance annexing Alan Ericksons property at 1617 E. Railroad St. at his request. It also won 6-2 first-round approval Oct. 3. Consider accepting a bid from North Central Emergency Vehicles of Lincoln to buy two ambulances for an estimated $802,708. The ambulances wouldnt be delivered until summer 2026, but action now would set them aside for the city, Fire Chief Dennis Thompson said in a memo. Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images Americas global power is long past its zenith. Chinas sprint into industrial modernity has eroded our nations economic preeminence, while Washingtons wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have sapped the publics tolerance for imperial adventures that will entail significant numbers of American casualties. The United States remains the most powerful nation on earth, but its capacity to project power abroad is not what it used to be. And the countrys perpetual domestic political crises have given its adversaries some cause to believe its imperial decline may soon accelerate. Meanwhile, over the past two years, many long-simmering conflicts have come to a boil. Russia inaugurated the largest land war in Europe since World War II. China ramped up its military pressure on Taiwan. Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Armenians. And last week, Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis in the largest mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust, while Israel responded by waging something approaching total war in Gaza. Several commentators have tied that last development to Americas waning hegemony. In his newsletter for the New York Times, David Leonhardt writes that the simplest explanation for why so many U.S. adversaries have been taking big risks in pursuit of their geopolitical aims is that the United States is no longer the dominant power it once was, and no replacement has emerged. In the absence of a hegemon capable of enforcing a given order, revisionist powers scramble to redraw the worlds maps. It is unclear whether Iran played a leading role in orchestrating Hamass attacks on Israel, but many have speculated that they were aimed at scuttling a U.S. attempt to broker a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Both the Palestinians and Iran would have an interest in disrupting such a rapprochement between Jerusalem and Riyadh. So it is plausible that the attacks reflect, among other things, an attempt by Iran to assert its own interests in the region. Leonhardts basic analysis is shared by Substack writer Noah Smith, who argues that Hamass attack is a demonstration of Americas decreasing ability to deter conflict throughout the world. The Times Ross Douthat similarly suggested that Irans encouragement of Hamass attacks reflects the predictable behavior of revisionist powers facing a declining but still potent hegemon. It is plainly true that the U.S. has less capacity to dictate global affairs than it did in the unipolar moment of the 1990s. And the war-weariness of the American public, the emergence of an alternative economic powerhouse for developing countries to align with, and U.S. policymakers difficulty in setting geostrategic priorities are all plausibly emboldening adversarial regimes. Nonetheless, I dont think it reasonable to attribute Hamass atrocities to the decline of U.S. power. There is nothing new about Hamas committing acts of terrorism in pursuit of its vision of Palestinian liberation; the organization perpetrated such attacks throughout the 1990s and the aughts. The notion that it chose to launch the latest strikes only because it recognized that Americas ability to deter conflict had declined makes little sense. The U.S. has never assumed a primary responsibility for deterring attacks on Israel. With the aid of American dollars and weapons, however, Israel has amassed more capacity to deter attacks in conventional military terms than at any time in its history. Hamas did not attack Israel because it believed doing so would not trigger a substantial reprisal. If anything, it might have done so precisely for the sake of inviting counterattacks so brutal as to poison the prospects for a Saudi-Israeli rapprochement. It is true that Hamass latest attacks achieved a categorically larger scale of destruction than its past efforts. But it may be a mistake to see this as entirely premeditated (let alone as a choice informed by a sense of Americas waning power). A senior Hamas official told the Associated Press the organization had intended to make some gains and take prisoners to exchange them and was surprised by the great collapse in Israeli security. This could be false modesty aimed at deepening Israels humiliation; roughly 1,000 Hamas fighters did attack by land, sea, and air. However, given that the severity of Israels security breakdown surprised both the Israeli and the American security states, its reasonable to suppose Hamas did not anticipate its success in killing so very many Israelis. In truth, a deficit of American power did not contribute to this crisis so much as the misapplication of that power. The problem is not that the U.S. exerted insufficient influence in the region but that it used its influence to abet Israels domination of the Palestinians. To his credit, Leonhardt gestures toward this fact by noting that former president Trump had encouraged Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show little concern for Palestinian interests and instead seek a maximal Israeli victory, a strategy that contributed to the turmoil between Israel and Palestinian groups like Hamas. Yet Americas failure to strong-arm a weaker ally into a less imprudent (or wildly unjust) approach to its occupation reflects a dearth of political will, not global influence. The U.S. is home to a large, well-organized, and well-resourced Jewish population that overwhelmingly supports Israel; our nation houses a larger population of Evangelical Christians who consider Jewish control of the Holy Land a precondition for their much-coveted Apocalypse. Thus, the U.S. has routinely chosen to prioritize the goals of the Israeli government over either the dictates of international law or its own strategic interests in the Middle East. Since the most recent round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization broke down in 2014, U.S. deference to Israel has meant condemning the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza to an unending humanitarian catastrophe, the 3 million in the West Bank to the brutal rule of military occupation, and Israels 2 million Arab citizens to deepening discrimination. In Gaza, the vast majority of households lack access to safe drinking water. Sixty percent require food assistance. The youth unemployment rate is nearly 80 percent. More than half the population is under 18 and has never had the opportunity to vote in an election or leave this strip of land only twice the size of Washington, D.C. These conditions are largely a function of Israeli policy. Although Israel formally withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, it maintains effective control of the territory, barring Gazans from accessing as much as one-third of its arable land in the name of maintaining a buffer between the Strip and Israel. Israel also maintains an economically devastating blockade of Gaza, insisting that its tight control over the goods that enter and exit the territory is necessary to constrain Hamass military capacities. But this security rationale cannot explain, let alone justify, the full sweep of Israels restrictions on Gazan trade. As Peter Beinart has noted, farmers in Gaza are allowed to export tomatoes and eggplants to Israel but not potatoes, spinach, or beans. As of 2018, the quantity of the former that Gazans were allowed to export was capped at 450 tons. Elements of the blockade are motivated by petty agricultural interests within Israel, and the list of items banned for export expands and contracts in response to the nations needs. In 2011, Israel found itself suffering a shortage of palm fronds so proceeded to allow Gaza to export them again, giving a lie to the notion that the ban had ever been necessary for security. The Israeli government may acknowledge that the blockades precise elements are arbitrary but insist that it must minimize cross-border movements of goods and people to restrict opportunities for terrorism. Yet as an approach to deterring violent extremism, engineering the unending immiseration of 2 million predominantly younger human beings does not seem especially wise. And even if one believes Hamas poses so grave a threat that Israel simply has no choice but to strangle Gaza economically until that militant group forfeits power, Israel could at the very least seek to undermine Hamass popular legitimacy by honoring its obligations to the Palestinians in the West Bank. Instead, viewing the group as a useful foil, Israel has actually propped up Hamass power. As long as Palestinians remain divided between Fatah in the West Bank and an Islamist group in Gaza, pressure on Israel to unwind its settlement project and make peace will be limited. At the same time, Israel has steadily expanded its settlements in the West Bank, further dispossessing the Palestinians and exposing them to mass violence at the hands of extremist Jewish settlers. Israels current far-right government has pursued the de facto annexation of the West Bank, entrenching Jewish supremacist rule over parts of the Palestinian territory. Last year, Israeli troops in the West Bank killed a record number of Palestinians; even before the present war, they were on pace to set a new high in 2023. In Jerusalem, meanwhile, the now-routine spectacle of Jews praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a Muslim holy site, has added religious offense to the Palestinians political grievances. The United States has done nothing to deter Israels abuses of the Palestinians, nor to pressure it into compliance with international law. This is not because America lacks the power to do so. Our nations centrality to the global financial system gives it considerable economic leverage over nations of Israels size. If the U.S. were sufficiently committed to strong-arming Israel into making concessions to Palestinian interests, it could at least make it very difficult for its ally to persist on its current course. But the U.S. has no such commitment. On the contrary, as Israels oppression of the Palestinians has become increasingly extreme in recent years, the U.S. rewarded it with a series of diplomatic favors. Under Donald Trump, the country recognized Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights, violating the norm against the recognition of a conquering powers rule over land secured through war. And the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital, a needless affront to the Palestinians national ambitions since they have long seen East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Trump further undermined Palestinians aspirations by brokering deals normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco, effectively isolating Palestine from its putative allies in the region. The Biden administrations efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia talks from which the Palestinians and their concerns have been excluded have only compounded the embattled states sense of marginalization. Americas disregard for the Palestinians, its complacent belief that the increasingly powerless and friendless people would mount little resistance to policies that deepened their discontent, may have helped bring about this weeks horror. But if so, our complicity doesnt derive from our failure to project power on the world stage, but from how weve chosen to do so. A Palestinian uses a slingshot during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian city of Ramallah. Photo: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images Following the surprise attack by Hamas last weekend that left 1,200 Israelis dead, Israel has unleashed an unprecedented bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip: According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the air strikes have killed nearly 1,800 Palestinians, including 583 children. In a sign of the ground offensive to come, the Israel Defense Forces issued a warning to 1.1 million residents of the northern half of Gaza to evacuate, an order that the United Nations has described as impossible. But as Israel ramps up the siege of Gaza, violence has spread beyond the 140-square-mile territory. Since Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry states that Israeli forces have killed at least 46 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian territory controlled by Fatah, a rival faction to Hamas. On Friday, four Palestinians were killed by Israeli Border Police after they reportedly tried to blow up a border wall near the Israeli border. Nine more Palestinians were killed on Friday in clashes in the West Bank following protests against the Gaza siege. Unlike in Gaza, where the IDF is bombing Palestinians under the authority of the Israeli government, civilians are also carrying out attacks in the West Bank. Reuters reports that masked Israeli settlers have fired at citizens and ambulances in the district of Nablus, about 30 miles north of Jerusalem. An Israeli police spokesperson in the district of Judeah confirmed a shooting on Friday that was caught on video in which an Israeli settler in the district can be seen firing at a Palestinian at point-blank range. As the Palestinian man crawls away, an IDF soldier escorts the shooter off the scene. On Thursday, a father and son were killed at a funeral in the town of Qusra when Israeli settlers shot at the procession for four Palestinians killed in the area by settlers the day before. This violence has not been condemned by the Israeli government. Earlier in the week, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that his ministry will distribute 10,000 rifles to Israeli settlers as the conflict intensifies. We will turn the world upside down so that towns are protected, Ben-Gvir said. With massive protests in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, security officials fear that Hamass call for a day of rage could cause the conflict to spread in the region. So far, those fears have not been realized, though Jordanian forces did tear-gas protesters on Friday to stop them from demonstrating at the border with Israel. But in southern Lebanon, a videographer working for Reuters, Issam Abdallah, was killed by an Israeli air strike on Friday. Members of Hamass armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, hold a Palestinian flag as they destroy an Israeli tank in Gaza City on October 7. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Almost a week after Hamas killed at least 1,300 people mostly civilians Israel is wrestling with two central questions: How the country could have let such an elaborately planned assault happen, and how to respond. Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University, believes that the Israeli governments fundamental misunderstanding of Hamas led to this moment. As Benjamin Netanyahus far-right coalition focused on a divisive judicial overhaul, it believed that economic incentives like work permits for Gazans had sufficiently pacified Hamas, a group that had made its violent intentions clear. I spoke with Milshtein about how and why Israel took its eye off the ball and why the government may not actually want to eradicate its sworn enemy. You told the AFP this week, We totally misunderstood Hamas. You continued, The notion of economic incentives that would diminish their motivation for terror and even cause the public to go against it totally collapsed. Why didnt almost anyone in Israel take the group seriously enough in recent years? When youre trying to analyze the deep, deep reason for not understanding Hamas I spend a lot of time thinking about that. I now know that we do not really understand the cultural way of thinking of Hamas and actually of every Islamic ideological organization. We have our own western logic, and were enforcing our logic on the other side. Here in Israel, we believed that after 2007, when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, the organization would become less militant and more moderate because they had to deal with not only jihad but also with hospitals and energy and education. Pragmatic. Yeah, exactly. The basic concept was that if you improved the economic and civil situation in Gaza, you would create achievements that Hamas could lose, and you would also deter Hamas from promoting escalation and even create a situation where the public would protest against Hamas if they escalated. It was a very, I would call it, western-style way of thinking, that you could control this tiger and you could actually take him and create a poodle. On the 7th of October, at 6:30 in the morning, Hamas proved to us that this organization, when it needed to choose its absolutely clear that their basic path is the jihad. They dont really care about people, or that 18,000 Palestinians have now lost their jobs and salaries in Israel. Its really amazing. In terms of motives you said Israel was making conditions better in Gaza, but obviously they still werent great. And beyond that, you could say that with a deal between Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the U.S. looming, Palestinians may have felt they were being forgotten on the world stage. Although, Ben, you need to remember this offensive was planned a year ago. All talks about negotiations between us and the Saudis began only two, three months ago. Its absolutely clear that the basic reasons for this brutal attack was not the Al-Aqsa Mosque, or the war in the West Bank, or the economic situation in Gaza, or the Saudi-Israeli negotiations. It was much deeper. It was a part of the long-term vision of Hamas to eradicate Israel. What I just said would be an example of western-style thinking, youre saying? Absolutely. In order to understand Hamas, you have to know Arabic, and you have to read things in Arabic and listen to Hamas preachers and Hamas leaders when they speak to their own people. Its absolutely different from the things that are translated to us in Hebrew or English. For two years, I read all those books, and articles, and interviews, and it was absolutely clear for me that Hamas is not ready at all to give up on the jihad for permits, for workers, or for any other economic gesture from Israel. So you were less surprised by what happened than some other people, perhaps? Unfortunately, I wasnt surprised at all. I write a lot of articles, and I give a lot of interviews on the radio and on television, and I am known very much as a critic of the former policy toward Gaza. I always said, during every round of escalation and during every crisis: Listen, this policy doesnt work. Its full of gaps. There are so many bad signals. And unfortunately, people, including high-ranking figures here, listened to the critics, but they did not accept those arguments. They said, Okay, but this was the calmest year in Gaza since 2000. So you see? Its okay. It works. Moving forward to what happens now: You wrote in the Financial Times that an occupation of Gaza would be too costly and that, instead, Israel needs to prepare for a long campaign to marginalize Hamas. Thats right. When you read the announcement of Netanyahu from Saturday night, he said that his basic aim is to make Hamas weaker. He really wants to hurt Hamass military and regime capabilities, but he didnt say he wanted the regime to collapse. Interesting. So the endgame is not to destroy the group altogether. No, no. Those are slogans, Ben. Those are slogans to destroy them, to make them vanish. First, what does that mean? And second, what is the alternative? When were speaking about Hamas members, were not only talking about the military-wing members. That is, I assess 30,000 people. All the rest are members of the charity funds, the civil infrastructure, and the mosques. Okay, lets say we kill 100,000 Hamas members and there are none left. There are two options then. The first one is that you, Israel, reoccupy the Gaza Strip and have to take care of 2.2 million people. And I think that would be exactly like Iraq after 2008. The alternative is that you ruin Hamas and get out of Gaza immediately. And that means that there will be a vacuum over there, where all kinds of crazy guys and crazy groups can get in. It will look like little Somalia or little Afghanistan over there, full of chaos. I wonder if you think the current unity government, which includes Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, is thinking strategically about all of this. This attack has a 9/11 feel to it, and the U.S. government made a lot of rash decisions in the aftermath of that. I personally know two prominent figures in the new government, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot; they were my commanders when I served in the IDF intelligence and, after that, in COGAT, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories. I know them, and their way of thinking is very strategic. There is no one who can say that hes not shocked here in Israel from the events of Saturday. But they do understand that theres nothing you can call good alternatives today in Gaza. I think the least bad alternative is that Hamas is very contained, very weak, with no major military capabilities until maybe theres some internal change in Gaza. Maybe something like the Arab Spring because Hamas is a dictatorship. They are a minority in Gaza. Therere not the majority of Gaza. And maybe after the current war, and a future blockade on Gaza, there will be internal protest, a popular protest against Hamas. But this is kind of wishful thinking. Given that we just saw a massive intelligence failure take place in Israel, do you have much confidence that the military would be able to target the people they want to hit with any kind of precision without causing mass civilian casualties? Absolutely. I know that the current attacks are not blind attacks, where you bomb everything and you dont really know what the targets are. We really want to be focused on Hamas, but in the past we were focused mainly on the military wing. Today, we are trying to attack the whole scope I mean prominent political, social, and economic figures in Hamas. For example, three prominent religious and political figures in Hamas were killed over the last 24 hours. I think that maybe they believed or thought to themselves that theyre not senior enough so they didnt have to be in a shelter and that Israel is not trying to attack them. But I think Hamas now understands that this is not an operation like in the past. Maybe the head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, when he started this, thought that it would take a week or two weeks that after that, Qatar and Egypt would resolve the conflict. And two days after that, there would be an understanding, and all the workers would go from Gaza to Israel again. But that belongs to history the history before the 7th of October. I cant imagine Hamas could be so surprised by this level of response, given the scale of their attack. After listening to all kinds of Hamas leaders, and reading all their newspapers and sites during the last five days, I assess I do not know but I assess that their success was too much. Lets put it that way. I think that if you could ask Yahya Sinwar on October 6, I think that he would tell you, We will get into one, two, three of the bases or of the villages around the border, and we will take five, ten, 20 soldiers. He now finds himself with 130 hostages: soldiers, civilians, babies, women. Is that because Hamas wasnt expecting the operation to be so easy? Unfortunately, yes. I think they thought that the fight against the IDF forces near the border would be tougher, and it was quite easy. Thats why they entered all the villages very quickly. They could enter all the kibbutzim and the moshavim in a very, very rapid manner. Hamas took one hostage, Gilad Shalit, in 2006, and he became a national preoccupation. Israel prioritized getting him back to the point that they released over a thousand Palestinian prisoners in exchange. This situation is vastly different. Im wondering how you think Israel is thinking about the trade-off between the hostages safety and the military objective of weakening Hamas? Its very complicated. As you said, theres never been an event when about 130 people, most of them civilians, were taken by a Palestinian terror organization and were talking about babies, old women, and children. But because of the slaughter of 1,200 people, most of them civilians in Israel, I think that right now the main objective among the Israeli society is revenge and to carry out a tough, even bloody offensive against Hamas. Im quite sure that the government and the IDF are taking the hostages into consideration, and Im quite sure that if there are buildings where we know hostages are located, they wont be attacked. But it is not a consideration that they will right now limit or change any strategic plan regarding Gaza. I do think that theres some interesting reports right now. Have you heard about the report regarding negotiations for Palestinian women prisoners? No. There was a report I think its an authentic one about the idea of Qatar releasing 36 Palestinians, women prisoners, that are held in Israel. In return, Hamas would release all the old people, the women, and the children and the babies. I think almost a week after the offensive, Yahya Sinwar has started to understand that those prisoners are not such a positive achievement because they cause damage to Hamass image. The idea that Hamas is ISIS is very easy to explain when Hamas is taking babies. But now youre making Hamas sound semi-reasonable, which you had said they werent. They are radical, but theyre reasonable. Its like, for example, like Hitler, and like Khamenei. Theyre so radical, but they are very reasonable. Theyre even pragmatic. Okay. I guess Hitler was pragmatic. Yeah. He found a lot of ways to maneuver and to be flexible in all kinds of events. But, of course, his vision was extremely radical and he wanted to implement it. So theyre the same, I think. What is the view in Israel right now of how this affects Benjamin Netanyahu? This happened under his watch, and it totally ruins his whole vision of security and protecting the Israeli people. But at the same time, I know people tend to rally around the flag and unify around a leader even if theyve made mistakes. Does this make him weaker, stronger, or too early to say? Nobody really knows. There is a lot of criticism against Netanyahu, not only because of the failure but also because people havent seen him. He has spoken in a very limited way. He doesnt visit the South. Almost no minister from his government visits the South, and people are full of anger about it. I dont understand that at all. I think I do understand it. Some of them are really afraid of criticism, mainly those who did not serve in the army, for example, all the Haredim in the government. I think that theyre quite concerned that a protest would take place if they visit places themselves. As for Netanyahu, I think hes quite different from the Netanyahu of ten and 20 years ago. I do hope that people like Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot will, first of all, balance policy. They will improve the image of the government and will improve their strategy. Right now, I dont know if there is an organized strategy or decision-making, and you are bringing two people, Gantz and Eizenkot, with so much experience. And I really hope that it will make our decision-making much better than today. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Next up? Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Nine days after Kevin McCarthy was removed as Speaker of the House of Representatives, the House GOP seems incapable of naming a successor. On October 11, House Republicans nominated Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their candidate for the job, but hes already withdrawn from the race as he cannot get even close to the 217 votes hed need to actually become Speaker in a formal vote in which the chambers 212 Democrats will participate. Now, the candidate who finished second to Scalise in the closed-door Republican conference vote, Jim Jordan, will make a bid to win the nomination, though he is on record opposing any floor vote until some Republican has nailed down the necessary votes to win, avoiding the 15-ballot fiasco that gave McCarthy a heavily mortgaged gavel back in January. While theres reportedly been some consolidation around Jordan, he still has many obstacles to overcome before he gets the gavel. Several Scalise loyalists are furious at Jordan for allegedly threatening the Speaker-designate with a revolt if he couldnt get to 217 instantly. The small but hardy band of House GOP moderates arent jazzed about being led by a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus who helped trigger and perpetuate the last major government shutdown in 201819 and is now closely aligned with Donald Trumps election denialism and efforts to demonize Joe Biden. There is a rump faction of Republicans still determined to restore McCarthy to power. And there remains the skulking sideline figure of Trump, who has endorsed Jordan but isnt doing much to help him. In their desperation, some Republicans are hoping for a deal with Democrats to help elect a Speaker instead of voting in a bloc for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries (as they did throughout McCarthys 15 ballots). The price Democrats are sure to demand involves a degree of bipartisanship in House operations that is anathema to a sizable number of Republicans; indeed, McCarthys limited willingness to deal with the devils on the other side of the partisan divide was largely why he was given the boot. Certainly Jordan is not going to participate in some sort of coalition government. His record of extremism has been consistent throughout his years in Congress, as the Washington Posts Aaron Blake recently reminded us: For much of the 2010s, Jordan was a key leader of GOP efforts to push the government toward shutdowns while holding out for concessions. That was the case in 2013 when it was about defunding Obamacare, in 2015 when it was about Planned Parenthood funding, and in 2018 when it was about the border wall. In the last instance, Jordan was more intent even than fellow members of the Freedom Caucus to force the issue. The result was the longest shutdown in history. Should Jordan actually win the gavel in the coming days, hes made it abundantly clear that any deal to keep the government open when the current stopgap funding runs out in early November must include an absolute ban on further admission of migrants. To put it mildly, another shutdown is very likely. But a rampaging MAGA Speaker may be better than no Speaker at all. The House is completely paralyzed until someone with actual power occupies the chair. You can hear some muttering about Republicans giving Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry additional powers to entertain emergency funding measures and other must-pass legislation, but McHenrys close association with the rejected McCarthy makes that highly improbable. And so the House and consequently the Congress drifts on aimlessly, even as demands from the White House and both parties in the Senate for additional funding for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and, yes, the border echo around the Capitol. Up until now, its been possible to enjoy the House GOP clown show as an ongoing illustration of what Washington will be like if voters give these people continued or expanded power next year (perhaps in conjunction with a newly Republican Senate and shudder a second Trump administration). But nobody should be laughing anymore. Ensuring a functioning national legislature should be a minimum expectation for any political party, left, right, or center. Congress survived a violent insurrectionist attack on the Capitol in January 2021. But now it must overcome the slow-motion riot convulsing the House GOP. This is Representative Austin Scott, apparently. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images Its been nine days since a faction of Republicans pushed Kevin McCarthy out of the Speakership for the crime of working with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown, and were already running dangerously low on candidates for the worst job in American politics. A majority of House Republicans nominated Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their candidate at an internal meeting on Wednesday, but he bowed out on Thursday night once it became clear that there were enough GOP holdouts to keep him from winning the 217 votes needed to win the vote before the full House. That seemed to leave Representative Jim Jordan as the only viable option as Republicans headed into another vote on Friday afternoon. Then a new contender unexpectedly threw his hat into the ring shortly before the vote: Representative Austin Scott of Georgia. I have filed to be Speaker of the House. We are in Washington to legislate, and I want to lead a House that functions in the best interest of the American people. Rep. Austin Scott (@AustinScottGA08) October 13, 2023 If youre wondering Who the heck is that? you are not alone. Even members of Congress are asking the same question: One House Democrat texts me: We are busily googling Austin Scott right now Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) October 13, 2023 Heres what youll learn from some light Googling: Scott has been in the House for 12 years, he urged fellow Republicans not to object to the Electoral College results after the 2020 election, and his Wikipedia page is a bit skimpy for a guy seeking to lead the House. The most relevant facts about Austin at the moment are that hes not a fan of Jordan or the GOP rebels who ousted McCarthy, as Roll Call reports: Scott, who is in his seventh term, criticized the eight Republicans who voted with all House Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the office last week as nothing more than grifters who have handed control of the House to the Democratic Party in the name of their own glory and fundraising. Scott, an Armed Services panel member, has said he would vote against Jordan if the Ohioan ran for speaker. Also, he thinks Republicans look like a bunch of idiots right now: Rep. Austin Scott on the GOP's inability to elect a Speaker: There are people in there who like to go on the TV and are not necessarily negotiating for anything other than TV time...It makes us look like a bunch of idiots. pic.twitter.com/ZX4rE8VJr7 Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) October 13, 2023 Oh, and he doesnt actually want the job. I dont necessarily want to be Speaker of the House, I want a house that functions correctly, he told reporters on Friday morning. The House is not functioning correctly right now. So why is he running? Politico reports that the point of his candidacy may be to give anti-Jordan members someone to vote for: Scotts entry is viewed more as a move designed to pull over Jordan critics and give the House GOP conference another choice. But one House Republican, speaking on condition of anonymity, predicted that whoever votes for Austin on Friday will be a slightly overstated proxy for the Never Jordan people. Others are keeping their powder dry until Jordan realizes he has no path to 217, the Republican added. If so, Austin accomplished his goal. He did not come close to defeating Jordan in the Friday afternoon vote, but he did demonstrate that he has nowhere near the votes he needs to become Speaker: BREAKING ... JORDAN - 124 SCOTT - 81 Jordan picked up just 25 votes. Scott, who didn't campaign for the job and got in minutes before the race, got 81 votes. Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 13, 2023 It seems the House floor vote cant happen this weekend anyway, as there are so many GOP absences that Democrats could elect Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker. One member suggested this was part of an anti-Jordan conspiracy: There are at least 10 Republican Members of Congress absent from Washington today, keeping the Republican conference from taking the formal vote to elect a Speaker. Their absence guarantees that we will not have a vote this weekend on Jim Jordan. Is this a mere coincidence? Rep. Keith Self (@RepKeithSelf) October 13, 2023 If Jordan cant get to 217 in the coming days, which appears likely, Austin may be joined by other challengers, such as Representative Kevin Hern, Mike Johnson, or some other person most Americans have never heard of. The Speaker doesnt even have to be a member of the House, so who knows? This could turn into a Time Person of the Year 2006 situation. This post was updated following the Jordan-Austin vote. Paris (CNN) Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in central Paris on Thursday, in defiance of a controversial new ban on pro-Palestinian rallies in the country. French police and members of the gendarmerie worked to disperse the crowds with tear gas and water cannons, visuals showed. The ban had been announced earlier in the day, according to a message sent by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin to the countrys police, citing concerns about public order. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations must be prohibited because they are likely to generate disturbances to the public order, said the minister. He added that any organization of such protests will lead to arrests. Darmanin also called on the police to protect all locations visited by French Jews such as synagogues and schools, and said any foreigner committing acts of anti-Semitism on French soil will be immediately expelled. The ban follows a deadly and massive attack by militant group Hamas on Israel over the weekend that killed more than 1,200 people. The Israeli government has retaliated with overwhelming force in the coastal enclave of Gaza, which Hamas controls. Airstrikes have killed over 1,500 people in the densely inhabited area, and Israeli officials have shut off supplies of water and fuel to the entire population. As the conflict reaches unprecedented heights, protests in support of both Israelis and Palestinians have been seen around the world some resulting in violent clashes. French President Emmanuel Macron in his address to the nation on Thursday called on the French people to stay united, saying that it is this shield of unity that will protect us from drifting away and from all hatred. Demonstrators in the historic Place de la Republique on Thursday whistled, clapped, and chanted in slogans in French including We are all Palestinian and Palestine will live, Palestine will prevail. The ban on pro-Palestinian rallies is not normal under the rule of law, one attendee named Ryan told Reuters. In France, the great country that they say France is, you cannot demonstrate as is your right, freely. Unfortunately, freedom is no longer here, and we are forced to defy French law, as one would say, and demonstrate to show the truth, he added. Another protester described the ban as a great injustice and told Reuters that he had been fined 135 euros (roughly $140) for wearing the keffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian scarf. France is one of a number of European nations, including the United Kingdom and Germany, where security measures have been stepped up amid fears of reprisals against members of the Jewish communities. Good for him! And that judge too. They are [redacted]. Reply Thread Link We are living in very scary times. I feel like every government is turning crazy and you cant say anything about anything or question anything anymore without being labeled a XY hater or terrorist. Ref: I have to do a silent hunger games like protest now by wearing a Palestine flag pin because our government thinks everyone supporting the people of Gaza is automatically also a hamas terrorist supporter and Jew hater. I am literally just riding up and down on public transport or walk down crowded streets even though I dont actually have to go anywhere its like the least I can do to show my support by showing off my pin in public Edited at 2023-10-13 11:37 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link Yep. So called democracies seem to be turning totalitarian. Reply Parent Thread Link Genuinely the way governments are cracking down on any opposition to their views is terrifying. I'm glad the fine was (relatively) small, but it sucks that it wasn't considered a joke of a lawsuit from the off. I keep worrying about posting pro Palestine things on social media because I feel like it's gonna get me put on a watch list or something. It's like the aftermath of 9/11 all over again where showing humanity towards the innocent Muslims is an offense. Reply Thread Link There is an online watch list site. It's called C*nary something - something like that, I don't really want to name it just in case. They have both pro Palestine people AND neo nazis on it. Of course the creators of the list are all "we're anonymous for our safety!" Puhlease. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah I saw that. Also noticed the Israel government account tweets are showing up in my feed as 'promoted' at the moment. Edited at 2023-10-13 11:48 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link It makes me SICK. I need to stop reading the news here cuz its nothing more than the same Israel has the right to defend themselves Blabla. They dont even consider showing any emotions for people in Gaza what so ever and if you say anything, you are a Jew hater. Its almost condescending like we are not stupid, people know the difference between Governments and people having to ENDURE those governments Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Im pretty sure Im already on some watch list or two since Ive been very vocal online about lots of issues. So Im whatever about it. My issue is friendships. Living in America where even the most liberal people forget that Muslims are human (especially when the media uses religion to fight dirty, so this isnt a Palestinian vs Israeli issue, but Muslims vs Jewish people issue ).. its damn hard to post anything pro-Palestine without losing a friend. Yeah, its their fault that theyve fallen for propaganda, but it just sucks to know Im viewed by several ex-friends as some sort of Hamas-sympathizer instead of what I actually am - just a human being thats PRO-people having basic human rights and (hopefully) thriving. Thats it. Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Indian, American, Mexican, idc. Just let people fucking live. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link in the past 2-3 years, i feel like there was a lot of progress being made with people realizing being critical of israel and pro-palestine wasn't antisemitic, a lot of work being done by antizionist jewish people saying not to conflate judaism and israel and now the last week has wiped that out to get everyone on board with wiping out gaza. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link 1000 is quite a lot in some places in Italy, but I guess politicians don't know that. This is not a comment about how the fine should be higher, but that politicians should start caring about and taking care of their citizens, maybe. Reply Thread Link You gotta wonder how much it cost the tax payer to get to that 1000 euro fine. Reply Parent Thread Link I fully expect that this "case" cost society a bit more, yeah. Reply Parent Thread Link Listening UNFORTUNATELY to the freaking Fox News my stepdad had playing blaringly loud from the living room while my mom and I were having dinner was so aggressive and honestly terrifying. Reply Thread Link .. on this subject? I assume they're aggressive and terrifying about everything. Reply Parent Thread Link Yes, but theyre being particularly scary about this right now especially Reply Parent Thread Link My grandpa is slowly losing his hearing. He loves his fox news so it's always blaring in the house and hearing how they talk is always so terrifying. Yesterday I found out I got indoctrinated by the liberal school system to support Palestine! I really thought it was because when I was in school I grew up with a bunch of Muslim kids, a lot of them Palestinian, and they shared their culture and stories with me that I became empathetic to their struggles. But nah, it was totally my public school education that was still very heavy on the Jesus and Christmas that made me this way. *eye roll* Reply Parent Thread Expand Link For a bit more of context, Saviano (he wrote Gomorrah) has been living under police protection since 2006 for speaking up against Camorra Reply Thread Link Added. I don't know where this man gets his resilience. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm curious to know on what ground he was fined? Cause it certains wasn't slander He only spoke facts Reply Thread Link I'm guessing it's the same stupid law they're using against Brian Molko https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/126430337.html Reply Parent Thread Link They literally have a law to stop you criticising policians. Reply Parent Thread Link testa di cazzo! fucking bastards the lot of them (italian politicians) Reply Thread Link "There remains the satisfaction of having uttered words that frightened the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni so much that she asked a court to punish me. But I stand by what I said down to the last comma, unlike Giorgia Meloni who today is ashamed of her own words to the point of taking anyone who reminds her of them to court." this right here Edited at 2023-10-13 12:24 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link Now that's a mic drop if I ever heard one. Reply Parent Thread Link so, basically confirming what he said Reply Thread Link The political climate across the globe is really scary and volatile right now. What he said was incredibly tame IMO, the fine is absurd. Reply Thread Link This is what happens when you vote in fascists thinking they'll only go after the people you don't like. Eventually they come for everyone not sufficiently loyal. Edited at 2023-10-13 01:10 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link My only concern is this crazy bitch will now reduce his police protection or some shit like that God shes the fucking worst. I hate this trend of appointing shit female politicians when a country is doing poorly and then blaming them and using it as an excuse as to why we dont have more. They do the same thing with CEOs. Reply Thread Link Giorgia Meloni is literally a fascist. like, she was a member of a fascist organization as a youth. that's a fucking fact. may she [redacted] Reply Thread Link There remains the satisfaction of having uttered words that frightened the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni so much that she asked a court to punish me. I love this part. I wish we could legit just boycott each country that elects a fascist leader. The US, Israel, Italy, China, Russia, etc. You wanna fuck with peoples lives? No funds, no tourism, nothing for you. The second you get rid of such a cancer of a person, were back to normal. If only our world could work that way. People just living their lives without fear of being discarded by society. Alas. Reply Thread Link I don't disagree with you,but with Russia specifically this is exactly what happened. Sanctions prohibited all trade, there are no western companies operating in the country anymore (few exceptions), people cannot get money out, cannot sell their real estate, you cannot mail ANYTHING in or out, places one could fly to are extremely limited. It's essentially a blockade, that has been in place for 2 years. And it did absolutely nothing to the government. Again, I'm not arguing with you on that it would have been great, but experience shows that when corruption dates back decades at least, boycotting won't do anything. Reply Parent Thread Link Oh no, I know. Im saying that I *wish* boycotts would work. I know that in reality they mean absolutely nothing. Its damn sad that this is how we function as a society. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I cancelled plans to go to Italy after the new far right government was voted in. I didn't feel like I wanted to spend my money in a place like that. I don't have a lot of power in this world but I can control who and what I support financially. Financial boycotts can work. It's a huge reason apartheid ended finally, because of corporate and university divestment. You can absolutely effect change this way. I judge all these mega rich celebrities who holiday in italy like nothing is going on. Reply Parent Thread Link Alloy Manufacturer Faces OSHA Fines for Exposing Employees to Toxic Metal Indiana-based IBC Advanced Alloys Inc. must respond to $69,251 in proposed penalties. IBC Advanced Alloys Inc.a Franklin, Indiana-based fabricator of advanced alloysis under scrutiny following an inspection that revealed its negligence in protecting workers from toxic beryllium exposure. The company is now facing $69,251 in proposed penalties. According to a release dated Oct. 11, a recent OSHA inspection discovered IBC Advanced Alloys, operating under IBC Engineered Materials Inc., subjected employees to airborne concentrations of the toxic metal. This exposure occurred during handheld grinding and parts fabrication operations on beryllium aerospace components in the plant's foundry and grinding room. OSHA's investigation also uncovered additional violations, such as a failure to perform regular beryllium exposure monitoring, the absence of a comprehensive exposure control plan, improperly stored contaminated clothing and improper disposal of contaminated items. Overall, OSHA identified 11 serious violations and one other-than-serious violation at the company. Beryllium is an important material needed in aerospace, defense and other industries, but is a highly toxic metal. Workers who inhale beryllium are at an increased risk of developing serious adverse health effects including chronic beryllium disease and lung cancer, OSHA Area Director Sarah Carle in Andover, Massachusetts, said in a statement. OSHAs inspection found IBC Advanced Alloys Inc. failed to provide adequate and effective safeguards required to protect employees against this harmful hazard. With production facilities in Indiana and Massachusetts, IBC Advanced Alloys serves clients in defense, aerospace and telecommunications. The company now has 15 business days to comply with the citations and penalties, request a conference with OSHA, or challenge its findings. Hamas has failed miserably to improve living conditions in the Gaza Strip, which it has ruled since 2007. The first real signs that Hamas would be confronted by its own failures came in July this year when several thousand Gazans took to the streets to protest living standards and constant power outages. This is not something that happens frequently in Gaza as it puts protesters in danger. The incident failed to garner much international media attention just because the numbers didnt make for much of a Hamas has found itself in an incredibly vulnerable situation. Its highly corrupt leadership is being questioned in Gaza, and its Arab friends have diluted the Palestinian statehood dreams to the point of normalizing relations with Israel. All of this spells the end of Hamas and brings into focus the existential need for Hamas to launch a horrific attack, an attack which it may have hoped would force Irans hand. There is a case for this attack having been a solo endeavor by Hamas. And that in itself is indicative of the unsustainability of Israels endless military control of the Palestinian Territories. In that sense, Irans involvement is as irrelevant as it is difficult to define. Regardless of any possible involvement of Iran in the attacks on Israel last weekend, which resulted in an Israeli declaration of war, Hamas found itself in an untenable situation. It needed escalation. Desperately. Regardless of any possible involvement of Iran in the attacks on Israel last weekend, which resulted in an Israeli declaration of war, Hamas found itself in an untenable situation. It needed escalation. Desperately. There is a case for this attack having been a solo endeavor by Hamas. And that in itself is indicative of the unsustainability of Israels endless military control of the Palestinian Territories. In that sense, Irans involvement is as irrelevant as it is difficult to define. Hamas has found itself in an incredibly vulnerable situation. Its highly corrupt leadership is being questioned in Gaza, and its Arab friends have diluted the Palestinian statehood dreams to the point of normalizing relations with Israel. All of this spells the end of Hamas and brings into focus the existential need for Hamas to launch a horrific attack, an attack which it may have hoped would force Irans hand. Hamas has failed miserably to improve living conditions in the Gaza Strip, which it has ruled since 2007. The first real signs that Hamas would be confronted by its own failures came in July this year when several thousand Gazans took to the streets to protest living standards and constant power outages. This is not something that happens frequently in Gaza as it puts protesters in danger. The incident failed to garner much international media attention just because the numbers didnt make for much of a headlinebut the context should have. Hamas, of course, quashed the protest quickly, but not before Hamas flags were symbolically burnt. Somewhere else, this might not have been a hugely significant event, but in the Gaza Strip, it was an indication of dangerous vulnerability. Hamas is one of two political parties that govern Palestinians in Gaza. Fatah is the other. Fatah rules in the West Bank and was violently forced out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007. Hamas is labeled a terrorist organization by a large group of countries including Israel, the United States, Canada, the EU, and the UK. It is an Islamist militant group that was spun off from the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas political leader operates out of Qatar, and plenty of Hamas officers can also be found living the high life in Turkey while the people of Gaza suffer. They also have a branch in Lebanon. Recently, Hamas has become desperate. Not only did July protests suggest dangerous unrest, but friends (or at least allies of the Palestinian cause) have been abandoning it - a fact that can be seen in the significant momentum shift in the normalization of relations between Gulf countries and Israel. Egypt is now basically a Hamas enemy, and Iran, Qatar, and Turkey are its only meaningful friends. This isnt the first time Hamas has attacked Israel. Its just the biggest, the farthest-reaching, and by far the deadliest. And the missiles are no longer Iranian, even if they are the result of Iranian expertise. Hamas has built its own arsenal and does not take orders from Iran. But the world can be forgiven for assuming some Iranian involvement. Hamas has been known in the past to rely on Iranian forces and Hezbollah. To many, it seems impossible that Israel was not aware this attack was coming. Israel knew about the Hamas arsenal. It did not spring up overnight. Tel Aviv claims not to have known about the imminent attack. U.S. intelligence claims not to have known it was coming. Egypt, on the contrary, claims it warned Israel three days prior that it was coming. The billion-dollar question now, of course, is what happens next. The Israelis have rained down missile fire on Hamas many times. They have gone in on the ground, as well, but only in contained in-and-out operations. The problem isnt Hamas; its who comes to Hamas aid. A full-scale Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip would open Israel up to full-scale attack from Hezbollah (not just low-level missile launches from across the border in Lebanon). But what were seeing right now is that Hamas has started relying more on air attacks, dialing down land and sea incursions into Israel since Monday. The Israelis and Hamas are exchanging tit-for-tat airstrikes. As of Tuesday, Israel had regained control of the Gaza border. Direct clashes are in isolated areas. By early Friday, indications were that while Hamas rocket attacks were still being launched into the southern region of Israel, although the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that the rate of attacks had slowed, citing Hamas apparent need to conserve weapons. - As Russias main export grade Urals has been trading above the oil price cap of $60 per barrel since July 11 on a FOB Primorsk basis and India has been reporting purchase prices of $85-86 per barrel, the enforcement of the price cap has been questionable - Roughly 60% of Russias seaborne crude exports are now shipped by tankers that do not need to comply with the G7 oil price cap, complicating efforts to curb Moscows revenue from oil sales. - Other US majors might be tempted to join the E&P acquisition game, with Diamondback, Permian Resources, or Matador becoming hotter targets for the likes of Chevron or ConocoPhillips. - By 2024, the Permian is set to account for almost 40% of ExxonMobils upstream operating cash flow, with ConocoPhillips being the only major to have a Permian focus higher than that (at 41%). - With the Pioneer deal, ExxonMobil will gain over 700,000 boe/d of production in the Midland Basin as well as 5 billion of annual free cash flow, creating the worlds largest tight oil company with a Permian resource base of over 16 billion boe. - The largest upstream deal since Shells 2015 acquisition of BG for $82 billion, ExxonMobils acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources has become the crown jewel of post-Covid E&P consolidation. 1. ExxonMobil-Pioneer Merger May Spark Further Giant Deals - The largest upstream deal since Shells 2015 acquisition of BG for $82 billion, ExxonMobils acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources has become the crown jewel of post-Covid E&P consolidation. - With the Pioneer deal, ExxonMobil will gain over 700,000 boe/d of production in the Midland Basin as well as 5 billion of annual free cash flow, creating the worlds largest tight oil company with a Permian resource base of over 16 billion boe. - By 2024, the Permian is set to account for almost 40% of ExxonMobils upstream operating cash flow, with ConocoPhillips being the only major to have a Permian focus higher than that (at 41%). - Other US majors might be tempted to join the E&P acquisition game, with Diamondback, Permian Resources, or Matador becoming hotter targets for the likes of Chevron or ConocoPhillips. 2. Russian Flows Increasingly Relying on Non-Western Oil Tankers - Roughly 60% of Russias seaborne crude exports are now shipped by tankers that do not need to comply with the G7 oil price cap, complicating efforts to curb Moscows revenue from oil sales. - As Russias main export grade Urals has been trading above the oil price cap of $60 per barrel since July 11 on a FOB Primorsk basis and India has been reporting purchase prices of $85-86 per barrel, the enforcement of the price cap has been questionable to date. - Currently, ship owners that carry Russian oil need to obtain attestations from their clients that the price of the cargo complies with the price cap, but they have no means to verify them nor do they actually need to do checks. - The US signaled its readiness to clamp down on shippers that continue to ship Russian oil in breach of the price cap, sanctioning the owners of the Yasa Golden Bosphorus and SCF Primorye tankers. 3. India Maximizes Diesel Exports into Europe - Indian diesel exports to Europe soared to an all-time high in September as the countrys key refinery cashed in on a highly profitable arbitrage to the West, hitting 305,000 b/d according to Kpler data. - Simultaneously, India sent significantly less to Singapore and other Asian destinations as Europe has become the premium market for diesel, with the gasoil EFS spread dropping to $70-80 per metric tonne recently. - As India remains in a demand off-season, with consumption restricted by the monsoon season and the heat, there is a surplus in middle distillates, with diesel exports boosted by a drop in the countrys export tax during much of September. - Totalling 12 ULSD cargoes, all of Indias diesel exports to Europe were coming from Reliance Industries, with the countrys largest private refiner sending huge Suezmax-sized tankers to Rotterdam or Hamburg. 4. Europes Gas Price Rally Stokes Supply Fears Ahead of Winter - European gas prices have jumped above the 50 per MWh threshold for the first time since August, buoyed by Finlands subsea gas leak, renewed strike risks in Australia, and Israels closure of the Tamar offshore gas field. - The negotiations between Chevron and labour unions at the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG facilities in Australia have moved into their second round, absent a deal over the upcoming days workers will restart strikes on October 19. - In Europe itself, the biggest supply disruption might come from the damage of the Finland-Estonia gas interconnector which started leaking after a presumedly deliberate act of sabotage, with repairs potentially taking up to 5 months. - This weeks price rally has fortified Europes standing as the premium LNG market with JKM only trading at $14 per mmBtu, $4 mmBtu lower than the European prices currently. 5. Aluminium Becomes Too Expensive for Europe - Europe is poised for an aluminum squeeze as prices for European consumers are moving to record highs on the back of soaring energy costs and production cuts. - Buyers usually pay for the benchmark LME aluminum price, currently around $2,950 per metric tonne, plus a physical market premium and it is the latter that has spiraled out of control in recent months, coming in at $430/mt lately. - The BoA calculated 650 ktpa capacity being shut already in Europe and another 900 ktpa at risk of closing down due to high energy costs, pegging Western Europes aluminum deficit at a whopping 5 million tonnes this year. - Before European electricity prices started surging, the extremely energy-intensive process of producing aluminum accounted for 35-40% of smelting costs, right now that same metric is already at 50-55%. 6. Chinas Wind Energy Cost Efficiency Triggers Ire of EU - In addition to an ongoing EV inquiry and a potential steel pricing investigation, European Union officials have signaled they might start a probe into Chinas wind power manufacturers if Chinese firms are deemed to receive too much government aid. - This is coming on the back of Europe gradually realizing it would need more wind turbines that its able to produce through the end of the decade, just as high electricity prices and high feedstock costs lifted turbine production costs. - Chinese wind companies used to focus primarily on the domestic market, accounting for 97% of sales in 2022, however from 2023 onwards they have been reaching out externally, offering prices at discounts of 20% to European and US producers. - Even though China started to develop its wind industry later, government measures such as additional payments for power generators and a cheap baseload coal supply have allowed producers to create huge economies of scale, with the cost of building wind turbines now about half the cost of new coal power. 7. Asian Exporters Eye UCO Exports into the Atlantic Basin - Just as Europe and the United States are ramping up incentives for biofuels made from agricultural waste and non-agricultural feedstocks, Asian producers of used cooking oil (UCO) are seeing the supply-demand balances lengthen. - According to S&P Global, worldwide supply of UCO is expected to more than double to 31 million tonnes by 2030 from the current 14 mtpa, with Europes imports expected to soar to 3.7 million tonnes by the end of this decade. - Used cooking oil has a smaller carbon intensity than biodiesel derived from conventional vegetable feedstock such as rapeseed, soybean, or palm oil, hence its price premium to first-generation agriculture feeds. - Asias UCO competitive edge comes from its abundance of first-generation feedstocks, especially palm oil and sugar, creating a vast excess of UCO that could be exported to Europe or the US, regions with the most ambitious biofuel blending mandates. Crude oil prices are set for a modest gain this week as the war premium that emerged in the aftermath of last weekends attacks of Hamas on Israel appeared to cool down as inventories built and nations made a clear attempt to contain the violence. Brent crude is set to end the week with a gain of 2.3%, Reuters estimated, while West Texas Intermediate is about to book a 0.8% gain. One of the reasons for the short-lived rally was the apparent determination to contain the latest flare-up of violence in the Middle East and prevent any further escalation. President Biden has been unequivocal in his support for Israel and U.S. forces have been put on alert as a clear deterrent to other nations involving themselves in the conflict. At the same time, he has emphasized the importance that Israel and Netanyahu follow the rules of war. Another factor that helped keep oil prices under control was the massive oil inventory build reported this week by both the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration. The API saw the build at 13 million barrels while the EIA estimated it at 10.2 million barrels. Separately, the International Energy Agency reported that Russian crude oil and fuel exports had climbed higher in September despite a deal with Riyadh to reduce oil exports by 300,000 bpd. According to the IEA, crude oil and fuel exports from Russia were up by 460,000 bpd between August and September. Russias Deputy Prime Minister has since claimed that the countrys pledge to reduce oil exports by 300,000 bpd includes oil products. Meanwhile, all eyes are on Iran after the U.S. said it would investigate whether Tehran was involved in the planning of the Hamas attacks and canceled the transfer of $6 billion to Iran as part of a prisoner exchange deal. Iran has denied any involvement. The U.S. also imposed the first sanctions on two tanker owners that have been transporting Russian crude oil abroad, claiming the oil they transported had been sold at a price higher than the cap of $60 per barrel imposed on Russian crude by the G7 and the European Union. This added to oils upward potential, as did OPECs latest monthly report that saw oil demand continue to be resilient. The effect was reinforced by the IEAs monthly report, which acknowledged the supply situation with oil was a tight one. While oil markets remain tight and geopolitical risk will keep traders on edge for the foreseeable future, demand concerns and growing inventories continue to weigh on oil prices amid economic uncertainty. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Amid comfortable levels of inventories for this time of the year, Asian LNG buyers have been sitting on the sidelines of the spot market this week, hoping for the surge in natural gas prices after the Hamas attack on Israel to fade. Natural gas prices in Asia and Europe jumped this week, following a suspected sabotage on an offshore gas pipeline in Europe and the threat to supply from the Eastern Mediterranean in case of further flare-ups in the Hamas-Israel war. Buyers in Asia are not rushing this week to buy spot LNG supply for the winter at prices that have now surged to the highest in eight months, traders have told Bloomberg. Last week, spot LNG prices in Asia for November delivery slumped by 10% week-on-week to $13.5 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) amid soft demand and warm weather, industry sources told Reuters. This week, the spot LNG cargoes were offered in the high teens per MMBtu, according to traders who spoke to Bloomberg. With inventories at comfortable levels, buyers in Asia wait for a possible de-escalation in the Middle East. Security of gas deliveries to Europe also came into focus this week, with a suspected sabotage on the Finland-Estonia Balticconnector offshore gas pipeline. It is likely that the damage to both the gas pipeline and the data cable is caused by external activity. What specifically caused the damage is not yet known, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said in a statement on Tuesday. In addition, the global gas markets face concerns about supply from the eastern Mediterranean which could be in jeopardy after the Hamas attack on Israel and the possibility of further escalating tensions in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean. The front-month futures at the Dutch TTF hub, the benchmark for Europes gas trading, have soared by 30% since Monday and were up by 3% on the day as of 7:12 a.m. GMT on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Hong Kong: John Lee to tell HKs good stories Chief Executive John Lee What a decade it's been. Brought to inspired life by President Xi Jinping, the Belt & Road has long belonged to the world. At last count, more than 150 countries and regions, and 30 international organisations have signed Belt & Road co-operation agreements and related documents. Earlier this week, the central authorities published a white paper, presenting the progress of the Belt & Road Initiative since its inception in 2013. The white paper spotlights the Belt & Road's remarkable rise from ideas to action, vision to reality. The initiative's central goal - common development and shared prosperity - is a compelling path to global well-being. A path to peace and prosperity, to openness, innovation and social progress. No less important, it has laid the foundations for gainful people-to-people ties all over the world. And, of course, the Belt & Road continues to build on its ambitious goals and people-to-people ties. I can attest to that. I made a visit to a number of countries along the Belt & Road, in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, together with high-level delegations from Hong Kong. In doing so, we welcomed the support of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states on Hong Kong's accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, which is the world's largest free trade agreement. We also expanded our ties with ASEAN and the Middle East, with the delegations' signing of a wide variety of MOUs and letters of intent with different countries. From strength to strength They appreciate Hong Kong's unique strengths under the "one country, two systems" principle, including our robust legal and regulatory framework, and our proactive participation in such national strategies as the Belt & Road Initiative. We are the only common law jurisdiction in our country. In aligning with international business rules and regulations, Hong Kong serves as an important conduit between the Mainland of China and the international community. Hong Kong has, to date, signed nine mutual legal assistance arrangements with the Mainland on civil and commercial matters. This offers greater convenience and wider legal protection to Belt & Road investors, who choose Hong Kong and our law for their contracts and as a venue for dispute resolution. Our country supports Hong Kong's rise as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre, one of eight key areas that the National 14th Five-Year Plan looks to Hong Kong to gain regional or international expertise in. The International Organization for Mediation Preparatory Office was set up in Hong Kong in February. It's the first international organisation dedicated to providing mediation services for settling international disputes. And it will certainly contribute to international relations built on peace and harmony along the Belt & Road. A sound legal system for negotiating international agreements is essential to building a rules-based business environment. The International Academy of the Belt & Road, which organises today's forum, has dedicated significant effort in promoting exactly that. The academy's work in enhancing the Belt & Road's dispute resolution mechanism, and its participation in the Belt & Road Cooperation & Partnership Model Agreement, have been instrumental in providing cross-boundary trade and investment improvements. For that, and a great deal more, I am very grateful. Upcoming mission On Monday, I will lead a Hong Kong delegation of some 70 senior government officials and high-profile institutional and business leaders to Beijing for the Third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation. The two-day event will be attended by government leaders and representatives from more than 130 countries and over 30 international organisations. Hong Kong is immensely honoured to be invited to address various sessions of the forum, signifying our most prominent participation yet in this high-powered event. I look forward to telling the business and political heavyweights from all over the world about the good and real stories of Hong Kong, especially our vital role in the Belt & Road Initiative, in helping to build a global community with a rewarding and shared future for us all. Chief Executive John Lee gave these remarks at the 6th "Belt & Road" Initiative International Forum and the "Belt & Road" Cooperation & Partnership Model Agreement Conference on October 13. This story has been published on: 2023-10-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Hope Borrell's visit will be like a well-cooked meal, worth the wait: Global Times editorial 10:25, October 13, 2023 By Global Times ( Global Times Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, is visiting China from October 12 to 14. The two sides will hold the 12th round of China-EU High-level Strategic Dialogue. This is his first visit to China since taking on the role of EU foreign policy chief. Interestingly, Borrell's initial plan to visit China in mid-April this year was postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test, and a later trip planned for July was also canceled at the last moment. This rollercoaster process mirrors the ups and downs in China-EU relations over the past year or two. Borrell's visit undoubtedly presents a significant opportunity for candid communication, mutual understanding, resolution of differences, and enhanced cooperation in the context of the currently relatively subdued China-EU relationship. Both sides should seize and make the most of this opportunity. As two major global powers, markets, and civilizations, China and the EU do not have fundamental conflicts, and their interests are deeply intertwined. They also share same or similar stance on issues such as supporting multilateralism, a multipolar world, and democratic international relations. This solid foundation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU, established over the past 20 years, has not weakened or wavered; to some extent, it has even strengthened. Using this foundation as a mirror to reflect on the difficulties and problems that China-EU relations have encountered in the past two years, we can clearly see that a considerable portion of them is unnecessary and should not have arisen. Some of the contradictions are not as sharp as they appear and can also be resolved through enhanced communication and mutual efforts by both China and the EU. Borrell's visit to China and the China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue, as long as they operate within the framework established by this foundation, can yield positive results. In a pre-trip media interview, Borrell stated that his first objective is to reaffirm to the Chinese side that "Europe takes China seriously" and has no "hidden agenda" aiming at derailing China's rise. He expects China to "take Europe more seriously" and stop looking at Europe "through the lens of its relations with others." He particularly emphasized that the EU has been making its assessments "independently." Since it is considered a "first objective," it indicates that this is a point of concern for Borrell and many Europeans regarding China. From the perspective of the Chinese side, this concern is not difficult to address because it is largely based on misunderstandings and misjudgments. There is no doubt that China places great importance to its relationship with Europe. The level of seriousness China treats Europe with is no less than the level of seriousness Europe treats China with. China regards Europe as an independent global power and sincerely hopes to support Europe in achieving true strategic autonomy and diplomatic independence. We also believe that there are many European elites, like Borrell, who value European independence. A paradox is that the more European political elites emphasize independence, the more likely European strategic autonomy and independence will be compromised. Although few Europeans are willing to be political vassals of the US and are wary of American political interference, Washington's actual intervention in European politics and diplomacy has clearly crossed the line and even exerted a dominant influence in many aspects. To be honest, many people in Chinese society also believe that the EU's strategic autonomy is mostly just talk, and its actual actions toward China still follow Washington's lead. For example, its performance in issues related to China's internal affairs such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong in the past two years, its current attitude toward the Taiwan question, and its protectionist measures in trade under the pretext of "de-risking" all seem like a replica of Washington's policy toward China. In other words, it is not China that views its relationship with EU from a competitive perspective with the US, but rather it's the US that increasingly views its relationship with Europe from a competitive perspective with China. In this situation, Europe does need to emphasize, maintain, and strive for its independence, but this does not depend on what it says to China, but rather on what it does, including how it balances its relationship with China and the US. If EU truly achieves strategic autonomy and diplomatic independence, others will definitely see it, and there is no need to prove it further. The transatlantic relationship is fundamentally unequal, but the China-EU relationship can become a model of equal treatment. As long as it breaks free from the strong influence and interference of third-party factors, the China-EU relationship will certainly become much smoother, and some problems will not be as serious and will be dealt with more easily. Some specific points of disagreement or controversy can actually become new areas of cooperation when viewed from a higher perspective. For instance, the Global Times once published an op-ed in which the author called on China and EU to join forces to make the pie of the electric vehicle market bigger. For the current China-EU relationship, this kind of wisdom and innovative thinking is greatly needed. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) (CNN) Iran has loomed large as one of Hamas most generous financial backers, providing the militant group crucial resources it needs to carry out acts of terrorism. But investigators in the US and across the globe have identified another revenue source being exploited by Hamas: Far-flung online donors offering support in cryptocurrency. Even before Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel over the weekend, Justice Department officials in Washington, D.C. had been pursuing a criminal investigation into the militant groups use of cryptocurrency through alleged money launderers, CNN has learned. Justice Department lawyers have released scant details of its money laundering case with most of the court filings sealed but those that are public reveal it stems from Hamas-linked cryptocurrency accounts the US government seized three years ago. A court filing in May said the case was ongoing and a judge halted proceedings in a related civil matter until next month to allow the criminal case to continue without interference. Separately, cryptocurrency addresses that Israel has seized for alleged links to Hamas and another Palestinian militant group have collectively been worth tens of millions of dollars, according to private analysts who spoke to CNN. Hamas use of digital currency represents just one of the many ways the group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union has sought to raise funds while evading sanctions. Theres not one financing method for Hamas or other terrorist organizations. Theyre opportunistic and adaptive, said former CIA analyst Yaya Fanusie, now an adjunct senior fellow with the Center for a New American Security. Efforts to stop them are a constant game of cat-and-mouse. Still, some calls for donations have appeared in plain sight. Hamas and other terrorist groups have used Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, to publicly post their crypto wallet addresses and tell people how to donate, according to a report released this year by the Department of Homeland Security. Charges filed against a New Jersey man in 2019 described how he posted on Instagram that he just donated $100 to Hamas. The man, also accused of sending about $20 in bitcoin to the group, later pleaded guilty to concealing his attempts to provide material support to Hamas. As governments have sought to police such transactions, Hamas military wing al-Qassam Brigades announced in April that it would stop fundraising in bitcoin to protect its donors, Reuters reported. But Hamas has apparently not stopped such efforts altogether. On Tuesday, Israeli authorities announced the freezing of additional cryptocurrency accounts that the group had allegedly used to collect donations during this weeks conflict. And aside from bitcoin, crypto wallets that Israeli authorities have said are linked to Hamas have included the cryptocurrencies Ether, XRP, Tether and others, according to an Israeli government order. Its unclear how much money Hamas has received in cryptocurrency, but theres evidence they have amassed significant amounts. According to Dmitry Machikhin, the CEO of crypto analytics software BitOK, cryptocurrency addresses linked to Hamas and seized by Israeli authorities received nearly $41 million between 2020 and 2023, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Another $94 million was allegedly held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant partner of Hamas, according to Elliptic, another analytics firm. The company noted, however, that it was unclear what portion of those assets directly belonged to the group. Hamas and its al-Qassam Brigades, are among the most successful initiators of cryptoasset-based fundraising to date in terms of amount raised, Arda Akartuna, a researcher with Elliptic, told CNN. Akartuna noted that tracking cryptocurrency linked to al-Qassam Brigades has been complicated by the groups reliance on one-time-use crypto addresses that are generated for each individual donor, and illicit money exchanges that anonymously convert cryptocurrency to cash without records. Criminals are always going to look for the next best alternative to continue their activities, said Akartuna, explaining how new ways to raise funds pop up as enforcement actions shut down others. A major benefactor for Hamas is Iran, which has provided up to $100 million annually to Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad, according to a US State Department report from 2021. That report noted that Hamas has raised funds in other Gulf Arab countries and from its own charity organizations. Disclosures from the US Treasury Department have outlined the way in which Hamas has at times received Iranian funds through financiers based in Turkey and Lebanon. For example, a Lebanon-based financial operative functioned as a middle man between Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hamas and worked with the Lebanese group Hezbollah to ensure funds were transferred, according to a 2019 Treasury report. Separately, the US Treasury sanctioned nine targets in 2018 for what the department described as involvement in a network through which Iran used Russian companies to provide oil to Syria in exchange for Syria sending funding to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that was then sent to Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran has used various tactics to fund terrorist groups including Hamas, such as networks of shell companies, transactions masked by senior officials and the use of precious metals to evade sanctions, a 2018 US Treasury advisory stated. Tehran has both commended Hamas recent incursion in Israel and denied involvement. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that Iran is complicit in a broad sense because they have provided the lions share of the funding for the military wing of Hamas as well as other support. Sullivan added that no information currently suggests Iran helped plan or direct the attack. Hamas additionally raises funds through informal taxes and smuggling, according to a Congressional Research Service report from May. CNN attempted to reach Hamas representatives for a response to the allegations but received no reply. Government investigators arent the only ones tracking Hamas finances. Attorney Asher Perlin, who represents the family of Yitzchak Weinstock, a 19-year-old American who was murdered by Hamas terrorists outside Jerusalem in 1993, has also kept tabs on the groups assets. The Weinstock family obtained a legal judgment of nearly $80 million against Hamas in 2019 but had few conceivable paths to collect on that sum. That changed in Perlins mind after the US Justice Department announced what officials described in 2020 as an unprecedented crackdown on three groups that relied on cryptocurrency and social media to garner attention and raise funds for their terror campaigns. Among them was Hamas al-Qassam Brigades. Investigators were able to seize 150 cryptocurrency accounts that laundered funds to and from Hamas accounts, according to a DOJ news release. With court approval, law enforcement officials surreptitiously took control of Hamas fundraising websites, and donors who thought they were contributing to the terrorist organization were actually making deposits in bitcoin wallets controlled by the US government. At the time, prosecutors filed paperwork asking a judge to issue a forfeiture order granting them legal ownership of what they had seized. Perlin saw the governments pending forfeiture case as an opportunity to collect the money his clients in the Weinstock family were owed. But since filing a claim two years ago, Perlin said the case has been repeatedly delayed as government lawyers have asked the judge for more time to allow a related criminal investigation to proceed. In May, the judge noted that the criminal investigation was for alleged money laundering for Hamas and issued a six month stay on proceedings in the forfeiture case. That stay is set to expire next month. In a telephone interview from Israel, Perlin expressed frustration that the Justice Department has indicated to him that it will oppose allocating any of the forfeited assets to his clients. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Perlin said the Weinstocks were the only people he is aware of who are trying collect on a judgment against Hamas. Theres no reason they shouldnt be able to enforce their judgment against those assets, he said. This story was first published on CNN, "Theyre opportunistic and adaptive: How Hamas is using cryptocurrency to raise funds." France is considering an extension of its windfall tax for oil and power companies into the new year, according to French lawmaker Jean-Rene Cazeneuve, who shared the plan on X. The plan, hatched by the National Assembly's finance committee, is part of a proposed amendment to France's budget bill for 2024 and would serve to offset higher costs for French consumers of gasoline, diesel, and electricity. The budget bill still must be adopted by parliament to go into effect. Last November, when the original windfall tax plan was being crafted, it was said that utility EDF would cost the company more than $5 billion across 2023. In September last year, the Council of the European Union agreed to impose a temporary windfall tax on energy companies that realize "above a 20% increase of the average yearly taxable profits since 2018," on top of whatever taxes these companies already pay in their individual countries. ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against the EU over a 33% windfall tax it was slapped with last December, claiming that it would likely cost the company $2 billion. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said last month that windfall taxes could help alleviate the pain of high consumer prices, and raised questions about how much profits oil refiners were bringing in. Last year at this time, France was in the middle of an oil refining crisis as refinery workers went on strike, demanding a larger chunk of refining profits from companies including TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil. ADVERTISEMENT In June, TotalEnergies reported that its average margin on oil refining more than halved in Q2 to $42.7 per tonne compared to Q1, and was down two-thirds from the same quarter last year. Total said European refining had been hit by higher Chinese exports and Russia's ability to find new outlets for its oil products. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: There are no plans for the creation of a natural gas cartel similar to the OPEC cartel in crude oil, Russias Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday. There are no discussions to set up a (gas) cartel, Novak told RT Arabic TV as quoted by Reuters. The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an organization of gas producers and exporters but it is not coordinating supply to the market the way OPEC does. Russia is a member of the GECF and its top energy official Novak said in the televised interview that the gas organization was mostly about exchanging views. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the halt of most of Russian pipeline gas supplies to Europe, the EU has turned to LNG imports and increased deliveries via offshore pipelines from Norway and North Africa to replace the Russian supply, which accounted for around one-third of all European gas imports before the war in Ukraine. The EU aims to ditch Russian gas by 2027. Having lost the European market, Russia has raised pipeline exports to China and its global LNG exports, which are neither sanctioned nor too shunned in gas-starved Europe. This year, the exports of Russian gas giant Gazprom to Europe have slumped and dragged its profits down. Gazprom has reported a massive drop in its first-half net profit as deliveries to Europe plunged compared to the same period in 2022 when Russia was still supplying pipeline gas to its European customers. The major drop in Gazproms gas deliveries to key customers was due to the halt of Russian pipeline gas exports to nearly all European countries. ADVERTISEMENT Gazprom started to reduce supply via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany in June 2022, claiming an inability to service gas turbine maintenance outside Russia due to the Western sanctions against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. This was weeks before the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines at the end of September 2022, which definitively closed all pipeline gas routes of Russias gas to Germany. By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The United States has slapped sanctions on two tanker owners for carrying Russian oil sold for over $60 per barrel. This is the first time the U.S. is imposing sanctions for a breach of the price cap that the G7 and the European Union agreed to impose on Russia last year. For several months, Russian crude traded lower than the price cap anyway, which made the cap easily enforceable. This year, however, as benchmark prices began to climb so did the prices for Russian crude, and by September the gap between the G7 price cap and the actual price at which Russian crude sold was over $10 per barrel. Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the price cap on Russian oil has significantly reduced Russian revenue over the last 10 months while promoting stable energy markets. Yet it appears the cap has not reduced Russian revenue enough if further enforcement action was necessary. One of the sanctioned companies is Turkish Ice Pearl Navigation, which, according to the Treasury, owns a vessel that carried Russian ESPO crude sold for over $80 per barrel. The other company is based in the United Arab Emirates, called Lumber Marine SA, which owns a tanker that carried a cargo of Russian Novy Port crude that sold for over $75 per barrel, Reuters reported. "Because of the actions we're announcing today, and the further actions we will take in the coming weeks and months, these costs will continue to rise and Russia's ability to sustain its barbaric war will continue to weaken," a Treasury official told media. The International Monetary Fund has forecast Russias economy would grow by 2.2% this yearan upward revision from an earlier forecast for 1.5% growth. For the United States, the IMF has forecast growth of 2.1% for 2023. ADVERTISEMENT By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: When firefighters at Omaha Fire Station 21 opened the door after hearing the doorbell ring early Saturday, they found a small box sitting on the doorstep. A few firefighters walked outside the station, located near 34th Street and Ames Avenue, to look for the person who rang the doorbell but they found no one in the area. Then, they saw the box move. Inside was a healthy baby boy, estimated to be just a few hours old. He was given a quick check by paramedics at the station before he was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center. This really doesnt happen that often, said Coby Werner, a battalion chief with the Omaha Fire Department. The last time I can remember was about 10 years ago. All 50 states have some variation of a safe haven law, which allows parents to relinquish infants at approved locations usually hospitals, churches, or fire and police stations without fear of prosecution. The purpose of the law is to allow mothers in crisis a safe place to leave their child if they are unable to provide care, and to protect children from abandonment and infanticide. But Nebraska is one of just three states, according to Werner, that lists only hospitals as a preapproved safe haven site. That means that Saturdays drop-off at the fire station is not protected under the states safe haven law. Regardless, Werner said, the main priority of the Omaha Fire Department and law enforcement is the safety of the child. According to Lt. Neal Bonacci of the Omaha Police Department, after consulting with fire, police and the Douglas County Attorneys Office, there is no plan to investigate or prosecute. It seems like the intent of the person who dropped off the baby was to utilize the safe haven law, Bonacci said. But we do want the public to know that the statute requires them to surrender their newborn to the hospital, and it also requires a face-to-face surrender. The baby is now a ward of the state and is in the care of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Panelists at a University of Nebraska Omaha event Thursday evening on the war between Israel and Hamas were united in their hope for peace in Gaza. Three professors at UNO were joined by Wendy Goldberg, the executive director of Omahas Tri-Faith Initiative, for a conversation about the conflict that as of Thursday had claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides. The panel was part of UNOs Human Rights Forum series, which is sponsored by the Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights. Curtis Hutt, a religious studies professor who teaches Jewish studies at UNO, said hes been appalled by the recent attacks by Hamas and the loss of innocent lives and knows many people locally who are worried about loved ones who lives in Israel. I know this is the case for many who call Omaha their home, he said. Hutt said that while Hamas committed mass killings against the Israelis, the Israelis must not respond in the same way or allow extremism to prevail. We have to do something to stop this, he said. The last thing we need is retaliation and atrocities committed by Israelis against Palestinians that will make this situation worse. Ramazan Kilinc, a political science teacher who teaches courses on politics in the Middle East, said his current concern is how Israel will focus its response. Kilinc said he believes that the Israeli government should refrain from taking further measures that will harm the civilian population of Gaza. While Palestinians have faced oppression under the Israeli government, Kilinc said that does not justify the actions of Hamas. Hamas attack was not an act of resistance, he said. The right to resistance does not extend to slaughtering people. James Clark, an adjunct instructor in Islamic Studies at UNO, discussed Irans role, as Iran has previously declared support for and given aid to Hamas. However, Iran has so far denied its involvement in Hamas recent attacks on Israel. Iran, I think, is nervous about this and not only denies that it was involved in it, but threatens anyone who would try to attack it, he said. Goldberg brought a non-academic perspective to the conversation and said she believes that there must also be a focus on continuing to safeguard more lives from being lost. As a leader of a movement thats been in the works for 20 years to co-locate in Omaha a church, a mosque, a synagogue and an interfaith center, we feared this day would come, she said. Goldberg asked people to act locally to support those who are grieving the innocent lives lost on both sides of the war and to fight against both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. That power that we have to respond locally or regionally is the most important in this moment, she said. Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of September 2023 Fall migration at the Crane Trust doesnt draw the huge flocks of people or birds to central Nebraska as the more famous spring event, but theres still plenty to see. The same cranes, geese, ducks, shorebirds and warblers that attracted thousands of visitors a few months ago as they headed north to their breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and Siberia are returning to Mexico and the southern United States for the winter. The thing with the fall migration is its not super glamorous. You cant just be in one spot and see a bunch of birds, said Bethany Ostrom, a wildlife biologist. Its a little bit harder to see the birds. If you know where to look, you can see a good variety of species. Just last weekend, one of the Crane Trusts neighbors spotted 200 to 300 sandhill cranes, the first group to come through this fall. Ostrom also has been seeing several species of sparrows and warblers, shorebirds and some ducks. Unlike the more condensed spring migration, which usually lasts from March to April, the fall version can stretch from late August to the end of November, which is what makes it harder to see the birds. Cranes are usually on the move from mid-October to mid-November. The visitor center at the Crane Trust near Wood River is open along with 10 miles of trails. Hours are Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is free. On Saturday, the trust will celebrate World Migratory Bird Day with fun activities for the family from 1 to 3 p.m. Great birding places can be found in the woodlands along the river and in the swathes of prairie in the 10,000-acre prairie ecosystem managed by the Crane Trust. Since they began tracking the birds in 2016, Crane Trust staff members have spotted 250 species of birds on the property. In the fall alone, theyve counted more than 200. The list can be found at cranetrust.org/birdlist. It just goes to show grasslands, rivers and wetlands are safe havens for a huge diversity of birds, Ostrom said. The central Platte River Valley, where the trust is located, has the added benefit of being an intersection between birds of the eastern half of the United States and those of the west, allowing visitors to see both in one spot. Ostrom advises visitors to check out as many habitats on the Crane Trust property as possible to see the different birds in each. The grasslands may be a surprise because of the many birds it attracts. We have a lot of great trails and a lot of great staff that can point you in the right direction, she said. Some of the birds that can be found at the Crane Trust in the fall No one is immune to getting scammed. Thats the message that legal and consumer advocate professionals had following scams recently reported in the region. Some of the recent scams reported include a phone scheme where callers targeted health care workers in Council Bluffs and other Iowa cities with threats of being arrested and another phone scam where a caller posing as Johnny Depp stole $15,000 from an Omaha woman. Earlier this year, the Nebraska State Patrol warned of a scam occurring in Lincoln and Grand Island in which scammers spoofed State Patrol phone numbers and called people. The caller would try to obtain personal information by telling victims they have active warrants or need to pay a fine. While scammers also seek to steal money from victims through other avenues, including text messages, emails, social media and dating apps, scammers have the most success with targeting victims through phone calls. Phone calls make up 80% of scammers successful contacts with victims, said Ryan Sothan, outreach coordinator with the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office. Those who are willing to pick up the phone are always going to be a target, said Josh Planos, vice president of communication and public relations with the Better Business Bureaus Midwest Plains regional office. Unfortunately, these days, you cant even really trust your caller ID to tell you accurate information just because of how easy it is for con artists to spoof the caller ID to indicate that the phone call is coming from a local source or its coming from a reputable source. Scams can affect people of all age ranges, but older people typically lose more money per scam than younger people. Sothan said people in their 20s lose a median amount of about $400 per scam, whereas people in their 80s lose about $1,700 to $1,800 per scam. Older adults are big targets. Theyre very trusting. I think sometimes (those) people are lonely, said Mary Ann Eusebio, the information and assistance division director for the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. If somebody calls them, even though they might not recognize the number, theyre going to pick up the phone. Theyre going to talk and be nice and polite. Although scammers techniques are sophisticated, they tend to follow common and easily recognizable patterns, Sothan said. First, theyll pretend to be someone with fame, authority, or a potential romantic interest, among other possibilities. Then, scammers will tell a story that invariably follows one of three main themes: Too good to be true, too bad to be believed, or the offer too compelling to ignore. After telling their story, the scammer will then use high-pressure tactics to have victims quickly give them money through some form of unconventional payment such as wire transfers, gift cards or digital payments through apps such as Venmo and Zelle. Those warning signs, Sothan said, are so omnipresent across all impostor scams. Its difficult to arrest and prosecute scammers in Nebraska often because of jurisdiction, Sothan said. More than 90% of phone scams are perpetuated by phone calls made to Nebraskans from overseas, he said. But there have been cases where law enforcement has been successful in cracking down. In one example, a Nigerian man was extradited to Nebraska this week to face a federal court indictment. The upcoming indictment stems from an elaborate scheme allegedly perpetuated by the man and five others that targeted business executives email addresses to get wire transfers and preyed on others by masquerading as love interests, according to reporting by the Lincoln Journal Star. Otherwise, officials largely focus on educating people to recognize scams and prevent becoming a victim. The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging routinely holds events around the five-county region Douglas, Sarpy, Washington, Dodge and Cass by request from places including communities for those ages 55 and older. Well go anywhere and do presentations, Eusebio said. The Better Business Bureau encourages people to report scams on its scam tracker online at bbb.org/scamtracker. If people fall victim to an illegal scam, the BBB and Attorney Generals Office encourage the victims to contact their local law enforcement agency. Unfortunately, theres a general reluctance from victims to report scams. Eusebio said older people are reluctant to tell family members for fear of being deemed mentally incompetent and being forced to move from their homes. Sothan said people who have been scammed or may be susceptible to being scammed should know several things. One is that theyre not alone and many people have been victimized. The second is that they are being targeted by professionals who know how to tug at emotions. Sothan also said vulnerable adults should check with someone they trust before they part with money or give out personal information. Theyd have the benefit of two heads being better than one and that the cooler head might prevail here, he said. There have been technology advancements highlighted by Sothan made in recent years to combat scams. Cellphones can now alert callers to suspicious calls. On both iOS and Android devices, people can also change their settings to silence calls from unknown callers. Legitimate callers will often leave voicemails. If your phone doesnt ring or even vibrate in your pocket, youre not going to be engaging with the scammer, Sothan said. The biggest thing people can do if they fall victim to a scam? Report it. The only person youre protecting by staying quiet is a scammer, Planos said. LINCOLN As a symbol of solidarity with the people of Israel, Gov. Jim Pillen directed the Nebraska Capitol to be lit up blue for the next week. Israel formally declared war against Hamas this week in response to the militant group launching an attack that killed at least 1,300 people, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the long-running conflict between Israel and Palestine. At least 27 Americans have been confirmed dead since then. And Israels retaliatory strikes in Gaza have killed more than 1,500. The atrocities committed against civilians in Israel, including women and children, are brutal and baseless, Pillen said in a press release. We condemn these terrorist acts, that have also claimed the lives of American citizens. I urge all Nebraskans to join me in prayer for Israel and to take note of the request to keep our U.S. and Nebraska flags at half-staff until sunset tomorrow. The blue is representative of the blue-and-white Israeli flag. The Capitol will remain blue until the evening of Oct. 19. Pillen awards $4.8 million in grants to local reading, mentorship programs As part of an ongoing effort to improve Nebraska's reading proficiency, Gov. Jim Pillen awarded 11 of the state's mentorship organizations a combined $4.8 million in new grant funding. Photos: Scenes from the Israel-Hamas war The Israeli military prepared for a possible ground invasion in Gaza on Thursday as it pounded the tiny coastal strip in retaliation for the unprecedented weekend attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas. In a deliberate show of support for Israel, a U.S. official confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit on Friday, a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Suffering in Gaza, meanwhile, rose dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. Israel said Thursday that a complete siege would remain in place until Hamas freed 150 hostages taken during its incursion. Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point, which remained closed on both sides Thursday. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides, and displaced 423,000 people in Gaza. Here's what's happening on Day 6 of the latest Israel-Hamas war: NUMBER OF DISPLACED IN GAZA RISES TO 423,000 JERUSALEM The number of people forced from their homes by the airstrikes soared 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the United Nations said Thursday. Most crowded into U.N.-run schools. Families were cutting down to one meal a day, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al-Azhar University, who had 32 relatives sheltering in his home. Water stopped coming to the building two days ago, and they have rationed whats left in a tank on the roof. The death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza rose to 1,537, with 6,612 people wounded, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said Thursday. Of those killed, 276 were women and 500 were under the age of 18, the ministry said. The jump in the death toll comes as Palestinians report heavy Israeli airstrikes across the besieged Gaza Strip, with bombardment on residential buildings in densely populated city districts and refugee camps. NEPALIS RETURN HOME FROM ISRAEL KATHMANDU, Nepal More than 200 Nepali nationals evacuated from Israel returned home Friday as the government worked to bring back the bodies of 10 Nepali students killed in the unprecedented attack by Hamas. Nepals foreign minister, Narayan Prasad Saud, accompanied 254 citizens on a plane chartered by the government. The returnees were welcomed home by family and friends at Kathmandu airport. In addition to those killed, four Nepalis were wounded and one is still missing, Saud said. One of the wounded was flown back in the evacuation flight and three others were getting treated at hospitals in Israel, Saud said. He said 54 Nepali nationals still in Israel have been moved to safer areas and will be evacuated eventually. Many Nepalis in Israel are students studying agriculture techniques. HAMAS CIVILIAN MEMBERS DEFENDS GROUP'S INCURSION JERUSALEM A prominent civilian member of Hamas defended the groups rampage through Israeli communities in a video released by the group Thursday and decried the civilian deaths in Gaza from the six days of Israeli airstrikes that have followed. The solemn video lacked the bravado of a recording aired by Hamas' military wing Saturday hailing the greatest battle as the massacres still played out. Basem Naim, a physician and former Hamas government minister, said in the swift collapse of the Israeli military on Saturday, chaos prevailed and civilians found themselves in the middle of the confrontation between Israeli and Hamas combatants. The claim is contradicted by countless videos and survivor accounts of Hamas militants deliberately targeting and killing hundreds of civilians. Naim said the 150 hostages taken back into Gaza would be treated according to religious values and international laws. At the same time we are really worried they might be the victims of the Israeli army bombardment, like our people, he said. He added that Hamas would not consider freeing the captives until Israel stopped its bombardment. IF ISRAEL DOESNT END BOMBARDMENT, WAR MAY OPEN ON OTHER FRONTS, IRAN SAYS BEIRUT Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian said Thursday that if Israels bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on other fronts, an apparent reference to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Amirabdollahian arrived in Beirut late Thursday evening, where he was greeted by representatives of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad along with Lebanese officials. In light of the continued aggression, war crimes, and siege on Gaza, opening other fronts is a real possibility, Amirabdollahian said, speaking to journalists on his arrival. Early Thursday, Amirabdollahian had visited Iraq, where he made similar statements after a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Questions have swirled around the extent of Irans role in the unprecedented surprise attack launched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on Saturday. Hamas officials have denied that Iran was directly involved in planning the attack or green-lighted it, and to date no government worldwide has offered direct evidence that Iran orchestrated the attack. However, many have pointed to Irans long sponsorship of Hamas that has included training, funding and providing it with weapons. EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT TO TRAVEL TO ISRAEL BRUSSELS European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Israel on Friday to express support for the nation in the wake of last weekends attack by Hamas. Von der Leyen will be accompanied by European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, the commission said in a statement late Thursday. Von der Leyen has been one of the most outspoken European Union leaders in support of Israel since the attacks and the subsequent war with Hamas. HEZBOLLAH SENDS DRONE OVER ISRAEL, OFFICIAL WITH LEBANON GROUP SAYS BEIRUT The militant Hezbollah group sent a drone over Israel on Thursday, according to an official with a Lebanese group familiar with the situation along the Lebanon-Israel border. The drone was shot down over Israel, the official said, without elaborating further. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment to the news media. An Israeli military spokesman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, Thursday afternoon that an air-defense missile was fired in northern Israel but it turned out there was no target in the air. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report. INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN GAZA BELOW 20%, ANALYST SAYS BOSTON Internet connectivity in Gaza City has been below 20% since Tuesday, according to analyst Doug Madory of the network monitoring firm Kentik Inc., whose data shows outages began Saturday morning. Madory said an internet provider in Gaza told him that Israeli air strikes had cut fiber optic cables. The provider declined to speak with an Associated Press reporter but Madory relayed his message: Pray for us to stay alive and stop this war. US AND QATAR AGREE TO NOT ACT ON ANY IRANIAN REQUEST TO ACCESS FUNDS WASHINGTON The U.S. and Qatar have agreed not to act on any Iranian request to access $6 billion in funds that were transferred from South Korea after a blanket waiver by President Joe Biden's administration meant to clear the way for the release of five Americans held by Iran, a U.S. official said Thursday. The move stops short of freezing the funds. Under the terms of the agreement, the funds must be requested by Iran and can go only for humanitarian purposes. The Americans were released last month. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the agreement and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The funding has been a concern as questions mount about Irans influence or role in the Hamas attack on Israel. Iran is Hamas' principal financial and military sponsor, though the White House says it has not uncovered information that Iran was directly involved in the operation. Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report. ISRAEL TELLS CITIZENS ABROAD TO AVOID HAMAS DEMONSTRATIONS TEL AVIV, Israel Israels Foreign Ministry is warning Israelis abroad to avoid demonstrations said to have been called for by Hamas in cities around the world, saying they could become violent. In a joint statement with Israels National Security Council, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday that there is a concern that Israelis or Jews could be targeted during the protests. The ministry statement said protests are expected on Friday and urged Israelis to be cautious. 45 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN AIRSTRIKE ON HOUSE, GAZA MINISTRY SAYS GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The Israeli military bombarded a residential building in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza on Thursday, killing at least 45 people and injuring dozens more, Gazas interior ministry said. A late-afternoon airstrike hit the al-Shihab family house at the center of the Jabaliya camp, interior ministry spokesperson Eyad Bozum told The Associated Press. The al-Shihab house was packed with dozens of relatives at the time of the airstrike, Bozum said. Some family members had fled heavy bombing from other parts of the Gaza Strip and taken refuge there Bozum said the death toll was likely to rise from that airstrike as civil defense workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble and counting the dead. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike. TWO ISRAELI POLICE OFFICERS WOUNDED IN EAST JERUSALEM JERUSALEM A Palestinian armed with an improvised submachine gun opened fire toward police officers at one of the entrances to Jerusalems Old City, wounding two officers, including one seriously. Police said they chased and shot the assailant, whose condition was not immediately clear. Tensions have been running high in Jerusalem, with most shops closed since the Hamas attack and Palestinian protests in East Jerusalem at night that have devolved into deadly clashes with police. EGYPT CALLS FOR URGENT DELIVERY OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO GAZA CAIRO Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Thursday called for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip through the crossing with Egypt. With Israel sealing off the Palestinian enclave, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah. While Rafah is not officially closed, airstrikes have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to persuade Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through Rafah. Egypt is ready to harness all its capabilities and efforts to mediate in coordination with all international and regional actors without restrictions or conditions, el-Sissi said during a military college graduation ceremony in Cairo. US HAS NO PLANS TO SEND TROOPS TO ISRAEL, WHITE HOUSE SAYS WASHINGTON The U.S. has no plans to send troops to Israel, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. There is no intention, no plan, and frankly, no desire by the Israelis, Kirby said. Kirby also said there have been ongoing conversations with Israel about the continued need for continued flow of humanitarian assistance" into Gaza. He said establishing corridors to provide safe passage out of Gaza for civilians is the right thing to do for innocent victims who are actually being held hostage as well by Hamas. US DEFENSE SECRETARY TO VISIT ISRAEL ON FRIDAY WASHINGTON U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit Israel on Friday, the second high-level U.S. official to visit Tel Aviv in two days, in a deliberate show of support and an effort to determine what additional military aid is needed in the war with Hamas. Austin is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive travel details. Austins arrival comes just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited and vowed American support for Israel in a meeting with Netanyahu. ISRAEL'S PARLIAMENT APPROVES EMERGENCY UNITY GOVERNMENT JERUSALEM Israels parliament approved an emergency unity government Thursday night, swearing in Benny Gantz and four other ministers to serve in a security cabinet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. DEATH TOLL OF US CITIZENS IN HAMAS ATTACK RISES TO 27 WASHINGTON The death toll of U.S. citizens in the Hamas attack on Israel has risen to 27, and the number of missing is now at 14, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. Kirby said that the U.S. was continuing to work with Israeli officials to try to locate those who remain unaccounted for. Kirby said he believes only a few of those missing have been taken hostage. ERDOGAN RENEWS CALL FOR REDUCING TENSIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS ANKARA, Turkey Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the United States to work toward reducing tensions between Israel and Palestinians, renewing his criticism of a U.S. decision to send an aircraft carrier to the region. What is more appropriate for a country like America? To establish peace or to go there with gasoline and fuel (the fire)? Erdogan said during an address to hundreds of youth on Thursday. We dont want the conflict and attacks to escalate further and God forbid, spread to our region. We call on all actors who have a voice and influence in the region to make efforts toward reducing tensions, he continued. Israels military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate Friday ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning it received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically, with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Israel on Friday, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7. Here's what's happening on Day 7 of the latest Israel-Hamas war: SOUTH KOREAN AND OTHER ASIAN NATIONALS EVACUATE FROM ISRAEL SEOUL, South Korea A South Korean military plane evacuating 220 South Korean and other Asian nationals from Israel has departed Tel Aviv and was expected to land in South Korea later Saturday, Seouls Foreign Ministry said. The people transported on the KC-330 military transport plane included 163 South Koreans, 51 Japanese nationals and six Singaporean nationals, the ministry said. South Korea had also sent a civilian plane earlier this week to evacuate 192 South Korean nationals. About 470 South Koreans remain in Israel, most of them long-term residents who have chosen to stay. No South Korean casualties have so far been reported from the violence in Israel and Gaza. 16 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN WEST BANK, HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS The Palestinian Health Ministry reported 16 Palestinians killed Friday in the occupied West Bank, bringing to 51 the total number of West Bank Palestinians killed since Hamas waged its brutal assault on Israel last Saturday. The United Nations says attacks by Israeli settlers have surged there since the Hamas assault. RELATIVES OF ABDUCTED ISRAELIS PLEAD FOR WORLD'S HELP UNITED NATIONS Relatives of Israelis abducted during Hamas militants attack last weekend pleaded at the U.N. on Friday for the worlds help getting their loved ones home. Speaking by video from Israel, Yoni Asher told diplomats at an Israel-organized event that he hasnt slept or eaten since his wife and two small daughters vanished Saturday while visiting his mother-in-law in the countrys south. His wife called to tell him that they were locked in a safe room after people came into the house and she heard gunshots, Asher said. He said he later saw a video of his wife and daughters, who are under 5 and 3, being loaded into a vehicle, and he tracked his wifes phone to Gaza. I dont know if I got any more tears left, he said. Im exhausted, and I just want to approach whoever can hear me in the international community. Please bring back my baby girls. Hamas fighters took 150 hostages during Saturdays surprise assault. Alana Zeitchik said a half-dozen of her cousins were snatched from a kibbutz. They were known to be alive as of Friday morning, she said. We dont want more bombs or rockets or blood or tears, said Zeitchik, who lives in New York. We want our family back immediately. And we want peace. BIDEN SAYS ADDRESSING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA IS A PRIORITY WASHINGTON President Joe Biden said Friday that its a priority of his administration to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Speaking at an event in Philadelphia to promote a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel in the U.S., Biden paused to note the deteriorating situation for Palestinians as Israel continues to bombard the strip in retaliation for last weekends attacks on Israel. Biden said hes directed his team to work with the governments in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations and the United Nations to surge humanitarian relief to those impacted by the war. We cant lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do Hamas, Biden said. And theyre suffering as a result as well. Biden again lashed out at Hamas, saying the militant group in control of Gaza makes the terrorist group Al-Qaida look pure. UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS UNITED NATIONS The U.N. Security Council still hasnt found a collective voice on the Israel-Hamas war after meeting behind closed doors Friday for the second time in five days. Russia is proposing a humanitarian cease-fire, which could be a tough sell as Israel is expected to undertake a ground offensive against the Hamas militants who rule Gaza and launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel last weekend. Russia's draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, also condemns "all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism. Israel isnt on the 15-member council. There was no immediate public response to the Russian draft from the veto-wielding United States, whose defense chief assured Israel on Friday that we have your back. Other council members are assessing the draft, and its not clear when it might get a vote. SYRIA CALLS ON WORLD TO STOP ISRAEL'S CRIMES AGAINST PALESTINIANS DAMASCUS, Syria Syrias president on Friday called on countries of the world to stand together to stop the crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people. Bashar Assad made his comments during a meeting in Damascus with Irans foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, who is on a regional tour that has taken him to Baghdad and Beirut. Assad said the reason behind the latest wave of violence is that the Palestinian people have been prevented by Israel and Western countries from setting up their own state. Assad said Syria stands by the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Amirabdollahian later told reporters that Israel should stop the war crimes it is committing before its too late. Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since the militant group Hamas launched a bloody incursion into the country's south on Saturday, killing hundreds. NETANYAHU VOWS TO DESTROY HAMAS, SAYS GAZA OFFENSIVE IN EARLY STAGES JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu delivered the threat in a nationally televised address late Friday. Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented cross-border attack last Saturday, killing over 1,300 people in a brutal rampage. Early Friday, Israel ordered half of Gazas population to evacuate their homes. This is just the beginning, Netanyahu said. We will end this war stronger than ever. We will destroy Hamas, he added, saying Israel has widespread international support for the operation. UN AGENCY SHIFTS OPERATIONS BUT SOME STAYING IN THE NORTH UNITED NATIONS The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has shifted its Gaza center of operations and some staffers to the territorys south, but many of the world bodys 13,000 Gaza workers have chosen to remain in the north to continue helping people there, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday. The world body earlier warned of devastating humanitarian consequences after the Israeli military told the entire population of northern Gaza to leave. Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other U.N. officials have been working the phones to try to get humanitarian aid into the sealed-off territory and to ensure that civilians are protected. Asked what it would take for aid to start flowing, the spokesperson said, what we need is the green light from the Israelis. PRO-PALESTINIAN STUDENTS BRIEFLY CLASH WITH POLICE AT RALLY IN ROME ROME A few hundred pro-Palestinian students clashed briefly with police in Rome on Friday as they tried to detour from a rally route that had been approved by authorities. Helmeted police, using shields and batons, pushed back the surging students near Sapienza University when the protesters, many waving or clutching Palestinian flags, tried to head toward a rally being held by right-wing students, Italian news outlets reported. A rally in Milan with some participants holding a giant, rainbow-colored peace flag, and others carrying Palestinian flags went forward without any issues. 70 PEOPLE KILLED IN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE ON CONVOYS FLEEING GAZA CITY, HAMAS PRESS OFFICE SAYS GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Hamas officials say 70 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on convoys fleeing Gaza City. Hamas media office says the cars were struck in three places as they headed south from Gaza City. It was not immediately clear who the target of the airstrikes was, or whether militants were among the passengers. The army ordered residents to evacuate the city early Friday ahead of an expected ground invasion. ISRAELI MILITARY LAUNCHES DRONE AT HEZBOLLAH TARGETS JERUSALEM The Israeli military has announced that an Israeli drone is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. ISRAELI SHELLING ALONG LEBANON BORDER KILLS 1 JOURNALIST, WOUNDS 6 ALMA Al-SHAAB, Lebanon An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing one and wounding six. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of the dead journalist and the six who were wounded. Some of them were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. One nearby car was charred. Al-Jazeera identified two of its employees among the wounded. The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel. ISRAEL MILITARY SAYS IT HAS CARRIED OUT SMALL RAIDS INTO GAZA STRIP JERUSALEM The Israeli military says for the first time that ground troops have been operating inside the Gaza Strip. In a statement Friday, the army said troops had entered Gaza to battle militants, destroy weapons and search for evidence about the missing hostages held by Hamas. The announcement did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion of Gaza. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border since last Saturdays deadly incursion by Hamas militants. WHITE HOUSE MEETS VIRTUALLY WITH FAMILIES OF MISSING AMERICANS WASHINGTON The White House hosted a virtual conversation on Friday with family members of 14 Americans who are unaccounted for after the Hamas attacks on Israel. President Joe Biden addressed the families. Other participants included Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser; Roger Carstens, hostage affairs special envoy; John Bass, undersecretary of state; and Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East. EGYPT CALLS ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO STOP THE EVACUATION IN GAZA CAIRO The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned the Israeli armys decision to tell about 1 million people in Gaza to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory. The move constitutes a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, and will expose the lives of more than a million Palestinian citizens and their families to the dangers of remaining in the open without shelter, the ministry said in a statement. The evacuation order comes ahead of an expected ground invasion, hiking fears of a massive influx of refugees across the heavily fortified border into its territory. Egypt called on the United Nations Security Council, which is scheduled to meet Friday, to stop the evacuation. PALESTINIAN ENVOY SAYS EVACUATION ORDER COULD COMPARE TO DISPLACEMENT OF HUNDREDS IN 1948 UNITED NATIONS The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations says his peoples mass exit from northern Gaza under Israeli military orders may compare to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians amid the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation an event that Palestinians call the nakba, or catastrophe. Ambassador Riyad Mansour called the current flight potentially a second nakba" as he spoke to reporters at U.N. headquarters Friday before a meeting of Arab countries ambassadors. The Israeli military told people to leave northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion against the Hamas militants who launched an assault on southern Israel last weekend. While the evacuation order involves the northern part of the territory, Mansour said there is no place in Gaza that is safe. He called for a cease-fire to allow food, medicine and water into the territory. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb and Bassem Mroue contributed to this report. (CNN) The footage is from the last two years, but it is chillingly prescient. In a December 2022 video, Hamas fighters can be seen flooding a training area, shooting rockets and capturing pretend prisoners as they surround mock Israeli buildings. The camp, CNN analysis shows, had just been constructed, and was very close to Erez Crossing, the pedestrian passageway between Gaza and Israel that Hamas fighters ultimately breached last weekend in a bloody attack which killed over 1,200 people in Israel. Another video taken more than a year ago, shows Hamas fighters practicing take-offs, landings and assaults with paragliders the same unusual assault mode that Hamas deployed with lethal effect in the same Oct. 7 attack. A CNN investigation has analysed almost two years of training and propaganda video released by Hamas and its affiliates to reveal the months of preparations that went into last weeks attack, finding that militants trained for the onslaught in at least six sites across Gaza. Two of those sites, including the arid training site shown in the December video, were a little more than a mile from the most fortified and patrolled section of the Gaza-Israel border. Of the remaining sites: one is located in central Gaza, and the other three in far south Gaza. Two years of satellite imagery, also reviewed by CNN, show no indication of an offensive Israeli military action against any of the six identified sites. Not only was there activity in the last several months at the camps, but some camps also absorbed surrounding farmland, converting it from agriculture to barren area for training in the last two years, according to satellite imagery. In the stunned aftermath of Hamas ruthless incursion where militants abducted 150 people, overran Israeli military bases, and laid waste to towns and farms questions are being raised about the intelligence and operational failures by Israels security apparatus. The fact that Hamas trained for the attack in plain sight for at least two years raise further questions as to why Israel, home to the Middle Easts most sophisticated military and spying operation, was unable to pick up on and stop the October 7 attack? When CNN reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment, its international spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the findings were nothing new. He added that Hamas has had many training areas and Israels military had struck many training areas over the years in the different rounds of escalation. Conricus noted that Israel has not had a major escalation with Hamas in over two years, in reference to when hostilities between Israel and Hamas erupted in 2021. It followed weeks of tension in Jerusalem, where a group of Palestinian families faced eviction from their homes in East Jerusalem in favor of Jewish nationalists. Conricus also said that Hamas may have made the facilities look civilian. However, five of the sites the sixth is a landing strip do not have civilian features and are nearly identical in how they are constructed and arranged. They are all surrounded by massive earthen berms, which are taller than the buildings in the camps. The buildings most have no roofs are nearly all made from cinderblocks and cement. Some camps have gates and fences, while others have street curbs but no paved roads. When CNN provided IDF with coordinates of the camps, Conricus said they could not answer CNNs questions since they relate to the complex analysis of intelligence at the same time that we are fighting a war. This topic, together with numerous other issues, will be investigated by the IDF at the end of the war, he added. In plain sight Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka, the head of the Lebanon-based Hamas National Relations Abroad, told RT Arabic following Saturdays attack that the terror organization has been preparing for the attack for two years. Metadata analyzed by CNN indicates that Hamas conducted the trainings for months, sometimes over a year, before releasing the propaganda montages on their social media channels. The videos also foreshadow the events of October 7. In one clip, militants are seen practicing take-offs, landings and assaults with paragliders. The metadata showed it was filmed over a year ago. The shadows and position of the sun in the video also indicates that filmed training sessions either lasted for hours, or took place on multiple days. During the October 7 attack, paragliders took off at dawn close to two training camps geolocated by CNN that are near the Gaza-Israel border. The videos show that the same practice take-off location the paragliders used had also been used to test Hamas own homegrown drones. Metadata indicates those tests took place months before the paragliding montages took place. Hamas terrorists are also seen in propaganda videos practicing with the type of weaponry they would use to attack on October 7. They created mock Israeli buildings and streets and are seen executing a number of different assault tactics on them. At a training site hundreds of feet from the Erez Crossing, a wall of a building has a drawing of two palm trees and an animal figure that looks similar to Israels Erez Crossing battalions insignia. The video shows them even practicing taking prisoners and zip-tying their hands at the camp. Satellite imagery shows that the camp was constructed within the last year and a half. In three of the training camps, they even created fake Israeli tanks. Consisting of what appears to be a large outer shell surrounding a truck. Fighters are seen practicing an attack against it, launching RPGs and other explosives. BLOOMINGTON Over four dozen people stopped by one of two Ameren Illinois open house meetings Thursday in Dale Township, outside of Bloomington, as the regional power company seeks to revamp 380 miles of transmission lines in McLean County and the greater Central Illinois area. In a project called the Central Illinois Grid Transformation Program, the company is proposing to bolster its grid with new steel pole structures that are more resilient to wind and storm damage, and to provide new connections to future power sources. The plan traces work across 13 counties in the state. More open house events with Ameren were also planned Thursday in McDonough, Fulton and Hancock counties, meeting a state statute requirement to host two public meetings before submitting final proposals to the Illinois Commerce Commission. The first round of open houses were held August. Congregating at Thursdays meeting in Bloomington were a host of landowners, farmers, biologists and other community stakeholders. For their review, Ameren prepared at least a dozen printed informational banners and large maps detailing preliminary route options and mitigation plans on real estate and the environment. Ameren staff were standing by to answer questions and clarify route positioning. Birds and bees One visitor was Bloomingtons Doug Oehler, 79, who said he went to the open house because hes concerned about the private nature and wildlife preserves he owns southwest of the city. Mainly, its the birds, bees and butterflies," he said of what calls him out to his natural areas. Oehler noted a potential route for the proposed transmission line that could land within a quarter of a mile of those lands. He said protecting the environment is absolutely an important concern to him. After checking out the open house, he said he didnt see any major problems with the project. He then added that Ameren was doing a good job educating people about the project. Im fine with the need for more generation," he said, as more drivers are switching to electric vehicles. Sam Morris, senior project manager with Ameren, said the project is part of a larger plan being coordinated by the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator. In total, Morris said MISO is proposing 2,000 miles of new lines in its Midwest coverage area. He said Amerens portion may cost $1.6 billion out the $10.3 billion portfolio of projects that MISO is developing with its members. Final estimates are still being preparing by Ameren. Around 15% of the transmission line work would call for new route corridors to be built, mostly south and west of Bloomington. Ameren started planning the project in July 2022, then earlier this year took initial conceptions of the plan to the public and began taking feedback. Morris said theyre taking advantage of existing route corridors, which have transmission lines on wooden H-poles and would be replaced by steel posts. Most of McLean Countys feedback, he said, was related to agriculture. Data presented by Ameren at the meeting tallied 18% of comments received at the August open houses as being concerned about irrigated farmland. Following that were comments on routing (16%), water (11%), utility (8%) and environment (6%). We got a lot of feedback from the more populated areas that pushed for a preference to keep it south away from the city," Morris said. If farmers are affected, Morris said Ameren's construction and real estate personnel will talk to them about accessing the property and preliminary structure locations. Morris said comments on the project can be submitted digitally online at Ameren.com. Residents can also call in comments to 1-800-707-0803. The comment deadline is Nov. 6. Morris said they will reach out to any property owners who may be affected by the final route selection, and begin negotiations on potential easements. Our goal in every case is to work with those landowners, find a solution that is fair and equitable on both sides something that meets the needs of what we need for this project while minimizing the impacts to how they use their property on a daily basis, Morris said. Farming around In the initial concept stages previewed by Ameren in August, an array of potential routes was presented to stakeholders. One of those now-outdated routes was plotted across McLean County Highway 36, near the Schroeder Wildlife Preserve, which is part of the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District's southeast plant property. The latest plans released Monday have diverted two routes away from the preserve, which area biologists have identified as a bird sanctuary with over 200 species present. A third route approaches the site from the east on County Highway 36, but redirects away from the sanctuary from the water plants northwest corner, where it heads northeast through an existing 345-volt transmission line. In a statement provided to The Pantagraph, R. Given Harper, chair of biology at Illinois Wesleyan University, said Amerens previous plans from August could present a potential ecological trap from bird collisions with power lines. But at Thursdays meeting, he said none of the current route options pose any major issues, and that Ameren had addressed his concerns. Tim Ervin, director of the reclamation district, said in a Monday statement that the district was delighted that transmission line routes were rerouting away from the nature preserve. Ervin was present at the Thursday morning open house, where he told The Pantagraph that Amerens project would not impact future district plans. Owen Romine, of rural Stanford, attend Thursday mornings open house too. He said he farms about 160 acres of land. I just didnt want any poles in my yard, he said, when asked why he attended. Gotta farm around them. Romine said he lucked out since the newest routes dont go through his land. But considering they already have windmills flashing red beacon lights at night, he said hell still be bothered to see the transmission lines. This story has been revised to reflect updated attendance information on the Thursday morning open house. Close Batteries Fresh batteries for flashlights, radios and other electronics. Car Charger Cell phones will need to be charged to remain a valuable source of information. Duct Tape Duct tape. First Aid Kit First aid kit to treat injuries. Gloves Work gloves. Hand sanitizer Personal hygiene items and medicine. Keys Extra car keys. LED Flashlight Flashlight. Don't forget the batteries. Lighter and candles Candles can be used for light in addition to flashlights. Money Small bills and change. Just make sure it's the real kind. Phone numbers Important phone numbers, identification, and copies of important family documents. Radio Listen to a radio for updates. An alarm clock could be helpful, too. Don't forget the batteries. Tools Tools such as screwdrivers. Water Bottled water. A gallon a day per person is recommended. Emergency Supply Kit Ameren Illinois recommends keeping a kit of supplies needed in case of a power outage. Other recommended items include non-perishable foods that don't require heating, paper plates and plastic utensils, a hand-operated can opener, ice cooler for temporary food or medication storage, blankets, bedding or sleeping bags, and special items for infants, the elderly or family members with special needs. What's needed to survive a power outage Ameren Illinois recommends preparing a storm supply kit to be ready in case of a power outage. It works to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, but sometimes it can be out for an extended period of time. In addition to preparing family members, food and water for family pets can be useful, too. For more information, go to AmerenIllinois.com and click "Outage Center" Batteries Fresh batteries for flashlights, radios and other electronics. Car Charger Cell phones will need to be charged to remain a valuable source of information. Duct Tape Duct tape. First Aid Kit First aid kit to treat injuries. Gloves Work gloves. Hand sanitizer Personal hygiene items and medicine. Keys Extra car keys. LED Flashlight Flashlight. Don't forget the batteries. Lighter and candles Candles can be used for light in addition to flashlights. Money Small bills and change. Just make sure it's the real kind. Phone numbers Important phone numbers, identification, and copies of important family documents. Radio Listen to a radio for updates. An alarm clock could be helpful, too. Don't forget the batteries. Tools Tools such as screwdrivers. Water Bottled water. A gallon a day per person is recommended. Emergency Supply Kit Ameren Illinois recommends keeping a kit of supplies needed in case of a power outage. Other recommended items include non-perishable foods that don't require heating, paper plates and plastic utensils, a hand-operated can opener, ice cooler for temporary food or medication storage, blankets, bedding or sleeping bags, and special items for infants, the elderly or family members with special needs. BLOOMINGTON A Chicago man was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison on a weapon charge from over a year ago. Ronnie Cannon, 45, was found guilty by a McLean County jury in June for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon (Class 2 felony). Cannon was also charged with two other counts of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon; possession of a stolen firearm; aggravated unlawful use of a weapon; two counts of unlawful use of a weapon; possession of a firearm without a valid Firearm Owners Identification card; driving on a suspended license; and another minor traffic violation, but the charges were not pursued by the prosecution. According to court documents, Bloomington police officers stopped Cannon for a traffic violation just before 10 p.m. June 17, 2022. The officers learned Cannon's driver's license had been suspended, so they took him into custody, documents said. During a search of the vehicle, documents said, police found a loaded 9mm handgun that had been reported stolen, and later learned that Cannon did not have a FOID card. A joint resolution was made between Assistant State's Attorney Ashley Scarborough and McLean County Public Defender Brian McEldowney to impose the minimum possible sentence of three years in prison. Scarborough said the state's attorney's office does take firearm charges seriously, but noted Cannon's lack of a criminal record for the last 23 years, with the most recent felony from 2000 for possession of a controlled substance. Cannon completed probation for the case in 2002. Scarborough also noted the firearm was found in the trunk of the vehicle, where it was not immediately accessible, and Cannon's interaction with police did not cause or threaten anyone with serious harm. Cannon addressed his mistake to the court and offered a statement. "All I do is work to take care of my kids, and to be honest, I didn't want to plead guilty ... my family was going through something, so I pleaded guilty because it probably gave me a couple more months, so I took it," Cannon said. "I just (want to) make sure my family is OK." Judge Jason Chambers sentenced Cannon to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections followed by one year of mandatory supervised release. Before Cannon was remanded back to the custody of the McLean County Sheriff's office, Chambers said he wanted to make note of Cannon's previous record, and told him he found it hard to believe that someone with a substantial gap in their record was simply trying not to be caught all this time. "Whatever you were doing between then and now ... stick to the part that kept you out of trouble," Chambers said. "This doesn't need to define you, but you need to keep in mind the rules you got to be following." 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 CHICAGO State leaders on Thursday threw more cold water on the prospect of quickly providing new funding to help Chicagos migrant crisis as Mayor Brandon Johnson also grapples with resistance from aldermen who have declined to identify land in their wards for Johnsons plans to set up tent base camps for new asylum-seekers before winter. During an appearance with Gov. J.B. Pritzker, House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch said Chicago will not see a state grant for asylum-seekers in the fall veto session, when Springfield will have the option of designating additional funding for the fiscal year that ends June 30. That means the state might not provide more substantial financial help on migrants until legislators reconvene in the spring. I think I made it clear that we were not expecting to do a supplemental budget in the veto session, Welch said regarding his meeting last week with Johnson at City Hall. But as Johnson unveiled a 2024 budget Wednesday that included only $150 million in migrant funding less than half the projected costs this year its clear his administration is counting on outside help. Pritzker punted to the federal government, which both he and Johnson have said need to do more to help Chicago and other cities across the nation seeing a massive influx of migrants. I dont know how they came up with their number, Pritzker said about Johnsons proposed allocation for new arrivals. Were finding resources wherever we can and supporting the city and surrounding communities and others who are impacted by the influx of asylum-seekers. But as Ive said, weve asked the federal government for additional assistance. Welch echoed the call for federal support, noting that in his conversation with Johnson last week, one thing that we completely agreed on was that this is a national crisis thats going to call for a national response, that we need the White House to step up and do more on this issue. U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and Democratic members of the Illinois congressional delegation joined that call Thursday, sending a letter to President Joe Biden calling for more federal funding for Chicago and Illinois, along with other assistance. State and local officials have worked tirelessly to serve these new arrivals, and the federal government must swiftly provide assistance and resources that reflect this administrations commitment to safe, orderly, and humane immigration processes, they wrote. Meanwhile, Johnsons deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, acknowledged the lack of buy-in from many aldermen who were asked to find locations to house migrants in the administrations race against time before winter. In September, Johnson rolled out his plan to house new migrants in winterized base camps rather than the Chicago police stations and airports where many are currently huddled. He tasked all 50 aldermen to help scout suitable locations. Pacione-Zayas told reporters Thursday only about 25% of them have fulfilled that request. Weve had some of them that understood the assignment, Pacione-Zayas said. Weve had others that, with their back against the wall, have now offered up things, but its a work in progress. The September briefing to aldermen included example photos of large tent structures in New York City that would house incoming asylum-seekers. Part of the presentation instructed each alderman: Assist with identifying 2-3 suitable sites in ward. Requirements for the building or land include being able to shelter at least 200 people, requiring little to no repair and having either access to showers or the ability to support a shower trailer. Pacione-Zayas did not elaborate on which aldermen have cooperated. Since former Mayor Lori Lightfoots administration, City Council members across the geographic and political spectrum have bristled over the placement of migrant shelters in their wards. The concerns have included outrage from some Black aldermen that the city is housing and feeding new arrivals within their wards when longtime residents have been denied resources for years. Downtown aldermen have bristled over the largest shelter, the Inn of Chicago, driving away tourism due to reports of loitering and other criminal activity. Others have said their issue lies with not being given a heads-up from the administration about incoming shelters in their wards. Pacione-Zayas acknowledged those tensions Thursday but said that frankly, when we dont know how many buses are coming, when theyre coming, nor the composition. It is difficult to have enough of a runway and lead time to be able to afford the community weeks advance notice. With the cold setting in and migrants starting to prop up their own small tents outside police stations, the city is also planning emergency staging shelters with the help from faith leaders, Pacione-Zayas said. Were finalizing some details around that, Pacione-Zayas said when asked about the ongoing base camp proposal. Its imminent. She added that she doesnt see Welchs denial of migrant funding in the veto session as a closed door, and said the city appropriating only $150 million in next years budget for migrants is an acknowledgment that this is a shared responsibility. Just because there isnt necessarily a supplemental (appropriation) on the horizon and I mean, I think those discussions are still happening theres ways that there can be funds redirected to the city, Pacione-Zayas said. Asked to elaborate, Pacione-Zayas said the city is not asking for Springfield to make budget cuts per se but to look at a reapplication of certain state funds, such as money allocated from the Department of Human Services budget for welcoming centers that help guide new arrivals to services regardless of immigration status. But reallocating funds from a state program to the city still would require legislative approval, and it remains unclear whether the appetite to do so exists among the Democrats who control the legislature. Pacione-Zayas said the mayors trip to the U.S. southern border, while not yet publicly scheduled, is still planned. The No. 1 goal is to clinch tighter bus coordination with Texas officials, she said. It wouldnt be right if we did not let folks know the limitations that we have when we do not receive information in advance, she said. Thats our objective, is to say to them: Look, heres what were managing up here. Photos: Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Election 2023 Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2023 Brandon Johnson - 2023 Brandon Johnson - File Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 Brandon Johnson - 2022 The criminal fraud trial of cryptocurrency bad boy Sam Bankman-Fried got underway last week, while at the same time, the crypto crowd went missing in action at the Futures Industry Association conference in Chicago. Not long ago, SBF, as hes widely known, dominated the citys annual financial-market confab, parading around the Sheraton Grand Chicago with his scruffy pals like he owned the place. And considering how much his FTX trading firm had paid for sponsorships, he practically did. At this years conference, crypto was all but invisible. With the heat turned up from the SBF trial, and trading volume languishing, this once-hot industry has gone underground. There are no flashy television ads, lavish sponsorships or ham-handed attempts to scrap the checks-and-balances of prudent risk management. But crypto is a long way from dead, and even as its most famous spokesman tries to avoid being locked up for decades, an industry with an image problem is laying the groundwork for a comeback. Were rooting for it, and Chicagos business community should be rooting for it, too. Cryptocurrencies are digital files that can me thought of, to quote one of Bankman-Frieds prosecutors, as a kind of money that exists on the Internet. They rely on blockchain, a digital ledger that permanently records transactions. That useful technology enables participants to trade with each other, person to person, without a central counterparty to guarantee the trades, as in Chicagos more traditional financial markets. The industry is crying out for strong, clear rules so that mainstream financial firms can participate in it without getting a bad name. This year, even as this trial loomed, crypto lobbyists have made quiet progress in the U.S. House to establish a long-sought regulatory framework for digital assets. House Republicans have championed legislation that would clarify oversight of crypto markets in the U.S. by giving more extensive authority to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC is not the popgun regulator of years past, and it makes sense for crypto to be overseen by the same derivatives experts who have long kept track of Chicagos futures markets. The legislation is attracting some welcome crossover votes from Democrats, and similar legislation in the Senate is being sponsored by Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., so some rare bipartisan cooperation is in the offing. Making the CFTC the No. 1 regulator would be a dream come true for the crypto industry, not least because the rival Securities and Exchange Commission has taken a harder line against it. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has maintained that crypto needs to conform to existing securities laws, and he is pursuing a string of enforcement actions against some of the leading crypto operators. Were hopeful the legislation will perform a public service by defining these digital assets once and for all and giving regulators stronger tools for oversight. But nothing is close to being approved. The ongoing SEC enforcement cases could change the landscape, and getting any legislation through the hot mess that is the GOP-controlled House will be a challenge at least until the next election. Overshadowing any serious discussion of cryptos future is the spectacle of the SBF trial, which is already underway and expected to last about six weeks. On Tuesday, Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Frieds sometime lover, close business partner and now a star cooperating witness for the prosecution, is expected to take the stand and attract an outsize share of press coverage. On Capitol Hill, the crypto industry has tried to portray the 31-year-old Bankman-Fried (who has pleaded not guilty) as a rogue outlier. Thats a laugh, considering how he served as its very public face while spreading around tens of millions in political contributions to both Democrats and Republicans. Skeptics such as Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts can be counted on to use the SBF trials daily drumbeat of salacious scandal to remind everyone about the dirty downside of unregulated crypto. The dirt is real. The collapse of FTX cost customers a fortune and badly tarnished what was an exciting new marketplace. In his opening statement, federal prosecutor Thane Rehn said Bankman-Fried lied to the world about the security of customer funds under his care and knowingly stole billions of dollars from thousands of people. Heres hoping our dysfunctional Congress can get its act together and approve legislation to help clean up crypto, which is a lot bigger and more important than the man currently on trial. The U.S. badly needs some sensible new guardrails so the crypto market can develop responsibly including in Chicago, which has a proud history of taking market innovations like this one to the next level. Chicago Tribune Teenagers are involved in nearly three times more fatal crashes than drivers over 20. These sobering statistics are a heartbreaking reality for many families. National Teen Driver Safety Week is October 15-21, a campaign designed to bring awareness to this issue. Promoting teen driver safety is a shared responsibility. Look for opportunities to discuss and model safe driving habits with the young people in your sphere. Limit cell phone use and never text behind the steering wheel. Talk about driving distractions and best practices to reduce them. Stress the importance of following posted limits, leaving adequate space between cars, and adjusting to changeable road conditions. Urge young people to buckle up on every trip, whether in the drivers seat or as passengers. Discourage teens from driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including certain prescription and over-the-counter medications. Encourage good sleep habits, as drowsiness also impairs the drivers ability to operate a vehicle. Inexperience is a factor in many teen driving accidents. Illinois Graduated Licensing law addresses this problem by requiring more supervised time behind the wheel for beginning drivers. Use this opportunity to help the young person in your family recognize and respond appropriately to hazardous driving situations. The Illinois Insurance Association, a property-casualty trade association, and its member companies encourage parents, families, community members, and all licensed motorists to support safe driving initiatives during National Teen Driver Safety Week and throughout the year. Together we can help teens become capable, skilled, and careful drivers. Kevin J. Martin, Executive Director, Illinois Insurance Association William Ato Essien, the founder of defunct Capital Bank who was on Thursday afternoon jailed for 15 years can regain his freedom if he pays the outstanding GH53million owed. The Accra High Court has imposed a 15-year jail term on William Ato Essien, for stealing over GH90 million belonging to the bank. He has since refunded some of the amounts and left with the outstanding sum of Gh53million which is what is left for him to pay to the state as reparation and restitution to the state. Sentencing him on Thursday, Justice Eric Kyei Baffour ruled that Essien can regain his freedom if he pays the outstanding amount. Essien, who was convicted in December last year for stealing over GH90 million belonging to Capital Bank, avoided a custodial sentence after the court accepted an agreement between him and the Attorney-General (A-G) for him (Essien) to pay the GH90 million as restitution to the state. In a ruling this afternoon, the court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, held that Essien has failed to pay the restitution to the state per the agreed terms with the A-G. The agreement was pursuant to Section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), which allows accused persons standing trial for causing financial loss to the state to pay the money and possibly avoid a custodial sentence. Essien paid GH30 million of the amount on December 1, 2022, and per the agreement as adopted by the court, was ordered to pay the remaining GH60 million in three instalments with the first instalment on or before April 28, 2023, the second on or before August 31, 2023, and the last instalment on or before December 15, 2023. However, Justice Kyei Baffour said as of today, Essien had paid only GH7 million out of a possible GH40 million, missing the deadlines for April 28 and August 31 this year, bringing the total paid to GH37 million of the total GH90 million. Justice Kyei Baffour, however, ruled that Essien could regain his freedom if he paid the outstanding sum of GH53 million, which is what is left for him to pay to the state as reparation and restitution. Source: graphic.com.gh Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Two South Africans have been killed in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) announced the news on Friday, but did not reveal the identity of those who had died. "The Department of International Relations and Cooperation can confirm that we have been notified that two South African nationals have died in this ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel, said Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela. The verification process is currently underway because one of the individuals is reported to have an Israeli ID number, so we need to determine whether there is dual citizenship or what the picture is." Speaking on behalf of government, Mr Monyela expressed condolences to the individuals' loved ones. He said: "Our missions in Ramallah and Tel Aviv are coordinating efforts and also rendering consular assistance and services to the families of our nationals." The war began after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack on Israel over the weekend. More than 2,700 people in Israel and Gaza have since been killed. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has petitioned the Chief Justice to remove a Justice of the High Court, Justice Edward Twum, from all cases involving the OSP, including that of a former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah. At yesterdays hearing, Justice Twum said he received a letter written by the OSP to the Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Araba Sackey Torkornoo, requesting that he recused himself from the case. In view of the petition, Justice Twum adjourned the case, pending the decision of the Chief Justice on the matter. The content of the petition by the OSP to the Chief Justice was, however, not revealed in court. The court, presided over by Justice Twum, was expected to take the plea of Ms Dapaah in a case in which the OSP had accused her of failing to declare her assets during her time as a minier. Aside from that, a second attempt by the OSP to freeze the assets and accounts of Ms Dapaah was also expected to be heard by the same court yesterday. Dapaahs response However, lawyers for Ms Dapaah threw scorn on the petition by the OSP to the Chief Justice, describing it as a desperate attempt by the anti-graft agency to frustrate its own ill-fitted case against the former minister. Nevertheless, the inevitable cannot be avoided and there shall be a day of reckoning, lead counsel for Ms Dapaah, Victoria Barth, said. Counsel further said it was regrettable that the OSP had taken such a route without even deeming it necessary to notify the legal team of Ms Dapaah. It is regrettable that this petition should come so late in the day when no prior indication or complaint has been made regarding your lordships capacity, competence or integrity in dealing with this matter, counsel added. Freezing motion Justice Twum is the judge presiding over all the cases filed against the former minister by the OSP. On August 31, Justice Twum dismissed a motion by the OSP seeking to continue to freeze the accounts of Ms Dapaah. It was the considered view of the court that the OSP could not provide any legal basis to continue to seize the accounts. He held that the OSP was in doubt about the true ownership of the alleged tainted property found in Ms Dapaahs house and also failed to convince the court that the alleged tainted property was used in connection with a crime. If he (OSP) is unsure as to ownership, how did he reach the conclusion that the property is tainted? the presiding judge queried. Last Wednesday, Justice Twum granted an application for abridgment of time filed by Ms Dapaah for the fresh motion by the OSP to freeze her accounts earlier than the expected date. The application by the OSP was expected to be heard on October 18, but the court decided to hear it earlier (October 12, 2023) after it upheld the application for abridgment of time filed by Ms Dapaah. In a ruling, Justice Twum held that Ms Dapaah would suffer greater hardship if the application was not heard earlier. Justice Twum said pursuant to a ruling by the court on August 31 dismissing a first freezing application, the OSP released Ms Dapaahs funds to her on September 5 but seized them again on the same day. The OSP, the court said, then filed an application for another freezing order on September 11, served Ms Dapaah on September 20, with a return date for hearing on October 18. It was the considered view of the court that the long period for the application to be determined would be inimical to Ms Dapaah and cause greater hardship for her as she would be disadvantaged, not knowing her fate regarding her bank accounts. In the interest of fairness, justice and expeditious trial, the court grants the application for abridgment of time, Justice Twum held. Background The OSP commenced investigation on Ms Dapaah for corruption and corruption-related offences following the revelation that she was keeping more than $1 million in her house. That was after police prosecutors had arraigned two househelps of Ms Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour, at an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly stealing money and items worth millions of Ghana cedis from the couple's residence at Abelemkpe in Accra. Source: graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Usmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, has called on political activists not to turn the celebration of this year's Maulid into a political campaign ground. This is because the sanctity, significance and meaning of the celebration is purely a religious ceremony that must be observed as such. The Maulid on the Islamic calendar will be celebrated tomorrow to commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammed which falls on the 12th day of the third month on the Islamic calendar. Sheikh Sharubutu made the call through his Spokesperson, Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu, at a press briefing on the celebration, at his residence at New Fadama in Accra last Wednesday. The purpose of the press briefing was to address issues of concern that were over the years eroding the very purpose, significance and sanctity of the religious ceremony. This year's celebration, like in previous years, is expected to attract many people from all walks of life, including Christians. Issues "We have observed in recent years that the celebration is gradually losing its significance, meaning and sanctity due to a number of issues" the Chief Imam emphasised. He cautioned against using provocative political remarks which were likely to attract unpleasant responses from political opponents. Sheikh Sharubutu warned against interference or behind the scenes suggestions intended to influence the conduct of the programme; display of party paraphernalia and other party T-Shirts or veils that have symbols of political parties; overcrowding of the inner space of the field of celebration; noise-making and booing of any important guest of the Chief Imam which would amount to abusing the dignity of the national Chief Imam, among other activities, that would negatively affect the significance of the Maulid. "I want to sound a note of caution that it is a violation of my respect and dignity that you should disrespect my guests," Sheikh Sharubutu advised. Source: graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A former member of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, has, for the first time, given reasons behind his exit from the party, amidst throwing his support behind NDCs John Mahama. At a joint press conference held with Brigadier General (Rtd) Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, on perceived corruption amongst public officials, Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe said that he had to abandon his party because of his nephew, John Dramani Mahama. My sister Joyce Tamakloe married E.A Mahama, so John and Ibrahim are my nephews, he indicated. He continued; Being a founding member of NPP doesnt mean I shouldnt support my family members. Like the Akans say, adzi pa wo fie a oye. I was a member of NPP until Mahama came in the scene Dr. Tamakloe stated, revealing the reason behind his betrayal of the party he claims to have been a founding member of. Dr. Tamakloe, before the 2016 elections, was very critical of candidate Akufo-Addo, saying he would never be president since Ghanaians were happy with John Mahama. He granted media interviews with several media outlets attacking the NPP and its candidate in the 2016 electioneering campaign. Ghanaians voted massively for President Akufo-Addo, a phenomenon that hasnt gone down well with Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe who prays for John Mahama to come back to power for familial reasons. Dr Nyaho Tamakloes treacherous behaviour came to many as shocking, and for the first time, he has given reasons for it. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Gaza and Jerusalem (CNN) Israels military has warned 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes, amid signs Israel is set to ramp up its retaliatory offensive against Hamas following the groups October 7 terror attacks. Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. The UN on Thursday said it was informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours. The UN has decried such an order, saying it is impossible for civilians to evacuate. The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, according to a statement from Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General. Dujarric said the UN strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. The order applies to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities including schools, health centers and clinics, according to the statement. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) called for global help on Friday to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, stressing there are no safe areas to evacuate civilians to following Israels order to migrate south. Gaza is one of the worlds most densely populated pieces of land with more than 2 million people crammed into 140 square miles, its borders blockaded for years by Israel and Egypt. Gaza City is part of the coastal strip and is particularly crowded. It is unclear if or when Israel plans to launch a potential ground incursion into Gaza but for days Israel has been massing hundreds of thousands of troops, reservists and military equipment at the border while it ramps up its siege and aerial bombardment of the enclave. Calls are growing for the opening of a humanitarian corridor in Gaza so civilians can access basic supplies such as water, food, fuel and medicine amid warnings from UN experts that residents are at risk of starvation. Atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel last weekend sparked international revulsion and escalated the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Hamas militants breached the heavily-fortified border in a coordinated assault, indiscriminately killing men, women and children, and taking as many as 150 hostages back to Gaza. More than 1,300 people were killed in Israel and thousands more injured. Israels response has been swift and relentless. For six days, Israeli warplanes have pounded Gaza with airstrikes that have reduced streets and homes to rubble and killed over 1,500 people, including 500 children, and injured 6,000 others, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Hamas said on Friday that 13 Israeli prisoners held in Gaza had been killed by random Israeli bombings on parts of Gaza over the past 24 hours. The IDF said it could not confirm or deny the claim. Hamas said six of the 13 were killed in the north and seven were killed elsewhere in the Gaza strip. Hamas did not provide further details on who the hostages were. Time running out for Gazans The Israeli siege has stopped essential supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel from entering Gaza and medical and relief workers have warned that time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe for the 2 million trapped civilians. More than 432,000 Palestinians have been displaced by the conflict and airstrikes have hit at least 88 education facilities, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency. Health systems in Gaza are at breaking point, and generators used for critical functions will cease working in a few days when the fuel runs out, with devastating consequences for patients who need lifesaving surgery, patients in intensive care units, and newborns depending on care in incubators, the World Health Organization said. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) international president Christos Christou said millions of civilians in Gaza are facing collective punishment and that safe spaces must be established. Relief groups are unable to bring aid into the sealed-off enclave and are calling for an urgent emergency corridor to be established for the transfer of humanitarian supplies. The United Nations has warned that targeting innocent civilians and withholding of essential supplies is prohibited under international law. Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt said preventing access to humanitarian support for Gaza is unacceptable and Israel has an obligation to allow for the entry of humanitarian aid. The Biden administration said Thursday it is working very diligently with Israel and Egypt on safe passage out of Gaza for civilians ahead of a possible ground incursion, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. Israel has stood firm in its response. Israel Defense Force (IDF) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told CNN that, We are at war with Hamas and we will not allow anything into the Gaza strip that supports the fighting ability of Hamas. If it comes to the price of inconvenience for the population, so be it. On Thursday, Israels energy minister Israel Katz said supplies to Gaza will remain cut off until all hostages captured by Hamas are freed. No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home. Humanitarian for humanitarian. And no one will preach us morals, Katz said on social media. Hamas militants are holding as many as 150 people hostage in locations across Gaza and earlier this week warned it would start killing hostages if Israel continued its bombardment of Gaza. Israel on a war footing Evidence of that war footing could be seen just outside the blockaded enclave, where a massive mobilization of Israeli troops, armored vehicles, trucks of ammunition, and other military equipment are being prepared for the next phase of Israels response to Hamass terrorist attacks. Past Israeli ground offensives in 2008 and 2014 have resulted in high casualties of Israeli soldiers and one major difference this time is that Hamas fighters have captured such a large number of hostages. Saturdays bloody attack also displayed a level of military capability and barbarity by Hamas beyond what they have previously displayed. CNN analysis of videos released by Hamas and its affiliates reveals that militants trained for the onslaught for months and across at least six sites in Gaza. Footage from 2022 shows Hamas fighters flooding a training area, shooting rockets and capturing pretend prisoners as they surround mock Israeli buildings. Another video taken more than a year ago, shows Hamas fighters practicing take-offs, landings and assaults with paragliders the same unusual assault mode that Hamas deployed with lethal effect in the same October 7 attack. Fresh evidence of Hamass brutality More evidence has emerged of the attacks brutality with the release of photos showing murdered babies. The Israeli Prime Ministers office released three photos showing two babies whose bodies had been burned beyond recognition and a third bloodstained infants body. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was shown the images on his visit to Jerusalem Thursday, said it almost defies comprehension. A baby, an infant riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars, or their hideaway rooms, said Blinken at a press conference in Israel. Its beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and, god forbid, experience. Hamas on Thursday firmly denied its involvement in killing and beheading babies, saying the allegations were unethically and unprofessionally adopted by media outlets. Basim Naim, an official with Hamas information office, said in a video statement there were clear instructions from the top commanders of Al Qassam Brigades to avoid targeting civilians or killing them. Those claims fall flat in the face of testimonies from multiple survivors and eyewitnesses who have detailed the scale and nature of atrocities committed by Hamas as well as the staggering number of dead and captured. In Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel, the IDF told CNN that militants carried out a massacre in which women, children, toddlers, and elderly were brutally butchered in an ISIS way of action. In Beeri, Hamas militants stormed the kibbutz, murdered more than 120 of its residents, including children, and kidnapped others. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Israel calls on 1.1 million Gazans to evacuate south in order UN warns is impossible" The National President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) has asked that schools be allowed to procure their own food items to feed students. Speaking at the 61st annual conference of the association in Accra, he said We are of the firm belief that procuring the food items by ourselves from our traditional suppliers will help to solve the acute shortages of food items in our schools, he added. Former President John Dramani Mahama has agreed with CHASS saying it's in line "with my stance" Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The flag bearer hopeful of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Afriyie Akoto has said he is hurt with the exit of former Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen from the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The former Trades Minister has resigned from the NPP to contest the 2024 elections as an independent presidential candidate. Mr. Kyerematen also accused the party of skewing the processes in favor of one candidate and intimidation of his supporters during the super delegates conference of the party on August 26, 2023. Commenting on the development on Starr Chat, the flag bearer hopeful stated that politics is about numbers and every member of the party counts. We are in politics and politics is about numbers. It doesnt matter the stature of the person. It could be the youth organizer of MA Primary School Polling Station. If he turns his back on us I am equally hurt as any member so for me its just unfortunate. According to him, he is not happy when he hears that people are leaving the NPP. The former Agric Member is however optimistic that the NPP will win the 2024 general elections. We need every soul to bring the 8 next year. I am confident that we will break the 8. Source: Starrfm.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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: Map location and satellite aerial imagery showing the region and landscape where ancient societies and Garamantes lived. Credit: NASA/Luca Pietranera With its low quantities of rain and soaring high temperatures, the Sahara Desert is often regarded as one of the most extreme and least habitable environments on Earth. While the Sahara was periodically much greener in the distant past, an ancient society living in a climate very similar to today's found a way to harvest water in the seemingly dry Saharathriving until the water ran out. New research that will be presented Monday, 16 Oct., at the Geological Society of America's GSA Connects 2023 meeting describes how a series of serendipitous environmental factors allowed an ancient Saharan civilization, the Garamantian Empire, to extract groundwater hidden in the subsurface, sustaining the society for nearly a millennia until the water was depleted. "Societies rise and fall at the pleasure of the physical system, such that there are special features that let humanity grow up there," says Frank Schwartz, professor in the School of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University and lead author of the research study. Monsoon rains had transformed the Sahara into a comparatively lush environment between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago, providing surface water resources and habitable environments for civilizations to thrive. When the monsoon rains stopped 5,000 years ago, the Sahara turned back into a desert, and civilizations retreated from the areaaside from an unusual outlier. The Garamantes lived in the southwestern Libyan desert from 400 BCE to 400 CE under nearly the same hyper-arid conditions that exist there today and were the first urbanized society to become established in a desert that lacked a continuously flowing river. The surface water lakes and rivers of the "Green Sahara" times were long gone by the time the Garamantes arrived, but there was luckily water stored underground in a large sandstone aquiferpotentially one of the largest aquifers in the world, according to Schwartz. Camel trade routes from Persia through the Sahara brought the Garamantes technology on how to harvest groundwater using foggara or qanats. This method involved digging a slightly inclined tunnel into a hillside, to just below the water table. Groundwater would then flow down the tunnel and into irrigation systems. The Garamantes dug a total of 750 km of underground tunnels and vertical access shafts to harvest groundwater, with the greatest construction activity occurring between 100 BCE and 100 CE. Schwartz integrates prior archaeological research with hydrologic analyses to understand how the local topography, geology, and unique runoff and recharge conditions produced the ideal hydrogeologic conditions for the Garamantes to be able to extract groundwater. Cross-section showing how a foggara or qanat works. An upward sloping tunnel is built into a hillside with vertical shafts until groundwater is reached. The groundwater then flows down the tunnel. Credit: Frank Schwartz "Their qanats shouldn't have actually worked, because the ones in Persia have annual water recharge from snowmelt, and there was zero recharge here," says Schwartz. The Garamantes had a significant streak of environmental luck, with the earlier wetter climate, appropriate topography, and unique groundwater settings, which made groundwater available with foggara technology. However, their luck ran out when groundwater levels fell below the foggara tunnels. According to Schwartz, two trends are particularly concerning. First, extreme environments are becoming more prevalent around the world in countries like Iran. Second, it has become more common to use groundwater unsustainably. "As you look at modern examples like the San Joaquin Valley, people are using the groundwater up at a faster rate than it's being replenished," says Schwartz. "California had a great wet winter this year, but that followed 20 years of drought. If the propensity for drier years continues, California will ultimately run into the same problem as the Garamantians. It can be expensive and ultimately impractical to replace depleted groundwater supplies." With no new water to replenish the aquifer and no surface water available, lack of water led to the downfall of the Garamantian Empire. The Garamantes serve as a cautionary tale for the power of groundwater as a resource, and the danger of its overuse. 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: AI-generated image Metro Bank positioned itself as "a fresh start to banking" when it launched in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. It was set up in 2010 as a challenger to the "big five" banks dominating the UK market post-crisis: HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds, Barclays and Santander. But more recently, Metro Bank has caused concern among its investors for not meeting regulatory requirements on its capital levels. These rules dictate the amount of capital the bank must hold based on the riskiness of its assets, so that it can still operate but also meet any customer withdrawal requests. The riskier the bank's activities, the more capital it must have on hand. Regulators use such rules to ensure that banks are keeping people's money safe. Banks can also help by creating a culture that doesn't value excessive risk-taking. Our new research shows the extent to which top executives at banks set the tone on risk-taking. The way CEOs and even CFOs talk about risk can offer insights into a bank's likely financial stability. A more relaxed attitude could be a valuable early warning sign of potential bank distress for regulators. Metro Bank is currently operating normally and there is no reason to think its customer deposits are in danger. It has secured new financing, and plans to open 11 more branches. But ongoing struggles with regulatory capital levels means its business model is still being questioned by analysts. Challenger banks like Metro are often viewed as disadvantaged because they need to keep more money on hand, compared with the UK's big five. This adds to their costs. The UK regulator recently rejected Metro Bank's request to reduce its capital levels, triggering the latest concerns about its stability and causing it to seek more investor funding. The bank subsequently secured this funding, calling it "a new chapter facilitating the delivery of continued profitable growth over the coming years." Why the regulator won't relax requirements Regulators must maintain a stable financial system that can provide essential services to households and businesses in both good and bad times. Banks are at the heart of this financial system. In the 1980s and 1990s, deregulation destabilized the industry and led to the 2008 global financial crisis. Many people lost their jobs and homes as a result, while US$15 trillion (12.2 trillion) of taxpayers' money was spent globally to prop up the banking sector. Banks were largely blamed for the reckless risk-taking and careless lending that caused the crisis. But regulators also failed to detect it. Policymakers around the world introduced extensive reforms to banking and financial regulation after 2008, to protect financial stability and avoid a repeat of this economic catastrophe. This explains the current tough stance by regulators towards relaxing rules for organizations such as Metro Bank. UK financial authorities have even recently called out UK government plans to ease financial regulations under the Edinburgh Reforms and to remove the bankers' bonus cap, in case it encourages more risk-taking by banks. Recent bank failures: A stark reminder Regulators, as well as financial market participants, also remain vigilant after the unexpected failure of a number of banks earlier this year. In particular, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the US was attributed to poor risk management. It fueled fears about global financial stability and the possibility of yet another devastating crisis. However, regulation alone is not enough to mitigate excessively risky behavior. The attitude to risk that runs through a bankits risk culturealso matters. A company's risk culture comprises a set of values, attitudes and behavior related to the awareness, management and control of risks. It shapes decisions about things like who to lend to, what to invest in, and how to manage the risks that arise as a result. Most banks' business models rely on balancing risk management with profit maximization in this way. But it needs to be done responsibly: signs of poor risk culture, such as excessive risk taking or misconduct, are red flags to regulators and investors. But it's difficult for outsiders, even regulators, to observe and measure a bank's risk culture. So, our recent study aimed to quantify the risk culture of 160 US banks, including some of the country's largest. We did this by analyzing the text of conference calls on which their CEOs answered questions about the business from analysts, investors and the media. This allowed us to capture their unscripted views and behavior when these bank CEOs were put on the spot. We used a machine learning algorithm to construct a dictionary of words and phrases associated with seven different risk culture dimensions, including "risk strategy" and "regulatory requirements." We used another algorithm to assess whether these phrases were being used in a positive or negative way. Our analysis showed that words and phrases associated with the "regulatory requirements" risk culture dimension, for example, were mentioned the least by CEOs prior to and during the global financial crisis. Unsurprisingly, use of the term picked up in its aftermath, as CEOs had to explain how tightening banking regulations were affecting their businesses. By calculating the number of positive and negative occurrences of each phrase, we were able to create a measure of CEO attitudes for each risk culture dimension. We found that a weaker risk culturecharacterized by more negative mentions of these phrasesindicated a greater probability of bank insolvency as a result of not having enough capital. More worryingly, we found similarities in attitudes to risk between collapsed US banks SVB and First Republic, and other US banks that are still operating today. Our research indicates that a strong risk culture in banking starts with the right tone from the top. Executives should be aware of their role model status when making decisions and talking about risk, both within their companies and to the public. Their attitudes cascade down to every other level and, if they are serious about managing risk, this could help maintain financial stability not only of their own bank, but the financial sector as a whole. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Comparison between a wooly mammoth (left) and an American mastodon (right). Credit: Dantheman9758/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0 Conservationists fear a rise in the buying and selling of mammoth tusks, known as the "ice ivory" trade, poses a new threat to elephants. A UK-wide ban on the sale of ivory came into force in 2018, following a University of Portsmouth led investigation into the British antiques trade of the material. Earlier in 2022, it was announced the Ivory Act would be extended to protect five more endangered CITES-listed species, including the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, orca and sperm whale. However, a new study has warned the sale of mammoth tusks is an unregulated aspect of the ivory trade that needs to be addressed. The species fall outside of the regulation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); a multi-government agreement set up to ensure the survival of animals and plant species. The authors argue that while wooly mammoths became extinct more than 10,000 years ago, their lives and ultimate demise has much to teach us about how we conserve and protect remaining elephant populations. With climate change warming the world, the permafrost preserving mammoths is melting and they are being uncovered across the Northern Hemisphere, the majority in Siberia. Dr. Caroline Cox, lead researcher in the University of Portsmouth's Ivory Project, said, "There's evidence traders are trying to sustain the illegal ivory market with mammoth tusks, by intentionally mislabeling ice ivory as elephant ivory. "Modern elephants and wooly mammoths share a common ancestor, so their tusks have close similarities. "Instead of profiting from these new discoveries, we should be learning from themhow mammoths lived and how they diedto help protect their endangered relatives." Dr. Luke Hauser, co-investigator on the study, explained the link between mammoth and the modern elephant: "The first mammoths appeared in Africa around five million years ago, and radiated into at least 10 species; all originating from the same family of modern elephants, known as Elephantidae. "Structurally, mammoth ivory is fundamentally identical to elephant ivory. Both have Schreger lines, which are distinct characteristics of the species." "One question we explored in this study was whether it was possible to identify which species a piece of ivory came from," added Dr. Cox. Credit: University of Portsmouth "The reason this may be important is when Israel petitioned for the wooly mammoth species to be added to the CITES list, it was very specific. We know the majority of the ivory coming out of Siberia is wooly mammoth, but because evolution is a slow process there would have been crossovers between their characteristics and their predecessors. "So hypothetically, a trader could have a document claiming a tusk is from a steppe mammothwhen in fact it's actually a wooly mammothand we wouldn't be able to argue otherwise without an expensive and lengthy DNA test." In 2018 the UK Government introduced the Ivory Actbanning the sale of elephant ivoryfollowing an investigation led by the University of Portsmouth's Ivory Project. The project was launched in the House of Commons in November 2015 by Dr. Caroline Cox and Dr. Nicholas Pamment, and has since gained considerable attention and momentum. The aim of the project is to consider the role played by the UK's antiques trade in the trade in ivory. It is more than a decade since eBay announced its own complete, worldwide ban on ivory sales. An online post stated that the global ban would 'protect buyers and sellers, as well as animals in danger of extinction.' However, recent studies have shown that sellers of illegal wildlife products operate on the dark web, rather than more openly through online social media and auction platforms. It's estimated the illegal wildlife trade to be collectively worth between $1522.5 billion a year, putting it on a par with the illegal arms trade, the illegal drugs trade and the trade in human trafficking. Dr. Cox added, "While mammoth tusks continue to be in demand, particularly in the Far East, the Siberian tusk hunters of Yakutia recover only what the buyers wantthe ivory. The remains of the mammoth are left behind and lost to science. "This mining is dangerous, often illegal, and environmentally damaging. The law of the Russian Federation states that only mammoth tusks that have come to the surface, usually as a result of the permafrost melting, can be harvested. "But in reality, most miners hurry this process along using high pressure hoses to blast the permafrost." Dr. Hauser added, "The industrial method of recovering mammoth tusks is adding to the risks that global climate change represents to living elephants and many other species. The permafrost locks away gigatonnes of greenhouse gases such as methane, so this accelerated loss is contributing to rising global temperatures." The paper, published in the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, says the best and most effective way of tackling issues surrounding the 'ice ivory' trade is international cooperation from nations sharing resources and intelligence. More information: Caroline Cox et al, Ice Ivory to White Gold: Links Between the Illegal Ivory Trade and the Trade in Geocultural Artifacts, Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy (2023). DOI: 10.1080/13880292.2023.2217615 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: Photograph of an Attacus atlas caterpillar depicting the differences between the thoracic legs, which are uniramous (have one branch) and end in a single claw, and the prolegs, which are fleshy and have many crochets at the tip. Credit: National University of Singapore Adult insects, including butterflies and moths, typically have only three pairs of legs. But the existence of extra legs in caterpillarschubby abdominal appendages also known as "prolegs"has long posed an evolutionary mystery to biologists. A recent study by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) linked this novel trait to crustaceans. Caterpillars use their prolegs to grab on to twigs and leaves, while using their thoracic or 'true' legs to hold on to other plant parts for feeding. "The three main theories regarding prolegs suggested that they might be modified thoracic legs, completely novel traits, or modified lobes (endites) of primitive thoracic legs," explained Professor Antonia Monteiro, who led the team of researchers from the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science. "Our study proposes that prolegs are indeed novel traits unrelated to thoracic legs. However, they are derived from a genetic program that specifies lobes that were originally found in the proximal region of crustacean limbs, but had remained inactive in this limb region for millions of years." The NUS team published their findings in the journal Science Advances. Prolegs are not modified versions of thoracic legs Lead author of the paper Dr. Yuji Matsuoka, who was formerly a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at NUS Department of Biological Sciences and now Assistant Professor at the National Institutes of Basic Biology in Japan, conducted experiments by disrupting a specific Hox gene, abdominal A, in various parts of the Bicyclus anynana butterfly larvae's abdomen, where the prolegs are located. The complete disruption of the Hox gene resulted in the absence of prolegs, whereas partial disruption in only the most lateral parts led to the surprising development of two distinct traits in the abdomenboth prolegs and a modified version of thoracic legs. The results indicate that these two traits emerge from different locations in the body, and cannot be the same trait. Prolegs in the body of the worlds largest moth (dark colour), the Atlas moth (Atticus atlas), support the caterpillar in hanging upside down on a twig. Meanwhile, the smaller thoracic legs can be used to help in food processing. Credit: National University of Singapore "The removal of prolegs through the disruption of this Hox gene indicated that the gene played an important role in initiating proleg development, whereas the appearance of modified thoracic legs, that are disguised as a type of secretory gland when the gene was disrupted, indicated that the Hox gene was repressing these traits," said Dr. Matsuoka. This means that two traits can potentially coexist in the abdomen of butterflies and moths: prolegs when the gene is active, and glands (modified thoracic legs) when the gene is inactive. Dr. Suriya Murugesan, a Research Fellow at NUS Department of Biological Sciences, then conducted further analysis to determine the similarities between prolegs and other traits. He started isolating the genetic blueprint of various proteins, known as messenger RNAs (mRNAs), from various body appendages of caterpillars, including the horns, mouth parts, legs, and (larval) wings. He discovered that the pool of mRNAs expressed in prolegs was quite distinct from thoracic legs and most similar to the pool found in head horns instead, which is another novel trait in butterflies and moths. A trait more commonly associated with crustaceans When the scientists examined the pool of genes that were uniquely expressed in prolegs, they discovered that some of these were known to be marker genes for endites. Endites are part of the appendages that are most commonly found today in the biramous, or two-branched, legs of crustaceans. Although these endites are still found in the mouthparts of insects, including butterflies, their presence in prolegs highlights an intriguing evolutionary connection. Prof Monteiro explained, "The evolution of the insect thoracic limb is quite complex. The Cambrian fossils indicate that limbs originated as appendages with a single axis of growth. Over time, these limbs became biramous and fused at their base. Subsequently, they developed internal-facing lobes close to the body wall, called endites." "In some insect lineages, the thoracic limb reverted to a uniramous structure and lost these endites. The genetic program for these endites, which was never entirely erased from the genome, appears to have been reactivated again in the abdomen of caterpillars." Prof Monteiro added, "This is an evolutionary story where limb complexity gradually develops during the Cambrian period. Some additions to the limb, such as these endites, evolved their own distinct genetic program." "As evolution progressed and fresh water crustaceans transformed into land-dwelling insects, limbs became simplified, and these endite add-ons were removed from some body parts of insects but not others. In butterflies and moths, the endites got reactivated again to function as an entirely new type of limb in the abdomen, enabling the caterpillar to grasp and move on various surfaces." Evolution is known for being economical, typically repurposing existing traits. In this case, prolegs are novel because they did not exist previously. However, they stem from pre-existing instructions for making bits of primitive legs, as previously theorized. Now, it appears that the mystery of the many-legged caterpillar has been solved: an ancient genetic network, responsible for the same type of limbs found in crabs, has been re-activated after millions of years to produce the chubby legs of caterpillars. More information: Yuji Matsuoka et al, Lepidopteran prolegs are novel traits, not leg homologs, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add9389 Journal information: Science Advances This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned the world is on course to cross a key warming threshold. Top scientists have launched a yearly report series to plug knowledge gaps ahead of crunch climate talks, with their global warming "countdown clock" vying for the attention of world leaders and ordinary citizens alike. In a year marked by devastating extreme weather events, Dubai will host key UN negotiations starting on November 30 aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions and helping the developing world deal with climate impacts. The UN scientific advisory panel in charge of summarizing climate change research has produced comprehensive and authoritative assessment reports in cycles of five to seven years since 1988. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned the world is on course to cross the key warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in the early 2030s. But the lengthy time lag between its gargantuan reportsdrawing from studies that may already have been superseded by new findingshas sparked concern that backward-looking research is less useful for policymakers responding to a fast-moving climate emergency. So 50 scientists, many lead IPCC contributors, teamed up to produce a paper on climate change in 2022 to update key metrics from the IPCC report. "We cannot afford to wait" for the next IPCC assessment report in this "decade of action", said Peter Thorne, a professor of physical geography at Maynooth University in Ireland and co-author of the new report. "If we are flying blind without information, we're going to make bad choices," he told AFP. IPCC reports can run to thousands of pages. 'Countdown clock' The first peer-reviewed report of the series, published in the journal Earth System Science Data in June, said human-induced warming reached 1.26C in 2022 and increased at an "unprecedented rate" of more than 0.2C per decade in the 2013-2022 period. These were key updates to the IPCC report published less than a year earlier. It also said there was evidence that increases in greenhouse gas emissions have slowed, and that a change of direction could be observed in future updates. "This is an annual timely reminder" of climate change after the initial media frenzy around IPCC findings fades, said co-author Chris Smith, of Britain's University of Leeds. "We have a much more COP (UN climate talks) and policy focus than the IPCC," which strives for political neutrality and consensus without recommending policies, he told AFP. Key climate metrics are now being monitored in a more coordinated way thanks to the annual datasets, distinguishing the research from other annual climate reports, Smith added. Dubai will host key UN negotiations aimed at curbing the impacts of climate change. The work's strength lies in "the simplicity of updating this handful of key numbers" with "immediate policy relevance" so that negotiations and policy decisions happen with "meaningful and updated information", said Thorne. "In a rational world, it should be ringing alarm bells." Smith said the findings were "the closest number we can come up with that tells us where we are in relation to 1.5C... This is like a countdown clock." The scientists also sought to open the work to a wider public, with web engineers designing an interactive online dashboard to present key results in a user-friendly way. In contrast, IPCC reports can run to thousands of pages and are "scary to the general public", said Thorne. Piece of a 'mosaic' The new project is to "complement" rather than replace other yearly studies and the IPCC, which has given "tacit endorsement", said Smith. IPCC chair Jim Skea has rejected publishing special reports on a more regular basis. The organization faces a formidable workload, which is where the new initiative can step in to help. IPCC reports outside the standard cycle of scheduled assessments can galvanize action. A 2018 paper on 1.5C, the aspirational target of the 2015 Paris Agreement, was seen as jolting businesses and countries into more ambitious change. But IPCC chair Jim Skea has rejected publishing such reports on a more regular basis, saying they dragged on the organization's core work and resources. "Over my dead body will we see lots and lots of special reports," he told AFP in a July interview. Producing the new work in a short space of time makes it less exhaustive, but it is "one piece in a mosaic" with other research by bodies including the UN's World Meteorological Organization, added Thorne. Criticism about a lack of geographical diversity and wider engagement with the scientific community is "fair" and will be addressed in future reports, said Smith. 2023 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A climate researcher hit back against his dismissal from a German think-tank after refusing to take a flight back from a fact-finding mission in Papua New Guinea. Gianluca Grimalda was informed of his dismissal in mid-October by his employer, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), in a letter seen by AFP on Friday. No reason for the termination was given in the letter. A few days before, the 51-year-old social scientist had received an ultimatum from the institute, insisting he return to Germany by plane. "I'm not going to catch a plane because for me it's unreasonable," Grimalda told AFP, who refused the demand to travel. The carbon emissions from the return flight back would have been greater than those of an average person over an entire year, said Grimalda. The Italian national spent the best part of the last six months investigating the social impacts of climate change on communities in Papua New Guinea. Grimalda, who is a member of the climate activist group Scientist Rebellion, had traveled most of the way to the Pacific island state by land and sea. Around two-thirds of the 22,000-kilometer (13,670-mile) journey from Germany was done by train, car and boat. Grimalda intended to do the same for the return leg and was set to arrive back in Kiel on September 10. But Grimalda's return was delayed when he ran into difficulties with former independence fighters in the region and a volcanic eruption forced part of his trip to be cancelled, according to the researcher. The institute in Kiel was frustrated by the delay and asked Grimalda to return by October 2, according to another letter seen by AFP. Grimalda said he suffers from medically diagnosed "climate anxiety" and risked succumbing to a panic attack if he boarded the flight back to Germany. The researcher said he would contest his dismissal from the institute when he returns to Germany, citing mental health reasons. Contacted by AFP, the IfW Kiel said it did not comment on internal personnel questions to "protect the private lives of employees". 2023 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Conceptual scheme of the aerosol and droplet pathogen transmission routes along with relevant physicochemical properties of respiratory particles. Credit: Reviews of Modern Physics (2023). DOI: 10.1103/RevModPhys.95.045001 A team of atmospheric scientists, chemists and infectious disease specialists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, working with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamical Systems, the University of Denver, Georg August University and St. Petersburg State University, has embarked on an effort to collate publicly available information on droplet properties, such as the way they are distributed by size, their composition, and the ways they are emitted, as a means of helping to develop mitigation strategies for fighting infectious agents. In their paper published in the journal Reviews of Modern Physics, the group describes their collating process and why they believe it could help fight non-contact infectious diseases. In the early days of the pandemic, as people around the world locked themselves inside their residences, scientists, including those not in the medical field, looked for ways to help. One such pair of researchers, Christopher Pohlker, an atmospheric scientist, and his wife, Mira, a cloud scientist, began to wonder about the nature of droplet sizesomething related to both their fields of work. After getting online and doing some searching, they found little research had been done regarding respiratory droplet size as it relates to airborne disease transmission. That led them to begin a research effort of their own that involved gathering known information and collating it in a way that might prove useful to traditional medical researchers. To that end, they joined up with specialists in other fields to form a team with the goal of parameterizing droplets involved in respiratory infections such as COVID-19. The team first searched for available information regarding infectious droplet size. They then embarked on a mission to create a parameterization scheme that would collate the data. To that end, they created a classification system based on what they describe as modes, where different modes are based on the size of droplets created in various parts of the body. They ultimately defined five types in all, each described by its size (from less than 0.2 m to 130 m), rather than a name. Each was also classified by the location where it was created: in the lungs, the mouth, tongue or lips and the larynxtrachea. The researchers also left space for data that correlates droplet size with infection potentialspecifics that are still not known. The team concluded by suggesting that human studies will have to be conducted to fully complete their collating process, which they suggest should, when complete, provide medical researchers with a valuable resource as they continue to look for ways to develop anti-transmission measures to combat infectious diseases. More information: Mira L. Pohlker et al, Respiratory aerosols and droplets in the transmission of infectious diseases, Reviews of Modern Physics (2023). DOI: 10.1103/RevModPhys.95.045001 Journal information: Reviews of Modern Physics 2023 Science X Network This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: This image from police body camera video provided by Roth and Roth LLP, shows a Rochester police officer as he puts a hood over the head of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y., March 23, 2020. Prude died after police held him down until he stopped breathing after encountering him running naked through the snowy streets of Rochester, NY. On Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, a leading doctors group has formally withdrawn its approval of a 2009 paper on excited delirium, a document that critics say has been used to justify excessive force by police. Credit: Rochester Police via Roth and Roth LLP via AP, File A leading doctors group on Thursday formally withdrew its approval of a 2009 paper on "excited delirium," a document that critics say has been used to justify excessive force by police. The American College of Emergency Physicians in a statement called the paper outdated and said the term excited delirium should not be used by members who testify in civil or criminal cases. The group's directors voted on the matter Thursday in Philadelphia. "This means if someone dies while being restrained in custody... people can't point to excited delirium as the reason and can't point to ACEP's endorsement of the concept to bolster their case," said Dr. Brooks Walsh, a Connecticut emergency doctor who pushed the organization to strengthen its stance. Earlier this week, California became the first state to bar the use of excited delirium and related terms as a cause of death in autopsies. The legislation, signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, also prohibits police officers from using it in reports to describe people's behavior. In March, the National Association of Medical Examiners took a stand against the term, saying it should not be listed as a cause of death. Other medical groups, including the American Medical Association, had previously rejected excited delirium as a diagnosis. Critics have called it unscientific and rooted in racism. The emergency physicians' 2009 report said excited delirium's symptoms included unusual strength, pain tolerance and bizarre behavior and called the condition "potentially life-threatening." The document reinforced and codified racial stereotypes, Walsh said. The 14-year-old publication has shaped police training and still figures in police custody death cases, many involving Black men who died after being restrained by police. Attorneys defending officers have cited the paper to admit testimony on excited delirium, said Joanna Naples-Mitchell, an attorney and research adviser for Physicians for Human Rights, which produced a report last year on the diagnosis and deaths in police custody. In 2021, the emergency physicians' paper was cited in the New York attorney general's report on the investigation into the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man. A grand jury rejected charges against police officers in that case. Excited delirium came up during the 2021 trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was later convicted in the death of George Floyd. This fall, the term resurfaced during the ongoing trials of police officers charged in the deaths of Elijah McClain in Colorado and Manuel Ellis in Washington state. Floyd, McClain and Ellis were Black men who died after being restrained by police. The emergency physicians group had distanced itself from the term previously, but it had stopped short of withdrawing its support for the 2009 paper. "This is why we pushed to put out a stronger statement explicitly disavowing that paper," Naples-Mitchell said. "It's a chance for ACEP to really break with the past." 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. (CNN) When Hamas fires rockets at Israel, advanced warning detectors set off alarms in targeted neighborhoods, civilians flee to an extensive network of bomb shelters, and the vaunted Iron Dome system works to intercept projectiles in the air. But in Gaza, none of those high-tech defenses were available to protect Maisara Baroud, 47, when his apartment building was hit by Israeli airstrikes Monday night. The only thing that saved him and his family: A neighbor yelling from the street. The neighbor received a call from Israeli military, giving him a heads up that a strike at a nearby residential building was imminent. Still, the neighbor told Baroud and the 15 other family members living in Barouds building including nine children to get out. The first strike wrecked most of the six buildings on the block, including Barouds. My building was no longer livable it was a skeleton of a house left, he added. The doors were destroyed, the buildings exterior walls were all gone, the windows shattered. Still, Baroud and others assumed the worst was over and headed back into the building to salvage their belongings. Minutes later, the neighbor received a follow-up call from the Israeli military that a follow-up bombing was coming, and the families fled again. A second strike destroyed Barouds home, reducing his building and his art studio to rubble. This is the reality for Palestinians living in Gaza without the protection of a robust civil defense infrastructure. With no air raid sirens or bomb shelters, the more than 2 million Palestinians living in the besieged territory half of whom are children rely on rare phone calls or text messages from the Israeli military to alert them of imminent strikes. In Gaza, we dont have anythingyou have nowhere to go, no bomb shelters, no refuge, you are in the street, Baroud said. If youre lucky enough to even get an alert to tell you to get out of the house, you leave saying, Thank God. The lack of protection serves as a stark contrast to the civil defense systems of Israel, which has faced intense barrages of rocket fire from Hamas in recent days. Israel boasts elaborate and technologically advanced capabilities ranging from early radar detection to the Iron Dome meant to protect its civilians in the event of an attack. In Gaza, the call or text alerts are far from guaranteed and at most give residents a few minutes to evacuate. Often, its just a guessing game. The lack of civil defense has also affected international humanitarian and medical workers, who are faced with sporadic, momentary notice of Israels counterattacks. A post from Doctors Without Borders on Tuesday noted how some of its team members in Gaza receive a text message in the middle of the night telling them to evacuate their homes. You have to wake up your children in the middle of the night and leave your house, without taking any of your belongings, the post said. Dr. Barbara Zind, a US-based pediatrician in Gaza on a medical mission, was speaking to CNN Tuesday about being stranded in the area when her interview was interrupted by loud bombings outside her hotel. Asked if she could seek safe shelter, she responded: There are no bomb shelters here. Warning phone calls from the Israelis also are more likely to be missed in Gaza because of rolling blackouts. The territorys only power station ran out of fuel Wednesday and stopped working, this after Israel ordered a complete siege and cut off access to food, fuel, water and electricity. Israel, however, has invested heavily over the years in its civil defense systems to protect civilians from rockets and mortars fired by Hamas and other militant groups in the region. Its elaborate and technologically advanced capabilities are meant to protect its people and minimize harm in the event of a rocket attack. Azriel Bermant, senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague, says Israel is very strong and well-organized on the civil defense front. Its about saving lives, its about strengthening morale, its about reducing pressure on the government to send in ground forces, Bermant said. If the government knows that the public is protected, especially in a war situation, they feel the public will support the government in what it does. Crucially, the Israeli Defense Forces has developed early warning systems that sound sirens whenever rockets are fired towards Israel. These warning systems are able to calculate the location where a rocket is projected to land and set off a siren in the targeted area, often giving residents advance notice to find shelter. Civil defense capabilities are also built into the infrastructure of Israel. Israeli law requires all homes, residential buildings, and industrial building to have bomb shelters. These shelters prove crucial to protect Israelis when warning sirens go off providing the public with safe and fortified locations to hide from incoming rockets. Israel also possesses key active defense measures. The most notable is called the Iron Dome System. Deployed in 2011, the Iron Dome is designed to shoot down incoming projectiles. It is equipped with a radar that detects rockets and then uses a command-and-control system that quickly calculates whether an incoming projectile poses a threat or is likely to hit an unpopulated area. If the rocket does pose a threat, the Iron Dome fires missiles from the ground to destroy it in the air. Bermant said when it comes to missile defense, theres no question it saves lives, and that it also can act as a deterrent. The system isnt foolproof, however, and when the volume of rockets fired by Hamas comes in intense barrages, it decides which pose the greatest threat to urban areas and infrastructure and targets those. Some rockets get through. Additionally, Israel has several public awareness campaigns that are intended to educate the public on best practices in response to air raid sirens such as where to go, how much time one has to find cover, and what to do if there is no readily available safe site. With far less resources, Gaza hasnt built anything comparable to the Israeli defense systems. While Hamas has constructed a network of underground tunnels for its fighters, it hasnt invested in civilian shelters or warning networks. Gaza has been cut off from the rest of the world by an Israeli blockade of Gazas land, air and sea dating back to 2007, with tight restrictions on the movement of goods. It has been described by Human Rights Watch as the worlds largest open-air prison. The disparity is primarily because of the blockade, which has really undermined Gazas infrastructure, said Tareq Baconi, board president of the Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka. All entry of goods, all the resources that might be used to build that kind of a system are curtailed. The lack of defenses has left civilians like Baroud living in fear. As he examines the ruins of his building, he said hes left wondering why his home was hit. I keep asking myself why? Theres no point in asking why. This story was first published on CNN, "In Gaza, Palestinians have no safe place from Israels bombs." This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The European Commission says EU agencies do not see significant risk from continued use of the weedkiller. The EU failed Friday to agree extending the use of glyphosatea weedkiller the WHO fears could be carcinogenicbecause of division among the bloc's 27 member countries, a European Commission spokesman said. "No sufficient majority" was reached in a vote on whether to renew glyphosate use for another 10 years, and the matter would now be kicked to an appeals committee in early November, Stefan De Keersmaecker told journalists. If that committee failed to resolve the matter before current EU authorization for glyphosate ends on December 15, the commission has the power to go ahead and decide whether or not to extend its use, he said. "In that case, it's for the commission to take a decision on the issue," De Keersmaecker said. He added that the commission proposal could be modified after input from EU countries. France, an agricultural powerhouse in the bloc, abstained in Friday's closed-door vote on the proposal, French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau told AFP, putting weighted majority approval out of reach. Germany had already said it could not accept extending the use of glyphosate, which is used in popular herbicides such as Roundup from German group Bayer, which acquired it when it bought US company Monsanto. Austria and Luxembourg had indicated they would vote against the proposal, while Belgium and the Netherlands said they would abstain. Sweden, Italy and Portugal are among the EU countries in favor of renewing glyphosate use. A Bayer spokesman said following Friday's inconclusive vote that the company was "confident that in the next stage of the approval process enough other member states will back the renewal of authorization proposed by the commission". The previous authorization expired in December 2022 but was extended by a year pending a scientific study of the herbicide. The current commission proposal would authorize its usage until December 15, 2033, double the previous five-year authorization but less than the 15-year period initially planned. 'Mountains of studies' The World Health Organization in 2015 classed glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic", spurring concerns about its continued use. However the European Food Safety Authority in July this year said it "did not identify critical areas of concern" although it recognized there were "data gaps" in reaching that assessment. The commission said it based its proposal on that EFSA evaluation. "Mountains of studies and data have been analyzed by the European Food Safety Authority, by the European Chemical Agency, and they have come to the conclusion that there are no major risks of concern to be taken into account for the product of glyphosate, which is the reason why we made our proposal," De Keersmaecker said. Another spokesman, Eric Mamer, said the commission had followed "scientific advisers who have been reviewing all of the evidence". Environmental activists said there was scientific evidence that glyphosate may cause cancer, poison aquatic life and can be fatal to key pollinators like bees. The commission has sought to address the concerns by requiring risk mitigations such as buffer zones around fields sprayed with glyphosate and equipment to prevent the spray drifting to other areas. It also urged member states to "pay particular attention" to effects on the environment and set conditions on the herbicide's use. 2023 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: UNCG Biology graduate student Shelby Williford and associate professor Kevin Wilcox measure characteristics of Panicum maximum (common name: Guinea grass) in a savanna grassland in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Credit: A. Rodgers Newly published research from UNC Greensboro's Dr. Kevin Wilcox and colleagues will help scientists better predict how global changessuch as droughts, fires, and heat waveswill impact the health and sustainability of the Earth's grassy ecosystems. The article, published October 10, 2023, in Global Change Biology, provides key steps forward to improving mathematical models that forecast changes to our planet's savannas, prairies, grasslands, and arctic tundras. "Forest ecosystems tend to get the lion's share of public attention," said Wilcox. "But ecosystems dominated by non-tree vegetationthat is, 'grassy' ecosystemsmake up 40 percent of Earth's land surface. So our research is playing important scientific 'catch-up' in these landscapes." Grassy ecosystems provide many necessary resources and services to humans, including food production, pollinators, and carbon sequestration. They also serve as critical habitat for wildlife, such as elk and bison in North America. Yet, when one looks deeper into humankind's ability to predict how these ecosystems will persist under forthcoming global changes, the research lags far behind the predictive capacity for forests. Wilcox's research on Earth system models is helping to close this gap. Scientists use these models to simulate the effects of physical phenomena, such as droughts and heat waves, on landscapes. The mathematical equations that make up these models are strung together to create thousands of lines of computer code that ultimately provide an abstraction of reality. These models represent a wide range of ecological processes, such as rainfall penetrating the soil, insects defoliating a savanna, or heat stress causing plant and animal mortality. A UNCG Biology student examines a species of grass at the UNCG Plant and Pollinator Center. Grassy ecosystems make up 40 percent of the Earths land surface. Credit: UNCG "But if our models don't accurately represent ecological processes, their predictions are meaningless," said Wilcox. An important facet to get right, Wilcox explains, is the ever-changing nature of these grassy systems. "We can't just assume that all of the major components of the ecosystem, such as plant communities, will remain unchanged as droughts and heat waves continue to occur." One of the biggest challenges is how grasses are represented. Currently, many models represent grasses as either miniature trees or as a 'green slime' that exists on the surface of the planet. The authors say this representation may be part of why the models have had trouble matching real-world observations in grassy ecosystems. "Better collaboration between empiricists and modelers will also be key for improving herbaceous dynamics within ecosystem models," adds Wilcox. Implementing these changes, the authors say, will be vital in helping guide public policy and management of these important ecosystems in the future, when droughts and deluges are more frequent and extreme, disturbances such as fires are more severe, and human pressures continue. More information: Kevin R. Wilcox et al, Accounting for herbaceous communities in processbased models will advance our understanding of "grassy" ecosystems, Global Change Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16950 Journal information: Global Change Biology This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain International law supports women's right to breastfeed in the public. However, women report having been subjected to negative responses and judgmental looks when breastfeeding outside the home. This is according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden, based on surveys answered by women living in Sweden, Ireland and Australia that has been published in the International Breastfeeding Journal. The researchers behind the study say that societies everywhere need to give clearer, explicit support for breastfeeding in publicand that society needs to welcome breastfeeding, regardless of the setting. "Women and children lack access to public spaces. This affects opportunities to breastfeed when children need it, which in turn has a negative effect on both women and children," says Charlotta Dykes, doctoral student and pediatric nurse. She illustrates that point with one of many similar statements from women in their study: "Just how hungry is my child, will they be okay until I get home? Is there a better spot close by? Can I easily turn to face the other direction?" Along with researchers Christina Rubertsson and Pernilla Ny, Dykes has gathered data from Swedish women who are breastfeeding or have previously breastfed. The women answered the following question, among others, "What do you think is important in order to encourage breastfeeding in society?" They then ranked the factors that made public breastfeeding possible in order of importance. The research is based on an international collaboration with researchers in Ireland and Australia, who have also conducted the survey in their countries. In total, more than 10,000 women with experience of breastfeeding completed a digital questionnaire. "Our results provide insight into breastfeeding in public, describe what women experience, and reveal attitudes in society. In all three countries, women felt that the most important thing to encourage breastfeeding in society was to see other women breastfeed," said Rubertsson, professor of reproductive, perinatal, and sexual health at Lund University and midwife at Skane University Hospital. Having a society that expresses clear support for breastfeeding in public is important. The places to which other have access should also be available to those who are breastfeeding. This is supported by several Swedish and international laws. Ny lists examples that can be applied to the rights of mothers to breastfeed in public: The UN Convention on Human Rights. Gender quality is also regulated in the Global Goals, and the Discrimination Act clearly states that society should be equally accessible to everyone, regardless of sex. "However, in our study we see many of examples to the contrary: how women who breastfeed their children in public face limited accessibility. This demonstrates a societal problem on many levels: women who want to breastfeed their children outside the home are restricted and cannot base their actions on their child's needs. As such, it is not merely the woman, child, and family who are affected, but everyone, to some extent," said the researcher and midwife Ny. Providing more breastfeeding rooms is not something researchers consider as a universal solution. While some women and children prefer a calm room that offers privacy and thus as a complement, such rooms may have their place. However, allowing for breastfeeding wherever needed is the best option for mothers and infants. "It is telling that the breastfeeding rooms that do exist are often hidden away near the toilets. This flies in the face of what our results showthat breastfeeding needs to be made a lot more visible," concludes Dykes. More information: Charlotta Dykes et al, Women's perceptions of factors needed to encourage a culture of public breastfeeding: a cross-sectional study in Sweden, Ireland and Australia, International Breastfeeding Journal (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s13006-023-00583-z 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: Satellite image of flooding in Pakistan in August 2022. Credit: Moetasim Ashfaq A new study by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory looks at some of the influences that could be driving the increasingly severe weather over Pakistan. Published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, the study analyzed more than 40 years of data and found that natural climate variability, which includes factors such as sea surface temperature and jet stream anomalies, accounts for over 70% of observed monsoon variability and extremes in Pakistan during the 21st centurywith climate change potentially adding to their severity. Pakistan is no stranger to floods and droughts. However, these events have become more frequent and severe in recent decadesunprecedented rainfall in 2010 and 2022 caused catastrophic floods and landslides, and a drought at the beginning of the 21st century caused widespread famine. Climate scientists must quantify the influence of natural climate variability on these extreme weather events to understand how and the extent to which climate change has contributed to this increased volatility. The study, titled "The influence of natural variability on extreme monsoons in Pakistan," focused on precipitation variability in West South Asia, a region that includes Pakistan and parts of India. The South Asian climate is commonly studied due to the area's high population and strong monsoon season, which can bring up to 70% of the annual rainfall in a few months. The region is strongly affected by the pattern of sea temperature changes in the Pacific Ocean known as the El NinoSouthern Oscillation, or ENSO. However, the areas of Pakistan most recently impacted by extreme monsoons typically receive very little rain during the summer, as rain-producing low-pressure systems dissipate by the time they reach the region. The severity of monsoon flooding in Pakistan in 2010 and 2022 suggests that extraordinary atmospheric conditions beyond ENSO have influenced recent weather patterns. "We know that floods and droughts occur naturally in this region," said Moetasim Ashfaq, a computational climatologist at ORNL and lead author of the study. "Our motivation was to understand what is causing the change in their intensity. Is it natural variability or climate change or both?" Visualization of specific humidity (0.0123 KgKg-1) in the atmosphere colored by zonal winds. The strongest colors represent magnitudes greater than 10 m/sec. Warm (cold) colors represent eastward (westward) flow. The animation runs from July 1 to Aug. 31, 2022. The convergence zone of the winds represents the position of the monsoon trough. Credit: Moetasim Ashfaq To explore this question, the research team analyzed detrended monthly monsoon precipitation data from West South Asia as well as global land and ocean surface temperatures. Detrending removes large data trends, such as those driven by increasing global temperatures, that may obscure additional factors contributing to changing cyclical patterns. The team's analysis identified a combination of oceanic and atmospheric factors that impact the precipitation in Pakistanincluding ENSO and sea surface temperatures in the western Pacific and northern Arabian Seaand internal atmospheric variability related to jet stream meandering, which is largely responsible for weather systems moving farther west over Pakistan. The analysis showed that the influence of these climate factors has increased during the 21st century, which Ashfaq suggests is due to their increased strength, simultaneous occurrence (called co-occurrence) or a combination of both. The co-occurrence of forcings has a particularly strong influence on precipitation variability, Ashfaq said. For example, when a moderate ENSO occurs with other forcings, such as jet stream meandering, it can impact precipitation in West South Asia more significantly than when it occurs alone. This phenomenon could explain why ENSO was more influential during the 2010 and 2022 flooding events. Although natural climate variability can explain more than 70% of the precipitation variability over Pakistan, Ashfaq explained that climate change may still play an indirect role. The increased variabilities in jet stream and sea surface temperatures and co-occurrence of multiple forcings may be caused by climate change. Additionally, more atmospheric moisture caused by warmer global temperatures can lead to heavier rainfall, especially when combined with other dynamic forcings. However, further research is necessary to fully understand the impact of climate change on monsoons in Pakistan. "The link between climate change and extreme weather should be carefully evaluated," Ashfaq said. "Climate change may have an indirect role in shaping the changes in the characteristics of identified forcings, but they're all part of naturally occurring variability in the atmosphere and the oceans." Some of the identified mechanisms related to the internal atmospheric variability that influences monsoon extremes over Pakistan are less predictable, so forecasts of such events may be limited, Ashfaq said. For example, seasonal forecasting systems predicted above-normal monsoon rains over West South Asia for 2022, but the actual rainfall significantly exceeded the predicted amounts. Nevertheless, the insights into the natural climate drivers that impact summer precipitation at the western margins of the South Asian monsoon region could help future investigations of surrounding regions and the development of better predictive models. More information: Moetasim Ashfaq et al, The influence of natural variability on extreme monsoons in Pakistan, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41612-023-00462-8 Journal information: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science (CNN) House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced he was dropping out of the speakers race Thursday after House Republicans failed to coalesce behind him in the aftermath of Kevin McCarthys historic ouster. I just shared with my colleagues that Im withdrawing my name as a candidate for the speaker designee, the Louisiana Republican told reporters. The swift downfall of Scalises speakership nomination just a day after the GOP conference voted for him over Rep. Jim Jordan, 113-99, was as shocking as it was predictable, after a band of Republicans almost immediately blocked his path and said there was no way they would vote for Scalise as speaker. The move deepens the House GOP leadership crisis, with still no indication there is any viable candidate who could secure the 217 votes needed to win the gavel. Republicans will now have to scramble to find a path forward as the House remains in a speakerless paralysis. If you look at where our conference is theres still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together and is not there, Scalise said as he announced his withdrawal. There are still some people that have their own agendas, and I was very clear we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a speaker and we need to open up the House again, but clearly not everybody is there, and theres still schisms that have to get resolved. Scalise scrambled earlier Thursday to try to salvage his bid, seeking to address his critics concerns directly in a two-hour-plus conference meeting behind closed doors. He then invited his detractors to meet with him in his office, in an attempt to win over the holdouts. But Scalise went the wrong direction, as the list of opponents in the GOP conference nearly doubled to around two dozen. Scalise or any other Republican needs to win a majority of the entire House to be elected speaker, which is 217 votes, due to two vacancies. That means a GOP speaker candidate can only afford to lose four GOP Republican votes if there are no absences. Democrats are expected to uniformly back House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Now the question turns to who can win the vote for speaker. Several Republicans quickly pointed to Jordan, who lost the conference vote to Scalise Wednesday. Scalise, who announced he was withdrawing at a second members-only GOP conference meeting Thursday evening, did not endorse a candidate. He will remain House majority leader, the No. 2 Republican in the House. McCarthy, who earlier Thursday publicly acknowledged Scalises difficult task, said after the withdrawal that the GOP conference has to solve its problem after he was removed by eight Republicans in last weeks vote. I just think the conference as a whole has to figure out their problem, solve it and select their leader, McCarthy said. As the reality of the deadlock set in Thursday during the conference meeting, the anger inside the conference kept rising. This is petty, and Im getting freaking tired of it, said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a New York Republican. Were all in there sharing our feelings, but the reality is we still need to get to 217. Scalises math problem Late Wednesday, members of the conference had already began to weigh how they would handle the potential collapse of Scalises bid, with several GOP sources saying they believed theyd have to consider a new candidate who has yet to run for the speakership. Many Republicans felt there may not be a candidate at this point who can receive the votes of nearly the entire fractured GOP conference. There is no Paul Ryan in this facility. These are the two most viable candidates, Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican opposed to Scalise, said of Scalise and Jordan. Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas sharply criticized members saying that they wouldnt vote for Scalise. I think they should all resign their congressional seat unless they get 100% of their district to vote for them, he told CNN. Jordan said Thursday that he wanted Republicans to unite around Scalise. I do and Ive been clear about that since yesterday, he said. But pressed on whether he would rule out taking the job if Scalise cant get there, Jordan didnt give a clear answer. I will nominate Steve on the floor and I hope we can unite around a speaker, the Ohio Republican said. Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Jordan, was sour on Scalises speakership candidacy in a Fox News Radio interview, pointing to the House majority leaders recent cancer diagnosis. I just dont know how you can do the job when you have such a serious problem, Trump said. A leaderless House amid world turmoil While there was some belief on Capitol Hill that the brutal assault on Israel over the weekend might prompt Republicans to quickly select a leader House lawmakers were given a classified briefing on Israel on Wednesday before the conference vote for speaker the deep divisions in the conference that led to McCarthys removal last week have now left the quest for a new speaker at a standstill. Before Scalise withdrew, Republicans were already considering whether they should try to expand the powers of interim Speaker Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, so the House can pass legislation, like a resolution for Israel, multiple lawmakers told CNN. That is an option that we could pursue, GOP Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas told reporters. A group of more centrist Republicans are circulating a letter asserting that McHenry should have more temporary power, sources told CNN a sign of desperation as the GOP scrambles to coalesce around a speaker. Separately, some House Democrats have started having preliminary conversations with some Republicans about who would be interested in working with them if Scalise drops out, one source familiar with the conversations told CNN. One of the Republicans Democrats would be interested in is House Rules Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the source added. But no deal with Republicans would come for free, and Democrats have said they would need major concessions for any talks to become real. No clear alternative Scalise had hoped to turn his opponents one by one. But even the support Scalise won over proved fickle. On Wednesday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said after meeting with Scalise that she felt comfortable enough to support his speaker nomination, after he spoke to her about the Oversight Committees impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden. But leaving Thursdays meeting, Luna said she was no longer supporting Scalise. As of right now we need someone who can unite the party and right now, there is no candidate that has 217, the Florida Republican said. While many of the Scalise holdouts say theyre backing Jordan, a number of Republicans dont think that Jordan could be a viable alternative given that he lost to Scalise in the nominating contest, and some Republicans were irritated when he didnt immediately close ranks behind Scalise If Scalise were not to make it, the next person got less votes, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida said of Jordan. And by the way, I think, more controversial. So that would not be a good thing for this place. Before Scalise withdrew, Republican Rep. Erin Houchin of Indiana said she didnt know if it will be Jordan or Scalise or even someone else at this point. I think were in uncharted territory, she said, and its gonna be very hard to predict. This story and headline have been updated to include additional developments. The judge in the criminal case against Kevin Monahan, the man who allegedly shot Kaylin Gillis as she and her friends turned their car around in Monahans driveway in the Town of Hebron, is asking for more information from the Washington County District Attorneys office and the defense attorney. At a pre-trial hearing Friday Oct. 13, a firearms expert and witness for the defense, took the stand in Washington County Court and was questioned about his qualifications and knowledge of psychophysiology. Lawyers and the judge were determining the level of expertise that Ken Cooper has. President of Tactical Handgun Training of New York and President of New York Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, Ken Cooper testified about his knowledge of firearms, TASERs, batons, and more in the case, saying that he has worked in several other cases such as Monahans. He said on the stand that psychophysiology, the study of the relationship between physiological signals recorded from the body and brain to mental processes and disorders, create physical and cognitive abnormalities. The field (psychophysiology) isnt something everyone knows, he said when asked by the lead defense attorney Arthur Frost about how well the subject is known on a general basis. Cooper said he got his degree in Anthropology and History from the State University of New York in Albany. As President of the New York Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, he manages and develops Advanced Law Enforcement Training which provides a training vehicle for officers to use for personal growth, safety, and advancement in the field. Judge Adam Michelini said at the end of the hearing that he is looking to hear back from both the defense and the district attorney before Wednesday, as hearing from more witnesses in the pre-trial is making the case an ever-changing landscape. Michelini said final filings for the case should be made by Wednesday, Oct. 18 and motions should be filed by Friday, Oct. 20. Jury selection will be completed Friday, Oct. 27 with the trial beginning Monday, Oct. 30 at 9 a.m. in Washington County Court. Firefighters rushed to the scene of a controlled brush fire in a backyard off Upper Sherman in Queensbury after neighbors complained about the smoke. They also were concerned that the fire might burn out-of-control. The West Glens Falls Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call of a fire started by a teen. He was just doing some yard maintenance and he didnt realize that there was a local law that you cant burn, a firefighter on the scene told The Post Star. New York State troopers were called after the burn complaint was made; however, no arrests were made. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and made sure the teen was fine. The practice of burning large piles of brush collected from local residents at town or county transfer sites is prohibited in New York because Queensbury has a population over 20,000, according to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Open burning is prohibited in New York State, except for the following exceptions: Camp fires or outdoor fires less than 3 feet in height and 4 feet in length. Small cooking fires. Ceremonial or celebratory bonfires. Disposal of flags or religious items in a small-sized fire. Only charcoal or dry, clean, untreated or unpainted wood can be burned. Fires cannot be left unattended and must be fully extinguished, the DEC website says. From a press release: Since announcing a national blood and platelets shortage a month ago, thousands of donors across the country have rolled up a sleeve to help rebuild the American Red Cross blood and platelet supply. As that generosity continues, the Red Cross is working around-the-clock to ensure patients have access to lifesaving transfusions and must collect 10,000 additional blood and platelet donations over and above expectations each week over the next month to sufficiently meet hospital needs. Donors of all blood types are urged to book a time to give now, especially those with type O blood or those giving platelets. Dont wait patients are counting on critical care this fall. To make an appointment, use the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). The Red Cross is offering new incentives to donors over the next month. All who come to give Oct. 21-Nov. 9 will receive a $10 gift card by email to a restaurant merchant of their choice to enjoy lunch on the Red Cross. Theyll also be automatically entered to win a $5,000 gift card. There will be three lucky winners one chosen at random each week. Details are available at RedCrossBlood.org/Lunch. Flu and COVID-19 vaccines dont affect donor eligibility. The Red Cross has many opportunities in the Capital Region to give blood. Stay with The Post-Star to see more opportunities further north. Blood donations in the Capital Region Albany 10/25/2023: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Callanan Industries, 8 Southwoods Boulevard, 4th Floor 10/30/2023: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m., The College of Saint Rose St Joseph's Hall, 432 Western Avenue 10/31/2023: 7:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., NYS Department of Transportation, 50 Wolf Road 10/31/2023: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., St Peters Hospital, 315 South Manning Boulevard 11/8/2023: 7:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Empire State Plaza, Concourse Level, Between Logan's & Patsy's Barber Shop 11/8/2023: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Million Air, 16 Jetway Drive 11/1/2023: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Creative Materials Corporation, 1 Washington Square Altamont 11/3/2023: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m., Guilderland Town Hall, 5209 Western Ave Colonie 10/27/2023: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Russian Orthodox Community Center, 617 Sand Creek Road Delmar 10/21/2023: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., First United Methodist Church of Delmar, 428 Kenwood Ave 11/3/2023: 11:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Delmar Reformed Church, 386 Delaware Avenue Glenmont 11/4/2023: 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Selkirk Fire Company 2, 301 Glenmont Road Guilderland Center 11/2/2023: 7:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Guilderland High School, 8 School Road Loudonville 10/25/2023: 1:30 p.m. - 6 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 510 Albany Shaker Road How to donate blood A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. The state Attorney Generals Office on Thursday released footage detailing the scuffle and arrest of a Millville man who died in State Police custody this summer. The July 8 footage from State Police body and vehicle cameras, along with audio from a 911 call and police radio transmissions, showed the moments Daniel King, 30, requested assistance from police, then became hostile toward the responding officer and assaulted him before being arrested. Additional footage showed the arrest, which included help from two civilians, the officers struggle to get King in the back of a police vehicle, the drive to the station and King being brought into the station. Authorities say King died from suffering a medical episode while in State Police custody. About 7 p.m. July 8, Trooper Mark Allonardo arrived at Fordville Road in Fairfield Township to assist King, who asked for a police escort to retrieve a dirt bike at a residence. Body-worn camera footage from Allonardo showed King handing the trooper what he said was the title to the bike. Allonardo told King the title did not have Kings name on it. As Allonardo went to the front door, where King said a woman was inside, King refused to allow Allonardo to talk to the woman on his own, accused the officer of lying and then threatened to sue the trooper. King pulled out his phone, asked Allonardo for his badge number and claimed the trooper was not helping him, video shows. Im about to be a (expletive) millionaire, King said repeatedly while filming Allonardo. King also was heard on the video asking bystanders for backup. Another man appeared at the end of the driveway, video showed. As Allonardo approached the man in an attempt to ask him questions, King continually interrupted. Man who died after Cumberland County arrest ID'd A 30-year-old Millville man died after suffering a medical episode while being held at a State Police station earlier this month, state officials said. King continued to get in Allonardos face and at one point asked the trooper, Can I kiss your boots? King continued to shout about how hes become rich, will quit his job and accused Allonardo of being racist. Video shows the other man at the end of the driveway telling Allonardo that King was supposed to sell him the dirt bike once he retrieved it. Eventually, Allonardo appeared to shove King away from him, telling him to get out of his face. He then requested backup. Lets fight. Ill take the charge, King said, taking a swing at Allonardo. Shoot me, (expletive), King shouted toward Allonardo, who replied, Nah, Im not shooting you. Allonardo pulled out his extendable baton and told King to turn around, video shows. King and Allonardo wrestled to the ground and into a fence, where eventually Allonardo was able to get on top of King. The police report said two civilians intervened and held King while he was placed in handcuffs. Three members of the State Police responded to provide backup and assist in the arrest and transport of King: Troopers Zachary Reichenbach, Nicolas Salamone and Arturo Sanchez. Body camera footage from one of the responding troopers showed a bloodied Allonardo and the two civilians holding King down. One of the responding officers asked Allonardo about the other man who claimed King was selling him a dirt bike, and Allonardo confirmed that man was not involved and fled the scene when the fight began. After several more minutes of struggling on the ground, the troopers escorted King to one of their vehicles. King then proceeded to struggle with the troopers, who took about five minutes to get King in the back of their vehicle. At one point during the struggle, King, who was lying on his stomach with his head sticking out of the vehicle, told one of the troopers he has kids. Listen, just get in the car for me, the trooper is shown saying. The trooper asked King to sit up and look at him, but King would not, telling the trooper he was tired as hell. Multiple troopers were shown trying to lift King into the vehicle with their hands on his arms, shoulders, neck and head. Footage from the inside of the vehicle on the way to the station showed King swaying in the backseat. He eventually lay down on the seat and began kicking at the window before knocking the backseat camera askew. King was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and specifically causing bodily injury to Allonardo, and was transported to the State Police Bridgeton Station. Additional footage showed troopers arriving at the station and carrying a mostly unresponsive King to a holding cell, where they cuffed him to the bench. King appeared to be unfocused and dazed during the process. Footage ended at that point, just before 8 p.m. Time stamps on the footage showed the incident covered about 40 minutes. At the station, King suffered a medical episode and became unresponsive, according to the police report. Troopers performed lifesaving efforts before King was transported by EMS to Inspira Medical Center Vineland. His condition continued to deteriorate until he died at 11:37 p.m. July 9. The manner and cause of Kings death are under investigation by the state medical examiner. The investigation is ongoing, the Attorney Generals Office said. OCEAN CITY When police Chief Jay Prettyman finishes his career in Ocean City on Friday, he would like his legacy to be that he cared more for his officers than himself. In a wide-ranging interview, covering plans for a new public safety building, rowdy teens, social unrest and the role of artificial intelligence in policing, Prettyman, 52, said he would like to be thought of as a hard worker. Many in Ocean City appear to agree with that assessment. Prettyman was set to be honored by the Ocean City Council on Thursday evening, and on the same day, he was announced as being named the Citizen of the Year by the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce. He became acting police chief in February 2018 and was named full-time chief a year later, leading the department for close to six years. Weve had a lot of adversity, he said, citing COVID-19 and the cultural and economic upheavals that accompanied it, which included Black Lives Matter protesters filling the street in front of the citys public safety building. Some officers spoke to the crowd and joined protesters in honoring George Floyd, whose death while in the custody of Minneapolis police sparked a national reckoning on race and police use of force. In some ways, Prettyman said, that was necessary. There was a need to take a new look at the use of force by police officers, he said. Ocean City is one of 16 departments in the state that has been ABLE certified, which stands for Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement. Officers prepare to intervene if another officer exceeds the minimum amount of force needed to bring a situation under control. If they believe the use of force to be excessive, theyre required to step in and stop it, Prettyman said. We have to be each others stewards. Ocean City police chief announces retirement Ocean City police Chief Jay Prettyman is retiring in October, city officials said Wednesday. But he sees many of the changes to policing as having gone too far, particularly changes made to how officers deal with those under 18. Neither Trenton nor City Hall heeded calls to defund the police, Prettyman said. But legislators did a de facto defunding by changing legislation taking powers away from police officers, he said. Both as part of juvenile justice reforms in 2020 and in a package of laws approved as part of New Jersey legalizing marijuana, which also brought new limits on how officers could handle juveniles in possession of alcohol, departments faced new scrutiny and new limitations. We probably had more changes of New Jersey laws in that six-year period than we had in the previous 25-year period, Prettyman said. While some local officials say the changes handcuffed police, Prettyman said police still have options when dealing with juveniles. That does not mean hes a fan of the changes, especially of a three-tiered warning system meant to keep young people out of the juvenile justice system. Whats available to us and what works are two different things, he said. Those curbside warnings, in my opinion and in the opinion of most police officers, are completely useless. He said there is no way to compel someone under 18 to cooperate, or to even give their correct name. The kids had too much freedom, he said, and the city suffered from it. Calm weekend in Ocean City after new rules to combat rowdy juveniles enacted OCEAN CITY Strict new limits on the Boardwalk seem to have had an impact on problems with Ocean City, and numerous other beach towns, saw a steep climb in huge, rowdy crowds of teens. In some cases, some damaged property or became intoxicated. Ocean City sought to contain the issue, allowing teens to gather on the beach downtown, away from families and merchants on the Boardwalk and under the eye of a considerable retinue of officers. It was manageable for us. It was a necessary evil, he said. But what was a necessary evil for two summers became an unmanageable crisis at the beginning of summer 2023, when even bigger crowds arrived and disrupted the Boardwalk. Parents from all over were driving to drop their kids off at night to hang out. We had to close the beach to send the message that were not a baby-sitting community. Were not here to come drop your kids off so that you can have a night out, he said. Early this year, the city announced a crackdown, with an earlier curfew, a ban on backpacks on the Boardwalk after 8 p.m., and beach access closed at the same time. Prettyman described the changes as effective. The one area he cited as a disappointment in his career was that he will not be chief when the city finally completes a new public safety building, or at least a thorough renovation of the current building. The building on Central Avenue once served as a school and is more than a century old. A plan for a new, $42 million building to combine police, fire and courts lost steam in 2021, as council members balked at the price. A new plan calls for a $6.5 million building on the Boardwalk to house the summer police operations. Later, the city expects to build a new building at the current site, or thoroughly renovate the existing structure. Prettyman said there has not been a significant renovation in about 30 years. Weve been talking about and planning and designing a new police facility since I became a captain in 2008. Weve worked through 10 different ideas, sets of plans and locations, Prettyman said, describing the lack of progress as one of his biggest regrets as chief, and one of the things Im most embarrassed about. Ocean City Council passes ordinances to curb rowdy teens In unanimous votes, and with no comments from the public, Ocean City Council on Thursday approved a change in the citys curfew for juveniles to 11 p.m., instead of 1 a.m., and another ordinance that bans backpacks and other bags from the Boardwalk as of 8 p.m. each night. Even if progress is swift from now on, it will be about 20 years of talk before the building is addressed, he said. Its embarrassing that we had to go through 15 or 16 years of planning and arguing and dissention among politicians and community leaders and whoever had an opinion, he said. Ocean City has 68 officers, making it the largest department in Cape May County, and the operation nearly doubles during the summer, hiring 65 seasonal officers. There are seasonal officers at work in the city for more than half the year, Prettyman said, from the beginning of April until late October. Last month, Prettyman and the Ocean City school district received national attention for the introduction of an artificial intelligence system designed to detect the presence of a firearm through video cameras. The system came online in the summer in the citys three schools and on the Boardwalk, of which a considerable portion is under surveillance by police cameras. For the most part, however, those videos are used as part of the investigation after a crime occurs, and most of the cameras do not have an officer watching most of the time. The ZeroEyes system will identify someone carrying a gun, Prettyman said, and once confirmed by human eyes, officers will be dispatched to the scene with detailed information about what they are heading toward. In the case of an active shooter, he said, the tech could drastically reduce response times. Theyre going to be responding to that location to try to identify that individual, engage him and eliminate him before they kill anyone, Prettyman said. Theres no other side. Theres no dispute. Is New Jersey to blame for Ocean Citys teen problem? OCEAN CITY As Mayor Jay Gillian rolled out new rules aimed at curbing crowds of unruly tee Some have raised privacy concerns, but Prettyman said its not just the police watching. He said almost all businesses and most new residential construction have sophisticated cameras. Its part of the new normal, Prettyman said. He believes the system will be one of the top five developments hes seen in his career that save multiple lives. The others? The proliferation of automated external defibrillators, the overdose reversal drug naloxone, critical response group mapping and the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving and similar efforts against driving while intoxicated. Bill Campbell, currently Ocean Citys deputy chief, is set to lead the department as Prettyman steps away. Prettyman said he had an opportunity for the kind of post-retirement job he envisioned, the citys political climate is stable and things are quiet for the moment. He described it as a good time to make his exit. After 32 years in law enforcement, Prettyman is set to take a job in risk management. As chief, he said, he couldnt go out to dinner in town without spending most of the time speaking with residents, and has not taken his family to the beach in years, saying there is almost always someone with a dog where it doesnt belong, or beer in a cooler, or some other situation in which a police officer would be expected to intervene. He said he loved his job but three decades of interrupted Christmases and delayed birthday celebrations took a toll. I never minded that stuff. Its what I signed up for. But my family suffered, Prettyman said. He and his wife have two daughters and live in Ocean City. His wife is a former member of the Board of Education, and he was approached to potentially run for office after announcing his retirement but said he has no plans to at this point. Weve had our share of living in a fishbowl. It would be nice to take a little bit of a break, he said. In a collaborative effort, the military intelligence unit (Southern Command Liaison Unit) of the Army, in conjunction with the Pune city police, has apprehended an individual accused of swindling 42 young aspirants out of Rs 1.8 crore by falsely promising them recruitment into the Indian Army. The complaint was lodged by Mahesh Pandharinath Dhaka, a 35-year-old farmer from the Satara district, against Pandurang Karale (45) of the Sangli district. An FIR has been registered against Karale at the Kondhwa police station. As per the police account, in February 2022, while Mahesh Dhaka was in Pune for work, he overheard a conversation at the Jyoti Hotel in Kondhwa. During this conversation, Pandurang Karale claimed to have influential connections with senior army officers and offered to facilitate army recruitment for individuals. Dhaka engaged with Karale, who pledged to enlist candidates in the Territorial Army in exchange for a fee of Rs 6 lakh per candidate. Over the following months, Dhaka diligently collected a total of Rs 1.8 crore from multiple candidates eager to join the army. These funds were handed over to Karale in numerous installments at various locations, including NIBM Chowk in Kondhwa, Pune, Pethnaka in Sangli, Karad in Satara, and Tasgaon in Sangli. Karale orchestrated fictitious medical examinations and even forwarded hall tickets for a written test through WhatsApp. However, as Dhaka began seeking further details and clarification, Karale persistently postponed the dates and failed to provide any concrete information. Dhaka grew increasingly suspicious and eventually discerned that Karale had no genuine connections within the army. It became evident that he had been defrauded of Rs 1.8 crore, and the futures of 42 young aspirants had been jeopardised. Consequently, Dhaka filed a formal complaint with the Kondhwa police station, which promptly registered an FIR against Karale, charging him with offenses related to cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code. This operation serves as a significant reminder of the necessity for vigilance and thorough verification in matters of recruitment and job opportunities. In a significant move geared towards ensuring transparency and efficiency, the Maharashtra government has announced its plan to introduce digital display boards showcasing road toll collections at major toll booths. Additionally, the government intends to install closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) at these toll booths to monitor any potential delays or disruptions in the toll tax collection process. The decision was jointly disclosed by PWD Minister Dadaji D. Bhuse and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray. Raj Thackeray, who recently revived an anti-road toll tax agitation that had been dormant for nine years, met with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on October 12 to present a memorandum outlining his demands on the toll tax issue. Minister Bhuse further engaged with Raj Thackeray to discuss and collaborate on resolving the matter. Raj Thackeray outlined the immediate steps to be taken, stating that within two weeks, CCTVs would be installed at all the toll booths situated at the five Mumbai Entry Points (MEPs). A control room will be established at Mantralaya to oversee and manage the CCTV feeds. The digital display boards will serve to inform the public about the precise toll collections made by the contractors as per their respective tenders. This will help ensure that citizens have accurate information about the financial aspects of the concerned toll booth. To enhance traffic flow, the government has also committed to ensuring that no vehicle is required to stop for more than four minutes at the toll booths. Furthermore, vehicles outside the 'yellow line' (indicating a traffic jam) will be allowed to pass without incurring road toll charges. The MNS will also construct public conveniences near certain toll booths and closely monitor the activities at these locations. The MNS has put forth a demand to close 29 old toll booths managed by the PWD Department and 15 operated by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). Minister Bhuse has stated that the government will consider and make a decision regarding this request in the near future. Raj Thackeray's recent warnings of 'burning the toll booths' in response to concerns about small/light vehicles being subjected to road toll taxes have spurred significant protests at various toll booths in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Nashik, and other regions, creating a challenge for the government. The implementation of digital displays and enhanced monitoring is expected to alleviate these issues and improve the overall toll collection process. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Friday took a review of government hospitals in Pune district and instructed the authorities concerned to provide best medical facilities while warning of strict action for negligence and dereliction of duty. In the same breath, he said Pune should lead the state vis-a-vis facilities at the health facilities. The action by Pawar, who is also Punes guardian minister, comes in light of a large number of deaths at government hospitals in Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar districts, which triggered a furore and also prompted the Bombay high court to take suo motu cognizance after a lawyer approached it. During the meeting in the city, Pawar said, It has been decided to provide more funds to health facilities. The same will be given through the district planning committee, if required. All government hospitals in the district should ensure that there is no shortage of medicines. The number of beds should be increased in both municipal areas by the end of March. State-of-the-art treatment has been made available at the Sassoon hospital, and it must benefit the common patient. The HC asked the lawyer who approached it recently to file a proper petition while adding that the loss of lives due to a shortage of staff and medicines cannot continue and be accepted by the court. The HC bench also asked Advocate General Birendra Saraf for the state government to inform it about the budgetary allocation for health as well as the availability of specialist doctors and other staff and vacancy of such posts. The meeting convened by Pawar was attended by MLA Sunil Tingre, Siddharth Shirole, divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao, district collector Rajesh Deshmukh, Zilla Parishad CEO Ramesh Chavan, additional municipal commissioner Vikas Dhakne, Sassoon hospital dean Dr. Sanjeev Thakur, district surgeon Dr. Nagnath Yempalle, district health officer Dr. Ramchandra Hankare, founder, Baramati Medical College. Pawar stressed on hygiene and cleanliness at hospitals. Hospital premises should be kept clean. Class-IV posts should be filled immediately through external sources. Efforts should be made to speed up the registration of Ayushman card distribution in urban areas and make the district the first in the state. In rural areas, it should be ensured that medical officers are present at health centers, said the deputy CM. Thakur addressed the media and gave information about the facilities at Sassoon hospital and added that the treatment facilities are being increased. Yempalle and Hankare gave a presentation about the facilities in district hospitals, rural hospitals and primary health centres. Pawar said that the facility available in the hospitals should benefit the citizens and careful planning should be done for the participation of officers and employees in this campaign. Officials should be encouraged to keep the area of government offices clean. A man accused of shooting two people at a Davenport McDonalds pleaded guilty this week as part of an agreement with the Scott County Attorneys Office. Authorities alleged Xavior Malachi Chandler, 20, Davenport, shot at four people during a quarrel on July 22 at the McDonalds at 7522 Northwest Blvd., according to court records. At the time of the shooting, the four stood near the restaurants front counter. Two of them sustained gunshot wounds. Chandler faced numerous charges because of the allegations, records state. They included four counts of attempted murder and two counts of willful injury causing bodily injury, according to court records. On Wednesday, Chandler pleaded guilty to the two willful injury counts and a count each of intimidation with a dangerous weapon and dominion/control of a firearm or offensive weapon by felon, court records state. As part of the agreement, the state will drop the remaining charges, including the counts of attempted murder, at Chandlers Dec. 14 sentencing. The plea agreement states that the sentence on each charge will be up to 15 years, but that the state will recommend at sentencing that Chandler serve those sentences at the same time rather than one after the other. The intimidation count, though, includes a requirement that Chandler serve a minimum of five years before he becomes eligible for parole. Chandler also agreed to stipulate that he violated his probation in an different case, according to the plea agreement. In that case, Chandler pleaded guilty to interference with official acts with a firearm, according to court records. He received a sentence of up to five years, but the court suspended the incarceration sentence in favor of up to two years of probation. In the wake of Chandlers plea in the shooting case, the court will also now impose that cases five-year prison sentence on Chandler and the state will recommend he serve it consecutively to the sentence in the shooting. This means that, under the plea agreement, Chandler would serve a minimum of five years in prison, but could serve up to 20. There will be a presentence investigation ahead of Chandlers sentencing. During the presentence inquiry, investigators will develop a background report on Chandler meant to assist a judge in determining the appropriate sentence for him. The court still must accept the plea agreement, and has deferred that decision pending review of the presentence investigation report and the proceedings of the sentencing hearing, court records state. Marjeyoun, Lebanon (CNN) The silence on Lebanons border with Israel is deafening. After five days of near constant crossfire between fighters in Lebanon and Israeli forces, the guns seem to have largely gone quiet. This remains one of the most important, and dangerous, fault lines in this volatile region. Following the surprise Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, this frontier largely calm since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war is even more charged with consequence. Any conflict erupting here could pour fuel on the raging fire of the current Hamas-Israel war by drawing in the most powerful paramilitary group in the Middle East: Iran-backed Hezbollah. Hezbollahs political stance has unambiguously supported the Palestinian militants. It has sponsored rallies in support of Palestinian groups and has roundly condemned Israels large-scale airstrikes on Gaza. More than 1,200 people have been killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel, while more than 1,500 people have been killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza since Saturday. But it is still unclear whether Hezbollah will actively participate in this conflict. So far, it has adhered to its current rules of engagement and repeatedly stated that it will fire at Israel only when Lebanese territory, or its fighters, are fired upon. It has broadly stuck to that, despite the spiraling wider tensions. Skirmishes here can instead be seen as the low rumble of tit-for-tat exchanges since the start of the Hamas-Israel war. For days, Lebanon-based Palestinian militants have launched rockets into Israel, leading to Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory, including Hezbollah positions. Hezbollah has fired back at Israeli border positions with precision-guided missiles. Three Hezbollah militants and three Israeli soldiers have been killed in the nearly week-long exchange of fire here. Hezbollah has not intervened on behalf of the Palestinian militants so far. The group has explicitly linked its attacks on Israel to Israels targeting of Lebanese territory, and the fighting remains limited to this border region. Still, the region remains on a knifes edge. Multiple reports have suggested that Western diplomats have sought to keep the Shia armed group out of the emerging conflict. The USS Gerald R Ford, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is now stationed in the eastern Mediterranean in what is seen by many analysts as a US attempt to deter that eventuality, which could herald a much more violent phase of this war. Unlike Hamas, Hezbollah is a regional power. For years, it has participated in several conflicts in the Middle East, including in Iraq and Syria. It is also believed to have materially supported and trained Houthi rebels in Yemen. Its fighters are battle-hardened from fighting on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against Syrias armed opposition groups, as well as against ISIS and the al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra front. This has given them significant experience in urban warfare. Hezbollah also has a much more sophisticated arsenal than it had during its 2006 war with Israel, which ended up with no clear victor or vanquished. At the time, many parts of Lebanon were devastated, but Hezbollah foiled Israels ultimate plan to dismantle the group, dealing a blow to Israels aura of invincibility. Back then, Hezbollah fought mostly with inaccurate, Soviet-era Katyusha rockets. Nowadays, it has precision guided missiles. In addition to potentially bringing more sophisticated weaponry and fighters into the current conflict, Hezbollahs intervention could rope in other parties, too. Hezbollah is part of a coalition of Iran-backed fighters who are still stationed in Syria. Their participation could potentially open a third front on the Syria-Israel border, this time alongside Irans elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) who are also present in Syria. Until the end of the Hamas-Israel conflict, diplomats and observers of many stripes will continue to watch the tinderbox here very closely. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has gone noticeably quiet since the start of the hostilities to the south, adding to the strange relatively tranquil yet incredibly tense atmosphere. Thursdays calm on the Lebanon-Israel border interrupted occasionally by Israeli interceptions of rockets from Palestinian militants begs many questions. Has the flare-up here ground to a near halt? Or is this the lull before a huge regional storm? This story was first published on CNN.com, 'Why have guns gone quiet on the Israel-Lebanon border?' The Iowa Department of Education announced close to 19,000 education savings accounts (ESAs) had been approved through a new state program that allows families to use public funds to pay for private school tuition. The number of students who used an ESA to attend private school this year, as well as the number of students who transferred out of public school to attend private school with an ESA, will not be made public until certified enrollment data is released in December, department officials said. The state approved 18,893 applications for the program for this school year, according to a press release from the state Department of Education. The Students First education savings account program, signed into law by Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in January, allows students to receive their full public per-pupil allocation, around $7,600, to pay for a private school tuition and related costs. The approval period for this year's program closed Sept. 30. These numbers reflect that Iowans were hungry for educational freedom," Reynolds said in a statement on Thursday. "Empowering parents wasnt just a campaign slogan or empty rhetoric. It was a promise, and I am excited to say we are delivering. The number reflects students who applied and were approved for the state assistance, not the number of students who used those accounts to attend a private school this year. Because of space limitations at private schools, not all of those approved may have attended private school. If an approved student does not attend a private school, the money is returned to the states general fund. For those students who are attending private schools this year with an ESA, department officials said the department has already begun sending payments to private schools for their tuition. The number far exceeds legislative predictions for the program's first year. The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency predicted around 14,000 applications would be approved in the first year, for a total cost of $106.9 million. If each of the approved students attends a private school, the cost would increase by more than $35 million. How many applied, and who was denied? The total number of applications submitted for the program was 29,612, which is more than 500 more than was reported when the application window ended in July. The additional applications were from people who had already applied but had to restart their application, the Department of Education said. Of the nearly 30,000 applications, 5,927 were denied because the family did not meet the residency or income requirements, the department said. Another 4,792 were duplicates or were closed voluntarily by the applicant. Students coming from public school not announced For its first year, the program was open to public school students and incoming kindergarteners at any income level, as well as private school students in families that have an income below 300% of the federal poverty line. By the 2025-26 school year, the accounts will be available to all students, regardless of income. Department of Education officials said on Thursday they would not be able to provide the percentage of approved students who already attend a private school and who attended a public school until certified enrollment data is released. In an August state Board of Education meeting, officials said they expected this years portion of approved applicants to be around 60% private school students and 40% public school students. Which counties had the most ESA applications approved? The state's most populous counties had the most approved applications, with four counties receiving more than 1,000 approvals. The top 10 counties are as follows: Polk County: 3,179 Linn County: 1,344 Scott County: 1,309 Sioux County: 1,200 Black Hawk County: 955 Woodbury County: 930 Dubuque County: 892 Johnson County: 585 Dallas County: 508 Carroll County: 438 Democrats: Program hands millions to special interests Legislative Democrats, who hold a minority in both the House and Senate, staunchly opposed the program when it was passed by Republicans earlier this year. They argued it would pull money away from struggling public schools and give it to unaccountable private entities. In a statement on Thursday, House Democratic leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights said Iowans are opposed to the program and want to see public money being used in public schools. "The $139 million Reynolds is handing over to the special interests and private schools should be going to the kids in Iowas public schools," Konfrst said. "Iowans want us to focus on the real issues facing our students today. That means strengthening public schools, addressing Iowas teacher shortage, getting students the one-on-one attention they deserve, and expanding school-based mental health services to support students." Iowa Sen. Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, called on Reynolds to release more information about how the accounts are being used. "Iowa parents, educators, and communities deserve to know how many vouchers are actually being used in Iowa, who is taking advantage of them, and how much private vouchers are costing public taxpayers," Quirmbach said. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Grimes, said on Thursday the number of approvals show that there is a demand for the program in Iowa. "It also shows a vast majority of Iowa students will continue to be educated in public schools. Senate Republicans will continue to provide sustainable increases in funding for all Iowa students and implement policies to make Iowa schools the best in the country," he said in a written statement. A Chicago man is accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old Park View girl in April of 2021, according to the Scott County Sheriffs Department. Joseph Barner, 51, formerly of Park View and now of Chicago, is charged with one count of third-degree sexual abuse. The charge is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years. According to the arrest affidavit filed by Scott County Sheriffs Deputy Anthony Johnson, at 4:30 p.m. April 10, 2021, deputies responded to an apartment building on Manor Drive in Park View to investigate a disturbance. Upon arrival a woman told deputies that she was Barners girlfriend and that while she was going through his phone that morning, she discovered a video of her 13-year-old daughter engaged in a sex act with Barner. Barner recorded the act on his phone. When the woman confronted Barner, he took the phone from her and fled from the second-story balcony of the apartment. Barner contacted Deputy Johnson on May 3, 2021, and promised to appear for an interview on May 7, 2021. However, Barner never appeared and never responded to Johnsons attempts to contact him. During a first appearance on the charge Thursday in Scott County District Court, Magistrate Catherine Cartee scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for Oct. 20. Barner was being held Thursday night in the Scott County Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond. Davenport City Council revoked a portion of a Davenport bar's liquor license that allows outdoor service, despite protests from the owner. City staff said over-capacity crowds had been forming outside Yoshi's Bar and Filipino Canteen, 831 W. 3rd St., since early August, and frequent police calls to the bar had become a drain on law enforcement resources. City legal and police staff have said they hoped denial of an outdoor area would be the least restrictive way to help quell the crowds. Indoor service is unaffected by the denial. "The issue again, is always capacity and the crowd in the late night and how to deal with that," Police Chief Jeff Bladel said. Yoshi's has a capacity of 90, Bladel said, and 911 callers have reported crowd estimates of more than that in the parking lot. Bladel added that the owner has followed most recommendations, and he believed the owner's heart is in the right place, but that crowds continued to form and police were trying to prevent violence breaking out in the future. The owner, Yoshi Haddon, has said incidents and statistics about his bar are being taken out of context, and that he's working hard to head off any potential disturbances at his bar, including hiring security personnel. He's said he feels his bar is being unfairly punished for calling the police when problems do arise. Haddon distributed a binder with information about his bar, telling the council Wednesday he was standing up to injustice and that the government "changes the roles, laws and evidence to fit their agenda and support their narrative." Assistant City Attorney Mallory Bagby said police had responded to 55 calls for service apart from extra patrols in the past year, including for noise complaints and disturbances, which was among the highest for bars in Davenport. The denial does not impact serving alcohol inside the building. City Attorney Tom Warner said Haddon could reapply for an outdoor service area in March ahead of the summer season. "Licensing restriction is the least restrictive means," Bagby told the council. "Your legal department and your police department have reviewed this bar's calls for service and have provided a recommendation based on their experience and knowledge. The bar will be up for renewal in early April, and he can reapply for the outdoor service privilege at that point." How restaurant employment has changed so far in 2023 How restaurant employment has changed so far in 2023 Jobs at restaurants fell slightly in June after months of growth The League of United Latin American Citizens, Council 10, Davenport, will hold its closing ceremony for National Hispanic Heritage Month at 11 a.m. Saturday at the LULAC Center, 4224 Ricker Hill Road. The council will be honoring all men and women who have and are serving in the armed forces, including Quad-City first responders. In particular this year, LULAC is honoring the late U.S. Army General Richard Edward Cavazos. On May 9, the Fort Hood installation in Texas was re-designated Fort Cavazos in honor of the Texas-born Korean War and Vietnam War hero who went on to become the Armys first Hispanic Brigadier General (one star) in 1976, and the Armys first Hispanic General (four stars) in 1982. Cavazos was awarded the Silver Star and the Distinguished Service Cross for his combat leadership and actions in 1953 during the Korean War. He was awarded a second Distinguished Service Cross in 1967 for his leadership and actions in the Vietnam War. Cavazos retired from the Army in 1984 after 33 years of service. Keynote speaker will be Command Sergeant Jorge Escobedo from the Rock Island Arsenal. Participants will include the Mexican-American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans, VFW Ybarra Gomez Post 8890, and the Quad Cities Patriot Guard Riders, among others. All military branches will be honored with traditional floral wreaths. The public is invited to attend. The American Buffalo, a two-part, four-hour film directed by Ken Burns, will premiere on Oct. 16-17 on Montana PBS. The documentary features the biography of a shaggy beast that has found itself at the center of many of the countrys most mythic and heartbreaking tales, the documentary's promoters say. It will be shown at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. both nights, according to the schedule posted on the Montana PBS website at https://bit.ly/3RYzkRR. Montana plays a huge role in the history documented in the film. The filmmakers kicked off their promotional tour in June in Missoula with a public event hosted by Montana PBS and a formal visit to the CSKT Bison Range. The film was shot throughout the state, including at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, Flying D Ranch, Fort Belknap, Yellowstone National Park and more, and features interviews with Montanans including Steven Rinella, Michael Punke, George Horse Capture Jr. (Aaniiih), Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeet of Montana and Metis), Marcia Pablo (Pend dOreille and Kootenai), and Germaine White (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), Montana PBS said in an email. The series, which has been in production for four years, will take viewers on a journey through more than 10,000 years of North American history and across some of the continents most iconic landscapes. It is a quintessentially American story, Ken Burns said, filled with unforgettable stories and people. But it is also a morality tale encompassing two historically significant lessons that resonate today: how humans can damage the natural world and also how we can work together to make choices to preserve the environment around us. Burns also said the story of the buffalo is also the story of Native nations who lived with and relied on it to survive. The series was written by Dayton Duncan, who is also the author of the companion book, Blood Memory: The Tragic Decline and Improbable Resurrection of the American Buffalo, to be published by Knopf timed to the broadcast. It was produced by Burns longtime colleague Julie Dunfey. Julianna Brannum, a member of the Quahada band of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, served as consulting producer. W. Richard West Jr., a Cheyenne and founding director and director emeritus of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of the American Indian, was the senior adviser. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., called for a major U.S. policy change along the U.S.-Mexico border after touring the boundary Wednesday. Montanas Republican senator characterized the thousands of daily illegal crossings into the United States as a threat to national security, putting blame on Democratic President Joe Biden, while also calling for a federal policy change. I believe our southern border, and my observations today affirm, that it is a threat to national security. It must be secured, Daines said. These are backward policies. These are wrong policies of President Biden that have created this crisis. He suspended construction of the border wall. He ended the remain in Mexico policy. He ended Title 42. And that has created an out of control, porous southern border that is a threat to national security. Both on the presidential campaign trail and in Congress, Republicans are characterizing border crossings and fentanyl smuggling as a national security threat justifying military escalation, including U.S. troops waging war with drug cartels in Mexico, a move the Mexican government decries as a violation of that nations sovereignty. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports 2.2 million encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico Border in the first 11 months of the just-ended federal fiscal year, with September totals remaining to be counted. In August, agents encountered 232,972 migrants according to CBP. From October 2022 through August, agents seized more than 25,500 pounds of fentanyl, nearly doubling the amount from the same period a year earlier. Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl are by far the leading cause of national drug-involved overdoses, with about 80,000 in 2021, reports the Centers for Disease Control. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has promised military force if elected. In a teased excerpt from the coming memoir of Mark Esper, the former Trump defense secretary, said Trump twice asked about launching missiles into Mexico in 2020. The former presidents long-shot challengers for the GOPs 2024 nomination are making similar promises of military attacks. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a September interview with NBC news anchor Nora ODonnell left the door open for missile strikes on Mexico if elected president. In June, DeSantis suggested a U.S. naval blockade of China freighters bound for Mexico to stop the import of fentanyl ingredients, as well and lethal force against those trying to cut through border barriers. Candidate Nikki Haley, Trumps former United Nations ambassador promises to send U.S. troops into Mexico to combat drug cartels. Candidates that have shied away from invading another country trail the rest of the Republican pack. In Congress there are Republican bills to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. There are also bills authorizing the president to use the Armed Forces against foreign nations, foreign organizations, or foreign persons affiliated with foreign organizations that the President determines are involved in trafficking fentanyl or fentanyl-related substances. There are also several resolutions mostly by Democrats affirming that Mexico is an important neighbor the United States needs to work with. Mexico is not amused at suggestions that a U.S. war on drugs reboot involve an actual war on Mexican soil. We are not going to allow any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a governments armed forces intervene, said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in a recorded March press conference in which he specifically responded to congressional Republicans advocating for a military assault in Mexico on cartels. President Biden is facing pressure to do more on the U.S.-Mexico border, not only from Republicans, but also from Democratic mayors of major cities overwhelmed by migrants, including those flown into liberal communities by DeSantis. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security published details of a 20-mile wall project in Texas, which federal regulators were waiving two dozen federal laws to expedite. The Associated Press reported that Biden described the construction as mandated by law during the Trump era and had to be built in 2023. It took him three years to wake up. But that's a good start. But 20 miles is not sufficient. But that's a good start, Daines said. So, I support what he wants to do there. I asked the Border Patrol agents about that. And they said, Yes, they need to do that. But he needs to continue finishing the wall that was started under the last administration. We need to give our Border Patrol agents all the tools they need to secure the southern border and the wall is one of those important tools. Biden is also losing support among red state Congressional Democrats on border issues. Montana Democrat Jon Tester, up for reelection in 2024, joined Republicans in May on a bill attempting to prevent Title 42 from expiring. Title 42 allows migrants to be expelled from the United States for public health concerns. The rule was invoked by the Trump administration, which cited the spread of COVID-19 as justification. The Biden administration moved to end the practice. In the final eight months before the Biden administration ended Title 42, there were 549,814 expulsions along the U.S. Mexico border, reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In the previous fiscal year, expulsions numbered 1,054,084. U.S.-to-Mexico gun smuggling is also exacerbating the border problem. Mexico has sued U.S. gun manufacturers, alleging that gun companies are encouraging trafficking of U.S. guns to drug cartels in Mexico. Wednesday, a Bozeman resident pleaded guilty to smuggling guns purchased in Montana to Mexico during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, February through May 2020. The purchases involved 31 handguns. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recovered several semi-automatic handguns, assault-style rifles, and receipts of gun purchases from several Montana gun shops from the Bozeman home of Cristyan Jose Gonzalez-Carrillo. Buying guns in Montana and taking them to Mexico to sell is illegal, said U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana in a press release. Fighting gun violence remains a top priority for our office and as todays hearing showed, we will investigate and prosecute anyone who violates federal firearms laws. Jen Alderfer of St. Vincent Healthcare is leaving her position as president and CEO this month, opting for a bigger role with LifePoint Health, a health care system that works in growing rural communities. Alderfer served as the president of St. Vs Montana and Wyoming markets for two years, seeing the hospital through the COVID-19 pandemic, a merger with Intermountain Health, a race to become a level I trauma center, and the design of a new hospital. Her last day at St. Vs will be Oct. 20. She will assume her new role with LifePoint Health in Denver on Oct. 30 where she will oversee the operation of 18 hospital campuses in Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington, according to a LifePoint press release. Interestingly, she will now be indirectly associated with Billings Clinic, which has a partnership with Community Medical Center in Missoula. Community Medical is part of the LifePoint Health system as is the Rehabilitation Hospital of Montana in Billings. In an emailed statement to The Gazette, leadership at Intermountain Health expressed their gratitude for Alderfer's work. Intermountain Health in Montana and Wyoming has made incredible progress in many areas under Jens leadership, most notably in EPIC Community Connect hosting for Cody Regional Health and St. Peters Health, launching a new ground ambulance program as well as a joint ventured flight program, and launching the design process for the new St. Vincent Hospital, the statement read. Alderfers departure comes as the organization begins construction of a new hospital on its Billings campus and is reaching to level up its trauma services. Leadership at Intermountain Health say the development projects will continue as planned. We will not miss a beat in delivering on our mission and growth plans that continue to move forward. CEO turnover in Montana Turnover in upper-management at hospitals often results in delays for facility upgrades and postpones development of new services until new leadership arrives, according to the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). And Montana has seen a lot of CEO turnover in the years since the pandemic. Montana has the highest annual rate of hospital CEO turnover in the whole country, according to a 2022 report by ACHE. Nationally, the turnover rate has settled at about 16% for the third year in a row, significantly lower than the 30% rate recorded in Montana. Prior to Alderfer, Steve Loveless acted as the CEO of St. Vs for 11 years, a long time for a hospital administrator in a top management position. On average, hospital CEOs stay with an organization for about 5.5 years, according to ACHE. Recently though, hospital administrators in Montana have vacated their positions, some voluntarily and others under pressure, right around the two year mark. At the end of 2019, Billings Clinic fired Dr. Randall Gibb after two years as CEO following complaints of sexual harassment. Dr. Scott Ellner replaced Gibb, but after 18-months he suddenly resigned from his position. Dr. Clint Seger has filled the position at Billings Clinic since August 2022, as interim CEO before he moved into the position permanently. Dr. John Hill was the CEO of Bozeman Health for six years until he stepped down last October. His departure came after 28 employees were laid off from leadership positions and hiring efforts for another 25 open positions were frozen. The hospital was under significant financial strain in the early months of 2022 due to workforce shortages. "The board of directors and I have mutually agreed that I will end my tenure as CEO of Bozeman Health, Hill said in an Oct. 2022 press release. Interim CEO at St. Vs The president of Intermountain Healths Western Colorado market and St. Marys Medical Center will act as the interim CEO at St. Vs until someone new is hired for the role. Bryan Johnson previously served as the Chief Operating Officer for St. Marys and CEO of Intermountain Alta View Hospital in Sandy, Utah. He will maintain his responsibilities in Western Colorado until a permanent replacement has been established, Intermountain Health leadership said. WAR IN GAZA Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, on Wednesday expressed gratitude after University of Virginia President Jim Ryan released a statement in which he described Hamas' attacks on Israel as "atrocities." A number of Virginia politicians, including Gilbert, had urged Ryan to speak out on Tuesday after a UVa student group described the attacks as an "unprecedented feat for the 21st century" and supported the "the right of colonized people everywhere to resist the occupation of their land by whatever means they deem necessary." "There can be no justification for, and we must condemn, the actions of Hamas and the horrific violence that has taken place against civilians, including children," Ryan said in the statement, released Wednesday morning. Ryan added that the university has a "longstanding tradition of not just allowing free speech, but promoting civil discourse, even when ... we strongly disagree." He did not explicitly reference the Students for Justice in Palestine at UVa, the organization that made the initial remarks. In a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Gilbert thanked Ryan for the "moral clarity he demonstrated ... in his statement." On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is to meet this afternoon with members of the Jewish community in Virginia Beach. Youngkin on Tuesday night condemned what he called the "barbaric and horrific terrorist acts" of Hamas and urged the U.S. to speed assistance to its ally Israel. "The United States only has one decision here, which is how much support can we get to Israel as fast as we can," Youngkin said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. "They are our brothers. We will stand with them and there can be no, no hesitancy in committing everything they need to defend themselves." Youngkin noted that on Monday he met with Jewish leaders in Northern Virginia's Loudoun County. "Not only were they griefstricken, like all of us, but angry and they were filled with fear, as well. This is what terrorists do. This is what Hamas is a terrorist group and they must be met with force." A juvenile has been arrested in a fatal single-vehicle crash that killed a Hermitage High School student. Henrico County police are not releasing the name of the juvenile, who has been placed in juvenile detention on petitions of involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle without a license. The crash happened at 6 p.m. on Sept. 19 at Olde West and Kilcolman drives. The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control, police said. The vehicle went onto a sidewalk and hit two dogs that were being walked before hitting a tree and another vehicle. The driver and a passenger were treated at a hospital. All three people in the vehicle were students at Hermitage. The two dogs were killed. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (804) 501-5000 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. Richmond police on Thursday released the name of the man found dead in an alley this week. Police said the victim in the homicide was Andrew Roberts, 23, of Henrico County. Police were called to the 2400 block of Ford Avenue at 7:39 a.m. on Wednesday. Roberts was found unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The state medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (804) 646-0712 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. (CNN) When he heard that Hamas militants were attacking a music festival his family was attending, Ben Ovadia said Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, for his mother. I didnt know what to do. I said please kill her because it would be better than being kidnapped, Ovadia, 38, told CNN on Wednesday. Its a nightmare. I said please kill her, dont take her there. Over WhatsApp, he watched, helpless, as his mother and younger brother sent updates for eight hours, telling him that they were hiding in small bushes, hearing gunfire and people walking past saying Allahu Akbar. (Every message) took about two minutes to arrive and in between there was no communication, he said. Every two minutes you are tearing your hair out to get an answer. Eventually, Ovadia heard of a secure location, sent the map to his brother and they managed to escape from the festival. The next morning, Ovadia flew to Israel from London where he lives with his British wife and nine-year-old twins. He is one of many Israelis returning home from abroad as their countrys long-running conflict with Hamas escalates into a war not seen on this scale for a generation. To cope with the increasing demand, Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia added more flights on Tuesday to repatriate military reservists, Reuters reported. Cutting short holidays or uprooting their everyday lives overseas, these Israelis are returning for funerals, in preparation for being called up into the military reserves, carrying supplies back with them, or to help protect their communities. At least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel following Hamas deadly and brutal attack on October 7 when its militants broke through the heavily fortified border from Gaza, leaving atrocities in their wake. Israel has responded by hammering Gaza with airstrikes and halting supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel to the Palestinian enclave. At least 1,417 people have been killed in Gaza in the days since, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the enclaves only power station ran out of fuel on Wednesday. Straight after seeing his family when he landed in Israel, Ovadia went to Lod, a city about nine miles southeast of Tel Aviv, where there had previously been outbursts of violence. There he joined friends in forming an impromptu neighborhood watch, to ensure the situation remained calm. He has since helped to deliver donated food and is planning to drive to the south of the country as there arent enough drivers to take people to their families. At least theres something that I can do, he said. I couldnt stay in London and just watch it all happening on TV. Another returning Israeli is 30-year-old Guy, who works in cybersecurity and has lived in London for the last five years. CNN is not using his surname for safety reasons. Guy traveled back to Israel on Wednesday after learning that six of his friends were missing after attending the Supernova music festival. Two of the group have since been confirmed dead. He told CNN that he is returning to be a military reservist, and for the funerals of his friends, who were part of a close circle that often went to trance music festivals, like Supernova, alongside Palestinians too. The generation born since the Yom Kippur War have never seen anything like this, he said. They have had the opportunity to believe in peace and the two-state solution we grew up with that The people that go to these festivals participate as citizens of the world who essentially just want to celebrate life. Israel has called up 300,000 reservists to fight for its military, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Maj. Doron Spielman told CNN Wednesday, a mobilization on the scale of a major country such as the United States, despite Israels relatively small population of 9.7 million, according to data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics in April. Theres not a family that does not have somebody thats been called up. Or, unfortunately, since were such a small country, a family that does not have friends, or loved ones that are still missing, Spielman told CNN. Though there are some exemptions, every Israeli citizen over the age of 18 is required to serve in the IDF. After finishing their service, many take lengthy trips overseas, a kind of post-service rite of passage. After completing his military service, 22-year-old Ben, who also asked to keep his family name confidential, had intended to explore Asia for several months. But he abandoned those plans on Saturday when he learned of Hamas attack while in a mountain village in Nepal. He has since returned to Israel and is on standby to serve as a reservist in a reconnaissance unit. In a telephone call from Nepal on Monday, prior to his flight on Tuesday, Ben said he thought there were more than 100 Israelis in Kathmandu alone trying to return. It feels really hard to be so far away and there isnt much you can do, he said. Youre worried about the people there and all you do all day is watch the news and look at your phone. Its impossible to be away right now. Ilan Fisher, 29, is another Israeli expecting to be called up for reserve duty, he told CNN on Wednesday. He was on vacation in Melbourne, Australia on the day of Hamas attack, attending the wedding of two close Australian friends, both of whom also live in Israel. Though Fisher has had multiple offers to remain in Melbourne, he intends to fly back on Sunday and expects to be drafted back into the armys media department. Given the situation there right now, how dire it is and how dire it will be, I dont really have another choice but to go back, he said. Some Israelis are rushing back for other reasons. Rachel Gold, 27, had been on vacation in Toronto and had the idea of taking supplies back to Israel with her friend, Jessica Kane, who had been visiting her parents in New York. After putting out a call on social media, they raised $15,000 to buy supplies and flew back on Monday evening with two other friends, carrying 13 large check-in cases, four carry-on bags and several backpacks with them. The luggage was stuffed with supplies including head torches, flashlights, underwear, socks, toothbrushes, portable chargers, hydration pouches and protein bars. Kane, 26, told CNN that her family are religiously observant and so she did not hear of the attack until her father learned of it by word of mouth while in synagogue. Initially I didnt believe it. I thought it was being sensationalized, she said. We very quickly went on our phones. I had a few missed calls from the army and had a million red alert notifications about missiles falling. It was incredibly, incredibly difficult. The friends were met at the airport on Tuesday by volunteers who immediately took the donations to deliver to the south of Israel. Gold is now on a military base in the south, having been recruited as a reservist. Being here is a lot more comforting than being away, she told CNN. I felt desperately helpless just sitting at home watching the news and thinking what else I can do beyond sending money. Being here at least I feel part of it and taking action and doing things, plus Im not glued to the news all day. Being here is a little bit less scary than being abroad. This story was first published on CNN.com, I dont really have any other choice: Young Israelis around the world return home after Hamas attacks" The Hanover County Board of Supervisors has voted to appoint S. Brent Helmick as the Chickahominy District representative through the end of the year. The board was informed at its last meeting that Supervisor Angela Kelly-Wiecek was leaving the seat in early October for a leadership role at the newly formed Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement. Helmick will serve in Kelly-Wieceks chair for the district through the end of the year. He is expected to be sworn in and participate in the Oct. 25 board meeting. The county said he was picked from a field of 12 candidates. Cold Harbor District Supervisor F. Michael Herzberg spearheaded the search process and made the motion to appoint Helmick. Herzberg said he was impressed during the interview process when Helmick said if there is someone better for this position than me, please pick them. I thought, that is exactly what we need here, someone that will prioritize the citizens of the Chickahominy District and the taxpayers of Hanover County, said Herzberg, adding that he was impressed by Helmicks thoroughness. I believe he will read documents and analyze things like the county comprehensive plan. Hes been watching the meetings and following the current events in the area, he said. The board unanimously approved the appointment. As we met with Mr. Helmick, he just rose to the top. ... Hes a devoted man, he knows and genuinely loves the Hanover that we all love, and I look forward to working with him, said South Anna District Supervisor Sue Dibble. Helmick is a senior security solutions architect for Verizon where he has worked for 28 years. He is also a 24-year veteran of Virginias Army National Guard, currently serving as a chief warrant officer. I am cut out for a call of service, Helmick said in a county press release. I felt like this was something I could do to serve the community. Some residents spoke during the public comment period saying that the felt the appointment was rushed, and that they would have preferred the board wait to appoint an interim until after the Nov. 7 election, just under two weeks after Helmet takes over in an interim capacity. His term will end on Dec. 31. Kelly-Wieceks positions on several boards were reassigned to the current board members. She served on eight boards and committees for Hanover, like the Community Services Board, Joint Education Committee and Richmond Regional Tourism board. From the Archives: Photos of the Richmond region in the 1980s When historian W. Donald Rhinesmith moved into the Ellen Glasgow mansion in spring 1967, he expected to find all of the usual artifacts that accompany a 130-year-old Southern home a lawn filled with magnolia trees, fluted columns, high ceilings and detailed crown molding. However, what he did not anticipate were the sounds that would come to fill the halls of the historic home and keep him awake at night. For months, Rhinesmith would listen and wait for the heavy footsteps to begin treading through the house. On one occasion, just after midnight, Rhinesmith recalled lying in bed, nearing slumber, when suddenly, the sound of footsteps began. This time, they were in his bedroom. The steps continued around the four-poster bed before stopping abruptly in front of the window. When he thought the footsteps had ceased, the silence was broken by the sound of a loud stomp. Its abruptness startled Rhinesmith, and he immediately got up and turned on the light. I am convinced that there is a spirit in this house, Rhinesmith told Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Ann Brandon Heiner in the Sunday, Oct. 31, 1971, edition of the paper. Theres something walking around at night, methodically walking, a rather heavy tread. The Glasgow house, built in 1841 at 1 W. Main St., was an architectural feat for its time as one of few Greek Revival homes built for those in the city who could afford them. Its first inhabitants included the Glasgow family. The youngest daughter, Ellen, would come to take over the home and preside in it until her death in 1945. 'From the Archives' series "From the Archives" is a series of stories exploring the history of Richmond and the reqion through the files of The Times-Dispatch. Have a topic you'd like us to check out? Email reporter Em Holter at eholter@timesdispatch.com and visit richmond.com to see more from our archives. Ellen Glasgow, one of Richmonds most famous, is still recognized as one of Americas greatest Southern women writers. It was in her Main Street home that she spent the majority of her time, hosted grandiose parties and penned numerous short stories and 20 novels including In This Our Life, which won her a Pulitzer Prize in 1942. Feeling Glasgows spirit Rhinesmith believed it was Glasgows spirit that stomped her foot that night and was to blame for all of the mysterious sounds throughout the house. There used to be handsome Greek Revival houses across the street. Now, theres an ugly parking lot, Rhinesmith said of the possible cause for the stomping. In the room that used to be Glasgows writing study, Rhinesmith reported the sounds of someone typing away at a typewriter. In the Wednesday, Aug. 7, 1985, edition of The Times-Dispatch, writer Bob Taylor seconded the claims of hearing the typewriter in her study, as many people reported hearing it and many believed it was Glasgow working to complete her final novel, one she was never able to finish in this lifetime. Richmond is supposed to be fertile ground for ghosts because it has so much history and tragedy, at least thats what one ghost expert told me, Taylor said. Rhinesmith, while a believer, also was a skeptic. He theorized that the typing he heard could have been the sound of magnolia seed pods bursting just outside the window. While there are things he tried to explain, there were other instances he could not. In the alcove on the second floor, Glasgow would often push a button buzzer on the wall to summon her butler and maids. Richmond's femme fatale: city's first female serial killer or chance accomplice? While both brutal and bizarre, it would take the testimony of two survivors in the upcoming days for law enforcement to begin to connect the dots and launch their month-long investigation one that resulted in one of the most publicized trials in the citys history and the subsequent capture of Richmonds own femme fatale Violet Merryman, better known as the Hammer Woman. Following her death, the button was disconnected its white-painted wires dangling an inch above the floor. Occasionally, the buzzer would still ring. His two dogs often opted to spend hours in the bedroom that was once Glasgows. While the traditional lore dictates that dogs can see or sense haunts and are generally suspicious and alarmed by their presence, Rhinesmith said he believed it was the opposite. In her life, Glasgow had numerous dogs that she adopted from the Richmond SPCA, many of whom were strays whom she saved from a miserable life of garbage hunting and given a life of complete luxury. These dogs would love Miss Glasgow The Times-Dispatch reported on Sept. 3, 1929, the death of Glasgows wooly white dog that almost caused her to have a nervous collapse. One of her dogs was rumored to be buried with her. With no children of her own, when she died, a large portion of her fortune, totaling $159,000 ($2.6 million in todays dollars), went to the Richmond SPCA. Her most beloved dog, Bonnie, was willed a $25-a-month stipend as well as a chaise lounge. As a result, Rhinesmith said his own dogs would have nothing to fear if it were Glasgow. I am sure that these dogs would love Miss Glasgow if she liked them, he said. While Rhinesmith continued to use one of the rooms of her home as a study for years, he stopped staying overnight in the home shortly after taking it over. Glasgow is buried in her familys plot in Hollywood Cemetery. If restless spirits can move about, why should she wish to stay among cold graves when she can enjoy the delights of her old house, once so melancholy, now full of light and color and adorned by warm and beautiful, well-loved dogs? Rhinesmith speculated as to why Glasgow might still be visiting the home. From the archives: Halloween in Richmond through the years 1954 Halloween 1959 Halloween 1976 Halloween 1976 Halloween 1978 Halloween 1981 Halloween 1981 Halloween 1983 Halloween 1984 Halloween 1985 Halloween 1986 Halloween 1987 Halloween 1987 Halloween 1995 Halloween 1995 Halloween 1995 Halloween 1995 Halloween 1996 Halloween 1996 Halloween 1997 Halloween 1997 Halloween 1998 Halloween 1998 Halloween 1998 Halloween 1998 Halloween 1999 Halloween 1999 Halloween 2000 Halloween 2000 Halloween 2001 Halloween 2001 Halloween 2001 Halloween 2002 Halloween 2002 Halloween 2002 Halloween 2002 Halloween 2002 Halloween 2003 Halloween 2003 Halloween 2003 Halloween 2003 Halloween 2004 Halloween 2004 Halloween 2004 Halloween 2004 Halloween 2005 Halloween 2005 Halloween 2005 Halloween 2006 Halloween 2006 Halloween 2007 Halloween 2007 Halloween 2009 Halloween 2012 Halloween 2012 Halloween 2013 Halloween 2013 Halloween 2013 Halloween 2013 Halloween 2013 Halloween 2013 Halloween 2014 Halloween 2014 Halloween 2015 Halloween 2015 Halloween 2016 Halloween 2016 Halloween 2016 Halloween 2017 Halloween 2018 Halloween 2018 Halloween 2018 Halloween 2018 Halloween 2018 Halloween 2018 Halloween 2018 Halloween 2018 Halloween Across the state, monuments conveying symbols of the Confederacy still dot the landscape. While some have been removed in the years since George Floyds murder at the hands of Minnesota police, many still stand. Overall, 48 Confederate memorials were removed last year throughout the U.S., with 33 states still having at least one, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the use of the iconography and advocates for removal. Virginia led the U.S. in taking down symbols, which Rivka Maizlish, a senior research analyst for the center, said reflects momentum in Virginia. A lot of this happens when theres people on the ground really dedicated to saying this is not what we want our state or community to be about, she said. Removals in the Lynchburg and Danville regions, however, have been rare. The Southern Poverty Law Centers database of Confederate monuments lists just three for the Hill City an obelisk and street honoring Jubal Early and the Confederate monument atop downtowns Monument Terrace, but more remain tucked in cemeteries, parks and other public locales. An obelisk at Old City Cemetery, for example, was erected in 1869 as the first public monument in the Hill City and remains the oldest Confederate cemetery monument in Virginia, said Ted Delaney, Lynchburgs chief public history officer. About this story The killing of George Floyd three years ago resulted in the removal of Confederate statues and symbols in numerous communities across Virginia. In a three-part series, we look at which ones remain and what comes next. Part one: More than 100 of Virginias Confederate memorials have come down. But the process has been complex. Part two: How statues created mythological characters from Confederate generals. Part three: In the Lynchburg region, less movement towards dismantling iconography In about 1890, Early Street was named for the former Virginia state delegate who served as a major general in the Confederate States Army. An obelisk honoring Early was erected in 1920 at the intersection of Fort and Memorial avenues. In 1913, a monument to the Second Virginia Cavalry was placed at the site where the cavalry was organized, which remains in its original spot in midtowns Miller Park. But perhaps Lynchburgs most famous Confederate monument is the one atop Monument Terrace, a site dedicated to memorializing Lynchburgs war history. Erected in 1900, the monument stands above the rest at its position on Court Street looking toward the citys former courthouse. While the marker is dedicated to honoring the Confederacy, it is not of a specific person, but rather a generic soldier. In Danville, the statue of Harry Wooding, the citys longest-serving mayor who fought for the Confederacy, stands before Danvilles City Hall. An inscription installed in 1942 points to Woodings year of service to the Confederacy. In Amherst County, the NAACP branch has called a Confederate monument on the grounds of the county courthouse an anomaly and has spoken out against wording on the accompanying plaque stating the Souths cause was noble. The NAACP has asked the county supervisors to address the inscription and its presence on county property, while some have publicly defended it. The supervisors have not discussed the matter in an open meeting. In Bedford County, a large obelisk installed in 1909 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy stands before the countys courthouse. With the only notable conversation about its removal taking place in the aftermath of the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, the statue remains a fixture in front of the judicial building. Its history The removal of such imagery has been contentious across the U.S., and several states, including Tennessee and North Carolina, have put in place preservation laws to block such moves. Over the past three years, monuments have remained in place in the Lynchburg and Danville regions with little push to remove them. Danvilles government formed the Mayors Subcommittee on Monuments in 2020 to examine whether to remove its statue, though no recommendations came, said Mayor Alonzo Jones. Vice Mayor Gary Miller, assigned to chair the subcommittee, said the topic has not been discussed lately. We never got off the ground, said Miller, a member of the Danville branch of the NAACP. Richmond served as the capital of the Confederacy during the majority of the Civil War, but Southside supported the Confederacy. Danville is known as the last capital of the Confederacy after President Jefferson Davis fled Richmond with his cabinet and arrived April 3, 1865. The Sutherlin Mansion, now home to the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, housed Jefferson for a week before he fled south. Flown there was a reproduction of a Confederate flag officially known as the Third National Flag of the Confederacy until Aug. 6, 2015. The flag was removed after the Danville City Council approved an ordinance allowing only the city, state and national flags flown on city-owned property. After that, private residents began putting up Confederate flags, including an 80-foot-wide flag, the worlds largest Confederate flag reproduction next to U.S. 29 in Blairs. In Chatham, between the Pittsylvania County Courthouse and Sheriffs Office, stands a statue erected in 1899 to honor soldiers killed in the war. There are no plans to remove it. To me, it all goes to memorializing the war dead, said Ron Scearce, who represents the Westover District on the Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors. You dont have to like the reason we went to war. These guys did fight for the cause they believed in. Pittsylvania owns the land and the monument after the UDC chapter responsible for it folded years ago. We are not aware of any plans to remove the monument and have never had to adopt any position on the subject, said Bill Guerrant, president of the Pittsylvania Historical Society, which is charged with its maintenance. Anita Royston, president of the Pittsylvania chapter of the NAACP, wants the statue removed, saying it honors an act of treason and that the Confederacys cause should not be honored any more than Hitlers actions during the Holocaust. There are some folks who say it doesnt matter; its history, Royston said. We may as well have statues of folks being lynched. Why not? Thats history. Royston said her chapter had been talking about getting it taken down, but other things came up and distracted us, she said. Banister Supervisor Robert Tucker Jr., the only Black member of the Board of Supervisors, said the idea has not come up and that he does not plan to propose it. It represents heritage to some, and it also represents the past, Tucker said. But at the same time, I would advocate for some type of marker or statue to celebrate diversity, in terms of where we are right now and who we are. Pieces of concrete and steel The most prominent of monuments in Lynchburg is the Confederate soldier standing atop Monument Terrace, but its location muddles discussions over whether such monuments should remain or be removed. Monument Terrace being a series of war memorials, I think that really complicates this one here, said Delaney, noting each terrace contains a memorial to the role Lynchburg residents played in war. I think what would happen is, if it did come down, it would be obligatory to replace it with another Civil War monument, because that terrace is meant to represent the Civil War, he added. Its not just as simple as you just remove it and then you move on. Yet, its equally complicated by its positioning. Now, on the other hand, Delaney said, I have heard the people say its even more complicated in the other direction because the courts and the police department are located literally across the streets. And so by placing the monument near those spaces, you complicate it in another way. I dont want to oversimplify it, but the factors that make it complex, I think, is one of the reasons why its still here today. Ultimately, the statue survived a push for removal in the summer of 2020 amid rallies and protests at its feet, in part thanks to then-Mayor Treney Tweedy, a Navy veteran and the citys first Black female mayor, who was adamant the city had too many other concerns to worry about pieces of concrete and steel. Tweedy was unable to be reached for comment, but several community members still echo Tweedys words there are far more problems to be concerned about than monuments in public spaces. Ramona Battle, a board member of the Lynchburg Museum and The Legacy Museum of African American History, said that from her perspective, I dont think people of color give it much thought now because there are so many other issues that need to be dealt with. Im not saying its a forgotten issue; its just not a priority right at this moment. We know why those monuments were created and erected, and that was at a time when people wanted to remind other folks, Hey, were still in control, she added. Battle said she feels as if the Confederate monuments stand in juxtaposition of how typical statues and monuments are erected, explaining, Monuments are erected in honor of someone who has contributed greatly in some way. But I dont believe those monuments were erected with that thought in mind. For her, the monuments have always been a reminder of a very cruel and inhumane system of forced servitude. Those who fought to keep their livelihood thought they were doing it because it was their heritage. We, on the other hand, thought the Civil War was different, and that was for freedom, she said. Owen Cardwell, one of the first two students to desegregate Lynchburgs all-white E.C. Glass High School in 1962, said the push to remove monuments in 2020 was a distraction, and the statues should remain with the proper contextualization of history. It made it very easy for those who were embracing the so-called Southern heritage around the statues for them to speak against or disregard the statues that represented the African American community, he said. The truth of the matter, Cardwell added, I think that all of that played into the battles we have now around content, particularly around content in schools that deal with race and America. Cardwell said it comes across as if the message is white Americans living today are responsible for the actions of the past, and that perception is one that needs to change as a part of contextualization. Youre not responsible for what your foreparents did, but you have benefited from it, he said. We need to change the dialogue from denying responsibility to accepting that there have been benefits to one group of people that another group of people did not benefit from. James Coleman, who sat on the Lynchburg City School Board at the time and serves as a bishop at Providence Transformation Church International, similarly focused on the educational and contextualization aspect of the history of the monuments. Education is another hotspot of race right now, and the question is often, How much should we know about the past? he said. How can we help if we dont really understand the dynamic that various people have had to deal with? Coleman added that while the argument for many comes down to hate versus heritage, the reality is, we will never find a path to heal unless we truly know each others struggles. A lesson to teach Lynchburg Civil War historian Clifton Potter, who is also a member of the Sons of Union Veterans, spoke on the importance of the monuments as a reminder of where we came from and where we dont want to go again. We were not one people; we were separated, Potter said. This reminds us, its a lesson for us to never do it again. ... Those monuments remind us that we almost destroyed something that was so unique in world history, and we must never let that happen again. Potter, who noted Lynchburg now has as many recognitions of Union Army history as Confederate, said that while the Confederate monuments first came about at the turn of the 21st century because people wanted to honor the loved ones whom they never knew, or those who never came home from war, the monuments now take on a different meaning. Im a historian, he said. You cannot change history that has happened. You cant run away from it; you cant hide it; you cant change it. And now they are not only part of memorializing the Confederate dead, they are part of the history of the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. Moving forward, Coleman said the table needs to be opened for a dialogue on heritage versus hate. Cardwell agreed. Its connected to a peoples sense of self; its very emotional and fraught, he said. If we can get past the emotions and talk on a more rational level, I think we can come to a meeting of the minds on this. I dont object to the monuments. I think they represent something, but I think that the representation, though, has to be part of a bigger narrative than the slice that piece of marble and steel represent. Lynchburgs seemingly final decision on the monuments came in December 2021, as the citys African American Cultural Committee presented the Lynchburg City Council its recommendations on how to honor Black history. The city garnered extensive feedback through community meetings and, in the document, the committee recommended against removing any of the citys Confederate statues, specifically the one atop Monument Terrace, due to the historical significance it plays in the community despite its controversy. While the debate may spark again, in Lynchburg, the conclusion is one that the monuments history is too deep and nuanced to tear down. As Potter says, attempting to change history is a futile effort. You cannot change history, because it has a lesson to teach, Potter said. Even those monuments that were removed or destroyed, they have a lesson to teach. Its to teach us we must never ever reach the point where we do that again, because the next time, we may not be so lucky. Maizlish, the Southern Poverty Law Center researcher, said the topic isnt going away. I think we will see more come down, she said. A group with ties to election denialism, which launched in Richmond in August, has been spreading fliers with misinformation around Northern Virginia which prompted Attorney General Jason Miyares to issue a cease and desist order this week. The fliers contained warnings to recipients that failure to vote may result in a loss of: Social Security Income, Medicare Eligibility, Unemployment Benefits, Child Tax Credits and Child Custody Rights, Concealed Carry Permit. They further stated: Failure to vote may also result in seizure of personal assets, including but not limited to firearms, bank accounts, cars, and real estate. Another message states that [g]etting an absentee ballot ... may prevent the loss of government benefits, tax credits, and seizure of your personal assets. Miyares called the claims patently false and said they served the purpose of intimidation. Miayres letter warned that the group could face penalties if it did not stop disseminating materials containing the misinformation. The group, Look Ahead America, countered with a letter from its lawyer asserting that the cited materials are at issue in upcoming elections. The groups executive director, Matt Braynard, said in a statement: As a result of our (fliers) and mailers, many elderly, disabled, and other disaffected Americans have reached out to us for help with exercising their right to vote. While we are currently abiding by the cease and desist order, our attorneys have requested an urgent meeting with the Attorney Generals office to resolve this amicably and in favor of our cause and our First Amendment rights. The Richmond Times-Dispatch is not aware at the time of this publication of similar fliers or mailers in the Richmond area. Though the organization considers itself nonpartisan, it has been associated with people who believe the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump. Braynard worked on Trumps 2016 campaign. Look Ahead America has since played a role in supporting defendants facing charges related to participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The organization has promoted nationwide vigils and rallies for J6 prisoners, has a job board for employers sympathetic to participants, and maintains a database of court cases related to Jan. 6 charges. This summer, Look Ahead America launched an initiative to encourage participants to upload videos of them asking federal candidates what youre going to do for the January Sixth political prisoners, especially those whove not been charged with any violent acts. It said the first person to upload a video asked a 2024 presidential candidate the question would receive a $1,000 bounty. A federal indictment accuses Trump of conspiring to subvert the 2020 presidential election, including by attempting to obstruct the meeting of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, to count and certify the electoral votes. Amid Trumps ongoing legal battles, Braynard has issued a statement through Look Ahead America challenging the indictment. Look Ahead America is not alone in trying to propel more people to the polls. Its efforts come amid a bipartisan push in Virginia for early and absentee voting along with ads and canvassing support from various nonprofit organizations. (Dave Rexrode, chairman of Gov. Glenn Youngkins Spirit of Virginia PAC, has noted that the PAC is not coordinating its absentee and early voting outreach with Look Ahead America.) As of the time of this publication, over 200,000 people have already voted early or by mail, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Early voting runs through Nov. 4 this year, and actual Election Day is Nov. 7. 31 photos from the Times-Dispatch archives We are opposed to the idea that Palestine should be considered the homeland of the Jews. Jews in America are part of the American nation. The ideal of the Jew is not the establishment of a Jewish state. ... The ideal of the Jew is to witness to God all over the world. Against the horrific backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, such words might seem an attack on Jewry uninformed, if not, intolerant. But these thoughts were not uttered in recent days by sworn adversaries of Israel. They are the observations in 1918 of a prominent Richmond rabbi, Edward Calisch. He led for 55 years Congregation Beth Ahabah. Founded more than 230 years ago, Beth Ahabah on West Franklin Street, adjacent to Virginia Commonwealth University is nearly as old as the republic itself. Calisch believed a Jewish state would embolden anti-Semites, providing them an enduring target. He was not alone among American Jews, many of whom particularly in the South considered assimilation the preferred goal of a people that, since biblical times, had stood alone. Anti-Zionism thats what Calisch advanced until the end of his life was repudiated by the trauma of the Holocaust, unleashed across Europe by Hitler barely 20 years after the rabbi took his stand. That Israel and its existence in one of the worlds most dangerous neighborhoods was a flashpoint among Jews in Virginia even before the nations creation in 1948 is a largely forgotten moment in a debate that is spilling into an unlikely setting: the bruising campaign for control of a state legislature narrowly split between the political parties. The General Assembly is ordinarily preoccupied with schools, transportation, law and order, taxes, and health and welfare services. But in a diverse, suburban-dominated Virginia, where roughly 13% of its residents are foreign-born; 42% are Black, Hispanic and Asian, and which has had cultural and trade ties with Israel since 1986, the outside world has a way of creeping in if only as a campaign talking point. The merciless terror inflicted by Hamas and Israels tough-minded response aroused Virginias Republicans and Democrats. Their expressions of outrage and sympathy recalled those directed to Virginia as one of three states scarred by the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 an episode that continues to ripple through the states politics and policies. But there has also been something of a shoving match here intended to energize voters. High-decibel claims and counter-claims over the latest war between Israel and its shadowy menace seem more about rousing emotion, spurring Virginians to vote in locally oriented elections that many usually ignore. The states Democratic U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both of whom sit on committees with jurisdiction over national security and foreign relations have seethed over a Republican-orchestrated delay on a confirmation vote for the Biden administrations pick for ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, the former Treasury secretary. That this country at this perilous moment is without its highest, on-the-ground-in-Israel diplomatic link to the wartime unity government of Benjamin Netanyahu is the handiwork of Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican and celebrity surrogate for Glenn Youngkin during the 2021 gubernatorial election. The GOP is wary of Lew because of his role in the nuclear deal with Iran, Hamas principal supplier of money and munitions. The agreement was negotiated by the Obama White House and discarded by Donald Trump. Netanyahu is no less an incendiary figure in Virginia than in Israel. A Jewish senator from Fairfax, Scott Surovell, took to X, formerly Twitter, to fault Netanyahus conservative policies most notably his push to limit the authority of the courts for provoking Hamas. As if that didnt cause a firestorm on social media, Surovell drew a parallel to Netanyahu-ism and the chaos within the U.S. House GOP caucus that has rendered Congress speaker-less, preventing the nation from fully assisting Israel and perhaps leaving the United States vulnerable. Youngkin credited by traditionally Democratic Jewish voters for his overtures to them in 2021, despite parroting conservative extremists by attacking the Jewish philanthropist George Soros for his support of reform-minded prosecutor candidates staged an open-to-the-press, roundtable conversation in Hampton Roads with Jewish leaders. Youngkin, who early in his governorship named a commission to study antisemitism in Virginia and this year signed into law legislation to combat it, addressed the violence in Israel and acknowledged the fear it raises in American Jews already alarmed by bursts of antisemitism. Much of it has been fomented by Trump-aligned, far-right, de facto Republicans and was on full display in Virginia during the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 that Joe Biden said inspired him to seek the presidency. Not that feelings havent also been rubbed raw by Democrats and for years. The embrace of Palestinians by Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist, during his two presidential campaigns in the 1980s brought Arab Americans into the Virginia Democratic coalition. That Gov. Jerry Baliles was, at the time, establishing a Virginia-Israel partnership was a source of pride for Jews, but it angered Arab Americans. The ensuing tensions spurred the Episcopal bishop of Virginia, Peter Lee, to personally appeal to Baliles to call off a long-planned trip to Israel in 1988 to showcase the new bilateral relationship, suggesting it was a validation of Israels heavy-handedness toward Palestinians. Baliles went ahead with the trip, later making a conciliatory visit to Egypt. And, in Charlottesville this past week, at the University of Virginia, students demonstrated in support of Palestinian self-determination, seemingly endorsing violence against Israel to achieve it. Speaker of the House of Delegates Todd Gilbert, a UVa alumnus, demanded the university president, Jim Ryan, repudiate a statement by Students for Justice in Palestine at UVa, which, among other things, described the Hamas attacks as an unprecedented feat for the 21st century. Ryan promptly obliged Gilbert, who because of his sweeping authority over the legislative process, including the higher-education budget and bond-financing of college construction is in a position to make UVa miserable. The university is already in Youngkins crosshairs, viewed by the governor as a hotbed of liberal intolerance. It was a premise underscored by the state Republican Party in a snarky post on X pegged to Gilberts criticism of UVa that Democrats look to the education system to brainwash an entire generation of Americans into becoming left-wing activists. Are the politicians stirring passions or making a point? The point seems to be to stir passions. Democrats are betting they can do that by sounding the alarm over abortion rights. Republicans are gambling on parents rights. In this closely divided state, perhaps the political parties have squeezed all the mileage they can from these issues? And with both parties hoping theirs is angrier than the other its a proven way to drive voters to the polls Virginias homegrown legislative campaign is becoming a foreign affair. Virginias badly short-staffed behavioral health system is still struggling to reach a critical goal: appointments for people in need within 10 days after a first assessment. Its a sign that the behavioral health crisis isnt yet abating, even with an all-hands-on-deck push that has seen a faster-than-expected deployment of new ways to get help to people faster, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said. Even while funds to launch more mobile crisis teams were hung up in this years budget impasse, the state has boosted the number from 35 to 85 well ahead of the end of 2023 goal of 70, he said Thursday after a visit with cadets at Chesterfield Countys Public Safety Training Center. With the money for more teams now in hand after the budgets enactment last month, Youngkin said he expects to have 100 mobile teams in place this year. And Virginias new 9-8-8 suicide and crisis hotline is fielding 8,000 calls a month a number Youngkin said he expects will rise as word gets out, and a sign that there is still much to do for a system he said is overwhelmed. We want to get help to people when they need it right away, he said. Well do whatever it takes. Goal is to get people help faster Youngkin said failing to hit the 10-day time frame for mental health appointments after an initial assessment shows a need to build up the systems capacity. The 10-day goal was reached just 71.8% of the time in fiscal year 2023; thats up from 69.6% the year before, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services said in response to a question from the Richmond Times-Dispatch. But the expansion of mobile crisis teams means more people can get help sooner, Youngkin said. The idea is to get people help faster by being able to go to where people are in a mental health crisis, instead of waiting for them to show up at an emergency room, police station or jail. Meanwhile, there has been a drop in the number of temporary detention orders issued to hold people so they can be evaluated for possible involuntary commitment for mental health treatment. The number of TDOs has declined by nearly 20% from 25,205 in 2019 to 20,255 in fiscal year 2023. State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, said: That could mean were getting people help before they get into a crisis ... but it can also mean police are tired of waiting and holding people as we look for a bed, and are just taking them to jail. Deeds, chairman of the General Assemblys Behavioral Health Commission, said he has been hearing reports that law enforcement officers in some parts of the state are just dropping off people in crisis at state hospitals. Youngkin said he thinks a state task force is also helping bring TDO numbers down. It is focusing on moving people through the process quicker, with an eye on what he called off ramps for individuals who turn out not to need an involuntary commitment for treatment. The 10-day goal for appointments was one of the first targets to be accomplished under the STEP-VA program, enacted in 2017 to ensure basic outpatient services and same-day access to mental health assessments across the state. Staffing issues have hit behavioral health and developmental services very hard, said Lauren Cunningham, communications director for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. A quarter of positions open on services boards Last year, a survey by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the legislatures watchdog agency, found that more than a quarter of positions were open at Virginias community services boards, the agencies that provide public outpatient behavioral health services. Staff shortages at state hospitals, meanwhile, mean some of them cannot care for as many people as they are designed to help. With the pandemic, the system was just swamped, Deeds said. He said the new budget should help. The budget, enacted last month after a more than six-month impasse between the House of Delegates and state Senate, includes an additional $200 million for behavioral health programs, to fund, among other things, more crisis receiving centers, crisis stabilization units and mobile crisis teams. It also includes $18 million to fund increases in compensation for staff of community services boards to help the agencies recruit and retain people. Youngkin said a key part of that was funding to ease the burden on police who take custody of people under a TDO as mental health workers search for a safe place for them to stay for the evaluation. That money and new state laws allow for others to take custody. Deeds said he is also encouraged to see declines in the number of people on the list of those who are ready to leave state hospitals but who are stuck there because community services are not yet available. From the Archives: Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Mike Dulak grew up Catholic in Southern California, but by his teen years, he began skipping Mass and driving straight to the shore to play guitar, watch the waves and enjoy "the beauty of the morning on the beach," he recalled. "And it felt more spiritual than any time I set foot in a church." Nothing has changed that view in the ensuing decades. "Most religions are there to control people and get money from them," said Dulak, now 76, of Rocheport, Missouri. He also cited sex abuse scandals, harming "innocent human beings," in Catholic and Southern Baptist churches. "I can't buy into that," he said. As Dulak rejects being part of a religious flock, he has plenty of company. He is a "none" no, not that kind of nun. The kind that checks "none" when pollsters ask "What's your religion?" The decades-long rise of the nones a diverse, hard-to-summarize group is one of the most talked about phenomena in U.S. religion. The nones are reshaping America's religious landscape as we know it. In U.S. religion today, "the most important story without a shadow of a doubt is the unbelievable rise in the share of Americans who are nonreligious," said the Rev. Ryan Burge, a political science professor at Eastern Illinois University and author of "The Nones," a book on the phenomenon. The nones account for a large portion of Americans, as shown by the 30% of U.S. adults who claim no religious affiliation in a survey by The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Other major surveys say the nones have been steadily increasing for as long as three decades. So who are they? They're the atheists, the agnostics, the "nothing in particular." Many are "spiritual but not religious," and some are neither or both. They span class, gender, age, race and ethnicity. While the nones' diversity splinters them into myriad subgroups, most of them have this in common: They. Really. Don't. Like.Organized. Religion. Nor its leaders. Nor its politics and social stances. That's according to a large majority of nones in the AP-NORC survey. But they're not just a statistic. They're real people with unique relationships to belief and nonbelief, and the meaning of life. They're secular homeschoolers in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Pittsburghers working to overcome addiction. They're a mandolin maker in a small Missouri River town, a former evangelical disillusioned with that particular strain of American Christianity. They're college students who found their childhood churches unpersuasive or unwelcoming. Church "was not very good for me," said Emma Komoroski, a University of Missouri freshman who left her childhood Catholic religion in her mid-teens. "I'm a lesbian. So that was kind of like, oh, I didn't really fit, and people don't like me." While working at the Mexico-U.S. border in August, I met a young Venezuelan man whose brother was in a hospital in Boston struggling with cancer. He had a letter from the doctor and was asking if I knew a way he could get an immigration appointment. Unfortunately, I did not know whom to contact, but a few days later, he sent me a picture that showed he was being processed and about to enter the country under humanitarian parole. I work at the border with an organization called Practice Mercy, which seeks to directly assist asylum-seekers and educate the American public about whats really happening at the southern border. I know it is in vogue to just act like everything is a disaster. This is, of course, a narrative heard consistently from the right in their opposition to anything resembling a slightly more compassionate immigration policy. However, its a narrative also pushed by the left. There is an often-justified feeling that President Joe Biden has not done enough to ensure that immigrants have a chance to seek asylum. However, based on my experience of working with asylum-seekers during the past four years in the border cities of Matamoros and Reynosa, there is reason to be optimistic. Starting earlier this year, the U.S. government began to process many asylum-seekers electronically through the CBP One app. I, like many immigration advocates, was initially skeptical. I still have some reservations as it forces people to stay in Mexico in often difficult situations while being processed. It also sets a bad precedent by limiting the ability to directly and immediately seek asylum, which is often necessary for those in extremely dire situations. But what I recently experienced was pleasantly surprising. One of the camps that we worked was in Reynosa, a Mexican city near the U.S. border, which had at its height more than 1,200 people. The camp was down to around 50. There were no longer migrants filling the streets of Reynosa. It was relatively empty as most people have been able to legally cross the border and start the asylum process. This was also evident in the border city Matamoros. Though the camp was bigger, many were new arrivals. There were fewer people stuck in the camp for long periods of time, which was the case under former President Donald Trump and at the beginning of the Biden administration. Oftentimes, people still need to wait a month or two on the Mexican side for an appointment with Immigration, but they are getting through. What we have found is that once most people actually have an appointment, they are allowed to at least initially enter the U.S., unless they are found to have a criminal background or a connection to some other suspicious activity. This, of course, does not mean that everyone will ultimately receive asylum, as that process often takes years to resolve in immigration court. In the meantime, however, they are able to live in a safer place, reunite with family and work. Another intriguing aspect that we discovered is that this new system actually cuts into the profits of the cartels. When the border is closed like it was under the Trump administration and for much of the early Biden administration, the only way that people could enter the country was by going through the Rio Grande, which required payments to Mexican cartels, which control the access to the river. No one is allowed to cross without paying; if they refuse, their lives could be in danger. Now, many people are able to legally enter through the international bridge without having to go through the river. According to at least a few people we talked with, the rates to cross the river have dropped dramatically. The cartels are trying to compete with the U.S. government. It is an ironic and twisted form of supply and demand, but it is loosening some of the grip of the cartels. Things are not perfect at the border, and there are legitimate critiques of Biden's immigration policy. However, when I see the faces of young families who are seeking safety and a better life, I cannot deny that things are markedly better than they were under Trump and the early Biden administration. They are certainly better than the plans being put out by any of the GOP candidates for president. We often live in an age of cynicism, where everything is just portrayed as disastrous and hopeless, but there are signs of hope at the Mexico-U..S. border. Countless families are finding a better life and contributing to our society due to a more empathetic approach from this administration. We should not bow to xenophobic and caustic political pressure to close the border. The Biden administration is taking steps toward a more compassionate approach, and I appeal to it to take even more. From the Archives: Belle Isle After six months of partisan negotiations, Virginia lawmakers finally passed a budget in early September, capping a 2023 General Assembly session marred by gridlock at nearly every turn. According to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, the vast majority of bills this session either died or were simply unanimous votes, such as commendations or memorializing resolutions. 2023 proved to be one of the least productive legislative sessions in recent memory. But lost in these bleak statistics was something almost miraculous: Two identical bills one sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jennifer McClellan (now serving in Congress), and the other by Republican Del. Danny Marshall overwhelmingly passed through the General Assembly and were signed into law by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. We are referring to the creation of the Virginia Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (VA CDFI Fund), codifying a 2021 budget amendment that expands inclusive economic opportunities for communities that dont often see major investment an issue that resonates with Democratic and Republican constituents alike. We represent the leadership of Bridging Virginia, a nonprofit community development loan fund. Our goal is to provide access to affordable capital and business resources for Black, women and minority-owned small businesses the same businesses that have systematically been restricted from wealth-building opportunities for generations. They are also the most disproportionately hurt by the economic impact of COVID-19, which is also how our organization was born. With his years of experience in business and investments, Roday took action to try to fill in the obvious gaps in access to meaningful capital typically faced by small businesses in underserved communities in the wake of the pandemic. Through a series of partnerships with local businesses, financial institutions, nonprofits, business groups like the Metropolitan Business League, and the addition of Fremouw as CEO, Bridging Virginia has directly supplied or facilitated over $700,000 in affordable financing to more than 65 individual entrepreneurs since its launch in 2020. We have seen firsthand that when historically marginalized small businesses are given access to affordable capital, they grow and prosper, delivering benefits to their community, employees and ownership. Bridging Virginia and other mission-aligned organizations are doing the ground-level, day-to-day work of using financial tools to increase upward mobility and drive economic inclusion. Thankfully, in Virginia as a whole, the annual economic impact of CDFIs continues to accelerate, with nearly 900 originations totaling $212 million to businesses across the commonwealth. This includes financing more than 1,500 units of affordable housing, over $140 million to nonprofits and community facilities, and the creation of over 2,300 jobs. With the codifying and funding of the VA CDFI Fund, this story can be told on a far greater scale in every corner of Virginia. And we see this as an opportunity to not only break through partisan barriers in future legislative sessions, but also to make Virginia a national leader in community-based investment. Presently, Virginia is one of only a handful of states with CDFI funding in their budgets joining others such as California, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. With other states such as Kentucky and Washington considering following suit, it is clear that the commonwealth is ahead of a burgeoning national trend, and that the innovative public-private partnership of CDFIs is serving as a model for other state legislatures. The time is right to build on this obvious momentum. By bolstering the states investments in the CDFI Fund to the tune of an additional $30 million over the next two years, we will unlock tens of millions of additional private and public capital to invest in small-business lending, access to affordable housing, and other opportunities designed to deliver broad-based economic growth. This is the epitome of community wealth building invigorating our local small businesses, localities and entrepreneurial ecosystems along the way. No matter the results of Novembers legislative elections, we know that there will be a long list of new faces walking the halls of the state Capitol come January, and they will once again be responsible for writing a new biennial budget. Looking forward, we think lawmakers should take full advantage of an issue that has garnered near-unanimous political support from both parties, and deepen Virginias investments in CDFI programs. When it comes to democratizing the way people can open and fund their businesses, recent history has shown that party labels dont matter. CDFIs empower people to improve their communities by building an economy that works for everyone. Elected officials should take notice. Close Liquor by the drink - Hotel John Marshall, Captain's Grill. Fred Runyan, left and Paul D. Bailey, are the first to be served cocktails with their meals, in the Captain's Grill. The waiter is James Smith. In May 1978, this train caboose traveled by truck along West Broad Street in Richmond was headed for the old Clover Room restaurant, which new owner John Dankos was remodeling into Stanley Stegmeyers Hodgepodge Restaurant. Its eclectic decor was to include two cabooses that would seat 16 diners each. In December 1968, the first licenses since 1916 for the legal sale of mixed liquors by the drink in Richmond were issued. Here, Cornelius T. Rogers mixed a drink at the Hotel John Marshalls Captains Grill restaurant while bartender Richard Kelley watched. In March 1943, teenagers visited the newly reopened Main Street Station Dining Room in Richmond, which was closed for a month to allow for remodeling required by the city. During that period, the Red Cross stepped in to supply food to World War II servicemen passing through the terminal. In June 1943, the restaurant at a Peoples Drug Store in Richmond was bustling. The chain was founded in 1905 in Alexandria, and by 1943, there were six locations in the Richmond area, plus one in Petersburg. Many of them had lunch counters. This December 1973 photo shows the front counter in Roaring Twenties, a new restaurant and nightclub on state Route 10 in the Hopewell area. It was designed to resemble a 1920s speakeasy, with features including an antique cash register, a diving girl and even a dining table from Al Capones Florida home. In April 1970, the Bronze Gateway, a new restaurant at Byrd Field in Henrico County, was about to open. The facility was on the airport terminals first floor, and its upper levels had glass walls overlooking the ramp area. A more casual snack bar was on the first level. In June 1977, Maria Loupassi (from left), Carol Hodges and Joanie Jennings served customers at the Robin Inn in Richmonds Fan District. The Loupassi family restaurant has been a stalwart of the local dining scene for more than 50 years. Mary lou Davis in the Village Cafe in 1977. From the Archives: Richmond restaurants A look back at local eateries. Liquor by the drink - Hotel John Marshall, Captain's Grill. Fred Runyan, left and Paul D. Bailey, are the first to be served cocktails with their meals, in the Captain's Grill. The waiter is James Smith. In May 1978, this train caboose traveled by truck along West Broad Street in Richmond was headed for the old Clover Room restaurant, which new owner John Dankos was remodeling into Stanley Stegmeyers Hodgepodge Restaurant. Its eclectic decor was to include two cabooses that would seat 16 diners each. In December 1968, the first licenses since 1916 for the legal sale of mixed liquors by the drink in Richmond were issued. Here, Cornelius T. Rogers mixed a drink at the Hotel John Marshalls Captains Grill restaurant while bartender Richard Kelley watched. In March 1943, teenagers visited the newly reopened Main Street Station Dining Room in Richmond, which was closed for a month to allow for remodeling required by the city. During that period, the Red Cross stepped in to supply food to World War II servicemen passing through the terminal. In June 1943, the restaurant at a Peoples Drug Store in Richmond was bustling. The chain was founded in 1905 in Alexandria, and by 1943, there were six locations in the Richmond area, plus one in Petersburg. Many of them had lunch counters. This December 1973 photo shows the front counter in Roaring Twenties, a new restaurant and nightclub on state Route 10 in the Hopewell area. It was designed to resemble a 1920s speakeasy, with features including an antique cash register, a diving girl and even a dining table from Al Capones Florida home. In April 1970, the Bronze Gateway, a new restaurant at Byrd Field in Henrico County, was about to open. The facility was on the airport terminals first floor, and its upper levels had glass walls overlooking the ramp area. A more casual snack bar was on the first level. In June 1977, Maria Loupassi (from left), Carol Hodges and Joanie Jennings served customers at the Robin Inn in Richmonds Fan District. The Loupassi family restaurant has been a stalwart of the local dining scene for more than 50 years. Mary lou Davis in the Village Cafe in 1977. The stories and video are chilling and horrific. Armed men roaming through an Israeli music festival calculatedly shooting civilians at point-blank range before looting their personal effects. The carnage was part of a surprise attack by terror group Hamas on Saturday morning that left at least 900 Israelis and at least 11 Americans dead. Militants descended upon the Israeli border from the Gaza Strip, shooting indiscriminately, killing innocents and taking hostages. The attack with Irans fingerprints all over it was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Hamas apologists described the terrorists as fighters, but serial killers more accurately describes their actions. And to what end this madness? To provoke a war that the terror group cannot win? Clearly, this act by Hamas is suicidal, Nathan Thrall, former director of the Arab-Israeli project, told The New Yorker. It is an attack of unprecedented scope, and Israel will retaliate to a greater degree than it has before, potentially leading to outcomes we havent seen before: not just a simple razing of Gaza by airplanes but also a ground incursion and potential reoccupation of parts of Gaza. Israel has a right to defend itself from such barbarism, and the nation responded as expected: with massive force. The Israeli cabinet approved a declaration of war and counterstrikes began immediately. President Joe Biden put the weight of the United States behind Israel with a quick condemnation of this appalling assault. Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum, noted in Mondays Wall Street Journal that President George W. Bush in 2003 argued that Hamas should be dismantled as an enemy of those who love freedom and peace. Perhaps that day is now upon us. In addition, this escalation should shatter all illusions about the reality of the Iran regime. An operation of such scale and complexity is unlike anything Hamas has previously attempted, Eugene Kontorovich, a George Mason law professor, wrote Monday for the Journal, and strongly suggests Iranian involvement. Hamas has publicly thanked Iran for its support, and Irans supreme leader applauded the invasion. Are congressional Democrats and the White House paying attention? Using Hamas and Hezbollah stooges as their proxies, the Iranians have lit the fuse that explodes any notion of their peaceful intentions. Mr. Kontorovich observes that Many in the West dont take seriously Irans or the Palestinian factions aspirations to wipe out Israel. Israelis, on the other hand, live with the reality of such anti-Semitic fanaticism every day. Which makes it even more important at this moment for the United States and the White House to stand unwaveringly with the Jewish state. American owned Terex Genie opens new $140 million plant in Mexico Cienega de Flores, Nuevo Leon Terex Genie, a company that manufactures work lifts and platforms used in construction, maintenance, warehouse stocking, has announced a new plant. The American company made an investment of $140 million USD in a new plant in Cienega de Flores which has led to the creation of 1,500 jobs in the region. Governor Samuel Garcia said that thanks to the arrival of companies like Terex Genie, Nuevo Leon occupies first place in job creation. This investment not only benefits the company, but also contributes to economic growth and the creation of quality jobs in Nuevo Leon. From January to September 2023, 89,000 jobs have been created in the region, making it the national leader in job creation during that period, he reported. The new plant was inaugurated October 10, in the municipality of Cienega de Flores. We are very excited to establish and grow our team and operations in Nuevo Leon, said Jeremy Rife, Vice President of Operations for Terex Genie. We have a state-of-the-art facility and a highly qualified and capable team in Nuevo Leon, which has built a strong culture around our Zero Harm Safety program and corporate values, and this is just the beginning, Rife said. Governor Samuel Garcia pointed out that the state government is focused on providing sufficient infrastructure to retain companies already installed while attracting new investments. The state is focused on companies that are continuing to expand. We are building 240 new industrial parks, all ready with energy and drinking water and with public security at the states exits and entrances with the Army and National Guard, so that companies continue to arrive. There has not been a single company that has come to Monterrey and been disappointed, Garcia said during the inauguration ceremony, adding that for October, the state will achieve the record figure of $37.5 billion dollars in investments. Mexican military planes to station in Europe to repatriate more than 700 nationals as Israel tensions increase Mexico City, Mexico Additional flights will be made into Israel to continue bringing Mexican nationals home. On Thursday morning, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that there will be a constant airlift with two Mexican Air Force planes into Israel to repatriate nationals. He said efforts will continue to return Mexican nationals who are still in the zone of conflict. He highlighted that the SRE, headed by the Chancellor Alicia Barcena, is already carrying out the procedures so the planes can leave Mexico Friday. He said the planes will leave Mexico city bound for Europe to begin the next stage of the repatriation plan, where they will remain stationed. In the morning conference at the National Palace, Lopez Obrador said that a total of 764 Mexicans have yet to return. We made the decision, the pilots, the entire team () that Friday, the two planes leave, but since there are many people and the conflict is unfortunately escalating, we want to take advantage of the time we have so we are going to do an airlift, we are going to take them out as soon as possible, he said. The planes are going to stay in Europe, they are taking the people to a nearby country and once we have them all in this country we will bring them to Mexico because we cant take too long, he explained. He said the corresponding procedures are already being carried out by the Foreign Ministry. He also thanked Israeli authorities for the facilities granted for the first rescue of Mexicans from the Tel Aviv Airport. We thank the Israeli authorities for these facilities. They have not closed the Tel Aviv Airport, but they are already suspending more commercial flights and we already know that this is a very serious, regrettable situation, he said. Two military planes repatriate Mexican nationals from war-torn Israel. Photo: SRE October 11, 2023. We wish with all our hearts that the conflict does not escalate, that peace is sought, but unfortunately it is not seen that hostilities can cease in the short term. We need to protect the Mexicans who are in Israel and that is why this decision we made, he added. To date, around 300 Mexican nationals have returned to Mexico on the countrys two military planes. Of those who applied to return, priority was given to parents with young children and the elderly. A selection was made on the first two flights where preference was given to children, the elderly first, 287 arrived and we need to bring the remaining 764, he said. National Guard find $521,000 USD cheque from Indiana in Mexico courier company Toluca, Mexico National Guard have intercepted a U.S.-issued cheque in excess of $521,000 USD. The cheque, which originated from the state of Indiana, was found during a routine inspection inside a courier company in Toluca. According to National Guard, they, along with the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM), intercepted a courier shipment that contained a cheque for more than $521,000 USD which did not have the corresponding declaration before the Tax Administration Service (SAT). The cheque was seized in compliance with the National Public Security Strategy and the zero impunity policy of the federal government in the State of Mexico during a security and surveillance inspection in the courier company. The brown envelope containing the cheque was located in the fiscal premises of the Toluca Customs, where they carried out random inspections, having visual contact with a brown envelope, National Guard said in a statement. When inspecting a shipment from Indiana, they realized that it contained a cheque for the amount of $521,897.35 dollars, which is equivalent to approximately 9.4 million pesos and which did not have the declaration in the official form approved by the SAT, thereby violating Article 184 section XV of the Customs Law. The U.S.-issued cheque was destined for Naucalpan in the State of Mexico. The cheque was seized and made available to the Federal Public Ministry Agency in the state to continue the corresponding investigation. The latest recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences has contributed much useful data in understanding the role of women in the workforce. Her restraint in policy prescriptions may, in fact, be her greatest contribution of all. Harvards Claudia Goldin is our newest Nobel laureate in economics. Her accumulated efforts have helped us better understand womens roles in the labor marketboth historically and in contemporary society. Its worth noting that the economics prize isnt one of the awards funded by Alfred Nobels initial endowment. While the original prizesphysics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, and peacewere first awarded in 1901, the economics award came much later. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (its official name) is funded by the Bank of Sweden and wasnt first awarded until 1969. In recent years, its become more common for the economics award to be shared by two or three scholars working in related areas. In the past 15 years, for example, the prize was given to a single recipient just three times: to Jean Tirole in 2014, Angus Deaton in 2015, and Richard Thaler in 2017. This is just one of the ways in which this years award is notable: Goldin didnt have to share it with anyone. Goldins body of work is impressive. It has helped us understand the mix of cultural, social, and market-based forces that drive labor market outcomes for women, including their participation, wages, and decisions regarding whether and when to have children. Perhaps most impressive of all, though, is Goldins commitment to high-quality research: while shes careful in her descriptions and analysis of labor market dynamics as they relate to women, she rarely takes a position on how to change those dynamics if you dont like them. And we like that about Goldin; shes an academic researcher to her core. What are the insights wed be missing in the absence of her prize-winning research? For starters, though we tend to think of female participation in the labor force as a relatively recent phenomenondriven, at least in part, by artificial contraception, the equal-rights movement, and greater access to higher educationit was quite high for much of human history, mainly out of necessity. By examining sources such as time-use surveys, census data, and industrial statistics, Goldin pieced together evidence that the fraction of women participating in the labor force was much larger at the end of the 1890s than had previously been thought. Moreover, this phenomenon seems to stretch back as far as the late 1700s. For at least a century, many women participated in the labor force. Yet this fact was missed when many census and other public documents listed wife as a married womans primary occupation. While they were certainly wives, many also labored at tasks beyond what economists might refer to as domestic production. For example, women worked alongside their husbands on farms or in family businesses. Children often did as well, out of necessity, though Goldins work deals mainly with adult female participation. It was also common for women to take on work outside family farms and businessesperhaps working in cottage industries, where production could take place either in the family home or somewhere nearby. One of Goldins many striking findings: the employment rate for married women at the close of the 19th century was nearly three times greater than previous estimates indicated. As industrialization progressed, with its ensuing urbanization and growth in factory jobs, Goldin finds that married women grew less likely to participate in the labor force. The mix of available jobs was shifting away from the sort of work that could be carried out within the family home or at least nearby, close to children and other family members. Women returned to the labor force in the 20th century, however, and Goldins work points to several key factors driving this return. First, while industrialization reduced the likelihood that womenespecially married oneswould enter the labor force, a large and growing service sector that hadnt previously existed provided new job opportunities for women. Changing cultural norms and expectations, as well as the increased pursuit of higher education, also contributed to this trend. Goldins work highlights how expectations as to whether and how long they would work informed young womens investment in higher education, leading to slow and persistent changes over time. Goldin and others point to artificial contraception as another factor in womens growing presence in the workforce. The ability of young families to choose how many children to haveand whenmade it possible for many women to begin a career, step away from it when parenting called, and return to the workforce later. This observation also informs Goldins work regarding earnings gaps between men and women. An abundance of research now indicates that wage differences between men and women are small prior to the arrival of a familys first child. Almost immediately, earnings for women fall relative to those of men. And this event can lead to persistent differences between women and men, especially in professions that require long hours or unpredictable schedules. Stated another way, its not surprising that the percentage of commercial airline pilots who are female is significantly lower than the percentage found among local elementary school teachers. Advancement as an airline pilot is tough: even after completing flight schoolwhich can cost $60,000+ dollarsflying for a commercial airline requires at least 1,500 hours. And being a pilot, by definition, requires being away from home and familywhether or not a pilot is female. While female labor-force participation has risen steadily throughout the last century, its happened in jobs and careers that offer flexibility not found in other occupations. One factor you likely didnt see mentioned in news reporting about Goldins work is the role played by modern household appliances in increasing female labor-force participation rates. Yet its widely agreed among economists that modern inventionslike electric and gas stoves (instead of wood-burning ones!), vacuum cleaners, indoor automatic washing machines and dryers, microwave ovens, and even the Swiffer!have made it possible for families to save time doing the household tasks that confront every family and to think creatively about what to do with all the time theyve saved. For many, this has meant that families of all kinds have more freedom to make choices that are the best fit for them, including having more women earning money outside the home. While we admire Goldins steadfast work in this area, we also appreciate the fact that she avoids the temptation to step into the role of policy advocate. Goldin is a serious economist who asks great questions, finds data where no one else can, and follows the trail wherever it leads. Shes not looking for any right answers: shes merely trying to understand the world better. Years ago, John Neville Keynesfather of John Maynard Keynesidentified three forms that economics can take. The first, positive economics, confines itself to questions of facts and empirical relationships. The second, normative economics, involves value judgments about how things should be. For example, positive economics can tell you what the unemployment rate is but it can never tell you whether it should be lower and why. While most of us have heard of these first twopositive and normativeNeville Keynes third form of economics is what he referred to as art: the part of economics that can advise you, based on positive economics, how to go about pursuing a particular normative goal. Goldins work provides a variety of insights on what has allowed women to enter and remain in the labor force: the ability to work at or close to home, control over when and how many children to have, and flexible schedules. We are thankful that, throughout her brilliant career, Goldin has remained steadfastly in the realm of positive economicsleaving the art, the squabbling over the right answer, to politicians and interest groups. CHRISTIANSBURG A Montgomery County judge declined to issue an injunction Friday against a woman described by Mountain Valley Pipeline lawyers as a leading opponent of the highly divisive project. Emily Satterwhite of Blacksburg is helping to organize a mass action weekend starting Friday in which protesters are encouraged to block construction of the natural gas pipeline, the company said in court papers. Satterwhite who is out of town on business this weekend has done nothing wrong and is engaging in core First Amendment speech in opposing what she sees as an environmental disaster, her lawyers said. MVP clearly doesnt like these grass roots, I understand that, attorney John Fishwick of Roanoke told Circuit Judge Robert Turk. But theres nothing wrong with asking people to join a grass roots organization. In denying Mountain Valleys request to enjoin Satterwhite from going onto restricted pipeline property or encouraging others to do so, Turk said there are already adequate legal remedies available to address such conduct if it happens. Since work on the pipeline began in the New River and Roanoke valleys in 2018, dozens of opponents including Satterwhite have been charged with misdemeanors for chaining themselves to construction equipment or blocking work in other ways. As Mountain Valley attempts to put the pipeline in operation by years end, the company has asked for civil injunctions against a growing number of protesters. A separate case was filed in September against more than 40 individuals and two organizations. Theres no sign that its going to stop, a company official testified Friday, listing the protests as one of the hurdles it faces. In seeking an injunction that could have led to fines against Satterwhite, Mountain Valley pointed to social media posts in which she invited people to join protests this weekend. Another world is possible, one entry read. Block the path. Join the grassroots. Satterwhite did not attend Fridays hearing. Fishwick said she is out of town on a grant project affiliated with her work as a professor of Appalachian Studies at Virginia Tech. Wade Massie, an attorney for Mountain Valley, said the company is only trying to stop unlawful conduct that has complicated its work and posed a safety threat to opponents and pipeline workers. Were not seeking to limit political speech in any way, he told Turk. What were saying is dont encourage people to come to a mass action weekend which purpose is to block the pipeline. St. Andrews Catholic Church in Roanoke is now Basilica of Saint Andrew under a decree by Pope Francis in recognition of the churchs history and beauty. The yellow, twin-steepled church on North Jefferson Street learned the news in late September and announced it to the public Thursday. Church members have kept the 121-year-old church in basilica-worthy condition through a number of maintenance projects, including interior cleaning in 2021, reroofing in 2019 and new steeples in 2014. The Catholic church counts about 90 minor basilicas in the United States and four major basilicas, all in Rome. When the pope grants the rank of minor basilica, it elevates the church to a status of significant distinction, according to the Very Rev. Kevin Segerblom, who holds the top position at the landmark near downtown Roanoke. And the venue becomes a destination for Catholics and others on religious pilgrimage. Special blessings attach to a visit to a basilica, especially for Catholic faithful. We have an opportunity here, Segerblom said Friday, to be welcoming to more people to come and see this place, to learn what is about, to pray here, to experience God and the worship of God and this piece of Roman Catholicism here in Roanoke. The church is working on lengthening its hours and expanding access to tours to accommodate higher visitor traffic, he said. Each weekday Mass currently draws 50 to 75 people while four weekend Masses draw about 1,500 people. It hosts baptisms, funerals and weddings. In addition, Segerblom said a number of others visit the High Victorian Gothic-style church daily to look around, take pictures and perhaps light a votive candle. The special status, which was requested, ushers in the new name that will appear on signs and letterhead. Segerblom, who was the churchs pastor, is now its rector. In addition, the church will create and mount an ombrellino, a decorative red and yellow umbrella representative of the connection between the church and pope, in the sanctuary. Segerblom and a committee prepared an application for basilica status that exceeded 330 pages. According to the rector, it went to the Vaticans Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments. The body prepared a letter of approval dated Sept. 6 and mailed it to Bishop Barry Knestout of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, who called Segerblom in late September with the news. Segerblom said he was overjoyed. Knestout will read the official Vatican decree and bless the physical symbols signifying the churchs elevation at a special Mass Dec. 3, officials said. Roanokes Jewish community issued a statement Friday condemning terrorist attacks on Israel. Thousands are dead, including American citizens, and more missing as fighting continues after Hamas, a militant organization ruling the Gaza Strip, launched surprise attacks on neighboring Israel last week. Israel has vowed retaliation against the act of war. Its the latest spark of violence in an Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has flared for decades. Leaders from the Roanoke Jewish Federation, Temple Emanuel and Beth Israel Synagogue said their communities are grieving, many with friends and family in Israel, as they stand firmly united in condemning these barbarous acts of terrorism. Hamas launched a brutal and coordinated attack on the people of Israel, the statement reads. These acts triggered memories of far too many episodes of aggression and terror against Jewish people over many centuries. The statement thanked local religious and civic leaders and all decent people for their shows of support, and asked for continued prayers on behalf of people in Israel. We are also sensitive to the suffering of the Palestinian people who have been subjugated for many years by a brutal regime which built a terror network, rather than developing a more democratic and prosperous society, the statement reads. The statement requested support for Israel and the local Jewish community. Roanoke Jewish Federation is taking donations directly, especially resources that can be immediately directed to on-ground efforts in Israel, in partnership with an international organization IsraAID. Regardless of politics in Israel or in the United States, nothing can justify attacks on innocents and noncombatants, the statement reads. This is not just an Israeli or Jewish problem, and is an affront to all of us. Highlighting how the conflict affects people otherwise uninvolved, a Roanoke resident named Kulbir Sandhu contacted The Roanoke Times on Friday to express concern for racist, anti-Islamic affronts she and her 6-year-old son received this week while at the grocery store. Sandhu is Sikh, an entirely different religion from Islam. The incident reminded her of misidentified racism and violence that Sikhs and other minority groups experienced after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We have few people who wear turbans in the Roanoke community, Sandhu said. The situation going on in Middle East, we are soft target people. ABUJA, Nigeria Many poor countries in Africa face the harshest effects of climate change: severe droughts, vicious heat and dry land, but also unpredictable rain and devastating flooding. The shocks worsen conflict and upend livelihoods because many people are farmers work that is increasingly vulnerable in a warming world. Climate challenges are at the root of vulnerabilities faced by conflict-ridden countries in Africa's Sahel region, such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and northern Nigeria, experts say. Adapting to these challenges could cost up to $50 billion per year, according to the Global Commission on Adaptation, while the International Energy Agency estimates the clean energy transition could cost as much as $190 billion a year overwhelming costs for Africa. Countries have limited space in their budgets, and borrowing more to fund climate goals will worsen their considerable debt burdens, argue African leaders, who are seeking a rapid boost in financing. Some leaders suggested that this week's meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco, would be a good place to start a conversation about Africas financial challenges and its ability to handle climate shocks. It comes amid criticism that the lending institutions are not taking climate change and the vulnerabilities of poor countries enough into account in their funding decisions. The global financial system is now outdated, dysfunctional and unjust, said a New York Times opinion column by Kenyan President William Ruto, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki and Patrick Verkooijen, chief executive of the Global Commission on Adaptation. It's outdated because international financial institutions "are too small and limited to fulfill their mandate. Dysfunctional because the system as a whole is too slow to respond to new challenges, such as climate change. And unjust because it discriminates against poor countries, the leaders wrote. In recent years, climate funding to Africa has increased, with recognition that the continent is least responsible for emissions but most at risk from climate change because of a lack of financing and ability to cope. Major development banks have increasingly recognized climate change as an economic threat. During a panel in Marrakech this week, IMF economist Daniel Lee said the organization is mainstreaming climate change in policy advice, capacity development and lending. He did not detail the size or breakdown of funding. Lee pointed to an IMF program that launched last year to help poor countries address problems like climate change. Only one African country Rwanda has gotten financing from the program: $319 million over three years. Like African leaders, experts say climate financing to the continent has been insufficient and particularly difficult to get for countries in the Sahel that lack stable and recognized governments, with many of them led by military juntas. The reality has fallen short of expectations, said Carlos Lopes, a professor at the Mandela School of Public Governance of the University of Cape Town, South Africa. A significant portion of funding goes toward mitigation efforts, while adaptation, a top priority for the continent, receives less attention and support." In Niger, whose leader was ousted in a coup in August, as well as northern Nigeria, thousands of hectares of arable land is being lost to soil erosion and dry conditions. Its led farmers and livestock herders to battle for resources and reduces economic opportunities, helping armed groups recruit, said Idayat Hassan, senior Africa program fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Irrigation projects are among the ways to adapt to climate change, but violence is eroding those gains as it leaves farmers, who are already facing lower yields, struggling to access their farmland. Apart from extreme heat levels and unpredictable rainfall, insecurity also is affecting us because many times we will not have the chance to go to our farms, said Ibrahim Audi, 58, a wheat farmer in Nigeria's far northern Katsina state. Femi Mimiko, a professor of political economy and international relations at Nigeria's Obafemi Awolowo University, called the climate money heading to Africa rather negligible and it is not what we should celebrate at all. He added that the challenges are enormous because of strict conditions to get IMF and World Bank funding. Plus, climate financing for Africa needs to address persistent debt crises in many countries, Lopes said. Africas debt repayments are estimated to reach $62 billion this year, exceeding the continents costs of adapting to climate change, the African leaders said in their column. They reiterated a call made at the Africa Climate Summit in Kenya last month for a pause on foreign debt repayments. Another issue is leaders underestimating how climate change feeds violence and economic problems, experts say. In Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which are all ruled by military juntas, 16 million people need humanitarian assistance, a 172% increase since 2016, and more than 5 million are experiencing high levels of food insecurity, according to the International Rescue Committee. We are opposed to the idea that Palestine should be considered the homeland of the Jews. Jews in America are part of the American nation. The ideal of the Jew is not the establishment of a Jewish state. ... The ideal of the Jew is to witness to God all over the world. Against the horrific backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, such words might seem an attack on Jewry uninformed, if not, intolerant. But these thoughts were not uttered in recent days by sworn adversaries of Israel. They are the observations in 1918 of a prominent Richmond rabbi, Edward Calisch. He led for 55 years Congregation Beth Ahabah. Founded more than 230 years ago, Beth Ahabah on West Franklin Street, adjacent to Virginia Commonwealth University is nearly as old as the republic itself. Calisch believed a Jewish state would embolden antisemites, providing them an enduring target. He was not alone among American Jews, many of whom particularly in the South considered assimilation the preferred goal of a people that, since Biblical times, had stood alone. Anti-Zionism thats what Calisch advanced until the end of his life was repudiated by the trauma of the Holocaust, unleashed across Europe by Hitler barely 20 years after the rabbi took his stand. That Israel and its existence in one of the worlds most dangerous neighborhoods was a flashpoint among Jews in Virginia even before the nations creation in 1948 is a largely forgotten moment in a debate that is spilling into an unlikely setting: the bruising campaign for control of a state legislature narrowly split between the political parties. The General Assembly is ordinarily preoccupied with schools, transportation, law and order, taxes, and health and welfare services. But in a diverse, suburban-dominated Virginia, where roughly 13% of its residents are foreign-born; 42% are Black, Hispanic and Asian, and which has had cultural and trade ties with Israel since 1986, the outside world has a way of creeping in if only as a campaign talking point. The merciless terror inflicted by Hamas and Israels tough-minded response aroused Virginias Republicans and Democrats. Their expressions of outrage and sympathy recalled those directed to Virginia as one of three states scarred by the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 an episode that continues to ripple through the states politics and policies. But there also has been something of a shoving match here intended to energize voters. High-decibel claims and counter-claims over the latest war between Israel and its shadowy menace seem more about rousing emotion, spurring Virginians to vote in locally oriented elections that many usually ignore. The states Democratic U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both of whom sit on committees with jurisdiction over national security and foreign relations have seethed over a Republican-orchestrated delay on a confirmation vote for the Biden administrations pick for ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, the former Treasury secretary. That this country at this perilous moment is without its highest, on-the-ground-in-Israel diplomatic link to the wartime unity government of Benjamin Netanyahu is the handiwork of Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican and celebrity surrogate for Glenn Youngkin during the 2021 gubernatorial election. The GOP is wary of Lew because of his role in the nuclear deal with Iran, Hamas principal supplier of money and munitions. The agreement was negotiated by the Obama White House and discarded by Donald Trump. Netanyahu is no less an incendiary figure in Virginia than in Israel. A Jewish senator from Fairfax, Scott Surovell, took to X to fault Netanyahus conservative policies most notably his push to limit the authority of the courts for provoking Hamas. As if that didnt cause a firestorm on social media, Surovell drew a parallel to Netanyahu-ism and the chaos within the U.S. House GOP caucus that has rendered Congress speaker-less, preventing the nation from fully assisting Israel and perhaps leaving the United States vulnerable. Youngkin credited by traditionally Democratic Jewish voters for his overtures to them in 2021, despite parroting conservative extremists by attacking the Jewish philanthropist George Soros for his support of reform-minded prosecutor candidates staged roundtable conversations in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and Richmond with Jewish leaders. Youngkin, who early in his governorship named a commission to study antisemitism in Virginia and this year signed into law legislation to combat it, addressed the violence in Israel and acknowledged the fear it raises in American Jews already alarmed by bursts of antisemitism. Much of it has been fomented by Trump-aligned, far-right, de facto Republicans and was on full display in Virginia during the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 that Joe Biden said inspired him to seek the presidency. Not that feelings havent also been rubbed raw by Democrats and for years. The embrace of Palestinians by Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist, during his two presidential campaigns in the 1980s brought Arab Americans into the Virginia Democratic coalition. That Gov. Jerry Baliles was, at the time, establishing a Virginia-Israel partnership was a source of pride for Jews, but it angered Arab Americans. The ensuing tensions spurred the Episcopal bishop of Virginia, Peter Lee, to personally appeal to Baliles to call off a long-planned trip to Israel in 1988 to showcase the new bilateral relationship, suggesting it was a validation of Israels heavy-handedness toward Palestinians. Baliles went ahead with the trip, later making a conciliatory visit to Egypt. And, in Charlottesville, at the University of Virginia, students demonstrated in support of Palestinian self-determination, seemingly endorsing violence against Israel to achieve it. Speaker of the House of Delegates Todd Gilbert, a UVa alumnus, demanded the university president, Jim Ryan, repudiate a statement by Students for Justice in Palestine at UVa, which, among other things, described the Hamas attacks as an unprecedented feat for the 21st century. Ryan promptly obliged Gilbert, who because of his sweeping authority over the legislative process, including the higher-education budget and bond-financing of college construction is in a position to make UVa miserable. The university is already in Youngkins crosshairs, viewed by the governor as a hotbed of liberal intolerance. It was a premise underscored by the state Republican Party in a snarky post on X pegged to Gilberts criticism of UVa that Democrats look to the education system to brainwash an entire generation of Americans into becoming left-wing activists. Are the politicians stirring passions or making a point? The point seems to be to stir passions. Democrats are betting they can do that by sounding the alarm over abortion rights. Republicans are gambling on parents rights. In this closely divided state, perhaps the political parties have squeezed all the mileage they can from these issues? And with both parties hoping theirs is angrier than the other its a proven way to drive voters to the polls Virginias homegrown legislative campaign is becoming a foreign affair. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. AIKEN A 79-year-old Florence man avoided a possible death sentence Thursday by agreeing to plead guilty to ambushing police officers coming to his home, killing two of the officers and wounding five others. Frederick Hopkins's court appearance was unannounced and reporters following the widely publicized case were not in the courtroom in Aiken County, some 120 miles from where the attack occurred in October 2018. Hopkins was charged with two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Police Shooting-South Carolina Frederick Hopkins speaks on June 11, 2020, during a hearing in Florence. Hopkins will be sentenced later, but his attorney Boyd Young told media outlets after the hearing that prosecutors agreed to take the death penalty off the table. Hopkins would face 30 years to life in prison for murder. Three Florence County deputies told Hopkins they were coming to his home in an upscale subdivision to execute a search warrant against his son for possible sexual abuse charges. Hopkins, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, armed himself in a upstairs window and fired at the deputies as they got out of their car. He kept shooting as more officers rushed to the scene to save their comrades. So many rounds were fired that it took up to 30 minutes to get an armored vehicle close enough to rescue the wounded officers. He used three firearms in the ambush, and more than 100 guns were found in his home. Florence Police Sgt. Terrence Carraway died the day of the shooting and Florence County sheriff's deputy Farrah Turner died nearly three weeks later from her wounds. The son, 33-year-old Seth Hopkins, pleaded guilty in 2019 to second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and is serving 20 years in prison. Frederick Hopkins' lawyers, prosecutors and the judge have kept much of the case away from reporters. In June, they all agreed to close the courtroom from the media and the public during pre-trial hearings and kept all motions and records off South Carolina's public court records site. When cameras have been at Hopkins' hearings, his behavior has been erratic. A disbarred attorney, Hopkins called prosecutor Ed Clements "Fat Eddie" several times during a hearing where the prosecution announced they would seek the death penalty and Hopkins did not have a lawyer present. FLORENCE, S.C. Richard Harrington, a local champion for education, has received another award to add to his collection. He has been recognized for his dedication to local youth by Francis Marion University, the Pee Dee Regional Workforce Investment Board, the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Pee Dee and, now, the Daughters of the American Revolution. On Oct. 11, the Samuel Bacot chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution met at the Florence Country Club and presented to Harrington the chapters Community Service Award for his dedication to education in the Pee Dee region and across the state. Today, he is a state board member from the 12th Judicial Circuit with the South Carolina Department of Education, said Anne Marie Hanna, who was presenting the award. Serving on this board provides him with a platform emphasizing his decades-long promotion of excellence in education. In addition to founding local businesses, Harrington has served on a number of councils and boards dedicated to improving education, including: Florence-Darlington Technical College, advisory board member. Francis Marion University, advisory board member. S.C. Council on Economic Education, board of directors. Pee Dee Regional Workforce Investment Board, chairman. Boys and Girls Clubs of the Pee Dee, chairman. Harrington also served as the chairman of the United Way pacesetter campaign, as the chairman of the Mercy Medicine Free Clinic and on the National Bank of South Carolina board. During his acceptance speech, Harrington said the organization is one of the best for the preservation of American heritage and patriotism. I want to thank yall for giving me this recognition. It means a lot particularly since I read and understood a little more about your organization, he said. The national DAR was founded on Oct. 11, 1890, and that says something about the women in this country, because they didnt even have the right to vote yet. Harrington said he has been working with the Boys and Girls Club for over 25 years, and in that time has come to see the effect the organization has on at-risk youth. Youd be surprised how many kids in their early teens or preteen years are influenced by a gang to start a life of crime that leads to either imprisonment or certain death, he said. The Boys and Girls Club makes a big difference in the sense that, not only are they protecting the kids safely, theyve got a bunch of different programs that have to do with character and general information about life. The clubs mentorship program is also successful in improving childrens lives, according to Harrington. While he feels too few children are able to go into the workforce or get into college when they graduate, he said the organization has done the best it can within todays society. School districts are also trying their best and doing a number of innovative things to get children ready, but starting in high school or even middle school is not early enough, Harrington said. The most important time in a childs mental development is in the womb and the first three years of life. If children are ignored, malnourished or abused during this time, it seriously affects their mental development, he said. All men are created equal, Harrington said. They may be equal when theyre conceived, but theyre not born equal. This new science has also helped teachers better understand and develop lessons for children who have underdeveloped brains, but prevention is even more important, according to Harrington. If a lot of your senses have been damaged during the developmental process, those kids are going to prove to be very difficult to teach even though we have the latest scientific approach, he said. Harrington said that this science needs to be taught in health classes in school so that new parents know the importance of nurturing their child and staying off drugs and alcohol when pregnant. School districts are also beginning to remember the importance of hands-on skills like shop class, which he said should help children to graduate from high school with applicable skills to go directly into the workforce if they wish. PRIMGHAR, Iowa An administrative assistant at a home for adults with mental illness and disabilities has pleaded not guilty of stealing more than $23,000 from residents. Jennifer Storm, 48, of Primghar, entered her written plea Thursday in O'Brien County District Court to 10 counts of dependent adult abuse and single counts of first-degree theft and ongoing criminal conduct. Her trial was scheduled for Feb. 20. She is currently free on bond. Storm was arrested after an investigation by the State of Iowa's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit uncovered the theft of $23,358.28 from 21 residents at Pride Group in Primghar from Nov. 20, 2020, through March 29. During that time, Storm was an administrative assistant and was responsible for residents' money. According to court documents, Storm made unauthorized withdrawals on some residents' accounts and altered the amounts on withdrawal slips in other instances and kept the extra money. Storm also is accused of using residents' debit cards to make online and in-person purchases for herself and taking Social Security funds from one resident's account and transferring them to other residents' accounts to cover up thefts from those accounts. ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- A Kingsley, Iowa, woman previously convicted of stealing from a dependent adult has been sentenced to prison for spending more than $45,000 from her Orange City employer. Krista Brown, 44, pleaded guilty Monday in Sioux County District Court to first-degree theft. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison. While an employee at OC Sanitation, Brown used the company credit card to make several purchases from Amazon totaling more than $45,000. At the time, Brown was on probation for a 2019 Plymouth County conviction in which she pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and dependent adult abuse for making unauthorized transactions totaling approximately $20,000 from another person's bank account. Her probation was revoked in the Plymouth County case in September, and the previously suspended 15-year prison sentence was enforced. Her Sioux County sentence was ordered to be served consecutively, or back to back, to her Plymouth County theft charge, resulting in a 25-year prison sentence. SIOUX CITY Voters pressed two City Council candidates on several issues Thursday night, including the city's aging wastewater treatment plant, the length of the Sioux City Explorers' Lewis & Clark Park lease and how the city can better accommodate developers, during a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters and Siouxland GO. Incumbent Julie Schoenherr is seeking her second four-year term on the council. She is being challenged in the Nov. 7 general election by Tom Murphy, who garnered the second-highest number of votes in Tuesday's primary election. Schoenherr took 42% of the vote to Murphy's 31%. A third challenger, Tricia Frederick, received 26% of the vote and did not advance. Schoenherr is a Sioux City business woman who previously owned and operated SoHo American Kitchen & Bar. Murphy is a life-long Sioux Cityan who served as the city's chief building inspector before retiring. During the forum, which was held at City Hall, panelists asked the candidates the same question, which they each had one minute to respond to. The second portion consisted of questions from members of the audience, which were read by the moderator. Schoenherr and Murphy agreed that the biggest issue facing Sioux City is addressing the deteriorating state of the wastewater treatment plant. In May, in spite of objections from the business community, the council approved the final reading of a residential, commercial and industrial sewer rate hike to help fund a rebuild of the plant, which has a history of compliance issues with the state. In January of 2022, the Iowa DNR filed suit against the city over alleged repeated environmental violations, which dated back to March 2012. Sioux City wastewater treatment plant The Sioux City wastewater treatment plant is shown in this 2022 file photo. "We need to get that squared away and figure out with the businesses what we're going to do and what we can do in the future," Murphy said. "It'll be the biggest, highest money amount that's ever been done in Sioux City; and that's where I feel my construction experience will really come into play." Schoenherr said the wastewater treatment plant "is of the utmost importance." "We have got to rebuild our wastewater treatment plant. We had a choice to rebuild the one we have or build a new one," said Schoenherr, who said the council chose to be "fiscally responsible" and rebuild the existing plant in phases. She said the total cost of a three-phase rebuild would be $470 million. "We are committed to fixing up to phase 2, which is a total rebuild where it's at; and phase 2 will also increase our capacity slightly, which the DNR is requiring." The candidates were asked how they would monitor the project and keep it on budget. Schoenherr said the city has hired one of the top 10 firms in the country to manage the rebuild. "We are not going to be the generation that says, 'They did it wrong. They never got it right.' This is our opportunity to right this," she said. "And so, our engineering firm will also oversee any false actions that might be taking place or overages and things like that." Before any work starts on the plant, Murphy said the city needs to find out what the highest users' current and future needs are. He said there have been "rumors" that those users are going to build their own sewage treatment plants. If that happens, he said the city will not receive the revenue to pay for the new plant. "If we don't get the revenue for the new plant, then taxes will go up and our sewer rates will also go up," he said. "We have to make sure that we get started right on this." When it comes to city budget cuts, Murphy said he considers police and fire off limits. "We need that to make our city safe so that we can raise our families. Budget cuts are very, very hard in this day and age. We need so much infrastructure and stuff," he said. "I don't see in the future where we could have severe budget cuts." After streets and other infrastructure in need of repair is taken care of, Murphy said the city should be able to "keep an even budget." Schoenherr said first responders should be fully funded. She noted that she voted to fund four additional police officer positions in FY 2024. "I think we've done a good job in the last few years building up our amenities to make our city popular that employers would look to us to have their employees work here and live here," she said. "I think we're looking at getting back to the basics this upcoming budget season." Murphy said the city can better balance its budget by "promoting more industry and industrial" in order to increase its tax base. "That will help residential property taxes. It will also help the city budget and bring more jobs to the city," he said. Schoenherr said she supports a 10-year contract with the Sioux City Explorers for the lease of Lewis & Clark Park. "Did we want to get rid of the X's? Absolutely not. They're doing great. They had a great season," she said. "We just want to see them continue to build in those stands and, perhaps, have more community involvement, a little more outreach to get folks to get themselves in seats." Murphy said the ballpark has a "huge place" in his heart and that he supports a 10-year contract. "But I think the stadium ought to be utilized more. I think a lot more high school games should be there. Bring in an out-of-town team. Have more little league-type games down there. It's a beautiful ballpark, and we need to utilize that park as much as we can." A member of the public asked what Sioux City government can do to be more accommodating to developers, noting that "many developers refuse to build and will no longer do business in Sioux City because they claim the city is extremely hard to work with compared to other cities." Murphy said he knows 95% of the contractors. He said he would bring them in and discuss how the city could make the zoning and permitting process easier. "The more stuff we can get built in Sioux City, the better off we are," he said. Schoenherr said the city is "on that track." She said developers can now electronically send their plans to the city, upload them onto a flat-screen TV-like table and make their points to expedite the process. "We're on phase 1 with that now. And I do think that customer service has a lot to do with it," she said. "But I will say that just recently, out of the blue, we had a major developer, Mr. Steve Nelson come to the microphone and say, 'I just have to say how smooth our process is going over at the Benson Building. I thank the city staff for helping and explaining.' So, it's not all bad." SIOUX CITY Yes, family members are concerned for the safety of Adam and Aliya Redwine. But they're not going to urge the Sioux City natives to leave their home in Israel, despite the outbreak of violence and war this week. The couple, family members said, know best whether they're in danger and what precautions they must take to stay safe. "I'm not a worrier," said Adam's brother Will Redwine, who lives in Sioux City. "I figure what's going to happen is going to happen. I trust my brother and trust he will do his best to keep his and his wife's life as safe as they can." Aliya's mother, Bethany Manning, said when she spoke to her daughter and son-in-law on Sunday, they reassured her they were well. Manning said she worries about them, but she's not going to let the situation stress her out. "When I talked to Aliya and Adam on Sunday, the bottom line was, Mom, we're safe," Manning said. "I just kind of go with the flow. They say they're OK and they seem calm, so I believe them. They'll let me know if they need to come home." Redwine wedding Adam and Aliya Redwine stand for pictures on their wedding day in 2013 with Adam's parents, at left, John and Barbara Redwine, and Aliya's par They're still safe, Manning said Thursday after talking to them Wednesday night, and they're down to about one air raid siren a day now. Adam and Aliya Redwine live in Beer Sheva, not far from the Gaza Strip, where Hamas-based terrorists launched attacks on Israel early Saturday morning. The violence was as close as 10 miles away and explosions rattled their windows. With an eight-hour time difference, the attacks were hours old by the time Americans were waking up Saturday and learning of them. Will Redwine said his mother called him early in the morning to tell him about it. "My first instinct was to contact my brother to make sure he was OK," Redwine said. "He reassured me he didn't feel like he was under immediate threat. Obviously, I'm concerned and I want my brother to be safe and well." Manning said she doesn't have a television in her Sioux City home and rarely listens to the radio, so she wasn't aware of the attacks until Saturday evening. The situation brings back memories for Manning. After graduating from college, she spent five months in Israel and was there before, during and after the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when Israel was attacked by Arab forces. "I think what they're experiencing is much more intense than what I went through," Manning said of Aliya and Adam's current experience. Will Redwine said he's become accustomed to hearing of rocket attacks in Israel while his brother has lived there, but seeing news reports of the incursion of Hamas fighters into Israel and the killing of civilians young and old is frightening. He and his wife, Brooke, continue to seek the latest news from Israel, and Will has been in contact with his brother at least once a day since Saturday. "Having a brother over there, it does humanize the situation a lot," Redwine said. "He will leave if he feels it's the right thing to do. They are connected to the country, and it's meaningful to them." Manning said she and husband Steve Gordon are keeping up with the news, and she's taking it day by day. She has many friends who are praying for her family and for peace. "That's been very comforting," Manning said. BEER SHEVA, Israel Adam Redwine got up as usual Saturday morning in the home he shares with his wife, Aliya, in Beer Sheva in Israel. An early riser, Redwine was already awake when he heard rumblings in the distance at around 6:30 a.m. local time. With air force bases nearby, it's not uncommon to hear bombing practice, but this was the Sabbath, so it was unlikely the military would be conducting training exercises. Still, he thought the noise was aircraft or maybe thunder because it had just started raining. "After about five minutes, the sirens went off," Redwine said. APTOPIX Israel Palestinians An Israeli howitzer fires at the Gaza Strip from the south of Israel on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. It meant he could expect to hear explosions in about 45 seconds. He woke up Aliya and they took shelter in an interior bedroom in their home with their 100-pound dog, a mastiff named Rocket. They remained in the room for a rocket attack that lasted three hours. The power went out for a time, and the windows rattled as explosions went off nearby. Living in Israel for nearly five years, the Sioux City natives were used to taking shelter during rocket attacks from Hamas fighters living in the Gaza Strip. "I didn't know it was an unusual situation until later in the day when I started looking at news reports," Redwine said. "The more details came out, the more horrifying it was." Since Saturday, he, and the rest of the world, have been captivated by news footage of the Hamas attacks on numerous Israeli settlements, the taking of hostages and gruesome killings of hundreds of civilians. Despite the violence that has been only 10 miles away at times, Redwine said he and Aliya have no plans to leave. "I normally feel safe. We are fine, we intend to be here," Redwine said in an interview via video chat. Adam and Aliya Redwine Sioux City natives Adam and Aliya Redwine have lived in Israel for nearly five years. When Hamas sprung surprise attacks on Israeli settlement Born and raised in Sioux City, the two graduated from North High School, Adam in 2001, Aliya in 2004. They've lived internationally for years, and Aliya spent a semester in Israel during high school. When Adam, a nuclear engineer, unexpectedly lost his job in 2017, the couple faced a decision. With nothing tying them down and Aliya's Jewish background and familiarity with the Hebrew language, they chose to move to Israel, setting in Beer Sheva in the southern part of the country, about 20 miles from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, where Saturday's attacks originated. Adam, whose father is former state Sen. John Redwine, went back to school, studying for his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from Ben Gurion University. Aliya, the daughter of Steve Gordon and Bethany Manning, is a clinical therapist who works with children with disabilities. As difficult as it might be for someone living in the security of Sioux City to understand, Adam and Aliya became used to explosions of rockets and attacks by Hamas on Israel. Once every year or two, there would be a couple days or a week of fighting, then it would be over. They've adapted, keeping aware of their surroundings when out and about, taking note of the location of the nearest public bomb shelter, knowing that at any minute, the warning sirens could sound. "You just kind of factor it in to normal life," Adam said. The situation since Saturday has not been normal. There are no restrictions on leaving home, and he's been out on his bicycle, but police and soldiers were on nearly every block. As of Wednesday, schools remained closed. Most businesses except for supermarkets and pharmacies also have been closed. Adam is familiar with many of the areas that were the scenes of violence. He's been on the beach that was attacked, he's ridden by the site of a music festival where dozens were killed. "This is not far away. I've been to these places," Redwine said. Fortunately, Adam and Aliya haven't lost any friends in the attacks and don't have any direct contacts who have either. But Adam knows if he asked his close friends, at least one of them would know someone who's personally affected. He's watched as a friend of his, a medic, was activated for military duty. Family members of many of their friends have been activated as well for what Adam believes could be a long, brutal conflict. "The stated military goal right now is to eliminate Hamas' military capability," Adam said. But after four days of intense Israeli counterattacks, Hamas was able to launch rockets an hour before Adam spoke with the Journal. At least three more volleys were fired Thursday, Redwine said in an email message. It's a complicated situation in an area in which Jews and Muslims live among each other, many as friends or even husband and wife. "We all live together. We are all woven together," Redwine said. "This is not about politics, this is about terror. They (Hamas) want to bring an Islamic state here. They're like ISIS." Redwine said he hopes to graduate in February and find a new job. If that's in Israel, he and Aliya will happily stay, despite the ongoing threat of violence. "We know the situation," Adam said. "We live here. We accept it." DETROIT Detroit's three automakers have laid off roughly 4,800 workers at factories that are not among the plants that have been hit by the United Auto Workers strikes, which have lasted for nearly four weeks. The companies say the strikes have nevertheless forced them to impose those layoffs. They note that the job cuts have occurred mainly at factories that make parts for assembly plants that were closed by strikes. In one case, layoffs have been imposed at a factory that uses supplies from a parts factory on strike. The UAW rejects that argument. It contends that the layoffs are unjustified and were imposed as part of the companies' pressure campaign to persuade UAW members to accept less favorable terms in negotiations with automakers. The factories that have been affected by layoffs are in six states: Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Indiana and New York. Sam Fiorani, an analyst with AutoForecast Solutions, a consulting firm, said he thinks the layoffs reflect a simple reality: The automakers are losing money because of the strikes. By slowing or idling factories that are running below their capacities because of strike-related parts shortages, Fiorani said, the companies can mitigate further losses. It doesnt make sense to keep running at 30% or 40% of capacity when it normally runs at 100%, he said. Were not looking at huge numbers of workers relative to the ones actually being struck. But there is fallout. In a statement, Bryce Currie, vice president of Americas manufacturing at Ford, said: While we are doing what we can to avoid layoffs, we have no choice but to reduce production of parts that would be destined for a plant that is on strike." UAW President Shawn Fain countered in a statement that the automakers were using layoffs to pressure the union into settling the strike. With billions in profits, Fain argued, the companies dont have to lay off a single employee. The UAW began striking against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on Sept. 15, with one assembly plant from each company. The next week, the union expanded the strike to 38 GM and Stellantis parts warehouses. Assembly plants from Ford and GM were added the week after that. Wednesday, the UAW significantly escalated its strikes when 8,700 workers walked off their jobs at Ford's Kentucky truck plant. The surprise move about 6:30 p.m. took down the largest and most profitable Ford plant in the world. The sprawling factory makes pricey heavy-duty F-Series pickup trucks and large Ford and Lincoln SUVs. The Kentucky strike brings to 33,700 the number of workers on strike against the three automakers. Striking workers are receiving $500 a week from the unions strike pay fund. By contrast, anyone who is laid off would qualify for state unemployment aid, which, depending on a variety of circumstances, could be less or more than $500 a week. Their plan wont work, Fain said. The UAW will make sure any worker laid off in the Big Threes latest attack will not go without an income. GM said it has laid off 2,330 workers, including 1,600 at a temporarily closed assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, that makes the Chevrolet Malibu sedan and Cadillac XT4 small SUV. The plant uses metal parts produced at the GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, which is on strike. Other GM facilities that have been affected by layoffs are in Lockport, New York; Toledo, Ohio; Marion, Indiana; Parma, Ohio; and Lansing, Michigan. Ford said it has laid off 1,865 workers. They include 600 auto-body and parts-stamping employees in Wayne, Michigan, who are not on strike but who have been affected by a nearby assembly plant that has been struck. Other Ford locations with layoffs include Chicago; Sterling Heights and Livonia, Michigan; and Cleveland and Lima, Ohio. Stellantis said late Monday that it had laid off about 640 workers, including 520 at an engine factory complex in Trenton, Michigan, that supplies a Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, that is on strike. Other locations with layoffs include a metal casting plant in Kokomo, Indiana, and a machining factory in Toledo. Fiorani said that if the strike widens, more workers will likely be laid off at non-striking plants. Once metal stamping factories that supply multiple assembly plants have produced enough parts for non-striking facilities, the companies would likely shut them down. Once you've filled up the stocks for the other plants you supply," he said, you have to lay off the workers and wait out the strike. Separate companies that manufacture parts for the automakers are likely to have laid off workers but might not report them publicly, said Patrick Anderson, CEO of the Anderson Economic Group in Lansing, Michigan. A survey of parts supply companies by a trade association called MEMA Original Equipment Suppliers found that 30% of members have laid off workers and that more than 60% expect to start layoffs in mid-October. Fiorani said that while larger parts suppliers can likely withstand the strike, smaller companies that make parts for the bigger companies might not have enough cash or the ability to borrow to outlast the job actions. Some, he said, may have a couple dozen workers and don't have billions in value to use as collateral in loans, he said. The Most Unionized Cities in America The Most Unionized Cities in America Union members enjoy higher wages than non union workers Union membership in the US continues to decline Pacific and Northeastern states have the highest unionization rates The most unionized small and midsize metros 15. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 14. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 13. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA 12. Fresno, CA 11. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 10. Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT 9. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 8. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 7. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 6. Providence-Warwick, RI-MA 5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 4. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 3. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 2. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 1. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Kaiser Permanente reached a tentative deal with the unions representing 75,000 employees, following the largest-ever health care strike in U.S. history. The frontline healthcare workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente, the union coalition said on X. We are thankful for the instrumental support of Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su. The strike last week lasted only three days, the length of time it had been scheduled to run. But the coalition of unions was threatening an eight-day strike next month with even more workers walking out if a new deal was not reached by Oct. 31. Details of the deal were not immediately available. The union had been seeking better pay and improved staffing levels at Kaiser hospitals and other facilities. The union coalition represents 40% of Kaiser Permanentes non-physician workforce and includes a wide range of medical workers, including EMTs, X-ray technicians, nursing assistants and respiratory care practitioners. It also represents hospital support staff, including maintenance and janitorial staff as well as food services. Rank-and-file members of the union will get to vote on the tentative labor agreement with their employer. If they vote no, another strike could still happen. It is not uncommon in recent years for rank-and-file union members to reject tentative deals reached between union negotiators and management. Nearly 4,000 members of the United Auto Workers union went on strike at Mack Trucks early Monday after membership there overwhelmingly rejected an 11th hour deal reached a week earlier. Kaiser Permanente is one of the nations largest not-for-profit health providers. Unlike a fee-for-service health care model, in which doctors and other providers are paid for each service performed, Kaiser Permanente patients or their employers pay a membership fee to access Kaiser Permanentes wide range of health care services. According to its website, Kaiser Permanente has 12.7 million members and operates 39 hospitals and 622 medical offices. The tentative agreement comes during heightened union activity in the United States. And the health care sector has seen much of the strike activity, with unions and their members complaining about pay and staffing shortages impacting the quality of care. From the start of 2022 through August of this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has tracked 42 work stoppages of 1,000 or more strikers. Its count shows a third of those strikes were in the health care industry. Thats up from 24% of major strikes in 2019, the year before the pandemic. The increased number of health care strikes have happened despite health care workers making up only about 9% of private sector union members nationwide. The Most Unionized Cities in America The Most Unionized Cities in America Union members enjoy higher wages than non union workers Union membership in the US continues to decline Pacific and Northeastern states have the highest unionization rates The most unionized small and midsize metros 15. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 14. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 13. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA 12. Fresno, CA 11. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 10. Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT 9. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 8. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 7. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 6. Providence-Warwick, RI-MA 5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 4. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 3. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 2. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 1. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu delivered the threat in a nationally televised address late Friday. Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented cross-border attack last Saturday, killing over 1,300 people in a brutal rampage. Early Friday, Israel ordered half of Gazas population to evacuate their homes. This is just the beginning, Netanyahu said. We will end this war stronger than ever. We will destroy Hamas, he added, saying Israel has widespread international support for the operation. Mass exodus as Palestinians flee Palestinians fled in a mass exodus from northern Gaza Friday after Israels military told some 1 million people to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory, an unprecedented order ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group. The U.N. warned that telling almost half the Gaza population to flee en masse would be calamitous, and it urged Israel to reverse the order. Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with blankets and possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City, the biggest city, as airstrikes continued to hammer the territory. Hamas media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people. Israels military said that its troops had entered Gaza on temporary raids to battle militants and hunt for traces of some 150 people abducted in Hamas' brutal surprise attack nearly a week ago. In urging the evacuation, Israels military said it planned to target underground Hamas hideouts around Gaza City. Separately, Palestinians and some Egyptian officials fear Israel wants to push Gazas people out through the southern border with Egypt. Hamas told people to ignore the evacuation order, but some Palestinians hesitated to leave out of fear that nowhere was safe in the tiny territory. Gaza is sealed off from food, water and medical supplies and under a virtual total power blackout. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youll make it, if youre going to live, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, as she broke into heaving sobs. The Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that roughly 1,800 people have been killed in the territory more than half of them under the age of 18, or women. Hamas assault last Saturday killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said. The week-old war has sent tensions soaring across the region. Israel has traded fire in recent days with Lebanons Hezbollah militant group, sparking fears of an ever wider conflict, though that frontier is currently calm. Weekly Muslim prayers brought protests across the Middle East. Israeli raid goes into Gaza Israel's raid was the first word of troops entering Gaza since Israel launched its round-the-clock bombardment in retaliation for Hamas attack, in which militant fighters massacred hundreds in southern Israel and snatched some 150 people to Gaza as hostages. A military spokesman said that after Israeli ground troops conducted their raids in Gaza on Friday, they then left. The moves did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion. But the evacuation order was taken as a a further signal of an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though no such decision has been announced. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border. Hamas said Israels airstrikes killed 13 of the hostages in the past day. It said the dead included foreigners but did not give their nationalities. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied the claim, telling Al-Jazeera Arabic, We have our own information. In Israel, the public remained in shock over the Hamas rampage and frightened by continual rocket fire out of Gaza. The public is overwhelmingly in favor of the military offensive, and Israeli TV stations have set up special broadcasts with slogans like together we will win and strong together. Their reports focus heavily on the aftermath of the Hamas attack, stories of heroism and national unity, and they make scant mention of the unfolding crisis in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported 16 Palestinians killed Friday in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total of West Bank Palestinians killed since Hamas' rampage to 51. The U.N. says attacks by Israeli settlers have surged there since the Hamas assault. Gaza pounded relentlessly since Hamas attacks Weekly Muslim prayers brought protests across the Middle East, and tensions ran high in Jerusalem's Old City. The Islamic endowment that manages a flashpoint holy site in the city, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, said Israeli authorities barred all Palestinian men under the age of 50 from entering. Israel has bombarded Gaza round-the-clock since Hamas' attack, in which its fighters massacred hundreds in southern Israel and snatched some 150 people to Gaza as hostages. A military spokesman said that after Israeli ground troops conducted their raids in Gaza on Friday, they then left. The moves did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border since last Saturdays deadly incursion by Hamas militants. Hamas said Israels airstrikes killed 13 of the hostages in the past day. It said the dead included foreigners but did not give their nationalities. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied the claim, telling Al-Jazeera Arabic, We have our own information. Israel said Thursday it would allow no supplies into Gaza until Hamas frees the hostages. Israel urges mass evacuation of Gaza civilians The military urged civilians in Gazas north to move south an order that the U.N. said affects 1.1 million people. If carried out, that would mean the territorys entire population cramming into roughly the southern half of the 40 kilometer (25 mile) long strip. Israel said it needed to target Hamas military infrastructure, much of which is buried deep underground. Another spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, said the military would take extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians and that residents would be allowed to return when the war is over. Hamas militants operate in civilian areas, where Israel has long accused them of using Palestinians as human shields. The camouflage of the terrorists is the civil population, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Therefore, we need to separate them. So those who want to save their life, please go south. But U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it would be impossible to stage such an evacuation without devastating humanitarian consequences. He called on Israel to rescind any such orders, saying they could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Palestinians in Gaza grapple with nowhere to go Many Palestinians in Gaza still struggled with indecision, not knowing whether to leave or stay. Gaza City resident Khaled Abu Sultan at first didnt believe the evacuation order was real, and now isnt sure whether to evacuate his family to the south. We dont know if there are safe areas there, he said. We dont know anything. Another family contacted friends and relatives in southern Gaza seeking shelter, but then changed their minds. Many expressed concern they would not be able to return or be gradually displaced to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. More than half of the Palestinians in Gaza are the descendants of refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, when hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from what is now Israel. For many, the mass evacuation order dredged up fears of a second expulsion. Already, at least 423,000 people nearly one in five Gazans have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the U.N. said Thursday. Where is the sense of security in Gaza? Is this what Hamas is offering us? said one resident, Tarek Mraish, standing by an avenue as vehicles flowed by. What has Hamas done to us? It brought us catastophe, he said, using the same Arabic word nakba used for the 1948 displacement. The U.N. estimated that tens of thousands had fled homes in the north by Friday night. Hospitals struggle with patients Gazas Health Ministry said it was impossible to evacuate the many wounded from hospitals, which are already struggling with high numbers of dead and injured. We cannot evacuate hospitals and leave the wounded and sick to die, spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said. Farsakh, of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said some medics were refusing to abandon patients and were instead calling colleagues to say goodbye. We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals, she said. Al Awda Hospital was struggling to evacuate dozens of patients and staff after the military contacted it and told it do so by Friday night, said the aid group Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, which supports the facility. The military extended the deadline to Saturday morning, it said. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, also said it would not evacuate its schools, where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma. The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse, said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWAs commissioner general. Israel says responsibility in Gaza lies with Hamas Pressed by reporters on whether the army would protect hospitals, U.N. shelters and other civilian locations, Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, warned, Its a war zone. Hagari added: If Hamas prevents residents from evacuating, the responsibility lies with them. The U.N. had said the evacuation order it received gave Palestinians 24 hours to move, but the military told the AP there was no formal deadline. Clive Baldwin a senior legal adviser at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said ordering a million people in Gaza to evacuate, when theres no safe place to go, is not an effective warning." The roads are rubble, fuel is scarce, and the main hospital is in the evacuation zone, he said. "World leaders should speak up now before it is too late. Egypt has been alarmed by the potential of tens of thousands of Palestinians flooding out of Gaza into its Sinai Peninsula. It has moved thousands of security forces toward the border to prevent a breach, a senior Egyptian security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. At the same time, it is trying to negotiate entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Egypts Rafah crossing, the only entry not controlled by Israel, has been closed because of airstrikes. The evacuation order was taken as a further signal of an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though no such decision has been announced. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. His government is under intense public pressure to topple the group rather than merely bottle it up in Gaza as it has for years. A visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, along with shipments of weapons, offered a powerful green light for Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation. Defense Secretary Austin, who met with Israeli leaders Friday, reiterated the United States ironclad support for Israel, saying military assistance would flow in at the speed of war. Still, a ground offensive in densely populated and impoverished Gaza would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Israeli shelling along Lebanon border kills 1 journalist, wounds 6 An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon on Friday, killing a Reuters videographer and injuring six other journalists. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car. We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the Reuters news agency said in a statement. The agency added that Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon that was providing a live signal. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Qatars Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded. Frances international news agency, Agence France-Presse, said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in a statement condemned Israel's shelling that struck the journalists during its aggression on southern Lebanon. Photos: Scenes from the Israel-Hamas war WASHINGTON (AP) The Biden administration has selected clean-energy projects from Pennsylvania to California for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, a key component of President Joe Biden's agenda to slow climate change. Biden called clean hydrogen essential to his vision of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 2050. His goal is to establish seven regional hubs to help replace fossil fuels such as coal and oil with cleaner-burning hydrogen as an energy source for vehicles, manufacturing and generating electricity. The seven hubs, which include projects in 16 states, will spur more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, many of them union positions, Biden said Friday at a cargo terminal in Philadelphia, where one of the hubs will be based. He called the announcement transformational and said it would help create a stronger, energy-secure economy'' and combat the existential threat of climate change.'' Its all part of my plan to make things in America, he said. The projects selected are based in California, Washington, Minnesota, Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Illinois. All but the California and Texas hubs include projects in multiple states. Pennsylvania has projects in two separate hubs. The infrastructure law Biden signed in 2021 included billions of dollars to develop so-called clean hydrogen, a technology that industry and clean-energy advocates have long pushed as a way to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions produced by fossil fuels. Some environmentalists call hydrogen a false solution because it frequently relies on natural gas as a fuel source. Energy companies say fossil fuels can by used if the projects capture the carbon dioxide produced and keep it out of the atmosphere, a technology that has yet to be produced at commercial scale. States and businesses have been competing for federal dollars in the new Energy Department program, which will create regional networks of hydrogen producers, consumers and infrastructure. The intent is to accelerate the availability and use of the colorless, odorless gas that already powers some vehicles and trains. Among those selected were the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, based in West Virginia, and the Philadelphia-based Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub. Pennsylvania, a battleground state of the highest importance to the Democratic president in next years election, is in line to benefit from both projects. Biden has made Philadelphia a regular stop for both official and campaign events, and partners in the proposed Philadelphia-area hub have labor unions that are key Biden supporters. The West Virginia-based hub includes major Pittsburgh-based natural gas companies that are active in the regions prolific Marcellus Shale reservoir, including natural gas producer EQT Corp., which expects its gas to flow through the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia. Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who muscled approval of the $6.6 billion pipeline through Congress in an unusual agreement with the White House this year, hailed the Appalachian hub. This means West Virginia will be the new epicenter of hydrogen in the United States of America, he said of the hub, which will receive up to $925 million in federal spending. West Virginia will be on the leading edge of building out the new hydrogen market.'' The Appalachian hub will extend to Ohio and includes a $1.6 billion facility under construction in northern Pennsylvania that is working to produce near-zero emissions hydrogen from natural gas. This is a big, big deal for ... Appalachia in particular, because these facilities are all based in areas where coal was king,'' said Perry Babb, president of KeyState, an owner and developer of the Pennsylvania site. The Mid-Atlantic hub, which includes New Jersey and Delaware, will receive $750 million and will make hydrogen through electrolysis splitting water molecules using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, as well as nuclear power. The two largest projects are in California and Texas; each will receive up to $1.2 billon. The Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems in California will produce hydrogen from renewable energy and biomass. The project is intended to provide a blueprint for decarbonizing public transportation, heavy-duty trucking and port operations key emissions drivers in the state and major sources of air pollution. In order to achieve ambitious climate goals, we have to address these intensive industries, including ports, aviation, shipping and agriculture, as well as large power plants and cement and steel plants, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday. The Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub will be centered in Houston, long the energy capital of the U.S., and plans large-scale hydrogen production from both natural gas and renewables. This historic investment will further cement Texas position as the national leader in energy and hydrogen production,'' said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The Minnesota-based Heartland hub, which includes projects in North and South Dakota, will receive $925 million as it seeks to decarbonize fertilizer used in agriculture and advance use of clean hydrogen in electric generation and for cold climate space heating. It also plans to offer equity ownership to tribal communities and local farmers. The Midwest hub in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan will receive up to $1 billion and will use hydrogen in steel and glass production, power generation, heavy-duty transportation and sustainable aviation fuel. The hub plans to use renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear energy. The Pacific Northwest hub, based in eastern Washington, will extend to Oregon and Montana and will use hydropower and other renewable resources to produce clean hydrogen. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the $1 billion hub great news for the Pacific Northwest," adding that it will create thousands of jobs and "make sure that Washington plays a leading role in growing the green hydrogen economy.'' Nearly every state had joined at least one proposed hub, and many have been working together, hoping to reap the economic development and thousands of jobs they would bring. Big fossil fuel companies, renewable energy developers and researchers in university and government labs are involved, too. Environmental groups are skeptical, arguing that while hydrogen is a clean-burning source of power, it takes a great deal of energy to produce. When its made with electricity from coal or natural gas, it has a bigger carbon footprint than simply burning the source fuel. We need strong guardrails to ensure that U.S. hydrogen does not create an emissions mess, and that we are not subsidizing hydrogen that is clean in name only, said Erik Kamrath, federal hydrogen advocate at Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. Anna Menke, senior hydrogen hubs manager at Clean Air Task Force, another environmental group, called the new hubs a critical first step'' to reduce emissions from carbon-intensive industries such as ammonia used for fertilizers and petrochemicals used in refining. New uses of hydrogen in sectors such as heavy-duty trucking, shipping and aviation are potential game changers, she said, adding: We must ensure the program delivers on these promises.'' Former President Donald Trump continues to hold a commanding lead among Iowans who plan to participate in the states first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses in just more than three months. In a new poll from Iowa State University and Civiqs, 55% of likely Iowa Republican caucus participants chose Trump as their first choice to be the partys nominee for president next year. Trumps support remained significantly larger than the rest of the field: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was the next choice at 17% and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley was third at 11 percent. No other candidate was the first choice of more than 5% of respondents. It still looks like theres Trump and everyone else, but that everyone else is clarifying to be DeSantis and Haley, with (Ohio entrepreneur Vivek) Ramaswamy and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott from South Carolina falling farther behind, Iowa State University political science professor Dave Peterson said in a news release. The poll is the second of five that will be conducted monthly leading up to the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses. The poll results reflect the responses of 425 Iowans who said they definitely or probably will participate in the Republican caucuses. The online survey was conducted between Oct. 6 and Oct. 10, and has a margin for error of plus or minus 6.1 percentage points. Peterson said some of the respondents have been interviewed for both ISU/Civiqs polls, and that the consistency in the results shows a relative static level of support for the candidates. The people supporting Donald Trump last month are still supporting Donald Trump, Peterson said. There isnt much movement between candidates. It looks like its fairly crystallized in who people are supporting. DeSantis to pour $2 million into Iowa ad campaign Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis campaign announced Thursday it plans to make a $2 million media reservation in Iowa starting in mid-November and running through the night of the Iowa caucuses, Jan. 15. That makes DeSantis the first candidate to reserve airtime through the caucuses, and underscores the critical importance of the state in his bid to win the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis presidential campaign said last week it will move about one-third of its staff from Florida to Iowa. The campaign said it has 18,000 Iowans committed to caucus for DeSantis, who as of Monday had visited 74 of Iowas 99 counties. He is scheduled to be back in Iowa on Saturday to tour the southwest part of the state. Former United Nations ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is also growing her campaign in the leadoff caucus state opening a campaign headquarters in Clive and adding Iowa campaign veterans to her team in the state. Current GOP front-runner and former President Donald Trump has also dramatically ramped up his appearances and campaigning in Iowa in recent weeks as his operation works to ensure his supporters turn out on caucus night. The new $2 million ad buy from DeSantis shows his campaign is largely all-in on the crucial first-in-the-nation contest, wagering his hopes on Iowa as the best place to block Trump from running away with the GOP nomination. DeSantis campaign reported it entered October with $5 million cash on hand, after raising $15 million across several entities in the third quarter. Campaign officials on Thursday said DeSantis raised an additional $1 million within 48 hours of announcing the third-quarter fundraising. Iowa Democratic Party to celebrate MLK peace prize anniversary The Iowa Democratic Party will host an event Saturday commemorating the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. The event, which will take place at the Iowa Capitol Rotunda in Des Moines, also will celebrate Kings civil rights and social justice legacy, according to a news release. Saturdays event will feature a short presentation followed by a panel discussion with state Reps. Ako Abdul-Samad of Des Moines and Mary Madison of West Des Moines, the Rev. Rob Johnson, and Heartland Area Education Agency Board Member Tiara Mays-Sims. The Iowa Democratic Partys in-person caucuses are being held Jan. 15, the same day as Republicans. The date also falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday. (I)ts important for Iowa Democrats to acknowledge and celebrate the legacy of Dr. King and to recognize those who are continuing his work, according to an Iowa Democratic Party news release. Saturdays celebration begins at 2 p.m. at the State Capitol Rotunda, 1007 E. Grand Ave. in Des Moines. Photos: DeSantis speaks at Lincoln Day Dinner in Peoria Friday the 13th has long had a spooky reputation in the U.S., right up there with black cat crossings and shattered mirrors. But in the world of tattoos, Friday the 13th has become something like an anticipated holiday when thousands of people get inked. It started when Oliver Peck, co-owner of Texas tattoo shop Elm Street Tattoo, decided to tattoo the number 13 on as many people as possible, back-to-back, over a 24-hour period on Friday, June 13, 2008. All told, he managed to tattoo 415 people. Tattoo shops across the country followed suit, including New York Citys Daredevil Tattoo, the first to open after New York legalized tattooing in 1997. I spoke with Michelle Myles, co-owner of Daredevil Tattoo, about how the tattoo industry got involved with Friday the 13th and what its like to celebrate such an ominous day. Heres our conversation, lightly edited and condensed for clarity. Shirin Ali: What do you think connects tattooing with Friday the 13th? Michelle Myles: Well, its just something that Oliver Peck thought of, and people really like cheap tattoos! Tattoos have always kind of reflected lucky or unlucky talismans. Its kind of like how people would get Grim Reaper tattoos. I have a Mr. Lucky tattoo on my shoulder thats a skull with a top hat. Hes got 13, 13, 13 in his hat band, and I got that in the early 1990s, before Friday the 13th was a thing [for tattoos]. I think people enjoy tempting fate or making fun of it a little bit. Skulls have always been a really popular image, and that type of stuff can be intimidating in some ways, which people like to embrace for tattoos, maybe as a way to laugh at ill fate or unlucky things. Its a way to maybe not be afraid of them, or just to embrace it and be aligned with it, you know? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think Friday the 13th or just 13 tattoos in general have always been the kind of imagery that people have liked for tattooing. How did Daredevil Tattoo get started in the Friday the 13th tattoo tradition? We started doing the Friday the 13th thing around 2000. Oliver in Texas was the first one who was doing it, and so we had this tattoo artist at our shop who was friends with Oliver. She wanted to do the same thing, and I said sure. I think she tattooed like five or six of her friends, and then the next time it rolled around, a couple more artists in the shop were like, Oh, we want to do it, too, and I said sure. Eventually everybody at the shop wanted to do the Friday the 13th thing. Advertisement But then somebody from Fuse network wanted to film at our shop and do a little profile, and it was right before Friday the 13th, and I said, Actually, Friday the 13th is coming up and we have this special that we do. And so that was why I ended up continuing it at the shop, to have something for Fuse to film. When the next Friday the 13th came around, people were calling us from all over the country, asking if they could come in. We had people that were flying in from California, and when I was going to the grocery store, people were recognizing me because of the Fuse network thing. At that point it started to get really crazy. We did it for a few years, and after that other shops started to do it. All these years later and now its turned into a whole thing, which is kind of crazy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What are some other popular tattoos that people get on Friday the 13th? Advertisement Whatever we can do really quickly is probably the No. 1 feature of a Friday the 13th tattoo. Since we were the first ones doing this in New York, and weve been doing it for so long, our shop is a very popular destination for Friday the 13th. Weve really streamlined the process and were very good at accommodating a lot of people. Sometimes we tattoo 100 to 200 people, depending on the designs. The priority is to do something thats fun, but still allows us to get through the line of people that show up at the shop. As far as imagery goes, people will get unlucky and lucky things. Some of the unlucky ones are skulls and Grim Reapers and the number 13 or lightning bolts. Its just anything thats fun and quirky. We definitely have some customers who have been coming in for the last 20 years and they have a whole collection of these little designs. Theres this one family that would come in all together, it was Mom, Dad, and the kids. For us, its sort of like the closest we can get to how tattooing used to be. It used to be when you came in to get tattooed, youd just come in, pick something off the wall, and that was what you got. It wasnt this whole production, about people having custom ideas and spending a lot of time drawing stuff up. You just came in, picked something, sat down, you got tattooed, and that was that. Advertisement What makes this upcoming Friday the 13th special compared to previous years? Its always fun when it lands in October because then you have a spooky theme to the day. And I always like October because the weather is still nice. Im always a little worried whenever theres a Friday the 13th in January and its going to be freezing outside. We try to make it as fun of a day for everybody as possible. Part of that is taking peoples names and giving them a number so they can go walk around the neighborhood and spend money with our neighborseating, drinking, getting a coffee, or whatever. We want it to be fun for everybody, because its a stressful, long day. Its definitely grueling. Advertisement Advertisement Plus, tattoos are expensive these days, so I like that people can still come into Daredevil, a world-renowned tattoo shop, and afford to get tattooed here for $40. Even some punk kid like I was when I got my first tattoo can still come in and afford to get tattooed at our shop. We really like it as a way to connect with new people, and also to have fun with our friends and make new friends for the day. I really love that it gives us a chance to get a little taste of what tattooing was like back in the old days, before it became this more gentrified version of itself. The claim is indelibleonce you hear it, it is impossible to forget: When Hamas destroyed the kibbutz of Kfar Aza on Sunday, they left behind 40 beheaded babies. Forty beheaded babies. Can you imagine such a thing? The problem is that no one is quite sure if it is true. Its not exactly that its been debunked, more that it remains unsubstantiated. And yet, the claim has taken on a life of its own in the past 48 hours, spurring its own news cycle in the already crowded environment the past week of violence has prompted. Never mind that Israeli Defense Forces soldiers, the sources for these claims, are notoriously unreliable, and have intentionally misdirected or otherwise lied (the IDF media team has declined to confirm the fact, claiming that providing proof would be disrespectful to the deceased). But the question that I have is: Why this claim? The answer, I think, should teach us something about what we are all facing. Here is the thing: There is ample evidence of Hamas atrocities circulating online. On X (Twitter), TikTok, Reddit, and more, users are posting and reposting horrific images of executions perpetrated by Hamas on defenseless bystanders. And, as Israel answers this attack with one of its own, videos and photos of inexplicable terror have been streaming out of Gaza, showing lifeless bodies being recovered from beneath the rubble of buildings taken down in Israeli air strikes and naval warships. At least one video shows a row of infants, gray and bloody, placed on a gurney as Palestinians weep behind them. Related From Slate Were Now Seeing the Dire Consequences of Elon Musks Changes to Twitter Read More There can be no accounting for the trauma of the survivors witnessing the death all around them. And we are in an unprecedented situation in which the rest of us will bear witness to much of this violence as well. Schools are reaching out to parents to warn them about what their children might see online. The New York Times is already valiantly trying to sort through what is a real video and what is a video game, what is a video from 2023 and what is a video from 2015, what is a faked statement from the White House and what is merely an instance of the president falling prey to what all of us mighthow easy it is to absorb a horrific detail and believe it to be true. Advertisement Advertisement Because yes, last night, President Joe Biden repeated the claim about beheaded babies before the White House walked it back, noting that the Israeli Defense Forces had not been able to verify the claim. The Intercept published a comprehensive report about that claim in particular, and why this war is going to be so full of misinformation. The reporting centered largely on the way that this war will intersect with all the things that are going wrong with our social networks these days, which are numerous. Advertisement Advertisement But I think that this problem touches something much olderthe need to dehumanize our enemies. Hamas barbarism doesnt need to be exaggerated, as evidenced by the countless videos showing them gunning down unarmed and retreating people. But this specific claim created such an understandable repulsion toward the alleged crime against humanity. As some have feared, it succeeded in further dehumanizing Palestinians as a whole, as the 25-mile-long strip that theyve been crammed into by Israel underwent an unprecedented military siege that claimed the lives of children, and babies. Hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed, with one aid group reporting that 100 percent of the trauma patients they treated were children. The belief that Hamas and Palestinians in general were capable of such an atrocity seems to have helped people to accept that the scores of Palestinian babies dying in Gaza was an acceptable price tag for Hamas atrocities. Advertisement As the body count continues to rise in Israel and in Gaza, the narrative of the beheaded babies encapsulates the power of stories to shape perceptions, illustrating the peril of jumping to conclusions in a conflict steeped in deep-seated emotions. It highlights the importance of critical thinking and the responsibility of the media and the public in disseminating accurate information. And it reveals the urgent need for empathy and a commitment to peace in a protracted conflict marked by a steady stream of dehumanization of the other side. Advertisement Advertisement Im beginning to understand why so many have described this Hamas offensive as Israels 9/11. I remember feeling a state of shock and grief, the horrific body count increasing steadily in the news while I still didnt know whether my father, who worked in lower Manhattan, was alive or dead. I also remember experiencing the grief of others pointed irrationally toward me and my community of Muslims in northern New Jersey. Advertisement In the aftermath, President George Bush promised to exact heavy punishment on Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida, and declared a war on terror, promising to end the threat of terrorism to America once and for all. The following month, the United States deployed troops to the Middle East. The trauma the country had collectively experienced cleared the way for us to support choices and offenses that I suspect we would have never otherwise endured. And what was it for? Twenty years later, the United States withdrew from the region, leaving behind an empowered Taliban and half a million civilians dead, according to moderate estimates. Though weve now come to accept that American enhanced interrogation techniques and conduct abroadparticularly in Abu Ghraibwere reprehensible, at the time, many were eager to defend it using language that dehumanized Arabs and Muslims. I personally felt it here as harassment and suspicion of Muslims, Arabs, and Sikhs became so normalized it permeated every corner of our lived experience as Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, it seems like we have learned nothing. The claim of beheaded babies, if true, would indeed be a horrifyingly inhuman atrocity, and we will need to reckon with how it was possible and ensure it will never be possible ever again. However, in the meantime, this horrifying idea is now helping to justify collective punishment on one of the most vulnerable civilian populations there is. Dehumanizing language is coming from the very top of Israeli leadership, referring to Gazans as human animals, monsters, and inhuman. Its worth noting that Israelis have been doing this for years, not just since Saturdayits just that the language is more accepted in the aftermath of the possible infant beheadings. Advertisement These are not beasts, but people. But these are not animals, monsters, or inhuman people. Video after video emerging from the Gaza Strip demonstrate as much. They show a mother screaming out of shock and anguish after being told her entire family had been killed. An old man returning to the rubble that was his home and crying as he thanks God for what he has left. Dozens of men digging through debris with their bare hands to recover the dead. A father embracing and whispering into the ear of his lifeless infant one last time. Exhausted paramedics taking turns screaming in agony after theyve failed to resuscitate a fellow emergency responder. A Palestinian man smiling as he tickles a giggling baby that survived a bombing. These are not beasts, but people. And their lives arent any cheaper than the lives of the Israelis also grieving their losses. Advertisement In this new age of instant information, we see much more of the horrors of war. This visibility means that we feel them in sharper ways, too. Which is why its imperative we resist the temptation to let the emotions that come from this overexposure guide our judgment. Particularly in the face of unimaginable terror, its clear that dehumanizing language is often a precursor for a never-ending cycle of violence. A Pew poll found that American support for the war in Iraq plummeted soon after the invasion, and by 2019, 6264 percent of Americans said the war just wasnt worth it. Still, the United States cannot reverse its wholesale destruction of swaths of the Middle East. And war crimes against civilians are never an acceptable response, even to war crimes against civilians. Danger lies in allowing dehumanization to justify further violence and suffering. In the face of such complex conflicts, and particularly when we are awash in so much horrible violence, it is vital that we remember the cost of the dehumanization of the other. This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a new feature where we pull a particularly wild statement from the news as a reminder of just how extremely normal everything has become. I didnt even know what the hell the FEC was. Rep. George Santos, Oct. 10 The curious case of George Santos became even curiouser this week when federal prosecutors unveiled 10 more charges against himpart of a 23-count superseding indictment that alleged that the GOP congressman, who represents part of Long Island, engaged in a sprawling criminal scheme to defraud donors to his campaign. The Justice Department initially indicted Santos back in May. The new charges are related to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud. Prosecutors believe that Santos stole his donors credit card information so he could transfer more than $10,000 to his personal bank account and another $50,000 to buy designer goods and pay off personal debts. He also allegedly reported a fake $500,000 loan as a way to convince Republicans he was rich and get them to donate to his campaign. When reporters first asked Santos about the charges, it seemed to all be news to him: George Santos just told us he will NOT resign and claims he didnt see the new charges detailed in his new indictment, saying he was in the GOP conference meeting. He rushed into his office and slammed his door on us. Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 10, 2023 Advertisement Advertisement (The charges were released while he was in a GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill.) I did not have access to my phone. I have no clue what you guys are talking about, he said when asked about the new charges Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 10, 2023 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Santos later told reporters that the charges were bullshit and that he had no control over his campaign finances and never touched any of the reports his campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission. I dont know what their system was like, other than going on Google and, I think like all of you might know fec.gov, looking and seeing whos donating to who and whatnot, he said, according to the New York Post. I didnt even know what the hell the FEC was, he said. Running a campaign and not even knowing about the government agency that regulates campaign finance: classic! The GOP freshman has, as a reminder, been deeply embroiled in controversy for most of his time in office. In December, the New York Times published a bombshell investigation casting doubt on his claims of graduating from college, having Jewish grandparents, and working on Wall Street, among other things. Within a week, Santos admitted to lying but refused to step down. Advertisement The DOJ has accused him of a host of illegal activities, including stealing public funds, money laundering, and lying on federal disclosure forms. Santos pleaded not guilty to the original charges. Advertisement Throughout this saga, Santos has remained not just employed but stubbornly unapologetic for his actions and has taken a page out of Donald Trumps playbook, chalking up the federal investigation to a witch hunt. Im going to fight the witch hunt. Im going to take care of clearing my name, Santos said, following his arraignment in New York. Advertisement The GOP has stayed mum on the Santos situation for months, most likely because it needed his vote to keep its razor-thin majority in the House. But the new charges have spurred some party members to action. On Wednesday, six Republican lawmakers said they planned to introduce an expulsion resolution against Santos. We feel that enoughs enough, said Rep. Anthony DEsposito. Hes a stain on the institution. Apparently it only takes 10 months, an admission of lying about an entire professional resume (and life, really), and a 23-count federal indictment for someone to be considered for expulsion from Congress! EU top diplomat visits China; trip to 'seek common ground' 10:26, October 13, 2023 By GT staff reporters ( Global Times EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell started his visit to China on Thursday, and was scheduled to meet some business representatives and Chinese academics in Shanghai, with the focus on issues such as the EU's strategic autonomy, trade tensions between the EU and China, the escalating Israel-Palestine conflict and the Ukraine crisis. With the bloc's top diplomat urging Beijing to stop viewing China-EU relations solely through its rivalry with the US and expressing doubt on its neutral position on the Ukraine issue, some experts said the messages released ahead of the visit reflected some misunderstandings in Europe about EU-China ties. But most importantly, Borrell's trip is expected to help bring divergences under control and find common ground to work together. "Inspiring exchange in Shanghai with European companies on economic and business challenges. We must address these challenges because neither we nor China can ignore each other's market," Borrell said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. Borrell is scheduled to visit China from Thursday to Saturday, and will co-chair the 12th EU-China Strategic Dialogue together with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a media advisory released on the European External Action Service. The European diplomat will also give a speech at Peking University. Finding common ground Ahead of the visit, Borrell said in an interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that "China should stop viewing its relationship with Europe through the lens of its rivalry with the US," and "his first objective" is to reaffirm that EU takes China seriously and "we expect China to take us more seriously." Some global issues will be discussed during the meeting between Borrell and Wang, such as escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine and the Ukraine crisis, the EU's top diplomat revealed in the interview. But he also pointed out that the EU is not "totally convinced by China's argument that China is neutral in this conflict." "Those remarks of Borrell showed that there are some misunderstandings about EU-China relations inside Europe, which could be misled by the US," Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Thursday. China has always supported the strategic autonomy of the EU, and expects it to play a more important role in a multipolar world, Sun said. "What we oppose is the US sabotaging and blocking the cooperation between China and the EU, and there are many Atlanticists in the EU who have been criticizing China from the perspective of Washington." The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Borrell's visit is conducive to the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations. China is willing to work with the EU to strengthen strategic communication, coordination and cooperation, enhance mutual trust and appropriately handle differences, as the two powers share a wide range of common interests. During the meetings with Borrell, the Chinese side will present its views on the EU's recent China policy, correct the EU's biased perception of China, and prevent some concepts and policies unilaterally proposed by the EU from causing more trouble to bilateral relations, some experts said. Bloomberg described this trip of the EU's top diplomat as a "delicate task", as he has to "push back against Chinese subsidies and prevent the $900 billion relationship from imploding into a trade war. The EU recently launched a probe into so-called state subsidies on China's electric vehicles. With some competitive factors in EU's China policy increasing and systemic rivalry strengthening, especially when the EU seeks to reduce reliance on China over "de-risking" concerns, the significance of Borrell's visit lies in exchanging views on divergences and bringing differences under control, Sun said, noting that more importantly, the two sides can find more common ground on global governance, regional and global issues and economic cooperation. Only by keeping a moderate balance between China and the US can Europe achieve greater strategic autonomy, experts said. "In other words, the more options Europe has, the greater the possibility for strategic independence. If Europe were to simply lean toward the US, then the option of a relationship with China would be off the table," Jiang Feng, a research fellow at the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday. Europe should recognize its role as a force for peace and development. Suppressing and containing China like the US and instigating great power confrontations will only lead to greater regional instability, Jiang noted. "This lesson becomes even clearer after the heightened US-Russia or West-Russia confrontations that eventually plunged Europe into chaos," he said, noting that Europe became the primary victim, which should serve as a wake-up call. Despite facing challenges, both China and Europe are currently seeking to stabilize bilateral relations and move forward from the turbulent and icy periods of the previous years, which also represents the largest consensus between the two sides, experts said. Reflection needed Borrell's visit comes just days after tensions between Israel and Hamas continued to escalate, which are not part of the official agenda of the meeting but which "will no doubt" be raised, the SCMP said, citing senior EU sources. He was also quoted as saying in the media report that the EU and China can try to work together on issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, but doubted China's consistent position on the Ukraine crisis. China is not a party to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and its stance on the issue has been clear and consistent, Gao Jian, director of the Center for British Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday. "As a major country, China will absolutely not accept any interference from international political forces in its development or its normal bilateral relationship with Russia. This is because China is a nation with genuine strategic independence and the ability to act autonomously," he said. What the European side should reflect on is the root cause of the outbreak of the conflict. The formation of the EU came after years of war and was based on self-reflection for peace. For Europe today, to approach the Russia-Ukraine conflict with a confrontational mindset and attempt to resolve it through military means seems both irrational and unlikely, Gao said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Since the shocking, unprecedented, and ongoing incursions into Israel by Hamas militants on Saturday, the media and social media discourse about culpability has been maddening. Through the fog of war, Americans (and beyond) of every stripe have been roped into expressing support for sides of a conflict that many do not understand. This war is complex, and its layers of pain have been formed over many years, battles, and untold deaths. So, perhaps some recent statements, especially from students, have just been ill-conceived. But that hasnt made the loud, if small, minority who has chosen a reflexive and counterproductive display of supportsometimes, but not always, accompanied with a caveatfor the execrable Hamas any less painful or abhorrent. It hasnt come just from extremely online Redditors, Instagram influencers, or Twitter leftists like British journalist Rivkah Brown, who wrote (and later deleted), Today should be a day of celebration for supporters of democracy and human rights worldwide, as Gazans break out of their open-air prison and Hamas fighters cross into their colonizers territory. New Yorks Democratic Socialists initially supported a Manhattan rally at which protesters appeared to endorse the attacks as justified resistance. The apartheid regime is the only one to blame. Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years, wrote a group of Harvard undergraduates in a statement endorsed by 33 student groups on campus. Student groups at other schools have used a silhouetted image of a paragliderone of the methods the Hamas murderers used to breach the wall between Gaza and Israelon posters supporting Palestinian resistance. In a piece published Wednesday in New York magazine, Eric Levitz recounted similar expressions of support for Hamas from supposed left-wing individuals and groups. Advertisement Advertisement These are relatively isolated incidents, but this rhetoric tracks with a problematic interpretation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that casts all Israelisnot just those living in the occupied West Bankas colonizers. Ironically, this kind of rhetoric plays directly into the hands of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others on the far right who have long claimed, erroneously, that to the Palestinians, all Israelis are settlers. The inevitable media pile-on in response to such statements does a disservice to the Palestinians who will be bearing the brunt of Israels retaliation in the days and weeks to come, and it gives cover to those who insist that any criticism of Israeli policy is motivated, at heart, by antisemitism. Advertisement Advertisement If theres one thing that you would hope all factions on the progressive left could agree on, its that the hard-line religious fanatics who took suicide terrorism global in the 1990s, targeted civilians indiscriminately, bore enormous responsibility for the collapse of the Oslo peace process, and now operate a repressive, single-party authoritarian regime in Gaza are beyond the pale. More than any other single entity, Hamas (an Arabic-language acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement) helped destroy the Israeli left and, with it, any meaningful prospect of a two-state solution to the conflict. Advertisement Advertisement The group had plenty of help, of course, from Jewish extremists in Israel and maximalist right-wing politicians like Netanyahu himself. Not long after the famous 1993 handshake between Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn that kicked off the doomed Oslo peace process, an Israeli extremist gunned down dozens of Palestinians in a mosque, Rabin was dead from a Jewish assassins bullet, the settlements in territories that would need to be handed back to the Palestinians continued to inexplicably expand, and then, in 1996, Netanyahu was elected. Advertisement But there is also no meaningful factual dispute about what Hamas has done and what role the group played in the obliteration of peace prospects. Beginning in 1993, the organization perpetrated dozens of suicide attacks in Israel, killing thousands of innocent people and plunging Israeli society into a maelstrom of fear and escalation that produced reactionary governments unwilling to take even rudimentary steps toward a negotiated peace. The Palestinian national movement did not then requireand does not now needthe slaughter of innocent civilians on buses and in dance halls and in family homes. Taking the long view should also make it clear that several decades of Hamas antics have left the Palestinians worse off, further from liberation, further from statehood, and more isolated than ever before. It is de rigueur to note that the power asymmetry between Israel and the Palestinians means that the former bears much more responsibility for ongoing violence. And it is true: Nonviolent resistance has been met with bullets, and boycott efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere have been criminalized. But a recognition of Israels disproportionate power must also come with a recognition that any resolution to the conflict runs directly through the hearts and minds of Israelis. It is hard to see how mass murder will make Israeli Jews more willing to countenance either Palestinian statehood or integration into a single, binational state. Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate Were Now Seeing the Dire Consequences of Elon Musks Changes to Twitter Read More Opposing Hamas and feeling revulsion at the targeting of Israeli civilians is therefore perfectly compatible with a politics highly critical of the right-wing government in Jerusalem, opposed to the settlement project in the West Bank, and supportive of Palestinian rights, aspirations, and dignity. Cheering the mass murder of civilians, on the other hand, represents a fundamental break with basic human decency. It doesnt matter if you believe that the cause is righteous. It doesnt matter if your opinion of Hamas actions is dressed up in some confused, reductive framing of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a simple case of colonization that requires decolonization. It doesnt matter if the murdered civilians were led by a government itself guilty of terrible and ongoing crimes against humanity that are rarely discussed as such in American media. Advertisement Granting carte blanche to militants to murder civilians anywhere at any time is al-Qaida logic that will lead inexorably to al-Qaida outcomes. Terrorizing you, while you are carrying arms on our land, is legitimate, reasonable and morally demanded duty, read Osama bin Ladens 1998 declaration of war against Jews and Crusaders, which paved the road to 9/11. If you think it was wrong to murder, for example, World Trade Center janitors but OK, or even just understandable, to execute children in southern Israel, you should probably be asking yourself some probing questions about why. Advertisement Advertisement Instead of applauding terror against innocents, those who are angry about Israels treatment of Palestinians should be embracing the logic of reconciliation, forgiveness, and coexistence, however remote it may seem at the moment. Let all endeavors be channeled towards building a huge edifice for peace, instead of strongholds and hideouts defended by destructive rockets, Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat told the Israeli Knesset in a 1977 address that remains underappreciated for its timeless eloquence. Be the heralds to your sons. Tell them that past wars were the last of wars and the end of sorrows. Advertisement Advertisement Sadat was maligned at the time for selling out the Palestinians and was himself assassinated by Salafi extremists very similar in outlook and principles to todays Hamas madmen. But he was right: The Palestinians will not be made whole by inflicting sorrow on Israelis, by creating more grief-stricken parents and children, by inviting the inevitable and terrible retaliation that has already begun. Increasing the supply of grief only boosts the aggregate demand for savagery. There are words in Sadats speech to heed for Israel as well. No one can build his happiness at the expense of the misery of others, he told a roomful of people whose army at the time was occupying and colonizing Egypts Sinai Peninsula. Here, again, Sadat was right. Israel will never, can never, be truly secure until the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are free and the still-in-limbo refugees find justice. The nations fearsome military, its stockpile of nuclear weapons, its separate peace treaties with other Arab states, its separation wallall were unable to protect thousands from the weekends horrors. What Israelis do now with the stinging realization that the status quo of just a few days ago was an unsustainable delusion will determine the shape of the near-term future. Pure vengeance will get them nowhere. There is not, ultimately, enough room to dig the two graves in which both Israelis and Palestinians will be buried if revenge is enshrined as a principle worth defending. This story was produced in partnership with the Garrison Project, an independent, nonpartisan organization addressing the crisis of mass incarceration and policing. A new lawsuit filed in federal court last month alleges that the Baton Rouge Police Department ran a torture warehouse where members of its Street Crimes Unit strip searched, beat, and otherwise humiliated people and then released them, often without their being charged with a crime. Soon after the lawsuit was filed, the FBI opened a civil rights investigation into the allegations of misconduct at the now-shuttered warehouse known as the BRAVE Cave. In late September, members of the Street Crimes Unit who used the BRAVE Cave were arrested on unrelated misconduct charges. BRPD Deputy Chief Troy Lawrence Sr. was placed on leave and then arrested and charged with malfeasance, principal to obstruction, principal to battery, and principal to theft. His son, Troy Lawrence Jr., who resigned in late August as the BRPD began the termination process against him, was also arrested and is at the center of the federal lawsuit. He allegedly took a 47-year-old grandmother to the BRAVEV Cave, where she was stripped, cavity searched, and sexually humiliated. Earlier this month, a federal judge overseeing a separate BRAVE Cave lawsuit ordered the Baton Rouge Police Department to preserve evidence related to the warehouse; attorneys for the plaintiff accused BRPD of refusing to preserve evidence or even actively destroying video evidence. Advertisement The Baton Rouge Police Department did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment. Related From Slate The Florida GOP Has a New, Devious Way to Thwart Liberal Judges and Prosecutors Read More The details of these abuses are not entirely new, as the country has seen horrifying revelations about off-books police interrogation warehouses in the past. But unlike other aggressive specialized policing units that have drawn national scrutiny, such as SCORPION in Memphis or Baltimores Gun Trace Task Force, Street Crimes has an unusual, perhaps unique origin: police reform. The lawsuit notes that Sgt. Lorenzo Coleman, the head of Street Crimes, serves as a consultant on police reform with police Chief Myron Daniels. When not working for BRPD and operating a torture warehouse, the two men co-run a consulting agency called Armor Consulting Group, which offers workshops and trainings around the country on police reform, according to the lawsuit. Is it any surprise that top BRPD brass has consistently exonerated members of Street Crimes Unit accused of wrongdoing? Advertisement Advertisement More importantly, a full decade before the BRAVE Cave, Street Crimes was part of a community-oriented antiviolence effort involving faith-based, social service, and law enforcement organizations called Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination (BRAVE). In 2012, Baton Rouge introduced BRAVE based in part on the focused deterrence model of crime reduction, which is highly popular with police reformers and often receives U.S. Department of Justice funding. Focused deterrence works from a purported carrot and stick model. Prosecutors and police identify people committing violent crime and offer them a choice during a call-in: accept the carrot of social services and stop committing crime, or face the stick of an indictment, often including RICO and conspiracy charges that criminalize a wide swath of people, or even entire neighborhoods. Focused deterrence often ends up leaning far more on the stick than the carrot, but its still held up as a system of police reform. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From a community perspective, what we hear is that they see focused deterrence as just another crackdown with a different name. The carrot, from my understanding, is never really there, said Charles Ransford, director of science and policy for the violence interruption program Cure Violence. The way it has been is, Were going to get you. Were going to come after your friends. I really dont understand how everyones OK with that. BRAVE was enacted in the two Baton Rouge zip codes with the highest rates of violent crime and funded with $3 million in federal funds. By early 2014, law enforcement claimed that East Baton Rouge Parishs 22 percent drop in homicides in 2013 was due in part to BRAVE. In 2017, however, BRAVEs funding from the DOJs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention was not extended because of concerns about East Baton Rouge Parishs administration of the grant. BRAVE was over. But its specialized unit continued, and expanded their mission beyond the two initial zip codes. Advertisement Advertisement Street Crimes Unit started off as the BRAVE Team, the BRAVE Initiative, said Troy Lawrence Jr. in a 2019 interview. It stands for Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination. When the name changed to Street Crimes Unit, our new focus was we were gonna patrol the entire cityevery neighborhood, every square inch, every mile in Baton Rouge. Lawrence also said that Street Crimes was the aggressive side of BRPD. The Street Crimes Unit is the direct descendant of BRAVE, said Thomas Frampton, an attorney on the federal lawsuit, and certainly the way that the Street Crimes Unit officers refer to their warehouse as the BRAVE Cave seems to support that inference. Frampton says BRPDs Narcotics Unit used the warehouse as their home base before it was occupied by Street Crimes. The narcotics unit allegedly engaged in misconduct including unconstitutional searches, evidence planting, and stealing drugs. In the fall of 2021, after numerous scandals led to the dismissal of more than 100 cases, the Narcotics Unit was integrated into other units. Advertisement East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said the arrests of Street Crimes members could impact hundreds of criminal cases, comparing the fallout from the revelations around the BRAVE Cave to those during the 2021 Narcotics Unit scandal. Frampton said that the fact that the BRAVE Cave sprung from police reform is a frustrating irony and it makes you wonder about the capacity there is to reform these sorts of institutions without dismantling them altogether. Chief Murphy Paul and his leadership team are reformers, and I say that not ironically, or even tongue-in-cheek, Frampton said, but also some of them are now arrested and facing felony charges of covering up instances of brutality. This is part of Opening Arguments, Slates coverage of the start of the latest Supreme Court term. Were working to change the way the media covers the Supreme Court. Support our work when you join Slate Plus. In November the Supreme Court will take up United States v. Rahimi, a Texas case in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that the government may not disarm domestic abusers. Unless the Supreme Court reins in the 5th Circuit and restores some measure of rationality to its ever-expanding gun rights jurisprudence, the Second Amendment will now protect perpetrators of domestic violence. Rahimi is one of dozens of decisions decided since the Supreme Court struck down a century-old gun control law in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The majority opinion in that case, authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, rejected the standard tools of constitutional analysis used by courts for the past century and instead substituted his own version of text, history, and tradition to determine the constitutionality of regulating firearms. Although Bruen invokes the authority of history, the version of the past it presents is almost unrecognizable to scholars familiar with the history of the founding period. Advertisement In Bruen, Thomas endorsed the questionable claim that the Second Amendment had been treated by lower courts as a second-class right. In reality, the Supreme Court has now bestowed on the Second Amendment a range of protections enjoyed by no other right in American law. Ironically, the current originalist version of the Second Amendment guiding the court is an invention of Thomas and has little connection to text, history, or tradition. Advertisement In Bruen, Thomas wrote that the Second Amendment issued an unqualified command that an individuals right to purchase, possess, and carry firearms was to be protected in all but the narrowest circumstances. A genuine example of an unqualified command is a traffic stop sign. It is puzzling that anyone reading the text of the Second Amendment would conclude that it reads like a stop sign, but that is precisely what Thomas would have us believe: The Second Amendment bars virtually all modern laws that have tried to mitigate the ravages of gun violence. In support of his ahistorical assertion, Thomas did not cite any evidence from the founding era. (In fact, no provision of the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, can accurately be described as an unqualified command.) No worries for Thomas. Instead, he merely offered a short footnote citing a celebrated modern First Amendment case, Konigsberg v. State Bar of California, which had nothing to do with guns or the Second Amendment. Citing the First Amendments protections of basic rights, including free speech and a free press, to support claims about the Second Amendment, a form of constitutional bait-and-switch, is a common tactic of gun rights advocates and their allies on the bench and in the legal academy. Thomas opinion, unconcerned with the inconvenient fact that guns and words have never been treated the same in American law, simply asserted that the two rights have been regulated in the same way over the long arc of American history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Textual and historical support for treating the First and Second amendments alike, even conflating them, is in fact thin. The two amendments share little in common in terms of their language and structure. A close reading, in fact, reveals a crucial difference, which explodes Thomas conflation of the two. The First Amendment bars Congress from making any law abridging the freedom of speech. Founding-era dictionaries define abridging as a reduction or diminishment. The Second Amendment, however, states that the right to bear arms shall not be infringed. The same dictionaries make perfectly clear that infringed was not a synonym for abridged. Infringe meant destroy or break. So, while the First Amendment precludes regulation that even diminishes the rights that it protects, the Second Amendment bars destroying the right to bear arms, leaving open the possibility that the people, acting through their legislatures, could regulate that right to promote public safety and welfare. Every right mentioned in the Bill of Rights was subject to forms of regulation in the founding era, but the scope of regulation differed depending on the right. So, while the First Amendment precluded regulation that diminishes the rights it protects, the Second Amendment sets up a different metric. Advertisement Advertisement Thomas intellectual sleight of hand, however, is easily exposed: The First Amendment case he cited to support his unqualified-command theory of the Second Amendment specifically contradicts his own approach. Rather than accept that the First Amendment is an unqualified command, Konigsberg concluded that courts ought to use the theory of interest balancing that Bruen expressly rejected. In the months following Thomas opinion in Bruen, courts across the nation have struggled to implement his extremist originalist view of the Constitution. As Justice Stephen Breyer predicted in his withering dissent in Bruen, it was inevitable that courts would get history wrong. The cases decided in the wake of Bruen have vindicated his concernsfollowing Thomas to the letter, originalist judges have effectively weaponized their historical ignorance in the service of gun rights. Advertisement Advertisement One lower court judge, following Bruen, erroneously claimed that the government could not require guns today to have serial numbers, noting that such a policy was not consistent with founding-era law. In fact, Gen. George Washington required muskets of the Continental Army to be stamped with an identifier to prevent them from being stolen, something closely analogous to the purpose of the modern law at issue in the case. Another judge reasoned that the absence of any evidence that the Founders enacted laws prohibiting guns in summer camp meant that New York was precluded from doing so today. The fact that modern-style summer camps did not exist when James Madison and the Congress wrote the Second Amendment did not seem to matter. Apparently, the judge did not ponder the absurdity of the notion that Americans living in an agrarian and predominantly rural society would have sent their kids to summer camp during an important part of the cycle of agricultural production. Second Amendment originalism in the post-Bruen period has become a parody of itself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate Maybe SCOTUS Does Understand the Stakes After All Read More History fares no better in the 5th Circuits Rahimi decision. Rahimi is a classic example of what happens when individuals with little training in or understanding of history interpret 18th-century laws, substituting their own biases and anachronistic assumptions for real historical knowledge of early American law. One particularly problematic approach has led judges to treat silences in the historical record as evidence that regulation is not permissible. Setting aside the problems about gaps in the historical record, this approach ignores the fact that the Founders faced different types of gun-related problems and used methods of enforcement that are not easily researched in the standard sources consulted by courts. Perhaps the most troubling feature of Thomas Bruen opinion is the notion that the Founders believed that limits of regulation were frozen in time as of 1791 and that subsequent generations lacked the authority to enact laws to deal with pressing social problems unanticipated by the Constitutions framers. Thomas and the 5th Circuits extremist originalists appear to have forgotten the sage wisdom of James Madison, who reminded Americans, in his classic text The Federalist, that history is a source of wisdom but a flawed guide for a nation confronting new and unprecedented problems. Madison wrote that historys guiding light was a beacon which give warning of the course to be shunned, without pointing out that which ought to be pursued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The irony of Thomas cramped originalist vision is that it embodies a theory of legislative power that was itself rejected decisively by the Constitutions supporters and foes in 1788. Nobody in 1791 or 1868, the years the Second and 14th amendments were enacted, respectively, believed that government was precluded from passing laws to regulate guns in order to promote public safety. Now Thomas radical version of originalism threatens to turn back the clock on protections for women and children because of a false history that ignores the founding generations most important contribution to American liberty: a Constitution flexible enough to adapt to the changing circumstances of the modern world. If the Supreme Court evaluates Rahimi in the light of Bruens ahistorical approach to the past, it will compound its distortion of history and further erode public confidence in the court itself. Advertisement Despite a claim to be true to the text, Thomas has effectively rewritten the Second Amendment, positing an unqualified right that has no foundation in history, text, or tradition. The authors of the Second Amendment wisely chose not to copy the language used in the First Amendment for a reason. By prohibiting the destruction of the right to bear arms, not its regulation, the founding generation recognized that legislatures, not unelected judges, were better suited to fashioning policies to protect both the right to keep and bear arms and the equally important goal of public safety. Despite claims to the contrary, the Second Amendment does not prohibit the passage of sensible gun laws; its wording practically invites the people to do so. In contrast to Thomas, the founding generation correctly believed that without regulation, there was no liberty, only anarchy. But now reason itself, the very soul of the Founders enlightenment vision of law, seems to be in the crosshairs. If you buy something through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more. Marketing is crucial for small businesses, but tight budgets can be a challenge. 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Feature/Tool Purpose Key Features/Strengths Best Used For Buffer Social Media Management Schedule & analyze posts across platforms Simplified multi-platform social media management Hootsuite Comprehensive Social Media Management Monitor, schedule, analyze content Managing multiple social media accounts Sprout Social Social Media Management Content scheduling & in-depth analytics Busy marketers seeking streamlined scheduling & analytics Later Instagram Scheduling Plan & automate Instagram posts Efficient Instagram post scheduling Linktree Instagram Bio Optimization Share multiple links in one bio Optimizing Instagram bio for multiple link sharing Crowdfire Social Media Management Post-scheduling, content curation Streamlined post scheduling & content curation CoSchedule Marketing Calendar Marketing Campaign Organization Centralized hub for marketing campaigns Organizing & scheduling comprehensive marketing campaigns AdsReport (Agorapulse) Ad Reporting Efficiently manage & analyze ad campaigns Busy marketers needing in-depth ad campaign analysis Tailwind Pinterest & Instagram Scheduling Streamlined scheduling for visual content Time-efficient scheduling for Pinterest & Instagram Friends+Me Multi-platform Scheduling Schedule & automate posts across various platforms Easing workload by planning & automating posts on multiple platforms SEO and Website Optimization Tools Enhance your online presence and improve your websites performance using these free marketing tools designed specifically for SEO and optimization. 21. 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RankMath RankMath is a powerful SEO plugin for WordPress, streamlining on-page SEO efforts in the fast-paced world of content creation and website management. 27. Help a Reporter Out (HARO) Help a Reporter Out (HARO) connects journalists with sources, offering opportunities for experts to contribute to news stories and gain exposure. 28. GTmetrix GTmetrix provides detailed insights into your websites performance, crucial for webmasters and developers striving for optimal loading speeds and user experience. 29. AlsoAsked AlsoAsked is a tool that visually maps out related questions from Googles People Also Ask section. Its a time-saver for content creators seeking inspiration. 30. Answer the Public Answer the Public generates content ideas based on user queries, a go-to for content creators aiming to meet their audiences informational needs. Feature/Tool Purpose Key Features/Strengths Best Used For Google Keyword Planner Keyword Research Research & analyze keywords Online marketing & SEO keyword analysis Google Search Console Website Performance Analysis Insights into website's performance in search results SEO professionals assessing site performance SERP Snippet Optimizer Tool Meta Description Optimization Optimize page meta description Standing out in search results Ahrefs Keyword Generator Keyword Generation List of relevant, high-performing keywords Simplifying keyword research Ahrefs Webmaster Tools Website Health & Performance Insights into website's health and performance Essential tool for webmasters & SEO experts RankMath WordPress SEO Plugin Streamlined on-page SEO On-page SEO in WordPress sites Help a Reporter Out (HARO) Networking & Exposure Connects journalists with sources Gaining media exposure and backlinks GTmetrix Website Performance Detailed insights into website loading speeds & performance Optimizing website speed and user experience AlsoAsked Content Creation Assistance Maps related questions from "People Also Ask" Content inspiration & understanding related queries Answer the Public Content Idea Generation Generates content ideas based on user queries Meeting audience's informational needs and content creation Email Marketing and List Management Tools Master email marketing and streamline your contact lists with these free marketing tools built for effective communication. 31. Aweber Aweber is an email marketing platform for businesses looking to create and automate email campaigns, a marketers essential tool. 32. GetResponse GetResponse simplifies email marketing with features like automation and landing pages, perfect for small business owners aiming to boost their email outreach. 33. Mailchimp Mailchimp offers a user-friendly email marketing solution, suitable for individuals seeking an easy way to engage with their audience. 34. MailerLite MailerLite provides a user-friendly platform for creating and automating email campaigns, an essential tool for marketers and business owners. 35. Zoho Campaigns Zoho Campaigns streamlines email marketing with features like automation and analytics, essential for professionals looking to drive engagement. 36. Benchmark Email Benchmark Email offers an array of features for creating and managing effective email campaigns. 37. Brevo Brevo is a comprehensive marketing platform, including email marketing, making it an excellent choice for professionals seeking an all-in-one solution. 38. Sender Sender offers a robust email marketing platform with automation and analytics features, ideal for busy marketers aiming to optimize their email campaigns. 39. SendPulse SendPulse includes email marketing features like automation and personalization, a valuable asset for professionals looking to engage their audience. 40. Omnisend Omnisend is an email marketing automation platform perfect for e-commerce professionals seeking to enhance their email outreach and conversions. Feature/Tool Purpose Key Features/Strengths Best Used For Aweber Email Marketing Create & automate email campaigns Essential email marketing & automation GetResponse Email Marketing & Landing Pages Automation, landing pages Boosting email outreach, especially for small businesses Mailchimp User-friendly Email Marketing Intuitive platform Individuals seeking a simple way to engage with their audience MailerLite Email Campaign Creation & Automation User-friendly email campaign creation & automation Marketers and business owners looking for easy campaign management Zoho Campaigns Comprehensive Email Marketing Automation & analytics Professionals aiming for increased engagement through analytics Benchmark Email Email Campaign Management Variety of email marketing features Creating & managing diverse email campaigns Brevo All-in-One Marketing Platform Comprehensive marketing including email Those seeking a multi-faceted marketing platform Sender Robust Email Marketing Automation & analytics Optimizing email campaigns with data-driven insights SendPulse Email Marketing with Personalization Automation & personalization Engaging audience with tailored content Omnisend E-commerce Email Marketing Email marketing automation for e-commerce E-commerce professionals enhancing email outreach & conversions Analytics and Data Visualization Digital Marketing Tools Leverage the potential of data with these free marketing tools that provide valuable insights and impressive data visualization. 41. Google Analytics Google Analytics is a powerful tool for analyzing website traffic and user behavior. Its essential for digital marketers aiming to refine their strategies. 42. Google Trends Google Trends offers insights into trending searches, a valuable resource for content creators and marketers seeking to stay relevant and engaging. 43. Microsoft Power BI Microsoft Power BI is a business analytics tool that provides insights into data. Its a must-have for professionals aiming to make data-driven decisions. 44. Qlik Sense Qlik Sense offers intuitive data visualization and analysis. Its an indispensable tool for analysts and data-driven decision-makers. 45. Zoho Analytics Zoho Analytics simplifies data analysis and reporting. Its a go-to for professionals seeking to extract valuable insights from their data. 46. Domo Domo offers a comprehensive business intelligence platform. Its an invaluable asset for busy executives and decision-makers striving for data-driven strategies. 47. Tableau Tableau provides powerful data visualization and analytics capabilities. Its an essential tool for professionals seeking to make sense of complex data sets. 48. Amplitude Analytics Amplitude Analytics focuses on user behavior analytics, a critical resource for product managers and marketers aiming to optimize user experiences. 49. Looker Looker is a powerful business intelligence and data exploration platform. Its indispensable for professionals seeking to derive actionable insights from their data. 50. Klipfolio Klipfolio streamlines real-time dashboard creation and reporting. Its a time-saving solution for professionals seeking to monitor key metrics efficiently. Feature/Tool Purpose Key Features/Strengths Best Used For Google Analytics Website Traffic Analysis Analyze website traffic & user behavior Refining digital marketing strategies Google Trends Trend Analysis Insights into trending searches Staying updated with relevant topics & tailoring content Microsoft Power BI Business Analytics Insights into diverse data sets Data-driven decision making Qlik Sense Data Visualization & Analysis Intuitive data visualization Simplifying complex data analysis Zoho Analytics Data Analysis & Reporting Simplify data analysis & reporting Extracting valuable insights from data Domo Business Intelligence Comprehensive data analysis platform Executives seeking data-driven strategies Tableau Data Visualization & Analysis Analyze complex data sets Visualizing and making sense of intricate data Amplitude Analytics User Behavior Analysis Focus on user behavior analytics Optimizing user experiences and product enhancements Looker Business Intelligence & Data Exploration In-depth data exploration Deriving actionable insights from vast data Klipfolio Real-time Dashboard & Reporting Create and monitor real-time dashboards Efficiently monitoring key metrics and performance Free Marketing Tools for Collaboration and Project Management Maximize collaboration and efficiency within your team by using these free marketing tools specially crafted to streamline project management. 51. Slack Slack is a popular team collaboration tool that simplifies communication. Its indispensable for teams aiming to stay connected and productive. 52. Google Drive Google Drive offers cloud storage and collaboration tools. Its a must-have for professionals looking to store, share, and edit documents seamlessly. 53. Trello Trello is a versatile project management tool. Its a go-to for individuals and teams aiming to streamline tasks and projects effectively. 54. Asana Asana simplifies project and task management. Its essential for professionals looking to organize work and track progress efficiently. 55. Zoom Zoom is a widely used video conferencing tool. Its indispensable for business owners and professionals looking to host remote meetings and collaborate with teams across distances. Feature/Tool Purpose Key Features/Strengths Best Used For Slack Team Communication Real-time messaging, channels, integrations Teams aiming for seamless communication & staying connected Google Drive Cloud Storage & Collaboration Store, share, edit documents; integration with Google tools Professionals managing and sharing documents collaboratively Trello Project Management Card-based task management, boards, lists Streamlining tasks & projects for both individuals and teams Asana Task & Project Management Task assignments, progress tracking, integrations Organizing work, tracking progress, and managing team projects Zoom Video Conferencing Video meetings, webinars, screen sharing Hosting remote meetings & team collaboration across locations How to Choose the Right Free Marketing Tool for Your Needs When it comes to picking the perfect free marketing tool, start by assessing your business needs. Consider what tasks need tackling and what goals youre aiming for. This will ensure the tool aligns with your specific needs, setting you up for success. Understanding Your Marketing Goals Before immersing yourself in the wide range of marketing tools available, its important to gain a crystal-clear understanding of your marketing objectives. Whether your aim is to enhance website traffic, elevate your social media visibility, or pursue other specific goals, this clarity serves as a compass, directing you toward the most suitable and effective tool for the task at hand. By aligning your tool selection with your precise goals, you can maximize the impact of your marketing efforts and move closer to achieving your desired outcomes. Trusting Reviews and Recommendations Dont go it alone lean on the experiences of others. User reviews, expert advice, and community feedback are invaluable in gauging a tools effectiveness. They provide real-world insights that can help you make an informed choice, steering you towards a tool that truly delivers. FAQs: Free Marketing Tools Are free marketing tools really free? Free marketing tools may seem like a cost-saving solution, but they often come with hidden expenses. While they dont require upfront payments, these tools may lack advanced features and support. Businesses might spend valuable time navigating limitations or dealing with ads. Ultimately, the true cost of free tools can be measured in missed opportunities and reduced efficiency. Its essential to weigh the pros and cons before committing to these seemingly cost-free options. Do free marketing tools have as many features as paid ones? Free marketing tools tend to come up short in the features department when you compare them to their paid counterparts. The paid options usually pack a bigger punch with a wider range of tools and more advanced functionalities. They give businesses more flexibility and better results in their marketing efforts. While free tools can be a good starting point, its worth thinking about your specific needs and maybe considering investing in the paid versions to get a broader set of capabilities. Can a business rely solely on free marketing tools? While free marketing tools offer a budget-friendly start, relying solely on them might limit a businesss growth. These tools often lack the robustness needed for comprehensive marketing strategies. Investing in paid options can provide advanced features, analytics, and support, enhancing a businesss marketing efforts. Balancing free tools for basic needs and paid ones for scalability is a prudent approach to achieving a more well-rounded and effective marketing strategy. Additional investments, like social media marketing courses or outsourcing, can also help businesses scale, but are not absolutely essential. Are free marketing tools suitable for both beginners and professionals? Both beginners and professionals can find value in free marketing tools, but their suitability depends on specific needs. Beginners benefit from user-friendly interfaces and cost savings. However, professionals often require more advanced features and support, which paid tools offer. Its crucial to assess individual requirements and weigh the benefits against limitations to determine the best fit for a successful marketing strategy. Study your strategy, marketing and advertising statistics, and the features of available options to make the best decision for your business. Despite occasionally being mocked as a relatively archaic marketing method, email marketing remains a fantastic tool for almost any business. Because it doesnt require any monetary investment (beyond a management platform, which tends to be an inexpensive item), and because it tends to grow in effectiveness over time as you attract more subscribers, it has enormous ROI potential all on its own. However, the real power of email marketing is its ability to integrate with other marketing strategies. It can be used as a funnel for leads generated by other means, a showcase for your most popular content, and perhaps most importantly, a facilitator of greater social media engagement. How can email marketing best brandish this power? Sell Your Business Discover the Zoho Ecosystem Drive Traffic to Your Website Advertise Your Business Here Social Media Email Marketing Engagement Tips Basic Prerequisites First, lets take a look at some of the prerequisites for this approach. These are a handful of features and tactics that your email strategy needs to have in place before you can even start attracting more social engagement: Include social share icons. This is a basic necessity. The body of your email template needs to include links to your social media profiles in the header or the footer, at a minimum. You should also have share icons throughout your work that enable your users to share snippets of content they find interesting with one click. The easier you make it for your users to share, the more theyre going to share. This is a basic necessity. The body of your email template needs to include links to your social media profiles in the header or the footer, at a minimum. You should also have share icons throughout your work that enable your users to share snippets of content they find interesting with one click. The easier you make it for your users to share, the more theyre going to share. Embed featured posts. Interesting content is highly shareable, so no matter what the core purpose of your email blast is, you should include at least one piece of top-performing content from your content strategy (such as a particularly popular blog post). Embed this into your email, and of course, include share icons. Interesting content is highly shareable, so no matter what the core purpose of your email blast is, you should include at least one piece of top-performing content from your content strategy (such as a particularly popular blog post). Embed this into your email, and of course, include share icons. Call users to action. Sometimes your readers will need a helpful nudge in the right direction before they take an action. Dont be afraid to ask your users to get involved in a social context directly. For example, you can ask users to share your latest post, or include some incentive for sharing something, such as an entry in a giveaway. Include Shareable Content In addition to embedding posts from your blog, you may want to offer exclusive forms of content to your email subscribers. If earning more social shares and social visibility is one of your primary goals, you should make that content as shareable as possible. Make it fast, concise, easy-to-read, and make sure you choose a topic thats valuable for your audience. Even better, establish some kind of emotional connection by evoking humor, sympathy, or surprise. The basic tenets of viral content can help you here, but remember your limitations with email engagement keep this content above the fold, and make it easy for your viewers to skim and share this content. Make Exclusive Offers (That Users Can Share Anyway) Exclusive offers reward your email subscribers, but if you want to make the most of these offers, you should allow your email recipients to share them with their social followings anyway. The degree of exclusivity will still be present enough for your subscribers to appreciate the gesture, but youll gain visibility across multiple new audiences. Your readers will be incentivized to share these offers because theyll feel a sense of pride in doing so not only are they doing a favor to all their followers, theyre showing off their own status, to a certain degree. The exact nature and significance of the offer is up to you discounts, giveaways, and specialty items work well here, and consider escalating the objective value of your offer based on how desperate you are for more shares. Small Business Deals Announce Contests (and Winners) Contests are a powerful form of social media engagement, and email blasts are a great way to increase awareness of them. A good contest, announced over email, could encourage a subscriber who isnt currently following you to finally make the jump. And if a subscriber is already following you, theyll be likely to share the contest opportunity with their own friends and followers. Once the contest is over, you can also announce your contest winners via email to further showcase the benefits of being an active member of your brand community. Feedback Loops Finally, remember that email marketing and social media marketing are mutually beneficial strategies. Throughout this article, Ive mostly discussed ways that email marketing can bring you more social media followers, but dont forget that social media marketing can bring you more email subscribers as well. Show off the benefits of being an email subscriber in your social media news feeds, such as by announcing exclusive content or exclusive discounts, and provide regular calls to action for users to sign up for your lists. Keep these strategies tightly interlinked, and youll greatly enhance your performance in both areas. Tips Description Include social share icons Add links to your social media profiles in the email header or footer. Include "share" icons for easy content sharing. Embed featured posts Include top-performing content from your blog or other sources in the email. Add share icons for these posts. Call users to action Encourage readers to get involved in a social context, e.g., ask them to share your latest post or offer incentives for sharing. Include Shareable Content Create shareable content for email subscribers that is concise, easy-to-read, and emotionally engaging. Keep it above the fold. Make Exclusive Offers Reward email subscribers with exclusive offers that they can also share with their social followers. Announce Contests (and Winners) Promote contests through email to increase awareness and encourage subscribers to participate and share. Feedback Loops Integrate email and social media marketing by promoting email subscriptions on social media and vice versa. Leveraging User-Generated Content User-generated content (UGC) can significantly amplify your email marketings impact on social media engagement. Encourage your email subscribers to share their experiences with your products or services on social platforms. You can: Run UGC contests: Organize contests where subscribers can submit content, such as photos or reviews, featuring your products. Share the entries on your social media and email them to all participants, driving both email and social engagement. Highlight customer testimonials: Showcase customer reviews and testimonials in your emails, especially those that mention your brand on social media. This demonstrates real user satisfaction and encourages others to join the conversation. Share user-generated posts: Repost content shared by your customers on social media within your emails. Acknowledge their loyalty and create a sense of community around your brand. Timing Is Key: The timing of your email campaigns can significantly impact their effectiveness in driving social media engagement: Schedule strategically: Analyze your audiences peak engagement times on social media and align your email sending schedule accordingly. This increases the likelihood that your subscribers will be online when you share content. Coordinate with social events: Plan email campaigns to coincide with significant social events, holidays, or trending topics. This synchronicity can boost the relevance and shareability of your content. Leverage real-time content: Share time-sensitive social media content, such as trending hashtags or viral challenges, within your emails. Encourage subscribers to participate and share their contributions on social platforms. Social Proof and FOMO Tactics: Harness social proof and the fear of missing out (FOMO) to boost email engagement and drive social media activity: Display social share counters: In your emails, highlight the number of social shares and interactions your content has received. This builds social credibility and encourages recipients to join the conversation. Limited-time offers: Create exclusive, time-sensitive offers within your emails and promote them on social media. Emphasize that these offers are only available to your email subscribers and social followers, fostering FOMO. User-generated social feeds: Incorporate a section in your emails that showcases a live feed of your social media activity. Include posts with high engagement, encouraging subscribers to follow your accounts and join the conversation. Harness the Power of Email Segmentation: Segmentation is a potent tool to enhance both email and social media engagement: Segment by social platform: Divide your email list based on subscribers preferred social media platforms. Tailor your email content to highlight relevant social channels and encourage cross-platform engagement. Engagement-based segmentation: Identify your most active email subscribers and social media followers. Send them exclusive content and offers as a token of appreciation, encouraging continued interaction. Geographical targeting: Segment your email list by location to promote local events or initiatives on social media. Encourage subscribers to connect with your brand in their region. Social Media Takeovers: Collaborate with influencers or key figures in your industry for social media takeovers: Email promotion: Announce social media takeovers through email campaigns. Provide insights into what subscribers can expect during the takeover and encourage them to follow the influencer. Live interaction: During the takeover, encourage subscribers to participate by submitting questions or engaging with the influencers content. Share these interactions in subsequent emails to maintain engagement momentum. Post-takeover follow-up: Send a follow-up email summarizing the takeovers highlights, including links to social media posts and a call to action to continue engaging with your brand. Interactive Email Elements: Incorporate interactive elements into your emails to drive social media engagement: Polls and surveys: Include interactive polls or surveys in your emails and promote the results on social media. Encourage subscribers to share their opinions and see how they compare with others. Social media buttons: Add interactive social media buttons that enable subscribers to follow, like, share, or comment on your social content directly from the email. User-generated challenges: Create interactive challenges within your emails, encouraging subscribers to participate on social media and share their challenge experiences. Strategies and Tips Description Run UGC contests Organize contests where subscribers submit content featuring your products. Share entries on social media and email them to participants. Highlight customer testimonials Showcase customer reviews and testimonials in emails, especially those mentioning your brand on social media. Share user-generated posts Repost content shared by customers on social media within emails to acknowledge loyalty and build community. Schedule strategically Align email sending schedule with audience's peak engagement times on social media to increase online presence. Coordinate with social events Plan email campaigns to coincide with social events, holidays, or trending topics for relevancy and shareability. Leverage real-time content Share time-sensitive social media content (e.g., hashtags, challenges) in emails to encourage participation. Display social share counters Highlight social shares and interactions in emails to build social credibility and encourage engagement. Limited-time offers Create exclusive, time-sensitive offers in emails and promote them on social media to foster FOMO. User-generated social feeds Showcase a live feed of social media activity in emails, featuring posts with high engagement. Segment by social platform Divide email list by subscribers' preferred social media platforms and tailor content accordingly. Engagement-based segmentation Identify active subscribers and followers, sending them exclusive content and offers as appreciation. Geographical targeting Segment email list by location to promote local events or initiatives on social media. Collaborate for social media takeovers Announce takeovers through email campaigns, encourage participation, and send follow-up emails with highlights. Incorporate interactive email elements Add interactive elements like polls, surveys, social media buttons, and user-generated challenges to emails. Conclusion In a digital landscape teeming with marketing strategies, the combination of email marketing and social media engagement stands as a formidable duo, offering businesses unparalleled opportunities to connect with their audience, build brand loyalty, and boost conversion rates. In this comprehensive guide, weve explored the symbiotic relationship between email marketing and social engagement, shedding light on the strategies and tactics that can help you harness their collective potential. Email marketing, often underestimated in the age of social media, retains its crown as a reliable and cost-effective means of reaching your audience directly. Its versatility shines as it can serve as a conduit for delivering exclusive content, personalized recommendations, and compelling calls to action. But the true magic happens when email marketing and social media engagement intersect. To fully capitalize on this synergy, weve covered a myriad of techniques, including embedding social share icons, showcasing user-generated content, and offering exclusive, shareable content. These approaches foster cross-channel promotion, boosting both your email subscribers and your social media following. Timing plays a crucial role in this amalgamation, where synchronization with social events and real-time content trends can magnify your campaigns impact. Social proof and the allure of scarcity also take center stage, enticing subscribers to engage with your brand, both via email and on social platforms. Segmentation emerges as a precision tool, enabling you to tailor content to distinct audience segments and nurture deeper connections. Moreover, social media takeovers, interactive email elements, and contests serve as engaging mechanisms that bridge the gap between email campaigns and social media conversations. Lastly, weve emphasized the importance of feedback loops, where email marketing and social media strategies intertwine, driving mutual growth. Encouraging email subscribers to become social media followers and vice versa fosters a thriving ecosystem around your brand. In the dynamic realm of digital marketing, the integration of email marketing and social engagement empowers you to forge deeper connections, inspire action, and measure success with precision. As you embark on your journey to unlock the full potential of this synergy, remember that the key lies in experimentation, adaptability, and the unwavering commitment to delivering value to your audience. So, embrace this fusion of email marketing and social engagement, for its a journey marked by limitless possibilities, boundless creativity, and the potential to elevate your brand to unprecedented heights in the digital age. When it comes to online scams, no one is exempted. Any person on the internet can become a victim of con artists, if they are not careful. The latest email phishing scams are targeting high-level business executives and managers. These phishing scams, dubbed whaling because they target the big fish, aim to dupe company bosses into clicking on malicious embedded links in email messages. Sell Your Business Discover the Zoho Ecosystem Drive Traffic to Your Website Advertise Your Business Here By targeting high-level management who have access to sensitive business data, scammers can gain top down access to all of a businesss operations, says the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which investigates businesses and company offers that sound like an illegal scheme or fraud. We believe there has been a recent uptick in whaling scams aimed at businesses, and we want to warn companies to alert their employees about this potential fraud, Katherine Hutt, Better Business Bureau national spokesperson, said in a public statement recently. Small business owners, dont get caught in whaling scams! Watch Out for Whaling Email Scams According to the Better Business Bureau, a high-level business executive gets a short and generic phishing email crafted to resemble correspondence from a trustworthy source. The trustworthy source may be HR, the IT department, or even a government official. Sometimes the email might come disguised as an automated alert from a software system. Small Business Deals If the target clicks a link in the message, malware from the internet downloads into their computer. This downloaded malware allows cybercriminals backdoor access to sensitive data stored in the computer, including financial data, access to passwords or employees personal details. More sophisticated phishing and whaling emails execute hidden code as soon as the email is opened on the targets computer, so it is important to stay vigilant and guard against this threat. A warning sign to look out for is emails that require a website visit or downloads to view an official document. Whaling Email Scams Description Targeted High-Level Executives Whaling scams specifically target high-level business executives with phishing emails. Impersonation of Trustworthy Sources Scammers craft phishing emails to resemble correspondence from trustworthy sources like HR, IT departments, or government officials. Disguised as Automated Alerts Some whaling emails disguise themselves as automated alerts from software systems. Malware Download via Clicked Links If the target clicks a link in the message, malware downloads from the internet to the victim's computer. Backdoor Access to Sensitive Data The downloaded malware provides cybercriminals with backdoor access to sensitive data, including financial information, passwords, and personal details of employees. Hidden Code Execution Sophisticated whaling emails can execute hidden code as soon as the email is opened on the victim's computer. Stay Vigilant and Guard Against Threats It's crucial to remain vigilant and guard against whaling scams, especially emails that require website visits or downloads to view supposed official documents. Guard Your Business from Phishing Attacks Whaling scams may also target low-level employees. An employee gets an email spoofing the CEO or other executive asking for information. Because employees dont typically question higher execs, they may be tricked into sending money, sensitive data or business information to con artists. One of the first steps you can take to protect your business from phishing attacks is to educate yourself and your employees about online safety. This way you will be able to identify phony emails immediately and swiftly report cyber-attacks to relevant authorities to stop them from spreading. Everyone in your business, including managers, should also avoid opening email attachments or clicking on links from unfamiliar and suspicious sources, because these can lead to virus or malware infection. Never send sensitive, personal, or proprietary information via email regardless of whos asking you for it, the Better Business Bureau warns. Set up processes. Make sure your company has a procedure for all requests involving sensitive information or payments, and make sure that procedure is followed. Protecting Your Business from Whaling Scams No One Is Exempt : Online scams can target anyone on the internet, making it crucial for individuals and businesses to exercise caution. : Online scams can target anyone on the internet, making it crucial for individuals and businesses to exercise caution. Whaling Scams Target Executives : The latest email phishing scams, known as whaling scams, specifically target high-level business executives and managers to gain access to sensitive business data. : The latest email phishing scams, known as whaling scams, specifically target high-level business executives and managers to gain access to sensitive business data. Top-Down Access : By duping top-level management into clicking on malicious links, scammers can potentially gain top-down access to a companys operations. : By duping top-level management into clicking on malicious links, scammers can potentially gain top-down access to a companys operations. Better Business Bureaus Warning : The Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns of an uptick in whaling scams and advises businesses to alert their employees about this potential fraud. : The Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns of an uptick in whaling scams and advises businesses to alert their employees about this potential fraud. Recognizing Whaling Emails : Whaling emails often appear as short and generic phishing emails, masquerading as correspondence from trustworthy sources such as HR, IT departments, or government officials. They may also pose as automated alerts from software systems. : Whaling emails often appear as short and generic phishing emails, masquerading as correspondence from trustworthy sources such as HR, IT departments, or government officials. They may also pose as automated alerts from software systems. Malware and Backdoor Access : Clicking on links in these emails can result in the download of malware, granting cybercriminals backdoor access to sensitive data stored on the victims computer, including financial information and passwords. : Clicking on links in these emails can result in the download of malware, granting cybercriminals backdoor access to sensitive data stored on the victims computer, including financial information and passwords. Hidden Code Threat : Some sophisticated phishing and whaling emails execute hidden code as soon as the email is opened, making it crucial to stay vigilant against these threats. : Some sophisticated phishing and whaling emails execute hidden code as soon as the email is opened, making it crucial to stay vigilant against these threats. Warning Signs : Be cautious of emails that require website visits or downloads to view supposed official documents. : Be cautious of emails that require website visits or downloads to view supposed official documents. Low-Level Employee Targets : Whaling scams may also target lower-level employees, tricking them into sending sensitive information or money to con artists. : Whaling scams may also target lower-level employees, tricking them into sending sensitive information or money to con artists. Educate Your Team : Educate yourself and your employees about online safety to identify and report cyber-attacks promptly. : Educate yourself and your employees about online safety to identify and report cyber-attacks promptly. Avoid Suspicious Links and Attachments : Avoid opening email attachments or clicking on links from unfamiliar or suspicious sources, as these can lead to virus or malware infections. : Avoid opening email attachments or clicking on links from unfamiliar or suspicious sources, as these can lead to virus or malware infections. Establish Procedures: Set up procedures within your company for handling requests involving sensitive information or payments, ensuring they are consistently followed. Protecting Your Business from Whaling Scams Description No One Is Exempt Online scams can target anyone on the internet, emphasizing the need for caution among individuals and businesses. Whaling Scams Target Executives Whaling scams specifically target high-level business executives and managers to gain access to sensitive business data. Top-Down Access Scammers aim to gain top-down access to a company's operations by deceiving top-level management into clicking on malicious links. BBB's Warning The Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns of an increase in whaling scams and advises businesses to inform their employees about this potential fraud. Recognizing Whaling Emails Whaling emails often mimic short and generic phishing emails, impersonating trustworthy sources like HR, IT departments, or government officials. They may also pose as automated alerts from software systems. Malware and Backdoor Access Clicking on links in these emails can lead to malware downloads, granting cybercriminals backdoor access to sensitive data stored on victims' computers, including financial information and passwords. Hidden Code Threat Some sophisticated phishing and whaling emails execute hidden code upon email opening, emphasizing the need for vigilance. Warning Signs Caution is warranted for emails requiring website visits or downloads to access supposed official documents. Low-Level Employee Targets Whaling scams may also target lower-level employees, tricking them into sharing sensitive information or making financial transactions. Educate Your Team Education and awareness about online safety are crucial for promptly identifying and reporting cyberattacks. Avoid Suspicious Links and Attachments Avoid opening email attachments or clicking on links from unfamiliar or suspicious sources to prevent virus or malware infections. Establish Procedures Implement procedures within your company for handling requests involving sensitive information or payments, ensuring consistent adherence. Multi-Layered Security Measures In addition to educating employees and staying vigilant against phishing threats, implementing multi-layered security measures is essential for comprehensive protection against whaling scams and other cyber threats. Email Filtering : Utilize advanced email filtering software that can automatically detect and quarantine suspicious emails. These tools can analyze email content, attachments, and sender behavior to identify potential threats before they reach employees inboxes. : Utilize advanced email filtering software that can automatically detect and quarantine suspicious emails. These tools can analyze email content, attachments, and sender behavior to identify potential threats before they reach employees inboxes. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) : Enforce two-factor authentication for accessing sensitive systems and data. Even if an attacker obtains login credentials, they wont be able to gain access without the secondary verification step, enhancing security significantly. : Enforce two-factor authentication for accessing sensitive systems and data. Even if an attacker obtains login credentials, they wont be able to gain access without the secondary verification step, enhancing security significantly. Regular Updates and Patch Management : Ensure that all software, including operating systems and applications, is regularly updated with the latest security patches. Cybercriminals often exploit known vulnerabilities, so staying up to date is crucial. : Ensure that all software, including operating systems and applications, is regularly updated with the latest security patches. Cybercriminals often exploit known vulnerabilities, so staying up to date is crucial. Employee Training and Testing : Conduct regular security training for employees and test their awareness with simulated phishing campaigns. This ongoing education can help employees recognize and report phishing attempts effectively. : Conduct regular security training for employees and test their awareness with simulated phishing campaigns. This ongoing education can help employees recognize and report phishing attempts effectively. Network Segmentation : Segment your network to limit access to sensitive data. This way, even if an attacker gains access to one part of your network, they wont have free rein throughout the entire system. : Segment your network to limit access to sensitive data. This way, even if an attacker gains access to one part of your network, they wont have free rein throughout the entire system. Endpoint Security : Deploy robust endpoint security solutions to protect individual devices. These solutions can detect and prevent malware infections, even when employees inadvertently interact with malicious content. : Deploy robust endpoint security solutions to protect individual devices. These solutions can detect and prevent malware infections, even when employees inadvertently interact with malicious content. Incident Response Plan : Develop a comprehensive incident response plan that outlines the steps to take in case of a security breach. This plan should include procedures for containing the breach, notifying affected parties, and recovering lost data. : Develop a comprehensive incident response plan that outlines the steps to take in case of a security breach. This plan should include procedures for containing the breach, notifying affected parties, and recovering lost data. Regular Security Audits : Conduct regular security audits and assessments to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in your systems. Address any issues promptly to reduce the risk of exploitation. : Conduct regular security audits and assessments to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in your systems. Address any issues promptly to reduce the risk of exploitation. Vendor and Third-Party Risk Assessment : Assess the security practices of vendors and third-party partners who have access to your systems or data. Ensure they meet your security standards to prevent potential breaches through these channels. : Assess the security practices of vendors and third-party partners who have access to your systems or data. Ensure they meet your security standards to prevent potential breaches through these channels. Data Encryption: Implement data encryption for sensitive information, both in transit and at rest. This additional layer of protection ensures that even if data is intercepted, it remains unintelligible to unauthorized individuals. Continuous Monitoring and Threat Intelligence To stay ahead of evolving whaling scams and other cyber threats, its essential to establish continuous monitoring and threat intelligence practices within your organization. Real-Time Monitoring: Employ real-time monitoring tools that track network traffic, system activities, and user behaviors. These tools can quickly detect suspicious activities or anomalies that may indicate a cyberattack in progress. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): Implement a SIEM system that centralizes the collection and analysis of security data from various sources. SIEM platforms can help identify patterns and trends that may signify a security breach. Threat Intelligence Feeds: Subscribe to threat intelligence feeds and services that provide up-to-date information on emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and attack tactics. This proactive approach allows you to anticipate potential risks and take preventive measures. Collaboration with Industry Peers: Collaborate with industry peers and participate in information-sharing forums or groups. Sharing insights about recent cyber threats and attacks can help your organization prepare better and protect against similar tactics. Cybersecurity Auditing: Regularly audit your cybersecurity measures to ensure they align with industry best practices and evolving threat landscapes. Make adjustments and improvements based on audit findings. Security Incident Response Team (SIRT): Establish a dedicated Security Incident Response Team (SIRT) within your organization. This team should be well-trained and prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to security incidents. Red Team Testing: Consider conducting red team exercises or penetration testing to assess your organizations vulnerabilities from an attackers perspective. These tests can reveal weaknesses that need addressing. Machine Learning and AI: Leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify patterns indicative of phishing attempts or whaling scams. These technologies can enhance threat detection capabilities. Employee Reporting Mechanisms: Encourage employees to report suspicious activities promptly. Implement an easy-to-use reporting mechanism and ensure that employees understand its importance in the overall security strategy. Regular Training Updates: Keep cybersecurity training programs up to date to educate employees about evolving threats and tactics. Awareness is a critical defense against whaling scams. Conclusion In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, where threats like whaling scams continue to target individuals and organizations, proactive measures are paramount. This article has highlighted the significance of both employee awareness and robust cybersecurity practices in protecting your business from falling victim to these malicious schemes. As online scams become increasingly sophisticated, a multi-faceted approach is essential to safeguard sensitive data and maintain the trust of your customers and stakeholders. First and foremost, educating your employees about the dangers of phishing and whaling scams cannot be overstated. Human error remains a significant factor in successful cyberattacks. Equipping your workforce with the knowledge and vigilance to recognize and report potential threats is the first line of defense. Moreover, implementing a multi-layered cybersecurity strategy is imperative. This includes not only employee training but also technological defenses, continuous monitoring, threat intelligence, and an incident response plan. By staying informed about emerging threats, adapting your security measures, and collaborating with industry peers, your organization can reduce the risk of falling prey to whaling scams and other cyberattacks. Remember, cybersecurity is an ongoing process that requires vigilance, adaptability, and a commitment to safeguarding your digital assets. Director of Kiska's company found guilty as well. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share The Poprad District Court found former president Andrej Kiska (2014 - 2019) guilty of tax fraud along with Eduard Kuckovsky, director of the former's company KTAG. On Wednesday, the judge sentenced the ex-president to two years in prison with a three-year suspended sentence, a 15,000 fine, and banned him from executive or statutory positions in a commercial company for six years. Kuckovsky received two years with a two-year suspended sentence, a 10,000 fine, and was banned from holding a statutory position in a company for 5 years and 8 months. Kiska said that he disagreed with the court's decision and appealed. Political target KTAG, originally named Kiska Travel Agency, is co-owned by Andrej Kiska and his brother Jaroslav. The company was alleged to have billed costs that were in fact related to Andrej Kiska's 2014 presidential election campaign as legitimate business expenses, thus committing tax fraud. According to the charges, the company unjustly claimed a VAT refund of 155,000. Both Kiska and Kuckovsky denied the charges and their guilt. During the initial hearing on June 29 of this year, Kiska claimed that he was being politically targeted, stating that no one in Slovak and Czech legal history had been prosecuted for recording legitimate company expenses that the tax authorities did not dispute. He emphasised that the investigation had spanned more than eight years and had been suspended twice before the charges were finally brought. Kiska claimed that the process is part of a political campaign against him. 'Deliberately designed fraud' After the verdict, the judge concluded that Kiska and Kuckovsky had unlawfully exercised the right to deduct tax from invoices related to the election campaign, with the intention of obtaining an unauthorised benefit. The judge said that Kiska was the organiser and he deliberately designed and managed the fraud. Kuckovsky then made sure that all the costs for the presidential campaign were included in the company's accounting. According to the verdict, these costs were neither related to the business of the company nor to the contract that the company signed with Kiska. The former president said that the court refused to hear the forensic expert and did not take into account the statements of some witnesses. Slovak Share Cooperative - ROD claims it is a global financial institution. The evidence suggests otherwise. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share A group calling itself 'Slovak Share Cooperative (SPD) - ROD' claims it can distribute significant sums of money to its members, asserting that it has a role within the global financial system alongside central banks. Around three months ago, the news website Aktuality.sk exposed the practices of this group, which entices customers by promising them a lifetime pension of 1,500 per month, holding out the prospect of paying off all their debts, or even by offering them loans to fulfil their dream projects. The police began investigating Skirkanic's business activities. "Revolution" The head of the organisation is the controversial businessman Emil Skirkanic, who allows members to address him as "Your Highness." According to Skirkanic, Slovakia, through SPD ROD, will spark a "global revolution" that will transform the current global financial system. Some people have fallen victim to Skirkanic's promises. Marta Sykorova, who believed in the promises of SPD ROD, has filed a criminal complaint, alleging that the cooperative has landed her in severe financial trouble. Sykorova, who wanted to build a small seniors' home for retirees, says she has struggled to obtain the financing promised by Skirkanic and his associates, leaving her in a difficult financial situation. Central bank warns against SPD ROD The situation has led Sykorova to seek out other deceived members of SPD ROD to file additional criminal complaints against the cooperative's leadership. Currently, the police are investigating two criminal complaints related to SPD ROD. While the organisation's leader, Skirkanic, claims that everything is being done in line with international law, authorities are taking the allegations seriously. The National Bank of Slovakia had previously warned against the activities of SPD ROD, noting that the organisation lacked the required permits to operate in the financial market, prompting further questions about its legitimacy. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/as-us-and-uk-send-armed-forces-to-israel-who-else-is-escalating-the-conflict-1114173435.html As US and UK Send Armed Forces to Israel, Who Else is Escalating the Conflict? As US and UK Send Armed Forces to Israel, Who Else is Escalating the Conflict? Israel has compared Saturday's breakout from the besieged Gaza Strip by Hamas and other groups to the Nazi genocide of millions of Jews and others. Western allies have pledged full backing for Israel's military offensive. 2023-10-13T18:03+0000 2023-10-13T18:03+0000 2023-10-13T18:03+0000 united kingdom (uk) royal navy british royal navy world palestine-israel conflict israel gaza /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0d/1114174082_0:92:1300:823_1920x0_80_0_0_ca192cd1da2eca748460162a200dab2a.jpg The UK has joined the US in sending naval forces to back Israel following the latest escalation of its conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories but will other NATO members follow suit?British ResponseBritish Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Thursday that he had ordered to Royal Navy amphibious warfare ships to sail for the eastern Mediterranean, along with Royal Air Force (RAF) P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft "to deliver practical support to Israel and partners in the region, and offer deterrence and assurance."The vessels are the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Argus, a Littoral Strike Ship fitted out with a 100-bed medical complex to receive casualties, and the RFA Lyme Bay, an amphibious assault ship. The ships are reportedly carrying a detachment of Royal Marine Commandos and three Merlin medium-lift transport helicopters strongly suggesting planning for an operation to rescue some of the British citizens believed to have been taken hostage in the coastal enclave of Gaza.The move contradicted assurances by Sunak's spokesman earlier in the week that there were "no plans to redeploy UK military assets to Israel."US DeploymentThe British move follows the US deployment of a the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier and its supporting battlegroup, along with other military units to the Mediterranean and Middle East to threaten Hamas' allies Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah.Two US Air Force B-1B strategic bombers redeployed to RAF Fairford in the south-west of England on Thursday, with another pair expected to arrive on Saturday.GermanyGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius also offered military aid to Israel on Thursday.Two Israeli-made IAI Eitan armed drones designated Heron TP for export sold to the Bundeswehr armed forces will be lent back to Israel for use in the conflict. German personnel were already in Israel, training to use the systems."There is only one place for Germany that place is at Israels side," Scholz told the Buundestag parliament on Thursday morning, adding that his government would "immediately examine and also grant" any further requests from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Speaking during a visit to the Belgian capital Brussels, some to the NATO headquarters, Pistorius said the German government would also consider an Israeli request for ammunition for its naval fleet.The chancellor also warned Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamic resistance movement that saw off Israel's 2006 invasion of its northern neighbour, against opening a sceond front. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/us-tries-to-manufacture-consent-for-war-with-iran-by-blaming-tehran-for-israel-crisis-1114169021.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/from-hezbollah-attacks-to-gaza-ground-op-what-challenges-is-israeli-unity-government-facing-1114151732.html united kingdom (uk) israel gaza Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 James Tweedie https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/1c/1080307270_0:3:397:400_100x100_80_0_0_7777393b9b18802f2e3c5eaa9cbcc612.png James Tweedie https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/1c/1080307270_0:3:397:400_100x100_80_0_0_7777393b9b18802f2e3c5eaa9cbcc612.png News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 James Tweedie https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/1c/1080307270_0:3:397:400_100x100_80_0_0_7777393b9b18802f2e3c5eaa9cbcc612.png hamas attacks on southern israel, israeli bombing of gaza, western support for israel, royal navy deploys in support of israel https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/cis-summit-kicks-off-in-bishkek-kyrgyzstan-1114162655.html CIS Summit Kicks Off in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan CIS Summit Kicks Off in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit takes place on October 13 in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, under the chairmanship of Kyrgyz leader Sadyr Japarov. 2023-10-13T07:15+0000 2023-10-13T07:15+0000 2023-10-13T07:15+0000 world cis commonwealth of independent states bishkek kyrgyzstan summit /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/04/0e/1094748792_0:208:2749:1754_1920x0_80_0_0_f979d4ada8cba83f59cd21c9c0613e66.jpg Sputnik is live as the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States Summit takes place in Bishkek.During the event, key issues such as strengthening cooperation in trade, economy, culture, and humanitarian efforts will be discussed.Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit of the CIS Council of Heads of State. During the summit, the CIS leaders will sum up the results of the interaction within the organization in 2023, identify key goals for the future, and exchange views on the latest global and regional developments.The Russian president will also brief his counterparts on the priorities of Russia's CIS chairmanship in 2024.Follow Sputniks live feed to find out more! bishkek kyrgyzstan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 CIS summit kicks off in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan CIS summit kicks off in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 2023-10-13T07:15+0000 true PT1S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International cis summit, kyrgyz capital of bishkek, sadyr japarov https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/ecuador-sending-aircraft-to-israel-to-evacuate-nationals-1114162316.html Ecuador Sending Aircraft to Israel to Evacuate Nationals Ecuador Sending Aircraft to Israel to Evacuate Nationals Ecuador will send a plane to Israel on Saturday to evacuate its citizens from the conflict zone, President Guillermo Lasso said. 2023-10-13T05:21+0000 2023-10-13T05:21+0000 2023-10-13T05:21+0000 world palestine-israel conflict israel ecuador palestine hamas /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/103230/51/1032305175_0:165:1200:840_1920x0_80_0_0_a0b0f851067bb82bcb9dc154dc7c0043.jpg Amid the difficult situation that Israel is experiencing due to the Hamas attack, we have taken various actions to guarantee the lives of the Ecuadorians who are there as residents or tourists, the president wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). A total of 140 Ecuadorian citizens, most of them tourists, have already left Israel. Lasso said a humanitarian flight has been prepared for departure on Saturday, capable of evacuating 260 citizens from Tel Aviv in one flight. On October 7, Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to declare a state of war the following day and launch retaliatory strikes. Israel has ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. Both Israel and Palestine have reported over 1,000 deaths and thousands of injuries as a result of the escalation. Russia's Foreign Ministry has called on the sides to stop hostilities. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/state-of-shock-how-is-israel-dealing-with-hamas-offensive-1114146934.html israel ecuador palestine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International evacuate nationals, send a plane to israel, guillermo lasso, conflict zone https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/gaza-residents-reveal-real-horrors-they-are-experiencing-1114165300.html Gaza Residents Reveal Real Horrors They Are Experiencing Gaza Residents Reveal Real Horrors They Are Experiencing A humanitarian crisis is rapidly unfolding in the Gaza Strip, as local residents are deprived of water, food, medicine, and electricity. At the same time... 13.10.2023, Sputnik International 2023-10-13T15:09+0000 2023-10-13T15:09+0000 2023-10-13T15:09+0000 world middle east gaza strip rafah israel defense forces (idf) sputnik gaza palestine-israel conflict palestinians /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0d/1114164370_0:120:1280:840_1920x0_80_0_0_21f2a57d53efff1b8f13604229ccc184.jpg Earlier, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said the Gaza Strip needs safe corridors for the delivery of food and medicine.Gaza Strip residents told Sputnik that a delay in international help may turn the strip into a mass grave.'What We Are Experiencing Now Cannot Be Described'Adel Zharna is a journalist from the Gaza Strip. He highlighted that there is no shelter or refuge in Gaza at all:He also addressed the international community by saying Save Gaza, we are dying.Total Blockade of GazaShehab Younis, a photographer and filmmaker, is based in Rafah city, near the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. He described the humanitarian situation there as increasingly acute:The young Palestinian also noted that the Gaza Strip infrastructure could not cope with the ongoing disaster under the total blockade. Mortuaries and hospitals are full and overcrowded.Moreover, Shehab mentioned that civilians in Gaza will face a slow and painful death without humanitarian aid and opened corridors. He pointed out:Gaza Strip residents cannot even leave the enclave. There were only two checkpoints through which to exit Kerem Shalom to Israel and Rafah to Egypt. The first one was completely destroyed during Hamas' attack on southern Israel last weekend. And the second one, Shehab said, is closed too.The Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave controlled by Hamas, has been hit by airstrikes since Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a total siege of the area, including cutting off electricity, food, water, and fuel supplies. According to UN data, more than 260,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Gaza. More than 2,500 houses have been destroyed in Gaza, and about 23,000 have been left so damaged that living in them is impossible. gaza strip rafah gaza Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Christina Malyk https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/08/1113208579_137:0:1097:960_100x100_80_0_0_39342d3133a15b1549ec31c158221a34.jpg Christina Malyk https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/08/1113208579_137:0:1097:960_100x100_80_0_0_39342d3133a15b1549ec31c158221a34.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Christina Malyk https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/08/1113208579_137:0:1097:960_100x100_80_0_0_39342d3133a15b1549ec31c158221a34.jpg middle east, gaza strip, rafah, israel defense forces (idf), sputnik, gaza, palestine-israel conflict, palestinians https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/israel-used-white-phosphorus-in-lebanon-gaza-strikes-human-rights-watch-finds-1114158849.html Israel Used White Phosphorus in Lebanon, Gaza Strikes Israel Used White Phosphorus in Lebanon, Gaza Strikes The Human Rights Watch said Thursday that it verified videos of Israel using artillery-fired white phosphorus to strike Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on October 10 and 11, and warned of great risks to civilians. 2023-10-13T01:24+0000 2023-10-13T01:24+0000 2023-10-13T05:04+0000 world israel gaza lebanon human rights watch palestine hamas ngo palestine-israel conflict /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0a/1114061852_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_f2977c74856d146b15bd32d2c8f3c9d1.jpg "Israels use of white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries," the organization said on the website, detailing "multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border."The NGO specified it "reviewed two videos from October 10 from two locations near the Israel-Lebanon border," and also analyzed a video taken in Gaza Citys port on October 11 and "identified that the munitions used in the strike were airburst 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles," adding that "white smoke and a garlic smell are characteristics of white phosphorus." Human Rights Watch also said it interviewed by phone two eyewitnesses from the al-Mina area in Gaza City who said they observed the strikes "consistent with the use of white phosphorus." The individuals described the explosions in the sky as being followed by "white lines going earthward," detailing the smell after the strikes was "stifling." "Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering," Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. The NGO noted that white phosphorus "can burn people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone as it is highly soluble in fat and therefore in human flesh," adding that "white phosphorus fragments can exacerbate wounds even after treatment and can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure." The group further said that "even relatively minor burns are often fatal," and create physical disabilities for survivors. The organization continued, emphasizing that "the trauma of the attack, the painful treatment that follows, and appearance-changing scars lead to psychological harm and social exclusion." The Israel Defense Forces has said that the service is presently "not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorous in Gaza."A prior analysis by the group concluded that Israel had used white phosphorus during a 22-day effort in Gaza that started in late 2008.On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to declare a state of war the following day and launch retaliatory strikes. Israel ordered a complete blockade on Monday of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. Both Israel and Palestine have reported over 1,000 deaths and thousands of injuries as a result of the escalation. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/report-biden-administration-may-revisit-decision-on-not-sending-troops-to-israel-1114156760.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231010/us-support-for-israel-may-set-off-total-middle-east-upheaval-former-us-envoy-1114071254.html israel gaza lebanon Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International palestine-israel conflict, white phosphorus, lebanon and gaza strikes, human rights watch https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/palestinian-journalist-we-feel-as-if-we-are-already-dead-here-in-gaza-1114166805.html Palestinian Journalist: 'We Feel as If We are Already Dead Here in Gaza' Palestinian Journalist: 'We Feel as If We are Already Dead Here in Gaza' Following the devastating assault by Hamas, Israel has imposed complete siege on the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the militant group. Samer Al-Kattaa, a Palestinian journalist living in Gaza, told Sputnik how Palestinians are enduring the blockade. 2023-10-13T12:04+0000 2023-10-13T12:04+0000 2023-10-13T16:39+0000 israel gaza strip world hamas middle east palestinians gaza israel defense forces (idf) israeli-palestinian conflict palestinian authority /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/09/1114028180_0:159:2936:1811_1920x0_80_0_0_0a393d10bfd2b3762f800b393282d0fb.jpg Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups on October 7 launched indiscriminate rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli settlements, and ambushed Jewish civilians and soldiers in neighboring areas, taking hostages. The assault immediately exposed the Gaza Strip to Israeli retaliation, leaving almost 2.3 million people trapped.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of airstrikes on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) strongholds located in the poor and densely populated Gaza Strip and exerted a full blockade of the region, shutting off food, fuel, electricity, and water supplies in a bid to force the militants to give up. Meanwhile, the situation is spiraling into nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe for ordinary Palestinians.No Food, No Water, No ElectricityGazas inhabitants have been left without water and at risk of starvation, with hospitals on the verge of turning into "morgues" without electricity, per a warning from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday.Meanwhile, the Israeli bombing campaign has left thousands displaced."It's from hell. One bomb can destroy a neighborhood. They are targeting one house, but they are killing people from 5 to 10 houses, all of them under rubble. All of them dead."While Palestinian militant groups are reported to have a network of sophisticated underground passages in the Gaza Strip, ordinary people don't have shelters where they can hide from the air raids.Palestinians have been held hostage to decades-long fighting between Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and the IDF, which launches regular retaliation strikes on Gaza.Hamas has ruled the enclave since June 2007, following Israel's withdrawal from the region in 2005 and the militant group's subsequent victory in the months-long conflict with Fatah (formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement). According to some estimates, the internal political fight in Gaza claimed the lives of more than 600 Palestinians.The incessant fighting by Palestinian groups stems from the failure to complete the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and create an independent Palestinian state, according to Moscow. Following the Oslo accords, which laid the groundwork for a two-state solution, the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations proposed a peace plan called the Road Map in 2002. However, the roadmap has so far remained ink on paper.'We Will Die Here, in Gaza'While the IDF is mulling a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians don't have anywhere to flee the bombardment. Even though Gaza borders Egypt, Cairo has made it clear that it cannot provide the Palestinian enclaves inhabitants refuge in the North African state."Egypt hopes for a resolution of the Palestinian cause through negotiations leading to a just peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state," Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said on Tuesday, as quoted by Middle Eastern press. "However, Egypt will not allow the Palestinian cause to be settled at the expense of other parties."Meanwhile, pressure is growing to provide an escape corridor for Gaza's 2.3 million people. On Friday, the IDF urged the evacuation of the Gaza City residents and those living in the north of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours, as the Israeli military seeks to crack down on Hamas militants who are believed to be hiding in Gaza's underground tunnels.In response, the United Nations said it is nearly impossible to evacuate 1.1 million people in such a limited timeframe. "The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated.Meanwhile, Gaza civilians, shocked by the continuous bombing, uncertain prospects, and the international community's hesitance to stretch a helping hand to those destitute, appear to be frustrated and demoralized. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/live-updates-israeli-army-warns-un-northern-gazas-population-should-relocate-within-24-hours-1114161246.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/russia-is-ready-to-mediate-in-palestinian-israeli-settlement---putin-1114165573.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/some-1mln-people-in-gaza-have-no-safe-shelter-from-israels-strikes---unicef-1114167548.html israel gaza strip gaza Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ekaterina Blinova hamas, the gaza strip, fatah, palestinians, palestinian authority, israel, israeli defense forces, idf bombing of gaza, idf ground operation in gaza, humanitarian catastrophe in gaza, evacuation, death toll in gaza https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/progress-made-in-us-eu-steel-tariff-talks-but-gaps-to-be-breached---european-commission-1114173954.html Progress Made in US-EU Steel Tariff Talks, But 'Gaps to Be Breached' - European Commission Progress Made in US-EU Steel Tariff Talks, But 'Gaps to Be Breached' - European Commission There is progress in the US-EU negotiations on tariffs on European Union steel and aluminum exports to the United States, but there is still work to be done, European Commission Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday. 2023-10-13T15:26+0000 2023-10-13T15:26+0000 2023-10-13T15:26+0000 donald trump european union (eu) trade expansion act european commission us valdis dombrovskis world imf us import tariffs world bank /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/106234/79/1062347981_0:258:4733:2920_1920x0_80_0_0_382bdf4c85a1dad9aac744db5883e41f.jpg "We are making progress. We are not quite there yet, but I think the gaps which we need to breach... we will be able to breach and arrive at the agreement," Dombrovskis stated during a Q&A session with the Atlantic Council on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - World Bank Week in Marrakesh. Asked about this month's looming deadline for an agreement on the possible lifting of tariffs, the commissioner said both the US and the EU were working with that timeline in mind. In March 2018, former US President Donald Trump exercised his authority under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports, with exemptions for Canada and Mexico, as an alleged national security measure. The meetings of the World Bank Group Boards of Governors and the IMF are being held in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh from October 9-15. The events are attended by central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives, civil society, media and academics, who gathered to discuss issues on a global scale, including the world economic outlook, global financial stability, poverty reduction, inclusive economic growth and job creation, climate change, and others. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230802/us-and-eu-struggle-to-resolve-steel-and-aluminum-trade-dispute-as-deadline-looms-1112352722.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International us-eu negotiations, us-eu relations, european commission, valdis dombrovskis, us-eu trade, atlantic council, us steel, eu steel, us tarrifs, eu tarrifs, us import, eu import, us import tarrifs, eu import tarrifs https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/putin-on-israel-palestine-conflict-we-need-to-think-about-civilian-population-1114183619.html Putin on Israel-Palestine Conflict: Russia Ready to Help Its Citizens Evacuate When Appropriate Putin on Israel-Palestine Conflict: Russia Ready to Help Its Citizens Evacuate When Appropriate Amid the latest deadly violence in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for all powers not to lose sight of the needs of non-combatants, who form the vast majority of people involved. 2023-10-13T19:44+0000 2023-10-13T19:44+0000 2023-10-13T19:53+0000 world vladimir putin palestinians gaza israel middle east quartet peace process mediation russia /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107814/42/1078144287_0:0:2681:1509_1920x0_80_0_0_9dae64871f299f610b3e4b16ee8abaaa.jpg Amid the latest deadly violence in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for all powers not to lose sight of the needs of non-combatants, who form the vast majority of people involved.The Russian leader noted that Israel has faced an unprecedented attack over the weekend, when Hamas militants broke through the Gaza border fence and killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in nearby settlements, but said that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which have bombed Gaza continuously for six days, had acted brutally.He added that the Palestinian people have a right to expect the creation of an independent Palestinian state, based on past promises made going back to the 1994 Oslo Accords.Putin also said that like other states with citizens in Israel or Gaza, Russia was ready to help its citizens evacuate when appropriate.Russia Ready to MediateA day prior, while in Bishkek at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State, Putin urged that Moscow was ready to help mediate in the Israel-Palestine conflict.The most important thing is that civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable ... The main thing now is to stop the bloodshed," he added.His comments come after the United States, Israels closest ally and a partner with the Palestinian government in the ongoing peace process, gave its unconditional support to the Israeli government in responding to the attacks by Hamas.Also on Friday, the Palestinian ambassador to Moscow, Abdel Hafiz Nofal, said that the international community needed to revive the Middle East Quartet, a group that includes Russia, the US, the United Nations, and the European Union, which has helped mediate peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians for decades. He added that Russia and China could play an important role in the process.2 Million Under Complete SiegeIsrael seized control over the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the 1967 Six-Day War, ruling it as a non-self-governing territory until 2006. After the Second Palestinian Intifada, or national uprising, Israel agreed to withdraw all troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, and the first elections were held there, which were won by Hamas, an Islamist militant group that has pledged to destroy the Zionist state.Following Hamas breach of the border fence on Saturday and assault on nearby Israeli settlements, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a complete siege of Gaza, cutting off all electricity, fuel, food and water to the enclave. On Friday, Israel ordered 1.1 million Palestinians living in northern Gaza - half the territorys population - to leave within 24 hours as it prepares to launch a ground assault against Hamas bases in the area. gaza israel russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Fantine Gardinier Fantine Gardinier News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Fantine Gardinier vladimir putin; middle east quartet; peace mediation; israel-palestine conflict; gaza; civilians https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/putin-to-attend-cis-council-of-heads-of-state-in-bishkek-on-friday-1114161543.html Putin to Attend CIS Council of Heads of State in Bishkek on Friday Putin to Attend CIS Council of Heads of State in Bishkek on Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the summit of the CIS Council of Heads of State to be held in Bishkek on Friday. 2023-10-13T04:26+0000 2023-10-13T04:26+0000 2023-10-13T04:26+0000 world vladimir putin emomali rahmon bishkek russia cis /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0b/1114106298_0:0:3034:1707_1920x0_80_0_0_99ba145aa9f5d4c6cddad2c15d7f83b2.jpg During the summit, the CIS leaders will sum up the results of the interaction within the organization in 2023, identify key goals for the future and exchange views on the latest global and regional developments. The Russian president will also brief his counterparts on the priorities of Russia's CIS chairmanship in 2024. Putin is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, to discuss regional security issues and the operation of the Russian military base in Tajikistan. This will be the Russian president's first foreign visit in 2023. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/putin-and-kyrgyz-president-zhaparov-meet-in-bishkek-1114122188.html bishkek russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International russian president vladimir putin, cis council of heads of state, bishkek https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/putin-visit-to-china-confirmed-trump-leading-biden-in-polls-month-of-action-against-africom-1114157294.html Putin Visit to China Confirmed; Trump Leading Biden in Polls; Month of Action Against Africom Putin Visit to China Confirmed; Trump Leading Biden in Polls; Month of Action Against Africom Former President Trump may be pulling away from Joe Biden as he holds a 9-point lead in Pennsylvania and a 4-point lead overall. 2023-10-13T04:10+0000 2023-10-13T04:10+0000 2023-10-13T12:20+0000 the critical hour radio donald trump election gaza inflation poland ukraine juan guaido /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0c/1114157136_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_a07ca51002b0e29d7c2c4085b0eeb48b.png Putin Visit to China Confirmed; Trump Leading Biden in Polls; Month of Action Against Africom Former President Trump may be pulling away from Joe Biden as he holds a 9-point lead in Pennsylvania and a 4-point lead overall. Regis Tremblay, an American citizen in Crimea, joins us to discuss Ukraine and Russia. President Putin has lamented the absence of smart politicians in the West. Regis Tremblay says that when he looks at the Biden White House and the unelected leaders in the EU, he sees they are not ignorant; they know what they are doing and have been placed in power to take the position they hold. Tremblay says that the people of the EU are turning out against the policies that they are imposing.Caleb Maupin, journalist and political analyst, joins us to discuss Asia. A Senate delegation led by Chuck Schumer is causing headaches in China. Caleb Maupin asks what the point of this trip may be. He says that the US refuses to take the actual steps needed to bring detente with the Asian giant. Also, whenever there is an attempt to improve relations with China, certain financial interests thwart the effort.Dr. Gerald Horne, Professor of History at the University of Houston, TX, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss Africa. President Biden's foreign policy has been a disaster. Dr. Horne says that Black America is missing in action regarding foreign policy. He argues that the attack on Paul Robeson is a significant reason for this dynamic. He also says that the US ruling elite is unable to discipline its members. He says that sending the US navy to the Middle East could portend a catastrophic attack on Iran. Dr. Horne also says that Biden has worsened relations with Africa.Ted Rall, political cartoonist, syndicated columnist, and host of Final Countdown, joins us to discuss the 2024 election. Former President Trump may be pulling away from Joe Biden as he holds a 9-point lead in Pennsylvania and a 4-point lead overall. Ted Rall says that the candidacies of Cornel West and RFK Jr will significantly impact the election. He says this poll adds to a previous poll that showed Trump 10 points ahead on a national level. Ted also says Biden may not be the nominee, and he may be forced to step aside.Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Russia and China argue that an independent Palestinian state is the only diplomatic solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict. Laith Marouf argues that even the UN creation of the state of Israel said there has to be a Palestine state and the Palestinians are not to be discriminated against. Laith also says that the GOP is dysfunctional, but they have people who push back against their leaders regarding Ukraine.Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents", joins us to discuss the Black Alliance for Peace. The Black Alliance for Peace is holding a month of action against Africom. Margaret Kimberly says that the US has divided the world into command structures. Africom gives the US military control over most African nations. She reminds us about the destruction of Libya and the current interference in Niger.Dr. Linwood Tauheed, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joins us to discuss the economy. The White House is planning military aid for numerous conflicts simultaneously. Dr. Tauheed says it is convenient timing that the GOP has said it was not including support in its latest budget move, and now the Biden administration is lumping the funds together. He says that the price of bonds increasing is good for the banks, but the yield is going up, which makes the financial crisis worse.Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, joins us to discuss prominent news stories. Cell phones are used by big tech to gather information about the users. Steve Poikonen says there is no such thing as privacy, only operational security. He says that data harvesting can be purchased to create a profile on any user.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 in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM gaza poland ukraine china israel Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Garland Nixon https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125302_0:0:239:239_100x100_80_0_0_d5d43c970b0740f228597fbcdb4ffd66.jpg Garland Nixon https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125302_0:0:239:239_100x100_80_0_0_d5d43c970b0740f228597fbcdb4ffd66.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Garland Nixon https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125302_0:0:239:239_100x100_80_0_0_d5d43c970b0740f228597fbcdb4ffd66.jpg the critical hour, ukraine conflict, israeli - palestine conflict, 2024 presidential election in usa, interference in niger https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/some-1mln-people-in-gaza-have-no-safe-shelter-from-israels-strikes---unicef-1114167548.html Some 1Mln People in Gaza Have No Safe Shelter From Israel's Strikes - UNICEF Some 1Mln People in Gaza Have No Safe Shelter From Israel's Strikes - UNICEF As many as 1 million people in the Gaza Strip are unable to find a safe shelter, with a large number of children among victims of Israel's shelling carried out in response to the attack launched by Palestinian movement Hamas, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday. 2023-10-13T11:07+0000 2023-10-13T11:07+0000 2023-10-13T11:07+0000 world palestine-israel conflict the united nations (un) gaza strip middle east israel defense forces (idf) hamas gaza israel /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/09/1114049720_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_9ff464a9cc0fa3980e9f86a1a121b618.jpg "We are horrified by the scenes coming out of Gaza. Large number of children among the victims. 1 million people with nowhere safe to go. This is unacceptable and the violence should stop immediately," the organization's regional office in the Middle East and North Africa wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) urged civilians of Gaza City to evacuate southward "for their own safety." UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the Israeli military had also notified the UN that the population of Gaza north and the UN staff should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours. The UN urged Israel to rescind the order, saying that it was "impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences." On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to declare a state of war the following day and launch retaliatory strikes. On Monday, Israel ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. Both Israel and Palestine have reported over 1,000 deaths and thousands of injuries as a result of the escalation. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/state-of-shock-how-is-israel-dealing-with-hamas-offensive-1114146934.html gaza strip gaza israel Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International people in gaza, gaza strip, united nations children's fund https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/state-of-shock-how-is-israel-dealing-with-hamas-offensive-1114146934.html State of Shock: How is Israel Dealing With Hamas Offensive? State of Shock: How is Israel Dealing With Hamas Offensive? Former Israeli Air Force member and dual US-Israeli national Doron Willentzik said that while his compatriots were stunned by the success of the Palestinian offensive, they were united in the face of the threat from Gaza. 2023-10-13T02:48+0000 2023-10-13T02:48+0000 2023-10-13T02:45+0000 israeli air force (iaf) israel palestine-israel conflict israel-gaza conflict israel defense forces (idf) palestine analysis /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0a/1114068153_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_d058675cffd8ca5677828571e129e35b.jpg Israelis have remained united in the face of threats from the Gaza Strip although officials were initially stunned by the weekend launch of the Palestinian offensive, a former Israeli airman has said.Doron Willentzik, who formerly served as a member of the Israeli Air Force, told Sputnik the crisis had united Israelis across the political divide.There have been reports that up to 300,000 reservists with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been called up in response to the crisis close to a tenth of the country's workforce."Different units have got different codes and different symbols," Willentzik explained of calls made to service members. "They basically designate their need to be drafted at a certain time and show up at a particular place. And so each member of the Reserve is familiar with his or her specific designation and identifier."The former airman subsequently addressed allegations that Iran was responsible for the breakout of hostilities from the Gaza Strip."I guess that's the $64 million question," he said. "I'm reading a lot of interpretations for both sides, and I would be personally be premature in directly linking Iran to this."In response to the unprecedented strikes, the Israeli government has vowed to carry out an "immense" revenge against Hamas' offensive; in fact, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a stern message in which he said military forces would "wipe out this thing called Hamas."The response to the conflict from Israel's neighbors has been mixed. Egypt has demanded Tel Aviv allow humanitarian aid convoys into Gaza, but refuses to allow the population of over 2 million to be displaced onto its own territory. Syria, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah have condemned Israel's response but have not been drawn into the conflict despite repeated Israeli provocations."I think that there's, behind the scenes, also conversations with the Egyptians about next steps," he added.For more insightful commentary on the top news, check out our Sputnik News show Political Misfits. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231011/israels-intel-operational--logistical-lapses-failed-to-stop-hamas-attack---report-1114087825.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/jewish-peace-campaigner-slams-media-for-amplifying-pro-war-propaganda-1114142595.html israel palestine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 James Tweedie https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/1c/1080307270_0:3:397:400_100x100_80_0_0_7777393b9b18802f2e3c5eaa9cbcc612.png James Tweedie https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/1c/1080307270_0:3:397:400_100x100_80_0_0_7777393b9b18802f2e3c5eaa9cbcc612.png News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 James Tweedie https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/1c/1080307270_0:3:397:400_100x100_80_0_0_7777393b9b18802f2e3c5eaa9cbcc612.png hamas attacks on israel, israeli blockade of gaza, israel bombing gaza https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/su-57-fighter-aircraft-reigns-supreme-among-its-contemporaries-1114164525.html Su-57 Fighter Aircraft Reigns Supreme Among Its Contemporaries Su-57 Fighter Aircraft Reigns Supreme Among Its Contemporaries The Su-57's firepower, featuring advanced missiles and hypersonic technology, sets it apart from its counterparts. Its proven combat record and versatile arsenal make it a formidable multirole fighter. With exceptional stealth and maneuverability, the fighter aircraft stands at the forefront of modern aerial warfare. 2023-10-13T10:48+0000 2023-10-13T10:48+0000 2023-10-13T12:19+0000 military newsfeed military & intelligence russia sukhoi su-57 /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/08/0f/1099608849_0:251:3193:2047_1920x0_80_0_0_1f4abbcf173d2af38f87b68d885f87ef.jpg Russia's superb sentinel of the skies, the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter, is designated the superior among peers in firepower capability, according to a Military Watch report.The publication highlighted that this military aircraft's foremost edge lies in its ability to deploy the Vympel R-37M missile (a long-range, hypersonic air-to-air beyond-visual-range-missile).The R-37M's unrivaled performance in air combat is hinged on its launch range (about 200 km), hypersonic speed (roughly Mach 6), maximum altitude of 82,000 feet, and detachable rocket booster (for an extended range of 300400 km). Consequently, the Su-57 outstrips its American and Chinese peers with twice the range for hitting air targets.As per the report, the Russian fighter distinguishes itself with its extensive and varied arsenal of air-to-ground missiles. The publication suggests that the fighter aircraft could deploy a smaller variant of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile in the coming years.Additionally, the magazine noted that the Su-57 is distinguished as the only fifth-generation fighter to have taken part in genuine air combat and conducted strikes against enemy forces during high-intensity warfare while on active duty.The Sukhoi Su-57 is a fifth-generation versatile multirole fighter. Its prowess excels in air-to-air engagements, naval offensives, and ground assaults. It boasts excellent stealth, extraordinary maneuverability, sustained supersonic flight, integrated avionics systems, and a capacious internal payload.The Su-57 fighter jet is armed with a wide range of weapons. It can launch short-, medium-, and long-range air-to-air missiles and various types of air-to-surface guided missiles like the X-31, X-35, Kh-38, Kh-58, and Kh-59.Additionally, it can carry adjustable aerial bombs weighing from 250 to 1500 kilograms. The Su-57 can carry a maximum combat load of up to 10,000 kg. https://sputnikglobe.com/20210721/from-su-57-to-checkmate-new-russian-fifth-generation-fighter-makes-a-splash-in-aerospace-industry-1083430849.html russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg su-57, 5th generation fighter, russian fighter, multirole fighter, sukhoi su-57, stealth fighter, air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, hypersonic missile, kinzhal missile, air combat, high-intensity warfare, active duty, naval offensives, ground assaults, stealth technology, maneuverability, supersonic flight, avionics systems, internal payload, aerial bombs, combat load, vympel r-37m missile, r-37m missile, mach 6, 82,000 feet, missile launch range, detachable rocket booster, military watch, firepower capability, long-range cruise missiles, beyond-visual-range missile, firepower, air targets, american fighters, chinese fighters, air defense, missile performance, kinzhal hypersonic missile, x-31 missile, x-35 missile, kh-38 missile, kh-58 missile, kh-59 missile. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/unrwa-says-relocated-main-operations-center-intl-staff-to-southern-gaza-strip-1114162980.html UNRWA Says Relocated Main Operations Center, Int'l Staff to Southern Gaza Strip UNRWA Says Relocated Main Operations Center, Int'l Staff to Southern Gaza Strip The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Friday it had relocated its central operations center and international staff to the southern Gaza Strip, following the relevant call by the Israeli military. 2023-10-13T05:55+0000 2023-10-13T05:55+0000 2023-10-13T05:55+0000 world palestine-israel conflict israel gaza the united nations (un) united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east (unrwa) israel defense forces (idf) /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0b/1114107101_0:320:3072:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_e6bd67bd9a838b0e325921da30302845.jpg "UNRWA relocated its central operations centre + international staff to the south to continue its humanitarian operations and support to its staff and Palestine Refugees in #Gaza," the UN agency said on X, while also urging Israel to protect all civilians in UNRWA shelters and schools. The agency added that these shelters and schools are UN facilities and they "must be protected at all times and must never come under attack in accordance with international humanitarian law." Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) urged civilians of Gaza City to evacuate southward "for their own safety." UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the Israeli military had also notified the UN that the population of Gaza north and the UN staff should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours. The UN urged Israel to rescind the order, saying that it was "impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences." On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to declare a state of war the following day and launch retaliatory strikes. On Monday, Israel ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. Both Israel and Palestine have reported over 1,000 deaths and thousands of injuries as a result of the escalation. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/ecuador-sending-aircraft-to-israel-to-evacuate-nationals-1114162316.html israel gaza Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east, southern gaza strip, israeli military https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/us-grants-tsmc-waiver-extension-to-import-chipmaking-equipment-into-china-1114163743.html US Grants TSMC Waiver Extension to Import Chipmaking Equipment Into China US Grants TSMC Waiver Extension to Import Chipmaking Equipment Into China The US aims to contain Beijing's tech ambitions, while also trying to avoid collateral damage to chipmakers from partner countries. TSMC, Samsung, and SK Hynix have been granted waivers, reflecting America's changing policies in the semiconductor industry. 2023-10-13T12:00+0000 2023-10-13T12:00+0000 2023-10-13T12:00+0000 economy newsfeed joe biden china taiwan taipei taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company (tsmc) sk hynix us department of commerce beijing /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/08/0a/1112511874_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_87b16c0fe20744c65a683f8c61205923.jpg One of the biggest chipmakers in the world, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), has been granted an extended waiver from US trade sanctions targeting China. This development ensures TSMC's unhindered procurement of ultramodern chip production equipment for its operations in China, says a high-ranking official in Taiwan.On Friday, Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua informed reporters in Taipei that TSMC's activities in China have not been disrupted. The exact duration of the waiver wasn't disclosed. Earlier, media sources reported that TSMC was expected to have its waiver extension for 12 months.TSMC runs a small chip manufacturing facility near Shanghai and a plant in Nanjing, China. They specialize in producing 16-nanometer chips, which are older than the latest technology.The Bureau of Industry and Security under the US Department of Commerce, responsible for export controls, refrained from commenting on TSMC earlier this week. They opted not to answer questions after the announcement.According to South Korea's presidential office, Samsung and SK Hynix have been granted an indefinite restriction waiver, allowing them to ship advanced US chipmaking equipment to China.Last October, sweeping US regulations impacted China's tech objectives and created apprehension for foreign chipmakers like TSMC and their South Korean counterparts in China. TSMC, Samsung Electronics Co., and SK Hynix Inc. had obtained 12 months waivers which guaranteed their importation of essential chipmaking machines at the time. However, there has been unease over the possibility of extension.The US-China trade spat has been exacerbated by America's inability to keep pace with China in semiconductor production. As China continues to make significant strides in this critical technology sector, the US has grown increasingly aggressive in trade policies, seeking to protect its economic interests and maintain its technological edge. This competition over semiconductor dominance has become a focal point in the broader trade tensions, with both nations vying for supremacy in an industry vital to the future of global technology and innovation.In late September, US President Joe Bidens government eased restrictions on semiconductor companies that receive federal funds to build plants in the US, allowing them more room to expand in China. TSMC and Samsung will likely get US subsidies for their new plants in America. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230928/us-china-trade-rift-south-koreas-semiconductor-titans-treads-carefully-1113734553.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231006/us-chipmakers-warn-bidens-semiconductor-spat-with-china-could-backfire-1113973804.html china taiwan taipei beijing Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg taiwan semiconductor manufacturing co., tsmc, chipmaker, us trade sanctions, china, waiver extension, chip production equipment, minister of economic affairs, wang mei-hua, taipei, manufacturing facility, shanghai, nanjing, 16-nanometer chips, bureau of industry and security, us department of commerce, us export controls, south korea, samsung, sk hynix, indefinite restriction waiver, advanced us chipmaking equipment, china's tech objectives, foreign chipmakers, south korean chipmakers, president biden, semiconductor companies, federal funds, semiconductor facilities, us subsidies. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/us-tries-to-manufacture-consent-for-war-with-iran-by-blaming-tehran-for-israel-crisis-1114169021.html US Tries to Manufacture Consent for War With Iran by Blaming Tehran for Israel Crisis US Tries to Manufacture Consent for War With Iran by Blaming Tehran for Israel Crisis US and Israeli officials have accused Iran of complicity in Hamass surprise offensive, with President Biden cryptically warning Tehran to be careful. Is there any truth in Washington and Tel Avivs claims? What are the risks of a further escalation? Sputnik asked a senior Russian international affairs observer for his take. 2023-10-13T12:15+0000 2023-10-13T12:15+0000 2023-10-13T16:58+0000 analysis konstantin blokhin joe biden vladimir putin middle east iran israel washington hamas pentagon /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107392/52/1073925246_0:67:1000:630_1920x0_80_0_0_0d1e6a7dbfefbcd9b4076c046c5acfc5.jpg Senior officials in the White House and the Pentagon have sounded off a series of threats, warnings and accusations in Irans direction related to the explosion of violence in Gaza and southern Israel in the wake of the surprise attacks into southern Israel by Hamas-led militants beginning October 7.A day earlier, Biden National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed there was broad complicityby the Iranians in the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. I mean, because of the long-lasting support to Hamas. Hamas wouldnt have been able to function at all had it not been for propping up by the Iranian regime.Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog accused proxy commanders in Iran of supporting and directing Hamas. This war waged against us marks a line in the sand. Now is the time to stand firm with Israel in support of its just and moral battle in the face of an abhorrent enemy, Herzog urged. The Israeli military appeared to contradict the president, however, with an IDF spokesman saying Monday that while Iran was a major playerwe cant yet say if it was involved in the planning or training.Claims by Western and Israeli officials were also backed by major legacy media, which dutifully began manufacturing consent for a possible conflict with Iran even before officials did, with the Wall Street Journal claiming, citing senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, that Iranian security directly helped plan Hamass surprise raids, and that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers were directly involved. The outlet was forced to walk back its allegations after US intelligence sources said that Iran may have known about the operation, but not its timing or scale.What is Iran Saying?Iran, which has faced decades of terrorist and sabotage attacks and assassinations at the hands of US and Israeli intelligence-backed proxies, offered a calm, measured response to the allegations.We have no role in making decisions on behalf of any party in the region, including the Palestinian nationWhat concerns us is that we consider the resistance of the Palestinian people to be a legitimate resistance, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani early this week, adding that accusations related to the Iranian role are based on political reasons.Traveling to Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that if the Zionists keep up their war crimes, there exists every prospect that other resistance movements could enter the conflict. We are in Beirut to announce with a loud voice that, along with other Muslim countries and governments, we do not brook the Zionist regimes crimes against the people of Gaza, he said.For his part, in a call with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose country was bombed by Israel this week, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that all the Islamic and Arab countriesmust reach serious convergence and cooperation on the Palestinian crisis.Russian President Vladimir Putin also commented on the allegations against Iran.US Cant Afford Three-Front ConflictIts very simple, says Konstantin Blokhin, a lead research from the Russian Academy of Sciences Center for Security Studies. First of all, most of the Israeli establishment and part of the American establishment close to the Republican Party are maniacally obsessed with the idea of regime change in Iran, Blokhin told Sputnik, recalling that many Republicans have joined in calling for preventative strikes, possibly even nuclear strikes, against the Islamic Republic.With the Israeli crisis threatening to drag the US in, Blokhin said that Bidens be careful warning makes sense, because it would leave the US little room for maneuver, since both major parties are pro-Israeli in their essence, and a failure to intervene could result in a loss of face for Washington.If this new conflict starts, if there is an expansion of the conflict zone and Iran is drawn into it, then of course the United States will become involved. And of course this is a headache for the United States, because it already has the Ukraine problem, plus now the problem in the Middle East. And thirdly, its worth remembering that the US considers the Asia-Pacific region to be its most important region, with an increasingly powerful China needing to be contained, according to Washingtons doctrinal planning.As for the US decision to send another carrier strike group to the Middle East as a message to Iran, Blokhin said Tehran probably isnt afraid of such an instrument of intimidation, and has the technical capability to sink American aircraft carriers.But perhaps the biggest headache for Washington and Tel Aviv may lie in the Islamic Worlds growing consolidation on an anti-American and anti-Israeli basis, even between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which have some contradictions, today I think that many will forget about these contradictions, and will consolidate on this anti-Americanism, Blokhin summed up. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/cia-finally-admits-1953-coup-of-irans-mohammed-mossadeq-countered-democracy-1114154929.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/live-updates-israeli-army-warns-un-northern-gazas-population-should-relocate-within-24-hours-1114161246.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/lavrov-return-to-un-obligation-of-establishing-palestinian-state-needed-once-israel-hamas-war-over-1114124717.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231011/why-us-warship-deployment-nearby-israel-spells-escalation-risks-1114110822.html iran israel washington Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ilya Tsukanov Ilya Tsukanov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ilya Tsukanov iran, israel, conflict, crisis, united states, escalation, manufacturing consent, claims, allegations, hamas, offensive, surprise, war, geopolitics https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/wh-support-for-ukraine-is-not-indefinite-and-the-blockade-on-gaza-1114159377.html WH Support for Ukraine Is Not Indefinite and The Blockade on Gaza WH Support for Ukraine Is Not Indefinite and The Blockade on Gaza On todays episode of The Backstory, host Rachel Blevins discussed current events including President Zelensky calls for a 'unity tour' in Israel, and Israel says the blockade on Gaza will continue until Hamas releases Israeli hostages. 2023-10-13T04:00+0000 2023-10-13T04:00+0000 2023-10-13T11:44+0000 the backstory radio social media hamas us state department nato european union (eu) uaw volodymyr zelensky /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0d/1114159218_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_1590e44251d3dccfcff37064938d64a0.png WH Support for Ukraine is Not Indefinite and The Blockade on Gaza On todays episode of The Backstory, host Rachel Blevins discussed current events including President Zelensky calls for a 'unity tour' in Israel, and Israel says the blockade on Gaza will continue until Hamas Releases Israeli hostages. Daniel McAdams - Executive Director of The 'Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity' | Massive Demonstrations for Palestine in France, The US Thinks They Can Fight Three Proxy Wars at the Same Time, and The Concern of More Countries Joining the Fight Against IsraelCarter Clews - President of Constitutional Rights PAC | The Public Are in Agreement Congress is Broken, Steve Scalise is Just Another Face for the Establishment, and There Needs to be Chaos in Congress Nebojsa Malic - Investigative Journalist, Blogger, and Author | US Aid for Ukraine is Running Out, Zelensky Blames Russia for Funding Hamas, and The Populist Revolt in Europe Craig "Pasta" Jardula - Co-Host of The Convo Couch & AM Wakeup | Biden Makes an Unfound Claim, The White House Walks Back Biden's Comments, and How Hamas Was Created In the first hour, Rachel spoke with Daniel Mcadams about how the American public has been emotionally propagandized into war in the past, Israel is worried about America's low weapons stockpile, and the attention on a bigger war in the Middle East. Daniel talked about the blockade on Gaza and how the media portrays Israel's blockade of fuel, energy, and water against the people living in the Gaza Strip.Rachel spoke with Carter Clews about the lack of work career Steve Scalise has before becoming a Congressman, why Matt Gaetz would support Steve Scalise as Speaker of the House, and why US politicians stay in Washington DC for life. Carter spoke about the way Jim Jordan has transformed in Congress and Carter's support for Byron Donalds as Speaker of the House. Carter explains how Washington works off the three P's (power, prestige, and payola).In the second hour, Rachel spoke with Nebojsa Malic about the US attempts to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, populist revolts in Europe, and Zelensky is desperate for attention. Nebojsa talked about President Zelensky's claims of Russia's involvement with Hamas and President Zelensky's 'unity tour' in Israel. Nebojsa discussed the US attempts to have frozen Russian funds sent to fund Ukraine.Rachel spoke with Pasta Jardula about the selective outrage by the public, the White House has to walk back Biden's claim of forty babies beheaded by Hamas, and Russia's response to the situation between Israel and Palestine. Pasta commented on the antiwar activists in America and how some of them have contradicted themselves and their support for Israeli strikes on Gaza.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 in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM israel gaza russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Rachel Blevins Rachel Blevins News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Rachel Blevins the backstory, israeli-palestine conflict, steve scalise for speaker, frozen russian assets, israeli strikes on gaza https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/who-are-israels-neighbors-and-how-do-they-solve-territorial-disputes-1114175559.html Who Are Israel's Neighbors and How Do They Solve Territorial Disputes? Who Are Israel's Neighbors and How Do They Solve Territorial Disputes? Over 75 years of its existence Israel has endured several wars and emerged as an influential Middle Eastern power. What territorial disputes has Israel managed to solve so far and what has yet remained to be settled? 2023-10-13T17:14+0000 2023-10-13T17:14+0000 2023-10-13T17:14+0000 world palestine-israel conflict middle east vladimir putin palestinians egypt syria israel plo palestinian authority /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0a/1114067487_0:0:2121:1194_1920x0_80_0_0_d105ed5cf1dd7a5d4080cff39eb76ca6.jpg The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, coincided with the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, or the Fourth ArabIsraeli War, in which Syria and Egypt sought to regain territories lost in the previous conflict with the Jewish state.Since inception, Israel had fought for its right to exist engaging in wars and territorial disputes with its Arab neighbors Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestinians. Recently, some of those disputes have been resolved opening the door to the Abraham Accords of 2020 which saw a number of Muslim states diplomatically recognizing Israel.Arab-Israel Wars: How Jewish State Took ShapeThe Arab-Israel confrontations started at the very beginning of the history of the Jewish state. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews with 33 to 13 votes and 10 abstentions. The Jews in Palestine accepted the UNGA decision while the region's Arab residents and Arab delegations rejected it. The plan was not implemented and no Palestinian Arab state was founded.The Arab demarche wasn't something completely unforeseen given that during the September 1947 debate on a two-state solution the Arab Higher Committee (AHC) consisting of representatives of leading Palestinian Arab clans argued that the Jewish people had no whatsoever legal or moral right for establishing their state in the region. The AHC proposed creating a single Arab State in the whole territory of Palestine, adding that the rights of minorities, including Jews, would be respected.On May 14, 1948, Head of the Jewish Agency David Ben-Gurion announced the establishment of the State of Israel that was quickly recognized by both the United States and the Soviet Union. However, within a few days Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan attacked a newly established state in a bid to support the Palestinian cause. In the aftermath of the fierce war, Israel managed to expand its initial territory to 77% of the former British Palestine mandate, while Jordan occupied the West Bank, the Egyptians took Gaza, and Syria fortified its Golan Heights to target Israeli territories.During the 1967 Six Day War which was preceded by Syrian air raids on Israeli villages and Egypt's expulsion of UN peacekeepers from the Sinai Peninsula the Jewish military managed to expell the Syrian forces out of the strategically important Golan Heights, take the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and take the West Bank from Jordan. On top of that, Israel gained full control of Jerusalem.In the aftermath of the conflict the UN called on warring parties to give up belligerence and cited the necessity to solve the refugee problem, given that the Arab-Israeli hostilities led to the displacement of Palestinians. According to some estimates the Six Day War alone led to the exodus of half a million of civilians.On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt simultaneously attacked Israel in what is now known as Yom Kippur War. The Arab states did not manage to return lost territories or make any territorial gains, but the conflict is believed by some historians to be a key point after which warring parties started to seek compromise solutions in order to get out of the vicious cycle of violence.How Israel-Arab Peace Process StartedThe international community closely watched the drama unfolding in Palestine. The UN Resolution 242 (November 1967), urged Israel to withdraw "from the occupied territories," and called on Arabs to recognize Israel's right to exist and live in peace with it.Egypt became the first state to lend a sympathetic ear to the UN Security Council's call. Besides that, the Northern African state wanted its Sinai Peninsula back. Eventually, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords, brokered by the US, on September 17, 1978. Under the "Framework for Peace in the Middle East," the sides agreed to ensure a process for Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza and create a framework for peace treaties between Israel and its other neighbors. In March 1979, Israel and Egypt inked a peace treaty, which led to Israel's withdrawal from Sinai, and Cairo's opening the Suez Canal to Israeli ships.Even though Egypt was immediately ostracized by other Arab states for striking a peace deal with Israel, the move became a watershed in Arab-Israeli relations.Still, in 1982 Israel again found itself in a war with an Arab state, just six weeks after its withdrawal from the Sinai. Tel Aviv started a war with Lebanon where the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) resided at the time. Founded in 1964, the PLO called for "an end to the State of Israel, a return of Palestinians to their homeland, and the establishment of a single democratic state throughout Palestine". Having expelled the PLO from Lebanon in 1982 in the wake of the Beirut siege, the Israeli military withdrew from the country in 1985 and completed the pull-out by 2000.Two years later, in 1987 secret negotiations on a peace treaty started between Israel and Jordan; in 1988, Amman renounced its claims to the Israeli-controlled West Bank.On October 26, 1994, Jordan and Israel signed the peace treaty. To some extent the agreement's conclusion was facilitated by the Oslo Accords of 1973 which created the preconditions for the creation of the independent Palestinian state. The 1973 deal became a breakthrough for Israelis and Palestinian, as the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) recognized Israel; and Tel Aviv stopped considering the PLO a terrorist entity.The Palestinian Authority was created in 1994 with the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people." In 1996, Palestinians held their first elections. Yasser Arafat was elected as the president of the Palestinian Authority.Israel Has Yet to Solve Territorial DilemmasHowever, the Arab-Israeli peace process has proven to be a bumpy road.In 2000, Israel and Lebanon agreed on a demarcation line between their countries, known as the Blue Line, while in 2006, Tel Aviv was dragged into the Second Lebanon war (which lasted for 34 days) by Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite militant organization.The legacy of the 2006 hostilities is a border dispute between Israel and Lebanon over Al-Ghajar, a village near the Golan Heights and Shebaa Farms where Hezbollah tents are deployed.Similarly, tensions are still simmering over the Golan Heights, a territory seized by Israel during the Six Day War from Syria. Israel and Syria have technically been in a state of war since 1948.Another open wound is the continuous territorial dispute with the Palestinian Authority. Under the two-state solution, Eastern Jerusalem, the Western Bank and the Gaza Strip had to comprise an independent Palestinian state. In 2005 Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip.However, the process saw a potential setback during President Donald Trump's tenure. While brokering historic Abraham accords under which the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco normalized relations with the Israeli State, the Trump administration at the same time threw the Israeli-Palestinian peace process (as well as Israel-Syria peace settlement) into question by recognizing Jerusalem as Israeli capital, approving of Israel's presence in the West Bank and naming Golan Heights as a Jewish state territory, per Mideast observers.Moscow sees the root cause of the current strife between Israel and Hamas in the failure of the international community to secure the creation of a Palestinian state in accordance with the related UN resolutions.According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US government actively sought to "monopolize" the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but instead of seeking a compromise, pushed their own vision.On October 13, the Russian President made it clear that Moscow is ready to help mediate the conflict to prevent further bloodshed in Gaza. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/lavrov-return-to-un-obligation-of-establishing-palestinian-state-needed-once-israel-hamas-war-over-1114124717.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/israel-not-prepared-for-hezbollahs-second-front---alastair-crooke-1114141013.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/russia-is-ready-to-mediate-in-palestinian-israeli-settlement---putin-1114165573.html egypt syria israel ussr russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ekaterina Blinova israel, palestine, arabs, jerusalem, six day war, yom kippur war, lebanon war, palestinian authority, israel-arab wars, israel-arab peace process, oslo agreements, abraham accords, syria, golan heights, east jerusalem, jordan, egypt, un security council, palestinian authority, hamas, hezbollah https://sputnikglobe.com/20231013/who-does-russia-support-in-palestinian-israeli-conflict-1114177009.html Who Does Russia Support in Palestinian-Israeli Conflict? Who Does Russia Support in Palestinian-Israeli Conflict? Moscow has expressed readiness to help mediate a negotiated end to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. But where do Russias true sympathies lie, both historically and in the present moment? Is a Russian-negotiated resolution to the conflict a real possibility? Sputnik digs through the details, and the history, for answers. 2023-10-13T17:44+0000 2023-10-13T17:44+0000 2023-10-13T19:03+0000 analysis russia israel moscow vladimir putin donald trump mahmoud abbas the united nations (un) nato hamas /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/0d/1114178673_0:200:3072:1928_1920x0_80_0_0_53c925af60b3eb54e128ea92c868975b.jpg Right now the most important thing [in the Palestinian-Israeli crisis] is to stop the bloodshed. Collective efforts are more than needed in the interests of an early ceasefire and stabilization of the situation on the ground, Russian President Putin said Friday at a CIS heads of state meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.The goal of talks should be the implementation of the UN two-state formula, which envisions the creation of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, coexisting in peace and security with Israel, the Russian president said. We need to concern ourselves with resolving this issue through peaceful means. In the current situation there is no alternative, he emphasized.Reiterating his earlier-stated position on the crisis being the result of the Washingtons failed regional policy, Putin pointed out that the so-called Quartet on the Middle East, consisting of the UN, Russia, the United States and the European Union, hasnt been activated to try to cool tensions.Russias efforts to strike a balanced approach to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis has rung alarm bells in the US and NATO establishment and their loyal servants in the media, with Western media churning out article after article on how Moscow could benefit from or "take advantage" of the conflict, and trying to twist the narrative in the most convoluted way to find an alleged trace of Russian influence on the escalating violence.The propaganda campaign stems from Putins decision not to join Western leaders in offering Israel Russias full-throated support, and to instead delve into history to point out that the ultimate root of all problems in the Palestinian-Israeli crisis stems from the failure of the 1947 UN-mandated creation of a Palestinian state alongside a Jewish one. The Palestinian problem touches the heart of all residents of the Middle East, and all Muslims in general, Putin said, adding that Russias stance on the conflict is well known both to the Israeli side and to our friends in Palestine.As far as the escalation is concerned, the Russian president has urged, first and foremost, that civilians are left out of the fighting. If men decide to fight amongst themselves, let them do it. But leave women and children alone, he said, stressing that this applies to both sides.Position Forged Over DecadesMoscows present posture on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, which seeks to achieve maximum balance, follows decades of positions which shifted dramatically based on geopolitical and ideological considerations, going back to the start of the crisis in the late 1940s.As a founding member of the United Nations system which emerged after World War II, the Soviet Union eagerly supported the creation of separate Palestinian and Jewish states. The USSR became the first country in the world to recognize Israel in 1948, and went so far as to approve arms sales by Czechoslovakia, a Soviet bloc country, to Tel Aviv during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949.Relations between the Soviet Union and Israel soon soured, however, due to the failure of the promised Palestinian state to materialize, with Tel Aviv adding insult to injury by ignoring Moscows proposal for UN Security Council trusteeship over the city of Jerusalem. Israeli demands requesting the USSR to allow for the immigration of Soviet Jews, plus Tel Avivs gradual efforts to cozy up to the West, prompted Moscow to terminate trade relations in 1949, and to sever diplomatic relations entirely in early 1953 after a terrorist attack at the Soviet diplomatic mission in Israel, which Moscow blamed on the Israeli government.Relations were restored shortly after Joseph Stalins death in mid-1953, but remained tense, with Soviet support for anti-Western national liberation movements across the Middle East, including Gamal Abdel Nassers Egypt which refused to recognize Israels right to exist, naturally straining ties.In June 1967, after Israel launched preemptive aerial strikes against the Egyptians and sparked a new regional war with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Algeria, Moscow again broke off relations with Tel Aviv.From 1967 until 1985, the USSR did not maintain any contacts with Israel whatsoever, with Soviet and Israeli intelligence agencies clashing in Cold War hot spots across the globe, from Africa to Latin America, and Moscow sending billions of dollars worth of increasingly advanced military hardware to their Middle Eastern allies. Throughout this period, the USSR expressed its full support to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and its longtime leader, Yasser Arafat.Ties gradually began to be restored in the mid-to-late 1980s, after Mikhail Gorbachev launched his perestroika and New Political Thinking reforms aimed at ending the Cold War. Soviet-Israeli consular contacts were resumed in 1987, and diplomatic relations were fully restored in October 1991, months before the collapse of the Soviet Union.In the post-Soviet period, ties between Russia and Israel quickly warmed, coming to include close diplomatic, economic, cultural and even military contacts, complemented by the migration of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Russia to Israel, with a visa-free travel regime agreed in 2008. Politically, despite Israels alliance with the US, Moscow found ways to find common ground with Tel Aviv, focusing heavily on cooperation in counterterrorism (but without agreeing to formally categorize certain enemies of Israel, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as terrorist groups).Throughout the post-Soviet period, Russia also continued to support Palestine in its quest for statehood, joining 137 other UN members recognizing Palestine as a de jure sovereign state, and Russian officials, including President Putin, meeting regularly with representatives of the PLO, Hamas, and the Palestinian National Authority. During every successive bout of violence, in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, and 2020, Russia called for a speedy halt in fighting. In 2012, Moscow voted in favor of the General Assembly resolution which granted Palestine non-member observer status in the UN.The escalation of the Ukrainian crisis into a full-blown NATO proxy war against Russia in 2022 heightened bilateral tensions with Israel somewhat, with Tel Avivs limited support for Kiev, combined with a diplomatic flap over comments made by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, straining ties with Moscow. However, even during the crisis, behind-the-scenes talks continued, with now former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett revealing this past February that he offered his services as an indirect mediator, and that Russia and Ukraine were apparently on the brink of a settlement before the US and its allies swooped in to kill the talks.So Who Does Russia Support?The answer to question posed in the headline to this piece, i.e. who does Russia support, is: both sides. Moscow wants to see a peaceful resolution to the crisis in which both sides interests are satisfied. Russias decades-long push to try to strike a balance in relations with Israel and Palestine (whose statehood Russia actually recognizes, unlike the US, for example) and its broader effort to establish warm ties with other key actors, such as Israels sworn enemy Iran, makes Moscow a potentially ideal and natural mediator. Whether Israelis and the Palestinians agree to such mediation is a decision they and their regional and international allies and partners will have to make. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231012/lavrov-return-to-un-obligation-of-establishing-palestinian-state-needed-once-israel-hamas-war-over-1114124717.html russia israel moscow Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ilya Tsukanov Ilya Tsukanov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ilya Tsukanov russia, israel, palestine, crisis, negotiations, talks, history, conflict, diplomacy, relations, ties, neutrality, vladimir putin THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Most folks know that certain antidepressants have to be taken for a few weeks before people start seeing improvement, and now a new study sheds light on that delay. Scientists have discovered this is because of physical changes in the brain that unfold over those first few weeks of using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and lead to greater brain plasticity. SSRIs include a range of common antidepressants such as Paxil, Prozac, Celexa, Lexapro and Zoloft. The delay in therapeutic action of antidepressants has been a puzzle to psychiatrists ever since they were first discerned over 50 years ago. So, these new data in humans that use cutting-edge brain imaging to demonstrate an increase in brain connections developing over the period that the depression lifts are very exciting, said David Nutt from Imperial College London, who was not involved in the research. Also, they provide more evidence [that] enhancing serotonin function in the brain can have enduring health benefits. The researchers studied this in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in a group of healthy volunteers. The researchers gave 17 volunteers a 20-milligram (mg) daily dose of the SSRI escitalopram (Lexapro). Another 15 volunteers received a placebo. About three to five weeks in, the volunteers brains were scanned using a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. The scans made it possible to see the amount of synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A in the brain. The more of that protein found in an area, the more nerve cell connections are present. The investigators saw significant differences in how synapse density evolved over time in the two groups. We found that with those taking the SSRI, over time there was a gradual increase in synapses in the neocortex and the hippocampus of the brain, compared to those taking placebo. We did not see any effect in those taking placebo, said researcher Gitte Knudsen of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. The neocortex is a complex brain structure that handles higher functions like sensory perception, emotion and cognition. The hippocampus is involved with memory and learning. The study findings were presented Monday at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology conference, in Barcelona, and simultaneously published online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. This points towards two main conclusions, Knudsen said in a meeting news release. Firstly, it indicates that SSRIs increase synaptic density in the brain areas critically involved in depression. This would go some way to indicating that the synaptic density in the brain may be involved in how these antidepressants function, which would give us a target for developing novel drugs against depression," she said. "The second point is that our data suggest that synapses build up over a period of weeks, which would explain why the effects of these drugs take time to kick-in," she added. More information The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more on antidepressants. SOURCE: European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, news release, Oct. 9, 2023 A South Carolina woman is facing numerous drug charges after pills and marijuana were discovered during a traffic stop Monday, said Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell. Chanikqua Eune Banks, 30, of Inman, South Carolina, was charged with the following felonies: possession of Schedule II, trafficking amphetamine by possession, trafficking amphetamine by transport and maintaining a dwelling/vehicle to keep/sell controlled substance and misdemeanor counts of possession of Schedule II, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana paraphernalia and failure to maintain lane control. A magistrate set bond at $100,000. On Monday, Deputy M. Sharpe of the sheriffs office Aggressive Criminal Enforcement team (ACE) stopped a vehicle on Interstate 77 south near the 42 mile marker for a traffic violation, Campbell said. As Sharpe was speaking with the driver, Banks, she told him there was marijuana in the vehicle and handed him a bag containing 12.4 grams, Campbell said. Further investigation found 12 amphetamine pills and three oxycodone pills, both Schedule II substances, he said. Syria expressed its reservations about wording that might imply equality between the Israeli occupier and the Palestinian people living under occupation, according to al-Baath. Damascus issued a statement, Thursday, in response to the Arab Leagues resolution condemning violations against Palestinians and calling on Israel to fulfill its obligations as an occupying power. Syria expressed its appreciation for the resolution but made clear its reservations regarding any wording that might imply equality between the Israeli occupier and the Palestinian people living under occupation. The Arab League convened an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers at its headquarters in Cairo on October 11, 2023, to address the recent Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian population. This meeting was convened at the request of the State of Palestine and received support from Syria and several other Arab nations, as reported by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). The resolution adopted by the Arab League demanded an immediate cessation of the Israeli hostilities in the Gaza Strip and strongly condemned all acts of aggression and violations against the Palestinian people. The Foreign Ministry of Syria emphasized the urgency of lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, permitting the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, food, and fuel, and called on Israel to reverse its decisions to cut off water and electricity to the region. Furthermore, the resolution reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, while cautioning against any attempts to forcibly displace them from their homeland. The resolution also underscored the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative. Simultaneously, the resolution urged all parties involved to exercise restraint and called for the release of all prisoners and detainees. Syria welcomed the condemnation of Israeli aggression and violations when the resolution was adopted. Notably, Syrias reservations on certain aspects of the resolution found support from several other Arab countries, including Algeria, Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Both presidents reaffirmed their unwavering support for the Palestinian people, according to al-Watan. On October 12th, 2023, President Bashar al-Assad engaged in a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, President Ibrahim Raisi. During their discussion, they focused on the recent developments in the occupied Palestinian territories. Both presidents reaffirmed their unwavering support for the Palestinian people, expressing solidarity in the face of the injustices they endure. They highlighted the Palestinians legitimate right to resist and defend their just cause, as well as to reclaim their usurped rights. President Assad emphasized that the policies pursued by the Zionist regime are responsible for the ongoing bloodshed. He underscored the urgent need for swift action at the Arab and Islamic levels to safeguard the Palestinian people, particularly those in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, both leaders condemned the Israeli attacks that have disproportionately affected children and women in the region. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. This latest incident constitutes the fourth Israeli assault on Damascus International Airport and the fifth on Aleppo International Airport, according to Athr Press. On Thursday afternoon, Israel conducted two airstrikes against Damascus and Aleppo international airports, resulting in significant damage to both airports and their temporary suspension of services. At approximately 13:50 this afternoon, the Israeli military simultaneously launched air strikes, using a barrage of missiles, against Aleppo and Damascus international airports, causing damage to their runways and interrupting their operations, confirmed the Syrian Ministry of Defense in a statement. The ministry went on to describe the attack as a desperate move by Israel to divert attention from its actions in Gaza and the substantial losses it has suffered at the hands of Palestinian resistance. Additionally, the ministry emphasized that this action aligns with Israels ongoing support for extremist terrorist groups that the Syrian army is actively combating in the northern region of the country, acting as a de facto arm of the Israeli government. The Israeli Army Radio reported these attacks and stated, Israeli military operations were carried out against the airports of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria, as translated by the al-Jazeera channel. This marks the first time that a Hebrew media outlet has acknowledged an Israeli attack on Syria. This latest incident constitutes the fourth Israeli assault on Damascus International Airport and the fifth on Aleppo International Airport. Sources have indicated that the Israeli strikes inflicted significant damage on Aleppo International Airport, particularly targeting its runways, resulting in the suspension of airport services. Technical teams are currently assessing the extent of the damage and its impact on the airports functionality, with no definite timeline for its full restoration. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The UN delegation is set to inspect the conditions in the displaced persons' camps and several hospitals, according to Baladi News. On Thursday, a high-level United Nations delegation entered the Idleb region in northwestern Syria to assess the conditions in camps for displaced Syrians and medical facilities in the area. According to a correspondent from Baladi News, the UN delegation, led by Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syrian Crisis, David Cardin, along with the heads of the World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, arrived in the Idleb countryside in the morning. The primary objective of this UN delegation is to inspect the conditions in the displaced persons camps and several hospitals, in order to evaluate the situation in the region following recent airstrikes in the area. Earlier this week, northern Syria experienced a significant military campaign initiated by the Syrian regime, resulting in the loss of lives and injuries to numerous civilians. Additionally, this campaign disrupted vital facilities and targeted camps for displaced individuals, leading to a new wave of displacement. According to the White Helmets, regime forces conducted 148 attacks on cities and towns in northwestern Syria over a five-day period from October 4 to 8. These attacks included 74 artillery shelling, 59 rocket launcher strikes, seven air raids by Russian warplanes, four incidents involving incendiary phosphorus munitions, and one cluster bomb attack. The aforementioned attacks in the Idleb and Aleppo countryside during these five days resulted in the death of 47 civilians, including ten children and nine women, and leftover 200 others injured, including critical cases. On August 27th, a delegation from the US Congress visited the Azaz area in the northern countryside of Aleppo. The visit included an inspection of the al-Salama border crossing with Turkey and a tour of the Wassim Moaz Hospital operated by the Independent Doctors Organization. In Suweida In central Suweida, a demonstration against the Syrian regime persisted for the 55th consecutive day on Thursday, October 12th. During the protest, demonstrators displayed banners with messages such as General, put on a smile, the final episode is approaching, and another that declared, Attempts to incite conflict will not deter the ongoing uprising. A third banner emphasized that the movements objective was to dismantle the tyrannical regime and implement Resolution 2254. The demonstration notably featured a significant presence of women, as has been the case in recent days. Among the images held aloft, one portrayed Syrian activist Razan Zaitouneh, who has been missing for several years. This peaceful popular movement has persisted for two consecutive months in Suweida, marked by an increasing number of participants advocating for the downfall of the regime, the trial of Bashar al-Assad, and the realization of UN Resolution 2254, which outlines a peaceful transition of power through democratic elections under UN supervision. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Abdollahian was en route to Damascus as part of a regional tour originating in Iraq, according to Syria TV. A plane carrying Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had to alter its course as it could not land at the Syrian capital, Damascus. According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, the aircraft transporting Abdollahian had originally planned to touch down at Damascus International Airport at approximately two oclock in the afternoon, Damascus time. However, this landing was thwarted due to extensive damage caused by Israeli airstrikes on the airports main runway. Following attacks on both the airports of Damascus and Aleppo, the pro-regime newspaper al-Watan reported that the Iranian foreign minister proceeded to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, as part of a brief visit lasting several hours. Abdollahian was en route to Damascus as part of a regional tour originating in Iraq, but the Israeli airstrikes inflicted significant harm on the airport, rendering it inaccessible for his planes landing. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The Yemeni foreign minister expressed his country's immediate readiness to establish a diplomatic mission in Damascus, according to al-Tareek. Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak has confirmed that Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad of the Syrian government informed him on Wednesday of the decision to return control of the Yemeni embassy in Damascus to the legitimate Yemeni government. This announcement followed the removal of Houthi militia from the embassy, which they had controlled since 2016, as part of the Arab normalization measures involving the Syrian regime, led by Saudi Arabia. Bin Mubarak stated in an interview with Independent Arabia that he received an official notification regarding the Houthis evacuation from the Yemeni embassy in Damascus. He emphasized that this development was a result of discussions between Yemeni officials and the Saudi Arabian and Yemeni governments. Furthermore, the Yemeni foreign minister expressed his countrys immediate readiness to establish a diplomatic mission in Damascus. On Tuesday, a Houthi militia leader, Khaled al-Arasi, disclosed that the Syrian regime had notified their representatives of the necessity to vacate the Yemeni embassy in Damascus. He characterized this action as a significant setback for the militia, marking their failure in their sole attempt to represent themselves in international relations. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria. On Thursday, the Pentagon reported that the U.S. military took down an armed Turkish drone that ventured within 500 meters of American troops in northeastern Syria. This marks a rare instance of one NATO member employing force against another. Meanwhile, amid ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Syria and Israel have engaged in multiple exchanges of fire. In the latest incidents, Israel targeted both Damascus and Aleppos international airports ahead of a visit by Iranian FM Amir Abdollahian. Syria says Israeli missiles hit Damascus, Aleppo airports Syria said Israeli forces launched simultaneous missile attacks on the airports in its capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday, damaging the runways and putting both hubs out of service. A Syrian military source cited by state news agency SANA said bursts of missiles hit the two airports at the same time, in what he said was a bid to distract the worlds attention from Israels war with Hamas militants in Gaza. The Israeli military said it does not comment on such reports. Israel has for years carried out strikes against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, including against the Aleppo and Damascus airports. Sources have told Reuters that strikes on the airports are intended to disrupt Iranian supply lines to Syria, where Tehrans influence has grown since it began supporting President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that started in 2011. Thursdays strikes came a day before Irans foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, was due to visit Syria. Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip, in retribution for the deadliest attack on civilians in its history when hundreds of gunmen crossed the barrier and rampaged through Israeli towns on Saturday. Tehran has celebrated the Hamas attacks but denied being behind them. Iran, Syria presidents call for unity on Palestinian support Reuters reported that the presidents of Iran and Syria have urged Islamic countries to reach agreement on a position in support of Palestinians, a news agency linked to Irans top security agency, Nournews, reported on Thursday. Islamic and Arab countries as well all free people of the world must reach a single position to stop the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian people, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told his Syrian counterpart over the telephone, Nournews reported. On Wednesday, Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the first telephone call between them since their countries agreed in a March deal, brokered by China, to resume ties. Iran and Syria are long-time allies in the Middle East. Irans economic influence in war-torn Syria has grown in recent years, supplying the government of President Bashar al-Assad with credit lines and winning lucrative business contracts. US shoots down armed Turkish drone after it came too close to US troops in Syria The Pentagon said Thursday the U.S. military shot down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 meters (yards) of American troops in northeastern Syria, in a rare use of force by one NATO member against another, AP reported. Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, called it a regrettable incident and said U.S. troops were forced to go to bunkers for safety as Turkey bombed targets nearby. Both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the new Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. CQ Brown, spoke with their Turkish counterparts quickly after the incident to emphasize the value they place on their relationship with Turkey but also the need to avoid any similar incidents in the future and ensure the safety of U.S. personnel. The decision to shoot down an allys armed drone was made out due diligence and the inherent right of self-defense to take appropriate action to protect U.S. forces, Ryder said, adding that we have no indication that Turkey was intentionally targeting U.S. forces. U.S. officials earlier told The Associated Press the shootdown was ordered after more than a dozen calls to Turkish military officials stating that U.S. forces were on the ground in the area and that the U.S. military would take action to protect them if the drone didnt leave. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of a sensitive military incident. Ryder said U.S. forces observed Turkish drones doing airstrikes around Hassakeh at about 7:30 a.m. local time, and some strikes were inside a so-called American restricted operating zone just a kilometre (about a half mile) from U.S. troops. He said a bit later a Turkish drone re-entered the restricted area on a heading toward where U.S. forces were located. Commanders determined it was a threat and U.S. F-16 fighter jets shot it down around 11:40 a.m., Ryder said, adding that no U.S. forces were injured. The incident occurred on the same day as a drone attack killed at least 80 people in government-controlled Homs, Syria, where explosive-laden drones were detonated during a military graduation ceremony attended by young officers and their families. An additional 240 people were injured, according to Syrias health ministry. Why Syria and Israel have exchanged attacks during Israels war with Gaza The Washington Post published a report on the history and fighting between Israel and Syria. The report provides an overview of the ongoing conflict and tensions between Israel and Syria, as well as the broader regional dynamics involving Iran, Hezbollah, and the United States. The report starts by reporting an exchange of shelling between Israel and Syria, triggered by mortar launches from Syria into northern Israel. Israel responded with artillery strikes. This incident indicates the ongoing volatility in the region. The report mentions a recent exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah near the Lebanon-Israel border. Hezbollah is described as an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This raises concerns about the potential for escalation in the conflict. The United States has deployed an aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean Sea as a deterrent to prevent the expansion of the conflict. This underscores the U.S.s interest in stabilizing the situation and preventing further escalation. Israel is reported to be massing troops near the Gaza Strip and calling up reservists, indicating a potential offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. This adds another layer of complexity to the regional situation. The report notes that mortar attacks from Syria are viewed as symbolic and rarely cause significant damage. The conflict between Syria and Israel has been ongoing for more than half a century, with these attacks being a continuation of that long-standing dispute. Iran is described as a close military and political ally of Syria. It is mentioned that Israel views Irans presence in Syria as a threat and has conducted strikes against Iranian positions and Syrian chemical weapons facilities. Irans expanding influence in Syria is a source of concern for Israel and the United States. Hezbollahs support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is highlighted, with the group aiding Assad in his efforts against rebel forces. The United States has launched strikes on what it identifies as Iranian positions in Syria under different administrations, targeting groups affiliated with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This reflects the U.S.s efforts to counter Iranian influence in the region. The report mentions the impact of strikes attributed to Israel, including damage to the Damascus airport and the targeting of military facilities. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reportedly warned Assad against getting involved in the Hamas-Israel conflict or allowing attacks from Syrian soil. This is significant because the UAE has normalized relations with Israel and has reestablished ties with Assad, despite his controversial actions during Syrias civil war. Overall, the report highlights the complex web of relationships and conflicts involving Israel, Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, and the United States, with concerns about potential escalation and regional stability. Denmark expands controversial Syrian refugee policy despite repeated judicial setbacks Hashim Daher Amam is a proud and independent 75-year-old man and that might have been his undoing. He lives alone in a room in a shared flat but spends most of his time with his daughter-in-law and grandchildren who stay nearby. With a smile and mock indignation, he emphasizes, I drive her and the grandchildren, not the other way around. He does his own shopping and cooking, takes his medication for heart ailments, and cleans and dresses himself. The effect of the Syrian septuagenarians independence, according to the Danish Immigration Service (DIS), is that Hashim does not have a life worthy of protection under the European Convention on Human Rights. Without any element of dependency that goes beyond the normal emotional ties, the DIS refused to extend Hashims residence permit this July, revoking his refugee protection and putting him in fear of being separated from his family and returning to Syria. I did not come here for the clean air. I came here to live a life of safety and dignity Hashims case is the norm rather than the exception in Denmark. The Scandinavian welfare state has not only persisted with a controversial asylum policy, it has expanded it, steadily increasing the number of Syrian regions it considers safe for return. It did so even though a majority of individuals considered for revocation by the DIS ultimately retained their asylum status. It did so in contravention of the official position of the UN Commission of Inquiry into Syria and the EU parliament and despite contradictory findings by international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. And perhaps most significantly, it did so while acknowledging that the conditions in these countries are still serious, fragile and unpredictable. Iranian military reinforcements enter Syria from Iraq North Press reports that at dawn on Thursday, Iranian reinforcements reached military posts of Iran-backed militias in Deir-ez-Zor, eastern Syria, coming from Iraq. The Iranian reinforcements come after an unidentified aircraft bombed on October 9 a military post of the Quds Force, affiliated with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The attack, which took place on the outskirts of the village of al-Heri in the countryside of Abu Kamal, southeast of Deir-ez-Zor city, killed militants and damaged logistics warehouses. A military source in the Quds Force said that the pro-Iranian militias brought in more than eight cargo vehicles through the Sikek border crossing coming from Iraqi territory. He added to North Press that the convoy included logistical materials and ammunition, in addition to two vehicles carrying military personnel in civilian clothes. The vehicles entered the military posts of the Quds Force in Abu Kamal, and transported militants coming from Iraqi territory to a military post next to al-Shifaa Hospital in the town of al-Mayadin in the eastern countryside of Deir-ez-Zor. US, Russia avoid pressuring Turkey to end attacks on NE Syria Analysts Analysts believe the US and Russia do not want to put more pressure on Turkey to stop it from conducting low-level attacks on northeastern Syria. John Rossomando, geopolitical analyst and expert on the Middle East, told North Press that the US and Russia avoided being involved in Turkeys recent attacks and the international policy in northeast Syria has focused on creating a largely stable governance area and to keep ISIS at bay in the wake of its destructive reign. On Oct. 5, Turkey launched many airstrikes, artillery shells, and drone strikes against 28 infrastructure facilities, 150 residential areas, 34 military sites, including 21 locations of the Syrian government forces, seven farmlands, three factories, a school and a hospital, according to the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press. Turkey views the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as an arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which prompted the current Turkish attacks on northeastern Syria, according to Rossomando. He further said the US main interest in the region is to keep ISIS under control. Meanwhile, Calvin Wilder, senior analyst at New Lines Institute, noted the US views cooperation with Turkey as a very high priority and was definitely reluctant to put pressure on Turkey to change its behaviour in Syria, since that could alienate Erdogan and make cooperation on other priorities harder. Wilder explained that if the US plays the role of mediator between Turkey and the SDF, it would complicate the U.S.-Turkey relationship in ways no one in Washington is willing to commit to. As for Russia, its priorities in Syria depend on cooperation on certain levels with Turkey, he noted. Wilder added that the US and Russia have certainly pressured Turkey to stop it from conducting major new military operations in the region, but they are not willing to apply the amount of pressure on Turkey to prevent these lower-level drone strikes and artillery attacks. SAN FRANCISCO The Internal Revenue Service says Microsoft owes the U.S. Treasury $28.9 billion in back taxes, plus penalties and interest, the company revealed Wednesday in a securities filing. That figure, which Microsoft disputes, stems from a long-running IRS probe into how Microsoft allocated its profits among countries and jurisdictions in the years 2004 to 2013. Critics of that practice, known as transfer pricing, argue that companies frequently use it to minimize their tax burden by reporting lower profits in high-tax countries and higher profits in lower-tax jurisdictions. Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, said it followed IRS rules and will appeal the decision within the agency, a process expected to take several years. The companys shares dropped slightly in aftermarket trading. The IRS began an audit of Microsoft in 2007 that the agency described in federal court documents last year as one of the largest in the Services history. Microsoft says it was recently notified by the IRS that the audit has ended, starting a new process to resolve a dispute over how much is owed. Part of the long-running IRS investigation centered on how Microsoft structured a manufacturing facility starting in 2005 in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The IRS has said Microsoft hired accounting firm KPMG to set up a cost-sharing arrangement with the Puerto Rican affiliate that shifted taxable revenue out of the U.S. The IRS has also looked at other affiliates, including one that involved retail sales in Asia, according to court documents. A blog post Wednesday from David Goff, Microsofts corporate vice president for worldwide tax and customs, said the company has changed its corporate structure and practices since the years covered by the audit. But he said its not uncommon for large multinationals to use cost-sharing arrangements, and that because Microsofts subsidiaries shared in the costs of developing some intellectual property, they were also entitled to related profits. Goff also said that the $28.9 billion sought by the IRS could be reduced by up to $10 billion because of taxes paid as a result of a 2017 tax law signed by then-President Donald Trump. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions has reached a tentative contract with Kaiser Permanente, following the largest health care strike in U.S. history last week. The frontline health care workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente, the coalition said on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. Kaiser Permanente officials posted a similar statement from the organizations X account. We are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with the frontline health care workers of the Union Coalition this morning. We are thankful for the instrumental involvement of Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su, Kaiser Permanente said. The details of the tentative proposal have not yet been released, but the union coalition said a full announcement and more details will be announced shortly. Last week, Kaiser Permanente workers in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, including in Longview, held a three-day strike, requesting what that union called living wages and increased staffing to avoid care delays. The union coalition represents 40% of Kaiser Permanentes non-physician workforce and includes medical workers, including EMTs, X-ray technicians, nursing assistants and respiratory care practitioners. Editors note: The Daily News City Editor Hayley Day contributed to this story. Local young adults leaving foster care and who are at risk of becoming homeless will now have additional help to prevent them from living on the streets. The Housing Opportunities of Southwest Washington reports the housing authority received 25 Foster Youth to Independence vouchers as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments initiative to prevent former foster care youth ages 18 to 24 from becoming homeless. Youth leaving foster care tend to struggle to find housing. A report by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services found about one in four young people who exited foster care in 2011 or 2012 experienced homelessness. The vouchers can be used for private apartments for a maximum of 36 moths, according to a press release from the housing authority. The release states the housing authority, which serves Cowlitz, Lewis, Pacific and Wahkiakum counties, encourages landlords and property managers to reach out to the organization if rentals are available. 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: UAW President Shawn Fain, shown at a rally last weekend in Chicago, warned the union could launch more last-minute strikes on Detroit's 'Big Three' The US auto workers union announced Friday no new strike targets, but the group's president said the labor action had entered a new stage involving last-minute walkouts. "We're entering a new phase of this fight, and it demands a new approach," United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain said in a webcast briefing. The message to the companies is, "don't you dare slow-walk or low-ball us," Fain said. "We will take out whatever plants they force us to." The remarks came two days after the UAW announced an immediate walkout at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville where some of the company's most profitable models are built. The action saw 8,700 workers walk off their jobs, bringing the total members on strike to nearly 34,000. The UAW launched a targeted strike on September 15 on Detroit giants Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, initially taking down one plant at each company. The union expanded the strike on the two subsequent Fridays following a Fain webcast. But Fain said the latest pivot was necessary to drive progress in negotiations, noting the companies became accustomed to waiting until Friday to offer significant concessions. The Kentucky action came after Ford had "for two weeks" spoken of sweetening its economic offer, which includes a 23 percent wage increase over the course of the contract, Fain said. But when both sides met, Ford offered the same terms as two weeks earlier, he said. "Taking out Kentucky truck sent a very clear message not only to Ford, but to GM and Stellantis as well," he said. "At this point in the process, we're interested in only one thing: a deal and a tentative agreement." More temporary layoffs On Friday, Stellantis announced temporary layoffs for 700 more workers from plants in Kokomo, Indiana, as a result of the UAW strike at its Toledo, Ohio factory. The company said it now has 1,340 employees on temporary layoff across three states. Stellantis added that it had "made progress this week" on talks with UAW. The company said the talks focus on narrowing the gaps on issues "that will bring immediate financial gains and job security for our employees while providing a bridge for the sustainability of the Company." Ford had no immediate response to a request for comment after Fain's remarks. But Ford held a media call on Thursday in which executive Kumar Galhotra described the company as not able to further boost its economic offer. "We have been very clear that we are at the limit," said Galhotra, President of Ford Blue. He insisted that the company had not misled the UAW on its negotiating stance. Ford has said the strike at Kentucky could damage the supply chain and result in layoffs of as many as 4,600 workers at other Ford facilities. 2023 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: TSMC is the world's largest contract producer of computer chips. Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC said Friday it has applied forand expects to receivepermanent authorization from Washington to allow the export of US chip-making equipment to its China-based factory. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's largest contract producer of computer chips, was among the firms that received waivers last year when Washington imposed sweeping export restrictions to prevent China from getting advanced semiconductor technology. The United States says the restrictions are necessary to prevent Chinese advances in cutting-edge computing tech, describing them as a national security threat. But they have sparked concerns among the world's largest chipmakers about the future of their operations in China. After South Korea announced Monday its chip giants had received the US green light to send equipment to China, attention turned to the Taiwanese firm. "TSMC has been authorized to continue (to) operate in Nanjing and we are currently in the process of applying for a permanent authorization for our operations in China," it told AFP in an email Friday. It added that the firm was advised by the Bureau of Industry and Securityan agency under the US Department of Commerceto apply for a "Validated End-User (VEU)" authorization. This "would serve as a permanent authorization", TSMC said, adding that they have not had to apply for it in the past. "We expect to receive a permanent authorization through the VEU process." If TSMC's factory in Nanjing is designated as a "verified end user", it would eliminate the need for a separate export approval process. Taiwan's Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua said earlier in the day that TSMC had "received a waiver extension from the United States". 'Alleviated uncertainties' South Koreahome to tech giant Samsung and its smaller rival SK Hynix, both of whom had last year received waiversannounced this week that the US government had designated the companies' factories as "verified end users". That decision meant the "most significant trade issue of our semiconductor companies has been resolved", said Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs. It had "significantly alleviated companies' uncertainties over their assembly lines in China", he told reporters on Monday. Semiconductors have become a flashpoint issue between the United States and China, which are locked in a fierce battle over access to chip-making technology and supplies. Self-ruled Taiwan is the home to some of the world's most advanced companies designing and producing ever-smaller microchipswith TSMC as a key leader of the industry. China claims Taiwan as its territory, and its ramped-up military pressures against Taipei in recent yearsas well as the ongoing Beijing-Washington tech tusslehas chipmaking firms on the island walking a tightrope between business and geopolitical issues. 2023 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Elon Musk bought the platform, then known as Twitter, for $44 billion last year. The European Commission said Thursday it is opening an investigation into Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to determine if it has allowed the spread of disinformation about the conflict in the Middle East. The Commission said it had sent a formal request for information to X in what is a first procedure launched under Brussels' new European Digital Services Act (DSA). It comes two days after it fired off a warning letter from internal market Commissioner Thierry Breton. In a statement, the Commission said it was responding to "indications received concerning the presumed transmission of illicit content." Its demand for clarification comprises a 40-page document with a raft of specific questions. Twitter has until October 18 to respond, with a deadline of October 31 for less urgent aspects of the demand for information. Breton, the Commission's self-styled "digital enforcer," told AFP that Thursday's move is about "protecting our citizens and democracies in offering users a safe environment and reliable sources of informationincluding in times of crisis." X has defended itself against earlier claims from the European Union that it is failing to tackle disinformation around the Gaza-Israel conflict as Brussels investigates. The firm's CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote that the platform, formerly Twitter, had "taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content" and removed hundreds of accounts linked to Gaza militant organization Hamas, which attacked Israel on Saturday. She addressed the letter, dated Wednesday, to Breton, who traded barbs with Musk on social media after accusing the platform of allowing "violent and terrorist content" to circulate. Breton has sent similar letters of alarm to Mark Zuckerberg, boss of Facebook parent Meta, and on Thursday to TikTok and its CEO Shou Zi Chew. In each case, Breton gave the platforms 24 hours to get back to him with details of what they are doing to crack down on "illegal content and disinformation" reportedly circulating in posts. Breton stressed that the large online platforms are now subject to the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), legislation that came in two months ago that requires them to crack down on content deemed illegal under EU law or laws of individual EU countries. Violations of the DSA can be met with mandatory remedial measures to halt such content, or fines that could go up to six percent of a company's global turnover, or potentially even steps to ban offending platforms from Europe. Breton posted copies of each of his letters to his accounts on X and on an X rival called Bluesky. X is especially fixed in Brussels' crosshairs because Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, has gutted its staff, including content moderators, in a bid to save money. Young TikTok users at risk Yaccarino's response letter to Breton, reposted by the CEO on her X account, said the firm had taken down posts that involved "violent speech, manipulated media and graphic media". She said that more than 700 notes were added to posts in the first four days after the violence erupted in Israel, and they were seen tens of millions of times. In his letter to TikTok, Breton stressed that its users, who are mainly young, were especially vulnerable to fake and manipulated information. "Given that your platform is extensively used by children and teenagers, you have a particular obligation to protect them from violent content depicting hostage taking and other graphic videos which are reportedly widely circulating on your platform, without appropriate safeguards," Breton said. To Zuckerberg, Breton noted that Meta had made some efforts at content moderation but urged it to be "vigilant" about meeting DSA requirements in light of the current Israel-Hamas conflict. A Meta spokesperson said in reply the company had quickly set up monitoring teams with experts speaking Hebrew and Arabic, who were working with fact checkers to curb disinformation, and that "we'll continue this work as this conflict unfolds". AFP fact-checkers have found several posts on X, Facebook and TikTok promoting a fake White House document allocating $8 billion in military assistance to Israel. And several platforms have had users passing off material from other conflicts, or even from video games, as footage from Israel or Gaza. The EU recently rated X as the worst of any major platform for illegal online content based on a pilot analysis, and Musk has pulled out of a voluntary EU code of practice on battling disinformation. 2023 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Cross section of the profile as it passes the point of maximum temperature (200 degrees Celsius) in the heated die. The colors indicate the temperature distribution. The material heats up the most in scenario (a), because it is pulled through slowly, at 3.3 millimeters per second. The pulling speeds in scenarios (b) and (c) are two and three times faster, respectively, and as we will see below, this leads to structural defects seen with a microscope and inferior performance, exposed by mechanical strength tests. Credit: Kirill Minchenkov et al./Materials & Design PVC window frames rely on a metal scaffold for stability. But what if another strong material with lower heat conductivity was used in place of the metal? This would improve the overall thermal insulation of the window and its energy efficiency, making homes warmer and friendlier to the environment. A common manufacturing technique that could produce such alternative scaffold elements has been tested and refined in a study by Skoltech researchers, published in Materials & Design. In the paper, the team reports manufacturing thermoplastic composite profilesrectangular pipes made of plastic reinforced with glass fiberusing a technology called pultrusion. It involves pulling commercially available tapes made of glass fiber infused with polypropylene through a machine that heats and fuses them together in a narrow space. The resulting long part shaped as a board, plank, or beam is called a profile. The study reveals previously unknown details of the production process that will help manufacturers avoid excessive power consumption and defects in the end product. "You see, while we understand well how so-called thermosetting polymers behave during pultrusion, this is not the case for thermoplastic polymers, such as the polypropylene in this study. But pultrusion could make much sense with those polymers, too," said Associate Professor Alexander Safonov of Skoltech Materials, the project's principal investigator. Unlike thermosetting polymers, their thermoplastic counterparts can be repeatedly melted and consolidated. For a PVC window frame scaffold made of fiber-reinforced polymer parts this has a number of advantages, Safonov explains, "They can be welded. They are recyclable. Their manufacture releases no harmful volatile organic compounds into the environment. Also, the source materialsthat is, tapesare convenient because of their very long shelf life." Optical microscopy photos of the middle profile from the previous image. In good agreement with the computed temperature distribution (reproduced below, in color), the profile exhibits structural defects, which were considerably less pronounced (see more photos in the research paper) at a slower pulling speed and further aggravated at faster pulling speeds. Credit: Kirill Minchenkov et al./Materials & Design These considerations led the Skoltech researchers to experiment with the pultrusion of composite profiles made of glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene. "In the die, the tapes are heated from below and from above, and if you imagine a cross section of a rectangular profile manufactured by this process, we did not know how the temperature is distributed throughout it. And this is important, because if some part of the profile does not get enough heat, the product will be defective. Also, we wanted to see just how much heat is really needed for the profile to consolidate, because if you crank up the heat every time just to make sure, you will face unnecessary utility costs," said the study's lead author Kirill Minchenkov, a Ph.D. student at Skoltech Materials. The team relied on a temperature sensor known as a thermocouple to measure how the temperature at one point in the cross section varies as the profile undergoes heating and subsequent cooling in the pultrusion process. The thermocouple is in essence two coupled wires made of different alloys. In such an arrangement, their electrical conductivity varies in a highly predictable way based on ambient temperature. So by pulling the thermocouple along with the tapes through the die, the researchers could monitor the local temperature of the material at any given time. These measurement data were obtained for various speeds at which the tapes may be pulled through the machine, from 3.3 millimeters per second to four times as fast. Knowing the thermal conductivity of the material and the temperature evolution close to the center of the profile, which was observed in the experiment, the researchers created a geometric model of the heated and the cooling dies and calculated the temperature distribution for the entire cross section. A welded fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymer tube (left) made by the researchers to demonstrate the possibility of using the material in PVC window frame scaffolds (right). Credit: Kirill Minchenkov et al./Materials & Design Having obtained these temperature distributions, the team also studied the profiles manufactured at different pulling speeds with an optical microscope and subjected them to mechanical strength tests. Of those tested, only the slowest pulling speed proved suitable for manufacturing high-quality profiles, as evidenced by microscopy and mechanical tests. Interestingly, upon close examination of profile microphotographs from scenario (b), the researchers found that the defects either fell within the central area enclosed by the white contour in the temperature map, or else they had a different nature and stemmed from imperfections in the raw materials (namely, fibers not impregnated with polymer in the tapes), rather than from the pultrusion process. As it turns out, the cold central zone harboring defects not only hadn't reached the melting point of polypropylene but in fact hadn't even reached the somewhat lower Vicat softening temperature. In areas that did pass this threshold temperature, the material consolidated as needed even below the melting point. "We therefore conclude that it is possible to conserve power and save on utility costs by heating the tapes to the Vicat temperature, unless the manufacturer has reason to doubt the quality of the source materials. If, however, the preconsolidated tapes contain defects in the form of pores, heating them past the Vicat temperature and to the melting point is the better option to get rid of those defects," Minchenkov said. After doing the experiments, modeling, and mechanical tests on flat profiles, the team manufactured a square hollow tube of the same material to demonstrate applicability in PVC window frames. The flat profiles manufactured in the study by pultrusion at pulling speeds from 3.3 millimeters per second (a) to two (b), three (c), and four (d) times as fast. Credit: Kirill Minchenkov et al./Materials & Design Asked about the latest developments on the project and the team's future plans, study co-author Senior Engineer Sergey Gusev of Skoltech Materials, who was in charge of sample manufacturing, commented, "In this study we only investigated glass fiber-reinforced composites with polypropylene as the polymer matrix. But we are exploring other materials, too. Right now, we are experimenting with carbon and basalt fibers, and with polyamide and polyphenylene sulfide matrices." "This may give the pultruded profiles an additional edge for applications in constructionin PVC windows and beyond." More information: Kirill Minchenkov et al, Experimental and numerical analyses of the thermoplastic pultrusion of large structural profiles, Materials & Design (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2023.112149 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Meta on Friday said it was putting special resources towards cracking down on illegal and problematic content related to the assault by Hamas in Israel and its aftermath. The announcement came after European regulators sent a warning letter to the Facebook and Instagram owner about the proliferation of disinformation and potentially illegal content being posted on the platforms. Meta said it had strengthened its content moderation teams and set up a "special operations center" which was working around the clock to monitor and take action on problematic posts in Hebrew and Arabic. In the three days following the October 7 attack by Hamas into Israel, "we removed or marked as disturbing more than 795,000 pieces of content for violating these policies in Hebrew and Arabic," Meta said in a blog post. Meta said that Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization in the US and other Western countries, is banned from its platforms and that it was actively removing posts which feature "praise and substantive support" for the organization. The details of Meta's actions came after the EU gave the social media giant 24 hours to provide details on what they were doing to ensure "illegal content and disinformation" was being removed from their platforms in line with EU law. A European source said the blog post by Meta was close in spirit to the response they had received from the company, and that was being reviewed by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. Elon Musk's X had received a similar 24-hour ultimatum earlier this week, and the company's response had failed to satisfy the commission, which on Thursday opened an investigation procedure against the platform. TikTok was also asked to urgently share its content moderation measures with European authorities. 2023 AFP This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Caroline Ellison former CEO of Alameda Research founded by Sam Bankman-Fried exits the Manhattan federal court after testifying on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in New York. Credit: AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyer struggled through a meandering cross-examination of the FTX founder's former girlfriend Thursday, keeping both the judge and the public guessing as to the defense team's strategy in countering the testimony of the government's key witness. Caroline Ellison had testified over the two previous days that Bankman-Fried directed her at several times over the years to pull money from FTX customer accounts to fund investments and trading strategies at Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency hedge fund, Alameda Research. Ellison was the CEO of Alameda when it and FTX collapsed in November of last year. Ellison spent much of her testimony walking the jury through how she repeatedly had to tap into the customer deposits at FTX to solve problems at the hedge fund or at the exchange. FTX deposits would be withdrawn to pay for new investments or political donations, or to hide steep losses on Alameda's balance sheet, she testified. All of this was done at the direction of Bankman-Fried, she said. Ellison, 28, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in December, when Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States from the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried, 31, was the majority owner and CEO of FTX until the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11. He has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. Bankman-Fried's lead defense attorney, Mark Cohen was expected to try to shift the blame for the problems at Alameda to Ellison, following up on his opening statement in the trial where he said Bankman-Fried didn't commit fraud and instead was trying to clean up a mess largely created by his lieutenants. Caroline Ellison former CEO of Alameda Research founded by Sam Bankman-Fried exits the Manhattan federal court after testifying on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in New York. Credit: AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez Cohen, however, seemed to struggle in his questioning of Ellison, failing to knock any holes in her testimony. He repeatedly changed topics, changed dates of discussion, often seemingly at random. At one point, Cohen apologized for referencing a wrong document. Another time he paused because he "lost my place." Several times, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had to ask Cohen where he was going with his questions or what exactly he was talking about. "Maybe this is a good time for a break," Cohen said after an hour of his cross-examination of Ellison. Initially confined to his parents' Palo Alto, California, home under terms of a $250 million bond, Bankman-Fried has been jailed since August after Judge Kaplan concluded that he had tried to improperly influence potential witnesses, including Ellison. 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.35. Several equities analysts have recently commented on CTVA shares. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an outperform rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Argus reduced their price objective on Corteva from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Corteva in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. They set a buy rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Corteva from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Get Corteva alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on CTVA Corteva Stock Down 0.9 % CTVA opened at $49.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.44. Corteva has a 12 month low of $48.59 and a 12 month high of $68.43. Corteva (NYSE:CTVA Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.44 billion. Corteva had a net margin of 5.26% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The companys revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Corteva will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year. Corteva Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is an increase from Cortevas previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Cortevas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.61%. Insider Activity at Corteva In other Corteva news, CFO David J. Anderson purchased 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.97 per share, with a total value of $105,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,459,364.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of Corteva Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Corteva during the first quarter worth $45,000. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Corteva by 420.1% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 37,890 shares of the companys stock worth $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 30,605 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Corteva by 2.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 94,498 shares of the companys stock worth $5,432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,662 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its position in shares of Corteva by 38.1% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 146,289 shares of the companys stock worth $8,409,000 after acquiring an additional 40,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Corteva during the first quarter worth $799,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the companys stock. Corteva Company Profile (Get Free Report Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Corteva Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Corteva and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $469.64. Several research analysts have recently commented on MLM shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $410.00 to $493.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. HSBC started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, September 15th. They issued a reduce rating and a $376.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $460.00 to $527.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $484.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Get Martin Marietta Materials alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on MLM Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.5 % MLM stock opened at $430.26 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $298.32 and a fifty-two week high of $463.41. The businesss 50-day moving average is $434.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materialss revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year. Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materialss previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Martin Marietta Materialss payout ratio is 19.42%. Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials In other news, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 1,934 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.68, for a total value of $834,869.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,678.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.09, for a total transaction of $223,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,665 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,215,304.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 1,934 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.68, for a total value of $834,869.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,731 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,200,678.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.59% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 418.8% during the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 83 shares of the construction companys stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. 93.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Martin Marietta Materials (Get 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 Receive News & Ratings for Martin Marietta Materials Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Martin Marietta Materials and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of Hold from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.40. BK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $55.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of New York Mellon in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $58.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Get Bank of New York Mellon alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on Bank of New York Mellon Bank of New York Mellon Trading Down 2.1 % BK stock opened at $41.25 on Tuesday. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $43.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Bank of New York Mellon has a 52-week low of $36.22 and a 52-week high of $52.26. The firm has a market cap of $32.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. Bank of New York Mellon had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Bank of New York Mellons quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of New York Mellon will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year. Bank of New York Mellon Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 10th. Investors of record on Friday, July 28th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 27th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. This is an increase from Bank of New York Mellons previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Bank of New York Mellons dividend payout ratio is presently 48.98%. Insider Buying and Selling In other Bank of New York Mellon news, EVP J Kevin Mccarthy sold 35,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.33, for a total value of $1,621,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,102 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,545,065.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Bank of New York Mellon news, EVP J Kevin Mccarthy sold 35,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.33, for a total transaction of $1,621,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,102 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,545,065.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kurtis R. Kurimsky sold 14,045 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.64, for a total value of $641,013.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,086,962.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of New York Mellon Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 32.7% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,698 shares of the banks stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 3,374 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 77.6% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 9,761 shares of the banks stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 4,266 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon in the first quarter valued at $235,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 18.6% in the second quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 8,225 shares of the banks stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Bank of New York Mellon by 24.8% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 521,792 shares of the banks stock worth $23,697,000 after purchasing an additional 103,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.29% of the companys stock. Bank of New York Mellon Company Profile (Get Free Report The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation provides a range of financial products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Securities Services, Market and Wealth Services, Investment and Wealth Management, and other segments. The Securities Services segment offers custody, trust and depositary, accounting, exchange-traded funds, middle-office solutions, transfer agency, services for private equity and real estate funds, foreign exchange, securities lending, liquidity/lending services, and data analytics. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Bank of New York Mellon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of New York Mellon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SVB Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 67.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,641 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 8,697 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLCs holdings in Barclays were worth $170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Barclays by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,341,801 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $9,648,000 after buying an additional 174,600 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in Barclays by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 51,367 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733 shares during the last quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Barclays by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 153,700 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Barclays by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,958,314 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $35,650,000 after acquiring an additional 116,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Barclays by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 743,358 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $5,345,000 after acquiring an additional 107,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the companys stock. Get Barclays alerts: Barclays Stock Performance Shares of NYSE BCS opened at $7.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.28. Barclays PLC has a 12 month low of $6.22 and a 12 month high of $9.44. The businesss 50 day moving average is $7.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.71. Barclays Increases Dividend Barclays ( NYSE:BCS Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.42 billion. Barclays had a net margin of 22.39% and a return on equity of 8.09%. On average, equities analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 1.55 EPS for the current year. The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.1398 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. This is a positive change from Barclayss previous semi-annual dividend of $0.10. Barclayss dividend payout ratio is 15.03%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas cut Barclays from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Barclays from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, BCS reduced their price objective on Barclays from GBX 210 ($2.57) to GBX 190 ($2.33) in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $206.67. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Barclays Barclays Profile (Free Report) Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through two segments, Barclays UK and Barclays International divisions. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BCS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Barclays Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Barclays and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Reduce from the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.00. Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CLX shares. HSBC began coverage on Clorox in a report on Friday, September 22nd. They set a hold rating and a $146.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Clorox from $160.00 to $120.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $127.00 to $116.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Clorox from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Clorox from $170.00 to $135.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Get Clorox alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on CLX Clorox Stock Down 1.9 % Clorox stock opened at $120.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.33. The firms fifty day moving average price is $145.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.70. Clorox has a 1-year low of $119.51 and a 1-year high of $178.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38. Clorox (NYSE:CLX Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Clorox had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 163.56%. The firms revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Clorox will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Clorox Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 24th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Cloroxs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 403.36%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, CFO Kevin B. Jacobsen sold 3,346 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.82, for a total value of $538,103.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,224 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,734,883.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clorox Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clorox during the third quarter worth about $434,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its holdings in shares of Clorox by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 11,178 shares of the companys stock worth $1,465,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Clorox by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,955 shares of the companys stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 127.6% during the 3rd quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 21,158 shares of the companys stock worth $2,773,000 after acquiring an additional 11,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in Clorox in the third quarter worth $602,000. Institutional investors own 77.98% of the companys stock. About Clorox (Get Free Report The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Clorox Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Clorox and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV decreased its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG Free Report) by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 323 shares of the energy companys stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADVs holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $49,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LNG. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 18.7% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the energy companys stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 242.5% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 328,711 shares of the energy companys stock worth $50,238,000 after acquiring an additional 232,748 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 12.4% in the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,845 shares of the energy companys stock worth $6,528,000 after acquiring an additional 4,714 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 18.1% in the second quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,168 shares of the energy companys stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cheniere Energy by 0.7% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 89,946 shares of the energy companys stock worth $13,704,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.86% of the companys stock. Get Cheniere Energy alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts recently commented on LNG shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Cheniere Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Cheniere Energy from $189.00 to $183.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on Cheniere Energy from $172.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Capital One Financial began coverage on Cheniere Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. They set an overweight rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cheniere Energy in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Twelve 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $197.08. Cheniere Energy Stock Up 1.2 % LNG opened at $174.42 on Friday. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.00 and a 12 month high of $182.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $41.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.00. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $154.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.41. Cheniere Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 481.80% and a net margin of 28.47%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.90 EPS. The firms revenue was down 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year. Cheniere Energy Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 9th were given a $0.395 dividend. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. Cheniere Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 4.65%. About Cheniere Energy (Free Report) Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile pipeline interconnecting the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with various interstate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LNG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Cheniere Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cheniere Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD Free Report) by 10.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 48,300 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 4,487 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.s holdings in Nomad Foods were worth $846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sabal Trust CO bought a new stake in shares of Nomad Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,001,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,296,328 shares of the companys stock worth $24,293,000 after purchasing an additional 158,182 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 475,765 shares of the companys stock worth $8,916,000 after purchasing an additional 12,520 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 182,141 shares of the companys stock worth $3,413,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nomad Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $235,000. 74.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Nomad Foods alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In NOMD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Nomad Foods from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Nomad Foods from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Nomad Foods in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nomad Foods presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $21.20. Nomad Foods Stock Down 2.6 % NOMD stock opened at $14.34 on Friday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $16.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.60. Nomad Foods Limited has a 52-week low of $12.50 and a 52-week high of $19.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 9th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. Nomad Foods had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The firm had revenue of $811.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $815.57 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nomad Foods Limited will post 1.67 EPS for the current year. About Nomad Foods (Free Report) Nomad Foods Limited manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of frozen food products in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Spain, Serbia, Croatia, Switzerland, and rest of Europe. The company offers frozen fish products, including fish fingers, coated fish, and natural fish; ready to cook vegetable products, such as peas and spinach; and frozen poultry and meat products comprising nuggets, grills, and burgers. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NOMD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Nomad Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Nomad Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX Free Report) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,942 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.s holdings in Phillips 66 were worth $3,333,000 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 the stock. Country Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 1,315.8% during the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 269 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 504.0% during the first quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 302 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the first quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 71.83% of the companys stock. Get Phillips 66 alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PSX shares. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $125.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Phillips 66 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $133.00 to $128.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Phillips 66 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $128.27. Phillips 66 Stock Down 1.2 % Phillips 66 stock opened at $110.76 on Friday. Phillips 66 has a 1-year low of $89.74 and a 1-year high of $125.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.33. The firms fifty day moving average price is $116.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.54 by $0.33. Phillips 66 had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The firm had revenue of $35.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Phillips 66 will post 16.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Phillips 66 Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. Phillips 66s payout ratio is currently 18.22%. Insider Activity at Phillips 66 In related news, EVP Timothy D. Roberts sold 12,970 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.41, for a total transaction of $1,613,597.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,009 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,953,919.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Timothy D. Roberts sold 12,970 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.41, for a total transaction of $1,613,597.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,009 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,953,919.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Greg C. Garland sold 169,400 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.44, for a total transaction of $18,877,936.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 662,366 shares in the company, valued at $73,814,067.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 360,648 shares of company stock valued at $41,396,371 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.57% of the companys stock. About Phillips 66 (Free Report) Phillips 66 operates as an energy manufacturing and logistics company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties (M&S). The Midstream segment transports crude oil and other feedstocks; delivers refined petroleum products to market; provides terminaling and storage services for crude oil and refined petroleum products; transports, stores, fractionates, exports, and markets natural gas liquids; provides other fee-based processing services; and gathers, processes, transports, and markets natural gas. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PSX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Phillips 66 Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Phillips 66 and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Employers (NYSE:EIG Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued on Wednesday. Employers Trading Down 0.3 % EIG stock opened at $39.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.60 and a 200-day moving average of $39.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 0.22. Employers has a 12 month low of $33.39 and a 12 month high of $46.73. Get Employers alerts: Employers (NYSE:EIG Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.27. Employers had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $215.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $210.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 59.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Employers will post 3.42 EPS for the current year. Institutional Trading of Employers Employers Company Profile A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EIG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Employers by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 217,843 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $8,936,000 after purchasing an additional 17,271 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Employers by 56.2% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,932 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 5,732 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Employers by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 24,108 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of Employers during the 1st quarter valued at $487,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Employers by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,184,038 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $89,590,000 after purchasing an additional 6,685 shares during the period. 78.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. (Get Free Report) Employers Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the commercial property and casualty insurance industry primarily in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Employers and Cerity. It offers workers' compensation insurance to small businesses in low to medium hazard industries under the Employers and Cerity brands. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Employers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Employers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,462 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $233,000. Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in Cardinal Health in the second quarter worth $278,000. Dfpg Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Cardinal Health in the second quarter valued at $238,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 49.7% in the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 3,123 shares of the companys stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 25.9% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 210,823 shares of the companys stock valued at $19,938,000 after purchasing an additional 43,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in Cardinal Health by 42.7% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 7,364 shares of the companys stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.01% of the companys stock. Get Cardinal Health alerts: Insider Activity at Cardinal Health In related news, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 30,145 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.84, for a total transaction of $2,738,371.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,678,217.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Cardinal Health news, CEO Stephen M. Mason sold 37,500 shares of Cardinal Health stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.32, for a total transaction of $3,274,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,261,838.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jessica L. Mayer sold 30,145 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.84, for a total value of $2,738,371.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,533 shares in the company, valued at $8,678,217.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,052 shares of company stock worth $8,401,034. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research firms have weighed in on CAH. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Cardinal Health from $100.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $91.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Cardinal Health from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cardinal Health currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $94.69. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CAH Cardinal Health Price Performance Cardinal Health stock opened at $91.88 on Friday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $88.91 and its 200-day moving average is $87.12. The company has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.78. Cardinal Health, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.92 and a 12 month high of $95.45. Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 15th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $53.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.72 billion. Cardinal Health had a negative return on equity of 67.01% and a net margin of 0.13%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cardinal Health, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year. Cardinal Health Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.5006 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Cardinal Healths payout ratio is currently 202.02%. Cardinal Health Company Profile (Free Report) Cardinal Health, Inc operates as a healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Cardinal Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cardinal Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SVB Wealth LLC lowered its stake in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD Free Report) by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,532 shares of the consumer goods makers stock after selling 742 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLCs holdings in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV were worth $200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BUD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 8.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 98,375 shares of the consumer goods makers stock worth $5,909,000 after buying an additional 7,887 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 8.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,865 shares of the consumer goods makers stock worth $1,614,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 13.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 57,729 shares of the consumer goods makers stock worth $3,468,000 after buying an additional 6,742 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 14.1% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 35,077 shares of the consumer goods makers stock worth $2,154,000 after buying an additional 4,342 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 11.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 356,048 shares of the consumer goods makers stock worth $21,384,000 after purchasing an additional 37,476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.53% of the companys stock. Get Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV alerts: Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Price Performance Shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV stock opened at $53.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $93.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.48. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has a one year low of $44.51 and a one year high of $67.09. Analyst Ratings Changes Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( NYSE:BUD Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The consumer goods maker reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 10.59%. The firm had revenue of $15.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV will post 3.03 EPS for the current year. Several analysts recently issued reports on BUD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 22nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. TD Cowen started coverage on Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in a research report on Friday, September 15th. They set an outperform rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $68.50 in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $66.13. Check Out Our Latest Report on BUD Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Profile (Free Report) Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV produces, distributes, markets, and sells beer and beverages. It offers a portfolio of approximately 500 beer brands, which primarily include Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois; Beck's, Hoegaarden, Leffe, and Michelob Ultra; and Aguila, Antarctica, Bud Light, Brahma, Cass, Castle, Castle Lite, Cristal, Harbin, Jupiler, Modelo Especial, Quilmes, Victoria, Sedrin, and Skol brands. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BUD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK Get Free Report) CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 13,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total transaction of $370,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,226,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,952,215.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. AZEK Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:AZEK opened at $27.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 194.43, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.71. The AZEK Company Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.12 and a 12 month high of $34.96. The firms 50-day moving average is $31.37 and its 200 day moving average is $28.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Get AZEK alerts: AZEK (NYSE:AZEK Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $387.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.75 million. AZEK had a net margin of 1.60% and a return on equity of 5.53%. Research analysts predict that The AZEK Company Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZEK Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in AZEK by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,575 shares of the companys stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in AZEK by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 32,823 shares of the companys stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AZEK by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,739 shares of the companys stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the period. Snider Financial Group lifted its position in shares of AZEK by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 10,655 shares of the companys stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of AZEK by 726.0% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,206 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Several analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of AZEK from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AZEK from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of AZEK in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of AZEK in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on shares of AZEK from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $35.56. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AZEK AZEK Company Profile (Get Free Report) The AZEK Company Inc engages in manufacturing and selling of building products for residential, commercial, and industrial markets in the United States. It operates through two segments: Residential and Commercial. The Residential segment designs and manufactures engineered outdoor living products, such as decking, railing, trim and molding, siding and cladding, pergolas and cabanas, and accessories under the TimberTech, AZEK Exteriors, VERSATEX, ULTRALOX, StruXure, and INTEX brands. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for AZEK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AZEK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI Get Free Report) (TSE:TRI) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report issued on Wednesday. A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on TRI. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Thomson Reuters to $144.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Thomson Reuters from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $139.00 in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, CIBC lowered Thomson Reuters from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $148.62. Get Thomson Reuters alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on TRI Thomson Reuters Stock Performance NYSE TRI opened at $126.49 on Wednesday. Thomson Reuters has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $138.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $127.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $57.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.59. Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI Get Free Report) (TSE:TRI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.07. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Thomson Reuters will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Thomson Reuters A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TRI. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Thomson Reuters in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 134.9% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 195 shares of the business services providers stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Thomson Reuters by 246.7% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 735 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Thomson Reuters by 209.6% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 353 shares of the business services providers stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.31% of the companys stock. About Thomson Reuters (Get Free Report) Thomson Reuters Corporation engages in the provision of business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Thomson Reuters Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Thomson Reuters and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Whitbread plc (LON:WTB Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of Buy from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 4,038.57 ($49.43). Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a GBX 4,250 ($52.02) target price on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Friday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Whitbread from GBX 4,400 ($53.86) to GBX 4,600 ($56.30) and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Monday, June 19th. Shore Capital reissued a buy rating on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reissued a buy rating on shares of Whitbread in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Get Whitbread alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on Whitbread Whitbread Stock Down 0.8 % Insider Buying and Selling Shares of LON:WTB opened at GBX 3,322 ($40.66) on Tuesday. Whitbread has a 52 week low of GBX 2,350.75 ($28.77) and a 52 week high of GBX 3,709 ($45.40). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 120.44, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of 6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 2,516.67, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 3,479.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 3,338.21. In other Whitbread news, insider Dame Karen Jones bought 900 shares of Whitbread stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 3,471 ($42.48) per share, for a total transaction of 31,239 ($38,236.23). 3.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. About Whitbread (Get Free Report Whitbread plc operates hotels and restaurants in the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates hotels with rooms in the United Kingdom; Middle East; and Germany under the Premier Inn, ZIP by Premier Inn, and hub by Premier Inn brands. The company operates restaurants under the Brewers Fayre, Beefeater, Cookhouse & Pub, Bar+Block Steakhouse, Thyme, and Table Table brands in the United Kingdom. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Whitbread Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Whitbread and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A woman died and two men were injured in an explosion Friday morning at the Hornady Manufacturing plant west of Grand Island, according to Hall County Attorney Marty Klein. The explosion occurred in the chemical compound building at 8350 W. Old Potash Highway. The woman died at the scene, Klein said. "One individual was transported by ambulance to the hospital with concussion symptoms and one individual was privately transported to the hospital for symptoms related to breathing in dust/fumes," Klein said in a news release. Both of those people were men. The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Grand Island Fire Department transported one person from the scene, said Battalion Chief Phil Thomas. "We sent two ambulances out there and we transported one," he said. Grand Island Rural Fire was dispatched to the scene in a mutual aid call at 9:53 a.m., said the department's Chuck Hoffman. The Nebraska State Fire Marshal's office responded to the explosion. "I know that we have investigators on site," Assistant State Fire Marshal Doug Hohbein said Friday afternoon. The Hall County Sheriff's Office also remained on the scene. In addition to Grand Island, fire departments from Cairo and Wood River responded to the explosion. Hornady's 150,000-square-foot distribution center opened in 2018, on land that formerly housed the Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant. The Grand Island Childrens Museum, Inc. has been awarded $5 million from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development 2023 Shovel-Ready Grant Program. The award is a cash-matched grant program with matches coming from previously raised and newly raised private donations and grants. There were 66 submitted applications from across the state totaling $183 million. On Wednesday, the department announced 17 awards, totaling $70 million, allocating all available funds. While we knew we were poised to build a great all-ages museum, because of this, we are positioned to make an exceptional museum for our community and youth, GICM Board President Dana Rosacker said in a news release. We are so grateful to Gov. Jim Pillen, the Department of Economic Development and our supporters for this opportunity. According to the Department of Economic Development, the funding assists qualified nonprofit organizations with capital projects that were delayed due to COVID-19 or that will provide a positive economic impact in the state of Nebraska. The museum previously raised matching funds for the initial round of the Shovel-Ready grant in 2021. GICM did not receive the first round of grant funding, but continued fundraising and museum planning. Since that time, GICM has completed a Master Planning study and Campaign Assessment Study, and hired industry professionals to assist in the planning and building phases. When the second round of funding was announced, GICM submitted its application in July of this year. With this award, GICM will fundraise to match this $5 million grant to go toward the museum development and endowment fund. To date, GICM has raised more than $1.3 million, which will be counted towards the $5 million grant match requirements. The additional $3.7 million can be raised through December 2024. Our group of volunteers have made this reality possible through countless hours of hard work, Rosacker said. We are excited to take our efforts to the next level to make this museum come to life. For more information, visit the Grand Island Childrens Museum website at www.gichildrensmuseum.org. You can also follow the museum on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gichildrensmuseum. DFC keen on rare earths-linked investment in Vietnam By Minh Tuan Fri, October 13, 2023 | 2:50 pm GTM+7 The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is not a newcomer to Vietnam, and made headlines during President Bidens visit to Hanoi last month with two deals totaling $400 million. In an interview, DFC spokesperson Pooja Jhunjhunwala shared the views on the institutions priority areas in Vietnam such as rare earths, infrastructure and energy and how investment can advance reforms. Could you share the reasons DFC has financed the deals inked during President Bidens visit to Hanoi last month? What criteria did those beneficiaries meet to be funded? DFC is a U.S. development finance institution. We partner with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the world today. One major challenge facing much of the developed world is insufficient access to finance. In many developing countries like Vietnam, small businesses are the foundation of the economy, but struggle to access the financing needed to hire workers and grow. Businesses owned by women and other underserved groups are often particularly challenged. DFC CEO Scott Nathan, who recently traveled to Vietnam with President Biden, announced more than $400 million in new DFC financing to help expand access to finance, by providing loans to two major Vietnamese banks VPBank and TP Bank, to bolster lending to small businesses in the country, including those businesses that are owned by women and often face especially significant challenges accessing finance. Like all DFC projects, VPBank and TP Bank were screened and vetted to ensure they comply with international environmental and social standards, as well as demonstrate a successful business track record. DFC CEO Scott Nathan (third from right) and TP Bank CEO Nguyen Hung (third from left) shake hands in the presence of Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry in Hanoi, September 10, 2023. Photo courtersy of DFC. As Vietnam and the U.S. have upgraded bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest diplomatic designation in Vietnam, what will be DFCs priorities in Vietnam? What are the sectors that are likely to receive financing from DFC? Does DFC have more Vietnam projects in the pipeline? Vietnam is currently DFCs largest market in Southeast Asia, and DFC is committed to financing private sector investment opportunities in Vietnam to bring our relationship to even higher levels. While DFC supports investment across a range of sectors, priority areas of focus include infrastructure and critical minerals, energy, health, food and agriculture, and small business support through transactions like the VPBank and TP Bank deals. Across our entire portfolio, we also focus on investments that address climate change, and support women and other underserved communities. During U.S. President Bidens visit to Hanoi, he and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh agreed to make science, technology and innovation a new pillar in bilateral ties. Does DFCs strategy align with this? As a federal agency, what can DFC do to contribute to Vietnam-U.S. relations? DFC is committed to supporting private sector investment in innovative technology projects, such as internet and mobile service operators, telecommunications towers, and data centers, as well as projects that are leveraging technology to support other functions such as fin-tech and online education. Investments in information and communications technology enhance economic activity and quality of life in the developing world by expanding access to healthcare, education, and food, while making business more efficient and secure. For example, DFC recently committed $15 million dollars to Wavemaker Impact, a climate-tech fund investment in Southeast Asia which is dedicated to reducing carbon emissions in the region through innovative solutions. In addition, through our investment in private equity funds, we have supported multiple high-tech startups that are a source of both innovation and jobs for an increasingly educated workforce. For example, Beacon Fund has used DFC financing to invest in multiple IT businesses including Topica EdTech, which provides online undergraduate programs to students across Southeast Asia. The Biden administration sees Vietnam as a critical partner in its Indo-Pacific strategy and the country has huge needs for critical infrastructure and energy development. Can we expect Vietnam to have some kind of priority of financing from DFC in these sectors? The two transactions announced during CEO Scott Nathans recent visit to Vietnam almost tripled our portfolio of investments in Vietnam that are helping farmers reach larger markets, investing in small businesses, and providing growth capital to innovative startups. Worldwide, DFC has active investments in more than 110 countries. DFC considers prospective projects that meet the agencys eligibility criteria and evaluates every potential project to identify and mitigate possible economic, environmental, social, and other risks, and to assess the projects potential to achieve positive developmental impacts through diligence tools such as technical feasibility studies, strong track record and proof of equity, and local support for the project. PM Chinh met with many American technology companies during his visit to the U.S. last month and asked them to increase their presence in Vietnam. How can DFC facilitate those connections? Does DFC have any plan to get involved in semiconductor/rare earths projects in Vietnam? We have a long history of supporting American businesses in emerging markets, and our finance tools including loans and guaranties, equity, and political risk insurance help these businesses gain a presence in these markets. DFC can support investment throughout the supply chain for critical minerals including production and processing to help meet increasing global demand while supporting positive developmental impacts. These tools can extend to investments that enable critical minerals production, mining, and trade, for example, by improving transport links or power supply to these projects. DFC continues to identify additional potential opportunities for critical minerals investment. What barriers has DFC faced when implementing these projects? DFC has supported multiple projects in Vietnam across a range of sectors from IT to aquaculture to financial services. We recognize that businesses often encounter challenges operating in developing markets and our finance tools are designed to help mitigate those challenges. We seek to work with businesses that have strong track records, and we conduct extensive due diligence on prospective projects prior to committing financing. Does DFC have any recommendations for the Vietnamese government to improve the business climate? DFCs ability to finance investments depends on the presence of a strong enabling environment and governance that supports private investment and creates clear goals that can serve as a basis for partnerships with the private sector. DFC coordinates closely with our colleagues at organizations like USAID and the State Department, which are well-positioned to support partner countries with these efforts. DFCs mandate is to support developmental and strategic transactions, and we do so in over 110 countries. In short, investment can advance reforms, and reforms can in turn attract investment. When DFC origination and monitoring teams visit projects that DFC supports around the world, we see how private capital can initiate a virtuous cycle in which investment fosters reforms and reforms can further attract the investment that is needed. That is one of the reasons DFCs private-sector-led approach to development is so effective. Expand Vietnam investment beyond commitment, US semiconductor firm Amkor urged By Tri Duc Fri, October 13, 2023 | 4:52 pm GTM+7 U.S.-based semiconductor firm Amkor Technology, Inc. should expand Vietnam investments beyond its commitment, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Thursday. He made the request in a meeting with president and CEO of Amkor Technology Korea Inc Ji Jong-rip following the companys inauguration of a factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh. PM Chinh proposed that on the basis of taking a fair share of risks and benefits, Amkor continues helping Vietnams semiconductor sector by providing policy recommendations, technology transfer, workforce training, infrastructure investment, research and development (R&D), and cooperation with Vietnams National Innovation Center (NIC). Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right) meets with Amkor Technology Korea CEO Ji Jong-rip in Hanoi, October 12, 2023. Photo courtesy of the government's news portal. Chinh also asked Amkor to boost its localization rate in Vietnam, conduct chip-related R&D, facilitate Vietnamese firms in joining Amkors global semiconductor supply chain, and improve the livelihoods of Amkor employees in the country. He affirmed that both South Korea and the U.S. were key partners and Vietnam was looking to attract greater investments from American and Korean firms in the semiconductor industry. Ji Jong-rip said Amkor would employ more hi-quality employees and engineers from Vietnam to work in collaboration with foreign experts. The company would also strive to build up a semiconductor ecosystem in Vietnam, he added. Amkor will continue calling on other businesses to invest in Vietnam and help the country join the companys global ecosystem, the executive affirmed. Vietnam President to attend Belt and Road Forum in China next week By Tri Duc Fri, October 13, 2023 | 11:11 am GTM+7 President Vo Van Thuong will lead a Vietnamese delegation to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, China on October 17-20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday. The visit is being made at the invitation of Chinese Party Chief and President Xi Jinping, the Vietnamese foreign ministry added. This will be Vietnams third participation in the event, indicating the continuous and regular cooperation between the two countries. It will also be Vo Van Thuongs first China visit as the President of Vietnam. 2023 is the 15th anniversary of Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic partnership and the 10-year ceremony of China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). President Vo Van Thuong. Photo courtesy of Dan Viet (Viet People) newspaper. The event, under the theme High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity, is scheduled for October 17-18, the Chinese foreign ministry stated. Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the forum and deliver a keynote speech, and hold a welcoming banquet and bilateral events for guests attending the forum, it added. The Belt and Road Forum will take place in Beijing, China on October 17-18, 2023. Photo courtesy of China Daily. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), adopted in 2013, has Vietnam as a participant in the China-Indochina Peninsula economic corridor. In November 2017, the Vietnamese and Chinese governments signed a memorandum of understanding on linking the multilateral BRI with the bilateral Two Corridors, One Belt strategy. The two countries are negotiating details for its implementation. Prior to the visit of Vo Van Thuong, Vietnam has made many high-level visits to China. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has visited China twice this year, including one to attend the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC) of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Tianjin city on June 25-28, and one to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) on September 16-19 in Nanning city. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made a very successful visit to China in October 2022 at the invitation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as described by Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son. China is Vietnams biggest trade partner. In the first nine months of 2023, two-way trade between Vietnam and China reached $121.3 billion, outpacing the second and third placed U.S. and South Korea with $81.1 billion and $56.3 billion, respectively, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). China is also a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam with $26.04 billion in 4,023 valid projects as of September 20, 2023, the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported. The figure puts mainland China sixth in the ranking, behind South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Vietnam, US launch new activity to facilitate digital trade By Minh Anh Fri, October 13, 2023 | 8:35 pm GTM+7 The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the U.S. Mission to Vietnam on Friday launched a $3.25 million activity, supported by the USAID, to facilitate digital trade. The activity, called Vietnam Digital Trade, comes as part of the new U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced during U.S. President Joseph Bidens visit to Vietnam last month. This new digital trade activity led by USAID and MoIT is the first to be launched under the two countries newly upgraded partnership, aiming to unleash the potential of digital trade to form a key driver of Vietnams continued growth. Representatives of USAID and MoIT sign an agreement to launch the Vietnam Digital Trade project in Hanoi, October 13, 2023. Photo courtesy of USAID. The three-year activity supports the MoITs implementation of policy frameworks that facilitate digital trade, in consultation with the private sector. Regulations that are responsive to the private sector need to remove trade bottlenecks and increase regulatory transparency, helping to shape an e-commerce sector where enterprises of all sizes can benefit. In addition, the activity encourages small and medium enterprise participation in digital trade by introducing new business models and other best practices, such as traceability of goods, as well as facilitating cross-border connections between enterprises via the MoITs digital trade promotion platform, called DECOBIZ. The project supports business associations such as the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Vietnam E-commerce Association to promote digital trade across the country. The project works through the MoIT and business associations to target female-owned enterprises and minority communities in support of inclusive economic growth. USAIDs Vietnam Digital Trade activity advances the U.S. Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, under which Vietnam and the U.S. partner to harness innovation and pursue high-standard rules of the road in the digital economy to drive continued growth. This activity builds on the U.S.s successful partnership with Vietnam over the past two decades facilitating increased trade and improving the business enabling environment. In July 2019, USAID launched a $21.7-million five-year project named Trade Facilitation Program. Thanks to it, the average time to clear goods across the border was cut in half, and traders are paying 45% less to complete cross-border procedures for imports. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. 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Your current subscription delivery schedule will not be changed. No refunds for early cancellations. Remainder of early cancellation funds will be donated to Newspapers in Education. One of Southern Illinois favorite fall crops is apples. In mid-October, local orchards have finished picking or are nearly finished picking their apple crop. Orchards from around the region saw significant decreases in their peach crops this year, so most were hopeful to move on to a better apple harvest. However, Lisa Mileur of Mileur Orchard in Murphysboro said this years apple crop is down, too. It is around a fourth lower than a normal year and Mileur says they have lost some of their apple variety. Despite the lower than normal harvest, Mileur is staying positive. Its not been a good year, but any year you have fruit is good, she said. Mileur Orchard offers visitors a chance to pick their own apples. Mileur said they have mostly golden and red delicious to choose from. Their Fuji apples are not quite ready, but she expects them to be ready later in the week or early next week. The cooler weather has made them prettier, Mileur said. They also have apples to purchase in their farm store, along with baked goods. The store will be open until Thanksgiving. Over in Cobden, Austin Flamm of Flamm Orchards has also seen a slight dip in his harvest numbers. Were pretty well wrapped up, said Flamm. I think our apple crop was a little lighter. Flamm said their crop was 10% to 15% lower than a normal year. He said you can control a lot, but you cannot control the weather, and while it has negatively affected the size of the overall crop, it has positively affected the taste. Weve had good weather. They eat great this year, Flamm said. Like Mileur, he added that Flamms' farm store is expected to be open until Thanksgiving. They have several varieties of apples in their farm store, along with pumpkins and other products. Flamms also serves ice cream and seasonal fruit desserts. Their products include apple pie (by the slice or whole), apple dumplings and apple cinnamon/pumpkin spice donuts. Our pies and dumplings are made from a family recipe, Flamm said, adding that the desserts are popular. Michelle Sirles of Rendleman Orchards in Alto Pass said they have had a really nice crop of apples this season. It was so nice to get to apple season, Sirles said. Sirles said they still have apples in their farm store, but their wholesale apple crop is nearly sold already. The farm store will be open seven days a week through Halloween. They, like Mileur, are low on certain varieties of apples. From Nov. 1 to Christmas, the farm store is open by chance or appointment. They will have frozen apple cider for the holidays. Sirles said their online apple gift boxes are growing. She said they are popular with corporations as gifts for customers or employees. They also offer a few specialty boxes. One is coffee and cobbler, which includes Cold Blooded Coffee, Rendleman cobbler mix and apples. The apple crisp box has apples, apple crisp mix and homemade caramel sauce made locally. They also offer trios of apple butter and jam or barbecue sauces. Sirles added that their caramel apple nachos box is popular with younger people and families with children. The box includes apples and Illinois-made hot fudge and caramel sauce with an apple core. I feel like people are just now getting in the fall mood with the cooler weather, Sirles said. The orchard also has a you-pick mum field and flower fields for photos. For more information, call Mileur Orchard at 618-687-3663, Flamm Orchards at 618-893-4241 or Rendleman Orchards at 618-893-2771. Periodically, its important to sit back and reassess. A couple of conversations during the last few weeks got me thinking about the current state of affairs of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. As a young adult, I was vaguely aware of what was then the Illinois Department of Conservation. I knew the agency had game wardens to enforce hunting and fishing regulations. I knew the department was responsible for the operation of state parks. However, until I assumed the role as the outdoors writer for The Southern Illinoisan in the late 1980s, I was woefully under-informed about the breadth and scope of the agency. My first real association with the agency came at what many consider the golden age of IDNR. The agency was flush with money. Staffing was at an all-time high, from biologists caring for the states flora and fauna to managers operating our state parks and fish and wildlife areas. The IDNR compared favorably to any agency in the country. Unfortunately, an economic downturn brought the agency to its knees. Staffing was cut drastically. Draconian measures were instituted for site superintendents. Only the most basic, the most critical maintenance procedures were funded. Whats worse, a couple governors raided the agencys funds. The IDNR was heading for the endangered species list around 2010 when the Sustainability Bill, which helped fund the agency through a surcharge on license plates, was passed. Slowly, the agency began rebuilding. Its been an arduous process. The work is far from done. Staffing has rebounded, but the agency remains short-handed. Site superintendents manage three, four, five or six sites. Dixon Springs State Park, located near Golconda, is operated out of Metropolis. The Tunnel Hill State Trail, which runs from Harrisburg to Karnak, is operated out of Goreville. These sites deserve, and need, their own management. Maintenance budgets have been improved, but there are still plenty of projects simmering on the back burner. The aforementioned Tunnel Hill State Trail could use resurfacing in some areas. There are plenty of park roads that could use repair. On the other hand, the state is funding the agency at status quo levels. More managers are needed. More maintenance workers are needed. More interpreters are needed. So, who is to blame? There is a lot of blame to spread around. Financial mismanagement, of the entire state, not IDNR, is being reversed. Illinois is paying down its debt. We are no longer paying millions and millions of dollars in debt service each year. As Illinois financial health improves, the IDNR deserves increased funding. Where will the funding come from? If history has taught us anything, more sources of dedicated revenue are the best bet. General fund monies were swept away by a couple of administrations. In addition, when dedicated funds were allocated, the General Assembly cut appropriations to the agency. Perhaps admission fees to state areas could be instituted. Since, hunting and fishing licenses are purchased online, the state might ask hunters and anglers, who seem to carry the brunt of wildlife spending, to voluntarily pony up and additional $10 per year to fund state parks. Another thing that needs to be done is to trim the agency. There is no reason the Department of Mines and Minerals should be under the IDNR umbrella. In fact, it seems to be a conflict of interest in too many instances. In todays economy, Illinois is fighting other states for tourism dollars. We have beautiful places for tourists to visit, we need to spend the money and spiff them up for company. Orangeburg County School District has announced the launch of the "OCSD Arts" digital magazine, which is to be released quarterly, celebrating the talent of students in art, music, dance and beyond. "This magazine is not just a representation of art, but a testament to the dedication, passion and talents of our students. Our strategic plan emphasized our commitment to nurturing the artistic gifts of our students and providing them with platforms to shine," said Dr. Shawn Foster, OCSD superintendent. "OCSD Arts" aims to highlight the creativity within Orangeburg County schools, connecting students, educators, parents and the community at large with the cultural heartbeat of the district. "Art has the power to move, inspire and tell stories that might otherwise go unheard. Through this digital magazine, we are amplifying the voices of our young artists and showcasing the diversity and depth of talent in our district, said Deedra Wright, OCSD Related Arts coordinator. "OCSD Arts" can be viewed on the districts official website under the "Related Arts" section or by visiting https://www.ocsdsc.org/ocsdartsmagazine. CARICOM is calling for a cease fire in the conflict involving Palestine and Israel. The body supports the United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 and efforts of the United Nations towards a two-state solution as the best way to achieve comprehensive peace, security and tranquility between Israel and Palestine. The regional body wants an end of hostilities by all parties. The appeal comes following last Saturday mornings move by Hamas. That saw a breaching of Israeli borders and expansion of the conflict. Israel is revving up its war engine and the bombardment, in preparation for a ground invasion into Gaza is fulfilling the Israelis promise of making it a desert island. Army reservists have been amassed. The escalation aroused emotions with signs of a wider impact of hostilities. US President Joe Biden has committed his countrys full support for the Israeli response. Palestines Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansoor pleaded for humanitarian intervention last Wednesday. That was five days after the renewed flare up. The Israelis have cut off of supplies to Gaza. Mansoor is asking for food and water in the enclave. St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is a member of the 20-member Caribbean body. Vincentian Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves attended a Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in Palestine with President Mahmoud Abbas in 2011. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has diplomatic relations with Israel. What impact the CARICOM appeal will have on the matter is left to be seen. The Middle East turmoil has been an age-old problem, and every action seemingly has the potential of spurring the next reaction. Caribbean personalities in their cultural and artistic style have made their version of the affairs. Vincentian acclaimed song writer Dr. Alston Becket Cyrus, with his distinguished collaborator Dr. Frankie McIntosh have signaled the peace factor in Beckets number Love is the answer. But it seems difficult to establish that factor amid the display of heartlessness which has overwhelmed the conflict. (WKA) Four more bursaries compliment the Mustique Charitable Trust (MCT) were handed over on October 6 to students at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Global Campus. The four new awardees now bring the existing number of students currently pursuing undergraduate programs to 11, and the total number of students to receive the financial contribution to 28. These newest awardees are Okieve Graham who is pursuing a BSc in Marketing; Juliette James BEd in Educational Leadership and Management; Jolisa Primus BEd in Early Childhood Development and Family Studies and Leroy Walker BSc Sport Leadership and Management. According to Camille Lakhram, Officer-in-Charge at the UWI Global Campus, while the institution continues with its mandate to reach people in facilitating their personal and professional growth through academic achievement, they also recognized that this was often hindered by the lack of financial resources. "And to this end, we have partnered with the Mustique Charitable Trust in 2009 to offer our students the opportunity to finally attain what is for many, a first for their families, Lakhram said. Each awardee received 60 percent of the total cost of their program and a laptop, and she encouraged the awardees to remain resolute in their pursuit of higher education. "The emphasis in the world today is on certification. And any meaningful advancement is heavily reliant on being able to show that at the very least, there is a sound knowledge of the theoretical aspects of any job, she said. And she encouraged the awardees to remain resolute in their pursuit of higher education. Dularie Malcolm, Administration Director, MCT spoke of the success of the program and welcomed the new awardees. "Continuing with us includes the four students who were now receiving bursaries, she said. But to begin all of this, she intimated, there was need for finances and along came a single donor, who she said up to this day is still contributing to the program. "He realizes the dedication of our young people and the importance of higher education, Malcolm said. "So, we must give thanks to the donor who has maintained this program for all those years, she continued. And she said that they had to thank the UWI Global Campus Administration team for the effort and input. According to Malcolm, what impressed them the most about the recipients this year was their passion; that and the relevance of the programs that they selected. "Added to that, while everyone makes decisions with regard to self-development, in the forefront of each of your mind, was nation development, Malcolm said. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. Taiwanese Ambassador H.E Fiona Huei-Chun Fan offering a toast in commemoration of the 112th National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The government and people of St Vincent and the Grenadines joined with Ambassador H.E Fiona Huei-Chun Fan to commemorate the 112th National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on October 9. And despite the challenges facing the world, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the ongoing conflict in the Gaza strip and the threat of instability in the Taiwan Strait, the countrys economy continues to demonstrate a high degree if stability and resilience. Taiwan continues to win recognition from the international community and 112 years after the country was founded in 1911, it leads the world in total research and development personnel per capita and ranks highly in management and scientific infrastructure. According to Ambassador H.E Fan, the symbolic friendship between St Vincent and the Grenadines and Taiwan has brought growth and prosperity to both countries. "We deeply appreciate the unwavering support of St Vincent and the Grenadines in various international arenas, especially in our campaign for participation in the United Nations and its specialized agencies, H.E Fan said. "As we stand here today celebrating the friendship between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Taiwan, it is essential to underscore our commitment to fostering even greater cooperation between our two nations. Our enduring partnership has borne fruit in various fields, but there is much more that we can achieve together, she continued. She applauded the effort of Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves for his call at the UNs General Assembly debate in September when he called for Taiwans inclusion in the UN and its specialized agencies and for taking the bold step to lead a delegation to Taiwan amid threatening military exercises that were being conducted by China in August which she said had caused him to win the respect of the Taiwanese people. Nevertheless, Taiwan was committed to peace, but was enhancing its self-defense capabilities in response to external threats the ambassador said. And as a democratic front line, H.E. Fan said that her country remained committed to defending the universal values of freedom and democracy. October was a special month for both countries, and she pledged her countrys commitment to fostering even greater cooperation. "My government will continue to forge stronger relationships and bilateral cooperation to improve lives in various fields benefiting people of our both countries, H.E. Fan said. Prime Minister Gonsalves said in his remarks that the relationship between SVG and Taiwan was a strategic relationship of real solidarity and friendship. "This is not a transactional relationship, he said. "This is something for all time, and it is important for us to grasp the significance of this strategic relationship. According to Gonsalves, Taiwan was undoubtedly one of this countrys major friends. "And we have to be together in good times and in bad times, said Gonsalves. Taiwan was an example to SVG, and like us, they too were seeking to build democratic societies within. After all, they were an ancient civilization, and we must learn from them, he said. PM Gonsalves said that the Bill was already in the draft stage. Legislators are expected to debate a Bill in Parliament soon dealing with the regulation of tint on vehicles. According to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, while speaking on WE FMs Issues at Hand on October 8, the new regulation is one of three important Bills. "I know some persons are going to object, but the point is this, we have to be reasonable, and we have to think of the entire country, Gonsalves said. "I know some persons like to have the tint and be inside there and nobody can see them and so on, privacy and all the rest of it. But not only the evidence here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but comparative evidence across the region and from various advisors, this is an area that we need to address, he continued. He said that this Bill was already in the draft stage and that he had given his okay as Minister of Legal Affairs. Also coming soon is a Bill to increase the penalties for illegal firearms, the prime minister announced. "They are fairly stiff at the moment, but it looks as though when you examine comparatively other areas, we might be in terms of penalties a little below the median line though it used to be abnormally low, Gonsalves said. And the government had previously increased it moving it from one year to seven for the illegal possession of a firearm. "It is like 10 (years) in the region, some places it is 15, he continued. And finally, he said that there was some review of the penalties for some types of sexual offences where he said the penalties were not in sync with some of the neighbouring countries in the region and where they considered they ought to be. (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? Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, arrived in Lebanon Thursday evening after a visit to Iraq, and was received by outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. In the meeting with Mikati, Amir-Abdollahian assured of Irans wishes to preserve Lebanons security. What is important for us is the security of Lebanon and the preservation of calm in the country. This is the objective of my visit and I suggest holding a meeting for the leaders of the region to study the situation, he said, according to a statement relayed by the National News Agency (NNA). Upon arriving in Beirut, the Iranian minister declared "the continuation of war crimes against the Palestinians and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the [pro-Iranian] axis", of which Hezbollah is a part. On Friday, Amir-Abdollahian warned that conflict could spread to other parts of the region if Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister) does not stop his devastating war. According to AFP, Amir-Abdollahian said that the United States must control Israel if they want to avoid a regional war. Mikati insisted on the need to deploy all diplomatic resources to put an end to what is happening in Gaza and protect Lebanon. If the Americans want to prevent war from developing in the region, they must control Israel, he said. Security and peace in Lebanon are important to us. Almost completely silent since the start of the conflict, the outgoing Lebanese government finally commented on events on Thursday afternoon, following a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Mikati expressed Lebanons support for the Palestinians "in the face of Israeli oppression," and called "all Lebanese parties to exercise restraint," insisting on "the role of the army in the preservation of security and stability. Mikatis comment subtly called on Hezbollah to stay away from the war, whose consequences would be devastating for Lebanon. The discussions between Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah focused on developments in the region, according to a Hezbollah statement issued Friday. Discussions also covered the responsibilities of each person and the positions to be taken in the face of these historic events and these dangerous developments in Gaza and the region. Hezbollah has so far been content with minimal intervention in the Hamas-Israel conflict. Lebanons interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, returned to Beirut on Thursday after a trip to Cairo for an emergency Arab League meeting on the conflict. According to the NNA, Bou Habib met with his Algerian, Kuwaiti, Moroccan, Palestinian, Saudi, Syrian and Yemeni counterparts. The Iraqi stage Earlier Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian visited Baghdad and discussed the situation in Gaza. The leaders of certain countries are asking us about the possibility of opening a new front [against Israel] in the region, he said during an interview with Mohammed Shia al-Soudani, the Prime Minister of Iraq. Our clear answer is that everything depends on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza, Amir-Abdollahian added, according to a statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Even now, Israel's crimes continue and no one in the region will give us permission to open new fronts. Some 1,200 Israelis and 1,354 Palestinians were killed since the conflict began. Western powers have warned Iran against an escalation of the conflict. US President Joe Biden declared Wednesday that he had clearly signaled to the Iranians to be careful. Iranian President Ebrahim Raissi called on Muslim and Arab countries to coordinate to put an end to the crimes of Israel, and spoke Wednesday evening with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today for access to: Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles). A few weeks ago, Jenna Shim spent the day talking with the principal and teachers at Encampments K-12 school. The visit was typical of the regular outreach that Shim, the Jack Ellbogen Interim Dean of the University of Wyomings College of Education, tries to do, touring school districts around the state to hear from teachers and administrators. During their conversation, Encampments staff discussed the qualities they consider when hiring new teachers. They look for skills, but more importantly they look for the fit and they look for their commitment because thats whats going to keep them in classrooms, Shim said. As is true for many school districts in Wyoming, the majority of teachers in Carbon County School District No. 2, Encampments district, graduated from UW. The universitys College of Education accounts for more teachers in Wyoming than any other institution, according to a report from Christiana Stoddard, an economics professor at Montana State University and education finance consultant for the state. As such, UWs College of Education plays a significant role in shaping the future of K-12 schooling in Wyoming. The decisions that Shim and the college make reverberate. They manifest in classrooms with each UW-trained teacher. Thats in part why Shim makes the effort to see schools. I try to visit these school districts to learn from them as much as I can because they have such valuable insights, she said. Years of listening to educators and schools, growing teacher retention and attrition concerns, and a rapidly changing K-12 landscape have led UWs College of Education to launch a series of recent initiatives that promise to reshape teaching and teacher development in Wyoming. Central to the College of Educations push is a plan to support educators through what Shim and former Dean Scott Thomas call the arc of their careers, engaging with them well beyond the limits of Laramies campus. We try to do our part preparing them, but its much bigger than that, Shim said. The arc Imagine that youre a high school student in Meeteetse, Sundance or just about any other small town in Wyoming. You think you might want to attend UW or another college, but youre not sure how to apply or how to pay. So you go to your counselor. The data suggests that you may not get the help you need. Though there has been recent work to close the gaps, a 2012 College Board national survey found that a majority of school counselors felt ill-prepared and lacked the training to help students with college admissions and career preparation. The effects of unprepared counselors can be especially significant in rural communities, which already have less access to school counselors and have lower college enrollment rates. In 2022, UWs College of Education and Trustees Education Initiative received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to improve the college enrollment and attainment of Wyomings rural and first-generation students, including by training school staff in college and career preparation. The resulting initiative was dubbed UWs High Altitude Pathway, a three-year program that works with a number of public schools, alternative education centers and after-school programs to expose rural high school students to higher education and better prepare them to pursue advanced studies and training. During the program, students undergo training created by College for Every Student (CFES) Brilliant Pathways, an education group dedicated to improving college and career readiness. They learn about potential careers as well as applying and paying for higher education, including accessing financial. They also get hands-on experience at UW, which they visit during the summer for an immersion trip. At the same time, teachers, counselors and administrators receive training from CFES Brilliant Pathways and the College of Education so they can better guide those students who are interested in attending college or pursuing other post-high school programs. While UWs High Altitude Pathway is aimed broadly at improving college attainment and career preparation, it has also served another purpose for the College of Education. Alongside nursing and other professions, the high school students in the program learn about teaching, Shim said. For the students and the College of Education, the exposure can be a benefit. A small subset of our efforts are about recruiting teachers and really helping them understand what teaching is about and whether or not its a good fit for them, she said. At the end of the day, that fit is really important. For those students who are interested, UW could very well be their next stop. And thats where the College of Educations second initiative comes in. Around the same time the College of Education was securing money to start the High Altitude Pathway program, it was also receiving money to start a rural teaching corps. In March 2021, the Colleges School of Teacher Education obtained a $25,000 grant from the Rural Schools Collaborative, a nonprofit dedicated to bolstering rural schools, to develop the teacher corps alongside Teton Science Schools in Jackson. While the College of Educations coursework is designed to give students the skills they need, including hands-on learning through residencies, the actual experience of teaching in Wyomings rural communities is unique and can be a challenge. That is very different than [teaching] in other areas, and thats where the retention rate is the lowest, Shim said. The first Rural Teaching Corps cohort last year saw a dozen students in the College of Education paired with teachers from rural school districts across the state. They received training in place-based education, a model in which educators root their teaching in their local communities and environments, as well as mentorship to help them feel more comfortable as they move toward teaching in rural areas, according to Teton Science Schools. The programs goal is to not only better prepare UW students to enter rural classrooms, but to create a community where rural educators can get the help they need as they start the profession. The first piece is when theyre in high school, Shim said. The second piece is that rural teacher corps while they are in our teacher prep program. While lawmakers often focus their attention on training new educators to address Wyomings teacher shortages, Shim follows Thomas, the former dean of the College of Education, in reciting the idea that if Wyoming could retain more of its teachers, the state could solve its staffing challenges. Shim said the College of Education has consistently heard from Wyoming teachers that they dont feel like they have a voice in their learning and professional development and its driving them to leave the profession. The College of Educations third initiative, the Master Educator Competency Program, is an attempt to solve that issue. With the goal of keeping quality early and mid-career teachers in the classroom, the program aims to give educators tailored professional development that more directly applies to them and their work. Since last year, the College of Education has been holding listening sessions and interviewing teachers about the skills and knowledge they need to better prepare students. The college has been working with 2Revolutions, a national education design lab, to take that input and build interactive learning courses that help teachers continue to learn and develop. Unlike more traditional approaches to professional development, which often track the time a person spends learning, the digital modules are competency-based, meaning that teachers have to master new skills and learn their content in more depth, Shim said. Educators who participate in the program can put the courses toward renewing their license or advancing their pay. The College of Education is also moving to allow some of the courses to go toward a masters degree. When you look at the research one of the reasons why teachers are leaving the profession is because of lack of autonomy or lack of respect, Shim said. [The Master Educator Competency Program] is really going straight to teachers about what they need and what they would like to learn. Meeting the needs of teachers also sits at the heart of College of Educations last initiative, though for a group of educators that is often forgotten. Recruitment and retention efforts in Wyoming and across the country often target young and early career teachers, those who will be in the profession for the next few decades. Yet, keeping older teachers can be just as crucial. Numerous studies show that teachers are increasingly unhappy and considering leaving the profession, including one recent survey by UW researcher Mark Perkins which found that a majority of Wyoming teachers would leave if they could. But those sentiments vary. A 2021 study by researchers at the University of Arkansas and Saint Louis University found that it was older teachers nearing retirement who were considering leaving the profession at higher rates during the coronavirus pandemic. Veteran teachers, especially in rural states like this, can get tired, Shim said. Theyve plateaued in their career. They dont feel the sense of purpose anymore. And that also causes them to leave their profession earlier then they had planned to. The College of Educations Wyoming Teacher-Mentor Corps wants to keep that passion alive by connecting expert teachers with those who are just entering the profession. Launched in 2022, the Teacher-Mentor Corps is in its second year. The current cohort of 19 teachers represents 13 of Wyomings 48 school districts, according to a UW news release. Throughout the program, veteran educators mentor emerging teachers who are both preparing to enter the classroom and those who are in their first couple of years. They attend two summer institutes in Laramie as well as in-person retreats where they pass on their knowledge and use their expertise to prepare the next generation of Wyoming teachers. According to Shim, the program has been incredibly successful, so much so that the College of Education is now building a similar one for principals while also thinking about expanding it to a national model. Taken altogether, the four initiatives the College of Education has established in the last few years represent an almost lifelong commitment, Shim said, not only to UWs teaching candidates but to educators across the state. At each stage of supporting teachers, we may have different players from the university, she said. But it requires that kind of collaborative effort to follow them and to keep them in classrooms and make that a rewarding profession. Adapting to a changing landscape K-12 schooling in Wyoming is changing. Thats clear. What it will look like a decade down the road, though, is a question that education officials, lawmakers, the College of Education and school staff have yet to answer. For starters, the Wyoming State Board of Education is moving to reduce the standards that teachers and administrators have long said make their jobs more difficult and stand in the way of student learning. The Wyoming Department of Education is working with school districts to strengthen career and technical education, while the agency recently announced an initiative that will incorporate wildlife, hunting and conservation education into classrooms. But all of those changes are shadowed by the looming statewide shift to competency-based and student-centered learning, which will transform Wyomings K-12 system. In July, Wyomings Future of Learning, the coalition that is leading the transition, which includes UWs College of Education, the Department of Education, State Board of Education and Gov. Mark Gordons office, announced that it had accepted nine school districts for the states first pilot program trialing competency-based and student-centered learning. Under the new approach, the school districts and their students will focus on the mastery of a subject rather than test scores and time spent in a classroom. Students will have more freedom to shape their instruction and learning, while experiences outside of the classroom will also take on a new emphasis. The goal is to ultimately move students away from rote memorization to applying what they learn. UWs College of Education is set to play a critical role as the statewide transformation begins. It will serve as the bridge, turning policy into practice. Amid the changing landscape, the College of Education is adapting, too. Increasingly, the school is looking to apply the practices it is training teachers to use, including a new focus on competency-based learning. Our role in the College of Education is to continue to support teachers across the state so that they are very well versed and know what it looks like on the ground to implement that student-centered learning, Shim said. For Shim, the changes and the colleges broader teacher initiatives are simply the steps UW needs to take to support educators and keep pace with our evolving society. We need to change how we educate our students that aligns with how the world is changing, she said. The flip side is that we have to also change how we train our teachers. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated when the Rural Schools Collaborative awarded a grant to UWs College of Education to support the development of a rural teaching corps. UW received the grant in March 2021. Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in Wyoming, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Star-Tribune app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. 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. 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. The report on the investigation into the death of WASA employee Kern Ettienne will be made public. We understand that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is on the frontline of a significant battle and that their human and other resources must naturally be focused on the unbridled violence the society experiences daily. In the back staff kitchen of Antigone Books, a package of pumpkin Oreos, a string of solar-powered lights and a mug filled with pens are telltale signs of its busiest season. But this fall is different. Themed displays like Est. 1973 have been propped up against the stores signature purple walls, once home to the sterile-colored corners of a Salvation Army thrift store. Stacks of worlds unexplored lay perfectly aligned, untouched, awaiting customers in search of a new read. Antigone, at 411 N. Fourth Ave., is commemorating its 50th anniversary this fall, one of the oldest surviving feminist bookstores in the United States. Inspired by the Take Back the Night movement and consciousness-raising groups of the 1970s, Barbara Atwood, Patricia Kelly and Jonnie Cunningham opened Antigone Books on Sept. 23, 1973. It was the beginning of an uptick in feminist bookstores. It was a big convergence of women standing up for themselves, said Kelly. The trio of women named the store after Sophocles Antigone, a Greek mythological character who stood up against male authority in favor of her morals. The store originally specialized in books written by women and feminists. They specialized in non-sexist and childrens books, as well as other books that catered to women, children and the lesbian community in Tucson. If the community wanted it, they carried it. I loved the Fourth Avenue Street Fair because I used to trade books for things that I wanted and I didnt have very much money, so that was always a great deal of fun, Kelly said. Atwood, Kelly and Cunningham ran the store for three years and nearly had to close it for financial reasons before selling it to Ede Rosen in 1977. She ran it for five years and moved it from its tiny storefront to 403 E. Fifth St. before Sue Sturtz took over in 1982. Trudy Mills bought the store from Sturtz in 1987 and three years later, partnered with Kate Randall. The stores current owners Kate Stern, Melissa Negelspach and Morgan Miller bought the store in 2018 after raising more than $38,000 through an Indiegogo crowd-source campaign. Its really a tribute and testament to the creativity and hard work of all of the people who work at Antigone, that theyve been able to maintain that space in the way that they have this entire time, Sandra Soto said. Soto, an associate professor in the University of Arizonas Gender & Womens Studies Department, said that Antigone largely survived thanks to the sales of knickknacks and gifts that fill the front of the store. Kate and Trudy really established the foundation of what you see today in the store and set the precedent for what it is now, Stern said. The duo moved the bookstore from 403 E. Fifth St. into its current location in an old Salvation Army store and expanded the inventory to adequately fill the larger space. Mills, who taught gender and womens studies at the UA, saw that Antigone could offer a more expansive variety of books, including feminist books, books on womens studies, body politics, lesbian fiction and other selections rare for the 1990s. Not only were people not getting published in that genre, but there were limited kinds of things being published, Stern said. Antigone now stocks a more diverse selection of LGBTQ books, including young adult, non-fiction, fiction and graphic novels. Stern said she was proud of the growing selection highlighting different marginalized voices. The store still hand-selects each book stocked on its shelves, the job of co-owner Miller, and they have expanded their reach to offer a wide variety of books outside of feminist literature. That Fourth Avenue corridor is important not just to locals in Tucson who can shop there and go to events there, but tourists, Soto said. It tells them something about the values and cultures of Tucson. During an in-store anniversary celebration on Sept. 23, one loyal customer stopped in to pick up books from Bob Dylans must-read list. Another bought Mary-Frances OConnors The Grieving Brain while a third customer was on a quest for his ongoing book collection of contemporary prize-winners. Its a lot to process because weve only been the owners here for five years, but yet, it has this really expansive history, Stern said about Antigones 50-year run. Our goal is to keep it around for another 50 years and make sure that Tucson has a really great independent bookstore. The three co-owners said they were thankful to see longtime customers, former employees and one of the original owners, Patricia Kelly, stop in for the anniversary celebration. Randall and Mills, who still own the building, sent flowers to the store. It really drove the point home that Antigone has a legacy that is so much bigger than the three of us, Negelspach said. Antigone Books is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 pm., and 11-5 on Sundays. Learn more at antigonebooks.com. The Arizona Repertory Theatre opened its season with a couple of plays that will bring laughter and tears and shine a light on some shameful times in American history. The Thanksgiving Play This biting satire by Larissa FastHorse, who belongs to the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is about a high school drama teacher, Logan (AJ Taylor), who wants to stage a historically accurate production about Thanksgiving. Helping her is her theater-hungry boyfriend, Jaxton (Max Murray), whose experience is limited to performing at the farmers market, and Caden (John Henry Stamper), an elementary school teacher on loan from another school to help. Cadens passion is history and he longs to have a play hes written performed. Alicia (Alyssa DiRaimondo) is a beautiful, empty-headed actress who is ethnically fluid. Logan, thinking she is Native American (she had braids and wore turquoise in her headshot), hires her to be in the play. Logan is desperate for the input of an Indigenous person. These four white folks are trying to devise a script that would honor the Native Americans. Caden is a stickler for facts, however, and he knows Thanksgiving was no cheerful sit-down-and-break-bread happening. He insists the script include the diseases, thievery, massacres and deceptions the Pilgrims wrought on Indigenous people. This well-intentioned, earnest group tries to do the politically correct thing. In the process, they become so politically incorrect it is cringeworthy. FastHorse tackles identity and who gets to tell the stories without ever lecturing, and she keeps you laughing throughout. This University of Arizona student cast, directed with a knowing eye by Randy Reinholz (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), bought into every bit of the story, living and breathing these outrageous characters. There are also scenes with four ensemble members who sing Thanksgiving-tinged rhymes which were, FastHorse says in the script, sadly inspired by the internet, mostly current teachers Pinterest boards. Kinzie Pipkin, Addy Siciliano, Hannah McLaughlin and Riya Luthra were a stitch as they delivered the songs that are definitely not happy Thanksgiving tunes. The Laramie Project The UA play opened Oct. 12, 25 years to the day since the murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man who was beaten, strapped to a fence and left to die in the wide-open and isolated fields outside Laramie, Wyoming. His sexuality was the reason for such a heinous crime, perpetrated by two young men around his age. Shortly after his death, which sent ripples around the world and gave strength to the idea of hate crimes legislation, Moises Kaufman and the members of his Tectonic Theater Project set out for Laramie with the intent to interview residents about their reactions to the murder. They conducted more than 200 interviews to create the play and it gives voice to the homophobic residents of the town, as well as to the greater majority of people there who felt horror and deep compassion for what happened to Matthew. Seamlessly directed by Greg Pierotti, one of the Tectonic members who conducted the interviews and co-wrote the play, The Laramie Project humanizes the town that became demonized after the murder. It was easy to paint Laramie with a wide hates-gays brush, but the play shows that the majority of the town is made up of pained, thoughtful and compassionate people. The 11-member ensemble, all playing multiple roles, helped bring the town and its people to vivid life. Its a mammoth play, weighty with an ugly truth about the treatment of fellow human beings. Its likely that it was as emotional for the cast as it was for the audience. Though Shepherd was killed in 1998, it took 11 years before the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law. It expanded the definition of hate crimes, providing more protection against crimes based on gender, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation. It hasnt stopped hate crimes, but it makes punishment more severe. The Laramie Project (two hours with one intermission) and The Thanksgiving Play (90 minutes with no intermission) continue through Oct. 22 at the Tornabene Theatre in the University of Arizona Fine Arts Complex, southeast corner of North Park Avenue and East Speedway. Tickets are $15-$32 at theatre.arizona.edu. China provides emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan Xinhua) 10:39, October 13, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government is providing 30 million yuan (4.18 million U.S. dollars) of emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan to help the country with earthquake relief work, a spokesperson with the China International Development Cooperation Agency said Thursday. According to the needs of the Afghan side, China's aid supplies mainly include tents, rollaway beds, thick blankets, down and cotton-padded jackets, quilts, and family first-aid packets, which will be transported to Afghanistan and distributed to the local victims, spokesperson Xu Wei said. In addition, the Chinese side is working to implement the emergency food aid and other humanitarian arrangements previously designated for the Afghan side, Xu added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) (Photo : Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez are facing new charges of allegedly plotting to become foreign agents for Egypt. The Department of Justice has accused Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, Nancy Menendez, of allegedly plotting to act as foreign agents for Egypt. The charges were revealed in a set of new court documents unsealed on Thursday against the lawmaker and his partner. The superseding indictment was filed in a federal district court in New York. It charges the senator with one count of conspiracy for a public official to act as an agent of a foreign principal, the Egyptian government, and its officials. Bob Menendez as Foreign Agent Under United States law, Menendez is prohibited from serving as a foreign agent because he is a public official. In a statement, prosecutors argued that the senator "further promised to take and took a series of acts on behalf of Egypt." They said these included on behalf of Egyptian military and intelligence officials and conspiring to do so with Wael Hana, a New Jersey businessman from Egypt who runs a halal meat company, and his wife, as per CBS News. The new indictment against Menendez claims that Hana and Nadine "communicated requests and directives from Egyptian officials to Menendez." The DOJ added that neither Hana nor Nadine registered as foreign agents or lobbyists. Last month, the senator, his wife, Hana, and two other New Jersey businessmen were charged for allegedly engaging in a bribery scheme that prosecutors said involved the lawmaker accepting lavish bribes in exchange for official acts. The Menendez couple was charged with three counts in the initial indictment, and the senator now faces four counts. During his arraignment on the three counts last month, he pleaded not guilty to all charges. Amid the issue, he temporarily stepped down from leading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Read Also: George Santos Faces Superseding Indictment, Accused of Identity Theft, Wire Fraud Charges Against the Senator The indictment against the senator said that the conspiracy occurred from January 2018 to June 2022. It also alleges that during a meeting in 2019, Menendez, his wife, and Hana met with an Egyptian intelligence official in the lawmaker's Senate office in Washington, according to The Guardian. The individuals allegedly discussed a U.S. citizen seriously injured in 2015 following an airstrike by the Egyptian military using a U.S.-made Apache helicopter. At the time, some members of Congress objected to awarding certain military aid to Egypt over the issue. The view was that the Egyptian government was unwilling to compensate the injured individual fairly. Prosecutors alleged that in May 2019, in a Washington steakhouse, Menendez allegedly asked an Egyptian official, "What else can the love of my life do for you?" In a statement released by Menendez's office on Thursday, the senator said that he has been through a lot in his life and has decided long ago to be loyal to the United States alone. He argued that adding more charges to the case against him does not make any of them more factual. Menendez called the situation an attempt to wear someone down, adding that he will not fall prey to the tactic, said the New York Times. Related Article: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Criticized Over Purchase of $19K Lectern Following Records Release @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Tohono O'odham leaders' full statement "The U.S. Attorneys decision to not press charges against U.S. Border Patrol agents in the tragic shooting death of Tohono Oodham member Raymond Mattia is a travesty of justice. The facts speak for themselves, and they do not support the U.S. Attorneys decision Mr. Mattia was an unarmed man in his own front yard. Multiple agents made the decision to fire dozens of shots at short range at this unarmed man, hitting Raymond Mattia multiple times, and ultimately killing him. All of this was captured on agents video cameras and is not in question. Where in America is a decision in defiance of such overwhelming evidence acceptable? Where in America is it okay for law enforcement officials, or anyone else, to take an unarmed mans life? We assume there is additional evidence beyond what is already in the public domain. At the very least there needs to be a trial so that the facts can be ascertained, and justice accomplished. There are countless questions left unanswered by this decision. As a result, we cannot and will not accept the U.S. Attorneys decision. On the contrary, we stand by the Mattia family, and all Oodham citizens in seeking justice. Members of the Tohono Oodham Nation should not have to worry that their lives could be randomly cut short by federal agents acting on Tohono Oodham sovereign land. In Mr. Mattias case, he was not only on Oodham land, but at his own home, and defenseless. The Nations Executive Office will explore other opportunities to rectify this misguided decision, which may include requesting Congressional inquiries. We also stand by other legal and administrative efforts to obtain justice for wrongly taking Raymonds life. For too long, the U.S. governments refusal to enact sensible border solutions has brought undue hardship to Oodham and other border communities. While politicians waste time debating walls and other ineffective and divisive ideas, our people are persecuted and, in this case, killed by federal agents. This must stop." A BBC correspondent set to receive a prestigious award from the University of Arizona School of Journalism is covering the Israel-Hamas war and cannot attend the ceremony, so it has been postponed, UA announced Friday. The ceremony to award Lyse Doucet with the John Peter and Anna Catherine Zenger Award for Press Freedom, which was set for Oct. 20 in Tucson, will be rescheduled for sometime in 2024. The very reason she won the award advancing the free press and the peoples right to know is the reason she cannot participate at this time, said Michael Chihak, chair of the schools Journalism Advisory Council. Doucet, BBCs chief international correspondent, was chosen for the honor in recognition of her international reporting on human rights. The UA journalism program has awarded the annual Zenger Award for Press Freedom since 1954 to journalists who fight for freedom of the press and the peoples right to know. Past Zenger Award winners included Christiane Amanpour, Carmen Aristegui, Dean Baquet, Walter Cronkite and Katharine Graham. The award is named for a husband-and-wife team of pioneering journalists. John Peter was editor of the New York Weekly Journal in 1734 when he was jailed by British colonial authorities on charges of seditious libel. He had criticized the corrupt administration of New Yorks governor, William Cosby. While Zenger was imprisoned, Anna Catherine continued to publish the newspaper. John Peter Zengers subsequent trial and acquittal is considered a landmark case in the history of freedom of the press, helping to lay the foundation for the First Amendment. A pro-Palestine rally at the University of Arizona was abruptly canceled hours before it was scheduled to take place Thursday after UA President Robert Robbins released a statement calling it antithetical to the schools beliefs. The rally, which was planned by the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at the UA, was a part of the nationwide organizations National Day of Action. Robbins sent the campus-wide email statement on Wednesday night, less than 24 hours before the protest was scheduled. We understand that a national student organization with a chapter at the University of Arizona called Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, is planning a demonstration on campus tomorrow, he wrote. The national organization has made statements endorsing the actions of Hamas in Israel, which are, of course, antithetical to our universitys values. Robbins was firm about the universitys relationship with the group. I want to be clear that SJP is not speaking on behalf of our university, he wrote. Robbins added that because the University of Arizona has one of the largest populations of Jewish students in our country, this tragedy hits our community especially hard. The violence in Israel and Gaza is not simply political, he wrote, but moral. As we continue to witness the horrendous acts of terrorism by Hamas in Israel targeted at innocent civilians, including children, this clearly is not just a political debate or incident related to geopolitical differences, he wrote. Lets call it what it is: antisemitic hatred, murder, and a complete atrocity. The resulting war inevitably will result in many more deaths of innocent Israelis and Palestinians, he continued. Students for Justice in Palestine is a nationwide organization with chapters at colleges and universities across the country. According to the Anti-Defamation League, in a statement published after Hamas Oct. 7 invasion of Israel, the pro-Palestine group described Hamas military feats as a historic win for Palestinian resistance, and called for not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors. Maha Nassar, the faculty advisor to the UA chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, said the statements from the nationwide group do not represent the collective views of the chapter. The campus chapter does not receive funding from the nationwide group, she said. Due to President Robbins inflammatory letter, we no longer feel safe holding our rally on campus today and have postponed it to a later date, the chapter wrote Thursday in a statement shared to its Instagram page. It continued, We encourage our members and allies to prioritize their health and safety in the coming days. Nassar says Robbins owes the organization an apology. In my capacity as faculty advisor, having watched the shock and fear that students went through as they processed President Robbins letter, I think Robbins at a minimum should issue an apology to these students and recommit to upholding his duty of care for all students at the University of Arizona, she said. Though Robbins mentioned the deaths of innocent Palestinians, that wasnt enough for some in the group. Many of the rally organizers still felt targeted by the university president, Nassar said. By issuing a statement that condemns Hamas again and mentions SJP in the same message it looked to many like he was equating or conflating the two, she said. As a result, students felt like President Robbins put a target on their backs; they felt scared, hurt, alone, and vulnerable. PHOENIX The Arizona Republican Party wants to defend Donald Trumps right to be on the ballot in the states 2024 presidential preference election despite another candidates claims he is disqualified. The state GOP says it needs to intervene because it cannot rely on Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who is defending Trumps right to run, to do so as forcefully as possible. The dispute playing out in federal court stems from a filing last month by Texas resident John Anthony Castro, who is registered with the Federal Elections Commission as a Republican candidate for president. He claims Trump is disqualified from running because he provided aid and comfort to an insurrection. That mirrors language in the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War. It bars the election to certain federal offices, including president, of anyone who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. Castro wants U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Rayes to order Fontes to keep Trumps name off the ballot for Arizonas March 19, 2024 presidential preference primary. Fontes role Fontes has said he has no legal right to keep the former president off the ballot. He pointed to a provision of Arizona law that says any candidate who files the requisite 500 signatures is entitled to be included on the ballot here if they also qualify for the ballot in at least two other states. The Arizona Attorney Generals Office is defending Fontes in Rayes court. Not good enough, said attorney Dennis Wilenchik, representing the state GOP. At the very least, he told the judge, Fontes interest is solely in upholding his interpretation of the law. Therefore, his ultimate objective is both narrowly focused, and, of course, is colored by his Democratic background, Wilenchik said. He has no political incentive to pay attention to the specific issues that concern the AZGOP and its members. That interest, the attorney said, is giving Arizona Republicans access to as many candidates as possible for any primary election, including the presidential preference election. The AZGOP also has a strong interest in ensuring that its presidential preference elections are fair to all potential candidates and are perceived as such both by registered Arizona Republicans and others. Nor does Wilenchik think Trumps own role in the case he also is named as a defendant is sufficient to protect the partys interest. He said Trump cant be counted on to care about anything beyond getting his name on the Arizona ballot. The AZGOP, however, is interested in safeguarding fair and fully participatory Arizona Republican primaries and presidential preference elections for many years beyond the impending 2024 election cycle, Wilenchik wrote. Former President Trump is not situated to make these long-term arguments. Maximum competition sought The state GOP is taking no position in the new filing on who should be the partys presidential nominee. Trump is one of nearly a dozen GOP contenders with some name recognition who want to be president. What the party is interested in, said Wilenchik, is maximum competition and maximum opportunity for registered Republican voters, who are the only ones who can cast ballots in the partys presidential preference election. Should former President Donald J. Trump be enjoined from registering as a candidate for the upcoming presidential preference election, the AZGOPs First Amendment interests in allowing registered Arizona Republicans to choose among a wide range of candidates and to facilitate fair, and apparently fair, Republican presidential preference elections will be both immediately impaired and potentially impaired with respect to all such future elections, he wrote. Wilenchik criticized Castro for trying to force Fontes to keep Trump off the ballot, saying it would deprive Arizona Republicans of their state constitutional rights. The relief sought by plaintiff is a restriction on AZGOPs speech which is content and viewpoint-based and demonstrates an effort to intimidate and silence the AZGOPs association and expression, he wrote. Wilenchik acknowledged the language of the 14th Amendment. But he wants Rayes to rule Fontes does not have the authority under that amendment to keep Trump off the ballot. Castro does not agree. In his 17-page self-filed brief he cites multiple instances of activities and comments by Trump on and around the Jan. 6, 2021 riot in Washington that he said cross the legal line and make the former president ineligible. Still, Castro conceded Rayes authority to keep Trump off the ballot may not be as clear as all that. He said he views the judiciary as the ultimate decider of Trumps eligibility. But Castro also said it might take more. A congressional finding of liability would certainly aid the judiciarys fact-finding mission, he said. According to his bio, Castros political career dates back to an unsuccessful bid for county commissioner in 2004 at age 19. He also made attempts to get elected to Congress. Now a Texas tax consultant, he filed in March to run for president, loaning his campaign $20 million according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. This isnt his first legal foray into trying to keep Trump off the ballot. Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, refused to overturn a ruling by a federal judge in Florida where Castro sought similar relief. But that likely does not preclude his case here or similar ones filed by other groups in other states from going forward. The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: Here we are, a year after Professor Thomas Meixner was tragically shot dead on campus. The reports that followed showed months worth of documentation of the threat. In March, the Faculty Senate released a vote of no confidence in the university president. Yet, unsurprisingly perhaps, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) doubled down on their support of the good ole boy they themselves selected. Now, the University has failed to protect their people again, as a faculty member from the College of Nursing is being harassed by right-wing, anti-trans groups for a lecture slide about screening children for gender dysmorphia. The faculty members colleagues say the universitys lack of support played a role in her resignation. All of this is happening against a national backdrop of increasing legislative attacks on transgender people, and as general violence against trans people trends upward. Where is the University of Arizonas backbone? After working in the Executive Office of the President for six months, I believe that the universitys central administration, the Arizona Board of Regents and the Arizona Legislature share an alignment of political priorities with disastrous results. This year, the Legislature introduced Senate Bill 1694 intended to legally ban any type of diversity, equity and inclusion program at any public entity. It also prohibits advancing theories of implicit bias, cultural appropriation, anti-racism, systemic oppression, social justice, and the extremely broad list goes on. Senate Bill 1694 did not pass in Arizona because our Democratic Governor, Katie Hobbs, vetoed it. But the rumblings out of Phoenix are that it will be put directly to the voters on the ballot next year. If it were to pass, it would amend the state constitution and would be virtually impossible to undo a three-fourths majority in the Legislature would be required. If new life is in fact breathed into SB 1694, the university could go from under-serving to fascist. We can catch a glimpse of that dystopian future in Texas, for example, where the University of Houston LGBTQ Resource Center has been closed in accordance with the new law. All of the Regents who make up the Arizona Board of Regents the board that governs our three public universities were appointed by Governor Doug Ducey; the same governor Red for Ed took on over the deplorable state of public school support that puts Arizona at 45th in the nation. Most recently, weeks after the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, ABOR followed the guidance of the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank, and eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion statements from university job postings. The hemorrhage of students, faculty and staff of color and generally good people who refuse to toe the line was already a running joke among university insiders. The university has a huge debt to the most underserved people of Arizona. The land-grant mission a 150-year-old charge enacted by the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 represents the foundation for the universitys relationship of service to our communities; service needed now more than ever. Not only does Arizona rank 45th in public education, but the pandemic exacerbated disparities even further. Arizona experienced the highest adjusted death rate in the nation during the pandemic, according to analysis published in The Lancet. Arizonas COVID-19 death rate was about the same as the worlds hardest-hit countries Russia, Bulgaria and Peru. States with higher poverty, lower rates of educational attainment, less access to quality health care and lower levels of interpersonal trust saw disproportionately higher rates of COVID infections and deaths. While the picture Im painting may seem grim, I have hope that people will vote with these issues in mind next year. As Arizonas political landscape continues to rapidly evolve, taking our public education back from the political right will become possible. Ageism is appropriate Re: the Sept. 29 article "A letter from one old guy to another." I don't usually give an opinion as open as a "letter to the editor" but the analysis written by Mr. Ray Lindstrom is hard to resist. I am older than both Ray and Joe. I lived and worked in the corporate world located in Wilmington, Delaware for many years. The one and only time I supported Joe Biden was the tragic accident involving his wife and children. He was a young Senator and commuted daily on the Amtrak from Washington to Delaware to be with his surviving son in the hospital. I gave him credit for being a caring father. Now on ageism. You bet. Joe Biden does not belong in yet another term as Chief Executive of this great country of ours. I'm with Ray Lindstrom on this one point. It's time for Joe Biden to retire. I will refrain from what I would say if in private conversation. Instead I will sign off as a concerned citizen for the future of the United States of America. Joan Wolfe Marana Term limits, please? With all due respect to the family and friends of Senator Dianne Feinstein, who passed away on Sept. 28 after serving 31 years in the U.S. senate. She has been called a titan of U.S. political history, a befitting description for one who has given so much as a public servant. However, the first question to be asked is, Can a 90-year-old function optimally as a member of the Senate or, indeed, in any other political position? The second question to be asked is: Were there others behind the curtain functioning for her? Mary Jo Swartzberg SaddleBrooke No on Prop. 413 The Tucson and council are asking voters to give them a pay raise tied to county board of supervisors. The mayor would jump from $42,000 to around $96,000. The Phoenix mayor only makes around $62000. We are being asked to give a pay raise when many people are struggling to make ends meet. Gas prices are high. Food cost etc. Tucson is having a huge homeless crisis right now. Our streets are falling apart. This seems to be a very tone deaf time of the mayor and council to ask at this time. We also have a city manager that runs the city, so giving the Mayor a huge pay raise would mean we are paying two people for the same job. I urge Tucson voters to think about this before voting yes on prop 413. Michael Childree Southeast side Immigration Re: the Oct. 6 letter "470,000 Venezuelans to stay and work." I want to thank the letter writer for clarifying why Biden is so interested in allowing Venezuelans (and other immigrants) into this country. The unemployment rate of foreign-born persons in the United States is now 3.4% and they are filling jobs in agriculture, service, construction and maintenance. Their influx, though initially costly, will become more and more important as the Boomer generation ages and retires. We will need millions of new workers to keep the labor force constant let alone growing. If the letter writer hadnt told us that they were here simply to cement the Democratic partys power and control of the country, I would have ignorantly assumed they were here to escape either natural or man-made disasters such as poverty, violence and drugs and make a better life for themselves and their families (and incidentally help this country continue to flourish). Kenneth Cohn Northwest side Unknowingly accepting fascism There is a small faction of far right Americans who openly embrace fascism. But most Republican voters deny that they support fascism. Our fascism experts have shown that Trumpism is fascism, so the support of Trump is also the support of fascism. Although there is also a small group of Republicans that rejects fascism, most Republicans support fascism unknowingly. This delusion is very logical psychologically because few want to believe that they would knowingly accept the destructiveness of fascism. So, its easier for them to deny that what Trump represents is fascism, than to admit that they support fascism. This is a classic psychological defense mechanism, where denial is used to protect our mind from anxiety. Mark Twain said that Its easier to fool people than it is to convince them that theyve been fooled. But accepting fascism is the acceptance of using violence to accomplish your end goal, while giving up on democracy. Fascism is very real in America. Its time to acknowledge it. Steve Rasmussen Foothills President Trump's Abraham peace deals During the last months of President Trump's term, he negotiated and secured several peace normalization deals between Israel and Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Morocco. Saudi Arabia was to be next, but the election occurred. It was part of Trump's strategy of encircling Iran with countries friendly to Israel. The mega Democrat news media largely ignored and dismissed the deals as meaningless as they wanted their guy, Joe Biden in the White House. Under Trump there was no invasion of Ukraine by Putin, no collapse of Afghanistan, no large scale attack on Israel that we have just seen by Iranian funded Hamas, and our border was secure. Under President Biden we have a disastrous border, Putin's second invasion of Ukraine, a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan leaving behind hundreds of thousands of small arms and ammunition to the Taliban and possibly now in the hands of Hamas, appeasement of Iran, and now war in Israel. A re-election of Biden would mean more of the same. Haley Roberts West side War There is a national TV station that states we need to go to war for our beliefs. Really as we are seeing today do we want this now? War does not solve anything. Our Americans can feel very sad for what our fellow human souls are going thru but do we want this here? Dont listen to this faction of communities. We need to work together. God, please look over our country. Mary Beth Schneider East side Follow the money for incorporation Re: the Oct. 10 letter "If it's not broke, why fix it?" The author asks why the Southern Arizona Leadership Council (SALC) supports the incorporation of Vail. SALC works to improve the economic vibrancy and quality of life in Southern Arizona and the state. Our members are business leaders who are committed to helping our region thrive. Since its founding in 1997, SALC has strongly supported annexation and incorporation. State shared revenues are distributed to incorporated areas of each county. Indeed, as the author suggests, voters should follow the money. While 97% of Maricopa County is incorporated, only 65% of Pima County is. That costs our region close to $50 million annually. The City of Tucson recognizes the economic impact and has been very active in annexing adjoining areas in the last few years. Vail residents should take notice and vote YES to incorporate and assert their self-governance, strengthen their representation on regional matters and increase funding to their community. Ted Maxwell, President & CEO Southern Arizona Leadership Council Oro Valley Embellished financial statements Its nice to find humor in the morning paper outside the funnies. The latest source of comic relief is the fraud trial going on in New York. Apparently its a criminal offense to embellish a financial statement. That would be serious if anyone actually looked at them. I submitted countless financial statements to banks and they were never even looked at. In the five years as a Realtor and 50 years as a property investor, I never figured out what method financial institutions used to lend money. At first I had the Magic 8 Ball theory but decided on the paper weight method. When the paperwork took on a certain weight the loan was approved. One of my weight approved loans was called after five years of on time payments on a technicality. The bank took my money and borrowed it back out at 2% less. If banks cant figure out basics of lending, I doubt prosecutors in New York will have any luck. Gary Stoeger MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A man charged in the museum heist of a pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in the The Wizard of Oz pleaded guilty Friday in a deal that could keep him out of prison due to his failing health, but only cleared up some of the mystery that dates back 18 years. Terry Jon Martin, 76, pleaded guilty to a single count of theft of a major artwork. The shoes were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actor's hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and recovered by the FBI in 2018. No one was arrested until Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, was charged this year. During his change-of-plea hearing in federal court in Duluth, Martin said he used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum door and display case to take the slippers. He said he thought the slippers had real rubies and that he had hoped to sell the gems. But when a fence told him the rubies were glass, he said he got rid of the slippers. Martin did not say how he got rid of them or to whom he gave them, leaving the slippers' whereabouts during the ensuing years a mystery. He did say that the theft had nothing to do with trying to get insurance money, as some have speculated. Terry has no idea where they were and how they were recovered," Martins attorney, Dane DeKrey, said afterward. "His involvement was that two-day period in 2005. Under the plea agreement, DeKrey and federal prosecutor Matt Greenley recommended that Martin not face any time behind bars because of his age and poor health. Martin, who appeared in court in a wheelchair with supplemental oxygen, has advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and struggles to breathe, DeKrey said. The proposed sentence would let Martin die at home, the attorney said. He's basically slowly suffocating to death, DeKrey said. Martin, who has a 1988 conviction for receiving stolen goods, remained free on his own recognizance after the hearing. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, the chief federal judge for Minnesota, ordered a presentence investigation and said he'd likely schedule the sentencing for about 2 1/2 months from now. Schiltz told Martin that he isn't legally bound by the sentencing recommendation by the defense and prosecution. According to DeKrey, the nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines recommended eight to 10 years in similar cases. The U.S. attorney's office said it would have no comment until after Martin is sentenced. Garland wore several pairs of ruby slippers during filming of the classic 1939 musical, but only four authentic pairs are known to remain. The stolen slippers were insured for $1 million, but federal prosecutors put the current market value at about $3.5 million. The FBI said a man approached the insurer in 2017 and said he could help get them back. The slippers were recovered during an FBI sting in Minneapolis. The FBI has never disclosed how it tracked down the slippers, which remain in the agency's custody. The slippers were on loan to the museum from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw when Martin stole them. Three other pairs that Garland wore in the movie are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and a private collector. Several rewards were offered over the years in hopes of figuring out who stole the slippers, which were key props in the 1939 movie. Garlands character, Dorothy, has to click the slippers' heels three times and repeat, Theres no place like home, to return home to Kansas. Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She lived in Grand Rapids, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, until she was 4, when her family moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969. The Judy Garland Museum, which is in the house where she lived, says it has the worlds largest collection of Garland and Wizard of Oz memorabilia. This story was corrected to show that nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines have recommended eight to 10 years in similar cases, not 10 to 12 years. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) A judge on Thursday set a trial date for a man accused of raping a woman a year before he was charged with kidnapping and killing a school teacher who was on an early morning run. Cleotha Abston was not arrested on the rape charges before Eliza Fletchers killing because of a long delay in processing the sexual assault kit, authorities have said. Abston, 39, has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Shelby County Judge Lee Coffee scheduled an April 8 trial for Abston on the charges of kidnapping and raping a woman in September 2021. Abston is charged with snatching Fletcher from a street near the University of Memphis on Sept. 2, 2022, and forcing her into an SUV. Her body was found days later near a vacant duplex. Abston, who also has used the name Cleotha Henderson, was charged with the 2021 rape days after he was charged with Fletchers killing. The April rape trial will take place before the trial in the Fletcher case. Prosecutors say they will pursue the death penalty if Abston is convicted of first-degree murder, but no trial date has been set in that case. The killing of Fletcher, a 34-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of two, shocked the Memphis community led to a flood of support for her family. Runners in Memphis and several other cities held an early-morning running event in her honor a week after she was abducted. A second run honoring Fletcher was held this year. Abston was arrested after police detected his DNA on sandals found near the location where Fletcher was last seen, an arrest affidavit said. An autopsy report showed Fletcher died of a gunshot wound to the head. She also had injuries to her right leg and jaw fractures. After Fletchers death, the Legislature passed a law requiring the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to issue a quarterly report on sexual assault kit testing times. Abstons lawyer, Juni Ganguli, has filed a change of venue motion seeking to have jurors from the Nashville area hear the rape case. Ganguli says heavy media coverage and social media commentary threaten Abstons ability to receive a fair trial if Memphis-area jurors are used. Ganguli said social media comments about news stories in the Fletcher case have been overwhelmingly negative and toxic. I understand people are angry. Thats not lost on me, Ganguli said. With that said, in order to ensure that this man gets a fair trial, that the system works, youve got have a fair and impartial jury. James D. Watts Jr. Tulsa World Scene Writer Follow James D. Watts Jr. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today It was a photograph or rather, the absence of a photograph that started David Grann on the five-year journey that produced the book Killers of the Flower Moon. Grann had come to Oklahoma that day in 2012 at the suggestion of a historian colleague, who had mentioned something called the Osage Reign of Terror might be something Grann found interesting. At the time, Grann had been a staff writer for The New Yorker for almost a decade and had published two books. One was a collection of his long-form stories titled The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness and Obsession; the other was The Lost City of Z, chronicling the doomed 1925 expedition by British explorer Percy Fawcett into the Amazon jungle. Grann was taking a tour of the Osage Nation Museum in Pawhuska and noticed the large, panoramic photograph that captured a moment during an event in 1924. It showed this large gathering of members of the Osage Nation and white people, Grann recalled. And there was this section of it that was missing. I asked Kathryn Red Corn, who was the museums director, about this gap in the photograph. Her response was, The devil was right there, he said. She later took me to the museums basement and showed me the part of the photograph that had been cut out. What had been excised was a section that showed William Hale, the self-styled King of the Osage who was the dark heart of the conspiracy to funnel the oil wealth of the Osage Nation into his own pockets. I was so struck by what she said, and by the way she said it, Grann said. It told me this was something the Osage people could not forget. And yet it was also something that so many people and that includes myself had never heard about before. Thats one reason why I knew this was a story I had to tell, to address my own ignorance about one of the worst racial massacres, and one of the most sinister conspiracies, in our countrys history, he said. Killers of the Flower Moon was published in 2017 and quickly became a national sensation, topping lists of bestsellers and best books of the year, due in equal measure to the subject matter and Granns way of telling the story, which the Financial Times described as A marvel of detective-like research and narrative verve. Film rights were sold prior to the books publication, and almost from the beginning, director Martin Scorsese and actors Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio were part of the project. Grann had little to do with the making of the film version of Killers of the Flower Moon, which opens in theaters Oct. 20. He has, however, seen the completed version a few times, including as a guest of the Osage Nation at the special screening held for Osage members in July in Tulsa. That was the only place I really wanted to see the film, Grann said. It was such a privilege and an honor to be asked to be there, to be able to watch the movie with members of the Osage Nation and just to get to spend more time with them. Grann did not want to talk about the film too much, out of respect for the artists of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, who were on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers at the time of this interview. But he did say he believes the film is extremely faithful to the spirit of his book. As a historian, you are telling a story from the outside in, he said. You are reliant on documents and records for any dialogue you can use. And there are some places you just cant go as a historian, like a bedroom or a kitchen, unless you find someones very detailed diary. In film, youre telling a story from inside out. You have actors who are needing to embody these people they are portraying. And that is absolutely appropriate for that medium. Granns book told the story of the Osage murders from three main perspectives: that of Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman whose family was almost completely eradicated; that of the investigators, led by an agent of the nascent FBI; and that of Grann himself, trying to provide some answers to victims and survivors of the Osage Reign of Terror and revealing just how dark and deep and enduring the conspiracy that fueled the violence was and is. Originally, DiCaprio was cast in the role of Tom White, the FBI agent sent to investigate the murders. But the actor preferred the role of Ernest Burkhart, the nephew of William Hale who becomes an unwitting tool of his uncles rapaciousness. (Jesse Plemons was cast as White.) There were so many ways this book could have been adapted, and I believe they settled on the best way to tell this story, Grann said. That is to focus on the story of Mollie Burkhart (portrayed in the movie by Lily Gladstone), and her relationship with Ernest. Mollys story is really the heart and soul of the human tragedy of this story. Grann said no author can expect a film to be an exact replica of his or her book. Really, what you want as an author is to know that the people who are developing the film of what youve written to have the same fierce commitment to the story, and to getting at the deeper truths in that truths within that story, as you do, even if they come at it in different ways, he said. And Martin Scorsese and his team have done great justice to this story, Grann said. In my opinion, the most important decision made was to film on location. It was a way to ensure large levels of cooperation and participation at all stages with the Osage Nation, which I think was essential. While the success of Killers of the Flower Moon has been gratifying, Grann said for him it was important to bring this little-known portion of American history to light. You never know if something you write is going to find an audience, he said. When I finally finished the book, after spending more than five years on it, my wife said to me, Even if no one reads it, you did something important. Thats been one of the most surprising things about this book that so many more people than I would have imagined seemed willing to confront this very dark period in American history, Grann said. I got my first real inkling of this when I came out to Tulsa for an event not long after the book was published, and so many people showed up. But the one aspect about the books success that means the most to me is that we are starting to chip away at the erasure of this history, he said. While the Osage people know of this tragedy deeply and profoundly, so many people in Oklahoma were never taught about it. The book has reached a lot of people, and a movie can reach even more, Grann said. The way stories can seem to radiate out is the way we learn. My biggest hope is that both the book and the movie of Killers of the Flower Moon continues to encourage people to be curious and keep learning about our shared history. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Events across the country including a sunrise gathering in Minneapolis, a statehouse rally in Maine, a celebratory march in Seattle and traditional dancing, music, and food in Alaska and Arizona marked celebrations of Indigenous Peoples Day. The ceremonies, speeches and performances in traditional regalia Monday came two years after President Joe Biden officially commemorated the day honoring America's first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today. At a gathering in Phoenix where dancers performed in traditional Aztec clothing, Sifa Matafahi said it was an opportunity to "pay respect to Indigenous cultures ... to reflect on our past and history, while also acknowledging our cultural presence. A celebratory march was held in Seattle and a sunrise ceremony at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. In Minnesota, about 150 people, including the governor and lieutenant governor, attended a sunrise prayer and ceremony at Bde Maka Ska, a lake surrounded by parkland on the south side of Minneapolis. Today, we recognize our ancestors and predecessors who really laid the foundation for us to stand, said Thorne LaPointe, an organizer, who is Sicangu Lakota. And we will always recognize our elders who are here and those who have gone on before us, who really kicked open the doors in their time, nationally and internationally. Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., have holidays honoring Indigenous people, according to the Pew Research Center. Many of them celebrate it on the second Monday of October, pivoting from a day long rooted in the celebration of explorer Christopher Columbus to one focused on the people whose lives and culture were forever changed by colonialism. Dozens of cities and school systems also now observe Indigenous Peoples Day. "I think it just look a long time because we are Indigenous People we always have to fight for recognition as we have been since the first ships arrived, Matafahi said in an interview at the gathering in Phoenix. In Augusta, Maine, several hundred people celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day by rallying outside the State House in support of a Nov. 7 statewide vote that would restore language about the states obligations to Native American tribes to printed versions of its constitution. Maulian Bryant, Penobscot Nation ambassador and president of the Wabanaki Alliance, said once people understand the importance to Native Americans, they will support it like they did when towns, and then the state, enacted Indigenous Peoples Day. Bryant recalled the successful grassroots conversations that took place about the legacy of Columbus, whose arrival brought violence, disease and suffering to Native Americans. We want to honor the true stewards of these lands, she said. In South Dakota, dozens of people marched to a memorial at a park honoring Native American children who died at the Rapid City Indian School in the late 1800s before it was closed in 1933. Others who gathered in Anchorage, Alaska, said a celebration like the one there Monday would have been unheard of six decades ago. Gina Ondola, a Denaina Athabascan, said she graduated from East Anchorage High School in 1962 with only four or five other Alaska Natives in her class and certainly no Indigenous culture club. We didnt learn much about our history, she said. Instead they were taught how white Europeans who came to North America were slaughtered by Native Americans. When I was growing up, I didnt feel too much pride in being Native. I always heard about drunk Natives, said Odola, who was wearing black gloves with red and white beadwork to represent her familys colors. It feels good for me to be able to feel pride in who I am, she said. The Anchorage celebration included Alaska Native dance groups, traditional Alaska Native game demonstrations and a student wearing a Molly of Denali costume. The PBS show was the nations first childrens series to feature Indigenous leads. Abigael Hollis, a freshman film student at the Institute of American Indian Arts, was among those who attended a powwow at a downtown plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It brought together Native American dancing groups from throughout the state and beyond, as well as Native American jewelers, potters and weavers who sold artwork at outdoor stands. Its celebrating the fact that my ancestors lived to have me, and that were still around and that we can celebrate each other and love each other, said Hollis, who is of Cherokee ancestry and wore traditional dress, including a coming-of-age necklace made of buffalo bone and glass beads. New Mexico, which is home to 23 federally recognized Native American communities, replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day through legislation in 2019. The Santa Fe festival began with a blessing by dancers from nearby Tesuque Pueblo an acknowledgement that the city stands on the pueblos ancestral lands, said Caren Gala, who heads the Santa Fe Indigenous Center and helped organize the powwow. We wanted to pay respect and homage to that that this is their land, said Gala, who is affiliated with three pueblos, Laguna, Taos and Nambe. Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Associated Press writers David Sharp in Augusta, Maine, Mark Vancleave in Minneapolis and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, and photographer Ross Franklin in Phoenix contributed to this report. For more AP coverage of Native American issues: https://apnews.com/hub/native-americans (Photo : JOEL SAGET / AFP) (JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images) France is investigating the possible poisoning of exiled Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova after she felt malaise outside of her Paris apartment. French prosecutors are investigating the reason behind why an exiled Russian journalist, identified as Marina Ovsyannikova, was suddenly taken ill. The individual is known to have staged a high-profile protest against Moscow's war on Ukraine. The director general of Reporters without Borders, Christophe Deloire, said that he had already met with the Russian television journalist after she felt malaise outside of her Paris apartment. Potential Poisoning of Russian Journalist In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Deloire said that the possibility that the Russian journalist was poisoned had not been ruled out. However, he noted that Ovsyannikova has started feeling better since the incident outside her apartment. A spokesperson for the Paris Tribunal prosecutor's office said by telephone that they had opened an investigation into the incident. They noted that, for the moment, the only information that they have on the issue is that Ovsyannikova said she had a malaise. The Russian journalist briefly interrupted the main evening news program Russia's Channel One in March 2022. At the time, she put on the air a placard that read, "Stop the war. Don't believe the propaganda. They are lying to you here," as per US News. The individual was later sentenced in absentia to eight and a half years in prison for a subsequent protest where she stood on a river embankment opposite the Kremlin and held up a poster that called Russian President Vladimir Putin a murderer and his soldiers fascists. Read Also: Germany Wants to Minimize Deportations Amid Mounting Migrant Pressure A year ago, the 45-year-old Russian journalist fled Russia with her daughter after escaping house arrest, as revealed by her lawyer, who said she had no case to answer. Following the reported malaise, French police started to investigate Ovsyannikova's apartment as part of the investigation. Reports without Borders helped Ovsyannikova escape Russia and settle in France, adding that its team was "at her side" since she sought medical attention. The group is also known by its French acronym RSF and noted that it did not have further information regarding the incident. Russian Dissent After Ovsyannikova's initial protest on live TV, she was charged with disparaging the Russian military and was fined $270. According to the Associated Press, the eight-and-a-half-year sentence against the Russian journalist was made over allegedly spreading false information about Moscow's army. The development was seen as the latest example of a Russian crackdown on dissent that has intensified since Moscow's Ukraine invasion nearly two years ago. Additionally, the scale of the crackdown has been unprecedented in post-Soviet Russia. The situation comes after Russia passed a new law in 2022 that makes anyone the government deems to have spread "false" information on the war in Ukraine face up to 15 years of imprisonment. Top critics of the Kremlin have received lengthy prison terms since then, and independent news sites were blocked while independent journalists have fled the nation in fear of prosecution. Among the most famous Russian dissidents is opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who was convicted of promoting "extremism" by a Russian court. According to CBS News, this led to the extension of his already-lengthy time in prison by nearly two decades. Related Article: Israel-Hamas War: Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem Calls for Day of Prayer, Fasting for Peace @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Randy Krehbiel 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 With war threatening to spread across the Middle East and the U.S. House of Representatives inability to elect a speaker endangering stability at home, U.S. Sen. James Lankford advised prayer on Thursday and also action. Theres a lot we can do in praying for this region and being prepared, as well, Lankford told the Tulsa Regional Chamber. Lets also understand the United States should not just sit idly by while Israel is obliterated. On the standstill in the U.S. House and therefore Congress and what seems to be the countrys increasingly poisonous politics, Lankford advised supporting political candidates who are more interested in solutions than fights. When someone in the audience asked, How can we support demonstrating behavior like adults when we have differences? Lankford replied, Actually support people who act like adults. That would be helpful. Lankford said the tone in the nations Capitol reflects the nation as a whole. I have quite a few folks that catch me and say, You dont sound as angry as I feel. I need you to go to D.C. and yell more, Lankford said. I get that, but Ive just never been persuaded by somebody screaming at me. Ive never had someone cuss me out and at the end of it Ive walked away thinking, Youre so smart. Lankford said the stalemate in the House is caused by a handful of folks who were unhappy because former Speaker Kevin McCarthy wasnt moving fast enough on things that should have been resolved 30 years ago. Talking to reporters earlier, Lankford said that if a new speaker isnt chosen this week, the situation likely wont be resolved for weeks and weeks. Even before McCarthys ouster, prospects were daunting of passing current budget year appropriations before a Nov. 17 deadline to approve the current budget years appropriations. On Thursday, Lankford shook his head and said, No, when asked if it could be done. I dont see any way. We have to pass 12 bills in the Senate, 12 bills in the House, go through conference, then pass them again. Theres physically not enough days and time. Best case scenario is we pass some of the bills. The rest we do a continuing resolution until December and get them done then, Lankford said. Theres literally not enough time and not a negotiator in the House. Always a staunch supporter of Israel, Lankford laid responsibility for the current situation completely on the Hamas rulers of Gaza and their Iranian sponsors. When it was mentioned that about as many Palestinian civilians as Israelis seem to have been killed, Lankford said: Its incredibly painful in the whole region right now. Youve got several terrorist groups functioning in the middle of the Palestinians. Those dont represent all of the Palestinian people, but they suffer under the consequences of those terrorist groups that they allow to stay in that area. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007. Considered a terrorist organization by much of the world, Hamas does not recognize the state of Israel and seeks to regain Palestinian control of the area set aside in 1947 for the creation of Israel. Most of Gazas 2 million people are Sunni Muslims whose families were displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Only 141 square miles, Gaza is among the most densely populated places on earth and also has one of the highest birth rates. It is blockaded by air, sea and land by Israel and Egypt. In recent years, the Israeli government has come under increasing criticism for its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Some think the treatment has been justified given Hamas objectives and tactics. Hamas is both a governing organization for Gaza and also a terrorist military arm for Gaza, Lankford said Thursday. So Israel has the difficult task of being able to move into the middle of 2 million civilians and be able to eliminate what is a clear, lethal threat to Israeli citizens but protect as many (Gaza) civilians that are not part of this Hamas movement. Later, speaking to the chamber, Lankford said, When Israel talks about going into Gaza and taking out Hamas, that is changing their governmental system. We know what that looked like in Afghanistan. We know the challenges of that. This is not a simple process. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Ginnie Graham Tulsa World Editorials Editor Follow Ginnie Graham Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today The answer to why the chief executive officer of GRAND Mental Health dedicated his life to people in crisis starts with his mother, who in October 1953 was institutionalized in California, where she received electroconvulsive therapy. Larry Smith was born the following February, the seventh of eight children to itinerant farm workers a father disabled from his World War II service and a chronically mentally ill mother. They lived in shacks with dirt floors or even outside in tents. Both parents died young, leaving he and some of his siblings orphaned. They were in Oklahoma at the time, taken into foster care and then sent to an orphanage operated by the American Legion in Ponca City. He credits the institution with getting him through high school and eventually into the Air Force. In 1976, Smith returned to the orphanage as an employee and was part of a dedicated shift to care for abused and neglected children in the states welfare system. He found that his background worked well in understanding the needs of vulnerable people. We know more about how not to retraumatize or make the trauma worse, Smith said. I love who I am today, but I didnt always like who I was. I understand what it takes to change. In 1994, Smith made his own shift into mental health services, joining what was then called Grand Lake Mental Health Center, which was founded in 1977 in Vinita. The nonprofit has gone through a radical change in the past decade, expanding into 12 rural counties and now entering Tulsas co-occurring substance abuse and mental health provider landscape. Smith is overseeing the renovation of a 15-acre campus in the 6100 block of East Skelly Drive into a comprehensive mental health and substance use treatment program, including a 400-bed residential addiction treatment facility, adult and children outpatient services, 24/7 urgent recovery center for those experiencing substance abuse and co-occurring addiction/mental health crisis that will serve as an entry point into multiple levels of care. The area, known as the Skyline Campus, had housed Tulsa Community College, Tulsa Tech, Oklahoma Department of Human Services and the 12 & 12 treatment center. The nonprofit was brought to Tulsa through an eight-month management contract with 12 & 12. In June 2022, the decision was made to merge 12 & 12 into GRAND Mental Health. We couldnt lose 12 & 12, the largest substance abuse and addiction treatment provider in the state, said Josh Cantwell, chief operating officer of GRAND Mental Health. It had to be here; it would be devastating to the system for it to go away. Before the move to Tulsa, GRAND Mental Health a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic was operating in seven northeastern Oklahoma counties: Washington, Rogers, Nowata, Delaware, Mayes, Ottawa and Craig. It was awarded a federal demonstration grant in 2017 that enhanced Medicaid reimbursements. Others from the state in that project were Red Rock Behavioral Health Services and NorthCare of Oklahoma City. The goal was to shift from a fee-for-service arrangement to one focused on outcomes. That allows a provider to decide on a treatment plan based on needs, not number of services provided. It is a paradigm shift, Smith said. Cantwell said the underlying philosophy is on results while providing unbridled access. If a person needs 40 hours of care or four hours in a month, the point is to do whats necessary to get a patient healthy. Payment in this model is based on the cost to provide high quality, outcome-driven services And the treatment should be in the least restrictive environment, which also happens to be the least expensive, Cantwell said. GRAND Mental Health worked with law enforcement on a model using virtual health care. In collaboration with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, it purchased tablets for every law enforcement vehicle in its rural counties with 24-hour access to a mental health professional. As officers engaged with a person with mental health symptoms, a connection for an on-the-spot assessment was made. It gave officers directions on appropriate, immediate placement. Patients were given tablets upon release for immediate access to a mental health professional or for regular check-ins. In addition, clinics were built or expanded to include a 24-hour urgent recovery center where patients could be transported for treatment, rather than going to emergency rooms, hospitals or jails. The clinics added other health care services to meet needs for hypertension and diabetes, illnesses that disproportionately affect mentally ill people. The goal is to have a 24-hour clinic within 30 miles of a law enforcement headquarters. It cut jail stays significantly each year and resulted in a 93% decrease in in-patient hospital visits. In the first five years, it is estimated to have saved $15 million in unnecessary medical costs in those seven rural counties. When people have access to the care they need when they need it, they will not go into crisis, Smith said. We are creating an environment where police and patients have choices and help making those choices with a mental health professional. About 91% of the clients they encounter through law enforcement agree to go into treatment voluntarily, Smith said. In 2019, Grand Mental Health was awarded a contract through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to replicate its program in five north-central counties: Kay, Osage, Noble, Pawnee and Payne. When the pandemic hit, the virtual infrastructure was in place. The nonprofit was able to meet the 30% jump in need for services since March 2020. It now serves about 14,700 clients. GRAND Mental Health has 26 clinics across 12 rural counties. It has plans to open new clinics in Blackwell and Stillwater and a family clinic in Claremore. For Tulsa, its plan is to have a one-stop entrance for the public so assessments can be made. For police transports, there will be a dropoff at an underground entrance to take away any stigma for patients and for ease to officers. This service is particularly important as the city grapples with how to curb growing homelessness. Homelessness is not the crisis; its a symptom of the crisis. The crisis happened upstream with a trauma or disorder that wasnt addressed or treated, Smith said. For its Tulsa crisis center, the nonprofit is focusing on substance abuse and addiction treatment, including for people who have co-occurring mental health disorders. It has applied for a contract to expand its CCBHC model through the states mental health and substance abuse agency. Regardless of the contract outcome, GRAND Mental Health plans to be an addition to Tulsas mental health continuum of care. The brain is the final frontier, and brain health is the key in moving people into recovery, Cantwell said. I want to be part of removing every barrier to treatment. I want to see real, legitimate commitment to increasing access to mental health and substance abuse services. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Lam Dong Province and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, two of Vietnams most-visited destinations, are teetering on the brink of a downhill slide in tourism due to road infrastructure issues that have made traveling to these places a nightmare. Lam Dong Located in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, Lam Dong Province is home to Da Lat, a popular destination for both international tourists and domestic travelers during short holidays. The province, about 320 kilometers northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, welcomed a total of 4.5 million tourists during the first half of this year, according to the provincial Peoples Committee. However, the provinces current state of traffic infrastructure has dimmed its tourist outlook for the second half of the year, according to Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Tran Duc Quan. According to the director of a major travel company in Da Lat, while there are serious concerns regarding traffic jams on holidays and weekends, less congestion in the city may signify the local tourism sectors downturn. In the heart of the city, where tourist activity was once bustling, hotels are noticeably vacant and owners are offering steep discounts to pull in guests. Meanwhile, many restaurants and other service providers have shut down due to low profits. The director noted that the traffic system in Da Lat has significantly deteriorated over the past few years. It is also extremely inconvenient to travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat. All roads leading to Da Lat City from other provinces are either severely damaged or heavily congested, essentially isolating the city, the director commented. While National Highway 20 serves as a crucial route linking Ho Chi Minh City, southern Dong Nai Province, and Lam Dong Province, its passage through residential areas, narrow mountain passes, high-traffic thoroughfares, and lack of expansion often result in travel times of up to eight hours to cover just 300 kilometers. National Highway 27C, which connects Nha Trang City in south-central Vietnams Khanh Hoa Province and Da Lat City, poses significant risks during the rainy season, with frequent landslides, falling rocks, and, more recently, sinkholes. National Highway 27 connecting Da Lat City to neighboring Dak Lak Province and south-central Ninh Thuan Province has long been a cause for concern due to extensive damage. Drivers are forced to travel at very slow speeds, putting significant strains on fuel and vehicle repair costs. Despite numerous repair requests to the Ministry of Transport over the years, the route remains dangerous. In September, Lam Dong Province proposed providing funds for repairs due to the negative impact on trade if the route remains in its current state. National Highway 28B, which connects Da Lat City and south-central Binh Thuan Province, is notorious for its steep slopes and sharp turns, both of which often contribute to accidents. The proposed Tan Phu-Bao Loc Expressway, set to open in 2025 to connect Lam Dong with neighboring Dong Nai Province, missed the deadline to break ground last month. These road infrastructure setbacks are likely to blame for Da Lats declining rank as a top tourist destination. Vehicles works at the construction site of a highway connecting Bien Hoa City of Dong Nai Province and Vung Tau City of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. Photo: Dong Ha / Tuoi Tre Comparatively, the Phan Thiet-Dau Giay Expressway, which was put into operation on April 30, shortened the expected traveling time from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet City, another popular holiday destination in Binh Thuan Province, from about five hours to just under three. It used to be that, among Phan Thiet City, Nha Trang City, and Da Lat City, my family would opt for Da Lat, shared Hoang Dung, a resident of District 3 in Ho Chi Minh City. Now, with our busy work schedules, we prefer destinations that are easily and quickly accessible. Traveling to Da Lat City has become exhausting due to the narrow roads and slow traffic, she explained. Ba Ria-Vung Tau The Ministry of Industry and Trade reports that around seven million tourists visited Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, a popular getaway destination just 85 kilometers east of Ho Chi Minh City, in the first half of 2023, generating an estimated total revenue of over VND7 trillion (US$286.3 million). The number of summer tourists increased compared to the previous year. However, Pham Ngoc Hai, president of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Tourism Association, highlighted that the growth rate of the tourism industry in the province has slowed in recent years. Despite official statistics indicating a consistent 10- to 15-percent yearly increase, this data is primarily derived from an estimate of the number of day visitors to Vung Tau City. Surveys of accommodation facilities in the city have revealed that the booking rate has fallen to below pre-COVID-19 levels. In the summer of 2023, only about 60 percent of available lodgings were occupied on average, a significant drop from the 85 to 90-percent occupancy rate seen in 2019. The longstanding issues of traffic congestion and road damage of National Highway 51, the sole route from Ho Chi Minh City to the provinces capital city of Vung Tau, are to blame for these undesirable figures. The condition of National Highway 51 is a major concern and a barrier to tourism development, as it creates significant travel delays between the province and Ho Chi Minh City, impacting the value of new tourism offerings and services. It can take up to four hours to travel the 85 kilometers between the two localities. The plan to build a VND18 trillion ($736.3 million) highway to connect Vung Tau with neighboring Dong Nais Bien Hoa City also faces a deadlock due to site clearance issues. As a result, the highway will likely not be finished until 2025, delaying relief for National Highway 51. At the same time, construction of Coastal Road 994 is progressing slowly. Accordingly, Hai encourages investments in the organization of large-scale events as an interim approach to boost local tourism while waiting for the completion of major infrastructure projects, such as the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway and Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province, which will bring new opportunities to Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy in the namesake city in Vietnams Mekong Delta region welcomed more than 200 Indian medical students, 2,300 new students, and over 2,100 graduates at the opening ceremony of the 2023-24 academic year on Thursday. This is the second year the university will train Indian medical students. The admission of 247 Indian students was made in accordance with a bilateral cooperation agreement between the university and an educational organization. Aside from Indian nationals, students from Cambodia, Belgium, Britain, and the United States are taking short- and long-term courses in diagnostic imaging, nursing, and endocrinology at the university. The university is moving toward becoming a smart [university] with a focus on investing in modern equipment and infrastructure, reforming teaching methods, improving studying programs, and attracting highly-qualified teachers and lecturers, said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trung Kien, rector of the Can Tho City-based university. The university currently trains over 14,000 students. Representatives of the Can Tho University for Medicine and Pharmacy award a scholarship to the valedictorian of the university entrance exam at the educational institution. Photo: Thai Luy / Tuoi Tre Tran Minh Hau was Can Tho Universitys most recent valedictorian. She scored 27.85 on the university entrance exam and was awarded a VND44 million (US$1,805) scholarship, equivalent to a years tuition. The university plays an important role in training the medical workforce in the Mekong Delta region, said many officials from Mekong Delta localities. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, Nguyen Van Nen, hosted receptions on Tuesday to welcome the newly-appointed Consul Generals of Canada and Malaysia to Ho Chi Minh City, emphasizing that the city always welcomes opportunities to collaborate with international partners to enhance its position in the global value chain. The Party chiefs welcoming coincided with the special occasion of the 50th anniversary of their countries diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Vietnam, Canada enhance cooperation in education Speaking with the new Consul General of Canada Annie Dube, Nen stated that the diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and Canada over the past 50 years has transcended geographical distance and continued its comprehensive development in the wake of the elevation of the bilateral relationship to comprehensive partnership in 2017. In response to the city's Party chief, Dube expressed Canada's keen interest in the development of the Vietnam-Canada relationship over the next 50 years. The Canadian Consul General shared that a meeting also recently took place between a delegation of 22 Canadian universities and 80 Vietnamese universities. Dube shared his hope that both countries will continue to enhance their collaboration in this area. According to Nen, two-way trade between Ho Chi Minh City and Canada is expected to exceed the $700 million mark this year. However, he shared his belief that this figure still fails to adequately reflect the level of the bilateral relationship. He welcomed Canada's investments in the city, especially in areas such as healthcare, finance, science and technology, digital transformation, human resource development, and climate change adaptation. City eyes on Halal food At the reception for Consul General of Malaysia Firdauz Bin Othman, Nen noted that Vietnam and Malaysia have built a strong and friendly relationship over the past 50 years. Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen (R) receives a souvenir from the new Malaysian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City Firdauz Bin Othman on October 10, 2023. Photo: Huu Hanh / Tuoi Tre Additionally, both countries have leveraged their shared interests and contributed to the development of the ASEAN community. Malaysia is currently the second-largest investor in Vietnam among ASEAN countries, with a total registered capital of over $13 billion. Nen stated that the city and Malaysia have the potential for cooperation and investment in various areas, including food security, digital economy, green economy, smart infrastructure development, high-end tourism services, and notably, the production and processing of Halal food for export. In response, Consul General Othman also emphasized the importance of enhancing people-to-people exchanges between Vietnam and Malaysia, particularly in the field of tourism. He also expressed his gratitude to the city for providing favorable conditions for Malaysian businesses operating locally. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin will start an official visit to Vietnam on Sunday, according to the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA)s Committee for Foreign Affairs. The two-day visit was scheduled at the invitation of Vietnamese NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, the committee said in a press release on Thursday. Previously, the visit was slated for June 25 to 26, but it was postponed due to an unexpected situation in Russia. The upcoming visit will mark 11 years of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia. This year also marks the 100th anniversary of Vietnamese State President Ho Chi Minhs arrival in Russia as part of his journey to save the country. Volodin previously paid a visit to Vietnam in December 2018, when the two sides agreed to strengthen their extensive cooperation between their countries and parliaments, marking a new developmental step in the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership. The highlight of that visit was the signing of an agreement to establish the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee between the NA of Vietnam and the Russian State Duma. This was the first time Vietnams NA had set up inter-parliamentary cooperation with a nation. With this new cooperation mechanism, Vietnam and Russia were expected to promote cooperation in various potential fields, especially parliamentary activities, bringing the traditional ties between the two countries to a new level. Vietnam and Russia established diplomatic ties in 1950 and elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2001 and then a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2012. On November 30, 2021, the two countries issued a joint statement on the vision of their comprehensive strategic partnership by 2030 during the official visit to Russia by then-Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong will travel to China on Tuesday next week to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement released on Thursday. The trip will be made at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping. State President Thuong will lead a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, slated for October 17-20. This will be State President Thuongs first trip to China since he took office in March this year. Vietnam and China have maintained good relations and achieved positive results, especially after Vietnams Party Nguyen General Secretary Phu Trongs visit to China from October 30 to November 1, 2022. Visits by high-ranking delegations of the two countries Parties and exchange and cooperation activities have been maintained since earlier this year. Vietnam-China trade reached US$122 billion in January-September of this year. Of the total, Vietnam exported $42.9 billion worth of products to its northern neighbor, or 16.6 percent of its total exports. Chinese investors poured nearly $2.1 billion in 478 projects in Vietnam during the nine-month period, making it the second largest foreign investor in the Southeast Asian country, following Singapore. During Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to Vietnam and participation in the APEC Summit on November 12, 2017, Vietnam and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on promoting connections between the Two Corridors, One Belt framework with the Belt and Road initiative. The two sides are entering into discussions to realize this MoU. China hosted the first and second Belt and Road Forums for International Cooperation in May 2017 and April 2019, respectively. Vietnamese leaders attended and delivered important speeches at these two forums. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Police in Ward 1 of Da Lat, a popular tourist city in Vietnam's Central Highlands region, praised two sanitation workers on Thursday for their honesty after they found a laptop and US$4,700 in cash on a street and handed them over to officers. The police officers returned the cash and laptop to Vo Thanh Vuong, a 32-year-old resident of Quang Ngai Province in central Vietnam, on the same day. Vu Thi Thu and Khieu Nu Thanh Chuc, both sanitation workers at Da Lat Urban Service JSC, were cleaning Nguyen Van Cu Street in Ward 1 at 9:00 pm on Wednesday, when they spotted a black backpack near a tree on the sidewalk. The backpack contained a Dell laptop and 47 $100-dollar bills. Thu and Chuc brought it to a nearby police station, hoping that it would be reunited with its rightful owner. Vuong told police that he had inadvertently left the backpack on Nguyen Van Cu Street. The Ward 1 Peoples Committee sent a thank-you letter to the two sanitation workers for their meaningful act. An official from the Da Lat City Peoples Committee said that the municipal administration acknowledged their contribution to building the image of a hospitable, gentle, and elegant city. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Catch up on the news in Vietnam today: Politics -- State President Vo Van Thuong will travel to China on Tuesday next week to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. -- Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Volodin Vyacheslav Victorovich will pay an official visit to Vietnam on Sunday at the invitation of Vuong Dinh Hue, chairman of Vietnams lawmaking National Assembly. His two-day visit will mark the 10th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia. Society -- Many provinces in central Vietnam will be battered by heavy downpours on Friday and Saturday, with rainfall estimated to reach up to 700 millimeters, according to the national weather center. -- A 69-year-old woman died and two others were hospitalized in Thai Luy District under Thai Binh Province, located in northern Vietnam after eating pig blood soup a few days ago, a representative from the districts Healthcare Center told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday night. -- The Peoples Committee of Da Nang City, central Vietnam will suspend seaside restaurants and hotels if they release wastewater into the ocean instead of connecting their wastewater pipes to the citys waste collection and treatment system, the Da Nang City chairman told a meeting on the citys January - September tourism performance on Thursday. Railway tickets will be put up for sale for the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday from October 20 through such websites as dsvn.vn, and vetau.com.vn, or at railway stations, authorized ticket agents, and through digital wallets. Lifestyle -- Police in Ward 1 in Da Lat, a popular tourist city under Lam Dong Province, located in Central Highlands region commended two sanitation workers on Thursday for their honesty as they collected US$4,700 in cash and a laptop on a street and handed them over to the police. -- The Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy in the namesake city in the Mekong Delta region welcomed more than 200 Indian medical students, 2,300 new students and over 2,100 graduates at an opening ceremony of the 2023-24 academic year on Thursday. -- The Peoples Committee of Hau Giang Province in the Mekong Delta region has issued a plan to launch three new waterway routes to boost river tourism and diversify tourism products and services, making the province more attractive to local and international visitors. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Tens of students exhibited symptoms of vomiting, stomachache, and discomfort on Monday evening after having a lunch meal at Van Don Middle School in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City on the same day. The school was informed on Monday night that some students had experienced stomach pain, Le Thi Thuy, principal of the school, said on Friday. Over 40 students took a day off on Tuesday as they vomited and suffered stomachache, while some others who came to school fell sick, thereby receiving care in the medical room, Thuy said. Officials from the District 4 Peoples Committee and the local division of education and training approached the school to conduct an inspection on Tuesday morning, while some doctors were dispatched to the educational facility to treat the ill students. The school halted the meal supply on Wednesday, while the samples of food provided to students on Monday are being tested. The test result will be announced on October 20. The school has cooperated with two meal suppliers, who monthly take turns providing food for the school. Due to the incident in which many students fell ill after a lunch meal, the school temporarily ended the contract with one of them, she said. Over the past three years, Thuy has always enjoyed a lunch meal one hour before students lunch time. I eat the meal first to check the taste and the quality of the food, and to see whether the meal is safe or not, Thuy recounted. After her lunch meal on Monday, she started suffering abdominal pain at 4:00 am a day later. This was an unexpected incident, the school expects sympathy and understanding from parents, the principal said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! On Thursday, Tenafly Council President Jeffrey D. Grossman and his son, Steven Grossman, were arrested for possession of child pornography. According to the authorities, both were arrested and charged with a second degree crime in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Tenafly Council President, Son Commit Pornography Crime Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella declared the arrest of Jeffrey Grossman, a Rochelle Park School District teacher. According to Musella, Jeffrey Grossman was charged for using the Internet to download nude content of prepubescent and pubescent children. A social worker, Steven Grossman, was also charged with possessing child-explicit content. The Musella's Cyber Crimes Unit investigated the arrest, including checking the Grossman's home. Per Daily Voice, the prosecutor's office has confirmed in a separate statement on the charges that the men were arrested after the cyber crimes unit searched the suspect's home. The investigation was reinforced by the county Sheriff's Office and police from Hasbrouck Heights and Tenafly. The Grossman's pending first appearances will be held at the Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. Samuel Braverman, an attorney representing the Grossmans, stayed silent about commenting on the charges. Read Also: Still Alive? Naked Girl Paraded by Hamas Reportedly in Gaza Hospital Who are Jeffrey and Steven Grossman? According to North Jersey, Jeffrey D. Grossman's first teaching experience was in Rochelle Park School District, where he taught 6th and 7th grade at the Midland School. After several years of break in teaching, he has returned to teach at Northern Highlands Regional High School and Norwood Elementary School. Jeffrey Grossman's term in Tenafly as a council president will expire in December. While Steven Grossman is currently working as a social worker, according to the prosecutors. Sue DeNobile, the Rochelle Park K-8 district superintendent, did not promptly respond to comment on the charge of Jeffrey Grossman. However, Tenafly Mayor Mark Zinna has released a statement saying, "I was shocked to learn of the arrest of our Borough Council President. I think it is in the best interest of the Borough that Mr. Grossman steps down in order that the people's business can continue uninterrupted and without distraction." Sexual exploitation begins with downloading child sexual abuse material on the Internet, which lies in the child pornography crime. The Grossmans have pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and violated the law Banning Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. Related Article: Utah Files Lawsuit Against TikTok, Claims Harmful Content Are Bad for Children @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Many provinces in central Vietnam will be facing heavy downpours from now until Tuesday next week, with rainfall estimated to reach up to 700 millimeters, according to the national weather center. Ha Tinh and Quang Binh Provinces recorded 90 105 millimeters of rain on Thursday. Many schools in Da Nang City, Thua Thien Hue Province and Quang Tri Province allowed students to stay home due to floods caused by heavy rain on Friday. Localities from Nghe An to Quang Nam Provinces are also forecast to be battered by thunderstorms on Saturday. Torrential rain might hit the central region with the precipitation ranging from 150 to 300 millimeters on Sunday and Monday next week. The national weather center also warned of the ongoing downpour on Tuesday next week. Phung Tien Dung, a representative from the national weather center, said that the deluge of rain will increase the water levels of many rivers from Nghe An to Quang Ngai Provinces such as Ca River and La River during the period. Many parts of the central region might face flash floods and landslides triggered by the relentless rain. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang on Thursday issued a telegram asking the relevant ministries and the provinces from Thanh Hoa to Quang Ngai to respond to floods and downpours. Central provinces were told to promptly evacuate households in landslide- and flood-prone areas to safe shelters. The government urged the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Industry-Trade to guarantee industrial and agricultural production, and take action to reduce a risk of dam breach. The Ministry of Education and Training was tasked with cooperating with local authorities to ensure the safety of teachers and students, and protect learning and studying equipment in flood-affected areas. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! More than 5,000 students in two central Vietnamese provinces--Thua Thien Hue, Quang Tri--have been told to be away from school due to inclement weather. In Thua Thien Hue, the provincial education authority allowed 2,960 students to miss school due to heavy downpours recently, Nguyen Tan, head of the provincial Department of Education and Training, said on Friday morning. Torrential rains had lashed many parts in the province from Wednesday night till Friday morning, with rainfall measuring over 587mm in some locations, and left multiple roads in Phong Dien District flooded. By Friday morning, 13 schools in Phong Dien had announced school closures. Many schools in Phu Vang District made the same move on Friday at noon, the local official said. Dang Van Hoa, office chief of the provincial steering committee for natural disaster prevention and control, said heavy rain is expected to hit the province until October 20, with rainfall measuring between 200mm and 400mm, or even more than 700mm in some places. In Quang Tri, rains inundated several schools and left 2,063 kindergarteners, elementary and middle school students out of school in Hai Lang District, said Le Van Thanh, head of the education and training sup-department in the district. Around 500 students of the Hai Hoa Elementary and Middle School in Hai Lang were told to be away from school starting from Thursday afternoon, according to the schools principal Truong Van Mau. The schools teachers on Thursday afternoon moved chairs, tables and learning tools to higher places to avoid flooding while some others were asked to be on guard at school to respond to issues related to the bad weather. Tables and chairs are relocated to avoid flooding in Quang Tri Province, central Vietnam, October 12, 2023. Photo: Quang Ha / Tuoi Tre Some central provinces from Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai experienced moderate to heavy rains from Thursday evening to Friday morning, according to the national weather center. The Vietnam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, forecast that cold spells and a tropical convergence zone could bring heavy downpours to central Vietnam until October 20. Authorities and local people in the region should stay prepared for possible flooding, flash flood, landslides, which may remain complicated after this Sunday, said the meteorological and hydrological administration. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A woman died and two others were hospitalized after eating pig blood soup in Thai Thuy District under Thai Binh Province, located in northern Vietnam earlier this week. Pig blood soup, or tiet canh heo in Vietnamese, is a dish made from the raw blood of pigs and topped with peanuts and herbs. A representative of the Thai Thuy District Healthcare Center told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday night that the district had documented several food poisoning cases which occurred after the consumption of pig blood soup. The deceased was identified as Bui Thi Nh., a 69-year-old resident of Thai Thuy Districts Thuy Dan Commune. The raw blood for the soup was sourced from a slaughterhouse in Thuy Dan Commune. Bui Quoc H., 66, Nh.s younger brother, on October 8 bought raw pig blood from the slaughterhouse to make blood soup, which was eaten by Nh., H., his wife, and his daughter. The four developed stomachache, vomiting, and diarrhea the same day. A day later, three were rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment, while the other received treatment at home. Nh. was pronounced dead at the Thai Binh General Hospital due to septic shock suspiciously caused by streptococcus suis, while the two others are receiving treatment at the hospitals Infectious Diseases Department. According to the districts healthcare center, another individual was hospitalized and diagnosed with dyspepsia after using blood sourced from the slaughterhouse. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! More than 70 beauty queens from countries and territories around the world are gathering in Vietnam to participate in the Miss Grand International 2023 pageant. According to the organizers, the contest is taking place throughout this month in many provinces and cities across the country, with a wide range of activities. The activities are designed to help the contestants have a better understanding of Vietnam, its culture, and people. In Hanoi, the contestants donned ao dai (Vietnamese traditional costume), visited Ngoc Son Temple, Hoan Kiem Lake, the Temple of Literature, and joined a number of performance art events. Miss Grand Angola and Nigeria praised the dress, saying it made them feel confident and beautiful. Joining another activity to learn about the northern Vietnamese culture, the contestants wore ao tu than (a traditional costume commonly worn in the north). A photo provided by the Miss Grand International 2023 organizers shows contestants wearing 'ao tu than,' a traditional costume popular in the northern region of Vietnam, and taking part in a folk game. They also visited Thay Pagoda, one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam. During their time in Vietnam, the beauty queens have had the chance to try Vietnamese food. Miss Grand Canada expressed her hope to try pho in Vietnam even though she ate the noodle dish before in her home country. During a trip around Ha Long Bay, the Miss Grand International 2023 contestants had the opportunity to taste food from different regions in Vietnam, namely banh xeo (Vietnamese sizzling crepes), banh beo (steamed rice cakes), and banh cuon (steamed rice rolls). Che, a type of dessert that comes in a wide range of varieties, also won the hearts of the beauty queens. A photo provided by the Miss Grand International 2023 organizers shows a contestant enjoying che (Vietnamese sweet dessert). After visiting the northern region, the delegation moved to Hoi An in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam where they enjoyed banh beo, banh nam (flat steamed rice dumplings), mi Quang (a type of noodle dish stemming from Quang Nam), Hoi Ans iconic noodle dish of cao lau and che me den (black sesame sweet soup). Im proud to introduce Vietnamese culture, especially cuisine, to the contestants, Vietnams representative at the contest Le Hoang Phuong said, adding that the contenders promised to be back for the food. Videos capturing the activities have been posted on social platforms to encourage people from around the world to get to know more about Vietnam. The Miss Grand International 2023 finale is expected to be held on October 25 in Ho Chi Minh City. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Dust & Metal,' a creative documentary by British director Esther Johnson, features past and present stories of freedom in Vietnam through the lens of the countrys ubiquitous mode of transport: the motorbike. The project was produced by Johnson and Live Cinema UK and funded by the British Council in partnership with Hanoi-based Vietnam Film Institute, as well as the Center for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents. With a population of 97 million people and 45 million registered motorbikes, that is almost one motorbike for every two people. Motorbikes have become a symbol of work, travel, technology, and escape in Vietnam. The sounds of engines and horns create a symphony of Vietnamese life. Dust & Metal not only brings back memories and reflects the present but also arouses contemplation of the future as urban planners aim to restrict motorbikes after 2030 to reduce pollution. The film director honored the two-wheel vehicle as Vietnam's cultural heritage. With Dust & Metal,' I looked for stories about the typical relations between Vietnam and motorbikes, Johnson said. The script integrates extracts from interviews that Johnson made with eminent Vietnamese filmmaker Tran Van Thuy and visual artist Dang Ai Viet. She also accessed rare archive film footage thanks to the cooperation with the Vietnam Film Institute. With a live score composed and performed by Vietnamese artist Nguyen Xinh Xo, director of audio and music technology at the University of Silicon Valley in the U.S., and sound designed by Nguyen Nhung, the documentary is like a cine-concert.' Nguyen Hoang Phuong, director of the Center for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents, said the cine-concert concept remains new in Vietnam. The audience is familiar with performances of one of the two forms, not both on the same stage. In cinema, sound effects can increase depth and create more atmospheres for films. For sound designers, each film will challenge their creativity. Dust & Metal is a great opportunity for them to cooperate and help Vietnamese filmmakers to learn about cine-concert through the collaboration with local and international sound designers, Phuong emphasized. The documentary was brought to the 2022 Sheffield DocFest and the Da Nang Asian Film Festival 2023 in May this year. It will be screened in Ho Chi Minh City with live music performed by artist Nguyen Xinh Xo on Friday next week. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Sundays 60 Minutes looks at the outcome of the Referendum plus the latest developments in Israel and Gaza and Sarah Abo on winning the war on drugs. What Now? Yes or No? On 60 Minutes, Amelia Adams reports on the Voice referendum and asks what the outcome of the vote now means for Australias First Nations people. Reporter: Amelia Adams Producer: Natalie Clancy Hell in the Holy Land The unfolding horror in the Holy Land has stunned the world. Tara Brown reports on the latest developments in Israel and Gaza, and interviews high-ranking officials on both sides of the conflict, including a senior leader of Hamas and a retired Israeli army general and Mossad chief. Reporter: Tara Brown Producer: Naomi Shivaraman Cops v Cartels More than a million Australians use cocaine every year. The white powder costs more than gold, but its a price that consumers are happy to pay. Happier still are the bosses of the international drug cartels who are reaping enormous riches, despite state and federal law enforcement agencies doing all they can to stop cocaine getting into the country. How the officers go about their work is mostly done in secret. But not always. On 60 Minutes, Sarah Abo goes inside the Australian Border Force battle to outwit the criminals responsible for smuggling massive amounts of illegal narcotics. Reporter: Sarah Abo Producers: Serge Negus, Sammi Taylor For Dad The very best athletes in the world all know success is not achieved without pain. The relentless preparation and training needed to make it to the top of any sport hurts. But the agony Australias backstroke golden girl, Kaylee McKeown, has endured is much more than physical. Three years ago, on the cusp of her Olympic debut, her dad Sholto died. The heartbreak of losing him could so easily have ended Kaylees swimming career. Instead, she did something remarkable. On assignment for 60 Minutes, Nines Sylvia Jeffreys reports how Kaylee turned her sorrow into a superhuman strength. Reporter: Sylvia Jeffreys Producer: Natalie Clancy 8:35pm Sunday on Nine. Q+A is live from Melbourne on Monday to discuss: Australia after the referendum. On Saturday the nation will decide whether or not to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Constitution, and regardless of the result, we wake up in a changed country the following morning. So what comes next? And what does it mean for First Nations people? Meanwhile, the eyes of the world are on the Middle East, as Israel strikes back against the deadly attacks by Hamas, vowing that Gaza will never return to what it was. With a ground offensive looming, its feared the conflict could leader to a wider war in the region. What do the coming weeks hold? Panellists: Former Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman, Independent Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe, Liberal Senator for Queensland James McGrath and Creative Director & Author Dee Madigan Monday, 16 October at 9.35pm on ABC. Netflix has picked up Star Trek: Prodigy after its cancellation by Paramount+. The deal spans the U.S. and most international territories, including Australia. In June Paramount+ opted not to proceed with the previously commissioned second season of the show. However Paramount+ continues with to go where no man has gone via franchise titles Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks and the upcoming Section 31 and Starfleet Academy. Star Trek: Prodigy, aimed primarily at a younger audience, follows a motley crew of young aliens who must figure out how to work together while navigating a greater galaxy, in search of a better future. The voice cast includes: Kate Mulgrew, Brett Gray, Ella Purnell, Rylee Alazraqui, Angus Imrie, Jason Mantzoukas, Dee Bradley Baker, John Noble and Jimmi Simpson. Also featured in the series are recurring voice cast members Daveed Diggs, Jameela Jamil, Jason Alexander, Robert Beltran and Billy Campbell. Thank you to our incredible Star Trek: Prodigy fans, who championed not just a show, but a community thats always been connected by the belief that we build a better future together, Kurtzman, Dan and Kevin Hageman said in a joint statement. We set out to inspire you, but you inspired us. The team is still hard at work on the second season, and we cant wait to share it with the amazing fans around the world. Season 1 will be released on Netflix later in 2023. The second season, currently in production, will debut on in 2024. Source: Deadline (Photo : Rich Fury/Getty Images) One police officer involved in the death of a Black man, Elijah McClain, in 2019, was found guilty of negligent homicide and third-degree assault. A judge found a Colorado officer guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault over the death of Elijah McClain. The victim was a young Black man pinned down by law enforcement personnel before a medic injected him with ketamine. A jury unanimously convicted the police officer, identified as Randy Roedema, in the case. Elijah McClain's Death Another police officer, Jason Rosenblatt, is facing the same charges as Roedema but was acquitted. Prosecutors accused both law enforcement personnel of using excessive force during a stop of an unarmed Black man in 2019. Under Colorado law, Roedema could now face potential imprisonment and a fine over the death of McClain. The officer was initially suspended without pay from the Aurora Police Department, while Rosenblatt was removed from the force in 2020. The 23-year-old victim, McClain, was an autistic massage therapist walking home from a corner shop before encountering police officers. Three white police officers confronted the man after an emergency caller reported a "sketchy" person in the Denver suburb of Aurora, as per BBC. The Black man was wearing a balaclava, which his family said protected him from chronic chills caused by his anemia. McClain initially ignored officers' calls to stop walking because he was listening to music on his headphones. Body camera footage of the incident then showed him pleading with officers that he did nothing wrong before wrestling him to the ground and placing him in a chokehold. After the law enforcement personnel called for assistance, a medic injected McClain with ketamine to sedate him. However, the Black man went limp, stopped breathing, and never regained consciousness. He was declared brain-dead three days after the incident. Lawyers representing the officers argued that they had no choice but to forcefully subdue the victim after resisting them. According to CNN, an attorney for Roedema, Reid Elkus, comforted the officer's wife following the verdict against his client, saying there is still a chance that he will not go to jail as the sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 5. Read Also: Ex-NFL Star Sergio Brown in Custody, Accused of Killing His Mother: Police Jury's Split Verdict Following the verdicts against the officers, the Aurora Police Department's chief, Art Acevedo, released a statement saying that, as a nation, we must be committed to the rule of law. He added that, as such, they hold the American judicial process in high regard. The police chief said that they respected the verdict handed down by the jury in the case and expressed gratitude to the jury members for their thoughtful deliberation and service. He noted that the Aurora Police Department is precluded from further comment because of additional pending trials. After the verdict was read, McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, said, "That's what happens in divided States of America." She was visibly upset as she walked to the parking lot to her car. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said they were there because McClain's life mattered. He said that the Black man was only 23 years old when he lost his life and still had his entire life ahead of him, said CBS News. Related Article: Oklahoma Judge Facing Dismissal After Inquiry Into Texting, Social Media Use During Murder Trial @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Steve Lazars, founder and director of EMEEN and the Ethnic Minority Business Network, with Mani Kular. (Photo: Supplied) ToDate places more focus on activity-based matching. The user selects the activity they are interested in such as a walk or going for drinks as well as the time frame when they are free. They are then matched with someone with the same interests and schedule. It has been described by TechRound as the worlds first same day dating app. Derry entrepreneur Mani Kular who has developed a new dating application ToDate. (Photo: Supplied) Having experienced the online dating scene myself, we wanted to create a dating solution for single people who dont want to deal with the drawn out, and very often pointless, process of messaging someone for weeks on end only for it to not work out or end prematurely, Mr. Kular told TechRound. ToDate also places particular importance on user safety. By using measures such as facial recognition technology, users can be verified within minutes. ToDate was initially launched as a London-only dating app in January, but now Mr. Kular is aiming to launch the app on the island of Ireland. Mr. Kulars family had a multi-generational journey from India to Derry. He is currently based in London but calls Derry home. "Derry holds a special place in my heart, shaping who I am today. Bringing ToDate to the island of Ireland is my heartfelt missiona way to contribute to the community that has given my family and me so much, said Mr. Kular. Mr. Kular recently joined the Ethnic Minority and Migrant Entrepreneurs Network, which looks to improve the economic and employment opportunities of ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the North. EMEEN will also play a pivotal role in a crowd funding campaign for ToDate in late October. "Joining EMEEN is a proud moment. Together, well amplify diverse voices and celebrate entrepreneurship within ethnic minority communities, said Mr. Kular. Steve Lazars, founder and director of EMEEN and the Ethnic Minority Business Network, echoed his sentiments. "Backing ToDate and Mani, EMB Network demonstrates our unwavering dedication to championing diverse entrepreneurs, fostering innovation, and fostering success for the growth of our local economy, said Mr. Lazars. Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council has signed up to the Deaf Charter. Photo submitted by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council (Photo: Sumbmitted) Councillors agreed at a meeting of the Community Planning Committee earlier this week to fund the workshop which will take place at Corrymeela in Ballycastle in January. The aim of the workshop is to create a safe environment where participants can explore past experiences and trauma, learn to self-regulate and manage anxiety, depression and stress. They will also be advised of further counselling support. The proposal has been made to the borough council by a leading Northern Ireland specialist deaf counsellor. The opportunity to participate will be advertised. The council has approved funding of 7,000. Macedon Independent Councillor Stafford Ward proposed the committee approved the recommendation seconded by Glengormley Alliance Alderman Julian McGrath. Ald McGrath said: This is another excellent proposal for people who could easily slip through the net. In April 2021, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council voted unanimously to commit to being a deaf-friendly council. This means the local authority has committed to providing signing on social media videos to highlight important events and announcements. A meeting of the borough council was signed partially for the first time by British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language interpreters. The motion was proposed by DUP Councillor Mark Cooper BEM, now mayor, and seconded by Threemilewater Alliance Councillor Julie Gilmore. Improved Services Commenting on the decision at the time, British Deaf Association Northern Ireland said online: The approval of this motion will mean improved services for our deaf community including signing on social media videos to highlight important events and notices, introduction of sign language courses for staff, appointing a deaf champion and signing up to BDAs British Sign Language/Irish Sign Language Charter. In September 2021, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council signed up to the British/Irish Sign Language Charter, committing to promote better access to public services for deaf communities. Story continues The BSL/ISL Charter is designed to empower local deaf communities and resolve barriers between service providers and deaf people while increasing awareness of deaf issues. By signing the Charter, the local authority pledges to consult formally and informally with the local deaf community on a regular basis, ensure access for deaf people to the councils information and services and support deaf children and families in the borough to live a more fulfilled life. Read More Translink offering 1,000 reward for information after bus windows smashed in Newtownabbey The RNID charity says that 32,000 people in Northern Ireland are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. Separately at this weeks committee meeting, councillors were told 83 community groups in Antrim and Newtownabbey have been successful in funding applications for Christmas celebrations. The total amount recommended for funding is 40,525. Two applications were unsuccessful. The Senior Citizens Christmas Festivity Fund was established by the local authority in 2019 to provide financial assistance to seniors groups organising Christmas dinners and other social events in the borough. Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter AB Novaturas Novaturas Group, the market leader in the Baltic tourism market, recorded revenues of EUR 24.1 million in September, compared to around EUR 24 million at this time last year. The company served more than 29 th. customers while last year September ended with 32 th. In total, 164 million revenue was recorded between January and September, 7% more than in the same period in 2022. 210 th. customers were served, compared to around 216 th. in the same period last year. In August, we were the first to launch next summer's Turkey sales and in September we launched a full programme of 19 destinations. This early start gives us a competitive advantage, as we estimate that the group-wide customer base for next summer is already around 50 planes full. Travellers desire to plan their holidays in advance is growing, so we are responding and this year we have set ambitious targets to launch in September last year, early booking sales for all summer destinations started almost a month later. Customers receive a solid package of additional services through pre-sales, which helps the company to ensure financial sustainability and a higher load factor, comments Vitalij Rakovski, Novaturas Group CEO. Turkey, the popular Montenegro and the Greek islands are among the best-selling destinations for next summer. In addition, travellers are also interested in Cyprus, newly introduced in the companys 2024 summer holiday programme. Bought back part of its shares to be given to employees In September, the company announced that it had earmarked almost EUR 0.25 million to buy back its own shares, which will be distributed to employees over the next three years. It is common for listed companies to buy back shares when their market price is below the growth potential estimated by financial analysts. Buying back shares increases value for the company's shareholders by giving a higher share of profits per share. In addition, it often results in a higher share price. Story continues It should be recalled that Swedbank's financial analysts have assigned a 'buy' rating to Novaturas shares, with a target recommended share price of EUR 4.5. This is approximately one third above the current price of Novaturas shares on the stock exchange. Meanwhile, the latest analyst estimate from Enlight research puts the target recommended base share price at EUR 4.27 (almost one third higher). In an optimistic scenario, Enlight research estimates the share price ceiling at EUR 4.74, while in a pessimistic scenario it is EUR 3.81. The programme is designed to seek exceptional clients experiences The company works closely with partners and tourism boards in different countries to develop destinations programme and find unique experiences for clients. Familiarisation trips are organised for representatives of travel agencies to get to know the different destinations. According to the company, currently around 70% of sales are made through agencies, so relationships with them are constantly being strengthened. In August and September alone, representatives of agencies and Novaturas visited Vietnam, Sicily and Madeira - on such trips, tourism experts are more familiar with the range of hotels and other special features of the destinations. In Montenegro, a trip was organised for the heads of major travel agencies. By the end of the year, at least 10 more destinations are planned to be visited with agency representatives. In addition, events on Jordan, Egypt and hotels presentations were held in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which were visited by foreign partners. In the near future, the company will welcome guests from Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and other countries in its travel programme. About the company Novaturas Group is the largest and the only charter flights local tour operator in the Baltic States, offering summer and winter trips to more than 30 destinations worldwide and more than 100 tours. In 2022, Novaturas Group recorded revenues of EUR 197 million and served 267 000 passengers in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Vygantas Reifonas CFO of AB Novaturas +370 687 21603 (Photo : STEPHANE MAHE / POOL / AFP) (STEPHANE MAHE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The European Commission announced the launch of an investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, over rampant disinformation on the social media platform following the Hamas attack on Israel. A judge found a Colorado officer guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault over the death of Elijah McClain. The victim was a young Black man pinned down by law enforcement personnel before a medic injected him with ketamine. A jury unanimously convicted the police officer, identified as Randy Roedema, in the case. Elijah McClain's Death Another police officer, Jason Rosenblatt, is facing the same charges as Roedema but was acquitted. Prosecutors accused both law enforcement personnel of using excessive force during a stop of an unarmed Black man in 2019. Under Colorado law, Roedema could now face potential imprisonment and a fine over the death of McClain. The officer was initially suspended without pay from the Aurora Police Department, while Rosenblatt was removed from the force in 2020. The 23-year-old victim, McClain, was an autistic massage therapist walking home from a corner shop before encountering police officers. Three white police officers confronted the man after an emergency caller reported a "sketchy" person in the Denver suburb of Aurora, as per BBC. The Black man was wearing a balaclava, which his family said protected him from chronic chills caused by his anemia. McClain initially ignored officers' calls to stop walking because he was listening to music on his headphones. Body camera footage of the incident then showed him pleading with officers that he did nothing wrong before wrestling him to the ground and placing him in a chokehold. After the law enforcement personnel called for assistance, a medic injected McClain with ketamine to sedate him. However, the Black man went limp, stopped breathing, and never regained consciousness. He was declared brain-dead three days after the incident. Lawyers representing the officers argued that they had no choice but to forcefully subdue the victim after resisting them. According to CNN, an attorney for Roedema, Reid Elkus, comforted the officer's wife following the verdict against his client, saying there is still a chance that he will not go to jail as the sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 5. Read Also: Ex-NFL Star Sergio Brown in Custody, Accused of Killing His Mother: Police Jury's Split Verdict Following the verdicts against the officers, the Aurora Police Department's chief, Art Acevedo, released a statement saying that, as a nation, we must be committed to the rule of law. He added that, as such, they hold the American judicial process in high regard. The police chief said that they respected the verdict handed down by the jury in the case and expressed gratitude to the jury members for their thoughtful deliberation and service. He noted that the Aurora Police Department is precluded from further comment because of additional pending trials. After the verdict was read, McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, said, "That's what happens in divided States of America." She was visibly upset as she walked to the parking lot to her car. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said they were there because McClain's life mattered. He said that the Black man was only 23 years old when he lost his life and still had his entire life ahead of him, said CBS News. Related Article: Oklahoma Judge Facing Dismissal After Inquiry Into Texting, Social Media Use During Murder Trial @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) Former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty to stealing tax information of Donald Trump and other wealthy individuals and sent them to two media outlets. A former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractor, Charles Littlejohn, pleaded guilty to stealing former United States President Donald Trump's tax information and other wealthy people in the country. Prosecutors said that Littlejohn of Washington, DC, sent the Republican businessman's tax returns and other data to two media outlets, publishing numerous articles describing the information they obtained from the former IRS contractor. Charles Littlejohn Pleads Guilty The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of disclosing tax information, which he was charged with in late September. Littlejohn's crime affected so many individuals that it prompted prosecutors to discuss plans to create a public website to notify the victims of any developments in the case. An attorney for Trump gave a victim impact statement during the plea hearing, calling the crime an "egregious breach." Alina Habba, the former president's attorney, said her client's returns were "kept in a vault at the IRS." She suggested that the leak may have cost Trump votes in the 2020 election, as per CNN. Habba added that Trump opposed the idea of the plea deal and called for the maximum sentence of five years of imprisonment for the defendant. The federal judge overseeing the case, Ana Reyes, said that she agreed "completely that anyone taking the law into their own hands is unacceptable." The 38-year-old admitted to obtaining thousands of individuals' tax returns by accessing the IRS database and leaking them to the New York Times and ProPublica starting in 2019. Using the information, the news organizations' articles detailed how Trump and other wealthy individuals in the US cut down their federal tax bills, sometimes down to zero. The wealthy individuals affected by the leak include tech billionaires Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk. They were the focus of published articles created by ProPublica, which analyzed how the richest Americans can avoid the federal government's tax bite. The massive leak, which was unprecedented, renewed a debate in Congress regarding tax policy amid historic levels of income inequality. It also served as an X-ray into Trump's secretive finances after years in which he waged legal challenges to protect their confidentiality, according to the Washington Post. Read Also: DOJ Accuses Sen. Bob Menendez, Wife of Allegedly Plotting To Act as Foreign Agents for Egypt Stealing Donald Trump's Tax Information Judge Reyes also rebuked Littlejohn several times from the bench and said that whatever ends the defendant had could not justify the means. She added that it did not matter who the victim of the crime was. Her remarks came before mentioning Trump by name and telling Habba that the former president could come to deliver his statement at the former IRS contractor's sentencing, which was scheduled for Jan. 29. Government officials argued that Littlejohn stole the trove of information from the IRS twice. However, they provided few specifics about how he could evade safeguards designed to protect taxpayer privacy twice, nor did the Department of Justice explain how he was caught. A news release noted that the defendant used "broad search parameters designed to conceal the true purpose of his queries" to obtain the tax information of Trump and other wealthy individuals, said Politico. Related Article: Colorado Officer Found Guilty of Negligent Homicide Over Death of Elijah McClain @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. There are those who call it Sasquatch. There are those who simply call it Big Foot. One family even named him Harry, but for the people of Fouke, Arkansas it is a monster! As one man returns to his childhood home, he confronts the myriad of tales about the creature. To some, the mysterious monster was an innocuous presence. To others, he was a menace responsible for the death of livestock and the harm of innocent people. As people retell their stories, the creatures ungodly wail echoes through the woods... and it is a sound you would never want to hear again! Writer/Director Charles B. Pierce made a name for himself with this efficiently told and executed low-budget monster flick. The Legend of Boggy Creek could have been cast off as simple Drive-In fodder and quickly forgotten but is given an air of legitimacy as a faux-documentary of sorts. Pierce used locals and amateur actors as stand-ins for creature witnesses, and cribbed pieces of actual families being terrified by a Big Foot-like creature. Sometimes its funny, sometimes it feels like an earnest nature program, but then it falls back on straight terror and horror for its dramatic closing. The film was a big hit in theaters and its legacy stands as an inspiration for Dan Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez and their own low-budget mega-hit The Blair Witch Project. But how does it hold up today? Well, to honestly answer that I guess its going to depend on familiarity and nostalgia. Id seen this a couple of times growing up and thought it was certainly creepy, especially the last half. I never really got into the Big Foot scene or believed in the range of cryptids that roam about the lands, but growing up on acres of forested land, you hear some damned distressing sounds in the middle of the night. Theres nothing worse than getting woken up out of a dead sleep to the sound of a rabbit losing a fight with a coyote or fox. Or maybe it was the creature! That said, for a modern audience looking for gory shock and terror, this might not fit the bill. The Legend of Boggy Creek takes its time. A lot of the film feels like a travelogue of Texarkana with a thin wraparound plot. But when it aims to be scary, it succeeds without gore or gratuitous violence. Its a bump in the night, snap of a twig, Oh my God, whats that? sort of creature feature film. I have a love for Charles Pierces little film because I admired the gumption and how his films were basically family films with plots. He frequently cast his children or other friends and family members and you can feel that sort of bootstraps, do-it-yourself nature throughout The Legend of Boggy Creek. And it worked. Even steeped in nostalgia I had a blast revisiting this beautifully shot film. Pierce was able to parlay his successes into some solid directorial efforts like 1974s Bootleggers, The Town that Dreaded Sundown, and Grayeagle. He even cooked up the story for Eastwoods Sudden Impact and is apparently responsible for the iconic line Go ahead, make my day. This film does have more than a few sequels and offshoots, the only real official Pierce-produced was Boggy Creek II and the Legend Continues - which to be honest isnt that great. The creature suit was awesome and there are a few effective sequences, but its really better known and remembered for its time on Mystery Science Theater 3000. But when it comes to this first film, arguably the first great Big Foot movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek is an entertaining jaunt worth checking out if youve never seen it. Established cryptid and Boggy Creek fiends will love it for the collection Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray The Legend of Boggy Creek stalks the woods of home video once again thanks to a new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release. Pressed on a single-disc BD-100, the disc is housed in a eco-case with slipcover recreating the iconic Ralph McQuarrie poster artwork. The disc loads to a main menu with basic navigation options. You can order this disc directly from them and it ships in a really cool custom bubble mailer that also beautifully recreates the McQuarrie poster art. Ive never wanted to frame a bubble mailer before, but Im tempted now! HCM CITY Cashew exports rose significantly in August and September and are expected to be even stronger in the remaining months of the year, but businesses need to ensure quality and food safety to preclude risks, the Viet Nam Cashew Association has said. Viet Nam exported 456,000 tonnes in the first nine months of this year for US$2.6 billion, year-on-year increases of 19.6 per cent and 14.3 per cent. Pham Van Cong, Vinacass chairman, said cashew has gone from being a "non-essential" product to becoming an indispensable food in developed countries. It is in fact a daily food among vegetarians in India, he said. Demand for cashew, especially in the US and EU, usually increases ahead of the holiday season, he said. Based on the exports so far and orders in the pipeline, the cashew industry will definitely achieve the export target of $3.2 billion this year. But exporters need to strengthen quality control and food safety and hygiene to uphold the reputation of the Vietnamese cashew brand, he said. The end of the year is the rainy season, so cashew is prone to mould from high humidity and pest infection, he said. Bach Khanh Nhat, Vinacass permanent deputy chairman, said the association has received complaints from two associations in Europe and the US and some large customers about the decline in the quality of Vietnamese cashew, with pests and pesticide residues exceeding permissible levels. They have called on Vinacas to warn businesses whose shipments were flagged by importers, failing which they would no longer get high prices, he said. To avoid insects and other pests, businesses need to monitor the quality of raw cashew and limit processing at night since electric lights attract flying insects, he said. They also need to separate warehouses for storing raw materials and finished products to avoid cross-contamination, he said. In the rainy season, cashew kernels need to be dried more than usual to avoid mold, he said. If disinfectants have to be used, it is necessary to ensure the correct dosage and quarantine time to ensure residues do not exceed permissible levels, he added. The association said relevant agencies and local authorities should enhance control over food safety and hygiene at cashew processing plants to avoid a repeat of the situation and to sustain the reputation of Vietnamese cashew in the global market. Raw nut import ang Hoang Giang, Vinacass chairman, said as of August Viet Nam had imported 2.18 million tonnes of raw cashew for $2.58 billion, increases of 34 per cent in volume and 14 per cent in value, for processing for the peak year-end season. With limited raw materials available domestically, processors have to resort to imports, he said. The 2023 cashew crop output is forecast to 345,000 tonnes, he said. The global amount is adequate for the next nine months, he added. VNS A NANG The central city will offer the most favourable conditions and supportive policies for Japanese investors in semiconductor manufacturing, in hosting the moves of global supply chains as investment from Japan has played a key role in the city's growth. Deputy Chairman of the city's People's Council Tran Phuoc Son stressed at an Invest a Nang promotion event in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan. In a meeting with representatives of Bingo Semiconductor Technology Promotion Association (BISTEC) and 50 businesses in the industry, Son said the citys leadership always highly appreciated Japan as a key strategic partner contributing to the citys socio-economic development. a Nang has been focusing on hi-tech and low carbon industries as well as environment-friendly and renewable energy-consumed manufacturing industries. We hope Japanese investors will see a Nang as a safe and trustworthy destination for prolonged investment, Son said. He said Japan was a leading investor in a Nang, accounting for 25 per cent of the citys overall investment source. He also introduced the investment environment, infrastructure, and preferential policies for foreign investors at the citys hi-tech and IT parks and industrial zones. A report from the citys investment promotion agency (IPA) unveiled that Japanese investment made an 11.6 per cent share of the citys Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), and contributed 9.4 per cent to the added value of a Nang. Japanese investors poured US$1.04 billion into 230 projects, making it top among 40 foreign direct investment (FDI) sources in the city. According to IPA, a Nang would offer free land-rent tax for 50 years for supportive and software industries projects, while a $130 million investment project in the citys hi-tech park will enjoy a 10 per cent corporate tax for a 30-year term. a Nang and Japan had built up a good co-operation in human resource training in IT as 13,000 graduated students, 800 of which were IT engineers, had been sent from central Viet Nam to Japan in the last eight years. A Japanese technology company, Pasona Tech Viet Nam, which built an Information Technology (IT) LAB in a Nang for training human resources in digital transformation needs, has employed 500 qualified students for the Japanese market, IPA said. Nine provinces and cities Yokohama, Nagasaki, Chiba, Kawasaki, Shizuoka, Fukuoka, Izumisano, Kisarazu, Osaka and 128 businesses from Japan have also agreed to employ qualified students from a Nang to work and study in Japan. The city, which has 1,900 businesses and 44,000 manpower in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), earned $132 million turnover from software exports in 2022. Japan, the US, and Taiwan are major export markets for the citys software with a 36 per cent share, while the EU accounted for 16 per cent. Korea has emerged as a new export market for the software, a report from the citys Information and Communications Department said. The 5.9ha FPT Complex, invested in by FPT Group, will offer a working space for 10,000 IT engineers and manpower in 2030. Trung Nam Group is building 23 surface-mount technology (SMT) factories and R&D zones at the a Nang Information Technology Park the third national IT-centralised zone and the first in central Viet Nam's 'Silicon Valley to draw investment from the US, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore. VNS (Photo : Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) / Denmark OUT (MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images) Starlink's new satellite cell service is set to launch in 2024 and will provide much-needed service to remote regions. SpaceX unveils details regarding Starlink's planned Satellite Cell Service that is set to launch in 2024 to provide service to remote regions. The much-anticipated service, Direct-to-Cell, will start rolling out in 2024 for SMS and will eventually "enable ubiquitous access to texting, calling, and browsing wherever you may be on land, lakes, or coastal waters." It would also connect to IoT devices through the LTE standard. Starlink's Satellite Cell Service Starlink partnered with T-Mobile on the project, initially announced last August at the "Coverage and Above and Beyond" event. The partnership will have T-Mobile set aside a bit of its 5G spectrum for use by Starlink's second-generation satellites. Starlink will allow T-Mobile phones to access the satellite network, giving the cell service provider "near complete coverage" of the United States. During the event held in August, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that "Starlink V2" would launch this year on select mobile phones and in Tesla vehicles, as per Engadget. The billionaire entrepreneur said in a press statement that the important thing about the situation is that it would result in no dead zones anywhere in the world for people's cell phones. He added that they were incredibly excited to partner with T-Mobile regarding the project. The estimated launch was revised during a March panel discussion at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition 2023. It was when SpaceX VP of Starlink enterprise sales Jonathan Hofeller estimated that testing, not commercial operation, would start in 2023. Currently, there exists a constellation of 4,265 satellites that Starlink manages that are not compatible with the new cell service. The company will have to spend the next few years launching a new series of microsats with the necessary eNodeB modem installed. Satellite phone connectivity still requires giant, purpose-built hardware like old Iridium network phones. If the only thing that users are looking for is emergency texting, they can make do with Apple's introduction of the barely-there connectivity paradigm. This requires being inside a connectivity window, holding up a phone, and following a signal-targeting app, according to ArsTechnica. Read Also: NASA's New UFO Hunter Weapon Unveiled-What Is This Technology? Widespread Coverage SpaceX's website explained that Direct-to-Cell works with existing LTE phones wherever they can see the sky. It does not require any changes to hardware or firmware or requires any special applications. The project seeks to provide seamless access to text, voice, and data. Despite the hype for the project, the service is likely to be relatively slow compared to terrestrial standards, with estimated speeds between two and four megabits per second. However, the main benefit is in the breadth of its coverage. T-Mobile issued a press release last year saying that the service will be available "practically everywhere in the continental US, Hawaii, parts of Alaska, Puerto Rico, and territorial waters, even outside the signal of T-Mobile's network." The project comes as satellite connectivity has become a growing smartphone trend in recent years. According to The Verge, AT&T-backed cellular satellite company AST SpaceMobile announced that it had placed the first satellite call over 5G from an unmodified smartphone last month. Related Article: BlueWalker3 Satellite Interferes with Night Sky Observations, Astronomers Say @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. THANH HOA Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC (NSRP) on Wednesday announced the successful completion of its first turnaround ahead of schedule. The refinery resumed normal operations and started delivering petroleum products to the market from 12 October 2023. As Viet Nam's economy experiences rapid growth, the demand for energy is projected to rise in the foreseeable future. The planned resumption of operations by NSRP will bolster the country's growing energy requirements. NSRP's refinery plays a crucial role in producing essential petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, which are vital for transportation, industry, and power generation. To support the resumption of operations, NSRP is collaborating with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) to secure additional crude oil supply amidst the global scarcity. So Hasegawa, NSRPs General Director (GD), said the successful completion of the turnaround demonstrates NSRP's commitment to delivering on time and on budget, in collaboration with stakeholders. NSRP's continuity and contribution to local socio-economic development are supported through key agreements with sponsors, which need to be extended by the end of November 2023. The company has made progress in corporate governance and transformation initiatives, delivering significant benefits, with expected annual accumulated benefits of around US$150 million in the coming years. The refinery is a joint venture between Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and international companies, including Kuwait Petroleum Europe B.V., Idemitsu Kosan, and Mitsui Chemicals. VNS SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA The "Ha NoiViet Nam" pavilion introduced products and brands of Ha Noi and Viet Nam at the Home Show exhibition, a major event in the furniture industry, taking place from October 13-15 in Sydney, Australia. The trade promotion event was jointly organised by the Ha Noi Department of Industry and Trade, the Consulate General of Viet Nam in Sydney, and the Viet Nam Trade Office in Australia. Speaking at the event, Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Acting Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, highlighted Australia as a market with a lot of potential. Viet Nam and Australia are currently one of each other's leading trading partners. Therefore, through this event, Ha Noi businesses, especially businesses in the fields of handicrafts, furniture, wooden furniture and stone, which faced difficulties in exporting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will find new cooperation opportunities to boost Ha Noi's export turnover in the near future, said Lan. The event aims to implement the Project on Promoting Vietnamese Enterprises to directly participate in foreign distribution networks until 2030; and the project of "Mobilising overseas Vietnamese to participate in introducing and consuming products and developing distribution channels for Vietnamese goods abroad in the period 2020-2024". The activity aims to support businesses, producers, and exporters of goods and services in Ha Noi to display and introduce their products and services, and strengthen the promotion of brands and products of Ha Noi in particular and Viet Nam in general to Australia and international customers at the exhibition. The event is expected to promote opportunities to export goods and bring products into distributing channels in Australia, maintain and expand key export markets, find customer partners, and develop international markets. The event is also an opportunity for Ha Noi to promote and introduce the city's opportunities to promote investment, trade and tourism in the "land of Kangaroos". The pavilion displayed various products, such as brick and stone; smart homes; mechanical tools and grills; wooden models for kitchen cabinets; plastic products for household use, and ceramics. Ha Noi businesses also attended sideline forums and seminars to bolster their professional knowledge about building international brands, ways to promote products, and design trends for interior products. Ha Thi Vinh, President of Hanoi Handicraft Village Association and director of Quang Vinh Ceramics Company Limited, said that the event was a "golden" opportunity for Ha Noi businesses in particular and Vietnamese businesses in general to return to the Australian market. Vinh added that Quang Vinh Ceramics currently has about 10 import partners in Australia. She hopes that through this exhibition, Quang Vinh Ceramics will meet more potential customers in this Oceania market. VNS HA NOI The United States Mission to Viet Nam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on Friday launched a US$3.25 million activity, Viet Nam Digital Trade, supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), to facilitate digital trade. The activity comes as part of the new US-Viet Nam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced during US President Joseph Bidens visit to Viet Nam at the invitation of the Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong last month. During his recent visit, President Biden emphasised the United States commitment to support Viet Nam to compete in a digital global economy, said USAID/Viet Nam Mission Director Aler Grubbs. We are pleased to sign an MoU with MoIT. This new digital trade activity led by USAID and MoIT is our first to be launched under our two countries newly upgraded partnership and will go a long way toward unleashing the potential of digital trade to form a key driver of the countrys continued growth. USAIDs three-year activity, called Viet Nam Digital Trade, supports MoITs implementation of policy frameworks that facilitate digital trade, in consultation with the private sector. Regulations that are responsive to private sector needs remove trade bottlenecks and increase regulatory transparency, helping to shape an e-commerce sector where enterprises of all sizes can benefit. In addition, the activity encourages small and medium enterprise participation in digital trade by introducing new business models and other best practices, such as traceability of goods, as well as facilitating cross-border connections between enterprises via MOITs digital trade promotion platform, called DECOBIZ. The project supports business associations such as the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Viet Nam E-commerce Association to promote digital trade across the country. The project works through MOIT and business associations to target female-owned enterprises and minority communities in support of inclusive economic growth. USAIDs Viet Nam Digital Trade activity advances the US Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, under which Viet Nam and the US partner to harness innovation and pursue high-standard rules of the road in the digital economy to drive continued growth. This activity builds on the US' successful partnership with Viet Nam over the past two decades, facilitating increased trade and improving the business enabling environment. VNS HA NOI Twelve films are being shown at the 13th Science Film Festival in Viet Nam, held by the Goethe Institute in Ha Noi. The festival is a celebration of science communication in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in cooperation with local partners. It promotes science literacy and facilitates awareness of contemporary scientific, technological, and environmental issues through international films with accompanying educational activities. The festival takes place internationally from October to December 20 and invites viewers to enjoy the best in international science communication. It is an official supporting partner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration this year. The theme is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world. "We believe that films not only open doors to different cultures, but films also bring a lot of useful scientific knowledge," said Oliver Brandt, director of the Goethe Institute in Ha Noi. "Combining films with practical experiments helps absorb knowledge in a playful and easier way. Science is for all people, and this festival is the contribution of the Goethe Institute to achieve this goal." The institute and the jury of this year's film festival selected the 12 films from a total of 1,700 entries from 102 countries. For the first time in the history of the festival, a film with the participation of Ha Noi Goethe Institute in the production was submitted to the film festival. Binh Yen, Come Home directed by Nguyen Hoang Viet is about the situation of bears in captivity in Viet Nam, and the efforts of the animal conservation organisation Four Paws to rescue them. The 30-minute film is suitable for secondary-school audiences and is shown in Viet Nam. As in previous years, the films will be available to view online throughout the festival on the Goethe Institute's VIMEO platform. Vietnamese audiences can easily access the VIMEO link to watch the films by registering at https://www.goethe.de/ins/vn/vi/kul/fim/sff/sff22/af22.html The festival presents scientific issues in an accessible and entertaining manner to a broad audience and demonstrates that science can be fun. The event has grown considerably since its first edition in 2005, becoming the largest event of its kind worldwide. The science film festival has become an educational event for teachers, aiming to widen their perspectives and giving them a chance to connect with other international networks around the world, according to the institute's director. Therefore, a documentary production project on sustainability stories titled "Sustainability in Documentaries 2023" was launched by the Goethe Institute. The two-year 2023-24 project aims to foster collaboration between civil society organisations (CSOs) in Viet Nam and documentary filmmakers to tell stories of sustainable development through documentary footage. Filmmakers are encouraged to utilise their best knowledge and skills and make use of the material provided by the CSOs to motivate society towards global sustainable goals. This also aims to prepare Vietnamese documentary filmmakers to present their quality documentaries on an international platform. Entries can be sent to the Goethe Institute's branch in HCM City, N18, Road 1, Cu Xa o Thanh, District 3 until November 27. Jurors, veteran directors Trinh Quang Tung, Trinh inh Le Minh, and Ha Le Diem will select the three best projects, and each of them will receive VN210 million (US$8,500) to produce the film. These films will receive support to be showcased at international film festivals and the science film festival held by the Goethe Institute. VNS HA NOI The 8th Argentine Week is taking place in Ha Noi from October 9-13, featuring a series of activities, to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Argentina and Viet Nam (October 25, 1973 - October 25, 2023). One of the highlights was the Argentine Beef and Wine Day organised on Thursday by the Argentine Embassy. The event took place at the restaurant Los Fuegos - Argentinian Steak and Grill " located in the heart of Tay Ho District by the renowned Argentine Chef Emilio Fuse. It was also an opportunity for networking between importers, distributors, retailers, food and beverage managers of hotels and restaurants, as well as meat and wine enthusiasts and selected personalities from Ha Noi and expatriates. Argentine meat and wine importers and distributors had an opportunity to present, promote and disseminate their brands while participants could taste a selection of the highest-quality Argentine meats, wine, seafood and yerba mate herbal tea. "At the heart of Argentine cuisine is the love of beef. Argentina is famous for its high-quality grass-fed beef, and the country has a long lasting asado tradition," said a press release from the Argentine Embassy in Ha Noi. 'Argentine asado are legendary gatherings where delicious cuts of meat, such as beef ribs, sausages, and tender filets, are cooked over low fire or on hot charcoal grills. The Argentine asado places an emphasis on simplicity that allows the natural flavors of the meat to shine." The Argentine culinary panorama goes beyond delicious meats. Argentina is also known for its exceptional wines. The country's unique terroir, with its sunny days, cool nights and mountainous terrain, provides the perfect conditions for vinifera grapes to flourish. VNS SINGAPORE The naval forces of Viet Nam and Singapore joined in a friendship exchange on Sailing Ship 286-Le Quy on on Thursday, part of the Vietnamese vessels visit to the city state. The event was attended by officers, sailors, and trainees from Ship Le Quy on, leaders of the Maritime Training and Doctrine Command of Singapore, officers and sailors of the Singaporean navy, and representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy and defence attache in Singapore. Col. Bui Duy Thong, Deputy Political Commissar of the Viet Nam Naval Academy, expressed his hope that direct exchanges between naval officers, sailors, and trainees of the countries will help further enhance the solidarity, mutual understanding, and trust between the two navies as well as the two militaries in general. Col. Rinson Chua, Commander of the Maritime Training and Doctrine Command, said the close relationship between the Singaporean and Vietnamese navies has been reflected in highly practical cooperation activities such as setting up working groups and holding mutual visits. He hoped the two navies will promote stronger coordination and cooperation in the coming years, and to do so, their naval leaders should keep consolidating the current friendship and mutual trust. Port visits like this times trip will provide opportunities for both sides to reinforce their mutual understanding and strategic trust. Echoing the view, Vietnamese Ambassador Mai Phuoc Dung noted that cooperation between the countries militaries and navies has been growing over the past years. The visit by Ship Le Quy on will help the two navies learn from each other and strengthen mutual understanding and trust, the diplomat said, voicing his hope that more trips between the naval forces will be organised in the future. Sailing Ship 286-Le Quy on arrived at Port of Changi on October 10 for a three-day visit. The trip, the ninth to Singapore by a vessel of the Vietnamese navy and the second by Ship Le Quy on, took place amid numerous activities being held in both countries to mark the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership. During the visit, the Vietnamese naval delegation also paid a courtesy call to the commander of the Singaporean navy, joined in cultural and sport exchanges with the Singaporean side, and toured some local historical and cultural relic sites. VNS TEL AVIV Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel Ly uc Trung on Thursday called for the establishment of working groups among the Vietnamese community in Israel to support each other amid the current conflict. In a letter sent to Vietnamese people living, working, and studying in Israel, the ambassador stressed the escalating violence between Hamas and Israel, with complex, unpredictable developments. In just a short time, the number of casualties has increased, with many civilians killed, injured, and missing, he said, adding that the material and spiritual life, as well as daily activities of residents in many places, have been severely affected. Given this, the diplomat conveyed the regards of the embassys staff and people at home to the Vietnamese community in Israel. He said the embassy has closely coordinated with competent ministries and agencies, both at home and in Israel, in citizen protection, ensuring the security and safety of life and property of the Vietnamese community there. Trung hoped that the conflict would soon come to an end, so that no one would have to suffer more pains and losses of the war. As Vietnamese people are residing in different areas in Israel, the working group will provide information for the embassys emergency response steering committee to give specific guidelines when necessary, he said. About 500 Vietnamese people are living and working in Israel, mainly in big cities. Besides, hundreds of Vietnamese students come to the country to study each year. VNS BRUSSELS International friends spoke highly of the great value of the book "Some theoretical and practical issues on socialism and the path towards socialism in Vietnam by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong during a ceremony to launch the books Dutch language version in Brussels, Belgium on October 12. Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Cao Zhongming highly valued Viet Nam's developments over the past nearly eight decades under the leadership of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV), expressed his belief that under the leadership of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Viet Nam will continue to reap more achievements in socio-economic development, and its position in the international arena will be enhanced. Meanwhile, David Prestieau from the Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB)s political department praised Viet Nam for its outstanding development, especially efforts to achieve the United Nations' millennium development goals. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shown that policies and actions of the Party and State of Viet Nam to protect the people, control the health crisis and recover the economy are much more effective than those of other countries across the world, he said. Prestieau reaffirmed that the PTB shares the values of Vietnamese socialism, expressing the desire to continue working closely with Vietnam and joins hands with the Southeast Asian nation in building a more equitable and sustainable world. Lao Ambassdor to Belgium Kingphokeo Phommahaxay said he hopes that that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's book will soon be translated into Laotian and published in his country so that the Lao people can understand more about the history of the long-standing close relationship between the two countries. Delegates expressed their belief that the book will importantly contribute to promoting the image of Viet Nam more widely to international friends, helping them understand more fully, deeply and comprehensively about the national construction and development, as well as the path towards socialism in the Southeast Asian nation. In his speech at the event, Ambassador and Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to Belgium and the European Union (EU) Nguyen Van Thao emphasised that since gaining independence in 1945, the Vietnamese people have chosen the path towards socialism, with the goal of building an independent, self-resilient, prosperous and strong country where its people can enjoy a prosperous and happy life. Over the past 78 years, under the Party's leadership, the Vietnamese people have overcome all difficulties, and achieved many breakthrough achievements, he stressed, adding that Vietnam has emerged as a dynamic economy, becoming an important link in global economic linkages. Thao affirmed that in its development process, Viet Nam always appreciates the solidarity and friendship as well as the valuable support and cooperation of international friends. The diplomat took the occasion to thank the Workers' Party of Belgium for helping translate the book into Dutch and for closely coordinating with the Vietnamese Embassy recently. Launched in 2022 on the occasion of the 92nd founding anniversary of the CPV, the book - one of the highly influential publications of the Party leader, gathers his 29 outstanding articles and speeches, aiming to help cadres, Party members, and people gain an insight into socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam, so as to promote consensus in society and bring into play the great national solidarity to achieve the strategic goals set by the Party, late President Ho Chi Minh and the people. VNS am Rong is the poorest district in Lam ong Central Highlands Province. Bac fell in love with the land from a young age when she and her parents from Nghe An central province settled there. Like many other girls, after graduating from high school, Bac packed her luggage and found a job as a garment worker, but after only two years, she changed her path. QUANG NINH The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, in coordination with the Australian Embassy in Viet Nam and related partners, held a ceremony in response to the International Day for Disaster Reduction and ASEAN Day for Disaster Management at Bai Chay Primary and Secondary School in the northern province of Quang Ninh's Ha Long City on Friday. The event drew the participation of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), representatives of natural disaster prevention and control agencies of ASEAN member states, ASEAN dialogue partners, United Nations agencies, international organisations and more than 300 students and teachers of the school. The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is observed by the United Nations every year on October 13. It is dedicated to fostering awareness about disasters and their impact on living beings as well as to praising individuals and groups working in the field of natural disaster prevention and control. The day is also chosen as ASEAN Day for Disaster Management, aiming to attract the attention of the ASEAN community in this regard and call for international cooperation to join hands to build safe communities and areas that are resilient to natural disasters. In his remarks at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep emphasised that Viet Nam has achieved remarkable results in natural disaster prevention and control work. He attributed the achievement to the efforts of the Government, ministries, agencies, localities and Vietnamese people as well as valuable assistance from international friends, including the Australian Embassy in Viet Nam which has provided much support to the MARD during its term as chair of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management in the past year. Hiep held that Viet Nam has shown itself as an active and highly reputable member of the bloc, in which ASEAN cooperation on natural disaster management is an important content in the blocs socio-cultural community pillar. The deputy minister said 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN Committee on Natural Disaster Management. This is an opportunity to congratulate the success of the 11th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management and "Ha Long Declaration in Early Action in ASEAN Disaster Management, he added. Shantanu Chakraborty, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director for Viet Nam and Co-Chair of the Disaster Risk Reduction Partnership, said that disaster prevention and combating requires the engagement of all countries, not only ASEAN member states but also every person around the world. He went on to say that ADB always stands side by side with the Government and people of Viet Nam to join hands in efforts to manage, reduce risks, and overcome consequences caused by natural disasters. VNS Over 470 American and Asian VC firms signed an open letter to show their support for Israel; one of the world's most innovative high-tech countries. These venture capital companies explained the importance of the Middle Eastern nation in global innovation, saying that they deeply respect Israel's "unwavering" commitment to technological advancements and other innovations. Over 470 VC Firms Show Support for Israel in an Open Letter According to Nikkei Asia's latest report, most of the VC firms that signed the open letter are in the United States. Others are from Asian countries, such as Singapore. Previously, data provided by research firm PitchBook revealed that Israel has become one of the biggest technology hubs across the world. The country was able to attract more than $3 billion in venture investment as of Oct. 10. Meanwhile, PitchBook revealed that Tel Aviv is now the 20th most developed tech ecosystem in the world. All these details clearly show that Israel is making a big impact in the technology and innovation sectors. "Israel has been an enduring partner to the global innovation ecosystem, fostering groundbreaking technological advancements and startup innovation," said VC firms in the open letter. They added that the contributions of Israel in terms of technology, entrepreneurship, and research are indispensable. "Israel has shown up time and time again for the world in times of need, it is now our time to step up to the plate and to support Israel and the Jewish people," they said. As of press time, the open letter already received signatures from 473 venture capital firms. Some of these companies are the following: Bedford Ridge Capital Abstract Ventures Civics Capital Chartered High Tech Union Labs VC WEVE Acceleration ATTA Ventures Blumberg Capital Abstract Ventures Blumberg Capital Read Also: British Airways Plane Makes U-Turn Before Reaching Tel Aviv; Suspends Flights to Israel Why Open Letter is Big Deal for Israel Aside from highlighting the importance of Israel in the tech sector and its contributions, the open letter also condemned the "heart-wrenching" attacks of the terrorist group called "Hamas." VC firms said that they are urging the global venture community to engage with Israeli startups, investors, and entrepreneurs, and support the Middle Eastern nation as go through challenging times. But, the question is, how is the open letter helpful to Israel? Forbes reported that a public statement/open letter may not be directly impactful. However, the open letter is still a big deal since it is a sign that VC companies will continue doing business with Israel despite the ongoing war. "Just from a psychological perspective, I think it helps to see the reaction," explained Symbol's managing partner Yuval Ariav. Related Article: Israel Shekel Declines Despite Central Bank's Commitment to Stabilize Currency Amid Conflict With Hamas @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. BAC GIANG The recent inauguration of a semiconductor packaging and testing plant in Bac Giang Province has captured the interest of both domestic and foreign businesses, firmly placing Bac Giang on the radar of investors. Hana Micron Vina Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Korean corporation Hana Micron, on September 16 inaugurated the Hana Micron Vina factory 2 project, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang. Situated in Van Trung Industrial Park, Viet Yen District, the plant spans an extensive area of 66,000 square meters. Hana Micron Vina has already successfully completed and commenced operations at Factory 1 in 2022. The inauguration of Factory 2 signifies the company's expansion and growth in Bac Giang. Looking ahead, Hana Micron Vina plans to amplify its investment in the region, with a projected total capital exceeding US$1 billion by 2025. This substantial investment is expected to generate an estimated revenue of $800 million and create employment opportunities for over 4,000 individuals. Choi Chang Ho, Chairman of Hana Micron Group, said the company aims to establish a new semiconductor industry ecosystem in Viet Nam, thereby contributing to the diversification of innovative technologies and techniques pursued by the country. The project undertaken by Hana Micron Vina is just one among several large-scale investments made in the province during the first nine months of the year. The confidence of multinational corporations in Bac Giang Province's potential and secure business environment have helped it emerge as a preferred location for global powerhouses. According to the data published by Bac Giang provincial People's Committee, as of September 15, 2023, the total influx of new investment capital in the province has surpassed $2 billion, representing a nearly 2-fold increase compared to the same period last year. Among these investments are 27 domestic projects with a registered capital exceeding VN5.5 trillion ($229.2 million) and 70 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a registered capital of nearly $1.4 billion (five times higher than in 2022). Furthermore, 24 domestic projects experienced adjustments, leading to an augmented registered capital of over VN1.7 trillion, nearly seven times the initial amount. Additionally, 29 adjusted FDI projects saw a total capital increase of over $321 million. During the first nine months of the year, domestic investment projects realised a capital of approximately VN2.2 trillion, while FDI investment projects reached about $682 million. With these achievements, Bac Giang ranked fourth nationwide in attracting FDI investments during the first nine months of the year, following HCM City, Ha Noi and Hai Phong. According to ang Thanh Tam, Chairman of Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corporation, the business received a warm welcome and active support from provincial leaders during their investment process in industrial parks in Bac Giang. The local authorities showed a strong commitment to resolving challenges and addressing issues faced by investors, ensuring smooth and efficient project implementation. Chairman of the Bac Giang provincial People's Committee, Le Anh Duong, affirmed that the province will continue its efforts to attract new investment capital, aiming for a 19 per cent increase compared to 2022. Moving forward, Bac Giang will reinforce measures to enhance the business and investment environment, as well as boost provincial competitiveness. Bac Giang will actively support businesses in investment procedures and assist with their production and operations. Strict inspections will be conducted to address violations in investment projects, particularly those deviating from plans, facing delays, not utilising leased land, or lacking completed environmental procedures. The province will focus on attracting investment from technologically advanced countries with strong supply chain leadership. Partnerships between multinational corporations, particularly from members of multilateral FTA agreements with Viet Nam such as the CPTPP, RCEP and EVFTA, including the United States, European Union, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, will be prioritised to establish and develop industry clusters across various value chains. Investment in digital economic sectors and industries based on 4.0 technology platforms, including ICT, digital technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology, will be given priority. With the current global emphasis on green development, localities are shifting away from pursuing FDI investments at any cost and adopting a sustainable, long-term approach. The focus is now on attracting projects with high scientific and technological content, environmentally friendly practices, and participation in the global value chain. Key investment attraction sectors include electronics, telecommunications, mechanical engineering, construction materials, new materials and supporting industries. According to investors, to implement this selective investment attraction strategy, Bac Giang needs to invest in and improve general infrastructure, as well as the infrastructure of industrial parks and clusters. Administrative reforms is crucial but the province must also develop a distinct investment attraction strategy and effectively manage investment projects. In particular, Bac Giang should prioritise the planning and development of industrial parks and clusters, along with expediting land clearance in these areas to ensure sufficient land reserves to welcome big investors, especially those belonging to the supply chains of major global corporations like Apple, Samsung and Honda. VNS AB InBev said beer was an indispensable part of parties, as well as adding flavour to dishes. However, beer is also associated with some negative aspects, such as being the cause of traffic accidents and domestic violence when people drink too much and do not know how to control themselves. This year marks the second year that AB InBev and Budweiser have organised this programme. Around 4,000 employees of Tessellation Company in Hoa Binh province have participated in the campaign, pledging not to drive after consuming alcohol and receiving education on responsible drinking practices. Le Xuan Cu, chief administrative officer of the Traffic Safety Committee in Hoa Binh Le Xuan Cu, chief administrative officer of the Traffic Safety Committee in Hoa Binh, expressed strong support for the initiative, saying that the campaign will positively impact public health and safety. He emphasised that the programme aimed to change the attitude towards alcohol, which is a cause of traffic accidents, domestic violence, and other social issues affecting Vietnamese families. I would like to express my gratitude to the National Traffic Safety Committee, ministries, and AB InBev for their attention to ensuring traffic safety in general and this Dont drink and drive programme in particular, said Cu. Truong Van Toan, Legal and Corporate Affairs director at AB InBev shares about the message Enjoy Beer Responsibly Because Someone Needs You" Truong Van Toan, Legal and Corporate Affairs director at AB InBev, highlighted the economic and social significance of Hoa Binh, which houses eight industrial zones. Given the large number of workers who primarily use motorcycles for commuting, Toan stressed the necessity of the campaign to ensure road safety. He said that both government agencies and businesses have been implementing policies and communication plans to emphasise the importance of peoples health and road traffic safety. Toan shared that the campaign conducted at Tessellation Company in Binh Duong province last year had received positive feedback from the community and local authorities. This has motivated us to continue our journey to promote a culture of Global Smart Drinking in Hoa Binh, in collaboration with the local Traffic Safety Committee and AB InBev, along with the Budweiser brand, he said. As one of the leading beer manufacturers in the world, AB InBev is committed to delivering high-quality products, exemplified by its Budweiser brand, which offers a unique taste not found in any other beer. The company also aspires for every bottle of beer it produces, regardless of the brand, to be consumed responsibly. Big BBQ celebrates Australian culture More than 1,000 guests attended Taste of Australias Big BBQ at Hanois Imperial Citadel of Thanh Long on August 22 to celebrate Australian food, beverages, and culture, and to mark the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations between Australia and Vietnam. Taste of Japan culinary culture experience The "Taste of Japan" culinary culture event runs from July 24-28 at Hatoyama restaurant in Hanoi, as a way to honour the traditional culinary culture of the land of the rising sun and contribute to connecting the two countries on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan. Hataphar is set to raise approximately $7.8 million from a private placement to strategic shareholder ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. of Japan. According to a notice from Hataphar on October 12, the Vietnamese drugmaker will issue 8.4 million shares, priced at around 9.3 US cents apiece, marking an 11.4 per cent expansion of its existing share count. With this move, ASKA Pharmaceutical will boost its stake to nearly 33 per cent, locking in the new shares from transfer for three years. The century-old Tokyo-based ASKA previously upped its investment in Hataphar in early 2021, purchasing shares at about $3.02 each and elevating its position to a leading shareholder with 24.9 per cent. After a bonus issue in June, ASKA's holdings rose significantly. Ha Tay plans to channel approximately $3.36 million of the proceeds into its high-tech pharmaceutical project and earmark roughly $4.41 million to restructure debts, aiming to enhance capital independence and mitigate financial strains. The firm has also temporarily capped foreign ownership at 44.31 per cent. In a performance update, Ha Tay unveiled a revenue of around $56.7 million and a pre-tax profit of about $3.15 million for the initial eight months of the year, fulfilling 82 per cent of its annual revenue target and 91 per cent of its profit objective. ASKA was established in 1920 as Teikoku Hormone Research Institute by founder Yasohachi Yamaguchi. As a pharmaceutical manufacturer, ASKA commits to being a trusted company based on its strong management philosophy, contributing to the improvement of people's health and the development of innovative products, according to its website. Legal aid priorities for healthcare M&A in Vietnam With its economic sector being seen as the most promising and fastest-growing in Southeast Asia, coupled with the increasing demand for medicine and pharmaceuticals, Vietnam has reaped many rewards in the growth and development of the healthcare industry along with many improvements over the past few years. GE spinoff's goal to resonate at a local level Last year, General Electric underwent a significant transformation by splitting into three separate companies: GE HealthCare, GE Vernova, and GE Aerospace. As the spinoff unfolds in the Vietnam market, Rania Rostom, head of GE's Global Communications and Marketing, talked to VIRs Linh Le about the profound implications and shared insights on the companys strategies during this pivotal phase. On October 10, FPT Retail made its debut into Vietnam's immunisation market with the opening of five new vaccination centres in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This comes after the firm's recent successful venture into the pharmaceutical retail space. A report from BIDV Securities Company (BSC) highlighted the considerable demand for vaccinations, remarking that vaccination centres present a potential niche market in Vietnam's healthcare sector. "It is an eminently practical business avenue," the report noted. Discussing the decision to penetrate this market, a representative from FPT Retail revealed that the current vaccination coverage in Vietnam stands at a mere 4 per cent of the population. In contrast, many other countries report coverage of 15 to 30 per cent, underscoring the untapped potential in Vietnam. "Our venture into the vaccination sector with FPT Long Chau is a harmonious blend of preventive and curative healthcare. While the FPT Long Chau vaccination centres cater to disease prevention, our pharmacies focus on treatments. Both are aligned with the objective of enhancing public health," FPT Retail's spokesperson shared. Setting the bar high, the company's mission is not just to grab a piece of the current 4 per cent pie, but to ambitiously drive the vaccination coverage in Vietnam and bring it on par with neighbouring countries. "Our intention isn't merely to challenge the existing suppliers for their share, but to collaboratively increase the populace's awareness and the overall vaccination rate," stated the representative. FPT Long Chau leverages existing partnerships in the pharmaceutical segment, collaborating directly with vaccine suppliers, both domestically and internationally. However, the company's vision is not limited to vaccination centres, FPT Retail is also promoting injectable drugs across its pharmacy chain. A recent collaboration with Merck Healthcare Vietnam has been forged to supply growth hormone injection devices, pre-programmed by Long Chau pharmacists for ease of use at home. According to BSC, Vietnam currently hosts two major chains of vaccination centres, VNVC and 315 Children's Clinic. VNVC, established in June 2017, boasts over 100 vaccination centres nationwide for children and adults. Its competitive edge lies in its strategic partnerships with leading vaccine manufacturers like Glaxosmithkline (Belgium), Sanofi Pasteur (France), Pfizer, Merck Sharp, and Dohme (the United States), and more. The enterprise manages four centralised cold storage facilities and 100 cold stores that meet good storage practice standards. In addition, 315 Children, founded in mid-2019, operates over 50 centres that are mainly concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding regions. Earlier this year, it attracted a significant investment of roughly $30 million from the Singapore government's investment fund, GIC, during its Series B funding round. In its earlier fundraising rounds, 315 Children secured capital from an array of investors including BDA Capital Partners, TVS, Nisaetus, Samsara Holdings, Tremont Capital Ventures International, an unnamed Japanese healthcare conglomerate, and various individuals. The event is expected to attract 10,000 participants from home and abroad, including 2,500 international business leaders, several of whom feature in the Fortune 500. At a media briefing for FPT Techday, Nguyen Van Khoa, general director of FPT said, Since the very first lines of code written by Vietnamese programmers, FPT has consistently recognised the happiness of our customers as the highest measure of success." We are constantly innovating with breakthrough products and solutions so that digital citizens in the new era can entrust their happiness to FPT. 2023 marks an important milestone in FPT's mission to focus on developing the strategic programme DC5, a digital complex," Khoa added. Speaking about DC5, Vu Anh Tu, CTO of FPT, said, "DC5 contains the most advanced technologies born from our experience and knowledge. These elements are the foundation for FPT to develop smart solutions for businesses in every field, along with financial and end-to-end solutions to creates happiness for our customers as we serve their needs." FPT Techday 2023 will feature a series of seminars with the focus on a discussion around the ability of technology to create happiness and develop trends, as well as the application of AI to future industries. The event will also feature the launch of FPT's next-generation AI ecosystem. Famous speakers will attend the event, including Andrew Ng, one of 'The 100 Most Influential People in AI', who will speak about 'New opportunities for AI - 2023'; and Christopher Cuong T. Nguyen, CEO and co-founder of AITOMATIC, Inc. Raymond Teh, NVIDIA's vice president of Sales and Marketing for the Asia-Pacific region, will discuss ways to start businesses using AI, along with many other famous names in the technology field. A multi-sensory technology exhibition will also be on show, promising to deliver a technology feast for the senses, and should be an appealing prospect for members of the technology and business communities, and for young people who can feel inspied by the beauty of technology. FPT Techday has been held for 11 years and the 2023 event marks 35 years of the company's development. FPT is now a major player in the field of digital transformation, thriving in providing, deploying, and consulting on technology and telecommunications services and solutions. It operates in 29 countries with tens of millions of customers and partners around the globe. FPT to inject $100 million into the US by year-end FPT Corporation has plans to invest $100 million into the US market by the end of this year and is calling on the US government to foster the growth of Vietnam's semiconductor ecosystem. FPT Corporation focuses on AI and chip expansion FPT Corporation has reported orders nearing 70 million chips by 2025 and is setting its sights firmly on the expansion of AI, according to Reuters. Trucks loaded with goods for export (Photo: vientianetimes.org.la) Vientiane - Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith has issued a decree that imposes higher excise tax on certain goods, aimed at curbing the import of luxury items in a bid to reduce the outflow of foreign currency. Specifically, the Presidential Decree No. 003, issued on October 9, raises the excise tax on jeeps and sedans that use fuel, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, soft drinks and slot machines, gaming machines, and all types of gambling equipment that has a valid licence. The new excise rates for fuel-powered jeeps and sedans have been set according to engine size, as follows: 31 per cent for vehicles with an engine capacity of up to 1,000cc; 41 per cent for a capacity of 1,001-1,600cc; 56 per cent for 1,601-2,000cc; 66 per cent for 2,001-2,500cc; 82 per cent for 2,501-3,000cc; 127 per cent for 3,001-4,000cc; 200 per cent for 4,001-5,000cc; and 220 per cent for more than 5,000cc. The previous rates were 25 per cent, 30 per cent, 35 per cent, 40 per cent, 45 per cent, 70 per cent, 85 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively. Alcoholic beverages (except beer) with an alcohol content higher than 23 per cent will have the excise tax increased from 70 per cent to 110 per cent. Drinks with an alcohol content of 10-23 per cent will have the tax increased from 60 per cent to 90 per cent, and beverages that contain less than 10 per cent alcohol will have an added excise tax of 72 per cent. The excise tax rates for beer with an alcohol content of more than 5 per cent will now be 70 per cent, while beer with an alcohol content of 0.5- 5 per cent will incur a tax of 60 per cent. The tax on cigarettes has increased from 50 per cent to 72 per cent, and on other tobacco products from 35 per cent to 47 per cent. Processed beverages such as soft drinks and soda will see the tax increased from 5 per cent to 12 per cent while the tax on energy drinks will increase from 10 per cent to 17 per cent. The decree also imposed a higher excise tax on slot machines, all types of gaming machines and all types of authorised gambling equipment, raising it from 35 per cent to 50 per cent. Laos encourages use of electric vehicles The Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce has rolled out measures to promote electric vehicles (EVs), a type of vehicle that uses clean energy and protects the environment. Ministry proposed to upgrade national highways connecting with Laos, China The Department of Roads of Vietnam (DRVN) has just proposed a project to the Ministry of Transport to upgrade and renovate national highways connecting Vietnam with northern Laos and China. A delegation of more than 10 members of the Hong Kong Logistics Development Council (LOGSCOUNCIL) paid a four-day visit to Vietnam on October 10 to explore partnership opportunities. The delegation was led by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Lam Sai-hung. Hong Kong and Vietnam continue to benefit from thriving bilateral trade, attributable to their shared geographical proximity and economic development. Last year, bilateral trade in goods between Vietnam and Hong Kong amounted to around $33 billion, with an impressive annual growth rate of about 15 per cent from 2018 to 2022. Hong Kong and Vietnam are each other's seventh-largest trading partner, with Vietnam positioned second among the 10 ASEAN member states in this regard. The bilateral trade ties between Hong Kong and Vietnam have become closer since the Free Trade Agreement and Investment Agreement between Hong Kong and ASEAN came into force in 2021. Sai-hung said, "As the doorstep to Mainland China, we are optimistic that the bilateral ties between us will continue to flourish with the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong is bestowed with strong support and long-standing global connections under the unique one country, two systems principle. The city is, and will continue to be, an important conduit between Mainland China and the world." "We are expanding our cooperation with Belt and Road partners in a wide range of areas. With Vietnam as one of the major economies along the Belt and Road and a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, there should be enormous room for further collaboration between Vietnam and Hong Kong of course, including trading and logistics," he noted. "We look forward to fostering a closer partnership with Vietnam. Our LOGSCOUNCIL members are happy to share their insights and experiences of doing business with Mainland China, including the advantages of routing goods through Hong Kong," added Sai-hung. As an international trade and logistics centre, Hong Kong continues to serve as the ideal gateway between Mainland China and the world. Last year, around $23 billion's worth of trade between Mainland China and Vietnam routed through Hong Kong, amounting to around 9 per cent of the total trade between the two countries. The laden container throughput between Vietnam and Hong Kong totalled around 800,000 TEUs last year. Of this, over a quarter were transhipments relating to Vietnam-Mainland China trade. Meanwhile, the air cargo throughput between Vietnam and Hong Kong totalled around 130,000 tonnes in 2022, of which nearly half were transhipments. Experts mull modern logistics trends Businesses shared their initiatives to keep abreast of the latest logistics trends at the second panel "Unlocking the Opportunities for Future Logistics," within the framework of the Logistics Summit 2023, jointly organised by VIR and SLP Vietnam. Breakthroughs pinpointed for Vietnams logistics sector Vietnam will have profound opportunities in logistics chain development over the next 2-3 years and beyond if it can also address its shortcomings, according to participants at a summit jointly organised by Vietnam Investment Review and SLP Vietnam last week in Ho Chi Minh City. Offices for lease in Thu Thiem new urban area in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: VNA) HCM City The office market in Ho Chi Minh City has become vibrant recently with the opening of two office buildings in Thu Thiem new urban area which provides an additional 85,000 sq.m of floor space. The trend is predicted to continue until the end of this year as many buildings in the central area will be put into operation, insiders said. According to CBRE Vietnam, a real estate service provider, the two office buildings, which are of Grade A, are located in a convenient location close to the central area and obtain green certificates. It signals that new office buildings with high standards in favourable locations still attract the attention of businesses, especially multinational companies, CBRE said, adding that due to new supply, the total floor space of offices in the city has reached approximately 1.6 million sq.m. According to Duong Thuy Dung, head of Valuation, Research, and Consulting at CBRE Vietnam, most of the large leasing transactions in the third quarter took place at new buildings, which were finished after 2020. The total new leasing area of both Grade A and B in the third quarter was approximately 24,000 sq.m. Experts said that the new supply also means increased competition, driving the vacancy rate of Grade A offices from 7.5 per cent to nearly 20 per cent. Besides, landlords are still relatively cautious with pricing decisions when the contract rental price may have to come with many incentives to attract or retain customers. While economic difficulties are forecast to last until the end of the first quarter of next year, this caution is necessary as the supply of Grade A office space continues to increase in the coming years, they said. Pham Ngoc Thien Thanh, Deputy Director of CBRE Vietnam Research and Consulting Department said the city's office market is expected to soon become more vibrant in the context that the market has been waiting for truly quality supply for a long time, especially the Grade A office segment. In addition to pursuing high-quality standards relating to construction and operation, investors also pay great attention to green criteria, ensuring quality of life for office workers because this is a prerequisite to attract and retain large tenants and multinational corporations. It means that Grade A office buildings that have been in use for a long time should undergo renovation to ensure competitiveness, she said. According to Trang Le, Senior Director of Research and Consulting Services at JLL Vietnam a real estate service firm, late 2023 and early 2024 continues to witness a big competition from a wave of newly-launched projects. Despite being the locality that attracts the top Grade A tenants in the country, HCM City's office market is expected to return to a balance in the negotiation between landlords and tenants, she said. Real estate developer rejects Thu Thiem land plot Real estate developer Binh Minh Investment and Trading Company Limited has rejected the purchase of land at Thu Thiem New Urban Area, Thu Duc City, despite initially winning the bid for it at auction. The move comes after Tan Hoang Minh Group earlier also did not go through with a planned purchase. Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang speaks at a press briefing following a visit to the Royal Thai Armed Forces headquarters on October 11. (Photo: bangkokpost.com) Bangkok Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsutin has announced that the emergency decree imposed in the deep South will be extended by another three months but it will be lifted in six districts and reinstated in one. Speaking after chairing the decree administration panel meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the panel decided to renew the decree for another three months from October 20, when the law expires, after reviewing the security situation in the deep South. The decision will be brought to the cabinet meeting for approval on October 16 before taking effect. Somsak said the Interior Ministry's officials had conducted a survey to gauge the views of residents and gathered input from the National Security Council and the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre before deciding whether to extend the decree. Statistics showed that from 2007 to the present, violence from the insurgency in the southern border provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and parts of Songkhla has generally eased. In some years, the violent incidents peaked at 100 on average per year, although the number had dropped to 70 on average per year during the pandemic. Although the incidents may increase this year, the authorities have estimated that the number will not exceed 100 for the entire year. Somsak said that in the renewed coverage, the decree would be lifted in three districts - Krong Pinang in Yala, Thung Yang Daeng in Pattani and Yi-ngo in Narathiwat - and replaced by the National Security Act. Also, the panel has decided to reinstate the decree in Sri Sakhon district of Narathiwat, where the unrest has shown signs of resurgence in the past five years. Thailand successfully launches earth observation satellite into orbit Thailand on October 9 announced that it had successfully launched the second earth observation satellite, THEOS-2, into orbit from the French Guiana Space Centre. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, left, shakes hands with Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara prior to their talks in Bangkok, Thailand, on Oct. 12, 2023. (Photo: Kyodo/VNA) Bangkok - Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and her Thai counterpart Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara agreed on October 12 in Bangkok, Thailand that the two countries will enhance economic cooperation. The two ministers confirmed the importance of collaboration to promote Japanese investment in Thailand based on a five-year joint action plan adopted last year, which ranges from digital trade and e-commerce to quality infrastructure development. According to Kamikawa, Japan will cooperate with Thailand to solve challenges caused by the Hamas-Israel conflict, resulting in several Thai casualties. Parnpree said that Thai Prime Minister Srettha hopes to make an official visit to Japan next year. Thailand was the last stop in the Japanese foreign ministers trip to four Southeast Asian nations, including Brunei, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand from October 8-13. Thailands long-term debt stable: Union Bank of Switzerland The Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) has rated Thailands long-term debt sustainability as stable, despite earlier concerns that it might face a downgrade in its credit rating if there were efforts to stimulate the economy through the 10,000 THB (271 USD) digital wallet scheme. (Photo : Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP) (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images) French officials have issued a ban on all pro-Palestine rallies in the nation as police officers used teargas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators. French officials have ordered a ban on all pro-Palestine rallies in the region as police officers were seen using teargas to disperse protesters across the country. Law enforcement personnel in the country as well as members of the gendarmerie worked to remove the large crowds using teargas and water cannons. The ban on pro-Palestine rallies was announced earlier in the day following a message sent by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin to the country's police. France Bans Pro-Palestine Rally The minister said that the decision was made to prohibit pro-Palestine rallies because they are more likely to generate disturbances to the public order. He added that any organization that holds such protests will have to face arrests. Additionally, Darmanin called on police to work on protecting all locations visited by French Jews such as synagogues and schools. He said that any foreigner committing acts of anti-Semitism on French soil will be "immediately expelled." The pro-Palestine rally ban follows the deadly and massive attack by the Haman militant group on Israel over the weekend that has already killed more than 1,200 people. In response, the Israeli government used overwhelming force to attack the coastal enclave of Gaza, which is under the control of Hamas, as per CNN. As the Israel-Palestine conflict approaches unprecedented heights, rallies in support of both sides have been spreading worldwide, some have also resulted in violent clashes. French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on the people of his country to stay united. He added that the shield of unity is what will protect them from drifting away and from all the hatred in the world. On that same day, demonstrators gathered in the historic Place de la Republique whistled, clapped, and chanted slogans in French, including, "We are all Palestinian" and "Palestine will live, Palestine will prevail." One attendee of the demonstration said that France's ban on pro-Palestine rallies is "not normal under the rule of law." He added that in France, you cannot simply demonstrate as is your right, freely. He argues that freedom is no longer in the nation and people are forced to defy French law to demonstrate and show the truth. Read Also: US, 4 European Countries Release Joint Statement on Israel Israel-Palestine Conflict Another resident, 29-year-old Charlotte Vautier, said that it was unfair to forbid one side and to authorize the other to demonstrate. She added that the situation does not reflect the reality of Palestine in current times, according to Aljazeera. Darmanin's orders also come as he announced that since Saturday, at least 24 people have been arrested across the nation for "anti-Semitic acts." The situation comes as France is home to the largest Muslim and Jewish communities in Europe, which means that events overseas can oftentimes increase tensions dramatically. In his address, Macron said that the current conflict is an earthquake for Israel, the Middle East, and beyond. He urged the people of France not to pursue ideological adventures by imitating or projecting. Despite the ban, protesters gathered together and chanted "Israel murderer" and "Macron accomplice." Additionally, the Hamas militant group has called for protests across the Muslim World on Friday in support of Palestinians, said Reuters. Related Article: EU Launches Investigation Into X Over Rampant Disinformation Following Hamas Attack on Israel @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. MPI Deputy Minister Tran Duy Dong The event helps Vietnamese enterprises, including SMEs, to compete in international markets and strengthen the Vietnamese economy towards inclusive and sustainable development. The event also acknowledged the joint efforts by MPI and USAID to promote "Made by Vietnam" products, improve competitiveness and promote business sustainability. The results of these efforts will inspire the business community to promote innovation and self-reliance and create spillover effects for the economy. The event was attended by Tran Duy Dong, MPI Deputy Minister, Aler Grubbs, USAID/Vietnam mission director, and more than 150 delegates representing ministries and localities in the northern region, associations, enterprises, international organisations, investment funds, financial institutions, experts, and media outlets. Pioneering enterprises are the core group that drives changes in different sectors of the economy now and in the future. They will be champions of change, inspiring the pioneering spirit and promoting the pride of Vietnamese people in the path of bringing "Made by Vietnam products to the international market, Dong said. To compete in the global economy, Vietnam must adapt to the new standards and move towards sustainability and inclusiveness. Over the past two years, USAID's IPSC project has collaborated with MPI to support pioneering enterprises to adopt Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards. More than 600 pioneering enterprises submitted applications to receive technical assistance, of which 22 were selected to receive a support package valued at up to $150,000 depending on the size, needs, capacity, and commitment of each enterprise. The support will focus on developing business strategies, penetrating target markets, promoting Vietnamese products, and accelerating enterprises digital transformation. MPI and USAID launched the 2023 Vietnam ESG Initiative in November 2022 to promote the adoption of ESG standards. The ESG Initiative attracted almost 150 applications from enterprises, cooperatives, and household businesses. The top 10 finalists with the best initiatives were selected and provided with one-on-one intensive capacity building to improve their understanding and adoption of ESG practices and other sustainable business models, helping them develop their ESG action plans. The top three winners announced at the event will receive in-depth consultation and technical support valued up to VND2 billion ($84,400) to pilot and scale up their sustainable business practices. 22 firms were selected to receive a support package valued at up to $150,000 "USAID is committed to Vietnams economic growth and competitiveness. Our joint efforts with MPI to accelerate corporate sustainability and the adoption of ESG practices will help companies in Vietnam improve competitiveness, achieve long-term growth, rise to international operating standards, and facilitate entering and moving up in global value chains, which supports the countrys prosperous and sustainable development, said Grubbs. At the event, businesses and experts also discussed the momentum and benefits for enterprises to take the lead in developing domestic supply chains and sustainable development, as a result, contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of the private sector and the economy as a whole. In the future, business support activities delivered by MPI and the USAID IPSC project will continue focusing on promoting the pioneering spirit among the private sector, further enhancing their competitiveness, and creating a strong foundation for long-term development to better meet international standards and integrate into global supply chains. USAID IPSC Project connects Vietnamese enterprises with e-commerce giants Representatives from leading e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon Global Selling and Shopee, shared best practices and key factors for success on e-commerce marketplaces at a recent business matchmaking event held by USAID IPSC. Hundreds of businesses to receive support from USAID IPSC Project Opening for registration since January 18, the Vietnam Private Sector Competitiveness Enhancement Project (USAID IPSC) received more than 600 applications from businesses, cooperatives, and business households. Vietnam is making strong progress in advancing its standing in the global semiconductor supply chain. (Photo: vneconomy.vn) Hanoi Vietnam is making strong progress in advancing its standing in the global semiconductor supply chain as many of the worlds largest chip manufacturers have landed in the Southeast Asian nation, insiders said. Statistics released by Custom Market Insights in August show that the global semiconductor chip market size was valued at 580 billion USD in 2022 and it will grow to 634.5 billion USD this year, and 1.12 trillion in 2032. According to Bloomberg, chip imports from Vietnam to the US jumped from only 321.7 million USD in February 2022 to 562.5 million USD after one year to account for an 11.6% market share, only after Malaysia and Taiwan (China). Aware of Vietnams potential in this field, many chip giants like Intel have poured investments in the Southeast Asian nation. US-based Intel Corporation has set up a chip assembly, packaging and testing factory in Vietnam, also its biggest project worldwide, worth over 1 billion USD. Amkor Technology, one of the world's largest providers of outsourced semiconductor packaging, design, and test services based in Arizona, the US, will put into operation a 1.6 billion USD factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh this month. Samsung Group of the Republic of Korea said it plans to make semiconductor parts in Vietnam. Samsung is testing its ball grid array products and will mass produce them at the tech giant's factory in northern Thai Nguyen province later this year. Tran Dang Hoa, Chairman of FPT IS a subsidiary of tech giant FPT, who is also Chairman of FPT Semiconductor, said for the long-term, Vietnam would become a silicon valley of Southeast Asia. He suggested Vietnam step up human resources development, enhance design capacity for domestic companies, gradually participate in the global supply chain, and attract and jointly build semiconductor factories in the country. The biggest challenge to the domestic semiconductor industry lies with the shortage of IT engineers, he pointed out. Reuters cited an expert in the industry as saying that the 100-million-people country has only 5,000 to 6,000 trained hardware engineers for the chip sector, against expected demand of 20,000 in five years and 50,000 in a decade. Training about 30,000 to 50,000 engineers and experts is part of the Government's project on semiconductor human resources development until 2030. Hoa said FPT plans to train 10,000 semiconductor engineers in the time ahead, adding FPT Semiconductor will cooperate with foreign educational institutions in this regard. Synopsys Inc and Vietnams National Innovation Centre (NIC) have recently announced their collaboration to advance integrated circuit (IC) design expertise in Vietnam. This partnership entails Synopsyss support for the establishment of a chip design incubation centre by NIC. In a joint statement on the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the two countries noted Vietnams sizable potential to become a key nation in the semiconductor industry. The document also mentioned initiatives to develop human resources in the semiconductor industry, with the US providing a seed fund of 2 million USD first. NIC propels ahead with semiconductor agreements Vietnamese authorities are teaming up with American businesses and universities to create a leap forward in semiconductor manufacturing in Vietnam. Vietnam eyes lucrative semiconductor market The presence of leading global tech players as Amkor, Hana Micro, and Marvel is expected to help Vietnam to best avail itself of the lucrative billion-dollar semiconductor market. Amkor opens mega factory for semiconductors in Vietnam On October 11, the US semiconductor product packaging and test services provider Amkor Technology opened a mega factory for semiconductor assembly and testing in the northern province of Bac Ninh. Essentra Components ramps up commitment to Vietnam Essentra Components, a powerhouse in the global industrial components sector, has recently announced plans to strengthen its position in the Vietnam's market. Founded by Kartick Narayan, former chief marketing officer of Groupon and business head of Tiki, Kilo aimed to bridge the gap between wholesalers and the country's burgeoning micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Located in Ho Chi Minh City, the company's business registration portal lists its status as temporarily closed and represented by Tran Thi Bich Thuy. In a major fundraising drive in 2021, Kilo successfully raised $5 million in a Series A round led by Altos Ventures. Other prominent backers in this round included January Capital and previous investors Goodwater Capital, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Decisive Capital Management, and Ratio Ventures. This investment represented Altos Ventures' maiden foray into the Vietnamese market. Targeting Vietnam's estimated $180 billion retail market, Kilo focused on connecting wholesalers with the nation's MSMEs. The startup aspired to digitalise the local retail value chain through technological solutions. Following this significant capital infusion, Kilo articulated its ambition to enhance its customer service platform, bolster its workforce, and introduce novel features. According to DealStreetAsia, Kilo's platform empowered partners to manage their business across various sales channels, such as the Kilo app, Facebook, and Zalo. This multifaceted approach optimised inventory turnover and aimed to curtail costs while mitigating the long-term risks. In an interview in 2022, Narayan shared that Kilo's platform had witnessed engagement from 30,000 wholesalers and retailers spanning 42 cities in Vietnam, with aspirations to boost this number to a staggering one million. "With a population hovering around 100 million and roughly seven million small- and medium-sized enterprises, Vietnam boasts an exceptionally high retail density. For every four households nationwide, there exists one micro retailer. This $180 billion market truly represents the backbone of our economy," Narayan previously commented. Moreover, Narayan had envisioned saturating the Vietnamese market before branching out into other Southeast Asian territories like Indonesia, Myanmar, and even India. Vietnam's tech startups secure $50 million in funding in Q3 In the third quarter of 2023, Vietnam's tech startups secured a total of $50.1 million in fundinga tremendous 504 per cent increase compared with the second quarter of 2023, according to a report by Tracxn, a leading global SaaS-based market intelligence platform. NORFOLK, Va. (AP) A federal admiralty court in Virginia has canceled a Friday hearing to discuss a contested expedition to the Titanic after the salvage firm scaled back its dive plans. But a looming court battle over the 2024 mission is not over yet. RMST Titanic Inc. owns the salvage rights to the world's most famous shipwreck. It originally planned to possibly retrieve artifacts from inside the Titanic's hull, informing the court of its intentions in June. In August, the U.S. government filed a motion to intervene, arguing that the court should stop the expedition. U.S. attorneys cited a 2017 federal law and an agreement with Great Britain to restrict entry into the Titanic's hull because it's considered a grave site. Lawyers on each side of the case were set to discuss the matter Friday before a U.S. District Judge in Norfolk who oversees Titanic salvage matters. But the company said this week that it no longer planned to retrieve artifacts or do anything else that might involve the 2017 law. RMST is now opposing the government's motion to intervene as a party in its salvage case before the admiralty court. RMST has been the court-recognized steward of the Titanics artifacts since 1994. Its collection holds thousands of items following several dives, the last of which was in 2010. The firm exhibits anything from silverware to a piece of the ships hull. The company said it changed the dive plans because its director of underwater research, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, died in the implosion of the Titan submersible near the Titanic shipwreck in June. The Titan was operated by a separate company, OceanGate, to which Nargeolet was lending expertise. Nargeolet was supposed to lead the 2024 expedition. The Titanic was traveling from Southampton, England, to New York when it struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. About 1,500 of the roughly 2,200 people on board died. The wreck was discovered on the North Atlantic seabed in 1985. NEW YORK (AP) Several of former President Donald Trump 's Republican rivals denounced him on Thursday for lashing out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu days after Hamas' deadly attack, a rare moment in which multiple competitors directly criticized the GOP front-runner. Trump at a rally Wednesday night said Netanyahu let us down just before the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020. He also said Israeli leaders needed to step up their game" and referred to Hezbollah, the group Israel fears may launch a large-scale attack from the countrys north, as very smart. In an interview that aired Thursday, he added to his criticism, saying Netanyahu was not prepared" for the deadly weekend incursion from Gaza. Now is not the time to be attacking our ally," said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of Trumps 2024 rivals, echoing denunciations from the White House and elsewhere. More than 2,700 people are dead on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, and Hamas is believed to have taken around 150 hostages. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, another GOP presidential contender, compared Trumps comments to a foreign ally criticizing the U.S. in the aftermath of 9/11 or the attack on Pearl Harbor. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said, We cannot accept a single message to any of the enemies of Israel that U.S. and Israeli leaders are at odds. Trump is generally treated with a hands-off approach by his leading Republican opponents, who are fearful of alienating his loyal base. But his criticism of Israel, so soon after the unprecedented attack, underscores the extent to which the man most likely to take on President Joe Biden next year is driven by personal enmity and resentments toward those who rejected his lies about winning the 2020 election. While Trump and Netanyahu were close allies for years, the former president turned on the embattled Israel leader after Netanyahu congratulated then-President-elect Biden for winning the 2020 election while Trump was still trying to overturn the results. In interviews for a book about his Middle East peace efforts, Trump, according to its author, used an expletive to describe Netanyahu and said he believed the Israeli leader never really wanted to make peace. Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary who serves on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said he wished Trump would let his personal grievances with Bibi, whatever they are, slide for now. I think it's just a reflection that for Donald Trump, everything is personal," Fleischer said. "But despite it, I'll never forget and no one should forget Trump has been good for Israel." Trump has long said that he did more to support Israel than any previous president, pointing to his decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Others were less forgiving. I think it is another sign that Trumps impulsiveness plays into the hands of those who are not his friends, said Erick Erickson, a conservative radio host and Trump critic. Hes given a propaganda win to a terrorist group. Thats unfortunate. White House spokesman Andrew Bates called Trumps statements dangerous and unhinged," while the Israeli communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, told Israels Channel 13 that it was shameful that a man like that, a former U.S. president, abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israels fighters and its citizens. Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment. The prime minister and Israel's intelligence services are under immense pressure to explain how they missed the planning of a multi-pronged attack unlike any in the country's history. Before this week, his far-right government was facing mass protests over a proposed judicial overhaul and criticism from former senior officers of Mossad, Shin Bet, and other Israeli security services who said his proposed policies weakened Israel's internal security. In Washington, President Joe Biden and senior Democratic and Republican leaders have lined up behind Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack. Biden spoke to Jewish leaders on Wednesday and called the attack the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Trump has long tried to paint himself as one of Israels staunchest defenders and has continued to pledge support in the wake of the attack. In the immediate aftermath, he, like some other GOP contenders, tried to place the blame on Biden, and said he would support the country's efforts to crush Hamas. But on Wednesday night, after saying his prayers were with Israel and again vowing support, Trump told a rally in West Palm Beach, Florida, that he was frustrated with Netanyahu over the 2020 mission that killed Soleimani, then the head of Irans Quds Force. In Trump's telling, Israel was going to do this with us, and it was being planned and working on it for months." We had everything all set to go, and the night before it happened, I got a call that Israel will not be participating in this attack," Trump alleged, adding that he would never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. His account of Israel's role in the raid could not immediately be verified. Trump also seized on intelligence failures surrounding the past weekend's onslaught, saying the Iraelis had to strengthen themselves up. Theyve got to straighten it out because theyre fighting, potentially, a very big force, he said. Theyre going to have to step up their game. He further criticized Israels defense minister, calling him this jerk for warning Hezbollah not to attack Israel from the north. In an interview that aired Thursday morning on Fox News Radio, he told host Brian Kilmeade that Netanyahu "was not prepared and Israel was not prepared." Who would have thought their intelligence wouldnt have been able to pick this up?" he asked. "Thousands of people were involved. Thousands of people knew about it and they let this slip by. Speaking to reporters after filing for the New Hampshire primary on Thursday afternoon, DeSantis said Netanyahu was managing one of the most difficult situations Israels ever had to face." You may have a personal vendetta or beef with him, but is that really the time to be out there doing that and to be attacking the Israeli defense minister? I dont think so, he said. He also criticized Trump for calling Hezbollah very smart. Trump campaign aides defended the former president's comments, saying that there was nothing new about his criticism of Netanyahu over the 2020 strike and defending his use of the word smart to describe bad foreign actors. President Trump was clearly pointing out how incompetent Biden and his administration were by telegraphing to the terrorists an area that is susceptible to an attack," said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. Smart does not equal good. It just proves Biden is stupid. It remains unclear how the new war in the Middle East might impact both the GOP primary, which will begin in three months in Iowa, or the general election. While the war in Israel was not top of mind for many of the Republican primary voters who gathered at the New Hampshire statehouse on Thursday to see DeSantis, several were aware of Trumps comments. One of them, 34-year-old Republican Melissa Blasek, of Merrimack, said it was another example of why she had lost faith in the former president. One of the things I always liked about Trump was his strong support for Israel, said Blasek. I dont really know what he meant. It was very rambling. Whats clear is that this is not the Trump of 2016. He is not the same candidate And so things sound less coherent. And I am tired of incoherency. I like an articulate and coherent president. Gomez Licon reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Amy Teibel in Jerusalem, Holly Ramer, Steve Peoples in Concord, New Hampshire, and Thomas Beaumont in Newton, Iowa, contributed to this report. ALBANY, Ga. (AP) A prisoner who ran away from a southwest Georgia hospital has been recaptured, and his mother and stepfather were charged with helping him get away. Dougherty County sheriff's deputies said they caught Carlton Bradford Gillis, 37, on Thursday. He's accused of escaping from an Albany hospital after overpowering a guard on Saturday. Gillis mother, 63-year-old Trudy Sellars, and his stepfather, 47-year-old Randy Williams, turned themselves into police on charges that they aided Gillis' escape. All three are jailed with no bail set as of Thursday. None of the three have a lawyer listed in Dougherty County court records. Gillis didn't immediately respond to an electronic message sent to a Facebook account. Sellars told police she and Williams went to pick up Gillis after he called to say he had been released from the hospital, and didnt know he was escaping custody. Sellars said Gillis kept her in the car against her will, refusing to stop and let her get out. An Albany police officer said a bystander near the hospital told him Saturday that he saw a man get into a green car. The officer found a green car with the driver alternating between his left and right turn signals, and then pulling onto the shoulder of Albany's freeway bypass as the officer came up behind the car. The officer said in a police report that Williams was the driver and Gillis was in the back seat. The officer said when he commanded Gillis to raise his hands, Gillis instead climbed into the driver's seat and kept Williams from turning off the engine. Gillis drove a short distance and Williams got out after the car stopped. Gillis then took off with police pursuing. They gave up the chase after Gillis exited the freeway and drove into oncoming traffic at speeds up to 80 mph (130 kph), according to police. Officers said they later found the car with Sellars still inside. She told officers Gillis had run into the woods. Police added charges of kidnapping, forcible robbery, fleeing a police officer, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license against Gillis. He was already awaiting trial in Dougherty County on other charges including burglary, felony interference with government property and felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer. Gillis faces additional charges in neighboring Terrell County. A ring of fire eclipse will be visible in the skies above the Waco area Saturday as the moon will appear to cover most of the sun around midday. A ring of fire eclipse is properly called an annular eclipse and is distinguished from a total solar eclipse in which the moon appears to completely cover the sun. A total solar eclipse will be visible from Waco on April 8, the last to be visible from the continental United States until 2044. On Saturday morning, when viewed from Waco, the moon will cover all but 11 percent of the sun. From Waco, the moon will appear to begin moving in front of the sun around 11:25 a.m. and will cross the face of the sun, completely ending the annular eclipse by about 1:30 p.m. Viewing events will be held at Baylor Universitys Mayborn Museum, 1301 S. University Parks Drive, and at Texas State Technical Colleges student recreation center, 2502 Campus Drive. The western part of the Texas Hill Country and parts of the coast will be the best places to view the eclipse in Texas, with Odessa, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Padre Island all having 100% visibility, according to a Baylor press release. Conditions must be perfect, with the sun and moon exactly in line with the Earth, for the natural phenomenon to occur, Baylor astrophysicist Barbara Castanheira Endl said in the press release. Following Keplers laws of planetary motion, during an annular eclipse, the ellipticity of the orbit will cause the angular size of the moon to be just a little bit smaller than the angular size of the sun, Castanheira Endl said. Even a small 5% difference in the angles of the sun and the moon, the eclipse would not occur. To safely view the eclipse from anywhere, approved solar filter glasses must be worn to actually look directly at it, said Alan Small, the Mayborns science, technology, engineering and math programs manager. Sunglasses for sure are not safe, Small said. Proper solar filters are required and sunglasses arent it. He also said there are many ways to enjoy the wonder of the annular eclipse without looking directly up at the sun. You can use shadows instead, Small said. Naturally occurring shadows will work, or you can make your own. Standing under the canopy of a tree, the light from the eclipse will cast shadows through the leaves of the tree onto the ground that will show the lights and darks of the eclipse, Small said. Punch a hole in a card with a thumb tack, a hole punch or a pencil, and use that card to cast a shadow on a sidewalk, driveway or an outside table. The ring of fire will be visible in the part of the cards shadow where the hole is, Small said. He also said the sun is no more dangerous to look at during an annular eclipse than it is on a regular sunny day. You wouldnt look at the sun on a normal day, so dont look straight at it without the right glasses during the eclipse, Small said. A good supply of eclipse glasses was available in the Mayborn Museum store as of Thursday morning, Small said. Pets are not prone to look up at the sky when shadows change on the ground, so it will be safe for pets to be outside during the eclipse, he said. Pets dont connect lights and shadows to the sun, so theyre not likely to look up at the sun, Small said. The viewing event from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at TSTCs recreation center is free, and will accommodate 200 people of all ages, TSTC spokesperson Peter Macias said. We will have many STEM activities for people of all ages, including the proper way to view the eclipse, Macias said. Macias said a limited supply of free glasses would be available, but participants should bring their own refreshments. During the SicEm Science event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mayborn Museum, eclipse viewing and activities will be available until 1:30 p.m. Many other science demonstrations from disciplines as diverse as chemistry all the way to the study of sleep will be available during the whole event. A special loud, colorful and explosive chemistry demonstration by associate professor Darrin Bellert will run from 2 to 3 p.m. Eclipse viewing and the chemistry show will be outside at the museums Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village, between the main museum building and the Brazos River. Events at the Mayborn Museum related to the eclipse will include video feeds from sites with 100% visibility on large television monitors, as well as an art station, a tinkering station, and posters for visitors to record their observations, questions and expressions of wonder, Small said. Editors note: Voters have amended the Texas Constitution 517 times since 1876, and they will get the chance again Nov. 7. This is the 10th of a series of Tribune-Herald articles examining the intention and implications of the 14 amendments on the ballot. About $100,000 a year of local tax revenue is at stake in McLennan County if Texas voters Nov. 7 approve Proposition 10, which exempts some medical manufacturers from inventory taxes. The constitutional amendment is intended to make Texas attractive as a place to make medical devices. But the exemption will shift the tax burden for school, city, county and college taxes to other taxpayers, said Joe Don Bobbitt, chief appraiser for the McLennan Central Appraisal District. For these businesses this will be a good thing and will reduce their tax burden, he said. But for every exemption passed the tax burden is shifted to those that dont qualify. Proposition 10 could reduce the tax paid by about 17 companies in Waco and surrounding cities, which combined pay about $100,700 in inventory tax, Bobbitt said. Granted a $100,000 shift isnt enough of an impact in terms of total tax levy in this county and wouldnt be noticed by your average taxpayer, Bobbitt said. State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, was the author of Senate Joint Resolution 87, which put Proposition 10 on the ballot. The amendment allows for a personal property tax exemption for the equipment and supplies used to make medical products and for the products themselves. Those companies would continue to pay other taxes, including property taxes on real estate. Huffman acknowledged on the Senate floor that her amendment amounts to preferential tax treatment, but she said Texas needs these products to be made here, rather than outside the U.S., which is mostly the case now. Huffman said the loss of the inventory tax would be offset by increased tax base and high-paying jobs that come with medical manufacturing. Companies in the Greater Waco Area that could be affected if Proposition 10 passes include BioLife Plasma Services and Epiphany Dermatology, P.A., which each paid about $25,000 in inventory taxes to Waco, the Waco Independent School District, McLennan County and McLennan Community College. The language on the ballot for Proposition 10, also known as Senate Joint Resolution 87, will read, The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation equipment or inventory held by a manufacturer of medical or biomedical products to protect the Texas healthcare network and strengthen our medical supply chain. Proposition 10 would allow the Legislature to exempt medical and biomedical manufacturers as well as companies that make pharmaceuticals and medical personal protective equipment from the property tax on inventory, according to a Focus Report of the Texas House of Representatives House Research Organization. Property to be used in the manufacturing or processing of medical or biomedical products also could be exempted, the Focus Report said. In addition to property tax on homes and buildings, Texas also levies property tax on inventory held by manufacturers as finished goods and on equipment used to make or process those finished goods. The current tax structure on medical and biomedical manufacturing inventories can discourage capital investment and expansion, the House committee analysis of the proposed amendment says. Huffman said the amendment would allow vaccines and pharmaceutical products developed at research institutions in Dallas and Houston, and elsewhere in Texas, to be manufactured in the state. Texas is the only large manufacturing state that imposes this type of tax (on inventory) and it has seriously dampened the enthusiasm for manufacturers in these industries to come to Texas, Huffman said before the Texas Senate voted to put Proposition 10 on the ballot. It will support job creation and bring in real estate and other types of taxes. Huffman also reminded her colleagues that the recent pandemic exposed the risk of making medical equipment and PPE outside the state. She said Proposition 10 would strengthen the medical supply chain and protect the Texas healthcare network. Texas Representative Brian Harrison, R-Ellis County, voted against the measure in the House because he thinks it doesnt go far enough. If the inventory tax is a problem, lets scrap it for everyone. Harrison said by phone Sept. 28. Unforeseen consequences could include market distortions, Harrison said. When a state gives tax exemptions to some businesses and not others, it distorts markets, Harrison said. I support biomedical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing in Texas just like I support every other business. Harrison would like to see Texas have the lowest tax rates and smallest regulatory burdens across the board. Editors note: Voters have amended the Texas Constitution 517 times since 1876, and they will get the chance again Nov. 7. This is the ninth of a series of Tribune-Herald articles examining the intention and implications of the 14 amendments on the ballot. When University High School Principal Annette Perez retired in 2004 after 24 years in Texas public education, George W. Bush was president, Rick Perry was in his second elected term as Texas governor and gas cost a little more than $2 a gallon. More than two decades after retiring, Perez has yet to receive a cost-of-living adjustment. She is not alone. The Texas Retired Teachers Association estimates roughly 70% of its membership retired after 2004 and also are waiting for an adjustment. That could change if voters on Nov. 7 approve Proposition 9, an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would authorize the transfer of about $3.3 billion to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas trust fund to pay for a cost-of-living adjustment of between 2% and 6% for the roughly 475,000 retired Texas teachers and school employees. The official ballot wording for the amendment, laid out in House Joint Resolution 2, is less descriptive: The constitutional amendment authorizing the 88th Legislature to provide a cost-of-living adjustment to certain annuitants of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. The working details of the amendment are in its enabling legislation, Senate Bill 10, authored by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, which passed without opposition in both the House and Senate. The measure allows the Legislature to transfer $3.3 billion from the states general revenue fund to the Teacher Retirement System trust fund, provides a mechanism for future cost-of-living increases and allows a one-time benefit payment of $2,400 for the states 104,000 Teacher Retirement System retirees and beneficiaries 70 to 74 years old and $7,500 for the 186,000 retirees 75 and older. The amendment will not require a tax increase to finance. If passed, the cost-of-living adjustment would take effect in January. The cost-of-living amendment culminates years of lobbying and work by teachers groups, said Tim Lee, executive director of the Texas Retired Teachers Association. With a $33 billion budget surplus predicted before the 88th Legislative Session, the groups redoubled their efforts. Its a big step forward, Lee said. He said teachers who retired before the last cost-of-living adjustment have lost an estimated 34% in purchasing power over that time. Most retired Texas teachers do not draw Social Security benefits for their teaching years in Texas. Teachers retirement benefits are determined by an average of their three highest-paid years. For teachers who retired several decades ago, the salary levels at which they retired are considerably lower than todays average teaching salaries. Perez can speak to both issues. She qualified for Social Security thanks to eight years teaching in New Jersey before coming to Texas, and her salary at retirement was approximately $70,000, lower than the current level paid high school principals. She said a longtime friend and former teaching colleague from New Jersey was earning about $98,000 after retiring with roughly as many years in teaching as Perez. Gerald Brewer retired from Waco Independent School District in 2007 after 35 years in the district as an Earth science teacher, Waco High School ninth grade counselor, then assistant principal. He draws Social Security thanks to his part-time jobs with Cox Department Store, then Jos. A. Banks before its Waco store closed due to a corporate bankruptcy. Brewer, 75, recalled his starting salary as a teacher in the 1970s was around $6,000 and, as for many of his colleagues, a second job after school hours or during the summer was needed to help pay the bills. The Texas Retired Teachers Association estimates 75,000 retirees would receive the 6% increase, 195,000 retirees the 4% increase and 150,000 the 2% increase based on their retirement date. Brewer falls in the group qualifying for the 4% increase, which, if Proposition 9 passes, would mean about an extra $100 in his monthly paycheck, he said. Brewer said the cost-of-living increase also would affect custodians, bus drivers and cafeteria workers and other school employees who pay into the Teacher Retirement System. Its (the cost-of-living increase is) not going to be an extreme amount of money, but its very much needed for some people, he said. Perez, who said she might still be in education today if her students and colleagues were all she had to deal with, agreed. A new survey revealed that American office employees spend more than $50 daily on average compared to WFH (work-from-home) staff. Owl Labs conducted the survey; a 360-degree video conferencing device manufacturer. Now, here's what the company's "State of Work" report revealed. American Office Employees Spend Over $50 Per Day on Average Owl Labs's 2023 State of Work report revealed that more than 60% (66% to be exact) of office employees in the United States spend an average of $51 every workday compared to those who are only working at home. Via its official website, the American company provided the breakdown of the $51 expense that office employees have to deal with five times a week: Lunch: $16 Commute: $14 Breakfast/Coffee: $13 Parking: $8 Aside from these expenses, some office-based workers even spend more than $51 because of their pets. Specifically, they need to pay an additional $20 for pet care. Meanwhile, Owl Labs also revealed that hybrid employees spend an average of $36 per day compared to WFH staff. Owl Labs CEO Frank Weishaupt said their findings are not about whether office-based workers are more expensive today than during the pandemic's peak. Read Also: Who's More At Risk of Harmful Online Content, Boys or Girls? New Study Provides the Answer Other Things Owl Labs Discovered in Office Employees Owl Labs' State of Work report also revealed what kind of working setup managers are asking for and what scenarios their employees prefer. Based on the videoconferencing firm's findings, 67% of managers will likely change their current hybrid or remote policy. This means that more than half of them could require employees to return to offices completely. Meanwhile, 19% said they would retain their hybrid and remote policies. The remaining 13% are still unsure as of writing. When it comes to employees, 55% of them said they want to retain their remote or hybrid work setup. Around 23% want to change their existing hybrid/remote working scenarios, and another 23% are unsure about their decisions. Another thing that Owl Labs discovered is that around 79% of managers feel that their subordinates are more productive and efficient when they have remote or hybrid work setups. On the other hand, 11% see no difference in the productivity of their employees. One of the main reasons companies want their staff to return to being office-based is to build relationships with colleagues. However, Yahoo Finance reported that around 46% of employees find it easier to establish good connections with their colleagues remotely. As of writing, numerous American workers can still enjoy working within the vicinities of their beloved home. But, as the business sector tries to return to the office, employees must adjust or persuade their companies to retain their WFH policies. Related Article: [SURVEY] Younger Americans' Impulse Buying on Social Media Getting Worse-Spending Over $71 Billion in 2022 @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. CEDAR FALLS Doors will be open Sunday for participants in the inaugural Cedar Falls Historic Churches Tour, a fundraiser for the Cedar Falls Historical Society. Anything the historical society can do to inspire people with Cedar Falls history is something we want to do. Faith played a big part of the lives of Cedar Falls settlers and early citizens and continues to play an important role in our community, said Julie Huffman-klinkowitz, collections manager and curator. The self-guided tour is from 1 to 5 p.m. Cost is $15 per person, and free for children 12 and under. Advance tickets are available at the Cedar Falls Historical Society, 308 Third St., or at participating churches Sunday. Six churches will be featured and five are within walking distance of each other. People in the community may have been in some of these churches for weddings and funerals. Now is the chance to learn something of the history of the buildings, the architecture and history of its members, Huffman-klinkowitz explained. Methodists have been in Cedar Falls nearly since the communitys founding. First United Methodist Church, 718 Clay St., is the third location for its congregation, dedicated in 1895. The white stone tower has been a Cedar Falls landmark. St. Patrick Catholic Church, 705 Main St., is the oldest parish in Black Hawk County, organized in 1854. The first church building was constructed in 1856 on the site of the present church. A larger church was built in 1876 and destroyed by fire in 1913. Updates have been added to the current building and parish campus over the years. In 1855, the Rev. James Phillips met with six Cedar Falls residents in a one-room schoolhouse and started the First Presbyterian Church. The first church was dedicated in 1862 at 608 Main St. In. 1910, a new church was built at 902 Main St. In the late 1980s, a new sanctuary was built on the south side of the education wing. In 2017-18, the Cedar Falls Mennonite congregation was invited to share First Presbyterian Church facilities. Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 904 Bluff St., shares only a partial history with its building. The present brick church was built in 1911 and originally housed Nazareth Lutheran Church. It was purchased by Our Redeemers congregation in 1962 and has undergone extensive renovations while maintaining its original Gothic design. Danish immigrants organized the First Danish Baptist Church of Cedar Falls in 1878 and built a simple frame church at 1015 Main St. in 1882. It was remodeled in 1889 and the front part added in 1917, when stained glass windows were added. Services were in Danish until 1919 when evening services were in English, and in 1927 all services were in English. The church name was changed to Calvary Baptist Church in 1932, and in 1980, to Calvary Bible Church. The latest name change was in 1988, after merger with the First Evangelical Free Church. St. Lukes Episcopal Church was founded in 1855, and in 1864 the first church structure was built at Seventh and Main streets. The congregation grew rapidly after World War II, and in 1962 the congregation broke ground to construct the current building at 2410 Melrose Drive. The most popular historical sites in America The Most Popular Historical Sites in America Visits to US historical sites have become increasingly popular National historical parks & memorials are the most commonly visited 15. Independence National Historical Park 14. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial 13. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial 12. Minute Man National Historical Park 11. San Antonio Missions National Historical Park 10. Korean War Veterans Memorial 9. Vietnam Veterans Memorial 8. World War II Memorial 7. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park 6. Valley Forge National Historical Park 5. Mount Rushmore National Memorial 4. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park 3. Colonial National Historical Park 2. Lincoln Memorial 1. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park WATERLOO A Waterloo man has been arrested for allegedly trying to break into a home armed with a machete last week. Authorities allege Victor Angel Escobar-Garcia was looking to kill his uncle when he showed up at a home at 1028 Oregon St. drunk and covered in blood. He wrote his uncles name in blood on the screen door window and allegedly tried to force his way into the home, kicking in the door and saying he was looking for the people who robbed him, according to court records. Escobar, who was brandishing a machete, apparently went to the wrong house and was challenged by the resident, who suffered minor injuries. He then went next door to 1040 Oregon St., again asking for his uncle. Police arrived at the scene and detained Escobar a short time later during a traffic stop. He was taken to a hospital mental health unit for observation. On Wednesday, police arrested Escobar for first-degree burglary. Bond was set at $50,000. How to stay secure during a hotel stay TOSS THE KEY ENVELOPE IMMEDIATELY WHAT ABOUT MANUAL KEYS? MUM'S THE WORD TAKE MENTAL NOTES ON ARRIVAL IF YOU FEEL FOLLOWED A WORD ABOUT HOTEL SAFES GET THE HOTEL'S BUSINESS CARDS WHEN IN DOUBT, CALL THE FRONT DESK THE TAKEAWAY ALLISON -- Prosecutors said a former Clarksville police lieutenant violated his oath when he developed a relationship with a teenage girl who was a victim in one of his investigations. Instead of honoring his oath to protect and to serve, the defendant used his position to commit the crime of sexual exploitation of a minor, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Israel Kodiaga told jurors Wednesday as testimony began in the trial of Michael William Tobin Jr. Tobin, 35, is charged with 11 counts of sexual exploitation -- it took more than 10 minutes for Kodiaga to read the charges out loud in court. Tobin pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys declined to outline their case in opening statements. Tobin had been a lieutenant at the Clarksville Police Department. Prosecutors allege he solicited and exchanged images with two teens using SnapChat and a Google Docs file in February 2022. He also is charged with sharing child porn videos and images acquired in a prior investigation with one of the teens in the fall of 2021. Kodiaga said the sharing of the images was not for law enforcement purposes. He did it for his own sexual interests, Kodiaga said Authorities allege Tobin also had sexual contact with the teen at the heart of the case when she was 16 and with another teen. But there are no charges regarding the sexual contact. Tobin first met the teen when she was 15 years old as part of an investigation into a sex offender named Cody Michael Blue, who had been soliciting pictures of girls in exchange for alcohol and cigarettes. Months later, Tobin saw the teen at Pioneer Days. They talked, and she and her friends made a TikTok video with him. Kodiaga said the teen later took part in the police departments ride along program that allows civilians to accompany officers on patrol. On the first ride, Tobin mentioned the Cody Blue investigation and told the girl he liked her pictures, according to her account. In the fall of 2021, Tobin allegedly showed the teen evidence seized in the Cody Blue case that included 10 sexual images and videos of other girls who were victims and had submitted images to Blue. The files were on a computer, she testified Wednesday. It was Michael Tobin who was controlling the computer, she told jurors. She said Tobin made jokes about them. She described some of the material she witnessed and said she recognized two of the girls as classmates in her school. The teen testified that she and Tobin developed a relationship that included exchanging images of themselves and having sex at different locations including the police station, a squad car and in a woodshop at his home while his wife was at work. She said one time a female friend of hers sent her racy picture of herself, and Tobin told the teen to ask her to send more. The friend then sent a photo of her butt, the teen said. The teen said she deleted all of the sexual photos they exchanged because he asked her to. The teen testified Tobin also showed her police videos of him arresting a man in a hot tub, allowed her inside the evidence room and streamed a Facetime video chat of an incident in which he arrested a woman. At one point, the mayor became suspicious after seeing Tobin and the teen at the police department in February 2022. She was giving the officer a foot rub, and her car was parked in the city garage. Tobin told the mayor he had been working on her car. The ride along program ended after that, she said. Another time, the teens mom discovered a pregnancy test and grounded her and took her phone. Prosecutors said the two then began communicating through a Google Doc, which is a shared file where approved users can add information. They also used it to keep in touch when he went to Florida for a family vacation, the teen told jurors. At some point, another friend of the teen noticed them communicating on the Google Doc, Kodiaga said. School officials were eventually notified, and officers with the Butler County Sheriffs Office and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation became involved. The teen testified that she deleted material from the Google Doc after she was called to the principals office. According to testimony, some of the document remained but only contained non-incriminating messages. Tobin later resigned from the Clarksville Police Department. Testimony is scheduled to continue in Butler County District Court in Allison. Photos: Michael Tobin Jr. trial, October 2023 101123jr-tobin-trial-2 101123jr-tobin-trial-3 101123jr-tobin-trial-4 101123jr-tobin-trial-1 101223jr-tobin-trial-1 101223jr-tobin-trial-4 101223jr-tobin-trial-3 101223jr-tobin-trial-2 101323jr-tobin-trial-2 101323jr-tobin-trial-1 101323jr-tobin-trial-4 101323jr-tobin-trial-3 101623jr-tobin-verdict-1 101623jr-tobin-verdict-2 101623jr-tobin-trial-3 101623jr-tobin-trial-2 101623jr-tobin-trial-1 WATERLOO As the Chilcotes stood in a field and watched firefighters sift through the wreckage of the D+K Hickory House in October, matriarch Karen Chilcote promised her children they would persevere. We are going to rebuild, Lutricia Chilcote recalled her mother saying. We are not going out this way. Reconstruction started March 2. Twelve days later, Karen died. But her promise to rebuild the family restaurant came to fruition. The Hickory House burned down the day before Halloween, hours after a car crashed into the side of the building, cracking a gas line. The restaurant had been in the family since 1952 and just six days before the fire celebrated 70 years as a family-owned business. Patrons saw the Hickory House as a Waterloo institution, and when the old building came down the outpouring of well wishes was immediate. The support from the community has been again, unbelievable, Lutricia Chilcote said. I didnt realize how many people were affected by the Hickory House. Not necessarily our family, but the Hickory House. So its been very nice, very humbling, very encouraging. The restaurant first reopened Oct. 3 for a private party before announcing on social media it was officially back business Oct. 5. Chilcote made the post at 9 a.m. and five minutes later, the phone was ringing off the hook. Were very fortunate. Its been busy. Weve been booked every night with reservations for the month of October, Chilcote said. We have added Wednesdays to be open. Starting in November were just going to go back to Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Stacey Bentley was one customer happy the restaurant is back. She and her husband, Russ, went to the Hickory House while they were dating, and 42 years later theyre still loyal patrons. Sitting at a large table with friends, Bentley said the night was made special by the regulars flooding in like they did before the fire. This is so special, and Im so glad that they rebuilt here because its an icon and everyone in Waterloo and the whole entire Cedar Valley in Iowa knows, Bentley said. Ive been here for 15 minutes, and Ive seen so many people I know. Its family. The Hickory House was known as much for its decor as its food, with old John Deere tractor models and paintings festooning the walls a reminder of Waterloos heritage. When rebuilding, Chilcote said, they wanted to make it as close to the original as possible. With the exception of ADA-compliant bathrooms, they succeeded. Down to the tractors. Chilcote acknowledged a few things are different, but its the same Hickory House. One thing I will say, the first customer that came in, he said, It looks different, but it feels the same, Chilcote said. And I said that was the best compliment you could give me. Another person happy to be back is Charisse Clark. Clark has been a patron for 20 years, coming every Thursday with her husband, Dennis. Its absolutely amazing, she said of the restaurant reopening. We have this table every Thursday night same table, same time and Im telling you, they havent missed one single beat. Everything is exactly the same. Unfortunately, Dennis died in May, but Clark said there was no better way to honor his memory than dinner at their favorite place. He would be so proud, Clark said. And I know he and Karen are both celebrating upstairs, having a scotch on the rocks together. OSAGE A 69-year-old Mitchell County man was killed Wednesday after he was trapped in a grain bin near the intersection of Iowa Highway 9 and Glass Avenue. Dennis Ray Fischer of Mitchell was declared dead by emergency workers after they were unable to free him for an extended period of time, according to a press release from the Mitchell County Sheriffs Office. Authorities responded to a 911 call at approximately 12:13 p.m. reporting the incident. Assisting on the scene were the Osage Fire Department, Mitchell County EMS, Floyd County Search and Rescue and area citizens providing grain hauling and moving equipment. Crock Pot Pulled Pork 3 pounds pork butt 1 cup yellow mustard 1 cup any pulled pork seasoning 1 quart chicken stock quart apple cider vinegar Prepare three-quart Crock Pot or slow cooker. Smother pork in mustard. Cover with pork seasoning. Pour chicken stock and apple cider vinegar over pork. Set on low heat and simmer 6 to 8 hours, or until pork is fork-tender. Shred with a fork. Use the pork to make sandwiches, tacos or enchiladas, pizza, nachos, macaroni and cheese or other favorite dishes. You can freeze pulled pork leftovers in freezer bags or air-tight containers. Label with the date and used within two or three months. https://tass.com/politics/1689703 MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. In terms of the latest round of escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the United States has already done everything they could and the rest of the world will have to clean up the mess, the Russian Foreign Ministrys official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. Commenting on latest remarks by White House officials, who said the United States was not planning to send its forces in Israel to participate in the conflict, the diplomat said: Id say, they have already done everything they could. Now, as always, others will have to clean up the mess after them. Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalems Temple Mount. Israel declared a state of readiness for war, announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank. Over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,200 have suffered wounds; in Israel, the death toll stands at about 1,500 and almost 4,000 people have been wounded. Thanks to the College Opportunity Program, more than 90 new Winona area high school graduates enrolled at Minnesota State College Southeast this fall. They are finding that the program doesnt just make it possible to go to college tuition-free this year and next it makes it possible for them to think ahead to the next steps in their education. Lauren Woyczik graduated from Winona Senior High School last spring. She is enrolled in the colleges pre-nursing program, planning to become a registered nurse. Currently Im taking the prerequisite courses to enter the Associate of Science in nursing degree, she said. Since she doesnt have to take out loans for her first two years of college, she is setting her sights higher and plans to earn a Bachelor of Science in nursing after she graduates from Southeast. Jaron Pizarro also graduated from Winona Senior High School last spring. He remembers seeing flyers on the wall at the high school and reading about the College Opportunity Program in area newspapers. I already planned to go to a community college like Southeast, he said. I knew there were lots of interesting programs here, and with my math aptitude, I figured something in electronics would be a good fit. Like Woyczik, Pizarro plans to enter the workforce after finishing college and continue onward for a four-year degree. The College Opportunity Program makes a lot of difference for me because Ill be able to go on for a bachelors degree right away, Pizarro said. I wont be starting off with so much student loan debt. Funded by a consortium of Winona area businesses and individuals, the College Opportunity Program provides Winona students graduating in 2023 and 2024 with up to 70 credits at MSC Southeast, plus $500 per year towards the cost of books, tools, supplies and materials. Because program is currently funded through 2026, students who graduate in 2025 will be eligible for up to 35 credits and a $500 stipend. Just as importantly, College Opportunity Program navigators Kattie Sacia and Pam Zimmerman are available to help students through the enrollment, registration and financial aid process. Zimmerman and Sacia are also determined to retain students all the way through graduation by making sure they have the resources they need to be successful, both at MSC Southeast and in the future. I have been working with Kattie to plan my classes so that I will transfer onward with the right courses, Pizarro said. I really appreciate getting on the right path I would be lost otherwise. New Winona Senior High School grad Max Dalenberg is currently enrolled in electronics at Southeast. The College Opportunity Program changed his entire outlook for the year. I wasnt really planning to go to college right away, since I didnt know what I wanted to study, Dalenberg said. I was just going to work this year and live at home. But when his family heard about the program through a friend who works at Southeast, he decided to go to college right away. I actually like going to college at Southeast a lot more than I expected, he said. Even though they are challenging, my classes are pretty fun. I like working with my hands and not just taking notes all day. Dalenberg has been talking with Zimmerman quite a bit. She helped me figure out what classes to take, how to sign up for them and how to get around the college generally. All three students strongly recommend that current Winona area high school students consider Minnesota State College Southeast when planning for next fall. Its not like money grows on trees, said Pizarro. Tuition costs a lot. You can save money, and you wont have debt after you graduate. Dalenberg agreed. It will save you money and give you a lot of financial freedom. Even if you dont know exactly what program you want to study, utilizing the College Opportunity Program is a great way to take some college classes and decide, said Woyczik. Minnesota State College Southeast is a great place to go because there are a lot of people who can help you. For more information about the College Opportunity Program for Winona area students, go to www.southeastmn.edu/opportunity. School districts across the United States are constantly looking for new ways to educate students, and a former Baraboo High School class is looking to fund such innovation. The Baraboo High School Class of 1976 has raised roughly $42,000 in donations from class members over the past month to establish the Education Innovation Grants Fund, a grant program for district schools and classes that come up with innovative education practices. Grants will be given annually to kindergarten through high school educators for projects, activities and educational practices that emphasize creativity and innovation and are initiatives not included in the districts operating budget. Last year, after our class reunion, we started talking about how we might give back to our alma mater, class Advisory Committee chairperson Keri Olson said at the School Boards biweekly meeting on Monday. There is a similar endowment program for innovation from educators in the River Valley School District, located in Spring Green and Plain in southern Sauk County, Olson said, adding that the River Valley program was the inspiration for the Baraboo High School Class of 1976s idea. We realized that we had a groundbreaking endeavor, Olson said. What we were doing is establishing the first and only fund of its kind that would recognize and reward innovative educational practices in the Baraboo School District schools and classrooms. Programs that may benefit from the grant funds could include STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), robotics, art, outdoor education, field trips and hosting guest speakers. The program is continuing to raise funds, and Olson hopes that continues. The more we raise, the more we will be able to give in grants, Olson said. Five percent of all funds raised will be distributed annually in grants. With just more than $40,000 raised so far, $2,000 will be distributed, with a maximum of $1,000 per grant. The plan is for the grants fund to earn at least 5% in annual investment income to offset the annual distributable amount and for the fund to keep growing to allow larger grants indefinitely, Olson wrote in a program announcement. Applications for the inaugural Education Innovation Grants Fund cycle are being accepted by the Baraboo School District until Oct. 26. Grant recipients will be announced on Nov. 15. Recipients will have to provide written reports to the Class of 1976 and the district, as well as make a presentation to the School Board on how the grant funding will be utilized. Creating incentives for innovative education initiatives is crucial because of how such measures can maximize student education as it evolves over time, district Superintendent Rainey Briggs said. Its truly heartwarming to see the Class of 1976 establishing a scholarship fund for innovative education initiatives within our district, Briggs said. Their generosity and commitment to giving back to our community are inspiring. Training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets underway: report Xinhua) 10:53, October 13, 2023 KIEV, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets is successfully underway, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported Thursday, citing a military spokesman. The pilots, currently undergoing simulator training, are due to start flights with instructors on real planes in several weeks, said Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, adding that they will begin independent flights after the training. According to him, the arrangement of Ukraine's infrastructure and communication means for operating F-16 jets is also ongoing. Ukrainian pilots began training to fly F-16s in August. The training program is set to last about six months, according to Ukrainian authorities. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) The Biden Admin wants to prevent China from further accessing American AI chips and other SoC-making tools from the United States. To do this, the US government is considering a major loophole that allows Beijing to take advantage of American artificial intelligence chips through units that are located overseas. Biden Admin Wants to Stop China From Accessing American AI Chips Four anonymous individuals familiar with the US government's plan to prevent China from accessing American AI chips claim that the Biden Administration will tighten its AI chip and chipmaking tool shipment restrictions. The US already unveiled these regulations in 2022, which shook relations with the Chinese government. The US government left China's overseas subsidiaries with uncontrolled access to AI semiconductors and SoC-making tools in these initial restrictions. Because of this, Chinese companies can still smuggle or access these artificial intelligence technologies remotely, making it a major loophole. Now, the Biden Administration wants to close this loophole with stricter regulations that can prevent even Chinese companies' overseas subsidiaries. "Absolutely, Chinese firms are purchasing chips for use in data centers abroad," explained Center for Strategic and International Studies Director Greg Allen via Reuters. For the past few years, the US government has been trying to halt the rise of China's artificial intelligence capabilities as officials believe that Beijing is using AI chips and other similar technologies to improve its military. Read Also: Japanese PM Fumio Kishida's Next Economic Package Will Support AI-Can Japan Finally Keep Up AI Race? Other Efforts of the US to Hamper China's AI Industry In August, Fortune reported that the Biden Admin signed an executive order that blocks and restricts U.S.-based investments in China's AI industry. US officials said this legislation will hamper Beijing from enhancing its military's access to advanced technologies, especially artificial intelligence and AI chips. This executive order covers microelectronics, quantum information technologies, artificial intelligence, and advanced computer chips. Senior Biden Admin officials explained that this effort was established because of the government's national security goals. They added that the order seeks to prevent China from using U.S.-based investments to upgrade its military. But, the executive legislation still aims to preserve broader levels of trade that are both critical for the economies of the two super countries. "The executive order issued today really represents the start of a conversation between the US government and industry regarding the details of the ultimate screening regime," said J. Philip Ludvigson, the former Treasury official. If you want to learn more details about this effort of the Biden Admin to halt China's access to American AI, AI chips, and AI investments, you can click this link. Related Article: Canada Privacy Bill's AI Section Fails to Protect People, Claim Experts-Here's What They Suggest @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The wrecking ball is coming for the former hardware store building that for nearly four decades has been home to the Wisconsin Historical Society Museum. But even though most of the museum's artifacts will be in storage for the next three years while a much larger, $160 million replacement is constructed at State and Carroll streets, history will not be put on hold. Instead, some of it has moved to the other side of Capitol Square, inside the glass-walled U.S. Bank building. Other pieces of history will become even more nomadic and travel across the state. The Historical Society has opened an 800-square-foot gift shop and a 1,200-square-foot educational maker space at the corner of East Washington Avenue and South Pinckney Street. The move is designed to keep history in the forefront and to keep school groups engaged with woolly mammoth teeth, butter churns, vintage snowshoes, arrowheads and other pieces of our state's past. An invite-only soft opening was held Wednesday and the museum store opened Thursday to the general public. But school children have been coming to the maker space since Sept. 19. Due to the temporary location's limited size, only a fraction of the 30,000 students who had been coming each year to the old museum will be able to use the new space. But the programs over the next three years will allow museum staff to prepare themselves for when more than 60,000 students a year from around the state are expected to visit the new 100,000-square-foot Wisconsin History Center. "It's one of the most direct things we do to communicate with people and to work directly with children and serve educators," said Laurel Miller, manager of museum education. "We really do serve students statewide, and it is so, so important to us to be able to keep that consistency, kind of bridging the way from the old museum to the new museum." In the interim The History Center, scheduled to open in late 2026 or early 2027, will rise on the site of the former 40,000-square-foot museum site at 30 N. Carroll St. and adjacent properties at 20 and 22 N. Carroll St. Designed to attract more than 200,000 visitors a year, the state-of-the-art facility will feature rotated top floors to offer differing views and interpretations from various vantage points while an expansive wooden staircase will be inspired by the recent discovery and recovery of two Native American dugout canoes from Lake Mendota. The staircase will lead to a cafe, community gallery and temporary gallery that can host national-caliber shows, along with exhibit spaces featuring interpretive, interactive and multimedia presentations. A fifth floor will include event space and a terrace overlooking the Capitol. The temporary space that opened Thursday will also host pop-up exhibits, special events, sneak peeks to the history center's design and History Sandwiched In, a noon-time speaker series. But history also will be hitting the road, thanks to the History Makers Tour, an initiative designed to bring history directly to communities around the state through pop-up exhibits, artifact displays, author talks and special events. Funded by a grant from Culver's co-founder Craig Culver, the Historical Society will work with local history organizations, libraries, cultural venues and other partners to create three-month-long exhibits tailor-made to each community. "This is a really big change for us," said Nick Hoffman, the Historical Society's administrator of museums and historic sites. "It's about bringing our brand across the entire state. It's really deep in community engagement. We're bringing practices and working with communities to help share their history." Initial stops, scheduled to begin this fall, are set for Beaver Dam, Jefferson, Monticello, New Glarus and Sun Prairie, but will include communities throughout the state before concluding in northeastern Wisconsin in early 2027. The collection The Historical Society, established in 1846, has one of the nation's largest collections of North American historical assets and operates 12 museums and sites that include places such as Cornish mining settlement of Pendarvis in Mineral Point, an agricultural museum at Stonefield Village in Cassville and a rural site near Benton that was home to the state's first capitol. The Historical Society's headquarters are housed in in the heart of the UW-Madison campus in a building constructed in 1900, while it also has a 188,000-square-foot State Archive Preservation Facility that opened in 2018 on Madison's East Side. The cavernous facility is home to more than 500,000 historical artifacts, 200,000 library books and 55,000 archival boxes with millions of pages of manuscripts and documents from state agencies and officials. It's also where two ancient Ho-Chunk dugout canoes are undergoing a multi-year treatment to ready them for display at the new museum. The Historical Society's museum on the Square is one of its most-visited sites but closed earlier this year in preparation for its demolition and the start of construction on the History Center, beginning early next year. The temporary gift shop in the U.S. Bank building is filled with books by Wisconsin authors, locally made honey, earrings in the shape of the state, toy cows and T-shirts touting Old Fashioneds and fish fries. The maker space is filled with worktables that will allow students to handle artifacts, learn about the state's history and create their own exhibits to go on display on a wall. "Through this activity they're getting some of the same content they would be getting in the museum," Miller said. "But instead of starting with the content and working backwards from there, they're really learning the content through building those skills. It's something we're really excited about here." History on holiday: A guide to Wisconsin's historic sites and museums Black Point Estate, Lake Geneva Circus World, Baraboo First Capitol, Belmont H.H. Bennett Studio, Wisconsin Dells Madeline Island Historical Museum, La Pointe Wisconsin Historical Museum, Madison Old World Wisconsin, Eagle Pendarvis House, Mineral Point Reed School, Neillsville Stonefield, Cassville Villa Louis, Prairie du Chien Wade House, Greenbush We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form FILE - This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and partially redacted by the source, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8 FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump's lawyers have asked a judge to postpone his Florida classified documents trial until after next years presidential election. The lawyers say they have not received all the records they need to prepare Trump's defense. (Department of Justice via AP, File) FILE - Israeli soldiers carry the flag-covered coffin of Shilo Rauchberger at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. In Israel on Saturday, rabbis worked around the clock at Shura military base in Israel to identify and count the dead civilians and soldiers gunned down in the Hamas attack last week. Israel's military rabbinate is working on Shabbat for the first time since 2005. Some of the bodies have been brought to Mount Herzl, Israel's national cemetery in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File) FILE A truck, is loaded with coal near Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) east of Johannesburg, on Nov. 17, 2022. South African authorities say they have carried out search and seizure operations across five provinces to break up a huge coal-smuggling syndicate that cost the country more than $26 million and contributed to the breakdown of some of its state-owned power stations and an ongoing power crisis. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell/File) AB Ignitis grupe (hereinafter the Group) informs that its subsidiary UAB Ignitis renewables (hereinafter Ignitis Renewables) together with the strategic partner for the development of offshore wind farm projects, Ocean Winds (hereinafter OW) are confirmed as winners of the 700 MW Lithuanian offshore wind tender. This was confirmed and announced on 12 October 2023 by the Lithuanian National Energy Regulatory Council (hereinafter the NERC), which oversees the process, after the screening of compliance with national security interests. No later than 3 months after this announcement Ignitis Renewables and OW will set up a joint venture company in Lithuania, which would be awarded the development and operation permit, granting the right to use the maritime area in the Baltic Sea for electricity production for 41 years. The maritime area for the offshore wind farm is located at the nearest 36 km from Lithuanias Baltic Sea coast, covering approximately 120 km2. Subject to obtaining the relevant permits, contracting suppliers and securing financing, the project is expected to become operational until 2030. The 700 MW capacity offshore wind farm should generate up to 3 TWh of electricity, which would meet up to 25% of Lithuanias current electricity demand. The offshore wind farm will operate under market conditions. The Group and OW were announced as the provisional winners of the tender on 10 July 2023 (link). Information provided in this announcement does not change the Groups Adjusted EBITDA guidance. By winning the tender, the Group achieves its strategic goal of securing one offshore wind development project in Lithuania (with COD until 2030), which is a substantial step towards the Groups overall objective to increase its Green Generation capacity 4 times from 1.2 GW in 2022 to 45 GW by 2030. For further details, see the Groups strategy (link). For more information about offshore wind farm projects across the globe, click here . A new report claims that the U.S. will not be able to handle China and Russia in the intensifying nuclear arms race. The 145-page assessment was released by the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States on Thursday, Oct. 12. Nuclear Arms Race: Why US Will Lose to Russia, China According to Time Magazine, China and Russia are still expanding their nuclear arsenals. Warfare researchers claim that these two super nations are becoming more active than the U.S. when it comes to nuclear arms enhancements. Because of this, a new bipartisan Congressional report concluded that, for the first time, the U.S. is unprepared for the possibility of facing two countries that have nuclear arms equal to its own. The 145-page report was led by a group of leading bipartisan nuclear experts; it is the result of their year-long effort to study and analyze the nuclear prowess of the U.S., China, and Russia. Based on their report, the Chinese government will be able to be as powerful as the United States when it comes to deploying nuclear warheads. Involved experts claim that this could happen as early as 2030. Meanwhile, Russia is expected to retain its position as the largest nuclear force across the globe. As of writing, the U.S. government is estimated to have over 3,700 nuclear warheads in its arsenal. This is fewer compared to Russia, which has more than 4,000 stockpiles of nuclear warheads. Against Russia and the U.S., China is still far from their nuclear warhead supplies since Beijing only has around 410 of these deadly warfare weapons. However, it's only a matter of time until China can keep up with the U.S. and Russia; possibly overtaking the United States in the ongoing nuclear arms race. Read Also: Belarus President Claims US Triggers Russia To Use Nuclear Weapons-Should Biden Admin Still Aid Ukraine? What US Can Do to Enhance Nuclear Arsenals After the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture report was released, Roger Wicker, a top Republican official on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, said that the U.S. has lots of things to do. "It is apparent from the report that there is much more that we should be doing to ensure our military and particularly our nuclear forces," said Wicker. He added that these are needed to ensure that America is capable of deterring two near-peer nuclear opponents simultaneously. Aside from highlighting the nuclear prowess of China and Russia, the new report also provided suggestions on what the U.S. government should do. These include the following: Completely execute the U.S. Nuclear Modernization Program of Record (POR), which includes: Comprehensive modernization of U.S. nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) Recapitalizing the nuclear enterprise infrastructure at the DOD and DOE/NNSA Replacement of all U.S. nuclear delivery systems Modernization of their warheads Supplement the current U.S. modernization program for nuclear strategy. Modify the U.S. strategic nuclear force posture. Conduct comprehensive risk-mitigating actions across U.S. nuclear forces. Related Article: North Korea's Nuclear Weapons to Increase; New Constitutional Amendment Adopted as Defiance to US @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. You can subscribe here to AARP Veteran Report , a free e-newsletter published every two weeks. If you have feedback or a story idea then please contact us here . Bill Schildhouse served with the 101st Airborne Division the Screaming Eagles. He fought in the Pacific, jumped into Normandy on D-Day in 1944, and was wounded in Alsace, France. He saw combat during the Battle of Bastogne and always wanted to return to the Belgian city to thank those who helped him there. Alas, Bill was never able to make that return journey before he died at just 62 in 1984. On what would have been Bills 100th birthday, however, Wish of a Lifetime, an AARP charitable affiliate, was able to send Bills son Rex Schildhouse to Bastogne. Bill didnt talk much about the war but there was one exception. Whenever Bastogne came up, it was going to be a long conversation, Rex told AARP Veteran Report. AARP Membership Join AARP for $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP The Magazine. Join Now Late in 1944, the 101st Airborne was sent to defend the crossroads city after an unexpected attack. In their haste to get there, they arrived without proper food and clothing and it was the coldest winter in decades. Soon the Americans were encircled by the Germans, who outnumbered them five to one. Several thousand Bastogne residents were surrounded too. Rex remembers his dads often-repeated praise: The citizens of Bastogne were cold, and they brought us blankets and clothes. They were hungry, and they brought us food. They would take men inside their own homes when they were injured, putting them on their beds, and they would sleep on the floor. The Americans held on for six harrowing days and the 101st sustained almost 2,000 casualties before they were relieved by Gen. Pattons Third Army. Bill Schildhouse, during his service in Alaska, circa 1943. Courtesy Schildhouse After the war, Bill settled in Chicago, worked as a machinist and raised a large family. Inspired by his fathers service, Rex joined the U.S. Marines and transferred to the U.S. Navy to become an aviator. He spent 19 years in uniform, including flying off the USS Midway and USS Nimitz, and was stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. He retired in 1994 as a lieutenant commander. Rex and Joyce Schildhouse spent six days in Belgium. They toured the battlefield, the Bastogne War Museum and the 101st Airborne Museum. What comes to mind when you think about traveling abroad? An unforgettable adventure you had with loved ones? A bucket-list destination youve always wanted to visit? According to AAA, bookings for international travel were up 40 percent from 2022 through May 2023. If youre considering a trip abroad, we have some inspiration for you. AARP Membership Join AARP for $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP The Magazine. Join Now Here, four travel writers recall their favorite international trips and why these destinations leave a lasting impression. Writer Heather Greenwood Davis traveled by cruise ship to Svalbard, Norway, with her husband. mauritius images GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo / Courtesy of Heather Greenwood Davis Svalbard, Norway I cant believe Im still up. As a kid, I used to rail against my 9:30 bedtime. As an adult, Ive increasingly leaned into it. Even New Years Eve rarely gets more than one sleepy-eyed nod from me before I roll back over to continue my slumber. So the fact that I am standing on the deck of a cruise ship well past midnight, having just crossed the arctic circle and am grinning from ear to ear is nothing short of a miracle. But this is an occasion that has to be marked. Im on board the MS Trollfjord where leisurely days sauntering in and out of ports led to this moment. Hurtigrutens ships have been transporting people and goods up the Norwegian coast for 130 years on its Coastal Express routes. But this Svalbard itinerary is an upgraded revamp of a more utilitarian route that ran from 1968 to 1982. The Svalbard Express takes passengers in premium comfort from Bergen to Honningsvag (the northernmost city on the mainland) before dashing across the Barents Sea to Spitsbergen, Svalbard the largest island in a Norwegian archipelago that is about 850 miles from the north pole and is home to the northernmost populated community in the world. Over the course of our 10-day northbound cruise, well stop in one port per day, leaving time to dip my toes in arctic chilled waters or wander through a UNESCO-celebrated community. Ill stand in awe of the majesty of towering fjords, shiver in the presence of blue-tinged glaciers and spot young reindeer, fuzzy and white on the mountainsides. The moment Ive been waiting for happens as we approach Svalbard. Its the night when the midnight sun an April to late-August experience will combine with crossing the arctic circle. Cruise lines that head this far north mark the crossing in different ways. On Hurtigruten, there are toasts with aquavit, storytelling from a crew member dressed like a Norwegian prince ... and a ceremonial soup ladle full of ice water down your back. Its a rollicking time on board, but the most memorable moment has yet to come. At midnight, I wander out to the deck with my husband at my side, and we stand in complete silence, looking out at the water shimmering in the suns golden glow, awestruck by the beauty of the moment. Not since childhood has staying up past midnight felt so magical. Heather Greenwood Davis is a frequent contributor to Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler and Afar magazines. She lives in Toronto. The birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, creator of many famous fairy tales, left a lasting impression on writer Adam Pitluk. Courtesy of Adam Pitluk / Frank Bach / Alamy Stock Photo Odense, Denmark Consider this: For more than a century, parents have been putting their kids to bed with the story of a little mermaid who wished to leave the sea and live on land. Years later, when those kids struggled with their appearance, they were told the story of an ugly duckling that became a swan. My children are growing, with the first duck about to fly the coop for college. I wanted an experience that would touch our hearts and make us reflective of the path weve taken. I chose Denmark to be our swan song family vacation. To be clear, we are not Danes, nor do we have friends to visit. The choice was made because my parents told my sister and me Hans Christian Andersens fairy tales. A generation later, I told those same tales to my two daughters. A trip to Denmark the birthplace of Andersen who created some of the most famous fairy tales would commemorate two ends of time neatly tied: the generational passing of the torch, as it were. Instagram Celebrity The 'America's Got Talent' judge suggests his newly-single co-judge needs to have a new boyfriend as soon as possible following her separation from actor husband. Oct 13, 2023 AceShowbiz - Howie Mandel is keen to find Sofia Vergara a date. The "Modern Family" actress separated from husband Joe Manganiello in July and her fellow "America's Got Talent" judge believes she "deserves to be with somebody ASAP" and he'll do whatever it takes to set her up with someone new. "I think she's great for everyone. I love Sofea Vergara. I find her incredibly, first, in no particular order, beautiful, smart, funny...I scream it from the rooftops. Sometimes people think that's inappropriate, other people, not Sofia. She doesn't get mad at me," he told People magazine. And the 67-year-old star joked he planned to create Sofia a profile on JDate, the online dating service. Howie previously joked about the 51-year-old actress' single status while critiquing a ventriloquist in August. He told the competitor, "If you're looking for eligible bachelors, you should've talked to Sofia. She's in the market right now." Sofia laughed off the joke at the time, but host Terry Crews, 55, ended the joke by saying on stage, "No. We are not doing that." The following week, Sofia had a flirty response when a contestant referred to her as "Sofia Viagra" during a stand-up comedy set. She exclaimed in response, "I'm single!" Sofia and Joe, 46, confirmed in July they were splitting after seven years of marriage. The former couple said in a joint statement, "We have made the difficult decision to divorce. As two people that love and care for one another very much, we politely ask for respect of our privacy at this time as we navigate this new phase of our lives." Sofia - who has son Manolo, 31, with her 52-year-old former husband Joe Gonzalez - and Joe started dating in 2014 before they married the following year. You can share this post! Celebrity The Jonas Brothers member makes his filing after he and his ex reached a temporary agreement regarding their daughters, Delphine, 15 months, and Willa, three, following a three-day mediation. Oct 13, 2023 AceShowbiz - Joe Jonas will handle his divorce from Sophie Turner in private. The one-third of Jonas Brothers reportedly filed to dismiss a petition for dissolution in Miami after he and his estranged wife settled their custody battle. The 34-year-old submitted his filing on Wednesday, October 11. According to court documents obtained by Page Six, the DNCE frontman and his ex reached "various agreements" and plan to "pursue an amicable resolution of all issues." Joe and Sophie reached a temporary agreement regarding their daughters, Delphine, 15 months, and Willa, three, after spending three days of mediation last week. "After a productive and successful mediation, we have agreed that the children will spend time equally in loving homes in both the US and the UK. We look forward to being great co-parents," they said in a statement on Tuesday. The agreement states that the children will be with Sophie between October 9 and October 21. During that period, Sophie and her children are permitted to travel to England and throughout the U.S. The kids will be returned to their dad by a nanny on October 21. The musician will have the same travel permissions up until November 2. The estranged pair have been asked to "submit a status report letter," detailing the status of their mediation, while it's also been decided that their temporary agreement will run until January 7." Prior to that, the exes agreed to temporarily keep their daughters in N.Y.C. According to the interim consent filed in New York, the two are ordered to keep their children in the Southern and Eastern districts of New York, including New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley. Joe filed for divorce from Sophie in September after four years of marriage. She then launched a lawsuit against her estranged husband, accusing him of blocking her from taking their children to the U.K. However, Joe claimed that he was simply adhering to a Florida Court order. You can share this post! INSTARimages/Cover Images Celebrity The 'Wonder Woman' actress and the 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' actress, along with hundreds of other stars, sign an open letter demanding safe return of hostages in Gaza. Oct 13, 2023 AceShowbiz - Gal Gadot and Jamie Lee Curtis are two stars among 700 other Hollywood figures who show their support for Israel. Following a surprise attack in Israel, the "Wonder Woman" actress and the "Everything Everywhere All at Once" actress publicly declared that they are in solidarity with the country and its people. Gal and Jamie, who are 38 years old and 64 years old respectively, reportedly contributed to the open letter which was released by nonprofit organization Creative Community for Peace. They signed the letter to denounce Hamas and ask hostages, who are being held in Gaza, to be returned safely. Moreover, the letter also encourages people to refrain others from spreading war-related falsehoods. In addition to the two actresses, other Hollywood stars voiced their support through the same open letter. Among them were Chris Pine, Mayim Bialik, Liev Schreiber, Amy Schumer, Michael Douglas, Jerry Seinfeld, Debra Messing and Ryan Murphy. Furthermore, Greg Berlanti, Haim Saban, Irving Azoff, Ynon Kreiz, Mark Hamill, Howie Mandel and Bella Thorne as well as Antoine Fuqua also signed the letter. The open letter came after Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday morning, October 7, causing at least 1.200 people killed. In addition, more than 100 civilians were kidnapped and held hostage in Gaza. In the wake of the attack, Creative Community for Peace issued a statement. "In addition to the 1,200+ Israelis murdered, citizens from the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Thailand, Nepal, Russia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Germany, Philippines, Chile, Brazil, Italy, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Ireland have been identified as either missing or killed," it read. A number of famous stars have given their responses to the matter, including Gal. "I stand with Israel you should too.The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!" she penned via Instagram on the same day of the attack. On Monday, October 9, she wrote in a follow-up post, "Israel is under attack and we need your support!" Not stopping there, the Israeli-born actress also said in a statement, "My heart is aching for the lives lost and families shattered." She added, "I'm praying for everyone who has been affected by Hamas' terrorism and brutality. And I hope that the world remains steadfast in their support of the Israeli people." Giving a similar yet different take was Jamie who showed her support for Israel on her own Instagram account. The Oscar-winning actress released a photo of some children who appeared terrified while staring missiles in the sky. Over it, she penned, "Terror from the skies," adding an Israel flag emoji. However, she later removed the Saturday, October 7 post after being bombarded with backlash. You can share this post! Instagram Celebrity In a new interview, the 'Barbie World' raptress reveals that she is currently dating someone, but refuses to spill the details for a certain reason related to her career. Oct 14, 2023 AceShowbiz - Ice Spice comes clean about her relationship status, but still wants to make sure that she keeps her personal life private. In a new interview, the rising hip-hop star reveals that she has a boyfriend, but won't say who. In an article published by Los Angeles Times on Thursday, October 12, it's stated, "She's currently dating someone." However, the publication notes that she "declines to elaborate because she wants fans 'to keep their focus on what I'm here for, which is music.' " In the same article, Taylor Swift sings praise for Ice, who is featured on the remix of the pop star's song "Karma". Speaking of her collaborator's positive traits, the Grammy winner gushes, "I see a drive in Ice that's beautifully rounded out by other qualities like humility and humor, curiosity and focus." She adds of the Bronx femcee, "She's very knowledgeable about the inner workings of the business, as well as obviously being tapped into this very natural creative wellspring. It's those two sides of the coin that you just don't see." Since her debut as a budding rap star, little is known about Ice's relationship history. In February of this year, rumors surfaced that she's romancing comedian Pete Davidson. Fans apparently put a lot of interest in the two stars' dating life as the "Saturday Night Live" alum's name began trending on Twitter. However, the news was never confirmed and it gradually died down. The whole rumors seemingly were made as a joke to poke fun at Pete's dating life. "The King of Staten Island" star, at the time, was also rumored to be in a relationship with his "bodies, bodies, bodies" co-star Chase Sui Wonders. Ice was also once rumored to be dating Drake, but the Canadian rapper seemingly shut down the speculation by unfollowing her on Instagram. Addressing the matter, the "Munch (Feelin' U)" raptress admitted in October 2022, "He did [unfollow]," before adding "I don't know why though." Ice shared that she didn't mind and shut down speculations that they're beefing. "It's OK," the femcee said. "It's all love." In March this year, Drizzy re-followed Ice on the platform in the wake of the Pete Davidson dating rumors. You can share this post! (Photo : SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP via Getty Images) Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg gives a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on October 12, 2023. During a meeting in Brussels, defense ministers convened as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a resolute declaration on Thursday, asserting that "Israel does not stand alone." Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant provided a briefing to ministers via video conference regarding the alleged atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians and citizens of multiple NATO allies, as per Fox News. Global Response to Israel-Palestine Conflict As the Israel-Palestine conflict rages on, the international community has responded with a mixture of concern, calls for protection, and condemnation of actions that violate the rules of war.cThe recent developments have pressured nations and organizations to address the crisis responsibly. At a NATO ministerial meeting, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized the importance of maintaining regional stability. He cautioned countries and organizations hostile to Israel against exploiting the situation and underlined that the United States had deployed armed forces to prevent further escalation. Stoltenberg stressed Israel's right to defend itself, asserting that protecting civilians is paramount. In addressing the NATO Allies, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant shed light on Hamas' "horrific terrorist attacks against civilians in Israel and against Israel." The Allies strongly condemned these indefensible attacks on civilians and called for the immediate release of hostages. Several NATO Allies also expressed their commitment to providing practical support to Israel. While NATO is not directly involved in the Israel-Hamas conflict, Stoltenberg acknowledged the importance of addressing the situation. He recounted Israel's defense minister showing a shocking video containing horrific images of the weekend attacks and casualties. These images had already been seen by the general public, further underscoring the brutality of the attacks on innocent civilians. The ongoing conflict underscores the significance of protecting civilians and adhering to the rules of war, including the principle of proportionality. Many NATO Allies have stressed these points while unequivocally condemning Hamas's brutal actions and violence. Simultaneously, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian accused Israel of seeking genocide in Gaza through various means. He alleged that Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Zionists, was cutting off electricity and water, denying entry of food and medicine, and perpetrating war crimes against the people of Gaza. Amir-Abdollahian emphasized that this war was not against a single group but against all Palestinians, according to Yahoo News. Read Also: Ex-Hamas Chief Urges Neighbors To Join War Against Israel, Calls for Stronger Action From Arab World Israel-Palestine Conflict A range of perspectives marks the international community's response to the Israel-Palestine conflict, as nations and organizations voice their concerns regarding the safety of civilians and denounce actions that contradict the principles of just warfare. The reactions from various individuals shed light on the intricate dynamics of the dispute and emphasize the pressing necessity for a peaceful resolution. Furthermore, in an unrelated development, NATO expressed concerns about the recent damage to an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. Secretary-General Stoltenberg emphasized the critical nature of undersea infrastructure in modern societies, such as gas pipelines, power cables, and internet cables. He suggested that NATO would respond if the attack were proven to be a deliberate sabotage. The damage to the undersea gas pipeline is a reminder of the vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure that nations must safeguard. After previous incidents, such as damage to the Nord Stream pipelines, NATO increased its presence in the Baltic and North Seas to enhance security and resilience. Amidst these diplomatic and security concerns, the situation in Ukraine saw significant developments. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's surprise attendance at the NATO meeting yielded positive outcomes. The United States announced $200 million in military aid to Ukraine, demonstrating its commitment to supporting Ukraine in its ongoing challenges, EFE Reported. Related Article: UK Justice Secretary Holds Out Early Release of Man Who Beat His Wife to Death @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Celebrity The man accused of breaking into a museum and running off with the famous shoes from the classic 1939 film has admitted to the crime as he showed up before a judge. Oct 14, 2023 AceShowbiz - A man has pleaded guilty to stealing a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz". Terry Martin, 76, appeared in a Duluth federal courtroom on Friday, October 13, according to CBS News. He's accused of stealing the shoes seen in the classic 1939 film from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids in 2005 and admitted he used a small sledgehammer to break into the museum. He reportedly "used the tool to crack the case the slippers were in and take them" before driving away and keeping the shoes in a trailer near to his home. Martin then took the shoes to a criminal who buys and resells stolen goods but refused to reveal the identity of any others who could be involved in the case. Attorney Dane DeKrey, who is not connected to the case, speculated that Martin's ill health was what caused him to plead guilty in the end. He told WCCO, "I think when someone is at the end of their life, they are making decisions that are right for their affairs, and this short answer is because he's guilty." "I think he wanted to take responsibility and move on with his life - the little life he has left. I think he's lived a fast and loose life and I think he's OK with what's happening now. I think he's at peace with it, frankly." In "The Wizard of Oz", Judy Garland wore a number of pairs of the famous red high heels for logistical purposes, with five having known to have survived. The pair in question were owned by Michael Shaw and were on loan to the museum dedicated to the actress when they were stolen but were returned to him in 2018 following an FBI operation. John Kelsch, curator of the Judy Garland Museum, said, "There's some closure, and we do know definitely that Terry Jon Martin did break into our museum, but I'd like to know what happened to them after he let them go." "Just to do it because he thought they were real rubies and to turn them over to a jewelry fence. I mean, the value is not rubies. The value is an American treasure, a national treasure. To steal them without knowing that seems ludicrous!" You can share this post! Amazon Music presents an extraordinary live podcast event India Pod Day hosted by Indias premiere podcast network IVM Podcasts and an award winning Indian publisher Westland Books. The event will take place on October 17th 2023 at St. Andrews Auditorium, Mumbai. Highlighting the event's star-studded lineup, India Pod Day will feature renowned figures like Javed Akhtar, the prolific lyricist, poet, screenplay writer and author joining live with Cyrus Broacha on his popular podcast, Cyrus Says where he will talk about his recent released book Talking Life. Additionally, Hussain Zaidi, will go live on the podcast Has It Aged Well. Hussian is a prominent journalist and author, who is known for his bestselling books like Dongri To Dubai, Mafia Queens Of Mumbai and Black Friday. India Pod Day is set to bring together IVM Podcasts hosts and renowned authors for a day of insightful panel discussions, interactive workshops, and captivating live podcast experience. The event will be specially dedicated to and shine the spotlight on IVM Podcast hosts. Designed to welcome both seasoned podcast aficionados and newcomers, India Pod Day will celebrate the dynamic medium of podcasting and its rapidly growing audience. It offers a unique opportunity to foster a community centred around smart listeners, and intelligent content and encourages the cross-pollination of diverse audiences. Amit Doshi, Head, IVM Podcasts, Pratilipi said "India Pod Day is a milestone in the world of podcasting. We are thrilled to collaborate with Amazon Music to create an unforgettable experience for podcast enthusiasts. We cannot wait to see the connections and conversations that will emerge." Kavita Rajwade, Co-Founder, IVM Podcasts- Pratilipi commented India Pod Day will see innovation and creativity converge to showcase the incredible potential of the podcast medium. We will see voices meet stories, and stories create connections. Gautam Padmanabhan, Business Head, Westland Books said, We are delighted to be partnering with IVM and Amazon Music to foreground the conversation about new narratives and collaborative formats. Taking our books and writers to listeners and viewers as well as readers is an exciting prospect and an event like this allows us to explore the possibilities with a live audience. India Pod Day promises an unforgettable day of inspiration, knowledge, and entertainment. APL Apollo, Indias largest structural steel tubes and pipes company, has announced the appointment of the extraordinaire Mr. Amitabh Big B Bachchan as its brand ambassador. Building on its 30+ years legacy and the Make in India mantra, APL Apollo aims to further strengthen and expand its brand identity across the country with this signing. Amitabh Bachchans legendary career and countless achievements, which have established him as a symbol of longevity and trustworthiness, make this association a perfect one. Leveraging the giant superstars fan base and global appeal, APL Apollo aims to further boost its current market dominance, besides expanding its brand recognition across the nation. The two year partnership will see the celebrated Bollywood veteran endorse the brand across all media channels including print, electronic media and outdoor, as well as in-store promotional material. Reflecting on the announcement, Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, APL Apollo Tubes Ltd said, We are incredibly proud to welcome Mr. Bachchan as he embodies all the qualities that APL Apollo stands forexcellence, versatility, and timeless quality. We are consistently channelling our efforts to deliver world-class quality, much like Big B and we are confident that this partnership will serve to reinforce our strong presence in the Indian market. Amitabh Bachchan's iconic face is a forever appeal that strikes a chord with millions of hearts, not just in India, but worldwide. His enduring appeal will go a long way in elevating our brand image everywhere. This strategic move by APL Apollo will pave the way for not just elevated brand recognition but also an enhanced brand experience. By bringing diverse audiences through this ploy, the brand will witness wider connections, said Ms. Charu Malhotra, Chief Brand Officer, APL Apollo Tubes Ltd. APL Apollo Tubes Limited (APL Apollo) BSE: 533758, NSE: APLAPOLLO is Indias leading structural steel tube manufacturer. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Delhi-NCR, the company operates 11 manufacturing facilities with a total capacity of 3.6 million tons. It has a pan-India presence with units strategically located in Sikandarabad (UP), Hyderabad, Bangalore, Hosur (Tamil Nadu), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Dujana (UP), Malur (Karnataka) and Murbad (Maharashtra). APL Apollos multi-product offerings include over 2,000 varieties for multiple building material structural steel applications such as pre-galvanized tubes, structural steel tubes, galvanized tubes, MS black pipes and hollow sections. With state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, APL Apollo serves as a one-stop shop for a wide spectrum of products, catering to the domestic market as well as 20 countries worldwide and an array of industry applications such as urban infrastructure and real estate, rural housing, commercial construction, greenhouse structures and engineering applications. The companys vast 3-tier distribution network of over 800 distributors is spread across the country, with a presence in over 300 towns and cities. AI-powered Conversation Media Platform, Bobble AI on Friday announced the appointment of Ravi Shharma as its new Chief Business Officer. In his capacity as Chief Business Officer, Ravi will be responsible for driving B2B business growth for existing revenue streams A&M (Advertising & Marketing), DaaS (Data as a Service), and TaaS (Technology as a Service) and future streams, overseeing sales and revenue generation strategies, and exploring new market opportunities to scale revenue. He will work closely with the Executive team to steer Bobble AI towards continued success and growth and report to Founder & CEO Mr Ankit Prasad. We are excited to welcome Ravi to our team. His extensive work experience of around 25 years, proven track record as a sales leader with quite a few Fortune 500 companies, deeper understanding of media sales, ability & vision to scale businesses in a rapidly changing digital landscape and commitment to delivering results will undoubtedly be a great asset to our business going forward. Bobble AI has been roping in industry stalwarts to accelerate the growth and expansion plans and we are confident that Ravis integration into the team will strengthen that process & help us achieve new milestones., said Ankit Prasad, CEO and Founder of Bobble AI. Shharma comes with a solid reputation as a veteran sales leader with a rich and diverse background coupled with exceptional revenue growth skills while working as sales/ revenue head for many global & Indian media companies like CNN, Turner Broadcasting, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros, HBO, Gaana & Saavn in his previous stint. In his more than two decades of experience, he has contributed to an array of activities spanning evolving business strategy and value proposition, creating a multi-year business plan along with the creation of multi-geography business ecosystems. Having a strong understanding of the entire Media landscape from Print to TV to Digital as an industry stalwart, at Bobble AI he will be instrumental in envisioning, designing and executing impactful business development strategies aligning the company's expansion plans, its industry vision and the impactful approach backed by exclusive consumer intelligence and artificial intelligence to bring a paradigm shift in the mobile marketing & advertising landscape. Shharma said, In the last few years Bobble AI has emerged as the most impactful deep tech solution company in India by re-imagining the keyboard utility as a holistic conversation media platform that has empowered brands to engage with their millions of potential customers in a creative and non-intrusive way. Despite having worked with many global media companies for over two decades, its probably the first time I felt moved by the unparalleled disruptions in the mobile marketing & advertising space that Bobble AI is driving and challenging the incumbents. I am quite excited to be part of a visionary team of innovators and look forward to achieving our collective goals and driving the company's growth. Bobble AI is Indias largest Conversation Media Platform with 85 Mn+ users in India and Indonesia. It offers a wide range of mobile marketing & advertising solutions including Conversation Media Marketing, DaaS & TaaS to help brands engage with their potential customers in a non-intrusive way. The company has served 700+ global & Indian brands and helped them engage with their relevant target customers by designing & executing award-winning marketing campaigns & crafting out-of-the-box solutions to put them among the daily conversations of millions of users on the Bobble AI keyboard ecosystem. Fabelle Exquisite Chocolates, the home-grown luxury chocolate brand from ITC Ltd., is recognised for creating unparalleled chocolate experiences for its discerning consumers. In the last few years Fabelle has introduced several industry firsts such as the Fabelle Trinity - Truffles Extraordinaire -Worlds most expensive chocolate, Fabelle Finesse - Worlds finest chocolate*, setting a benchmark for the global chocolate industry. Continuing the legacy, Fabelle this year is set to entice chocolate lovers with a novel creation. Inspired by the sentiment of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' The World Is One Family, Fabelle introduces its latest innovation - Fabelle One Earth Collection. At an event held at the ITC Sheraton, New Delhi, Fabelle, in a strategic collaboration with Chef Andy Allen, an acclaimed Australian food critic and TV presenter, unveiled this delectable fusion of global flavours and cultures. This signature luxury chocolate offering has been meticulously handcrafted with finest ingredients and cocoa. It comprises of 10 unique truffles, each of which truly represents the essence of the rich and diverse flavours of nations from across the world - Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zeland, Netherlands, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa. ITC Fabelle Master Chocolatiers, known for their unwavering commitment to excellence conducted multiple iterations and co-creation sessions with Chef Andy Allen to perfect each truffle. A selection of hand-picked ingredients, including Afghan Figs, Australian Macadamia, Bangladesh-inspired Posto, England's Morello Cherry, India's Walnut, Condensed Whole Milk from the Netherlands, New Zealand's Apple, Aqua Rose from Pakistan, Sri Lankan Coconut and South African Orange, were artfully harmonised with the unparalleled excellence of Fabelle's chocolates. Each truffle therefore tells a unique story of the country that inspired this specific creation. This limited-edition offering will contain 10 truffles (130g) priced at INR 999/- inclusive of taxes, and will be available at Fabelle boutiques across Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. The chocolate truffles serve as a testament to the artistry of ITC Fabelle Master Chocolatiers. They carefully combined these international ingredients with Fabelles premium chocolate to deliver a sensory journey that transcends borders and celebrates the universal love for chocolate much like sports. To celebrate the launch of 'Fabelle One Earth', the event was graced by eminent personalities associated with the world of sports and cricket. Dinesh Karthik - Indian professional cricketer and commentator, Waqar Younis - Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer, and Lisa Sthalekar Australian cricket commentator, former cricketer and captain of the Australia women's national cricket team exchanged One Earth as a gesture to honour the essence of unity and community. Emphasising on the launch of Fabelle One Earth, Mr. Rohit Dogra, Chief Operating Officer Chocolates, Coffee, Confectionary & New Category Development Foods Division, ITC Limited, said "Fabelle is dedicated to giving chocolate lovers true world-class experiences. With Fabelle One Earth, we aim to bring people together through the magic of chocolate. This special collection has 10 distinct truffles, each with a singularly delectable taste. The assemblage of speciality ingredients inspired from different countries brought together in one box of chocolate truffles, the Fabelle One Earth showcases the brands commitment to creating unique tastes and textures. Commenting on his first collaboration with the brand, Andy Allen, Australian Food Critic and TV Presenter, said Fabelle has one of the finest collection of chocolates in the world in my view. It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside the Fabelle team to bring alive this masterpiece. Fabelle One Earth is a culinary journey that encapsulates the essence of diverse cultures and flavours from ten different countries. It was result of countless hours of craftsmanship, relentless commitment and tireless exploration of global flavours that have gone into the curation of each of the truffles. We are extremely happy with the outcome and hoping that everyone enjoys this beautiful amalgamation of chocolate and culture. The Body Shop, the original ethical beauty brand, introduces its festive campaign Spark a Change to mark the beginning of Diwali and the launch of their collection of changemaking gifts in-store and on-line. From vegan beauty treats to indulgent body care, The Body Shop has gifts to delight everyone this Diwali - and every budget. And these gifts do more than simply bring joy to the recipients, they help spark a change in the lives of those who help craft them too, thanks to the brands unique Community Fair Trade1 programme. F3eIDqkX69w?autoplay=0&rel=0" frameborder="0"> The Spark a Change campaign is complemented by an inspiring film featuring the renowned Indian actor, Shefali Shah (2023 Emmy Awards Nominee), as she explores The Body Shop store in search of ethical gifts for her loved ones. The film beautifully captures the skilled women of Teddy Exports2, The Body Shops long-standing Community Fair Trade partner based in India. These talented artisans handcraft recycled cotton gift bags, specially commissioned by The Body Shop India for this festive season. In their own way, the women of Teddy Exports, along with Shefali Shah, help ignite change and spread joy, perfectly aligning with The Body Shop's core value of driving positive change in the world. Harmeet Singh, VP of Marketing E-commerce & Product, Asia South, The Body Shop, said Every single gift from The Body Shop is enriched with ingredients or packaging from our Community Fair Trade partners. So, with each purchase, customers not only acquire a present but also support communities worldwide, especially in India, thanks to these pouches expertly handcrafted by the artisans at Teddy Exports. This festive season, they have the power to help spark positive change in the lives of many. Customers will be able to choose from a fantastic array of festive gifts filled with wonders such as Treats Shea Duo at 595 INR, Beauty bag nourishing (avocado) at 1545 INR and also Lather Slather British Rose at 4695 INR. For those seeking a more personal touch, there is the option to handpick one of Teddy Exports vibrant pouches. These can be filled to the brim with nature-inspired treats such as best-selling British Rose Shower Gel or the alluring new Full Flowers Eau de Parfum. The power to create the perfect changemaking gift is now in their hands! Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 13.10.2023 - On 13 October, the head of the FDFA announced the launch of the Open Quantum Institute (OQI), a joint initiative of the FDFA, GESDA, CERN and UBS. Based in Geneva, its aim is to put quantum technologies at the service of the common good. Among other objectives, the OQI will help to accelerate the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Quantum computing will transform our society and our planet, as the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) foundation has announced. This technology, which will dramatically increase computer processing speed, was the focus of policy discussions at the third GESDA summit in Geneva on 13 October. Mr Cassis called on the world's leaders to take action to prevent the digital divide between those who have access to new technologies and those who do not from widening even further. Cassis considers the creation of global governance structures for quantum computing to be vitally important. Open Quantum Institute The OQI responds to the need to unite around this theme. It also aims to harness quantum technology to accelerate progress towards the SDGs, and to facilitate access to this cutting-edge technology worldwide. Based in Geneva, the OQI is the result of a partnership between the FDFA, GESDA, CERN and UBS. "The launch of this institute reaffirms Switzerland's determination to continue to invest in science diplomacy. Only then will we be in a position to respond more rapidly to the challenges that will impact our planet", said Cassis. More targeted medicines and carbon reduction Scientists are already working on concrete applications for quantum computing in the fight against hunger, access to healthcare and climate change, which are at the heart of the SDGs. In concrete terms, quantum computing solutions have the potential to predict antibiotic resistance patterns more quickly and accurately, for example, and to identify new, more targeted drugs. This technology also promises to enhance the catalytic process that fixes carbon to material surfaces, thereby helping to mitigate climate change. The creation of the OQI will enable states to tackle the many vital challenges they face locally. "The OQI offers countries wishing to partner with Switzerland a forum and space to ensure that the benefits of quantum computing will accrue to all of humanity, not just a minority," said Cassis. Created in 2019 at the instigation of the Swiss Confederation, GESDA is an independent, not-for-profit foundation. It provides diplomats and scientists with a forum for dialogue and collaboration on real-world projects. Among them is the GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar, an annual report that provides an overview of the scientific breakthroughs that will attract the most attention and investment over the next 5, 10 and 25 years. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 13.10.2023 - The 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council ended on Friday 13 October after five weeks in session. Switzerland, in association with seven other countries, scored a diplomatic success in achieving the adoption of a resolution on the death penalty by a large majority. The result was clear: the resolution on the death penalty was adopted by the Human Rights Council by 28 votes to 11, with 7 abstentions. This is a convincing success for Switzerland after long and arduous negotiations on a divisive issue. The new resolution on the death penalty was submitted by Switzerland, Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Mongolia and the Republic of Moldova. It addresses the human rights violations that arise from the use of capital punishment and calls for international standards to counteract this. The Councils concrete aim is to limit the scope of the death penalty, focusing on a particular theme each time. This year's text focuses on the right to seek pardon or commutation of sentence and the right of appeal. The resolution, which was voted on today, thus contains key provisions that strengthen these basic procedural rights. An appeal to retentionist states to put an end to the mandatory death penalty, which does not allow the courts any leeway, was also launched. Growing workload for the Council The Human Rights Council's workload is growing against a backdrop of increasingly frequent and protracted crises. The longer and more intense Council sessions demonstrate how the human rights situation overall is worsening while the search for dialogue and solutions is also becoming increasingly difficult. The situation in Sudan, for example, has rapidly deteriorated since the Council's special session in May 2023. Switzerland remains committed to ensuring that perpetrators of human rights abuses are held to account and to strengthening the fight against impunity, and has taken part in the dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in the country. It has condemned the continuing violence and called for an investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses in Sudan as well as supporting a resolution to set up a fact-finding mission to investigate violations committed during the ongoing armed conflict. The Council's 54th session also focused on the situation in Russia, hosting for the first time a dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation whose mandate was created last October. During the dialogue, Switzerland expressed its concerns about the repression of journalists, human rights defenders and civil society. It also supported the draft resolution on the human rights situation in Russia during the negotiations as well as the renewal of the special rapporteur's mandate. Other mandate renewals and appointments Together with Argentina and Morocco, Switzerland also introduced a resolution on renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, created in 2011. The resolution was adopted by consensus. It reaffirms the importance of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence as key pillars during the entire transitional justice process. These are vital principles in contexts where grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have been committed. Transitional justice measures are key to combating impunity, breaking the cycle of violence, restoring the dignity of victims, and preventing future crises. The 54th session also saw the Council appoint a Swiss candidate as the new Special Rapporteur on minority issues. Nicolas Levrat, who is the head of the Global Studies Institute at the University of Geneva, will take up his post in shortly. UN special rapporteurs carry out their mandates as independent and impartial experts. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 13.10.2023 - Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis will represent Switzerland next Tuesday 17 October at the fourth ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform in Chisinau. This platforms aim is to promote internationally coordinated assistance for the Republic of Moldova. Moldova faces numerous challenges and difficulties, especially owing to Russia's military aggression against neighbouring Ukraine. In the framework of the fourth Moldova Support Platform, next Tuesday more than 30 countries and over a dozen international organisations will meet in Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova, to reaffirm international support for the country, which has been severely affected by the war in Ukraine, and to coordinate future support. As head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Federal Councillor Cassis will attend the conference to highlight Switzerland's support for Moldova. As a long-standing and reliable partner of the Republic of Moldova, Switzerland is committed to continuing to support the country in these challenging times, in close coordination with its international partners and the Moldovan government. The Moldova Support Platform was established to help Moldova address the significant challenges it is currently facing. Many of these problems are a consequence of Russia's military aggression against neighbouring Ukraine. Challenges include how to integrate the many Ukrainian refugees and manage agricultural sector losses caused by disruptions in the supply chains. The platform aims to mobilise the international community and development partners, to generate concrete political, financial and material assistance. Intensification of SwissMoldova relations Switzerland's participation in the Moldova Support Platform is a continuation of its long-standing support for the Republic of Moldova in the context of Swiss international cooperation. The current focus areas are economic development and employment, local governance and health. In response to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, Switzerland has significantly increased its support in Moldova since 2022 and is providing humanitarian aid to supplement the cooperation programme. The Moldova Support Platform was established in Berlin in April 2022 at the joint initiative of France, Germany and Romania. Two events followed in Bucharest and Paris the same year. This year's Moldova Support Platform is the first event to be held in Moldova itself. Switzerland has taken part in all of the platforms to date. Attendance by the Swiss foreign minister this year also reflects an intensification of political dialogue between the two countries. Straight after the conference, President Maia Sandu of Moldova will travel to Switzerland on an official presidential visit. A large number of high-ranking figures are expected to attend the fourth Moldova Support Platform in Chisinau, among them the foreign ministers of founders Germany, France and Romania, and the president of the Republic of Moldova. Federal Councillor Cassis will also use the conference as an opportunity for bilateral talks. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html (Photo : Getty Images) BEIJING, CHINA - JUNE 27: (CHINA OUT) Chinese and South Korean flags flutter in front of Tiananmen Rostrum on June 27, 2013 in Beijing, China. South Korean President Park Geun-Hye is on a four-day visit to China. South Korea has protested to China regarding the alleged forced repatriation of numerous North Koreans. Based on human rights organizations, these individuals are believed to be at risk of imprisonment and mistreatment by the North Korean authorities. China's Controversial Repatriation of North Korean Defectors Per Reuters, reports of China's recent mass repatriation of North Korean defectors have emerged, marking the country's first move since the relaxation of North Korea's COVID-19 border restrictions. According to South Korean rights groups working with North Korean refugees, this operation occurred shortly after the conclusion of the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. Before the pandemic, China regularly deported defectors back to North Korea, where they faced severe consequences, including forced labor, imprisonment, torture, or execution. Despite this reported repatriation, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not officially confirmed the event. Instead, it defended its approach to North Korean defectors, categorizing them as illegal economic migrants. At a recent press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin insisted that there are no "so-called defectors" in China. He claimed that China follows a responsible attitude, handling them by domestic and international laws and humanitarian principles. However, human rights activists like Jihyun Park, a North Korean defector and human rights activist based in Britain, dispute this characterization. Park argues that North Korean defectors, akin to refugees, should be granted protections under international law. She asserts that the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors is not merely a national concern but a global human rights issue. China's actions, she claims, violate international agreements, including those about racial discrimination, discrimination against women, torture, and statelessness. Jihyun Park's personal story underscores the perils faced by North Korean defectors. She fled North Korea during a devastating famine in 1998, eventually going to China, where she was sold into a forced marriage. Subsequently, she was arrested by Chinese authorities and forcibly repatriated to North Korea, leading to her sentencing to a prison camp. She managed to escape again in 2004 and eventually found asylum in Britain, according to VOA News. Read Also: Oklahoma Judge Facing Dismissal After Inquiry Into Texting, Social Media Use During Murder Trial South Korea-China Ties The South Korean Unification Ministry, responsible for inter-Korean relations, is working to verify the reported repatriation. South Korea's Foreign Ministry has called on China to cooperate to ensure defectors' safety and voluntary return to their desired locations, preventing their forced return to North Korea. The reports have also caught the attention of the US government. In a recent statement, a spokesperson from the US State Department voiced deep concern regarding the treatment endured by forcibly repatriated North Koreans. The spokesperson highlighted a range of alarming issues, including allegations of torture, arbitrary detention, forced abortion, gender-based violence, and even summary execution. The US government called on all states to uphold non-refoulement principles and adhere to applicable non-refoulement obligations. The number of North Korean escapees has dwindled to historic lows in recent years, primarily due to strict lockdown measures imposed by North Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although North Korea has started to relax its border controls since August, the number of defectors remains low. Activists argue that North Korea used the pandemic as an opportunity to strengthen border security. The recent reports of Chinese repatriations have alarmed human rights groups, who believe that the number of North Koreans detained as "illegal immigrants" in China may exceed 2,000. Human Rights Watch alleges that China forcibly returned over 500 people who escaped North Korea this week. The group expressed concerns that the returnees, primarily women, are at grave risk of detention in forced labor camps and potential violence, including torture, AP News Reported. Related Article: Big Three Lays Off 5,000 Workers Amid Latest UAW Strike Fallout @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Pyongyang on Friday dismissed speculation that the Hamas militant group used North Korean weapons for its unprecedented attack on Israel as groundless. Ri Kwang-song, a North Korean commentator on international affairs, said the US is resorting to its stereotyped smear campaign against the reclusive regime to deliberately link the recent Middle East crisis to Pyongyang, reports Yonhap News Agency. The US administrations reptile press bodies and quasi-experts are spreading a groundless and false rumor that north Koreas weapons seemed tobe used for the attack on Israel, Ri said in an article carried by North Koreas state-run Korean Central News Agency. The denial came after Radio Free Asia, a Washington-based media outlet, earlier reported on the suspected use of North Korean weapons by Hamas fighters, citing a video featuring one of the fighters holding what resembles an F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher manufactured in the North. In the past, suspicions had been raised that North Korea provided weapons to Hamas. But it remains unclear whether the North directly supplied the F-7 rocket launchers to the militant group or whether they were provided through transactions involving other countries. Earlier this week, North Korea condemned Israel for the escalating conflict with Hamas, claiming that it is the consequence of Israels ceaseless criminal actions against the people of Palestine. The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government on an appeal filed by gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court sentencing him to five-year imprisonment in a 23-year-old case related to the Gangster Act. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to the state government on the plea filed by Ansari. The high court reversed Ansaris acquittal in the case by a special Lucknow MP-MLA court in December 2020 on an appeal filed by the state government. The special court had acquitted Ansari, a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar constituency, stating that the prosecution could not prove the offence against him beyond reasonable doubt. Martin Scorseses long-awaited Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, finally hits theaters next week, and we have another look at Alabama-born musician Jason Isbells appearance in it, but he has no comment. Not for this story, but in the clips weve seen of him in the films marketing so far. The films distributor Apple TV+ released some official clips on YouTube this week, including one entitled Coyote, which features lead actress Lily Gladstone, who co-stars as Osage women discussing her new love interest played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Sitting to the right of the frame is a snazzily dressed Isbell, in a three-piece suit and fedora, not saying a word during the conversation. The womens dialogue is in Osage native language, perhaps explaining Isbells silence in that he may not understand what theyre saying or hes just being respectful. But he does appear to be listening, so we shall see. (Note: We have not read David Granns 2017 book of the same name to know how his role will play out in Scorseses adaptation.) Isbell plays a character named Bill Smith. We did not spot him in the first teaser trailer, but he remains listed in the films cast, and now we have confirmation he makes the final cut from this scene and the films second trailer. It marks his second on-screen credit in a fictional role following an appearance as a wedding guest in Deadwood: The Movie back in 2019. Isbell has also appeared as himself on the Showtime series Billions. The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, features the Grammy-winning musician from Green Hill, Ala., in an on-screen role. And it looks like Isbell appears in scenes with DiCaprio, De Niro and the films surefire breakout star Gladstone. The premise, according to Apples official website: At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. The film explores the improbable romance between Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Gladstone) in what Apple calls an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal. The film also stars De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, Isbell, Sturgill Simpson and others. It marks the sixth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio after Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street. It marks the 10th between the director and De Niro after classics like Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. In the second trailer, after we learn the premise of the series of murders of the people of the Osage Nation, we see a shot of what appears to be a funeral, with Gladstone and others grieving (with DiCaprio and De Niro) by her side, and Isbell in the foreground to the very right of the widescreen frame. Jason Isbell (right) co-stars in "Killers of the Flower Moon," hitting theaters Oct. 20, 2023. The film is directed by Martin Scorsese and co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone. (Apple TV+) Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" opens in theaters in October 2023. (Apple TV+) The films runtime is 206 minutes. In a recent interview with Deadline, Scorsese was asked about the near 3.5-hour length. He said, I say to the audience out there, if there is an audience for this kind of thing, Make a commitment. Your life might be enriched. This is a different kind of picture; I really think it is. Well, Ive given it to you, so hey, commit to going to a theater to see this. Critics have already lavished it with praise. It has a score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Critics Consensus: Enormous in runtime, theme, and achievement, Killers of the Flower Moon is a sobering appraisal of Americas relationship with Indigenous peoples and yet another artistic zenith for Martin Scorsese and his collaborators. Killers of the Flower Moon will release in theaters everywhere Oct. 20, 2023. It will later stream on Apple TV+. Watch the clip above, and the trailer below. More on Jason Isbell: A man and woman have been indicted in the 2015 Walker County slaying of a 32-year-old man and his beloved dog. Eric Cates, 32, and dog Gypsy were found dead inside Cates burned pickup truck near the old Empire School building. On Friday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced murder charges against Joshua Franklin Hill, 33, and Cyerena Cheyenne Styles, 28, both of Walker County. Styles was taken into custody by the Sumiton Police Department and Hill was arrested by U.S. Marshals. Marshall said the case was presented to a Walker County grand jury on Oct. 5. The AGs office investigated the case at the request of the Walker County Sheriffs Office. Cates mother, Tobbie Stover, expressed gratitude to the Alabama Attorney Generals Office and AG Steve Marshall for their work on the case during the past several years. They came through for us, she said. We are very, very thankful for what Attorney General Steve Marshall and his office has done. Stover says she expects more from the (AGs office) concerning this case, and was familiar with the names of the two people charged with her sons murder. Stover and her family know the arrests arent the end of their road to justice. It is a form of relief, but we know its the start of another chapter. There have been many twists and turns in the investigation into Cates death. Authorities two years ago announced a potential suspect in Cates death was in custody but that person was never charged. Stover has refused to give up, hopeful that one day she might get some answers, and some closure. Stover initially expressed frustration at how the Walker County Sheriffs Office handled the case early on. When Sheriff Nick Smith was elected in 2019, the case was once again revisited and ultimately the sheriffs office sent the Cates case to the State Bureau of Investigation. Cates was last seen alive about 8 p.m. on March 20, 2015, at The Blue Store, where he filled up his truck with gas. He was clean, his truck was clean. He was dressed to go somewhere, said family friend Crystal Corley, who worked at the store. Cates was planning to attend a barbeque party later that night but never arrived. Cameras on the side of the gas station showed Cates going down Coon Creek Road towards Hill Road, which leads into neighborhoods and eventually to the old Empire school building, where his body and truck were found the next day. While an official cause of death hasnt been released, Stover said evidence of soot in Cates lungs show he was alive when he was burned. Gypsys remains were sent to Auburn University for a necropsy, but veterinarians told Stover there wasnt enough left of the bulldog-mix to examine. A man accused of killing a Sheffield police officer and a longtime friend two years ago has fired both of his attorneys. Brian Lansing Martin, 43, is charged with capital murder in the Oct. 1, 2021 slayings of Sgt. Nick Risner, an eight-year veteran of Sheffield police, and William Mealback Jr., who was shot and dumped from his own car prior to a chase and gunfight. In a handwritten letter to Colbert County Circuit Judge Mitchell Hays dated Oct. 8, Martin states he terminated the services of both Rebecca Thomason and Edwin Beason for ineffective assistance of counsel. There are several issues pertaining to my defense that urgently need to be addressed by the court, the letter states. Repeated requests for my previous counsel to address these issues have been refused. I am requesting a hearing so that I can advise the court of my concerns. Martin is also charged with attempted murder from the wounding of Sheffield Lt. Max Dotson. Last year he pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. According to Mealbacks family, Martin, a longtime friend, was driving the man to assist him after a surgical procedure. Police believe the two got into an argument prior to the shooting. It was the discovery of Mealbacks body that touched off the pursuit that resulted in Risners death. Martin pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2013 in the May 11, 2011, shooting death of his father, Donice Scott, during a struggle outside Scotts Tuscumbia home. He received a 10-year sentence at the time but was released after about three years in prison, in May 2016, according to court records. Two articles discussing a move by the U.S. military are being misrepresented to falsely indicate there is a plan to reinstitute the draft. Defense officials confirm the armed forces have made no such recommendation to Congress or the president, which are the entities empowered to authorize a draft. With Americas allies in Europe and the Middle East embroiled in conflicts with no end in sight, social media users are sharing a headline from a Sept. 25 article from the Mises Institute, a libertarian group in Alabama. The headline reads: The US Military Is Laying the Groundwork to Reinstitute the Draft. Other posts include passages from an essay in Parameters, a quarterly journal published by the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The essay, entitled A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force, highlights military lessons from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Its also cited in the Mises Institute article. Biden Set To Bring Back The DRAFT.. For War With Russia Or China, wrote one Facebook user who shared a video that included screenshots of the Parameters essay. But theres no plans to bring back mandatory conscription in the U.S., military officials confirmed this week. Nicole Schwegman, a DOD spokesperson, dismissed the claims as false. She noted in a phone interview that only Congress and the president have the ability to call for a draft and the military has not recommended elected officials even consider it. She also pointed to the disclaimer at the bottom of the Parameters essay that makes it clear the defense department doesnt exercise any editorial control over the publication. The disclaimer also states that articles represent the opinions of their authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the US Army War College, or any other agency of the US government. Robert Kenny, a deputy associate director at the Selective Service System, which maintains information about U.S. residents who potentially qualify for the draft, confirmed the Virginia-based agency hasnt had any discussions regarding reinstituting conscription and isnt aware of any legislative proposals in Congress to reinstate the draft. He said one of the agencys top priorities remains ensuring all men ages 18-25 years-old are aware of the federal requirement to register for the Selective Service in the event the president and Congress enact a draft. John Nagl, a professor at the U.S. Army War College who co-authored the Parameters essay, said the piece doesnt even recommend the resumption of the draft. It states the U.S. Army faces recruiting shortfalls and a shrinking reserve corps, meaning it likely could not sustain the rate of casualties seen in the conflict in Ukraine at its current troop levels. The implication is that the 1970s concept of an all-volunteer force has outlived its shelf life and does not align with the current operating environment, Nagl and the other authors write in the essay. Zack Yost, who authored the Mises Institute piece, stressed his item does not say that the military is reinstituting the draft, rather that the U.S. military in the context of this piece in the War College journal is laying the groundwork to do so. The U.S. drafted soldiers to fight in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Active conscription ended in 1973, during the waning days of the Vietnam War, after which the country moved to an all-volunteer military. The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission on Thursday approved changes to its rules for awarding business licenses, a process stalled for four months by mistakes and lawsuits. A key change in the new rules is that business applicants will be allowed to make public presentations to the AMCC before it tries to award licenses for a third time. AMCC Chairman Rex Vaughn said the changes, approved as an emergency rule during a meeting at the Alabama State House, came in response to claims made by applicants in their lawsuits. They have made some legitimate complaints against the commission that we need to address, Vaughn said. And were going to address them. Were going to give them their day with a public hearing and a presentation to accommodate every one of them that wants to come talk to us. Sign up for the Worth Your Time newsletter: Get the best journalism happening in Alabama delivered straight to your inbox every week. Vaughn said the changes give the AMCC a chance to award licenses by December. Our goal is to have a victory lap by the end of the year, Vaughn said. So well see how that goes. William Somerville, an attorney for Alabama Always LLC, an applicant that has filed multiple complaints against the AMCC in court, said he was encouraged by the new rules, especially the chance to make a presentation before the AMCC. It will help us go to the commission and explain why we are capable of producing medical cannabis faster than anybody else, Somerville said. Alabama Always said it has spent $7 million building a facility to grow medical grade cannabis and make products in west Montgomery and is ready to begin production quickly. He said the readiness and capability was an important qualification spelled out in the law that has been overlooked because of the AMCCs reliance on scores assigned to the applications. Alabama Always was denied a license both times the AMCC has awarded them. We think the real world is a much better indication of whether somebody can actually produce medical cannabis than a pretty piece of paper, Somerville said. Amanda Taylor of Cullman, who has multiple sclerosis and said she benefitted from medical cannabis while living in Arizona, said she came to Thursdays meeting to stress the urgency of making products available. When you move the patients out of the discussions, and were not here, they kind of forget that theres faces that go along with this, Taylor said. Theres beating hearts. And theres people who are heartbroken and devastated. Not only within what we feel, but within what we have to battle with our bodies because we are lacking what is provided in these plants. Its not about getting high. It is about healing. Taylor said medical cannabis can help with the spasms and pain caused by her illness. Before the licensing delays, AMCC officials said they hoped products would be available late this year or early in 2024. The AMCC has twice awarded business licenses but put a hold on those decisions both times and has issued no licenses, which are necessary for companies to begin growing the plants and making the products to start the states new industry. The AMCC first awarded licenses in June, but those were stopped because of mistakes made in tabulating the scores used to rank applicants. The AMCC fixed the scores and awarded licenses again in August, but lawsuits alleging violations of the open meetings law and other problems again stopped the AMCC from issuing licenses. The litigation is ongoing. Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Anderson consolidated most of the lawsuits. The next hearing is set for Wednesday. On Tuesday, Anderson granted the AMCCs request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Verano Alabama, which was awarded a license in June but passed over in August despite still having the top-rated score in its license category. The companys lawsuit claimed that the AMCC had no authority to rescind its June license award. Anderson ruled that the AMCC did have that authority. AMCC Chairman Vaughn said there are still uncertainties about the litigation that could affect the licensing timeline, but said he was encouraged by Andersons ruling. We do think were making headway with the courts based on yesterdays decision, Vaughn said. The new rules allow applicants to make presentations before the AMCC from 20 minutes up to 45 minutes, depending on the category of license they are applying for. Among the other changes: Applicants will get a chance to submit exhibits with their applications that were previously blocked by a 10 megabyte limit in the AMCCs application portal. Some companies said the quality of their applications suffered because they had to modify or leave out exhibits. Applicants will get a chance to respond to pass/fail items in their applications identified by the AMCC. The public will see more information about the applicants because the new rules narrow the scope of what can be redacted. There will be a new public comment period for the applications. A fee required for an applicant denied a license to request an investigative hearing has been repealed. Previously, to request a hearing, the applicant had to make a nonrefundable payment equal to the license fee in their category. For example, an integrated license applicant would have had a pay a $50,000 fee for an investigative hearing. The Legislature approved medical marijuana two years ago and created the AMCC to oversee seed-to-sale regulation of the industry, which is intended to operate fully intrastate. The law allows companies to make gummies, tablets, capsules, tinctures, patches, oils, and other forms of medical marijuana products. Patients who receive a medical cannabis card from a doctor will be able to buy the products at licensed dispensaries. The products can be used to treat a wide range of conditions, including chronic pain, weight loss and nausea from cancer, depression, panic disorder, epilepsy, muscle spasms caused by disease or spinal cord injuries, PTSD, and others. Alabama is one of 38 states that have approved medical marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Read more: Judge rules Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission has authority to rescind license awards Lawyers negotiating in Alabama medical cannabis license disputes; process still unclear A north Alabama woman gave birth unassisted in a jailhouse shower after corrections staff ignored her cries for help, according to a lawsuit filed today. Ashley Caswell had her baby on Oct. 16, 2021, after 12 hours of painful labor, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court. Caswell, who was in jail in Etowah County for using drugs during pregnancy, suffered a placental abruption that almost led to her death. Jail staff looked on as she bled and even took pictures of Caswell and her baby before calling for medical help, according to the suit. Caswell sued Etowah County Sheriff Jonathan Horton, Chief Keith Peek, chief of administration, Doctors Care Physicians, CED Mental Health Services and several members of the medical and correction staff at the jail. It was filed by attorneys from Pregnancy Justice, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. Ashley is the latest victim of the Etowah County Jail, which consistently punishes pregnant women in the name of protecting unborn children while simultaneously endangering their lives, said Pregnancy Justice Senior Staff Attorney Emma Roth in a statement. They stripped her of her dignity, violated her constitutional rights, and again showed their callous disregard for mothers and children. The abuses and violations are numerous, and there is simply no word to describe what she endured other than torture. A spokesman for the Etowah County Sheriffs Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. For years, law enforcement officials in Etowah County kept pregnant women accused of drug use behind bars for months until they could be released to rehab. The practice ended after Al.com reported on legal challenges filed last year. Earlier this year, Al.com wrote about the countys abnormally high number of chemical endangerment cases against pregnant women. County officials have said they are trying to protect babies from exposure to drugs, however attorneys from Pregnancy Justice and former inmates have described deplorable conditions and inadequate care for high-risk pregnancies. Caswell recalled her unmedicated labor in messages to Al.com earlier this year. I delivered my own son and had to beg for help, she wrote. Prior to delivery, Caswell slept on the floor of the jail on a thin mattress and could not get the regular medication she took to treat PTSD and depression, which was withheld by the staff, according to the lawsuit. She also suffered from high blood pressure and other risk factors that complicated the pregnancy. The complaint said she did not receive adequate care during the seven months of her pregnancy she spent behind bars. Caswell spent 12 hours in active labor, according to the lawsuit and jail staff walked her to a shower in the medical area when she started bleeding profusely, but refused to help as the baby began crowning. The complaint says that soon after she had her baby and handed him to jail staff, Caswell passed out from blood loss. Caswell, who has been arrested several times for chemical endangerment, is currently serving a 15-year sentence at Tutwiler Prison for Women. Pregnant woman in the Etowah County Jail received inadequate medical care and faced poor conditions, the lawsuit says. In recent years, Defendants conduct has resulted in many other pregnant women at ECDC receiving grossly inadequate pre- and postpartum care, or, in many instances, no care at all, reads the suit. AL.com this year wrote about other mothers in the jail, including Ashley Banks, who was arrested on suspicion of using marijuana early in her pregnancy and spent months behind bars. Banks had a subchorionic hematoma, a condition where blood pools near the wall of the uterus that can increase the risk of miscarriage. The complaint says another woman lost her pregnancy after staff refused to take her to the hospital after her water broke several months before her due date. Another woman included in the lawsuit gave birth in the medical unit after jail staff ignored her requests to go to the hospital. The lawsuit claims the jails medical contract discouraged the staff from providing medications or seeking emergency care because it could reduce profit. (Photo : YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images) Israeli army soldiers stand at a checkpoint near the border with the Gaza Strip in Israel's southern city of Sderot on October 12, 2023. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip, entered southern Israel in a surprise attack leading Israel to declare war on Hamas in Gaza on October 8. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) shared video footage capturing a daring operation conducted within Gaza. The process involved successfully rescuing numerous hostages, all while effectively neutralizing threats near the Gazan border; in a daring operation, the elite Shayetet's Fleet Unit of the IDF successfully stormed the Sufa outpost, which led to the capture of 60 Hamas terrorists, as per News18. Elite Israeli Unit Rescues Hostages Amidst Chaos The body camera footage from members of the elite Israeli naval commando unit, Flotilla 13, has been released, showcasing their daring rescue mission amidst a hostage crisis. Flotilla 13 is the Israeli equivalent of the US Navy SEALs and specializes in counter-terrorism operations. The video, released Thursday evening, captures a tense and chaotic scene. In one room, lifeless bodies are sprawled on the floor, raising questions about whether they were hostages or terrorists. At a separate room, a collection of individuals can be seen, presumably held as hostages, while Israeli troops forcefully enter the location. The officers shout, "Shayetet, Shayetet, stay in the bunker, we're coming," using the Hebrew name for their unit. The identities and nationalities of those rescued have not been disclosed, leaving approximately 20 Americans abducted and still unaccounted for. Hours after releasing this remarkable footage, Israel's military issued an evacuation order to the residents of Gaza City, urging them to leave "for their safety and protection" in anticipation of an impending Israeli ground offensive. The United Nations stated that the military directed an evacuation for northern Gaza within 24 hours, home to around 1.1 million people. The UN has labeled this directive "impossible." During a subsequent assault on the Sufa checkpoint along the southern border with Gaza, near the Egyptian border, the video captures Flotilla 13 troops methodically going door to door, confronting fierce resistance from the terrorists. Gun battles erupt, and shell casings fly as the Israeli forces engage the Hamas attackers. Grenades are used to flush out the terrorists from rooms. The IIDF reported that they eliminated 60 Hamas terrorists and arrested 26, including Muhammad Abu A'ali, the deputy commander of the Hamas Southern Naval Division. The video also shows one individual, appearing naked and with blood on his back and shoulders, being apprehended and handcuffed. Furthermore, the video footage reveals that other hostages, including those seized from a nearby music festival and kibbutzim and villages near Gaza, were taken back into Gaza, potentially to be used as human shields, according to WioNews. Read Also: Hamas Attack Update: Israel Publishes Graphic Photos of Murdered, Burned Babies-PM Office Says 'Hamas is ISIS' Biden's Gaza Hostage Rescue Pledge Hostages' current whereabouts are unknown, but it is suspected that they are being held in tunnels beneath the territory and are frequently moved to avoid rescue attempts. US President Joe Biden has been vocal about the situation in the United States, emphasizing that the US is making every effort to secure the release of the hostages. He referred to the Hamas attack on Israel as "the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust" and condemned it as a "pure cruelty" campaign, reaffirming US support for Israel. The death toll from the conflict stands at 1,200 in Israel, including 27 Americans, and another 1,500 in Gaza. Hamas is believed to have taken approximately 150 hostages, including Americans, and has issued threats of execution if Israel proceeds with a ground invasion of Gaza. Biden assured the public that extensive efforts are underway to bring the hostages home, deploying experts to advise and assist with the recovery operation. John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, confirmed that the US is in discussions with countries, including Qatar, that have channels of communication with Hamas to secure the hostages' release. The conditions and location of the hostages remain unknown, which complicates rescue efforts. Kirby expressed the difficulty in confirming their well-being and noted that no specific proof of life for any individual hostage is available at this time. The release of this footage has brought to the forefront the intricacies of high-stakes operations and the formidable obstacles encountered in the daring mission to rescue hostages amidst a tense and ongoing conflict. As diplomatic efforts persist, the global community is still aware of the constant attempts to secure the safe release of the individuals currently held captive, Mail Online reported. Related Article: Israel-Hamas War: Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem Calls for Day of Prayer, Fasting for Peace @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Taylor Howards goals of freedom and equality have remained through a long life that took him to the front lines of the battlefields during World War II to inside a movie theater he helped build and was used as a gathering place during the civil rights movement. Its also a life that brought him back to his native Alabama where he lives in Mobile under care at a medical foster home for U.S. Veterans. Inside a Mobile senior center on Friday, friends and family gathered to celebrate Howard on his 105th birthday. Hes always been a fighter for justice and equality and believes that all races should work together, said Sandra Howard Adams, 65, of Gulfport, one of Howards five children. Howard, believed to be the oldest surviving veteran in Mobile County, was recognized by the City of Mobile and the South Alabama Veterans Council during a brief program that featured music, lunch, cake, balloons and a family gathering. I prayed that the good Lord would keep my dad to September 13, 2023, said daughter Lettie Howard Alexander, 69, of Slidell, La. His grandfather, also named Taylor Howard, lived to 105. He was also from Alabama. I was grateful that when this morning came, I woke up and the good Lord answered our prayers. She added, He was a good father, and guided us in loving everyone. Buffalo solider Howards biography is one that began on a farm in Choctaw County, where he grew up as one of 10 children. He worked with the Progress Administration, a federally sponsored program that employed Americans during the Great Depression before joining the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1937. Howard was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the all-Black 92nd Infantry during the height of World War II. Known as buffalo soldiers, in reference to 19th-century Black cavalrymen, the 92nd Infantry Division was a segregated unit that, during the Italian campaign of World War II, were among a handful of Black units to serve in combat. Howard served in Germany, France and Belgium as a rifleman and sharpshooter. He saw a lot of action during the Second World War, said Lou Lartigue, president of the South Alabama Veterans Council. Howard is among the last surviving soldiers of World War II. Of the approximately 70 million people who fought in the war between 1939-1945, as of September, there are about 119,550 living in the U.S. Thats less than 1 percent, and about 131 are dying per day due to old age, according to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. We want him around, to have him come to our meetings, Lartigue said. We are running out of Worl War II veterans. Civil rights advocate After the war, Howard returned to Mississippi where he lived most of his adult life in Gulfport and where he became a civil rights and community advocate, attending political rallies. As a board member of the Community Action Program (CAP), he met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and was instrumental in bringing the Head Start program to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Howard was also credited with establishing one of the first Neighborhood Watch programs to Gulfport. Howard attended trade school and learned all he could about building and construction, never underestimating the importance of math and solving equations, according to a 2017 resolution honoring him in the Mississippi Legislature. He became an apprentice in his brothers construction business. He eventually formed his own business, partnering with his brother, and building churches and homes throughout the Gulf Coast. But it was involvement in building a movie theater that elevates Howards story as a civil rights advocate. At that time, of course, segregation did not allow our community to go to the movie theater, said Adams. He wanted the children to have that right. He built a theater from the ground up. In fact, he is credited with opening two movie theaters, both in Gulfport. Both theaters were named the Embassy Theatre. He did free shows in the summer where you could get in with six bottlecaps, said Adams. It was a place to give (Black) children the rights to eat popcorn and chili dogs and watch a movie like everyone else. Even today, the children he impacted still talk about how much that meant to them. Howards children worked at the theater during the 1950s and 60s, until both theaters closed in 1969, or a few years after the approval of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlawed segregation of businesses, schools and other places. When integration came, we were able to do more, said Adams. (The theaters) served their purpose at the time. She said the theaters also meant a lot more than showing movies for Black Mississippians. They were also a gathering place during for civil rights leaders. There was a bomb threat there once, and the FBI had to clear everyone out, Adams said. Loving man Howard has been described as a mentor, nurturer, protector, and leader who was an active member of a Baptist Church in Gulfport for more than 85 years. We went to church, Sunday school all the time and to all the programs that were going on in the 50s and 60s, said Alexander, his oldest daughter. We lived an old-fashion way obedient to parents, and good and kind to everyone. Howard speaks softly and with some assistance but advised people on Friday to try and make peace with everyone throughout the world. Anthony Spears, 75, of Biloxi, said his father was simply a loving man. He always wanted everyone to show love to each other and the community itself, Spears said. Former Huntsville police officer William Ben Darby today pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will serve three years of probation for shooting and killing a man threatening suicide five years ago. Darby was sentenced to 20 years, but the sentence was split and reversed for him to serve three years of probation. As long as he doesnt violate the terms of his probation, he will avoid going back to prison. Madison County Circuit Judge Alan Mann accepted the plea and sentenced Darby during a surprise hearing this morning. Darby shot and killed Jeff Parker on April 3, 2018, after Parker called 911, threatening to shoot himself in his own home. A Madison County jury in 2021 found Darby guilty of murder and a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison. But after serving about 20 months, Darby was released from prison because an appeals court overturned the conviction. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals last year sent the case back for a new trial, saying the trial court made errors during jury instructions. Darby and his lawyers reached the plea deal with prosecutors to avoid a retrial that was scheduled to happen in December. Martin Weinberg, attorney for Parkers family, said they will continue their civil lawsuit against Darby and the city of Huntsville. The family is relieved the criminal case is over, Weinberg said. The guilty plea indicates Darby taking responsibility. District Attorney Rob Broussard, who was in the courtroom for the plea, said afterward it was essentially the same deal we offered four years ago at the inception of all this. Broussard said the plea offer then and now was in recognition of the job police do every day. Were the first to admit its hard job, Broussard said. Its not like a change of heart. The key element here is when somebody takes responsibility for their actions. Darbys plea puts it in a different light. He messed up, said Broussard. Hes owned up to it and this is a proper result in my mind and a good resolution to the case. On the day of the shooting in 2018, Parker called 911 and said that he was armed and suicidal. Police went to Parkers home in west Huntsville and found him sitting on a couch with a gun to his head. The first officer to arrive testified against Darby at the murder trial, telling the jury that she tried to de-escalate the situation and keep Parker from taking his own life. Darby, the third officer to arrive, testified that he had to take over the situation from the senior officer because he believed she was putting herself in danger by talking to Parker. He told the jury that he shot Parker in defense of himself and two other officers because he feared the man might shoot them with what later turned out to be a flare gun. Body camera video shows Darby grab a shotgun from his patrol car, sprint to the house and shout for Parker to drop his gun. Darby fired the fatal shot 11 seconds after entering the house, the video shows. Broussard said that the case was without a doubt one of the hardest of his career because theres nothing more unsavory or unpleasant than having to hold accountable folks who are doing a job that is so necessary, that we feel so aligned with. I could not adequately express the admiration I have for the folks in the profession. Were like one big family, but every so often something will come up that you have to call it like it is and hold someone accountable to it. And theres nothing pleasant about it. The newest member of the Huntsville city council is now the leader of the Huntsville City Council. During its annual officer elections held Thursday, the city council elected David Little to be president less than 13 months after he was elected to office. The election, coming at the end of Thursdays meeting, marked a sort of double victory for Little. Earlier in the meeting, the council approved his proposed ordinance to prohibit drivers from handling cell phones. Related: Music festival officially coming to Huntsville, maybe in 2024 Related: Huntsville city council passes resolution in support of Israel Its an honor, Little said. First year in and to be in this position, its a little daunting too. But I care about this organization, care about the council, care about the community. I just hopefully run efficient meetings once I get schooled up on Roberts Rules of Order. As president, Little will preside over council meetings but will also handle council administrative chores and work closely with Mayor Tommy Battle and his administration. Councilwoman Jennie Robinson nominated Little for president while Councilman Bill Kling nominated outgoing President John Meredith and Councilman Devyn Keith nominated Kling. Little won the 3-2 for president with Robinson, Keith and Little voting in his favor and Meredith and Kling opposing. Robinson was elected president pro tem and Kling third presiding officer. I want to communicate with everybody and hopefully maintain good relationships like Mr. Keith said, said Little, referring to remarks Keith made before the officer elections were held. Not butt our heads together but we need to be willing to work together. Get the Down in Alabama newsletter: Enter your email to subscribe to the daily Down in Alabama newsletter: Decatur police say they erred when saying Stephen Perkins refused to drop a weapon Decatur police walked back initial accounts of the fatal shooting of Stephen Perkins on Sept. 29, saying Perkins did not refuse to drop a weapon as originally reported and instead was ordered to get on the ground before he was shot. Police Chief Todd Pinion released the revised narrative of the police encounter with Perkins on Thursday, correcting the original public statement by police. Police have said Perkins pulled a gun on a tow truck driver attempting to repossess his vehicle early on the morning of Sept. 29. The driver left but returned with police officers more than an hour later, police said at the time. Police said Perkins came outside with a gun and began to threaten the tow truck driver and turned his gun toward the officer who shot him. The original public statement from police said: Officers on scene ordered the homeowner to drop his weapon, which he refused to do. The new narrative says police instead told Perkins to get on the ground before firing. That means that we also erred in stating Mr. Perkins refused to drop his firearm prior to the shooting, reads the new statement from Pinion. Huntsville city council passes resolution in support of Israel In its first meeting since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, igniting a war in the Middle East, the Huntsville city council expressed its support for Israel, a longtime ally of the United States. The one-page resolution was sponsored by Bill Kling, the dean of the city council, and passed unanimously at Thursdays meeting. The resolution proclaims that Mayor Tommy Battle and the city council express great concern and support Israel in its efforts to defend itself. We stand unified and offer our sincerest thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. The relevance of the resolution is to offer support for Huntsvilles Jewish community. Rep. Rogers and assistant plead not guilty in Birmingham court, drive off together State Rep. John Rogers and his longtime assistant share both federal corruption charges and a Shelby County home, according to information provided at their arraignments Thursday in federal court. The longtime Birmingham Democrat and his assistant, Varrie Johnson Kindall, yesterday appeared in court to hear charges against them stemming from an alleged kickback scheme involving public money. Both pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Judge Staci G. Cornelius at the Hugo L. Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham. Rogers, 82, is charged with one count of obstruction of justice and one count of obstruction of justice by bribery, according to the indictment in late September. The indictment says Rogers attempted to bribe an unnamed person to lie to federal investigators about a kickback scheme in exchange for receiving public funding for the persons unnamed nonprofit organization. Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission tries to fix stalled license process The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission on Thursday approved changes to its rules for awarding business licenses, a process stalled for four months by mistakes and lawsuits. A key change in the new rules is that business applicants will be allowed to make public presentations to the AMCC before it tries to award licenses for a third time. AMCC Chairman Rex Vaughn said the changes, approved as an emergency rule during a meeting at the Alabama State House, came in response to claims made by applicants in their lawsuits. The AMCC first awarded licenses in June, but those were stopped because of mistakes made in tabulating the scores used to rank applicants. The AMCC fixed the scores and awarded licenses again in August, but lawsuits alleging violations of the open meetings law and other problems again stopped the AMCC from issuing licenses. The litigation is ongoing. Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Anderson consolidated most of the lawsuits. The next hearing is set for Wednesday. Alabama is one of 38 states that have approved medical marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Authorities in Mississippi say a man arrested Thursday is suspected in a bank robbery that same day in Huntsville. The Tishomingo County Sheriffs Office said Scott Alan Tyner, 50, of Arkansas, was arrested at about 1 p.m. Thursday in Iuka, Miss. According to the sheriffs office, investigators received a tip that Tyner, who is also suspected in a Springfield, Mo. bank robbery, might be in the area. A suspected vehicle was spotted leaving a Walmart in Iuka, a town of about 3,000 in the northeastern part of the state. Tyner, who officers say was armed, was arrested without incident after a brief pursuit. Tishomingo County officials said Tyner is wanted in multiple states and will have pending charges from several jurisdictions. According to Huntsville police, officers responded to a robbery call at Truist Bank, at 4955 University Drive, at around 11:15 a.m. It is unclear if any money was taken. This post was modified at 1:45 p.m. CST Oct. 13 to correct the spelling of the town where Tyner was arrested. A body found in a makeshift grave at a Walker County home as been identified as a 62-year-old man reported missing last week. His roommate has been charged with murder and court documents contend the victim was killed more than one month ago. Terry Linden Drummond was reported missing to the Walker County Sheriffs Office on Oct. 7. His roommate, 30-year-old Kevin Chad McLemore, made the missing persons report, claiming he had last seen Drummond alive when he left for work about 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 4. Sheriffs officials launched an intense investigation, which included a search warrant at the Harvey Drummond Road home shared by Drummond and McLemore. On Wednesday, Drummonds body was found in a shallow grave underneath a staircase outside that home. McLemore is charged with murder in Drummonds death. He is also charged with abuse of corpse, according to court records. It was a very gruesome, detailed out murder, Sheriff Nick Smith said in a Friday press conference. He did not elaborate, but charging documents allege McLemore dismembered Drummonds body, put the remains in a garbage can, filled the garbage can with concrete and buried the victim under a set of stairs at the home. Sheriffs Capt. Darrell Mote said Drummonds remains have been sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for further testing. The cause of death has not yet been released and a possible motive has not been disclosed. Court records allege Drummond was killed Sept. 8, and buried by McLemore two days later. McLemore was booked into the Walker County Jail Wednesday and remains held. He made an initial appearance in court on Friday. A multi-day outdoor music festival is coming to Huntsville. Its now official after the city council Thursday night unanimously approved a three-year contract with promoter C3 Presents. The festival will take place on a Saturday and Sunday, starting on the last Saturday in September or the weekend before the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which is typically in early October. Related: More details emerge about Huntsvilles planned outdoor music festival The festival will take place in John Hunt Park and about 30-35,000 people are expected to attend over two days, according to Ted Heinig of C3. The contract states that the anticipated start of the festival is 2025 but Shane Davis, the citys director of urban and economic development, said C3 is very optimistic that a festival can be held in 2024. That decision, according to the contract, must be made in January. The most important factor in that decision, Davis said, is the quality of the event. No musical acts have been announced for the festival but Heinig said there will be local acts at the event. The city will make available $3 million to C3 over the span of the three-year contract to protect the promotor over financial losses. C3 is responsible for all aspects of the event from booking acts to constructing the venue to restoring John Hunt Park to its same condition as before the festival while the city will provide police, fire and medical services without cost to C3, the contract states. This will have significant appeal and should attract music fans from other states and possibly other countries, Mayor Tommy Battle said in a statement. The investments weve made over the years to John Hunt Park are already attracting large-scale sports events, and its also what appealed to C3 Presents. Its the perfect venue for an event of this magnitude. Huntsville Music Officer Matt Mandrella said hes excited about the Citys partnership with C3 Presents and looks forward to the first lineup announcement. C3s global body of work speaks for itself, and the fact that a festival producer of their caliber is committed to developing a signature event in Huntsville speaks volumes to our reputation as an emerging music city, Mandrella said in a statement. Their team is very excited about coming to Huntsville, and were confident they will deliver the world class festival experience our community deserves. The council spoke with enthusiasm about the festival with Jennie Robinson saying the event has been the first thing mentioned in recent conversations with constituents and Bill Kling dropping not-so-subtle hints about his preference for The Rolling Stones to rock the Rocket City. Devyn Keith lobbied for diversity in the acts, which Davis said is written into the contract and was a priority for the city in planning the festival. C3 is perhaps best known as promotors for Bonnaroo in southern Tennessee and Lollapalooza in Chicago. The Huntsville event wont be to that same scale and Heinig said a comparison would be Railbird, another C3 event thats held each year in Lexington, Ky. Railbird, held in June each year, attracts about 80,000 people over two days and Heinig said C3 donated $125,000 to local charities this year. In a nod to the appeal of holding a musical festival and attracting people to Huntsville, Heinig said about 60 percent of people attending Railbird came from outside Kentucky. Heinig said conversations with Huntsville about the music festival started about a year and a half ago when Mandrella reached out to share that the Rocket City was interested in a major outdoor music event. NASA launched a new deep space probe from Florida today sending its Psyche spacecraft 2.2 billion miles from Earth toward one of only nine known metal-rich asteroids. Its the 14th planetary exploration mission in NASAs Discovery program managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. The space agency thinks this asteroid between Mars and Jupiter may be part of what it calls a planetesimal a planetary building block and may tell us more about the Earths formation. But looking for a planetesimal isnt its only mission. The spacecraft also hosts NASAs Deep Space Optical Communications technology the first test of laser communications beyond the Moon. Psyche launched at approximately 9:20 a.m. CST today on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch appeared flawless with the main boosters landing back at Cape Canaveral. Powered by solar arrays, Psyche will take six years to get to the asteroid. Then, it will begin a two-year period of scheduled scientific observations. Marshalls role is making sure the mission team has what it needs to get to launch. The center also watches the bottom line of costs. We ensure the project teams have all the resources they need to execute the project, monitor costs and schedules to keep the project on track and on time, and work closely with the payload and launch teams throughout the flight mission, Brad Zavodsky, Psyche mission manager in Marshalls Planetary Missions Program Office, said in a pre-launch interview. Joel Robinson, Deep Space Optical Communications manager at Marshall, said he and Zavodsky serve as conduits, between directorate-level technology and science leadership at NASA Headquarters and the Psyche and DSOC project leadership both of which are managed at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The program office teams at Marshall include program planning and control personnel, independent technical authorities, and procurement and acquisition specialists. These technical experts provide the Psyche and DSOC missions with all necessary guidance and direction throughout their respective development and programmatic life cycles. A new Oklahoma judge could lose her job for sending more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial, including messages mocking the prosecutor, praising the defense attorney and calling a key witness a liar. The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court recommended the removal of Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom in a court filing Tuesday following an investigation by the states Council on Judicial Complaints. Soderstrom has been under scrutiny since July after she was caught on camera scrolling through social media and texting during the trial of a man accused in the fatal beating of a 2-year-old. Soderstrom, who was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November, was suspended with pay pending the outcome of a hearing by the Court on the Judiciary, which will determine whether to remove her from the bench. The pattern of conduct demonstrates Respondents (Soderstroms) gross neglect of duty, gross partiality and oppression, Chief Justice John Kane IV wrote. The conduct further demonstrates Respondents (Soderstroms) lack of temperament to serve as a judge. A phone call to a number listed for Soderstrom rang unanswered before disconnecting Wednesday. The judges texts included saying the prosecutor was sweating through his coat during questioning of potential jurors and asking why does he have baby hands? according to Kanes petition. The texts described the defense attorney as awesome and asked can I clap for her? during the defense attorneys opening arguments. Soderstrom also texted a laughing emoji icon to the bailiff, who had made a crass and demeaning reference to the prosecuting attorneys genitals, Kane wrote. Khristian Tyler Martzall the man who was on trial while the judge was on her phone was eventually convicted of second-degree manslaughter in the 2018 death of Braxton Danker, the son of Martzalls girlfriend, and sentenced to time served. Martzalls girlfriend and the mother of the child, Judith Danker, pleaded guilty to enabling child abuse, was sentenced to 25 years and was a key prosecution witness who was called a liar by Soderstrom during testimony. State just couldnt accept that a mom could kill their kid so they went after the next person available, Soderstrom texted, according to the filing from Kane. Soderstroms texts also included comments questioning whether a juror was wearing a wig, if a witness has teeth and calling a police officer who testified, pretty, adding, I could look at him all day. When questioned by the Council on Judicial Complaints, Soderstrom said her texting probably could have waited rather than realizing the comments should never have been made. She said she thought, oh, thats funny. Move on. Security video published by The Oklahoman newspaper showed Soderstrom texting or messaging for minutes at a time during jury selection, opening statements and testimony during the trial in Chandler, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Oklahoma City. Kanes petition also said Soderstrom had previously criticized other attorneys and prosecutors, and berated a member of the courthouse staff. Soderstrom should be removed for reasons that include gross neglect of duty, gross partiality in office and oppression in office, Kane wrote. The judges four-year term ends in January 2027. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville says his comments earlier this week on the Israeli-Hamas conflict were taken out of context to pressure an end to his blockade of military promotions. The Biden Administration blasted Tuberville on Wednesday for comments he made to Birminghams WBRC that when you start picking sides in the Middle East, it could get really messy very quick. White House Deputy Press Secretary and Senior Communications Adviser Andrew Bates contrasted Tubervilles comments with those of President Joe Biden on Tuesday: Were with Israel. Lets make no mistake. In Tubervilles earlier sound bite, the Alabama senator said, Israel has the right to go, because they came in and they did some terrible things in their country. However, Tubervilles unedited interview comments on Tuesday appear to deal with the larger implications of the conflict. This thing could really get out of hand, Tuberville said. People taking sides, people getting involved. The ball is in the court of President Netanyahu of Israel. He as 400-500,000 troops on the border of Gaza. Hes going to decide whether theyre going to go in or not. Were having, late tonight, an all Senators conference and telling us really whats going on. Im hoping that cooler heads prevail--they dont go into Palestine. In a longer statement to WBRC on Thursday, Tuberville said he supports the Israeli efforts to neutralize Hamas in Gaza. Israel is our closest ally and I firmly stand with them, Tuberville said. Joe Biden is attempting to deflect the facts that he lifted sanctions against Iran and handed over $6 billion and Iranian prisoners to get Americans back, all while Iran was plotting with Hamas to go into Israel with the mission to obtain more hostages. On Thursday, the U.S. and Qatar agreed to deny Iran access to $6 billion recently transferred to the nation as part of a deal that led to the release of five Americans from Iran last month, according to The New York Times. Now, 27 Americans are dead and others are held hostage, Tuberville said. My first priority is getting our Americans back, then Hamas needs to be wiped off the map. The White House using these atrocities and trying to spin my words to put more political pressure on me to lift military holds is despicable. But its par for the course for this administration. (Photo : Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 09: NYPD officers put up barricades as pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather in support of the Palestinian people during a rally for Gaza at the Consulate General of Israel on October 09, 2023 in New York City. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza by land, sea, and air, killing over 700 people and wounding more than 2000. Israeli soldiers and civilians have also been kidnapped by Hamas and taken into Gaza. The attack prompted a declaration of war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and ongoing retaliatory strikes by Israel on Gaza killing hundreds. The NYPD has announced plans to increase patrols throughout New York City this weekend in anticipation of mass protests and the potential for violence resulting from the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. An internal department memo obtained by the New York Daily News revealed that NYPD officers have been told to be ready for immediate deployment and to carry out their duties while inconsistent. The order was issued on Wednesday, according to New York Daily News. Warning of NYPD Officer Shortage Amid Escalating Threats Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton has issued a warning about the New York Police Department (NYPD) facing a notable shortage of officers during an increase in potential threats to both the city and the United States. He notes that since he departed from the top position in 2016, the NYPD has seen a reduction of approximately 3,000 to 4,000 officers, bringing the force down to about 33,000, compared to 36,000 to 37,000 during his tenure. Two vital NYPD units specializing in counterterrorism, the Critical Response Command (CRC) and the Strategic Response Group (SRG), have seen significant reductions in staffing. The CRC protects against terrorist-related threats, while the SRG specializes in crowd control and demonstrations. Both units have undergone substantial downsizing, which Bratton attributes to the City Council's reluctance to hire more officers. The former NYPD Commissioner contends that the City Council's anti-police attitude has deterred them from requesting additional officers in the city's budget, leading to the understaffing of the police force. Consequently, the existing officers are forced to work extensive overtime to compensate. In trying to enhance security, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has taken decisive action by implementing measures that require all officers to report in uniform. This directive leaves no room for excuses or shift changes, ensuring a consistent and ready presence within the department. The requirement will continue to be in effect "until further notice," according to officials. In a statement, the city's highest-ranking law enforcement official highlighted the crucial role of the CRC and SRG units in the prevailing security conditions. In 2015, a set of units was launched, each demanding the expertise of 600 extensively trained officers equipped for counterterrorism operations. These units have a wide range of responsibilities, such as safeguarding synagogues and the United Nations, along with their involvement in high-profile events. Bratton emphasizes the rising threats, including the potential for lone-wolf terrorism and the growth of terrorism from various Islamic-inspired organizations, such as Al Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Despite the NYPD's formidable challenges, he asserts that the department remains strong but desperately needs additional staffing, according to New York Post. Read Also: DOJ Accuses Sen. Bob Menendez, Wife of Allegedly Plotting To Act as Foreign Agents for Egypt New York City Boosts Security Amid Israel-Gaza Conflict Protests The NYPD has enhanced security in response to ongoing protests and rallies concerning the recent conflict in Israel and Gaza. Fears of potential violence have arisen, prompting an increased police presence at Jewish and Muslim places of worship and schools. The city's authorities are committed to safeguarding religious institutions and preventing extremist attacks. Morgan Stanley and Google parent Alphabet Inc. have allowed their employees to work from home amid concerns of escalating tensions related to pro-Palestine and pro-Israel rallies. The New York Police Department has emphasized that the heightened security is aimed at deterring potential violence rather than addressing an immediate threat. Despite the heated emotions associated with recent protests and rallies, the NYPD is focused on maintaining public safety while encouraging people to continue their daily lives. The ongoing war in Israel and Gaza has sent shockwaves throughout the region and has sparked security concerns on a global scale, especially in cities that are home to sizable Jewish and Muslim communities. With former Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal calling for protests to support Palestinians, the potential for violence and clashes outside Israel and Gaza has become a genuine concern. The NYPD's challenges underscore the complex balance between ensuring public safety and responding to the changing dynamics of global conflicts and protests, where international events can have repercussions in cities worldwide, Bloomberg Reported. Related Article: Biden Warns Iran Over Israel-Gaza Conflict as Democrats Call on POTUS to Refreeze Tehran Funds @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Thursday declaring a state of emergency in Florida due to the Hamas attack in Israel. But why? Its a highly-unusual move for a governor of a U.S. state to declare a state of emergency as a result of actions overseas. According to DeSantis order, there are Florida residents who are in need of help evacuating Israel and, in addition, police agencies throughout the state are in need of support in dealing with pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In declaring the state of emergency, DeSantis wrote that those issues constitute a major disaster in Florida. In his order, DeSantis notes there are more than 20,000 Americans, including many Floridians, in Israel who wish to return home but have been prevented from doing so because of commercial flight cancellations and other travel and logistics disruptions due to the ongoing war in the region. Many major airlines, including U.S. carriers Delta, American and United, have ceased flights to and from Tel Aviv since the conflict began. We will not leave our residents behind, DeSantis posted on X. To the many Floridians who are stuck in Israel, trying to get home -- help is on the way. DeSantis order, however, isnt clear on how he intends to rescue those Floridians still in Israel. DeSantis also states in the order Florida is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the world and the attack on Israel has prompted pro-Palestinian demonstrations and other activities intended to intimidate and threaten the Jewish population and support Hamas terrorists. The emergency declaration allows DeSantis to activate both Florida National Guard and State Guard resources to support local police and sheriffs departments across the state to curb potential violence at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and to protect the Jewish population in their schools and places of worship, the order states. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Huntsville man was indicted by a Madison County grand jury on capital murder charges in connection with a fatal shooting, court records showed. Trinity Orlando Martin, 21, is accused of fatally shooting Jaylen King in Madison County, according to the indictment filed late last month in Madison County Circuit Court. The indictment did not list any other details besides alleging Martin fatally shot King, who was a passenger in a vehicle, with a handgun. WAAY reported the incident occurred in 2021, when Martin was a teenager. A suspect was arrested on murder charges in the apparent shooting death of a man in Monroeville, authorities said Thursday. Monroeville police officers responded to South Alabama Avenue near Tiger Drive on Tuesday on a report of an unresponsive man in the roadway, the department told WKRG. The victim, identified as an adult male, suffered from an apparent gunshot wound, police said. He was taken to Monroe County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Witnesses gave police a description of a vehicle involved in the incident, which was stopped later that night. A man and a woman inside the vehicle The Monroeville Police Department arrested a man Tuesday for an unrelated offense but later charged him with murder. Officers responded to South Alabama Avenue, near the intersection of Tiger Drive, where there was a reported unresponsive man lying in the roadway. They found a man who had what looked like a gunshot wound. He was transported to Monroe County Hospital and was later pronounced dead. Witnesses who saw the man before he was transported to the hospital provided officers with a vehicle description, according to the MPD news release. Officers stopped a vehicle matching the description around 10 p.m. and arrested a man and a woman for unrelated offenses. The man, identified as Sammie Earl Lyons Jr., was later charged with murder, police said. The incident remained under investigation Thursday. Further information was unavailable. During the past week, I found that even most well informed Americans know very little about the causes of the war between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Here is a summary of 13 basic facts I think every American should know: Until 1964, the word Palestinian rarely described Arabs who once lived in Israel. That was when KGB Agents of Communist Russia created and funded a terrorist group called the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Its leader, Yasser Arafat, was born and raised in Egypt. The PLO was as artificial as other effective and deadly groups communists used during the Cold War to take over Algeria, South Africa, Kenya, Vietnam, and Cuba. During this time, the KGB even gave money, weapons, and training to the IRA in Ireland. Palestine was never an Arab nation. Until the Roman Empire crushed a Jewish revolt there in the year 132, the land was known as Israel, Judah, or Judea. The Romans renamed the province Palestine to punish the Jews. The Arabs and the Turks kept that name when they conquered and occupied the province. However, they ruled it from distant Mecca, Medina, Baghdad, or Istanbul. Israel or Palestine was ruined and mostly empty after the Jewish revolt. The Arabs and Turks did little to rebuild its cities or irrigation canals. The goats and camels of Arab nomads or Bedouins stripped the land of trees, vegetation, and topsoil. Once rich farmland became malaria-infested swamp or dry wilderness. Less than 10% of the previous population remained. Many were Jews. Starting in the mid-1800s, Jews from Europe and elsewhere in the Middle East began moving back. They bought land from Arab and Turkish absentee owners who had no interest in living there. For the next 90 years, Jews rebuilt cities, roads, and irrigation canals. They drained swamps, watered deserts, and planted trees and crops. As Jews made the land prosperous again, thousands of Arabs from Egypt, Syria, and other nearby countries moved there. After World War One, the British and French carved new nations out of the defeated Ottoman Empire. In 1920, they created Lebanon for persecuted Christians. In 1921, they divided the Turkish province of Palestine. Eastern or Transjordan Palestine became an Arab kingdom. Palestine west of the Jordan River was set aside for settlement by Jews. More Jews bought empty land and moved there. Their prosperity encouraged more Arabs to move there. By 1948, there were roughly one million Arabs, 600,000 Jews, and 160,000 Christians and Druze living in that part of Palestine. In 1947, the British granted independence to India. British India was mostly Hindu but had a large Muslim minority. To avoid conflict, the British allowed regions with Muslim majorities to form the new Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan, which included what is now Bangladesh. Millions of Hindus and Buddhists in Muslim Pakistan and Bangladesh moved to India. Millions of Muslims in Hindu India moved to Pakistan and Bangladesh. Everybody who moved permanently settled in his new country. There were no refugees or refugee camps. Nobody claimed a right of return. In 1948, the United Nations equally divided the Jewish National Home part of Palestine between Jews and Arabs. The Jews accepted what they were given as their State of Israel. The Arabs in Palestine rejected statehood. They instead invaded Israel with the help of armies from five neighboring Arab countries. After a year of bitter fighting, Jews had control of roughly three fourths of western Palestine. In 1949, all parties agreed to a ceasefire. The lines where the fighting stopped became the Green Line borders of Israel. During and after that 1948 war, there was a population transfer for Israel like that of India. Roughly 700,000 Arabs moved from mostly Jewish Israel to Arab parts of Palestine and other Arab countries. Roughly 700,000 Jews left Arab Palestine and other Arab countries and moved to Jewish Israel. The original 1948 partition boundaries between Jews and Arabs could work only if there were peace and cooperation between the two. When the Arabs chose war, Jews needed a nation with defensible borders. In 1939, Germany invaded and easily defeated Poland and Czechoslovakia. That was partly because those nations borders were almost impossible to defend. When Germany was defeated, the United Nations took land from Germany so both Poland and Czechoslovakia had defensible borders. The Germans who lived there had to move to a smaller Germany. That was the price for invading neighbors. The war in Gaza is part of a global war between an alliance of militant Islam and communists on one side, and Judeo-Christian Western civilization on the other. Islam began as an aggressive warrior religion 1,400 years ago. In just 50 years, Mohammed and his followers destroyed and occupied the powerful Persian Empire. They also occupied most of the Greek Byzantine Empire. Then they took North Africa and Spain away from what was left of the Roman Empire. The Koran, the holy book of Islam, has many contradictions and is difficult to understand. However, it clearly declares that Mohammed was Gods final prophet and that his words (hadith) and deeds (sunna) must be followed. Many Muslim scholars teach that Mohammed allowed peace and respect for non-believers. However, three influential sects do not. They are the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia, the Deoband school in India that inspired the Taliban, and the ayatollahs of Iran. Followers of those three branches are behind most attacks and murders of Jews, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists today. We need an information campaign to push back against them. Communists worked closely with militant Muslims for many years. At first, this seems odd. Militant Islam seems opposed to the political and economic theories of Karl Marx. However, most communists gave up those theories soon after Vladimir Lenin took control of Russia in 1918. Lenin and his followers quickly saw that Marxism was unpopular and didnt work. They replaced it with Marxist-Leninism. This was faith only in an elite revolutionary vanguard that had to keep and expand its power by any means necessary. This included propaganda, bribes, bullying, political manipulation, and arresting and murdering opponents. In 1919, Lenin formed the Communist International to expand his power worldwide. In 1920, he invited and recruited radical Islamists to a congress in Baku. That was featured in the 1981 Hollywood movie Reds, starring Warren Beatty. We need to again recognize and fight the evil of communists. Finally, Israel, America, and the West all made many strategic and tactical military mistakes during the past 40 years. However, our moral sins are more troubling. We abandoned and betrayed countless friends who tried to help us. They included most of the people in Iran who love both America and Israel. They included pro-American Shias in Iraq like Ayatollah Sayyid Abdul Majid Al-Khoei, who was murdered in 2003. Israel also shamefully abandoned and betrayed its friends and allies. They include its Christian and Shia allies in Lebanon and thousands of Arabs in Gaza who risked their lives to warn Jews of planned attacks. We must quickly repent and change our ways. Image via Pxfuel. Let me tell you about the Jews of today. Its taken thousands of years, but we are no longer a meek and timid people who will obediently board a train, be separated from our loved ones, and walk into a gas chamber believing well have a nice shower after our arduous journey. It is precisely these tragic events in our collective Jewish past that inform the present and somehow will inform our future. The catastrophe that unfolded this past weekend in Israel was surreal for all decent humans with a pulseexcluding pro-Palestinian groups celebrating in Gaza, London, Sydney, and New York, as well as low-IQ individuals with undeserved diplomas and a platform for ignorance like Sonny Hostin of The View. As Sukkot came to an end, Jews around the world looked forward to celebrating Simchat Torah, where the entire Torah is raised up and completely unrolled so that the Creation in Genesis connects to the final chapter of Deuteronomy when Moses takes his final breaths while looking out over the land of Israel, contemplating the future of his people. No rabbi ever told me this, but it seems clear that our unknowable future hearkens back to our lived past, as well as to the time before man walked this Earth. And that past is also connected to a future we dont yet know. Linking the hope and optimism of a future to the toils and even the infamies of the past is a theme that repeats in Judaism. Its even reflected in how we name our childrenafter the dead to commemorate their memory and life, keeping them alive in our hearts and minds and for our futures through our children. Seeing the images this weekend. Hearing the stories. Suddenly, the future hangs in a delicate balance between survival or death with a shocking throwback to the horrors of the Holocaust. Yes, in a matter of hours, Hamas and the Gazans unearthed the unthinkable inhumanities of the Nazis and even, Id say, tried to give the Nazis a run for their money. I imagined the young people enjoying the music festival. They must have watched parachuters descend from the skies with curiosity, thinking at first it was a stunt for the show or military exercises, then they were most certainly overcome with shock, then disbelief, then abject terror as evil touched down, poured out of vans, and began to shoot indiscriminately. They ran. They hid. They didnt have guns or any other means to fight back. They were literally sitting ducks, and the enemy relished that expectation. Hear me on this. The enemy, Hamas, the Gazan people, the Iranians, and their supporters on the streets and in our universities, relished slaughtering young people listening to music. We saw the horrifying and unforgivable. Babies in cages. Cages! For animals! Most certainly awaiting death. At a time in my life, when I didnt think my heart could break anymore, the little bits I have left broke into ever smaller pieces. For most, the Holocaust is a collection of stories in history books or passed down from older generations. This is in real-time. They took glee in their murderous acts (a sure sign of madness, as we have witnessed countless professors, protesters, students, and political commentators openly celebrate the carnage, the kidnappings, the rapes, the beheadings). The Nazis took similar pride in the horror they unleashed on Europes Jews, keeping detailed records of every capture, every internment, every murder, every sick experiment, and every act of torture. Todays Gazan-Hamas Nazis recorded everything and posted it all online for the world to see, then paraded dead bodies and rape victims still bleeding from the violence throughout the streets of Gaza with cheers from the crowdsall out of a twisted Nazi-like sense of pride. Well, pride cometh before the fall. Next is an elderly Holocaust survivor with a gun in her lap, giving a peace sign to cameras, no doubt under duress from a monster. Did she fully understand what was happening? Perhaps she had dementia? Or was paralyzed with fear at an uncertain future that had to conjure memories of her Holocaust past. Forty babies were slaughtered. Many beheaded. Bewildered teens scrambled for safety at a music fest. 260 dead. They were young. This was Israels future. This is our future. The elderly who were slaughtered are our links to the pastsome having survived the Holocaust or persecution in the USSR, others the children of parents escaping pogroms throughout the Pale of Settlement. They were living testaments to past evils. Their pasts informed their future in Eretz Yisrael. Yet, countless Muslims deny the Holocaust ever happened. In one nauseating fell swoop, they tried to wipe out our future and whitewash our past. To those professors and the morons on The View; to those imbeciles in the Biden administration who posted then quickly removed calls for Israel to show restraint; to the brain-washed masses who protest in Sydney and call for the gas chambers, or celebrate the achievements of Hamas in New York City; to the hypocrites in our universities who call themselves Students for Justice in Palestine; to the Squad and BLM: what happened this past weekend is what from the river to the sea means; it means doing whatever barbaric acts it takes to eliminate our future and make sure no Jews live to see tomorrow. Thats on you. Our fury and disgust are at least as loud as your applause. If your God is okay beheading babies, ripping them from their mothers breasts, killing their mothers in front of them, and mowing down innocent citizens (some of whom support you), then your God is no God at all. Hear this Ilhan Omar, Secretary General Guterres, Sonny Hostin, and all your fellow travelers: the country Israel and Am Yisrael (which is the whole of the Jewish People scattered in the Diaspora) will never go quietly into that dark night ever again. Next time, and that next time is here, we will fight to the bitter end. We Jews may squabble in academic circles, at the dinner table, in the Knesset, or in the courtroom, but two things that unite us are existential threats and the collective knowledge that the one thing we can count on in life is for history to repeat itself. That is why we are so big on never forget. In fact, Passover is focused on never forgetting when we were slaves in Egyptagain, our past informing our future. America, which has been a beacon to oppressed Jews everywhere and the establishment of a Jewish Homeland in 1948, are the two best things ever to happen to the Jewish People. One gave us an opportunity to start anew in the land of opportunity on streets paved with gold and strive for the American Dream; the other gave us an opportunity to return to our ancestral homeland (The Land of Milk and Honey), and to live in kibbutzim and ancient cities, fulfilling our destiny as the Chosen People. We werent chosen because we are better. We were chosen to bring to the world the notion of one G-d, the word of G-d in the form of the Old Testament, including the Noahide laws and the Ten Commandments, and an inexorable drive towards peace. Our entire religion is predicated on living a moral and peaceful life on Earth, as G-d would expect of those He made in His image. We brought the world a code of ethics that would lead to human ingenuity and prosperity, all with the goal of eliminating human suffering in this world. To that end, as a small and continually shrinking number of people, we have made disproportionate contributions to all aspects of life. Sure, we have our idiots and detractors and, sadly, too many far-left loonies for my taste, but you cannot deny that, while on this Earth, the Jewish People made it a better place despite our small numbers, despite the hate, and despite the repeated attempts to exterminate us. This, again, is our past informing our future. Whether that future will be to flourish or perish, will not be up to G-d. It will be up to how Israel and the world respond to these crimes against humanity, more of which are sure to follow. Image: Paratroopers at the Western Wall in 1967. Public domain. Peace in our time, declared Joe Biden. No, wait, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said that on 30 September 1938, after returning from a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Munich. Chamberlain effectively cleared the way for Hitler to annex the Sudeten portion of Czechoslovakia. Some historians have speculated that Chamberlains appeasement was driven by Great Britains military being inferior to Germanys military at the time. Thats speculation even the most ardent Biden-supporters cannot claim when the U.S. military, even as woke as it currently is, is compared to the Iran or Hamas military. But Hamass intention is the same as Germanys. It wants to wipe Israel off the map so the unoccupied land can become a Muslim homeland. The bumbling chief appeaser who currently occupies the Bully Pulpit denounced on 10 October Hamass attack on Israel, but in his entire 10-minute speech, he failed, as appeasement, to mention Iran even once. That omission makes a mockery of anything else he says or does. The Biden Bunch is now trying to deny one of his appeasement maneuvers by having secretary of state Tony Blinken claim that there is no evidence that Iran had anything to do with Hamass attack. Blinken said Sunday on CNNs State of the Union, We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship. But somehow the Wall Street Journal managed to find evidence of Irans involvement. And a Hamas spokesman told the BBC that it received support from Iran to conduct its attack. Then, on ABCs This Week, when speaking about the $6 billion the U.S. paid to free hostages, Blinken doubled down by saying, Not a single dollar from that account has actually been spent to date. That may be true, but the obvious question is, So what? The money is in a Qatar bank. Qatar will, according to Blinken, monitor disbursements to ensure that the money doesnt end up with terrorists. However, as the Washington Examiner Editorial Board wrote, this claim treats all listeners, Americans and others, as fools. Qatar is a primary source of funding for Hamas and other international terrorist groups. Even if Qatar wanted to stop funds going to terrorists, how could it prevent terrorist groups from skimming money off falsified humanitarian contracts held by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard? The Guard controls a large part of Irans economy, and Biden has now funded a new account for the Guard to pay for terrorist attacks. Biden restored sanctions waivers to Iran that allow international nuclear cooperation and sale of oil. The waivers permit Russian, Chinese, and European companies to carry out non-proliferation work to make it more difficult for Iranian nuclear sites to be used for weapons development. An agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to further Irans nuclear development was reached under former president Barack Obama. Biden had pledged to bring the United States back to the agreement. Blinken said that restoring the waivers will help the talks in Vienna by having countries return to the agreement reached between Iran and a group of countries including China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain, and the United States. The waiver with respect to these activities is designed to facilitate discussions that would help to close a deal on a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA and lay the groundwork for Irans return to performance of its JCPOA commitments. With sanctions ignored, sale of oil from Iran has boomed over the last year. According to United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), Iranian monthly oil exports hit an estimated five-year high in August, with 91% of that oil imported by Bidens good friend China. This sale is currently going on with the full knowledge of the Biden administration, who prioritize appeasing Iran over enforcing sanctions. Sanction waivers had been rescinded by Trump, who pulled out of the nuclear agreement. The greatest appeasement is Bidens call for a ceasefire. The White House reported that he (Biden) expressed his support for a cease-fire and discussed U.S. engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end. Further, Blinken caused an uproar over the weekend with a since-deleted social media post in which he encouraged a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Political consultant Noah Pollak, expert on foreign policy, Israel, and the Jewish people, said, Holy s---, the Biden administration is already calling for a cease-fire. I didnt think they could be THIS disgusting and heartless. But here we are. In response to Blinkens now deleted post, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted, Anyone demanding Israel not escalate or calling for a cease-fire is either out of touch with this unfortunate reality or sympathizes with Hamas. Representative Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) tweeted, The Biden Administration is showing its true colors. Once Israel indicated it was going on offense into Gaza, Blinken encourage a cease-fire. Biden calls for a ceasefire in a war thats not going well for a surrogate of Iran, but not one for the Ukraine war. Both wars have death and destruction. Is Bidens reason because he wishes to appease Iran? And lets not overlook that other Iran appeaser, Barack H. Obama. He tweeted on 9 October a condemnation of the brazen terrorist attacks on Israel and the slaughter of innocent civilians and called for a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Sounds great. But the tweet rings hollow when we consider that Obama appeased Iran in 2015 and implemented the Iran nuclear agreement, the JCPOA, by circumventing the U.S. Constitution by not submitting the agreement as a treaty, which would have required Senate ratification. He enshrined the appeasement in international law at the U.N. Security Council, presenting Congress with a fait accompli. Now lets examine Hillary Clintons appeasement remark, which she made in an attempt to marginalize Donald Trump, who blamed Bidens Iran policy for Hamass attack on Israel. She made the now famous deprogramming comment. All Trump-supporters are cult members who need formal deprogramming. All we have to do to be free (in Hillarys view) is agree with her. It was Spanish philosopher George Santayana (18631952), who in his 1905 book The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress, wrote, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. That seems to be a truism that both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton forgot or never learned. Image: Chickenonline via Pixabay, Pixabay License. Remember the endless images of the charred little koalas that circled in the media a few years back as fires ripped through the Australian bush? Remember the leftist politicians and their mockingbird operatives wagging their fingers at the primitive and unsophisticated conservatives (like me) who refused to acknowledge the science of man being an existential threat to the environment, lamenting the plight of all the innocent little creatures who had to suffer because of human greed, and scolding us as they sarcastically asked if we were proud of ourselves? Yeah, well now all those resilient little cherubs with the burn scars are set to perish by bulldozer or starvation, thanks to the environmental vandals in government, also known as leftist politicians. The Courier-Mail, a Brisbane outlet, published a report on the story last week: Koala habitats will be ripped apart to build wind farms in central Queensland so state and federal Labor governments can chase their fantasy of meeting useless, costly and unobtainable renewable energy targets. The business venture is known as the Lotus Creek wind farm and is an investment of Ark Energy, which, also according to Courier-Mail, is a subsidiary of a South Korean conglomerateso who exactly is allowing foreign-owned corporations to decimate the local environment for profit? Read below: Federal and state environment ministers Tanya Plibersek and Leanne Linard and previous enviro minister Meaghan Scanlon have paved the way for koalas to be sacrificed on the renewable energy altar to appease the green evangelists. In approving the project, Plibersek overturned a decision by her Coalition predecessor Sussan Ley, who in 2020 said the wind farm was as clearly unacceptable and in breach of federal environment laws, partly because the site was home to koalas and other species afflicted by the previous summers catastrophic bushfires. Plibersek belongs to the Labor Party, the countrys socialist faction, and an equivalent to Americas Democrat party as a friend in Australia relayed to me, Plibersek is on record for her ardent advocacy for the protection of koalas but like the good leftist she is, ideology comes first, even if that means a little slaughter here and there on the way to a more just and equitable utopia. The deforestation project is set to take out old-growth forests, and a renowned nature photographer described the area as koala central all to bring in 55 ugly-as-can-be wind turbines that have a life expectancy of 20 years. And theres more: More pain may be coming for the endangered koala. Plibersek has now been asked to approve 88 giant turbines in the middle of an upland tropical forest at Chalumbin on the Atherton Tableland The developer is the same corporation backing Lotus Creek. The ABC reported the controversial $1 billion wind farm was adjacent to World Heritage-protected rainforests. And that the project was scaled back from the original 200 turbines in an effort to appease conservationists and some traditional owners. As both the reporter at Courier-Mail and my Australian friend assert, the greenies are radio silent on the impending end to these koalas, which are now an endangered species, as well as a number of other vulnerable animal populations living where the projects are set to be built. The examples of leftie politicians using the green agenda as a cover to ravage the environment and steal from the people (land and wealth) seem endless and obnoxiously in-your-face; but average leftists never seem to grasp the obvious consequences of their votes, which just shows how categorically ignorant and willfully blind they really are. I also have to wonder, does Plibersek stand to reap kickbacks from Ark Energy? Typically, these are I-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine scenarios, and this appears like a lot of over-the-top destruction; what gives? Hat tip: ATs longtime friend, John of Australia. Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required. Twenty-five confirmed dead Americans and [a]t least 17 Americans are missing. This much the White House is revealing in the aftermath of Hamas unexpected terrorist attack on Israel last Saturday. How the President intends to ultimately respond to these American losses, beyond the already promised military and intelligence support to Israel, at this point is anybodys guess. Strangely, however, there is one White House response to such a national tragedy which might normally be expected but that Biden hasnt yet taken -- that the nations flags be flown at half-staff in the murdered Americans honor. During a so-called Roundtable with Jewish Community Leaders held at the White House on Wednesday, President Biden was asked about his planned response to the terrorist attacks. "There's a lot we're doing, a lot we're doing But the idea that I'm going to stand here before you and tell you what I'm doing is bizarre, responded Biden. That Joe Biden should find this question to be bizarre may seem a little ironic, if not more than a little, well, bizarre, coming from a man who rarely says or does anything as president that isnt utterly bizarre, but this may be beside the point. However, Biden not yet ordering the nations flags to be flown at half-staff is indeed bizarre. To be sure, several U.S. governors, of Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania among others, have issued their own orders for flags in their respective states to be lowered half-staff in honor of the 25 murdered Americans. But no such nationwide order has come from Joe Biden. This is especially odd considering the approximate 32 times Biden has ordered flags flown at half-staff since taking office in 2021. Bidens most recent order for this honor came just a little over a week before the October 7th attacks, on September 29, at the death of Sen. Diane Feinstein. Furthermore, although the individuals and groups of persons given this honor by Biden may be no less deserving, it seems not only a slight but a real dishonor that they should be remembered by flag lowering, while the 25 Americans murdered by Hamas last weekend have not yet. Left without an official explanation why the president hasnt ordered flags lowered in this latest tragic instance, Americans are left to wonder and to speculate. Has flag lowering become so frequent during Bidens presidency as to have made it become almost a trivial new method of virtue signaling? Has its trivialization made it now too easily ignored or overlooked, even by the White House? Or is this presidential slight a signal of something much more cynical, more sinister, and more politically motivated? Have these 25 murdered Americans not been honored with lowered flags to offend neither Muslims at home and abroad, nor Bidens political base of progressives who largely are in support of the Palestinians and hostile toward Israel? In closing, no one would expect Biden to reveal beforehand his planned response to the murder and hostage taking of innocent Americans. But Americans may certainly expect Joe Biden to respond in part by honoring the confirmed 25 dead Americans in the same manner he saw fit to honor others 32 times since taking office -- by ordering the nations flags to be lowered to half-staff. Anything short of this would indeed be bizarre, not to mention a dishonor to their memories. Image: Pexels This month marks the 20th Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which for the past two decades has acted as a vehicle for the public and private sectors to raise awareness of the importance of cybersecurity. This milestone provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the United States governments handling of cyber-threats during this period, acknowledging both victories and failings in this ever-evolving battlefield of the digital age. Over the past two decades, weve witnessed a series of high-profile cyber-attacks that have shaken the foundations of digital security. These incidents serve as stark reminders of the ever-present danger lurking in the cybersphere. One of the first internationally notable attacks occurred in 2007, when Estonia faced a massive and coordinated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack at the hands of Russian state-sponsored attackers. The hack crippled the nations digital infrastructure, including the Estonian parliament, banks, and ministries, and foreshadowed the cryptic future of cyber-warfare that we currently reside in. In the years since, Russian actors have also been said to be responsible for the SolarWinds hack in 2020, a cyber-espionage operation that compromised numerous U.S. government agencies and corporations, including the Department of Defense and Microsoft, and the multitude of attacks that have surfaced in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, where hackers on both sides of the conflict have initiated countless digital intrusions. The attack that is generally accepted as the first example of literal cyber-warfare, the Stuxnet attacks against Iranian nuclear facilities, is now well over a decade old and should be retrospectively seen as even more historically significant as tensions in the Middle East have erupted into a week-old war between Hamas and Israeli forces. The attack compromised the software of at least 14 industrial sites in Iran, including a uranium enrichment plant, and gave Stuxnets operators the ability to cause the fast-spinning centrifuges to tear themselves apart, thus limiting Iranian nuclear capacity. Although the cyber-warfare element of digital security remains the most potentially destructive aspect of hacking, the general public is the most frequent target of bad actors, as hundreds of millions of people have been affected by data breaches and cyber-attacks in the 20 years since the inception of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. One of the more significant examples of these kinds of attacks was the 2013 Target data breach, where cyber-criminals gained access to the credit card information of over 40 million customers. The incident highlighted the critical importance of securing personal data and spurred discussions about better data protection laws, particularly financial data. Another attack that had the potential for high-leverage extortion occurred in 2018, when over 120 million Facebook users were exposed to a hacking attack that saw 81,000 users private messages be exposed online. The sheer volume of data housed by the major social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok) represents a treasure trove that is under constant attack by threat actors on the dark web. While cyber-attacks can originate from various sources, a few threat actors have garnered a reputation for their audacity and capabilities. The aforementioned Russia and China, North Korea, and Iran have consistently ranked among the most dangerous players in the global cyber-arena. China in particular has been at the forefront of cyber-operations, often accused of state-sponsored economic espionage and widespread intellectual property theft. The 2015 breach of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, compromising sensitive information of millions of government employees, remains one of the most significant cyber-intrusions attributed to China, and the fact that millions of Americans, including members of Congress, are either currently using or have previously used the Chinese mega-app Tiktok also raises data privacy concerns as the apps creators open their first European data center. In the face of these evolving threats, the U.S. government has had its share of successes. One notable success is the establishment of both U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) in 2009, a dedicated military command responsible for defending against cyber-threats, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the operational lead for federal cybersecurity and the national coordinator for critical infrastructure security and resilience. The federal government has also taken steps to enhance cybersecurity awareness and resilience with initiatives like Cybersecurity Awareness Month and public-private partnerships that have fostered a more informed and proactive approach to digital security. There have been significant failings as well. The slow response to the evolving threat landscape and inadequate legislation to protect critical infrastructure have left vulnerabilities exposed. The lack of a comprehensive federal data privacy law has hindered the protection of personal information, leaving citizens at risk. As we look ahead, securing the future of the cyber-sphere requires a multi-pronged approach that addresses the complex and dynamic nature of cyber-threats. Some of the more necessary actions America can choose to take are as follows: Supply Chain Security: The Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack highlighted the need for rigorous supply chain security. The government should establish standards and best practices for supply chain risk management to prevent similar incidents. Adaptive Defense Strategies: Cyber-threats evolve rapidly. The government should adopt adaptive defense strategies that combine proactive threat intelligence, rapid response capabilities, and resilience planning, especially with the rise of cyber-espionage malware strains like LuaDream. Public-Private Collaboration: Collaboration between government and the private sector is paramount. Sharing threat intelligence, best practices, and resources can collectively strengthen cyber-security defenses. As we celebrate two decades of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we must acknowledge the progress made and the challenges that lie ahead. The U.S. government, in partnership with the private sector and the international community, must take decisive actions to secure the future of the cyber-sphere. The 20-year journey has been marked by triumphs and setbacks, but the path forward offers an opportunity to build a safer, more resilient digital world for all. Julio Rivera is a business and political strategist, cyber-security researcher, editorial director for Reactionary Times, and a political commentator and columnist. His writing, which is focused on cybersecurity and politics, has been published by many of the most respected news organizations in the world. (Photo: by EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/AFP via Getty Images)A demonstrator is arrested by police officers during a protest on April 29, 2015, at Union Square in New York, held in solidarity with demonstrators in Baltimore, Maryland demanding justice for an African-American man who died of severe spinal injuries sustained in police custody. On Thursday, a prominent doctors' organization publicly retracted its endorsement of a 2009 article on "excited delirium," which opponents claim has been used to support disproportionate police force. The American College of Emergency Physicians stated in a statement that members who testify in civil or criminal proceedings should not use the term excited delirium and that the report was out of date, according to The Associated Press. In Philadelphia on Thursday, the group's directors cast their votes on the subject. The Cause of Death The use of excited delirium and associated words as a cause of death in autopsy was for the first time prohibited in California earlier this week. The law, which was approved by the governor on Sunday, forbids police officers from using it to describe people's behavior in reports. The National Association of Medical Examiners declared that the word should not be included as a cause of death in March, taking a stance against it. The American Medical Association and other medical organizations had previously disapproved of the diagnosis of enthusiastic delirium. It has been criticized for being unscientific and racially motivated. Excited delirium is characterized by exceptional strength, pain tolerance, and weird behavior, according to the emergency physicians' 2009 study, which also referred to the illness as "potentially life-threatening." According to Walsh, the paper supported and formalized racial stereotypes. The 14-year-old publication still plays a role in police custody death cases, many of which involve Black individuals who died after being restrained by police, and it has influenced police training. Read also: Seattle Pays Price for 911 Blacklist Error, Settling Wrongful Death Lawsuit for $2 Million Many Attorneys Have Used the Study For Defense According to Joanna Naples-Mitchell, an attorney and research adviser for Physicians for Human Rights, which published a study last year on the diagnosis and deaths in police custody, attorneys defending officers have used the paper to admit testimony about excited delirium. The report by the New York attorney general on the investigation into the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man, in 2021 cited the emergency physicians' article. Charges against police officers in that case were dismissed by a grand jury. Excited delirium was discussed in the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who was eventually found guilty in the killing of George Floyd, in 2021. The phrase was brought up again this past fall during the continuing legal proceedings against police officers accused of killing Manuel Ellis and Elijah McClain in Washington and Colorado, respectively. Black men Floyd, McClain, and Ellis died as a result of police restraint. The group of emergency physicians had previously distanced itself from the word, but it had refrained from ending its support for the 2009 study. Related article: New York Police Agree to New Rules on Protests After Legal Battle @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Leave it to Donald Trump to tell the uncomfortable truth about the often feckless but tough-talking Bibi Netanyahu. Of course, the current Israeli leader is just following in the wake of other Israeli tough guys, who were not able to stay the course when it came to backing up their bold rhetoric. The most notorious of these was in 1982. Israel committed to defeating the PLO and installing a friendly Arab regime with the 1982 Lebanon War. Israel allied with the Maronite Christians and the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and did manage to expel the PLO from the country. So far, so good. Unfortunately, the Iranian-backed Hezballah took over from there, murdering our bravest ally, Lebanese President Bachir Gemayel. Terror attacks on the Maronites and Israels IDF scared off the Israeli Cabinet and they began pulling out in 1983, leaving most of the country in the hands of Iranian-allied extremists. The humiliating car bombings of the U.S. embassy and the U.S. Marine and French forces (there to help restore order and support the Israeli plan) followed. In 2000, the cowardly Ehud Barak even abandoned southern Lebanon, leaving most SLA soldiers to flee or be executed by Hezballah. Such weakness only emboldened the terrorists, leading to the humbling 2006 War. Lebanon was a majority Christian country until this fiasco, and Arab terror chiefs have understood ever since, Israels leaders simply dont have the stamina for protracted conflicts. The situation is similar in the Gaza Strip, the 4x25 mile terrorist hotbed. The place is now a lot like the fictional Manhattan penal island in the classic Kurt Russell movie Escape from New York. Gaza was originally part of Egypt, captured by Israel in the Six-Day War. In 1979, when Israel returned the rest of the Sinai Peninsula, Anwar Sadat said no thanks to Gaza, as it was full of radicals. The IDF then had to patrol the place for 25 years in the face of terror attacks, before finally leaving in 2005. With this, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, author of the Lebanon War and the ultimate tough guy Israeli, adopted a full Kurt Russell option. Along with Egypt, he began putting up an enhanced automated border fence and letting the crazies run wild inside. (Workers with real jobs in Israel are still allowed to cross the border) But that only led to the Iranian-backed Hamas faction murdering the remaining PLO administrators and taking charge, just as in Lebanon. They began smuggling in Iranian missiles to constantly bombard border towns. Israel and the United States then spent untold billions on the Iron Dome , a missile defense system, which is fairly effective, when not overwhelmed. Hamas also upped the ante from time to time, launching military forays across the fence, bringing Israel back to Gaza, such as in 2008 and now. I expect this time around that Israel will shoot even more Hamas fighters, and destroy many more buildings in Gaza. Which is fine. But they wont do what it is really needed here -- a permanent occupation of Gaza and establishment of a pro-Israel Arab state. Thats because Israelis of all political stripes struggle to get their heads around what it will take to ensure real security. To begin with, they need a much larger army. This can be obtained by conscripting religious Jews and Arab citizens. These groups make up something like 40% of the young men, but until now, they have been politically untouchable. Like it or not, Israelis are also going to have to embrace the idea of building democracy in the most dangerous parts of the Muslim world. That likely means killing Iranian big shots like Ayatollah Khamenei, not just his nuclear scientist pawns, to bring the mullah regime to a close and with it, Hezballah Lebanon and its rocket arsenal. It certainly means full de-Nazification, if you will, of the Gaza Strip. Public institutions, especially the schools there, need to be cleansed of Islamic terror idealogues, and mass, long-term detention of Hamas fighters needs to take place, much as is being done with MS-13 in El Salvador. And of course, the Arab men of Gaza need to be conscripted into whatever local constabulary is set up. This will make the radicals very unhappy, and many will emigrate, rather than serve under the Israeli occupation. All the better. Israel and its leaders have spent decades trying every short cut and easy way out of dealing with their terror neighbors in Gaza. Lets hope they now find the wisdom and the courage to finally fix that place permanently. Frank Friday is an attorney in Louisville, KY. Image: Physicians for Human Rights Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi's arrival in Washington, D.C. presents an opportunity to address interests vital to the United States. In an era where the Communist China threat looms large, it's imperative for the United States to address the Chinese threat to our manufacturing sector. One pressing issue is the pollution generated by the production of goods, a significant portion of which comes from manufacturing in China. To tackle this problem, some have proposed (and many have endorsed) imposing a pollution fee on products China imports into the U.S. While it may initially appear punitive, this measure is not only reasonable but also the solution needed to protect the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers and the Americans they employ. China has rapidly emerged as the world's factory floor, producing a vast array of products that end up in households around the globe. This economic growth has undoubtedly brought immense prosperity to the nation due to this regimes tendency to steal intellectual property from American manufacturers and others. Cheap Chinese products exact a heavy toll on the environment as their factories have significantly lower environmental standards than those in America -- and their products create three times more pollution than the same American-made products. The pollution generated in the process of making these poor-quality products doesn't stay confined within China's borders; it spreads globally. A pollution fee on dirty products imported from China is not an act of economic warfare; rather, it's a strategic measure to protect our U.S. manufacturers and their employees. This fee would hold China accountable for its significant contributions to global pollution and incentivize the adoption of cleaner production methods that are being employed in the U.S. Charging China a foreign pollution fee is a sensible step toward creating a more level playing field for cleaner U.S. manufacturers and workers. A pollution fee on Chinese goods and other big polluting manufacturing countries is a market approach to dealing with pollution. American products are highly disadvantaged against the cheap, dirty Communist Chinese products flooding the world economy -- a foreign pollution fee is the needed solution. Saul Anuzis is the President of the 60 Plus Association. Image: Kentaro IEMOTO Weve all heard expressions about the fog of war or saying that the first casualty of war is truth. Both are accurate. In modern warfare, propaganda is as much a weapon as guns are. However, there are moments in a war that bring startling clarity. For example, we knew who the Bushido Japanese were with the Rape of Nanking and, while there was moral clarity about the Nazis throughout WWII, when footage emerged of the death camps, it became obvious that the Nazis and their supporters were people of transcendent evil. We are getting that clarity about the Middle East as Hamas and its supporters reveal themselves. Let me say, as I always do, that there are wonderful, honorable, deeply moral people who are Muslims. This man, may he rest in peace, was a saint: This is Abad El Rahman Alansasra, a Muslim Israeli-Arab. Abad drove young people escaping from the Nova party to safety under live fire, saving countless lives until he was shot at the entrance to the kibbutz. He left behind a wife and 7 children. I dont know how many lives he pic.twitter.com/omdFATUvSn Yael Bar tur (@yaelbt) October 12, 2023 There are others like him. He was not alone. The question, always, is what values people embrace. Sadly, the dominant value in the Middle Eastand the value transplanted to the West via mass immigration from the Middle Easthasnt changed since Mohameds life (circa 570-632 A.D.). Mohamed was a tribal warlord in a time and place when the rules of war were Stone Age. The notion of the intrinsic value of human life did not exist. Everything revolved around power and conquest. Image: Mahomet, the Sower of Discord, by William Blake, 1824-1827. Mohamed explicitly directed his followers to conquer everyone (the worldwide caliphate). The rules of conquest were simple: Kill the fighting men, rape the women and children, take the territory, force conversions at sword point and, for those that remained alive and unconverted, give them second-class status and tax them heavily. For Jews, Mohamed had something special: Because they refused to recognize him as Gods Prophet and their new leader, Mohamed mandated genocide. Nothing has changed for Muslims who look solely to the Koran for spiritual and moral guidance. These are the people behind Hamas. These are the people in Gaza who elected Hamas. These are the people on the streets and college campuses across the West applauding Hamas. They revel in the death of innocents because thats what they are taught to doand Ive got the receipts. Lets start with this tweet from a vet who served in Iraq in 2006: I dont want to talk about this, but considering current events, Ill share something I saw in 2006 in Iraq. Understand that I hate discussing this. Not a single day goes by that I dont think about it. One night our PL walks in the enlisted tent inside BIAP around 2300 and asks Iraqveteran8888 (@Iraqveteran8888) October 10, 2023 Its long, so Ill summarize: His team was deputized to travel through dangerous territory to transport a little girl to a medical facility after shed had two fingers chopped off. They learned later that her father had chopped off his daughters fingers so that he could get to the U.S. base and gain information for an attack. Iraqveteran8888 concludes: Point isnever underestimate the lengths your enemy is willing to go to in order to destroy you. Never forget the innocents who are caught in the middle. Actually, for Islamists, there are no innocents as we understand the term. There are only people who benefit Islam, whether by being fighters or useful victims. Back in 2014, when Israel engaged in a small-scale strike against Hamas, even the WaPo had to acknowledge that Hamas depended on human shields to protect its soldiers and weapons: According to longtime Middle East analyst Matthew Levitt, Hamas has long planted weapons in areas inhabited by vulnerable residents. It happens in schools, he wrote in Middle East Quarterly. Hamas has buried caches of arms and explosives under its own kindergarten playgrounds, referencing a 2001 State Department report that said a Hamas leader was arrested after additional explosives in a Gaza kindergarten were discovered. For years, Hamas has planned carefully for a major Israeli invasion, according to a Washington Institute for Near East Policy report. In addition to an elaborate tunnel system, there was the integral use of civilians and civilian facilities as cover for its military activity; schools, mosques, hospitals, and civilian housing became weapons storage facilities, Hamas headquarters, and fighting positions IDF imagery and combat intelligence revealed extensive use of civilian facilities. Thus, to those who are unaffected by Western values, children are not precious beings to love. If they are the enemys children, they are primary targets because thats how one instills terror in the enemy. If they are the Islamists own children, they are primary defenses because that slows a moral opponent like Israel and shows well in the Western media. How does this play out? Israel has warned Gaza residents to leave southern Gaza so that it can level the hospitals, playgrounds, mosques, and other buildings that are simply disguised headquarters and storehouses for Hamas. This is what a moral military does. Hamas has responded by telling its citizens to remain in place. Their dead bodies are good weapons in the propaganda war. GROUND INVASION IMMINENT: The Israel Defense Forces tells residents of Gaza City to evacuate towards southern Gaza due to what appears to be an imminent ground invasion by 300,000 IDF Forces. A spokesman said the IDF understands that the evacuation could take time and that it's Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 13, 2023 Instilling incomprehensible pain in civilian populations appears in other guises, too. Youve already heard about the family that learned about a womans murder when Hamas used her phone to record themselves killing her and then posted it on the womans social media account. For another family, the Hamas sadists simply sent a snuff video directly to the family as a text using the victims phone. In the Koran, sex slavery is really important. Because Islam hides women, Muslim men have limited access to them. Rape is a great option. For another thing, Muslims view rape as the ultimate defilement of the enemy, which is why raping babies and children is on the table, too. While Western armies do everything they can to prevent their troops from raping women, Muslim armies view it as an inducement to enlist in the war. Just when you think it can't get worse. A Hamas terrorist admits their true motive for kidnapping women and children rape. pic.twitter.com/tk8BgfG1R9 Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) October 11, 2023 Ill leave you with this excellent Twitter thread about the difference between Hamass Stone Age war against Israeli civilians (which it wants to fight against you, too), and the rules of modern warfare by which Israel abides: The central feature of the LOAC is to prevent unnecessary casualties and protect innocent civilians. It does this (primarily) through the application of three fundamental principles: distinction, military necessity, and proportionality. Stay with me. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Of course, Hamas does not do that. And yet, per experts monitoring the situation, [t]here are no reliable reports that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have intentionally targeted civilians.https://t.co/nGvR3rjCXO. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 The principle of military necessity permits measures which are actually necessary to accomplish a legitimate military purpose and are not otherwise prohibited by international humanitarian law. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Of course siege law does have humanitarian aspects- including facilitating the passage of food and medicine by third parties IF and only IF they can be reliably delivered without diversion to the enemy. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Israels aims, repeatedly stated, are to defeat Hamas terrorists by depriving them of resources and to rescue hostages." https://t.co/3BXK867cbn Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Consequently the purpose of humanitarian law is to strike a balance between military necessity and humanitarian exigencies. That balance is generally struck by operation of the third fundamental principle, the principle of proportionality. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Proportionality is not about revenge or punishment, i.e. it is not about striking back against your enemy in proportion to how hard you were hit. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 That fundamentally wrong assumption is presumably why you don't like Israel having the purely defensive Iron Dome, and it is also one of the reasons why Hamas continues to engage in the use of human shields... Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Proportionality is a prospective analysis that legally permits the risk of collateral damage necessary to achieve a just military objective. The greater the objective, the greater the extent of permitted risk of incidental damage or even, God forbid, death. Got it? Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Aside from the standard LOAC principles of self-defense, under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Israel has an affirmative obligation on behalf of the international community to prevent and punish genocide. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Of course, Israel should still do everything it can to minimize casualties, which is why the IDF takes important measures, including warning civilians to leave endangered areas before attacks. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 The Geneva Conventions prohibit armed reprisals that intentionally inflict collective punishment against civilian populations as well as the targeting of nonmilitary targets. Israel has done nothing of the sort. Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Also important to note- since 2005 Israel has had zero responsibility to support the people of Gaza. But if you are genuinely curious: Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 If you look very closely and carefully at a map, you will also see that (surprise!) Gaza is not completely surrounded by Israel. In fact it shares a border with Egypt. Egypt is discussing plans to send aid and food over that border. https://t.co/N87YDwgs8c Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 Electricity is vital to Hamas' continued attacks against Israel. Just so you understand, there is no provision in the LOAC which says you must keep handing your enemy more bullets "so it's fair." Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) October 12, 2023 To submit means to surrender. To surrender to an enemy means to give up your goals, beliefs, traditions, hopes for the future, dreams for your children and grandchildren, and your personal freedom. It means to become shamefaced, to accept perhaps a limited future, and, finally to come to the understanding that there are no alternatives to giving up. Islam means submission. That is its goal for both Muslims and everyone else. However, sometimes the shoe is on the other foot. Will Hamas be able to submit to Israels demands that it return the hostages? Maybe or maybe not! Usually, when submitting, there are no alternatives. However, in return for acceding to that demand, Israel will offer water, food, and fuel for the people of Gaza, at least some of whom are innocent of any complicity in Hamas crimes. How much suffering will Hamas be willing to impose on its brothers and sisters before absorbing the embarrassment of delivering up the men, women, and children it holds? Perhaps it will prefer to allow all parties to grow weak, become sick, and die. That is a real possibility because Hamass members believe every Muslim owes his life in the fight against the infidels. If one thought this to be mere speculation, there is some information that needs to be absorbed by those who are reading this essay. It is well-known that Hamas has an extensive series of tunnels they have constructed over the years. There has been evidence since 2014 that the conscripted tunnel diggers were not trusted to keep the locations of the tunnels secret. Therefore, Hamas operatives murdered them. It did not happen once but on numerous occasions. We know because there were tunnel diggers who escaped and reported this to be the case. Image: Nazi soldiers surrendering because they could not win. US Holocaust Museum. Given the deaths of the tunnel diggers, there is no reason to believe that Hamas or its allies around the world are going to save innocent lives by surrendering the hostages. Instead, the likelihood is that all the hostages will die along with thousands or hundreds of thousands of Gazans rather than returning the captives. Israel will be blamed for cruelty. Events are moving ahead based on the presumption that Hamas will keep the hostages no matter what. Even now, the UN is voting to maintain hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to Gaza. The EU will do the same. The United States and Egypt are negotiating with Israel to allow civilian passage out of Gaza. And Hamas supporters are organizing rallies worldwide. Of course, the other possibility is that Muslim countries might pressure Hamas to surrender. Hamas could save face by agreeing to Arab demands instead of to Israels. But how likely is that? The submission that is more likely is that Israel will call it a day after a few weeks. Then, the pressure on Israel will start in earnest. That submission is a two-state solution, something that will clearly be suicidal for Israel, as demonstrated by the slaughter last Saturday (October 7). All who ask Israel to agree to a two-state solution know that they are obviously seeking Israels demise. Nonetheless, it will become the accepted reality that Israels mere existence as a sovereign nation threatens world stability. However, peace and stability are two different animals stemming from different mechanisms. Maintaining stability without the good feelings associated with peace will be far more expensive for the elites. Peering into the still-cloudy future, I see they will choke on their twisted version of reality. Peace could be Israels contribution to the Middle East if it were allowed to blossom. Stability will always leave the world balancing on a tightrope. From this parsing of the concept of submission, we learn that the question of the moment is whether it will be peace or stability. A decisive Israeli victory will give the Gazans a fleeting opportunity to choose peace. Hamass fighters know they are walking dead men. How much suffering will they impose on the Gazans before fleeing or submitting? NBC doesnt care about all the people, including terrorists who have come across the border; instead, the outlet is more focused on calling out Republicans for being concerned about terrorists. Yesterday, NBC accused Trump and his allies of fear-mongering, alleging conservatives are stok[ing] fears over possible terrorist attacks, all without having evidence to back up their claims. According to the article: The FBI said this week it had no information indicating a credible terrorist threat against the United States, but social media pundits who have been raising the alarm for days arent backing down. Conservative social media influencers have been filling platforms such as X and Truth Social with speculation not backed by any evidence that attacks on civilians in Israel would soon be followed by similar attacks in major U.S. cities and that people should begin preparing including by avoiding cities and purchasing firearms. The speculation with no evidence to support it has come from former President Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and a host of right-wing commentators with big followings who issued vague warnings about imminent invasions or attacks. We havent seen NBC express concern over a Newsweek report out today, which certainly stokes fears of domestic terrorism at the hands of Donald Trumps supporters, despite lacking any evidence to support such an incendiary claim. From the article: The federal government believes that the threat of violence and major civil disturbances around the 2024 U.S. presidential election is so great that it has quietly created a new category of extremists that it seeks to track and counter: Donald Trumps army of MAGA followers. The challenge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the primary federal agency charged with law enforcement, is to pursue and prevent what it calls domestic terrorism without direct reference to political parties or affiliationseven though the vast majority of its current anti-government investigations are of Trump supporters, according to classified data obtained by Newsweek. As far as I can tell, NBC did not accuse Merrick Garland and the FBI of stoking fears that parents were terrorists also without showing proof. NBC hasnt called out Joe Biden for stoking fears about his political opponents, and never asks for evidence. The Spectator published an article titled, Biden is treating his political opponents like domestic terrorists which covered the use of a weaponized FBI to target prominent and vocal conservatives. Treating political opponents as terrorists is standard procedure for Biden; he likened Tea Party members to domestic terrorists because they wanted smaller government and lower taxes. No one was ever punished at Obamas politicized IRS, despite targeting and silencing Tea Party members. The media also allows Biden to continuously lie about what Trump said in Charlottesville to gin up racial division and hate. Trump has repeatedly denounced white supremacists, including in that speech. The purpose of the lies are to intentionally mislead the public. The media is complicit in stoking racial hate and division. We see a lot of compliments about Bidens words concerning Israel. Did Bidens intelligence miss the threat of terrorism in Israel because they are so invested in keeping Trump out of office or focused on climate change? What exactly has Biden done to reign in Iran, a nation that sponsors terrorist groups throughout the world? As far as I can tell, nothing. Words mean little without action. Biden even lambasted Trump as dangerously incompetent when Trump neutralized Soleimani, a terrorist who maimed and killed thousands. Obama and Biden appeased Iran for years, particularly through years of financial support. As Robert Gates said, Joe Biden has been wrong for forty years on foreign policy. It is a true shame that the media repeatedly stokes fears about Trump and his supporters to intentionally mislead the public and then looks the other way when Bidens open border policies produce legitimate threats of terrorism. Every day, the media and other Democrats stoke the fear, without evidence, that climate change is the greatest existential threat to the world. Isnt it time that the media did its job to report the news based on factual evidence instead of essentially being an appendage of the Democrat party and repeating talking points? Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required. Funny how the 'mistakes' always are reported as nothing-to-see-here by the press, yet somehow always favor the Democrats. The formula is as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning. So here we have another one, this time in San Diego County. According to the Epoch Times: SAN DIEGOThe San Diego County Registrar of Voters office found that around 1 percent of voters for the Nov. 7 special election may have received duplicate ballots, it was announced Oct. 11. According to the registrar, the mistake impacts voters in the county Board of Supervisors District 4 special election and less than a dozen voters in the city of Chula Vista special election. Following the discovery of the duplicate ballots, the registrar's office "immediately contacted the print and mailing vendor to determine what happened and how many voters were impacted," according to a statement from the office. "After researching, they reported that around 7,500 or a little over 1% of voters out of the nearly 600,000 voters who were mailed a ballot, have inadvertently received a duplicate mail ballot packet." Which is weird stuff. How does anyone "mistakenly" send duplicate ballots in a hotly contested local election? And this one, a county race for District 4 supervisor, which is one I will vote in, quite unlike the statewide elections, really does offer a choice of candidates; one of which is a crazed leftist wokester fixated on reparations and swamp-like public spending named Monica Montgomery-Steppe, and the other of whom is a moderate conservative named Amy Reichert who wants to clean up the streets, enforce fiscal discipline, and restore normality to the semi-blue city. Ordinarily, California voters get a choice of only the top two leftists from the primaries in the general election, with each striving to out-woke the other on the ballot, leaving conservatives without representation on ridiculous ballots full of unvote-able candidates. This one, though, is different. That there's a choice in this election, and internal polls likely show that voters are sick of the crime, the newly dumped illegals, and the homeless disorder in the streets, meaning the contest may actually be a close one. That raises the odds that the Democrat side is going to try to cheat, particularly if the margin of victory may be narrow. What Democrat wouldn't try to put their thumb on the scales given the minimal effort of securing just a few more ballots, and given what's at stake for them? Which, lucky them, has coincided with 7,500 double sets of ballots "accidentally" mailed out to voters in California's junk-mail elections. Yes, some questions should be asked. Hey, it's only 1% of the ballots, won't affect anything, right, not even in a tight election? That's the media's "nothing to see here" line. Somehow, it's a reportable story, but don't concern your pretty little heads about it, that's the mainstream media is "line" in a lot of these stories. Bzzt. Wrong response, there are going to be questions. Nevertheless, some of the digging was done by NBC7, which is a pretty biased-leftward news station, but did better reporting than the others. In a video report by Omari Fleming, available here, we learned that a contractor was blamed for the error; an Everett, Washington state private company named K&H Printing Solutions, whose website says it has a subsidiary named K&H Election Services. Who owns that company? Hard to say, given that its "about" page seems to have been once there but has since been blocked with a "server error" or been deleted. But some searching around reveals that its CEO is a longtime employee named Jay Ackley and its elections chief is another longtime employee named Erika Bean. They probably know their business very, very well, which could be either a good thing or a bad thing if that means they know where the vulnerabilities are. Are they or their company Democrat donors? Far as I can tell, they aren't, I checked the federal databases, including odd variations of their names and even just the donors from the city of Everett, Washington. I got nothing. So that may be a point in their favor even though they live in deep blue Washington. We also learned that Fleming found a voter in the Hillcrest neighborhood, which is probably the bluest neighborhood of San Diego, saying that he got two ballots, but of course, he wasn't worried. Fleming also interviewed two other voters who said they were worried, but they didn't get two ballots. Why did the double-ballots go into the blue neighborhoods? Fleming seemed to know that his viewers would be asking that, so he hastened to say that the double-ballots were dispersed through the city, not saying how he knew that or whether his source might have a vested interest in seeing Democrats elected. He also didn't mention whether these other neighborhoods were also all-blue neighborhoods. All we have is one voter with two ballots in a very blue neighborhood, which would be useful if a Democrat candidate wanted to pad the total. That tilts a little towards the questionable side. Could a conservative have gotten two ballots, too, which might neutralize the potential for fraud and point to incompetence instead? We don't know. Fleming, along with the rest of the press, cited the County Registrar of Voters as assuring that nobody would get two shots of votes from two ballots, as they had "safeguards" within the system to invalidate one of the mailings. They would ask the voters to discard one of the ballots on the honor system, negate out any second vote through the bar code on the envelope if any nevertheless did cast two ballots, and all would be hunky dory. I have not found any information about whether it would really work that way, or if more "mistakes" could come of this, or if they would really do it at all. They ought to do such a negation on camera for the benefit of the voters, but of course, they won't. We'll just have to take their word for it. It's worth more questions. As for K&H, the extra 7,500 ballots are being blamed on their error. That's not a good look for a company that claims on the front page of its website to be "perfect&timely." Really? Assuming this was their error, they're not perfect. They would be more credible if they said they 'strive to be perfect' than are perfect, because a Google search shows that actually, they do make errors. In 2010, San Francisco voters got the wrong ballots -- the bar code was mismatched on the ballot and the envelope and they had to do a do-over and that was blamed on K&H. It's unknown if anybody got to vote more than once from that. In 2021, in Ventura County, voters got erroneous notification messages about the status of their ballot, and again, K&H was blamed. The County claimed that nobody's ballot in the counting was affected. So we'll have to take their word for it. They definitely shouldn't be calling themselves "perfect" from stories like these if the election officials are correct in their blame. But the initial finding about them, that they don't seem linked to Democrats, throws some water on that fire, because the really fraudy stuff comes not from a printer, who is on the "input" side, but from a printer and an election official or Democrat party operative colluding together on the input side, or on the output side, similar colluding with a Democrat party operative. There is no evidence of any of that with K&H. That means the errors were probably just ... errors, and not a plan to steal an election. I read an excellent piece in California Sunday magazine describing the business conditions and operating systems of ballot printing companies, and while it was written by a lefty New York Times magazine contributor, did show how intricate the process is, as well as the potential for errors that can be unintentional. It described the business conditions printing companies operate in -- I could see from this California Association of Clerks and Election Officials 2014 conference attendance list that they are numerous and competitive and could have an incentive to downplay their mistakes as a result. The piece mars itself a bit by dismissing the potential for election fraud, citing the uhh, mere 204 instances of known voting fraud the Heritage Foundation has documented, unintentionally negating their own argument. Election fraud is indeed real. But the piece is persuasive in showing that errors originating from the printer, or input side of a mail-ballot election, can be real, too. The mainstream media is not going to report or explain any of this, so it's up to vigilant citizens to watch carefully if the election is close, and then go over the points of weakness in an objective way if it is close. Thus far, we have questions that call for better transparency and less dismissiveness of voter concerns, but there is no smoking gun. Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License Samsung seems to be in a hurry to update Galaxy devices to the October 2023 Android security patch. Over the past few days, it has pushed the latest SMR (Security Maintenance Release) to over a dozen models, including all recent foldables and S-series flagships. More devices are now joining the party. We can confirm that this months security update is available for the Galaxy S20 series, Galaxy Note 20 series, Galaxy Z Flip, and Galaxy A52s. Samsung pushes the October update to a bunch of Galaxy devices Starting with the Galaxy S20 series, Samsung is rolling out the latest security patch for both 4G and 5G versions of its 2020 flagships. The 4G models are getting the update in Europe and Latin America with the firmware build number G98*FXXSIHWI7. The same update for the 5G models comes with the build number G98*BXXSIHWI7, with the rollout beginning in Europe. Neither model is picking up anything more than this months security fixes. Advertisement Advertisement Its a similar story for the Galaxy Note 20 series as well. Samsung is pushing the October SMR to 4G and 5G models of its last Note-branded phones in Europe. The former lineup is receiving the update with firmware version N98*FXXS8HWJ1, while that for the latter is N98*BXXS8HWJ1. Once again, the update doesnt bring anything more than the latest SMR, which contains 46 vulnerability patches. Coming to the Galaxy Z Flip, the October update is available for the original clamshell foldable in Europe and South Korea. The new build numbers in the two regions are F700FXXUDKWI6 and F700NKOU4KWI7, respectively. The 5G version of the phone is getting this update in South Korea with the build number F707NKSU3KWI7. For a change, the package also contains some device stability and reliability improvements. The Galaxy A52s is another Samsung phone that is now getting the October update. The mid-range model is receiving the latest security patch in Europe with firmware version A528BXXS5EWJ1. Like the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note 20, it isnt picking up any additional goodies. All of these Galaxy smartphones will get the latest SMR globally over the next few weeks. This months security patch is now available widely for the Galaxy S22 Along with rolling out the new security patch to more phones, Samsung is expanding the availability of the update for other devices globally. Last week, the company pushed the October SMR to the Galaxy S22 series in the US. Its now available in Europe and Asia as well. The new build numbers in these regions are S90*BXXS6CWI1 and S90*EXXS7CWI1, respectively. You can check for updates from the Settings app. Google is opening up a cafe, and youll be able to visit it yourself. So long as youre in Mountain View, California. Because thats where the cafe is located. If you think Google opening up a cafe is weird, thats understandable. Google is an online search company that also specializes in ads and dabbles in software and hardware. What it is not is a food company. But its really not that weird of a prospect. Google has cafes on its campus specifically for its Googlers. So it already sort of offers this kind of service. That being said, the cafe isnt a standalone eatery. Its part of Googles new experience store opening to the public in the area. Which will house more than just a cafe. Aside from grabbing a quick bite or your favorite latte, you will be able to engage in an array of activities as this new visitor experience store. Including going on an artwork scavenger hunt where you can explore interactive and dynamic art pieces facilitated by Burning Man Project. Advertisement Advertisement Savor a meal with fresh, local ingredients at the Google cafe While the visitor experience will have more to do than just Get a taste of Google, the big draw for some will undoubtedly be visiting the cafe to see what Google is cooking up. The company says this is its first-ever public dining experience. When you go there heres what you can expect. Freshly harvested local ingredients being used to create dishes that are designed to be both tasty and friendly to the environment. Google says a big focus for the cafe was to ensure that meals took into account sustainability and biodiversity as major factors. Theres not exactly an online menu you can check out if youre curious about the meal options. But there is a menu in one of the images above that appears to show some of what the cafe may offer. Which includes a spinach and goat cheese quiche, sandwiches, toasts, and a range of different coffee drinks. In addition to the cafe and the art scavenger hunt, the visitor experience store will also have pop-up shops for supporting local businesses, and of course, a place to check out Googles latest hardware products like the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Google is one of the biggest AI companies on the planet, and its one of the leaders in the generative AI race. Bard is the companys flagship user-facing generative AI product at the moment, and its a powerful product. However, it seems that Googles own employees actually have doubts about Bard. So far, Bard has exhibited much of what weve seen from most other LLMs. Its able to generate answers and responses in a very humanistic tone. While much of the information it produces is correct, its still susceptible to hallucinations. So, its your run-of-the-mill chatbot that populates the internet. On the surface, it seems that Google has a lot of faith in it. However, thats not the case with some of its employees. Advertisement Advertisement Some of Googles employees have doubts about Bard When Googles own staff stand on stages and give keynotes about Bard, they all sound confident about its capabilities. However, on a less public-facing front, some of the companys employees expressed their concerns with the chatbot. According to a report from Bloomberg (via Search Engine Journal), several Google employees discussed Bard in an invite-only Discord chat. It consisted of Google designers, engineers, and product managers. In the conversation, Bard senior product manager Dominik Rabiej said, My rule of thumb is not to trust LLM [large language model] output unless I can independently verify it Would love to get it to a point that you can, but it isnt there yet. This statement reflects the feelings that most people have toward AI-generated results. Its nice having answers served up on a silver plate for you. However, you cant always trust those results. People want to be able to verify where the information comes from. Some employees wonder if Bard will actually have the sort of impact that the company intends. Cathy Pearl, Bards user experience lead said Like really making a difference. TBD! That statement also speaks volumes about the companys doubts about Bard. Again, when Google is on stage, we hear a lot about how its generative AI prowess will have a major effect on the tech industry. However, folks within Google are having trouble believing that. That says a ton, seeing as theyre the ones developing the chatbot. The new FTC rule is here to bring a lasting solution to hidden charges that businesses impose on customers. At the moment, this rule is open to criticism as the FTC is seeking comments from various agencies and the public. This rule is known as the Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, and it will be beneficial for online shoppers. It turns out that the FTC did not just start working on this new rule, as it has been in the pipeline since last year. Ever since then, the FTC has received over 12,000 comments from various sources on the effects of these deceptive fees that certain businesses charge. Some of these comments form a supportive ground on which the FTC can stand and enforce this rule on businesses. Advertisement Advertisement The FTC is now putting more pressure on ensuring that businesses stop any unfair and deceptive acts. These acts involve hiding extra charges from buyers during their online shopping experience. This has become a real issue for online shoppers, and it tends to make them spend more than their initial budget. Details on how the new FTC rule might bring an end to hidden fees If you shop online, there is a high possibility that you have come across hidden fees. These fees are annoying and can make some shoppers end their entire shopping experience because of their spending budget. For those shoppers who need the goods, they get to pay above their initial budget. Lots of online stores use these hidden fees to attract customers to their business and then trap them. A person shopping for a pair of glasses might see them on a site for an affordable price, and this draws them in to make the purchase. Then at checkout, they get to see some extra fees that were never part of the initial pricing as listed on the site. This action is unfair, and the FTC is now manning up to prevent businesses from using this tactic on their customers. Sales of tickets for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour put this action in the spotlight. Critics argued that the ticket sellers for this show were driving up ticket costs with hidden fees. For this reason, the White House had to demand that the ticket sellers give users the full ticket price upfront. This might just be what the FTC aims to do with its new rule, as it might pressure online businesses to give shoppers the full price upfront. With this accurate pricing information, shoppers will be able to better plan their finances. In the coming weeks, the FTCs new rule will take effect as it aims to bring an end to hidden fees. Businesses that continue hiding the full prices of products on their websites might face a fine for such actions. What do you think about this new FTC rule, will it help improve your shopping experience? (Photo: by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) This photo illustration created in Washington, DC, on July 6, 2023, shows the opening page of Threads, an Instagram app, near the Meta logo. After the European Union criticized social media companies for not doing more to combat disinformation, Meta announced on Friday that it was taking action, including deleting praise and meaningful support for Hamas from its platforms. Since the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel, false information and altered photographs have gained popularity on Facebook and other social media platforms. More than 795,000 pieces of information in Hebrew or Arabic were removed or flagged as upsetting in the three days following the incident, according to Meta. Additionally, Meta is temporarily broadening its prohibition on violence and incitement and eliminating material that expressly names hostages abducted by Hamas, even when done to denounce or draw attention to their plight, according to Reuters. The business claimed that while content with blurred photographs of victims is still permitted, if uncertain or unable to make a confident determination, it will prioritize the protection and privacy of abduction victims. Numerous Israelis and foreigners have been taken hostage by Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza as a result of the strike. Meta Takes Control In response to Hamas' threats to broadcast hostage footage, Meta announced it would immediately take down any such materials and prevent copies from being redistributed. In order to prevent recommending content that would contravene policies across its Facebook, Instagram, and Threads platforms, it is also decreasing the threshold at which its technology takes action. Meta enables social and political dialogue, such as news reporting, human rights-related problems, or intellectual, neutral, and critical discussion, however, Hamas is prohibited from the platforms. In order to comply with its Digital Services Act (DSA), a violation of which might result in significant fines, the European Commission has put pressure on social media platforms to remove dangerous and unlawful information. The response from Meta contrasts with that of X, formerly known as Twitter, who requested further information from the Commission about infractions on its website. The Commission has started looking into X. Read also: Israel Won't Restore Electricity, Water Supply to Gaza Until Captives Are Released Warnings to Other Social Platforms The EU has warned TikTok about "disinformation" spreading on the app, according to BBC. In a letter, it demanded that CEO Shou Zi Chew "urgently step up" efforts and explain "within the next 24 hours" how it is adhering to European legislation. A rise in false material regarding the battle, including edited photographs and mislabeled videos, has been observed by social media companies. On Tuesday, X received a similar 24-hour deadline. In response, the company's chief executive Linda Yaccarino informed the bloc that since Hamas attacked Israel, "tens of thousands of pieces of content" had been removed or flagged. The EU has also issued a similar disinformation warning and a 24-hour deadline to Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram. Related article: Hamas Attack Update: Israel Publishes Graphic Photos of Murdered, Burned Babies-PM Office Says 'Hamas is ISIS' @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Indias financial crime agency has arrested a senior Vivo executive and three other individuals in a money laundering case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) took Guangwen Kuang, the head of administration at Vivo India, into custody earlier this week following a lengthy investigation. The company has denied the allegations and plans to exercise its legal options. India arrests Vivo executive in a money laundering case This case dates back to July 2022 when the ED raided 48 locations belonging to Vivo in India and seized 4.65 billion ($59 million) from its bank accounts. The agency found that the Chinese smartphone maker had illegally transferred 624.8 billion ($7.9 billion) to its parent organization BBK Electronics (which also owns Oppo, OnePlus, Realme, and iQOO) in China over five years. The amount is almost half of Vivos revenue total revenue during this period. Advertisement Advertisement This transfer allowed the company to report losses in India, effectively evading taxes. The ED said Vivo evaded taxes worth 22.1 billion ($280 million). An investigation followed, subsequently leading to the arrest of Kuang, who is a Chinese national. Kuangs lawyer, Mudit Jain, confirmed the arrest to CNN and revealed that the ED has held the executive in a three-day custody. The agency, which is responsible for probing money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws in India, wanted the Vivo officials custody for ten days but the court only allowed three days, the publication reports citing a court document. The names of the other three arrested individuals arent known. One of them is reportedly a person who had helped Vivo set up its offices in India. The other two were accountants. In an official statement following Kuangs arrest, Vivo said that its cooperating with the authorities and also exploring its legal options. The recent arrest deeply concerns us, a company representative said. Vivo firmly adheres to its ethical principles and remains dedicated to legal compliance. The representative confirmed that the firm would exercise all available legal options. India has also accused other Chinese smartphone companies of malpractice Vivo isnt the only Chinese smartphone company facing legal troubles in India. The countrys financial crime agency is also investigating Oppo and Xiaomi over similar allegations of money laundering. These three firms jointly capture about 45 percent of Indias overall smartphone market. The investigations from the ED come amid rising tensions between the worlds two most populous countries. The tensions arent limited to trade and economy but have mostly risen from the decades-long border dispute along the Himalayas. Military troops from India and China often clash at the border, resulting in fatalities. Indias crackdown on Chinese smartphone makers could now make the matter worse. The country has previously banned more than 100 Chinese apps, including TikTok, citing a national security risk. Following a warning from Commissioner Thierry Breton earlier this week, the European Union (EU) has now formally launched an investigation into X/Twitter over potential illegal content and disinformation about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on the platform. The Union is investigating the companys compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and seeking details about its measures to curb disinformation. The EU investigating X about the Israel-Hamas war content A few days back, Breton sent an urgent letter to X owner Elon Musk stating that the EU has indications that the platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation about the war. The Commissioner added that the Union has received reports from qualified sources about potentially illegal content circulating on X despite flags from authorities. He urged Musk to act fast and place effective measures to prevent this. Advertisement Advertisement Considering the urgency of the situation, Breton asked Musk to respond within 24 hours. He later confirmed that X had provided the Union with the necessary information. The Commissioner said the DSA enforcement team will analyze the companys reply and decide on the next steps. It appears the social network giant failed to satisfy the European lawmakers with its measures, warranting a formal investigation. The EU says it is investigating Xs policies and practices regarding notices on illegal content, complaint handling, risk assessment, and measures to mitigate the risks identified. It wants information about the companys crisis response protocol by Wednesday, October 18. The firm has until October 31 to provide the Union with necessary information about everything else. The EU will decide its next steps after X shares the details. According to the Financial Times, this is the first EU investigation at X under the new DSA. Following its designation as Very Large Online Platform, X is required to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the DSA since late August 2023, the Union said in a press release. Tech giants like Meta, Google, and Amazon also fall under the Very Large Online Platform designation. The new DSA can hold platforms liable for illegal content Brenton has also sent similar urgent letters to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew asking for information about their measures to curb disinformation about the war in the Middle East. Time will tell whether the EU opens investigations into these platforms as well. Under the new DSA regulations, it can hold online social platforms liable for illegal content. Depending on the severity of the matter, it could impose fines of up to six percent of a companys global revenue. (Photo: by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images) This general view shows the Tokyo headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo on October 13, 2023. After learning that the Unification Church has been using systematic deception to coerce members into giving money, instilling fear in them, and causing harm to their families for decades, the Education Ministry recommended that Japan's government approach a court to revoke the organization's legal standing on Friday. The church's status as a religious organization is being revoked, according to the request made to the Tokyo District Court, according to NBC News. Officials from the Education Ministry provided the court with 5,000 pieces of documentation and proof in cardboard boxes to back up their request. It would take some time because the process involves hearings and appeals from both sides. The church may still function if the order is approved, but it would lose its tax-exempt status as a religious institution and would suffer financial hardships. The request was submitted the day after Education Minister Masahito Moriyama declared that a panel of experts had approved the revocation request in light of the conclusions of the ministry's inquiry into the church's fundraising strategies and other issues. The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, the official name of the South Korean church with a branch in Japan, has already denounced the move by the government. Harmful Fundraising Practices More than 170 persons were interrogated as part of the Education Ministry's inquiry into claims that the church's fundraising practices and other issues caused harm to them. Throughout the seven inquiries, the church did not answer dozens of queries, Moriyama claimed on Thursday. According to Moriyama, the church made an effort to influence the choices of its members by employing deceptive methods, pressuring them to make donations and buy expensive items beyond their means while also inflicting fear and suffering on them and their families. He claimed that the strategies significantly strayed from the law on religious organizations, which states that the goal of the churches' legal standing is to provide people with peace of mind. According to the Civil Code, "the activities are wrongful conducts, and their damages are enormous." While settlements made in or out of court totaled 20.4 billion yen ($137 million) and involved 1,550 persons, the Agency for Cultural Affairs discovered 32 examples of civil litigation conceding losses totaling 2.2 billion yen ($14.7 million) for 169 people. Because of the lessons learned from the prewar and postwar suppression of freedom of religion and ideas, Japan has put barriers in place to restrict religious activities. Read also: Japan Appoints New Defense Personnel in Response to Increased Chinese Military Maneuvers The Assassination of Shinzo Abe After the death of the previous prime minister, Shinzo Abe, last year, there were months of public indignation and inquiries over the organization's recruitment and fundraising strategies. The man suspected of killing Abe apparently did so because of the former prime minister's affiliation with the church, which he held responsible for his family's financial ruin. Since Abe's murder, decades-long close ties between the church and Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party have come to light, which has weakened support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration. In response to rumors that the administration was trying to boost waning public support, Kishida assured reporters on Thursday that the decision to request the revocation order was thoroughly considered, based on facts, and not political. In the midst of an anti-communist struggle backed by Abe's paternal grandpa, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, the Unification Church received official recognition as a religious institution in Japan in 1968. The church acknowledges that there are too many gifts, but claims that the issue has been resolved for more than ten years. It has also promised to make more improvements. According to experts, the majority of the church's global funding comes from Japan, and Japanese adherents are expected to make reparations for the crimes committed by their ancestors during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The church would be the first to have its status withdrawn under civil law. The doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, which launched a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and the Myokakuji organization, whose directors were found guilty of fraud, were two earlier examples that entailed criminal accusations. Related article: Japan and UK Team Up to Develop Next-Gen Nuclear Technology @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 13 - "In the baseline scenario of our forecast framework," Italy's gross domestic product "would increase by 0.7% this year, 0.8% in 2024 and 1% in 2025., the Bank of Italy said Friday in its latest economic bulletin, while in July the forecast was 1.3% for this year, 0.9% for 2024 and 1% confirmed for 2025. "Growth would be affected by the tightening of financing conditions and the weakness of international trade" while "it would benefit from the effects of the (EU-funded post-COVID National Recovery and Resilience Plan) NRRP measures and the gradual recovery of household purchasing power", said the Italian central bank. In the government's NADEF economic and financial blueprint update, growth is estimated at +0.8% in 2023 and +1.2% in 2024. "The incidence of Italy's public debt as a percentage of output over the next three years would only decline marginally, with upward risks", the bank went on. "According to the new public finance targets - updated by the government at the end of September - in 2023 net borrowing and debt as a ratio of GDP would continue to decrease and would stand at 5.3 and 140.2 per cent respectively," Bankitalia recalls, explaining that "an expansion of the deficit with respect to the framework under current legislation of about 0.7 percentage points of output is planned for 2024. Net borrowing would fall gradually in the coming years, to 2.9 per cent of GDP in 2026'. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 13 - Rome "badly needs" to ratify the reform of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), Managing Director Pierre Gramegna said on Friday. "We are waiting for Italy to proceed with the ratification of the ESM, we are working hard to convince it to do so," Gramegna told Cnbc. !Italy is a sovereign country, but it has committed itself to doing it, and we need it badly," he added. Italy is the only eurozone country holding out on ratification of the new EU bailout mechanism amid concerns about its impact on budget sovereignty and claims the fund should also be used to boost growth. "It's really difficult to understand the motivation or the financial logic of the non-ratification, I think it's a political battle," continued Gramegna. Ratification "is in the interest of Italy and of the 20 countries" in the eurozone, he concluded. Earlier this month Premier Giorgia Meloni reiterated that it is useless to discuss the reform the ESM without knowing the framework around it, amid ongoing broader discussions on the revision of the rules of Europe's Stability and Growth Pact on fiscal discipline. "The government's position is still the same, I have not changed my mind on the subject of the ESM, but regardless of what one thinks about the merits of the instrument, I think that those who are proposing to open this debate today are not doing Italy a favour in any case, whether one is for or against it," she said at an event marking Sky's 20 years in Italy. "Banally, because there is no point in discussing an instrument if you do not know what the framework is within which that instrument fits," she said. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 13 - German mountaineering reporter Eberhard Jurgalski on Friday backtracked on a claim that Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner failed to reach the summit of Annapurna in 1985, a claim that had led Guinness World Records to strip the legendary South Tyrolean climber of his record as the first person to climb the world's 14 mountains over 8,000 m. The Guinness World Records website now names the American Edmund Viesturs as the first person to have climbed all 14 8,000 m mountains between 1989 and 2005, making specific reference to Jurgalski's claims regarding Messner's former record. In a sensational U-Turn, the German expert now says a 'tolerance zone' of 190 metres is justified in the vicinity of certain peaks, such as Annapurna, which has an interminable ridge to the summit, and for this reason, the record belongs to Messner "forever". In his previous claim, Jurgalski said Messner in the company of Hans Kammerlander missed the summit of Nepalese peak Annapurna by a few metres. After Messner's removal from the Guinness Book of Records, Jurgalski was inundated with criticism from the mountaineering world and the 79-year-old's fans. Messner last Monday described as "nonsense" the records book move and Jurgalski's claim. "It's nonsense", the mountain man from Funes in Italy's Alpine Alto Adige region told ANSA. "First of all, I have never claimed any records, so they cannot disown me," he said. "Also, mountains change. Almost 40 years have passed, if someone has climbed Annapurna it was certainly Hans and I," added Messner. "No one who knows anything about mountaineering would question our feat, Jurgalski in fact knows nothing about it," continued Messner. "Mountains change, like everything in nature. Especially on Annapurna, all it takes is for the snow cornice to collapse and the summit drops five metres," he added. "The ridge leading to the summit is 3 km long, Jurgalski has simply confused the east summit with the main summit. Here someone obviously wants to be noticed without having the slightest competence," insisted Messner. "This is how you destroy mountaineering," Messner's climbing partner Kammerlander in the 1985 Annapurna ascent told ANSA, describing the debate as "ridiculous". "Of course there is no absolute certainty, those were other times, without gps. At those altitudes all it takes is a snowstorm and dim sunlight," said the 66-year-old, also from Alto Adige. "We are still convinced that we were reached the summit, but who knows if there were another 5-6 metres to climb behind the rock. That would still not detract from our achievement," he continued. "Humanity really is getting worse," he concluded. One of Italy's most illustrious extreme mountaineers, Messner made the first solo ascent of Mt Everest without bottled oxygen in 1980. Since then he has gone on to break numerous other records and inspired generations of mountain climbers. He has also given his name to a network of Mountain Museums in Alto Adige. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 13 - The government's Mattei Plan to boost energy partnerships with Africa and cooperation on halting irregular migration flows is to be written together with African countries, Premier Giorgia Meloni said on Friday. "We have had to postpone to January the Italy-Africa conference that was scheduled for November in order to better understand the picture of the evolving international situation," said Meloni in joint statements with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi after their meeting in Maputo. "The President of Mozambique has guaranteed his presence and cooperation in the drafting of the Mattei Plan," said Meloni. "There would be nothing new about presenting a plan to Africa. What is new is to write it together, set priorities and implement a strategy," she added. "The Mattei Plan will be supported by our Climate Fund, which will therefore impact African nations," continued the premier, adding that 70% of the fund would be dedicated to Africa, the equivalent of around 3 billion euro. This, she said, is "an important investment with which we would like to push the whole EU into taking a new approach". Meloni also said the leaders had discussed "fighting terrorism because stability and peace are the basis for any strategic development". "We want to push our companies to invest more, and there is work we can do together. We continue to be ready to play our part. Without stability it is much more difficult to produce the prosperity that is needed," she added. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, OCT 13 - A first group of refugee students living in six African countries landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on Friday under the University Corridors for Refugees - UNICORE programme to begin a two-year master's degree in Italy. This year in total 51 students - 11 women and 40 men - living in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe will arrive in Italy under the programme coordinated by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to study at 32 Italian universities on grants awarded on the basis of merit and motivation. Since its inception in 2019, UNICORE has so far involved a total of 41 universities that have made over 200 study grants available to refugee students living in third countries over five years. The project involves the collaboration of the Italian interior and foreign ministries and a number of civil society partners and local organisations, which provide support to the students in their academic and social integration and inclusion. "The arrival today of these refugee students who have been given the opportunity to travel in safety and dignity is a concrete expression of an alternative to dangerous journeys in the hands of traffickers," said UNHCR Representative to Italy, the Holy See and San Marino Chiara Cardoletti. "The growth of the UNICORE project, made possible by the convinced support of Italian universities, shows that the expansion of safe and regular pathways is possible and must be a priority," she added. Roughly 76% of the global refugee population lives in developing countries where opportunities to rebuild their future in dignity are often absent. At global level, only 6% of refugees have access to higher education compared to 38% of the non-refugee population. Through the UNICORE project, UNHCR aims to ensure that refugees have real access to education and employment pathways in line with their skills, aspirations and talents without having to undertake dangerous journeys by sea or by land. (ANSA). One week after a three-day strike that delayed consultations and services at numerous hospitals and clinics, Kaiser Permanente and its more than 75,000 healthcare employees have struck a preliminary agreement. This is according to a statement by union leaders. On X (previously Twitter), union officials said, "The frontline health care workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente. We are thankful for the instrumental support of acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su." The official Kaiser Permanente X account also issued a similar statement. Notably, many healthcare workers reported feeling worn out and upset because of significant staffing shortages caused by the pandemic. This leads to the current round of labor disputes between healthcare institutions and their employees like this recent one. The frontline healthcare workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente. We are thankful for the instrumental support of Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su. A full announcement will follow shortly. pic.twitter.com/KOAFNXhP87 SEIU-UHW #United4All (@seiu_uhw) October 13, 2023 Biggest US Healthcare Strike Kaiser Permanente has its own network of hospitals and physicians. Its health insurance serves 13 million people across eight states. A variety of low-wage employees went on strike for three days last week. Medical staff members, laboratory technicians, receptionists, and sanitation workers all joined together to create picket lines outside of dozens of Kaiser facilities, yelling and holding posters like "Kaiser: Put Patients First" and "Respect And Value Healthcare Workers," according to the New York Times. Kaiser had to postpone non-emergency procedures, like colonoscopies and mammograms, and transfer many appointments online because of the strike. Hospitals and urgent care centers were staffed with replacement employees, but more than 50 laboratories in Southern California were shuttered. Dozens more on the West Coast were either closed or restricted in their hours. The walkout was the largest one by healthcare workers in recent US history, according to union officials. Su, acting secretary of labor for the Biden administration, flew to San Francisco to meet with representatives from Kaiser and the union in an effort to break the impasse. After the strike started and discussions broke down, it took more than a week for the parties to return to the negotiating table. If a deal was not reached by early November, the labor alliance threatened another walkout that would stretch for a whole week. See Also: Strike at Kaiser Permanente Highlights Crisis in US Healthcare Amid Staffing Shortages Kaiser's new agreement is timely since the healthcare business has been experiencing a severe shortage of personnel due to widespread layoffs. As a result of this shift in power dynamics, both employees and employers feel a greater sense of urgency to address the issue. Employees treating patients in the face of staffing shortages are reporting higher-than-ever levels of burnout. Many union members are likely taking advantage of the situation as a bargaining chip to demand higher wages and better benefits. There have been over a dozen strikes this year by healthcare workers around the country, including in New York City, California, Illinois, Michigan, and others. See Also: UAW Members at Mack Trucks Go On Strike After Turning Down Tentative Deal @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Charities have urged the UK Government to work with Israel to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe for Palestinians in Gaza. ActionAid UK, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Medical Aid for Palestinians (Map) and Christian Aid warned that Israels order for one million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north will have grave humanitarian and health consequences. The UN has warned that almost half of Gazas total population fleeing at once would be calamitous. Hamas, who staged a brutal attack on Israel on Saturday, dismissed the evacuation order and called on people to stay in their homes. We are horrified at the orders to evacuate 1 million people out of Gaza. Were calling for an immediate cessation of bombings of civilians, as per international humanitarian law. pic.twitter.com/Qq1lgNZdV1 ActionAid UK (@ActionAidUK) October 13, 2023 Dr Halima Begum, chief executive of ActionAid UK, said the charity considered it impossible for such an evacuation to happen without disastrous consequences. As a humanitarian organisation with a particular focus on women and girls, we urge the parties to consider in particular the plight of pregnant women and terrified, vulnerable children at risk of separation from their parents amid the chaos and confusion of this escalating conflict, Dr Begum said. In the strongest possible terms, we therefore urge the UK government to work with the Israeli government to take all necessary steps to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. The ICRC said the evacuation order coupled with the complete siege explicitly denying them food, water, and electricity, are not compatible with international humanitarian law. The charity said in a statement: Nothing can justify the horrific attacks Israel suffered last weekend. Our hearts go out to people who lost family members or are worried sick about loved ones taken hostage. We reiterate our call for their immediate release and stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits. But those attacks cannot in turn justify the limitless destruction of Gaza. The parties must not neglect their legal obligations regarding the methods and means used to wage war. When military powers order people to leave their homes, all possible measures must be taken to ensure the population has access to basic necessities like food and water and that members of the same family are not separated. Gaza is a closed area of limited size and resources. People have nowhere safe to go and many, including the disabled, elderly, and sick, will not be able to leave their homes. International humanitarian law protects all civilians, including those who remain. Today, it is impossible for Gazans to know which areas will next face attack. Melanie Ward, chief executive of Map, urged the international community to demand that Israel rescind its warning and ensure Palestinian civilians are protected from attack. They should remember their responsibility to protect against atrocity crimes, including ethnic cleansing, she added. Our colleagues in Gaza are frightened. Incredibly, some are still out distributing the supplies we have been able to procure locally amid the bombardment. Osai Ojigho, Christian Aids director of policy, public affairs and campaigns, said: All parties must abide by international humanitarian law and unconditionally agree to protect civilians and key services, starting with establishing safe humanitarian access as requested by the UN. With the civilian population of Gaza already on their knees, the UK Government must not cut aid to the Palestinian people. We need that commitment today. As we pray for an end to the conflict, international leaders must also act and help secure a lasting peace that achieves justice and dignity for all. The charity added that one of its partners in Gaza had warned the situation was deteriorating very badly. ActionAid UK and Christian Aid have launched appeals and are calling on the British public to help raise funds to support the victims of the conflict. First Minister Humza Yousaf said he genuinely does not know if he will see his in-laws, who are currently trapped in Gaza, again and feels completely powerless to help them. Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla went to visit relatives in Gaza last week and became trapped after Hamas militants massacred hundreds of Israelis on Saturday, triggering an escalation in the conflict. Mr Yousaf also accused the Israeli government of going too far. He told the BBCs Chris Mason: All of us have said that, myself included, but collective punishment cannot be justified. Yes, they are going too far, collective punishment cannot be justified. It is innocent men, women, children, babies, with nothing to do with Hamas, who are paying an extraordinary price for those atrocious attacks, that they have nothing to do with. On Friday, Mrs El-Nakla shared a video asking: Where is the humanity? which Mr Yousaf told Sky News was a really hard video to watch for both him and his wife, Nadia El-Nakla. In an emotional interview, Mr Yousaf told Beth Rigby, Skys political editor, he did not know if he would see his in-laws again. He said: I do not know, I genuinely do not know if I will see my in-laws again. Nadia doesnt know shes going to see her mum and dad again. And all we can do is watch the news and look at all the rolling coverage. First Minister Humza Yousaf with wife Nadia, daughter Amal and step-daughter Maya (left) (Jane Barlow/PA) Despite being First Minister of Scotland, Mr Yousaf told Ms Rigby he felt completely powerless to help his mother and father-in-law. He said: All we can do is try to tell peoples story. I cannot tell you how powerless and helpless I feel. Your first instinct is to protect your family as best you can and I am completely powerless. Mr Yousaf also revealed that his youngest daughter, Amal, four, asked him if granny would be back in time for Halloween, and that they had told her she was scared of the thunder. They told her that she would be back, but Mr Yousaf told Sky News: We honestly dont know if she will. Mr Yousaf also spoke to Channel 5 News on Friday and said he had been in touch with a junior minister from the Foreign Office, but he was pretty disappointed Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had not been in contact with him. Mr Yousaf completed a round of interviews with broadcasters on Friday ahead of the SNP conference in Aberdeen, which starts on Sunday. Mr Yousaf said he and his wife were distressed about the situation and pleaded with the international community to open up humanitarian corridors so that people can leave Gaza. He was asked if the Prime Minister had been in touch. Mr Yousaf said: No. No, and thats disappointing, but, look, I accept the Prime Minister has lots to do and lots to get on with. How much CBD do you consume? (Getty Images) (Vanessa Nunes via Getty Images) The recommended maximum daily amount of cannabidiol (CBD) has been slashed from 70mg to 10mg by the UK's food watchdog due to concerns over "long-term adverse effects". Healthy adults should should now limit their consumption of CBD from food to this new amount (about four to five drops of 5% oil), as per new precautionary advice from the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Cannabidiol sold as food includes oils, drops, tinctures, gel capsules, sweets and confectionery, bread and other bakery products and drinks. Read more: Cannabis extract CBD is found in leaves and fruits of different plant (Yahoo News UK, 2-min read) CBD can be found in anything from muffins to gummies. (Getty Images) (MysteryShot via Getty Images) Back in February 2020, the FSA published consumer advice recommending healthy adults don't take more than 70mg of CBD per day (about 28 drops of 5% CBD), but at the time warned this "doesnt mean that these levels are definitely safe, but that the evidence we have suggests adverse health effects could potentially be seen above this". Following this, a joint subgroup of the Committee on Toxicity (COT) and the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (two independent science committees that advise the FSA) have been reviewing the safety evidence submitted by the CBD industry. The FSA has now determined there is no "acute safety risk" from consuming 10mg or under of CBD based on available data. However, above this level over an extended period of time, it found evidence of some adverse impacts to the liver and thyroid. The higher the the dose and the more often its consumed, the higher the risk. With some food products currently on the market containing more than 10mg per serving, the FSA said it would work with the industry to "agree a way forward" on these items. Meanwhile, it has encouraged consumers to monitor their daily consumption by checking the CBD content of the product and considering any changes they may wish to make based on the new guidance. It continues to advise that cannabidiol is not taken by people in vulnerable groups, including children, people taking medication who have not consulted a medical professional and those who are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive. Read more: Fruits with the best health benefits, as study reveals grapes can improve eyesight (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read) Too much CBD over a long period of time could lead to liver damage or thyroid issues. (Getty Images) (bymuratdeniz via Getty Images) "Our independent advisory committees have reviewed the safety assessments submitted by the industry as part of their novel food applications and we are advising that healthy adults should take no more than 10mg of CBD a day," says Professor Robin May, chief scientific advisor at the FSA. "The more CBD you consume over your lifetime, the more likely you are to develop long-term adverse effects, like liver damage or thyroid issues. The level of risk is related to how much you take, as it is with some other potentially harmful products such as alcoholic drinks. "We encourage consumers to check the CBD content on the product label to monitor their overall daily consumption of CBD and consider if they wish to make changes to how much they take based on this updated advice." FSA chief executive Emily Miles adds, "We have always advised the public to think carefully about taking edible CBD products and, as with all foods, we continue to review our advice based on the evidence we gather from the industry. "We understand that this change to our advice will have implications for products currently on the market that contain more than 10mg of CBD per serving. "We will be working closely with industry to minimise the risk so that consumers are not exposed to potentially harmful levels of CBD." Read more: The health benefits of Tiktoks latest #silentwalking wellness trend (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read) Watch: Nicole Scherzinger takes cannabidiol gummies to help her sleep What is CBD? CBD is a chemical substance found in cannabis (the hemp plant) that has medical benefits, according to the NHS. It won't get you high, because it doesn't contain THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the chemical in cannabis that makes you high. It's thought to help relieve symptoms of anxiety or pain, or help people fall sleep if taken a couple hours before bed. "Some products that might claim to be medical cannabis, such as CBD oil or hemp oil, are available to buy legally as food supplements from health stores. But there's no guarantee these are of good quality or provide any health benefits," the health service explains. "Specific cannabis-based products are available on prescription as medicinal cannabis. These are only likely to benefit a very small number of patients [such as those with chronic pain]." Additional reporting PA. Jasmine Stevens noticed that her son Mateo, then four months old, had skin that looked mottled and a temperature. (Caters) (Caters) A woman has shared how she discovered her baby son had sepsis thanks to a parenting Facebook group. Now Jasmine Stevens is keen to spread awareness of the symptoms of the potentially deadly infection, recently sharing the signs to look out for on her own TikTok profile. The 21-year-old, stay-at-home-mum, from Northamptonshire, admits that if she hadn't stumbled across the knowledge herself online, she believes things could have "ended very differently" for her son. Stevens says alarm bells started to ring after a bereaved mum posted about the symptoms of sepsis, including having skin that looked mottled and a high temperature, which her son Mateo, then four months, was suffering with. "We assumed the mottled skin was him trying to regulate his temperature," Stevens explains. "He gets a high temperature when poorly, so it wasn't a major cause for concern." But Mateo's condition soon deteriorated further and he began to suck in his ribs - another tell-tale sign of the deadly condition - and spent the day generally sleepy in her arms. "That made me realise something more serious was going on and I wondered if he had sepsis," Stevens continues. "I'm in a Facebook group for mums. There's a lady in there whose baby sadly died from sepsis, and she's always sharing the symptoms - the mottled skin, the high temperature, and the sucking in of the ribs." Mateo, pictured in hospital. (Caters) (Caters) Sepsis: Read more Having tried to feed Mateo, Stevens says he then went floppy. "When his head rolled back, I blew on his face to help him regain consciousness," she continues. "Thankfully, he came round and I called an ambulance. "At this point, his temperature was about 40 and it wasn't coming down." Stevens, who has two children, explained that by the time they reached hospital, her son was also suffering from "raspy breathing". He was immediately admitted, due to his poorly condition, was started on antibiotics and had a cannula fitted. Stevens says Mateo was in hospital for a week suffering from sepsis. (Caters) (Caters) During his week-long stay in hospital, the family discovered that Mateo had a bacterial virus - the leading cause of most sepsis cases, as reported by the World Health Organisation. "It was confirmed that he had sepsis on the sixth day," Stevens explains. "It took almost a week for his temperature to start coming down, but he was still very sleepy. "His hands and feet were cold until about a week after as well. But you could see progress throughout the days - he started interacting a bit more and being more awake throughout the day." Watch: Gloria Hunniford was hospitalised with kidney sepsis Now, almost a year on from the family's ordeal, last November, Mateo is doing well, and loving life as a happy, healthy 16-month old. Stevens hopes that by sharing her son's story, she can help other parents recognise sepsis symptoms as early as possible. Dr Chun Tang, medical director and GP at Pall Mall Medical in Manchester, says: "Sepsis is a serious medical condition that can affect individuals of all ages, including babies. "It occurs when the body's response to infection causes widespread inflammation and can lead to organ dysfunction or failure." Mateo pictured now, following his sepsis ordeal last November. (Caters) (Caters) Dr Tang says detecting sepsis in babies can be challenging because their symptoms may be subtle, and they cannot communicate their discomfort. "However, there are some tell-tale signs and symptoms that may indicate sepsis in infants: fever or hypothermia, rapid breathing, poor feeding, irritability or lethargy, change in skin colour, jaundice, rapid heart rate, decreased urine output, vomiting and diarrhoea, and swelling," she continues. "It's important to note that these signs and symptoms can be nonspecific and may overlap with other common infant illnesses. "If you spot any of the warning signs of sepsis in your baby, it's crucial to take immediate action to seek medical help. Sepsis is a medical emergency, and early intervention is critical for a better outcome." Where to get help for sepsis The Sepsis Trust offers support for survivors and relatives in addition to advice on dealing with bereavement and legal issues. The charity can also connect you to support groups and much more. The NHS has plenty of information on sepsis symptoms. Sepsis Research FEAT is the only UK charity dedicated to supporting research to help identify treatments for sepsis, while also working to raise awareness of this devastating condition. Additional reporting Caters. The NSPCC have advised parents to be aware of what their children could be consuming on social media (getty images). (Elva Etienne via Getty Images) In the midst of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, incredibly graphic images and video clips are widely being shared online, revealing the full horror of the violence. The unimaginable scenes of burnt out houses, bodies, and bloodied victims arent easy for grown-ups to digest, let alone children, but with many teenagers (and younger kids) having wide access to the internet and social media, youngsters may see more upsetting content than even their parents. The concern is that should they view them, these graphic visuals could have a long-term impact on a child's mental health and wellbeing. One study, published in Environment Research and Public Health, found that the effects of youths viewing violent scenes of armed conflict can cause anxiety, sadness, isolation, distress and elevated perceptions of personal risk. Some experts have issued warnings to Israeli parents to delete social media, including TikTok and Instagram, from their children's mobile phones in a bid to stop the upsetting images appearing in their feeds. But should British parents consider doing the same? Read more: How to limit graphic social media images from the Israel-Hamas war (Washington Post, 5-min read) Parents are concerned about children viewing distressing images and videos of the conflict online. (Getty Images) (getty) Should parents delete their children's social media? While some parents might feel the immediate need to delete social media apps to protect their children during turbulent times, the NSPCC say there are some recommended methods to try first. "Your child will gain many benefits from their social media account and its often their way of communicating with friends," explains Luke Savage, senior project officer child safety online. "But before your child even engages with social media, its worth educating yourself about how to set up their devices safely and embed relevant parental controls," he continues. Ashley Rolfe, head of operations, from the charity, Kidscape, says there are some simple measures parents can take to control the content viewed online, starting with reassuring children that they have many options to limit/reduce/stop promoted articles, especially if they find the content distressing. "Make them aware of the control (sometimes it can feel the other way round) that they have to manage what is seen on their devices," he says. Watch: Online Safety Bill to become law in crackdown on harmful social media content Rolfe says there are many apps, which allow you to remove/snooze articles/profiles. For example Internet Matters has a resource enabling parents to select the device, search engine, broadband and mobile network or social media platform to get a step-by-step guide on exactly how to manage content. TikTok also provides ways in which parents and children can restrict content. "This removes the idea of deleting the app entirely but offers your young person a solution, reinforcing critical thinking skills, to control what they see, making the environment on that particular app that bit safer for them," Rolfe explains. "It's about equipping young people with the appropriate practical tools and strategies to deal with challenges online." Before they get chance to see any distressing content, Savage also suggests trying to exercise different scenarios with your child. "Ask them what they would do if they saw something that upset them and help them to understand what they can do to prevent them from seeing content like this," Savage advises. Read more: Jewish parents told to delete social media apps (BBC, 3-min read) There are some measures parents can take to protect children online during the current crisis. (Getty Images) (getty) What to do if your child has already seen something distressing online If they've already seen something upsetting, Savage says it is important your child looks after their general wellbeing. "Encourage them to turn off notifications so they can take a break from conversations and alerts and suggest they engage in a hobby that the y enjoy," he suggests. "Urge them follow social media accounts that make them feel happy or only generate positive content." While the temptation may be to express anger or disappointment if a child discloses that they have seen something online that has distressed them, Savage advises parents to try to remain calm. "Support your child to help them understand what they have seen and give them an opportunity to ask any questions they may have," he says. "Allow them space to talk about how it made them feel." Read more: Revealed: The fake Israel and Gaza videos being shared on social media (Yahoo News, 2-min read) Talk openly and honestly to children If you feel it necessary, take time to talk to your child about the conflicts taking place, ask them if they have any concerns about it, and explain that they might encounter further content around the conflict online. "Remind them that information online isnt always true or based on facts," Savage continues. "Encourage them to challenge what theyve seen or read and recommend they only gather their news from reputable sites such as Newsround." According to Savage it is also important to explain that they should not re-share content that has upset them. "Remind them how it made them feel and it will inevitably upset others," he says. Overall the NSPCC say it is important to show interest in your childs usage online as this helps to build trust and encourages your child to be more honest with you about the content theyre viewing. "Having open conversations with children also allows them to talk to you should they have seen distressing content," Savage concludes. Parents should have open conversations with children about the conflict. (Getty Images) (Getty) Where to go for help Children and young people can talk to Childline about anything they have seen that has been distressing to them. The service provides a safe, confidential place for children 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Children can speak to Childline on 0800 1111, or chat online at childline.org.uk. The NSPCCs online safety hub has a host of information, including setting up parental controls and online wellbeing on keeping children safe online. For more information about protecting your child online visit Kidscape. London has seen a massive increase in antisemitic incidents since the Israel-Hamas conflict, from the playing of German military music to intimidation outside synagogues, the Metropolitan Police said. Between September 30 and October 13 there were 105 antisemitic incidents and 75 antisemitic offences in the capital, compared with 14 incidents and 12 offences in the same period last year, according to figures from Scotland Yard. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor told a press briefing on Friday: That is a massive increase in antisemitic crime and incidents. In balance, we have seen an increase in Islamophobic incidents, but nothing like the scale of the increase in antisemitism. The context is really challenging for us, we are seeing behaviours that are provocative, that are inciteful, well address those whilst recognising the emotion and the activities and the incidents that are taking place overseas. He added: This will range from everything, to intimidation outside of synagogues, weve had incidents of German military music being played loudly and in intimidatory ways, to some more serious offences, a range of offending. It really is everything from that real, basic antisemitic language to some thoroughly offensive behaviour that we saw on Monday evening, where Jewish individuals were confronted by members of a protest group, effectively playing up the issues in Israel and laughing about the number of deaths of Jewish citizens in Israel. The Met has 1,000 officers dedicated to reassurance and security patrols in the wake of significant concern among Londoners which the force anticipates will continue for a fairly long period of time. We know our communities are feeling vulnerable following the terrorist attacks in Israel.We are carrying out extra patrols around religious venues all across the NW BCU.If you see anyone acting suspiciously call us on 101 or in an emergency 999. #NWBCU #Harrow #Brent #Barnet pic.twitter.com/iNA7atvZ7Z Barnet MPS | North West BCU (@MPSBarnet) October 13, 2023 It also plans to have visited every synagogue in the city by the end of Friday, and has met 2,000 parents as well as pupils and schools leaders, amid worries about the safety of young people. Staff have checked on more than 200 schools and more than 300 synagogues, mosques and other places of worship. More than 1,000 officers will be in place to police a pro-Palestinian protest over the weekend, which thousands of people are expected to attend. Protesters have been warned flying a flag in support of Hamas is an offence which will lead to an arrest. Mr Taylor added: We will not tolerate celebration of terrorism and death. The Jewish safety charity Community Security Trust (CST) said it had recorded at least 190 antisemitic incidents between the Hamas attacks on Saturday and the end of Thursday, compared to 32 over the same six days in 2022. CST said 109 incidents happened in Greater London, 22 in Greater Manchester, eight in West Yorkshire, seven in the West Midlands, four in Hertfordshire, with the remaining 40 incidents were spread across 12 other locations around the UK. In a post on its website, the organisation said: CST will not stand for this anti-Jewish hatred and nor should anybody else. We urge everyone who experiences or witnesses antisemitism to report it to police and to CST so that those who are trying to intimidate and threaten our community can be investigated, arrested and prosecuted. A man aged in his 50s is to appear in court after being charged by police investigating the murder of missing woman Tina Satchwell. It comes after Irish police discovered skeletal remains buried beneath a home in Youghal, Co Cork, earlier this week. It is understood gardai are now satisfied the remains are those of Ms Satchwell. Members of the Garda forensics at the scene in Youghal, Co Cork (Brian Lawless/PA) A man in his 50s was arrested following the discovery. Ms Satchwell, originally from Fermoy, was 45 when last seen alive and has been missing from her home in Youghal since March 2017. A major search operation began at a house and surrounding grounds in Youghal on Tuesday. The human remains were found late on Wednesday, according to the Irish police service An Garda Siochana. They were removed on Thursday and taken to Cork University Hospital where they were examined further, including for DNA analysis. Heavy machinery, including a digger, was used in the search of the Youghal home. A large screen has been erected around the building and grounds and people have laid flowers in memory of Ms Satchwell. As well as the search at the property in Youghal, gardai said a second search had been carried out at a location between Youghal and Killeagh in Co Cork. The man will appear before a special sitting of Cashel District Court at 10.30am on Saturday. The parents of a critically ill baby have lost a High Court life-support treatment fight. A judge had heard evidence about seven-month-old Indi Gregorys condition at a recent private trial in the Family Division of the High Court, at the Royal Courts of Justice complex in London. Mr Justice Peel was told how Indi had mitochondrial disease, a genetic condition which saps energy, and was being treated at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. Specialists say she is dying and the hospitals governing trust asked Mr Justice Peel to rule that doctors can lawfully limit treatment. Dean Gregory, the father of Indi Gregory, at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London (Victoria Jones/PA) Indis parents, Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, who are both in their 30s and from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, want life-support treatment to continue. Mr Justice Peel on Friday ruled that medics could lawfully withdraw invasive treatment. With a heavy heart I have come to the conclusion that the burdens of invasive treatment outweigh the benefits, said the judge in a written ruling. In short, the significant pain experienced by this lovely little girl is not justified when set against an incurable set of conditions, a very short life span, no prospect of recovery and, at best, minimal engagement with the world around her. He added: In my judgment, having weighed up all the competing considerations, her best interests are served by permitting the trust to withdraw invasive treatment. The judge went on: I know that this will come as a heavy blow to the parents. Barrister Emma Sutton KC, who led Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts legal team, had told the judge that Indi was critically ill and had an exceptionally rare and devastating neurometabolic disorder. She said the treatment Indi received caused pain and was futile. Indi is dying, Ms Sutton told the judge. We cannot get away from that fact as sensitive as it may be. All realistic options have been exhausted. She said nurses were watching Indi suffer and added: This has been looked at nationally, it has been looked at internationally. Sadly, the conclusions are that nothing further can be done. Mr Gregory had told Mr Justice Peel that his daughter had proved everyone wrong and needed more time. You have only got one life, he had said. You have to go through a little bit of pain to carry on with that life. Mr Justice Peel considered evidence behind closed doors but allowed journalists to attend the hearing and ruled that Indi, her parents, and the hospital can be named in reports. He ruled that medics treating Indi, and a guardian appointed to represent her interests, could not be named. Indis parents are being supported by campaign group the Christian Legal Centre. Mr Gregory said after the ruling: We are devastated by the judges ruling and will be appealing. He added: The doctors painted a terribly bleak and negative picture of Indis condition during court proceedings. It feels like the trust has been given the permission they were after to legally proceed with a death sentence for Indi. Is this in the best interests of Indi or the trust? He went on: That picture was so misleading that, after hearing their evidence in court, the media reported that Indi had to be resuscitated nine times in one day. This is completely untrue. During her short life Indi has proved everybody wrong and deserves more time and care from the NHS rather than seeking to end her life as soon as possible. It is criminal that parents who are trying to do everything for their child in such difficult circumstances are taken to court and have to contend with the weight of the whole system coming against them. Indi can definitely experience happiness. She cries like a normal baby. We know she is disabled but you dont just let disabled people die. We just want to give her a chance. I and we as a family are prepared to do whatever it takes to fight for the life of our beautiful daughter, Indi. The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida announced Thursday that it charged 17 employees of the Broward County Sheriff's Office with wire fraud after they allegedly tried to defraud the government in pandemic relief loans. The defendants, who were charged in separate cases, allegedly received $495,171 in assistance from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and used the proceeds "to unjustly enrich themselves." "No matter the amount, we will not allow limited federal tax dollars, which were intended to provide a lifeline to small businesses as they struggled to stay afloat during the economically devastating pandemic lockdown, to be swindled by those who were employed in a position of trust and cast aside their duty to uphold and abide by the law," Markenzy Lapointe, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said in a statement. MORE: 'Unprecedented' fraud penetrated rollout of COVID-19 small business loans, watchdog warns The U.S. Attorney's Office charged the defendants in separate indictments that were issued between September 14 and Oct. 11. Their charges include wire fraud, which comes with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted, the U.S.Attorney's Office said. PHOTO: A police cruiser in an undated stock photo. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images) In several of the indictments, the defendants allegedly lied about their income in the application for the assistance, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement that his office received a tip that employees were participating "in fraudulent schemes to defraud the federal government," and immediately launched an internal investigation. "BSO Public Corruption Unit detectives determined more than 100 employees had submitted applications for the PPP loans. Only the employees who did not obtain the loans legally were subject to criminal investigation," Tony said in a statement. The sheriff told reporters that all of the charged employees were in the process of being terminated. We still have to follow proper protocols and since these are protected members with union rights and other different statutory obligations from the investigation practices that we have to follow, but Im not going to sugarcoat or dance around this at the end of the day, they will be gone," Tony told reporters at a news conference. Lapointe said there was no "conspiratorial component" among the 17 charged. MORE: DOJ announces first charges of alleged COVID-19 stimulus relief fraud Attorney information for the defendants, who the U.S. Attorney's Office said were all employed by the sheriff's office at the time of their alleged defrauding schemes, was not immediately available. Matt Cowart, president of IUPA Local 6020, the union representing BSO law enforcement deputies, said in a statement to ABC affiliate WPLG that the union was not "privy to all of the investigative facts." "Regardless, employees and all citizens are entitled to and shall receive due process through the court system. The Broward Sheriffs Office (BSO) is a large agency and contains approximately 5,500 employees," he said in a statement. 17 Florida sheriff's office employees charged with COVID relief fraud: Feds originally appeared on abcnews.go.com New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said officials are deeply disturbed by calls for violence in the wake of the Hamas attacks on Israel but maintained that there is no credible threat to the city at this time. We know the entire world is horrified by the attacks the terrorist organization Hamas has made on our brothers and sisters in Israel, Adams said at a security briefing Thursday. And we are deeply disturbed by the message of hate urging violence in other communities in this region and around the world. It is not acceptable. I want every New Yorker, especially Jewish New Yorkers, and other groups to know they are currently no credible or specific threats against our city, he added. Officials at the security briefing said they are working with state and local law enforcement in anticipation of tomorrows day of resistance that has been widely promoted on social media. Adams said that the city is expecting large-scale protests Friday, adding that New Yorkers must remain vigilant. Reuters reported Wednesday that former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal called for protests across the world Friday to show support for Palestinians amid the ensuing fighting in Israel. More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed in the fighting, and more than 1,100 Palestinians have died as a result of airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said at the briefing that she has talked with the Biden administration about upping security measures in the state in the aftermath of the attacks. She reiterated that there are no active threats to the state, noting that state police and the state Division of Homeland Security have been fully activated. We want to reiterate to New Yorkers, theres no reason to feel afraid. No one should feel they have to alter their normal lives or their routines, she said. And indeed, when we change our behavior without a serious, credible threat, were letting the terrorists win. I want all New Yorkers to feel confident going into a synagogue or going to school walking to the streets of New York and throughout our state over the next few days. The Los Angeles Police Department also put out a statement emphasizing that there were no specific or credible threats to the city in response to the reports of a call to action. We are closely monitoring these events and are coordinating with Federal, State, and local partners on information sharing. We will continue to closely monitor these events, the police department said in a statement. We will be reaching out to our local Jewish and Muslim communities and will be providing extra patrol during this unimaginable time. John Kirby, a White House spokesperson on national security issues, confirmed Thursday that 27 Americans have been killed in the attacks and 14 U.S. citizens are still unaccounted for. When asked about the anticipated demonstrations planned across the country, Kirby emphasized that the administration is working with local authorities. We are constantly in touch with local law enforcement, state and state and federal officials across the country to to make sure that we are as as vigilant as we can be to be able to identify and disrupt any threats to the American people. Were absolutely going to stay focused on that, he said. Updated at 8:27 pm. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Wang Yi exchanges views on Palestinian-Israeli conflict with Brazilian senior official Xinhua) 13:14, October 13, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Thursday talked with Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, chief advisor of the Presidency of Brazil, on the phone, exchanging views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Wang, also director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, said that China and Brazil are both major developing countries and emerging markets, and have been maintaining communication and coordination on strategic issues of common concern. China is willing to work with Brazil to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state and jointly lift the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership to new levels constantly. They also exchanged views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Amorim said that as the rotating president of the UN Security Council for the month of October, Brazil will host an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Friday, adding that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has issued an open letter calling on Israel to stop its air strikes and protect children. Amorim added that the key to resolving the conflict is to resume peace talks, and Brazil is willing to closely coordinate with China to jointly de-escalate the situation. Noting that China is deeply saddened by the rising tension between the Palestinians and Israel and the huge civilian casualties, Wang said China opposes acts that harm civilians and condemns violations of international law. China calls on all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate regional tensions as soon as possible and prevent further expansion of the conflict, Wang said, adding that the top priority is to ensure the safety of civilians, and open corridors for aid so as to avoid a serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Pointing out that the Palestinian issue is the core of the Middle East issue, Wang said the crux of the matter is that justice has not been done to the Palestinian people. This conflict once again proved in an extremely tragic manner that the way to solve the Palestinian issue lies in resuming genuine peace talks as soon as possible and realizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation, he added. Wang said China calls for a more authoritative and influential international peace conference as soon as possible to push the international community to reach a broader consensus based on the "two-state solution" and formulate a timetable and road map for it. Noting that the United Nations has the responsibility and obligation to play its due role on the Palestinian issue, he said China supports the Security Council in holding an emergency meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, agrees to focus on humanitarian concerns, clearly calls for practical measures to a ceasefire, an end to violence, protection of civilians, and the formation of a binding international consensus. Wang stressed that China is willing to maintain communication, coordination and close cooperation with Brazil and relevant parties in this regard. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) The "Day of Jihad" attack in France led to the death of a French teacher and injured two other individuals. Authorities said that the incident happened after the suspect was able to enter the Gambetta High School in the northern city of Arras. Police officials claim that the stabber was allegedly a former student of the school. Here are other major details they shared. France: 'Day of Jihad' Attack Kills Teacher, Injures Two According to Breitbart's latest report, the stabber has been identified as Mohamed Mogouchkov. Police officers said that the suspect used a knife to stab his victims, which included the dead teacher and two injured people. They added that wounds to the neck and throat were found on the bodies of the three victims. One of them was even stabbed in the carotid artery. The Guardian reported that Mogouchkov is a 19-year-old Chechen refugee in France. He claims that his family was already subjected to deportation because they have been accused of illegally living in the country since 2014. However, reports clarified that a group of civil society, as well as pro-migrant organizations, were able to encourage the France's government to halt the deportation. Despite this, Mogouchkov continued his terrorist-like plan. On Oct. 13 at 11:00 a.m. local time, the stabber decided to attach the high school. He even screamed "Allahu Akbar" before killing the teacher and attacking other people. Police officer Sliman Hamzi, one of the first responders on the scene, said that he was alerted when one of his colleagues passed in front of the high school shouting that a man was attacking with a knife. "Colleagues arrived quickly but unfortunately couldn't save the victim," he said. Read Also: Responding in Kind? Human Rights Watch Accuses Israel of Using White Phosphorus Munitions Against Gaza, Lebanon Police Says Stabber Was Former Student of French School Sliman Hamzi claimed that the stabber was a former student at the Gambetta High School. The police officer's statement was backed by a PE teacher. Fabien Dufay, a physical education teacher at the school, said that Mogouchkov was one of his pupils during his final year as an educator at the Gambetta High School. He added that when the criminal was still his former student, he was reserved and calm. Dufay added that he was able to have completely normal conversations with the 19-year-old boy. But, what the teacher didn't know was that Mogouchkov is known to the security services for his involvement with radical Islam. If you want to learn more details about the "Day of Jihad" stabber in France, you can click this link. Related Article: Israeli Women Miraculously Escape From Hamas Terrorists After IDF Troops Arrive in Heart-Pounding Moment @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It was a painting in the lobby of a Benin hotel last year that changed the way Afrobeats star Mr Eazi thought about art. I saw this piece by (Benin-based artist) Patricorel of two skeletons sitting on a bench, the 32-year-old Nigerian music star told CNN in an interview via Zoom. For me, it was so striking because as soon as I saw it, I just knew it was about love (and the idea of) til death do us part. And I realized that visual arts could really represent the emotions in (my) songs. The encounter kickstarted a desire in Mr Eazi (born Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade) to take listeners beyond music, and create a multi-sensory experience for his next album. The result is the much anticipated 16-track The Evil Genius (out October 27) on which each song is accompanied by a specially commissioned piece of art. The works will also be exhibited in galleries internationally in Accra, Lagos, London (where they will be displayed as part of a listening experience the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair between October 1215) and in New York. "Legalize" by Benin-based artist Patricorel. - Courtesy the artist Fusing influences is something Mr Eazi who is known as the creator of Banku Music (a combination of Ghanaian and Nigerian sounds and culture) has made his calling card. The Evil Genius is a pan-African project, he said, written over two years and recorded in Ghana, Nigeria, Benin and Rwanda, as well as the US and UK. The artwork, too, is drawn from across the continent: with contributions from 13 visual artists from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Benin to Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal and Kenya. The Evil Genius is Mr Eazis most personal album yet, he told CNN, exploring themes of success, fear, family, religion and relationships as well as his battle to come to terms with other peoples interpretations of him. I realised that I had an obsession not with who I think I am internally, but who other people think I am, he explained. It was at the point where it was like a prison. I just couldnt sustain it. Taking that pressure and turning it into introspection, the album is both a newly personal portrait of a man defining who he is in real time, and a reintroduction of sorts to the groundbreaking vocalist who has collaborated with the likes of Beyonce and Reggaeton star J Balvin over the last decade. Tammy Sinclair's string art piece for the album's opening track OLUWA JO, took nearly a month to create. - Courtesy the artist Take the albums opening song, OLUWA JO, which sets the tone for the project both aesthetically and sonically, starting with a pleading prayer and an equally visceral visual by Nigerian artist Tammy Sinclair. I have all these blessings but Im also scared, Eazi explained of the music. That song is the first time I actually communicate that Im scared of losing it all. I say in the chorus (in Yoruba, one of the three main languages spoken in Nigeria) come lift me up, God, dont let me fall. Sinclairs artwork an embroidered portrait of a man with his head raised to the skies, light rays beaming from within him as cherubs look on in the background captures that sense of divine surrender. Using a style known as string art, the image is shaped through a collection of yarn and thread lines and took a month to create. Kenyan artist Alpha ODG's 2023 work "Advice" was created after listening to the single on repeat for a week. - Courtesy the artist I listened to (the song) over and over for a couple of days, said Sinclair of their process in an interview with CNN. I drew inspiration from his emotions and of course, the lyrics and an image flashed in my head. I wanted to evoke hope, honesty and fear. On another track, Mandela, the Togolese artist Foli Kossi Gerard Tete (known as Tesprit) worked with materials mostly the soles of salvaged flip flops discarded in landfills in Togos capital city of Lome to create a 3D sculpture of a young son perched on his fathers lap. I speak about the sacrifices (made by) my dad that have brought me to this point, Mr Eazi says of Mandela. My dad prayed for me, he fought battles for me so that I wouldnt get into trouble The lyrics provided inspiration for Tesprit to create his own intimate portrait of fatherhood. I was moved by Mr Eazis story and his relationship with his father, he told CNN. My artwork symbolizes protection The presence of a cross in the artwork (represents) faith, dreams and a hope for a better life. Tesprit worked with the soles of flip flops salvaged from landfill to create a 3D sculpture depicting fatherhood to complement Mr Eazi's song 'Mandela." - Courtesy the artist The process of piecing together the project has been an exhilarating one for Mr Eazi, who sourced artists by way of personal relationships as well as via social media and at art fairs in cities like Cape Town, South Africa. But, he admits, he is still getting to grips with the art world. I interacted with art in a way where there was no boundary, he said. I just saw the art and it spoke to me. Bringing these two worlds together is introducing art to people like myself, who thought it was just for bougie people. Were dropping the barriers (to) consumption. And as the profile of African creativity continues to soar in the global sphere with the rise of genres like African pop, R&B, Afrobeats and dance genres such as amapiano, African artists are in a better position than ever to reclaim their own image. One of the most exciting things for me is that art represents an opportunity to discover people without a pre-bias its exerting soft power, said Mr Eazi. Were defining ourselves through these mediums that are free; theres no judgment in art. And theres a repositioning and a boldness that its bringing and economic freedom, a lot of people are moving out of poverty by their (own) hands and by their creativity. Elangwe Sesse's piece titled "The Way I See It." - Courtesy the artist And the possibilities for collaborations across mediums to maximize reach and impact are proving to be endless. Its an ecosystem, Mr Eazi summarises. African music should be in African film and African art with African music Thats culture, thats the flood. Hitting people in life with unabashed, undiluted Africanness and pride and thats what excites me about this collaboration. Mr Eazis album The Evil Genius will be released on 27 October. The art and music experience will be on display at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair 2023 at Somerset House, London from 12 - 15 October. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman to discuss the fallout from Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, especially repercussions in the occupied West Bank. During their meeting, Blinken reiterated "the United States unequivocal condemnation of the abhorrent terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel" and "detailed U.S. efforts to coordinate with partners to prevent the conflict from widening," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a readout. "The Secretary extended his condolences to the families of Palestinian civilian victims of this conflict, and reiterated that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian peoples legitimate right to dignity, freedom, justice, and self-determination," Miller said. Blinken also thanked Abbas for his efforts to "further calm" the region and he "reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to cooperation with the Palestinian leadership and people on efforts to ensure security for all," Miller added. The secretary's trip to Jordan, along much of Israels eastern border, comes after he met with officials in Israel, as well as people directly affected by the attack and war, which has killed more than 1,300 in Israel, including at least 27 Americans. In Gaza, more than 1,500 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, with fears of a humanitarian crisis mounting. Blinken also met in Jordan with King Abdullah II, who has been in touch with President Joe Biden since the crisis in Gaza erupted. The Jordanian leader has served as a key mediator in Middle East-related negotiations for decades. Blinken and Abdullah discussed "the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel," Miller said in a separate statement. They also talked about efforts to secure the release of all hostages and prevent the conflict from widening." Blinken underscored that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian peoples right to dignity and self-determination and discussed ways to address the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza while Israel conducts legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorists, Miller added. Abbas heads the Palestinian Authority, which partially administers the West Bank. His Fatah movement is a rival of Hamas, which controls Gaza. Follow live updates from NBC News here. Abbas is under pressure from Palestinians because of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the Gaza Strip and the devastating Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in response to Hamas attack. The Israeli military on Friday ordered residents of northern Gaza to evacuate south, raising fears that a potential ground assault may be imminent. While Blinken met with Israeli officials Thursday, Abdullah spoke with Abbas separately and discussed ways to stop the all-out aggression against our Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian News & Information Agency, or WAFA. During their conversation, Abbas called for an immediate end to aggression toward Palestinians and the need to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as water and electricity in the enclave that Israel cut off as part of a total siege. The news agency said Abbas called for political action to end Israels occupation but also said that on both sides of the conflict, civilians, prisoners and detainees should be released. Abbas reaffirmed his belief that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the legitimate group representing all Palestinians, not Hamas, a reminder of how opposed the two groups are. We emphasize the policy of the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, which renounce violence and adheres to international legitimacy, peaceful popular resistance, and political action as a path to achieving our national goals of freedom and independence, leading to ending the occupation and embodying the independence of our Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders, Abbas said in a statement. Its unclear how much influence Abbas might have under the current circumstances, as the PLO and Hamas have largely been adversaries for almost two decades, with Hamas dismissing all agreements between the PLO and Israel. In a 2006 election, the secular Fatah party of which Abbas serves as chairman lost its majority in the Palestinian territories to Hamas. Hamas took violent control of Gaza in 2007 and, since then, there has been ongoing conflict between Hamas and the PLO. Blinken, who has been addressing concerns about the residents of Gaza, said Thursday that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed possibilities for safe passage for civilians who want to leave or get out of the way in Gaza. Thats a conversation, a discussion, that we will pursue in the coming days, including with some of the countries that well be visiting, he said. After Jordan, Blinken is expected to meet with leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar. By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Maya Gebeily AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Calls for a humanitarian corridor or an escape route for Palestinians from Gaza as a conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has escalated have drawn a blunt reaction from Arab neighbours. Egypt, the only Arab state to share a border with Gaza, and Jordan, which is next to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, have both warned against Palestinians being forced off their land. It reflects deep Arab fears that Israel's latest war with Hamas in Gaza could spark a new wave of permanent displacement from land where Palestinians want to build a future state. "This is the cause of all causes, the cause of all Arabs," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Thursday. "It is important that the (Palestinian) people remain steadfast and present on their land." For Palestinians, the idea of leaving or being driven out of land where they want to forge a state carries echoes of the "Nakba", or "catastrophe", when many Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation. Some 700,000 Palestinians, half the Arab population of what was British-ruled Palestine, were dispossessed and displaced, many spilling into neighbouring Arab states where they or many of their descendants remain. Many still live in refugee camps. Israel contests the assertion it drove Palestinians out, saying it was attacked by five Arab states after its creation. Since Israel launched its intense bombardment of Gaza after a devastating assault by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, hundreds of thousands of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have fled their homes, while still staying inside Gaza, a small, slither of land wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. 'PREVENTING A SPILLOVER' The Israeli military on Friday warned civilians of Gaza City, more than 1 million people, to relocate south within 24 hours for their own safety, an announcement that was taken as a signal that Israel could be launching a land invasion soon. "Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land," was the message broadcast from mosques in Gaza, as tens of thousands of people headed south. Others vowed to stay. "Death is better than leaving," said Mohammad, 20, outside a bombed Gaza building. Jordan's King Abdullah warned "against any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from all Palestinian territories or cause their internal displacement, calling for preventing a spillover of the crisis into neighbouring countries and the exacerbation of the refugee issue." The head of the 22-member Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, urgently appealed to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to condemn "this insane Israeli effort to transfer the population". The United States said this week it was talking to Israel and Egypt about the idea of safe passage for Gaza civilians. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "Civilians need to be protected. We do not want to see a mass exodus of Gazans." Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said the evacuation warning was "to temporarily move (people) south ... to mitigate civilian harm." "The U.N. should be praising Israel for these precautionary actions," Erdan told U.N. diplomats at a Israel-hosted event with families of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas. "For years, the U.N. has put its head in the sand in the face of Hamas's terror build-up in Gaza." The fate of Palestinian refugees is one of the thorniest issues in the moribund peace process. Palestinians and Arab states say a deal should include the right of those refugees and their descendants to return, something Israel has always rejected. Some Israeli statements have fuelled Arab apprehension. An Israeli military spokesman said on Tuesday he would advise Palestinians to "get out" through the Rafah crossing on Gaza's southern border with Egypt. Israel's military issued a clarification stating the crossing was at that time closed. The Rafah crossing is the main gateway for people in Gaza to the outside world. All the other exits lead to Israel. In Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, Mariam al-Farra, a 36-year-old mother of two, said people displaced inside the enclave were crammed together without water, power or internet links. "People are just saying we are all going to Sinai that we are going to be forcibly displaced," she said. "We have nothing to do with any of this. We just want to live in peace." COLD PEACE Since Islamist group Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Egypt has helped maintain a blockade of the strip, largely sealing off its border and imposing tight controls over the passage of goods and people through Rafah. Egypt faced an Islamist insurgency in northern Sinai that peaked after 2013 before security forces re-established control, and security sources and analysts say it wants to prevent infiltration by militants from Hamas - which shares an ideology with the Muslim Brotherhood, a group outlawed in Egypt. Egypt says the Rafah crossing is open and they are trying to secure the delivery of humanitarian relief into Gaza, although this has been hampered by Israeli bombardments close to the border. Cairo has also indicated that the resolution of the issue through any mass exodus of Palestinians is unacceptable. Opposition to new displacement of Palestinians runs deep in Egypt, where a peace treaty with Israel more than four decades ago secured an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula but never led to reconciliation on a popular level. "Egyptian public opinion would overwhelmingly see this as a prelude to ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, basically expulsion, where it would be expected then that they just never would go back," said H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. The conflict around Gaza has also stirred long-standing fears in Jordan, home to a large population of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, that a wider conflagration would give the Israelis the opportunity to implement a transfer policy to expel Palestinians en masse from the West Bank. After an emergency Arab League meeting on Wednesday, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said all Arab states agreed to confront any attempt to displace Palestinians from their homeland. (Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman; Additional reportinb by Aidan Lewis, Tom Perry, Aiden Nulty and Michelle Nichols; Writing by Aidan Lewis) By Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian police are considering applying special stop-and-search powers for the first time in almost two decades for people attending a pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday, as tensions rise after the bloody Hamas incursion into Israel. New South Wales (NSW) state police said they had sought legal advice about special powers not used since race riots in 2005 that allow police to search and demand identities without cause of those attending the rally in Sydney. "If they fail to do so it is an offence, these are extraordinary powers," Acting Commissioner Dave Hudson told a press conference on Friday. Police expect more than 400 people to attend the rally in Sydney's Hyde Park. The plan for the demonstration has touched off debate after footage from a Monday rally by the same group showed people chanting "gas the Jews". Organisers said members of a fringe group of "vile" antisemites attended and were told to leave. The protest organiser, the Palestine Action Group Sydney, have said the rally will go ahead without police authorisation, and it defended the right to demonstrate after calls from various politicians for the event to be cancelled. Countries across the developed world are curbing pro-Palestinian protests out of concern the Israel-Hamas conflict could trigger violence at home. France banned pro-Palestinian protests on Thursday saying they were likely to "generate disturbances to public order". Police arrested three men on Friday outside the Jewish Museum of Australia in Sydney for making Nazi salutes, media reported. "I expect, and so do NSW Police, the full extent of the law will be applied to those people," state premier Chris Minns told a press conference. Australia's intelligence chief has warned about the possibility of violence and called for people to tone down rhetoric that could inflame tensions. (Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Stephen Coates, Robert Birsel) Darryl George and his mother, Darresha George, talk to reporters (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) A Black Texas teen has been kicked out of his school after a month-long suspension for alleged infractions that included breaking an almost-expired rule about hairstyles. Darryl George, 18, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, will be moved to an alternative program for students with disciplinary issues through 29 November, according to a notice sent to Mr Georges mother, Darresha George, and obtained by NPR. The teen will be allowed to return to class at Barbers Hill on November 30, according to the notice. The notice, which was written by the schools principal, Lance Murphy, alleged multiple infractions of campus and classroom rules, including disruption of the in-school classroom, failure to comply with directives from staff/administration, violation of tardy policy, and violation of the dress and grooming policy. The Independent reached out to a Barbers Hill Independent School District spokesperson, David Bloom, who insisted that Mr Georges hair, which he wears in various Afrocentric styles, had nothing to do with his removal: The student did NOT get placed in his current disciplinary placement because of his hair. Confidentiality does not allow us to disclose the infractions that caused his current disciplinary placement but it was unequivocally not because of his hair. The Independent then asked whether there had been any discussions around changing the grooming code, to which Mr Bloom replied: No. The Independent has also reached out to the Georges lawyer. Last month, the teen and his mother filed a lawsuit in federal court against Governor Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the school district and others. The 23 September complaint accuses the defendants of violating the CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act of Texas. Mr George was suspended one day before the law went into effect. The school district administrators discipline students who violate the dress and grooming code as those administrators deem appropriate. Unfortunately, the disparate impact of the enforcement of their dress and grooming code is against black males with locs, braids, twists, and protective styles, the filing reads. The school district, which is about 30 miles east of Houston, then filed a lawsuit in state court asking for clarification over the CROWN Act. Although we believe the new law does not govern hair length, we are asking the judicial system of Texas to interpret, Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole told the Associated Press at the time. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said he discussed with Israeli officials how to protect civilians in Gaza from harm and efforts to provide humanitarian assistance, as Israel has launched a punishing aerial campaign in response to an unprecedented assault by the terrorist group Hamas. During a press conference in Israel, Blinken said civilians in Gaza are not the target of Israels legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism and to try to ensure that this never happens again. Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields, something thats not new, something that theyve always done, intentionally putting civilians in harms way to try to protect themselves or protect their infrastructure or protect their weapons, Blinken said. So thats one of the basic facts that Israel has to deal with. Biden administration officials have said they expect Israel to abide by international laws of war as it conducts counterstrikes in Gaza. But concerns are mounting that the strips small size and dense population an estimated 2 million people in an area of 140 square miles will result in a significant civilian death toll and a humanitarian crisis for those displaced. Israel had announced a siege of the Gaza Strip following Hamass attack, which was launched Saturday morning, with more than 1,000 believed killed. Reports have emerged of horrendous atrocities, such as people massacred at a concert, shot in their homes and on the street and mutilated bodies. Blinken, after reviewing images of those killed, described Hamass attack as depravity, in the worst imaginable way, it almost defies comprehension. Israel, in response, has stopped the supply of electricity, fuel, food and other commodities through Israeli crossings into Gaza as it carries out large-scale airstrikes against Hamas. A Gaza crossing with Egypt, at Rafah, has reportedly been closed since Tuesday amid Israeli airstrikes on the strip. Blinken said that he discussed with Israeli officials ways to address the humanitarian needs of people living in Gaza and to protect them from harm, including the possibility for the safe passage of civilians to leave Gaza. So this is important. And this is an area for focus. The Gaza Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas, has said that total casualties in the strip amount to 1,354 killed and 6,049 injured as of Thursday. It is warning that the health system in the strip is beginning to collapse, that intensive care unit beds are filled and the number of injured people exceeds the capacity of operation rooms. The threat of further civilian casualties in Gaza also extends to an estimated 150 hostages that Hamas kidnapped from inside Israel, with Americans believed to be among them. U.S. officials have said they have limited to no information on the condition of hostages, where they are being held or their locations, either grouped together or spread out across the strip. Hamas has built up a network of tunnels under the strip that it uses to move around and avoid Israeli strikes. Blinken said he would continue conversations on the humanitarian situation for people in Gaza with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordans King Abdullah and leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Qatar. Across each of these engagements, well continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages, Blinken said. Many of these governments have contacts with Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 after ousting the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in a bloody takeover, even as it had control of the government following elections in the strip in 2006. Previous instances of negotiations between Hamas and countries such as Egypt, Qatar and the UAE had brought about a cease-fire with Israel and periods of calm. Yet this is unlikely to happen in the short term, as Israel has rejected calls for negotiations or a cease-fire and is making preparations for a possible ground invasion. Lior Haiat, spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters in a briefing Thursday that Israel is not negotiating anything right now. Israel is still at war there are still terrorists in Israeli territory, Haiat said. They are still launching missiles we are still fighting terrorists that are trying to enter Israel and to murder Israelis. So there is no negotiation, mediation, about that. Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told reporters that Israel is carrying out strikes on Gaza on military targets, according to our values, to our morals and according also to international law of armed conflict. He spoke of the challenge of carrying out strikes, describing Hamas as embedding itself in the population by building an underground tunnel network below houses, schools, kindergartens, hospitals because they know that we follow, again, our morals, our values, and the law of armed conflict. He said the IDF is making efforts to warn civilians about incoming strikes, including dropping leaflets, phone calls and small armaments dropped on the roofs of buildings to signal an incoming strike. But he said some strikes are carried out faster than warnings can be delivered. Sadly, there are times that we cannot [deliver warnings] and yet, that is because its a time-critical targets, or for other reasons, that we need to carry out a strike without using those very high amount of efforts that are put into making sure that as least as possible civilians are hurt, injured and of course, hopefully, not killed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. (Reuters) -China's biggest ride-hailing company, Didi Global, aims to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange next year, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Didi did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The company delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in 2022 after it ran afoul of Chinese regulators by pushing ahead with a $4.4 billion listing in the U.S in July 2021. A majority of shareholders approved that plan in May last year. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) launched an investigation into Didi just days after the firm made its debut in New York, citing a need to protect national security and the public interest. Didi was banned by Chinese regulators from taking on new users and its app not available from mid-2021 until January 2023. The ride-hailing firm was fined $1.2 billion in July 2022 over data-security breaches. Didi has contemplated a Hong Kong listing previously, Reuters has reported, with a listing by introduction where new capital is not raised as one option. The regulatory intervention against Didi prompted an immediate freeze on Chinese companies' ambitions to list in the United States, and new share sale activity has yet to be bounce back. Chinese authorities have since implemented a tough range of new laws that companies wanting to hold an overseas listings have to meet before carrying out an IPO. (Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; writing by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Jamie Freed and Gerry Doyle) My family and I just returned from a trip to Illinois for a cousins wedding. It was my first time in the Land of Lincoln, and my initial impression can be summed up in one word: Green. After the planed landed in Chicago, we ventured 45 miles north to the small city of Woodstock. It is best known as the location for Bill Murrays Groundhog Day movie. Besides a quaint downtown of historic buildings and an excellent Saturday farmers market, Woodstock has an abundance of parks and wooded preserves. In fact, when driving Highway 14 from Interstate 90 to Woodstock, one discovers a nonstop emerald necklace of parks, woods and ball fields. Theres also lots of ponds, some lakes and the Fox River. It quickly became apparent that, a) Illinois gets more rain than California, and b) it puts an emphasis on having parks and open space. Even within several miles of Chicagos busy Ohare International Airport is a wooded preserve and the Salt Creek trail system. Nearby are big apartment complexes. How nice, I thought. Those tenants can enjoy a moment in precious open space here in Americas third-largest city, population 2.6 million. In Woodstock, population 25,000, 80% of residents live within a 10-minute walk to a park, according to the Trust for Public Land. In Fresno, by contrast, 66% of its 544,000 residents are within a 10-minute walk to a park. The trust earlier this year gave Fresno a 98th place ranking of Americas 100 largest cities for park space. Fresno has been stuck in the 90s on the park score for years. Woodstock is located in McHenry County. It boasts 30 parks and open spaces. Fresno County, by contrast, has 16 parks. Then there is the Land Trust of McHenry County. It has preserved more than 3,200 acres of land within the county. Many if not all of the preserves have trails for public use. I Googled Fresno County land trust and came up with the California Rangeland Trust, which works with cattle ranchers to preserve their lands. Three ranches on the far west side of Fresno County are in such arrangements, but are not for public use. Off-limits for farming To be fair, much of Fresno County is privately held farm land. Our county is an agricultural behemoth growers, dairy producers and ranchers combined for gross revenues of $8.1 billion in 2022, according to the latest report by Agricultural Commissioner Melissa Cregan. Then there are the national parks Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon as well as national forests in the Sierra. Those open spaces are treasures. There is recreation on the San Joaquin and Kings rivers, too. And brown hills are just a fact of life in Californias dry climate. Our period of green grass covering the open spaces goes by so fast each spring. Still, it was impressive to witness the preservation efforts and park priorities of the people of Illinois. I am assuming such an ethic extends to other Midwestern states. One day we drove to southern Wisconsin and did a nice hike on a four-mile section of the 1,200-mile-long Ice Age Trail. We went through a heavily wood preserve to the Rock River. The ending point: Riverside Park, naturally. More Fresno parks Fresno is trying to become more parks oriented. Mayor Jerry Dyer and the City Council adopted a new budget in June that hiked parks funding by $33.7 million, to a total of $262 million. Measure P, passed a few years ago, mandates dedicated spending on parks. But it will take specific focus of city leaders to see Measure Ps vision to reality. Meanwhile, the county Board of Supervisors is not helping matters when it extended an already expired mining permit along the San Joaquin River. Making that decision worse, the mining company is working on a new proposal to set off explosives to literally blow a giant pit to produce gravel. How offensive to anyone recreating on the river. A tragedy of Fresnos past was not connecting the San Joaquin River better to the city. Great cities have rivers or other water features in their urban makeup. Think New York or Chicago, San Francisco or Seattle. Fresnos omission cannot be undone. But more parks can be built so residents can get the mental and physical benefits of being outside. Fresnos climate is much more agreeable than Woodstocks, for sure. The average low in Woodstock in January is 12 degrees. If Illinois and the people of Woodstock can cherish parks and open space, Fresno can, too. Daniel Sturridge's last game was in April 2022 for Perth Glory Ex-England striker Daniel Sturridge has denied he owes a $30,000 (24,737) reward and instructed lawyers to act on his behalf in a dispute over his dog. Sturridge offered the reward in 2019, saying Lucci the Pomeranian was stolen during a break-in at a house in Los Angeles, before later being reunited with his pet. The Daily Mail says American rapper Foster Washington launched a civil suit as he claims he is owed the money, and adds that a warrant for Sturridge's arrest has been issued. In December 2021, Sturridge was ordered to pay the money - plus costs of $85 - to Washington. Court documents at the time showed that judgement was given by default, meaning Sturridge did not respond to the complaint. The new Daily Mail report says Sturridge, 34, failed to appear in an LA court and an arrest warrant was issued. A new hearing has been set for 30 November. The ex-Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool striker said on social media that Thursday's article was "the first time my family and I heard that someone is continuing to try to get money from me". His statement said: "I personally paid a reward to the young boy who found him. He was delighted with the reward, as were my family and I to get Lucci home. The person seeking payment is not due any money, I already paid the young boy who found Lucci. "I was unaware of the court hearing even taking place. The legal paperwork was sent to the Airbnb property which we had left within 24 hours of the burglary. "Therefore, I have not had the opportunity to properly represent myself in relation to these false claims. "With that being said, I have now instructed California lawyers to deal with matters on my behalf. I am confident that this will be resolved in my favour quickly and put an end to the speculative claim for good." Sturridge has never officially retired from playing, but has not been with registered a club since leaving Perth Glory in the summer of 2022. The Football Association (FA)s decision not to light up the Wembley arch to pay respects to Israel has been branded mind-blowing by the Governments independent adviser on antisemitism. Bodies across the UK have been urged by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to pay tribute at sporting events to victims of violence in Israel after attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas on the country. Ahead of Fridays friendly between the English and Australian football teams at Wembley Stadium, the FA said players will wear black armbands and a period of silence will be observed to remember victims of the conflict. However, the arch will not be lit and flags, replica kits and other representations of nationality beyond those related to England or Australia will not be allowed inside the venue. Lord John Mann, the Governments antisemitism adviser, told LBCs Nick Ferrari: I made it easy for them (the FA). I said, Why dont you put up the Jewish prayer colours which have been there for thousands of years? The Wembley arch is seen by the Jewish community in north London more than any other icon, and the fact they couldnt do that for an hour or two last night just to give that message of hope and comfort, I find depressing. I find it quite mind-blowing. Instead theyre having a minutes silence on a Friday evening when not a single Jewish person will be present. The FA has been criticised by the Government and Jewish organisations for its decision. Last year, it lit the arch in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukraine flag after the country was invaded by Russia. The Wembley arch lit up in the colours of Ukraines flag (Amanda Rose/Wembley Park/PA) After Hamass attack at the weekend, the Israeli military retaliated by firing missiles at the Gaza Strip, with a ground offensive also being prepared. The conflict is thought to have already left close to 3,000 people dead. Lord Mann said he is kept awake at night by the danger posed to Jews in Britain. The peer added: When schools are too scared to open, when families are scared to go out, it is scary, very scary. Public security forces globally are deploying additional presence in cities across the US and the world after former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urged supporters of Palestine to protest against what they perceived as Israel's illegal occupation. Many observers and reporters named this call to action a "Day of Rage" or a "Day of Jihad." Here is how some countries are responding to Hamas's call to protest. Arab/Muslim World: Protests Left and Right Many nations that have a predominantly Muslim population have heeded Meshaal's call to take to the streets after Friday prayers. "Send a message from the streets and squares," he said in a televised call earlier this week. "A message of rage that we stand with Palestine, Gaza, Al-Aqsa mosque, and Jerusalem, and that we are part of this battle." He also called for Arabs to participate in a "jihad" by making donations to support Hamas, The Messenger reported. As of writing, there were confirmed reports of rallies taking place in Baghdad and Sanaa. Jordanian riot police were also deployed to disperse hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to reach a border area as thousands of others held anti-Israel demonstrations throughout the country. France and China: Knife Crimes A school teacher in Arras in northeastern France has been stabbed to death by a 20-year-old Chechen man named Mohamed Mogouchkov. French police have also said two others were also injured. It was alleged that Mogouchkov stabbed the teacher while shouting the Islamic war cry "Allahu Akhbar." He was arrested at the scene shortly after. French news site AFP reported that Mogouchkov was said to have been under close scrutiny by French authorities for suspicion of radical extremism that he was both wiretapped and subjected to physical surveillance. Despite these precautions, it was claimed that he still managed to launch an attack without being interdicted. Earlier this week, French police shut down a pro-Palestinian rally in Paris by deploying teargas and water cannons to disperse protesters, who took to the streets despite a national ban issued by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. Meanwhile, an Israeli embassy staffer was attacked in broad daylight in Beijing. The assailant, who wore a matching white shirt and pants and was armed with a knife, has yet to be identified and apprehended. The staffer, which the Israeli foreign ministry has not named, was taken to hospital and is now in a stable condition. It was alleged that a video of the incident was purportedly shared on Chinese social media. Investigation regarding the stabbing is underway. Read Also: Israel Orders Residents Out of Gaza City as Military Gathers Tanks, Prepares to Invade Germany: President Steinmeier Calls October 13 'Day of Fear' In Berlin, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke at the Fraenkelufer synagogue on Friday in solidarity with the Jews of Germany on what he called a "day of fear" after Hamas's call to action. Steinmeier was flanked by community members, including some holding posters depicting people missing in Israel. "[M]y place today is among you," he said. "At this time, I represent our whole nation at the side of our threatened compatriots, at the side of all Jews in Germany." US: Coast-to-Coast Law Enforcement Visibility Places across the US are on high alert, with major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Washington reportedly enhancing security around both Jewish and Muslim sites since the beginning of the war. In particular, armed police have been augmented to assure the safety of Jews as Hamas called for Muslims the world over to protest. U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department have also been visible across Washington, including the deployment of fences around the US Capitol building, as per Fox News. "We are enhancing security throughout the Capitol Complex," Capitol Police said in a statement. "Some of what we are doing will be visible, but for safety reasons, we cannot provide the public details about all of the resources that we are putting into protecting the Congress." The New York City Police Department also said Thursday night (October 12) that it has "increased our uniform deployments at large gatherings and cultural sites to ensure public safety." Additionally, the Los Angeles Police Department said the same day that it is assessing the situation as well. Elsewhere, the FBI told reporters on Thursday that it was aware of Hamas's call for global action that might lead to demonstrations in communities throughout the country. "We are working closely with our law enforcement partners across the country to share information and identify and disrupt any threats that may emerge," it said. Related Article: Ex-Hamas Chief Urges Neighbors To Join War Against Israel, Calls for Stronger Action From Arab World @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis clashed with a voter while on the campaign trail in Littleton, New Hampshire, on Thursday, in a heated exchange over the Israel-Hamas war. A local man, identified by The New York Times as local Arab-American ski shop owner Ron Lahout, confronted Mr DeSantis about unverified claims babies are being beheaded in Gaza. Mr Lahout began by asking Mr DeSantis what he thought about the annihilation and the decapitation of all the Palestinians in Gaza right now. They are not decapitating babies heads, Mr DeSantis can be heard saying of Israeli forces. They are not intentionally doing that. It comes after unverified reports emerged of Palestinian militants decapitating babies during the attack by Hamas on Israel on Saturday. They are blowing up entire residential buildings, Mr Lahout then said of the Israeli bombings in Gaza. The confrontation continued with Mr DeSantis arguing that the Israelis warned civilians in Gaza to leave before the shellings and that Hamas has told them to stay because Hamas wants them to be human shields. How many other armed forces give warnings to get out? Mr DeSantis then asked. Mr Lahout, who said he worked in Gaza refugee camps in the 1980s, countered that he didnt condone the killing of any innocent civilians. And I dont condone what Hamas did in the kibbutzes, he continued. But Israel is doing the exact same thing with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a radical, right-wing, crazy person. And I see hundreds of Palestinian families that are dead, and they have nowhere to go because they cant leave Gaza because no ones opening their borders. The Florida governor then asks: Why arent these Arab countries willing to absorb some of the Palestinian Arabs? before Mr Lahout walks out saying, You had my vote, but you dont now. The exchange occurred after Mr DeSantis criticized Palestinians in Gaza for aligning with Hamas, according to The New York Times. Mr DeSantis is among several candidates running against former President Donald Trump to be the Republican 2024 presidential candidate. Mr Trump is currently the GOP front-runner, with a 42-point lead over Mr DeSantis, despite facing four criminal indictments. In his latest campaign move, Mr DeSantis attacked the ex-president for his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and praise of Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Mr Trump called the group very smart at a rally Wednesday night while also lashing out at Prime Minister Netanyahu, who he said he had a bad experience working with. Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, Mr DeSantis wrote on social media, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as very smart. Hamas stormed into Israel early on Saturday morning, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens of captives across the Gaza border in a devastating terror attack that caught the countrys security forces by surprise. At least 27 Americans are among the dead, the White House confirmed. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes by Israeli forces since Mr Netanyahu declared a state of war on Saturday and promised mighty vengeance. On Friday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ordered all Gaza civilians to leave the area and head south a command the United Nations said is impossible to carry out. When he heard that Hamas militants were attacking a music festival his family was attending, Ben said Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, for his mother. I didnt know what to do. I said please kill her because it would be better than being kidnapped, Ben, whose surname CNN is not using for security concerns, said on Wednesday. Its a nightmare. I said please kill her, dont take her there. Over WhatsApp, he watched, helpless, as his mother and younger brother sent updates for eight hours, telling him that they were hiding in small bushes, hearing gunfire and people walking past saying Allahu Akbar. (Every message) took about two minutes to arrive and in between there was no communication, he said. Every two minutes you are tearing your hair out to get an answer. Eventually, Ben heard of a secure location, sent the map to his brother and they managed to escape from the festival. The next morning, Ben flew to Israel from London where he lives with his British wife and children. He is one of many Israelis returning home from abroad as their countrys long-running conflict with Hamas escalates into a war not seen on this scale for a generation. To cope with the increasing demand, Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia added more flights on Tuesday to repatriate military reservists, Reuters reported. Cutting short holidays or uprooting their everyday lives overseas, these Israelis are returning for funerals, in preparation for being called up into the military reserves, carrying supplies back with them, or to help protect their communities. At least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel following Hamas deadly and brutal attack on October 7 when its militants broke through the heavily fortified border from Gaza, leaving atrocities in their wake. Israel has responded by hammering Gaza with airstrikes and halting supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel to the Palestinian enclave. At least 1,417 people have been killed in Gaza in the days since, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the enclaves only power station ran out of fuel on Wednesday. Straight after seeing his family when he landed in Israel, Ben went to Lod, a city about nine miles southeast of Tel Aviv, where there had previously been outbursts of violence. There he joined friends in forming an impromptu neighborhood watch, to ensure the situation remained calm. He has since helped to deliver donated food and is planning to drive to the south of the country as there arent enough drivers to take people to their families. At least theres something that I can do, he said. I couldnt stay in London and just watch it all happening on TV. Another returning Israeli is 30-year-old Guy, who works in cybersecurity and has lived in London for the last five years. CNN is not using his surname for safety reasons. Guy traveled back to Israel on Wednesday after learning that six of his friends were missing after attending the Supernova music festival. Two of the group have since been confirmed dead. Guy, who lives in London, has returned to Israel to join up as a reservist, but also attend the funerals of friends killed at the Supernova festival. - Courtesy Guy He told CNN that he is returning to be a military reservist, and for the funerals of his friends, who were part of a close circle that often went to trance music festivals, like Supernova, alongside Palestinians too. The generation born since the Yom Kippur War have never seen anything like this, he said. They have had the opportunity to believe in peace and the two-state solution we grew up with that The people that go to these festivals participate as citizens of the world who essentially just want to celebrate life. Israel has called up 300,000 reservists to fight for its military, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Maj. Doron Spielman told CNN Wednesday, a mobilization on the scale of a major country such as the United States, despite Israels relatively small population of 9.7 million, according to data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics in April. Theres not a family that does not have somebody thats been called up. Or, unfortunately, since were such a small country, a family that does not have friends, or loved ones that are still missing, Spielman told CNN. Though there are some exemptions, every Israeli citizen over the age of 18 is required to serve in the IDF. After finishing their service, many take lengthy trips overseas, a kind of post-service rite of passage. Ben, 22, was about to go trekking in the Nepal Himalayas when the attacks took place. He flew back from Kathmandu on Tuesday. - ben After completing his military service, 22-year-old Ben, who also asked to keep his family name confidential, had intended to explore Asia for several months. But he abandoned those plans on Saturday when he learned of Hamas attack while in a mountain village in Nepal. He has since returned to Israel and is on standby to serve as a reservist in a reconnaissance unit. In a telephone call from Nepal on Monday, prior to his flight on Tuesday, Ben said he thought there were more than 100 Israelis in Kathmandu alone trying to return. It feels really hard to be so far away and there isnt much you can do, he said. Youre worried about the people there and all you do all day is watch the news and look at your phone. Its impossible to be away right now. Ilan Fisher is flying back to Israel from Australia, where he was attending a friend's wedding, to join the army as a reserve. - Ilan Fisher Ilan Fisher, 29, is another Israeli expecting to be called up for reserve duty, he told CNN on Wednesday. He was on vacation in Melbourne, Australia on the day of Hamas attack, attending the wedding of two close Australian friends, both of whom also live in Israel. Though Fisher has had multiple offers to remain in Melbourne, he intends to fly back on Sunday and expects to be drafted back into the armys media department. Given the situation there right now, how dire it is and how dire it will be, I dont really have another choice but to go back, he said. Some Israelis are rushing back for other reasons. Rachel Gold, 27, had been on vacation in Toronto and had the idea of taking supplies back to Israel with her friend, Jessica Kane, who had been visiting her parents in New York. Jessica Kane and Rachel Gold flew back to Israel from the US where friends and relatives helped them collect donations from the Jewish community. - Courtesy Jessica Kane After putting out a call on social media, they raised $15,000 to buy supplies and flew back on Monday evening with two other friends, carrying 13 large check-in cases, four carry-on bags and several backpacks with them. The luggage was stuffed with supplies including head torches, flashlights, underwear, socks, toothbrushes, portable chargers, hydration pouches and protein bars. Kane, 26, told CNN that her family are religiously observant and so she did not hear of the attack until her father learned of it by word of mouth while in synagogue. Initially I didnt believe it. I thought it was being sensationalized, she said. We very quickly went on our phones. I had a few missed calls from the army and had a million red alert notifications about missiles falling. It was incredibly, incredibly difficult. Kane and her companions had 13 check-in cases along with a great deal more hand luggage, filled with donations of things like toiletries. - Courtesy Jessica Kane The friends were met at the airport on Tuesday by volunteers who immediately took the donations to deliver to the south of Israel. Gold is now on a military base in the south, having been recruited as a reservist. Being here is a lot more comforting than being away, she told CNN. I felt desperately helpless just sitting at home watching the news and thinking what else I can do beyond sending money. Being here at least I feel part of it and taking action and doing things, plus Im not glued to the news all day. Being here is a little bit less scary than being abroad. CNNs Niamh Kennedy and Abeer Salman contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com If you watched Fridays season finale of The Changeling and still have questions about the dark, odd fairytale thats entangled Apollos family, rest assured: You are not alone. In the beginning of the episode, were told that in 1825, a group of Norwegians fled to the United States seeking religious freedom. But the journey was incredibly arduous, as heavy seas capsized the boat many times over. How did they make it alive? They had help, the narrator tells us. Apollo learns from William Wheeler that Kinder Garten is actually a collective of 10,000 men sharing the same name. As the winds pick up around the island and monstrous grumbles emerge, Wheeler says he called in the cavalry. Somethings coming and it sounds big. Apollo races to find Cal and the rest of the islands inhabitants, only to see buildings explode all around him. Greta doesnt make it, but not all is lost. Cal and a group of survivors emerge from the darkness, and they all set out to escape the horror. The group arrives to a cliff overlooking the water and everyone starts to descend on a rope. Apollo takes a young child with him, as the creature and William roar and cackle in the darkness. After a hairy fall, everyone survives and makes it to a large ship that awaits them. Only Cal says Apollo must use a creek boat. Trust me, she says. (Uh, how about NO!) Cal says the last time she saw Emma, Emma was glowing as she paddled out into the river to find her son. Brian is in the forest, is the last thing Emma said, and theres only one forest in New York City. With that, Cal pushes Apollos boat into the water and he paddles out. The Changeling Finale Recap Cal climbs back up that massive cliffside for one last encounter with William. After a rough and tumble in the rain, William says, Shes going to kill you. Cal replies that she wont give her the satisfaction. (The voodoo witch? The creature? Your guess is as good as mine.) She stabs William in the chest, then takes a leap off the cliff, killing herself. In the last few minutes, we see Emma walking toward a carousel thats glowing bright in the night, while Apollo finally reaches land. He finds what we can only presume is his sons tomb, and when he opens it, a crying baby bites him in the finger. (Is it a changeling?!) He then crawls through a cave and when it looks like he reaches a dead end, an enormous creatures eyeball opens and the screen cuts to black. It looks like he has finally found the thing that goes bump in the night. Thoughts on The Changelings finale? Grade the episode and series below, then hit the comments! Pete Doherty Will Play the Bataclan's Reopening Show The Libertines are back with their first album in nine years, All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade, which will arrive March 8, 2024 through Casablanca/Republic Records. The 11-track effort was produced by Dimitri Tikovoi (the Horrors, Charli XCX, Becky Hill) and recorded at the Albion Rooms in Margate, U.K. earlier this year. First single Run Run Run is out now. All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade was conceived by principal group members Pete Doherty and Carl Barat during a September 2022 excursion to Jamaica. There, the pair rediscovered the songwriting chemistry that made them one of the most popular British bands of the Aughts. More from Spin: Our first record was born out of panic, and disbelief that we were actually allowed to be in a studio; the second was born of total strife and misery; the third was born of complexity; this one feels like we were all actually in the same place, at the same speed, and we really connected, Barat says. Were over the moon, and the ball is in the back of the net and Im chuffed for the lads! says Doherty, whose struggles with sobriety are chronicled in the new documentary Stranger in My Own Skin. I feel like weve completed a cycle of some kind as a band, and finally now we can add these songs to the set list, because weve got some bangers in there. Now weve opened the hotel and used the studio ourselves and its all worked out more Libertines records? I should hope so! Of Run Run Run, Barat observes, Its about being trapped, and trying to escape your dismal life, a bit like the man in Bukowskis Post Office. The worst thing for The Libertines would be to get stuck in a Run-run-run rut, constantly trying to relive our past. Here is the track list for All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade: Run, Run, Run Mustang Have A Friend Merry Old Englans Man With The Melody Oh Shit Night Of The Hunter Barons Claw Shiver Be Young Songs They Never Play On The Radio To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here. Rishi Sunak will discuss the dangerous conflict in Israel and Gaza, as well as the war in Ukraine, when he meets northern European allies in Sweden. The Prime Minister is on the Baltic island of Gotland for a UK-led defence grouping, amid the backdrop of the escalating situation in the Middle East. Ahead of the Joint Expeditionary Force summit he met Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson aboard the HMS Diamond, where Mr Sunak stayed the night. He served breakfast to and met with Navy crew members early on Friday. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomes Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden, on board HMS Diamond (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The Prime Minister said leaders would use the summit to talk about how we can work together to strengthen our security. Welcome aboard our frigate, it is great to have you here, Mr Sunak told his counterpart. It is a symbol of the co-operation, I think, between our two countries that we are able to meet here today. The gathering in Gotland comes after the attack by Hamas over the weekend pushed Israel and Gaza to the top of the global agenda. Rishi Sunak serving breakfast to the crew of HMS Diamond (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Ahead of his arrival in Sweden, the Prime Minister confirmed the UK would send Royal Navy vessels and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel. Mr Sunak said the deployment would support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation. The 10-strong Joint Expeditionary Force grouping includes Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Iceland. In a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Mr Sunak briefly spoke about the experience aboard. The first time a British prime minister has done it in 50 years, slept overnight the last time it happened was half a century ago, he said. Ex-Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has been spared jail after admitting fraudulently failing to declare more than 400 million held in a trust in Singapore to the Government. The court heard the 92-year-old former racing driver has agreed a civil settlement of 652,634,836 in respect of sums due to HMRC over the course of 18 years from 1994. HMRC said the sum includes money owed as part of his wider tax affairs, as well as a penalty of more than 340 million. At Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, Ecclestone was handed a 17-month jail term, suspended for two years. Before his guilty plea, Ecclestone had attempted to dismiss proceedings by claiming unpopular remarks he made about Russian President Vladimir Putin on daytime television were the reason for the prosecution, rather than legitimate public interest. His defence barrister, Christine Montgomery KC, told sentencing judge Mr Justice Bryan that the defendant bitterly regrets the events that led to this criminal trial. A court artist sketch of Bernie Ecclestone being sentenced at Southwark Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA) Sentencing Ecclestone, who heard the judges remarks from the dock, Mr Justice Bryan said: Your offending is so serious that neither a fine or a community order would be appropriate. It is rightly acknowledged that the custody threshold has been passed. However, he said he had taken into consideration a number of mitigating factors, including Ecclestones health, age, and that he has no previous criminal convictions. The former racing driver said I plead guilty while standing in the well of the court, wearing a dark suit and grey tie. He admitted that on July 7 2015, he failed to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing around 650 million US dollars, worth about 400 million at the time. Before his guilty plea, he had been due to face trial in November on the single fraud charge. Prosecutor Richard Wright KC told the court a meeting was held between Ecclestone and HMRC officers in July 2015. Bernie Ecclestone was spared jail as the judge said he had taken his age, health and clean record into account (David Davies/PA) Outlining the issues in the case he would be sentencing Ecclestone for, Mr Justice Bryan told the defendant: Towards the end of the meeting you were asked if, since the conclusion of the previous investigation in 2008, and excluding the trusts referred to so far in the course of the meeting, whether you were linked as a settlor or beneficiary to any other trust in or outside the United Kingdom. You replied no. That was a lie. You were in fact linked to a trust structure known as the Kinan Trust and another known as the Nanki Trust. I also bear in mind, as the prosecution have made clear before me, that the prosecution are very mindful, and have kept under careful review, the public interest in bringing and continuing these proceedings given your age and health. The prosecution have borne in mind the report of the cardiologist Professor Knight and the evidence given by him to this court as to your health and the risks that would be presented by a trial. Addressing the civil settlement figure agreed with HMRC, the judge said: I accept that this settlement reflects a determination and demonstration of steps taken on your part to address your offending subject to this indictment and also reflects remorse on your part for your offending. Mr Wright said Ecclestone was seeking to a draw a line under investigations into his tax affairs. He added: He was fed up of paying huge bills for advice. In 2014, Ecclestone agreed to pay 60 million to bring an end to a bribery trial in Germany. The billionaire was alleged to have bribed a German banker to steer the sale of German regional bank BayernLBs 47.2% stake in F1 to a private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners, in 2006. CVC were the majority shareholders in F1 at the time. At the time, Ecclestone said he was a bit of an idiot for paying the settlement. After deliberating for three hours on the offer made by the defence and agreed by the prosecution, the presiding judge, Peter Noll, declared: The charges could not, in important areas, be substantiated. As a result of that investigation, HMRC opened a tax fraud investigation into Ecclestone. Asked outside court whether he was pleased with the judges sentence, Ecclestone smiled and nodded and said something unintelligible to reporters. Nearly a week after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, setting off a war as Israel retaliated with airstrikes over the Gaza Strip, the death toll continues to rise above 1,000. Of the victims, 27 have been identified as U.S. citizens. Among them was a mother protecting her son, an American Israeli soldier, an idealist daughter and a young man who had recently moved to Salt Lake City, where he was active in the Jewish community. The White House confirmed the number of American deaths Thursday. Follow live updates from NBC News here. Deborah Martias Deborah Martias, who was born in Missouri, was described by her father as an idealist who wanted to help improve relations between Arabs and Jews. He said she died protecting her son. Martias father, Ilan Troen, a professor at Brandeis University in Israel, said that when they spoke on the phone for the last time, she told him she heard glass breaking, people speaking in Arabic and gunshots. Thats the last words we heard from her, Troen told MSNBC's Jose Diaz Balart in an interview this week. Troen said his daughters last act was to defend her son, who was also shot but survived. Troen did not give the son's age. Troen said Martias was an idealist who sent her kids to a school where they learned Arabic and Hebrew in the hope that Jews and Arabs would come to understand each other, accommodate and change the course of history. Hayim Katsman Katsman, who would have celebrated his 32nd birthday this week, was killed near the border of Gaza after militants forced their way into his home, family members said. Hannah Wacholder Katsman, his mother, told NBC affiliate WLWT of Cincinnati, her hometown, that her son was hiding in a closet with a neighbor woman when they were attacked. When they came to his house, they found them, and the woman survived," Wacholder Katsman told the station. "The woman they released, and Hayim they shot immediately. She said Hayim was kind and smart but "had a tough core." He was very tough and very industrious, Wacholder Katsman told the station. She said Hayim joined the Army after high school, serving in field intelligence. He studied political science at The Open University before he earned a masters degree in political science from Ben Gurion University in Beer-Sheva, Israel. Hayim received his doctorate from the University of Washington. Adrienne Neta A longtime nurse and mother of four, Neta, 66, grew up in California before she moved to Israel decades ago, her son told MSNBC. Nahar Neta holds a photo of Adrienne Neta with her grandchildren. (Nightly News) Neta, the daughter of an Air Force engineer, moved to Israel in 1981 and devoted her life to helping and caring for others as a nurse in the Regional Hospital in the Negev desert, her son Nahar Neta said. Nahar Neta thought his mother would find a way to stay alive through the war. Shes a tough lady," he said. "Shes been through a lot in her life. You know, coming from being a young California hippie and coming to the Negev in the early '80s was not an easy, not an easy move. His family has confirmed her death. Nahar Neta said the last time he talked to his mother was on a group phone call with her and his siblings. He said he tried to calm her down when she heard gunfire. I heard my sister screaming and crying on the phone, he said, adding his brother told him Hamas terrorists had barged into the shelter in his mothers home. The phone disconnected, and that was the last contact he had with her. Lotan Abir Lotan Abir, 24, a member of the Young Jewish Professional community in Utah, was killed in an attack at the Tribe of Nova music festival, Rabbi Avremi Zippel of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah announced on X. Abir moved to Utah last year after having completed military service in Israel, Zippel said. It was unclear why he was in Israel at the time of the attack. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, wrote on X: News of the loss of one of our own from Utah further tears at our collective heart. I offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Lotan Abir may he rest in peace. Daniel Ben-Senior Family members said they will always remember Daniel Ben-Senior as someone who loved giving back through her work. Ben-Senior, 34, a nurse, was heading to the Tribe of Nova music festival when she was killed, according to her cousin, Ran Ben-Senior, who lives in New York. She had a big heart and a big smile and always tried to help, he said, adding that he will always think back on his cousin as a caring nurse in Israel. Its really tough for us. OPINION: Filmmaker Raoul Peck spoke to theGrio about his latest documentary, which tells the story of a Black North Carolina family fighting to get their land back. Editors note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the authors own. Read more opinions on theGrio. The dispossession of Black land is a real and serious issue, and a new film tackles the issue head on by examining the struggles of a Black North Carolina family to reclaim their land. The film, Silver Dollar Road hits theaters Friday and on Amazon Prime on Oct. 20. Coming to us from award-winning Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro and Exterminate All the Brutes), the movie is based on the 2019 ProPublica story of the Reels family siblings Mamie, Melvin and Licurtis. The film takes its name from the road that borders the Reels property. Only a generation from enslavement, the Reels great-grandfather Elijah bought 65 acres of land in Carteret, N.C. The family would make a living farming and fishing, and create the only beach for Black people in the county. In the 1970s, the Reels grandfather, Mitchell, died without a will, with the heirs each inheriting an interest in the property in what is known as heirs property. Whatever you do, Mitchell told his family the night he died, dont let the white man have the land. Mamie, Melvin and Licurtis would learn that an estranged uncle took advantage of heirs property and sold the land in secret and without consent to a white developer. It is common among families who own communal land through heirs property for developers to entice relatives to sell their share, opening the door for developers to auction off all the land at a profit. Melvin and Licurtis refused to leave the land and were sent to jail for eight years for trespassing. Following the Civil War, Black people bought so much land that by 1910 they had owned 15 million acres or 23,000 square miles. Before the start of the 21st century, that number had dwindled to around 2.3 million acres due to Ku Klux Klans domestic terrorism and lynching, intimidation, deceptive practices and government action. Although heirs property is associated with land loss for Black families, it is also an issue for Latinx, Indigenous and low-income Appalachian white people. In recent years, the issue of Black land theft has received greater attention. For example, in 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom restored Bruces Beach, Southern California beachfront land, to a Black family forced off the property a century ago. Back then, the Manhattan Beach City Council seized the land by eminent domain and condemned the neighborhood after Klan harassment and attempted arson from white neighbors. Recently, on Indigenous Peoples Day, I had the chance to speak with director, writer and producer Raoul Peck about Silver Dollar Road and the films larger significance. The story has been edited for clarity and brevity. TheGrio: First, I think its appropriate that were speaking on Indigenous Peoples Day, considering the importance of land. And Im curious to know how you decided to take on this project. Raoul Peck: Well, the project was brought to me by Amazon, Juvee Productions and ProPublica, of course. They were already on it for at least two or three years, and they asked me to become the producer of the project. And after reading, seeing the material, I thought it was an extraordinary story and that goes beyond the usual documentary on family drama or Black victimization. I saw the potentiality of the story to become much more than that and also triggered the kind of anger that you felt, but also the willingness to go further than that, because the problem is national and it touches the core of what this country is. Thats good that you mentioned the you know, I dont know if we should call it a celebration of this day today. My precedent film, Exterminate All the Brutes, its exactly the core story that we see the Reels family is going through is that we are in a country that started in two major original sins, which is stealing the land of people, by the way, who never said they owned that land. They always said they are the purveyor of that land, they are the ones taking care of that land, but the concept of private property did not exist. Its a European concept that came with the invaders. Outline of the Reels family property in Raoul Pecks Sliver Dollar Road. (Amazon Studios) And then once you have land as commodity, so you can have humans as well as commodity, and they use those human beings to farm the land, to work on the land, to produce riches, to produce wealth and economic growth. And the same people who were instrumental in that did not profit at all off that wealth. In fact, they were even discriminated willingly. Because if you take all the laws that have been created since you know, lets forget before slavery, but after slavery, Homestead Acts, all of them they deprive minorities to have access of that land, although they all knew without access to land, you cannot survive. You dont have the means to sustain yourself, let alone build some sort of stable situation, economic situation. So, all this is structural, and it was structural from the beginning. And thats what I hope people will get from that particular story. TheGrio: What really strikes me about this narrative is how its bringing together the past, present and future in terms of the role of land and land theft because of race. And now it seems that this narrative resonates and is important right now in America in 2023. Im curious to know if there was anything that surprised you about any of this or anything that would surprise the audience about the story of land dispossession. Raoul Peck: Well, surprised me? No, because Ive been working all my life on those issues. But what is surprising is that how simple the core story is, like I just told you about, but that its absolutely not in in the head of people nowadays. You still have people who think that this nation was built out of nothing, that there was nobody on that land and that they had the privilege to own that land, and that out of that privilege, they built everything by themselves. You have to understand thats the dominant ideology today, and its even grown despite Mamie in the film says, I dont believe anything changed in those 60 years. And somehow, shes right. There has been evolution, of course, I would never say that. But from their point of view, where did we become better? Why did it become better for all those families who have thousands and thousands of people in jail? How did it become better when its more and more difficult for Black families to find schools where their children can really learn the same way privileged children can learn? So those issues are becoming worse, not better. And you have to see it from the point of view of those people who are suffering under them. The core issue brings you all the time to land, that those people were deprived of owning land. And when they did, when they bought swamp land and farmed them, made them richer, there was violence to make them leave that land. It was not like, Oh, lets buy your land. No, it was violence, the same kind of violence you still see today in the way the police, by example, treat a young Black man or a young Black person. Its ingrained in the system. People forget that the first corps of the army, their main duty was to chase and kill Indigenous people and reclaim runaways enslaved. That was their purpose, because there were no internal enemies, you know. Thats why that corps was created. So, you can imagine that its not like its 500 years back. Its like 200 years, you know, its like yesterday. The ancestors of the Reels family were enslaved. The end of the Civil War, they were freed and then they bought land. Thats 160 years ago. So, its not a faraway story, its what we are living still today. But we lack the connections, because everything has been made so that it stays a blur. So, to respond to your question, Im mostly amazed that people dont get the clarity of this historical string. And by the way, thats why I did Exterminate All the Brutes. It was to go at the core of the whole story. And if you cant understand that core, you will never understand any problems you have today. TheGrio: Yes, definitely. its interesting that. Black people are always told to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. And yet when they do Raoul Peck: Which is an absurdity physically! TheGrio: It definitely is, most certainly! What struck me was the ongoing theme of exploitation, race and power. Obviously, Black people are no strangers to this. But just looking at all the components in this film, looking at the legal system, the decks being stacked against Black people, the lawyers preying on the family. Eight years in jail. I think the one thing that stuck out in my mind was when the mother said, and Im paraphrasing: They do what they do. Theyre lying. Theyre stealing. Theyre Ku Klux Klanning. I was wondering if you could speak to that this role of the exploitation, the racial exploitation of all of this. Raoul Peck: Well, the thing is that its very mixed, because thats also the absurdity of not understanding the reality of history. You can talk about slavery, enslavement, etc., but on the plantation, besides the violence and the abuse, there were all sorts of different human relationships. You know, all races all mixed, the same way when you see the Reels family party. There are a lot of mixed-race children there. There are white women, white men, even though there is the races. So, judging everything through only the racist gaze, you will not understand the real complexity of real life on the ground. One level is history, its politics, its laws, etc., but human connection, human relationships are much more complicated. And if you only use the glasses of racism, you wont understand everything. Yes, we are all as Black people submitted to some sort of racism every day, whether you have money or you dont have money. Still, but it doesnt erase the aspect of class. My interest as a Black worker in a factory cannot be the same as a billionaire rapper, by example. We dont have the same interests, Im sorry. We tend, both white and Black, to use that sometimes, to hide behind that and not touch the core problem, which is class. Its a war on poverty, whether youre Black or white. TheGrio: I appreciate that you brought up class, as someone who teaches a course on gender, race and class in the media. Very much overlooked. If I may, I just had one more question for you, which is, do you see your film playing a role in any way in the discussion over reparations? I was wondering how you see this issue of land dispossession fitting into discussions about reparations, if it does. Street sign in Raoul Pecks Silver Dollar Road. (Amazon Studios) Raoul Peck: Im very torn with the word reparations because some people use it as just a payback issue and as a monetary issue, and sometimes it lacks the profound sense of what it means. I come from a country that was independent in 1804. Haiti was the second and I should say the first democratic republic of the whole continent. The U.S. says they were the first free republic. No, because not all human beings were free on this soil. But in Haiti, everybody was free, white or Black, and we welcomed any fugitive who set foot on Haiti, and they were automatically Haitians. So, I know from my own history what it means to fight for your freedom, and not having to beg for payback. So, if a discussion about reparations is bigger than just that, Im for it. There are so many things that need to put on the table, including what I call the two original sins. Who gives you the authority to be deciding if youre going to repair or not? Thats not a rhetorical discussion, its the fact, you know. I want you to recognize what happened first, before we can have a discussion. I dont allow you to be in a position to accept or not if youre going to repair whatever youve broken. So, I hope sometime the discussion would go further in the details and stick to the real story. David A. Love, theGrio.com David A. Love is a journalist and commentator who writes investigative stories and op-eds on a variety of issues, including politics, social justice, human rights, race, criminal justice and inequality. Love is also an instructor at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information, where he trains students in a social justice journalism lab. In addition to his journalism career, Love has worked as an advocate and leader in the nonprofit sector, served as a legislative aide, and as a law clerk to two federal judges. He holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He also completed the Joint Programme in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford. His portfolio website is davidalove.com. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post The film Silver Dollar Road highlights the theft of Black land appeared first on TheGrio. The first State Department charter flight ferrying Americans away from the war in Israel landed on Friday in Athens, Greece, a White House official told Reuters. Earlier in the day, the National Security Councils John Kirby confirmed the flight had left for a safe destination in Europe. More flights between Tel Aviv and Athens are scheduled through 19 October, a government source told the wire service. More than 400 Americans signed up for the initial flight out of Israel. "I would add that were also exploring other options to expand the capacity of doing this, including exploring whether its possible to help Americans leave by land and by sea," Mr Kirby said during a briefing on Thursday. As of Thursday, 27 Americans are confirmed by the State Department have died in Israel since the outbreak of the war, and 14 remain unaccounted for, some of whom have likely been kidnapped by Hamas. An estimated 500,000 American citizens live in Israel, including over 200,000 dual US-Israeli citizens. Meanwhile, there are an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 US-Palestinian dual citizens, 10,000 of whom live permanently in Palestinian territories, according to unofficial estimates in Middle East media sources. In a meeting with American Jewish leaders at the White House this week, President Joe Biden said bringing back at-risk Americans is a top priority. We want to make it real clear. Were working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts, Mr Biden said, adding, Theres a lot were doing, a lot were doing. I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home. During a State Department briefing this week, spokesman Matthew Miller said the US would seek to aid its citizens regardless of whether they were living in Israel or the Palestinian territories. It ultimately doesnt matter to us, he said. American citizens are American citizens. The flights, however, are not free. According to an NBC report, the State Department is quoted as saying, You will be asked to sign an agreement to repay the U.S. government prior to departure. In addition, the statement said, You should be prepared to arrange your own lodging and onward travel ... to your final destination. A day after being sued by a former subordinate, former Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee sued a police sergeant, asking for $1.2 million in damages. Lees lawsuit alleges that Sgt. Kirk Rush deliberately derailed his law enforcement career by falsely accusing him of injuring his neck. The neck allegation was one of several complaints made about the chief that ultimately left him without a job, and which he says has prevented him from obtaining three other high-ranking positions at other police departments in the U.S. The lawsuit also accuses four other unnamed parties of assisting Rush in a campaign to oust him from the Police Department. Sgt. Rush with the collaboration, encouragement, advice and assistance of other defendants engaged in a course of conduct intentionally calculated to impair and/or terminate Ryan Lees employment as chief of police and effectively ruin his career in law enforcement, according to the lawsuit. Rush filed a tort claim against Lee in April 2022, alleging that Lee had injured his neck by demonstrating police holds on him during a staff meeting in October 2021. The Idaho State Police opened a criminal investigation into the incident. Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts referred the case to an outside prosecutor. The Clearwater County prosecuting attorney eventually declined to recommend charges, though he said his decision was a close call. After settling a workers compensation claim with the city, Rush sued Lee and the city on Monday, accusing Lee of injuring him and the city of negligently failing to properly investigate the former chiefs conduct. In Lees lawsuit, he said Rush withheld and concealed previous neck injuries, instead choosing to blame subsequent health issues solely on the former chief. Rush said in his lawsuit that he was injured after the neck-hold demonstration and had a cervical neck sprain and multiple bulging discs. After the demonstration, Lees lawsuit said, Sgt. Rush completed his shift duties on Oct. 12, 2021 without notable restriction or complaint that he was injured, and in subsequent days he never reported to his superiors that he was not physically fit for duty. Lee accuses Rush and the unnamed parties of seeking to have him decertified by Idahos Peace Officer Standards and Training Division, which would have barred him from pursuing his career throughout most, if not all, of the United States. In May, an independent law firm examining the department determined that veteran officers had bridled at Lee, a reform-minded chief newly hired from Portland, and banded together to oust him. Boises former Office of Police Accountability director, Jesus Jara, wrote a memorandum in April 2022 detailing a set of complaints he had received about Lee and recommending the chief be placed on leave while they were investigated. In a memo, Mayor Lauren McLean and City Council leaders noted that Jara had determined that some of the allegations against Lee were false, but that he had not taken action against those who had filed false complaints. Jara was later fired, and he has sued the city for wrongful termination. An attorney for Rush did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lees lawsuit. WHAT HAS LEE SAID? Lee spent close to an hour talking to the Idaho State Police about the incident. In an audio tape of the interview obtained by the Statesman, Lee expressed surprise at being told that Rush was injured. He said he had been concerned since becoming chief about the frequency with which vascular neck holds were used at the department. The holds have largely been done away with at other departments and were temporarily suspended in Boise before he became chief. Lee worked to make the suspension permanent, which he found caused some consternation among the rank-and-file. Lees lawsuit said the president of the police union asked him to discuss the holds with officers, some of whom were confused about the meaning of the new policy. While attending the Oct. 12, 2021, briefing to introduce the new deputy chief, Tammany Brooks, Lee was questioned by officers about how else to subdue suspects. He told ISP that he asked Rush to help him demonstrate some other ways to subdue suspects, to which Rush responded, Well, youre not going to choke me out, are you? To me it was very clear that I was asking, could you help me, and that he was agreeing to help me, Lee said, saying that what he had done was hold on to Rushs neck, and subsequently hold his head and tilt it backward. He said he has a third-degree black belt in Judo and had worked as a defensive-tactics trainer for close to two decades. Having been a DT instructor for years, Im being mindful to make sure that its not painful or uncomfortable, he said. He said his hold on Rush was very light, low-pressure type stuff. I think it was totally appropriate at that time, he told investigator. A couple of days later, Lee said he apologized to Rush, because some officers had chuckled during the incident, and he worried that he had embarrassed him. In response, Rush told him the moves had hurt him, which surprised Lee. He said he did not hear that a complaint had been filed until two weeks later. U.S. President Joe Biden is now urged by lawmakers to act against pro-Hamas protests that are happening across numerous college campuses. To show that they are serious with their request, over 40 U.S. lawmakers signed a letter, which is addressed to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Joe Biden Urged to Act Against Pro-Hamas Protests in Colleges According to Fox News' latest report, dozens of lawmakers are calling the Department of Education of POTUS to take action to prevent pro-Hamas rallies by student groups. As student Hamas supporters conduct their protests to share how they favor the Palestinian militant group, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg decided to author a letter. He signed it together with 43 other lawmakers on Thursday, Oct. 12. This letter urges Miguel Cardona to take safety measures against pro-Hamas students so that the safety of Jewish students across the United States will be ensured. "Many student groups have issued statements condoning and even celebrating the terror attack, which should be considered a modern-day pogrom," said Walberg in his letter. "Some student groups have even utilized imagery of a paraglider to advertise their rallies, unequivocally celebrating the despicable tactics used by Hamas," added the letter. Walberg and other lawmakers explained that Hamas is a terrorist group, which President Joe Biden described as a militant organization with the purpose of killing Jews. Aside from the Biden Admin and the U.S. Secretary of Education, the letter also calls on self-described "inclusive and tolerant" universities which commonly speak about social issues, but can't utter a word during the Israel-Hamas war. Walberg criticized these schools, saying that they are quick when it comes to making judgments on social issues, however, they suddenly become quiet about the anti-Semitism crisis happening within their campuses. Read Also: Biden Warns Iran Over Israel-Gaza Conflict as Democrats Call on POTUS to Refreeze Tehran Funds More US Students Join Pro-Hamas, Pro-Israel Rallies As of writing, many American students are joining pro-Hamas and pro-Israel protests that are happening within their universities. Reuters reported that amid the worsening conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, tensions among students also intensified as protests supporting Hamas and Israel happened in some U.S. colleges. Reports stated that pro-Hamas students are prompting outrage and fear among Jewish students. David Hidary, a physics major student who attended the Columbia protest (his an Israel supporter), said that Jewish students are currently afraid. Right now, American students are not the only ones divided by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Adult U.S. residents and other people across the world are trying to weigh who they should support, Israelis or Palestinians. But, one thing is for sure. The war doesn't benefit innocent Israelis and Palestinians since they are just civilians caught up in a violent conflict between the Hamas group and the Israeli government. Related Article: NYPD, Lawmakers Hold Emergency Safety Meetings Amid Threats of Mass Violence Between Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine Protesters @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Shares of Dollar General are up more than 7% before the opening bell Friday after the discount chain said Todd Vasos will be returning as CEO after a streak of disappointing quarterly profits. The company has missed Wall Street profit projections in four of the five past quarters and shares have fallen nearly 60% this year. The company has also wrestled with a number of labor issues. In July a National Labor Relations Board judge said that Dollar General violated federal labor law and clearly intended to interfere with worker rights in efforts to quell unionization at a Connecticut store. Violations from the Dolgen Corp., which operates Dollar General stores, included wrongfully firing an employee and making an implied threat to close the location in Barkhamsted, the NLRB decision read adding that the company also sent corporate officials to the store and other locations across Connecticut in response to a 2021 union drive. Beyond unionization, Dollar General has faced multiple penalties for store safety over the years including federal citations for electrical hazards and obstructed fire exits. As of May, the Labor Departments Occupational Safety and Health Administration had proposed more than $21 million in penalties since 2017 after conducting 240 store inspections nationwide. Vasos stepped down as Dollar Generals top executive in 2022 after seven years. He takes over from Jeff Owen. Under Vasos' leadership, Dollar General expanded its store base by about 7,000 locations, added nearly 60,000 net new jobs, increased annual sales revenue by more than 80%, and more than doubled its market capitalization to approximately $58 billion. "At this time the board has determined that a change in leadership is necessary to restore stability and confidence in the company moving forward, the company's chairman, Michael Calbert, said in a prepared statement. While saying the switch back to Vasos is not surprising, Citi analyst Paul Lejuez said many of the issues beguiling the company took root under his control. While many of the issues surfaced shortly after Owen took over the CEO role, we believe many of these challenges had their origins while Vasos was CEO, said in report published shortly after the leadership change was announced. We do not believe there is a simple fix. Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, expects 2023 net sales growth in a range of 1.5% to 2.5%. Its prior outlook was for sales growth between 1.3% and 3.3%. French police are investigating the suspected poisoning of a Russian state TV journalist who denounced Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine live on air and later fell suddenly ill. Marina Ovsyannikova, who escaped Russia after her on-air protest and settled in France, reported feeling suddenly ill as she left her Paris apartment and was hospitalised after she called emergency services. She said she suspected she was poisoned, the Paris prosecutors office said, adding that they were examining her apartment and an investigation was underway. Ovsyannikova, who worked for Russian state televisions Channel One before the war began, drew international headlines in March 2022 when she appeared on screen in the background of a live broadcast by another news anchor and flashed a sign that said: "Stop the war, dont believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here." She was fined 30,000 roubles (460) for her protest but continued her opposition to the war. During a subsequent solo protest in Moscow, she held up a poster which read: Putin is a murderer, his soldiers are fascists. She was then arrested and put under house arrest in August before she fled along with her daughter in the dark of the night. Dissenting Russian Channel One employee entering Ostankino on-air TV studio during Russia's most-watched evening news broadcast, holding up a poster which reads as "No War" on 15 March 2022 (AFP/Getty) Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which assisted Ovsyannikova in her efforts to escape a lengthy trial in Moscow and potentially a prison sentence, helped her settle in Paris. Christophe Deloire, director general of RSF, said he met Ovsyannikova after her malaise outside her Paris apartment. Deloire, writing on X, said the possibility Ovsyannikova had been poisoned had not been ruled out, though she was feeling better since the incident. We have opened an investigation, a spokesperson for the Paris tribunal prosecutors office said by telephone, he said. She said she had a malaise. All we have for the moment is what she said. RSF said its team has been at her side" since she sought medical attention, though they have not disclosed any further details regarding the incident. Earlier this month, a Moscow court sentenced Ovsyannikova in absentia to eight and a half years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian military. Her sentencing was the latest example of Russias crackdown on dissenting voices in the country, which has intensified since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine around 20 months ago. Russia has called its attack on Ukraine a special military operation and banned organisations or the media from referring to it as a war or invasion. Rudolph Isley grew up singing in church before forming The Isley Brothers with his equally talented siblings OKelly, Ronald and Vernon. One of the founding members of the hit group The Isley Brothers has passed away at 84. While no cause of death has been determined, People reported that Rudolph Isleys daughter said he died peacefully in his sleep in Illinois Wednesday morning. He died at his home with his devoted wife Elaine by his side. They had been married for 68 years, his daughter also named Elaine confirmed in a statement. Rudolph was a deeply religious man who loved Jesus. (Left to right) American soul vocal pop group The Isley Brothers OKelly Isley, Ronnie Isley and Rudolph Isley, shown circa 1964 in Britain on tour. Rudolph Isley has died at age 84. (Photo credit: Evening Standard/Getty Images) The Cincinnati, Ohio, native grew up singing in church before forming The Isley Brothers with siblings OKelly, Ronald and Vernon. After Vernon died in a vehicle accident in 1955, the band traveled to New York City in search of a record deal and eventually signed with RCA Records. The Isley Brothers, known for their soul and doo-wop style, found success with singles including Twist and Shout, This Old Heart of Mine and Its Your Thing. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees established their own label, T-Neck Records, in 1964 but signed with Motown one year later. By 1973, the family band included their younger brothers, Ernie and Marvin, and brother-in-law Chris Jasper. Rudolph Isley left The Isley Brothers in 1989 to pursue his dream of becoming a Christian minister due to bad health and the death of his brother and bandmate OKelly years earlier. However, he reunited with the band throughout their career. In early 2023, Rudolph made headlines when he filed a lawsuit against Ronald Isley, 82, accusing his brother and former bandmate of going behind his back and registering The Isley Brothers trademark on his own, although it is jointly owned by them. Documents filed in March revealed that Rudolph said he, Ronald and OKelly Isley the bands founding members ran the group as a common-law partnership, sharing all expenses, profits and business control. According to the complaint, once OKelly died in 1986, his holdings were divided evenly between Rudolph and Ronald, each acquiring a 50% stake in the firm and the Isley Brothers trademark. However, Rudolph Isley claimed that in November 2021, Ronald filed for exclusive rights to the trademark in his name for visual recordings and audiovisual recordings featuring music without informing him and that the United States Patent and Trademark Office approved and registered his application in August 2022. The complaint noted that Rudolph, who left the group in the 1980s, remained active in promoting and managing its properties, including a multi-million dollar music publishing agreement in 2018 and negotiating a licensing deal where their song Shout was used in a 2023 Super Bowl commercial. There are no words to express my feelings and the love I have for my brother, Ronald shared in a statement. Our family will miss him. But I know hes in a better place. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post The great Isley Brothers in mourning as founding member Rudolph Isley dies at 84 appeared first on TheGrio. Ray Dalio, retired founder of the worlds largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, warned this week that the Israel-Hamas conflict marks another step toward international war. It appears to me that the odds of transitioning from the contained conflicts to a more uncontained hot world war that includes the major powers have risen from 35% to about 50% over the last two years, the billionaire wrote in a Thursday Linkedin post. Dalio is a student of history who has written multiple books on the major issues facing the global economy today and how those issues have been resolved (or made worse) historically, including the aptly named Principles for Dealing With the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail and Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crises. Now, Dalio says he believes both the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars will be brutal until the end. And even worse, he fears the conflicts wont end until one side clearly defeats the other or the worlds superpowers push for peace. These types of brutal wars are more likely to spread than subside, he said. I hope that the emerging picture of what this would look like will encourage restraint at this critical juncture of being on the brink. Dalio has repeatedly warned that tensions are brewing both between the world superpowers and within certain nations, arguing that geopolitical instability will become the norm this decade. In April, he said that the U.S. and China were on the brink of going to war with each other, citing simmering tensions over issues including Taiwan and intellectual property theft. Dalio has long been a proponent of China and invested heavily in the nation, even going so far as to found the Beijing Dalio China Foundation in 2013 to fund education and child welfare programs there. As of January 2023, Bridgewater held roughly $2.9 billion in assets in China. Although Dalio no longer directs the investments of the fund, having passed the torch last year to current CEO Nir Bar Dea, the billionaire is receiving $1 billion in annual payments from the firm after signing a lucrative exit package. The good news, according to Dalio? While the Middle East and Europe remain stuck in their own violent conflicts, the relationship between the U.S. and China is still repairable, he says. Fortunately, the progression toward a world war between the biggest powers (the U.S. and China) has not yet crossed the irreversible line from being containable (which it is now) to becoming a brutal war between the biggest powers and their allies, he wrote. The hedge funder concluded with what he labeled his pipe dreamthat China and the U.S. would come together to broker a lasting peace in Ukraine. If they did that, maybe they could develop a dynamic that would bring about peace rather than conflict in other cases, he wrote, referring to the conflict in the Middle East. Imagine how great an alliance in pursuit of world peace between the two greatest opposing countries would be. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com A human rights watchdog group said Thursday that Israels military has used white phosphorus munitions in recent days in Gaza and Lebanon, weapons that can cause severe burns and are considered particularly dangerous for civilians due to their indiscriminate nature. Human Rights Watch said that videos recorded in Lebanon and Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday showed airdropped white phosphorus artillery rounds an assessment that was vehemently denied by Israeli officials. Human Rights Watch said that its analysis was corroborated through two interviews with witnesses on the ground who described a distinctive garlic-like smell that is a signature of white phosphorus. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said:The current accusation made against the IDF regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza is unequivocally false. The IDF has not deployed the use of such munitions. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond to a request for comment. NBC News, which did not have reporters present when the strikes occurred in Gaza and Lebanon, has not been able to independently verify Human Rights Watch's claims. NBC News confirmed that a video published on October 11 by WAFA News Agency which appeared to depict one of the same airstrikes that was described by Human Rights Watch was filmed at Gaza City port. White phosphorus munitions can potentially cause burns and irritation, liver, kidney, heart, lung, or bone damage, and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. International law allows for certain uses of white phosphorus, such as creating smoke screens or generating light, but human rights groups say that the deployment of white phosphorus in areas where it could harm civilians or via airdrop is prohibited by international human rights laws. NBC News has not confirmed if any civilians were in the areas where white phosphorus was allegedly used. Gaza is one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Israel has not signed and is not bound by the United Nations convention on the use of white phosphorus. Human Rights Watch says that it previously documented the use of white phosphorus by Israel in military conflict in 2009, a claim that was also echoed by the International Red Cross. Israel said in 2013 it would no longer use white phosphorus except in limited circumstances, according to Human Rights Watch. The munitions used this week in Gaza and Lebanon, the group said, were airburst 155 mm artillery projectiles, which can shower large areas with white phosphorus. The use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life, Human Rights Watch said in its report. In an email, Brian Castner, the weapons investigator for Amnesty Internationals crisis team, agreed with Human Rights Watchs assessment that the strikes they cited involved the apparent uses of white phosphorus. Castner added that Amnesty International has been conducting its own investigation into Israels alleged use of white phosphorus, saying, We have verified that Israeli artillery forces striking Gaza are equipped with M825 and M825A1 155mm white phosphorus projectiles. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights told NBC News it was looking into the claims. In a Zoom interview, Palestinian surgeon Sara Al Saqqa, who works at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said she had seen injuries this week that appeared consistent with white phosphorus wounds. Theres certain types of weapons, the white phosphorus war crime injuries thats not even humanitarian to be used in wars. Its not allowed for anyone to use it. Ive been seeing patients being injured with these type of injuries, Al Saqqa told NBC News. Those small shrapnels that just burn every single millimeter of their bodies, and like just cutting all the pieces of the depth of the bodies to parts, she added. Amhad Hasaballah, a Getty photojournalist, told NBC News that he photographed a barrage of strikes that hit Gaza City on Oct. 11 that he believed to include white phosphorus smoke. Hasaballah has been photographing the region since 2015 and has previously won awards for his coverage of Israeli airstrikes. The photographs are now published and labeled online as depicting white phosphorus. Smoke fills the air after Israeli aircraft bombed the area west of Gaza City on Oct. 11, 2023. (Ahmad Hasaballah / Getty Images) Smoke fills the air Wednesday after Israeli aircraft bombed the area west of Gaza City. (Ahmad Hasaballah / Getty Images) The claim that white phosphorus was being used by Israel in this weeks conflict has been circulating for several days online. On Oct. 10, the official X account of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates wrote, Israeli warplanes and artillery use internationally #prohibited_white_phosphorus, destroying #Al_Karama neighborhood in the northwest of Gaza City with a continuous series of airstrikes. The report comes as Israel appears to be preparing a ground assault on Gaza, warning more than 1 million people to leave the north of the densely populated enclave, which is roughly the size of Washington, D.C. At least 1,300 people have been killed in Israel since Hamas staged a series of surprise attacks on Saturday, the countrys military has said. Nearly 1,800 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry, as Israel continues to bombard the area. NEW YORK (AP) U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey faced a new charge Thursday that he conspired to act as an agent of the Egyptian government, a remarkable accusation against a Democrat who had a powerful role in U.S. policy as head of the Senates Foreign Relations Committee. The superseding indictment, filed in Manhattan federal court, accuses Menendez of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register with the U.S. government if they act as an agent of a foreign principal. As a member of Congress, Menendez was prohibited from being an agent of a foreign government. The new charge comes just weeks after Menendez and his wife were accused of accepting bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator's help and influence over foreign affairs. The new indictment said the conspiracy occurred from January 2018 to June 2022, when Menendez was alleged to have promised to take and took a series of acts on behalf of Egypt, including on behalf of Egyptian military and intelligence officials. It said he conspired to do so with his wife, Nadine, and a business associate and fellow defendant, Wael Hana. According to the indictment, Hana and Nadine Menendez also communicated requests and directives from Egyptian officials to Menendez. Messages left with Menendezs Senate staff and attorneys on Thursday were not immediately answered. The indictment further alleged that in May 2019, Menendez, his wife and Hana met with an Egyptian intelligence official in Menendezs Senate office in Washington. During the meeting, they discussed an American citizen who was seriously injured in a 2015 airstrike by the Egyptian military using a U.S.-made Apache helicopter, the indictment said. Some members of Congress objected to awarding certain military aid to Egypt over that episode and the perception by certain lawmakers that the Egyptian government was unwilling to fairly compensate the injured American, according to the indictment. Shortly after the meeting in Washington, the Egyptian official texted Hana that if Menendez helped resolve the matter, he will sit very comfortably. Hana replied, Orders, consider it done, the indictment said. In an email, Hanas attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, said the new allegation that Wael Hana was part of a plot concocted over dinner to enlist Senator Menendez as an agent of the Egyptian Government is as absurd as it is false. As with the other charges in this indictment, Mr. Hana will vigorously defend against this new and baseless allegation, he wrote. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the charges lodged against them last month. Hana pleaded not guilty last month to charges including conspiracy to commit bribery. After Hanas company was granted a lucrative monopoly by the Egyptian government to certify that all meat imported into that country met religious requirements, prosecutors said, Menendez urged U.S. agriculture officials to stop questioning the deal. Menendez was accused of trying to interfere in two criminal cases, pushing prosecutors to either drop an investigation or give leniency to friends of his associates. In return, prosecutors said, one businessman, Jose Uribe, bought Nadine Menendez a $60,000 luxury car. Uribe has pleaded not guilty. In both the old and new indictments, prosecutor said Menendez, after meeting with an Egyptian official, lobbied then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to increase American engagement in stalled negotiations involving Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to build a dam over the Nile River, a key foreign policy issue for Egypt. The indictments said that while Menendez was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he took several steps to secretly aid Egyptian officials. That included ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt. He relinquished the chairmanship of the committee after the earlier indictment against him was unsealed last month. He was also accused of passing along information about employees at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt and transmitting nonpublic information to Egyptian officials about military aid. Menendez, 69, has insisted that he did nothing unusual to assist Egypt and that prosecutors had misunderstood the work of a senator involved in foreign affairs. Authorities who searched Menendezs home last year said they found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars and over $480,000 in cash much of it hidden in closets, clothing and a safe. The new charge against Menendez comes as more than 30 Senate Democrats including his home state colleague, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker have called on him to resign. Menendez has remained defiant, telling his colleagues in a closed-door luncheon two weeks ago that he will not leave the Senate. Menendez has not said whether he will run for reelection next year. At least one Democrat, New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, has already jumped into the primary, and the head of Senate Democrats campaign arm, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, has called on Menendez to resign, signaling that he may not receive campaign assistance traditionally available to incumbents. The Justice Department in recent years has stepped up its criminal enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law enacted in 1938 to unmask Nazi propaganda in the United States that requires people to disclose to the Justice Department when they advocate, lobby or perform public relations work in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government or political entity. The statute made headlines during President Donald Trump's administration when federal prosecutors accused multiple aides close to the Republican, including the chairman of his 2016 presidential campaign, of failing to register as foreign agents. Last year, Trump's inaugural committee chair, Tom Barrack, was acquitted of using his personal access to him to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates. And in 2019, lawyer Greg Craig, a Democrat, was acquitted of making a false statement to the Justice Department about work for Ukraines government. ___ Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this story. People rally during the Walk for Yes, hosted by the Yes23 campaign Australias upcoming referendum on Indigenous issues (Reuters) After years of talks about creating a constitutional body to represent and advocate for Australias Indigenous people, the country is finally going to the polls this weekend to vote on the matter at a referendum. And if opinion polls are anything to go by, Australians are about to firmly reject the opportunity to do so. Australians are being asked to alter the countrys founding legal document for the first time since 1977 to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Indigenous Voice to parliament. If passed, the non-binding body would advise the parliament on issues that concern Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the most vulnerable communities in the country. In 2020, the Australian government acknowledged that Indigenous people continued to face entrenched disadvantage and ongoing institutional racism. While the historic referendum would be seen as a big step forward for the one million-strong Indigenous population, opinion polls suggest the amendment will be rejected just as more than four in five referendums have been in the past. Prime minister Anthony Albanese, a leading Voice advocate, on Friday cited the Israel-Hamas war to underscore why Australians should vote yes out of kindness. This week of all weeks where we see such trauma in the world, there is nothing no cost to Australians showing kindness, thinking with their heart as well as their head, when they enter the polling booth tomorrow and vote yes, the prime minister said. Kindness costs nothing. Thinking of others costs nothing, he added. Opponents of the referendum, who have run a seemingly effective No campaign for months, argue it would be the biggest change to Australias democracy in the nations history and divide Australians along racial lines without reducing Indigenous disadvantage. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was closed with a sign stating they supported the No Vote (Getty) Peter Dutton, leader of the opposition Liberal Party, said polling showing declining support for the referendum over the past year was evidence Mr Albanese failed to convince voters of the benefits of the Voice. But for the marginalised community, the referendum is an opportunity to finally be visible. I never thought I would experience it in my time here, Karen Gibson, a Yalanji and Nyungkul woman, told the BBC. My ancestors were invisible. Theyre still invisible. I want to be visible. My ancestors were invisible. Theyre still invisible. I want to be visible Noel Pearson, an Indigenous leader and architect of the Voice, argued that Australians were facing a moral choice at the referendum as well as a question of constitutional law. One choice will bring us pride and hope and belief in one another and the other will, I think, turn us backward and bring shame to the country, Mr Pearson told the Associated Press. A referendum for Australians to decide on an indigenous voice to parliament will be held on 14 October (Getty) Rejecting the referendum, he said, would be a travesty for the country and we will possibly never live it down. Who are Australias Indigenous people? Indigenous Australians account for 3.8 per cent of the countrys population. The Aboriginal people of Australias mainland are culturally distinct from Torres Strait Islanders who come from an archipelago off the northeast coast. So Australias Indigenous population is known collectively as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indigenous Australians are the most disadvantaged ethnic group in the nation, with a suicide rate twice that of the national average and increased suffering from diseases in the remote Outback that have been eradicated in most other developed nations. Yes23 supporters hold placards as they gather for a photo during an event at the Redfern Community Centre (Getty) Indigenous men have a life expectancy of 71 years and Indigenous women 75 years. Thats 8.6 years shorter than other Australian men and 7.8 years shorter than other Australian women. Yes campaigner Kyam Maher, an Indigenous man and South Australia states attorney general, said the question he was most often asked by thousands of voters was what result Indigenous Australians wanted. I can say absolutely and overwhelmingly Aboriginal people want their fellow Australians to vote yes tomorrow, he said. What is the Voice? More than 17 million Australians will vote yes or no on a single question on Saturday to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice". If the answer is yes", the constitution would be rewritten to state that the Voice may make representations to the parliament and executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Members would be chosen by local Indigenous people and serve for a fixed period. Parliament would have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Voice, the constitution would say. The creation of the Voice was recommended in 2017 by a group of 250 Indigenous leaders who met at Uluru an Indigenous sacred site formerly known as Ayers Rock. The conservative government rejected the proposal, arguing that a Voice would be seen as a third chamber of parliament. But following the centre-left Labor Partys election victory in May last year, Mr Albanese used his first speech to commit his government to creating the Voice. Some Indigenous activists, such as Robbie Thorpe, have argued that the referendum is an attack on Aboriginal Sovereignty. What do the opinion polls say? The opinion polls published on Monday showed a majority of Australians initially supported the Voice but have now turned against it. A poll published in The Australian newspaper showed 58 per cent of respondents opposed the Voice and only 34 per cent supported it. The poll was based on an online survey of 1,225 voters nationwide from 3-6 October. Another survey by the Sydney Morning Herald found 56 per cent of respondents rejected the Voice and only 29 per cent supported it. The poll was based on a survey of 4,728 voters. When will the result be declared? Referendums in Australia are notoriously difficult to pass and only eight out of 44 have done so since Australia became a country in 1901. Success requires a double majority: a majority of voters nationwide and majorities in at least four of Australias six states. Nearly a quarter of people have already voted in early polling centres across the country, according to the Australian Electoral Commission figures. Another 2 million have applied to vote via post, and around 125,000 have voted via mobile polling teams. The rest will line up from 8am (local time) on Saturday at more than 7,000 polling stations set up in churches, schools and community centres across the country. Western Australia is the last state where polls will close at 6pm (local time), three hours after they have closed in the eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. If voting trends are clear in the eastern states, a result may be apparent before voting has finished in Western Australia. Additional reporting by agencies Israels military is telling 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes immediately, as it appears to prepare to ramp up retaliation for Hamas October 7 terror attacks. Israeli warplanes continued on Friday to bombard the cramped coastal enclave, which Hamas controls. Civilians in Gaza crammed possessions into cars, taxis and pickup trucks in a mass rush toward the south. Those without other options walked, carrying what they could. Images on social media Friday showed the Israel Defense Forces dropping leaflets from planes telling Gazans to south or risk further danger. In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians, the IDF warned. Evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields. Israeli forces also conducted local raids in Gaza in search of clues to the locations of some 150 hostages held by Hamas in the area. The United Nations and several humanitarian groups have sharply criticized Israels evacuation order. After days of airstrikes, the Israeli Defense Forces have ordered the Palestinians in Gaza City and its surroundings to move to the south of the territory, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Friday, ahead of a Security Council meeting about the conflict. Moving more than one million people across a densely populated warzone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous and in some cases, simply not possible, he said. Alongside the UN, humanitarian organizations including the Norwegian Refugee Council and Amnesty International have called for Israel to rescind its order. Forcing Gaza civilians to relocate amounts to the war crime of forcible transfer, the Norwegian Refugee Council said. Palestinians flee in Gaza City, on Friday, after Israel called for the immediate relocation of 1.1 million people along the strip. - Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty Images Humanitarian groups have warned the Israeli military's evacuation order of Palestinians in northern Gaza violates international law. - Mohammed Talatene/picture alliance/Getty Images UN officials were initially told on Thursday that the relocation should take place within 24 hours. However, Israel since acknowledged that the mass migration order will take time, with IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner telling CNN Friday that any deadline may slip. Some Gazans have stayed put regardless, telling CNN they felt nowhere was safe. Refaat Alareer, 44, a literature professor in Gaza City, told CNN he and his family see no choice but to remain in the north despite Israels warning. Were hanging in there, said Alareer, who has six children. Many are not evacuating because its impossible to do so. Because we have nowhere else to go. Because Israel bombs (are) every where. A man reacts outside a burning collapsed building following Israeli bombardment in Gaza City on October 11. - Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images Local raids begin The past six days of airstrikes on Gaza are only the beginning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday, signalling more retaliation to come. Im telling you its only the beginning, Im not going to give you additional details, but it is only the beginning, he said in a short press conference. Israel has been massing hundreds of thousands of troops, reservists and military equipment at the border while it ramps up its siege and aerial bombardment of the enclave. It is unclear however if or when Israel plans to launch a potential ground incursion into Gaza. Israel has also stopped essential supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel from entering Gaza, prompting UN experts to warn that residents are at risk of starvation, and to call for the opening of a humanitarian corridor for basic supplies. Jordanian and Egyptian officials are applying diplomatic and political pressure on the Israeli government to allow for the safe passage of aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing which connects Gaza to Egypt, a senior Jordanian official told CNN Thursday. While the Egyptian side of the Rafah border is open, the source told CNN that the Palestinian side of the border is non-functional following multiple Israeli airstrikes, and that Jordanians and Egyptians are waiting for security clearance from Israel to allow trucks to cross without threat of strikes. A senior US State Department official also said Friday that the US is pressing Egypt and Israel to allow US citizens and foreign nationals trapped in Gaza to eventually use the crossing to flee. The United Arab Emirates have sent a plane carrying urgent medical aid to the Egyptian city of Al-Arish to be brought into Gaza, state run news agency WAM reported. However it is unclear how the aid will cross the border. The UN has warned that targeting innocent civilians and withholding of essential supplies is prohibited under international law. Israel has stood firm in its response. IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told CNN: We are at war with Hamas and we will not allow anything into the Gaza strip that supports the fighting ability of Hamas. If it comes to the price of inconvenience for the population, so be it. On Thursday, Israels energy minister Israel Katz said supplies to Gaza will remain cut off until all hostages captured by Hamas are freed. A deadly Oct. 7 attack Atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel last weekend sparked international revulsion and escalated the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Hamas militants breached the heavily-fortified border in a coordinated assault, indiscriminately killing men, women and children, and taking as many as 150 hostages back to Gaza. More than 1,300 people were killed in Israel and thousands more injured. Israels response has been swift and relentless, sending warplanes to pound streets and homes in Gaza to rubble. More than 1,900 people, including over 600 children have been killed by Israels bombing campaign, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The killing of children must stop, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said in a statement. The images and stories are clear: children with horrendous burns, mortar wounds, and lost limbs. And hospitals are utterly overwhelmed to treat them. The Vaticans top diplomat, secretary of state Pietro Parolin, has called on Israel to show proportionality. Parolin told Vatican News that the Hamas attack on Israel was inhuman but the legitimate defense should not harm civilians, according to a transcript of the interview. Smoke billows during an Israeli air strike in Rafah in southern Gaza on October 12. - Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images A Palestinian youth carries bread amid the rubble of the city center of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip following Israeli shelling on October 10. - Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images More than 432,000 Palestinians have also been displaced by the conflict and airstrikes have hit at least 88 education facilities, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency. Israel on a war footing Evidence of that war footing could be seen just outside the blockaded enclave, where a massive mobilization of Israeli troops, armored vehicles, trucks of ammunition, and other military equipment are being prepared for the next phase of Israels response to Hamass terrorist attacks. An IDF Artillery solider covers his ears as a shell is fired toward Gaza on October 11, near Netivot, Israel. - Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Past Israeli ground offensives in 2008 and 2014 have resulted in high casualties of Israeli soldiers and one major difference this time is that Hamas fighters have captured such a large number of hostages. Saturdays bloody attack also displayed a level of military capability and barbarity by Hamas beyond what they have previously displayed. CNN analysis of videos released by Hamas and its affiliates reveals that militants trained for the onslaught for months and across at least six sites in Gaza. More evidence has emerged of the attacks brutality, with the Israeli Prime Ministers office releasing three photos showing two babies whose bodies had been burned beyond recognition and a third bloodstained infants body. Hamas on Thursday however firmly denied its involvement in killing children, saying the allegations were unethically and unprofessionally adopted by media outlets. Testimonies from multiple survivors and eyewitnesses have detailed the scale and nature of atrocities committed by Hamas as well as the staggering number of dead and captured. CNNs Abeer Salman, Lucas Lilieholm, Nada Bashir, Kareem El Damanhoury, Caitlin Danaher, DJ Judd, Josh Campbell, Larry Register, Jonny Hallam, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Paul P. Murphy, Tara John, Brent Swails, Richard Allen Greene, Oren Liebermann, Mitchell McCluskey, Niamh Kennedy, Celine Alkhaldi, Caroline Faraj, Jennifer Hansler, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Christian Edwards, James Frater, Amir Tal, Zahid Mahmood and Sana Noor Haq contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Donald Trump repeatedly called the Hezbollah militant group 'very smart' in a speech on Wednesday In the days immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel, the Republicans seeking the US presidency had focused their criticism on President Joe Biden and what they saw as American weakness and missteps that had paved the way for violence. That changed on Wednesday night, however, when Donald Trump addressed the topic in a speech near his home in West Palm Beach, Florida. Now some of Mr Trump's rivals are condemning the former president in some of the most direct language of this campaign. During remarks to a crowd of supporters, Mr Trump said Israel had to "straighten it out because they're fighting, potentially a very big force". He called Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant a "jerk" and repeatedly called Hezbollah, the militant Islamist group in Lebanon, "very smart". Mr Trump also said that Israel had initially agreed to work with the US on a 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, but that they backed out at the last minute. "I'll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down," he said. "That was a very terrible thing." In a television interview that aired Thursday, he went further in his criticism of the Israeli prime minister, saying Mr Netanyahu was "not very prepared" for the possibility of a Hamas attack. Mr Trump's remarks prompted a series of quick and pointed responses from Ron DeSantis, the candidate who once was in a dead heat with the former president but now trails him in most polls by a wide margin. "Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage," the Florida governor wrote in a social media post, "so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for president, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists." A DeSantis campaign spokesperson would later call Mr Trump's remarks "disturbing and disqualifying". Ron DeSantis slammed Mr Trump for "attacking" Israel and "praising" Hezbollah Mr Trump's former vice-president, Mike Pence, noted a pattern in his old boss's foreign policy statements. "Hezbollah aren't smart, they're evil," he said in a radio interview on Thursday. "But the former president also said when Russia invaded Ukraine in a similar, unprovoked, unconscionable invasion a year-and-a-half ago, he said Vladimir Putin was a genius." The former president's campaign team on Thursday attempted to explain Mr Trump's comments in a social media post on Thursday, writing, "smart does not equal good" - an effort the DeSantis campaign called "rhetorical gymnastics". More on Israel Gaza war Mr Trump's comments also prompted a response from Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi, who called it "shameful". "A former US president abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israel's fighters and its citizens," he said on Israeli television. "We don't have to bother with him and the nonsense he spouts." During his presidency, Mr Trump was a vocal and aggressive supporter of Israel and its right-wing Likud government. In 2018, he relocated the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a move that past US leaders had been reluctant to make because of diplomatic blowback. It won him an outpouring of support from many Israelis. Mr Trump vocally supported Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud government when he was in office But he has harboured a grudge against Mr Netanyahu since the 2020 US presidential election, when the Israeli prime minister called to congratulate Mr Biden on his victory while Mr Trump was still contesting the voting results. It's yet another indication that for Mr Trump, his foreign policy views and statements can be determined as much by personal issues as political ones. Democrats are facing their own divisions on the topic, as sympathies towards the Palestinian situation that have grown more pronounced in recent years clash with an outpouring of support and anger over the Hamas attacks. Within the left-wing progressive movement, cracks have been forming. Two liberal House Democrats in Michigan, Rashida Tlaib and Shri Thanedar, clashed over the latter's criticism of members of Congress who call Hamas "resistance" or "militants". Ms Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, said Mr Thanedar was more interested in generating social media attention than helping his constituents. Earlier this week, some House Democrats exchanged heated words behind closed doors over the Israel attacks, reportedly after Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey said that anyone in Congress who hasn't condemned the attack should feel guilty. Democrat Rashida Tlaib - the only Palestinian American in Congress - has angered some in her party with remarks on the conflict Mr Trump isn't the only Republican presidential hopeful who has discovered that the Hamas attack on Israel can be somewhat treacherous political ground, either. Mr DeSantis himself was put on the defensive while campaigning in New Hampshire on Thursday, as a voter wondered why the Florida governor was not also expressing sympathy for Palestinian civilians who have been killed by Israeli bombing campaigns. "They are not decapitating babies' heads," Mr DeSantis said, in reference to unconfirmed reports of specific Hamas atrocities on Saturday. "They are not intentionally doing that." The man, who said he had voted for Mr Trump in the past, told Mr DeSantis he had lost his support. Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy - the tech entrepreneur and political novice who is currently close to Mr DeSantis in recent Republican polls - instigated his own round of criticism when he said that the many Republicans expressing support for Israel after the Hamas attack were engaging in "selective moral outrage" based on campaign contributions and deep-pocketed donors. "It is shameful," he said. "And I think that there are, frankly, financial and corrupting influences that lead them exactly to speak the way they do, that's just the hard truth." That prompted a back-and-forth on social media with Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas, who called Mr Ramaswamy a "Hamas apologist" and a "clown". The Republican race has been remarkably stable over recent months, as Mr Trump has built and maintained a sizable lead over his opponents through a variety of legal and political drama. The conflict in Israel, however, has created a new turbulence in US and global politics that could continue to cause headaches for Democrats - and, possibly, give Mr Trump's rivals an opening to exploit. Israeli army infantry fighting vehicles deployed - JACK GUEZ/AFP Joe Biden said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was a priority as Israel called on the entire population of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate ahead of a ground offensive. We cant lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas and these appalling attacks and theyre suffering as a result as well, the US president said in a speech in Philadelphia. Israel gave 1.1 million people 24 hours to leave northern Gaza before it begins an offensive now said to be imminent. The countrys ground forces have already launched localised raids into Gaza, the military said on Friday. The raids came amid Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip which Hamas responded to by firing back with rockets. Over the past 24 hours, IDF forces carried out localised raids inside the territory of the Gaza Strip to complete the effort to cleanse the area of terrorists and weaponry, an IDF spokesperson said. The raids mark an attempt to rescue around 150 abducted Israelis and foreigners. It added: During these operations, there was also an effort to locate missing persons. 01:41 AM BST What happened today Follow the latest updates in Saturdays live blog 12:51 AM BST Thousand expected at London pro-Palestine march Thousands of people are expected to march in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central London as police warn that anyone showing support for Hamas or deviating from the route could face arrest. The Metropolitan Police Service will deploy more than 1,000 officers to police the demonstration, in which people will be marching in solidarity with Palestine and demanding Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian land, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Palestinians have begun a mass exodus from northern Gaza after Israels military told them to evacuate ahead of an expected ground invasion. 12:17 AM BST Biden: We're workin like hell to find US hostages President Joe Biden said his administration was workin like hell to find American hostages held by Hamas amid the conflict with Israel, according to an excerpt of a 60 Minutes interview released on Friday. Im not gonna go into the detail of that, but theres were workin like hell on it, Mr Biden was quoted as saying. Joe Biden at an event in Philadelphia on Friday - REUTERS 11:37 PM BST Flight to evacuate Britons leaves Israel A Government chartered flight to evacuate vulnerable Britons from Israel has left the country, the Foreign Office (FCDO) said. The FCDO did not confirm where the flight was due to land. An FCDO spokesperson said: A UK Government charter flight has now left Israel, with further flights expected to leave in the coming days while commercial options are limited. According to flight tracker tool FlightRadar24, a Royal Air Force A400M transport plane left Tel Aviv and arrived in Larnaca in Cyprus late on Friday evening. 10:53 PM BST How Israel targets the Hamas tunnels Hamas has spent two decades building a labyrinth of deep, defensive tunnels to resist any ground assault by Israeli troops, Ben Farmer and Nataliya Vasilyeva write. The extensive network is believed to be as much as 100ft (30m) beneath the surface in some places and makes up a central part of defences the terrorist group has spent years preparing. Tunnel entrances are hidden in the bottom floors of houses, mosques and schools, while the territorys narrow streets and alleyways are expected to have been laid with booby traps and homemade bombs in preparation for any Israeli attack. Read more: How Israel targets the Gaza Metro of Hamas tunnels hiding terrorists 09:54 PM BST Israel yet to identify murdered baby Israel is still trying to establish the identity of the murdered baby shown in a photograph that shocked the world. The photograph was released by the government to reveal the full horror of the terror attack on the country and bolster support for Israel. Experts at an Israeli rescue organisation were still carrying out tests on the remains of babies found dead in attacks on the settlements by Hamas last weekend, sources said. Read the full report here. 09:26 PM BST Gaza hospital urged to evacuate ActionAid sait its partner Al-Awda hospital in Gaza has been given orders to urgently evacuate, but warned that injured children receiving treatment cannot leave. Riham Jafari, the organisations coordinator of advocacy and communication for Palestine, said: Our understanding and fear is that the hospital will be bombed when that deadline expires. Let us be clear, ActionAid condemns, in the strongest terms any act that puts innocent lives at risk, and threatening a hospital is an egregious violation of humanitarian law. Here, wounded children, amongst many other civilians, are being treated with life-threatening injuries; they simply cannot leave. We call for the immediate removal of this threat, a ceasefire and the protection of civilians across Gaza. 08:58 PM BST Biden says Gaza's 'humanitarian' crisis is a 'priority' Joe Biden said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was a priority. We cant lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas and these appalling attacks and theyre suffering as a result as well, the US president said in a speech in Philadelphia. 08:29 PM BST BBC journalist 'stopped and assaulted' by Israeli police A BBC journalist has been stopped and assaulted by Israeli police, the corporation has said. Muhannad Tutunji, Haitham Abudiab and the BBC Arabic team were making their way to a hotel in Tel Aviv on Thursday when they were dragged from their car by police, according to BBC News. During the stop of their car, marked with red TV tape, the news website reported that the pair showed their press identification cards. Mr Tutunji said while filming the incident, his phone was taken and thrown to the floor. He also claims he was hit on the neck. On Friday, a BBC spokesperson said: One of our BBC News Arabic teams deployed in Tel Aviv, in a vehicle clearly marked as media, was stopped and assaulted last night by Israeli police. Journalists must be able to report on the conflict in Israel-Gaza freely. 07:57 PM BST Democrats 'repugnant' for not backing Israel says White House The White House has criticised repugnant Democrats who have failed to unequivocally support Israel, saying there are not two sides here. When asked what the White House thinks about members of Congress who havent backed the Israeli government, Karine Jean-Pierre, said: I am going to be very clear: We believe theyre wrong, we believe theyre repugnant, and we believe theyre disgraceful. The comments were made two days ago but are now drawing attention. 07:54 PM BST Netanyahu speech continued Netanyahu added: Today, everyone knows that were fighting for the homeland, and were fighting like lions, he said, according to the Times of Israel. Well never forget the Hamas onslaught. We are striking our enemies with unprecedented might. We will destroy Hamas, and we will win, but it will take time, he added during his speech which was televised after the Jewish sabbath had begun. 07:36 PM BST Netanyahu vows to 'destroy' Hamas Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to destroy Hamas, says Gaza offensive still in early stages. This is just the beginning, Netanyahu said in a national address. We will end this war stronger than ever. We will destroy Hamas. 07:22 PM BST Reuters pays tribute to videographer killed in shelling Reuters news agency has payed tribute to one of its journalists who died on Friday. Issam Abdallah, a videographer, was part of a crew in southern Lebanon providing live coverage. In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Reuters said: We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issams family and colleagues. Two other journalists from the agency, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, also sustained injuries and are being treated. Reuters added: Our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time. Picture taken less than two hours before Issam Abdallah was killed 07:19 PM BST US charters first flight to evacuate Americans The first US charter flight to evacuate Americans has taken off for an undisclosed destination in Europe, the White House said. More flights are expected to depart in the coming days and will continue for as long as there is demand, said John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. 07:18 PM BST Corbyn tells Palestinian citizens 'you are not alone' We may be witnessing the total obliteration of Gaza. Political leaders refusing to speak out should feel eternal shame over the horror they are allowing to unfold. Those of us who believe in peace cannot stay silent. We must say to the Palestinian people: you are not alone. Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 13, 2023 07:15 PM BST Car burns following Israeli strikes Journalists' car burns after it was hit by Israeli shelling - Hassan Ammar/AP 06:58 PM BST Biden spoken with families of 14 missing Americans U.S. President Joe Biden has spoken with family members of 14 Americans unaccounted for after attacks by Hamas, the White House said on Friday. John Kirby, White House national security spokesperson, said the president and his team said authorities would do everything they could to return these people back to their families. They are American citizens. They belong home with their families, Kirby said. 06:54 PM BST Hospital given 'two hours to evacuate' A hospital in Gaza has been given just two hours to evacuate, a humanitarian organisation said. Medecins Sans Frontieres International said Al Awda Hospital has been told to evacuate staff and patients. It said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter MSF said: Our staff are still treating patients. We unequivocally condemn this action, the continued indiscriminate bloodshed and attacks on health care in Gaza. We are trying to protect our staff and patients. 06:45 PM BST Archbishop of Canterbury called for creation of humanitarian corridor in Gaza Britains Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby appealed on Friday for the creation of a humanitarian corridor and convoy in Gaza where. He said more than two million civilians, half of them children, were facing a catastrophe. But in the face of a ground offensive in Gaza, I plead that the sins of Hamas are not borne by the citizens of Gaza, who themselves have faced such suffering over many decades. The price of evil cannot be paid by the innocent. Civilians cannot bear the costs of terrorists, he said in a statement. Over two million civilians in Gaza, half of them children, are facing a catastrophe. A humanitarian corridor and convoy are needed as rapidly as possible, as set out in the Geneva Conventions. 06:43 PM BST PM's wife Akshata Murthy is lighting a candle for Israel in Downing Street PM's wife Akshata Murthy is lighting a candle for Israel in Downing Street - Paul Grover 06:34 PM BST Humza Yousaf says Israel 'gone too far' Israel is going too far and innocent civilians of Gaza cannot simply be collateral damage, the Scottish First Minister has said. Humza Yousaf told the BBC that he fears for the situation of his family members in Gaza. He said: Innocent men, women and children cannot be victims. They cannot be simply thought of as collateral damage. The ends cannot simply justify the means. Collective punishment cannot and is not justified. 06:34 PM BST Palestinian youth clashes with Israeli forces Palestinian youth clash with Israeli security forces - ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP 06:28 PM BST Israeli airstrikes kill fleeing Gaza residents, says Hamas Around 70 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on convoys fleeing Gaza City, a Hamas spokesperson said. 06:11 PM BST European Commission president calls for immediate release of hostages Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament, called for the immediate release of the hostages as they visited Israel. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. It does not represent the aspiration of the Palestinian people, Ms Metsola said on Friday. Release the hostages and stop from taking people as human shields, Mrs von der Leyen told Hamas, after meeting Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel. We are friends of Israel. When friends are under attack, we stand by them, she added. 05:49 PM BST Israel's 24 hour deadline 'utterly unrealistic' Israels 24 hour deadline for the one million Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate was utterly unrealistic, said the EUs top diplomat. Josep Borrell Fontelles warned of the potential for devastating humanitarian consequences. He said: Certainly Israel has the right to defend itself, but it has to be done in line with international humanitarian law. Mr Fontelles added the blockade of Gaza, cutting off food, water and power, was not in accordance with international law. 05:38 PM BST Israel made raids into Gaza 'over past 24 hours' Israeli ground forces made raids into Gaza over the past 24 hours, the military said on Friday. It comes ahead of an expected ground offensive on the densely populated Palestinian territory. Over the past 24 hours, IDF forces carried out localised raids inside the territory of the Gaza Strip to complete the effort to cleanse the area of terrorists and weaponry, an army statement said. During these operations, there was also an effort to locate missing persons. 05:37 PM BST Iran warns Israel of 'new fronts' if Gaza 'war crimes' continue Irans foreign minister has warned of new fronts opening against Israel if its war crimes in Gaza continue. Speaking during a visit to Beirut, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Irans Foreign Minister, claimed Western officials had asked him whether its possible for new fronts to open against the Israeli regime. He said: Naturally with the continuation of Israeli war crimes and the humanitarian siege of Gaza and Palestine, any decision and possibility by other members of the resistance movement is probable, The resistance movement comprises groups opposed to the state of Israel, including Hamas, Hezbollah and militant groups in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. The foreign minister did not disclose which Western officials he had spoken with. 05:35 PM BST Qatar says its 'committed' to managing Irans $6 bn Qatar says its committed to managing Irans $6 bn oil fund as part of US deal. Qatar is committed to an agreement and will fulfil its obligations and will not do anything without consultations with our partners, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 05:06 PM BST Blinken 'grateful' to Qatar Blinken said he was grateful to Qatar for its efforts in helping secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. Mr Blinken also urged Israel to take every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians, but noted they were caught in a crossfire of Hamas making. Speaking in Doha, he said: I really want to thank Qatar for the work that theyre doing to try to help secure the release of hostages. I know that other countries are as well, and its something that were actively pursuing. Americas top diplomat said: Israel has both the right and even the obligation to defend its people. But, he added: At the same time, the way Israel does this matters. 05:03 PM BST Focus on creating safe zones in Gaza Our Focus is now to create safe zones for civilians in Gaza, Blinken added. 05:02 PM BST Israel defending its citizens What Israel is doing is not retaliation, Israel is defending the lives of its people, Blinken said. 04:57 PM BST Blinken urged Israel to avoid citizens U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel on Friday to avoid civilian deaths in Gaza, stepping up the tone after he backed reprisals against Hamas. We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians, Blinken told a news conference in Qatar. 04:52 PM BST Blinken speaking at press conference Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, is speaking at press conference. 04:49 PM BST Al Jazeera says one journalist killed Al Jazeera said one journalist has been killed and three wounded after Israeli shelling on the Lebanese border. 04:31 PM BST Israeli army fires towards Lebanon after explosion at border fence The Israel Defense Forces said an explosion caused light damage to a security fence on Israels border with Lebanon, near the northern kibbutz of Hanita. Its troops are responding with artillery fire toward Lebanese territory, the IDF said in a statement. Additionally, an alert was activated concerning the infiltration of terrorists into the community. IDF soldiers are currently searching the area. There are fears a new front could open up in the war if Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah decides to get involved and attack Israel in support of its Palestinian allies. 04:16 PM BST Map of Palestinian refugee camps around Middle East A map illustrating the spots where camps are welcoming refugees. There are a number of locations across Beirut in Lebanon, Damascus in Syria and Amman in Jordan. 04:14 PM BST 'Massive increase' in antisemitic incidents in London London has seen a massive increase in antisemitic incidents since the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Metropolitan Police said. The Met has heard reports of people playing German military music to intimidation outside synagogues. Between September 30 and October 13 there were 105 antisemitic incidents and 75 antisemitic offences in the capital, compared with 14 incidents and 12 offences in the same period last year, according to figures from Scotland Yard. Laurence Taylor, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, said: That is a massive increase in antisemitic crime and incidents. In balance, we have seen an increase in Islamophobic incidents, but nothing like the scale of the increase in antisemitism. The context is really challenging for us, we are seeing behaviours that are provocative, that are inciteful, well address those whilst recognising the emotion and the activities and the incidents that are taking place overseas. 04:09 PM BST Israeli Defence Force evacuation notice Civilians are being asked to leave Gaza City by the IDF. Around 1.1 million people have been given 24 hours notice to flee for safety. Here is a picture of the notice residents are being served. 04:05 PM BST Gaza offensive will affected 'permanent change', says Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel Minister of Defence said Gazas offensive will be protracted, powerful and affect permanent change. 04:01 PM BST Eleven Palestinians shot dead on Friday Eleven Palestinians were shot and killed in the West bank by Israeli forces on Friday, the Palestinian health ministry said. 03:58 PM BST Putin compares Gaza siege to Nazi blockade of Leningrad Vladimir Putin, Russian President, called Israels siege of Gaza unacceptable, comparing it to the Nazi blockade of Leningrad during World War II. Israel is now about to do something that is comparable to the siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War, Putin said in Kyrgyzstan on Friday. He added: In my opinion, this is unacceptable. 03:32 PM BST Evacuating Gaza in 24 hours 'a tall order', says White House Evacuating 1.1 million civilians in northern Gaza in the next 24 hours is a tall order, a White House spokesperson said. John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communication, told CNN that moving away from a dense and urban environment was difficult. We understand what theyre trying to do: theyre trying to move civilians out of harms way and giving them fair warning, he said. Now its a tall order. Its a million people and very urban, dense environment. Its already a combat zone. So I dont think anybodys underestimating the challenge here of effecting that evacuation. 03:03 PM BST Civilians flee Gaza City for safety Civilians flee Gaza City after Israeli orders to evacuate - Anadolu Agency/Anadolu 02:38 PM BST Gaza becoming hellhole, says UN Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse, according to the commissioner general of the UNs Palestinian refugee agency. Philippe Lazzarini said: The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza is bone-chilling. He called for all parties to give Gazas civilians immediate and unconditional humanitarian access and protection. 02:06 PM BST Two government flights to repatriate Britons failed Two attempts by the UK Government to organise flights to repatriate British nationals from Israel have failed, aviation sources have said. This is despite flights to the UK arranged by the US and Australia going ahead. A UK-organised flight was initially planned to arrive at Gatwick Airport on Friday morning, but that was cancelled amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. 01:55 PM BST Hamas terrorists take 'evil to another level' Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said that Hamas terrorists take evil to another level, as he pledged that US backing for Israel was iron-clad. In encountering Isis I felt as if we were staring evil in the eye - it was truly evil, he said, following talks with Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister. And what weve seen from Hamas, it takes that evil to another level. Mr Austin added that there was never any justification for terrorism and that the US has Israels back. That is not negotiable and it never will be, he said. 01:42 PM BST Sadiq Khan worried of 'disproportionate' Israeli response Sadiq Khan has said he fears that a disproportionate Israeli response to Hamass attacks could lead to inexplicable suffering in Gaza. The Mayor of London called for the Israeli government to reconsider its decision to cut off food, water and electricity to the region. Ive spoken to Londoners who lost family members in Gaza and Londoners whove lost family as a consequence of the Hamas terrorist attack last weekend, so were feeling the pain here, he said, during a visit to the charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians. But we are worried about the response of the Israeli government being disproportionate (and) leading to the sort of suffering which is inexplicable. Were talking about human suffering on a scale which this charity, who has worked in that area for decades, hasnt seen. 01:20 PM BST Pictured: Israeli officers stand guard in Jerusalem In this photograph, Israeli police officers check Muslims attending Friday prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, near Jerusalems Damascus Gate. Israeli police officers monitor the streets of Jerusalem - Amir Levy/Getty Images 01:11 PM BST Watch: Israeli soldiers retake border base overrun by Hamas terrorists 12:56 PM BST Pictured: Israel drops fliers warning Palestinians Israel has dropped fliers across Gaza warning Palestinians to flee. Flyers dropped by the Israeli military over Gaza City - MOHAMMED ABED / AFP A leaflet lies on the ground dropped by Israeli army planes above Gaza City - Mohammed Talatene/DPA/Cover Images 12:46 PM BST 'Americas support for Israel is iron-clad' Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, told reporters that it is good to be back in Israel even during such terrible days. To make something crystal clear Americas support for Israel is iron-clad, he said. Mr Austin said he is in solidarity with families living in a waking nightmare, not knowing where their kidnapped relatives are. This is no time for neutrality, or false equivalence, or for excuses for the inexcusable. There is never any justification for terrorism, and that is especially true after this rampage by Hamas, he said. Mr Austin added that Hamas does not speak for the Palestinian people. 12:43 PM BST US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin speaks with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant A press conference is being held between US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Mr Gallant described Hamas as the Isis of Gasa, but added that US deployment of assets in the region had sent a strong message. 12:38 PM BST Hezbollah 'ready to contribute' Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollahs deputy chief, said the group was ready and would contribute toward the fight against Israel with its own plan. 12:24 PM BST Watch: Gaza locals flee 12:16 PM BST BBC journalist reporting on bloody scenes breaks down in tears A BBC journalist broke down in tears while reporting on the bloody scenes inside a hospital in the Gaza Strip, where the wards are littered with dead and injured Palestinians killed by Israeli air strikes, reports Nick Squires. Adnan El-Bursh, wearing a blue helmet and body armour marked Press, wiped away tears as he delivered a piece to camera in Al-Shifa Hospital. Among the dead and wounded were friends and neighbours. Today has been one of the most difficult days of my career, Mr El-Bursh said, adding: I have seen things that I can never unsee. A reporter for BBC Arabic, he is also a resident of Gaza. This is my local hospital. Inside are my friends, my neighbours, this is my community, he said. He said there were bodies everywhere in the hospital, which is the largest of the 13 hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The injured scream for help, you can never forget these sounds. You never want to become the story, Mr El-Bursh said in his distressing dispatch. But in my city, I feel helpless. 12:04 PM BST Israel death toll in war with Hamas rises to over 1,300 More than 1,300 people have been killed in Israel since Hamas militants unleashed a massive attack from the blockaded Gaza Strip, the army said Friday, raising an earlier toll by 100. Over 3,200 other people had been wounded, the Israeli army said on X, formerly Twitter, while families of 120 hostages have been contacted since attack at dawn on Saturday that spiralled into all-out war. 11:54 AM BST Loud bangs heard in Jerusalem Several loud bangs were heard in Jerusalem moments before prayers were due to take place on Friday, according to reports. Reporters from CNN likened the bangs to stun grenades. Smoke could be seen near the Lionss Gate, an entrance to Jerusalems Old City. Israeli authorities are restricting access to the old city and have sealed off the road leading to the gate. Only those over the age of 60 are allowed to access the al-Aqsa compound, according to CNN. 11:41 AM BST Senior Hamas commander killed A senior Hamas commander was killed after Israel struck over 750 targets in Gaza overnight, vowing to annihilate the terrorists who led Saturdays attack. The commander led Hamas special Nukhba military unit, which was said to be tasked with infiltrating Israel. Israeli strikes hit underground tunnels used by Hamas, as well as military compounds, residences of senior operatives and weapons storage warehouses. Dozens of fighter jets were involved in the strikes, which Israel said included 12 Hamas military assets each located in a multi-storey building. 11:39 AM BST Israeli soldiers patrol Jerusalem Israeli soldiers have been recorded in the Wadi al-Joz neighbourhood in Jerusalem during Friday prayer. Israeli forces suppressing worshipers at the entrance to the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood in Jerusalem during Friday prayer, firing sound bombs at them and using horses to disperse the crowd. pic.twitter.com/3W4nb6ifJg Clash Report (@clashreport) October 13, 2023 11:33 AM BST PIctured: Israeli forces amass near the border An Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) drives near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip - REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura Israeli artillery fires near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, - VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA An Israeli soldier looks out from a tank near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel - REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura IDF 'Namer' armoured personnel carriers (APCs) maneuver at an area along the border with Gaza, southern Israel - ATEF SAFADI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 11:25 AM BST Hamas fires rockets towards Ben Gurion Airport Hamas has claimed that it fired rockets towards Ben Gurion airport and the southern Israeli city of Sderot. A total of 50 rockets were fired towards Sderot. Israeli soldiers in Kfar Saad were also targetted by two explosive drones, it added. 11:14 AM BST Western countries should take steps to ease tensions in Gaza, Erdogan tells Macron Turkeys President Tayyip Erdogan and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the humanitarian situation in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians in a phone call on Friday, the Turkish presidency said. Erdogan told Macron that the violation of human rights in Gaza against civilians was unacceptable and Western countries needed to take steps to ease tensions, it said in a statement posted on messaging platform X, formerly Twitter. 11:06 AM BST Israel sends flyers to Gaza urging locals to flee Israel has sent flyers into Gaza warning Palestinians to flee south, according to reports. IDF dropping thousands of fliers in the northern Gaza Strip, warning civilians to evacuate south. pic.twitter.com/nJSZTx6Xn3 Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 13, 2023 10:56 AM BST Iraqis gather in solidarity with Palestinians In this photograph, supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad, Iraq. Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad, Iraq - REUTERS/Ahmed Saa 10:48 AM BST Gaza ground operation would lead to 'unacceptable' civilian toll, says Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned Israeli forces expected ground offensive would bring unacceptable levels of civilian casualties, and that his country was ready to help with mediation efforts. The use of heavy machinery in residential areas is a complex matter fraught with grave consequences, Putin said, most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable. 10:38 AM BST 447 Palestinian children killed A total of 447 Palestinian children have been killed in airstrikes in Gaza so far after Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas with a relentless bombing campaign. UNICEF reports that this total is likely to rise as Israel strikes Gaza around the clock. Over 2,800 lives have been claimed on both sides so far, while tensions across the region soar. 10:21 AM BST Man arrested on site of music festival massacre A man was ordered to strip before being arrested after being found at the site of the Supernova Music festival, following bursts of gunfire as Israeli soldiers continued to search for ID and belongings among the cars and tents. A man ordered to strip before being arrested after being found at the site of the Supernova Music festival - Leon Neal/Getty Images 10:10 AM BST Israeli embassy employee attacked in Beijing An Israeli embassy worker in Beijing was attacked on Friday, Israels foreign ministry said. An Israeli employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was attacked today, a foreign ministry statement said, adding that the attack did not take place at the embassy compound in the Chinese capital. The employee is being treated at hospital and is in stable condition, the statement said. The motive for the assault is being looked into. 10:01 AM BST Hamas launches rockets at Israel Hamas claims to have launched more than 150 rockets towards the port city of Ashkelon in response to the displacement and targeting of civilians, according to reports. 09:58 AM BST Israel tells Palestinians to flee Israel has told 1.1 million Palestinians living in northern Gaza to leave now ahead of its expected ground assault on Hamas. The military said on Friday morning it planned to operate significantly within Gaza City in the coming days. All citizens and UN staff have been told to move south beyond Wadi Gaza for your own safety. The Israeli military told Palestinians: You will only be able to return to Gaza when another announcement permitting it is made. 09:50 AM BST Blinken meets Palestinian president US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in Amman, Jordan, on Friday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, shake hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool 09:41 AM BST Four London schools close amid fears for children's safety Four schools have closed in London over concerns about the safety of their students, according to reports. Torah Vodaas Primary School in Edgware, Ateres Beis Yaakov Primary School in Colindale and Menorah High School in Neasden will not reopen until Monday. A fourth unnamed school will also close its doors today. Jewish children have been warned by schools to hide their uniforms in fear of antisemitic attacks. 09:31 AM BST Footage allegedly shows White Phosphorus munitions in Gaza 09:09 AM BST Hamas says 13 hostages killed in Israel strikes on Gaza At least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the northern Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, Hamass armed wing said Friday. In a surprise assault early Saturday, Hamas militants stormed Israeli communities near the Gaza border and fired barrages of rockets, in an attack that claimed more than 1,200 lives. Israel says Hamas has taken more than 150 people hostage, including both civilians and security forces. Thirteen prisoners... including foreigners were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement. 08:59 AM BST Lebanese and Iranian leaders meet Lebanons Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian earlier today. They met to discuss the aftermath of the deadly operation by Hamas militants against Israeli towns last weekend. Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein - HEZBOLLAH MEDIA OFFICE 08:53 AM BST US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrives in Israel US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has landed in Israel, where he is expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Friday. United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/W4isYOD6kH NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 13, 2023 08:42 AM BST Foreign office advises Britons in Gaza to follow Israeli orders The Foreign Office has urged civilians to leave Gaza City. Earlier, the Israeli military told civilians there to flee towards southern Gaza for their own safety. An update on the Foreign Office travel advice page said: The Israeli military announced on the morning of 13 October that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours. We advise following this advice issued by the Israeli authorities. We recognise this is a fast-moving situation that poses significant risks. 08:30 AM BST US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrives in Israel US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has arrived in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to meet with senior government leaders and see firsthand some of the U.S. weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel. 08:21 AM BST Palestinians flee Israeli attacks Palestinians carrying their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City - MAHMUD HAMS / AFP A boy carries a mattres as Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City - MAHMUD HAMS / AFP Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City - MAHMUD HAMS / AFP Palestinians flash the V for victory sign as they flee to safer areas in Gaza City - MAHMUD HAMS / AFP 08:08 AM BST Hamas tells Palestinians to ignore evacuation order Palestinians have been told by Hamas to remain in their homes, despite a sweeping evacuation order issued by Israel. The Hamas authority for refugee affairs said its residents of the north of the territory should remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation. 08:00 AM BST Japan condemns Hamas' 'terror attacks' Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa told her Israeli counterpart on Thursday the terror attacks by Hamas cannot be justified for any reason, and that Tokyo resolutely condemns the conduct, a statement by the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Kamikawa told Eli Cohen in their phone call that Israel had the right to defend itself and its people under international law, the statement said. After initially referring to Hamas as Palestinian militants and avoiding the term terrorism, Japan joined other Group of Seven nations in condemning the weekend attacks in Israel as terrorist acts. 07:48 AM BST US speaking to Israeli military 'hourly' John Kirby said that the US is speaking to the Israeli military on an hourly basis about the hostages. I can tell you that we are in literally hourly contact with our Israeli counterparts about the hostage situation, weve offered expertise and counsel, of course, they know how to do hostage recovery very, very well, he said. Were mindful of the delicate nature of this hostage situation, because theyre most likely being held somewhere in Gaza. Its a war zone, its a combat zone that greatly complicates efforts to find them and to and to work on their release. 07:41 AM BST US 'working very hard hour by hour' for safe evacuation of Palestinians John Kirby, the White House National Security spokesperson, has said that the US is working very hard hour by hour to ensure that there is a way for Palestinian civilians to flee safely. He told CNN: Whether or not theres a ground incursion and Ill let the Israelis speak to their operations we want to make sure that theres a way for people who live in Gaza who want to get out to do it, and to do it safely and quickly, so were working on this very, very hard hour by hour, Kirby said. We believe that there should be an opportunity for civilians in Gaza to leave now, yesterday, I mean, immediately. 07:30 AM BST Nepali nationals arrive home Nepali nationals who survived the attack returned home aboard the first special flight from Israel. A plane carrying 254 Nepalis from Israel landed in the capital city Kathmandu before dawn on Friday, nearly a week after attacks by Hamas. All those evacuated on Friday were students who were studying agriculture and forestry in Israel under a learn and earn programme. 07:18 AM BST In pictures: Gaza wakes up to destruction Smoke billows following Israeli strikes - REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Smoke billows following Israeli strikes - REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Destroyed and damaged buildings of the Islamic University - REUTERS/Saleh Salem Smoke rises from Israeli raids on October 13, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza - Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images 07:06 AM BST Israel strikes over 750 targets in Gaza overnight Israel struck over 750 targets in Gaza overnight as the country vowed to annihilate Hamas terrorists who led the attack on Saturday. The strikes hit underground tunnels used by Hamas, as well as military compounds, residences of senior operatives and weapons storage warehouses. Dozens of fighter jets were involved in the strikes, which Israel said included 12 Hamas military assets each located in a multi-storey building. A commander of the Hamas special Nukhba military unit was also killed, according to Israel. The elite force was said to be tasked with infiltrating Israel. 06:52 AM BST IDF shares footage of hostage rescue The Israel Defence Forces has shared footage of what they say is the rescue of around 250 hostages on the day Hamas infiltrated the country. Sharing a clip on X purporting to show troops moving into a kibbutz in southern Israel, the IDF said 60 Hamas terrorists had been killed. The IDF added that Hamas terrorists were neutralised and 26 were apprehendedincluding Muhammad Abu Aali the Deputy Commander of the Hamas southern Naval Division. The Flotilla 13 elite unit was deployed to the area surrounding the Gaza security fence in a joint effort to regain control of the Sufa military post on October 7th. The soldiers rescued around 250 hostages alive. 60+ Hamas terrorists were neutralized and 26 were pic.twitter.com/DWdHKZgdLw Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 12, 2023 06:38 AM BST Blinken seeks Arab pressure on Hamas as Israel readies Gaza move US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday began a tour of Arab capitals as he seeks to build pressure on Hamas. The top US diplomat will meet Jordans King Abdullah II, a longtime US partner, and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Amman and will then visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Mr Blinken spent Thursday in Tel Aviv where he promised unwavering solidarity to US ally Israel. Qatar, where Mr Blinken will head immediately after Jordan, has longstanding ties with Hamas and has been seen as an intermediary in freeing the hostages. Well continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages, Blinken said late Thursday in Tel Aviv. Well also discuss how we can continue to make real our affirmative vision for a region thats more peaceful, more prosperous, more secure, more integrated. In fact, that is the choice, and the choice in some ways has been made even more stark by the actions of Hamas. 06:27 AM BST Tehrans hands are all over the Hamas terror attacks Writing in The Telegraph, Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, says Hamass assault on Israel is part of Irans scheme to become a superpower in the Middle East. Make no mistake: Iran will be willing Hamass attacks to spark a wider crisis in the Arab world and in Muslim populations in the West. It doesnt want a negotiated peace. The regime doesnt want a two-state solution in Israel. What the West too often fails to recognise is that such attacks are not one-offs or tit-for-tat, but part of a deliberate and determined plan to use terror to divide and weaken the region. Indeed, despite Irans constant rhetoric and actions, the destruction of Israel is not as important to the regime as establishing the country as the regional superpower. The Iranian leadership uses the Israel conflict to recruit proxies to spread division. Read more: Irans sinister plan is in danger of succeeding 05:56 AM BST UN refugee agency relocates to south The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said it relocated its central operations centre and international staff to Gazas south to continue its humanitarian operations and support its staff and Palestinian refugees. We urge the Israeli Authorities to protect all civilians in UNRWA shelters including schools, the agency said on X. 05:34 AM BST Move south now, Israel tells 1.1 million Gazans The Israeli military has issued a statement telling citizens of northern Gaza to move south. The IDF calls on all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes, move south for their protection and settle in the area south of the Gaza River, as described on the map. The terrorist organisation Hamas started a war against the State of Israel; Gaza City is an area where military activity takes place. , , . , >> (@idfonline) October 13, 2023 05:20 AM BST Israeli envoy: UN response to warning is shameful Israels ambassador to the United Nations has appeared to confirm earlier reports that the Israeli military told the UN that 1.1 million people should leave north Gaza in the next 24 hours. Gilad Erdan told Reuters: The UNs response to Israels early warning to the residents of Gaza is shameful. Mr Erdan added that the UN should focus on condemning Hamas and supporting Israels right to self-defence. 05:16 AM BST Pictured: Police use tear gas as French defy ban on pro-Palestine protests Paris police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had defied a ban and demonstrated Thursday against the Israeli government. The unrest came despite Frances interior minister on Thursday ordering local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend. President Emmanuel Macron urged French people not to allow the war in the Mideast erupt into tensions at home. Let us not bring ideological adventures here (to France) by imitation or by projection. Let us not add national fractures... to international fractures, Mr Macron pleaded. Let us stay united. French riot police uses tear gas to disperse demonstrators during a pro-Palestinian rally A policeman walks past a 'Free Palestine' written on a bus station during a pro-Palestinian rally at the Republique Square in Paris People attend a pro-Palestinian rally at the Republique Square in Paris Police push pro-Palestine supporters back People attend a pro-Palestine rally in Republique Square, Paris Pro-Palestine supporters gather on the Place de Republique 04:57 AM BST Hamas: Israel relocation order is fake propaganda A Hamas official has told Reuters that Israels relocation warning to the UN is fake propaganda and has urged citizens of Gaza not to fall for it 04:17 AM BST Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions capable of burning human flesh in Gaza and Lebanon. The international non-governmental organisation claimed it had verified videos showing repeated use of artillery-fired white phosphorus in Gaza and Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. White phosphorus can cause severe burns, putting civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries, including causing multiple organ failure. Read more: Israel has used white phosphorus in Gaza, human rights group claims 03:41 AM BST Posters of missing children torn down by Palestine supporters Palestine supporters appear to have torn down posters of missing Israeli children in London. Footage shared on social media shows two women ripping the flyers from walls in Camden. The Metropolitan Police said it was aware of the footage, and it is being assessed. Read more: Posters of missing Israeli children torn down by Palestine supporters in London This is for Palestine, she said. pic.twitter.com/s3ElKXo6OP Elad Simchayoff (@Elad_Si) October 12, 2023 03:02 AM BST Hamas member defends murderous rampage A prominent civilian member of Hamas defended the groups rampage through Israeli communities in a video released by the group on Thursday and decried the civilian deaths in Gaza from the six days of Israeli airstrikes that have followed. Basem Naim, a physician and former Hamas government minister, said in the swift collapse of the Israeli military on Saturday, chaos prevailed and civilians found themselves in the middle of the confrontation between Israeli and Hamas combatants. The claim is contradicted by countless videos and survivor accounts of Hamas militants deliberately targeting and killing hundreds of civilians. Naim said the 150 hostages taken back into Gaza would be treated according to religious values and international laws. At the same time we are really worried they might be the victims of the Israeli army bombardment, like our people, he said. He added that Hamas would not consider freeing the captives until Israel stopped its bombardment. 02:34 AM BST PM calls on Israel to protect ordinary Palestinians Rishi Sunak has called on Israel to protect ordinary Palestinians as it hunts down Hamas militants responsible for killing hundreds of Israelis. Downing Street confirmed the Prime Minister spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday after agreeing to send Royal Navy vessels and Royal Air Force surveillance planes to support Tel Aviv after Hamas attack. A No 10 spokeswoman said that during the phone call Mr Sunak reiterated that the UK stands side by side with Israel in fighting terror and that Hamas should never again be able to perpetrate atrocities against the Israeli people. She added: Noting that Hamas has enmeshed itself in the civilian population in Gaza, the Prime Minister said it was important to take all possible measures to protect ordinary Palestinians and facilitate humanitarian aid. Mr Sunak and Mr Netanyahu in March. The two leaders spoke on the phone on Thursday - GETTY IMAGES 01:51 AM BST UN issues appeal to help Palestinians The United Nations on Thursday issued an emergency appeal for $294 million to address the most urgent needs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The funds would be used to help more than 1.2 million people, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, stressing that aid groups do not have the resources required to adequately respond to the full range of needs of vulnerable Palestinians. Palestinians search for bodies after an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in Gaza on Thursday - AP 01:27 AM BST HRW claims it has proof Israel used white phosphorus Human Rights Watch said it had verified footage showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over Gaza Citys port and in two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border. It said it had also interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza. They estimated that the attack took place sometime between 11.30 am and 1pm. Both said that the smell was stifling. Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering, said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. White phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians. 01:02 AM BST X investigated by EU over disinformation Elon Musks X platform is being investigated by the European Union over the dissemination of violent content and misinformation related to the Israel-Hamas war. The move by Thierry Breton, a European commissioner, ramps up the pressure on social media companies to remove illegal and harmful content from their platforms in order to comply with a landmark European law. Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), large social media companies must follow tough new rules on stopping the spread of disinformation and other harmful material or face penalties of up to six per cent of their global revenues. Read more: Elon Musks X investigated by EU over disinformation about Israel-Hamas war 12:45 AM BST UN: 423,000 people forced out of Gaza More than 423,000 people have now been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said, as heavy Israeli bombardments continue to hit the Palestinian enclave. As of late Thursday, the number of displaced people in Gaza had risen by an additional 84,444 people and reached 423,378, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said. 12:17 AM BST Israel publishes picture of murdered baby The Israeli government has released a graphic photograph that appears to show the body of a baby murdered by Hamas terrorists. It shows a blood-stained infant, still dressed in a babygrow and nappy, lying inside a small body bag. The babys face has been blurred out. Gloved hands of two Israeli forensic workers in white overalls can be seen in the background. The official Twitter account of the Israeli government has posted a distressing image that appears to show a baby murdered by Hamas terrorists. The Telegraph is giving readers the choice of whether they wish to view the image. Read more: Israel publishes picture of baby murdered by Hamas 12:15 AM BST What is white phosphorus? White phosphorus munitions can legally be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings. Upon contact, white phosphorus can burn people down to the bone as it is highly soluble in human flesh, according to the NGO. Dressed wounds can reignite when the dressings are removed and the wounds are re-exposed to oxygen, and even relatively minor burns can prove fatal. Because it has legal uses, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions. White phosphorous is considered an incendiary weapon under Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons. The protocol prohibits using incendiary weapons against military targets located among civilians, although Israel has not signed it and is not bound by it. 12:02 AM BST Good morning Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in Gaza. Heres a summary of the top stories: The Israeli government has released a graphic photograph that appears to show the body of a baby murdered by Hamas terrorists Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister, went even further, publishing several other pictures showing the charred remains of infants Israel is pounding Gaza with missiles and troops, while tanks gather for a full ground invasion Rishi Sunak said Israel was the victim of the worlds third-worst terror attack since 1970 Britain is sending warships to help prevent any future massacres in Israel and deter Israels regional foes, such as Iran, from joining the war Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, warned that Iran was trying to provoke Israel into an over-reaction Israel launched twin air strikes on Syrias Aleppo and Damascus airports in an attempt to stem the flow of weapons to Lebanese faction Hizbollah Britains Foreign Office said it had temporarily withdrawn the families of staff at its embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem France banned all pro-Palestine demonstrations, but police later clashed with protesters in Paris The Metropolitan Police said it would not ban flying the Palestinian flag at demonstrations ahead of a pro-Palestine rally in London on Saturday Palestine supporters appear to have torn down posters of missing Israeli children in London 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. NASA launched on Friday (October 13) its first mission to the mysterious metal-rich asteroid Psyche to find out whether the asteroid was the exposed core of an early planetary building block in the early stages of the solar system. The space probe - also named Psyche - lifted off at 10:19 Eastern Time (14:19 UTC) aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Psyche would be the first of many upcoming NASA science missions slated to launch aboard Falcon Heavy, a rocket that utilizes three of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage cores that are rapidly reusable. Read Also: SpaceX Unveils Details for Starlink's Satellite Cell Service for 2024 To Benefit Remote Regions Psyche Mission Profile NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Psyche chief engineer for operations David Oh told CNN that the Psyche mission would travel 3.6 billion kilometers over the next six years to reach 16 Psyche, a metallic asteroid located in the outer part of the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche principal investigator and foundation and regents professor at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, added that the Psyche mission was the very first of its kind to the asteroid. "This will be our first time visiting a world that has a metal surface," she said. "There aren't that many completely unexplored types of worlds in our solar system for us to go see, so that is what is so exciting about this." Delayed but Not Discouraged Psyche was supposed to be launched in October 2022, but there was not enough time to conduct a full checkout of the spacecraft's flight software to ensure it was ready before the 11-week launch window closed. A further delay was made this year to give engineers enough time to adjust the spacecraft's temperature limits of nitrogen cold gas thrusters, which was important for orienting the craft in space. Psyche would be scheduled to arrive at Mars in May 2026 and use the planet's gravity to slingshot its trajectory to Psyche, which it would eventually reach by July 2029 and spend 26 months orbiting the asteroid to map its surface, take images, and determine whether Psyche truly is a metal core. Related Article: NASA's SOFIA Provides New Insights Amid Space Agency's Mission To Study Psyche Asteroid @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Anafa Ifshitcl was in Kathmandu when the news of the attack by Hamas in Israel broke last Saturday. With no direct flights to her home country, she took a 22-hour bus travelling around 1,100km from Nepal to Indias capital Delhi. I just got a flight back to Israel, [almost] all of the flights got cancelled, she tells The Independent, standing in a dingy back street near Chabad House, a Jewish community centre in the heart of the city. I hope I make it to Israel because a lot of my friends were kidnapped in the [Supernova] party or died. Ifshitcls brother, who is serving in the Israeli army, is among those who disappeared in the weekends fighting and has possibly been taken hostage, she tells The Independent. We dont know what happened with him or with his team This is just a terrible situation. Having already served two years in the Israeli army, she is now racing to return in the hopes of serving again. I plan to come back to Israel and do whatever I can, she says. If its not in the army and they dont need me because they have enough people, then there are so many other things to do. The killing of more than 1,200 people in the carnage by Hamas on 7 October was followed by Benjamin Netanyahus declaration of war against Gaza as he vowed to exact revenge. It has been followed by hundreds of retaliatory Israeli strikes from air and sea, leading to the death of over 1,400 people in Gaza. Israel has also announced a complete siege on Gaza, cutting off water, food and power to the enclave that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, until the hostages are freed. A ground offensive by the Israeli military is widely expected to follow. Israeli police and security forces assist a journalist taking cover during an alert for a rocket attack in the southern city of Sderot near the border with Gaza on Thursday (AFP/Getty) The Israeli military says it has seen a huge response to its call for 360,000 reservists to mobilise, with men and women like Ifshitcl flocking back to their home country from all over the world. At least 100 people are believed to have travelled from the UK to Israel to serve in the military. The Israeli embassy in London said it was understood those who travelled were reservists and active duty soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). We have had a 150 per cent attendance of reservists, IDF spokesperson Major Nir Dinar tells The Independent. That means people who havent been called up came. I saw an 80-year-old who served in the IDF spokesperson unit during 1973 [the Yom Kippur war] turn up for duty, he said no one called him I just came. Israelis living abroad are trying to respond to the aftermath of the attack in other ways as well. Those who cannot return are raising contributions to buy military gear, clothing, food and household supplies for families back home. A young boy walks past felled trees and destroyed structures in Gaza City on Thursday (AFP/Getty) Rabbi Jonathan Leener told the Reuters news agency that he received a total of $5,000 within an hour of putting out a call for donations among his small Brooklyn synagogue community. It was enough to buy supplies including sleeping bags and toiletries that he aims to donate to the IDF. "I think people here feel somewhat helpless being so far away, so the response from people has been really dramatic in the best way possible," the rabbi said, noting that many community members have immediate family in Israel. Philanthropists and members of the business community have pledged monetary donations to support humanitarian efforts in the country. A woman mourner reacts outside the morgue of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Thursday (AFP/Getty) Billionaire investor Yuri Milner said on Tuesday that his philanthropic foundation would donate $5m to the Jewish Agency for Israel, a non-profit organisation, to provide emergency aid and long-term rehabilitation. Mike Bloomberg promised to match all donations to Magen David Adom, an Israeli disaster relief and emergency medical service organisation. Bloomberg had matched $7.5m of donations as of Wednesday, a spokesperson said. The Israeli army has said it is ready for a ground incursion into Gaza as soon as it gets the political green light, even as the United Nations warned of an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Gaza Strip. Danielle Alarme (left) and Achana Chasnao cut short their six-month-long trip to India to return to Israel (Namita Singh/The Independent) Tamara al-Rifai, spokesperson for the UNs Palestinian refugee agency, said nearly 180,000 displaced people, fleeing airstrikes, had taken shelter in 88 UN schools in Gaza in just two days. No humanitarian aid has been getting in because of Israels total siege and the fact the border with Egypt had been closed. It is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding, she said. Additional reporting by agencies Randy Roedema, one of the Aurora, Colorado, police officers who arrested Elijah McClain, an unarmed 23-year-old Black man who died after he was subdued by police and injected with ketamine by paramedics in 2019, was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and assault by a jury on Thursday. At the same time, a second officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was acquitted of all charges against him, including reckless manslaughter and assault. The jury reached a verdict after deliberating for 16 hours over three days. Rosenblatt hugged both of his attorneys and wiped away tears after his verdict was announced. He also hugged members of Roedemas family. Reid Elkus, an attorney for Roedema, comforted the officers wife after the verdict, saying, He may not go to jail. Roedemas sentencing has been scheduled for January 5. Hes OK. Hes OK. Its not mandatory, Elkus told Roedemas wife. Sheneen McClain, Elijah McClains mother, told CNN affiliate KUSA after the verdict, This is not justice. She said Roedemas guilty verdict is not enough, adding the officer was not acting alone in what led to her sons death. This is not a victory for me at all. This is not a victory for the human race. This is not justice, Sheneen McClain told KUSA. They have an eternal judgment that they have yet to see. And no matter how they try to clean up their slate, they still have my sons blood on their hands. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said he hopes the verdict can help the community heal. Everyone in Colorado, everyone in the United States, no matter who you are, is accountable under the law. Hopefully todays verdict can be a sign for healing for the Aurora community and for our state, Weiser said. One of the ways to honor McClains memory is to improve policing practices and build trust between law enforcement and the community, Weiser said. In closing arguments of the weekslong trial on Tuesday, prosecutors said Roedema and Rosenblatt used excessive force, failed to follow their training and misled paramedics about his health status. The officers chose force at every opportunity, instead of trying to de-escalate the situation as theyre trained, prosecutor Duane Lyons told the court. Meanwhile, defense attorneys placed blame on the paramedics and on McClain himself. Roedema and Rosenblatt both pleaded not guilty to charges of reckless manslaughter and assault in connection with McClains death. Rosenblatt was fired by the police department in 2020 and Roedema remains suspended. Rosenblatts attorney, Harvey Steinberg, painted his client as a scapegoat and said its the paramedics responsibility to evaluate a patients medical condition. Roedemas attorney, Don Sisson, said his clients use of force was justified because McClain resisted arrest. He said McClain had been given 34 commands to either stop or stop fighting. The case focused on the events of August 24, 2019, when officers responded to a call about a suspicious person wearing a ski mask, according to the indictment. The officers confronted McClain, a massage therapist, musician and animal lover who was walking home from a convenience store carrying a plastic bag with iced tea. In an interaction captured on body camera footage, police wrestled McClain to the ground and placed him in a carotid hold, and paramedics later injected him with the powerful sedative ketamine. He suffered a heart attack on the way to a hospital and was pronounced dead three days later. Prosecutors initially declined to bring charges, but the case received renewed scrutiny following the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests in spring 2020. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed a special prosecutor to reexamine the case, and in 2021 a grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics in McClains death. A third officer, Nathan Woodyard, and two paramedics who treated McClain, Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, are set to go on trial in the coming weeks. They have also pleaded not guilty. In a statement following the verdicts Thursday, Aurora Police Department Chief Art Acevedo said on X, formerly known as Twitter, We respect the verdict handed down by the jury, and thank the members of the jury for their thoughtful deliberation and service. Due to the additional pending trials, the Aurora Police Department is precluded from further comment at this time. How McClain died was a key focus in the trial Jason Rosenblatt, left, and Randy Roedema, right, during an arraignment in court on January 20, 2023. - Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images The trial began last month and featured testimony from Aurora law enforcement officers who responded to the scene as well as from doctors who analyzed how McClain died. The defense did not call any witnesses. The prosecution played body-camera footage of the arrest and said the footage showed officers used excessive force for no reason. McClain repeatedly said he couldnt breathe, yet the officers did not tell that to anyone on the scene. His name was Elijah McClain, and he was going home. He was somebody. He mattered, prosecutor Lyons began his argument Tuesday afternoon. A key focus of the trial was analysis of how McClain died and whether the officers actions caused his death. The jury heard from a pulmonary critical care physician who testified he believed the young man would not have died if the paramedics had recognized his issues and intervened. Dr. Robert Mitchell Jr., a forensic pathologist who reviewed McClains autopsy, testified the cause of death was complications following acute ketamine administration during violent subdual and restraint by law enforcement, emergency response personnel. He testified there was a direct causal link between the officers actions and McClains death. Meanwhile, defense attorneys argued there was no evidence the officers actions led to his death, and instead pointed to the ketamine injection. Though an initial autopsy report said the cause of death was undetermined, an amended report publicly released in 2022 listed complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint as the cause of death. The manner of death was undetermined. Dr. Stephen Cina, the pathologist who signed the autopsy report, wrote he saw no evidence injuries inflicted by police contributed to McClains death, and McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine. In the prosecutions rebuttal, Jason Slothouber told the court while the officers did not inject McClain with the ketamine, their failure to protect McClains airway allowed him to become hypoxic then acidotic, and thats what made the ketamine so dangerous to McClain. Officers didnt provide accurate information to the paramedics when they arrived on scene, and in doing so they failed Elijah McClain, Slothouber said. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) - Latvia said it would close one of its border crossings with Russia next week, after accusing Moscow of trying to create chaos there by funnelling Ukrainian passport holders through the small rural checkpoint. Latvia's foreign ministry said Russia had issued an order on Thursday saying people with Ukrainian passports could only enter Russian territory through Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport or Latvia's Ventuli crossing point from next week. The remote outpost of Vientuli - which means "lonely" in Latvian - was too small to cope with such traffic, the government in Riga said late on Thursday. Diverting all Ukrainians there, would "present tensions on (European Union) border" and "significantly affect public order and pose a threat to national security," the government added in its statement. Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins said Russia was trying to create problems on the frontier. "Russia continues its tactics, trying to divide the EU member states that have a border with Russia. Such behaviour is doomed to failure. We will closely coordinate a common position with EU and NATO partners and act accordingly," Krisjanis wrote on social media website X, formerly Twitter. There were no immediate comments from Russia on Latvia's statements. Vientuli - which typically processes about 60 crossings a day, according to the Latvian Border Guard - would close from Monday, the government said. It said it was also closing the small Padedze crossing, without spelling out its reasons, but leaving two larger crossings with Russia open. Last month Latvia closed one of two border crossing points with Belarus, a close ally of Russia, as the prime minister accused Minsk of again using illegal migrants as a "hybrid threat" to undermine the Baltic state's security. In 2021, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania faced an immigration crisis when thousands of people, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, began crossing from Belarus. (Reporting by Andrius Sytas and Janis Laizans; Editing by Andrew Heavens) Joel Simonds, a Los Angeles-based rabbi involved in progressive causes, has always known that many of his ideological allies did not agree with him on Israel. But after this weekends terror attack, the worst killing of Jews since the Holocaust, Simonds said many liberal Jews feel abandoned by people they thought were friends, some of whom have expressed little sympathy for the Israelis killed while focusing instead on the plight of Palestinians. In these last few days, the silence is deafening and it is hurtful and a betrayal on so many levels, said Simonds, the founding director of the Jewish Center for Justice and president of Partnership for Growth Los Angeles, an interfaith partnership with Black churches. American Jews, who are overwhelmingly liberal, have often supported social justice movements. Simonds said while most progressive leaders have offered support, he feels betrayed by others on the left who have not. Its not going to change the way we look at justice, Simonds said. Its going to change the way we look at our allies. Israel has been so fraught in some progressive circles that many preferred not to talk about it, enforcing a sort of strategic silence to avoid dividing the movement and distracting it from common ground issues. That long-stifled debate is now spilling into public view in heated and sometimes ugly ways, dividing Democrats and exposing what some say is antisemitism that has been allowed to fester on the left for years. There needs to be some soul searching about the extent of antisemitism within these groups such that these organizations are blinded to the worst form of terrorism, said Rep. Shri Thanedar, D- Mich., who renounced his membership in Democratic Socialists of America on Wednesday after several of the groups chapter seemed to applaud Hamas attack. No one should be supporting such a thing, Thanedar said. 'Capable of rejecting both' Democratic officials remain overwhelmingly supportive of Israel and President Joe Biden has pledged unwavering support. But a growing portion of the partys base has come to view Israel as the chief villain in the conflict, a colonial oppressor of Indigenous people, going far beyond the pro-Israel, pro-peace vision long espoused by center-left (and often Jewish-led) groups to advocate for a peaceful resolution for both Israelis and Palestinians. In March, Gallup reported that, for the first time since it began asking the question, Democratic voters are now more sympathetic toward Palestinians than Israelis, with a particularly steep drop in net sympathy for Israelis among young voters. In 2021, a Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs survey found that just 22% of Democrats called Israel an ally, while another 37% viewed it a "necessary partner" and 30% said they didnt know how to characterize the U.S.-Israel relationship. Liberal American Jews have long rejected attempts to equate criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism. But groups like the Anti-Defamation League have warned that the left-wing movement that agitates against Israel in the name of Palestinian rights has made antisemitism more socially acceptable in left-leaning spaces like college campuses. Now, in public condemnations and in private chats, ideological allies and friends are sometimes surprised to find themselves on opposite sides of an issue both feel equally passionate about. The White House press secretary has condemned as repugnant and disgraceful statements that suggested Israel was partially responsible for the attack and urged a cease-fire from progressive Democrats like Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, a Palestinian American, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Muslim Somali refugee. In Massachusetts, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a statement saying the U.S. is committed to Israels safety and security, fellow progressive Democratic Sen. Ed Markey was booed by a crowd in Boston for calling for de-escalation, according to Politico. Meanwhile, campus groups at Harvard, Yale, George Washington University, New York University and elsewhere have come under fire for responding to Hamas attack by refusing to condemn the killing of Israelis. The national leadership of Students for Justice in Palestine celebrated the attack as a historic win for the Palestinian resistance. The New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America co-sponsored a pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square that was condemned by Democrats, in which speakers joked about "the resistance" killing "hipsters." The Connecticut DSA chapter applauded the unprecedented anti-colonial struggle. The Minneapolis and San Francisco chapters endorsed the slogan, From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free! which seems to leave no room for Jews between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. And the national DSA called for protests against U.S. support for Israels apartheid regime. And antisemitic conspiracy theories about the attack and misinformation claiming no Israeli civilians were harmed have been promoted on social media accounts linked to the Black Lives Matter movement. That kind of reaction sparked a reckoning on the left that has some warning that the progressive movement risks swiftly erasing the gains they painstakingly accrued in the years since Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Va., himself Jewish, ran for president and re-invigorated the left in 2016. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and other DSA-allied elected officials condemned what they called the bigotry and callousness of the Times Square rally, saying Americans are capable of rejecting both Hamas horrifying attacks against innocent civilians as well as the grave injustices and violence Palestinians face under occupation. Los Angeles City Council Member Nithya Raman, who won her seat by defeating an incumbent with the help of DSA, called the national DSA statement unacceptably devoid of empathy. And some worry the reaction will set back the Palestinian cause by lumping together fringe voices that do not support Israels existence with those on the left who do. Sanders longtime foreign policy adviser publicly endorsed an essay by progressive writer Eric Levitz whose headline warned, A left that refuses to condemn mass murder is doomed. The essay argued that believing Palestinians have a unique right to the land just replaces one version of right-wing blood-and-soil nationalism for another. And the Rev. William Barber, the prominent social justice activist, cautioned his fellow progressives in an op-ed for the left-leaning Guardian to make clear that "terrorism is not a protest against injustice, but rather an act of despair that creates more suffering for everyone. Some say, in a moment like this, you cannot condemn the violence without also mentioning the violence that precipitated it. But I will not agree to that position. I cannot, he wrote. Still, the division on Israel reaches deep, even among American Jews, about 7 in 10 of whom vote Democratic. Many, like Sanders, have been involved in the promotion of Palestinian rights and have condemned the Israeli government, especially as it has grown increasingly hard-line as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to bring far-right parties into his government to stay in power. 'Out of touch and amateurish' Matan Arad-Neeman, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen born to Israel emigres who had a relative killed in Israel on Saturday, said Hamas attack only reinforces my belief that the way to stop the cycle of violence is for Israel to end the apartheid. Israels leaders are ramping up calls for genocide and ethnic cleansing. How will that bring back our loved ones? said Arad-Neeman, now a spokesperson for the Jewish progressive group IfNotNow, which has been holding vigils to recite the Mourners Kaddish for those killed on both sides of the conflict. Activists with IfNotNow were arrested last month in Los Angeles for disrupting an event hosted by AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel group that has for decades been the loudest voice in Washington on Israel. More recently, AIPAC and allied groups have further alienated the left by becoming a vehicle to pummel progressive candidates in Democratic primaries with millions of dollars in attack ads. That included spending more than $4 million to defeat a now-former liberal congressman who had been the president of his synagogue in support of a more moderate Democrat who is not Jewish. Asked if his group would disrupt an AIPAC event on Friday, or instead look for solidarity with its fellow American Jewish organization, Arad-Neeman was unequivocal. I certainly cant be in solidarity with someone who is going to push for more violence, he said. The divide on the left over Israel is not new, but it has never been so visible. Pro-Palestinian activists have long criticized Progressives Except for Palestine as hypocrites, cowards or pawns of shadowy forces. And as Israels government moved further to the right and activists on the American left looked for new points of contrast with the Democratic Party, Israel has increasingly become a flashpoint. The issue is so thorny for the left, in part, because some see it as pitting two persecuted minorities against each other. Jews have been oppressed throughout history and remain a tiny minority, just 2.5%, of the population in the U.S. and a smaller portion everywhere else outside Israel. But in Israel, Jews are dominant and Palestinians are the minority. Waleed Shahid, a progressive strategist who has been using social media to remind progressives to respect the humanity of people on both sides of the conflict, said activists concerned about Palestinians often get frustrated by what they perceive as a one-sided debate. This stuff makes progressives look out of touch and amateurish, he said, referring to responses to the attack from groups like DSA. But the fringe sentiment of the pro-Palestinian left represents basically no one in American politics. Meanwhile, he pointed to statements by officials in Israel or America, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said on Fox News Wednesday, Were in a religious war here. ... Level the place. Lindsey Graham is a senator. A right-wing government is in power in Israel. People who stand uncritically for Israel are never asked to answer for their hateful or genocidal comments, he said. The random college students who attend a DSA rally do not hold nearly the same weight in our politics. Four years ago Michael Gonzalez drove the Model X Tesla had delivered to him onto the frozen surface of Vermonts Lake Champlain, climbed out of the vehicle, set it ablaze, and walked away. What the 34-year-old likely didnt realize at the time, was that his fifth attempt to steal from Elon Musk would also mark his last. In 2018, Gonzalez discovered a vulnerability in Teslas controlling that allowed him to receive delivery and gain title to ownership of the vehicle, without paying more than the initial $2,500 deposit. All he needed to do was provide details of a bank account that either lacked sufficient funds or were entirely fictitious. Afterward the Shelburne, Vt., resident would resell the nearly new vehicle in the private used-car market in order to pocket the difference. The discovery of what Gonzalez believed was a license to print money led him to repeat the swindle again and again in different stateseffectively stealing five luxury vehicles worth approximately $560,000 in total. Now Gonzalez will likely spend the next four years of his life behind bars after a guilty plea saw a U.S. district court judge sentence him for multiple interstate felonies. At the time he was scamming Musk, Tesla was still trying to prove short-sellers wrong by demonstrating its business model could scale. Back then the challenger brand struggled to fetch a market cap of around $50 billion, a far cry from today. Key to turning it into the $800 billionplus stock exchange behemoth were financial results that showed volumes continually surging from one quarter to the next, with Gonzalez potentially capitalizing on that push. How Gonzalez got caught According to Department of Justice officials, Gonzalez grossed nearly $232,000 by selling three of the five motors to used-car buyers. Had he quit while he was ahead rather than tempt fate, he may very well have gotten away with it. On Gonzalezs fifth try to cheat Tesla, Musks company still opted to deliver the newly built Model X. Yet for reasons unclear, since Tesla could not be reached for comment, this time the company either could notor would nottransfer the titles certificate, which manufacturers often obtain from a Department of Motor Vehicles on behalf of new owners. Without the legal documentation needed to flip the vehicle, Gonzalez struck on the idea of committing arson in hopes of collecting damages instead. When the insurance company required him to appear for examination, the jig was up. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Vermont said on Thursday that Gonzalez must now provide $493,000 in restitution to Tesla along with a fine of $231,900 paid to the U.S. government. Tesla reports third-quarter earnings on Wednesday. New finance chief Vaibhav Taneja will likely face a slew of questions over deep price cuts after its share of the U.S. EV market dipped nearly 10 percentage points. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has been charged with conspiring to act as an agent for the Egyptian government while serving as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Democratic senator who already stepped aside last month after being accused of bribery and fraud has been further indicted on new charges that he, his wife Nadine, and co-defendant Wael Hana plus others known and unknown wilfully combined, conspired, confederated and agreed together and with each other to have him act as an agent of the government of Egypt and Egyptian officials. The latest indictment also states that Mr Menendez and his co-conspirators committed two overt acts to further their conspiracy by meeting at a Manhattan restaurant on 30 June 2018 and on 21 September 2019, with the latter meeting including an unnamed Egyptian official. Mr Menendez is accused of taking bribes in the form of cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz convertible used by his wife, in exchange for intervening to make sure foreign military aid was directed to the Egyptian government. At a news conference last month, he said he firmly believes that he will be exonerated and remain New Jerseys senior senator after all the facts are presented. Authorities who searched Mr Menendezs home last year said they found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars and over $480,000 in cash much of it hidden in closets, clothing and a safe. Larry Lustberg, Wael Hanas lawyer, said: The new allegation that Wael Hana was part of a plot concocted over dinner to enlist Senator Menendez as an agent of the Egyptian Government is as absurd as it is false. As with the other charges in this indictment, Mr. Hana will vigorously defend against this baseless allegation. Bob Menendez denies any wrongdoing (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) The new charge against Mr Menendez comes as more than 30 Senate Democrats including his home state colleague, Cory Booker have called on him to resign. Mr Menendez has remained defiant, telling colleagues he will not leave the Senate. Mr Menendez has not said whether he will run for reelection next year. At least one Democrat, New Jersey Republican Andy Kim, has already jumped into the primary, and the head of Senate Democrats campaign arm, Michigan Senator Gary Peters, has called on Mr Menendez to resign, signalling that he may not receive campaign assistance traditionally available to incumbents. The Justice Department in recent years has stepped up its criminal enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law enacted in 1938 to unmask Nazi propaganda in the United States that requires people to disclose to the Justice Department when they advocate, lobby or perform public relations work in the US on behalf of a foreign government or political entity. The statute made headlines during Donald Trumps administration when federal prosecutors accused multiple aides close to the Republican, including the chairman of his 2016 presidential campaign, of failing to register as foreign agents. Last year, Trumps inaugural committee chair, Tom Barrack, was acquitted of using his personal access to him to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates. And in 2019, lawyer Greg Craig, a Democrat, was acquitted of making a false statement to the Justice Department about work for Ukraine's government. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) accused prosecutors Thursday of attempting to wear him down and maintained his innocence after he was charged with acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. Menendez remained defiant after the latest charge was issued against him, his wife, Nadine, and a New Jersey businessman, saying that he has only been loyal to the U.S. throughout his life and career and indicated that he has no plans to step down from his seat. The governments latest charge flies in the face of my long record of standing up for human rights and democracy in Egypt and in challenging leaders of that country, including President [Abdel Fattah] El-Sisi on these issues, Menendez said in a statement to The Hill. I have been, throughout my life, loyal to only one country the United States of America, the land my family chose to live in democracy and freedom. Piling new charge upon new charge does not make the allegations true. The facts havent changed, only a new charge, Menendez continued. It is an attempt to wear someone down and I will not succumb to this tactic. The New Jersey senator added that he is asking supporters and voters to give him the chance to present [his] defense and show [his] innocence. According to the superseding indictment, Menendez is accused of conspiring to act as an agent of Egypt from January 2018 and June 2022. All members of Congress are lawfully barred from acting as a foreign agent, even if registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Among other actions, Menendez provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt, according to the indictment. The news comes weeks after Menendez was initially accused by prosecutors of accepting bribes to help three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the Egyptian government. Part of the bribes came in the form of gold bars, cash, a luxury vehicle and mortgage payments, among other things, according to the indictment. More than half of the Senate Democratic Caucus has called on Menendez to resign. That group is headlined by Sen. Cory Booker (D), Menendezs fellow New Jersey member, and all of Senate Democratic leadership except for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Menendez, however, has defied their wishes and has shown no signs of stepping aside. He has not announced whether he will seek reelection next year. Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) called Thursday on the Senate to bring an expulsion vote to the floor. Kim launched a primary challenge after Menendez was initially charged by prosecutors last month. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -A 2014 toxic spill in a Mexican river blamed on Grupo Mexico was not an accident but a result of negligence, the country's environment minister said on Thursday, while urging the mining conglomerate to create a new plan to remediate the damage. "It was not an accident, it was negligence," Environment Minister Maria Luisa Albores said, adding that the government filed a complaint in August against the company, one of the world's largest copper producers. Grupo Mexico failed to remediate the river's water and soil and did not provide the funds to carry out proper works for the environmental recovery of the area, according to Albores. The company needed to provide an initial 2 billion pesos ($111.86 million), of which it only provided half, she said. The spill was first detected on the morning of Aug. 6, 2014 and pumped 40,000 cubic meters (over 10 million gallons) of toxic mining acid into the Bacanuchi river in Mexico's northern Sonora state, the federal attorney general's office for environmental protection (Profepa) said at the time. The possible fine for the spill was set at up to 40 million pesos, worth about $3 million then. The government is now asking for a new remediation plan that not only targets soil contamination, but other components such as water and air. Albores did not say how much this could cost the company. Grupo Mexico did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the causes of the spill and the government complaint. The miner said in an Oct. 4 statement that remediation work in the river was successful and backed by scientific studies. Shares in Grupo Mexico were down 2.3% after Albores' comments on Thursday. ($1 = 17.8868 Mexican pesos) (Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Marguerita Choy) By Andrew Hay TIERRA AMARILLA, New Mexico (Reuters) -A New Mexico judge on Friday found probable cause to try a counter protester for attempted murder for shooting a Native American activist at a protest over plans to reinstall the statue of a 16th century Spanish colonial ruler. Ryan Martinez, 23, of Sandia Park, New Mexico, was charged for the Sept. 28 shooting of Jacob Johns, 42, of Spokane, Washington, who remains in critical condition in an Albuquerque, New Mexico hospital. New Mexico District Court Judge Jason Lidyard said Martinez provoked protesters by repeatedly trying to enter an area where they were celebrating postponement of the statue's installation following protests against it. He granted the prosecution's request Martinez remain in jail pending trial, citing concerns about his social media posts advocating violence against the U.S. Federal Reserve, his possession of a fully-automatic rifle and complaints he walked around his community armed with an AR-15 and pistol, wearing body armor. The case may now go to a jury trial. The shooting marked the latest violence around statues of Juan de Onate erected in the 1990s to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Spaniards. The statue was removed in 2020 from just north of Espanola during nationwide anti-racism protests and was to be reinstated at a county complex in the town. Nicole Moss, Martinezs lawyer, said protesters took objection to the red hat he was wearig with the Donald Trump slogan "Make America Great Again." She said he was peacefully taking photographs when he was pushed and attacked by protesters causing him to "panic" and pull out a handgun. He fired one shot at Mr. Johns in self-defense," Moss said. Prosecutors said the shooting was "calculated," Martinez having an extra magazine of ammunition in his pants waistband along with a handgun. Prior to the shooting Martinez told a police officer and protesters to fuck off when they approached him, Rio Arriba County Sheriffs Deputy Steve Dennis testified. Protest organizer Mateo Peixinho said he asked Martinez prior to the shooting why he had come to the event. "He said he was frustrated and angry at the county commissioners for allowing a few Indian protesters to stop them from doing what they needed to do," said Peixinho. Onate monuments have long outraged Native Americans and others who decry his brutal 1598 colonization. Some descendants of Spanish colonial settlers, known as Hispanos, say Onate should be celebrated as part of New Mexico's Hispanic heritage. (Reporting by Andrew Hay in Tierra Amarilla, New MexicoEditing by Donna Bryson, Rod Nickel, Matthew Lewis and Lincoln Feast) A demonstration against a statue of a Spanish conquistador in New Mexico took a terrifying turn on Thursday (28 September) when a man opened fire hitting a protester. Hours before the violence unfolded in the city of Espanola, a group had been protesting the reinstallation of a statue of Juan de Onate, a controversial figure in the states history for his oppressive and brutal treatment of Native Americans during Spains conquest of the Southwestern United States. Native American protesters held signs that read not today Onate, and celebrate resistance, not conquistadores. Among the counterprotesters at the scene was a man wearing a red hat bearing the words Make America Great Again. The man reportedly spewed profanities before jumping a wall and firing a single shot at the crowd. A protester, who had identified himself as Native American to a photographer from The Albuquerque Journal, was struck in the upper torso and taken to the hospital. Rio Arriba County sheriffs officials said 23-year-old Ryan Martinez was taken into custody and no other suspects are being sought in connection with the shooting. Heres everything we know so far: What happened? Demonstrators had gathered outside county offices in the city of Espanola in northern New Mexico to protest against the installation of a statue of Juan de Onate. The installation was cancelled and protesters and counter-protesters had lingered in the area. A man earlier seen wearing a red Make America Great Again hat became involved in an altercation with protesters around 12.30pm local time. In the struggle he fell over a barricade before producing a gun, which he brandished and fired causing people to scatter. One of the protesters, a man who had identified himself as Native American to a press photographer shortly before the incident, was shot in the upper torso. The violence unfolded just outside the sheriffs office. Jennifer Marley, an organiser for the Native American rights group The Red Nation, described Juan de Onates legacy as one of genocidal violence. It was awful. This was a peaceful call to action. We were there to celebrate the fact that the statue was not going up, Ms Marley told The Associated Press. Its really ironic, I was basically saying that this violence is ongoing ... even when we are being peaceful and prayerful. The shooting began while I was speaking. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital. No further details have been released by officials. A demonstrator stands paying homage at a mural in protest against the reinstallation of a 16th-century New Mexico conquistador (Getty Images) Who was arrested in the shooting? According to KOB4, the suspect, reportedly known for being an online troll, fled the scene in a white Tesla. Rio Arriba County sheriffs officials said Ryan Martinez, 23, was taken into custody in connection with the shooting. He has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault with the use of a deadly weapon. Much of the incident was captured in photos and video and Mr Martinez is clearly seen holding and pointing a gun. Authorities said that a motive for the shooting was unclear. At a brief press conference following the incident, County Sheriff Billy Merrifield told reporters: Once again, the saddest part about this is we have another incident of gun violence. Ryan Martinez, right, talks with law enforcement before violence erupted as activists protested a postponed installation of a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate (AP) What was the protest about? The planned installation of a statue of conquistador Juan de Onate had sparked anger. Onate arrived in present-day New Mexico in 1598 and memorialising him divides opinion among local communities. He is celebrated by some as a cultural father figure, but condemned by others for his brutality. To Native Americans, Onate is known for having ordered the right feet cut off of 24 captive tribal warriors after his soldiers stormed the Acoma Pueblos mesa-top sky city. That attack was supposedly precipitated by the killing of Onates nephew. In 1998, someone sawed the right foot off a statue in protest. A counter demonstrator listens to an attendee during a protest against the reinstallation of a 16th-century New Mexico conquistador statue at the Rio Arriba County building on September 28, 2023 in Espanola, New Mexico (Getty Images) According to the AP, Sheriff Billy Merrifield had expressed concerns about safety issues to county commissioners about reinstalling the statue in Espanola outside the county building. He said he was grateful to the commissioners who decided against proceeding. Some Hispanics, however, have pointed to the statue as a symbol of their heritage. The brutal leader eagerly sought the riches of North America during his governorship and succeeded in his countrys conquest of what is now the Southwestern United States. He was the son of wealthy parents in Zacatecas, located in north-central Mexico, and gained a more prominent status after he married a daughter of Aztec empire conqueror Hernan Cortes. Onates request to invade and govern what would become New Mexico was approved in 1595, but it was not until three years later that his expedition of 400 settlers finally began its northern journey, according to Britannica. They soon crossed the Rio Grande and set up headquarters near the site of Los Alamos, from there parties were sent in all directions to search for gold. Many settlers wanted to return to Mexico, but Onates cruel treatment prevented them from leaving; meanwhile, his measures against the indigenous people were even harsher. Soldiers returned, slaughtering at least 800 warriors, women and children. The Spaniards enslaved most of the survivors and cut a foot off of 24 young men as a warning to other rebellious pueblos, Burnett added. In 1601, Onate continued his hunt for treasures and headed further north, but returned empty-handed and found that most of his colony had left during his absence. In an attempt to recover his reputation, Onate led 30 soldiers on an expedition to the Colorado River and the Gulf of California in hopes of finding gold, another expedition that turned out to be unsuccessful. In 1607 he stood down from his position and was later found guilty of cruelty, immorality and false reporting. He was then exiled from the colony, fined and deprived of his titles. What has been the reaction to the shooting? Organisers of the protest against the statues installation said the incident demonstrated the legacy of violence and hate that the statue represented. Janene Yazzie, Indian Collective organiser, said: This demonstrates exactly what we are fighting for. We have been pointing out that this hasnt been about just a statue but about what it represents and the legacy of violence and hate that it is a foundation for. Meanwhile, Rio Arriba County Commission Chair Alex Naranjo told KOB4 that he planned to push for the rededication of the statue. If it was up to me, that statue would go back up when? I dont know, Mr Naranjo said. But the fact of the matter is, Im not going to melt that statue just to satisfy two or three individuals that are not even from this reality. A man who identified himself to the Albuquerque Journal as Ryan Martinez, of East Mountains, pulls a gun during a rally (AP) Has anything like this happened before? Yes. The incident is the second shooting at a protest over an Onate statue, the first of which occurred in June 2020 outside the Albuquerque Museum , in Albuquerque, when demonstrators attempted to tear another depiction of the conquistador down. A confrontation had erupted between protesters and a group of armed men who were trying to protect the bronze monument. Protesters then wrapped a chain around it and tugged repeatedly on it and one repeatedly swung a pick axe. Gunshots then rang out down the street. The statue was removed ahead of any decision about its future. Israeli foreign ministry said that an embassy employee in Beijing was beaten on Friday, October 13, and taken to the hospital, where he remains in stable condition. According to Chinese authorities, a suspect has been detained. Reports indicate that the 50-year-old victim was an Israeli diplomat's relative. The police in Beijing said they had detained a suspect, a foreign guy aged 53. There was no clear explanation for the assault. As Muslims throughout the globe gathered in the streets to condemn Israel's aggressive bombing campaign in Gaza in the wake of Hamas's tragic and unprecedented assault into southern Israel last weekend, the stabbing took place. Blood stains could be seen on the street as a guy with a knife wrestled with another man on the ground and stabbed him many times in a video that went viral online, as reported by Reuters. Employees at nearby establishments reported hearing the victim screaming as police and an ambulance responded. Also Read: 'Day of Rage' Overview: Cities Worldwide on Edge as Hamas Urges Palestine Supporters to Protest Israel's Take On China's Comments About Hamas' Attacks Also on Friday, Israel issued a strongly worded condemnation of China's remarks over the first Hamas strike. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Ambassador Rafi Harpaz had conveyed "deep disappointment" from Israel to China's Middle East ambassador, Zhai Jun. AP News said the two diplomats exchanged phone calls on Thursday night, October 14. According to the Israeli statement, there was no strong condemnation of the awful atrocity perpetrated by Hamas against innocent people and the kidnapping of dozens of them to Gaza. "The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society," the statement adds. Wang Wenbin, a spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry, responded to questions about the Israeli statement by saying that Beijing is opposed to any action that endangers people or violates international law. "China will continue to work unremittingly for de-escalation of the situation and the resumption of peace talks," he stated. During a press conference with the EU's foreign policy leader, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China's Mideast ambassador will soon go to the area to work for a ceasefire and de-escalation. The Palestinians' push for a sovereign state has China's backing. The inability to create a Palestinian state, according to Wang, is the core cause of the war. "Israel has the right to establish a state, and so does Palestine," he added. Since the conflict began, there has been a dramatic increase in antisemitic comments on Chinese social media. The Israeli Embassy in Beijing is censoring comments on its Chinese social media account due to an onslaught of negative feedback. Also Read: Israel Orders Residents Out of Gaza City as Military Gathers Tanks, Prepares to Invade @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Activists will tell you that music has the power to change things. Dolores Huerta, one of the most influential labor activists in the 20th century, attests that music was a crucial spark in America's largest farmworker movement. So much of the music from that time was meaningful. And it told the story of migrants who had come to America to work, Huerta said in an interview with NBC News. Their songs memorialized what was going on. Huerta, 93, is featured with guitarist Carlos Santana, singer-songwriter Joan Baez, actor Edward James Olmos, and other celebrities in Song for Cesar, a new documentary about the late, legendary Mexican American labor leader Cesar Chavez and the music that made thousands of previously invisible farmworkers popular in mainstream America. Cesar Chavez at a rally in Calexico (Wally Fong / AP) Youre either part of the problem or part of the solution, Santana said in the documentary. Theres no in-between. The documentary by musician Abel Sanchez and Andres Alegria, which was made in the course of 15 years, weaves interviews with acclaimed performers and footage of the time to show the power of songs like Joan Baez's No nos moveran, ("They won't move us") or Little Joe's "Viva la Huelga" ("Long Live the Strike"). One song that Huerta remembers fondly is Huelga en General (The General Strike), which was written by Luis Valdez and became popular during the Delano grape strike in 1965. The protest song tells the story of Filipino and Mexican farmworkers teaming up to win a collective bargaining agreement with major table grape growers in California. Huerta describes the five-year protest as a milestone for the labor movement because it established a blueprint for other protests to combine community organizing with boycotts, marches and other forms of nonviolent resistance. Our volunteers and farmworkers went up to the cities and talked to the labor groups and community groups. They asked people not to eat grapes, and they did!, Huerta recalled proudly. The family of the late poet and memoirist Maya Angelou was one of millions of Americans who supported farmers by boycotting grapes. For more from NBC Latino, sign up for our weekly newsletter. Senor Chavez had asked that we dont eat grapes. So we didnt eat grapes at home. My son was about 9. He went to school, and they were serving grapes. He walked out of school, Angelou said, laughing, in an interview filmed before her death in 2014. I said, No, you have to go back. He said, These are evil people. I said, Theyre just ignorant. Huerta worked side-by-side with Chavez and other activists to cofound the National Farmworkers Association in 1962. And she says that all of them, including Cesar and his wife, Helen, were volunteers. They didnt get wages, but Huerta emphasizes they had everything they needed to keep working. We had food, we had shelter, we had a day care center for the kids. And if anyone got sick, all the hospital bills were paid for, she said. People didnt have money in hand sort of speak. It was all communal. Despite the organizations accomplishments, Huerta also recognizes that many of the benefits that they won for workers in California have not yet been won in other states where they still dont have the right to organize, the right to form unions or the right to collect unemployment insurance. Dolores Huerta (Michael Maloney / AP) Huerta's and Chavez' lasting lesson Huerta has advocated for civil rights, labor and women for more than 60 years. And in 2012, President Barack Obama honored her with the countrys highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Now, reflecting on her accomplishments, Huerta would like to be remembered by one of the principles that defined her activism. When you look at Cesars legacy, and I would like to add my name to that also, people should remember how you can win through nonviolence. That you dont have to have violence to get the victories that workers need, she said. Asked to give younger generations advice for the future, Huerta shared an anecdote from Chavez to call them to action. Cesar was recruiting a student to work for the union. And he said that when youre at school, you read about history, you write about history, you talk about history. But when you become an activist, you make history, she said. So this is what it is: When youre in an organization and you collectively take actions together, you make history. A Song for Cesar is streaming for free on PBS until Oct. 27 and will be available after that on PBS Passport. Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) Jurors convicted a Denver-area police officer Thursday and acquitted another of charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing. Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. The 12-person jury found officer Jason Rosenblatt not guilty on all charges. Elijah McClain, 23, died after police and first responders in Aurora, Colorado manhandled him and injected him with a dose of ketamine, causing his heart attack and subsequent death in August 2019. (Photo: The McClain family) McClains mother, Sheneen McClain, listened to the verdict from the front row, where Attorney General Phil Weiser had his hand on her shoulder. She held her right hand high in a raised fist as she left the courtroom. McClain died after being put in a neck hold by a third officer and pinned to the ground, then injected by paramedics with an overdose of ketamine. The third officer and two paramedics are awaiting trial. The case initially did not receive widespread attention, but protests over the killing of George Floyd the following year sparked outrage over McClains death. His pleading words captured on body camera footage, Im an introvert and Im different, struck a chord. A local prosecutor in 2019 decided against criminal charges because the coroners office could not determine exactly how the 23-year-old massage therapist died. But Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ordered state Attorney General Phil Weisers office to take another look at the case in 2020, and the officers and paramedics were indicted in 2021 by a grand jury. The killings of McClain, Floyd and others triggered a wave of legislation that put limits on the use of neck holds in more than two dozen states. Colorado now tells paramedics not to give ketamine to people suspected of having a controversial condition known as excited delirium, which has symptoms including increased strength that has been associated with racial bias against Black men. Roedema and Rosenblatt did not testify in their defense at trial. Their attorneys blamed McClains death on the paramedics for injecting him with ketamine, which doctors said is what ultimately killed him. However, prosecutors argued that the officers restraint of McClain contributed. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber told jurors that Roedema and Rosenblatt also encouraged the paramedics to give McClain ketamine by describing him as having symptoms of excited delirium that they had learned about in training. But he said the officers did not tell them anything about McClains complaints that he could not breathe, something prosecutors said happened six times. In this June 27, 2020 file photo, Sheneen McClain speaks during a rally and march over the death of her son, Elijah, outside the police department in Aurora, Colorado.(Photo: David Zalubowski/AP, File) Sheneen McClain sat with attorneys for the state in the front row of the courtroom during the trial, part of her quest to remind the mostly white jury that her son was a real person. She watched the encounter being played over and over again along with graphic photos from his autopsy. During testimony that stretched over three weeks, witnesses were limited to offering what they perceived someone to be doing or saying in the video. The video clips did not always provide a complete picture of what was happening, but Judge Mark Warner said the jurors were the only ones who could decide what they meant, just like any other piece of evidence. Despite the emotional weight of McClains last words captured on body camera and a story about him playing the violin in an animal shelter, the trial did not include much testimony about him or his life. A co-worker at a massage studio testified briefly about how he used to bike or run miles to work in an affluent suburb and then also run on lunch breaks. A photograph of a smiling McClain she took shortly before his death was shown to jurors during closing arguments. McClain was stopped Aug. 24, 2019, while walking home from a convenience store on a summer night, listening to music and wearing a mask that covered most of his face. A 911 caller reported him as suspicious, and the police stop quickly became physical after McClain, seemingly caught off guard, asked to be left alone. He had not been accused of committing any crime. The encounter quickly escalated, with Officers Nathan Woodyard, Roedema and Rosenblatt taking McClain to the ground, and Woodyard putting him in a neck hold and pressing against his carotid artery, temporarily rendering him unconscious. The officers told investigators they took McClain down after hearing Roedema say, He grabbed your gun dude. He later said Rosenblatts gun was the target. The initial statement was heard on the body camera footage but exactly what happened is difficult to see. The prosecution urged jurors to be skeptical, saying Rosenblatt said he could not feel anyone reaching for his gun. But one of Roedemas defense lawyers, Don Sisson, pointed out that McClain said I intend to take my power back, which he argued showed intent. The officers had to act in the moment to protect themselves, according to Sisson. They didnt get to watch the video over and over and over for three weeks before they get to act, he said. Paramedics injected McClain with ketamine as Roedema and another officer who was not charged held him on the ground. He went into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital and died three days later. Rosenblatts lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, said his client, the most junior officer on scene, was a scapegoat in a prosecution driven by politics. He pointed out that Rosenblatt was not restraining McClain when the ketamine was given. After the grand jury was convened to re-investigate the case, the doctor who performed McClains autopsy, Stephen Cina, revised his opinion and concluded that he died of complications from the ketamine while also noting that that occurred after the forcible restraint. However, Cina still was not able to say if the death was a homicide or an accident or if the officers actions contributed to McClains death. Dr. Roger Mitchell, another forensic pathologist who reviewed the autopsy and searched for clues about what happened in the body camera video, found their actions did play a role. He labeled the death a homicide. The neck hold lowered the oxygen level in McClains brain while his exertions during the altercation increased the amount of acid in his body, Mitchell, a Howard University medical school professor and former chief medical officer for Washington, D.C., said during testimony. The lack of oxygen and increased acid created a vicious cycle, he added, causing McClain to vomit and then inhale the vomit into his lungs so it became hard for him to breathe. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post 1 officer convicted, 1 acquitted in death of Elijah McClain appeared first on TheGrio. Stolen Ruby Slippers (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to stealing the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in the The Wizard of Oz from a museum in 2005. Terry Jon Martin, 76, admitted to stealing the iconic footwear from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 2005. The shoes were recovered by the FBI in 2018. He pleaded guilty to one count of theft of major artwork. At the time of theft, the slippers were ensured for $1 million but current fair market appraisal value the slippers at $3.5 million, according to the release by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of North Dakota. These ruby slippers, the release stated, are one of the four remaining pairs and are widely viewed as among the most recognizable memorabilia in American film history. Mr Martin previously pleaded not guilty in June, but he has since decided to change his plea and entered into a plea deal. In federal court, he said he used a hammer to smash both the glass of the museum door and the display case to take the iconic shoes. Mr Martin also said that he was under the impression that the slippers contained real rubies, as he had planned to sell the gems. Upon his attempt, a fence told him the rubies were glass, so he said he gave away the slippers but its unclear to whom he gave them. Terry has no idea where they were and how they were recovered, Martins attorney, Dane DeKrey explained. His involvement was that two-day period in 2005. The FBI has never unveiled how it found the slippers, keeping an aura of mystery surrounding the 1939 films magical shoes. Both Mr DeKrey and the federal prosecutor recommended that Mr Martin not face any time behind bars, due to his age and poor health, as he has advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Hes basically slowly suffocating to death, his attorney said. Minnesotas chief federal judge ordered a presentence investigation. He said the sentencing date is likely to be scheduled for 2.5 months from Friday. Many thousands of Afghans have fled to Pakistan Hundreds of Afghans who risked their lives to work with the UK in Afghanistan and fled the Taliban are now stuck in neighbouring Pakistan as they wait to be relocated to the UK. Some have told the BBC their days are spent living in fear, as Pakistan starts a crackdown on migrants without visas after cross-border tensions rose. New court documents from Britain show that many face longer waits in part due to instructions by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - apparently to save money - banning their accommodation in hotels in the UK in all but extreme cases. The UK runs two schemes to resettle Afghans in Britain. The first is the Afghan Relocation and Assistance policy (ARAP) and the second is the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). The first is for Afghans who worked directly with British forces and their families, while the second is for those who worked in British-run civil schemes or are in vulnerable minority groups. Marzia, an assumed name, was an English teacher for the British Council. She is heavily pregnant and has been waiting for a UK visa for eight months. "My physical and mental health are not good," she says. "When the Taliban took over Afghanistan our lives were in danger. We had to live in hiding." Marzia is just one of many Afghans who worked for or with the UK before the Taliban retook power in 2021. Others include translators for the British army or worked on British-led projects to encourage democracy and equality. All were told they qualify for one of the UK's resettlement schemes. All are in Pakistan because the UK asked them to come to process their visas. Some have been here for months, others for more than a year. They have no legal access to education or work. Most we spoke to did not want to be quoted. Those who did asked for anonymity; we have changed their names. Many told us they were afraid of repercussions on their case, or that they or their family in Afghanistan could be targeted by the Taliban. The Taliban government has said there is an amnesty for Afghans who worked with international forces. Now there is a new fear: Pakistan has announced a crackdown on illegal migrants and plans to deport any without the right paperwork from the start of November. Marzia says her passport was taken by the UK authorities on her arrival and that her Pakistan visa has now expired. In late September she says she was told by her caseworker at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) - her point of contact in Pakistan - that she should not leave her guest house. That has meant she has already missed a doctor's appointment and doesn't know what to do about the birth. "It's impossible for me to give birth to my baby inside my hotel room. There isn't any facility [or] anyone to help me," she says. "Me and my baby's health will be in danger. We worked for them, [now] it's time for them to help us." People walk close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Torkham, in September Five other people with expired Pakistan visas also said the IOM, or their guesthouse quoting the IOM said, that they should not leave the premises. When asked, the IOM told the BBC that they had "not given the advice mentioned", saying: "IOM only advises to leave information about their whereabouts at their accommodation reception when leaving the premises to ensure follow up and support when and if needed." British cost-cutting Their plight comes as the British government and several ministers are sued by two Afghans, who say that their promised resettlement has been delayed in part by a November 2022 decision made by Mr Sunak. An email from the prime minister's office, submitted as evidence to the High Court in London yesterday, shows that Mr Sunak wanted to "manage the flow" of ARAP cases. His direction stated that those on the scheme would only be flown to the UK once suitable housing was found. Hotels were no longer an option. The email says that this "should represent an overall net saving to the taxpayer". Other emails show that the Ministry of Defence thought this applied to both UK schemes. Lawyers for the two refugees said that Mr Sunak's directive had effectively halted relocations - no visas had been issued between December 2022 and July of this year unless accommodation had been secured - and that this was done to save money. The government's lawyers said that accommodation in Pakistan was "not ideal" but "adequate", that those on the scheme had access to case workers and that there was "no legal obligation" for the government to provide education in this situation. While resettlement attempts had 'accelerated' this month - the BBC understands there are still flights bringing some Afghans to the UK - the government lawyers said there would still be about 2,300 in Pakistan on one scheme alone at the start of November. Waiting for answers We spoke to people on both of the UK government schemes. There is no way for the UK to process visa applications in Afghanistan so those approved for the schemes are asked to make their own way to a third country - usually Pakistan - for final checks. Even leaving the country is difficult; there is a long waiting list in Afghanistan for passports and obtaining a visa for Pakistan can take months. We spoke to several people who, despite the amnesty, said they lived in hiding from the Taliban government. In Pakistan, the UK government pays for their rooms and food, and many told the BBC that they had been told to bring minimal money to avoid issues at the border. They say they were told or assumed they would only spend a few weeks in Pakistan but have found themselves stuck with no answer from the UK. One charity that works to campaign for Afghan interpreters, the Sulha Alliance, told us that many had waited for more than a year - some were nearing two. Children stuck in limbo are missing out on education The group's co-founder Sara de Jong said the schemes were essential lifelines, but that "their execution has been too slow and ineffective". "Too many Afghan interpreters and others, who we promised to bring to safety more than two years ago, are still left in Afghanistan, or waiting in Pakistan or other third countries," Prof de Jong told the BBC. A UK government spokesperson said: "We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK, and will arrange and pay for their travel when suitable accommodation in the UK has been secured." "The UK has so far brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan resettlement schemes." This figure includes British citizens and others with settled status already who were evacuated from Afghanistan during the operation in 2021 as a government website explains; 21,526 were on the ACRS and ARAP programmes. The government's lawyers have said there is no set time within which a visa must be issued or people must be relocated to the UK. 'Our lives are 100% in danger' Jamal was a translator with the British army. He proudly shows me pictures of his time in uniform. He has spent more than five months in Islamabad and is currently staying with his children and wife in one room. He is unable to work legally, the only lessons his children have are English lessons online. "I left my parents in Afghanistan who need my support. I don't have a job here. My children missed a year of education because of Covid. After that the Taliban came [and] we missed the education of our children in Afghanistan. Now we also missed the children's education in Pakistan." He is joined by Qasim, who worked with UK authorities. He has spent six months living with his family of 10 in one room. He says he wishes he had not come. "In Afghanistan, girls can't get an education, but here none of my children can either," he told us. He feels that by joining the scheme, he would be at more risk were he to return. "Before we left Afghanistan, if our lives were at 50% danger, now they are in 100% danger." Their fear of the police in Pakistan has intensified. While they say that they were always aware of the risk of being stopped while on the street, a little over a week ago others on the ARAP programme told them that police had entered their hotel in the early hours, taking several to a police station, only to release them a few hours later. "After the police started raiding hotels, Afghans have been under a lot of stress - it has caused them psychological problems," says Qasim. "This is a severe action that no one can tolerate." Some Afghans are already leaving Pakistan ahead of its planned crackdown on migrants Jamal agrees, saying that there are "no guarantees" he won't be among the next to be arrested. The BBC has been shown a message from the British authorities saying that they "are continuing to work with the Pakistani authorities to resolve issues around expired visas and will take action to quickly resolve incidents should they arise". But like others the BBC spoke to, Qasim and Jamal remain nervous. As with Marzia, they do not have their passports and their Pakistan visas have expired. 'British government - do something quick' We asked the government about the legal status of those on the ARAP and ACRS programmes in light of the recent crackdown by Pakistan authorities on illegal migrants, but were not given a response. Pakistan has said its efforts to crack down on illegal migrants are not specific to Afghans. However, the minister who announced the policy said that 1.7 million Afghans live in Pakistan illegally. Analysts say the move is the result of increasing tension between the two countries - Pakistan has accused the Taliban of harbouring militant groups that attack Pakistanis. Afghanistan denies this and says that Pakistan police are harassing Afghans even if they have proper documentation. The fallout will affect the many Afghans who have fled across the border to Pakistan over decades. Amid the politics, those on these UK government schemes wait daily for an email or call that they will be leaving. "I supported them; I stayed with them side by side; shoulder by shoulder, and I supported them on the frontline, but I don't know what the British government is doing with us," says Jamal. "They left us behind, many years ago." "My request to the British government is to please, do something quick, and take us to the UK because [it is not] good for us here." Rescuing the hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip poses unprecedented and painful choices for Israel, which may have to place a higher priority on a military victory against its adversaries than saving all the hostages, former senior U.S. officials and military officers say. Israel has a history of daring raids to rescue its citizens or kill its enemies, but the circumstances now are beyond anything the country has faced before. Israel estimates that 150 people are being held prisoner. Any rescue attempt in Gaza would most likely be paired with a major military push to smash Hamas, an operation that could jeopardize the lives of the hostages. Hamas has threatened to kill a hostage every time Israel bombs civilian targets in Gaza without warning. Follow live updates from NBC News here. This is not going to be a John Wayne ending, said a former federal law enforcement official who worked closely with Israel. The first task for Israel is gathering reliable information about the location of the hostages, a daunting prospect given that Hamas controls the densely populated Gaza Strip. Hamas can move hostages and its well-trained fighters through a maze of tunnels, high-rises, rubble and bunkers. The biggest challenge is intelligence knowing where hostages are located and the conditions under which they are being held, said retired Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who led U.S. Central Command and Special Operations Command. An American team of experts is on the ground working with Israel to share intelligence and help with the hostage crisis, according to U.S. officials. I have directed my team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts, President Joe Biden said Tuesday. If precise information about any hostage emerges, Israel and the U.S. if needed would have to act with lightning speed before Palestinian militants move their captives, former officials said. The remains of the the Al-Abbas Mosque sits among rubble from shelling (Momen Faiz / NurPhoto via Getty Images) We need to be on the ground, in position, said a former U.S. national security official familiar with hostage situations. Any opportunity to stage a rescue will be fleeting, the former official said. In such complex conditions, military operations to retrieve hostages will carry an unusually high risk both for the captives and for the Israeli commandos taking part, who will be hard-pressed to secure reinforcements if anything goes wrong in an enclave where Hamas fighters are on familiar ground, former officials said. Booby traps and the use of civilians and hostages as human shields are assumed. Its going to be brutal, said the former national security official. Israel and Western intelligence services also will have to prepare for the possibility that Hamas will try to smuggle some of the hostages out of Gaza into Egypt and then to other countries, possibly even Iran, which is the groups primary patron, the ex-official said. Dating to the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, Iran has a long track record of using foreign nationals as leverage over adversaries. Swapping prisoners for hostages? Israels special forces are considered some of the best in the world and are capable of pulling off high-risk operations. The countrys elite Sayeret Matkal troops, similar to the U.S. militarys Delta Force and Britains SAS, earned a near-mythical status after a nighttime raid at Ugandas Entebbe airport in 1976, when Israeli commandos rescued more than 100 hostages from a hijacked plane and killed all the hijackers. The Israeli officer who led the raid, Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, died in the operation. Entebbe was nearly 50 years ago, and confronting Hamas will not be like surprising a small contingent of terrorists and Ugandan troops. But despite the difficult circumstances in Gaza, hostage rescue efforts are still possible to carry out, Votel said. I do think it is realistic that hostage recovery operations could be conducted, said Votel, now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute think tank. The Israelis possess the capabilities and the will that, when combined with good intelligence and acceptable risk assessment, could support a successful recovery. With searing images circulating online of grandmothers, mothers, teenagers and children being shoved into cars and onto motorcycles at gunpoint by Hamas militants, Netanyahu now has to weigh whether his government will agree to a possible exchange of some imprisoned Palestinians for Israeli captives. Hamas is demanding the release of 5,200 prisoners it says are held behind bars in Israel in exchange for the hostages. Before Israel launches what is expedited to be a massive military operation aimed at dismantling Hamas in Gaza, there could still be time for back-channel negotiations brokered by Qatar, Egypt or other countries to secure the releases of at least some of the hostages, experts said. I suspect they will try to do the best they can, use the planning time for the military campaign to get help in trying to try to trade some hostages, said Seth Jones, who served as an adviser to U.S. special operations forces and is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. Previous exchanges have been lopsided in Hamas favor. In 2011, Israel released 1,027 prisoners to Hamas in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who had been held for more than five years. The former national security official said Hamas hostage-taking has spread terror but will not succeed in derailing or delaying an expected Israeli military offensive in Gaza. Theyre not going to forestall the invasion, the former official said. Jones at CSIS agreed. I think when their military planners and commanders believe that the time is now for the operation, I think theyll go regardless of the hostage situation. By Hadeel Al Sayegh, John O'Donnell and Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - Palestinian militant group Hamas uses a global financing network to funnel support from charities and friendly nations, passing cash through Gaza tunnels or using cryptocurrencies to bypass international sanctions, according to experts and officials. However, Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, will face even more obstacles accessing funds after the rampage by the group's gunmen that killed hundreds of Israelis, mainly civilians. Israel has responded with the heaviest bombardment of Gaza in 75 years of conflict. Earlier this week, Israeli police said they froze a Barclays bank account the authorities said was linked to Hamas fundraising and blocked cryptocurrency accounts used to gather donations, without specifying how many accounts or the value of the assets. The move provided a glimpse of a complex financial web, some legitimate, much hidden, that underpins Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, and its government in the Gaza Strip, which it has run since 2007. Matthew Levitt, a former U.S. official specialised in counterterrorism, estimated the bulk of Hamas' budget of more than $300 million came from taxes on business, as well as from countries including Iran and Qatar or charities. Last February, the State Department said that Hamas raises funds in other Gulf countries and gets donations from Palestinians, other expatriates and its own charities. Reuters was unable to reach Hamas officials for comment for this story. In the past, Hamas has said financial restrictions placed on its donors were an attempt to neutralise legitimate resistance against Israel. Hamas, sanctioned as a terrorist organization by the United States and countries such as Britain, had increasingly used cryptocurrencies, credit cards or contrived trade deals to avoid mounting international restrictions, Levitt said. "Hamas has been one of the more successful users of crypto for the financing of terrorism," said Tom Robinson, co-founder of blockchain research firm Elliptic. However, this year Hamas said it would back away from crypto, after a spate of losses. Cryptocurrency's ledger system can make such transactions traceable. Blockchain researchers TRM Labs said this week in a research note that crypto fundraising has previously increased following rounds of violence involving Hamas. After fighting in May 2021, Hamas-controlled crypto addresses received more than $400,000, TRM Labs said. However, since last weekend's violence, prominent Hamas-linked support groups had moved just a few thousands dollars through crypto, TRM noted. "One likely reason for the low donation volume is that Israeli authorities are targeting them immediately," TRM said, adding that Israel had seized cryptocurrency worth "tens of millions of dollars" from Hamas-linked addresses in recent years. Between Dec. 2021 and April this year, Israel seized almost 190 crypto accounts it said were linked to Hamas. SHIPS AND SHELLS Whether through crypto or other means, Hamas' allies have found ways to get money to Gaza. The U.S. State Department has said that Iran provides up to $100 million annually in support to Palestinian groups including Hamas, and has cited methods of moving the money through shell companies, shipping transactions and precious metals. Iranian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. By last year, Hamas had established a secret network of companies managing $500 million of investments in companies from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Treasury has said, announcing sanctions on the firms in May, 2022. Israel has long accused Iran's clerical rulers of stoking violence by supplying arms to Hamas. Tehran, which does not recognise Israel, says it gives moral and financial support to the group. Backing the Palestinian cause has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution and a way for the country to fashion itself as a leader of the Muslim world. Gas-rich Qatar too has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza since 2014, at one point spending $30 million per month to help operate the enclave's sole power plant and to support needy families and public servants in the Hamas-run government. "Qatari aid provides 100 dollars to the poorest Palestinian families and extends the period of electricity during a day in Gaza," a Qatari official said in response to a request for government comment, adding that it had helped "maintain stability and quality of life for ... Palestinian families". Qatar walks a foreign policy tightrope, hosting the region's largest U.S. military base, the Taliban and other groups, often allowing it to mediate. CASH RULES Qatar's funding for Gaza actually passes through Israel, a source familiar with the process said. The funds are transferred electronically from Qatar to Israel. Israeli and U.N. officials hand-carry cash over the border to Gaza. The cash is distributed directly to needy families and public servants in Gaza and each family or individual must sign next to their name that they've received the cash. One copy of that sheet goes to Israel, one goes to the UN and one goes to Qatar. "Qatari aid to the Gaza Strip is fully coordinated with Israel, the UN and the U.S.," the Qatari government official said. In recent years, Qatar bought fuel from Israel for Gaza's sole power station. It also sent Egyptian fuel that Hamas can resell, using the proceeds for salaries. Stephen Reimer of the think tank, Royal United Services Institute, predicted fresh attempts to fully restrict the group's access to formal financial channels would have limited success. "Their financing tactics have grown to circumvent these." (Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York, Sinead Cruise, Tom Wilson and Tommy Wilkes in London, Andrew Mills in Doha and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, writing by John O'Donnell; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel) Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) has filed to run against House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for Speaker. We are in Washington to legislate, and I want to lead a House that functions in the best interest of the American people, Scott wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The late-stage announcement from Scott a seventh-term lawmaker who was on few peoples radar as a potential Speaker contender is an apparent protest against Jordan as House GOP lawmakers are set to hold a Speaker candidate forum Friday afternoon. I dont necessarily want to be the speaker of the House. I want a House that functions correctly, but the House is not functioning correctly right now, he said. Scott told reporters he had no intention of running for Speaker this morning. I care more about the conference and that its doing our job than I care about who the Speaker is. I truly do, Scott said. When I woke up this morning I had no intention of doing this. I believe is if we as Republicans are gonna be the majority, we have to do the right things the right way. And were not doing that right now, he later added. Top Stories from The Hill Some lawmakers including Scott have pledged their staunch opposition to Jordan. During Thursday nights closed-door conference meeting, Scott stood up and announced his opposition to Jordan, according to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and another House Republican. On Friday, however, Scott denied that his bid is an anti-Jordan effort, telling reporters Jims a friend of mine. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters Friday morning that there was nothing that Jordan could do to get his support. Before Scotts announcement, Rogers said that he planned to vote for McCarthy. Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) is seen following a House Republican Conference meeting where they held a secret ballot for their next candidate for Speaker on Friday, October 13, 2023. Fridays candidate forum comes after Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), whom Republicans narrowly nominated Wednesday to be Speaker, abruptly withdrew from the race Thursday evening as it was clear he would not get the support from Republicans needed to win on the House floor. But now it is not clear that Scalises chief competition, Jordan, can get there either. I assume a large block of people that work for Steve will probably start out with Austin, said Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who is supporting Jordan. Even before Scott jumped into the Speakers race, Jordan faced an uphill climb to clinching the gavel. Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the News Alerts newsletter At least two lawmakers Scott and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) told reporters Thursday night that they would not support Jordan. The Ohio Republican called and met with holdouts Friday morning, according to a source familiar, and after the morning conference meeting but before Scott officially entered the race Jordan evoked confidence in his changes for winning the gavel. We got broad support across the conference; I feel good about where were at, but we got a candidate where members are gonna ask you more questions, well go from there, he told reporters, later adding I feel real good about the vote. House Republicans are once again working to elect a Speaker after eight Republicans joined with Democrats last week and voted to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the position. Scott referenced McCarthys ouster when discussing his Speaker bid. A couple of days ago when eight Republicans, eight Republicans with 208 Democrats to take the Speaker of the House out. Thats the wrong thing to do, he said. And so we have to stop that type of stuff. If were gonna be the majority party we have to act like the majority party. Aris Folley contributed. Updated at 1:12 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Joe Biden acknowledged the 25th anniversary of Matthew Shepards death on Thursday and condemned the nations recent uptick in anti-LGBTQ threats and acts of violence. Shepard, a gay college freshman at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, was abducted, robbed and beaten into a coma on Oct. 6, 1998. The two men who attacked Shepard tied him to a fence in freezing weather. He was discovered 18 hours later by a bicyclist, who initially mistook him for a scarecrow. Shepard died in a Colorado hospital on Oct. 12, 1998, surrounded by family. Matthews tragic and senseless murder shook the conscience of the American people, Biden said in a statement. And his courageous parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, turned Matthews memory into a movement, galvanizing millions of people to combat the scourge of anti-LGBTQI+ hate and violence in America. Image: President Joe Biden speaks at the White House (Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images) The two assailants, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, were sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder, but they were not charged with hate crimes. At the time, attacks motivated by a victims sexual orientation or gender identity did not qualify as hate crimes under Wyoming law. Wyoming is currently one of just two states, along with South Carolina, that does not have a law allowing additional penalties in hate-motivated crimes. In 2009, the Obama administration enacted the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The law extended federal hate crimes laws to cover sexual orientation, gender identity and disabilities and was named after Shepard and a Texas Black man who was murdered by white supremacists the same year of Shepards killing. Biden, who was vice president at the time, lauded the 2009 law on Thursday and vowed to continue the fight against hate, against violence, and against bigotry in all its forms. Today, as threats and violence targeting the LGBTQI+ community continue to rise, our work is far from finished, he said. No American should face hate or violence for who they are or who they love. Anti-LGBTQ demonstrations have spiked over the past year, in addition to several high-profile acts of violence allegedly incited by anti-LGBTQ sentiments. In August, a teenager was arrested for stabbing a 28-year-old gay professional dancer, OShae Sibley, to death at a gas station in Brooklyn, New York, in what police later said was a hate crime. That same month, Laura Ann Carleto, a California business owner and mother of nine, was shot and killed over a Pride flag displayed in her clothing store. From June 2022 to May, there was an average of 39 anti-LGBTQ protests per month in the U.S. compared with just three a month from January 2017 through May 2022, according to a recent report by the Crowd Counting Consortium, a research group that tracks political protests. In his statement Thursday, Biden also again called for Congress to pass the Equality Act, legislation that would amend the 1969 Civil Rights Act to include anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The legislation passed in the then-Democratic-controlled House in 2021 with support of three Republicans but has since stalled in the Senate. This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. This article was originally published on TODAY.com President Joe Biden on Friday assured the families of American citizens whove been taken hostage by Hamas that his administration is undertaking efforts to secure their freedom. Mr Biden described his interactions with the missing Americans relatives during an appearance in Philadelphia as he began remarks about his administrations economic policies. He said the interactions had been on a Zoom call that lasted for roughly an hour and 15 minutes, and said the family members are going through agony not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children are. He called the situation gut-wrenching, and said hed assured them of his personal commitment to do everything possible to return every missing American to their families. Were working around the clock to secure the release of Americans held by Hamas, in close cooperation with Israel and our partners around the region, he said. Were not going to stop until we bring them home. Earlier in the day, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Mr Biden participated in the call alongside his national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Karstens, Undersecretary of State John Bass and the National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk. He said a couple of family members from families of the 14 known American hostages were on the call, during which Mr Biden conveyed directly to these families that they have been in his prayers and reaffirmed for them that the United States government is doing everything possible to determine where their family members are and bring them home. Several of the family members shared information about their loved ones personal stories and experiences that they have gone through as they endure the unimaginable, Mr Kirby added. US officials say the government has confirmed the deaths of 27 US nationals in the wave of attacks by Hamas which began early Saturday morning when terrorists began storming Israeli territory by land, air and sea. Israeli officials have said more than 1,000 of their citizens including civilians and military personnel were killed in the attacks, the worst loss of life in Israel in decades. Hamas is believed to have taken more than 100 captives in the attacks and has threatened to execute them in response to any Israeli attack on Gaza. Mr Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, said US and Israeli officials are still working to determine where the hostages may be held and under what conditions. Thats the first thing that you got to do to be able to come up with policy options and and alternatives to try to try to get them home with their families, he said. He added that US and Israeli officials arent going to be able to publicly talk a lot about what we know and what were doing, I hope you understand that as as things move along here. Were going to were going to be sufficiently prudent in the kinds of information that we talk about publicly lest we actually jeopardise the effort, get these hostages released and back home safely, he said. Nothings more important to us than getting them home. and sometimes the way to do that is to shut your yap. And so were going to probably be shutting our yap a little bit as we get as we get further along. A new documentary produced by former House of Cards star Kate Mara and focused on the pork industry promises to tell the true story of everyday people versus corporate titans, in a battle with life or death consequences. I wish people could understand our health is at stake here. To raise animals in this way, puts all of us at risk, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says in a clip from The Smell of Money, obtained exclusively by ITK. The Shawn Bannon-directed documentary details the story of a North Carolina town whose residents go up against a corporate hog farm that they accuse of causing deadly pollution in their community. Everyones losing, except for these multinational corporations that are perverting the free market, because the BLT you buy at some fast-food restaurant doesnt represent the true costs, Booker, whos been a vegan for nearly a decade, says in the film. The true cost of that BLT is being borne by communities like in Duplin County, says Booker, who accuses corporations of bending the will of politics. Literally everyone is losing in this system: From the contract farmers, to the people that live around them, to the animals, to the food workers, future generations. Everyone is losing but these multinational corporations that are growing bigger, and stronger and have more influence than they have ever had before, Booker says. Mara told ITK in a statement that the documentary transcends its label as a social issue film with a story of a community overcoming centuries of injustice in the face of rampant corporate greed. It has moved me and opened my eyes to the horrific reality of the way people are being forced to live and die in America, she said. The Smell of Money is being released in Los Angeles theaters Friday and in New York on Oct. 20. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Jewish community in the US federal capital has gathered for a pro-Israel rally on Friday (October 13) at Washington DC's Freedom Plaza near the White House. Local media reported that the rally went on despite Hamas's call to pro-Palestine protesters to take to the streets and end what they called an Israeli "occupation." The rally was organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington (JCRC), ABC DC affiliate WJLA reported. Read Also: US Defense Secretary Austin Visits Israel, Promises Washington's Help Standing for Israel in DC The event is expected to demonstrate immense support of the American Jewish community for Israel after roughly 1,200 Israelis were murdered and an estimated 150 civilians and soldiers taken hostage since Hamas first attacked less than a week ago. Among the guests who spoke at the rally were DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Maryland Governor Wes Moore. Several ambassadors, federal lawmakers, and religious and other community leaders have spoken their support for Israel and their condemnation of Hamas. One Muslim woman also spoke at the rally, condemning Hamas for using the name of Allah in committing atrocities. Related Article: 'Day of Rage' Overview: Cities Worldwide on Edge as Hamas Urges Palestine Supporters to Protest @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Dr. Ankit Bharat preparing for surgery The exam room is a familiar place for Josh Burton. The 17-year-old has resiliently made it through two different double lung transplants in the past three years. "He went through the one lung transplant, went through the second one being so many times on the edge to survive," said Kelly Burton, Josh's mom. In 2020, doctors diagnosed Burton with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease. The small blood vessels in his lungs responsible for bringing oxygen to his heart were narrowing and failing. In 2021, he received his first double lung transplant at home in Wisconsin. "I kept saying, I didn't want to die because I was only 14 and I haven't got into anything life, or high school, or go to prom or drive a car," said Josh. In 2022, just a year post-transplant Burton caught RSV. Being that he was immunocompromised, his new lungs failed fast. Doctors would give Burton a lung retransplantation, or a second set of new lungs. "He was sick enough and probably one of the sickest in the country," said Kelly Burton. SEE MORE: Doctors transplant a pig's heart into a human for the second time Lung retransplantation is extremely rare, about 5% of total adult lung transplant worldwide, but researchers project an increase in the future as lung transplants increase themselves. A lung transplant has about a 50%-60% survival rate at the five-year mark, 40% for children. Chronic conditions, side effects from immunosuppressants and lung cancers drive up complications. The pandemic has changed the lung transplant landscape too. For Burton, it meant his doctors were more confident in taking his difficult case. We first spoke in 2021 to Northwestern's chief of thoracic surgery Dr. Ankit Bharat about this. At the time, 1 in 10 lung transplants were for COVID patients. "We've learned from doing these transplants is that, transplants can be used within the treatment paradigm of infections or infections causing permanent organ damage," said Bharat. "They have scars from the previous surgery and we call it adhesion. The lungs are a little bit tighter connected to the chest, so it's a little bit harder to remove the sick lungs," said Dr. Rade Tomic, a pulmonologist at Northwestern Medicine. It's a little more than three months post transplant, and Burton is healing well, and back to thinking about teenage things his senior year back in Wisconsin and pursuing his childhood dream of being a paleontologist. "Ever since I learned about paleontology, I really didn't have any other careers I wanted to be. It just was, like, an instinct," said Josh Burton. And while dust and digging won't be in the cards it's too much of a risk for his lungs that's not stopping him. His medical team recently helped coordinate an in-depth look at how paleontologists work at Chicago's Field Museum. Republican Presidential candidate Chris Christie weighed in on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and the deal between the United States and Iran, calling Iran the greatest source of the worlds terrorism. The Biden administration struck a deal with Iran in August, allowing $6 billion in previously frozen assets to return to the country in exchange for the release of five Americans. The citizens were released in mid-September in a trade for five Iranians held in the U.S. The money was set to be given back to Iran, but the assets have not been touched as of yet. Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, said he thinks the money should be permanently frozen amid Irans potential involvement with Hamas in the war against Israel. The Biden administration has said there is no evidence that Iran has aided the militant group. Iran is proving, once again, to be the greatest source of funding for terrorist activity in the world, and it was a wrong decision by President Biden to do it in the first place, Christie said on CNN on Thursday. It was a wrongheaded decision and Im glad its been reversed. Christie said the country needs to stand with Israel in its fight and that it will send a very clear message to Iran that invading Israel in a surprise attack Saturday was a mistake. He said the message to Iran from the U.S. should be that if they continue supporting terrorist activity, Iran is going to pay as well. This is something where our country has to unequivocally be behind Israel, Christie said on air. One of the things thats disturbing me greatly is the continued rise of antisemitism, not only here in the United States, but around the world that youre hearing expressed right now. Weve got to be saying that antisemitism of any kind is unacceptable in our country and unacceptable for our allies around the world, he added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Dr Gianluca Grimalda pictured on his 9,300-mile overland journey to Papua New Guinea. The senior climate researcher at the Kiel Institute in Germany, lost his job this week over his refusal to fly (Gianluca Grimalda) A climate researcher has been sacked after he refused to fly home from a fieldwork project in Papa New Guinea because he avoids flights in order to minimise his carbon footprint. Dr Gianluca Grimalda was notified on Wednesday by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany that his research contract had been terminated. The academic has refused to take flights since 2010 unless there was no other option, a stance that his employer previously supported. Earlier this year, Dr Grimalda embarked on a 35-day, 9,300-mile (15,000km) overland journey including through Iran, India and Thailand to reach Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific. Since I do not teach and meetings can be held online, there is nothing that requires my presence in Kiel, Dr Grimalda wrote, in a statement to The Independent. Burning 4.9 tons of CO2 about how much the global citizen of the world emits in one year for the absurd request to work on site is inacceptable in the current climate emergency. I am going to file a lawsuit for unlawful dismissal against this decision. The Independent has contacted the Kiel Institute for comment but they have not yet responded. Last week the academic, who is a member of protest group Scientist Rebellion, told The Independent how he feared losing his job over his beliefs. Maybe I will not find another research position, he said. Doing research is the thing I love the most in my life. Dr Grimalda started working at the Kiel Institute in 2013 and for the past six months, has been in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea studying the social impacts of climate change and market integration among 30 communities. The academic acknowledged that he had been delayed in his return to Germany which he attributed to his group being held hostage and additional security threats in Papua New Guinea. Last month, his bosses sent an official warning and demanded he return to his desk by 2 October, the scientist said. His salary was stopped in September, he added, a source of major stress. I pay for the healthcare of my mum in Italy. One-third of my salary goes to the payment of the healthcare of my mum, he said during a WhatsApp call from Bougainville Island on 4 October. He added: I perceive immoral blackmail in what they were telling me. They wanted me to renege on my moral principles, on my commitment, in order to admit my failure in not having complied with the agreement that I had with them. The academic documented his slow travel journey from Germany to Papua New Guinea in an epic Twitter thread (Gianluca Grimalda) Dr Grimalda is travelling on a cargo ship for the first leg of his journey home, a voyage which required special permission from the National Maritime authority of Papua New Guinea, before continuing via bus, train and passenger ferries. He has calculated that his slow-travel route, which will take about 50 days, will reduce his emissions more than tenfold from 5,300kg of greenhouse gasses from flying to 420kg. My stance is to not take a plane unless there is no alternative, he said. He explained that on the outbound journey, he was forced to take two flights - one because Chinas borders were still closed in February due to Covid, and another to reach Papua New Guinea from Singapore. The scientist said that the Kiel Institute has been supportive of his slow travel in the past, and that it has not impacted his work. I analyse my data, write articles, read articles. There is nothing that I can do in Germany in my office that I cannot do while traveling, he said. Occasionally I dont have internet while traveling but I just wait a little time and then I can connect to the internet. He acknowledged that he was supposed to have returned to Kiel by 10 September but said that he had informed his head of department about the security threats he had faced. Gianluca Grimalda with residents in Papua New Guinea. He says his promise to locals about cutting his carbon footprint has given him resolve (Gianluca Grimalda) We were held hostage for some hours under machete threat. All of my belongings were confiscated, he said. I now learned that I should have also informed the personnel office, I was not aware of that. Apparently for the Kiel Institute that was a major infringement of my contractual obligations. But I really had no idea, I thought that informing my immediate supervisor was enough. Dr Grimalda said that he was given an informal warning and threatened with dismissal by Kiel in 2022 over civil disobedience actions he took part in with Scientist Rebellion, an activist organization. In an email to The Independent last week, Guido Warlimont, head of communications at the Kiel Institute, wrote: We remain committed to our policy of not publicly discussing or commenting on personal legal matters. This is also for the protection of our employees. In general, the Institute encourages and supports its staff to travel climate-friendly. We are committed to do without air travel in Germany and in other EU countries as far as we can. We pay to Atmosfair to offset emissions through climate protection projects. Mr Warlimont added that Dr Grimalda planned his trip to Papua with Kiels support, and that the institute had supported a slow travel trip that he made previously. Flying is one of the most emissions-intensive pursuits an individual can do. A persons carbon footprint increases by ticket class and rockets with private jet travel. Domestic and international aviation is responsible for about 10 per cent of transport sector emissions. Roughly 1 per cent of the global population is responsible for more than half of these, the UN says. Dr Gianluca Grimalda crossing a stream with a local resident to reach a village in Papua New Guinea (Gianluca Grimalda) Flying is expected to boom in the coming decades as more countries grow their middle classes. Carbon emissions from the airline industry grew by 75 per cent from 1990 to 2012, according to the David Suzuki Foundation. If left unchecked, they could consume quarter of the available carbon budget for limiting temperature rise to 1.5C, the research group said. Dr Grimalda said that his resolve had been strengthened by what he witnessed in Papua New Guinea, one of the worlds most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis. The country is experiencing sea-level rise and more frequent storm surge, forcing coastal communities to relocate. In mountain villages, drought is causing food shortages. Im going to stick to this promise I made to all these people who are so exposed to climate change without having any responsibility, he told The Independent. Sea level rise is not because of their emissions. People from the US are the ones with the highest carbon footprint in the world, but also Europeans. I dont want to fail these people one more time, even if this means losing my job. Dr Grimalda said that, by his calculations, even his slow travel plans are equivalent to the average Papuans emissions in one year. My estimation is the average person from Bougainville emits 400 kg carbon dioxide in one year, he said. To give you a sense of proportion, the average person in the world emits four tons of carbon dioxide in one year [and] the average US citizen emits 20 tonnes. The Italian academics story has resonated through the realms of academia and beyond. His saga, which he has shared on X, formerly Twitter, has received hundreds of comments and mounting media attention. Fellow academics have written to the Kiel Institute in protest on his behalf. We need more people like [Gianluca Grimalda], wrote PhD student Tuulia Reponen. You are my hero. Some 70 per cent of carbon emissions come from just 100 companies worldwide, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Mr Grimalda acknowledges that he would be a fool to think his individual actions could alter the course of the climate crisis. But I thought that this was the right occasion to really sound the alarm bell, to tell as many people as possible that we really need to change completely our lifestyle, he said. I am approaching this with the right spirit of service and wanting to make a difference in the world, said Michael B. Moore, Democratic candidate for South Carolinas 1st Congressional District. At this time, Michael B. Moore is the only Black Democratic candidate looking to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in an effort to represent South Carolinas 1st Congressional District. Moore told theGrio that the time to run for Congress is now. Left to right: Democratic candidate for South Carolinas 1st Congressional District, Michael B. Moore; and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. (Photo: Getty Images) Ive grown up knowing about my great-great-grandfather, about Robert Small, but also about my great-grandfather, who served in the South Carolina legislature, and my grandfather, who was born in South Carolina and ended up serving in Durham, North Carolina, he said. So, Ive grown up with this reverence and respect for serviceI decided to lean into this legacy and to put myself up for service, the congressional hopeful continued. Moore is a descendant of many successful Black men who broke barriers and went against the grain. His ancestors include Robert Smalls, a Civil War hero born into slavery and who rose to become a congressman during the Reconstruction Era. Then theres Samuel Jones Bampfield, an attorney in South Carolina and legislator, and Harold Boulware, a judge who also served as a member of the legal team that won Brown v. Board of Education. The fact that I am descended from a number of generations of people who have actually served in office, people seem to tell me that that gives them a sense of confidence about my motivations that this isnt some sort of a power grab, said Moore. The House candidate told theGrio hes also running for office to protect his childrens future. Ive got four sons, and as they begin to approach independence, it just became clear to me that the world is much more complicated now than it was when I was growing up, he said. There was this presumption that this generation would do better than the last, that young people, their children, would outperform their parents just kind of automatically, Moore continued. Its just hard for me to automatically assume that about the young generation now. The native South Carolinian graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A. in political science and obtained an MBA from Duke University. Since then, Moore has dedicated his life to activism and public service. Hes also held leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies, and for his commitment to the community, the city of Charleston honored him with his own day, Michael Boulware Moore Day, on Aug. 30, 2021. WASHINGTON, DC OCTOBER 11: South Carolina Congressional candidate Michael B. Moore speaks at a rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on October 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. South Carolina voters and Civil Rights are calling on SCOTUS to protect Black voters in the Alexander V. SC State Conference of the NAACP court case. (Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Rooted Logistics) Im a businessperson. Ive run companies and organizations. I am comfortable and familiar with leadership and all that it takes to inspire and to manage people and organizations, he told theGrio. If elected to office, Moore plans to tackle several issues plaguing the Black community, like job growth and healthcare. I want to try to figure out ways to ensure that our people have good-paying jobs and can take care of their families. I think about Social Security and Medicare, he said. Moore took aim at Congresswoman Mace for failing to look out for the needs of her constituents and Americans across the country. Republicans, including Nancy Mace, are talking about pulling the rug out from underneath seniors and reducing benefits, he said. Moore continued, That doesnt make any sense to me. A program that people have paid into since their first job when they were 15 or 16 years old, and now were going to come back, and were going to cut that. He told theGrio he is the best candidate to represent South Carolinas 1st Congressional District because I am approaching this with the right spirit of service and wanting to make a difference in the world. My grandmother used to tell me, Michaelanytime you go someplace, make sure you leave it better than when you got there, Moore recalled. Thats something that motivates me. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Descendant of Civil War hero wants to unseat SC House Rep. Nancy Mace appeared first on TheGrio. A worker at a physicians office in Michigan is accused of going on a spending spree using credit card info stolen from patients, cops say. The 37-year-old woman faces four counts of illegal use of a financial transaction device without consent following the investigation that began in August, according to Michigan State Police. The victims reported numerous fraudulent transactions on their credit cards, police said. The investigation revealed the 37-year-old worker obtained their credit card info as they were seeing doctors. She is accused of making $13,000 worth of fraudulent purchases. The woman turned herself in Tuesday, Oct. 10, state police said. She is due in court on Oct. 20. State police did not provide information on the medical office that employed the woman. Traverse City is in northern Michigan about 140 miles north of Grand Rapids. Popeyes cashier steals customers credit card and goes shopping, Texas cops say Woman stole credit cards across the US by cutting locks off gym lockers, cops say Postal carrier stole credit cards and gift cards from 1,500 pieces of mail in CA, feds say French organizations and rights groups had hoped that a favorable ruling from the Council of State could force deep reforms to end racial profiling. PARIS (AP) Frances highest administrative authority on Wednesday rejected an effort by rights campaigners to end what they allege is a systemic and generalized practice by French police of targeting Black people and people of Arab descent for stops and checks. Local grassroots organizations and international rights groups had hoped that a favorable ruling from the Council of State could force deep reforms within French law enforcement to end racial profiling. In its decision, the Council of State said witness testimony and other evidence presented in the class-action case established that French police do subject people to checks because of their physical characteristics. It also said such checks dont appear to be isolated cases and are harmful to the people targeted. But the ruling said discriminatory checks arent systemic or generalized. The Conseil dEtat, Frances top administrative court, is shown in Paris. Frances highest administrative authority on Wednesday rejected an effort by rights campaigners to end what they allege is a systemic and generalized practice by French police of targeting Black people and people of Arab descent for stops and checks. (Photo: Thomas Padilla/AP, File) Plaintiffs expressed dismay, although some drew comfort from the rulings recognition that discriminatory checks do happen and arent rare. These high judicial authorities have failed to understand the violence and exclusion generated by these police practices, Issa Coulibaly, the head of a Paris youth association involved in the complaint, said in a statement. They failed to grasp the historic opportunity to improve the daily lives of millions of their fellow citizens, particularly those perceived as Black and Arab, said Coulibaly, who is Black. The Council of State is Frances ultimate arbiter on the use of power by authorities. The plaintiffs lawsuit, Frances first class-action case against police, was filed in 2021. It included a 220-page file that was chock full of examples of racial profiling by French police. The complaint was filed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Justice Initiative and three grassroots organizations that work with youth, including Coulibalys group, Pazapas. The government has denied systemic discrimination by police. The nongovernmental organizations took the case to the Council of State after the government failed to meet a four-month deadline to respond to the opening salvo in the class-action suit. The Council of State then held a landmark hearing on the case last month. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Frances top body rejects contention by campaigners that racial profiling by police is systemic appeared first on TheGrio. By Andrea Shalal MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) - Group of 20 (G20) finance leaders made no mention of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in their communique on Friday, highlighting the deep divisions in the group since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. The G20 finance leaders, meeting on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meeting in Marrakech, said they were deeply anguished by the loss of lives and destruction in natural disasters in Libya and Morocco, and said they stood in solidarity with the people there. There was no reference to the crisis in Gaza, where Israel's military on Friday told more than 1 million people to relocate south as it amassed tanks for an expected ground invasion after Saturday's devastating attack by militant group Hamas. More than 2,800 people have died in the conflict, which began just as G20 leaders began gathering in Marrakech. The G20 communique said: "We note with deep concern the immense human suffering and the adverse impact of wars and conflicts around the world". It also mentioned Russia's war in Ukraine and called for timely implementation of agreements on the movement of grains. It expressed deep concern about the adverse impact of conflicts on the security of civilians, mentioning no specific country. Failure to mention the violence (in Israel and Gaza) and its potential impact on the global economy revealed deep divisions roiling the G20, said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a coalition of more than 750 religious groups and organisations. He said it raised questions around the G20's ability to make decisions. "What's happening in Israel and Gaza is a horrific tragedy and if we can't stand up for the protection of children on both sides, it shows how stalemated they are." The G20 has been deeply divided since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It includes the United States, China and Russia, as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, Britain, the European Union, and more recently the African Union. Top U.S. officials headed for urgent talks in Israel on Friday amid fears the conflict could spread, with Iran warning of a response from its allies, which include Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The crisis hung over the IMF-World Bank meetings on the global economy, where World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters officials were "on eggshells". She said the Israel/Hamas conflict would have "really big impact" on already weak global trade flows if it widened throughout the region, joining a chorus of other financial officials who say they are carefully watching the conflict. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal, writing by Andrea Shalal and Leika Kihara; Editing by Alex Richardson and Jane Merriman) Reuters has reported that one of its news videographers, Issam Abdallah, has been killed by an alleged explosion in southern Lebanon on Friday (October 13). "We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," the agency said. "We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam's family and colleagues." Issam was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon providing a live video signal before the confirmation of his death. Read Also: 'Day of Rage' Overview: Cities Worldwide on Edge as Hamas Urges Palestine Supporters to Protest 6 Other Journos Injured It was revealed that an Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon after the Israeli military warned of a suspected armed infiltration of a Lebanese army observation post that it said it was responding to with artillery fire. According to CNN, two other Reuters journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were also injured in the incident. Al Jazeera journalists Elie Brakhya and Carmen Joukhadar and two unidentified Agence France-Presse journalists were injured. The Associated Press also reported that one of its photographers was at the scene and saw Abdallah's body. The Israel Defense Force did not immediately respond to reporters' requests for comment. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 10 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War last weekend. This is a developing story. Please follow HNGN for more updates. Related Article: Israeli Embassy Worker Stabbed in China; Suspect Now in Custody @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. An Israeli order giving more than 1 million Palestinians just 24 hours to evacuate to southern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion has pushed its people into the abyss with the enclave as a whole swiftly becoming a hellhole, the UN has said. Thousands have been forced to flee their homes but have nowhere to turn, while Israels military said troops had conducted localised raids inside Gaza. Ahmed, a young man in the north of Gaza, said families were fleeing south in a panic after the order was released a message they received on their phones. People are panicked moving from one area to another. They dont know where to go, he said, adding that he had lost contact with his father and brothers in the confusion. He asked for his full name and exact location not to be released for his safety. I can see them holding their belongings and fleeing since last night. I asked them where they are going; they told me We dont know to UN schools [where people have been sheltering], relatives home, anywhere in the south. Last weekend, militants from the ruling Hamas party stormed across the border into Israel from Gaza, killing more than 1,300 people and taking dozens of hostages in an act of terror. Israel has retaliated with a near-constant bombardment of Gaza, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of buildings. On Friday evening, Hamas said that 70 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in strikes while trying to head south. Palestinian families flee following the Israeli armys warning to leave their homes (AFP) Israel denies targeting civilians. It has defended the evacuation order. We are controlling our attacks in order to provide them a safe way [out], IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said earlier in the day. But it is a war zone, he added. Areas in the south, including Khan Younis and Rafah, have been pounded by Israeli aircraft in recent days. Ahmed, in Gaza, said that he had heard of a family who were targeted in a strike and injured while moving to the south. Many have been killed and injured while driving south, its not even safe to evacuate, he added. UN officials warned that the movement of an estimated 1.1 million people from the northern part of Gaza to the south half the population of the Strip was impossible and would spark a bone-chilling humanitarian crisis. They have strongly appealed to Israel to rescind the order. The call from the Israeli forces to move more than 1 million civilians living in northern Gaza within 24 hours is horrendous. This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into the abyss, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said shortly after the order was given. The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse, the statement added. Israeli army armoured personnel carriers along the border with the Gaza Strip (AFP) Messages from Hamas urged residents to stay put to hold on to your homes and land. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, vowed in televised remarks late on Friday to eradicate Hamas and said that the counteroffensive in Gaza is just the beginning. He added that Israel was striking at its enemies with unprecedented might. The expected ground invasion will lead to a surge in casualties, with more than 1,900 people having already been killed in Gaza since airstrikes began, with more than 6,000 injured. The death toll includes 614 children and 370 women, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. UNRWA also said it would not evacuate its schools, where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma. The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has been in constant contact with Israeli authorities, urging them to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. The entire territory faces a water crisis. There is no electricity. Our UN staff and our partners are working around the clock to support people in Gaza, he said. Gazas Health Ministry has said the evacuation will only add to the death toll, telling The Independent it has no means of evacuating the wounded to the south, as all hospitals across the strip are full, and the most critical cases will die en route. Dozens of buildings have been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes (Getty) Gazas deputy health minister Yusuf Abu al-Reesh told The Independent an evacuation of the wounded in the north was completely impossible. There are no extra beds in any hospitals anywhere for people to be transferred to. Also most of the cases of the injured are unstable they will die en route, Dr Abu al-Reesh said from Gazas largest hospital, al-Shifa, which is at 150 per cent capacity. All the hospitals everywhere in Gaza, even after they have been expanded, are full of patients. When asked by The Independent about medical facilities, as an evacuation of the wounded would be near impossible, Rear Adm Hagari said. We will do our best not to hit a hospital. Some in north Gaza have said they will not evacuate. Haytham Harara told The Independent the whole of Gaza City was ordered to evacuate, but he and his family are resolved to stay. I wont leave my land, he said. Haytham Harara said he and his family will not leave their land (Haytham Harara) No place in Gaza is safe now. Bombing is everywhere around us. We hear nothing except for the sound of warplanes, massive bombings, and the sirens of ambulances. It is like we are waiting until our turn comes. The Palestinians have been suffering one of the most cruel occupations of all time. Why can we not hear the world calling to us? In the wake of the Hamas attack Israel also announced a total siege of the 42km-long (26 miles) enclave, cutting off water, electricity, food and fuel in a move rights groups have said amounts to collective punishment and a violation of international law. The World Health Organisation has since warned that the healthcare system is at breaking point as Palestinian medics said they had just a few days left of supplies. Supplies were already low and half the essential medicine list was missing before the recent escalation: Gaza has been subjected to a 16-year blockade by Israel since Hamas siezed control in 2007. Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank. Demonstrators supporting Gaza fought gun battles with Israeli security forces. Palestinian officials said 11 people were shot dead. Palestinians have said they fear the violence will continue. Women and children evacuate Gaza City following an Israeli warning of increased military operations (EPA) The world needs to understand that this started long before this weekend, said Hassan, 45, outside of Damascus Gate next to the Old City. What has happened is the result of a blockade on Gaza, of decades of occupation. This is the reason for the violence. It is a global shame. There have also been fears of hostilities spreading to new fronts, including Israels northern border with Lebanon, where clashes this week have already been the deadliest since 2006. An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured. We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the Reuters news agency said in a statement. The agency added that Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon that was providing a live signal. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Al Jazeera said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, were also among the wounded. Agence France-Presse said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names. Israel is laying siege to Gaza and is amassing forces for a ground invasion, as it inflicts brutal vengeance after Hamas militants broke through the border and launched the deadliest attack in Israeli history, killing more than 1,200 civilians and soldiers. Gazas trapped and densely-packed 2.3 million inhabitants have suffered constant retaliatory air strikes since Saturday mornings unprecedented attack, with more than 1,000 Palestinians killed and 5,000 injured. Vowing to reduce Gaza to a city of tents, Israel has called up 300,000 reservists and claims to have created an iron wall of tanks, helicopters and aircraft around the enclave, pledging that Gaza will never return to what it was. With an existing humanitarian crisis in Gaza now threatening to spiral into catastrophe as Israel shuts off electricity and already tight supplies of food and water, its inhabitants now face the prospect of the Israel Defence Forces unleashing the might of its significant firepower upon their towns and cities. Here, The Independent speaks to experts about the Israel Defence Forces capabilities and how a ground invasion of Gaza could unfold. How big is the Israeli military? The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has three branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and the Israeli Navy. In 2021, the Israeli military spend was $24.34bn (20bn). Fixed-term military service has been compulsory for nearly all citizens over the age of 18 since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. Israel is amassing troops near the Gaza border (PA) There are currently 173,000 active soldiers in the Israeli army, including 8,000 commanders. The military has also called up 300,000 reservists to prepare for its largest ever mobilisation, with special flights being organised to bring reservists from abroad to join its efforts. Israel is also drawing on its special forces from the Sayeret Matkal unit to fight against Hamas, who it is expected will aim to neutralise high-ranking fighters and rescue captured Israelis. In total, Israel has 15 active infantry brigades, each around 3,000 troops strong, plus another 22 brigades in reserve which contrasts with just seven in the British Army, according to Dr Frank Ledwidge, a senior lecturer in military strategy at the University of Portsmouth. While reservists would likely not be committed to frontline fighting, the mass of the Israeli army deployed to Gaza would be further divided by concerns of uprisings in the occupied West Bank, and most importantly and formidably of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is far stronger than Hamas, said Dr Ledwidge. Israeli soldiers in Kfar Aza (Bel Trew/The Independent) What weaponry does the Israeli army have? Israel has already used 600 planes and 300 rocket launchers to strike Gaza. The air force is known for its Kfir fighter jets and also has a number of F-35 Lightning II jets obtained from the US. Israel is by far the strongest air force in the region, comparable with Turkey, said Dr Ledwidge. Israel also has amazing capabilities for automated weaponry, said Dr Ledwidge, adding that there is a question to whether Israel is the first country to have executed an operation wherein [artificial intelligence] selects the targets for killing within the context of swarm drones. Ground troops are drawing from an arsenal of around 1,100 third and fourth-generation Merkava tanks, which are similar to the German Leopard 2 battle tank widely used in Ukraine, with a thick front armour plate to provide maximum protection for its crew, and a 120mm main gun. The Merkava tank is a main weapon weve seen in previous Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip and we are likely to see it again in the coming invasion, Dr Ahron Bregman, a former IDF major who served in the 1982 Lebanon war, told The Independent. Where could Israel focus an invasion? Whatever the Israelis do will be very much at the extreme end of plans which have been refined over nine years since the last incursion into Gaza in 2014, which lasted for a month, said Dr Ledwidge, adding that there is already evidence of a fairly systematic plan being executed. Dr Bregman expects a ground invasion to be mainly, but not exclusively, into the northern Gaza Strip, which has so far seen the bulk of Israels aerial bombardment, although heavy and deadly strikes have been reported in the southern city of Khan Yunis, and other locations. What Hamas want is to get those Israeli solders into their alleyways where they can exploit their local knowledge, says expert (REUTERS) These airstrikes are aimed at preparing the ground for the invasion, including emptying the area of innocent residents getting them out of the way so it would be easier to hit the enemy, Dr Bregman said, adding that northern Gazas more open and agricultral terrain makes it easy for Israeli tanks to manouvre. As with previous operations, the invasion will involve carving up the strip and cutting off communications between the different sectors, particularly between Gaza and the rest, he added. Dr Bregman added: Its hard to say, but I cant see how the military could achieve its main aim weakening the military capabilities of Hamas without moving into towns and even cities. Israeli assaults on cities would open with massive [barrages] from air, land and sea, said Dr Bregman, adding: While inside urban areas, troops will try to move from house to house breaking internal walls rather than moving along roads. What dangers do Israeli forces face? The dangers to the Israelis fighting in urban areas are clear, as it is there that Hamas, equipped with Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, can cause much damage. Also, inside towns and cities Hamas got tunnels from where it could emerge, hit, and then retreat back, said Dr Bregman. Dr Ledwidge agrees that you wont see tanks in built up areas theyre much too vulnerable, and if you do theyre probably going to get killed. An Israeli tank drives toward the Israeli southern border with the Gaza Strip (Getty Images) The militants stock of drones now means also that for the first time for the Israelis, Israeli soldiers willl have to look up and make sure theyre not being spied on or bombed by drones, added Dr Ledwidge, a former military officer who has served in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. In Gaza, Hamas also have the advantage of local knowledge, and of extensive preparation, and there is no doubt whatsoever they have very capable leadership, said Dr Ledwidge. Describing Saturdays brutal incursion and slaughter of civilians as a come-on, in our parlance, he said What they want is to get those Israeli solders into their alleyways where they can exploit their local knowledge, the cover, the tunnel systems, use their new drone capabilities, and trap them and kill them there which the Israelis are more than aware of and will offset, but thats the Hamas plan. And they will have prepared ambushes, fortified positions, tunnels, weapons dump, human shields, hostages, and extensive information operations to support all of those things. How long could an invasion last? With Hamas having clearly long-planned their incursion, and Israel bracing its citizens for a long, long haul, both sides appear steeled for a drawn-out conflict. Dr Ledwidge compared an invasion of Gaza to the battle against Isis in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which took many months to subdue and in which Isis certainly hadnt prepared in the same way that Hamas has for years. He added: While its not quite an immovable object meeting an irresistible force because the Israeli army will prevail the question is how many sides are both sides willing to sustain in this fight? And both sides are clearly not casualty-averse. The Israelis consider themselves to have been defeated in Lebanon in 2006 when they lost 136 soldiers killed and were forced to retreat because of the political effect. Now that is not going to be an issue - they want this done, and are prepared to pay the cost for that. (Getty Images) The security cover for Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has been upgraded to the maximum Z category, a day after wanted posters with his picture were displayed in Canada. It comes amid an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between India and Canada after prime minister Justin Trudeau said there were credible allegations that the Indian government could be behind the slaying of a Canadian Sikh in Surrey, British Columbia on 18 June. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was president of a Surrey gurudwara and listed as a wanted terrorist by India, was shot dead by two masked gunmen outside his Sikh temple. Nijjar was a prominent activist calling for the creation of an independent Sikh state the so-called Khalistan movement but denied involvement in any kind of militancy. Earlier this week, life-size posters labelling Mr Jaishankar, prime minister Narendra Modi and high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma as enemies of Canada had been put up outside a Sikh temple in Surrey. The posters with the words assassination and wanted were erected by the US-based group Sikhs for Justice outside the same Sikh temple where Nijjar was assassinated. Indias home ministry then raised the security level for Mr Jaishankar from Y to Z level on Thursday, official sources familiar with the development told the PTI news agency. As well as calling for the assassination of the three, one poster features calls for a fresh unofficial referendum on whether a seaparate state for Sikhs should be carved out of India. Several such exercises have been held in the past in countries with significant Sikh diaspora groups. India sees such activity as a threat to its national security and routinely brands pro-Khalistan activists as terrorists. Nonetheless, the Indian government has repeatedly denied involvement in Nijjars killing, and said it will cooperate with any investigation into his death if provided with specific information about Canadas concerns. Following Mr Trudeaus allegations in parliament, Mr Jaishankar complained of 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 dont think thats acceptable, Mr Jaishankar told reporters in Washington last month. Mr Jaishankar will be provided security cover by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), a paramilitary force, comprising a total of 22 personnel, including between four and six Black Cats commandos and police personnel, the report said. The security was stepped up following an intelligence report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), sources said, without giving the details of the report. It comes after the head of Sikhs For Justice warned India of a Hamas-like attack in a video. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who has been wanted in India since 2019, equated the Khalistani movement with the situation in Israel. People under illegal occupation from Punjab to Palestine will react. And violence begets violence, he said. Israel has been accused of using white phosphorus munitions in Gaza and Lebanon, putting civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries. Human Rights Watch on Thursday claimed it had verified videos taken on Tuesday and Wednesday showing multiple uses of artillery-fired white phosphorus in Israels military operations. The non-governmental organisation described the weapon as capable of causing multiple organ failure and burning people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone. It added: Even relatively minor burns are often fatal. Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes (AFP via Getty Images) Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, said: Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering. White phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians. Accusing Israel of using white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza this week, the group alleged the country is violating the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life. Asked for comment on the allegations by Reuters, Israel's military said it was "currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza." It did not provide comment on the rights watchdog's allegations of their use in Lebanon. In 2009, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initially denied accusations of using white phosphorus shells during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza, which drew war crimes allegations from various rights groups. However, the IDF later said it was using the munitions in accordance with international law. It added that claims of indiscriminate use were "baseless". . pic.twitter.com/I71DcEu2jS || Ali Shoeib (@alishoeib1970) October 10, 2023 Israel has been bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas rampage in southern Israeli towns that killed at least 1,300 people this week. At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. Israel has also traded barbs with Lebanon's Hezbollah group. ISW provided links to two videos posted on social media, claiming they show "155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles being used, apparently as smokescreens, marking, or signaling". Both show scenes near the Israel-Lebanon border, it said. The group did not provide links to videos showing their alleged use in Gaza. Palestinian TV channels have broadcast video in recent days showing thin plumes of white smoke lining the sky over Gaza that they say was caused by such munitions. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City onThursday (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The rights group's accounts have not been independently verified. Israel's military in 2013 said it was phasing out white phosphorus smokescreen munitions. However, it did not at the time say whether it would also review the use of weaponised white phosphorus, which is designed to incinerate enemy positions. White phosphorus munitions can legally be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings. Because it has legal uses, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions, but it can cause serious burns and start fires. An Israeli artillery unit fires towards Gaza along the border in southern Israel on Wednesday (EPA) White phosphorus is considered an incendiary weapon under Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons. The protocol prohibits using incendiary weapons against military targets located among civilians, although Israel has not signed it and is not bound by it. The Independent has approached the IDF for comment. By John Davison, Humeyra Pamuk and Sabine Siebold JERUSALEM/TEL AVIV/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Israel's government showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defence ministers graphic images of dead children and civilians on Thursday, saying they were killed by Palestinian group Hamas as it builds support for its response. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also released on social media a picture of a dead infant in a pool of blood and the charred body of a child, part of an apparent effort to stoke global anger against the Gaza militants over Saturday's attack. Blinken, who flew into Tel Aviv earlier on Thursday, told reporters he was shown photographs and videos of a baby riddled with bullets, soldiers beheaded and young people burned alive in their cars or hideaways. "It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way," Blinken told a news briefing. "Images are worth a thousand words. These images may be worth a million." Netanyahu has vowed to annihilate Hamas following its deadly assault on unsuspecting Israeli communities on Saturday, which killed more than 1,300 people, the deadliest attack by Palestinian militants since Israel was founded in 1948. The Israeli airforce has launched intense bombing raids on Gaza over the past five days and is massing tens of thousands of troops along the border ahead of a possible ground invasion. In Israel, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the country's military chief said on Thursday, "Now is the time for war." Gaza authorities said more than 1,400 Palestinians, mainly civilians, including children, have already been killed and more than 6,000 wounded. A land invasion in the densely populated territory could send the toll much higher. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant played a video to his counterparts at NATO's Brussels headquarters that he said showed horrific scenes from the surprise Hamas attack. "Children were tied up and shot. Yes, I repeat, children, tied up and shot," he told fellow ministers by video link according to a text of his address sent to Reuters. 'HORRIFIC PICTURES' In a message on the social media site 'X', Netanyahu's office released what it said were "horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters". It added: "Hamas is inhuman. Hamas is ISIS," comparing the Palestinian group to the Islamic State, which was notorious for its brutality and gory execution videos. The images of the dead infants were included in the video played to NATO. It was not released to the public, but was later seen by Reuters in Jerusalem. Reuters could not independently verify the material. "They were horrific pictures of the attacks and the victims of the attacks," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, saying it "confirmed the brutality of the attacks". In quotes published by Hamas, deputy Hamas chief, Saleh Al-Arouri, said: "The plan was to target the army's Gaza team and fight occupation soldiers only." But the White House said it had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the images. Authenticated video footage and witness accounts paint a picture of a Hamas ground assault and rocket barrages that ripped communities apart. The video shown to NATO, apparently taken from a mix of social media published by Hamas and unidentified phone videos, showed the bodies of scores of dead civilians, as well as the body of an Israeli soldier in uniform with his head missing. There were no images to suggest militants had beheaded babies -- a particularly explosive accusation that first emerged in Israel's media and initially confirmed by Israeli officials. U.S. President Joseph Biden had suggested on Wednesday that he had seen images of children beheaded by militants. The White House later clarified that U.S. officials had not seen any evidence of this. Netanyahu has not repeated a claim by his office earlier this week that Hamas had indeed cut off the heads of children, nor did Gallant repeat that accusation to NATO ministers. But medics, international human rights organisations and journalists have documented that militants killed women, children and the elderly as well as young men and soldiers in their rampage. Foreign reporters shown sites targeted by Hamas, witnessed ruins of burnt-out houses and streets scattered with dead residents and militants. NATO officials said they did not expect the alliance to be directly involved in the conflict. But multiple NATO states, above all the United States, have offered Israel military aid. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after the NATO meeting on Thursday that Washington was not placing any conditions on its security assistance to Israel and expected Israel's professional military to "do the right things". (Additional reporting by Andy Gray in Brussels; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Edmund Blair) This is a developing story; check back with sacbee.com for updates. Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su helped Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente and more than 85,000 workers in the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions reach a historic tentative labor agreement in the wee hours of Friday morning. It gives California workers a minimum wage of $25 an hour within three years, something that the largest union in the coalition, the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, has aggressively campaigned to get in the Legislature and in municipal referendums. What the parties have achieved here in Oakland demonstrates, once again, that collective bargaining works, said Su, Californias former labor chief. When workers have a voice and a seat at the table, it can result in historic gains for workers, their employer and our country. On the ground in California, Su, Kaiser and its unions resolve key lingering issues after seven months of bargaining. The deal came after workers launched the largest-ever strike in U.S. health care industry last week. Were incredibly grateful to acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su and the Biden administration for supporting workers right to collective bargaining. Acting Secretary Su was instrumental in advancing talks and helping to facilitate a successful conclusion to these negotiations, said Sarah Levesque, secretary-treasurer of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 2. Pay increase headed for ratification vote The tentative four-year deal will now go to the 85,000-plus Kaiser employees represented by the coalition unions for a ratification vote. The process will begin Oct. 18, and will take several weeks. The contract, when its approved, will be retroactively effective to Oct. 1, 2023. Here are other key aspects of the deal: Workers outside California will receive a minimum hourly wage that will reach $23 in three years. Across-the-board raises over the contract term would total 21% that union leaders say will help improve retention. For the first time, all coalition workers will receive the same wage increase no matter which state they they work in for Kaiser. Enhanced employee performance bonuses, setting minimum payout opportunities and substantially increasing the maximum payouts. In a novel approach, some bonuses will be tied to patient outcomes. Streamlined hiring practices and increased investments in professional development and job training, including mass hiring events, training existing workers to take new jobs, and training future healthcare workers. This deal is life-changing for frontline health care workers like me, and life-saving for our patients, said Yvonne Esquivel, a pediatric medical assistant at Kaiser Permanente in Gilroy. Thousands of Kaiser health care workers fought hard for this new agreement, and now we will finally have the resources we need to do the job we love and keep our patients safe. The coalition unions include some of Kaisers lowest paid workers, but the occupations are diverse when it comes to pay and types of jobs. Affected professions include licensed vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, radiology technicians, ultrasound sonographers, teleservice representatives, respiratory therapists, optometrists, certified nursing assistants, behavioral health workers, surgical technicians, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, transporters, home health aides, phlebotomists, medical assistants, dental assistants, call center representatives and housekeepers. In reports issued this year, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Labor Center said that about a half-million health care workers around the state were struggling to survive on their wages, even as they showed up to care for patients amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate Bill 525, a bill thats on Gov. Gavin Newsoms desk, would set a minimum wage for health care workers, putting them on a path to a $25 minimum wage by June 2026. If that measure doesnt get the governors approval, the wage terms in the Kaiser agreement would likely put pressure on on other big health systems to raise pay for the industrys lowest-paid workers, said Laurel Lucia, director of the health care program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center. If the $25 minimum wage was instituted in the industry, the researchers said, patients, workers and industry alike would benefit from lower turnover rates, better staffing, and better outcomes, like reduced hospital stays and even lower mortality rates. The lowest-paid workers would see a wage increase of 30%, according to a Labor Center study, while average overall costs would rise by about 3% across the affected health facilities. SEIU-UHW won public support for its $25 minimum wage ballot initiatives in a handful of California municipalities, but legal challenges delayed implementation. The Israeli military prepared for a possible ground invasion in Gaza on Thursday as it pounded the tiny coastal strip in retaliation for the unprecedented weekend attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas. In a deliberate show of support for Israel, a U.S. official confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit on Friday, a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Suffering in Gaza, meanwhile, rose dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. Israel said Thursday that a complete siege would remain in place until Hamas freed 150 hostages taken during its incursion. Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point, which remained closed on both sides Thursday. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides. Here's what's happening on Day 6 of the latest Israel-Hamas war: NEPALIS RETURN HOME FROM ISRAEL KATHMANDU, Nepal More than 200 Nepali nationals evacuated from Israel returned home Friday as the government worked to bring back the bodies of 10 Nepali students killed in the unprecedented attack by Hamas. Nepals foreign minister, Narayan Prasad Saud, accompanied 254 citizens on a plane chartered by the government. The returnees were welcomed home by family and friends at Kathmandu airport. In addition to those killed, four Nepalis were wounded and one is still missing, Saud said. One of the wounded was flown back in the evacuation flight and three others were getting treated at hospitals in Israel, Saud said. He said 54 Nepali nationals still in Israel have been moved to safer areas and will be evacuated eventually. Many Nepalis in Israel are students studying agriculture techniques. HAMAS CIVILIAN MEMBER DEFENDS GROUP'S INCURSION JERUSALEM A prominent civilian member of Hamas defended the groups rampage through Israeli communities in a video released by the group Thursday and decried the civilian deaths in Gaza from the six days of Israeli airstrikes that have followed. The solemn video lacked the bravado of a recording aired by Hamas' military wing Saturday hailing the greatest battle as the massacres still played out. Basem Naim, a physician and former Hamas government minister, said in the swift collapse of the Israeli military on Saturday, chaos prevailed and civilians found themselves in the middle of the confrontation between Israeli and Hamas combatants. The claim is contradicted by countless videos and survivor accounts of Hamas militants deliberately targeting and killing hundreds of civilians. Naim said the 150 hostages taken back into Gaza would be treated according to religious values and international laws. At the same time we are really worried they might be the victims of the Israeli army bombardment, like our people, he said. He added that Hamas would not consider freeing the captives until Israel stopped its bombardment. IF ISRAEL DOESNT END BOMBARDMENT, WAR MAY OPEN ON OTHER FRONTS, IRAN SAYS BEIRUT Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian said Thursday that if Israels bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on other fronts, an apparent reference to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Amirabdollahian arrived in Beirut late Thursday evening, where he was greeted by representatives of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad along with Lebanese officials. In light of the continued aggression, war crimes, and siege on Gaza, opening other fronts is a real possibility, Amirabdollahian said, speaking to journalists on his arrival. Early Thursday, Amirabdollahian had visited Iraq, where he made similar statements after a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Questions have swirled around the extent of Irans role in the unprecedented surprise attack launched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on Saturday. Hamas officials have denied that Iran was directly involved in planning the attack or green-lighted it, and to date no government worldwide has offered direct evidence that Iran orchestrated the attack. However, many have pointed to Irans long sponsorship of Hamas that has included training, funding and providing it with weapons. EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT TO TRAVEL TO ISRAEL BRUSSELS European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Israel on Friday to express support for the nation in the wake of last weekends attack by Hamas. Von der Leyen will be accompanied by European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, the commission said in a statement late Thursday. Von der Leyen has been one of the most outspoken European Union leaders in support of Israel since the attacks and the subsequent war with Hamas. HEZBOLLAH SENDS DRONE OVER ISRAEL, OFFICIAL WITH LEBANON GROUP SAYS BEIRUT The militant Hezbollah group sent a drone over Israel on Thursday, according to an official with a Lebanese group familiar with the situation along the Lebanon-Israel border. The drone was shot down over Israel, the official said, without elaborating further. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment to the news media. An Israeli military spokesman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, Thursday afternoon that an air-defense missile was fired in northern Israel but it turned out there was no target in the air. ___ Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report. INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN GAZA BELOW 20%, ANALYST SAYS BOSTON Internet connectivity in Gaza City has been below 20% since Tuesday, according to analyst Doug Madory of the network monitoring firm Kentik Inc., whose data shows outages began Saturday morning. Madory said an internet provider in Gaza told him that Israeli air strikes had cut fiber optic cables. The provider declined to speak with an Associated Press reporter but Madory relayed his message: Pray for us to stay alive and stop this war. DEATH TOLL IN GAZA HAS SURPASSED 1,500, HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS JERUSALEM The death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza has risen to 1,537, with 6,612 people wounded, the Gaza-based Health Ministry reported Thursday. Of those killed, 276 were women and 500 were under the age of 18, the ministry said. The jump in the death toll comes as Palestinians report heavy Israeli airstrikes across the besieged Gaza Strip, with bombardment on residential buildings in densely populated city districts and refugee camps killing many family members at a time in their homes. US AND QATAR AGREE TO NOT ACT ON ANY IRANIAN REQUEST TO ACCESS FUNDS WASHINGTON The U.S. and Qatar have agreed not to act on any Iranian request to access $6 billion in funds that were transferred from South Korea after a blanket waiver by President Joe Biden's administration meant to clear the way for the release of five Americans held by Iran, a U.S. official said Thursday. The move stops short of freezing the funds. Under the terms of the agreement, the funds must be requested by Iran and can go only for humanitarian purposes. The Americans were released last month. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the agreement and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The funding has been a concern as questions mount about Irans influence or role in the Hamas attack on Israel. Iran is Hamas' principal financial and military sponsor, though the White House says it has not uncovered information that Iran was directly involved in the operation. ___ Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report. ISRAEL TELLS CITIZENS ABROAD TO AVOID HAMAS DEMONSTRATIONS TEL AVIV, Israel Israels Foreign Ministry is warning Israelis abroad to avoid demonstrations said to have been called for by Hamas in cities around the world, saying they could become violent. In a joint statement with Israels National Security Council, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday that there is a concern that Israelis or Jews could be targeted during the protests. The ministry statement said protests are expected on Friday and urged Israelis to be cautious. 45 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN AIRSTRIKE ON HOUSE, GAZA MINISTRY SAYS GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The Israeli military bombarded a residential building in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza on Thursday, killing at least 45 people and injuring dozens more, Gazas interior ministry said. A late-afternoon airstrike hit the al-Shihab family house at the center of the Jabaliya camp, interior ministry spokesperson Eyad Bozum told The Associated Press. The al-Shihab house was packed with dozens of relatives at the time of the airstrike, Bozum said. Some family members had fled heavy bombing from other parts of the Gaza Strip and taken refuge there Bozum said the death toll was likely to rise from that airstrike as civil defense workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble and counting the dead. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike. TWO ISRAELI POLICE OFFICERS WOUNDED IN EAST JERUSALEM JERUSALEM A Palestinian armed with an improvised submachine gun opened fire toward police officers at one of the entrances to Jerusalems Old City, wounding two officers, including one seriously. Police said they chased and shot the assailant, whose condition was not immediately clear. Tensions have been running high in Jerusalem, with most shops closed since the Hamas attack and Palestinian protests in East Jerusalem at night that have devolved into deadly clashes with police. EGYPT CALLS FOR URGENT DELIVERY OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO GAZA CAIRO Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Thursday called for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip through the crossing with Egypt. With Israel sealing off the Palestinian enclave, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah. While Rafah is not officially closed, airstrikes have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to persuade Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through Rafah. Egypt is ready to harness all its capabilities and efforts to mediate in coordination with all international and regional actors without restrictions or conditions, el-Sissi said during a military college graduation ceremony in Cairo. US HAS NO PLANS TO SEND TROOPS TO ISRAEL, WHITE HOUSE SAYS WASHINGTON The U.S. has no plans to send troops to Israel, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. There is no intention, no plan, and frankly, no desire by the Israelis, Kirby said. Kirby also said there have been ongoing conversations with Israel about the continued need for continued flow of humanitarian assistance" into Gaza. He said establishing corridors to provide safe passage out of Gaza for civilians is the right thing to do for innocent victims who are actually being held hostage as well by Hamas. US DEFENSE SECRETARY TO VISIT ISRAEL ON FRIDAY WASHINGTON U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit Israel on Friday, the second high-level U.S. official to visit Tel Aviv in two days, in a deliberate show of support and an effort to determine what additional military aid is needed in the war with Hamas. Austin is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive travel details. Austins arrival comes just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited and vowed American support for Israel in a meeting with Netanyahu. ISRAEL'S PARLIAMENT APPROVES EMERGENCY UNITY GOVERNMENT JERUSALEM Israels parliament approved an emergency unity government Thursday night, swearing in Benny Gantz and four other ministers to serve in a security cabinet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. DEATH TOLL OF US CITIZENS IN HAMAS ATTACK RISES TO 27 WASHINGTON The death toll of U.S. citizens in the Hamas attack on Israel has risen to 27, and the number of missing is now at 14, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. Kirby said that the U.S. was continuing to work with Israeli officials to try to locate those who remain unaccounted for. Kirby said he believes only a few of those missing have been taken hostage. ERDOGAN RENEWS CALL FOR REDUCING TENSIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS ANKARA, Turkey Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the United States to work toward reducing tensions between Israel and Palestinians, renewing his criticism of a U.S. decision to send an aircraft carrier to the region. What is more appropriate for a country like America? To establish peace or to go there with gasoline and fuel (the fire)? Erdogan said during an address to hundreds of youth on Thursday. We dont want the conflict and attacks to escalate further and God forbid, spread to our region. We call on all actors who have a voice and influence in the region to make efforts toward reducing tensions, he continued. US TO START EVACUATING AMERICANS FROM ISRAEL, POSSIBLY AS SOON AS FRIDAY WASHINGTON The U.S. government will begin operating evacuation flights to help Americans leave Israel as Israel prepares to escalate retaliatory action against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, according to the Biden administration. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby confirmed Thursday that the U.S. would arrange charter flights from Israel to sites in Europe. The evacuation flights are expected to begin operating as early as Friday. LEBANESE PREMIER URGES GROUPS TO AVOID INCITING CONFLICT IN ISRAEL BEIRUT Lebanons caretaker prime minister is calling on all Lebanese groups to exercise self-restraint and to not be pulled into Israels plans. Najib Mikati's comments Thursday after a Cabinet meeting in Beirut were apparently meant to encourage the militant group Hezbollah to avoid inciting any conflict with Israel. Lebanon is in the eye of the storm and what is happening along our southern border leaves us deeply worried, Mikati said. Israels military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate Friday ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning it received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically, with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Israel on Friday, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7. Here's what's happening on Day 7 of the latest Israel-Hamas war: RELATIVES OF ABDUCTED ISRAELIS PLEAD FOR WORLD'S HELP UNITED NATIONS Relatives of Israelis abducted during Hamas militants attack last weekend pleaded at the U.N. on Friday for the worlds help getting their loved ones home. Speaking by video from Israel, Yoni Asher told diplomats at an Israel-organized event that he hasnt slept or eaten since his wife and two small daughters vanished Saturday while visiting his mother-in-law in the countrys south. His wife called to tell him that they were locked in a safe room after people came into the house and she heard gunshots, Asher said. He said he later saw a video of his wife and daughters, who are under 5 and 3, being loaded into a vehicle, and he tracked his wifes phone to Gaza. I dont know if I got any more tears left, he said. Im exhausted, and I just want to approach whoever can hear me in the international community. Please bring back my baby girls. Hamas fighters took 150 hostages during Saturdays surprise assault. Alana Zeitchik said a half-dozen of her cousins were snatched from a kibbutz. They were known to be alive as of Friday morning, she said. We dont want more bombs or rockets or blood or tears, said Zeitchik, who lives in New York. We want our family back immediately. And we want peace. BIDEN SAYS ADDRESSING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA IS A PRIORITY WASHINGTON President Joe Biden said Friday that its a priority of his administration to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Speaking at an event in Philadelphia to promote a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel in the U.S., Biden paused to note the deteriorating situation for Palestinians as Israel continues to bombard the strip in retaliation for last weekends attacks on Israel. Biden said hes directed his team to work with the governments in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations and the United Nations to surge humanitarian relief to those impacted by the war. We cant lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do Hamas, Biden said. And theyre suffering as a result as well. Biden again lashed out at Hamas, saying the militant group in control of Gaza makes the terrorist group Al-Qaida look pure. UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS UNITED NATIONS The U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors on Friday to discuss the Israel-Hamas war as Palestinians stream out of northern Gaza on orders from the Israeli military. Fridays meeting was scheduled before the evacuation order, which added still more urgency to the discussion. The U.N. has said the order affects about half Gazas population and could turn an already dire humanitarian crisis into a calamity. Moving more than 1 million people across a densely populated war zone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous and, in some cases, is simply not possible, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, heading into the meeting. He implored all parties and those with influence over them to do their utmost to enable humanitarian access to the besieged Gaza Strip, to release all hostages immediately and to protect civilians. The council emerged without any collective message or action from another private session Sunday on the Israel-Hamas fighting. Divisions in the council, the U.N.s most powerful body, have sharpened amid Russias war in Ukraine. SYRIA CALLS ON WORLD TO STOP ISRAEL'S CRIMES AGAINST PALESTINIANS DAMASCUS, Syria Syrias president on Friday called on countries of the world to stand together to stop the crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people. Bashar Assad made his comments during a meeting in Damascus with Irans foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, who is on a regional tour that has taken him to Baghdad and Beirut. Assad said the reason behind the latest wave of violence is that the Palestinian people have been prevented by Israel and Western countries from setting up their own state. Assad said Syria stands by the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Amirabdollahian later told reporters that Israel should stop the war crimes it is committing before its too late. Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since the militant group Hamas launched a bloody incursion into the country's south on Saturday, killing hundreds. NETANYAHU VOWS TO DESTROY HAMAS, SAYS GAZA OFFENSIVE IN EARLY STAGES JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu delivered the threat in a nationally televised address late Friday. Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented cross-border attack last Saturday, killing over 1,300 people in a brutal rampage. Early Friday, Israel ordered half of Gazas population to evacuate their homes. This is just the beginning, Netanyahu said. We will end this war stronger than ever. We will destroy Hamas, he added, saying Israel has widespread international support for the operation. UN AGENCY SHIFTS OPERATIONS BUT SOME STAYING IN THE NORTH UNITED NATIONS The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has shifted its Gaza center of operations and some staffers to the territorys south, but many of the world bodys 13,000 Gaza workers have chosen to remain in the north to continue helping people there, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday. The world body earlier warned of devastating humanitarian consequences after the Israeli military told the entire population of northern Gaza to leave. Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other U.N. officials have been working the phones to try to get humanitarian aid into the sealed-off territory and to ensure that civilians are protected. Asked what it would take for aid to start flowing, the spokesperson said, what we need is the green light from the Israelis. PRO-PALESTINIAN STUDENTS BRIEFLY CLASH WITH POLICE AT RALLY IN ROME ROME A few hundred pro-Palestinian students clashed briefly with police in Rome on Friday as they tried to detour from a rally route that had been approved by authorities. Helmeted police, using shields and batons, pushed back the surging students near Sapienza University when the protesters, many waving or clutching Palestinian flags, tried to head toward a rally being held by right-wing students, Italian news outlets reported. A rally in Milan with some participants holding a giant, rainbow-colored peace flag, and others carrying Palestinian flags went forward without any issues. 70 PEOPLE KILLED IN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE ON CONVOYS FLEEING GAZA CITY, HAMAS PRESS OFFICE SAYS GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Hamas officials say 70 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on convoys fleeing Gaza City. Hamas media office says the cars were struck in three places as they headed south from Gaza City. It was not immediately clear who the target of the airstrikes was, or whether militants were among the passengers. The army ordered residents to evacuate the city early Friday ahead of an expected ground invasion. ISRAELI MILITARY LAUNCHES DRONE AT HEZBOLLAH TARGETS JERUSALEM The Israeli military has announced that an Israeli drone is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. ISRAELI SHELLING ALONG LEBANON BORDER KILLS 1 JOURNALIST, WOUNDS 6 ALMA Al-SHAAB, Lebanon An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing one and wounding six. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of the dead journalist and the six who were wounded. Some of them were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. One nearby car was charred. Al-Jazeera identified two of its employees among the wounded. The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel. ISRAEL MILITARY SAYS IT HAS CARRIED OUT SMALL RAIDS INTO GAZA STRIP JERUSALEM The Israeli military says for the first time that ground troops have been operating inside the Gaza Strip. In a statement Friday, the army said troops had entered Gaza to battle militants, destroy weapons and search for evidence about the missing hostages held by Hamas. The announcement did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion of Gaza. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border since last Saturdays deadly incursion by Hamas militants. WHITE HOUSE MEETS VIRTUALLY WITH FAMILIES OF MISSING AMERICANS WASHINGTON The White House hosted a virtual conversation on Friday with family members of 14 Americans who are unaccounted for after the Hamas attacks on Israel. President Joe Biden addressed the families. Other participants included Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser; Roger Carstens, hostage affairs special envoy; John Bass, undersecretary of state; and Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East. EGYPT CALLS ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO STOP THE EVACUATION IN GAZA CAIRO The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned the Israeli armys decision to tell about 1 million people in Gaza to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory. The move constitutes a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, and will expose the lives of more than a million Palestinian citizens and their families to the dangers of remaining in the open without shelter, the ministry said in a statement. The evacuation order comes ahead of an expected ground invasion, hiking fears of a massive influx of refugees across the heavily fortified border into its territory. Egypt called on the United Nations Security Council, which is scheduled to meet Friday, to stop the evacuation. PALESTINIAN ENVOY SAYS EVACUATION ORDER COULD COMPARE TO DISPLACEMENT OF HUNDREDS IN 1948 UNITED NATIONS The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations says his peoples mass exit from northern Gaza under Israeli military orders may compare to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians amid the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation an event that Palestinians call the nakba, or catastrophe. Ambassador Riyad Mansour called the current flight potentially a second nakba" as he spoke to reporters at U.N. headquarters Friday before a meeting of Arab countries ambassadors. The Israeli military told people to leave northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion against the Hamas militants who launched an assault on southern Israel last weekend. While the evacuation order involves the northern part of the territory, Mansour said there is no place in Gaza that is safe. He called for a cease-fire to allow food, medicine and water into the territory. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ACCUSES ISRAEL OF USING WHITE PHOSPHORUS LONDON Human Rights Watch has called on Israel to stop using munitions containing white phosphorus in the Gaza Strip after verifying video and witness accounts of these indiscriminate incendiary weapons being used in densely populated areas. White phosphorus catches fire spontaneously when it comes in contact with oxygen, releasing toxic fumes and generating temperatures of up to 815 degrees Celsius (1,500 Fahrenheit). Because it continues to burn until all of the material is used up or it is smothered, white phosphorus exposure can leave victims with permanent disabilities, scarring and chronic pain. The issue is that white phosphorus is indiscriminate, Yasmine Ahmed, the U.K. director of Human Rights Watch, said Friday. It is used in a way that it cannot distinguish between a civilian population and a military target particularly in the context of a densely populated area. The Israeli Defense Force has denied using white phosphorus as a weapon in Gaza. EVACUEES FROM ISRAEL ARRIVE IN CYPRUS AS THEY AWAIT REPATRIATION NICOSIA, Cyprus Cypriot authorities say theyre gearing up to host significant numbers of third-country evacuees from Israel as the first 268 foreign nationals have used Cyprus as a waystation for their repatriation. Cyprus Foreign Ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis said Friday that most of the people were Portuguese citizens flown out on Portuguese Air Force C-130 transport aircraft on three flights. Others among them included Austrians and Spaniards. Gotsis said cruise ships are also ferrying foreign nationals including Germans out of Israel. The arrival of Danish and British citizens is expected later Friday. Cyprus has set aside temporary accommodations for evacuees until they can be repatriated. ___ Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb and Bassem Mroue contributed to this report. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is trailing West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) by 13 points in the latest poll of voters in the state. The Emerson College survey of 539 voters, conducted Oct. 1-4, showed Justice with 41 percent support, and Manchin with 28 percent; 15 percent of voters said they would support someone else in such a scenario, and 16 percent are undecided. The poll also showed Justice with a 40 percent job approval rating, compared to a 26 percent disapproval rating far better than President Biden, who has a 19 percent job approval rating in West Virginia and a 71 percent disapproval rating. Manchin, however, wins a match-up against Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), who is challenging Justice for the Senate Republican nomination, the poll showed. The survey showed that Manchin leads Mooney in a hypothetical match-up, 37 percent to 31 percent. Under this scenario, 13 percent of voters would support someone else and 18 percent are undecided. Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling, noted that independents are breaking for Justice, 43 percent to 18 percent, over Manchin, but that in a contest between the incumbent senator and Mooney, independents are split, with each candidate receiving 32 percent apiece. Manchin has previously said the Senate Republican primary will be a battle, implying his eventual opponent would be weakened. I will win any race I enter, he said earlier this year, adding that he is laser focused on doing the job West Virginians elected me to do. Manchin, the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Energy has selected the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub for up to $925 million in federal support under the bipartisan infrastructure law he helped negotiate. He hasnt yet made a decision about running for reelection and plans to announce his intentions at the start of 2024. Manchin said in August that he was thinking seriously about leaving the Democratic Party. Im thinking seriously. For me, I have to have peace of mind, basically. The brand has become so bad the D brand and R brand. In West Virginia, the D brand, because its [the] national brand. Its not the Democrats in West Virginia, its the Democrats in Washington, he told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval. Youve heard me say a million times Im not a Washington Democrat, he said. An East Carolina University Center for Research poll of West Virginia voters published in May showed Justice leading Manchin, 54 percent to 32 percent, in a hypothetical match-up a 22-point advantage. The Emerson survey released Friday also found that former President Trump would easily win the state, which he carried with overwhelming margins in 2016 and 2020. Trump leads Biden, 59 percent to 23 percent, among West Virginia voters. More than half of voters in the state 51 percent said that they think Biden stole the 2020 election, and only 35 percent said he won it fairly. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Violence in Israel and Gaza is impacting the 2024 presidential campaign in an unexpected fashion, after former President Trump sparked controversy with peculiar comments in a speech. Trumps GOP primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, hit the former president hard in the 24 hours that followed, leveling some of his harshest and most direct criticism to date including calling Trumps remarks absurd. But the DeSantis jabs, in turn, are sparking a fightback from Trump loyalists, who contend that the Florida governor is showing desperation by seeking to reap political advantage from the crisis while he lags badly in the polls. Ron DeSantis and his campaign look like members of the Lincoln Project to the base right now, said one GOP operative supportive of Trump, referring to the stridently anti-Trump group. You guys [in the media] all bit on it, but it has backfired with the base. The furor was kicked off when Trump spoke Wednesday before a friendly crowd in West Palm Beach, Fla. In remarks that appeared unscripted, Trump went after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for purportedly not being supportive enough of the U.S. as it planned the 2020 U.S. assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the head of Irans Quds Force. Soleimani was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike in January of that year, while Trump was president. Ill never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down, Trump said. That was a very terrible thing. Trump also contended that Netanyahu had sought to claim partial credit for the operation after he knew it had been successfully completed. Separately, Trump said that Hezbollah, the Iranian-supported militant group whose stronghold is in southern Lebanon, abutting Israels northern border, is very smart. He made that remark in the context of criticizing the Israeli defense minister for allegedly drawing attention to Israels vulnerability in the north. And he further added that, when it came to Israels defense generally, Theyve got to straighten it out. DeSantis went on the offensive within hours. In a Wednesday evening tweet, he contended that it was absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as very smart. The Florida governor remained on the attack through Thursday. He told a Fox News reporter that Trumps comment taking aim at Netanyahu makes no sense. While filing paperwork for the New Hampshire primary, DeSantis told reporters: We need to all be on the same page. Nows not the time to air personal grievances about an Israeli prime minister. Nows the time to support their right to defend themselves to the hilt. The reference to personal grievances was interpreted by some as a reference to Trumps lingering ill-feeling about Netanyahu congratulating President Biden on his election in 2020. Netanyahus acknowledgment of Bidens victory came five days after Election Day, while Trump was still furiously insisting the result was in doubt. DeSantis was not the only GOP candidate to take aim at Trumps remarks. Former Vice President Mike Pence said during a New Hampshire TV appearance that Hezbollah arent smart, theyre evil. But it was DeSantiss remarks that got the most attention. Thats partly because he remains in second place albeit a very distant second place in most polls of the GOP primary. But its also because it is part of a bigger picture in which the Florida governor has proven more willing to take swipes at Trump. DeSantis accused Trump of being missing in action late last month at the second Republican debate, in which the former president again declined to participate. At the outset of DeSantiss campaign, his attacks on Trump were far more oblique. Critics would contend the change has been forced on DeSantis by his downward drift in national polls. The Florida governor, who was receiving more than 30 percent support in the RealClearPolitics polling average of the GOP race in mid-February, had ticked down to about 13 percent Thursday. DeSantiss hold on second place is coming under an increasing challenge from Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who has impressed at debates. Haleys time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations also gives her added authority on foreign policy. Now the question is whether Trumps remarks give the Florida governor an opening with the Iowa caucuses three months away. The Trump campaign defended itself on social media Thursday, writing from its War Room account that smart does not equal good and that Trump was clearly pointing out how incompetent Biden and his administration were by telegraphing to the terrorists an area that is susceptible to an attack. The hasty defense may betray some nervousness on the campaigns part. Feelings are raw, in the United States as well as in Israel, about the brutality of the surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday that killed around 1,200 Israelis. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 1,400 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli reprisals. Still, for all the sensitivity of the issue, two facts remain salient. First, Trumps polling lead in the GOP primary is enormous 45 points in the RealClearPolitics national average. Second, the former president has emerged unscathed from controversies on sensitive topics before, going all the way back to his disparaging comments early in his 2016 campaign about the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) being captured during the Vietnam War. Even some ardent Trump critics question whether this time will really be different. Trump ought to just keep his mouth shut, said Rick Tyler, a GOP consultant who was communications director for Sen. Ted Cruzs (R-Texas) 2016 presidential campaign. But unfortunately, foreign policy rarely makes a difference in Republican primaries. John Mac Stipanovich, a longtime GOP operative in Florida and a strong Trump critic, called the former presidents comments stupid. But he also acknowledged that they might not carry a lasting impact amid a crisis that has taken such a huge human toll. What happened in Israel is just so horrific, so awful, that Trump saying something stupid on the margins I dont think is going to be fatal for him by any means, Stipanovich said. Some voices in Israel are in no mood to shrug Trumps comments off, however. Shlomo Karhi, Israels communications minister, told Israeli television that the former presidents speech was shameful because of the way it abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israels fighters and its citizens. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Microsoft Outlook users are about to have a new AI-powered tool that will help them write emails, especially Gen Z employees who can't do it properly. This is specifically the upcoming Microsoft 365 Copilot. If you are among the employees relying on Outlook and other Microsoft platforms, here's what you need to know about this new artificial intelligence assistant. Microsoft Outlook's New AI Tool is for Gen Zs Who Can't Write Proper Emails According to Business Insider's latest report, in November, companies that rely on Microsoft Outlook can start taking advantage of the new Microsoft 365 Copilot tool. This new AI-powered email assistant is a big deal since numerous surveys revealed that Gen Zs are lacking the skills needed to write professional email messages. One of these surveys, which was conducted in April, revealed that more than 1,300 American managers believe that Gen Z is a challenging generation to deal with. These bosses said that one of the main issues they experience when working with Gen Z employees is the lack of technological skills. Because of this, Microsoft decided to allow some companies, such as Visa, General Motors, Lumen Technologies, and KPMG, to test the new 365 Copilot tool. KPMG's Global Lead Partner for Microsoft Cherie Gartner said that ever since they tested the Microsoft 365 Copilot, their company's productivity levels increased. However, it is still too soon to conclude that the new Microsoft 365 Copilot tool can really give the email and other technical skills that Gen Z employees are lacking. As of writing, the giant tech firm is expected to release the new AI-powered email assistant on Nov. 1. Read Also: Meta Launches Aggressive Crackdown on Hamas-Related Disinformation, Promises Safer Online Space How Microsoft 365 Copilot Works The Entrepreneur reported that the new Microsoft 365 Copilot AI tool is designed to help users draft "error-free" and "concise" email messages. Aside from this, the artificial intelligence assistant can also summarize lengthy email threads. With this capability, it can craft suggested replies. This new AI-powered tool has other advanced features, which can only be accessed if users have Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions. If you are one of them, then the Microsoft 365 Copilot will be able to suggest edits that can help you achieve conciseness, clarity, as well an inclusive tone in your emails. For those who are interested in having this new AI-powered tool on Nov. 1, they can get it for $30 per month. To learn more about the upcoming Microsoft 365 Copilot, you can click here. Related Article: Google Switches to Passkeys as Default Over Passwords, Touts More Secure Technology @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ever since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel last weekend, firing thousands of rockets, murdering civilians and seizing captives, Suriya Budsurins family in Thailand has been asking if he is coming home. The Southeast Asian country, one of Israels biggest sources of migrant labor, has had some of the highest casualties among foreign nationals in the Israel-Hamas war. The Thai Foreign Ministry said Thursday that 21 of its nationals had been killed and 14 wounded, while 16 others are believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas. Other countries from which large numbers of migrant workers go to Israel have also reported deaths. On Friday, as more than 250 citizens of Nepal arrived in Kathmandu on a special flight from Tel Aviv, the government said it was working to bring back the bodies of 10 agriculture students killed by Hamas at the kibbutz where they were staying under an Israeli government earn and learn program. Another is missing. The Philippines confirmed a third death Friday, all of them reportedly caregivers, and said three other nationals remained missing. Israel relies heavily on migrant workers like Suriya, 38, a married father of two from Thailands Udon Thani province who works on a flower farm in Netanya, a city on the Mediterranean coast, about 20 miles north of Tel Aviv. He said the impact of the rockets Hamas fired toward Tel Aviv could be felt all the way in Netanya. I could feel the ground vibrating when I slept at night and that kept me awake and thinking about returning home, said Suriya, who arrived in Israel last year. Especially in the first two days when I watched the news, all I thought was, should I return home? Thai workers in Israel (Courtesy of Suriya Budsurin) Suriya has decided to stay put for now, as Netanya is more than 60 miles from the border with the Gaza Strip where most of the fighting has occurred, though even there he said he saw two rockets in the sky Thursday. Others have made a different call: He said a friend who lived closer to the attacks had asked his employer to help him buy a plane ticket home for about $700. Almost 6,000 of the 30,000 Thais in Israel have asked to be repatriated, according to Thailands Foreign Ministry, which is arranging flights. A group of 19 Thais were scheduled to return home from Israel on Friday night local time, in addition to an initial group of 41 who arrived Thursday. The group that arrived in Bangkok on Thursday was met at the airport by multiple Cabinet ministers, and included two men injured in the violence who were in wheelchairs. Two others had sustained injuries on their arms. One of the men in the wheelchairs, Kratchakorn Putsorn, said that when the Hamas attack began Saturday, his employer hid him and other farmworkers on the property. They emerged for lunch around noon when the situation appeared to be calmer. But as they were returning, he said, they heard gunshots, and Kratchakorn felt something hit his knee. I thought it was a rock, but when I looked down I knew it wasnt a rock as it went through, he told reporters. So I told my friend to crouch because we were hit. As his employer tried to speed the truck away, Kratchakorn said, the terrorists continued chasing it and firing, hitting three other people. I thought on that day that we would not survive because they fired the bullets nonstop, he said. Migrant workers from Thailand, the Philippines and elsewhere go abroad in search of higher wages as farmworkers, caregivers and health care professionals, so that they can send money home to their families, boosting their countries economies in the process. But they also face abuse and harsh working conditions, including in Israel where Thai farmworkers interviewed by Human Rights Watch have described being underpaid, working excessively long hours and other rights violations. Suriya said that if all Thai workers were to leave, it would have a noticeable impact on the Israeli labor force. Every farm I know, there are Thai workers, he said. We are very good at agricultural work and most farms here employ Thai workers mostly. Orna Sagiv, the Israeli ambassador to Thailand, said she met with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Friday and that they were focused on assisting the Thai workers who had been affected by the war and supporting their families. To Israeli farmers, Thai workers are not just employees; they are an integral part of their family, she said in a post on X. Israel deeply values their hard work and acknowledges the significant role they play in the countrys agriculture sector. Israel is also home to 30,000 people from the Philippines, many of whom work as caregivers. One of the Filipinos killed, a newly married caregiver who had been in Israel for six years, was shot with her employer inside their house on Saturday by Hamas gunmen, Philippine officials said. The woman, identified in the Philippine media as Angelyn Peralta Aguirre, 33, from Pangasinan, was praised by Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, for staying with her older patient. Despite having a chance to flee the Hamas terror attacks, Angeline showed unbelievable humanity and loyalty by remaining Niras side during the violence, resulting in both of them being brutally murdered by Hamas, Hassan-Nahoum said in a post on X on Wednesday. Unimaginable honor in the face of evil. The Philippine Foreign Ministry said Friday that its repatriation efforts were now focused on Gaza, a densely populated enclave where there are fears Israel is about to launch a ground offensive. Among the 131 Filipino citizens there, 92 are asking for repatriation from Gaza, which has long been under a land, air and sea blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt. Far from the Gaza border, Suriya says he is relatively safe for the moment in Netanya, with the closest military target for Hamas being the Tel Aviv airport about 25 miles away. Ill give it a week and if the situation is not getting better, I will then buy the plane ticket to go back on my own, he said. If thats the case, I think I will probably arrive in Thailand at the same time as those who have registered with the Thai government. Nat Sumon reported from Bangkok, and Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong. Elijah McClain, an unarmed Black man who died days after he was stopped by three policemen and injected with a powerful sedative in August 2019 (via REUTERS) On 24 August 2019, Elijah McClain was walking home from a convenience store, listening to music and wearing a ski mask, in Aurora, Colorado when a 911 caller reported him as looking sketchy a call that would lead to the death of the 23-year-old and a social uprising against how race plays a role in policing. Police spotted McClain who was not armed and had not committed any crime and put him in a neck hold. Paramedics then arrived at the scene and injected the young man with ketamine. He died three days later. Now, just over four years after the incident, the trial of two Aurora police officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt who had interacted with McClain is drawing to a close. The trials of a third officer and the two paramedics are also expected to happen later this year. Why did the trial happen now? The first coroners report in November 2019 said that the manner of death was undetermined, contributing to a local district attorneys decision against pursuing charges against the officers involved in the incident. In response, Mari Newman, the lawyer representing McClains family told Denver7 ABC, Whatever the report says, its clear that if the police had not attacked Elijah McClain, he would be alive today. But the incident generated significant public backlash. In June 2020, an online petition demanding that the three officers involved be held accountable circulated, garnering nearly 6 million signatures. A GoFundMe page for McClain raised over $2m. Then, in June 2020, Colorado Gov Jared Polis signed an executive order designating a special prosecutor to determine whether the facts support prosecution, criminally prosecute any individuals whose actions caused the death of Elijah McClain. The coroner provided an amended version in July 2021, writing that she believed the tragic fatality is most likely the result of ketamine toxicity. Shortly thereafter, in September 21, a grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics involved. A Colorado district judge ordered three separate trials for the five defendants, and now jury selection is underway for the trial of Mr Roedema, a suspended officer, and Mr Rosenblatt, who was fired in the wake of the incident. The trial of Roedema and Mr Rosenblatt began last month. Following almost three weeks of testimony, jurors began deliberations at around 4.30pm on Tuesday afternoon, following closing statements from prosecutors and the defence. The state arguing that the officers used excessive force and failed to follow their law enforcement training. They were trained. They were told what to do. They were given instructions. They had opportunities, and they failed to choose to de-esclate violence when they needed to, they failed to listen to Mr McClain when they needed to, and they failed Mr McClain, prosecutor Duane Lyons told jurors. The defence meanwhile argued that the fault lay with the paramedics for injecting McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine. On Thursday October 12, jurors found Roedema guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault by the 12-person jury. Mr Rosenblatt was found not guilty. Who was Elijah McClain? McClain was a 23-year-old massage therapist. He had reportedly earned his GED from Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver and became a massage therapist at 19. Friends and family described him as a gentle person to humans and animals. He taught himself to play guitar and violin, and would play his violin for cats in a rescue shelter during his lunch breaks, The Cut reported. I dont even think he would set a mouse trap if there was a rodent problem, his friend Eric Behrens told the Sentinel. Another friend and former client Marna Arnett called McClain the sweetest, purest person I have ever met, she added, He was definitely a light in a whole lot of darkness. He wanted to change the world, his mother, Sheneen McClain, told the outlet. And its crazy, because he ended up doing it anyway. Who were the officers and paramedics involved? A grand jury indicted five involved in the incident. Two Aurora Police officers, Randy Roedema and Nathan Woodyard, and one former officer, Jason Rosenblatt, as well as former paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were each indicted on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. According to the 32-count indictment, Mr Woodyard placed the 23-year-old in a carotid hold, while Mr Roedema, the senior patrol officer on the scene, placed him in a bar hammer lock; he said he heard McClains shoulder pop three times as a result of the movement. Mr Roedema and Mr Rosenblatt were each indicted on one count of assault and one count of crime of violence. Mr Rosenblatt was fired not for his interaction with McClain directly, but for laughing at a photo sent to him from a fellow officer reenacting a neckhold that resembled the one used on McClain. Three officers posed at the scene of McClains death reenacting a chokehold (Aurora Police Department) Mr Woodyard was also allegedly sent the photo, but didnt react to it and deleted it. He stopped McClain for supposedly looking suspicious and is set to go on trial later this year. The paramedics were each indicted on three counts of assault and six counts of crime of violence. Neither Mr Cooper nor Mr Cichuniec took McClains vitals, try talking to the 23-year-old, or touch him before diagnosing him with a widely disputed medical condition called excited delirium, prompting them to administer ketamine, according to the indictment. They have all pleaded not guilty. In May, a national organisation of coroners became the latest to denounce excited delirium, which is often cited as a cause of death by police in instances of violence from officers against community members. The National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) announced they would cease recognising the condition. What happened to Elijah McClain? Bodycam footage which was released months after the encounter captured the officers interacting with the 23-year-old. An officer approached McClain, who was listening to music, and demanded he stop walking. Eventually, he complied, as an officer apparently said he was stopping McClain for looking suspicious. When the officers tried to grab McClain, he resisted, saying, I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking. The officers repeatedly told McClain to stop tensing up. Sheneen McClain, Elijahs mother (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Moments later, McClain was brought to the ground and held in a carotid hold. He can be heard moaning, sobbing, repeating that it hurts and pleading with the officers to stop. McClain then tried to turn to his side to vomit, prompting an officer to say: If you keep messing around, Im going to bring my dog out here and hes going to bite you. The 23-year-old vomited, and apologized. I wasnt trying to do that, he says. I just cant breathe correctly. According to a report from an independent panel, the paramedics waited almost seven minutes after arriving to interact with Mr. McClain, and their first contact was to administer the sedative ketamine. He suffered from cardiac arrest on his way to the hospital and died a few days later. The autopsy revealed that he was 5ft 6in tall and weighed just 140 pounds. The coroners amended report said, Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine. The aftermath McClains parents reached a $15m settlement with the city of Aurora. I hope Elijahs legacy is that police will think twice before killing another innocent person, his father, LaWayne Mosley, said after the settlement was announced. Former officer Jason Rosenblatt, left, and Aurora Police Officer Randy Roedema, right, at an arraignment at the Adams County Justice Center in Brighton, Colorado in January 2023 (2023 The Denver Post, Medianews Group) There is nothing that can rectify the loss of Elijah McClain and the suffering his loved ones have endured, Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said at the time. I am committed to learning from this tragedy. The 23-year-olds death occurred around the same time as the deaths of Breanna Taylor and George Floyd, who were also Black Americans killed at the hands of police. Together and separately, the deaths propelled protests and sparked demands for police reform. And at least in Colorado, some policies were reformed. In 2020, the state banned police from using neck holds. The Colorado health department prohibited paramedics from implementing ketamine for those supposedly experiencing excited delirium, like in the case of McClain. Sign up for CNNs Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Each measuring just under 1 centimeter tall, and the width of a fingernail, five newly unearthed mysterious gold treasures found in Hov, Norway, could help unlock secrets of an ancient society, scientists say. The tiny pieces intricately detailed gold foil figures discovered during excavations of a pagan religious temple are a rare find in Norway. The country has only 10 known sites, and Hov has the most foils, with 35 pieces found total. But over 3,000 similar foils have been found across Scandinavia, according to Ingunn Marit Rstad, an archaeologist and associate professor at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. Theyre found in almost all of Scandinavia, but only in Scandinavia, Rstad said. You have the same images spread all over Scandinavia, so they must have meant something, the people must have known what they meant, and I think they must have been important to be handled in this way. The latest documented artifacts were buried underneath the walls and within post holes of the structure as if they were placed their intentionally, leading researchers to believe that the foils may have been an offering to the building, according to a Facebook post announcing the find. Nicolai Eckhoff, who shared the post, is an archaeologist and adviser in rescue archaeology at the University of Oslo who was involved in the dig. They tell us a story about the importance of the area in which they were discovered, Echkoff said in an email. The site is found next to Mjsa (the biggest lake in Norway), at the outlet of the river Gudbrandsalslagen. As such, most trade goods from the mountain regions in eastern Norway must have passed by this site before being shipped toward the shore. A total of 35 gold foil figures have been found at the Hov temple site. The five most recently found were discovered during an excavation led by Kathrine Stene, an archaeologist at the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo. - Nicolai Eckhoff/Kulturhistorisk Museum, Oslo The figurines and (temple) thus confirm it is as a seat of power in the late Norwegian Iron Age, he said. The remains of the Hov temple were uncovered in 1993 along with two gold figures. Subsequent digs turned up 28 more foils there over the following years, according to Science Norway, making it the site with the most Norwegian foil discoveries thus far. The five new pieces came to light over the summer, during a larger excavation made possible by a construction project of a nearby highway, known as the E6. What the newly found gold foils reveal While the foils designs have distinct references to the Merovingian Period, a pre-Viking period between 476 and 750 AD, exactly what they were made for remains unclear. There are many different suggestions (as to the foils purpose), Rstad said. They must have been placed there intentionally, so I think its some form of sacrifice that has been done probably in connection with some of the rituals that had been taking place inside of this pagan building, perhaps marriage rituals, since very many of these gold foils have pictures of couples on them. The gold pieces mostly depict men, women and animals, according to the Bornholms Museum in Rnne, Denmark, the nation where the majority of foils have been found. The figures typically are seen with jewelry, weaponry, drinking cups, types of gowns and robes worn by royalty, and other telltale signs of wealth during this period, and some theories even suggest they represent gods and goddesses from Norse mythology, Rstad said. The five latest pieces uncovered were buried under the temple's walls and within post holes of the structure, leading researchers to believe the gold figures were placed there intentionally. - Nicolai Eckhoff/Kulturhistorisk Museum, Oslo The newly found pieces are of particular importance, according to Margrethe Watt the Bornholms Museums retired head of archaeology, who was not involved in the Norway dig because they were found in their primary context, meaning where they were originally placed. Very, very few are found in buildings, Watt said. Mostly, theyre just found in settlement sites, where there are buildings, but (the gold foils) are often not connected with a building, theyre often just flying in the soil. Gullgubber: A great show of power The name archaeologists commonly use for the foils is gullgubber, from the Norwegian word gullgubbe, which translates to golden old men. The term was first used in an article published in the 1700s and had stuck, Rstad said. The gold foils were pressed into a stamp dye made of bronze, similar to the process of making a coin, according to Watt. They are made primarily of gold alongside other variations of metal, likely since gold was hard to come by during this period, Watt said. Furthermore, there are clear distinctions of regional significance within the designs of the gold figures, as well as features of different art styles that help researchers identify which part of Scandinavia each piece of gullgubber was likely crafted. A gullgubber measures just under a centimeter and is as thin as a piece of paper. - Nicolai Eckhoff/Kulturhistorisk Museum, Oslo The ones that have been found recently, I would never be in doubt that they were found in Norway, Watt said. Some of (the figures) may have slightly different jewelry, you can also see the dresses are slightly different, but its really the overall look of them. The newly uncovered pieces feature a man dressed in a short robe with his feet visible, while the woman is adorned in jewelry and wearing a long Norwegian gown with a train. Because of the intricate details, the gullgubber are used as a source for studies of the costume customs of the time, according to Eckhoffs Facebook post. The foils are extremely brittle due to their size and composition, according to Watt. Out of the five pieces recently found, one was completely folded up. Even though the figurines are small, the inherent nature of gold (the fact that it doesnt corrode like silver or copper) protects the figurines to some degree, Eckhoff said. Eckhoff also said there is evidence that the pagan temple caught fire during the Viking Age, which allowed the gullgubber pieces to be further protected underneath an added layer of stone and debris. I think for a regular person, (the foils) must first and foremost have been seen as objects of status, Eckhoff said. It must have been a costly affair to sacrifice even such a small amount of gold, and even more when it is such a detailed work of craftsmanship. As such, to be able to sacrifice these figurines, must have been a great show of power. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel said its infantry and tanks had carried out raids inside the Gaza Strip on Friday, its first announcement of a shift from an air war to ground operations to root out Hamas fighters a week after their deadly rampage in southern Israel. Some Gaza residents were abandoning homes on Friday to escape from the path of an Israeli onslaught, after Israel ordered more than a million people to leave the northern half of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. Hamas told them not to go. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said troops backed by tanks had mounted raids to attack Palestinian rocket crews and seek information on the location of hostages, the first official account of ground troops in Gaza since the crisis began. Several thousand residents could be seen on roads heading out of the northern part of the Gaza Strip, but it was impossible to assess their numbers. Many others said they would not go. Hamas, which controls the densely populated Palestinian territory, vowed to fight until the last drop of blood. The Israeli military said a significant number of Gazans had begun moving southwards "to save themselves". "Death is better than leaving," said Mohammad, 20, standing in the street outside a building reduced to rubble in an earlier Israeli air strike near the centre of Gaza. "I was born here, and I will die here. Leaving is a stigma." Mosques broadcast the message: "Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land". We tell the people of northern Gaza and from Gaza City, stay put in your homes, and your places," Eyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry, told a news conference. Gaza authorities said 70 people were killed and 200 were wounded when Israel struck cars and trucks carrying people fleeing the north of the strip for the south. Reuters could not independently verify the reported incident. The United Nations and other organisations warned of a disaster if so many people were forced to flee. "The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, prompting a rebuke from Israel that the U.N. should condemn Hamas and support Israel's right to self-defence. "The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening. How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated war zone in less than 24 hours?" U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths wrote on social media. 'NEEDS ARE STAGGERING' The International Committee of the Red Cross said it would be impossible for aid organisations to help while Gaza is under Israeli siege: "The needs are staggering, and humanitarian organisations must be able to increase aid operations." White House national security spokesman John Kirby said such a huge evacuation was a "tall order", but that Washington would not second guess Israel's decision to tell civilians to get out. "We understand what they're trying to do and why they're trying to do this - to try to isolate the civilian population from Hamas, which is their real target," he said on MSNBC. Israel's evacuation order applies to the northern half of the Gaza Strip, including the enclave's biggest settlement Gaza City. The U.N. said it had been told that Israel wanted the area's entire population - around half the 2.3 million Gazans - to move across the Gaza Wadi wetland that bisects the enclave. "Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the Israeli military said. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority that is a rival of Hamas, told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jordan that the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza would constitute a repeat of 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from what is now Israel. Most Gazans are the descendants of such refugees. Gaza is already one of the most crowded places on earth, and for now there is no way out. Israel has imposed a total blockade, and Egypt, which also has a border with the enclave, has so far resisted calls to open it to fleeing residents. 'I PROMISE YOU WE WILL WIN' Since Hamas fighters burst across the barrier fence and killed 1,300 Israelis on Saturday, Israel has responded with the most intensive air strikes of its 75-year conflict with the Palestinians. Gaza authorities say 1,800 people have been killed; the United Nations says 400,000 people have already been made homeless. Hamas issued a video on Friday purporting to show its fighters cuddling a baby and a toddler in one of the villages it ransacked. Israel has said entire families were slaughtered. "We are fighting for our home. We are fighting for our future," Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said, meeting U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who came to Israel a day after a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "The path will be long, but ultimately I promise you we will win." Austin said military aid was flowing into Israel but that this was the time for resolve and not revenge. On Friday Blinken travelled to Jordan where he met King Abdullah as well as Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007. Blinken later travelled to Qatar, a U.S. ally with influence among Islamist groups. In the West Bank, demonstrators supporting Gaza fought gun battles with Israeli security forces. Palestinian officials said 11 people were shot dead. There have also been fears of hostilities spreading to new fronts, including Israel's northern border with Lebanon, where clashes this week have already been the deadliest since 2006. Reuters news videographer Issam Abdallah was killed on Friday while working in southern Lebanon. Reuters said it was seeking more information and working with the authorities in the region. Earlier, Reuters reported that Israeli shelling had struck a Lebanese army observation post at the border. The Israeli military said it fired in response to a suspected armed infiltration, which it later said had been a false alarm. Lebanese state media reported that shells struck near Alma Al-Shaab and Dhayra, sites of repeated clashes in the past week. Israel's U.N. envoy said it would investigate what had happened in the area following the journalist's death. "We always try to mitigate and avoid civilian casualties. Obviously, we would never want to hit or kill or shoot any journalist that is doing its job," Gilad Erdan said. (Reporting by Henriette Chacar, Dedi Hayun, Maayan Lubell, Emily Rose, James Mackenzie in Jerusalem, Michelle Nichols in New York, Emma Farge in Geneva, Jeff Mason in Washington, Humeyra Pamuk in Tel Aviv, Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Emma Farge in Geneva; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Former President Donald Trump faced an intense backlash Thursday from a bi-partisan and multinational group of critics, a day after he praised the intelligence of the terrorist group Hezbollah and reprimanded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite this weeks deadly attacks against Israel. Trumps critics who included Republicans, the White House, and Israeli government accused the GOP presidential candidate of prioritizing personal grievances ahead of offering support to a country gripped by crisis. Given the situation there, nows not the time to be doing, like what Donald Trump did, attacking Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, attacking Israels defense minister, saying somehow that Hezbollah were very smart, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday, in remarks highlighted by his presidential campaign. We need to all be on the same page, nows not the time to air personal grievances about an Israeli prime minister. Nows the time to support their right to defend themselves to the hilt. Trumps criticisms renew longstanding concerns about his devotion to settling personal scores even at times of international crisis, and raise questions about whether the controversy will weaken his support among conservative Jewish voters, a group he has assiduously courted for years. His remarks came just days after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel out of the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of the countrys citizens and sending shockwaves through the international community. Netanyahu has said that Israel is now at war with Hamas, promising a massive counter-attack in the coming days and weeks. Rather than focus on Hamas, however, Trump, speaking to a pro-Trump organization in Florida on Wednesday, instead praised the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah as very smart. He argued its intelligence was one reason why American officials were wrong to publicly voice concern about the Lebanon-based group attacking Israels northern border. The United States and other governments consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization, and it has been involved in armed conflict with Israel for decades Later in his speech, Trump also lambasted Netanyahu over what he said was a prior difference of opinion between the two leaders when the Republican was president. The Israeli prime minister, Trump said, declined to participate in a U.S. operation that killed Qassim Suleimani, a top Iranian military official, in 2020. Ill never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down, Trump said. That was a terrible thing. In response to the criticism, Trump officials pointed to repeated statements of support for Israel in other parts of his speech, including touting his decision as president to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem while declaring that no group would attack the Middle Eastern country if he were still president. I fought for Israel like no president in history, Trump said during Wednesdays campaign speech. But his comments nonetheless were starkly different from how politicians have traditionally responded to moments of crisis, when they refrain from offering praise of the countrys perceived adversaries while keeping criticisms of allies out of public view. President Joe Biden, for his part, has struck a deeply different tone than Trump this week, offering his full support to Netanyahu while unreservedly condemning any group that attacked Israeli citizens. A spokesman for the Israeli government, Shlomo Karhi, criticized Trump on Thursday for his remarks. Its a shame that such a person, the former president of the United States, assists in propaganda and disseminating things that harm the spirit of IDF fighters and the spirit of Israels residents, Karhi told a local Israeli TV station, according to Haaretz. (McClatchy independently confirmed the authenticity of the spokesmans comments.) In a statement, a White House spokesman said that although it does not comment specifically on the 2024 presidential race, no American should take Trumps position. Statements like this are dangerous and unhinged, said White House spokesman Andrew Bates. Its completely lost on us why any American would ever praise an Iran-backed terrorist organization as smart. Or have any objection to the United States warning terrorists not to attack Israel. Especially now as Israel is fighting back against one of the worst acts of mass murder in the countrys history. This is a time for all of us to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel against unadulterated evil. Thats what the President is doing as commander in chief. Trump this year has again emerged as a strong front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, leading a group of conservative rivals, including DeSantis, by as many as 40 percentage points in many national polls of the race. McClatchy Senior National Security and White House Correspondent Michael Wilner contributed to this report. Russian president Vladimir Putin is visiting Kyrgyzstan for his first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him over war crimes in Ukraine. Mr Putin arrived in the central Asian nation on Thursday for a two-day state visit for bilateral meetings and a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the founding of Russias Kant military airbase outside Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. The Kremlin chief has rarely taken trips abroad since he launched what he called a special military operation in Ukraine in early 2022 and is not known to have stepped out of Russia since the ICC warrant was issued. The ICC issued a warrant in March on charges of overseeing the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. Russia, which does not recognise the ICCs jurisdiction, has rejected the warrant as illegal and politically motivated. But its issuing has complicated Mr Putins plans for international travel, seeing him miss a key summit of the Brics group of developing nations in South Africa which is an ICC member. Mr Putin is due to travel to China next week for the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. Neither Kyrgyzstan nor China are members of the ICC, which was established to prosecute war crimes. During his visit to Bishkek, Mr Putin promised to continue to deliver modern weapons to its military base in Kyrgyzstan. Chair of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Zhaparov walking with Russia's President Vladimir Putin upon his arrival at the Manas International Airport in Bishkek (CABINET OF MINISTERS OF KYRGYZST) For my part, I would like to offer assurances that the Russian leadership will continue to pay close attention to the issues of providing the air base with advanced types of weapons, modern technology and equipment, said Mr Putin. "This military outpost significantly contributes to boosting Kyrgyzstans defensive power and ensuring security and stability in the whole region of Central Asia," he added. The leader highlighted double-digit growth in Russia and Kyrgyz trade, which analysts suggest is due to violation of Western sanctions by Russian businesses. He reiterated Russias importance as a strong trade partner for Kyrgyzstan. Our country is the main supplier of oil products to Kyrgyzstan, we fully supply Kyrgyz consumers with gasoline (petrol) and diesel, Mr Putin told a briefing. Russia is one of the leading trade partners of Kyrgyzstan. Our trade turnover grew 37 per cent last year to a record of nearly $3.5bn. In the first half of this year it grew a further 17.9 per cent, he added. The Russian president is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings including with Kyrgyz president Sadyr Japarov and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, and conclude with his attendance at a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of former Soviet nations. Moscows relationships with other nations in a region it has historically considered its sphere of influence have faced challenges due to Western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the situation in Ukraine. Last week, the central bank of Kyrgyzstan called upon domestic banks to enhance their monitoring and enforcement measures to ensure better adherence to Western sanctions targeting Moscow. It comes after the US imposed sanctions on four Kyrgyz companies in July for re-exporting electronics components and other technology to Russia. Additional reporting by agencies An NYPD officer is shown. A New York City police officer lost his left ring finger after a suspected drunk driver bit it off to the knuckle, prosecutors said. The reckless driving suspect, Lenni Rodriguez Cruz, was arraigned on a 15-count indictment Wednesday related to the Sept. 20 incident, which also included a high-speed car chase and multiple collisions. The ordeal began that evening at 11:40 p.m., when officers saw Rodriguez Cruz driving without a seat belt in a Nissan Altima with a license plate not registered to the vehicle. When the officer began following the 28-year-old suspect with his patrol car's lights and sirens on, Rodriguez Cruz sped off, mounted a sidewalk and drove through a park, "scattering parkgoers who ran to safety," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. SEE MORE: Cows assist in arrest of reckless driver, police say Rodriguez Cruz continued driving, going the wrong way into oncoming traffic and running 20 red lights. He proceeded to hit four vehicles. The driver of one car he struck had to be treated at a hospital for multiple injuries, and another vehicle he slammed into had been an unmarked police car, which was part of a barricade set to stop him. The three officers in the police car were able to "jump out just before impact," Katz said. Officers then pulled Rodriguez Cruz out of his crashed car to find he had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, breath smelling of alcohol and a cup containing an alcoholic beverage in the car with him, Katz said. Once police tried to place him in a local station's holding cell, authorities allege Rodriguez Cruz struck, spat on and bit the tip off a sergeant's left ring finger. The officer required stitches and a revision amputation, leaving him without the use of the finger down to its first knuckle, Katz said. Rodriguez Cruz now faces a multitude of charges ranging from first-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle without a license. If convicted, the suspect faces up to 25 years in prison. WASHINGTON Republicans are divided over the U.S. response to terrorist attacks in Israel, both within the ranks of their own presidential primary and when it comes to President Joe Biden's reaction. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to hit former President Donald Trump, a rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, over derogatory comments Trump made Wednesday night about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and praise for Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based group designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, as "very smart." Speaking at an event in Miami, Trump said that Israel had backed out of the 2020 mission that killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani at the last minute. "Ill never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down," Trump said, using Netanyahu's nickname. "That was a very terrible thing." DeSantis and several other Republican candidates have harshly criticized Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination and a longtime favorite of Israel hawks, since he made the remarks. "To go out and just take potshots at Netanyahu, and at a time of war right now, I don't see where that's very productive," DeSantis said Friday at a town hall in New Hampshire. "Obviously we see with the Netanyahu comments, that's all about Netanyahu ... sending a congratulation tweet to Biden in November 2020," he added. "That's why he's attacking him, because that really bothered him." DeSantis' comments came after NBC News reported that a Trump adviser pointed to the tweet as a source of the former president's displeasure. Hes pissed off because Bibi praised Biden and the Biden White House for being supportive, the former Trump adviser said. The Republican infighting, coupled with pockets of GOP approval for Biden's handling of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, suggest that the domestic political turf has shifted as a result of the unfolding situation in the Middle East. What remains to be seen is how big the change is and if it will last. It's also not clear yet whether Trump's comments will hurt him at all in a Republican primary that he has dominated, particularly given the bonds he built with conservatives by moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, negotiating the Abraham Accords peace agreements and giving full-throated support to Israel during his term as president. But Trump and his campaign have been engaged in a public cleanup operation since Wednesday night. Image: Donald Trump (Alon Skuy / Getty Images) "I have always been impressed by the skill and determination of the Israeli Defence Forces," Trump wrote on the Truth Social media platform Friday. "As they defend their Nation against ruthless terrorists, I want to wish every soldier the best of luck. May you return home safely to your families, and may God bless you all!" His campaign also released an itemized list of actions he took as president in support of Israel. And on Friday afternoon, Trump posted a message of solidarity with Israel and Netanyahu on social media: "#IStandWithIsrael #IStandWithBibi." Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, declined to offer a judgment on Trump's comments about Hezbollah and Netanyahu. But he noted that Trump will soon have an opportunity to expound on his views at the group's annual event. We are looking forward to hearing his remarks when he speaks to the RJC summit in Vegas in two weeks," Brooks said. Dara Price, a Trump supporter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, gave Trump a pass on his remarks calling Hezbollah "smart." "It is what it is," Price said. "You have to be somewhat smart tactical about what they did. Its not like were applauding them." Vicki Scott, a Trump supporter in Des Moines, Iowa, was also fine with Trump criticizing Netanyahu. "If he feels like somebody is not being honest, truthful, all the right things, hell call him out on it. ... Thats why I like him," Scott said. Yet as Trump heads toward a possible rematch with Biden, some Republicans are praising the Democratic president's reaction to the terrorist assault. That's a change from recent history, when Republicans have been near-unanimous in their criticism of Democrats' rhetoric and policies on Israel which they have depicted as too dovish. "I generally thought he had the right tone, the right message," Will Rogers, a former chairman of the Polk County, Iowa, Republican Party, said of Biden's remarks this week in support of Israel's right to self-defense and counter-attack. "He made sure that people understood there's no daylight between Israel and the United States on what's going on." Rogers added that he has taken issue with the Biden administration's treatment of Netanyahu and its handling of issues related to Israel in the past. "But since last Saturday, I've seen the pivot by the administration, at least in terms of rhetoric and what I believe is going on behind the scenes," he said. "It's as reassured as I'm going to get." David Friedman, who served as Trump's ambassador to Israel, took to X, the platform once known as Twitter, to show gratitude to Biden on Thursday. "While I have been, and remain, deeply critical of the Biden Administration, the moral, tactical, diplomatic and military support that it has provided Israel over the past few days has been exceptional," Friedman said. "As one living in Jerusalem with children who are Israeli citizens, I am deeply grateful. I pray that American support continues in the difficult days ahead." Democrats say they believe the response by Trump compared to Biden will make the choice clear to voters in November. It underscores that elections are choices, said Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass. And the choice the American people may be facing next November is between an experienced, respectful foreign policy leader and someone who puts petulance and personal grievance ahead of the national interest. Jeremy Berger, an independent voter who supports Republican candidate Nikki Haley, said in an interview in Concord, New Hampshire, that he was pleased with Bidens approach. Ive been very impressed with Biden, Berger said, pointing specifically to the deployment of American ships and jets to the Middle East. You know, and I dont really want to see American boots on the ground if we can avoid it. But at the same time, having Israels back and being so strong, and being there, I think its sending a message to the world. And I think it really helps out. But their sentiments are not universal within the Republican Party or among voters considering Republican candidates. The GOP hopefuls have roundly blamed Biden for actions they say contributed to the attacks and shied away from any approval. In particular, they say that Biden's since-reversed decision to unfreeze $6 billion in funds in exchange for hostages allowed Tehran more freedom to fund proxies. (Administration officials have said that Iran had never accessed any of the money.) Though a direct connection has not been established between Iran and Saturday's massacre, Tehran has long provided assistance to proxies such as Hamas. "While he gave a great speech a couple of days ago, I think in general his response has been horrific," state Rep. Randy Fine, the only Jewish Republican in the Florida Legislature, said of Biden. "This is his fault." Fine specifically pointed to the original release of Iranian funds and the Biden administration's calls for a proportionate response from Israel. Though he has endorsed DeSantis in the presidential primary, Fine took the Florida governor to task for going after Trump. "Gov. DeSantis should train his fire on the person whose fault this is, which is Joe Biden," he said. "I wouldn't hit Trump, because Trump is the most popular pro-Israel president in our history ... I would take shots at the guy whose record is abhorrent, not the guy whose record on Israel can't be assailed, which is Trump." U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, said the GOP White House hopefuls comments about Israel and criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week are not helpful. Instead, Trump should discuss his efforts to help Israel during this four years in office, Graham said. I would encourage President Trump to talk about what he did as president to help the Israeli government and people and criticizing Bibi now is not helpful, Graham said to reporters in Columbia Friday, using the Israeli prime ministers nickname. There clearly was an intelligence failure, but we need to be behind Israel without equivocation. Graham pointed to Trump recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, declaring Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state and the signing of the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations among Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. South Carolinas senior U.S. senator is backing Trumps 2024 bid for the GOP nomination for president and was a close ally during Trumps one term in office. Grahams comments, which he gave standing next to a group of Baptist preachers outside of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce office, on the war between Israel and Hamas come after former President Trump said at a rally Wednesday that Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that is speculated to join the fighting, is very smart and made comments criticizing Netanyahu. Trump said Netanyahu had pulled out of an operation that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Trump said Israel intended to participate in the raid but then decided to let the U.S. carry it out alone. Trump this week also said Israel and Netanyahu were unprepared for the attack from Hamas. Hamas last week attacked Israel, leading to thousands of deaths of Israelis and Palestinians between that surprise attack and the ensuing Israeli strikes on Gaza. Israel is amassing troops along the Gaza Strip preparing for an invasion in an effort to eliminate Hamas. Israel has warned people in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south. Hamas took hostages during its attack, including Americans. The U.S. has moved Navy ships in the Mediterranean closer to Israel as a show of force. Graham said if the war escalates with Hezbollah involvement, the death of hostages or if American soldiers are attacked in Syria and Iraq, the U.S. should go after Iran, which has ties to Hamas. If this war escalates, then we should destroy the ability of the Iranians to finance terrorism in the future, Graham said. Theyre an oil-based economy. Without oil revenue, they stopped being the largest state sponsor of terrorism. However, Americans may not have an appetite for another conflict after leaving the 20-year war in Afghanistan. I think to those who believe getting out of places make you safer, how much more do I have to do to convince you getting out of Afghanistan led to Russia invading Ukraine? I believe that, Graham said. I believe that the weakness we have shown toward Iran led to this. I believe giving billions of dollars to get American hostages out of Iran made Hamas think, Hey, maybe we should do that too. The desire to not engage evil seldom works out well. Iran is evil. I dont want a war with Iran. But I am tired of Iran financing terrorism all over the globe, Graham added. The Associated Press contributed to this article. Scotland suffered their first Euro 2024 qualifying defeat with a loss in Spain but qualification hopes remain alive. The Scots had won their first five Group A qualifiers including a 2-0 win over the Spanish at Hampden Park in March and needed to take something from the return game in Seville to qualify on the night, or for Norway to fail to beat Cyprus. But as Spain controversially won 2-0, Scotland were made to wait. Norway cruised past Cyprus with a 4-0 win, thanks to two goals from Erling Haaland. It means Scotland lead the group with 15 points from their six games having endured defeat for the first time in the campaign, while Spain have 12 points from five matches and Norway 10 from six. Attention now turns to Sunday: simply, Scotland will qualify for Euro 2024 if Norway fail to win at home to Spain in Oslo. If it goes to November, it will remain in Scotlands hands. Steve Clarkes side will qualify with a win in their penultimate match next month against Georgia. If Scotland draw against Georgia and Norway defeat Spain, Scotland will still qualify even with a one-goal loss in their home match to Norway to finish off Group A, provided they have a superior goal difference in the group. Scotland currently have a +9 goal difference with Norway on +3. If Scotland lose to Spain and then also lose to Georgia, while Norway win back-to-back games against Cyprus and Spain, Scotland would be required to draw at home to Norway in the final match to qualify. Even if Scotland lose their final three matches, they could still qualify even after Norway win their final three matches, should Spain fail to win either of their final two matches against Cyprus and Georgia. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for Israel to rescind its 24-hour ultimatum for residents of Gaza to evacuate the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The ultimatum was given ahead of an expected ground offensive in retaliation against Hamas for its attack on Israeli soil. "The Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed WHO that it is impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients without endangering their lives," the UN health body said in a statement. "Vulnerable patients include those who are critically injured or dependent on life support. Moving them amid hostilities puts their lives at immediate risk." Read Also: Reuters Journalist Issam Abdallah Killed in Lebanon WHO's Bid to Stop Israel The WHO's statement was the latest in a string of calls by several UN agencies to rescind the evacuation order. "A mass evacuation would be disastrous - for patients, health workers, and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement," the WHO added, adding that the two major hospitals in the north of Gaza have been way over capacity, with the four others south of the Wadi Gaza also beyond capacity. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic earlier told reporters in Geneva that the Gaza Strip's health system was now at "breaking point," with six of the seven main hospitals only partially functioning, France 24 reported. "[The WHO calls for] an end to hostilities and violence in the Gaza Strip, where unimaginable human suffering is unfolding," he added. Israel has given Al Awda Hospital in Gaza just two hours to evacuate. Our staff are still treating patients. MSF unequivocally condemns this action, the continued indiscriminate bloodshed and attacks on health care in Gaza. We are trying to protect our staff and patients. Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) October 13, 2023 MSF Calls Israeli Order to Evacuate Northern Gaza 'Outrageous' Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said they have around 300 people working as staff in Gaza, most of them based in Gaza City in the north, which was being ordered by Israel to evacuate. The organization said moving over 1 million people to the south of the strip was impossible and would only worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. "The Israeli government's 24-hour notice that people in northern Gaza must leave their land, homes, and hospitals is outrageous," MSF general director Meinie Nicolai said. "This represents an attack on medical care and on humanity." Earlier, MSF tweeted its condemnation of the Israeli ultimatum. "MSF unequivocally condemns this action, the continued indiscriminate bloodshed and attacks on health care in Gaza," it stated. "We are trying to protect our staff and patients." Related Article: Israel Orders Residents Out of Gaza City as Military Gathers Tanks, Prepares to Invade @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and in parts of Asia and Europe on Friday in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas assaults. Jewish communities in the United States, France and elsewhere also held rallies in solidarity with Israel after the Hamas assault from Gaza, the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country's 75-year history. There has been strong support and sympathy for Israel from Western governments and many citizens over the Hamas attacks, but the Israeli response has also prompted anger, particularly in Arab and Muslim countries. In Turkey, crowds gathered outside mosques chanting against Israel and saluting Hamas. In the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, 46-year-old business owner Mikail Bakan said: "All the Muslim world needs to be one against Israel." In Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, youths set fires on the streets and clashed with the Israeli military. A huge Palestinian flag was passed overhead at a protest in Rome, and demonstrations took place in other European cities including in Braband in Denmark and in Berlin, where some protesters were detained by police. Germany and France had banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations and several Western countries said they had stepped up security at synagogues and Jewish schools fearing that protests could lead to acts of violence. Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged Palestinians to rise up in protest against Israel's bombardment of the blockaded enclave, calling on them to march on Al-Aqsa Mosque. The compound in East Jerusalem's walled Old City is Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, and the most sacred to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. By 1700 GMT, no major incidents had been reported there. Last weekend's assault by Hamas - designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, European Union and other governments - on Israeli communities killed at least 1,300 people. Most were civilians, including women and children. Israel has since been hammering Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire and more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. A ground invasion appears to be imminent. Major U.S. cities from New York City to Los Angeles beefed up their police presence in Jewish and Muslim neighbourhoods. In Washington, where a rally supporting Israel and the American Jewish community was scheduled to take place, police erected fencing around the Capitol complex. Tourists were being directed away from the building and kept on the sidewalk. "Hamas wants to strike fear in the hearts of Jews worldwide and prevent us from going about our daily lives. We believe cancelling our rally would send the wrong message," the organisers said in a statement. PAIN ON BOTH SIDES In Baghdad on Friday, tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in central Tahrir Square, waving Palestinian flags and burning the Israeli flag while chanting anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans. "We are ready to join the fight and rid the Palestinians of the Israeli atrocities," said Muntadhar Kareem, 25, a teacher. He was dressed in a white shroud, like most of the protesters, to symbolise their readiness to fight to the death. State-organised rallies were held across Iran - whose government is Hamas' main backer and one of Israel's principal foes - in support of the militant group, state TV reported. "Death to Israel. Death to Zionism!" shouted demonstrators, many carrying Palestinian flags and those of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told a protest in Lebanon, the group was "fully ready" to contribute to the fighting. The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border in the past week. In Indonesia, Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the suspected mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, joined dozens of people in a march against Israel in the Javanese city of Solo. In the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, activists protested against Israel's actions after Friday prayers at the main mosque. Members of Japan's Muslim community demonstrated near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo, holding signs and chanting "Israel, terrorist" and "Free Palestine". In Sri Lanka, protesters held up signs saying, "Palestine you will never walk alone". Protesters also took to the streets in Bulgaria, Yemen, Cape Town, India's Kashmir region, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt. PRAYERS FOR PEACE Jewish people were also due to hold vigils and rallies in support of Israel. In Warsaw, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, was scheduled to lead a multi-confessional prayer for peace. Members of France's Jewish community were to gather at the largest synagogue in Paris for the Sabbath. On Thursday night, French police had fired teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in Paris in support of the Palestinians. The government banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were likely to lead to public disorder. In the Netherlands, Jewish schools were closed for safety reasons, as were two Jewish schools in London. Police in Britain's capital said thousands of officers were carrying out extra patrols, visiting schools, synagogues and mosques. The boost reflected a significant increase in hate crime, particularly antisemitism, a police statement said. Thousands of people were expected to take part in a March for Palestine on Saturday. In Germany, activists from the radical youth environmentalist group the Last Generation cancelled protests they had planned, saying they did not want to distract police from their task of protecting Jews and Jewish institutions. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus; writing by Angus MacSwan; editing by Mark Heinrich, Andrew Heavens and Alistair Bell) Sen. Tim Scott has let rip with a series of attacks against President Joe Biden and some of his Republican presidential opponents this week, a sharp turn from his typical campaign posture in the wake of Hamas' terrorist attacks in Israel. Scotts most aggressive attacks have been reserved for Democrats, a common target for him but usually at a different level. Scott accused Biden of having blood on his hands and suggested the president was complicit in the Hamas assault. His weakness invited the attack, his cash giveaways to Iran helped fund terrorism, Scott said during a speech Tuesday at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., referring to the administrations agreeing to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian oil money this year as part of an exchange for American prisoners. Iran had not yet been able to access any of the money, which is in a monitored account and was restricted for humanitarian use, and the U.S. and Qatar agreed in the wake of Hamas attacks in Israel to re-freeze the funds, NBC News reported Thursday. Christale Spain, the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, said in a statement to NBC News that Scott is employing harsh rhetoric to distract from his own inexperience. While President Biden is supporting our allies and leading on the world stage in the wake of the horrific attack on Israel, Tim Scott is desperately trying to distract from his lack of foreign policy creds and failure to deliver for the thousands of American service members at South Carolinas eight military bases and across the world, Spain said. In his speech Tuesday, Scott said: We need a president who is loyal to our allies, yet lethal to our adversaries because weakness has never purchased peace. Being passive is a provocation. Scott has also blown up at far-left Democrats, who he said have become incredibly hostile to the state of Israel. He called out each congressional member of the progressive Squad by name in his speech and called for any Democrat affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America to be expelled from Congress. Its a far cry from Scotts recent answer to a question in Mason City, Iowa, from a voter who wondered if his perception as a really nice guy would weaken America on the global stage. Im a nice guy, Scott said in response. I will say though, that Im not an angry guy. I think sometimes we confuse anger with strength. The South Carolina senator has aimed to distinguish himself from other 2024 candidates and emerge as a leader on Israel, highlighting his current work on both the Senate foreign relations and banking committees, and past work on the Armed Services committee. Scott has said he plans to introduce legislation that would refreeze Iranian assets currently being held in Qatar, and called for the Senate Banking Committee to hold a hearing with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and for an investigation into the release of the $6 billion to Iran all of which highlight his ability as the only member of Congress in the GOP primary field to legislatively respond to the attack. In a field of folks like this, hes the one that has the experience and the knowledge to lead right now, show strength, and actually deliver, senior campaign spokesman Nathan Brand told NBC News. But Scotts messaging in recent days has gone beyond highlighting his foreign policy chops. Scotts combative rhetoric has cast Biden as passive reframing a criticism Scott himself has faced. Hamas, attacking Israel, is undeniably the personification of evil. People want to call it a conflict, people want to call it a war, people want to call it good people on both sides. Hogwash. This is an act of evil, Scott said Monday at a gathering of faith leaders in South Carolina organized by his campaign. Scott offered a prayer to the audience of churchgoers that strayed from the often optimistic tone of his scripture-laced speeches on the campaign trail, praying not just for peace in Israel, but also for the full force of Gods wrath. I pray for the Romans 13:4, Lord, Scott said. That you establish a government and make ministers within the government for justice and for wrath. Give them swords. Scotts angrier tone has honed in on Republicans, too. Scott on Thursday called former President Donald Trump just wrong for comments Trump made that were critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We cannot extend a single message to any of the enemies of Israel, that anyone in leadership stands against, or in opposition to, or questions the leadership of, the prime minister, Scott told reporters in Newton, Iowa. In his speech at the Hudson Institute, Scott popped off at both Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy, both GOP primary rivals. Vivek Ramaswamy has said that the definition of success is reducing Americas support for Israel, Scott said. Governor DeSantis once dismissed Russias invasion of Ukraine as just a territorial dispute. The last thing we need is a Joe Biden Republican Party wing on foreign policy. Scott has acknowledged his shift in tone in the days after the attack. Im positive, Scott said at the Monday gathering of faith leaders. Im also positive that God is God of love and justice. And sometimes if you want to prevent war, you want to prevent the loss of lives, you have to have the kind of response to it that tells the adversary, never again, and not on my watch. Former President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the Israeli prime minister was caught unprepared by Hamas attack and praising the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as very smart. The remarks reflect the soured relationship between the two men and are notable at a time when Trumps Republican presidential rivals have uniformly sought to position themselves as steadfast supporters of Netanyahu during Israels war with Hamas. (Netanyahu) has been hurt very badly because of whats happened here. He was not prepared. He was not prepared, and Israel was not prepared, Trump told Fox News Brian Kilmeade in an interview clip that aired Wednesday night. Trump went further at a campaign event in West Palm Beach, Florida. When I see sometimes the intelligence, you talk about the intelligence, or you talk about some of the things that went wrong over the last week, theyve got to straighten it out because theyre fighting potentially a very big force, Trump said Wednesday. Regarding Hezbollah, which the US and its allies have warned against escalating the current conflict, Trump said, Theyre vicious, and theyre smart. And, boy, are they vicious, because nobodys ever seen the kind of sight that weve seen. The criticism is a stark reversal from the firm friendship Trump shared with Netanyahu while in office, embracing the Israeli leader at every turn. But its driven by animosity Trump has held for Netanyahu ever since the prime minister publicly acknowledged that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. In the months that followed, Trump accused Netanyahu of disloyalty and fumed to Axios, F*** him. Though Trump later congratulated Netanyahu after he returned to power late last year, his hostility toward him has hardly waned, sources familiar with his thinking told CNN, and Trump maintains that Netanyahu shouldnt have commented on Bidens win. At the campaign event Wednesday night, Trump again resurfaced his false claims of election fraud and suggested that Hamas attack wouldnt have happened if he were president. If the election wasnt rigged, there would be nobody even thinking about going into Israel, the former president told his supporters. He also invoked the US governments 2020 killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and claimed Israel declined to participate in the strike. Ill never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. That was a very terrible thing, I will say that, Trump said. At the time, however, Netanyahu praised the strike, saying it was justified because Soleimani was planning further attacks. When CNN pressed Netanyahu in his last interview with the network in September about whether the newfound hostility from Trump bothered him, the Israeli leader said, Ive been long enough in the political life to put aside the periodic ebb and flow of emotion and to look at the substantive positions that leaders and allies have done. So, yeah, I dont particularly care for that. I mean, I dont care about it, is the way I would say it. In the interview with Foxs Kilmeade, Trump would not say if he has spoken with Netanyahu in the days since the Hamas attack. I dont want to say about, you know, who Ive talked to. But I was very disappointed that a thing like this could happen, the former president said. Trump team plays defense after facing backlash Trump and his team were playing defense Thursday night, blasting out a series of statements praising the Trump administrations work in the Middle East and relationship with Israel, after comments at a rally Wednesday sparked enormous backlash from both allies and adversaries. There was no better friend or ally of Israel than President Donald J. Trump, Trump said a statement Thursday, adding: Under my leadership, the United States stood in complete solidarity with Israel, and as a result, Israel was safe, America was safe, and for the first time in decades, we made historic strides for Peace in the Middle East. During what was intended to be a campaign speech highlighting Trumps accomplishments in the Middle East and pledging his unequivocal support for Israel, Trump had veered off course Wednesday night. Most of Trumps closest advisers were not with him Wednesday night, but many watched live as he muddied the messaging on his achievements while in office with attacks that the Israeli prime minister was caught unprepared by Hamas attack. Multiple sources acknowledged that it was immediately clear that his negative remarks would overshadow the point of the speech and receive backlash. Those comments received a lot more attention than other parts of his speech, one Trump adviser said. The adviser added that the purpose of the statement and talking points highlighting Trumps past achievements on Israel that his campaign blasted out Thursday night was to serve as a reminder of where Trump stands. I think a lot of that a lot of the accomplishments, they were overshadowed by some other things, the adviser said. Trumps team also sent talking points to allies Thursday after the speech, pointing to his record in office and clarifying his remarks the night before. This was to highlight President Trumps accomplishments during his first term and to reiterate everything that hes done to bring peace to the Middle East and to foster a deeper relationship between Israel and the United States, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told CNN in response to the statements the team sent out on Thursday. One person close to Trump criticized the former president for bringing up the Soleimani strike. That was unnecessary, especially at this time. And it does nothing to show hes with the people of Israel and Bibi, the person said. Multiple Trump advisers and allies said the former president had been telling this story in recent days as well as implying that Netanyahu was weak for missing the terrorists attack before it happened. While in office, Trump and Netanyahu maintained a firm friendship and he was a vocal Netanyahu ally during his presidency. Sources, however, said that has changed since Trump left office. Trumps relationship with Netanyahu has deteriorated since Trump lost. Couple that with a need to be a strongman in the face of what Trump probably sees as Biden admin weakness on terrorism, and you get comments like that, a former Trump administration official told CNN. GOP opponents seize on remarks While most of the 2024 GOP field has otherwise been reluctant to criticize Trump head on, a few contenders seized on his Wednesday remarks. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has recently escalated his attacks against Trump, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: (It) is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for president, would choose now to attack our friend and ally Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as very smart. Former Vice President Mike Pence also pushed back on his former bosss remarks, saying, Hezbollah arent smart, theyre evil. This is no time for the former president, or any other American leader to be sending any message other than America stands with Israel, Pence told a local New Hampshire radio show Thursday. While Trumps comments toward Netanyahu are personal, Israeli officials have acknowledged they were caught by surprise when Hamas attacked. US officials have also said they did not see intelligence that this type of attack was going to unfold any more than the Israelis did. We were surprised this morning, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told CNN on Saturday. About failures, I prefer not to talk at this point right now. Were in war. Were fighting. Im sure this will be a big question once this event is over. This story has been updated with additional information. CNNs Brian Rokus, David Wright and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com WASHINGTON As Israel girds for a fearsome ground assault into Gaza, senior Biden administration officials are warning their Israeli counterparts to show restraint and avoid mass civilian casualties and a humanitarian disaster that could turn world opinion against the Jewish state, according to two current and one former U.S. official. President Joe Biden has been vocal about Israels right to defend itself following a Hamas massacre that killed more than 1,300 civilians and soldiers in Israel. His remarks show hes prepared to give Israel a measure of latitude as the countrys military pummels Hamas from land, air and sea. This was act of pure evil, Biden said Tuesday in a speech in which he outlined Hamas atrocities. Yet in that same speech, Biden dropped in a brief, but telling, message about the need to avoid indiscriminate killing as the war moves into a coastal territory that is home to some 2 million people with no escape route. Biden said that in an earlier phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they discussed how strong democracies like Israel and the U.S. dont needlessly target civilians. "Terrorists purposefully target civilians, kill them," he said. "We uphold the laws of war the law of war. It matters. Theres a difference." What he didn't say in his speech, but NBC News later confirmed, is that Biden also urged the Israeli leader to take pains to minimize Palestinian casualties. Now, Biden administration officials are amplifying that cautionary note in their own private talks with Israeli counterparts, present and past U.S. officials said. In meetings in Israel on Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin conveyed to both Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that it's important to observe international rules of warfare, two current U.S. officials familiar with Austin's message said. Austin advised that Israel operate on a higher moral plane than Hamas and be careful to avoid civilian casualties, they added. Austin conveyed to the Israelis that if they storm into Gaza and civilian casualties spike, the worlds focus could shift from Hamas abuses to the deaths resulting from the Israeli incursion, a current and former official said. Were trying to convince them [the Israelis], but emotions are running high, the former official said. Still, the former official added that the Israelis have been listening to a certain extent, giving Palestinian civilians in Gaza advance warning to leave the north. The Biden administration is still workshopping precisely how to discuss a deadly Middle East conflict that caught the world unaware. A state department email Friday advised a small group of officials involved in public messaging to avoid using phrases like de-escalation/ceasefire, end to violence/bloodshed and restoring calm," according to a U.S. official directly familiar with the email. That directive seems aimed at aligning the Biden administration with Israel's goal of vanquishing Hamas. Israelis have likened Hamas surprise assault to the 9/11 terrorist attack in the U.S., spreading fear and outrage through the country. Israeli leaders are promising a devastating counterattack that crushes Hamas for good. Yet in doing so, they risk killing Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire and thereby squandering international sympathy and good will. If Israel expands the battlefield to other countries, they could overreach, much as then-President George W. Bush did in retaliation for the 9/11 attack. After rooting the Taliban in Afghanistan, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq in 2003 that resulted in a prolonged and deadly quagmire. Ben Rhodes was a national security official in President Barack Obama's administration and is close to Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security adviser. On Friday, he wrote a post on the social media site X: The decisions being made now are going to impact millions of lives, reverberate for generations, and risk all kinds of escalation. The U.S. should have learned from 9/11 the profound cost of being guided by anger and fear. I hope that is what we are telling the Israeli government. It seems Biden is doing just that. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also visited Israel this week, said at a news conference in Qatar on Friday: We continue to discuss with Israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. We recognize that many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives. As a close ally that supplies Israel with billions in weapons and aid, the U.S. holds some leverage over how the country carries out its military operations. In the six days since Hamas attacked, the U.S. has sent a carrier strike group closer to Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and provided the Israeli military with additional equipment and resources, including munitions, according to a statement from Austin. In addition, the U.S. is planning to replenish missile interceptors for Israels Iron Dome. Over the years, past presidents have on occasion urged Israel to hold back in skirmishes with Hamas lest civilian deaths reach unacceptable levels. In 2014, for example, the Obama administration prevailed on Israel to de-escalate a conflict over rocket attacks coming from Gaza. Biden may need to have a similar conversation with Netanyahu as the war unfolds, Middle East experts said. Rest assured, there will come a time when the administration in response to an exponential rise in Palestinian casualties, and perhaps an Israel operation that appeared bogged down when the Biden administration will intercede, said Aaron David Miller, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former Middle East analyst at the State Department. Biden, he added, may need to have a blunt come to Moses, Muhammad and Jesus conversation with the prime minister, getting him to show restraint. U.S. intelligence and homeland security officials are actively monitoring whether Hamas attack on Israel over the weekend is inspiring violence within the United States, particularly in light of a call by Hamas leadership for a global uprising on Friday throughout the free world, U.S. officials told reporters on Thursday evening. So far, the intelligence community does not at present have any specific and credible intelligence that would indicate any potential threat to the United States stemming from Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel at this time, one Department of Homeland Security official said. More specifically, were also working with partners today to assess the potential impact on the homeland of the recent calls for action by Hamas leadership that were put out into the public domain over the past 24 hours, the official said, noting that the agency is working closely with state and local partners to be prepared in the event a threat emerges. Hamas militants infiltrated Israel on Saturday and slaughtered over 1,200 civilians, marking the deadliest day for Jews worldwide since the Holocaust. Israels retaliatory strikes on Gaza over the last six days have displaced more than 300,000 Palestinians and killed over 1,500, according to Gazas health ministry. On Wednesday, Khaled Mashal, the longtime former leader of Hamas, called on supporters around the world to rally for a day of sacrifice on Friday in support of the Palestinian cause, naming the date as the Al-Aqsa Flood Friday, a reference to a holy mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Earlier on Friday, President Joe Biden was briefed at the White House by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Chris Wray, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the ongoing threat assessment against the homeland and efforts to safeguard the nations most vulnerable communities, including Jews, Arabs and Muslims, the White House said. We remain focused on the threat terrorism poses to our country, Garland said in a statement after the meeting. Today, I briefed President Biden and his national security team on the Justice Departments dedication of critical resources to monitor the potential threat of terrorism here at home. In a speech on antisemitism Thursday, Mayorkas said he has been shocked at the sight of a demonstrator waving a swastika during a rally in Times Square on Sunday, of chants to gas the Jews at a rally in front of the Sydney Opera House in Australia and of posts on social media awash in praise for Hamas terrorists. Every Jewish person has felt the sting of antisemitism at some point in our lives, and the impact of an act of hate is lasting, Mayorkas said. The events of the last five days have awoken a sometimes-deep-seated, sometimes-generations-old fear in Jewish people everywhere. The paradigm for antisemitism, and antisemitic violence, has shifted precipitously over the past five days. So must, too, the urgency with which we confront it. In Miami, police said Thursday theyre not aware of any unusual threats and arent taking any unusual precautions as tensions rise with Israel and Hamas at war in the Middle East. Assistant Miami Police Chief Armando Aguilar Jr., said police are also aware of a planned gathering of potential Palestinian sympathizers set for Friday afternoon near the Freedom Tower. Were taking all the steps we would take whenever were handling other demonstrations, Aguilar said. And were also taking into consideration events around the globe. Miami Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report. An Iranian pro-government protester in Tehran joins a celebration of the Hamas attack on Israel The US says Iran has not accessed money agreed in a prisoner swap as the White House faces renewed criticism over the deal amid claims Tehran instigated a Hamas attack on Israel last weekend. Washington has a "quiet understanding" with go-between Qatar not to free up any of $6bn (.4.9bn) from the pact, the BBC's US partner CBS reports. Iran's mission to the UN said the US cannot renege on the agreement. The US has said it has no evidence of a direct Iran link to the Hamas assault. The $6bn of Iranian oil funds held in South Korea were unfrozen in September as part of a deal that saw five US-Iranian citizens freed from captivity. US President Joe Biden's officials have pushed back strongly against Republican criticism that the fund empowered Iran's support for Hamas. On Thursday morning, Deputy US Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House of Representatives Democrats behind closed doors that the money "isn't going anywhere anytime soon". But later in the day, White House spokesman John Kirby would not confirm reports that the funds had been frozen. "What I can tell you," he said, "is none of it has been accessed and we are watching every dime as you would expect. "We were watching it very, very closely." More on Israel Gaza war Neither would US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirm the money had been frozen as he visited Tel Aviv on Thursday. He instead listed the "facts" about the account in a weary voice when asked about the matter by journalists. America's top diplomat said it was Iran's money from oil sales, that it was held in Qatar and that it was only for food and medicine and that the US has to approve every transaction. It is a complicated mechanism that has not yet been activated. Any such freeze would be a provocative one at a time when the US is trying to prevent Iran and the militant groups it backs from joining the Israel-Hamas conflict. Analysts warn such a move could embolden hardliners in Iran. US officials would also probably be concerned a freeze of the fund would lead Iran to arrest more US-Iranian citizens. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Wednesday that Iran had played a role in the attack by funding the military wing of Hamas over the years. But US officials have also said they cannot corroborate reports of direct involvement in the attack by Iran, which is Israel's arch-enemy. President Biden has been under pressure from within his party to stop the funds going to Iran. Democratic senators who are facing re-election next year have joined Republican calls for the US president to effectively break the deal. But Iran's mission to the United Nations said in a statement reported by the Washington Post: "The senators in question and the US government are all acutely aware that they can NOT renege on the agreement. "The money rightfully belongs to the people of Iran, earmarked for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to facilitate the acquisition of all essential and non-sanctioned requisites for the Iranians." By Humeyra Pamuk AMMAN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday met with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman, the second stop of his most extensive Middle East tour yet as Israel prepares for a sweeping ground offensive in Gaza, and he urged people in Gaza city to evacuate to the south. His demand, which the United Nations said would be impossible to carry out "without devastating humanitarian consequences, comes a day after Blinken visited Israel and held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the conflict. U.S. President Joe Biden dispatched his top diplomat to the region, engulfed in its most serious escalation in years, following an attack by Palestinian Hamas militants who rampaged through Israeli towns killing 1,200 Israelis. Blinken has expanded his trip from Israel and Jordan to include all of the Gulf Arab countries and Egypt, making it his largest tour of the region since taking office in January 2021. On Friday alone, the top American diplomat is set to visit three more countries: Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where he will spend the night. Before departing for Doha, he is set to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman. Across each of these engagements, well continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages, Blinken told a news conference in Tel Aviv. Well also discuss how we can continue to make real our affirmative vision for a region thats more peaceful, more prosperous, more secure, more integrated. And in fact, that is the choice, and the choice in some ways has been made even more stark by the actions of Hamas on Saturday. Washington says at least 25 Americans were killed in the Hamas attacks and more are believed to be among the scores of hostages taken to Gaza. U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Steve Gillen traveled with Blinken to Israel and will stay to support efforts to free them, Blinken said. Gaza moved closer to a humanitarian catastrophe on Thursday as the death toll rose and vital supplies ran low after Israel imposed a siege on the enclave. Israel said there would be no humanitarian break until all hostages were freed. But a ground invasion of Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people and now under siege by Israel, poses serious risks with Hamas holding scores of hostages kidnapped in the assault. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli airstrikes (AFP via Getty) From the first reports of the Hamas terrorists invasion and rocketing of southern Israel, the fear was always what Israel would do. There was always going to be a response. It was always going to be one of overwhelming force. Retribution and revenge. Blood would be spilled. The tactics and methods of the Hamas fighters cowardly men spraying civilians at bus stops with fire from AK-47s and throwing grenades into homes were consciously designed to tap into the darkest fears of the Jewish people, with their long history of persecution. Going door to door looking for Jews to abduct or kill is a terrifying echo of the past. Hamas, and the Iranians who sponsor them, knew this. They undertook their campaign with the aim of inflicting maximum pain and provoking maximum Israeli retaliation. They made sure that the kidnap, execution and slaughter of innocents, including babies, would be especially painful and provoke an unusually savage response. It was a trap. Now, less than a week on, Israel has fallen into that trap. Perhaps it was inevitable an unavoidable, defensive reflex of a nation under attack. Benjamin Netanyahu declared war, with all that entailed, and promised a long struggle. Israeli ministers talked about razing Gaza. Some million Palestinians have been ordered by the IDF to go south for their own safety, within 24 hours. As a result, the EU and the UN have turned against Israel. Hamas, cynical as ever, have told people to ignore the warning. Gaza is running out of water, fuel, power and medicines, and the hospitals are full. Around 350,000 of the 2.2 million Gazans are homeless. Blockaded by Egypt and Israel, they have nowhere to go. We know what will happen next a humanitarian disaster on an unimaginable scale. Hamas are still lobbing rockets at Israel: further provocation. Israel should respond, and its government has a sacred duty to do so. The how is the more difficult bit. The invasion could happen within days, with mass civilian suffering, and it will alienate world opinion. Just as Hamas and Iran desire, Israels friends in the West will grow more divided. The Arab and Muslim states that have made their accommodation with Israel Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia will grow more hostile. America will have Israels back in the end, but Israel cannot assume that such support will always be unconditional. Israel, for all the flaws in its recent governance, is a civilised, democratic state, and has to live up to the standards expected respect for international conventions, the rules of war, and proportionate response. The terrorists want nothing more than to drag Israel into replicating their own atrocities. All that said, the principal objection to Israeli strategy is that it wont work. Even assuming that Israels war aim of ending Hamass ability to operate in Gaza is an honourable one and the whole world would be better off without Hamas and its allies it is hard to see how the present policy delivers that result. If one million innocent Palestinian people do the impossible and evacuate the north of Gaza, that doesnt mean the Hamas gunmen will be hanging around with the hostages waiting to be found and eliminated. They will melt away, as ever. They will deliberately use hostages and the civilian population as human shields, which makes Israeli tactics even more hazardous. But even if Hamas did not do that, it would be impossible to destroy them, because thats the nature of terrorist organisations. They come back. One million people arent going to relocate within 24 hours, when theres no fuel for cars and chaos reigns. They will therefore remain as human shields for Hamas, and their deaths will appal the world. Western allies of Israel will find it impossible to explicitly back such a policy. Even Grant Shapps, the governments default choice to defend the indefensible on the media, avoided an endorsement of the expulsion of a million people from their homes when he was subjected to close questioning on BBC Radio 4s Today programme. All he could do was criticise Hamas for their habit of embedding themselves in civilian populations, and praise the IDF for their early warning system. He didnt say the policy was a good idea or that it would work, still less that it was morally or legally defensible. But if this is total war, seeking the unconditional surrender of Hamas, is it so different from when the RAF bombed Dresden during the Second World War, or when America dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? If the Allies wanted regime change in their own war of survival back then, why shouldnt Israel do the same? The only answer is the practical one which is that it wont work. Hamas cannot be defeated using such methods as the IDF is using. Indeed, the tactics will only strengthen Palestinian resistance and the support Hamas can call upon in the wider world. Hamas will emerge stronger from all this. Israel, so grievously the victim, cannot allow itself to become the perpetrator of crimes under international law and surrender the invaluable moral ground it now holds. The bombing, the forced relocations and the imminent invasion are a terrible blunder. Israel is getting entangled in a terrible trap. Sky-gazers in the western half of North, Central and South America will be treated on Saturday to a spectacular annular solar eclipse that will create a ring of fire in the sky for those lucky enough to see it. What is an annular eclipse? The phenomenon happens when the moon is ever so slightly further in its orbit from earth, so it doesnt totally cover the sun when they cross paths and instead leaves the edges of the sun or ring of fire visible. An annular solar eclipse is seen in Yokohama, Japan, May 21, 2012. (Shuji Kajiyama/AP) The ring of fire will last between one and five minutes for most places, according to NASA. The sky will grow dimmer, though not as dark as during a total solar eclipse, the air may feel cooler, and some animals may begin to behave as if it is dusk. It is like nothing youve ever experienced before, Mitzi Adams, assistant chief of the Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, said in a statement. Its sort of like somebody puts a bowl on top of Earth right above where youre standing. In the middle of the day, it gets darker, but you can still see light around the rim. When will it be visible? Infographic by Yasin Demirci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Starting around 8 a.m. PT, the moon will pass directly in front of the sun, casting a shadow over the Pacific Northwest. The shadow will then move south through California, Texas, Utah and Nevada over the next three hours, and then into Central and South America. The last annular eclipse occurred in 2017, and according to NASA, the next one wont appear over this part of the world again until 2046. Recommended reading NBC News:Rare 'ring of fire' solar eclipse will cross the U.S. on Saturday: Here's how to see it USA Today: 'A cosmic masterpiece': Why spectacular sights of eclipses never fail to dazzle the public CNN:How to watch the 'ring of fire' eclipse But even if you dont live in the direct path of the ring of fire, youll still be able to see at least a partial solar eclipse from just about everywhere in the continental United States. (If youre on the East coast, there will be another total solar eclipse next April.) NASA will also host a livestream of the eclipse beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, sharing views from Albuquerque, White Sands, N.M., and Kerrville, Texas. What do I need to view it? Children wear protective glasses to watch a solar eclipse in Jakarta, Indonesia, in April. (Tatan Syuflana/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) It is never safe to look directly at an eclipse without specialized eye protection designed for solar viewing, so you should still wear protective eyewear, or view it through a pinhole projection box you can make with items you probably already have at home. See these safety guidelines for viewing solar eclipses. And when in doubt, remember: Never look directly at the sun. WASHINGTON Midway through one of the most forceful speeches of his presidency, President Joe Biden noticed a woman in the audience had teared up. He stopped and looked at Sheila Katz, one of the Jewish leaders gathered at the White House just four days after Hamas terrorists slaughtered more than 1,300 people in Israel, including young children. You OK, kiddo? he asked, pausing behind a lectern hed been pounding as he described taking his children to see the Nazi death camps. I felt really seen by him, Katz, the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, recalled in an interview. In that moment, to have the president of the country pause his remarks to check in on me was really moving. Not everyone at the White House is OK these days. Hamas attack has shaken an administration that feels a deep emotional bond with Israel and the Jewish community. Biden and members of his team some of whom have family members in Israel have been grieving over reports of hostage-takings and mass murder. Theyre juggling ordinary White House business with a crisis thats anything but, all the while coordinating a response to a war that has upended the Middle East. Were bracing ourselves for what comes next, said a White House aide who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss how colleagues are coping with the war. Emotional toll in the White House A White House official working on the response to the attack said that at different times this week, every member of the team has looked at one another teary-eyed. In meetings, people will start speaking and their voices will crack, another official said. Some Biden administration aides have family members or friends who are serving in the Israeli military. As the body count rises, theyve been carrying out assignments while texting loved ones to make sure theyre safe. We deal with mass casualty events with some amount of frequency on the national security team, a senior official said. But this one has at times felt like more than any one person can bear. Its clear people are carrying their grief with them. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with people as he visits a donation center for victims of the Hamas terror attacks in Tel Aviv. (Jacquelyn Martin / Pool via AP) Whatever officials may be doing, the war inevitably intrudes. On Tuesday, Biden revealed that U.S. citizens are among Hamas hostages. The next day, the administration said the number of American deaths had climbed to nearly two dozen. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X "horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by Hamas terrorists, writing that he had shown them to visiting Secretary of State Antony Blinken. An Israeli official said in an interview that the photographs are important, as they make it so much more real to see it. It hurts in your stomach and your gut in such a way that you cant stay indifferent to it, the official said. Its not in order to persuade. When it comes to anybody who is human and calls himself a human being, you dont need these images to persuade. While the scenes coming out of Israel, including the beginnings of whats expected to be a long, bloody war, hang heavy over the White House, Biden and his aides also appear determined not to let the crisis consume them. Before he addressed Jewish leaders Wednesday, Biden announced a new push to limit junk fees charged by businesses. On Friday, hell travel to Philadelphia for an event devoted to clean energy jobs, and on Monday hell be in Colorado to discuss his economic agenda. Even in the first two days after the attack, Biden was dedicating time to other priorities. Between meetings and phone calls at the White House, he sat for interviews with a special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents from his time as vice president. Behind the scenes, Biden also has taken the time to ask for regular updates about staff members with loved ones living in Israel, an official said. An internal email from White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told staffers about various counseling services available to them and their families. The emotional toll inside the White House has at times spilled into public view. Listening to CNN host Jake Tapper recite the abuses inflicted on Israeli women and children, a polished White House spokesman and retired Navy rear admiral, John Kirby, lost his composure. He turned from the camera to collect himself before answering. Excuse me, he said. Very difficult to look at these images, Jake. Follow live updates on the Israel-Hamas conflict Tom Nides (Kobi Wolf / Bloomberg via Getty Images file) Dozens of Jewish aides work in the White House; they are tight-knit. Blinken is Jewish, the stepson of a Holocaust survivor. Vice President Kamala Harris husband, Douglas Emhoff, is also Jewish, and together, the couple hosted a celebration at their residence last month for the High Holy Days. Jewish aides mark religious holidays together and in past years have lit a menorah in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Tom Nides, who left his job as U.S. ambassador to Israel in July, said he had just gotten an email from a friend who wrote that his daughter had been found dead. Its breaking my heart, Nides said. I know all these people. I know all my staff who are there and their families. Its impossible to describe what is happening in the country. Its beyond comprehension. Deeply personal for Biden In the days since Hamas launched its attack, Biden has spoken with a measure of clarity missing in past presidential speeches. The war seems to have energized him, imbuing him with equal parts rage and resolve. At Wednesdays event with Jewish leaders, Biden raised his voice in recalling how he took his children to see the death camps the Nazis built to massacre Jews during World War II. I wanted them to see, he shouted, that you could not not know what was going on walking through those gates! You could not fail to understand as a country what was going on. White House aides said Biden has been deeply involved in crafting the speeches he has delivered this week. In a speech Tuesday, Biden made a point to mention details of the atrocities Hamas committed in breaching Israeli boundary lines. The comments werent part of his original script, aides said. He had just gotten off the phone with Netanyahu, who had told him of women being raped and children being kidnapped and killed. The conversation with Bibi definitely had an effect on him and the way he delivered the speech, an administration official said. Biden, who is Irish Catholic, has ties of his own to Israel and the Jewish diaspora. Biden recalls as a young senator in 1973 visiting then-Prime Minister Golda Meir, who made an indelible impression when she disclosed to him Israels secret weapon. We have no place else to go, she told him, as Biden has recounted the visit. He feels what the Jewish community has been through, said Ted Kaufman, a former Biden Senate aide and onetime Democratic senator from Delaware. Its the Irish in him. He is someone who feels peoples pain. Bidens home state, Delaware, was an incubator for his kinship with the Jewish community. He is close to Congregation Beth Shalom in Wilmington, a synagogue with about 450 families. Michael Beals, the senior rabbi, said he considers the president part of the 'mishpocha,' Yiddish for family network. In the months before Biden became a candidate in the 2020 presidential race, Beals wrote him a letter. At the time, Biden was an ex-vice president whose age was considered a reason he might choose to sit out the race. Beals urged him to run, telling him that in the Jewish tradition, age is an asset wisdom and you shouldnt count yourself out because of your age. On Jan. 24, 2019, Biden sent back a handwritten letter on vice presidential stationery. You are my Rabbi, and my friend, he wrote. Ive had the great honor to meet and be mentored by so many remarkable women and men from Golda Meir to Elie Wiesel, the author and Holocaust survivor. I am indebted to you and to the community in so many ways. You are familiar with the Talmudic saying, What comes from the heart enters the heart. Your sentiments entered my heart. He signed it Joe. Three months later, he announced his candidacy. At the beginning of the AI boom, there were a lot of available tools that let you create images through text prompts using generative AI. However, you're required to visit another site and/or pay for the service. Now, Google Search is offering the same tool for free. Creating AI Images in Google Search Google has created a generative AI-powered search experience (SGE) for its users, and it's finally ready for use. If you have opted into the tool, you may be able to generate AI images directly through the Google Search bar as part of the company's experiment. Once you've typed in the text prompt on the search field, you can click on the Images tab to look at the results. Instead of the summarized response that people usually get based on the links that the search leads to, SGE is now capable of returning generated images using Google's Imagen. After searching for a specific photo or submitting a text prompt, the search engine will present four alternatives that you can choose from and refine. You can then export those images to Google Drive and download them through the app. As per Engadget, users can even use Google Lens on the generated image to search for actual products on the web that are similar to the generated image, which can make it easier for people who don't know the particular item or what brand it is. Of course, there are still guardrails in place, especially since agencies are watching generative AI tools under a microscope as several companies are hit with lawsuits. A lot are concerning the use of copyrighted material to train AI models. Google will block the creation of images that could lead to the violation of the site's prohibited use policy for generative AI, which includes harmful or misleading content. All generated images will have a watermark indicating that it was AI-generated. Right now, the new image generation feature is only available for users in the US, and the account holder must be 18 years old and above to be able to access the experiment. Google will likely roll out the feature in the coming months when the experiment is a success. Read Also: Google AI-Powered Search Gets Upgrade During Japan, India Expansion How to Add the Feature In order to opt into the search generative experience, all you have to do is go to Search Labs to start the process. Once you're done with that, you can tap the Labs icon in the latest version of the Google app or Chrome website, which looks like a beaker. Not only is the generative AI capable of summarizing a coherent answer to your question by pulling from relevant links, but the AI interaction will also feel more conversation wherein users can ask follow-up questions to dive deeper into the topic. While some say that the service is still a bit slow, it certainly has the potential to be big. Microsoft Bing already has the same offer. The difference is that people prefer the Google Search engine compared to Bing. Related: Google's AI Chatbot Bard Can Now Help Users Write and Debug Their Codes The White House said it was running out of runway on supporting both Ukraine and Israel as US Republican lawmakers warned they would protest any funding request for military aid from the Biden administration for the two crisis-hit nations. I think in the immediate term, right now, we can continue to support with the authorities in the appropriations we have Israel and Ukraine. But, you know, were ... certainly running out of runway, said John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council. Mr Kirby was answering a question at a daily briefing on the administration meeting the immediate needs of Ukraine and Israel along with the continuing fight to elect a House Speaker. Mr Kirby said the US administration had the means to support both Israel and Ukraine in the near term. But you dont want to be trying to bake in long-term support when youre at the end of the rope, he said on Wednesday. And on the Ukraine funding, were coming near to the end of the rope. I mean, today we announced $200mn, and well keep that aid going as long as we can, but its not going to be indefinite, he said, adding that the US is moving with a sense of alacrity. He added a certain date could not be put on near term because it hinged on Ukraines expenditure rate and replenishment ability. The National Security Council coordinator also said the House Speaker position was critical in terms of bringing legislation to the floor and moving things forward. So the sooner that theres a Speaker of the House, obviously, the more comfortable well all be in terms of being able to support Israel and Ukraine, he said. The White House has been considering a budget request tying money for these two conflicts together to increase the chances that the heavily-debated assistance for Ukraine will be approved. President Joe Biden on Tuesday called the attack in Israel an act of sheer evil and said that the US military assistance was being sent to help Israel in its fight. Saturdays Hamas attack was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, he said. He told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US will send more military assistance to help Israel fight Hamas. On Tuesday, he warned other countries and armed groups against entering the war. The US is already rushing munitions and military equipment to Israel and has deployed a carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean as deterrence. Western Washington University has issued a statement about the current war between Israel and Hamas, and acknowledged that its Ethnic Student Center erred in sharing the Arab Student Associations social media post that distorted historical facts and justified the Oct. 7 massacre of Israeli civilians, including small children and infants. WWU President Sabah Randhawa didnt address the content of the Instagram post made Tuesday by the Arab Student Association, which falsely claimed that Israel has occupied Palestine for 75 years and referred to Hamas as resistance fighters. Randhawa said student organizations are allowed to speak for themselves, even if the content of their speech is false or objectionable. But university departments are not, he said. The [Ethnic Student Centers] Instagram post was immediately removed as soon as our staff became aware of the situation, but unfortunately and regrettably, this did not happen before many inside and outside of our community saw the post, Randhawa said in the statement, which was posted online. We want to be clear: A student group has the right to speak for itself, but no group speaks for the university or its leadership. We will also ensure that all staff understand their responsibilities and obligations when using university resources and communicating on behalf of university offices and departments, he said. Several campus student groups, and two other university departments the College of Business and Economics, and the Fellowship Office added likes to the Arab students post. The College of Business and Economics and most student groups removed their support by Friday. But the Fellowship Office, which provides students with information about ways to fund their academic studies, has let its support remain. In all, the Arab Student Associations post had received nearly 400 likes by Friday morning. Persistent antisemitism on campus Several Jewish students told The Bellingham Herald they feel unsafe on campus because of repeated antisemitic incidents and personal slights. A 2021 survey by the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International found that nearly one-third of Jewish college students nationwide said they had experienced antisemitism in the past year. To be sure, criticism and debate over the policies of the state of Israel, just like criticism of the policies and actions of any country, is part of a healthy campus ecosystem. The First Amendment protects the right to boycott, as well as the right to engage in harsh and divisive rhetoric. Undoubtedly, one can criticize Israels leaders and actions without being antisemitic, ADL Director Jonathan Greenblatt wrote in a Sept. 24 opinion article for CNN. A participant in a prayer service for the victims of terror in Israel lights a candle in the shape of a star of David in Red Square at Western Washington University on Monday. The service was sponsored by the Chabad temple near campus. Statements about Gaza war Apart from the Arab Student Associations social media post, both WWU and Bellingham Public Schools issued statements about the terror attack and Israels military response. Both focused on empathy for the victims of war. We are saddened by the horrific violence taking place in Israel and Gaza and the atrocities that are being committed, including the senseless loss of civilian life. Even though the conflict is occurring on the other side of the globe, its impacts are being felt locally in our communities. We have many students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other community members who are directly or indirectly impacted by the conflict. Please know that we acknowledge your pain and hurt, and your safety remains paramount to us, Randhawa said. In a statement at the district website, Bellingham schools Superintendent Greg Baker recognized that many people in the community are suffering emotionally. We know there are staff, students and families in our community who are impacted by the war in Israel and Gaza. When war and conflict happen in the world, it affects us all in different ways, especially if we are in crisis, have experienced trauma or are feeling depleted or stressed, Baker said. The Bellingham Herald recently reported on an antisemitic incident at Bellingham High, and Baker said that such hate is unacceptable. In Bellingham, we strive to have a safe and welcoming community with a culture of belonging for all. It is acceptable that we as individuals hold different opinions about the war and complex history of Israel and Palestine, but antisemitic or Islamophobic speech or acts will never be tolerated in our district, he said. History of conflict Jewish interest in a return to their ancestral homeland grew in the late 1800s, spurred by rising antisemitism across Europe, Africa and Asia, and a series of civilian massacres that culminated with the Nazi Holocaust of 1933-1945. The U.N. established both Israel and Palestine in 1947, partitioning their shared homeland into Jewish and Arab states. Israel accepted the plan and declared its independence in 1948, which led to an attack by Arab armies that included Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Israel, which at the time had no international allies and was under a weapons embargo, won that war 75 years ago. Palestinian Arabs were left with a much smaller territory that included the West Bank and Gaza. Israel captured and occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, along with the Golan Heights and the Sinai, after the 1967 Six-Day War, when it defeated the combined armies of eight Arab states. Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt in 1982 in return for recognition as a state and withdrew from Gaza in 2005, evicting Jews who had settled there. But it has retained the Golan and the West Bank, where the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has imposed harsh restrictions on Palestinian residents and begun to expand Jewish settlements over the past two decades. That crackdown in the West Bank has drawn international criticism, alleging human rights violations and war crimes by the Israeli Defense Forces. By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday told Reuters she heard "universal condemnation" at this week's annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank of the deadly attack on Israel by Hamas. The United States already had "lots of sanctions" on the militant Palestinian group, and was constantly working to find a way to strengthen those, Yellen said shortly before Israeli forces began their first ground operations inside the Gaza Strip to root out Hamas fighters. The United States has pledged robust solidarity with Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it works to stop any spillover from the war between Israel and Hamas. Yellen spoke shortly after top finance officials from the Group of Twenty (G20) economies published a communique that omitted any mention of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, raising new questions about the role of a forum split by Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. Last weekend's assault by Hamas - designated a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and other governments - on Israeli communities killed at least 1,300 people. Most were civilians, including women and children. Israel has since been hammering Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire, and more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. Yellen made no comment on Israel's response, which some human rights groups and the United Nations say amounts to "collective punishment." A senior Treasury official noted that the Group of Seven economies, a smaller group of like-minded countries, had condemned the attacks, and said the issue was "politically sensitive' for the G20, which includes Russia and China. Critics said the failure to even mention the sudden outbreak of war in the Middle East revealed the depth of the divisions roiling the G20, especially given its potential economic impact. Yellen pushed back against criticism of the G20, saying, I've talked to a wide range of people and there is universal condemnation of Hamas's attack on Israel, adding clear concern over further large-scale civilian casualties in the conflict. "I'm not hearing anybody who was not appalled by the attack on innocent Israelis," she said. Yellen said there was a widespread feeling that the G20 had been cooperating and responding well to issues facing developing countries, including through reforms of multilateral development banks and a likely agreement on a quota increase for the IMF. Weve accomplished a fair amount and theres a level of satisfaction with whats been accomplished in spite of the fact that Russias invasion of Ukraine has clearly created many adverse global consequences," she said. Yellen said G7 countries expressed unanimous support for Ukraine, adding that she would discuss Ukraine with European finance ministers in Luxembourg next week. She also underscored Washington's determination to continue to enforce a G7-led price cap imposed on Russian oil after Washington on Thursday imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil priced above the $60 per barrel. The U.S., other G7 countries and Australia imposed the cap last year, seeking to reduce Russia's revenues from seaborne oil exports as part of sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao and Alistair Bell) Dorgham Abusalim has not heard from his parents in Gaza for days. The wait is "absolutely horrifying", he says. Since he last spoke to them on Tuesday, Dorgham has been glued to the television, watching the Israeli bombing of Gaza, and watching the death toll climb. On Whatsapp, he learned of one family in Deir al-Balah that lost 20 relatives in a single night. "That's my family's neighbourhood," he tells the BBC from his home in Washington DC. He is one of many Palestinian-Americans whose days are now marked by sporadic, anxious messages and calls with family and friends thousands of miles away. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the strikes began, in retaliation for the killing of 1,300 people and kidnapping of about 150 people in Israel by Hamas militants. About 2.2 million people live in the territory, which is controlled by Hamas. On Thursday night, Israel told everyone in the north - about 1.1 million people - to relocate to the south within 24 hours. "Any place from which Hamas operates will turn into rubble," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. For Dorgham, 34, witnessing the war unfold from afar is terrifying and paralysing. He says he is keenly aware that any goodbye may well be the last. "I can't go to bed without wanting to hear their voice," Dorgham says of his parents. "I'm going to continue calling and calling until I get through." Israel turned off the water, energy and gas to Gaza on Saturday, and the United Nations has warned of a humanitarian disaster as hospitals run short on fuel and people struggle to store food. As the electricity supplies dwindle, so do Dorgham's chances of hearing his mother's voice. "Their electricity has gone down from four hours to two hours to one hour a day," Dorgham says, adding that his family are scrambling every day to find fuel. "Some of my family are fleeing south," he says, "but many are staying for fear they will never be able to return to their homes." Tariq Luthun, a 32-year-old Palestinian-American living in Detroit, Michigan, says his extended family in Gaza does not have power, so is trying to use their phones sparingly. "They are safe as of this interview, or as of this moment," Tariq tells the BBC, but he says he worries about them constantly. "Every day I wake up, I check to see if family members are alive," he says. "Then I go to work. After I log off work, I check again to see if my family members are still alive." The stress of this routine is taking an emotional toll. "I'm really devastated. It weighs on me." Palestinian-Americans who spoke to the BBC say they feel the plight of civilians in Gaza is being forgotten as the majority of US politicians declare their support for Israel. In a speech on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said Israel had a right and duty to respond to the attacks. He was careful to say that Hamas "does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination", but his speech was seen by many analysts as giving a green light to Israel to proceed with a full-scale ground operation, which would likely result in more civilian deaths. "In the past you'd see the both-sides-ism," Tariq says. "You don't see that here." More on Israel Gaza war Dorgham says harsh rhetoric from politicians in Israel and the US - like Republican Senator Lindsey Graham suggesting that Israel "level the place" - makes him feel hopeless. "It feels to me that we live in a world that categorically hates us. Why?" Iman Kishawi, who was born in Gaza in 1958 but fled because of war when she was seven years old, says she worries constantly about her aunts and cousins who are still there. "I don't know what to do," she says from her home in Los Angeles, describing how she paces back and forth around the house. "They don't have phones. They don't have electricity. They are under constant bombardment." She relies on updates from other relatives in the US who have been able to get in touch with her cousins. Speaking to them brings back memories of her childhood in Gaza, she says, including trips to the beach, where dozens of relatives would gather for family picnics. "The sea was beautiful. Really, really beautiful," she says. Such moments of nostalgia offer only a brief respite from the daily worry that her cousins could be victims of the next bomb strike. She's been told they are OK, for now. "When my cousin says OK, it means this second we're OK," she explains. "They don't know what's going to happen next." RENO, Nev. (AP) Former Vice President Mike Pence will skip the Nevada caucuses run by the state Republican Party, which has adopted rules that critics say favor former President Donald Trump, and will instead compete in a state-run primary contest. Pence's name appeared Thursday on a list of presidential candidates who filed for the primary with the Nevada secretary of state's office. The party has barred candidates from participating in the Feb. 8 caucuses if they also run in the primary election. Pence's campaign did not respond to a message seeking an explanation about the decision. By skipping the caucus, Pence gives up a chance to try to win Nevadas relatively small number of delegates. Instead, a primary win could offer an opportunity to prove electability before crucial contests in South Carolina and a slate of primaries on Super Tuesday. Nevada holds a prominent place in the 2024 nominating contests as the third state to weigh in on the GOP field next year. But some presidential campaigns and Nevada Republicans have warned that the state's impact may be muddled after the local Republican Party opted to run its own caucuses two days after a state-run primary on Feb. 6. Last month, the Nevada Republican Party approved rules that rival campaigns say tilt the states nominating process in Trump's favor. In addition to forbidding candidates from participating in both the caucuses and primary, the state GOP also restricted super PACs from trying to bolster support for candidates in the caucuses. That restriction could be detrimental to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is heavily dependent on the Never Back Down super PAC for organizing and advertising. The Nevada GOP says it will only award delegates, which presidential candidates try to collect in each state to win the nomination, based on the results of its caucuses. So far, Pence is the first major GOP contender to decide to skip the caucus. Trump, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have filed to participate in the caucus. Nevada GOP chair Michael McDonald said in an interview Thursday that he thinks the world of Pence, whom he first met through Trump, but was disappointed in his decision. He said that the former vice president was competing for a beauty pageant for a plastic tiara and that opting for the primary belittles him. "No serious candidate thats running for president opts in to run for a state primary when youre not going to receive any delegates, McDonald said, adding that he hopes Pence reconsiders. The news was first reported by The Nevada Independent. Pence has faced a steep challenge in the GOP primary, with Trump maintaining a solid grip on the party. Many Trump supporters view the former vice president as disloyal for failing to go along with the former president's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump is now facing criminal charges in two jurisdictions over those efforts. Caucuses, which typically reward grassroots support and organizing, are expected to benefit Trump given his solid grip on the GOPs most loyal voters. In a large and rural Western state like Nevada, it also means organizing in far-flung areas and getting supporters committed to turn out at a specific date and time to show their support. A primary election, run by the state, would allow a candidate to compete before a broader pool of voters. The format favors candidates who can boost their name recognition and message through television advertising and concentrate on-the-ground organizing in heavily populated areas. Nevada isn't the only state to have adopted rules seen as favoring Trump, whose team has worked for years to shape the system by which state Republican parties award delegates to presidential candidates. Michigan and California have also passed rules this year that are seen to widely benefit Trump. The former president has strong allies in top roles at the Nevada GOP, including McDonald and Republican National Committee member Jim DeGraffenreid. Both served as fake presidential electors in 2020 as part of a scheme in Nevada and other battleground states to try to overturn Trumps election loss. The partys executive director, Alida Benson, left that job this summer to run Trumps campaign in the state. ___ Price reported from Washington. ~Mike and Tony Auto Sales /Facebook Thieves in Connecticut broke into a used car dealership in Connecticut early Wednesday morning and stole multiple high-end vehicles. The thieves then used one of the stolen vehicles to ram open the dealership gate and flee the scene, Fox-61 News reports. The cars were taken from Mike and Tony's Auto Sales on John Fitch Boulevard in South Windsor around 1 a.m. The thieves reportedly broke a window to gain access to the garage where the vehicles were stored. Surveillance video shows the suspects driving the stolen cars and trucks right off the lot. These thieves were not going to settle for a common Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. There were four vehicles stolen in total and that included a 991.1 Porsche 911 GT3 RS and a Ram TRX. The GT3 RS alone could be worth over $200,000 and the TRX can easily bring over $90,000. A Dodge Charger was also reported stolen as part of this heist. The vehicle that was used to ram the gate was left abandoned and has been recovered. The good news is that a TRX, a GT3 RS, and a Dodge Charger dont exactly blend into traffic. Hopefully they are spotted and returned quickly. Police said a tracking device in one of the vehicles placed it in New York City a couple of hours after it was stolen. You Might Also Like A new prosecutor will have to appear in court by Tuesday in YNW Mellys double murder case. Melly, his attorneys and prosecutors Steven Klinger and Nicole Bloom attended a hearing Friday, a day after Broward Circuit Court Judge John Murphy removed lead prosecutor Kristine Bradley from the rappers case out of an abundance of caution. Murphy said he would rule on the defenses motion to dismiss the case at a later time. READ MORE: Prosecutor removed from the YNW Melly murder case days before retrial. What happened? Judge John Murphy speaks during a hearing in preparation for the trial of Jamell Demons, better known as rapper YNW Melly, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Demons is accused of killing two fellow rappers and conspiring to make it look like a drive-by shooting in October 2018. Klinger told Murphy the State Attorneys Office is working ... nonstop to find a new prosecutor and should have a decision by the end of Friday or Monday. This is a speedy trial, where thats an issue, Murphy said. The case should begin by Oct. 20. Klinger proposed swearing in a jury panel next week to give the new prosecutor an opportunity to catch up and the defense to question new witnesses. Defense attorney Raven Liberty didnt look convinced, even shaking her head in disapproval. Ill take less time, Liberty said. Jamell Demons, better known as rapper YNW Melly, speaks with defense attorney Raven Ramona Liberty during a hearing before his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Demons is accused of killing two fellow rappers and conspiring to make it look like a drive-by shooting in October 2018. What else happened? At Fridays hearing, defense attorney Daniel Aaronson argued that a retrial violates Mellys double jeopardy as Bradley didnt share Brady material related to the incident with a Miramar police detective during the first trial. Under Florida law, prosecutors are required to disclose any information that may be favorable to the defense. The discovery of Brady violations, in some cases, have even led to overturned convictions. Klinger, however, said the normal remedy for a Brady violation is a new trial. Defense attorneys, from right; Daniel Aaronson, Jamie Benjamin, and Raven Ramona Liberty speak with prosecutor Steven Klinger, second from left, before the start of a hearing in preparation for the trial of Jamell Demons, better known as rapper YNW Melly, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Demons is accused of killing two fellow rappers and conspiring to make it look like a drive-by shooting in October 2018. Why was Bradley removed? Murphys decision to oust Bradley was linked to allegations of wrongdoing by Miramar Police Detective Mark Moretti in an October 2022 incident. Michelle Boutros, a Broward prosecutor of 20 years assigned to the Public Corruption Unit, testified in court last week about Morettis alleged misconduct. READ MORE: Prosecutor accused detective in YNW Melly case of lying. Shes now a defense witness Even though it is far from conclusive, the Court is sufficiently concerned about whether Ms. Bradley has departed from her role as a zealous advocate for the State and is now personally invested in the credibility determinations of Detective Moretti and Ms. Boutros and the outcome of the trial, Murphy said. Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley testifies in a hearing in the trial of Jamell Demons, better known as rapper YNW Melly, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Bradley is the lead prosecutor in Mellys murder trial. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel) Melly, 24, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of gunning down his childhood friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in a drive-by cover-up after spending the night of Oct. 26, 2018, at a Fort Lauderdale recording studio. Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers with the YNW collective, were known as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy, respectively. Melly is among the first defendants to go to trial after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law to lower the threshold for a death sentence to an 8-4 jury vote, from the previous requirement for a unanimous vote. JERUSALEM (AP) As Israel pounds Gaza with airstrikes, prepares for a possible ground invasion and escalates a war sparked by Hamas' unprecedented assault, its leaders will confront many of the same dilemmas it has grappled with over decades of conflict with the Palestinians. Israeli leaders have pledged to annihilate the Hamas militants responsible for the surprise weekend attack but risk drawing international criticism as the Palestinian civilian death toll mounts. They want to kill all the kidnappers but spare the estimated 150 hostages men, women, children and older adults that Hamas dragged across the border and has threatend to kill if Israel targets civilians. In the end, Israel might decide to reluctantly leave Hamas in power in Gaza rather than take its chances on arguably worse alternatives. Here's a look at the choices facing Israel going forward. A RISKY GROUND OFFENSIVE Israel appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza, something it has done in two of its previous four wars with Hamas. The Israeli military has invested tremendous resources for such a scenario, even building a training base in its southern desert meant to replicate Gaza's urban landscape. A ground offensive would send a strong message, and forces operating inside Gaza might have a better chance of killing top Hamas leaders and rescuing hostages. Such an assault all but guarantees far higher casualties on both sides. And it would involve street-by-street battles with Hamas militants who've had years to prepare tunnels and traps. Hamas leaders say they planned last weekend's operation for more than a year and have prepared for any scenario, including all-out war. A ground incursion could even play into their hands. Giora Eiland, a retired general and former head of Israels National Security Council, said a ground operation would be a terrible mistake" soldiers would have to clear every home and remove booby traps from tunnels many kilometers long, all while battling thousands of Hamas fighters. The army would have to stay in Gaza for months, he said, suffering many casualties we did not have to. "THE DEVIL WE KNOW" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush and eliminate Hamas. Even if that were possible, experts say Israel could come to regret it. Hamas is deeply rooted in Palestinian society, with an army of fighters, a government in Gaza, and extensive social welfare programs. It has millions of supporters across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon, as well as an exiled leadership. Founded in the late 1980s, it survived as an underground armed group for years while Israel was militarily occupying the entire Gaza Strip, before the 2005 withdrawal. Reoccupying Gaza would leave Israel in charge of governing and providing basic services to 2.3 million Palestinians, while likely battling an insurgency. Removing Hamas from power and then pulling out would leave a vacuum that could be filled by even more radical groups. The understanding here in Israel is that there is no other alternative to a Hamas regime. This is the devil we know, said Michael Milshtein, an Israeli expert on Palestinian affairs at Tel Aviv University. CIVILIANS AND RESTRAINT In contrast to previous rounds of fighting, Israel has faced few calls for restraint this time around, with the U.S. and other allies expressing horror at Hamas' atrocities and pledging ironclad support. But that could change as Gaza's misery mounts. Israeli airstrikes have already demolished entire neighborhoods, killing more than 1,500 Palestinians, including 500 children and 276 women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Civilians seeking safety have crowded into U.N.-run schools as Israel has laid siege to the territory, barring the entry of food, fuel, water and medicine. Gaza's sole power station ran out of fuel Wednesday, plunging the territory into darkness. The last four Gaza wars brought similar death and devastation but lasted just days or weeks, with international pressure and mediators cajoling the two sides into shaky cease-fires. It will likely take much longer this time around, but the same outcome could be inescapable. The idea is, go into Gaza, destroy Hamas, make sure this can never happen again. And theres no way to do that without incredible civilian casualties within Gaza," said H.A. Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a U.K.-based defense think tank. Strategically, security-wise, it does not solve the issue of Gaza. It does not address the underlying problem of Gaza. THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION The underlying problem of Gaza, one that long predates Hamas, is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even if Israel manages to defeat Hamas whatever that looks like roughly 7.5 million Jews and a similar number of Palestinians would still find themselves living in close proximity in Israel and the territories it controls, with most of the Palestinians living under military occupation. There have been no peace talks in over a decade, and any remaining hope for a two-state solution is even more distant now. Several major human rights groups say Israels control over the Palestinians amounts to apartheid, an allegation Israel rejects as an attack on its legitimacy. Palestinians, scarred by their exodus during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out, are determined to remain in the Holy Land. Neighboring Egypt and Jordan, which made peace with Israel decades ago, are staunchly opposed to resettling them. As recently as last Friday, the mass deportation of Palestinians, an idea long embraced by Israel's far right, was unimaginable as was a full-scale invasion by Hamas. Now it appears all bets are off. Israel can make sure that no one lives in Gaza, if thats what it takes," said Eiland, the former head of the National Security Council. "If there is no way to make sure there is a reliable regime there, whatever it is after that, then there will be no one left there. ___ Associated Press writers Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report. Providing safe drinking water for BRI partners Xinhua) 13:20, October 13, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- "May the Triple Gem bless you." In April this year, Wei Yuansong, a professor from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), received a sincere blessing from villagers in Sri Lanka as the Triple Gem in Buddhism is seen as priceless in the world. As for Li Xueyuan, an engineer from Beijing-based rainwater utilization company Tidelion, coconuts always remind him of a friend in Sri Lanka. On a hot day in 2017, a local worker decided to climb a coconut tree to fetch Li a large coconut as Li and his colleagues installed water purification facilities in a village near Anuradhapura, a sacred ancient city in Sri Lanka. For nearly a decade, Chinese experts and engineers like Wei and Li and partners from Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) participating countries, have been building water supply projects to provide safe drinking water for many people and prevent the spread of water-borne diseases. Sri Lanka is plagued by a chronic kidney disease with unknown etiology (CKDu). Local authorities suspect that the major cause of this kidney disease spreading in the island nation is the shortage of clean drinking water. "We are happy to inform you that the number of kidney patients around has decreased, and job opportunities have been provided to some villagers," said the villagers from the Nildiya community in a letter to Wei. In the first days after installation of a water-purifying machine in September 2018, 600 liters of purified water were purchased by local villagers daily. By this March, the number had increased to 7,500 liters per day, which "is clear proof of the people's enthusiasm and trust in this machine," said the letter. The CAS launched the Program of China-Sri Lanka Joint Center for Water Technology Research and Demonstration in 2015. Several safe drinking water projects have since been completed in Sri Lanka. Attanagalla Water Supply Plant, one of the biggest China-Sri Lanka cooperation projects, completed civil work construction in May 2022. The project is expected to provide more than 600,000 residents with clean drinking water. In Kyrgyzstan, a lack of access to safe drinking water led to increased rates of hepatitis, typhoid, and malaria. A type of integrated water purification station has been specifically developed for Kyrgyzstan by researchers from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the CAS. To date, 11 such stations have been established in the Central Asian country, providing safe and clean drinking water for some 20,000 locals. A total of 19 ecosystem observation and research stations have also been built across Central Asia, including in four Central Asian countries and also in Iran and Mongolia. Gulshat Alieva is a nurse at Lower Serafimovka Nursing Home in Kyrgyzstan. "Since clean water started coming out, we got rid of dysentery. We no longer have any headaches with E.coli. All domestic water is clean. You notice how clear water flows when you open the tap," Alieva told Xinhua in a recent interview. Li Yaoming, director of the CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (Bishkek), said that China's Xinjiang and Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, share common geographical features with interconnected mountains and rivers. "Some of our water resources are shared, so we must collaborate in managing, utilizing, and responsibly developing these water resources. Providing clean drinking water and building infrastructures such as reservoirs and irrigation systems are indeed shared responsibilities," noted Li. Meanwhile, the CAS not only puts drinking water safety as the core objective of the research but also regards training water professionals as its duty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wei guided his students in Sri Lanka to conduct field research and data collection in that country. He and his students hold weekly video conferences to discuss research progress. "Wei's work is also helping Sri Lanka's development because he is dedicated to mentoring Sri Lankan students and wants to train them to be pillars of water research in Sri Lanka," said Sujithra K. Weragoda, director of the China-Sri Lanka Research Grant Project. Salamat Alamanov, a Kyrgyz professor at the CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (Bishkek), said that Kyrgyz specialists went to China to look at the operation of water purification systems. They have agreed with the CAS to jointly carry out work. Wei said that both China and Sri Lanka are developing countries, and cooperation based on equality and mutual respect is the best way for the two countries to build trust in each other. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Tech giants are going out of their way to prove that they are not breaking any laws amidst the constant backlash firms are getting for using copyrighted content to train AI models. Along with Adobe and Microsoft, Google is also confident enough to take responsibility for any legal issues that come with the use of its AI tools. Google Will Protect Its Users from Lawsuits With tech companies that are beginning to add AI services under their belt, more issues emerge regarding the unconsented use of intellectual property. While Microsoft, Adobe, and Google can afford to fight a lawsuit, their users might not have the same luxury. To inspire confidence among its customers, Google is also volunteering itself as a shield when a copyright infringement lawsuit comes their customers' way upon using the search engine giant's AI tools to generate content, as reported by The Verge. After all, the company is slowly expanding its AI capabilities across several products such as Google Docs, Gmail, Google Slides, and Google Meet. It also covers Duet AI in Google Cloud, Vertex AI Search, Vertex AI Conversation, Vertex AI Text Embedding API, and more. Despite the extensive list of services, apps, and tools that are included under the protective umbrella, the Google Bard search tool was not included. Other than that, Google says it will "assume responsibility for the potential legal risks involved." In the event that a user generates something similar to copyrighted work, the company will protect them given that they "didn't try to intentionally create or use generated output to infringe the rights of others." On top of that, Google will also shoulder potential indemnification, meaning that the damage cost that a lawsuit demands will be paid for by the company, provided that it is within the guidelines. It was mentioned that it's not a new protection but just a reiteration to reassure customers. Read Also: Microsoft Offers Legal Protection for Its Users Against Copyright Infringement It Might Not Cover All Services While this serves as good news for people who intend to use Google's AI services to create their own content, the fact that Google Bard wasn't listed as part of the services that grant automatic legal protection is not inspiring confidence. This becomes more concerning as Google is slowly rolling out its new SGE feature, wherein users will be able to generate AI images using the search bar. Typing in the search field will be the equivalent of entering a text prompt for AI image generators. Using Google's Imagen, the search engine will produce four AI photos that users can choose from and refine, as per the company blog post, which they can then export to Google Drive and download the images through the app. If the search engine does generate an image that is similar to copyrighted work, it might spell trouble for the user and they might not have the kind of protection that other Google AI tools offer. However, it is still at an experimental stage, and the company might actually include it under its legal protection. Related: Google Now Lets You Generate AI Images Through the Search Bar An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured. Issam Abdallah was killed on Friday while working in southern Lebanon, as part of a Reuters crew providing a live video signal. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of the videographer and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car. Issam Abdallah was killed on Friday after an Israeli shell hit while he was working in southern Lebanon (Reuters) We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the Reuters news agency said in a statement. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Qatars Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded. We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issams family and colleagues, Reuters said. Our deepest condolences go out to those affected, and our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time. Issam was described as the best, funniest and smartest by his colleagues (Reuters) The shelling occurred during an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border between Israeli troops and members of Lebanons militant Hezbollah group. Heartbroken colleagues paid tribute to Issam online. Mai Shams El-Din, a fellow Reuters journalist, posted: Issam was the best, the funniest and the smartest. Im in utter shock. Journalism is not a crime and targeting journalists and witnesses of history is hideous. RIP brother! Our Reuters colleague Issam Abdallah @LbIssam was killed by an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon. Issam was the best, the funniest and the smartest. Im in utter shock. Journalism is not a crime and targeting journalists and witnesses of history is hideous. RIP brother! pic.twitter.com/CHazNBukgT Mai Shams El-Din (@maishams) October 13, 2023 Nadine Awadalla, also a Reuters journalist, wrote: I feel sick. There are no words. We were texting the other day. Issam was one of the kindest and funniest people Ive ever worked with. He was always all in, poured his heart into his work. Saying rest in peace feels hollow, but I hope he does rest in peace and power. The Independents chief international correspondent Bel Trew described the news as horrific. In a tweet, she added: They were wearing press jackets, clearly identified as journalists. No fighting around them. They were at a live position doing their job. I feel sick. There are no words. We were texting the other day. Issam was one of the kindest and funniest people Ive ever worked with. He was always all in, poured his heart into his work. Saying rest in peace feels hollow, but I hope he does rest in peace and power. https://t.co/MPZF7nznzT Nadine Awadalla (@nadine_awadalla) October 13, 2023 Horrific news. They were wearing press jackets, clearly identified as journalists. No fighting around them. They were at a live position doing their job. Full statement from @reuters. We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed. Issam Bel Trew (@Beltrew) October 13, 2023 The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel. Journalists from around the world have been coming to Lebanon out of concern that war might break out between Hezbollah and Israel. Additional reporting by agencies KYIV (Reuters) -At least two people were killed and 15 wounded in Russian air strikes in southern and eastern Ukraine on Friday, Ukrainian officials said. One person was killed and 13 wounded by a missile strike on the city of Pokrovsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said, citing preliminary information. Emergency services said two administrative buildings had been damaged. A 34-year-old woman was killed and her 36-year-old husband seriously injured in a drone strike on their vehicle in the town of Beryslav in the southern Kherson region, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on the Telegram messaging app. A 79-year-old woman who was standing nearby was also hurt, he said. "This is a deliberate hunt for civilians," Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential office, said on Telegram. Reuters could not independently verify the information. Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians although many have been killed in attacks across Ukraine. The Donetsk and Kherson regions have come under frequent attack from Russian forces who invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The deaths reported on Friday were separate from heavy fighting under way around the eastern town of Avdiivka. (Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Yuliia Dysa, Writing by Olena Harmash, Editing by Andrew Heavens and Timothy Heritage) A 20-year-old man in Jenner Township, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh was arrested after he allegedly shot his own father over a domestic dispute at his residence. Mason Jack, 20, is facing charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon, just after 2 p.m., said the state police, who responded to a report of a shooting that occurred during a domestic-related altercation. Upon arriving at the scene, the police found a 47-year-old man who had been shot in the stomach.. His name has not been released. First responders performed life-saving measures and transported him to a local hospital. Police said the victim suffered "moderate abdominal injuries to the stomach wall and colon." Suspects at large: 1 officer killed, 1 hurt in shooting at airport parking garage in Philadelphia Weed eater fight escalates to shooting Police say that an investigation determined that Jack and his father were involved in a physical altercation which led to the injury. Police records show that the incident happened while the two were cleaning out a relative's garage. They started disputing over a weed eater that was not working and exchanged words after which Jack left and went to his house. About five minutes later, his father came to the house and began to yell at him, Jack told the police. Jack came down the stairs with his gun by his side and when his father saw him, he, also pulled a gun out of a holster he was wearing and pointed it at his son. The two then began to struggle over the guns, as per the police report. At one point the son told his father he would put his gun down if his father would do the same. While they put the weapons down, they started exchanging blows, during the course of which Jack went back to his room and retrieved a second weapon, a .357 Magnum, according to the affidavit. Jack told police he had lost his glasses, and he could not see clearly what his father was doing when he came back to the living room, but it looked like his father was looking for something. He thought his father might be looking for his gun, so he fired one round at his father when he was about 5 to 6 feet away, police said. The police investigation determined that the single shot was fired from a .357 magnum revolver, which struck the victim in the stomach area. The accused was taken into custody and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week on Oct. 18. Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7. Officer shooting in Minnesota: 5 officers suffered gunshot wounds; suspect arrested This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Weed eater argument turns violent, son shoots father in Pennsylvania By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea said on Friday it had protested to China over the suspected forced repatriation of a large number of North Koreans, who rights groups say face imprisonment and abuse at the hands of North Korean authorities. Any forced repatriation of North Koreans goes against international norms and South Korea viewed it as regrettable, Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, told a media briefing. "It appears to be true that a large number of North Koreans in China's three northeast provinces have been repatriated to the North," Koo said. South Korea had been unable to determine the number of people involved and whether there were defectors among them. "The South Korean government regrets the situation and raised this matter with the Chinese side in a serious manner, emphasizing our position," he said. Former North Korean diplomat Tae Yong-ho, who is now a member of South Korea's parliament, issued a statement calling on the foreign ministry to summon the Chinese ambassador to South Korea as a form of protest. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday there were no "so-called defectors" in China, when asked about a report Beijing had deported about 600 North Korean defectors this week despite an appeal by South Korea. On Friday, the same spokesperson said China would "continue to appropriately handle" the matter according to humanitarian principles as well as domestic and international law. China has never recognised fleeing North Koreans as defectors and instead calls them "economic migrants". South Korea's government and international rights organisations have said defectors who are deported back to the North face harsh punishment including detention at labour camps where they are subject to dangerous treatment and conditions. Human Rights Watch said Chinese authorities had forced back more than 500 North Koreans, most of them women, and it called on governments to denounce the expulsion by Beijing. The North Koreans were taken in vehicle convoys on Monday night over five separate border crossings into the North, the rights group said, citing a missionary with contacts in the North and China who worked to help defectors. A North Korean who defected to South Korea in 2001 said a cousin of his, who had lived in China for 25 years, and had a daughter with a Chinese man, was believed to be among those deported this week. The defector, Kim Hyuk, told Reuters his cousin, Kim Cheol-ok, was detained by Chinese authorities in Jilin province in April and had in recent days called her daughter from prison to say she was about to be sent to back to North Korea. (Reporting by Jack Kim, Ju-min Park and Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing;Editing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel and Miral Fahmy) Do didn't realize Miami University was in Oxford, Ohio. Valerie Do An international student from Vietnam thought she'd applied to study in Miami, Florida. But when she got her acceptance letter, she realized she'd applied to Miami University in Ohio. Some people criticized her for not doing enough research, but she said it'd worked out for the best. When Valerie Do, 19, applied to study at Miami University in 2021, she was excited by the prospect of spending her days lounging on beaches in the sun in Florida, surrounded by palm trees like she'd seen in the movies. As an international student living in Vietnam, she couldn't visit the university before applying. So when the university sent her an acceptance letter welcoming her to Ohio, Do felt confused. At first, she wondered whether Ohio might be a district or a county in Florida. But after a quick Google search, her beach fantasy was shattered when she realized she wouldn't be going to the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, as she'd initially thought. She'd be going to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Miami University in Ohio was founded in 1809 and named after the Great Miami River in southwestern Ohio. The name of the city of Miami, Florida, is derived from the Native Tequesta name "Mayaimi," believed to mean "big water" or "sweet water," according to Encyclopedia Britannica. "I realized there are no beaches; it's just a cornfield in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest of America," Do told Insider. After spending some time researching, Do said she realized Miami University had a good business school. She decided to accept the offer, and she moved from Vietnam to Ohio. In her job as a campus tour guide at her university, Do often told students the story behind how she'd ended up there. People found the story funny, so when she heard the trending TikTok sound "I'm Already There" by Lonestar a song about being somewhere in spirit even though you can't be physically present she decided to use it to make fun of herself for the mistake. In the video posted on October 4, Do is sitting in front of her laptop as she mimes along to the song and gestures dramatically. In the text overlaying the video, she wrote: "When someone says 'go to hell' but I am studying abroad at Miami University of Ohio. I thought it was Miami Florida and did not realize. There are no beaches here it's just corn field and in the middle of nowhere." The video went viral and has more than 1.5 million views as people commented that they found the video funny or wrote "love and honor," which is Miami University's tagline, as an ode to the school. One viewer asked her if she'd Googled the school, and Do responded in a follow-up video. She said she hadn't researched the university until she'd been accepted but that she'd decided to accept the offer because of the financial aid she was offered, the scholarship they gave her, the safety of the area, and the business program. "Especially for international students, the most important part is obviously the money. They gave me a lot of money, and my parents can afford the tuition. So I ended up in Ohio," she told viewers. Do said that she didn't expect her video to blow up as much as it did and that the reaction from viewers had been interesting. "A lot of people make fun of me and tell me, 'Oh, it's your fault, it's on you," she said. But she told Insider the criticism didn't bother her because she was happy she ended up in Ohio instead of Florida. She said she and her friends had visited Miami, Florida, during spring break of her freshman year and that despite the nice beaches and the great city life, she didn't feel as safe as she does in Ohio. "We literally had to switch our Airbnb to another one because we thought that there was some person trying to break in in the middle of the night," she said. Do said the video was just a "silly, funny TikTok" that she'd made to make people laugh. "I really love my school, and I have a good time here," she said. "It was a great mistake to make." Correction: October 13, 2023 An earlier version of this story misstated the year Valerie Do applied to Miami University. It was 2021, not 2019. Read the original article on Insider Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic Suits may be coming back to television but in a whole new way. The popular legal drama, which originally aired on USA for nine seasons from 2011 to 2019, starred Patrick J. Adams as Mike Ross, an associate working at a New York City firm without a license. The series also starred Meghan Markle prior to her marriage to Prince Harry. Suits saw an unexpected resurgence over the summer after moving from Prime Video to Netflix, where the first eight seasons are currently streaming (Peacock hosts the entire series). In June, the show racked up more than 3 billion minutes of viewing between the two platforms, breaking a Nielsens streaming charts record for an acquired title. I always thought we were underestimated, but it turns out, even I underestimated #Suits, series creator Aaron Korsh tweeted when the streaming record was announced. Its good to be the King. Everything We Know About Sex And The City Revival And Just Like That Its officially the time of reboots and revivals on TV. While many original cast members return for new series revisiting old stories, many shows have left out major stars when returning. From reality TV like Jersey Shore Samantha Sammi Sweetheart Giancola did not return for the spinoff, Jersey Shore Family Vacation, when it debuted [] Given the shows recent boom, its not too surprising that rumors of a potential reboot have been circulating. On Thursday, October 12, Deadline reported that Korsh is developing a Suits offshoot with NBCUniversal. The project is not being billed as a revival, reboot or spinoff, but rather, an entirely new series that exists in the Suits universe. Thus, it will feature new characters and a new cast and be set in a different location than the original series. (Deadline reports that Los Angeles is being considered.) Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images A previous Suits spinoff was ordered by USA in 2019. Pearson, which followed attorney Jessica Pearson (played by Gina Torres), only ran for one season. Following the Suits streaming surge earlier this year, producer Gene Klein told TVLine that he was expecting a revival to come about. Meghan Markle attends the Instagram Dinner held at the MARS Discovery District on May 31, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. From her role on 'Suits' to her imminent engagement to Prince Harry, Meghan Markle continues to make headlines see photos of the actress' transformation through the years Ive mentioned to Aaron that I keep, in this era of reboots and reunions and all this other stuff, that Im expecting a call at some point, Klein told the outlet in July. But Im not aware of any serious conversations. Its just one of those things where, in this day and age, you wouldnt be surprised if somebody called you someday. He also noted the potential difficulty in securing original cast members for a reunion, particularly Markle, 41, who played outspoken attorney Rachel Zane in the shows first seven seasons. Markles departure was announced in November 2017 after her engagement to Prince Harry. I would assume thats just not possible, Klein said when asked if the duchess would return to the series. Us Weekly has reached out to NBC for comment on the new series. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said Israel has every right to defend itself from Hamas attacks but stressed that civilian safety must be paramount in our minds. Mr Sunak also said the UK was doing everything we can to ensure the security of British citizens after the Defence Secretary said it seemed very likely that there are British hostages in Gaza. Speaking to the media after talks with allies in Sweden, Mr Sunak highlighted how he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a conversation late on Thursday that caution was needed to protect civilians during its operation against Hamas militants that massacred hundreds of Israelis on Saturday. Palestinians have begun a mass exodus from northern Gaza after Israels military told them to evacuate ahead of an expected ground invasion. With around a million people in the affected area, the United Nations has warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous. But the Foreign Office urged Britons in Gaza to follow Israels directive, if they are able to, but recognise this will be be challenging for some people. The Prime Minister told broadcasters at the Joint Expeditionary Force summit in Gotland, Sweden: Of course we should always and we are always having concerns of civilians paramount in our minds. It is something Ive discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu myself and underlined with what the secretary of state from the United States (Antony Blinken) and the president (Joe Biden) have said, that of course Israel should take every possible precaution to protect civilians as they exercise their rightful ability to defend themselves against attacks like this. Mr Blinken, during a visit to Israel this week, said it matters how Israel chooses to defend itself and pressed for civilians not to be harmed. US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin, during a press conference in Tel Aviv on Friday, said: Terrorists like Hamas deliberately target civilians but democracies dont. This is a time for resolve, and not revenge. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7, with Israel placing the 25-mile Gaza Strip under siege and subjecting it to a torrent of retaliatory air strikes. Hamas said Israels heavy bombardment killed 13 hostages, including foreigners, held by the group. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told ITVs Good Morning Britain he would treat Hamass claim with caution but deep concern. Three Britons are confirmed to have lost their lives during the weekends assault on Israel but reports have suggested at least 17 could be among the casualties. The Prime Minister said: We are working very closely with the Israeli authorities and in contact with families to provide all the possible support that we can. We are increasing our military teams across the region and making sure that we are doing everything we can to ensure the security of British citizens. He said the Royal Navy ships he has sent to the eastern Mediterranean part of a package of military support for Israel announced before his trip to Sweden would be able to provide humanitarian assistance to those caught up in the conflict. Palestinians inspect the rubble of buildings hit by an Israeli airstrike at Al Shati Refugee Camp (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels Lyme Bay and Argus have been deployed to the region, along with Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft and a company of Royal Marines. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has not ruled out Britain sending further assistance, saying London will provide absolutely everything they need in efforts to come to Israels defence in their hour of need. During his round of broadcast interviews, Cabinet minister Mr Shapps refused to criticise the siege on Gaza which is blocking water, food, medicines and electricity from reaching one of the most populated areas in the world. Tel Aviv has said its complete barricade of Gaza would remain in place until some 150 hostages are freed, with Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant vowing to topple Hamas and wipe out the groups military capabilities. Mr Shapps said Israels practise of giving notice ahead of its missile strikes was in stark contrast to Hamas. He told BBC Breakfast: I think Israel finds itself in a very difficult situation, and to be clear: Israel needs to act within international law just like any other nation But Israel will also obviously need to deal with these Hamas terrorists. RFA Argus has been sent to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel and humanitarian efforts (LPhot Rory Arnold/PA) Israel is giving due warning, but they are going after those terrorists, and we absolutely respect Israels right to do that. Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme later, he said Hamas fighters were hiding themselves within the Palestinian population in Gaza and using them as human shields. Mr Shapps was repeatedly asked to explicitly say if the UK supports the evacuation order that the UN says Tel Aviv has issued. Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UKs chief executive, said it was extremely worrying that Mr Shapps was seemingly unwilling to urge allies in Israel to reconsider this ultimatum. He said: The horrific mass killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas does not absolve the Israeli authorities of their obligations to respect international humanitarian law and to properly protect civilians in their military actions, and all UK politicians should be absolutely clear on this vital principle. The fallout from flare-up of violence in the Middle East has been felt in Britain, with a four-fold rise in antisemitic incidents, according to the Community Security Trust, and a tripling of anti-Muslim cases being recorded by the group Tell Mama UK. Mr Sunak has condemned the disgusting rise in antisemitism in recent days and said intimidating behaviour and inciting violence or hatred will be met with the full force of the law. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the Government is working closely with a small number of Jewish schools, which have temporarily shut due to safety fears, to ensure they can re-open. Terrorism must not prevail in Ukraine or Israel, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told a summit of northern European nations in Sweden. It comes as Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a virtual address to a UK-led defence grouping meeting, called for collective efforts to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin as the war drags into another winter. The Prime Minister was on the Baltic island of Gotland on Friday for a gathering of the 10-strong Joint Expeditionary Force, where the war in Ukraine and the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza topped the agenda. The invasion of Ukraine has focused minds in northern Europe about the threat posed by Mr Putin, with a fresh emphasis placed on security co-operation in the region. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (centre left) during a plenary session at the Joint Expeditionary Summit on the Baltic island of Gotland (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Mr Sunak, who spent Thursday night aboard a Royal Navy frigate in Gotland, began his address to fellow leaders with a pledge to support both Ukraine and Israel. I think its important for us to say that were all outraged by the terrorist attacks that have happened in Israel. As you will all agree that we will stand with Israel at this moment. Ive offered Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu my full support. Terrorism will not, must not, prevail, in Ukraine, in Europe, in anywhere else. Mr Zelensky joined proceedings virtually, as leaders stressed their continued backing for Kyiv. The Prime Minister welcomes Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson on board HMS Diamond (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Now is the time for collective efforts. It does not mean that capabilities of one nation are too weak, Mr Zelensky said. It means that the task we face is too big. We need reliable geo-political stability in Europe and more broadly in the whole Euro-Atlantic space. So we need new collective forums of collaboration and strengthening of existing ones. Now before winter comes we should all focus on hybrid terrorist threats from Russia. We predict that this winter Russia will try to repeat its terror tactics. Five female and five male leaders gathered on the Baltic island, as Mr Sunak held a series of meetings with his Swedish, Norwegian and Danish counterparts. Mr Sunak met Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson aboard HMS Diamond ahead of the formal gathering, something the British leader described as a symbol of the co-operation between the two countries. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined crew for breakfast on board HMS Diamond (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The two men signed a new strategic partnership agreement. Mr Sunak described the Joint Expeditionary Force as the first line of defence, as he praised progress on defence co-operation. Weve done more in the last 18 months than weve done in almost a decade before, he said. I think that speaks to the energy which we put into this gathering but also the urgency that the situation demands. The gathering came amid concerns about the possible sabotage of an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. Downing Street said Mr Sunak, in his meeting with Norwegian leader Jonas Gahr Store, discussed the vital need to reinforce security around subsea infrastructure. The Government said that more than 20,000 British troops would be deployed across northern Europe next year, amid stepped-up in security in the region. The attack took place at a school in Arras A teacher has been stabbed to death and two others seriously injured after a knife-wielding assailant shouted Allahu Akbar as he attacked a school in northern France, it has been reported. Police were called to City School Gambetta-Carnot, a secondary school in Arras, on Friday morning after reports that three people were stabbed. Police have arrested the suspect. A French language teacher is understood to have been killed while a sports teacher and a security guard were also injured, according to Le Parisien. No pupils were hurt, a police source said. According to BFMTV, the suspect is a 20-year-old former pupil at the school. Le Parisien reported he is of Chechen origin and was known to authorities after being placed on a terror watch list. Footage of the incident was captured on social media The suspects brother was arrested near another school but was found not to be in possession of a weapon, according to police sources cited by Le Parisien. Video circulating on Twitter shows footage of what appears to be the assailant in the school playground with several people trying to overpower him. Were all in a state of shock, said philosophy teacher Martin Doussaut, who was chased down by the attacker but managed to escape unharmed after locking himself in a room. One pupil told Le Parisien he received a video of the suspect entering the school at around 11am when the attack took place. Pupils were kept in classrooms as the stabbings unfolded. Sliman Hamzi, a police officer who was one of the first on the scene, said the suspected attacker shouted Allahu Akbar God is great in Arabic. Mr Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer who was passing in front of the high school and called in. He was shouting someone is attacking with a knife, he said. Mr Hamzi said he rushed to the school and saw the victim lying on the ground and the attacker being taken away. Colleagues arrived quickly but unfortunately couldnt save the victim, Mr Hamzi said. A French union leader said the teacher was killed protecting pupils and that the security guard is in a critical condition. Sophie Venetitay, head of the SNES-FSU teachers union, told France Inter: The lycee security guard is currently in a critical condition because he tried to stop the former pupil from entering the school. People stand near the Lycee Gambetta-Carnot high school after a teacher was killed - Reuters/Pascal Rossignol The teacher who was killed was stabbed trying to protect pupils. They did what we all do: work for our pupils all the time, naturally teach them things but also protect them. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is travelling to Arras as parliament was suspended until 3pm. Gerald Darmanin, the French interior minister, confirmed that a police operation is underway in lycee Gambetta in Arras. The perpetrator has been arrested by police. Parliamentary speaker Yael-Braun-Pivet from President Macrons Renaissance group, said: Horror has struck a lycee in Arras. My thoughts are with the victim, the injured and their families. I offer my full support to the entire educational community and pupils. Thank you to our police and emergency services who are mobilised. The head of the French Socialist parliamentary group, Boris Vallaud, wrote: Devastated by the horror in Arras. A teacher killed three years after the death of Samuel Paty. All my thoughts go to the victims families, to the pupils and the entire educational community. Lets stay united. Jean-Michel Blanquer, the former education minister, added: The murder of a school teacher floors us once again. The attack came hours after Mr Macron called for national unity and urged the French to avoid importing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr Macrons plea was made after the Israeli foreign ministry website warned that Hamas had called on all of its supporters around the world to hold a Day of Rage on Friday to attack Israelis and Jews. It is reasonable to assume that there will be protest events in various countries that are liable to turn violent, it said in a statement. The attack took place at a school in Arras - BFMTV The latest French school attack comes almost three years to the day after Samuel Paty, another secondary school teacher, was killed and beheaded in Eragny-sur-Oise, a suburb of Paris, by an 18-year-old Islamic terrorist. One of Mr Patys students had alleged that in a class on freedom of expression, he had shown his students Charlie Hebdos 2012 cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, despite the fact that she was absent from the class that day. The attack also comes with tensions rising in France, which has Europes largest Jewish and Muslim communities, after last weekends attack by Hamas on Israel. President Macron said in an address to the nation on Thursday that 582 religious and cultural facilities in France were receiving stepped-up police protection. Those who confuse the Palestinian cause and the justification of terrorism commit a strong moral, political and strategic error, he said. There has also been controversy over the French governments ban on pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attack, with the Left lamenting it was no longer possible to protest for peace but the Right saying the measures did not go far enough. The most controversial stance has come from Leftist France Unbowed, which has refused to brand Hamas a terrorist group. Mr Darmanin on Thursday banned protests nationwide on the grounds they are likely to generate disturbances to public order, adding that organisers should face arrest. Separately, an Israeli embassy worker in Beijing was attacked earlier on Friday but is in a stable condition in hospital. The attack did not happen within the embassy compound, which is located one over from the US embassy in a part of the city teeming with heavy Chinese security presence, including officers in uniform and plainclothes. Its unclear what motivated the attack, and an investigation is underway. Elsewhere, police in Jordan have reportedly fired tear gas at protesters marching towards the West Bank border in solidarity with Palestinians with footage circulating on social media. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer. A teacher stabbed to death at a secondary school in France stepped forward to protect others, said Emmanuel Macron, who described it as a terror attack. The French president said the language teacher, named by a colleague as Dominque Bernard, had without doubt saved many lives. The attack happened at City School Gambetta-Carnot in the town of Arras in the north of the country on Friday at around 11am. Two other people were injured. A former pupil of the school, aged in his 20s, has reportedly been arrested (AFP/Getty Images) French anti-terror prosecutors have taken over the investigation. Visiting the school, Macron told reporters the attack was the result of barbaric Islamist terrorism. He added: The teacher who was killed had come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives. He also said that police had thwarted an attempted attack in another French region - but did not provide any more detail. The suspect being held by police over the school attack is a man in his 20s of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by the French security services over suspected radicalization, local authorities have said. Emmanuel Macron, followed by Pas-de-Calais Prefect Jacques Billant visit the Gambetta high school in Arras (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The French intelligence services told The Associated Press the man had been closely watched since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that found no wrongdoing. A police officer, who was one of the first on the scene, told the news agency that the attacker, a former pupil at the school, shouted: Allahu Akbar - God is great in Arabic. Police said two other men, a second teacher and a security guard, were in critical condition. The attack came amid heightened tensions around the world over Hamas weekend attack on southern Israel and Israels military response. (Reuters) A philosophy teacher who witnessed the attack told AFP he barricaded himself inside the school until police arrived. He said: He attacked canteen staff, I wanted to go down to intervene, he turned to me, chased me and asked me if I was a history and geography teacher. We barricaded ourselves, then the police arrived and immobilized him. A PE teacher told newsoutlet BFMTV he thought the attack was an exercise. He said: The students are shocked, you can see it in their eyes. I can see very clearly who the victim was. Its shocking to hear that siren and know its for real. One pupil told outlet La Voix du Nord: We were leaving class to go to the canteen when we saw the guy with two knives attacking the teacher, who had blood on him. He tried to calm him down and protect us. Pupils are said to still be confined to their classrooms (Reuters) French police announced the situation was under control around an hour after the attack too place (Reuters) He told us to leave, but we didnt really understand, so we ran and others went back upstairs. Macron travelled to Arras along with the interior and education ministers. On his visit, he stopped for a moment before the blanket-covered body of the teacher, which was in the parking area in front of the school. Hundreds of police were deployed around the school and nearby neighbourhoods, including heavily armed units, and barricaded a wide perimeter around the site. Parents said pupils were still confined to the locked-down school more than three hours after the attack. Meanwhile, political leaders have taken to social media to share their shock and sadness, as The National Assembly in Paris suspended its session in solidarity with the victims. Yael Braun-Pivet, president of the countrys National Assembly, said: Horror has just struck a high school in Arras. My thoughts are with the victim, the injured, their families. I give my full support to the entire teaching community and to the students. Thank you to the law enforcement and emergency services mobilized. Jean-Michel Blanquer, former minister for education, said: The assassination of a professor strikes us down once again. Everything is connected. Our inflexibility in the face of the Islamist hydra is the only way. Any complicity, even intellectual, with terrorism is unbearable. The attack has also led to ministers calling for a tightening of security at schools. Gabriel Attal, minister of education, said: A knife attack occurred this morning in Arras, causing several victims. I ask you to take without delay all the necessary measures to strengthen the security of all schools and establishments. Google opened its door to the public with the "Visitor Experience" center that was launched by Google executives and local leaders at the company's headquarters in Mountainview, California. Read Also: Google Introduces Generative AI Search for Doctors What to Expect with Google's Visitor Experience Google launched the Visitor Experience as a way to let people inside Google and be immersed in the company's environment and culture. There are various public amenities that the public can explore such as Cafe at Mountain View, The Huddle, Google Store, The Plaza, Pop-Up Shop, and Public Art. "We've always been focused on the experience of Googlers and their friends," said Google's head of real estate Scott Foster. However, this time the company intentionally designed the project for the public to enjoy. Despite the offerings, the public is still not allowed to walk through Google's actual office space. However, to satisfy your curiosity as to how it feels to work inside Google, the company has allotted a visitor center wherein community groups and nonprofit groups can reserve a space to hold their meetings and events. Inside Google's Visitor Experience The Cafe at Mountain View is the first-ever public dining experience by Google wherein they serve breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Visitors can sit inside the cafe or take the outdoor view on the patio. There is also a Pop-Up Shop that serves as a retail space for local and small businesses. On the other hand, if the visitors seek artwork Google has The Plaza where various art installations and events can be explored. There are also interactive public arts within the vicinity to check out. Of course, the tour would not be complete if the visitors were not encouraged to buy some of the popular flagship products of Google. Visitors can shop and take a look at the latest Google products. In addition, they will also be selling exclusive merchandise and offer workshops hosted by experts. Related Article: Google Assistant Integrates With Bard AI Chatbot for Personalized Answers Texas paid over $75m to a private company over one year to transport migrants out of the state and into sanctuary cities across the country. From August 2022 through August 2023, the state paid Wynne Transportation $75,561,032.72, according to transaction data provided by the Texas Department of Emergency Management, reported ABC13. Among other services, the companys website says, Wynne Transportation provides services to businesses, corporations, academic clients, municipal, and government agencies who are interested in contract services, custom transportation services, and more. The outlet obtained a statement from Texas Gov Greg Abbotts office on Wednesday. Mr Abbotts spokesperson, Andrew Mahaleris, told ABC13, Governor Abbott launched the border bus mission in April 2022 to provide support to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities as the Biden Administration dumps thousands of migrants in their towns. Texas has since bused over 54,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities, providing much-needed relief. He added, In recent weeks, border officials and NGOs in border communities have requested additional support to respond to the unprecedented surges enticed by President Bidens reckless open border policies. Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue busing migrants to sanctuary cities to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis. Gov Abbotts office boasted the number of migrants sent to each city in a press release last week as part of Operation Lone Star, a multi-agency effort to respond to a rise in illegal immigration, according to Texas Indigent Defense Commission. The release stated that Texas has bused at least 12,500 migrants to Washington, DC since April 2022, 18,500 to New York City and over 13,500 migrants to Chicago since August 2022, over 3,200 migrants to Philadelphia since November 2022, over 3,200 migrants to Denver since May 18, and over 940 migrants to Los Angeles since 14 June 2023. While sanctuary cities have offered many migrants a place to stay, some cities are strained for resources. New York Gov Kathy Hochul last month warned that Places like New York really are at capacity. She added, We have large hearts, we want to be generous and supportive to people who are experiencing a humanitarian crisis. But there is a limit to what we can do. On 2 October, Illinois Gov JB Pritzker wrote a letter to President Biden, asking for federal assistance as the migrant crisis in his state is overwhelming. Without calling out Texas or Gov Abbott by name, but in an apparent reference to both, Mr Pritzker penned: Allowing just one state to lay the burden upon a certain few states run by Democrats is untenable. More than 150 tips flooded Vermont State Police after authorities released a sketch of a person connected to the murder of a retired college dean on a trail. Police released the sketch Wednesday afternoon based on witness recollections of a man they saw on a recreational trail before finding 77-year-old Honoree Fleming dead with a gunshot wound to the head. She was killed on Oct. 5 about one mile south of Vermont State University's Castleton Campus on the Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail. "In addition to releasing the sketch to the public, detectives with the Vermont State Police continue to review potential evidence in the case, including forensic evidence with the assistance of the Vermont Forensic Laboratory at the Department of Public Safety in Waterbury," state police wrote on Wednesday. Vermont State Police Public Information Officer Adam Silverman didn't immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on Friday. This composite police sketch released by Vermont State Police depicts a person of interest in the Oct. 5, 2023, killing of Honoree Fleming, 77, in Castleton, Vermont. The sketch was prepared by Detective Sgt. Adam Temple of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office in Bath, Maine. Police described the person as being a 5-foot-10 male in his 20s with short, red hair. He's considered armed and dangerous. Commander of the Vermont State Police Capt. Scott Dunlap told the Associated Press witnesses saw the man acting odd. He added police don't know if the shooting was random or targeted. The Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail is a 19.8-mile section of former railroad that cuts through scenic countryside with vistas of the nearby hills, villages, farms, fields and forests, according to its website. It's a multiple-use trail open to pedestrians, bicyclists, and horseback riders in the summer, and snowshoers, skiers and snowmobiles in the winter. Signs and a closed gate stand at an entrance to the Delaware & Hudson Rail Trail, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, in Castleton, Vt. Police said an autopsy showed that retired dean and professor Honoree Fleming, of Castleton, Vt., died from a gunshot wound to the head on Thursday, Oct. 5. She was found on the trail about a mile south of the Castleton campus of Vermont State University. Vermont State, loved ones mourn death of former dean Vermont State University Castleton campus confirmed that Fleming was a retired dean of education at the university. She previously worked as a faculty member at Trinity College, Middlebury College and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Fleming lived in Castleton with her husband Ron Powers, a Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times-bestselling author. The university reopened Oct. 9 and resumed classes on Oct. 10 after closing the week prior following Fleming's homicide. In this 2010 photo provided by Anne Slonaker, Honoree Fleming stands for a photograph. Fleming, a retired dean and professor of education at Vermont State University, in Castleton, Vermont, was found shot to death on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, on the Delaware & Hudson Rail Trail about a mile south of the Castleton campus of the university. In a Facebook post, Powers said his wife was walking along her favorite trail near the college when she was killed. "There is an area-wide dragnet out for her killer," he wrote. "Police believe that it was random, but all possibilities remain open." Powers added he was with his son, Dean. "Those of you who knew her know that she was beautifully named," he wrote about Fleming. "I have never known a more sterling heart and soul than hers. She has taken far more than half my own heart and soul with her." In 2017, Powers wrote "No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America" about his two sons with schizophrenia. One of his sons, Kevin, died in 2005. Contributing: Christopher Cann, USA TODAY; Associated Press. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vermont police flooded with tips on sketch related to trail homicide A top aide to President Biden who has close ties to Hunter Biden, even referring to him as a "brother" in emails, was the first person to "take inventory" of Bidens documents and materials at his think tank, according to a new timeline released by the House Oversight Committee. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., pressed the White House earlier this week on an "incomplete and misleading" timeline he said that they provided his committee with regard to who had searched through the papers at the Washington, D.C., office for the president's think tank, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Annie Tomasini, a senior Biden aide, had inspected the classified documents on March 18, 2021, two months after Biden had taken office and nearly 20 months before they were said to be found, Comer's letter said, citing a letter from a Penn Biden Center employee. "President Bidens team has misled the American people about the series of events related to his mishandling of classified documents," Comer told Fox News Digital. "Bidens team told the American people that documents were unexpectedly found in November 2022, but now we know a White House official and close friend of Hunter Biden was tasked with taking inventory of President Bidens documents and materials in March 2021." HUNTER BIDEN, CHINA, CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS: MYSTERY SWIRLS AROUND PENN BIDEN CENTER "Why did the White House and President Bidens attorney omit this critical piece of information? The Biden White House may have known President Biden had a document problem as early as 2021 and enlisted at least five White House employees to coordinate, organize, move and remove boxes from Penn Biden Center through 2022," Comer said. "The Oversight Committee will continue to pursue the facts and provide the transparency and accountability that the American people demand." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The Comer letter to White House counsel Edward Siskel demands cooperation from top White House aides regarding their communications and actions in 2021 and 2022. A timeline in the letter reveals that at least "five White House employees, including Dana Remus, Anthony Bernal, Ashley Williams, Annie Tomasini, and an unknown staffer," in addition to Kathy Chung, a top aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, made multiple visits to the Penn Biden Center and were involved with the retrieval of boxes of documents and materials ahead of early November 2022, which was when Biden's personal attorneys "unexpectedly discovered Obama-Biden documents" in a locked closet at the Biden think tank. "There is no reasonable explanation as to why this many White House employees and lawyers were so concerned with retrieving boxes they believed only contained personal documents and materials," Comer said. He then questioned why Remus, who served as White House counsel until July 2022, "played such an integral role in gathering President Bidens boxes that were purportedly believed to contain non-government materials," noting these administrative tasks didn't require "her legal expertise nor her involvement." Tomasini, who serves as the White House Director of Oval Office Operations, is not only a senior adviser to Biden but also a close friend of the Biden family, including Hunter. She maintained close relations with Hunter throughout the Obama administration, in some cases referring to him as her "brother," and often ended her emails with "LY" for "love you," according to emails dating from 2010 to 2016. For example, in December 2010, Biden announced that Tomasini was stepping down to take a position with Harvard University. Tomasini kept Hunter clued in on the details of that position before she took it, according to emails on his abandoned laptop, which Fox News Digital has verified. The month prior, in November 2010, she forwarded information to Hunter about Harvard's employee benefits and added, "Thanks." "Hey I looked at benefits And they look pretty amazing. Any word on comp?" Hunter responded. "I'll keep you posted. Thanks for looking at all the background Hunt," Tomasini said. Later that month, Tomasini was offered the job, writing to Hunter, "Director of intergovernmental relations. > 120k ish may be a little higher." Tomasini thanked him and said she would tell his father the news. Months later, Hunter gave a speech at Harvard, but only after he ran the draft by Tomasini first. JOE BIDEN NOMINATES FORMER HUNTER BIDEN LAW FIRM COLLEAGUE AS SPECIAL COUNSEL President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden Furthermore, President Biden regularly met with his inner circle at the Wilmington, Delaware, home where classified documents were also discovered. Hunter Biden had stayed at the house during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the White House said no visitor logs exist for the president's Wilmington residence, several people have been identified as guests at the house, a previous Fox News Digital review found. Biden converted the basement of his Wilmington residence into a de facto campaign headquarters in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic, and he frequently hosted virtual events and would have had to rely on campaign aides to help. Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser in first lady Jill Biden's office, "were allowed in regularly" because "neither of them had their own families, which meant they could devote themselves entirely to the Bidens," according to the book, "Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency," by Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen. Biden has spent considerable time in Delaware since taking over the presidency. During the visits, Biden stays at his Wilmington or Rehoboth Beach residences and has a full security detail. After the discovery of classified documents at the Penn Biden Center, questions reignited on the likes of Chinese donations to the University of Pennsylvania, which houses the think tank. Hunter Biden had also discussed the center in emails before its launch, Fox News Digital previously reported. FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS FLOATED SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES AGAINST HUNTER BIDEN, DOC SHOWS In addition to Tomasini, Fox News Digital previously reported on Hunter's ties to Kathy Chung, who is currently serving as the Pentagon's deputy director of protocol. Comer's timeline shows that she "went to Penn Biden Center to pack up President Bidens documents and materials" on June 28, 2022, according to her transcribed interview. During the Obama-Biden administration, Chung served as then-Vice President Biden's executive assistant for about five years. Emails showed that Hunter recommended Chung for the executive assistant role when the previous holder of the job, Michele Smith, departed the White House in the spring of 2012. A month after Chung thanked Hunter for "thinking" of her and getting her to apply for a job in the vice president's office, Chung emailed Hunter informing him that she had been offered the job. Kathy Chung informs Hunter Biden that then-Vice President Biden had selected her to be his executive assistant. "I cannot thank you enough for thinking about me and walking me thru this," she said. "What an incredible opportunity! Thanks, Hunter!!" In another email exchange shortly after the Obama-Biden administration concluded, Hunter suggested that Chung come work at his company. It does not appear that she ever joined Hunter's company. Hunter Biden tells Kathy Chung she should work for him in February 2017, adding that he can "make everyone money." Special Counsel Robert Hur, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is leading the current probe of Biden's handling of the classified materials. The documents were found in a locked closet while preparing to vacate office space at the center, which the president used from mid-2017 until he began the 2020 presidential campaign. The National Archives were notified of the finding and took possession of the documents on Nov. 3, 2022, according to an early timeline provided by Biden's personal attorney Bob Bauer. Biden, meanwhile, recently conducted two "voluntary" interviews with Hur on Sunday and Monday. "As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation," Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House Counsels Office, said in a statement earlier this week. The White House did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Original article source:Top Biden aide with close ties to Hunter was first WH staffer to handle classified docs, new timeline reveals Donald Trump is planning a return to his New York civil fraud trial for a showdown with his former fixer turned sworn enemy Michael Cohen. A source told The Associated Press that the former president will be back in court Tuesday through Thursday next week when Cohen is expected to take the stand to testify in the case that threatens to topple Mr Trumps business empire in the Empire State. Cohen, who was jailed for lying to Congress, welcomed the reunion. Its been 5 years since we have seen one another. I look forward to the reunion. I hope Donald does as well, he said in a text message to the AP. Cohen spent time in jail over his work for Mr Trump before he became the so-called star witness in the first criminal case brought against the former president. In the lead-up to the 2016 election, Cohen then Mr Trumps attorney and fixer made hush money payments on behalf of Mr Trump to silence women about the alleged affairs they had with him. Cohen was later convicted of tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations related to the payments and was sentenced to three years in prison. This April, Mr Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over the hush money payments. According to the indictment, the catch and kill campaign allegedly involved Mr Trump and Cohen making hush money payments during the 2016 run to suppress negative information about him by silencing individuals over alleged affairs he had with women. Three specific alleged affairs and hush money payments were mentioned in the charging documents a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, a $150,000 to former playboy model Karen McDougal and a $30,000 payment to a doorman at Trump Tower who claimed he had information that Mr Trump had fathered a child with a woman while married to Melania Trump. Former US President Donald Trump sits inside the courtroom at his civil fraud trial (AP) Mr Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election, the charging documents read. Prior to Mr Trumps indictment and arrest, Cohen had testified to the grand jury in the case and was said to be the star witness. Mr Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the criminal case and has denied having affairs. While there has been no love lost between the two men for some time, they are now poised to come face-to-face with one another again over a different case in New York. Mr Trump attended the first three days of the trial, repeatedly railing against the case to reporters in the courtroom corridors in between the court sessions. This week, Mr Trumps longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg took the stand in the trial. Weisselberg who has recently been released from prison after he was convicted of tax fraud at the Trump Organization was grilled about his credibility, suggesting that a $2m severance package was payment for protecting the former president. Michael Cohen walks out of a Manhattan courthouse after testifying before a grand jury in the hush money case (Getty Images) New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit back in September 2022 accusing Mr Trump, his adult sons Don Jr and Eric, the Trump Organization and several executives of widespread business fraud including overinflating the companys value for years. Mr Trump has already been found liable for fraud in a bombshell ruling from the judge just days before the case was headed to trial. Judge Engoron ruled that Mr Trump, his adult sons, businesses and some of their executives grossly and materially inflated the value of the Trump Organizations assets for more than a decade. By deceiving banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the value of assets, the company was able to secure more favourable business deals and loans, the judge found. Now, the judge will determine what penalties Mr Trump should face. AG James is seeking $250m in penalties from Mr Trump and for him to be banned from doing business in New York something that would be a major blow to his business empire and see his namesake buildings like Trump Tower shutter. Former President Trump risks potential backlash in the Republican presidential primary over his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the Hamas terror attacks in Israel. In a speech Wednesday, Trump accused Netanyahu of letting us down in 2020 just before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general. Trump also suggested that the Biden administration and Israeli leaders public discussions helped Hezbollah, which the U.S. designates as a terror organization, plan further attacks on Israel. Then on Thursday, Trump said in an interview that Israel wouldnt have had to be prepared if he were in the White House. Additionally, the former president referred to Israels defense minister as a jerk. The comments have already opened Trump up to criticism from rival GOP presidential candidates including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his former Vice President Mike Pence. Additionally, the comments could threaten to attract more criticism from other members of the GOP, which is dominantly pro-Israel. I think its a strategic mistake, said Alex Stroman, a Republican strategist. If I was a Republican candidate, I would probably be running ads [using Trumps comments against him]. Top Stories from The Hill DeSantis took to X, the platform formally known as Twitter, on Wednesday to criticize Trump and tout his own position on Israel. Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as very smart, the governor wrote on the platform. DeSantis further responded to Trumps remarks Thursday during an interview with Fox News. This is a time to be standing with Israel, DeSantis said. And to be attacking the prime minister and the defense minister just makes no sense. On Thursday evening, DeSantiss communications director hit the Trump campaign over their response to the criticism of the former presidents comments. No matter what rhetorical gymnastics act his campaign team tries to perform to attempt to once again cover for him, nobody can change the fact that last night Donald Trump showed his true colors by insulting Israelis during one of their darkest hours and simultaneously complimenting one of the terrorist groups that continue to pose a grave threat to Israelis and Americans alike. It is disturbing and disqualifying, said Andrew Romeo, communications director for the DeSantis campaign. Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Defense and National Security newsletter On Thursday, Pence said in an interview on New Hampshire Today that its no time for the former president or any other American leader to be sending any message other than America stands with Israel. Hezbollah arent smart, theyre evil. But the former president also said when Russia invaded Ukraine in a similar unprovoked, unconscionable invasion a year and a half ago, he said Vladimir Putin was a genius, Pence said. And I will tell you, look, all the blame here lies at the feet of the Hamas and the Russian military in these unprovoked invasions, and they need to be held to account. Trumps campaign has come out in his defense, noting that he was not praising Hezbollah. President Trump was clearly pointing out how incompetent Biden and his administration were by telegraphing to the terrorists an area that is susceptible to an attack. Smart does not equal good. It just proves Biden is stupid, Trumps campaign said. The Trump campaign also pointed out that Xs Community Notes put a disclaimer on the DeSantis campaigns post, saying it intentionally misuses the word praise to suggest Trump is complementing Hezbollah. Trumps defenders argue that the remarks wont have any significant impact in the long term. This was not the best choice of words, said Ford OConnell, a Republican strategist. Hes not wrong, Hezbollah is not stupid and theyre well organized, and theyre also south of our U.S. border. OConnell went on to cite a Marquette University poll that was released earlier this month, showing that voters said they believed Trump was better on foreign relations than Biden, 43 percent to 38 percent. Donald Trump is seen as the gold standard among Republican voters when it comes to foreign policy, OConnell said. You didnt have any wars, and you had stability on the world stage, particularly you had stability in the Middle East. And Trump did offer words of solidarity with Israel during his speech Wednesday. Under my leadership, the United States will fully support Israel, defeating, dismantling, and permanently destroying the terrorist group, Hamas, the former president said. The Trump administration played a key role in mediating the Abraham Accords, which was a 2020 agreement to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Since Hamass attacks on Israel and the subsequent war, however, any hope of peace between Israel and other Arab countries, notably Saudi Arabia, has cratered. What the Republicans are able to say is that Joe Bidens appeasement, whether its Iran, Russia and everything else, has squandered the stability that Donald Trump has brought to the world stage in the Middle East in the four years he was in office, OConnell said. Other Republicans say Trump may have had a different strategy in mind when he issued criticism of Netanyahu days after the terror attacks. What this is an attempt to do is to get voters who might not like Netanyahu, but are also likely to more agree with his positions, especially on migrants and the economy, said Hank Sheinkopf, a Republican strategist. He shows himself to be more of a moderate, less of a lunatic, and the end result is he picks off votes in a very close election that can make the difference. But Biden and his administration have received widespread praise for their response to the attacks, including from Netanyahu and some conservatives in and out of Israel. While I have been, and remain, deeply critical of the Biden Administration, the moral, tactical, diplomatic and military support that it has provided Israel over the past few days has been exceptional, David Friedman, former U.S. ambassador to Israel under Trump, wrote on X. Biden has delivered a number of blistering condemnations of the attacks and repeatedly reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel. Additionally, Secretary of State Antony Blinken received a warm welcome by Israeli officials and citizens alike in the country Thursday. Trumps argument is that Biden is weak, Sheinkopf said. Bidens response to the atrocities committed by Hamas this week in Israel was one of strength. That helps him not just with Jewish voters but with voters in the middle, he continued. So this battle is something that Trump understands and Biden understands. It will be a very close race and every vote will matter, especially in states where electoral votes are tight. So the rhetoric of each of these men is going to try to deal with that. This story was updated at 8:06 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. No 10 said Royal Navy ship RFA Argus would be deployed (file photo) The UK will send two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean in plans to "bolster security", No 10 says. It comes after six days of violence following the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas. The aircraft will begin patrols on Friday to "track threats to regional stability such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups". Three Merlin helicopters and Royal Marines are also being dispatched. The government is also arranging flights for British nationals stranded in Israel. The first plane was expected to leave Tel Aviv on Thursday, but as of Friday morning it had not yet left. A Foreign Office spokesperson said the situation around departure was "fluid", and it was "currently working to ensure the flight can proceed as soon as possible". Speaking in Sweden on Friday, Rishi Sunak said the UK was monitoring the situation in Israel closely, adding "humanitarian concerns and protection of civilians are very important". The prime minister said Royal Navy assets were being moved to the Mediterranean over the coming week so they can "provide humanitarian support as required". On Thursday he spoke to Israel's prime minister to reaffirm the UK's support for Israel following Hamas' appalling terrorist attack", Downing Street said. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps earlier said the Royal Navy vessels were not warships, but "ships that can assist with hospital facilities". He told BBC Breakfast sending the boats was also about "deterring others from getting involved in the region" and "maligning external influence". When asked about Israel's response to the attacks, the defence secretary said "Israel has the right to defend itself" and added that, "unlike Hamas", it was giving warning "that it's coming after Hamas terrorists" which was the right thing to do. Mr Sunak also spoke to Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday morning to discuss the importance of opening the Rafah crossing into Gaza to allow for humanitarian access and provide a route for British and other nationals to leave. Speaking on Thursday, he said the UK's military and diplomatic teams across the region would support international partners to "re-establish security and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the thousands of innocent victims of this barbaric attack from Hamas terrorists". More on Israel Gaza war Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on Saturday, killing at least 1,300 and taking around 150 hostages to Gaza. More than 1,300 have also been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes. Ukrainian servicemen of the 59th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade fire a BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system towards Russian troops near a front line, amid Russias attack on Ukraine, near the town of Avdiivka, in the Donetsk region (Reuters) The Ukrainian military continues to hold its ground in the face of Russias relentless assault on the eastern city of Avdiivka, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as the battle intensified for a third day. Russia has moved a large armoured column of three battalions, including some 2,000 troops, dozens of armoured vehicles and jets into the northern flank of the Avdiivka front for what has been described as the biggest military offensive in months. The Ukrainian forces said they had repelled more than 20 attacks by the Russian army in Avdiivka and the surrounding regions in the past 24 hours, in what was described as a blow to Moscows attempts to use the offensive to show that the tide of the war was turning in its favour. Mr Zelensky said: Avdiivka. We are holding our ground. It is Ukrainian courage and unity that will determine how this war will end. We must all remember this. Municipal officials said that the Russian attacks were relentless and that the enemy was attacking from all sides. Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the citys military administration, told Ukrainian television: The enemy does not stop storming, they come from all directions. Ukrainian Special Operations forces said Kyivs troops had foiled the plans of the crazed enemy, repelled all attacks and held their positions. Avdiivka. We are holding our ground. It is Ukrainian courage and unity that will determine how this war will end. We must all remember this. Photo: Oleg Palchyk pic.twitter.com/X1vV9CMUAW Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) October 12, 2023 Avdiivka holds significant strategic importance for Russia, serving as the crucial gateway to Donetsk, the primary communication hub within the occupied territories. To gain a foothold in occupied Donbas, the Kremlin aims to shift the front line away from Donetsk. Smoke rises from an area in the direction of Avdiivka, as seen from Donetsk, on 11 October (Reuters) In 2022, Russian forces initiated an offensive against Avdiivka, attempting to encircle the city deeply from both sides. This offensive was halted and the region has become a symbol of resistance, holding out against Russian troops ever since. On average, there are 50-60 instances of intense shelling with artillery and rockets targeting the town, said Mr Barabash. As for military positions, they get hit at least 500-600 times a day. Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraines southern group of forces, said Russia saw Avdiivka as an opportunity to win a significant victory and turn the tide of fighting. Today the capture or encirclement of Avdiivka is probably the most it can achieve at this stage, he said. Geolocated footage of the area showed that Russia had advanced in some villages southwest and northwest of Avdiivka this week, according to the Institute for the Study of War, an American non-profit research group and think tank. Around 64 clashes have been reported in the last 24 hours, involving 4 missile attacks, 65 airstrikes, and around 54 attacks using multiple-launch rocket systems on Ukrainian troops and various settlements, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an update on Facebook. In the latest overnight attacks, Russia intensified strikes on Danube River ports in the southern Odesa region, which has become Kyivs main route for food exports since July, when Moscow abandoned a deal allowing shipments via the Black Sea. A military spokesperson said Russia had hit a grain storage facility in the Odesa region, and that some grain had been damaged, but he did not say how much. It comes amid fears that Moscow will intensify attacks on power infrastructure to freeze Ukrainians as winter sets in, in a repeat of events last winter. By Joseph Ax and Gabriella Borter NEW YORK (Reuters) - (This Oct. 12 story has been corrected to say that the University of Arizona president called the national Students for Justice in Palestine statement antithetical to school values, not the local chapter gathering, in paragraph 16) At Columbia University on Thursday, two groups of hundreds of students tensely faced each other in dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations, while university officials blocked public access to the New York City campus as a safety measure. Supporters of Palestinians, many of whom wore face masks to hide their identities, held signs in a grassy area near a library that read "Free Palestine" and "To Exist is to Resist." About 100 feet (30 meters) away, students backing Israel silently held up posters with the faces of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. After the Palestinian militant group Hamas' weekend attack on Israel, Israel has bombarded and laid siege to the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, and plans a ground invasion. The Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300, according to public broadcaster Kan. Gaza authorities said more than 1,500 Palestinians had been killed. Amid the growing conflict, tensions between students on opposite sides of the issue have boiled over on some U.S. college campuses. Statements by student groups supporting Palestinians have prompted outrage and fear among Jews and, in some cases, wider rebuke from public officials and corporations. There have been reports of harassment and assaults of both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students, deepening grief and putting students of all political stripes on high alert. "Jewish students are afraid," said David Hidary, a 20-year-old physics major, who attended the Columbia protest with an Israeli flag draped over his shoulders. In a sign of the tensions, some counter-protesters at Columbia shouted angrily at the pro-Palestinian group. During a moment of silence for Palestinian victims, an opposing protester yelled out that they should be honoring children murdered by Hamas. Several masked speakers at the pro-Palestine rally declined to reveal their full names, with one saying they did not feel safe enough on campus to disclose their identity. Many faulted the university for not expressing more support for Palestinian students and the people of Gaza. The campus climate may only become more tense in coming days. Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas in retribution for the deadliest attack by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. Meanwhile, college administrators are grappling with how to keep campuses secure and denounce the violence in the Middle East without wading too deeply into a supercharged political and historical dispute that affects Jewish and Palestinian students personally. 'DAY OF RESISTANCE' CALLED A controversy at Harvard University on Monday was one of the first to make headlines. Prominent alumni lambasted a joint student group statement calling Israel "entirely responsible" for the war. The university president later clarified that the groups did not represent the school's position. On Tuesday, the names and personal information of students allegedly involved were posted online and on Wednesday a billboard truck displaying that information was driven around campus, the Harvard Crimson newspaper reported. Some critics of the pro-Palestinian letter responded by denouncing the intimidation of students, the newspaper said. Tensions sparked anew at campuses on Thursday as the national group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) declared a "day of resistance," with demonstrations by its 200 chapters at colleges across North America. The national group, which advocates for an independent Palestine and says on its website that it promotes "an agenda grounded in freedom, solidarity, equality, safety and historical justice," called the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas "a historic win for the Palestinian resistance." The Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization fighting antisemitism, wrote a letter to college presidents warning that Students for Justice in Palestine was "condoning terrorism by Hamas by repackaging it as justified acts of 'resistance'" with its planned day of action. The University of Arizona, Tucson chapter of SJP canceled a protest on Thursday, citing safety concerns after the school's president said the national group's statement "endorsing the actions of Hamas" was "antithetical to our university's values." Dozens of students from the University of California Los Angeles chapter of SJP held a march for Palestine on Thursday, despite the group's report that its student members had been harassed and assaulted over the last several days, including while counter-protesting a pro-Israel rally. At Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the SJP chapter chose to host a vigil on Thursday night but declined to allow media access "due to increased harassment and threats of violence against Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and anti-Zionist students across the country." (Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Washington, Joseph Ax in New York and Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Writing by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Cynthia Osterman) The son of Israeli-American parents who died as they helped save his life during attacks by militant group Hamas in Israel has spoken out after their deaths. Deborah Matias, 50, and her husband, Shlomi, were among the more than 1,300 people killed in Israel over the weekend. Their 16-year-old son, Rotem, witnessed their death after Hamas terrorists broke into the familys home on Saturday. The teenagers mother died after she threw her body on top of her son to protect him as the Hamas militants shot at the family, her father, Ilan Troen, told Bostons WBZ-TV. Rotem was shot in the abdomen during the attack but survived, hiding for more than 12 hours after he was shot. In an interview on Thursday, the 16-year-old told CNN he plans to keep the bullet in honour of his parents. I wanted to just keep it as a memory to never forget them and remember that even though it was the hardest and lowest point in my life, I found some hope that maybe I could live and share the memories, and how I saw my parents, with other people. It took several days for the teen to recover from his injury. Im able to walk now, he said. A few days ago, I couldnt even stand. The bullet in my stomach has been taken out via surgery, and Im feeling much, much better. Rotem was interviewed alongside his two sisters, Shakked and Shir, and grandfather, Ilan Troen, a professor emeritus at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Recounting the day of the attack, Mr Troen recalled his final phone call with his daughter. Brandeis University professor Ilan Troen (centre), with daughter Deborah Shahar Troen Matias and her husband, Shlomi Matias (Sourced) We were on the phone with Deborah as she was killed, he told CNN. We were on the phone the entire day with our grandson, Rotem, as he lay first under her body, and then found a place to escape. The brunt of the shot was borne by his mother, he added. The terrorists who came, they had explosives and blew up the front door to their house and then blew out the front door to their so-called safe room. Rotem and his sisters were reunited 14 hours after the attack. I was so worried, and I was so scared, Shakked said. No one should ever have to go through that ever. Speaking about her parents, Shir told CNN: They were very, very brave. They were good people, and they didnt deserve anything this horrible. None of the people in Israel, none of the foreign citizens who were here or taken deserve any of this. Deborah Matias met her husband at the Rimon School of Music in Tel Aviv. They wanted to us to be happy, to be whimsical, Rotem added. They wanted us to be joyful. They wanted us to be in peace. They didnt want us to be at a situation like this, and they wanted us to live, more than anything. They wont die there, he added. They wont die. They will live on in memories and in stories. Hamas stormed into Israel early on Saturday morning, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens of captives across the Gaza border in a devastating terror attack that caught the countrys security forces by surprise. More than 1,300 Israelis were killed in the assault, with thousands more believed to be injured and the number of individuals taken hostage by Hamas currently unclear. At least 27 Americans are among the dead, the White House confirmed. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes by Israeli forces since Prime Minister Netanyahu declared a state of war on Saturday and promised mighty vengeance. On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the complete siege of Gaza as authorities cut off electricity and blocked the entry of food and fuel. And on Friday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ordered all Gaza civilians to leave the area and head southward a command that the United Nations said is impossible to carry out. A ring of fire annular solar eclipse will put on a show from Oregon to Texas this Saturday as long as clouds dont spoil the fun. The moon doesnt cover 100% of the sun in an annular solar eclipse like in a total solar eclipse, but instead allows some light to peek through and encircle the moon in a so-called ring of fire, also known as annularity. Only a narrow corridor of the western and central US will be able to experience the ring, when the moon will block out 90% of the sun for a few minutes on Saturday morning. The moon will obscure the sun to a lesser extent for the rest of the continental United States, creating a partial eclipse, so weather conditions will be key in determining whether youll be able to see it with protective eye wear where you live. Here are the best and worst places to see the eclipse unfold based on weather conditions: Ring of fire forecast The best viewing conditions are likely across portions of Texas, where sunshine will be widespread. In San Antonio, the most populous city able to witness annularity, the eclipse will peak starting at 11:52 a.m. CDT, arrive at its maximum coverage at 11:54 a.m. and move past its peak by 11:56 a.m. The ring of fire will be visible during these few minutes. A few clouds may float by in the southern portion of the state but wont be widespread enough to obscure the view completely. Much of Oregon wont be so lucky; abundant clouds and some rain could steal the show. A storm will develop off the Pacific Northwest coast late Friday night and while it will stay offshore through Saturday, it will be close enough to disrupt the show. Any rain is most likely to fall in far western Oregon and western Washington, but clouds will spread much farther inland. Clouds may also ruin the view in parts of Nevada, but there could be pockets where they part just in time. Early morning clouds in Utah are expected to clear out right before the main event. Any clouds in New Mexico will likely be thin enough to keep viewing conditions ideal. Partial eclipse forecast The rest of the central and eastern US may still be able to see a partial eclipse block anywhere from 20% to 80% of the sun. That is, if clouds werent such an issue. Clouds will block views across most of the Midwest and portions of the East as storm systems impact each region. Some parts of the South may luck out, but with such widespread cloud cover, there will be a lot of disappointed eclipse watchers. Anyone who misses out on Saturdays annular solar eclipse may want to make plans to get into the path of the first total solar eclipse since 2017 on April 8, 2024. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Lee, Jun reunite for Netflix film on revenge, justice By Lee Gyu-lee Director Lee Chung-hyun couldn't envision anyone other than actor Jun Jong-seo for the lead role in his latest Netflix original film, "Ballerina." The two previously collaborated on Lee's feature debut thriller film The Call (2020). Once I finished up the script, I thought about who could play this lead role. And I felt that no other actor can replace (Jun) for this role, the director said during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in downtown Seoul's Jongno District, Wednesday. The director, who knows Jun intimately as the two have been dating since 2021, noted that the actor's real-life persona shares many similarities with her on-screen character, Ok-ju. Jun, in real life, is the type of person who jumps headfirst into the eye of a storm without looking back, if she believes something is wrong. And I thought that was a lot like Okju. When she takes on a project, she always goes the extra mile. She purely just gives everything, he said, expressing his deep trust in her. The action thriller, which hit the platform on Oct. 6, follows the vengeance story of a former bodyguard named Ok-ju. Living a lonely isolated life, Ok-ju runs into her former classmate, Min-hee, played by Park Yu-rim, and forms a strong friendship until Min-hee takes her own life and leaves a note asking Ok-ju to take revenge for her. While grieving Min-hees death, Ok-ju hunts down the ruthless Choi (Kim Ji-hun) who is involved in drug and sex crime rackets, to take matters into her own hands and carry out her high-octane brand of payback for her friend. The film landed in the third spot on Netflixs official top 10 weekly streaming chart for non-English films in the first week of its release. Director Lee expressed immense faith in Jun's acting skills, noting that she brings a unique and insightful interpretation to her roles. Since The Call, I feel Jun finds better interpretations of the character than the director. She proved to exceed my expectations in The Call already. And I had faith in her as an actor who gives a surprise to the creator. So we discussed her role a lot but on the set I just worked with what Jun brought to the table." Lee was inspired to make the film due to the prevalence of sex crimes, both in Korea and globally. When I was thinking about my next project, there had been a lot of such crimes in Korea, which influenced me. But sexual exploitation is also an issue all over the world and something that is worth discussing," the director said. "Ballerina" culminates in a satisfying climax where Ok-ju exacts revenge on Choi and the drug ring he is a part of that also sexually exploits girls and women. I dont think Ive seen any work, yet, that covers a cathartic revenge for online sex crimes or sexual exploitation of women. So I made this film thinking I wish there was a work that would resolve that," Lee said. The film combines intense action and elaborate cinematography topped with stylish visuals and music, directed by rapper and producer GRAY. Lee aimed for the film to be a "sequence of ballet," not just in its narrative but also in its aesthetics. I especially paid more attention to the art and music (of the film). I wished the process of the lead character seeking revenge to appear as a ballet performance. I wanted this process to be seen not only as beautiful but also as cruel, yet aesthetically pleasing, he said. The director also emphasized his desire to highlight underrepresented locations in Korea through the film's cinematography. The narrative was important, but I also focused on (the aesthetic part). I believe there are plenty of unique locations around Korea, but I felt they have not been presented well in content. So I had in mind to show some of them with this movie. WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israel's call for more than 1 million civilians in northern Gaza to move within 24 hours is going to be a "tall order," although the United States was not second-guessing the decision, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Friday. "That is a lot of people to move in a very short period of time," Kirby said in an interview on MSNBC. "We understand what they're trying to do and why they're trying to do this -- to try to isolate the civilian population from Hamas, which is their real target," he added. Kirby said U.S. officials are working with Israel and Egypt on getting safe passage for civilians living in Gaza, home to 2.3 million people in one of the most crowded places on Earth. "Obviously, we don't want to see any civilians hurt," he said later on CNN. "We do support safe passage out of Gaza, and certainly that includes the ability for people to move safely inside Gaza. "These Palestinian people, they're victims, too. They didn't ask for this. They didn't invite Hamas in and say, you know, 'Go hit Israel.'" Kirby said he could not confirm Hamas' assertion that 13 captives were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the last 24 hours. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Susan Heavey) Justin Steele Yesterday, two independent New York designers got together to have a chat about what it means to find your voice. For Willy Chavarria and Maria Cornejo, searching for that inner spark has been a process with high highs and low lows, but its brought both to a place of self-assurance. They discussed their trajectories and more during a panel discussion that was a part of Hearst Publicationss series The Beauty of Latinx Design and was led by Harpers Bazaar Accessories Director Miguel Enamorado. While Chavarria is celebrating the success of his eponymous independent label after staging what many said was the best show of New York Fashion Weeks spring 2024 season, Cornejo is set to receive the CFDA Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in November. The topic of their discussion was titled The Rebellious Spirit of Resilience and indeed, there are no two designers better equipped to create dialogue around what it takes to stick to ones convictions, cultivate community, and make clothes that have something real to say. Cornejo, who has long been a political activist in addition to her design work, was born in Chile and moved with her family to England when she was 12 to escape dictatorship. In the mid-90s, she left for New York where she opened her first studio space in Nolita. It was there that her sustainable label Zero + Maria Cornejo was born, and where she first began attracting a loyal following of women, the likes of Michelle Obama and Christy Turlington included, who are obsessed with her eco-friendly materials and free-flowing, unencumbered silhouettes. Ive always tried to do things in an authentic way, she told Enamorado yesterday. Whether it was in terms of sustainability or as a woman designer dressing women. Maybe thats rebellious but I didnt know any other way, thats the way I work. I dont think its a conscious thing to be rebellious. Cornejo has forged her own path within an industry that is not always welcoming or inclusive when it comes to upstart brands and designers who come from different backgrounds outside the majority and the major fashion capitals. As she explained, I always believe in dressing your peers, dressing the women that you love, dressing your friends and the women that you respect. She added, I have my life and my social beliefs so I can only relate to that. My reality as a designer is that I went to England as a political refugee when I was 12, so to me clothes are quite political. You reflect the time you live in, the people you work with and the artists and the women that you love. Thats all we can do, I think. Chavarria, who is Mexican-American and Irish-American, echoed these sentiments, explaining that, in this business, in order to be a designer, you have to have a really strong voice of your own and that is a form of rebellion. He added, Its almost like you have to be rebellious to be successful as a great designer. He too has certainly done things his way and gained momentum as a result. While he was in school, he found work in the shipping department at the brand Joe Boxer, spending off time sketching his own designs, which were soon noticed by the companys higher ups. He got an internship with the brands founder Nicholas Graham and eventually worked his way up to a full-time design position. Later, he worked for Ralph Lauren and several other labels before launching his first menswear label, Palmer Trading Company. In 2015 he founded his eponymous label and in 2021, in the midst of growing it, was appointed senior vice president of design at Calvin Klein. Growing up in a rural, Mexican-American community in Fresno, California, Chavarria explained that there was no fashion. There was style and people had a sense of self and they would dress themselves in the ways that they would identify with a certain group of people. He added, I was always fascinated with that and as I got older and learned that you could make a living making clothes I got really into it and for me, my growing up wasnt really looking at magazines or Imstagram (there was no Instagram), but it was really about studying the way people would dress to represent themselves. He agreed with Cornejo who noted that the way we dress is political, and he went on to say that we have that luxury that we can choose to purchase clothes and dress ourselves in a way that reflects who we are affiliated with how we want to be perceived and in the larger picture reflects the times that we live in and it reflects a past, the current and Ive always seen the political side of things. Growing up in a Mexican-American household with parents that were part of the civil rights movement I was always raised to hear the words of Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King Jr., I was always very aware of politics whatever my work turned out to be. Both Chavarria and Cornejo have this socio-sartorial mindset when it comes to their creative outputs, but they also agree that, especially within the Latinx community of designers, all of their work needs to be based in the pursuit of optimism. As Chavarria explained, The Latin culture, weve remained resilient and we come back with color and flowers and laughter and Dia de Los Muertos, were such a vibrant culture. He added, its so important to maintain the goodness and the positivity of what we do. In everything we do in fashion and even not in fashion, its so important to remember to be good to one another and to be generous with one another and be loving. And even at their most rebellious, Cornejo agrees that, our job as designers and creatives is to bring joy and beauty to this world. You Might Also Like Kaitlin Armstrong faces charges of murder, first degree felony, and theft of service (Travis County Jail) The woman who police have accused of fleeing to Costa Rica after allegedly killing an elite professional cyclist in Texas has reportedly attempted to escape custody. Kaitlin Marie Armstrong has been accused in the 2022 fatal shooting of Anna Moriah Wilson. She allegedly fled to Costa Rica in June 2022 and was deported several days after her arrival at the behest of the US government. Ms Armstrong was received by the US Marshals Service and charged with first-degree murder. She has pleaded not guilty. Ms Armstrong has been in custody since then, but allegedly tried to change that fact during a recent visit to a doctor. On Wednesday, Ms Armstrong was scheduled to undergo an examination at a physicians office. The trip required her to be transported by a corrections officer to a medical building. On her way out of the building, Ms Armstrong reportedly attempted to escape. As she and two corrections officers were exiting the medical building after the appointment, Armstrong ran, Travis County Sheriff's Office spokesman Drew Knight told CNN. The officers pursued her on foot for approximately 10 minutes without ever losing sight of her. In a video that captured her escape attempt, Ms Armstrong could be seen running across a lawn toward a brown wooden fence. A corrections officer pursued but slipped as she gave chase. Ms Armstrong leaped onto the fence, but was eventually caught by the corrections officers. Ms Armstrong's trial is scheduled to begin on 30 October, according to court records. She will face a jury trial. Her attorney, Rick Corfer, said last year that his client "wants her day in court" and wants "a trial." All I can ask of the press here is that you not consider everything told to you by law enforcement as confirmed and reportable facts. Simply put, theres a lot more to the story than has yet been heard," he said at the time. He previously said a fair trial would be impossible due to existing biases in the case. The Independent has reached out to Mr Corfer for comment. The cyclist, Ms Wilson, was found dead on 11 May 2022, with multiple gunshot wounds. Her body was found at a friend's home in Austin, Texas, after she had reportedly gone to swim with Ms Armstrong's boyfriend, Colin Strickland. Mr Strickland is also a professional cyclist. Mr Strickland said the pair swam together, had dinner, and then he dropped her off at the home where she would later be found dead. Investigators believe romantic jealousy may have motivated the shooting. Lisa Thomson (right) starts at inside centre for Scotland against South Africa WXV2: Scotland v South Africa Venue: Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch Date: Friday, 13 October Kick-off: 15:30 BST Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app Centre Lisa Thomson believes the depth in Scotland's squad is "crazy right now" as they prepare for their opening WXV2 match. The Scots take on hosts South Africa on Friday and will also face the United States and Japan this month. Bryan Easson's warmed up for the tournament with victory over Spain. "We've developed as a squad," Thomson said. "We're away with 30 players now that have all got game time at international level under their belt. "Anybody could play on that pitch and put in a performance that Scotland is proud of, so I think that is the biggest thing. "The depth that we have is crazy right now. It's super exciting going forward. We've got a squad of 23 and people missing out that could be absolutely on that pitch." Thomson says the Scots are "looking for 80-minute performances". "We started a bit slow against Spain," Thomson said. "It probably took until second half to really get going and we know it will be the exact same against South Africa. "They're going to be a physical team and come out the blocks hard, so we're going to have to weather that storm, I guess." remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Express your opinion! Fill out this form to submit a Letter to the Editor. Submit Historic epitaph plaque of wife of first Korean minister to US returns to Korea YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS. A Baku court has held a preliminary hearing in the show trial of Vagif Khachatryan, an elderly Nagorno-Karabakh man who was kidnapped by Azeri border guards during his ICRC-mediated medical evacuation on July 29. In Baku, the Azeri authorities pressed fabricated charges against Khachatryan. Khachatryan has since been jailed in Azerbaijan. The hearing in the show trial will continue on October 17. The Armenian foreign ministry earlier said that the arrest of the Red Cross-protected patient from Nagorno-Karabakh amounts to war crime. Prominent lawyer Siranush Sahakyan earlier said that the kidnapping constitutes extraordinary rendition in terms of international law and a due process is therefore ruled out. The kidnapped mans daughter, in a plea to the UN to ensure the safe release of her father, said that all charges pressed by the Azeri prosecution are fabricated and her father is innocent. YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador-at-Large Edmon Marukyan has called on Azerbaijan to stop the treatments that degrade peoples fundamental freedoms and human dignity and release all prisoners from Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh immediately. The trial of Vagif Khachatryan, abducted from Nagorno Karabakh, has started in Azerbaijan today. He, of course, has nothing to do with the crime, he is merely punished for being born in Nagorno Karabagh and for living on his ancestral land. I want to make this very clear, in pic.twitter.com/Y3fcjiZ4Jn Edmon Marukyan (@edmarukyan) October 13, 2023 Marukyan made the comments after a court in Azerbaijan started a sham trial of Vagif Khachatryan, the elderly resident of Nagorno-Karabakh who was kidnapped by Azeri border guards during his ICRC-mediated medical evacuation. In a statement on X, Marukyan said that all existing proceedings in Azerbaijan are a farce, a mockery of the European Convention and a violation of all universally accepted international norms in the context of all obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan itself. The trial of Vagif Khachatryan, abducted from Nagorno Karabakh, has started in Azerbaijan today. He, of course, has nothing to do with the crime, he is merely punished for being born in Nagorno Karabagh and for living on his ancestral land. I want to make this very clear, in Azerbaijan, where the government has not changed for more than 20 years, during which 5 presidents were elected in Nagorno-Karabakh, which Freedom House rated as partially free with 37 score by all indicators, and Azerbaijan - Not Free, with 9 scores, there cannot be a fair trial, fair court and/or fair accusation. All existing proceedings are a farce, a mockery of the European Convention and a violation of all universally accepted international norms in the context of all obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan must end the treatments that degrade peoples fundamental freedoms and human dignity and release all prisoners from Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh immediately. P. S. In the video you can see a crying man in the fake court hearing, Marukyan said on X. A Baku court has held a preliminary hearing in the show trial of Vagif Khachatryan, an elderly Nagorno-Karabakh man who was kidnapped by Azeri border guards during his ICRC-mediated medical evacuation on July 29. In Baku, the Azeri authorities pressed fabricated charges against Khachatryan. Khachatryan has since been jailed in Azerbaijan. The hearing in the show trial will continue on October 17. The Armenian foreign ministry earlier said that the arrest of the Red Cross-protected patient from Nagorno-Karabakh amounts to war crime. Prominent lawyer Siranush Sahakyan earlier said that the kidnapping constitutes extraordinary rendition in terms of international law and a due process is therefore ruled out. The kidnapped mans daughter, in a plea to the UN to ensure the safe release of her father, said that all charges pressed by the Azeri prosecution are fabricated and her father is innocent. In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write." Perhaps the civilian citizens of Gaza who are even now being bombed and starved of food and water in Israels retaliation do not agree. As Israel escalates its war on Hamas, it will confront many of the same dilemmas it has grappled with over decades of conflict with the Palestinians. (AP/PTI) They come in all shapes, the jellyfish and dinosaur A trillion variant species? -- maybe more And believers say, O Bachchoo, that God made them all But only made us humans to suffer Adams fall? From Kahe Ko Kiskey Waastey, by Bachchoo Thousands die in an earthquake in north-west Afghanistan. The Taliban government are a nasty piece of work, but when they call for humanitarian aid, we hope that the world responds. Earthquakes are an act of God, as the insurance companies put it. My humble opinion is that its hot lava and not Gods retaliation for human sins. After the Turkey earthquake, it was alleged that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, through corrupt deals, allowed cronies to build houses without earthquake-protecting structures which caused hundreds of deaths. So, act of corruption and not God? I mean the deaths, not the quakes The deaths in Israel and Gaza are so, so, insanely contemporary human. Yes, the divisions that gave historical rise to them have a religious or religio-interpretive origin. The Zionist State of Israel was formed by the forcible eviction of Palestinians from their land. Today 45 per cent of the worlds Jews live in the State of Israel. The UN estimates that 4.4 million Palestinians live in the territories of the West Bank and Gaza, most of them displaced by forcible eviction from their land to give way to Zionist settlements. Though none can dispute those facts, a few might resort to insisting that God promised the chosen people that land and it is their right to drive the Philistines (Filasteen?) who lived there out of it and hand it over to the Russian, German, Polish and other Jewish settlers. The resentment against the settlements and against the continuing policy of the governments of Bejamin Netanyahu goes deep and is indeed international, despite the governments of the United States, Britain and other countries in Europe saying they support Israel unquestioningly. Their present statements of unquestioning support for Israel -- and Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz were quick off the mark -- come in the wake of Hamas unprecedented, surprise rocket attacks on Israel and its invasion on the ground which took the supposedly invincible Israeli defence forces by surprise. Hamas launched its rocket attacks on Israel on Saturday, October 7. At the same time their ground fighters and, Israel claims, sea-borne guerillas, crossed into Israeli territory and began slaughtering soldiers and civilians. Across the border from the Gaza Strip a music festival was being held and the Hamas troops attacked it and killed hundreds of, mostly young, festival-goers and took perhaps a hundred or more of them hostage into the Gaza Strip. In the same assault, they attacked a kibbutz near the Gaza border and slaughtered its inhabitants. The Israeli soldiers who came after the event to the kibbutz claim that the Hamas invasion left headless bodies of infants next to their cots and dozens of corpses in the houses of the settlement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose intelligence and defence forces had failed to prevent the attack, now declared that he considered this an act of war by terrorists and launched air attacks to bomb anything and everything in the Gaza Strip. Gentle reader, I am writing this on the fifth day of the war between Hamas and Israel. Reports of casualties say that more than 1,200 people have died on each side and undoubtedly more will follow, with the greater number being slaughtered by bombing and a mass invasion by Israeli ground and sea forces in Gaza. Worse still for the Strip, Israel has cordoned it off and no food, water or medical supplies can reach it, and they have bombed the electricity and water supplies already there. All over the world demonstrations have been held on the streets of cities, supporting Israel on the one hand and Palestine (in most cases, rather than Hamas) on the other. In Britain, Cruella, the home secretary, has declared that under the existing law Hamas has been declared a terrorist organisation and any support for it will be a crime. She has ordered the police forces of the UK to clamp down on support for Hamas and threatened protesters with fines of 5,000 and jail sentences of six months. Nevertheless, in defiance of Cruellas sabre-rattling, several students organisations in the universities of Britain launched demonstrations and their leaders have made speeches in support of Palestine -- and some openly in support of the Hamas offensive. The students of the London University School of Oriental and African Studies took a more historical view, and attributed the Hamas attacks to retaliation against 75 years of Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people. Warwick, Durham, Cambridge, University College London and others all expressed dismay and solidarity with the Palestinians and regret at the deaths on both sides. At Sussex University, one student leader, Hanin Barghouti, gave a speech in Brighton saying that the Hamas actions were beautiful a success and a victory. I dont know if Ms Barghouti reads Roman history and whether shes heard of King Pyrrhus. Perhaps the civilian citizens of Gaza who are even now being bombed and starved of food and water in Israels retaliation do not agree. Hamas obviously knows what it was doing and has done. Their action of indiscriminate killing against Israeli civilians may justifiably be seen as the pent-up violence and frustration bursting out in a strategically suicidal act. Hell to pay? Gazas civilians are paying today, and will continue to do so! by Vladimir Rozanskij From the annual Congress of leaders of religions in Kazakhstan, which was also attended by Pope Francis last year, the invitation to cultivate solid and non-artificial moral values as an antidote to the "clash of civilisations". The creation of a Forum of young religious leaders proposed Astana (AsiaNews) - The XI Congress of the leaders of traditional world religions was held in Astana, whose previous session in September 2022 was also attended by Pope Francis, and which brought together representatives from 23 countries. At the Peace Palace, in the center of the Kazakh capital, representatives of Islam, the various Christian confessions, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Shintoism and other religions sat around a table, together with members of various international organizations , finally approving a joint declaration. Present for the Holy See was the new apostolic nuncio to Kazakhstan, Msgr. George Panamthundil, recently installed in Astana. At the beginning of the assembly, the president of the Senate of Kazakhstan, Maulen Asimbaev, read the message of President Kasym-Zomart Tokaev to the participants, in which the now twenty-year path of these meetings, born from the intuition of his predecessor Nursultan, was recalled Nazarbaev to overcome the negative memory of the atheist persecutions of the Soviet period. According to Tokaev, the Congress of Religious Leaders made a very significant contribution to strengthening interreligious peace and harmony, to the growth of the ideal of tolerance and mutual support, helping to solve many problems. These values become even more indispensable in the face of the many conflicts underway in recent years, "morality, goodness, humanism are increasingly needed" - reiterates the president - "to form a new international security system, and global forces are needed who intervene in favor of peace and stability". Religious leaders can play a very important role, as problems and conflicts can no longer be limited to local dimensions. Asimbaev underlined that the format of the Congress, which provides for a very open and authoritative dialogue, aims to "establish a climate of mutual respect between all parties, at a global level". In the interventions, many observed that the real current danger is the so-called "clash of civilisations", which also involves religions in armed and information conflicts. For this reason, the foundations of contemporary society must be truly solid and non-artificial moral and religious values, which educate a new culture of tolerance, which takes into account the increasingly accentuated sensitivities of the new generations. All this was already well outlined in the Declaration of the VII Congress of 2018, and taken up in a timely and in-depth manner in subsequent documents, up to this year's. President Tokaev had also underlined at the 78th UN Assembly that "Kazakhstan supports interreligious and interconfessional dialogue with all its strength, as indispensable elements for building peace", while "the actions of provocateurs, who for interests personals try to manipulate people's religious feelings." The burning of sacred books and outrages against religious symbols are "acts of vandalism that incite hatred between peoples and religions, and must be condemned by all without hesitation", because "they have nothing in common with freedom of expression". The development perspective of the Congress' actions for the next decade 2023-2033 was outlined, seeking closer collaboration with institutions linked to the UN and other international structures, broadening the circle of participants and the geography of the forum's activities. Religious leaders must be consulted to address the most acute global problems, poverty and injustice, migration and social disintegration, and above all the cessation of wars and conflicts. It is proposed to create the institute of "goodwill ambassadors" of the Congress, and also to convene forums for younger religious leaders. During the meeting, the collaborators of the Congress Secretariat were also awarded, with Kazakhstan state honors and memorial medals. The final communique also recalls the Initiative for the World Unity of Peoples, which Kazakhstan proposed as rotating president of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the cancellation of the special stamp for the twentieth anniversary of the Congress was added , which will be distributed in 10 thousand pieces, to be added to the philatelic catalogs of the whole world. Photo: X Unaoc profile The Missions Etrangeres de Paris has inventoried and made available online 400 boxes of documents from the Vietnam Collection with documents on missions from the late 19th century to 1975. The material is also available for consultation by historians at IRFA in Paris. Paris (AsiaNews/IRFA) The France-Asia Research Institute (IRFA)[*] has created an online archive with all the correspondence between the Missions Etrangeres de Paris (Paris Foreign Mission, MEP) and its missionaries in Vietnam for anyone in the world who wants to study Vietnams troubled 20th-century history. Over the past year, 400 boxes of archived material covering a period between the end of the 19th century and 1975 have been inventoried and catalogued and are now available online. Researchers interested in the history of Vietnam can consult the IRFA archives, already open to the public in the reading room of MEPs headquarters on the rue de Bac in Paris. The Vietnam Collection (Fonds Vietnam) consists mainly of correspondence between the various branches of the MEP s and local missions. Except for the dioceses of Hung Hoa and Kontum, which handed over their archives to MEP in 1963 (by Bishop Maze) and 1964 and 1975 (by Bishop Seitz) respectively, no Vietnamese diocese has handed over its own archives to the Paris office. MEP arrived in Vietnam in the 17th century. In 1662, Bishop Pierre Lambert de La Motte became the first Apostolic Vicar of Cochin China. Father Louis Chevreuil was the first European missionary to reach the region on 26 July 1664, as vicar delegated by Bishop de La Motte. Father Francois Deydier arrived in Tonkin in 1666. By 1790, only four MEP missionaries had made their way to the Tonkin. The French Revolution and the closure of the seminary in Paris ended any hope of boosting the number of missionaries until 1815. In the second half of the 19th century, following the Treaty of Hue and the establishment of French Indochina in 1887, missionaries were able to reorganise the country was divided into several vicariates, staff increased, and more conversions were reported. The number of Catholics in western Tonkin rose from 140,000 to 220,000. At the start of the 20th century, the MEP transferred ecclesiastical responsibilities to the local Vietnamese clergy as a result of the difficulties faced by the French administration, famine, and economic crisis. During the Indochina War (1946-1954), the situation of missionaries in Vietnam varied depending on whether they lived in an area occupied by the Vietminh or the French army. This led almost 700,000 Catholics to take refuge in the South; by 1970, no MEP missionary was present in the North. After reunification in 1975 and the proclamation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, all remaining missionaries were expelled from the country. [*] Created in 2019 by the Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP), the Institut de recherche France-Asie is in charge of the society's historical legacy. The Independence Pass gate east of Aspen is pictured. The state highway department plans to close the Highway 82 pass today at 5 p.m. due to forecasts of a winter storm. Maine Car Repair Shops Back State Ballot Right to Repair Question Theyve got a plan, one Maine repair shop owner said of automakers, and were not involved in it. Written by Emma Davis, Maine Morning Star Published Oct. 13, 2023 Adam Stanley opened his auto repair shop, Stanleys Auto Repair in Stacyville, ME, nine years ago. About four years in, he began noticing a change. Increasingly, he was losing access to the software he needed to repair vehicles. In recent years, hes often had to direct his customers in Stacyville, a town in the foothills of Mount Katahdin, over an hours drive to Bangor or nearly three hours away to Portland to get their vehicles repaired. Stanley spends thousands of dollars on automotive software to be able to diagnose problems, but its not possible for him to replace the software in many vehicles. Often auto manufacturers claim their parts include proprietary technology, and if a third party repairs those parts they are violating their rights. Theyve got a plan, Stanley said of automakers, and were not involved in it. There has been a growing trend of legislation across the country aimed at providing consumers and independent repair companies with the ability to fix goods. Thirty-three states and Puerto Rico considered right-to-repair legislation this year, which included the ability to fix electronics, appliances, wheelchairs and other gadgets. Bills passed in California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York and Massachusetts, though only the latter has a right-to-repair law specifically for automobiles. Maine might be next, depending on how votes land on a ballot initiative in Novembers election. Question 4 on the ballot asks, Do you want to require vehicle manufacturers to standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical data to owners and independent repair facilities? If passed, it would require manufacturers of certain motor vehicles to standardize their diagnostic systems and make them accessible to both owners and independent repair facilities. Supporters say advancements in wireless diagnostic systems that directly relay information to manufacturers are cutting out independent car shops from work. Opponents say the information needed for repairs is already accessible and that standardizing access would open up vulnerability for hacking. Challenges Faced by Repair Shops About a year ago, Stanley forged a partnership with the national chain Sullivan Tire and Auto Service in an attempt to fill the repair gap. Through the partnership, representatives from Sullivan Tire will come to Stanleys shop to replace software which eliminates some trips to dealerships, although not all. It works, Stanley said, but its inconvenient." Customers often have to wait days to get appointments scheduled with Sullivan Tire, whose representatives have to drive more than an hour to Stanleys. The partnership is also an added cost for the shop and ultimately the customer, Stanley said. Larger auto repair shop leaders throughout Maine have echoed Stanleys challenges, including Tim Winkeler, president and CEO of VIP Tires & Service in Auburn, who helped head the initiative in Maine after the Auto Care Association reached out to a board he serves on looking to get right-to-repair legislation on another state ballot. Older car models have an OBD-II port, an onboard computer that monitors data about the car to diagnose problems, Winkeler explained, and repair shops have long had issues getting complete information for repairs this way. We just all kind of live with it because it doesnt happen very often, but today, the reason were really fighting it much harder now, is because a lot of the newest cars and a lot of these EVs are now being diagnosed remotely, Winkeler said. According to the Maine Automotive Right to Repair Committee, which is behind the initiative, more than 90% of new cars transmit real-time diagnostic and repair information wirelessly only to vehicle manufacturers. Question 4 would require automakers to set up a secure access portal online, where the owner of a vehicle can grant access to data in order to diagnose and repair their car, Winkeler said. As of Oct. 11, the committee has spent $1,938,942.03 to support the ballot question. The only other supporting funds have been $17.49 from The James Phinney Baxter Campaign Fund. On the other hand, Automakers and Repairers for Vehicle Repair Choice, whose top donor is a lobby group representing automotive manufacturers, the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Automotive Innovation, has spent $100,504.00 in opposition. Questions about Necessity, Security Concerns A nationwide agreement a decade ago guaranteed owners and mechanics access to the same information provided to auto dealers, Wayne Weikel, vice president of state affairs for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the auto industry in the U.S., testified during the last legislative session in opposition to a right-to-repair bill. Weikel pointed to a website automakers created to pool repair information and called the bill behind Question 4 misleadingly framed as necessary to ensure independent repairers have the information needed to service modern vehicles. In 2014, two associations that represent automakers and two groups that represent independent shops entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, under which automakers agreed to standardize diagnostic tools to work on all vehicles, starting with 2018 models. The MOU essentially required the entire country to follow a law Massachusetts voters passed in 2012 making diagnostic information available to independent shops and dealers. The MOU did not resolve all issues at the time, Winkeler said. It was not a law, so there was no clear basis for filing complaints, he explained. Many of todays car companies, particularly in the electric vehicle space, were not included in the agreement. The MOU also did not include access to a vehicles telematics data, meaning information generated on a vehicle and transmitted elsewhere through an automakers network. This technology has become a sticking point in recent court battles over Massachusetts right to repair law. After 75% of Massachusetts voters approved an expansion of the law in 2020 to include telematics, an organization of carmakers called the Alliance for Automotive Innovation filed a lawsuit to block it. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initially said the telematics expansion would violate cybersecurity protections in the Federal Vehicle Safety Act. However, the agency concluded in August that the law could be implemented so long as manufacturers grant car owners and independent repair shops telematic data via wireless access from within close physical distance to the vehicle, reducing the risk of malicious actors, reported WBUR, the local National Public Radio affiliate. In opposition to the initiative in Maine, State Rep. Tiffany Roberts, D- North and South Berwick, who is in her second term as House chair of the Legislatures Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business Committee, similarly focused on digital security. In a recent opinion piece for the Portland Press Herald, Roberts said the standardized access platform would allow for remote access by third parties. This raises significant cybersecurity concerns, Roberts wrote, as it creates an attractive target for criminals or hostile actors. If Maines ballot initiative passes, Stanley questioned whether the state would be able to force the hand of manufacturers, particularly given that similar legislation in Massachusetts has been rolled back. There is nothing unique to Maine repair shops that drove the initiative, Winkeler said, adding that ultimately, as an industry, the goal is to pass federal legislation. A repair act is currently being considered by Congress. We thank the Maine Morning Star for reprint permission. History is funny sometimes - it has a wicked sense of humor, which occasionally rolls over several generations before being fully understood and appreciated. The Chevrolet Corvair is or instead was the victim of a practical joke of cosmic proportions, being the scapegoat of a scandal that expanded like the chaos theory. Regardless of how the universe decided to play its cards against an American automotive symbol, the Corvair remains an exciting car to this day perhaps owing a significant portion of its popularity to the exact cause of its demise. Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile The Corvair was the American response to the German RR-designed platforms from Porsche and Volkswagen. The rear-mounted air-cooled engine and transaxle that GM proposed in January 1960 was a success from a sales standpoint with a quarter of a million odd Chevys roaming free on Americas fresh highways.The unusual little car did even better in 1961, again leaping over the 250,000-unit mark by a 32,000-car margin and recording its best money-pocketing performance in 1962, with over 292,000 Corvairs. During its ten-year production (1960-1969), the non-mainstream Chevrolet averaged 140,000 cars produced for the U.S. market alone.There are two main categories of the quirky Corvair: the EM Early Model from its beginning until the end of the 1964 model year, and the LM Late Model from 1965 onward. Theres a common popular belief controversial and debatable, to say the least that the downfall of the rear-engined American-made automobile was an inside job.Allow me to elaborate on the matter: in November 1965, a book called Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile written by a fellow by the name of Ralph Nader, machine-gunned the auto industry for its resistance to adopt safety measures for the car occupants.Unfortunately, the first chapter titled The Sporty Corvair axed the cars alleged unsafe handling caused by the rear swing-axles fitted to the 1960-64 models. The book's appearance which became a non-fictional best-seller in 1966 coincided with an abyssal drop in the Corvairs sales.From an average of over 250,000 cars sold in the first six model years between 1960 and 1965, the Chevrolet model rolled just under 104,000 in 1966. The two events were put together in a cause-and-effect relationship. But there is a crack in the shell of this logic argument consisting of two factors.First, the Corvair had already ditched its tuck-under-prone suspension system beginning with the 1964 model, switching to double-jointed drive axles instead of the trigger-happy swing-axles. By comparison, Volkswagens Beetle didn't get rid of theirs until 1969 and Ive dropped the German reference because the Corvair was aimed at them But the straw that broke the Corvairs rear-engined back came not from a book (written by a man who hadnt driven one) but from across the road in Detroit. Namely, 1964 was the year of the wonder-kid car of the sixties the pony car. Fords Mustang broke the bank with its sales performance, and the Corvair suddenly fell on the wrong side of the love affair between the American buyer and the domestic carmaking industry.Ironically, if anything, the book actually prolonged the agonizing life of the Chevrolet model by three years. Not wanting to appear to knuckle under Naders unsubstantiated allegations, GM kept the Corvair in production after 1966, despite the corporation retaliating against the Mustang with their own pony the Camaro.The Corvair and the Camaro were fighting for the same public segment. Still, the more conventional platform of the former had much greater appeal to the front-engined-minded citizens of the United States of Automobile. The Corvair didnt die out because of a book General Motors restored its fame in 1972 when thedebunked the bad handling myth with a thorough investigation that concluded in the Corvairs favor.According to the research that tested a 1963 model, the car didnt perform any worse than other contemporary automobiles of the same model year, both foreign and domestic. To add to the twisted humor of this already mind-blowing situation, thewas created as a direct consequence of Ralph Naders book (and so was the Department of Transportation, if youre curious).To back the federal decision, here is a 1964 Chevrolet Corvair going strong six decades after its rear-mounted engine first fired up. Its owner is more than satisfied with the cars road stance partly due to the spider mascot on the hubcaps. What does an engraving have to do with a cars road tenure? The answer lies under the engine bay lid.It sounds strange to say the motor is not under the hood, but thats one of the Corvairs distinctive features . Among the many variants of the Corvair, one particular iteration has a special place in the hearts of the fans: the Monza Spyder.The Spyder designation is not related to the body style (like it would imply in regular cars) being a convertible, but it is directly related to an engine attribute: a turbocharger. Introduced for the 1962 model and kept in production until the end of 1966, the free-horsepower-making exhaust-gases-driven compressor made all the difference in the world.The horizontally-opposed six-cylinder air-cooled engine installed in the first Corvair was a 140-cube (2.3 liters), 80-hp naturally-aspirated unit that didnt impress at all. However, by 1964, the displacement had grown, first to 145 CID (2.4 liters) and then to 164 CID (2.7 liters). Add a turbo to the intake of this former unit, and suddenly, 150 horses are galloping down the road.That is what the Spyders got the hot turbo engine (although Chevrolet did call its powerplants Turbo Air, not all had a compressor strapped at the induction end). Power-wise, the compact aluminum engine wasnt exactly on par with its cast iron rivals, occupying nearly three times more volume in the engine bays. Still, it wasnt a slug, either.Car Life magazine tested a pair of Corvairs in the summer of 1962. The automatic-equipped Monza Coupe with the 84-horsepower engine scored a measly 0-60 mph (97 kph) time of 21.6 seconds and a top speed of 90 mph (145 kph).Fitted with a four-speed manual transmission, the 150-horsepower turbocharged Corvair Monza halved the acceleration time to 10.8 seconds and peaked at 105 mph (170 kph). The journalists noted that the turbo completely changed the car's character, putting this compact into a class by itself."It didnt do much to the Corvairs fate, though the arrival of the Mustang adversary and the Camaro comeback from Chevrolet sealed the deal. However, the Nader scandal prolonged the life of the odd-bird Chevrolet. The Corvair stayed around for three extra years because GM didnt want to look like it acknowledged the cars unjustified drawbacks. Initially, GM planned to sack the model when the Camaro was launched in the fall of 1966.Even though it performed satisfactorily in the sales charts, it didnt generate enough showroom traffic to justify its production, and the bosses at General Motors voted to kill the Corvair before the Ralph Nader incident.The car featured in the video below is a 1964 turbo Monza model as indicated by the Spyder callouts and the spiders on the hubcaps and its owner claims the car is original. This red-on-black Monza spent its life in SoCal, which explains the rust-free condition.The current owner purchased it last year when it was advertised for sale for a very attractive $16,000. Not bad at all for a 31,000-mile (around 50,000 km) car believed to be all original, from bumper to bumper. The current owner, seen counting smiles per gallon behind the wheel of the Corvair, added only 720 miles (around 1,100 kilometers) in the last 12 months and plans to give the car a modernization, but only to improve comfort and safety, without sacrificing looks or the cars spirit.A keen eye might argue that the paint job isnt GM-issue standard since the factory paint didnt have the rough texture of this Corvairs livery. However, six decades of exposure to various elements, even in the merciful climate of Southern California, take a toll. This Corvair is still a stunner even with this Earl Scheib "Diamond Gloss" paint job look. EV While we wait for the N400 Toyota Tacoma production to commence in December, it is understandable that the Japanese mid-size pickup truck best-seller lost the lead over the past quarter. The all-new Chevy Colorado overshadowed it, but Toyota's old Taco still held its own against the Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier, or Honda Ridgeline.Curiously (or not, depending on your POV), the old-school Ford Ranger was battling for last place with the much more expensive and posher GMC Canyon. Let's also look at the year-to-date delivery volumes where Toyota still reigns supreme, followed by GM's combined sales of Colorado and Canyon, the Nissan Frontier, Jeep Gladiator, and the unibody Honda Ridgeline.Ford, meanwhile, needs to be really ashamed of itself especially since the smaller Ford Maverick is doing so well against the Hyundai Santa Cruz, and the larger F-Series remains the best-selling truck nameplate in America, no matter what GM says. Anyway, with production of the all-new 2024 Ford Ranger finally off the ground at the end of August, there are high hopes for the new iteration especially since it now includes the mighty Ranger Raptor version.Alas, the FoMoCo bosses probably don't want that to be their only asset. So, just recently, the company again teased their Project T3 (nicknamed Millenium Falcon) which underpins the development of their next-generation electric pickup truck platform. Obviously, everyone would suppose this is the second-generation F-150 Lightning we are discussing. However, they would be half right, as the modular architecture is destined not just for the F-150 but also for the Bronco and Ranger EVs!As such, it is no wonder the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has now involved itself in the design process, trying to predict the ritzy, electrifying looks of the upcoming 2025 or 2026 Ford Ranger Lightning. The good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube are the ones who have imagined the CGI looks of the Ranger Lightning way ahead of time, but they're also very thorough about it.Thus, the channel's host is preoccupied with sharing every bit of potential information regarding the arrival of themid-size pickup truck that would easily eclipse other electrified offerings, such as the 326-hp Toyota Tacoma i-Force Max hybrid, claiming that the Ranger Lightning would have around 300 hp and 500 lb-ft (678 Nm) while also enough battery capacity for a range of about 300 miles (483 km).Meanwhile, the resident pixel master was busy reworking the all-new 2024 Ranger with the distinctive styling DNA of the F-150 Lightning, showcasing the interior plus the rear POV, and also painting it in a series of ritzy colors to give us more than one choice. So, which one is your favorite? 'The Name Chapter: FREEFALL' carries on quintet's musical narrative By Pyo Kyung-min K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) dropped its third full-length album, "The Name Chapter: FREEFALL," Oct. 13. The album serves as a thematic sequel to the quintet's chart-topping fifth EP, "The Name Chapter: Temptation," delving deeper into the outside temptations young people face while pursuing self-growth. Building on the success of their previous work, the latest album develops the concept further, portraying a growing awareness of reality as they resist temptations. The quintet comprising members Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Huening Kai held a press event at Kyung Hee University Grand Peace Palace in northeastern Seoul's Dongdaemun District, Thursday. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation as the members took the stage, each one thoughtfully articulating the essence of their new work with sincerity. "It's been two years and four months since our last full-length album. We aimed to infuse the new album with our unique identity once again," Yeonjun said, kicking off the event by acknowledging the significance of the moment. Huening Kai, an American member of the group, explained the album's thematic progression. "In contrast to our previous album, which depicted youths grappling with temptations and reluctance to grow up, this album tells the story of young individuals who conquer those temptations, embrace reality and pursue a brighter future." Beomgyu provided additional context for the album's title. "Our previous album concluded with the track 'Farewell, Neverland.' This new album signifies our transition from the realm of 'Neverland' to the stark realities of life, symbolized by the theme of 'freefall,'" he said. The album's opening track, "Chasing That Feeling," aptly embodies the themes shared by the members, capturing moments of challenges with its dynamic retro rhythms. Beomgyu reminisced fondly about his first impression of the track, saying "I cannot forget the day I was introduced to the title song. I played it on repeat three times consecutively. It's incredibly catchy, and you can sing along almost instantly. I found it so captivating that I thought it would be a perfect tune for a drive." Following the critical and commercial success of their previous album, which claimed the first No. 1 in TXT's career on the Billboard 200 chart and debuted atop the U.S. Billboard's main albums chart, the members expressed their excitement for the new release. Taehyun exuded enthusiasm on the new album during the press event. "We have confidence in the quality of every album we produce. We believe the public will once again resonate with the sincerity we've poured into this release, and we're certain it will showcase a distinctive charm," Taehyun said, revealing his personal preference for the new album over the previous one. As TXT continues to evolve, offering a more nuanced exploration of youth and self-discovery, the members' confidence in interpreting any concept with their signature touch remains unwavering. Soobin, the group's leader, noted, "For this release, we've dedicated ourselves to embracing novel concepts and blending those with our artistic flairs, so we encourage everyone to anticipate the upcoming surprises." Concluding the event, Taehyun summed up the group's identity with two words: "youth" and "empathy." "Our story naturally mirrors the experiences of today's youth, and I believe our distinctive style will once again generate resonance with our generation," he said. Many people believe Apple Maps doesn't stand a chance against Google Maps, but it doesn't mean Apple has already given up the fight. The iPhone maker keeps investing in making Apple Maps better, and this week, the company announced another expansion of the detailed city experience.Users in Denmark and Greece now get access to Apple's new maps, which include everything from incredible details such as trees, 3D buildings, crosswalks, and sidewalks to overhauled navigation and Look Around.Apple Maps in these two countries also come with detailed bicycle directions, something that Apple has been working on for many years, especially as the company insists on sustainable transportation. However, the navigation experience gets a major overhaul for drivers, too, as Apple Maps now offers additional details when providing turn-by-turn guidance and detailed directions thanks to the introduction of the new maps.One notable difference is how Apple Maps provides directions when navigation is enabled. The parent company has updated the service to offer more natural directions, so instead of hearing a dull voice telling you to turn left in 100 meters, Apple Maps will provide additional information that'll help you never miss a turn.The instructions are customized according to the route, so you can hear the application instructing you to turn left at the next intersection.Overall, the new Apple Maps experience makes navigation significantly more straightforward and convenient, providing a little something for every mode. For example, pedestrians receive AR guidance so they can hold up their iPhones to scan their surroundings to get information on where they are and which way to go to reach their destinations.While Apple says the new experience is now available in Greece and Denmark, users recently started seeing the update in more locations. Apple's maps and 3D buildings debuted in Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon earlier this month, though the company is yet to release an official announcement for these regions. Apple might still be in the testing phase for the detailed city experience rollout in these locations, so it could take a little longer until the update debuts for all users.Apple and Google are working around the clock on improving their navigation apps . Earlier this week, the Mountain View-based search company announced an expansion of fuel-efficient routes, bringing the feature to users in India.With this update, Google Maps provides users with an alternative to the fastest route , showing options that help reduce fuel consumption and cut the carbon footprint. The feature is already available in the United States and Europe, but Google promises to bring it to more regions, as it helps reduce emissions and support sustainable transportation. Since their launch, fuel-efficient routes have managed to cut emissions with the equivalent of taking 500,000 cars off the road. Every once in a while, the U.S. Air Force lets out their inner petrolhead. During the tail end of World War II and the Cold War especially, taking an existing airframe and fitting more powerful engines was more viable than designing a new aircraft from scratch. It was to the point where even World War II's most famous bomber was given this treatment. This is the story of the Boeing B-50 Superfortress, the iconic B-29 given the full hot rod treatment. Photo: UASF Archives Photo: UASF Archives Photo: National Museum of the Untied States Air Force Let's try and paint the scene for you. The year is 1947, the Axis forces have capitulated, and the Eastern and Western sides of the victorious Allied nations are busying themselves carving up Europe along arbitrary and hastily thought-out lines that'll shape the continent for the next half-century. Oh, and the world's Air Forces have simultaneously ditched piston-engined warplanes in favor of jet power. That'll become very important later. Fresh off the sole two atomic weapon deployments over Imperial Japan, the Boeing B-29 cemented itself as a fixture in world history and as America's premiere heavy strategic bomber.But to understand where the Superfortress eventually wound up after the war, we must remember that its development was a hellish experience. Av-geeks tend to forget just how much of a pain in the you-know-what the B-29 Superfortress was to put into production. From its Curtiss-Wright R-3350 Duplex Cyclone 18-cylinder engines with a penchant for spontaneous combustion to its analog computer-driven gun turrets that sometimes went on the fritz, there was no shortage of engineering headaches for Boeing during the B-29's labored development process.For this reason, the B-29 was something of an F-35 figure of its day. One notorious for the ludicrous level of tax-payer money that went into its deployment and for being an albatross around the neck of U.S. Air Force. The Superfortress was the most expensive Allied project of the entire war by a country mile. And yes, that includes the Manhattan Project. Hardly a single Superfortress test flight went off without a hitch in its early days. A few even crashed with fatal consequences due to mechanical issues that hadn't yet been solved. But by the end of the war and the atomic bombings of Japan by special "Silverplate" B-29s, most of the nasty mechanical snafus were worked out. B-29s would then go on to serve with the USAF in various capacities until 1960.But even before the end of the war, Boeing's engineers reckoned the full extent of the B-29's capabilities had yet to be reached. The Superfortress could be an even more potent airframe with a suitable set of upgrades, or so they thought. The drive towards building a better, faster, more capable B-29 started just as the planning for the D-Day invasions was wrapping up in 1944. The first attempt at replacing the often-problematic Duplex Cyclone engines came in the form of the gargantuan Allison V-3420 W-24 engine. At 3,420 cubic inches of displacement (56 L) and two massive banks of 12 cylinders each, its maximum power output of 2,600 hp was a nice improvement over the R-3350's 2,200 hp figure, even more so with turbosuperchargers installed.A single B-29 was modified with these engines and dubbed the Boeing XB-39, but the US Army Air Corps passed over the design in favor of pushing more standard B-29s into service. The XB-39 was more of a technology demonstrator to prove the Superfortress could adapt to accept different engines rather than an attempt to upgrade the plane overall. To do this job, Boeing needed an even more bonkers powerplant. Luckily, Pratt & Whiney of East Hartford, Connecticut, had just the thing to scratch Boeing's itch. To put it in automotive terms, the Wright R-3350 was like a Chevy 350 small block V8, and the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major was the big block 454.With a scarcely believable 71.5 liters of displacement, a massive turbosupercharger, and a dry weight that rivals a modern full-sized American sedan, is it any wonder the Wasp Major cranked 4,300 hp? The R-4360 was so powerful that the force of its residual exhaust gasses accounted for 320 lbs of jet thrust, or around 200 hp extra. With four of these leviathans under its wings, what was initially called the XB-44 could be a force to be reckoned with even into the jet age. With dimensions equal to the B-29 in length and wingspan, the most notable changes besides the new engines were found in its vertical control surfaces.Both the rear rudder and the vertical stabilizer were considerably larger on the XB-44, to the point where its overall height was roughly a meter and a half (4.9 ft) taller than what preceded it. Though the blueprints for the XB-44, or B-29D as it was called in some circles, were set before the end of World War II , Japan's total capitulation by September 1945 prevented it from seeing combat during the conflict. Even so, a single B-29 was converted into the world's only XB-44, which first took flight on June 25, 1947. It was clear from the moment the newly-christened B-50 lifted tires off the tarmac that the endless headaches from the B-29 had paid off in spades.The novel 75-S-grade aluminum alloy used in its construction was considerably lighter and stronger than the 24ST-grade used with the B-29. Meaning not only was the B-50 37 mph (59.5 kph) faster than the B-29 at the top end, but it could also carry 40,000 lbs (18,000 kg) more payload. Some later modified variants could even carry a single 43,600 lb (19,800 kg) T-12 Cloud Maker earthquake bomb. All the while, re-worked engine cooling hardware ensured the same fires that plagued the B-29 were few and far between. Add in 13 computer-guided M2 Browning .50 caliber defensive machine guns and even North Korean MiG-15 pilots were weary of strafing the B-50's well-protected hindquarters.Should the need have risen, the B-50 could have easily deployed nuclear weapons over Soviet territory. Using novel British-developed aerial refueling hardware, B-50s had the range to drop such devastating ordinance and make the trip back to the continental U.S. in a single flight. Over time, Boeing improved the refueling system, implementing the all-familiar, boom-operated system with the B-50D variant. Instead, its first deployment in the skies over North Korea saw it dropping conventional munitions over the war-torn battlefields of the 38th Parallel.Indeed, the B-50 was well suited to old-fashioned carpet bombing tactics that mimicked the daylight bombing campaigns of Europe and the Pacific less than a decade prior. But against secret Soviet pilots in their equally Soviet MiG-15 jet fighters, B-50 pilots had all the hell they could handle during their bomb runs. A common tactic in the day was to calibrate the B-50's defensive M2 Brownings to focus all their fire on a single target in the hope that enemy jets would fly into a proverbial wall of American lead. This tactic had mixed results in the field.With its tremendous payload capacity, the B-50 was just as suited for more specialized missions like photoreconnaissance, weather monitoring, and aerial refueling as it was as a bomber. A few were even fitted with one 2 General Electric J47-GE-23 turbojet engine under each wing for added grunt when the specialized WB-50Js flew through in close proximity to hurricanes with the USAF's Tactical Air Command (TAC). Granted, a fair few accidents occurred during WB-50 weather mapping missions, accounting for the loss of 66 crew members.To cap off a checkered service history, B-50s were instrumental in the testing of the Bell X-1, the rocket plane Chuck Yeager used to become the first human to break the sound barrier and live to tell the tale. The last WB-50s were retired by 1965, citing metal fatigue and the onset of better, faster jet and turboprop-powered aircraft.Today, only five of the 370 B-50 airframes produced survive. Including one at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, a place we're all too familiar with around here. Tree huggers might argue that a burnt supercar is a good supercar and one that's certainly better for the environment. But we're all petrolheads here, and most of us still hate the thought of an all-electric future, so seeing an ultra-crispy exotic that was once fed by dead dinosaurs getting its final forklift ride makes us sad. Photo: Instagram | azcycleparts and supercar.fails kW You are likely curious to find out how this rare and once beautiful McLaren 765LT got destroyed. We are too, yet azcycleparts on Instagram, which shared the clip that we embedded at the bottom of this story on social media recently, did not say anything about it.Nonetheless, it is obvious that fire got the best of it . The entire car, bar the face, was completely crushed, so it may have been involved in a horrific accident at one point. Either that or it was compacted for easier transportation. Hopefully, the driver is already enjoying another supercar in this world.Other than the front hood and bumper, and at least one wheel, we don't see what else they can salvage from this 765LT, which is in such a horrible shape that we cannot tell if it started life as a Coupe or Spider. Thus, it's probably going to be recycled. Guess it's a good day to own a 765LT, regardless of the body style, as its value has just increased.We will remind you that only 765 units of the McLaren 765LT were ever made. The numbers in its name also stand for the output in metric horses, which translates to 755 bhp and 563 kilowatts. The bi-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine produces 590 pound-feet (800 Nm) of torque and works in concert with a seven-speed gearbox directing the power to the rear axle.With a curb weight of almost 3,000 pounds (~1,340 kg), the McLaren 765LT Coupe has a top speed of 205 mph (330 kph), down seven mph (11 kph) from the 720S on which it was built. As for the zero to sixty-two mph (0 to 100 kph) acceleration, it can do it in 2.8 seconds, one-tenth quicker than its more mainstream sibling and identical to the new 750S, which taps out at 206 mph (332 kph).Unveiled half a year ago, the 750S is the company's punchiest series production supercar ever made, and their lightest. It is an evolution of the 720S that it retired, a comprehensive mid-cycle refresh with a different name, which still packs a bi-turbo V8 behind the seats. It produces 740 hp (750 ps/552) and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm), up 30 hp (30 ps/22 kW) and 22 lb-ft (30 Nm) of torque from its predecessor. Pricing starts at $324,000 for the Coupe and $345,000 for the Spider in the United States, and it excludes the $5,500 transportation and port processing charges. On April 14 last year, the Ford Motor Company issued NHTSA safety recall number 22V-255 for the 2020 through 2022 model year Ford Explorer. An estimated 252,936 examples were called back over an improperly designed part. As it happens, the rear axle mounting bolt may fracture under acceleration. NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Photo: NHTSA PHEV Care to guess how the Dearborn-based automaker fixed this condition? Police-rated vehicles received brand-new bolts, rear subframe bushings, and rear axle covers. However, civilian Explorers were treated to a software update for the powertrain control module. How does that solve the problem?According to Ford, the PCM software update is designed to engage the electronic parking brake when park is commanded. Obviously enough, it does not fix the aforestated condition. None other than FoMoCo told the federal watchdog that the joint design isnt robust enough to handle peak torque under acceleration, which in turn means that someone did a terrible job designing this part.But wait, theres more! On May 10 this year, the Ford Motor Company issuedsafety recall number 23V-199 for 674 examples of the Explorer due to incomplete updates. In other words, the vehicles in question could rollaway if the driveshaft disconnects due to rear axle mounting bolt failure.You cant make this up. The chief executive officer of Dearborns favorite son recently said that quality is priority number one at Ford, yet Ford still makes rookie mistakes. Worse still for the Blue Oval, the American automaker has a thing for fixing mistakes on the cheap. Hence the PCM update in question.Thes Office of Defects Investigation observed how cheap the Ford Motor Company is on this occasion, which is why ODI decided to investigate Fords remedy for the civilian-spec Explorer. Not exactly a surprise, huh?NHTSA recall query RQ 23-002 was opened on June 20 this year by the Office of Defects Investigation. The federal agency received no fewer than two complaints alleging a loss of motive power and loss of transmission torque to the rear wheels from owners of Explorer vehicles that had been remedied with the PCM software update.Better late than never, the Office of Defects Investigation forced the Ford Motor Company to fix these vehicles properly. Enter NHTSA safety recall number 23V-675 for no fewer than 238,364 civilian- and police-spec vehicles. As expected, Ford dealers have been instructed to replace both the rear subframe bushing and the iffy rear axle bolt.Dealer techs are further tasked with inspecting the rear axle cover for damage around the bolt holes location. If any is found, the cover will be replaced at no cost to the customer as well. The remedy bushing features an improved design from the original. More specifically, Fords engineering department modified this part to increase the fastener length to avoid any material deformation.Owners can expect to be informed via first-class mail between November 6, 2023 and November 10, 2023. The vehicle population comprises the 3.3-liter gas and hybrid Police Interceptor Utility, 2.3-liter RWD, 3.0-liter(which isnt sold in the United States), 3.3-liter hybrid, and Explorer ST Suspect vehicles were produced in the period between October 22, 2018 and July 6, 2022. Thus far, the Ford Motor Company is aware of 396 reports of rear axle bolt failures in the US market. For more information about the recall and the investigation that resulted in said recall, please refer to the attachement below. We have been living under the impression that tank turns are for tanks and well, off-roaders like SUVs or pickup trucks. But the Chinese Zeekr 001 FR shows that we got it all wrong. kWh SUV Photo: CarNewsChina | YouTube Zeeker 001 FR is the Chinese car that wants to beat the Tesla Model S Plaid in terms of performance. Introduced as a sedan but looking more like a liftback or a hatchback, it is powered by four silicone carbide electric motors, each engaging a wheel. Together, they generate 1,247 horsepower (1,265 PS) and 944 pound-feet (1,280 Nm) of torque and does the 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) run in 2.0 seconds. Top speed is of 174 mph (280 kph).That is indeed Tesla Model S Plaid territory. The American sedan only needs 1.9 seconds for the acceleration, on its way to a top speed of 200 mph (322 kph). The three electric motors that set it in motion bring along 1,020 horsepower (1,033 PS) and a torque rated at 1,050 pound feet (1,424 Nm).Both of them are top of the line in the portfolio of their manufacturers. The Chinese model comes with a 140-battery pack for an impressive range of up to 641 miles (1,032 kilometers). Those are figures that the Tesla Model S Plaid can only dream of. Its 100-kWh battery stores enough energy for 390 miles (628 kilometers).But the Zeekr has an ace up its sleeve. It is the tank turn, a maneuver that we always thought it was anor even off-roader thing. How does it pull that stunt? Apparently, if the car has four electric motors, each operating one wheel independently, it is halfway there.A video uploaded on YouTube shows the car spinning in place. It just goes round, at 360 degrees, without leaving the spot. The maneuver sounds like the car is about to break into pieces, but it just does what it is supposed to do, all the time having the left turn indicator on, as it spins to the left.There arent many cars out there capable of doing the tank turn, especially now that Rivian decided to remove the feature from the R1T once they hit production, despite the advertising. The companys CEO, R.J. Scaringe, explained that because the development team thought there would be drivers abusing the function.Hopefully, Mercedes-Benz will think differently and roll out the EQG capable of tank-turning , as currently advertised. This past spring, a camouflaged prototype showed everyone how it was done.The Zeekr 001 FR is currently available only in China. But the Chinese carmaker is evaluating the cost of homologation of the car for the European market to give the Model S Plaid a run for its money on the Old Content. Mercedes-Benz has just become the world's first automaker which publicly conducted a crash test between two electric cars. An EQA and an EQS SUV collided head-on, each traveling at 35 mph. SUV The German carmaker goes above and beyond the legal requirements in terms of safety. Euro NCAP requires the use of a 1,400-kilogram (3,086-pound) trolley sporting an aluminum honeycomb barrier, specifically designed to replicate the front end of another vehicle. They are supposed to collide at 50 kph (31 mph), a scenario that can happen, for instance, during an overtaking maneuver.But Mercedes-Benz went further and used two real cars, the EQA crossover and the EQS, weighing 2.2 and 3 tons, respectively. And instead of the required speed, the two of them traveled toward each other at 56 kph (35 mph). This translates into higher overall crash energy compared to what the regulations demand.The real-life crash confirmed what the numerous computer simulations had previously shown. After the crash, both cars look terrible. The deformation might seem alarming for those who are not experts. However, the Mercedes-Benz engineers noticed that both cars effectively absorbed the energy of the collision by deforming like that and reduced the forces applied on the occupants.And, the most important part of all, the passenger safety cell of both electric cars remained intact, and doors could still be opened. In an emergency situation, the opening of doors by the first responders and the rescue personnel might be a matter of life and death.To be able to evaluate the aftermath of the crash on the occupants, the team installed up to 150 measuring points per dummy. According to the engineers, the risk of the dummies sustaining what would be fatal injuries in the case of a human occupant is very low. All the safety equipment on board the cars worked as intended. Airbags deployed, and belt tensioners with belt force limiters kept the dummies in place.The crumple zones acted correctly in the frontal collision and did the job they were designed for. They were practically destroyed, but kept everything else safe.The engineers also noted the high-voltage system of the EQA and the EQS SUV switched off automatically on the impact, while batteries and high-voltage components did not sustain any damage at all. That is because the carmaker developed a multi-stage protection concept for its electric cars, with separate positive and negative wiring, as well as self-monitoring high-voltage system, which automatically switches off when a serious collision occurs.The crash test is just a phase to achieving a zero traffic fatalities target by 2050 and halving the number of traffic facilities and serious injuries by 2030 compared to 2020. Mercedes-Benz targets a zero accidents goal involving a car produced by them by 2050.The crash test used four female and male dummies. The safety experts place a female dummy in the driver's seat in both cars. Dubbed the Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female, the dummy is currently used in the automotive industry for frontal collision tests.In medical terms, the "percentile" refers to a measure of the dispersion of a statistical distribution sorted by rank or size of individual values. For instance, if the size of a 12-month-old child is the 10th percentile, it means that 90% of the children of the same age and gender are larger and 10% are smaller.The dummy corresponds to a woman of approximately 1.5 meters (492) tall and weighing around 49 kilograms (108 pounds). Statistics show that only 5 percent of the women worldwide are smaller or lighter than that. In order to design the protection systems for the widest possible range of customers, Mercedes-Benz has been using fifth percentile female dummies in crash tests for years. Dr. Hanna Paul, Head of Dummy Technology for Mercedes-Benz AG, explains that dummies are not human dolls, but measuring instruments corresponding to the human anatomy.The other fifth percentile female was a passenger in the EQA, while in the passenger seat of the EQS SUV was a Hybrid III 50th Percentile dummy, which is the equivalent of a 78-kilogram (172 pounds) male of average height.Mercedes-Benz is rolling out a new campaign called "Safety Symphony." The film included in the campaign will showcase what happens in the split second of the crash in super slow motion. The technique proves how important it is that, in this fraction of a second, all safety systems work and coordinate properly to protect the lives of those on board.The safety experts claim that this coordination of all safety systems is like a symphony in which all instruments coordinate for the perfect harmony. The film will be uploaded on all Mecrcedes-Benz social media channels later this year with the hashtag #allforsafety.The world's first public two-car electric crash test took place at the Technology Center for Vehicle Safety in Sindelfingen , where the company has been conducting such procedures since 2016. The center integrates three highly flexible crash lanes and a support-free area of over 8,000 square meters.In Sindelfingen, Mercedes-Benz conducts up to 900 crash tests and 1,700 sled tests per year. SUV Toyota is actively trying to snatch the sales crown from General Motors across the US car market after the first six months of the year; it narrowly missed the mark. No worries, the company will undoubtedly fare even better from now on, considering the tidal wave of introductions. Those include the Corolla Cross Hybrid, the ever-expanding Nightshade family, lots of special editions including three from GR as well as superstars like the 2024 Grand Highlander, N400 Tacoma, or the 2024 Land Cruiser's return.Now, the focus is slightly dimmed as the company makes way for the 2024 model year changes and everything, from the little Prius to the ruggedly old-school 4Runner, is getting the treatment. However, the rumor mill is never stopping, and it continuously feeds the imaginative realm of digital car content creators with new ideas for their virtual projects.As such, many pixel masters and YouTube channels are thinking even further ahead into the realm of 2025MY and beyond. Most focus, of course, on the high-prize models like the potential Stout revival or the morphing of the Corolla Cross into a unibody compact pickup truck to fight the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. On the contrary, others want to see the Land Cruiser shrink to compact body-on-framelevels for the rumored 'Land Hopper' premiere at the end of the month at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show (formerly known as the Tokyo Motor Show).However, there are also venues that treat the subtler models with as much attention as the big stars. For example, both the good folks over at Halo oto and PoloTo have imagined the potential CGI looks of the upcoming 2025 Toyota Highlander mid-size crossover SUV. Slightly overshadowed by the big entry of the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander and its 2024 Lexus TX sibling, the regular Highlander is now getting some digital love and virtual affection to help it become one of the best mid-size CUVs on the American market.Well, first, we have to take everything with a pinch of salt whether we are talking about Halo oto's decidedly subtle CGI facelift that doesn't stray too far from the official Toyota design DNA or the slightly more daring approach employed by PoloTo , presumably with a bit of help from AI software tools because their project features slight design variations from one POV to another. Anyway, long story short, we can be sure that Toyota will present a revised Highlander version sooner rather than later albeit probably not before the 2024 Grand Highlander had an excellent chance to take flight in the sales charts. Stern covered how Giga Grunheide poses a risk to the environment and its employees in a series of articles that now look like just the beginning. The German magazine's reports made waves in the country and unleashed reactions from politicians accused of protecting Tesla, employees tired of their work conditions, and also the battery electric vehicle (BEV) maker. Its latest move was sending a message to "enlighten" workers about unionizing efforts. Many company employees took that as a threat. BEV Photo: Tesla Photo: Tesla If the intentions with that "enlightenment" notice are up for debate, workers on sick leave have no doubts about the tone of the letters they have received from Tesla. The company urged them to present their medical diagnosis and relieve their doctors of their confidentiality duty. Themaker promised to cut their payments if they fail to comply. Dirk Schulze said that at least a dozen employees received this message. The IG Metall district manager in Berlin also said that this shows how afraid Tesla is of having its factory unionized.Stern also interviewed Sven Jurgens about these practices. The Berlin-based labor lawyer said that they were unacceptable. According to the attorney, Tesla could be criminally accused of blackmail and coercion apart from trying to prevent workers from joining the union in illegal ways. It would not be a first for the BEV maker.Our readers will remember Richard Ortiz . This former Fremont employee was fired on October 18, 2017, after trying to unionize Tesla's first plant. On March 25, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered Tesla to reinstate Ortiz. Elon Musk would also have to erase a 2018 tweet that asked: "Why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?" The BEV maker appealed the decision to a federal court, and we're still waiting for a conclusion. Ortiz said he would get back to his unionization efforts as soon as he returned to work. Stern reminded us that Tesla also fired "dozens of employees in the US after the workforce at the plant in Buffalo tried to form a union."If you do not recall the work Stern is doing, the German magazine made a deep investigation into all issues involving Giga Grunheide. It even placed two reporters as Tesla employees for a few weeks so that they could check firsthand if the allegations of safety hazards involving the Tesla German factory were true. Unfortunately, they were.Stern disclosed that the pressure to achieve high production numbers forces workers to oversee safety practices. As a result, there are several cases of mutilations, electric shocks, scalding, and other health hazards. Giga Grunheide had 247 ambulance or helicopter requests only in its first operation year, or 1.27 per working day. The German magazine also said the factory's air is impregnated with aluminum dust, a hazardous substance.When one of the magazine reporters working at the factory asked for helmets for her team because metal parts of the roof insulation were falling, Tesla just moved them to another area where they had no idea if the metal chunks would still drop from the roof. They did not get helmets. On October 9, IG Metall informed that more than 1,000 Tesla workers had joined efforts to unionize Giga Grunheide. Tesla did not take long to react.The plant manager wrote an email message to all plant employees stating they had to talk. Andre Thierig said the Tesla management had found papers from IG Metall members and that they were supposed to help union leaders persuade the company's workers to join the union. The manager said these were "manipulative methods." "For example, clear instructions are given on how to influence you in conversation or how to deal with counter-arguments." Manipulative or not, the deal is that unionization is a fundamental worker right according to German laws.To convince workers to take that step, IG Metall decided to make an advertising campaign at the factory and agreed with the facility management to do that only during the break times of all three shifts at the canteens. What the union leaders did not expect was that Tesla would instruct the shift leaders to send all employees to a meeting at the final assembly hall during these break intervals. The plant management distributed free T-shirts and food for the workers while trying to convince them not to unionize.We are now left to wonder if this "carrot-on-a-stick" strategy convinced anyone. In other words, if any worker thought it would be a good idea to trade better safety conditions for a T-shirt and a sandwich. It would be great if any of the employees had shared with Stern if they used the opportunity to ask for a safer working environment , but they apparently didn't. In such an environment, many must fear for their bread and butter.In an interview in 2021, Daniel Rabe said that unions "always had to fight to preserve worker's rights." In other words, dealing with Tesla would be just routine. More than two years later, the IG Metall researcher may be quite frustrated: the German plant remains non-unionized. Several plants are not, but at least employees do not seem to have the same complaints that Stern reported coming from Giga Grunheide . In a way, Tesla's worker management is the best defense for unionizing. If it did things differently, its employees would probably worry about something other than safety and better pay. One of the major appeals of tiny houses is their versatility. Regardless of their shape or size, these homes can be customized to the owners' needs and preferences so that they provide maximum comfort. But going tiny is a big decision to make, and designing the right tiny home for your lifestyle is not an easy endeavor. Luckily, for those unsure about moving into a compact home, there are ways to sample tiny living before committing to a downsized lifestyle. Photo: Damon Wake/ Hunter Floyd Photo: Damon Wake/ Hunter Floyd Photo: Damon Wake/ Hunter Floyd Short-term rental services like Airbnb offer this opportunity, and we've seen amazing tiny houses offering guests the chance to discover what it would be like to live small. One of them is the Nest Tiny House in Phoenix, Arizona, an aesthetically pleasing, functional, and comfortable home on wheels designed by local architects Damon Wake and Hunter Floyd and built by MAK Construction.There are several factors that have contributed to the huge popularity these types of dwellings are enjoying at the moment. For one, it's the people's desire to downsize in order to reduce their environmental footprint and create a more sustainable lifestyle. Then, it's the ability to work remotely, which encourages people to develop a more mobile lifestyle. These, combined with the rising prices in the housing market, have led to many people choosing to live in tiny homes instead of traditional brick-and-mortar ones. And since tiny houses are now commonplace in some parts of the world, it's no wonder they have become an investment opportunity.The Nest is a gorgeous compact home measuring 24 feet (7.3 meters) long and 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) wide. Unlike other tiny house rentals we've seen, this one is impressively functional and stylish, offering all the creature comforts one would incorporate into their full-time residence. The designers squeezed inside the 200 square feet (260 square feet if we include the loft) a living room, an L-shaped kitchen, a modern bathroom, and a loft bedroom.Defined by a sleek, minimalist aesthetic , this rental house boasts a timber-clad exterior and a distinctive roofline that oscillates between flat and angled, adding architectural interest to the build.One of the highlights of the Nest tiny home is the extensive use of glazing. Huge sliding glass doors lead inside the living room, and the house benefits from a secondary entrance door on the side. Basically, half of the facade is a huge glass wall that offers guests panoramic views of the surroundings. You can sit back and relax on the living room sofa and literally feel like you are in the midst of nature. As you can imagine, the large glass surface also means the interior is flooded with natural light.Inside, the Nest is brimming with amenities typically found in standard-sized houses, including a surprisingly large bathroom, a full-size refrigerator, a washer/dryer combo, a dining area, and plenty of storage options. The smart layout and minimalist decor make optimal use of the available square footage. Moreover, the floor-to-ceiling windows, 10-foot-tall ceilings, dimming lights, and clutter-free environment create a surprising sense of space.In terms of interior design, the owners chose midcentury-inspired furnishings, custom flat-front cabinetry, light neutral colors, and minimalist decor, giving the space a chic modernist vibe The common area on the ground floor has the kitchen and living room in an open-plan layout that creates an inviting atmosphere and eases movement between areas. The large kitchen is well accoutered for cooking any meal, with a sink, an under-counter refrigerator, a two-burner cooktop, and a convection microwave ensuring its functionality. The quartz countertops and beautiful white backsplash give it a luxurious feel. Multi-purpose furniture is essential in tiny homes to maximize the use of space. The Nest exemplifies this idea with a pullout drawer in the kitchen that not only serves as additional countertop space but also doubles as a dining spot.Next to the kitchen is the surprisingly large bathroom that offers all the basic facilities and more. Besides the shower cabin, toilet, vanity, and medicine cabinet, there is tons of storage space in here thanks to large cabinets, shelves, and space for hanging clothes. The bathroom also doubles as a laundry room and integrates a washer/dryer unit.The only bedroom inside the Nest is located in the loft above the bathroom. It can be accessed via a wooden ladder that is integrated into the kitchen cabinetry, perfectly blending in and staying out of the way.The 60-square-foot loft fits a queen-size memory foam mattress flanked by nightstands on either side. Two windows ensure the space is bright, airy, and less claustrophobic.A private patio, outdoor dining space, and fire pit add to the allure of this tiny house . With its elegant design and modern amenities, the Nest is the kind of compact dwelling that can persuade you to make the switch to a downsized lifestyle. AAWireless is the device that started the Android Auto wireless revolution, giving birth to a new product category rapidly gaining traction. AAWireless resolved a significant Android Auto shortcoming, allowing users to convert a wired connection into wireless very straightforwardly. The adapter connects to the USB port in the vehicle, using a Bluetooth connection to communicate with the smartphone.It allows the Android Auto experience to run without any cords, a concept that was eventually copied by many other companies that already released similar products.AAWireless remains the number one Android Auto wireless dongle on the market, so if you want the best experience, it's safe to say this device is ready to deliver it.AAWireless is significantly cheaper starting today in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, with the parent company explaining that the price cut is powered by "efficiencies and cost-saving measures" in the production process. The supply chain has also been tweaked to "source components more effectively," and when paired with streamlined manufacturing methods, it leads to reduced costs that can be transferred to the customer.Starting today, AAWireless can be purchased for $69.99 in the United States, 69.99 in Europe, and 59.99 in the United Kingdom. The prices are available on Amazon as of this week. AAWireless is in stock in all markets, though the shipment could take a few days, depending on where you live. Next-day delivery is also available in some US markets.Truth be told, AAWireless has always been a top Android Auto wireless adapter, but the competition in this space has gotten much fiercer than it was a couple of years ago. Devices like Motorola's MA1 , whose launch was backed by Google itself, provided customers with more choices, whereas generic Chinese brands copied the concept and released dongles that cost nearly half the price of AAWireless.The cheapest dongle on the October Prime Day was available for approximately $30 , so AAWireless obviously needed a price cut. With the new price reduction, AAWireless is $20 cheaper than it was at launch.Meanwhile, AAWireless is ready to expand beyond the Android Auto front with support for CarPlay . The latest beta firmware update includes support for Apple's phone projection system, allowing a seamless conversion from wired to wireless. Similar products have been available in the Apple ecosystem for many years, including the famous CarLinkit, but AAWireless makes the experience as convenient as it gets with an approach inspired by Android Auto.The CarPlay support is still in the beta stage, though the feedback from the first testers seems mostly positive. It's probably a matter of time until AAWireless officially steps into the CarPlay world, at which point it should become a must-have accessory for nearly every driver. By Yi Whan-woo Insurance companies are rushing to introduce tailor-made medical insurance packages for customers in a wider range of age groups from newborns to preschool children, teenagers, salaried workers in their 20s to 40s and retirees aged 60 or older. According to industry sources, Friday, the sales strategies aim to better accommodate changing lifestyles and growing lifespan in an era of population aging and shrinking. KB Insurance has developed a product for those aged 35 or younger, while DB Insurance has a similar product for those aged between 7 and 35. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance lowered the starting age of subscription, from 20 to 16, on packages offering low premium rates for newcomers seeking self-reliance in paying medical expenses. The maximum age cap for the subscription eligibility remains at 40. Meritz Insurance also recently introduced a similar insurance for those aged 16 to 40. To help those aged 20 to 40 counter fatal illnesses from an early age, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance sells a product covering expenses for cancer, brain damage and heart attack. Samsung Fire was the first in the industry to introduce insurance exclusively for pregnant women and their unborn babies. The product, according to the company, is noteworthy for being open to those who have diabetes, high blood pressure and other demanding health conditions during pregnancy and birth. The coverage for unborn babies will be effective until they reach 30 years of age. In response to the growing number of senior citizens, Hyundai Marine developed an insurance package offering lower premium rates for those aged 60 to 90, most of whom are retired. With additional payments, the subscribers are eligible to receive nursing care if they develop Alzheimers disease. They call the place Noctis Labyrinthus (nights labyrinth). It's a location over on Mars where deep valleys with huge, steep walls play a hide-and-seek game with one another to create a sight very difficult to see anywhere else in the solar system. Do you find that hard to believe? Just have a close look at the video attached below this text. 12 photos Photo: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Toyota seems resolute in making battery electric vehicles (BEVs) after it achieved a breakthrough in its quest to make solid-state batteries (SSB). This appears to be what changed the company's strategy around electrification. Curiously, one of its main partners to reach that goal will be Idemitsu Kosan. This Japanese oil company is the second largest in oil extraction and refinement in its home market, beaten only by Eneos. Together, the two companies shared more details about the new cells. Photo: Toyota Photo: Toyota Photo: Toyota Idemitsu Kosan's CEO was pretty candid to admit that it started researching new materials for batteries after it realized that it could not rely on oil forever. According to Shunichi Kito, that was the reason for the company to focus its research and development (R&D) efforts in that direction. In 1994, it established a manufacturing technology to make lithium sulfide (Li2S), a component that seems to be crucial to Toyota's SSB. The Japanese company obtains sulfur in the process of desulfurization of oil products.Idemitsu Kosan did not stop there. In 2001, research on solid electrolytes (SEs) began. Ironically, Toyota and the oil company changed that date to 2021 in their translation to English in one of the slides from their joint presentation. Thankfully, the timeline makes that very clear. Toyota would only start its solid-state battery research in 2006, five years later. It is not clear how the companies learned about each other's efforts, but they joined forces in 2013.Together, Toyota and Idemitsu Kosan have 195 patents related to sulfide-based solid electrolytes. Curiously, the patent for the material representing a breakthrough in the battery the Japanese automaker wants to manufacture belongs to Toyota. That said, the oil company will only help it manufacture this material. The pilot plant will even be in an oil refinery that Idemitsu Kosan has in Chiba.That's a different approach than that adopted by QuantumScape , which developed a ceramic separator that is separated from the cathode by "an organic gel electrolyte" the catholyte. In the formation phase, lithium ions cross the separator and form a lithium metal anode on the opposite side of the cathode. This is the main advantage QuantumScape sees in its technology, but it mentioned others. Solid Power also has a sulfide-based solid electrolyte, something QuantumScape said it did not want because the sulfide can react with the air and create hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas. Toyota and Idemitsu Kosan said the material developed by the Japanese carmaker had been designed precisely with that risk in mind. The companies ensure the material actively avoids that. It is also moisture-resistant. Hydrogen sulfide may form sulfuric acid in contact with water.In Toyota's case, drawings suggest the electrolyte is the solid-state element of the cell. Apart from that, the Japanese carmaker's SSB's anode and cathode are conventional. Apparently, there is no need for a separator because the solid electrolyte makes sure the cathode and the anode will never touch which would cause a short circuit. Toyota's CEO talked about the challenges this material had to face.The solid electrolyte had to be flexible. If it were too rigid, it could face cracks that would make the cell lead a very brief life. It also had to adhere both to the cathode and the anode, which ensures that the lithium ions traveling from one to the other would never experience a gap in their way. It seems that Toyota developed a material that complies with all requirements. Koji Sato said that this solves just part of the problem. The main challenge now is to find a way to mass produce this material and the solid-state cells the Japanese automaker needs.Several journalists asked why Toyota and Idemitsu Kosan would wait at least four years to make that happen. Sadly, no executive explained that. They only repeated that the new SSB should arrive somewhere between 2027 and 2028 but did not offer any reason for that to take so long. I cannot think of many.Toyota is known for being extra careful with all decisions it takes. That said, the new SSB may depend on extensive validation before it is put for sale in the company's new BEVs. Another possibility is that the Japanese carmaker does not want to release a car with SSBs earlier than it already said it would because such a car would make all its other products obsolete. Finally, it may have estimated it would achieve full development by 2028 and is just hoping for the best, even without anything to give these intentions any hope. This is something Tesla and Elon Musk would do, but not Toyota.Whatever the reason is, the Japanese company has already presented a concept car with solid-state cells in 2020. To be honest, Toyota once said it would test its solid-state batteries in hybrid vehicles before it put them in BEVs because that would be a more demanding use to evaluate them. The automaker recently announced that the plans have changed and that BEVs will be the first ones to have them. At the same time, Toyota wants to offer specific solutions for each market, meaning it will sell whatever it is allowed to trade in its main markets.If the Chinese government wants people to purchase BEVs, Toyota will sell them there. If Japan bets on hydrogen, so be it: the company will have such products in its home market. Countries that bet on renewable fuels, such as Brazil, will still have flex-fuel hybrids. That may go against the idea of having just a few projects to sell all over the world, increasing scale as much as possible. The world's largest carmaker does not seem to be worried about that as long as it is still able to sell the most suitable vehicles for each country. Let's see how SSBs will change that. 13 October 2023 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Azerbaijan's restoration of full sovereignty over its territories played a tremendous role in eliminating the criminal situation in the region, restoring stability, as well as reviving the national economy and international trade. It is crystal clear that Armenians used invaded territories as a grey zone. That was actively used in drug trafficking, and it served as a camp for different criminal elements. After liberating the territories, hectares of marijuana plantations have been identified in the region. Thus, Azerbaijan has not only reclaimed its territories but also cut the money sources of illegal groups. Besides, Azerbaijan actively conducts restoration works in the territory and aims to resettle the region. Of course, it will also have big positive impacts on the economy, especially in the agriculture sector. Moreover, Azerbaijan started an initiative for the Zangazur corridor which is a part of the Middle Corridor. With the opening of the Zangazur corridor, transportation will be more easy and speedy. For this purpose, Azerbaijan continues carrying out infrastructure work in the Grabagh economic region and East Zanagazur. So, the region is very promising, and day by day and inch by inch we get closer to the moment of achieving better results. Speaking to Azernews on the issue, political expert Natig Jafarli noted that during the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories, the areas in the region used to remain as a gray zone under the control of no one, but separatist and terrorist regime with no legal responsibility. Also, considering that it is on the border of Iran, the territory has almost turned into a black hole. Here, a number of goods, including drugs, were suspected of being trafficked as illegal goods. Now that Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity, uncontrolled gray zones have been completely eliminated, and in this sense, Azerbaijan has also taken steps to prevent international criminal networks and routes. It was also a very successful event. This move was not only a successful move for Azerbaijan but also a heavy blow to international criminal networks, he said. As for IDPs returning to their homelands, the economist noted that it is an important issue. He said 100,000 people will return in the near future, but it is expected that the figure will increase. As is known, there are over one million IDPs in Azerbaijan. 20 percent of the land has been freed from occupation, it would be more logical for 10 percent of the population to move and live in those regions. This will also contribute to reducing congestion in big cities. Probably, special programs will be adopted in this regard. This is the beginning of a new era in the economy of Azerbaijan, because, until today, the development prospects and a driving force of our economy was precisely the energy - oil and gas sector. After that, turning the liberated regions into an economic area can become a new impetus for the economy of Azerbaijan. It is not only about the agricultural sector. This includes tourism, production of industrial products, agricultural processing, exploitation of minerals in that region in accordance with the rules, and so on. All these are important for the economy of Azerbaijan, he opined. He also touched on the construction of internationally important infrastructure and pointed out that it will be a part of the middle corridor proposed by Azerbaijan and the road that will pass through Zangazur, and go to Turkiye and beyond, is quite important. In today's chaotic world, alternative logistics routes are an area that is within everyone's dream. It should also be noted that this issue is quite serious. If new international logistics routes are expected to pass through Azerbaijan, this will open up new horizons and new opportunities for the country, and it can also become a link in the chain that ensures safe and faster circulation of international cargo transportation. Azerbaijan can play a major role in becoming a regional transit hub, Natig Jafarly underlined. --- Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 14:30 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more Western structures are not shy to show their desire to maintain conflicts and their aggravation under the thin thread of good and humanitarian intentions, while the growing conflicts around the world begin to engage and distract public attention. France, with the help of the alliance, seeks to arm Armenia to do its business for it, and despite refusing to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan in response to a request from pro-Armenian vassals in the EU, France is crossing the line. A country that over the past few years has experienced disastrous yellow waistcoat rallies to combat economic recession and instability, the reason being President Macron's intention to raise the carbon tax on fuels, mainly diesel. The demands of the protesters soon expanded to a huge range of social, economic, and political demands. Soon anarchists in black, mostly of the younger generation of French people, began to join the harmless rally, leading to more clashes with the police and resulting in the burning of buildings, and cars, and injuries. Among those openly supporting the movement was the familiar Marie Le Pen, who at the time of the separatist regime's propaganda about the alleged blockade of Khankendi supported the regime. The Anarchist movement was supported and paid for by the Soros Foundation to create chaos. Anti-Islamic movements, religious strife, unleashing civil strife, etc. in France have taken place and continue to be promoted, and despite the huge political, social, and economic problems and the withdrawal of France's colonial policy from Africa, have not influenced the decision of the authorities. After French statements about the decision to arm and supply Armenia, put forward by the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, continues to pursue anti-Azerbaijani policy, during her speech in the Senate on 11 October. Contrary to the reports of international organizations, as well as the statements of the Armenian Prime Minister of September 21, France is interested in continuing its insidious policy, where the statements of the French Minister about the allegedly planned eviction of Armenians from the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan, which in reality voluntarily left the regions without the use of force and accompanied by the humanitarian assistance of Azerbaijani services, are propagated. The French authorities look with closed eyes at the massacres of Azerbaijani civilians committed by the separatist regime during the First Garabagh War and the Second Garabagh War. Did they provide assistance? Did they provide humanitarian aid? Did they declare in the European Parliament and other structures the acts committed by terrorists? Did they fulfill the four resolutions of the UN Security Council demanding the liberation of the territories of Azerbaijan from occupation, as well as the unconditional withdrawal of all occupation troops and the return of IDPs to their native lands? The fact is obvious. The personal hypocritical interest of the French authorities, who are united with Armenians by blood, is being pursued. Accusations against Azerbaijan at the international level continue without shame and conscience, without moral statement at the plenary meeting of the 217th session of the Executive Board of the organization, where they accuse Azerbaijan of appropriation of medieval monasteries and destruction of Armenian traces, which is a lie, as all historical and sacred places were taken under the control and protection of the proper structures of Azerbaijan. Again hypocrisy is in the face, where the minefields sown by Armenians and their underlings are not covered, as well as the destruction of historical, and cultural monuments, mosques, desecration of graves on the territory of Garabagh. For Armenians and the French, expecting such acts from Azerbaijan and the Islamic world will remain only in their spoilt imagination. A few days ago, when the European Parliament wanted to discuss a package of sanctions against Azerbaijan, about 20 Ukrainian parliamentarians strongly opposed the issue and unanimously called the document against Azerbaijan groundless, preventing its adoption. Soon after the failed attempts in the European Parliament, it became known that more than 2.5K Armenians "escaped" from Armenia, where Yerevan set the goal of their return and securing work in Armenia. Is this the intent? Since Paris is not calming down, and initiated a discussion in the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that "will create conditions for the return of the Armenian population of Garabagh. Armenians will not be able to stay in Garabagh, even after so many proposals to reintegrate Armenians into Azerbaijan, more than 95 people agreed to stay, but the rest remember the acts committed against Azerbaijanis and will not be able to live with it. Mindless revanchists have appeared in Armenia Meanwhile, propaganda with psyops operations on Armenians continues in Armenia, where the Hayakwe group started collecting signatures under a petition with the title "Garabagh will never be a part of Azerbaijan". The corresponding document was signed by 58K Armenians. Now the revanchists have submitted a draft law to the parliament, according to which criminal liability will be imposed for recognising Garabagh as Azerbaijani territory. And what to call it? "We are aware of the number of non-governmental organizations that have been established in Armenia in recent years. These organizations are not created to promote friendly relations between Armenia and Russia, just the opposite. They are aimed at creating a ground for anti-Russian sentiments and preparing to promote the interests of the US, EU, and NATO." Sergey Lavrov stated. To put pro-Armenian vassals in their place, it is important to know. Under the peace agreement, the historical lands of Azerbaijan were divided between the two states. This peace agreement was the first stage of the partition of Azerbaijan between Russia and Iran. Documentary sources such as Gulistan (12 October 1813), Turkmenchay (10 February 1828) treaties between Russia and Iran, as well as the treaty on the transfer of Garabagh Khanate under Russian rule, signed on 14 May 1805 by Garabagh Khan Ibrahim-khan and the Russian Empire, are clear indicators that the empire occupied only Azerbaijani lands and then Armenians from Iran and Turkiye were resettled here. None of these documents mention Armenian holdings in Garabagh and their transfer to Russia. A regime of terror is established in the occupied areas. Gendarmerie detachments of Dashnaks are formed by the French, who commit mass murders of the Turkish population. Allies officially discussed the project of the organization of "Great Armenia" from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, including Cilicia and the eastern provinces of Turkiye, up to Trabzon (Trebizond). Dashnak gangs, slaughtered in some cases whole villages. This program of physical extermination of the Turkish population was carried out quite consciously under the leadership of the occupiers. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 20:30 (UTC+04:00) Elnur Enveroglu Read more Sometimes, when entering politics for the first time, using stereotypes such as strong rhetoric and pretending to be the savior of the world works for some sleazy politicians. However, when one is not aware of what the issue is, it either makes that politician a target of laughter or, in the first impression, presents oneself as a negative hero. Indian-origin Vivek Ramaswamy, among the candidates for the presidential elections in the United States, tried to defend Armenians as the first traditional step to increase his political rating. But when Vivek, in order to make his speech more effective, condemned the killing of people and the armed attack on civilians, and when he misrepresented the real events in the stills, a question arose: I wonder where this nubie candidate for the presidency in the far West, received this information that he tried to sell to the public with all his emotions, and where he got this order from. While Ramaswamy was able to convey to the public that civilians were being hit by rockets, he was also presenting the abnormal processes in the US political system. Vivek Ramaswamy, who presented the devastation caused by rocket attacks on Ganja as a 'crime' of Azerbaijan, which was on the special order of former Armenian separatist leader, now arrested by Azerbaijan and brought to Baku, must have felt a little bit of the pangs of conscience when he understood the truth. Because as far as we know Vivek is still novice in US politics. He does not yet have a deep and "meaningful" dossier like other politicians sitting in the US Senate. Perhaps, Vivek cannot hide his Armenophilism because he still hasn't recovered from the influence of conservative spirit that was injected into his brain at an early age. However, even if this is the case, the fraud of the young candidate does not justify his action in any way. Ramaswamy, a conservative politician, announced his candidacy again on the 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' talkshow, this time presenting himself as more devoted to Armenians. It was clear from the footage he misrepresented that he was excited. It seems that Vivek, who is a candidate from the Republican party, relying on his small luck, has become cheaper for the Armenian lobby. It doesn't matter anyway - whatever it is, the same words and the same scenario are part of the theses prepared for them. When listening to the false speeches of the candidate from the Republicans, it becomes clear that the beginning and the end of every word goes through the propaganda machine of the Armenian lobby. When Ramaswamy presented the events in Ganja as an Armenian massacre, for some reason he did not mention the crimes committed by Armenians against civilians in Barda and Ganja during the 44-day war. Why are mine problems in Garabagh ignored by them, but disinformation created by Armenians makes Western politicians more intoxicated like musky wine? Why didn't Ramaswamy utter a single word about more than 1 million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons, who suffered all torments and homelessness for 30 years? When the territories of Azerbaijan were under occupation for 30 years, the problems related to Garabagh were not discussed so much neither in the Senate nor in the pre-election campaigns of the United States. However, the recent peace and security situation in Garabagh seems to have disturbed some politicians. As the saying goes, Lies have short legs. As long as they sell their honor and dignity for the sake of high-ranking positions, we begin to know them closely. Not everything is made up of a day, a month or a year. Azerbaijan endured this injustice for more than thirty years, but finally put an end to all this injustice at the most appropriate time. Surely, one day these unfair calls and baseless statements will end. --- Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews deputy editor-in-chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 10:30 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more The International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation has presented a new book in Astana, Kazakhstan. The book presentation "Abai in Azerbaijan and in the World", published by the foundation, took place at the Presidential Center of Culture , Azernews reports. Opening the presentation ceremony, Deputy Director of the Presidential Center of Culture Botagoz Kayypova spoke about the rich heritage of the thinker of Kazakhstan and the entire Turkic world Abai Kunanbayev. She highly appreciated the work done by the foundation to promote Abai Kunanbayev's creativity both in Azerbaijan and throughout the world, and expressed gratitude for the publication of the book. President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva emphasized the importance of the book presentation in Kazakhstan - the homeland of the great poet, prose writer, translator, composer Abai Kunanbayev. The book is published in the Azerbaijani language. Gunay Afandiyeva stressed that the memory of Abai Kunanbayev has always been honored in Azerbaijan. She recalled the words of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev: Abai and his work are the pride and happiness of the Kazakh people. It belongs to all humanity, including the Azerbaijani people." The foundation president noted that by presidential order, in 2011 one of the Baku streets was named after Abai Kunanbayev and the Center for Kazakh Language, History and Culture named after the poet started functioning at the Baku State University. Gunay Afandiyeva also touched upon the publication in Spain and the release into circulation of postage stamps on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of Abai, as well as the holding of Abai Day at the foundation headquarters. She outlined that the book "Abay in Azerbaijan and in the World" in the Azerbaijani language and in the original contains the poets poems, articles by Azerbaijani writers and literary scholars about the outstanding personality, excerpts from Mukhtar Auezov's novel "Abai" translated into Azerbaijani " as well as the well-known work "Words of Edification"and his songs. President of the Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev, Deputy of the Senate of the Kazakhstan Parliament Ruslan Rustemov, Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament, academician Nizami Jafarov, the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Kazakhstan Agalar Atamoglanov, General Director of the Egemen Kazakhstan newspaper Dikhan Kamzabekuly, Director the Kazakhstab National Academic Library Gaziza Nurgaliyeva and the head of the humanities department of the Abai Research Institute Altynai Askarova spoke about the rich creativity of Abai. They highly appreciated the activities of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation in the large-scale promotion of Abai Kunanbayev's legacy. Initiated in 2012, the foundation provides assistance in the protection, study, and promotion of Turkic culture and heritage through supporting and funding various activities, projects, and programs. The organization carries out its activities in cooperation with TURKSOY and the Turkic Academy. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra has delighted music lovers in Croatia. Known as Croatia's first-class musicianship, the orchestra acts as a promoter of Croatian art and music worldwide. In 1871, the orchestra became professionally active in Zagreb and in 1920 it acquired the name it still bears today. The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra has successfully collaborated with renown conductors like Friedrich Zaun, Milan Horvat, Lovro von Matacic, Mladen Basic, Pavle Despalj, etc. Recently, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra has performed for the first time under the baton of the Azerbaijani conductor. The magnificent concert took place at Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, which serves as the stage for large-scale classical music concerts, opera and ballet productions. Speaking with AZERNEWS, principal conductor of the Azerbaijani State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev shared his impressions from working with the Croatian orchestra. "First of all, I would like to note that I have visited Croatia for the second time in my life. My journey to this wonderful country started in 2008. At that time, I took part in the International Competition of Young Conductors Lovro von Matacic. Back then, I was a young conductor who dreamed of returning to Croatia. Fifteen years later, I finally visited the Croatian capital once again to conduct the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, which I first saw at the competition of young conductors," the conductor said. Ayyub Guliyev hailed the musical collaboration with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. " The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra is considered one of the strongest and most sought-after musical ensembles in Europe. It I knew it from the first seconds when the orchestra started to play Richard Strauss`s poem "Don Juan", known as one of the most complex orchestral works. The concert program also included Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39. This music piece is complex both in form and content. The performance of Blagoje Bersa's Suncana polja (Sunny Fields) made the concert even more spectacular. The composer left a deep mark on the history of Croatian and world music. The poem "Sunny Fields" amazes with its depth. The musical work also contains national motifs. The concert was highly appreciated by the audience," said Guliyev. Before the start of the concert, the national conductor met with the public. "An hour before the concert started, the soloists and I met with the audience. The host of the meeting asked me a number of questions about Azerbaijani classical music. During the conversation, I spoke about the main features of the Azerbaijani music and its main achievements. I also informed the meeting participants about the activities of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, its concert programs, productions and other projects. The meeting with music lovers took place in a very warm atmosphere. After the concert, I met with the General Director of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra Philippe Fak. During the meeting, we discussed new projects to strengthen creative ties," Ayyub Guliyev said. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 18:20 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more The 1st Turkic World Cultural Forum has started in Azerbaijan's Shusha city. The forum is co-organized by Azerbaijan Culture Ministry, the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) and the International Turkish Academy (ITA) to mark the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, Azernews reports. TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev, Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Azerbaijan Culture Minister Adil Karimli, President of the International Turkish Academy (ITA), academician Shahin Mustafayev, Secretary General of Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries (TurkPA) Mehmet Sureyya Er, President of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), Academician Isa Habibbayli and other officials participate in the event. A video about the reconstruction works in Azerbaijan's liberated territories, events and festivals organized in Shusha was shown to the forum participants. The event continued with literary and artistic part. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Culture Minister Adil Karimli said that the declaration of Shusha as the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World for 2023 is an indication of the special attention paid to Shusha by the Turkic world. The minister noted that under the leadership of the Azerbaijani President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijani Armed Forces liberated the Azerbaijani lands, including Shusha from occupation as a result of the 44-day Patriotic War. Currently, high-level restoration and construction works are ongoing in those areas. Adil Karimli drew attention to the fact that culture has a major role in strengthening the union of Turkic states. Ensuring the unity of the Turkic world and uniting it around common national values is related to the name of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev. TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev emphasized that the organization was established in order to protect, develop, promote and pass on the common Turkish culture, language, history, and cultural heritage to the world. Sultan Raev said that TURKSOY has done great work in the direction of developing relations between Turkic-speaking peoples and countries in the field of culture and art. In their remarks, the OTS Secretary General Kubanychbek Omuraliev, TurkPA Secretary General Mehmet Sureyya Er, ITA President Shahin Mustafayev, ANAS President Isa Habibbayli and chairman of Azerbaijan Writers' Union, People's Writer Anar Rzayev stressed that unity of the Turkic peoples has always been of great importance. The 1st Turkic World Cultural Forum will continue its work on three panels: "Turkish Languages and Literatures: Differentiation and Integration", "Best Practices in Protection and Restoration of Cultural and Historical Heritage" and "Creative Industries and Innovations". The forum will last until October 14. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Heydar Aliyev Center will host a republic-wide knowledge contest on October 18. The IX Republic-wide Knowledge Contest "Heydar Aliyev and History of Azerbaijan" is organized by the Heydar Aliyev Center with support of the Azerbaijan Ministry of Science and Education, Azernews reports. The project, which has already become a tradition, is aimed at studying and highlighting the history of Azerbaijan, as well as the life, activity and heritage of National Leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev, whose 100th anniversary is celebrated this year. Participants will test their knowledge on topics "Childhood and youth of Heydar Aliyev", "Heydar Aliyev and years of Azerbaijan's independence", "Heydar Aliyev and Garabagh truths", "Triumphal march of Azerbaijani Army in the Second Garabagh War" and other topics. At the preparation stage, the teams took part in training sessions organized at the Heydar Aliyev Center. They familiarized themselves with archive materials kept at the Heydar Aliyev Museum. Each higher education institution will be represented by a six-member team at the contest. Based on the jury's assessment, the teams that take 1st, 2nd and 3rd places will be awarded. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 13:22 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more The Azerbaijani community living in Australia has appealed to New South Wales (NSW) MPs Susan Carter, Matt Cross, and Hugh McDermott demanding an impartial and balanced approach to the Garabagh issue, Azernews reports. According to information provided by the State Committee for Diaspora Affairs, in the letters addressed to the MPs, Mikail Oytan, head of the Azerbaijanis Association of Australia and coordinator of the Coordinating Council of Azerbaijanis of Australia and Oceania in Sydney, stated that the Azerbaijani public had violated the impartiality of the parliamentarians on the Karabakh conflict during their recent visit to Armenia The petitions tell the history of the Garabagh conflict and the fact that Armenia is pursuing a policy of usurpation, aggression, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, and vandalism, accompanied by special cruelty against our country and our people, ignoring the norms of international law for almost 30 years, which led to the implementation of 24-hour anti-terrorist measures in September 2023 in the Garabagh economic region. Detailed information was given on the causes and that no ethnic cleansing had been carried out against the Armenian population. It was emphasized that the UN mission confirmed the fact that during the anti-terrorist measures no damage was caused to the civilian population and infrastructure in the Karabakh region, and no complaints were received from the Armenian population. It was noted that politicians should be based on accurate facts and evidence when talking about sensitive issues, and the MPs' positions on the Garabagh conflict contradict the official position of Australia, which supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The association's MPs called for an impartial, unbiased, and more informed approach to the Garabagh issue, to make efforts to establish peace in the South Caucasus region and to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Azerbaijani community. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Lee Yeon-woo As the Korea Development Bank (KDB) contemplates relocating to Busan, various provincial administrations are vying to attract the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) to their regions. They anticipate that the bank might be included in the second phase of relocations, in line with the government's policy to decentralize state-run institutions from Seoul. Of all the contenders, Daegu has been the most proactive. The city has singled out IBK as its foremost choice from the 23 public institutions it aspires to host and established a specialized task force. In July, Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo even made a formal request to the leadership of the ruling People Power Party for the bank's relocation to Daegu. "Small and medium-sized corporations constitute 99 percent of all businesses in Daegu. This aligns perfectly with the foundational objectives of IBK," a Daegu City official said. Busan asserts that for the region to truly transform into a financial hub, all policy financial institutions, including IBK, should contemplate relocating in the wake of KDB's move. Daejeon also stepped forward, emphasizing its lack of a dedicated regional bank. Through this, they underline the importance of hosting a bank centered on corporate finance for the central Chungcheong Province region. South Gyeongsang Province touts its high concentration of small and medium-sized enterprises as an advantage, while Wanju County in North Jeolla Province emphasizes that the commitment to recognize the southwestern Jeolla region as the nation's third financial hub had been a presidential promise. The eagerness of local governments to attract IBK stems primarily from the potential for a significant boost to their local economy. By attracting the state-run bank, they can reap substantial benefits, including a surge in local tax revenue and notable job creation. The initial challenge lies in being chosen by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for the second round of relocations. While the list for these relocations was initially set to expand from 365 places to over 500, the announcement has been deferred until after next year's general election, due to concerns about excessive competition. A legal amendment is also required since the relevant act specifies IBK's location as Seoul. The labor union of IBK strongly opposed the administration's promotional activities. "The state-run IBK is a publicly listed company, with more than 30 percent of its shares owned by minor shareholders. Should the stock price or company value decline after relocating to a regional area, who would be held accountable?" the union said in a statement. 13 October 2023 19:39 (UTC+04:00) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin discussed a number of issues including the situation in the South Caucasus with the Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, citing the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Azernews reports. "A number of relevant international and regional issues have been discussed. The importance of resuming rhythmic work of the Consultative regional platform 3+3 was stressed in the context of considering the situation in the South Caucasus," the statement reads. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said earlier that Yerevan is ready for talks with Baku within the 3+3 format. This regional format of cooperation with the participation of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, and Turkiye was suggested after the 44-day war. Only one meeting has been held since that time - in late 2021, without Georgia's participation. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 23:44 (UTC+04:00) Russia stands ready to facilitate the signing of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and could host relevant talks in Moscow, says Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azernews reports. "On the agenda is the drafting of a peace treaty [between Baku and Yerevan] to finally put an end to this longstanding conflict. The Russian side is certainly ready to provide our partners with all possible assistance in this regard," the Russian president noted. "In particular, we also agree with the [possibility of] organizing negotiations in Moscow, if necessary, in any format," Putin added. According to the Russian head of state, such negotiations would include talks between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and relevant experts from the two sides. "Of course, we would make a contribution toward ensuring that these negotiations would end with the achievement of a peace agreement to be signed by the leaders of these countries," the Russian president emphasized. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 11:23 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more Azerbaijani Ambassador to Mexico Mammad Talibov has delivered a lecture to students of the International Relations Department of the Ibero-American University located in Leon, Guanajuato, Azernews reports. This university is considered the most prestigious and well-known higher education institution in the country. At the meeting, which was held with the participation of the management and teaching staff of the mentioned university, Ambassador Mammad Talibov informed the participants of the event about the history of Azerbaijan. It was noted that the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which was proclaimed in 1918 and today Azerbaijan is the legal successor, was the first democratic republic in the Muslim World in the East. Detailed information was also given about Azerbaijan's rich culture, the difficulties it faced in the first years of regaining independence in the 1990s, and the successful path of development in a short period of time. The Azerbaijani diplomat also spoke about the new realities in the region after the end of the former conflict, the history of the Armenian aggression, the difficulties that Azerbaijan faced during 30 years of occupation, double standards, and then the 44-day War and its consequences, the ongoing peace process, the large-scale reconstruction and restoration works carried out in the liberated territories, the measures taken for the safe return of former IDPs. The Ambassador also filled the participants in on bilateral ties between Mexico and Azerbaijan, recent mutual visits, expansion of cooperation opportunities between the two countries in culture, tourism, and other spheres, as well as educational opportunities, internships, and scholarship programs for foreign students in our country. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 10:47 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Today, the trial of Vagif Khachatryan Cherkezovich begins, Azernews reports. He is accused of committing genocide in Meshali village of Khojaly district. According to the received information, a preparatory session of the court will be held in the administrative building of the Yasamal District Court under the chairmanship of the judge of the Baku Military Court, Jamal Ramazanov. At the meeting, the questionnaire data of the accused and 59 people affected by the case will be clarified. It should be noted that Armenian citizen Vagif Khachatryan Cherkezovich, who had been wanted internationally in connection with the Meshali genocide, was detained at the border crossing point of Lachin in July of this year. In December 1991, the criminal gang of which he was a member killed 25 Azerbaijanis, injured 14 people, and displaced 358 Azerbaijanis from their legal place of residence in Meshali village of Khojaly district. The 103rd item of the Criminal Code against him (Genocide - killing members of a group with the aim of destroying any national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as a group in whole or in part, seriously harming the health of the members of the group or seriously harming their mental capacity ) and the 107th (Deportation or forced relocation of the population - expelling the population to a country other than their legal location or displacing them with other forced actions) were announced, and a pretrial detention measure was chosen. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 11:40 (UTC+04:00) A meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has been held in Bishkek. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the meeting. President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov welcomed President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and other heads of state. The heads of state posed together for photographs. First, a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a limited format was held. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov said: - The floor is being given to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev. Please, Ilham Heydarovich, you have the floor. Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said: - Dear Sadyr Nurgojoyevich, distinguished heads of state. First of all, I would like to thank the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Nurgojoyevich Zhaparov, for the hospitality and for the excellent organization of the event. I am pleased that the friendly and brotherly relations between Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan are developing successfully. The agreements reached during reciprocal visits of the heads of state are being implemented. Azerbaijan has started implementing investment projects in Kyrgyzstan. The Azerbaijan-Kyrgyzstan Investment Fund has been established to deepen our cooperation. Taking this opportunity, I would like to congratulate the leadership of Kyrgyzstan on the successes achieved in the way of the socio-economic development of the country. I would like to wish dear Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin success in the Russian Federation's chairmanship of the CIS next year. The awarding of the CIS Badge of Honor to the President of Uzbekistan, respected Shavkat Mirziyoyev, is a significant event of this meeting. I congratulate Shavkat Mironovich on this well-deserved award. Another important event related to brotherly Uzbekistan is the decision to declare the city of Samarkand the Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth in 2024. The humanitarian sphere is one of the main spheres in our Commonwealth. Azerbaijan is making a great contribution to the development of our relations in this sphere. I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues for supporting Azerbaijan's candidacy to host the third CIS Games in 2025. I am sure that the third CIS Games, in addition to strengthening our cooperation in sports, will also be a demonstration of our successful cooperation within the Commonwealth. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the President of Belarus, Mr. Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko, on the successful hosting of the second CIS Games. Dear colleagues, the strengthening of our economic ties is producing positive results. Last year, the volume of trade between Azerbaijan and the CIS countries grew by almost 30 percent. This year's growth will constitute more than 20 percent. Azerbaijan is a reliable partner for many CIS countries in the field of transit and transportation. Many CIS countries are actively using Azerbaijan's transit opportunities in the East-West and North-South transport corridors. The ongoing and future projects to expand the capacity of these two transport corridors will serve to strengthen the transport security of our countries and increase our trade. I would like to express my gratitude to the President of Kyrgyzstan again for the excellent organization of the event. I am confident that the results of the Summit will serve to further strengthen our cooperation. Thank you for your attention. President Sadyr Zhaparov: Thank you, Ilham Heydarovich. x x x Then, the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State continued in an expanded format. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov noted that the discussions held at the meeting would contribute to the development of cooperation among the CIS member countries. Sadyr Zhaparov announced that the chairmanship of the CIS passed from Kyrgyzstan to Russia. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin highlighted his country`s priority goals during the CIS presidency. Vladimir Putin pointed out that the next meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State would be held in Moscow next October. Addressing the meeting, CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev informed about the documents to be signed. The meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State ended with the signing of documents. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 11:53 (UTC+04:00) Abbas Ganbay Read more I am very proud to be in Baku. President of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar said during his speech at an exhibition organized within the Days of Culture and Presentation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in Baku, Azernews reports. President said his visit to Baku was of great importance for the further development of relations with Azerbaijan: "Northern Cyprus is still continuing its struggle. The Turkish people of Cyprus have been sanctioned in all fields. The resistance shown by our people to these Sanctions is commendable. Azerbaijan has also given many martyrs for its independence. It has fought many battles. The victory in Garabagh once again showed the strength of our brothers to the whole world". --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 15:33 (UTC+04:00) A ceremony to confer the CIS Badge of Honor upon President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been held in Bishkek. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and other heads of state participated in the event. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 18:08 (UTC+04:00) The I Turkic World Culture Forum dedicated to the 100th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev, organized by the Ministry of Culture, started in Shusha on October 13. This was reported by the Ministry of Culture, Azernews reports. Participants and guests of the Forum visited the Shusha Creative Centre and got acquainted with the exhibition "Heydar Aliyev and Garabagh". The exhibition presents unique photos, documents, and video materials reflecting the merits of great leader Heydar Aliyev in the directions of socio-economic, political, and cultural development of the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan in the Soviet period. The exhibition also includes photos of the national leader's visits to Garabagh, meetings, and various events held there. Next, the forum participants visited the Saatli Mosque. The guests were familiarised with the history of the mosque. It was reported that the mosque of the same name, located in the Saatli neighborhood of Shusha, is registered as an architectural monument of national importance. The Saatli Mosque was built in 1883 according to the design of Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi, who was the architect of several monumental religious and civil buildings in Garabagh, including the Lower and Yukhari Govhar-aga Mosques in Shusha, the Juma Mosque in Aghdam and the Imamzade Tomb in Barda. The Saatli Mosque was last renovated in the 1980s. After the occupation of Shusha by Armenia on 8 May 1992, Saatli Mosque was looted and its minaret was destroyed. After the liberation of the city by the victorious Azerbaijani army, restoration works were carried out in the mosque. President Ilham Aliyev also visited Saatli Mosque during his visit to Shusha on 14 January 2021. The head of state presented the mosque with the "Holy Quran" brought from Mecca. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 19:16 (UTC+04:00) The next plenary session of the Milli Majlis will be held on 17 October. The agenda of the meeting included a discussion of 16 issues, Azernews reports. The concerns are as follows: 1. Draft Law "On Determination of Binagadi District, Sumgait City and Absheron District of Baku City Boundaries" 2. Draft Law "On Energy" (second reading). 3. Draft Law on Amendments to the Law "On Licences and Permits" (second reading) 4. Draft Law on Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Administrative Offences, the Laws "On Notariate" and "On Administrative Proceedings" (second reading). 5. Draft law on amending the Law on Police (second reading) 6. Draft law on amendments to the Regulation on Service in the Internal Affairs Bodies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, approved by Act No. 168-IIQ of 29 June 2001 (second reading). 7. Draft Law on Amendments to the Law "On Vocational Education" (Second Reading) 8. Draft law on amendments to the Law on State Duty (second reading) 9. 9. Draft law on amendments to the law on hunting (second reading) 10. 10. Draft law amending the law on social services (second reading). 11. A draft law amending the law on postal services (second reading). 12. A draft law amending the law on State Duty (second reading). 13. A draft law amending the Labour Code and the Labour Pensions Act (second reading). 14. Draft law on amendments to the law on military duty and military service (first reading) 15. 15. Draft law "On amending the Law on Accounting" (first reading) 16. 16. Draft Law on Amending Certain Laws in Connection with the Implementation of Law No. 987-VIQ of 14 July 2023 on Payment Services and Payment Systems (first reading) Also, MPs of Milli Majlis - chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Interparliamentary Relations Samed Seyidov and head of the working group on Azerbaijani-Italian interparliamentary relations Azer Kerimli will visit the Italian capital Rome on 16 October. This was reported in the Milli Majlis Press and Public Relations Department. The MPs will take part in a number of bilateral meetings to be held in the Italian Parliament within the framework of the visit. The trip will end on 20 October. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 17:50 (UTC+04:00) President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has completed his visit to the Kyrgyz Republic. A guard of honor was lined up for the head of state at Bishkek Manas International Airport. The President of Azerbaijan was seen off by officials. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Foreign investors sold Korean stocks for a second straight month in September amid woes over a slowdown in the Chinese economy and a delay in the recovery of the chipmaking sector, central bank data showed Friday. Offshore investors sold a net $1.33 billion worth of local stocks last month, following net selling of $910 million a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The central bank said foreigners' net stock selling came amid growing woes over a slowdown in the Chinese economy, the world's second-largest economy and the country's top trading partner, and a delay in the much-awaited recovery of the semiconductor segment. Foreigners also sold a net $100 million worth of local bonds last month, compared with net selling of $790 million a month earlier. In August, foreign investors offloaded a net $1.7 billion worth of local stocks and bonds, the largest since December 2022, when the comparable figure was $2.42 billion. Meanwhile, the premium on credit default swaps (CDS) for Korea's five-year dollar-denominated currency stabilization bonds amounted to 32 basis points in September, up from 31 basis points the previous month. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The CDS premium reflects the cost of hedging credit risks on corporate or sovereign debt. A rise implies a drop in the credit spreads of sovereign bonds and higher borrowing costs. (Yonhap) 13 October 2023 09:00 (UTC+04:00) South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was indicted over corruption on Thursday, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. It came two weeks after a court rejected a plea by prosecutors to grant Lees arrest. Democratic Party chief has been accused of breach of trust, bribery, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported. All charges are related to the 2014-2018 period when he served as mayor of Seongnam City, south of the national capital Seoul. The accusations are related to a scandal-ridden land development project in the city's Bundang district. The countrys parliament had already given its consent for Lees arrest. His party has, however, protested the charges as "persecution" of the opposition party and accused President Yoon Suk-yeols government of an attempt to remove a political enemy." Lee also faces two other separate cases. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 19:54 (UTC+04:00) At a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Heads of State in Bishkek on October 13th, 2023, CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev announced that Tajikistan will take over the CIS presidency in 2025, Azernews reports. The meeting, chaired by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, was attended by the heads of state of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It was one of the high-profile events held this week along with the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the Central Asia Russia summit. The Council of Heads of State discussed a wide range of issues related to multilateral cooperation within the CIS and agreed to intensify work on the draft agreement on free trade in services, organizations, and investment activities to deepen trade and economic cooperation. They also declared 2023 as the Year of the Russian Language and the Language of Interethnic Communication, 2024 the Year of the Volunteer Movement, 2025 the Year of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War the Year of Peace and Unity in the Fight against the Nazis, and 2026 the Year of Health Protection. The CIS heads of state also approved the program of cooperation in combating terrorism and extremism for 2023-2025 and agreed to hand over the chairmanship in the CIS to Kyrgyzstan in 2023 and co-chairmanship to Russia and Kazakhstan. Tajikistan's assumption of the CIS presidency in 2025 is a significant development for the organization and will be a key step in strengthening multilateral cooperation among the member states. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 13 October 2023 15:50 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more Azerbaijan's Shamakhi chosen as tourist capital of Turkic World for 2023 The decision was announced at the 8th Meeting of Ministers responsible for tourism of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) held in Turkestan, Kazakhstan, Azernews reports. At the same time, Turkestan was chosen as the tourist capital of the Turkic world for 2024. Advisor to the chairman of the Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency Kanan Guluzade made a speech at the event. In his speech, Kanan Guluzade underlined that the number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan from Turkic countries has increased in recent years. The number of citizens of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkiye, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan visiting Azerbaijan increased by 32 percent, 59 percent, 20 percent, 91 percent, 78 percent, 188 percent respectively in 9 months of 2023. Kanan Guluzade added that the increase in the number of direct flights between the cities has been recorded and that this process is mutual. Guluzade also noted Azerbaijan is expected to receive a total of 4 million foreign citizens in 2026. Thus, in 2026, the income from tourism is forecasted at the level of 10 billion manat ($5.8 billion). If you are amongst those who tend to be smitten by the history of the ancient monuments, a trip to Azerbaijan's beautiful city Shamakhi is definitely a must for you. The royal seat of the Shirvanshahs (9th to 18th centuries) is home to many impressive sites, which never cease to impress. Owing to the vast history and ancient monuments, Shamakhi is the favorite city of the history buffs. Gulistan fortress (11th-12th centuries), the mausoleum of Addy-Gyumbez (The Seven Domes) with numerous burial places of Shamakhi governors, Djuma cathedral mosque (10th century, reconstructed in the 19th century) and numerous ruins of the 10th 17th centuries are also must see if you are interested in history. Maybe you're more interested in looking at the spectacular images of celestial objects. Observatory named by Nasreddin Tusi is a great destination for astronomy enthusiasts. The largest astrophysical observatory in Azerbaijan and the whole Caucasus is located in Pirkuli, Shamakhi. Observatory named by Nasreddin Tusi is equipped with modern facilities and with one of the largest in the CIS telescope with a mirror of 2 m by diameter. Moreover, the city's diverse territory endows the country with some of the most beautiful landscapes. Mild climate, picturesque nature, unique landscapes and a large number of beautiful national parks attracts a lot of tourists to Shamakhi. The area in which the city is located is full of mountain forests and meadows. Oak, beech and hornbeam forests in the highlands, green fields and bushes, and caressing green meadows add special beauty to this place. More than 50 species of medical herbs grow here. The rich nature in forests provides favorable conditions for birds and animals living there, for example deer, boars, bears, and wild cats. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz North Korea threatened Friday to stage the "most powerful and rapid first strike" against U.S. strategic assets deployed to the Korean Peninsula, in the latest bellicose rhetoric that underscored Pyongyang's concerns about U.S. military capabilities in the region. The nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier docked at the southeastern port of Busan on Thursday for a five-day visit the first since September 2022 in a show of force against North Korea. The visit came soon after trilateral naval drills involving the United States, South Korea and Japan. The carrier strike group's visit is part of the U.S. commitment to further strengthening the "regular visibility" of strategic assets on the peninsula, as outlined in the Washington Declaration issued in April following the summit of the leaders of South Korea and the U.S. North Korea denounced Washington's deployment of nuclear strategic assets as an "undisguised" military provocation, warning that the strategic assets have entered the extremely dangerous waters. North Korea's "most powerful and rapid first strike will be given to the 'extended deterrence' means, used by the U.S. to hallucinate its followers, and the bases of evil in the Korean peninsula and its vicinity," according to a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. North Korea said the country's nuclear doctrine adopted last year allows it to take necessary actions, such as the preemptive use of nuclear arms, in case it judges a nuclear attack against it is imminent. Last month, North Korea amended the constitution to enshrine the policy of strengthening its nuclear force, as it seeks to increase its nuclear arsenal "exponentially." (Yonhap) As School Choice is beginning to take shape in North Carolina: What is your position on what it should evolve into? 6.25% School Choice is only a distraction from the promise of real public education.90.63% 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.3.13% School Choice - I cannot see how it serves the Education Industry. There was quite a bit of good in NC's budget, and thanks to the Freedom Caucus in the NC House, it does not include Phil Berger's casinos. However, another of Berger's corrupt deals to the tune of $500 million, NCInnovation, was part of the budget. Government picking winners and losers in business is not free enterprise. Many call it socialism, but it is actually a concept of a different totalitarian ideology, namely fascism. It is part of the core economic tenant of fascism, the corporate state. NCInnovation's top leader and promoter is a retired CEO of the most "woke" bank in North Carolina. Many of its top staff are long time Democrat left political activists. What could go wrong with such an organization? The state is giving them a $500 million slush fund. Progressive left Governor Cooper asked for $50 million for NCInnovation in his proposed budget. Progressive Republican NC House Speaker Tim Moore gave him the full amount he asked for in the budget passed by the NC House. When it got to the state Senate, ultra progressive Senate President Pro Tem upped the amount to $1.4 billion in the senate budget, and fought to keep it there. The final budget put $500 million of the NC taxpayers money into this slush fund boondoggle. Republicans badly need a real Republican running the Senate and that starts with ousting the Berger Republicans at the local level, such as RINO State Sen. Jim Perry in the local district. Perry supported this ridiclous NCInnovation slush fund, and he is a staunch backer of Berger. Perry is one of the key Bergerites who needs to be taken out in the primary. https://dailyhaymaker.com/locke-blasts-ncinnovation-as-dem-infested-psst-its-had-lotsa-rino-help/ By DALE HURD at CBN.com For those Americans wondering if they're safe from the kind of attack Hamas carried out against Israel, the answer from terrorism experts is not encouraging. Under questioning by FBI agents, New Yorker Ali Kourani admitted in 2017 to being a member of something called "Unit 9-10." It's the Black Ops unit of Hezbollah, controlled by Iran. Kourani told agents he was trained to be a suicide bomber and was scouting targets in New York City. He's now in prison. Another Unit 910 member imprisoned this year, 42-year-old New Jersey resident Alexei, alias Alex Saab, had also scouted potential targets around New York City. While the exact number of Hamas and Hezbollah sleeper cells operating within the United States is not known, a comprehensive study by George Washington University last year found the most Hezbollah activity in Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and California. Former FBI Special Agent Eric Caron, now a security and counter-terrorism consultant to governments, told CBN News, "We have over a thousand joint terrorism task force cases going on here in America today relating to Muslim extremists." So far this year, authorities have caught 151 people on the FBI's Terrorism Watch list trying to illegally enter the U.S. through the southern border, 50 times higher than two years ago. Most are coming through Panama's Darien Gap, where journalist Michael Yon says he's seeing 3-to-5,000 migrants pass through every day on their way to the U.S. "I see a lot of Chinese coming through," Yon said. "Most of the people you see coming through are military-age males. I see Afghans coming in by the thousands sometimes." Then he added, "I've had people come through that say they're from Gaza." CBN News correspondent Chuck Holton has also reported from the Darien Gap and says he has no doubt dangerous persons are headed for the U.S. border. "I interviewed a guy from Afghanistan. We found many people from Somalia and Yemen. We found people from Syria, Iran," Holton said. Caron is especially concerned about America's ports where Customs and Border Protection says it scans every incoming container for radiation but physically inspects only three percent. "We have 328 ports of entry into America. They all have to be secure, and many of them are soft," Caron said. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned this week that what happened in Israel could happen here. "We should wake up ourselves," McCarthy said. "We could have the same thing happen next week to us. Your intel is never perfect and we've got a wide-open border." Former special agent Caron said, "The idea that they don't want to attack us again like a 9-11, but even bigger is foolish. They want to attack us. They want to destroy America." Here are five of the many physicians on the cutting edge of gastroenterology: If you would like to nominate a physician, please email pnewitt@beckershealthcare.com. Ajay Jain, MD. Professor of Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Physiology at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and SLUCare Group at SSM Health (St. Louis). "Dr. Jain has pioneered work in the field of parenteral nutrition associated multisystem injury, interrogating pathways and leading development of novel systems studying pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapeutic PN approaches," Hossain Marandi, MD, president of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, told Becker's. "Seminal contributions include unbiased discovery platforms and excellence in diagnostic and therapeutic testing of pediatric liver diseases and obesity. He is substantially NIH-, foundations- and industry-funded, ASPEN president-elect; mentor and NIH review panelist and prominently recognized through multiple national and international awards, patents, presentations and publications." Barbara Jung, MD. President of the American Gastroenterological Association. In addition to her position at the American Gastroenterological Association, Dr. Jung is the first woman to serve as the chair of internal medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. Under her leadership, she has hired leaders that focus on wellness and diversity, equity and inclusion as well as launched a genetic counseling master's program, according to Gastro Journal. Her clinical focus is in hereditary GI diseases. Omar Khokhar, MD. Medical Director for Eastland SurgiCenter in Bloomington, Ill. In addition to his position at Eastland SurgiCenter, Dr. Khokhar serves as managing partner for newly formed Illinois GastroHealth and an adviser to multiple start-ups in the gastroenterology and orthopedic landscape with a focus on remote and virtual technology. Robert Schoen, MD. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Schoen is a principal investigator on research about early detection and prevention of colorectal cancer, according to an Oct. 4 news release from the university. He is also a co-investigator on a study developing a natural language processing tool to more efficiently evaluate colonoscopy quality. He recently received the 2024 Research Mentor Awards from the American Gastroenterological Association. Dhiraj Yadav, MD. Professor of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh. Along with researching pancreatic disease, Dr. Yadav developed and co-directs the Enhancing Mentoring to Improve Research in Gastroenterology program for the university's Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, according to an Oct. 4 news release from the university. He also recently received the 2024 Research Mentor Awards from the American Gastroenterological Association. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to create more mental healthcare capacity as part of the state's $1 billion investment in mental healthcare. Her plan not only involves creating new access, but restoring it in hospitals. The governor earmarked $1 billion for a statewide mental healthcare plan in the state's fiscal year 2024 budget. One tenet of the plan is for approximately 500 inpatient psychiatric beds at community hospitals that were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic to be restored into service by 2024. "To my friends in the hospital community, those of you who have listened and followed this, I thank you," the governor said in an Oct. 12 news briefing. "The rest of you, you are on notice. I said there will be fines. There will be fines if you don't bring these back online in the timetable we are telling you." New legislation allows the state to fine community hospitals up to $2,000 per violation per day for failing to comply with the number of psychiatric beds outlined in their operating certificate. No fines have yet been imposed. More than 1,000 inpatient psychiatric beds were removed across New York during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. As of February, approximately 850 of the beds, including 450 in New York City, remained closed. In January, the state issued letters to 50 hospitals across the state with a February deadline to either re-open all non-operational licensed inpatient psychiatric beds or submit a plan to bring all non-operational inpatient beds online by April 1, 2023. Hundreds of beds were expected to miss the deadlines issued. Ms. Hochul expressed impatience with hospitals that have not yet restored capacity, which she did not name. "I can't tell someone that I saw this morning in our subway, 'I know you want to get help, you have listened to our SOS teams, you trust them, you're ready to go. But, oh, the hospital's taking too long to bring it back online,'" the governor said. "Doesn't work for me. Work for any of you? No. We're done. We're done with excuses." Chicago-based Community First Medical Center reported a data breach that affected the information of 216,047 patients. The hospital discovered on July 12 that an unauthorized party accessed files that contained patient names, email addresses, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers and Medicare numbers. In a filing with the HHS, the hospital described the breach as a hacking incident in the network server. The hospital has no indication that any personal information was misused, according to a Sept. 26 data breach notification. However, the health system is providing free credit monitoring services to individuals whose Social Security numbers were in the breached files. Patients of Herington (Kan.) Hospital have reported trouble getting access to their medical records after the hospital abruptly announced its closure on Oct. 9, NBC affiliate KSNW reported Oct. 12. Herington (Kan.) Hospital, a 25-bed critical access facility, closed due to financial struggles and consistently low patient volumes, according to leadership. The hospital said the facility would remain open through the remainder of the week for patients to retrieve medical records, but one patient told the publication he could not get access. "I went up to the door Thursday, and on the door it says 'hospital closed,'" David Stover, a patient at the hospital, told the news outlet. According to Mr. Stover, a phone number was posted on the window, but when he called, no one answered. Becker's reached out to Herington Hospital for comment and will update the story if more information becomes available. The devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have hospital executives planning for the next crisis. Hospital CFOs told Becker's that they are focusing on improving their balance sheets and re-evaluating their supply chain exposure to prepare for the next unforeseen event. Here's what three hospital CFOs told Becker's about preparing for another pandemic: Anthony Saul. CFO of Grady Health System (Atlanta): 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. Brett Tande. CFO of Scripps Health (San Diego): Under [CEO Chris Van Gorder's] leadership as well as that of our board and my predecessor, Rich Rothberger, Scripps has been able to develop a fortresslike balance sheet that was central to Scripps Health entering the pandemic with a durable balance sheet that enabled us to focus on taking care of San Diego. We intend to maintain that financial strength as the bedrock upon which Scripps can meet its mission. The weakness in industry economics affects many, and the unfunded mandates in California exacerbates that pain, but I am impressed by the resilience and determination of the Scripps Health team and I have confidence that a continuation of our strategic and tactical efforts will ensure that Scripps Health, its patients and our employees thrive. Michael Allen. CFO of OSF HealthCare (Peoria, Ill.): To look at the resilience of the healthcare business side of a system, we started manufacturing some of our own PPE. We looked at redundancy in our supply chain and made sure that we had options and became more self-sufficient. We learned that maybe not in all situations do we want the lowest price, because if they're coming from China, that'll get disrupted really easily. We learned it might be better to have domestic delivery options closer to home. We also saw the labor dislocation that happened not so much due to the virus. It was because people started making life decisions differently when we all started seeing life look differently. People were working remotely, changing locations, changing jobs and retiring. Those decisions all at once totally disrupted our labor market. Then, it started putting pressure on smaller hospitals. It changes all those economics and then, as a health system, we're saying, where can we deliver care? Where can we not deliver care? Well, where can we improve providers? As the CFO, I remind the organization we have lots of abundance of resources, that they're finite, and there's only so much to go around and we have to make the best use of one. North Korea is "on pace" to deploy sufficient nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to overcome the U.S. missile defense and may be preparing for a nuclear test to enable tactical nuclear operations, a U.S. congressional report showed Thursday. The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States issued the final report. It was launched by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 to examine America's long-term strategic posture. The report gave a detailed assessment of various security challenges from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, among other threats, in the 2027-2035 time frame. "North Korea continues to expand and diversify its nuclear forces, increasing the threat to U.S. allies and forces in theater and posing a greater threat to the United States and its allies," the report read. "North Korea is on pace to deploy nuclear-armed intercontinental range missiles in sufficient numbers that could potentially challenge U.S. homeland ground-based ballistic missile defenses," it added. The commission predicted that for the foreseeable future, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will remain committed to expanding his country's nuclear arsenal and maintaining nuclear weapons as a "centerpiece of his national security structure." It also raised the possibility of the North conducting yet another nuclear test. "It is probably preparing to test a nuclear device to facilitate tactical nuclear operations," the report said. "It may maintain a stockpile of a few dozen nuclear warheads." Seoul officials have said that the recalcitrant regime has already completed preparations for what would be a seventh nuclear test as it has been doubling down on a drive to deploy tactical nuclear weapons. Tactical nuclear arms refer to battlefield weapons with relatively lower yields, compared with relatively higher yield "strategic" weapons usually carried by longer-range delivery vehicles, such as ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and long-range bombers. The report said North Korea's national security strategy has two main objectives: ensuring the Kim regime's long-term security and retaining the capability to exercise dominant influence over the Korean Peninsula. "Since the mid-2000s, the North's strategy to achieve these goals has been to prioritize the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver nuclear weapons to increasingly distant ranges while maintaining a conventional military capable of inflicting enormous damage on South Korea," it said. The report described the North's chemical and biological weapons programs as being of "great concern," while noting that its cyber forces are "fully" capable of achieving a range of strategic objectives against diverse targets, including those in the U.S. "North Korea's cyber program poses a sophisticated and agile espionage, cybercrime, and attack capability. North Korea views its offensive cyber capabilities as a cost-effective and deniable tool that it can employ with little risk of reprisal," the report said. It cited reports that North Korean hackers stole $1.7 billion in 2022 alone. On the challenges from China and Russia in the 2027-2035 period, the committee warned that the U.S. will face two major nuclear-armed "adversaries." "Their projected capabilities magnify how complex this competition could become, and combine to pose an existential threat to the United States and its Allies and partners," it said. (Yonhap) ProMedica Coldwater (Mich.) Hospital agreed to an early cancellation and pay off of its bonds with the county, a deal that could expedite its sale to Glendale, Calif.-based American Healthcare Systems, The Daily Reporter reported Oct. 13. The health system is aiming to pay the remaining $3.59 million and interest it owes on bonds issued in 2012 by Oct. 31. As a nonprofit hospital, ProMedica assumed the debts when it purchased the county-owned hospital in 2012. In May, for-profit American Healthcare Systems announced that it intended to buy the Coldwater facility. However, its for-profit status meant it could not assume the debt held in government bonds. Hospital officials said that the Coldwater facility lost $12.6 million last year. The Michigan attorney general will still have to review the transaction. Former hospital President Alan Sattler anticipated sale approval from the state in late October when the transaction was first announced. Essential hospitals, which comprise more than 300 of the largest safety net providers and about 5 percent of acute-care hospitals in the U.S., provided over 25 percent of all charity care in 2021, according to an Oct. 12 report from America's Essential Hospitals. With an average operating margin of 8.6 percent compared with 1.4 percent for all other hospitals based on Medicare cost report data charity care and other uncompensated care left essential hospitals in the red, according to the report. "These data show how the added pressure of the pandemic deepened long-standing financial challenges for our hospitals, including public payer shortfalls and the high uncompensated costs of their safety net mission," Beth Feldpush, DrPH, senior vice president of policy and advocacy for America's Essential Hospitals, said. "Those challenges remain today and underscore the urgency of stopping cuts to key federal safety net support." Hospitals are also staring down the barrel of an $8 billion cut to Medicaid disproportionate share funding in mid-November. The funding cuts, part of the Affordable Care Act, will curb Medicaid DSH funding by $8 billion in fiscal years 2024 through 2027 a $32 billion reduction total. This amount, two-thirds of all federal DSH dollars, would devastate essential hospitals, according to Ms. Feldpush. "They simply cannot sustain a cut of that magnitude," she said, "Access to care and lifesaving services will suffer unless Congress acts." According to America's Essential Hospitals report, people from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups comprised around 55 percent of member discharges in 2021 and almost 75 percent were uninsured or covered by Medicaid or Medicare. The socioeconomic status of essential hospitals' communities is also detailed in the report, with 5.4 million people having limited access to healthful food, 237,000 experiencing homelessness, 10 million uninsured and 14.6 million living below the poverty line in 2021. Click here to access the report. Bon Secours Mercy Health, based in Cincinnati, confirmed to Becker's that it is laying off some positions within its information and technology team. The health system told Becker's that it informed its information and technology team on Oct. 12 that "a small number" of positions were being eliminated. According to Bon Secours, the majority of these positions are open and unfilled roles. "Each affected associate will be treated with dignity and respect, and will be provided with support, guidance and transition benefits as they move forward," a Bon Secours spokesperson told Becker's in an emailed statement. This comes shortly after Bon Secours said a portion of its information and technology team would be transitioning to technology consulting firm Nordic Consulting Partners in January 2024. The health system is a client of Nordic. The Minnesota Supreme Court said Oct. 11 that hospitals can use patient data for fundraising purposes under the Minnesota Health Records Act. The court ruled in favor of Minneapolis-based Children's Hospital and Clinics, stating that the Minnesota Health Records Act permits disclosures of a patient's health records without the patient's consent when the disclosure is authorized in federal regulations, according to a court filing obtained by Becker's. The ruling comes after Kelly and Evarist Schneider, whose child was a patient at Children's Hospital and Clinics, sued the hospital after its charity, Children's Health Care Foundation, had disclosed certain health information about their child to the foundation for fundraising purposes. The parents claimed that consent was not given to the hospital to disclose their child's protected health information and said the hospital violated the Minnesota Health Records Act. The decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court affirms the ruling from the Minnesota Court of Appeals. South Weymouth, Mass.-based South Shore Health has appointed Stephen Jenney senior vice president and CFO/treasurer. Mr. Jenney joined South Shore as vice president of finance in May after previously serving as CFO and treasurer for Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization in Boston. At BWPO, he oversaw overall financial operations, including revenue cycle performance, financial reporting, and operating and capital planning. He developed policy and monitored key performance indicators to drive performance at BWPO, which has more than 3,600 employees, including 2,000 employed physicians, and over $1 billion in revenue, according to a Oct. 12 news release. Mr. Jenney has served as interim CFO of South Shore since Kristine Hanscom left the health system in June. Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, N.M., has selected a permanent CEO, Silver City Daily Press reported Oct. 12. Margie Molitor, the hospital's interim CEO since February, announced the executive changes at an Oct. 12 meeting with the Grant County Commission. Robert Whitaker will become the hospital's CEO on Oct. 30, overlapping with Ms. Molitor for two days before she returns to retirement in Wyoming. He most recently served as CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services in Gallup, N.M., according to his LinkedIn profile. Pat Banks, the hospital's CFO, stepped down from his role Oct. 12 to return to Seattle. The hospital will appoint an interim, Ms. Molitor said. Corwin Harper was named CEO of Shreveport, La.-based Ochsner LSU Health, part of New Orleans-based Ochsner Health. Mr. Harper brings a wealth of experience to the role, according to an Oct. 11 news release. He joined Ochsner Health in 2021, most recently serving as senior vice president and chief growth officer. He also previously served as CEO of Ochsner's Northshore and Mississippi Gulf Coast region. Ochsner Health and LSU Health Shreveport partnered in 2018 to create Ochsner LSU Health. The U.S. is cracking down on hospitals to improve sepsis care. A rule finalized in August by CMS and the Biden administration will give health systems until 2026 to comply with the new standards. In the meantime, researchers are pushing ahead with techniques and tools aimed at improving outcomes. Four developments in sepsis care that have been achieved in 2023: A study published in September by Penn State researchers tested a technology designed to detect sepsis earlier in at-risk patients proved in trials that it is capable of achieving a patient survival rate of 95 percent when in use compared to other tools. In August, Our Lady of the Lake Health in Baton Rouge, La., deployed a technology to more rapidly detect signs of sepsis specifically in less than 10 minutes. With the tool, patients who have checked into the ER are evaluated using the tool, and anyone who has a condition that the tool signals as putting them at a higher risk for septic infection, is prioritized and seen in that order, rather than the traditional order they come in. Improving a standard treatment for septic shock increasing the patient's blood pressure can be done safely using both vasopressors and continued IV fluid administration, according to research published in January by experts at Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The gut microbiome may play a larger role in regulating basal body temperature than previously thought specifically in relation to infections like sepsis and targeting it could help improve septic patient outcomes, according to research published in January by experts from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. Despite the progress made in research and tools, sepsis care in the U.S. is still in need of stronger guidelines some say. Groups like the Sepsis Alliance have pushed for stronger guidelines around the deadly hospital infection for years. "Some nations, including Switzerland and the United Kingdom, have implemented national sepsis strategies, but the United States has yet to do so," the group wrote in a Sept. 11 news release. "A National Sepsis Action Plan is urgently needed to guide work aimed at countering sepsis, saving lives, and reducing healthcare costs." Code Lavender, escape rooms, professional development and flexible scheduling are just some of the nurse initiatives top hospitals are implementing to create an excellent nurse workplace. In August, Nurse Journal, a career and education resource website, ranked 15 hospitals as the top for nurses to work at. They determined the top 15 hospitals by using rankings from CMS, the American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognition Program, and the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Patient Survey as well as the following criteria: patient satisfaction scores, safe staffing levels, hospital safety measures, nursing career opportunities, benefits, workplace environment and ratings from nurse reviewers. Here, six leaders break down their goals for nurses that improve patient care and work culture: Margarita Baggett, MSN, RN. Chief Clinical Officer for UC San Diego Health: As a top ranked hospital, there is a strong emphasis throughout nursing to foster a sense of belonging and ensure all team members feel safe and are encouraged to speak. This ties into the strategic foundation at UC San Diego Health to break down structural racism and develop strategies related to training on diversity, equity and inclusion and to implement action plans. All nurse leaders go through multiple education events over the year to learn about the implications of racism on teams and patients and how to break down these harmful structures. In nursing, the aim is to outperform the previous year when it comes to nurse sensitive indicators. Reducing harm to patients through monitoring and implementing action plans to improve NSIs is a large part of the nursing strategic plan. NSIs are specific patient outcomes, influenced by nursing care, such as prevention of falls, pressure injuries and certain infections. Using our Daily Engagement System, all units are asked to identify the greatest area for improvement and target efforts toward reducing those risks to patients. Data is available to measure outcomes over time and DES is used to report progress toward goals, escalate barriers and allocate resources. To help improve patient experience, inpatient nursing is working on quietness at night projects at the unit level and partnering with the Experience Transformation Department to identify root causes and determine evidence-based interventions. Quietness projects were identified as an opportunity for improvement across the inpatient units using experience data. Lastly, nursing has implemented exit interviews to better understand why nurses leave the organization to quickly address barriers to nurse retention. Dina Dent, DNP, RN. Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Inova Health System (Falls Church, Va.): Some of the key goals within our nursing enterprise include: Encouraging RNs to practice at the top of their licenses, to empower them with the autonomy and resources they need to provide the best care possible while advancing their nursing careers. Promoting nursing career growth through Inova 's ADVANCE Clinical Ladder Program. Just last month we graduated our first-ever RN5 nurses, who lead by their example and will help mentor our next generation of great nurses. Enhancing our sharded government structure to ensure that every nurse's voice is heard. Streamlining documentation house-wide and piloting virtual nursing on several of our units, to diminish the administrative burden and allow nurses to spend more time at the bedside. Continue to decrease our dependency on agency nursing. At Inova Fairfax, we are down 19% on our use of agency nursing compared to 2022, a savings of about $14.8 million. Continue to decrease our nursing turnover rates. In December 2019 our nursing turnover rate was 17.2%, as of August 2023 we are now at 14.32%. Brandee Fetherman, MSN, RN. Chief Nursing Officer at Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center: We are actively engaged and continuously enhancing our patient experience initiatives. We celebrate "Extraordinary Caring" monthly by celebrating exceptional patient care stories at our leadership meeting. It is the best part of the meeting, and we often bring back the patients or family members to share their stories. Professional development opportunities for our nurses is a key component to enhancing the patient care we provide. They also continue to provide support and encouragement for our nursing professionals to reach for higher competencies as part of their ongoing professional and career development. In addition, we are fortunate to have Atlantic Health System's Institute for Bioskills Training and Innovation that offers a wide variety of simulation training and education exercises, both in the lab as well as in the hospital setting. We have also developed creative ways to collaborate and learn together, such as escape rooms which were really fun, and other new and different ways of learning to bring out the best in the entire team. Ryannon Frederick, MSN, RN. Chief Nursing Officer at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.): The priorities we've established for our nursing colleagues fall into three areas: transforming the practice, supporting the workforce and accelerating nursing research. In practice transformation, we want our nurses' work environment to change significantly. We want to decrease the documentation burden so nurses can focus on hands-on patient care. These transformations include testing tools that incorporate automation and artificial intelligence, improving communication and introducing new care delivery models such as virtual care. For our workforce, we are creating an environment that is superior for the nurse and supports retention. Our diverse front-line nursing staff recently shared that they don't see diversity reflected in leaders, making it harder to recognize a pathway to grow in their skills and careers. We took their feedback to heart and are working toward diversity in leadership that reflects the diversity of our staff and communities. In addition, we just began a mentorship program for diverse staff to connect with a leader who will help them develop in the trajectory they want to grow professionally. We continue to grow and improve our professional governance models so nursing staff feel empowered and equipped with training, change and career opportunities. In support of nursing research, we're building the base of scientific evidence around the care our staff provides and the challenges our staff, patients and their families face. The most exciting part is developing teams of direct care nurses and nurse scientists to solve clinical problems they see and experience at the bedside. We're also growing the number of nurse scientists through educational scholarships and an internal professional development program. Joye Gingrich, BSN, RN. Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services at UPMC Harrisburg (Pa.): Nursing goals for the year are focused on quality of life, well-being and professional development. We want to ensure nurses are aware of professional growth and development opportunities and support them to pursue. The transition of graduate nurses into professional practice can be both exciting and challenging, so UPMC's My Nursing Residency is an extensive program designed to support new nurses during the transition from student to nursing practice. The UPMC My Nursing Career Ladder offers more opportunities and accelerated growth, plus greater compensation, which is more attainable for nurses. Flexible scheduling is another key priority. UPMC Harrisburg offers a web-based scheduling solution that allows nurses to have greater influence over their schedule. Weekend and night programs provide additional compensation to reward nurses interested in working off-shift. Mary Beth Thoburn, BSN, RN. Chief Nursing Officer of Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital: We spend a great deal of time focusing on a culture of safety and high reliability. All nurses participate in online learning followed by team discussions on speaking up. Specific tools for improving communication are reviewed and discussed. This initiative is inclusive of nurse-patient communication, as well as caregiver-to-caregiver communication. Attending to the emotional needs of our caregivers is a priority for our entire organization. To that end, we have implemented Code Lavender to support a team that has endured a particularly stressful patient or caregiver event. The code is supported by our spiritual care colleagues who bring a basket of snacks, inspirational messages and aromatherapy tools to the team. They hold a brief huddle to acknowledge the event, allow for the team to express their thoughts and then provide support for the next several days. Our Emerge Stronger program provides peer-to-peer support to those experiencing emotional distress. Peer mentors are trained to provide support to other caregivers. This is a short-term relationship to encourage nurses to share their experiences and feelings with a trusted peer. Finally, we have a nurse ethicist on our team who provides clinical consults as well as education to nurses on moral distress. We continue to explore flexible scheduling options to support work and life integration and enhanced job satisfaction. Our clinical goals are determined by our teams as they review nurse driven patient outcomes. Benchmarking with other healthcare organizations allows us to measure our performance and collaborate with others to share best practices. Months after the federal government formally withdrew the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of CMS-certified healthcare facilities, hospitals and health systems have varied approaches to their own rules. The federal mandate was enacted in November 2021. Hospitals and health systems subsequently continued to roll out requirements for their workers, with some firing employees for noncompliance. In May, HHS announced it would drop the federal COVID-19 vaccine rule, and the Biden administration issued an 82-page final rule formalizing the mandate's end. The new final rule moves to treat COVID-19, from an oversight standpoint, more like the flu. In the new final rule, the federal government notes that hospitals and health systems may still instate their own COVID-19 vaccination requirements for workers, consistent with other federal, state and local laws. Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare, for example, is no longer requiring staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Health system leaders notified employees of the policy change July 27. Emory Healthcare said it still "strongly encourages all staff and physicians to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations, per CDC guidelines." Renton, Wash.-based Providence also does not have a vaccine mandate in effect, spokesperson Melissa Tizon told Becker's on Sept. 14. Caregivers may decline the shot. "We ask that all employees receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine or booster," the health system said in a statement. "This is not the same as the vaccine mandates that we were required to implement by state law and CMS during the pandemic." Providence said workers who do not wish to receive the vaccine must submit a declination form by Nov. 30. "They no longer need to request approval for a medical or religious exemption as many of our states and CMS required at the height of COVID," the health system said. "This policy has been our practice for many years with the flu vaccine and we are now extending this to the COVID vaccine." Additionally, Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced in September that it is not requiring employees to receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine. The organization said workers "are strongly encouraged to protect themselves and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by keeping up to date with COVID-19 vaccination." While a number of hospitals and health systems are encouraging COVID-19 vaccines, some have reinstated requirements for employees this fall, the Boston Business Journal reported Oct. 11. This includes Burlington, Mass.-based Tufts Medicine and Boston Children's Hospital. Tufts Medicine has asked staff to receive the updated dose by Dec. 31, citing updated regulations from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, according to the publication. Employees may decline receiving an updated shot. Boston Children's cited CDC recommendations in its decision, according to the Boston Business Journal. Employees who are fully remote or have a valid medical or religious exemption may be excused from the requirement. 3rd Belt and Road Forum will be a landmark event: Pakistani expert 13:24, October 13, 2023 By Zamir Ahmed Awan ( People's Daily Online China will host the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation from Oct. 17 to 18 in Beijing. It will not only be the grandest event to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), but also a crucial platform for relevant parties to advance high-quality cooperation. Initiated in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the BRI is a visionary project that aims to promote economic cooperation among countries along the ancient Silk Road routes. The initiative seeks to create a network of railways, roads, ports, and pipelines, connecting Asia with Europe, Africa, and beyond. However, the BRI is more than a mere physical infrastructure project; its a multifaceted initiative that includes policy coordination, trade facilitation, financial integration, and people-to-people bonds. A decade of significant achievements Since its announcement, the BRI has attracted immense international support. By June 2023, China had inked over 200 BRI cooperation agreements with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations across five continents, yielding many signature projects and small-scale impactful projects. The BRI has witnessed substantial trade and investment since its inception. Data shows that from 2013 to 2022, the cumulative value of imports and exports between China and BRI partner countries reached $19.1 trillion, boasting an average annual growth rate of 6.4 percent. Additionally, cumulative two-way investment between China and partner countries amounted to $380 billion, including $240 billion from China. The BRI has already achieved several remarkable milestones, fostering economic growth, technological advancement, and cultural exchanges among participant nations. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has emerged as a flagship BRI project, significantly enhancing Pakistan's infrastructure, energy, and industrial sectors, and spurring job creation and economic growth. The expected benefits of the BRI are vast and varied. By promoting connectivity, trade, and investment, the initiative facilitates economic integration and fosters mutual understanding among diverse cultures. It spurs innovation, promotes sustainable development, and alleviates poverty by creating employment opportunities and enhancing local economies. Anticipated discussions at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation The upcoming forum promises engaging discussions, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration among participating countries and international organizations. The BRI stands as a testament to the power of international cooperation. As the forum approaches, the global community eagerly anticipates the opportunity to build upon the initiative's successes, fostering a future of shared prosperity, mutual respect, and enduring collaboration among nations. It is vital to emphasize the paramount importance of the upcoming forum. The event is poised to be a significant milestone in fostering international cooperation, economic development, and global partnerships. Representatives from over 130 countries and 30 international organizations are poised to convene in Beijing, including Pakistans Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, who will also undertake an official visit at Chinas invitation. One of the key aspects contributing to the importance of this summit is the esteemed presence of world leaders. Leaders from diverse nations, representing various cultures, economies, and political ideologies, are expected to attend and actively participate in the discussions. This diverse representation underscores the inclusive nature of the BRI, promoting dialogue and collaboration among nations regardless of their differences. The upcoming forum is expected to yield promising and far-reaching outcomes. First, it aims to strengthen existing partnerships and cultivate new collaborations among participating countries, contributing significantly to economic growth and stability. Second, it will offer a platform to address common challenges like climate change, poverty, and healthcare, promoting joint efforts and knowledge sharing. Third, it will facilitate cultural exchanges and people-to-people connections, fostering a sense of global community and cooperation, paving the way for a more harmonious world. Moreover, the forum will likely witness the signing of numerous agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between participating countries and organizations, reflecting a shared commitment to enhancing cooperation, trade, and investments, and, in turn, promoting mutual prosperity and development. The upcoming forum holds immense significance in the global arena. The event will create a conducive environment for dialogue, cooperation, and progress by bringing together nations, leaders, and experts. Anticipated outcomes, such as strengthened partnerships, innovative solutions to global challenges, and enhanced cultural exchanges, are bound to have a positive and lasting impact on participating countries and the world. It is anticipated that collective discussions among leaders from various countries will make the BRI even more productive, guiding it toward unprecedented success. Zamir Ahmed Awan is a non-resident fellow at the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and a sinologist at the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan. Email: [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this article reflect those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of People's Daily Online. (Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang) Pyongyang clearly wants Biden gone; experts say it will try to influence next years election By Jung Min-ho Under President Joe Biden, Washingtons North Korea policy has been consistent, with little sign of change. While strengthening security ties with his counterparts in Seoul and Tokyo, Biden has maintained a position of no-concession on the denuclearization issue. For North Korea, changing the status quo may seem like an impossible task as long as Biden stays in power. His win in the election next year would mean four more years under U.S.-led sanctions that could further weaken North Koreas economy, which many reports suggest is in the worst shape since the great famine of the 1990s. Experts contacted recently by The Korea Times said North Korea would hope for Bidens loss to Trump, the former president and leading contender for the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2024. All of them said Kim sees Trump as the better of the two as he seeks to advance his nuclear and geopolitical ambitions. They also said the North will likely try to help Trump win possibly by using both legal and illegal means. There are many reasons for Kim to be excited about the prospect of Trumps second term. Mark Esper, who served as the Pentagon chief during the Trump administration, said in his memoir that pulling U.S. troops out of South Korea was his second-term priority. Withdrawing all U.S. forces completely out of South Korea may not be possible in the short term. But Kim appears to believe that there are areas where Trump could make concessions as long as his proposals meet his interest, said Chung Sung-yoon, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a state-funded think tank. Under Trump, for example, the issue of cost-sharing for defense could reemerge, and a negotiation failure could lead to the reduction of stationed troops, joint military exercises or even no more deployment of U.S. strategic assets to the peninsula. Experts say North Korea would seek nuclear disarmament negotiations with the U.S. as such talks, if happened, would inevitably give it U.S. recognition as a de facto nuclear-weapons state. Negotiations with Trump do not necessarily guarantee Washingtons chance of stance. But with him, North Korea at least can try, Go Myung-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank, said. North Koreas optimism might not be unfounded. Trump and Kim may have failed to reach a deal during summits in 2018 and 2019, but their relationship may continue to this day. The two exchanged at least 27 personal letters during the period. After leaving office, Trump told associates that he remained in contact with Kim, according to the book released last year, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America. Just four months ago, Trump stirred up controversy by posting a message of support for Kim on his Truth Social site, saying Congratulations to Kim Jung [sic] Un! after North Korea was appointed to the executive board of the World Health Organization. This came just three days after North Koreas botched attempt to put a military spy satellite into orbit, in a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Security experts, such as Shin So-hyun of the Asan Institute, believe it is possible that North Korean agents may conduct influence operations on social media and other online platforms to help Trumps campaign. But given the U.S. intensified monitoring efforts following such attempts by foreign states in the past and North Koreas limited technical ability, it will more likely stick to more familiar tactics testing missiles and other types of weapons. North Korea may conduct weapons tests to show that Bidens policy has failed, Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, said. The most likely and effective provocation would be successfully launching a Hwasong-18 solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile, which is believed to be able to hit the U.S. mainland, he added. North Korea could also proceed with its first nuclear weapons test since 2017, which would certainly make headlines around the world and become an issue among American voters. If Kim is serious about helping Trump, he could be more creative and strategic, Chung said. At the right timing, Kim could send a personal letter to Trump, he said. Given the style of his leadership, I think he might even have an interview with a foreign media outlet, sending obvious signs that North Korea is willing to sit down for talks after the election. Will North Korea maintain its hostile stance against Washington and Seoul if Biden turns out to be the winner? Experts expressed different views on that question. Chung believes North Korea will likely continue to focus on developing weapons until another opportunity comes, while others said it is expected to try to talk with the Biden administration as it will probably be unable to endure the deteriorating economic situation indefinitely. Given North Koreas foreign relations with Russia and China, I believe it highly depends on the geopolitical situation, including how the war in Ukraine goes, Go said. According to a CNN poll released last month, Trumps national lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the second most popular Republican Party contender for the presidency, widened to 34 points. In a hypothetical rematch with Biden, recent surveys found them in a dead heat. Healthcare staffing firms disagree on whether temporary nursing staff should be classified as W-2 employees or independent contractors. Now, the U.S. Department of Labor is at the center of the dispute. In August, a coalition of 30 healthcare staffing firms including AMN Healthcare and Medical Solutions sent a letter to the Labor Department seeking federal guidance on the classification of temporary nursing staff as independent contractors. The firms in the coalition employ their nurses as W-2 employees, and raised concerns about tech-enabled agencies that do not. The coalition argued that nurses interact directly with vulnerable populations and require a higher level of training and oversight than contractors do. Plus, contractors are denied employment-related benefits like overtime pay and health insurance, which they allege violates the Fair Labor Standards Act. On Oct. 10, Littler Mendelson, a Chicago-based employment and labor law firm, penned an opposing letter to the Labor Department. The firm whose clientele includes tech-assisted nurse staffing platforms, which collectively operate in 38 states is asking the feds to withhold the "unprecedently broad" opinion letter requested by the coalition. Littler Mendelson argues that staffing platforms use vastly different business models that could not be covered by a "one-size-fits-all" rule. The relationship between nurses and staffing platforms is often brief and sporadic, and was overstated by the coalition, the firm alleges. Nurses may use multiple platforms to pick up shifts, working as little as one shift with one platform, and platforms do not oversee their care delivery or training. "It is beyond dispute that the determination of employee or independent contractor classification as a matter of 'economic reality' by way of multi-factor analysis is a fact-intensive exercise," the letter says. "Depending on very specific aspects of any temporary nurse staffing firm's or staffing platform's business model whether brick and mortar, app-enabled, or otherwise nurses and other healthcare providers may be properly classified as W-2 employees in some instances and as bona fide independent contractors in others." The firm expresses concerns that CMS' proposed federal staffing mandate could worsen the nursing shortage, and these platforms which allow nurses flexibility to work convenient hours in convenient locations are crucial to meeting the demand. "[Staffing platforms'] ability to operate lawfully within their chosen business model should not be curtailed especially at a time when their services are most desperately needed," the letter says. Hospital for Special Surgery at NCH in Naples, Fla. named Justin Blohm as vice president of the musculoskeletal service line. Mr. Blohm will work alongside David Helfet, MD, HSS said in an Oct. 11 news release. He previously served the same role at an orthopedic practice in Fort Myers and before that, Mr. Blohm was CEO at a medical group in Michigan. "Dr. Helfet and I are delighted to welcome Justin to the team at a particularly exciting time for HSS at NCH and our support for the people of Southwest Florida," HSS Florida CEO Tara McCoy said in the release. "The collaboration and response from the community are both exceeding our high expectations, and Justins expertise and leadership will help ensure we support excellence in clinical care and patient experience." Eamonn Holmes has revealed the names of some the best and worst celebrities hes interviewed over the years. It comes as an audience with the worlds longest-serving breakfast television anchor will take place at Eastwood Park Theatre, in Giffnock, on Wednesday, October 18. The 63-year-old told the Barrhead News: The most enjoyable interview for me to always do was with Barry Humphries, who was Dame Edna Everage. To talk to that man, you just knew you were in the company of genius and that was just so blissful to know. To relax and realise you're in the best of hands. So, hilarious, funny and intelligent and you could talk about anything. History, politics, current affairs. Anything and everything. Sir Alex Ferguson would always be up there from a Scottish point of view, added the Manchester United fan. On the other end of the spectrum for Holmes was disgraced TV star and serial sex predator Jimmy Saville. He was very controlling, Eamonn said. He only did what he wanted to do and he was very quick on saying things like, if I said, Right, we'll go through here, we'll do this, he would say, Well, no young, young man, what we'll do is this and this'. He was very in control of whatever the image he was trying to create. Its very hard to explain, but you just knew he was the boss. Indeed, Eamonn, who was seven years behind legendary Celtic manager Martin O'Neill at the same school in Belfast, said he feels that Glasgow is very like his home city. "I love being there and what I love most is the people, they are just so approachable," he told the Barrhead News. He will be interviewed in-depth at the venue by great friend of 30-plus years and fellow broadcaster Bill McFarlan, who is from Whitecraigs. I'll see what the public want to talk about and if they want to talk about certain things well talk about certain things and if they dont we wont, he said. There will be no sort of agenda that I must talk about this and that. "Hopefully people will be interested in all the tales because gosh it's a long time since I was 19 and I've been on TV and that's a lot of programmes and a lot of issues to have covered. Asked if he would touch on the controversy involving his former colleague Phillip Schofield, he replied: I have nothing to hide from that. All I would say is that, you know I'm still here talking about things openly. "Hes not, so we'll just see what happens. It comes as Mr Holmes broke his silence following the announcement that Holly Willoughby was leaving her role as presenter on ITVs This Morning. Posting on Instagram Holmes simply wrote: Cheers. Gyles Brandreths memories of NI: Paisley was a firebrand but he could be charming Gyles Brandreth talks about the late DUP founder, meeting Gerry Adams and the Duke of Edinburgh Gyles Brandreth Gail Walker Fri 13 Oct 2023 at 07:51 Gyles Brandreth is talking about his surprisingly long association with Northern Ireland and the anecdotes and revelations come thick and fast: his encounters with the Rev Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams; why those who thought Prince Philip disliked meeting Martin McGuinness were wrong. A boy engrossed in a book in the library in 1965 Students hard at work in the library in 1964 Central Library and the Belfast Telegraph offices boarded up in April 1941 When Central Library opened its doors to the public for the first time on Saturday, October 13, 1888, Belfast was no more than a place where people lived and worked. By the time it had closed its doors that evening, Belfast was a city, courtesy of a royal order by Queen Victoria. The city has grown and changed, both socially and economically, over the past 135 years, but Central Library still stands, looking the same as it did, one of the first in a series of buildings synonymous with the city centre, and one of the few still used for its original purpose. The opening of a public library was a big shift in the ambitions of Belfast, said Professor Olwyn Purdue from Queens School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics. It symbolised a conscious effort to bring education to the working classes. Until then, books and education had been the preserve of the upper classes. Only those with money had the literary world at their fingertips. The library and the city will always be inextricably linked. Belfast Central Library As it celebrates 135 years, the library still provides a link between the past and present, and on the outside at least has not changed at bit. It stands as a typical Belfast building. Its pretty much the same as it ever was, said Professor Purdue. The library provided a vital resource for the city at a time of great industrial expansion. Belfast decided it wanted an educated workforce. Education, the thinking was, provided a more productive worker. A competition to design the building was won by Belfast architect William Henry Lynn, who went about constructing it in a Victorian style with the Dumfries sandstone present throughout the city centre. His work can be seen at Bank Buildings, the old Robinson and Cleaver building and much of the architecture around Queens. It gave Belfast a unique style, and in many ways the library was a symbol of how the city wanted to improve itself and its standing in the world. Professor Purdue explained: The people of Belfast agreed to pay an extra penny in tax to have the library built. It was a very progressive move at the time, one that benefited Belfast then, as it still does today. One of the library's reading rooms Those benefits have changed over the decades, and while the building still houses a wealth of knowledge, the librarys staff pride themselves on providing a human touch. That is the reason why Jennifer Boyde has worked under its domed ceiling and walked between the pillars in the main reading room for 32 years. Its so much more than a library full of books. Its about the people of Belfast and always has been, she said. For some of the people who come in, I could be the only person they speak to that day. We work with a lot of people who are very lonely. Being here for them is one of the joys that keeps me here. This library, in the heart of Belfast, is one of the few public services where you get to speak to real people. The hushed atmosphere of the building, the cabinets of books that adorn the balconies and the smell of old paper all draw you in, giving you the sense you are walking through history. From the beginning, Belfast Central Library was about more than educating the people of the city for the future. It was also about keeping the past alive. This place was part museum, part art gallery and part library from the outset and it was hugely successful, said NI Libraries deputy head of service Julie Reid. Walking into work every day, into such a beautiful Victorian building, is a joy. The staff form the most knowledgeable search engine you can find. Ask for one thing, and theyll bring you 10 more that might be of interest. There are rabbit holes to disappear into in every corner, and you have no idea what the next customer is going to be looking for. Its all about connections between people and knowledge, and children and history. The area has developed around us. This past year or two, the number of younger people in the streets since the opening of the Ulster University campus has been remarkable. We have this grand old building sitting side by side with the future look of Ulster University. Belfast looking back and to the future, side by side. We each have our place. Central Library and the Belfast Telegraph offices boarded up in April 1941 There are, of course, plenty of stories to tell, and not just those in the books on the shelves. Julie continued: [There are] maybe too many. Up until the 1950s, we blacked out the horse racing results in newspapers because the library couldnt be condoning gambling. At the start of the Great War, all the men who worked here who were sent to the front lines had to write to the chief librarian, and for that they would still receive their library salary. We have the letters archived now. [They provide] a real insight into the First World War. Only one of the men didnt make it back. Ciara Gault is the librarys service development manager. Ive been here 32 years, since 1997. You feel sometimes the building has changed more than the staff, and the building hasnt changed much, she said. Students hard at work in the library in 1964 Like Ciara, library assistant Tracy McCloskey, has become part of the fixtures and fittings after taking a job at the library following school. Im still learning all the time. Im still finding out new collections, new books that Id never seen before, she said. Tracy, who wears her service as a badge of honour, is particularly proud of the Knit and Natter group established in 2013. She said: Its [about] the company. We had a few relatives of recently widowed ladies come in to see what was on offer, and the group developed from that. Theres usually more natter than knitting. Some of their work decorates the staircases that rise up at the front section of the building. The place has evolved, even in my time, but youre still walking through history every day. Its a lovely place to be in, Tracy said. A boy engrossed in a book in the library in 1965 The library opened up a new newspaper room earlier this week, and keen to spread the word about what is on offer is Darren Topping, who works with special collections. He said: This place is full of fantastic treasures. People come in to look for something and find something else they didnt know they were looking for. In an ideal world, all our material would be on display. I remember coming in for the job interview over 30 years ago and thinking, This isnt a library, there are no books in it. Theres so much that we have that is available but stored. Only around 20% of what the library can offer is on the shelves at any one time, such is the pressure on space. There have been additions and renovations over the years the 1920s, 1960s and 1980s all saw extensions but the library still struggles to display all it has. An elderly gentleman enjoying a quiet moment in 1964 The old newspaper volumes are the jewel in the crown, the most extensive collection in Northern Ireland, said Darren. The paper quality was so good that a copy from 270 years ago has outlasted some which are only a few decades old. Its a marvel to see and itll still be here long after us. Were still continuing to collect for the next generation. Im in my happy place here. You have to be a certain type of person. We like the studious life. We gravitate towards it and it pulls us in and wont let go. We do it because the work is a good thing to do. As the city transforms, the library remains a reassuring constant. Having been through the Belfast Blitz and the Troubles, who would bet against it surviving another 135 years? Two men from west Belfast today denied claims they tried to recruit a man to lead a small New IRA active service unit in the city. Gary Gerard McNally (63) and Joseph Donnelly (53), whose addresses can't be published due reporting restrictions, are accused of being present and involved in secretly recorded attempts to enlist him into the New IRA. The pair were arrested following a covert surveillance operation which targeted meetings at a leisure centre in west Belfast. Both men appeared at Belfast Crown Court today for an arraignment hearing where they each denied charges of belonging to a proscribed organisation, namely the New IRA, on dates between December 31, 2019 and August 25, 2022. They further denied that on dates between August 10, 2020 and September 29, 2020 with the intention of committing acts of terrorism or assisting another to commit such acts, namely attended meetings in the vicinity of Whiterock Leisure Centre, Belfast. The case relates to claims they met with an unnamed man, referred to as Mr X, at Whiterock Leisure Centre in September 2020. During previous court hearings, the prosecution alleged Donnelly held the role as Officer Commanding the New IRA in Belfast while McNally was in charge of security. Based on audio and video recordings, they were accused of attempting to recruit Mr X by promising him autonomy to lead a small active service unit, set his own targets and help build the dissident group's future. The prosecution alleged he was asked to consider the position and return a week later but he failed to show at the second meeting. In court today, a prosecution barrister told Belfast Recorder Judge Patricia Smyth that a certificate had been lodged to have the defendants tried without a jury in a Diplock-style hearing. Judge Smyth said she would review the case in two-weeks time. Gavin McKenna (right) pictured along with solicitor Gavin Booth as they leave Belfast High Court at a previous hearing. Picture Matt Mackey / Press Eye. A Co Armagh man struck and partially blinded by a plastic bullet as a schoolboy has lost his legal battle to obtain 225,000 compensation. The Court of Appeal upheld a previous finding that the British soldier who fired the round which struck Gavin McKenna used reasonable force. Rejecting a case based on allegations of negligence, Lord Justice McCloskey declared that the claim was unsustainable. Mr McKenna, then aged 13, was hit in the face by the plastic bullet fired near the staunchly republican Kilwilkie estate in Lurgan in April 1997. He sued the Ministry of Defence over the permanent eye injury sustained while out gathering wood for a bonfire with two friends. The MoD argued reasonable force had been deployed after a six-man Royal Irish Regiment foot patrol was targeted by up to 30 other youths hurling stones, bricks and bottles. A single, aimed baton round was fired at another identified target in the crowd because of the risk to the soldiers lives and wellbeing, according to the Armys account. With the level of potential damages agreed at 225,000, the case centred on a dispute over liability. In evidence Mr McKenna recalled being hit by the plastic bullet as he stood up in a field beside the Antrim Road. He stated that he was unaware of any British Army unit in the area and specifically denied involvement in any public disorder. The former lance corporal who fired the round said one group of youths came out of the Kilwilkie estate to attack his unit before a second crowd emerged from a wooded area to throw more missiles. Along with a senior ranking colleague, he became separated from the other four members of their patrol and feared they were going to be completely cut off as part of a planned ambush. He was ordered to fire the baton gun at another youth 30 metres away with a Celtic scarf over his face and apparently getting ready to throw a rock, the court heard. He aimed at the targets legs but could not say who the round struck. Earlier this year a High Court judge ruled that the two soldiers had come under sustained attack and genuinely feared for their safety. Mr McKenna was neither the intended target nor part of the crowd advancing towards the soldiers, he accepted, but had been struck on the head while still crouching or hunkering down. Dismissing the claim for compensation, the judge declared the lance corporal entirely justified in firing the baton round. Mr McKenna appealed the verdict, claiming the case was wrongly decided on issues about the conflicting accounts and scale of disturbances he played no part in. The lance corporal should not have missed the alleged rioter in the range he fired at, it was contended. Counsel for Mr McKenna described him as an innocent victim who never got the rub of the green in the action. He also disputed the soldiers account of coming under bombardment during a full-scale riot, insisting no members of the patrol were injured. But the Court of Appeal backed findings they had been wearing heavy, protective gear during fast-moving events where firing a baton round had a quelling effect. Lord Justice McCloskey held that the trial judge had taken meticulous care and attention in deciding on the facts. He was mindful of both the severity of the plaintiffs injury and his finding that the plaintiff was an entirely innocent bystander in the events which occurred, he said. Rejecting claims of negligence, he added that the soldiers were making split second decisions in highly fraught circumstances. Lord Justice McCloskey confirmed: This court can identify no legally tenable basis for interfering with the judgment which is couched in admirably comprehensible and structured terms and clearly the product of careful thought and effort. A 26-year-old man was handed a life sentence today after he admitted the May 2022 murder of Eamonn O'Hanlon. Mr O'Hanlon was stabbed in the chest outside a house in Gilford, Co Down. The 36-year-old father-of-two was treated at the scene before being rushed to hospital, but despite medical intervention he passed away from the injuries sustained. Frank McAlinden, whose address was given as HMP Maghaberry, initially appeared at Belfast Crown Court in June where he denied charges of murdering Mr O'Hanlon and possessing a knife with intent to commit murder. During that hearing, a date for a murder trial was set for this November. He was back in court again today where his barrister John Kearney KC asked Mr Justice O'Hara if his client could be re-arraigned. Also present today were Mr O'Hanlon's family who attended via a video-link, whilst the defendant's family sat in the public gallery. After confirming his identity to a court clerk, McAlinden was then charged with murdering Eamonn O'Hanlon on May 21, 2022. When the charge was put to McAlinden, he replied guilty. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing an offensive weapon with intent to commit murder on the same date. McAlinden was then addressed by Mr Justice O'Hara, who told him: You have pleaded guilty to the murder of Eamonn O'Hanlon in May 2022 and to the possession of a knife with intent to commit the offence of murder. On the murder charge, since you have pleaded guilty to murder I now impose on you the only sentence which is permissible in law which is a sentence of life imprisonment. There will be a hearing in December at which I will hear submissions about how long the minimum term you will serve in custody should be - that is the minimum term which you will serve in custody before your release on licence can be considered by the Parole Commissioners. Whatever the decision is on that, because you have pleaded guilty to murder you will serve a significant period of time in prison after which, when you are released you will be liable to recall in light of any further offending. The judge then set a date for the plea hearing as December 8 and asked that all reports relating to the case including victim impact statement from Mr O'Hanlon's family and a pre-sentence report on McAlinden be submitted prior to that date. After the life sentence was imposed, McAlinden nodded towards his family before being led from the dock in handcuffs by prison staff and taken back into custody. A Co Armagh man who shot his neighbour twice in the chest with a shotgun at close range was today told he will spend a minimum of 15 and a half years in prison for the murder. Stephen Barriskill (63) died in the bedroom of his home in the Whitesides Hill area of Portadown on the evening of October 26, 2021. His neighbour Connor Lawrence McNeill pleaded guilty to his murder earlier this year and was handed a life sentence. He also admitted possessing a shotgun and two cartridges with intent to endanger life on October 26, 2021. The 55-year-old father-of-three appeared at Belfast Crown Court today where the tariff sentence was imposed by Judge Patricia Smyth. The court heard that Mr Barriskill and McNeill had been friends and neighbours for decades, but the year before the murder the pair had fallen out. McNeill told Mr Barriskill he should have been taking better care of his frail and elderly father. He also made the case, following his arrest, that Mr Barriskill has intimidated him and sent him messages threatening him and his family. At around 10.50pm on October 26, 2021, McNeill loaded his legally held shotgun with two cartridges then left his Whitesides Hill home. He then walked the half-mile to Mr Barriskills home and entered via an unlocked door. After hearing snoring coming from the bedroom, he entered that room and shot Mr Barriskill twice in the chest from close range. Following this, he left the property and arrived back at his own home around 11.15pm. McNeill then got into his car and drove to a friends house, where he consumed Buckfast wine and cocaine. He returned home around 3am, got into bed and told his wife: Ive just shot Stephen Barriskill. She was not fully awake and told her husband to go back to sleep. When they both woke up later that morning, she asked what he had meant. He told her: I wish I could turn back the clock but I cant. I done it protect you [all]. Mrs McNeill then drove her husband to Lurgan police station, where he told officers he had shot Mr Barriskill the night before. Over the course of five interviews, McNeill said Mr Barriskill had been threatening him and his family. He later told probation he didnt intend to cause his neighbour any harm but planned to fire a warning shot to scare him off. He also told a doctor that he was scared of Mr Barriskill, whom he described as controlling and involved in dog fighting and drugs. Stephen Barriskill At todays hearing, Judge Smyth said that as McNeill destroyed his phone after murdering Mr Barriskill, there was no way of verifying his claims about threatening messages being sent. She also revealed that police had no intelligence indicating Mr Barriskill was associated with or affiliated to paramilitaries or criminal groups. Judge Smyth said she had received and read victim impact statements, written by two of Mr Barriskills brothers, which paid tribute to a man committed to his family. The Belfast Recorder said: The brutal death of their brother in the beloved historic family home has left raw grief and bewilderment. The family cannot come to terms with this senseless act of violence by someone their brother had known for a lifetime. A statement was also compiled by the deceaseds ex-wife, who spoke of the shock felt by her and her son and the devastation caused by his murder. Regarding McNeill, Judge Smyth said she had read a psychiatric report which concluded McNeills mental condition at the time of the murder was a combination of cocaine use and extreme emotional arousal. Judge Smyth set out a number of aggravating factors such as the Crowns assertion that the killing "bore all the hallmarks of an execution. She added that Mr Barriskill was shot in bed in his home, a place where she said he was entitled to feel safe and secure. In addition, she rejected McNeills claims that he didnt intend to kill but only intended to scare Mr Barriskill. Imposing the sentence of 15 and a half years, Judge Smyth told McNeill this is the minimum term he will serve in prison before he is considered eligible for release by the Parole Commissioners. Following the sentencing, PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness said: While the investigation has been clear-cut in the fact that the defendant actually presented himself to police, the case is none the less distressing and shocking for all concerned. This irreversible and callous act leaves behind a loving family, who continue to grieve. My thoughts, first and foremost, remain with them. A prisoner was unlawfully placed in a regime likened to solitary confinement on his return from compassionate temporary release, a High Court judge has declared. Mr Justice Colton agreed to quash the segregation step taken against Curtis Tanner due to procedural unfairness. A lawyer for the Belfast man predicted the outcome will have implications for all inmates within the Care and Supervision Unit (CSU) at HMP Maghaberry. Tanner, who was serving a sentence for road traffic offences, challenged a policy relating to prisoners who obtain compassionate release. In September last year the 34-year-old secured temporary bail to attend his stepfathers funeral. But after breaching those terms and returning to jail late, he was made subject to Rule 32 restriction of association arrangements. Tanner was placed in the CSU used to keep inmates away from the general population, according to his case. He issued judicial review proceedings against the Northern Ireland Prison Service over the blanket policy of automatically imposing Rule 32 on inmates returning from temporary release. Following a settlement reached in the case, a final order was issued today. Mr Justice Colton declared that the decision taken against Tanner was unlawful, based on procedural unfairness and misdirection in law, and is to be quashed. The Prison Service is also to pay the legal costs of the case. Outside court Tanners solicitor, Owen Beattie, said: This ruling is a welcomed and successful outcome, not only for Mr Tanner, but for all prisoners in the CSU. This challenge has brought a spotlight to the use of the CSU, and perhaps now is the time for full public scrutiny of the prisons in this country. North Korea and Russia have pledged to further develop their relations, as they held celebrations in Pyongyang earlier this week to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the North's state media reported Friday. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il and Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora attended a banquet and watched a documentary film about the bilateral ties on Thursday to mark the anniversary, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Participants in the events touted the bilateral relationship as developing into an "invincible comradeship" and strategic partnership, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit last month to discuss cooperation, the report said. As part of the celebrations, Im and Matsegora watched the documentary film featuring Kim's latest trip to Russia for talks with Putin and his inspections of key military sites, with North Korea describing the trip as an "epoch-making" opportunity for North Korea-Russia relations. Meanwhile, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, exchanged messages celebrating the anniversary, according to the KCNA. Stressing the need to implement the summit agreements, Choe called for close cooperation between the two nations and efforts to further strengthen diplomatic ties, it said. Lavrov earlier said he plans to visit Pyongyang in October to discuss follow-up measures to the Putin-Kim summit, raising speculation that the move appears to be related to preparations for Putin's trip to North Korea. The Kremlin said last month that Putin had accepted Kim's offer to visit North Korea during the summit held at Russia's Vostochny spaceport. Russia, then the Soviet Union, forged diplomatic ties with North Korea on Oct. 12, 1948, recognizing the North as a state for the first time in the world. (Yonhap) DUP MP Sammy Wilson and TUV leader Jim Allister criticised the demonstration Colaiste Feirste, which is the only Irish language speaking secondary school based in Belfast, took to social media to share images of pupils holding Palestinian flags. The social media posts were later deleted. The Department of Education has said it will be contacting a Belfast school for further information after videos and photographs were shared online of pupils holding a rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Colaiste Feirste, which is the only Irish language speaking secondary school based in Belfast took to the social media website X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday to share images of pupils holding Palestinian flags with caption Tacaionn muid leis an Phalaistin which roughly translates to We Support Palestine. The photographs were accompanied by a video of an apparent pupil who gave a speech entirely in Irish where the school reiterated its support for those living in Gaza. In a statement to this newspaper, a spokesperson for the Department of Education said: "This issue has been drawn to the attention of the Department. We will be contacting the school to obtain further information on the matter. Their investigation comes as DUP MP Sammy Wilson said he was planning on writing to the Department of Education after branding the photographs abhorrent. A full investigation must be held into the staff who facilitated this display. Schools cannot be allowed to become breeding grounds for the promotion of blood thirsty terrorism and anti-Jewish rhetoric, he wrote on X, while sharing a post from an account who posted the footage and photos. He told the Belfast Telegraph he noted the deletion of the original post and said: The quick deleting of the post shows the school knows they were in the wrong to do this with the kids involved. The social media posts were later deleted and are no longer available on the schools social media channel but was later replaced with a screenshot from a video of the pupil who gave the speech with a caption translated from Irish stating: Some students organised a demonstration for the rights and justice of Palestine yesterday, showing the great humanitarian heart they have and their commitment to the people around the world. One of the students who organised the rally contacted the Belfast Telegraph, describing it as a peaceful protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine. The student added the rally was not an endorsement of Hamas or any other political organisation. A spokesperson from the PSNI confirmed they were aware of the social media images involving the school but it is understood no complaints have yet been received. TUV leader Jim Allister meanwhile described the demonstration at the school as shocking. Every school has a responsibility to ensure that children are brought up and instilled with values which contribute to a better future for all society, he said. "This episode of exaltation of terrorism after the bloodthirsty exploits of Hamas is not just a shocking endorsement of terror but surely indicative of a teaching approach which engenders and fails to discourage such. Support for Palestinian territories and Gaza has been criticised in recent days following a surprise attack on Israel from Hamas. The terror group slaughtered hundreds at a music festival and throughout Israel, while scores of Israelis have been also been kidnapped. Hundreds of Palestinians have also been killed over recent days amid airstrikes on Gaza. Colaiste Feirste has been asked for comment. A 20-year-old man arrested in connection with the seizure of 88,400 worth of drugs has been released on bail. He was arrested following the search of a property in north Belfast on Wednesday, October 11, on suspicion of possession of a Class C controlled drug and possession with intent to supply. This relates to the seizure of suspected Pregabalin with a potential street value of 8,400. In addition to this, the man was arrested for attempted possession of a Class C controlled drug with intent to supply. This relates to a seizure at the weekend of Zopiclone with a potential street value in excess of 80,000. The 20-year-old has been released to allow police to conduct further enquiries. Detective Inspector Kelly said: Drugs similar to these have been a factor in a number of deaths in recent times. "Mixing drugs and 'topping up' on prescribed medication can be extremely dangerous. The removal of these drugs from circulation within our community may indeed have saved lives. "Under Operation Dealbreaker, we remain committed to removing dangerous drugs like these from our streets and arresting those who peddle such drugs. "Their only motivation is greed and they have little interest in the misery these drugs cause to end users and to vulnerable addicts. I would ask if anyone has any information about suspected drug dealing in their area to call the non-emergency number 101. Alternatively, information can also be given anonymously to the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111. Anyone who thinks they might have a problem with alcohol and/or drugs and would like to get help can visit www.drugsandalcoholni.info This also includes details of services available for individuals affected by someone elses drinking and/or drug misuse. A man arrested by Gardai in connection with the murder of Tina Satchwell (45) is due to appear before a court sitting in Tipperary tomorrow. Richard Satchwell (53), Tina's husband of 26 years, was arrested by Gardai in Youghal on Thursday, minutes after the State Pathologist had confirmed that remains found hidden in a property in the east Cork seaside town were human. Tonight gardai said: "The man, aged in in his 50s, arrested by Gardai investigating the murder of Tina Satchwell, has been charged. He will appear before a special sitting of Cashel District Court at 10:30am tomorrow morning, Saturday, 14th October 2023. Dental records have since confirmed that the skeletal remains found hidden under a concrete floor and behind a blocked-up wall beneath a stairwell in the house were those of Tina who vanished without trace in March 2017. Forensic and pathology tests are still ongoing to try to determine Tina's precise cause of death - and how long her remains were hidden in the area underneath the concrete and block-up wall. Satchwell, a truck driver, was arrested at 12 noon last Thursday in Youghal and questioned at Cobh Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. He had been previously arrested on Tuesday but was released without charge on Wednesday night. While Satchwell has an address in Youghal he is originally from the East Midlands in the UK. It follows a major four-day Garda operation which saw Tina's missing person investigation upgraded to a murder probe and a property in Youghal subjected to an intensive examination and excavation. The Garda search of the Youghal property remains ongoing though it is being slowly wound-down. Gardai used jack-hammers, drills, mini-diggers and a shrub clearance machine as part of their painstaking examination of the house which involved targeted excavations. Tina Satchwell (Family Handout/PA) It also involved the use of a specially trained Garda cadaver dog and breathing apparatus for officers laboriously inspecting drains and culverts. Tina's family today paid an emotional tribute to her. Her older sister, Teresa, said she prayed that her sibling can now rest in peace and be reunited with their beloved mother. "RIP to my beautiful sister Tina - you can rest now, love. We found you love...I love and miss you." "You are now with mum - fly high my beautiful girl." Teresa said her sister was "adored" by her family and friends and was "kind, considerate, funny, stylish, bubbly and independent." Tina vanished without trace on March 20 2017 from her home in Youghal. She was originally from Fermoy in north Cork but had travelled to the UK in her teens where she met her husband. The couple lived in Fermoy for many years before relocating to Youghal. Despite multiple searches, public appeals for information and dozens of hours of CCTV security camera footage being examined, no trace of Tina was found until this week. The last major targeted search in respect of her disappearance occurred in March 2018 when 60 Gardai and support officials conducted a painstaking examination of Mitchel's Wood outside Castlemartyr in east Cork. Nothing of significance was discovered in that major 12 day search. Until this week, the garda investigation included 400 different lines of inquiry, over 100 hours of CCTV footage and 170 statements. Searches conducted included the painstaking examination of Mitchel's Wood as well as offshore operations around Youghal Bay. The trial of former soldier Daniel Khalife, who is accused of passing sensitive information to Iranian intelligence, has been put off following his alleged prison escape (PA) The trial of former soldier Daniel Khalife, who is accused of passing sensitive information to Iranian intelligence, has been put off following his alleged prison escape. The 22-year-old was due to go on trial on November 13 but at a hearing on Friday Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said that was wholly unrealistic and put the case back. Khalife is charged under the Official Secrets Act of gathering information that might be useful to an enemy of the UK between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022. The prosecution alleges Khalife passed sensitive material to Iranian intelligence and had more material in his possession for that purpose, which he denies. The charge against him says that for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state he obtained, circulated, recorded, published or communicated to any other person notes, documents or information which might be or were intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy. A second charge alleges Khalife elicited information about armed forces personnel on August 2 2021. HMP Wandsworth in London (PA) This allegedly relates to him obtaining personal information from the MoD (Ministry of Defence) Joint Personnel Administration system of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. He is also charged with perpetrating a bomb hoax on or before January 2.The charge says he placed three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation to spark fears it was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property. While on remand on those charges at Wandsworth prison in south London, it is alleged Khalife escaped on September 6 by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry. He was arrested on a canal towpath in west London on September 9 after being pulled off a push bike by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer. The defendant has denied all the charges against him. The Old Bailey (PA) On Friday, he appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh prison wearing a blue and yellow jumpsuit. During the hearing, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said the planned trial date at Woolwich Crown Court in November was wholly unrealistic. He set a further hearing for December 21, when a new trial date at either Woolwich Crown Court or the Old Bailey will be discussed. Khalife, who spoke only to confirm his identity, was further remanded into custody. Images are worth a thousand words, these images may be worth a million, Blinken said about the harrowing images shared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media on Thursday as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on. Pic: AP US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he struggled to find the right words to comprehend what he saw after Israeli officials showed him graphic photos of babies, including one riddled with bullets, from Hamas attacks. Images are worth a thousand words, these images may be worth a million, he said in a moving press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday. The top US diplomat had travelled to Tel Aviv to meet his Israeli counterparts as the Biden administration pledges its commitment to support the allied nation amid the ongoing violence in the Middle East. During his visit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office posted distressing photos of some of the infant victims killed in the Hamas attack on social media and said that they had shared them with the US secretary of state. The graphic images showed the bodies of what appeared to be three babies. Two of them were burned beyond recognition; the third image was blurred but showed blood-stained clothes on the infant. During the press conference, Mr Blinken was asked about his reaction to the photos. In a solemn moment, he told reporters that what he had seen defies comprehension and is simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. We did see photos, videos that the Israeli government shared with us. Some I think have actually already been seen in public media. Others were new to me and I think new to our team, he said. Its hard to find the right words. Its beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and, god forbid, experience. Mr Blinken described some of the distressing images of what was left of the victims, saying the only way he could describe it was overwhelming. A baby, an infant, riddled with bullets, soldiers beheaded, young people burned alive in their cars or in their highway rooms. I could go on, but its simply depravity in the worst imaginable way, he said. It almost defies comprehension and its been said to me in the most immediate future. It harkens back to Isis and some of the very things we saw when it was on its rampage that thankfully was stopped. So I think for any human being to see this its really beyond almost anything that we can comprehend, digest. And Ill add that when you see this you try to imagine, maybe not try, you cant help but imagine yourself, your family, your loved ones, your friends in that situation, in that predicament and maybe the best word for it for me is overwhelming. Read more NI council in war of words over showing sympathy for victims of Middle East conflict The Israeli military has said that more than 1,200 people have been killed since Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel in a surprise attack on Saturday. An unknown number of people have also been kidnapped and are being held hostage back in Gaza, with their desperate family members begging for them to come home safely. At least 27 American citizens are among the dead, while 14 are believed to have been kidnapped, the White House said on Thursday. Israel has responded to the Hamas attacks by pummeling Gaza with retaliatory air strikes which have killed at least 1,400 Palestinians, including 447 children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Israel also ordered a complete siege of Gaza, cutting off supplies of electricity, water, food and fuel and sparking fears of an escalating humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, Royal Navy vessels and surveillance aircraft are being sent to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, the Prime Minister has announced. Rishi Sunak said the deployment of the British armed forces would support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation in the conflict between Tel Aviv and Gaza. The flare-up of violence in the Middle East, ignited by a wide-ranging Hamas attack on Israel at the weekend, has already claimed at least 2,400 lives. Downing Street said maritime patrol and surveillance planes will begin flying in the region from Friday to track threats, including monitoring activity such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups. Read more We will always be there by your side, Blinken pledges after meeting Israeli PM A Royal Navy task group will be moved to the eastern Mediterranean next week as a contingency measure to back humanitarian efforts, it added. The military package includes P8 aircraft, surveillance assets, two Royal Navy ships Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels Lyme Bay and Argus three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines. The UK armed forces will be on stand-by to deliver practical support to Israel and partners in the region, and offer deterrence and assurance, No 10 said. The deployment appears to represent a shift in approach to Britains military involvement, with the Prime Ministers official spokesman earlier this week saying there were no plans to redeploy UK military assets to Israel. Mr Sunak said: We must be unequivocal in making sure the types of horrific scenes we have seen this week will not be repeated. Alongside our allies, the deployment of our world-class military will support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation. Our military and diplomatic teams across the region will also support international partners to re-establish security and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the thousands of innocent victims of this barbaric attack from Hamas terrorists. Chinese paramilitary policemen have stepped up patrols outside the Israeli Embassy in Beijing (AP) A 50-year-old Israeli man who works at the Israeli embassy in Beijing is in hospital after being stabbed in front of a supermarket, Chinese police and the Israeli government said. Beijing police said they had arrested a suspect, a 53-year-old foreign man. They said the victim is a family member of an Israeli diplomat. No motive was given for the attack. The Israeli government said: The employee was transferred to hospital and he is in a stable condition. The incident came after Israel criticised Chinas statement following the unprecedented and deadly incursion by the militant group Hamas into southern Israel last Saturday, which sparked an ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Chinese plainclothes security personnel approach a passer-by outside the Israeli Embassy in Beijing (AP) Just before the announcement, Israels foreign ministry said Ambassador Rafi Harpaz had spoken on Thursday with the Chinese envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, to express his countrys deep disappointment over Chinas comments after the Hamas incursion. There was no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organisation Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza, the statement said. The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israels right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society. An earlier Chinese statement about the phone conversation said that Beijing condemns actions that harm innocent civilians and is deeply concerned over the escalation of tensions and violence and saddened by the civilian casualties caused by the conflict. Asked about the Israeli statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated that China opposes acts harming citizens and violating international law. A man has been arrested after the incident, authorities said (AP) China will continue to work unremittingly for de-escalation of the situation and the resumption of peace talks, he said. In Beijing, about half-a-dozen plainclothes police were stationed outside the Israeli Embassy in addition to the normal contingent of uniformed officers. Some 1.25 miles away at the Palestinian embassy in Beijing, plainclothes officers were also on hand and one was tightening wires on a fence. Since the war broke out, antisemitic remarks have surged on Chinese social media. Bombarded with hostile messages, the Israeli embassy in Beijing is filtering comments on its Chinese social media account. The embassy selected a comment that said: Support Israel! Destroy the terrorist organization! the remarks got 5,700 likes. Chinese state media have blamed the United States for fanning tensions in the region. U.S. President Joe Biden introduces Mark Brown, prime minister of the Cook Islands, during a summit with Pacific Island nation leaders at the White House in Washington, Sept. 25, 2023. Pacific island nations have been skeptical about the recent revival in U.S. interest in the region. Despite those misgivings its likely that Washington is back for the long haul. Chinas rise to a major economy second only to the United States is reshaping the world, notwithstanding its current domestic economic problems. So is its military buildup. U.S.-China competition is now embedded in geopolitics. American officials have been at pains to stress historical ties to the Pacific and involvement in the region long before Chinas government appeared on the scene, as a way of refuting the narrative that Washingtons primary motivation is to counter Beijing. Indeed U.S rhetoric asserts that its renewed attention to Pacific island countries is everything but a response to China. Instead, were told its the continuation of long-standing ties, grounded in shared values such as democratic governance and the international rules-based order. Like our forebears during World War II, we know that a great deal of the history of our world will be written across the Pacific over the coming years, President Joe Biden said last month at the second summit in Washington of U.S. and Pacific island leaders in a year. The awkward fact is that the United States did pack up and leave after the Cold War, when the Pacific was no longer deemed strategically important, assigning to Australia the role of deputy sheriff. The void was filled by China, which has become entrenched in the region through its diplomatic, economic and, increasingly, security ties with island countries. The Pacific has gone from strategic neglect just a decade ago to the focus of strategic interest, competition and manipulation today, Pacific Islands Forum secretary-general Henry Puna said on the eve of the Washington summit. Puna also cautioned that the strategic attention would not last forever as he urged Pacific island nations to capitalize on it to ensure sustainable gains for decades to come. While nothing is forever, it is likely that this time the United States and its allies are in the Pacific as part of a long game with China. Working as strenuously as they are to regain their vantage point in the region, it is unlikely that these allies will relinquish any upper hand to China. The United States-Pacific islands summits are just one component of a massive effort to counter Chinas influence and shore up strategic interests in the region. A third leaders summit was confirmed for 2025 and biennial political engagements to follow thereafter. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly, in New York, Sept. 22, 2023. [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters] China-friendly leaders such as Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Kiribati President Taneti Maamau have insisted that Chinas interest in the Pacific is purely economic, and dismiss claims of militaristic designs. Both countries switched their diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan in 2019. The United States, meanwhile, is clearly concerned that Beijing seeks a permanent military presence to project power in the region, including by being within striking distance of its ally Australia. These developments are reflected in a marked increase in military investments in the Pacific, including the signing of defense treaties and more training for the regions security forces. Many analysts believe that because of Chinas growing assertiveness and ambition, the U.S. expects and is preparing for a possible showdown. Possible flashpoints are Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a rebel province that must be reunited with the mainland, and Chinas claim to the entirety of the South China Sea, which puts it at frequent loggerheads with Southeast Asian nations. Bidens recall of the Pacific War in his summit address had a sentimental element but it also perhaps unwittingly reminded his audience of the risks of conflict in the future. Pacific nations are adamantly against any escalation of tensions in the region, as reflected in Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabukas call for the Pacific to be a zone of peace. But the hard reality is that just as in World War II, the Pacifics influence in the big-power contest is limited. When it comes down to it, the superpowers are more likely to do what they see fit to protect and advance their own interests than not. Shailendra Bahadur Singh is an associate professor and head of the journalism program at The University of the South Pacific in Fiji. He has written widely on Pacific media, politics and development. The views in this article are his own and do not reflect the position of The University of the South Pacific or BenarNews. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina nods as officials guide her through a new terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Oct. 7, 2023. A gleaming airport terminal and gargantuan nuclear plant are among big-ticket infrastructure projects that Bangladeshs ruling Awami League has been inaugurating early and promoting as it campaigns for reelection, although these are incomplete. Critics of Sheikh Hasinas government say that its self-praise for building such projects is an attempt to shift scrutiny away from democratic backsliding in the South Asian country, which her party has ruled for the past 14 years. When she inaugurated a rail project on Tuesday, the prime minister flaunted it as proof that her government delivers. The Awami League has brought you independence. It has brought you the Padma Bridge, improved road connectivity, allowed your children to attend schools and universities, and only the Awami League changed your fate, she told supporters at a rally afterward. So my appeal to you is to vote for the Awami League government so that it can continue serving you. At the time Bangladesh fought to establish its independence from Pakistan in 1971, the Awami League represented the movement toward a free nation. The ruling party has long used infrastructure projects as tangible proof of prosperity during its uninterrupted rule since 2009. But its arch-rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party has played down the significance of those achievements even though, when the BNP was in power, to a certain degree it also boasted about its own infrastructure-building program. There are precedents for this in the past. In 1968, Ayub Khan celebrated a decade of development, and the following year, he suffered a humiliating fall as a result of a popular uprising, said Zahir Uddin Swapan, a former BNP lawmaker. This Awami League government will also collapse in disgrace. Ayub Khan, a military general, ruled Pakistan from 1958 to 1969. Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, was part of Pakistan during his tenure. Nizam Uddin Ahmed, a former professor at Chittagong University, said infrastructure projects historically have acted as an easy vote-getter, as he commented on the ruling partys penchant for talking about them in glowing terms on the campaign trail. He also cautioned about foreign funds that the government had borrowed to implement them. Almost all of these mega projects are being constructed with foreign loans, he said. We should think about what will happen to our country when repayment will be due. Awami League activists wear replicas of boats, the partys electoral symbol, during a gathering organized to mark Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas inauguration of a major infrastructure project in Faridpur, Bangladesh, Oct. 10, 2023. [BenarNews] In 2014, the opposition boycotted that years general election, leaving the ruling party to win mostly uncontested seats. In polls in 2018, the ruling coalition secured victories in more than 90% of the constituencies amid widespread allegations of fraud. Citing a lack of confidence in Hasinas willingness to conduct a free election in the upcoming polls, the BNP has threatened to boycott the election again and demanded that an impartial interim government be appointed ahead of the vote, scheduled for December or January 2024. Her party has steadfastly rejected the demand. Western countries have pressed Hasinas government to hold free and fair polls, with the U.S. threatening to impose visa restrictions against people suspected of tampering with the vote. Citing human rights concerns, the United States has also imposed sanctions on officials connected with the Rapid Action Battalion, a police unit accused of committing extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearance under Hasinas government. Works in progress In 2022, the year marking Bangladeshs 50th anniversary of nationhood, Hasina inaugurated the Padma Bridge, the countrys largest-ever infrastructure project, to much fanfare. The U.S. $3.6 billion project was touted as a symbol of pride for the South Asian nation of 160 million people. The 172-km (107-mile) rail project, which she inaugurated on Oct. 10, is an extension of the bridge project and will cost another $3.5 billion, with more than half financed through loans from China. Citing project officials, the Dhaka Tribune reported in May that the rail project was only 75% completed. In December 2022, Hasina also opened a stretch of the Japan-funded metro project in Dhaka. She is set to inaugurate another stretch of the $2.82 billion project by months end, according to officials. In September, Hasina inaugurated the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, an elevated highway meant to ease Dhakas traffic congestion, although only 60% of the 19.73-km (12.25-mile) highway has been finished. A Chinese engineering company is building the highway at a cost of $789 million. On Oct. 5, Hasina joined Russian President Vladimir Putin virtually at a ceremony to mark the formal handover of uranium to Bangladesh for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, a $12.65 billion project built and financed by Russia. Although Bangladesh officials hailed the countrys entry into an elite club of nuclear powers at the time, electricity generated from the plant will not be included on the national grid until 2025. Construction work is under way at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna, Bangladesh, March 5, 2023. [BenarNews] Two days later, Hasina inaugurated a wing of the new terminal at Dhakas Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, although the passengers will not have immediate access to the terminal. The Japan-funded project comes with a price tag of $1.7 billion. By the end of this month, The Bangladesh leader will inaugurate a tunnel under the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong, a major city. The underwater expressway, named after Hasinas father, is being built by a Chinese company at a cost of $1.1 billion, half of which will be financed by China. Officials expect the tunnel to be fully open by April 2024. Muhammad Faruk Khan, an influential Awami League lawmaker, said yet-to-be-completed projects would still serve the public. We are opening the mega projects before their full completion because we want to inform the people ahead of the elections to what stage the government has implemented the projects, he told BenarNews on Friday. At the same time, the people will get some level of benefits from the projects after the partial opening, he added. Swapan, the BNP leader, however, cast doubt on whether the public would be persuaded by the glitz of the new developments. They want to show what they have done by inaugurating the partially built projects, he said. But the people of the country will not take that into account, he told BenarNews, adding, Without democracy, no development projects can protect an undemocratic government from the wrath of the public, he said. North Korea's imports of luxury goods from China reached $28.5 million last year, despite pandemic border control and international sanctions, data from China's customs office showed Friday. Except for a temporary dip during the pandemic in 2021, the aggregate value of luxury goods imported from China to North Korea showed an upward trend, having risen from $22.8 million in 2020 to $40.6 million as of July 2023, according to the data from the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China analyzed by Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling People Power Party. In the case of this year, North Korea increased imports of items traditionally classified as "luxury goods," such as watches, fur, leather goods and liquor, compared with other items, such as electronics, cars and cosmetics, the data also showed. Among them, imports of watches markedly increased, having swollen by 21 times from $170,000 in 2022 to $3.6 million as of the first half of this year, according to the data. The regime's leader Kim Jong-un is said to frequently offer watches as presents to high-ranking officials in return for their loyalty. Exports of luxury goods to North Korea are banned under a 2006 U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution. But China has often been criticized for its passive enforcement of the sanctions, compared with South Korea, Japan, the United States and the European Union, which strictly regulate the influx of such items to the North. Recently, senior North Korean officials were seen possessing luxury goods from western brands. In September, Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jung, was seen holding a black leather bag, presumably from the French luxury brand Christian Dior and priced around $7,000, in a photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, during the leader's visit to Russia. Kim's daughter, Kim Ju-ae, was also seen wearing a black coat in March, likely from the same French brand, priced at around 2.4 million won ($1,778). "Despite sanctions and COVID-19 lockdowns, the reason why North Korea is able to continue its rein of using presents for the regime's high-ranking officials is because of China's passive imposition of sanctions," Yoon said. "China should thoroughly regulate items subject to the sanctions and impose sanctions (on the North) in the event of a violation, in accordance with the spirit of the U.N. Security Council," he added. (Yonhap) If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. No. of young people diagnosed with depression doubles over 5 years By Jun Ji-hye A man in his 20s, who was hired by one of the world's major IT companies three years ago, quit his job last year. He made the difficult decision two months after he was diagnosed with depression. It was his mother that persuaded him to quit the job. After learning about my illness, my mother told me to quit and live with her. She said she does not want to lose her son, the man said, noting that he thought about ending his life multiple times even in a day while working at his office in Seoul. I was under too much pressure due to work in addition to interpersonal relationships, he said. I was just putting up with it, but one day, the thought occurred to me of what it all adds up to if I die. The man wrote his story on Blind, the anonymous workplace community app, and nearly 300 people responded with comments, sharing similar experiences. The post coincides with an increasing number of people in their 20s diagnosed with depression in recent years. According to data that Rep. Nam In-soon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea received from the National Health Insurance Service, the number of people diagnosed with depression in total exceeded the 1 million mark for the first time last year, up 32.9 percent from 2018. Those in their 20s accounted for the largest portion at 185,942, or 18.6 percent, followed by 160,108 in their 30s and 143,090 in their 60s. The number of people diagnosed with depression in their 20s nearly doubled compared to 2018 when the figure stood at 97,675. The problem appeared to be more serious for women, as the number of females diagnosed with depression in their 20s increased by 110.65 percent from 57,696 in 2018 to 121,534 last year. Experts said there are a variety of reasons for the increasing diagnoses among young people, citing an unemployment crisis, the polarization of wealth and excessive stress. Kwak Geum-joo, a professor of psychology at Seoul National University, said unlike teenagers in Western countries who tend to be afforded diverse experiences and seek independence from their parents as soon as possible as a given, many Korean teenagers are living under the control of their parents until they graduate from high school. Then, they suddenly reach adulthood, with the mental state of many of them not ready for that, Kwak said. Under these circumstances, young people here can easily fall into despair when they face difficulties at universities or in the workplace. The professor said the economic downturn and COVID-19 pandemic have both clearly aggravated difficulties faced by young people. In particular, the pandemic, which was anticipated by none of us, isolated many from society, as companies cut back on hiring and many workers had to go on unpaid leave, she said. Even after being employed, people underwent difficulties for various reasons including hyper-competition and uncertainty about the future. Depression is sometimes referred to as "the common cold of mental disorders," meaning that anyone can get the illness. However, Kwak noted, that it does not mean that it is a mild illness that can be cured without hospital treatment. Most people diagnosed with depression tend to want to hide their illness, but they should not do that, because the faster they get treatment, the faster they can return to their daily lives, she said. Companies and the government should together work to change this social atmosphere and encourage people to have regular checkups in the hope of helping to identify mental illnesses at the early stage. Park Jin-kyung, a neuropsychiatry professor at Kyung Hee University Hospital in Gangdong District in Seoul, also said anyone who feels anxiousness and to whom everything is a bother, who spends days in a state of letahrgy or who has interpersonal problems, should suspect depression. In that case, they should see a doctor and express their concerns, Park said. This is a subscriber exclusive story. Subscribe today to access this story and all of our stories with 24/7 unlimited access. Subscribe today. Cancel anytime. Subscribe now for 99 Subscriber Sign In | Return Home The Berkshire Innovation Center officially opened its first satellite campus, BIC Works@Mass MoCA, with a ceremony at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams Friday. On Oct. 13, 1960, file photo, fans rush onto the field toward Pittsburgh Pirates' Bill Mazeroski as he comes home on his Game 7-ending home run in the ninth inning to win the World Series against the New York Yankees in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Harry Harris, File) Muslims gather at mosques for first Friday prayers since Israel-Hamas war started In Muslim communities across the world, worshippers gathered at mosques for their first Friday prayers since Hamas militants attacked Israel, igniting the ongoing Israel-Hamas war BOSTON Ambassador Meron Reuben, Israels Consul General to New England, conveyed bitter disappointment after Harvard Universitys administration didnt immediately condemn the response by pro-Palestinian student groups blaming Israel for the massacre from the Gaza Strip. Since Saturdays attacks and Sundays declaration of war by Israel, four Americans with New England ties have been killed, according to Reuben. Twenty-three Americans have been killed and the number of kidnapped Americans was uncertain. In a 45-minute conversation with The Eagle on Thursday, Reuben, who is Israel's former Ambassador to the United Nations and other countries, warned that this terrorism will reach beyond Israel's borders and that the war will be both protracted and painful. At the time of this interview, Israel was preparing for a ground offensive in response to the rockets and massacres in towns near Israels southern border that have left families in shock and grief following losses and kidnappings. The ground offensive has personal implications for Reuben, a native of South Africa who immigrated to Israel in 1974 and served as an air traffic controller in the Israeli Air Force. Reuben's youngest daughter is a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces and has been deployed to the area surrounding the Gaza Strip. I hope that as a 23-year-old, whatever she unfortunately sees doesn't ruin the rest of her life, said Reuben, who is also a former chief of state protocol. Our prayers are with everybody, not only in Israel but also in the United States. Reuben, who has served as the Consul General of Israel to New England since November 2020, went to bed Oct. 6 in the United States knowing there were terrorist attacks in Israel, where it was the early morning of Oct. 7 (there is a seven hour time difference between Eastern Standard Time and the time in Israel). Saturday, the 7th of October, transpired to be without doubt Israel's darkest day in modern history. I think it's the nightmares that we live with day by day that the terrorists who seek the genocide of the Jewish people just lingering outside our door on the other side of the fence wanting to come in actually became a reality for thousands of families. I think even Muslim brethren who know what Islam is about will tell you that this is not the way of Islam," added Reuben, who holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in diplomacy and international relations from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He also expressed gratitude, including to a list of 5,000 doctors who have expressed their willingness to go to Israel when needed. Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity: THE EAGLE: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has vowed his support to Israel, echoing sentiments of President Joe Biden. Blinken also said it is important that Israel take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. Will his call for restraint be heeded? MERON REUBEN: The residents of the Gaza Strip are not Israel's enemies. Yet unfortunately, the terrorist organizations operate knowingly, deliberately within the civilian populated areas. They have their dugouts and hospitals and the mosques and the schools and regular houses. And we will do everything possible to prevent harm to non-involved persons. But when terrorist organizations intentionally use civilian population as a cover, they're committing double war crimes because they are targeting Israeli civilians with their rockets and mortars, and at the same time using their own population as a human shield, or if not their own population, then other people. So I definitely think that we have a very delicate, balancing act to perform. But the world must understand what we are facing. This is an unusual terrorist war, whereby terrorist organizations have massively crossed the fence, taken over parts or totally 22 Israeli villages, and started wholesale massacre. So the response that we are going to have to build up will be to make sure that these terrorist organizations can never, ever, again, do anything similar. And so it will have to be a focus on eradicating their infrastructure ability. I'm not a military expert, and I'm not running the show, but I don't think that the state of Israel can do anything less than that. There are some 20,000 Hamas fighters and a few other thousands of Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters. Those who belong to those organizations must know that they will be targeted. THE EAGLE: At what point in this war, do peace or ceasefire negotiations become possible? REUBEN: At this moment, I don't think we're talking about it. We're at the very beginning of what will most probably be, unfortunately, a very long campaign. It won't be in days or weeks. I think it might be into months. THE EAGLE: The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation has condemned Israel's response in the Gaza Strip. What can the U.S., Israel and the world do to avoid an escalation? REUBEN: We have seen President Biden react in a way that I would say in my 35 years as an Israeli diplomat, I've never seen an American president react. His statements have been steadfast. As he said, he has Israel's back. We're not fighting a regular war. This isn't an army against an army. And, unfortunately, a lot of people in ivory towers around New England actually think that the terrorists would like to reach an agreement. They dont. They never have been interested in reaching an agreement. Israel has faced irregular military forces on its border for decades now. Israel has the Hamas terrorist organization and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip. It had ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula for some time. It's still active, but not as active as it used to be. It has Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon and not the Lebanese army. When the Syrian internal conflict was going on near the Israeli border, there were endless combatant groups. And of course, in Judea and Samaria, or the West Bank, you have also groups who are not aligned with the Palestinian Authority. So this is a situation that is new to the world. THE EAGLE: With the Rafah crossing to Egypt ruined by an Israeli airstrike, according to The Associated Press, how can civilians in Gaza leave? Israel's minister of energy has vowed on X [formerly Twitter], No electrical switch will be turned on. No water pump will be opened and no fuel trucks will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home. How will they live? How will their hospitals run? REUBEN: We'll have to see. They brought this upon themselves. We've been a very thoughtful enemy over the decades. We've had our civilians butchered and massacred over the years that the Hamas has been in power. And yet, we have always tried to leave the electricity on. The days after [9/11] nobody told the United States when it couldn't react. I'm sure there's enough food in the Gaza Strip for a good few days. I do understand that there will be necessity for humanitarian aid in the future. It's not something that is beyond our thinking capacity. THE EAGLE: Was Iran involved in the initial attacks? REUBEN: I do not think that Iranians partook in the terrorist onslaught on the state of Israel, not this one anyway. But I'm sure and you can see it by their active support, that they are definitely behind the Hamas. And I'm sure if they had their way with them, they would also be very interested that the Hezbollah start attacking us from the north. But thanks to a very forceful American response both with an aircraft carrier steaming towards the eastern Mediterranean and President Biden's forceful one-word message to all of the enemies of Israel and the enemies of peaceful-loving nations, that was that word, which he said "Dont" I think the Iranians understand it. THE EAGLE: What would you like to add? REUBEN: We are as Golda Meir once noted, "the canary of the West." We are the canary in the mine. For many of the countries, if they think that in the end, it won't hit them, then theyre definitely mistaken. It might not hit them tomorrow or the next year, but if terrorist organizations are allowed to get stronger and stronger, and I can promise you that the Hezbollah has been armed to the teeth by Iran with more than 100,000 missiles and rockets, and we know their capability. And that is why the United States is so wary of the Hezbollah in Lebanon starting up a second front. Those missiles will over the years have longer and longer ranges. You've seen how Iranian weapons are being used by the Russians in the war in Ukraine. If your next-door neighbor's children can use a drone, then so can a terrorist. And if Amazon can bring a parcel to your front door, a terrorist organization can being bring a bomb to your front door. THE EAGLE: How worried should Americans, and particularly American Jews, be about their welfare? REUBEN: Unfortunately, we've seen antisemitism raise its ugly head to levels that the United States hasn't seen in decades. I think that the Jewish community here is beginning to understand that maybe they aren't as accepted as part of the mainstream as they thought they were. The younger generation has a tendency here to see itself as part of the privileged white society. And yet, they haven't been taught or don't know the history of their own community from less than 40, 50 years ago, when Jews were still ostracized in the United States society. I think that this is something that is becoming clearer and clearer to many of the communities. The fact that you need security in houses of worship is atrocious. The fact that you feel the necessity to have security in different meetings and schools and playgrounds etc. is not the way a society a normal society should live or be. I don't say be afraid, but be aware and take notes. Because this population of American Jews, which is just under 2 percent of the population of the United States, receives more than 50 percent of the hate crimes of this country. THE EAGLE: What about the response from Harvard and other universities in New England in reaction to student groups blaming Israel from Saturday's attacks by Hamas? REUBEN: There are some very strong pro-Palestinian groups around the nation and in the ivory towers of New England, who teach the leadership or the future leadership of this country, and the world. The way Israel is taught is warped and is problematic. You just have to see what's been going on in Harvard and Yale and other universities to understand what is going on and how maybe Harvard's motto, "Veritas," isn't so true, because maybe the truth is not really taught amongst those hallowed walls of that institution. Editorials by Dave Coffey, the editorial page editor of The Berkshire Eagle, won first place in the under-35,000 category of Americas Newspapers Carmage Walls Commentary Prize contest. GREAT BARRINGTON Erik Bruun went to the emergency room at Fairview Hospital four times over the summer for symptoms that included vertigo, confusion and numbness on one side of his face and body. Each of those times, Bruun had experienced a mild stroke, but doctors wouldnt know that with certainty until later. Thats because the CT scan used to diagnose his symptoms can't provide the kinds of clear, detailed images that would show the type of strokes Bruun had suffered. On three of those occasions Bruun, who has a rare neurological condition, said he was discharged with the diagnosis of a likely seizure. It was only later when he traveled the 22 miles to Berkshire Medical Center for an MRI scan that he learned he had suffered strokes. Fairview Hospital is the only federally designated Critical Access Hospital" in Massachusetts that does not have an MRI or magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The other current Critical Access Hospitals are on Martha's Vineyard and in Athol. The former North Adams Regional Hospital, which Berkshire Health Systems plans to reopen, installed an MRI scanner in 2013. The hospital is currently applying for "Critical Access" status. What is a "Critical Access Hospital?" Critical Access Hospitals are small and rural, and "geographically isolated from other hospitals," according to Berkshire Health Systems BHS is applying for that status for the North Adams Regional Hospital, which it is reopening, and which has an MRI scanner The Critical Access Hospital designation "allows the federal government to provide financial support to these hospitals to help them maintain services that would otherwise not be financially and/or operationally viable." The absence of an MRI scanner at Fairview, which shunts patients who need one to BMC or Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, has prompted several residents including Bruun to speak out. It's also raising concerns from already-strapped ambulance squads who are transporting patients the 22 miles from Fairview to BMC because an MRI scan is needed. The equipment uses powerful magnets and radio waves to produce more detailed and three-dimensional anatomical images than other X-ray technology such as CT (computed tomography) scans. The brain, spinal cord and nerves, as well as muscles, ligaments, and tendons are seen much more clearly with MRI than with regular X-rays and CT, according to a fact sheet from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. MRIs can help diagnose brain tumors, traumatic brain injuries, multiple sclerosis, infections and dementia. They also are considered safer than CT scans "in that they do not use the damaging ionizing radiation of X-rays, the institute says. For someone suffering a stroke, fast action is critical. "The key to stroke treatment and recovery is getting to the hospital quickly," says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Up to half of ambulance trips in South County involve the need for an MRI, said Cindi Morris, administrator for the Southern Berkshire Volunteer Ambulance Squad. Morris said that of the roughly 300 calls per month, between 30 percent to 50 percent of calls "mention" an MRI. Of those, where a patient goes to Fairview, the staff there will stabilize them before the transfer to BMC. This is happening as local ambulance squads are facing more calls with fewer ambulances, and employees, to answer them. An MRI at Fairview "would definitely be easier for us," Morris said. A number of people familiar with Fairview and its operations spoke to The Eagle about why the hospital does not have an MRI scanner, but declined to go on the record with their names published. When asked why Fairview does not have the machine, Michael Leary, the director of media relations for BMC and Fairview's parent company, Berkshire Health Systems, did not answer the question. He issued a statement saying that the company "prides ourselves on the ability to offer a truly coordinated system of care that connects patients with the personalized care they need, no matter where they are located in the community." Leary also said that through BHS' "ongoing strategic planning efforts" the company is assessing the area's needs and will "continue to make investments." Leary declined to say whether this might include an MRI scanner. The cost of the equipment varies, and does not include construction or other costs associated with having one, such as paying skilled employees to operate the machine. MRI manufacturer Block Imaging sells machines that range from $225,000 for a basic model and $500,000 and up for a "wide-bore" version with a wider opening for the patient. Martha's Vineyard Hospital spent $1.7 million on a scanner in 2011, according to the Martha's Vineyard Times. It previously had used a leased MRI that it housed in a trailer parked outside the hospital. While the lack of an MRI scanner at Fairview has long been a community concern, Bruun and another residents recent experiences prompted them to go public to press for changes. Leigh Davis, a Great Barrington Select Board member, had to have two spinal fusions in the last six months that required MRIs. She had to travel to Baystate to see her neurosurgeon and to have the scan. She said she was lucky her daughter was in town so she could be driven there while in excruciating pain. An aging population and families would benefit from an MRI scanner at Fairview, she said. Davis also pointed this out in a letter to The Berkshire Edge earlier this month in response to resident Peter Mosts Sept. 29 column about Fairview's lack of the equipment. Most suggested the delay might be a competition issue for BHS. Dunkin would prefer that Starbucks not open up next door, Most wrote. But health care is not morning coffee, and BHS is not, after all, a profit-seeking purveyor of snacks. Great Barrington resident and retired WAMC president and CEO Alan Chartock wrote about it last year in his Berkshire Edge column. Chartock suggested that BHS wants BMC to have all the MRI business, writing, It clearly cant be a matter of money, and that the reasons for the absence of the scanner worries him. The fact that Fairview doesnt have this equipment is crippling our hospital, he wrote. I know for a fact that the staff is upset about this shortcoming. Im sure there was a time when not all doctors had stethoscopes. Now they do. Bruun said he wants to make it clear that he received top-notch care from Fairview staff and in no way faults them for the lack of a needed diagnostic tool. That need reared up again for Bruun earlier this month when he thought he was having a fifth stroke. He went to Fairview where another CT scan was performed. "The CT scan revealed what they thought was a clot, and [they] sent me to Baystate," Bruun said, speaking from the hospital. At Baystate, "an MRI determined that there was no clot and no stroke." Dalton Delan can be followed on Twitter @UnspinRoom. He has won Emmy, Peabody and duPont-Columbia awards for his work as a television producer. Berkshire residents and officials join the debate at the statehouse during the public hearing on controversial proposed gun bill, HD.4607 Residents in Berkshire County voiced their agreement with a proposed omnibus gun law, which has faced pushback locally, that would overhaul the state's already relatively strict laws regulating firearms. We were pleased to see lawmakers go back to the drawing board on to simplify HD.4220, the sweeping gun regulation omnibus bill that Rep. Michael Day filed earlier this year. Back in August, we called for such a slimmed down approach. We feared the opposition to such a sweeping omnibus bill like the version filed earlier this year might needlessly delay or derail some of its most timely and needed measures such as common-sense strictures on ghost guns by tying them to a broad omnibus bill whose breadth all but guaranteed more procedural hurdles and possible death by delay. Predictably, that initial version did meet Beacon Hill hurdles and fervent pushback from some firearm owners and gun lobbyist groups. As we argued in our August editorial, we would have preferred seeing lawmakers tackle critical issues like addressing the proliferation of ghost guns and strengthening the states so-called red flag laws on an individual basis in simpler and quicker measures. Still, Rep. Day and House leaders were right to respond by producing a more focused version that addresses legitimate complaints about the first draft. But if this weeks heated Beacon Hill hearing was any indication, that effort to streamline and compromise on the legislation did little to satisfy those who seem to vocally oppose any gun regulation whatsoever. Take, for example, the Gun Owners Action League, perhaps Massachusetts most preeminent activist and lobbying group for firearm ownership. After the initial version of the gun bill was filed earlier this year, GOALs executive director Jim Wallace attended a rally in Boston against the legislation, where he called the mere filing of the bill the most egregious attack on our civil liberties in my lifetime. In the interval since that rally, lawmakers reshaped the legislative proposal into the bill (HD.4607) now before the House that was the subject of Tuesdays hearing. Compared to the earlier version, the current legislation: Loosens the proposed strictures on civilian possession of certain powerful, high-capacity or assault-style weapons by grandfathering in such guns already legally owned by Massachusetts residents. Eases the proposed limitations on where people can carry firearms. Instead of banning gun possession in certain public places like bars, the current version simply would hold that its up to businesses to decide whether to allow firearms on their properties, while people would need to obtain permission to carry a gun into someone elses private residence. Reduces the serialization requirements for the parts of homemade gun kits. Such homemade guns that dont have serial numbers are often called ghost guns because theyre nearly impossible to trace when used in a crime. While the previous iteration of the legislation would have required serial numbers on both barrels and receivers in such homemade kits, the current legislation takes into account some gun enthusiasts complaints that serial numbers imprinted on a guns barrel might affect its efficacy and therefore only requires a serial number on the receiver or the frame. After all of these substantive changes that genuinely addressed concerns about currently owned firearms and ostensible imposition on gun-owners, what was Mr. Wallaces assessment of the newly drafted gun bill? At Tuesdays hearing, he claimed this, too, amounted to the most egregious attack on civil rights I have seen from a government in this century, in Massachusetts and nationwide. Such a remark strained credulity the first time; it tortured logic the second time, suggesting that two considerably different bills one considerably less restrictive than the other each amount to an equally egregious attack on civil rights. The cynical cheapening of that phrase notwithstanding, what does this say about the substance of the most vocal opposition to this bill? In what sense is requiring permission from other private citizens before bringing a deadly weapon into their homes an attack on gun-owners rights? Whose civil liberties are undermined by drawing a reasonable line between civilian ownership of certain firearms sufficient for hunting or home defense and the sort of weaponry meant for warzones? Is it really treading on firearm enthusiasts to demand that they pursue more rigorous training which likely means more firearm use in a controlled environment before they obtain a device that happens to be the leading cause of death among U.S. children? We understand that some gun-owners apart from industry-incentivized and agenda-driven groups like GOAL and the National Rifle Association have legitimate concerns and complaints about this particular bill and gun regulation efforts more broadly. Those concerns deserve to be heard and have been, as evidenced by the substantive changes between HD.4220 and HD.4607. Still, some might protest and ask about the aims and contours of the current legislation, as some did at the hearing. What do these laws really do to improve safety and quality of life for Bay Staters? Numbers dont lie. Perhaps to the chagrin of some who own firearms or profit from their sale, Massachusetts gun laws are among the strongest in the nation; that happens to correspond with gun death and gun violence rates regularly at or near the lowest in the nation. One can argue that correlation is not necessarily causation, but the suggestion that strong but reasonable gun laws have no connection to public safety and violence reduction is a dubious argument undermined by the data. If Massachusetts has such strong gun laws already, then why do we need more? All laws need some modernizing from time to time. Take it not from us but from police chiefs and district attorneys across the commonwealth raising the alarm about the increasing criminal use of untraceable, homemade ghost guns a relatively new technology and practice with which the letter of the law hasnt yet caught up. Meanwhile, an often unmentioned factor in Americas obscenely high gun death rate is that firearm suicides outstrip firearm homicides a compelling reason to build on the states existing extreme risk protection order system. Also known as the red flag law, it empowers family and household members to raise a red flag with authorities in the case of troubled firearm owners who might be a danger to others or, statistically more likely, a danger to themselves. It must be noted that gun-owners do not automatically lose their firearms just because someone requests an extreme risk protection order; the request goes before a judge, who decides whether the person is a threat. What about the rights of those victimized by the troubling trends of ghost-gun proliferation, spiking suicide rates and shootings spurred by mental health crises? Are those lives and liberties of no concern to GOAL and company? Theres nothing wrong with disagreeing with any particular legislation and letting our leaders know it. But the most vocal contingent of the opposition to this gun bill has demonstrated both an inability to even recognize compromise and a troubling flair for the kind of extreme and coarsening rhetoric that we see eroding our civic institutions. The discussion about how we craft the necessary updates to our states public safety laws demands much better. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll briefs municipal leaders on the administration's response to the emergency assistance shelter crisis during a Local Government Advisory Commission meeting Tuesday. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo met with his Croatian counterpart during his official visit to Zagreb as part of his four-nation European trip and discussed ways to develop the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Han's office said Friday. Han arrived in the Croatian capital Wednesday (local time) for the third leg of his tour, following visits to France and Denmark, and engaged in meetings with prominent figures, including Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Gordan Jandrokovic, the speaker of parliament, the office said. This marks the first high-level official visit to Croatia since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago. During their meeting Thursday, Han and Plenkovic adopted a joint statement to upgrade their bilateral relations to the level of a "comprehensive future-oriented partnership," the office said. The statement showcases a commitment to strengthening the bonds of cooperation that reflect the aspirations and shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, the office said. The upgraded level expresses the commitment of both sides to further deepen engagement in five sectors -- the economy, sustainable development, science and technology, cultural and educational exchange, and security. Han also pointed out the need for bilateral cooperation in the international community and asked for Croatia's support for Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in the southern city of Busan, according to the office. Plenkovic also expressed hope that Korea would continue to strengthen cooperation through multilateral bodies that share the same universal values, such as the European Union. The last leg of Han's journey will take him to Greece, where he is scheduled to hold a summit meeting with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Han's visit marks the first official visit to Greece by Korea's prime minister in six years. (Yonhap) In the longer term, e-commerce businesses' ability to leverage first-party data across their digital advertising platforms is only going to become more important. Source: 123rf 123rf Ad platform integrations should be front of mind when choosing an e-commerce platform saysFrancois Jooste, +OneX With the industry moving away from third-party cookies and other identifiers, the ad platforms will have less user data of their own for targeting. As the move from third-party cookies accelerates, without an effective first-party data strategy, e-commerce businesses could see targeting efficiency decrease and acquisition costs increase. Digital advertising is key As every e-commerce business knows, digital advertising is the key to attracting and converting customers and the success of your digital advertising strategy, in turn, depends on how effective you are in feeding platforms such as Google Ads, Meta Ads, and TikTok Ads with sufficient high-quality first-party data. The better the data these platforms ingest, the more accurate and efficient their algorithms will be in their machine learning, and therefore their targeting of potential customers for you. Yet many e-commerce companies dont appreciate just how important their e-commerce platform is in feeding their first-party data to their advertising ecosystem via application programming interfaces (APIs). Making the right choices can help your business to measure performance with higher precision enabling you to improve the efficiency of your targeting and lower cost per acquisition over time. As such, now is a time for every e-commerce company to review its core platforms and whether they are meeting todays business needs and whether they are future-proof. Many companies that are still running on heavily customised, open-source e-commerce platforms, for example, will want to reconsider the benefits of such an environment versus using a cloud platform like VTEX, Shopify or WooCommerce. Native integrations included in the monthly subscription Industry-leading e-commerce platforms include plugins and apps for the major digital advertising platforms in their subscription fee. The e-commerce platforms and their ad platform partners have developers dedicated to maintaining these native integrations and updating them to new API versions as they are released. This ensures there are no delays in data uploads, maximises the data available to your ad platforms, and helps drive cost efficiencies. While the monthly subscriptions of such solutions may seem steep at first glance, they should be compared to the significant costs and resources it takes to develop and maintain APIs on a customised platform. Thats without mentioning the delays businesses experience in approvals, task creation, development, and deployment when new API versions are released which happens nearly every day. Key benefits Some of the key benefits of these platforms include: Native integrations You get access to native, API-based conversion integrations without needing to invest in developing and maintaining them yourself. This ensures a constant flow of first-party data between your e-commerce platform, and the ad platforms for improved targeting, dynamic remarketing, and cost-efficient results. Reduced time to deploy and update Apps and plug-ins on the e-commerce platforms are updated as soon as ad platforms release new API versions. Costs Your e-commerce platform subscription fees should cover the cost of your integrations, allowing you to save money on in-house development. Product feeds Native integrations between your e-commerce platform and the ad platforms ensure that your e-commerce inventory is synced with ad platform catalogues. This enables you to market and remarket the right products from your e-commerce catalogue to the right prospects on platforms like Google Ads, Meta Ads and TikTok Ads. Credibility Cross-platform integrations that seamlessly connect to each other are often perceived to be more credible and trustworthy. This helps strengthen internal relationships between the marketing and development teams. Shopify is an example of an e-commerce platforms plugin or app store, with integrations for Google Ads with the Google & YouTube app, Meta Ads with the Facebook & Instagram app, and TikTok Ads in the form of the TikTok app. These digital ad platforms dedicate resources to supporting platforms like Shopify because they understand that first-party data is becoming key to their customers success. Futureproofing your e-commerce business While the benefits of an e-commerce platform with native integrations to ad platforms are significant, some businesses may still need to perform a bit of custom development to integrate their first-party data. Another drawback is that South African clients often need to wait for e-commerce platforms to make new integrations available to our market for example, the TikTok product catalogue integration for Shopify is not yet available for South African stores. When selecting an e-commerce platform, considering advertising integrations can be a game-changer. Not only can opting for the right options save you time and money, it can also help you stand out in a crowded digital landscape, attract the right audience, and drive meaningful results. Whatever platform you choose, ensuring that you have an efficient and effective way to share first-party data with ad platforms is key to reducing your cost per acquisition, and futureproofing your business. The Leaders in Loyalty Summit 2023, hosted by Truth, a global loyalty consultancy, based in Cape Town, saw a lineup of loyalty experience, as over 160 loyalty executives gathered from around South Africa and international markets to listen to loyalty insights and panel interviews from some of the best-known brands in South Africa. Leaders in Loyalty was hosted by the Truth team in Cape Town. Image supplied The day commenced with Michael Levinsohn, MD of Legacy Lifestyle, who took the stage and engaged with the audience through a compelling overview of how multi-partner loyalty programmes work. Partnership strategies in the loyalty world are critical and more and more brands are adopting a multi-partnership approach. From the outset, what is apparent is that loyalty partnerships can yield more commercially sound results for the operating brand and of course, a more compelling customer experience and value offering to loyalty programme members. It is, at the end of the day, a win-win scenario for customers and programme operators. Switching from travel and partnerships, Mateboho Malope from Vodacom Group opened the eyes of the audience to the power of loyalty and rewards programmes in the telco industry. Amongst other critical success factors, Malope stressed the importance of technology in the loyalty approach, especially as Vodacom is successfully scaling the VodaBucks (in its 3rd year) success story to new markets across Africa. Investec presented its rewards programme by Dr Cindy Carvalho, allowing the audience to focus on rewards success for the higher income customer. What was unavoidable from Dr Carvalhos presentation was the mindset that wealthier customers are also looking for value which loyalty and rewards can offer. She stressed the need for simplicity, transparency, and exclusivity being key for their time-starved, goal-orientated and status-driven customers. Shifting gear completely from premium banking to everyday restaurants. Michael Emanuel from Famous Brands impressed the audience with his reflections about leveraging technology to drive customer loyalty across the multitude of brands within the Famous Brands stable. These include Wimpy, Mugg & Bean, Debonairs and Steers to name a few. "The business needs to serve customers across all touchpoints, whether that is in the restaurant (sit down or quick service), through app orders, telephone orders or via third-party ordering platforms like Uber Eats and Mr Delivery. This is not an easy task for a loyalty strategy but when they get it right, it certainly pays off for customers and the business itself, added Emanuel. The final presentation of the day did not disappoint. Celeste Williams, head of Discovery Vitalitys marketing team, generously shared the evolution of Vitality Active Rewards since its launch in 2015 and how it changes customer behaviour. Across Vitalitys focus on health, banking and insurance, they can prove that behavioural change is activated through the rewards structures they have in place. This aims to improve stats like one in two South Africans are not active enough, four out of 10 credit customers have an account which is overdue and 27.5 road deaths in 100,000 (leaving South Africa with the highest road fatality rate amongst BRICS countries). Loyalty fraud is an enormous issue in loyalty programme management. I had the privilege of interviewing Wojciech Kempny from Comarch, which was the Platinum sponsor of the event. Wojciech deeply understands this subject, as does Comarch which provides loyalty technology and manages such fraud complexities daily for clients. Fraud is apparent, particularly in staff teams operating loyalty programmes and of course, customers themselves who find loopholes to deliberately or sometimes accidentally defraud the loyalty system. Because there is real money in a loyalty programme, fraud is real and needs to be managed carefully, as Wojciech and I discussed intensely. Empowering the loyalty programme industry I shared an update with the industry about Blind Loyalty, the company of which I am the founder and a trustee of The Blind Loyalty Trust. After a terrifying eye condition, which left me temporarily blind in 2022, my ambition is to empower the loyalty industry in South Africa and globally to support the trust which supports under-privileged patients who may be struck by any similar corneal illness as I endured. We have raised over R500,000 in 12 months. The latest fund-raising opportunity is to buy my loyalty book: Blind Loyalty - 101 Loyalty concepts radically simplified as all profits go to the trust. South African Loyalty Awards The Leaders in Loyalty Summit concluded with the celebration of the South African Loyalty Awards winners announcement. Headline awards for Best Programme of the Year were awarded to: Best Loyalty Programme of the Year: Retail The Shoprite Group Xtra Savings Best Loyalty Programme of the Year: Financial Services FNB eBucks Best Loyalty Programme of the Year: Restaurant/QSR Spur Family Card Best Loyalty Programme of the Year: Other MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet Best Partnership Programme of the Year FNB eBucks Best Programme of the Year: Newcomer Sasol Rewards Best Programme of the Year: Relaunched Absa Rewards Programme with the Biggest Impact on SA Consumer Behaviour FNB eBucks Best Long-Term Loyalty Programme: FNB eBucks There is no question that one brand dominated the awards in 2023. FNB eBucks was awarded a total of six awards in various categories. This has never been achieved before and the South African judging committee honoured the eBucks team with Best Loyalty Team of the Year in recognition of this outstanding achievement. eBucks was also recognised on the international stage in June this year when they received three awards at The International Loyalty Awards. DStv also received an international loyalty Award. This is a reflection of how the loyalty world sees the South African loyalty industry leading the charge. On the eve of the Business and Arts South Africa (Basa) Awards, we chat to Basa CEO, Ashraf Johaardien. Business and Arts South Africa (Basa) CEO, Ashraf Johaardien. Image supplied Johaardien's career in the creative sector encompasses a range of professional roles across a spectrum of disciplines. They have been professionally associated with a number of major South African cultural and academic institutions including, the National Arts Festival and Cape Town Fringe (executive producer), the Baxter Theatre (development manager), Wits University (general manager) and the University of Johannesburg (head of Arts). They joined Basa as CEO in 2019 and during their tenure, the organisation has raised over R120m for the creative sector. In addition, to date arts projects funded by Basa's Supporting Grants programme have leveraged in excess of R590m in sponsorship from the business sector. What is the mission of Business and Arts South Africa (Basa)? Basa champions the development of the creative sector by building capacity, enhancing commercial confidence and growing future leaders and cultural advocates. What are some of the key objectives and activities of Basa? Partnership are core to our work. The creative sector cant grow in a vacuum; its part of a broader ecosystem and to ensure it isnt siloed and stymied, it needs partners across government, business and the public sector. After all, culture is a co-created experience; its who we are as a people, what we put out into the world, our stories. Basa unlocks and unblocks opportunities for this ecosystem to grow. This happens through our supporting grants, by recognising business and arts partnerships through the Basa Awards, and through helping partners unpack the partnership journey for cross-sector partners. We also run multiple projects and programmes that grow leadership and entrepreneurial skills in the creative sector. And of course, we connect the public to opportunities, to engage with and enjoy the arts. How does the creative economy contribute to economic growth and development? The creative economy is a massive opportunity to create employment and entrepreneurship in South Africa at speed. The barriers to entry are comparatively low. What we are missing are the skills that equip creatives to make a business from their art, and opportunities for these talents to thrive. Not only is creative work a form of healing and healthy expression, but as the world turns to Africa for new creative ideas, there has never been a better time to invest in creativity. How does Basa promote collaboration between businesses and the arts sector? The business sector can offer the creative sector a platform to make work, influence narratives, and to shape the cultural discourse. Many businesses are also working with the creative sector on their CSI projects and these projects have significant social impact. Artists bring fresh thinking and processes to the business world. As work changes and we head into what will hopefully be a more purpose-minded era, creativity, and creative thinking have become increasingly valuable contributions. What is the purpose of the annual Basa Awards? The Basa Awards not only celebrates the achievements of businesses and creatives who have done great things together, it also shines a light on what has worked. These case studies are a good departure point for businesses and creatives to examine, especially with regards to working together in future. What can we expect at this year's Awards? This is the first time the Awards are being held in Cape Town, and we are very excited that we will be celebrating our winners at the awe-inspiring Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art. Our guests will also experience a very special moment as the Basa featured artist, Gregory Maqoma, will perform at the ceremony on the eve of his retirement from the stage. As an organisation, Basa is also celebrating a new look and new logo, which we will unveil at the event. How can artists and cultural organisations get involved with Basa and seek support? There are multiple ways to engage with Basa. The first stop would be to follow our social media channels Business and Arts South Africa on Facebook and https://www.instagram.com/bizart_za/ on Instagram, as well as our Twitter feed @Basa_news. This is where we publish all the opportunities, upcoming programmes and experiences. Businesses and creatives can also become Basa members with a host of benefits that include access to industry research, networking opportunities, invitations to events and first notice of opportunities. Please visit our membership helper on https://Basa.co.za/membership/ or explore our website at www.Basa.co.za. Be part of the excitement by registering to join the Basa Awards virtually on 13 October 2023! Register at https://bit.ly/45hYGgK to secure your virtual seat now and witness the magic from wherever you are! Bizcommunity is a proud media partner to the 26th Basa Awards recognising mutually beneficial arts and business partnerships and the impact business can have on the arts in South Africa. CTM announces innovative partnership with renowned fashion designer, Thabo Makhetha-Kwinana. Designers by CTM, Thabo Makhetha South Africa's leading tile company, CTM, has this week announced a groundbreaking collaboration with award-winning fashion designer and cultural icon Thabo Makhetha-Kwinana. Embodying the perfect fusion of style and timelessness, this innovative partnership brings together fashion and tile design, with the result being a stunning range of fashion-inspired tiles launching under the "Designers at CTM" brand. Celebrated for her Kobo collections, inspired by her Basotho heritage, Makhetha-Kwinanas work has turned the Basotho blankets from a traditional symbol to an enduring global fashion trend. Makhetha-Kwinana now brings her unique creative flair and insight to the world of tile design. "This partnership with CTM is only the start of our journey, a journey that will see South Africans able to transform their living spaces into works of art," says Makhetha-Kwinana, who earlier this year was unveiled as an artist in residence at the prestigious Iziko South African National Gallery. Known for her creativity and innovation, Makhetha-Kwinana became the first artist in the gallerys 150 year history to showcase an augmented reality art piece. Designer Thabo Makhetha and Italtile Limited CEO Lance Foxcroft Thabo Makhetha and Jerry Mofokeng Wa Makhetha "This is a perfect pairing of fashion meeting functionality, with the heart of South African creativity shining through in every tile. I am so proud of the limited-edition tile collection we have created together, bringing bold African beauty into our living spaces," she says. Together, CTM and Makhetha-Kwinana are showcasing the power of South African innovation and craftsmanship, manufacturing these exquisite tiles locally in CTMs world-class factories. "With her eye for intricate details and her innate sense of blending culture and heritage, Thabo Makhetha-Kwinana is set to revolutionise the way we perceive tiles. Anticipation is mounting, and we cannot wait to offer our customers access to this limited-edition bespoke offering," says Lance Foxcroft, CEO of Italtile Limited. With 2023 marking CTM's 40th birthday, this partnership will further entrench this proudly South African brand's support for local talent, turning houses into homes, and turning homes into masterpieces. Radio host Melanie Bala, designer Thabo Makhetha, and creative director Felipe Mazibuko For the past 40 years, CTM has recognised the unique tastes and desires of customers, with this collaboration now enabling South Africans to incorporate Makhetha-Kwinanas globally recognised cultural inspired designs into their most precious spaces. "Designers at CTM" is available nationally in store from 12 October 2023. The university says it is NSFAS's responsibility to resolve the issue with students. Walter Sisulu University students picket outside the East London Magistrates Court on Wednesday where more than 80 students were detained after protesting for unpaid NSFAS allowances. Photo: Johnnie Isaac Chaos ensued outside Walter Sisulu Universitys Potsdam campus in East London this week as police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse protesting students. Nearly 90 students were arrested for public violence and remained in police holding cells at three stations on Tuesday night. They were released on Wednesday afternoon after the prosecutor at the East London Magistrates Court withdrew charges against them. The students protest was sparked by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) introduced a new payment system. This resulted in hundreds of students not receiving their meal allowances for October. Sihle Mdingi, SRC secretary at the Buffalo City campus, told GroundUp that NSFAS had told them that it would not be paying students further because the university had been given enough money to pay allowances. The university denied this. Some students have not received anything at all, while others only received about R850, said Mdingi. GroundUp has asked NSFAS for clarity on this issue. While waiting to hear the fate of the arrested students at the court on Wednesday, a large group of students picketed outside, calling for their release. Lawyer Mawande Magaleni of MO Magaleni Attorneys, for the students, confirmed that the prosecutor withdrew the charges after reading the case docket. We have been here since this morning. The prosecution has elected to withdraw the charges and this matter is now finalised, said Magaleni. The students are beneficiaries of NSFAS but for the past ten days they have not been given allowances that are due to them. They are free but what are they going to eat? asked Magaleni. As the group was released at 5pm, the students outside the court started clapping, hugging each other and crying in celebration. Nkululeko Tyatya, who spent the night in jail, said, It was very stressful. As the chairperson of Sasco (South African Students Congress) I had to be strong and encourage those in the same cell that we were fighting for a good cause. Most of the detained students were first years and females. Walter Sisulu University spokesperson Yonela Tugwayo said, This matter is between the students and NSFAS. NSFAS enters into agreements with students and service providers over their allowances. I dont understand why the students would blame the university. NSFAS did not respond to our questions by the time of publication. Published originally on GroundUp. The African energy sector witnessed several milestones at the 2023 edition of Africa Oil Week (AOW) that was themed Investing in African Energy. From the continent setting its own pace for the energy transition, to boosting exploration activities and regional cooperation, African nations and stakeholders showcased their commitment and potential to the global energy community. Africa must keep the lights on during its transition period, said South African deputy president Paul Mashatile during a passionate opening ceremony on Tuesday. He echoed calls from governments and stakeholders to set pragmatic, realistic targets for Africas transition, while prioritising the continents development needs. He also called for enhanced collaboration among African countries to increase cross-border energy trade and investment. One of the main outcomes of the event was the consensus reached by AOW and the Green Energy Africa Summit (GEAS) - which happened concurrently at the Cape Town International Convention Centre - that Africa will determine its own timelines for achieving a low-carbon future, while balancing its development needs. Unlocking Africa's energy economy There was a confirmation and consensus that Africa's rig count is at its highest level in years, reflecting a recovery in the exploration market. The continent has seen a series of significant discoveries in the Orange Basin, Nigeria and Mozambique, among others. AOW 2023 conversations also revealed details of ongoing drilling programmes in Zimbabwe and Mauritania, two emerging exploration hotspots. In particular, Zimbabwe's natural gas exploration is projected to have a transformative impact on Southern Africa's energy security. Azule Energy also announced plans to drill Angola's first gas exploration well in 2024, on Block 1/14. The conference became a crucial setting for dialogue, creating a platform to promote attractive open blocks and licensing rounds in Africa, and have critical discussions and negotiations around opportunities in Angola, Namibia, Gabon, Congo, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. The gas agenda Liquid natural gas (LNG) emerged as a key theme as experts and officials highlighted its role as both a transition and destination fuel for the continent. Several projects were showcased, such as the GTA LNG hub in Mauritania and Senegal, the Congo LNG project in Congo-Brazzaville, the Coral Sul and Coral North FLNG units in Mozambique, Tanzania LNG, and Nigeria LNG's potential expansion. Attendees also explored the opportunities and challenges for regional gas trade, especially in West, Central, and Southern Africa, where the demand for gas is growing rapidly. However, speakers also stressed the need for more favourable policies and regulations to attract investment and increase gas production. Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, also made a strong impression at the conference, after implementing swift reforms under its new president Bola Tinubu. Olu Verheijen, special advisor to President Tinubu on energy, told the audience that Nigeria was open for business and would not sacrifice its development goals for emission reduction. The country showcased several deals involving gas monetisation, industrial park development, refinery expansion, and farm-in opportunities across onshore and shallow-water areas. Decarbonise at a cost The challenges of financing and decarbonising Africa's oil-and-gas sector were the main topics of discussion at the Finance and M&A Forum that brought together representatives from development-finance institutions, commercial banks, private-equity investors, and oil-and-gas companies operating in the continent. A consensus was that access to capital will require more creativity and innovation, especially in unlocking domestic sources of funding and developing dual-currency financing mechanisms. The conference also recognised the need to make Africa more globally competitive and attractive for investments, while developing its natural resources in a sustainable manner. One of the key aspects of sustainability is the decarbonisation of the oil-and-gas sector. Panellists highlighted the opportunities and challenges of adopting lower-carbon technologies and carbon-capture, utilisation, and storage projects in Africa. They also suggested some quick wins for reducing emissions in the upstream sector, such as utilising associated gas and optimising value chains. AOW provided a platform for stakeholders to share insights, best practices, and solutions for financing and decarbonising Africa's oil-and-gas sector, as well as to explore new partnerships and deals. By Kim Hyun-bin UAE Ambassador to Korea Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi emphasized the maturation of Korea-UAE bilateral relations during a two-day workshop, titled "UAE-Republic of Korea strategic dialogue: exploring the prospects of an enhanced partnership." The event, which began on Tuesday, was aimed to promote closer bilateral collaboration. The event featured four distinct panel discussions, each with its unique focus: "UAE-Korea Strategic Partnership: Present Realities and Future Possibilities," "UAE-Korea Strategic Partnership: A Youth Perspective," "COP28 and the Imperative of Strengthening UAE-Korea Collaboration in Climate Action" and "A Roadmap for the Future." Ambassador Al Nuaimi noted the evolution of the bilateral relationship, which began as a strategic partnership in 2009 and was elevated to a special strategic partnership in 2018. This enhanced partnership now covers a wide range of collaborative areas beyond traditional exchanges. He highlighted the establishment of several formal platforms and mechanisms designed to facilitate cooperation, including the special strategic dialogue at the level of foreign ministers, 2+2 meetings, high-level consultations on nuclear cooperation, joint economic committee meetings and consular committee meetings. "During the recent state visit to the UAE in January this year, President Yoon Suk Yeol and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE president, considered taking our special strategic partnership to its highest possible level,"Al Nuaimi said. "This demonstrates the ongoing potential for further promotion and expansion of bilateral cooperation, not only within our nations but also jointly in third countries." Ambassador Al Nuaimi expressed optimism that the event would provide valuable insights into ways of enhancing the partnership. "This conference we will gain valuable insights on the ways and means to enhance the partnership between our two countries, building upon our past achievements," he said. The ambassador emphasized that the event's scope extended beyond economic and political exchanges, focusing on the strategic partnership from a youth perspective. Additionally, he emphasized collaboration between the two nations in climate action, aligning with the UAE's commitment to international climate initiatives and Korea's priorities at next month's COP28, to be hosted by the UAE. Furthermore, Dr. Mohammed Al-Ali, CEO of TRENDS Research and Advisory, highlighted three key factors shaping the future of this partnership: diversified bilateral trade channels and promising investment opportunities in both countries' markets, the promotion of cultural connections, and ongoing coordination between the UAE and Korea in international forums aimed at advancing sustainability in the global economy. Un journaliste de Reuters tue et deux autres blesses dans le sud du Liban (Reuters) - Un journaliste de l'agence Reuters a ete tue dans le sud du Liban ou il travaillait, a declare vendredi Reuters dans un communique. "Nous sommes profondement attristes d'apprendre que notre videaste Issam Abdallah a ete tue", dit le communique. "Issam faisait partie d'une equipe de Reuters dans le sud du Liban qui fournissait un signal video live", precise le communique en ajoutant que Reuters cherche a obtenir d'urgence de plus amples informations aupres des autorites de la region. Deux autres journalistes qui faisaient partie de la meme equipe ont ete blesses, a ajoute Reuters. (Edite par Mark Bendeich, version francaise Jean-Stephane Brosse, edite par Zhifan Liu) The Korea-Africa special summit slated for next year will mark a "major milestone" in Seoul's diplomacy, Foreign Minister Park Jin said Friday, as the country held its first interagency talks to discuss preparations for the upcoming summit. Park made the remark at the preparatory committee meeting involving 20 agencies, including the transportation and labor ministries, stressing that Africa is a "continent of endless possibilities" and a "land of opportunities." "The Korea-Africa summit to be held next year will mark a major milestone in our diplomacy with Africa," he said, emphasizing the growing influence of Africa on the international diplomatic stage. Park also noted the importance of Africa as a region rich in key minerals, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, as disruptions in supply chains have increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian war. "Under such circumstances, Africa is an important partner to us that we cannot give up on as a region that possesses critical minerals essential to future industries," he added. Korea is set to host its first summit meeting with Africa in June next year to bolster its mutually beneficial and cooperative relations with nations in the region. (Yonhap) President Yoon Suk Yeol said Friday that the increasing pace of exchanges between Korea and Japan shows it is the will of both countries' people to improve and develop the bilateral relationship, according to his office. Yoon made the remark while meeting with members of the Korea-Japan Friendship Association and the Japan-Korea Friendship Association, who are set to hold a joint conference later in the day to mark the 25th anniversary of a key declaration that called for overcoming the unfortunate past of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, and building new relations. The 1998 joint declaration, which was adopted by former President Kim Dae-jung and former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, also contained Obuchi's expression of remorse for the "horrendous damage and pain" Japan's colonial rule inflicted on the Korean people. "The president noted that visits and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries are quickly recovering following the COVID-19 pandemic, and said this is evidence that the improvement and development of Korea-Japan relations are the wish and will of the two countries' peoples," the presidential office said in a press release. Yoon also said he believes the two countries will be able to "open a new future over and beyond the period when Korea-Japan relations were at their best, if they have exchanges, cooperate and build trust." The president asked the two associations to continue to play a role in promoting mutual understanding and friendly relations between the two countries, including between their provinces and young generations. The Korea-Japan Friendship Association is led by former Korean Ambassador to Tokyo Yoo Heung-soo, while the Japan-Korea Friendship Association is headed by former Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura. During the meeting, Kawamura and other leaders of the association said the effects of improved Korea-Japan relations are being felt closely by the Japanese people. They also promised to continually work to improve the bilateral relationship, citing the need for more exchanges between the younger generations, including by possibly resuming a bilateral school trip program. Korea-Japan relations have improved significantly under Yoon, after his administration decided in March to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without asking for contributions from the Japanese companies involved. (Yonhap) State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada Postal Code The European Union has opened an investigation into Elon Musks X platform over concerns about the spread of illegal content and disinformation around the Israel-Hamas conflict. The European Commission has sent the social media giant a formal request for information under its new online safety rules, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force earlier this year. Advertisement Social media platforms have seen a surge in misinformation, violent content and hate speech about the conflict between Israel and Hamas in recent days, with the EU warning the largest platforms that they must do more to stop its spread. If the EU believes X, formerly known as Twitter, has breached the rules, it could open a formal investigation and if a breach is confirmed, X could face a substantial fine up to 6% of global turnover or have its service suspended. Advertisement Advertisement Under the DSA, X has been designated a very large online platform, meaning it is required to comply with the strictest set of rules under the DSA, meaning assessing and mitigating the risks linked to the spread of illegal, harmful and violent content. In a statement, the commission said: In this particular case, the commission services are investigating Xs compliance with the DSA, including with regard to its policies and practices regarding notices on illegal content, complaint handling, risk assessment and measures to mitigate the risks identified. The commission services are empowered to request further information to X in order to verify the correct implementation of the law. Advertisement On Thursday, in response to initial concerns from the EU, X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said the site had removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and also taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of posts related to the conflict. In a letter to X from the commissions digital policy chief, Thierry Breton, the company was warned that violent and illegal content, as well as hate speech, was spreading on the platform, despite being reported by users. S Club have cancelled a show in Liverpool due to issues with the venues power supply. On Thursday, the pop band kicked off their 25th anniversary reunion tour with a show in Manchester and S Club were then due to play the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Friday. Advertisement In an Instagram story, S Club said: S Clubbers, we are beyond devastated to announce that tonights show in Liverpool has had to be postponed by the venue, due to them having an unforeseen technical issue impacting their power supply and therefore your safety. We cant begin to express how sorry we are. Jo OMeara of S Club performs on stage at the AO Arena in Manchester on Thursday. (Peter Byrne/PA) Advertisement Especially as we know so many of you have travelled great distances to join us tonight. But your safety is our priority always. Were rescheduling tonights performance in Liverpool to Monday October 30 and all tickets remain valid. Advertisement If you cannot make the new date, refunds are available from your original point of purchase. Were absolutely heartbroken, but really hope we will see you then. Advertisement Thank you for continuing to always support us. Sending you much love. Brad, Jo, Jon, Rachel, and Tina x. Playing at the AO Arena on Thursday, they appeared without band members Paul Cattermole, who died in April, and Hannah Spearritt. Important update regarding S Club's show tonight. pic.twitter.com/SKBfa7vKhq Advertisement M&S Bank Arena Liverpool (@MandSBankArena) October 13, 2023 Their reunion performance also featured a tribute to Cattermole who died aged 46. Advertisement The group formerly known as S Club 7 now comprises Rachel Stevens, Jon Lee, Tina Barrett, Jo OMeara and Bradley McIntosh. In July, the band released a single paying tribute to Cattermole called These Are The Days. S Club are set for more tour dates at Utilita Arena Sheffield on Saturday and 3Arena in Dublin on Monday. On X, formerly known as Twitter, M&S Bank Arena said: Due to an unforeseen technical issue which is beyond our control and is impacting the power supply, we have sadly been forced to take the decision with the event promoter to postpone tonights performance by S Club. Advertisement We understand that S Club fans and the band will be very disappointed but as the safety and comfort of our visitors is our utmost priority, the show cannot proceed as planned. The venue also said it apologised for any inconvenience and happily the band are rescheduling dates. As the technical issue is in an isolated area of the campus, we are not anticipating that any other events will be affected, the statement added. Donald Trump's attacks on the US justice system face a fresh test next week when the federal prosecutor trying the former US president on charges involving his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss asks a judge to rein in "inflammatory" comments. The US special counsel bringing that case, Jack Smith, on Monday will try to persuade US District Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose new limits on public comments about the case by Mr Trump, a request his attorneys have called a "desperate effort at censorship". Advertisement It is a problem that five US state and federal judges are wrestling with as Mr Trump faces four upcoming criminal trials and a civil fraud case. Mr Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to face Democratic president Joe Biden in the 2024 US election, has denied wrongdoing and has called the cases politically motivated. Advertisement New York state Justice Arthur Engoron has already faced off with Mr Trump on the issue. The judge on October 3rd issued a gag order barring Mr Trump from speaking about court staff after the businessman-turned-politician lashed out on social media at the judge's law clerk. "Public statements about my staff are unacceptable and inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances," Judge Engoron, presiding over the civil fraud trial against Mr Trump and his family business, said in issuing the order. Advertisement We've never had a criminal defendant with such a megaphone. Mr Trump's broadsides have put courts in a bind. Allowing them to continue risks undermining the judicial process, according to legal experts, but any efforts to constrain Mr Trump could fuel his claims that the justice system has been "weaponised" against him. "We've never had a criminal defendant with such a megaphone," said Georgetown University law professor Michael Frisch, who studies legal ethics. Mr Trump has called Judge Engoron, who found that he and his family business committed fraud, "deranged". Mr Trump has cast doubt on Judge Chutkan's ability to give him a fair trial and called her "highly partisan". Advertisement Ahead of his civil fraud trial, Mr Trump, without providing evidence, accused the US Justice Department of coordinating with New York state Attorney General Letitia James to damage his presidential campaign. Advertisement "They're all corrupt people," Mr Trump told reporters in the Manhattan courthouse. Mr Trump has castigated his adversaries in the cases against him, calling Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg an "animal," Mr Smith a "thug" and Ms James a "monster". "I will not be bullied," Ms James responded. Advertisement Mr Smith's team argued that Mr Trump's recent comments are part of the same pattern of menacing conduct that Mr Trump showed after the 2020 election, including in the run-up to the January 6th, 2021, US Capitol attack by his supporters. 'A soap box' Lawrence Stengel, a former chief federal trial judge in Pennsylvania, said it would be difficult to balance Mr Trump's free speech rights against the need for a fair legal process. "Are we going to allow a high-profile defendant with a soap box and an audience to consistently undermine and downplay the importance of the system that we all operate under?" Mr Stengel asked. "That's a real concern, but I'm not sure that it can be remedied with a gag order." Mr Smith's office is seeking an order barring Mr Trump and others involved in the case from speaking publicly about prospective witnesses or making intimidating remarks about attorneys, court staff and potential jurors. Advertisement Advertisement Mr Smith cited Mr Trump's "established practice of issuing inflammatory public statements targeted at individuals or institutions that present an obstacle or challenge to him". 'Entirely valid criticisms' Mr Trump's lawyers have said their client is making "entirely valid criticisms" of the cases against him, which they said are protected by his free speech rights under the US Constitution's First Amendment. "The prosecution would silence President Trump, amid a political campaign where his right to criticise the government is at its zenith, all to avoid a public rebuke of this prosecution," Mr Trump's lawyers wrote in a court filing. A spokesperson for Mr Trump did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Mr Smith's office declined to comment. World Is America heading towards its last election in 20... Read More One notable exception to Mr Trump's criticism is the judge presiding over the classified documents criminal case in Florida. US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who Mr Trump appointed to the federal bench and who sided with Mr Trump in a major court dispute before charges were filed, has instead faced criticism from Trump opponents. Judge Cannon, Mr Trump told Fox News in July, "loves our country". According to legal experts, Judge Chutkan may try to strike a middle ground on the gag order request, allowing Mr Trump to make general statements disputing the allegations and condemning the prosecution, but barring statements targeted at individuals. "It's extremely complicated," New York University law professor Rebecca Roiphe said. "It is acceptable to limit the speech of individuals like this when there's a potential for it to interfere with an ongoing case. But at the same time, the speech here is such core political speech." South Korea will kick off an annual large-scale military exercise next week to strengthen defense readiness, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Friday. The Hoguk field training exercise, which involves the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps., will run from Monday to Nov. 22 to enhance interoperability, according to the JCS. This year's exercise will simulate various threats posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons, missiles and unmanned assets, the JCS said, noting that some U.S. troops will take part in the exercise to boost interoperability. During last year's drills, the North fired artillery shots into maritime buffer zones near the inter-Korean border and ballistic missiles into the East Sea. The exercise comes amid tensions as the North threatened Friday to strike U.S. strategic assets deployed to the Korean Peninsula after the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier docked at the southeastern port of Busan the previous day. Launched in 1996, the annual Hoguk exercise is held in the second half of each year. (Yonhap) There has been a "heightened sense of activity" among social media platforms in response to misinformation about the conflict in Israel and Gaza, Irelands Digital Services Commissioner has said. John Evans was appointed under the Digital Services Act and his role is to ensure that social media companies regulate the content on their own platforms. Advertisement He told RTE radios Morning Ireland that under the Act, the platforms now have an obligation to create a facility where when people complain about content they can request that it be taken down for various reasons. There is then a second stage where, if they are not happy with the decision, they are entitled to an appeal. Mr Evans added that there are also "other checks and balances" that give power to people regarding the content on the platforms. Advertisement He said a number of social media platforms have told him they are deploying crisis response teams, gathering experts with specific language skills so they can respond to posts in relation to the conflict in Gaza and Israel. This will allow the Digital Services Commissioners across Europe to monitor if the measures are actually working and if they are having an impact, Mr Evans added. Advertisement He acknowledged that the powers of his office are presently limited as its functions have yet to be ratified under the Digital Services Act, the legislation for which is due to be passed early next year. Because of the limited powers at present, Mr Evans' contacts with social media platforms have so far been on an informal basis. However, he denied that making a complaint would be a waste of time. "I do think what's going on is very damaging, and misinformation and disinformation online can be used by different actors for different purposes. "It's a problem. It becomes much more aggravated at times of crisis when we know people are seeking out news and malicious actors spot opportunities to exploit that." Advertisement Mr Evans also highlighted that the EU Commission has contacted social media platforms to remind them of their responsibilities. "We can see from the media that there's sufficient concern to issue information requests, which I see they've done with X yesterday, and it will take time for the Commission to analyse what information has come back. "But you'll see from the requests that have gone out to X, for example, that there's actually quite a short deadline for them to respond to that. So it's a pretty fluid situation and evolving quite quickly," Mr Evans added. The Defence Forces personnel across Lebanon, Syria and Israel are monitoring the situation from protected positions in the region as violence continues. Israeli shelling along the Lebanon border on Friday killed one journalist and injured six others and the Israeli military has said that ground troops have been operating inside the Gaza Strip. Advertisement Israels response to an attack by the Hamas militant group on Saturday has included cutting off food, water and electricity to Gaza. Tanaiste and Minister for Defence Micheal Martin The United Nations (UN) said it was told by the Israeli military that the approximately 1.1 million people in northern Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours, a move Tanaiste Micheal Martin called on Israel to rescind. Advertisement The Irish Defence Forces have personnel serving in various UN operations across Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Advertisement Some 342 of these personnel are currently serving in the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL). They have reported sporadic exchanges of fires in the last 48 hours across the Blue Line between Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and non-state actors in South Lebanon. The intensity of these outbreaks has decreased from its height on October 6th and 7th. Advertisement On several occasions since the commencement of hostilities, UNIFIL has been taking shelter in protected positions. The Irish troops of the 122nd Infantry Battalion in UNIFIL went into these protected positions on Friday afternoon and are continuing to monitor the situation. All Irish soldiers are accounted for and are safe. There are 116 Irish troops of the 68th Infantry Group serving with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) who have suspended non-essential activities. The Irish personnel are maintaining a high degree of vigilance and continue to monitor the situation. The situation in the UNDOF Area of Responsibility (AOR) reportedly remains calm. The 13 Irish personnel serving as UN Observers with UNTSO in Israel, Lebanon and Syria are maintaining a high level of vigilance and continue to monitor the situation. They are all safe and well and are complying with UN security precautions. Mr Martin, who is also the Minister for Defence, has said the department is working with the UN and European colleagues on establishing humanitarian corridors. A Limerick woman has pleaded guilty before the Special Criminal Court to laundering over 120,000 in crime cash at her home. Sandra Hehir (54), with an address at Assumpta Park, Island Road, Limerick City, appeared before the three-judge, non-jury court on Friday morning. Advertisement Ms Hehir was arraigned on a single charge that on June 17th, 2020, at the same address she handled, acquired and/or possessed cash to the value of 124,055, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether property in the said premises was the proceeds of criminal conduct. Ms Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, told the court that five other counts could be taken into consideration. The barrister said that a nolle prosequi will be entered in due course on three other counts. Mr Padraig Dwyer SC, defending Ms Hehir, asked the court for time in order to produce references for his client on the next date. Advertisement Mr Dwyer also informed the court that there are two co-accused who have pleaded guilty in relation to these offences and that their cases have been listed for mention on October 23rd for the purpose of fixing a sentence hearing. Advertisement "It would be in Ms Hehir's interest to be given a separate sentence date because of a potential undertaking she may be giving on family members," he added. Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, presiding, sitting with Ms Justice Sarah Berkeley and Mr Justice James Faughnan, listed Ms Hehir's case for mention on October 31st in order to fix a date for a sentence hearing. Ms Murphy said there is no issue with Ms Hehir's case being dealt with separately. Ms Hehir was remanded on bail on the same terms and conditions. Advertisement Vicky Hehir (30), also known as Victoria O'Halloran, of Bruach na Sionna, Castleconnell, Co Limerick, and her husband, Warren Hehir (33), of the same address, were arraigned on similar charges last July. Sandra Hehir's son, Warren Hehir, pleaded guilty to a charge that on dates between August 8th, 2019, and June 17th, 2020, he possessed, used, converted, transferred or handled cash to the value of 59,000, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct, in discharging sums due and owing in respect of works carried out on Kilmurry Court, Garryowen, Limerick between August 8th, 2019 and June 17th, 2020. He also admitted that on June 17th, 2020, at The Path, Garryowen, he handled, acquired or possessed a Rolex watch knowing, believing or being reckless as to whether the watch was the proceeds of criminal conduct. Vicky Hehir pleaded guilty to one charge of money laundering in relation to the 59,000 for the works carried out at Kilmurry Court. Updated: 8.15pm A man in his 50s has been charged in connection with the murder of Tina Satchwell. Advertisement He had been arrested on Thursday following the discovery of human remains at a property in Co Cork and was charged on Friday evening. He is due to appear before a special sitting of Cashel District Court at 10.30am on Saturday morning. The human remains were discovered at a property on Grattan Street in Youghal after a search there began on Tuesday. The remains were located on Wednesday and were taken to Cork University Hospital for examination. On Friday, it was confirmed that dental records had been used to match the remains to Tina Satchwell. Ms Satchwell was last seen alive in March 2017. It is understood the remains were discovered in a walled-up area under a stairwell, and it is believed some renovation work has been carried out on the property. The discovery of human remains at a property in Co Cork and the conflict between Israel and Hamas dominate Friday's front pages. The Irish Times carries an image of Kim Damti, a 22-year-old Irish-Israeli woman who was confirmed dead after Saturday's attack by Hamas in Israel. Advertisement Meanwhile, the Irish Examiner and The Echo lead with the story of skeletal remains being found in Youghal, Co Cork in the search for missing woman Tina Satchwell. Advertisement On the same story, the Irish Independent reads: 'Body found behind wall under stairs in missing Tina's home'. Here is the front page of today's Irish Independent pic.twitter.com/mZEPF8ni7f Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) October 13, 2023 Advertisement Today's front page of The Irish Sun pic.twitter.com/q99D0qqOmn The Irish Sun (@IrishSunOnline) October 13, 2023 Advertisement Advertisement In Britain, the Friday front pages are led by the UK sending a military package to support Israel in the wake of Hamas attack at the weekend. The Telegraph, Daily Mirror and the i report the UK is sending warships and aircraft to the Eastern Mediterranean next week and will be on standby to deliver practical support, as well as offer deterrence and assurance. The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: This is the most difficult image weve ever posted#TomorrowsPapersToday Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/fGT9ebs97u Advertisement The Telegraph (@Telegraph) October 12, 2023 Friday's front page: Sunak sends in the military as UK and US urge Israeli restraint #TomorrowsPapersToday Latest by @janemerrick23: https://t.co/VqdKtkiqQZ pic.twitter.com/VQbLSkrWg4 i newspaper (@theipaper) October 12, 2023 The Guardian leads with the US promising more weapons for Israel, while the Financial Times says Washington has urged Israel to show restraint amid the rising threat of regional conflict breaking out. Fridays GUARDIAN: US promises arms to Israel as UN sounds Gaza warning #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/8ZJU2EMQvm Advertisement Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) October 12, 2023 Fridays FINANCIAL Times: Washington urges restraint on Israel as threat of regional conflict mounts #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/bG3qQnkNSe Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) October 12, 2023 Israel has allegedly released images showing Hamas murdered babies in their attack, according to the Daily Express and The Times. Front Page - Horrific images of murdered babies show 'depravity in worst way'#TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/0Es4ImdBVb pic.twitter.com/JzSvuq1z3K Daily Express (@Daily_Express) October 12, 2023 The Independent leads with a plea from the families of British hostages captured by Hamas. The Daily Mail reports British prime minister Rishi Sunak has instructed police to get a grip on anti-Israel hate. Fridays Daily MAIL: PM Tells Police To Get A Grip On Anti-Israel Hate #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/jCXAesXZ5j Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) October 12, 2023 The Sun asks why the English FA is refusing to light up Wembley in honour of the victims of the Hamas attack. On tomorrow's front page: Emily was one of the innocent children killed by Hamas why cant spineless FA light up Wembley in their memory?https://t.co/w9GcpGHCDRhttps://t.co/w9GcpGHCDR pic.twitter.com/quUsWEhnKT Advertisement The Sun (@TheSun) October 12, 2023 Elsewhere, Metro reports billionaire ex-Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has pleaded guilty to a 400 million fraud. Tomorrow's Paper Today F1 BERNIE: I PULLED A FAST ONE Ecclestone, 92, admits 400m fraud... but judge spares him jail over frail health#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/Sxd9fLeoTz Metro (@MetroUK) October 12, 2023 And bedbugs feature on the front of the Daily Star. Hamas has called on Palestinians to stay in their homes after Israel issued sweeping evacuation orders in Gaza. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs called on residents of the north of the territory to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation. Advertisement Israel has ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people. Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli air strike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday (AP) Palestinians would only be able to flee south within Gaza as Israel has completely sealed off the territory, a narrow strip of land about 25 miles long. Advertisement The Israeli military had said it would operate with significant force in Gaza in the coming days and is calling on civilians to evacuate. Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israeli forces will make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. Advertisement He added: Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate. Advertisement I am in Israel during this incredibly difficult moment for this nation and for the entire world. As Secretary of State, as a Jew, as a husband and a father, I understand on a personal level the harrowing echoes Hamas's massacres carry. pic.twitter.com/aY7MrAdK62 Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) October 12, 2023 Advertisement The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours. Suffering in Gaza has risen dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine, while the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The mortuary at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is set to visit on Friday, a day after American secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Israel for talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7. Advertisement Advertisement A woman with a Palestinian flag painted on her face, cries during a protest against Israeli air strikes on Gaza in Madrid (AP) Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, said: This is chaos, no-one understands what to do. She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, claimed there was no way more than one million people could be safely moved within the timeframe specified, saying: Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youre going to live. She added: What will happen to our patients? We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals. The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no decision has been made. The UN said the broad evacuation warning it received for all of Gazas north also applies to all UN staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in UN schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock air strikes on Saturday. Gaza Update: 220,000 people sheltering in 92 @UNRWA schools 340,000 displaced Palestinians With no access to provide essential supplies, UN humanitarians warn that Gaza is on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity & critical supplies. https://t.co/PqFxuGi1K0 pic.twitter.com/XjGhau7bZA Advertisement United Nations (@UN) October 12, 2023 The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Another UN official said that the UN is seeking clarity from Israeli officials at the most senior political level. A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Hamas unprecedented assault last Saturday and smaller attacks since have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. Palestinians evacuate wounded people after an Israeli air strike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza (AP) As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. Advertisement Mr Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including children in their own homes and young people at a music festival. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. The number of people forced from their homes by Israels air strikes soared by 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the UN said on Thursday. On Thursday, the Israeli military pulverised the Gaza Strip with air strikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said its complete siege of the territory would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during their grisly weekend incursion. Tanaiste Micheal Martin has called on Israel to rescind an order for citizens to evacuate Gaza, saying two wrongs dont make a right. It comes after the United Nations (UN) said it was told by the Israeli military that the approximately 1.1 million people in northern Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours, a move described by the international bodys humanitarian office as impossible. Advertisement Speaking at an event in Co Cork, Micheal Martin said: Were all witnessing the horrific outcome of the Hamas attack on Israel and random and indiscriminate murder of Israelis. Advertisement Mr Martin noted the funeral of 22-year-old Irish-Israeli citizen Kim Damti, who died after an attack on a music festival near the Gaza border, as well as the harrowing account of Thomas Hand, who said his eight-year-old daughter Emily died following Hamas attacks on the Beeri Kibbutz. Advertisement He said: The human suffering here is quite shocking and were now seeing the outcome of that violence in terms of terribly sad funerals and bereavement and confirmation of deaths. In respect of Israel and Gaza, weve been very clear that Israel has a right to self-defence but it must be within international law and that there are obligations under the Geneva Convention. It simply isnt feasible that a million people can move out of the city in 24 hours. Advertisement That call by Israel should be rescinded and should be pulled back because I think everybody knows its not something that can be achieved at all and I think it puts enormous trauma on the ordinary civilians and Gazans. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA) Two wrongs dont make a right and theres an obligation to protect civilians in Gaza, to protect children and families and so forth and people who have nothing to do with Hamas. Advertisement There are challenges and I would accept that Israel has a legitimate right to deal with Hamas because Hamas has waged war on its civilians but it cannot be in the context of an attack on the civilian population of Gaza. Our value system is one that does not in any way support any collective punishment of an entire population. Thats not acceptable from our perspective. Advertisement Mr Martin is working with the UN and European colleagues on establishing humanitarian corridors. Advertisement Its now essential that significant amounts of humanitarian aid needs to get into Gaza into the hospitals there and also in terms of supporting children and families, he said. Asked about suggestions from some commentators that Ireland is inherently antisemetic, Mr Martin rejected the characterisation. He said: Ireland has a strong reputation globally in respect of its adherence to human rights. Were subscribed to all of the antisemitic conventions and we work with others to root out antisemitism. And we have a Jewish community in Ireland that we cherish and our constitution cherishes the Jewish tradition within Ireland also. And I think we have to separate that from legitimate criticism, from time to time, in terms of Israeli government policy towards the Palestinian question. And in democracies theres always room for legitimate debate but in respect of the Hamas attack on Israeli citizens, there can be no equivocation and no reservations in condemning the brutality, the barbarity of that attack. Also, there can be no sort of connection between that and the broader question of Palestine, and any attempts to connect the two, I think are wrong. Advertisement Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has also said Israel is engaging in collective punishment and does not have the right to breach international law in its response in Gaza. On Thursday, he said: Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves but they dont have the right to breach international humanitarian law. And Im really concerned about what Im seeing happening in Gaza at the moment. To me, it amounts to collective punishment. Cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies, thats not the way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself. Israeli forces are poised to invade Gaza on a mission to wipe out Hamas in response to a surprise attack by the Palestianian militants on October 7th. Since Hamas fighters burst across the barrier fence and killed 1,300 Israelis on Saturday, Israel has responded with the most intensive air strikes of its 75-year conflict with the Palestinians. Advertisement Gaza authorities say 1,800 people have been killed; the United Nations says 400,000 people have already been made homeless. The wider conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has already claimed the lives of thousands in recent decades. From 2008 until September this year, 6,407 Palestinians were recorded to have been killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, more than half through missile attacks. During the same period, the UN recorded the death of 308 Israelis in conflict situations. Advertisement The following timeline, which begins with Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, details the major flare-ups in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian groups in the crowded coastal enclave, which is home to 2.3 million people. Advertisement August 2005 Israeli forces unilaterally withdraw from Gaza 38 years after capturing it from Egypt in the Middle East war, abandoning settlements and leaving the enclave under the control of the Palestinian Authority. January 25th, 2006 The Islamist group Hamas wins a majority of seats in a Palestinian legislative election. Israel and the US cut off aid to Palestinians because Hamas refuses to renounce violence and recognise Israel. June 25th, 2006 Hamas militants capture Israeli army conscript Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid from Gaza, prompting Israeli air strikes and incursions. Shalit is finally freed more than five years later in a prisoner exchange. June 14th, 2007 Hamas takes over Gaza in a brief civil war, ousting Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank. Advertisement December 27th, 2008 Israel launches a 22-day military offensive in Gaza after Palestinians fire rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. About 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis are reported killed before a ceasefire is agreed. November 14th, 2012 Advertisement Israel kills Hamas's military chief of staff, Ahmad Jabari. Eight days of Palestinian militant rocket fire and Israeli air strikes follow. July-August 2014 The kidnap and killing of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas leads to a seven-week war in which more than 2,100 Palestinians are reported killed in Gaza and 73 Israelis are reported dead, 67 of them military. March 2018 Palestinian protests begin at Gazas fenced border with Israel. Israeli troops open fire to keep protestors back. More than 170 Palestinians are reported killed in several months of protests, which also prompt fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces. Advertisement May 2021 After weeks of tension during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, hundreds of Palestinians are wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces at the Al Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, Islams third holiest site. After demanding Israel withdraw security forces from the compound, Hamas unleashes a barrage of rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel hits back with air strikes on Gaza. Fighting goes on for 11 days, killing at least 250 people in Gaza and 13 in Israel. August 2022 At least 44 people, including 15 children, are killed in three days of violence that begin when Israeli air strikes hit a senior Islamic Jihad commander. Israel says the strikes were a pre-emptive operation against an imminent attack by the Iranian-backed militant movement, targeting commanders and arms depots. In response, Islamic Jihad fires more than 1,000 rockets towards Israel. Israel's Iron Dome air defence system prevents any serious damage or casualties. Advertisement January 2023 Islamic Jihad in Gaza fires two rockets towards Israel after Israeli troops raid a refugee camp and kill seven Palestinian gunmen and two civilians. The rockets set off alarms in Israeli communities near the border but cause no casualties. Israel responds with air strikes on Gaza. October 2023 Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in years from the Gaza Strip, with a surprise assault combining gunmen crossing the border with a heavy barrage of rockets. Islamic Jihad says its fighters joined the attack. Israel declared war, adding it had carried out strikes targeting Hamas in Gaza and had called up reservists. By Friday, Israel had begun to carry out raids inside Gaza, its first announcement of a shift from an air war to ground operations to root out Hamas fighters. Some Gaza residents were abandoning homes to escape from the path of an Israeli onslaught, after Israel ordered more than a million people to leave the northern half of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. Hamas vowed to fight until the last drop of blood. The Israeli military said a significant number of Gazans had begun moving southwards "to save themselves". Israels military on Friday directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, within 24 hours, a UN spokespersonn said. The order, delivered to the UN, comes as Israel presses an offensive against Hamas militants. Advertisement UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the order impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences. This could signal an impending ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such an appeal. Advertisement Israels military also directed the hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza City to evacuate for their own safety and protection. The directive tells residents to flee deeper south into the Gaza Strip. Israels directive said that Hamas militants were hiding in tunnels under the city. Advertisement A UN official says that the United Nations are trying to get clarity from Israeli officials at the senior most political level. Advertisement Its completely unprecedented, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly. Panicked rumours of an evacuation had begun to spread in north Gaza, home to almost half the population of the territory early on Friday morning. A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas and where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 25 miles long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Advertisement Palestinians look through the rubble of buildings hit by an Israeli airstrike at Al Shati Refugee Camp (Hatem Moussa/ AP) Hamas assault on Saturday and smaller attacks since have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. Advertisement As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Advertisement Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. The number of people forced from their homes by Israels airstrikes soared 25 per cent in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the UN said on Thursday. Most crowded into UN-run schools. US secretary of state Antony Blinken (left) and Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after their statements to the media in Tel Aviv (Jacquelyn Martin/ AP) Earlier, the Israeli military pulverised the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and said on Thursday its complete siege of the territory would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during a grisly weekend incursion. A visit by US secretary of state Antony Blinken, along with shipments of US weapons, offered a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas deadly attack on civilians and soldiers, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel has halted deliveries of necessities and electricity to Gazas 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Israeli energy minister Israel Katz said on social media: Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single tap will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home. The Israeli military pulverized the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said on Thursday its complete siege of the territory would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during a grisly weekend incursion. A visit by US secretary of state Antony Blinken, along with shipments of US weapons, offered a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas deadly attack on civilians and soldiers, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Advertisement Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gazas 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single tap will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli energy minister Israel Katz said on social media. Advertisement Advertisement Lt Col Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters that forces are preparing for a ground manoeuvre should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas militants and where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 25 miles long, would be likely to bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Hamas assault on Saturday killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers, a toll unseen in Israel for decades, and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Advertisement Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. Advertisement Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Abraham Cohen at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem (Francisco Seco/AP) The relentless barrage on Gaza 6,000 munitions dropped since the conflict began, the military said left Palestinians running through streets with what belongings they could carry, looking for safety A strike on Thursday in the the Jabaliya refugee camp collapsed a residential building on families sheltering inside, killing at least 45 people, Gazas interior ministry said. Advertisement At least 23 of the dead were under the age of 18, including a month-old child, according to a list of the casualties. Advertisement Ministry spokesman Eyad Bozum said dozens were wounded, and the death toll was likely to rise as rescue workers pulled more bodies from the rubble. The home belonging to the al-Shihab family was packed with relatives who had fled bombing in other areas. Neighbours said a second house was hit at the same time, but the death toll was not known. Palestinians search for bodies and survivors in the rubble of a building levelled in an Israeli airstrike on Al Shati refugee camp (Fatima Shbair/AP) We cant flee because anywhere you go, you are bombed, one neighbour, Khalil Abu Yahia, said. You need a miracle to survive here. By Wednesday night, the number of people who fled their homes reached 340,000 people roughly 15% of Gazas population. Most crowded into UN-run schools while others stayed with relatives or even strangers. Families were cutting down to one meal a day, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al-Azhar University, who has 32 relatives sheltering in his home. Water stopped coming to the building two days ago, and they were rationing what is left in the tank on the roof. Alaa Younis Abuel-Omrain has been staying in a UN school after a strike on her home killed eight members of her family her mother, aunt, a sister, a brother and his wife and their three children. Advertisement Mourners at the funeral of Danielle Waldmann and her partner Noam Shai in Kiryat Tivon (Ariel Schalit/AP) She said food supplies were running out. Most bakeries stopped producing bread for lack of electricity. Even if there is food in some areas, we cant get to it because of strikes, she said. On Wednesday, Gazas only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators. Hospitals, overwhelmed by a constant stream of wounded and running out of supplies, have only a few days worth of fuel before their power cuts off, aid officials say. Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues, said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Newborn incubators, kidney dialysis machines, X-ray equipment and more are all dependent on power, he said. Bodies of the Abu Rayash family killed by Israeli shelling at Edwin Hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip (Hatem Ali/AP) Ambulance crews carrying bodies to the morgue at Gazas biggest hospital, Shifa, found no space left. Dozens of full body bags were lined up in the hospital parking lot. Fourteen health facilities have been damaged in strikes, health officials said Thursday. With Israel sealing off the territory, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah, but Egypts foreign ministry said Thursday that airstrikes on Rafah have prevented it from operating. Advertisement Egypt has been trying to convince Israel and the United States to allow aid and fuel through the crossing. Israel is employing a new tactic of levelling whole neighbourhoods, rather than just individual buildings. Hecht, the military spokesman, said targeting decisions were based on intelligence on locations being used by Hamas and that civilians were warned. ? , . . . Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) October 12, 2023 Right now, we are focused on taking out their senior leadership, he said. The military said strikes have hit Hamas elite Nukhba forces, including command centres used by the fighters in Saturdays attack, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative used to store weapons. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Mr Netanyahu said Hamas atrocities included beheading soldiers and raping women, descriptions that could not be independently confirmed. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. Four previous conflicts ended with Hamas still firmly in control of the territory it has ruled since 2007. Advertisement Palestinian children wounded in Israeli strikes cry outside a hospital in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip (Hatem Ali/AP) Israel has mobilised 360,000 reservists, massed additional forces near Gaza and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities. A new war Cabinet, which includes a long-time opposition politician, was sworn in on Thursday to direct the fight. A high-ranking Hamas official, Saleh Al-Arouri, warned Thursday that any Israeli invasion of Gaza will turn into a disaster for its army, saying the group was prepared to respond. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in a 1967 war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state, but there have been no peace talks in over a decade. The Palestinian health ministry says more than two dozen Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and two in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem since Saturday, most when police fired on stone-throwing protesters. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) called Friday for suspending a 2018 military tension reduction agreement with North Korea, claiming it weakens South Korea's surveillance capabilities and puts the country at risk of a Hamas-like attack. Rep. Yun Jae-ok, the PPP's floor leader, made the remark a day after Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum said during a parliamentary audit that South Korea's surveillance of the North is restricted due to no-fly zones set along the heavily fortified border under the deal. "Hamas succeeded in its surprise attack due to Israel's surveillance and reconnaissance gaps," Yun said during a party meeting. "There can hardly be any disagreement on the point that we should no longer leave the security vacuum and diplomatic restrictions caused by the Sept. 19 military agreement as they are." "Security concerns have escalated to a very dangerous level and we cannot help but consider suspending the Sept. 19 agreement in order to increase the safety and flexibility of our strategic response," he said. Though it is up to the government to decide whether to keep the agreement, the National Assembly should render support for the government's decision because it is a matter greatly affecting the country's security and diplomacy, he said. The 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, also known as the September 19 agreement, calls for the setting up of buffer zones along land and maritime borders and creating no-fly zones to reduce military tension between the two Koreas. Newly appointed Defense Minister Shin Won-sik has called strongly for scrapping or suspending the deal, arguing that it greatly undermines South Korea's security and that the North has repeatedly violated the agreement. The Democratic Party of Korea, however, has argued the agreement helps maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, saying that a suspension is a dangerous act that could provoke North Korea to launch more threats against Seoul. (Yonhap) Israel's government showed US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Nato defence ministers graphic images of dead children and civilians on Thursday, saying they were killed by Palestinian group Hamas as it builds support for its response. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also released on social media a picture of a dead infant in a pool of blood and the charred body of a child, part of an apparent effort to stoke global anger against the Gaza militants over Saturday's attack. Advertisement Mr Blinken, who flew into Tel Aviv earlier on Thursday, told reporters he was shown photographs and videos of a baby riddled with bullets, soldiers beheaded and young people burned alive in their cars or hideaways. "It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way," Mr Blinken told a news briefing. "Images are worth a thousand words. These images may be worth a million." Advertisement Mr Netanyahu has vowed to annihilate Hamas following its attack on Israel on Saturday which killed more than 1,300 people. The Israeli airforce has launched intense bombing raids on Gaza over the past five days and is massing tens of thousands of troops along the border ahead of a possible ground invasion. Advertisement In Israel, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the country's military chief, said on Thursday: "Now is the time for war." Authorities in Gaza said more than 1,400 Palestinians, mainly civilians, including children, have already been killed and more than 6,000 wounded. A land invasion in the densely populated territory could send the toll much higher. Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant played a video to his counterparts at Nato's Brussels headquarters that he said showed horrific scenes from the surprise Hamas attack. "Children were tied up and shot. Yes, I repeat, children, tied up and shot," he told fellow ministers by video link according to a text of his address sent to Reuters. Advertisement 'Horrific pictures' In a message on the social media site X, Mr Netanyahu's office released what it said were "horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters". It added: "Hamas is inhuman. Hamas is ISIS," comparing the Palestinian group to Islamic State, which was notorious for its brutality and gory execution videos. Advertisement The images of the dead infants were included in the video played to Nato. It was not released to the public, but was later seen by Reuters in Jerusalem. Reuters could not independently verify the material. "They were horrific pictures of the attacks and the victims of the attacks," Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, saying it "confirmed the brutality of the attacks". Advertisement In quotes published by Hamas, deputy Hamas chief, Saleh Al-Arouri, said: "The plan was to target the army's Gaza team and fight occupation soldiers only." But the White House said it had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the images. Authenticated video footage and witness accounts paint a picture of a Hamas ground assault and rocket barrages that ripped communities apart. The video shown to Nato, apparently taken from a mix of social media posts published by Hamas and unidentified phone videos, showed the bodies of scores of dead civilians, as well as the body of an Israeli soldier in uniform with his head missing. There were no images to suggest militants had beheaded babies, a particularly explosive accusation that first emerged in Israel's media and initially confirmed by Israeli officials. Advertisement US president Joe Biden had suggested on Wednesday that he had seen images of children beheaded by militants. The White House later clarified that US officials had not seen any evidence of this. Mr Netanyahu has not repeated a claim by his office earlier this week that Hamas had cut off the heads of children, nor did Mr Gallant repeat that accusation to Nato ministers. But medics, international human rights organisations and journalists have documented that militants killed women, children and the elderly, as well as young men and soldiers in their rampage. Foreign reporters shown sites targeted by Hamas witnessed ruins of burnt-out houses and streets scattered with dead residents and militants. Nato officials said they did not expect the alliance to be directly involved in the conflict. But multiple Nato states, above all the United States, have offered Israel military aid. US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said after the Nato meeting on Thursday that Washington was not placing any conditions on its security assistance to Israel and expected Israel's professional military to "do the right things". -Reuters In Muslim communities across the world, worshippers gathered at mosques for their first Friday prayers since Hamas militants attacked Israel, igniting the latest Israel-Palestinian war. In the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, a cleric at the pro-Taliban Red Mosque pleaded with God to send special help to the Palestinians. Advertisement Oh Allah destroy Israel! Break it apart into pieces, urged Abdul Aziz in an emotional sermon in a packed mosque, where around 900 worshippers congregated. Muslims pray for the safety of the Palestinian people during a Friday prayer at Bajrakli Mosque in Belgrade, Serbia (AP) The mosque has links to the Pakistani Taliban and is known for backing calls to help the Afghan Taliban across the border. Advertisement In July 2007, government forces laid siege to the mosque in a deadly military crackdown that killed at least 100 people. Advertisement In his special prayers and sermon, the cleric asked God to help all those who wanted to join the jihad, or holy war, in the Palestinian territories. Oh Allah make it easy for them to reach there, and bless us with the death of a martyr, he declared, his voice reverberating through loudspeakers. Similar sermons were held at mosques throughout the country, including the major urban centres of Karachi and Lahore. Radical Islamist parties held anti-Israel rallies after Friday prayers. Advertisement Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel because of the issue of Palestinian statehood. Kashmiris pray for Palestinians killed in Israels military operations in Gaza, inside a mosque in Budgham, north-east of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir (AP) In a sermon broadcast on Egyptian television, the speaker, Ayman Abou Omar, stressed the importance of being aware of the value of the homeland and maintaining security, especially during what he described as such a critical time. Advertisement The dangers are great, the challenges grave, he said, urging Egyptians to unite behind their state, leadership and army. Without security, there is no state, he said. He prayed for Egyptians, their army and president, and asked God to help the Palestinians and aid them in preserving their land. Advertisement Protesters hold a Palestinian flag reading Al-Aqsa flood in Arabic, as they leave Friday prayers at Azhar mosque, the Sunni Muslim worlds premier Islamic institution, in Cairo (AP) Advertisement Egypt, which made peace with Israel decades ago and has long served as a regional mediator, is staunchly opposed to resettling Palestinians on its territory, both because of the costs involved and because it would undermine their quest for an independent state. Cairo has taken unprecedented measures to reinforce its border with Gaza and prevent any breaches, a senior Egyptian security official has said. In Indonesia, mosques asked for Gods help to end the conflict quickly, and held another prayer for the absent. A cleric at one of Jakartas most conservative mosques called for mobilising efforts to help Palestinian Muslims. Sri Lankans participate in a protest against Israeli air strikes on Gaza and to show solidarity with Palestinian people (AP) In Malaysia, some 1,000 Muslims gathered in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, after Friday prayers to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Chanting Free Palestine and Crush the Zionists, they burned two effigies draped with Israeli flags. This Israeli-Palestinian issue is more than a religious issue, its a humanitarian issue, said Yasmin Hadi Abdul Halim, a student. Advertisement Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 98, was among those attending the event. Seventy-five years ago, they took away Palestinian land to establish Israel. Not satisfied, they continued to take more land, Mr Mahatjir said. Muslims around the world showed solidarity with the Palestinian people and prayed for an end to war (AP) Its not just about seizing land. The people of Palestine are subjected to torture, murder, imprisonment, and long detentions. Hamas did what they did due to decades of oppression (by Israel). Dozens more people attended a smaller rally outside the US Embassy that shut its doors to visitors as a security precaution. The rallies ended peacefully. Islamic leaders in Indonesia appealed to all mosques in the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation to pray for peace and safety for the Palestinian people. The chairperson of the Indonesian Mosque Council had urged all mosques to perform the Qunut Nazilahto prayer, one made for protection, to ask for Gods help so that the conflict in the Gaza Strip would end quickly. The appeal from the nations former vice president Jusuf Kalla is in line with most Indonesian Muslims, who stand with Palestinians. The prayer was held along with the Salat Al-Ghaib, or prayer for the absent. Advertisement A demonstration in Islamabad showed solidarity with the Palestinian people (AP) In a sermon at Abu Bakar Al Shidiq, one of the most conservative mosques in Jakarta, a cleric called for mobilising our power and efforts to help the Muslims in Palestine. Prayer is a weapon for devout Muslims, he added, for those of us who have not been given the opportunity by God to take up arms to defend the honour and religion of our Muslims brothers, then we can take up our weapons by raising our hands asking God for His blessings. More than 200 people also rallied in front of the National Monument in Indonesias capital on Friday, waving banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinians. Terrorism must not prevail in Ukraine or Israel, British prime minister Rishi Sunak has told a summit of northern European nations in Sweden. Mr Sunak is on the Baltic island of Gotland for a UK-led defence grouping, where the war in Ukraine and the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza will top the agenda. Advertisement The 10-strong Joint Expeditionary Force gathering had been expected to see the leaders focus on the threat from Russia as the war in Ukraine heads into another winter. The invasion has focused minds in northern Europe about the threat posed by Russian president Vladimir Putin, with a fresh emphasis placed on security co-operation in the region. British prime minister Rishi Sunak (back left) during a plenary session at the summit (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Advertisement While security and support for Ukraine is still set to dominate discussions, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressing leaders on Friday, the conflict raging in the Middle East has overshadowed the meeting. Advertisement Mr Sunak, who spent Thursday night aboard a Royal Navy frigate in Gotland, opened his address to fellow leaders with a pledge to support both Ukraine and Israel. I think its important for us to say that were all outraged by the terrorist attacks that have happened in Israel. As you will all agree that we will stand with Israel at this moment. Ive offered Prime Minister Netanyahu my full support. Advertisement Terrorism will not, must not, prevail, in Ukraine, in Europe, in anywhere else. Rishi Sunak welcomes Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson on board HMS Diamond (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Ahead of the summit, Mr Sunak met with Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson aboard HMS Diamond, something the British leader described as a symbol of the co-operation between the two countries. Advertisement The two men will sign a new strategic partnership agreement as part of the gathering. Downing Street said the pair discussed shared European challenges such as energy security and illegal migration, while also agreeing on the need to keep backing Kyiv as the war continues. Mr Sunak described the Joint Expeditionary Force as the first line of defence, as he praised progress on defence co-operation. Weve done more in the last 18 months than weve done in almost a decade before, he said. I think that speaks to the energy which we put into this gathering but also the urgency that the situation demands. Advertisement Advertisement Ahead of his arrival in Sweden, Mr Sunak confirmed the UK will send Royal Navy vessels and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel. Mr Sunak said the deployment will support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation. Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched an attack inside Israel over the weekend, killing hundreds and taking others hostage. Its unprecedented breach of the border sent fighters inside border communities and military installations, shocked Israel and its allies, and raised questions about the groups capabilities and strategy. Advertisement An Israeli soldier outside a police station that was overrun by Hamas militants on Saturday (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/PA) What is Hamas? The group was founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian refugee living in Gaza, during the first intifada, or uprising, which was marked by widespread protests against Israels occupation. Hamas is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, and a recognition of the groups roots and early ties to one of the Sunni worlds most prominent groups, the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in the 1920s. The group has vowed to annihilate Israel and has been responsible for many suicide bombings and other deadly attacks on civilians and Israeli soldiers. Advertisement Advertisement The US State Department has designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1997. The European Union and other Western countries also consider it a terrorist organisation. Palestinians take part in a rally marking the 31st anniversary of Hamas founding, in Gaza City (Alamy/PA) Hamas won 2006 parliamentary elections elections and in 2007 violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority. Advertisement The Palestinian Authority, dominated by rival Fatah movement, administers semi-autonomous areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel responded to the Hamas takeover with a blockade on Gaza, restricting movement of people and goods in and out of the territory in a step it says is needed to keep the group from developing weapons. The blockade has ravaged Gazas economy, and Palestinians accuse Israel of collective punishment. Over the years, Hamas received backing from Arab countries, such as Qatar and Turkey. Recently, it has moved closer to Iran and its allies. Who are Hamas leaders? Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Yassin a paralysed man who used a wheelchair spent years in Israeli prisons and oversaw the establishment of Hamas military wing, which carried out its first suicide attack in 1993. Advertisement Israeli forces have targeted Hamas leaders throughout the years, killing Sheikh Yassin in 2004. Khaled Mashaal, an exiled Hamas member who survived an earlier Israeli assassination attempt, became the groups leader soon after. Advertisement Yehia Sinwar, in Gaza, and Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in exile, are Hamas current leaders. They realigned the groups leadership with Iran and its allies, including Lebanons Hezbollah. Since then, many of the groups leaders relocated to Beirut. What does Hamas want? Hamas has always espoused violence as a means to liberate occupied Palestinian territories and has called for the annihilation of Israel. Advertisement Hamas has carried out suicide bombings and over the years fired tens of thousands of increasingly powerful rockets from Gaza into Israel. It also established a network of tunnels running from Gaza to Egypt to smuggle in weapons, as well as attack tunnels burrowing into Israel. In recent years, Hamas had appeared to be more focused on running Gaza than attacking Israel. Israels new far-right government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is working to cement Israeli settlements in the West Bank despite Palestinian opposition (Chaim Goldberg/Pool Photo via AP/AP) Why now? In recent years, Israel has made peace deals with Arab countries without having to make concessions in its conflict with the Palestinians. The US has recently been trying to broker a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a bitter rival of Hamas Iranian backers. Meanwhile, Israels new far-right government was working to cement Israeli settlements in the West Bank despite Palestinian opposition. Hamas leaders say an Israeli crackdown on militants in the West Bank, continued construction of settlements which the international community considers to be illegal thousands of prisoners in Israeli jails, and its ongoing blockade of Gaza pushed it to attack. Its leaders say hundreds of its 40,000 fighters took part in the assault. Israel says the group has about 30,000 fighters and an arsenal of rockets, including some with a range of about 250km (155 miles), and unmanned drones. Farmer Kaleb Cooper says he and Jeremy Clarkson are actually very similar, except hes not as useless as the former Top Gear presenter. This kind of good-natured drubbing is what fans of the Prime Video series Clarksons Farm are used to seeing. Cooper is the breakout star of the documentary, which follows the workings of Clarksons 1,000-acre farm in the Cotswolds. Advertisement Annoyingly, I think were very similar in a weird way, Cooper, 25, admits. I mean, Im not that useless. Im quite good with my hands unlike him. Cooper who was born and raised in Chipping Norton is currently filming series three of the popular show, where he continues to give no-nonsense advice to farming newbie Clarkson. Kaleb Cooper hopes to promote the farming industry to younger generations (Plank PR/PA) Advertisement Hes keen to stress hes not an actor, adding: Our chemistry is completely natural. Were really good friends, apart from the arguing we may stop talking to each other for a day or two after our argument, but thats completely normal, were used to that. Eventually, we come together and have a cup of tea and were fine again, we keep talking about farming. Advertisement Cooper is still very much a working farmer he chats on a video call hunched behind a hedge, having just hopped off his tractor, saying: I do apologise if youre going to hear beeping or tractors or anything like that, but Im literally in a field. He might still be farming, but his life has changed dramatically since the first season debuted in 2021. Hes written two books, had two children and is set to embark on a theatre tour of the UK in 2024. Becoming a writer was a particular surprise for Cooper, who admits hes only ever read three books two of his own and one of Clarksons. Advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jeremy Clarkson (@jeremyclarkson1) Advertisement Books are becoming part of my life now and actually, theyre quite interesting, he says in mock disbelief. You can learn quite a lot about a book you can get wrapped into one. The only problem is when Im on a tractor and reading a book and Im being loaded, for example, and the loader drivers beep at me because Im not moving anywhere. They get very angry when I get hooked in a book. Its not good. Advertisement Advertisement Coopers second book, Britain According To Kaleb: The Wonderful World of Country Life, explores some of the weirdest traditions from around Britain including cheese rolling in Gloucestershire and the wife-carrying race from Surrey. Theres a thing called gravy wrestling, who would want to do gravy wrestling? I mean, you get gravy in places where it shouldnt be it should be illegal, that should, Cooper says with a good-natured grin. Despite his reservations, he absolutely would try gravy wrestling himself: I just dont know about the cleaning up after, thats what worries me. No one wants to picture that. Its a tour around the rural Britain in book form, from someone whos well-known for not wanting to leave Chipping Norton. Hes previously said he got a nosebleed when he travelled to Stow-on-the-Wold 18 miles way from his hometown and doesnt hold back on his hatred of London. But writing books has started to pique his interest in travel. I started Googling places and I was like, Im missing out on so much on the different stuff thats going [on] around the world, he says. I havent got a passport, Ive never been on a train, Ive never been on a boat Ive been on a helicopter now, [but] Ive never been on an airplane. Advertisement Researching places around Britain for his second book opened his eyes: Scotland I discovered Scotland! What a beautiful place over the internet. Id love to go there. Hell explore more of the country in his upcoming theatre tour even if it means he has to visit dreaded London. Just dont expect him to pack up and move to the Big Smoke any time soon. Hopefully one day, my little boy and my little girl [will] want to go into farming, but I want them to know if they become an accountant or lawyer [and] they want to go to London they can come and visit me. Im not going there. Regardless of the opportunities coming Coopers way, he always wants to promote the farming industry and encourage younger people to get into it. A particular moment that sticks in his head was World Book Day last year. I had so many parents take pictures of their kids dressed up as me, and the younger generation going: Im going to be a farmer when Im older, I was like, well, Ive made it. Ive done it, hold my hands up. Im not from a farming background myself and I thought if I can help a younger generation get started, thats what Ive been put on this planet for. Advertisement The phrase continuously stuck in Coopers head is: Dreams dont work unless you do. He says: Im doing all this work and I have a dream in my head I want to own my own farm I started my business at 13, when I was 16 years old I had become my own boss. At 17 I wanted to have more tractors I did that. At 18, I wanted to have a team of people working with me, employ people I did that. Now my main goal is to own my own farm. (Quercus/PA) Britain According To Kaleb: The Wonderful World Of Country Life is published in hardback by Quercus. Available now. The UK government was described by the head of the civil service as looking like a terrible, tragic joke, while Boris Johnsons now-wife was the real person in charge, in WhatsApp messages shown at the Covid inquiry. Simon Case, who was appointed in September 2020 having been permanent secretary in Number 10 before then, wrote that he was not sure I can cope amid apparent frustration at how the pandemic was being handled in government. Advertisement The messages were briefly flashed up on screen during Fridays hearing of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry in London, as a letter to the inquiry from then-PM Mr Johnsons adviser Dominic Cummings was shown and discussed. A message by the head of the civil service Simon Case read the real person in charge is Carrie Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA. The hearing is part of module two which focuses on core UK decision-making and political governance. Advertisement The letter contained an email dated July 13th 2020 which Mr Cummings said was on the problems of the No 10/CabOff (Cabinet Office) set up that is relevant to the inquiry. Advertisement Mr Cummings said it was copied to the PM but he never engaged seriously. The WhatsApp messages appeared on-screen above the email and are understood to have been from October 14th 2020. Mr Case wrote: Am not sure I can cope with today. Advertisement Might just go home. Matt just called, having spoken to PM. According to Matt (so aim off, obvs), PM has asked Matt to work up regional circuit breakers for the North (as per Northern Ireland) today and to bring recommendations. I am going to scream Lee Cain, who was Mr Johnsons director of communications until November 2020, replied: Wtf are we talking about. Mr Case, in an apparent reference to Mr Johnsons then-partner and now wife, Carrie Johnson, replied: Whatever Carrie cares about, I guess. Case wrote: I was always told that Dom (Dominic Cummings) was the secret PM. How wrong they are. I look forward to telling select cttee tomorrow oh, f*** no, dont worry about Dom, the real person in charge is Carrie. Advertisement Further down the messages, Mr Case wrote: This govt doesnt have the credibility needed to be imposing stuff within only days of deciding not too (sic). We look like a terrible, tragic joke. If we were going hard, that decision was needed weeks ago. I cannot cope with this. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said on Friday that he has opened a bank account with Lloyds after falling out with his former bank Coutts. The politician said that he had been refused banking facilities by 10 other banks before finding a new home with Lloyds. Advertisement After being refused banking facilities by ten other banks, my banking issues are now over, Mr Farage said in a statement posted on social media. After being refused banking facilities by ten lenders, I am now pleased to say that @LloydsBank has opened accounts for me. pic.twitter.com/UMKbTHnTam Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 13, 2023 Advertisement I am pleased to say that Lloyds bank (sic) have opened business and personal accounts for me. He added: It is good to see that at least one high street bank in this country is not politically prejudiced. Advertisement Advertisement I will continue to go on fighting for the millions who have been treated so badly by the big banks. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said Coutts had moved to close his bank account (Gareth Fuller/PA) Earlier this year Mr Farage was told that Coutts Bank, which is part of NatWest Group, was planning to shut his account. Advertisement In an internal report about Mr Farage the bank had said that its relationship with him would come to an end when he paid off his mortgage. As a customer, Mr Farage had been below commercial criteria for some time, the report said. It also mentioned potential reputational risks of being associated with the politician. It is a story which claimed the job of NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose who left after it was revealed she had anonymously briefed a journalist about Mr Farages situation after he had gone public and directed anger at the bank. Advertisement It also sparked a review by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. Initial findings suggest there is no evidence that people have had their bank accounts closed because of their political beliefs. The review did not include Mr Farage as his account with Coutts had not been closed. North Korea has lashed out at the arrival of a US aircraft carrier battle group in South Korea, calling it a provocation and again raising the spectre of using nuclear weapons to defend itself. Emboldened by its advancing nuclear arsenal, North Korea has increasingly issued threats to use such weapons pre-emptively. Advertisement But the North is still outgunned by US and South Korean forces, and experts say it is unlikely to use its nuclear weapons first, though it will continue to upgrade those arms without returning to diplomacy for the time being. The Norths latest nuclear threat came a day after the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived at South Koreas south-eastern port of Busan, following a US-South Korean-Japanese naval exercise in international waters earlier this week. Advertisement South Korean defence officials said the carrier will be docked at Busan for five days as part of an agreement to increase the temporary deployments of powerful US military assets in response to the Norths growing nuclear programme. On Friday, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency called the aircraft carriers arrival an undisguised military provocation that proves a US plan to attack North Korea is being realised. Advertisement It threatened to respond in line with its escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorises the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier had been taking part in exercises (Kang Duck-chul/Yonhap via AP) The (North Korean) doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons already opened to public allows the execution of necessary action procedures in case a nuclear attack is launched against it or it is judged that the use of nuclear weapons against it is imminent, the KCNA dispatch said. Advertisement North Koreas most powerful and rapid first strike will be given to the extended deterrence means, used by the US to hallucinate its followers, and the bases of evil in the Korean peninsula and its vicinity, KCNA added. North Korea has argued it was forced to develop nuclear weapons to cope with what it calls the US and South Korean plots to invade. It has often made furious responses to the deployment of US strategic assets like aircraft carriers, long-range bombers and nuclear-powered submarines as well as US joint training exercises with South Korean forces. Advertisement Many experts say North Korea heightens tensions with its rivals to provide a pretext for expanding its nuclear arsenal and then uses the arms as leverage to wrest greater outside concessions. Since last year, North Korea has conducted more than 100 missile tests in the name of responding to the expanded US-South Korean military drills. Washington and Seoul say their drills are defensive in nature. Advertisement Last year, North Korea adopted a law that stipulates a broad range of situations in which it can use nuclear weapons, including when it determines that its leadership faces imminent attack by hostile forces or when it needs to prevent an unspecified catastrophic crisis to its people and government. The US and South Korean governments have repeatedly warned that any attempt by North Korea to use nuclear weapons would result in the end of the Norths government led by Kim Jong Un. Pest control firms in London have reported being inundated with calls about bedbugs and warned that the spread of the blood-sucking insects is out of control. Tony King, owner of Pied Piper Pest Control, said they had been found in offices and cars, as well as homes. Advertisement Weve been inundated with calls about bedbugs weve been flat out for at least the last eight or nine months with them, he said. He added that there was a bedbug epidemic in West London, with flats in Victorian houses being a particular source of cases. Mr King said he believed the increase was down to international travel opening up following the pandemic. He added that another problem was that a lot of people have got bedbugs and are not reporting them. Advertisement Advertisement David Cain, founder of Bed Bugs Limited, said there had been exponential growth in bedbug cases over the last 20 years and that they are now out of control. The problem is worse now than its been since probably the 1930s and 1940s. He said the number of bedbug cases he dealt with had increased from around four to five a week in 2007 to 15 to 20 this year. Theyre not just in peoples beds: theyre on public transport, in doctors surgeries, cinemas, restaurants all over the place. Advertisement Mr Cain described reports of a bedbug infestation in Paris driving an increase in London as a red herring created by social media. People are still encountering bedbugs in virtually every major city in the world. Theyre just not hashtagging them like in Paris. David Cain says that bedbugs are being encountered in virtually every major city in the world (Andrew Nuss/Purdue University) Advertisement Dr Richard Naylor, director at the Bed Bug Foundation, said a search for alternative methods to control bedbugs was underway as theres a real problem with insecticide resistance. However, he added that there was very little evidence of them transmitting disease. Its been shown theoretically in some lab studies that theres a few things that they can transmit, but it almost never happens. Advertisement The key thing with bedbugs is the mental health impacts which can be really severe. As people who get bedbugs tend to have a lot of shame about it. Advertisement Dr Naylor, who completed a PhD in bedbug ecology at the University of Sheffield, added that this can lead to people becoming very isolated and sleep deprived. He said a good way of avoiding bedbugs is to keep bags off the bed and away from the bed when visiting hotels and hospitals. Transport for London (TfL) said it is not aware of any confirmed sightings of bedbugs on Londons transport network. A TfL spokesperson said: We are not aware of any confirmed sightings of bedbugs on the transport network in London, but we are not complacent and we continue to closely monitor our network and take all possible precautionary measures. They added that cleaning teams working on TfL services are briefed on how to effectively identify any bedbugs and immediately report back if they were to be found. A spokesperson for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said the council had not seen any noticeable upturns in bedbug treatment requests but added that it was not the only place for people to call as private pest control companies also operate in the borough. Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a summit on Friday of a Moscow-dominated alliance of several ex-Soviet nations and commended the growing co-operation between them despite Western sanctions against Russia. Mr Putin met in Kyrgyzstans capital, Bishkek, with the leaders of most fellow members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Advertisement He told reporters that economic exchanges between Russia and the alliances other nations have increased despite Western threats to punish them for maintaining ties with Moscow. He specifically hailed a new deal on joint air defences with Kyrgyzstan, saying it would help further bolster military ties. Kyrgyzstan, a member of a Moscow-led security pact, already hosts a Russian air base. Leaders pose for a family photo during a welcome ceremony of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP/PA) Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, Mr Putin sought to downplay Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans failure to attend the summit in Bishkek. He noted that Mr Pashinyan has a lot on his plate after Azerbaijan reclaimed control last month of Nagorno-Karabakh, sparking a mass exodus of the breakaway regions ethnic Armenian population. Mr Pashinyan has accused Russian peacekeepers in the region of failing to prevent the hostilities, criticism that added to widening tensions with Moscow. Russia has also been irked by Armenias move to recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court after it indicted Mr Putin in March for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine. While the indictment would oblige any country that is party to the court to arrest him on their soil, Armenian officials have argued that the move was not aimed against Russia and offered to sign a bilateral agreement that would assuage Moscows concern. Advertisement In a statement that appeared to indicate a desire to mend fences, Mr Putin said he has Mr Pashinyans invitation to visit Armenia and might do so later. From left, Kazakhstans President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Tajikistans President Emomali Rahmon walk to attend the session of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) meeting in Kyrgyzstan (Vladimir Voronin/AP/PA) Advertisement Addressing the participants of the summit in Bishkek, Mr Putin emphasised that it is important to work together, together with like-minded people from other regions of the world with the countries of the so-called world majority, the Global South, whose views are very close to us. Advertisement The Russian leader also commented on the Israel-Hamas war. Mr Putin argued that Israel has the right to defend itself after an attack by Hamas that was unprecedented not only in its scale, but also its cruelty. Israel certainly has the right to ensure its security, he said. At the same time, Mr Putin said it was unacceptable for the Israeli military onslaught on Gaza to make all of its residents suffer, including women and children. He stressed that Russia has longtime ties with both Israel and the Palestinians and could help negotiate a settlement. Advertisement Asked about unconfirmed allegations that some Western weapons supplied to Ukraine ended up in the hands of Hamas militants, Mr Putin said he would not be surprised if some weapons from Ukraine were sold on the black market but that he did not think it would happen with the knowledge of Ukrainian officials. I dont have any doubt that there have been arms leaks from Ukraine, Mr Putin said, without providing details. I certainly have no sympathy for the current leadership of Ukraine, but I doubt that its being done on the level of Ukrainian leadership. Steve Scalise withdrawing from U.S. House speaker race amid intraparty division Xinhua) 13:29, October 13, 2023 WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced Thursday that he is withdrawing from the House speaker race after failing to garner enough support from the House Republicans. "I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee," Scalise said. "If you look at where our conference is, there's still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together, and it's not there," said Scalise, adding that "there are still some people that have their own agendas." On Wednesday, Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, won the speaker nomination in a 113-99 vote over Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. A win of only 14 votes by Scalise indicated the deep divisions among House Republicans. The Louisiana Republican's latest decision will throw the party into more chaos, as it struggles to find someone who would reach the required simple majority threshold in the chamber to elect a speaker, with a slim 221-212 Republican majority. A number of House Republicans have already said they won't back Scalise in a vote of the full chamber, including those who support Jordan, the right-wing Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and those who are loyal allies of Kevin McCarthy, who was unprecedentedly booted out of his position last week. McCarthy's ouster revealed the growing differences between the conservatives and moderates within the Republican party, which has caused turmoil and essentially paralyzed the House. "The unsettled situation reflected deep rifts in the GOP that could prolong the race and lead to a drawn-out fight on the House floor," said an article recently published by The New York Times. "Until a speaker is elected there's not going to be anything meaningful happening in the House, and the clock is ticking on the 45 days the government will stay open," Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, has told Xinhua. The House is also under pressure to take action following the escalated Palestinian-Israeli conflict. With no leader in sight, none of the legislation can move forward, leaving Congress in limbo. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) A Seoul court on Friday sentenced a man in his 70s to 20 years in prison for killing a woman, whom he had been stalking for a month, at a temple after she refused to go out with him. The 72-year-old was indicted for hitting the woman, 65, in the head multiple times with a blunt object, then stabbing her in the stomach, causing her death in Haklim Temple on a mountain in northern Seoul on March 31. The man committed the crime in a fit of anger after the woman, to whom he expressed one-sided affection during a monthlong period of stalking her at the temple, gave him the cold shoulder and said, "Leave me alone." The Seoul Northern District Court handed down the 20-year prison sentence to the man, finding him guilty of murder, destruction of property and stalking. The court also ordered him to wear an electronic tracking device for 10 years and undergo 40 hours of stalking treatment. The man had conceded to killing the victim but denied the allegations that he had stalked her. The victim's family plans to appeal the decision to a higher court, citing insufficient punishment. (Yonhap) Russian authorities have searched the homes of three lawyers representing imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny and detained one of them, the politicians allies said. The move against his lawyers is an attempt to completely isolate Navalny, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said on social media. Advertisement Navalny has been behind bars since January 2021, serving a 19-year prison sentence, but has been able to get messages out regularly and keep up with the news. The raids targeting Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser are part of a criminal case on charges of participating in an extremist group, Mr Zhdanov said. Navalny and his lawyers Alexander Fedulov, left, Olga Mikhailova, right, and Vadim Kobzev, second right during a recent hearing (AP) Advertisement All three were detained after the search, apparently as suspects in the case, Navalnys team said on Telegram. According to Leonid Volkov, Navalnys chief of staff, the case against the lawyers comes at a time when the opposition leader is set to be transferred to a different penal colony, unclear where. Advertisement Mr Volkov, who is living abroad, called it a scary step. For many political prisoners in Russia, regular visits from lawyers especially in remote regions are a lifeline that allows them to keep in touch with loved ones and supporters, as well as reporting and pushing back against abuse by prison officials. Advertisement Navalny (47) is a long-standing critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, campaigning against official corruption and organising major anti-Kremlin protests. His 2021 arrest came upon his return to Moscow from Germany where he recuperated from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Navalny has been jailed on a number of charges which he claims were politically motivated (Babuskinsky District Court/AP) Advertisement He has since been handed three prison terms, most recently on charges of extremism. Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation and a vast network of regional offices were outlawed that same year as extremist groups, a step that exposed anyone involved with them to prosecution. He has previously rejected all the charges against him as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to keep him behind bars for life. Kobzev was due in court Friday, along with Navalny, for a hearing on two lawsuits the opposition leader had filed against the penal colony where he is being held. Advertisement Navalny said at the hearing, which was later adjourned until November, that the case against his lawyers is indicative of the state of rule of law in Russia. Just like in Soviet times, not only political activists are being prosecuted and turned into political prisoners, but their lawyers, too, he said. Seven people have been killed and 16 others were injured after a vehicle trying to evade a police check in southern Germany left a major road at high speed and crashed, authorities said. The overcrowded vehicle appeared to be carrying migrants. Advertisement The incident happened near Muehldorf, east of Munich, on the A94 road, which leads to the Austrian border. The vehicle left the road and overturned. Police said on X that initial investigations showed that it was a suspected smuggler vehicle with more than 20 people on board. Police attendants stand by an overturned vehicle on highway A94 near Muehldorf (dpa via AP) Advertisement They said prosecutors had opened a homicide investigation. Bavarias top security official, state interior minister Joachim Herrmann, said that the dead included a young child and that 16 people were injured, some of them seriously. The inhuman behaviour of the smuggler, who was injured in the accident and wanted to evade being stopped by the federal police just to save his own skin, makes one speechless, Mr Herrmann said. Advertisement All of those on board were at least slightly injured and some were seriously injured, German news agency dpa reported. They were taken to nearby hospitals. Advertisement The people packed into the vehicle included children. It was not immediately clear where they came from. Germany has seen large numbers of migrants arriving in recent months. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has arrived in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to meet with senior government leaders and see first-hand some of the US weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel in the first week of its war with the militant Hamas group. Mr Austin is the second high-level US official to visit Israel in two days. Advertisement His quick trip from Brussels, where he was attending a Nato defence ministers meeting, comes a day after US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in the region on Thursday. Mr Austin said the US stands with Benjamin Netanyahu (AP) Mr Austin met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spent nearly two hours with Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Israeli war cabinet. Advertisement Speaking in front reporters before his meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Austin told Mr Netanyahu: As the president said, we have your back. Advertisement He added: We do stand with you, Mr Prime Minister. Asked about the likelihood of civilian casualties in Gaza, Mr Austin said Israel has the right to defend itself and added that he has worked with Israeli forces over the years, when he was in the military. They are professional, they are disciplined and they are focused on the right things, he told reporters. Advertisement Mr Gallant did not answer a question about whether his forces will give civilians just 24 hours to leave Gaza. But he said those who want to save their lives must go south. Israel never and ever will not shoot civilians on purpose. Never, Mr Gallant said. But he added that Hamas militants will camouflage themselves with the population and Israel will have to separate them. Mr Austin also made the point that this is a time for resolve, and not revenge, for purpose and not panic, and for security, and not surrender. Mr Blinken is continuing frantic diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict. Advertisement His arrival comes as Israels military directed hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza City to evacuate for their own safety and protection, ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Advertisement Gaza Update: 220,000 people sheltering in 92 @UNRWA schools 340,000 displaced Palestinians With no access to provide essential supplies, UN humanitarians warn that Gaza is on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity & critical supplies. https://t.co/PqFxuGi1K0 pic.twitter.com/XjGhau7bZA United Nations (@UN) October 12, 2023 Advertisement Gazas Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm against Israel. Defence officials travelling with Mr Austin said he wants to underline Americas unwavering support for the people of Israel and that the United States is committed to making sure the country has what it needs to defend itself. A senior defence official said the US has already given Israel small diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome system, and more will be delivered. Other munitions are expected to arrive on Friday. Mr Austin has spoken almost every day with Mr Gallant, and directed the rapid shift of US ships, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and the region. Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the US moved warships and aircraft to the region. The USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier strike group is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing on Friday from Virginia, also heading to the region. Advertisement US secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Tel Aviv for talks (AP) Mr Austin declined to say if the US is carrying out surveillance flights in the region, but America is providing intelligence and other planning assistance to the Israelis, including advice on the hostage situation. A day after visiting Israel to offer the Biden administrations diplomatic support in person, Mr Blinken is in Jordan on Friday for talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has a home in the Jordanian capital of Amman. The monarch rules over a country with a large Palestinian population and has a vested interest in their status while Mr Abbas runs the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank. Later Friday, Mr Blinken is to fly to Doha for meetings with Qatari officials who have close contact with the Hamas leadership and have been exploring an exchange of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for the release of dozens of Israelis and foreigners taken hostage by Hamas during the unprecedented incursion of the militants into southern Israel last weekend. Mr Blinken will make a brief stop in Bahrain and end the day in Saudi Arabia, a key player in the Arab world that has been considering normalising ties with Israel, a US-mediated process that is now on hold. He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend. The White House said on Friday that North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine. Speculation about a possible North Korean plan to refill Russias munition stores drained in its protracted war with Ukraine flared last month, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites. Advertisement White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US believes Kim is seeking sophisticated Russian weapons technologies in return for the munitions to boost North Koreas nuclear programme. The White House released images that it said show the containers were loaded onto a Russian-flagged ship before being moved by train to southwestern Russia. The containers were shipped between September 7 and October 1 between Najin, North Korea, and Dunay, Russia, according to the White House. Advertisement The Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, last week published satellite photos that showed a sharp increase in rail traffic along the North Korea-Russia border. Advertisement Russian President Vladimir Putinand North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome in September (Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP/AP) The report said satellite images as of October 5 captured a dramatic and unprecedented level of freight railcar traffic at the Tumangang Rail Facility. It said images show approximately 73 railcars while a review of previous satellite images over the past five years shows about 20 railcars at this facility at most. Advertisement The US has accused North Korea of previously providing ammunition, artillery shells and rockets to Russia. Mr Kim last month, after he had met Mr Putin, called for an exponential increase in production of nuclear weapons and for his country to play a larger role in a coalition of nations confronting the US in a new Cold War, North Korean state media said. The Korean Central News Agency said Mr Kim made the comments during a two-day session of the countrys rubber-stamp parliament, which amended the constitution to include his policy of expanding the countrys nuclear weapons programme. Advertisement In Russia, Mr Kim deepened comradely fellowship and friendly ties with Mr Putin, North Korean state media reported. Advertisement During Mr Kims six-day trip to Russia, his longest foreign travel as leader, the two countries said they discussed boosting their defence ties but did not disclose any specific steps. Foreign experts speculate the two countries, both locked in confrontations with the West, were pushing to reach arms transfer deals in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Meanwhile, US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who is in the Middle East to consult with allies in the aftermath of last weeks Hamas attack on Israel, spoke by phone on Friday to Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. The two leaders discussed the latest battlefield developments, according to the State Department. The board also allowed management to pursue a case to the High Court, even though lower courts had already found Qantas had acted illegally in sacking 1700 ground crew during the pandemic. The High Court upheld the lower court rulings and found against Qantas, and the airline will now pay compensation and legal costs. Hopefully, all the Qantas directors have since read the High Court ruling. Earlier this week, Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said accountability was required for the airlines problems and that he would follow Joyce out the door. He will leave before the end of next year, and a search by Egon Zehnder is under way for his successor, who by law must be Australian. Goyder also announced board renewal with the departure of directors Maxine Brenner and Jacqueline Hey, while director Michael LEstrange already intended to retire at the Qantas annual general meeting next month. Goyder was appointed as Qantas chair in November 2017. After he leaves the airline, he, his wife and any children under 26 are entitled to two long-haul trips and six short-haul trips for each year of service. The long-haul trips and short-haul trips can be used in any class. But who would fly economy if business or first class were on offer? The rules are similar for the other directors, who along with beneficial family members get one long-haul trip and three short-haul trips for every year of service. Brenner and Hey joined the board in August 2013, and have served more than 10 years at Qantas. Thats a decade of free flights. LEstrange joined in April 2016. The value of those travel perks runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. For individuals such as Goyder, who recently paid $10.4 million for a Melbourne home, the free flights are small change, but that misses the point. Why should Qantas directors keep those benefits if the company and the management they have been charged with governing and overseeing has performed poorly on so many levels? Surely losing those travel perks, along with the board seat, would send a message of accountability. Also, why should Qantas shareholders fund free flights for directors and their families up to a decade after they have gone? For years, Joyce slashed the airlines headcount with the boards permission resulting in low morale and poor customer service. Maybe its time for cost savings at the board level too, with the next Qantas chair scrapping such perks altogether. Loading As for Goyder, his departure should be a case study for other directors, and a reminder for complacent shareholders. Goyder, it seems, was over-boarded in that he held too many directorships. His workload as chair of Qantas, Woodside and the AFL Commission was ridiculous. He said he could do it all, but it appears he couldnt, and it has cost him. However, dont feel sorry for Goyder. In a few years, he will probably end up chair of Wesfarmers, following a well-trodden path of former chief executives of that conglomerate taking up the chairmanship. If he does, hell have some free flights from Qantas to fly between Melbourne and Perth. Last drinks Board problems are also rife at drinks and pub group Endeavour Group. What is likely is that, like Qantas, Endeavours chief executive or chair, or both, will depart. Endeavours major shareholder, Bruce Mathieson, who owns 15.08 per cent of the company, has been unhappy with how it is being managed, claiming cost and inventory blowouts, and unnecessary acquisitions and expansion. Endeavours board and management deny the claims. However, rule 101 for any company chief executive is dont lose the confidence of your major shareholder or founder. Rule 101 for any company chief executive is dont lose the confidence of your major shareholder or founder. Above: Billionaire Bruce Mathieson, the largest shareholder in Endeavour Group. Credit: Arsineh Houspian Mathieson is not only the largest shareholder, he was also the founder of the pubs arm of Endeavour. Endeavour owns 1701 liquor shops, including chains Dan Murphys and BWS, 354 pubs, 12,500 poker machines, and a handful of wineries. In the past year, Endeavours share price has slumped almost 21 per cent, while the ASX 200 index has risen nearly 7 per cent. The companys market capitalisation has declined in that time by about $2.6 billion. Steve Donohue has been Endeavours chief executive since the company was demerged from Woolworths in mid-2021. He will front shareholders at the companys annual general meeting at the end of this month, which will be fiery as former Woolworths executive Bill Wavish bids to get elected to the board. Wavish has Mathiesons support, and also that of Bruce Mathieson jnr, who is an Endeavour director. Wavishs bid to join the board was opposed by other Endeavour directors, except Colin Storrie. Storrie, a former Woolworths executive, abstained from the vote and departs Endeavour at the end of the year. Proxy adviser CGI Glass Lewis has advised Endeavours institutional shareholders to vote against Wavishs election, citing concerns around his track record as a board director at Myer and Dick Smith, and a lack of a compelling case to warrant change at Endeavour. We believe Mr Wavishs track record on corporate boards may raise serious questions regarding whether he would be the best candidate to provide strong oversight in this case, CGI Glass Lewis said in its report. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Forthcoming bar Maggies Snacks and Liquors will specialise in high-end cocktails, with one named after Melbournes own Margot Robbie. Does Brunswick East need another place to eat, drink and be merry? Absolutely, according to Kaidee Grzankowski, co-owner of forthcoming bar Maggies Snacks and Liquor. The area is awesome, she says, ticking off beloved new neighbours including Etta, Teta Mona, Bluebonnet Barbecue, Old Palm Liquor and Waxflower. But theres no one that specialises in amazing high-end cocktails. Thats what were bringing. Her business partners include beverage director Alejandro Archibald, an experienced bartender (ex-Nomad) with a penchant for agave spirits, and Nathan Toleman, director of Mulberry Group, which has bars Lilac Wine and Dessous among its portfolio. Owners Alejandro Archibald, Nathan Toleman, Kaidee Grzankowski, Jess Spooner and Scott Blomfield Supplied I worked for Nathan at his very first cafe APTE more than 15 years ago, says Grzankowski. Over the years weve thrown different business ideas at each other. Finally, I told him about a concept Alejandro and I cooked up during COVID and next thing I know wed taken on [a] site. 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 Good Weekend October 14 edition. See all 15 stories . When Andy Warhol said, The best museum is Bloomingdales, he was anticipating a day when art was seen as just another commodity, like a kettle or a toaster. In May, in the famous windows at Bloomingdales on 59th Street in Manhattan, kettles, toasters and espresso machines were covered in the distinctive patterns of Western Desert painting, part of a promotion by Australian company Breville called An Aboriginal Culinary Journey. The project, which required three years of research and development, featured a limited-edition set of appliances, with the profits from sales going to Aboriginal causes. The company believes its good business; at the very least its good karma. Ten minutes drive away at Uovo, a dedicated storage facility on New Yorks Long Island, an exhibition called 60 over 50 brought together two of Americas most important collections of Australian Indigenous art. The 60 paintings on display belonged to actor Steve Martin and his wife, Anne Stringfield, and to investor John Wilkerson and wife Barbara, the latter couple known as prolific buyers of American folk art. Its been a little over 50 years since the men of the Papunya Tula community in Australias Western Desert began to paint their traditional stories on boards. A selection of those early boards, created between 1971 and 1974 by well-known artists such as Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula and Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, are now part of the Wilkerson collection. The couple got hooked on Aboriginal art when they visited Australia in 1994 to see their son, who was studying at the University of Sydney. The immediate plan was to acquire examples of work by each member of the original mob that gathered in Papunya. The Wilkersons may not have got the full set, but they assembled a group of works that would be the envy of any Australian museum. Steve Martins taste is more contemporary, although he jokes this is only because the Wilkersons got all the early stuff. His part of the display included major works by Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Doreen Reid Nakamarra, Naata Nungurrayi and George Tjungurrayi, as well as paintings by legendary artists such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Rover Thomas and Paddy Bedford. 60 over 50 was a museum-quality exhibition held in a city long recognised as the centre of the global art market. It coincided with three art fairs, including Frieze New York, which listed as a satellite event a forum on Indigenous Australian art with Martin, the Wilkersons, Sydney collector Danny Goldberg and curator Bruce Johnson McLean from the National Gallery of Australia. On the day, it was standing room only. Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarris Water Dreaming, 1972. Credit: Tony De Camillo. The estate of the artist, by permission of Papunya Tula Artists through the Aboriginal Artists Agency, collection of John and Barbara Wilkerson. Photographed for the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University. During Frieze week, an auction of Aboriginal art organised by the late Tim Klingender for Sothebys NYC produced new auction records for no fewer than 13 artists, including Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, whose Water and Bush Tucker Story (1972) sold for $US762,000 to a European collector. Advertisement From tiger-striped toasters in Bloomingdales to booming sales at Sothebys, Aboriginal art is riding a wave of popularity in the US that promises to change the way this work is bought and sold, both internationally and at home. The growing enthusiasm of overseas collectors provides an opportunity for Australia to remind the rest of the world that were making art that stands comparison with anything that might be seen in the US or Europe. At present, Aboriginal art is the only Australian work the rest of the planet wants to see, but its the spearhead that creates potential new openings for a broader range of art. One of the unique aspects of Indigenous art, by definition, is that its power and authenticity are based on a deep connection between artists and the place where they live. Painters from the Western Desert or Arnhem Land are not about to move to Manhattan to capitalise on their newfound popularity; the basis of their work lies in an ongoing relationship with country. If private and public collectors want to see Aboriginal art at the source, they will have to travel to Australia and that opens a path for a broader appreciation of local art. Or so one might hope. Aside from the inevitable tyranny of distance, one of Australian arts major barriers to global acceptance has been its relative cheapness. In world terms, our artists and dealers are paupers, our major artworks bargains. In the US, artists fresh from college regularly achieve much higher prices than Australian artists in their 70s and 80s. Guy Warren, now 102 years old, has never sold a picture for more than $35,000, for example. Theres an ingrained belief, even among leading local collectors, that Australian art is, or should be, inexpensive. The well-heeled art buyer who travels to the Art Basel fairs in Basel, Miami Beach, Paris or Hong Kong and drops $1 million with an uber-dealer will return home and beat down the price of a $10,000 painting in Sydney or Melbourne. The escalating global interest in Aboriginal art may spell the beginning of the end for these low provincial price points, dragging us into the international marketplace if dealers and collectors allow it to happen. Many of Australias leading commercial galleries are perfectly happy to sell locally, however, avoiding the expense and bother of the art fair circuit. This is partly to do with the age of dealers who have no desire to take on the world when theyre doing nicely at home. But the art industry in general is like every other business in which comfortable stasis leads to gradual decay or, in this case, ever greater marginalisation. A new generation, led by Australian commercial galleries such as Sullivan+Strumpf, Station, This is No Fantasy and Chalk Horse, are showing a little more adventure. Melbourne dealer DLan Davidson recently opened a discreet New York showroom where hes selling quality Indigenous works on the secondary market to clients by appointment. Being the very opposite of a shopfront, this arrangement indicates the level of interest among those collectors looking for high-value items. Advertisement Davidson is also Steve Martins agent in Australia, a jealously guarded connection thats provided a stepping-stone for Davidson into the New York market. Over the past five years, hes helped his prestigious client, whose personal experience of Australia never reached beyond Sydney and Melbourne, to access Indigenous works of outstanding quality. A lifelong collector, Martin now has more than 100 Aboriginal paintings in his collection, to put alongside pictures by Georges Seurat, Edward Hopper, Giorgio Morandi, David Hockney, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and other famous moderns. The surge in interest by collectors such as Martin owes a debt to the way public museums have begun to focus on Indigenous culture in a way that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Steve Martin (at left, with Danny Goldberg) at 60 over 50. Credit: Courtesy of Danny Goldberg The recent spate of activity represents a second coming for Indigenous art in New York. The first time this work stepped out of the desert and into the metropolis was in 1988, when the exhibition Dreamings, curated by anthropologist Peter Sutton, was shown at the Asia Society Galleries and then in Chicago. Professor Fred Myers, arguably Americas leading expert on Aboriginal life, has identified this as the moment when Aboriginal art emphatically became fine art. Loading Following the Dreamings exhibition, the New York gallerist John Weber held a commercial show of paintings by Papunya Tula artists. For Weber, known as a dealer in abstract and minimalist work, the attraction of desert painting was aesthetic rather than anthropological. There was a brief flurry of excitement as it looked as if Aboriginal art had cracked the international market, but that opening soon closed. There was still too much ingrained resistance to the idea that paintings made by untrained artists in remote desert communities could be considered significant contemporary art. Advertisement The art world at that time was an elite club that protected its privileges. This became even more obvious in 1994, when a Melbourne Aboriginal art dealer, the late Gabrielle Pizzi, was rejected from the Cologne art fair (after participating in prior ones) because the selection committee said it was not its policy to show folk art. Today nobody least of all the Germans would question the contemporary art credentials of leading bark painters such as John Mawurndjul and James Iyuna. Thirty years on, the grass roots nature of this work that disqualified it in the eyes of the Cologne committee is now its major selling point. If politics and social justice issues have exerted an influence on the broader acceptance of this work, so, too, has old-fashioned star power and, in this, Steve Martin has played a crucial role. We know him as a screen comedian, but hes also a talented writer and musician, and a perfectionist who doesnt do anything by half-measures. The story of Martins discovery of Aboriginal art began in 2015, when he saw a picture reproduced in The New York Times by Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri (one of the artists in the Breville project), which was showing at the commercial gallery, Salon 94, in the Bowery. Martin got on his bike and pedalled to the exhibition. He was dazzled by Warlimpirrngas painting and bought it, beginning a new art romance that would soon become compulsive. You have to understand, I didnt even know it was Aboriginal, he confesses when we meet in New York on a fine, sunny day. I just saw the image in the paper, and because Warlimpirrngas standing right next to it, I know its from a foreign land. I really liked the Op Art part of it. I literally asked: Are these for sale? and found they were nominal in contemporary art terms. Even today Id bet our whole expenditure on this art is equivalent to one [by American artist] Mark Bradford. Old Walter Tjampitjinpas Rainbow and Water Story, 1972. Credit: Tony De Camillo. The estate of the artist, by permission of Papunya Tula Artists through the Aboriginal Artists Agency, collection of John and Barbara Wilkerson. Photographed for the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University. We lived with the work for about three weeks, without considering that it came from a particular culture. It was just a painting we liked. Then on Twitter, I began to look at the images of Aboriginal art that people were posting, and I thought, Ive never seen anything like this! Because a lot of these paintings were very inexpensive, I began buying online and making all the classic mistakes. Then I started reading up on them. As a collector, Martin is no mere trophy hunter. While many of the worlds biggest buyers of contemporary art allow curators and consultants to choose the works they acquire, Martin only buys what he personally loves. His growing fascination with Aboriginal art saw him invite artist Yukultji Napangati and her daughter to lunch at his apartment, where she could see her own work on the wall. Scrupulous about doing his homework, Martin has read widely, learning the how, why and where of this art, marvelling at the nature of a late-blooming movement whose roots lie in prehistory. Like a good philosopher, as his knowledge increased he increasingly realised he knew nothing at all. Could there be a greater lure for the true collector? Advertisement For every non-Aboriginal, the most fundamental concept behind the work is also the most difficult to grasp. There is no Western equivalent for the Tjukurpa formerly known as the Dreaming which defines an individuals relation to the community and the cosmos. The Tjukurpa is both lore and religion, an eternal now, that recognises no distinction between past, present and future. Loading When I first got in to it, Martin recalls, I bought every book I could find, and I studied them. Im trying to get it, Im trying to get it. Then, at a certain point you think, Okay, I got this. Two years later, you think, I dont have this at all and I should quit thinking about it. Its too vast. Its like you or me trying to figure out how a hedge fund works! I realised I really should root my understanding in how this work fits into the larger world of art. I see these works as abstract narrative pictures. Actor Steve Martin He began to seek familiar points of connection, learning to look at paintings as landscapes viewed from the air, with familiar signs denoting journeys, hills, waterholes and meeting places. Ive simplified it for myself, he says. I see these works as abstract narrative pictures. For instance, if [Dutch-American artist Willem] De Kooning is not painting a woman hes painting an abstraction, but these works have a subject and a story, they only look abstract. Having lived his life in irony, Martin says he loves the complete lack of irony in his Australian desert paintings. He also enjoys the idea that many of the best artists dont get started until late in life. In contemporary art, everyone has to be young, he says, but a young Aboriginal artist is 50. Advertisement Outdated polling showing overwhelming Indigenous support for the Voice has sparked a late-stage brawl over dirty campaign tactics and the crucial question of whether the referendum proposal is divisive among the group it is designed to help. Yes23 is making 30,000 nightly calls to voters and sending a barrage of texts using six-month-old polling to claim 80 per cent of Indigenous Australians support for the Voice. Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen But approval for the referendum question has decreased among all voter groups and the latest Resolve poll published this week showed 59 per cent of surveyed Indigenous people backed the Voice, prompting claims from the No camp that the Yes side was misleading voters. The Yes campaigns SMS messages on Indigenous support state: Over 80% of Indigenous people support the Voice to Parliament. Do you? Reply 1 for Yes, 2 for No and 3 for Unsure. Voting booths: VoiceReferendum.com.au. A young Aboriginal girl hands a how to vote card to a voter at polling booth at Sydney Town Hall during the 1967 referendum. Credit: George Lipman The third highest No vote in NSW (16.81 per cent) was also on the north coast, in the electorate of Lyne, which in 1967 included the towns of Kempsey, Port Macquarie and Taree. In Sydney, the No vote was below 10 per cent in every electorate. The share of voters opposed was especially low on Sydneys North Shore; in the electorate of Bradfield only 3.86 per cent voted No, the lowest share in the state. The No vote was also below 5 per cent in nearby Mackellar and Warringah. Unlike the Voice proposal, all major parties supported the Yes case in the 1967 referendum. Ben Raue, an electoral analyst who publishes the Tally Room website, says the absence of any well-organised No campaign in 1967 was an important factor in that referendum result. The Yes campaign in 1967 wasnt really challenged on its arguments, he said. It was kind of a forfeit win. Civil rights activist Faith Bandler (right) prepares to cast her vote in the 1967 referendum. Credit: George Lipman The Yes vote prevailed in all six states in 1967 and had an overall national majority of more than 4.6 million. Victoria had the highest Yes vote at 94.68 per cent, while Western Australia was lowest at 80.95 per cent. A separate referendum question put to voters at the same time as the one about Aboriginal people was unsuccessful. It sought to end the 2-1 ratio between the size of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The proposal would have lifted the number of lower house seats by 13 while keeping the Senate count unchanged. The voter rejection of that proposal, rather than the Yes vote on the question about Indigenous people, dominated Herald coverage in the days following the 1967 referendum. A banner headline on the Heralds front page the Monday after the referendum focussed on the reaction of Harold Holt, then prime minister, to the lack of support to change parliament: Holt says vote rejection of more politicians. How the Sydney Morning Herald reported the 1967 referendum result: May 28, 1967 (left); May 29, 1967 (top and bottom right). Credit: Sydney Morning Herald A much less prominent headline, lower down the page said: Record Yes on second issue. There have been 44 referendum proposals put to voters since 1901 (before the Voice proposition) but only eight have been successful. Analysis by Raue shows that during the early decades of federation, NSW voters tended to oppose proposals to change the constitution, but that trend reversed after around 1950. Loading In the early 20th century NSW was the strongest No state but in the late 20th century it was the strongest Yes state, he said. In five referendums held during the 1960s and 1970s, NSW was the only state to vote Yes. The most recent referendum, held in November 1999, asked voters whether they wanted Australia to become a republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament. The proposal was rejected by all six states with a No vote nationally of 54.87 per cent. But results varied widely across states and regions. The No case won a wafer-thin victory in Victoria with 50.16 per cent. But Queenslanders comprehensively rejected the republic with a No share of 62.56 per cent, the highest of any state. Malcolm Turnbull was the head of the Australian Republican Movements failed 1999 campaign. Credit: AP The No vote in NSW was a little lower than the national result at 53.57 per cent. However, there was widespread support for the republic proposal in urban areas. Yes won a majority in 15 out of the 27 electorates across the Sydney basin. The electorate of Newcastle and the Wollongong seat of Throsby also voted Yes. Loading The inner-urban electorate of Sydney had the highest vote in favour of a republic at 67.85 per cent followed by Grayndler in Sydneys inner west (64.77 per cent) and Wentworth in the eastern suburbs (60.19 per cent). There was also widespread support for a republic across Sydneys north shore and northern beaches with the electorates of Berowra, Bennelong, Bradfield and Warringah all returning a Yes majority. Recent opinion polls on the Voice referendum suggest the No vote at the national level, and in most states, could be quite similar to that in the Republic referendum of 1999. A Resolve Strategic poll published by this masthead on October 8 showed 56 per cent of voters rejecting the Voice, about one percentage point higher than the No vote in the 1999 referendum. Thousands of students living in single-sex public high school zones will be given a co-ed school option under a radical overhaul of more than 30 catchment areas in Sydneys inner-west and south-west suburbs. High school intake areas from Dulwich Hill to Bankstown and Kogarah have been expanded to unlock access to co-ed public high schools for parents with children starting year 7 in 2025. Ashfield Public School parent Grace Huong, who has two sons, Leon and August, in kindergarten and year 3, said she would send them both to a co-ed high school. Credit: Steven Siewert NSW Education Minister Prue Car said the redrawn school boundaries, released to families and teachers for consultation on Friday, would give students, currently zoned for 17 single-sex public high schools, guaranteed access to a neighbouring co-ed alternative. Parents who live in single-sex public school zones in the inner west have long demanded more schooling options, but the move will most likely spark concerns it could further erode enrolments at some public all-boys schools. By Lee Hae-rin Foreign diplomats stationed in Korea, or their family members, have committed some 70 crimes such as driving under the influence (DUI) and theft in the past five years. But 98.5 percent of them enjoyed diplomatic immunity and avoided criminal punishment, an opposition lawmaker said, Friday, calling for the need to overhaul the diplomatic immunity system. According to documents that Rep. Park Hong-keun of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a total of 71 criminal cases committed by foreign diplomats or their family members were reported between 2019 and this August. Among them, 55 were committed by diplomats themselves, while the remaining 16 involved their spouses or children as culprits. Only one out of the 71 waived diplomatic immunity, leaving an overwhelming 98.5 percent free from facing criminal charges. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations offers diplomatic agents immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state. The foreign ministry refused to reveal the details of the cases, citing diplomatic relations with other countries, but noted that most of the incidents involved traffic accidents and theft. Several controversial cases involving foreign diplomats have made media headlines. On Oct. 9, a Mongolian diplomat to Korea was caught by police on suspicion of DUI, but the diplomat refused to take a sobriety test, citing diplomatic immunity. Police said the diplomat was obviously drunk as he smelled of alcohol. But the case was closed in accordance with diplomatic immunity. An officer of the Mongolian Embassy later came to the scene to pick up the diplomat. Earlier in July, a diplomat at the Ukrainian Embassy was caught red-handed assaulting a police officer who was called to the scene of a quarrel at a bar in Seoul. But the person was released the next day and avoided punishment using immunity. In April 2021, the wife of the former Belgian ambassador was investigated for assaulting a salesperson at a clothing shop in Seoul. She left the country unpunished in July. A diplomat from the Rwandan Embassy was caught drunk driving in 2020 after having his license revoked due to a DUI offense but also went scot-free. Rep. Park urged the government to curb abuses of diplomatic privilege in cases irrelevant to public interest and diplomacy. If a foreign diplomat or their family member has clearly committed a crime or if diplomatic immunity is to be used for personal reasons, the foreign ministry should actively request the dispatched country to waive immunity, Park said. 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 Australian election nights are a form of bingo, as analysts go through the various seats to determine which party has won enough to form government. But at a referendum, the votes of individual electorates are unimportant. What counts is the total number of votes for or against as well as whether a majority of states have said yes or no. Yet come Saturday evening, as the Australian Electoral Commission tallies ballots from around the country, there will be a focus on certain seats that - for a variety of reasons - will attract more attention than others. These electorates, stretched across the country, will resonate because of their representative, their history or the demographic make-up of their voters. They will also be examined by analysts to determine if there is anything about these seats, and their results, which could give insights into their future voting intentions. The starting point will be the seats held by the leaders, and their deputies, of the major parties. Most attention will fall on the seat of Grayndler, held Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. While Grayndler is very much an inner-city electorate, Albaneses deputy Richard Marles holds the Victorian seat of Corio which is centred on the fast-growing centre of Geelong. It is likely that while both Corio and Grayndler are solidly Labor electorates, they will vote differently on the referendum. Second, it shocked people around the world. The Melbourne University professor of youth mental health and former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry this week explained that a known syndrome vicarious trauma was transmitting the mental distress and trauma from Israel to many millions in audiences worldwide. The hate inflicted on Israel is felt around the world. Loading Third, Hamas crimes against humanity excited antisemites worldwide. Including in Australia. The Sydney demonstrators who chanted gas the Jews at the tail end of the rally outside the Opera House on Monday, for instance. Or the Sydney man arrested for threatening to kill four young men for displaying an Israeli flag on their car. Fourth, Hamas calibrated its barbarities to achieve a strategic outcome. Terrorism is a tool of the weak deployed against the strong in the hope that it will goad the stronger into over-reacting. By over-reacting, the strength of the target nation is turned against itself. Will Israel now over-react to the Hamas atrocities? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stung by the failure of his government to protect the Israels people, will be tempted, which is why Joe Biden has counselled him to abide by the rules of war in exacting revenge on Hamas. This outbreak of hate is a new affront, another assault on decency and peace, compounding the other atrocities that have been inflicted on humanity in recent times. It seems overwhelming and we, each of us, can feel utterly helpless in the face of such implacable hatred. But while we cant prevent terrorist attacks in Israel, or stop Vladimir Putins war crimes against the people of Ukraine, or liberate the Uyghur people suffering from Beijings repression, or reverse the military takeover of Myanmar, we can contribute to a positive gesture of human decency. A Yes vote today is a vote for healing over hate. It is a rejection of repression and a move to reconciliation. If, as McGorry says, acts of hate can deliver vicarious trauma to people around the world, acts of healing might be able to send a positive impulse of vicarious hope. But what about the arguments against the Voice? Shouldnt they decide the outcome? Polling for this masthead by Resolve Strategic has identified the three most effective arguments in persuading voters to say No. First is that the Voice will divide the country by race, giving one group extra rights. With 22 per cent of respondents citing this, its by far the most widespread argument cited to explain reasons for voting No. Division exists already between First Nations and other Australians because of the unique history of colonial dispossession and repression of Indigenous people. I look to the serious social dislocation, on many of the social indicators that Aboriginal people now sit in, says the man known as the father of reconciliation, Australias first Indigenous priest and now a senator, Pat Dodson, speaking at the National Press Club this week. Illustration: Jim Pavlidis. Credit: Jim Pavlidis If we were in the promised land that some people might want to suggest were in, then why are we having such rates of suicides? Why have so many of our kids been taken away and put in out-of-home care? Why is there so much domestic violence and internal violence within our societies? Why are we living in poverty? Why are we still suffering from mental health problems? And why are our kids either the victims of drug and alcohol, you know, opportunities that society offers. Dodson is right, of course. Not all, but most Aboriginal Australians, especially those in the regions and outback, exist in a parallel universe of Third World living conditions of shorter, unhealthier and unhappier lives. He continues: There are legacy issues and responsibility and accountability issues, for how you have taken someone elses country and subjugated them to the policies that you have: Assimilation, control, management, domination, determination of their futures, taking kids away, stolen generations. Loading The Voice is not designed to widen this division but to close it. The second most commonly cited reason for rejecting the Voice, cited by 15 per cent of No voters, is that the proposal lacks detail. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been making this argument from the outset. When politicians say this, Voice architect Noel Pearson points out that the proposed constitutional amendment says that the parliament shall have power to make laws for the detailed arrangements. Says Pearson: Thats how our system works. So if theres any parliamentarian demanding detail I suggest they go to the bathroom and look themselves in the mirror and find out who is responsible. Parliament, from the beginning of federation, has filled in an infinity of detail in every field. The constitution makes no mention whatsoever of something called prime minister for instance. Surely the parliament can figure out the details for a new advisory committee. Loading The third most effective argument against the Voice so far, mentioned by 8 per cent of the No respondents, is that not all Indigenous people want the Voice, that they cant agree. True. But most do 59 per cent, according to the Resolve Strategic poll published this week. And would you really expect First Nations people to share the same opinion, robotically, or to have a variety of views, like everyone else? So the three leading arguments against the Voice are based on misperceptions or misunderstandings. If Australia rejects the Voice, Patrick McGorry predicts tremendous damage to mental health. He put his name to a letter signed with two dozen former Australians of the Year to urge us to choose the high road to inclusiveness and respect and to caution that the low road leads us into a shameful dead end, with unimaginable consequences for our national identity and self-respect. Noel Pearson calls it the elephant and the mouse problem that has characterised Indigenous affairs the fact that Aboriginal people, who make up 3 per cent of the Australian population, have extreme minority status and have had no choice but to tolerate discrimination, and then beg for recognition, from the 97 per cent. Yes campaigner Noel Pearson has likened Indigenous affairs to an elephant and mouse problem. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen On Saturday, the elephant stomped on the mouse. The only merciful part was the speed of the result. The Herald and The Age called the referendum for the No vote at 7.29pm. Vote counting had not even started in Queensland or Western Australia yet. In the end, not a single state voted Yes. The No vote swiftly obliterated the hopes of the people whose lives are not just determined by their historical suffering, but also trapped by its contemporary version. Through painstaking effort over years, First Nations people came up with a self-determined solution for reconciliation, something they believed would mend the extreme disadvantage under which they live. They called it the Voice. The mouse knew it couldnt scare the elephant if it wanted success. The Voice lobby moved slowly. Cautiously. They sought bipartisan support. For many years, they had it. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the referendum result must be met with grace and humility. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen During the campaign to have the Voice enshrined in the constitution, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had pitched for soaring optimism and faith in his fellow Australians. He held weakly onto that faith as he addressed the nation at 9pm on Saturday. He appeared shattered, and deeply moved, as he said that the referendum defeat would not be the end of the road. Read Jacquelines full analysis Ride in the hoofprints of Kyrgyz nomads, Kyrgyzstan The wilds of Kyrgyzstan. Credit: Lonely Planet Distance 400 kilometres Start/finish Rot-Front return Mode of transport Horse Difficulty Difficult The lowdown Riding is one of the more comfortable ways to get around mountainous Kyrgyzstan, where often-hazardous roads make for slow progress by car. Its also the fastest route to immersion in the hospitable culture of nomadic Kyrgyz shepherds and the not-so-hospitable weather of the capricious Tian Shan Mountains. You may choose to ride the whole 400-kilometre loop out of Rot-Front, or just a section of it, but whether for three days or for 30, a horse-trekking journey through Kyrgyzstan is a ticket to follow in the footsteps hoofprints of old Silk Road traders while exploring a land where the steppe, mountains and sky meet. Approaching the dry microclimate of Konorchek Canyons, the first days are difficult. And even though the average speed on horseback is only four kilometres an hour, youll be surprised at how quickly the landscape changes. Each day is full of challenges, from keeping to the trail and finding grass for the horses to graze overnight to creating a sense of co-operation and teamwork between mount and rider. Make it happen June, July and August are the best months to horse-trek in Kyrgyzstan, (discoverkyrgyzstan.org) where youll probably mix camping with overnights in yurts owned by Kyrgyz families. Theres no need to arrange yurt stays in advance simply ask if you can be accommodated and be prepared to pay a modest fee. Walk Country with the Goolarabooloo, Lurujarri Dreaming, Western Australia Gantheaume Point, Broome, Western Australia. Credit: Lonely Planet Distance 82 kilometres Start/finish Minyirr (Gantheaume Point), Minarriny (Coulomb Point) Transport On foot Difficulty Moderate The lowdown This nine-day guided walk over 82 kilometres stretches north from Broome into turquoise infinity, threading along the dazzling deserted beaches, crimson-red cliffs and paperbark swamps of the remote Dampier Peninsula. Indigenous culture runs deep across the vast Kimberley region of northwestern Australia. When a Nyikina man, Paddy Roe, came to the Dampier Peninsula in the 1930s, the fading Jabirr Jabirr elders, bereft of suitable descendants, passed on custodianship of their Country (songs, stories, customs and responsibilities, inherited from the earlier Ngumbarl and Djugun people) to the young Roe. Having founded his Goolarabooloo community at Millibinyari on Ngunungurrukun, Roe instigated the Lurujarri Heritage Trail in 1987 as a means for his own people to reconnect with Country and their traditional heritage and as a way of cultivating respect for Country among non-Indigenous people. The Lurujarri Trail is a section of an ancient songline (essentially a storyline, both oral history and map), which stretches from the deserts south of Broome to the Dampier Peninsulas northern tip. From Minyirr at Cable Beach, easy walking follows beaches, rocks and sand dunes north along the Indian Ocean coast. Luggage is transported between campsites by truck, with walkers carrying only a daypack for water, sunscreen, swimming gear and a camera. Make it happen Broome has flight connections to and from Perth, Darwin, Sydney and Melbourne. All Lurujarri Heritage Trail walks (goolarabooloo.org.au) are fully guided. A limited number are conducted each year. Journey Frances Robert Louis Stevenson trail with a donkey Malzac river on the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail, Cassagnas, France. Credit: iStock Distance 272 kilometres Start/finish Le Puy-en-Velay, Ales Transport On foot Difficulty Medium The lowdown How did Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson do it in 1878? He didnt have a GPS or modern hiking boots but he did write a book about it: Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. The hardest part of the GR70, aka Robert Louis Stevenson Trail, is setting up a rhythm. But once both traveller and donkey have found their (hoof) beats, there seems to be no better way to explore this landscape. The first of the routes four distinct regions, the Velay, reveals green-topped dormant volcanoes, which spread lava across the region some three million years ago. In the Gevaudan, the sound of streams and birds is predominant. Wild prairies, pine forests and pastures dotted with moss-covered rocks seem to soak up any other noise. By the time you reach the Lozere, youll probably have adapted your pace. At the end is the village of St-Jean-du-Gard. As Robert Louis Stevenson wrote of his donkey: Father Adam wept when he sold her to me; after I had sold her in my turn, I was tempted to follow his example I did not hesitate to yield to my emotion. Make it happen Le Puy-en-Velay SNCF station (sncf.com) has trains to/from Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon. Ales SNCF station has trains to Nimes, Marseille and Lyon. Walk the GR70 between May and October. Trace indigenous heritage through the Canadian Rockies, Canada Two large bull elk in Banff National park Credit: iStock Distance About 1000 kilometres Start/finish Edmonton, Banff National Park Transport Car or bus/shuttle Difficulty Easy The lowdown On a road trip through Alberta in western Canada, you can learn about the traditional cultures of the Canadian Rockies. Fort Edmonton Park is a recreated pioneer village, mostly concentrated on illustrating the lives of settlers during the 19th century. But its Indigenous Peoples Experience relates a more comprehensive history: direct testimonies from the regions Cree, Nakoda, Dene and other First Nations peoples, as well as the Metis, who have mixed indigenous and European ancestry. Today, of the more than 250,000 Indigenous people who reside in Alberta, roughly 53 per cent represent 45 different First Nations, while most of the others are Metis. About 110 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, learn more about Metis communities at the first centre dedicated to their culture, Metis Crossing. From Edmonton, travel west towards the Canadian Rockies and into Jasper National Park. Twenty-six indigenous communities have ties to the 11,000-square-kilometre park. The drive between Jasper and Banff national parks is one of Canadas most spectacular, following the 232-kilometre Icefields Parkway. The vast Athabasca Glacier spreads across the mountains at the Parkways midpoint and is home to the five-kilometre indigenous-led Ice Walk. In Banff National Park, do a hike with Mahikan Trails, a First Nations-run company that introduces you to the parks indigenous heritage, plants and animals. Make it happen September to October, when the air begins to cool and the summer crowds abate, is particularly beautiful. Book indigenous-led tours with Jasper Tour Company (jaspertourcompany.com); Warrior Women (warriorwomen.ca); Athabasca Glacier Ice Walk (icewalks.com); Mahikan Trails (mahikan.ca). Drive the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, US Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Credit: Shutterstock Distance 400 kilometres Start/finish Maryland, Pennsylvania Transport Car Difficulty Easy The lowdown The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway is a 400-kilometre self-guided driving tour through Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania that connects 45 sites and museums related to the life and work of this freedom fighter. Though the original building burned in a fire in 1852, a courthouse in the township of Cambridge still marks the spot where enslaved people were auctioned off to the highest bidder. In 1850, one year after Tubman escaped to freedom, her niece, Kessiah, was placed before buyers. Tubman helped plan the escape of Kessiah and her family. Some 18 kilometres south, in Church Creek, stands the showpiece of the byway. Opened in 2017, the sustainably designed Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center has interactive exhibitions that delve into Tubmans many rescue missions. Nearby is the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, which in the 19th century was a place of untold suffering for the enslaved people sent to work there. East of the Blackwater Refuge, tiny two-lane Greenbriar Road leads past the farmlands where Tubman lived her early years. Make it happen The nearest airport to the starting point for the tour (harriettubmanbyway.org) to Cambridge is Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport. There are plenty of car hire options. Pilot a canoe down the Zambezi River, Zimbabwe and Zambia Lionesses and cubs in Zambia. Credit: Lonely Planet Distance 70 kilometres Start/finish Chirundu, Chongwe River Transport Canoe Difficulty Difficult The lowdown Paddle your way through some of Africas wildest territory, steering among hippos by day and camping on remote river islands by night. Your starting point is the border town of Chirundu. Youll soon get your bearings: to starboard (the right) is Zimbabwean territory; to port (left) the hills of Zambia. The border lies midstream, with river islands divided between the two nations. In truth, the river is its own country. Youll soon find yourself skirting Zimbabwes Mana Pools National Park, said to be home to as many as the 12,000 elephants and hippos which dominate this stretch of the river. It is at once daunting hearing the splash of a Nile crocodile slipping into the river as you paddle by but oddly reassuring to be ensconced in your fibreglass canoe, a roving pocket of safety (as long as it remains buoyant). The days paddling ends with team members hauling their boats onto remote river islands and erecting a huddle of tents around a campfire before a blood-red sun slips over the horizon. But do remember on no account should you ever get in the water. Make it happen Lusakas International Airport is well served by flights from within Africa and beyond. Canoeing season on the Zambezi generally runs from March to December. River Horse Safaris (riverhorsesafaris.com) is the pre-eminent tour operator. Follow in the ghostly footsteps of Warsaws heroic Jews, Poland The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Credit: Shutterstock Distance Three kilometres gate to door - but several more depending how much you explore. Start/finish Start: Jewish Cemetery, Nozyk Synagogue Transport On foot Difficulty Easy The lowdown Beneath the cold facts of the Holocaust lie the individual stories heroically brave and harrowingly tragic that you can discover on a walk through Warsaws Muranow and Mirow neighbourhoods. Begin in Warsaws Jewish Cemetery where a bronze statue of Dr Janusz Korczak, the pen-name of Henryk Goldszmit, stands. He was a childrens book author and director of the citys Jewish orphanage who sacrificed himself for his tiny charges. The death camp trains departed from Umschlagplatz. The platform is long gone, but the site is marked by a rectangular memorial symbolising the cattle wagons into which thousands of men, women and children were herded. At least 13,000 Jews fought back in the heroic but doomed Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, which led to the areas destruction. A memorial mound, Anielewiczs Bunker also known as Mia 18 stands above the hidden shelter used by Jewish resistance group ZOB. Amid many poignant landmarks, the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI), is an essential stop, as is Nozyk Synagogue. Make it happen Jewish-themed walking tours of Warsaw are offered by Orange Umbrella Free Tour (orangeumbrella.pl, Stancja Muranow (stacjamuranow.pl), the Jewish Historical Institute (jhi.pl/en), and Taube Jewish Heritage Tours (taubejewishheritagetours.com). Step into the infinite Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia Cacti in Incahuasi island, Salar de Uyuni salt flat, Potosi, Bolivia. Distance About 150 kilometres Start/finish Uyuni Transport 4WD Difficulty Moderate to difficult The lowdown The Salar de Uyuni are the worlds largest salt flats, covering some 12,100 square kilometres at an altitude of 3653 metres above sea level. The salt flats are an outward and inward challenge as the brisk night air will surely remind you. The morning sun glances brilliantly off the crusty, too-white surface. In the wet months, a thin sheet of water covers the flats, creating a wondrous mirror-like reflection of the sky. Tours start and finish at Uyuni. Stops might include salt-rimmed pools of underground rivers which bubble up onto the crispy surface, Ojos de Salar. At another stop, Isla Incahuasi, jagged volcanic rocks comprise leftovers of an ancient eruption which arose and then was swallowed up by a lake. Birdwatchers will be thrilled by the avian array. The Cujiri or Isla de Pescado features a cave revealing the startling strata of the surrounding desert, layer by colourful layer. Make it happen In November, three flamingo species arrive to feast on krill in the saline lakes. During the wet months (December to April), parts of the salar, including Isla Incahuasi, are inaccessible. Red Planet (redplanet-expedition.com) is a reliable Uyuni tour operator. Explore the Empty Quarters endless dunes, Oman Omans Empty Quarter desert. Credit: Lonely Planet Distance 300 kilometres or so one way Start/finish Salalah Transport 4WD Difficulty Easy The lowdown Known as the Rub al Khali in Arabic, the Empty Quarter covers some 600,000 square kilometres across Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. For hundreds of years, only Bedouin caravans ranged between its remote wells. Today, a few tourists set out on tours to nibble at the edges of the Empty Quarter but even on a short trip, you can return with a sense of its oceanic vastness. A good place to start is the port of Salalah in Omans greener south. Soon after leaving the city, youll find yourself among the frankincense groves of the Dhofar Mountains. Once a year, around June, this corner of Arabia miraculously flowers with the advent of the khareef, when the southeastern monsoon shrouds the hills. This landscape offers a last glimpse of greenery before you enter the interminable desert. The Empty Quarter is a place more or less bereft of landmarks so four-wheel drive vehicles normally rev up the biggest dunes, make rollercoaster-like descents down sheer slopes, crest ridges and range freely across the landscape. It looks effortless but it takes immense skill. At the end of the day, the temperature cools and camp is set up as cardamom coffee boils on a fire and the wind ruffles goatskin tents. Make it happen Connect to Salalah from Oman and airports across the Gulf. Go in the cooler months from October to April with Arabian Sand Tours (arabiansandtoursservices.com) a respected operator. Five more journeys of self-discovery Paddle Scotlands Great Glen The lochs that punctuate the Great Glen, especially Loch Ness, are deep, dark and massive. A 95-kilometre kayak of moderate difficulty, it takes three to five days. Snow Goose Mountain Centre (highland-mountain-guides.co.uk) offers fully guided trips. Journey across India by train Travelling from Delhi to Kerala, its the journey thats definitely the destination, so plot a course right across the subcontinent to maximise your time on the rails. For a train ride with drama, its hard to beat the Kerala Superfast Express - a 50-hour, 3031-kilometre epic linking Indias chaotic, colourful capital and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) on the Kerala coast. See 12go.asia Cycle the Tour Aotearoa Riding the length of New Zealand affords the time to learn of its complex history and island culture as you pass key sites. The natural world is an ever-present companion and youll gain an appreciation of the vulnerability of native ecosystems and species. This trip is 3200 kilometres, from the top tip of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island. See newzealand.com See South America by bus Tokyo: Japans government has asked a court to revoke the legal status of the Unification Church after an investigation concluded the group has systematically manipulated its followers into donating money, sowed fear and harmed their families for decades. The investigation followed months of public outrage and questions about the groups fundraising and recruitment tactics after Shinzo Abes assassination last year. The man accused of shooting Abe allegedly was motivated by the former prime ministers links to the church that he blamed for bankrupting his family. The Rev Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, and his wife in 1992. Credit: AP The request submitted to the Tokyo District Court asks for it to issue a dissolution order revoking the churchs status as a religious organisation. Education Ministry officials submitted 5000 pieces of documents and evidence in cardboard boxes to the court to support its request. The process involves hearings and appeals from both sides and would take a while. If the order is approved and its legal status is stripped, the church could still operate but would lose its tax exemption privilege as a religious organisation and would face financial setbacks. This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made....Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians. Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields. The United Nations said it received an evacuation order from the IDF saying everyone in northern Gaza - around half the enclaves population of two million people - should leave within the next 24 hours and head south. In a press conference late Friday evening (AEDT), Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant would not comment on how long Palestinians had to make their way to the south of Gaza before heavy fighting began. Asked directly about the widely reported 24-hour timeline, Gallant said only that the military was asking all the civilians in Gaza City to go south of Gaza... those who want to save their lives, please go. Residents in Gaza City, which has been pummelled by Israeli air strikes in recent days, have been instructed to flee south. Credit: Getty Gallant said the objective of the coming Israeli offensive was to destroy Hamas infrastructure, headquarters and military establishment. A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the area included 1.1 million people and that the task would be impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded, avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation, the spokesman said, adding that it applied to Gazans sheltering in UN facilities, and to UN staff. Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the IDF would operate with significant force in Gaza City in the coming days because it was a key site for Hamas militants. Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy, and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate so that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, he said. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is in Tel Aviv as a show of support, told a press conference munitions, air defence capabilities, and interceptors for Israels Iron Dome system were flowing rapidly into the country, promising to deploy further assets if required. Austin said the US would share with Israel lessons learned in its fight against the Islamic State terrorist group, including how to operate effectively in dense urban terrain and creating safe humanitarian corridors. Loading A ground invasion of Gaza - Israels first since 2014 - could lead to door-to-door combat and heavy casualties of troops and civilians. The mission is also complicated by Israels attempts to retrieve around 150 hostages who were smuggled over the border by Hamas. Hamas said Israels bombardment has killed 13 of the hostages, including foreigners. It did not give the nationality of the foreigners, saying they were killed over the last 24 hours. An Israeli military spokesperson said authorities would comment once they had reliable information. Hamas, meanwhile, instructed Gazans to remain in their homes and not to submit to a psychological war waged by the occupation. The Israeli military said it struck 750 military targets in northern Gaza overnight, including what it said were Hamas tunnels, military compounds, residences of senior operatives and weapons storage warehouses. The International Committee of the Red Cross said fuel powering emergency generators at hospitals in Gaza could run out within hours as the United Nations World Food Programme warned that food and fresh water were running dangerously low. Smoke rises from Israeli raids on Friday. Credit: Getty The human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent, and I implore the sides to reduce the suffering of civilians, Red Cross regional director Fabrizio Carboni said. An estimated 1300 people died in Israel, including 247 soldiers, during Hamass unprecedented weekend assaults while more than 1500 people have now died in Gaza as a result of the retaliatory attacks. Israeli officials said roughly 1,500 Hamas militants had been killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza were Hamas members. Loading The Palestinian delegation in Australia said Israel was implementing a vicious campaign of collective punishment against the civilian population it has held captive in Gaza for 16 years, now using starvation as a method of warfare and cutting off water, medicine, fuel, and other basic necessities. Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Transport Minister Catherine King announced on Friday that two government-supported charter flights were being organised from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to Dubai. Those flights come on top of the two already announced Qantas flights from Ben Gurion airport to London that will operate on Friday and Sunday. In addition, Qantas has agreed to support Australians arriving in London on assisted-departure flights from Tel Aviv by offering an A380 flight from London to Sydney via Singapore free of charge, Wong and King said in a statement. Loading The Australian government will continue to work on options for onward travel from Dubai and to support those who cannot reach Tel Aviv. As for the estimated 19 Australians in Gaza, the ministers said: Departures from Gaza are challenging due to the dangerous security situation. Australians there should contact the consular emergency centre as soon as possible. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been visiting Israel, described gruesome photos of Israeli victims shown to him by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A baby, an infant, riddled with bullets; soldiers beheaded, he said. Young people burned alive. I could go on, but its simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. So images are worth a thousand words, Blinken said. These images may be worth a million. Blinken said he had been in talks to try to identify a safe passage for Palestinians in Gaza, but said the issue was complicated by the fact that Hamas uses citizens as human shields. Something thats not new, something that theyve always done: intentionally putting civilians in harms way to protect themselves, he said. So thats one of the basic facts that Israel has to deal with. with Reuters, AP More coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Surprise attack: Hamas terrorists fired up to 5000 rockets from Gaza into Israel on October 7, triggering a declaration of war. Read our guide to the militant group and why its at war with Israel. The Iron Dome explained: How did Hamas breach Israels sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system? And why didnt Israels intelligence services see these attacks coming? Australia has just announced the cancellation of Saturday and Sundays planned evacuation flights out of Israel, citing the highly challenging and rapidly changing situation. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced the cancellations shortly after 7pm AEDT on Saturday. The Australian Government is working to ensure Australians who want to leave can do so as soon as possible. We will communicate to registered Australians about next available flights, the department said in a statement. The Australian government said earlier in the day that it was arranging bus transport out of Ramallah and into Jordan for Australians in the West Bank. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said 850 registered Australians and their families had left Israel. Israel is tiny: you can drive its length in 5 hours in light traffic. But this part of Israel is even more claustrophobic. People here measure distance not in metres, but by how many seconds they have to find shelter when the rocket sirens alert them to another incoming missile from Gaza. Raemer is one of thousands of Israelis whose family homes are within strolling distance of one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. It has altered no more putting their [Palestinian] innocent ahead of our innocent the army and the government will have to do something very, very drastic to make sure its safe again. And I believe they will. Adele Raemer with two of her grandchildren. They survived and were evacuated after the Hamas terror attack on October 7. Last Saturday, she told this masthead from her temporary accommodation in a hotel, something in Israels DNA changed. But after spending six hours shut trembling in the safe room of her house while armed men from the militant Palestinian Islamist group Hamas roamed outside; after her son-in-law confronted them directly, at the risk of his own life, to save her grandchildren; and after her best friend disappeared to an uncertain fate, Raemer now says: I feel like an extreme right-winger. Adele Raemer considers herself a centre-left Israeli. She is a secular Jew, lives or lived in a communal kibbutz within sight of the border of Gaza, and voted against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at every opportunity. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. We like to call it 95 per cent heaven, Raemer says of her kibbutz. Beautiful, peaceful, crime-free, green grass, open spaces, you dont need to worry about your kids playing on the lawn And then we get to the 5 per cent. And thats where we are now. Young Israelis felt so safe in front of the looming, metres-high wall separating them from their sworn enemies in Gaza that the morning of the raid, they were deep into a dance party held virtually in its shadow. Some say the bass beat would have been heard by the Palestinians on the other side. The region surrounding the town of Sderot, known by some as the bomb-shelter capital of the world, has doubled its population in the past seven years. Until last Saturday morning, the nearby kibbutzim and villages were thriving. Despite the regular scrambles to the shelter built into her house, the 68-year-old was happy to live in this part of the country. She loved it, in fact. And like thousands of her fellow Israelis, she wants to go back. Shes one of many making Holocaust comparisons after saying more Jews were killed in the surprise Hamas massacre on October 7 than on any single occasion since Adolf Hitler walked the earth. And Raemer, the secular left-winger, is urging her leaders on. Hamas and [another radical group] Islamic Jihad should be wiped off the face of this earth; the same as happened with the Nazis, she said. In the tortured world of Israeli-Palestinian relations, this retaliation promised to be harsher and more dangerous than the world has seen since the state of Israel was carved out of British Mandate Palestine by a UN resolution and brute force in 1948 . Netanyahu was forming a government of national unity to conduct the war he declared last weekend. His bombers were flattening Gazas poshest neighbourhood to rubble, and a ground invasion seemed imminent, intended, in his words, to make every Hamas member a dead man. Food, water and fuel imports to Gaza were cut off, shutting down the power station, as part of the prime ministers mighty vengeance in which more than a thousand have already died. As I was interviewing Raemer via WhatsApp, Israels response was gaining force. The army, ranks swelled by hundreds of thousands of reservists called up for service, were massing on the Gaza border. Last Saturday, thousands of militants broke out of their enclave into Israel and slayed 1200 Israelis using guns and grenades and kidnapped perhaps 130 more. They moved through the communities of this region with gruesome intent, piling bodies high and without discrimination or mercy. Gaza resident Haneen Wishah is among them. She and her five children were evacuated from their home on Thursday after they were warned the Israeli missiles were about to rain down. Even if they wanted to, the Palestinians of Gaza could not easily leave or escape the Israeli bombardment that began soon after the Hamas attack, and nor could they flee a bloody ground invasion , despite the half-baked suggestion by US President Joe Biden of a safe haven in Egypt. The Israeli citizens whose homes lie near the border with Gaza have made a choice to be there. A few kilometres away, in Gaza, on the other side of the fence, more than 2 million people do not enjoy that choice. In Israel, despite the dangerous neighbours, living near a border is not just a viable option or a lifestyle choice. Its a mission. Hamas are the Nazis of 2023. Raemer says once they are gone, she will move home. My eldest son who is 14 years [old] has witnessed six Israeli aggressions! Palestinians have been occupied for more than 75 years of oppression, aggressions, tightening the accessibility of people to everything, she told The Age and Herald in a WhatsApp text exchange because the internet connection to Gaza was too weak for a conversation. She has a different view from the Israelis just across the border about Saturdays attacks. Wishah does not see them as a seismic event. Israel is always subjecting us. Its an occupier, she replies. Wishahs grandparents fled to Gaza in 1948 when their village of Beit Affa a few kilometres further up the coast, was overrun by Israelis. Its now called Ashkelon. Two generations later, Wishah is stateless and still considered by the international community to be a refugee. While the nature and size of Hamas attack on Israeli citizens does not concern her, the ferocity of Israels response is greater than she has seen before. She describes it as crazy hysterical air strikes. Her children were scared to death, she said. The damage to Gaza from Israeli air strikes has been unprecedented. Credit: AFP Its different, the aggressiveness in targeting civilians, destroying complete neighbourhoods. I have evacuated my house in the middle of Gaza City, and its horrible when I see pictures of my place ... its turned into a ghost city. The West has tried to differentiate the actions of Hamas from the actions of ordinary Palestinian citizens, and to blame Hamas for the destruction raining down on innocents. Wishah is having none of it. The blame goes for Israel as its the occupier, she says, and the international community for failing to protect people under its occupation. When I see pictures of my place ... its turned into a ghost city. Haneen Wishah, who lives in Gaza Palestinian-Australian playwright Samah Sabawi, whose parents fled Gaza in 1967 when she was a baby, recognised that Israelis considered the events of last weekend to be an order of magnitude worse than the normal, deadly back-and-forth. Samah Sabawi and her son Nahed in Gaza in July. The Hamas attack, she said, had breached the infrastructure of walls, surveillance and permits an asymmetry of power that, in her view, had both lulled them into a sense of false security and enabled Israel to maintain the invisibility and subjugation of the Palestinians. For Palestinians the suffering, killing and displacement is a daily event, thats why they see it as part of a continuum. Dancing with the bible Sderot is 15 seconds by missile count from the border wall with Gaza. Its the biggest town in the region, a commuter hub (45 minutes to Tel Aviv on the train), and billions of Israeli government dollars have been poured into protecting it. The infrastructure of security that Sabawi refers to has allowed it to grow. For 20 years, Hamas and its predecessors have been lobbing missiles undirected, home-made projectiles that can nevertheless kill, maim and traumatise over the border fence toward people living nearby. Every house has a safe room, courtesy of the Israeli state. In many families, thats where the children sleep. Every bus stop is a bomb shelter. In a park in the centre of town, a caterpillar doubles as a safe haven for children. A sign on its side in Hebrew reads: When the red alert alarm sounds, you must get to safety beyond the orange line. In the southern Israeli town of Sderot, even the playground equipment is a bomb shelter. Credit: Michael Bachelard Above that again is the Iron Dome, Israels missile defence system. When a rocket launches, its spotted then, ideally, intercepted midair by an Israeli counterstrike and blown up before it can cause damage. It is not infallible, but it is good. Under the Iron Dome, Israelis felt safe or safe enough. They formulated a kind of dark humour: joked they were so close that most of the rockets flew over them; gave a campaigning US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama a Sderot T-shirt with a rocket rather than an arrow piercing the heart. They were prone to gathering on nearby Parash Hill for what was once dubbed Sderot cinema watching and cheering as Israeli missiles lit up Gaza during various earlier confrontations. In return for the feeling of safety, they populated the border regions. This was no mistake it was government policy. Apart from the train line, the bomb shelters, the beautiful parks and the cheap land, there were generous tax incentives to move to this area. Mechi Fendel describes herself as mother of seven, grandmother of 24, high-tech professional, teacher of Torah. Shes lived in Sderot for 30 years, the last 22 of which have been blighted by regular missile strikes. Shes religious her husband leads a Talmudic institute, a Yeshiva, which also has a womens program. On Saturday morning she was preparing for the holiday of Simchat Torah, which she described as dancing with the bible. Mother of 7 and grandmother of 24, Mechi Fendel. Most of the year we study it. This holiday we dance with it, we hug it, we kiss it and how much it means to our lives, how much its our connection to God, all the morals that the Judaic ethic has brought to the world. We look forward to that. But the attackers had other ideas. They went straight through the allegedly impregnable wall and slipped under the technological miracle of Iron Dome. The safe rooms, Raemer said, could be opened from outside so that people could be let out after a missile strike. This made them vulnerable to personal attack. Residents were gripping the inside door handle in the attempt to stop attackers from entering. This time, the threat came house to house, bed to bed, room to room a low-tech solution to Israels high-tech protections. Sending the missiles, we got used to it, its horrible, but we got used to it, Fendel says. Now were talking about terrorists with machine guns rape, kidnapping. We havent seen such a thing. The world hasnt seen such a thing. A grand bargain Fendel is now living with her extended family in a high school dormitory but is already talking about rebuilding and returning. She describes living on the border as a mission. In Israel, in her view, being a nationalist and religious are the same thing. When you put on your uniform and you go to the army youre like the high priest doing his service in the high temple, she says. When giving to the city its also about building the city were making a big difference in the whole area. The idea of populating inhospitable areas, of making the desert bloom, and above all of inhabiting the country to guard against the aspirations of Palestinians and Arab neighbours, has been stitched deep in the Israeli psyche since it was formed. You cant run away from terror; you cant run away from borders, Raemer says. You cant have empty borders with no one living there. There is a bargain here embodied by Iron Dome and safe rooms and the walls that surround Gaza and the occupied West Bank that the state must play its role too. In a story in The Atlantic, Amir Tibon, who lives in the Nahal Oz kibbutz, about four seconds rocket flight from Gaza, described his disgust that his elderly father, a retired general, had been the one to rescue him when the police and army had not. We had a contract with the state that communities like ours protect the border, Tibon said. This is why people live there We kept our part of the contract. We lived on the border And so the contract was: We protect the border, and the state protects us. He declared himself ashamed of my government. Noam Bedein, a former long-time resident of Sderot, said his faith in the state of Israel had also 100 per cent been shaken by the attack. This is going to shake the entire politics, everything, he said. The blow-back on Netanyahu has been instant. A right-winger whose political persona was built on toughness and the promise of security, he is seen to have taken his eye off the ball, focusing instead on an attempt to nobble the countrys Supreme Court that split the country and weakened its military. An editorial in the left-wing newspaper Haaretz argued that the prime minister had completely failed to identify the dangers he was consciously leading Israel into when establishing a government of annexation and dispossession, and by embracing a foreign policy that openly ignored the existence and rights of Palestinians. For most Israelis, the response is a dramatic reassertion of another defining Israeli trait: defiance. The tool of this defiance is the military to which almost every Israeli gives three years full-time service and many more as a reserve. In their anger, the Israeli population is egging on its government and army to conduct a swingeing retaliation, whatever the cost. Loading We certainly dont want to kill ordinary civilians, but if used as human shields for these terrorists well have no choice, says Mechi Fendel, the Sderot resident. A sense of duty in the face of danger does not only reside in Israel. In Gaza, Wishah feels it too. I ask if she would consider trying to flee with her children ahead of the coming storm. Never, she replies. Her grandmother who lost her home in 1948, in what Palestinians call the Nakba (meaning catastrophe in Arabic), had always wished she had stayed in her village all those years ago and never fled to Gaza. If she had the chance once again she would never leave her house, and would rather die at her place. I had many chances to get out of Gaza, but this is not my choice. Im the landowner. Even now Im registered as a refugee, but still, I have the dream, hope and determination to go back to my land. If I left Gaza, and others do, who will stay to serve people and to protect the right of return? The competing claims to this country are where this whole saga begins and remains stuck. Loading Sabawi, the Palestinian Australian, says her family in Gaza are expressing a deep sense of dread at whats to come. I got a message from my cousin: whats going to happen to us? They know the punishment, the rocket punishment, this is worse, as if, Were done for. From their end it doesnt look like Israel is defending itself. What they see on the ground is revenge killing. On the other side of the wall, Raemer says of her kibbutz, Nirim: My parents are buried there. My husband is buried there. My children are born there. She weeps as she adds: And our children will be able to play out on the lawn again without the fear of terror. But before then, she says, hardening her voice, this small, claustrophobic part of the world needs the Israeli army to bring about a reckoning. More coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Surprise attack: Hamas terrorists fired up to 5000 rockets from Gaza into Israel on October 7, triggering a declaration of war. Read our guide to the militant group and why its at war with Israel. Hamas terrorists fired up to 5000 rockets from Gaza into Israel on October 7, triggering a declaration of war. Read our guide to the militant group and why its at war with Israel. The Iron Dome explained: How did Hamas breach Israels sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system? And why didnt Israels intelligence services see these attacks coming? How did Hamas breach Israels sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system? And why didnt Israels intelligence services see these attacks coming? Tragedy in Israel: A 66-year-old Sydney woman has been killed and is the first known Australian casualty. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says the womans family in Israel and Australia is receiving consular assistance. Whats next: International editor Peter Hartcher joins the Please Explain podcast to analyse the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip - and explain why a much bigger conflict is afoot. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on whats making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here. Washington: Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says Australia has a responsibility to remain rock solid with the US as it confronts the triple challenges of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the war in Ukraine, and the threat of China in the Indo-Pacific. Weighing into the war in the Middle East, Rudd, who is now the Albanese Governments ambassador in Washington, also hit out at the unfolding brutality of Hamas for slaughtering innocent people and as a matter of doctrine, believing Israel should never exist. A leopard does not change its spots, he warned, citing Australias decision years ago when he was still in office to ban the group as an international terrorist organisation. Hamas is the very face of evil. Washington: US congressman Steve Scalise, who Republicans nominated to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, has dropped out of the race when the party failed to resolve its divisions, prolonging the leadership crisis in the chamber. Scalise, the number 2 House Republican, had secured his partys nomination to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy but was still short of the 217 House votes needed to be elected after several of his fellow Republicans said they would not support him. US House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, speaks with media. Credit: Bloomberg Republicans could afford no more than four defections as they control the House by a narrow 221-212 margin if they wanted to end the Houses leaderless bout that has already lasted nine days. I just shared with my colleagues that I was withdrawing my name as a candidate for our Speaker designee, Scalise told reporters. By Baek Byung-yeul Kia invited global dealers to Korea for the first time in five years to share business strategies, including the expansion of its electric vehicle (EV) business, the carmaker said, Friday. Kia said it hosted 390 people from 140 countries, including regional headquarters, subsidiaries in each country and chiefs of dealers to the Global Distributors Convention, which ran for four days from Oct. 10. The event is the first to be held since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the companys name change from Kia Motors to Kia and corporate identity refresh in 2021, the company said. On the first day of the convention, Kia CEO Song Ho-sung told participants, we need to transform our entire business structure to achieve sustainable growth. First, we need to expand our business scope, second, we need to become a company that takes on environmental and social responsibility and third, we need to become a customer-centric brand, the CEO said. In particular, Song emphasized the company will become a company that provides optimized mobility solutions such as purpose-based vehicles, ride-sharing cars and ride-hailing cars. Executives shared with dealership owners the company's mid- to long-term EV acceleration strategy, which aims to sell 4.3 million vehicles globally by 2030, including 1.6 million EVs. To that end, Kia plans to convert its Autoland Gwangmyeong plant 2 to an EV-only production facility and increase the number of EV models produced at its Autoland Hwaseong plant for international markets. In addition, the company also shared detailed business strategies such as strengthening the global supply chain, software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and design philosophy. Participants joined Kias EV Day event that introduced new EV models such as the EV4 and the EV5. In terms of becoming a more eco-friendly corporation, Kia told participants that it will strengthen its EV lineup and implement various campaigns to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The company added that it will proactively respond to climate change through the Ocean Cleanup project to collect and recycle ocean-bound plastics and the Blue Carbon project to restore domestic tidal flats in collaboration with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Mortgage brokers are well-positioned to provide value to property investors by leveraging partnerships, according to senior property expert Julian Fadini. Fadini (pictured above), director of NSW-based investing group PRPTY 360, said that both property investors and mortgage brokers specialised in their services, but they often dealt with the same client base. This positions us to draw on each other's services and partner up providing value to our customers," Fadini said. Property still a good investment Despite the turbulence of the current market, the Australian dream is alive and well. The vast majority of Australians still consider buying property to be a good investment and with Australian house values increasing 414.6% in the past 30 years, its easy to see why. Mortgage brokers are trusted by property investors to deliver these sales, writing 67.2% of all new residential home loans between April and June 2023, according to the latest MFAA data. The broker channel provides exceptional value to clients, creating more value than a client going to their bank or shopping around for the best rate on their own, Fadini said. However, the scope of their services does not often cross over into advising their customers on where to buy their property. In Australia, mortgage brokers are not legally allowed to provide property advice unless they also hold a valid real estate licence but they can leverage the expertise of others that do. This is why PRPTY 360 signed on as a premium sponsor at the 2023 Australian Mortgage Awards, specifically sponsoring the Broker of the Year Diversification award. We support brokers and let them know that we're aware of how much value that they create and partner with them to help their investment clients build a real estate portfolio, Fadini said. It helps diversify their offerings. A broker for life Besides the legalities and the potential conflicts of interests that could arise, brokers often dont have the time to conduct a thorough property analysis. On the other hand, this is all Fadini does. PRPTY 360s macro, micro, and meso strategy is a comprehensive approach to property investing that takes into account a wide range of factors. We provide a complete property acquisition service that delivers quantifiable results. We assist investors by providing privileged insight, guidance, and results, with the explicit objective of reducing risk and maximising investment returns, Fadini said. This is achieved by fusing extensive data analysis with kicking the dirt local market fundamentals gained from time spent with local councils, real estate agents and property developers in the area of interest as statistics in real life often look different than on paper. This gives Fadini and his team a better chance of identifying investment opportunities that are likely to generate good returns over the long term. Theres trends at each level of the property market and you need an expert in your corner to help pick the best strategy and avoid mistakes, Fadini said. Fadini said forging a partnership was beneficial for property investors too. We don't actually do any broking ourselves we dont know how. But our clients will often look for a broker that we can refer to them. In the same way that you have your family GP, Fadini said brokers often developed clients for life as they became a trusted advisor. Clients can become extremely loyal to the broker, Fadini said. Once a broker has provided at least three services or three loans or three coinciding types of advice to that particular client, they often become a client for life. We hope to tap into that relationship and become a trusted partner and property advisor for life. Mutually beneficial partnerships The fact of the matter is mortgage brokers often dont do it alone. With mortgage brokers already relying on a raft of experts to deliver bespoke services, Fadini said adding one more string to their bow could only make their service more holistic and valuable. Building a mutually beneficial partnership can only help us in the long run. We provide property investment advice while you help settle the purchase and our customers get the best of both worlds. Get the hottest and freshest mortgage news delivered right into your inbox. Subscribe now to our FREE daily newsletter. Gaza's Underground Network 'Gaza Metro': A Look at the Tunnels Thwarting Israeli Ground Advances (Photo: Israel Defense Forces) On October 12, the Israeli Air Force announced that it had dropped 6,000 bombs on the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, in the six days since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Palestine conflict. A military advisor from the Dutch peace organization PAX for Peace noted that the number of bombs Israel dropped in six days is close to the amount the U.S. Air Force dropped in Afghanistan in a year. The U.S. military's record for bombs dropped in Afghanistan stands at 7,423 in a year. Data from the Palestinian Health Department indicates that the death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,530, with nearly 700 being women and children. Additionally, over 6,000 people have been injured. Of Gaza's population of over 2 million, 340,000, or nearly 15%, are now homeless. On the Israeli side, at least 1,300 have died, with 3,297 injured. The total casualties from this round of conflict have reached tens of thousands. On Thursday, Israel also launched airstrikes on the international airports in Damascus and Aleppo, Syria. For years, Israel has been targeting Iranian interests and pro-Iranian militias inside Syria. Both Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon are allies of Hamas. Israel's intense airstrikes on Gaza and the mobilization of 360,000 reservists have increased the likelihood of a ground invasion of Gaza. On Friday, UN spokesperson Dujarric stated that the Israeli military had issued an evacuation order to the UN, demanding residents of northern Gaza evacuate within 24 hours. Northern Gaza is home to 1.1 million residents, half of Gaza's population. Dujarric described Israel's demand as "impossible to fulfill," warning that evacuating such a large number of people in such a short time would lead to "devastating humanitarian consequences." Gaza, covering only 365 square kilometers, is densely populated with buildings and people. Hamas, coexisting with civilians, is equipped with anti-tank missiles, rockets, drones, landmines, and various explosives. If Israel were to invade Gaza and engage in street combat, the casualties would be even more severe. Beyond the brutal urban warfare, Gaza's extensive tunnel network will pose significant challenges to the advancing Israeli forces. The tunnel network in Gaza existed before Hamas took control in 2007, originally used for smuggling essential goods from Egypt. Now, the tunnels span the entirety of Gaza, with several leading directly into Israel, referred to by Israel as the "Gaza Metro." Tunnel entrances are typically located beneath homes, schools, mosques, and other public buildings. This practice has sparked controversy, with accusations that Hamas uses civilians as human shields. If Israel attempts to destroy the tunnels through airstrikes, even using bunker-busting bombs that penetrate underground before detonating, they would first need to drop bombs that penetrate civilian homes. In the 2021 Gaza conflict, Israel's airstrikes targeting Hamas tunnels resulted in the destruction of three residential buildings, killing 42 people. The Israeli military explained that the target was the tunnels, but the underground explosions damaged the foundations of the residential buildings, causing them to collapse. If Israeli soldiers were to enter the tunnels from the ground, they would face a complex underground maze and various explosive devices set up by Hamas. Hamas has previously threatened to execute Israeli hostages, who could potentially be taken into the tunnels. A 2014 assessment of the Gaza conflict by the U.S. Military Academy's Counterterrorism Center highlighted rockets, ground forces, and the tunnel system as the three key elements of Hamas's warfare against Israel. The assessment believed that the tunnels served as shelters from airstrikes for Hamas, but more importantly, they were used to hide weapons, transport troops and arms, and continue command operations underground. Additionally, the tunnels are closely related to rocket attacks, making it difficult for Israel to locate rocket launch sites and launchers. The communication and defensive tunnels allow Hamas to move quickly below the battlefield, relocating to safer locations. Offensive tunnels are used to bypass Israeli surveillance and launch surprise attacks. Each tunnel used in combat is managed by different Hamas squads responsible for excavation and wartime operations. In 2006, Hamas used a tunnel to enter Israel and kidnap Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit was held captive for five years before being released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The extent of the tunnel network beneath Gaza remains uncertain to Israel. During the 2014 Gaza conflict, the Israeli military discovered and destroyed 36 tunnels, six of which led directly into Israel. Photos released by Israel at the time showed that Gaza's tunnels were reinforced with concrete, equipped with cables, generators, and communication systems. Some even had small rail systems for transporting equipment. Middle Eastern media reported that every Hamas member, from leadership to regular soldiers, was very familiar with the tunnel routes related to them. Top leaders had exclusive tunnels that could serve as command centers in emergencies. Israel estimated that between 2007 and 2014, Hamas built at least 1,300 tunnels at a cost of $1.25 billion, with the widest tunnels being large enough for vehicles. In 2018, the Israeli military discovered a tunnel from Gaza leading to the Mediterranean Sea. Hamas used this tunnel to enter the Mediterranean and then dive to reach Israel for attacks. During the 2021 Gaza conflict, the Israeli military claimed to have destroyed over 100 kilometers of tunnels. However, Hamas stated that their tunnel network spans 500 kilometers, with only 5% being destroyed. Before their military use, Gaza's tunnels were primarily used for smuggling essential goods from Egypt, including livestock, clothing, and food. After Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel and Egypt imposed a year-round blockade on Gaza, strictly limiting the movement of goods and people. Before 2010, Israel prohibited the import of construction materials, industrial raw materials, and "luxury goods" like toys and chocolate into Gaza. Tunnel excavation and goods smuggling became Gaza's "tunnel industry." In 2011, a tunnel operator told Foreign Policy magazine that the minimum cost for a small tunnel used for smuggling cement was $15,000, while a large tunnel for smuggling cars could cost up to $150,000. To regulate the tunnel industry, Hamas established a Tunnel Bureau responsible for overseeing tunnel construction quality, controlling the types of goods entering and exiting, and collecting taxes. Researchers estimate that in 2009, Hamas collected between $150 million and $200 million in tunnel taxes, rising to $300 million by 2011. While providing a source of income for Hamas, the tunnel industry also offered employment opportunities for Gaza's youth. A 2011 report from the Middle East Research and Information Project stated that the tunnel industry was the second-largest non-governmental employer in Gaza and the largest employer of young people. At its peak, 22,000 people in Gaza were involved in the tunnel industry. The report believed that during the strictest periods of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade on Gaza, the tunnel industry allowed for the reconstruction of Gaza and stimulated other industries. In October 2011, half of the 1,400 factories destroyed by Israel in the 2008 Gaza conflict had resumed operations. However, as smugglers began using the tunnels to smuggle weapons in the opposite direction and transport them to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian government intensified its crackdown on Gaza's tunnels. The Sinai Peninsula is home to several extremist groups, including ISIS, and the Egyptian government has been in continuous conflict with these militias. In 2015, Egypt destroyed the entrances to Gaza's tunnels on its side and pumped seawater into them, rendering them useless. However, over 20 tunnels used for transporting goods remained intact. Today, Gaza's tunnel network, the "Gaza Metro," is once again a primary target for Israel in its efforts against Hamas. This week, Israel announced the formation of a wartime cabinet, specifically to oversee the war against Hamas. The cabinet consists only of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gantz, and Blue and White party leader Gantz. Gantz stated that the wartime cabinet is ready to "wipe Hamas off the face of the earth." India's imports from Russia rose by about 67 per cent to $ 30.42 billion during the April-September period this fiscal on higher shipments of crude oil and fertiliser, according to the commerce ministry data. With this, Russia has become India's second-largest import source during the first half of this fiscal. The imports were $ 18.24 billion during April-September 2022. From a market share of less than 1 per cent in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's share of India's oil imports rose to over 40 per cent. India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been buying Russian oil that was available at a discount after some countries in the West shunned it as a means of punishing Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. The ministry's data showed that imports from China dipped to $ 50.47 billion during the period against $ 52.42 billion in the same period last year. Similarly, imports from the US declined to $ 21.39 billion during the period under review from $ 25.79 billion in April-September last year. Imports from the UAE contracted to $ 20.7 billion during April-September 2023 compared to $ 27.8 billion a year ago. During the first half of this fiscal, imports also dipped from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Indonesia, Singapore and Korea. Among all the top ten import source nations of India, imports from Hong Kong increased to $ 10.21 billion as against $ 10 billion in April-September 2022. On the export front, India's exports to seven of its top 10 destinations have recorded a negative growth rate during the period. During the first six months of this fiscal, the country's merchandise exports to the US, the UAE, China, Singapore, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh have dipped. However, exports to the UK, Australia and the Netherlands have recorded positive growth. India's merchandise exports contracted by 2.6 per cent to $ 34.47 billion in September even as the country's merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $ 19.37 billion during the month under review, according to the government data released on Friday. Also Read India's oil imports from Russia climb to new peak as buying limit nears India's palm oil imports hit 27-month low, buyers pick cheaper soft oils India loosening its planned restrictions on laptop, tablet imports Indian refiners start yuan payments for Russian oil imports: Report Can India continue with purchasing spree of Russian oil as discounts narrow Govt extends 20% tax on exports of parboiled rice until March 2024 Exports contraction narrows in September; govt sees 'greenshoots' Middle-East conflict raises fuel price concerns, says FM Sitharaman Currency markets interventions not always 'black and white': RBI Governor G20 finance ministers, central bank governors adopt crypto assets roadmap The visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Sri Lanka and his meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe has furthered bilateral cooperation and brought to the fore the wide scope and the agility of India's development cooperation partnership with Sri Lanka, the Indian High Commission said here on Friday. Jaishankar was in Colombo to participate in the 23rd Council of Ministers' meeting and the 25th Committee of Senior Officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) on October 11. During this visit, his second in 2023, Jaishankar called on President Wickremesinghe and discussed a diverse range of areas pertaining to bilateral ties as the two countries are marking 75 years of diplomatic relations. "Recalling the bilateral economic partnership vision statement issued during the visit of the President of Sri Lanka to India in July 2023, they (Jaishankar and Wickremesinghe) agreed on the need to strengthen multiple dimensions of connectivity such as trade, people-to-people, and energy partnership, among others as outlined in the statement. They also agreed to fast track priority steps for achieving the goals envisaged in the Vision Statement in a time-bound manner, the Indian High Commission said in a statement. The visit brought to the fore the wide scope and the agility of India's development cooperation partnership with Sri Lanka, it said. "It was a pleasure to join President Wickremesinghe in his meeting with India's Minister of External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar today. We discussed, amongst others, strengthening our bilateral ties and also witnessed the signing of important agreements," Sri Lanka's foreign minister Ali Sabry posted on X on Thursday. To mark the establishment of 75 years of diplomatic relations between India and Sri Lanka, a joint logo was unveiled by the EAM and the Lankan President. The logo which is shaded with hues of the two national flags also depicts the national emblems and captures the spirit of partnership, friendship, and close ties between the two countries. Also Read Asia Cup 2023 Sri Lanka vs Pakistan Playing 11, toss result, live streaming Asia Cup final, IND vs SL Highlights: Siraj hero as India lift the trophy World Cup, PAK vs SL Highlights: Rizwan, Shafique shine in historic win Asia Cup 2023: BAN vs SL Playing 11, toss result, live streaming & telecast World Cup 2023 SA vs SL Highlights: Records galore, Proteas win by 102 runs AI programme will enable to achieve $1 trn digital economy: Chandrasekhar Female labour force participation rate reaches 37% in 2023: Research India will not impose restrictions on laptop imports: Trade secy Barthwal India's exports decline 2.6% to $34.47 bn in September: Govt data Risk of Indian banks' unsecured retail loans turning sour is rising: UBS The High Commission statement also said, Diplomatic letters for formalising an almost three-fold increase in the unit cost of a house from SLR 1.026 million to SLR 2.8 million under Phase-4 of Indian Housing Project for the construction of 10,000 houses in plantation areas of Sri Lanka were exchanged and added, Soon, 1,300 of these houses shall be rolled out. The Government of India's decision to further streamline the implementation of nine ongoing grant projects by infusion of additional funds to the tune of up to 50 per cent was also given effect through the exchange of diplomatic letters. As many as 126 houses under Phase-3 of Indian Housing Project in Badulla, Matale and Matara districts were inaugurated virtually. A total of more than one hundred houses constructed under Model Village Housing and Gram Shakthi projects in Hambantota, Jaffna, Matale and Puttalam districts were also handed over virtually. Another outcome of the bilateral meeting was the Joint Venture Shareholders Agreement on Dairy Development between India's National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation cooperative (also known as AMUL) and Cargills of Sri Lanka. This agreement is in pursuance of the Joint Declaration of Intent signed during the visit of the President of Sri Lanka, aimed at realising Sri Lanka's self-sufficiency in the sector by drawing upon India's experience, the High Commission said. At the IORA meeting, India assumed the role of the Vice Chair for the year 2023-25, ahead of the Chairship in 2025-27. The Council of Ministers' adopted the Colombo Communique and the IORA Vision 2030 and Beyond', among other IORA-related documents. The finance ministers of the G20 nations have called for swift and coordinated implementation of the G20 roadmap to deal with the issues related to crypto assets. The G20 Roadmap on Crypto Assets adopted by the G20 Finance Ministers was spelt out in a Synthesis Paper prepared jointly by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Financial Stability Board (FSB). "We adopt the roadmap proposed in the Synthesis Paper as a G20 Roadmap on Crypto Assets...We call for swift and coordinated implementation of the G20 Roadmap, including implementation of policy frameworks; outreach beyond G20 jurisdictions; global coordination, cooperation and information sharing; and addressing data gaps," said a communique issued during the fourth meeting of the FMCBG on Thursday. The Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) of G20 nations met on the sidelines of IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco. However, the communique made no mention of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. At least 2,800 people in Israel and Gaza have been killed in the conflict, with thousands of others injured since October 6. Asked why there was no reference to the Israel-Hamas war as it has global economic implications, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "The communique was released last evening after the first session and there were not very many discussions on the conflict and therefore it didn't find a place on the in the communique. On the impact of the conflict on the global economy, she said, "The recent crisis in the Middle East and the concerns about fuel (price rise) is back again. These are worries that many countries do hold and they expressed these as well. The concern and uncertainties are about the peace...fuel concerns affecting the food security aspects and fragmentation of supply chains.. Asked about the impact on the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), Sitharaman said this India initiative is for long-term benefit and short-term development will not have any bearing on this. Talking about the G20 Roadmap on crypto assets, she said it is a detailed and action-oriented roadmap that will help coordinate global policy as well as develop mitigating strategies and regulations on such assets while also taking into consideration the specific implications on Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs). Also Read Embellished trees, floral works: New Delhi gets ready for G20 Summit Tharoor lauds India's sherpa after '200 hrs of non-stop negotiations' claim A look at the millet-rich culinary extravaganza that awaits G20 guests Heading to India with a clear focus, says Rishi Sunak ahead of G20 Summit G20 Summit: Cong chief Mallikarjun Kharge not invited to President's dinner RBI slaps monetary penalties on RBL Bank, Union Bank, and Bajaj Finance Indian Bank partners with Tata Motors arms to offer supply-chain financing Forex reserves further drop by $2.17 billion to $584.74 billion: RBI State-run banks to lower bond purchases as liquidity tightens: Officials Traders puzzled why the RBI spends billions fighting stronger dollar Going forward, regular updates on the progress of the roadmap will be provided by the IMF and the FSB in G20 meetings, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the media briefing in Marrakesh. The G20 has asked to identify an appropriate and coordinated timeline to commence exchanges by relevant jurisdictions under the Crypto Assets Reporting Framework (CARF), she said. Considering the aspirations of a significant number of jurisdictions, she said, it has been decided that the information exchanges by CARF will start by 2027 by these jurisdictions. To establish this process, the CARF group was formed in September 2023, she said, adding FMCBG expressed their commitment to take forward the actions mandated by the G20 Leaders in New Delhi.. The Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) communique drew guidance from the G20 New Delhi Leaders Declaration (NDLD) and benefited significantly from the consensus that was reached at the Leaders' Summit last month, a press statement issued by the finance ministry said. The communique was unanimously adopted at the fourth and final meeting of the G20 FMCBG under the Indian Presidency in Marrakesh, Morocco on the sidelines of the IMF-WB Annual Meetings. The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies. It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union (EU). Together, they account for over 80 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product, 75 per cent of international trade and two-thirds of the world population. With regard to Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), the communique said that the ministers committed themselves to pursuing ambitious efforts to evolve and strengthen MDBs to address the global challenges of the 21st century with a continued focus on addressing the development needs of low and middle-income countries. "We re-emphasise the need for an additional push for continued and further impetus for ambitious implementation of the recommendations of the G20 Independent Review of MDBs Capital Adequacy Frameworks (CAFs) within MDBs' own governance frameworks while safeguarding their long-term financial sustainability, with a regular review of the progress of implementation on a rolling basis...," it said. The ministers appreciated the work undertaken by the G20 Independent Expert Group (IEG) in preparing Volume 2 of their report. The board of each MDB will be best placed to determine if and when a capital increase is needed in addition to CAF measures to support efforts in addressing global challenges and meeting development needs, it said. Going forward, it said, "We call on the International Financial Architecture Working Group to deliberate on the IEG recommendations in consultation with MDBs and suggest a way forward for better, bigger and more effective MDBs, including ways to work together better as a system, in our meeting in April 2024. It called upon the IMF and World Bank to report by our next meeting on the work undertaken to support efforts at enhancing domestic resource mobilisation of EMDEs, considering each country's circumstances. On managing global debt vulnerabilities, the ministers called for a swift conclusion of the debt treatment for Ethiopia while welcoming progress in Zambia and Ghana. Beyond the Common Framework, we also welcome all efforts for timely resolution of the debt situation of Sri Lanka and the ongoing progress and call for its swift conclusion as soon as possible. It also appreciated the efforts of the International Financial Architecture Working Group in taking forward the work on the debt agenda, including the preparation of the G20 Note on the Global Debt Landscape. The G20 Finance Ministers agreed to continue implementation of the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments and appreciated the third annual progress report on the Cross-Border Payments Roadmap and the first annual monitoring report with key performance indicators for meeting the targets. With the new G20 2023 Financial Inclusion Action Plan, it was decided that the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion would continue its work for advancing this in all three dimensions viz., access, usage and quality, for individuals and MSMEs through innovative methods, including digital public infrastructure in support of inclusive growth and sustainable development. Appreciating the critical step taken by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in finalising guidance on trusts and other legal arrangements, the communique said, "We commit to effectively implement the associated revised standard on beneficial ownership transparency. It welcomed the positive developments in FATF towards revising its standards on asset recovery and reinforcing global asset recovery networks so as to enhance global efforts to recover criminal proceeds promptly and effectively. Apart from these outcomes, the communique reflects the outcomes from the various G20 Finance Track workstreams that were completed post-July FMCBG meeting and the G20 New Delhi Summit, it said. The communique also welcomed the upcoming Brazilian Presidency of the G20 and looked forward to continued work on enhancing global economic cooperation to achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. A proposed mosque coming up in Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh will be named after Prophet Muhammad, an umbrella body of mosques announced on Thursday. The umbrella body of mosques made the decision after a meeting of clerics in Mumbai. The mosque will built by the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust on land allotted in Dhannipur village in compliance with the Supreme Court directives in the 2019 Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title verdict, which paved the way for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The upcoming mosque will be called "Mohammed Bin Abdullah Masjid", said the All India Rabta-e-Masjid, an organisation of mosques across the country. The mosque site is located around 22 km away from the original location of the Babri Masjid, which was brought down on December 6, 1992. On Thursday, around 1,000 clerics of various Muslim sects met in Mumbai to finalise the design of the proposed mosque. "The Dhannipur mosque will be named after Prophet Mohammed-Bin-Abdullah, and its design will be inspired by ancient Islamic architecture. Pune architect Imran Sheikh will oversee its construction," Zufar Farooqi, chairman of the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times (HT). "The dimensions of the mosque would soon be shared, and we hope it would turn out to be one of the most beautiful mosques in the world," said Farooqi, adding, "The best thing about the new design is its traditional looks". Farooqi further said that a target had been set to collect more than Rs 300 crore for constructing the mosque, its hospital, kitchen and library. "We had prepared the blueprint for the collection of funds. It is hoped that the drive to collect funds will be successful. We will start construction of the mosque as soon as funds are collected," he added. Also Read Gyanvapi row: ASI survey underway at mosque complex amid tight security Submit objects related to Hindu religion: Court's order on Gyanvapi case Gyanvapi row: Allahabad court to hear petition filed by waqf board today Phase-I construction of Ayodhya's airport to be completed by August Supreme Court revives Gyanvapi panel plea, explains ASI survey stay Woken by sound of sirens, spent time in shelters: Indians back from Israel Not in the run for CM in Rajasthan, says BJP MP Gajendra Shekhawat CDSCO gives 6-month extension to medical device manufacturers for imports It's time for peace, brotherhood; it's time to walk together: PM Modi Bihar accident: Delhi-bound up line restored, work underway on down line Also Read: What is Ayodhya Case Several global leaders raised concerns over the issue of terrorism globally and affirmed that all the countries need to come together to fight this menace. The leader also applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks at the P20 Summit, where he emphasised the issue and recalled the terror incidents against India. Speaking to ANI, Russian Member of Parliament, Pyotr Tolstoy said, "It is a big problem for all the world. I think the parliaments of the world need to have a strong declaration against terrorism...It's very important for millions of millions of citizens". The Secretary General of Nigeria, Saleh Abubakar also voiced against terrorism, calling it a 'global issue' and said that all countries need to work for achieving peace. "The issue of terrorism is a global issue. It is something for which the whole world should come out and find a solution. The way he (PM Modi) is taking it with this motto --One Earth, One Family, One Future-- if all leaders come together and say that we are all one and we need to work together as a family, then all this will be stopped," Abubakar said. He added, "The world cannot move as a family unless there is peace...Everything is centred around peace, and that is what we all should work on...This is a great achievement (Women's Reservation Bill)." Earlier, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt had also applauded PM Modi's address and said it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure peace in the world. "World terrorism is a big challenge for us, all of us have to find a solution for it so that peace can be restored in the world...PM Modi has clearly said that it's the responsibility of all to ensure peace in the world...Our slogan that has been accepted by all countries at the international level was 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'...so, it's a family. If anybody in a family gets hurt, it's the responsibility of all to find a solution," he told ANI. Also Read Embellished trees, floral works: New Delhi gets ready for G20 Summit Tharoor lauds India's sherpa after '200 hrs of non-stop negotiations' claim A look at the millet-rich culinary extravaganza that awaits G20 guests IMF's Gita Gopinath praises India's G20 Summit message, PM Modi responds Heading to India with a clear focus, says Rishi Sunak ahead of G20 Summit Antarctica's ice shelves reduced by 40% in volume over 25 years: Study Excise policy case: AAP's Sanjay Singh sent to judicial custody till Oct 27 SBI Pradhan Mantri e-Mudra Loan: How to apply, eligibility, features, more Excise policy case: HC seeks ED stand on Sanjay Singh's plea against arrest 56th edition of IHGF Delhi Fair Autumn and Delhi Fair Furniture has begun Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi, during his P20 address invoked the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament and said that India has been facing and battling cross-border terrorism for many years. Giving the keynote address, PM Modi said, "India has been facing cross-border terrorism for many years now. Terrorists have taken the lives of thousands of our people. Nearly 20 years ago, the old Parliament building, which is near the old one, came under attack by terrorists. You will be shocked to know that Parliament was in session at the time of the attack". "Whatever be the cause or motivations, terrorism is against humanity. We will have to fight terrorism. Also, it is disheartening to see that there is no consensus among countries on the language and definition of terrorism. Terrorists are taking advantage of this," he added. While the G20 member countries attended the event, Canada was conspicuous by its absence at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20). Earlier Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, at a press briefing, informed that apart from G20 countries, 10 other countries and international organizations will participate in the P20 Summit and so far, 50 Parliamentarians and 14 Secretary Generals, including 26 Presidents, 10 Vice Presidents, one Committee Chairman and the IPU President have confirmed their participation. Speakers and heads of delegation of Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Spain, European Parliament, Italy, South Africa, Russia, Turkiye, Nigeria, Australia, Brazil, UAE, Singapore, Japan, Egypt and Bangladesh were present at the event. KHNP's consortium to sign $1.85 billion deal to refurbish nuclear reactors in Romania By Ko Dong-hwan Korea is set to regain its status as a global nuclear energy powerhouse after winning a series of construction and maintainence deals for nuclear power plants abroad over the past year, according to industry analysts Friday. President Yoon Suk Yeol has pushed to rebuild and nurture the nuclear power industry as the nation's main export item after scrapping the previous Moon Jae-in administration's anti-nuclear policies. Analysts said Korea's nuclear technology is being acknowledged internationally beyond what the majority of locals may think, largely because of its trustworthy reputation for quality and safety. The latest achievement was the signing of a tripartite consortium agreement between Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP), Canada's Candu Energy and Italia's Ansaldo Nucleare for a project in Romania, Thursday. Their aim is to participate in the future retubing and refurbishment project for the Cernavoda Unit 1 Nuclear Power Plant developed by Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica (SNN), Romania's state-owned nuclear energy company. The project will enable Cernavoda Unit 1's license renewal. The total project cost is estimated to reach $1.85 billion. KHNP and other Korean firms participating in the project including KEPCO KPS and Doosan Enerbility will take about 40 percent of it. "It's a sole race for our consortium with no rivals," an official from KHNP said. "We will submit our proposal in coming January when SNN is expected to request it." The project target is a 700 megawatt-capacity CANDU-6 unit with a design lifetime of 30 years. The Cernavoda Unit 1 has been operating since 1996 and its license expires by the end of 2026. By extending the license, SNN plans to upgrade and replace the reactor's key components such as pressure tubes, turbines and generator internals from 2027 until 2029. Candu Energy is the original equipment manufacturer and steward of CANDU technology a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power worldwide. Ansaldo is the original designer of the Balance of Plant of Cernavoda Units 1 and 2. In the project, KHNP, Korea's major nuclear power plant operator, will spearhead construction of infrastructure such as radioactive waste storage. Its role came after it successfully completed a retubing project for Korea's Wolsong-1 nuclear reactor in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in 2009-11. "With the unique strengths harnessed, the synergistic partnership will cultivate an environment for a seamless and satisfactory delivery of the project to the clients satisfaction," said the KHNP official. Drawing on our large-scale refurbishment project management capabilities gained from the past experiences at Kori Unit 1 and Wolsong Unit 1, we are happy to partner with Canadian and Italian companies to craft a proposal that aligns with our clients expectations. KHNP's latest consortium came as it had proven the superiority of its nuclear technologies compared to other countries by retubing the Wolsong-1 reactor in the shortest period of time, said Chung Bum-jin, president of Korean Nuclear Society and nuclear engineering professor at Kyung Hee University. When KHNP retubed an aged 700 megawatt-capacity CANDU-6 unit at Wolsong, it took 27 months. Argentina retubed components of the same specifications at the Embalse plant in 37 months. The same job took Canada 46 months at the Point Lepreau plant. "KHNP's Romanian bid shows Korean nuclear technologies that used to borrow technologies from other countries are now exporting themselves back to the world," Chung said. KHNP previously signed a contract with JSC AtomStroyExport for the secondary construction of El Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt in August 2022. The $2.5 billion deal contracted KHNP to construct 80 buildings and structures in four El Dabaa units and supply equipment. Last June, the Korean firm also signed a $260 million deal with Romania's state-run nuclear operator to build a new tritium removal facility. Last year the company also bidded for a new nuclear plant project in the Czech Republic and agreed with Poland to build Korea's major power plant model in Patnow. The Madhya Pradesh High Court (HC) has allowed the restoration of a criminal case which was earlier dismissed, as the lawyer performs one hour of community service at a children's home, the Bar and Bench reported on Friday. According to the report, Judge Anand Pathak asked the lawyer to visit Mercy Home at Gwalior with some food items and spend one hour with those who have been housed there. "This community service of one hour would not only be satisfying to the soul but would also give a message to the differently abled children that society and its members care for them and that they are not considered as the children of the Lesser God," the Court order read, according to the report. The lawyer also has to submit a report within 15 days on her experience. In August, India joined the ranks of countries like the US, UK, Sweden and many other developed nations, with the Centre proposing to introduce community service as a punishment for petty crimes in the Indian legal framework. The proposed law to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC) also suggests community service in cases like suicide attempts, public servants unlawfully engaged in trade, theft of property less than Rs 5,000, public intoxication and defamation. Pitched as a way to rehabilitate first-time offenders, community service has also been a useful tool to address the problem of crowded jails. Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha. "For the first time, we are introducing community service. It is in practice in some parts, but its introduction in the Indian law is being made now," he said. Though there have been many instances of courts sentencing offenders to community service, no law or even guidelines are set in place that streamline such orders, which are often given at a judge's discretion. In 2019, the Supreme Court ordered a doctor to plant 100 trees in a year as a punishment for attempting to commit murder at the age of 16. In February of the same year, the Delhi High Court directed Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and four others to plant 15,000 trees, observing that they had failed to file a response on an ED appeal challenging their acquittal in the 2G case. Also Read AAP releases first list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh assembly elections Key BJP candidates to watch out for in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls MP elections 2023: Congress to take out Jan Aakrosh Yatra from Sept 15 BJP's decision to field MPs in Assembly polls a 'good move': Union Minister Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chouhan allocates portfolios to 3 new ministers Anyone can enter a temple anywhere, work to eradicate caste bias: Hosabale As India's rank falls to 111, here's everything about Global Hunger Index 'Will introduce resolution to recognise significance of Diwali in US' Can't deny that Hamas attack was because of Israel-Gaza war: Chidambaram Operation Ajay: Flight carrying 212 Indians from Israel lands in Delhi (With agency inputs) The Tamil Nadu government will strongly fight for the release of 14,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water by Karnataka to the state, Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said on Friday amidst the travails of farmers in the delta districts in saving standing paddy crops. Farmers dependent only on the water from the Mettur dam have taken up Kuruvai crop (short-term) cultivation in the delta districts and in certain pockets in Thanjavur district, anticipating steady discharge of Cauvery water from neighbouring Karnataka have taken up the Samba (long-duration) paddy crop. However, their hopes of realising a good yield appears bleak owing to the water level in the Mettur reservoir nearing dead storage. Besides agriculture, water from the dam caters to the drinking water requirement in the districts. Tamil Nadu will present its case at Friday's meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and strongly contend for the release of 14,000 cusecs of water to save the standing crops in the delta districts, Duraimurugan told reporters here. On Wednesday the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu from October 16 to 31, he said. To a question, the Minister ruled out the scope of releasing water from Mettur dam. "There is hardly 10 TMC water in the reservoir. So, we can't release water. Though the catchment areas are receiving rain we have to wait and see if the situation would improve," he added. The sudden rain in the catchment areas of Thoppaiyaru and Palar triggered a meager rise in the Mettur dam water level. Though the inflows increased to 18,974 cusecs on Thursday evening from 2,528 cusecs on the previous day, the inflows however, decreased to about 12,606 cusecs today, a Public Works Department official said. According to the secretary of Federation of Tamil Nadu All Farmers Association C Nallasamy, the water level in the dam decreased to 32 feet for the first time in the last seven years due to the failure of the southwest monsoon. He claimed that if the current situation continued there would be a crisis not only for agriculture but also drinking water in the districts dependent on Cauvery. Also Read We will safeguard interests of state: Shivakumar on Cauvery water dispute Protests erupt in Karnataka as SC refuses to interfere in Cauvery water row Cauvery issue: TN CM urges PM to intervene, advise K'taka to release water Karnataka does not own Cauvery: DMK leader TKS Elangovan on water row Security stepped up in Bengaluru over protests on Cauvery water dispute Low electricity generation, higher demand led to power shortage: K'taka CM Zomato, McDonald's fined Rs 1 lakh for delivering non-veg in place of veg AAP releases third candidate list with 11 names for Chhattisgarh polls 'Conflicts do not benefit anyone': PM Modi at P20 Summit | Top quotes Jharkhand HC dismisses Hemant Soren's petition against ED summons Chinese electronic brand OnePlus confirmed the launch of its maiden foldable smartphone- OnePlus Open, in India. The new foldable smartphone will be unveiled at an in-person event in Mumbai at 7:30 PM (IST) on October 19. Announcing the official launch date for the new foldable smartphone, OnePlus President Kinder Liu said the Open smartphone will not compromise on its display, camera performance and weight despite its foldable form factor. He also stated that with this new device, OnePlus will continue to explore new opportunities and possibilities with evolving smartphone form factors. OnePlus has also promised to deliver a flagship-level performance and experience with its new foldable smartphone. According to media reports, the OnePlus Open foldable smartphone will feature a 7.82-inch main display and a 6.31-inch outer shell display. The device may get up to 24GB RAM and up to 1TB storage along with the Alert Slider, which OnePlus reintroduced with its 11 series. Previously, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau confirmed that its maiden foldable device would be released under OPPO brand in some countries. OnePlus also confirmed that both devices will be identical but have different brand names. Lau said the upcoming foldable has been a joint development project between the sister brands' teams. He also said that the idea to co-develop a foldable device is to offer the best foldable device using the expertise and experience of both brands. Will Lebanon's heavily armed Hezbollah militia join the Israel-Hamas war? The answer could well determine the direction of a battle that is bound to reshape the Middle East. Hezbollah, which like Hamas is supported by Iran, has so far been on the fence about joining the fighting between Israel and the Gaza Strip's Islamic militant rulers. For the past six days, Israel has besieged Gaza and hammered the enclave of 2.3 million Palestinians with hundreds of airstrikes in response to a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel. Israel, which has vowed to crush Hamas, is now preparing for a possible ground offensive. While the country's political and military leaders weigh the next move, they are nervously watching Hezbollah on Israel's northern border and have sent troop reinforcements to the area. Hezbollah, with an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles capable of hitting virtually anywhere in Israel, is viewed as a far more formidable foe than Hamas. Israel is anxious that opening a new front in the country's north could change the tide of the war, with Hezbollah's military caliber far superior to that of Hamas. But the fighting could be equally devastating for Hezbollah and Lebanon. The possibility of a new front in Lebanon also brings back bitter memories of a vicious monthlong war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 that ended in a stalemate and a tense detente between the two sides. Lebanon is in the fourth year of a crippling economic crisis and is bitterly divided between Hezbollah and its allies and opponents, paralysing the political system. Israel is especially worried about Hezbollah's precision-guided missiles, which are believed to be aimed at strategic targets like natural gas rigs and power stations. Hezbollah is also battle-hardened from years of fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's troops in neighboring Syria. At the same time, Hamas and Hezbollah have grown closer as Hamas leaders have moved to Beirut in recent years. While Hezbollah has largely remained on the sidelines, people close to the group say an Israeli ground offensive could be a possible trigger for it to fully enter the conflict with devastating consequences. Qassim Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to the group, said Hezbollah will not allow Hamas' destruction and won't leave Gaza alone to face a ground incursion. Also Read LIVE: 1st Operation Ajay flight with 212 Indians stranded in Israel arrives Iran Prez, Saudi Crown Prince hold 1st call since ties mended, discuss war WTO chief warns of 'big impact' on trade if Israel-Hamas conflict widens US defence secy to visit Israel to discuss military aid following attack Israel-Hamas war: EU asks X for information on hate speech, illegal content US issues Level 2 advisory for B'desh, urges citizens to exercise caution Trump's criticism of Netanyahu draws strong condemnation from GOP rivals China's consumer inflation rate flatlines in Sept amid precarious recovery Zionist in my heart: US President's devotion to Israel faces a new test 'Will introduce resolution to recognise significance of Diwali in US' When the situation requires further escalation, then Hezbollah will do so, he told The Associated Press. An official with a Lebanese group familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Hezbollah fighters have been placed on full alert. Hezbollah and Israel have targeted military outposts and positions in brief rocket and shelling exchanges on the border since the outbreak of the Gaza war. Three Hezbollah fighters were killed Monday, while Israeli officials said one Israeli soldier was killed in an anti-tank missile attack two days later. Three Israeli soldiers were killed and five were wounded in a skirmish with Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants who crossed the southern Lebanese border into Israel. Hamas also claimed responsibility for firing several rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon. Anthony Elghossain, a senior analyst with the Washington-based New Lines Institute, said that while neither Israel nor Hezbollah appears to want to enter significant and sustained armed conflict, there is a risk of escalation even without a ground invasion of Gaza if either side makes a miscalculation and oversteps the usual rules of engagement. With an eye toward Hezbollah, U.S. President Joe Biden has warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict, sending American warships to the region and vowing full support for Israel. "He's backed up that warning with the deployment of our largest carrier group, the Gerald R. Ford, as well as again making sure that Israel has what it needs and that we also have appropriate assests in place," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday during a stop in Israel. While Hezbollah officials and legislators have threatened escalation, their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has remained silent since Hamas' surprise weekend attack. The group in its public statements has said that they are continuing to monitor the situation. A spokesperson for Hezbollah did not respond to requests for comment. An Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, said in a video briefing posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the situation is relatively stable on the northern front. We are monitoring the situation so that it doesn't change, he said. We are deployed in significant numbers, strength and capabilities and we are very vigilant to any attempt by Hezbollah to escalate the situation. A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said international governments have urged Lebanese authorities to keep the crisis-hit country away from a new war. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called Thursday on all Lebanese groups to exercise self restraint and not to be pulled into Israel's plans," an apparent message to Hezbollah. He said Lebanon condemns criminal acts committed by Israel saying that it is wiping out children and civilians and called on the international community to work on ending hostilities. Israeli leaders have repeatedly warned that they would unleash vast destruction in southern Lebanon if war breaks out with Lebanon. Israel in 2006 flattened large parts of villages, towns and cities in southern Lebanon and entire blocks in Beirut's southern suburbs. Following the war, Lebanon received an influx of international funding, including from wealthy Gulf countries, for reconstruction. However, as Hezbollah has gained power, Lebanon's ties with Gulf monarchies have soured and the international community has grown frustrated with rampant corruption and mismanagement. On top of that, Lebanon's government institutions are cash-strapped and dysfunctional. If war were to start now, we would be looking at a much slower and more complicated reconstruction, said Mona Fawaz, a professor of urban studies and planning at the American University of Beirut. At least 27 American citizens have died and 14 remain unaccounted for as a result of unfolding violence in Israel and the US will arrange charter flights to evacuate its citizens from the strife-torn Jewish state, the White House has announced. Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel on Saturday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. So far, over 2,000 people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides. India is one of the first countries to evacuate its citizens from Israel. On the sixth day of violence, the Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, were killed in Israel. In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, over 1,400 people have been killed in Israel's offensive against the Palestinian militant group, according to authorities there. "We are all acutely aware of limited availability right now on commercial flights out of Israel and the demand signal by U.S. citizens who may want to depart. The president has asked his team to ensure that we are assisting U.S. citizens who do want to leave Israel and providing them with a safe means of doing that, said John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council at the White House. Beginning tomorrow, the United States government will arrange charter flights to provide transportation from Israel to sites in Europe. They're still working through some of the details of that to assist U.S. citizens and their immediate family members who have, for whatever reason, not been able to provide commercial transit out of the country, he said. The US is also exploring other options to expand the capacity of doing this, including exploring whether it is possible to help Americans leave by land and by sea, the White House said. We are working hard on this, we know there's a demand signal out there, and we're going to try the best we can to meet it, Kirby said. 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We can now update the number of Americans that we know have been killed is 27 and the number of unaccounted for stands today at 14. We're obviously doing everything we can to support and inform the families, Kirby said. Kirby said that it is a common tactic in the Hamas playbook to break up hostages and move them around in small groups. So, we have nothing that would indicate to us that they would follow a different set of protocols, but I can't stand here before you and prove to you that that is exactly what's happening, he said. Kirby refuted allegations that Iran has used the USD 6 billion of American aid. It's still sitting in a Qatari bank. All of it. None of that money has been spent, and I have no updates to provide today...What I can tell you is that every single dime of that money is still sitting in a Qatari bank. Not one dime of it has been spent, he said. This account, although it is moved from South Korea to Qatar, was set up by the previous administration for the same purpose, he said. In fact, I think it was back in 2018, the former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo actually talked in quite some detail about how this money in these accounts could only be used for humanitarian purposes and that there was going to be oversight, he said. We've done nothing different. It is the same process. All we've done is move that fund from South Korea -- where, for some technical reasons, it wasn't accessible to Qatar, where it is more accessible," Kirby said. "All that said, none of it has been accessed by the Iranians at all. And even if they had accessed it, it wouldn't go to the regime, it would go to approved vendors -- that we approved -- to go buy food, medicine and medical equipment, and agricultural products and ship it into Iran directly to the benefit of the Iranian people, he added. Canada Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagne has skipped the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) and Parliamentary Forum that got underway in New Delhi today. Canada is a prominent member of the G20 and its Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, had attended the G20 Leaders summit in Delhi in September. Canadian Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagne's decision to skip the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in New Delhi from 12-14 October is the latest development in the ongoing diplomatic spat between India and Canada. Neither the Canadian Senate Speaker nor any dignitary from the G20 member country was named in the programme list of the inaugural day of the P20 Summit on Friday. Besides Canada, Speakers and heads of delegation of Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Spain, European Parliament, Italy, South Africa, Russia, Turkiye, Nigeria, Australia, Brazil, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Japan, Egypt and Bangladesh were named in the programme list of the P20 Summit as participants. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), however, has clarified earlier that all G20 members were extended invitations. Earlier today Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the P20 Summit with an address to dignitaries of participant countries. The P20 Summit is being hosted by India under the broader framework of its G20 Presidency. The event is an international forum for debate and deliberations. In his address to participating dignitaries Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the P20 summit is the "Mahakumbh" of parliamentary practices of the world. "I welcome you at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) on behalf of 140 crore Indians. This Summit is like a 'Mahakumbh' of parliamentary practices from across the world," Modi said. The Prime Minister added that Parliaments are an important place for debate and deliberations. He also hailed India's moon landing and the successful conclusion of the G20 summit. He also said that conflicts and confrontations being faced by the world today do not benefit anyone. Also Read PM's 'global talk' on environment at G20 at odds from 'local walk': Cong Security preparations for next month's G20 meet in full swing: Delhi Police UK PM Rishi Sunak signs new strategic pact with Singapore in India World Cup Qualifiers: Messi doubtful starter; Vinicius back with Brazil New Delhi-Buenos Aires ties solid: Argentina prez on defence partnership Russia will never be seen as reliable energy supplier: US energy official Israeli bombardment of Gaza killed 13 hostages, including foreigners: Hamas UK clears Microsoft Activision deal; removes last hurdle to gaming deal Growing tanker fleet, cheaper freight challenges Russia price cap: Analysis 254 Nepali students rescued from conflict-ridden Israel return home The P20 Summit, which is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, will discuss four major issues affecting the whole world. Four Sessions are set for the discussion on these subjects that include One Earth, One Family, One Future' with Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) showcasing achievements and accelerating progress; One Earth Sustainable Energy Transition-Gateway to Green Future; One Family Mainstreaming Gender Equality- From Women's Development to Women led Development; and One Future Transformation in Peoples' Lives through Public Digital. Russian crude oil producers are enjoying the cheapest costs to ship to refiners in China and India in almost a year thanks to a growing number of vessels plying the routes, according to trading and shipping sources. The arrival of new shippers working outside the purview of Western governments allows Russian firms to earn more than the $60 per barrel cap that the US and its allies had aimed to impose on Russia through sanctions. It also means that enforcing the price cap will have a limited impact on Russian revenues. On Thursday, the US imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil above the cap, one based in Turkey and one in the United Arab Emirates, in an effort to close loopholes on the mechanism designed to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine. The Group of Seven (G7) countries imposed sanctions in December 2022 that prohibit shippers or insurers domiciled in member countries from offering services to facilitate Russian oil exports when the price is above $60 a barrel. The sanctions do not apply to shipping companies or insurers from other countries, regardless of the price. When the sanctions were imposed, most of the ship owners and vessels involved in the trade were Western. Had the oil price been above $60 at the time, sanctions would have severely disrupted Russian exports. However, the price for most Russian oil only rose above $60 in July, which meant traders, shipping companies and Russian exporters had months to prepare. During that time, traders willing to work the routes snapped up older tankers and others were re-registered in countries that were not imposing sanctions. The number of tankers that are part of a so-called shadow fleet is estimated to number 535 ships with an average age of 23 years, according to analysis from maritime platform Lloyd's List Intelligence, adding that two-thirds of these tankers have no known insurance cover. "As long as governments understandably make use of financial and technical services and shipping as a foreign policy tool to try and control trade, then there will be those people who will position themselves out of reach of those laws and carry on their trade," Mike Salthouse, head of external affairs with leading ship insurer NorthStandard, told Reuters. Also Read Iran's navy seizes oil tanker with 24 Indian crew members near Oman Russia promises retaliation after Ukrainian drones hit Russian tanker Tanker believed to hold sanctioned Iran oil begins offloading near Texas Over 1 mn barrels of oil removed from tanker moored off Yemen, says UN Rolls-Royce, oil-tanker crash: Kuber group director asked to join probe 254 Nepali students rescued from conflict-ridden Israel return home S Korea says it expressed concern to China for sending North escapees back Israel-Hamas war: Red Cross warns Gaza hospitals could turn into 'morgues' Israel-Hamas war: Iran's warning, support from world leaders, and more N Korea threatens nuke strike over US aircraft carrier's arrival in S Korea So many vessels are willing to sail loaded with Russian oil that freight rates have fallen - effectively handing Russian producers even more revenues. Sellers of Russian Urals crude are saving about $7 per barrel on freight rates this autumn compared with last winter shortly after the price cap was imposed, according to traders and Reuters calculations. That means exporters are earning about $70 a barrel for oil loaded at Baltic ports, according to Reuters calculations, well above the $60 price cap. When oil prices were in September at their peak this year of $97 per barrel, Russian exporters were earning as much as $79 per barrel. Freight rates for Russian Urals crude shipments to Asia for October cargoes plunged to the lowest levels since the implementation of the price cap, traders said. The cost of a 100,000-tonne tanker journey from Baltic ports to India fell to $4.8 million-5.2 million (about $7 per barrel) for October-loading barrels, traders said, from more than $15 million (some $14 per barrel) in early 2023 after the price cap policy was introduced. Freight rates have also fallen after Russia agreed to reduce oil exports by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in tandem with OPEC+ ally Saudi Arabia. Still, Russia has been exporting nearly 5 million bpd of crude oil this year. The International Energy Agency said on Thursday overall Russian oil and fuel exports have jumped to 7.6 million bpd in September. Transportation costs for a 140,000-tonne Urals cargo from Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk to India averaged some $4.1 million-4.2 million per voyage in October, shipping and trading sources said, down from about $5 million during summer months. Shipping entities registered in the Middle East, Africa, China, Latin America and even Russia are working the routes, traders said. "We see several new names in shipping with tanker fleets," another trader added. ENFORCEMENT Western officials argue that the price cap is working even though Russian oil producers are able to sell at above $60 a barrel, because Russian oil is still selling at below the rate it would have done without the sanctions because it has less customers for its oil and fewer service providers. Another key concern for the US and other governments when they imposed the sanctions was to prevent disruptions in global oil supplies that would have driven oil prices even higher. "If Russia wants to go completely outside the G7 system to move oil above the cap, they can do that," Claire McCleskey, assistant director for compliance with the US Treasury's sanctions enforcement arm OFAC, said at a Capital Link shipping conference in London on Sept. 12. "It's a prohibition on our service providers. That being said, that doesn't mean that we're totally blind to the safety concerns". (Reporting by Jonathan Saul in LONDON and Reuters reporters in MOSCOW; Editing by Marguerita Choy) For the past six days, Israel has bombarded Gaza with hundreds of airstrikes in a massive offensive in response to a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel. Israel's retaliation and the subsequent violence have resulted in the deaths of around 2,600 people. The attacks have caused widespread damage and loss of life in Gaza, a Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people. Israel, which has vowed to crush Hamas, is now preparing for a possible ground offensive. Here are the latest updates on the Israel-Hamas conflict: Operation Ajay: First batch of 212 Indians return In the early hours of Friday, the first batch of around 200 Indians, including students, returned to the country from Israel onboard a chartered flight. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar welcomed the passengers at the Delhi airport. He greeted them with folded hands and also shook hands with many of them, saying, "Welcome home". India on Wednesday launched Operation Ajay to bring back Indians from Israel as the conflict escalated. On Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated that around 18,000 Indians currently reside in Israel, while about a dozen people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza. The MEA had warned Indians in Israel to be cautious. The ministry also established a helpline number, and India launched Operation Ajay on the fifth day of the conflict. A 24-hour control room in New Delhi is monitoring the situation in Israel and Palestine. Opening a "new front" against Israel would depend on Israel's actions: Iran Iran's foreign minister, whose government supports Hamas and other Middle East militant groups, said on Thursday opening a "new front" against Israel would depend on Israel's actions in Gaza. Iranian officials have insisted the country had no involvement in the militants' attack against Israel on Saturday. "Officials of some countries contact us and ask about the possibility of a new front (against Israel) being opened in the region," said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. "We tell them that our clear answer regarding future possibilities is that everything depends on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said, according to a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry. "Even now, Israel's crimes continue and no one in the region asks us for permission to open new fronts." This comes after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the "need to end war crimes against Palestine". The crown prince said that Saudi Arabia is making all possible efforts in communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation. He also reiterated Saudi Arabia's rejection of targeting civilians in any way. Also Read Israel-Gaza war: Death toll up as conflict expands to bordering nations Gaza strip: Understanding the territory, its history, and ongoing conflict Israel-Palestine war: Here's a look at the history of the conflict LIVE: 1st Operation Ajay flight with 212 Indians stranded in Israel arrives Israel-Hamas conflict: All you need to know about India's 'Operation Ajay' N Korea threatens nuke strike over US aircraft carrier's arrival in S Korea Trump returning to civil trial next week with Michael Cohen set to testify France bans pro-Palestinian protests, vows to save Jews from antisemitism Israel orders evacuation of 1.1 mn people from northern part of Gaza: UN Hamas practised in plain sight, posting video of mock attack before breach Response of world leaders The UK will send two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean in plans to "bolster security", according to a report by the BBC. The aircraft will start patrolling on Friday to "track threats to regional stability such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups". Three Merlin helicopters and a detachment of Royal Marines are also being dispatched. Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to "reaffirm the UK's steadfast support for Israel following Hamas' appalling terrorist attack", Downing Street said. Meanwhile, at a rally on Wednesday night, Former US President Trump said Israeli leaders needed to "step up their game" and referred to Hezbollah, the group Israel fears may launch a large-scale attack from the country's north, as very smart. In an interview that aired Thursday, he added to his criticism, saying Netanyahu was "not prepared" for the deadly weekend incursion from Gaza. Several of Trump's Republican rivals condemned him for criticising Israel's prime minister. Earlier, the executive branch of the European Union, announced that it was suspending all aid to the Palestinian territories. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had expressed strong support for Israel, saying that Germany stands firmly by its side. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attacks and said that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday pressed Turkey to quickly ratify Sweden's membership in the military organisation, three months after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would help hasten the process in the Turkish parliament. Many allies would like to see speedy progress on this ratification," Stoltenberg told The Associated Press after chairing a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. Sweden has delivered on what they promised, and now we need the ratification of Swedish membership. Sweden and its neighbor Finland turned their backs on decades of military non-alignment after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Their aim was to seek protection under NATO's security umbrella, and Finland joined in April. All 31 NATO allies must endorse Sweden's membership. Turkey and Hungary are dragging their feet. Erdogan spent months publicly saying he was withholding his country's approval because he believed that Sweden had been too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that he considers to be security threats. Many allies doubted that. Turkey also was angered by a series of Quran-burning protests in Sweden. At a NATO summit in Lithuania's capital in July, Erdogan relented and said he would transmit Sweden's accession protocol to the Turkish parliament for ratification, the final step for Turkey to endorse its candidature. Stoltenberg said he welcomed a commitment Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler made during Thursday's meeting which made it clear that Turkey would stand by the agreement. But it remains unclear when Ankara will do so. Erdogan dropped his opposition in July after the Biden administration signaled it would let Turkey buy 40 new F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits from the United States. Ankara also received assurances from Sweden that it would help revive Turkey's own quest to join the European Union. Under the deal, NATO as an organisation agreed to address Turkey's concerns about terrorism. Stoltenberg said Thursday that he had appointed Assistant Secretary General Tom Goffus will serve as his special coordinator for counter-terrorism. It demonstrates that NATO, Sweden, we have delivered on the agreement from Vilnius, and now we should also see that Turkey ratifies the Swedish accession, Stoltenberg said. Also Read NATO chief Stoltenberg visits Kyiv for 1st time since Russian invasion Turkey agrees to send Sweden's Nato accession protocol to Parl: Stoltenberg NATO tentatively agrees to ask Stoltenberg to remain head for another year NATO presses Turkey to drop objections to Sweden's membership as meet nears Turkey's support for Sweden's Nato entry is tied to goals on security US to arrange charter flights to evacuate its citizens from Israel: WH US defence secy to visit Israel to discuss military aid following attack Iran Prez, Saudi Crown Prince hold 1st call since ties mended, discuss war WTO chief warns of 'big impact' on trade if Israel-Hamas conflict widens UK PM Sunak deploys Royal Navy ships to support Israel against Hamas It had been hoped that the long-awaited ratification would come soon after Oct 1, when Turkey's parliament resumed work following a summer recess. But on the same day, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the interior ministry in Ankara. Another would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police. Two officers were wounded. The attack prompted Turkey to mount airstrikes against suspected Kurdish militant sites in northern Iraq, against Syrian Kurdish militia in Syria, and to launch a series of raids across Turkey in which dozens of people with suspected links to the Kurdish militants were rounded up. Hungary's objections are not entirely clear. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly said that his country would not be the last to endorse Sweden's membership. That stance has left Stockholm and some allies perplexed, as no public demands have been made to win his approval. Some vague allusions have surfaced. Orban's government has alleged that Swedish politicians have told blatant lies about the state of Hungary's democracy and that this has left some lawmakers unsure about whether to support the accession bid. Last month, Orban said he was in no hurry. He told lawmakers that nothing is threatening Sweden's security, and that Hungary was therefore in no rush to ratify its membership. I haven't heard anything new about that from the Hungarian side, Stoltenberg told the AP. US Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt said on Friday Russia would never again be viewed as a reliable energy supplier, a day after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Moscow because of its war in Ukraine. Speaking at an online briefing ahead of next week's US-Japan Energy Security Dialogue, Pyatt also said the United States and its partners in the Group of 7 were committed to denying Russia any energy revenues. The United States on Thursday imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil priced above the G7's price cap of $60 a barrel, in an effort to close loopholes in the mechanism. "It's very clear to me that Russia is never again going to be viewed as a reliable energy supplier," Pyatt told reporters. "In the case of our G7 partners in particular, we are also committed to work jointly to deny Russia future energy revenues, and target in particular investments and projects growing Russia's future energy revenue," he added. Russia has played down the impact of Western sanctions, saying they are used by the United States to eliminate Moscow as a competitor in global energy supplies. Asked about purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by some Asian countries, Pyatt said that unlike oil, gas exports were not covered by Western sanctions "so this is a matter of how different countries accommodate their energy mix and seek to reduce their exposure to Russia, to Russian supplies". In September, the United States issued fresh sanctions related to Russia's Novatek-led Arctic LNG 2 project in which two Japanese energy firms - Mitsui and JOGMEC - are shareholders. The sanctions do not apply to the project itself nor to its shareholders, but a Japan government source had said they could complicate how Mitsui and JOGMEC provide support for the project and could also delay production. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; editing by Miral Fahmy) A White House official dismissed concerns Thursday that the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group could negatively affect the United States' security commitments to South Korea and other allies. Since the eruption of the conflict sparked by Hamas' surprise attack last week, questions have lingered over whether Washington can simultaneously address multiple crises, including one in Ukraine. John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) coordinator for strategic communications, gave a simple answer: "We're not worried about our ability to do all those things." "We are a big enough, strong enough nation and we've got global responsibilities to look after our national security interests anywhere and everywhere," he told a press briefing. "We're still also supporting Ukraine and their fight against Russia. We're still doing an amazing amount of work in the Indo-Pacific to shore up our alliances and our partnerships and to try to increase stability, security and prosperity throughout the region," he added. Asked to confirm a recent report on the suspected use of North Korean weapons by Hamas fighters, Kirby said that he does not have information to share on the issue. Kirby also commented on the status of Iranian funds worth $6 billion, which were transferred to a Qatari bank under a recent prisoner swap deal between Washington and Tehran after having been frozen in South Korea under U.S. sanctions. He highlighted America's oversight over the money, saying that "not a single dime" of it has been spent. His remarks came as Washington is looking into the possibility of Iran's culpability in the recent Hamas assault that has left at least 27 Americans dead and 14 accounted for. "What I can tell you is none of it has been accessed. We are watching every dime ... We are watching it very closely," he said, noting the money is intended for humanitarian purposes. "We have oversight over what can be accessed and for what purposes." He said that although the U.S. has not seen any specific evidence yet of Iran's direct involvement in last week's Hamas attack, Iran is complicit in a broad sense given its history of backing Hamas and other networks. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden told Iran to "be careful" amid speculation that countries or non-state actors against Israel could take advantage of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas to widen the fighting or sow further chaos in the wider Middle East. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed person, that the U.S. reached an informal understanding with Qatar to hold off the distribution of the Iranian funds in question, amid a probe into Tehran's potential involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel. (Yonhap) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has directed UK military assets to be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, reinforce regional stability and prevent escalation, Downing Street announced in London on Thursday. A Royal Navy task group will be moved to the eastern Mediterranean next week as a contingency measure to support humanitarian efforts and maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft will begin flying in the region from Friday to track threats to regional stability such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups. The military package, which includes P8 aircraft, surveillance assets, two Royal Navy ships RFA Lyme Bay and RFA Argus three merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines, will be on standby to deliver practical support to Israel and partners in the region, and offer deterrence and assurance. We must be unequivocal in making sure the types of horrific scenes we have seen this week will not be repeated. Alongside our allies, the deployment of our world class military will support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation, said Sunak. Our military and diplomatic teams across the region will also support international partners to re-establish security and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the thousands of innocent victims of this barbaric attack from Hamas terrorists, he said. Downing Street said the UK PM has also asked for all military teams in Israel, Cyprus and across the region to be bolstered to support contingency planning and the efforts of neighbouring countries to deal with any spill over from instability in Israel. The monstrous terrorist attacks committed by Hamas in recent days have proven why the UK must support Israel's absolute right to self-defence and deter malign external interference. No nation should stand alone in the face of such evil and today's deployment will ensure Israel does not, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps. The Royal Navy Task Group, RAF (Royal Air Force) operations and our wider military support will be an undeniable display of the UK's resolve to ensure Hamas's terrorist campaign fails, whilst reminding those who seek to inflame tensions that the forces of freedom stand with the Israeli people, he said. Also Read LIVE: 1st Operation Ajay flight with 212 Indians stranded in Israel arrives Hamas attack is unadulterated evil unleashed on the world: US president Israel responds to fire from Syria with artillery, mortar amid Hamas attack Blinken to travel to Israel in display of US solidarity after Hamas attacks Israel-Hamas conflict may end up helping Russia in war against Ukraine LIVE: 1st Operation Ajay flight with 212 Indians stranded in Israel arrives George Soros closes offices across $25 billion philanthropy empire 1MDB corruption scandal: Goldman Sachs sues Malaysia in a UK court 'Burned by Hamas monsters': Israel PM shares pics of babies killed in war Participation their decision: MEA on Canada Parl speaker skipping P20 meet Sunak also spoke to the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on Thursday to understand the wider regional picture and underscore the importance of supporting civilians to leave Gaza. According to Downing Street, Sunak is due to speak to northern European leaders about the situation in Israel at the Joint Expeditionary Force summit in Sweden on Friday. They are expected to discuss the vital need to work with partners across the Middle East to support stability, while simultaneously remaining focussed on backing Ukraine's defence against Russia. He will also visit British warship HMS Diamond while in Gotland, Sweden, which is on patrol in northern Europe to reinforce security in the region. While on board, the Prime Minister will hear about the capabilities of Diamond's sister ship, HMS Duncan, which is deployed in the Mediterranean with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The package of military support, which will work alongside allies already in the region, is a significant demonstration of the UK's support for Israel's right to self-defence and will allow the UK to adapt to the needs of partners as the situation evolves over the coming weeks. The step change comes after the Prime Minister spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week, and the Defence Secretary discussed the situation with his NATO counterparts in Brussels. Earlier on Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced that the UK will facilitate commercial flights to help vulnerable British nationals wanting to leave Israel. Galderma, the emerging pure-play dermatology category leader, today hosts the first edition of its Liquid Live event in Dubai as a chance to discuss with clinicians the future of innovation in the field of neuromodulation as well as showcasing the latest neuromodulators from its aesthetics portfolio. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013777100/en/ Copyrights - Sylvain Granjon To mark the progress in treatment optimization and showcase its commitment to further driving innovation, Galderma has organized the first ever Liquid Live event. This premium experience will convene over one hundred of Europes leading aesthetics practitioners to immerse themselves in the future of the neuromodulator field. The Liquid Live event will include presentations from renowned experts on key data, the latest market trends and changes in patient needs, and sharing insights to advance the future of neuromodulation in aesthetics together. A year on from the launch of Alluzience, the first and only liquid ready-to-use neuromodulator in Europe with rapid onset and effects lasting for up to six months, Galderma is now getting ready to launch the product in 13 new countries1. Indicated for use in adult patients as a treatment to temporarily improve the appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines, this launch opened a new era of innovation in neuromodulation. As a ready-to-use liquid formulation, it has the potential to improve safety and dosing accuracy compared to existing neuromodulators that require reconstitution, enabling more precision and higher patient satisfaction. Galderma is the leading innovator in neuromodulators and we are delighted to launch the Liquid Live event as an opportunity to convene leading experts in this field. Alluzience has a unique profile and its launch in 13 new countries is another exciting step in our journey of driving differentiated innovation and expanding our portfolio. Galderma has a strong track record as an innovator in neuromodulation having launched the first liquid neuromodulator, as well as the first neuromodulator with a six-month duration of action, and is committed to further innovation. Liquid Live offers the ideal platform for us to come together as we prepare to launch this unique product more broadly and explore the many possibilities for the future of neuromodulation together. GERRY MUHLE HEAD OF GLOBAL PRODUCT STRATEGY GALDERMA Galderma is well-positioned to continue to build its category-leading pipeline in injectable aesthetics, with proven in-house R&D capabilities in medical aesthetics. This includes successfully developing RelabotulinumtoxinA internally as well as the worlds largest hyaluronic acid filler range, Restylane. Along with Sculptra, the first and original injectable poly-L-lactic acid collagen stimulator, Galdermas offering in neuromodulators and fillers is the broadest, unparalleled injectable aesthetics portfolio. About Alluzience Alluzience (abobotulinumtoxinA solution) is the first ready-to-use BoNT-A liquid neuromodulator formulation to be introduced in Europe. Alluzience is indicated for the temporary improvement in the appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines seen at maximum frown in adult patients under 65 years, when the severity of these lines has an important psychological impact on the patient. It should only be administered by a physician with appropriate qualifications and expertise in this treatment using the required equipment. Dosing and treatment intervals depend on assessment of the individual patients response. The treatment interval should be no more frequent than every three months. For more information, please see the Summary of Product Characteristics2. Alluzience is a product under license from Ipsen. Alluzience is a registered trademark of Ipsen. Galderma has an exclusive license from Ipsen to develop, promote and distribute Alluzience in the approved indication in Europe. About Galderma Galderma is the emerging pure-play dermatology category leader, present in approximately 90 countries. We deliver an innovative, science-based portfolio of premium flagship brands and services that span the full spectrum of the fast-growing dermatology market though Injectable Aesthetics, Dermatological Skincare and Therapeutic Dermatology. Since our foundation in 1981, we have dedicated our focus and passion to the human bodys largest organ the skin meeting individual consumer and patient needs with superior outcomes in partnership with healthcare professionals. Because we understand that the skin we are in shapes our lives, we are advancing dermatology for every skin story. Galdermas portfolio of flagship brands includes Restylane, Dysport, Azzalure, Alluzience and Sculptra in Injectable Aesthetics; Soolantra, Epiduo, Differin, Aklief, Epsolay, Twyneo, Oracea, Metvix, Benzac and Loceryl in Therapeutic Dermatology; and Cetaphil and Alastin Skincare in Dermatological Skincare. For more information: www.galderma.com. ---------------- 1 Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia 2 Alluzience Summary of Product Characteristics, 2023 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013777100/en/ Regulatory News: This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012234351/en/ Adel Al-Saleh (Photo: Business Wire) SES, a leading provider of global content connectivity solutions, today announced that Adel Al-Saleh has been hired as the companys Chief Executive Officer, effective February 2024. Since January 2018, Al-Saleh has been CEO at T-Systems International GmbH, the integrated IT services provider and subsidiary of telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG (DT), and he has served as a member of the Board of Management at DT throughout this period. In his time at T-Systems, Al-Saleh led the transition from a classic information technology and outsourcing business to an integrated IT services and digital solutions provider while driving growth initiatives to optimise operations, improve efficiency, increase customer satisfaction, expand employee engagement and maximise profitability. Interim SES CEO Ruy Pinto, who served as SESs Chief Technology Officer from 2019 to 2023, will continue to lead SES through January 2024, after which Pinto will remain as a member of the executive team until June 2024 and then will assume the role of strategic advisor to the CEO. Milton Torres, who succeeded Pinto as CTO on an interim basis, will continue in that capacity going forward. Frank Esser, Chairman of the SES Board of Directors, said, We are delighted to welcome Adel Al-Saleh as our new CEO. Adel brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm from a range of dynamic, technology-based industries and has a track record of creating value by improving competitiveness and driving efficiency wherever he has been. This makes Adel the ideal person to lead SES into the next phase of our journey and deliver success. Esser continued, On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Ruy for his continuing leadership. Ruy stepped in at a critical time and has provided the kind of leadership to allow SES to perform at a high level on behalf of our customers. We look forward to SES continuing under his direction for the balance of this important year and benefitting from his experience and knowledge as we transition to Adel in 2024. Prior to his time with T-Systems, Al-Saleh led a number of organisations with a track record of achievement. He spent nearly 20 years with IBM in multiple senior leadership roles, culminating in 2006 as Vice President and General Manager, Sales and Industries, IBM Northeast Europe Integrated Operating Team, where he was responsible for IBM's sales across all industries and products. In 2007, Al-Saleh joined IMS Health as President, EMEA, and eventually was named as the companys President, United States. In 2011, KKR-owned Northgate Information Solutions (NIS) Group appointed Al-Saleh as CEO, where he led the transformation of the strategy, portfolio and operations of the NIS Group. I am excited and honoured to be joining SES. The business is well placed for the future with world-class customer solutions, differentiated capabilities and an industry-leading financial position. I am looking forward to working with a strong team of colleagues to drive SES forward and create value in an exciting and rapidly evolving market environment, Al-Saleh said. Al-Saleh is a citizen of the United States of America and the United Kingdom. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, and he received his Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University. Follow us on: X | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram Read our Blogs > Visit the Media Gallery > About SES SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the worlds only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the worlds leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SESs video network carries ~8,000 channels and has an unparalleled reach of 369 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012234351/en/ The United States said on Thursday that Iran would not gain access any time soon to $6 billion in Iranian funds parked in a Qatar bank last month as part of a prisoner exchange and that Washington retained the right to completely freeze the account. The question of Iranian access to the funds has been in the spotlight since Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel on Saturday, killing more than 1,300 people and taking scores of hostages back to the Palestinian Gaza Strip. "Iran will not be able to access the funds for the foreseeable future," a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv, said that Iran had neither accessed nor spent any of the $6 billion, adding: "We have strict oversight of the funds and we retain the right to freeze them." Blinken said the U.S. Treasury oversees any disbursement to ensure it is used only for humanitarian purposes. Several U.S. media outlets reported on Thursday that the United States and Qatar had agreed to stop Iran from accessing the money. Iran has made no secret of its backing for Hamas, funding and arming the group, but Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that Tehran was not involved in the Hamas attack on Israel. Iran's U.N. mission said the U.S. government was "acutely aware that they cannot renege" on the deal reached over the money, which was transferred to Qatar from an account in South Korea to make it accessible for Iranian humanitarian needs. The Iranian oil revenues had been frozen in Seoul after Washington, under former President Donald Trump, placed a total ban on Iran's oil exports and sanctioned its banks in 2019. "The money rightfully belongs to the people of Iran, earmarked for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to facilitate the acquisition of all essential and non-sanctioned requisites for the Iranians," said Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York. It did not respond to a request for comment on whether Iran had yet tried to access the funds. Qatar's International Media Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Treasury Department declined to comment. White House national security spokesman John Kirby declined to speak about diplomatic conversations or "speculate ... about future transactions." He said the money was intended to be disbursed "to approved vendors - that we approved - to go buy food, medicine and medical equipment, agricultural products, and ship it into Iran directly to the benefit of the Iranian people." "Every single dime of that money is still sitting in the Qatari bank," Kirby told reporters, adding: "The regime was never going to see a dime of that money." (Reuters) Iran's foreign minister, whose government supports Hamas and other Middle East militant groups, said on Thursday opening a "new front" against Israel would depend on Israel's actions in Gaza. Although Tehran has been a long-term backer of Hamas, Iranian officials have been adamant that the country had no involvement in the militants' attack against its arch enemy Israel on Saturday. Nevertheless, the United States fears the opening of a second front on Israel's northern border with Lebanon if Hezbollah, another heavily armed Islamist group backed by Iran, were to intervene. "Officials of some countries contact us and ask about the possibility of a new front (against Israel) being opened in the region," said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. "We tell them that our clear answer regarding future possibilities is that everything depends on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said, according to a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry. "Even now, Israel's crimes continue and no one in the region asks us for permission to open new fronts." Later on Thursday, Abdollahian arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut, where he was received by Hezbollah and Hamas among other pro-Iran groups. He is scheduled to meet Lebanese officials on Friday before heading to Damascus. Speaking from Beirut's airport, the top diplomat said that Iran's regional allies, known as the "axis of resistance", could respond if Israel's Gaza offensive escalates. "The continuation of war crimes against Palestinians and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axes," he told reporters. At least 1,200 Israelis, foreigners and dual citizens were killed by Hamas militants during its attack on Saturday. In Gaza, health officials reported 1,417 Palestinians killed by Israel's retaliatory barrages against the coastal enclave. The West has been cautious about Iran since Saturday, but its leaders have warned Tehran in no uncertain terms against intervening in the war. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he had "made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful." After Iraq, Amir-Abdollahian will travel to Lebanon, where Hezbollah has, so far, been content to hold back from joining the war triggered by its ally Hamas. In a call with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday appealed to "all the Islamic and Arab countries" to "reach serious convergence and cooperation on the path of stopping the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian nation." (AFP) Israel's military on Friday called for all civilians of Gaza City, more than 1 million people, to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion. "Now is a time for war," Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday as Israeli warplanes continued pounding Gaza in retaliation for the weekend attacks by Hamas militants that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. The Israeli military said it would operate "significantly" in Gaza City in the coming days and civilians would only be able to return when another announcement was made. "Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the military said in a statement. "Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians." A Hamas official said the Gaza relocation warning was "fake propaganda" and urged citizens not to fall for it. The United Nations said it considered it impossible for such a movement of people to take place "without devastating humanitarian consequences." Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Gilad Erdan described the U.N.'s response to Israel's early warning to the residents of Gaza as "shameful." Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas militant group which led the attacks on Saturday. The Israeli military said in a statement on Friday that it struck 750 military targets in northern Gaza overnight, including what it said were Hamas tunnels, military compounds, residences of senior operatives and weapons storage warehouses. However, a ground invasion of Gaza poses serious risk with Hamas holding scores of hostages kidnapped in the assault. The Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people, is under siege by Israel, which has pounded Hamas targets in the enclave and killed more than 1,500 Palestinians in retaliatory attacks since the weekend incursions. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said fuel powering emergency generators at hospitals in Gaza could run out within hours and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned food and fresh water were running dangerously low. "The human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent, and I implore the sides to reduce the suffering of civilians," ICRC regional director Fabrizio Carboni said. The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said it had relocated its central operations centre and international staff to Gaza's south. Seeking to build support for its response, Israel's government showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defence ministers graphic images of children and civilians they said Hamas had killed in a weekend rampage in Israel. Blinken said they showed a baby "riddled with bullets," soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. "It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way," he said. "It's really beyond anything that we can comprehend." Like others across the globe, Blinken urged Israel to show restraint, but he also reiterated America's support, saying: "We will always be there by your side." On Friday he was due to meet Jordan's King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as part of a Middle East tour aimed at stopping spillover from the war. Blinken also planned to visit key U.S. allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates - some with influence on Hamas, an Islamist group backed by Iran. Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, said lessons would be drawn from the security failures around Gaza that enabled the attack. "We will learn, investigate, but now is the time for war," he said. The U.S. military is placing no conditions on its security assistance to Israel, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, adding Washington expected Israel's military to "do the right things" in prosecuting its war against Hamas. Austin was due in Israel on Friday and planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas called on Palestinians to rise up on Friday in protest at Israel's bombardment of the enclave, urging Palestinians to march to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Israel's parliament approved Netanyahu's emergency unity government late on Thursday, including a number of centrist opposition lawmakers, to display the country's united determination to fight Hamas. Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying the use of such weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury. Israel's military said it was "currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza." North Korea denied on Friday its weapons were used by Hamas in the attack against Israel, saying the claim made in some media reports was a bid by Washington to divert the blame for the conflict from itself to a third country. The U.S. State Department will begin offering charter flights to Europe to help Americans leave Israel if they want starting Friday, the White House said. Japan has arranged for a charter flight to depart Tel Aviv on Saturday for its citizens wishing to leave Israel, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters on Friday. The conflict spurred some civil unrest in Europe, with police in Paris using tear gas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinian people. Some Jewish schools in Amsterdam and London were set to close temporarily due to safety concerns. U.S. law enforcement officials in New York and Los Angeles said they had a stepped up police presence for Friday, especially around synagogues and Jewish community centers, but some officials sought to play down the threat. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, an Arab advocacy group, said on Thursday that FBI agents had visited mosques in different states and individual U.S. residents with Palestinian roots, calling it a "troubling trend." In Jerusalem, scores of Israelis gathered at the Mount Herzl military cemetery on Thursday to bury their dead. "When you didn't take my call, I knew you were fighting with all your power. When I realised you were missing, I could not imagine this is how it would end," one mourner said. In Gaza's main southern city Khan Younis, where cemeteries were already full, dead were being buried in empty lots, like the Samour family, killed on Wednesday night in a strike that hit their house. Palestinian rescue worker Ibrahim Hamdan drove from one bomb site to another as his team tried to pull survivors from houses destroyed by the Israeli air strikes. "This war is harsh beyond imagining," said Hamdan, who has worked through repeated wars since becoming a rescuer in 2007. "They knock down high-rise buildings on top of their residents." Gazans, mainly descendants of refugees who fled or were expelled from homes in Israel at its founding in 1948, have suffered economic collapse and repeated Israeli bombardment under a blockade since Hamas seized power there 16 years ago. Palestinian anger has mounted in recent months, with Israel carrying out the deadliest crackdown for years in the West Bank and its right-wing government talking of seizing more land. A peace process meant to create a Palestinian state collapsed a decade ago, which Palestinian leaders say left the population with no hope, strengthening extremists. (Reuters) Mosques and Hamas officials told Gaza Strip residents to stay in their homes on Friday, in defiance of an Israeli military call for more than a million civilians to move south within 24 hours in the build-up to its expected ground offensive. Any incursion could be pivotal in fighting between the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which on Saturday launched the bloodiest attack on the country since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Israel has already launched the heaviest air strikes on Gaza ever, and has mobilized 300,000 reservists and amassed tanks near the border in response to the Hamas assault. The threats of a ground invasion have conjured up images of the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe that refers to the 1948 war of Israels creation that led to their mass dispossession. Gaza analyst Talal Okal described the Israeli relocation order as an attempt to push the Palestinian people of Gaza into Nakba. Like they did in 1948 when they pushed people out of historical Palestine by dropping barrels of explosives on their heads, today Israel is repeating this before the eyes of the world and live cameras, Okal told Reuters. In Gaza, mosques broadcast the message: Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land. Hamas militants killed more than 1,300 Israelis in their attack on Saturday. Israeli air strikes in response have killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza so far, authorities there said. The Israeli military told the civilians of Gaza City to evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields. Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians, it added. Hamas urges Palestinians to ignore the call, describing it as disinformation designed to sow panic and facilitate Israel's plan to invade and destroy the militant group. The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency on Friday described the military call as horrendous and said the enclave was rapidly becoming a hell hole. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman that he rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. He said such an event would constitute a second Nakba adding that humanitarian corridors must be allowed in the blockaded coastal enclave immediately to prevent a humanitarian disaster, the report said. Well-Known Gaza Hamas cleric Wael Al-Zard was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, Hamas said. His son was killed a few weeks ago during border protests along the fence. Ordering a million people in Gaza to evacuate, when theres no safe place to go, is not an effective warning. The roads are rubble, fuel is scarce, and the main hospital is in the evacuation zone, Clive Baldwin, senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch, said. Inside Shifa hospital, the largest of Gazas 13 public hospitals, a man arrived to check on dozens of relatives and friends who have been brought from the site of a residential building Israel bombed in Beach refugee camp. I survived, I dont know why I survived. It is so that I tell the enemy, America, Europe and the world that this Palestinian people will not be defeated, the man cried toward reporters. They think there will be another displacement, or that we may go Egypt. Nonsense, he said before going into the morgue to try and identify dead relatives. Eyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry, urged Arabs everywhere and especially in countries that have borders with Israel to support the people of Gaza. We tell the people of northern Gaza and from Gaza City, stay put in your homes, and your places. By carrying out massacres against the civilians, the occupation wants to displace us once again from our land, he said. The 1948 displacement will not happen. We will die and we will not leave, Bozom said at a news conference held in Shifa hospital in Gaza City. (Reuters) The Karnataka government has formed a 15-member committee to develop the Karnataka State Education Policy (KSEP), which would be chaired by Sukhdev Thorat, an educationist, economist, and former chairman of the University Grants Commission. In its election promise, the Congress government stated that it will withdraw the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) and implement a separate education policy for the state. According to the directive released on Wednesday, the panel will develop the KSEP and submit it by February 28, 2024. There are additionally eight subject experts/advisers on the committee. The members are Sanjy Kaul, former secretary, School Education, Government of India; Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice-Chancellor of National Law School of India University; S. Japhet, former Vice-Chancellor of Bengaluru City University; Jogan Shankar, former Vice-Chancellor of Kuvempu University; Rajendra Chenni, retired Professor of English at Kuvempu University; Nataraj Budalu, retired professor and writer; Sudhanshu Bhushan, Professor and Head of the Department of Higher and Professional Education, NIEPA; Furquan Qamar, Professor of Management at the Centre for Management Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia; Pranati Panda, Professor and Head of the Department of School and Non-formal Education in NIEPA; Sharat Ananthamruthy, Professor, School of Physics, University Hyderabad; A. Narayana, Professor with the school of policy and governance, Azim Premji University; V.P. Niranjan Aradhya, educationist; M.S. Talawar, retired professor from Bangalore University; Santhosh Naik R., Professor of Sociology at Karnataka State Open University; and Vinaya Okkunda, Associate Professor and writer at Government First Grade College in Dandeli. Yogendra Yadav, Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, is one of the advisers, as is Rahamath Tarikere, retired professor at Hampi Kannada University; Janaki Nair, historian and retired professor at JNU; Valerian Rodrigous, professor at JNU's Centre for Political Studies; and Sabiha Bhoomigowda, former Vice-Chancellor of Akkamahadevi Women's University. According to the order, the commission will conduct a review of the state's school and higher education systems and recommend policies to increase enrollment, provide equal access to all individuals, impart scientific knowledge to students in order to instill democratic values, and provide skill and professional education, among other goals. M.C. Sudhakar, Minister for Higher and Technical Education, told The Hindu, "The government has formed the best possible committee to formulate State Education Policy." Academic champions are all of the members and specialists. The commission will first present an interim report, followed by a complete report by the end of February. KSEP will go into effect in the academic year 2024-25." Indian university students, particularly those in the technology and engineering sectors, might face a challenging career start as leading tech players like Infosys, TCS, and HCL Technologies are likely to skip the usual campus recruitment process. Many workers left tech companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and HCL Tech during the September quarter of FY24, as a result of a postponed campus recruitment push. These corporations have also hinted at evaluating their employment plans on a quarterly basis, based on the hard environment that has hampered their road to fruitful growth in the future. The Indian IT sector is one of the top recruiters of campus students, but it appears that these graduates may have difficulties in the near future. Tech Companies Skipping Campus Hiring The companies worldwide adopt layoffs and hiring freezes nowadays. As a consequence, campus recruitments, which are a major source of talent acquisition for companies, were greatly affected. Prominent companies in the IT sector like Infosys, TCS, and HCL Technologies are expected to skip this year's campus placements due to uncertain economic conditions. This decision is not surprising given the need to prioritize existing workforce retention and operational stability. However, it poses challenges for graduating students who will need to find alternative avenues for employment. This abrupt change in recruitment strategy by one of the leading IT firms in India has raised queries about the future of campus hiring. With Infosys holding a significant share in the IT employment sector, the decision stands to disrupt the annual placement drives at technical institutes across the country. However, it should be noted that this doesn't necessarily mean a reduction in the number of entry-level hires for the company - just a rethinking in the way these hires are found and recruited. Impact on Indian University Students This decision is expected to have severe implications for Indian university students, leaving them with fewer opportunities to secure jobs in leading tech companies. The campus placements often serve as a platform for graduating students to start their careers, providing them with exposure and experience in the tech industry. Without this avenue, many fresh graduates may face tough times landing their first jobs. More than 20 million students enroll in India's 700 universities and 35,000 affiliated institutions each year. And even after each new class passes the higher secondary exam with flying colors, they have a difficult time finding an acceptable job. The world has drastically altered, and a graduate degree is no longer considered unique. Most students pursue post-graduate degrees, such as M.Phil. or Ph.D., in order to rise above their peers and capture once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Many people also obtain short-term diplomas or online credentials. If you took an undergrad subject owing to peer pressure or a lack of clarity, these fantastic post-grad courses allow you to flip your degree. They provide you the choice of starting from scratch or delving further into your chosen field. It also helps you gain favor with recruiters, allowing you to pursue higher-paying employment. Most professional courses involve a variety of industry-related assignments that expose students to real-world scenarios and teach them how to deal with them professionally. Now that you've learned about the benefits of professional courses, let's have a look at some of the most popular professional courses accessible after graduation! Best Courses to Take After Graduation 1. PMP Certification PMP is an abbreviation for Project Management Professional, and the PMP certification is one of the world's most respected project management professional designations. While PMP certification is not the only criterion for project management professionals' experience or abilities, it does serve as an indication of competence and understanding in the business. Students will receive hands-on project management training as well as an introduction to various project management tools and methodologies during the certification course. During this course, you will learn how to manage project deadlines, how to make the greatest use of project resources, and how to accomplish projects on time and within budget. A PMP certification could help you land a high-paying job in industries including manufacturing, banking, information technology, healthcare, and any other that demands project management. Some of the top universities in India that offer this course are: Project Management Institute (PMI) ISEL Global (Institute for Skill Enhancement & Learning) L&T Institute of Project Management (L&T IPM) S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) The duration of the course is Because the majority of the courses are distance/online, you can select how much time you wish to devote to them. However, several institutes offer structured, hourly-modulated courses: The Product Management Certification Program requires 160+ hours of learning and training. 35-hour Professional Project Management Training Course (ExcelR) Eligibility Criteria & Fees The majority of PMP courses require a Bachelor's degree and several years of project management experience. Depending on the institution, the PMP course fee ranges from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 50,000. 2. Business Analytics Business analytics is essentially a technique that combines data analytics and business intelligence on a massive quantity of data to provide insights that can be utilized to help make future business strategies and plans. Exploration is a management and science discipline that analyzes current data and obtains insights in order to build and implement future business goals and strategies. Company analytics seeks to enhance operations, generate revenue by decreasing operational expenses, strengthen customer relationships, and forecast future trends, allowing for more precise strategic business strategies. The Master of Business Analytics program provides training and knowledge to help students improve skills in establishing future business plans and strategies based on exact data analysis. Some of the leading institutions in India that offer this programme include: IIM Calcutta, ISI Kolkata, and IIT Kharagpur Praxis Business School Manipal ProLearn INSOFE Duration of the course: 1-3 months Eligibility Criteria: A STEM background is preferred, and a graduate degree is required if pursuing a university education. Fees: Depending on the college, total course fees might range from Rs.120,000 to Rs. 800,000. Opportunities for Employment The primary role of a business analyst in any firm is to employ analytics tools to bridge the gap between IT and management. Because today's firms have access to a wealth of data, Business Analytics is becoming a more profitable professional option. Many firms and consultancies hire recent graduates for positions such as assistant business analysts, etc., 3. Master of Science in Data Science A master's degree in data science is one of the best courses to pursue after graduation. In a world where 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated every day, a professional who can organize this data to offer business solutions is a hero! According to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute. According to the estimate, the world would be short approximately 190,000 people with sophisticated analytical skills by 2018. Global corporations are scrambling to hire Data Scientists to manage their Big Data quest, and the Big Data tsunami is showing no signs of abating. The following are the best Indian institutions that offer Big Data courses: IIM Calcutta, ISI Kolkata, and IIT Kharagpur: These institutes offer a two-year full-time program. They provide 18 months of industry training and 6 months of internship in this course. Praxis: Praxis, Gurgaon, offers a one-year full-time curriculum that includes nine months of instruction and three months of internship. IIM Bangalore: At the Bangalore campus, the college provides a 6-month part-time programme. Candidates with 4+ years of experience are required for these job-oriented courses after graduation. Eligibility Criteria: Because this is a Master's program, you must have a Bachelor's degree. Fees: The cost of job-oriented courses after graduation ranges between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 600,000, depending on the institute, the scope of the curriculum, and the teaching method (LMS or classroom). Opportunities for Employment The median salary for a Data Scientist post is Rs. 622,162, according to Payscale.com. According to one estimate, there are 97,000 job opportunities in analytics and data science. Graduates can find positions as data scientists, architects, administrators, analysts, or even Business Intelligence Managers in any company that deals with large amounts of data. Candidates can pursue a variety of job-related courses after graduation. 4. Machine Learning Machine learning is a data analysis technique that automates the development of analytical models. It's an artificial intelligence area predicated on the idea that computers can learn from data, spot patterns, and make decisions with little or no human intervention. After graduation, this domain offers a variety of job-related courses. Despite the fact that the term "machine learning" is relatively new, the principle of machine learning has been around for a long time, with Alan Turing's Enigma machine from World War II being the earliest example. Machine learning is now used in almost every area of our lives, from simple activities to more complicated computations needing Big Data. 5. Chartered Financial Analyst Students who prefer finance over STEM should obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst certification. While Chartered Accounting was once the preferred course for business students, CFA has risen to the top due to its global and comprehensive curriculum, which opens up a wide range of lucrative job opportunities in investment banking, research analysis, portfolio management, and financial strategy. Candidates in this field will enroll in job-oriented courses for commerce graduates. This curriculum delves deeply into portfolio management, financial modeling, and other investment-related issues. First Level - This level focuses on equity, fixed income, and alternative investments, among other things. Aside from that, it gives a full review of techniques such as financial reporting and analysis, economics, and quants, among others. Level 2 - This level goes into further detail about asset valuation, including equity, fixed income, and derivatives, as well as financial statement analysis. Level 3 - CFA Level III examines asset portfolio management and wealth planning from a new angle. You are now well prepared to continue on your adventure of pursuing your dream career, having gone through the list of career alternatives and some of the job-oriented courses available after graduation. It is critical to understand what job route is best for a person and to select suitable career-oriented courses following graduation. Pan-African SVOD platform Showmax has released the trailer for its new animated series Twende, the first 2d animated Showmax Original. The producers of the series are touting this as the first 2d animated show of this scale and quality made almost entirely in Africa. A pilot episode for Twende screened in competition at Annecy in 2021, and now, Showmaxs parent company Multichoice Studios is bringing the finished series to Mipcom to court international distributors outside of Africa. Twende will debut on Showmax across Africa on December 4. The trailer looks great and the shows sense of humor shines through. Aimed at 6 to 11-year-olds, Twende looks like the kind of series that parents will enjoy watching with their kids. Series details: An unknown number of people will be laid off from Netflix Animation in the coming weeks, according to a report published in Variety and confirmed by the streamer. The layoffs are part of a restructuring process that will also result in less animation produced in-house. Netflix intends to acquire more projects from third-party producers through output deals, a cost-effective alternative to producing its own content. The streamer has previously signed output deals with Sony Pictures Animation, Nickelodeon, Illumination, and Dreamworks Animation, among others, and now it appears that it will rely more heavily on such deals as it slims down its own animation division. The report in Variety also identified two original animated films that have been put in turnaround. The first is Escape from Beverly Hills, which hadnt been previously announced, and the second is Tunga, an African mythology film based on the Bantu-speaking Shona people of Zimbabwe. The latter film will remain at Netflix, where it will be sent back to development. After a heady launch in which the streamer spent lavishly to grow its animation division, reality set in with a multitude of projects that didnt meet the streamers own performance expectations. These disappointments led to multiple rounds of layoffs in 2022, including 70 people in May 2022 and 30 people in September 2022. It is perhaps ironic that as Netflixs animation division continues to contract, it is also beginning to find its creative footing. Netflix won its first Academy Award for feature animation earlier this year with Guillermo del Toros Pinocchio, and recent animated films it has produced or funded, such as Nimona and The Monkey King, have garnered strong viewership numbers. The company has at least two more audience-friendly features set to release before the end of this year: the Adam Sandler-headlined Leo and Aardmans Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday that the Pentagon was ready to deploy more military aid to Israel as Israeli forces prepare for a likely invasion of Gaza in response to a devastating attack by militant group Hamas. Austin said that munitions, air defence capabilities and other equipment and resources were "rapidly flowing" to Washington's closest Middle Eastern ally. Israel has vowed to crush Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules Gaza. Israel launched its heaviest ever bombardment of the Gaza Strip after Hamas carried out an unprecedented and shock cross-border attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel's response, which has already involved dropping thousands of bombs on Gaza, is expected to intensify as it prepares a possible ground assault on the narrow, densely populated coastal strip. The United States and other Western allies have said they will support Israel as it prosecutes what Israeli leaders say will be a prolonged war. "The USS Gerald R. Ford strike group is now in the region led by the largest aircraft carrier in the world. We've augmented U.S. fighter aircraft squadrons in the Middle East and ... stand fully ready to deploy additional assets if necessary," Austin told reporters in Tel Aviv. Austin, who spoke alongside his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, cautioned that it was a time for "resolve" and not "revenge." He compared Hamas with Islamic State, the bloodthirsty Islamist group that emerged in Iraq and Syria a decade ago, repeating a line being used by Israeli leaders as they rally support for their upcoming assault on Gaza. Hamas militants killed women, children and the elderly in their brutal attacks on towns in southern Israel. Austin also sought to reassure Ukraine, adding that Washington would support Israel in its war against Hamas at the same time as continuing to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion. Ukrainian officials are concerned that U.S. military aid to Israel will affect Kyiv's own hardware deliveries and its stockpiles of weapons and munitions. "The United States remains the most powerful country in the world and we remain fully able to project power and uphold our commitments and direct resources to multiple theatres," Austin said. "So we will stand with Israel even as we stand with Ukraine." (Reuters) Photo: The Canadian Press Fire and smoke rise following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. A group from a B.C. church was on a tour in Israel to explore the historical sites when the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Saturday, leaving the group struggling to find a way home.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Hatem Moussa A group from a British Columbia church that had been touring historical sites in Israel when Hamas fighters began killing civilians is struggling to find a way home with the confusion of the war and a lack of support from the Canadian government. Paul Olson, an executive pastor at the SouthRidge Fellowship Church in Langley, said he woke Saturday to a ton of messages from church members on the tour saying they were safe. After listening to the news, Olson said he was worried, but was able to contact Brent Chapman, the pastor who was leading the group of 25 on a tour in Masada, an ancient fortress in the southern Israel. But the next dilemma was how to get them out, he said. When it happened at the weekend, there was no support whatsoever from the Canadian Consulate. There was no support from Air Canada, they had no idea what they were supposed to do, said Olson. And the Canadian government didnt help at all. By Monday, the Canadian government had issued notices telling people to stay away from the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, but Olson said the group was still feeling "cut off." They weren't saying: Hey, here's where you need to go. Here's what you need to do, added Olson. In the days since Hamas launched bombs and sent gunmen over the Israeli border, more than 2,500 people have been killed on both sides. Olson said their tour group first moved to northern Israel to get clear of the fighting and then form a plan to get home safely. He said they eventually made it to the neighbouring country of Jordan, hoping that they might find a flight from there. Olson said they tried to reach out to the government, but the office was closed due to the Thanksgiving holiday and when the office finally opened on Monday, their phone calls still werent answered. So, it was really not very helpful, said Olson. It was really disappointing. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that a Royal Canadian Air Force plane that left Tel Aviv with 130 people on board has landed in Athens. Olson said the group is aware that the Canadian government is airlifting people out of Israel, butthe group doesn't want to return to Israel to catch a flight home. But they have not heard from the Canadian government at least at this point," he said. He said they are uncertain if they'll get on an Air Canada flight. "It's not a simple venture to get everybody out, right? And we're not just going to send one or two at a time. We're trying to get them all out at the same time." The SouthRidge Fellowship Church has been organizing trips to Israel every five years to explore the historical sites while learning where Jesus walked and born, he said. As of Thursday, there were more than 5,685 Canadians registered in Israel and 465 Canadians registeredin the West Bank and Gaza. Global Affairs Canada has responded to 2,793 inquiries since the beginning of the conflict on Oct. 7. With files from The Associated Press Photo: The Canadian Press People hold pride flags while attending rally against the Saskatchewan government's proposed legislation on pronoun policy in front of the Saskatchewan legislature in Regina, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023.The Saskatchewan government has tabled legislation and the notwithstanding clause to prevent children under 16 from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu The Saskatchewan government tabled legislation Thursday invoking the notwithstanding clause to prevent children under 16 from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent. A judge granted an injunction at the end of September pausing the Saskatchewan Party government's pronoun policy until a constitutional challenge could be heard later this year. Lawyers for UR Pride, a LGBTQ organization in Regina, sought the injunction, arguing the policy could cause teachers to out or misgender children and that it violates Charter rights. Premier Scott Moe pledged the same day to recall the legislature early to put the policy into legislation and invoke the notwithstanding clause. The clause is a rarely used provision that allows governments to override certain sections of the Charter for up to five years. "Every child in this province has the right to a safe, inclusive and welcoming school environment. We believe that having parents involved, like outlined in the legislation today, does that and that is what's best for the child and the parent," Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill told reporters after tabling the parents bill of rights act. "I think over the next number of days, we're going to get into debate here on the collision of rights and how the notwithstanding clause addresses that." Egale Canada, a national LGBTQ organization, said the province is trampling on the rights of vulnerable children and youth. Egale has been providing legal assistance in UR Pride's challenge over the policy. "We can all agree that young people deserve to feel safe and that parents play an important role in fostering a safe environment at home and in the community," Egale said in a statement. "But the evidence is clear: not allowing young people to be themselves at school will cause irreparable harm by diminishing their mental health and well-being, and it even puts their lives at risk." Opposition NDP education critic Matt Love said the bill violates children's rights. "It's an indication that they know this policy will harm children and they're more interested in protecting themselves," Love told reporters. He said the issue of pronouns in school is not top of mind for people. "I'm disappointed that the priorities of this government are so out of touch that we're not here to talk about the tens of thousands of people who don't have access to a family doctor," Love said. "We're also not here to talk about schools that don't have a working roof to keep kids dry when they go to school." The bill says if it's believed a student would be harmed because of the pronoun consent requirement, the school's principal is to direct the student to a counsellor. However, the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation has said schools are short counselling staff, as there is only one counsellor available for every 3,000 students. Cockrill said the province is looking to hire more staff. "We don't have a prescribed ratio (of counsellors to students)," he said. "But we'll certainly work with school divisions to ensure that supports are in place. But, you know, the reality is that not all supports are going to be in the school context. We have community-based supports as well." In using the notwithstanding clause, the government is seeking to override sections of the Charter that deal with fundamental freedoms, life liberty and security of the person, and equality. It's also seeking to override parts of Saskatchewan's Human Rights Code that address freedom of conscience, free expression and right to education. The bill also says parents must be given at least two weeks' notice before any sexual health content is presented in schools so they can withdraw their children's participation if they choose. Part of the bill aims to prevent people or organizations from suing the government over the legislation. Margo Allaire, an organizer with Yorkton Pride, said most parents wouldn't worry about their children's pronouns because they have good relationships. However, there are some who don't, Allaire said. "For kids who don't have a safe home, this is scary." Moe has said the policy, announced in August, has strong support from the majority of Saskatchewan residents and parents. Saskatchewan's child advocate Lisa Broda said in a report that it violates rights to gender identity and expression. The government is looking to extend debate on the bill to 40 hours, a move that could result in politicians sitting long hours starting next week. Photo: The Canadian Press This image from video posted to social media by Hamas on Sept. 12, 2023 shows a live-fire exercise dubbed operation Strong Pillar outside Al-Mawasi, a Palestinian town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip. (Hamas via AP) Less than a month before Hamas fighters blew through Israels high-tech Iron Wall and launched an attack that would leave more than 1,200 Israelis dead, they practiced in a very public dress rehearsal. A slickly produced two-minute propaganda video posted to social media by Hamas on Sept. 12 shows fighters using explosives to blast through a replica of the border gate, sweep in on pickup trucks and then move building by building through a full-scale reconstruction of an Israeli town, firing automatic weapons at human-silhouetted paper targets. The Islamic militant groups live-fire exercise dubbed operation Strong Pillar also had militants in body armor and combat fatigues carrying out operations that included the destruction of mock-ups of the walls concrete towers and a communications antenna, just as they would do for real in the deadly attack last Saturday. While Israels highly regarded security and intelligence services were clearly caught flatfooted by Hamas ability to breach its Gaza defenses, the group appears to have hidden its extensive preparations for the deadly assault in plain sight. There clearly were warnings and indications that should have been picked up, said Bradley Bowman, a former U.S. Army officer who is now senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington research institute. Or maybe they were picked up, but they didnt spark necessary preparations to prevent these horrific terrorist acts from happening. The Associated Press reviewed and verified key details from dozens of videos Hamas released over the last year, primarily through the social media app Telegram. Using satellite imagery, the AP matched the location of the mocked-up town to a patch of desert outside Al-Mawasi, a Palestinian town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip. A large sign in Hebrew and Arabic at the gate says Horesh Yaron, the name of a controversial Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Bowman said there are indications that Hamas intentionally led Israeli officials to believe it was preparing to carry out raids in the West Bank, rather than Gaza. It was also potentially significant that the exercise has been held annually since 2020 in December, but was moved up by nearly four months this year to coincide with the anniversary of Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. In a separate video posted to Telegram from last year's Strong Pillar exercise on Dec. 28, Hamas fighters are shown storming what appears to be a mockup Israeli military base, complete with a full-size model of a tank with an Israeli flag flying from its turret. The gunmen move through the cinderblock buildings, seizing other men playing the roles of Israeli soldiers as hostages. Michael Milshtein, a retired Israeli colonel who previously led the military intelligence department overseeing the Palestinian territories, said he was aware of the Hamas videos, but he was still caught off guard by the ambition and scale of Saturdays attack. We knew about the drones, we knew about booby traps, we knew about cyberattacks and the marine forces The surprise was the coordination between all those systems, Milshtein said. The seeds of Israels failure to anticipate and stop Saturdays attack go back at least a decade. Faced with recurring attacks from Hamas militants tunneling under Israels border fence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a very concrete solution build a bigger wall. With financial help from U.S. taxpayers, Israel completed construction of a $1.1 billion project to fortify its existing defenses along its 40-mile land border with Gaza in 2021. The new, upgraded barrier includes a smart fence up to 6-meters (19.7 feet) high, festooned with cameras that can see in the dark, razor wire and seismic sensors capable of detecting the digging of tunnels more than 200 feet below. Manned guard posts were replaced with concrete towers topped with remote-controlled machine guns. In our neighborhood, we need to protect ourselves from wild beasts, Netanyahu said in 2016, referring to Palestinians and neighboring Arab states. At the end of the day as I see it, there will be a fence like this one surrounding Israel in its entirety. Shortly after dawn on Saturday, Hamas fighters pushed through Netanyahus wall in a matter of minutes. And they did it on the relative cheap, using explosive charges to blow holes in the barrier and then sending in bulldozers to widen the breaches as fighters streamed through on motorcycles and in pick-up trucks. Cameras and communications gear were bombarded by off-the-shelf commercial drones adapted to drop hand grenades and mortar shells a tactic borrowed directly from the battlefields of Ukraine. Snipers took out Israels sophisticated roboguns by targeting their exposed ammunition boxes, causing them to explode. Militants armed with assault rifles sailed over the Israeli defenses slung under paragliders, providing Hamas airborne troops despite lacking airplanes. Increasingly sophisticated homemade rockets, capable of striking Israels capital of Tel Aviv, substituted for a lack of heavy artillery. Satellite images analyzed by the AP show the massive extent of the damage done at the heavily fortified Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel. The images taken Sunday and analyzed Tuesday showed gaping holes in three sections of the border wall, the largest more than 70 meters (230 feet) wide. Once the wall was breached, Hamas fighters streamed through by the hundreds. A video showed a lone Israeli battle tank rushing to the sight of the attack, only to be attacked and quickly destroyed in a ball of flame. Hamas then disabled radio towers and radar sites, likely impeding the ability of the Israeli commanders to see and understand the extent of the attack. Hamas forces also struck a nearby army base near Zikim, engaging in an intense firefight with Israeli troops before overrunning the post. Videos posted by Hamas show graphic scenes with dozens of dead Israeli soldiers. They then fanned out across the countryside of Southern Israel, attacking kibbutzim and a music festival. On the bodies of some of the Hamas militants killed during the invasion were detailed maps showing planned zones and routes of attack, according to images posted by Israeli first responders who recovered some of the the corpses. Israeli authorities announced Wednesday they had recovered the bodies of about 1,500 Islamic fighters, though no details were provided about where they were found or how they died. Military experts told the AP the attack showed a level of sophistication not previously exhibited by Hamas, likely suggesting they had external help. I just was impressed with Hamass ability to use basics and fundamentals to be able to penetrate the wall, said retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Stephen Danner, a combat engineer trained to build and breach defenses. "They seemed to be able to find those weak spots and penetrate quickly and then exploit that breach. Ali Barakeh, a Beirut-based senior Hamas official, acknowledged that over the years the group had received supplies, financial support, military expertise and training from its allies abroad, including Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. But he insisted the recent operation to breach Israels border defenses was homegrown, with the exact date and time for the attack known only to a handful of commanders within Hamas. Details of the operation were kept so tight that some Hamas fighters who took part in the assault Saturday believed they were heading to just another drill, showing up in street clothes rather than their uniforms, Barakeh said. Last weekends devastating surprise attack has shaken political support for Netanyahu within Israel, who pushed ahead with spending big to build walls despite some within his own cabinet and military warning that it probably wouldnt work. In the days since Hamas struck, senior Israeli officials have largely deflected questions about the wall and the apparent intelligence failure. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, acknowledged the military owes the public an explanation, but said now is not the time. First, we fight, then we investigate, he said. In his push to build border walls, Netanyahu found an enthusiastic partner in then-President Donald Trump, who praised Netanyahus Iron Wall as a potential model for the expanded barrier he planned for the U.S. Southern border with Mexico. Under Trump, the U.S. expanded a joint initiative with Israel started under the Obama Administration to develop technologies for detecting underground tunnels along the Gaza border defenses. Since 2016, Congress has appropriated $320 million toward the project. But even with all its high-tech gadgets, the Iron Wall was still largely just a physical barrier that could be breached, said Victor Tricaud, a senior analyst with the London-based consulting firm Control Risks. The fence, no matter how many sensors ... no matter how deep the underground obstacles go, at the end of the day, its effectively a metal fence, he said. Explosives, bulldozers can eventually get through it. What was remarkable was Hamass capability to keep all the preparations under wraps. Photo: The Canadian Press Members of the P.E.I. Health Coalition, P.E.I. Federation of Labour, Canadian Health Coalition, and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions demonstrate outside the health ministers' meeting in Charlottetown on Thursday, Oct.12, 2023. They are calling for universal pharmacare and to stop legislative moves that would allow the privatization of health care. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Brady McCloskey mandatory credit The federal health minister says Canada intends to tackle its health workforce shortages by making it easier for nurses and doctors to practice in other provinces, streamlining credentials for internationally-trained health workers and through a new nursing retention program. Mark Holland shared the strategies as he wrapped up two days of meetings with his provincial and territorial health minister counterparts in Prince Edward Island Thursday. Our plan for a strong and sustainable health workforce is one that is shared by all levels of government and dominated our conversations over the last two days, Holland said during a news conference. Holland said while there is much to be proud of in Canadas health system, it's also really stretched. And this is a time particularly in the workforce where we're facing a crisis and where we have to rise to that occasion. The minister laid out a five-part workforce plan, which includes the creation of a so-called nursing retention toolkit that will provide employers with guides to creating workplaces where nurses feel supported and want to stay. The plan involves making it easier for physicians and nurses to work in different Canadian jurisdictions, Holland said, and speeding up the process of regulatory bodies certifying internationally-trained health professionals to hit a 90-day service standard. It will also undertake a study of the number of health workers being educated in Canada to ensure there are enough to meet demand. The strategy also includes strengthening and sharing standardized health data across the country in order to better plan for future health workforce needs. This is critically important to make sure that we don't just deal with the health workforce issues we're facing today, but to make sure that we know exactly who we need in the future, Holland said. Improving the integration and sharing of health data is a condition of the health accord the prime minister offered premiers in February. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered $196 billion to the provinces and territories over the next 10 years to improve access to health care. That funding includes increases to the federal health transfer and tailored one-on-one agreements to target the specific needs in different jurisdictions. In exchange, premiers must promise to improve data sharing and empirically measure their progress toward set goals and targets. British Columbia was the first to sign the first bilateral funding agreement with Ottawa, and all other provinces and territories have agreed to the health accord in principle except for Quebec, which has balked at being accountable to Ottawa for how money is spent. Quebecs Minister of Health Christian Dube said Thursday this issue is a sticking point for his province. The transfer from federal had to be without conditions, this is not negotiable for us. We have been very clear that health is a matter of provincial jurisdiction and we stick to that, Dube said Thursday. A footnote on a federal news release Thursday noted that Quebec has not signed any agreement with the federal government and is not bound to the plan put forward Thursday. Dr. Kathleen Ross, president of the Canadian Medical Association, met with health ministers this week and said she was very pleased to see the plan's targets aimed at improving health worker recruitment. There were so many excellent points made in these commitments, and the action plan that was mapped out today in P.E.I. is really on point, she said in an interview Thursday evening. We need to support our workers, we need more of our workers. We need to train and retain and recruit in order to get where we're going. Ahead of the announcement of the plan, members of the Canadian Health Coalition, P.E.I. Health Coalition, the P.E.I. Federation of Labour and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions demonstrated Thursday morning in downtown Charlottetown, calling for urgent universal pharmacare and an end to the privatization of health services. The federal government has promised to table pharmacare legislation this fall. When asked about whats needed in legislation for a federal pharmacare program to work in P.E.I., provincial Health Minister Mark McLane said that a one-size-fits-all model may not work and said that conversations are ongoing. Photo: The Canadian Press Dr. Ehab Bader had travelled from London, Ont., to Gaza for a family visit, to see his aging parents. Now trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory, he is volunteering at Gaza's largest hospital, which is overwhelmed by people in urgent need of life-saving care as medical supplies run short. "People are waiting outside, severely injured and sometimes you have to choose unfortunately, who do you serve," the neonatologist told The Canadian Press, speaking from his parents' home in Gaza City. "It's a difficult choice for those who work at the emergency room. The situation will be better described as catastrophic." Bader, 47, arrived in Gaza less than two weeks before Hamas militants crossed through Israels highly fortified separation fence and killed over 1,300 Israelis in a brutal rampage. Israel's military told about one million Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza on Friday and head to the southern part of the sealed-off coastal enclave, an unprecedented order applying to nearly half the population ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas. The order sparked panic among civilians and aid workers already running from a barrage of Israeli airstrikes, as the U.N. warned staging such an evacuation on a 24-hour deadline would be impossible and potentially calamitous. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides. Bader said he was asked to volunteer at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where the morgue was overflowing, and workers had to stack corpses outside the walk-in cooler and put dozens more, side by side, in the parking lot. Israel said that nothing would be allowed into Gaza until the release of around 150 hostages taken captive by Hamas. Egypt says it has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel to Gaza through its Rafah crossing point, which remained closed on both sides Thursday. Bader said Canada and the broader international community need to raise their voices louder in calling for the creation of a humanitarian corridor that would allow food, water, and medicine to enter Gaza. Shifa and other hospitals are desperately trying to save whatever diesel remains in their backup generators, turning off the lights in all hospital departments but the most essential intensive care, operating rooms, oxygen stations. Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz has said, "Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages" Hamas militants captured from Israel are returned home. Bader accused Israel of inflicting collective punishment on Palestinians in Gaza who played no role in the Hamas attack, insisting that ensuring access to medical supplies and other essentials for non-combatants should not be a subject of negotiation. "If we are principled, we should ask ourselves, why we can't help those who are trapped in Gaza Strip," Bader said. "A government like (Canada should) put enough and extra pressure, often, to stop this disaster. What's going on in Gaza is a crime because we have no access to our basic needs." Israel has enforced a strict blockade of Gaza since 2007, the year Hamas took power in the coastal enclave. Egypt also tightly controls the flow of goods and people through the Rafah crossing. A senior official with the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that the lack of electricity could cripple hospitals, put newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk, and stop kidney dialysis and X-rays. "Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues," said Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC's regional director. Bader said he has been surrounded by scenes of death and destruction. The beds at Shifa are full, with patients crowding the hallways. He told The Canadian Press that he is not sure what he will do if given the chance to evacuate, expressing conflict about leaving Gazans in desperate need of help. "So many like me are torn between our family, our relatives, our colleagues, our friends, our neighbours in Canada, and the family that we left behind," Bader said. Photo: The Canadian Press Nathaniel Veltman is escorted outside Ontario Superior Court in Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, Sept.5, 2023. The trial of an Ontario man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in an alleged act of terrorism is set to resume today after the Crown wrapped up its case last week. The trial, held in Windsor, Ont., is expected to hear from Veltman's defence lawyers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dax Melmer The man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in an alleged act of terrorism told a jury Friday that his mind was "corrupted" by online conspiracy theories and that he eventually developed a desire to engage in an act of violence. In his second day of testimony, Nathaniel Veltman told court that as his mental state deteriorated during the pandemic, he began consuming more online content that included unfounded conspiracies about COVID-19 and Muslims. "This content started to warp my view of the world," he said. "It was starting to cause this seething anger. The 22-year-old said he was always drawn to "whatever was fringe and conspiracy related," but didn't initially identify with a lot of the content he was viewing. He said he tried to block some of the websites he was visiting with an app originally intended to block access to pornography and even removed or destroyed some of his electronic devices, but he always went back to the disturbing content. He said he became "addicted" to it. Slowly I became desensitized to the offensive material, he testified. On the stand in the Windsor, Ont., courtroom where the trial is taking place, Veltman has been detailing what he described as a process of mental decline that started when he began spending a lot of time on the internet in the early months of the pandemic. As time went on and after two aborted attempts to end his life in March 2021, Veltman said things changed. "I no longer tried to avoid the things that I knew triggered something in me. I felt I had nothing to lose," he said. Veltman said his suicidal ideation "suddenly morphed into something else." "(I had) desire to engage in an act of violence and avenge these things that I was seeing," he said, referring to extreme-right websites carrying baseless conspiracy theories about Muslims. Veltman is accused of deliberately hitting the Afzaal family with his truck in June 2021 while they were out for a walk in London, Ont. Salman Afzaal, 46; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the couple's nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived. Veltman has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Jurors have previously seen video of Veltman telling a detective that his attack had been motivated by white nationalist beliefs. The Crown has argued that Veltman planned an attack for three months and that his actions amount to terrorism. Veltman also told the jury Friday about two instances in which he took psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, in attempts to cope. He said he took a "large" amount of magic mushrooms in April 2020 that made him hear "demonic voices" and writhe on the floor. "I forgot who I was, I forgot where I lived, I forgot what planet I was on it was like a complete memory wipe," he testified. Veltman said he also consumed magic mushrooms on June 5, 2021, a day after his grandmother had died and he had gone to see her body. Veltman said he was distraught over the death of the woman he considered his "substitute" mother and pressured a friend to give him more of the drugs than the friend thought was safe for him to consume. He said he was very disturbed at the time and wanted to "escape" by taking psilocybin. The attack on the Afzaal family occurred on June 6, 2021. Veltman told the jury on Thursday that he had a "fundamentalist" Christian upbringing marked by regular punishments from his mother, which included spankings. He said he was homeschooled until Grade 11 and the isolation from the wider community made him socially awkward and drawn to "outcasts" and "bad" crowds later in life. Veltman's case is the first where Canada's terrorism laws are being put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial. Photo: The Canadian Press Citizens visit the portraits of the country's late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on the occasion of the 78th founding anniversary of the Worker's Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin) The White House said on Friday that North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine. Speculation about a possible North Korean plan to refill Russias munition stores drained in its protracted war with Ukraine flared last month, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the U.S. believes Kim is seeking sophisticated Russian weapons technologies in return for the munitions to boost North Korea's military and nuclear program. The White House released images that it said show the containers were loaded onto a Russian-flagged ship before being moved via train to southwestern Russia. The containers were shipped between Sept. 7 and Oct. 1 between Najin, North Korea, and Dunay, Russia, according to the White House. "We condemn the DPRK for providing Russia with this military equipment, which will be used to attack Ukrainian cities and kill Ukrainian civilians and further Russias illegitimate war," Kirby said, using the initials for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name. In return for support, we assess the Pyongyang is seeking military assistance from Russia including fighter aircraft, surface to air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment, or other materials and other advanced technologies. The U.S. has accused North Korea of previously providing ammunition, artillery shells and rockets to Russia. North Korea has previously denied providing weaponry to Moscow. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, last week published satellite photos that showed a sharp increase in rail traffic along the North Korea-Russia border, The report said satellite images as of Oct. 5 captured a dramatic and unprecedented level of freight railcar traffic at the Tumangang Rail Facility. It said images show approximately 73 railcars while a review of previous satellite images over the past five years shows about 20 railcars at this facility at most. Kim last month, after he had met with Putin, called for an exponential increase in production of nuclear weapons and for his country to play a larger role in a coalition of nations confronting the United States in a new Cold War, North Korean state media said. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the comments during a two-day session of the countrys rubber-stamp parliament, which amended the constitution to include his policy of expanding the countrys nuclear weapons program. In Russia, Kim deepened comradely fellowship and friendly ties with Putin, North Korean state media reported. During Kims six-day trip to Russia, his longest foreign travel as a leader, the two countries said they discussed boosting their defense ties but didnt disclose any specific steps. Foreign experts speculate the two countries, both locked in confrontations with the West, were pushing to reach arms transfer deals in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The trip to Russia was also Kim's first foreign trip since the pandemic, during which North Korea imposed tight border controls for more than three years. After decades of hot-and-cold relations, Russia and North Korea have drawn closer since Moscows invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in the Middle East to consult with allies in the aftermath of last week's Hamas attack on Israel, spoke by phone on Friday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. The two leaders discussed he latest battlefield developments, according to the State Department. Venezuela denounces U.S. sanctions as "extortion and blackmail" after UN resolution against unilateral coercive measures Xinhua) 13:37, October 13, 2023 CARACAS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela denounced U.S. sanctions as "extortion and blackmail" at an international forum Thursday, as the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted on the same day a new resolution condemning the negative impacts on human rights of unilateral coercive measures (UCM). "It is a system of sanctions ... that sought to asphyxiate the Venezuelan economy to pressure the Venezuelan people to change their political course," Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said during her speech at the international forum of the sixth Russian Energy Week in Moscow. "The 930 unilateral coercive measures, that are illicit and illegitimate, are still intact against Venezuela," said Rodriguez. She argued that the sanctions have caused extreme damage to the Venezuelan oil industry, which historically generates the highest percentage of foreign currency for the South American country. "The impact on the Venezuelan economy is brutal," she said. Although since 2021, the country "has been experiencing a process of economic recovery and growth." Rodriguez said that the "geo-strategic" targets of U.S. sanctions have been oil exporters such as Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. She warned that the strategy of sanctions plus wars has become the "central axis" of U.S. foreign policy. Also on Thursday, Venezuela's government welcomed a new resolution by the UN Human Rights Council condemning unilateral coercive measures (UCM) against countries. "We celebrate that the United Nations Human Rights Council approved a new resolution condemning Unilateral Coercive Measures," Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. The resolution adopted at the 54th session of HRC is "a new victory for Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy and International Law," Gil added. Sanctions unilaterally imposed on countries are "an instrument of violation of people's fundamental rights," said Gil. Hector Constant Rosales, permanent representative of Venezuela to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the resolution adopted Thursday is a "new victory for International Law." The Resolution A/HRC/54/L.26 "Human rights and unilateral coercive measures" was submitted by Azerbaijan on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and was adopted by the HRC with 32 votes in favor, 13 against, and 2 abstentions. The Resolution also extends for a period of three years the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) The main bourgeois media outlets in Switzerland 20 Minuten, Tagesanzeiger, NZZ, Weltwoche have launched a witch hunt against the communists. They are targeting us because we are organising in solidarity with the Palestinian people. [Originally published in German at derfunke.ch] The front page of 20 Minuten was recently plastered with the headline: Unknown group calls for pro-Hamas rally in Zurich. Shortly afterwards, 20 Minuten and NZZ adjusted their slanders to remove the reference to Hamas. In their lurid articles they say that our rally is a call for violence and accuse us of anti-Semitism for raising the slogan of solidarity with Palestine. The universities of Zurich, Bern and Fribourg have withdrawn room-booking rights on campus for our student comrades. Bern: the meeting took place despite being pushed off the university and was a huge success! The University of Zurich (UZH) writes: The UZH does not tolerate calls for violence. The call for 'Intifada until victory' spread by 'Der Funke' and 'IMT' is not compatible with the stance of the UZH. The UZH supports democratically conducted discussions. That same evening, three vans of policemen were mobilised to Zurichs other main university (ETH) to prevent the rally. The Swiss establishment much like its counterpart in Britain, for example is immediately going on the offensive against any attempts by workers and youth to show solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. The basic democratic right to freedom of speech and assembly is being met with repression. Bourgeois hypocrisy The hysterical reaction of the Swiss media is not a sign of strength, but of weakness. It is the desperate attempt of the ruling class in Switzerland and in the west as a whole to justify Israeli imperialism, to intimidate and silence all those who want to fight against oppression and to stop any discussion about Israeli aggression and the occupation of Palestine. Yet their hypocrisy knows no bounds. These are the same media outlets that have looked the other way for decades at all the atrocities of western and Israeli imperialism in the Middle East. Where are the headlines denouncing the murder of thousands of Palestinians in recent years? Rather, they ruthlessly defend Israel's right to defend itself. Bourgeois media presents the situation as if it were a conflict between two equal forces. Yet they all ignore the fact that what we have here is a sophisticated imperialist power marching its modern military into the largest open-air prison in the world! All the while denying hundreds of thousands of people access to drinking water, electricity and health care! As communists, our response must be resolute: we must defend the right of the oppressed Palestinians to resist. We are many! Organise the resistance! The bourgeois media does not represent the working class. Large crowds attended the banned rally in Zurich, disgusted by the article in 20 Minuten. A number of workers and youth have also contacted us to get active in the struggle. A message to our website reads: I am an uneducated man, but even I know that when people are harassed for years, literally deprived of their homes and land, at some point exactly what is happening now is bound to occur. 90 percent of the world points the finger at Palestine and calls them terrorists. What are the Israelis then if they are not even bound by human rights? Every day we hold discussions with more and more communists in order to get them organised in the fight for revolution. Since Sunday, Palestine has been the only topic on the agenda. A report from one such discussion describes the experiences of one new attendee: She comes from Egypt. She has been watching the bombings of Palestine on TV since she was seven. She experienced all the crimes of imperialism first hand growing up, and understands the history of Israel and the hypocrisy of Western imperialism. She intuitively defended the IMTs position in its entirety as if she knew it by heart: from Israel is the aggressor to Hamas are the only leadership available, but the masses have to fight and it is good that they are fighting. Don't confuse them with Hamas to the Israeli working class will not be free until the Intifada wins!. When I explained our position to her and said that we are building an International that will lead the struggle of these masses to victory, she almost cried because our position is just spot on and because she wants to be part of an international organisation that defends this. We must give a voice to the growing resentment of Swiss workers and youth against this barbaric and one-sided war. We must also unite against any repression or propaganda by the ruling class! If you also feel suffocated under the thick torrent of propaganda in the bourgeois media, if you really just want to express your solidarity with the oppressed then get organised with the communists! The communists of the IMT are evidently the only ones to stand up for the Palestinian struggle without caving to the pressure of the ruling class. That is why they are trying to make an example of us. They need to send a bold warning to the whole left: If you dare to say even one consistent word against the Israeli state, we will call you anti-Semites and terrorist sympathisers. We are not in the least intimidated by this. We are going on the counter-offensive. For this we need you and all those who want to fight for the liberation of the Palestinian people! The SVP and the betrayal of the Young Socialist leadership In the meantime, Benjamin Fischer, a politician with the right-wing Swiss Peoples Party (SVP), has also joined the cynical hysteria about our poster. This is not surprising. The SVP is the party of the fatcat bourgeoisie, for whom nothing is off the table when defending the interests of the Swiss capitalists. They stand firmly on the side of Israeli imperialism in their barbaric oppression of the Palestinian people. It is an absolute scandal that the leadership of the Young Socialists (JUSO) around Nicola Siegrist is now also participating in this repression. On Twitter, JUSO stated that it is correct that the University of Zurich does not tolerate our event and calls on other universities to do the same. In other words, they are calling for the suppression of our basic democratic right to organise an event in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people! At a time when it should be second nature for the left and the labour movement to stand together in defence of the Palestinian people, the JUSO leadership joins the bourgeoisie in cynically agitating in the interest of imperialism. We are convinced that this attitude does not reflect the opinion of all members of JUSO. We call on all JUSO members to take a stand in their local groups and unconditionally side with the Palestinian people in the struggle against imperialist oppression. The scandalous attitude of the JUSO leadership does not affect us communists, but it is a betrayal of the Palestinian people and of all the oppressed of the world. The most important thing today is for communists to cut through bourgeois propaganda and its hypocritical morality and to take a crystal clear class position on this question. Is the struggle against the Israeli regime anti-Semitic? Our enemies are now accusing us of anti-Semitism as they always do when someone dares to oppose Israeli imperialism. They cynically confuse criticism of Zionism with anti-Semitism. But the truth is simple: it is not anti-Semitic to criticise Israel's government. We criticise it not on the basis of religion, but on the basis of its actions decades of violent oppression of the Palestinian people. To claim otherwise is a deliberate lie that props up the Israeli regime and delegitimises justified resistance to the oppressors. Basel: here too, the communists discussed their program on Palestine We have never, in a single word, blamed the Jewish population either in Switzerland or Israel for the oppression of the Palestinians. That is not our position and any honest journalist has the duty to research our genuine positions before branding us anti-Semitic. But honesty and integrity are not attributes of these ladies and gentlemen who day in, day out conceal the crimes of the ruling class. What can you do? The Israeli invasion of Gaza and the complete occupation of the West Bank could cause a social explosion across the Middle East. Revolutionary movements are implicit in the current situation. In Switzerland and around the world, the IMT is organising all those who want to be at the forefront of this revolutionary struggle! Are you a communist? Do you support the liberation struggle of the Palestinians against imperialism? Then you must not remain isolated! Join us!. The spark will light a flame! Intifada until victory! Erlanger Medical Group announces the addition of Diana Sanders to Erlanger Primary Care Bledsoe.An East Tennessee native, Ms. Sanders is a physician assistant who will be seeing patients at Erlanger Primary Care Bledsoe. She received her bachelor of science in nutrition, health and human services from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Ms. Sanders went on to complete her master's in physician assistant studies at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky.Ms.Sanders is able to communicate in five languages: English, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and French. She is passionate about working in a diverse and multicultural environment. Ms. Sanders has cared for patients of all ages and managed acute and chronic conditions in both an emergency and primary care setting. She has experience with wound care, surgery, interpreting, imagining and performing psychiatric evaluations.To make an appointment with Ms. Sanders, call Erlanger Primary Care Bledsoe at 447-3524. Five writers whose passion for creative writing blossomed during their undergraduate days at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will be featured at an upcoming Meacham Writers Workshop event.On Saturday, Oct. 21, a Meacham Writers Workshop UTC Alumni Readingwith conversation and Q&A to followwill take place from 1-3 p.m. at ArtsBuild, 301 E. 11th St. in Chattanooga. Light refreshments will be provided.The program, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by SoLit (previously known as Southern Lit Alliance).The five UTC alums participating in the event are: George Conley Jr.(1984 and 2010), a poet whose poems have appeared in the Sequoya Review and Black Magnolias Literary Journal. Rebecca Cook (1998 and 2001), publisher of the novel Click and two books of poetry, I Will Not Give Over and The Terrible Baby. Rachel Crumble (1980), author of the Sister Sorrow poetry collection and a finalist for Writers Reliefs Peter K. Hixson Memorial Award. Jude Keef (2023), a writer of lyric essays and a May 2023 UTC graduate. His creative nonfiction essay, Fragments, won first place in the 2023 Southern Literary Festival Undergraduate Writing Contest. Gwen Mullins (1996), whose story, Violent Devotion, was selected by series editor Otto Penzler and guest editor Sara Paretsky for inclusion in The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022.Were looking forward to hearing creative work from some of our talented UTC alumni and hope to have more of these events in the future, said UC Foundation Professor Sybil Baker, the Meacham Writers Workshop director and associate head of the UTC Department of English.The Meacham Writers Workshop, established in 1985, is supported primarily by an endowment funded by the late Jean Meachama professor and assistant dean of students at UTCin honor of her husband, Ellis K. Meacham, to promote writing as an expressive art and to bring together University and community writers and readers.The workshop has been graced with hundreds of award-winning writers from around the world. UTC alums and professors who have participated in the workshop over the years include MacArthur Genius Award, National Endowment for the Arts and Whiting Award winners. Oct. 17, South Chattanooga Council Happy Coffee 8 to 10 a.m. East Lake Park: 3000 E. 34th St. Join the South Chattanooga Council for a change to their monthly after-hours event as they host a happy coffee instead of their happy hour social. No cost. Oct. 17, East Brainerd Council | Speed Networking Luncheon 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Miller-Motte College: 6397 Lee Hwy., Ste. 100 Join us and our guest host Elaine Zambos as we learn the fine art of speed networking. Elaine is the Executive Director of BNI Southeastern Tennessee. Her expertise and guidance during our meeting will help you meet great connections. We are delighted to have such a knowledgeable networker hosting our meeting. Register here. $15 Oct. 18, Ooltewah/Collegedale Council Community Connections Meeting 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Collegedale Commons: 4750 Swinyar Dr. We are excited to welcome representatives from Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to speak about local infrastructure projects! Thank you to our sponsor, ReNew Exterior Services. No cost. Oct. 18-19, CO.STARTERS Bootcamp: Dayton | The Company Lab 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Main Street Dayton: 379 2nd Ave. It can be tough for founders in rural communities to find the resources they need to grow their business. CO.STARTERS vast network of programs and partnerships gives you the actionable tools you deserve to build your venture with clarity and confidence. Register here. Oct. 18, Hixson Council Networking Luncheon 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. North River Civic Center: 1009 Executive Dr., Ste 102 Join the Hixson Council for our monthly luncheon and networking event. Andrew Zito, Vice President of the Chattanooga Lookouts, will provide insight into leading the Lookouts organization, as well as updates on the development of their new stadium. Networking will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the meeting will start at noon. $15 Oct. 18, Lunch & Learn: Perfect Your Pitch | The Company Lab Noon to 1:30 p.m. UTC Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: 311 E. MLK Blvd. Want to learn how to craft the perfect pitch for any investor, partner or mentor? Come learn what these people are looking for with VentureSouth and Atlanta Tech Angel's Jay Shaffer. Register here. Oct. 19, East Ridge Council Coffee 8 to 9 a.m. Local Coffee of East Ridge: 5330 Ringgold Road. Join the East Ridge Council for our monthly morning coffee networking event. No cost. Oct. 19, North Hamilton County Council Networking Lunch 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tristar Beverage Chattanooga : 200 Shearer St. Join us for our monthly networking luncheon. Our guest speaker is Senator Bo Watson! He will be providing an update and hosting a business round table to hear your concerns for the next legislative session. Meeting sponsored by Panera Bread. Register here. $15 Oct. 19, East Brainerd Council After Hours | Third Thirsty Thursday 5 to 7 p.m. Molcajete Mexican Restaurant: 6231 Perimeter Dr., Ste. 127 Come network with and enjoy delicious food and flavorful margaritas at the East Brainerd Council's monthly mixer. We will have our own room for everyone to rub elbows and enjoy the company of other Chamber members. We look forward to seeing you there. Register here. No cost. Oct. 19, Business Brews | The Company Lab 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wanderlinger Brewing Company: 1208 King St., Unit 120 Don't miss out on this exclusive opportunity to expand your professional network and unwind in style. There will be 2-for-1 drinks, a popcorn bar and themed trivia! Sponsored by Wanderlinger Brewing. This is free for any professionals. Register here. No cost. Oct. 19, Digital Marketer Meetup 5:30 to 7 p.m. The Greenhouse Barrel + Taproom: 336 E MLKing Blvd. Are you a digital marketer looking to stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of online marketing? Join us at the Digital Marketer Meetup, powered by ChaTech and CBL Properties and connect with fellow marketing professionals, share insights and gain inspiration to supercharge your digital marketing efforts. Register here. No cost. The Wreaths Across Chattanooga Committee has scheduled a kickoff for the 2023 season at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21, at the Hixson Walmart. A Presentation of Colors by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 203 color guard is slated for the event. Wreaths Across Chattanooga is a successful and nationally recognized organization. Last year, Chattanooga was named the number-one wreath fundraising group in the nation. 30,746 wreaths were placed by 2,500 volunteers in the Chattanooga National Cemetery. While we were greatly successful in last years wreath laying, our goal is still to place a wreath on all 49,000 graves at Chattanooga National Cemetery. In doing so, we are remembering all Chattanooga area veterans who served our country, honoring their lives and teaching others about the value of freedom, said Mickey McCamish, retired Navy Captain. We cannot express how appreciative we are of the Hixson Walmart, and many Walmart stores in the area, for supporting us with this goal. Though the organization is successful, there is a common, local misconception that U. S. Government funding is provided for wreaths that are placed on graves at Chattanooga National Cemetery. That isnt the case as Wreaths Across Chattanooga does not receive government assistance for the wreaths, nor is there paid employment involved in these efforts. The organization relies on donations from the community and volunteer help to place wreaths on each grave. Assisting with veteran initiatives has been at the forefront of my professional career, especially throughout my years as market manager SE Tennessee of Walmart, and its just as important to me now as a member of the Hamilton County Commissioners, shared Jeff Eversole, District 10 Hamilton County Commissioner. Working with Wreaths Across Chattanooga is an honor, and it is my goal to ensure their mission of placing a wreath at every grave becomes possible this year. However, this will not happen without help from our community. That is why this kickoff event is so important. Wreath sponsorship for 2023 is $10 per wreath and open until Nov. 28. Placement of a wreath on a specific grave can be made. To sponsor a wreath, please visit ChattAreaVeterans.com/WAC or mail a check of $10 to Wreaths Across Chattanooga, 426 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. Following Hamas surprise attack on 7 October, a bloody retribution has been unleashed by the Israeli state. In the West, capitalist politicians and the prostitute press declare unwavering support for Israels right to defend itself, and brand those showing solidarity with Palestine as terrorist sympathisers. This is being combined with legal repression of solidarity towards the Palestinian people, which must be boldly countered. We will not be silenced! In Britain, the Tory government and the Labour Party opposition under Sir Keir Starmer are united in backing Israel to the hilt. The Tories arch-reactionary Home Secretary Suella Braverman has sent a letter to chief police constables in England and Wales, urging them to block any attempts to use Palestinian flags, songs or swastikas [!] to harass or intimidate members of the Jewish community. Shamelessly drawing a parallel between waving Palestinian flags and displaying Nazi insignia, Braverman seeks to smear anybody standing with Palestine as an anti-semitic terrorist sympathiser, giving a pretence to clamp down on solidarity. The Tories are supported by a press campaign filled with lurid details of brutal violence by Hamas, real and exaggerated, such as the unverified story of 40 beheaded babies at the Kfar Aza kibbutz. Meanwhile, Israeli war crimes are either justified as self-defence, or brushed over, including the recent news about the deployment of white phosphorus in Gaza. In reports of casualties, Israelis are killed whereas Palestinians simply die. 1,300 Israelis have been killed since Hamas conducted an attack on the weekend, and more than 1,500 Palestinians have died in retaliatory strikes. Hundreds of people defied a police ban on pro-Palestinian protests and demonstrated in Paris https://t.co/dp5J7FxZAX pic.twitter.com/NLOkoNoDQI Sky News (@SkyNews) October 13, 2023 On the rare occasion that pro-Palestinian voices are allowed in the media, they are forced to ritualistically condemn Hamas, including Palestinan ambassador Husam Zomlot on BBC Newsnight, who had moments earlier revealed that six of his relatives had been killed in Israeli airstrikes. Later, Zomlot was deliberately misquoted as having said Israel had it coming, with the presenter in question, Kay Burley, repeatedly refusing to retract the quote. The message is simple: if you stand with Palestine, you support Hamas terrorism, and you dont deserve the right to express your views. The Metropolitan Police in London have already announced that police patrols in sensitive areas of London had been increased, warning anyone found breaking the law would be arrested. Academic freedoms under threat These legal threats are combined with attacks on freedom of expression at schools and universities. A number of student societies have been harangued in the media for allegedly glorifying Hamas. Additionally, a teacher has spoken to marxist.com about new guidelines sent to their secondary school by the British governments anti-terror Prevent programme. Staff members were told that attending solidarity protests or vocally supporting the Palestianians in this conflict could violate the schools policy of upholding British values and may need to involve the Prevent Officer, which in itself is a thinly veiled threat, they said, Teachers were encouraged to silence children's conversations around the conflict, and remove Free Palestine stickers or other displays of solidarity. Reactionary Tory rags like the Daily Mail have run headlines accusing university academics (usually Muslims and those of Middle-Eastern heritage) of legitimising Hamas attacks, and demanding sanctions against them. This media harassment and Orwellian meddling at schools and universities is being conducted by the same Tory government and press that once made a great song and dance about enshrining free speech in universities. At the same time as deploying counter-terroism agencies against students and teachers exercising their democratic rights, the British ruling class offer political cover and material assistance to Israeli state terror against the Palestinians. There are now plans afoot to deploy Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster security. Across the Atlantic, 33 student organisations at Harvard University provoked howls of outrage by issuing a statement blaming Israels apartheid regime for the attacks on Saturday. [These] events did not occur in a vacuum, the letter read. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Aside from a tidal wave of condemnation in the press, demanding repercussions for the students from university authorities, a cabal of CEOs, led by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, have insisted the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known. Meanwhile, a truck bearing pictures of students and the words Harvards leading antisemites has been driven around the university in an act of open intimidation. The political establishment has added its voice to condemnation of the Harvard student groups. Republican and Harvard graduate Ted Cruz wrote on X: What the hell is wrong with Harvard? Meanwhile, Seth Moulton, Democratic congressman and Harvard alumni, said in an interview on WBZ-TV he was embarrassed by the students statement: This is outright terrorism, and terrorism is never justified. This is rich, coming from a representative of the same government that for decades has funded Israeli terror against Palestine and uses its political clout to protect the Israeli state from accountability. The US has now sent an aircraft carrier and strike group to the eastern Mediterranean, anticipating the threat of a wider war. Democratic Europe? Olaf Scholz has warned anyone who glorifies the crimes of Palestinian militant group Hamas will face legal repercussions / Image: Olaf Kosinsky, Wikimedia Commons In the past few years, much has been made of Europes democratic values, as opposed to the authoritarian, censorious and violent regimes in Russia, China and so forth. On the question of Palestine, however, the fiction of European democracy stands exposed. For instance, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned anyone who glorifies the crimes of Palestinian militant group Hamas will face legal repercussions, citing zero tolerance on antisemitism. These means expressly include bans on associations and activities, Scholz added. This point about glorifying Hamas is pure sophistry to justify total legal repression of all pro-Palestine demonstrations. Indeed, Berlin police have already banned planned such demonstrations, citing the risk of antisemitic statements and glorification of violence. There are reports already of police crackdowns on people carrying pro-Palestinian symbols including the national flag and wearing the keffiyeh scarf. HAPPENING NOW: Police are out in force in parts of Berlin's Sonnenallee, an area with a large migrant community, including many Palestinians. According to local sources, police violence escalated, and numerous arrests were made against people carrying Palestinian symbols, pic.twitter.com/zFexMukOhm red. (@redstreamnet) October 13, 2023 Also, Berlin's Education Senator Katharina Gunther-Wunsch (CDU) has banned the wearing of Palestinian scarves and other symbols associated with Palestine in schools. Stickers with inscriptions such as free Palestine, maps of Israel in the colours of Palestine, even uttering the words free Palestine, are all prohibited, as such actions and symbols endanger school peace in the current situation. This draconian attack on students basic liberties will doubtlessly prepare a backlash. In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that mayors would intervene in pro-Hamas demonstrations, and a planned march in Amsterdam had to change locations following political pressure and legal threats. Meanwhile, the Macron government in France has issued a blanket ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, with Interiror Minister Gerald Darmanin saying anyone taking part should be arrested as they are susceptible to disrupt public order. In defiance of the ban, thousands assembled in Paris, Lille, Bordeaux and elsewhere yesterday. These demonstrations were immediately broken up by the police using water cannons and tear gas, and dozens were arrested across the country. Such is the farce of French democracy! Macron made the motive for this especially outrageous attack on democratic freedoms clear in a video address to the nation, saying lets not add national divisions to international divisions. With his authority and popularity in the toilet, having already faced two major waves of struggle this year (against a hated and undemocratic retirement age hike, and the police murder of a French-Algerian teenager), Macron is fearful of another conflagration. But his attempt to wield the hammer of state repression to enforce unity could rapidly backfire, given the fragility of the political situation in France. The French courts are also being used to clamp down on dissent. The New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA), a small left-wing party led by Phillip Poutou, is facing a legal probe for allegedly glorifying terror following a Pro-Palestinian statement. While we do not subscribe to the dot and comma of the NPAs stance, they correctly place the principal blame for the bloody events of recent days squarely at the feet of the reactionary Israeli state, and call for a new intifada to liberate Palestine. In a clear reference to the NPA, Darmanin warned that he reserved the right to use the law to initiate dissolution proceedings against groups, associations and sometimes political parties [issuing] absolutely despicable statements calling for hatred, the intifada and the glorification of terrorism. This is absolutely scandalous. An intifada is nothing less than a mass uprising by an oppressed people against an occupier for the elementary democratic right of statehood. It has nothing to do with Hamas attack on 7 October. Is this right (enshrined in international law) not afforded to the Palestinians? For the French bourgeoisie, who once launched their own uprising against the despotic Bourbon dynasty, this right is entirely conditional on aligning with western imperialist interests. To its shame, the French left has been silent in the face of this open threat to dissolve the NPA. Both the Socialist Party (PS) and Communist Party (PCF) have issued statements supporting Israel, in full complicity with the French ruling class. For its part, La France Insoumise (LFI), the main opposition party at the head of the left-wing Nupes coalition, led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, issued a statement calling for a cease-fire. The armed offensive by Palestinian forces led by Hamas comes in a context of intensification of Israeli occupation policy in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, it said. "We deplore the Israeli and Palestinian deaths. Our thoughts are with all the victims. It further noted: the violence unleashed against Israel and in the Gaza Strip only produce [further violence]. La France Insoumise (LFI) led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, issued a statement calling for a cease-fire / Image: The Left, Flickr This rather mild, pacifistic statement produced an outpouring of outrage. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said in a televised interview: The position of LFI is well known, and often marked by a lot of ambiguity, by anti-Zionism, and its also a way of masking a form of anti-semitism. Equating anti-Zionism with anti-semitism is a time-honoured strategy by reactionaries to attack the pro-Palestine left. For its part, the Socialist Party also announced a temporary break from the Nupes alliance, threatening to bring down the coalition unless Melenchon reverses the statement, in effect doing Macrons work for him. IMT under attack Our own comrades in the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) have also come under attack around the world for showing solidarity with Palestine, for condemning the murderous actions of the Israeli occupiers, and for calling for a revolutionary solution to Palestinian oppression. A number of student unions in Britain have attempted to censor our materials and shut down our public meetings at universities. The Marxist Society in University College London (UCL) was ordered to remove posters advertising a public meeting on Israel-Palestine, and suspended upon refusal. This was based on the scandalous charge that the comrades political material, particularly their slogan intifada until victory could be construed as inciting violence! And in Cambridge University, Marxist Society comrades attempting to hold a public meeting in solidarity with Palestine were locked out of the campus! Meanwhile, a comrade in Sweden was collared by four police officers while travelling to his home in Hagfors from a meeting in Stockholm. The train he was riding on was held for an hour without explanation while the comrade was questioned, searched and accused of visiting web pages about Hamas. Apparently, his crime was accessing articles on marxist.com expressing solidarity with Palestine, and spreading speeches from demonstrations on social media. This was enough for someone on the train to raise a report about a suspected bomb threat! We see here the effect that the utter hysteria whipped up in the press about anyone supporting Palestine being a terrorist sympathiser. Most scandalously of all, the biggest Swiss media outlets have launched a full-blown witch hunt against our comades of Der Funke/Letincelle, accusing them of organising a pro-Hamas rally in Zurich, calling for violence, and spreading anti-semitism. These outlandish and false allegations resulted in the universities of Zurich, Bern and Fribourg stripping our student groups of room-booking rights on campus. A statement from the University of Zurich (UZH) says: The UZH does not tolerate calls for violence. The call for 'Intifada until victory' spread by Der Funke and IMT is not compatible with the stance of the UZH. The UZH supports democratically conducted discussions. This appeal to democracy is completely laughable when the university authorities are openly complicit in attacks on the basic democratic rights of speech and assembly by the Swiss state and their media mouthpieces. Communists defiant We have seen in recent years, with the systematic destruction of the movement behind Jeremy Corbyn in Britain for example, how the capitalists, the press and political elite shamelessly smear and slander their opponents. One of the main sources of ammunition for their mudslinging has been the question of support for Palestine, anti-Zionism, and the allegations of anti-semitism that they inevitably attach. The main error of reformists like Corbyn was to give ground over this despicable campaign of lies, rather than clearly identify it as a politically motivated attack, and punch back. The communists of the IMT treat the mendacious rubbish hurled at us by our class enemies with the contempt it deserves. We proudly and clearly declare our total opposition to Zionism. We say that the attack on 7 October was provoked by decades of brutal occupation, and the bloody repression of all attempts by the Palestinian people to peacefully protest their daily hell. We state our unconditional solidarity with the Palestinians striving for a state to call their own, and a dignified existence. And most of all, we point our finger squarely at the double standards of our own imperialist leaders, who have supported the heinous crimes of the Israeli state, continue to do so, and are currently abetting the collective punishment of the people of Gaza, which is illegal by every standard of the imperialists own (admittedly worthless) international laws. Now, the Israeli government is employing the language of genocide and ethnic cleansing in its response to Hamas attacks, which our ruling classes justify as self-defence. The Israeli army has warned 1.1 million people living in the north of Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours, an utter impossibility that a WHO spokesperson has called a death sentence. Our comrades who have come under attack in recent days have all responded to the attempts to repress their activities with a bold political counter-attack, issuing defiant statements slamming the hypocrisy of their respective university authorities, the capitalist press, and capitalist governments. The communists in London held their planned UCL meeting outside the campus, affirming their solidarity with Palestine and support for a revolutionary intifada to free the Palestinian people, as part of a revolutionary wave throughout the Middle East. Meanwhile, the banned rally in Zurich went ahead regardless, with large crowds participating. This must be the attitude of all groups on the left when faced with any repressive measures against expressing their solidarity with an oppressed and occupied people. We must stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the Palestinians, and in defence of the hard-won democratic freedoms of speech and assembly. The ruling class is fearful. Working people have been battered by the cost of living crisis, and have already begun to organise and fight back, with a big uptick in strike activity. The ruling classes throughout the western world anticipate future unrest, as further attacks are necessary in their attempts to stabilise the crisis-ridden capitalist system. Moreover, they know that as Israels slaughter intensifies, the resulting indignation could spark a wave of protest at home. Whilst shutting down pro-Palestine activity, they are affording their state forces more and more power to silence and shut down all forms of protest. By undermining democratic rights now, they are preparing the ground for future battles with the working class. The workers and youth must mobilise and meet these attacks with all their strength. An injury to one is an injury to all. We say: No to anti-democratic attacks on the right to protest! Intifada until victory! Free Palestine! Community members joined Southern Adventist Universitys Board of Trustees along with students, employees, alumni, and donors to break ground for the new Ruth McKee School of Business facility in Collegedale. Located just off University Drive in front of Mabel Wood Hall, the site is the first thing visitors see when arriving on Southerns property. This location sets the tone for the professional, quality education that all enrolled students receive, said Ellen Hostetler, vice president for Advancement. With 50,000 square feet, the new building will provide nearly five times the current space for this academic area and is set to be completed by 2025. Lives are going to be changed, said board member Jim Davidson, executive secretary of the Southern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, who welcomed the audience and opened the service with prayer. That ripple effect will go on and on for eternity. Flanked by a backhoe, forklift, bulldozer, and excavator, Mr. Davidson joined Southerns President Ken Shaw and Stephanie Sheehan, dean of the School of Business, in lifting up golden shovels of dirt to mark the beginning of construction. "For students, this ceremony is the symbol of opportunities that lie ahead, said Roman Johnson, senior management major. Space to gain knowledge, cultivate creativity, and prepare ourselves for the competitive business world. With a 10 percent increase in enrollment over the past five years, the School of Businessthe second-largest academic discipline on campuswelcomed its largest class of 133 new students this fall. Currently, there are more than 450 business and applied technology majors within 16 graduate and undergraduate degree programs. The new name for the School of Business honors the co-founder of McKee Foods, best known for Little Debbie snacks, who embodied integrity, wisdom, acumen, and beneficencethe same qualities we strive to instill in each of our graduates, Mr. Sheehan said. We are equipping the next generation of top-tier business leaders and fostering an environment for Christian business principles to be experienced and practiced. Southern alum Brittany McKee East explained how her great-grandmother was ahead of the times as a well-rounded female entrepreneur with a powerful voice and a legacy that lives on through the family and the company, as well as the university. The four-story structure will house a spacious auditorium, an innovation lab, and an investment lab with computers for analyzing real-time financial market dataall to enhance cross-departmental innovation, entrepreneurship opportunities, and networking between the community and students. More than 80 percent of the campaign goal of $20 million, which also includes a program endowment, has been raised through donations and commitments. Ground preparation is underway, with construction soon to follow. See southern.edu/gobusiness for ongoing developments. An employee of Taco Bell at 4115 Rossville Blvd. told police two young light-skinned black females came in the restaurant and started getting mouthy about not getting the right order. The employee said they wanted their money back and she told them she needed the receipt. They went and found the receipt and continued being mouthy. The employee said she got mouthy back and they took out their phone and started recording her and the store. The employee said she then swatted at the phone a couple of times and then one of the girls spat at her. She said they began to go outside and spit at her again. The employee also said once they got outside, they threw their drinks at the door. The employee didnt want to press charges and would notify police if they came back in the store. * * * Police were dispatched to Cherokee Boulevard for a suspicious vehicle. Police found the unoccupied Lincoln with the doors open. It appeared to have throw up down the drivers side of the vehicle. The doors were secured and the hospitals in the area were checked for the registered owner. She was not located at any hospital in the city or Red Bank. * * * A woman called police and said her Nissan Altima was parked on Elevated View and someone entered it. Her property was moved inside the vehicle but nothing was stolen. The vehicle may have been left unlocked and there were no signs of forced entry. * * * An officer reported an unfounded noise complaint on Williams Street. A tenant who didnt want to identify themselves to police reported to dispatch a noise complaint and requested a case number be placed at their residence. The officer didnt observe any noise emanating from the apartment that justified police contact or action. The officer didnt attempt to make contact with the residents due to the late hour. A case number was placed in their mail box. * * * Police met with a resident on Lee Highway who said a white male has been coming to her room wanting to talk to her boyfriend and that he tried to look in their window. The woman just wanted police to be aware. * * * A woman at the Marriott Hotel at 200 Chestnut St. told police over the phone she had left her bike secured/locked on the bike rack on her vehicle in the parking garage at 9:30 p.m. When she returned to the vehicle around 9 a.m., she discovered that the lock had been cut and her bike was gone. * * * A woman on E. 8th Street told police over the phone her car was gone through over the weekend. She said nothing was stolen at this point but she wanted to make a report just in case. * * * A man on Canal Street showed police where someone had broken the rear driver side window before entering his vehicle. * * * A man on E. Morgan Lane told police an unknown man called their son's phone and claimed to be Lt. Ware of the Hamilton County Sheriff Office. They were told that the man had missed jury duty and had a warrant for his arrest. The suspect said he had to pay a fine and then turn himself in. When the suspect was told they were calling police to verify what they were being told, the suspect hung up. The man said he was told by a law enforcement friend that the suspect's phone was pinging at Bojangles on 2023 Dayton Blvd. The officer said there were no warrants for the mans arrest. * * * Police were called to Market Street and spoke to two women. One woman said a man had been on her floor and she had not allowed him into her apartment and she didn't want him hanging around. The other woman also said she got into a verbal altercation with the man on the ground floor at the elevators. While the officer was speaking with the women, the man walked up carrying an empty beer can and a plastic bag with other empty beer cans. The officer spoke with the man and he said he didn't do anything except try to speak with the first woman and called her "my girl". Neither woman wanted to speak with the man and the man said he didnt live there. The man also smelled of beer, but was able to stand under his own power and get around. The officer issued the man a CHA trespass notification which he signed and acknowledged he was not permitted back on CHA property. * * * While checking hotel parking lots for stolen vehicles, an officer found a stolen 2020 Nissan Rogue at Red Roof Inn, 2431 Williams St. The vehicle was found unoccupied and the owner was unable to be reached. The car was towed by United Transport. * * * A man on Lindsay Street wanted police present while he got his keys back from another man. He said they shared alcoholic beverages before engaging in a verbal altercation inside the apartment. An officer spoke to the second man who confirmed the first mans statements and provided him with his apartment keys. The officer asked the second man if he would leave the property as the first man suggested and he agreed. The second man then said he believed he was too intoxicated to drive. Officers suggested he leave on foot as to avoid further conflict and give him time to sober up, to which he agreed. * * * Police were called to Rossville Boulevard to conduct a wellness check. They arrived and found a man sleeping and unharmed. * * * A woman at Holiday Inn at 440 W. Martin Luther King Blvd. told police she came out to her vehicle that morning and the driver's side window was busted out. Police asked her if anything was taken and she said no, that she had everything of value in her hotel room. She believed it would cost $500 to get her window fixed. * * * A man told police he had rented two E-bikes from a rental place near Walnut Street Bridge the previous day and he left them parked behind the Aquarium around 9:30 p.m. He had stopped there to rest while riding and he had stepped away from the bikes maybe about 30 minutes. When he got back to them, one of them was gone. He had already returned the other bike and the place he rented them from told him to make a report for the stolen one and they were holding him liable for it. However, he had no information on the bike and no information on the place he rented them from. The officer looked up a possible owner name and address on Google. Twentieth-century philosopher George Santayana concluded in his treatise, The Life of Reason: Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. History provides us context, good and bad, for who we are as a people, which is why the historical revisionism in recent years is a disgrace. It is always inspiring to be among those who are passionate about our nation's history. Recently, I attended the annual reenactment of the Overmountain Men militia mustering at Fort Watauga on the Sycamore Shoals near present-day Elizabethton, Tn. The original gathering of American militia on Sept. 25 of 1780 preceded the Oct. 7 Battle of Kings Mountain, a very pivotal victory in the American Revolution, when a rugged group of settlers gathered together and turned the Red Coat tide in the South, ultimately leading to victory at Yorktown. There is direct lineage between several leaders of the Overmountain Men and a number of local families, and a connection with our nation's latest Medal of Honor recipient, Chattanooga's own Larry Taylor. Of the interests I shared with my father in his later years, one was our family's history, particularly that of the rugged frontier men and women who settled in the hills of what is now East Tennessee prior to the Revolutionary War. That history includes many Revolutionary War veterans in our 18th century family line, but their story is America's story, not just that of our family. Among our hardheaded Appalachian ancestors was an early Patriot militiaman George Gillespie (1730-1794). In 1772, he migrated from Maryland to the wild and mostly uninhabited frontier area of what was then Washington District, North Carolina (now Tennessee). Over the next four years he constructed Fort Gillespie at the mouth of Big Limestone River on the Nolichucky River and started farming. He derived the rank of Colonel serving with Watauga Rifles militiamen in the nearby Watauga settlement. Theodore Roosevelt wrote that the Watauga settlement was the first free and independent community on the continent made by men of American birth; in the struggle carried on in that far wilderness for the cause of American independence. Gillespie and those bold settlers in the region suffered constant attacks by warring bands of Cherokee, many under the leadership of Dragging Canoe. Early in 1780, the British shifted their Revolutionary War campaign to the south, their Southern Strategy to control the Carolina and Virginia colonies the breadbasket providers for the other colonies. King Gorge IIIs principals, Commander Sir Henry Clinton and General Lord Charles Cornwallis, dispatched British regulars to seize the southern ports of Wilmington, Savannah, Beaufort, and ultimately Charles Town present day Charleston, S.C. Bolstered by the fall of Charleston in May of 1780 and the decisive British victories at Waxhaw, Charlottetown (present day Charlotte) and Camden in August, the British turned their focus to North Carolina. In early September, Cornwalliss campaign henchman, an infamously brutal Scotsman, Major Patrick Ferguson, in command of a large regiment of Loyalists militia, was charged with protecting Cornwalliss left flank in the Carolinas, and forcing pledges of Tory loyalty from all settlers in the region. Ferguson sent word to the Appalachian settlers over the mountains that they must pledge their loyalty to the British or he would destroy them. He demanded that Patriots desist from their opposition to British arms or he would march over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country to waste with fire and sword. Ferguson grossly underestimated the courage and resolve of these fiercely independent mountain folks character traits that persist to this day. After receiving Fergusons fire and sword message, Patriot militia leaders John Sevier and Isaac Shelby met and determined they would not wait on Ferguson and his legions to arrive and execute his threat. On Sept. 25, Sevier, Shelby, Virginia Militia Col. William Campbell, Burke County (NC) militia commander Charles McDowell, Col. Gillespie, and more than 650 militia volunteers, who would become known as The Overmountain Men Militia, mustered at Ft. Watauga at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River near present-day Elizabethton, Tn. Gillespie, his brothers James and Thomas, their sons, and other relatives, were determined to form a gauntlet against British tyranny in what would, in the days which followed, be the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain on the North and South Carolina border. Georges sons James, Thomas and William, were all militia officers serving under the fierce frontiersman, John Sevier, who would later become the first governor of Tennessee after statehood (1796). It was at Ft. Watauga, before advancing over the mountains, that young Reverend Samuel Doak, who founded Salem Presbyterian Church in the nearby settlement of Limestone, issued his Sword of the Lord and Gideon too charge to the militiamen: My countrymen, you are about to set out on an expedition which is full of hardships and dangers, but one in which the Almighty will attend you. The Mother Country has her hands upon you, these American Colonies, and takes that for which our fathers planted their homes in the wilderness - OUR LIBERTY. Taxation without representation and the quartering of soldiers in the homes of our people without their consent are evidence that the Crown of England would take from its American Subjects the last vestige of Freedom. Your brethren across the mountains are crying like Macedonia unto your help. God forbid that you shall refuse to hear and answer their call - but the call of your brethren is not all. The enemy is marching hither to destroy your own homes. Brave men, you are not unacquainted with battle. Your hands have already been taught to war and your fingers to fight. You have wrested these beautiful valleys of the Holston, and Watauga from the savage hand. Will you tarry now until the other enemy carries fire and sword to your very doors? No, it shall not be. Go forth then in the strength of your manhood to the aid of your brethren, the defense of your liberty and the protection of your homes. And may the God of Justice be with you and give you victory. Doak prayed: Almighty and gracious God! Thou hast been the refuge and strength of Thy people in all ages. In time of sorest need we have learned to come to Thee - our Rock and our Fortress. Thou knowest the dangers and snares that surround us on march and in battle. Thou knowest the dangers that constantly threaten the humble, but well beloved homes which Thy servants have left behind them. O, in Thine infinite mercy, save us from the cruel hand of the savage, and of Tyrant. Save the unprotected homes while fathers and husbands and sons are far away fighting for freedom and helping the oppressed. Thou, who promised to protect the Sparrow in its flight, keep ceaseless watch, by day and by night, over our loved ones. The helpless woman and little children, we commit to Thy care. Thou wilt not leave them or forsake them in times of loneliness and anxiety and terror. O, God of Battle, arise in Thy might. Avenge the slaughter of Thy people. Confound those who plot for our destruction. Crown this mighty effort with victory, and smite those who exalt themselves against liberty and justice and truth. Help us as good soldiers to wield the SWORD OF THE LORD AND GIDEON. Amen HUZZA! After culling out one in seven men to stay behind and protect the settlements, the Overmountain Men set out east on 330 miles of trails across the mountains, enduring sleet and torrential rains, intent on taking the battle to their enemy, the worlds most feared and well provisioned army. As they marched toward Fergusons position, they were joined by 360 additional mountain militiamen. On Oct. 1, Ferguson was in North Carolinas Broad River area, where he issued another warning to Patriots that they best abide by his demands or they would be pissed upon by a set of mongrels. On Oct. 6, the Patriot militiamen determined that Ferguson and his 71st Foot force of 1,100 men, were just east of them, making camp at Kings Pinnacle. To catch up with Ferguson, the Patriot leaders picked the 900 best marksmen and the 900 of the fastest horses. They set out after dark in a pouring cold rain. By sunrise on Oct. 7, having forded the swollen Broad River, they were just 15 miles from Kings Mountain. By mid-afternoon, they were in the ridges around Fergusons position and ready to confront the Loyalists. The militia identified themselves by putting scraps of white paper in the brim of their hats. The American commanders ordered their men: Dont wait for the word of command. Let each one of you be your own officer and do the very best you can. The American plan was to assault the Loyalists hillside position from all sides. Col. Campbell told his men to shout like Hell and fight like devils. As the Overmountain men advanced on the British, once in position they fired from all sides. British Captain Abraham de Peyster exclaimed to Ferguson, These things are ominous these are the damned yelling boys! Another Loyalist exclaimed the Overmountain men looked like devils from the infernal regionstall, raw-boned, sinewy with long matted hair. According to American Battlefield Trust historians: Ferguson deployed his Loyalist militia in the center of the hilltop. He remained mounted and personally led the counterattack against the patriots surging from the southwest. After firing a volley and fixing bayonets, Fergusons men blunt the Overmountain mens advance. But it was only on one side of the hill and the Overmountain men continue unabated to attack from the other sides using the undergrowth and woods to their advantage. The Overmountain men continued their yelling and whooping as they gained ground, and Loyalists suffered heavy casualties. Notably, not only were their tactics well informed by their hunting skills, most of the Overmountain Patriots were equipped with their own rifled barrel hunting guns, which were slow to load but substantially more accurate than the British muskets. Rifles were accurate to 300 yards and beyond while muskets were accurate to only 100 yards. With his defensive perimeter rapidly shrinking, attempting to rally his troops Ferguson shouted out Hurrah, brave boys, the day is ours! He then attempted to charge with is men through a Patriot line where they met with a volley of fire from Seviers men. High on his horse, and noted for wearing a brightly colored red shirt, which made him a distinct target even at some distance, he proved an easy mark for Robert Young, crack militia marksmen. Young shot Ferguson out of his saddle with his long rifle Sweet Lips, nicknamed for his young wife. Falling from his mount, Fergusons foot lodged in the stirrup, and he was dragged by his horse into the militia lines, where a young officer demanded he surrender. In a final act of defiance, Ferguson drew his pistol, shot and killed the militia officer, which resulted in other militiamen firing on Ferguson and killing him. He was shot seven times more by the time the smoke cleared. In 65 minutes, the battle was over. The British suffered 157 killed, 163 wounded and 698 captured or missing. The Patriot militia suffered 28 killed, 62 wounded and none captured or missing. One of the young Overmountain men recalled of the battle scene: The dead lay in heaps on all sides, while the groans of the wounded were heard in every direction. I could not help turning away from the scene before me, with horror, and though exalting in the victory, could not refrain from shedding tears. On the effectiveness of the Southern frontier marksmen, British Colonel George Hanger recalled this observance at the Battle of Camden: I never in my life saw better rifles (or men who shot better) than those made in America To mention one instance, as a proof of most excellent skill of an American rifleman It was in the month of August, and not a breath of wind was stirring. Colonel Tartletons horse and mine, I am certain, were not anything like two feet apart; for we were in close consultation, how we should attack with our troops, which laid 300 yards in the wood, and could not be perceived by the enemy. A rifle-ball passed between him and me; looking directly to the mill, I observed the flash of the powder. I said to my friend, I think we had better move, or we shall have two or three of these gentlemen, shortly, amusing themselves at our expense. The words were hardly out of my mouth, when the bugle horn man, behind us, and directly central, jumped off his horse, and said, Sir, my horse is shot. Hanger estimated the distance between the riflemen and the horse to be a full four hundred yards. (Notably, another East Tennessee mountain Patriot, Sgt. Alvin C. York, would become legendary 140 years later in World War 1, because of his hunting and marksmanship skills.) The Redcoats defeat at Kings Mountain was a significant turning point in the Revolutionary War. Thomas Jefferson declared the battle was the joyful annunciation of that turn of the tide of success which terminated the Revolutionary War with the seal of independence. British commander in Chief Sir Henry Clinton observed, The [Kings Mountain defeat] was the first link in a chain of events that followed each other in regular succession until they at last needed in total loss of America. The victory reinvigorated George Washington and his army. Washington said of the Overmountain men, The crude, spirited, hardy determined volunteers who crossed the mountains served as proof of the spirit and resources of the country. Washingtons cavalry commander, General Henry Light Horse Harry" Lee, called them, A race of hardy men who were familiar with the use of the horse and the rifle, stout, active, patient under privation, and brave. Returning from the battle, Overmountain militia unites killed additional loyalists in revenge for British Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarletons forces who murdered a sizable number of Abraham Bufords Continental soldiers at the the Battle of Waxhaws, after the latter attempted to surrender under white flag. After Fergusons Kings Mountain defeat and the loss of his western flank, Cornwallis retreated back into South Carolina, where his army was hounded relentlessly by emboldened Patriots, before he retreated north into Virginia and Yorktown. Some of our ancestor went on to fight with Gen. Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox), providing their own mounts and arms. They then served as a militiaman in support of George Washington at Yorktown, until Cornwallis and his British army surrendered on Oct. 19, 1781. After the War, George Gillespie returned home and for his service, received additional land grants of 1455 acres near his settlement on the Nolichucky and Limestone River. He, and later his son James, in addition to their successful tobacco enterprise, would become sheriffs of Washington County. The home George built in 1783 in the town of Limestone, stands fully restored today, next to the property of his adjoining neighbors at the time, Davy Crocketts family. So, what is the Gillespie connection to the Medal of Honor awarded most recently to Army Capt. Larry Taylor? Col. Gillespies great-grandson, Gen. George Lewis Gillespie of Kingston, Tn., graduated second in his 1862 Class at West Point. As a Union Army First Lieutenant, he received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Cold Harbor during the War Between the States. In 1904, he redesigned the United States Armys version of the Medal of Honor because it was too similar to the widely issued Grand Army of the Republic medal distributed to Union veterans. He patented the design and turned it over to the War Department, which adopted it as the official Army Medal of Honor. And it is that Medal that Larry Taylor received on Sept. 5, and all other Army recipients have received, since 1904. As for the local descendants of Patriot Col. George Gillespie, his grandson John Cessna Gillespie came to Chattanooga prior to the War Between the States with his wife Anne Neilson and became successful business man. Their daughters Nell, Mary and Anne married men whose families built significant Chattanooga businesses over decades to come, including the Williams, Decosimo, Caldwell, Probasco, Poindexter, Willingham, Strang, Davenport and Martin families. And finally, another notable connection to the Overmountain Men: Joe Decosimo's daughter, Trisha Decosimo Doak Morris, married the late Steven Doak -- a direct descendant of Rev. Samual Doak who issued the "Sword of the Lord" charge to the militiamen. Trisha now has a grandchild here named Samuel Doak. If you want to know more about Tennessee history, catch any of the local lectures from our esteemed historian, Linda Moss Mines. Mark Caldwell Dortha Bryan Igou went home to be with the Lord on October 12, 2023. She was born on October 19, 1928, in McMinnville, Tennessee to the late Jesse Pettway Bryan and Ella Jacobs Bryan. She was a member of Rivermont Presbyterian Church. She worked for and retired from Chattanooga Housing Authority after 33 years of service. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 64 years, Houston Igou, her aforementioned parents, and all of her siblings. Left behind to cherish Dorthas memory are several nieces and nephews, and many great-nieces and great-nephews. A Celebration of Dorthas Life will be held graveside in the Forest Hills Cemetery, 4016 Tennessee Ave., Chattanooga, Tn. 37410, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. where she will be laid to rest beside her beloved husband, Houston. The family will receive friends at the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 404 S. Moore Road, East Ridge, Tn. 37412 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The family would like to thank both StoryPoint and Hospice of Chattanooga for their compassionate care for Dortha. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions in Dorthas memory can be made to StoryPoint Assisted Living, 1148 Mountain Creek Road, Chattanooga, Tn. 37405. Please share your thoughts and memories at www.ChattanoogaEastChapel.com. Chattanooga Funeral Home East Chapel is in charge of the arrangements. In the 1930s, The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, al-Husseini, revered Adolf Hitler and even met with him in Berlin. Unsuccessful in securing German help against the British, his ally, Hassan al-Bannan was, according to Egypts Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, able to get 700 of his Muslim Brotherhood trained in Germany in the 1940s (The New Arab 10/13/15). That influence has continued well after World War II. During the 1972 Munich Olympics, a Palestinian terrorist group called Black September, massacred 11 members of the Israeli team. According to The Independent, Neo-Nazis assisted Black September. That was symbolic as this was the first time Munich hosted the Olympics since Hitler used the 1936 games to promote Nazi ideology on a world platform. Beginning in 1968, PLO terrorists hijacked airlines including the taking of an Air France flight in 1976 by Palestinian and German terrorists resulting in the daring rescue Raid at Entebbe by an Israeli military force. Now the Palestinian group, Hamas, which recently attacked Israel according to Reuters, is backed by Iran and shares the Islamist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood (10/11/23) founded in the 1928 by Hassan al-Bannan. Many of the radicalized, masked students, screaming about a Day of Resistance may be clueless as to the level of brutality and savagery to which these terrorists will resort. Some are probably unaware of what they are resisting but some actually do support the butchery. In the words of Victor Davis Hanson, it reveals the level of intellectual rot on many campuses. Hansons statement causes me to wonder how many of these student protesters want us to pay their college debt? Look carefully at the big picture and see how Ukraine and Israel reveal the incompetence at both the UN and White House. Just days ago, Bidens National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan was touting their achievements in the Middle East, among them how the region, is quieter today than its been in decades (Newsweek 10/9/23). So, Jake, whats next, Taiwan? Ralph Miller * * * In addition to Mr. Miller's post it may be added Jake Sullivan is the same person who worked for the Hillary Clinton campaign. The New York Post, September 24, 2021, reported on the eve of the 2016 election that Donald Trump and the Russians had set up a secret hotline through Alfa Bank and suggested federal authorities were investigating this direct connection between Trump and Russia. This could be the most direct link between Trump and Moscow, Sullivan stated. The headline of the New York Post article read, Did Jake Sullivan commit perjury? That was a reference to a series of claims Sullivan made about the so-called Russia collusion when he (Sullivan) testified before Congress. Sullivan also served, along with Hunter Biden, on the board of the Truman National Security Project, a liberal foreign policy think-tank, for two years before joining Joe Bidens campaign in 2020. Two questions could be raised: Based on Sullivans history and these Russian statements later debunked, what is he doing advising a president on world affairs carrying such importance? What was Hunter Biden, with his history including being a playboy artist, doing on a foreign policy think-tank board? Gerald Presley Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy announced that two Chattanooga police officers have been selected to participate in a student exchange program in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). Officers Dresdyn Johnson and Sadeem Hasan were both selected to attend the five-month-long training program. In partnership with the International Association of Police Officers and the U.A.E, Ministry of the Interior, the training program allows select U.S, Canadian and other international delegates to receive exclusive training at the Abu Dhabi Police College. Chief Murphy said, "I could not be more proud of Officers Johnson and Hasan to be selected for this coveted program. They will have an opportunity to learn different cultures and policing methods from their fellow classmates and the host agency's leadership and instructors. This is an opportunity of a lifetime for them and unprecedented in that no other Chattanooga Police officers have ever participated. When I came here, I heard from many officers about their desire to have more opportunities for professional development. I have consistently sought out those opportunities for all ranks and positions at CPD, because I know what opportunities like these can do to build bridges in cultural gaps within our communities and make our officers more dynamic and diverse in serving this community. Officers Johnson and Hasan will represent Chattanooga well putting our city and your police department on a global policing stage. I want to thank the IACP for offering this opportunity to these officers and the important role the IACP plays in advancing policing best practices in not just our community but across the world." The exchange program is a condensed version of the entry-level Emirati full bachelor's program and will be conducted from October 2023 through March 2024. Both Officer Johnson and Officer Hasan had to submit a detailed application, a subject matter essay, exhibit leadership skills in policing and community engagement, and be between the ages of 24 to 30-years-old, among other stringent physical requirements. In order to complete the program, the officers must successfully manage a course of study that expounds upon modern policing, security and protection; criminal investigations and international police cooperation; police administration and strategic planning; crisis and disaster management, among physical standards. Officers Johnson and Hasam will embark upon this prestigious opportunity on Monday. CIECH Group presented a positive outlook for 2024 during a press conference at its German site in Stafurt, Saxony-Anhalt. The salt plant, which was commissioned in 2021 and is the most modern and environmentally friendly evaporated salt plant in Europe, according to the company, is expected to reach full production capacity of 450,000 tons per year next year. With growing demand for salt tablets for water softening, the company is expanding its position as an industry leader across Europe. This year's launch of the AQUA PRO salt tablet brand underscores CIECH's goal to continue developing its own brands in specific segments. The food grade salt segment will also become more of a focus in 2024. During the press conference at CIECH Salz's site in Stafurt, the Group gave media representatives their first glimpse of its state-of-the-art plant and the effective, automated technologies used in it. The CIECH Group expanded its production facilities in 2021 with the new salt plant, which is located directly next to the existing soda factory. The amount of investment in the process was over 140 million euros. The salt plant is the most advanced and environmentally friendly evaporated salt production facility on the continent and is expected to reach a production capacity of about 450,000 tons as early as next year. Another CIECH Group plant in Janikowo, Poland, is already capable of producing 500,000 tons of salt annually. This positions CIECH as one of the leading producers of evaporated salt in Europe. Philipp Kley, Director of the Salt Business Unit of the CIECH Group, explained: "Thanks to state-of-the-art production facilities, products of the highest quality and a clear strategic focus, we are successfully expanding our position in the European salt industry." The new salt plant in Stafurt uses a highly energy-efficient MVR technology, in which water is vaporized by supplying pressurized steam. As a result, this production unit is the most modern in Europe, making it a low-emission source that relies on its own raw materials. The volume of waste leaving the plant is also reduced to a minimum. Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that produces in-depth and investigative stories on important issues facing the state. For more Oklahoma Watch content, go to oklahomawatch.org. There are plenty of customs that are practiced during wedding ceremonies, but today, well be talking about the champagne toast. The champagne toast is a time-honored tradition that marks the joy of the occasion and celebrates the newlyweds. It gives the best man and maid of honor an opportunity to share funny stories about the couple, proclaim their excitement for the couples union, and express their love for them. The champagne toast seems simple enough to incorporate into your wedding. However, it still requires some planning and forethought to ensure that it goes smoothly. Here are some tips and advice to follow if you want to pop a bottle of bubbly during your celebration. Lets start with where the tradition of the champagne toast came from. Much like many other long-standing traditions, the roots of the champagne toast are unknown, although it is thought to date back to sixth-century Greece. During this time, people would offer wine to the gods, requesting that they be blessed with good health. The champagne toast is also said to have its origins in sixteenth-century England. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the act of toasting had become so popular that it became a staple in all celebrations, not just ones held in royal courts. Today, many brides and grooms decide to practice the champagne toast during their wedding receptions. The people close to the newlyweds, or the couple themselves, stand up in front of the crowd to deliver a speech, which is followed by the guests raising a glass of champagne to honor the newlyweds and offer their well wishes. There are multiple points during a wedding reception where a toast can be factored into the timeline. Typically, the first toast is given toward the start of the reception by the father of the bride or groom. It should be done once all the guests have arrived and before the first course of the meal is served so that everyone knows they are welcome to dance and enjoy the food. After the initial toast, couples have the choice to opt for more champagne toasts throughout the party or just have one final speech to conclude the event. Another thing to consider is the length of each speech. Keep speeches within three to five minutes to maintain your guests attention and to make sure theyre not cutting into the time spent enjoying the party. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. The Halloween season is upon us, and during this time of year, its always fun to dive into the gruesome and the gory to give ourselves a scare. After all, its part of getting into the spirit of the holiday! So, lets take a look at some of the medical procedures that were practiced during the medieval period. Several of these, if not all of them, have done more harm than good. Youll be highly relieved that these methods are not used today and glad for how far medicine has advanced. Bloodletting Bloodletting is the practice of draining the blood from a persons veins for the purpose of curing an illness. The removal of the blood is done by either a physician or leeches. It was a common therapy for thousands of years and actually dates all the way back to ancient Greece. The logic behind bloodletting was based on a theory posed by a famous ancient Greek physician named Hippocrates. Hippocrates believed that there were four fluids or humors in the human body and that each humor was associated with a specific organ and personality type. An imbalance in these humors was thought to be the cause of many physical and mental illnesses. Two centuries before the start of the medieval ages, a Greek physician, Galen of Pergamum, proposed the theory that draining some of the patients blood would restore balance among the four humors. So, during the medieval period, doctors would perform bloodletting for conditions such as smallpox, gout, fainting spells, and poor temperament. They would make cuts in the patients neck and forearm or place leeches in those areas and let the worms do the work. Trepanation If you thought bloodletting was appalling, this medical practice is even more dreadful and is like something straight out of a horror film. Trepanation refers to the practice of drilling a hole into a patients skull. It was used to treat headaches, epilepsy, head wounds, and mental illnesses. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. In his piece for CT, Aaron Earls explores what C. S. Lewis thought about evangelizing aliensprovided we discover they do indeed exist. But what if aliens came to proselytize us? Directed by Brian Duffield and now streaming on Hulu, No One Will Save You is a mostly silent sci-fi horror film featuring only a single discernible line of dialogue. The film has already earned high praise from the likes of Stephen King and other horror genre heavyweights. In it, a young woman named Brynn (played by Kaitlyn Dever) must fight off an alien invasion in her small town, from which shes been ostracized for reasons we dont find out until later. The movies extraterrestrials are archetypal grey man aliens, hauntingly recognizable to many a sci-fi fan. But Duffield and his team wanted the alien takeover to be marked with spiritual overtones. Having these religious aspects felt like a way to differentiate the aliens from other pop culture, Duffield told Christianity Today. I wanted there to be an aspect to them where you couldnt debate [the aliens] because they had this faith that told them what to do. I was tipped off about some of these religious nuances early on by a thread on Twitter/X from director Guillermo del Toro. Known for horror films himself (such as Pans Labyrinth), del Toro praised No One Will Save You and said it embodies an essential principle in Catholic dogma where grace and salvation emerge from pain and suffering. While that may not be quite what Duffield had in mind when crafting his film, he admits its exciting that it could be read through a Catholic lens, and that the films undeniable religious imagery was both a conscious and subconscious decision birthed from his own background as a missionary kid. As a pastors kid myself and a lover of horror films, I was fascinated by how he weaved together the spiritual and the horrific. Duffield spoke to CT about crafting the liturgy and prayer lives of the extraterrestrial(s), how his Christian upbringing may have influenced the religious aspects of the film, and why he loves using the horror genre to explore themes of faith and spirituality. Spoiler warning: we discuss the films ending as well as some key scenes. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Congrats on the film! I saw that you shared that you were a missionary kid who grew up in Ireland. As much as youre willing to put on the record, could you share your experience? Article continues below Well, in 95 my family moved from Pennsylvania to Ireland to work at a church and start churches in Ireland. We started off in County Kildare. We were there for a while and then we moved to County Claire, where my parents started a church near the Shannon Airport. That was a lot of my childhood. I came back to the States and started off [in college] at what is now Messiah University. I also did some [studies] with Temple University, where Messiah had a sister school program. Then I went to Hollywood. Tale as old as time. Its funny because the Sunday that you shared briefly about your missionary background, I saw that it was in response to this thread that director Guillermo del Toro had posted, where he explained some of the theological themes in the film. After reading it, I was like, I guess I dont need to go to church because I already got a sermon. Im curious: What was your reaction when you saw his words, and did you agree with some of the ways he was reading the film? Yeah, it was really cool. When very famous people promote the movie, I always assume theres money under the table. He had posted about the movie the previous day, and I was like, Oh, thats very cool, and then when I woke up to his thread where he really dug in and engaged with the film beyond just, Go watch this movie on Huluthat was all very mind-blowing. Theres definitely a lot of religion in the movie. Im personally not a Catholic, but it was cool seeing how he engaged with the idea that the aliens were faith-based, especially when he was getting into the Eucharist stuff. Thats not at all what I brought to the table with the movie, but it was very exciting that it could be read through a Catholic lens. I read in an interview that you shared how the weird religious aspects to the aliens is probably the result of some childhood trauma that you had. Did you find yourself consciously or more subconsciously drawing upon your missionary/faith background when you were constructing the imagery and themes of the film? Its a little bit of both. The aliens being faith-based was always a really big part of it for me. In human history, colonizers and explorerswhatever faith they havenever view themselves as the bad guys. Theyre more like, We gotta raise these people up to our level. For Brynns character, whats terrifying is that shes not just abducted by aliens but by an alien cult. She doesnt know what the aliens strange gestures mean but she knows its not good for her. Article continues below Like when the little alien is chasing Brynn, I thought itd be great if there was a scene where he took a break from chasing Brynn and just started prayingthe daddy-longlegs-type alien we viewed as the priest alien, who is directly communing with the UFOs and is having these very ritualistic hand motions. I was trying to build in these moments where even if Brynn couldnt understand the aliens, she had this sense that they had this broader culture to them. That was intentional, as opposed to having the aliens just hiss like racoons. Thats interesting to think about it. It makes me think of how in evangelical culture, we normalize so much that can look completely weird to people who are on the outside. Yeah! In the film, when people are controlled by the aliens, we had them very specifically doing praise and worship hands to the UFO. I wanted to show in a simple way that theres been a sort of conversion into this belief system at play. If an alien walked into church or a mosque or anything, theres going to be these ritualistic aspects that are completely bizarre. I think thats been true in human history, where you have these guys come over on ships and they cannot be more different than the native people of the land. But then also show how this is typically how these things have gone in human history. Yeah, even though we cant understand what the aliens are saying (there are no subtitles when the aliens are communicating), I felt like there were these interesting spiritual and theological notes that were apparent. Im thinking of how you framed the alien abduction scenes as a twisted form of rapture, or how when the aliens convert people, theyre shoving the mind-controlling parasite down their victims throats. Insert shoving Scripture or the Bible down peoples throats, etc. Some of those were specific. Even the light from the UFO when it abducts people is such a holy light in a way. One of the questions Ive talked with my nerdy friends about is: If aliens are real, why is the government hiding it? I get the economic impact. If Biden comes out tomorrow and says, Aliens are real! Theyre here! Im sure the economy would shatter. Article continues below But theres also this aspect of how religions around the world would have a real look-in-the-mirror moment. What happens if aliens come and they say to us, Were here to tell you the Good Word? It all becomes very complicated and interesting. I pared back exploring some of this in the film, though, because it started to feel like a different movie. But it was intentional that the aliens had this belief system and something like a God that we see toward the end of the movieand that being a terrifying aspect to Brynn. She has this sense that theres no fighting this. The cult-y setting of the film is interesting as well, because we know Brynns in a hostile community and in some form of danger even before the aliens show up. The ambiance reminded me of the vibes of an uptight and sheltered religious community. Its interesting to think that she goes from one type of cult to another cult with the aliens. Yes, that was very intentional. Its the same with that scene where she visits the church [where Brynn avoids an alien attack and then flees to her towns church, but when she tries to enter, the doors are locked]. That came from some of my frustrations with what feels like the lack of Jesus in modern American Christianity. You would hope that for Brynn in that instance, the church community would band together. Instead, shes expelled like a splinter. We even cut a scene due to pacing, where after she sees the UFO over the church, she tries to break in, but all these shrieking alarms go off. It was there just for the comment, not for the movie, so it was hard to justify. I think my parents, to their immense credit, would be the ideal version of what church should bring to a community, but that hasnt always been my experience in regard to what the church has been. Yeah, the church shouldnt be known primarily for who it ostracizes, but for some parts of evangelical American Christianity, that seems to be the case. This makes me also think of the ending. Im a pastors kid, so I feel like I see everything in terms of a sermon illustration. Theres that scene where we learn why Brynn has been rejected from her community: She unintentionally killed her close friend Maude when she was younger, after the two had an argument. Then she was exiled from her community in a way, which was sort of giving Cain and Abel vibes. I was also thinking of how when Brynn was captured by the aliens, she was sent back to her town, back to the place thats caused her so much pain. But then at the ending, theres an element of restoration of community when shes spent so much of the film alone. Perhaps contrary to the title, there is some saving here for her. Article continues below Its been fun seeing people grapple with the end of the film. For me, I wanted to explore this idea of how these terrible experiences end up being inadvertently healing. The aliens dont mean to heal her at all. Theyre just kind of curious. Yet out of their curiosity, shes able to weirdly make peace with some aspects of her past. At the end of the film, she is transformed and different. Encountering the aliens, she has this holy moment with a higher being that is inexplicable to her. That felt very much like Saul turning into Paul. Ive been seeing a lot of people be like, Why did the aliens let her go? I think theres a big Christian element to salvation where it is inexplicable. Like you can say, Its because [God] loves us, but when you think about it, even that is inexplicable. And for the film, I liked sort of co-opting some of that because it is, you know, by grace were saved. I think thats true for Brynn. There so much [spiritual/Christian] stuff like that in the movie. Some of it I cant articulate, and some of it my editor will point out. Pivoting slightly, this is your second feature film, but youve written many scripts for a number of horror/monster films like Underwater and Love and Monsters. Do you find the horror genre (and perhaps the subset of the monster horror genre) a uniquely helpful one when exploring questions of faith and spirituality? What draws you to that? Because it seems to be your wheelhouse. Its a good question. I would love to have a First Reformed in my wheelhouse or a more out-of-left-field Christian movie like Black Snake Moan. I love those movies and what they say about faith, the struggle with faith, and the positivity of faith. I think where Im age-wise, I understand things through genre better. Its like how it took Martin Scorsese 40 years to be able to make Silence. But if there was Godzilla in Silence it probably would have gone easier for him. I dont think I would have gotten to talk about everything with Brynns character or the stuff about faith if there was no genre element. Article continues below I think its about being able to selfishly use genre as a way to talk about what I want to talk about, but then also I just love the toys. Its kind of a win-win. At some point, I would love to do something like The Fabelmans, but its really fun doing Jurassic Park right now. Im reading Patricia Lockwoods Priestdaddy right now, and she has this great line where she says, Perhaps if I had been born in more secular circumstances, I would not think sunsets looked so Christian. Hearing you share this process makes me think of that. Thats so funny. Thats a really great quote, because I remember seeing sunsets with my dad and him being like, Gods amazing, and then you see it with someone else and theyre like, Science is amazing. Im thinking that those two (science and God) probably go more hand in hand for a lot of people, but yeah, it is funny how you get the lenses youre born into a lot of the time. Zachary Lee is a freelance writer covering the intersection between faith and media. This article is published pseudonymously for the authors safety. Israel has suffered a 9/11-scale attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement, commonly known as Hamas, which has devastated Jews and Palestinians alike. No words can describe the sadness and horror. But we must not allow this terrible event to cloud our vision or to push us into vengeance against civilians. To even ask if I, a Palestinian Christian and Israeli citizen, condemn this violence is insulting. Of course I condemn it, and I also want to share with fellow Christians my view of how we can cut terrorism off at the rootthinking not only of the immediate military response by Israel but also of longer-term questions about justice, security, and God-given dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. This months brutal attack against Israeli civilians came 16 years to the day after a Palestinian Bible Society worker in Gaza named Rami Ayyad was kidnapped and murdered because Islamist radicals believed he was doing missionary work. Despite public demands that Hamas leadership in Gaza find the criminals, no one was held accountable for his death. Ramis murder remains officially unsolved to this day, and some Palestinian Christians moved out of Gaza as a result of that violence. It appears that the abduction and killing were done by a radical faction, and Hamass leaders were not willing to confront them or hold them responsible. A decade and a half later, we find ourselves in another cycle of violencea fiercer and more complicated one this time. The Hamas onslaught is atrocity on an unprecedented scale, and Israels response must account for around 150 Israeli hostages in Gaza and a second war front in the north of Israel, where Israeli forces are already fighting the Lebanese (Iran-backed and Hamas-linked) Hezbollah. When I started writing this article, fighting was mainly in the southern part of the country, around Gaza. In the evening, I was to take a break and travel to a special prayer meeting for evangelical churches farther north. Suddenly, a siren blew, signaling Hezbollah drone infiltration. I made some calls, and we immediately shifted the meeting to a virtual one. About 50 Christians participated, shouting for God to stop the bloodshed. Later, we were informed the siren was a false alarm. After the volume of the initial disaster was revealed, I sent messages of encouragement and condolences to a number of Jewish friends, both Messianic and others. One response drew my attention. A Messianic friend wrote to me that he suspects the Israeli response will be extremely tough, as the Hamas attack has raised Jewish memories of the Holocaust. Article continues below That historic trauma and the new horror of the Hamas carnage mean Israel will follow through on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus promise to turn all the places that Hamas hides in and operates from into rubblewhich, because of the small size of Gaza, means the whole territory will be in ruins and a huge number of innocent civilians will be killed. I understand Israels need for retaliation and the voices calling to crush the Hamas regime. But I pray that innocent people will not be hurt, and I worry that this response will not address the roots of the problem in Gazaand could even prove counterproductive, prolonging the cycle of violence and hatred. It is almost impossible to talk prudently amid so much bloodshed. Nevertheless, I will try. As I look into the future, to a time after the present violence is over, I wonder how we can make it inconceivable for human beings to behave in such brutal fashion like Hamas did, driven by a fanatical religious agenda. Some Christians believe this violence is built into Islam. I dont agree. Why do religious Muslims in Malaysia or Tunisia, for example, not act this way? No, something is different here. The poisonous plant of Hamas has been able to take root in our soil because of conditions fostered by a flawed approach to Palestinians from the Israeli government. Historically, some Israeli leaders have even been willing to strengthen Hamas as a counter to the secular and comparatively moderate Fatah. Former Israeli officials have toldThe New York Times and The Wall Street Journal that they were directed to help Hamas be a counterweight to Fatah. Haaretz has reported that in 2019, Netanyahu told members of his party that bolstering Hamas would help prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state by isolat[ing] the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank. Many Palestinians want a state because the situation of Gaza was dire even before this war began. Gaza is densely populated and very poor. Half the population lives in poverty, and many are unemployed. Gaza is under complete siege right now, but it has been blockaded for the last 16 years. The United Nations reports that 95 percent of Gazans dont even have clean water, and most have unreliable electricity service too. This is the situation for the more than 2 million residents of Gaza. They have no statehood and no prospect of change. Gazan Palestinians live without the basic dignity to which all human beings are entitled as children of God. Article continues below The situation of Palestinians in the West Bank, led by President Mahmoud Abbas from Fatah, is not much better than that of Gaza. There, the Israeli government has increasingly restricted Palestinian movement and expanded Israeli settlements in disputed territories. Some settlers are violent extremists, too, with more than 700 settler attacks against Palestinian civilians reported in this year alone. Palestinians sense that nothing will change has only increased as Netanyahu has come close to reaching a US-facilitated deal to normalize Israels diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabiathe much-desired jewel in the crown of the Abraham Accords. The deal was intended to isolate and suppress the Palestinian issue, with Netanyahu previously writing that the road to peace in the Middle East would bypass Palestinians, who would not be allowed to veto the deal. By this, Netanyahu hoped to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without getting even close to the minimum the Palestinians have asked. This is the land in which heinous Islamist ideological movements have been able to grow. In this environment of hatred, racism, and violence, Hamas has exploited young people with false promises. With no horizon of hope, Hamass adherents in Palestine sank into darkness and helped Hamas victimize Israelis too. But it does not have to be this way. As Christians, we believe in the power of redemption. With real hope for the future of this land, these hateful movements will wither. For a lasting peace, we must respect the image of God in Israelis and Palestinians alike. Is it too much to ask that we dont see this as a zero-sum game? Shouldnt both Israelis and Palestinians live in the dignity God intended for us? Our aim should be not only safety but also flourishingtogether, not at each others expense. Tamir Khouri is the pseudonym of a Palestinian Christian and Israeli citizen from the Galilee region in Israel. [ This article is also available in espanol, Portugues, and Francais. ] This week on The Bulletin, hosts Mike Cosper, Nicole Martin, and editor in chief Russell Moore sit down to talk about finding truth in the rubble of human brokenness. Faydra Shapiro joins the show from Galilee, along with guest Chris Seiple, to talk about the possibility of peace in the Middle East. Mike, Nicole, and Russell discuss problems on college campusesLiberty Universitys concealment of crimes and antisemitism fueled by ignorance and a misplaced sense of justice. This weeks bonus episode: Making Sense of the Israel-Hamas War Joining us this week: Faydra Shapiro is a specialist in contemporary Jewish-Christian relations, with a focus on evangelical Christian-Jewish and Jewish-Catholic relations. She has published and presented extensively on the topic of Christian Zionism and evangelical Christian support for Israel. Dr. Shapiros most recent book (2016) is Christian Zionism: Navigating the Jewish-Christian Border. She received her PhD in 2000 and her first book received a National Jewish Book Award (2006). Dr. Shapiro is also a senior fellow at the Philos Project and a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Religions at Tel Hai College in northern Israel. Chris Seiple is the senior fellow for comparative religion at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He is widely known and sought after for his decades of experience and expertise regarding issues at the intersection of geopolitics, US foreign policy, Asia, conflict resolution, human rights, and religion. He has pioneered innovative solutions in the US Marine Corps, at the US State Department, the Templeton Religion Trust, and as the president of the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE), where he developed a Track 1.5 theory of change rooted in relational diplomacy. He and IGE are perhaps best known for playing a significant role in the removal of Vietnam (2007) and Uzbekistan (2018) from the US State Departments religious freedom violations list. His 1996 book, The U.S. Military/NGO Relationship in Humanitarian Interventions, is a seminal work in the field. Chris is a three-time cancer survivor who embraces each day gratefully. Read More from Christianity Today about Todays Topics: American Christians Should Stand with Israel under Attack A Dozen Female Victims Sue Liberty University Over Abuse Policies The Bulletin is a production of Christianity Today Executive Producer: Erik Petrik Producers: Clarissa Moll and Matt Stevens Editing and Mix: TJ Hester Music: Dan Phelps Show Design: Bryan Todd Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs Social Media: Kate Lucky Officials vow to withdraw permit for Christian school in Indonesia after Muslims protest SURABAYA, Indonesia Bowing to pressure from Islamic protestors, local officials in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, have vowed to withdraw permission that had been granted to build a Christian school, sources said. In the town of Parepare, the district representative council had granted permission for the construction of the school as the Gamaliel Christian School Foundation had completed all requirements, but the council promised to withdraw the permission after a demonstration last Friday that included a banned Islamic extremist group, according to legionnews.com. Members of the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam, or FPI), banned since December 2020, participated in the march through the city along with hundreds of area residents, Muslim leaders and members of the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim Indonesia, or ICMI) and the Soreang Society Alliance, arriving at the office of the district representative council, according to detik.com. As a result of the protest, Parepares representative council promised to withdraw the permits to build the Christian school, saying it could potentially cause friction, according to legionnews.com. In Indonesia, such promises by officials to Islamic groups can be tantamount to an official decision, but the council has issued no letter of revocation of permission. A video widely viewed online shows some participants unfurling banners that read, Rejecting the Construction of the Gamaliel Soreang Christian School, among others. Demonstrators shouted, Refuse the permit, revoke the permit, and some orators called on the government to do the same. We are the most tolerant people Muslims need no education on tolerance, said one orator. We live in a neighborhood with non-Muslims and provide food to each other; we never disturb others worship, but it is intolerance if you build a Christian school in a majority Muslim community. At the Parepare city representative council office, the protestors were greeted by the chairman of the council, two deputies and a council member identified only as Kamaluddin. The residents refused because the majority of people there were Muslims, and they said the permission was not clear, according to the residents who held the demonstration, Kamaludin said, according to detik.com. We are trying to avoid any conflict in the community. Opposition began mounting when hundreds of residents on Sept. 30 gathered at the Al Amin Mosque, in Soreang Permai Estate, Parepare, and signed a statement opposing the construction of the school, according to znews.com. Legally authorized The construction of the Gamaliel Christian School had been legally authorized, bnn.com reported. The deputy chairman of the Gamaliel Christian Education Foundation, Sinta (who goes by a single name), confirmed that her institution had obtained the necessary permits for construction, in line with all relevant regulations and approved by authorities. In the face of the protest and the promised revocation of the building permit, Sinta said the foundation would not dare build the school without legal permission from the government. We have fulfilled all [permits] before building, Sinta told detik.com on Saturday, adding that the building permit process was not as problematic as residents claimed. Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute, which advocates democracy and human rights in Indonesia, particularly religious freedom, said the case was a clear sign of state subordination to the will of the intolerant groups. Local political constellations and electoral interests, in gaining support from the masses, make public officials choose sides and accommodate the demands of intolerant groups, Bonar told Morning Star News. They intentionally ignore it, even though it is considered to violate the constitution. Indonesia ranked 33rd on the Christian support organization Open Doors 2023 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Indonesian society has adopted a more conservative Islamic character, and churches involved in evangelistic outreach are at risk of being targeted by Islamic extremist groups, according to the WWL report. New Jersey congressman launches campaign to shut down pro-life pregnancy centers A congressman in New Jersey has launched a campaign to shut down pro-life crisis pregnancy resource centers, drawing an accusation from a leading pregnancy resource center network that he is peddling "lies." New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer staged a press conference outside one of the Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Centers offices on Oct. 6 as part of his strategy to crack down against the nonprofit organizations. Gottheimer claimed pregnancy centers "pose as healthcare clinics" but dont have licensed medical professionals on staff and use aggressive tactics to manipulate women into keeping their babies. Women go to these healthcare hoax clinics thinking they will get real medical help, but instead, they are greeted by people with no medical background whose goal is to brainwash women with their own ideological agenda, Gottheimer said. We need to do everything we can to shut down these brainwashing cult clinics. We need to stop the fake programming theyre pushing." Heartbeat International, the worlds largest network of pro-life pregnancy resource centers with over 3,000 affiliates, is calling on abortion proponents like Gottheimer to stop spreading falsehoods. Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey argues that abortion proponents like Gottheimer are the ones in a brainwashing cult. They deny the truth about women who don't really want an abortion; they deny the truth about pregnancy centers providing practical help as alternatives to abortion; and they deny the truth that every woman should be loved and supported during a pregnancy, Godsey said in a Thursday statement provided to The Christian Post. Elected representatives should be serving the people and not protecting abortion profits, he added. The Democratic congressman revealed that he plans to hold press conferences outside of multiple pregnancy centers across New Jersey. Gottheimer, who represents most of Bergen County and parts of Passaic County and Sussex County in the New York City suburbs, is also a proponent of the Stop Anti-Abortion Disinformation Act, introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. The legislation focuses on pregnancy centers, claiming they use deceptive tactics to prevent abortion access. The bill would "direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules prohibiting disinformation in the advertising of abortion services, and for other purposes." As part of his campaign, Gottheimer sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy and other state leaders asking them to "restrict crisis pregnancy centers deceptive marketing practices." Andrea Trudden, vice president of communications at Heartbeat International, says that the women and families these organizations serve are the ones who are hurt the most when people like Gottheimer spread "such lies" about pregnancy centers. Baseless attacks against pregnancy centers are a waste of taxpayer money and a distraction from day-to-day issues families truly care about, Trudden stated. Rather than try to shut down life-affirming pregnancy help organizations that provide free care and support to women such as parenting classes and formula perhaps these elected officials should try and work with them to solve families' real-world problems, she added. Gottheimer's office did not immediately respond to The Christian Posts request for comment. Last July, Godsey issued a similar response after Warren introduced the Stop Anti-Abortion Disinformation Act and took to X, formally known as Twitter, declaring, We must do everything we can to protect Americans seeking reproductive care." The pro-life leader said its network of pregnancy centers advertises to help potential clients find answers after learning about an unexpected pregnancy, noting that abortion facilities use the same strategy to reach people. "Of course, they're doing so from a profiteering perspective while we're trying to do so from a service perspective, he noted. He also disagreed that pregnancy centers lie to women about the risks of undergoing an abortion, stressing that women facing such a decision should have as much information as possible. "We vehemently disagree with the idea that women have to have abortions in order to be successful," Godsey said. "They're more powerful than that; they've been the cradle of motherhood for millennia." Following the U.S. Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 and a leak of the ruling in May 2022, pregnancy centers and churches faced an onslaught of violence. Radical activists appeared to echo the claims made by abortion proponents, as some centers had the word LIARS spraypainted on their walls or signs. Some pregnancy centers, including CompassCare, a group of pregnancy centers in New York, were firebombed around the same time radical activist groups like ANTIFA and Janes Revenge were vandalizing pro-life organizations and churches nationwide. International Bible Way suspends pastor accused of raping family member 600 times International Bible Way Church of Jesus Christ, a South Carolina-based Christian denomination that claims some 600 churches globally, has suspended Bishop Robert Carter, the leader of their Gulf Coast Diocese who was charged with raping a family member at least 600 times beginning when she was 7. He is also alleged to have fathered a child with the victim. "International Bible Way has been made aware of the charges and statements concerning the alleged conduct of Bishop Robert Carter. We hereby, suspend Bishop Robert Carter of all diocese and pastoral duties concerning International Bible Way," the church said in a statement released on Facebook Wednesday. Carter, 39, was arrested Monday and charged with sexual assault of a child between the ages of 14 and 17 and continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to KPRC 2. Court documents cited by the news outlet claim that Carter began abusing his family member in 2008. He allegedly would visit the child's room nightly and make her perform a sex act on him. As the victim got older, Carter was accused of intensifying his sexual abuse inside his home, in a parking lot before dropping her off at school, at his grandmother's home and several times at an office at Greater Bible Way Church where he worked. His most recent pastoral job listed online is senior pastor of Sanctuary Church of Jesus Christ in downtown Houston. The victim, now 21, told police that Carter enticed her into sex acts as a little girl using candy and allegedly showed her pornography on his phone. "The victim in this case alleges that she was sexually abused from the age of 7 and it did not conclude until she was 19, with the sexual encounters occurring hundreds of times," prosecutors said during Carter's court appearance, according to KHOU 11. A warrant for Carter's arrest said the victim got pregnant and secretly gave birth to Carter's baby when she was 16. The victim's father, who asked not to be identified, told KPRC2 that Carter took the baby from the teenager and dropped the baby off at a fire station. The victim's father said his daughter was so damaged by the abuse she spent time in a psychiatric hospital. "She's had an episode where she ended up in the hospital for psychiatric reasons," he said while noting his shock at Carter abusing his daughter as a child. Court documents say when the victim resisted Carter's advances, he told her, "If you don't do this, I promise you're going to regret it, and I'm going to make your life a living Hell." The pastor's bond was set at $200,000, and a judge ordered him on Monday to stay away from any place where children might be, including schools, parks and churches. He is also only allowed supervised visits with his 14-year-old son. "Too often people in positions of power abuse and take advantage of people that trust them. I look forward to allowing the complainant's voice to be heard," the prosecutor told KHOU11 in a statement. After his client's hearing, the pastor's attorney, Eric Davis, urged the public to exercise caution in assigning guilt to Carter as prosecutors sought to conduct a DNA test on the victim's child. "When he learned of the charges, he turned himself in, so he can clear his name," Davis said. "We'd ask before there's a trial, that he be presumed innocent, that people can keep an open mind and hold to them the Constitutional presumption of innocence." Israel releases images of babies killed by Hamas: 'Depravity in the worst imaginable way' Israel's government presented graphic images of dead children and civilians said to have been killed in last weekend's attack by Hamas after reports emerged of claims that dozens of babies were killed and some beheaded by the terrorist group. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday and was shown the photographs. He spoke about the images while talking with the press at a hotel in Jerusalem that evening. "It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way," Blinken told reporters. "Images are worth a thousand words. These images may be worth a million." "We did see photographs, videos, that the Israel Government shared with us. Some, I think, has actually already been seen in public media. Others were new to me and, I think, new to our team," he explained. "It's hard to find the right words. It's beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and, God forbid, experience. A baby, an infant, riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars or in their hideaway rooms." Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also released the graphic images shown to Blinken on social media. "Horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters," reads a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "It almost defies comprehension, and as I've been saying, to me, it, in the most immediate future, hearkens back to ISIS and some of the very things we saw when it was on its rampage that, thankfully, was stopped," Blinken added. "So I think for any human being to see this, it's really beyond almost anything that we can comprehend, digest. And I'd just add that when you see this, you try to imagine maybe not try, you can't help but imagine yourself, your family, your loved ones, your friends, in that situation, in that predicament. And maybe the best word for it for me is overwhelming." Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant addressed his counterparts at NATO's Brussels headquarters, showing the images from the aftermath of the attack on Israel's southern border communities with Gaza. "Children were tied up and shot," Gallant said in his address, according to Reuters. "Yes, I repeat, children, tied up and shot." The photographs were taken by the armed forces who found "mutilated bodies" in settlements attacked by Hamas last Saturday, The Times reported. The Hamas attack on Israeli settlements along the border with Gaza began last Saturday, resulting in over 1,200 deaths and thousands of injuries. At least 150 people were also reported to have been taken hostage. The attack drew retaliatory airstrikes from Israel into Gaza, which the Palestinian authorities say has led to the loss of over 1,400 Palestinians and over 6,000 wounded. Israeli survivors have shared their stories of how they were fortunate to survive attacks on their homes. Before the photos were released, there was skepticism surrounding reports of children being massacred in the Israeli Kfar Aza settlement, with an on-the-ground reporter from i24News reporting that Israel's military discovered the bodies of over 40 babies killed. Dozens of dead civilians were found in the village; some burned beyond recognition. Another kibbutz Kerem Shalom also reported the killing of children, with the Israel Defense Forces releasing photographs of a child's bed covered in blood at the time, according to The Telegraph. The Israel Air Force has been conducting bombing raids on Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, since the attack, and tens of thousands of troops are amassing along the border for a possible ground invasion. Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, admitted in a speech to troops Thursday that the Israel Defense Forces failed to protect its citizens and guard the border along the Gaza Strip. "The IDF is responsible for the security of the country and its citizens, and on Saturday morning in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, we did not do it," Halevi said, according to Jewish News Syndicate. "We will learn. We will investigate. But now is the time for war." Deputy Hamas chief, Saleh Al-Arouri, now claims that the plan was to target only military and "occupation" soldiers, according to remarks released by Hamas. Israel's military on Friday issued an evacuation order to over 1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza, instructing them to move to the southern part of the territory, The Associated Press reported. "Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," a statement from Israel Defense Forces reads. "In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians." The United Nations cautioned that such a mass exodus would be disastrous, the newswire said, adding, that Hamas dismissed the order as a tactic and urged residents to stay put. The evacuation directive, which also encompasses Gaza City, has incited widespread panic among civilians and aid workers. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said Washington is not placing any conditions on its security assistance to Israel. Britain is sending two Royal Navy ships and other military assets to the eastern Mediterranean in a show of military support for Israel and to bolster surveillance and security in the region. "We must be unequivocal in making sure the types of horrific scenes we have seen this week will not be repeated. Alongside our allies, the deployment of our world class military will support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. "Our military and diplomatic teams across the region will also support international partners to re-establish security and ensure humanitarian aid reaches the thousands of innocent victims of this barbaric attack from Hamas terrorists." The White House has confirmed that 22 Americans have been killed since Hamas attacked Israel. At a press briefing Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that 17 Americans remained unaccounted for. "We know that these numbers are likely to increase in the days ahead," she said. 'Our biggest fright just came to life': Survivors of Israeli kibbutz massacres recount Hamas attack When Michal Rahav heard sirens wailing Saturday, followed by gunshots, she hurried her children to the safe room in their home on kibbutz Nirim, where she told them: "Whatever comes through that door, we don't go down without a fight." Rahav was one of the survivors of Hamas' onslaught last weekend targeting communities on Israel's border with Gaza to share her story during a Thursday webinar hosted by the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement, an organization dedicated to addressing and exposing Jewish hatred. Sacha Roytman-Dratwa, CEO of the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement, served as the event's moderator. Galia Sopher, the survivor of a separate Hamas assault on kibbutz Mefalism, also shared her account, recalling that her community resembled the aftermath of an "apocalypse" following the attack. According to the Israeli Embassy to the U.S., more than 1,200 were killed and more than 3,000 injured as a result of Hamas' multi-pronged surprise attack that began last Saturday in southern Israel. The Israeli government also claims that as many as 150 Israelis have been taken hostage by Hamas. Rahav remembers hearing alarms go off throughout the kibbutz early Saturday morning. While she and her husband were unsure of what was happening, they heard the sound of missiles and rockets being fired at their house, and they started to sense that the situation was different than anything they had ever experienced. In Sopher's case, she was camping with her daughters in a field a family tradition when the mother also heard sirens and the sound of rockets early in the morning. She did not have access to a shelter, and she was camping alone with her daughters because her husband stayed home. Sopher did the only thing she could think of, and she threw her body on top of her girls to shield them. "'You're with me; you're safe. I'm protecting you,'" Sopher remembers repeating to her daughters. "And I couldn't even believe my own words because I didn't know what was going on." Residents of Israel are accustomed to barrages of rocket fire, and families are frequently forced to take cover. "Sometimes you have a sixth sense, and you can sometimes sense when the escalation is about to happen," Rahav said about living in such a tense environment. "This time, there was nothing." As Rahav's husband geared up, taking his weapons to patrol the house and ensure the family was safe, she began packing so they would be prepared to leave as soon as it was safe to do so. Around two hours later, Rahav heard gunshots, and she was surprised that the noises sounded close. She said she and her husband were confused, wondering if it was the Israel Defense Forces and why they would be shooting in the kibbutz. "A few seconds afterward, we hear a lot of shouting in Arabic, and the reality hits us," she said. "[Hamas] penetrated the kibbutz, and our biggest fright just came to life." The mother ran to the safe room with her children, providing one daughter with a can of pepper gas and the other with a club. She equipped her son with a helmet and laid him on the floor. Rahav instructed her kids to remain close, telling them that they would not go down without a fight. As the sound of shooting erupted inside the house, Rahav could hear her husband's footsteps approaching the safe room as the shooting noises came closer and closer. Rahav's husband opened the safe room door, revealing that he had just shot a terrorist who tried to enter their home. "The minute he finishes his sentence, there was an enormous flash of light, and the whole safe room was filled with gunpowder," she said, recalling how the electricity went out as the family's ears started ringing. They didn't know what had happened at the time, but Rahav learned later that Hamas had been shooting rocket-propelled grenades at their home. In the safe room, as Hamas terrorists fired at the safe room door and the iron window, Rahav's husband handed her a gun, telling her that they would fight "till the last bullet." Laying in a field with her daughters, Sopher tried to call her husband, but she couldn't reach him, realizing that he wouldn't have a signal if he were inside a safe room. Eventually, men from the kibbutz offered her and the other people camping in the field a ride home. Upon reaching their home, Sopher carried her two girls inside and joined her husband in the shelter, where there was no air conditioning or electricity, forcing them to rely on the light from their phones. "It was like a Hanukkah miracle because we didn't have much battery," Sopher said. Due to how hot it was inside the shelter with no air conditioning, they were forced to open the door a little to let air inside. Sopher remembered hearing the sound of machine guns and people panicking, where they sat for hours, trying to quiet their girls. Rahav and her family remained in their safe room as she attempted to call for help, even resorting to posting about the attack on Facebook, saying that there were terrorists in their home. Despite her pleas for help, Rahav said she eventually realized that she and her family were alone. All eventually went quiet as the terrorists moved onto other houses, lighting them on fire and filling safe rooms with smoke to kill the people trapped inside. After about eight hours of Hamas lighting cars on fire and shooting engines and gas tanks, the IDF finally arrived around 3 p.m. Opening the safe room door, which was crooked from the RPG blast, Rahav saw that her whole house was "broken" and "shattered," which she found to be the perfect metaphor for the present situation. "Everything was shattered for us, and the reality that we know now is different," Rahav said. The family and other survivors were allowed to collect a few belongings before they were divided into groups and evacuated. Rahav shared that she and her family have been in the city of Eilat since Sunday night. When asked by Roytman-Dratwa if she would consider returning to the kibbutz, Rahav answered that while she loved Israel, she and her family felt betrayed because they were left to deal with the attack by themselves. "If they don't eradicate Hamas completely, if we still need a safe room, and if we still need the Iron Dome, and if I still have to have even the smallest chance to tell my children again that they have to fight for their lives until the last bullet, then no," she said. "I will not go back there." Around sunset, Sopher recalls hearing a message that residents of the kibbutz were free to leave at their own risk. Her husband decided not to take the chance, and they stayed in the shelter until they heard another message around 3 or 4 a.m. telling them that it was safe to leave. Soldiers escorted the family to their car, and as they drove, Sopher said that she saw other vehicles that had been gunned down and dead bodies all around, both inside and outside of the cars. After briefly staying with a friend, the family is staying at a hotel with their kibbutz community, where they're receiving food and speaking with social workers. "We've lost a lot of friends," Sopher said, crying. "I don't know how we got so lucky and why others didn't." Jen Hatmaker promotes 'libido gummies,' 'arousal oil' bundle box A Christian author who has faced criticism for her comments on abortion and LGBT-related issues is using her Facebook page to promote sexual wellness products, including libido gummies and arousal oil. In a Sept. 28 Facebook post, Jen Hatmaker, a progressive Christian influencer, posted a message that began with the phrase attention sexy people. The rock stars over at FOCL have been working on a sexual wellness line for months to get it just right. Hatmaker touted libido gummies for him and for her as one aspect of the sexual wellness line. While maintaining that she was not a scientist, Hatmaker testified that these increase libido, harmonize hormones, boost vitality, and all the other things that make our sexual wellness enhanced and improved. They build over time, so you take them like a yummy little supplement every day, she added. She also plugged an Intimacy oil and an arousal oil as options for those looking for something instant. According to Hatmaker, If youve looked at any other lubricants on the market, who knows whats in them? FOCLs are only the good stuff with no weird, mystery ingredients. She concluded her post by highlighting a special deal for her followers: an arousal bundle or the intimacy bundle for her or for him which includes two sets of gummies (60-day supply) and one oil for a crazy sexy deal. FOCL is giving us 50% off the regular price of the bundle. So basically, youre saving more than $90. A video accompanying the Facebook post featured Hatmaker promoting the individual products in the bundle box and declaring that her followers were at this stage of life where I need a little boost here. She held up the box and said, Heres your boost. While the biography on her Facebook page doesn't contain any references to her Christian faith and instead says, I write books, I say stuff on a podcast, I raise a bunch of kids, Hatmakers website proclaims: I used to be a darling of evangelical womens subculture but now I am a bit of a problem child. I still love Jesus but church is hard for me, and this makes me sad, like I am missing my childhood home, her website states. Hatmakers reputation as a problem child within Evangelical womens subculture stems from her comments in support of same-sex marriage and abortion, which go against Christian teaching. In 2016, the publishing company Lifeway stopped selling Hatmakers books after she expressed support for same-sex marriage during an interview with Religion News Service. When asked for her thoughts on same-sex marriage, Hatmaker responded, From a civil rights and civil liberties side and from just a human being side, any two adults have the right to choose who they want to love. She added that they should be afforded the same legal protections as any of us, and maintained that, I would never wish anything less for my gay friends. Four years later, Hatmaker did a podcast with her daughter, who had come out as a lesbian. Im so glad youre gay, she told her daughter during their conversation. Im so glad youre free. Im so glad this is how you were made. Im thrilled about your future. I already told you about the kind of wife you need to marry. Last year, after Politico published a leaked draft opinion of the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision determining that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion, Hatmaker took to her blog to express opposition to the impending decision. Women deserve agency and choice not only with their bodies but over the decision to parent for the rest of their lives, she wrote. Anti-abortion advocates have every right to their convictions, but those convictions should only apply to their bodies, their families, and their futures, she added as she condemned opposition to legal abortion as political theater. Hatmaker suggested that if this rabid energy was genuine if it had any integrity, it would come baked in with the fiercest and staunchest advocacy for free birth control, comprehensive sex education, maternal health care and paid maternity leave. Hatmaker also called on pro-lifers to embrace subsidized child care, affordable housing, marriage counseling and family support systems, guaranteed food security, victims rights for all the rape and incest survivors forced to carry their abusers baby, subsidized medical care for all the women forced to carry a baby to the detriment of their own health or that of their baby, life insurance for the families whose mothers died in forced childbirth, and every conceivable support for a mother, baby, and family from birth until forever. Johnnie Moore compares Hamas attacks on Israel to the Holocaust, tells EU it's 'about the Iranian regime' 'This evil does not represent God,' Evangelical leader tells EU Parliament American Evangelical leader The Rev. Johnnie Moore is calling on the European Union to step up its support for Israel following the attacks which he said "materially involved" Iran. Moore, who is the president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and was appointed twice as commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, delivered a speech on Oct. 11 at the European Parliament in Brussels in which he warned about the evil behind the attacks by Hamas that have killed more than 1,300 Israelis. At least 27 Americans have been confirmed dead and 14 are unaccounted for and might be held hostage by Hamas. To provide perspective on the scale of the attack, Moore said the terror attacks on Oct. 7 were the equivalent of up to 50,000 Americans being massacred in a single city and another 10,000 to 20,000 taken hostage. The scale is shocking, but brutality was an act of cowardice, he said, adding Hamas went from village to village and then from house to house massacring children, women and the elderly. Moore said despite the repeated calls by Hamas and other Islamic terror groups for jihad against the Zionist state, this attack has nothing to do with religion. This evil does not represent God, does not represent religion and does not represent a just future for the Palestinian people, he said. The Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian security officials helped plan Hamas' attacks. While a European official and an adviser to the Syrian government corroborated Irans involvement, U.S. officials said they had not seen evidence of Irans involvement. Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials, meanwhile, praised the assault and said his country kisses the hands of those behind it. Moore pointed to these and other comments to support the claim that the attacks materially involved the Iranian regime. No one in this compound can deny that Hamas receives its funding, its weapons, its training and other material support, from the Islamic Republic of Iran, he said. This whole event, scheduled long before this attack, is about the Iranian Regime and its representatives. He said its not just Jews and Israel that Irans leaders hate, but also Christians: Moore quoted a Hamas commander as saying, The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christians traitors. In his address, Moore repeatedly compared Hamas' atrocities with the Holocaust, including describing the attacks as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Let me be as clear as possible: this week a representative of the Tehran tyrants, an [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] IRGC representative, committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, he said. It was a pogrom. It was genocidal. And everything must change in this [EU Parliament] compound because of this. Moore, who is also vice president of the Board of Directors of the International Community of Christians and Jews, noted that many of the victims killed in the attacks were not just Israelis but were also American, British, French, German, Brazilian, Thai, Cambodian, Spanish, Argentine, Canadian and others. They literally committed an act of terror against the world, he said. In offering his recommendations for the EU, Moore also criticized a statement from EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borrell, which failed to mention "much less condemn" Hamas. That statement, said Moore, traces a moral equivalence between the democratic State of Israel and a terrorist regime that holds the future of Palestinians in Gaza, a terrorist regime that massacres babies in front of their parents and burns entire families alive. He urged the EU to give Israel all the support it needs now while also making no distinction between the Islamic Republic and its representatives in an apparent reference to Irans support for Hamas. If the representatives cause harm, then punish the Islamic Republic, Moore added. He also called on EU officials to follow the lead of the U.S. and designate the IRGC and Hamas as terrorist organizations, and to prevent any future EU funds from going to Hamas. Moore also called for a review of all additional aid to the Palestinians to ensure that it does not undermine peace. Moore also called for the renewal of U.N. restrictions on ballistic missiles to Iran and a return to sanctions, which he said was more than justified. Lastly, Moore warned officials to protect Jewish communities in Europe from the rise of anti-Semitism being seen across Europe and the world in pro-Hamas demonstrations. Pointing again to the Holocaust, Moore warned Hamas attacks on Israel could again mark the end of justice unless the world now joins in a collective response. There is no place for moral ambiguity here, he added. This is the time to choose. Christian parents sue California over charter school ban on religious instruction A group of Christian parents have filed a lawsuit against California over a charter school policy prohibiting the inclusion of religious materials in homeschool study programs. The parents of school-aged children who participate in the independent study programs of Blue Ridge Academy and Visions in Education charter schools seek to include Christian content in their coursework. In a complaint filed Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the parents argued that they should be allowed to include Christian instruction as part of their study program. These schools discriminate against parents who seek to educate their children in accordance with their faith, even if that faith-based education fully satisfies state educational standards, read the lawsuit, in part. In particular, these schools have restricted parents use of funds to purchase curricula and other instructional materials on the basis of religion and refused to accept or award credit for student work samples that derive from faith-based curricula or reflect religious perspectives. The lawsuit names as defendants Tony Thurmond, superintendent of Public Instruction; Michael Coleman, superintendent of Maricopa Unified School District; board members of the Maricopa USD; Melissa Bassanelli, superintendent of San Juan Unified School District; board members of the San Juan USD; officials at Blue Ridge Academy and officials at Visions in Education. First Liberty Institute, a conservative legal group based in Plano, Texas, is helping to represent the parents, along with the law firm King & Spalding LLP, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Justin Butterfield, deputy general counsel for First Liberty, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post on Thursday that the plaintiffs simply want to be able to choose curricula that fits their families' needs without facing religious discrimination. These families love their charter schools and the opportunities those schools provide for families to educate their children in a way that fits the families' needs, Butterfield said. According to Article 9, Section 8 of the California state constitution, No public money shall ever be appropriated for the support of any sectarian [religious] or denominational school, or any school not under the exclusive control of the officers of the public schools; nor shall any sectarian or denominational doctrine be taught, or instruction thereon be permitted, directly or indirectly, in any of the common schools of this State. Since charter schools in California are part of the public school system, the prohibition on public funding of religious instruction that is sectarian in nature is part of their directives. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in David Carson et al. v. A. Pender Makin that Maine could not lawfully bar parents from using a state tuition program to send their children to religious private schools. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, writing that "we have repeatedly held that a State violates the Free Exercise Clause when it excludes religious observers from otherwise available public benefits." "As noted, a neutral benefit program in which public funds flow to religious organizations through the independent choices of private benefit recipients does not offend the Establishment Clause," Roberts wrote in Carson. "Maines 'nonsectarian' requirement for its otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment." Trump sparks backlash over comments calling Hezbollah 'very smart' Former President Donald Trump is receiving criticism from his Republican rivals for referring to the terrorist organization Hezbollah as very smart and talking about how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let us down in the past as his country reels in the wake of Hamas' terror attacks. Trump, currently the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in the 2024 presidential election, addressed the aftermath of Hamas attacks in Israel during a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. He asserted that national defense people working for the Biden administration were saying, Gee, I hope Hezbollah doesnt attack from the north because thats the most vulnerable spot. The former president recalled reacting to the concerns about a Hezbollah attack by thinking that Hezbollahs very smart and mocked the idea that Biden administration officials would make Israels enemies aware of its national security weaknesses. He acknowledged that the press doesnt like when [I] say that as well as when he makes similar characterizations about Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trumps characterization of Hezbollah as very smart was not the only aspect of his speech that spurred a negative reaction from critics. While Trump praised and vowed to stand with Israel during his remarks, he also brought up how I did have a bad experience with Israel. According to Trump, When we took out [terrorist Qasem Soleimani], it was us and Israel working as a group and we knew where he was, we knew how he was coming in, we knew the plane, we knew everything. We worked on it for weeks, for months, actually. Israel was going to do this with us and it was being planned and working on it for months and now we had everything all set to go, and the night before it happened, I got a call that Israel will not be participating in this attack, he added. While the U.S. killed Soleimani on its own, Trump told the crowd, Ill never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. That was a very terrible thing. Trump insisted that Bibi tried to take credit for the attack that took out Soleimani, adding, That didnt make me feel too good. Bob Vander Plaats, CEO of the Iowa-based religious advocacy group The FAMiLY Leader, reacted to the former presidents assertions during the speech as disturbing. Vander Plaats took to X to summarize and condemn Trumps analysis: The former #POTUS @realDonaldTrump telling the world #Israel let us down while calling out Hezbollah and Hamas, backed by Iran, as very smart. Raping women and butchering children isnt smart. Its evil. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, currently Trumps chief rival for the Republican nomination, weighed in on the former presidents statements about Hezbollah and Israel while campaigning in New Hampshire. This is a time to be standing with Israel and to be attacking the Prime Minister just makes no sense, he said. To be saying that Hezbollah, talking about how smart they are, just doesnt make any sense. "Makes no sense": @RonDeSantis rips Trump for attacking Bibi Netanyahu days after 1,200 Israelis and 25 Americans were murdered by Hamas. pic.twitter.com/iiKqx2wFjN DeSantis War Room ???? (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 12, 2023 Former Vice President Mike Pence, another candidate for the Republican nomination who served as Trumps second-in-command for four years, also issued a response to Trumps speech in an appearance on the radio program New Hampshire Today on Thursday: This is no time for the former president or any other American leader to be sending any message other than America stands with Israel. Hezbollah are not smart; theyre evil, Pence proclaimed. The former vice president also expressed disappointment that his former boss called Russian President Vladimir Putin a genius for invading Ukraine last year. Trump reacted to the backlash his comments received in a statement posted on his campaign website Thursday by defending his administrations foreign policy record pertaining to Israel: There was no better friend or ally of Israel than President Donald J. Trump. Under my leadership, the United States stood in complete solidarity with Israel, and as a result, Israel was safe, America was safe, and for the first time in decades, we made historic strides for Peace in the Middle East. The former president vowed that with President Trump back in office, Israel, and everyone else, will be SAFE AGAIN! Andy Stanley, Pope Francis, and the idolization of evangelism Believing the spirit of the Christian calls for us to assume the best intentions of fellow believers, I was intrigued when I first learned that North Point Community Church in Atlanta planned to host a conference late last month for parents of LGBT children and ministry leaders looking for more effective ways to serve those impacted by the heavy and increasingly controversial issue. In fact, the outreach brought back memories of a similarly themed conference that my organization, Focus on the Family, hosted for several years well over a decade ago. At the time, we were roundly criticized for holding the event. Many claimed offering love and support for those struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction or their families was somehow hateful. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Unfortunately, as the North Point conference grew closer this past summer, significant concerns emerged regarding several of the conference speakers, notably two men who are in a same-sex marriage, along with a Christian ethicist who advocates for covenantal marital lifetime monogamy for LGBT individuals, plus full LGBT inclusion in the Church. North Point Community Church pastor Andy Stanley addressed some of the criticism this past Sunday. Specifically, Andy responded to comments made by Dr. Al Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to last weekends event, Dr. Mohler suggested providing a platform to those advocating for acceptance of same-sex marriage in the Christian Church is a clear and tragic departure from biblical Christianity. Al Mohler is correct. Regrettably, though, Andy Stanley fired back, accusing the longtime Southern Seminary president of holding to a version of biblical Christianity that is causing people to leave Christianity altogether. It might be true that biblical Christianity conflicts with the spirit of the age, but we have neither the authority nor the privilege to edit the Bible to suit modern tastes. Revisionist theology may draw the curious, but it will ultimately confuse and lead the seeker down spiritually dangerous and destructive paths. Perhaps the most untenable and confounding aspects of the North Point conference from a biblical perspective was not only the normalization and acceptance of same-sex marriage but also the absence of any conversation regarding repentance of sexual sin. In fact, at one point during his message on Sunday rebutting Dr. Mohler, Pastor Stanley talked about the not sustainable nature of chastity for same-sex attracted individuals. Sinful sexual desire is something all of us must manage and reject, so its a bit perplexing why same-sex individuals are given a pass here. Scripture demands that were all to run from sexual temptation and immorality. Whether heterosexual or homosexually attracted, none of us can or should escape these critical biblical convictions. Dr. David Martyn Lloyd Jones, a medical doctor turned Welsh minister who helped spark an evangelical revival in Britain during the latter part of the 20th century, once put it well. For many years, I thought I was a Christian when in fact I was not, he said. What I needed was preaching that would convict me of sin and make me see my need. But I never heard that. The preaching we had was always based on the assumption we were all Christians. Confusion in this area is widespread and growing. Pastors cannot assume people know the truth. Earlier this week, the Vatican released a letter that Pope Francis had written to cardinals in which he suggested it might be possible for the Church to bless same-sex unions. He warned that priests cannot become judges who only deny, reject and exclude. In both instances, it appears that the pope and Andy Stanley, along with many other progressive faith leaders, are prioritizing our need to pastorally serve and witness over the need to remain faithful to Scripture. In essence, they are idolizing evangelism and elevating it over Gospel truth. However challenging an assignment, its essential and possible that we do both at the same time. Stop blaming the Jews When Jews are attacked, people often ask: what did they do to provoke it? Hamas' latest terrorist attack against Israel has elicited that kind of reaction from some leftists, some conservatives, and sadly, some Christians. On Saturday morning, Hamas infiltrated the Gaza-Israel barrier and killed over 700 Israelis (mostly civilians), wounded over 2,000 more, and kidnapped over 100 people. According to some people, the nation of Israel should primarily be blamed for that not Hamas. They shamelessly repeated Hamas propaganda about Israels supposedly oppressive and terrorist actions against Palestinians. So-called conservatives joined leftists and used arguments from postcolonial theory (the global version of critical race theory) to make the claim that Palestinians were simply using violence to defend themselves from their colonial oppressors. In other words, according to these people, we should never blame the victim unless the victim is the nation of Israel. Whether its the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Soviet antisemitism, and especially the holocaust, history is filled with many examples of people blaming Jews for violence against them. Just several months ago, Palestines president Mahmoud Abbas said: They say that Hitler killed the Jews for being Jews, and that Europe hated the Jews because they were Jews. No. It was clearly explained that they fought them because of their social role [extortionate money-lending] and not their religion. People who defend the Palestinian government are defending people who defend Hitler and the Nazis. Think about that. There is a direct line between Abbas blaming Jews for the holocaust and people blaming Israel for the terrorist attacks against them. Also, Abbas words are more troubling when you remember that hes considered a moderate in Palestinian politics. After all, the most powerful political party in Palestine is Hamas: the terrorist group that carried out the attack on Saturday morning. Peace without truth is impossible. So if people sincerely want peace for Palestinians and Israelis, they need to know the truth about the Palestinian government and the truth about the history of this conflict. People seem to believe Palestine was a sovereign state in the early 20th century until Zionists supposedly invaded the land and forced them out of their homes. But thats not true. Palestine has never been a nation. Before Israels declaration of independence in 1948, there hadnt been a sovereign nation in that land since a Jewish state called Judea. It was ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty over 2,000 years ago (decades before the birth of Christ). The Roman Empire conquered Judea, and after the Roman-Jewish wars, most of the Jewish population was forced into exile across Europe, the Arab world, and North Africa. Judea was renamed Palestine, and centuries later, Palestine was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and after World War 1, the British Empire. This means even after 2,000 years in exile, Jews are the only people to rightfully call the land of Israel their sovereign state. The people we consider Palestinians today didnt have nationalistic ambitions during the Ottoman Empire. They were simply Arabs living in Palestine under the authority of a friendly Empire. That changed when the British gained control of Palestine and issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which promised the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Israels return to their ancestral land received support from the international community, especially after the Holocaust. The United Nations drafted the first of what is called a two-state solution in 1947. Their proposal would have established both Israel and Palestine as two independent sovereign nations. Israel accepted the proposal, but Palestine rejected it and with 7 Arab nations they went to war with Israel. Inexplicably, Israel won the war and they gained more land than they would have under the UN proposal. Since then, the Palestinian government has rejected offers for peace. Israel, however, has made many concessions to appease the Palestinians including famously giving up control of Gaza (the area Palestinians used for the attack on Saturday) in 2005. But Hamas immediately gained control of Gaza and established their headquarters (at a hospital) in the territory. Hamas charter says: Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it [Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility. The current leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, also says: We will never recognize the usurper Zionist government and will continue our jihad-like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem. Remember, Hamas is basically the federal government in Palestine. So people who defend the Palestinian government are defending jihad. When people suggest theres moral equivalency between Israel and Hamas, they are saying self-defense is equal to jihad. This begs the question: since Hamas and Al Qaeda make similar arguments about their enemies, do the people who make excuses for Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel also make excuses for Al Qaedas 9/11 attacks? No, they dont. This is because some people are prone to blame the Jews. If youre a Christian and this describes you repent. Stop repeating Hamas propaganda. Stop using the oppressor vs. the oppressed dynamic on Israels conflict with Hamas (postcolonial theory). Stop blaming the Jews. Originally published at Slow to Write. The ethical bankruptcy of moral equivalency The grotesque, gruesome and obscene atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists against innocent Israelis on Oct. 7 have outraged and nauseated decent, civilized people across the globe. Let us all be clear: there can never be any justification for murdering innocent civilians (including infants, children and grandmothers, with children being butchered in front of their parents and vice versa). Those who claim a moral equivalency between the Hamas terrorists and the Israeli government betray either a lack of integrity or a seriously demagnetized moral compass. There is no more moral equivalency between Hamas and Israel than there was between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The U.S., like Israel, was not perfect, but if the Soviet Evil Empire had desired peace as much as America did in the Cold War, the Cold War would have ended far sooner and more peacefully than it did. Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to eradicating the Jews in the Holy Land and driving them into the sea. Israel cannot peacefully coexist with a terrorist group that denies the Israelis right to exist in the Holy Land. Some have responded to the dastardly Hamas attacks by claiming that they are emblematic of the clash of civilizations prophesied and articulated famously by Samuel P. Huntington in Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order (1996). Huntingtons thesis was written in response to his former student Francis Fukuyamas assertion in The End of History and the Last Man that man had come to the end of history in a Hegelian model where human rights and a capitalistic free market economy dominate in a post-Cold War world. Huntington responded that a clash of competing civilizations instead would be dominated by cultural conflict among civilizational models such as Western civilization and Islamic civilization. Huntingtons thesis is a provocative and interesting theory, but Hamas wonton and criminal attack on Israeli civilians is not an example of a clash of civilizations. Hamas current blood-curdling assault on Israeli citizens is a clash between civilization and barbarism. One could make the case that Hamas is worse than the Nazis. At least the Nazis tried to hide their crimes, whereas Hamas promotes their horrible brutalities on social media. Slaughtering infants in their cribs is about as barbarous as it gets. It would be unfair to besmirch Islamic civilization as being represented by Hamas terrorists. It must always be remembered that 90% of the victims of radical Islamic jihadists are fellow Muslims who refuse to accept their radical, cultic misinterpretation of Islam. I know how uncomfortable Christians feel when the KKK or some other extremist group perpetrates evil and seeks to wrap themselves with Christianity through burning crosses. I suspect millions of Muslims worldwide are lamenting the terrible Hamas atrocities committed in the name of their Islamic faith. I am extremely grateful that the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has taken the lead in releasing an Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel in which the numerous Evangelical signees unequivocally condemn the violence against innocent Israelis and fully support Israels right and duty to defend itself against further attack. The Evangelical Statement proclaimed: Since the inception of the modern state of Israel in 1948, Israel has faced numerous attacks, incursions, and violations of its national sovereignty. The Jewish people have long endured genocidal attempts to eradicate them and to destroy the Jewish state. These antisemitic, deadly ideologies and terrorist actions must be opposed. The statement further declared, In keeping with Christian Just War tradition, we also affirm the legitimacy of Israels right to respond against those who have initiated these attacks as Romans 13 grants governments the power to bear the sword against those who commit such evil acts against innocent life. The statement concluded by proclaiming the dignity and personhood of all persons living in the Middle East and their recognition of the difficult ministry of Jewish and Palestinian believers who labor for the Gospel. This was followed by a call for American authorities to take all forms of terrorism seriously and to confront evil work to prevent future attacks. When one observes the pro-Hamas rallies in our country (as well as others) with crowds celebrating the attacks and chanting Gas the Jews! it becomes clear why the Evangelical statement and much more are necessary and imperative. Make no mistake, these atrocities would never have happened without Iranian financing, planning and encouragement. In addition to their demonic hatred of Jews, they were desperate to derail the developing rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, an event that would devastate Iranian plans to rule the Middle East. The Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, declared, he kisses the hands of the Hamas murderers, rapists and baby killers. The reaction to these dastardly attacks among left-wing groups in America and around the world is most disturbing and yet instructive. I have often marveled at the apparent loss of the ability to understand or accept implacable moral evil that accompanies the embracing of the moral relativism of left-wing philosophies. How else do you explain these left-wing groups celebrating the horrendous blood lust of Hamas? They are celebrating Hamas, which has promoted a society based on hatred of Jews, a society that pays a bounty to mass murderers and their families and has a street celebration whenever Jews are killed. Is this what American and Western pro-Palestinian supporters desire? Walter E. Block and Alan G. Futerman have captured the dilemma: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! chant the useful idiots of elite institutions and parades in the West. Who are these people? Atheists who support theocratic lunatics, democrats who endorse medieval tyrants, feminists who defend misogynists who parade with the desecrated corpses of women, gays who defend maniacs who would joyfully hang them or toss them off the roof of tall buildings? They talk of a secular, democratic and socialist Palestine. As George Orwell observed: One has to belong to the Intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a Fool. But the world has now seen what from the river to the sea actually means. It is nothing less than a remake of Nazi Einsatzgruppen. Abba Eban, the eloquent, long-time Israeli Ambassador (1950-1959) to the United Nations once explained to the U.N. Assembly that there was an Arab refugee problem and it needed to be dealt with humanely. On the other hand, he observed, if the Arabs had won in 1948, there would not be a Jewish refugee problem because they would all be dead. Based on what happened in the few Jewish settlements that were overrun by Arab forces in the 1948 war, he was tragically correct in his assessment. Cries of moral equivalency tell us more about those voicing such nonsense than they tell us about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. TOKYO, Oct 13 ( News On Japan ) - Two American nationals, who were previously arrested for entering a construction site and live streaming the incident, have been arrested again on suspicion of causing a disturbance at a beef bowl restaurant. Ismael Ramsey Khalid, a 24-year-old American national, and another individual are suspected of interfering with the operations of a major beef bowl chain restaurant in Osaka City in September. They were accused of recording inside the restaurant and playing loud music. Khalid, who goes by the alias "Johnny Somali" on social media, had previously been arrested in August 2023 for unauthorized entry into a hotel construction site, which he also live-streamed. In September, he was again live-streaming during his arrest. Khalid has remained silent during the investigation. Israel's assault on Gaza and Christian just war theory The current situation in Israel and Gaza As I write this article on 12 October, the fighting in southern Israel seems to have largely stopped (although Hamas is continuing to fire rockets into Israel). The focus of military action has now shifted to Israel's attack on the Hamas forces in the Gaza strip, an attack which currently takes the form of cutting off supplies of food, fuel and power and the bombardment of Gaza from land, sea and air. It is also expected that in the near future the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will mount a land assault against Gaza. It is generally accepted, at least in the Western world, that the actions taken by Hamas in their attack on southern Israel last Saturday, actions which included the beheading of babies, and the taking of approximately 150 hostages, were morally unjustifiable. In Christian terms they were acts of sin. The question that now arises, however, is whether, from a Christian perspective, the actions of the IDF in attacking Gaza are morally justified. The purpose of this article is to look at how the Christian just war tradition provides us with a framework within which to give an answer to this question. The Christian just war tradition Although there are Christians who hold that the use of armed force is incompatible with the Christian faith, that is not the majority Christian position. The majority Christian position is that set out, for example, in Article XXXVII of the Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles which states that 'It is lawful for Christian men, at the command of the Magistrate, to wear weapons and to serve in the wars.' The key point to note in this quotation is the reference to 'the command of the Magistrate.' According to Romans 13:1-7 God has given to 'magistrates', that is those with political authority, the 'power of the sword', the right to use force, including on occasion lethal force, to prevent or punish forms of injustice. Seen from this perspective, war is regarded as being, in the words of Oliver O'Donovan, 'an extraordinary extension of ordinary acts of judgement.' That is to say, just as the magistrates normally take action by means of the policing and judicial systems of their countries to enact the justice of God in response to various forms of injustice, so also, on occasion, they have to resort to war for the same reason. War is permissible as a means of seeking to achieve justice in response to some form of injustice that would otherwise continue. The theological thinking that underlies this position is set out in a letter written to Christians in Great Britain by the Swiss theologian Karl Barth in 1941. In this letter he declares that there is a realm outside of the Church in which God exercises his Fatherly care by giving the state the power of the sword: "Where the life of men will not be governed by the preaching of the Gospel nor by prayer, nor by Baptism or the Lord's Supper in other words, where the bounds of the Church stop there begins the realm within whose bounds God's fatherly care, which does not fail even there, must be maintained and imposed, if necessary, by the threat of the sword, and, in the last resort, by its use." As Barth goes on to say: "The State would lose all meaning and would be failing in its duty as an appointed minister of God, and it would be depriving men of the benefit which God, by its function, had intended for them, if it failed to defend the bounds between Right and Wrong by the threat, and by the actual use of, the sword." The criteria for just war As well as saying that the power given to magistrates by God means that the state may use lethal force if it is necessary to do so, the Christian tradition has also said that the state must use the sword in a just fashion. A series of criteria for this, what are known as the criteria for a 'just war,' have been helpfully summarized by Darell Cole in his book When God says war is right. According to Cole, the Christian just war tradition has divided these criteria under two headings , 'the right to go to war' and 'right conduct in war.' He lists five criteria under 'the right to go to war': The first is 'proper authority'. Cole expounds this as meaning that: 'For a war to be just, it must be declared and waged by someone who truly has the authority to do so.' This means the properly constituted political authorities in a particular state. The second is 'just cause.' This means, says Cole, that 'those whom we attack must deserve to be attacked on account of some wrong that they have done.' This criterion follows from the truth that the use of the sword is only justified in order to punish wrongdoing. For military action to be justified there must be an identifiable wrong that needs to be punished. The third is 'right intention.' This means 'that we must intend our use of force to advance the good and to avoid the evil'. When our aims are to secure peace, to punish those who perpetrate evil on the innocent, or to uplift the good, we exhibit right intention. The fourth is that war is 'the only way to right the wrong.' Echoing the thought of Martin Luther, Cole writes that this criterion means that 'because warfare brings such human suffering, we should try to right wrongs by means other than warfare if we can, just as good doctors resort to surgery only when it is the only way to heal the patient'. The fifth and final criterion is that there should be a 'reasonable hope of success.' If the point of engaging in warfare is to try to correct a wrong and bring about a just peace then there is no point in the exercise if there is no hope that this end can be obtained. Under 'right conduct in war,' Cole lists two criteria: The first is 'discrimination, or non-combatant immunity.' This means that 'we should never plan to target innocent civilians intentionally.' The reason for this criterion, Cole says is: "...that part of the very meaning of a just war is that we intend to attack only those who deserve to be attacked. When we combat the enemy, this principle constrains us both to never intentionally kill the innocent, and to do all that we can to avoid killing the innocent." The second is 'proportion.' This criterion comes into the picture because while it is always wrong to deliberately target innocent civilians it may sometimes be the case that it is impossible to act against the military forces of the enemy without causing civilian casualties. Cole gives the example of a hypothetical mission to bomb a railway depot in the middle of the city. Deliberately to bomb this with the intention of damaging enemy morale by causing civilian casualties would be wrong. What would not necessarily be wrong, however, would be to bomb the depot in order to prevent troops and munitions reaching the front line, even though civilian casualties would occur as a result. The action of the IDF and the just war criteria If we consider the action that the IDF is taking against Hamas under the five criteria for the 'right to go to war' we find that its actions meet all five criteria. War is being waged by the IDF on behalf of a proper authority, namely the duly constituted government of Israel, which is taking action to protect those living in Israel from harm. War is being waged by the IDF for a just cause, namely to punish Hamas for the massacres that took place in southern Israel and the continuing indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli targets, to try secure the release of those whom Hamas has kidnapped and to prevent, or at least minimise, similar wrongdoing by Hamas in the future. War is being waged by the IDF with the right intention of trying to secure peace and to punish those who perpetrate evil on the innocent. War is being waged by the IDF because there seems to be no other way to 'right the wrong.' Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel by military means and is being financed and politically supported by Iran to achieve this end. There is no indication that it will cease attacking Israel unless it is forced to do so. Finally, there is a reasonable hope of success. The IDF probably has the capacity if not to completely destroy Hamas, then at least to punish its wrongdoing and very severely limit its capacity to do harm in future. If we move on to the criteria for 'right conduct in war' it can also be argued that the IDF's actions meet the criteria in spite of the horrendous suffering that the civilian population of Gaza is undergoing. With regard to discrimination, the IDF has a proven track record of taking pains to avoid civilian casualties (Colonel Richard Kemp of the British army has said that 'the IDF does more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare') and there does not seem to be any evidence that it has now changed its approach and is deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza. With regard to proportion, trying to attack Hamas in Gaza, which has densely populated urban areas in which Hamas has embedded itself in the midst of the civilian population, necessarily means that there will be civilian casualties. That is tragic but unavoidable. In similar fashion the suffering caused to the civilian population in Gaza by the restriction of fuel, food and power is also tragic but unavoidable, since Hamas needs to be deprived of the resources it needs to keep fighting and there is no way to restrict its supply of these resources without affecting everyone else. In summary, war is never desirable. It is a by-product of human fallenness which will cease to exist when Christ comes in glory. However, until that time war may sometimes be necessary, and the seven just war criteria give us a Christian framework for determining whether war is being waged justly. My argument is that the current actions of the IDF seem to meet these criteria. Martin Davie is a lay Anglican theologian and Associate Tutor in Doctrine at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Report highlights deteriorating religious freedom conditions in India A recent report by the International Christian Concern (ICC) outlines the "the concerning religious freedom conditions for Christians and other religious minorities in India." The report notes that as India commemorated its 76th anniversary of independence this August 15, concerns have been mounting over its departure from the roots of secular democracy. ICC is a Washington based non-denominational Evangelical Christian ministry assisting the worldwide persecuted Christian church since 1995 by helping with assistance, advocacy, and awareness. The released report can be accessed here. The report highlights that "India is moving rapidly to restrict the rights of religious minorities across the country." The focal point of concern, as per the ICC, is the surge in anti-conversion laws, which, from a legal standpoint, criminalise minority religious expression by deeming it illegal to convert or attempt to convert individuals of another faith. The report underscores that, in practice, these laws disproportionately target Christians and Muslims, who find themselves charged for seemingly innocuous acts such as discussing spiritual matters or sharing post-church service snacks. Furthermore, enhanced sentences are mandated in cases involving more than one person, women, children, or members of protected ethnic or caste communities. Beyond legal challenges, the report points to additional barriers, including restrictions barring Christians and Muslims from accessing social welfare schemes, contributing to a chilling effect on religious freedom. The social landscape is further complicated by the rise of Hindu nationalism, which is fuelling mob violence against Christians and Muslims. Notably, the report delves into recent outbreaks of violence against Christians in Chhattisgarh and the ongoing ethno-religious violence in Manipur. "Both instances are instructive not only to the state of religious freedom in India but the Indian government's lacklustre response and its refusal to extend substantive protections to its religious minority population," the report said. In a comprehensive effort to address the crisis, the ICC report puts forward several policy recommendations to the U.S. government. The report criticises the U.S. government's historical soft approach towards the Indian government on human rights issues. It suggests that the U.S.'s primary focus appears to be wooing what it considers a crucial geopolitical ally in its efforts to counter growing Chinese global influence. While the U.S. sporadically highlights India's religious freedom issues, the report contends that the messaging lacks consistency, and powerful tools at the U.S. government's disposal have been underutilised. "Though the U.S. does highlight India's religious freedom issues on occasion, it is not consistent in its messaging and has thus far chosen to avoid the most potent tools at its disposal," the report notes. The report's policy recommendations assert that the U.S. and its allies should adopt a more assertive stance concerning India's human rights and religious freedom record, beginning with maintaining a steadfast and uniform message on the matter. "Working with India out of geopolitical necessity is one matter, but ignoring its deteriorating human rights record is another," it says. The report concludes optimistically by acknowledging that despite significant democratic backsliding in recent years, India remains a democracy. Recognizing the challenge of altering the mindset of a majority population favouring the suppression of weaker neighbours, the report emphasises that the United States, given its unique position, holds the potential to catalyse change in India. Rather than perpetuating a political and legal system driven by hostility and marginalisation, the report recommends that "the U.S. should use the tools at its disposal to encourage the tolerance and inclusion India was founded on in 1947." Christian Today India KOBE, Oct 13 ( News On Japan ) - Kobe City's population has decreased to below 1.5 million for the first time in 22 years. According to Kobe City, the estimated population as of October 1st decreased by 806 people from the previous month, reaching a significant milestone at 1,499,887 people. The population has been steadily declining since its peak in 2011 at 1,545,000 people, and this is the first time it has dropped below 1.5 million since 2001. Kobe City attributes the population decline to factors such as the outflow of residents from Suma New Town and policies that restrict the construction of tower apartments. Mayor Kizoh Konomoto announced, "We want to focus on urban development from the perspective of controlling the population in the long term, rather than increasing the immediate population." Mayor Konomoto aims to enhance the city's attractiveness through support for households with children and other measures. CIO ASEAN is proud to announce the finalists for the Team of the Year and Next CIO awards under the 2023 CIO100 ASEAN Awards. Set for Tuesday 31 October, the CIO100 ASEAN Awards black-tie event will bring together the top senior technology executives and teams in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong driving innovation and influencing rapid change. These awards are aligned with Foundrys global awards program and viewed as a mark of excellence within the enterprise. This collaborative environment is designed to offer CIOs the competitive advantage required to be successful, showcasing examples of best practice while laying out the building blocks for attainable future growth. In 2023, CIO100 ASEAN saw expansive entries from the entire region, with tech leaders and teams represented across Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. All nominations have been reviewed by a select and independent judging panel comprising of CIO.com editors, industry analysts, past CIO Awards winners, and regional IT executives. CIO ASEAN congratulates all finalists and thanks all organisations and individuals for taking the time to submit nominations. A South Korean military aircraft has arrived at a military base near Seoul, carrying 51 Japanese among more than 200 evacuees from Israel. The South Korean military had sent the plane to Tel Aviv to bring home its citizens who wished to escape fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The plane left an airport in Tel Aviv on Saturday and arrived in South Korea around 11 p.m. the same day, by way of Sri Lanka. The flight was carrying 163 South Koreans. As there were some vacant seats, 51 Japanese and six Singaporeans were able to board the plane. ... continue reading Primeste notificari pe email Nota bene: Adresele email cu extensia .ru nu sunt acceptate. Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele A charity that helps to protect British Jews from antisemitism and related threats has been awarded 3m following a rise in antisemitic incidents in the UK this week. Yesterday, prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the government would provide the Community Security Trust (CST) with extra funding of 3m to protect schools, synagogues and other Jewish community buildings. Today, several London-based Jewish schools have closed temporarily over concerns for the safety of their pupils and staff. CST has advised schools not to close. On Wednesday, the charity said it had recorded at least 89 antisemitic incidents across the UK from 7 to 11 October. 3m of extra funding Sunak said that the additional 3m funding will offer more protection against antisemitism attacks in the wake of Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, bringing the total funding for the Jewish Community Protection Security grant to 18m for 2023-24. The government said in its announcement that the money would enable CST to place additional guards in schools it supports throughout each schools operating hours They will also be able to place additional security staff at outside synagogues on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, it says. Mark Gardner, chief executive of CST, said: Were grateful to the government for providing extra funding for security guards at Jewish community buildings, following the horrific Hamas terror attack on Israel. The support that we and the Jewish community are receiving from across government and policing is greatly reassuring and welcome at this difficult and worrying time. We will work with the Home Office to ensure that this extra funding is used in the most effective way to enhance the existing security that is in place and provide the Jewish community with the protection that they need and deserve. Schools close over safety concerns In an online statement published on Wednesday, CST said that it has recorded 89 anti-Jewish hate incidents in the UK over the past four days, compared to 21 over the same period in 2022. This provisional total, the charity said, includes six assaults, three cases of vandalism towards Jewish property, 14 direct threats and 66 cases of abusive behaviour. According to a report by Sky News , four London-based Jewish schools are closing for the day due to safety concerns. A spokesperson for CST told Civil Society: Were open and working to protect our community. We have also not been advising Jewish schools to close at the moment. Charities including British Red Cross, Oxfam and Islamic Relief have begun fundraising campaigns this week in response to the humanitarian crisis in Israel and Palestine. Since 7 October, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with thousands more injured. sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector, Charity Commission chair Orlando Fraser has praised the vast contribution to the well-being of our country made by Muslim charities. Speaking at the Muslim Charities Forums first ever national convention, Fraser said one particular area where we see the value of the Muslim charities is in the international aid sector. At yesterdays event in London, Fraser pledged to strike the right balance between being robust and supportive, including when dealing with charities that take part in unlawful extremism. Fraser said there were some particular regulatory issues that arise when it comes to charities that carry out religious activities such as trustee disputes. It is not our job to pick sides between rival groups of trustees Fraser said there were some regulatory issues that are particularly relevant to religious charities. Many of these charities are membership organisations, which can naturally bring some challenges not faced elsewhere, he said. People are drawn to these charities by passion and commitment to their objectives, but sadly across all types of charity you occasionally see trustees who lose sight of their collective endeavour. The particular inspiration that is drawn from faith can make dealing with disputes more complex, where opinions of religious practice or tradition are understandably deeply held. It is not normally the Commissions role to get involved in such matters. It is the responsibility of trustees to resolve disputes when they occur, and the Commission is only likely to get involved in exceptional circumstances. It is not our job to pick sides between rival groups of trustees. We are guided by charity law, and will act in the long-term best interests of the charity, not the parties in the dispute. Balance between being robust and supportive Fraser said the Commission would aim to strike the right balance between being robust and supportive. Holding charities to account for meeting standards, and dealing firmly with intentional wrongdoers, those who are grossly negligent, he said. Doing that in a proportionate way and not coming down hard on trustees who have made honest, reasonable mistakes. This balance can be particularly important when dealing with charities who break the law over political activity and campaigning, including involvement of unlawful extremism. sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector, In the past fortnight, several MPs brought up charity campaigning in keynote speeches and at fringe events at the Labour and Conservative party conferences. At the Conservative Party conference, home secretary Suella Braverman said: Each time I have gone to parliament to improve the law on immigration, Labour has tried to block us. Always aided by their allies in the third sector. Also at the event, former chair of the Charity Commission chair Baroness Stowell said charities should avoid campaigning on contentious issues . Meanwhile, at the Labour Party conference, shadow minister for civil society Lilian Greenwood said she respects charities right to campaign . Civil Society asked some of the other delegates at the conferences for their opinions. Conservatives for Women: Charities should not get special access to government A member of Conservatives for Women said: I think they should campaign. They should not be getting taxpayers money to finance the campaigns. The sort of things they could do is, for example, wildlife trusts, organising clearing the banks of a river. I mean that kind of activity, that kind of campaigning that makes sense. And that helps everybody. No ones going to have a problem with that. Also, get people to clean the river. But dont campaign on contested science. So, environmental charities should be improving the environment, they should not be lobbying government to impoverish everybody by putting green taxes on the people who cant afford it. They added that charities should not be party political and that transparency was important. Theres been an increased use and it started under Labour, it continued under Cameron of getting charities to deliver public services. The transparency there is very iffy. Particularly when those charities then start to lobby because they exist simply to deliver public services at public expense. And then lobbying. That just stinks I think. Another said: They shouldnt get special access to government. This is what we have seen with Stonewall. They have had unprecedented access to all areas of government and their policies have been sneaked in under the radar with no public debate. They should be completely upfront with whos funding it, and what their end goal is. This is our key thing: we want transparency so that everyone can join in the debate. Thats the key thing, things being done behind closed doors is not democracy. Eventually, people find out and then there is a backlash, if they bring people along that is the key. LGBT+ Conservatives: There is not a blanket approach to all of them Luke Robert Black, chair of the LGBT+ Conservatives, said: Depending on the issue, there will be different approaches needed to get the point across. There are some charities that will have a politically-aligned topic, or certain rights issue or something like that, that they are trying to change. And it will make sense for them sometimes to be political. We are definitely very receptive to working with charities, but I think I just want to make sure sometimes that the party is working with charities who are also on the same side as us. And I think there have been times, particularly as weve seen with things like Greenpeace, and some more animal-based charities, that are kind of against our message, which can be frustrating sometimes. But I think it is in the Conservative Partys tradition to work with charities. The Terrence Higgins Trust, for example, works with us, the Conservative Party, and the Labour Party. It probably does not make too much sense for them to be too overtly political. But that might be different for other groups as well. Recently, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), for example, and other groups in a similar kind of persuasion, are being more overtly political. And Im not sure thats always going to work. But like I said, it depends on each case, each topic and each thing that youre trying to change. There is not a blanket approach to all of them. Labour Students: Government had nothing against charities campaigning until they criticised it A member of Labour Students said they thought it was important for charities to campaign on issues that are important to them and the causes and people they represent. They said: Any rhetoric thats claiming that charities shouldnt be involved in political issues is coming from people who dont want to see change on those issues and who want it to stop. Andy Fenner from Labour Friends of the Forces said: They have never had anything against charities campaigning for years until theyre criticising them. I think it should be a massive lesson to everybody in the country. We should not be in a situation where the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts are being painted as being extremist. Theyre not extremist. You cannot get more English than the RSPB. This narrative that weve now got where the moment you campaign or the moment you draw something out that you are branded as a snowflake or woke this or whatever the term of the moment is, you get called it and you say: Actually Im not, Im not anything else other than someone who thinks that something is not right. Disability Labour: What are they supposed to do be silent? Jonathan Farr, treasurer of Disability Labour, said: If we take an organisation like, for example, the RSPB, some of their aims and objectives are to help preserve wildlife and birds and things that involve the need for legislative change. So how can a charity not campaign for legislative change, if thats what is needed to meet their aims and objectives? Ive used that as one example but that applies to any charity. For example, Scope. How can you say they cant campaign for legislative change? For the benefit of the people that theyre representing? Kathryn Bole, chair of Disability Labour, said: I would say that because of the way things are which the government has created, charities are picking up the people off the ground that the government is failing. And what are they supposed to do, be silent? I dont think so. Meanwhile, when asked if charities should campaign, one anonymous attendee at the Labour Party conference said: Yeah, isnt that an important part of charitys jobs? I think its the role of charities to voice the concerns of civil society because who else will? sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector, Changes in the availability of medical services during the pandemic was one of the drivers of Delaware workers compensation claims costs in 2020 and 2021. A new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found that total costs per claim with more than seven days of lost time in Delaware decreased in 2020 and then increased in 2021, based on claims evaluated as of March 2022. The study found that changes in the availability of medical services and economic conditions were the main factors behind the 2020 and 2021 findings. Reforms enacted in 2014 also had an effect on medical claims, which WCRI reported on previously. In the early months of the pandemic, medical facilities were closed and hospitals stopped performing elective surgeries and surgical procedures. In addition, some workers with injuries may have avoided medical treatment due to stay-at-home orders and fear of contracting COVID-19 in a health care setting. Labor shortages, especially in the health care sector, may have hampered access to needed medical care in some areas, explained Ramona Tanabe, WCRI president and chief executive officer. This trend tracks with what WCRI has seen in other states. At the same time, indemnity benefits per claim increased in Delaware during 2020-2021 at a faster rate that in prior years due to growth in wages of workers with injuries and increases in duration of temporary disability, according to the report. There was a shift in percentage of indemnity benefit claims from lower wage to higher wage workers, likely reflecting the uneven impact of the pandemic on different types of jobs, WCRI said. The study, Trends in the Delaware Workers Compensation System, 20162021, authored by Evelina Radeva, is the third annual report examining the Delaware workers compensation benefit delivery system. The analysis covers total claim costs, medical payments, indemnity benefits, disability duration, benefit delivery expenses, and other metrics. It analyzes how these metrics of system performance have changed over time from 2016 to 2021 (at various claim maturities) with payments made through March 2022. Among the studys key findings: Changes in the components of total costs per claim in 20202021 may reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; these changes followed a long-term decrease in total costs per claim. Medical payments per claim decreased in 2020 and then increased in 2021, reflecting utilization changes during the pandemic; prices for professional services have been fairly stable since 2017. Wages of workers with injuries and duration of temporary disability increased in 2020 and 2021 following small changes in prior years. The data used for this report exclude COVID-19 claims, for which the nature or cause of injury was COVID-19. WCRI is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. CHAHAK, Afghanistan (AP) Another strong earthquake shook western Afghanistan on Wednesday morning after an earlier one killed more than 2,000 people and flattened whole villages in Herat province in what was one of the most destructive quakes in the countrys recent history. The magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Wednesday was about 28 kilometers (17 miles) outside Herat, the provincial capital, and 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It triggered a landslide that blocked the main Herat-Torghondi highway, Information Ministry spokesman Abdul Wahid Rayan said. Janan Sayiq, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban governments national disaster authority said Wednesday`s earthquake killed at least one person and injured around 120 others. The aid group Doctors Without Borders said Herat Regional Hospital received 117 who got injured in Wednesdays temblor. The group, also known by its French acronym MSF, said it sent additional medical supplies to the hospital and was setting up four more medical tents at the facility. Our teams are assisting in triaging emergency cases and managing stabilized patients admitted in the medical tents, MSF said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Wednesdays quake also flattened all 700 homes in Chahak village, which was untouched by the tremors of previous days. Now there are mounds of soil where dwellings used to be. But no deaths have been reported so far in Chahak because people have taken shelter in tents this week, fearing for their lives as tremors continue to rock Herat. Villagers are distraught over the loss of their homes and livestock, often their only possessions, and worry about the coming harsh winter months. Some said they had never seen an earthquake before and wondered when the shaking of the ground would stop. Many said they have no peace of mind inside the tents for fear the ground will open and swallow us at any moment. The epicenter of Saturday`s quake also of the same magnitude 6.3 was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, and several aftershocks have been strong. Besides rubble and funerals after Saturdays devastation, there is little left of the villages in the region`s dusty hills. Survivors are struggling to come to terms with the loss of multiple family members and in many places, living residents are outnumbered by volunteers who had come to search the debris and dig mass graves. In Naib Rafi, a village that previously had about 2,500 residents, people said almost no one was still alive besides men who were working outside when the quake struck. Survivors worked all day with excavators to dig long trenches for mass burials. On a barren field in the district of Zinda Jan, a bulldozer removed mounds of earth to clear space for a long row of graves. It is very difficult to find a family member from a destroyed house and a few minutes to later bury him or her in a nearby grave, again under the ground, said Mir Agha, from the city of Herat, who had joined hundreds of volunteers to help the locals. Nearly 2,000 houses in 20 villages were destroyed, the Taliban have said. The area hit by the quakes has just one government-run hospital. On Tuesday, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Zinda Jan was the worst- affected area, with more than 1,300 people killed and nearly 500 people still reported missing. He said U.N. satellite imagery also indicated extreme levels of destruction in the district of Injil. Our humanitarian colleagues warn that children are particularly vulnerable and have suffered severe psychological distress from the earthquake, he said. Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, where there are a number of fault lines and frequent movement among three nearby tectonic plates. Afghans are still reeling from recent quakes, including the magnitude 6.5 earthquake in March that struck much of western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, and an earthquake that hit eastern Afghanistan in June 2022, flattening stone and mud-brick homes and killing at least 1,000 people. Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesman for the Taliban government, listed the countries that have so far aided the people affected by the quake in Herat, in a statement posted on X. He said Iran sent 15 vehicles loaded with aid alongside support and technical teams, while Turkey sent medical teams food, non-food items and medicine. The United Arab Emirates and Turkmenistan also helped with food, medicine, and clothes. He added a technical team of 49 members from Kazakhstan is assisting those affected by the quake. In his post, Mujahid said Saudi Arabia provided financial assistance to the people of Herat while China donated $200,000 in cash aid through the Afghan Foreign Affairs ministry. Neighboring Pakistan is among the countries that have offered assistance but the delivery of its humanitarian aid has been on hold since Monday. On Wednesday morning, the pledged supplies had yet to leave Pakistan. Authorities were waiting for clearance from the Taliban, two government officials in Islamabad said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Ties between the two countries have come under pressure since Pakistan announced a deadline for undocumented migrants, including 1.7 million Afghans living illegally in the country, to leave before Oct. 31 to avoid arrests and forced deportation. Faiez reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Farmers in NW China's Xinjiang harvest sugar beets with agricultural machinery People's Daily Online) 14:03, October 13, 2023 An agricultural machine harvests sugar beets in a field in Xinyuan county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Teliebieke) Amid the roar of engines, row after row of sugar beets were pulled from the soil and rolled into agricultural machinery in a field in Xinyuan county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The production of sugar beets in Xinyuan county has been fully mechanized. Each of the automated machines can harvest 150 mu (10 hectares) to 200 mu of sugar beets per day, 100 times to over 150 times more efficient than manual labor. Sugar beet growers can simply sit back and watch machines complete the autumn harvest. Thanks to the increasingly extensive use of agricultural machinery, Xinyuan county has seen accelerated high-quality development agriculture. An agricultural machine unloads sugar beets it harvested in a field in Xinyuan county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Huo Rong) A farmer drives a harvester to harvest sugar beet in a field in Xinyuan county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Zhang Wenting) A harvester works in a field in Xinyuan county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Teliebieke) (Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming) News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. BROOK PARK, Ohio Brook Park City Council could pass an ordinance at its Oct. 17 meeting giving consent for the Ohio Department of Transportation to replace the superstructure of the SR-237/Berea Freeway bridge over Snow Road. Brook Park will pay nothing for the work, with ODOT District 12 absorbing the $3.5 million cost. The bridges superstructure involves concrete deck slabs and other components that support the weight of loads passing over it. Estimated start date for the project is July 1, 2024. Work is anticipated to continue through October 2025. Both north and southbound lanes on SR-237 will be replaced, Mayor Ed Orcutt told council at its Oct. 10 caucus. It is a major overhaul. Councilman Brian Poindexter said he is eager to get it going and asked what ongoing maintenance the city will be responsible for after the ODOT repairs are completed in 2025. The mayor indicated the city will continue providing routine deck upkeep for the 1987 bridge. There could be a section that needs repaired where we have to cut out some concrete, or something like that and we would still have to follow the (ODOT) guidelines as we have been doing for decades, Orcutt said. The City Council legislation is scheduled to receive its first public reading on Oct. 17, but council could vote to suspend the second and third readings and pass it as an emergency measure. Read more stories from the News Sun. SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Ensemble Theatre presents The Island: Ensemble Theatre, formerly of Cleveland Heights, will continue its 44th season with a production of The Island Oct. 27 to Nov. 12 at Notre Dame College in South Euclid. Written by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, and directed by Sarah May, The Island will feature the talents of two local Cleveland actors, Robert Williams, as John, and Nnamdi Okpala, as Winston. According to an Ensemble release: John and Winston are black political prisoners in South Africa, spending their days at hard labor and their evenings rehearsing Sophocles Antigone. Though the two men are deeply bonded to one another, their friendship is tested when John discovers that his most recent appeal was successful, while Winston is still looking at years of brutal incarceration ahead. A profile on the depth of human resilience in the face of unspeakable injustice and racism. Variety.com wrote of the play: While The Island may have been fueled by the highly specific iniquities of a now-dismantled political system, the play speaks to any place, any culture, where liberties are at risk. The play will be performed in Notre Dame Colleges Performing Arts Center in its Administration Building, 4545 College Road. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets cost $15-$35, with pay-what-you-can performances held Oct. 27-29, and Sundays, Nov. 5 and 12. To purchase tickets, call 216-321-2930,or visit ensembletheatrecle.org/the-island. Family fun at Garfield Memorial Church: Garfield Memorial Church in Pepper Pike will host Fam Blitz, a high-energy, interactive experience for the whole family at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 22. The free community event, with Christian content, promises to be high-octane fun for all ages, with organizers describing it as Nickelodeon comes to Church. The event will include audience participation shows, interactive games and activities, and a food pantry collection. Free on-site parking will be available. The church is located at 3650 Lander Road in Pepper Pike. Registration is recommended. Register at FamBlitzCle.com for guaranteed seating. The food collection of non-perishable items is for Garfields two GarfieldChurch.org/foodpantry community pantries. PEACE Park party: If you are a fan of Cleveland Heights PEACE Park and a good party, remember the date Nov.5. All are invited to a party that date to be held at the Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd. in Cleveland Heights. The afternoon affair, to be held from 4-7 p.m., will include music by the Grandview Band, refreshments, and fundraising for the Coventry PEACE Park renovation. The cost is $25 per person to help the Coventry Village Neighborhood thrive by supporting the renovation of the PEACE Park, founded 30 years ago by community volunteers with a vision to create a community gathering place for all ages. To learn more, visit here. Pediatric health festival: The Cuyahoga County Public Library and the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Public Library will host Be Healthy, Be Happy: A Pediatric Health Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 21 at the South Euclid Community Center, 1370 Victory Drive. Children and their caregivers are invited to attend the free event to take part in health-related activities. Curious about gravestones?: If youre curious about symbols found on old gravestones, here is a Halloween-style event for you. You are invited to join the Shaker Historical Society, Shaker Heights Public Library, and city of Shaker Heights for an interactive workshop on how to interpret the symbols on headstones of early Warrensville Township residents, in a tour led by Katherine Ranum. You will also learn about the progress of the Warrensville West Cemetery Historic Preservation Master Plan. A Cincinnati resident, Ranum holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Cincinnati. She specializes in Protestantism, Judaism, and folk religion in the British Atlantic, and researches issues of embodiment including gender, disability, death, mourning, and burial. Ranum teaches at the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. This event is free, but advanced registration is required. To register online and get more information, visit here. All participants must register separately. Parking will be available in the Heinens parking lot or across the street at the library. Sturdy footwear is encouraged due to the uneven terrain. This is a rain or shine event that will only be canceled in the event of extreme weather. If you have questions, send an email to education@shakerhistory.org. Heights Halloween Festival: Dobama Theatre will hold its 3rd annual Heights Halloween Festival from 4-7 p.m. Oct. 21 in Cleveland Heights Cedar Lee District. The event is free and open to all ages and includes character meet-n-greet side stages where attendees can get photos, autographs, and candy from costumed actors at various stops in the center of the Cedar Lee Business District. A portion of Lee Road will be closed at Meadowbrook Boulevard during the Heights Halloween Festival. For more information, visit here. UH addresses health and economic disparities: In its most recent Community Health Investment Report covering 2022, University Hospitals showcased recent examples of its continued effort to invest in the well-being and health of the community and to address health and economic disparities in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Since 2008, UH has invested nearly $5 billion to benefit the community. In 2022 alone, the health systems community benefit expenditures totaled $531 million. Some of the key efforts highlighted in UHs 2022 Community Health Investment Report, include: -- Maternal & Child Health -- Encouraging breastfeeding acceptance for babies health. Breastfeeding is a powerful tool in raising a healthy and happy child. It helps build an infants immune system, lowers the risk of infant death, decreases the risk of developing conditions like obesity and asthma, and may even contribute to higher intelligence and faster development. Breastfeeding benefits parents by lowering certain health risks for the mother, helping to create a bond between baby and parents, encouraging cooperative parenting, and bringing the family closer together. According to the CDC, far fewer mothers breastfeed in the U.S. than in other developed countries, and the rate among Black women is even lower -- about 69%, compared to about 85% of white women. The Breastfeeding Equity Project began last July at UH Rainbow Babies & Childrens Ahuja Center for Women & Children in Midtown to narrow the disparity and improve maternal and infant health outcomes. Early results of the pilot project have been positive, as of the new mothers enrolled, 80% are now regularly breastfeeding. -- Well-being UH Cutler Center for Men brings health support to urban neighborhoods. More than 40% of all men dont go to the doctor, unless they are experiencing a major health issue, such as a heart attack or prostate symptoms. Black men have an even worse record when it comes to seeing a doctor. Dr. Randy A. Vince, Jr., joined UH not just to be a cancer surgeon, but also to get men to visit a doctor -- especially minority men. Vince is the inaugural Minority Mens Health Director for the UH Cutler Center for Men. The Center offers a full range of coordinated services, from preventive to specialty care, with an additional focus on minority mens health. -- Economic Opportunity -- The new UH Future Nurse Academy boosts career readiness in the community. UHs new Future Nurse Academy promotes career readiness and economic opportunity for Northeast Ohio high school students who are interested in a career in nursing. The two-week program includes visits to nursing schools, shadowing rotations at UH Ahuja and UH Cleveland medical centers, and hands-on experience learning different nursing skills, such as taking vital signs. Unlike many other summer programs, the UH Future Nurse Academy provides its students a stipend, making it more economically feasible for students who need to earn money for college or work to help support their family. An overwhelming 428 applicants from every corner of Northeast Ohio applied for the initial class of just 25 available positions. From Synagogue to Sanctuary: The virtual program Synagogue to Sanctuary: Clevelands Historic Jewish/African American Connection, will take place from 7-8p.m. Oct. 25. Across Cleveland, many historic sacred structures were constructed as synagogues by Jewish congregations, but are now home to Black churches of various Christian faiths. Each of these places made history, whether for their significant architectural contribution or role in the Civil Rights movement. Margaret Lann, director of preservation services for the Cleveland Restoration Society, will present this program, which is presented by Cuyahoga County Public Library. To register, visit here. If you would like your item included in Press Run, send me an email, at least 14 days prior to an event, at jeff.piorkowski@att.net. See more Sun Press news here. BROOK PARK, Ohio A Concord, New Hampshire man, 72, was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. Sept. 28 after he fired a handgun in the parking lot of Best Western Airport Inn & Suites, 16501 Snow Road. According to a witness, the man was wearing only boxer shorts. The witness said the man approached him in the parking lot and asked him if he knew anything about guns. The witness said no. As the witness walked away, he heard a popping sound. The witness ran into the hotel and asked a manager to call police. When police arrived, they saw the man walking through the hotel lobby toward an elevator. He was holding a wrapped T-shirt, which police believed concealed a weapon. Police ordered the man out of the elevator and forced the T-shirt out of his hand. A .38-caliber handgun was in the T-shirt. Police placed the man in handcuffs. He admitted firing his weapon in the parking lot. Police went to the mans hotel room and talked to his wife. She said her husband was suffering from several health conditions, including depression. Police believed the man had tried to kill himself so they took him to Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights. PEPPER PIKE, Ohio Orange High School welcomed advisers Kenneth Hansen and Tonie Dideriksen along with 22 students from Herning Gymnasium in Denmark the week of Oct. 9. The group arrived Oct. 6 and enjoyed a weekend of getting to know its American host families, according to a news release from the Orange City School District. Their first morning at OHS, the Danes and their Orange host students paraded through the halls led by the Orange Lionettes, drum line and cheerleaders. The Danes were welcomed by Principal Jamie Hogue and treated to performances by the OHS choir and orchestra before sharing presentations about Denmark, its culture and its people. The students participated in classes and various field trips and programs throughout the week. OHS students will visit their new friends in Denmark in the spring. This International Education exchange program is in its 10th year. Joanna McNally and Bill Brochak served as OHS advisers for this years visit. Serving as chaperones for the week were Sue Kluchar, Justin Snook and Hogue. Orange High School senior Anjali Chepyala (Photo Courtesy of Orange City Schools) Kiwanis Senior of the Month Orange High School senior Anjali Chepyala has been named the Kiwanis Club of Lander Circles Senior of the Month for October. Anjali was recently selected as a National Merit Semifinalist and is a Research Scholar at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. A two-year member and current treasurer of the award-winning OHS Robotics Club, she also has received National Hispanic Recognition, is an AP Scholar with Distinction and a member of the National Honor Society, and is on the highest honor roll. A four-year member of the Advanced Chamber String Ensemble, Anjali enjoys preparing orchestral pieces for the Orange Senior Center and for commencement, convocation and awards ceremonies. Anjali has also participated in piano concert fundraisers for American Foundation for the Blind and nursing homes. She has received the Global Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish and enjoys using her skill sets to volunteer throughout the community, including assisting the Kiwanis Club of Lander Circle at its annual rummage sale and serving as a peer mentor. Most recently, she was selected as the OHS Homecoming Queen by her classmates. Every school year, the Kiwanis Club of Lander Circle recognizes six seniors for their leadership, integrity and academic achievements. Brooke Fanaroff, a pre-kindergarten student in the Orange Early Childhood preschool, checks out the title page of the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, the Places Youll Go!, at the start of the StoryWalk involving Orange High School student mentors and their book buddies. (Photo Courtesy of Orange City Schools) Oh, the places theyll go Orange High School student mentors and their book buddies in prekindergarten through sixth grade will navigate the path of literacy in the coming months. With the largest number of students and buddies yet, advisers Alison Lyon, Joanna McNally and Betsey Lee joined with building coordinators to orchestrate a StoryWalk on campus from the Pepper Pike Learning Center to Brady Middle School, kicking-off the program. Each pre-set board has a different page from the Dr. Seuss classic, Oh, the Places Youll Go!, which the high school students shared with their younger buddies as they walked the beautiful path dotted by the autumn foliage. OHS students volunteer as book buddies with prekindergarten, kindergarten and Brady sixth-grade students. The StoryWalk promotes literacy, reading, health, exercise and movement in our community and welcomes staff, students and families to participate. PAINESVILLE TOWNSHIP, Ohio Reports of shots fired early Thursday morning in Lake County led to a standoff between the suspected gunman and a SWAT unit, forcing authorities to evacuate residents from nearby homes. The standoff ended with the 58-year-old suspect surrendering peacefully, according to the Lake County Sheriffs Office. He currently is being held in the Lake County Jail but the sheriffs office did not say if charges have been filed. Sheriff deputies were called to the area of Oakwood Boulevard and Shady Lane after a man told a dispatcher that another man had fired several shots at him during a dispute. The caller said he fired his own gun at the suspect, who then ran inside a mobile home. The sheriffs office says the suspect refused to speak with deputies, but witnesses confirmed he had fired multiple shots outside the trailer. Deputies then decided to evacuate nearby mobile homes during the standoff and called in SWAT. Negotiators still were unable to make contact with the suspect, the sheriffs office says. An armored vehicle was used to break a window on the trailer, allowing officers to see the suspect. The man reportedly began talking with officers and soon surrendered. No injuries were reported. The incident remains under investigation. BATAVIA, Ohio A substitute teacher at an Ohio school district is facing criminal charges after he was seen kissing a 17-year-old student while at Kings Island amusement park, reports say. Clermont County court records show Tre Ogletree, 26, of Batavia, is charged with three counts of sexual battery, a third-degree felony. Ogletrees bond was set at $75,000 during a court appearance Thursday morning. WLWT Channel 5 reports Ogletree is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student at Batavia High School, where Ogletree has been a substitute teacher since 2021. The relationship was exposed when Ogletree was seen holding hands and kissing the student last weekend at Kings Island, WXIX Channel 19 reports. Police in Batavia were told about the relationship and police then contacted school officials. Ogletree reported denied having a relationship with the student when confronted by investigators. But the student told she met Ogletree at the high school during the 2022-23 school year and they began exchanging private messages online during the summer, WCPO Channel 9 reports. The student told investigators that she and Ogletree have had sexual intercourse, reports say. Detectives again questioned Ogletree and told him what the student said, and he admitted to the relationship, WXIX reports. Batavia Local Schools tells WCPO Channel 9 that Ogletree has been dismissed from his job. As a school community, the alleged conduct on the part of this substitute teacher is deeply troubling and upsetting, and in no way aligns with the standards and values of the school district, a statement from the school district says. At this time, we are continuing to work with local law enforcement and are supporting our staff and students, all of whom are negatively impacted by the alleged actions of this individual. CLEVELAND, Ohio The United Autoworkers will no longer announce new strikes ahead of time, UAW President Shawn Fain said Friday, meaning that GM, Ford and Stellantis plants may see workers walk out without warning. No new strikes were announced Friday, but autoworkers in the Greater Cleveland remain out of work, either because they are on strike or were laid off by the automakers. WASHINGTON, D. C. -- House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan chatted with Cleveland.com on Friday as he walked to a GOP candidates forum to make his case to be House speaker: Q: What would it mean for Ohio to have a House speaker? A: Were focused on winning. We feel real good about it. I dont like to get into those, but it is an important position where you can tell the country what were up to and why its important to the American people, to families across our state and across the country. But we dont take anything for granted, but we feel real good about our chances. Q: What has this week been like for you? A: Busy. Its been real busy. Ive been real busy been making a lot of phone calls. Ive talked to every member of the conference, at least once or twice. Q: Have you been talking to (Former President Donald) Trump during this, and what kind of support is he providing apart from his endorsement? A: I havent talked to him in a few days. (Note: Trump endorsed Jordans bid for speaker.) Q: If you dont get this, will you go back to your work on the Judiciary Committee and its government weaponization subcommittee? A: Sure. But we think were going to get it. Q: If you do get it, who would take over doing that? A: That is for the steering committee to determine. Read more: Coverage of Jim Jordans bid for House speaker Q: What will you be telling this candidates forum? A: Ill be talking about the same things I talked about on Wednesday. You know, I think this comes down to two questions. Who can help unite our team and who can go talk to the American people about what were doing as House Republicans and why it is important to them and their family. So Ill lay that out. And then talk about what I think our plan is here for the next, what is it now, 30-some days before the November 17 run out on the C.R. (spending resolution that is funding the government). Q: If you become speaker, would you be able to work with Democrats and compromise on things like bills to keep the government open? A: Well, look, were gonna do what we told the American people were going to do, fight for those principles that we told them we were going to fight for when they elected us. But there are certainly some issues where we can work with Democrats. Weve been doing that on privacy issues, particularly relative to the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) program and reauthorization of the 702 program. Were already doing that. Typically we get good cooperation and good work with Democrats on privacy issues and issues that impact Americans freedom. Q: You have always been one of the most conservative members of the caucus. How are you reaching out to people within your caucus who are less conservative? A: I talk with all members about how we run our committee, we try to talk to everyone get everyone working as a team and well do try to the same thing as speaker, use the same strategy. Q: Are you expecting that this will be over today, or will it last into the weekend? A: Im not sure, but we need to be unified and get to the floor and we want that to happen as soon as possible. But weve got the candidates forum, and then theres an election so well see how that works out. Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. CLEVELAND, Ohio A federal task force Friday arrested a man accused of killing two women and injuring another one in a shooting in May. U.S. marshals and other officers picked up Deandre Lewis, 21, of Cleveland on charges of aggravated murder and felonious assault. Reuters, October 9, 2023 Women and children make up two-thirds of the victims of the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan who were hospitalized with severe injuries, the head of the World Health Organization's emergency response in the country said on Monday. The Taliban administration said at least 2,400 people were killed and over 2,000 injured in Saturday's quakes which were among the world's deadliest this year, after temblors in Turkey and Syria in which an estimated 50,000 people were killed. "The earthquake happened around 11 in the morning, when men were out of the houses, so majority of those who are injured and died are women and children who were inside the houses at the time," WHO's Dr Alaa AbouZeid told Reuters in a video interview. "Two-thirds of those with severe injuries who are admitted in the hospital I have seen yesterday are children and women," he said, referring to his time in Herat following the quake. He also warned that financing the humanitarian operations remained critical, with global attention and funding shifting away from Afghanistan. That could be attributed to competing or emerging crises around the world, such in the Middle East and Ukraine, and amid concerns over Taliban restrictions on women, diplomats and aid officials say. AbouZeid said it was "devastating" to see the number of children in hospital in critical condition. "I have seen a child like 3-4 months old with head trauma, due to the earthquake," he said. Head trauma can cause long-lasting debilitating effects or disabilities, AbouZeid said. The WHO's response teams were taking the matter seriously, given the impact of such injuries on the victim and their families who would need to support them in the long run, he said. While the response teams saved many lives, hospitals need to be better equipped to deal with further casualties and similar situations in future, he said. Afghanistan's healthcare system, largely reliant on foreign aid, has faced crippling cuts in the two years since the Taliban took over and much international assistance, forming the backbone of the economy, was halted. The U.N.'s humanitarian office has announced $5 million worth of assistance for the quake response, but immediate material support has come from a limited few countries. "The news diverted to what's going on in the Middle East over the past two days and there was very little attention" towards the existing crisis in Afghanistan, he said. WASHINGTON, D. C. - President Joe Biden on Friday will announce selection of seven regional clean hydrogen hubs across the United States, including an Appalachian regional hub that will include projects in Ohio, West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania, White House officials said Thursday. Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will visit Philadelphia to announce $7 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the hubs. The Energy Department said each hub will create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier that can deliver or store tremendous amounts of energy. White House officials estimated the hubs together will produce 3 million tons of hydrogen per year, and reduce the nations yearly carbon emissions by an amount equivalent to the combined annual emissions of 5.5 million gasoline powered cars. The hydrogen is expected to replace fossil fuels as a way to power factories. The seven selected regional clean hydrogen hubs will catalyze more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs throughout the country, bringing the total public and private investment in hydrogen hubs to nearly $50 billion, the White House said. The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen (ARCH2) hub centered around the Ohio River Valley will create 18,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs , White House officials predicted. They said it would take advantage of the regions bountiful natural gas, and provide hydrogen to the nations industrial heartland. It will get up to $925 million in federal money. Its strategic location and the development of hydrogen pipelines, multiple hydrogen fueling stations, and permanent CO2 storage also have the potential to drive down the cost of hydrogen distribution and storage, a White House announcement said. It will include projects in Ohios Ashtabula, Canton and Hopedale, Pennsylvanias La Belle and West Keating Township, and West Virginias Belle, Follansbee, Washington, North Point Pleasant and Fairmont, White House officials said. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Browns office said the hubs establishment is led by Columbus-based Battelle and includes a broad-based coalition of public and private sector entities spanning multiple states Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Its development is supported by the Ohio Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance, a group of more than 200 public and private sector organizations, led by the Midwest Hydrogen Center of Excellence (MHCE), Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA), Dominion Energy, and Cleveland State University, who together have laid the groundwork for Ohios key role in the project, Browns office said. This project will help ensure that Ohio workers and Ohio businesses are the leaders in the energy economy of the 21st century, said a statement from Brown. For generations, Appalachia has powered this country. The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub will build on that history while creating good-paying jobs that cant be offshored, lowering energy costs, and ensuring that Ohio remains a national leader in manufacturing and innovation. Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia called the announcement a major win for the ARCH2 team and for future economic development and energy production in West Virginia. Spokesman for the conservative organization Americans for Prosperity criticized the grants. They accused Biden of awarding taxpayer funded grants to states that are critical to his reelection, and of subsidizing preferred energy sectors while strangling others. This is the Biden Administration attempting to bribe voters with their own money, said a statement from the groups Pennsylvania state director, Ashley Klingensmith. In the end, it only leads to more inflation, which is making life unaffordable across the country. There will also be hubs in the Mid-Atlantic region, California, the Pacific northwest, along the Gulf coast, in the Dakotas and Minnesota, and in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Rotunda Rumblings Quiet campaign: In 2015, a campaign spent more than $20 million in a memorable, and wildly unsuccessful, effort to convince voters to legalize recreational marijuana. A similar measure is on the ballot again this year, but the campaign surrounding State Issue 2 is unusually quiet. As Andrew Tobias writes, political observers have their theories on why that is, including an intentional strategy, and the extra attention and resources being dedicated to State Issue 1, the abortion-rights measure. Ad wars: On the other hand, the Issue 1 campaign groups are buying TV ads at a healthy clip. The yes side either has spent or reserved $6.4 million in TV ads, compared to $2.8 million from the no side, from now and through the Nov. 7 election, according to data compiled by Strategy Group for Media, a GOP political firm near Columbus. Both sides are ramping up with early voting beginning earlier this week. The yes side ran $1.8 million in ads this week a sizable amount compared to $1.1 million from the no side. All aboard: Backers of an amendment to reform Ohios redistricting system are clear to begin collecting voter signatures, after the Ohio Ballot Board, in a unanimous, bipartisan vote, certified their measure as a single issue on Thursday. As Tobias writes, the development is a legal win for the amendment campaign, which is hoping to put the issue before voters in November 2024, since a decision to split the amendment into multiple issues would have required them collect hundreds of thousands of additional signatures from voters. Indecent proposal: A new Ohio House bill would require porn websites to verify that all users logging in from the state are at least 18, or company officials could face felony charges. Jeremy Pelzer has the details about House Bill 295, which would also make it a misdemeanor for minors to lie about their age to access such sites, and ban deepfake porn portraying people without their consent. Similar laws in other states have had a mixed reception in court, and one major adult website has blocked access entirely to people in some of the states that have them. Hair-raising chemicals: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is heeding calls from U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown and an interest group that has been working for more than a decade to ban hazardous ingredients in chemical hair straighteners, Sabrina Eaton reports. The FDAs proposed rule would ban formaldehyde and chemicals that release formaldehyde, such as methylene glycol, as an ingredient in hair smoothing or hair straightening products. FDA links use of hair products that contain and release formaldehyde to short-term health effects, like sensitization reactions and breathing problems, and long-term negative health consequences including an increased risk of certain cancers. Show me the money: Akron Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes reports raising $456,500 from July through September, and after spending $140,900, has just less than $753,200 in cash on hand, according to a new campaign finance disclosure filed Thursday night. Her team said she had 2,900 individual contributors, while 87% of her contributions were $200 or less. Reports for other federal candidates will be coming in soon ahead of the Sunday filing deadline. Do your research: Legalizing marijuana has had little to no effect on the number of traffic fatalities compared to the national average. Gretchen Cuda Kroen took another run at explaining the complicated research into the intersection of marijuana and traffic crashes as Ohio voters weigh the proposal to legalize it for recreational use. Value add: Some state lawmakers want to smooth out an expected jump in property taxes in some parts of the state this year. Haley BeMiller reports in The Columbus Dispatch that the Ohio House passed House Bill 187 on Wednesday to change how home values are tabulated. It would require tax commissioners to use three years of data to determine home values instead of the most recent year. Buckeye Brain Tease Question: What infamous beverage was developed by four Ohio State University students shortly after they graduated from college? Email your response to capitolletter@cleveland.com. The first correct respondent will be mentioned in next weeks newsletter. Thanks to everyone who answered last weeks question: Urbana Rep. Jim Jordan threw his hat in the ring to become speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Before John Boehner, who was the most recent Ohioan to hold the office? Last weeks answer: Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, served as U.S. House Speaker from 1925 until his death in 1931. He was seen as a conservative, according to a history compiled by the Ohio Supreme Court, but often sided with the partys moderates on key issues, such as tariff policy. Abby Barnes, a Dublin resident and senior manager for government relations at Cardinal Health, was the first to provide the correct answer. Tick Tock The countdown is on for the November election, when Ohio voters will decide whether to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution and whether to legalize recreational marijuana. Heres the key dates to remember. Election Day... 26 days (Nov. 7) Heres how you can get more information on in-person early voting and absentee voting. Birthdays Friday, 10/13: Chris Zeigler, API-Ohio executive director Saturday, 10/14: Ohio Senate Majority Floor Leader Rob McColley Sunday, 10/15: Drew Cooper, JobsOhio director of government affairs and engagement; state Rep. Scott Oelslager; Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer; Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo; Seabury Ford, Ohios 20th governor (1801-1855). Straight From The Source Im most angry that my name is misspelled. Lorain County Republican Party Chairman David Arredondo, in a comment to the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, after Bernie Morenos Senate campaign incorrectly included Arredondo on a list of endorsements for the second time. Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. Subscribe to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free. WASHINGTON, D.C. Jim Jordan is one (big) step away from becoming the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Champaign County Republican won a majority of the secret ballots in a nominating vote, 124 to 81, from the GOP conference on Friday that sets him up as the preferred candidate to lead the chamber and put him second in line to the presidency. Jordan, however, still has a steep hill to climb. While a majority of Republicans chose him to be speaker, he now must secure 217 floor votes to take the gavel. A floor vote could come as early as Tuesday. That bar was too high for U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican who was nominated over Jordan earlier this week in a similar vote but who could not lock down the 217 votes needed to become speaker. Scalise ultimately withdrew from consideration, opening the door again for Jordan. Scalise said hes supporting Jordan and that Jordans working hard to get to the 217 votes. Jordan beat out U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican, in the second nominating vote of the week. Scott emerged as a surprise speaker candidate on Friday but still managed 81 votes. Jordan got an additional 25 votes on Friday after receiving 99 in his losing effort against Scalise. After Jordan won the nominating vote, the conference took a second vote asking whether members would support Jordan on the floor. He received support from more than 150 Republicans in that vote, still well short of the 217 needed to become speaker. Jordan was expected to take the weekend to shore up his support before a potential floor vote next week. I think both candidates made a good presentation, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, a Marietta Republican who supports Jordan, said during a meeting break. They were stressing the same things: How do we get back on track? How do we address the fiscal crisis? How do we support Israel? How do we secure the border. How are you going to run this place? House Republicans have been in disarray as they try to find a candidate the conference can unify behind after eight of their colleagues joined with Democrats to strip the position from U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, orchestrated McCarthys ouster over the former speakers cooperation with Democrats on passing stopgap funding to avert a government shutdown. Another funding deadline looms in November as Republicans have struggled to coalesce behind a speaker. Jordan has said he is the right person to unify the conference. I think Im one individual who can bring our team together and then help our team go tell the country, what were doing and why it matters to them, Jordan said after a morning GOP caucus meeting. We got broad support across the conference. I feel good about where were at. As House Judiciary Committee chairman, Jordan has led the GOP charge on myriad investigations this year. He was tapped to lead a committee investigating the weaponization of the federal government, and he was to have a prominent role in a Republican-backed impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Those committee positions and his staunch defense of former President Donald Trump has made the conservative firebrand a favorite in hard-right circles, but a lightning rod for Democrats. Trump publicly backed Jordan for speaker against Scalise, and Jordan has been a fierce ally to Trump on Capitol Hill, defending Trump from impeachment charges and trying to help him overturn results of the 2020 presidential election. After the vote, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, described Jordan as the chairman of the chaos caucus, a defender in a dangerous way of dysfunction and an extremist extraordinaire. His focus has been on peddling lies and conspiracy theories and driving division amongst the American people, Jeffries said at a press conference that urged bipartisanship to end the recklessness and get back to doing the business of the American people. House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California cited Jordans efforts to help former President Donald Trump overturn results of the 2020 presidential election and his failure to comply with a subpoena from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol as reasons he should not be House speaker. Let me be clear, Jim Jordan is a threat to our democracy, said Aguilar. He has been a consistent threat to our national security as well. Hes built a career opposing funding to help our friends and allies abroad, something so desperately needed in the House of Representatives right now, to help Israel and Ukraine. Jordan has support from most of the Republicans in Ohios congressional delegation, who said they believe hell eventually be able to reach the 217 vote threshold needed to win. I hadnt heard from Austin, hed never really run for leadership before, said U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, a Miami County Republican He made a nice case. But I think everybody kind of had the feeling that theres a lot of momentum behind Jim. Hopefully, he can get to 217. Davidson and U.S. Rep. Max Miller, a Rocky River Republican, had expressed hope Republicans wouldnt immediately adjourn after one candidate secures a majority, and would instead keep the meeting going so that candidate could address issues that might keep colleagues from backing them and reaching the 217 vote threshold. It would be my hope that we could just get a better gauge of where he is with the entire conference, because you really cant get that when theres two candidates and you dont know whos voting for who, said Miller. Jordan will work through the weekend to secure the votes of people who dont already support him, Miller added. U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, a Florida Republican, described the GOP caucus as fractured, and said a lack of trust, a lack of transparency, a lack of communication and a lack of strategy need to be addressed before a speaker will have the full backing of the conference. Although the vote was anonymous, Cammack said Jordan has a list of people he thinks he needs to target. After the vote, she said Jordan encouraged everyone who opposed him to approach him and work through the issues they have. I think when people actually have to vote in person and they have to put their name behind their vote, it will be very dramatically different than what was resulted today, said U.S. Rep. Russell Fry of South Carolina. Jim Jordan will be our next speaker of the House. Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. EUCLID, Ohio -- These days, Clevelands Near West Side feels a lot like Little Puerto Rico. In fact, there is a sign that says as much. It accompanies a newly painted street mural along the 787 Market on Memphis Avenue in Clevelands Old Brooklyn neighborhood. The mural brilliantly depicts a street in the islands Old San Juan, with colorful colonial architecture, authentic iron streetlamps affixed to the art, and an emblematic cobblestone street. Envisioned by 787 Market Manager Harry Quinones, and brought to life by Aldonte the Artist, the mural is a heart-stopping reminder of the streets I walked on with my paternal grandmother when I visited Puerto Rico as a child. It is an oasis in a community regenerating itself. I learned of the mural just days after my parents drove in from Dayton to see Los Soles Truncos, a classic Puerto Rican play written by playwright Rene Marques. It tells the story of three bourgeoisie sisters, whove lost everything but their decaying home on La Calle del Cristo in Old San Juan. Post the Spanish-American War and U.S. occupation, the sisters struggle to come to terms with where life has taken them, delving into themes of love, jealousy, aging, colonialism, victimization, and despair. Brilliantly acted in Spanish, with English supertitles, the production was another feather in the theatrical cap of LatinUs Theater Co. The small dramatic arts organization was established nearly six years ago by Monica Torres, the organizations executive artistic director and a principal actor, to create a space for Hispanic/Latino artists. It is housed in the Pivot Center for Art, Dance and Expression on West 25th Street, in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, near where the $12 million CentroVilla25 Hispanic market, a business and cultural center, is planned. Enjoying Los Truncos, and seeing the mural, triggered a flood of memories in me, along with the realization of how much Cleveland has changed and grown. Increasingly, multiculturalism builds and celebrates community in a meaningful way. It is one of the reasons I love living in Northeast Ohio, long after Hispanic Heritage Month. Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Puerto Rican parents, I was the daughter of a career U.S. Air Force officer. My family moved around to California, Panama, Mexico City, and eventually, Ohio. Though we never lived on the island, except for a few summers, it was home. As a little girl, a trip to Puerto Rico to visit extended family was my equivalent to a Disney vacation. Surrounded by the warmth of loving relatives, hot, humid air, sandy white beaches, and lush, tropical landscapes, I could not imagine a better place on earth. Now as a parent of three Hispanic Italian American daughters, I am mindful of the strong and vibrant cultures that run through them, proud of the melting pot we represent, and hopeful that they, too, will take pride in their heritage, especially as it becomes increasingly accessible in Northeast Ohio. When I moved here 31 years ago, driving the Shoreway reminded me of driving along the northern coastline in Puerto Rico with the Atlantic Ocean in full view. I remember fondly how my editors at the time accompanied me to the old Lozadas Restaurant next to the West Side Market, to feast on an authentic Puerto Rican meal. Still, I could almost count the opportunities to connect with my Hispanic heritage in Cleveland, as there were relatively few. In contrast, today, I see the citys Puerto Rican and wider Latino community transforming itself through art, community, and economic development, evidenced by a proliferation of Latin restaurants, churches, murals, and parks. Google tacos, arepas, empanadas and Cleveland, and a multitude of dining options now appear. In tandem, organizations like the Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center on Clevelands Archwood Avenue promote Hispanic/Latino heritage through expanded cultural, educational, and literary programs. La Mega Cleveland, a Latino radio station, is today a Hispanic community fixture, on airwaves 24/7. Now there is even a 100+ Latinos Cleveland Must Know, list, published by AmMore Consulting LLC, a company dedicated to diversity and equity in the workplace, to elevate the profile of the Hispanic/Latino/Latine/Latinx professional community of Greater Cleveland. For her part, Ward 14 Councilwoman Jasmin Santana, the first Latina on Cleveland City Council, skillfully advocates for the needs of her constituency, many of whom are Hispanic. Santana is a role model for perseverance and success among a growing number of Hispanic individuals shaping the community. They also include Jenice Contreras, the Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development, who is a driving force behind the CentroVilla25 project. Its all taken time to develop, but this cultural diversity is a glue that helps hold communities together. It is a gift that satisfies the ache for a home country. It underscores the power of roots, and it enlivens our neighborhoods and economic potential for all residents to enjoy. For this, I am grateful. Raquel Santiago is a writer in Euclid. She is a former health care reporter for Crains Cleveland Business and previously worked as a media relations manager and editor for a local health system. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Protect Parental Rights. Vote No on Issue 1. Yards signs are beginning to dot neighborhoods across Ohio with this misleading political message. The target, of course, is the Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion Initiative which proposes to amend Ohios Constitution. On the Nov. 7 ballot, this initiative guarantees to every individual the right to make and carry out ones own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing ones own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion. Notably, the proposal says nothing about parental rights. Nor does it speak to children. It instead basically restores fundamental rights that existed before the U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. Individuals in Ohio, with Issue 1s passage, would once again be free to make reproductive decisions before viability without governmental interference. What about minors? They are individuals, too, of course. Doesnt Issue 1 thus grant them a constitutional right to veto their parents guidance and wishes? Wont they be able to obtain abortions on demand without their parents knowledge? The answer is clearly no to both questions. Conventional understanding has it that, although fundamental constitutional protections, like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and reproductive freedom, commonly extend to children, they do not override parental rights. The Supreme Court famous statement in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, for example, that children do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate has never been interpreted to override or replace parental rights. Even though kids have speech rights in school, they still must answer to their parents about what they say. The same is true of religion. Kids most certainly enjoy religious freedoms, both in and outside of school. But this fundamental constitutional right does not supersede the rights of parents to control their childrens religious upbringing. The Supreme Court made this clear in Wisconsin v. Yoder when it ruled that Amish parents decisions to withdraw their children from public schools were protected not only by their parental religious rights, but also their fundamental parental right to care for and control their children. Ohio law could not change any of this even if it tried (which Issue 1 does not do). Simply put, parents have a fundamental federal constitutional right to care for and control the actions of their children. This parental right cannot be overridden by Ohio law, even Ohio constitutional law. In the specific context of reproductive freedom, the Supreme Court following the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision recognized a constitutional presumption in favor of parental control by ruling that, in the absence of court orders, minors cannot obtain abortions without parental consent. Court orders, meanwhile, must be supported by judicial findings that minors are either mature or that abortions are in their best interests. Even under Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights did not replace parental control. Restoring the Roe v. Wade framework in Ohio, which is what Issue 1 proposes, would not displace parental rights, either. The same goes for transgender care, which Issue 1 does not address. Critics claim that Issue 1 would somehow guarantee children a right to transgender care. But even if it did (which it does not), Issue 1 could not override parental rights. The federal Constitution prevents it. As with any medical procedure, in the absence of a court order or life-threatening emergency, parental consent would still be required. Ohio law could not displace fundamental parental rights in this context either. There should be no disagreement over Issue 1s impact on parental rights. It doesnt have such an impact. Issue 1 says nothing about parental control, does not override parental rights, and could not, even if it tried. Mark R. Brown is a professor of law and the Newton D. Baker/Baker & Hostetler Chair at Capital University Law School in Columbus. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. CLEVELAND, Ohio Pink salmon, or humpies, are prolific in Alaska, but this year surprising numbers of them have been showing up attempting to spawn in Lake Eries rivers and streams. The distinctive hump on the backs of male pink salmon make them easy to identify, and anglers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York have reported catching them. The males form the hump on their backs once they enter spawning streams. In Alaska pink salmon are fun to catch and used primarily for canning and smoking. Aquatic Biologist Mike Durkalec of the Cleveland Metroparks reports that a very few have been reported in past years, but this years humpie run from Lake Erie has been more prolific than all of the others combined in past years. Like the coho and chinook salmon released around the Great Lakes by fisheries managers, pink salmon spawn and then die. Michigan fisheries managers are also reporting increasing numbers of pink salmon in their waters. There is a reason Ohios fishery managers raise and release steelhead trout, not salmon. Steelhead trout are raised until they are a year old at the Castalia State Fish Hatchery in the Sandusky, Ohio, area and were chosen for stocking because they generally spawn in Ohio rivers where they were first released mostly unsuccessfully and return to Lake Erie to grow larger and spawn again in subsequent years. Steelhead trout are already starting to head up their natal streams that range from the Vermilion River to Conneaut Creek. The Rocky and Chagrin rivers in the Cleveland area get the most fishing pressure. Rain is in the forecast around Northern Ohio, and that should boost stream levels and lure fresh runs of the exciting fish. Ohio has earned a reputation in recent years as a world class steelhead trout fishery because of its public access to Ohios steelhead trout waters. Big winds havent shut down walleye: Big schools of walleye have been slowly moving westward on Lake Erie, and anglers report the recent windy weather and big waves havent seemed to effect angling success. The wind and waves settled down yesterday and lots of walleye anglers were out on Lake Erie hoping to put a few in the cooler. Walleye were moving closer to the Ohio shoreline to feed after dark as Lake Erie shoreline waters cooled down, encouraging pier and break wall anglers to cast diving plugs. Boat fishermen were reporting the 45- to 50-foot depths were giving up limits. Trolling diving plugs seemed to be the top tactic for catching walleye, but some fishermen are still trolling spinner rigs and nightcrawlers, as well as spoons. Fly fishing fun on tap: Theres a Fly in My Beer open vise fly tying night will be held by the Trout Club of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Gormleys Pub, 19500 Center Ridge Rd., Rocky River. Fall Steelhead Flies will be the challenge and the session is open to everyone. Featured are fly tying demos by Jerry Darkes and Jim Gibson. Come and observe or share a pattern. Bring tools and fly materials if you are going to tie a few flies. Fly Film Festival at Metroparks: The International Fly Fishing Film Festival that is now touring North American will return to Cleveland on Saturday, Nov. 4, from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Cleveland Metroparks Emerald Necklace Marina. Cost is $30 and includes all of the films, door prizes, raffle and light refreshments. For tickets visit flyfilmfest.com. Family Fishing Fest has trout, catfish: The Fall Family Fishing Fest, a rain or shine event, will be held Saturday at the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation on the south side of Cleveland. The free fishing from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. will feature stockings of 600 pounds channel catfish and 1,000 pounds of rainbow trout. There will be prizes for kids 15 and younger, and all attendees are eligible for the grand prize, a Lake Erie walleye fishing trip with Dog Pound Charters. The Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders are helping to host the event. 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(Photo by Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) A European regulator said Thursday that it sent a formal request to X, formerly known as Twitter, to obtain information related to the spread of illegal content and disinformation on the service amid the Israel-Hamas conflict . Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, said on X that the European Union's executive arm, the European Commission, is investigating whether X is complying with the Digital Services Act. The DSA "is here to protect both freedom of expression & our democracies including in times of crisis," Breton wrote. The act went into effect in late August, requiring platforms that have over 45 million monthly active users in the EU to scan for and remove illegal content from their services and to detail their methodologies. Failure to comply with the DSA could result in fines totaling 6% of a company's annual revenue. Breton sent a letter to X owner Elon Musk expressing concern about the spread of disinformation and "violent and terrorist" content on the service and urging Musk to respond within 24 hours time. Breton sent Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a similar letter on Wednesday about disinformation on Facebook "to ensure that your systems are effective." The EC said in a statement about its formal request to X that it's investigating the company's compliance with the DSA, focusing on "its policies and practices regarding notices on illegal content, complaint handling, risk assessment and measures to mitigate the risks identified." X must provide the relevant information on its "crisis response protocol" to the EC by Oct. 18, and then provide other related data by Oct. 31, the EC said. The commission will then "assess next steps." "Following its designation as Very Large Online Platform, X is required to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the DSA since late August 2023, including the assessment and mitigation of risks related to the dissemination of illegal content, disinformation, gender-based violence, and any negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights, rights of the child, public security and mental well-being," the EU's executive arm said. X declined to comment on the formal request for information. Earlier on Thursday, X CEO Linda Yaccarino shared the company's response to Breton's warning letter. "In response to the recent terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, we've redistributed resources and refocused internal teams who are working around the clock to address this rapidly evolving situation," the statement said. In another X post containing X's letter to the EC, the company said, "Since the terrorist attack on Israel, we have taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content, while Community Notes are visible on thousands of posts, generating millions of impressions." "We continue to respond promptly to law enforcement requests from around the world, including EU member states," X said in the letter. "At the time of receipt of your letter, we had not received any notices from Europol relating to illegal content on the service." Caroline Ellison, former chief executive officer of Alameda Research LLC, leaves Manhattan Federal Court after testifying during the trial of FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, on October 10, 2023 in New York City. In an all-hands meeting on the evening of Nov. 9, 2022, Alameda Research employees gathered in a circle to listen to CEO Caroline Ellison, who was sitting on a beanbag. It was 11 p.m. in Hong Kong, and roughly half of the employees 15 people at Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto hedge fund were present. Christian Drappi, a former software engineer at Alameda, was one of them. Ten others joined via video from the Bahamas. The Alameda office was across the street from FTX, Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange. On Thursday, Drappi took the stand as a government witness in the criminal trial against Bankman-Fried, which is taking place 11 months after Alameda and FTX spiraled into bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried faces seven federal fraud charges and the potential of life in prison. He's pleaded not guilty. Drappi's appearance on the stand in Manhattan came at the end of Ellison's third day of testimony and included a recording of the Hong Kong meeting. Rick Best, a trader who had joined Alameda just days earlier, was directly to Ellison's right and secretly recording the meeting as audio. The prosecution played multiple clips from the recording, and the defense team played one in cross-examination. To a packed courtroom, Drappi described Ellison's demeanor that night as "sunken." He said she was "kinda slouching" and "did not display confident body language." "Alameda borrowed a bunch of money," which it used to make investments, Ellison said on the recording. But as crypto prices fell, "FTX had a shortfall of user funds" and then "users started withdrawing their funds" and they "realized they would not be able to continue." Drappi can be heard on the tape asking about FTX's plan to pay back customers. Ellison, who has pleaded guilty to fraud charges and is cooperating with prosecutors, responded that the company would raise money to fill the hole. Drappi told the jury that he was concerned with that response because it's not typical to raise outside money for that purpose. Drappi asked Ellison if Alameda's loans were collateralized through the spot margin group. She said they weren't, and Drappi said, "That seems pretty bad." Drappi wanted to know from Ellison if this was a "YOLO thing." He was asked in the courtroom to explain YOLO, and said, "It's an acronym for 'you only live once.'" "When you do a YOLO thing, it's something that's spontaneous and not premeditated," Drappi said. "I wanted to have Ms. Ellison confirm that indeed, you know, they had meetings about this and there was a deliberate decision, as I suspected it would be." At one point on the recording, Ellison giggled. Drappi, who said he'd known Ellison for a year and a half, described that as her "nervous laughter" and said she did it quite often. When she was asked by a staffer whose idea it was to plug Alameda's loan losses with FTX customer money, she said, "Um, Sam, I guess," and giggled. "FTX basically always allowed Alameda to, like, borrow user funds, as far as I know," she said on the recording. Drappi resigned within 24 hours. Rachael Rodgers is a photographer who documents her road trips on Instagram. But her travel companions aren't family members or friends they're dogs without permanent homes. Rodgers, who lives in the small hamlet of Exshaw in Alberta, Canada, said she has traveled with hundreds of dogs across Canada, plus three U.S. states Washington, Utah and Oregon. And it all started with an Instagram post, she said. "There was no plan for such a project in the beginning," she told CNBC. "I just found I had more followers on Instagram than I felt the need to post my personal photos to, so I decided to volunteer at a local shelter to take adoptable dogs out for photos and post them instead." I do it because I have accidentally developed this ... ability to change a dog's life. Rachael Rodgers Photographer Her first post about a rescue dog went viral, and she's been photographing canine companions ever since, she said. Rodgers works with more than 20 shelters now, she said, picking up dogs to take them hiking and kayaking at national and provincial parks. Even on her personal travels, Rodgers said she makes an effort to volunteer at shelters along the way. Paddy, Aurora and Wilma are available for adoption, said Rodgers at Canada's Claws Animal Rescue, Animal Rescue Foundation and Lillian Albon Animal Shelter, respectively. Source: Rachael Rodgers She said nearly every dog that she has photographed has been adopted, with the exception of three: Paddy, Aurora and Wilma, shown above. Traveling with man's best friend Rodgers' work can be found on her Instagram account @trailsandbears, which showcases hundreds of dogs in the Canadian wilderness engaging in activities ranging from kayaking in Moraine Lake, Alberta, to mountain hiking in the Yukon, a territory in Canada. "I usually go 60 to 90 minutes in any direction from where I live to start the adventure," she said. "I make a flexible plan based on what information I get ahead of time about the dog." She tries to capture each dog's personality in her photographs, she said. To do so, she said she chooses activities that each dog likes to showcase its strengths to potential adopters. "The dogs usually ride in the back of my car ... sometimes they prefer shotgun," she said, adding that she usually posts videos of the dogs en route, so people can see how they respond to car rides. Rodgers and Feta, a puppy from the Whitehorse Humane Society, share a moment at a deserted gold mine in the Yukon, Canada. Feta has since been adopted. Source: Rachael Rodgers "It used to be tricky a few years ago to show up at a [shelter]," she said. "I got some strange looks and lots of rejections. But the reaction I get these days a lot of the time I don't have to explain what I would like to do." Someone usually recognizes her from her Instagram page, she said. The need for better representation Rodgers told CNBC Travel that traveling with rescue dogs can be challenging, but the need to represent them motivates her to keep volunteering. Rodgers plays with three shelter dogs. Source: Rachael Rodgers Healthcare workers strike in front of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, as more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers go on strike from October 4 to 7 across the United States, in Los Angeles, California, October 4, 2023. More than 85,000 health workers reached a tentative labor agreement with Kaiser Permanente on Friday that will avoid more strikes after the Biden administration intervened in the negotiations. President Joe Biden praised the health workers and reiterated his support for organized labor in a statement Friday. "Health care workers and support staff kept our hospitals and our nation going during the dark months of the pandemic," Biden said in a statement Friday. "They had our backs during one of our nation's toughest times. We must continue to have theirs." "I always say that collective bargaining works," Biden said. "It works for UPS drivers and dock workers, writers, and millions of American workers who exercise their right to participate in a union." Biden has touted himself as the most pro-union president in American history. He recently joined the picket line in Detroit to support the United Auto Workers in their strike against Ford Motor , General Motors and Stellantis. Tens of thousands of health workers walked out of Kaiser hospitals and facilities last week to protest short staffing and demand better pay. The strike lasted three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state. The walkout was said to be the largest health-care worker strike in U.S. history. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions had threatened additional strikes if management did not meet their demands, particularly over short staffing and the outsourcing of jobs. Citigroup reported its third-quarter results on Friday morning, with solid growth in both institutional clients and personal banking fueling higher-than-expected revenue and earnings per share. Here's what the company announced compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv: Earnings per share: $1.63, or $1.52 when excluding the impact of divestitures, vs. expected $1.21. At this time, it is unclear if analysts included that divestitures item in their estimates. Revenue: $20.14 billion, vs. expected $19.31 billion Revenue and net income rose by 9% and 2%, respectively, year over year. Citigroup's institutional clients unit reported $10.6 billion in revenue, up 12% year over year and 2% from the second quarter. The bank said it was the best third quarter in the past decade for rates and currencies revenue. Meanwhile, the personal banking and wealth management division generated $6.8 billion in revenue, up roughly 10% year over year and 6% from the second quarter. "Despite the headwinds, our five core, interconnected businesses each posted revenue growth resulting in overall growth of 9%," CEO Jane Fraser said in a press release. Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on Oct.13, 2023. Mohammed Abed | AFP | Getty Images How do you run from bombs when all your borders are sealed off? In the Gaza Strip, a small stretch of land blockaded off with concrete walls and barbed wire fences and whose last remaining border crossings have been shut, survival is increasingly a game of chance. "It's insane and brutal I can't believe they're doing this to the whole population. The amount of airstrikes are massive," Omar, a Gazan development worker with two young children, told CNBC via voice note. "We're OK for now but it's very scary, and with each bomb we feel it's going to be our turn." Omar asked that only his first name be used out of concern for his family. Without bomb shelters, people try to hide in hallways, away from windows, in schools, or even in the street alongside piles of rubble. But those spots aren't safe either, Palestinians in Gaza say. The Gaza Strip is under its sixth day of bombings by the Israeli air force since Oct. 7, when members of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, launched an unprecedented terror attack on southern Israel. The highly coordinated assault killed more than 1,200 people, wounded 2,800, and saw Hamas take some 150 hostages, both civilians and soldiers, in what has been called "Israel's 9/11." Israeli occupation aircraft launch white phosphorus bombs west of Gaza City on October 11, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. Ahmad Hasaballah | Getty Images Since that day, Israeli officials have vowed to obliterate Hamas using any means necessary as the group continues firing rockets at Israel. But some of the tactics, which are incurring an already dramatic civilian cost, are classified as war crimes under the Geneva Convention, human rights groups warn. The Israeli hostages are meanwhile still trapped in Gaza, an act by Hamas that U.N. experts have also condemned as a war crime. Experts at the organization have also strongly condemned the brutal crimes committed by Hamas, and the "deliberate and widespread" killing of innocent civilians. Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on October 13, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. Ahmad Hasaballah | Getty Images Israel on Monday ordered a total siege of Gaza, cutting off the water, food and electricity for its 2.2 million residents. On Wednesday, its only power plant ran out of fuel. At the time of writing, the Palestinian Health Ministry reports that more than 1,500 people in Gaza have been killed with 6,600 injured. 'A living hell' The public water supply has completely run out, Omar said. "We have one tank which we're consuming from. We will run out of water at some point but we're minimizing the consumption to the very minimum." Earlier in the week, his father got an automated call from the Israel Defense Forces giving him a five-minute warning to leave his home as the building was about to be bombed. "Five minutes to leave your house. You can have a final look and that's it," Omar recounted, sending photos over WhatsApp of an apartment building reduced to a mountain of gray debris. "This is my family's house, the house of all my childhood memories." I can never get used to looking at my house, at my room for the last time when I evacuate. I can never get used to searching for my friends and having that fear that they might be gone. Afaf Ahmed 21-year-old student in Gaza On Friday, the IDF issued a 24-hour deadline for the 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to evacuate to the south, with Israel expected to launch a large-scale ground offensive in pursuit of Hamas. The U.N. warned that it is "impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences." Omar and his family were living in the north, and are now among the estimated 423,000 people who are now displaced. "Every day feels like a living hell, but somehow the next day is even worse," Omar said. watch now "The airstrikes have been wiping out entire families and neighborhoods within the Gaza Strip," Afaf Ahmed, a 21-year-old student from northern Gaza, told CNBC via social media. "They've been targeting residential towers, schools, educational institutions, ministries, most markets." A spokesperson for the IDF wasn't immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. Officials have stressed that Israel gave Gaza's residents advance warning to evacuate. "Evacuate where?" Afaf exclaimed. "There is nowhere to hide from the bombs!" "When Netanyahu said leave, he knows exactly what he's talking about," she said. "He knows that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip can't leave." Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday: "We're hitting our enemy with unprecedented force ... This is only the beginning." Hospitals at 'breaking point' A major fear Gazans have is the depletion of medical supplies and loss of power to hospitals, which are already overrun with bodies. Once the fuel runs out, the hospitals' backup generators will stop working. "Before the war, the Gaza Strip only got six hours of electricity on a daily basis. Now we only get three to four hours and the situation is expected to get worse because Israel is not letting fuel in," Afaf said. The World Health Organization on Friday warned Israel's siege and bombardment have pushed Gaza's hospitals to the "breaking point," calling for an urgent humanitarian corridor to allow supplies and health workers into the territory. "What we are witnessing is really beyond imagination. The toll this war is taking is really huge and seems unprecedented," the U.N.'s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, said. He warned that the failure of the sewage system was another impending disaster. watch now Many of the Palestinians in Gaza CNBC spoke to said their biggest fear was losing their families. For Mohammed Ashraf, a photographer in Gaza, that fear has already become reality. "My niece was killed yesterday by the Israeli occupation army, as well as her two children, and she was pregnant," he said. "They bombed the house over the heads of the civilians in it." Shortly before the war broke out, Afaf got engaged. She said she fears not being able to experience the rest of her life. "I just got engaged a few weeks ago so I really want to live. I want to live every single little detail of life. So yes of course I'm afraid of death. But living under oppression and living under these attacks all these years has taught us to be very strong." CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday told investors what to look out for in the coming week as earnings season kicks off. He said news about the Israel-Hamas war is likely to eclipse much of next week, but he still recommended investors pay attention to numerous reports, including Charles Schwab , Bank of America and Goldman Sachs . "The war will continue to overshadow earnings season, but if you keep track of these companies and there's a cessation in the conflict, the market will eventually embrace the good ones," he said. On Monday, Cramer will be looking at Charles Schwab's report. He said many on Wall Street are worried about the company's balance sheet, but to Cramer, those fears are overblown. Cramer called Tuesday "huge," as it will see several major companies report, including Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. Also reporting Tuesday are Lockheed Martin , Johnson & Johnson and United Airlines . Wednesday will close out reports for important banks with Morgan Stanley , Cramer said. Cramer will also be watching earnings from consumer packaged goods company Procter & Gamble and medical device maker Abbott Laboratories . Cramer said he thinks both stocks have been brought down by the anticipated effects of GLP-1 drugs on the market. Cramer also noted there was "suboptimal commentary" surrounding Netflix and Tesla , which will report Wednesday after the market closes. On Thursday, Cramer said he's paying close attention to reports from KeyCorp as well as Union Pacific , whose cargo volume figures might be a good barometer of different kinds of economic activity. Cramer will also be looking at Friday reports from American Express and oil service giant SLB , formerly known as Schlumberger. A cyclist passes in front of the Capitol, where today House Republicans will continue proceedings to elect a new House speaker following last week's ouster of Kevin McCarthy at the Capitol in Washington, U.S., October 12, 2023. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters The messy race to elect the next Republican speaker of the House of Representatives is injecting chaos into the typically genteel world of high-dollar GOP fundraising, threatening to disrupt a vital element of the Republican strategy to maintain its House majority. One faction of wealthy donors is intent on exacting revenge on the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to oust former speaker Kevin McCarthy, according to people familiar with the matter. "They are total pieces of s---," said Andy Sabin, a longtime Republican donor and metalworks executive. Sabin told CNBC he's encouraging fellow donors not to give or raise money for members like Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the anti-McCarthy drive and Nancy Mace of South Carolina, a moderate who sided with hardliners against the California leader. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) answers questions outside the U.S. Capitol after successfully leading a vote to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the office of Speaker of the House October 3, 2023 in Washington, DC. Win Mcnamee | Getty Images Another group of financiers want to take on Republicans who opposed the top candidate to replace McCarthy, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, these people explained. "They're angry. They're all saying, 'don't give, don't raise any money,'" a Republican fundraiser said. Scalise withdrew his name from contention late Thursday after it became clear he would not be able to cobble together enough support in his conference to win a simple majority of the full House. "If you have scheduled a fundraiser for any Republican House member who refuses to vote for Scalise, cancel it. If you are thinking of donating, don't," wrote attorney and GOP donor Eric Levine Thursday to his email list of approximately 1,500 people before Scalise dropped out. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise speaks to reporters after a closed-door vote meeting to nominate the US Speaker of the House candidate at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, October 11, 2023. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images The head of the litigation and bankruptcy department at Eiseman Levine, a New York firm, Levine told CNBC those who responded agreed to hold off on raising money for lawmakers who had opposed Scalise. Other influential donors, including New York GOP fundraiser and McCarthy backer Joanne Zervos, want to try to convince Republicans to rally around their former speaker again, and resurrect McCarthy's failed bid. They note that McCarthy has long been a prolific fundraiser for the party, according to a person briefed on the matter. Several people declined to be named in order to speak freely about private matters. Zervos did not respond to an email seeking comment. Still more major donors want to press pause on House GOP campaign donations altogether, at least while there is a speaker's battle underway, one of the people explained. "Who is going to want to give to these people based on what's going on? Team McCarthy was a fundraising juggernaut. Losing Kevin McCarthy will be damaging for fundraising," a longtime Wall Street Republican fundraiser said. U.S. Rep. and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to reporters as Republicans work to restart their effort to pick a new leader for the U.S. House of Representatives after party infighting led nominee Steve Scalise to withdraw from the race for speaker, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 13, 2023. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters Residents of north Gaza have begun to flee south of the Wadi Gaza river, after an evacuation call from Israeli military. Palestinian militant group Hamas has rejected the order, as concerns mount over the possibility of an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip. Israel has given the roughly 1.1 million residents of north Gaza about 24 hours to leave before a deadline near midnight local time, the United Nations said. The Israel Defense Forces, who has yet to confirm plans for a ground offensive, only says the evacuation should be carried out as soon as possible. Israeli military has amassed troops at the border with Gaza over the course of the week and cites its main objective remains stripping away the military capabilities of Hamas. Human rights agencies have decried the evacuation, which threatens to compound the existing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Gaza Strip remains under total siege after Israel cut off supplies of food, fuel, water and electricity to the area following a bloody multipronged Hamas attack over the weekend. The death toll since the offensive and Israel's retaliatory strikes has continued to mount. Israeli soldiers on a tank are seen near the Israel-Gaza border. Ilia Yefimovich | Picture Alliance | Getty Images On Saturday, Dvir Ben-Aroya woke up expecting to go on his regular morning run. Instead, he was met with blaring alarms and missiles flying over Tel Aviv. Ben-Aroya, co-founder of Spike, a workplace collaboration platform with clients including Fiverr, Snowflake , Spotify and Wix, was confused for over an hour "No one really knew what was going on," he recalled but as time passed, social media and texts from friends began to fill him in. That morning, Hamas, the Palestinian militant organization, had carried out terrorist attacks near the Israel-Gaza border, killing civilians and taking hostages. On Sunday, Israel declared war and began implementing a siege of Gaza, cutting off access to power, food, water and fuel. So far, more than 1,000 Israelis have been killed, according to the Israeli Embassy in Washington; in Gaza and the West Bank the death toll is nearing 850, according to two health ministries in the region. Follow our live updates Israel-Hamas war and the latest news from the Gaza Strip At 3 p.m. local time Saturday, Ben-Aroya held an all-hands meeting, and he says every one of his 35 full-time, Israel-based employees joined the call. People shared their experiences, and Ben-Aroya decided everyone should work from home for the foreseeable future, adding that if anyone wanted to move away from Israel with their family, the company would support them. At least 10% decided to take him up on that offer, he told CNBC, and he believes more will do so in the coming weeks. Israel's tech community accounts for nearly one-fifth of the country's annual gross domestic product, making it the sector with the largest economic output in the country, according to the Israel Innovation Authority. The tech sector also makes up about 10% of the total labor force. Even during war, much of Israel's tech community is still finding a way to push forward, according to Ben-Aroya and a handful of other members of the tech community CNBC spoke with. Israeli soldiers stand guard at the site of the Supernova desert music Festival, after Israeli forces managed to secure areas around Re'im. Ilia Yefimovich | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Ben-Aroya had been planning to launch Spike's integrated artificial intelligence tool this past Monday, and he almost immediately decided to put the project on hold but only for a week's time. For Amitai Ratzon, CEO of cybersecurity firm Pentera, Saturday began with "uncertainty and lots of confusion," but when his company had its all-hands meeting on Monday, with 350 attendees, he recalled some Israel-based workers viewing work as a good distraction. For those who feel the opposite, the company is allowing them to take the time off they need. Pentera operates from 20 countries, with Israel having the largest employee base, and it specializes in mimicking cyberattacks for clients such as BNP Paribas, Chanel and Sephora to identify system weaknesses. Ratzon said he has had to restructure some international commitments amid the conflict canceling the training session some employees were flying into Israel for, asking someone to cover for his planned keynote address in Monaco, and having German and U.K. team members fly to a Dubai conference that Israel-based employees had been planning on attending. "Everyone is covering for each other," Ratzon told CNBC. A considerable number of tech workers have already been called on for military reserve duty a mobilization that so far totals about 360,000 Israelis. Ratzon said Pentera has more than 20 of its best employees currently serving, "some of them on the front lines." Isaac Heller, CEO of Trullion, an accounting automation startup with offices in Tel Aviv, told CNBC that the company's finance lead just finished its 2024 financial forecast and then immediately delivered new bulletproof vests for his Israeli Defense Forces unit after raising more than $50,000 to secure them. Of digital bank One Zero's almost 450 employees all based in Israel about 10% were drafted for reserve duty, CEO Gal Bar Dea told CNBC. He was surprised to see people constantly volunteering to cover for each other in an employee WhatsApp group. "This guy says he was drafted, all of a sudden three people jump in and cover his tasks," Bar Dea said. "There's a sense of business as usual, everything is moving forward. We had some meetings today on new launches coming. Everyone is keeping moving and covering for each other." One Zero is working on a ChatGPT-like chatbot for customer service, and this week employees opted to join optional planning meetings and decided not to move the deadlines, Bar Dea said. The person leading the ChatGPT efforts, an Air Force pilot who has been drafted, chose to join conference calls in his military uniform in between his duties, Bar Dea said. "Many, many members of the tech community have been called up to reserve duty," Yaniv Sadka, an investment associate at aMoon, a health tech and life sciences-focused venture capital firm, told CNBC, adding that a large swath of the community has been called to serve in Israel's intelligence units as their reserve duty. "I will have, by tonight, already been to two military funerals," Sadka said. Some members of Israel's tech community are working overtime on tech tools specific to the conflict, such as a bulletin board-type website for missing persons, cyberattack defense tools, a GoFundMe-like tool and even a resource for finding online psychologists, according to Bar Dea. "It's pretty amazing it's the secret sauce of Israel ... startup nation," Bar Dea told CNBC, adding, "In two days, people are raising money, volunteering, taking kids in, building new houses, walking deserted dogs. All the high-tech companies. People are building cyber stuff, communication stuff stuff to help civilians websites to find hostages." Sadka said that he's "never seen anything like" the mass donations and mass volunteering happening at the moment. "It's thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people taking care of each other. There are everyone from teenagers to senior citizens helping," he said. Five minutes before Bar Dea's call with CNBC, he said he heard sirens blaring from his office, and that his wife had taken his kids inside their home to shelter in place. "It's interesting trying to be the CEO of a bank or high-tech company, meanwhile I'm the father of a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old," Bar Dea said, adding, "It's very tough. It's something we've never experienced before, ever. Everyone is trying to get our hands around how to deal with it from a business perspective and also from a personal perspective." Sadka added, "It's very difficult to concentrate on work when you're dealing with all these personal matters and on securing yourself and the country." Uncertainty around growth and profitability for JD.com has kept Morgan Stanley "waiting for the silver lining." The bank downgraded shares to equal weight from overweight. It also slashed its price target to $33 from $55. The new price target suggests shares could gain 18.5% from Thursday's close. Shares tumbled more than 8% during Thursday's trading session, hitting a 52-week low, and fell another 4.5% in the premarket Friday. "We have low conviction in a strong recovery in growth in 2024 and beyond," said analyst Eddy Wang. "We expect the soft consumption sentiment and JD's business and strategy adjustments to continue to weigh on its revenue growth and margins in 3Q23; the 4Q23 outlook also remains weak." Wang is forecasting a long-term trend of a consumption downgrade in China. He warned that if JD.com can't successfully implement its low-price strategy, the company could be in a structurally less favorable position in China's e-commerce market. China has been undergoing what some of the country's top leaders call a " tortuous " economic recovery, as it emerges from its zero-Covid policies. It is also undergoing a slump in its real estate market . The analyst cut his earnings estimates 3% for 2023, 4% for 2024 and 7% for 2025 amid China's slower-than-expected consumption recovery, as well as a slower ramp-up of the company's initiatives. Intensifying competition from PDD, which owns Temu, as well as Douyin, could put more pressure on JD.com, he added. The stock is down 50.4% year to date. JD YTD mountain JD.com shares CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Novo Nordisk on Friday raised its outlook for its full-year sales and operating profit due to soaring demand for its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic. The revised forecast only confirms the frenzy for those weekly injections, which patients seek for their ability to help them lose significant weight over time. Ozempic and Wegovy have propelled Novo Nordisk to become Europe's most valuable company. The Danish drugmaker now expects 2023 sales growth in local currencies of 32% to 38%, from a previous outlook of 27% to 33%, according to a press release. Novo Nordisk also expects operating profit growth of 40% to 46%, from 31% to 37% previously. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, talks to reporters after a House Republican Conference meeting in the U.S. Capitol on the speaker of the house nomination on Thursday, October 12, 2023. House Republicans on Friday nominated Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as their new nominee for speaker of the House of Representatives, after Rep. Steve Scalise abandoned his candidacy in the face of opposition from hard-right members of the GOP. Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, defeated Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia in a closed-door internal party vote Friday, 124 to 81. But after nominating Jordan, the conference took a second secret ballot vote, to gauge support for Jordan now that he was nominee. On this vote, Jordan came away with 152 votes for him, and 55 against, far short of the 217 he would need in a formal vote on the House floor. Following the second vote, lawmakers broke for the weekend, with few signs of what would come next. Rep. Mark Alford, R-Texas, told CNBC they would hold a floor vote on Jordan's speakership Tuesday. But as members departed the Capitol complex, next week's schedule was still in flux. Scalise, the GOP majority leader from Louisiana, withdrew his nomination Thursday evening after it became clear he would not have the GOP votes needed to secure the speakership in a floor vote. "Our conference still has to come together and is not there," Scalise said after withdrawing his nomination Thursday. "There are still some people that have their own agendas. And it was very clear we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs." House Republicans had nominated Scalise Wednesday after he defeated Jordan in a narrow 113-to-99 internal party vote behind closed doors. Jordan subsequently backed Scalise and encouraged Republican lawmakers to do the same. But several GOP House members insisted they would still vote for Jordan on the House floor, sinking any chance Scalise had of taking the gavel. The House has been leaderless for more than a week after a faction of eight Republicans, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, engineered the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California. The lower chamber is effectively in a state of paralysis, unable to move forward with urgent business until a House speaker is elected. The leadership vacuum in the House leaves Congress unable to respond to President Joe Biden's call for lawmakers to take "urgent action" on security assistance for Israel after the devastating Hamas terrorist attacks, as well as for Ukraine as Kyiv wages its grinding counteroffensive against Russia. Congress also needs to pass spending legislation by Nov. 17 in order to avoid a government shutdown. GOP lawmakers floated several plans Friday morning to resolve the impasse, but it is unclear any of the proposals could muster the votes needed to make them reality. Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania told Newsmax he would propose a Scalise-Jordan leadership team. Rep. Tom McClintock of California is pushing to reinstate McCarthy, who faced a grueling 15 votes before he was elected speaker in January. Republican lawmakers piled on Gaetz and the seven other Republicans who ousted McCarthy in a no-confidence vote. Democrats refused to rescue McCarthy's speakership, leading to his downfall. "Our conference never voted to oust our speaker. Eight of our 'morally superior' colleagues made that decision for us," McClintock said. Rep. Mike Lawler of New York told NBC News that the McCarthy's ouster was the "single most destructive thing" he has seen in politics. CNBC's Emily Wilkins contributed reporting from Washington, D.C. Russian President Vladimir Putin enters the hall during Russian-Uzbek talks at the Grand Kremlin Palace on Oct. 6, 2023. Getty Images Russia's response to this week's violence in Israel and Gaza has been conspicuously muted as it weighs up its competing alliances and interests in the region. Moscow did not openly condemn the violence meted out on Israel last weekend by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is backed by its ally Iran, but was wary to alienate its Israeli partners, too. Instead, its Foreign Ministry called on all sides to renounce violence, exercise restraint and implement a cease-fire, warning of a potentially very dangerous escalation. Russia stands to benefit from the turmoil in a number of ways, analysts say, given the distraction from its own war in Ukraine, oil exporting status and potential to mediate between disparate parties in the region. But it could also easily be dragged into a potentially extremely deadly, wider conflict that forces it to pick sides and sees its influence, interests and assets damaged in the Middle East. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi greets Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 19, 2022. Putin likely wanted to show that Moscow is still important in the Middle East by visiting Iran, said John Drennan of the U.S. Institute of Peace. Sergei Savostyanov | AFP | Getty Images Since that statement from Russia's Foreign Ministry last weekend, the conflict has dramatically escalated with Israel's relentless airstrikes destroying whole neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip, displacing and trapping hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians, and increasing the likelihood that Israel's enemies in neighboring Lebanon, Syria and Iran could enter the theater of war, too. "Russia benefits from a localized and protracted conflict between Israel and Hamas that's confined to Gaza, but if the conflict yet opens up in multiple other fronts [like] Syria or Iraq or Lebanon, then it could become a very problematic development for the Russians," Samuel Ramani, a geopolitical analyst and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, told CNBC. "So this is a very, very nervous moment for Moscow. It could present an opportunity for them but also could present a very, very disastrous outcome for their influence in the Middle East too if the conflict spirals out of control," Ramani said. CNBC has requested a comment from the Kremlin and is awaiting a response. How the war could help Russia One of the most obvious ways that the Israel-Hamas war helps Russia is that it distracts and dilutes Western focus on Ukraine. The timing couldn't be better for Russia in a way, with a creeping sense that public support for continued funding for Ukraine, and patience with the 19-month war, is declining. Analysts also believe Russia will use the war in Israel and Gaza to sow disinformation about Ukraine and discord among its allies. War in the Middle East "distracts the attention of Ukraine's key partners from Russia's invasion at a time when fatigue with the conflict in Ukraine was already setting in the West, and continued U.S. support for Ukraine is engulfed in uncertainty," Andrius Tursa, Central and Eastern Europe advisor at Teneo risk consultancy, said in a note Wednesday. "If fighting between Hamas and Israel expands or becomes prolonged, questions about the U.S.'s capacity to provide military support to Ukraine and Israel will grow." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a meeting with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 21, 2023. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images Even before the latest flare-up of violence between Israel and Hamas, there were signs that ongoing and future funding for Ukraine could be in jeopardy, particularly after the U.S. Congress agreed to a stopgap funding bill that paused additional aid for Ukraine for 45 days. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, met NATO and allied officials in Brussels on Wednesday and was apparently reassured of their continuing commitment to support Ukraine. Still, potential political shifts in Eastern Europe and the U.S., and waning public support for continuing Western military largesse, are concerns that are unlikely to go away. Oil prices could rise Major oil producer Russia also stands to benefit from a rise in crude prices amid instability in the Middle East, given that the conflict has the potential to draw in neighboring territories. Oil prices popped 4% on Monday following Hamas' surprise attack on Israel but prices have since stabilized, although crude futures traded 1% higher on Thursday as instability in the Middle East ticked higher. Increased crude prices help oil exporter Moscow to prop up its reserves with the economically isolated country now relying more heavily on oil export revenues, and even more so as it plans a huge boost to defense spending in 2024. "The oil price dimension is also important too, because higher oil prices are obviously beneficial padding for the Russian economy, and can fund the massive expansion of Russia's defense budget, which in 2024, will reach 6% of the GDP," Ramani told CNBC. "We will not supply gas, oil, coal, heating oil we will not supply anything," Putin said. Sergei Karpukhin | Afp | Getty Images The International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly oil market report Thursday that while the Israel-Hamas war had not yet had a direct impact on physical supply, oil markets would "remain on tenterhooks" as the crisis unfolds. Diplomacy Russia is one of the few countries to have good relations with Israel and a number of countries in the Middle East, and could potentially use those relationships to act as a mediator between bitter rivals such as Israel and Iran, with hostilities coming to the fore as Israeli forces battle Iran-backed Hamas militants. As such, the war between Israel and Hamas also provides Russia with an opportunity to flex its diplomatic muscles in the Middle East, after something of a hiatus from the global stage. "The Russians also see this as an opportunity to act as a diplomatic player in the region," Ramani noted. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kremlin in Moscow on January 30, 2020. Maxim Shemetov | Afp | Getty Images "They have already engaged with Lebanon on preventing a spillover of the conflict and the opening of a second front. They've talked to Iraq, with the Iraqi Prime Minister visiting Russia, and they've tied that to OPEC+ cooperation too, they've engaged with Turkey on the issue of Palestinian civilians, and with Egypt on a ceasefire. So this shows that Russia is not isolated in the Middle East, and Russia still maintains the same array of diplomatic partnerships that it had before the war," he noted. How it could all go wrong If diplomatic efforts fail in the Middle East, and there seems little space for negotiation during this "hot" phase of the war right now, there is every chance that the violence could engulf the wider region. That could pose a big challenge for Russia, a country with vested interests in Syria, Iraq and Iran, particularly on a military level. Russia has military bases in Syria and Western intelligence strongly suggests it has turned to Iran for weaponry for use in Ukraine, although both Moscow and Tehran deny this. "There are also some risks for the Russians too, in particularly I think the risks stem from a war that drags Israel and Iran together in an expansive conflict," Ramani noted. Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during a meeting in Sochi on November 20, 2017. "The Israelis, if they strike Syria, for example, and if Syria gets involved then that could lead to the death of Russian personnel," Ramani noted. "The Russians also want to be able to maintain their relationships with the Iraqi PMF," referring to Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces, established in response to the Islamic State group's emergence across Iraq and still influential as an umbrella group overseeing varying militias in Iraq. "The PMF is useful for Russia because it helps engage with them on Syrian-Iraqi border security and also PMF-allied outlets have spread favorable images of Russia's war in Ukraine." "The Russians, most of all, don't want to choose between military ally Iran, and long-standing partner Israel," Ramani said. Plumbing failures confined to Perth Evidence clearly points to installation as causation Testing to date proves no manufacturing defect Iplex supporting with AUD$15m interim fund, working with regulator to assist with industry solution Recall is not justified and would be an unnecessary impact on homeowners BGCs repair estimate is misleading & sensationalist Auckland, 13 October 2023: Fletcher Building Limited has today issued a detailed update on the cause of the plumbing failures that have occurred in a number of homes built in Perth during the period 2017 2022, along with the activities Iplex Australia is undertaking to support industry and homeowners in finding the right solution. The announcement also provides a detailed rebuttal, backed by multiple Australian laboratories and international scientific experts, which exposes critical inaccuracies and inadequacies in claims levelled by BGC about the cause of the plumbing failures. Due to the nature of BGCs release and concern regarding the factual basis of the information, Fletcher Building implemented a trading halt on Wednesday 11 October 2023. It has today addressed each of the concerns put forward by BGC. Fletcher Building also updated the market on the Companys thorough testing and evidence gathering processes, including a proposed joint home inspection protocol that it is in the process of agreeing with the WA Governments State plumbing authorities (Building & Energy, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety - DMIRS). We reaffirm that evidence to date clearly points to installation as the cause of the plumbing failures with no evidence suggesting manufacturing is at fault. The data and information provided by product merchants, builders and plumbing contractors confirms that the plumbing failures are limited to Western Australia and no abnormal leak rates have occurred elsewhere in Australia, contrary to claims made by BGC. CEO Ross Taylor said: Despite BGCs attempts to blame shift, Iplex AU and Fletcher Building remain committed to our course of action in helping the industry resolve the plumbing failures in Perth. We will continue to scientifically work through causation of the failures and support the industry to put in place the best solutions for affected homeowners in Perth. BGCs allegations are unfounded - their view on causation has changed over time. Our independent expert advice is that the methodology and hypothesis BGC used is gravely flawed and their findings unsupported. Notably, the various recent tests completed by BGC werent done to replicate comparable real-life conditions whereas our testing is doing just that. BGC has not performed any tests which measure the performance of the pipes against Australian or international standards. Ultimately, none of their claims help regulators or homeowners get to either an accurate understanding of the root cause of the failures in Perth, nor do they provide a practical, timely solution for all homeowners affected. The plumbing failures are limited to Perth, it is not national. Significant plumbing failures are only evident in Perth, despite the same quantity of pipe being sold nationally outside of Perth, pointing to region-specific installation practices as the cause of the failures. We have proactively spoken with our major east coast product merchants, builders and plumbing contractors who are by far the biggest users of Pro-Fit pipe and therefore, provide a valid comparison to the use of Pro-Fit in Perth over the same period. They have not advised us of any abnormal concerns, despite being aware of the circumstances in Perth. See slides 7 and 16 for more detail The evidence points to installation as the root cause of the Perth plumbing leaks. Iplexs investigation has identified extensive evidence of poor installation. For every plumbing failure we have seen, there is one or more readily observable installation failures that are in breach of Australian Standards, the Plumbing Code and/or Iplexs installation instructions. These failures are of the type that generate stress and radial cracking. Of the homes investigated, 96% had at least one installation failure. The remaining 4% relate to failures which are either unrelated to the issue in question (e.g. rodent chew and fittings) or inaccessible pipes. The abnormal plumbing failure rates are only occurring in the Perth area, but the rates of failure are different across participants. Over the last five months, we have funded the repair of 383 homes through our fund. For 170 of these homes, our expert plumbing team attended the house prior to repairs being done and carried out a full inspection and rigorous data capture on both the installation and to provide pipe for testing. In 100% of these cases the installation failure was of a type that generates leaks. We are well progressed on our testing, having completed tests across circa 900 pipes, using six local and international external labs and experts, and conducting 24 different types of tests. These tests show that the Pro-Fit pipe performs as well as or better than its predecessor pipe. Examples of poor installation were also illustrated in BGCs own evidence pack. Comparisons can be found on slide (14). See slides 10-15 for more detail Fletcher Building and our global polymer experts consider the Scheirs report not credible. Resin BGCs allegations that the resin change causes the substandard performance is unsupported. Iplex tested the BGC hypothesis with tests conducted by independent laboratories, in conditions that deal with clean and failed pipe and various scenarios. Relevantly, those independent laboratory tests disprove the results key to Dr Scheirs' conclusions. Ylem is one of the major manufacturers of polybutylene resin in the world. They have not experienced any issues of this nature elsewhere including Korea, Japan, China, Europe, New Zealand and Australia other than Perth. Molecular Weight Distribution Theory The tests required to measure Molecular Weight Distribution theory as proposed by BGC are highly specialised and require a sensitive testing regime which is why Iplex has obtained results from an international laboratory in the UK qualified to perform these tests. As a result of a testing error, BGC has been given results that are significantly lower than the results Iplex has obtained from its independent laboratory which has many years of experience testing polyolefin materials such as PB-1. In any event, based on the testing results received to date, Iplex believes the Pro-Fit pipe, when manufactured with Typlex resin, has a molecular weight distribution in excess of the "threshold" PD Index number of 3.5 that BGC says is necessary and most are in the "target range" that BGC believes is preferred. Environmental stress cracking To test BGCs theory that the environmental stress crack resistance of the Typlex pipe is inferior to that of the previously used LYB pipe, Iplex engaged an independent qualified laboratory in Spain to perform a 'crack round bar' testing which measures the crack resistance of a polymer. The results received to date are in line with Iplexs internal view that there is no material difference between the crack resistance of LYB and Typlex. In fact, it appears that Typlex might be slightly more resistant to cracking. Independent experts believe the environmental stress crack resistance testing carried out by Dr Scheirs was not in full accordance with the referenced ASTM test methods and cannot be relied upon for making a determination of either materials true environmental stress crack resistance. See slides 24-26 for more detail Why do we have confidence in our evidence gathering, our testing + inspection regime? The BGC hypothesis cannot be relied on for causation. Iplex has undertaken more tests over significantly more samples. Iplex testing to-date in both its accredited NATA laboratory and multiple independent laboratories shows the Pro-Fit pipe is compliant with Australian standards. To-date Iplex has also collected evidence from in excess of 270 individual inspections of homes in Perth constructed by 12 different builders and plumbers. This has identified significant installation failures, in breach of Australian Standards, the Plumbing Code and installation guidelines. See slides 19-21 for more detail. Fletcher Building and Iplex are committed to helping homeowners affected by the plumbing failures On 17 April 2023 Iplex Australia also committed AUD$15m to an interim support fund to establish causation and inform appropriate fixes for homeowners and help Perth builders and plumbers to complete repairs (both leaks and resulting property damage) as well as ceiling pipe replacement in homes. To date, circa 383 homes have been completed through our fund at a cost of approximately AUD$1m. We are very focused on ensuring the safety of the homeowner, and our interim fund is designed to provide funding and resources available to allow the plumbers and builders to respond urgently to any leak while root cause is established. We are trialing leak detection units on houses which automatically detect a leak event and shut off the water supply to the house if these trials are effective then they may also be available to the builders. Iplex has also established a dedicated team on this project. This includes local qualified, specialist plumbing team in Perth to support builders and plumbers in investigating causation and innovative solutions to address the issue. Iplex believes that every effort should be exerted by the industry to find options that are efficient and effective for the benefit of affected homeowners. In the interests of assisting the industry and homeowners to address this issue in a timely and efficient way, Iplex continues to provide technical support to builders to assist them in understanding causation. The total expenditure in the fund to date sits at circa AUD$3m and beyond the $1m spent on installation fixes, the remainder covers costs for our dedicated WA plumbing team, testing and trials of various technologies such as house leak detectors and pipelining systems. See slide 5 for more detail. Against this backdrop, a product recall is not justified and would create needless disruption to unaffected homeowners with perfectly good pipe and pipe installations. A recall is also totally impractical given capacity constraints in the industry. There are a number of less costly, less intrusive, and more rapid fix options for those homes that have been affected. Iplex is currently exploring multiple approaches that may be used to provide a solution including leak detectors, wall pipe mapping and pipe re-lining. See slide 34 for more detail. BGCs estimated repair cost is misleading and sensationalist BGCs estimate is based on a full house re-piping which is not justified. Realistic scenarios that better align with the facts, suggest that an industry cost to repair Perth houses, could be a fraction of that, perhaps in the order of AUD$50m to $100m. See slide 35 for more detail. While not a product failure, we want to support the industry and homeowners to come up with the optimum suite of fix solutions that minimise inconvenience, time and cost for all involved. This work is being supported by our interim fund of AUD$15m to ensure the repair work gets done in an effective timely fashion for homeowners, and that the industry is supported financially, while the industry develops an effective way forward, Ross Taylor said. "Moving forward, we will continue to undertake the industry collaboration necessary to agree the best way forward. Iplex has agreed to jointly inspect house leaks with the WA plumbing regulator to get an aligned data set. We will also finalise our testing and expert report during this period. Despite BGCs position to work independently of the industry and ourselves, including refusing access to the funding available and allowing independent inspections of their homes, we will continue to share our ideas and methodologies with them in an attempt to help them help their customers, he said. ENDS Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Metro Performance Glass to announce FY24 half year results November 3rd Morning Report SPN - AMENDED Slower trade see South Port temper guidance GTR - Full-Year Results Announcement Date Synlait Annual Meeting 2023 EROAD H1 FY24 Results and Conference Call Details TWL - TradeWindow Director resignation November 1st Morning Report General Capital Subsidiary Director Resignation Arvida Bank Facility Update Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (left), Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group (center) and Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia's finance minister, during a panel session at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Saudi Arabia has defended China from criticism that its infrastructure investments have saddled African and other low income countries with crippling debt, cultivating a reliance on Beijing. "Maybe it's time to set the record straight," Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said Thursday at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund joint conference in Marrakesh, Morocco. "China stepped up when people actually shied away from Africa. China built infrastructure that they cannot carry with them to China, it will actually be in Africa. China took the risks, when people didn't want to take the risks," he said at a panel discussion on debt reform priorities. "Instead of actually poking China, I think we should establish here that they did what they needed to do for their own interest, but also to actually help other nations," al-Jadaan said. He was speaking on a Marrakesh panel discussion, which included the heads of both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, as well as Zambia's Minister of Finance and National Planning, Situmbeko Musokotwane. China was not represented on that panel. Creatas | Creatas | Getty Images Official warned of potential for 'ongoing confusion' The Supreme Court in June struck down President Joe Biden's broad plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for tens of millions of Americans, rolled out in August 2022. Before the high court's ruling, a top official at the U.S. Department predicted some of the problems now unfolding. "These student loan borrowers had the reasonable expectation and belief that they would not have to make additional payments on their federal student loans," said Education Department Undersecretary James Kvaal said in a court filing last year. watch now "Unless the Department is allowed to provide one-time student loan debt relief," Kvaal went on, "we expect this group of borrowers to have higher loan default rates due to the ongoing confusion about what they owe." Former President Donald Trump first announced the stay on federal student loan bills and the accrual of interest in March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and crippled the economy. The pause was extended eight times. Nearly everyone eligible for the relief took advantage of it, with less than 1% of qualifying borrowers continuing to make payments. Outstanding education debt in the U.S. exceeds $1.5 trillion, burdening Americans more than credit card or auto debt. New SAVE payment plan leads to billing errors To ease the transition for borrowers, the Biden administration worked quickly to implement a new payment plan option, which it describes as the "most affordable repayment plan ever." Yet many borrowers who've signed up for the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan, complain they've gotten incorrect bills. Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said that while he's heard from several borrowers who've run into this issue, he estimates that "hundreds of thousands of borrowers may have been affected." According to Kantrowitz, student loan servicers seem, in some cases, to be using the 2022 poverty line to calculate borrowers' payments instead of the current 2023 figure. (The SAVE plan is supposed to use the poverty data to shield a share of borrowers' income from their payment calculation.) Because of the misinformation being disseminated, borrowers are likely to make overpayments, or underpayments and get off-track. Ella Azoulay Policy analyst, Student Borrower Protection Center Miscommunication between servicers may also have contributed to the errors. Several of the largest companies that service federal student loans announced during the Covid-19 pandemic that they'll no longer be doing so, including Navient and FedLoan. As a result, about 16 million borrowers have had a different company to deal with this month. "Whenever there is a change of loan servicer, there can be problems transferring borrower data," Kantrowitz said. Meanwhile, Buchanan said that some of the data provided by the U.S. Department of Education has been wrong. Borrowers can sign up for the SAVE plan with their servicer or with the department. "We're having challenges with data integrity issues coming from the department," Buchanan said. "It's meant a lot of questions." A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education said they've worked swiftly to resolve these problems. It directed servicers to notify affected borrowers and put them into an administrative forbearance until they were able to calculate the correct payment amount, the spokesperson said. It may also refund some borrowers. "Our top priority continues to be supporting borrowers as they successfully navigate return to repayment," they said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Gaza is going through a "Leningrad-siege" when he spoke at the CIS summit in Kyrgyzstan, as reported by NBC News. The siege of Leningrad lasted almost two and a half years between 1941 and 1944 and saw German and Finnish forces encircle and take over the city. More than a million residents are believed to have died as a result of hunger and military bombardment. "Israel has all the rights to ensure its security, but we need to find a resolution to this crisis," Putin reportedly said. His speech also made reference to Ukraine, saying that weapons "could be spilled" from Ukraine to Hamas, but there is no evidence to substantiate the claims. "I doubt there were official supplies of weapons from Ukraine to Hamas. But those weapons could be spilled," Putin reportedly said at the CIS summit in Kyrgyzstan. Putin referred to the existence of black markets, saying "this black market keeps working, through third and fourth hands." CNBC could not independently verify the information, and no official bodies outside the Kremlin have suggested that weapons used by militant group Hamas originated from Ukraine. The suggestion that Ukraine has funneled weapons to Hamas has drawn much speculation on social media in the last couple of days, and Ukrainian officials have dismissed the idea that their weapons have found their way to Hamas, news organization Associated Press reported on Oct. 11. Hannah Ward-Glenton Pharmacy staff from Walgreens are laying the groundwork for a nationwide walkout and multiple rallies at the end of October to protest unsatisfactory working conditions, and are in talks with employees from other retail pharmacies about joining them, CNBC has learned. Those efforts, which are still in the planning stages, reflect the growing discontent among retail pharmacy staff, who have complained for years about having to grapple with understaffed teams and increasing work expectations imposed by corporate management. The Covid pandemic only exacerbated those issues, as new duties like testing and vaccination stretched pharmacists and technicians even thinner. Those frustrations came to a head in recent weeks, as some pharmacy staff from Walgreens locations around the country and CVS stores in the Kansas City area engaged in separate walkouts. Those demonstrations and the planning for a broader work stoppage add to what has been one of the most active years for the labor movement in recent U.S. history. A Walgreens organizer, an employee of the chain who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said the walkouts are scheduled for Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. Another organizer named Shane Jerominski, an independent pharmacist who used to work for Walgreens, confirmed those dates. Jerominski is a pharmacy labor advocate who has been actively involved in organizing recent walkouts. The Walgreens organizer said they have been in talks with pharmacy staff from other retail chains about participating in the group walkout. The person sees nationwide walkouts across several retail pharmacy chains as the "next step" in the fight against current working conditions. A Walgreens spokesperson redirected CNBC to the company's earlier statement in response to the walkouts pharmacy staff held this week. The spokesperson touted the company's pharmacy teams in that statement, noting that they work "tirelessly to serve our communities" at nearly 9,000 store locations across the U.S. The spokesperson also acknowledged that the "last few years have required an unprecedented effort from our team members." Walgreens is engaged and listening to the concerns of pharmacy staff, the spokesperson said in the statement. In particular, the company said it has been making significant investments in wages and hiring bonuses in order to retain pharmacists in hard-to-staff locations. Walgreens pharmacists make $57.45 an hour on average, according to employment website Indeed. The company has more than 86,000 health-care service providers, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other health-related professionals. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians work under the company's U.S. retail pharmacy segment. That division contributes the most sales by far of its business segments, raking in $110 billion in fiscal year 2023. A CVS employee, who was the main organizer of the Kansas City area walkouts, confirmed that they have been in contact with the Walgreens organizer about getting the CVS pharmacy staff they represent to join the nationwide effort. That employee, who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, represents CVS pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the Kansas City area. But the CVS employee said whether those employees join will depend on the outcome of a meeting the person has with Prem Shah, the company's chief pharmacy officer and president of pharmacy and consumer wellness, on Friday. During that meeting, the employee will assess what CVS has done so far to execute a series of changes it committed to including adding staff and paid overtime after the Kansas City area walkouts ended last month. The CVS employee said if the meeting goes poorly, the person will reach out to the Walgreens organizer and tell them that the pharmacy staff they represent will be "100% behind" the nationwide walkout effort. A CVS spokesperson said the company is "not seeing any unusual activity" regarding unplanned pharmacy closures or pharmacist walkouts. The spokesperson added that the company is working with pharmacists to directly address any concerns they might have. Pharmacy staff participating in the nationwide effort would also hold demonstrations outside the stores that workers walk out of, according to the people who spoke to CNBC. Jerominksi said organizers are planning to hold rallies in areas that will see the "largest scale" of participation in the walkout, but no specific store locations have been finalized. He added that rallies were the biggest thing that was missing from the recent Walgreens and CVS walkouts. In addition to those rallies and the walkouts, Jerominski and the Walgreens organizer said they are considering pushing for unionization for pharmacy staff not currently represented by one. The vast majority of pharmacists and technicians from Walgreens and CVS have no union representation, while pharmacy staff from a handful of grocery retailers such as Kroger do, according to Jerominski. Organizers are in talks with multiple existing unions, but there is no concrete agreement yet, according to Jerominski. He said the organizations include IAM Healthcare, a union representing thousands of professionals in the health-care industry, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents food, retail and health-care workers across the U.S. and Canada. IAM Healthcare did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UFCW directed CNBC to a statement released Thursday in support of the recent walkouts staged by Walgreens and CVS pharmacy staff. Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: TD Cowen reiterates Amazon as outperform TD said it sees the e-commerce giant's earnings report to be "above consensus" when it reports its quarterly results later this month. "We like AMZN shares into 3Q earnings as we are 0.8% above consensus revenue with growth driven by 3P sales, advertising and AWS growth." HSBC initiates American Express as buy HSBC said it sees healthy earnings growth for American Express . "Aspirational brand, premium client base, leverage to secular growth drivers, and strong profitability underpin our positive view." Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America said it's standing by Nvidia as a top pick "Big-picture, generative AI requires data center scale compute optimization, and NVDA' s systems approach stands in contrast to the narrow silicon-only approach of its rivals." Mizuho reiterates Meta as buy Mizuho said it's standing by its buy rating heading into earnings later this month. "We are positive on Meta into the print as our agency checks indicate ad revenue growth is tracking ahead of consensus, and we expect further operating leverage from increased efficiency." Stephens initiates Campbell's as buy Stephens said the stock is at an "inflection point." " Campbell's market share is stabilizing in many categories and returning to growth in others, while shares still trade more than one standard deviation." Bernstein reiterates Tesla as underperform Bernstein concluded in an analysis of Tesla that the company is more of an automaker than a tech company. "On net, we lean more towards the sentiment that Tesla is a car company, and the car industry is brutally competitive, and will not allow volume participants to have sustained outsized margins. As Warren Buffett has noted, a tough industry will ultimately triumph over great management, and we believe that it is the case for autos/ Tesla." Barclays upgrades Varonis Systems to overweight from equal weight Barclays said it sees numerous positive catalysts ahead for the software company. "More broadly, we think VRNS is transitioning to SaaS [software-as-a-service] faster, and will have catalysts ahead as the maintenance conversion accelerates." Stephens initiates Hershey as buy Stephens said the chocolate company has many "quality" brands. "Within the salty snacks category, Hershey has high-quality brands that are poised to benefit from emerging consumer trends towards subcategories like flavored pretzels and popcorn." JPMorgan initiates Post Holdings as overweight JPMorgan said in its initiation of the food and cereal company that it sees robust free-cash flow. "Importantly (and a key reason for our OW rating), Post generates strong cash flow, which may be applied in large quantities to reduce debt and buy back stock over the next two years." Read more about this call here. Morgan Stanley downgrades JD.com to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of the stock that it sees a slowing recovery. "We have low conviction in a strong recovery in growth in 2024 and onward: This reflects our forecast for JD's 4Q23 revenue growth to be similar to that of 3Q23, even though the base is both lower (Covid lockdown in 4Q22) and cleaner." Read more about this call here . Gordon Haskett upgrades Dollar General to buy from hold Gordon Haskett said in its upgrade of the stock that it's bullish on the company's new CEO. "After the close (10/12), Dollar Genera l announced that former CEO Todd Vasos would be returning to the company immediately ... replacing former CEO Jeff Owen who had been at the top-spot since late last year. Read more about this call here. Wolfe downgrades Netflix to peer perform from outperform Wolfe said in its downgrade of Netflix that it's concerned about unreasonable growth forecasts. "2024 ARPU expectations look full, while today's paid-sharing net adds lead to tomorrow's gross add shortfalls. Valuation is reasonable but wouldn't withstand falling growth expectations." Read more about this call here. Baird upgrades Mister Car Wash to outperform from neutral Baird said it sees an attractive risk/reward for the stocj. "While our upgrade isn't a call on 3Q, we believe the post-2Q guidance reset sufficiently lowered the 2H23 bar." Citi upgrades Oshkosh to buy from neutral Citi said the children's clothing retailer has earnings upside. "As the sector's earnings revision cycle matures, we think OSK is an outlier with earnings momentum accelerating into 2024." Needham upgrades Lam Research and Applied Materials to buy from hold Needham it sees a semiconductor recovery as soon as this quarter. "If the current trend is sustained, we think global semiconductor sales growth could resume as early as 4Q23." Northland upgrades SolarEdge to outperform from market perform Northland said investors should buy the dip in shares of SolarEdge . "Solar demand is weak, Israel is at war, an inventory correction, a strong dollar is a headwind, and a competitor pre-announced. It is hard to imagine things could get much worse. Stock is down 50% since it reported Q2 on 8/1, likely reflecting the short-term outlook." Oppenheimer downgrades Tractor Supply to perform from outperform Oppenheimer it sees a "sales expansion lull" for the company. "Nearer-term, however, we are increasingly concerned that TSCO shares do not yet discount adequately for a potentially pro-longed, post-pandemic sales expansion lull, likely to occur as COVID-related tailwinds gradually abate." Wells Fargo reiterates Lululemon as overweight The firm said the lifestyle retailer continues to "buck the trend." "We hosted LULU CFO, Meghan Frank & VP IR, Howard Tubin for investor meetings in California. Mgmt sees solid momentum in the business w/ share gains across the globe, despite a choppy retail backdrop. All in, LULU continues to buck the trend." Thierry Breton, a former CEO of French IT consulting firm Atos, is seen as a key architect of the European Union's digital reforms. Days after the Israel-Hamas war erupted last weekend, social media platforms like Meta , TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) received a stark warning from a top European regulator to stay vigilant about disinformation and violent posts related to the conflict. The messages, from European Commissioner for the internal market Thierry Breton, included a warning about how failure to comply with the region's rules about illegal online posts under the Digital Services Act could impact their businesses. "I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed," Breton wrote to X owner Elon Musk, for example. The warning goes beyond the kind that would likely be possible in the U.S., where the First Amendment protects many kinds of abhorrent speech and bars the government from stifling it. In fact, the U.S. government's efforts to get platforms to moderate misinformation about elections and Covid-19 is the subject of a current legal battle brought by Republican state attorneys general. In that case, the AGs argued that the Biden administration was overly coercive in its suggestions to social media companies that they remove such posts. An appeals court ruled last month that the White House, the Surgeon General's office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation likely violated the First Amendment by coercing content moderation. The Biden administration now waits for the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the restrictions on its contact with online platforms granted by the lower court will go through. Based on that case, Electronic Frontier Foundation Civil Liberties Director David Greene said, "I don't think the U.S. government could constitutionally send a letter like that," referring to Breton's messages. The U.S. does not have a legal definition of hate speech or disinformation because they're not punishable under the constitution, said Kevin Goldberg, First Amendment specialist at the Freedom Forum. "What we do have are very narrow exemptions from the First Amendment for things that may involve what people identify as hate speech or misinformation," Goldberg said. For example, some statements one might consider to be hate speech might fall under a First Amendment exemption for "incitement to imminent lawless violence," Goldberg said. And some forms of misinformation may be punished when they break laws about fraud or defamation. But the First Amendment makes it so some of the provisions of the Digital Services Act likely wouldn't be viable in the U.S. In the U.S., "we can't have government officials leaning on social media platforms and telling them, 'You really should be looking at this more closely. You really should be taking action in this area,' like the EU regulators are doing right now in this Israel-Hamas conflict," Goldberg said. "Because too much coercion is itself a form of regulation, even if they don't specifically say, 'we will punish you.'" Christoph Schmon, international policy director at EFF, said he sees Breton's calls as "a warning signal for platforms that European Commission is looking quite closely about what's going on." Under the DSA, large online platforms must have robust procedures for removing hate speech and disinformation, though they must be balanced against free expression concerns. Companies that fail to comply with the rules can be fined up to 6% of their global annual revenues. In the U.S., a threat of a penalty by the government could be risky. "Governments need to be mindful when they make the request to be very explicit that this is just a request, and that there's not some type of threat of enforcement action or a penalty behind it," Greene said. A series of letters from New York AG Letitia James to several social media sites on Thursday exemplifies how U.S. officials may try to walk that line. James asked Google , Meta, X, TikTok, Reddit and Rumble for information on how they're identifying and removing calls for violence and terrorist acts. James pointed to "reports of growing antisemitism and Islamophobia" following "the horrific terrorist attacks in Israel." But notably, unlike the letters from Breton, they do not threaten penalties for a failure to remove such posts. It's not yet clear exactly how the new rules and warnings from Europe will impact how tech platforms approach content moderation both in the region and worldwide. Goldberg noted that social media companies have already dealt with restrictions on the kinds of speech they can host in different countries, so it's possible they will choose to contain any new policies to Europe. Still, the tech industry in the past has applied policies like the EU's General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) more broadly. It's understandable if individual users want to change their settings to exclude certain kinds of posts they'd rather not be exposed to, Goldberg said. But, he added, that should be up to each individual user. With a history as complicated as that of the Middle East, Goldberg said, people "should have access to as much content as they want and need to figure it out for themselves, not the content that the government thinks is appropriate for them to know and not know." Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. WATCH: EU's Digital Services Act will present the biggest threat to Twitter, think tank says In a yet another move to curb existence of black money, India is soon likely to get access to data of undisclosed real estate assets located overseas. According to sources, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharamkan, who is visiting Marrakech (Morocco), is also expected to deliberate on this matter asking countries to come together and begin automatic exchange of information with respect to undisclosed real estate parked abroad. India has been advocating the need to have access to this data with G20 countries post which the G20 countries are working for an automatic exchange of data related to undisclosed immovable properties abroad beyond the current arrangement of sharing financial data, sources in the know of the development added. It is understood that once agreed upon, the exchange of information on immovable assets parked abroad will further boost technology-driven compliance system of the income-tax authority, sources said. "The fact is that today most countries are agreeable to an automatic exchange of information to prevent tax leaks. The tax world is indeed becoming a global village. A welcome change. When Cyprus refused to exchange info with India, we suspended the tax treaty and they immediately agreed," said Dinesh Kanabar, chief executive officer of a tax and regulatory consulting firm, Dhruva Advisors. Already upon the initiative of India Presidency, the leaders of the G20 had agreed to cooperate towards a globally fair, sustainable and modern international tax system and adopted the OECD Report on Enhancing International Tax Transparency on Real Estate in their Delhi Declaration on September 9. The OECD report proposed automatic exchange of such information among countries on a real-time basis. The OECD report explored options to enhance international tax transparency on real estate, including the feasibility of exchange of tax information on a voluntary basis in respect of real estate held by taxpayers outside their jurisdiction of tax residence. Based on an assessment of current state of global tax transparency, the report lays out ideas for achieving both short-term solutions, as well as longer-term structural changes that interested jurisdictions could undertake to ensure their tax administrations receive tax-relevant information on real estate held abroad. The report noted that increased visibility on cross-border transactions in the real estate sector has the potential to benefit not only tax administrations, but also regulatory, anti-money laundering and law enforcement authorities. Data gathered by the FATF indicates that across 32 FATF member countries, 69% identify the real estate sector as posing a significant risk for money laundering activities. FATF has identified that many of the same techniques used in tax fraud (such as complex ownership structures to hide identities, as well as false or no declarations of relevant assets) are also used to launder funds. Hence, by applying a whole-of-government approach, information collected by tax authorities could be used to combat other types of cross-border financial crimes in the real estate sector, the report said. Sitharaman is currently attending the annual meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with G20 meetings. She will also hold bilateral meetings with Indonesia, Morocco, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany and France between October 11 and October 15 in Marrakech. Experts say, the move is much awaited and will be a fillip when it comes to combating black money. Access to real estate assets located overseas especially the novel direct access-based (on real time basis) model will be a game changer. As various jurisdictions across the globe moves towards digitization of real estate registers, this is indeed a possibility in the future. This data along with the Beneficial Ownership data would be a potent tool in the hands of the Income tax department which is already on an overdrive in identifying and taxing undisclosed overseas financial assets and income. This has been a key ask of the Indian government after taking the G20 presidency. Acquiring foreign real estate assets by Indian individuals may also have issues under our Foreign Exchange regulations and may therefore attract scrutiny there as well. As of now the real time access may take time and countries will resort to exchange of information as per traditional method, said Amit Maheshwari, Partner at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm. The G20 Expert Panel, led by N.K. Singh, Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, has unveiled a set of 30 far-reaching recommendations that are poised to bring significant changes to multilateral development banks (MDBs). These recommendations are specifically designed to strengthen and modernise the operations of MDBs, and their potential impact is substantial. Central bankers and finance ministers gathered in Marrakesh, Morocco, on the sidelines of the IMF-WB Annual Meetings, and amid a rise in geopolitical tensions, with a declared war the Middle East. Singh expressed his concerns over how these developments might hit oil prices and urged the world to factor this into their economic strategies. He stressed that the recommendations put forth by the commission are ambitious but necessary to navigate the current global landscape successfully. "We've not only proposed ambitious recommendations but have also provided a credible financing plan to support these endeavours," Singh stated in an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18. The core focus of these recommendations revolves around capital mobilisation within MDBs. The report calls for a threefold increase in non-concessional lending by institutions like the World Bank and the IMF, with a target of $300 billion annually by 2030. It also advocates for a substantial boost in private capital mobilisation from the current $60 billion to an impressive $240 billion. One of the key aspects discussed was optimising the existing balance sheets of MDBs, which, according to Singh, could provide a substantial financial cushion. "First and foremost, we are harnessing and optimising the balance sheets of these multinational organisations. There's a huge leverage potential." He went on to highlight the World Bank's growing prominence as the largest multilateral institution in the world. Additionally, the report calls for a reimagining of policies, emphasising innovative financial strategies and a more active role for the private sector. Collaboration between various MDBs, such as the African and Asian Development Banks, is expected to play a crucial role in achieving these ambitious targets. "We are emphasising policy priorities, innovative finance, using guarantees, changing operational models, making data available, encouraging private sector investment, and mitigating financial risks in the private sector," he said. The report also addresses the pressing issue of debt sustainability. It recommends the creation of new guidelines for debt sustainability assessment in coordination with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These guidelines are designed to mitigate the impact of global economic shocks, which is an urgent response to the growing concerns about global debt levels. Singh highlighted the need for MDBs to work closely with the IMF in addressing these concerns and called for a renewed focus on sustainability. The recommendations are aimed at equipping countries with the tools to manage their debt effectively, with a strong emphasis on macroeconomic stability and resource optimisation. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The policy-making National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board has given its go signal for more projects for the tourism and healthcare sectors, with investments reaching around 270 billion. NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the Board, chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., approved the public-private partnership (PPP) projects during their meeting on Friday. During a briefing, Balisacan said the projects aimed to address gaps in those industries. Some of the high-impact programs and projects approved by the NEDA Board include the upgrade of the Bohol-Panglao International Airport with a project cost of 4.5 billion. The project targets to expand the gateway to accommodate 3.9 million passengers per year, higher than its current two million capacity. Changes in the cost and implementation timeline of the 32.15-kilometer Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge project also secured NEDA Boards approval. The implementation period has been extended to December 2029, while the project cost is now up to 219.3 billion. It would have been completed by 2027 or 2028 but because of COVID, it was delayed for almost two years, the official said. Balisacan said the bridge would be constructed over Manila Bay. Once operational, travel time from both provinces would only take 30 to 45 minutes, he said. For the health industry, the NEDA Board green-lit the Dialysis Center PPP Project for the Renal Center Facility of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center. The NEDA official said it is the largest government-funded tertiary hospital in the Cordillera Administrative Region with a project cost of 392 million. Other projects that have been approved are the Green Economy Program in the Philippines, and the changes in investment, scope, and timeline of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit. With these approved projects, the Marcos Administration reaffirms its commitment to aggressively advance infrastructure development to attain our medium-term development goals of more high-quality jobs and better lives for all Filipinos, Balisacan said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East has yet to hit the Philippine economy as it has very little exposure with both Israel and Palestine. If the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas affects the global supply chain and oil prices, the local economy may feel a pinch, the official said. I think the question is whether will it spread. And thats another matter because if it gets into the supply chain, affecting global movements of trade, the effects can even be more substantial, Balisacan said when asked during a Palace briefing on Friday. As of this date, we dont see a major impact in the economy Theres hardly any impact, the official said. He said that while there was an uptick in fuel prices, economic managers are not sure yet if thats an initial reaction. In a separate briefing, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that the number of Filipinos killed in the war has already risen to three. Three more Filipinos remain missing. Meanwhile, a total of 92 Filipinos have already requested repatriation from Gaza. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) Members of British-Norwegian boy group A1 shared their secret on how they maintained a strong bond even after 25 years in the industry. Its quite hard to be in a band of four very, very different personalities and to be able to sustain that level of professionalism for 25 plus years, A1s Mark Read told CNN Philippines New Day. So I just think its a mutual, a lot of things that we have in common with each other that keep us together and keep us strong, A1s Christian Ingebrigtsen said it was the gratitude the group has for its fans that helped it continue. When we were here 20 years ago, we were always rushing to the next thingWe took it for granted. And now as weve grown older, weve learned to really appreciate it and be grateful, he said. Another member Paul Marazzi said it is their enduring love for music that kept them going. He added this passion helped in their songwriting process as it allowed them to make music exactly the way they wanted to. Read described A1s music in the 90s as young and naive. Now that they have grown older, he said their songs talk more about the members life experiences. The group recently dropped its single Call Me When You Land which was written after the COVID-19 pandemic. We realized how much we missed just being able to hug the people that we love and how important it is to while we have the chance we should really treasure the moments, Ingebrigtsen said. A1 held a concert in Davao City on Oct. 12, which will be followed by a stop in Cebu City on Oct. 13. The group will end its Philippine tour in Quezon City at the New Frontier Theater with a two-day concert on Oct. 14 and 15. Member Ben Adams expressed appreciation to the groups Filipino fans for always warmly welcoming them. On what is next for A1, he said they will definitely release more music in the future that fans should watch out for. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 12) The 14-year-old Antipolo student slapped by his teacher died of a rare congenital condition and not because of physical harm, the Philippine National Police (PNP) autopsy report said. The report showed Francis Gumikib suffered from arteriovenous malformation, or the unusual twisting of arteries and veins. It added that one of the entangled veins ruptured, causing his brain to swell and bleed that led to his death. "At first asymptomatic, walang symptoms tapos bigla na lang kasi fragile po yung mga ugat na yun na it can rupture or burst," said Lt. Col. Maria Anna Lisa Dela Cruz, chief medicolegal officer of the PNP Forensic Group in Rizal. [Translation: One could be asymptomatic at first, with no symptoms showing. But veins can rupture or burst knowing how fragile they are.] Gumikib, a Grade 5 student of Penafrancia Elementary School, died on Oct. 2 reportedly after a bout of intolerable headache and ear pain. This was over a week after he was slapped by his teacher on Sept. 21. A classmate said Gumikib was just reporting to their teacher about their noisy classmates. The teacher, however, suddenly pulled his hair and uniform before slapping him, the classmate told authorities. The Gumikib family said they cannot accept the result of the autopsy, insisting that the teacher killed their son. Yung sampal lang talaga po dahil ang anak namin simulat sapol hindi pa na-ospital iyon," Eusebio Gumikib, father of Francis, told CNN Philippines. [Translation: It was really the slap, because our son has never been confined to a hospital.] The teenager will be buried next week. PLtCol Ryan Mangondo, Antipolo City police chief, said the teacher may still face charges for violation of the anti-child abuse law. Meanwhile, the Teachers Dignity Coalition urged authorities to still honor the teacher's right to due process. We would not tolerate any form of abuse by teachers against students, but we challenge the Department of Education as well to safeguard the rights of teachers to due process and equal protection of the law," the group said in a statement. With reports from CNN Philippines senior correspondent AC Nicholls Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) A man died after being pinned and run over by a trailer truck in Tondo, Manila on Thursday in what's believed to be another case of road rage, authorities said. Surveillance footage showed the victim, Benjamin Bagtas, getting out of his van along Mel Lopez Boulevard when a truck picked up speed and turned rightcrushing and dragging him. The Manila Police District identified the suspect as Marlon Ilas, who denied intending to hit Bagtas. He fled the scene after the incident but has since been arrested. Bagtas was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died. According to the victim's companion, there was tension between Ilas and Bagtas that started when they were along C-3 road in Navotas. "Pagdating namin ng stoplight, naunahan namin siya. Huminto 'yung driver (Bagtas)Hininto para kausapin sana 'yung trailer, bigla siyang sinalpok. Ginanun siya, cinut siya na nandun siya nakatayo. Kaya tumilapon siya. Di lang yun, kinaladkad siya," said Bernardino Corpuz, who was with Bagtas when the incident happened. "Sadya talaga kasialam na niyang may tao pero bakit niya niliko yung truck?" he added. [Translation: When we reached the stoplight, we drove ahead of the suspect. Bagtas stopped to talk to the driver of the trailer truck, but the driver hit him. Bagtas was standing at the time, so the impact threw him from his place. Not only that, he was also dragged. It was really intentional because the driver already knows there was a person there, but he still turned right.] The suspect refused to further comment on the incident, but he asked for forgiveness from Bagtas' family. The family, however, said an apology isn't enough. The trucking company's representative said they won't tolerate what their driver did and vowed to provide assistance to the victim's family. Ilas will remain behind bars and will face murder charges. CNN Philippines Correspondent Paige Javier contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The government will bring home eight Filipinos from war-torn Israel on Oct. 16, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday. "There are at least 22 Filipinos in Israel who have indicated that they want to go home. The first batch at the government's expense will be leaving on Oct. 16 there are eight of them," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega told reporters. "Once they arrive, they'll be given the proper assistance. The usual reintegration and other assistance packages provided by the DMW (Department of Migrant Workers) and the OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration)," De Vega added. The conflict in Israel erupted on Oct. 7 when militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel from its Gaza enclave. READ: Israel-Hamas war far from over - Israeli envoy The DFA also confirmed the death of a third Filipino in the conflict, while three others remain missing. READ: DFA confirms 3rd Filipino fatality in Israel-Hamas war Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said some personal information that resembled those from the site OneExpert was compromised following a data leak incident late in August. In a statement on Thursday, the DOST said they learned about the security issue when the Philippine National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-PH) reported the incident on August 31. It said that a compromised account may have been used to access the portal. According to the DOST, the OneExpert portal is a publicly available registry of Filipino experts, aimed at enhancing access to their services and expanding the reach of science and technology assistance to clients within the country. The DOST said it immediately deployed appropriate actions and beefed up the portal with additional security measures. The websites normal operations were restored soon after, it said. However, the DOST said some informationsuch as names and email addresses of technical expertswere posted on social media platform Facebook on Sunday, Oct. 8. While this incident may cause concern among the affected individuals and the public, we would like to assure everyone that no sensitive personal information has been compromised, it said. The DOST assured the public that it would boost its information systems. The National Privacy Commission said it received no notification of compromised data from the DOST. Other government agencies that suffered from data breach incidents include the Philippine Statistics Authority and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) Authorities arrested on Oct. 10 two suspects who swindled nearly 2 million from a 72-year-old widow in a love scam. In a statement released on Friday, the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group said the victim met online a man who introduced himself as American Evan Maxwell in March. The police said the victim was manipulated by her online partner to send him 1.9 million supposedly for travel documents. She sent a managers check worth 700,000 to an individual named Louie John Petere and an estimated 1.2 million through a money remittance service to Laiden Petere, following the instructions of her online companion, the PNP-ACG said. To further obscure their malicious activities, the scammer convinced the victim to delete all transaction records stored on her device, it added. The victim later realized that she was being scammed when the suspect asked for an additional $20,000 (1.1 million). This prompted her to seek help from Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit 4-A. The suspects are now in the custody of the Las Pinas City Police Station and are facing charges for violation of Cybercrime Prevention Act. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The progressive Makabayan bloc is looking into possible legal action versus former president Rodrigo Duterte, after he issued a death threat against one of the group's lawmakers in an interview which is no longer available for viewing. During Sonshine Media Network International's (SMNI) 'Gikan ng Masa' interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy on Tuesday, the former president defended his daughter, Sara Duterte, for requesting 500 million and 150 million in secret funds for the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, respectively. Duterte said the first target of his daughter's proposed secret funds should be ACT-Teachers Rep. France Castro. He red-tagged the minority lawmaker and the rest of the Makabayan bloc. The interview has since been made private on the SMNI's YouTube channel, which was earlier shut down for violating guidelines. Quiboloy, Duterte's spiritual advisor, is wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for sex trafficking, fraud, coercion, and bulk cash smuggling. CNN Philippines was able to watch the video before SMNI restricted access. A copy may also still be viewed in other pages. "We will not be silenced by threats and intimidation. We will continue to advocate for government transparency and the abolition of confidential funds. We in the Makabayan bloc are also looking into possible legal actions against him," Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said Thursday. "Threatening the lives of elected representatives is a blatant violation and a dangerous attack on the rights of individuals who are merely pushing for transparency and accountability in government spending," she continued. National Union of Peoples' Lawyers Secretary General Kristina Conti said Duterte should be charged with direct threats against Castro, as his statement "comes with the context that he is personally capable and willing to see these kinds of threats through." It was his administration that waged the bloody war on drugs which saw thousands killed and rampant human rights violations committed. Castro, meanwhile, has not responded to Duterte's threat. Brosas added that it was unsurprising that Duterte, whom she described as misogynistic and violent, would issue death threats against progressive lawmakers "as he and his daughter seemed to share the same obsession on confidential funds." In 2021, the Office of the President (OP) under Duterte's administration spent a whopping 4.5 billion in confidential funds, the Commission on Audit found. Last year, the OP under the shared terms of Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. spent another 4.5 billion in secret funds. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) Transportation group Manibela believes someone was behind the recantation of a former Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) official who earlier accused the agency of corruption. Hindi naman namin pinaniniwalaan yung recantation n'ya," Manibela chairman Mar Valbuena told CNN Philippines The Source on Friday. "Naniniwala kami na may kumilos dito kasi nung medyo nadadawit na si (Transportation) Secretary (Jaime) Bautista, medyo doon na nagkaroon ng recantation samantalang nung kay (former LTFRB) Chairman (Teofilo) Guadiz sinibak siya kaagad eh, he also said. [Translation: We do not believe his recantation. We believe someone was behind this because when Secretary Bautista was being linked, that was when the recantation happened while Chairman Guadiz was immediately removed from office.] Prior to recanting on Oct. 11, former LTFRB senior executive assistant Jeffrey Tumbado alleged at a press conference on Oct. 9 that regulators were practicing a ruta for sale scheme. It requires operators to pay transport officials up to P5 million to secure routes, franchises, and special permits, among others. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suspended Guadiz following Tumbado's allegations. Tumbado said in his affidavit that his allegations were borne out of impulse, irrational thinking, misjudgment, poor decision making and were encouraged by some individuals to make the statement which may have added to my confusion and affected my better judgment. Valbuena said he did not expect Tumbado to recant his statements. He added that the former LTFRB official seemed determined to file the complaints based on their conversations. According to Valbuena, Tumbado started reaching out to him in July then started telling the group about the alleged corrupt practices in the agency in August. Tumbado originally planned to file corruption complaints against involved government officials before the Ombudsman on Sept. 25, but Manibela asked to delay it because the group was not yet ready, Valbuena said. The filing was moved to morning of Oct. 9 before the press conference, but the former LTFRB official said to hold it first, he added. Manibela has a copy of the pieces of evidence from Tumbado, which include screenshots of Guadizs messages, Valbuena said. In due time na magkakaroon ng hearing sa Senado at Congress, siyempre hindi po pupwedeng hindi natin ilabas itong mga hawak natin, he said. [Translation: In due time once there will be a Senate and Congress hearing, we should reveal these pieces of evidence we have.] Senators on Thursday said an investigation must be done on Tumbado's recantation. Justice Secretary Boying Remulla also said the National Bureau of Investigation will look into the alleged corruption issue.https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/10/12/senate-probe-recantation-ltfrb-corruption.html Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The Philippine National Police (PNP) is the biggest beneficiary of the proposed reforms to the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) pension system, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said, as he explained that nearly half of the total benefits from the salary increase will accrue to members of the police force. He also said totally and permanently disabled survivors will be able to get the same retirement and survivorship benefits as other MUP. "Being the largest uniformed service, the PNP also stands to gain the most from a sustainable pension system," Salceda said. "Apart from fully retaining the structure of the existing pension system for active and retired personnel, the MUP Pension Reform Act also guarantees a three percent annual increase in salary over the next ten years." "We estimate that as much as 47.6% of the total benefits from the salary increase will accrue to members of the PNP," he added. Salceda, principal author of the measure and chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the MUP Pension System, said the House has approved on third reading the MUP pension reform. It is currently pending at the Senate. "This benefit is long overdue, and recognizes that policing remains a high-risk occupation even when the PNP has moved to civilian control and supervision," the lawmaker said. "The families of those who lose their lives in the preservation of peace and order can at least expect a pension from a grateful nation." Salcedo emphasized that among all the uniformed services of the country, PNP has undergone "the most transformation." "It is for these reasons that we considered the key role of a strong and high-morale police force in crafting the Military and Uniformed Personnel or MUP Pension Reform Act," he said. Salceda added that the MUP pension reform act was assigned to him by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on Friday said the governments public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program must not be affected by the recent corruption allegations hounding transportation authorities. Reacting to Sen. Grace Poes call to halt the implementation of the PUV modernization, Balisacan said the program should proceed if the issues raised do not directly concern the program. READ: Poe calls for suspension of PUV modernization plan amid corruption claims If there are problems, they should deal with those issues directly but dont hostage the entire government. Kung wala naman issue dun (If theres no issue in that), why do we stop? he said when asked for comments during a Palace briefing. Balisacan said that NEDA-approved infrastructure projects are already in various stages, adding that those under implementation are well-identified. The NEDA official even said that due to infrastructure deficits across the country, the government has difficulty in enticing foreign investors as moving goods can be costly. We cant afford to wait any further," he said. "How patient are we? Nakikita mo (You can see) even countries that were so poor in the 70s are much richer than us. I think we need to catch up. Jeffrey Tumbado, who was an executive assistant to Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) LTFRB chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III, recently bared the alleged corruption practices in the agency. This prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to axe Guadiz and order a probe into the allegations. A few days later, however, Tumbado recanted his claims. READ: LTFRB whistleblower recants corruption allegations; apologizes to Guadiz, Bautista Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has launched an online portal where members of state insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) can check if their data was among those recently stolen and leaked by hackers. The search tool was launched Friday as the NPC tries to mitigate the cyberattack that targeted the personal data of likely millions of PhilHealth members at risk to be exploited by criminals. The public can access the "Na-leak ba ang PhilHealth Data ko?" portal at https://philhealthleak.privacy.gov.ph. Hackers have reportedly uploaded on the dark web and messaging app Telegram around 700 gigabytes of stolen information on Oct. 5, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). As of Friday, the NPC said on the webpage that at least 1 million PhilHealth identification numbers of senior citizens are "confirmed to be part of the leaked database." The portal will be regularly updated, it added. The privacy watchdog also said the portal is only limited to information stolen by the Medusa Ransomware group and "does not encompass the entire leaked PhilHealth database or data from other personal data breaches." "Therefore, a negative result from this search does not guarantee the security of your personal data in other contexts or databases," it warned, adding the search tool may produce "inconclusive results." In an interview with CNN Philippines The Exchange on Friday, NPC Complaints and Investigation Division Chief Michael Santos said the commission is looking into a possible creation of a website to update Filipinos if they are affected with incidents of data breach. Hoping this would be the last? The Philippines Statistics Authority and the Department of Science and Technology also reported incidents of data breach. DICT Secretary Ivan Uy earlier said more government agencies were hit by a data breach, but some are not reporting it due to issues that might be uncovered. Santos says he "hope[s] there's no more data breach," adding that the commission has sounded the alarm repeatedly for the public and private sector to implement needed measures. "I hope this would be the last, and key officials would take lessons to beef up cybersecurity in their systems," Santos told The Exchange. He said more funds could increase the NPCs capability to educate and guide other government bodies and the public to better protect personal information. But Steven Scheurmann, Regional Vice President for ASEAN at the Palo Alto Networks warned there might be more hacks, ransomware, and phishing scams coming, as the cybersecurity company sees an increasing trend of cyberattacks across Asia. "Hope is not a strategy," he stressed in a separate interview at The Exchange. "A government department can have a budget, but if you buy the wrong tool sets it's still inefficient...but if you don't have the skills, then you also have a problem." Scheurmann also suggested that the government use artificial intelligence to protect personal data, as hackers themselves maximize the emerging technology to steal information. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The remains of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Marjorette Garcia, who was killed in Saudi Arabia, arrived in the Philippines on Friday. "It is with broken hearts that we mourn her loss, that we bring her home in this manner, the victim of one senseless act of violence we have yet to comprehend," Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac said in a statement. Members of Garcia's family were seen in a video posted on social media grieving while hugging the remains of their loved one. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) confirmed on Oct. 3 the alleged murder of Garcia. It said a suspect, a Kenyan co-worker of the victim, is already in police custody. "Sa pagpapatuloy ng kaganapan, nasa kustodiya na ng pulisya ang Kenyan co-worker na pumatay kay OFW Garcia," the statement said. "Bukod sa PRA, ang Saudi recruitment agency na may hawak kay OFW Garcia ay handa ring dumalaw at magbigay ng suporta sa pamilya nito." [Translation: With the continuous happenings, the Kenyan co-worker who killed OFW Garcia is already in the custody of the police. Aside from PRA (Philippine Recruitment Agencies), the Saudi recruitment agency in charge of Garcia is also ready to give support to the family.] In an interview with CNN Philippines, the victim's sister, Rits Parungao, said that after two weeks of no communication with her sister, they received a call on Sept. 27 saying that her sister's body was in the morgue. READ: Family of deceased OFW in Saudi Arabia seeks justice, autopsy of remains The family is requesting an autopsy on Garcia's remains. The OFW was a 32-year-old domestic worker who started working in Saudi Arabia in 2021 to support her family. She was supposed to return to the country in October, according to her family. CNN Philippines correspondent Tristan Nodalo contributed to this story. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday confirmed the death of a third Filipino a 49-year-old woman from Negros Occidental as a result of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. I regret to inform you that yes, it is confirmed. There is a third Filipino casualty, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said in a Palace briefing. Now we join the nation in extending our deepest sympathies to the relatives of the latest casualty who was also a caregiver, he added. She was Loreta Lorie Alacre, a caregiver. Her family has given permission to name her. In a Facebook post on Oct. 8 written in Hebrew, Alacre's employer Noam Solomon said the Filipino worker who was her devoted caregiver for the last six years was last seen early Saturday morning between the cities of Netivot and Ashkelon in the southern district of Israel. Hamas launched its attack at the time. She learned that Alacre was with a man later located in a hospital in Ashkelon after he was shot in the back, but no report was given to the Israeli employer on the whereabouts of the Filipino woman. During the briefing, De Vega said the family is already aware of the death and the Philippine Embassy in Israel is in talks with the woman's siblings residing in Kuwait for the repatriation of her remains. Alacres family said they received the tragic news from the embassy through a phone call after waiting for six days for updates on whether or not she was safe. They last spoke to the OFW on Oct. 6, a day before Hamas attacked Israel. The family said she was supposed to return home in December for her 50th birthday celebration. "Masakit po kasi pumunta po siya diyan para mag trabaho pero ganito ang nangyari [It hurts because she went to Israel to work, but this happened]," her sister Ana Alacre told CNN Philippines. Ana said Lorie tirelessly helped their family in the last several years, even supporting the education of her siblings' children. With her gone, Lorie's nephew said some of his cousins may be forced to stop schooling. The embassy earlier announced two Filipinos were killed in the ongoing war between Israel and the militant group Hamas. The other two confirmed deaths were caregiver Paul Vincent Castelvi, 42, from Pampanga, and a 33-year-old female from Pangasinan working in Israel for six years. RELATED: 'Bakit naman ganoon ang ginawa sa anak ko?: Father grieves killing of OFW son in Israel Meanwhile, three Filipinos are still considered missing. It doesnt mean that theres no hope because as we said before there were a lot more missing a week ago. And then, paunti nang paunti (it gets fewer). So possibly, these three will still show up, De Vega said. The DFA said the Presidents priority now is repatriation but no one can get in and out of Gaza due to a blockade, making repatriation not yet possible as of this time. READ: Gaza crisis grows under intense bombardment as Israel retaliates against Hamas atrocities In Gaza, De Vega said 92 out of 137 Filipinos in Gaza are asking to be repatriated. He added that the first batch of Filipinos are being arranged to fly home by Oct. 16. CNN Philippines Jelo Mantaring, Kristel Limpot, and Tristan Nodalo contributed to this report. Bangkok (CNN) Like his father Chumporn and dozens of other able-bodied men from their village in northeast Thailand, Manee Jirachart moved to Israel in search of work, dreaming of a better life. Jobs were hard to come by within the his rural community so when Manee found a cleaning position at a government office in southern Israel near the Gaza it seemed like a real opportunity. Hed been working that job for nearly five years when he was abducted and taken hostage last weekend by Hamas militants involved in last weekends murder and kidnapping rampage within Israel. The 29-year-old was just one of the scores of foreigners who became caught up in the attack that has devastated families around the world. Dozens came from countries like the United States, Canada, the UK and France, with many holding dual Israeli citizenship and living in the kibbutzim targeted by Hamas gunmen or had been partying at the music festival where so many were killed. But among many of the foreigners killed and captured by Hamas were also migrant workers from Asia, without familial links to either Israel or the Palestinian Territories, who hail from mostly poor, rural families and work in the countrys agricultural, construction, and healthcare sectors. At least 10 Nepali agriculture students were killed when the Hamas militants stormed the Alumim kibbutz, an agrarian community near Gaza, and another Nepali is missing, the countrys ambassador to Israel told CNN. Two Filipinos were also killed, according to the Philippines government. But it is Thailand, which for decades has made up one of the biggest sources of migrant labor in Israel, that has suffered one of the highest tolls of any nation beyond Israel itself. So far at least 21 Thai nationals have been killed as of Thursday, according to Thai authorities, with at least 14 others believed to have been captured by Hamas, their current whereabouts unknown, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin confirmed. Thailand has dominated the foreign migrant worker market in Israeli agriculture for the past decade, said Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch. As many as 20,000 Thai workers were living on various remote farms and desert areas all over Israel, including areas close to the Gaza Strip so it isnt surprising at all that many were right in harms way when Hamas fighters arrived. Each day this week the number has ticked up as more details become known, sparking fresh heartbreak for Thai families living thousands of miles from the Middle Easts latest conflict. In an interview on Thai television, Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said that around 5,000 Thais were employed in the fighting zone. Thousands of them are now hoping to return home to worried families, he added. With Israel massing hundreds of thousands of troops on the Gaza border amid speculation there could be a ground invasion, many in Thailand fear they could yet become caught in the crossfire. Begging for my sons release Manee had talked to his father Chumporn on the phone just hours before the attack. I had spoken with Manee in the morning and we were supposed to talk again in the evening, Chumporn told CNN in a phone interview. At the time, rockets were being fired toward Israel and this reminded the elder man of his own experiences living and working there. Aware of how quickly the dangers could escalate, the 50-year-old urged his son not to go outside, other than to find a bunker and hide if he needed to. But hours later, he saw photos circulating on social media showing his son with his hands behind his back, sitting barefoot and cross-legged with other male hostages in front of an armed fighter pointing a rifle. The photo, verified by Chumporn and seen by CNN, showed what looked like an underground room. I couldnt believe it. I thought it was some kind of prank, Chumporn said. I called him several times but there was no answer that was when I started to believe it was real. We (Thais) are not involved in any of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. We are just there to work and earn money so we can have better lives, he added. I am begging for my sons release. I need to have him back, in good shape like before he left Thailand. Palestinian workers werent welcome anymore Migrant workers from Asia make up more than half of Israels foreign work force, often taking on jobs as caregivers and within the construction industry. Construction workers from China, where multiple firms maintain lucrative contracts with real estate developers in Israel, have found themselves caught up the violence this week. One of the Filipinos killed, Paul Castelvi, had been working in Israel for five years and was a major breadwinner for his family, who expressed disbelief over his death at the hands of Hamas fighters. He was among those employed taking care of elderly people when Hamas fighters entered their home, Castelvis elderly father Nick told CNN affiliate CNN Philippines at their home in San Fernando city in the northwestern Pampanga province. They were heartless and did not show any mercy. You can ask anyone and they will tell you how kind and good my son was. He (would have) put up a fight to defend his employer and was shot there while they (Hamas fighters) took his employer and left Paul there to die with a gunshot wound, he said, breaking down in tears. We are left devastated by his loss. He was just there to earn a living so why would they do that to my son? Assia Ladizhinskaya, spokesperson for Kav LaOved, a non-profit advocating for labor rights in the region, said part of the reason for this was that an earlier massive wave of terror acts in Israel meant Palestinian workers werent welcome anymore. During the 1990s, migrant workers (began to) replace Palestinians working in construction sites and agriculture fields as Palestinians workers became unwelcome and unreliable due to regular lock downs and security issues, Ladizhinskaya added. Now many have found themselves caught up in those same security issues as a seemingly intractable conflict that has festered for decades without resolution flares up once more. Human Rights Watch called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and said that Thai workers, along with Nepalese and Filipinos, were simply there to earn money to support their families. Such targeting of civilians is clearly a war crime and inexcusable in any circumstance, said Robertson. Survivors return home Meanwhile, the first flight of 41 Thai landed in Bangkok on Thursday many recounting harrowing escapes as they reunited with tearful family members. Agency photos and videos showed two were being through the airport in wheelchairs. Migrant workers migrating to dangerous conflict zones in search of work, with little protection and legal enforcement, has been a big issue for decades, said British researcher and migrant worker rights specialist Andy Hall. Its clear there is a strong market for them and little regulation by governments, Hall told CNN. Many even pay massive amounts of money as part of high recruitment fees to take up jobs, he added. Thailand itself is a major destination for migrant workers, mainly from poorer neighboring countries like Cambodia and Laos, as well as war-torn Myanmar. It only shows the desperation of the situation and stronger protocols are needed to protect people even before they migrate. There needs to be more risk assessments and detailed consideration (on the part of authorities). For now, many of those workers in Israel find themselves trapped in a region described by the UN as at a tipping point as tensions escalate and Israeli retaliation against Gaza accelerates. Then there are those who, like Manee Jirachart, find themselves hostage in a foreign land they hoped would help them have a better life. There are up to 150 hostages being held in Gaza, Israeli authorities believe. It is unclear how many are foreign nationals. Scores are being held captive, facing appalling threats to their lives, said the UNs top humanitarian official Martin Griffiths in a statement released this week. The violence must stop. Those held captive must be treated humanely. Hostages must be released without delay. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Thai deaths in Hamas massacre spotlight poor agricultural workers from Asia who toil in Israels fields" Chipmaker Qualcomm is planning to lay off 1,258 employees from its offices in California by December this year, multiple filings with the states Employee Development Department showed. The layoffs, which will impact staffers from Qualcomm's San Diego and Santa Clara offices, include positions such as engineers, analysts, software developers, and staff from the financial, legal, and human resources employees. This notice is to inform you that Qualcomm Incorporated and its affiliated and subsidiary entities (Qualcomm) is reducing its workforce at its San Diego office locations.This will impact approximately 1,064 employees in San Diego, and the employment terminations will begin on or about December 13, 2023, the companys legal counsel wrote in a formal notification. The reductions are scheduled to be permanent and do not involve the closure of a plant, the counsel added. In another similar notice, the company said it would lay off at least 194 employees from its Santa Clara offices, starting December 13, 2023. As per the two notices, engineering staff of varying seniority levels were the most impacted, followed by analysts. Qualcomm currently employs approximately 50,000 employees globally. Trouble brewing for months The layoff notifications follow Qualcomms financial struggles over the past several months. In August, Qualcomms president and chief executive officer Cristiano Amon, during an earnings call, said the company was taking a conservative view of the market and would proactively take additional cost actions to deliver maximum value to stockholders in an uncertain environment. For the quarter ended June, the chipmaker posted revenue of $8.45 billion, down 23% year-on-year. Net income for the company was down 52% year-on-year. Qualcomm is not the only chipmaker that has laid off staffers in the last year. Around the same time last year, Intels Habana Labs laid off 100 staffers. AMD and Nvidia on the other hand have not laid off any staffers to date. The two companies have been able to monetize the proliferation of generative AI, which requires advanced AI chips. In contrast, Qualcomm's business operations are reliant on its chips, which are mostly used in smartphones and IoT devices. Other large technology vendors have continued to downsize over the last year and a half due to challenging macroeconomic conditions. Layoffs in 2023 have far outpaced the number of job cuts formally announced in 2022, as tech giants including Amazon, Cisco, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, Google, IBM, SAP, and Salesforce as well as many smaller companies announced sweeping job cuts. Isabelle Devi Poirier and Lucas Marsh are undergraduate students in Concordias journalism program. They wrote this report on their experience in Greece. We were the first Concordia journalism students to attend the Thessaloniki International Media Summer Academy (THISAM), thanks to the collaborative efforts of our professor Aphrodite Salas and Concordia International. The annual event, which took place in July, brings together practicing journalists, academics and students from around the globe to discuss and exchange knowledge of new and emerging trends in the global media industry. Cooperative journalism Nikos Panagiotou, associate professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and founder of THISAM, says he created the event in response to the ongoing challenges currently facing the journalism industry. By offering a space for journalists from around the world to meet and share their experiences, THISAM serves to prepare participants to deal with challenges in their respective communities, he says. Having in mind the crisis in which journalism is in, it is more than important to look at local solutions through a global aspect, Panagiotou adds. Unless we adopt a model of cooperative journalism, unless we adopt a model of addressing the topics through cooperation, as well as exchange of knowledge, it will be very difficult for media organizations to come out of this crisis. Collaborative projects Originally a coalition of four universities, THISAM now partners with 15 universities across the world. Panagiotou expresses the desire to deepen the conferences ties with Concordia. Were looking forward to partnering with Concordia University, due to (Canadas) reputation as well as its established institutions. Institutions are selected to participate in THISAM based on their journalistic curriculum. Professors from aspiring institutions are then invited to attend the conference alongside some of their students. Once they become THISAM partner universities, institutions are encouraged to take on joint initiatives throughout the year. We dont consider Thessaloniki International Media Summer Academy as a one-off event, but actually an event through which a new cooperation model starts, Panagiotou says. Hong Kong: Advanced therapy products regulated The Department of Health today said the Pharmacy & Poisons Board of Hong Kong earlier issued a licence to authorise a local company to manufacture autologous chimeric antigen receptor T cells, ie CAR-T cells, for clinical trial, but not for clinical treatment. The department and the Hospital Authority today issued a joint statement in response to media enquiries about the issuance of a licence for a manufacturer of advanced therapy products by the board. The statement said the board issued a licence for a manufacturer on August 30 according to the Pharmacy & Poisons Regulations, authorising the company to manufacture CAR-T cells for clinical trials. It stressed that the licence specified that the company is authorised to manufacture CAR-T cells only for the purpose of clinical trials instead of any clinical treatment purpose. In Hong Kong, advanced therapy products are regulated under the Pharmacy & Poisons Ordinance as a pharmaceutical product. If the company wishes to manufacture CAR-T cells for clinical treatment purposes, it must first apply to the board to alter the licensing conditions. The department said manufacturers of any CAR-T cells for treatment purposes should apply to the board for registration in accordance with the regulations, adding that the board will only approve the application if the product meets safety, efficacy and quality criteria. It stressed that using CAR-T cells for clinical trials or treatment purposes without approval is illegal and may be considered as a criminal offence. On the treatment side, the Hospital Authority pointed out that it began its CAR-T cell therapy pilot programme at Queen Mary Hospital in 2021, adding that the service has been extended to Hong Kong Children's Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital. It is now prescribing Tisagenlecleucel for CAR-T cell therapy. The drug has been registered for clinical use for two indications, namely patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia that is refractory, in relapse post-transplant or in second or later relapse, or adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. Currently, Tisagenlecleucel is the only CAR-T cell therapy drug registered in Hong Kong for clinical use, and it is not manufactured by the pharmaceutical product manufacturer licensed on August 30, the authority noted. This story has been published on: 2023-10-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Israeli military warns Palestinians to evacuate Gaza City Xinhua) 14:17, October 13, 2023 JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the southern area of the coastal enclave ahead of a possible Israeli ground offensive. "The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians ... for their own safety and protection," read a statement issued Friday morning. "You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made," the statement said. According to the IDF, Hamas militants are using underground tunnels in the city to hide. Israel is believed to be preparing for a ground incursion on the Gaza Strip, according to media reports and analysis. Since this round of attacks between Hamas and Israel began on Saturday, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. So far more than 1,500 Palestinians and more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) EQS-Ad-hoc: alstria office REIT-AG / Key word(s): Dividend/Change in Forecast alstria office REIT-AG: Extraordinary General Meeting to distribute a special dividend of EUR 250 million and increase of FFO guidance 2023 13-Oct-2023 / 14:47 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. alstria office REIT-AG intends to return EUR 250 million of capital to the shareholders by end of 2023 via special dividend and increases FFO guidance for FY 2023 Extraordinary general meeting to resolve on special dividend by end of 2023 FFO guidance 2023 increased from EUR 79 million to EUR 84 million Hamburg, October 13, 2023 Today, management board and supervisory board of alstria office REIT-AG (Symbol: AOX, ISIN: DE000A0LD2U1 (shares), ISIN: XS2191013171 (Bond 2020), ISIN: XS2053346297 (Bond 2019), ISIN: XS1717584913 (Bond 2017)) resolved to prepare for an extraordinary general meeting in order to return approx. EUR 250 million of capital to the shareholders by end of the year. On April 8, 2022, the Company had already announced its intention to return approx. EUR 1 billion of capital to the shareholders in the form of a share buyback or subject to a decision by a general meeting of the Company in the form of a special dividend payment. Accordingly, the Company has so far distributed approx. EUR 750 million of special dividend based on a corresponding resolution of the extraordinary general meeting in August 2022. The repayment of further approx. EUR 250 million shall be made subject to a decision by an extraordinary general meeting of the Company to be held on December 1, 2023 in the form of a special dividend payment. Based on the preliminary figures for the first nine months of 2023, alstria confirms the forecast for revenues of EUR 190 million for the full year 2023. Due to a favourable cost development in the first 9 months of 2023, the FFO forecast for the full year 2023 has been revised upwards from previously EUR 79 million to EUR 84 million. Contact: Ralf Dibbern Head of Finance, Controlling & Reporting Steinstr. 7 20095 Hamburg Germany Telephone: +49 (0) 40 226 341 329 Email: RDibbern@alstria.de Weitere Informationen: www.alstria.de www.beehive.work linkedin.com/company/alstria-office-reit-ag About alstria alstria office REIT AG is the leading real-estate operator focusing solely on German office property in selected German markets. Our strategy is based on the ownership and an active management of our properties throughout their entire life cycle, strong added-value services to our customers and deep knowledge of the markets in which we operate. alstria strives for sustainable long-term value creation while taking advantage of short-term arbitrage of inefficiencies in the real estate markets. As of June 30, 2023, the portfolio comprises 106 buildings with a lettable area of 1.4 million square meters and a total portfolio value of EUR 4.7 billion. Disclaimer This release constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any shares. As far as this press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the business, financial condition and results of operations of alstria office REIT-AG (alstria), these statements are based on current expectations or beliefs of alstrias management. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those reflected in such forward-looking statements. Apart from other factors not mentioned here, differences could occur as a result of changes in the overall economic situation and the competitive environment especially in the core business segments and markets of alstria. Also, the development of the financial markets and changes in national as well as international provisions particularly in the field of tax legislation and financial reporting standards could have an effect. Terrorist attacks and their consequences could increase the likelihood and the extent of differences. alstria undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. They say history is written by the victors. Thats a terrible way of writing history, because Victors are notorious liars. Just last month, CEO Victor Bozzo was indicted, and earlier this year, Victor Clark was sentenced for fraudulently diagnosing children to cheat Medicare. Who invented this absurd system, of entrusting all historical records to men named Victor? A far better source would be historians, who provide lesser-known facts about famous people, such as... 5 Abraham Lincoln Wanted Black Americans to Leave the Country Eighteen months into the Civil War, President Lincoln invited a committee of freedmen to the White House so he could speak about their futures. He did not, as you might imagine, offer his support by saying America would embrace them once the North won. Instead, he called for all Black Americans to leave the country and form a colony somewhere else. Alexander Gardner Emancipate yourselves the hell out of here! You and we are different races, he said. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. For the good of everyone, they should leave America, going perhaps to Liberia. Or, they could go to Central America, where he suggested fortune awaited since that place had plenty of coal mines. It would be difficult on them, but insisting on staying would be selfish. For starters, they should consider all the ill effects their presence had on white people. See our present condition the country engaged in war! our white men cutting one anothers throats... But for your race among us, there could not be war. They should also put their descendants ahead of themselves. Even George Washington, he said, suffered by seeking independence rather than remaining British, but as with him, their forging their own path could lead to better lives for their children and grandchildren. Advertisement Lincoln would go on to try to implement this plan, sending an initial contingent to Central America, but this failed when Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica all rejected the plan and threatened war. Lincoln had no idea that, once the Civil War ended, the two races would coexist, leading to well, not instant racial harmony, but it got better, and it sure beat total segregation through international borders. 4 Albert Einstein Didnt Know the Speed of Sound In 1921, Einstein visited Boston, and along with various admirers, he was met at the train station by someone offering a challenge. This challenger presented him with a copy of a test that Thomas Edison at the time issued to prospective employees. Today, you can see a copy of the original test, which covered some basic questions in geography and science. We expect youll answer most or all of them correctly. By 1921, Edison had switched to new questions, as newspapers had published the original ones. Advertisement A translator asked Einstein the questions in German, and one early question stumped him: What is the speed of sound through the atmosphere? This was perhaps one of the harder questions, but you might expect a scientist to answer it easily. Einstein couldnt, saying he had no need of burdening his memory with this particular fact, since he could easily look it up in any textbook. His wife Elsa backed him up in this brimming rivalry with Edison, saying Edison was merely an inventor, while Einstein occupied his mind with the problems of space and the universe. Los Angeles Times Ask Tom the speed of light in difference reference frames. Does he even know its constant? Advertisement Einsteins ignorance of this elementary info comes across as eerily similar to the limited knowledge of one other figure whose name is now a shorthand for smarts: Sherlock Holmes. In the first Holmes novel, Watson discovers the man does not know the Earth revolves around the Sun. What the deuce is it to me? says Holmes. If we went round the Moon, it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work. Advertisement 3 George Orwell Ratted on Dissenters to Help the Government Make Propaganda During the Cold War, Britain had an Information Research Department (IRD), a division of the Foreign Office designed to write propaganda. You might call its mission Orwellian. You might also call its name Orwellian, just as contrary to its actual purpose as the Ministry of Truth. The very word Orwellian is also an example of something that sort of says the opposite of what it is. Orwells books were about authoritarianism, but the man himself wasnt, so its a bit odd that we dub government overreach Orwellian. Were not telling you anything you didnt know with this or saying to stop using the word, just pointing out a quirk of language. BNUJ Whats the word for when someone makes you stop using a word? Advertisement Except, the IRD really was Orwellian, both in that it created government propaganda and that it was assisted by George Orwell. The department vetted people for possible recruitment as propagandists against communism, and since Orwell knew a thing or two about those who leaned left, IRD employee Celia Kirwan contacted him and asked his help. Advertisement Orwell compiled a list of 38 people who should not be trusted as propagandists. He listed suspected communists, noting one as v. stupid and another as very anti-English. Another was Jewish? (reason enough for mistrust, figured Orwell), while one American civil rights leader was anti-white. He also put down Charlie Chaplins name. A couple years later, Chaplin would be expelled from the United States for suspected communist ties, and he would wisely choose not to return to his native England he moved to Switzerland instead. Advertisement 2 Annie Oakley Went to Court to Fight Cocaine Allegations Oakleys career as a sharpshooter in Wild West shows took a break in 1901, when she was 41 years old. A train carrying her and her husband/co-star Frank Butler crashed, leaving her temporarily paralyzed. It took five spinal operations to get her back on her feet. At this point, she shifted to more traditional theater, acting in a play. Baker's Art Gallery Playing a frontier woman with a gun. A real stretch for her. In 1903, a report came out that shed been arrested for stealing to fund her cocaine addiction. Cocaine was legal at the time, but theft was not. The report was false. Were the cocaine part true, wed actually find this story less remarkable, because we wouldnt begrudge any entertainer a little cocaine to get them through the day. So long as she stayed clean while handling firearms onstage, that would be a win for everyone. But no the story was false, spread by William Randolph Hearst with the sole goal of selling newspapers. Advertisement Advertisement Oakley sued the newspaper for libel. She sued not just the original paper but various others who repeated the story, winning or settling 54 separate cases. These legal battles took an entire decade. She could instead have simply got her gun and murdered all the newspaper reporters, but that would not have been as satisfying. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Eton provost-in-waiting Sir Nicholas Coleridge was accused of having soup for brains on social media for declaring that he preferred Etonians to other people and that it 'counts against' those who studied elsewhere. His remarks in The Daily Telegraph embarrassed Coleridge, who takes over from William Waldegrave at the 50,000-a-year school next September. But it was the editorial boffins at the Telegraph who had red faces when it emerged that his words, clarioned as the first time he talked about the school he loves, were made in 1988 for Danny Danziger's book 'Eton Voices'. Waldegrave has told Old Etonians that he contacted the newspaper and it has apologised, adding: 'Sir Nicholas wishes to make it clear that these comments, made nearly 40 years ago, do not represent his views.' Eton provost-in-waiting Sir Nicholas Coleridge (pictured last month) was accused of having soup for brains on social media for declaring that he preferred Etonians to other people and that it 'counts against' those who studied elsewhere King Charles's state visit to Kenya will not be as lively as his first in 1971. During a no-frills walking safari, his group was attacked by a charging bull elephant. With no time to run for it, Charles stood perfectly still whereupon the tusker withdrew. Had he not, as my colleague and royal biographer Robert Hardman points out, we might now be enjoying the reign of King Andrew. King Charles's state visit to Kenya will not be as lively as his first in 1971. Charles, then the Prince of Wales, is pictured with local guides and a military escort as he took part in a four day safari through the Ngare Valley in Kenya in February 1971 Diana's appearance as a ghost in The Crown is not the first use of the supernatural in the Netflix excitement. Delightfully daft Helena Bonham Carter, who played Princess Margaret in seasons three and four, hired a medium to get in touch with the dead sister of the Queen. And Madge's verdict? 'You're better than the other one,' she barked from the other side, a reference to Vanessa Kirby who played the younger Margaret. Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), Prince Charles(Dominic West) and The Queen (Imelda Staunton) in series five of The Crown Delightfully daft Helena Bonham Carter, who played Princess Margaret in seasons three and four, hired a medium to get in touch with the dead sister of the Queen. And Madge's verdict? 'You're better than the other one,' she barked from the other side, a reference to Vanessa Kirby who played the younger Margaret. Ms Bonham Carter is pictured during filming for series four of The Crown John Simpson's defence of the BBC's reluctance to refer to Hamas as terrorists seems to be the closest the World Affairs editor will get to the Middle East conflict. The 79-year-old has had minimal involvement in any major news story over the past five years. He has an occasional BBC2 programme called Unspun World, which goes out at the witching hour of 11.15pm. While Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet and Clive Myrie report from the front, London analysis with Frank Gardner and Ros Atkins remains a Simpson-free zone. Publishing house Gibson Square's new title, From Red Terror to Terrorist State, reveals that Putin's grandfather Spiridon was a favourite chef of Stalin and also cooked many of Lenin's last meals in 1924. What chance of a book of Spiridon's favourite recipes? Author Yuri Felshtinsky (pictured) concludes that Putin's granddad probably assassinated Lenin by poisoning his food Unlikely. Author Yuri Felshtinsky concludes that Putin's granddad probably assassinated Lenin by poisoning his food. Like grandad like grandson? Writer David Benedictus, who has died aged 85, was forced to remove a passage in his autobiography falsely claiming weatherman Michael Fish was part of a Twickenham wife-swapping circle. Why did he make the allegation? It was revenge for Fish allegedly shouting at Benedictus's dog when they were neighbours. Watching BBC TV's grim but superb four-part drama on Jimmy Savile, The Reckoning, was distressing for me not just because it was about an evil predator who preyed on the young and defenceless, but because it brought back unpleasant memories of my own encounter with him in a Channel 4 studio in 1995. At the time, it was regarded as the toughest interview he'd faced and I suppose in many ways it was. But the new drama documents over four hours how Savile had got away with his perversions for decade after decade 'in plain sight' as the show puts it without ever being called properly to account. For my part, the only honest conclusion was that the interview had not been nearly tough enough and that we had let his many victims down. The truth is that we didn't know the half of it, despite our best efforts, which proved to be inadequate. It's not that we were in any way cowed by his celebrity, a weapon he'd often brandish to deter people from seeking the truth. I had harboured a visceral loathing for Savile ever since, as a kid in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I was forced to listen to his Teen And Twenty Club show on Radio Luxembourg in bed at night on my transistor radio because the BBC never played the sort of music I liked. At one stage, when the questions got intense, he pulled out a banana from his ubiquitous track suit, slowly peeled it, then started eating it I only ever met him that one time for the interview. When it was over, I vowed never to meet him again. Pictured, Andew Neil interviews Jummy Savile for the Channel 4 series Is This Your Life? Steven Coogan playing Jimmy Savile for the BBC series The Reckoning. 'A BAFTA must be on its way) It always amazed me that this man of no discernible talent whatsoever, with his annoying catchphrases, unpleasant voice, infuriating mannerisms and unkempt, scruffy appearance (all magnificently captured by Steve Coogan playing Savile a BAFTA must be on its way), went on to become a household name and even to be regarded as a 'national treasure'. It did not speak well of British taste, standards or judgment. So it would be fair to say I approached the interview with a certain hostility, which I would have to keep under control. I was armed with copious research, meticulously gathered. But it went no further than suggesting Savile had an unhealthy and inappropriate obsession with young teenage girls, generally referred to as 'groupies' in these days, who may or may not have been over the age of consent. From the mid-1970s, I was a presenter on the popular science show Tomorrow's World, which went out live on BBC1 on Thursday nights just before Top Of The Pops. I would see these young girls gathered at the gates of Television Centre, trying to get in and stopping any cars that might contain their idols. One day, because I was wearing a tartan scarf, a group of girls asked if I was with the Bay City Rollers, a case of mistaken identity I'd prefer not to dwell on. In these days, famous DJs like Savile were just as well-known as the pop stars whose records they played and they too attracted their share of adoring groupies. It was in his dealings with this element of his fanbase that we thought his behaviour was most likely to have been questionable. Jimmy Savile with his mother ('the Duchess') at Buckingham Palace, London, to receive his OBE At the time it was a circle I couldn't square why make yourself out to be a ladies' man when your life has been bereft of female company, bar your mum? But we had no information relating to his rampant paedophilia, much less necrophilia. Evidence of both emerged only after his death in 2011 and I doubt any suspicions we might have had would have been strong enough to deploy on broadcast TV. The inadequacy of our research could not be attributed to using inexperienced, unpaid interns. Far from it, we'd employed some hard-bitten tabloid journalists who knew how to uncover sleaze. But they uncovered very little or very little we had any chance of using. What they did manage to establish, however, was that Savile was stranger and more odious that even I thought. Despite the fact he promoted himself as a 'ladies' man', we could not find a single woman he'd ever dated, much less anyone he'd had a relationship with. Indeed, the only woman with whom he appeared to have a close relationship was his mother 'the duchess' on whom he professed to dote. So not quite the playboy, then. As I probed Savile about this in the interview, he grew visibly uncomfortable. But he was also the master of deflection. At one stage, when the questions got intense, he pulled out a banana from his ubiquitous track suit, slowly peeled it, then started eating it. It was meant to give the impression that he was supremely relaxed and unruffled by my cross-examination. How the audience lapped it up. With the benefit of hindsight which makes us all wiser it's clear Savile had no interest in regular relationships because all that interested him was the chance to indulge in his evil predations. These were conducted under cover of charitable benefaction, which he thought (accurately, alas) made him invulnerable to accusations of foul play. At the time it was a circle I couldn't square why make yourself out to be a ladies' man when your life has been bereft of female company, bar your mum? Jimmy Savile posing next to his Rolls-Royce car in 1964. 'Savile was the master of deflections' There were those, from hospital administrators to BBC executives to senior civil servants, who saw through the avuncular carapace to the evil that lay behind. Savile prepares for The Bupa Great North Run in 2006 It only added to the Savile enigma, making his defences even harder to penetrate. Since The Reckoning has started to air, there are plenty of wiseacres on social media averring that they knew about Savile all along or that they had a sister or friend who worked in a hospital where Savile was omnipresent and they always said he was a rum 'un. And maybe they did. The BBC drama shows that, from early on, Savile did not fool everybody. There were those, from hospital administrators to BBC executives to senior civil servants, who saw through the avuncular carapace to the evil that lay behind. But they were few and far between. As for his victims, they were young, vulnerable, damaged, powerless, shattered by their awful experiences in his presence. That's why he picked on them. Who would believe them nobodies against this giant of a celebrity who still put in shifts as a hospital porter despite his huge wealth and fame? Someone who operated with the blessing of the country's most powerful institutions the BBC, the NHS, No 10 Downing Street, the Palace? Of course, they were not 'nobodies'. They were very much 'somebodies' who deserved our protection, which we failed to give. The Reckoning shows nothing explicit, but I defy you to watch the scenes where Savile moves in on his prey without having to wipe a tear from your eye or control your mounting anger. The BBC and the health service propped him up and protected him when they should have been getting to the bottom of what he was up to. But, of all his formidable defences, celebrity was the most important. It always amazed me that this man of no discernible talent whatsoever, with his annoying catchphrases, unpleasant voice, infuriating mannerisms and unkempt, scruffy appearance, went on to become a household name and even to be regarded as a 'national treasure' Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris 'Rolf's Cartoon Club' TV programme, Wales, Britain - 1992. Rolf Harris would later be exposed as a paedophile and sex predator I saw this first-hand during that interview. As my questions became more insistent, the more the audience turned on me. He played them like a fiddle. By the end of the interview I was the villain, he was the hero. Savile didn't just groom his victims. He groomed a nation. Those who suffered at his hands knew what they were up against. I don't blame them for staying quiet. I do blame the media, myself included, for not doing anything like enough to expose this dangerous, disgusting charlatan. As the years went by, he left more and more victims in his wake. Some were prepared to tell their stories, if only people would listen. More in broadcasting and the health service were rumbling him, too. But nobody wanted to hear it. Editors of the posher papers (I edited The Sunday Times from 1983 til 1994) thought their readers had no interest in him. I only ever met him that one time for the interview. When it was over, I vowed never to meet him again. I should have put an investigative team on him. As for the red-top tabloids, I guess their editors saw no mileage in putting a lot of legally risky effort into bringing down someone their readers largely revered. Despite growing rumours of Savile's predatory ways, the BBC allows him to park his campervan, in which he sleeps, in the grounds of Television Centre There seemed no appetite to investigate the growing suspicions around him. Better just to look the other way No media outlet is more culpable, of course, than the BBC. The Reckoning does not pull its punches (it's made by ITV Studios, which is fitting since it was ITV which finally exposed Savile after his death). But some things still beggar belief. Despite growing rumours of Savile's predatory ways, the BBC allows him to park his campervan, in which he sleeps, in the grounds of Television Centre. He's allowed to wander the corridors at will, night and day. He's also often given unfettered access to the wards at the hospitals he works with. Even as more broadcast executives worry about his predilection for the young, the BBC gives him Jim'll Fix It, a show devoted to making children's dreams come true. Even after his death, the BBC can't stop the hero worship. BBC2's Newsnight starts a major investigation into him, but it's canned from on high. The BBC wants a clear run for its Christmas Special, in which he is deified for an hour. In a crowded field, this must surely rank as one of the BBC's lowest points in modern times, a scandal for which it has never been properly brought to account even in The Reckoning. At least the Newsnight journalists took their revelatory work to ITV, which did the job reporters should have done long ago. But even the BBC's dismal record over Savile pales into insignificance compared with the total failure of the police to do anything about him. Victims were rejected or ignored. There seemed no appetite to investigate the growing suspicions around him. Better just to look the other way. After all, isn't Jimmy a great supporter of the police? Leave him alone. It's just Jimmy being Jimmy. But the ignominy of the police did not stop there. Embarrassed by their total, abject failure to do anything about Savile when he was operating in plain sight, the pendulum swung to the other extreme after his death. Now the police were prepared to place great credence on the obviously fantastical ramblings of Carl Beech, who claimed to be the victim of a child abuse ring operating at the heart of the Establishment. Before he was rumbled as a liar, he besmirched the reputations of a former Prime Minister, a Home Secretary, MPs, the former heads of MI5 and MI6 and the ex-head of the armed forces. Savile didn't just groom his victims. He groomed a nation. Those who suffered at his hands knew what they were up against Jimmy Savile with English actress Anita Harris and his mother Agnes on November 5, 1968 The police lapped it up and spent millions investigating his claims, even claiming some of his evidence was credible. At least one of those he accused would go to their grave without knowing they'd be fully exonerated (as were all those he accused). In the end, Beech was sentenced to 18 years in prison, having been found guilty of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice, one of fraud, and (of course) several child sexual offences. Nobody emerges well from the gruesome Savile saga. Nobody, that is, bar his victims, who are now able to speak out about what they went through, which they do in The Reckoning with heartbreaking eloquence. It is some consolation, if not enough. For nothing can change the grim, dismal fact that Savile died without paying the slightest price for his evil, that he was allowed to walk untrammelled, even worshipped, among us and that, for too long afterwards, he continued to haunt us from his grave. She movingly recalled her words 80 years later at the height of COVID-19 It was on this day, October 13, that Queen Elizabeth made her first broadcast Sunday October 13, 1940. France had fallen and, with the autumn light fading, the Battle of Britain still raged above the southern counties. Just a few weeks earlier, the Blitz started raining fire from the skies and long queues of child refugees now formed at the stations. The threat of invasion was real. This was the moment that 14-year-old Princess Elizabeth was asked to speak to the the nation and its children - and in particular those who were being sent sent to safety in the countryside far away from home. Broadcast from the drawing room of Windsor Castle as part of the BBC's Children's Hour, this was Princess Elizabeth's first appearance on the radio - and her first public statement of any sort. Ten-year-old Margaret Rose was by her side. 'Thousands of you in this country have had to leave your homes and be separated from your fathers and mothers,' said the future Queen. A 14-year-old Princess Elizabeth delivered her very first public address to Britain's evacuee children on October 13, 1940 Elizabeth was asked by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to give a morale boost to children separated from their families and sent to the countryside 'My sister Margaret Rose and I feel so much for you, as we know from experience what it means to be away from those you love most of all. 'To you living in new surroundings, we send a message of true sympathy and at the same time we would like to thank the kind people who have welcomed you to their homes in the country.' The two princesses had themselves been moved to safety from Buckingham Palace, where they had lived since 1937 and their father's accession to the throne, to Windsor Castle 20 miles away. The government had urged the Queen mother to leave for Canada with her daughters but she refused, saying, 'The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave.' With the disaster of Dunkirk still fresh in the memory, this was the period that Churchill would later describe as our darkest hour. Now he had asked Elizabeth, the future queen, to help lift national morale and, in particular, to address the plight of those children apart from their families. Over the six years of the war, more than two million children were sent to the countryside in a programme the military called Operation Pied Piper. Closing the broadcast, Elizabeth introduced her younger sister, saying: 'My sister is by my side and we are both going to say good night to you. Come on, Margaret.' Margaret added: 'Good night, children,' before Elizabeth said: 'Good night, and good luck to you all.' The speech was considered a huge success and this broadcast marked the beginning of a regular series of features aimed child evacuees. King George VI, had been reluctant to put his daughter on air, but was delighted with the result. In another moving speech to the nation, almost eight decades later in April 2020, the Queen recalled that first broadcast, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic reminded her of the separation felt during the war. 'We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safet 'Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones. 'But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do.' Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth, the future monarch, sat side-by-side with her sister, then known to the nation as Princess Margaret Rose, to address the children of Britain and the Commonwealth Two parents, a Palestinian father and an Israeli mother, who have both lost children in previous conflicts say 'no one will win' in the current bloodshed. Bassam Aramin's daughter, Abir, ten died at the hands of an Israeli soldier in 2007 while Robi Damelin's son David, 28, was killed in 2002 by a Palestinian sniper. The parents, though from opposing sides, have spoken regularly at events together to 'raise up our voice to stop this madness'. They say they now consider each other 'like family' and that 'We are not here to compare each others' pain'. Both are part of the The Parents Circle-Families Forum (PCFF), a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization set up in 1995 to try and help those on both sides who've lost families members. This week, they appeared on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, with Mr Aramin telling host Emma Barnett that the only people that have prospered from the decades of fighting in the Israeli-Gaza conflict are the 'graves and weapon sellers'. Appearing on Woman's Hour this week, Bassam Aramin, who lost his daughter, Abir, ten, at the hands of an Israeli soldier in 2007 and Robi Damelin, whose son David, 28, was killed in 2002 by a Palestinian sniper He told the programme: 'We need to treat the roots of this conflict, unfortunately we will wait for another wave and another wave. We know in advance people will die.' Mr Aramin continued: 'No one will win. The only winners are the graves and the weapon sellers. 'We need to understand that both of us have the right to exist and have the right to live in peace and security and prosperity and social justice. 'We cannot live like this. We have many dark days in our history and this must be stopped.' Ms Damelin reflected that the current conflict was 'probably the saddest period that I have experienced in Israel and in Palestine.' Her son David was a reservist when he was killed by a Palestinian sniper in 2002, with nine others at a political checkpoint in Ofra. The pair have become 'like family' and have spoken together at events. This week Mr Aramin said on Woman's Hour this week after the first few days of the new conflict: 'We need to understand that both of us have the right to exist and have the right to live in peace and security and prosperity and social justice' Grief: Bassam Aramin's daughter, Abir, ten, who was killed by an Israeli soldier in 2007. Right: Robi Damelin's son David, 28, who was killed in 2002 by a Palestinian sniper while serving as a reservist The parents are part of the The Parents Circle-Families Forum (PCFF), which was set up in 1995 to try and help bereaved people from both side of the conflict Previously describing the death of her son on the PCFF website, the mother of two said she'd been filled with a 'terrible premonition' before hearing the news after her son had told her he felt like a 'sitting duck'. The Israeli told listeners this week that it was important to understand the horror for people on both sides of the conflict, saying: 'Consider what it's like for a Palestinian woman now, to run away with no shelter with her children. 'Consider what it's like for a mother who lives in Sderot, who might have one child that's in a wheelchair and two others and has 15 seconds to get to the shelter.' The Parents Circle-Families Forum was the brainchild of Yitzhak Frankenthal and a small group of Israeli families. The group first met bereaved Palestinians from Gaza in 1998 and now incorporates 600 families. The pair told Radio 4 Woman's Hour host that they will keep sending out a message of unity The sixth day of the latest conflict has seen anti-Israel protests held in a 'day of jihad' across the world - after former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal demanded thousands of Muslims take to the streets to demonstrate amid the ongoing conflict. The demonstrations were staged after Friday prayers in Muslim communities around the world - including in Iraq, Japan and Bangladesh - with tens of thousands of protesters condemning Israel's attacks on Gaza and showing support for Palestinians in the wake of the deadly surprise attack launched by Hamas terrorists against Israelis. Thousands of demonstrators gathered Friday in Tahrir Square in the centre of Baghdad, and similar protests have been held in Lebanon and other Arab countries following afternoon prayers. IRAQ: Thousands of protesters gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad on Friday During some of the protests - like in Iran, Bangladesh and Malaysia - angry demonstrators burned Israeli and American flags. And in Germany, pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with riot police, with one bloodied demonstrator being led away from a square in Berlin in handcuffs. Thousands more gathered in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Friday for a demonstration in support of Palestinians, with many holding banners reading: 'The victory march will continue, solidarity with Palestine' and 'Stand with Palestine, Liberated Palestine'. The widespread protests come after former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal demanded thousands take to the streets today. '[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday,' Meshaal, who currently heads Hamas's diaspora office, said yesterday. She said although there was an American influence, her kids turned out just fine Suzanne, who lives in Tokushima Prefecture, reflected on the different cultures A Michigan mom who raised her kids in Japan says she was seen as a 'bad mom' An American mother has opened up about raising her children in Japan, claiming she was seen as a 'bad mother' for including American customs. Suzanne Kamata, who grew up in Michigan, said she only planned on living in Japan for a year. However the writer ended up meeting a Japanese man at the school she was teaching at, whom she went on to marry and have twins with. In an essay for Insider, the young adult book author reflected on raising her kids - who are half-Japanese, half-American - in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, while she still trying to include some American customs that she grew up with. 'I wanted them to grow up bilingually with an awareness of American culture,' Suzanne explained. 'Living in a conservative corner of Japan, they might not feel as if they fit in, but I wanted them to be proud of their origins.' Michigan-raised Suzanne Kamata (pictured) raised her half-Japanese, half-American children in Japan, while she still trying to include some American customs that she grew up with Suzanne (pictured with her twins) admitted she felt like a 'bad mom' when her kids started school, recalling how other mothers were appalled at what she packed for lunch The mom - whose children are now adults - recalled arranging playdates with other bicultural kids, and made sure to read books with bicultural characters in them to introduce them to the concept, later writing and publishing her own. She also introduced them to American foods, like mac and cheese, as well as cultural traditions, like Easter egg hunting. However the mom said when her kids started school, she started feeling like she was a 'bad mom.' 'It felt like I was doing everything wrong,' Suzanne confessed. As her daughter is deaf, she was enrolled in an early intervention program at the School for the Deaf, where Suzanne was expected to accompany their kids every day. 'On one of the first days, I packed a sandwich, potato chips, fruit, and cookies in a lunch box featuring a character from an American cartoon that my daughter enjoyed,' she recalled. At school, her packed her daughter's lunch, which was considered very normal by American standards, shocked the other mother's in the class. '"Isn't that junk food?" Suzanne recalled another mother asking her, saying she had prepared her child a bento with rice molded into a Japanese cartoon character, tiny sausages cut into octopus shapes, and carrots that looked like flowers. She introduced her kids to American foods, like mac and cheese, as well as cultural traditions, like Easter egg hunting Suzanne said her and her children often forgot to bring things to school, which their teachers said did not 'bode well' for the future However, the mom-of-two is happy to report her two children are well-adjusted young adults, adding they: 'occasionally eat mac and cheese, read many books, and forget things' When she took her son for his first day at school, Suzanne found out everyone else else had enrolled their kids into cram schools, an intensive course some students take to prepare them for lessons. 'Mine was the only one who didn't know how to read and write and do basic math,' she confessed. Another issue the teacher's had was the forgetfulness, with Suzanne admitting there were times that between her and her children, some items from a long list of required things were left at home. 'The teachers always said that forgetfulness boded ill for the future,' she explained. 'I'm not sure what they imagined would happen if they didn't remember everything every day, but I do know many Japanese adults who forget things.' Now, as a mother to two adults, Suzanne deems them well adjusted adults, reporting they: 'occasionally eat mac and cheese, read many books, and forget things.' Revelations in the Mail that forthcoming episodes of The Crown will feature the ghost of Diana, Princess of Wales, will be extremely unwelcome news to the Royal Family, according to a royal expert. According to reports, the ghost of the dead princess, played by Elizabeth Debicki, will have an emotional reconciliation with a grieving Charles, played by Dominic West, in the sixth and final series of the show, which will stream in two parts - the first next month, and the second in December. She then appears in phantom form again to Queen Elizabeth II, played by Imelda Staunton, as they discuss funeral arrangements with Charles with her appearance seemingly reducing the Queen to tears in the series, which will air from next month. Speaking on this week's episode of Palace Confidential, the Daily Mail's Diary Editor Richard Eden said he believes that The Firm will be 'dreading the new series' of Netflix's royal drama. The Daily Mail's Diary Editor Richard Eden (pictured) told Palace Confidential that the Royal Family is dreading the upcoming sixth - and final - series of The Crown 'From what I hear, each time there's a new series, there's a collective groan at the Palace, "oh not again",' he told the royal chat show. Richard added: 'I think one of the worst aspects of being in the Royal Family is having to put up with this sort of stuff. 'Now its become this sort of tawdry soap opera, I think they will be dreading the new series.' And the Daily Mail's Royal Editor Rebecca English meanwhile believes the producers of the show have made some 'distasteful decisions' and have gone too far with series 6 of the Netflix show. 'I personally think the Crown makers have shot themselves in the foot with this,' she told the programme. 'These are very personal, private moments being really sensationalised, the moment with Charles and [the ghost of] Diana comes just after he's shown sobbing over her coffin in Paris. Some people will say that its pretty distasteful.' Speaking previously about the upcoming series of the royal drama, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline that 'the idea that they have even contemplated Diana as a ghost seems absolutely weird', particularly considering the controversial elements already swirling around the show. Mr Fitzwilliams said: 'It is going to be a controversial series any ways with what they are already showing - the Panorama documentary, her death and the funeral - and in my opinion it should never have made this final series in the first place. Diana is played by Debicki (pictured, left) the Queen by Imelda Staunton (pictured, right) and Charles by Dominic West (pictured, far right) in the upcoming series of The Crown 'The whole idea that (show creator) Peter Morgan has scripted ghostly appearances by Diana is utterly tasteless. 'It is pitiful that someone with his skills has reduced what is undoubtedly a tragedy to something that he knows perfectly well will be controversial. 'The idea that he has scripted a ghostly figure of the mother of Prince William and Harry is obviously tasteless and the whole concept, whatever the ghost says or does, seems utterly bizarre.' Mr Fitzwilliams said Charles will remain silent on the portrayal but his two sons Princes Harry and William may speak out after both criticised the BBC in 2021 over Martin Bashir's infamous Panorama interview with Diana in 1995. Elizabeth Debicki plays Princess Diana in The Crown and is pictured in series five of the show He added: 'We may well hear what they think of the portrayal, but the trouble is if they do make a statement it will only add to the hype surrounding The Crown and there you have a problem. 'If Prince William or Prince Harry were to comment on this it would make headlines and even more people would watch it than they intended to. 'Whether they would watch such a thing, I have no idea of course. The King will make absolutely no comment at all. I think the Royal Family decided long ago what they think of The Crown - that it seems to have totally forsaken taste.' Mr Fitzwilliams went on to slam the production as a whole, claiming the portrayal of Diana's phantom was nothing more than a publicity stunt and that the final series, which has already come under fire for recreating Diana's death in Paris, should never have been made. 'It also seems to be an attempt to get publicity and you get the impression that there is nothing they wouldn't do to get publicity,' he said. 'The Crown is controversial enough as it is and I really believe there should not be a final series considering the damage it's done already. Upcoming: The series poster shows one striking shot of Princess Diana in a blue bathing suit sat at the end of a jetty 'What is so strange is that this series was already controversial and to put a ghost on top of that is absolutely deplorable and tasteless.' Meanwhile, brand and culture expert Nick Ede added that the brothers could be 'appalled' by the depiction of their late mother, and it would be 'quite triggering'. He told MailOnline: 'The producers have said the Diana ghost portrays 'visualisations of innermost thoughts' but of course this will be quite triggering and could cause distress. 'William and Harry I am sure will also find this difficult to acknowledge as they have no idea what Diana was feeling and where her emotions were during that time so this factional drama becomes one of fantasy and speculation which could appall the pair as it changes the narrative of the memory of their beloved mother,' he said. A Netflix source said the appearance of Debicki after Diana's death was meant to be a 'visualisations of innermost thoughts' rather than intended to be interpreted as 'supernatural'. Prince William has shared a cheeky message with Greg James on Instagram - insisting he loves the Radio 1 DJ 'really', despite previously joking that he is 'average'. The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 41, were recently interviewed by Jordan North and Vick Hope for BBC Radio 1's Going Home show. During the chat, the heir to the throne said he's listened to the station for many years, and seen presenters come and go. He added: 'So I can definitely say with great purpose that Greg James is an average DJ and Jordan and Vick are the future.' In a clip shared on his Instagram account, Greg reacted to William's put down, jokingly acting as if he were baffled. The royal, accompanied by his wife the Princess of Wales, appear to enjoy joking with the Radio One DJ host He said: 'Yeah, I don't really know how to...They [the Waleses] don't really ever have a go at anyone.' He continued: 'My nan is going to be cross. 'When I listened to it, my initial reaction was "alright, calm down Baldy!", but you can't say that in retaliation. 'So I would never say that on the radio.' Greg then proceeded to read out a text, which he described as 'one of his favourites' among those that have been sent to the station. The text, from an Ash in Bristol said the only thing for Greg to do is to 'egg' the royal's house in 'retaliation'. 'I'd b***** love to egg his house,' Greg joked. 'I reckon I could charm the guards. [I could tell them about how] I was here last year with the teen heroes.' Radio 1 DJ Greg James (pictured) mocked William by referring to the royal's rapidly receding hairline and calling him 'Baldy' Greg joked about where to buy eggs in his caption on Instagram, while William left a message saying he 'loves' the presenter 'really' He joked that if they asked what he had in his bag, he would say: 'Nothing. Definitely not 48 eggs.' Posting the video on Instagram, Greg captioned it: 'Wheres good to bulk buy eggs?' The Wales took to the comments section of the video to leave a message for the beleaguered presenter. It said: 'We love you really Greg! W.' The post was signed off simply with the letter 'W', showing that William had written the message. Cancer campaigner Nicky Newman, who died of breast cancer aged just 35 in September, arranged to have a haunting board at her funeral to have the last laugh with her friends and family. The popular Instagrammer, who kept her 336,000 fans on social media up to date with her gruelling treatment and encouraged them to check their own bodies, died on September 17th after being diagnosed with the disease five years ago. Her devoted husband Alex, 37, revealed yesterday that friends and family had gathered to remember Nicky at her funeral on Wednesday, and shared details of the day, including how guests were given sunflower seeds to scatter in her memory. The couple had been teenage sweethearts and electrician Alex, whom she nicknamed her 'lobster', published part of the celebrant's speech on Instagram, saying he was 'truly one of the luckiest lobsters alive to have shared my life with her'. He added that Nicky, who went by the nickname 'Nicknacklou' on the social media platform had included a haunted mansion board for guests as they entered the service. The life of cancer campaigner Nicky Newman, who died on September 17th five years after her breast cancer diagnosis, was celebrated by her friends and family on Wednesday Her husband Alex, who she nicknamed 'my lobster', told her 336,000 followers on Instagram that she had pre-arranged a haunting board for mourners at her funeral He wrote: 'The service was perfectly "Nicky" from the splashes of colour to the music choices and even her tongue-in-cheek haunted mansion board which was one of her requests and so amazingly done by her sister.' The bright purple board read: 'There are 999 happy haunts here but there's room for 1,000 and I have volunteered to join this ghostly retreat. Kindly step all the way in please, and make room for everyone. There's no turning back now.' Following her death this month, he described her as his one in a million soulmate, telling MailOnline: She was amazing, I loved her so much and I still do, with all my heart.' Nicky was known for her catchphrase Go grab life as she underlined the importance to make the most of every minute despite being diagnosed with cancer five years ago. Nicky with devoted husband Alex; he vowed this week to continue to make her proud after sharing details on her Nicknacklou Instagram account Alex told MailOnline following her death last month: After Nicky was diagnosed, we packed in so much together because we just wanted to have as much time together as we could, most people get 50 or 60 years with their partner we had to cram all that into just five' Guests were given packets of sunflowers to scatter and remember Nicky's life by, he told followers Nicky's husband Alex shared the tragic news of her death on Instagram with a pre-written post by his late wife in September The two married in 2014 at Guildford registry office and a blackboard Nicky made has pride of place in the kitchen of their home He continued: After Nicky was diagnosed, we packed in so much together because we just wanted to have as much time together as we could, most people get 50 or 60 years with their partner we had to cram all that into just five. Eight most common signs of breast cancer A change in size or shape A lump or area that feels thicker than the rest of the breast A change in skin texture such as puckering or dimpling (like the skin of an orange) A redness or rash on the skin and/or around the nipple Your nipple has become pulled in or looks different, for example changed its position or shape Liquid that comes from the nipple without squeezing Pain in your breast or your armpit thats there all or almost all of the time A swelling in your armpit or around your collarbone Advertisement There are so many wonderful memories I have of Nicky, its hard to just pick one out but what she did with her life and how she inspired others to take care of themselves and look out for each other was unbelievable. Alex described how he and Nicky nicknamed each other lobster and bean and met as teenagers in Guildford, Surrey, and apart from three years apart when they went to different universities have been together ever since. He said: We first went out as kids, then we split up but in 2008 we bumped into each other in town and just clicked, it was as if we had never been apart. I think we both knew we were meant to be together because we were always good friends and had great chemistry together, what differences we had balanced each other out.' Alex revealed how he secretly saved for a diamond engagement ring which he presented with her on Christmas Day 2012 while the two were meant to buy building up a deposit for a house. He said: That was one of the happiest days of my life, and I did it the proper way asking her dad first and then going down on one knee, she was so surprised, but she made me so happy when she said yes.' In 2014 they married at Guildford register office and a blackboard Nicky made detailing their love story has pride of place in the kitchen of their home. Alex said he and Nicky nicknamed each other lobster and bean and met as teenagers in Guildford, Surrey On it is written Mr and Mrs Newman and it marks out the key dates of their relationship the first line read 27.07.08 when he stole her heart, below is 25.12.12 and popped the question with the last line says 26.07.14 and she stole his last name. But four years later, as the couple started thinking about a family with the help of IVF, came the devastating news Nicky had terminal cancer. Alex said: Nicky was always very thorough with checking her breasts and one morning noticed a lump in the shower, we had done the first course of IVF and that hadnt worked, and then she went for tests. The day we found out it was secondary stage four cancer, we were all there, Nicky, her parents and myself and the world just caved in for all of us. They said the cancer had spread to her hips, lower spine, shoulders and ribs and the prognosis was maybe five to ten years at the most. It was such a shock for all of us, people say getting bad news like that is being hit by a train, but it was worse, everything we were hoping and planning for just collapsed around us. Nicky began her chemotherapy treatment at Guildford's Royal Surrey Hospital, and it meant the couples long cherished hopes of a family were brutally ended by the diagnosis. After receiving her diagnosis, Nicky made the decision to most of each moment she had left, coining the catchphrase 'grab life' Despite her own cancer being terminal, Nicky chose to build a platform to raise awareness, and educate others about the illness. In the process, her posts brought joy to hundreds of thousands of people Alex said: We discussed it and we both said there was no point going ahead as it would mean any child we had would grow up without their mother and we didnt want that. We could have frozen Nickys eggs, but we came to the same conclusion we wanted to be parents together or not at all. Nicky endured gruelling rounds of oral chemotherapy and Alex blinked back tears as he said: She was one of the bravest people Ive ever met in my life. She would always have a smile on her face, even though she was going through the most terrible pain, and she was always strong for the rest of us. We decided then to make the most of the time we had together and tick off as many things as we could do. She loved Disneyland so we went to the one in Florida and Paris, we went to Spain, Jamaica and Norway for the Northern Lights which was magical. She loved dancing and going out with friends and even up until a few weeks ago she was still out and about on the dancefloor, making sure everyone was having a good time. Despite the terrible plight she was going through and in a mark of her character and courage, Nicky documented her life through her Instagram page which has more than 300,000 followers. She shared with them her journey through chemotherapy and her journeys with Alex, always with her inspirational motto Go Grab Life. Alex was with her every step of the way and described her as his one in a million soulmate in their loving relationship that started as teenage sweethearts The last video on her Instagram is a step by step guide of how to as Nicky put it check your tattas in which she highlights signs to spot for cancer. It ends with a simple message saying: Remember you are NOT "looking for cancer" you are performing the greatest act of self-love getting to know your body and how to look after her and that goes for men too. Nicky raised awareness for organisations like The Little Princess Trust, when she shaved her hair knowing the chemotherapy would make it fall out, and donated it to make a wig for a child suffering with cancer. She also supported the magnificent work of charities such as The Willow Foundation and Future Dreams who both support cancer sufferers and their families. In her trademark upbeat and positive style, Nicky decided to shave her head after she started chemo and her hair started falling out, as she'd always known she wanted to donate it Through her videos and posts, Nicky was able to raise awareness about organisations that help people, as well as help educate on how to check your breasts In August, she shared the news that they had been dreading and the cancer had spread to her liver, after a brief stay in hospital she was allowed home but days later she was admitted to the Sam Beare hospice in Woking where she died last Sunday. Alex said: Once it had spread to her liver we knew it was going to be hard from there, the next course of treatment would mean even more pain, so she decided to stop it and make as much as she could with the time we had left. We had two big family barbecues and a friends birthday and Nicky, who is the most organised person I knew also sorted out her funeral and how she wanted everything down to the finest detail. She loved sunflowers and orange-coloured flowers and Ive ordered some for her casket at her funeral. Breaking down again Alex said: 'The hospice were great and I spent the last five nights there in the room with her. She was asleep most of the time but I spoke to her and I said I would always be there for her. Nicky wanted to show people that yes its hard and yes its painful but you can still enjoy life, you have to, in spite of the pain. Supporters can donate to Future Dreams and The Willow Foundation and Woking Sam Beare Hospice. Two adorable giant panda twins have finally been unveiled to the public after they were born in July - and after 500,000 people voted to name them, the tiny creatures are already winning fans around the world. The pair, who are already YouTube sensations, were introduced as Rui Bao ('wise treasure') and Hui Bao ('shining treasure') - and after waiting eagerly to catch a glimpse of the pandas, fans were delighted to finally see them. People flocked to Instagram to describe the sisters as 'little angels' after first hearing they had been born at Everland Theme Park in South Korea on July 7. Around 500,000 people voted online to choose names for the twin sisters, with a handful of fans invited to the ceremony. The pandas' names were chosen using a public selection process that lasted 43 days. Proposals were made through Everland's social media channels and, after being shortlisted by employees, the names were finally decided on through two public votes. Giant panda twins born at Everland Theme Park have been unveiled in a public naming ceremony - after some 500,000 people voted to choose their names Giant pandas have a low survival rate, which made this ceremony particularly special. The sisters have a healthy weight of over 5 kilograms, with black tufts of hair growing around their eyes, ears and legs. They are expected to be available for public viewing in the New Year, following a full assessment of their physical development and level of adaptation to external environments. Chinese president Xi Jinping gifted the twins' parents, Ai Bao and Le Bao, to the park in 2016. The twins are siblings with panda star Fu Bao, who was born in 2020 and is the first giant panda to be naturally bred in Korea. Each member of the family shares the name 'Bao', which means treasure. The pair, who are already YouTube sensations, were introduced as Rui Bao ('wise treasure') and Hui Bao ('shining treasure') They were born at Everland Theme Park, located near Seoul, on 7 July - and will be celebrating their 100th day this Sunday Around 500,000 people voted online to choose names for the twin sisters, with a handful of fans invited to the ceremony Proposals were made through Everland's social media channels and, after being shortlisted by employees, the names were finally decided on through two public votes The pandas are expected to be available for public viewing in the New Year, following a full assessment of their physical development and level of adaptation to external environments Since their birth in July, the zoo has posted numerous videos of the pandas on its YouTube channel that have amassed millions of views. The cubs are very healthy, and have started teething and crawling, zookeeper Kang Chul-won told reporters. 'We've never raised twins before, so we were very nervous, but I was happy seeing them grow up and I think the people watching them via social media were also happy,' he said. Fans flocked to share their delight on social media after the name announcement, with comments including 'As their names imply, I hope the babies will grow up wise and bright,' and 'I wish their names will be called fondly and remembered by many.' Giant pandas have been a symbol of China's soft diplomacy for decades, their destinations often tracking major trade deals and diplomatic initiatives. Beijing only loans pandas to foreign zoos, but they are required to return any offspring within a few years of their birth to join the country's breeding program. A teenage royal considered to be one of Europe's most eligible young bachelors turns 18 this weekend - and will celebrate the milestone birthday with a lavish gala. Prince Christian, the heir to the Danish throne, will host the event at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. And details of the event - including the dress code and some of the confirmed guests - continue to emerge, with the prince reportedly not wanting guests to bring him presents, and photos not allowed. The party, which promises to be one of the glitziest events on the social calendar, will see hundreds of well-heeled guests from across the commonwealth in attendance. Attendance has been confirmed by a number of guests so far. Prince Christian of Denmark (pictured) who is second in line to the throne, will celebrate his 18th birthday on October 15 The young royal will celebrate with a glitzy gala, which has a white tie and tiara dress code, and a guest list featuring members of several European royal families A video (pictured) recently shared on the Danish royal family's official Instagram showed hundreds of invitations for the gala being printed and put in envelopes Prince Christians godfather - Norways Crown Prince Haakon - will be at gala, as will Haakin's daughter Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 19. Another of Christian's godparents - Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden - has also confirmed her attendance, alongside her husband Prince Daniel and their 11-year-old daughter Princess Estelle. Other European royals who may join them at the gala include Queen Maxima of the Netherlands with her husband King Willem Alexander, and their oldest two daughters Princess Catharina-Amalia, 19, and Princess Alexia, 18. And further possible guests include Princess Leonor of Spain, 17, and Princess Elisabeth, 21, of Belgium. In addition to royals, it is expected that guests will include notable young people and representatives from youth organisations. It is known that the guest list is extensive: the Danish Royal Household recently posted a video on Instagram, showing hundreds of invitations being printed, and put in envelopes, before being dispatched. Accompanying the clip was a caption which said: 'Then there is mail! 'Several hundred invitations were sent out from Amalienborg today. The recipients are the many guests who have been invited to Her Majesty the Queen's gala dinner on the occasion of His Royal Highness Prince Christian's 18th birthday on 15 October.' Pictured: Princess Camilla de Bourbon Siciles (centre) known as the 'Momager' with her daughters Maria Carolina and Maria Chiara at in October 2019 in Paris, France. Royal watchers have speculated over whether Princess Chiara will attend the event, after rumours that the pair are enjoying a romance - although Chiara now appears to have denied the rumours Speculation that Christian and Chiara were were dating began in May when a group photo emerged on social media of the duo, far right, standing close together at the Monaco Grand Prix Further details about the bash have been revealed, with an invitation to the gala being shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Gert's Royals. According to the invitation, the dress code will be white tie with honours, with tiaras permitted - meaning some impressive gems may be on show. What many royal watchers will be keen to know, is whether Princess Marie Chiara of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies be invited to the dinner, hosted by Queen Margrethe. Prince Christian has been Princess Maria Chiara - from the defunct Italian royal family - in recent months. Rumours that Chiara, 18, and Christian were close began when the two were pictured together at the Monaco grand prix earlier this year. Neither her sister, Princess Carolina, nor mother, Duchess Camilla, did anything to dispel the rumours. The three women maintained a heavy Instagram presence over the summer, with Camilla - nicknamed the 'Momager' - snapped in the company of Prince Michael of Kent at an exclusive beachside bar on the Cote d'Azur. Christian, who is a four-times great grandson of Queen Victoria and fifth cousins with Prince William and Harry, has previously taken time away from royal duty to focus on his studies Set to air on the eve of his birthday in Denmark, the Prince's documentary will see him learn about institutions in Danish society and give and insight into his relationship with his father For the first time, a new documentary will give an insight into the teenager's life - which the palace have said is Danes chance to get 'up close and personal' with the prince like never before Eventually Chiara took to Instagram and appeared to dismiss the speculation, saying 'while we all enjoy dreaming of fairytales, what truly matters is reality.' Meanwhile, the Danish royal family remained quiet on the speculation - and are now continuing with the stiff upper lip. Chiara told Italian paper Corriere: 'We've known each other since we were little, my father Carlo is godfather to his younger sister.' Her father Prince Carlo holds a claim to the now defunct throne of the former House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the Spanish royal family. While, her mother, Duchess Camilla, is the daughter of Italian industry Tycoon Camilla Crociani. As well as the gala, on the eve of Christian's birthday, a documentary giving an insight into the teenager's life will be broadcast to mark his milestone birthday. According to the palace, the production will give Danes the chance to get 'up close and personal' with the prince like never before. It will show the royal learn about institutions in Danish society and give and insight into his relationship with his father. Norway's Princess Ingrid Alexandra, front and centre, with (back row from left) Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange and Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant and (front from left) Princess Estelle of Sweden (and Prince Charles of Luxembourg. The portrait was taken last year to mark Ingrid Alexandra's 18th birthday Crown Princess Victoria , one of Christians godparents, has confirmed her invitation (pictured: Prince Christian (right) at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Prince Daniel) took 'King lessons' alongside his father Christian, who is a four-times great grandson of Queen Victoria and fifth cousins with Prince William and Harry, was followed by cameras last August, as he 'Together, they undertake this adventure with a clear mission: to ensure that Prince Christian knows better the country of which he will one day be king,' the Palace said in a statement. The documentary will show him meeting with Danish Parliament, as well as members of the Supreme Court and representatives from the Danish church. As well as the documentary, a local radio station in Copenhagen will host a call-in, asking listeners what they wished they'd known aged 18. Christian was born on October 15, 2005, at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, and is known by his title of Count of Monpezat. He is second-in-line to the throne of Denmark behind his grandmother, Queen Margrethe, and his father. Crown Princess Mary and Prince Frederik chose to keep their son's upbringing relatively private in his early years. It wasn't until 2012 that Christian attended his first official royal engagement with his grandmother, the Queen. A documentary, a gala dinner, and a special radio show are all part of the preparations for Prince Christian's 18th birthday next week (pictured in the documentary with his father ) While the future king is still studying, his parents Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary are certainly preparing the teen to step up and take on royal duties, with him gradually appearing more and more in the spotlight (pictured in the new documentary) Last year, the palace announced that Christian (pictured) will only take money from the royal grant when he turns 21 - unless his father ascends the throne before. Christian became the first Danish royal to attend a public state school, Tranegardskolen in Hellerup, and his siblings, Princess Isabella of Denmark, 15, and Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 10, joined him in the years that followed. At the start of 2020, all four of the royal children began a 12-week program at the Lemania-Verbier International School in Switzerland. But, just weeks into their studies the COVID-19 pandemic hit and they returned to Denmark. Christian is currently undertaking the final years of his education at Ordrup Gymnasium, a state school in Copenhagen. In June, Christian announced we would forgo his royal allowance to instead focus on his education. He will wait until he is 21 before becoming a full-time royal. In November, Prince Christian will formally promise to uphold the countrys constitution, an important step forward in his journey as a king-in-waiting. A first-grade teacher has gone above and beyond for her students by putting together an elaborate simulated trip to Mexico. In now viral footage on TikTok, Sonja White was seen creating faux passports, boarding passes and an entire air travel simulation for her classroom to bring awareness of Hispanic Heritage Month and improve their money-handling skills. 'Come along with first grade to Mexico,' White said in the video. 'Here we're taking passport pictures. 'I'm going to laminate some boarding passes, and I'm going to laminate some sombreros and make them our placemats.' Sonja White shared a video where she was seen creating faux passports, boarding passes and an entire air travel simulation for the children, to create more awareness of Hispanic Heritage Month and improve their money-handling skills 'Come along with first grade to Mexico,' White said in the video. 'Here we're taking passport pictures. I'm going to laminate some boarding passes, and I'm going to laminate some sombreros and make them our placemats.' White then sat at a desk outside the class as a TSA agent, 'checked' their passports to 'make sure they are who they say they are' and allowed them entry to their flight The students also packed carry-on bags for their trip and White went on to change her classroom into a Southwest plane The students also packed carry-on bags for their trip and White went on to change her classroom into a Southwest plane. She even had the students line up outside the classroom to board their 'non-stop flight to Mexico' with their boarding passes in hand. In August, White made headlines when she shared her students job interviews for classroom jobs on the video-sharing app White then sat at a desk outside the class as a TSA agent, 'checked' their passports to 'make sure they are who they say they are' and allowed them entry to their flight. For takeoff, she played a Youtube video of a plane taking off from the projector at the front of the class while the kids fidgeted in their chairs. While the aircraft was in the 'air', she acted as a flight attendant and started giving out chips and drinks to the passengers. Once they 'landed' in Mexico, the students were given a paycheck for purchases they wanted to make at the gift shop. The students were required to either pay in exact change or tell White how much change they were supposed to receive, working some math into this interactive experience. Lastly, the 'tourists' dined in a Mexican 'restaurant' with one mom bringing enchiladas and rice with chips, salsa and tres leches cake for the kids to enjoy. While the aircraft was in the 'air', she acted as a flight attendant and started giving out chips and drinks to the passengers Once they 'landed' in Mexico, the students were given a paycheck for purchases they wanted to make at the gift shop The students were required to either pay in exact change or tell White how much change they were supposed to receive, working some math into this interactive experience Lastly, the 'tourists' dined in a Mexican 'restaurant' with one mom bringing enchiladas and rice with chips, salsa and tres leches cake for the kids to enjoy Students were heard gushing and taking an active part in White's exciting venture. The video, which currently has three million views, is being loved by all kinds of viewers, including moms and other teachers. One TikToker wrote: 'This is the type of teachers students always remember'. Another wrote: 'You know what this is? Life skills!! You're amazing!' A Southwest flight attendant also chimed in: 'Omgg a Southwest flight attendant here! Please lmk next time how to contribute! This was amazing! You're amazing! One user also said that White's TikTok video needs to be shared on television for the world to see. This is not the first time her creative teaching process has gone viral. In August, White made headlines when she shared her students job interviews for classroom jobs on the video-sharing app. Kids showed up to explain why they might be best for jobs around the classroom, with one little boy even coming with a resume. Gen Alpha's new array of bizarre slang terms like 'fanum tax' and 'skibidi' have sparked bewilderment among older internet users after going viral online - with even Gen Z admitting that the phrases are making them feel out of touch. Last week, a young streamer who uploads videos of himself playing Roblox to TikTok under the username @papaboy020 shared a clip of his character dancing along to a song he had written, and the catchy tune quickly went viral. It was the lyrics that seemed to catch everyone's attention, since they were filled with numerous Gen Alpha sayings and words that the other generations had never heard of - prompting many to question: 'What does fanum tax mean?' 'Sticking out your gyat for the rizzler. You're so skibidi. You're so fanum tax,' the lyrics read. New Gen Alpha slang terms like 'fanum tax' and 'skibidi' have been making their way around the web recently - and they've left older internet users completely stumped over their meaning Last week, a young streamer who uploads videos of himself playing Roblox to TikTok under the username @papaboy020 shared a clip of his character dancing along to a song he had written The lyrics lead to the song going viral, since they were filled with numerous Gen Alpha sayings and words that the other generations had never heard of People all over the web quickly began trying to decipher the true meaning of terms like 'gyat,' 'rizzler,' skibidi,' and 'fanum tax' A dictionary to the new Gen Alpha slang terms Gyat : A term used to describe a person's curvaceous behind : A term used to describe a person's curvaceous behind Rizzler : Someone who is a good at picking up women : Someone who is a good at picking up women Skibidi : Derived from the YouTube animated series Skibidi Toilet, used in gaming to describe someone who is evil or bad : Derived from the YouTube animated series Skibidi Toilet, used in gaming to describe someone who is evil or bad Fanum tax : Someone who steals your food, comes from a creator named Fanum who was often seen grabbing bites of his friends' meals Advertisement The original TikTok now has over 4.2 million views, and the sound has been re-used in more than 38,000 other videos. People all over the web quickly began trying to decipher the true meaning of terms like 'gyat,' 'rizzler,' skibidi,' and 'fanum tax' - and many admitted that they felt old after realizing that there's a whole set of new words that are being used by Gen Alpha's that they don't know. 'Join me, an older millennial, as I try to figure out what the hell any of these words mean,' one Toronto-based man, named Thomas Scott, said in a video shared to his TikTok account on Wednesday, which got more than 340,000 views. He admitted that he was pretty clueless, but theorized that 'gyat' might have stood for tongue or gun, while he thought 'rizzler' might have something to do with the Riddler from Batman. In a follow-up, he tried to take on 'skibidi' and guessed that it was related to a Turkish creator named Yasin Cengiz, who became known as the 'Skibidi Bop Guy' after he shared numerous viral videos of himself singing the words 'skibidi bop' over and over again and dancing earlier this year. 'I still don't understand what skibidi bop even means. Is it an exclamation of excitement?' wondered Thomas. Next, he moved on to 'fanum tax.' He guessed that fanum might be slang for phantom, but wasn't sure. While Thomas' attempt to translate the tune was certainly a good try, his guesses were actually way off. 'Join me, an older millennial, as I try to figure out what the hell any of these words mean,' one Toronto-based man, named Thomas Scott, said in a video shared to his TikTok account He admitted that he was pretty clueless, but theorized that 'gyat' might have stood for tongue or gun, while he thought 'rizzler' might have something to do with the Riddler from Batman He guessed 'skibidi' was related to a Turkish creator named Yasin Cengiz (seen), who became known as the 'Skibidi Bop Guy' after he shared viral videos of himself singing the word Thomas guessed that fanum might be slang for phantom, but wasn't sure. While his attempt to translate the tune was certainly a good try, his guesses were actually way off It turns out, Gyat is slang for a person's behind, while rizzler is used to describe someone who is a good at 'picking up women,' according to Urban Dictionary. Skibidi actually came from an animated YouTube series called Skibidi Toilet (seen) that followed a group of bizarre creatures who lived in toilets that were trying to take over the world As for skibidi, that came from an animated YouTube series called Skibidi Toilet that followed a group of bizarre creatures who lived in toilets that were trying to take over the world. It became a meme among Gen Alpha - born between years 2010 and 2025 - and is now a popular term used amongst gamers to describe people who are bad. Fanum tax is a term that was coined after a popular YouTube creator who goes by the name Fanum was seen stealing a small amount of food from his friends in numerous videos, and it is now used to describe someone who takes stuff from someone else's plate. 'Gen Alpha is making their own memes now. It has begun,' one horrified TikToker wrote in response to the viral new song. 'We are the next cringe gen on the chopping block.' 'Bro, what's fanum tax? Am I too old? I'm literally 16,' someone else joked. Fanum tax is a term that was coined after a popular YouTube creator who goes by the name Fanum was seen stealing a small amount of food from his friends in numerous videos (seen) 'Gen Alpha is making their own memes now. It has begun,' one horrified TikToker wrote in response to the viral new song. 'We are the next cringe gen on the chopping block' 'I'm 23 and today I realized that I am actually old now,' another user wrote. A third said, 'This is a warning to Gen Z. You have about three years left ... Gen Alpha will be everywhere' People also flooded the comment sections of the videos with their thoughts. One person joked, 'Yet another generation I need to learn an entire new language for' 'I'm 23 and today I realized that I am actually old now,' another user captioned a video of her listening to the song. 'I understood up to rizzler. The rest if genuinely baffling.' 'This is a warning to Gen Z. You have about three years left before you turn into what millennials are now,' a different TikToker warned. 'Gen Alpha will be everywhere. They will make fun of your memes, your emoji use, your language, and your fashion. I'm sorry. Aging is inevitable.' People also flooded the comment sections of the videos with their thoughts. 'Now I understand why my parents hate our generation,' one person said. 'So glad to be part of Gen Z,' wrote another. A third added, 'I'm just glad I didn't grow up with Skibidi Toilet.' 'It's just kids having a bad sense of humor... like, we used to say "yeet" and "dab," it's a phase,' read a fourth comment. A fifth said, 'Yet another generation I need to learn an entire new language for.' 'Is this English?' asked a different user. Women are 'obsessed' with a line of cotton underwear that is as cute as it is comfortable made by an up-and-coming Australian lingerie brand. Chouchou Intimates released its first ever 100 per cent organic cotton range called Georgia after years of customer requests - and now they're struggling to keep up with demand. When the Georgia cotton line was announced more than 12,000 customers joined the waitlist to be the first to get their hands on the adorable underwear and since launching in September one item is sold every six minutes. Tina Grasso, from Sydney, who founded Chouchou four years ago said while underwear material is a personal preference, many people love cotton for its comfort and durability. 'The benefits of organic cotton is that they are highly breathable and hypoallergenic, this is a fabric designed to keep you cool, dry and fresh throughout the day for a delightful, irritation-free experience,' she told FEMAIL. Chouchou Intimates released its first ever 100 per cent organic cotton range called Georgia after years of customer requests - and now they're struggling to keep up with demand When the Georgia cotton line was announced online more than 12,000 customers joined the waitlist to be the first to get their hands on the adorable underwear Chouchou founder Tina Grasso described the design as: 'inspired by retro silhouettes and vintage-inspired details available in pink, white and black with a red trim and velvet bows' 'It's also durable, standing up to frequent washing and everyday use, while remaining exceptionally soft and gentle.' It's not just the luxurious cotton that's getting lingerie lovers excited but the sexy styles the Georgia line comes in. 'The design is inspired by retro silhouettes and vintage-inspired details. Lingerie sets are available in pink, white and black, each with a contrasting bright red scalloped trim and red velvet bows,' Tina explained. 'The result is delicate yet bold, and delivers a far more premium and elevated feel to cotton than ever before.' The most popular items from the range are the baby tee for $69.95 in two sweet prints and $49.95 bralette that comes in pink, white or black. Chouchou's cotton Georgia line has even caught the attention of celebrities like Abbie Chatfield who said she was 'obsessed' with the 'yummy' cotton lingerie range The g-string in the same colourways for $25.95 comes in as a close second best seller and can be bought in a set with the bralette for $79.95. There are also briefs for $27.95 as well as the $35.95 Georgia knickers which can be personalised with a name or cheeky message. Also included in the range is the $19.95 bow barette that can be stitched with your initials and $9.95 love heart mesh socks. Shoppers online have been raving about the collection for its flattering fit and practicality. 'Ordered one of the bralettes and all three of the panties and I'm OBSESSED! I can't wait to buy the other matching bras,' one woman said. There are also briefs for $27.95 as well as the $35.95 Georgia knickers which can be personalised with a name or cheeky message 'It's the best set I own, hands down' a second wrote while a third agreed: 'So many cute styles'. Chouchou's cotton Georgia line has even caught the attention of celebrities like Abbie Chatfield who said she was 'obsessed' with the 'yummy' cotton lingerie range. Tina said she was overwhelmed by the response from shoppers to the Georgia collection which she said has been their most successful launch yet. 'I never expected that from the moment we uploaded about the soon to launch collection that we would receive so much interest! A 12K waitlist is something I only every dreamed of,' she said. The founder added Chouchou's customer based has grown by more than 25 per cent since the launch of Georgia. 'We also launched personalised bows which is a new addition and accessory to our collections and this has all been something I didn't expect to be so popular - we have nearly 70 per cent of orders include the bows,' she said. A renter is asking for help after she's been left stuck with a nightmare housemate who is 'doing everything possible' to make her feel unwelcome. The woman said she recently moved into a home with the property owner so her new housemate is her landlord as well - and they haven't been getting along. She said he 'screams' at her for putting his dishes away, won't let her store any of her belongings outside her room, has stacked the outdoor furniture to make sure she can't sit on it and even stripped the communal couch of its coverings. He has threatened to kick her out and terminate her year-long lease prematurely leaving her in the lurch and feeling 'totally attacked, vulnerable, and helpless'. The tenant said she had rented a room in the house downstairs while the owner occupied the upstairs two bedrooms and bathrooms. A renter has complained about her nightmare housemate who flips if she puts away his dishes and won't let her use the home's communal areas The home is fully furnished with a shared kitchen, lounge, dining room and patio but she says the landlord is being too possessive over the communal areas and won't let her store any of her belongings outside her room. 'It's stressful, but I'm getting creative with storage and doing my best. We have been bickering about typical roommate stuff, both trying to adjust,' she said in a Reddit post. The woman said her landlord left her note asking her not to put his dishes away from the drying rack by the sink in the kitchen. 'I had my own dishes to wash and thought he probably had a hard time finding something last time I put his stuff away, so I set his dishes in a pile off of the drying rack (they'd had time to dry) and washed and set mine on it,' she explained. 'Later he came home and started SCREAMING at me that I can't move his dishes and not to keep trying to change things in HIS house.' The man also removed the living room couch of its cushion and cover leaving it as an 'ugly, bare futon', stacked the patio furniture so no one could sit on it and hid the TV remote. 'He's doing everything possible to make me feel unwelcome from the common areas and keep me confined to my small room,' the tenant said. The woman confronted her housemate to ask what his motives behind his actions were and why he was trying to make the common areas uncomfortable. 'Did he realise he was essentially treating me like a child? You're grounded, no TV, go to your room type s***?' she said. 'He said he planned to give them back only if we came to a resolution that was to his liking.' The man also removed the living room couch of its cushions and cover leaving it as an 'ugly, bare futon', stacked the patio furniture so no one could sit on it and hid the TV remote The owner said she could use the shared spaces as promised as long as she didn't use anything that belonged to him. 'I said what do you want me to do, sit on the floor? Get my own couch and put it in front of yours? Get my own TV and move it in front of yours? Two refrigerators?,' she said. 'The washer and dryer are mine so by his 'don't use anything that's mine' logic he would have to hand wash his clothes, but I'm not that petty and cruel. I just want him to leave me alone.' The landlord is now threatening to terminate the woman's 'brand-new year-long' lease and kick her out. 'I just feel totally attacked, vulnerable, and helplessI feel both trapped and pushed out simultaneously,' she said. Dozens were quick to offer their advice with most suggesting the woman move out as soon as possible. 'Read your lease, learn what state law says about your rights. Him blocking your access to common areas and use of common area furniture that should be included may be enough for you to be able to break the lease,' one user replied. 'Start communicating in written form, keep proof. Document everything...Look for a way to be able to legally get out of your lease.' 'Don't stay. Let him break the lease. Find somewhere without this level of drama, it is not worth whatever it is that is keeping you there,' a second said. The renter replied saying there is nothing keeping her in the home but she doesn't have the money or energy to find a new place and start the moving process all over again. 'I have nowhere to go until I apply, get accepted, and schedule movers to a new place which I'm frantically trying to make happen now,' she said. Many suggested using her appliances as leverage with one saying: 'You should absolutely not let him use your washer and dryer if this is such an issue for him to let you sit on a couch'. Other slammed the landlord as 'petty', 'selfish', controlling' and 'greedy'. 'This is why you should never live with live-in landlords. Most people cannot be trusted with that power and become vindictive a**holes,' one user said. 'So he wants your money but doesn't want you there. That's what I'm hearing,' another agreed. 'If he terminates your lease, let him, he is a horrible roommate and landlord. Maybe he shouldn't be having a roommate if he can't share his living space and he also did false advertising,' a third added. The renter wasn't the only person to have a housemate horror story as many started sharing their own experiences with nightmare living situations. One person said they even lost weight from going hungry after the woman they lived with while studying barred them from using the kitchen. 'It was a very abusive situation. After six months of hell, I took advantage of her warning that she might be selling the house and found a new place to live,' they said. 'She had me paying most of her bills in lieu of rent while I was there (she was unemployed and had zero interest in looking for a job,) which ended up making the place more expensive than what we'd agreed on.' The 'final straw' was when the tenant was asked to pay half the woman's mortgage on top of all the bills. 'She still lives in that house 20 years later. She had just bought it when I moved in. I can only assume she's evaded foreclosure this long by continuing her grift.' Another person fell out with their best friend after they moved in together. 'He used to act like he's doing me a favour WHILE I was paying everything 50/50. He acted like I was a guest in his apartment,' they recalled. 'He would lay on the couch so I can't, he'd say I am boring and in general a d*****bag to my face like we were hanging out. He acted as if I should be grateful to live in his apartment. I left the apartment when he was in vacation, and I don't speak to him anymore.' A neighbourhood dispute has broken out in one of Sydney's most affluent suburbs - with 'early morning dogwalkers' and their pet's poo at the centre of the fight. Furious Northern Beaches locals claim owners should be made to carry their dog's poo home with them - instead of tossing them in bins on the street. But others argued they should be allowed to pop the waste bags in the bins - especially if the bins are sitting in the street. 'They're at it again,' a man complained in a neighbourhood group. 'Early morning dog walkers, blithely tossing their bags of poo into newly emptied bins. 'The bins are in the blazing sun, and the smell becomes diabolical. If you own a dog, it's your responsibility to look after it and its faeces. So, please take your animal's droppings home to your own bin.' Residents in affluent suburbs are butting heads over whether morning dog walkers should use private bins to dispose off dog poo Some neighbours vehemently disagreed and slammed those who care so much about their bins. 'Would you rather they not pick it up at all?' one asked. 'People complain about everything.' A second added, 'I'm not a princess about a bin and I wouldn't expect someone to carry poop in a bag all the way home. Bins typically smell anyway. How lucky is it that the only complaint for someone to have is putting a bag of dog poop in a bin!' 'I don't have a dog I just don't get the problem, bins stink anyway. At least the person cleaned it up. I'd rather poo in my bin than on my shoe,' a man wrote. One added, 'It's a bin. It's in a plastic bag. Pretty sure you don't spend too much of your week with your head in your bin. Get over it.' While others were angry their property was being infringed upon by strangers. 'How about you consider what others want to do with their bins,' one said. 'You chose to have a dog - look after it. Why should someone else put up with the smell?' Another added, 'I've got relatively clean bins that are kept in the garage. I compost and recycle and the rubbish is generally clean and dry. The only time the bins smell is when people chuck their coffee cups or sloppy dog poop in.' 'Just prior to bin collection it's fine to use the bins as far as I'm concerned, but after collection so it has to sit there for seven days is not acceptable,' one compromised. Several pet owners agreed on the issue. 'I have three dogs and I always take my dog poo back home,' one said. 'I chose to adopt my dogs, I can take care of it,' another wrote. Two women who survived subtypes of breast cancer are warning others to be on the lookout for less obvious signs of the disease. Olivia Franz and Meadow Bailey were both diagnosed with less common types of breast cancer despite not showing the hallmark lumps that usually prompt women to seek a medical opinion. Ms Franz was 27 years old when she was diagnosed with stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) after she noticed swelling in her breast while breastfeeding her son. When Ms Franz first visited her doctor she was misdiagnosed with mastitis, swelling in the breast usually caused by an infection. When Ms Franz visited her doctor and was originally diagnosed with mastitis, swelling in the breast usually caused by an infection. However, after a week of antibiotics didnt help, Ms Franz also noticed her breast was very red and almost doubled in size. She also noticed discharge from her nipple Ms Bailey had always been healthy and active and she never missed a yearly mammogram. But shortly after her 49th birthday, doctors called her in after noticing something concerning in her last screening However, after a week of antibiotics, it didnt help. Ms Franz also noticed her breast was very red and almost doubled in size. She also noticed a discharge from her nipple. After an ultrasound and biopsy, Ms Franz received the diagnosis of IBC, a rare type of aggressive breast cancer that doesnt always present with the common symptom of a lump in the breast. Ms Franz told Good Morning America: It had spread to my bones. I thought, well Im going to leave a brand new baby alone with no mom. 'And then my very next thought was, thats not an option. He needs his mom and Im going to do whatever it takes to keep myself here for him. IBC is a rare form of breast cancer, only accounting for one to five percent of all breast cancer cases. It tends to occur in women younger than 40 years old. It is more aggressive growing and spreading much faster than more common forms of the cancer. Additionally, because of its unusual symptoms, it is often diagnosed at later stages and in one in three cases diagnosed, the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body, making it harder to treat. Other symptoms include one breast feeling warm to the touch, swelling of lymph nodes under the arms and near the collarbone and an inverted nipple. The five-year survival rate for IBC that has spread to distant parts of the body, like the bones Ms Franzs case, is 19 percent. Ms Bailey had always been healthy and active and she never missed a yearly mammogram. But shortly after her 49th birthday, doctors called her in after noticing something concerning in her last screening. She told GMA: I thought, not a big deal and the radiologist was looking with an ultrasound and she said weve got some area of concern here. And I said are you talking like cancer? Olivia Franz and Meadow Bailey were both diagnosed with less common types of breast cancer after experiencing little-talked about symptoms other than the hallmark lump that prompts women to seek a medical opinion And she said yeah, I am. Ms Bailey was diagnosed with stage 1 lobular breast cancer, a cancer that, like IBC, typically grows and spreads without forming a distinctive lump. She said: I never felt a lump and I also felt really good, so it really caught me off guard. Lobular breast cancer begins in the milk-producing glands of the breast and is the second most common form of breast cancer. It accounts for 10 to 15 percent of diagnosed cases. It can be difficult to diagnose because of the abnormal way the cells grow, making it harder to recognize on mammograms. Like IBC, symptoms dont always include a lump and can present as an inverted nipple, a change in the texture of the breast skin and swelling. The five-year survival rate of lobular breast cancer is nearly 100 percent when treated early. Both women received specialized and breakthrough treatments at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Ms Franz has been cancer free for three years and Ms Bailey has been cancer free for one year. Following their atypical experiences, both women urge others to pay attention to changes in their bodies, undergo recommended screenings and advocate for your health. NHS bosses have demanded an extra 1 billion to avert a 'profound financial crisis' this autumn after a wave of damaging strikes. The plea to the Treasury came as the number waiting for routine procedures hit a record 7.75 million yesterday equivalent to almost one in seven people. NHS chiefs, who blame this year's doctors' strikes for the deficit, say they will have to abandon attempts to bring down waiting lists if they cannot control their finances. Strikes have cost hospitals more than 700 million this financial year, with predictions that the deficit could reach about 1.5 billion if strikes continue in the winter. Hospitals were forced to pay consultants as much as 6,000 a shift to cover striking colleagues. NHS bosses have demanded an extra 1 billion to avert a 'profound financial crisis' this autumn after a wave of damaging strikes (Pictured: BMA and UNIT trade unions march last week) The plea to the Treasury came as the number waiting for routine procedures hit a record 7.75 million yesterday equivalent to almost one in seven people (Pictured: British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt) Bosses at NHS England have now asked the Treasury for 'compensation' for the cost of the strikes, but are yet to receive a definitive answer, The Times reported. Matthew Taylor, head of the NHS Confederation, said: 'If we don't get money in the autumn statement, we are going to be in a profound financial crisis. And you can forget progress in relation to things like waiting lists.' Julian Kelly, NHS England's chief financial officer, told a board meeting last week 'productivity and efficiency improvements' had failed to take place amid industrial action. Insiders warned the next few months could be 'appalling' for patients. Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust think tank, said there had been an 'alarming' lack of progress clearing the backlog ahead of winter. She added: 'Bringing down record waiting times is a central pledge of both main political parties but achieving this task still looks a long way off.' Monthly NHS performance data shows pressure has begun building, with waiting times rising in A&E, ambulance calls and cancer care. Officials warned walkouts by medics, who are demanding a pay rise of up to 35 per cent, have reduced hospital capacity. She's seen five British monarchs, lived through two World Wars and survived two global pandemics. But what is 107-year-old Edna Walmsley's secret to a long and happy life? Having a good appetite. Ex-school cook Edna Walmsley was born on October 9, 1916 as WW1 waged across Europe, and is believed to be the oldest woman in Lancashire. Now a resident of Pendle Brook Care Home in Oswaldtwistle, the widow is famous for almost never being seen without a cup of tea to hand. Ex-school cook Edna Walmsley was born on October 9, 1916, as WW1 waged across Europe, and recently celebrated her 107th birthday with a party and a glass of fizz Now a resident of Pendle Brook Care Home in Oswaldtwistle, she described her recent birthday party as a 'a jolly good time' Recently celebrating her 107th birthday, which she described as 'a jolly good time', she divulged what she considers the secret of her impressive longevity. 'I've lived a long time haven't I? The secret to long life is I have always had good food and a good appetite,' she said. 'My mother always gave me good food. I've never been hungry - and also my poetry. I've always loved poetry.' Edna has lived through the reigns of King George V (1910-1936), King Edward VIII (1936), King George VI (1936-1962), Queen Elizabeth II (1952-2022) and now King Charles III. Born into the second year of WW1, Edna was 23 when conflict erupted across the continent yet again in WW2. The great-grandmother is also one of the few people to experience two pandemics, living through the wave of Spanish Flu in 1918-19 and far more recently, Covid. Edna and her late husband Clifford raised three kids together Andrew, Adrienne, and Alyson. The great-grandmother is also one of the few people to experience two pandemics, living through the wave of Spanish Flu in 1918-19 and far more recently Covid She has three grandsons (Christopher, Stephen and Nicholas), as well as four great-grandchildren (Fred, Alice, Jack and Finn). Edna loves reading, poetry and crosswords and can still recite the poems she learned at school. She also enjoyed yoga well into her 90s and was an avid traveller, visiting Vienna and Dusseldorf and even embarking on a solo trip to India. Pendle Brook's activity coordinator Claire Rothwell said: 'She has an amazing long-term memory and is able to recite word-for-word poetry which she learned at school. 'She has a keen eye and sense of humour and is an absolute pleasure to be with.' The current record holder for the oldest Brit was Charlotte Hughes, who died at 115 years and 288 days old in 1993. Ethel Caterham from Ash Vale in Surrey is currently the oldest person alive in Britain, celebrating her 114th birthday in August this year. A man suddenly went blind in one eye after taking Viagra and doctors think the erectile dysfunction remedy could be to blame. The 32-year-old, from Iran, took a bumper dose of sildenafil, the main ingredient in the little blue pill. He lost sight in his right eye almost immediately afterwards. Despite efforts to restore his vision, the damage was too extensive and he has now lost all vision in that eye. Medics from Tehran, who shared the unidentified man's case in a journal, said it was some of the strongest evidence that taking the drug could harm the eyes. This scan shows the damage the blockage of blood vessels caused to the 32-year-old man's right eye Sildenafil combats impotence by boosting blood flow to the penis through relaxing the blood vessels. However, it is thought this effect could, in some circumstances, inadvertently harm other sensitive vessels in the body, such as those in the eyes. In the most recent case, the man suffered the sudden loss of vision three hours after taking 100mg of sildenafil. This is the maximum dose of the drug and double that recommended for most men who take it for erectile dysfunction. After losing vision in his eye the man attended hospital and informed medics he taken sildenafil. Scans found the man, who had no other medical complaints, had suffered clots in both the artery and vein that transferred blood to and from his right eye. This resulted in swelling of his retina the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the organ. He also suffered from macular edema, a condition where blood leaks into the retina. Doctors at Farabi Eye Hospital said the pressure from this fluid build up eventually led to the retina physically detaching from the rest of his eye. Due to concerns about blood clot risks from Covid vaccines and the virus itself at the time, doctors quizzed him about any recent infections or jabs. However, he had neither been recently infected nor vaccinated. Investigations also found his left eye was undamaged. Medics also noted he had no family history of blood clot issues that could explain the sudden damage to his eye and tests for any undiagnosed conditions came back negative. The medics said that while eye and vision problems had been reported from taking sildenafil, the link between the two is 'controversial'. Iranian medics have speculated the man's sudden loss of vision in his right eye could be a result of taking an erectile dysfunction medication (stock image) 'Several serious retinal vascular accidents have been reported following sildenafil use but the exact role of this medication is not clear,' they wrote. They added that their patient was significant in medical literature discussing the link due to both the severity of the case and the fact he had no other health conditions that could explain the sudden eye problem. 'Since the patient was otherwise healthy without known risk factors for vascular disease... and in addition the close temporal relation between sildenafil intake and incidence of the disease, we speculated that the drug could play a causal role in this clinical scenario,' they wrote. However, they acknowledged the exact mechanism for how sildenafil may damage blood vessels in the eye is unknown. One theory is that the drug's intended effect of boosting blood flow to the penis may inadvertently risk of damaging sensitive blood vessels in the eye through the same mechanism. However, the authors added that how exactly the drug interacts with eye vessels is likely to be a 'complex'. They called for further investigations into the potential link, particularly for younger men. Sharing the tale in in the Journal of Medical Case Reports medics did not reveal exactly when the incident occurred. Earlier this year Indian doctors reported a case where a 41-year-old man died after suffering a stroke while taking a combination of the impotence pills and alcohol. Sildenafil is an over-the counter-medication in the UK, meaning it can be purchased without a prescription. A sudden decrease or loss of vision is listed as a potential rare side effect of sildenafil in leaflets distributed with the drug. The NHS says serious side effects from taking sildenafil only occur in one in 1,000 people who take the medication. However, it adds that anyone taking the drug that suffers this side effect should stop taking it straight away and call your doctor or the NHS 111 number. While the 'little blue pill' is most famous as a medication for erectile dysfunction it also given to patients suffering from pulmonary hypertension a condition where blood pressure in the blood vessels supplying the lungs is dangerously high. Parents in Florida are considering homeschooling their children as fentanyl-laced vapes appear in schools. Earlier this month, a 15-year-old student in a Volusia County, Florida high school was arrested and charged after he was caught vaping in the bathrooms at Deltona High School. The vape was confiscated and tested. It turned up positive for fentanyl a powerful synthetic opioid similar to morphine but 100 times more potent and THC the main psychoactive component in marijuana that makes people feel 'high.' Parents at the school described the incident as 'terrifying' as more and more fentanyl vapes are showing up in schools. It comes amid a school vape epidemic that is expected to get worse as the new school year progresses. The vape used by a 15-year-old in a Volusia County, Florida high school student was found to contain fentanyl and THC More than 2.5million US children use e-cigarettes - rising a half-million from last year and reversing downward trends in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 2.55million Americans in middle or high school admit using the device in the past 30 days. It is a jump of 500,000, or 24 percent, from 2021. It is the first increase since the CDC started gathering annual data in 2019 Kelli Ninche, a mother of multiple children in Deltona High School, told Fox 35 News she has been thinking about taking her freshman son out of class and homeschooling him. But she said: 'That's probably not the best thing to do, because that's the world they have to live in. It's terrifying, to be honest.' Ms Ninche speaks to her son regularly about the dangers of vapes, and said: 'It's definitely a subject I'm going to touch with him again on tonight, because they might think they're just doing nicotine and then they have something else in it, like with fentanyl. For me, it's scary.' She is also planning to talk to her children in second and fourth grades at the school about vapes too, just in case. 'Kids nowadays are getting a hold of these things. 'It's disappointing because you wonder whats causing it,' she said. A couple of months ago, a 17-year-old student at a school in DeLand, Florida, less than 20 miles from Volusia County, died after overdosing on fentanyl, though not in connection with a vape. According to the Volusia County Sheriffs Office, the 15-year-old boy thought he was buying cocaine, but it also contained fentanyl. Just two milligrams of fentanyl equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt can be fatal. The teen who investigators said sold the boy the drugs was charged with manslaughter at the beginning of the month. The same suspect is also accused of selling a female student at the DeLand school a contaminated vape, which led her to become unconscious in the school's bathroom in July. The Volusia County Sheriff has requested that schools begin to have Narcan on campus a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. The Volusia County School District said it is installing vape detectors in schools in an effort to dissuade students from bringing in vapes and using them on school grounds. There is also an anonymous phone line where students can report vaping activity, it added. Roughly 2.5 million middle and high school students were hooked on e-cigarettes as of late 2022, marking a jump of 500,000, or of 24 percent, from 2021. It is the first increase since 2019. The vast majority of children, 85 percent, use flavored e-cigarettes that federal regulators have cracked down on in recent years amid concerns manufacturers are purposefully marketing the products to children. Like cigarettes, an American must be at least 21 to purchase a vape, but many physical retail locations neglect to check ID for customers, allowing children to access the devices. Many also get the device from a friend or family member. Still, teens are often able to get their hands on flavored vapes, most often disposal devices packed with high concentrations of highly addictive nicotine, thanks to lenient enforcement at retail shops. As for vapes containing THC, research has found vaping marijuana is actually worse for your health than using traditional cigarettes or e-cigarettes. The presence of a rare flesh-eating bacteria has been spreading across the United States, infecting beach goers and fish-eaters, leading to severe infections, limb amputations and death. Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria that can enter open wounds and cause life-threatening infections, thrives in warm water and has been found on beaches from Florida to New Jersey and even as far north as Alaska. It can also be present in undercooked or raw seafood, such as oysters. Debbie King from Florida suffered a cut when she was climbing onto her friends boat in the Gulf of Mexico in August. While she initially thought nothing of the abrasion, just four days later doctors amputated her leg in order to save her life after it became infected with Vibrio vulnificus. Once confined to the Gulf of Mexico, Vibrio vulnificus which thrives in warm and brackish water has now spread into new areas because of warming ocean temperatures. Vibrio vulnificus is beginning to spread across the United States due to warming ocean temperatures Warning signs of a Vibrio vulnificus infection appear within hours, with patients suffering from redness and swelling around the infection site Anyone with an open wound even a paper cut should avoid swimming in areas where Vibrio vulnificus has been identified in order to avoid exposure. If people go swimming with cuts or abrasions, even minor ones, they run the risk of the bacteria getting into their wounds and eating away at their flesh. In 2023, a total of nine deaths have been reported so far in Florida, New York and Connecticut, but the presence of the bacteria is spreading fast and scientists fear Vibrio could reach every US coastal state by the year 2040. A friend of Ms Kings, 72, tended to her cut but when she awoke the next morning, her shin was red and sore. Thinking it was just sunburn, she ignored it until three days later when the red and blistered area grew and her doctor immediately sent her to the emergency room. Doctors in the hospital recognized signs of the bacteria, which thrives in the body and spreads extremely fast, and rushed Ms King into surgery. In the waiting room, a surgeon told Ms Kings husband if they didnt amputate her leg, she could die. Ms King told the Tampa Bay Times: The flesh was gone; it was just bone. Debbie King (right) contracted Vibrio vulnificus after scrapping her leg when climbing into her friend's boat in waters off the coast of Florida While the only signs of the infection were on her shin, when doctors operated they discovered it had spread, forcing them to amputate Ms Kings leg higher than initially planned. Doctors had hoped they would only have to amputate at the knee, but eventually amputated from five inches above. Four days after scrapping her leg, Ms King lost the limb and spent four days in the intensive care unit in critical care battling sepsis, a serious reaction to an infection in the body that leads to organ failure. When Ms King woke up in the hospital, her son informed her that she had lost her leg, but the medication she was on made her mind cloudy and she didn't intitally comprehend her situation. It wasnt until she was moved to a rehab hospital that she took in the gravity of what had happened to her. She felt she had lost some of her independence and self-reliant identity. One morning, she could not stop crying, saying It hit me like a ton of bricks. Her mental status declined and multiple healthcare workers in the facility urged her to meet with a psychologist. After several sessions with one, Ms King reframed what had happened to her and began to heal emotionally, alongside her physical recovery aided by physical therapy. Ms King finally returned home, where she continues with her therapy routine, including learning how to stand on her remaining leg and using her wheelchair. While she says her recovery still feels like a journey, she has become more comfortable with her amputation and has even nicknamed her 'stump' Peg. As she continues to progress, she says she is determined to regain even more movement and walk with a prosthetic leg. She told the Times: This is the most horrific thing that can happen to anybody. But Id sit back and think, God put you here for a reason youve got more things to do. Vibrio vulnificus can also be contracted by eating contaminated raw or undercooked fish, such as in the case of Laura Barajas, a 40-year-old mom from California. After contracting the bacteria from undercooked tilapia in June, she had to have all four of her limbs amputated to save her life and she spent months in the hospital battling an infection. Her friend, Anna Messina told News 19 Ms Barajas almost lost her life and doctors had to put her in a medically induced coma Ms Messina said: 'Her fingers were black, her feet were black her bottom lip was black. She had complete sepsis and her kidneys were failing.' Barajas, mother to a six-year-old boy, became sick in late July days after eating the fish that she had purchased at a local market in San Jose A GoFundMe page was set up to help Ms Barajas and her family cover medical costs and ongoing care needs. It has raised more than $140,000. Warning signs of a Vibrio vulnificus infection appear within hours, with patients suffering from redness and swelling around the infection site. Without treatment, this can progress to necrosis tissue death and septicemia a blood infection putting patients at risk of limb amputations and death. Swift administration of antibiotics is vital to treat the infection. Healthy people are at low risk of an infection, doctors said, because their immune systems will likely be able to fight off the bacteria. But those with weaker immune systems like diabetics and cancer patients are at a much higher risk of catching the disease. Cases are rare, with about 150 to 200 reported in the US each year. About 30 percent of people who develop an infection from Vibrio vulnificus die from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Like most of us, I suspect, I've enjoyed the unexpectedly warm start to October but I'm really not looking forward to the colder, darker months ahead, which are among the most miserable and stressful of the year. I have a naturally gloomy outlook (more Eeyore than Tigger) and I am well aware of the impact that chronic stress has on my body. And managing stress is important, particularly at this time of year, when we are prone to getting more infections, as a recent study published in the journal Nature confirmed. The researchers, from the Salk Institute in California, showed that one way stress undermines our health is because the stress hormone noradrenaline, a key part of our 'fight or flight' response, binds to our killer T cells and exhausts them. Killer T cells are part of our immune system and are critical for fighting viral infections and destroying cancers. Killer T cells are part of our immune system and are critical for fighting viral infections and destroying cancers, writes MICHAEL MOSLEY Drinking a cup of tea after a stressful event lowered levels of the stress hormone cortisol, researchers at UCL found in a study several years ago The good news is the researchers also found (in mice, at least) that they could prevent this with beta-blockers drugs used in humans to treat high blood pressure but which also reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety, such as a racing heart. So could adding beta-blockers to cancer-fighting regimens make them more effective? We're not at this stage quite yet, as more research is needed but in the meantime here are a few of the things I do to reduce my stress levels and give my killer T cells a helping hand. Putting the kettle on is one of our favourite ways to destress, according to a survey the Mail reported this week. And when it comes to what to drink to reduce stress, tea certainly seems to have the edge. In a study published some years ago in the journal Psychopharmacology, researchers at University College London showed that drinking tea after a stressful event lowered levels of the stress hormone cortisol. On top of that, tea contains a compound called L-theanine, which has been shown to boost levels of a stress-reducing brain chemical called GABA. You can also try mindful tea drinking: the idea here is that instead of picking up your phone and scrolling through the news or social media, you have a real break from it all. Put the phone away, pick up your mug and really focus on what you're doing. Notice the feeling of warmth in your hand, sniff the brew, then drink it slowly, paying attention to the tastes and aroma. I find that doing this for a few minutes is a great way to get my mind away from the concerns of the day. Most of us enjoy a good hug with friends or loved ones, and there is plenty of research to show that hugging is a great way to reduce stress, not only because there's comfort in touching, but also because hugging is a way we signal our support for others. In one rather strange experiment, published in the journal Psychological Science in 2006, 16 married women were asked to go into a brain scanner and receive unpleasant electric shocks. Understandably, this made them stressed. But when they held hands with their husbands, who were outside the scanner, their stress levels dropped and there were big changes in areas of the brain involved in regulating emotions. Oddly, the scientists didn't look to see what would happen if the roles were reversed. So how long and how often should you hug? In research published in 2003, where people were asked to give a public speech, a 20-second hug just before was enough to significantly reduce their stress levels. When I am out and about and feeling stressed, I often get cravings for a bar of chocolate or biscuits. But instead I try either to ride out the urge, or buy some sugar-free gum. Chewing on this seems to reduce the stress and relieve my cravings, and there's some science behind this. In a study published in the journal Appetite in 2012, researchers at Cardiff University asked students to fill in questionnaires to assess their levels of stress and anxiety over the following two weeks, one group chewed gum while the other refrained. It turned out the more the students chewed, the bigger the fall in stress. Animal studies suggest chewing stimulates brain cells involved in emotional regulation. It will come as no surprise to hear that exercise is a great way to reduce stress but going for a walk in green spaces seems to be especially beneficial, research shows. Research in 2003 found that a 20-second hug was enough to significantly reduce stress levels And if you can, ensure that at least part of your walk goes through a wood. That's because when you're surrounded by trees, you will be inhaling phytoncides essential oils they give off that have been shown to enhance mood and bolster our immune system. In a recent study by Hanseo University in Korea, 55 patients who'd been treated for cervical or breast cancer were randomly allocated to lie down either in a room which was scented with tree oils, or in a room without the scent, for an hour a day, five days a week for two months. At the end of the study those in the scented room experienced a much greater reduction in their levels of cortisol, and a boost in cancer-fighting immune cells. Sniffing lavender oil might help, too. A small study by Fooyin University in Taiwan showed stress levels halved in nurses who had little bottles containing 3 per cent lavender oil pinned to their clothes (while nurses with little bottles filled with just water were as stressed as before). And then there's my daily cold shower I've written about a few times before: it's not just good for immunity, studies have shown that repeatedly undergoing the mild stressor of immersion in cold water will help you cope with other stressors in your life. I do it for about 40 seconds, singing loudly which helps further reduce pain and stress (singing boosts the release of endocannabinoids, a feel-good chemical in our bodies). READ MORE: I'm a podiatrist - here's what your feet say about your health Ballet flats are back in style, but they could cause lasting foot issues The ballet flat, a staple of early-2000s fashion is making a comeback, with celebrities and career women alike donning the dainty footwear. In recent months, they've been seen on celebrities like Meghan Markle, Gigi Hadid, and Angelina Jolie. On TikTok, videos with #balletflats have more than 160 million views. But even though ballet flats are trendy again, health experts warn they could ruin your feet and cause injuries like stress fractures, bunions, shin splints and blisters. The main issue, podiatrists claim, is that they're flat and flimsy without proper support for your feet. While the delicate shoes can be useful for ballet dancers who need extra flexibility, their design means they don't offer any arch support, which is important for balance, walking, standing, and running. Gigi Hadid (left) and Angelina Jolie have both recently stepped out in ballet flats, a staple of early-2000s fashion From pesky cracked heels to more serious symptoms, such as swelling, your feet often show symptoms of disease before any other part of your body Dr Robert Khorramian, a podiatrist in Santa Monica, California, told Who What Wear last year this lack of support makes ballet flats the worst shoe for foot health. Lack of arch support can lead to plantar fasciitis - inflammation of the tissue in the foot that is engaged while walking and other foot movements. This condition causes a stabbing pain in the bottom of the foot, close to the heel, which usually gets worse with the first few steps after waking up or from standing for long periods of time. MedScape estimates one million Americans visit doctors every year for plantar fasciitis. Wearing shoes without arch support can also worsen neuromas, a type of inflammation in the foot nerves and between the bones in the feet. This is also known as 'Morton's neuroma.' According to the Mayo Clinic, patients with neuromas in the feet may feel like they're standing on a pebble. Other signs of the condition include burning pain in the ball of the foot that radiates to the toes, and tingling or numbness in your toes. Wearing ballet flats for long periods of time can also lead to injuries such as shin splints and stress fractures due to repetitive stress and little arch support. A shin splint, also known as medial tibial stress syndrome, causes pain along the tibia, or the shin bone, which runs in the front of the lower leg. Meanwhile, a stress fracture is a tiny crack in the bone caused by repetitive force or overuse. This causes pain and tenderness. Wearing ballet flats increases the repetitive force on your feet while walking because the bottoms of the shoes are extremely thin and do not provide cushioning between the foot and the ground. Dr Khorramian recommended buying ballet flats that have a cushioned sole for increased support and comfort and ones that have enough room for your toes to fit more comfortably to avoid painfully cramming them into a pointed shoe. Has Skoda lost its direction or just the plot? Its bosses say they are going to charge buyers an additional fee to activate features already built into the car, such as satnav. Only when a new owner pays extra to download the relevant software will they be able to use the navigation system. And that's just the start. The brand is also exploring more paid-for 'on- demand' features, including adaptive cruise control and automatic headlight dipping from the infotainment screen. This was revealed in Berlin as the Volkswagen-owned marque unveiled its second-generation Kodiaq SUV with up to seven seats over three rows, which is set to hit UK showrooms early next year. For the first time the range will include a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version with an electric-only range of more than 62 miles. Martin Jahn, Skoda head of sales and marketing, told Autocar magazine: 'We're trying to explore functions on demand and give customers the chance to order the features online.' Rocky road ahead: The new Kodiaq's pricing policy might attract a backlash But it's a controversial area. An angry backlash forced BMW to scrap plans to charge a monthly fee for access to heated seats already fitted to their cars. Though no official prices have been announced yet for the latest Kodiaq, expect them to be an increase on the current first-generation line-up, which costs from 35,000. The newcomer is bigger and roomier than its first-generation sibling, launched in 2016. The Kodiaq iV PHEV features a 26.7 kWh battery and 150 hp 1.5 TSI petrol engine to deliver a total 204 hp to the front wheels via a 6-speed automatic direct-shift gearbox. There are two petrol and two diesel engines, linked to a 7-speed automatic gearbox. The entry-level 1.5 TSI 150 hp (110 kW) petrol is the first mild-hybrid and is joined by the more powerful 204 hp (150 kW) 2.0 TSI petrol. The two 2.0 TDI diesel variants deliver outputs of 15 hp (110 kW) and 193 hp (142 kW). The most powerful diesel and petrol engine versions are all-wheel drive. The first Kodiaq plug-in hybrid version can be charged via an 11 kW wall-boxes and AC charging points, as well as 50 kW at DC fast-charging points. Energy is also recuperated during braking. Even with the batteries there is 745 litres of luggage capacity (910 litres in non-PHEV versions). The Kodiaq has a range of large alloy wheels from 17 to 20 inches and nine exterior colours. Other key features include a redesigned cockpit area, three physical 'smart dials' to adjust climate control and infotainment, a 10-inch instrument cluster and 13-inch infotainment screen, and optional head up display and massage seats. Eco-credentials include no chrome and textiles from either 100 per cent recycled polyester or 40per cent natural wool. There are four trim levels: Loft, lounge, Ecosuite and Sportline. There are two petrol and two diesel engines, linked to a 7-speed automatic gearbox Other key features include a redesigned cockpit area with three physical 'smart dials' to adjust climate control and infotainment The new version is 61 millimetres longer at 4,758 millimetres, with a wheelbase of 2,791 millimetres Skoda says its second-generation Kodiaq named after the Kodiak bear from Southern Alaska has 'grown moderately' compared to its predecessor Luggage capacity has also increased, growing in the five-seater version by 75 litres to 910 litres without folding the rear seats down A hot and sporty vRS version with an expected 270hp 2.0 litre turbocharged petrol engine - is also in the pipeline. Skoda says its second-generation Kodiaq named after the Kodiak bear from Southern Alaska has 'grown moderately' compared to its predecessor 'but to great effect.' The new version is 61 millimetres longer at 4,758 millimetres, with a wheelbase of 2,791 millimetres. Added to the width of 1,864 millimetres and an almost unchanged height of 1,659 millimetres help create more interior space. In the seven-seater version, passengers in the third row of seats now have 920 millimetres of headroom, 15 millimetres more than in the predecessor. Luggage capacity has also increased, growing in the five-seater version by 75 litres to 910 litres without folding the rear seats down. With the rear seats folded, maximum capacity has increased by 40 litres to 2,105 litres. The seven-seater now holds 340 litres behind the third row of seats some 70 more than before - and 845 litres with the third-row seats folded down (an increase of 80 litres). The seven-seater's maximum cargo capacity is now 2,035 litres, 30 litres more than in the first generation. Klaus Zellmer, CEO of Skoda Auto, said: 'Our all-new flagship SUV has everything it needs to be a worthy successor in the Skoda Kodiaq line. 'It takes the Skoda features our customers appreciate to the next level: more space, more features, and more efficiency. It makes everyday exploring even more rewarding.' He added: 'We have also broadened our range of highly efficient powertrains, introducing a plug-in hybrid with an electric range of over 62 miles, furthering our commitment to sustainable mobility. 'Since its 2016 launch, the Kodiaq has played a crucial role in Skoda's growth, consistently striking a chord with our customers. The new Kodiaq is perfectly placed to continue this successful legacy.' Will it fit in my garage? New second generation Skoda Kodiaq Price: From around 38,000 (estimated) First deliveries: Early 2024 Length: 4,758mm; Width: 1,864mm; Height: 1,659mm; Wheelbase: 2791mm Seats: up to 7 Wheels: 17 to 20 inches Exterior colours: 9 Power trains First iV lug-in hybrid PHEV version: Links 150 horse-power (110 kW) 1.5 TSI petrol engine to electric motor and 26.7kWh battery to deliver 204 hp (150 kW) power to the front wheels via 6-speed automatic gear-box (DSG). Two petrol models: First mild hybrid 1.5 TSI 150hp (110kW) petrol; 204 hp (150 kW) 2.0 TSI petrol. Two diesel models: 2.0 TDI diesel variants: 150 hp (110 kW) and 193 hp (142 kW). Most powerful diesel and petrol engine versions come with all-wheel drive. All linked to a 7-speed automatic DSG gearbox. Controversial features Skoda bosses planning to charge extra to download sat-nav software. Other 'on demand' features planned. Jeep launches fifth-generation Wrangler Jeep has launched its fifth-generation Wrangler just as it marked the five-millionth Wrangler sale globally. Prices will start at 60,785 with vehicles arriving early next year, along with a fetching new blue-grey colour called 'Anvil'. Prices will start at 60,785 with vehicles arriving early next year, along with a fetching new blue-grey colour called 'Anvil' With new styling tweaks, including to the seven-slot grille and additional safety features such as drowsy driver detection and lane departure warning, there will be just two simplified trim levels Sahara and Rubicon. The UK has surpassed 50,000 electric vehicle (EV) public charging points, according to new data from charging-point mapping service Zapmap. The 50,000th charger was an ultra-rapid device from MFG EV Power installed at a service station in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. Zapmap predicts that, at the current rate of installation, the UK is likely to reach 100,000 charging devices next August. Car servicing and repair complaints peak Consumer complaints about car servicing and repair have peaked this year, says the Motor Ombudsman citing 'pressures associated with the cost of living crisis'. In the three months to September 30 it received 1,348 new complaints, up 9 per cent on the same period last year, 10 per cent on this year's second quarter and 13 per cent on the first three months of this year. Consumer complaints about car servicing and repair have peaked this year That makes more than 3,763 complaints to date, and it predicts it will log more than 5,000 disputes by the end of the year. Diesel cars drove over half (52 per cent) of the new complaints, followed by petrol (40 per cent), electric vehicles and hybrids (both 4 per cent). Drivetrain and engine issues made up 51 per cent, followed by transmission, fuel and exhaust problems. Making a connection between the New York trial of disgraced FTX tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried and Hamas terrorists may seem the stuff of conspiracy theories. But there is a common thread, in the shape of crypto-currencies. Bankman-Fried used the public markets to turn crypto deals and investment into a trading platform, which at its peak valued his personal fortune at an astonishing $40billion. Hamas and other terrorist organisations regard crypto as a gift from the gods, which allows them to collect and move funds around the globe with minimum intrusion. The crypto craze has never been anything more than a giant Ponzi scheme. The blockchain technology involved may have value and central bank digital currencies may eventually become critical to the global financial system. Gift from the gods: Terrorist organisations can collect and move funds around the globe with minimum intrusion However, when I think crypto, Morgan Stanley boss James Gorman's words come to mind. 'Current value of bitcoin, $60,000. Real value, zero.' What one hadn't realised at the time is that the biggest player in the market, Bankman-Fried, would have a dramatic fall from grace, as elegantly described by Michael Lewis in his intriguing homage Going Infinite. Regulators, including the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, have warned of crypto risks and its use by money launderers. But there has been little public recognition that it is the favoured means of exchange for terrorists. Hamas's barbaric surprise attack on Israel a week ago may largely have been financed by Iran. US investigators also have uncovered a far flung network of online donors to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other proscribed enterprises. Before the current conflict, the US Justice Department already was pursuing a series of money laundering cases involving Hamas. Little is known because files are sealed for national security reasons. Among Israel's first actions, as it retaliated against Hamas, was to seize crypto-currency addresses linked to it and another militant Palestinian group. Some tens of millions of dollars in crypto allegedly have passed through these accounts. Crypto offers an organisation designated as terrorist by the US, Britain and the EU (but not the BBC!) to evade sanctions. Stopping the activity, according to a former CIA analyst quoted by CNN, 'is a constant game of cat and mouse'. Both Facebook and X have been used to post wallet addresses which allow Hamas sympathisers to donate in crypto. In Israel this spring, I found myself debating crypto with an American philanthropist. He related how along the bitcoin journey he had made substantial sums of money. If he had known that in trading bitcoin he was indirectly supporting violent enemies of Israel, he might have been less positive. Doubling down If you thought the age of mega-takeovers had passed, forget it. Cash rich giants see an opportunity at a time of higher borrowing costs, which makes leverage less attractive. The 60billion Microsoft deal for gaming group Activision was unveiled in 2022. Perseverance has paid off and final approval from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority has been agreed after some feisty opposition. At a time when US and European regulators are directly seeking to curb the power of big tech, it is hard not to think that even after amendments, it is a deal gamers will come to regret. Microsoft effectively has been handed the keys to the bank. In another part of the dealmaking forest, Exxon agrees with green-tinted former Bank of England governor Mark Carney that fuel security makes sense. It is increasing exposure to the Permian Basin in Texas and Liquefied Natural Gas with a 50billion deal for Pioneer Natural Resources. Finally, gold miner Newmont is backing bullion, having won shareholder approval for a 14billion bid for Australian-based rival Newcrest Mining. Fossil fuels, gold and gaming are 'go to' safe havens amid the global turmoil of Russia's war on Ukraine and conflagration in the Middle-East. Rich pickings Friends and family who decided that it was worth paying a little extra for the wealth management services of St James's Place (SJP) may be alarmed to learn that they are being treated unfairly. SJP's stock tumbled in latest trading (it is down 35 per cent since July) after the FCA let it be known it was looking at less than transparent fees for financial advice and penal charges for withdrawals. Fancy cocktail evenings and claret lunches with advisers come at heavy price. He set out to combat the excessive refrigeration of juice that isn't fresh Ed Rigg launched Eager Drinks in 2007 and has been a staple of pubs ever since You might not have heard of Eager Drinks, but you'll almost certainly have tried it. The juice company has been a staple of pubs, bars and venues across the UK for 15 years and its drinks are used in Young's pubs, Alchemist bars and across the Stonegate chain, which owns Slug and Lettuce. Its main selling point is that its juices can be stored outside of a fridge, freeing up more space in pub fridges. As a result, it claims to be more sustainable in the process. Now Eager is looking to sell its juice directly to customers. Ed Rigg launched Eager Drinks in 2007 to try and free up space in pub fridges They might have developed a taste for it in the pub, but will consumers be willing to order it to their homes? We speak to founder Ed Rigg about why he thinks the juice industry is a 'sham' and how he wants to change it. Juice industry is a 'sham' Rigg was working in the film industry when he moved in to a flat above a pub. After a few shifts pulling pints, he came up with the idea for a drinks brand, after noticing that juice for cocktails was taking up valuable space that could be used for bottled beer and wine. In 2007, Eager was born. 'Let's say you're a bar and getting a delivery once a week and you know you need 50 litres of orange juice. If you get that one delivery of chilled juice, it's got to go in the fridge all at once,' he says. 'You're buying in bulk. If you had to chill that whole bulk, well.. fridge space is at a premium.' Rigg set out to find a way to find a way to store juice out of the fridge - a significant challenge when you consider the walls of chilled juice found in supermarkets. What Rigg discovered, he says, was that if juices were packaged differently, most wouldn't need to be refrigerated behind the bar at all. This could help cut energy waste, as bars and pubs could reduce the number of fridges they use. 'The sham is that the juice is squeezed in Brazil - it will be pasteurised when it's squeezed,' he says. 'At that point it's no longer fresh.' 'That juice will then be shipped across the ocean. It'll be put into tankers and brought here. It's then pasteurised again before it goes into the carton. To say juice needs to be refrigerated after being in the supply chain for six months to a year it's totally disingenuous 'To then say it needs to be refrigerated after being in the supply chain for six months to a year it's totally disingenuous. It's not fresh, it's just cold. It's a serving suggestion, it's not a necessity. 'Other big brands in this country sell the same products in Europe in an ambient pack format. It is needlessly wasteful.' Rigg says the discrepancy between the UK and Europe comes down to how we like our milk. In Europe, people tend to opt for non-fresh or long-life milk, so juices are placed on the same shelf rather than being put in the fridge. In Britain, where we're more likely to pick up fresh milk from the refrigerator, it made sense to place juices nearby. But do brands also mark the price of their juice up by refrigerating it and making claims of freshness? Eager Drinks recently launched a subscription for consumers to buy its juice Rigg says he doesn't believe there's a 'conspiracy,' but 'obviously when concentrated juice is half the price, if you can convince people [refrigerated juice] is fresher, you're going to convince people to pay the higher price. 'I'm not saying everyone in the industry is a baddie and I'm a goodie. It's not that black and white.' Improved packaging a hit with bars Rigg found a solution to excessive refrigeration in the form of extra packaging. Eager drinks have an extra layer of cardboard which creates an airtight barrier and it means it can be kept outside of the fridge. 'There's a fraction more packaging waste because of the layer of foil, but it's nothing compared to refrigerating juice at 1-2 degrees in open fridges,' he says. But once the seal is broken, it becomes like any other juice and has to be refrigerated - the exact problem Rigg said he wanted to fix. How is Eager any different? 'We are useful because [venues] can buy good quality juice at room temperature, put it downstairs in the cellar and get it out when they need it,' Rigg says. 'They can get it delivered with other drinks. They don't need to rely on the chef to order it from food distributors which would come in chilled lorries. 'You'd get loads of people say the chef had forgotten to order it. It's just not on their radar.' Eager has become a hit with bars, venues and hotels, and now makes between 10 and 12 million litres of juice a year. Its current turnover is over 10million. What it doesn't stop is bars opting for cheaper, concentrated juice that can be stored at room temperature. In a period of higher prices across the board, bars may well have to cut costs and opt for a less fresh option. 'Juice should be a treat' Another challenge facing Rigg and Eager is ever-changing consumption habits and a growing understanding of the health risks of sugary juice. Ultra-processed food and sugar have become a hot topic in recent years, with research showing that consuming too much juice, which is high in sugar and low in fibre, can lead to a huge spike in blood sugar levels. Unlike bars and venues where juice might be considered a treat as part of a cocktail recipe, Rigg feels more conscious about the questionable health benefits of juice. I think we're in a world where, if you're not honest, consumers sniff you out 'When I started selling fruit juice, like everybody we assumed it was a health drink and subsequently there have been differing opinions. 'I think it's quite sugary and if you want to get vitamin c or some of the other good things that are in fruit juice, there's probably way to get it without the same sugar content. 'It's strange for a fruit juice company to say that, but I think we're in a world where if you're not honest, consumers sniff you out. People have all of this information at their fingertips.' It makes Eager's move into the direct-to-consumer market a difficult one, but this is a challenge Rigg seems to relish. He is realistic about the challenges and has opted to frame Eager as a 'treat' rather than spouting any tenuous health benefits. 'We obviously want to sell as much fruit juice as possible. If you tell people it's the most healthy thing in the world, you should drink a whole carton a day, and people decide that that's the narrative, then you could maybe sell more. You'd be being fairly disingenuous but you could do that. We think juice is a treat.' Framing Eager as a treat also makes the higher price point easier to stomach for parents, who he considers his main customers. Currently Eager sells six 1 litre cartons of orange juice for 15.90, around 2.65 a carton, similar to Tropicana. In Sainsbury's an equivalent 1 litre carton of orange juice, not from concentrate, costs 1.50. It will be an uphill battle, but customers may well be eager to stump up for the premium juice they've been unknowingly drinking for years. Keeping quiet: Former Barclays boss Jes Staley Former Barclays boss Jes Staley has been fined and banned from senior jobs in finance for misleading regulators over his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In a damning report, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the banker acted 'recklessly' and with 'a lack of integrity' while at Barclays by insisting he was not close to the convicted sex offender. Staley told regulators that his last contact with Epstein who was also a friend of Prince Andrew was 'well before' he was named the chief executive in October 2015. In reality, emails between the two show Staley described Epstein as one of his 'deepest' and 'most cherished' friends. He was also in contact with Epstein three days before his appointment at Barclays was announced. The FCA yesterday fined Staley 1.8m and banned him from holding any senior management position in finance. 'Mr Staley recklessly misled the FCA and acted with a lack of integrity,' it said. In response, Barclays said it would claw back or cancel 17.8m in bonuses and pay Staley was still due to receive. Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: 'A chief executive needs to exercise sound judgement and set an example to staff. Mr Staley failed to do this. 'We consider that he misled both the FCA and the Barclays board about the nature of his relationship with Mr Epstein.' She added: 'It is right to prevent him holding a senior position in the financial services industry if we cannot rely on him to act with integrity by disclosing uncomfortable truths about his close personal relationship with Mr Epstein.' Staley and Epstein met around the turn of the century when the former was head of JP Morgan bank and the latter was a client. Epstein was arrested in the US on sex trafficking charges in July 2019, and killed himself in prison the following month. He had already been convicted on child prostitution charges in 2008. The FCA asked Barclays in August 2019 what it had done to make sure there was no impropriety in the friendship between Staley and Epstein. In a letter approved by Staley, Barclays said it was not a close friendship and their last contact had been 'well before' the 2015 appointment as chief executive. The FCA said that these two statements were 'inaccurate and misleading'. Staley plans to appeal against the decision. The regulator published email extracts between Staley and Epstein as evidence. In November 2009, a year after Epstein's 2008 conviction, Staley wrote: 'I owe you much. And I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have few so profound.' In January 2015, Staley said: 'The strength of a Greek army was that its core held shoulder to shoulder, and would not flee or break, no matter the threat. That is us.' In October 2015, before Barclays announced his appointment, he said: 'You never wavered in our friendship these last three years. That means a lot too [sic] me.' The pair discussed Staley's career in October, including the confidential information that he had secured the top job at Barclays, contrary to the claims made in the letter to the FCA. The regulator said Staley had misled Barclays. He had 'an interest in giving Barclays the impression of a greater distance than was the case' and was 'aware of the risk' their association 'posed to his reputation and career', it said. Via his lawyer, Staley said: 'If I had known who Jeffrey Epstein really was, there is absolutely no doubt that I wouldn't be in the position I am in today. 'Prior to undertaking my former role, it was known that I had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. I am very disappointed by the FCA's decision and I will continue to challenge it.' In charge: Andy Hornby The owner of Wagamama is set to become the latest British firm to leave the London stock market after a 506m bid from private equity. The board of The Restaurant Group (TRG) has accepted a 65p-a-share offer from Apollo Global, having rejected an earlier proposal from the US giant. Shares in the company rose 36.1 per cent, or 17.45p, to 65.8p. The deal will land chief executive Andy Hornby, a former banker who took HBOS to the brink of collapse in the financial crisis, around 700,000 for his shares. TRG has been on a mission to slim down, selling its loss-making leisure arm including the Frankie and Benny's and Chiquito chains to rival Big Table last month. Apollo said its plan to take over the business, which also includes Brunning & Price pubs, is backed by Oasis, TRG's biggest shareholder with a 17.8 per cent stake, and New York's Irenic Capital. Both activists criticised TRG's strategy and were part of a revolt this year over fat cat pay and its direction under Hornby, who is set to stay. Predatory marriage: Legal moves are under way to combat this terrible abuse Sarah Coles is head of personal finance at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, here she shares a personal story and a warning for relatives of vulnerable people. We'd never heard of predatory marriages until three years ago, when we realised my dad was at risk. Now it is becoming more widely understood, and last week it emerged that the law may change to protect vulnerable people from falling victim. My dad was at risk, because he was suffering from vascular dementia after a massive stroke. While he remained the caring, generous and funny man he had always been, his brain function was declining to the point where he struggled to understand what was going on around him. His long-term girlfriend left when he got ill, so he was supported by several carers every day. He appreciated the help, but what he really wanted was a wife to look after him, so he started proposing to his carers sometimes almost immediately after meeting them. Fortunately, they were honourable and kind people, who let him down gently and warned us it was happening. They were concerned he could be taken advantage of, so we looked into it. We contacted the local Registrar, who confirmed that although dad had lost mental capacity, he could still get married. The rules are set up with a lower bar, so that those born with reduced mental capacity aren't denied the opportunity to marry. We knew that wills are automatically voided when you marry, and we realised that because he didn't have mental capacity, he couldn't make a new one. It would have meant he died intestate (without a will), so his wife would have received all his personal property, the first 322,000 of the estate and half of the rest. That's when we found out about predatory marriages, where someone tricks a vulnerable person into marriage, in order to exploit this loophole. Daphne Franks, whose mother was the victim of a predatory marriage, has been instrumental in bringing the issue to light. Sarah Coles: We contacted the local Registrar, who confirmed that although dad had lost mental capacity, he could still get married Her mother, 91-year-old Joan Blass, had also suffered advanced vascular dementia, and it was only after her death that the family discovered that, without their knowledge, she'd married a man 20 years her junior. He'd moved into her home when she was ill. She'd not shown any sign of knowing they were married, and didn't realise he had moved in. She thought he might be her carer. He inherited her estate and the right to decide her funeral arrangements, so she's now buried in an unmarked grave. Daphne and her husband challenged this in court, but in the absence of any proof she didn't have the mental capacity to get married, they lost. Daphne set up Predatory Marriage UK to draw attention to the issue, and took her case to Fabian Hamilton, MP for Leeds North East. In 2018 be brought a Private Members Bill calling for, among other things, notice of weddings to be published online. It was passed, but ran out of parliamentary time. However, it encouraged more families to tell their stories, and as a result of this publicity and pressure, the Law Commission got involved. On 5 October it launched a consultation into changing the law which decrees that when you get married or enter a civil partnership, any existing wills are revoked. It had actually consulted on it previously, but in the wake of growing awareness of predatory marriage, it's reconsidering its recommendations. The first time round it had suggested keeping the general rule and establishing an exception if at the time of the marriage the person getting married lacked 'testamentary capacity'. However, it realised this wouldn't work, because the person assessing their capacity would be a registrar or a member of the clergy, who wouldn't be in a position to safely assess this. Now it's considering revoking the rule entirely, so a will still stands if someone marries or forms a civil partnership. It will have to be satisfied that it offers protection for second families, but it could close the loophole, and protect vulnerable people from predatory marriages. Ministers and peers are involved in consulting on what should be under consideration, but so are judges, lawyers, academics, private sector organisations and charities. Last summer the Law Commission also concluded a separate consultation on marriages, which was specifically requested by the Government in the 2018 Budget. It ended up recommending measures to make it harder for someone to marry someone with reduced mental capacity in secret. It outlined protections that should be put in place ahead of any wedding, including meeting with both people who want to marry separately, publishing notices of marriages online, and allowing for a caveat to be placed before any notice of marriage is given so that, for example, someone with power of attorney who believes that the person doesn't have the capacity to marry can warn the Registrar in advance. The Law Commission is a statutory body, but it is independent. In the past around two thirds of recommendations have been implemented, not counting the ones that are waiting for a decision or for parliamentary time. So, we don't know yet whether this Government or a future one will take up the measures to combat predatory marriage outlined above, but they would be a step in the right direction. My dad died in February this year still unmarried and the funeral was a sea of the blue uniforms worn by his carers. Their support and fond memories of dad was a lovely reminder that while there are some terrible people out there who prey on the vulnerable, there are others who make it their life's work to support and care for them. Shoppers and supermarkets should avoid scampi due to its 'big environmental price tag', a charity warned today amid calls for major improvements to the fishing process. The campaign, headed by Scottish organisation Open Seas, aims to highlight the hidden environmental damage associated with scampi caught by bottom-trawling. Scampi are deep-fried langoustine tails, supplied by boats dragging heavy fishing nets across the seabed, which the charity said seriously harms other marine life. Open Seas said that for every kilo of scampi caught in bottom-trawls, at least another kilo of marine life is killed and discarded. It is now asking supermarkets to avoid stocking scampi until the fishery process is sustainably managed. But the National Federation of Fish Friers hit back, insisting that it was satisfied scampi is caught in line with strict guidelines to minimise impact on marine life. The Northern Ireland Fish Producer's Organisation added that it was 'ludicrous to suggest scampi isn't sustainable', adding that rules on catching langoustines were 'informed by the best possible scientific advice'. The Scottish Retail Consortium also insisted that British firms were 'dedicated to sourcing seafood products responsibly' and regularly reviewed fishing practices. And Seafood Scotland said reducing by-catch was a 'high priority' for the industry, but the techniques described by Open Seas were 'not behaviours we recognise'. Shoppers are being urged to avoid eating scampi due to its 'big environmental price tag' Launching the #SayNoToScampi campaign, Open Seas spokesman Nick Underdown said: 'This bite-size food comes with a big environmental price tag for our seas. 'The mesh of the bottom-trawl nets used is particularly narrow, which means that large volumes of other sea life are caught, killed and wasted. 'We think customers will want to know the hidden and unsustainable cost of scampi and take action.' The campaign asks supermarkets to avoid scampi, also known as Nephrops, until a number of criteria are met. These are that bottom-trawl vessels must be limited in the areas they can fish to avoid valuable coastal fish nursery and spawning areas, and that all fishing boats are effectively monitored so by-catch can be recorded. The charity also wants to see the destructive by-catch of fish and other sea life reduced to a practical minimum. Scotland is a world leading producer of langoustines and scampi. Latest Scottish Government figures show 18,000 tonnes of trawled Nephrops were landed last year, worth 67million. Open Seas said that because of the highly damaging nature of the fishing process, the seafood industry has put in place a Fishery Improvement Project which is meant to address these by-catch problems. However it said that after nearly five years, there has been no effective change to the management of the fishery. Mr Underdown urged supermarkets to 'take genuine action for the environment'. Scampi is the name for deep-fried langoustine tails, supplied by boats dragging heavy fishing nets across the seabed, which the charity said causes serious harm to other marine life He said: 'Business as usual is no longer an option and improved management of this damaging fishery would greatly assist much-needed recovery within our seas.' But Andrew Crook, president of the National Federation of Fish Friers, told MailOnline: 'The fish and chip industry takes its environmental impact very seriously throughout the supply chain. 'The catching sector work to strict guidelines to minimise their impact on marine life and are constantly improving techniques. 'The National Federation of Fish Friers works closely with all parts of the supply chain to ensure our members can make the correct seafood choices for their menus and sustainability is always a major consideration. 'From our discussions on scampi we are satisfied that they are caught in line with the guidelines in place and are part of a Fisheries Improvement Project.' And Harry Wick, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers Organisation, told MailOnline: 'Our langoustines are caught in within very strict rules, informed by the best possible scientific advice. 'It is exactly because we take sustainability rules so seriously that these grounds are still bursting with life after 60 years of fishing. 'That makes it ludicrous to suggest scampi isnt sustainable. 'The fact of the matter is that wild caught, British langoustine are among the healthiest, most sustainable and carbon friendly foods you will find in any supermarket.' Donna Fordyce, chief executive of Seafood Scotland, said: 'All Scottish vessels adhere to stringent legislation in terms of trawling and rightly so; the fisheries being described by Open Seas are not behaviours we recognise.' Open Seas claimed one study in 2017 found scampi, also known as Nephrops, made up only 7.8 per cent of the volume of catch during normal fishing about 50 miles north of Fraserburgh Ms Fordyce said reducing bycatch was a 'high priority' for the seafood industry and robust rules were in place governing commercial fishing. She said the industry was 'constantly evolving' the way they catch to employ new methods and technology and are currently trialling 'further innovations' such as employing different nets. 'They follow these rules because it ensures the long-term sustainability of Scottish seafood for the next generation of fishers.' Ms Fordyce said vessels fishing off the east coast of Scotland were 'deliberately' targeting multiple species within their quota and said blanket-referring to non-langoustine species as 'by-catch' was 'misleading'. She added: 'It's important to understand that the calls to action being made by Open Seas are already being addressed. 'Vessels are limited in terms of the areas they are allowed to fish, and secondary stocks are protected by the 'maximum sustainable yield' approach to fisheries management; in other words, only fish within the quota to protect species for future generations. 'Vessels fishing for langoustines use highly selective nets, which include large escape panels in the roof.' And Ewan MacDonald-Russell, deputy head of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: 'UK retailers are dedicated to sourcing seafood products responsibly, with the UK having some of the greatest coverage of independent, sustainable seafood certification in the world. 'Our members work closely with stakeholders and suppliers to regularly review fishing practices in supply chains to ensure they meet the highest standards.' The first ever Chinese mitten crab trap in Britain has been installed, as the population of the invasive species grows. Mitten crabs, which first appeared in the UK in 1935, have recently been seen scuttling around London and Cambridgeshire, including at a park in the south-west of the capital, a dyke in Whittlesey and a country park in Peterborough. The species named after its furry claws - is thought to have travelled from eastern China to Europe and north America in the sediment found on the bottom of ships' ballast tanks. The crab can be identified by its grey-green to dark brown body and dense brown 'fur' on their white-tipped claws. Dr Paul Clark is a researcher at the department of life sciences for the Natural History Museum, who specialises in Chinese mitten crabs. A mitten crab is pictured climbing over the weir at Pode Hole, Lincolnshire, before the trap was installed The Chinese mitten crab that a dog walker came across in Bushy Park in Richmond-upon-Thames The first ever permanent Chinese mitten crab trap has been installed at Pode Hole He has worked with them since 1976, after he was asked to retrieve the second mitten crab found in Britain. In an interview with MailOnline, Dr Clark said: 'Numbers are rising because they have a very unusual life history. After the migration downstream, adult females may be able to produce three spawnings of eggs. 'The number of eggs in each spawning can produce between 500,000 and one million. So that's how many larvae they are hatching into the estuary. Of course, not all those larvae will develop through to become a juvenile crab to go back up stream again. 'But once this species has become established, it's very difficult to get rid of it.' Now the first ever permanent Chinese mitten crab trap has been installed at Pode Hole, in Lincolnshire, in collaboration with Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board and the Natural History Museum. Dr Paul Clark is a researcher at the department of life sciences for the Natural History Museum, who specialises in Chinese mitten crabs They installed the trap on August 31 but have not managed to catch a Chinese mitten crab as of yet. Dr Clark says it might be delayed because of the warm weather, but he is unsure. Mick Henfrey, who is employed by the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board, built the trap. The Welland Board also donated around 8,000 to build the device. The trap works as a letterbox, trapping the mitten crab inside until they are extracted and taken away for analysis. Dr Clark believes that if he were to walk down to the Chelsea Embankment in London, within the hour he could pick up around 50 to 100 small crabs. He added that Chinese mitten crabs 'have very few predators,' perhaps the odd pike, and birds, but he believes that they would not decrease their population. The crustaceans were seen at waterways in Cambridgeshire, including a dyke in Whittlesea (pictured) The crabs erode riverbanks by burrowing into them and also affect the fishing industry by feeding on fish stocks and damaging nets 'I imagine off the top of my head that if otters were to come back in any numbers, they could probably deplete the population but at this moment in time, the population, especially in the Thames for example, is not being depleted at all.' When asked if the Chinese mitten crabs threaten our native species, Dr Clark said: 'Yes, they're eating us out of house and home.' 'We were very concerned because we think they eat fish eggs. We fed them some fish eggs and they devoured everything. 'The biodiversity in the Thames has probably gone down dramatically and the same in other areas, but it is difficult to monitor that.' At this point in time, it is unknown what Chinese mitten crabs primarily feed on. Dr Clark said that they are going to freeze and preserve the crabs that have been caught in the trap and may even investigate what they have been eating. He stresses that no mitten crabs will be released back into the area. The expert added: 'There is a possibility over a number of years that we could deplete that population in that catchment.' 'The issue with this crab is it has this unusual life history and spends most of its time in freshwater. It's not a true freshwater crab,' Dr Clark said. 'In Africa, for example, you have true freshwater crabs, that live in rivers and they don't migrate backwards and forwards and that's how they are. We don't have any freshwater crabs. 'This crab is filling a niche that wasn't occupied before in our country and probably on the continent as well. 'And this is why it's causing problems because our native animals have not evolved with this crab. As an invasive, it's something new.' The Natural History Museum has said the invasive crabs could grow to the size of dinner plates. Dr Clark said he once had a mitten crab in his laboratory that had a body which spanned 85mm in width (8.5cm). Since 2016, the species - named for its furry claws - have been classed as being 'widely spread' across the UK Chinese mitten crabs were considered to be established in the River Thames in 1973 and have spread further afield since then, including in the Tyne, Humber, Medway, Wharfe, Ouse, Tamar, and Dee rivers. Since 2016, the species - named for its furry claws - have been classed as being 'widely spread' across the UK. According to the Natural History Museum's 'Mitten Crab Watch,' more than 800 records have been submitted so far - which confirms that the creature is spreading across the UK. Their interactive map shows that there have been confirmed sightings of the crab across Britain - including London, Newcastle, Manchester, Swansea, Glasgow and Brighton. Andy Litchfield said he had been walking his dog in Bushy Park, south-west London, when he saw a crab last Friday. He told the Woking News and Mail that he had seen the crabs before but 'never on land'. He added: 'I was walking my Labrador in Bushy Park on Friday morning when he stopped to sniff something on the ground, and I was surprised to see that it was a crab.' He took a video of the encounter which saw the crab get defensive and put its claws in the air. At the end of last month, one of the creatures was spotted at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Fen Drayton Nature Reserve, near Huntingdon. Simon Passey was walking to the car park when he saw the creature. He told The Hunts Post: 'It was alive and had quite large pincers, I've never seen anything like that at Fen Drayton before. 'I took photos, but I didn't want to touch it.' Defra said that it had received reports of the crab on the Cambridgeshire Fens and they encouraged people to report sightings to stop the movement of their eggs and urged people to take photos. Britain's prisons are bursting at the seams, with some holding nearly double the number of inmates they were originally designed for. The average annual prison population has quadrupled between 1900 and 2023, going from just over 17,400 to around 83,100 - according to official data. The busiest prison in the country is Leeds, which is currently operating at 173 per cent capacity. This is followed by Durham (169%), Wandsworth (163%) and Lincoln (162%) which all have a Category B security rating. Preston, Bradford, Leicester, and Doncaster are all at over 150% capacity. New guidance in response to overcrowding means sex offenders and burglars could be let out on bail rather than handed an immediate custodial sentence. Britain's prisons are bursting at the seams, with some holding nearly double the number of inmates they were originally designed for. The average annual prison population has quadrupled between 1900 and 2023, going from just over 17,400 to around 83,100 - according to official data The most dangerous criminals will reportedly have to be held in magistrates' court cells if they are remanded in custody. Lord Edis, the senior presiding judge in England and Wales, has ordered the sentencing of convicted criminals currently on bail to be delayed from Monday, The Times reported. The news has caused anger and disbelief among barristers, judges, and politicians across the country. Leading criminal barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind wrote on Twitter, it was dismal, while shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper labelled it 'truly, truly shocking' The UK's prison population has increased substantially since the Covid pandemic in 2020 and, according to the latest figures, there are now 88,016 prisoners. As of October 6, capacity across the whole prison estate stood at 88,667 - meaning there are only 651 spaces left. Nazir Afzal, former North West Chief Crown Prosecutor said it was 'evidence of the broken criminal justice system'. 'The fact that judges have been told to not sentence offenders, previously on bail, to jail next week because the prisons are full is all you need to know', he wrote on X. Shadow secretary for justice, Shabana Mahmood, called it a 'damning indictment of the state of our prisons'. The Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood said: 'The government has been warned time and again but instead of addressing the challenges, they have driven the justice system into the ground.' The average annual prison population has quadrupled between 1900 and 2023, going from just over 17,400 to around 83,100 - according to official data The busiest prison in the country is Leeds, which is currently operating at 173 per cent capacity The UK's prison population has also increased substantially since the Covid pandemic in 2020 Ms Hardy-Susskind has given evidence to Government committees on how to improve the legal profession. She said: 'Any competent government would have seen this problem hurtling towards them for months. 'And yet. Here we all are. Asking guilty offenders to queue nicely and wait a little longer for a prison bed to become available so that they can then be punished. Dismal. Utterly dismal.' While The Secret Barrister said 'his is where our 'tough on crime' government has led us'. 'By stripping the system of funding and shovelling more and more people into our broken prisons, they have made it literally impossible for any more offenders to be imprisoned,' the popular anonymous lawyer wrote on X. Victims' commissioner at London City Hall Claire Waxman was equally as vexed and aimed her anger towards Rishi Sunak in a message on X. She wrote: 'The justice system in this country is officially broken if judges are now told not to jail convicted criminals as prisons are full. 'A convicted rapist could be back in the community, free to re-offend, leaving victims and public at risk @RishiSunak.' Barristers and politicians, including shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, have reacted with fury to the news rapist could be free to walk the streets next week Asked on Sky News if the reports are true, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: 'It's a longstanding convention ministers don't comment on leaks. The Lord Chancellor will make a statement to Parliament on Monday.' Pressed over whether prisons are full, he conceded 'they're under huge pressure'. But he said that is the case in 'many countries', adding it is due to the Government ensuring prisoners are in jail 'for longer' and because of 'pressures as a result of Covid'. He also told the programme: 'We have an absolute commitment to protect the public.' He told broadcasters the judiciary makes independent decisions on sentencing but insisted the Government is overseeing the 'fastest rollout of prison places'. He told Times Radio: 'There is pressure on the system, as there is in Ireland, as there is in France and a number of countries, as a consequence of the fact that jury trials were delayed during Covid, and that has meant there are additional numbers on remand. 'Decisions on sentencing are taken by the judiciary independently. What the Government is doing is expanding at pace the number of prison places that we have.' Earlier this week Justice Secretary Alex Chalk revealed he was looking into a plan to hire prison cells in other countries for the first time. Lord Edis holds the senior administrative position in the Crown courts Renting foreign prison cells will require a change in the law. A Tory spokesman said: 'Exploratory discussions with possible partners in Europe have already taken place and are ongoing. 'Agreements would mean that prisoners in the UK could be moved to another country's prison estate provided the facilities, regime and rehabilitation provided meets British standards. 'This is an established approach which has been used by other European countries including Belgium and Norway who have moved prisoners to the Netherlands.' A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'We are categorical that the most serious offenders should be sent to prison and that anyone deemed a risk to public safety is remanded in custody while awaiting trial. Reports to the contrary are false. 'This Government has done more than ever before to protect the public and keep sex offenders locked up for longer, ending automatic halfway release for rapists and serious violent offenders and sending rapists to prison for three years longer than in 2010. 'Following the pandemic and barristers' strike, the criminal justice system has seen a significant spike in the prison population, with 6,000 more prisoners on remand than before the pandemic. While we are carrying out the biggest prison-building programme since the Victoria era, and have taken decisive action to expand capacity further by doubling up cells in the short-term, the prison estate remains under pressure. 'The Lord Chancellor will be meeting criminal justice partners later today and setting out a programme of reform in the coming days to ensure that we can continue to strengthen public protection by locking up the most dangerous criminals.' The daughter of a man who killed himself after a loophole prevented an insurance payout for botched dental surgery that left him in agony for years yesterday described the system as 'not fit for purpose'. Clive Worthington suffered nerve damage in 2008 after a procedure to replace dentures with eight implants. His weight plummeted as he was unable to eat properly and was plagued by migraines and insomnia. In 2019, he was awarded 117,378 in compensation and costs one of the UK's biggest awards for dental negligence which he was going to use for remedial work that was not available on the NHS. But the court-approved payout was denied by the dentist's insurer under an obscure loophole known as 'discretionary indemnity'. In 2017, the General Dental Council found Dr Eszter Gambos, who was employed by UK business Perfect Profiles, to be at fault. The payout was awarded by Chelmsford County Court but the Dental Defence Union, which provided insurance cover for Dr Gombos, refused to pay. Some dentists have full insurance provided by a regulated insurer with binding terms that mean patients can be confident of receiving compensation if their treatment causes them avoidable harm. But Dr Gombos did not have full insurance and was only covered by her membership of the DDU, a dental mutual society. Such not-for-profit organisations, which are owned by their members, offer professional indemnity on a discretionary basis against the risk of dental negligence or professional conduct proceedings. This means even if a judge orders a payment, they can refuse and not explain why. Gina Tilly with her father Clive Worthington, who killed himself after a loophole prevented an insurance payout for botched dental surgery that left him in agony for years Clive (pictured with Gina) suffered nerve damage in 2008 after a procedure to replace dentures with eight implants In 2019, he was awarded 117,378 in compensation and costs - one of the UK's biggest awards for dental negligence - which he was going to use for remedial work that was not available on the NHS (Stock image used) Mr Worthington took his own life aged 81 in September last year, six years after his wife, Catherine, died. An inquest last week found the 'long-term consequences' of the procedure had 'significantly' affected his mental health. His daughter, Gina Tilly, 44, told MailOnline: 'It's [discretionary indemnity] just absolutely outdated and not fit for purpose. 'My biggest question isn't about whether or not it should be allowed. It's why it hasn't already been stopped when the Government and the General Dental Council are well aware of the dangers and have been for some time.' Grandfather Mr Worthington, a retired wood machinist from Harlow, Essex, had travelled to Budapest in Hungary for the dental implants due to the lower costs over there for the work that was not available on the NHS. Several follow-up operations were carried out over the following seven years to try to correct the problems, but he remained in constant pain. He tried over-the-counter remedies and prescription morphine-based painkillers but nothing eased his suffering. Shortly before he took his own life he even had Botox injections in his throat recommended by doctors in an attempt to help him swallow food. Last week's inquest concluded Mr Worthington's death was the result of suicide. Senior Essex coroner Lincoln Brookes told the hearing the 'long-term consequences' of the botched surgery 'impacted significantly on his mental health and ability to cope with daily life'. Mrs Tilly added: 'It affected every aspect of his life sleep, what he ate. And the social element of his life. He used to enjoy going out with friends and family but in the end it stopped him from doing things he loved.' Clive killed himself aged 81 in September last year, six years after his wife, Catherine, died An inquest last week found the 'long-term consequences' of the procedure had 'significantly' affected Clive's (pictured left) mental health Mrs Tilly described the situation as 'madness', adding: 'I've completely lost faith in the system.' She said she would 'keep asking the questions' to bring about change as quickly as possibly because she doesn't 'want my dad to have died in vain'. Chris Dean, a registered dentist and managing director of the Dental Law Partnership which specialises in medical negligence claims, has described how the 'inadequacy' of discretionary indemnity 'repeatedly' comes up. He said: 'When these 130-year-old unregulated mutual societies decide to exercise their discretion not to pay up, as they have done 29 times for our clients in the last seven years, our clients are left with no possibility of recovering the compensation to which they are entitled.' Last week's inquest concluded Mr Worthington's (pictured left) death was the result of suicide Perfect Profiles' website states the business, based in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, ceased trading last year. A woman who answered the phone number said no one was available to comment. The DDU said it was 'unable to comment on individual cases' but added: 'It is very rare that we are unable to offer our members support.' However, earlier this year its website stated that in 2019 it 'successfully defended 65 per cent of claims without making compensation claims to patients'. The General Dental Council said: 'Patients must be able to seek compensation in the rare event that something goes wrong in their dental care, and it is deeply frustrating that weaknesses in the current legislation caused the system to fail in this instance. 'We encourage the Department of Health and Social Care to accelerate their work to review and update the existing provisions, which we as regulator can then apply.' The DHSC said: 'We are working with the sector to improve access to compensation for clinical negligence and will ensure any changes are in the best interests of patients.' An update on the review will be published later this year, it added. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details The man died from 'natural causes,' officials for the state said Clark - better known as notorious murderer and necrophile the 'Sunset Strip Killer' was responsible for the deaths of six women in the 1980s Douglas Clark, also known as half of the 'Sunset Strip Killers,' has died in prison of 'natural causes,' California Department of Corrections officials announced Thursday. Clark, 75, was a known murderer and necrophile who terrorized the Los Angeles area in 1980, dismembering and decapitating multiple young, vulnerable women. The man - who died Wednesday at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center - would target runaways and prostitutes alongside his accomplice, Carol Bundy. From June until August of 1980, the pair is accused of murdering as many as a dozen people before they were arrested, charged, and found guilty of murder. Bundy was sentenced to life without parole while Clark was sentenced to death in 1983, however, California has not executed a prisoner in nearly two decades. Douglas Clark, also known as half of the 'Sunset Strip Killers,' has died in prison of 'natural causes,' California Department of Corrections officials announced Thursday Clark, 75, was a known murderer and necrophile who terrorized the Los Angeles area in 1980, dismembering and decapitating multiple young, vulnerable women According to reports from the time, Clark and Bundy targeted girls as young as 15 and went after women who were considered vulnerable and dejected. The pair had an 'an intense sadomasochistic relationship' where Clark would frequently bring back sex workers to the couple's apartment for threesomes. At one point, Clark took an interest in an 11-year-old neighbor and Bundy helped to lure the child into their home to pose for pornographic pictures. From there, his desires 'escalated' into sharing with his compatriot that he would like to kill a girl during sex, and Bundy even bought two pistols for him to use. According to one report, Clark was hoping to fulfill fantasy of killing a woman during sex and feeling her 'vaginal contractions during the death spasms.' Throughout their months long murder spree, the couple is believed to have killed at least seven individuals and potentially more who were not discovered or identified. Both Clark and Bundy reportedly copped to police about additional homicides. After murdering the women, Clark would use their corpses for sexual gratification. Pictured: Forensic facial reconstruction of Clark's unidentified victim, found in 1980 According to reports from the time , Clark and Bundy targeted girls as young as 15 and went after women who were considered vulnerable and dejected Throughout their months long murder spree, the couple is believed to have killed at least seven individuals and potentially more who were not discovered or identified Bundy was sentenced to life without parole while Clark was sentenced to death in 1983, however, California has not executed a prisoner in nearly two decades It was eventually Bundy who confessed to coworkers and police about what she had done, implicating her partner in the process and resulting in their arrests. During his trial, Clark was convicted of first degree murder, mutilation/sexual contact with human remains, attempted first-degree murder, and mayhem. He was sentenced to death in 1983. Bundy - who was not sentenced to death - died in prison at the age of 61. California GOP Rep. Michelle Steel is introducing a new bill to cut off all U.S. aid for the Palestinian territory until the Palestinian Authority renounces Hamas and recognizes Israel. The U.S. currently funnels hundreds of millions in humanitarian aid for Palestinian people. The Biden-era policy is a departure from former President Trump who axed Palestinian aid. 'This is commonsense. Not a single American taxpayer dollar should be sent to the corrupt, murderous Palestinian Authority until we have full confidence that it will never allow an evil like this to happen again,' Steel said in a statement. In exchange for aid, the Palestinian Authority would have to recognize Israel's right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state, remove and bar Hamas from any government position and condemn terrorism. tank moves drives through the area near Kibbutz Be'eeri near the Gaza Strip on October 13, 2023 in Be'eeri, Israel. Israel has sealed off Gaza and conducted airstrikes on Palestinian territory after an attack by Hamas killed hundreds and took more than 100 hostages Palestinians seek cover during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, 13 October 2023. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 11 people were killed in the West Bank towns on 13 October Between April 2021 and March 2022 the U.S. provided $417 million for Palestinian refugees through the United Nations, $75 million in economic aid through USAID and $20.5 million in Covid and Gaza recovery assistance. For 2022 the U.S. planned to offer $45 million to support the 'rule of law' in Gaza. Meanwhile a federal judge allowed the discovery period to begin on a lawsuit that alleges President Biden is sending taxpayer funds to Palestinian territory in violation of a law that prohibits funding terrorist organizations. The ruling comes during the outbreak of war after Hamas launched a series of surprise attacks on Israel that have left 1,300 dead. Israel's counter-attacks have killed some 1,500 - and the Israeli government has now ordered 1.1 million locals to evaquate northern Gaza as the conflict drags on. The U.S. and Qatar have agreed to freeze $6 billion in Iranian assets - a reversal of earlier plans to unfreeze the money as part of a prisoner swap. California GOP Rep. Michelle Steel is introducing a new bill to cut off all U.S. aid for the Palestinian territory until the Palestinian Authority renounces Hamas and recognizes Israel Iran has denied any involvement in the attack, but the sophisticated tactics used by Hamas suggest otherwise. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Iranian security officials helped Hamas plan the attack. News of the planned change came hours after Joe Biden issued his first public warning to Iran since the Hamas attack on Israel. 'We've 'made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful,' Biden said at a meeting with Jewish leaders at the White House on Wednesday. Speaking in Tel Aviv, on a visit to Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the original prisoner swap arrangement that had seen the Iranian funds transferred from South Korea to Qatar. He added: 'None of the funds that have now gone to Qatar have actually been spent or accessed by Iran in any way.' The dad of an Israeli-American festival goer tracked his daughter's iPhone to discover how and where she met her harrowing death at the hands of Hamas gunmen. Danielle Waldman, 24, and her boyfriend Noam Shai, who had met in the military and planned to get married, were missing in the days after the horrific attacks at the Israeli Supernova music festival. Her anxious father, Eyal Waldman, had been holding onto the hope that his young daughter had only been held captive by the terror group and was not killed. On Wednesday he received the heartbreaking news that she and her boyfriend were amongst the 260 other innocent festival goers that were killed by the terrorists. Danielle's dad, who is the founder of Mellanox - an Israeli-American supplier of computer networking products, used 'find my iPhone' to track his daughter's devices after learning of her death. He discovered her wrecked car where it had been stranded after Danielle and her boyfriend along with several other festival goers had tried to escape the atrocious Hamas attacks. Danielle Waldman, 24, and her boyfriend Noam Shai were missing in the days after the horrific attacks at the Israeli Supernova music festival and tragically confirmed dead on Wednesday Eyal Waldman. who is the founder of Mellanox - an Israeli-American supplier of computer networking products, used 'find my iPhone' to track his daughter's devices after learning of her death Danielle's father Eyal Waldman discovered her wrecked car where it had been stranded after Danielle and her boyfriend along with several other festival goers had tried to escape the atrocious Hamas attacks Danielle and her boyfriend were amongst the 260 other innocent festival goers that were killed by the terrorists As the devastating attacks by Hamas continue, an Israeli soldier walks past a house destroyed by Hamas in Kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023 Eyal Waldman spoke to CNN about the death of his 24-year-old daughter, who was murdered alongside her boyfriend of six years at the Nova Festival during the Hamas attacks. After tracking his daughter's iPhone and Apple watch he went down south with his friend, which is where they found the car that his daughter was in as she tried to make her escape from the terror group. They discovered that his daughter and her boyfriend along with a few others attempted to flee the attacks in a white Toyota hatchback, but that they were allegedly cornered by terrorists and executed with AK assault rifles. Waldman said: 'I have seen exactly how she was murdered from two directions by at least three to five people that had attacked it. 'From the shells that we have found, there were at least three guns that were shooting at the car.' Waldman spoke to i24NEWS - an Israeli news station - about his daughter: 'Danielle was born in California, in the United States. She was the happiest kid ever and everyone really loved her.' 'She loved everybody.' 'Noam grew here in Israel and is a real man. They met in the army and planned to spend all of their lives together.' He said: 'Danielle and went to the festival of peace and love in the south district of Israel. They went with thousands of kids to celebrate life, to celebrate love.' On Saturday morning they were attacked and murdered and slaughtered and raped and burned by the Islamic Jihad, by the Hamas, and by the civilians of Gaza wo entered Israel and penetrated more than 24 villages and cities in the South district of Israel.' Waldman shared that his daughter had told him that she planned to marry her long-term boyfriend and that the couple had just moved into an apartment together. The number of Americans killed by Hamas terrorists in Israel has now reached at least 27, National Security Council's Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby revealed on Thursday. Oriya Ricardo, 26, was gunned down on Saturday at the Supernova festival along with more than 250 others Murdered: Debbie, a Missouri native, and Shlomi Matias were killed in front of their son on Saturday The death toll of Israelis, Palestinians and Americans continues to rise five days after Hamas attacked the Jewish state. But Kirby assured there are only a 'handful' of Americans thought to be held in hostage in Gaza currently. Arriving in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday morning, Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed that at least 25 Americans were killed in the Hamas attacks. By later in the day, two more were confirmed dead by Kirby during the White House press briefing. Among the Americans killed was Oriya Ricardo, 26, who was gunned down on Saturday at the Supernova festival along with more than 250 others. Her body was identified yesterday, after an agonizing three-day wait for her family. Her New York City-resident mother, Hannie, appeared on MSNBC last night to pay tribute to her. 'It's pretty hard to speak about her. She was as her name is, light, she brought light everywhere she came. 'A very happy girl, loved to party, was always the center of everything. She was the source of power of my life. Daniel Ben Senior (left), 34, was working at Nova festival on Saturday when Hamas militants attacked. Natalie Ranaan (right) was visiting family for the High Holidays with her mother, Judith, when the assault began on Saturday. Since then, relatives have not heard from either woman Sagui Dekel-Chen(left), a 35-year-old American citizen who is among those missing. Itay Chen(middle), a US citizen fighting in the Israeli Defense Force, who is also missing. Hersh Golberg-Polin(right), 23, texted his mother and father 'I love you. I'm sorry' at 8.11am on Saturday - as Hamas terrorists declared war on Israel, took dozens of people as hostage and killed hundreds during the Jewish high holiday Adrienne Neta (right), 66, is also missing. She is a nurse and midwife who moved to Israel from California in 1981. Judith Raanan (left) was also taken hostage along with her daughter. Their family in Illinois has not heard from them since Saturday Among those Americans that remain missing is 18-year-old Chicago high school graduate Natalie Raanan and her mother, and 34-year-old Daniel Ben Senior, whose father says she was working at the Nova musical festival when Hamas terrorists struck. Hersh Polin-Goldberg, 23, is another American now being held captive by Hamas. His mother says he had his arm 'blown off' from the elbow down. The State Department is yet to confirm the number of Americans missing in the conflict. A Palestinian terrorist opened fire on Thursday on a group of journalists touring the site of a music festival in Israel where 260 people were killed this weekend, forcing the reporters to scatter as the Israeli army fired back at the man. The attacker was later seen being arrested, blindfolded and stripped down to his underwear as he was marched away by soldiers. The dramatic moment was captured by a Fox News crew, which joined others in the tour of the site of the Supernova festival. Hamas attacked the gathering around 6:30am on Saturday, crossing from Gaza and launching their onslaught. Trey Yingst, a correspondent with Fox News, was among those being shown around the site. Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst was taken with other journalists to the site of a music festival on the Gaza border. The reporters were there when gunshots were fired An aerial picture shows the site of the weekend attack on the Supernova desert music festival Israeli soldiers are seen at the site of the music festival on Thursday 'We heard a gunshot and they're yelling at people to get out of the area,' said Yingst, who began running with his crew. His group crouched on the floor, while other journalists could be seen sheltering by a wall. Israeli soldiers ran towards the sound of the gunshot, which came from the eucalyptus forest on the edge of the camp site. 'Lay down flat. Lay down. Lay down totally flat,' said Yingst, as others ran away. Yingst continued: 'You can see things are very tense here. Two gunshots and now they have someone on the ground. 'Very tense right now as the soldiers appear to have arrested a Palestinian man and he's in handcuffs and they've blindfolded him and they are taking him away. You can see here they're leading him away.' He added the scene 'gives you a sense of how unpredictable all of this is.' 'They don't know where people are hiding. They could still be in the tree lines here near the Gaza border.' Yingst said a senior commander later told him the detained man was a Palestinian militant who had crossed into Israel from Gaza, or who perhaps remained in the area following Saturday's attack. The Palestinian gunman is pictured being taken away on Thursday after opening fire at the music festival site IDF soldiers are seen on Thursday overpowering the Palestinian man An Israeli soldier searches the music festival site on Thursday The area around the festival site remains tense, five days later As the full scale of the horrors of the weekend were coming into focus, Israel's military was ramping up preparations for a ground invasion, and Hamas was continuing to launch rockets into Israel. 'Now is the time for war,' said Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, as his country amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip. Seeking to build support for its response, Israel's government showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defense ministers graphic images of children and civilians they said Hamas had killed in a weekend rampage in Israel. Blinken said they showed a baby 'riddled with bullets,' soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. 'It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,' he said. 'It's really beyond anything that we can comprehend.' Israel has vowed to retaliate for the attack - the deadliest by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. An armed Palestinian militant leading a man during the Supernova music festival An armed Palestinian militant is seen walking around the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel Sitting on the back of a terrorist's motorcycle, her outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life Aftermath: Burnt-out and abandoned cars where revellers tried to escape the onslaught At least 260 were killed in the massacre while many are still missing either dead or taken hostage by the bloodthirsty militants Like others across the globe, Blinken urged Israel to show restraint, but he also reiterated America's support, saying: 'We will always be there by your side.' On Friday he was due to meet King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in Jordan as part of a Middle East tour aimed at stopping spillover from the war. America's top diplomat, Blinken planned to visit key U.S. allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates - some with influence on Hamas, an Islamist group backed by Iran. Halevi said lessons would be drawn from the security failures around Gaza that enabled the attack. 'We will learn, investigate, but now is the time for war,' he said. The U.S. military is placing no conditions on its security assistance to Israel, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, adding Washington expected Israel's military to 'do the right things' in prosecuting its war against Hamas. Austin was due in Israel on Friday and planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas called on Palestinians to rise up on Friday in protest at Israel's bombardment of the enclave, urging Palestinians to march to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Public broadcaster Kan said the Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300. The American death toll rose to 27. Scores of Israeli and foreign hostages were taken back to Gaza; Israel said it had identified 97 of them. Israel has responded so far by putting Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, under siege and launching a bombing campaign that destroyed whole neighborhoods. Gaza authorities said more than 1,500 Palestinians had been killed. Two men have been convicted and fined after showing 'great contempt' by defacing a significant Indigenous heritage site. Shawn Bartley and Richard Jarrett from New South Wales, who claim to be 'sovereign citizens', skipped their court date in Alice Springs Local Court on Thursday over a string of offences. The court heard the pair had driven into Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park after 10am on August 11, 2022, and broke into Warayuki, a sacred cave site of the Anangu people. They climbed through a fence and into the cave with their two dogs before pressing two oily hand prints onto the walls, one of which was covered with sacred rock art. Charges included damaging and defacing a Commonwealth reserve, entering a prohibited area, and lighting a fire on and taking animals onto a Commonwealth reserve. Shawn Bartley and Richard Jarrett from New South Wales, who claim to be 'sovereign citizens', faced multiple charges in Alice Springs Local Court on Thursday - although they skipped appearing in person Prosecutor Ryan Bocock told the court the cave was placed 'in the highest order of significant sites' at Uluru and was marked by a number of signs prohibiting entry. A tour guide who spotted the pair entering the site and reported hearing clapsticks in use was under the impression that a traditional ceremony was under way. The guide alerted park rangers who waited for the Anangu traditional owners to arrive before intercepting the intruders on their way out. READ MORE: 2,200 year old rock art destroyed by vandals Vandals are alleged to have dug under a steel gate year and completely destroyed a section of delicate finger-marked cave art at the heritage-listed site. Advertisement 'A conversation ensued between Jarrett and Bartley and the traditional owners, where Jarrett stated that he came to make treaty with "my people",' Mr Bocock said, as reported by the ABC. 'In response, [a traditional owner] said: "No, I know this place. What's wrong with you? You have no shame coming to our place, you have no culture, you have no language".' Mr Bocock described Bartley as Caucasian, while Jarrett was 'Aboriginal in appearance'. Bartley had been seen carrying a jar of unidentified liquid, which was believed to be the oily substance used to create the handprints. Both men fled the park while the ranger and owners of the land entered to inspect the cave. The court heard the men had also created a drawing on the ground using sand they had dragged in and started a fire within the cave. The pair had 'no connection' to the traditional owners of the land and entered the cave without their permission, the court was told. The accused were offered interviews but declined, with Bartley sending an email instead which said that he 'personally accepted responsibility', but had been 'coerced and misled' by Jarrett. They also failed to enter pleas, and since they did not show up to their trial the matter proceeded in their abscence. The court heard that the two men had shown 'great contempt' for the heritage site and a 'deliberate disregard and disrespect for Indigenous culture and heritage' Signs adorn the exterior of much of the site, and the notion that the men had not known that they were not allowed in the site was dismissed Mr Bocock told the court that the same cave had been inspected again in July and the damage from the oily handprints had remained. The prosecutor argued that there was 'little doubt' that the two were aware of the importance of the site as they began 'violating' it. 'There was not any apparent remorse shown at the time or subsequently, and it's still not clear whether any damage can be repaired,' he said. 'This reveals a deliberate disregard and disrespect for Indigenous culture and heritage.' He said that Jarrett's claim he was there in order to make treaty 'lacked credibility'. The court heard that both men had existing criminal records, with Bartley's described as 'old and minor' while Jarret's was said to be 'substantial'. Judge David Bamber accepted that this was the first time either man had been charged with offences of this nature, but conceded that the damage to the rock art was serious. 'This is a case where we have two persons who have these wrong-headed notions of sovereign citizenship, whatever that means,' he said. 'Clearly this was quite a blatant attempt to thumb their noses both at the general law and show really a contempt to the culture of the traditional owners.' The co-accused were convicted and fined $8,600 each. A house that has a massive hole in its roof managed to fetch close to a million dollars after it was sold to a keen buyer. The property at 51 Brisbane Road in St Johns Park, around 37 kilometres west of Sydney, sold for $965,000 in September. Pictures of the three-bedroom home which sits on a 625 square metre block show a conventional-looking red-brick suburban dwelling that appears ready to move into. Pictures of the three-bedroom home which sits on a 625 square metre block show a conventional-looking red-brick suburban dwelling that appears ready to move into Other pictures of the property, however, reveal a glaring problem. A large part of the home's roof is missing after damage from a fire, leaving a gaping hole open to the elements. The kitchen is seen badly damaged with debris strewn everywhere while parts of the wall and tiling appears to have been torn apart. The room's wooden cabinet also appear to have been ripped apart underneath the exposed beams of the home's ceiling. The real estate agent who sold the property Blaz Dejanovic told Yahoo that the pictures of the home's structural deficiencies were included in order to be transparent with homeowners. 'We tried to showcase the house exactly the way it is. We don't want to sugarcoat anything hence the photos you can see,' he said. Despite the lack of a roof, other images of the home show it's decent 'bones', with a single bathroom, garage and large backyard. The property listed by Blaze Real Estate describes the home as a place that offers 'endless possibilities' that can be transformed 'into the perfect family home or investment property'. The property agency said the home's major selling point was its location in the thriving western suburbs of Sydney. The listing also indicated that the home is situated within close proximity to local schools, parks, shops, and public transport. Other photos, however, show a large part of the home's roof is missing after damage from a fire, leaving a gaping hole open to the elements. The kitchen is seen badly damaged with debris strewn everywhere while parts of the wall and tiling appears to have been torn apart Despite the lack of a roof, other images of the home show it's decent 'bones', with a single bathroom, garage and large backyard The shocking state of the property didn't go unnoticed on online with several people declaring the home a 'warzone'. A reddit user saw the funnier side of the missing part of the home's roof, saying the property has 'a lot of natural light'. Mr Dejanovic said no open house inspections were held before the home was auctioned off as the property was intended to be sold as a plot of land. Despite the structural issues of the property several buyers made offers to buy the home, as they were impressed by the property's location in a growing part of Western Sydney (pictured) Buyers however were able to visit the property and view it from outside as the site was fenced off due to the hazardous materials left behind inside the dwelling. Despite the maintenance required, 15 buyers expressed their interest in purchasing the home due to the property's location. The buyer who bought the property intends to knock the home down and build a new one. The median house price for a three-bedroom home in St Johns Park is $1.04million. A petition to remove a Yale professor from her position after she sent out a number of tweets backing and celebrating the Hamas terror attacks in Israel, has garnered 35,000 signatures. The petition, titled 'Remove Zareena Grewal from the Yale Faculty for Promoting LIES and VIOLENCE,' refers to a series of tweets sent by Grewal, an Ethnicity, Race, and Migration professor in the wake of the barbaric attacks in Israel over the weekend. On October 7, Grewal wrote: 'My heart is in my throat. Prayers for Palestinians. Israeli [sic] is a murderous, genocidal settler state and Palestinians have every right to resist through armed struggle, solidarity. #FreePalestine.' Several days later, as the depravity of the Hamas attacks became clear, Grewal wrote in response to a tweet from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: 'No government on earth is as genocidal as this settler colonial state.' She has also, in recent days, retweeted posts that claim Israel has a 'mad bloodlust' and that those who support the Jewish state would have 'been posting 'I stand with slave owners' during rebellions.' Zareena Grewal has posted many times in support of Palestinian terrorists since the brutal attacks began Saturday The petition has now collected at least 35,000 signatures two days after it was posted On October 8, Grewal retweeted a video of a news report about the brutal Hamas attacks with the caption: 'It's been such an extraordinary day!' In a student-written article for the Yale Daily News, the school defended Grewal's right to exercise free speech. A spokesperson for the Ivy League institution said: 'Yale is committed to freedom of expression, and the comments posted on Professor Grewals personal accounts represent her own views.' It is not clear whether Yale will take action or conduct a review of Grewal's messages. The school's Jewish Chaplain, Jason Rubenstein, told the outlet that he 'would like the Yale administration, while not compromising on freedom of expression and academic freedom, to also respond to these statements as what they are: fundamental challenges to the ethos of belonging at Yale.' 'We would like this professor - and everyone at Yale - to state what should be obvious: that she cherishes and would protect every member of the Yale community, including Jews alongside everyone else,' he said. Rubenstein went on to point out that Hamas has taken the lives of members of the Yale community, including Matthew Eisenfeld of the class of '93, who died in a 1996 Hamas bombing in Jerusalem, and Eitan Neeman, clinical fellow at the medical school who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists over the weekend. 'When a member of the Yale community - faculty or student - raises their voice in support of Hamas, we think not of geopolitics, but of the fact that this person is advocating for an organization that not only has stated its intention to kill members of our community, but has done so,' he said. The petition, written be a member of the class of 2025, has received roughly 35,000 signatures (as of 7pm Thursday evening) in the two days it's been up. It reads in part: 'Condoning violence, advocating for a terrorist organization, and historical revisionism and inaccuracies are all ideas that run contrary to the values of Yale University.' Grewal 'has unequivocally proven that she has no right being in her current role or in the field of education if she considers war crimes against civilians to be acts of resistance.' More than 34,000 people have signed a petition demanding that Yale University remove Grewal from its faculty An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on October 11 A house left in ruins after an attack by Hamas militants on this kibbutz days earlier when dozens of civilians were killed near the border with Gaza 'Worse than ISIS': Photo of bloodied child's bed posted by Israeli PM Netanyahu According to her university biography, Grewal is a 'historical anthropologist and a documentary filmmaker whose research focuses on race, gender, religion, nationalism, and transnationalism across a wide spectrum of American Muslim communities.' Her first book is described as 'an ethnography of transnational Muslim networks that link US mosques to Islamic movements in the post-colonial Middle East through debates about the reform of Islam.' In her X (formerly Twitter) bio, she describes herself as a 'Yale prof' and 'radical Muslim.' She has, likely recently, limited access to her tweets. On Saturday, Iran-backed Palestinian terrorists stormed Israel in a coordinated attack that has so far taken the lives of 1,200 Israelis, some of whom were raped, burned alive, and beheaded mercilessly by agents of Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war shortly after, and of Thursday the IDF counteroffensive was in full swing. It has so far involved the aggressive bombing of Gaza, as well as rockets being sent into Syria and Lebanon. Gaza is bracing for a possible ground offensive that would further escalate the conflict. Netanyahu has sworn vengeance for his people and death to all agents of Hamas. Australian Electoral Commission chiefs have warned voters they could be turned away from polling stations if they wear Yes or No T-shirts when they vote on Saturday. The alert comes after two Indigenous elders from Ipswich, near Brisbane, say they were told they couldn't wear their Yes shirts into the polling station. 'With no explanation whatsoever, [the AEC official] just simply straightforward says,"You're not allowed to have this on while you're here",' said Valentine Brown. He said he was turned away from the voting station and then followed closely by officials when he later returned in a different top. Rhonda Collard-Spratt said she was treated like a criminal when she tried to vote wearing a similar shirt. 'Because I was wearing this shirt, he said to me, "While you're in the space and with that shirt on you and better behave yourself",' she said. 'We are well respected elders. We were there to do a legal obligation to place our votes and we were treated with utter disrespect.' Indigenous elders Valentine Brown and Rhonda Collard-Spratt from Ipswich, near Brisbane, say they were told they couldn't wear their Yes shirts into the polling station Election rules in Australia prohibit campaigning within six metres of a polling station entrance or inside, and election chiefs say wearing a campaign T-shirt to vote could breach the rules. But AEC commissioner Tom Rogers admitted officials may have over-reacted in Queensland, but said it was also important to avoid confrontations between voters. 'Our role is to provide a neutral place for people to cast a vote, and the Electoral Act says that you can't campaign in a polling place,' he said. 'So if you are turning up and you're wearing a T-shirt or a hat or something, and you're campaigning in the polling place, you won't be allowed in. It's as simple as that. 'But if you're an elector, you're just going in to cast a vote wearing a T-shirt, and you're in and out, that should be fine.' He added: 'The issue is that people view this through the prism of what they want to do if they're very proud of their No or their Yes T-shirt they want to wear it in. 'Just remember, it's a respectful place where everyone is supposed to be able to express a view. It's as simple as that.' Australian Electoral Commission chiefs have warned voters they could be turned away from polling stations if they wear Yes or No T-shirts when they vote on Saturday The official guidelines say the rules in a referendum are the same as for elections. 'Campaigning is not allowed inside the polling place or within 6m of the entrance,' said an AEC spokesman. 'If a voter wears a pin, shirt or hat with a campaign slogan into the polling place, casts their vote and leaves, then it may not be considered as campaigning. 'However, when inside a polling venue a problem could arise if a voter is seen talking about the material or gesturing towards it. 'AEC advice is to simply avoid any potential issue by not wearing campaign material into a polling place, or to at least bring along a piece of clothing that allows a voter to cover up.' But they added: 'The AEC understands that passions are often high around referendum events, and people want to proudly display their voting intentions either way when coming to vote. 'Please don't fall foul of the law. Simply wear or display campaign material outside the polling place instead.' Valentine Brown said he was turned away from the voting station and then followed closely by officials when he later returned in a different top They said they expected people were more likely to wear Yes or No-branded clothes for the referendum compared to a normal election. The AEC said election workers - mostly 100,000 temporary workers recruited just for the vote - would try to deal with the situation on a case 'Our staff will take a commonsense approach to conversations with voters regarding these matters - to either cover up or to make sure people behave appropriately when inside the polling place,' the AEC added. 'We have a temporary workforce of approximately 100,000 people who are everyday members of the community doing their best to facilitate a positive voting experience for Australians. Please be kind. 'While the laws around campaigning in, or near, a polling place are the same as for a federal election, the obvious difference is the higher likelihood of people wanting to wear campaign clothing when voting in a referendum.' Sunrise host Nat Barr has weighed in on the question every Australian wants to know about Kathleen Folbigg ahead of their highly anticipated one-on-one interview. Ms Folbigg, 55, spent 20 years behind bars after she was convicted in 2003 of the murder of three of her children and the manslaughter of a fourth between 1989 and 1999. An inquiry earlier this year heard credible evidence that the four children may have died of natural causes and concluded there was 'reasonable doubt' about Folbigg's guilt of the convictions. Four months after she was pardoned by NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley and released from prison, Ms Folbigg will break her silence in a bombshell interview that will air on Sunday night. Ms Folbigg has always maintained her innocence that she didn't kill or harm babies Patrick, Sarah, Laura and Caleb, who each died suddenly before they reached their second birthday. Barr grilled Ms Folbigg with every difficult question imagined on the case that has both fascinated and divided Australia. But she said it was up to viewers to make up their own minds when co-host Matt Shirvington asked whether she believed Ms Folbigg was innocent and if her interview shifted her view. 'We know you often get asked has it changed your opinion of the case, of her, of whether or not she did it?' READ MORE: Kathleen Folbigg enjoys her newfound freedom with friends as she's joined by Natalie Barr Advertisement Barr replied: 'That's not my job. My job is to go and ask the questions and to report. 'I've been getting questions all week. "What do you think? I will never believe that woman. Or I can't believe that we have to compensate that woman millions of dollars because of what she went through." Everyone will have their view. 'And that's Australia will get to decide on Sunday night.' Ms Folbigg has since returned to her quiet, secluded life well away from the public eye. 'She has talked to us, but she's not going to make a habit of talking to anyone,' Barr said. 'She was determined to get a story out. She knew we had to ask her every question, all the difficult questions. And she was determined to answer them. 'It was really long, long interviews we did with her. And she said that will be it.' 'She will not be living her life in the spotlight. She's going to go away and have a very quiet life.' Barr admitted she was nothing like the woman she expected to meet. Nat Barr (right) spent a weekend getting to know Kathleen Folbigg (left) just days after she was released from prison The pair spent a weekend shortly after Ms Folbigg's release from jail getting to know each other before the cameras even started rolling. 'I walked in, and I kept thinking what would I be like if I had just spent 20 years in prison for a crime I say I didn't commit,' she recalled. 'I thought she would be bitter and twisted. She was nothing like I thought she would be. She was determined and articulate and really, really normal. And nice.' Seven reportedly spent $400,000 securing the interview with Folbigg. Barr and the Seven Spotlight crew travelled to northern NSW in June, days after Folbigg was released. 'She was like someone I'd grown up with,' Barr recalled 'She was a similar age. She had grown up in a regional area, kind of like I had. She was like someone you would hang out with. 'And she was just a really normal Aussie woman. She wasn't bitter and twisted. 'She said she's buried a lot of the emotion. She hasn't grieved.' Barr also interviewed Lindy Chamberlain, another Aussie mum who was convicted and then pardoned of killing her own baby daughter Azaria in 1980. 'There is nothing more horrendous than being accused of killing your own child,' Ms Chamberlain said. Kathleen Folbigg is pictured enjoying her first day of freedom after she was released from prison in June She was convicted of the murders of Sarah (left) and Laura (pictured right) along with her two sons before scientists lobbied for Folbigg to be pardoned because the two girls' deaths could be explained by genetics On June 27, 1976, an Airbus A300 operated by Air France took off from Tel Aviv on its way to Paris. Many of the 248 civilian passengers were looking forward to a summer holiday in Europe, which was experiencing a heatwave. But the plane would never make it to France. Instead, Palestinian hijackers took control and with the help of thuggish dictator Idi Amin flew it to Uganda's Entebbe Airport. As the helpless passengers stumbled down the boarding stairs to the Tarmac, women shielded children from the guns being waved in their faces and, once in the terminal, many believed they would never see daylight again. In the ensuing days, non-Jewish passengers were released but all Israeli nationals remained in captivity, fearing for their lives. The hijackers demanded the release of 53 militants as the price of their freedom, but Jerusalem's parliament, the Knesset, was in no mood to negotiate with terrorists. Instead, it opted for a more dramatic solution. On July 4, a week after the terrorists struck, Israeli special forces flew to Entebbe, killed 45 Ugandan soldiers, every single one of the Palestinian hijackers and rescued 102 of the 105 hostages. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must now turn to the Matkal, also known as the army's General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, in the country's hour of need. They are his only hope of saving the 150 hostages currently held in Gaza following the surprise offensive by Hamas fighters at the weekend. Pictured: The Sayeret Matkal Commandos from Sayeret Matkal with the Mercedes they used to try and deceive Ugandan guards at the airport, which they stormed in 1976 to rescue Israeli hostages Left: This Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) file photo first made available on July 4, 1976 shows Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan 'Yoni' Netanyahu, the commander of the elite Israeli army commando unit Sayeret Matkal who was killed in a daring operation at Entebbe airport. Right: Current Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is seen as a member of the unit in 1973 Colonel Yonatan 'Yoni' Netanyahu (right) was killed in Uganda in 1976 when Ugandan soldiers fired on his position inside an airport control tower as he fought to rescue Israeli hostages Israeli soldiers and civilians are seen celebrating following the mission in Uganda in 1976 Central to the success of the Matkal is the rigour of the training, which as I know from first-hand experience tests recruits to their mental and physical limits. Pictured: Israel's special forces unit, the Sayeret Matkal The charred remains of airforce fighter planes destroyed in Israeli raid at Entebbe airport to rescue the hijacked hostages To this day, the rescue is seen as a blueprint for operations of this kind and continues to be studied by counter-terrorism specialists the world over. The operation was the work of Sayeret Matkal, the elite, highly secretive Israeli force that carries out the state's most dangerous missions. Only one Israeli soldier died in the shootout with Amin's forces that day: the man in charge, Yonatan Netanyahu. If that name sounds familiar, it's because his brother is Israel's Prime Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu. And like his elder sibling 47 years ago, Netanyahu is now tasked with defending his people against the scourge of Palestinian terror. Indeed, the PM himself once served in the Sayeret Matkal and was shot in the shoulder while rescuing a hijacked Belgian airliner travelling from Vienna to Tel Aviv, four years before his brother was killed. Had the bullet struck two inches closer to his heart, he would not be leading his nation today. And it is to the Matkal, also known as the army's General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, that Netanyahu must now turn to in Israel's hour of need. For they are his only hope of saving the 150 hostages currently held in Gaza following the surprise offensive by Hamas fighters at the weekend. I am a reservist with Sayeret Matkal. Regulations mean I can't talk about operations I have been involved in, but I can say the calibre of the Matkal's recruits, the quality of its training and the respect for tradition that binds its men, makes our unit Israel's most formidable military asset. I have been in touch with colleagues fighting back home and they tell me horror stories of decapitated babies and women being repeatedly raped before being executed. Sayeret Matkal has worked with the rest of the defence forces to clear Hamas fighters from Israeli territory. But their most challenging task will be to secure the release of hostages taken into Gaza. By now, they may have been split into small groups and taken to a range of locations. Freeing them alive will be the hardest part of their mission as Hamas's psychopathic fighters have no interest in negotiation, only in intimidation and killing. I can say the calibre of the Matkal's recruits, the quality of its training and the respect for tradition that binds its men, makes our unit Israel's most formidable military asset Sayeret Matkal soldiers driving a 4WD vehicles off-road outdoors in October 2011 Their most challenging task will be to secure the release of hostages taken into Gaza. By now, they may have been split into small groups and taken to a range of locations. Freeing them alive will be the hardest part of their mission. Pictured: Photographs of some of the British Israelis who have been captured by Hamas on display in London A fighting force is badly needed as Israel faces its darkest hour of modern times. This is no ordinary war, but a struggle against pitiless barbarism. Pictured: Israeli artillery fire rounds into the Gaza Strip from the border on Thursday Some in the West regard Hamas as 'freedom fighters'. They are nothing of the sort. They are mass murderers who, like Isis, glory in bloodshed, torture and death. Pictured: An armed Hamas member walking around the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel on Saturday But if any unit is capable of meeting this challenge, it is the Sayeret Matkal, with its background in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and intelligence gathering. The unit's astonishing feats of derring-do across the Middle East have earned it a place in Israeli folklore. Israel's armed forces are renowned for their effectiveness and resilience thanks, in part, to the fact that our country has been under constant siege since its creation in 1948. This is why all citizens take part in compulsory military service men for 32 months, women for 24. Only the very best are selected for Matkal service. The unit was established in 1957 by Major Avraham Arnan, a veteran of the 1948 Israeli Independence war. It was consciously modelled on the British SAS and even adopted the same motto: Who Dares Wins. First deployed on operations in Lebanon in 1962, it developed its counter-terrorism techniques in response to the threat from Palestinian militants. Having fought successfully in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Matkal's members cemented their status as national heroes following the daring raid on Entebbe. Many of Israel's most venerated soldiers have served in the unit, not only the Netanyahus but former PMs Ehud Barak and Naftali Bennett, as well as Nechemya Cohen, who, with his close friend Barak, was Israel's most decorated soldier before he was killed in action in 1967. Like the SAS, central to the success of the Matkal is the rigour of the training, which as I know from first-hand experience tests recruits to their mental and physical limits. Only the best succeed, which explains why these hardened professionals work so well under pressure. As part of the initial selection process, applicants attend a brutally demanding camp called Gibbush. Gruelling exercises include crawling up hills, carrying sandbags painfully long distances and hanging from a bar until the blood drains from the head. But it is not just physical fitness the Matkal is looking for. Recruits undergo severe mental conditioning, with interviews and aptitude tests designed to assess and promote their leadership qualities. For those who pass, the hard work has barely begun. They then undergo two years of intensive training that covers everything from disposing of land mines to using small arms and delivering emergency medical aid. The toughest part comes in the final fortnight, when the recruits endure a stint in simulated captivity, deprived of sleep, physically beaten, threatened and humiliated. After this, they are transported to a remote desert location where they are left to survive alone with no help and no safety net. The rigours of this training regime produces men and so far all recruits have been men exceptionally well-equipped to serve their country in the face of unimaginable horrors. Sadly, such a fighting force is badly needed as Israel faces its darkest hour of modern times. This is no ordinary war, but a struggle against pitiless barbarism. Some in the West regard Hamas as 'freedom fighters'. They are nothing of the sort. They are mass murderers who, like Isis, glory in bloodshed, torture and death. Hamas gunmen killed around 250 people who attended the outdoor rave festival in an Israeli community near Gaza on Saturday. Pictured is the aftermath of the massacre Hamas fighters boast about the suffering they inflict, even sending hideous, goading videos to relatives of their victims. Pictured: Shocking footage shared on social media appears to show Palestinian fighters parading victim Shani Louk's naked body on the back of a pick-up truck Pictured: An armed Hamas terrorist leading a man during the Supernova music festival Even the Nazis tried to keep their crimes against humanity hidden. But Hamas fighters boast about the suffering they inflict, even sending hideous, goading videos to relatives of their victims. In 2014, Matkal received an honourable mention for its part in Operation Protective Edge, when it took on Hamas as part of a bold offensive to quell missile strikes. It must be hoped, for the sake of humanity, that the unit is about to add more honours to its already gilded pedigree. For however difficult it may be to extract hostages from Gaza, if Sayeret Matkal do not succeed, 150 innocent civilians await a fate worse than death. Israel has now identified almost 100 of its citizens among more than 150 hostages feared snatched by Hamas. They face a grim fate the terror group has vowed to murder them on camera. Some 17 Britons are among the dead and missing, and five days after the devastating attacks, police were yesterday still establishing who is dead, who is missing and who might be in the clutches of the fanatics. Incredibly, traumatised survivors from the brutal rampage at the Supernova music festival are still being found cowering in the desert. Police spokesman Master Sergeant Dean Elsdunne told the Mail: 'We are still finding survivors in the desert, hiding under bushes and scrub too terrified to show themselves. They don't know if people approaching them are Israeli army or Hamas and have been hiding in open desert. The picture shows 79-year-old Channah Peri and her son Nadav, 51, being kidnapped. The photo was sent to her daughter Ayelet Svatitzky Pictured: Armed Hamas terrorists taking a man hostage during the Supernova music festival, near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel 'Others may still be in safe rooms or buildings without phone contact who don't know it's safe to come out and we are doing everything humanly possible to find them.' Families frantic with worry have been gathering at a hub set up near Ben Gurion Airport by police to register the missing and give DNA samples. This is matched to bodies recovered from the killing fields. Where there is no match, the person is registered as missing or kidnapped. Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the families of 97 Israeli hostages had so far been contacted. But others feared kidnapped or killed are still being found alive. Several terrified victims were found in areas surrounding Gaza that had been raided by Hamas after police tracked them down by cross-referencing information on them. Yesterday the police chief co-ordinating the search for the missing branded the Hamas killings 'ten times worse than 9/11', based on the small size of Israel's population compared to the 2001 atrocity. Chief Superintendent Tzahi Ben Hamo told the Mail: 'We are trying to reunite people with their loved ones whether they have passed or whether they are still alive. Thousands of people have passed through this centre looking for information regarding their loved ones. The horror of what they have suffered is unimaginable. 'We are using all the technology at our disposal, DNA and other methods through which we can find a person and identify them, even discover if they are alive and need to be rescued. Hamas gunmen killed around 250 people who attended the outdoor rave festival in an Israeli community near Gaza. Pictured is the aftermath of the massacre 'It is very likely that even now there are more people out there who are still alive and need to be rescued by the soldiers as soon as possible.' He said he was still scarred by having to recover mutilated bodies from the massacre sites. 'Men, women and children fell victim to the most extreme acts and we are now doing all we can to comfort and help their loved ones,' he said. 'And if anyone is still alive out there we will do everything possible to reach them as quickly as we can.' The terror of the hostages was highlighted when footage emerged of student Noa Argamani being abducted on the back of a motorcycle on Saturday. She screamed 'Don't kill me! No, no, no' as a gunman sped off with her. Her boyfriend could only watch, helpless. She was one of scores kidnapped during the attack on the festival near Kibbutz Re'im. An architect of the Voice to Parliament has conceded the referendum is headed for defeat while taking aim at 'hard' Australia for its failure. Leading Yes campaigner Noel Pearson made the call while addressing a private function, run by the Yes23 campaign and law firm Gilbert + Tobin, on Monday. He said he would 'keep pushing until the final hour' of the campaign but 'it appears that nothing we can do can shift the numbers', the Financial Review reported. 'They [Australians] see the Constitution as entirely belonging to them and no amount of obsequiousness on our part, humility, love, seems to ever melt their hearts,' Mr Pearson is reported to have said. 'The thing that completely confounds me is how resistant the vote is out there for us.' Noel Pearson (pictured) addressed a function organised by the Yes23 Campaign and law firm Gilbert + Tobin on Monday, conceding the Voice referendum is headed for defeat Australia is 'a hard country', he said, adding that he feared having to tell fellow Indigenous Australians that 'the faith I implored them to place in white Australia was misplaced'. Pearson was also critical of leading No campaigners Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine, claiming they did not 'have their own mind' in the campaign having been influenced by conservative think tanks the Institute of Public Affairs and the Centre for Independent Studies. Both Mundine and Price have career links to the Centre for Independent Studies. 'I don't blame Jacinta and Warren,' Pearson added. 'Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they do.' The Voice architect then went on to say the pair were being used as 'front people' for the No campaign, with the 'real power' coming from right-wing think tanks. Public opinion towards the Yes campaign has been impacted by 'front people' for the No vote such as Warren Mundine and Jacinta Price, Mr Pearson said 'All of the strings are so visible,' he said. READ MORE: Warren Mundine BOOED by a crowd of angry Yes activists while casting his vote just hours after Albo slammed the 'arrogance' of the No campaign Advertisement The Yes campaign was originally confident of media support both nationally and worldwide before it 'slipped away', Pearson added. He also reflected on the six-year journey since the Uluru Statement from the Heart was issued and at the path the Voice campaign had taken. 'If you were me, and you represented a minority who were the original peoples of the land, would you have been satisfied with a Voice to the bloody parliament?' the campaigner questioned. Pearson said in the event of defeat on Saturday: 'There will be no path to the kind of reconciliation that I believe is underpinned by justice'. Current polling reveals the Yes side has an estimated 41.6 per cent support nationally, the Guardian reported. Although the downward trend in support for the Voice has slowed, the need for a double majority to pass a referendum means the yes vote needs to be closer to 53 per cent to succeed. Six per cent of voters are still undecided ahead of Saturday's final opportunity to cast a ballot on the Voice proposal. Well over two million Australians have already voted in the referendum, meaning the outcome of the vote may not be known on Saturday night. She had bought it just 15 minutes earlier A teenage P-plate driver has escaped with her life after the car she had just bought burst into flames mere minutes after she drove it out of the dealership. Footage shows the second-hand Mazda bought by Hajar Yassini, 19, engulfed in flames on the side of Salisbury Highway in Adelaide on Tuesday. She had 'saved for years' to afford the $5,000 car, which she bought from Commuter Cars Auto Repairs Wingfield, which is now being investigated. The teenager said she smelled smoke before flames erupted out of the engine which 'kept getting bigger and bigger'. Hajar Yassini, 19, bought a second-hand Mazda from Commuter Cars Auto Repairs Wingfield in Adelaide on Tuesday and 15 minutes later it had erupted in flames Footage shows the wreckage of the car being extinguished on the side of Salisbury Highway About 15 minutes after leaving the dealership, Ms Yassini pulled the car onto the side of the road and tried to extinguish the flames before fleeing to a safe distance. 'It was just so scary because it was genuinely a life-threatening situation,' she told 7News. READ MORE: Urgent warning for second-hand car buyers Odometer fraud is on the rise with an undercover investigation revealing potential used car sellers can wipe thousands of kilometres off for as little as $150. Advertisement She claims that Commuter Cars Auto Repairs hasn't been replying to her complaints about the now-wrecked car, and now she is worried she won't get a refund. 'He was telling us the car is good, the engine is fine, everything is good,' she said. Since the incident, 7News reported that the man who sold Ms Yassini the car was 'nowhere to be seen' when they visited the dealership. When contacted, the man claimed that he had sold the car in a private capacity and not through the business. The business' sign has been removed from the storefront and the gates remain locked. The Consumer and Business Affairs Commissioner has launched an investigation into the sale. Police have said that the fire was caused by a mechanical fault. Daily Mail Australia tried contacting Commuter Cars Auto Repairs Wingfield but the phone number has since been disconnected. Ms Yassini is now worried that she won't get her money back that she had been 'saving for years' An Israeli-American family whose kibbutz came under attack from Hamas on Saturday texted their relatives to say they were fine amid the onslaught - before sending harrowing messages describing their final moments. 'They're here. They're burning us. We're suffocating,' wrote Johnny Siman Tov, 36. He and his wife Tamar Kedem-Simian Tov, 35; their three children aged between two and five, and Johnny's mother Carol Simian Tov, 70, were all killed on Saturday. Johnny, his children Omer, aged two, and five-year-old twins Arbel and Shachar, were all American citizens, as was his mother. His wife's nationality was unclear. The six lived in the Nir Oz kibbutz, near the Gaza Strip - a community of 400 people. Eighty died in Saturday's attack. As the Hamas terrorists advanced, Tamar Kedem-Simian Tov sent texts to friends in Australia saying they were safe. Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov with her husband Johnny and their five-year-old daughters Shachar and Arbel, and their two-year-old son Omer. They were murdered on Saturday Carol Simian Tov, 70, was killed on Saturday at the kibbutz Nir Oz where she lived with her family. Her son, his wife, and their three children were also killed She wrote to her Sydney friends, Yishai and Mor Lacob, from the concrete bunker of her home at about 2.45pm on Saturday, saying: 'Hi guys, we got into the shelter in our house, we're all going okay.' An hour later, the texts to Australia stopped. Johnny Simian Tov texted his sister, Ranae Butler, who lives in Israel, and said: 'They're here. They're burning us. We're suffocating.' Carol Simian Tov had fled to her own home with her dog Charlie as Hamas advanced. She was shot dead in her own safe room. Two of Carol's daughters and two of her sons survived the attack on the kibbutz, plus their father, Larry Butler. One of the sons, Shachar Butler, who was head of security for the kibbutz, was shot in the attack but is recuperating. 'They barely put on their boots and pants and ran and fought in bravery,' said Ranae Butler. 'We're crying and hugging,' she added. 'They've all been through hell.' In Australia, the Lacobs started to panic and tried contacting everyone they knew in the village to find out what was going on, before they received the news that the Tov's safe room had been breached. 'Our hearts are shattered,' Yishai wrote on Facebook on Monday. 'An entire family was killed by evil murderers who shot the children and parents simply because they were Jewish. 'And this is just one story, among so many. It's unbearable.' Nir Oz is a farming village with a population of about 400 and is two miles from Gaza. Despite its proximity to a conflict zone, Mor told the Sydney Morning Herald it was considered a peaceful place to live and raise a family. 'They wouldn't have thought such a thing can happen,' she said. Tamar was a social activist who had been campaigning to become the head of Eshkol Regional Council, in Israel's southern district. 'She was such a special woman,' Mor told the publication. 'She always cared about the poor people, always made sure that people less fortunate will have the same opportunities. The family were hiding in a concrete bunker at their home in southern Israel, before it was breached. Tamar (left) uploaded this photo four days ago Friends flooded Facebook with tributes to the young family (pictured) 'She was a living example to these values.' Just four days ago, the mother-of-three had been posting photos of her council campaign on Facebook. 'Half-week summary post, because even Facebook can't keep up with me this holiday,' she wrote on Thursday, in a post translated from Hebrew to English. 'The area speaks for itself - we want an attentive head of the council, who sees the residents - from young to old.' She aimed to improve health, employment, safety and security across the region. Her posts were flooded with messages of support on Thursday. By Tuesday, they were overcome with tributes. 'My heart is torn,' one person wrote. Another said: 'What a tragedy... Can't believe that we are four days later.' Pictured: Tamar and her husband Johnny, who were living in southern Israel when their village was attacked The attacks began about 6.30am Israeli time on Saturday when thousands of Hamas rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel and as far as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. At the same time, hundreds of Palestinian militants paraglided across the heavily guarded frontier, while others stormed towns by boat or after blasting holes in the GazaIsrael barrier. They then went door to door gunning down innocent civilians and soldiers before kidnapping more then 100 Israelis and taking them into Gaza. Extra patrols of uniformed officers have been sent to Jewish communities and the National Guard has been activated New York City leadership is bolstering security as the city braces for unrest after the former chief of Hamas called for a 'Day of Jihad' on Friday. Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul held a joint press conference Thursday where they announced an increased police presence around religious institutions, schools and transportation hubs and confirmed the National Guard is on standby. 'There is currently no intelligence showing any active threats in New York - that is the entire state of New York,' said Hochul. 'But in the moment fraught like this, we will continue to exercise elevated vigilance and impose measures to deteriorate any potential violence.' Adams pledged to increase police visibility around the city and roll out extra security in vulnerable areas like Jewish communities. Police patrol a neighborhood in Brooklyn with a large Orthodox Jewish community Thursday. New York City leadership has ramped up security ahead of expected protests Members of the New York City Police Department Counterterrorism unit patrol in Times Square Thursday. A former Hamas leader has called for a 'Day of Jihad' on Friday 'New York City is the most diverse city in the world, and protecting our residents is the most sacred responsibility that we have,' said Adams. 'We have directed the NYPD to surge additional resources to schools, houses of worship to ensure they are safe and that our city remains a place of peace.' An alert from the NYPD stated: 'The NYPD has planned enhanced protective deployments out of an abundance of caution at large gatherings, cultural sites, and houses of worship among other locations to ensure public safety and security.' NYPD is beefing up security at all 77 precincts, including entrances, exits and parking areas, and has activated its Joint Operations Center through Sunday at police headquarters in lower Manhattan. Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for so called 'Day of Rage' around the world on Friday in the wake of escalating violence between Israel and Palestine. '[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday,' said Meshaal. 'Tribes of Jordan, sons of Jordan, brothers and sisters of Jordan... This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you, you all know your responsibility. 'To all scholars who teach jihad... to all who teach and learn, this is a moment for the application (of theories),' he said in a recorded statement. The city is anticipating for wide spread protests, similar to the ones over the weekend, but the mayor said the Big Apple will not tolerate violence. 'We are deeply disturbed by the message of hate urging violence in our communities in this region and around the world. It is not acceptable,' Adams said. On Sunday, a Palestinian protester waved a swastika at an anti-Israel rally in Times Square. The governor said the National Guard has been activated and will patrol key transportation hubs. Hochul encouraged citizens not to let terror win and instead to continue to send their children to school and go to their places of worship. 'I understand the very human desire to protect your family and your kids. With that information going on, it's something everybody will individually have to decide,' she said. During a joint press conference Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said there is no specific threat against New York Mayor Eric Adams pledged to increase police visibility around the city and condemned violence Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (pictured) put out a video message calling for a day of jihad on Friday the 13th, and told Muslims to 'take to the streets' in protest against Israel The New York Police Department has already ramped up their presence and instructed all members to show up in uniform, according to an internal message. 'All uniformed members of the service are to perform duty in the uniform of the day - effective immediately and until further notice, all uniformed members of the service, in every rank, will perform duty in the uniform of the day and be prepared for deployment,' the message said. Deputy commissioner of NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division Rebecca Weiner said officers are monitoring online postings by radical groups for potential threats. 'We're trying to make sure that violence doesn't manifest on the streets of New York City. 'There's the part that you see, which involves a lot of officers, some of our counterterrorism officers, our Critical Response Command folks who are high visibility patrols, heavy weapons armed and trained responding to locations throughout the city, schools, houses of worship, sensitive locations. 'And then there's the intelligence side, which is the part that you don't see-the online monitoring for threats and making sure that we can anticipate whether there's any reflection back to the city based on the overseas events,' she said. Many Jewish leaders fear that Hamas sympathizers will target Jews in New York on Friday. Were now seeing the capabilities that Hamas has, and its not crazy to think that can happen here when you have hundreds of people here who literally rallied to celebrate the deaths of innocent people, David Greenfield, CEO of the city-based Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, told DailyMail.com on Thursday. Theres a palpable fear within the Jewish community, said Greenfield, who also served on the City Council for eight years. Unfortunately, people are planning on curbing their activities tomorrow. I have people telling me they may not go to work tomorrow. Theyre doing their pre-Shabat shopping, which normally would take place on Friday, today. NYPD has called on all officers to show up in uniform and is ramping up their presence in vulnerable areas There is an increased police presence outside Barclays Center before a preseason game for Brooklyn Nets on Thursday A person walks as police patrol a neighborhood in Brooklyn on Thursday. Police are investigating incidents that happened Wednesday that are possibly motivated by the war Police, meanwhile, were investigating a string of possible bias crimes motivated by the war between Israel and Hamas. WABC reported on several incidents Wednesday, including two Jewish residents in Brooklyn who allegedly grabbed a Palestinian flag from two men and used it to strike one of them over the head; two teens allegedly shot pellet guns outside a synagogue in Brooklyn; a Middle Eastern 18-year-old allegedly kicked and punched by a man waving an Israeli flag; and an Israeli at Columbia University was allegedly struck by an 19-year-old ripping down fliers hed posted. New York Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, an Orthodox Jew who represents Brooklyns Borough Park and Midwood, shared his own anxiety about a rise in anti-Semitism as he rode the subway Thursday afternoon. Im not going to lie to you, its certainly a very different subway ride right now, Eichenstein told DailyMail.com. I look to my right. I look to my left. Theres no doubt, there is more tension in the air. The idea that people are coming out Friday in response to a call from the head of a terrorist network, of course its a concern, he said. And when people see not only what happened in Israel but, following that terror attack, to see people in New York City, elected officials and organizations, cheering it on, yes people are very concerned. In the Middle East, the Israeli death toll has reached more than 1,300 and Gaza authorities said more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. Australians placed on rescue flights from Israel to London have been told they'll need to pay for their own accommodation and food once they touch down in the UK as they anxiously wait to come home. Anthony Albanese announced on Wednesday that his government had organised two Qantas planes to get holidaymakers out of Israel following Hamas' brutal attack on the region, which began on Saturday. The first rescue flight to London will leave on Friday, with a second to follow on Sunday. A third has also been announced, but details are not yet available. The 10,000 Aussies stuck in Israel have already been left frustrated upon learning the repatriation flights were going to London first, and not straight to Australia. Now, they've been told by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade they'll need to pay their own way once landing in the UK. Australians placed on rescue flights out of Israel to London have been told they'll need to pay for their own accomodation and food once in the UK as they anxiously wait to come home (pictured email from DFAT) Brittany West's parents, Paul and Audrey West, from Newcastle, had been guiding a group of 33 holidaymakers through Israel for about two weeks when the attacks began. They were on the beach in Tel Aviv when the bomb sirens went off, so they ran to the nearest cafe to seek shelter and spent the next four days in hiding while frantically trying to organise new flights home. She said while some of the tour group had secured spots on a flight to leave Israel over the weekend, they've been dealt another blow. 'They'll be getting flights to London and any onwards cost including hotels they'll have to pay for,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Brittany West's parents Paul and Audrey West, from Newcastle, had been guiding a group of 33 holidaymakers through Israel for about two weeks when the attacks began Ms West said while her parents and most of their tour group had arrived safely home in Australia, there were still five stuck in Israel. For many of the Aussies still in Israel, they've been unable to have a proper night's sleep for the past week and the uncertainty of knowing when they'll return to Australia has only added to the stress. On top of that, a few nights accomodation and meals in London won't come cheap. The Australian government on Friday confirmed a Qantas Airbus A830 would fly those in London to Sydney via Singapore on Tuesday. These flights will take those travelling to London on the flights out of Israel on Friday and Sunday. The airbus has 484 seats. The flights leaving Israel are estimated to have around 220 passengers each. All flights will be free of charge, with Qantas covering the cost. Australians in Israel who are interested in these flights must register with the government's 24-hour consular emergency centre. Daily Mail Australia has contacted DFAT for comment. Steve Scalise, the favorite to be the next Republican speaker of the House, has sensationally dropped out of the race, leaving Congress paralyzed. The House's number two Republican had won an election among members of his party to be their nominee for speaker after Kevin McCarthy was spectacularly ousted from the role last week. But with Republicans' narrow majority Scalise could only afford to lose the support of four members of his own party in a vote by the whole House to confirm him as speaker. Around 20 of his Republican colleagues indicated they would oppose him if a full House vote was held, so he withdrew. A disappointed Scalise, who is currently also battling blood cancer, said: 'Our (Republican) conference still has to come together and it's not there. There's still some people that have their own agendas.' It has been 10 days since McCarthy was unseated by his own party, the first speaker in the history of the United States to be removed in such a way. The list of Republicans who say they will oppose Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the House's number two Republican, for the job has grown longer, not shorter Former Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters after a Republican meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023 Without a speaker, the House remains in a state of paralysis despite increasingly urgent calls for it to take measures to help Israel in its war against Hamas. It has also been unable to do anything to avert a possible federal government shutdown on Nov. 17. Democrats attacked Republicans for creating chaos, while Republicans accused each other of being 'dysfunctional and broken'. Scalise said his Republican colleagues needed to 'look in the mirror' and put aside rivalries, and do what was best for the country. Without a speaker, the House remains in a state of inaction and despite increasingly urgent calls for it to take measures to help Israel in its war against Hamas. It has also been unable to do anything to avert a possible federal government shutdown on Nov. 17. He said: 'There's some folks that need to you look in the mirror over the next couple of days and decide to get back on track. You can try to get back on track, or you can pursue your own agenda, but you can't do both.' Scalise said he was still optimistic Republicans could coalesce around someone. 'I think we're gonna get there. It's not gonna happen tomorrow, it needs to happen soon,' he said. Tensions on Capitol Hill are sky-high as ten days pass and Republicans now have no nominee for speaker. 'Dysfunctional, disorganized and broken,' is how Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, - who wants Donald Trump to be the House Speaker - described his party after leaving a meeting of House Republicans. 'I don't think the lord Jesus could get to 217!' Nehls recalled a member saying in the meeting. Jim Jordan, Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, could try to become speaker Jim Jordan is a key ally in Congress of Donald Trump 'We're not moving forward,' said Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who admitted she is worried about how the disarray will play into her swing district race in 2024. 'We've got war in Israel ... It's really frustrating.' Nancy Mace, one of the Republicans who refused to back Scalise, said it was because of a comment he once reportedly made about former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Scalise was said to have described himself as like Duke 'without the baggage'. Most of the Republicans who refused to support Scalise were backers of Ohio congressman Jordan, a key ally of Donald Trump. Jordan is trying to become speaker but there were widespread doubts he could drum up enough support in the Republican party either. "Members have got to get it through their heads that they're squandering a majority in the House. They are squandering a majority. The American people deserve better than this," Republican representative Andy Barr said after Scalise announced his withdrawal. "We were elected for a reason, but we are reversing an election because we can't even find a speaker," he added. "That is not what the American people voted for in 2022." Republicans were meeting behind closed doors on Friday to consider options for a new second secret ballot - Scalise having won the first - and that could come later in the day. Rivals for the speakership Jim Jordan (left) and Steve Scalise (right) have worked closely together before 'We need to focus on the person that can get the votes and get the job done as quick as we can, get it done and move on,' Republican congressman Representative Roger Williams said on Friday. He said it was not clear how, adding that it was unclear how many of the House's 221 Republicans remained in Washington ahead of the weekend. Representative Don Bacon, a Republican centrist, said he and other lawmakers are withholding support for Jordan for now. 'I'm grappling with that," Bacon said. 'We had five individuals today who said they would only vote for Jim and not Steve. So, many of us ... feel that's rewarding bad behavior if we do that." Bacon also said he would expect a Jordan bid for the nomination to face a challenger. Given a slim 221-212 House Republican majority, the party's next nominee for speaker can afford to lose support from no more than four Republicans to be elected over Democrat opposition. Republicans had been hoping to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing spectacle that occurred in January, when hardline conservatives forced McCarthy to endure 15 votes over four days before finally winning the gavel. Scalise's withdrawal followed days of closed-door stalemate. Representative Greg Murphy suggested that Republicans could settle on a compromise candidate, perhaps Representative Patrick McHenry, who has served as acting speaker since McCarthy's ousting on Oct. 3. The ongoing schism within Republican circles has also raised speculation about Republicans possibly reaching out to Democrats to support a consensus candidate. Scalise and Donald Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee, faced off in an internal vote of the House GOP where Scalise won 113-99. Stormzy and Nirvana will join Beethoven and Mozart in music classrooms as part of efforts to diversify the curriculum. The Oak National Academy - an arm's length body to help schools deliver teaching content - has launched lesson resources for teachers which aim to represent the diversity of modern life. English classes feature contemporary black British writers Andrea Levy and Winsome Pinnock - alongside texts from the literary canon, such as Chaucer and Shakespeare. And classroom resources for music cover rap, 90s grunge and electronic dance music alongside more traditional composers. Examples of lessons, which are yet to be finalised, include Year 9 students studying 'Clash' by Dave and Stormzy, a song which includes the lyrics: 'Freaks, I got more than one, f***, daddy and daughter one.' Stormzy (pictured) and Nirvana will join Beethoven and Mozart in music classrooms as part of efforts to diversify the curriculum The Oak National Academy - an arm's length body to help schools deliver teaching content - has launched lesson resources for teachers which aim to represent the diversity of modern life. Pictured: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Meanwhile youngsters in Year 8 could see themselves 'recreating the sound of 90s Grunge' by 'using open fifths to create power chords in Smells like Teen Spirit', by Nirvana. Year 7 lessons also include resources on 'unison and harmony in Nigerian choral singing' in which they will learn the 'rhythm of Gumama' and create 'a strong sound in a unison melody'. Science resources are structured around a series of 'big questions' while lessons on climate change and sustainability run throughout primary years. The lessons have been developed to align with the objectives of the COP26 agreement to provide climate-related education in primary science, Oak National Academy said. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'We recognise the work that has gone into developing these resources and the good intentions of Oak. However, the jury is still out on its usefulness. 'This is a body that is backed by a considerable amount of taxpayers' money and there is a lot of concern in the sector about whether it will actually end up driving other providers out of the market and reducing diversity, despite reassurances to the contrary. 'In reality, many schools and trusts have developed their own curriculum resources for their contexts, and it is hard to see exactly where Oak fits in. 'Moreover, Oak won't be enough to reduce the workload pressures that are driving people out of teaching. 'Only the government can do that by improving education funding, addressing teacher shortages, and reducing the punitive nature of inspections and performance tables.' English classes feature contemporary black British writers Andrea Levy (pictured) and Winsome Pinnock - alongside texts from the literary canon, such as Chaucer and Shakespeare Matt Hood, chief executive of Oak National Academy, said: 'I'm delighted that our new curriculum resources have gone live and look forward to feedback from schools and teachers. 'Our independent evaluation shows that seeing and discussing evidence-informed curriculum models is an important part of developing a teacher's curriculum expertise. 'Having high quality resources alongside them reduces teacher workload, improves happiness and improves retention. 'We have paid particular attention to making sure that the curriculum represents the best of what has been thought, said, discovered, sung and danced. 'We have selected topics that, when taken together, give pupils a rich understanding of the world and allow them to participate as educated citizens in modern society.' Leading No supporter Warren Mundine has been heckled and booed by Yes activists just hours after Anthony Albanese slammed the 'arrogance' of the No campaign. The smiling Mr Mundine was targeted by a vocal mob of apparently all-white Yes supporters as the Indigenous politician voted in early pre-polling in Sydney. But as he tried to talk to locals outside the polling station at the Uniting Church in Willoughby on Sydney's lower north shore, he was drowned out by deafening boos and chants of Yes, Yes, Yes. Other activists waved their Yes placards in his face while No campaigners tried to shake hands with the prominent opponent to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Mr Mundine, wearing a casual shirt and sunglasses, also tried to talk to one of the Yes campaigners but the conversation was overwhelmed by the jeers. The ugly incident comes just hours after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had attacked the 'arrogant' No campaign for spreading 'misinformation'. Leading No supporter Warren Mundine has been heckled and booed by Yes activists just hours after Anthony Albanese slammed the 'arrogance' of the No campaign Warren Mundine, wearing a casual shirt and sunglasses, also tried to talk to one of the Yes campaigners but the conversation was drowned out by the jeers He faced blunt questioning on Seven's Sunrise from host Matt Shirvington over Australians' focus on issues including the soaring cost of living instead of the Voice. Millions of Aussies will head to the ballot box on Saturday to vote in the referendum, with polls suggesting the Yes campaign is headed towards defeat. But the Prime Minister insisted the Voice can still get over the line as he blasted the No campaign, accusing it of arrogance and spreading misinformation. Mr Albanese delivered a last-minute pitch on breakfast television on Friday as new research revealed the most important issues being faced by Australians. Healthcare and wellbeing were ranked as Aussies' highest priority, followed by housing and soaring energy and household costs. The Voice was way down the ranking in 17th place, prompting Shirvo to suggest the referendum was not an important issue in the lives of Australians. 'How do you feel about that?' he asked the prime minister. 'The idea that you've been trying to show the importance of this and what it means as a reflection of Australia, but Australians don't see it as important as other things in their lives.' Mr Albanese admitted that the Voice won't impact on the lives of 97 per cent of Aussies. Matt 'Shirvo' Shirvington and co-host Nat Barr grilled the Prime Minister on Friday 'Shirvo, that is exactly the point that I've been making. This is a change that won't impact most of your listeners,' he said. 'For non-Indigenous Australians this will have no impact at all. Because it is such a modest change. '(It is) just recognition of the First Australians in the Constitution and a non-binding advisory committee from Indigenous Australians about Indigenous Australian issues so that we can get better outcomes. 'So this won't impact 97 per cent of Australians' lives at all. And it might, though, make a difference and might make things better for the three per cent of Australians who are amongst our most disadvantaged who have an eight-year life expectancy gap.' Anthony Albanese spent Friday morning doing breakfast TV interviews and issuing a 11th hour pitch to Aussies to vote Yes on Saturday The Prime Minister said he believes the Yes campaign can win, adding that most Australians haven't voted yet. 'There's been an arrogance I think from the No campaign with some of the misinformation that's out there,' he said. 'I'm hoping that Australians can find it in their heart but also in their head to say we need to do things better.' Mr Albanese earlier told the Today show the Voice was a request from First Nations Australian after years of consultation with thousands of Indigenous communities. 'This is not my campaign. This is a request from the first Australians... and it's a gracious request. 'We're just asking fellow Australians to walk with them on the journey towards reconciliation. 'This is a once in a generation opportunity for recognition.' Shocking footage shows Hamas preparing an attempt at a rocket-launcher grenade meant to fire into the Kfar Aza kibbutz amid their surprise attack that has killed 1,500 people so far. The onslaught reportedly saw around 70 Hamas fighters branded 'animals' and 'worse than Isis' by the Israeli army armed with machine guns and grenades storm the usually quiet kibbutz in southern Israel killing men, women and children indiscriminately. The footage, obtained by South First Responders, shows the militant terrorist group as they go about their assault. 'There are men inside, be careful,' someone is heard yelling in Arabic in one of the videos, according to CNN. 'The fighters and the Mujahideen have killed them.' Another visual shows some of the militants next to a tree, preparing the rocket-launcher, which seems to be malfunctioning. Shocking footage shows Hamas preparing an attempt at a rocket-launcher grenade meant to fire into the Kfar Aza kibbutz amid their surprise attack that has killed 1,500 people so far 'What's wrong with it, what's the defect?,' a Hamas member asks. The clips show the Hamas fighters - armed with rifles and clad in bulletproof vests - walk through the kibbutz, with gunshots ringing out in the background. The bullet-riddled bodies of Israeli residents now lay in the grounds of the kibbutz among burned out houses, strewn furniture and torched cars. Solemn Israeli soldiers went from house to house to take away the scores of people massacred there. Israeli troops were going house to house to retrieve civilian bodies in body bags. They had not been able to take them before as they were still fighting gunmen and working through booby-traps. One soldier shouted: 'Tell the world what you saw here.' Soldiers were still securing the paths of the kibbutz, which had single-story houses with verandas, palm trees and banana plants, as bursts of gunfire and explosions could be heard in the distance. 'What the journalists saw today is a massacre: children, women and elderly who were butchered,' said Nir Dinar, an Israeli Defence Force spokesman. The footage, obtained by South First Responders, shows the militant terrorist group as they go about their assault IDF Lotar unit soldiers are slowly checking the Kibbutz in Kfar Aza Soldiers crying at the sight of a family dining table on which there is still Challah bread from Friday's Kiddush IDF soldiers are still looking through Kfar Aza days after the massacre began 'These are animals, worse than Isis.' He said that the casualties numbered in 'dozens', adding 'we are still counting'. As the full scale of the horrors of the weekend were coming into focus, Israel's military was ramping up preparations for a ground invasion, and Hamas was continuing to launch rockets into Israel. 'Now is the time for war,' said Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, as his country amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip. Seeking to build support for its response, Israel's government showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defense ministers graphic images of children and civilians they said Hamas had killed in a weekend rampage in Israel. Blinken said they showed a baby 'riddled with bullets,' soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. 'It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,' he said. 'It's really beyond anything that we can comprehend.' Israel has vowed to retaliate for the attack - the deadliest by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. An armed Palestinian militant leading a man during the Supernova music festival An armed Palestinian militant is seen walking around the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel Sitting on the back of a terrorist's motorcycle, her outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life Aftermath: Burnt-out and abandoned cars where revellers tried to escape the onslaught At least 260 were killed in the massacre while many are still missing either dead or taken hostage by the bloodthirsty militants Like others across the globe, Blinken urged Israel to show restraint, but he also reiterated America's support, saying: 'We will always be there by your side.' On Friday he was due to meet King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in Jordan as part of a Middle East tour aimed at stopping spillover from the war. America's top diplomat, Blinken planned to visit key U.S. allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates - some with influence on Hamas, an Islamist group backed by Iran. Halevi said lessons would be drawn from the security failures around Gaza that enabled the attack. 'We will learn, investigate, but now is the time for war,' he said. The U.S. military is placing no conditions on its security assistance to Israel, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, adding Washington expected Israel's military to 'do the right things' in prosecuting its war against Hamas. Austin was due in Israel on Friday and planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas called on Palestinians to rise up on Friday in protest at Israel's bombardment of the enclave, urging Palestinians to march to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Public broadcaster Kan said the Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300. The American death toll rose to 27. Scores of Israeli and foreign hostages were taken back to Gaza; Israel said it had identified 97 of them. Israel has responded so far by putting Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, under siege and launching a bombing campaign that destroyed whole neighborhoods. Gaza authorities said more than 1,500 Palestinians had been killed. The Starbucks Union backed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders has been condemned for posting on social media: 'Solidarity with Palestine!' Starbucks Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union which represents 9,000 baristas, has now deleted the post - but not before it was spotted by The Washington Free Beacon. Starbucks management strongly criticized the union's remarks, saying they do not represent the company's views. 'To be clear: We unequivocally condemn these acts of terrorism, hate and violence, and disagree with the statements and views expressed by Workers United and its members. Workers United's words and actions belong to them, and them alone,' the company said in a statement. Jaz Brisack, an original organizer of the union, tweeted on Sunday - as the scale of the Hamas massacre was becoming apparent - 'There's no 'two sides' to apartheid. Free Palestine' The Seattle-based company said it wanted to 'express our deepest sympathy for those who have been killed, wounded, displaced and impacted following the heinous and unacceptable acts of terror, escalating violence and hate against the innocent in Israel and Gaza this week. It added: 'Furthermore, we are deeply troubled by the spread of misinformation, inaccurate headlines and third-party social media posts stemming from statements made by Workers United.' Starbucks continued: 'Workers United, its local affiliates, union organizers and those who identify as members of 'Starbucks Workers United' do not speak for Starbucks Coffee Company and do not represent the company's views, positions or beliefs.' Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of Starbucks, urged tolerance, asking for workers to 'support one another with empathy and understanding, irrespective of our backgrounds and experiences.' Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union - the umbrella under which the Starbucks union sits - tweeted: 'The violence in Israel and Palestine is unconscionable. '@SEIU stands with all who are suffering, while strongly condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia & hate in all forms. 'I pray for a swift resolution and a future where all in the region can be happy, safe & live with dignity.' Sitting on the back of a terrorist's motorcycle, her outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life Aftermath: Burnt-out and abandoned cars where revellers tried to escape the onslaught But many within the Starbucks union showed their support for the 'solidarity with Palestine' message. Jaz Brisack, an original organizer of the union, tweeted on Sunday - as the scale of the Hamas massacre was becoming apparent - 'There's no 'two sides' to apartheid. Free Palestine.' Another activist, Kyle - whose handle on X says 'Kyle - Starbucks Workers Union' - echoed Brisack's words. 'I, as member of Workers United, stand with Palestine and their fight for freedom,' he said. 'My union should do the same. So should yours. Speak up if you don't like your orgs response.' The body of a woman is covered with a blanket in Kfar Azza A baby's seat and a child's dress are seen spattered in blood in the aftermath of the attack Israeli soldiers remove the body of a compatriot, killed during an attack by Hamas terrorists in Kfar Aza, on Tuesday An armed Palestinian militant leading a man during the Supernova music festival An armed Palestinian militant is seen walking around the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel The Boston branch of the union retweeted the now-deleted original comment. 'We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and condemn the IDF for senselessly and viciously bombing, murdering, and injuring innocent Palestinians, as well as for creating and funding Hamas in the 80s to discourage Palestinian solidarity,' the union said. Ellicott City in Maryland tweeted: 'SBWU Ellicott City statement in solidarity with the Palestinian people.' It was retweeted by the Greektown Chicago branch. 'Proud to be in a labor movement with courageous leaders who are willing to speak truth to power!' The controversy came as universities reckon with pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups facing off on campuses, issuing inflammatory statements. A Harvard University dean and dozens of student groups at the Ivy League school blamed Israel for provoking the Hamas attack, and students who pledged their support for Palestine are facing calls from business leaders to sabotage their career prospects. The Democratic Socialists of America, which counts six House Democrats as members, held rallies in several American cities to call for support for Palestinians. One of their supporters, Congressman Shri Thanedar of Michigan, resigned from the group in protest. Naegleria fowleri is a single cell organism that sometimes presents in bodies of warm freshwater Officials at Lake Mead are warning visitors not to submerge their heads below the waters of a popular hot spring near the Hoover Dam over fears it's contaminated with a brain-eating amoeba. The deadly organism Naegleria fowleri has been found lurking in the hot springs when conditions are right, officials at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area have warned. 'Naegleria fowleri has been found in hot springs,' read a statement released this week. 'This amoeba enters through the nose and can cause a deadly infection that causes a sudden and severe headache, fever, and vomiting. It is advised to avoid diving, splashing water, or submerging your head in hot spring water.' The death of two-year-old Woodrow Turner Bundy in July was attributed to a brain-eating amoeba which is so deadly that only four people in the US have ever caught it and lived to tell the tale. Visitors to the Hoover Dam and the hot springs of Lake Mead have been told not to submerge their heads in the nearby hot springs due to a possible brain-eating amoeba N. fowleri is a brain-eating amoeba that causes the sudden onset of serious symptoms and often leads to brain damage and death Bundy's family told media at the time that he had contracted the amoeba a few weeks earlier while swimming in Ash Springs near the town of Alamo, which is about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. His parents first noticed something was not right when the boy began suffering 'flu-like symptoms' and he was rushed to the hospital, where doctors first thought he had meningitis, but then realized too late he actually had Naegleria fowleri. This amoeba can live in warm freshwater environments - like hot springs - and can cause a disease called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). PAM generally results in severe brain damage. The infection is, in fact, mostly fatal. The amoeba has a fatality rate of 97 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are millions of exposed to the amoeba every year, but N. fowleri infection is rare. The CDC reported fewer than five cases of infection annually for each year from 2013 to 2022. Statistically, most brain-eating amoeba infections occur in boys aged 14 years old and younger. CDC experts remain unsure of why this is. The amoeba has a fatality rate of 97 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Statistically, most brain-eating amoeba infections occur in boys aged 14 years old and younger. CDC experts remain unsure of why this is The single cell organism is found in its highest concentrations in freshwater that is 75 degrees or hotter and remains that temperature for extended periods of time. The Lake Mead park often closes some trails leading to hot springs when summer temperatures become extremely hot. Those trails are typically reopened on October 1. Some of the springs, however, remain accessible via the Colorado River, on which the Hoover Dam is formed. Kali Hardig, now 22, and from Arkansas, was only 12 years old when she was struck by Naegleria fowleri, which doctors think she caught at a water park. They told her it was a 'death sentence' and gave her just four days to live, but a decade on she is swimming again and, last November, became a mother for the first time. She only occasionally struggles with blurry vision in her left eye due to scar tissue from the disease. Woodrow Bundy died after getting infected with brain-eating amoeba in July this year Kali Hardig, 22, survived her infection with the brain-eating amoeba from a decade ago. She became a mother last November with her daughter Adalynn (shown with Kali) now being 10 months old. She also still has occasional blurry vision in her left eye Caleb Ziegelbauer, 14, was infected with the amoeba about a year ago after swimming at a river estuary. He is now able to stand up, walk and somewhat talk, although he still needs a wheelchair Fourteen-year-old Caleb Ziegelbauer, from Florida, is also now a year on from being infected with the microscopic species that kills 97 percent of its victims. Caleb is now walking somewhat but the damage done to his brain means he needs to communicate with facial expressions and has to use a wheelchair. Official records show 157 people in the US were infected with the disease between 1962 and 2022, of which only four survived. Five deaths from the amoeba have been reported this year, with the latest being a one-year-old toddler from Arkansas who died on September 4. There are fears warming temperatures will heat freshwater pools nationwide, leaving more people at risk of the amoeba. Almost 60 years later the 'ugly' shoes are a staple by the likes of Steve Jobs and Barbie The late Margot Fraser imported the 'hippie' shoes to health-food stores in California after they helped her chronic foot pain in 1966 A German-American woman unknowingly started the Birkenstock sandal mania that spread from Germany to the rest of the world, including Barbie Land. Margot Fraser, who died in 2017 at age 88, transformed the Birkenstock brand from a German medical solution to a global fashion trend. Fraser suffered from chronic foot pain and picked up a pair of Birkenstock's Madrid sandals to help with the discomfort when she was on a trip back to her home country of Germany in 1966. 'Her toes straightened. Her back felt better. She was so impressed that she contacted Karl Birkenstock to explore importing his familys odd-looking sandals into the U.S.', Birkenstock said. Almost 60 years later, Birkenstock announced this week that it was floating on the New York stock exchange with an estimated value of $9.2 billion (7.6 billion). Margot Fraser, who died in 2017 at age 88, transformed the Birkenstock brand from a German medical solution to a global fashion trend A pair of Birkenstocks made not one, but two appearances in this year's blockbuster movie, Barbie. Sales of Birkenstocks were said to have risen by 300 per cent as a result Fraser suffered from chronic foot pain and picked up a pair of Birkenstock's Madrid sandals to help with the discomfort when she was on a trip back to her home country of Germany in 1966 After failing to impress American shoe-shop owners with what many have called the 'ugly' sandals, a friend of Margot suggested she set up a stall for the sandals at a health-food convention in San Francisco. She did, and Fraser said that the store managers that rejected her idea were soon begging her for a pair. Fraser, a dressmaker, was born in 1929 and raised in Berlin but moved to Northern California in the early 60s and married an American. She wrote in her 2009 book Dealing with the Tough Stuff: 'All womens shoes were narrow and had pointed toes. Even the so-called healthy shoes still had heels. Because millions of women in the United States had painful feet, I thought it would be easy to get them into this marvelous footwear.' The original Birkenstock style, the Madrid, featured a contoured cork foot bed and a crossed buckle strap over the toes. The shoe's purpose was to force the owner to grip the toe strap to prevent the shoe from falling off so they would tone their calf muscle. Germans called this phenomenon 'Angstreflex' which means 'fear reflex'. Fraser told The New Yorker that after she started stocking Birkenstocks at the San Fran health food store (next to the granola) the storekeepers would say to her: 'Look, there is a health-food store on my street, and people are walking out with shoeboxes. They should be walking out of my store with shoeboxes.' She was so impressed with the results that wearing the sandals had on her foot pain that she personally contacted Karl Birkenstock to suggest he import his magic shoes Fraser said that after she started stocking Birkenstocks at the San Fran health food store (next to the granola) the storekeepers would say to her: 'Look, there is a health-food store on my street, and people are walking out with shoeboxes. They should be walking out of my store with shoeboxes' In the 70s Birkenstock released another style of sandal, the Arizona, which is the brand's most popular style today. But even the new model was still considered a just a hippie shoe for decades. Over the years Birkenstocks popped up consistently in the fashion industry and popular culture. The most popular style of Birkenstock has long been the double buckle Arizona, but the recent popularity of the Boston clog has given the classic sandal a run for its money. A standard pair of Arizonas are sold for $110, and a pair of Bostons will set you back $158. Kate Moss wore a pair of Birkenstocks in one of her first photo shoots when she was 16-years-old and make the 'ugly' 'hippie' shoes cool. In 2019, nearly 24 million pairs were sold in more than 100 countries. This week, Birkenstock whose majority share is now owned by a U.S. finance company backed by French luxury house LVMH announced it was floating on the New York stock exchange with an estimated value of $9.2 billion (7.6 billion). In 2022 Steve Jobs's old worn-in Birkenstocks, which were a staple in his iconic 'uniform', were expected to auction for up to $80,000 - but ended up selling for $200,000. A pair of Birkenstocks made not one, but two appearances in this year's blockbuster movie, Barbie. Sales of Birkenstocks were said to have risen by 300 per cent as a result. After failing to impress shoe-shop owners with what many have called the 'ugly' sandals, a friend of Margot suggested she set up a stall for the sandals at a health-food convention in San Francisco. She did, and Fraser said that soon the store managers that rejected her idea were soon begging her for a pair In 2022 Steve Jobs's old worn-in Birkenstocks, which were a staple in his iconic 'uniform', were expected to auction for up to $80,000 - but ended up selling for $200,000 After Fraser died in 2017, Birkenstock put out a press release that credited the German-American dressmaker with their success. 'Ms. Fraser is responsible for bringing Birkenstock products to the U.S. and for building the brand over its first 40 years in the market.' The release said that when Fraser put the sandals on 'she instantly experienced comfort and relief from the constrictive, poorly-made shoes that were common at that time. 'She was granted the distribution rights and set about building Birkenstock from her home in Northern California. 'Ms. Fraser was a humble trailblazer. She was a female entrepreneur during a time when this was quite rare. Without any traditional retail or footwear experience, she built a multimillion dollar business that brought comfort to millions of people. 'She did so, always, with a warm smile, a deep belief in the product and a sincere appreciation of the people she worked with throughout the industry.' Fraser was inducted into the Footwear News Hall of Fame in 1997 and the National Shoe Retailers Association Hall of Fame in 2014. Shares in Birkenstock began to slide on Wednesday afternoon just hours after they started trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock opened at $41, well below the $46 price at which they were offered to investors in the days before they started trading on the exchange. Birkenstock is now listed under the 'BIRK' ticker symbol. The opening price of the share gave the company a market value of around $7.7 billion, well below its $8.6 billion initial public offering valuation last week. A Melbourne businessman has taken another swipe at the couple who complained after winning a $4.2million house he gave away and accused him of removing $100,000 worth of items. Adrian Portelli known for his flashy lifestyle and luxury cars purchased the home in Gisborne, 54km north-west of Melbourne, in November after it passed at auction on reality TV series The Block. He then put the home up as as the star prize through his lottery company LMCT+ which was won by Kevin and Andrea Griffin from Ballarat, Victoria. But the couple were disappointed when they were being shown around the house, pointing out flaws and questioning where some of the furniture had gone. Mr Portelli, known as Mr Lambo, then decided to run a $1 raffle for all the items removed from the house, with the winners announced on Thursday. 'Oh geez, look at all that furniture that remained in the house,' he said, while standing in front of a screen showing videos from inside the $4.25 million home. Adrian Portelli has cheekily pointed out 'all the furniture' that was left behind in a $4.2million house he gave away to a couple who accused him of removing $100,000 worth of items CCTV footage had shown Mr Portelli removing luxury items before handing over the keys - including a robo-mower, treadmill, wine, Smeg appliances and a BBQ smoker. But Mr Portelli said the luxury extras were just used for staging for the promotional videos and not part of the giveaway under the lottery's terms and conditions. Upon announcing the raffle, Mr Portelli said he wanted the items to go 'to someone that is going to be grateful and deserving'. He claimed the entirety of the proceeds from the giveaway draw would go to supporting homelessness charities. 'Because we're discussing how many people out there will just be grateful to have a roof over their head, let alone a $4.3 million furnished home mortgage free,' he said. 'So what better way to get you guys involved. We are going to get rid of this, someone's going to win it for $1 and all the proceeds are going to go towards changing people's life who will be grateful just to have a better night.' Lucky couple Kevin and Andrea Griffin who won a $4.2million home that featured in The Block claim their dream lottery win has become a nightmare after it was stripped of key items A Toyota LandCruiser was also up for grabs in the raffle with two people in South Australia and Queensland taking home the prizes. Many took the chance to poke fun at Mr Portelli, joking the car would come without all its tyres. 'I bet it won't have wheels when I pick it up,' one joked. 'Can you please give a full list of every part on the 4x4 so I don't miss anything out,' another joked. Mr Portelli's other Instagram posts have been flooded with comments asking where the 'wine fridge' is, after Ms Griffin repeatedly complained it had been removed. The Griffin family have accused Adrian 'Lambo Guy' Portelli of taking back more than $100,000 worth of goods from the home before handing it over to them Thousands of people have blasted the couple after their story went viral - with the majority saying the couple were ungrateful and were the type who would 'whinge if they won the lotto'. 'Wow, the nerve! The stuff they're mad about is replaceable and definitely not worth 100K,' one said. 'Even just having a house without any appliances is still a blessing from heaven. Let alone a $4million one,' another commenter said. 'Give it back then or just be happy for what you got,' added a third. 'This is a joke right? How ungrateful!' a particularly frustrated commenter said. Now retiring, the Republican has even encourage democrats to run against Biden Romney is working to throw his weight behind a candidate to challenge Trump Republican Senator Mitt Romney is causing a commotion on his way out of Congress, encouraging never-Trumpers to back a single candidate and even naming two democrats to challenge Joe Biden for the White House. At the E2 summit, hosted by Romney and his former running mate Paul Ryan, the senator pleaded with GOP donors to support a single candidate to go against Trump. During a closed door conversation at the two-day forum in Park City, Utah, Romney said he would be happy with any one of them winning the nomination, according to The Washington Post. 'I think our party has multiple personality disorder, and I think the Democratic Party does as well,' the 2012 Republican presidential nominee said Tuesday. 'I think we're schizophrenic. We don't know what we are or what we stand for within our party.' Retiring Republican Senator Mitt Romney is putting his focus on finding a candidate to take on Trump in the 2024 election season, even encouraging democrats to challenge Biden Romney and his former running mate Paul Ryan (pictured) hosted the E2 summit to find a Republican candidate to rally around Ryan (left) and Romney (right) pictured on the campaign trial in 2012. The pair are trying to take back their party from Donald Trump Deseret News reported that Romney, now free from the pressures of running a senate campaign, said he has encouraged democrat Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Mark Warner of Virginia to go up against Biden. The pair lead the meeting of the minds which featured presidential hopefuls former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Other speakers include Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and former attorney general Bill Barr. Notably, candidates Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy were not in attendance. At the second GOP presidential debate chaos ensued where Republican candidates, minus Trump, talked all over each other and ignored the rules. They were pitted against each other rather than showing up as a united front against Trump. The wide-ranging discussion at the summit touched on the US role in the Hamas-Israel war, as well as the threats posed by China, Russia and Iran. Both hosts were concerned with their party's ability to take on these issues. Ryan expressed he feels his party is drive by 'populism untethered to principles' and tethered to 'the cult of Donald Trump's personality.' 'A guy, he's 77 years old and he's got like 91 counts, and he's got a shelf life. Hopefully it's February, but maybe it's a little longer,' the former House speaker said of Trump. Senator Cory Booker (left) joined Joe Biden at a campaign stop in 2020. Now, Romney has encouraged Booker to challenge Biden for the White House Democrat Senator Mark Warner (center) talks to staff at the Senate office building in September. Warner is another candidate Romney suggested to run against Biden Romney predicted multiple candidates will stay in the race for the early primaries, but wants a singular nominee sooner rather than later. 'Id like it to coalesce earlier; I just think it has to happen,' he said. 'I want to put responsibility on your shoulders as the people who are financing campaigns to have some say as to when its time for the person you support to say, "Okay, Im getting behind someone else."' The Utah Senator also addressed his decision to retire. He said there were far less opportunities to achieve bipartisanship. He does not feel they would be able to solve some of his top issues like taking on China, reducing the nation's debt, threats posed by artificial intelligence, climate change and immigration. 'Im going to work like crazy for whoever the next president is,' he said, 'to see if I cant get that president to finally address these issues, because the clock is running out.' Israel has dropped flyers over northern Gaza ordering more than one million people to 'evacuate your homes immediately' and flee south ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive aimed at eradicating the Hamas terrorist group. The order has sparked widespread panic among civilians already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the UN called such an evacuation 'impossible', saying it would turn a tragedy into calamity. Palestine's health minister also warned that Gaza is facing a humanitarian and health catastrophe and urged all countries and human rights groups to help with the immediate entry of medical and emergency aid to the enclave. Meanwhile, Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit branded the Israeli order a 'forced transfer' that he said constitutes a 'crime', while the secretary general of the pan-Arab body, in a letter sent to UN chief Antonio Guterres, accused Israel of carrying out 'an atrocious act of revenge... punishing helpless civilians in Gaza'. It comes as Hamas claimed at least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in northern Gaza have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, and before Hamas operatives fired hundreds of rockets towards Israel around midday on Friday. 'Thirteen prisoners... including foreigners' were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, Hamas's armed wing said Friday. Israel dismissed the claims as 'lies'. Israel has ordered more than one million people to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive aimed at eradicating Hamas Flyers dropped by the IDF warning residents to flee are seen in the skies above Gaza today The order has sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the United Nations called such an evacuation 'impossible' that would turn an tragedy into calamity. Pictured: Children are seen in a Gaza City hospital A Palestinian man runs amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli air strike on October 13 A Hamas official has called the evacuation order 'fake propaganda', urged Palestinians to stay in their homes and not to 'fall for it' Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes Smoke billows following Israeli strikes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza, October 13, 2023 Israeli army soldiers ride in the turret of a Merkava battle tank deploying along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 13 A column of heavy armoured personnel carriers (APCs) at an area along the border with Gaza, southern Israel, as Israel gathers its forces around the enclave Israel's military sent one evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes Israel's military sent one evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes. According to translations of the IDF flyers online, the army told residents that 'terrorist organisations have started the war against the State of Israel.' As a result, it said 'Gaza City has become a battlefield' and told residents they had to evacuate 'Punik immediately and go to the south of the Gaza Valley.' It also issued a stark warning to Palestinians not to try and cross into Israel. 'For your security and safety: You should not return to Piona until further notice by the Israel Defense Army,' the flyers said. 'Generally and well-known shelters in Gaza City must be evacuated. It is forbidden to approach the security wall, and everyone who is approaching exposes himself to death.' A small map was also printed on the bottom of the flyer, with arrows pointing from the north of Gaza to the south, showing the 1.1 million Palestinians which way to flee. READ MORE: Israel is accused of using white phosphorus in Gaza Advertisement The UN says it is impossible to move that many people without devastating humanitarian consequences, and has urged Israel to rescind the order. The 2.3 million people living in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip are densely packed into a sliver of land that is just 25 miles long and 7 miles wide which is already largely without power and where hospitals are overwhelmed. Israel has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza with airstrikes and cut off food, water and electricity since Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,300 in Israel. Israel's directive, which comes seven days after Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza, charged that Hamas terrorists were hiding in tunnels under the city. Meanwhile, a Hamas official called the evacuation order 'fake propaganda', urged Palestinians to stay in their homes and not to 'fall for it'. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs called on residents in the north of the territory to 'remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation'. The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no official decision has been made. Any ground offensive would be the strongest response yet to Hamas' shock assault, and would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal guerrilla warfare as Israeli soldiers go house-to-house and hunt down Hamas terrorists. 'This evacuation is for your own safety,' the Israeli military said, in a warning it said was sent to all Gaza City civilians. The UN said it received a separate directive from the Israeli military shortly before midnight, giving all 1.1 million civilians of northern Gaza 24 hours to flee south. It said the broad evacuation warning it received for all of Gaza's north also applies to all UN staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in UN schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock airstrikes. 'The UN considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. 'The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,' Dujarric said. Another UN official said that the United Nations is trying to get clarity from Israeli officials at the senior most political level. 'It's completely unprecedented,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman of the Israel Defence Forces (lDF) said in a video update Friday that the evacuations were a 'humanitarian step.' 'The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and to move to the area south of the River Gaza.' 'The Hamas terrorist organisation waged a war against the state of Israel and Gaza City is an area where military operations are taking place,' he continued. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces (lDF) said in a video update Friday that the evacuations were a 'humanitarian step' Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12 A fireball erupts from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 12 An Israeli army M109 155mm self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on October 12 Palestinians stretcher an injured man following an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip Thursday Israeli tanks move near Gaza border as Israeli army deploys military vehicles around the Gaza Strip, Israel on October 12 Israeli tanks head towards the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Thursday Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Shilo Rauchberger at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem 'This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made.' Conricus claimed the IDF has distributed a map showing Gaza City residents where to migrate and warned they should not go near any security fences. 'Do not approach the border, only go south,' he added, saying that they needed to distance themselves from Hamas members 'who are using you as human shields.' 'The IDF will continue to operate with significant force in Gaza City and will make significant efforts to avoid harming civilians.' He said that civilians are 'not our enemy' and will not target them. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said the army is aware that the evacuation of 1.1 million people will take time. 'This is a war zone, we are trying to provide them the time and we are doing a lot of effort, and we understand it won't take 24 hours,' he said when asked a question about Israel's timeframe by a BBC reporter. He also pointed to Hamas telling civilians to ignore the order. 'We understand the problem. Sad reality? It's Hamas' responsibility,' he said. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel, with attacks also coming from Hezbollah, in Lebanon to the north. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian airports out of service. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to 'crush' Hamas after the militants stormed into the country's south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. However, the civilian toll is mounting. Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, said the order had sparked more chaos in the Gaza Strip. 'No one understands what to do,' she told a reporter with the Associated Press as she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags as the panicked shouts of her relatives could be heard around her. She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah, a city that sits on the southern border with Egypt. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, said there was no way more than one million people could be safely moved that fast. 'Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you're make it, if you're going to live,' Farsakh said, breaking into sobs. 'What will happen to our patients?' she asked. 'We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals.' Farsakh said many of the medics were refusing to evacuate hospitals and abandon patients. Instead, she said, they called their colleagues to say goodbye. A view of an explosion following a strike by IDF fighter jets on Hamas targets at a location given as the Gaza Strip Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike early Friday Destroyed and damaged buildings of the Islamic University are seen in the aftermath of Israeli strikes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas The body of a Palestinian killed during Israeli air strikes is carried in a sheet on Thursday Palestinians carrying their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13 A boy carries a mattres as Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13 Palestinians flash the V for victory sign as they flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13 Earlier, the Israeli military pulverised the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said its complete siege of the territory - which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine - would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during a grisly weekend incursion. As the full scale of the horrors of the weekend were coming into focus, Israel's military was ramping up preparations for a ground invasion, and Hamas was continuing to launch rockets into Israel. 'Now is the time for war,' said Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, as his country amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip. Seeking to build support for its response, Israel's government showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defense ministers graphic images of children and civilians they said Hamas had killed in a weekend rampage in Israel. Blinken said they showed a baby 'riddled with bullets,' soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. 'It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,' he said. 'It's really beyond anything that we can comprehend.' Israel has vowed to retaliate for the attack - the deadliest by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. Like others across the globe, Blinken urged Israel to show restraint, but he also reiterated America's support, saying: 'We will always be there by your side.' On Friday he was due to meet King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in Jordan as part of a Middle East tour aimed at stopping spillover from the war. America's top diplomat, Blinken planned to visit key U.S. allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates - some with influence on Hamas, an Islamist group backed by Iran. Halevi said lessons would be drawn from the security failures around Gaza that enabled the attack. 'We will learn, investigate, but now is the time for war,' he said. The U.S. military is placing no conditions on its security assistance to Israel, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, adding Washington expected Israel's military to 'do the right things' in prosecuting its war against Hamas. Austin was due in Israel on Friday and planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. An armed Palestinian militant leading a man during the Supernova music festival An armed Palestinian militant is seen walking around the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel Sitting on the back of a terrorist's motorcycle, her outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life Aftermath: Burnt-out and abandoned cars where revellers tried to escape the onslaught At least 260 were killed in the massacre while many are still missing either dead or taken hostage by the bloodthirsty militants Family and friends of those taken hostage by Hamas during the attack on Israel react as they listen to speeches during a press conference on October 13 A tearful women is seen as family and friends of those taken hostage by Hamas during the Israel listen to speeches during a press conference on October 13 Family and friends of those taken hostage by Hamas during Saturday's attack on Israel react as they listen to speeches during a press conference on October 13 Hamas called on Palestinians to rise up on Friday in protest at Israel's bombardment of the enclave, urging Palestinians to march to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Israel has responded so far by putting Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, under siege and launching a bombing campaign that destroyed whole neighborhoods. 'Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,' Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces 'are preparing for a ground maneuver' should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas and where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 25 miles long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. The relentless barrage on Gaza - which the military said has so far involved 6,000 munitions - left Palestinians running through streets, carrying their belongings and looking for safety A strike Thursday afternoon in the Jabaliya refugee camp took down a residential building on families sheltering inside, killing at least 45 people, Gaza's Interior Ministry said. At least 23 of the dead were under the age of 18, including a month-old child, according to a list of the casualties. The home belonging to the al-Shihab family was packed with relatives who had fled bombing in other areas. Neighbors said a second house was hit at the same time, but the toll was not immediately known. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'We cant flee because anywhere you go, you are bombed,' one neighbor, Khalil Abu Yahia, said. 'You need a miracle to survive here.' The number of people forced from their homes by the airstrikes soared 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the U.N. said Thursday. Most crowded into U.N.-run schools. Families were cutting down to one meal a day, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al-Azhar University, who had 32 relatives sheltering in his home. Water stopped coming to the building two days ago, and they have rationed whats left in a tank on the roof. Alaa Younis Abuel-Omrain has been staying in a U.N. school after a strike on her home killed eight members of her family - her mother, aunt, a sister, a brother and his wife and their three children. Most bakeries stopped producing bread for lack of electricity. A shell goes off in the water off the beach of Gaza during an Israeli air strike Palestinians evacuate wounded after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp on the southern Gaza Strip Israel has vowed to 'crush' Hamas after gunmen from the Palestinian Islamist group stormed across the border and killed 1,300 people 'Even if there is food in some areas, we cant get to it because of strikes,' she said. On Wednesday, Gazas only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators. Hospitals, overwhelmed by a constant stream of wounded and running out of supplies, have only a few days worth of fuel before their power cuts off, aid officials say. 'Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues,' said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Newborn incubators, kidney dialysis machines, X-ray equipment and more, are all dependent on power, he said. Ambulance crews carrying bodies to the morgue at Gazas biggest hospital, Shifa, found no space left. Dozens of full body bags were lined up in the hospital parking lot. Fourteen health facilities have been damaged in strikes, health officials said Thursday. With Israel sealing off the territory, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah, but Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that airstrikes on Rafah have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to convince Israel and the United States to allow aid and fuel through the crossing. People are seen around destroyed buildings and debris at the Al-Shate'e refugee camp after an Israeli airstrike An explosion at a residential tower caused by Israeli bombing raids in the northern Gaza Strip Israel is employing a new tactic of leveling whole neighborhoods, rather than just individual buildings. Hecht, the military spokesman, said targeting decisions were based on intelligence on locations being used by Hamas and that civilians were warned. 'Right now, we are focused on taking out their senior leadership,' Hecht said. The military said strikes have hit Hamas elite Nukhba forces, including command centers used by the fighters in Saturdays attack, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative used to store weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to 'crush' Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Netanyahu said Hamas' atrocities included beheading soldiers and raping women, descriptions that could not immediately be independently confirmed. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. In a video released Thursday, civilian Hamas figures defended the groups rampage and decried the civilian deaths in Gaza from six days of Israeli airstrikes. The solemn video lacked the bravado of a recording aired Saturday by Hamass military wing that hailed 'the greatest battle' as the massacres were still taking place. Netanyahu said Hamas' atrocities included beheading soldiers and raping women, descriptions that could not immediately be independently confirmed Basem Naim, a former Hamas government minister, said that in the 'swift collapse' of the Israeli military on Saturday, 'chaos prevailed and civilians found themselves in the middle of the confrontation.' The claim is contradicted by countless videos and survivor accounts of Hamas militants deliberately targeting and killing civilians in Israel. Naim added that there would be no action to free the 150 captives taken back into Gaza while Israel's operation continued. Israel was a nation in mourning. At a funeral for a 25-year-old woman killed with at least 260 other people at a desert rave, and at another service for a slain Israeli soldier, mourners sat cross-legged on the ground next to caskets, wailing or quietly weeping. In Gaza, too, mourners buried families together in shrouds. At one funeral, they placed the battered body of a little girl in the arms of her slain father. An ABC journalist has come under fire in a fiery exchange in a WhatsApp chat group for international media about this week's violence in Israel. The national broadcaster's Middle Eastern correspondent Tom Joyner labelled reports about babies being beheaded by Hamas terrorists in Israel as 'bulls***' in a series of now-deleted messages to hundreds of international journalists and broadcasters. 'The story about the babies is bulls***,' he wrote in the group chat, intended for media representatives to share information about the attacks in Israel by Hamas terrorists, on Tuesday. The journalist's message was quickly condemned by other group members, with one writing back 'Care to retract this now?' ABC Middle Eastern correspondent Tom Joyner (pictured, right) was slammed after he posted a message in an international WhatsApp group chat that the claim Hamas beheaded babies was 'bulls***' 'I'm sorry about the wording I regret that,' Joyner responded. 'But we still have not seen clear evidence.' 'Why hasn't there been anything unequivocal from the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) or from Netanyahu,' he added. Another group member fired back: 'Why are you picking this hill to be humiliated on?' Joyner is reporting on the conflict between Israel and Palestine and has produced multiple stories on the events unfolding. There is not yet clear confirmation either way of the claim Joyner was commenting on. Joyner was slammed by other media representatives in the group chat, becoming the second ABC journalist this week who has come under fire for their stance on the violence in Israel and Palestine Mr Joyner is the second ABC journalist that has come under fire over the conflict in Israel and subsequent fallout in Australia. ABC political reporter Nour Haydar came under fire this week after sharing controversial tweets following the Palestinian militant group Hamas unleashing a horrific terrorist attack on the Jewish homeland on Saturday, killing hundreds of innocent civilians. Following the attacks, hundreds of protesters caused chaos outside the Opera House in Sydney shouting 'gas the Jews' and 'f*** the Jews,' prompting NSW Premier Chris Minns to call off an upcoming Free Palestine rally. ABC political reporter Nour Haydar has reposted numerous tweets about the Israel-Palestine conflict in recent days Ms Haydar did not appear to support his decision to ban the upcoming protest, and shared a message from Palestinian activist Randa Abdel-Fattah. 'How is it possible that Palestinians in Australia are being policed for their language, protests, grief, called animals, accused of supporting terrorism, framed as instigators, and an Australian Jewish organisation openly calls for genocide,' the reposted tweet states. The comments were in response to the Australian Jewish Association supporting air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza in retaliation to the terror attacks on Israel. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the airstrikes have killed over 1,100 Palestinians. Officials have not said how many civilians are among the dead. 'Pure evil must be eradicated from this earth. Flatten it,' The Australian Jewish Association wrote. The political journalist (pictured) has been with the ABC for six years and is based at Parliament House in Canberra 'Sometimes to eradicate pure evil, innocents die. It's sad Hamas hides among the civilian population. It's sad they don't love their own children to bring this on them. It's a double war crime.' Ms Haydar's recent online activity caught the attention of 2GB presenter Ray Hadley. 'I don't know whether that's covered by the ABC policy on social media, but she's reposted quite a number,' he told listeners. 'So we need to check with the boss of the ABC to see whether the postings by Nour Hadar, even though they were not her own words, whether they're in contravention of the ABC and their policy on social media postings.' Another retweet Ms Haydar shared was from The Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent, Bethan McKernan, which read: 'Initial reports surfacing that Israeli settlers indiscriminately opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians in Qusra near Nablus.' A third retweet from Human Rights Watch states: 'Deliberate killings of civilians, hostage-taking, and collective punishment are heinous crimes that have no justification.' Along with Hadley, some Aussies were quick to call out Ms Haydar over her retweets. 'Does Nour Haydar work for the ABC or Al-Jazeera? Thrilled to see taxpayer dollars paying the salary of a clearly biased ABC journalist. An ABC spokeswoman didn't respond to questions of whether the retweets were appropriate or if any action will be taken. 'This is a personal social media account, not an ABC account or ABC content,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'All staff are required to meet the ABC Social Media guidelines.' Israel's armed forces have released dramatic footage of the moment elite troops retook control of a checkpoint overrun by Hamas, and freed 250 hostages. Video from body cameras worn by members of the Flotilla 13 elite unit was released on Thursday evening. The naval commando unit - the equivalent of the U.S. Navy SEALS - is specialized in counter terrorism. Bodies are seen on the floor of one darkened room. It is not known if they were hostages or terrorists. In another room, a group of people are seen standing as the troops entered - presumably hostages. 'Shayetet, Shayetet, stay in the bunker, we're coming,' one of the officers shouts - using the Hebrew name for their unit. The identities and nationalities of those rescued has not been disclosed, with around 20 Americans abducted still unaccounted for. Hours after the remarkable footage was released, Israel's military directed residents of Gaza City to evacuate 'for their own safety and protection,' ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive. The announcement followed a UN spokesperson's claim that the military directed an evacuation for all of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people - about half of the territory's population - within 24 hours. The UN claims this is 'impossible.' Members of Israel's elite Flotilla 13 unit are seen on Saturday retaking a checkpoint near the Gaza border from Hamas Flotilla 13 is the equivalent of the U.S. Navy SEALS, and they were sent to the site of Saturday's attack immediately The elite commandos are seen in body camera footage going door-to-door During Saturday's assault on the Sufa checkpoint, along the southern border with Gaza, towards the Egyptian border, the troops can be seen going door to door, flushing the terrorists out of the compound, and facing fierce resistance. Shell casings fly as the Flotilla 13 troops engage the terrorists in gun battles. The Israelis are shown throwing grenades into rooms to flush out the Hamas attackers. The IDF said they had killed 60 Hamas terrorists, and arrested 26 - among them Muhammad Abu A'ali, the deputy commander of the Hamas southern Naval Division. One man, who appeared to be naked, with blood on his back and shoulders, is seen being brought out and handcuffed. Other hostages seized from a nearby music festival and from kibbutzim and villages close to Gaza were taken back into Gaza, to be used as human shields. Their whereabouts are unknown, but it is considered likely they are being held in tunnels beneath the territory, and moved frequently to prevent rescue. Joe Biden on Wednesday insisted that the United States was doing all it could to rescue the hostages. He called the Hamas attack on Israel 'the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,' and a campaign of 'pure cruelty', adding once again that the United States stood solidly with Israel. The death toll now stands at 1,200 in Israel, including 27 Americans, and another 1,500 in Gaza. Hamas is believed to have taken 150 hostages, including Americans, and is threatening to execute them if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza. Biden said that the United States was working feverishly to try and secure the release of the hostages. The Israel forces are seen arresting a man, who had been stripped naked and was bloodied The IDF forces are seen entering a darkened room inside the checkpoint compound The IDF are seen inside the darkened rooms, believed to be bunkers beneath the checkpoint The elite commandos are seen going room-by-room within the compound 'We're working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts,' he said. 'Now, the press are going to shout to me: what are you doing to bring these folks home? If I told you, I wouldn't be able to get them home. 'Folks, there's a lot we're doing, a lot we're doing. 'I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home. 'But the idea that I'm going to stand here before you and tell you what I'm doing is bizarre. So, I hope you understand how bizarre I think it would be to try to answer that question.' John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, was asked at an earlier briefing whether the administration is in contact directly or indirectly with Hamas about securing their release, and whether he could describe their condition. 'Now, where they are and in what condition, no,' said Kirby. A house is completely destroyed after being burned by Hamas terrorists during the attack at Kibbutz Be'eri, near the border with Gaza on October 11, 2023 in Be'eri, Israel IDF Lotar unit soldiers are slowly checking the Kfar Aza kibbutz, passing from one house to another to clear them from any ammunition or threat. It was here that Hamas terrorists massacred families in their homes An Israel Defence Forces source provided a photograph of a child's blood-soaked bed in Kibbutz Kerem Shalom in southern Israel following a Hamas-led attack on the home An Israeli soldier breaks down in tears at the sight of a family dining table on which there is still Challah bread from Friday's Kiddush at the Kfar Aza kibbutz. Hamas terrorists massacred families here on Saturday He said the White House does not know if they are being kept together, and whether they are being moved around. 'Sadly we don't know. And that makes efforts very, very difficult.' He also told ABC White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks he is 'not aware of any specific proof of life on any individual hostage.' Kirby added that the U.S. is in discussion with countries that have lines of communications with Hamas, such as Qatar, to discuss working to free the hostages. Several former senior Hamas leaders live in Qatar. A construction worker who allegedly threatened a group of Jewish teenagers flying the Israeli flag claims he has 'got Jewish mates' and says the whole situation has been blown out of context. Abdullah Al-Taay, 23, was charged with stalking or intimidating after he allegedly threatened to kill four Jewish teenagers who had been flying an Israeli flag in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill on Monday around 6.30pm. He was granted bail on Thursday on the condition he does not enter Sydney's eastern suburbs, where many Jewish Australians live. But now, speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Al-Taay has vehemently denied he holds any anti-Semitic views and claims there is another side of the story yet to come out. 'The media tried to make it a Jewish thing. I've got nothing against Jews I've got Jewish mates,' he said on the driveway of his family home in Glen Alpine in Sydney's south-west. Abdullah Al-Taay (pictured), 23, was charged with stalking or intimidating after he allegedly threatened to kill four Jewish teenagers who had been flying an Israeli flag in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill on Monday around 6.30pm Footage of the confronting incident allegedly shows Al-Taay (pictured) - who is wearing a yellow high-vis vest and a black cap - telling the teenagers to put the flag away or he will 'kill youse all' 'They tried to make it like I hate Jews that's completely false information. I've got a lot of Jewish mates. 'At the end of the day, they are a religion. Christianity is a religion. Islam is a religion. Each to their own.' A short clip of the confronting incident allegedly shows Al-Taay - who is wearing a yellow high-vis vest and a black cap - marching up to four teenage boys who were about to tie an Israeli flag to their car. He points a finger at them and repeatedly tells them to 'put it back in your car'. 'I swear if I f***ing see youse with that flag, I'll f**king kill youse all. I'm telling youse right now - all of youse,' he says. Pressed on the alarming footage, Al-Taay claimed 'Israel's flag has nothing to do with the Jews'. Al-Taay, speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia (pictured), has vehemently denied he holds any anti-Semitic views and claims there is another side of the story yet to come out He attempted to shield his face with a green hoodie when he was released from custody on Thursday afternoon He added: 'It's out of context 110 per cent out of context. That video is probably ten minutes they cut out the last 15 seconds of it.' Al-Taay claimed the interaction began with 'normal talk' but he hinted there were some 'threats' made - although he refused to divulge any specifics. 'Whatever happened, happened. At the end of the day it's a talk. We live in Australia. 'It's not like what I said, I'm happy with, of course, in that video. But it happens. At the end of the day, I have nothing against Jews.' This publication has reached out to the teenagers involved who have expressed their wish to stay out of the press. Yet, Al-Taay insisted he does not 'blame them kids' but rather the media for distorting the story. 'I have a lot of Jewish mates that are with me on this story, saying "this is wrong, it's getting out of context" but the media are just trying to make money out of it,' he said. The disturbing video came hours before a pro-Palestine protest was hijacked by radical Muslims on Monday evening - some wearing black masks - who hurled lit flares at police and chanted 'f*** Israel' and 'f*** the Jews' beneath the steps of the Opera House (pictured) As much as I want to, I can't say right now (and) I'm going wait for court. Al-Taay handed himself in to Liverpool Police Station on Wednesday afternoon after the video was published by Daily Mail Australia. He was later charged and spent the night at Amber Laurel Correctional Centre in western Sydney. On Thursday, Al-Taay was granted bail at Sydney's Downing Centre with the conditions that he does not enter almost all areas of the Eastern Suburbs where many Jewish communities live. 'You are not to enter any of these suburbs unless for work purposes: Bellevue Hill, Double Bay, Woollahra, Queens Park, Bondi Beach, Bondi Junction, Tamarama, Dover Heights, Rose Bay, Vaucluse, Watsons Bay or Randwick,' Magistrate Julie Huber told him. She added: 'You are not to attend any rally or protest.' Magistrate Huber explicitly mentioned in court that those suburbs generally covered where Jewish Sydneysiders tended to live or congregate. The rally, organised by the Palestine Action Group Sydney, saw vast numbers of pro-Palestine activists gather at Town Hall in Sydney's CBD before marching to the Opera House Daily Mail Australia witnessed a large crowd of men attempting to set light to an Israeli flag with firecrackers before resorting to stamping on it and tearing it into shreds at Monday's febrile protest (pictured) On multiple occasions, Al-taay immediately rejected the suggestion that his comments may have been motivated by anti-Semitism. Of course not. Why would I hate Jews? Theyre humans, were all humans, everyones a human. Its out of context, mate,' he said. Like I said, I have a lot of Jewish friends. I can bring them to the court that day. I don't hate anyone.' Al-Taay's father told Daily Mail Australia he wanted to set up a 'peaceful talk' with the Jewish teenagers' parents. He wants to see if he can meet the parents of these kids to explain that we are not anti-Semitic, that is not what we stand for,' Al-Taay's sister translated for their father. Al-Taay's next court appearance is October 27. His defence solicitor Elie Srour from the Criminal Law Group told the court his client agreed with the bail conditions. Al-Taay (pictured) spent the night at Amber Laurel Correctional Centre in western Sydney before being released on bail on Thursday afternoon 'He is willing to comply with all conditions, he spent the night in custody for the first time and he knows what will happen if he breaches those conditions,' said Mr Srour. Al-Taay attempted to shield his face with a green hoodie when he was released from custody on Thursday afternoon. Al-Taay's alleged outburst happened on the same day pro-Palestinian protests in Sydney's CBD turned ugly, with thugs chanting 'gas the Jews' and 'death to the Jews' in the shadow of the Opera House. Around 1,000 protesters flocked to Sydney's Town Hall on Monday evening for a Free Palestine rally in the wake of reignited violence between Palestine and Israel. READ MORE: Horrific scenes as radical Muslims chant 'gas the Jews' on the steps of the Sydney Opera House - while Jews are told to stay home and are dragged away from the protest Pro-Palestine supporters are pictured tearing up an Israeli flag Advertisement The rally kicked off with various chants including 'Resistance is justified when Palestine is occupied', 'Israel, Israel you can't hide you're committing genocide' and 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.' But later there were scenes of chaos at the Opera House as the demonstration was hijacked by radical Muslims - some wearing black masks - who threw lit flares at police and chanted 'f*** Israel' and 'f*** the Jews' beneath the steps of the iconic harbouside venue. At one point, there were even chants of 'gas the Jews'. Daily Mail Australia witnessed a large crowd of men attempting to set light to an Israeli flag with firecrackers before stamping on it and tearing it to shreds. Cries of 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great in Arabic) and 'death to the Jews' rang out as some members of the crowd swarmed towards the police barrier, brandishing torn pieces of the Israeli flag - despite the rally organisers calling for protesters to respect the police. Shockingly, NSW Police felt compelled to warn Sydney's Jewish community from entering Sydney's CBD on Monday evening over safety concerns. Earlier in the evening, a man was arrested for holding an unfurled Israeli flag. In an video of the incident, filmed by Daily Mail Australia, the man can be seen being dragged away by three police officers repeatedly saying 'I've done nothing wrong'. An officer told him: 'You've been arrested in relation to a breach of the peace.' On Tuesday morning, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Tony Cooke defended the decision to arrest Mr Spiro, claiming his presence 'could have caused significant risk to him and others'. 'I understand his view... (but) it was necessary,' Mr Cooke said. 'In the circumstances the best option for us was to take the actions we did.' But the man, who was later identified as Sydney businessman Mark Spiro, later told Sky News he felt the officers' actions were 'excessive' and that he felt like a 'ragdoll'. 'It was excessive and at the time having both your arms pinned back for effectively having a rolled up Israeli flag was shocking and confronting,' Mr Spiro said. 'The police they should feel ashamed of themselves quite frankly. I was an innocent bystander with a rolled up Israeli flag.' In total, Daily Mail Australia witnessed three individuals attempt to fly an Israeli flag on Monday before being chased away by protesters or arrested by the police 'for their own safety'. On Friday, NSW Police urged people not to attend pro-Palestinian protests planned for central Sydney on Sunday, claiming they would us 'extraordinary powers' to search protesters. David Hudson, the acting commissioner, said he believed the threshold for using the powers had been met and he would seek to have them enabled before the proposed rally in Hyde Park. The powers, which allow police to search protesters without a reason and to arrest people who refuse to identify themselves, were introduced after the 2005 Cronulla riots. Students at the University of Washington and across the country at Georgetown University gathered to praise the Hamas terrorists who butchered 1,300 Israelis over the weekend, launching the region into a bloody war. At the University of Washington, video footage captured several Jewish students in tears as they pleaded with an administrator to put a stop to the pro-Palestinian rally, at which students condoned violence against Israel and the Jewish people. 'They want our people dead. They want us killed,' sobbed one student to an administrator who appears to be listening, but indicating that there is nothing he can do. 'How are you allowing this? Why aren't you putting a stop to this?' she asked through uncontrollable tears. 'Please end it. Please,' she begged. The event at the campus' red square had been advertised by a radical student group who said their goal was to 'uplift the just Palestinian resistance' and 'condemn the settler colonial state of Israel.' Flyers for the event featured a drawing of a paraglider similar to the ones that militant Hamas terrorists used last Saturday to fly into southern Israel and massacre scores of innocent concert-goers. Georgetown's Students for Justice in Palestine branch hung flyers that read: 'Glory to our Martyrs,' referring to the Hamas terrorists who butchered 1,300 Israelis over the weekend A different video taken in red square shows pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protestors facing off against one another, as anger from both sides boiled over and face-to-face confrontations broke out. At Georgetown University in Washington, DC, students held a vigil for the Palestinian martyrs who died over the weekend killing Israelis. 'Glory to our Martyrs,' read one sign hung directly above another that read: 'Justice = Peace.' 'Do you support decolonization as an abstract academic theory? Or as a tangible event?' read a sign written by the group Students for Justice in Palestine. The students endorse the barbaric weekend attacks as a 'tangible' step toward 'decolonization.' Jonathan Neman, a Georgetown graduate and the co-founder and CEO of Sweetgreen, commented on the post: 'As a Georgetown alum this makes me very sad to see.' Neman is one of the CEO's who said he supported hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman's request that Harvard University unmask the identities of the students who signed a letter in support of the Palestinian cause - including the Hamas attacks - in order to ensure they are never hired by his company. Anti-Israel demonstrations have popped up at virtually all elite US colleges in the time since Hamas terrorists attacked the Jewish state in a coordinated land and air attack on Saturday morning. The indiscriminate killing of women, children, the elderly, and innocent men alike involved decapitation, burning families alive, and rampages through peaceful kibbutzim, in which entire communities were annihilated. Student activists at Georgetown are currently holding a vigil for the Hamas martyrs who savagely butchered 1,300 Israelis. Here are some signs from that vigil, which endorse the attacks as a tangible step toward decolonization. pic.twitter.com/6x1H1pw8df Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) October 13, 2023 MULTIPLE SKIRMISHES: Thursday afternoon, the University of Washington was lit! Several face to face confrontations broke out between supporters on both sides. Folks were calling each other terrorists, killers, rapists, cowards, and all kinds of homophobic slurs. Freedom of pic.twitter.com/BfnaAE90Sp Jonathan Choe Journalist (Seattle) (@choeshow) October 12, 2023 NYPD responded to an assault in progress around 6.10pm on Wednesday, October 11. The argument arose after 19-year-old Maxwell Friedman was confronted for tearing down posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on October 11 'Worse than ISIS': Photo of bloodied child's bed posted by Israeli PM Netanyahu A house left in ruins after an attack by Hamas militants on this kibbutz days earlier when dozens of civilians were killed near the border with Gaza At New York City's Ivy League University, Columbia, a 24-year-old Israeli student was physically assaulted Wednesday night. At Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, an associate professor cheered on Hamas' brutal attacks, calling Saturday's massacre an 'extraordinary day.' Soon after the attacks in Israel began, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the country was once again at war with its hostile neighbor and that the mission is to wipe every Hamas member off the face of the earth. The IDF has since launched a number of counteroffensive attacks, including some 6,000 bombs that have been launched at Gaza. The death toll in Israel is reportedly 1,300, while that in Gaza has risen to about 1,500 since fighting began. Many thousands on both sides of the conflict have been injured as well. It is the second anti-Semitism scandal facing the college A prestigious school previously warned about anti-Semitism has been caught up in another scandal after students allegedly dressed as Arabs for a 'muck-up' day joke. Students at Melbourne's Brighton Secondary College allegedly took part in the vindictive prank on Friday as Year 12 students marked the end of the academic year. One month ago the school was told by the federal court that it had previously failed to address anti-Semitism which saw five Jewish students mercilessly bullied. 'Muck-up day' provides students across the country a chance to let off some steam after a long year of studies, but 3AW reported that some students took it too far. In September, the federal court found that the State of Victoria and the principal of Brighton Secondary College had breached the Racial Discrimination Act. Brighton Secondary College in Melbourne has been caught in another anti-Semitism scandal after students allegedly dressed in Arab garb during their 'muck-up' day on Friday Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Dr Dvir Abramovich, condemned the stunt as 'cruel' and called upon the community to help protect the Jewish community The students from Brighton allegedly dressed up in Arab attire, which the Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Dr Dvir Abramovich, condemned as 'cruel'. 'I am going to try and hold it together and not break down,' he told 3AW presenter Neil Mitchell. 'I've spoken to leadership at Brighton Secondary College. There was a small number of students who came to muck-up day dressed with Arab attire. 'This was mean-spirited, it was vicious, it was cruel and it was hateful.' The students were ordered to remove their costumes and immediately taken to the principal's office. READ MORE: Brighton Secondary College had swastikas on the walls Five former Brighton Secondary College students were subjected to years of anti-Semitic bullying, discrimination and negligence. Advertisement Dr Abramovich understands that the school is taking the issue seriously and that the Department of Education is preparing a statement on the matter. The radio host said that though the joke was irredeemable, it had to be noted that it had come from secondary students and that repercussions were now underway. In his response, Dr Abramovich pleaded to the community to help protect the Jewish peoples, especially during the recent wave of anti-Semitism across the country. 'We just had an incident at Coles where a Jewish woman was threatened by an Arab looking man. History will judge them. 'Did they stand with the students, or will they stand with the Jewish community? They are very happy to stand up for other causes, but where there are Jews, will they stand up and support the Jewish community? 'I'm telling you now...there will be a spill over of tensions. The Australian Jewish community and the Melbourne Jewish community will be singled out and targeted with vilification, intimidation, threats and maybe even violence. 'It is just a sad fact of life when we have these kinds of conflicts. Anti-Semitism is already surging.' The Victorian Department of Education has confirmed that it is currently investigating the incident and will take appropriate action as required. 'The college is continuing to investigate the incident and appropriate action is being taken in response,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia. 'The school apologises unreservedly that this has occurred, with support available to students in light of recent events.' Last month five former students were awarded $435,000 each after Justice Debbie Mortimer ruled that the principal of Brighton Secondary College failed to properly address anti-Semitism between 2015 and 2020. A recent wave of anti-Semitism has been reported across Australia in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 A crowd of 2,000 pro-Palestinian supporters were filmed chanting 'gas the Jews' and 'kill the Jews' during a protest in Sydney two days after the war started Some of the attacks on the Jewish community are likely sparked by the Israeli war on Hamas, which broke out on October 7 and has already seen thousands killed. In the week since the war started, reports of attacks on the Jewish community have increased dramatically. Three allegedly intoxicated men were arrested outside the Sydney Jewish Museum in Darlinghurst shortly after midday on Friday after they were seen doing Nazi salutes. Abdullah Al-Taay, 23, was also recently charged after he allegedly threatened to kill four Jewish teenagers who had been flying an Israeli flag in Bellevue Hill on Monday. A pro-Palestinian protest at the Opera House also made headlines around the world on Monday when footage captured a crowd of 2,000 protestors chanting 'gas the Jews' and 'kill the Jews'. Waterfront apartments in one of Queensland's most popular holiday destinations are on sale for as little as $50,000. The apartments are in idyllic Couran Cove resort, on South Stradbroke Island. There is one catch, however. A dispute with the resort's body corporate led to it being closed in June, meaning the apartments have no power, water, gas or sewerage. There's also no guarantee when, or if, utilities will be turned back on. But if you're prepared to rough it, at least in the short term, the location could be one of the best property bargains around. The sudden closure of the beachfront resort community has seen many frustrated owners eager to sell their holiday homes. Waterfront apartments in Couran Cove resort (above) are on sale for as little as $50,000 The resort closed in June, meaning there's no power, water, gas or sewerage (pictured, the living room/bedroom and one of the apartments) Critton Astras from Astras and Bond Estate Agents said it's rare to find fully-furnished properties with waterfront views for 'such a low price'. 'From studios, one bedrooms, two-0bedroom lodges, three bedrooms, some great eco cabins out in the forest and you've got the villas,' he told 9News. 'Anything ranging from say $50,000 all the way through to $300,000.' While buying the apartments is a risky investment, several current owners said the community on the island makes up for the missing amenities. 'My wife and I came here a few years ago when it was sort of open, we sort of always loved the place and obviously it's a great time to buy now,' one owner said. Couran Cove was developed by billionaire American philanthropist Chuck Feeney in the 1990s and won several Queensland tourism awards in its heyday. The resort was shut after a bitter feud with the body corporate - its marina, pool and boardwalk were closed in June (pictured, a block of units in Couran Cove) However, the bitter feud with the body corporate saw the resort almost completely closed four months ago - save for about 40 residents. The Courier Mail reported a 'marina closed' sign was placed across the resort's roped-off harbour entrance by June 9. Several other parts of the resort, including the pool area and overwater boardwalk, were also fenced and padlocked. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets after Friday prayers in Muslim communities around world Advertisement Anti-Israel protests have been held in a 'day of jihad' across the world today after former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal demanded thousands of Muslims take to the streets to demonstrate amid the ongoing conflict. Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Friday across the Middle East in support of the Palestinians and against the intensifying Israeli bombardment of Gaza, underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion. From the typically sedate streets of downtown Amman in Jordan, to Yemen's war-scarred capital of Sanaa, crowds of Muslim worshippers poured into the streets after weekly Friday prayers, angered by devastating Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that began after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel last Saturday. Thousands of demonstrators gathered Friday in Tahrir Square in the centre of Baghdad, and similar protests have been held in Lebanon and other Arab countries following afternoon prayers. During some of the protests - like in Iran, Bangladesh and Malaysia - angry demonstrators burned Israeli and American flags. In Beirut, thousands of Hezbollah supporters waved Hezbollah and Palestinian flags while holding pictures of burning Israeli ones. And in Berlin, home to one of the largest Palestinian diasporas outside the Middle East, pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with riot police, with one bloodied demonstrator being led away from a square in the German capital. Thousands more gathered in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Friday for a demonstration in support of Palestinians, with many holding banners reading: 'The victory march will continue, solidarity with Palestine' and 'Stand with Palestine, Liberated Palestine'. A masked Palestinian protester takes cover near flaming tires during clashes with Israeli forces following a rally in solidarity with Gaza by supporters of the Fatah and Hamas movements, in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on October 13 IRAQ: Thousands of protesters gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad on Friday BANGLADESH: A demonstrator prepares to burn a flag of Israel during anti-Israel protest in Dhaka on Friday GERMANY: A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator is detained during a protest during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Berlin on Friday WEST BANK: Protesters kick burning tires as Palestinians take part in a protest following Israeli strikes on Gaza, in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday MALAYSIA: Muslims burn Israeli flags during a rally to show support of Hamas in Kuala Lumpur on Friday PAKISTAN: Supporters of Pakistan Markazi Muslim League burn an Israeli flag during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Peshawar on Friday AUSTRALIA: A protest in support of Palestine in Brisbane on Friday evening INDONESIA: More than 200 people also rallied in front of the National Monument in Indonesia's capital on Friday, waving banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinians SRI LANKA: Sri Lankan Muslims participate in a protest against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and to show solidarity with Palestinian people in Colombo on Friday IRAN: Iranian worshippers burn a representation of the Israeli flag during their pro-Palestinian rally before the Friday payers in Tehran on Friday The widespread protests come after former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal demanded thousands take to the streets today. '[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday,' Meshaal, who currently heads Hamas's diaspora office, said yesterday. The former terror leader, who is based in Qatar, said the governments and peoples of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt have a bigger duty to support the Palestinians in comments recorded earlier this week. Jordan and Lebanon are home to the largest number of Palestinian refugees. In Baghdad, tens of thousands gathered in Tahrir Square in the centre of Iraq's capital today for protests called by the influential Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Giant Palestinian flags were seen laid on the ground alongside the flag of Iraq in a sign of solidarity as the Israeli flag was set alight. Demonstrators at the rally chanted: 'No to the occupation! No to America!' 'May this demonstration... terrify the great evil, America, which supports Zionist terrorism against our loved ones in Palestine,' al-Sadr said in an online statement. 'This rally is aimed at condemning what is happening in occupied Palestine, the bloodletting and the violation of rights,' said Abu Kayan, an organiser of the protest. In Tokyo, Muslims were embroiled in a standoff with police as they protested on the streets outside of the Israeli embassy in the city. Less than 24 hours earlier, pro-Israel supporters were peacefully singing in Hebrew outside of the same building. Across Iran, a supporter of Hamas and Israel's regional archenemy, demonstrators protested. In Tehran, the country's capital, they burned Israeli and Ameircan flags, chanting: 'Death to Israel,' 'Death to America,' 'Israel will be doomed,' and 'Palestine will be the conqueror.' 'The Palestinian people are fed up, now your idea is to destroy Gaza, the houses of the people,' Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi said in a speech in the country's southern Fars province. 'The people of the world and Palestine will cause trouble for you.' Tehran's state television described the Iranian rallies as 'screams of a common pain... The pain of the Zionist regime's (Israel) trampling on humanity'. Meanwhile, Jordanian riot police on Friday forcibly dispersed hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to reach a border zone with the Israeli-occupied West Bank as thousands held anti-Israel demonstrations across the country, witnesses said. More than 10,000 people gathered in central Amman, near the Grand Husseini Mosque, after a call for protests from the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, and several leftist and youth groups. Jordan is worried that a regional widening of violence arising from the war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza could have repercussions for itself given that a large percentage of its population are Palestinians. The nation lost the West Bank including East Jerusalem to Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and the Palestinian territory was seeing a rise in violence between Palestinians and the Israeli military and settlers even before the Gaza conflict erupted. Witnesses said police fired tear gas to halt about 500 demonstrators who had reached a security checkpoint outside the capital Amman on a highway leading to a main border crossing. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal's call for Muslims to 'take the streets' in the wake of the terror group's brutal assault on Israel has resulted in worldwide protests IRAQ: On Friday, photos and videos posted on X showed thousands of Iraqis flooding Baghdad's Tahir Square in support of Hamas IRAQ: People gather next to burning Israeli flags as supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza in Baghdad on Friday IRAQ: Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza in Baghdad on Friday IRAQ: Thousands of protesters gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad on Friday IRAQ: An aerial view of the demonstration in support of pro-Palestine at the al-Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq on Friday IRAQ: Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather for mass Friday prayer during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad on Friday IRAQ: Iraqis burn Israeli flags during a mass rally in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in Baghdad on Friday IRAQ: An aerial view of the demonstration in support of pro-Palestine at the al-Tahrir Square in Baghdad on Friday IRAQ: People stand next to fire as supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Baghdad on Friday The interior ministry had issued a ban against holding anti-Israel marches in the sensitive border area, where it said the Jordan river valley was closed to protesters but that licensed protests elsewhere would be allowed. The outpouring of Arab anger against Israel over its siege and bombardment of Gaza retaliating for a devastating cross-border Hamas attack also fuelled a large rally on Friday in downtown Amman and in many of the kingdom's main cities. It comes after Meshaal said yesterday: 'Tribes of Jordan, sons of Jordan, brothers and sisters of Jordan... This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you, you all know your responsibility. 'To all scholars who teach jihad... to all who teach and learn, this is a moment for the application (of theories).' Today, several thousand protesters near downtown Amman chanted slogans in support of Hamas and demanded the government close the Israeli embassy and scrap the 1994 peace treaty with Israel. In the cities of Irbid and Zarqa, thousands took to the streets carrying Hamas flags, vowing revenge against Israel and calling on the terrorists to escalate strikes. The peace treaty remains widely unpopular among Jordanians who see normalisation with Israel as a sellout of the rights of their Palestinian brethren seeking to establish a state in Israeli-occupied territories. The Israeli embassy, where protesters gather daily, has long been a flashpoint of anti-Israel protests at times of turmoil in the Palestinian territories. AFGHANISTAN: Afghans protesters burn representations of US and Israeli flags during a protest against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, while holding a demonstration to show solidarity with Palestinian people in Kabul on Friday AFGHANISTAN: Afghan protestors take part in an anti-Israel demonstration after Friday prayers in front of the Eid Gah mosque in Kabul on Friday AFGHANISTAN: People carry Palestinian flags and shout slogans against Israeli attacks during a Pro-Palestinian protest in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday AFGHANISTAN: People carry Palestinian flags and shout slogans against Israeli attacks during a Pro-Palestinian protest in Kabul on Friday AFGHANISTAN: Afghans chant slogans during a demonstration against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, to show solidarity with Palestinian people, as a Taliban fighters stand guard, in Kabul on Friday An Afghan boy hold the Palestine flag during a protest against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in Kabul on Friday BANGLADESH: A demonstrator carries a placard with a defaced picture of US President Joe Biden amongst other demonstrators waving Palestinian flags during anti-Israel protest in Dhaka on Friday BANGLADESH: Demonstrators shout slogans during anti-Israel protest in Dhaka on Friday BANGLADESH: Demonstrators carry placards and shout slogans during anti-Israel protest in Dhaka on Friday BANGLADESH: Bangladeshi Muslim activists try to set fire on the Israel's flag and the effigy of the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they protest against Israel's actions against Palestinians after Friday prayer at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka BANGLADESH: Demonstrators shout slogans during anti-Israel protest in Dhaka on Friday BANGLADESH: Demonstrators shout slogans during anti-Israel protest in Dhaka on Friday in protest against Israel's bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza In the Gulf state of Bahrain, hundreds of worshippers chanted 'Death to Israel!' and 'Death to America!' ahead of Friday prayers at Diraz mosque. Hundreds of people then joined a protest march, some of them waving Palestinian flags and others stamping on Israeli and US emblems that were laid on the ground. And in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where protests are prohibited, an AFP journalist witnessed police cuffing a worshipper who interrupted Friday prayers by shouting at the imam: 'Speak about Palestine! Gaza is under bombs!' Meanwhile in Lebanon, thousands of supporters of Iran-backed Hezbollah rallied in the southern suburbs of Beirut in support of the Palestinians. The protesters waved Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, chanting slogans in support of Gaza and calling for 'death to Israel.' At the event, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said Hezbollah would be 'fully prepared' to join its ally Hamas in the war against Israel when the time is right. The Iranian-backed terrorist group in neighbouring Lebanon has launched sporadic attacks since the Hamas assault, but largely stayed on the sidelines of the war. Qassem said major powers, Arab countries and the UN had 'directly and indirectly' told Hezbollah 'not to interfere' in ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas. Despite the warnings, the leader of the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese group - which has already clashed with Israeli forces in recent days - said it was 'ready' and would 'contribute' to confrontations against its southern neighbour. Qassem's comments came as Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant this afternoon called Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran an 'axis of evil'. 'Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas is one axis, an axis of evil. Everything is decided generally from Iran,' he said. WEST BANK: A Palestinian uses a slingshot during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the north entrance of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, near Beit El Jewish settlement, in the occupied West Bank on Friday WEST BANK: Protesters stand near burning tires as Palestinians take part in a protest following Israeli strikes on Gaza, in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday WEST BANK: Palestinian demonstrators carry injured during clashes with Israeli forces following a demonstration in support of the Gaza Strip in the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday WEST BANK: A masked Palestinian protester takes cover near flaming tires during clashes with Israeli forces following a rally in solidarity with Gaza by supporters of the Fatah and Hamas movements, in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday WEST BANK: Palestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli forces following a demonstration in support of the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Nablus on Friday WEST BANK: Palestinians scatter during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the north entrance of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, near Beit El Jewish settlement, in the occupied West Bank on Friday WEST BANK: A Palestinian uses a slingshot during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the north entrance of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, near Beit El Jewish settlement, in the occupied West Bank on Friday WEST BANK: Palestinians burn tires in response to Israeli forces' intervention to their protest against Israeli attacks in Hebron, West Bank on Friday WEST BANK: Palestinians burn tires and throw objects in response to Israeli forces' intervention to their protest against Israeli attacks in Hebron, West Bank on Friday WEST BANK: Palestinians take part in a protest following Israeli strikes on Gaza, in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday 'Your battleships do not interest us, nor do your statements frighten us,' Naim Kassim said at a rally in a southern suburb of Beirut. 'When the time is right to take action, we will do so.' In Yemen's Sanaa, held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels still at war with a Saudi-led coalition, live television footage showed demonstrators crowding streets and waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. The rebels' slogan long has been: 'God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse of the Jews; victory to Islam.' After prayers in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, some worshippers stepped on American and Israeli flags, in a sign of disrespect. Protests there broke up peacefully, though other larger ones were expected later in the day. 'Stop bombing Palestine!' shouted one of the demonstrators, Ahmed Raza. 'Stop killing innocent Palestinians!' Political and religious parties staged dozens of small demonstrations across the cities of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and the capital Islamabad, where US and Israeli flags were burned. 'There is so much tyranny meted out to Palestinians, nobody can tolerate it. It is a waste of life if we don't stand by the righteous,' said Tahira Khan, a 50-year-old designer who joined one of several protests in Karachi attended by around 2,000 people. Protester Shahid Husain, 47, said the leaders of Muslim nations were failing to stand up for Palestinians. GERMANY: A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator is detained at a protest during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Berlin on Friday GERMANY: People argue with police officers at a Pro-Palestinian protest during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas on Friday in Berlin GERMANY: A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator is detained while a police officer is thrown to the ground at a protest during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Berlin on Friday GERMANY: A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator is detained at a protest during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Berlin on Friday 'We came to the streets to make our rulers realise that they don't need to be scared of the US and that the public wants them to be on the side of Palestine - not Israel and America,' he said from Peshawar, where police said around 20 protests were held attended by more than 5,000 people. A few hundred people also gathered in the Afghan cities of Kabul and Jalalabad for pro-Palestinian rallies organised by Taliban authorities. 'Palestine you are not alone, we are with you,' one speaker told the crowd. 'We are poor, but we will do whatever we can. We can't do much today but use our feet and stand in your support.' At the weekend, Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,300 people in Israel in the deadliest attack since the country's creation in 1948. They seized around 150 hostages - including dozens of Israelis, dual and foreign nationals - whom Hamas is threatening to kill. Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes in Gaza for six days, claiming more than 1,500 lives and displacing over 400,000 people in the crowded enclave. Meanwhile at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Israeli police had been permitting only older men, women and children to the sprawling hilltop compound for prayers, trying to prevent the potential for violence as tens of thousands attend on a typical Friday. Police allowed just a Palestinian teenage girl and her mother into the compound out of 20 worshippers who tried to get in, some of them even over the age of 50. JAPAN: Members of the Muslim community in Japan hold a rally in support of Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo on Friday JAPAN: A protester scuffles with police officers during a rally in support of Palestinians near the Embassy of Israel in Tokyo on Friday JAPAN: Police officers jostle with members of the Muslim community in Japan, during a rally in support of Hamas on Friday Police officers push back a man during a protest near the Embassy of Israel in Tokyo on Friday JAPAN: Protesters take part in a pro-Palestinian rally near the Israeli embassy in central Tokyo on Friday JAPAN: Muslims protest Israel's retaliation against Gaza following the Hamas terrorist attack in Tokyo on Friday JAPAN: Protesters take part in a pro-Palestinian rally near the Israeli embassy in central Tokyo on Friday JAPAN: Protesters take part in a pro-Palestinian rally near the Israeli embassy in central Tokyo on Friday JAPAN: Muslims living in Japan shout slogans during a rally in support of Palestinians near the Embassy of Israel in Tokyo on Friday Young Palestinian men who were refused entry gathered at the steps near Lion's Gate, their eyes downcast, until police shouted at them and shepherded them out of the Old City altogether. 'We can't live, we can't breathe, they are killing everything that is good within us,' said Ahmad Barbour, a 57-year-old cleaner in a clean white thobe, seething after police blocked him from entering for prayers. 'Everything that is forbidden to us is allowed to them,' he added, referring to Israelis. The mosque sits in a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and conflicting claims over it have spilled into violence before. Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam and stands in a spot known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. Police later fired tear gas in the Old City and east Jerusalem. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its medics treated six wounded people, with at least one beaten up by officers, the organization said. Meshaal's call for a Friday 13th uprising was reiterated by Hamas itself, according to the Israeli-run, Washington DC-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). INDIA: Police detain a protester during an anti-Israel demonstration in New Delhi on Friday INDIA: Indian Security forces detain a group of students organising a demonstration in support of the Palestinians at the Jantar Mantar Protest Site in New Delhi INDIA: Indian Security forces detain a group of students organising a demonstration in support of the Palestinians at the Jantar Mantar Protest Site in New Delhi INDIA: Kashmiri Muslims hold placards as they chant slogans against Israel and the U.S. during a protest against Israel's military operations in Gaza, on Friday MEMRI said that Hamas urged its supporters in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel to rise up in what he called 'the Al-Aqsa Flood' - echoing what the the secretive Palestinian mastermind Mohammed Deif calls the attack he launched on Saturday against Israel. The phrase Israel's most wanted man used in an audio tape broadcast as Hamas fired thousands of rockets out of the Gaza Strip over the weekend signalled the attack was their payback for Israeli raids at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque. 'We declare next Friday, ''The Friday of the Al-Aqsa Flood,'' as a day of general mobilization in our Arab and Islamic world and among the free people of the world,' Meshaal's statement said. 'It is a day to rally support, offer aid, and participate actively. It is a day to expose the crimes of the occupation, isolate it, and foil all its aggressive schemes. It is a day to demonstrate our love for Palestine, Jerusalem, and Al-Aqsa. 'It is a day for sacrifice, heroism, and dedication, and to earn the honour of defending the first Qibla of Muslims, the third holiest mosque, and the ascension of the trusted Messenger.' JORDAN: Thousands of protesters take to the streets of Amman to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza on Friday JORDAN: Jordanians gather to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Amman on Friday JORDAN: Jordanians gather to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Amman on Friday JORDAN: Jordanians march from Grand Husseini Mosque to Al-Nahl Square after the Friday prayer, in solidarity with Palestinians in Amman on Friday Israel's Defence Forces have said they want to completely strip Hamas of its power to govern in Palestine after what has been described as the country's 'worst day in history' with the number of Israeli's killed in the conflict set to rise further. In response to the barbaric attacks, which has seen 1,300 Israelis massacred including pregnant women and children, Israel has launched a relentless barrage of airstrikes that have obliterated entire neighbourhoods in Gaza and killed 1,530 Palestinians. The Israeli airstrikes have so far flattened much of the town of Beit Hanoun in the Palestinian enclave's north-east corner, which Hamas terrorists had been using as a staging ground for their attacks. And in a sign that Israel has no notion of stopping its airstrikes, the IDF today issued an evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes. The UN says it is impossible to move that many people without devastating humanitarian consequences, and has urged Israel to rescind the order. PAKISTAN: Demonstrators burn the flags of Israel (R) and the US (L) during a rally to express solidarity with the Palestinians in Islamabad on Friday PAKISTAN: Members of civil society group hold a demonstration against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and to show solidarity with Palestinian people, in Hyderabad on Friday PAKISTAN: Demonstrators stand over the flags of Israel (R) and the US (L) during a rally to express solidarity with the Palestinians, in Islamabad on Friday PAKISTAN: Demonstrators burn the flags of Israel (R) and the US (L) during a rally to express solidarity with the Palestinians, in Islamabad on Friday PAKISTAN: Shiite Muslims chant slogans against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza during a demonstration to show solidarity with Palestinian people, in Islamabad on Friday PAKISTAN: Shiite Muslims take part in a demonstration against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza to show solidarity with Palestinian people, in Islamabad on Friday PAKISTAN: Shiite Muslims leave a mosque after Friday prayers as they walk over the representations of Israeli and the U.S. flags as a protest against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and to show solidarity with Palestinian people, in Islamabad on Friday The Gaza Strip, home to 2.3million civilians, has so far been bombarded by approximately 6,000 bombs containing a total of 4,000 tonnes of explosives since Saturday when it began striking Hamas targets, the Israeli army said yesterday. But Palestinians are preparing for a ground offensive of unprecedented scale on the tiny, crowded enclave, exceeding previous bouts of destructive warfare. Palestine's health minister also warned that Gaza is facing a humanitarian and health catastrophe and urged all countries and human rights groups to help with the immediate entry of medical and emergency aid to the enclave. Meanwhile, Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit branded the Israeli order a 'forced transfer' that he said constitutes a 'crime', while the secretary general of the pan-Arab body, in a letter sent to UN chief Antonio Guterres, accused Israel of carrying out 'an atrocious act of revenge... punishing helpless civilians in Gaza'. LEBANON: Hezbollah supporters attend a rally supporting Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Beirut on Friday LEBANON: Hezbollah supporters attend a rally supporting Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Beirut on Friday LEBANON: Hezbollah supporters attend a rally supporting Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Beirut on Friday TUNISIA: A woman hold up a scarf in the pattern of the traditional keffiyeh during an anti-Israel demonstration in Tunis on Friday TUNISIA: Protestors hold-up a large Palestinian flag during an anti-Israeli demonstration in Tunis on Friday It comes as Hamas claimed at least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in northern Gaza have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, and before Hamas operatives fired hundreds of rockets towards Israel around midday on Friday. 'Thirteen prisoners... including foreigners' were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, Hamas's armed wing said Friday. Israel's military sent one evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes. According to translations of the IDF flyers online, the army told residents that 'terrorist organisations have started the war against the State of Israel.' As a result, it said 'Gaza City has become a battlefield' and told residents they had to evacuate 'Punik immediately and go to the south of the Gaza Valley.' It also issued a stark warning to Palestinians not to try and cross into Israel. MALAYSIA: Women hold Palestinian flags while marching to the US embassy during a demonstration against the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Kuala Lumpur on Friday MALAYSIA: People hold placards as they march to the US Embassy during a demonstration against the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Kuala Lumpur on Friday MALAYSIA: Muslim activists and Palestinian nationals gather to express solidarity with the people of Palestine as they march towards the US Embassy after prayers on Friday in Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA: People hold placards as they march to the US Embassy during a demonstration against the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Kuala Lumpur on Friday MALAYSIA: A man wears a 'Free Palestine' scarf takes part in a demonstration against the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, outside the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday MALAYSIA: Children step on a banner with the face of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Malaysian Muslim activists and Palestinian nationals gather to express solidarity with the people of Palestine on Friday MALAYSIA: A child dressed in Palestinian attire walks past an Israel flag during a protest to express solidarity with the people of Palestine on Friday in Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA: Palestinian children holding flags sit down during a protest to express in solidarity in the wake of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in Kuala Lumpur on Friday MALAYSIA: People hold Palestinian flags while marching to the US embassy during a demonstration against the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Kuala Lumpur on Friday MALAYSIA: Malaysian Muslim activists and Palestinian nationals gather to express solidarity with the people of Palestine as they march towards the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday MALAYSIA: Malaysian Muslim activists and Palestinian nationals gather to express solidarity with the people of Palestine as they march towards the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday 'For your security and safety: You should not return to Piona until further notice by the Israel Defense Army,' the flyers said. 'Generally and well-known shelters in Gaza City must be evacuated. It is forbidden to approach the security wall, and everyone who is approaching exposes himself to death.' A small map was also printed on the bottom of the flyer, with arrows pointing from the north of Gaza to the south, showing the 1.1 million Palestinians which way to flee. The Israeli military had said it would operate with 'significant force' in Gaza in the coming days amid fears of a huge ground offensive. Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israeli forces 'will make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians'. He added: 'Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate.' But the UN has said it is impossible to move that many people without devastating humanitarian consequences, and has urged Israel to rescind the order. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory's only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. INDONESIA: More than 200 people also rallied in front of the National Monument in Indonesia's capital on Friday, waving banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinians INDONESIA: Indonesian Muslims shout slogans and display banners during a rally in support of the Palestinians in Jakarta on Friday INDONESIA: An Indonesian child holds a toy gun as they gather during a rally in support of Palestine after Friday prayers in Yogyakarta INDONESIA: Indonesian Muslims react as they gather during a rally in support of Palestine after Friday prayers in Yogyakarta INDONESIA: Indonesian children raise toys gun as they gather during a rally in support of Palestine after prayers on Friday in Yogyakarta INDONESIA: Indonesian children raise toys gun as they gather during a rally in support of Palestine after prayers on Friday in Yogyakarta INDONESIA: Indonesian Muslims react as they gather during a rally in support of Palestine after Friday prayers in Yogyakarta Meanwhile, a Hamas official called the evacuation order 'fake propaganda', urged Palestinians to stay in their homes and not to 'fall for it'. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs called on residents of the north of the territory to 'remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation'. The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no official decision has been made. Any ground offensive would be the strongest response yet to Hamas' shock assault, and would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal guerrilla warfare as Israeli soldiers go house-to-house and hunt down Hamas terrorists. 'This evacuation is for your own safety,' the Israeli military said, in a warning it said was sent to all Gaza City civilians.' Suffering in Gaza has risen dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine, while the territory's only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The mortuary at Gaza's biggest hospital Al Shifa overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. Israeli border guards and police search Palestinian youths outside the Lion's gate of the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday Muslim women argue with members of the Israeli security forces in the old city of Jerusalem as they arrive for the Friday noon prayer on Friday Members of the Israeli security forces check Muslims arriving at a checkpoint in the old city of Jerusalem for the Friday noon prayer on Friday US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is set to visit on Friday, a day after American secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7. Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, said: 'This is chaos, no-one understands what to do.' She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, claimed there was no way more than one million people could be safely moved within the timeframe specified, saying: 'Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if ... you're going to live.' She added: 'What will happen to our patients? We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals.' The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no decision has been made. AUSTRALIA: An emotional teenager is comforted during a vigil for the victims of the recent attacks in Israel, at Caulfield Park in Melbourne on Friday AUSTRALIA: People become emotional during for the victims of the recent attacks in Israel, at Caulfield Park in Melbourne on Friday AUSTRALIA: People gather during a vigil for the victims of the recent attacks in Israel, at Caulfield Park in Melbourne on Friday AUSTRALIA: People gather during a vigil for the victims of the recent attacks in Israel, at Caulfield Park in Melbourne on Friday Spanish supporters of Israel gather in Madrid to show their solidarity with the Jewish state Pro-Israel students protest at New York City's Columbia University in the wake of student's group's statements in support of Hamas AUSTRALIA: A child participates in a rally against the occupation of Palestine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Canberra on Friday It comes as Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying the use of such weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury. At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in the indiscriminate bombing campaigns, and Israel has also traded barbs with Lebanon's Hezbollah group. Human Rights Watch said it verified videos taken in Lebanon on Oct. 10 and Gaza on Oct. 11 showing 'multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border'. White phosphorus munitions can legally be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings. Because it has legal uses, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions - but it can cause serious burns and start fires. White phosphorous is considered an incendiary weapon under Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, which prohibits using incendiary weapons against military targets located among civilians, although Israel has not signed it and is not bound by it. 'White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians,' Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Asked for comment on the allegations, Israel's military said it was 'currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorous in Gaza.' It did not provide comment on the rights watchdog's allegations of their use in Lebanon. Palestinian TV channels have broadcast video in recent days showing thin plumes of white smoke lining the sky over Gaza that they say was caused by such munitions. Israel's military in 2013 said it was phasing out white phosphorus smokescreen munitions used during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza, which drew war crimes allegations from various rights groups. The military at the time did not say whether it would also review use of weaponised white phosphorus, which is designed to incinerate enemy positions. A 'potentially deadly bushfire' raging out of control in southeast Queensland has sparked warnings for residents to seek shelter immediately. Additional fire crews have been deployed to the blaze near Boonah, west of the Gold Coast. One shed has already been destroyed while other properties including homes are under threat from the grassfire. Authorities issued an emergency alert about 3.53pm Friday for Mount French with residents told to seek shelter immediately. 'A potentially deadly fire is impacting Mount French Road now. Your life is in danger. You need to SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY to survive,' the QFES said on Friday afternoon in an alert to people in the area. 'Do not try to leave. Driving now could be deadly.' Queensland Fire and Emergency Service warnings are current for properties between Mount French Road, Sommers Road and Frenches Creek Road including Schubel Road. The fire is being fanned by high winds, with QFES ground crews at the scene along with police and the Queensland Ambulance Service. Emergency warnings are current for properties between Mount French Road, Sommers Road and Frenches Creek Road (pictured, blaze in the emergency zone) One shed has been destroyed while homes and other properties are under threat from the grassfire near Boonah (pictured, fire damage) READ MORE: Why Australia is set for its worst bushfire season Advertisement Water bombers and other aircraft are helping to tackle the blaze, with a number of more firefighting crews on the way. Residents are urged to shelter inside either a brick building, a room with multiple escape points on the opposite side from the fire, or at the safest point possible as the fire approaches and passes. Firefighters cannot contain the blaze and residents should not expect emergency personnel at their door. 'Thick smoke will make it hard to see and breathe, and it will sting your eyes,' the QFES alert said. 'It will be very hot and loud. You may hear explosions nearby. The sky will be dark.' Six Jewish schools in London are closed today amid fears for pupils' safety following a surge in antisemitic attacks - as Suella Braverman warned 'medieval anti-Semitism' by Hamas was no excuse to target Jews in Britain. Torah Vodaas Primary School, Ateres Beis Yaakov Primary School and Menorah High School told parents last night they would not reopen until Monday. A further three schools have also temporarily closed, reports Jewish News. The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that supports British Jewish people, said antisemitic hate crimes had tripled in the four days after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel. In a video address last night, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Hamas was 'the equal to ISIS' and displayed 'medieval antisemitism'. She said: 'Hamas terrorism is not just an attack on Israel, it is an attack on all of us with decent British values. The values are also rightly aghast at what many perceive as incidents of support for Hamas's actions on British streets and online. 'Sadly, whenever Israel is attacked, Islamists, racists and elements of the hard left use legitimate Israeli defensive measures as an excuse to stir up hatred against Jews. 'To anyone engaged in the glorification of terror, the harassment of Jewish people or public disorder at protest I have a simple message: we will track you down and you can expect to face the full force of the law.' Private security guards employed by the Community Security Trust, a charity that helps protect Jews from antisemitism, patrol Golders Green in North London today The CST has received money from the government to help pay for increased security in Jewish areas Rabbi Feldman, headteacher of Torah Vodaas primary school in Edgware, assured parents there was 'no specific threat' against the school but it would remain closed until Monday, Sky News reports. Other Jewish schools in London have already taken precautions, including cancelling detentions and withdrawing the requirement to wear school blazers on their journey in. Today, the Met Police said officers had checked on more than 200 schools and more than 300 synagogues, mosques and other places of worship to provide reassurance. Asked about the school closures this morning, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: 'Well there's obviously broader threats, not specific, including some of the absolutely disgusting material we have seen from Hamas who are a terrorist organisation who threaten people all the time.' He added: 'So this is really to do with the security of the community, and the Jewish community itself taking decisions. The Government has stepped in with further money in order to work with the community.' Mr Shapps added: 'People are very concerned, and it's not surprising when you hear the language coming out of some of these organisations and their supporters. 'It is of course illegal in the United Kingdom. (Hamas) are proscribed...' READ MORE - Outrage as women tear down posters of children kidnapped by Hamas and shout 'This is for Palestine' Advertisement Rishi Sunak last night vowed to 'do everything in our power' to keep British Jews safe in the wake of the violence in the Middle East and a surge in antisemitic incidents in Britain. The Prime Minister announced 3million in extra funding to protect schools, synagogues and other Jewish community buildings. Mr Sunak and Mrs Braverman held a roundtable meeting in Downing Street last night. They were joined by police chiefs and the CST, which works to provide safety, security and advice to the Jewish community in the UK. The charity has recorded 139 antisemitic incidents in the last four days. This represents an increase of 400 per cent compared to the same period in 2022. The chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners suggested officers will clamp down on Hamas-related clothing and anti-Jewish chanting. Speaking about yesterday's meeting at Downing Street yesterday, Donna Jones told LBC: 'It was about the preparations for this weekend. 'There is a pro-Palestine protest planned in central London which the Met are expecting over 10,000 people to attend on Saturday, so it was the Met officer providing reassurance to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and Michael Gove (Communities Secretary), who was also present at the meeting. 'It was also the Home Secretary and Prime Minister reiterating their strength of feeling around the fact that people using flags or wearing particular items of clothing or masks indicating support of Hamas is in fact an offence under terrorist law, because they are a proscribed terrorist organisation.' Pushed for clarification on the issue, she confirmed it was not an offence to carry a Palestinian flag. Police Community Support Officers offer a visible presence to 'reassure the community' in a predominantly Jewish area near Broughton Park in Salford on Tuesday Rishi Sunak yesterday held a roundtable meeting in Downing Street with Home Secretary Suella Braverman and other senior ministers Following the meeting, the Prime Minister announced 3million in extra funding to protect schools, synagogues and other Jewish community buildings In a video address last night, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Hamas was 'the equal to ISIS ' and displayed 'medieval antisemitism' Ms Jones, also the acting Conservative police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, continued: 'Whilst the Government's position is very much supporting Israel and the atrocious attacks that have happened on the Israeli people... there are people who of course do empathise with those that live on the West Bank and people that represent the Palestinian region of that part of the Middle East, and of course this then does bring into play religion. 'We have to be really careful in Britain - we don't want to inflame the situation.' She added the police were also looking at chants such as 'From the River to the Sea' as 'a slogan which is intended to cause deep offence to Jewish people'. Meanwhile, Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has suggested foreign nationals could be deported if they commit antisemitic acts or praise Hamas. Mr Jenrick has commissioned officials in the department to look at how they could revoke visas on national security grounds where there is evidence of discrimination or support for the terror group. Hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in west London on Monday night, which saw parts of the building boarded up. Amid protests and vigils in central London, the Metropolitan Police made three arrests for assault on an emergency worker, racially-motivated criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon. Fresh protests and marches are expected to take place across Britain this weekend. According to local media, more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed since Saturday when Hamas militants launched attacks. Israel has also identified 97 hostages taken by the terror group. It has responded with airstrikes and a siege of the Gaza Strip, with a ground invasion also expected. Gaza authorities have said more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,000 wounded. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer visited a synagogue in north London and met with Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis Sir Keir said it was 'vital that we stand alongside our Jewish friends and neighbours' at a 'time of great trauma' Mr Sunak said: 'This is now the third deadliest terror attack in the world since 1970. The UK must and will continue to stand in solidarity with Israel. 'At moments like this, when the Jewish people are under attack in their homeland, Jewish people everywhere can feel less safe. 'That is why we must do everything in our power to protect Jewish people everywhere in our country. 'If anything is standing in the way of keeping the Jewish community safe, we will fix it. You have our complete backing.' The PM stressed to police chiefs that they have the Government's total backing in ensuring that any glorification of terrorism is met with the full force of the law. Examples of recent antisemitic incidents given by the CST included a Jewish person walking to synagogue in London on Sunday morning being called a 'dirty Jew' by a stranger, who said 'no wonder you're all getting raped'. In north east London, the CST said a car slowed down outside a synagogue before the occupants of the vehicle shouted 'kill Jews' and 'death to Israel' while waving a Palestinian flag. Mrs Braverman said: 'Hamas terrorists have carried out barbaric attacks on the people of Israel. They massacred civilians, raped women and kidnapped the most vulnerable. 'This terrorism is an attack on all of our values. Whenever Israel is attacked, people use legitimate Israeli defensive measures as an excuse to stir up hatred against British Jews. The UK stands unequivocally with Israel. 'I have been clear with police chiefs in England and Wales that there can be zero tolerance for antisemitism, and that they should act immediately to crackdown on any criminality both in our streets and online. 'I have been in close contact with the Community Security Trust whose work helps enhance the security of the British Jewish community. 'To further support their work, we will be providing them 3million in funding for additional security guards at Jewish schools, synagogues and in Jewish communities. 'This is in addition to the 15 million of annual funding provided by the Government.' The Home Secretary used yesterday's meeting in Downing Street to urge police chiefs to use their powers, where appropriate, to prevent assemblies blocking roads - including outside Jewish monuments and buildings such as the Israeli embassy. Mark Gardner, chief executive of the CST said: 'We are grateful to the Government for providing extra funding for security guards at Jewish community buildings, following the horrific Hamas terror attack on Israel. 'The support that we and the Jewish community are receiving from across Government and policing is greatly reassuring and welcome at this difficult and worrying time. 'We will work with the Home Office to ensure that this extra funding is used in the most effective way to enhance the existing security that is in place and provide the Jewish community with the protection that they need and deserve.' Sir Keir met with rabbis and senior members of the local Jewish community at the South Hampstead Synagogue The Labour leader was pictured saying goodbye to Rabbi Eli Levin following his visit Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer yesterday visited a synagogue in north London and met with Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis. He said: 'At this time of great trauma for the community, it is vital that we stand alongside our Jewish friends and neighbours. 'That is why I visited a local synagogue this morning, to pledge my support and the support of the entire Labour Party to the Jewish community in the United Kingdom and to the Israeli people. 'These despicable, ongoing terrorist attacks by Hamas have set back the prospect of peace in the region. They can only lead to yet more violence and suffering which has taken so many Israeli and Palestinian lives. I utterly condemn them. 'We stand with Israel and support her right to rescue hostages and defend herself within international law. 'We must also talk honestly about the impact this has had in our own country. Since these attacks, we have seen an appalling spike in antisemitic incidents in London and across the UK. Any harassment or intimidation towards Jewish communities in Britain is utterly unacceptable. 'There must be zero tolerance for it. I was touched to learn of the action being taken to maintain and cement interfaith relationships: work which serves as a reminder that hate will never be allowed to divide us. 'It is also important to say that Labour MPs stand ready to support any constituents who are worried about family members in Israel or Palestine or who are affected by travel restrictions. 'I know that Jewish people and communities in Britain are feeling great fear, loss and upset. 'But I want to send them a simple message. You are not alone. We share your pain. We are with you during this dark hour.' Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying the use of such weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury. Israel has been bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas rampage in southern Israeli towns that killed at least 1,300 people this week. But at least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in the indiscriminate bombing campaigns, and Israel has also traded barbs with Lebanon's Hezbollah group. Human Rights Watch said it verified videos taken in Lebanon on Oct. 10 and Gaza on Oct. 11 showing 'multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border'. White phosphorus munitions can legally be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings. Because it has legal uses, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions - but it can cause serious burns and start fires. White phosphorous is considered an incendiary weapon under Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, which prohibits using incendiary weapons against military targets located among civilians, although Israel has not signed it and is not bound by it. 'White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians,' Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon Human Rights Watch said it verified videos taken in Lebanon on Oct. 10 and Gaza on Oct. 11 showing 'multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border' White phosphorus munitions can legally be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings - but they can cause serious burns and fires, with weaponised white phosphorus having a devastating effect Israeli occupation aircraft launch white phosphorus bombs west of Gaza City on October 11, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza A fireball erupts from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 12 Israeli tanks move near Gaza border as Israeli army deploys military vehicles around the Gaza Strip, Israel on October 12, 2023 Israeli artillery fire rounds into the Gaza Strip from the border on October 12, 2023 Asked for comment on the allegations, Israel's military said it was 'currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorous in Gaza.' It did not provide comment on the rights watchdog's allegations of their use in Lebanon. Palestinian TV channels have broadcast video in recent days showing thin plumes of white smoke lining the sky over Gaza that they say was caused by such munitions. Israel's military in 2013 said it was phasing out white phosphorus smokescreen munitions used during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza, which drew war crimes allegations from various rights groups. The military at the time did not say whether it would also review use of weaponised white phosphorus, which is designed to incinerate enemy positions. This morning, Israel's Defence Force issued an evacuation order to some 1.1 million people living in the Gaza Strip, giving them 24 hours to leave their homes ahead of what is presumed to be a ramping up of airstrikes, or a ground assault. But Hamas has called on Palestinians to stay in their homes. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs called on residents of the north of the territory to 'remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation'. Palestinians would only be able to flee south within Gaza as Israel has completely sealed off the territory, a narrow strip of land about 25 miles long. The Israeli military had said it would operate with 'significant force' in Gaza in the coming days and is calling on civilians to evacuate. Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israeli forces 'will make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians'. He added: 'Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate.' Suffering in Gaza has risen dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine, while the territory's only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The mortuary at Gaza's biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is set to visit on Friday, a day after American secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7. Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, said: 'This is chaos, no-one understands what to do.' She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, claimed there was no way more than one million people could be safely moved within the timeframe specified, saying: 'Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if ... you're going to live.' She added: 'What will happen to our patients? 'We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals.' Israel has ordered more than one million people to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive aimed at eradicating Hamas The order sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the United Nations called such an evacuation 'impossible' that would turn an tragedy into calamity. Pictured: Children are seen in a Gaza City hospital A Palestinian man runs amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli air strike on October 13 Smoke billows following Israeli strikes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza, October 13, 2023 Israel's military sent one evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no decision has been made. The UN said the broad evacuation warning it received for all of Gaza's north also applies to all UN staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in UN schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock air strikes on Saturday. 'The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,' UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. 'The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.' Another UN official said that the UN is seeking clarity from Israeli officials at the most senior political level. A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Hamas' unprecedented assault last Saturday and smaller attacks since have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers - a toll unseen in Israel for decades - and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to 'crush' Hamas after the militants stormed into the country's south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including children in their own homes and young people at a music festival. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. The number of people forced from their homes by Israel's air strikes soared by 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the UN said on Thursday. On Thursday, the Israeli military pulverised the Gaza Strip with air strikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said its complete siege of the territory would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during their grisly weekend incursion. Grant Shapps today warned it is 'highly likely' that Brits are being held hostage in Gaza. The Defence Secretary admitted the government does not have firm figures due to the chaos after Hamas's bloody raids on Israel. He said a team including intelligence officials were being deployed to the region to help the response and try to recover those taken. At least 17 British citizens are believed to be either dead or missing, but there are concerns numbers could be much higher. Some 50,000 to 60,000 are thought to in the region more widely. Grant Shapps today warned it is 'highly likely' that Brits are being held hostage in Gaza An Israeli soldier sifts the wreckage at the Kibbutz Beeri, the place where 270 revellers were killed by militants during the Supernova music festival on October 7 In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Shapps said it was 'highly likely' that British nationals or joint nationals were being held by the terrorists. 'It seems very likely that there are. We don't have exact data on that for obvious reasons,' he told Sky News. 'But within Gaza there will also be Brits or possibly people with dual nationalities as well. The Prime Minister has spoken to the Egyptian president about using that border to get people out.' He added: 'I can't go into specific detail. What I can tell you is it is highly likely, no one will know for sure, that there are those with either British nationals or people with joint nationality involved in the hostage situation, as has been reported previously. 'And secondly, that we're sending assistance and expertise, including intelligence, to the region, and to a number of different locations. 'But this is not the same as saying we're sending people into Gaza itself.' Mr Shapps contrasted Hamas's action with Israel 'doing all it can' to provide advance notice to civilians about looming military action. A man flees through the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli air strike on Gaza He said: 'Israel, unlike Hamas who again, and I saw this at Nato where we had a full briefing on what happened, including seeing some very distressing video of Hamas beheading people, murdering people, showing off the bodies and dragging them through the street, raping people unlike that terrorist organisation, Israel is doing all it can to provide advance notice and warning in order that they can go after those terrorists who carried out those actions, and by the way have taken hostages as well. 'Hamas can bring all of this to an end, they can release the hostages, they can recognise not just Israel, remove from their founding charter the principle of eradicating all Jews from the earth.' He added: 'Israel on the other hand has the perfect right to defend itself. It is doing that in a manner which is giving people warning in advance when they are going to go after areas.' Humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens as conflict intensifies Xinhua) 14:18, October 13, 2023 People rescue the injured at buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 12, 2023.(Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Gaza's only power station has stopped working after the fuel needed for generating electricity ran out on Wednesday, Gaza officials said, sparking great concern over the humanitarian situation in the enclave as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages on. "The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities; now it will only deteriorate exponentially," United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned early this week. INTENSIFIED CONFLICT The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday launched a surprise attack on southern Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif said the attack was in response to Israel's blockade of Gaza, its frequent raids on the West Bank over the past year, its storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound -- a site holy to both Muslims and Jews -- Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinians and the expansion of Israeli settlements. In response to the attack, the Israeli military launched the operation "Swords of Iron," carrying out dozens of airstrikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. As of Thursday, the death toll of Palestinians from the ongoing Israeli airstrikes has reached 1,500 while about 6,600 Palestinians were wounded by the Israeli army, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. On the Israeli side, the number of fatalities due to the Hamas attack has reached at least 1,300 and the number of injured in Israel surpassed 3,000, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported Thursday. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement on Wednesday that 11 of its employees have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Saturday. DIRE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION Shortly after the Hamas attack, Israel enforced "a complete siege" on the Gaza Strip, cutting off the water, electricity and fuel supply to the enclave. Those moves coupled with the ongoing airstrikes have made the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza even worse. The number of people displaced across Gaza has topped 263,000 with more than 175,000 of them taking shelter in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday. More than 1,000 housing units in Gaza have been destroyed, and some 560 have been severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable. All 13 hospitals and other health facilities in Gaza are only partially operational due to supply shortages and fuel rationing, said the OCHA. The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distributing food for up to 100,000 internally displaced people in Gaza, who are seeking refuge in UNRWA shelters, with fresh bread and canned food, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General. "Civilians must be respected and protected at all times. Civilian infrastructure must never be a target," said Guterres, adding that medical equipment, food, fuel and other humanitarian supplies are desperately needed, along with access for humanitarian personnel. Israel needs to respect international humanitarian law when it comes to defending itself on the ground during the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Israel is drawing on its huge military might - including thousands of tanks, warplanes and troops - to obliterate Hamas after the terrorists launched their ruthless attacks this weekend that has killed more than 1,300 Israelis. Israeli forces have already used their strike force of 600 planes and 300 rocket launchers to relentlessly pound the Gaza Strip, with airstrikes and artillery destroying thousands of targets belonging to Hamas and killing 1,530 Palestinians after their neighbourhoods were obliterated. And the ruthless onslaught won't stop there, with Israel's 173,000 soldiers, backed by 300,000 reservists, vying for the opportunity to kill Hamas terrorists who massacred 1,300 Israelis - either in their homes as they begged for their lives or while they fled a music festival. This huge force, along with 300 military tanks including self-propelled howitzers, are now preparing to launch a huge co-ordinated ground assault that will likely bring higher casualties on either side in fierce house-to-house fighting. This morning, Israel ordered 1.1 million civilians to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours ahead of the highly expected ground offensive aimed at eradicating Hamas. The order sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the United Nations called such an evacuation 'impossible' that would turn an tragedy into calamity. Israel's military might is far superior to that of the Hamas terrorists, who currently only possess around 10,000 rockets that had been built up in secret. Israel is drawing on its huge military might - including thousands of tanks, warplanes and troops - to obliterate Hamas after the terrorists launched their ruthless attacks this weekend that has killed more than 1,300 Israelis Israeli heavy armed vehicles move near Gaza border as Israeli army deploys military vehicles around the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive on Thursday Israeli tanks move near Gaza border as Israeli army deploys military vehicles around the Gaza Strip on Thursday Israeli soldiers patrol on Thursday near Kibbutz Beeri, the place where 270 revellers were killed by Hamas militants during the Supernova music festival A Palestinian man runs amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli air strike on Friday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday On top of the 173,000 active Israeli soldiers, Israel has today drafted in a record 300,000 reservists in its response to a multi-front Hamas attack from Gaza and is 'going on the offensive,' the chief military spokesperson said. Israel is also drawing on its special forces from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit to fight against Hamas. It is believed that they will be aiming to take out those high-ranking fighters within the terrorist organisation and also rescue the hundreds of Israelis who have been taken hostage. Israel's Defence Forces have said they want to completely strip Hamas of its power to govern in Palestine after what has been described as the country's 'worst day in history' with the number of Israeli's killed in the conflict set to rise further. In response to the barbaric attacks, which has seen 1,300 Israelis massacred including pregnant women and children, Israel has launched a relentless barrage of airstrikes that have obliterated entire neighbourhoods in Gaza and killed 1,530 Palestinians. The Israeli airstrikes have so far flattened much of the town of Beit Hanoun in the Palestinian enclave's north-east corner, which Hamas terrorists had been using as a staging ground for their attacks. And in a sign that Israel has no notion of stopping its airstrikes, the IDF today issued an evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes. The UN says it is impossible to move that many people without devastating humanitarian consequences, and has urged Israel to rescind the order. The Gaza Strip, home to 2.3million civilians, has so far been bombarded by approximately 6,000 bombs containing a total of 4,000 tonnes of explosives since Saturday when it began striking Hamas targets, the Israeli army said yesterday. But Palestinians are preparing for a ground offensive of unprecedented scale on the tiny, crowded enclave, exceeding previous bouts of destructive warfare. Israel has ordered more than one million people to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive aimed at eradicating Hamas The order sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the United Nations called such an evacuation 'impossible' that would turn an tragedy into calamity. Pictured: Children are seen in a Gaza City hospital Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes on Friday Palestinians carrying their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes on Friday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday Aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday The Israeli military had said it would operate with 'significant force' in Gaza in the coming days amid fears of a huge ground offensive. Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israeli forces 'will make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians'. He added: 'Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate.' But the UN has said it is impossible to move that many people without devastating humanitarian consequences, and has urged Israel to rescind the order. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory's only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. Meanwhile, a Hamas official called the evacuation order 'fake propaganda', urged Palestinians to stay in their homes and not to 'fall for it'. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs called on residents of the north of the territory to 'remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation'. The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no official decision has been made. Any ground offensive would be the strongest response yet to Hamas' shock assault, and would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal guerrilla warfare as Israeli soldiers go house-to-house and hunt down Hamas terrorists. 'This evacuation is for your own safety,' the Israeli military said, in a warning it said was sent to all Gaza City civilians. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel, with attacks also coming from Hezbollah, in Lebanon to the north. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian airports out of service. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to 'crush' Hamas after the militants stormed into the country's south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Israeli tanks head towards the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Thursday The body of a Palestinian killed during Israeli air strikes is carried in a sheet on Thursday 'Every Hamas member is a dead man,' the Israeli Prime Minister said menacingly in a televised address late last night, perhaps revealing the scale of the ground assault operation for which his Defence Forces are preparing as they encircle Gaza. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. However, the civilian toll is mounting. Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, said the order had sparked more chaos in the Gaza Strip. And the Red Cross yesterday warned hospitals in Gaza will 'turn into morgues' as the power begins to run out in the enclave where millions of Palestinians are stranded amid Israel's total siege of the small strip of land. With the power cut and fuel for generators blocked by Israeli forces, aid workers warned that hospitals in Gaza are 'on the verge of collapse' due to the lack of energy that is set to run out completely in the next few hours. 'As Gaza loses power, hospitals lose power, putting newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. Kidney dialysis stops, and X-rays can't be taken,' Fabrizio Carboni of the International Committee of the Red Cross said. 'Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues,' Carboni said before adding: 'The human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent, and I implore the sides to reduce the suffering of civilians.' His stark prediction came after Israel warned it wouldn't let any food, medicine or electricity reach the 2.3million residents trapped in the Gaza Strip until Hamas terrorists release the scores of Israeli hostages they captured. 'Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,' Israel's Energy Minister Israel Katz vowed in a sinister threat. 'Humanitarian for humanitarian. And no one will preach us morals,' Katz added. Whilst Israel's political leaders have not yet decided on whether to launch the ground assault on the terrorists, the army said they are preparing for such an offensive that will be aimed at 'taking out ' the group's senior leadership including top government officials. Meanwhile, the airstrikes, which have killed more than 1,500 civilians in Gaza, and the total siege of the enclave has prompted the US to warn Israel to 'uphold the laws of war'. US President Joe Biden said Israel had a right to respond to the attacks by Hamas terrorists, which has seen 1,300 Israelis massacred - shot dead in their homes as they begged for their lives or while they fled a music festival. But he warned that its retaliatory action must be 'according to the rule of law'. Yet Katz's comments showed that there is no sign the total siege of Gaza, which has seen Israel cut off water, food and electricity to force its residents into starvation as they are pounded by constant airstrikes, will end any time soon given that Hamas has said it wouldn't release its 97 hostages until the bombardment ends. British tourists in South Africa have been urged to take extra caution when using taxis in the country because of 'mafia' disrupting the industry. This is due to the sector being virtually unregulated, coupled with an competition for passengers. Government advice on the issue urges Brits to proceed with caution if using taxi services in the country, due to a lack of market regularity combined with a high demand for passengers in the sector. 'Tension between e-hailing service drivers and metered taxi drivers can lead to armed violence, particularly around Gautrain [a high-speed rail service in the province of Gauteng] stations and airports,' reads advice regarding travel in South Africa on the Government website. It continues: 'Strikes and protests by e-hailing service drivers are also known to take place with some attacks against drivers not seen to be participating. Passengers have been harassed or caught up in violence. Violence across Cape Town erupted in August 2023 in response to police impounding illegal vehicles. Pictured: A resident of Masiphumelele uses a board as a shield during clashes Pictured: a taxi fleet at a taxi terminal in Johannesburg, South Africa 'High-risk areas are generally flagged in the relevant app, but exercise caution when using e-hailing services or metred taxis. During times of strike action find alternative reliable private transportation.' 'Large parts of the industry have begun to look very Mafia-like, where you defend and expand your business turf through the use of violence,' Mark Shaw, director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, told The New York Times in 2018. 'The most lucrative routes are long-distance, such as between Johannesburg and Kwa-Zulu Natal. That's why there's so much conflict,' Mr Shaw added. It comes after a British doctor - who was one of the UK's top orthopaedic surgeons - was shot and killed in South Africa while on a family holiday in August 2023. Kar Hao Teoh, 40, was killed after taking a wrong turn as he drove from Cape Town airport with his wife and two-year-old son, which saw their vehicle get caught up in violent taxi driver protests. Mr Teoh, who was born in Singapore but had British nationality, had been awarded a number of international fellowships for his work as a trauma and orthopaedic consultant. He lived in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, with his family and was based at the NHS Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow. In 2021, Mr Teoh won the Presidential Prize at the European Foot and Ankle Society conference in Lyon for his research into the treatment of ankle fractures. The strike by South African taxi drivers in August 2023 came in response to what the drivers describe as 'heavy-handed tactics' by police and city authorities. They claimed their vehicles were being impounded for minor offences such as not wearing a seat belt, whereas other motorists were just being issued fines - they believe they are being targeted by by-laws. The industrial action came after talks between the Western Cape government (WCG) and the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) broke down. A BBC journalist broke down in tears in a Gaza hospital after meeting a girl whose home was destroyed and family killed, saying she is the same age as his daughter. BBC Arabic reporter Adnan El-Bursh fell to his knees and removed his glasses before wiping his face as he was overcome by emotion at the Al Shifa Hospital yesterday. Mr El-Bursh and his team - including cameraman Mahmoud al-Ajrami, who was also left in tears - had discovered that their friends, relatives and neighbours were among those injured or killed in the hospital and he described how 'bodies lay everywhere'. In Mr El-Bursh's report, a young girl with a bloodied face was seen sitting upright in a hospital bed while crying and covered in dust as a doctor tended to her legs. The journalist and producer, who lives in Gaza and has worked for the BBC since December 2010, revealed the child had lost her home and her relatives were dead. He said: 'This young girl's home was destroyed. Her relatives have been killed and she needs help. My daughter is the same age. I want to give her a hug.' Mr El-Bursh wrote in an accompanying BBC News report that the girl was brought in screaming from intense pain and shock and had been calling out to doctors to treat her and to get rid of her pain after her home was shelled by Israeli forces. Hundreds of seriously injured people were filling the hallways of Gazas largest medical facility amid traumatic scenes, with bodies lying in corridors and outside. Speaking to the camera, Mr El-Bursh, who is a father, said: 'This is my local hospital, inside are my friends, my neighbours. This is my community. Today has been one of the most difficult days in my career. I have seen things that I can never unseen.' Mr El-Bursh also said that amid what he labelled as 'chaos', his cameraman Mr al-Ajrami saw his friend Malik in the hospital having survived - but his family were dead. It comes as the United Nations said today that Israel's military had told some one million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north. In other developments: BBC Arabic journalist Adnan El-Bursh was overcome with emotion during a report from Gaza Mr El-Bursh was left in tears after seeing the situation at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza yesterday Mr El-Bursh wept after seeing the situation in Al-Shifa Hospital, with 'bodies everywhere' BBC cameraman Mahmoud al-Ajrami also wept after seeing his friend Malik lying wounded During Mr El-Bursh's report in Gaza, a young girl with a bloodied face is seen sitting upright in a hospital bed while crying and covered in dust as a doctor tended to her legs An emergency responder carries a wounded child in hospital today following airstrikes in Gaza A Palestinian woman comforts her children as they wait at the hospital to be checked During his report, Mr El-Burhs also spoke to a mother who was sitting next to the bodies of her dead relatives. How Adnan El-Bursh is a father who lives in Gaza and has worked for the BBC for 12 years Adnan El-Bursh is a reporter and producer for BBC Arabic who has worked for the corporation since December 2010. He has a daughter and lives in Gaza City. In his time at the BBC, he has covered the repeated outbreaks of violence between Israel and Gaza. He previously hit the headlines in May 2021 when a building collapsed in Gaza during his live television report after it was hit by an Israeli strike. He and his team kept broadcasting, unaware of what was about to happen. Mr El-Bursh previously worked for Egypt-based software design and development firm Ramatan Technology from 2003 until 2010. He joined Twitter in 2013 and his account shows how he has reported from the frontline of war, but he has not posted since 2018. He is a member of the Foreign Press Association. Advertisement She told him: 'We were sleeping and they were bombarding the house like everyone else. 'We don't have any resistance fighters in our building. All the building is full of residents. 120 people live there.' Mr El-Bursh also said: 'The corridors of Al Shifa Hospital are filled with bodies. The morgue can no longer cope. 'The bodies of the dead have to be laid on the floor outside the hospital entrance. 'You never want to become the story, yet in my city I feel helpless as the dead were given no dignity and the injured all left in pain.' His report was released hours before the UN revealed that one million Palestinians living in Gaza had been told by Israel to evacuate the north. It is an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group. The UN has warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous. Hamas, which staged a brutal attack on Israel this week, dismissed the order as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes, adding to the widespread panic. The evacuation order, which includes Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, sparked confusion among civilians and aid workers already running from Israeli air strikes and contending with a total siege and a territory-wide power blackout. Palestinians would only be able to flee south within Gaza as Israel has completely sealed off the territory, a narrow strip of land about 25 miles long. Mr El-Bursh tweeted this picture in April 2018 while reporting on the situation in Gaza Adnan El-Bursh is pictured (far left) in an image on X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2017 The BBC's Adnan El-Bursh is pictured in 2012 while reporting on violence in the Gaza Strip Mr El-Bursh (right), who has worked for the BBC since 2010, with friends in an undated photo Hamas said Israel's heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip killed 13 hostages, including foreigners, held by the group. The group's military wing said the 13 were killed in various locations over the past 24 hours. It did not give the nationality of the foreigners, and there has been no confirmation over the claims from Israel. The Israeli military had said it would operate with 'significant force' in Gaza in the coming days and is calling on civilians to evacuate. Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israeli forces 'will make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians'. He added: 'Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate.' The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours. Suffering in Gaza has risen dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine, while the territory's only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The mortuary at Gaza's biggest hospital Al Shifa overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is set to visit today, a day after American secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A man carries a wounded child into Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City An Israeli army M109 155mm self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza People stand by the bodies of victims outside Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Palestinians stretcher an injured man following an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7. Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, said: 'This is chaos, no-one understands what to do.' She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah. Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, claimed there was no way more than one million people could be safely moved within the timeframe specified, saying: 'Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if ... you're going to live.' She added: 'What will happen to our patients? We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals.' The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. Yesterday it said that while it was preparing, no decision has been made. The UN said the broad evacuation warning it received for all of Gaza's north also applies to all UN staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in UN schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock air strikes on Saturday. A man carries a wounded child into Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Emergeny personnel help an injured Palestinian man into Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Israeli occupation aircraft launch white phosphorus bombs west of Gaza City A man carries an injured Palestinian baby into Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City 'The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,' UN spokeswoman Stephane Dujarric said. 'The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.' Another UN official said that the UN is seeking clarity from Israeli officials at the most senior political level. A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Hamas' unprecedented assault last Saturday and smaller attacks since have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers - a toll unseen in Israel for decades - and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes yesterday put two Syrian international airports out of service. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to 'crush' Hamas after the militants stormed into the country's south last Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including children in their own homes and young people at a music festival. A fireball erupts from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City Israeli tanks move near the Gaza border as the Israeli army deploys military vehicles Israeli artillery fire rounds into the Gaza Strip from the border near Sderot Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. The number of people forced from their homes by Israel's air strikes soared by 25 per cent in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the UN said yesterday. Also yesterday, the Israeli military pulverised the Gaza Strip with air strikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said its complete siege of the territory would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during their weekend incursion. A multi-millionaire couple who accused their 'devious little sod' of a nephew of stealing their 4million Kensington mews house have won their court fight with him - and landed him with a 150,000 bill. Self-made electronics tycoon Michael Lee and his wife King-Su Huang sued Cheng-Jen Ku after their nephew claimed the swanky three-bed home in Queen's Gate Place Mews was his, not theirs. The couple in their 70s had bought the home in Mr Ku's name in 2004 because they did not want the extent of their wealth to be publicly known, Central London County Court heard. Mr Ku, 40, had initially lived there but later claimed he was the true owner of the house and that it had been 'gifted' to him in line with Taiwanese tradition by his rich auntie. But he told Judge Alan Johns he had later moved out of the multimillion pound house 'because he auntie and uncle were too strict'. In his ruling, the judge said that Mr Ku could not have been the owner of the home as he had claimed. He said his behaviour 'didn't look like the actions of an owner' and handed him a 150,000 court bill. The exclusive cobbled mews close to the Royal Albert Hall was once the epicentre of the world's classic car trade and the site from which motor racing legend Alain De Cadenet ran his Le Mans team. Among their neighbours is Chariots of Fire producer Sir David Puttnam. Michael Lee (pictured), 79, and wife King-Su Huang, 73, sued their 'devious' nephew after he claimed ownership of their house King-Su Huang (pictured) and her husband said there had been a clear understanding that, despite being in their nephew's name, she was the true owner, with her nephew holding it on trust for her Cheng-Jen Ku (pictured), 40, a 'close' nephew whom Mr Lee had been fond of as a 'cute little kid', had lived with the couple in their 1m-plus Essex former home after moving to the UK from Taiwan The wealthy couple are locked in a bitter court row with their 'devious' nephew over claims he stole their 4million house (pictured) in a celebrity millionaires' row Businessman Mr Lee, who made his fortune through a 13million Essex electronics company, met his wife while working in Taiwan and later channelled his cash into a property portfolio. When he and his wife found the property in Queen's Gate Place Mews, just a short walk from the Royal Albert Hall and Natural History Museum, they decided to snap it up. The Victorian mews was built between 1866 and 1869 to provide stables for the grand houses on nearby Queen's Gate and is accessed through a Grade-II Listed archway. Mr Ku, a 'close' nephew whom Mr Lee had been fond of as a 'cute little kid', had lived with the couple in their 1million-plus Essex former home after moving to the UK from Taiwan. Mr Lee told the judge that his wife handed their nephew 1.57million to buy the house in his name, explaining that it was for 'privacy' reasons and to prevent the property being called on as collateral for business loans they wanted to put it in Mr Ku's name. It is now worth more than twice the price that was paid, with lawyers valuing it at up to 4million. Mr Ku became its registered owner, initially living there, though his aunt and uncle also had keys and a room in the house. But he later went on to claim the house was his because it was 'gifted' to him by his aunt, which Mr Lee described as 'piffle' by Mr Lee in evidence during the trial. The couple became neighbours with Chariots of Fire producer Lord Puttnam when they purchased the home. Pictured is Lord Puttnam celebrating his Oscar win with the late Hugh Hudson in 1982 Mr Cheng (pictured) claims the house belongs to him because it was 'gifted' to him by his aunt - a claim blasted as 'piffle' by Mr Lee at Central London County Court Mrs Huang sued her nephew - backed by her husband as a key witness - for a ruling that, despite being in his name, she was always the rightful owner. Mr Lee told the judge that his nephew had gone from being 'a cute little kid' nicknamed 'Trouble' to become 'mean and nasty' in adulthood. 'He is trying to steal our house because he has turned out to be a devious little sod and that's why we're in court,' he said from the witness box. Mrs Huang's barrister Rupert Cohen told the judge there had been a clear understanding that, despite being in their nephew's name, she was the true owner, with her nephew holding it on trust for her. 'Mrs Huang claims that she and her nephew agreed, prior to the purchase of the property, that the property be registered in his name, but that the beneficial interest would be hers, and she provided the entire purchase price of the property,' he said. She and her husband paid all the bills owing for the house and claimed her nephew only ever used the property 'with her consent'. However, Mr Ku's barrister, Scott Redpath, claimed the clear intention was to 'give this property to him'. Ruling against the nephew, Judge Johns said: 'The case for Mrs Huang was that the house was held for her on trust. 'Mr Ku's position was that there was no agreement and no trust because the intention was to make a gift of the mews house to him and that in Taiwanese culture such gifting was normal. 'Where a property is put into the name of one party solely, the first issue is whether the other party was intended to have any interest at all. 'When a land is conveyed to one person, but another person provides the money, there is a a presumption that there is a resulting trust in favour of the paying party unless it can be shown there was an intention to make a gift or loan. 'I've reached a clear conclusion that the intention in this case was for the mews house to be owned by Mrs Huang. Indeed there was an express agreement to that effect. The judge stated: 'The true owner was Mrs Huang. The motivation was privacy and a gift was not intended. I make a declaration that the mews house is held in trust by Mr Ku for Mrs Huang' 'There was an express discussion over the telephone before the house was purchased in which she said she wanted to buy a property but use Mr Ku's name. He agreed. 'As understood by the parties, it was an arrangement not that the mews house was to be Mr Ku's but was to be Mrs Huang's and just to be held in Mr Ku's name. Mr Ku accepted in cross-examination that Mrs Huang hid wealth by using the names of family members. In correspondence, Mr Ku at no time asserted that the house had been a gift to him. 'It was understood by the trustee and the beneficial owner that the trustee had no beneficial interest in the property.' The judge said the couple had paid all the outgoings on the property and costs of two major renovations, adding: 'Mr Ku made little or no contribution.' Further, he had moved out of the mews property 'because his auntie and uncle were too strict', having previously lived with them in Essex after moving to the UK. 'None of these look like the actions of an owner,' the judge commented. 'The true owner was Mrs Huang. The motivation was privacy and a gift was not intended. I make a declaration that the mews house is held in trust by Mr Ku for Mrs Huang.' The judge ruled that Mr Ku is liable to pay his auntie and uncle's lawyers bill of around 115,000. He will also have to pay his own legal fees, which were estimated before the trial at 35,000. Shocking footage has emerged of more Palestinian supporters in London tearing down posters of kidnapped Israeli citizens with one boasting afterwards: 'I don't feel bad - I feel so good'. In video of the latest incident on Oxford Street, a smirking young man defiantly tells a British-Israeli citizen confronting him there is 'no evidence' Hamas has committed atrocities. Moments earlier, he was filmed alongside a young woman as she ripped down a poster of four-year-old Ariel, whose kidnapping alongside his months-old baby brother Kfir and their mother Shiri Silberman-Bibas horrified the world. It followed a similar incident that emerged last night, in which two women were challenged as they tore down flyers around Mornington Crescent. It also comes amid a wave of confrontations in the capital, that has seen some Palestinian supporters gloat over the number of Israeli dead and Jewish businesses vandalised. Reports of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain have tripled when compared with the same period last year, after Hamas terrorists crossed into Israel on Saturday in a surprise attack that left 1,300 dead and seen dozens taken hostage. In the video the young couple can be seen tearing the poster from a lamppost before throwing it in the bin When confronted, the woman looks bored and disinterested by the upset she has caused Meanwhile the smirking man accuses the filmer of lying about Hamas atrocities Speaking to MailOnline about the incident in Oxford Street, filmer Jonathan, who refused to give his second name for his own safety, said: 'The girl was ripping up posters all along the street. I confronted them. 'The guy was aggressive and kept shouting "Free Palestine". READ MORE: Sickening moment pro-Palestine protester mocks Jewish man saying 'aww, are your people dead?' Advertisement 'He was denying the proof that children have been kidnapped.' Jonathan, who has Israeli and British citizenship, also filmed another flashpoint in Marylebone after two women removed a poster from a nearby tree outside a cafe. In the video, Jonathan says: 'We have a woman here who just ripped up a poster of a small baby.' In response, a furious woman brandishes a bag with a Palestinian flag on it and screams: 'Free Palestine, f*** you!' Another shocking video, filmed in Mornington Crescent, shows two women tear down posters of innocent Israeli children who were taken hostage by Hamas - with one saying 'this is for Palestine!' The British-Israeli woman who filmed the encounter has revealed how she received verbal abuse from other members of the public while putting the fliers up in north London. Neta Fibeesh, who knows someone who was abducted by Hamas, told MailOnline that she was sworn at and intimidated by members of the public as she put the fliers out to 'advocate for human rights'. The 23-year-old said some of her Jewish friends have been 'scared' on the streets of Britain since the conflict broke out, being sworn at and even trying to hide their religion to avoid abuse. The PhD student came back to the UK on one of British Airways' final flights out of Tel Aviv this week, and said things have been 'unpleasant' and 'upsetting' since she returned. In another video a furious woman brandishes a bag with a Palestinian flag on it and screams: 'Free Palestine, f*** you!' at the filmer Neta Fibeesh, 23, a British Israeli student who came back to the UK on one of British Airways' final flights out of Tel Aviv this week One of the posters shows four-year-old Ariel, whose kidnapping alongside his months-old baby brother Kfir and their mother Shiri Silberman-Bibas horrified the world Asked by an onlooker 'why don't you do something for Palestine?' one of the women replies furiously 'this is for Palestine!' The posters, designed by kidnappedfromisrael.com, show images of Israelis abducted by Hamas terrorists Neta was born in Israel but came to the UK with her family when she was three, before recently moving back to study a PhD in neurobiology at Tel Aviv University. Police to clamp down on Hamas clothing The chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners has suggested officers will clamp down on Hamas-related clothing and anti-Jewish chanting, as part of greater security measures in the UK to control unrest over the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Speaking about a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister at Downing Street yesterday morning, Donna Jones told LBC: 'It was about the preparations for this weekend. 'There is a pro-Palestine protest planned in central London which the Met are expecting over 10,000 people to attend on Saturday, so it was the Met officer providing reassurance to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and Michael Gove (Communities Secretary), who was also present at the meeting. 'It was also the Home Secretary and Prime Minister reiterating their strength of feeling around the fact that people using flags or wearing particular items of clothing or masks indicating support of Hamas is in fact an offence under terrorist law, because they are a proscribed terrorist organisation.' Pushed for clarification on the issue, she confirmed it was not an offence to carry a Palestinian flag. She added the police were also looking at chants such as 'From the River to the Sea' as 'a slogan which is intended to cause deep offence to Jewish people'. Advertisement 'On Saturday morning I woke up to the rockets, heard the sirens and saw the story unfold in the news,' she said. 'When we saw that tensions had escalated my parents managed to get me on a flight, pretty much the last flight going back to the UK.' Neta got one of the last BA planes leaving the Israeli capital, and said the plane had to wait on the tarmac as Israel's Iron Dome took down missiles overhead. Neta said that all of her friends back in Israel are sheltering from the missiles and that people her age are being called up as combat reserves. She said she has been 'restless' since returning to the UK and wanted to do something to help, so printed off the fliers to distribute. One of the posters shows four-year-old Ariel, whose kidnapping alongside his months-old baby brother Kfir and their mother Shiri Silberman-Bibas horrified the world. Neta and her mother were putting out the posters around Mornington Crescent, north London, when people came to rip them down. Two women then approached them and started 'aggressively tearing off the flyers', with Neta filming the moment she confronted them. Asked by another onlooker 'why don't you do something for Palestine?' one of the women replies furiously 'this is for Palestine!' Neta then tells the pair that the issues are 'not mutually exclusive,' before adding in reference to the missing posters 'it's children, it's innocent people.' Clutching stacks of the posters, the woman then shouts back: 'How about the children in Palestine?' Neta told MailOnline in the aftermath of her experience: 'This past week has been just devastating. 'Innocents have been kidnapped - a close family friend of mine, her grandma is one of those who has been abducted.' Neta and her mother were putting out the posters around Mornington Crescent, north London, when people came to rip them down Two women then approached them and started 'aggressively tearing off the flyers', with Neta filming the moment she confronted them She added: 'I feel safer in the UK because it's not a warzone, but it is still really unpleasant here. It's just really upsetting. 'I know a lot of people who are scared about being Jewish now in the UK. 'One of my friends is more religious than me, he wears a kippah and has been walking around for several days with a hat, and my dad saw someone wearing a kippah get sworn at.' Neta said that while her parents' home is in a predominantly Jewish community, she is still worried about people knowing the family's faith. 'We have a small symbol - a mezuzah - on my house, indicating we are Jewish. I told my parents to take it down because I'm stressed. 'We live in a Jewish area but I don't know if it will be safe still.' Her testimony comes as Rishi Sunak last night told police chiefs to get a grip on anti-Israel hate, with two Jewish schools in London closing until Monday for the safety of their pupils. Shocking video shows two women tearing down posters of innocent civilians taken hostage by the terrorists shortly after they were put up in north London Neta Fibeesh's mother puts up posters of kidnapped Israeli civilians in north London For her leafleting rounds, Neta said she had been 'advised to go in groups for safety reasons', but that she decided to start as she waited for her parents to join her. While out putting up posters alone, Neta said she was approached by a man who told her: 'I don't understand why you are doing this, this is karma, they brought this upon themselves.' 'I replied "It's children, it's innocent civilians" and they said 'it's karma for what their people are doing''. She said a man then came right up to her and swore at her, giving her the middle finger as he shouted 'free Palestine'. Neta said: 'It's outrageous that in other places in the world where terror attacks are happening you don't have to justify to people why it's wrong. 'It's not a political view, it's just advocating for human rights.' Pictured: Photographs of some of the Israelis who have been captured by Hamas on display in London Pictured: Armed Hamas terrorists taking a man hostage during the Supernova music festival, near Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev desert in southern Israel Hamas terrorists launched a bloody raid on villages near the Gaza border, killing at least 260 festivalgoers and countless more. They took around 150 people hostage, including mothers and children and a Holocaust survivor. Israel declared a war on Hamas in response, and has been bombarding the heavily populated Gaza Strip with bombs since. Israel has reported at least 1,300 deaths since the conflict broke out, while the Palestinian Health Ministry has said 1,417 people have been killed in Gaza. Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza City on October 12 Israel amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip ahead of a planned ground invasion to annihilate Hamas Blinken urged Israel to show restraint in its retaliation, but also reiterated America's support, saying: 'We will always be there by your side' Israeli Iron Dome intercepts missiles launched from the Gaza strip on, 11 October 2023 The death toll is set to rise much further, with airstrikes continuing to bombard the small, Hamas-controlled enclave which is home to 2.3million people. Israel's military chief last night said, 'Now is the time for war,' as his country amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip ahead of a planned ground invasion to annihilate Hamas. Israel has vowed to retaliate for the attack launched on October 7, the deadliest by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. Seeking to raise support for its response, Israel's government released harrowing images of babies who they said were murdered and burned in their own homes by Hamas terrorists. Pictured: An Israeli soldier patrols near Kibbutz Be'eri on Thursday, the place where at least 260 revellers were killed by Hamas terrorists during the Supernova music festival An Image released by IDF shows reserve forces as they deploy in in the settlements near the border with Lebanon in the north of Israel One appalling image shows the small body of a baby, who couldn't be more than 12 months old, lying on a now bloodied white bodybag that is too large for it. Graphic images were shown to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defence ministers graphic images of children and civilians they said Hamas had killed in its weekend rampage. Blinken said they showed a baby 'riddled with bullets,' soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. 'It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,' he said. 'It's really beyond anything that we can comprehend.' Like others across the globe, Blinken urged Israel to show restraint in its retaliation, but also reiterated America's support, saying: 'We will always be there by your side.' The RAF is expected to begin patrols in the next 24 hours, during which they will monitor threats to regional stability. Picture shows service personnel getting ready to deploy Rishi Sunak also repeated the UK's steadfast support for Israel and the government's condemnation of Hamas terrorists as he announced Britain would be sending two Navy ships to the Eastern Mediterranean. The military package will also include P8 aircraft, surveillance assets, two Royal Navy ships - Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels Lyme Bay and Argus - three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines, Downing Street said. The RAF is expected to begin patrols from Friday, during which they will monitor threats to regional security, including the transfer of weapons to Hamas. Israel is on the cusp of an armed military incursion into the Gaza Strip to battle Hamas militants who slaughtered hundreds of civilians this past weekend in a series of ruthless surprise attacks. In the meantime, Israel's air force is pounding Gaza with constant airstrikes in an attempt to reduce Hamas infrastructure and military targets to rubble. There's just one problem. Hamas does not operate like a normal enemy, nor do they live in obvious, above-ground compounds or travel through the streets like most Palestinian civilians bearing the brunt of Israel's bombs. Instead, they work in a complex network of reinforced underground tunnels, built by the Islamist organisation and financed and supplied by Iran. This means Israel can bomb Gaza all it likes - but would likely need to deploy hundreds of thousands of troops if it is to wipe the organisation out - and the operation would likely share stark similarities with the bitter urban warfare seen in Mosul and other areas of Iraq. Now, ahead of Israel's massive ground assault as the bombs continue to fall, MailOnline explores the 'Gaza Metro'... A Palestinian militant emerges from a tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza strip (file image) A Palestinian fighter from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, gestures inside an underground tunnel in Gaza in this August 18, 2014 file photo The network of tunnels were built after Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 and have since been used to launch several attacks on Israel (pictured, Palestinian militants in the tunnels) Israel has struggled to destroy the tunnels because they are extremely difficult to detect from the air (file image: an IDF officer inspects a tunnel in Gaza) The IDF has long been trying - and failing - to destroy the huge network of tunnels which were established after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Not only do they run underground throughout Gaza, but several reach into Israeli territory and have long served as a launch point for many of the Hamas' attacks. Tunnels were among Hamas' most effective tools during the 2014 war with Israel, with militants using them to move weapons, enter the Jewish state, ambush IDF soldiers, and at times even return to Gaza through the underground passages. But it is thought Hamas has expanded the network considerably since then, perhaps in preparation for their October 7 attacks. The first Hamas tunnels were built in 2007 between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and were designed for smuggling consumer goods to bypass the Israeli blockade. However, some rudimentary networks existed in Gaza as early as 2002. One was used to bomb an Israeli outpost within the Strip in 2004. A second tunnel bomb attack on an Israeli outpost took place in December 2004, killing five IDF soldiers. The first cross-border raid by Hamas took place in 2006, when the group kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, holding him captive for more than five years. By 2013, the network had definitively pivoted away from the Egyptian border and towards Israel and there were at least three tunnels under the Israel-Gaza border, two of which were packed with explosives. The underground network now branches dozens of miles through the Gaza Strip reaching the towns of Khan Younis, Jabalia, and the Shati refugee camp. They also stretch into Israel. The tunnels are used by Hamas and other Islamist groups in Gaza, including the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine, all of whom say tunnels are needed for defence, and to get around the difficulties imposed by Israel's strict border controls. Hamas uses the network to hide rockets and other munitions, facilitate communication within their organisations, conceal militants, launch attacks, and conduct training (pictured, a Palestinian youth crawls in a tunnel during a Hamas graduation ceremony) Israel has long struggled to wipe out the system, despite top of the range military and intelligence equipment (pictured, an Israeli soldier enters a Hamas tunnel) Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12 A Palestinian man runs amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli air strike on October 13 Israel has long struggled to wipe the system out, despite top of the range military and intelligence equipment. This is primarily because the tunnels, which are believed to have cost between $30 million (21.3 million) and $90 million (63.9 million) to build, are extremely difficult to detect from the air. Some of the three dozen tunnels built since the end of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict are estimated to have cost $3 million ($2.13 million). The tunnels are reinforced with concrete to protect them from airstrikes and from caving in. Footage from inside some of the tunnels shows a sweaty and cramped environment, not tall enough for fighters to stand up straight. But others are well constructed, reinforced and large enough for troops to sprint through or move contraband. Hamas first used the tunnels to launch an attack on Israel in July 2014, when 13 fighters used the network to surface near a kibbutz. At the time, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said the tunnels represented 'a new strategy in confronting the occupation and in the conflict with the enemy from underground and from above the ground'. Tensions between Israel and Gaza had been intensifying since June 2014, when three teens were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas, allegedly without the knowledge of the organisation's leadership. Rockets fired by Hamas into Israeli territory and by the IDF into the Gaza Strip then formally sparked the seven-week conflict in July 2014. One of the primary Israeli objectives of the war, known as Operation Protective Edge, was to destroy Hamas' network of tunnels. The IDF reported it had 'neutralised' 32 tunnels along the Israel-Gaza border during the conflict, including 14 which crossed into Israel. The devastating 2014 conflict killed 2,251 Palestinians, while more than 10,000 were wounded and 100,000 were left homeless. On the Israeli side, 74 people were killed, all but six of them soldiers. Though Israel said it levelled 32 tunnels during the conflict, many have been rebuilt by Hamas who continue to use the underground network. In 2015, the Islamist group started using heavy machinery, including bulldozers and tractors, as well as engineering tools to accelerate construction of the tunnels. The reconstruction was largely funded by Iran, the Sunday Telegraph reported at the time citing intelligence sources. The Islamic Republic also provided rockets and missiles to replenish Hamas' arsenal. Displaced Palestinians are pictured on Wednesday following intensive Israeli raids in the al-Karama district in northwest Gaza Smoke billows following Israeli strikes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza, October 13, 2023 Palestinian children wounded in Israeli strikes are brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023 Leading military and defence analyst and RUSI Associate Fellow Sam Cranny-Evans said Israeli forces would be in for a particularly bloody fight should they enter Gaza, likening the potential conflict to scenes from the most bitter urban fighting amid the Iraq war. 'The tactics employed by the IDF will depend in part on the tactics used by al-Qassam (Hamas armed wing). 'It is likely that drones will be used to drop bombs on Israeli forces, and that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) will be deployed to slow them down. The IDF has experienced these technologies, but they do have the ability to inflict serious casualties. 'So, if al-Qassam has a lot of fighters who are determined to hold their ground, the Israeli forces may be faced with several Mosul-type operations requiring each urban area to be encircled and gradually cleared street-by-street. 'The predominant approach will be to use combined arms tactics where the efforts of armoured formations are coordinated with air power, artillery, and electronic warfare as well as information warfare to defeat al-Qassam.' Israel has already started targeting bases operated by Hamas' special forces unit, Nukhba, which it says led the first assault into southern Israel on Saturday. Nukhba, meaning elite, is an elusive group which experts have compared to Hezbollah's Radwan forces - specialising in covert ops. Danny Citrinowicz, a senior Middle East analyst at the Atlantic Council, said that Nukhba troops likely had specific training on how to infiltrate small towns before the attack. As reported by The Telegraph, he said: 'Theyre commandos, same as the Radwan forces in Lebanon. Theyre the same type of elite group and they got the assignment to break first and clear the way for the forces.' As with any urban conflict, the risk for civilians in the event of a ground invasion is extremely high. Israeli airstrikes have already obliterated several civilian buildings in Gaza with the Palestinian death toll set to increase dramatically. In turn, Israeli hostages taken captive by Hamas militants are likely to face the possibility of execution if their captors feel they are unable to escape, or if they choose to enact revenge if Palestinian casualties begin to mount. In the aftermath of this weekend's attack, former UN senior advisor and one of the world's most experienced hostage negotiators Scott Walker said: 'It is understandable and reasonable for IDF to be preparing for an armed hostage rescue - but these operations are some of the riskiest. 'Hostages are likely to be dispersed and moved around and it will be highly unlikely that an Israeli force could just go in and liberate the hostages in one fell swoop without suffering significant losses, either of hostages or their own men,' he said. Walker added that the hostages taken by Hamas are likely to be well treated if they are to be used as political prisoners or bargaining chips - but that their fate could be something far more sinister if Hamas has an ulterior motive. 'Hostages need to be kept alive - fed and watered at a bare minimum. If Hamas' intention is to use them as bargaining chips or with a view to prisoner swaps, the hostages are likely to be treated reasonably well... if you want to use the hostages as currency in political bartering, you can't damage the goods. 'Having said that, Hamas is evidently very capable of being harsh and brutal - so it's possible - though unlikely - they could subject one or some of the hostages to brutal treatment and potentially execute them to show they mean business by sowing fear and further instability in the region for their own gain.' Foreign nationals who commit antisemitic acts or praise Hamas could be deported from Britain under plans being drawn up by the Home Office. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has asked officials in the department to look at how they could revoke visas on national security grounds for people who commit hate crimes or express support for the terror group. It follows numerous examples in recent days of students and academics expressing support for terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas, which is proscribed under British law. Gerald Darmanin, France's interior minister, has ordered all foreigners who commit anti-Semitic acts to be expelled from the country immediately, with three already thrown out. Current laws allow British officials to cancel visas for students, visitors and workers on national security grounds or if their presence is judged not to be conducive to the public good. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has asked officials in the department to look at how they could revoke visas on national security grounds for people who commit hate crimes or express support for the terror group University College London has announced it is investigating an academic who said on Saturday that Palestinian 'retaliation' was 'entirely justifiable' University College London has announced it is investigating an academic who said on Saturday that Palestinian 'retaliation' was 'entirely justifiable'. Meanwhile, a professor at another London university claimed the gunning down of 260 innocent Israelis at an outdoor rave was a 'consequence' for 'partying on stolen land'. Another academic called on people to show solidarity with the 'Palestinian struggle'. Their comments have sparked outrage from experts, who accused the institutions employing them of 'pandering to extremism'. Professor Anthony Glees, a security and intelligence expert at the University of Buckingham, said: 'It reeks of hypocrisy that universities will allow academics and students to back a terror organisation but yet they are so quick to no-platform academics. 'Young impressionable minds are being manipulated under the guise of academic freedom. They [universities] are pandering to extremism.' A spokesman for the Union of Jewish Students added: 'It is unconscionable for anyone to seek to justify the murderous and barbaric actions of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group. 'There is never a legitimate reason to rape, murder and kidnap innocent civilians.' It came after a students' union officer gave a speech on Monday describing the murder of Israelis as 'beautiful', while another student said she was 'full of pride' at the actions of Hamas terrorists. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has written to vice-chancellors urging them to take action against threats to the welfare of Jewish students. In a letter co-signed by Higher Education Minister Robert Halfon, she said Jewish students must be free to 'pursue their studies without fear of harassment or intimidation'. Gerald Darmanin, France 's interior minister, has ordered all foreigners who commit anti-Semitic acts to be expelled from the country immediately, with three already thrown out The letter reads: 'We have seen evidence of a number of student societies that support Palestinians sending out inflammatory messages that show support for Hamas, which is, as you know, a proscribed terrorist organisation. 'Not only are such statements of questionable legality, but they are also deeply troubling and hurtful to Jewish people, given that so many have friends and family based in Israel. 'We know that you will share our unequivocal condemnation of these horrific attacks and are also mindful of their potential impact upon Jewish students, especially those who are just beginning their studies. 'We ask that you act swiftly and decisively against any threats, be they implicit or explicit, to their safety and welfare. 'In short, we are asking that you do whatever you can to actively provide Jewish students with the reassurance they need, now and in the weeks and months to come to go about their lives, and pursue their studies, without fear of harassment or intimidation.' A French tourist has been arrested on suspicion of raping a British holidaymaker who told police in Majorca she feared her drink had been spiked during a night out. The woman underwent tests in hospital so detectives could try to find out if she had been drugged after she woke up the following day minus her underwear in a hotel that wasn't hers. She told cops she remembered nothing after beers with a group of other holidaymakers she had got chatting to in a bar. Police described her as 'semi-conscious' when she was taken to hospital after raising the alarm. The arrest happened on Monday after a woman's belongings were found in the room where the alleged sex attack took place. The man held is one of the group of four tourists she met on a night out in the Majorcan capital Palma last Saturday. A French tourist has been arrested on suspicion of raping a British holidaymaker who told police in Majorca she feared her drink had been spiked during a night out. Pictured: Palma de Mallorca stock image A spokesman for the National Police in the Balearic Islands confirmed. 'On Monday officers arrested a 36-year-old French tourist on suspicion of sexually attacking a tourist. 'The young woman had gone for a drink in the area by the bullring in Palma on Saturday night and met four holidaymakers. 'She got into a conversation and they had a couple of beers. 'From that moment on she doesn't remember anything, only that she woke up the following day at 8.30am in another hotel which wasn't her one, dressed but without her underwear on. 'She went to reception to seek help as she was disorientated and didn't know what had happened. 'A receptionist alerted police who dispatched officers and activated a protocol for cases like this. 'The woman was taken to hospital where a series of tests, including toxicology tests, were performed to obtain as much information as possible.' Saying officers from a unit called UFAM who specialise in probing crimes of sexual violence were put in charge of the investigation, the force added: 'They established that the woman had been deprived of her faculties, was semi-conscious and had poor psychomotricity [coordination] and had vomited. 'On Monday they found a rucksack with a woman's belongings in the room where the sex attack is believed to have taken place. 'At that point the suspected author of the crime was arrested. He is one of the people she met in the bar.' Well-placed sources described the woman, whose age is not known, as a British tourist. The woman underwent tests in hospital so detectives could try to find out if she had been drugged after she woke up the following day minus her underwear in a hotel that wasn't hers. Pictured: Palma de Mallorca file image It was not immediately clear today what the tests had detected and whether the suspect had been remanded in custody after appearing in court or released on bail pending an ongoing investigation. The latest detention follows a number of rape arrests in Majorca over the summer. The most high-profile were those of five French and one Swiss tourist in the early hours of August 14 at the BH Mallorca Resort in Magaluf following the alleged gang-rape of a a British 18-year-old. They were all remanded in prison by an investigating judge leading an ongoing probe. Two more suspects were subsequently held in France on European Arrest Warrants so they could be extradited to Spain. Less than a fortnight later, three British holidaymakers were arrested on suspicion of raping a woman at another Magaluf hotel. The trio were held as they tried to board a flight to Manchester. The woman who raised the alarm, who well-placed sources said at the time was also British, had claimed she may have been drugged. Last Friday National Police officers in Majorca arrested two British men over the alleged rape of a third. They met up at a hotel in the east-coast tourist resort of Cales de Mallorca after chatting on gay dating app Grindr. Police said the alleged rape victim told his suspected aggressors he wanted 'company and demonstrations of affection' after going to their hotel room but no more than that. He ended up in hospital needing stitches. Outraged motorists are blaming a local council after driving their cars into a trap guarding a bus lane which they say is writing off their cars. Locals say up to five motorists a week are caught out by the pit in the carriageway, which they claim has been filled with weeds. The trap is located at the junction of Station Road and Harrison Way in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, and is designed to prevent private cars from scooting through the bus lane. It consists of a diagonal 30cm-deep slit trench crossing the majority of the carriageway. The width of the trench is too small for a vehicle smaller than a bus to cross without falling in. Buses and large vehicles have a wide enough track between their wheels to remain either side of the large pit in the middle. Unfortunately for motorists who ignore the signs, their cars will tumble into the pit, causing substantial damage. But the council has hit back at the outraged owners, saying if they are unable to spot a 'big hole in the ground' then they shouldn't be behind the wheel. This car has fallen into a slit trench guarding a bus lane in St Ives in Cambridgeshire The diagonal slit trench, pictured, leaves a narrow corridor each side of the carriageway to allow buses to pass. Narrower vehicles such as cars and vans will fall into the gaping hole The daughter of a motorist recently caught in the trap, who wishes to remain anonymous, says the incident has left both her parents 'shaken and traumatised'. Their vehicle was seriously damaged in the drop, and they are finding out if it is repairable or a write off. READ MORE: Vintage tourist tour bus fined for using BUS LANE Advertisement She claims her father was one of five drivers who ended up in the trap last week. He is in his 80s, but she insists he is a competent driver who misunderstood the exit signs leading out of a car park She said: 'He somehow ended up back in the same car park again. 'He said the signage was poor and if he exited the same way, he'd end up doing the same thing. 'So he went a different way and ended up in the car trap. 'We know of someone in their 20s who has also gone into the trap - you can't argue this is because of my father's age. 'Considering the number of incidents, there must be another way to manage the junction that doesn't cause this much damage to vehicles.' Locals complain that at least five motorists a week are caught out by the trap Local councillor Kevin Reynolds said he has no sympathy for motorists caught by the bus trap. He said: 'If people driving along that road cannot see a big hole in the ground in front of them then I would argue they wouldn't be able to see a small child. I would question whether they should be behind the wheel at all' Philippa Parker drove into the trap which, she claims, was full of weeds last summer and complained to the council. She also argues poor signposting leading up to the trap is what led to the incident. Ms Parker, from Wiltshire, said: 'The signs were totally inadequate. READ MORE: The constant war against British motorists Advertisement 'Motorists were driving up to the junction while we were waiting for the recovery. 'If we weren't there, they would've made the same mistake. 'The abuse and awful language people were shouting as they passed us was also shocking. 'It left us with a very bad impression of St Ives afterwards.' However, Cambridgeshire County Council said last month it is only aware of 60 incidents of vehicles caught in the trap since it opened 12 years ago. It also says the warnings, such as signage, currently in place are adequate. Cllr Kevin Reynolds from Cambridgeshire County Council has admitted he has little sympathy for the drivers who get stuck. He said: 'If people driving along that road cannot see a big hole in the ground in front of them then I would argue they wouldn't be able to see a small child. 'I would question whether they should be behind the wheel at all.' When asked about the car trap, many locals felt those who fall victim to it only have themselves to blame and the man-made hole in the road is simply doing its job. Irene Heasley, 73, is ,a retiree from Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire, who has been living in the area since 2008. She doesn't drive or own a car, but says her family who do have never fallen into the St Ives car trap. Irene said: 'I don't drive but I've always seen buses go up that way and never any cars. Now I know why. Irene Heasley, 73, is ,a retiree from Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire, pictured beside the bus trap, said none of her children or grandchildren were foolish enough to get caught in the obstacle Her grand daughter Maisie Lamont, 22, said there was a Facebook page dedicated to mocking those who crash their car into the well-signposted obstacle. The trainee optician told MailOnline: 'I don't drive myself just yet, but there seems to be enough signs to say you're not allowed to drive on that particular piece of road because there's a huge hole in the ground' 'My son, daughter and grandsons are all from St Ives and all drive and they have never had an issue before. They're not silly enough to get caught in something like that. 'At the end of the day it's the driver's fault for driving in the bus lane and they should have to deal with the consequences.' Irene's granddaughter, Maisie Lamont, 22, used to go to school in St Ives. She hasn't passed her test yet, but says she became familiar with the car trap after joining a Facebook group set up to expose drivers who have driven into it. Maisie, a trainee optical consultant from Willingham, Cambridgeshire, said: 'I've seen videos and photos of the car trap all over Facebook. 'There's even a group chat dedicated to mocking drivers who get stuck. It's quite funny. 'I don't drive myself just yet, but there seems to be enough signs to say you're not allowed to drive on that particular piece of road because there's a huge hole in the ground. 'From the number of motorists getting stuck, it seems to me people need to redo their theory as it doesn't seem to have gone in! 'When I do start driving, I'll be sure not to make the same mistake.' A furious Australian renter has asked the internet for advice after their former landlord demanded $1,000 to fix a tiny, barely visible scratch. The renter, from Sydney, shared two photos of the scratch on the floorboards in their lounge room which had appeared since they and their partner moved in. However, they questioned whether the landlord was right to be demanding that the entire floor be replaced. 'Just want to ask if it sounds ridiculous to you that my landlord wants to charge $1000 for a minimal scratch on a panel of a timber floor?,' they asked online. 'Does that make sense to you?' A Sydney landlord demanded a couple pay $1,000 to fix a small scratch (above) in their lounge room READ MORE: Backpackers looking for rental in Sydney flooded with creepy offers Advertisement Hundreds of commenters were horrified by the landlord's request and accused them of 'extorting' the couple. The renter followed up their post with an update a few days later. 'We told the [real estate agent] we were going for NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, NCAT, as we didn't agree with paying $1,000,' they wrote. 'The agent came back to us and told us they had a heavy discussion with the owner and the owner decided to lower the charge to $500. 'Initially, I didn't wanna pay $500 and insisted to go for NCAT and my partner agreed but after two days he asked me if we can close the case and just pay them $500 because he doesn't wanna waste his time. 'I hope she spends that $500 well because if I wasn't with my partner, I would've gone to court.' Even though the couple agreed taking the case to court 'wasn't worth anyone's time', they were confused to find someone else was already living in the home. 'Does the owner want to do the flooring while there are new tenants staying?,' the renter wrote. 'Doesn't make any sense. They even had the audacity to complain about the blind saying it wasn't tracking properly which wasn't even true.' Hundreds more commenters were shocked the couple still paid $500. The couple ended up paying $500 after negotiating with the landlord (pictured, the scratch) 'That's almost certainly under 'normal wear and tear' - if he didn't expect a wooden floor to get scratched, then he shouldn't have laid it. That's a f**king joke,' one said. 'Landlords should be required to show a picture of the damage fixed within a month or else refund it,' another wrote. 'Caving to their demands just reinforces that behaviour and is going to encourage them to continue to rip people off into the future,' a third said. 'No way that scratch is being repaired either. Probably just try the same s**t with the next tenant,' another wrote. The manager of an upmarket Mayfair restaurant was sacked after he complained about the Gordon Ramsay-esque head chef serving mouse-bitten salami to customers. Restaurant manager Tayfun Hudur became embroiled in a long-running row with award-winning cook Roy Ner, an employment tribunal was told. Mr Hudur complained the head chef ignored him and shouted at him at high end restaurant Jeru as part of a 'bullying' campaign. Other staff were also left unhappy by Ner's behaviour, he claimed. But the panel dismissed Mr Hudur's gripes with management and instead he was awarded 3,201 for unlawful deduction of wages and unpaid holiday. Award-winning chef Roy Ner (pictured with Nigella Lawson) was at loggerheads with Tayfun Hudur, the general manager of Jeru restaurant in Mayfair, a tribunal heard Restaurant Jeru opened in Mayfair in December 2021 but got off to a rocky start, with customers complaining of 'awful' food, leaving bad reviews, and one scathing review by a food critic which was published in a national newspaper The tribunal heard Mr Hudur was appointed restaurant manager ahead of Jeru's grand opening in December 2021. New on the London scene, Mr Ner won awards in Australia for his dishes, and has been described as a 'superstar' and 'leading light in Middle Eastern cooking'. The restaurant bills itself as 'more than a restaurant' and that it is 'guided by the vision of Chef Roy Ner'. According to an online menu site, it sells Chocolate Aged Wagyu Rib-Eye for 95, French Farm Milk-Fed Lamb Shoulder for 85, and Herb-Crusted Welsh Lamb Rack for 59. The tribunal heard the restaurant got off to a rocky start, with customers complaining of 'awful' food, leaving bad reviews, and one scathing review by a food critic which was published in a national newspaper. The manager, who was sacked from his 50,000 a year post for poor performance, took the Middle Eastern eatery to the tribunal claiming he had been targeted for raising the hygiene issues and for making the health and safety complaints. The panel ruled that the restaurant was already working on fixing its pest issues and that his problems with the chef were not in the public interest. During the hearing, the female floor manager of the restaurant said she resigned after being sworn at by Mr Ner while the restaurant's resident violinist also quit complaining the chef 'thought he was Gordon Ramsay'. Issues between Mr Hudur and Mr Ner also arose, which led to Mr Hudur formally complaining. A tribunal report said: 'On February 3 [2022] Mr Hudur wrote to Adnan Ozkara [the general manager] confirming a conversation the previous day. 'The day before that, there had been confrontation with chef Roy about the cleaning of the restaurant floor. The chef was ignoring him. In May 2022, Tayfun Hudur was sacked as manager of Jeru for 'untenable relations with kitchen management, low performance... and failing to lead his team' 'The chef should stay in the kitchen, but was instead interfering, adjusting the lights, complaining about the music, and mixing cocktails. The restaurant was "like a police state". 'He thought the chef was upset because Mr Hudur had complained about him. 'He then said he had seen mouse droppings in the bakery section, and salami had been gnawed by mice. 'Chef Roy did not want them thrown away and kept them in the bakery display. He attached some photos. 'He added that four team members had left in the last ten days, others are planning to leave. There was no staff handbook. No proper marketing had been done when they opened.' He also said 'customers had complained that the food was tasteless and dry and when reported to the chef he had said that there was nothing wrong with the food and something wrong with the customers.' The report added: 'The floor manager, Birgita, who had just left, had been sworn by chef Roy with the F-word. 'The violinist had left complaining the chef thought he was Gordon Ramsay. There were delays in delivering food orders. 'The chef was talking behind his back to build a case against him because of his emails. He could not sleep because of stress.' In March 2022 the Environmental Health Officer that inspected the restaurant rated it a two out of five on the hygiene chart. The restaurant was taking steps to eliminate its mice issue, the tribunal heard. In March 2022 Mr Hudur was invited to a disciplinary meeting over 'poor work performance, failure to fulfil restaurant manager role and lead the front of house waiting team'. The tribunal was told he was not cashing up, didn't lead the team, and was not proactive enough. At a disciplinary meeting he claimed that the chef had served 'mouse bitten salami to the public'. In May 2022, Mr Hudur was sacked for 'untenable relations with kitchen management, low performance, working only for shifts which is around 34 hours per week when we are short of staff, and failing to lead his team'. He then launched his case against the restaurant, claiming he was sacked for whistle-blowing. Employment Judge Sarah Goodman dismissed the claims, saying they don't qualify as whistle-blowing because the arguments with the chef were personal and the restaurant was actively trying to fix the hygiene issues. The tribunal also 'discounted the effect of reporting the mouse droppings and gnawed salami'. The judge said: 'The restaurant already had measures in place to control mice, though evidently not very effective ones. 'After the local authority inspection... the fact that Mr Hudur had raised it will have paled into insignificance. 'The problem had been independently reported and they took immediate action to try to fix it.' The judge added: 'Having considered the reasons given by the restaurant, and the context, we conclude that one of the reasons given, namely continued friction between Mr Hudur and the chef, was entirely plausible as a real reason [for dismissal]. 'There was friction between him and the chefs, and it will have made running the restaurant, which already faced poor reviews and mouse infestation, more difficult.' A member of the public was caught on camera throwing an egg at a ULEZ van in London - as 'Blade Runners' today vowed to destroy eight out of ten cameras in four weeks amid backlash against Sadiq Khan's hated scheme. A livestreamer on Facebook filmed a member of the public jogging up to the white camera van in Northwood, Hillingdon, north west London, before he swung his arm to throw an egg at the windshield. The alarm blared as the egger, who was wearing wearing a grey hoodie, sprinted away down Rickmansworth Road. The livestreamer exclaimed: 'He's just egged it! He's just egged it! Man's egged the van! He's just egged it all over the windscreen people.' This comes as anti-ULEZ 'blade runners' have said they will ramp up their action of wrecking cameras which use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to implement the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) charges. 'Blade Runners', who are opposed to Mr Khan's flagship policy, have already attacked hundreds of cameras prompting the London Mayor to roll out vehicles to catch those flouting the rules. They say they want to bring the expanded ULEZ scheme 'to its knees' and have a series of 'exciting plans' in place. This is the moment a member of the public was caught on camera throwing an egg at a ULEZ van in London A livestreamer on Facebook filmed a member of the public jogging up to the white camera van in Northwood, Hillingdon, north west London, before he swung his arm to throw an egg at the windshield Anti-ULEZ 'blade runners' have vowed to destroy eight out of ten cameras being used to charge drivers in the next four weeks in an attempt to bring Sadiq Khan's scheme 'to its knees' And they said they will not stop until it is scrapped - with an initial aim of targeting 80 per cent of cameras in the next month. Around 250 Blade Runners are thought to be active across the capital. The group has seen more active participation since the zone was expanded on August 29, members previously claimed. There are about 1,775 ULEZ cameras in London - meaning 1,420 are on the target list. From last month, the 12.50-a-day charge started to apply to non-compliant vehicles across all London boroughs. It has caused outrage in the suburbs, with Mr Khan's Tory mayoral election rival Susan Hall promising to scrap it if she wins power. One Blade Runner said: 'The target is to get 80 per cent gone in four weeks. That's the start. 'There are thought to be around 250 people involved but there's no official tally. The idea is people are attracted to this themselves. It's not an official group or society. 'It's up to people if they want to take the direct action needed. Jail is on the table. It's that serious.' Another Blade Runner, talking anonymously, said: 'We will not stop and will continue until it is removed and we have our freedom taken without imposed costs where we could travel before freely. 'There is no organisation behind us. We are just average members of our communities. We're motivated people working to keep Ulez out of local areas. 'The people doing this are doing it for themselves and communities. We're sick and tired of this taxation during a cost of living crisis. We're struggling to make ends meet. 'So many of us are struggling to pay rent, energy bills and feed our families. Paying to go to work makes the wages we're earning impossible to live on and isn't an option for the average person.' A ULEZ camera in Ickenham, Hillingdon which was vandalised by being sprayed with expanding foam London Mayor Sadiq Khan expanded the 12.50-a-day ULEZ charge for non-compliant vehicles across all London borough last month A sticker across the lens of a ULEZ camera in Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon The man said lack of any consultation around the scheme was a motivation for taking action. He added: 'Nobody voted for this. It was just imposed no matter what the opinion of the people was or the destruction it would cause. 'We're angry at seeing everyone struggle while Sadiq Khan is imposing policies which directly impact average Londoners. 'We're uniting as a greater community that will not be bullied by the government.' Activists are mobilising across London to block mobile camera vans with signs. They have been doing it across areas of south east London and north London. Harry Jenkinson, 56, has been using protest signs to block a camera in Bexleyheath. The builder said: 'It's a great idea. It's very easy and simple. The people doing this get very frustrated by it. It's the little man sticking up for himself.' Another said: 'Its genius. We will stop at nothing. This is people power at its best.' The Met Police has been approached for comment regarding the incident in Northwood. A TfL spokesperson said: 'Vandalism is unacceptable and all incidents on our network are reported to the police for investigation. 'Criminal damage to ULEZ cameras or vehicles puts the perpetrators at risk of prosecution and injury, while simultaneously risking the safety of the public. Camera vandalism will not stop the ULEZ operating London-wide. All vandalised cameras are repaired or replaced as soon as possible. 'We have an extensive camera network which is sufficient to support the effective operation of the scheme. Anyone driving a non-compliant vehicle within the expanded zone will be detected and we advise everyone to check whether their vehicle is compliant and to consider the various support that is available to help transition to greener modes of transport.' Last month, the 'Blade Runners' ramped up their campaign of vandalism trashing another ULEZ enforcement van. Anti-Ulez campaigners have turned their fire on mobile camera vans trying to enforce the rules, by letting down the tyres Images showed one of the vehicles with its windows and windscreen smashed, in the latest escalation by activists determined to thwart Mr Khans much-loathed levy. Video footage of the vandalism was shared on Facebook with the caption 'The Bladerunners are not backing down', with anti-Ulez activists mocking the criminal damage, hailing the vandalism as 'amazing work'. The Metropolitan Police confirmed earlier this month that they would investigate the incident. A spokesman from the Met told MailOnline at the time: 'We are aware of reports of damage to ANPR vans and are investigating. The Met has and continues to treat criminal activity in relation to Ulez seriously and has deployed considerable resources to our operation. 'Where there are possible lines of enquiry, local investigators will follow up using a range of investigative approaches including CCTV trawls, witness searches and an assessment of forensic opportunities. 'We are aware of posts on social media referencing Ulez cameras and techniques to disable them. If a report is made to police that someone has vandalised a camera, it will be investigated.' A 'thug' punched a stranger in the Melbourne CBD before his friend allegedly partially cut off the man's earlobe with a knife when he refused to hand over his wallet and phone in a robbery. Jok Gar, 20, fronted Melbourne's County Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to robbery and reckless causing injury Judge Frances Hogan unleashed on Gar, from Geelong West, saying the behaviour was 'cowardly' and that he showed a complete 'lack of empathy'. 'It is appalling offending that strikes at the heart of the security of people in our community to walk alone at night on the streets, it's just awful,' she said, reports The Geelong Advertiser. The court heard Gar and his co-accused Tyler Da Silva walked up to the complete stranger at the intersection of Spring St and Victoria Pde in the centre of Melbourne on September 6, 2022. When the man refused to hand over his wallet and phone the two men allegedly attacked him. 'During the attack the complainant was cut with a knife, causing a slash wound across his right cheek, and partially amputating his right earlobe,' Crown Prosecutor Matthew Cookson said. Gar is not accused of having the knife or being complicit in using the blade in the attack. Jok Gar, 20, pleaded guilty to robbery and causing injury after attacking a man who refused to hand over his wallet and phone in the Melbourne CBD But the court heard the victim was knocked out when punched by Gar, who is was born in Egypt and migrated to Australia with his family as a six-year-old. The pair then took the man's phone and left him lying in the street bleeding. Police later found the two about 4.30am in the bathrooms of the Southern Cross train station with Gar's defence lawyer claiming he was under the influence of drugs on the night. Co-accused Da Silva will appear in court next week on to enter his plea on charges of armed robbery and intentionally causing injury. Gar will reappear for sentencing at a later date. The mother of a 29-year-old man with autism and 'end-stage' kidney disease has won a specialist court battle to get her son life-saving dialysis treatment. Camilla Tooke, 57, from Norwich, heard as doctors told the judge that her son, Jordan Tooke, would need to be sedated to get the necessary treatment because of his severe learning disabilities and that this would not be in his best interest. However without undergoing dialysis three times a week Mr Tooke would likely die within months. Mrs Tooke said: 'Going through dialysis three times a week is burdensome - but at least he will have a life.' Mr Justice Hayden ruled in favour of Mr Tooke's mother at the Court of Protection in London, where judges analyse issues relating to people who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves. Jordan Tooke, 29, won a specialist court battle to get life saving dialysis treatment after doctors argued that this would not be in his best interest Mr Justice Hayden described the case as 'very difficult and challenging' and a 'delicately balanced ethical dilemma'. In the ruling, he said: 'This case is truly about life-sustaining treatment. 'We are really considering matters of life and death.' But the judge decided he was 'certain' trying dialysis was in Mr Tooke's best interests. He added: 'I think he is entitled to the opportunity that it presents.' Judges normally rule that patients at the centre of Court of Protection cases should not be named in media reports in order to protect their privacy. But Mr Tooke's mother wanted him to be named and Mr Justice Hayden agreed, saying publicity may help to find a kidney donor. Mrs Tooke said the family has the result it wanted. 'We are overjoyed,' she said. 'It has been a long fight. But getting this outcome - we are absolutely overjoyed.' Mr Tooke, who has autism and 'end-stage' kidney disease, will need to be sedated three times a week to get dialysis treatment, but as his mother said: 'At least he will have a life' Specialists at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust are involved in Mr Tooke's care and treatment. Bosses at the three authorities launched litigation and asked Mr Justice Hayden to make decisions about what moves were in Mr Tooke's best interests. Barrister Katie Gollop KC, who represented the three authorities, told Mr Justice Hayden Mr Tooke's 'renal function' had deteriorated 'to the extent' that a decision as to whether it was his best interests to 'start haemodialysis' could not wait. 'It is ... a heartbreaking case and one which is ethically very difficult,' she said. 'And it is after a great deal of soul-searching and anxious thought that (specialists have) come to the view that it is not in his best interests to be provided with haemodialysis under sedation.' She added: 'In coming to that view they have not lost sight of the fact that if he is not dialysed Jordan is likely to die of end-stage renal failure within 12 months. They have also kept Jordan at the centre of their thinking.' Specialists told the judge they were prepared to try if he thought dialysis was in Mr Tooke's best interests. Lawyer Liz Davis at Irwin Mitchell, which is representing Mrs Tooke, said after the ruling: 'This is a really emotive case which once again brings the issue of provision of medical treatment to autistic people and people with learning disabilities into the spotlight. 'Understandably, all (Mrs Tooke) wants is what any parent would - to be able to provide the best opportunities for their child.' She said Mr Tooke's family tried to reach an agreement with hospital bosses and described the issue as 'incredibly important and time-critical'. 'Without haemodialysis, it's expected that Jordan will die in only a few months,' she added. 'Therefore, the court has been asked to make a judgment as to what's in his best interests. The family believe that haemodialysis and searching for a kidney donor is in Jordan's best interests.' Mrs Tooke said she wanted to thank lawyers for their efforts, adding: 'I want to say thank you to Liz Davis at Irwin Mitchell, Sarah Coleman at Mencap, Ben McCormack and Victoria Butler Cole for all their help and support.' Israel's army has claimed it killed the brother of the current leader of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that attacked Israel on Saturday, in an air strike today. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck five residential buildings in the Gaza Strip it said were being used by Hamas operatives. One of the buildings, it said, was being used by the brother of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. It is presumed that Muhammad Sinwar was inside the building at the time. The IDF released a video it said showed the moment of the strike. Aerial footage from above Gaza, captured by a bomber aircraft, showed the building in its cross-hairs as smoke and rubble erupted in all directions. Israel's army has claimed it killed the brother of the current leader of Hamas , the Palestinian terrorist group that attacked Israel on Saturday, in an air strike today The footage then showed several more buildings attacked in the same way. Given the size of the explosions, it's hard to imagine anyone inside or in the immediate vicinity of the building being able to survive such a force. In the attacks, the IDF said it had also hit a 'monitoring situation room that monitored and traced IDF activity,' according to The Times of Israel. The army said two Hamas operatives were in the situation room when it was struck. In a statement, the IDF said: 'Following the attacks by the Air Force, fighter jets attacked five houses used by operatives of the terrorist organisation Hamas, among the houses were the homes of a 'Nakhba' (commando) operative, a military operative in the resistance committee and an operational house of the terrorist organisation Hamas, where Yahya Sinwar's brother apparently stayed.' Yahya Sinwar is the current Palestinian leader of Hamas in Gaza, having taken over from Ismail Haniyeh in February 2017. He is among Israel's most wanted people, along with Ismail Haniyeh - a senior political leader of Hamas, and Mohammed Deif - the supreme military commander of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Deif is believed to have masterminded Saturday's brutal attack which saw Hamas terrorists kill more than 1,300 Israeli men, women and children. According to an article by The Times of Israel in May 2022, Muhammad Sinwar was also a senior commander of the Hamas military wing. The article reported that Muhammad Sinwar had at the time said the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas a year earlier had laid down new ground rules in which firing rockets at cities in Israel's heartland from Gaza became more viable. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck five residential buildings in the Gaza Strip it said were being used by Hamas operatives (pictured) One of the buildings, it said, was being used by the brother of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar (pictured, file photo). It is presumed that Muhammad Sinwar was inside the building The war, also referred to as the 2021 IsraelPalestine crisis, saw Hamas fire rockets into Israel, and the IDF respond with a heavy bombardment. While more than 250 Palestinians were killed and 14 Israelis, the destruction pales in comparison to the conflict that was sparked on Saturday by Hamas' attack. 'For us, shooting rockets at Tel Aviv is easier than drinking water,' Muhammad Sinwar said at the time. Israel is preparing now for a ground assault into Gaza, with the goal of eradicating Hamas. Ahead of this, they have said they are targeting Hamas leadership. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that forces 'are preparing for a ground manoeuvre' should political leaders order one. On the on-going airstrikes, he said: 'Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership. Not only the military leadership, but also the governmental leadership, all the way up to (top Hamas leader Yehia) Sinwar.' In total, the Israel Defence Force has said that it attacked over 750 'military targets' in Gaza last night alone, with pictures showed swathes of destroyed neighbourhoods. The strikes came before Israel gave the 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza 24 hours to evacuate ahead of the expected ground assault. The announcement was made today, Friday, as the Israeli military masses its troops near the border with the Gaza Strip. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: 'The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.' He added: 'The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.' Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday: 'Now is a time of war.' Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on October 13 Israeli army infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 13 His words came days after the deadliest attack ever by Palestinian militants on Israel. Israel said it had dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza since Saturday. The Palestinian Health Ministry has said that 1,500 Palestinians have died, a third of them children, with 6,600 people wounded. The Israeli government formally declared war on Hamas and gave the go-ahead for 'significant military steps' to retaliate against the organisation over the surprise attack last Saturday that has left 1,200 people dead inside Israel. A New York man has described how he texted his loved ones a final farewell from his hiding place in an empty concrete pool in the midst of the worst civilian massacre in Israel's history at the Tribe of Nova Trance music festival. 'I probably won't make it out of here. I love you with all my heart,' Aviv Oz texted his girlfriend after Hamas terrorists stormed the festival grounds in the early hours of Saturday October 7, reports CNN. Oz told the net work that from his hiding place, he could hear gunmen laughing and joking around him. Oz, 34, told CNN that he was at the festival working as a visual artist when the horror began. The Tribe of Nova festival, held in the semi-wooded fields outside Kibbutz Re'im, just a few miles from Gaza, was one of the first Hamas targets. It's estimated that up to 260 young people lost their lives at the concert with many more taken hostage by gunmen when dozens of terrorists blew through Israel's heavily fortified separation fence and crossed into the country opened fire on the 3,500 crowd. 'It was like a scene from Call of Duty, from a battlefield. A real-life nightmare,' Oz said in his interview. New York man Aviv Oz, 34, compared the horror that unfolded during Hamas' music festival massacre to a scene in Call of Duty At least 260 were killed in the massacre while many are still missing probably dead or taken hostage by the bloodthirsty militants. As rescuers continue to sift through the deadly wreckage of the attack on Sunday, the Mail recounts how the terror unfolded As soon as the gunfire erupted, Oz said that he ran to his car only to find himself caught in a massive traffic jam as the masses attempted to flee. He described the panic as 'complete chaos.' Oz abandoned his car and took off on foot in an attempt to escape the attackers. He found a hiding place in an empty concrete pool. Just before his phone died, Oz said that he was able to send a few text messages to loved ones. 'To my understanding I was going to die, and I needed to say goodbye.' 'When I decided to lay down and wait for my death, I could see the terrorists passing through,' he said. Oz described a terrifying scene in which he lay hiding as Hamas gunmen walked around above him, joking, as the smell out gun powder lingered in the air. In total, Oz said that he stayed still in the pool for five hours. When the coast appeared to be clear, he managed to climb out and get back to his car, which was torn up with bullets. He charged his phone and called for help. 'The ground was full of innocent people. There was another person, an Israeli woman, who was hiding in the bushes all this time. She joined me, and we waited in panicked silence until special forces found us.' Despite his ordeal, the Queens-native said he still plans to make Israel his full time home. Shani Louk, 30, was seen struggling to reach her car as it was surrounded by armed terrorists. Her mother said she last spoke to her daughter after hearing rockets and alarms sounding in southern Israel and called to see if she'd made it to a secure location. Pictured: Tattoo artist Shani Louk at rave Videos show Hamas members arriving on trucks and motorcycles, with gunmen charging into crowds and firing on people as they tried to flee into the fields. Israeli communities near the festival also came under attack, with Hamas gunmen kidnapping people soldiers, civilians, the elderly and young children and killing scores of others. The carnage stunned Israel, which had not seen bloodshed like this for decades. The Hamas attack killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, with subsequent Israeli airstrikes killing more than 1,530 people in Gaza . Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas terrorists were killed inside Israel. In the days since the assault, Israel has hammered the Gaza Strip with airstrikes as it prepares for a possible ground assault. Israel has also cut off food, fuel and medicine from Gaza's 2.3 million people, leading aid groups to warn of an impending humanitarian catastrophe. Israel says the siege will remain in place until the hostages are freed. On Thursday, a man who had been tending bar at the festival came back to the scene of the attack. He said he had no choice. 'I feel I owe them, you know, all the people that were here and murdered,' Peleg Horev told an Associated Press journalist allowed to visit the scene. 'I'm alive, I stayed alive. I have to tell their story. Each and every one of them.' The bodies have been cleared away from the festival grounds, but the wreckage of the attack is everywhere. Bullet-riddled cars, many with their windows shot out, are scattered through the festival area and nearby roads. Clothing spills from broken suitcases. A woman's shirt remains in a tree where it had been hung to dry. A pair of eyeglasses sit on a windowsill. Ticket booths are pocked with gunfire. 'Lost and Found' announces a festival poster hanging from a fence. 'Camping Area,' says another. Leaves blow in a gentle breeze as soldiers patrol the area, occasionally dropping to the ground at the sound of distant gunfire. Security forces worry that terrorists could attack again, or that some could still be hiding in the fields and brush. Peleg escaped by walking for hours, deeper into Israel. He avoided the roads, where many who tried to escape by car were killed when they were stuck behind other vehicles that had come under attack. 'All of this time you're hearing gunshots and screaming from afar,' he said. 'We just go as far as we can as fast as we can.' He is deeply shaken by the reality that he survived and so many others did not. 'I owe them, really.' An alleged ISIS supporter who stabbed a teacher to death at a school in northern France before seriously wounding two others committed and act of 'barbaric Islamist terrorism', President Emmanuel Macron said today. Mohamed Mogouchkov, a Chechen refugee aged 20, is said to have murdered Dominique Bernard, a French literature teacher in his 40s at the Gambetta high school in Arras at 11am local time. At least two other people were wounded, including a security agent who was stabbed multiple times and a teacher who is in a less serious condition, a source added. No pupil at the school was hurt. The attack comes on the day leaders of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group behind ruthless attacks in Israel, called on Muslims across the world to demonstrate on the 'day of Jihad'. The attack was the result of 'barbaric Islamist terrorism,' President Macron told reporters at the scene on Friday, but added that police had helped avoid another attempted attack elsewhere in France. 'The teacher who was killed had come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives,' said Macron. Both Mogouchkov and his brother, who was also taken into custody, were known to the authorities and were on the national security watchlist, police said. Mogouchkov's brother is said to have spent 18 months in prison for distributing ISIS propaganda online, and Mogouchkov was also a known ISIS sympathiser, sources said. This handout photo released by an anonymous source on October 13, 2023 shows the suspected perpetrator (C) of a knife attack being escorted by a policeman outside of the Gambetta high school in the town of Arras, northern France A video shows a confrontation between two men in the school grounds French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the Gambetta high school in Arras A pupil is comforted by a relative as he leaves Gambetta high-school in Arras, where a teacher was killed and two others were severely wounded French President Emmanuel Macron, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and officials arrive at the site Police investigate following the stabbing at the school in Arras on Friday morning Emergency services attend the scene of the fatal attack which took place around 11am local time (10am GMT) at the Gambetta high school in the city of Arras Israeli embassy worker is attacked in Beijing An Israeli embassy worker in Beijing was attacked on Friday, Israel's foreign ministry said. Video geolocated by AFP shows the man was stabbed with a knife on a street in the Chinese capital. 'An Israeli employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was attacked today,' a foreign ministry statement said, adding that the attack did not take place at the embassy compound. 'The employee is being treated at hospital and is in stable condition,' the statement said. 'The motive for the assault is being looked into.' A video posted on social media and geolocated by AFP to an area around a kilometre and a half (roughly 1 mile) from the embassy shows a man brandishing a knife repeatedly stabbing another man, with blood visible on the pavement. The man with the blade can later be seen leaving the site, weapon in hand. In another video of the same location, security staff are seen questioning people and making phone calls. A man then rushes in on a bike to where the blood-soaked and conscious victim is sitting, shouting 'ambulance!' to onlookers. The victim is seen being carried away by several others, likely for medical treatment, to a vehicle out of frame. During the video, a policeman can be heard saying he is from Xinyuanli police station. A person who answered the phone at that station told AFP they were 'not clear' about the details of the case. An AFP journalist at the scene where the stabbing occurred said there were eight plainclothes police officers standing around. There was no police tape cordoning off the area and no visible blood stains on the ground, which were seen in one video posted on social media. Three shopkeepers at stores directly in front of the attack's location said they did not see anything take place. The attack comes after Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages in their surprise attack on Saturday. Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for six days, killing over 1,350 people. A statement on the Israeli foreign ministry website warned that Hamas had called on 'all of its supporters around the world to hold a 'Day of Rage'' on Friday to 'attack Israelis and Jews'. 'It is reasonable to assume that there will be protest events in various countries that are liable to turn violent,' the statement said. The Israeli embassy, located in a diplomatic neighbourhood of northeast Beijing, appeared to be operating normally on Friday afternoon, an AFP journalist saw. Security personnel asked AFP not to film the site, where no additional policing was visible from the outside. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond for comment. Advertisement Sliman Hamzi, a police officer who was one of the first on the scene said Mogouchkov, a former pupil at the school, shouted: 'Allahu Akbar' - 'God is great' in Arabic. Mr Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer who was passing in front of the high school and called in. He 'was shouting: 'Someone is attacking with a knife,'' Mr Hamzi said. 'Colleagues arrived quickly but unfortunately couldn't save the victim,' Mr Hamzi said. Fabien Dufay, a PE teacher at the school said he had taught Mogouchkov in his final year 'three years ago'. He described him as a 'reserved, calm student with whom I had completely normal conversations.' The attacker 'had two knives in his hands,' says another teacher at the school, who asked not to be named. 'He turned to me and said, 'Are you a history teacher? Are you a history teacher?',' said the teacher, who then hid behind a glass door. He added: 'It was only when I left that I was able to see that the attack was much more serious than I thought. Someone was dead in front of the school.' Clips of what appear to be the attack circulated by students on social media show how a man appears to lunge at victims in the courtyard. One of the victims holds a chair between himself and the attacker to defend himself but is ultimately bundled to the ground and sustains several blows. Students meanwhile barricaded themselves in classrooms and were told to remain inside. The attack in Arras comes almost three years to the day after the murder of Paty, also by a Chechen extremist, which took place on October 16, 2020. It also comes with tensions rising in France, which has large Jewish and Muslim communities, after last weekend's attack by Hamas on Israel. President Emmanuel Macron said in an address to the nation on Thursday that 582 religious and cultural facilities in France were receiving stepped-up police protection. 'Those who confuse the Palestinian cause and the justification of terrorism commit a strong moral, political and strategic error,' he said. His office said he would head to the scene in Arras. There has also been controversy over the French government's ban on pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attack, with the left lamenting it was no longer possible to protest for peace but the right saying the measures did not go far enough. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Thursday ordered that the demonstrations be prohibited nationwide as they 'are likely to generate disturbances to public order,' adding that organisers should face arrest. This is the latest incidence of what appears to be a growing problem of knife violence in France. In June this year, a knifeman stabbed four children at a lakeside park in the French Alps, assaulting at least one in a stroller repeatedly. The attacker, a 31-year-old Christian Syrian refugee with permanent Swedish residency, mentioned his daughter, his wife and Jesus Christ during the attack in the lakeside town of Annecy. The stabbing follows a series of bomb, gun and knife attacks carried out by Islamic State and al-Qaeda operatives in France, dating back to early 2015. The deadliest single terrorist attack ever in the country came in November 2015 when 130 people were killed in Paris after suicide bombers pledging allegiance to ISIS targeted the Stade de France, cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan music venue, where 90 died. French police officers from the forensic service stand in front of the Gambetta high school in Arras French police and fire fighters secure the area after a teacher was killed and several people injured in a knife attack at the Lycee Gambetta-Carnot high school in Arras, northern France People stand near the Lycee Gambetta-Carnot high school after a teacher was killed and several people injured in a knife attack in Arras, northern France, October 13, 2023 French police officers from the forensic service stand in front of the Gambetta high school Earlier in the year, two Paris-born gunmen linked to Al-Qaeda broke into the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, leaving 17 people dead inside and three outside. In July 2016, 86 people were called and more than 400 injured when a 19 tonne truck was deliberately driven into crowds on the seafront promenade in the southern city of Nice. The terrorist turned out to be a Tunisian immigrant who was shot dead by police. During the same month, two Isis terrorists murdered an 86-year-old Catholic priest during a church service in Normandy. And in October 2020, three people were stabbed to death by a Tunisian immigrant in the Notre Dame basilica in Nice. There have also been frequent knife attacks on the forces of law and order, leading to the deaths of serving police. Advertisement Thousands of Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at rallies across Australia as Gaza braces for a ground strike from Israeli forces. Australians in Canberra, Brisbane and Perth on Friday showed their support for the heavily-bombarded Palestinians as Israel continues to send warplanes into Gaza in retaliation for attacks from Hamas militants. Attendees in Canberra were seen peacefully waving flags, as a small group of counter-protestors stood nearby holding signs. Regarded as Israel's 9/11, Hamas launched its deadliest attack on the country on Saturday, firing 3,500 rockets into the contested territory. Israel has warned 1.1 million civilians in north Gaza that they have 24 hours to relocate to the south, with its military chief declaring 'now is the time for war'. Thousands of Australians protested in Canberra, Perth and Brisbane on Friday (pictured, Canberra) Thousands marched in support of Palestine (pictured, children joining the protest in Brisbane) Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal organised the global wave of protests on Friday Attendees in Canberra were seen peacefully waving flags, as a small group of counter-protestors stood nearby holding signs (pictured, Canberra) Australians protesting on Friday were seen waving flags and carrying signs (pictured, Brisbane) Protesters at the Canberra rally called on the Australian government to do more to support Palestinians under siege. One leader wanted the government to 'call out Israel's breaches of international laws, including the fourth Geneva convention and UN resolutions'. Photos of the protests show thousands of Palestine supporters, including young children, marching with the Palestinian flag and signs accusing Israel of 'genocide'. The rallies in Canberra and Brisbane come on the same day that NSW Premier Chris Minns has urged residents of his state not to attend protests planned by the Palestine Action Group Sydney for this weekend. 'Obviously, I'm concerned about the assembly on Sunday,' Mr Minns told the media on Friday. Cities around the world, including London, New York and Amsterdam, have increased security around Jewish cultural sites and schools since pro-Palestinian protests began (pictured, Canberra) The rallies in Canberra and Brisbane come on the same day that NSW Premier Chris Minns has urged residents of his state not to attend protests (pictured, Brisbane) The Australian rallies were part of a larger worldwide movement for a 'day of jihad' thousands of Palestine supporters, including young children, marching with the Palestinian flag and signs accusing Israel of 'genocide' (pictured, protesters in Brisbane) Protesters were seen peacefully waving flags, as a small group of counter-protestors stood nearby holding signs NSW Police revealed they may use extraordinary powers to search those planning to attend the pro-Palestine protests after a previous rally organised by the same group featured anti-Semitic chants. 'Now, I think it is fair to note that whether that protest was hijacked or there was malevolent intent from the very beginning, it doesn't matter,' he said. 'The organisers of the protest have proven to the NSW police, the government, people of NSW that they can't manage a peaceful protest.' The anti-Semitic rally in front of the Sydney Opera House saw pro-Palestinian protesters burn the Israeli flag and make references to the Holocaust. Those attitudes were not reported at protests on Friday. NSW Police revealed they may use extraordinary powers to search those planning to attend the pro-Palestine protests (pictured, officers at the protest in Canberra) Australians joined a global protest in support of Palestine on Friday (pictured, protesters in Brisbane) The head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation earlier warned the rising tensions between Israeli and Palestinian communities in Australia could lead to violence (pictured, protesters in Brisbane) Thousands of Australians marched in support of Palestine (pictured, protesters in Brisbane) Police said they might search protesters after a previous rally featured anti-Semitic chants (pictured, protesters in Brisbane) Mr Minns had a grim warning for Sydneysiders if the scenes on Monday were repeated on the weekend. 'That would be ruinous for Sydney's sense of cohesion, our multicultural, multi-faith community, we couldn't have those scenes again and police have got every right to protect and ensure that those scenes aren't repeated over the weekend,' he said. The Australian rallies were part of a larger worldwide movement for a 'day of jihad' - an Islamic phrase meaning the struggle to see the right thing realised. Palestine Action Group Sydney shared a statement from a large group of Muslim organisations on Friday regarding the success of the protests. It wrote: '50+ national, state and local Muslim organisations from around the country join hands on the ONE platform to speak up in the face of injustice in Palestine. We will never be silenced. 'This is no 'conflict', and it didn't start yesterday. Take the time to travel back through 75 years of illegal occupation. Only then will you understand.' In Melbourne on Friday, members of the Australian Israeli community gathered to hold a vigil for the lives lost (pictured, mourners at a vigil for the Israeli lives lost in Melbourne) A woman hosting a press conference for relatives of Hamas victims described the militant group as a 'death squad' (pictured, Melbourne) At least 1,300 lives were taken in Hamas' attack on Israeli towns last week (pictured, Melbourne) Survivors of Hamas' attack described the horror of women being raped while survivors were kidnapped (pictured, Melbourne) Melbourne members of the Israeli community held a vigil on Friday (pictured, Melbourne) READ MORE: Israel drops flyers telling 1.1 million in Northern Gaza to flee Advertisement Palestine Action Group Sydney has also included a warning racist and anti-Semitic behaviour will not be tolerated at Sunday's event. 'We remind everyone that the struggle for a free Palestine is an anti-racist struggle,' it said. 'We condemn and oppose all forms of racism, including anti-semitism and Islamophobia. 'Ours is a struggle against the state of Israel, not against Jewish people, many of whom oppose Zionism, and who have a long history of being part of our movement for a free Palestine. 'Anyone wishing to express anti-semitic views is not welcome at our protests.' The protests were held as Israel warned 1.1 million civilians in north Gaza they have 24 hours to relocate to the south (pictured, badges for sale at the protest in Brisbane) Protesters at the Canberra rally called on the Australian government to do more to support Palestinians under siege (pictured, Canberra) The Australian rallies were part of a larger worldwide movement for a 'day of jihad' (pictured, Canberra) The rallies in Canberra and Brisbane come on the same day that NSW Premier Chris Minns has urged residents of his state not to attend protests (pictured, Brisbane) The Australian rallies were part of a larger worldwide movement for a 'day of jihad' - an Islamic phrase meaning the struggle to see the right thing realised (pictured, Canberra) Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal organised the global wave of protests on Friday. '[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday,' he said from his office in Qatar. Photos show hundreds of thousands of people followed his request and flooded city centres on Friday. The move has seen several cities, including London, New York and Amsterdam, increase security around Jewish cultural sites and schools. In Germany the head of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which fights against right-wing extremism, told Daily Mail: 'We kind of expect the worst, especially after Hamas published posts and called for attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions for today.' Mike Burgess, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, on Thursday warned the rising tensions between Israeli and Palestinian communities in Australia could lead to violence. 'I remain concerned about the potential for opportunistic violence with little or no warning. However, it is important to distinguish opportunistic violence from planned violence or acts of terrorism,' he said. 'ASIO remains well-placed to detect threats to security including potential acts of politically motivated violence or the promotion of communal violence.' Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal organised the global wave of protests on Friday (pictured, Brisbane) The global protests have seen several cities, including London, New York and Amsterdam, increase security around Jewish cultural sites and schools (pictured, Brisbane) Australians protesting on Friday were seen waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs (pictured, Canberra) Perth was one of several Australian cities to host pro-Palestinian marches on Friday (pictured, protesters in Perth) Israel has warned 1.1 million civilians in north Gaza on Friday that they have 24 hours to relocate to the south (pictured, Perth) A woman hosting a British press conference with the family of Hamas victims condemned people who supported the militant group. 'Hamas... is a modern day death squad. They went door to door, snatched babies from their mothers and children from their beds and brutally, cold-bloodedly slaughtered them,' she said. 'Girls were raped over their friends' bodies, many survivors were kidnapped. 'These horrific acts were celebrated on the streets of Tehran, Gaza and even by some here in London. We have never before in Israel experienced such a traumatic event, which will take years, if not generations, to overcome. 'This is the biggest hostage crisis the world has faced in decades.' At least 1,300 lives were taken in Hamas' attack on Israeli towns. Thousands of Australians joined a global protest in support of Palestine on Friday (pictured, Perth) At least 1,300 lives were taken in Hamas' attack on Israeli towns last week (pictured, Melbourne) Mike Burgess on Thursday warned the rising tensions between Israeli and Palestinian communities in Australia could lead to violence (pictured, Melbourne) The protests in Canberra in Brisbane came as NSW Premier Chris Minns urged residents of his state not to attend protests (pictured, protesters in Brisbane) In Melbourne on Friday, members of the Australian Israeli community gathered to hold a vigil for the lives lost. Israel's retaliatory air strikes on the Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million people, have seen large parts of the coastal enclave decimated. Gaza's health ministry said at least 1,354 people have been killed and more than 6,000 injured so far. Fuming locals blasted Thorpe Park after the popular theme park blared Halloween sounds effects all night long, keeping them awake - and forcing one resident to put ear defenders on his dog. A mixture of sounds including wails, scary music and screams were played for 12 hours straight by the park in Chertsey, Surrey, known for its hair-raising rollercoasters. Jonathan Tennant said the spooky sounds lasted from Sunday evening into Monday morning. The phone engineer, 56, said he also had to put ear defenders on his 12-year-old terrier Shamus to calm him down. Thorpe Park apologised to residents and claimed the loud noise had been caused by a 'technical issue'. Mr Tennant said: 'It was loud - and bloody annoying. The noise started at 10:30am on Sunday and should have finished at 7pm - but it went on and on.' Jonathan Tennant, 56, lives close to the popular theme park in Chertsey, Surrey, known for its hair-raising rollercoasters The phone engineer said he also had to put ear defenders on his 12-year-old terrier, Shamus, (pictured) to calm him down He said the spooky sounds lasted from Sunday evening into Monday morning - which prevented him from sleeping Thorpe Park - billed as the UK's most thrilling theme park - is running 'fright nights' from October 6 to October 31, according to its website. READ MORE: Princess Andre enjoys night out with her boyfriend at star-studded Thorpe Park Fright Night VIP launch night Advertisement The entry ticket for the Fright Night event can cost as much as 64 per person for the day - depending on whether you pre-book. A description of the event reads: 'Get ready for an adrenaline-packed day filled with terror and thrills that will leave you breathless! 'When the sun goes down, the park transforms into a heart-stopping playground of horror, where frights lurk at every corner.' A Thorpe Park spokesman said: 'We would like to apologise for the noise disturbance that took place on the night of Sunday 8th October. 'We care about all of our local residents and do our utmost to ensure we are good neighbours. 'Our team worked hard to establish the root cause of the technical issue and worked as swiftly as possible to find a resolution. 'We have since put in place preventative measures to ensure we can stop our sound systems from playing immediately in the event of a system malfunction. 'We are confident that with this new process and with our ongoing proactive sound checks, disturbance will be kept to a minimum during the final weeks of our Fright Night event. 'We have a long-standing positive relationship with our local residents and this is something we value and want to maintain.' Mr Tennant (pictured) was not the only one who had a restless night, as he said his housemate was also affected by the sounds Mr Tennant was not the only one who had a restless night, as he said his housemate was also affected by the sounds. He added: 'You could hear it all through the house and it kept waking me and my housemate. She's a teacher and she didn't sleep. 'I thought there'd at least be security, maintenance staff or cleaners, but it was all shut up and empty.' Another local said: 'It's ridiculous. The bass started at about 6pm and rattled on until 7am. I've barely slept a wink.' The local residents' association have called for a meeting, according to reports. Counter-terror police have arrested a 22-year-old woman after a student gave a speech calling Hamas terror attacks on Israel 'beautiful and inspiring'. Hanin Barghouti, an elected women's officer at the University of Sussex students' union, was filmed addressing a protest in Brighton on Saturday organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Describing herself as a Palestinian, Ms Barghouti said: 'Yesterday was a victory. For freedom fighters to break out of a 15-year blockade so successfully under the inhuman genocide of Israel was so beautiful and inspiring to see. 'It shows the world that we will always fight and always resist and we need to celebrate these acts of resistance because this was a success. Revolutionary violence initiated by Palestinians is not terrorism - it is self-defence.' Earlier that day Hamas terrorists had crossed the border with Israel and attacked Israeli civilians, including 260 revellers at a music festival. Hanin Barghouti, an elected women students' officer at the University of Sussex students' union, was filmed addressing a protest in Brighton on Saturday Ms Barghouti called Hamas terror attacks 'inspiring' and 'beautiful' Today, Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said a 22-year-old woman from Brighton was arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation. Police are appealing for witnesses and anyone with footage of the demonstration to contact them. Superintendent Petra Lazar from Sussex Police said: 'After reviewing footage from the protest event held in Brighton on Sunday 8 October, the matter was investigated by CTPSE. We will continue to support them as they conduct their investigation. 'We are aware that the ongoing conflict in Israel and the border with Gaza is generating public concern and is impacting communities globally and locally, and we extend our support to those affected in Sussex. Describing herself as a Palestinian, Ms Barghouti said: 'Yesterday was a victory. For freedom fighters to break out of a 15-year blockade so successfully under the inhuman genocide of Israel was so beautiful and inspiring to see' 'Sussex Police has increased visibility across parts of Sussex to provide an increased presence and reassurance to our local communities. 'We recognise there is the potential for increased tensions and are engaging and working with communities and partners to ensure people feel safe and protected. 'Anyone who experiences threatening behaviour or is worried about their safety is urged to contact police.' The woman remains in custody, police said. A University of Sussex spokesperson said: 'Following comments made by a student at a demonstration in Brighton on October 8 2023, the university initiated an investigation, in line with our procedures. 'The university takes very seriously our obligations to support students and staff and to provide a safe and secure environment in which to work, live and study, and will continue to take action to this end. 'This case is now a live counter-terrorism police investigation and as such it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this point.' Officers would like to speak to anyone who attended the protest, particularly those who may have footage of the protest and speech. Anyone with helpful information has been asked to call 101, quoting reference 781 of 07/10. A family has moved into the Salisbury house where a retired Russian spy was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, five years after the attack. The property, which was purchased for 375,000 in February in a shared-ownership deal, had been targeted by hitmen who sprayed military-grade chemical Novichok on the front door of the house in March 2018. Ex-KGB agent Sergei Skripal, 71, and his daughter Yulia, 39, nearly died following the incident and were both found slumped on a bench in Salisbury city centre following the attack. So deadly was the nerve agent sprayed, it also hospitalised police officer Nick Bailey who had merely searched the house. According to The Sun, the property is now home to a local couple with young children after it underwent hundreds of hours of cleaning and had several key furnishings such as the front door and porch replaced. The Salisbury house where a retired Russian spy was poisoned with Novichok has become a young family's home (pictured in 2018) In the five following years, the house has undergone hundreds of hours of cleaning Following the attack, the Skripals were heavily sedated and given drugs to protect them from the side effects. Yulia was discharged in the April and Sergei in mid-May The property was declared safe in 2019 but up until now nobody had expressed interest in buying it. Indeed, some neighbours had called for the house to be demolished in the wake of the attack. According to the newspaper, council officials were keen to sell the property to stop it becoming a 'museum'. The city of Salisbury was scarred by the attacks which were committed in the Spring of 2018. Four months after the attempted assassinations, mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after she found a perfume bottle containing the nerve agent and sprayed it on her wrist. Her partner Charlie Rowley became seriously ill after finding the bottle. It is believed the Russian state ordered the attack on Skripal - who was jailed in Russia for spying in MI6 - on March 4 2018. The suspected assassins Russian intelligence officers Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin were caught on CCTV as they travelled from Moscow to the Wiltshire cathedral city. A third suspect, senior Russian agent Denis Sergeev, was believed to be the on-the-ground commander. All three fled back to Russia after their failed murder attempt. It took almost exactly a year for Salisbury to finally be declared clear of all traces of the deadly nerve agent. Police say it could have killed thousands. Following the attack, the Skripals were heavily sedated and given drugs to protect them from the side effects. Yulia was discharged in the April and Sergei in mid-May. Mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess (pictured), 44, died after she found a perfume bottle containing military-grade nerve agent, Novichok, and sprayed it on her wrist He then joined her in hiding but had to be closely monitored by a doctor. Britain responded to the poisoning of the Skripals by expelling 23 Russian diplomats. The United States expelled 150. In the weeks after the poisoning, Putin claimed that Mishkin and Chepiga were innocent tourists and denied any Russian involvement. In 1995, Sergei Skripal, a high-ranking member of Russian Intelligence, became a double-agent working for Britain. After nine years of passing secrets to MI6, he was caught by the Russian authorities and sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony. Then, in 2010, he was pardoned by President Dmitry Medvedev and sent to the UK as part of a spy-swap deal. Sergei and his wife Liudmila began a new life in Wiltshire. Not walking under ladders and avoiding black cats are just some of the superstitions people partake in to keep luck on their side on Friday 13th. Many believe that good fortune will evade them as the day has long been associated with incidents of misfortune. But why exactly is Friday 13th associated with bad luck and misfortune? Read on below for everything you need to know about the supposed bad luck many people associate with the day. The 1980 film Friday The 13th provided widespread of the date and the associated superstition Why is Friday 13th bad luck? The association with bad luck starts with the number 13 by itself. In Abrahamic religions, 12 is seen as a number representing perfection and completion; there are 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, Abraham has 12 sons, there are 12 tribes of Israel. The number 13 is therefore symbolically considered imperfect. At the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, Judas Iscariot, Christs betrayer, was the 13th guest. The concept of a 13th guest being associated with evil or treachery extends beyond Christianity, with Norse mythology also featuring a similar story. At a Valhalla dinner for the god Baldur, Loki arrived as the 13th guest and murdered the god. The association between Friday and the number 13 can also be dated back to Christian lore, with Judas Iscariot being the 13th guest and betraying Christ on Maundy Thursday leading to his execution on Good Friday. These ideas percolated for hundreds of years, growing stronger and more influential in the Dark Ages with exaggerated accounts of how the French King Philip IV arrested some Knights Templar on Friday 13th in 1307. Not walking under ladders and avoiding black cats are just some of the superstitions people partake in to keep luck on their side on Friday 13th. Pictured: Two men test gas pressure in street lighting, Westminster, London, 1910 In the 19th Century, the myth appeared to be popular enough to inspire a counter-movement. The Thirteen Club was formed in late 19th century to reject the superstition. Founded by Civil War soldier Captain William Fowler, the first meeting of the Thirteen Club was on Friday, January 13, at 8.13pm in room 13 of the Knickerbocker Cottage on Sixth Avenue and 28th. There appeared to be no availability on 13th Street. However, the myth of Friday 13th really crystallises during the 20th Century, when direct connections between the date and misfortune begin to be paved. In 1907, the businessman Thomas W. Lawson published a novel called Friday, the Thirteenth, in which a young stockbroker decides to wreak financial havoc on Wall Street on that day. News site Vox says that the first known mention of Friday 13th in media came on March 14, 1908. A notice in the New York Times describes one senators bill makes it into the Senate on the day: Friday the 13th holds no terrors for Senator Owen, the notice read. Cut to 1980 and Paramount Pictures slasher film Friday The 13th comes out to consolidate the myth and add a strong horror element to it. The film franchises villain, Jason Voorhees, was born on a Friday 13th and the key murders at the start of the first film happen on Friday 13th. Though its often treated whimsically, a word for a phobia of Friday the 13th has been suggested: paraskevidekatriaphobia. Here are 13 historical synonyms for 'unlucky' to mark the day: https://t.co/DWBy6vYNMU Oxford Languages (@OxLanguages) July 13, 2018 However, were just one film short of the franchise living up to its name as there are only 12 Friday The 13 films as of July 2018. The superstition has unsurprisingly had some very real-life effects. Thomas W Lawson may have been delighted to hear that financial markets and companies occasionally have moments of panic on Friday 13th. On Friday July 13, 2012, Chinas GDP dropped by 7.6 percent. In 1989, Friday, October 13 had become known as Black Friday after a United Airlines buyout deal failed and sent global markets plunging. According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in North Carolina, companies lose nearly $1 billion when the 13th of a month is a Friday. Travel site Kayak said that Friday, June 13, 2014 was the cheapest day to fly that year. How often does Friday 13th occur? There are usually two Friday 13th days every year. Todays Friday, October 13 is the second of 2023, with the first coming back in January. This will be the final Friday 13th of the year, with the date occurring again in September and December 2024. American rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting on Friday, September 13, 1996 Famous Friday 13th events in history In 1307, King Philip IV of France arrested some Knights Templar on a Friday 13th. Buckingham Palace was bombed by the Germans during WWII in 1940 in September. Kitty Genovese was murdered in New York in March 1965; her death lead to the coining of the bystander effect term. The rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in September 1996. What is Triskaidekaphobia? Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. However, there is a specific term for the fear of Friday 13th: Friggatriskaidekaphobia, also sometimes referred to as paraskevidekatriaphobia. The first term refers to the Queen of the Norse gods, Frigga, who was also the mother of Baldur. The Indigenous Voice to Parliament looks unlikely to find majority support despite the latest poll showing a surge towards the Yes vote - as campaigner Thomas Mayo urges Australians to do one thing when they head to the polls. A Newspoll released on Friday shows a three point swing towards the Yes camp over the last week pushing up support to 37 per cent, the highest level since the start of the official campaign in early September. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Friday night, Uluru Statement from the Heart signatory Thomas Mayo implored Australians to speak to a Yes23 volunteer before casting their vote on Saturday. 'Talk to one to of the Yes people at your voting booth and ask any questions you have before you go in,' Mr Mayo said. 'They are friendly people who are well informed so please, if you don't know, stop and ask questions.' Thomas Mayo is a former 'wharfie' turned assistant union secretary and Indigenous rights campaigner who contributed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could be in for an embarrassing defeat with every single Australian state at risk of returning a majority No vote after support has plummeted Mr Mayo said he felt confident ahead of the nation's first referendum vote in more than two decades. 'Really consider the question and the actual change to the Constitution.' 'To cut through all the noise it is really quite simply recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.' 'We can can improve the lives of Indigneous people going into the future and unify our modern society with our ancient heritage.' 'I'm still optimistic - there are undecided Australians and we have the truth on our side that this is an advisory committee.' 'The No campaign have exhausted their lies and I'm still very hopeful.' According to the latest Newspoll 57 per cent of voters said they intended to vote No, a point down since a previous poll on Monday. Only about 6 per cent of voters said they were undecided. The state with the strongest level of support is Victoria and is looking like the only state to produce a majority Yes vote. To succeed the referendum must gain a double majority, which is a yes vote from the majority of Australians and also the majority of states. If every state votes No it would be a significant embarrassment for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with support for Indigenous Constitutional recognition in the form of a Voice sitting at well above 60 per cent in January. LATEST NEWSPOLL ON OCTOBER 13 Voters were asked: On October 14, Australians will decide at a referendum whether to alter the Australian Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration? 'Uncommitted' people were asked the following leaner question: voting at this referendum will be compulsory. While you may change your mind, if you had to choose now, do you approve of this proposed alteration of the Australian Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice? Yes 37 per cent No 57 per cent Don't know 6 per cent Source: The Weekend Australian Newspoll Advertisement Mayo has become one of the leading figures in the Yes campaign. He born on Larrakia country in Darwin and grew up learning to hunt foods with his father and to island dance from the local Torres Strait Islander community of which he was a member. Speaking to the Judicial College of Victoria earlier this year, Mayo said he was a 'really quiet fella' who 'never expected to be doing what I'm doing'. He said he is motivated by a 'dislike of injustice', and learned most of what he knows 'about solidarity and acting collectively' during his near two decades on the wharf. 'My mum and dad weren't engaged in politics in any way,' he said. 'My dad is the type that just wants to get on with it and says what's all the complaining about.' 'It was from the older wharfies [who inspired me]. I learned a lot from those union elders.' Mayo argues a Voice to Parliament would enhance the nation's democracy and boost our social standing among the rest of the world. Mayo has become one of the most prominent campaigners in the Voice after contributing to the creation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017 Despite criticism from the right, Mayo said Indigenous Australians 'are not heard right now... not a priority because we have no democratic effect'. He argued gaps in life expectancy and higher incarceration rates further prove his point. 'For me, it means justice,' he said. 'It means recognising what should have been recognised from the very beginning when Cook arrived.' He helped to create the Uluru Statement from the Heart, arguing that his people have 'always put through proposals to have political representation - a voice, essentially'. 'We did the hard work. All of that consensus building, the debates, the passionate discussions to compromise amongst ourselves. The nature of consensus is never getting everything that everyone wants.' Australians are being asked to alter the constitution to recognize the 'First Peoples of Australia' by establishing an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. The committee comprised of and chosen by Indigenous Australians would advise the Parliament and government on issues that affect the nations most disadvantaged ethnic minority. Indigenous Australians account for only 3.8% of Australias population. But they die on average eight years younger than the wider population, have a suicide rate twice that of the national average and suffer from diseases in the remote Outback that have been eradicated from other wealthy countries. Mr Albanese on Friday cited the Israel-Hamas war to underscore why Australians should vote 'yes' out of kindness toward the Indigenous population. 'This week of all weeks where we see such trauma in the world, there is nothing - no cost - to Australians showing kindness, thinking with their heart as well as their head, when they enter the polling booth tomorrow and vote `yes,' Albanese said. 'Kindness costs nothing. Thinking of others costs nothing. This is a time where Australians have that opportunity to show the generosity of spirit that I see in the Australian character where at the worst of times we always see the best of the Australian character,' Albanese added. Opposition leader Peter Dutton said polling showing declining support for the referendum over the past year was evidence Albanese failed to convince voters of the benefits of the Voice. 'Hes instinctively won their hearts because Australians do want better outcomes for Indigenous Australians, but he hasnt won their minds,' Dutton told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Both the Yes and No camps have made their final pitches to Australians ahead of the vote The result may not be known on the night of October 14 but could be too close to call Indigenous activist Robbie Thorpe drew attention to Indigenous division over the Voice this week by applying for a High Court injunction to stop the referendum. 'The referendum is an attack on Aboriginal Sovereignty,' Thorpe said in a statement on Friday. But the High Court said his writ had been rejected on Thursday on the grounds that it appeared to be an abuse of the court process, frivolous, vexatious or outside the courts jurisdiction. Thorpe is among so-called progressive 'no' campaigners who argue an Indigenous committee with no power of veto over legislation is not a sufficiently radical change. Many progressives argue the constitution should more importantly acknowledge that Indigenous Australians never ceded their land to British colonizers and a treaty was a higher priority than a Voice. Conservative 'no' campaigners argue the Voice is too radical and the courts could interpret its powers in unpredictable ways. Some Indigenous people dont have faith that the Voices membership would represent their diverse priorities. 'Yes' campaigner Kyam Maher, an Indigenous man who is South Australia states attorney general, said the question he was most often asked by thousands of voters was what result Indigenous Australians wanted. 'I can say absolutely and overwhelmingly Aboriginal people want their fellow Australians to vote `yes tomorrow,' Maher said. A Russian journalist who protested against the Ukraine war live on air says she is 'feeling much better' after she was rushed to hospital in France after a suspected poisoning. Marina Ovsyannikova, 45, called emergency services yesterday and was hospitalised after suddenly falling ill as she left her Paris apartment and said she suspected she had been poisoned. However, Ovsyannikova said today that tests had revealed that this was not the case. 'I'm feeling much better now,' she posted on Telegram. 'Most of the test results are back. There are no toxic substances in the blood. We're not talking about poisoning.' No white powder had been found, she added, contrary to what was first reported. Marina Ovsyannikova, 45, called emergency services yesterday and was hospitalised after suddenly falling ill as she left her Paris apartment and said she suspected she was poisoned. However, Ovsyannikova said today that tests had revealed that this was not the case Ovsyannikova drew international attention in March 2022 after appearing behind the anchor of an evening news broadcast with a sign that said, 'Stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here' 'The deterioration of my condition was so sudden that the French police decided to investigate,' she said, posting from what appeared to be her hospital bed. She said prosecutors opening an investigation was 'not surprising, since Putin's Russia has long been associated with war and the poisoning of politicians and journalists'. Ovsyannikova, who worked at Russian state television Channel One, drew international attention in March last year after appearing behind the anchor of an evening news broadcast with a sign that said, 'Stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.' She was charged with disparaging the Russian military and fined 30,000 rubles (253). She later staged a protest near the Kremlin in July last year. She was detained and placed under house arrest before escaping to France with her daughter. 'I'm feeling much better now,' Ovsyannikova posted on Telegram. 'Most of the test results are back. There are no toxic substances in the blood. We're not talking about poisoning' 'The deterioration of my condition was so sudden that the French police decided to investigate,' Ovsyannikova said Earlier this month, a Moscow court sentenced her to eight and a half years in prison in absentia for spreading false information about the Russian army. It was the latest example of a Russian crackdown on dissent that has intensified since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 20 months ago. The scale of the crackdown has been unprecedented in post-Soviet Russia. Several high-profile opposition politicians have said they were poisoned for political reasons, including Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza. The government of Germany, where Navalny recovered, said tests provides clear proof that he was poisoned by a chemical nerve agent Novichok. The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed claims that it has targeted critics in this way. But it has ramped up pressure on independent media and NGOs, with many declared foreign agents or shut down under fear of prosecution. This is the chilling moment a gun obsessive who plotted a Dunblane-style massacre smiled eerily at investigators during a police interview, while refusing to comment over his abhorrent plans. 'Model' Lidl employee Reed Wischhusen, 32, was arrested by police after charging at them with a pistol at his home in the sleepy Somerset village of Wick St Lawrence last November. A search of his house revealed an 'armoury' of firearms, explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition in his shed - as well as a chilling document on his computer setting out his 'revenge' plan. Footage from his police interview shows Wischhusen grinning at detectives and replying 'no comment' as they pore over the horrific details of his plot. Driven by a 'macabre interest' in killers such as Raoul Moat and Thomas Hamilton - who shot dead 16 pupils and a teacher at a school in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996 - Wischhusen intended to visit carnage on several locations across the West Country. His 'hitman-style attack' included a kill list of a dozen people, including primary school bullies, teachers he disliked and police staff who had denied him a firearms licence. Wischhusen smiled eerily at investigators during a police interview, while refusing to comment over his abhorrent plans Bodycam footage of police arresting Reed Wischhusen at his home near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on November 28 last year Wischhusen had drawn up a 'kill-list' of former classmates and others he wanted to target, a jury was told Reed Wischhusen (right) appearing at Bristol Crown Court during one of the hearings of his trial Such was the depth of his grudge, some of the targets on his list could barely remember Wischhusen from school when they were later contacted by police, it can now be revealed. The gun nut's plot involved shooting several targets, disguised in a wig and make-up, before murdering teachers and throwing bombs at his old primary school in Weston-super-Mare and then attacking Avon and Somerset Police headquarters in Bristol. 'Revenge on my mind, it's a powerful motivator,' Wischhusen's document began. But, on November 28 last year, five officers visited Wischhusen's home after receiving a chance tip-off about him converting blank firearms into lethal weapons. The warehouse worker excused himself to go to the toilet, moments later sending the officers into panic when they heard the sound of a gun being cocked and fired. Wischhusen had unsuccessfully tried to kill himself with a shot to the head only to emerge wielding his pistol and begin running down the stairs at two armed officers, who shot and apprehended him. The officers said they had feared for their life. The wannabe killer survived his injuries after four months in hospital and, on Thursday, was found guilty of a string of weapons offences by a jury at Bristol Crown Court. The pistol which Reed Wischhusen confronted police with at his home in Wick St Lawrence Pictured: Officers at Wischhusen's Somerset home on November 29 last year Following a trial he was convicted of charges including possessing explosive substances with intent to endanger life, possessing a pistol with intent to endanger life and possessing ammunition with intent to endanger life. During his evidence, Wischhusen had tried to portray himself as a fantasist who was only interested in guns as a hobby and had no intention of trying to use them. He claimed he had run at police with the firearm so they would shoot him dead. One of his viable guns was an antique bolt-action rifle from the 19th Century, while the pistol he tried to turn on himself was a blank-firing gun he had successfully converted in his dilapidated outhouse, using DIY guides from the internet. He bizarrely claimed during evidence that he was 'going to make some mind-control substance and launch it at the police' using a rocket launcher, but abandoned the plan. But prosecutors argued that the 'revenge' document had outlined his murderous intentions - and said he was 'building' the weaponry needed to turn it into a reality. In it, he wrote that the first phase would be a 'hitman-style attack' where he would use a range of disguises to give him a 'more Arab look'. He said he begin by using a 'converted pistol with a silencer' for the ten named victims. He then outlined different scenarios for the next phase of his attack. One included a 'diversion stage' where he would 'get back at the school, walk in and shoot a few teachers dead, and throw a pipe bomb or two to stir things up.' Reed Wischhusen, 32, (dressed in a police costume) has been convicted of plotting a Dunblane-style massacre against school bullies and police with an arsenal of DIY firearms built in his shed Pictured: The 'Revenge' document that was seized by police and read out in Bristol Crown Court Police are heard shouting at Mr Wischhusen during a search of his house to 'put the gun down' before firing three shots at him as he came rushing down the stairs Another scenario he wrote would involve triggering the fire alarm at Avon and Somerset Police HQ and 'plant pressure-cooker bombs at the fire assembly point and detonate them, then open fire at staff with submachine guns etc'. He said he would then access the building with a stolen ID before setting up a gas explosion and then committing suicide with the shotgun. He wrote: 'Hopefully the gas explosion would destroy a good chunk of the building just like the Oklahoma bombing in 1995 but a very mini version.' Another scenario he wrote about was to 'ambush and kill (police) staff sitting outside' before going 'room to room shooting at office staff'. He said he would then open fire out the windows and throw pipe bombs while 'remotely detonating the pressure-cooker bombs planted around the building' before taking his own life. He wrote: 'This sounds the best one - a Columbine-style attack.' He also documented the huge arsenal of weapons - including homemade guns and explosives and other equipment - he would use in the attacks. In the document, he also wrote: 'Yes, revenge is on my mind it's a powerful motivator, be nice to get back at the people who caused me stress and worry over the years it's been eating away at my brain like cancer.' The trial heard that alongside his firearms he also stored vast quantities of chemicals that could be used to create 'IEDs', a court heard. Adam Vaitilingam KC, defending, tried to present Wischhusen's murderous plot as the 'fantasies of a man who, frankly, did not have much else going on'. Yet jurors also heard that Wischhusen had been taking the homemade pistol to work in his jacket pocket for months, fully loaded. Troublingly, he had even managed to get hold of an Avon and Somerset Police badge and took a picture of himself wearing a police uniform and posing with a gun. Jonathan Rees KC, prosecuting, said Wischhusen 'fantasised about having his own gun for a long time and he made that fantasy a reality'. 'He fantasised about having a working sub-machine gun capable of lethal force for a long time - and he made that a reality,' he continued. 'He fantasised about having a working automatic handgun and he made that a reality - capable of lethal force and with live ammunition to go with it. 'Reed Wischhusen's fantasises are so inherently dangerous. Indulging in them itself was dangerous and put other people's lives in danger.' Wischhusen will be sentenced on December 15. Perfume giant Jo Malone distanced itself from company founder Jo Malone and son after it was revealed that he was a leader in a pro-Palestinian group at Harvard that blamed Israel for Hamas' brutal assault on the Jewish state this week. 'This is an extremely difficult time for everyone and please know we do not condone violence of any kind. At this time, we would like to clarify that Jo Malone the individual has not been affiliated with the Jo Malone London brand since 2006. We continue to lead with kindness,' the company said in a statement. On Thursday, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Malone's son, Josh Willcox, is one of three leaders of the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, a group that 'hold[s] the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.' Malone sold her eponymous brand to cosmetics giant Estee Lauder in 1999. At the time writing, Malone herself has not condemned her son's group's statements. In a statement to DailyMail.com Jo said: 'We as a family are heartbroken by the events of recent days and strongly condemn all forms of violence. Perfume giant Jo Malone issued this statement less than 24 hours after DailyMail.com uncovered Josh Wilcox's on-campus activities Josh Willcox (left) son of perfume mogul Jo Malone (center) is listed as one of three Harvard students who run the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. He is also pictured with his father Gary Willcox at a ritzy London party in 2017 Both his parents relocated to Dubai where they run the multi-million-dollar company. Willcox studies Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations with history at the University 'The abhorrent attack on innocent people on Saturday in Israel is beyond what any family should endure.' 'We again strongly condemn all forms of violence and those that incite it. We have always acted with a heart for people wanting always to strive towards a peaceful solution to any conflict. 'This is an horrendous moment in our history where innocent people are paying the greatest price with their lives. It is utterly heartbreaking and must stop. 'As a family our hearts goes out to all those suffering terrible losses at this time and we send untold gratitude to all those selflessly risking their lives for others. We call upon all leaders to find a humanitarian resolution for all,' the statement read. Willcox's group's statements game came as dozens of colleges, including those in Ivy League, saw student activist groups express support for Hamas' actions. The household name said it was the only comment she would be making and did not address her son's direct links to the sickening statement from the group. In its latest comments the PSC bemoaned the lack of support they were getting from the university, saying the administration 'invests in Israeli apartheid'. 'The ongoing discourse centered on Harvard diverts focus from the relentless carnage in Gaza, a dire situation which our joint statement urgently warned about,' it said. Willcox is listed as one of the three officers in charge of the group on Harvard's official student organization directory The letter caused a massive backlash after 34 student societies backed the statement written by the PSC 'holding the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence' Willcox's fellow Palestine Solidarity Committee member Sanaa Kahloon subsequently spoke to the Harvard Crimson student newspaper confirming the group had no regrets over the controversial letter - while even doubling down on it. Kahloon said the organization 'rejects the accusation' its initial statement was 'supportive of civilian deaths'. Speaking for the group, Kahloon, said their mission should be 'obvious', adding the 'PSC staunchly opposes violence against civilians Palestinian, Israeli, or other.' 'The statement aims to contextualize the apartheid and colonial system while explicitly lamenting 'the devastating and rising civilian toll' in its caption,' she added in a separate Crimson story. Willcox is pictured in a Harvard student directory photo. He is one of three members of the committee that's taken responsibility for an outrageous statement on Hamas' attacks on Israel 'It is unacceptable that Palestinians and groups supporting them are always expected to pre-empt their statements with condemnation of violence.' Willcox studies Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations with history, with his mother telling media earlier this year he specializes in Arabic. He is a talented fencer who competes for Harvard and is the only son of the cologne and candle mogul and her husband Gary Willcox. Malone sold her eponymous company to Estee Lauder in 1999 for undisclosed millions and no longer has any ties to it. The serial-entrepreneur set up another successful scent company called JoLoves in 2011. Willcox attended the elite Latymer Upper School in London, whose famed former students include Hugh Grant. Fees for the day school are around $30,000-a-year. He spent part of his childhood in New York, with his self-made mom also owning a $9.3million apartment in a Knightsbridge square - lauded as one of London's most desirable. His upbringing is in stark contrast to that of Malone, who grew up in public housing in a London suburb, suffered from dyslexia and left school aged just 13 to care for her mother after she suffered a stroke. Willcox's parents now live in Dubai, where they run their successful JoLoves business. Willcox has published at least three articles on Palestine for the Harvard Crimson, writing 'To the Editor: When Will You Stop Silencing Palestine?', in February along with a third leader of the organization, Shraddha Joshi. DailyMail.com has contacted Jo Malone, Jo Loves, Willcox and the two other named leaders of the Undergraduate Palestinian Solidarity Committee for comment. Students supporting the PSC marched on campus, with a host of blue chip CEO's declaring those involved as 'unemployable', and The Anti-Defamation League denounced the statement as 'anti-Semitic' The Harvard statement it has continued to support was widely-condemned after blaming Israel for attacks that have killed at least 1,200 Israelis, including 25 Americans. It focused heavily on the then-anticipated Israeli military onslaught in Gaza, with critics branding the missive tasteless and inflammatory. Willcox's fellow committee member Kahloon is a sophomore and a dual-major in Molecular and Cellular Biology with Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Joshi, who penned several articles with Willcox, is an intern with Amnesty International and a social studies major. She spent time in Palestine in 2022, and in a blog post took aim at Harvard and the media for supporting Ukraine amid Russia's invasion but ignoring the ongoing situation in Gaza. 'When the victims of violence aren't white and when their existence disrupts American geopolitical interests the circumstances of their murder suddenly becomes too complex to speak of,' she wrote. 'But what can possibly be 'complex' about the killing of a five-year-old child? When a Palestinian journalist is assassinated, things somehow become 'ambiguous'.' The letter was signed by a host of Harvard student groups - but without students' signatures included. The names of the groups themselves have since been scrubbed in a move they claim will boost signatories 'safety.' Many members of those groups have since sought to disavow it, claiming it was signed without their knowledge. Others say they regret the strident stance and have retracted their support. The initial statement from the PSC caused a huge backlash, with a host of blue chip CEO's declaring those involved as 'unemployable', and The Anti-Defamation League denounced the statement as 'anti-Semitic' The group promoted their protests openly on social media, parading around the campus with banners that stated, 'Harvard Supports Israeli Apartheid.' Two other Palestinian Solidary Committee members, Eva Frazier and Kawsar Yasin, previously spoke of their involvement with the group in September. Frazier and Yasin, who are both involved in the Institutes of Politics Program at the university, told the Harvard Independent that they were 'disappointed' in the political engagement at the university. Yasin also reposted an image of Palestine on Saturday, after the attacks had taken place, with a quote from Malcom X which said: 'If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people being oppressed and loving those doing the oppressing.' Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Israel to provide yet another high-powered show of U.S. support after the Hamas attack as the Israel Defense Forces prepare for a possible ground invasion and told 1 million residents of northern Gaza to evacuate. 'This is no time for neutrality, or for false equivalence, or for excuses for the inexcusable,' he said standing beside Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant at a press conference in Tel Aviv. 'There is never any justification for terrorism. And thats especially true of this rampage by Hamas,' he added. Austin's demonstration of U.S. military backing comes after the nation's top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, held emotional encounters with Israelis who experienced the gruesome Hamas attack Saturday first-hand. Officials traveling with him said he wants to underscore unwavering U.S. support for the people of Israel and that the U.S. will follow through on President Biden's order to provide the country 'has what it needs.' A more direct demonstration comes in the high-powered weapons of war that have already streamed toward Israel. The U.S. has already dispatched one aircraft carrier group, the USS Gerald R. Ford, with the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group departing Norfolk, Virginia Friday. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (L) meets with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (R) in Tel Aviv. ''This is no time for neutrality, or for false equivalence, or for excuses for the inexcusable,' Austin said during his Friday visit Austin met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and was also to meet with Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. A Pentagon official said the U.S. has already given Israel small diameter bombs while helping restock interceptor drones for its Iron Dome as it contents with a barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza. Munitions already dispatched are expected to arrive Friday. The trip comes after Austin huddled with NATO allies in Brussels, as the US seeks to coordinate the conflicts in the Middle East while shoring up Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion. His visit comes as Israel's IDF dropped flyers over northern Gaza ordering more than one million people to 'evacuate your homes immediately' ahead of a possible ground invasion meant to wipe out Hamas. Hamas is telling Palestinians to stay home, and its health minister is warning of a humanitarian catastrophe. Austin's show of support comes as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gaza. Her in a handout photo he meets with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (C) and Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi (R) Austin's trip came on a day more military supplies arrived in Israel The USS Eisenhower, seen here in February, is set to depart Norfolk on Friday Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is in Israel in another show of US support for its ally, as it prepares for a possible ground invasion following the gruesome Hamas attack The U.S. is positioning a potent arsenal in the Middle East as Israeli Defense Forces continued to pound targets inside Gaza six days after the Hamas terror attack on its soil. With President Biden and his security team warning Iran and other state and non-state actors not to try to take advantage of the situation, the Pentagon is dispatching air and ground capabilities in addition to the two air craft carrier groups that will soon be operating together in the eastern Mediterranean. The capabilities include special operators and advisors to the Israelis on hostage recovery, special surveillance aircraft, and aircraft carrier groups armed with modern fighter jets as well hospital facilities with dozens of medics and doctors. It comes as Israel massed an estimated 300,000 reserve forces on the border with Gaza in preparation for a possible ground invasion. Such a move would involve vicious street fighting against Hamas militants, and could bring military reprisals from outside Israel. The military is also taking precautions, with a highly trained special operations Marine Corps unit turning away from planned training exercises in Kuwait 'as a result of emerging events.' Exercises were to have begun the day after the Hamas attack. As a result the amphibious ship USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, which were set to take part, are 'are no longer in vicinity of Kuwait,' the Marine Corps Times reported, and were recently off the coast of Bahrain. The USS Gerald R. Ford arrived off the coast of Israel Wednesday. A second carrier group departs Norfolk Friday. The Ford is sean in Halifax Oct. 28 Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who consoled Israeli terror victims and met with Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday, told the Israeli Prime Minister Thursday that 'you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to ... We will always be there by your side.' The U.S. has already shipped millions of rounds of ammunition and Iron Dome interceptors to resupply its ally amid continued rocket attacks from Gaza. The White House said its estimate that less than a handful American hostages are being held in Gaza remains unchanged, with little information on their condition or whereabouts. They are among the estimated 150 hostages Hamas fighters took back into the territory after rampaging inside Israel. The following firepower is already on its way to the region: A Marine Corps special operations unit nixed exercises and has reported to be off the coast of Bahrain USS Gerald Ford arrived off the coast of Israel Wednesday; USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group departs Friday Within hours of the horrific attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needs to respond. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the 'world's largest warship, arrived in the area Wednesday. A second U.S. carrier strike group departs from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday. Scores of aircraft are heading to U.S. military bases around the Middle East. And special operations forces are now assisting Israel's military in planning and intelligence. The buildup reflects U.S. concern that the deadly fighting between Hamas and Israel could escalate into a more dangerous regional conflict. So the primary mission for those ships and warplanes for now is to establish a force presence that deters Hezbollah, Iran or others from taking advantage of the situation. But the forces the U.S. sent are capable of more than that. The U.S. is also expediting the shipment of munitions and interceptors for Israel's fight against Hamas. A look at what weapons and options the U.S. military could provide: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is headed to Israel Friday The U.S. is providing some personnel and much-needed munitions to Israel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that a small cell of special operations forces was now assisting Israel with intelligence and planning. They have not been tasked with hostage rescue, contrary to some reporting, a defense official said, but could if they were requested to do so. Austin is headed to Israel, where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. is also getting U.S. defense companies to expedite weapons orders by Israel that were already on the books. Chief among those is getting munitions for Israel's Iron Dome air defense system sped along. The Gerald R. Ford The Ford carries F-18 fighter jets that could fly intercepts or strike targets President Joe Biden said Tuesday that resupplying Iron Dome munitions and air defense systems was an immediate priority. "Were surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome," Biden said. "Were going to make sure that Israel does not run out of these critical assets to defend its cities and its citizens." Iron Domes missiles target rockets that approach one of its cities. According to Raytheon, Israel has 10 Iron Dome systems in place to protect its cities. Beginning with Saturday's attack, Hamas has fired more than 5,000 rockets at Israel, most of which the system has been able to intercept, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Raytheon produces most of the missile components for Iron Dome in the U.S., and the Army has two Iron Dome systems in its stockpile. One of the most visible examples of the U.S. response was the announcement Sunday by the Pentagon to redirect the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to sail toward Israel. The carrier had just completed an exercise with the Italian Navy when the ship and its crew of about 5,000 were ordered to quickly sail to the Eastern Mediterranean. E2-Hawkeye surveillance planes to warn of missile launches and 'manage' airspace The carrier provides a host of options. It's a primary command and control operations center and can conduct information warfare. It can launch and recover E2-Hawkeye surveillance planes, recognized by their 24-foot (7-meter) diameter disc-shaped radar. The planes provide early warnings on missile launches, conduct surveillance and manage the airspace, detecting not only enemy aircraft but also directing U.S. movements. The Ford carries F-18 fighter jets that could fly intercepts or strike targets. The carrier also has significant capabilities for humanitarian work, including an onboard hospital with an ICU and emergency room and about 40 medics, surgeons and doctors. It sails with helicopters that can be used to airlift critical supplies in or victims out. On Friday, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group will leave its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, and sail for the Mediterranean, potentially doubling the Navy's Israel response. The Eisenhower had already been scheduled to deploy to the Mediterranean on a regular rotation, and the Ford is near the end of its deployment. But the Biden administration may decide to extend the Fords deployment and keep both strike groups out there, White House spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. A-10s, F-15s and F-16s will bolster existing squadrons throughout the Middle East The Pentagon has also ordered additional warplanes to bolster existing squadrons of A-10, F-15 and F-16 aircraft at bases throughout the Middle East and is ready to add more if needed. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Tuesday at an Atlantic Council event that the service was doubling up by directing units that were about to come home to remain in place and stay there along with their replacements. The U.S. Air Force already has significant airpower in the region to conduct manned and unmanned operations, most notably in Syria where an Air Force F-16 last week was ordered to shoot down a Turkish drone that was posing a threat to U.S. ground forces operating there. The U.S. has also positioned A-10 Thunderbolt's, known as 'Warthogs' in the region. They were used during Operation Desert Storm Military transport taking personnel OUT of Israel Kendall also said U.S. Air Force C-17s have landed in and departed from Israel since the attacks. The transport planes were picking up U.S. military personnel who were there for a military exercise that hadn't started yet when the attacks began, the Air Force said in a statement. Neither the Air Force nor Central Command would comment on what additional missions U.S. airpower might take on in response to the conflict. A female British Army staff sergeant was demoted after pulling down her colleague's trousers, yanking her underwear and licking her face during a Skype call, a court martial heard. Staff Sergeant Kayleigh Preston allegedly pulled down the lower-ranked soldier's trousers at work while she was on a Skype video call. She then allegedly grabbed Sergeant Louise St Louis's underwear and pointed out it matched the colour of her trousers, the hearing was told. At another meeting Sgt Preston licked her junior colleague's forehead, but claimed it was just 'banter'. She was later disciplined and found guilty of ill-treatment of a subordinate which led to her being reduced in rank to sergeant and ordered to pay her victim 800. Sgt Preston is now appealing the decision. The hearing at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, was told Sgt St Louis started working at the Army Welfare Service in Tidworth, Wiltshire, in November 2021. Staff Sergeant Kayleigh Preston (pictured) allegedly pulled down a lower-ranked soldier's trousers at work while she was on a Skype video call Sergeant Louise St Louis (pictured) has claimed that Sgt Preston pulled her underwear and pointed out it matched the colour of her trousers She told the hearing that last year, Sgt Preston - who was her supervisor - approached her while she was on a Skype call giving 'therapeutic' advice work. 'Whilst I was on the call, Staff Sergeant Preston walked into the office,' she said. 'I didn't really know what was going on behind me. '[Sgt Preston] pulled my shirt from my trousers and whilst using one hand to keep my shirt lifted, lowered my trousers using her other hand. 'At which point she then grabbed my underwear and pulled it out, and whilst doing so, said "You are wearing blue underwear".' Sgt St Louis cannot recall the specific date but said it happened on a Friday - a day in which staff members are allowed to wear 'civilian clothing'. She added: 'I was wearing a white shirt with blue smart trousers. 'A comment was made about my underwear because I was wearing blue underwear - the same as my trousers.' Sgt St Louis said she was 'so engrossed' in her Skype call that she 'didn't know what to do'. After Sgt Preston left the office, she said to her colleague, 'What the f***'. The hearing was told that when the pair started to work together, their relationship was good, but it deteriorated over time. After the incident, Sgt St Louis said she didn't report it because she didn't want to 'ruffle feathers'. The appeal hearing was told of another incident where Sgt Preston behaved inappropriately to her subordinate during a Monday morning meeting in June 2022. Sgt Kayleigh Preston pictured outside Bulford Military Court Centre Sgt St Louis said the incident occurred during the 'usual team meeting', adding: 'As usual we all grabbed a chair and headed into the office. 'When I sat in my chair, Kayleigh walked into the office and, in a dragging motion, licked the right-hand side of my forehead. Kayleigh then sat down.' The hearing was presented with diary extracts from a '2021/2022' notebook which was kept by Sgt St Louis to jot down things that happened at work. The Sergeant had written notes saying 'Underwear pulled', 'Forehead licked', and 'Toxic team dynamic'. Eventually, Sgt St Louis filed a complaint against her supervisor. Warrant Officer Rebecca Sugden - who is in charge of Sgt Preston - blamed the toxic working environment on Sgt St Louis. She told the court: 'The dynamic worked really well but there was a period of time where it didn't work as well. 'The team dynamic was working well until Sgt St Louis entered the team. Then, the dynamic changed quite quickly - it became toxic.' Major Sarah Gerrard, prosecuting, said that on October 18, 2022, Sgt Preston was interviewed under caution by military police. Major Gerrard said: 'She admitted she licked the complainant on the forehead but she denied grabbing and pulling her underwear.' In a summary hearing earlier this year, Sgt Preston was charged with ill-treatment of a subordinate for pulling Sgt St Louis's underwear and licking her face. Sgt Preston was punished by a reduction in rank from Staff Sergeant to Sergeant and was ordered to pay Sgt St Louis 800. Defending, Derek Johashen, said Sgt Preston did lick the woman but it was in fact during a hug. He said: 'It was just more of the same banter that would go on in the office.' In response, Sgt St Louis said: 'I don't think that licking a forehead is banter. A hug is a hug, but licking someone's forehead is different.' The hearing continues. Her false allegations led her ex-partner to be arrested and questioned on four separate occasions by two different police forces A mother who put her ex-partner 'though hell' with false rape and assault claims has been jailed for more than three years at Northampton Crown Court. Sinead Nelson, 28, from Irthlingborough alleged on multiple occasions that she had been raped, assaulted, and received malicious messages from her former partner. Her fake allegations led to him being arrested and questioned on four separate occasions, by two different police forces. The emotional distress he experienced because of her false accusations lost him his home, job, friendships and support from his family. In his victim statement, he said that Nelson had previously threatened to destroy his life, and in his view, she had succeeded. Sinead Nelson, 28, also known as Kylie Howard, made false rape and assault allegations against her former partner On September 11 2020 she reported to police that her ex-partner had contacted her on Snapchat and threatened to rape and kill her, as well as threatening her children. Not even a month later, Nelson, also known as Kylie Howard, made a second report to Northamptonshire Police alleging the same man had again threatened to kill her. She told officers he sent her a photo of her home and said he was going to turn up there to rape her and burn her alive. Police immediately arrested her ex-partner and rehoused Nelson as an emergency case and gave her a new phone. But her lies were finally exposed when it became clear that the image of her home she claimed her ex had sent her had actually been lifted from the property website Zoopla. Officers then discovered that she had not only sent the threatening Snapchat messages to herself, but had made two complaints about her ex to the Metropolitan Police in July and August 2020 when she was living in London. Nelson admitted one charge of intending to pervert the course of public justice, namely making false allegations and destroying evidence concerning a police investigation between July 9 and November 6, 2020. Northampton Crown Court where Nelson was sentenced to 37 months imprisonment for perverting the course of public justice Detective Constable Eleanor Hudson, of Northamptonshire Police, said: 'Over five months in 2020, Sinead Nelson put her former partner through hell by claiming to be a victim of sexual violence, abuse and threats at his hands, when in fact she had been creating false accounts using his name and hacking into his email to send herself abusive and threatening messages. 'These included shocking threats of violent rape, serious assault, arson and child destruction, and also appeared to indicate stalking as well. 'As a result, Nelson was initially treated as a high-risk domestic abuse victim and at serious risk of murder, resulting in emergency safeguarding measures being put in place. 'However, it didn't take long for us to find digital and physical evidence to prove this man could not have been responsible for the things she claimed, and her lies about him began to unravel - but not before he had been put through the distressing experience of being arrested and questioned on four separate occasions. 'In his victim statement, the man detailed the horrendous impact this has all had on him, including considerable emotional distress about what he had been accused of, the loss of friendships and family support as a result, having to leave his home, and losing his job - all against the backdrop of Covid, which further exacerbated his isolation. 'He told us that Nelson had threatened to destroy his life, and in his view, she succeeded. 'I very much hope that now she has admitted her guilt and has been given a prison sentence, he is able to continue moving towards a more positive future.' Advertisement Pro-Palestinian protesters chanted 'resistance is justified' as they gathered in Times Square on Friday for a major anti-Israel protest on what Hamas is calling a 'global day of jihad'. The crowds, many of them covering their faces, marched from Baruch College to Times Square for the 3pm protest where they joined a larger group and were met with a smaller number of Jewish counter-protesters. 'Resistance is justified when people are occupied!' they chanted, labeling Israelis 'settlers' and telling them to 'go back home'. 'If we don't get no justice, then they don't get no peace!' sang one of the event organizers. Two people - one Palestinian protester and one Jewish - were arrested for fighting at the scene. At 5pm, the crowd is expected to leave Times Square to march to the Israeli Consulate. The NYPD shut down East 42nd Street with 5th Avenue, and diverted traffic, NBC reported. New Yorkers were also notified of disruptions around Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, near Prospect Park. There is an enormous police presence at the scene, with National Guardsmen also on standby should the protest escalate into violence, as others in European cities did earlier in the day. Israel has issued a grave warning to Palestinians to evacuate Gaza within 24 hours before it proceeds with a ground assault. Every NYPD uniformed officer in the force - some 33,000 - has been called onto active duty for the day amid heightened fears of an attack or unrest. Officers are standing guard outside Yeshivas and synagogues to offer protection to the Jewish community, many of whom kept a low profile on Friday for fear of violence. Pro-Palestine protesters are seen in New York City on Friday Women holding 'Free Palestine' signs and 'End the Occupation' are pictured on Friday in New York Muslims are seen praying on Friday at a pro-Palestine rally in New York City Palestinian protestors gather in Times Square in response to the war between Hamas and Israel on October 13, 2023 in New York City East 42nd Street at 5th Avenue is actually blocked off. Traffic is being diverted. Id estimate at least 5,000 Palestinian protesters @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/xhQYgY6jc5 Deon J. Hampton (@deonjhampton) October 13, 2023 A pro-Palestine protester marches in Times Square on Friday as hundreds gather on what Hamas is calling a 'global day of jihad' A woman marches through Times Square with a Free Palestine sign on Friday afternoon Pro-Palestine protesters gather in New York City to begin a march headed towards Times Square on Friday 13th. The city is on heightened alert after a former Hamas leader called for a worldwide day of 'jihad' Crowds gather in Times Square on Friday at a pro-Palestine rally. Tensions in New York City were heightened throughout the day as the conflict in Israel intensified In Chicago, police have bolstered their presence around synagogues and Jewish schools after a bomb threat earlier this week. White House officials insist there is no specific domestic threat, but say police and intelligence systems will continue to be on high alert. In France, a teacher has been killed and others wounded in a suspected terror-fueled knife attack. Lt. Randy Sutton, a 34-year police veteran and founder of The Wounded Blue, an organization that assists officers who are injured in the line of duty, told DailyMail.com the threat is unprecedented. 'There's a huge risk at this moment. We have cities across not just the US but the whole world, that are facing something that is basically, we've never faced before. Supporters of Palestine take part in a rally in New York City on October 13, 2023. The protesters were escorted by NYPD officers on mopeds Hundreds flooded into Times Square today to take part in the protest, the largest in New York City A small group of Israeli counter-protesters turned up to confront the pro-Palestinian group. They were separated by a road and held back by NYPD officers Israeli counter-protesters met pro-Palestinian protesters in Times Square on Friday Among the protesters' demands was that the US cut aid to Israel and allow the 'resistance' to continue NYPD officers observe the crowds in Times Square on Friday as hundreds of anti-Israel protesters descended on the streets Among the protesters were some Jews who called for an end to the 'genocide' of Palestine A counter-protester who showed up to support Israel was arrested at Baruch College after fighting with another man there The pro-Palestine protester who was arrested is shown being put in handcuffs. He fought with a pro-Israel counter-protester Pro-Palestine protesters gather in Manhattan on Friday ahead of a planned rally in Times Square A female protester carries a sign calling for an end to 'Israel's apartheid' on Friday, October 13th The demonstrators prayed before marching towards Times Square on Friday afternoon The majority of the protesters are young students attending CUNY schools around the city. Many covered their faces before the rally Students carrying signs reading SHAME ON CUNY (City University of New York) and 'Palestine will never die' outside Baruch College in Manhattan this afternoon Anti-Israel protesters carrying Starbucks stand before a Palestinian flag on Friday in the early hours of a NYC protest A young Muslim man prays before a pro-Palestine protest in New York City on Friday afternoon 'A call from a terror organization as effectively attacked the country of Israel, now they're trying to utilize that attack to bring threats to the rest of the world, the unfortunate reality is because of the mass migrations across not just Europe but also the us, we're now at an incredible risk of violence taking place,' he said. Despite local officials saying there is no 'specific' threat to any individual city, Lt. Sutton said the calling for a 'global day of rage' or jihad is specific enough. 'There are specific threats. There is no doubt about it. When there is a call for jihad across the world, that is a specific threat. Dozens of NYPD officers listen to a briefing before a planned pro-Palestine protest in Times Square. Every uniformed officer in the force has been called onto duty today NYPD officers gather on 42nd street for a briefing before planned pro-Palestine protests, Manhattan An Israeli flag is displayed in New York City's Times Square on Friday before scheduled pro-Palestine protests this afternoon National Guard provide security at Grand Central Station, Manhattan, New York. 13 October 2023 after being put on alert to assist the NYPD An NYPD officer stationed outside a synagogue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Friday 13th A member of the New York Police Department patrols in front of the synagogue Congregation Bais Yaakov Nechamia Dsatmar in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn Police presence at Temple Emanuel on Upper East Side in NYC 'We have seen mobs of people spitting on police officers, calling for violence....when there is a mob mentality like - with the looting that has taken place in American cities - then you have religion involved...we've seen not just an acceptance of these brutal bloody massacres, but also the encouragement of them from thousands of people across the globe. 'If you can accept that type of violence maniacal, irrational violence then you have placed every citizen in our nation and across the globe in jeopardy.' In Baghdad, tens of thousands of protesters gathered peacefully in protest while others in Malaysia, burned Israeli flags. There are a number of pro-Palestine rallies scheduled for today in New York City, the largest of which is due to take place in Times Square this afternoon. Nearby office buildings have received security alerts about the protest. A police officer with a dog patrols the grounds of the U.S. Capitol U.S. Capitol Police secure the U.S. Capitol Building in response to a call for a 'Day of Rage' on October 13, 2023 Mayor Eric Adams insists there is no specific threat 'Every member of the New York Police Department will be ready and be in uniform tomorrow,' NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told reporters last night, ahead of the event. 'We will not tolerate any hate, any acts of disorder, it will be quelled quickly and we will be ready.' Hochul said the New York National Guard had already been ordered to patrol vital transportation hubs. Across the country, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement saying its officers would assume a higher profile around Jewish and Muslim communities 'during this unimaginable time.' Federal law enforcement agencies were also on alert. Increased police presence outside Barclays Center before a preseason game between the Brooklyn Nets and Maccabi Ra'anana Police patrol a neighborhood in Brooklyn with a large Orthodox Jewish community on October 12, 2023 in New York City. Across New York City and much of the nation, security has increased around synagogues and other Jewish cultural institutions following last weekend's Hamas attacks in Israel 'The FBI is aware of open-source reports about calls for global action on Friday, October 13th, that may lead to demonstrations in communities throughout the United States,' the agency said in a statement. 'The FBI encourages members of the public to remain vigilant.' At least one Arab-American advocacy group pointed to a more hostile posture taken by U.S. law enforcement toward Muslim groups than Jews. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee said on Thursday that FBI agents had paid visits to a number of mosques in different states and individual U.S. residents with Palestinian roots, calling it a 'troubling trend.' 'We have received multiple calls today regarding Palestinian nationals detained by ICE, and/or visited by the FBI,' the national executive director of organization, Abed Ayoub, said on X, formerly called Twitter. BERLIN: A pro-Palestinian demonstrator is detained during a protest PARIS: Clashes between protesters and police in Paris PAKISTAN: Demonstrators burn the flags of Israel (R) and the US (L) during a rally to express solidarity with the Palestinians, in Islamabad Rabbi Yoni Fein, who heads a large Jewish day school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Brauser Maimonides Academy, said 'higher alerts of operations are definitely in place' in anticipation of global protests on Friday. He said the FBI, U.S. homeland security officials and other federal authorities had held online security 'webinars' with Jewish institutions around the country. But Fein said the school was seeking to reassure students they are safe and to go about with their lives. Rather than give in to the heightened anxiety Fein acknowledged was gripping the Jewish community, he said the academy's message to its students and their families was to reassure them that 'their homes are safe, their schools are safe and that their trusted adults are keeping them safe.' Criminals facing short sentences could be spared jail to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is expected to announce a package of measures on Monday which could include a plan to slash the number of offenders sent to jail for less than six months or possibly less than 12 months. Judges and magistrates would adopt a 'presumption' that criminals facing shorter jail terms should instead receive 'robust community orders' designed to rehabilitate them. The measures could apply to offenders including thieves and shoplifters but anyone found guilty of sexual or violent offences would be excluded, the Telegraph reports. Four years ago, former justice secretary David Gauke unveiled plans for the abolition of six-month sentences. These were abandoned by Boris Johnson when he became prime minister in 2019. Similar plans had also been mooted by Rory Stewart. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is expected to announce a package of measures on Monday which could include a plan to slash the number of offenders sent to jail for less than six months or possibly less than 12 months Mr Chalk is also expected to reveal proposals to release hundreds of criminals up to a year early to avoid jails overflowing. Monday's announcement is expected to include a major extension of an electronic tagging scheme, the Mail understands. The 'home detention curfew' tag programme was broadened as recently as February when the amount of time offenders can get off their sentences was increased from four and a half months to six. READ MORE - Revealed: Britain's most overcrowded prisons Advertisement It could now be extended again to as much as 12 months, it is understood. Ministers may have to look at even more sweeping measures, with warnings prisons are almost at maximum capacity. Labour introduced another type of early release scheme in 2007 during a previous prisons crisis which the Government may be forced to emulate. Then, justice secretary Jack Straw allowed inmates with sentences from four weeks to four years to be let out an extra 18 days before the mid-point of their term when they were eligible for automatic release. The 'End Of Custody Licence' scheme saw 80,000 criminals freed early before it was scrapped in the run-up to the 2010 election. At least three murders were committed by freed prisoners during the 18 days they should have been behind bars, according to information gathered by the Tories, who were in opposition at the time. The latest moves will come after judges were told to delay sentencings of all convicted offenders who had been on bail, which could include rapists and burglars. Judges and magistrates would adopt a 'presumption' that criminals facing shorter jail terms should instead receive 'robust community orders' designed to rehabilitate them From Monday, offenders who have been on bail will remain free after conviction until a delayed sentencing hearing can take place. The halt on sentencings is expected to last 'a couple of weeks' until emergency measures create headroom, sources said. Prisons in England and Wales are on the brink of maximum capacity, with 88,016 inmates last Friday leaving just 650 spare spaces. Official data published yesterday showed the Crown Courts had hit a record high of 65,004 cases awaiting trial at the end of August. Labour justice spokesman Shabana Mahmood said: 'We are now seeing the serious repercussions of... ignoring the warnings on the broken criminal justice system. The average annual prison population has quadrupled between 1900 and 2023, going from just over 17,400 to around 83,100 - according to official data A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'We are categorical that the most serious offenders should be sent to prison and that anyone deemed a risk to public safety is remanded in custody while awaiting trial. Reports to the contrary are false. 'This Government has done more than ever before to protect the public and keep sex offenders locked up for longer, ending automatic halfway release for rapists and serious violent offenders and sending rapists to prison for three years longer than in 2010. 'Following the pandemic and barristers' strike, the criminal justice system has seen a significant spike in the prison population, with 6,000 more prisoners on remand than before the pandemic. While we are carrying out the biggest prison-building programme since the Victoria era, and have taken decisive action to expand capacity further by doubling up cells in the short-term, the prison estate remains under pressure. 'The Lord Chancellor will be meeting criminal justice partners later today and setting out a programme of reform in the coming days to ensure that we can continue to strengthen public protection by locking up the most dangerous criminals.' Boris Johnson lays out Israel's 'duty' to root out the threat from Hamas in his new Mail column. The former PM gives a full-hearted endorsement of the country's right to respond to the appalling terrorist attacks, which saw civilians beheaded and hostages taken. But he also cautions at the need to maintain the 'extraordinary' process of reconciliation rumoured to have been happening behind the scenes with states such as Saudi Arabia. Mr Johnson also urges Israel to bear in mind that Hamas want to provoke an 'endless cycle of revenge and violence'. Boris Johnson is writing weekly for the Daily Mail and MailOnline. Picture: MARK HARRISON An Israeli soldier sifts the wreckage at the Kibbutz Beeri, the place where 270 revellers were killed by militants during the Supernova music festival on October 7 Israel has warned civilians to get out of Gaza as it prepares a military campaign - despite concerns from the UN that it is not possible to evacuate everyone in time. In a video teeing up his column - which will be in the Daily Mail tomorrow and on MailOnline this evening - Mr Johnson said: After last weeks barbaric attacks Israel has a right a duty to eliminate all those in Hamas responsible and to make sure that nothing of the kind can happen again. The question is how can Israel do that whilst protecting the extraordinary process of reconciliation thats been taking place between Israel and some Arab states. And how can Israel do this without setting up an endless cycle of revenge and retaliation, which is exactly what Hamas wants. Horrifying footage has captured the moment a Chicago grandfather and hip hop TV host was fatally shot in his driveway while trying to protect his wife. Keltule Meeks, 48, was gunned down during an armed robbery attempt outside his home in Humboldt Park on Tuesday morning. The rapper, known by his stage name Rus T Blade, was well known in Chicago's hip hop scene and fronted the popular music program Urban Grind TV. He leaves behind his wife, two daughters and his grandson. Police said nobody is currently in custody following the horror attack, which was caught on home surveillance cameras. Chicago grandfather Keltule Meeks, 48, aka rapper Rus T Blade was gunned down on his driveway while protecting his wife Police have confirmed nobody is in custody yet following Meeks' murder during an attempted armed robbery In the footage a white Kia can be seen speeding along the street in front of Meeks' home. The vehicle pulls into an alleyway and one of the suspects immediately jumps out of the passenger side brandishing a gun. He advances towards the couple while pointing the weapon directly at them. Seconds later a second suspect, dressed in a dark hooded top, hops out and runs towards the scene. The video cuts out before the fatal shot is fired. Since his death, tributes have poured in for the beloved rapper. John Daniel, a close friend and director at Urban Grind TV who had known Meeks for more than 20 years described him as 'one of the greatest people ever'. He told ABC 7 Chicago: 'That's one of the few things that make sense about him because there's no way he would ever let anything come to his wife. 'They robbed the world of, perhaps, one of the greatest people ever.' Police told the outlet that currently nobody is in custody following the killing. The tragedy is the latest to occur in the crime-ridden city, which has seen robberies and car-jackings soar over the last year under the watch of ultra progressive mayor Brandon Johnson. Johnson previously supported the Defund the Police movement and has been widely criticized for a soft-on-crime approach. Meeks died on Tuesday morning in front of his wife (pictured) following the incident outside their Humboldt home The number of motor vehicle thefts soared from 11,403 to 21,160, while robberies spiked by almost 25 per cent from 5,883 to 7,272 He has since attempted to distance himself from the movement and his latest budget projection keeps funding for police fairly flat, with just a 2.9 per cent rise in spending, WBEZ Chicago reports. This is despite spiraling crime rates, which were up by almost a third in September compared to the same time in 2022. The number of motor vehicle thefts soared from 11,403 to 21,160, while robberies spiked by almost 25 per cent from 5,883 to 7,272. The city's police department also continues to grapple with more than 1,000 vacancies within the force, with recruitment levels largely unchanged since Johnson took over from his disastrous predecessor Lori Lightfoot in May this year. Johnson also faced a furious backlash after he claimed the the city should not 'demonize' teens for organizing an inner-city event that turned descended into violence and ended up with minors being shot. He said that teens who rampaged through Chicago in April deserved sympathy, saying: 'Demonizing children is wrong. We have to keep them safe as well'. More than 1,000 Met officers will attend a pro-Palestine protest in London tomorrow as police ramp up patrols across the UK following Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Thousands of people are expected to descend on London to march in solidarity with Palestine, with a march starting at Portland Place at 12pm before finishing in Whitehall at about 3pm. The Met also has 1,000 officers dedicated to 'reassurance and security patrols' following a 'massive' spike in incidents of antisemitism over recent weeks. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said the force recorded 14 antisemitic incidents and 12 antisemitic offences from September 30 to October 13 2022. The corresponding figures for this year were 105 and 75. He said offences in the past week include intimidation outside synagogues and loud playing of German military music. The force plans to have visited every synagogue in the city by the end of today, and has met 2,000 parents as well as pupils and schools' leaders, amid worries about the safety of young people. Staff have checked on more than 200 schools and more than 300 synagogues, mosques and other places of worship. Borough Commander Daniel Knowles (white shirt) chats to a security guard on a 'reassurance patrol' today in Golders Green, North London Private security guards employed by the Community Security Trust, a charity that helps protect Jews from antisemitism, patrol Golders Green The CST has received money from the government to help pay for increased security in Jewish areas Rishi Sunak, speaking to broadcasters today in Gotland, Sweden, condemned the 'disgusting' rise in antisemitism Mr Taylor said it is the Met's job to 'balance the right of lawful protest against what that protest is doing', as it is often individuals within a protest who breach lines of criminality rather than the protest itself. He added: 'Whilst people have the right to protest, they do not have the right to incite violence, they do not have the right to incite hatred and they do not have the right to commit criminal offences and we will robustly police that situation.' Waving a proscribed flag in support of Hamas or other proscribed organisations at the protest will be an offence. Having and waving a Palestinian flag alone will not be an offence but it could form part of one if it is associated with words or actions inciting violence. READ MORE - Foreign students and academics who praise Hamas or commit anti-Semitic acts risk being expelled from Britain Advertisement Mr Taylor said this creates 'really tricky lines' for policing and the Met has asked the Attorney General and Crown Prosecution Service for 'absolute clarity and guidance' on the issue, with a written response expected before the protest. Protest liaison teams have been working with organisers to determine what will and will not be acceptable for the Met and how the events can be carried out safely. During a briefing earlier today, Mr Taylor said the force had seen a 'massive' increase in antisemitic incidents. 'In balance, we have seen an increase in Islamophobic incidents, but nothing like the scale of the increase in antisemitism,' he said. 'The context is really challenging for us, we are seeing behaviours that are provocative, that are inciteful, we'll address those whilst recognising the emotion and the activities and the incidents that are taking place overseas.' He added: 'It really is everything from that real, basic antisemitic language to some thoroughly offensive behaviour that we saw on Monday evening, where Jewish individuals were confronted by members of a protest group, effectively playing up the issues in Israel and laughing about the number of deaths of Jewish citizens in Israel.' Six Jewish schools in London closed today amid fears for their pupils' safety, Jewish News reported. Other Jewish schools in London have already taken precautions, including cancelling detentions and withdrawing the requirement to wear school blazers on their journey in. Police Community Support Officers offer a visible presence to 'reassure the community' in a predominantly Jewish area near Broughton Park in Salford on Tuesday Police had to hold back rival groups inside High Street Kensington Tube station on Monday Pro-Palestine protesters gathered near the Israeli embassy in London on Monday to chant 'Israel is a terrorist state', 'Free Palestine' and 'Allahu akbar' Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says the Met Police has stepped up police patrols in London The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says that areas of London where anxieties are running particularly high will see increased police patrols over the weekend. Speaking to Sky News, he said: 'Since Saturday (the Hamas attack) the police have been having additional proactive policing in some of our communities where people are concerned. 'This weekend, during congregational prayers, the police will be inside the synagogues to show support to the communities but also to provide a contact point for any people who are concerned. 'If anybody is concerned I'd encourage you to ring your local police, ring 101 or go directly to 999 if it's an emergency. 'There will be additional police presence this weekend - police officers will be working longer shifts, leave being cancelled and so forth, to keep our city safe, and that includes of course, those (in) our community who are feeling particularly anxious.' He added on Twitter: 'I know this is an extremely anxious time for Jewish and Muslim Londoners. There is no place in London for hatred. 'The Met police has stepped up patrols, with an increased police presence to deter any further acts of either antisemitism or Islamophobia.' READ MORE - Outrage as women tear down posters of children kidnapped by Hamas and shout 'This is for Palestine' Advertisement Today, Rishi Sunak condemned the 'disgusting rise' in antisemitism following Hamas's attack on Israel on Saturday. The Prime Minister said intimidating behaviour and inciting violence or hatred will not be tolerated and will instead be met 'with the full force of the law'. Meanwhile, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the Government is working closely with a 'small number' of Jewish schools, which have temporarily shut due to safety fears, to ensure they can open safely. Donna Jones, chairwoman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said Mr Sunak yesterday chaired a meeting attended by Cabinet ministers and senior police officers in which they discussed concerns over policing a pro-Palestine protest planned for the weekend in central London. The Metropolitan Police anticipate more than 10,000 people attending. Mr Sunak, speaking to broadcasters in Gotland, Sweden, where he is attending the Joint Expeditionary Force summit, said: 'Yesterday I chaired a meeting of police chiefs in Downing Street, together with the Community Security Trust, to specifically make sure that everybody in our Jewish communities can feel safe. 'There's been a quite frankly disgusting rise in antisemitic incidents over the past few days. That's not right. 'We have provided extra funding to the Community Security Trust to make sure that Jewish institutions - whether that's synagogue or schools - have all the protection they need and the police have all the support that they need to ensure that our streets are safe for people from all communities. 'Because we will absolutely not tolerate people inciting hatred, or violence or racist activity. Intimidating or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated. 'It will be met with the full force of the law.' Iranian supporters of Israel hold a protest near the Israeli embassy today Asked if waving Palestinian flags or saying 'free Palestine' in public could constitute a crime, Mr Sunak said: 'There's very clear guidance for the police about the measures that they can take, but inciting violence, racial hatred, is illegal. 'People who are acting in an abusive or threatening manner, causing distress, are breaking the law. 'The police have the power and the tools that they need to ensure they can stop that from happening and you will see that in full force in the coming days to make sure anyone who breaks the law meets the full force of that law.' Ms Keegan said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday: 'I'm extremely concerned that a small number of Jewish schools have decided to close temporarily due to safety concerns. 'We're working closely with these schools to offer support and ensure they can open safely. 'Nothing will stand in the way of us keeping the Jewish community safe.' Kari Hill and her family visited the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center where they got to feed a giraffe A Texas family touring an interactive wildlife exhibit yesterday had their car windscreen smashed by a giraffe as they tried to feed the animal. Kari Hill decided to visit the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose with her teenage sons and one-year-old granddaughter when a giraffe walked over to their car, hoping to be fed by the family. All was going well and Hill took a photo to remember the moment but suddenly, the giraffe seemed to lose its footing and fell onto the windshield of their Kia Sorrento. The long-legged animal panicked and began to wave around his limbs, crushing the car's windshield in the process. Neither the family nor the animal sustained any injuries. Kari Hill decided to visit the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose with her teenage sons and one-year-old granddaughter when a giraffe walked over to their car, hoping to be fed by the family All was going well and Hill took a photo to remember the moment but suddenly, the giraffe seemed to lose its footing and fell onto the windshield of their Kia Sorrento. The long-legged animal panicked and began to wave around his limbs, crushing the car's windshield in the process 'My car had to be towed, and I had to file and insurance claim.[It was] such a quick, freak accident. [I'm] glad it wasn't worse. Cars can be replaced. People can't,' Hill said Hill told WFAA: 'We were stopped at the giraffe area when a giraffe came and stuck his head in the sunroof. We were stopped at the giraffe area when a giraffe came and stuck his head in the sunroof. '[The windshield] started caving in while he was flailing, trying to get his footing back. 'We were covered in glass, and I thought it was about to turn very bad, but then the giraffe regained his footing and took off. 'We pulled off, and I made sure the kids got all the glass off of them and put everyone in the backseat while I called the parks emergency hotline to escort us out of there. 'My car had to be towed, and I had to file and insurance claim.[It was] such a quick, freak accident. [I'm] glad it wasn't worse. Cars can be replaced. People can't.' The Fossil Rim Wildlife Center's website states that while guests can closely watch animals such as cheetahs, emus, bongos and rhinos, they can only hand-feed the giraffes. The Fossil Rim Wildlife Center's website states that while guests can closely watch animals such as cheetahs, emus, bongos and rhinos, they can only hand-feed the giraffes The website also advises visitors not to grab or restrain the animals and to avoid leaning out of the window if they come close to any Other animals can be fed by tossing pellets, provided free of charge by the park staff. The website also advises visitors not to grab or restrain the animals and to avoid leaning out of the window if they come close to any. Fossil Rim policy states that all guests must agree to a liability waiver when they purchase tickets. It reads: 'Fossil Rim Wildlife Center assumes no liability for damages to vehicles, people, or property as a result of any interactions with the animals and facilities.' Republican Josh Hawley has called for the Department of Justice to investigate pro-Palestine student groups on college campuses across the nation after they held anti-Israel protests. Following the Hamas assault that killed 1,300 Israelis over the weekend and launched the region into a bloody war, students at the University of Washington and Georgetown University gathered to praise the terrorists, with a Harvard group blaming Israel for the attack. Speaking on Fox News on Thursday, the Missouri senator slammed organizations at Ivy league schools like Harvard and Columbia, which have supported the terrorists' actions as justified. '[Hamas] would kill every Jew in the world if they could. Thats what these terrorists want. And to be silent in the face of that or to celebrate it as these crazy student groups are doing?,' Hawley told Sean Hannity. 'What I want to know, Sean, is whos funding these student groups? I hope that the DOJ is investigating where the money is coming from. Are there terror groups who are part of these networks who are infiltrating our campuses? Republican Josh Hawley has called for the Department of Justice to investigate pro-Palestine student groups on college campuses The 'Day of Resistance' saw several Jewish students at the University of Washington in tears as they pleaded with an administrator to put a stop to the pro-Palestinian rally Happing now : Students chant from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free during a protest on Columbia university campus in New York pic.twitter.com/8QKK1qefM3 Davide Lerner (@DavideLerner) October 12, 2023 'I mean, this is crazy stuff that were seeing on these campuses. And for these administrators to have their hand out to take federal money, taxpayer money, and at the same time be silent or silently condone this kind of terrorism is just it is grotesque.' Harvard found itself in hot water after 31 of its student organizations signed a letter holding the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. In their statement on Sunday the groups said the attack which left more than 1,000 dead 'did not happen in a vacuum', and claimed the Israeli government has forced Palestinians to live in 'an open-air prison for over two decades.' Perfume giant Jo Malone distanced itself from company founder Jo Malone after DailyMail.com revealed that her son Josh Willcox was a leader of the group, the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. Harvard president Claudine Gay issued a message on Thursday condemning the 'barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas,' but rejected calls to punish and name the students who signed the inflammatory statement, saying the school 'embraces a commitment to free expression.' Gay had previously said: 'While our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group not even 30 student groups speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.' But it was too late for some of the school's donors and alumni. who were left enraged by the student groups' statement. Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia Ofer told the Hebrew-language outlet TheMarker that she and her husband are both quitting the school's executive board over President Claudine Gay's response to 31 Harvard organizations signing a letter placed the blame on Israel for Hamas' brutal attacks that have killed over 1,500. California State University's La Fuerza Student Association has been slammed for its 'sickening' and distasteful pro-Palestine protest poster (pictured) which depicts a paraglider Nazis, Nazis, Nazis, one man in a keffiyeh with Palestinian colors repeatedly chanted at the counter-demonstrators Their actions are 'in protest of the shocking and insensitive response by the president of the university, who did not condemn the letter by student organizations who blamed Israel for the massacres.' In their statement on Sunday the groups said the attack that unleashed the war 'did not happen in a vacuum', and claimed the Israeli government has forced Palestinians to live in 'an open-air prison for over two decades. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman claimed that fellow CEOs want to know who they are so none of us inadvertently hire any of their members. The CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management said he has been approached by a number of CEOs, adding: One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts. The Harvard statements were widely condemned including by former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers who wrote on X: 'In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today.' The Palestine Solidarity Committee holding banners outside the prestigious college On Tuesday, around 150 people brandishing placards and Palestinian flags occupied the steps of Cambridge City Hall. Animals, animals, you pigs, animals, Nazis, Nazis, Nazis, one man in a keffiyeh with Palestinian colors yelled at them, waving his finger across the thin line of police separating the groups. Meanwhile, the University of California at Berkeley's 'Bears for Palestine' group expressed their support for Hamas' actions and 'denounced the framing of Israel as a victim' hours after the terrorist organization's assault. The group will host a vigil for 'martyrs in Palestine' on Friday, and have promoted Student for Justice in Palestine (SJP) calls for a 'Day of Resistance' on Thursday across college campuses in support of the Hamas attacks. The 'Day of Resistance' on Thursday saw several Jewish students at the University of Washington in tears as they pleaded with an administrator to put a stop to the pro-Palestinian rally, at which students condoned violence against Israel and the Jewish people. 'They want our people dead. They want us killed,' sobs one student to an administrator who appears to be listening, but indicating that there is noting he can do. The statement was signed by several other groups in the notoriously leftist campus, including Koreans for Decolonization and Central Americans for Empowerment The event at the campus' red square had been advertised by a radical student group who said their goal was to 'uplift the just Palestinian resistance' and 'condemn the settler colonial state of Israel.' Flyers for the event featured a drawing of a paraglider similar to the ones that militant Hamas terrorists used last Saturday to fly into southern Israel and massacre scores of innocent concert-goers. At NYU, the president of the Law School Bar Association had a job offer from a pro-LGBTQ+ law firm rescinded after she stated that Hamas' slaughter of children in Israel was 'necessary.' Ryna Workman, 24, a non-binary student at NYU's School of Law sent a weekly newsletter saying the murder of innocent Israeli children, women, and citizens this past week was is Israel's 'full responsibility.' On Tuesday, the law firm Winston & Strawn - which regularly highlights its legal work representing the LGBTQ + community - told DailyMail.com in a statement that their offer of employment to Workman has been rescinded. The number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 25. U.S. citizens are among the estimated 150 hostages captured by Hamas militants during their shocking weekend assault on Israel, President Joe Biden confirmed on Tuesday. The war has already claimed at least 2,200 lives on both sides. His remarks come just after widespread looting in Philadelphia and just a week after the Mayor of New York pleaded with migrants to stay away from the city Former Governor of California has hit out at Democratic politicians for wanting to 'f*ck up every city in America' Arnold Schwarzenegger has hit out at Democrats for wanting to 'f*ck up every city in America' The former Republican Governor of California had been speaking to Rob Lowe as part of his podcast 'Literally! With Rob Lowe' when he made the made remarks. Lowe had asked the 76-year-old Terminator actor what it means to be a Republican and how this differed from being a Democrat. The 59-year-old actor had made reference to Republican David Drier, who had characterized the party as having 'strong military, low taxes, less government, more personal freedoms'. Lowe shifted the focus to what it means to be a Democrat, in response, Schwarzenegger said: 'Ruin your cities. That's what the Democrats would say. 'We are about ruining the cities. We want to f*ck up every city in America. That seems to be their theme right now.' Arnold Schwarzenegger discusses his book "Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life," at The 92nd Street Y, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023 The Terminator star said: 'When you talk about the Republican philosophy, what you just said is what made me buy in.' Schwarzenegger had been referring to ongoing problems with drug abuse, homelessness and the migrant crisis that are effecting cities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York City and Los Angeles. Late last month, police in Philadelphia arrested twenty people after widespread looting broke out in the city. At the time, officers said a large group consisting of around 100 juveniles moved from store to store to rob them. Videos shared on social media during the chaos showed a large number of thieves attacking stores including Apple, Lululemon and Foot Locker. In August, activist Frank Rodriguez revealed that business owners in the area had to devise tricks to keep addicts off their stoops in the Kensington area. This involved setting up booby traps including hidden sprinkler systems to fend off users. The disaster in the neighborhood has been fueled by the rise of the drug Xylazine, known as 'tranq' - a lethal sedative that is used to enhance the effects of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. Philadelphia has become overwhelmed by drug-fueled crime under Democratic District Attorney Larry Krasner, a self-described 'progressive prosecutor.' His failure to crack down led to his impeachment in 2022 for 'dereliction of duty', however he remains in office after his trial was indefinitely postponed. GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who visited the area as part of his campaign, earlier this year said that the streets of Philly had turned into an 'open-air drug market.' This year there has been 343 homicides in the city, up until Thursday, which is currently 19 percent lower than the same time last year. At the end of the last year, there had been 516 homicides which was a drop on the year before when the number hit 562. Drug users either inject xylazine or smoke it, mixed with fentanyl and other drugs The inner city district has long been a magnet for drug users seeking their next high, but the scale of problems caused by xylazine is shocking even to locals In nearby New York, Mayor Eric Adams last month declared that the ongoing migrant crisis would 'destroy' the city. Over the course of the last 18 months the city has struggled to accommodate the 122,000 people who have traveled over the border to the city. Estimated costs to accommodate them is set to tip $4.7 billion. The staggering cost is equal to the city's sanitation, fire and parks departments budgets combined. Mayor Adams has also pleaded with a judge to end the city's longstanding 'right to shelter' law, pushing it for it to be made void. Governor Kathy Hochul has also done a U-turn when it comes to asylum seekers, having first welcomed them with 'open arms' as she pledged to house them just three years before telling migrants to 'go elsewhere' because the city is at its limit. Speaking on CNN, Hochul said: 'We have to get the word out, that when you come to New York, you're not going to have more hotel rooms, we don't have capacity. 'So we have to also message properly that we're at a limit - if you're going to leave your country, go somewhere else.' Last week, Mayor Adams traveled to Mexico to discourage asylum seekers from making their way to the city. He said: 'This is just the beginning of the journey of trying to be on the ground and understand the whole flow of migrant and asylum seekers.' Hundreds of migrants sleep in line early on August 1, for placement at the Roosevelt Hotel intake center in New York Migrants arrive in New York City and line up near 60 Centre Street to enter the Federal Plaza to file with the immigration service On the West Coast, cities like San Francisco and California, which Schwarzenegger once governed over, have become overrun with large numbers of homeless people. Problems have gotten so bad in San Francisco that large corporations are now fleeing the city. According to crime data recorded between January to September 2023 robberies saw a 15.9 percent increase from last year. According to a recent study by the consulting firm McKinsey, 70 percent of San Francisco residents cite homelessness among the city's top three problems. On any given night, 38,000 Bay Area residents are homeless, the study found. The city has struggled with an overdose epidemic partially driven by the spread of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and lethal even in very small doses. In August, the amount of overdose deaths soared in the Bay Area city with an additional 84 deaths, 66 of which involved fentanyl. Open-air drug markets, overdose deaths, prolific shoplifting and violence have characterized the coastal city's 'doom loop' as companies shut down stores and tech employees opt to work from home. A recent report showed 95 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the COVID pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent. Out of 203 retailers open in 2019 in the city's Union Square area, just 107 are still operating, a drop of 47 percent in just a few pandemic-ravaged years. A woman in a wheelchair injects drugs at San Francisco's infamous open-air drugs market The city has struggled with an overdose epidemic partially driven by the spread of the synthetic opioid fentanyl A map reveals the major businesses which have left, or plan to leave, San Francisco in recent months Around the state of California, citizens have been fleeing in droves due to years of politics, soft crime policing and rampant homelessness. A poll released earlier this year had laid bare how citizens really felt about living in the liberal state. The study found a third of the state residents had the urge to leave the state due to ongoing issues. Census data revealed in April that California has seen a population decline of more than 1 percent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. High profile movers include the like of X and Tesla boss Elon Musk who now resides in Austin, Texas. Musk followed podcaster Joe Rogan who let the state and moved his family to Texas in 2020, selling his lavish $3.5 million estate in the process. UFC color commentator, comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan left California for Texas with his family Musk gestures as he attends the Viva Technology in Paris, France, June 16, 2023 Another factor in the moves for people could also be the progressive tax system that relies heavily on rich people and personal income tax rates. The remarks made by the former bodybuilder come just a few days after Schwarzenegger weighed in on the ongoing migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border. On Monday's The View, he cited his own experience as an immigrant and criticized lax conditions at the nearly 2,000 mile long crossing. Schwarzenegger, who secured his California gubernatorial seat in 2003, said: 'You have to really have comprehensive immigration reform, and you have to look at this immigration problem in a comprehensive way.' 'Number one', he said, was that he believes 'very strongly in having a border that no one can get through.' 'Thats number one for me,' the retired bodybuilder said. A high-flying Florida lawyer is facing child neglect charges after she left two children that she is legally responsible for alone on a beach - which resulted the younger of the children wandering into waist deep waters. Patricia Bronson, 41, was taken into custody on last Saturday when sheriff's deputies were called to a beach in St. Petersburg after witnesses reported seeing the woman drop the kids, three and seven, off and then leaving them. Eventually, one of those witnesses went over to the children after noticing that the younger was nowhere to be seen. When the witness asked where the younger child was, the seven-year-old pointed towards the Gulf of Mexico, where the tot was 'waist-deep.' The arrest report, seen by The Tampa Bay Times, were left alone at Upham Beach Park for up to 45 minutes. Bronson told officers that she was merely parking the car while the kids were alone. A Florida lawyer is in hot water after being accused of leaving two kids alone at the beach for 45 minutes Witnesses say that Patricia Bronson left two children, three and seven, alone at the beach and when she returned was 'nervous and fidgeting,' an arrest report said According to Bronson's Facebook page, she married a man named Larry Bronson in 2020 and took his name. Numerous posts on that page show the couple with two young children. The report mentions that Bronson was 'acting nervous and fidgeting' when talking with deputies, something she attributed to being cold. Upon booking, Bronson was slapped with another charge of introducing/possessing contraband into a county detention facility after she was found to be in possession on a vape pen with an undefined liquid substance inside. According to various online profiles, Bronson is an attorney with White & Case LLP, a Tampa law firm with international ties. On her LinkedIn page, she is refers to herself as a 'conflicts attorney,' a lawyer who handles ethical matters at a firm. Bronson also works in appeals. Bronson graduated from the Florida Coastal School of Law in 2007. A representative from the firm told the Tampa Bay Times that they are looking into the allegations. According to various online profiles, Bronson is an attorney with White & Case LLP, a Tampa law firm with international ties This isn't Bronson's first legal trouble. In 2022, Bronson was arrested on DUI charges which were later downgraded to reckless driving charges. In 2017, the attorney was suspended for six months after forming a practice, Cadillac Law Group, with a nonlawyer paralegal who was also an investigator, Joseph V. Cannistra. During their time together, Cannistra found to have solicited clients, negotiated plea deals and accepted funds while giving the impression that he was a licensed attorney, the Florida Record reported at the time. Bronson, then going by Patricia Horal, maintained that she had no knowledge of Cannistra's activities. Bronson said that she warned him when his misdeeds became apparent but later found that she had been locked out of their offices, the Record report notes. Online records show that Bronson was booked into Pinellas County Jail on two counts of neglect of a child without great bodily harm. Bronson posted a $15,000 bond the day after her arrest and was released. Hezbollah's chief has said it is 'fully prepared' to join Hamas in its war against Israel, with the Jewish state today calling the two terror groups and Iran an 'axis of evil'. Sheikh Naim Qassem addressed a large crowd of cheering supporters in Beirut waving Hezbollah and Palestinian flags and holding pictures of burning Israeli ones. He said major powers, Arab countries and the UN had 'directly and indirectly' told Hezbollah 'not to interfere' in ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas. Despite the warnings, the leader of the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese group - which has already clashed with Israeli forces in recent days - said it was 'ready' and would 'contribute' to confrontations against its southern neighbour. Qassem's comments came as Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant this afternoon called Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran an 'axis of evil'. 'Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas is one axis, an axis of evil. Everything is decided generally from Iran,' he said. Gallant was speaking alongside his American counterpart Lloyd Austin after Israel ordered more than one million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes 'immediately' and flee south in just 24 hours. The order comes ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive aimed at eradicating Hamas in the the enclave, which - accoring to the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency - is 'fast becoming a hellhole on the brink of collapse.' Israel's order has sparked widespread panic among civilians already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the UN called such an evacuation 'impossible', saying it would turn an already tragic situation into a calamity. Hezbollah's chief has said the group is 'fully prepared' to join Hamas in its war against Israel which today declared the two terror groups and Iran 'one axis of evil.' Pictured: Hezbollah supporters wave the Palestinian flag and their party flag during a rally in Beirut on October 13 A Hezbollah supporter holds a picture of an Israeli flag that reads in Arabic, 'Soon it will collapse' during a rally supporting Palestinians in Gaza, in Beirut on October 13 A Hezbollah supporter holds placard during a rally in Beirut on October 13 Sheik Naim Kassem (pictured today) - the leader of the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese terror group which has already clashed with Israel in recent days - said it was 'ready' and would 'contribute' to confrontations against Israel according to its own plan Qassem's comments came as Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant said this afternoon that Hamas is part of an 'axis of evil' with Iran and Hezbollah, during a press conference delivered along side US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin (pictured together today) As fighting sparked by Hamas' brutal attack on Israel on Saturday raged into its seventh day, Gallant said Palestinian civilians 'who want to save their lives' must heed Israel's warning to evacuate southward in the enclave. He declined, however, to answer a reporter's question on whether Israel - which has signalled that a ground invasion could follow its current air barrage on Gaza - would stick to the 24-hour evacuation notice it issued on Friday morning. Earlier, with around 12 hours left since giving the 24-hour warning, Israel dropped flyers over northern Gaza telling residents on the streets below to flee south. Palestine's health minister has warned that Gaza is facing a humanitarian and health catastrophe and urged all countries and human rights groups to help with the immediate entry of medical and emergency aid to the enclave. Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit branded the Israeli order a 'forced transfer' that he said constitutes a 'crime', while the secretary general of the pan-Arab body, in a letter sent to UN chief Antonio Guterres, accused Israel of carrying out 'an atrocious act of revenge... punishing helpless civilians in Gaza'. Meanwhile, Hamas claimed at least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in northern Gaza have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, and before Hamas operatives fired hundreds of rockets towards Israel around midday on Friday. 'Thirteen prisoners... including foreigners' were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, Hamas's armed wing said Friday. Israel dismissed the claims as 'lies'. Israel's bombardment on Gaza began on Saturday after Hamas terrorists rampaged into the south of Israel, slaughtering at least 1,300 civilians. Smoke rises above buildings, in the southern Gaza Strip, following an Israeli strike, October 13 Buildings are seen having been reduced to rubble in Gaza by Israeli air strikes Gaza City residents are seen on their way out of the city to the southern safer parts Residents of Gaza city begin to evacuate following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza strip, October 13 Riding in a damaged vehicle a Palestinian family flees with hundreds of other following the Israeli army's warning to leave their homes and move south before an expected ground offensive into Gaza City, October 13 An Israeli army Merkava battle tank deploys with others along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 13 Hamas' attack was so coordinated and effective, analysts have said it is likely that the terrorist group had the backing of the Iranian government, which supports Hamas. Iran heads the so-called 'axis of resistance' that includes powerful militant groups in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq. Asked during a news conference whether Tehran consented to the weekend Hamas onslaught, Gallant said: 'It doesn't matter ... (because) the idea is an Iranian idea.' 'This is a war for the existence of Israel as a prosperous state, as a democratic state, as homeland of the Jewish people,' Gallant said. 'We are fighting for our home. We are fighting for our future. The path will be long, but ultimately I promise you we will win.' He added: 'Israel never and ever will not shoot civilians on purpose. Never,' but he added that Hamas militants will camouflage themselves with the population and Israel will have to separate them. Lloyd Austin, Gallant's American counterpart, said Hamas fighters took 'evil to another level' from Islamic State jihadists, as he pledged 'iron-clad' backing for Israel in its war against the Palestinian terrorist group. 'In encountering ISIS I felt as if we were staring evil in the eye - it was truly evil,' said Austin after talks with his Israeli counterpart. 'And what we've seen from Hamas, it takes that evil to another level.' Austin said that munitions, air defence capabilities and other equipment and resources were 'rapidly flowing' to Washington's closest Middle Eastern ally. However, he also cautioned that the fightback against Hamas must have limits, cautioning that it was a time for 'resolve' and not 'revenge'. 'Democracies like ours are stronger and more secure when we uphold the laws of war,' he said. Gallant's comments were echoed by Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told Spectator TV Iran was the main threat to the country lying behind groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. 'Allow me to use an octopus metaphor,' he said. 'Israel is fighting the tentacles but the head is in Tehran. There is a strategic logic in saying, "Well you are fighting the tentacles but you can't really win the war unless you deal with the head."' Israel has ordered more than one million people to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive aimed at eradicating Hamas Flyers dropped by the IDF warning residents to flee are seen in the skies above Gaza today The order has sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the United Nations called such an evacuation 'impossible' that would turn an tragedy into calamity. Pictured: Children are seen in a Gaza City hospital A Palestinian man runs amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli air strike on October 13 A Hamas official has called the evacuation order 'fake propaganda', urged Palestinians to stay in their homes and not to 'fall for it' Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes Smoke billows following Israeli strikes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza, October 13, 2023 Israeli army soldiers ride in the turret of a Merkava battle tank deploying along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 13 A column of heavy armoured personnel carriers (APCs) at an area along the border with Gaza, southern Israel, as Israel gathers its forces around the enclave Israel's military sent one evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes Israel's military sent one evacuation order directly on Friday morning, telling the 1.1 million people living north of an area called Wadi Gaza to move south. This would mean the entire population of Gaza City and its surroundings fleeing their homes. According to translations of the IDF flyers online, the army told residents that 'terrorist organisations have started the war against the State of Israel.' As a result, it said 'Gaza City has become a battlefield' and told residents they had to evacuate 'Punik immediately and go to the south of the Gaza Valley.' It also issued a stark warning to Palestinians not to try and cross into Israel. 'For your security and safety: You should not return to Piona until further notice by the Israel Defense Army,' the flyers said. 'Generally and well-known shelters in Gaza City must be evacuated. It is forbidden to approach the security wall, and everyone who is approaching exposes himself to death.' A small map was also printed on the bottom of the flyer, with arrows pointing from the north of Gaza to the south, showing the 1.1 million Palestinians which way to flee. READ MORE: Israel is accused of using white phosphorus in Gaza Advertisement The UN says it is impossible to move that many people without devastating humanitarian consequences, and has urged Israel to rescind the order. The 2.3 million people living in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip are densely packed into a sliver of land that is just 25 miles long and 7 miles wide which is already largely without power and where hospitals are overwhelmed. Israel has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza with airstrikes and cut off food, water and electricity since Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,300 in Israel. Israel's directive, which comes seven days after Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza, charged that Hamas terrorists were hiding in tunnels under the city. Meanwhile, a Hamas official called the evacuation order 'fake propaganda', urged Palestinians to stay in their homes and not to 'fall for it'. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs called on residents in the north of the territory to 'remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation'. The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no official decision has been made. Any ground offensive would be the strongest response yet to Hamas' shock assault, and would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal guerrilla warfare as Israeli soldiers go house-to-house and hunt down Hamas terrorists. 'This evacuation is for your own safety,' the Israeli military said, in a warning it said was sent to all Gaza City civilians. The UN said it received a separate directive from the Israeli military shortly before midnight, giving all 1.1 million civilians of northern Gaza 24 hours to flee south. It said the broad evacuation warning it received for all of Gaza's north also applies to all UN staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in UN schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock airstrikes. 'The UN considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. 'The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,' Dujarric said. Another UN official said that the United Nations is trying to get clarity from Israeli officials at the senior most political level. 'It's completely unprecedented,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman of the Israel Defence Forces (lDF) said in a video update Friday that the evacuations were a 'humanitarian step.' 'The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and to move to the area south of the River Gaza.' 'The Hamas terrorist organisation waged a war against the state of Israel and Gaza City is an area where military operations are taking place,' he continued. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces (lDF) said in a video update Friday that the evacuations were a 'humanitarian step' Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12 A fireball erupts from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 12 An Israeli army M109 155mm self-propelled howitzer fires rounds near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on October 12 Palestinians stretcher an injured man following an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip Thursday Israeli tanks move near Gaza border as Israeli army deploys military vehicles around the Gaza Strip, Israel on October 12 Israeli tanks head towards the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Thursday Mourners attend the funeral of Israeli soldier Shilo Rauchberger at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem 'This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made.' Conricus claimed the IDF has distributed a map showing Gaza City residents where to migrate and warned they should not go near any security fences. 'Do not approach the border, only go south,' he added, saying that they needed to distance themselves from Hamas members 'who are using you as human shields.' 'The IDF will continue to operate with significant force in Gaza City and will make significant efforts to avoid harming civilians.' He said that civilians are 'not our enemy' and will not target them. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said the army is aware that the evacuation of 1.1 million people will take time. 'This is a war zone, we are trying to provide them the time and we are doing a lot of effort, and we understand it won't take 24 hours,' he said when asked a question about Israel's timeframe by a BBC reporter. He also pointed to Hamas telling civilians to ignore the order. 'We understand the problem. Sad reality? It's Hamas' responsibility,' he said. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel, with attacks also coming from Hezbollah, in Lebanon to the north. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian airports out of service. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to 'crush' Hamas after the militants stormed into the country's south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. However, the civilian toll is mounting. Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, said the order had sparked more chaos in the Gaza Strip. 'No one understands what to do,' she told a reporter with the Associated Press as she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags as the panicked shouts of her relatives could be heard around her. She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah, a city that sits on the southern border with Egypt. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, said there was no way more than one million people could be safely moved that fast. 'Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you're make it, if you're going to live,' Farsakh said, breaking into sobs. 'What will happen to our patients?' she asked. 'We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals.' Farsakh said many of the medics were refusing to evacuate hospitals and abandon patients. Instead, she said, they called their colleagues to say goodbye. A view of an explosion following a strike by IDF fighter jets on Hamas targets at a location given as the Gaza Strip Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike early Friday Destroyed and damaged buildings of the Islamic University are seen in the aftermath of Israeli strikes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas The body of a Palestinian killed during Israeli air strikes is carried in a sheet on Thursday Palestinians carrying their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13 A boy carries a mattres as Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13 Palestinians flash the V for victory sign as they flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13 Earlier, the Israeli military pulverised the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said its complete siege of the territory - which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine - would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during a grisly weekend incursion. As the full scale of the horrors of the weekend were coming into focus, Israel's military was ramping up preparations for a ground invasion, and Hamas was continuing to launch rockets into Israel. 'Now is the time for war,' said Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, as his country amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip. Seeking to build support for its response, Israel's government showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defense ministers graphic images of children and civilians they said Hamas had killed in a weekend rampage in Israel. Blinken said they showed a baby 'riddled with bullets,' soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. 'It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,' he said. 'It's really beyond anything that we can comprehend.' Israel has vowed to retaliate for the attack - the deadliest by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. An armed Palestinian militant leading a man during the Supernova music festival An armed Palestinian militant is seen walking around the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel Sitting on the back of a terrorist's motorcycle, her outstretched arms pointing towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life Aftermath: Burnt-out and abandoned cars where revellers tried to escape the onslaught At least 260 were killed in the massacre while many are still missing either dead or taken hostage by the bloodthirsty militants Family and friends of those taken hostage by Hamas during the attack on Israel react as they listen to speeches during a press conference on October 13 A tearful women is seen as family and friends of those taken hostage by Hamas during the Israel listen to speeches during a press conference on October 13 Family and friends of those taken hostage by Hamas during Saturday's attack on Israel react as they listen to speeches during a press conference on October 13 Meanwhile, Hamas called on Palestinians to rise up on Friday in protest at Israel's bombardment of the enclave, urging Palestinians to march to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Israel has responded so far by putting Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, under siege and launching a bombing campaign that destroyed whole neighborhoods. 'Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,' Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces 'are preparing for a ground maneuver' should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas and where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 25 miles long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. The relentless barrage on Gaza - which the military said has so far involved 6,000 munitions - left Palestinians running through streets, carrying their belongings and looking for safety A strike Thursday afternoon in the Jabaliya refugee camp took down a residential building on families sheltering inside, killing at least 45 people, Gaza's Interior Ministry said. At least 23 of the dead were under the age of 18, including a month-old child, according to a list of the casualties. The home belonging to the al-Shihab family was packed with relatives who had fled bombing in other areas. Neighbors said a second house was hit at the same time, but the toll was not immediately known. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'We cant flee because anywhere you go, you are bombed,' one neighbor, Khalil Abu Yahia, said. 'You need a miracle to survive here.' The number of people forced from their homes by the airstrikes soared 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the U.N. said Thursday. Most crowded into U.N.-run schools. Families were cutting down to one meal a day, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al-Azhar University, who had 32 relatives sheltering in his home. Water stopped coming to the building two days ago, and they have rationed whats left in a tank on the roof. Alaa Younis Abuel-Omrain has been staying in a U.N. school after a strike on her home killed eight members of her family - her mother, aunt, a sister, a brother and his wife and their three children. Most bakeries stopped producing bread for lack of electricity. A shell goes off in the water off the beach of Gaza during an Israeli air strike Palestinians evacuate wounded after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp on the southern Gaza Strip Israel has vowed to 'crush' Hamas after gunmen from the Palestinian Islamist group stormed across the border and killed 1,300 people 'Even if there is food in some areas, we cant get to it because of strikes,' she said. On Wednesday, Gazas only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators. Hospitals, overwhelmed by a constant stream of wounded and running out of supplies, have only a few days worth of fuel before their power cuts off, aid officials say. 'Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues,' said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Newborn incubators, kidney dialysis machines, X-ray equipment and more, are all dependent on power, he said. Ambulance crews carrying bodies to the morgue at Gazas biggest hospital, Shifa, found no space left. Dozens of full body bags were lined up in the hospital parking lot. Fourteen health facilities have been damaged in strikes, health officials said Thursday. With Israel sealing off the territory, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah, but Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that airstrikes on Rafah have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to convince Israel and the United States to allow aid and fuel through the crossing. People are seen around destroyed buildings and debris at the Al-Shate'e refugee camp after an Israeli airstrike An explosion at a residential tower caused by Israeli bombing raids in the northern Gaza Strip Israel is employing a new tactic of levelling whole neighborhoods, rather than just individual buildings. Hecht, the military spokesman, said targeting decisions were based on intelligence on locations being used by Hamas and that civilians were warned. 'Right now, we are focused on taking out their senior leadership,' Hecht said. The military said strikes have hit Hamas elite Nukhba forces, including command centers used by the fighters in Saturdays attack, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative used to store weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to 'crush' Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Netanyahu said Hamas' atrocities included beheading soldiers and raping women, descriptions that could not immediately be independently confirmed. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. In a video released Thursday, civilian Hamas figures defended the groups rampage and decried the civilian deaths in Gaza from six days of Israeli airstrikes. The solemn video lacked the bravado of a recording aired Saturday by Hamass military wing that hailed 'the greatest battle' as the massacres were still taking place. Netanyahu said Hamas' atrocities included beheading soldiers and raping women, descriptions that could not immediately be independently confirmed Basem Naim, a former Hamas government minister, said that in the 'swift collapse' of the Israeli military on Saturday, 'chaos prevailed and civilians found themselves in the middle of the confrontation.' The claim is contradicted by countless videos and survivor accounts of Hamas militants deliberately targeting and killing civilians in Israel. Naim added that there would be no action to free the 150 captives taken back into Gaza while Israel's operation continued. Israel was a nation in mourning. At a funeral for a 25-year-old woman killed with at least 260 other people at a desert rave, and at another service for a slain Israeli soldier, mourners sat cross-legged on the ground next to caskets, wailing or quietly weeping. In Gaza, too, mourners buried families together in shrouds. At one funeral, they placed the battered body of a little girl in the arms of her slain father. Two attempts by the UK Government to organise flights to repatriate British nationals from Israel have failed - despite the US and Australia successfully running UK-bound flights, aviation sources revealed today. A flight organised by Britain was initially planned to arrive at London Gatwick Airport this morning but that was cancelled amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Another attempt by the UK to arrange a flight landing at the West Sussex airport at 5.40pm this afternoon also failed. This is despite several other flights from Israel due to land in Britain today going ahead. These include scheduled services to Heathrow and Luton airports by Israeli airline El Al, and a repatriation flight to Heathrow for Australian nationals organised by the country's government and operated by Qantas. Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'This is a fluid situation, and we are currently working to ensure the flight can proceed as soon as possible.' What airlines in the UK have said about flights to and from Israel British Airways: 'Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation we're suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including Wednesday, October 18. If you are due to travel with us we will be in contact with you directly, providing you options including a full refund or rebooking with another airline. Our teams will continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.' Virgin Atlantic: 'Due to the ongoing situation in Israel, some of our flights to and from Tel Aviv may face delays or cancellations. Based on the latest information, we have taken the decision to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours [from October 12]. The safety and security of our customers and our people are our number one priority and our flying programme to Israel remains under constant review. We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport.' easyJet: 'Due to the evolving situation in Israel, we have paused our flight operations to and from Tel Aviv until October 19. We will be contacting customers who are due to travel to and from Tel Aviv on these dates, by email and SMS with the details provided at the time of booking and check in. Any easyJet flight-only customers whose flights have been cancelled, will be able to request a voucher for the full value of their flight, a refund or transfer their flights free of charge for future travel.' Wizz Air: 'Attention all passengers travelling to/from Israel. Due to the escalation of the conflict in Israel, Wizz Air cancels all of its Israel flights for October 8-13. Affected passengers are notified via SMS/email. Further updates regarding flights to/from Israel beyond October 13 will be issued in due course. If you are to travel on Israel flights in the next days please proactively check Flight Info for the latest updates on your departure.' Advertisement Three flights from the southern Israeli city of Eilat operated by Czech airline Smartwings landed at Stansted Airport last night chartered by advocacy organisation Tzedek Association on behalf of the US government carrying mainly US citizens. Several airlines have suspended their flights between Israel and the UK, such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and Wizz Air. When the Foreign Office announced yesterday that it would organise flights, it said the first one would operate that day and they will be available to 'British nationals, including dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK'. Each ticket will cost 300, which 'reflects the costs of operating the flight', according to the FCDO. The children and other dependants of British diplomats will also be given seats as 'we have a duty of care to our staff', it added. It comes after easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said yesterday that the airline hopes to resume flights to and from Israel 'as soon as possible' but 'cannot say' when it will happen. The airline suspended its Tel Aviv operations after Hamas's attack on Saturday. Flights have been suspended until at least October 17. In the UK, easyJet usually serves Gatwick, Luton and Manchester airports from Israel. Mr Lundgren said the carrier will 'continue to evaluate this on a daily basis'. He added: 'We are making our decisions (based) on a multiple number of sources. We are engaging with probably 10 or 12 different authorities, government authorities, security experts, alongside the expertise that we have within ourselves. 'We are making then a weighted decision on what it would take for us to start up again. 'We want to start up again. We believe it's an important route to have in place. 'But for now, when we have weighed up all the information that we have, we have decided to continue to suspend the operation.' Mr Lundgren said 'a number of things' must happen for the airline to feel 'comfortable' about resuming operations to and from Israel. He added: 'That is obviously something that we want to do as soon as possible but we cannot say now when that is.' Mr Lundgren said the airline has not seen a reduction in demand for flights to other countries in the region, such as Egypt and Turkey. Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday He said: 'I think that this is very much a specific issue locally from the demand point of view.' On Wednesday, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic became the latest airlines to suspend flights between the UK and Israel. British Airways flight BA165 returned to Heathrow after nearly reaching Tel Aviv before the decision was made. There were reports Palestinian militant group Hamas fired multiple rockets towards Ben Gurion Airport. A British Airways spokesman said: 'Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation, we're suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv. 'We're contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date. 'We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.' Wizz Air, which normally connects Israel with Gatwick and Luton, has also suspended those flights. Virgin Atlantic has taken the decision to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours. Israeli tanks move near the Gaza border as the army deploys military vehicles yesterday Israeli occupation aircraft launch white phosphorus bombs west of Gaza City on Wednesday Israeli artillery fire rounds into the Gaza Strip from the border near Sderot yesterday It said: 'As the dynamic situation evolves, we'll keep our flying programme under constant review. Our teams will be in contact with any affected customers to discuss their options, which include rebooking to a later date or a full refund. 'We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport.' A travel industry source said the number of UK tourists in Israel is low. Israel's ministry of tourism said it is 'committed to ensuring that all tourists visiting Israel are safe and informed'. It added it is operating a 'hotline via WhatsApp for tourists' on +972 55 972 6931. In his first comments on the conflict unfolding in Israel, former President George W. Bush said that he expected the imminent Israeli ground offensive in Gaza 'to be ugly.' Israel called on Friday for civilians in the northern half of the Gaza Strip to move south within the next 24 hours as it continues to mass tanks, weapons and soldiers around the Palestinian territory in response to last weekend's terrorist attack by Hamas. 'Hamas is a political organisation. They do not reflect the majority of the Palestinians,' said Bush. 'And don't be surprised if Israel takes whatever action is necessary to defend herself. And it's going to be ugly for a while.' More than 1,200 were killed when Hamas militants fanned out from Gaza last Saturday, shooting dead women and children as well as Israeli military personnel. In his first comments on the conflict unfolding in Israel, former President George W. Bush said that he expected the imminent Israeli ground offensive in Gaza 'to be ugly' Israel has kept up an intense bombardment of Gaza ever since the unprecedented attack by Hamas terrorists last Saturday, that killed more than 1,200 people Israel has kept up an aerial bombardment of Gaza ever since, striking what it says are Hamas targets. Gaza's health ministry said Friday that 1,799 Palestinians have been killed in air strikes so far. The U.N. said more than 400,000 people had been made homeless and 23 aid workers were among the dead. The next step is an expected ground invasion of Gaza as Israel seeks to prevent any repeat of Hamas' unprecedented attack. Bush was president during much of the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising. And he backed Operation Cast Lead at the end of 2008 when Israeli forces launched a 22-day military assault on the Gaza Strip, which included a ground invasion. In video of a private event obtained by Axios, he said it was vital for the U.S. to stand with Israel now. 'I hope and [am] pretty confident the United States will stand squarely with Israel. 'You know, going in the neighbourhoods of Gaza is gonna be tough. And you know, he's got a very seasoned military but they just called up 300,000 reservists. Most of them probably can't fire a rifle, and to the extent they'd be put in harm's way, it's gonna be awfully difficult on the prime minister, but he's got to do it. 'He's got to do these ... you're dealing with cold-blooded killers.' Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on October 13, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes, which have killed at least 1,700 people An Israeli flag flies over body bags of more than 20 dead Hamas militants with the word 'terrorist' written in Hebrew, on a field at Kibbutz Be'eri, where dozens of civilians were killed Bush said there was no way that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could countenance with a group intent on killing as many Israeli citizens as possible Even so, protests have been held around the world demanding that Israel show restraint in its dealings with Gaza. World leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken have also reminded the government of its responsibilities. On Thursday, Blinken stood alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said: 'Israel has the right to defend itself how Israel does this matters.' For his part, Bush said it was wrong to see think that some kind of negotiation was possible now. 'They're not going to negotiate,' he said of Israel. 'These people have played played their cards. They want to kill as many Israelis as they can and negotiating with killers is not an option for the elected government of Israel. 'And so we're just gonna have to remain steadfast.' The Bush Institute put out a statement in the immediate aftermath of the attack. 'We urge the United States and our allies to stand unequivocally with Israel, its government and people, and support Israels right to defend itself against these threats,' it said. 'Attacks on free and democratic states anywhere are attacks on all of us, whether in Israel, Ukraine, or elsewhere.' An Australian family has spoken out in a desperate attempt to help get their relatives trapped in Gaza to safety. Sara El-Masry her husband and two young children from Western Sydney are stuck in the Palestinian territory. Israeli forces are amassing on the on the Gaza border preparing to launch a massive ground assault after surprise attacks by terrorist group Hamas on October 7. The Israeli death toll from the attacks stands at about 1300 and president Benjamin Netanyahu has told 1.1million Palestinians to evacuate or be caught up in the retaliation. A relative of the trapped family, Maryam El-Masry, spoke out on Friday from her home in Sydney. 'She's sending her goodbye messages when she can, she's with my niece and my nephew,' Ms El-Mary told Nine News. She added they had recently lost contact with the family. 'Are they still alive? Are they still with us?' 'As Australians I would think that the Australian government can obviously help them, support them, bring them back to Australia where it can be safe for them.' Sara El-Masry, her husband and two young children are stuck in Gaza and her family are desperate to get them home A relative, Maryam El-Masry, from back home in Sydney has urged the Australian government to act quickly as Israel readies for a massive ground assault of Gaza It is understood at least 19 Australians are trapped in the territory with the borders closed and no direct way out. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he and the Australian government are working to secure their safe passage. 'We are having discussions with the Egyptian government about the potential to get them out into Egypt through that southern border,' he said on Friday. On the other side of border where it is easier to leave, Mr Albanese said 1600 Australians had registered in Israel or the West Bank for repatriation in what was an 'extraordinary logistical exercise'. A Qantas flight is due to depart Ben Gurion International Airport on Friday night for London, with a connection flight planned from London to Sydney via Singapore on Tuesday. The initial flight is expected to land in Sydney on Wednesday morning. A second Qantas flight will leave Tel Aviv on Sunday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government is doing all it can to get Australians back home The government confirmed on Friday at least two further charter flights would take Australians from Tel Aviv to Dubai, separate to the Qantas flights. 'We're doing all that we can - this is an extraordinary logistical exercise while a war is going on,' Mr Albanese told Nine's Today Show on Friday. Qantas said 900 crew had volunteered for the flights, far exceeding the 70 required. Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Australians wanting to leave not to delay. 'This is a very difficult situation ... the United States and other parties are seeking to establish humanitarian access, humanitarian corridors, and Australia supports those efforts,' she told reporters in Adelaide. Mr Albanese also confirmed that Virgin and Qatar Airways had offered to help Australians trying to leave. An estimated 10,000 Australian citizens are in Israel, including dual citizens and tourists. A China-linked Bitcoin mine in Wyoming is drawing security concerns due to its close proximity to a Microsoft data center and an Air Force base that controls nuclear missiles. In a confidential August 2022 report to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, Microsoft warned that the mine could allow the Chinese to 'pursue full-spectrum intelligence collection operations,' the New York Times reported on Friday. The Bitcoin operation, which has an opaque web of ownership but is linked to at least one Chinese company, is directly across the street from a secure Microsoft data center that supports the Pentagon, and about a mile away from F.E. Warren Air Force Base, home to the 90th Missile Wing. Since China's ban on Bitcoin mines in 2021, Chinese companies have increasingly looked to the US as a base for the operations, which use buildings full of powerful computers to earn tokens for processing cryptocurrency transactions. While many mines may simply be moneymaking ventures, their vast computing power and huge energy requirements are raising concerns with defense experts that they could be used for spying, or a coordinated disruption of the electrical grid. A China-linked Bitcoin mine in Wyoming is drawing security concerns due to its close proximity to a Microsoft data center and An overview shows the relation of the Bitcoin mine to nearby data centers and Warren AFB The Times investigation identified Chinese owned or operated Bitcoin mines in at least 12 US states, including Arkansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. Collectively, they use enough energy to power 1.5 million homes. The mining operation in Cheyenne, which consists of a cluster of small buildings filled with racks of powerful computers, drew concern from neighboring Microsoft as soon as construction on them began last year. 'Microsoft has no direct indications of malicious activities by this entity,' Microsoft said in its 16-page report to the Committee on Foreign Investment, which monitors threats posed by overseas investors. 'However, pending further discovery, we suggest the possibility that the computing power of an industrial-level cryptomining operation, along with the presence of an unidentified number of Chinese nationals in direct proximity to Microsoft's Data Center and one of three strategic-missile bases in the US, provides significant threat vectors,' the report added. A Microsoft representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Friday morning. Of less strategic concern, the Wyoming mine is also located near the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center, a facility that provides high-power computing to atmospheric and weather researchers. US government officials confirmed last week that they had been tracking the Wyoming operation for months, according to the Times. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that measures had been taken to mitigate potential intelligence collection at the site, but declined to offer details. The mining company also said it had responded to queries from the federal investment committee. The Cheyenne mining site is linked to five companies, which all share the same Manhattan address on Park Avenue, according to the Times. None of the companies were found to have direct ties to the Chinese government or Communist Party. But one of them, Bit Origin Ltd, is registered in the Cayman Islands and until last year was a Chinese pork-processing company. The Bitcoin operation is directly across the street from a secure Microsoft data center, and about a mile away from F.E. Warren Air Force Base (above), home to the 90th Missile Wing A worker is seen at a cryptocurrency mine in a file photo. The vast computing power and huge energy requirements of such ventures are raising concerns with defense experts Bit Origin president Li Jiaming told the Times that the Wyoming site had been selected due to a favorable agreement with the local electrical utility provider, not for its proximity to Microsoft or the missile base. 'Even though we are a Microsoft neighbor and a couple of miles from the base, without power it is nothing the business cannot succeed,' he said. At full capacity, the Cheyenne mine would require enough electricity to power 55,000 houses, underscoring the vast power consumption of such operations. Bitcoin mines are also unique in their ability to flip on or off at a moment's notice, which some defense experts have warned could make them a tool for disrupting the delicate power grid. Brian Harrell, a former assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security during the Trump administration, told the Times that the mines could place 'enormous stress' on the grid if they worked together. If Chinese 'infrastructure impacts key energy systems,' Harrell said, 'it should immediately draw additional investigation and scrutiny.' A missile combat crew sits at the control console inside the launch control center at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in a file photo Even mining operations without ill intent could be vulnerable to manipulation through backdoor attacks, some experts have warned. Bitmain, a Chinese company that makes specialized computers for mining Bitcoin, has a global market share of 76 percent, according to a June report from Coinmetrics. Bitmain has no apparent direct ties to the Chinese government, but the Times investigation found is has sent some exports to the US through a subsidiary located at a Communist Party site in southern China. In 2017 and 2019, security researchers issued warnings about apparent 'back door' vulnerabilities in Bitmain hardware that could allow the company to control the machines remotely. A February report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that China is 'almost certainly is capable of launching cyber attacks that could disrupt critical infrastructure services within the United States.' 'If Beijing feared that a major conflict with the United States were imminent, it almost certainly would consider undertaking aggressive cyber operations against US homeland critical infrastructure and military assets worldwide,' the report warned. 'Such a strike would be designed to deter US military action by impeding US decisionmaking, inducing societal panic, and interfering with the deployment of US forces,' the report added. Giles Coren is being investigated by police over claims he verbally abused a neighbour after a row over parking outside his north London home, MailOnline can reveal today. The fiery Times food critic is said to have confronted the woman after he was publicly accused of putting his car in a bay that had been suspended while it is prepared for a disabled neighbour. Coren, 54, who blamed his wife and denied it was a disabled bay, was reported to the police after he allegedly visited the home of a resident on his street, who had posted the allegation about him online. Officers arrived and spent up to two hours with the alleged victim, MailOnline understands. A Scotland Yard spokesman told MailOnline today: 'Officers from Camden are investigating a suspected public order offence which took place in NW5 at around 11.20pm on Wednesday, October 11. There has been no arrest and inquiries are ongoing'. Giles Coren is being investigated by police after allegedly verbally abusing a neighbour after he was accused of parking in a suspended bay outside his north London home The Met did not name Coren, but MailOnline understands the investigation relates to the alleged altercation he had with his neighbour after a story appeared in the Daily Mail's Eden Confidential column two days ago. MailOnline has asked Mr Coren to comment. Richard Eden shared Mr Coren's emails with his Twitter followers It came after it emerged the combustible Times columnist, son of satirist Alan Coren and brother of TV presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell, sent Mail journalist Richard Eden a string of abusive emails overnight and continued his rants on Twitter yesterday morning. Mr Eden had written the original story about how Mr Coren was publicly accused of parking his car in a bay in north London that had been suspended while it is prepared for a disabled neighbour. In emails to Mr Eden, which the journalist shared on Twitter, Mr Coren told him: 'You are a despicable disgusting piece of s**t. You're a lying conniving c**t. I hope you f***ing rot in hell'. In a second email, sent just before 1am on Thursday morning and advising Mr Eden that lawyers were now involved, Mr Coren said: 'I don't know how that will go but I am f***ing coming for you. You sack of f***ing s**t'. Twitter users confronted him over his abuse, making clear that it was not a proportionate response. Journalist Mic Wright said: 'I see Giles Coren is behaving in a typically Giles Coren manner'. Another Twitter user said: 'Absolutely not shocked that Giles didn't even comprehend the abusive emails were an issue or something he should apologise over'. Mr Coren replied: 'It's not that. I knew what Mic was talking about. My issue was that I cannot do anything to change his (and many other people's) opinion of me based on past offences, but that I do not want to be reviled by him for a new and terrible transgression of which I'm not guilty'. Mr Coren also replied to Richard Eden's tweets and said that 'of course I'm abusing you', accusing him of having 'knowingly published lies about me and my family'. Mr Eden vehemently denies his claims. Giles Coren's foul-mouthed and threatening emails to the Daily Mail's Richard Eden Mr Coren's abuse has been questioned online Another Twitter user suggested Mr Coren had been drunk when he sent the emails. The food critic replied: 'I appreciate your concern my friend. But I don't really drink. Maybe once or twice a week at most. This man came after my family, to the door of my very home. He sent his minions to terrify my wife, those words were all I had to throw at him in my impotent rage and fear'. His reaction came after the Mail was told of the row over parking in his north London street. Writing on neighbourhood website Nextdoor, a woman made a string of allegations against Mr Coren, claiming: 'You have repeatedly parked in a clearly marked suspended parking space on your street. 'You know that the bay is suspended for a disabled neighbour of yours. Yesterday you parked in the bay again, which is stopping your disabled neighbour who also has disabled children from accessing their home safely.' Mr Coren, 54, told the Mail: 'It is not a disabled bay', blaming his wife. He said: 'It is not a disabled bay. It is a general parking suspension. It was my wife's car she parked there and got a ticket. I have never parked there because I don't like getting tickets.' Giles Coren (right) at the Qasr Al Sarab hotel in Abu Dhabi for the BBC show 'Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby' His wife said she was unaware that the bay was suspended because it was designated for a disabled motorist, who had applied to the local council. 'I parked there overnight,' she said. 'This street is normally chock-a-block. I didn't look at the suspended sign because there are constantly suspensions, and you don't pay attention to every single one. So it was a total error on my part.' She added: 'I am baffled and really distressed at her claims that we parked 'repeatedly' in a disabled bay, which we absolutely have not. 'It was one single error. It's so important to get along with everyone and it's really distressing to have my neighbours think that I'm parking on purpose, repeatedly, in a disabled bay.' The woman who applied for the disabled bay declined to comment on the online post. Mr Coren, who has earned a reputation for losing his temper over the years, then launched the email attack on Mr Eden. And it is not the first time he has reacted in that way. In 2008 an email he wrote to staff at The Times was leaked to The Guardian. He was angry about how a restaurant review was edited. The sub-editor had removed an 'a' before the word 'nosh', sending him into a rage. Mr Coren said: 'Worst of all. Dumbest, deafest, s******* of all, you have removed the unstressed 'a' so that the stress that should have fallen on 'nosh' is lost, and my piece ends on an unstressed syllable Can't you hear? Can't you hear that it is wrong? 'It's not f****** rocket science. It's f****** pre-GCSE scansion. I have written 350 restaurant reviews for The Times and I have never ended on an unstressed syllable. F***, f***, f***, f***.'. In 2010 he was condemned for posting violent comments on Twitter about his neighbour's 12-year-old son. Giles Coren's tweets about a 12-year-old neighbour with a drum kit in 2010 The columnist vented his anger by suggesting the boy should be sexually assaulted and killed. Coren tweeted from his home in north London, saying: 'Next door have brought their 12-year-old son a drum kit. 'For ****'s sake! Do I kill him then burn it? Or do I **** him, then kill him then burn it?' He then followed this up with: 'Child for sale, charred and partially ****ed. Has own drum kit.' Later he posted a slight retraction, but not before his friends had added encouraging comments suggesting what to do to silence the neighbour's budding musical talent. He added the next day: 'Oh hells' bells. Look, can I just say I didn't kill the kid, or have sex with him. and anyway he's not real. and I live in Vienna.' Asked whether he made the postings, Mr Coren replied: 'Yes, but I don't want to say anything about it.' In 2021 Mr Coren's north London house was daubed in graffiti and dog faeces 24 hours after he allegedly deleted tweets apparently telling a Left-wing journalist to 'f*** off to hell' and calling her a 'troll' after she died suddenly at the age of 34. Socialist writer Dawn Foster, who had epilepsy and a number of other health problems including a rare genetic disorder, passed away having spent time in hospital. Earlier that week Mr Coren, whom Ms Foster accused of getting his job as a Times restaurant critic and columnist because of his father Alan, tweeted: 'When someone dies who has trolled you on Twitter, saying vile and hurtful things about you and your family, is it okay to be like, 'I'm sorry for the people who loved you, and any human death diminishes me, but can you f*** off on to hell now where you belong'?' Mr Coren's house in London daubed in graffiti paying tribute to Dawn Foster in 2021, after he was accused of telling the Left-wing journalist to 'f*** off to hell' and calling her a 'troll' Critics concluded this could only be about Ms Foster and screenshots widely shared on Twitter indicated that his first post was deleted and replaced with a rephrased version containing laughter, only for the second message to be removed completely later. And amid the mounting backlash, including calls for The Times to sack him, the exterior of Mr Coren's house in London was daubed in graffiti paying tribute to her, which read: 'Dawn Foster Forever'. A red heart was also drawn underneath and a bouquet of flowers. Dog faeces was also reportedly found. In January this year Coren admitted he had done a 'terrible thing on Twitter 18 months ago'. He said: 'I never apologised although I was sorry as hell and I wish I hadnt done it'. On Friday night, Mr Coren said: 'If there is a police investigation into Giles Coren then it must be a different Giles Coren because they've certainly not told me about it. Peace and love at this awful time, guys.' A group of alleged Russian spies have appeared at the Old Bailey accused of an offence under the Official Secrets Act. The five Bulgarian nationals were all living at addresses in England when they allegedly carried out surveillance to help Russia. The three men and two women were arrested in February for offences contrary to the Official Secrets Act. The defendants are: Orlin Roussev, 45, of Princes Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk; Bizer Dzhambazov, 42, of High Road, Harrow, north-west London Katrin Ivanova, 31, also of High Road, Harrow, north-west London London Ivan Stoyanov, 31, from Bannister Close, Greenford, west London; Vanya Gaberova, 29, from Churchfield Road, Acton, north-west London. It is alleged they were part of a 'network' conducting surveillance on behalf of the Russian state. Gaberova, a beautician, previously hit headlines after telling customers she had no interest in politics. Vanya Gaberova, 29, a beautician in northwest London, previously hit headlines after telling customers she had no interest in politics Orlin Roussev (left), 45, Bizer Dzhambazov (centre), 42, and Ivan Stoyanov, 31, depicted in an artist's illustration at Westminster Magistrates' Court The defendants are accused of conspiring to collect information with 'another person known as Jan Marsalek and others unknown'. They are charged with plotting to gather information that would be useful to an enemy 'for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state' between August 30, 2020, and February 8, 2023. A large part of their activities happened abroad but co-ordination took place in the UK, it is claimed. Jan Marsalek was the Austrian former chief operating officer of the company Wirecard and is said to be wanted in Germany. Katrin Ivanova (left) and Vanya Gaberova depicted at Westminster Magistrates' Court On Friday the five defendants, who all have EU settled status, appeared at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Jeremy Baker for a preliminary hearing. The women were at Bronzefield jail and the male defendants appeared by videolink from Belmarsh, Frankland and Manchester prisons. They spoke only to confirm their names and dates of birth during the short hearing, at which they were all represented by barristers. Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC estimated that any trial in 2024 would take about six weeks, although barristers for the defence suggested it could take longer. Mr Justice Baker set a further hearing at the Old Bailey on November 10 and remanded the defendants into custody. Tributes have been paid to an NHS nurse and mother-of-three who died 'suddenly' in her sleep at the age of just 32. Laura Whittingham - who worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital - was described as a 'Disney Queen' with the 'most caring heart'. Her husband Carl Whittingham explained how 'everything was normal' when they went to bed at their home in Weston Coyney on October 4. But the following morning, Laura never woke up. Laura leaves behind Ava, three, 20-month-old Mia, step-daughter Gracie-Mae, aged 13, her sister Sam and parents Karen, 57, and Paul Davies, 59. Carl, 32, did not want to disturb Laura when he left for work but he came home to the police telling him that his wife had passed away. His three-year-old daughter, Ava, came down the stairs having failed to 'wake up mummy'. Carl, who also works at the Royal Stoke as a health care assistant, said: 'We both went to bed early that night. We were messing around watching videos on TikTok and laughing about different things on telly. Everything was normal. Laura Whittingham - who worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital - was described as a 'Disney Queen' with the 'most caring heart'. Pictured: A family photo with Laura (left) with Carl (right) 'I went out for work at 6am. I never went to check on her before I left. I didn't give her a kiss as it was so early, she normally moans about me if I do that. My dad called, he was worried that Laura wasn't up to take the children to school. I called the police. 'When I got home the police had already broken into the house and as I got in they told me she'd passed away. I saw my three-year-old coming down the stairs after she tried to wake her up. 'Gracie came over and I explained to her that something had happened. She was upset, but she's been really strong. She's like a rock at the minute, helping as much as she can. 'Ava and Mia have chosen mummy's coffin. Ava wanted it to be pink and glittery. Mia, even though she can't talk, blinks and tells me what she wants. She kept pointing at the purple one so we went for a purple glittery one.' Laura, whose maiden name was Davies, grew up in Meir and attended the now demolished Longton High School on Box Lane. Her first job was at a Wacky Warehouse, before she started her career in the healthcare industry. Initially she worked as a carer looking after adults with special needs before she got a job as a ward assistant in 2012 where she met Carl. He said: 'We met at the hospital. It was just before she started her nurse's training. We both moved around different wards but we always met up at dinner time. 'One day we switched each other's phone numbers and it went from there. I'd had other relationships but there was nobody like her. Their three-year-old daughter Ava came down the stairs having failed to 'wake up mummy'. Pictured: The family together Carl (right) did not want to disturb Laura (left) when he left for work but he came home to the police telling him that his wife had passed away 'It was always her smile. She had a really good smile and the most caring heart. She would always listen to you.' Laura qualified as a nurse in 2016, the same year she married Carl at Milton Church. For their anniversary next year, the pair wanted to take their three children away to Disneyland Paris. Carl said Laura's bags were already packed despite the holiday being in May next year. He added: 'She loved reading all the Disney collections, she had all the books, the DVDs, she would always watch Disney. She enjoyed trying lots of different crafting, she knitted the girls a blanket each. She was always crafting something new. 'She was a major organiser, all the holiday stuff was in a folder. We'll still be going on the holiday and taking the girls. Laura would not be happy if we didn't go.' An inquest has been opened to determine the cause of her death. Laura's funeral will be held at Carmountside Crematorium next month and Disney Princesses will be in attendance. A family friend has set up a GoFundMe page in honour of Laura to support the family during this time. Students have accused a Cambridge University professor of racism after he tweeted 'Import the Arab World, become the Arab World' in response to footage of pro-Palestinian protesters in London. Dr James Orr, an academic at the Faculty of Divinity, made the comments on a video showing crowds of demonstrators outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington on Monday - two days after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel. The footage showed protesters waving Palestinian flags and holding banners in Kensington High Street, where the air was thick with smoke from flares. At one moment it panned to men who were praying on the street. Dr Orr's comments were criticised as 'obviously racist' by Cambridge's Palestine Solidarity Society and Middle Eastern North African Society. A member of the Divinity Faculty told newspaper Varsity: 'This clearly falls well short of the standards expected of an academic at a public university. Dr James Orr, an academic at the Faculty of Divinity, posted a tweet alongside footage of pro-Palestinian protesters in London on Monday Dr Orr's comments were criticised as 'obviously racist' by Cambridge's Palestine Solidarity Society and Middle Eastern North African Society 'But it falls especially short of an academic in a religious studies department, with members of varying ethnicities and religious affiliations. 'It is unthinkable that Orr can continue to enjoy the confidence of students and colleagues to teach, examine and collaborate without discrimination.' Dr Orr shared the post hours after Hamas terrorists launched a series of attacks that killed at least 1,200 Israelis, including 260 revellers who were gunned down at a music festival. Cahir O'Kane, a professor of genetics at Cambridge, responded to his post by saying: 'You could have commented on this post or the responses to the shocking Hamas atrocities in any number of reasonable ways. But you tweeted a derogatory racist comment that targets Arabs.' It comes as immigration minister Robert Jenrick revealed plans to deport foreign nationals from Britain if they commit anti-Semitic acts or praise Hamas. Mr Jenrick has asked officials in the department to look at how they could revoke visas on national security grounds for people who commit hate crimes or express support for the terror group. It follows numerous examples in recent days of students and academics expressing support for terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas, which is proscribed under British law. Gerald Darmanin, France's interior minister, has ordered all foreigners who commit anti-Semitic acts to be expelled from the country immediately, with three already thrown out. Existing laws allow British officials to cancel visas for students, visitors and workers on national security grounds or if their presence is judged not to be conducive to the public good. It comes as immigration minister Robert Jenrick revealed plans to deport foreign nationals from Britain if they commit antisemitic acts or praise Hamas University College London has announced it is investigating an academic who said on Saturday that Palestinian 'retaliation' was 'entirely justifiable' University College London has announced it is investigating an academic who said on Saturday that Palestinian 'retaliation' was 'entirely justifiable'. Meanwhile, a professor at another London university claimed the gunning down of 260 innocent Israelis at an outdoor rave was a 'consequence' for 'partying on stolen land'. Another academic called on people to show solidarity with the 'Palestinian struggle'. Their comments have sparked outrage from experts, who accused the institutions employing them of 'pandering to extremism'. Professor Anthony Glees, a security and intelligence expert at the University of Buckingham, said: 'It reeks of hypocrisy that universities will allow academics and students to back a terror organisation but yet they are so quick to no-platform academics. 'Young impressionable minds are being manipulated under the guise of academic freedom. They [universities] are pandering to extremism.' A spokesman for the Union of Jewish Students added: 'It is unconscionable for anyone to seek to justify the murderous and barbaric actions of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group. 'There is never a legitimate reason to rape, murder and kidnap innocent civilians.' It came after a students' union officer gave a speech on Monday describing the murder of Israelis as 'beautiful', while another student said she was 'full of pride' at the actions of Hamas terrorists. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has written to vice-chancellors urging them to take action against threats to the welfare of Jewish students. In a letter co-signed by higher education minister Robert Halfon, she said Jewish students must be free to 'pursue their studies without fear of harassment or intimidation'. Gerald Darmanin, France 's interior minister, has ordered all foreigners who commit anti-Semitic acts to be expelled from the country immediately, with three already thrown out The letter reads: 'We have seen evidence of a number of student societies that support Palestinians sending out inflammatory messages that show support for Hamas, which is, as you know, a proscribed terrorist organisation. 'Not only are such statements of questionable legality, but they are also deeply troubling and hurtful to Jewish people, given that so many have friends and family based in Israel. 'We know that you will share our unequivocal condemnation of these horrific attacks and are also mindful of their potential impact upon Jewish students, especially those who are just beginning their studies. 'We ask that you act swiftly and decisively against any threats, be they implicit or explicit, to their safety and welfare. 'In short, we are asking that you do whatever you can to actively provide Jewish students with the reassurance they need, now and in the weeks and months to come to go about their lives, and pursue their studies, without fear of harassment or intimidation.' He testified as part of the Kowalski family's lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in Florida He said she relied on anesthetic drug Ketamine to be able to accomplish basic taks The doctor who prescribed Maya Kowalski ketamine treatments says the teenager at the center of Netflix's 'Take Care of Maya' would have suffered a 'slow painful death' without them. Dr Anthony Kirkpatrick testified that Kowalski, 17, required the treatments to be able to do basic things such as feed herself and brush her hair due to the fact she was suffering from complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). He took to the stand in a $220 million court case against Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital on Tuesday amid a legal battle brought by the teen's family after she was removed from their care as a child and held at the facility. Kowalski was placed into state custody for three months at the age of ten, after doctors at the Florida hospital began to suspect her parents were faking symptoms of her debilitating condition. Florida's Department of Children and Families and a state judge also supported the suspicions of 'child medical abuse' and ordered her to be housed at the center. The doctor who prescribed Maya Kowalski ketamine treatments, Dr Anthony Kirkpatrick, says the teen would have suffered a 'slow painful death' without them During this time her mother, Beata, took her own life amid the misery of being separated from her daughter. Dr Kirkpatrick was the person who first diagnosed Kowalski's CRPS. He told the court: 'A light touch, blowing on the skin, is perceived as being painful. She had that. She had a bad case of it.' He initially prescribed low doses of pain medication ketamine, which Kowalski reportedly responded too, but he soon deemed they were not enough. He then recommended upping the dosage and an intensive 'ketamine coma' treatment in Mexico, something he said he discussed with the hospital. Dr Kirkpatrick told the court: 'I emphasized that if she doesnt get the ketamine, its going to be a slow, painful death.' The family opted to move forward with the therapy, which Kirkpatrick said was a success. He added: 'She could take care of herself, comb her hair, brush her teeth, eat with her hands and so forth.' The Kowalski family is hoping the doctor's testimony will persuade jurors the teen was in fact suffering from CRPS, which hospital staff began to doubt when she was admitted in 2016. The Kowalski family is pursuing a $220 million lawsuit against the Florida hospital where Maya Kowalski (left) was held as a child after staff suspected she was a victim of 'child medical abuse' They questioned how insistent Kowalski's mother in particular was to have her daughter prescribed the ketamine treatments and began to suspect she may have Munchausen Syndrome by-proxy, a psychological condition where caregivers crave medical attention for their wards. It has previously been reported that Kowalski's mother demanded a 1,500mg dosage of ketamine for her daughter. Typically, standard anesthetic doses in a clinical setting are typically well below 10 mg, according to rehab center The Recovery Village Ridgefield. While treatment for acute CRPS is normally treated with 1 mg of ketamine per kilogram of body weight per hour, according to Florida Medical Pain Management. At a previous hearing, lawyers for the hospital highlighted the potential risk of the ketamine treatment and questioned the family's eagerness to pursue it. JCACH attorney Ethen Shapiro asked the teen's father, Jack Kowalski, if he was made aware the coma therapy carried a 50 per cent risk of death. The father responded that, 'there is a risk in every procedure'. But Shapiro pressed further, saying: 'I understand that Mr. Kowalski but respectfully theres a risk and then theres a risk thats a coin flip in which your daughter could pass. Did you know it was 50 per cent?' The dad replied that he was aware but had been told that nobody had ever died from the procedure. Kirkpatrick also testified that Kowalski and her mother loved each other. He said: 'She loved her child, and you know what? The child loved her mother.' Kowalski previously became emotional recounting the last time she saw her mom to the court. Maya's mom, Beata, (right) took her own life after she was diagnosed with a depressive mood and adjustment disorder after being separated from her daughter for 87 days Kowalski's family said her Complex Regional Pain Syndrome left her in agony and unable to walk She said she had been laying in bed when he mom came to pick up her belongings and said 'I love you and I'll see you tomorrow' , but struggling through tears she added, 'and I never saw her again.' The teen also sported a distinctive necklace which she had bought for her mother whilst she was in the hospital. She said: 'I found out later that she wore it every single day and when she was found in the garage she was still wearing it and I have it on my neck right now.' Beata Kowalski took her life after being separated from her daughter for 87 days. The family's heartbreaking story is now at the center of the explosive Netflix documentary 'Take Care of Maya', as well as the trial. Their lawsuit alleges Kowalski's condition was aggravated by the care she received at the hospital and that she was videotaped for 48 hours and, on another occasion, stripped down to her underwear and photographed without the permission of a guardian or the dependency court. AndersonGlenn LLP, who launched the lawsuit on behalf of the Kowalski family confirmed the family is seeking $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages. Maya Kowalski (pictured left) was detained at Florida's Johns Hopkins All Children's hospital after staff suspected her mother Beata (center) might have been faking her daughters symptoms for Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome Dr Kirkpatrick told the court he discussed his prescription of ketamine therapy to Kowalski with staff at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital The hospital's defense is expected to center on staff status as mandatory reporters required by state law to call the abuse hotline if they have 'reasonable cause', the Tampa Bay Times reported. Shapiro previously stated that the decision to remove Maya was made by the child welfare system rather than the medical facility. The hospital released a statement to DailyMail.com which read: 'Our priority at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is always the safety and privacy of our patients and their families. 'Therefore, we follow strict federal privacy laws that limit the amount of information we can release regarding any particular case. 'Our first responsibility is always to the child brought to us for care. Our staff are required by law to notify Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) if they suspect abuse or neglect. 'It is DCF and a judge not Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital that investigates the situation and makes the ultimate decision about what course of action is in the best interest of the child. 'We are determined to prevent any chilling effect on the obligation to report suspected child abuse in order to protect the most vulnerable among us.' A Norwegian known as the 'Eunuch Maker' has admitted removing a man's penis and clamping the testicles of another victim. Marius Gustavson, 45, who is said to have made up to 200,000 live-streaming 'body modifications', admitted two charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent at the Old Bailey today. Gustavson, who lives in Tottenham, north London, has had his own penis and a nipple removed. The operations were uploaded to Gustavson's 'Eunuch Maker' website which subscribers would pay to watch. The practice is linked to a subculture where men become 'nullos' - short for genital nullification - by having their penis and testicles removed. Marius Gustavson has had his own penis and nipple removed The conspiracy is said to have involved up to 29 extreme body modifications, the removal of body parts and the trade in body parts with eight other men. Gustavson appeared via video link at the Old Bailey and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm and one count of possessing criminal property, namely money. He pleaded not guilty to three further counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The GBH charges relate to five alleged victims, including the removal of a man's penis and the clamping of another man's testicles. He admitted making and distributing two indecent videos of a child between January 2017 and January 2020. His alleged 'right-hand man', surgeon Peter Wates, 66, has admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. The operations were uploaded to Gustavson's 'Eunuch Maker' website which subscribers would pay to watch Ashley Williams (left), 31, has admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent to 37-year-old Janus Atkin (right) at his home in Newport, south Wales, on 7 November 2017 Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 22, (pictured) of Epsom, Surrey, previously admitted causing GBH with intent by freezing Gustavson's leg, causing it to require amputation He was said to have a major role as surgeon in a large number of procedures. Romanian Ion Ciucur, 28, who works in a hotel in Gretna Green, Scotland, denies conspiracy to cause GBH with intent in relation to two modifications. Ashley Williams, 31, has admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent to 37-year-old Janus Atkin at his home in Newport, south Wales, on 7 November 2017. David Carruthers, 60, and Atkin, 37, deny conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 22, of Epsom, Surrey, previously admitted causing GBH with intent by freezing Gustavson's leg, causing it to require amputation. Former nurse Nathan Arnold, 48, of South Kensington and Damien Byrnes, 35, of Tottenham, have admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Gustavson. Byrnes removed Gustavson's penis on or around February 18, 2017 while Arnold was involved in the partial removal of his nipple. Arnold also admitted stealing the local anaesthetic lidocaine while working as nurse at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital between January 2016 and January 2022, and possession of extreme pornographic images. The charges relate to 13 alleged victims who are being safeguarded by specialist detectives. Gustavson, Ciucur and Byrnes are remanded in custody while the others are on conditional bail, including curfew and residence. A provisional trial date is set for March 4, 2024. All defendants will appear in person at the Old Bailey for the next hearing on November 3. Italy's highest court today overturned a slander conviction against Amanda Knox, the American jailed and later acquitted of the 2007 murder of her British roommate, and ordered a new trial. Knox, now 36, was sentenced to three years already served in 2011 for falsely implicating Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba in Meredith Kercher's murder. But the Court of Cassation in Rome accepted her appeal in a ruling published today, overturning the slander conviction and ordering a new trial at the court of appeal in Florence. Knox welcomed the verdict on X, formerly Twitter. 'Though I was exonerated for murder, I remained wrongly convicted of slander,' she wrote. The Court of Cassation in Rome accepted Amanda Knox's appeal in a ruling published today, overturning the slander conviction and ordering a new trial at the court of appeal in Florence (File Photo) Knox, now 36, was sentenced to three years already served in 2011 for falsely implicating Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba (pictured) in Meredith Kercher's murder Knox spent four years in an Italian prison for killing Kercher (pictured), a fellow student, in the apartment they shared in Perugia Now, 'I am no longer a convicted person. And I will fight with my lawyers to prove my innocence once and for all'. She added that at the time of Kercher's murder, 'Lumumba was my friend'. 'We are both victims of the violation of my human rights during my interrogation, without which I was helpless against the coercive pressure of the police.' Knox had pointed the finger at Lumumba during police questioning in which she claimed she was yelled at, slapped and threatened. Her claims prompted a separate charge in Italy of slandering police, of which she was cleared in 2016. Then in 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Knox had not been provided with adequate legal representation or a professional interpreter during her interrogation, saying her treatment 'compromised the fairness of the proceedings as a whole'. The ruling today took the European court decision into account, Knox said. Knox welcomed the verdict on X, formerly Twitter (File Photo) Knox had pointed the finger at Lumumba during police questioning in which she claimed she was yelled at, slapped and threatened. Italy's highest court today overturned a slander conviction against Knox (File Photo) Kercher, then 21, had been found half-naked and stabbed 47 times. Police also found signs of sexual assault (File Photo) Lumumba is accompanied by Italian police investigating the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia on November 6, 2007 Following the court's decision to overturn the slander conviction, Knox wrote on X, formerly Twitter: 'Though I was exonerated for murder, I remained wrongly convicted of slander' (File Photo) Knox said that now, 'I am no longer a convicted person. And I will fight with my lawyers to prove my innocence once and for all'. She added that at the time of Kercher's murder, 'Lumumba was my friend'. Pictured: Patrick Lumumba Knox spent four years in an Italian prison for killing Kercher, a fellow student, in the apartment they shared in Perugia. She was freed on appeal in 2011, when she returned to the United States, only to be convicted again in her absence in 2014. Finally in 2015, Italy's top court quashed her conviction and that of her Italian former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. Kercher, then 21, had been found half-naked and stabbed 47 times. Police also found signs of sexual assault. Lumumba, the bar owner, spent more than a week in jail after being implicated by Knox, before being cleared of any involvement in the crime. An Ivorian drifter, Rudy Guede, who was linked to the murder scene by DNA evidence, was sentenced in 2008 to 30 years for murder and sexual assault, his sentence later cut to 16 years. He was released early in November 2021. A Stanford University lecturer has been suspended after asking Jewish students to raise their hands and sit in the corner during a public shaming stunt over the oppression of Palestinians. The instructor reportedly asked Jewish and Israeli students to identify themselves before telling them to grab their belongings and stand in a corner, saying This is what Israel does to the Palestinians, The Forward first reported on Thursday. How many people died in the Holocaust? he then asked the Jewish students of the class, to which they replied, Six million. He allegedly responded, Colonizers killed more than 6 million. Israel is a colonizer. He also reportedly stated that Hamas represents the Palestinian people and the horrific acts of terrorism they committed over the weekend were 100 percent legitimate. The Stanford (pictured) instructor reportedly asked Jewish and Israeli students to identify themselves before telling them to grab their belongings and stand in a corner Multiple students reported the disturbing incident they recalled as giving 1930s vibes, to Rabbi Dov Greenberg, director of the Chabad Stanford Jewish Center. 'I was waiting to post this until it was confirmed by multiple sources I trust,' Shaun Maguire posted on X naming Hasan Loggins. 'These are 1930s vibes.' They identified the instructor as 46-year-old Ameer Hasan Loggins, a Lecturer, at Stanford Introductory Studies of Civic, Liberal, and Global Education, however at this time, Stanford has kept his identity anonymous. Speaking to the Forward, Rabbi Greenberg said that he was told by at least three students who were in the room that the instructor asked Jewish and Israeli students to identify themselves during a session for a required undergraduate course called Civil, Liberal and Global Education. Stanford President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez addressed a letter to the university community following the reports on Wednesday, claiming the instructor is not currently teaching while the university works to ascertain the facts of the situation. We have received a report of a class in which a non-faculty instructor is reported to have addressed the Middle East conflict in a manner that called out individual students in class based on their backgrounds and identities, the letter read. Without prejudging the matter, this report is a cause for serious concern. Academic freedom does not permit the identity-based targeting of students. The school then went on to confirm that 'offensive speech' is acceptable at Stanford but illegal threats cross a boundary. 'It is important to remember that controversial and even offensive speech is allowed except when it crosses the line into certain illegal categories such as threats or harassment for which the threshold is quite high,' the letter continues. 'Unlawful threats and harassment will not be tolerated. Stanford also has content- and viewpoint-neutral time, place, and manner rules that limit locations for banners and signs. Thus, many of the banners and signs have been removed, because they were in places where they are not allowed. 'Moreover, it is worth remembering that while a climate of free expression requires breathing room, our aspiration as a community is for respectful and substantive discourse.' The professor reportedly stated that Hamas represents the Palestinian people and the acts of terrorism they committed over the weekend were 100 percent legitimate Stanford University and President Richard Saller did not respond to DailyMail.com's requests for comment. Pro-Hamas demonstrations have spread on college campuses across the nation since the terrorist attacks in Israel. Students at the University of Washington and across the country at Georgetown University gathered to praise the Hamas terrorists who butchered 1,300 Israelis over the weekend, launching the region into a bloody war. At the University of Washington, video footage captured several Jewish students in tears as they pleaded with an administrator to put a stop to the pro-Palestinian rally, at which students condoned violence against Israel and the Jewish people. 'They want our people dead. They want us killed,' sobs one student to an administrator who appears to be listening, but indicating that there is noting he can do. 'How are you allowing this? Why aren't you putting a stop to this?' she asked through uncontrollable tears. 'Please end it. Please,' she begged. The event at the campus' red square had been advertised by a radical student group who said their goal was to 'uplift the just Palestinian resistance' and 'condemn the settler colonial state of Israel.' Flyers for the event featured a drawing of a paraglider similar to the ones that militant Hamas terrorists used last Saturday to fly into southern Israel and massacre scores of innocent concert-goers. The Mayor of London has said he fears a 'disproportionate' response by Israel to the 'terrorist' attacks by Hamas could lead to 'inexplicable suffering' in Gaza. Sadiq Khan also called for the Israeli government to reconsider blocking off food, water and electricity to the region in response to the killings and kidnappings by the militant group, which led to the deaths of more than 1,000 Israelis last weekend. Israel's military has since ordered more than one million Palestinians living in northern Gaza to evacuate in 24 hours, according to the United Nations. During a visit today to Islington-based charity Medical Aid For Palestinians (MAP), the Labour mayor said: 'I've spoken to Londoners who lost family members in Gaza and Londoners who've lost family as a consequence of the Hamas terrorist attack last weekend, so we're feeling the pain here. 'But we are worried about the response of the Israeli government being disproportionate (and) leading to the sort of suffering which is inexplicable.' The Mayor of London has said he fears a 'disproportionate' response by Israel to the 'terrorist' attacks by Hamas could lead to 'inexplicable suffering' in Gaza People evacuate Gaza City following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza strip today Mr Khan added: 'We're talking about human suffering on a scale which this charity, who has worked in that area for decades, hasn't seen.' Speaking to an ITV journalist at the same event, he added: 'The concerns many of us have is the response from the Israeli government and its disproportionality in relation to the suffering in Gaza. 'No child has joined Hamas to my knowledge. Those people who are in hospital aren't members of Hamas. 'Of course, Israel must go after Hamas but what's happening in Gaza is suffering on a scale which this charity has never seen.' The Labour mayor urged the British Government to put pressure on Israel to practise restraint, adding: 'I'm hoping the Israeli government will reconsider, understanding the pressure internationally, when you hear what the United Nations are saying, what the World Health Organisation are saying, and when you listen to those people on the ground. 'We should use our good relationship with the Israeli government to remind them of the importance of responding proportionately, allowing food, water, and medicine to reach the people of Gaza, and explain the unreasonableness of expecting over one million people, a population the size of Birmingham, to leave their homes and go south. 'Speaking to people here, there's no way for them to go south.' This comes as the Met said that more than 1,000 officers will police a pro-Palestine protest in London as police ramp up patrols across the UK following the Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Thousands of people are expected to descend on London tomorrow to march in solidarity with Palestine, with a march starting at Portland Place at 12pm before finishing in Whitehall at about 3pm. The Met also has 1,000 officers dedicated to 'reassurance and security patrols' following a 'massive' spike in incidents of antisemitism over recent weeks. An Israeli artillery unit fires towards the Gaza Strip today as battles between Israel and Hamas continue for the seventh day in a row UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the evacuation order 'impossible' without 'devastating humanitarian consequences'. Tel Aviv said on Thursday its complete siege of Gaza would remain in place until some 150 hostages taken by Hamas are freed. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said it was right for Israel to give advance warning of its military action so people 'can move', saying the country had a right to 'go after' Hamas. The UK has so far sent Royal Navy vessels and Royal Air Force surveillance planes to the area, while Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he had not ruled out Britain sending further assistance. A New York City councilwoman has been arrested after she wore a gun on her waist while opposing a pro-Palestine rally at CUNYs Brooklyn College. Republican Brooklyn councilwoman Inna Vernikov, who is Jewish, turned herself in to the NYPD early on Friday after her appearance at the school's Flatbush campus, where hundreds gathered to support Palestine after Hamas' attack left over 1,000 Israelis dead. Officials reportedly contacted her to inform her she was being charged with criminal possession of a weapon, The New York Post reported. Vernikov, 39, was released with a desk appearance ticket and ordered to surrender her gun, a Smith & Wesson 9 millimeter, as well as her concealed carry license, which she just obtained last month. While she had a license, it is a Class E felony to bring a gun to a protest or school grounds, which are deemed 'sensitive locations.' Republican Brooklyn councilwoman Inna Vernikov was arrested after she wore a gun on her waist while attending a pro-Palestine rally at CUNYs Brooklyn College 'I'm here at the pro-Hamas rally in Brooklyn college. There is a ton of police and we made sure the Jewish students feel safe today,' she said 'I'm here at the pro-Hamas rally in Brooklyn college. There is a ton of police and we made sure the Jewish students feel safe today, but here they are screaming and yelling "Intifada, globalize the Intifida!"' Vernikov said on a video from the protest posted on X. 'If you are here today standing with these people you are nothing short of a terrorist without the bombs,' she added. Vernikov represents Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay and nearby neighborhoods, and sits on the Councils Standards and Ethics Committee. The CUNY4Palestine X account shared images of the councilwoman and her gun, writing: 'At todays rally on Brooklyn College campus led by the students in their SJP chapter, Inna Vernikov showed up showcasing a gun to Palestinian students and their allies. 'These are the tactics of force and intimidation used by zionist groups to silence any support for Palestine.' Brooklyn College's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter (SJP) is just one of many across the nation that have mobilized to justify the Hamas attack on Israel, arguing Israel is to blame for the violence. Harvard found itself in hot water after 31 of its student organizations signed a letter holding the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. In their statement on Sunday the groups said the attack which left more than 1,000 dead 'did not happen in a vacuum', and claimed the Israeli government has forced Palestinians to live in 'an open-air prison for over two decades.' ally for Palestine out front of Brooklyn College in NYC Students gather to protest in behalf of Palestine at Brooklyn college on October 12 : Students gather to protest in behalf of Palestine at Brooklyn college Brooklyn College's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter (SJP) is just one of many across the nation that have mobilized to justify the Hamas attack on Israel Perfume giant Jo Malone distanced itself from company founder Jo Malone after DailyMail.com revealed that he was a leader of the group, the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. Harvard president Claudine Gay issued a message on Thursday condemning the 'barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas,' but rejected calls to punish and name the students who signed the inflammatory statement, saying the school 'embraces a commitment to free expression.' Gay had previously said: 'While our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group not even 30 student groups speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.' Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman claimed that fellow CEOs want to know who they are so none of us inadvertently hire any of their members. The CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management said he has been approached by a number of CEOs, adding: One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts. Nazis, Nazis, Nazis, one man in a keffiyeh with Palestinian colors repeatedly chanted at the counter-demonstrators The statement was signed by several other groups in the notoriously leftist campus, including Koreans for Decolonization and Central Americans for Empowerment On Tuesday, around 150 people brandishing placards and Palestinian flags occupied the steps of Cambridge City Hall. Animals, animals, you pigs, animals, Nazis, Nazis, Nazis, one man in a keffiyeh with Palestinian colors yelled at them, waving his finger across the thin line of police separating the groups. Meanwhile, the University of California at Berkeley's 'Bears for Palestine' group expressed their support for Hamas' actions and 'denounced the framing of Israel as a victim' hours after the terrorist organization's assault. The group will host a vigil for 'martyrs in Palestine' on Friday, and have promoted Student for Justice in Palestine (SJP) calls for a 'Day of Resistance' on Thursday across college campuses in support of the Hamas attacks. The Palestine Solidarity Committee holding banners outside the prestigious college The 'Day of Resistance' on Thursday saw several Jewish students at the University of Washington in tears as they pleaded with an administrator to put a stop to the pro-Palestinian rally, at which students condoned violence against Israel and the Jewish people. 'They want our people dead. They want us killed,' sobs one student to an administrator who appears to be listening, but indicating that there is noting he can do. The event at the campus' red square had been advertised by a radical student group who said their goal was to 'uplift the just Palestinian resistance' and 'condemn the settler colonial state of Israel.' Flyers for the event featured a drawing of a paraglider similar to the ones that militant Hamas terrorists used last Saturday to fly into southern Israel and massacre scores of innocent concert-goers. 'Worse than ISIS': Photo of bloodied child's bed posted by Israeli PM Netanyahu A house left in ruins after an attack by Hamas militants on this kibbutz days earlier when dozens of civilians were killed near the border with Gaza At NYU, the president of the Law School Bar Association had a job offer from a pro-LGBTQ+ law firm rescinded after she stated that Hamas' slaughter of children in Israel was 'necessary.' Ryna Workman, 24, a non-binary student at NYU's School of Law sent a weekly newsletter saying the murder of innocent Israeli children, women, and citizens this past week was is Israel's 'full responsibility.' On Tuesday, the law firm Winston & Strawn - which regularly highlights its legal work representing the LGBTQ + community - told DailyMail.com in a statement that their offer of employment to Workman has been rescinded. The number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 25. U.S. citizens are among the estimated 150 hostages captured by Hamas militants during their shocking weekend assault on Israel, President Joe Biden confirmed on Tuesday. The war has already claimed at least 2,200 lives on both sides. The parents of a critically ill baby have lost a High Court life-support treatment fight. A judge had heard evidence about seven-month-old Indi Gregory's condition at a recent private trial in the Family Division of the High Court, at the Royal Courts of Justice complex in London. Mr Justice Peel was told how Indi had mitochondrial disease, a genetic condition which saps energy, and was being treated at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham. Specialists say she is dying and the hospital's governing trust asked Mr Justice Peel to rule that doctors can lawfully limit treatment. Indi's parents, Dean Gregory, 37, and Claire Staniforth, 35, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, want life-support treatment to continue. But Mr Justice Peel has ruled this afternoon that medics can lawfully withdraw invasive treatment. A specialist said death was the 'best option' for the stricken seven-month-old - who has mitochondrial disease Baby Indi has a rare mitochondrial disease the same condition as baby Charlie Gard , who died in 2017 Indi's father Dean Gregory (pictured) denounced medics for their 'wrongly pessimistic and bleak' 'With a heavy heart I have come to the conclusion that the burdens of invasive treatment outweigh the benefits,' said the judge in a written ruling. 'In short, the significant pain experienced by this lovely little girl is not justified when set against an incurable set of conditions, a very short life span, no prospect of recovery and, at best, minimal engagement with the world around her.' He added: 'In my judgment, having weighed up all the competing considerations, her best interests are served by permitting the trust to withdraw invasive treatment.' The judge went on: 'I know that this will come as a heavy blow to the parents.' Barrister Emma Sutton KC, who led Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's legal team, had told the judge that Indi was critically ill and had an exceptionally rare and devastating neurometabolic disorder. She said the treatment Indi received caused pain and was futile. 'Indi is dying,' Ms Sutton told the judge. 'We cannot get away from that fact as sensitive as it may be. All realistic options have been exhausted.' She said nurses were 'watching Indi suffer' and added: 'This has been looked at nationally, it has been looked at internationally. Last week the little girl was christened in her hospital bed, surrounded by her parents and her three older sisters. Pictured, baby Indi Gregory at her Christening. After her breathing tube was removed, he estimated she could die within minutes, but also that she might survive days Outside court, Mr Gregory said the hearing was 'like a death sentence' after Indi's doctor said there was no hope. Indi pictured with her parents Dean and Claire Staniforth Indi has three older sisters who have accompanied their parents on visits to her in hospital 'Sadly, the conclusions are that nothing further can be done.' Mr Gregory had told Mr Justice Peel that his daughter had 'proved everyone wrong' and needed 'more time'. 'You have only got one life,' he had said. 'You have to go through a little bit of pain to carry on with that life.' Mr Justice Peel considered evidence behind closed doors but allowed journalists to attend the hearing and ruled that Indi, her parents, and the hospital can be named in reports. He ruled that medics treating Indi, and a guardian appointed to represent her interests, could not be named. Indi's parents are being supported by campaign group the Christian Legal Centre. Mr Justice Peel has praised Indi's parents as 'dearly wanting to achieve the best they can for their daughter'. In September, the little girl was christened in her hospital bed, surrounded by her parents and her three older sisters. Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre which is supporting the family, said: 'Life is the most precious gift we have. A truly compassionate society that cares for the most vulnerable in society just doesn't do this. 'It feels intolerable that Dean and his family are in this position. Indi Gregory should be given every chance to live, and her parents' wishes must be respected and supported.' A teenager has been arrested in connection with the mass shooting at Morgan State University earlier this month which left five people injured. Baltimore Police said that the juvenile, who has not been identified, was taken in custody on Thursday and will be charged with multiple counts of attempted murder. Police also announced they had issued an attempted murder warrant for 18-year-old Jovan Williams in connection with the shooting. According to officers, Williams is armed and dangerous and anyone with information is urged to contact them. The shooting had unfolded last week after bullets were fired inside the campus dining hall at the University in Maryland. Police also announced they had issued an attempted murder warrant for 18-year-old Jovan Williams, pictured here, in connection with the shooting At least two people opened fire during a dispute between two groups at Morgan State University homecoming events Commissioner Richard Worley said: 'BPD has been working tirelessly on the investigation into this incident and are grateful for the many partners that assisted us in identifying and capturing one of our suspects. 'We will not rest until Williams is in custody. While this arrest cannot undo the damage and trauma caused that day, it is my hope that it can bring some peace and justice to the victims, the Morgan community and our city.' Students at the historically black college were crowning their 'Mister & Miss Morgan State University' shortly before the gunfire erupted. Attendees were walking from the auditorium to the student center for a coronation ball, which was about to begin when gunfire sent people scattering in fear. The five victims - four male and one female, raging from ages 18 to 22 - were not in critical condition following the incident. Four were confirmed as students. City police and university officials initially warned students of an active shooter and ordered them to shelter in place for hours while SWAT officers went door to door searching for suspects. Video later emerged on social media showing the moment SWAT teams raided dorm rooms around the campus looking for the shooters. A video posted by student Don Myrie on X showed officers armed with assault rifles storming a dorm room, asking students if they have seen anything, asking them to lift up their shirts to check for weapons and asked if anyone was hurt. A Baltimore City Fire Department truck stages at Morgan State University during a shooting on the campus Tuesday Myrie, a sophomore, said in an interview with The Baltimore Banner that he was exhausted after a day of work and that his friends forced him to go to the homecoming event where the attack took place. As they were making their way there, they saw police cars whizzing past and students yelling and running. Eventually, Myrie and a group of around 20 others huddled together in a room. The college told students to avoid Thurgood Marshall Hall, a co-ed residential hall with a dining facility attached, as well as the Murphy Fine Arts Center. Speaking on the arrest of the juvenile, David K. Wilson, president of Morgan State University said: 'The Morgan Community can take solace today in knowing that an arrest has been made and we are one step closer to bringing all of the alleged culprits responsible for the incident that occurred on our campus to justice 'I commend the Baltimore Police Department and the Morgan State University Police Department for their collaborative investigative efforts and swift actions to identify the alleged shooters and the diligent work to take them off the streets. 'We look forward to the day when all the individuals involved in the shooting are made to be held accountable for what took place.' Baltimore City Council Member Ryan Dorsey reported earlier in the day that police said there were three gunmen at the scene. Evidence markers are pictured outside a building at Morgan State University An ATF officer searches for evidence in front of a building at Morgan State University Dorsey said: 'Just received a call from BPD about a shooting at the Morgan campus. Five victims, none critical. 'It's believed there were three shooters firing into the crowd, none apprehended or ID'd at this time.' Morgan State University is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities - and it became an official higher education institution in 1975. In 2022, there were 7,609 undergraduates and 1,392 postgraduates enrolled at the college. MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, donated $40 million to Morgan State in 2020. This is not the first time that the college has faced shootings around the time of homecoming. In October last year, one student was shot during an unsanctioned homecoming party outside university's student center, reports the Baltimore Banner. A year before that in 2021, another student was shot during a fight during homecoming celebrations. Keir Starmer has been in talks with the DUP about the prospect of softening Brexit, it was revealed today. The unionists' leader Jeffrey Donaldson said there had been discussions with Sir Keir about solutions to ease friction in trade between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland. However, speaking ahead of the DUP conference he insisted he was focused on securing a deal with the current Government that would allow his party to return to the Stormont Assembly. Labour has been vowing to restore close ties with the EU if Sir Keir wins the next election, although he has stressed that does not mean rejoining the single market or customs union. Tories have warned that the Opposition has an agenda of unwinding Brexit. Keir Starmer (pictured in Tamworth with by-election candidate Sarah Edwards today) has been in talks with the DUP about the prospect of softening Brexit Jeffrey Donaldson said there had been discussions with Sir Keir about solutions to ease friction in trade between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland Rishi Sunak agreed the Windsor Framework with European commission chief Ursula von der Leyen earlier this year, arguing that the new terms solve the problems caused for Northern Ireland by the original Brexit deal. However, DUP has refused to get behind the package and is refusing to participate in powersharing until its concerns are addressed. Sir Jeffrey said the Northern Ireland Protocol must be replaced with arrangements that 'respect and protect' the region's ability to trade within the UK and its internal market. Talks have been ongoing between the DUP and the Government for months but speculation has heightened in recent weeks that they may be close to concluding. Sir Jeffrey confirmed his party has had 'a number of conversations' with both Sir Keir Starmer and shadow secretary of state Hilary Benn. He described them as 'interesting discussions', adding: 'Labour does have a plan in terms of how it will deal with some of the issues that confront us, including on EU regulations and veterinary agreements'. 'If Labour were to proceed on the basis they have spoken of, for the United Kingdom as a whole, that would help to ease many of the difficulties that we have in moving goods, particularly from Great Britain to Northern Ireland,' he told the BBC on Friday. But he insisted he is working to get an agreement now with the current Government. 'I don't want to wait another year. If we can get this right now, if we can have measures that respect our economic rights as part of the United Kingdom, that restore our place in the UK internal market, why wouldn't I take that now?' he said. He added: 'Realistically, if we reach the end of the year, we're into the trajectory for a general election and I think it is likely in those circumstances Government are going to focus elsewhere. That's why I'm keen to make every effort that we can to get agreement. I don't know if that's going to be possible but I will continue working at this to try and get that solution.' Speaking before his party's conference this weekend, Sir Jeffrey said he will update members on the talks with the Government. Rishi Sunak (pictured on a visit to Sweden today) agreed the Windsor Framework with European commission chief Ursula von der Leyen earlier this year, arguing that the new terms solve the problems caused for Northern Ireland by the original Brexit deal Asked if they are close to a deal, Sir Jeffrey declined to speculate on a timeline, saying: 'Nothing is certain when it comes to negotiations of this nature but we have made progress.' The DUP withdrew first minister Paul Givan from the Stormont executive in February 2022 in protest against the internal UK trade barriers created by Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol. Powersharing is unable to function in Northern Ireland without the participation of the largest unionist party. The UK and EU agreed the framework earlier this year in a bid to address unionist concerns about the protocol, but the DUP has indicated it will not return to the Stormont Assembly until the Government provides further assurances over Northern Ireland's place in the UK internal market. One of the main parts of the framework the green/red lane system for the movement of goods became operational at Northern Ireland ports earlier this month. Every secondary school in London will be offered knife wand metal detectors in the wake of the fatal stabbings of teenagers Elianne Andam and Taye Faik. Schools can ask the Met Police for knife wands to screen for weapons on their premises. These knife wands can be kept by the schools or can be used by Safer Schools Officers as part of a planned operation, the Mayor of London has today announced. It comes as part of commitments Sadiq Khan has made to provide dedicated local support to every secondary school in the capital to help prevent and tackle knife crime. He written to the headteachers of every London secondary school to outline the support, resources and funding available. The measures come following the tragic murders of 15-year-old Elianne Andam who was knifed to death on her way to school in Croydon on September 27, and Taye Faik, 16, who was fatally stabbed in Edmonton just a few days later on October 1. Elianne, a pupil at the Old Palace of John Whitgift school, was studying towards her GCSEs Taye Faik, 16, who was stabbed to death near his home in north London Sadiq Khan has written to the headteachers of every London secondary school to outline the support, resources and funding available Schools will be able to ask the Met Police for knife wands to screen for weapons on their premises (stock image) Schools will be able to ask the Met to provide an officer to deliver knife crime prevention talks to students on the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife. They can also request a Safer Schools Officer who provides visible reassurance to the school community and build positive relationships between young people and the police. The Mayor says he has invested 34million to help voluntary and community sector organisations deliver mentor opportunities to young Londoners most in need and at risk of exploitation or being drawn into violence. Toolkits to tackle violence against women and girls will also be available for teachers to use in all secondary schools across London. The toolkit will include resources to help boys understand why their words and attitudes towards women and girls matter and the need for them to recognise, call out and tackle sexist and misogynistic behaviour. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: 'Every death of a young person on the streets of our city is utterly heart-breaking. I want to support our schools and hard-working teachers to access the support, resources and funding they need to help prevent and tackle violence. 'I'm determined to be tough on crime by investing and supporting our police, and tough on the complex causes through a pioneering prevention and early intervention approach led by my Violence Reduction Unit. ElianneAndam was attacked in Croydon on September 27 Pictured is the scene of the attack after 15-year-old Elianne was stabbed People attended a vigil outside the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon, south London, for Elianne Andam 'I will continue working closely with London's schools, local community groups, parents and youth workers to build a safer London for everyone.' Elianne Andam, a pupil at the Old Palace of John Whitgift school, was tragically stabbed on the way to school. It was claimed she was attacked after she tried to protect a friend. A teenager, 17, has been charged over the attack. Taye Faik died after he was stabbed just before 11.30pm near his home. Detective Chief Inspector Joanna Yorke who is leading the investigation into his murder said: 'This is a tragic incident in which another young person has lost their life on the streets of London. 'We are in the early stages and are currently working on a number of lines of enquiry in what is a fast-moving investigation. 'We are urgently appealing for anyone who may have any information about this incident to contact us. 'We are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have any footage including CCTV or dashcam of the incident or the local vicinity around the time of the attack.' Defiant Gazans who refused to evacuate after Israel gave them 24 hours before launching an all-out assault have claimed they would rather die than leave their homes. While some heeded the call to leave, by Friday afternoon there was little sign of a mass exodus, despite the UN warning the area is 'fast becoming a hellhole'. 'Death is better than leaving,' said Mohammad, 20, standing in the street outside a building reduced to rubble in an Israeli air strike two days ago near the centre of Gaza. 'I was born here, and I will die here, leaving is a stigma.' With power supplies cut and food and water in the Palestinian enclave running short after a week of retaliatory air strikes and a full Israeli blockade, the U.N. said Gaza's civilians were in an impossible situation. 'The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening. How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated warzone in less than 24 hours?' U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths wrote on social media. Hamas, which controls the densely populated Palestinian territory and slaughtered Israeli civilians in Saturday's attacks, vowed to fight until the last drop of blood and told residents to stay put after Israel said they should leave to escape the onslaught because Hamas 'is using you as human shields'. Palestinian citizens inspect damage to homes caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza A child mourns after his relative killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza City, Gaza on October 13, 2023. The number of Palestinians killed from a massive Israeli air campaign against the Gaza Strip has risen to 1,799, the Health Ministry said Friday People are seen leaving to the southern safer parts by whatever vehicles they can find with their belongings after the United Nations reported that the Israeli army wanted 1.1 million civilians in Gaza to leave their homes Doctors examine a child injured as a result of Israeli attacks at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza on October 13, 2023 Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on October 13, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes, which have killed at least 1,400 people with more than 300,000 displaced, after a large-scale attack by Hamas Smoke rises above buildings, in the southern Gaza Strip, following an Israeli strike, on Friday October 13, 2023. Israel has told Palestinians to leave northern Gaza. An Israeli Strike Continuous on Gaza , Rafah Though many stayed, thousands of Palestinians still tried to flee south. Some were in cars, many others were on foot as they sought to make the trip to the south of the densely populated territory that is home to 2.4 million people on its 362 140 square miles. But all those trying to avoid the destruction of Israel's bombs are left with one crucial question: 'Where to go?' 'How long will the strikes and death last? We have no homes left, every area of Gaza is under threat,' said 29-year-old Umm Hossam, her face streaked with tears. 'We call on Arab countries to protect us. Where are the Arabs? Enough! Enough!' she cried. The northern half of the Gaza Strip includes the enclave's biggest settlement Gaza City. The U.N. said it had been told that Israel wanted the entire population to move across the wetlands that bisect the enclave. 'Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields,' the Israeli military said, accusing Hamas of hiding in and under civilian buildings. Israel says the horrific attack on its civilians means it must annihilate the militant group and others must get out of the way. Hamas tunnels, military compounds, senior operatives' residences and weapons storage warehouses were among 750 military targets struck overnight, it said. The military wing of Hamas said the latest air strikes had killed 13 of the captives it brought back from Israel and that it had fired 150 rockets at Israel in response. The United Nations said Israel's call for Gaza civilians to leave could not happen 'without devastating humanitarian consequences', prompting a rebuke from Israel which said it should condemn Hamas and support Israel's right to self-defence. The Israeli military has not spelled out what sort of operation it is planning next but has pledged to operate 'significantly' in coming days. 'We are fighting for our home. We are fighting for our future,' Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said. 'The path will be long, but ultimately I promise you we will win.' Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority that is a rival of Hamas, told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jordan that the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza would constitute a repeat of 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from what is now Israel. Most Gazans are the descendants of such refugees. Abbas called for aid to be allowed into Gaza immediately. Israel has said it will not lift its blockade until scores of hostages captured by Hamas are set free. Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed providing safe zones in Gaza 'where civilians could relocate to be safe from Israel's legitimate security operations,' a U.S. state department official told reporters. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said such a huge evacuation was a 'tall order', but that Washington would not second guess its ally's decision to tell civilians to get out of the way. 'We understand what they're trying to do and why they're trying to do this - to try to isolate the civilian population from Hamas, which is their real target,' he said on MSNBC. Bodies of Palestinians who lost their lives in Israeli airstrikes are brought back to their families in Rafah, Gaza on October 13, 2023. The number of Palestinians killed from a massive Israeli air campaign against the Gaza Strip has risen to 1,799, the Health Ministry said Friday Residents evacuate Gaza City following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza Strip, 13 October 2023. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) on 13 October called for the evacuation of all civilians of northern Gaza, ahead of an expected ground invasion Israel has ordered more than one million people to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive aimed at eradicating Hamas The order has sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade, while the United Nations called such an evacuation 'impossible' that would turn an tragedy into calamity. Pictured: Children are seen in a Gaza City hospital A doctor examines a child injured as a result of Israeli attacks at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza on October 13, 2023 A Palestinian man runs amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli air strike on October 13 Smoke rises following Israeli air strikes and warning of increased military operations in the northern Gaza Strip, 13 October 2023. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) on 13 October called for the evacuation of all civilians of northern Gaza, ahead of an expected ground invasion A Palestinian looks at dense black smoke during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the north entarnce of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, near Beit El Jewish settelment, in the occupied West Bank on October 13, 2023. Video shows purported use of white phosphorus munitions by Israeli forces Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12 A fireball erupts from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 12 A ground invasion of the narrow and densely populated Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people, poses serious risk, with Hamas threatening to kill its hostages. Hours after the Israeli evacuation call, there were few signs people were leaving Gaza City, where dozens gathered at the al-Shifa Hospital, vowing to stay put. Palestinians in southern and central areas of the enclave, where people were expected to flee to, said air strikes had hit there overnight, with central parts also hit on Friday morning. 'No place is safe in the entire Gaza Strip,' the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. The U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) said more than 400,000 people had already been made homeless in Gaza and 23 aid workers had been killed. 'Mass displacement continues,' it said. The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said it had moved its central operations centre and international staff to Gaza's south and urged Israel to spare its shelters. White House national security spokesman Kirby said U.S. officials were working with Israel and Egypt, which also has a border with Gaza, on safe passage for civilians there. 'Obviously, we don't want to see any civilians hurt,' he said on CNN. 'These Palestinian people, they're victims, too. They didn't ask for this. They didn't invite Hamas in and say, you know, 'Go hit Israel.'' U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a trip to Tel Aviv that military aid was flowing into Israel but that this was the time for resolve and not revenge. On Friday Blinken met Jordan's King Abdullah as well as Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007. Blinken is also set to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates - some with influence on Hamas. Iran warned of a response from its allies, which include Hamas and the powerful Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. The Israeli military said gunmen were infiltrating across the Lebanese border. Iran's foreign minister met the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nassrallah, in Lebanon. 'The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis,' Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said. Jews in other countries talked of fear of attacks. In Paris, police used tear gas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinians. Some Jewish schools in Amsterdam and London were set to close temporarily due to safety concerns. Police in New York and Los Angeles stepped up their presence around synagogues and Jewish community centres. When I saw the murder of those 260 revellers at the Nova music festival, I wept as any father would because those kids could have been yours or mine. When I saw what Hamas did at Kibbutz Kfar Aza and elsewhere, my mind went back to the time I was working on a kibbutz in Galilee and I thought how utterly defenceless we were, how innocently we went out to pick apples or dig ditches, because we were in exactly the same state of mind as those Israelis who were living near Gaza last Saturday. We knew there could be trouble; we knew that there was a risk of missile attack. But we believed that the Israel Defense Forces were the most vigilant in the world, and that Israeli intelligence was more than capable of alerting us to any danger. So when I think of the massacre that took place a week ago, I understand the shock of the Israeli people. I share their rage. Israel is morally entitled even obliged to eliminate those responsible, to make sure such a thing as the October Massacre never happens again. This is not because I hunger for some Old Testament revenge, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Israel must act because that country has been attacked with a mercilessness we have not seen since its foundation in 1948. Israel must act because it is vital that we dismantle the Hamas machine, and restore confidence in the Israeli security services and in the military. When I saw what Hamas did at Kibbutz Kfar Aza (pictured) and elsewhere, my mind went back to the time I was working on a kibbutz in Galilee and I thought how utterly defenceless we were, writes BORIS JOHNSON Israel must act because that extraordinary young democracy still faces an existential threat and Britain must support Israel, even as we grieve for the suffering that follows. We grieve for the innocent Palestinian children who are losing their lives as much as we grieve for the Israelis. But the Israelis have no choice but to try to find those who attacked them, and to prevent them from doing more murder. To all those idiots who have been out on the streets and waving their Palestinian flags, or gloating that the Jews had it coming, I say: you are either the victims of your prejudices, or you have been wilfully blind to what is really happening in the Middle East. Yes, it is tragic that we have not achieved a two-state solution, and we must concede that this objective looks more remote than ever. But if you think that the Israelis bear sole responsibility, or even the main responsibility, for this failure, then you have not been following events. Gaza is out of control because in 2005 the Israelis pulled out altogether sometimes dragging Jewish settlers out by the hair. The place was left to the Palestinians. What happened? Did they seize their moment, and govern sensibly, taking advantage of the billions in aid the US and the EU were ready to disgorge? On the contrary the Gaza Strip became a launching pad for rocket attacks on Israel; an appalling advertisement for what two states could mean. It is true that in the past few decades the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank has made a negotiated settlement more difficult; but it could have been done. To all those idiots who have been out on the streets and waving their Palestinian flags, or gloating that the Jews had it coming, I say: you are either the victims of your prejudices, or you have been wilfully blind to what is really happening in the Middle East Time and again the Palestinian leadership has turned down the chance to do deals under terms far more favourable than those that might be on offer today. The simple reason for this refusal is that the leaders of the Palestinian factions whether Fatah or Hamas have depended for their relevance, for their cash, not on striking a deal but on ensuring that the conflict continues. That is why Hamas has dug up the water pipes donated by the EU, and turned them into rocket launchers. And to those who continue to assert some moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas, let me make this fundamental point. It doesnt matter whether they shot those babies or decapitated them. They were setting out to kill the most innocent and vulnerable human beings in a deliberately horrifying way. That is the difference between the Hamas terrorists and the Israelis. The scale of the carnage and the pitilessness of Hamas have evoked comparisons with 9/11, the mass murder in New York that triggered the U.S. and the UK to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. The comparison feels apt, so let us also remember the lessons of 9/11. More than 20 years later, our mistakes are obvious. It is easy to destroy a regime or government in the Middle East. It is less easy to ensure that you have any kind of replacement at all, let alone a better one. It is easy to shock and awe with the power of Western weapons. It is much less easy to convince a Muslim audience never mind the rest of the world of the righteousness of your actions. Smoke rises above buildings in the southern Gaza Strip following an Israeli strike today If 9/11 teaches us anything, it is that it is all too easy, in our response, to set up a cycle of violence, going on for years, in which jihadis are radicalised against us, and Western cities experience the horrors of blowback. That cycle of revenge is exactly what Hamas wants. That is why they committed this massacre now. Their fanaticism and their refusal to compromise meant that they were becoming irrelevant to the peace process. They struck not just at Israel, but at the prospect terrifying to Hamas that Israel was on the verge of further reconciliation with the Arab world. The Abraham Accords, agreed under Donald Trump, have been the most important step forward for decades. First the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco made peace. Who can doubt that Saudi Arabia was shortly to follow? Whatever people may say about that countrys leader, Mohammed bin Salman, he is transforming his country, and he has the potential to transform the region. A vision is opening up of far greater economic integration between Israel and her Arab neighbours; of green hydrogen or solar power used to desalinate the water and let the desert bloom; of high-speed rail connecting the vast Arabian peninsula to the Mediterranean. With better transport, better skills and high technology, young Palestinians have the hope of jobs and the chance to turn away from Hamas and all the politicians who depend on conflict. In time, if this process is allowed to continue, both sides might have the confidence to do the necessary, to agree to devolve more power to the Palestinians and to create something like a two-state solution. It is hard to imagine the Israelis ever agreeing not after what we have seen to a fully militarily independent Palestinian state. That is not on the cards. But you could imagine a federal solution, and the land swaps that would make it viable. All that progress would flow from the current Arab-Israeli reconciliation. It would make Hamas irrelevant and that is why they hate this process so much. In the absence of an easy two-state solution, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is absolutely right to pursue this approach. It is the best hope for peace. He deserves every support in hunting down Hamas and he will get it from Britain. But somehow he must retaliate without alienating the whole Arab world for years to come, and he must keep alive the great project, of reconciliation and economic reconstruction, on which Israel and her neighbours are now embarked. Somehow, we must avoid another lost decade of violence and revenge, because that is exactly what Hamas wants. J.K. Rowling branded a transgender activist a 'p****' after women's rights campaigners were met with abusive signs and shouts from protesters outside a feminist conference. The Harry Potter author took to social media to criticise a male activist who led abusive chants as attendees, many of whom are older women, queued to enter the Glasgow event. Anonymous organisers behind the Glasgow Trans Rally had attempted to shut down the three-day FiLiA conference, which features women's rights campaigners and people from around the world to discuss topics including female genital mutilation. Speakers include SNP MP Joanna Cherry and writer Julie Bindel. The venue Platform cancelled the Glasgow conference 12 hours before it was due to start on Friday amid a backlash online from trans activists, before solicitors got the decision reversed, citing the Equality Act. But as attendees arrived at the venue on Friday, a group of 40-50 trans activists shouted at them and held up signs saying 'Keep terfs out of Glasgow' and 'Transphobia kills and hurts all women'. J.K. Rowling posted a video on X of one activist singing a foul-mouthed song outside the venue, and wrote: 'Inside the venue: women from 35 different countries discuss their sex-based issues and concerns, including the harassment and intimidation they face from men. Outside the venue, this p****.' The Harry Potter author took to social media to criticise a male activist who led abusive chants as attendees, many of whom are older women, queued to enter Trans activists protest outside the international feminist conference Filia, at Platform in Glasgow Women queue to enter the international feminist conference Filia at Platform in Glasgow J.K. Rowling has been an outspoken advocate for women's rights A trans councillor in Glasgow for the Scottish Green Party who attended the protest said she did not want to see the conference cancelled, but wanted it to be 'intersectional'. Elaine Gallagher, 56, said: 'It is a major feminist organisation. I would like for the festival to go ahead without that slant, but the position of so many anti-trans, anti-sex worker activists, the lobbying around this, is not acceptable. 'I would like them to be intersectional. It is not trans violence which is the problem, it is male violence. 'I would like it if they would drop the claim that trans rights are in conflict with women's rights.' Another Glasgow Scottish Green councillor, Holly Bruce, 29, also joined the protest and criticised 'politically induced moral panic'. She said: 'There's various workshops and sessions that are under the guise of women's safety, that are trans exclusionary. 'It is a really good organisation but unfortunately there are certain workshops which are trans exclusionary. 'I'm not saying we shouldn't be protecting women from Iran and Afghanistan. 'For me I'm here to show solidarity with trans people and to ensure their voices are heard. 'The reason for the rally is workshops which exclude trans people.' Holly Bruce, Scottish Greens Councillor outside the international feminist conference Filia Elaine Gallager, Scottish Greens Councillor said she did not want to see the conference cancelled, but wanted it to be 'intersectional' Conference attendee Denise Fahmy, from Leeds, who successfully took the Arts Council to employment tribunal after suffering harassment due to her gender critical beliefs, objected to one of the most vocal activists outside the conference being a man. She tweeted: 'Hectored by this man and his friends this morning heading into FiLiA2023 where 1500 of us will be defending women's human rights.' The male activist declined to speak to the PA news agency and none of the organisers would speak to the media. Prior to her arrival at the conference, Jordanian activist Reem Alsalem, United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, spoke about expecting to witness abuse. She wrote: 'Arrived in Glasgow to participate in the @FiLiA-charity conference tomorrow. I guess I'll be witnessing in real time what i have been reading about over the last few years. 'The concerted attempts to censor women and prevent them from meeting and discussing issues that are important to women, and... women continuing to resist as they always have!'. A spokesman for Platform said: 'We are fully aware of and comply with our legal obligations and responsibilities under the equality legislation. We welcome a diverse and eclectic clientele including those from the trans community on our premises. We also recognise the right to peaceful protest. 'As a responsible employer, we always closely monitor and safeguard the safety and wellbeing of our employees, and would condemn any unlawful behaviour that could affect them.' MailOnline has contacted FiLiA for comment. A moped rider has died after being hit by a Met police car responding to a 999 call in North London. A man in his 20s was involved in the collision with the police vehicle on Southbury Road in Enfield just after 3pm on Thursday. Emergency services took him to hospital from the scene, but he passed away overnight from his injuries. An investigation into the incident has been launched by the police watchdog. A man in his 20s was killed in a collision with a police vehicle on Southbury Road in Enfield just after 3pm on Thursday A spokesperson for the Met added: 'Enquiries into the circumstances of the collision are ongoing by officers from the Met's Roads and Transport Policing Command. 'The Directorate of Professional Standards has been informed. 'A referral has been made to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) who will investigate the matter independently.' An IOPC spokesperson said: 'We have begun an independent investigation into a fatal collision involving a marked police vehicle and a moped in Enfield, North London, on Thursday October 12. 'The collision occurred shortly after 3pm on Southbury Road. 'We understand that, at the time of the collision, the officer driving the police vehicle was responding to an emergency call with the vehicle's lights and sirens activated. 'The rider of the moped, a man in his twenties, was taken to hospital where he sadly died overnight. 'After being notified of the incident by the Service's Department of Professional Standards, we sent investigators to the scene and to the police post incident procedures to begin gathering evidence. 'We will be in touch with the man's family in due course to explain our role.' Many of the school's notable alumni and donors have distanced themselves Harvard president Claudine Gay has condemned the 'barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas' - but rejected calls to punish pro-Palestine groups who justified the attack that killed over 1,000 Israelis. In her third statement since the attacks on Saturday, Gay posted a video message titled 'Our Choices' on Thursday to social media addressing calls for the Harvard students who blamed Israel for the horrific attack to be punished. 'People have asked me where we stand so let me be clear, our university rejects terrorism. That includes the barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Our university rejects hate - hate of Jews, hate of Muslims, hate of any group of people based on their faith, their national origin or any aspect of their identity,' the scholar said. 'Our university rejects the harassment or intimidation of individuals based on their beliefs, and our university embraces a commitment to freedom of expression, which extends even to views that many of us find objectionable, even outrageous. We do not punish or sanction people for expressing such views, but that is a far cry from endorsing them. Gay added: 'This is a moment of intense grief and pain for many people in our community and around the world. I feel that pain an grief myself as members of a university community, we have a choice - We can fan the flames of division and hatred that are roiling the world, or we can try to be a force for something different and better.' Harvard president Claudine Gay has condemned the 'barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas ' - but rejected calls to punish pro-Palestine groups who justified the attack Harvard found itself in hot water after 31 of its student organizations signed a letter holding the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. In their statement on Sunday the groups said the attack that unleashed the war 'did not happen in a vacuum', and claimed the Israeli government has forced Palestinians to live in 'an open-air prison for over two decades. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman claimed that fellow CEOs want to know who they are so none of us inadvertently hire any of their members. The CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management said he has been approached by a number of CEOs, adding: One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts. Perfume giant Jo Malone distanced itself from company founder Jo Malone after DailyMail.com revealed that her son Josh Willcox was a leader of the group, the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. Josh Willcox (left) son of perfume mogul Jo Malone (center) is listed as one of three Harvard students who run the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. He is also pictured with his father Gary Willcox at a ritzy London party in 2017 On Tuesday, the names and personal information of students allegedly involved were posted online and on Wednesday a billboard truck displaying that information was driven around campus, the Harvard Crimson newspaper reported. Some critics of the pro-Palestinian letter responded by denouncing the intimidation of students, the newspaper said. Meanwhile Gay was slammed after her first statement on Monday, which failed to condemn Hamas by name. She then said in a second statement: 'While our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group not even 30 student groups speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.' But it was too late for some of the school's donors and alumni. who were left enraged by the student groups' statement. Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia Ofer told the Hebrew-language outlet TheMarker that she and her husband are both quitting the school's executive board over President Claudine Gay's response to 31 Harvard organizations signing a letter placed the blame on Israel for Hamas' brutal attacks that have killed over 1,500. Nazis, Nazis, Nazis, one man in a keffiyeh with Palestinian colors repeatedly chanted at the counter-demonstrators The Palestine Solidarity Committee holding banners outside the prestigious college Their actions are 'in protest of the shocking and insensitive response by the president of the university, who did not condemn the letter by student organizations who blamed Israel for the massacres.' Harvard first statements were widely condemned including by former US Treasury Secretary and alumni Larry Summers who wrote on X: 'In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today. 'The silence from Harvards leadership, so far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported student groups statement blaming Israel solely, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel.' Moreover, on Tuesday, around 150 people brandishing placards and Palestinian flags occupied the steps of Cambridge City Hall. Animals, animals, you pigs, animals, Nazis, Nazis, Nazis, one man in a keffiyeh with Palestinian colors yelled at them, waving his finger across the thin line of police separating the groups. Republican Senator Josh Hawley called for the Department of Justice to investigate pro-Palestine student groups on college campuses across the nation after they held anti-Israel protests. After the Palestinian militant group Hamas' weekend attack on Israel, Israel has bombarded and laid siege to the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, and plans a ground invasion. The Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300, according to public broadcaster Kan. Gaza authorities said more than 1,500 Palestinians had been killed. Amid the growing conflict, tensions between students on opposite sides of the issue have boiled over on some U.S. college campuses. Statements by student groups supporting Palestinians have prompted outrage and fear among Jews and, in some cases, wider rebuke from public officials and corporations. There have been reports of harassment and assaults of both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students, deepening grief and putting students of all political stripes on high alert. A tearful Humza Yousaf today accused Israel of 'going too far' by inflicting 'collective punishment' on Gaza in its response to the Hamas atrocities. The SNP leader insisted he backed the country's right to defend itself after the appalling attacks, but urged a ceasefire and an end to the blockade. In emotional interviews ahead of the separatists' party conference, Mr Humza also spoke of his sense of powerlessness with his mother-in-law trapped in Gaza. Elizabeth El-Nakla the mother of Humza Yousaf's wife Nadia travelled from her home in Scotland last week to visit family with her husband Maged. Mr Yousaf said Rishi Sunak had not called him despite emotional appeals, and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had snubbed his requests for help. Wiping away tears, he said he had told his four-year-old daughter that granny would be home for Halloween - but did not know in his 'heart' that would be the case. In emotional interviews ahead of the separatists' party conference, Mr Humza spoke of his sense of powerlessness with his mother-in-law trapped in Gaza Elizabeth El-Nakla the mother of Humza Yousaf's wife Nadia travelled from her home in Scotland last week to visit family in Gaza with her husband Maged, but has since been 'trapped' there following the Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent reprisals Israel has warned civilians to move to the southern part of the Gaza Strip ahead of an anticipated ground offensive to clear out Hamas - which often uses civilians to shield its operations. The region subject to the order includes Gaza's biggest hospital, which Human Rights Watch has said is dealing with more than 6,000 casualties, and two major refugee camps. The UN has raised alarm that it is not possible to carry out the evacuation in time. British ministers have said Israel has the right to take action after the terror attacks, but warned it must not breach international law. Speaking from Deir Al-Balah, south of Gaza city, Ms El-Nakla who said the video would be her 'last' said: 'Everybody from Gaza is moving towards where we are. 'One million people, no food, no water and still they're bombing them as they're leaving. 'Where are you going to put them? 'But my thought is all these people in the hospital cannot be evacuated. 'Where is humanity? Where's people's hearts in the world, to let this happen in this day and age? 'May God help us, goodbye.' In a post alongside the video, Mr Yousaf said: 'This is Elizabeth El-Nakla. She is my mother-in-law. A retired nurse from Dundee, Scotland. 'She, like the vast majority of people in Gaza, has nothing to do with Hamas. 'She has been told to leave Gaza but, like the rest of the population, is trapped with nowhere to go.' Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla. According to the UN, Israel has made a plea to Palestinians for them to move to the southern part of the Gaza Strip ahead of a ground offensive, although Hamas has asked them to stay in place The parents of Nadia El-Nakla (pictured), the wife of Humza Yousaf, have found themselves trapped in Gaza In interviews this afternoon Mr Yousaf told the BBC he had found the video 'really difficult to watch with my wife this morning'. But he said it showed that the 'ordinary citizens of Gaza have nothing to do with Hamas'. 'They're doctors and nurses, over 50 per cent are children. And they're being told to leave. But they've got nowhere to go. 'Rafah has closed, the Erez border is closed. And there is a humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding, and the collective punishment of 2.2million Gazans just cannot be justified.' Mr Yousaf said he had 'absolute sympathy with those poor, innocent men, women and children in Israel that lost their lives'. 'We cannot have any more. That is enough,' he said. 'And we need the international community to step up allies of Israel to say there has to be a ceasefire. And there has to be humanitarian corridors open to allow supplies and to allow people out.' He added: 'Nobody has said that Israel does not have the right to protect yourself from terror. 'All of us have said that, myself included, but collective punishment cannot be justified. An Israeli soldier sifts the wreckage at the Kibbutz Beeri, the place where 270 revellers were killed by militants during the Supernova music festival on October 7 Mr Yousaf has urged the international community to 'step up' Akshata Murty, wife of Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lights a candle for Israel inside 10 Downing Street, in London The SNP leader accused Rishi Sunak of snubbing his plea to help his mother-in-law. The Foreign Office said Britons in Gaza should follow Israel's evacuation order 'They are going too far, collective punishment cannot be justified. It is innocent men, women, children, babies, with nothing to do with Hamas, who are paying an extraordinary price for those atrocious attacks, that they have nothing to do with.' The Foreign Office said Britons in Gaza should follow Israel's evacuation order. A spokesman said: 'We have updated travel advice to recommend British nationals in Gaza follow Israel's directive, if they are able to, but recognise this will be challenging for some people. 'Israel has our full support in fighting Hamas terror. Hamas has enmeshed itself in the civilian population in Gaza and therefore it is important that all possible measures are taken to protect civilians and ensure safe humanitarian access. Among the first to comment on the post from Mr Humza's mother-in-law was former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wrote: 'My heart breaks for the people of Israel and for all the innocent civilians in Gaza who are also paying the price of Hamas' appalling acts of terror. 'Closer to home, my thoughts are with my friends Nadia and Humza and their family, and also with Scotland's precious Jewish community, at this unimaginably awful time.' Republicans began hurling insults at each other as they continued to fail to elect a speaker and get Congress functioning. On Friday Steve Scalise, the favorite for the job, dropped out of the race to replace Kevin McCarthy, who was sensationally ousted 10 days ago. It had become clear he could not get enough support in his own divided party. Ohio congressman Jim Jordan, a key ally of Donald Trump, will now try to win the speakership, as will Austin Scott, a rank-and-file Republican from Georgia who has grown frustrated with the right wing of his party. Republicans were meeting on Friday afternoon and could move to a internal vote. Reps. Tom McClintock, Calif., and Reps. John Rutherford and Carlos Gimenez, both of Florida, say they still want McCarthy to come back and be speaker again. The chaos means the House finds itself unable to take any action to provide additional funding to Israel as it prepares for a ground invasion of Gaza. It is also unable to act to avert a potential government shutdown with federal funding set to expire within weeks. The sudden withdrawal of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise gives an opportunity for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. But it isn't clear he can amass the needed 217 votes to secure the position Rep. Jim Jordan will now again take a shot at the gavel, as will Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who's grown frustrated with the right wing of the conference The Republican speaker has been deposed, the party's top candidate has pulled out, and there is no indications anyone can command the 217 votes needed to clear a full vote for speaker on the House floor. It all 'makes us look like a bunch of idiots,' said Scott ahead of his own announcement that he will now run for the top job. 'When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of doing this,' the rural Georgia Republican said of running for speaker. He said he did it because he was frustrated with the dysfunction - and mad at the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy last week. 'We've got a very small group of people that they have to have everything their way. We had a group that sabotaged Speaker McCarthy and now we've had a group that sabotaged Steve Scalise, both of them great people,' he groused. 'We should just have a lottery. If you lose, you have to be speaker,' joked Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia. The GOP Conference for the second time rejected a change that might get their top vote getter elected to the post. It would require 217 of the 221-strong conference to agree on a leader before a speaker vote hits the floor to avoid the spectacle of the repeated defeats at the start of Kevin McCarthy's short-lived speakership. The blasts at their own caucus came after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise stunned colleagues by pulling out of the race for speaker, after getting the most votes in an internal vote. That still left him about 100 short of what he needed, and about a dozen holdouts once again making demands he decided he couldn't meet. The House continues to function without an elected speaker. Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) has been filling the position. Without a Speaker, the House can't function The House dysfunction has prevented it form acting on even a simple resolution as close ally Israel comes under attack and prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gasa The withdrawal of Scalise provides an opportunity for House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). But although he could win support from many conservatives who feared Scalise would be a replay of the McCarthy speakership, a band of party centrists have raised doubts about rallying behind the original House Freedom Caucus chairman, who has led the charge against Hunter Biden. 'I think we'll get 217 votes,' Jordan predicted. House Republicans met Friday morning in an effort to find a way forward. There has even been talk of trying to move legislation that would provide increased authority for the temporary Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.). But the legislation that created the position appears to tie his role closely to the process of electing the new speaker. Steve Scalise, who had been the favorite to be the next Republican speaker of the House, has sensationally dropped out of the race, leaving Congress paralyzed. The House's number two Republican had won an election among members of his party to be their nominee for speaker after Kevin McCarthy was spectacularly ousted from the role last week. But with Republicans' narrow majority Scalise could only afford to lose the support of four members of his own party in a vote by the whole House to confirm him as speaker. Around 20 of his Republican colleagues indicated they would oppose him if a full House vote was held, so he withdrew. A disappointed Scalise, who is currently also battling blood cancer, said: 'Our (Republican) conference still has to come together and it's not there. There's still some people that have their own agendas.' It has been 10 days since McCarthy was unseated by his own party, the first speaker in the history of the United States to be removed in such a way. The list of Republicans who say they will oppose Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the House's number two Republican, for the job has grown longer, not shorter Former Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters after a Republican meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023 Without a speaker, the House remains in a state of paralysis despite increasingly urgent calls for it to take measures to help Israel in its war against Hamas. It has also been unable to do anything to avert a possible federal government shutdown on Nov. 17. Democrats attacked Republicans for creating chaos, while Republicans accused each other of being 'dysfunctional and broken'. Scalise said his Republican colleagues needed to 'look in the mirror' and put aside rivalries, and do what was best for the country. Without a speaker, the House remains in a state of inaction and despite increasingly urgent calls for it to take measures to help Israel in its war against Hamas. It has also been unable to do anything to avert a possible federal government shutdown on Nov. 17. He said: 'There's some folks that need to you look in the mirror over the next couple of days and decide to get back on track. You can try to get back on track, or you can pursue your own agenda, but you can't do both.' Scalise said he was still optimistic Republicans could coalesce around someone. 'I think we're gonna get there. It's not gonna happen tomorrow, it needs to happen soon,' he said. Tensions on Capitol Hill are sky-high as ten days pass and Republicans now have no nominee for speaker. 'Dysfunctional, disorganized and broken,' is how Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, - who wants Donald Trump to be the House Speaker - described his party after leaving a meeting of House Republicans. 'I don't think the lord Jesus could get to 217!' Nehls recalled a member saying in the meeting. Jim Jordan, Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, could try to become speaker Jim Jordan is a key ally in Congress of Donald Trump 'We're not moving forward,' said Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who admitted she is worried about how the disarray will play into her swing district race in 2024. 'We've got war in Israel ... It's really frustrating.' Nancy Mace, one of the Republicans who refused to back Scalise, said it was because of a comment he once reportedly made about former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Scalise was said to have described himself as like Duke 'without the baggage'. Most of the Republicans who refused to support Scalise were backers of Ohio congressman Jordan, a key ally of Donald Trump. Jordan is trying to become speaker but there were widespread doubts he could drum up enough support in the Republican party either. 'Members have got to get it through their heads that they're squandering a majority in the House. They are squandering a majority. The American people deserve better than this,' Republican representative Andy Barr said after Scalise announced his withdrawal. 'We were elected for a reason, but we are reversing an election because we can't even find a speaker,' he added. 'That is not what the American people voted for in 2022.' Republicans were meeting behind closed doors on Friday to consider options for a new second secret ballot - Scalise having won the first - and that could come later in the day. Rivals for the speakership Jim Jordan (left) and Steve Scalise (right) have worked closely together before 'We need to focus on the person that can get the votes and get the job done as quick as we can, get it done and move on,' Republican congressman Representative Roger Williams said on Friday. He said it was not clear how, adding that it was unclear how many of the House's 221 Republicans remained in Washington ahead of the weekend. Representative Don Bacon, a Republican centrist, said he and other lawmakers are withholding support for Jordan for now. 'I'm grappling with that,' Bacon said. 'We had five individuals today who said they would only vote for Jim and not Steve. So, many of us ... feel that's rewarding bad behavior if we do that.' Bacon also said he would expect a Jordan bid for the nomination to face a challenger. Republicans had been hoping to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing spectacle that occurred in January, when hardline conservatives forced McCarthy to endure 15 votes over four days before finally winning the gavel. Scalise's withdrawal followed days of closed-door stalemate. Representative Greg Murphy suggested that Republicans could settle on a compromise candidate, perhaps Representative Patrick McHenry, who has served as acting speaker since McCarthy's ousting on Oct. 3. The ongoing schism within Republican circles has also raised speculation about Republicans possibly reaching out to Democrats to support a consensus candidate. Scalise and Donald Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee, faced off in an internal vote of the House GOP where Scalise won 113-99. For occupants of the unique terrace of Gentlemens Residences, it represented an unwelcome intrusion into their privacy and spoilt their stunning views across a dramatic Snowdonia estuary. But for locals and hikers, the incongruous row of three-storey Victorian townhouses stood in the way of the right to stroll along the coastline which they had exercised for generations. Despite a series of signs marking Mawddach Crescent to be a private road, planners sided with pedestrians and agreed the route in front of the houses should become an official public right of way. However a Welsh Government inspector has now sided with the residents and handed them victory in their nine-year privacy battle. Welcoming the ruling, one resident said: We just want to get on with our lives in peace without strangers wandering past our front windows and gawping inside. Residents of Mawddach Crescent have won a nine-year battle with planners to stop their road becoming a public right of way Planners had decided that the row of 'gentlemen's residences' should become a public road, but their decision was overturned by a Welsh Government inspector The row of terrace houses was built by pioneering entrepeneur Solomon Andrews in 1899 as part of bold plans to create a luxury resort on the Welsh coast He picked the village of Arthog in because of the views of the mountains and the waters of the Mawddach Estuary It is a unique place and we just want it to stay that way. Pioneering entrepreneur Solomon Andrews built the terrace in 1899 as the first step of his bold plans for a luxury seaside resort on the Welsh coast. He picked the village of Arthog in because of the views of the mountains and the waters of the Mawddach Estuary - and even built a tramway ready to transport in thousands of expected visitors from across Britain. But the rest of the resort was never built and Mawddach Crescent is now an unwanted obstacle for walkers around the coastal beauty spot. In 2014, campaigners led by retired council official Huw Roberts - argued there been unhindered access for decades along the road in front of the terrace in the 1,000-population village, even predating its construction. Past generations of owners have acknowledged the publics right to walk this path, some even providing walkers with refreshments as they stopped to sit on the tidal wall, he said. It is a great shame some of the current owners wish to deprive the public of their rights and freedoms earned over long decades of use of the path. In response, Gwynedd Councils planning committee to allow the walkers free access. However a decision by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales has now overturned the ruling. Inspector Janine Townsley ruled that Gwynedd Council had 'behaved unreasonably' in prioritising the demands of walkers over homeowners' privacy Its inspector, Janine Townsley, considered the local authority to have behaved unreasonably in placing the demands of walkers above the homeowners plea for privacy. Her inquiry rejected claims that the footpath had been in continued use since the 1940s after hearing the area had been Royal Marines training camp during the Second World War. The longest-serving current resident states that, on purchasing the property in 1982, the family would adopt the convention of challenging members of the public walking in front of the houses, she said.. This suggests that it was, at that time, an established practice. It appears that this course of action was taken up by the newer residents who moved to the Crescent. Residents of the crescent whose homes are only valued at 350-450,000 because of their isolated location - were pleased and relieved with the verdict. This is the shocking moment a Connecticut couple accost two landscapers mowing a lawn and ask them 'are you here legally?'. Jose Martin had been at a property in Middletown, Connecticut near the home of Sharon Bourgeois-Williams, 58, and Robert Shaw, 62, on Sunday when the two started questioning him and his brother. Martin, who operates his own landscaping business, said that the two had approached him and claimed they had been making too much noise. Martin then decided to start filming the couple for seven minutes as they launched into a bitter tirade against him and his brother. At one point, Williams can be seen pointing at the two and asking them: 'Do you have a visa to be here? You don't even have a visa do you, are you here legally? Are you here legal?' Jose Martin decided to start filming the couple for seven minutes as they launched into a bitter tirade against him and his brother As she continues shouting at the two, Martin pulls his brother, who are Puerto Rican, away from the two who continue their tirade. Williams can be heard repeatedly saying: 'He's not here legally. What are you paying him? You are not here legally, do you have a visa to be here in our country.' Martin's brother remains silent throughout, only gesturing to his brother occasionally in Spanish. Prior to that, the couple can be seen continuously videoing Martin, with Shaw at one point saying: 'This is why we need a border wall, get these clowns out of here.' Williams adds: 'Take some good videos so that you have to go back over the border.' After the camera went off, police confirmed they attended the area to reports of harassment and arrested Shaw and Williams. Middletown Police Department said: 'On arrival, Officers learned that residents of 39 Frisbie Street had been harassing employees of J. Martin Landscaping in the roadway for doing work at an area residence. 'The two residents, identified as 62-year-old Robert Shaw and 58-year-old Sharon Bourgeois-Williams, berated employees of the landscaping company due to the noise level of their work. 'In addition, they were asking employees if they had work visas and for their immigration status. The employees of J. Martin Landscaping maintained a calm demeanor and filmed the incident.' Martin, who operates his own landscaping business, said that the two had approached him and claimed they had been making too much noise Martin's brother remains silent throughout as Williams questions the two, only gesturing to each other occasionally in Spanish The statement continued: 'After a careful review of the video footage, the Middletown Police Department determined that Shaw and Bourgeois-Williams hostile behavior prevented one employee from moving freely in the roadway. 'Both were charged with Disorderly Conduct and released on a $10,000 non-surety bond. 'Shaw and Bourgeois-Williams are scheduled to appear in Middletown Superior Court on October 26, 2023.' Martin shared his video of the confrontation onto social media, writing: 'I was in the middle of doing a job when these two people approached me claiming that I was making 'too much noise' as I was just cutting the grass. 'In the video you can see how they decided to deal with the situation. Please share this to spread awareness.' Martin subsequently told NBC: '[I was] a little worried because I was believing the guy was going to attack us. 'Then she started cursing at me in the beginning so I pulled out my phone and I knew this was going to be a problem. We work hard for our living, this is a really tough job, and this is not an easy job.' Local station WTNH also caught up with the couple, with Williams saying: 'We made a mistake. I was drinking. I haven't been myself lately, I am definitely not a racist. My son is Puerto Rican.' Bourgeois-Williams and Shaw were subsequently arrested over the video, with Williams, seen here, confessing she had 'been drinking' prior to the tirade Both were charged with Disorderly Conduct and released on a $10,000 non-surety bond In a statement, Middletown mayor Ben Florsheim said: 'I was horrified to see the video making the rounds on Facebook of Jose Martin and his staff being barraged with insults and racist remarks by two people who live in Middletown. Let me be clear, we don't tolerate this type of behavior in Middletown and it doesn't represent who we work to be as a community. My staff has reached out to Mr. Martin to offer our apologies for the way he was treated while working in our City. We never want anyone to think what you saw on that video is what you get when you come to Middletown. I've also been in touch with our PD to see what, if any, action can be taken against the couple seen hurling insults and slurs at Mr. Martin and his employee. To everyone who has seen the video and been affected by the behavior captured within, I'm sorry that you anyone was treated this way and that so many had to witness it. We strive to do better in Middletown and know that it's a constant work in progress. Please know that we are always working to be better. Residents of a deserted road earmarked for development for 16 years have branded the area a 'ghost town'. Much of Gildas Avenue in Kings Norton, Birmingham has already been demolished, while other houses remain derelict and have been boarded up. The majority of people in the area moved out years ago, including Carl Harris, the 'last remaining resident' of the street who agreed a deal with the council for the purchase of his home last year. Despite being earmarked for development since 2007, not a single brick has been laid to this day on the 'post-apocalyptic' stretch. Gildas Avenue has in the past been labelled a 'no-go' zone due to sky-high crime rates, and is the final part of a plan for 1,000 new homes on the former Primrose and Pool Farm Estate. Gildas Avenue in Kings Norton, Birmingham has been branded 'a ghost town' by residents after it has fallen into disrepair having been earmarked for development since 2007 Not a single brick has been laid since the area was set for development over 16 years ago Most people left the area years ago, including the street's 'last remaining resident' Carl Harris Resident Michelle Mulhall on Gildas Avenue said it was 'disgusting' how the council had left residents Residents say the area, which is now known as a 'no-go' zone due to high crime rates, is in desperate need of a facelift The proposed plan for the estate covers 117 homes at three sites - Barratts Road, Bentmead Grove, and Gildas Avenue. A mix of bungalows and two-storey houses have been retained on the 2.87 hectare site No more progress has been made on the development, and residents here say the area is in desperate need of a facelift. Charity Dhliwayo has lived on what remains of Gildas Avenue for the past eight years. She moved into her home knowing it would eventually be demolished, but with the slow pace of construction work, she said she wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Charity said: 'We haven't heard anything about the development for years. My house is meant to be demolished in the next phase, but they haven't even started the first phase yet. 'This area just looks abandoned right now - like a ghost town. The area looks different to how it was a few years ago, because of all the demolition work, but in terms of crime and stuff it's just the same. 'If you want to leave the house at night you do worry, I worry about my boy walking back home from school in the winter when it gets dark. There's a lot of dark alleys around here which aren't safe. I'd like to see the work start, it's long overdue.' Neighbour Michelle Mulhall added: 'I think it's disgusting how the council have left residents. It's bad down here. The buildings have just been boarded up and left. Nobody wants to come down here.' Locals have said the state of the area encourages anti-social behaviour and low-level crime. The proposed plan for the estate covers 117 homes at three sites - Barratts Road, Bentmead Grove, and Gildas Avenue. A mix of bungalows and two-storey houses have been retained on the 2.87 hectare site. Kathleen Witheridge has lived in one of these bungalows for nearly 10 years.. She said the development would be 'good for the area' - but admitted she had 'no idea' when it was going to happen. Kathleen said: 'We haven't heard anything about the development for a hell of a long time. I think the work will happen eventually, but god knows when. 'I think the development will be good for the area - it needs a bit of a boost. This estate hasn't had the best of names over the years so it will be good for it to have a fresh start.' Opposite Kathleen's bungalow used to stand a huge three-storey block of flats which have since been demolished. Now, when she looks out her window, she sees a vast green wasteland which she says has attracted fly-tippers. Kathleen said: 'The worst part is all the fly-tipping and dumping people are doing in the area. We get a lot of that here, the plot of land opposite my house used to be a huge block of flats, now it's just a dumping ground. It attracts rats and vermin which isn't pleasant at all.' Residents say the worst of the issues on the street is fly-tipping and dumping, which they say is attracting rats and vermin But local Kathleen Witheridge insists that despite the run-down state of the road, there is still a community spirit in the area Despite the upheaval of the last decade on Gildas Avenue, Kathleen says there's still a sense of community on the deserted road. Kathleen said: 'I know a lot of the neighbours that are still here. We pass each other and say good morning. 'We all say hello to each other, even if we don't all know each other's names. One of my neighbours drops food off at my house every week, free of charge, which is really kind - it's how it should be.' Birmingham City Council said it did not have any timescales it could share with residents as of yet. A council spokesperson said: 'We are committed to the transformation of the area and working across the council to explore more opportunities while we demolish the remaining former houses and maisonette blocks. We will soon be engaging with the local community on their ideas for transforming the area to help shape proposals.' Former British Army soldier Daniel Khalife is set to stand trial in July on four charges including escaping from Wandsworth prison and allegedly passing information to Iran. The 22-year-old was due to go on trial on November 13 but at a hearing on Friday Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said that was 'wholly unrealistic' and put the case back. Khalife is charged under the Official Secrets Act of gathering information that might be useful to an enemy of the UK between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022. The prosecution alleges Khalife passed sensitive material to Iranian intelligence and had more material in his possession for that purpose, which he denies. The charge against him says that for a 'purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state' he 'obtained, circulated, recorded, published or communicated to any other person notes, documents or information' which might be or were intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy. Daniel Khalife appeared in court via video link to be told he will stand trial in July next year Khalife has been charged with escaping from Wandsworth prison on September 6, while being held on remand An earlier court sketch of Daniel Khalife after his first appearance on a charge of escaping from Wandsworth Prison. He appeared at the Old Bailey today via video link A second charge alleges Khalife elicited information about armed forces personnel on August 2 2021. This allegedly relates to him 'obtaining personal information from the MoD (Ministry of Defence) Joint Personnel Administration system of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism'. He is also charged with perpetrating a bomb hoax on or before January 2. The charge says he placed 'three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation' to spark fears it was 'likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property'. While on remand on those charges at Wandsworth prison in south London, it is alleged Khalife escaped on September 6 by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry. He was arrested on a canal towpath in west London on September 9 after being pulled off a push bike by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer. The defendant has denied all the charges against him. On Friday, he appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh prison wearing a blue and yellow jumpsuit. During the hearing, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said the planned trial date at Woolwich Crown Court in November was 'wholly unrealistic'. He set a further hearing for December 21, when a new trial date at either Woolwich Crown Court or the Old Bailey will be discussed. Khalife, who spoke only to confirm his identity, was further remanded into custody. As Israel masses tanks and personnel around the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas terror attack, Americans have a clear message for Israeli commanders: Go for it. Some 50 percent believe it is reasonable for the Israeli Defense Forces to fully invade and occupy the territory, according to an exclusive poll for DailyMail.com, compared with 28 percent who said it would be unreasonable. There is also overwhelming support for air strikes on Hamas targets. It was from Gaza that thousands of Hamas gunmen fanned out across Israel last Saturday morning. Their murderous mission left more than 1,200 dead, including women and babies. Since then Israel has kept up an aerial bombardment of Gaza while preparing for a major military offensive. JL Partners polled 1000 Americans on attitudes towards Israel and Hamas. They backed a ground invasion and occupation of Gaza by a margin of two to one As Israel appears to be preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza, Americans delivered a clear message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a DailyMail.com poll: Go for it J.L. Partners polled 1,000 Americans for their view of the attacks and Israel's response. The only groups who said a ground invasion and occupation were unreasonable were people aged 18-29 (27 percent said it was reasonable; 49 percent unreasonable) and Democrats (38 percent to 39 percent). Americans also narrowly support a blockade of electricity, food, water and fuel. Some 45 percent said it was reasonable, and 36 percent said it was not. Joe Alder, senior research associate at JLP, said: 'By a margin of two to one, Americans back a ground invasion suggesting early support for such a course if Israel takes it. 'However with events moving fast this number could change Americans are more squeamish about widespread bombing of the Gaza Strip, Democrat voters are divided, and civilian deaths could change things. 'The battle for American hearts and minds will depend on the images and narratives that come from any invasion.' Last Saturday's attack sent shockwaves around the world and threatens to upend relations throughout the Middle East. Israel's feared security and intelligence forces were completely wrongfooted and took hours to respond. The trail of destruction heaped pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has kept up an intense bombardment of Gaza ever since the unprecedented attack by Hamas terrorists last Saturday, that killed more than 1,200 people Residents evacuate Gaza City following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza Strip, 13 October 2023 Since then Israel has kept up an aerial bombardment of the the Gaza Strip and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a 'complete siege.' 'There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,' he said on Monday. On Thursday night, Palestinians in northern Gaza were warned to head south for their own safety. The warnings were seen as a clear indication that a ground offensive was imminent as Israel seeks to neutralize the threat from Hamas. In our poll, Americans overwhelmingly backed air strikes on Hamas targets, by 60 percent to 20 percent. But the numbers drop for a more indiscriminate bombing campaign. While 44 percent of respondents said 'widespread bombing' was reasonable, some 35 percent said it was not. For the time being at least, Americans narrowly back the Israeli blockade on electricity, fuel, food and water: Some 45 percent said it was a reasonable response to the Hamas attack although a sizable minority, 36 percent, said it was unreasonable. On Friday, authorities in Gaza said 1,799 people had already died in Israeli strikes. An Israeli flag flies over body bags of more than 20 dead Hamas militants with the word 'terrorist' written in Hebrew, on a field at Kibbutz Be'eri, where dozens of civilians were killed Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on October 13, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes, which have killed at least 1,700 people The world is steeling itself for the number to rise as Israel tightens the noose on Gaza. And although much of the world has stood with Israel in its moment of need, there is growing concern that its impending offensive could amount to 'collective punishment' of the people of Gaza, contravening international law. World leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been reminding Netanyahu and his government of their responsibilities. On Thursday, Blinken stood alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said: 'Israel has the right to defend itself how Israel does this matters.' Former President George W. Bush was among those warning things will get worse before the get better. 'Don't be surprised if Israel takes whatever action is necessary to defend herself,' he told a private event. And it's going to be ugly for a while.' A professor is at the centre of a free speech controversy yesterday after losing a university role because he described the use of the Welsh language on road signs as 'potentially dangerous.' Professor Nigel Hunt's social media post outraged some Welsh language supporters, with the academic branded 'xenophobic' and 'disrespectful'. Now the academic, who was a visiting psychology professor at Wrexham University, has received a letter from the university's vice chancellor, dismissing him from the honorary position. Professor Hunt, from Derbyshire, said he was 'disappointed' by the university's 'knee-jerk' reaction, branding it a 'free speech issue.' 'They were saying they were going to do an internal inquiry into it,' he told the BBC. 'There doesn't seem to have been an internal inquiry. 'I was driving back from Wales when this all blew up and the following morning I received the letter saying my contract was terminated.' Professor Nigel Hunt's social media post outraged some Welsh language supporters, with the academic branded 'xenophobic' and 'disrespectful' Professor Hunt first aired his views on a Facebook group called the Department of Petty Rage where he posted a picture of a bilingual sign from Wales and said they should just be written just in English Professor Hunt first aired his views on a Facebook group called the Department of Petty Rage where he posted a picture of a bilingual sign from Wales and said they should just be written just in English. He claimed that bilingual signs could endanger road users as they contain 'irrelevant and - to most people - unintelligible information'. Despite losing his post, Professor Hunt stuck to his view, insisting it was based on science, not any feelings against the Welsh language. 'Having complicated, dual-language signs is actually detrimental to driving,' he claimed. 'I really believe that academics ought to be able to put their point of view forward without having a negative reaction from their employer.' In her letter to Professor Hunt, seen by the BBC, the university's vice chancellor, Maria Hinfelaar, said there had been 'several complaints' about the social media posts, with the university being tagged more than 100 times online. 'The university acknowledges you have the right to freedom of expression,' she wrote. 'However, we consider that the affiliation to our university within the media posts has brought our name into disrepute. Therefore a decision has been taken to withdraw your visiting professorship association forthwith.' Professor Hunt, who is undergoing treatment for cancer and is based at Nottingham University, said it had been some time since he had taught at Wrexham because of his condition. Wrexham University said: 'We have ended our visiting arrangements with Prof Hunt, and he no longer has a relationship with the university.' Road signs in Wales by law have to be written in Welsh first as part of the Welsh Language Act which places the two languages on equal footing and tries to promote WeThe Welsh Government has set itself a target of having one million Welsh speakers by 2050. This is the moment a newborn puppy is rescued after being trapped in a pipe nine metres underground. The tiny American Mastiff emerged unscathed following a tense two-and-a-half-hour rescue mission, during which rescuers fed down a drain camera to locate him. A noose attached to the camera was looped around the pup and he was carefully winched to safety, as this incredible footage shows. He had been accidentally kicked into an open gully by his mother while she was giving birth to the litter. Experts from Dyno-Rod were called to a house in Hayes, West London, by fire crews who had tried unsuccessfully to reach the pup. A newborn puppy was rescued after being trapped in a pipe nine metres underground The tiny American Mastiff emerged unscathed following a tense two-and-a-half-hour rescue mission, during which rescuers fed down a drain camera to locate him One of the Dyno-Rod engineers involved in the dramatic rescue, Billy Stevens, said: He was smothered in muck but otherwise completely unharmed. His owner was ecstatic and was so relieved that wed managed to bring her puppy up to the surface unharmed. We were thrilled too that there was a happy ending because it was a tight squeeze and such a tense, delicate operation. The mother had kicked out her leg during the birth and this unfortunate pup happened to be in the way and was knocked into an open gully. He must have slid some nine metres down the pipe and was trapped underground. The local fire crew were called out and had tried to reach him but were unable to do so and called us a result. We fed the drain camera down and fitted a noose to it so when we located the pup we were able to ever so gently loop that round and bring him slowly and carefully to the surface. The whole rescue mission took two-and-a-half hours and we could see what was happening throughout via a small screen. A noose attached to the camera was looped around the pup and he was carefully winched to safety above ground One of the Dyno-Rod engineers involved in the dramatic rescue, Billy Stevens (pictured), said the puppy was 'smothered in muck but otherwise completely unharmed'. The newborn puppy had been accidentally kicked into an open gully by his mother while she was giving birth to the litter We all held our breath, and it took the little pup a Herculean amount of strength with which to claw his way up the pipe as we helped him. We couldnt rush it and just pull him up quickly with force because we could have dropped him and harmed him in the process. The pup was exhausted by the end of it but there was a happy ending. Hes certainly had a dramatic start to his young life. The owner - who did not want to be identified - has named the dog Dyno in honour of his rescuers, who raced to his aid on September 28. Billys colleague Luis Rendall added: It was a huge relief and a real feel-good story. We used the CCTV equipment to locate the puppy in the drain and using modified drainage equipment were able to retrieve him from the pipe safe and sound and return it to a very grateful owner. An American family whose loved ones told them they were about to be murdered by Hamas during a heartbreaking phone call have been informed their relatives are alive in a beacon of hope to dozens of distraught families. Jay Zeitchek, 70, who lives in New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that the last words his family heard from their relatives in Israel as savage terrorists descended on their home were: 'I don't think we can survive, I love you.' They were then seen being taken hostage by gunmen in a chilling video circulating on social media. The six members of Jay's family, including three-year-old twins, were among hundreds terrorized by Hamas as militants gassed, burned and slaughtered innocent civilians at Nir Oz kibbutz on Saturday morning. It is thought more than a quarter of the community of 400 were killed. The family of Jay Zeitchek, from New Jersey, were seen being taken hostage by Hamas in a terrifying video circulating on social media. The hostages are: Amelia Alony (top left), twins Emma and Julie (top right), with their mother Sharon Cunio (bottom left), father David Cunio (center), and Danielle Alony, mother of Amelia (bottom right) The family had been together at a wedding in New York in August. Pictured from left to right: Jay's son, Justin, Sharon Cunio, and far right Jay's daughter, Alana, who had earlier put out an appeal for information after Sharon and her family were taken hostage Jay (second from right), with his Israeli wife, Rachel, (far right) and their son Justin and his wife Becky Jay's niece, Sharon Cunio, 35, her husband David, 35, and their twins Emma and Julie, were left cowering in a bomb shelter for hours as Hamas set fire to their neighbor's home and began to smoke them out of their hiding place. Alongside them were Danielle Alony, 43, Sharon's elder sister, and her daughter Amelia, 5. Alana Zeitchek, Jay's daughter, put out an appeal for information on US television on Thursday after spotting her relatives in a hostage video on social media. She said she had been on a phone call with her family as Hamas set fire to their neighbor's home. 'Their house and their bomb shelters were filled with smoke,' Alana, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, told ABC. 'And this is what these terrorists had been doing. They were smoking people out as if they were rodents. And the smoke was starting to fill into the bomb shelter and on the phone with my aunt, my cousin said I don't think we can survive. I love you and that was the last contact we've had with them.' Alana posted a picture of her 'beautiful family' on Instagram, alongside the caption: 'When it comes to families I won the lottery with mine, and the love I have for them is immeasurable. On Saturday, Kibbutz Nir Oz was ravaged by terrorists and they were taken hostage by genocidal savages. 'A video began floating around on the news of hostages in a truck and we spotted them I can see David crouched down holding one of their baby girls and I see Sharon and her hair from the back as she holds onto little Amelia so tightly. 'This horrific scene will not stop replaying in my mind, alongside the memory of the back of her head just over a month ago in my kitchen while we laughed as I curled her hair for my brother's wedding. 'The agony I feel is nothing compared to what my aunt and uncle and their brother and in-laws are feeling, and the terror of which my cousins and their babies are experiencing is simply inconceivable. Please share their story, pray for their safe return and for the people of Israel.' But Jay said Friday that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) had informed them that all six were alive, although did not reveal any further information or their sources. 'The most important thing is that they're alive,' Jay added. 'I have to have faith, and my family has to have faith, that they're going to come home to us.' The 70-year-old admitted he was fearful of what Hamas may do to their hostages should they begin to feel that Israel was about to 'wipe them off the face of the eart', but said he believed 'in the power of positive thinking'. 'I believed from the beginning that they were alive,' he added. 'Even though you're dealing with irrational characters, that the hostages are taken for a reason.' It comes amid growing fears for the fate of those being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza as Israel intensifies its bombing campaign on the territory. The military wing of Hamas said the latest air strikes had killed 13 of the captives it brought back from Israel. Nir Oz, which lies a miles and a half from the border with Gaza, is one of several communities where Hamas massacred entire families in the deadliest attack on the Jewish community since the Holocaust. The usually peaceful settlement of around 400 people woke to 'a kibbutz in flames' on Sunday morning after the barbaric assault, with blood curdling stories of atrocities emerging in the morning haze. Many have not received the hopeful news that Alana received Friday, with another Israeli-American family telling of the devastating final texts of their loved ones who were burned alive in their homes. Carol Simian Tov, 70, was killed on Saturday at the kibbutz Nir Oz where she lived with her family. Her son, his wife, and their three children were also killed Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov with her husband Johnny and their five-year-old daughters Shachar and Arbel, and their two-year-old son Omer. They were murdered on Saturday Johnny Siman Tov, 36, and his wife Tamar Kedem-Simian Tov, 35; their three children aged between two and five, and Johnny's mother Carol Simian Tov, 70, were all killed on Saturday. As Hamas terrorists advanced on their homes, Tamar initially texted relatives in Australia reassuring them that they were safe, before their messages turned to horror. 'They're here. They're burning us. We're suffocating,' Johnny told his sister, Ranae Butler, who lives in Israel. Carol had fled to her own home with her dog Charlie as Hamas advanced. She was shot dead in her own safe room. Two of Carol's daughters and two of her sons survived the attack on the kibbutz, plus their father, Larry Butler. One of the sons, Shachar Butler, who was head of security for the kibbutz, was shot in the attack but is recuperating. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel on Friday to avoid civilian deaths as it prepares to invade Gaza. "We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians," Blinken said at a press conference in Qatar. Qatar is seeking to open a humanitarian corridor so aid can reach Gaza. Qatari Prime Minister Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani called on the United States to save civilians from the consequences of the crisis. Israel has warned over one million people in Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours to minimize civilian casualties. The ground invasion is a response to the murderous onslaught carried out last weekend by Gaza-based, Iranian-backed terror group Hamas, which killed hundreds of men, women and children in Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) shakes hands Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani during their meeting in Lusail on October 13, 2023 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Qatar Blinken said he discussed with the Qatari Prime Minister the importance of preventing any state or terror group from widening the conflict between Israel and Hamas. He also said the United States was working intensively to secure the release of hostages, including Americans, taken to Gaza by Hamas. Meanwhile, a former key adviser to Barack Obama called on Israel to show restraint as it prepares to invade Gaza. Ben Rhodes, who was Obama's deputy national security advisor, has ben described as having a 'mind meld' with Obama on foreign policy. Rhodes said Joe Biden should communicate to Benjamin Netanyahu to not make decisions based on 'anger and fear'. He wrote on X: 'The decisions being made now are going to impact millions of lives, reverberate for generations, and risk all kinds of escalation. 'The U.S. should have learned from 9/11 the profound cost of being guided by anger and fear. I hope that is what we are telling the Israeli government.' He added; 'I can't imagine the emotions in Israel right now after the horror of what Hamas did, the unfathomable loss, the sense of vulnerability. 'I do remember witnessing 9/11 in New York and the sense of momentum it created into wars - none of which ended as anyone planned.' President Obama with Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor, in the White House in 2012 In Qatar, Blinken said he was focused on creating safe zones for civilians in Gaza. He said the U.S. was acvtively engaged with relief agencies. Blinken added that every country should condemn Hamas and hold them accountable. He said: 'No country can tolerate having a terrorist group come in and slaughter its people in the most unconscionable way and live like that. 'What Israel is doing it's not retaliation, what Israel is doing is defending the lives of its people and trying to make sure that this cannot happen again.' Billionaire investor Marc Rowan is demanding University of Pennsylvania's leaders to resign for failing to condemn 'antisemites' and 'fomenters of hate,' as he calls on alumni to cease all donations until two faculty members officially step down. Rowan, the chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management Inc. and one of the biggest benefactors of his Ivy League alma-mater UPenn asked donors to 'close the checkbooks' over the college's failure to condemn Hamas' terror attack on Israel. 'I call on all UPenn alumni and supporters who believe we are heading in the wrong direction to close their checkbooks until President Elizabeth Magill and Scott Bok, chair of the board of trustees, step down,' he wrote in a letter reported by Bloomberg. On Thursday, University of Pennsylvania rejected Rowan's demands, standing by its president and chair of the board of trustees, and brushing off any accusations of antisemitism. Billionaire investor Marc Rowan is demanding University of Pennsylvania 's leaders to resign for failing to condemn 'antisemites' and 'fomenters of hate,' as he calls on alumni to cease all donations until two faculty members officially step down One of these major donors, Dick Wolf, known for creating the popular series Law & Order, backed rowan's call, claiming Magill and Bok's leadership 'inadequately represented the ideals and values of our university, and they should be held to account' Rowan called for a change in leadership and encouraged others to show their support by contributing $1 to UPenn. 'Join me and many others who love UPenn by sending UPenn $1 in place of your normal, discretionary contribution so that no one misses the point.' One of these major donors, Dick Wolf, known for creating the popular series Law & Order, backed rowan's call, claiming Magill and Bok's leadership 'inadequately represented the ideals and values of our university, and they should be held to account,' according to Bloomberg. 'It took less than two weeks to go from the Palestine Writes Literary Festival on UPenn's campus to the barbaric slaughter and kidnapping of Israelis,' Rowan continued. Rowan, who is also chairman of the Board of Advisors of Wharton, mentioned that over 4,000 people signed a letter supporting their dissaproval of Magill and Bok, the chairman of Greenhill & Co., over the university's direction. Marc Rowan demanded President Elizabeth Magill (pictured) and Scott Bok, chair of the board of trustees, to step down over their failure to condemn Hamas Over 4,000 people signed a letter supporting their dissaproval of Magill and Bok, the chairman of Greenhill & Co., over the university's direction He accused the festival of featuring individuals promoting hate and racism and criticized President Magill for not condemning the rhetoric. 'President Magill's allowing of UPenn's imprimatur to be associated with this conference, and her failure to condemn this hate-filled call for ethnic cleansing, normalized and legitimized violence that ranged from the targeting of Jewish students and spaces here at UPenn to the horrific attacks in Israel.' Penn has faced weeks of controversy over alleged antisemitism, following the hosting of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival. On September 12, the university addressed the controversy, condemning antisemitism while emphasizing its commitment to the free exchange of ideas, even if they don't align with institutional values. The University of Pennsylvania rejected Rowan's demands, standing by its president and chair of the board of trustees, and brushing off any accusations of antisemitism. On Thursday, University of Pennsylvania rejected Rowan's demands, standing by its president and chair of the board of trustees, and brushing off any accusations of antisemitism He accused the festival of featuring individuals promoting hate and racism and criticized President Magill for not condemning the rhetoric 'The university has publicly committed to unprecedented steps to further combat antisemitism on its campus, reaffirmed deep support for our Jewish community, and condemned the devastating and barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas,' Vice Chair Julie Platt said in an emailed statement Thursday. The board's executive committee 'unanimously endorsed the actions taken by the university,' Platt said. She expressed 'full confidence' in Penn's president, Elizabeth Magill, and board chair Scott Bok. Rowan and his wife Carolyn, donated $50 million to Wharton in 2018, drew comparisons between events at Penn and Harvard, where students blamed Israel for recent casualties caused by Hamas, resulting in criticism from former president Lawrence Summers and alumni. Harvard students who blamed Israel for the massacre of its citizens by Hamas had their own future thrown into doubt last night as a host of blue chip CEOs declared them unemployable. The elite university faced a massive backlash after 31 of its student societies issued a joint statement 'holding the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence'. The Anti-Defamation League denounced the statement as 'anti-Semitic' and others accused the university of tolerating hate speech. Britons trapped in Israel have told of their anger and fear after an official evacuation flight promised by the government failed to appear. Despite paying 300 per seat and being summoned to Ben Gurion airport for a mercy flight home to London last night, around 180 citizens found themselves still stranded in a country preparing for war. Amid chaotic scenes, families with young children and people in wheelchairs were among those who say they were abandoned by consular officials. They were offered no food or water and told to leave the airport and find their own accommodation by the UK crisis team which had apparently been left in the dark by Whitehall. Celebrity jewellery designer Olivia Grace, 50, from London, was among those booked onto the non-existent flight. The diamond specialist, who has spent more than 5,000 on commercial airline tickets in her bid to get home, said she 'felt abandoned by my own country' and has since criticised the UK Government for how it has handled evacuation efforts. Celebrity jewellery designer Olivia Grace, 50, (pictured) from London, was among those booked onto the non-existent flight. Ms Grace, who has spent more than 5,000 on commercial airline tickets in her bid to get home, said she 'felt abandoned by my own country' Despite paying 300 per seat and being summoned to Ben Gurion airport for a mercy flight home to London last night, around 180 citizens found themselves still stranded in a country preparing for war. Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Ms Grace, who created Penny Lancaster's engagement ring and made wedding bands for the model and her rock star husband Rod Stewart, was on holiday visiting one of her daughters in Israel when Hamas launched its terror attack last Saturday. Since then she has purchased tickets on British Airways, Whizz Air and Easyjet, only for the commercial airlines to suspend flights for safety reasons. When she received confirmation of her registration for a British government evacuation flight due out of Tel Aviv she wept with relief. What airlines in the UK have said about flights to and from Israel British Airways: 'Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation we're suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including Wednesday, October 18. If you are due to travel with us we will be in contact with you directly, providing you options including a full refund or rebooking with another airline. Our teams will continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.' Virgin Atlantic: 'Due to the ongoing situation in Israel, some of our flights to and from Tel Aviv may face delays or cancellations. Based on the latest information, we have taken the decision to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours [from October 12]. The safety and security of our customers and our people are our number one priority and our flying programme to Israel remains under constant review. We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport.' easyJet: 'Due to the evolving situation in Israel, we have paused our flight operations to and from Tel Aviv until October 19. We will be contacting customers who are due to travel to and from Tel Aviv on these dates, by email and SMS with the details provided at the time of booking and check in. Any easyJet flight-only customers whose flights have been cancelled, will be able to request a voucher for the full value of their flight, a refund or transfer their flights free of charge for future travel.' Wizz Air: 'Attention all passengers travelling to/from Israel. Due to the escalation of the conflict in Israel, Wizz Air cancels all of its Israel flights for October 8-13. Affected passengers are notified via SMS/email. Further updates regarding flights to/from Israel beyond October 13 will be issued in due course. If you are to travel on Israel flights in the next days please proactively check Flight Info for the latest updates on your departure.' Advertisement The mother of two - who has also designed for TV star Alesha Dixon, Mission Impossible actor Simon Pegg, Hollywood veteran Goldie Hawn and made Tess Daly's jewellery for the Strictly Come Dancing final - got a call from the Foreign Office at 6pm last night telling her to go to the airport as fast as she could. 'There were two British consular crisis people there when I arrived about 7pm. They led us through the initial security, told us to check in at 8.30pm for the flight at 11.45pm,' she told MailOnline today. 'There were people with babies, people with sick children, people in wheelchairs, a lot of embassy staff and their families, everybody waiting gratefully. Then there was this announcement that there was no British rescue mission. 'A plane had been coming in from Latvia to repatriate us but it hadn't even taken off. It was chaos, there were people there with union flags on their jackets and polo shirts but they had any clue what the government was doing. 'All around us people from other countries were being taken out. We were next to a queue of Canadian nationals whose evacuation was orderly and efficient. They had three planes, we had none. I just felt as if there was nobody there for us in our time of need. I was on my own and I felt very vulnerable. 'We were told to go back to wherever we had come from. I was able to get into a hotel in Tel Aviv, the 65 Hotel Rothschild, which was being run by a skeleton staff of volunteers, and is full of people taking refuge from the conflict in the south. The hotel was doing its best to open its arms to everyone - if I hadn't found a place there I'd have been out on the street. 'I couldn't believe this was happening. It was all over the news, on the BBC, that the evacuation was starting. Why take us to the airport and make us pay 300 if there's no flight. There'd been no doubt in my mind that it would go ahead. I felt elation, I was at the airport, for the first time in days I could breathe. It's very very frightening here, when the sirens go off you have a minute to get to a shelter and there is funeral after funeral taking place around us. It feels as though it's escalating at the most enormous speed.' She added: 'I just needed to get home but I felt abandoned by my own country. There was no proper communication, that was the worst part, not knowing what to do or where to go. I was in Israel visiting my daughter who was celebrating her birthday - today I feel like I'm in freefall.' Ms Grace, whose Olivia Grace jewellery is on sale in London's most prestigious stores including Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, is now believed to be on a mercy flight to Gatwick leaving later today. She had not been officially told of its existence but had found out via word of mouth from other British nationals trapped in Israel's unfolding horror. Also at the airport last night were a British couple who prefer to remain anonymous but back up Ms Grace's account of the botched evacuation attempt. Pictured yesterday is a provisional office for the evacuation of British citizens at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel Pictured: Travellers at Tel Aviv airport this afternoon as they wait for evacuation flights to UK Travellers waiting for evacuation flights from Israel are pictured sitting on the ground at Tel Aviv airport today UK airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have suspended all flights between the UK and Tel Aviv due to safety concerns. However, Israel's flag carrier El Al has continued to operate services. Pictured: Travellers at Tel Aviv airport waiting for evacuation flights today The retired grandparents who live in London and have a second home in Israel, were also sent emails confirming their places on the evacuation flight, after commercial carriers suspended operations. The Foreign and Commonwealth office posted details of the 8.45pm departure online and they made their way to the airport at 4pm. They also got as far as the check in desks before they were told the British rescue mission had been delayed until 11.45pm and then that it had failed altogether. 'Not only was there no flight, there had never been a flight,' they told Mail Online. 'We kept waiting and waiting, thinking we should stay. 'Even if the fight was going out in the early hours, we wanted to be on it, we wanted to get home to our children and grandchildren. We felt angry and anxious, in a big huddle with all the other British nationals just waiting and waiting for news. 'If the government says evacuate and tells the world they are evacuating British citizens - then they should do it. We also now expect to be on the flight to Gatwick, we're finally getting out of the war zone but we are deeply worried about everyone else who is yet to find a safe seat out.' Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Passengers arriving at Luton Airport from Israel today have described taking cover in bomb shelters and the difficulty in getting flights out of the country to the UK. Naftali, a student, 19, said some of his friends had their evacuation flight to the UK from Israel cancelled as their 'plane never made it to the runway'. 'During the day the airport has been mobbed with passengers,' he said. Naftali, who studies in Jerusalem, was among the passengers who arrived on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv at Luton Airport today. He said he had been woken up by air raid sirens and taken cover in bomb shelters since the Hamas attack on Saturday. He said: 'We were woken up for prayers in the morning on the first day by the air raid sirens.' UK airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have suspended all flights between the UK and Tel Aviv due to safety concerns. However, Israel's flag carrier El Al has continued to operate services and its morning flight was the only arrival at Luton from Tel Aviv today. El Al was the first commercial airline to equip its planes with missile defence systems to protect them against surface-to-air missiles. Gitty Stern, another passenger who landed at Luton from Tel Aviv, said more flights should be arranged for those wanting to return from Israel to the UK. 'I have quite a few friends and family that need to come back to the UK, but they're still stuck with no flights back,' she said. Ms Stern added that she had to evacuate to a bomb shelter this week. She said: 'We were worried as we didn't know what the next day would bring.' Drora Lopata, who also landed at Luton today from Israel, said she was concerned for family members and had changed her flight so that she could come to the UK sooner than originally planned. Pictured: Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon, southern Israel, today Pictured: Israeli emergency team look on damage following a rocket attack on the central city of Rehovot, Israel today Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City today (pictured). Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes Pictured: Missiles launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel are intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome defense missile system Israeli forces in the Northern Command sector, reserve forces, are pictured as they deploy in in the settlements near the border with Lebanon in the north of Israel yesterday Two attempts by the Government to organise flights to repatriate British nationals from Israel have failed - despite the US and Australia successfully running UK-bound flights, aviation sources revealed today. A flight organised by Britain was initially planned to arrive at London Gatwick Airport this morning but that was cancelled amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Another attempt by the UK to arrange a flight landing at the West Sussex airport at 5.40pm this afternoon also failed. This is despite several other flights from Israel due to land in Britain today going ahead. These include scheduled services to Heathrow and Luton airports by Israeli airline El Al, and a repatriation flight to Heathrow for Australian nationals organised by the country's government and operated by Qantas. It is understood that one of the reasons for the lack of flights is Titan Airways, the contracted airline, having difficulties arranging insurance. The airline was approached for comment. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'This is a fluid situation, and we are currently working to ensure the flight can proceed as soon as possible.' Three flights from the southern Israeli city of Eilat operated by Czech airline Smartwings landed at Stansted Airport last night chartered by advocacy organisation Tzedek Association on behalf of the US government carrying mainly US citizens. Several airlines have suspended their flights between Israel and the UK, such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and Wizz Air. People walk next to a sign directing for Shelter after landing in Israel at the arrivals section of Ben Gurion International airport on Wednesday A woman is pictured embracing a fellow traveller as they wait for evacuation flights from Tel Aviv airport today Several airlines have suspended their flights between Israel and the UK, such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and Wizz Air. Pictured: Travellers waiting for evacuation flights from Tel Aviv airport today When the Foreign Office announced yesterday that it would organise flights, it said the first one would operate that day and they will be available to 'British nationals, including dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK'. Each ticket will cost 300, which 'reflects the costs of operating the flight', according to the FCDO. The children and other dependants of British diplomats will also be given seats as 'we have a duty of care to our staff', it added. It comes after easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said yesterday that the airline hopes to resume flights to and from Israel 'as soon as possible' but 'cannot say' when it will happen. The airline suspended its Tel Aviv operations after Hamas's attack on Saturday. Flights have been suspended until at least October 17. In the UK, easyJet usually serves Gatwick, Luton and Manchester airports from Israel. Mr Lundgren said the carrier will 'continue to evaluate this on a daily basis'. He added: 'We are making our decisions (based) on a multiple number of sources. We are engaging with probably 10 or 12 different authorities, government authorities, security experts, alongside the expertise that we have within ourselves. 'We are making then a weighted decision on what it would take for us to start up again. 'We want to start up again. We believe it's an important route to have in place. But for now, when we have weighed up all the information that we have, we have decided to continue to suspend the operation.' Mr Lundgren said 'a number of things' must happen for the airline to feel 'comfortable' about resuming operations to and from Israel. He added: 'That is obviously something that we want to do as soon as possible but we cannot say now when that is.' Mr Lundgren said the airline has not seen a reduction in demand for flights to other countries in the region, such as Egypt and Turkey. Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport yesterday He said: 'I think that this is very much a specific issue locally from the demand point of view.' On Wednesday, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic became the latest airlines to suspend flights between the UK and Israel. British Airways flight BA165 returned to Heathrow after nearly reaching Tel Aviv before the decision was made. There were reports Palestinian militant group Hamas fired multiple rockets towards Ben Gurion Airport. A British Airways spokesman said: 'Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation, we're suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv. 'We're contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date. 'We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.' Wizz Air, which normally connects Israel with Gatwick and Luton, has also suspended those flights. Virgin Atlantic has taken the decision to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours. Israeli tanks move near the Gaza border as the army deploys military vehicles yesterday Israeli occupation aircraft launch white phosphorus bombs west of Gaza City on Wednesday Israeli artillery fire rounds into the Gaza Strip from the border near Sderot yesterday A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: 'As the dynamic situation evolves, we'll keep our flying programme under constant review. Our teams will be in contact with any affected customers to discuss their options, which include rebooking to a later date or a full refund. 'We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport.' A travel industry source said the number of UK tourists in Israel is low. Israel's ministry of tourism said it is 'committed to ensuring that all tourists visiting Israel are safe and informed'. It added it is operating a 'hotline via WhatsApp for tourists' on +972 55 972 6931. Calls are mounting among safety experts to install sprinklers in car parks following the Luton Airport car park fire that destroyed over 1,500 cars - after a similar fire torched another 1,000 vehicles six years ago. Holidaymakers and travellers who left their cars at the airport have been 'left in limbo' after the fire started in a diesel Range Rover on Tuesday at 8.47pm. Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service battled the blaze but were unable to prevent hundreds of cars from being destroyed in scenes reminiscent of a highly destructive blaze on Liverpool's waterfront in 2017. Experts believe that if it had been fitted with an effective sprinkler system, the fire could have been stopped from spreading, leading only to localised damage. Chief fire officer Andrew Hopkinson said the Luton car park did not appear to have any sprinklers, adding that they 'may have made a positive impact on this incident'. His thoughts have been echoed by Paul Trew, a technical advisor at the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), who believes safety regulations in car parks are due an overhaul. The fire at Luton Airport's terminal car park 2 has destroyed upwards of 1,500 vehicles The fire is believed to have started in a diesel Range Rover before spreading to other vehicles and ultimately decimating the entire building, which faces demolition Fire crews battled for 12 hours to bring the blaze under control as it burned throughout the night Fire chiefs have said that the presence of sprinklers may have led to a more 'positive outcome' (pictured: the smouldering car park earlier this week, the day after the fire) The twisted remains of cars and collapsed levels of the building, as seen on Thursday Mr Trew told MailOnline: 'The absence of legislation mandating sprinkler systems in multi-story car parks in the UK is a matter of significant concern. 'Current guidance, as outlined in the Approved Document B to the Building Regulations for England and Wales and the Scottish Technical Standards, does not require the installation of sprinklers in these facilities. 'However, the pressing need for a change in legislation has been underscored by past incidents.' Mr Trew said that lessons did not appear to have been learned following the Merseyside fire at the Echo Arena in January 2017. In that incident, a Land Rover caught fire and the flames quickly spread to other vehicles, ultimately destroying more than 1,000 cars and prompting the evacuation of 4,000 people from the local area. A Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service investigation concluded that 'serious consideration' should be given to the idea of installing sprinklers. The IFE is a charity that aims to promote good 'fire engineering' - ways in which clever design can lessen the devastating effects of fires. Mr Trew added of the Liverpool blaze: 'The Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service's investigation of this incident, whilst still ongoing, led to a clear recommendation: 'Designers should seriously consider sprinkler provision to avoid multiple vehicle fires, resulting in huge insurable losses and the possible loss of life.' 'This assertion highlights the potentially devastating consequences of fires in car parks and the critical role that sprinklers can play in mitigating these risks.' He said that car parking safety standards in the UK as a whole are due a revisit due to the rise of the electric car. The weight of the cars compared to petrol and diesel models is greater, placing extra strain on the structures - and the presence of high-voltage rapid chargers in facilities presents an additional fire risk. The Luton incident has echoes of a similar fire at a car park on Liverpool's waterfront in 2017, (pictured) which destroyed upwards of 1,000 vehicles An investigation into the Echo Arena fire concluded that the presence of sprinklers in car parks in future could avoid 'huge insurable losses and the possible loss of life' The Luton Airport car park fire suspended flights overnight, stranding passengers. Others have questioned how they will get home after jetting off on holiday and leaving their car there, only for it to be destroyed The fire broke out on the third floor of Luton Airport's Terminal Car Park 2 - immediately beside the shuttle station that ferries passengers to and from Luton Parkway railway station He concluded: 'It is worth noting that the lack of up-to-date knowledge has led to concerns that current UK building standards are no longer entirely appropriate for modern-day car park risks particularly where electric vehicles are being charged and innovative mechanical parking systems are being installed such as 'car stackers'. 'Whilst the UK Government has not legislated for sprinkler systems in multi-storey car parks, there have been calls for a change in legislation due to the potential risks associated with fires in these premises. 'The Institute of Fire Engineers and fire and rescue services recommend installing sprinkler systems in car parks and other premises as a wise investment that can help prevent significant damage caused by fires. READ MORE: The moment Luton airport car park COLLAPSES after exploding Range Rover sparks huge inferno Advertisement 'Public safety should always be the top priority, and we urge policymakers to consider the pressing need for updated regulations in this regard.' Leading fire investigator Peter Mansi, a former London Fire Brigade borough commander, told MailOnline earlier that multi-storey car parks are particularly vulnerable to fires spreading with ease. He said: 'Due to the low level ceilings in these multi-storey car parks and the closeness of parked vehicles, any vehicle fire, whether diesel, petrol or electric, will spread to adjacent vehicles quickly. 'The fire plume impinges on the typically low ceiling and spreads laterally very quickly, radiating heat from the ceiling level onto vehicles that may be one or two car bays away from the fire vehicle. 'Sprinklers or drenchers should be mandated and fitted in all multi-storey car parks to contain a fire until the fire service arrives.' Mr Hopkinson, the Bedfordshire fire chief, confirmed to reporters at the scene in Luton that there were no sprinklers in Luton Airport's Terminal Car Park 2. He said: 'We are already talking to the airport about ensuring that any future, and the existing, car parks have sprinklers fitted because this building is not sprinkler protected. Sprinklers may have made a positive impact on this incident.' It is likely that the 20million structure, which was built in 2019, will now have to be demolished - and motorists who left their cars at Luton to jet off on holiday say they are at a loss as to what happens next. Bedfordshire chief fire officer Andrew Hopkinson said that the presence of sprinklers may have led to a better outcome following the Luton Airport car park fire Katie Forbes, pictured with husband Adrian, said she had been 'left in limbo' after hearing nothing from Luton about the fate of their vehicle, which had been parked at the terminal Lucy Lynam, a 42-year-old accountant from Hertfordshire, said she is 'none the wiser' about the state of her car and is 'expecting the worst' Katie Forbes, 42, from Coventry, had travelled to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands with her husband, daughter and her daughter's boyfriend. Having parked their car in Car Park 2, the group have been forced to hire a car for their return, with no information regarding the state of their vehicle. Ms Forbes said: 'I've had no joy with Luton. I've heard nothing back, I've been tweeting them, everything, and nothing. 'I get it, they're getting other people that are going to the airport, but to me there's been no apology, not once has anybody said 'we're sorry about the situation'. 'We're kind of left in limbo.' Lucy Lynam, a 42-year-old accountant from Hertfordshire, said she is 'none the wiser' about the state of her car and is 'expecting the worst'. Ms Lynam said: 'I'm parked on level 2 against the perimeter fence (facing row C), nearest the apron, which, from the videos, seems to be where the bulk of the damage has happened. 'However, I'm still none the wiser as to the state of my car. I would appreciate more information as to where the fire started based on a map view, maybe with a plan of row letters etc so I can estimate the likelihood of the level of damage to my car. 'I'm expecting the worst. I can only imagine they're operating in crisis mode behind the scenes.' A London Luton Airport spokesman said: 'Since Tuesday night's incident, together with APCOA parking we have responded to almost 16,500 customer queries. 'Dealing with such a large volume of questions has naturally taken longer than we would have liked. 'Although we don't have all the answers at this stage, we are working hard to provide more details as soon as possible. 'The Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) will be co-ordinating claims with all insurers and we continue to provide all information requested. 'We recognise this has been a distressing situation for all concerned and we would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding.' A UK Government study into car park fires published in 2010 found that sprinklers 'clearly assist in reducing structural damage' - but they were never made compulsory under regulations. A government source confirmed to MailOnline earlier today that it is 'undertaking a major review of the fire safety guidance to the building regulations, including research on the fire resistance of car parks'. Elsewhere, the company which constructed the Luton car park entered administration just five weeks ago. Buckingham Contracting Group won a 20million contract in July 2018 to build the 1,900-car site. But the company went bust on September 4. The prison population has hit a record high for modern times, leaving just over 550 spare places in the system. Figures published today showed there were 88,225 inmates behind bars in England and Wales, up more than 200 in a week. It beat the previous peak of 88,179 set in late 2011, and is the highest total since modern records began in 1900. By comparison, there were just 44,000 offenders behind bars when then-Conservative home secretary Michael Howard delivered his famous prison works speech in October 1993. Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data showed there are now 557 available places in the crisis-hit jails. The prison population has hit a record high for modern times, leaving just over 550 spare places in the system (Stock image) However, these cells may not be suitable for everyone. For example, capacity may be in female prisons or in jails which offer the incorrect security level for each newly-sentenced offender. A key factor in the prison population increase over recent years has been a sharp rise in the number of foreign national offenders serving time in Britain. Latest data shows there were 10,321 foreign nationals incarcerated in England and Wales at the end of June - up seven per cent year-on-year. In 1993 the figure was about 3,400. Foreign criminals now make up 12 per cent of the overall prison population, MoJ figures published in July revealed. The most common nationalities were Albanians, who numbered about 1,400 and made up 14 per cent of the foreign prison population, followed by Poles (eight per cent), Romanians (seven per cent), Irish (six per cent), and Jamaicans and Lithuanians (both four per cent). Earlier this week it emerged that judges had been told to delay sentencings of all convicted offenders who have been on bail - they could include rapists, burglars and other serious criminals. From Monday, offenders who have been on bail will remain free after conviction until a delayed sentencing hearing can be held. The halt on sentencings is expected to last a couple of weeks until emergency measures, due to be announced within days, create headroom in the system, sources said. Figures published today showed there were 88,225 inmates behind bars in England and Wales, up more than 200 in a week (Stock image) Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is poised to announce plans to allow hundreds of criminals to be freed early. He will reveal a new package on Monday which is expected to include a major extension of an electronic tagging scheme, the Mail reported today. The home detention curfew tag programme was broadened as recently as February - when the amount of time can offenders get taken off their sentences was increased from four-and-a-half months to six. It is understood it could now be extended again to as much as 12 months. And ministers may be forced to look at even more sweeping measures. For example, they are understood to be looking at another type of early release scheme introduced by Labour in 2007 during a previous prisons crisis. The then Labour justice secretary Jack Straw allowed inmates who had been handed sentences of between four weeks and four years to be let out an extra 18 days before the automatic release point at the mid-point of their term. The End of Custody Licence scheme saw 80,000 criminals freed early before it was scrapped in the run-up to the 2010 election. At least three murders were committed by freed prisoners during the 18 days of early release, according to data gathered by the Conservatives, who were in opposition at the time. There could also be stipulations that offenders who would normally be handed short jail terms - such as thieves - should get community sentences instead, despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month pledging to crack down on an unacceptable surge in shoplifting. Ministers may decide to implement a looser regime for recalls to prison for offenders who break parole conditions, seeing fewer returned to jail. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk (pictured) is poised to announce plans to allow hundreds of criminals to be freed early Whatever steps Mr Chalk orders to create prison capacity risks being a gift to Labour, as law and order shapes up to be a key battleground of the next general election. On Thursday Mr Chalk told a meeting of leaders from the criminal justice sector, including police, judges and prison officers, that changes to be announced on Monday would be meaningful, credible and would make a difference. He insisted the package would not just be short-term firefighting, sources said, and re-emphasised the Governments commitment to keeping dangerous offenders behind bars. An MoJ spokesman said any offender deemed a risk to public safety would remain in custody, but admitted jails are under pressure. At Tory party conference last week Mr Chalk announced he had launched discussions to hire prison space in other countries for the first time - but the move will require a change in the law. In May, the Mail revealed prison officers had been ordered to stop calling criminals convicts on the grounds it is offensive. Civil servants at the Prisons Service headquarters instructed warders to use the terms prisoners or offenders instead. Guards were also told to stop using the phrase ex-con for former prisoners - and refer to them as persons with lived experience or prison leavers. A Prisons Service spokesman said it was part of a clampdown on inappropriate deviations from its guidelines. Shocking video has emerged allegedly showing a brazen 'serial thief' robbing vans for tools in broad daylight. The video was recorded in Camden, North West London, yesterday. It shows an alleged thief walking away from one van, jumping into a black car and then driving to another van just a few yards away. The suspected tool thief, wearing a high-vis jacket, medical mask and black cap, gets out of the car before looking around to see if the coast is clear. Then, he pulls out a tool of some kind to break the lock, opens the door, and grabs an item before jumping back into his car and driving away - all within a matter of seconds. The thief can be shown in a high-vis jacket breaking the lock, stealing the tools and running away It was posted on a dedicated Instagram page called stolen_tools_uk_ which claims it is just one of many tool thefts recorded in the capital city. The page also claims tool thievery in London is so bad that it is a 'pandemic'. The Instagram post reads: 'This scumbag is well known and has done many vans over the past year. 'We have lost count now how many victims there are to this thief! 'Look how brazen they are with no care or worry about being caught in broad daylight @metpolice_uk 'Huge pandemic right now in the UK with tool theft and its just being swept under the carpet.' People reacted to the post in complete shock at the video. One person said: 'Fuming! This low life done my van back in October last year. Please I hope one day we cross paths.' Someone else added: 'Shouldn't be that easy to get into a 30k van.' The video was filmed in North West London yesterday and apparently shows the thief robbing the tools in just a matter of seconds Another said: 'That's ridiculous for a 30k+ motor. 'Companies have got to do something about the security on these vans!' One person added: 'Disgusting how the met let this happen @metpolice_uk. 'When you gonna do your job? More interested in catching people from speeding then dealing with real crime.' And one person joked: 'Need to start setting up dummy vans with a few lads in the back!' Mail Online contacted the Met Police for comment. After first welcoming the migrants, Adams is now trying to change the city Right to Shelter law New York City mayor Eric Adams will limit shelter stays for migrant families with children to 60 days as the city continues to be overwhelmed with a surge of asylum seekers. The Democrat had already placed a 30-day limit for shelter stays for adult migrants back in July, as he scrambled to deal with the more than 120,000 new migrants in the city. Adams is expected to make the announcement later on Friday, as reported by The New York Daily News. Like migrant adults, migrant families who can't find housing on their own will be able to return to the arrival center at The Roosevelt Hotel and reapply for shelter placement, a source told the Daily News. The historic hotel in Manhattan - dubbed 'the new Ellis Island' by one city official - has become the registering point for the migrants and is currently housing 3,000 asylum seekers. New York City mayor Eric Adams will limit shelter stays for migrant families to 60 days Like migrant adults, migrant families who can't find housing on their own will be able to return to the arrival center at The Roosevelt Hotel and reapply for shelter placement The city has a Right to Shelter law that Adams is desperately trying to amend as over 62,000 migrants remain in shelters - a year after he said he was proud to live in a Right to Shelter state. The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless called the move 'a stain on our city's long-standing reputation as a welcoming home for all.' Adams had heralded the shelter requirement at the start of the crisis as a display of the city's empathy toward asylum seekers. In the months since, his rhetoric has hardened as the city has spent more than a billion dollars to rent space in hotels, erect large emergency shelters and provide government services for migrants who arrive without housing or jobs. 'This issue will destroy New York City,' Adams said last month. Governor Kathy Hochul, who also first welcomed asylum seekers last year, is supporting the city's effort to suspend a unique legal agreement that requires it to provide emergency housing to homeless people. The shelter requirement has been in place for more than four decades in New York City, following a legal agreement that required the city to provide temporary housing for every homeless person. No other big city in America has such a requirement. Hochul endorsed the New York City's challenge to the requirement in a court filing this week, telling reporters Thursday that the mandate was never meant to apply to an international humanitarian crisis. The Roosevelt Hotel (pictured), Paul Hotel and Paramount Hotel are among those designated for housing migrants in Manhattan 'I don't know how the right to shelter dedicated to help those people, which I believe in, help families can or should be interpreted to be an open invitation to 8 billion people who live on this planet, that if you show up in the streets of New York, that the city of New York has an obligation to provide you with a hotel room or shelter,' said Hochul, a Democrat. Many of the migrants have arrived without housing or jobs, forcing the city to erect emergency shelters and provide various government services, with an estimated cost of $12 billion over the next few years. Last month Adams asked a court to allow it to suspend the mandate when there is a state of emergency where the shelter population of single adults increases at a rapid rate. New York state on Wednesday filed a court document in support of the city's request, calling it reasonable. Adams has made a series of urgent pleas for a shift in federal immigration policy and for funding to help the city manage the arrival of migrants, which he said could cost the city $12 billion over three years as it rents space at hotels, erects new emergency shelters and provides various government services for asylum seekers. Last year, he went to the Port Authority to welcome a bus full of asylum seekers sent from Texas by Republican governor Gregg Abbot. At the time Abbot argued progressive cities should also bear the costs of the influx of asylum seekers crossing the southern border. Adams said: 'As the mayor of New York, I have to provide services families that are here, and that's what we're going to do - our responsibility as a city, and I'm proud that this is a Right to Shelter state, and we're going continue to do that.' But by May of this year, Adams had made major changes to the 40-year-old 'Right to Shelter' law that guarantees a bed for anyone who needs it in the city, as his government asked for federal and state help to deal with the surge of migrants that he now says could destroy New York as we know it. Governor Hochul has also done a U-turn when it comes to asylum seekers, having first welcomed them with 'open arms' as she pledged to house them just three years before telling migrants to 'go elsewhere' because the city is at its limit. 'We have to get the word out, that when you come to New York, you're not going to have more hotel rooms, we don't have capacity,' Hochul said on CNN. 'So we have to also message properly that we're at a limit - if you're going to leave your country, go somewhere else.' A journalist has died covering clashes on the border of Israel and southern Lebanon, Reuters confirmed today. Issam Abdallah was killed after an Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists, leaving six others injured. The shelling occurred during an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah. 'We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed,' a Reuters statement read. 'Issam was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon who was providing a live signal. We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam's family and colleagues. 'Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care. Our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time.' Harrowing footage showed an unnamed female reporter injured by the blast as vehicles burned nearby. Earlier today, the BBC reported that journalists covering the conflict were 'assaulted and held at gunpoint after they were stopped by police in Tel Aviv'. Reuters' journalist Issam Abdallah holds a kitten while posing for a picture in Saaideh, Lebanon, July 4, 2023 Reuters' journalist Issam Abdallah takes a selfie picture while working in Maras, Turkey, February 11, 2023 A group of journalists from different media outlets were near Alma al-Shaab close to the border with Israel when they were caught up in cross-border shelling, one of two wounded AFP correspondents said. A Lebanese security source had told AFP that initial Israeli shelling followed an infiltration attempt by a Palestinian faction from the Lebanese side of the border. AFP photographer Christina Assi was with her AFP colleague video journalist Dylan Collins working in the area. Both were taken to a hospital in Tyre for treatment. Al-Jazeera TV confirmed earlier today that two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, were also among the wounded. Colleagues have shared tributes to Mr Abdallah today, following the tragic news from Lebanon. Nadine Awadalla, Middle East & North Africa Breaking News Hub Editor at Reuters, wrote on X: 'Issam was one of the kindest and funniest people I've ever worked with. 'He was always all in, poured his heart into his work. Saying rest in peace feels hollow, but I hope he does rest in peace and power.' Rula El Halabi wrote on X: 'I met Issam after the #BeirutBlast and we became good friends ever since. 'He was such a [sweet] and responsible videographer taking care of all those around him. Rest in peace my friend.' White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton told reporters on Friday the President's thoughts were with Mr Abdullah's family. 'We know that the work that you all do is incredibly dangerous and today is reminder of that,' Dalton said. Reuters' journalist Issam Abdallah pose for a picture in Beirut, Lebanon, September 24, 2020 A journalist's car burns after it was hit by Israeli shelling in the Alma al-Shaab border village, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing one and leaving six others injured At least six journalists have been killed in clashes in the region since Saturday. Saeed al-Taweel, Mohammed Subh and Hisham Alnwajha were killed in an airstrike on Tuesday. Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi and Mohammad Jarghoun were reportedly shot dead while reporting on Saturday. Earlier today, the BBC described how two journalists and their BBC Arabic Team were 'stopped and assaulted' by Israeli police in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Thursday night. Muhannad Tutunji, Haitham Abudiab and their team were reportedly 'dragged from the vehicle - marked "TV" in red tape - searched and pushed against a wall.' The journalists said they identified themselves and showed their press ID cards, the BBC reported. While trying to film the incident, Mr Tutunji said his phone was thrown on the ground and he was 'struck on the neck'. A BBC spokesperson said the vehicle was clearly marked as media. 'Journalists must be able to report on the conflict in Israel-Gaza freely,' they said. Our Members of Parliament are among the most recognisable faces in Britain. But, with the help of AI technology, we can get a glimpse into what they may have previously looked like before they entered office. Thanks to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the ministers from the department can be seen as the younger versions of themselves, leaving people on X, formerly known as Twitter, involved in a guessing game of whose who. So can you guess which AI generated image matches up with which minister? Michelle Donelan This would-be throw back image shows a striking similarity to Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. The 39-year-old was appointed to the role in February of this year. A Conservative MP for Chippenham in Wiltshire since 2015, the 39-year-old was selected as the Parliamentary Candidate by the Conservative Party for the new Melksham and Devizes constituency in May 2023. Prior to her current role, she held three cabinet positions under former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss as Secretary of State for Education, Minister of State for Higher and Further Education and Minister for Universities at the Department for Education. She was also previously Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) from July 2019 to February 2020, when she moved into the unpaid Parliamentary Under Secretary of State role in the Department of Education to cover Kemi Badenoch during her maternity leave. Paul Scully This AI generated image is the would-be past picture of none other than MP Paul Scully. The Conservative MP for Sutton and Cheam since May 2015, Mr Scully serves as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He was appointed in February of this year. He is also Minister for London as of February 2020. Earlier this year, he put his name forward to take on Sadiq Khan on behalf of the Tories in next year's London mayoral race but failed to make the shortlist. George Freeman The fresh-faced man can only be likened to the Minister of State in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman. Mr Freeman has been the serving Conservative MP in Mid Norfolk since 2010 and previously served as Parliamentary under-secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation until he resigned in July 2022. He also previously served in other departments including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department of Transport. The son of jockey and winner of the 1958 Grand National, Arthur Freeman, he had a 15-year career across the life sciences sector, working with hospitals, clinical researchers, patient groups and biomedical research companies before entering politics. Among his ancestors, he counts 19th-century Prime Minister William Gladstone, who was his great-great-great-uncle. The Liberal Prime Minister served as leader for 12 years, spread over four non-consecutive terms, from 1868 to 1894. Jonathan Berry, 5th Viscount Camrose This AI-generated image shows a youthful looking Jonathan Berry, 5th Viscount Camrose, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. A hereditary peer, the Viscount serves as Minister for AI and Intellectual Property. He was the second hereditary peer to be appointed to office by current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The 53-year-old succeeded to the viscountcy upon the death of his father, Adrian Berry, in 2016. Sir John Whittingdale They may look worlds apart now, but this image shows us what Sir John Whittingdale may have looked like many years ago. The MP for Maldon was appointed Minister of State jointly in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in 9 May 2023 while Julia Lopez is on maternity leave. He was previously a Minister of State for Media and Data in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from May 2015 until 14 July 2016. An MP since 1992, he came to be known in his capacity as Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which investigated libel and privacy issues in 2009 and 2010 centred on the News International phone hacking scandal. Losing lottery players are questioning California's claim to the four biggest-ever Powerball jackpots, suggesting it's 'rigged', despite the odds of winning being 1 in 290million. A social media user posted a list showing the ten biggest Powerball jackpots, indicating that California won the top four, and wrote: 'Does CA have some type of rigged advantage in POWERBALL?' on X, formerly Twitter. Along with the list, the user @atensnut also posted an answer from ChatGPT, supporting their suggestion. 'You're absolutely right; statistically, it does seem unlikely. Ensuring fairness and transparency in lottery systems is essential to maintain trust,' the chatbot said. California did win five among the ten biggest Powerball jackpots, including the second-largest lottery prize in US history announced Wednesday, sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, around an hour from Los Angeles. It comes after another lucky Californian, Edwin Castro, broke records by scooping $2.04 billion last November. Losing lottery players are questioning California 's claim to the four biggest-ever Powerball jackpots, suggesting it's 'rigged' Along with the list, the user @atensnut also posted an answer from ChatGPT , supporting their suggestion The single ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, in a tiny California community of just 2,500 people Many losing lottery players seem to believe Powerball is rigged Many social media users chimed in under the post by @atensnut, a former business owner Some accuse Powerball of being corrupted, just as the state's government is perceived to be Many losing lottery players seem to believe Powerball is rigged, with many agreeing under the post by @atensnut, a former business owner and nurse from Arkansas, according to her X profile. Many accuse Powerball of being corrupted, just as the state's government is perceived to be. 'Everything California touches has a corruption hand attached to it,' one wrote. 'These people rigged the entire state every program every office every single thing pays this crooked government in this state.' Another chimed in: 'You do notice that the winners are all from Democratic states and the biggest Democratic state is California. 'Of course, it's fixed the same way the election is fixed,' the angry user wrote. The reply has achieved nearly 300 likes and dozens of reposts. 'Who profits from the taxes taken out? Upwards of what 50%? Yes I would say its rigged,' another replied. Powerballs terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes becoming ever larger as they repeatedly roll over when no one wins. Wins in recent months reportedly have been few and far between. On Wednesday, just 44 percent of the advertised $1.73 billion jackpot will be available as a lump sum. That is the lowest it has been since as far back as 2003 The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10 Duke, the liquor store worker who is believed to have sold the winning ticket, speculated that the winner was a local as the store is nestled in a small town. He joked that the winner 'owes me a new truck' Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park celebrated selling the $1.73billion ticket as a tense 12 weeks of rollovers came to a close Wednesday night. Although the winner has yet to come forward, store owners May and Jacklin Khalil also netted a big payday as they are set to receive at least $1 million just for selling the ticket. Duke, the staffer who sold the winning ticket, added to CBS Los Angeles: 'The phone has been ringing off the hook... somebody owes me a new truck.' The employee said he's certain the winner is a local from the small town of 2,500 residents as people come to the store 'religiously' every week to get their tickets for upcoming drawings. The liquor store is roughly 100 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and is nestled in the Los Padres National Forest. As it is set away from Interstate-5, Duke said he believes it was won by a local in the small community where the median household income sits at $42,200 in 2020. May and Jacklin Khalil, the owners of the store, celebrated and said they were 'so happy' after learning that they were set to receive $1 million just for selling the winning numbers Jonathan Khalil, left, and Chris Khalil, sons of the store co-owners, hold up a ceremonial check presented to them by lottery officials 'I'm pretty sure it's a local,' he said. 'There's people that come in every day to get their tickets. We know them by name, so I'm sure somebody's going to be screaming up and down.' He added that huge excitement has built up among locals after news spread, and the 'phone has been ringing off the hook, people saying congratulations.' 'A lot of customers come in every day to get their tickets religiously, and a lot of them said 'If I win, I'm gonna get you a new truck... so where's my truck?' he joked. Owners May and Jacklin Khalil were left stunned to learn that they had sold the numbers, with the mysterious winner not the only one receiving good luck as the duo are set to take home at least $1 million. Humza Yousaf has comforted the mother of a Scot killed by Hamas and told her: Your grief is my grief, during a poignant service in a synagogue. Bernard Cowan, 57, was murdered in cold blood in his home during the terror organisations attacks on Israel last Saturday, his anguished family said. In a touching moment yesterday, the First Minister held Mr Cowans mother Irene during a service of solidarity at Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue, Renfrewshire. Mr Cowan, who grew up in the Glasgow suburb, is one of 17 British nationals, including children, who have died or are missing after the attack. Speaking to the gathering of more than 500 people, Mr Yousaf told them: Your grief is my grief. First Minister Humza Yousaf comforted Irene Cowan, the mother of Scot Bernard Cowan who was killed by Hamas First Minister Humza Yousaf attended a service of solidarity at Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue in Renfrewshire Glasgow man Bernard Cowan killed by Hamas First Minister Humza Yousaf's mother in law Elizabeth El-Nakla who is trapped in Gaza According to the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, the First Minister whose in-laws are stranded in Gaza said: I stand in solidarity with Scotlands Jewish community, who have lost members of their community in the senseless and horrific attacks we witnessed last Saturday in southern Israel. I want to send my condolences to the victims and the families of all those affected by this desperate situation. At a time of great sorrow and sadness, I want you to be in no doubt whatsoever that I, and the Government I lead, stand with you and with all communities who are mourning the loss of innocent life. Representatives from across Scotlands Jewish community led prayers and spoke at the service, which was attended by other parliamentarians and civic leaders. Commenting after the service, Mr Yousaf said: Bernards mother and family went out of their way to tell me that they would be praying for my family in Gaza. We hugged, we cried, and we promised to rededicate ourselves to peace and to be unequivocal; no innocent man, woman, or child should pay the price of anothers actions. Mr Cowan, who lived in Israel with his wife and three children, was killed when their kibbutz was invaded by Hamas extremists. He was identified as a victim on Sunday by relatives who said he had been murdered in cold blood in his home by the terrorists. In a previous post on social media, his brother, Colin Cowan, wrote: Yesterday my brother was murdered by the terrorists Hamas. He was the kindest, most generous person you would ever meet and would go out of his way to help others. We are all heartbroken. The parents of Mr Yousafs wife Nadia El-Nakla are stranded in Gaza. The First Minister yesterday shared a 40-second video message from his mother-in-law, Elizabeth, in which she broke down in tears pleading for help. The retired nurse from Dundee is trapped in Deir Al-Balah, south of Gaza city with husband Maged El-Nakla, after travelling there to see a sick relative last week. In the message, she said: This will be my last video. Everybody from Gaza is moving towards where we are. One million people. No food. No water. And still they are bombing them as they leave. Where are we going to put them? Becoming tearful, she added: But my thought is all these people in the hospital cannot be evacuated. Wheres humanity? Wheres peoples hearts in the world to let this happen in this day and age? May God help us. Bye. Mr Yousaf said his wife is in complete distress about the situation and is utterly devastated and heartbroken. In a tearful interview with Sky News, he spoke about the impact on his four-year-old daughter Amal. Mr Yousaf said: She asked last night will granny be back for Halloween? because my daughter loves Halloween, like every kid. My mother-in-law helps with the face painting every Halloween. We said of course she will be back, but in my heart, I dont know if she will. The First Minister also accused the Israeli government of going too far. He told the BBCs Chris Mason: All of us have said that, myself included... they are going too far, collective punishment cannot be justified. It is innocent men, women, children, babies with nothing to do with Hamas who are paying an extraordinary price for those atrocious attacks, that they have nothing to do with. In an interview with Skys Beth Rigby, Mr Yousaf said: I genuinely do not know if I will see my in-laws again. Nadia doesnt know if shes going to see her mum and dad again. All we can do is watch the news and look at all the rolling coverage. I cannot tell you how powerless and helpless I feel. It was a decision that sent shockwaves through the SNP and saw Dr Lisa Cameron caught in the eye of a political storm. Her mobile has not stopped ringing and she has been deluged with messages of support from her new colleagues, as well as angry reactions from within her former party on social media. But yesterday, as the aftershocks of her decision to quit the SNP and join the Conservatives continued, the former NHS consultant clinical psychologist told how her overriding emotion is one of relief. As the 51-year-old took advantage of parliamentary recess to enjoy a holiday away from the family home in East Kilbride with her SNP councillor husband Mark Horsham and two young daughters, Olivia and Charlotte, she said the move was like starting a new chapter. Dr Lisa Cameron was ostracised by colleagues in SNP Sex pest MP Patrick Grady with Nicola Sturgeon Speaking to the Mail in her first interview since the shock defection, which was engineered by the personal intervention of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, she said: It feels like a relief. I feel like I can look forward now to a much more positive future in politics and the work that I do in the Parliament, where I can be supported and my own welfare can be looked after too. Ive had very many new colleagues get in touch to welcome me so its like starting a new chapter of positivity in that sense. I had 12 months where I needed counselling in order to cope with day-to-day life in the Parliament because people werent speaking to me, and I felt very ostracised and on my own. She added: It has been transformative in that sense because Ive had hundreds of people in the party contacting me, offering support and saying, Lets meet up for coffee and I just feel very included, which is very different to the team approach I experienced in the SNP. Speaking to the Prime Minister and the time he spent with me listening to how I felt about things, taking on board some of the issues I had in terms of wanting a victim-led approach in the Parliament and feeling very supported by him. It just feels very, very different and very positive. Following her decision to speak up in support of the harassment victim of MP Patrick Grady last year, she was ostracised and ignored by colleagues. Since urging them to think about the junior staff member who was the victim of the former SNP chief whips approaches, she said MPs became increasingly hostile and would pretend she wasnt there. The final straw was the silence from the partys leadership when she plucked up the courage last month to speak out about her mental health trauma. Dr Cameron told how the stress saw her suffering severe anxiety and panic attacks leading her to attend counselling sessions and being prescribed antidepressants. While MPs from Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats contacted her to check on her welfare and offer support, there was nothing from the SNP and no attempt to investigate her concerns. As senior figures in the party tried to oust her by backing a rival in a selection contest to become SNP candidate for her constituency of East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, she concluded she had no choice but to quit the party. Since her announcement, Humza Yousaf has dismissed her concerns and suggested she may have never supported independence in the first place. Dr Cameron countered: I think it is quite shocking but it is not surprising to me because thats really been the approach all along. Its not just been the approach with me, its been the approach when the victim [of Grady] raised the issues in the first place to dismiss, to deny and not to deal with those issues. So that doesnt surprise me. Addressing the First Ministers claim that she may not have supported independence, she said she was prepared to give up a role in the NHS working in mental health to become an MP after working on independence campaign groups in the referendum. Dr Cameron, whose husband stepped back from his duties as an SNP councillor in the wake of her quitting the party, said: Why would I have put in all that time prior to standing, and have given up a well-paid job in an industry I was established in, if I had no interest in independence? Im not a career politician so that makes no sense whatsoever. People in the SNP have openly dismissed her account of her mental health battles as fictitious. But Dr Cameron claimed the response is symptomatic of the problems the SNP currently faces, where nobody is prepared to listen to any concerns, about the party or its policies. She said she has 12 months of counselling records which she could have shared with the party leadership, and added: To me, it is incredulous that there is that level of denial. I dont feel that bodes well for the SNP because it is not a listening government that is willing to address peoples concerns. Her only regret is that it has taken so long to come to the conclusion she had to leave. The welcome from Mr Sunak, whom she says has already had more conversations with her than Nicola Sturgeon and Mr Yousaf combined, has made her realise she should have ended her lonely existence as a Nationalist MP sooner. Everybody being very welcoming has made me realise that the situation has been untenable for quite some time, in terms of my mental wellbeing, she added. But it did take me a long time with the counselling to feel able to speak about it because I was having panic attacks, anxiety and various low points. Leaving is not something Ive taken lightly, it is quite a big deal and it is something Ive thought about many times. It is almost like, with the SNP, you sort of get indoctrinated a bit, I feel in an unhealthy way, and your identity gets merged with the doctrine. Its like, Heres what you think about things. Theres not so much, from my experience, individual choice and decision-making or contribution. It almost becomes like a learned helplessness in a way, and it took a long time for me to rebuild my confidence to even speak about things. It does feel quite cult-like in the sense that, in order to have continued approval you have to think and act and speak and behave in a way that is expected constantly, and never to criticise. She added: There has also been a cult of personality as well in terms of not questioning things and I think that is one of the reasons that, whatever happens with the police investigation, that it got to this stage because people who were starting to question didnt feel able to continue to question. They felt they had to leave, just like when the victim questioned an abusive situation they had to leave, and just like when I raised my voice its basically Youre not welcome any more. It is a pattern and it systematically undermines peoples confidence. There are some features I feel are quite cult-like in that sense. Dr Cameron backed Stephen Flynn in the Westminster leadership contest last year but feels he hasnt changed anything about the toxic culture. She supported Kate Forbes in the race to succeed Ms Sturgeon and is convinced Mr Yousaf is leading the SNP to collapse in the next general election. Asked if there are widespread losses ahead for the SNP, she said: I feel that is a likelihood because of the polling and from speaking to people. Many Ive engaged with over the last eight or nine years are now saying, I dont agree with the SNP any more. Theyve lost faith in their direction of travel, perhaps towards independence or theyve decided some of the other policy issues are not for them. I feel there has been a lack of listening to what the public sees as its priorities. Theres been more of a focus on identity-type politics rather than day-to-day issues affecting people and their families. The lack of competency in government has also been a major factor in her decision to make the unprecedented switch from a Nationalist party to the countrys most pro-Union party. Although she wont go as far as to say she no longer believes in independence, she said: I personally have had such a difficult time in terms of the issues discussed that my faith in that sort of leadership in an independent Scotland has been lost. I dont feel that this administration has the competency to lead an independent Scotland. So that would mean, at this point in time, I certainly wouldnt vote for independence led by the SNP. I feel it is also very divisive. My own family are divided and has those divisions. It is something that has happened across Scottish society, I dont think my family are unique in that sense. Recent events have also been an eye-opener about the value of the Union, as she recognises the coronavirus vaccine roll-out benefited from the resources of the whole of the UK, while the Ukraine war brought home the importance of having stable defence systems. She said: I dont feel the SNP have done enough for me to feel confident in the defence portfolio and that it would be stronger and more able to protect people than what we already have across the whole of the UK, which is well-established and integrated globally and internationally into best practice. My husband is a veteran as well, so we have some experiences as an Armed Forces family of that. Those issues have been ones that were red flags to me as I go along. Events at Holyrood have also led to concern that bad policy is forced through by the SNP Government, without listening to the voices of those who raise concerns. Her decision to support the UK Governments bid to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act attracted derision from the SNP but she insists she was speaking up on behalf of female constituents concerned about safe spaces, access to sport and female prisoners. Dr Cameron said: GRR is an issue in itself, but is symptomatic that the leadership style has meant there has been a disconnect between many, many people and the Scottish Government. Mr Sunak has pledged to allow her to work on disability issues, which she is passionate about, and on how to create a victim-led approach in Parliament to make sure victims voices are heard. She insisted she does not have ministerial ambitions and just wants to contribute to policy development, but conceded she would consider a government job if it was offered although she said she doesnt expect one and it was not a factor in her decision-making. Dr Cameron also rejected Mr Yousafs call for her to stand down to trigger a by-election, saying other MPs have not quit when switching parties. She added: But I find that quite comical in a sense given that meetings Ive had locally in the past few months people have been saying, We definitely dont need a by-election. And given Humzas success in the last by-election I wouldnt really have thought that would be something he would have welcomed at all. However, her time as a Tory MP looks set to be extremely brief, as its not the plan just now to stand in the next general election. Looking ahead to returning to the field of mental health worker rather than patient, she said: I feel like Ive been given the opportunity to contribute in a positive culture and environment that can hopefully mean I can engage in a much healthier way with colleagues, making a difference over the next period up until the general election. She added: Its not my intention to stand I feel like I still have a lot to give, to be honest, to psychology and to health and mental health and the likelihood is that I will return to what I did before politics and that is something I also felt very fulfilled doing in the past. Israel's demand that 1.1 million Palestinians evacuate Gaza immediately forced the White House on Friday to carefully balance its support for its close ally with statements holding up the importance of civilian life and the president's own urgings to follow the 'law of war.' Not all of its various statements Friday were completely aligned, as Israel massed hundreds of thousands of reservists who could take part in a possible ground invasion of Gaza that is certain to inflame the Arab world. In comments throughout the day the White House declined to 'weigh in' on the evacuation order, while also stressing the importance of protecting civilian life and saying it was not consulted about Israel's plans to impose the order that the UN is calling unfeasible. President Biden himself brought up the importance of protecting Palestinians Friday, in a speech in Philadelphia that he began by pointing to the 1,000 'innocent lives lost, including at least 27 Americans' in the brutal Hamas terror attack Saturday. He touted US efforts to make sure 'Israel has what it needs to defend itself and to respond to these attacks.' 'We can't lose site of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas and Hamas's appalling attacks. And they're suffering as a result as well,' the president said. President Joe Biden made a point in his remarks Friday to say the 'overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas.' It came during a week when he said he had Israel's back and began sending US military aid to support the close US ally It was just the latest time he tried to inject a note of caution into otherwise full-throated support of Israel. He has repeatedly stressed this week that both the U.S. and Israel understand the importance of the 'rule of law.' The White House said earlier Friday it was not provided advance notice of the Israel Defense Force's order to Palestinians living in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24-hours. That appears to indicate that despite providing massive shipments of armaments and positioning to aircraft carrier groups, the administration is not getting, or may not want to receive, incremental updates on Israel's plans. A White House official described the evacuation as an effort to protect civilians, even as the UN called the order not practical and said the evacuation itself could prove disastrous. Biden and top national security officials have repeatedly stressed the need to protect human life and follow the 'rule of law,' in comments that could constitute a caution to Israel. White House principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton, asked while traveling with the president if Biden supports the evacuation order for northern Gaza, at first responded to a reporter by saying 'I am not sure the nature of your question.' 'I'm not going to, you know, weigh in on Israel's military operations,' she continued. 'But I think what you're seeing here is Israel trying to mitigate civilian casualties right? And certainly, we've been very clear that the right outcome here is not one more casualty, whether that be an innocent Israeli civilian or an innocent Palestinian civilian.' 'There was no prior consultation that I'm aware of before the IDF issued that evacuation warning,' said White House national security spokesman John Kirby 'I'm not going to, you know, weigh in on Israel's military operations,' said Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton asked about Israel's evacuation order Israel is preparing for vicious street-by-street fighting, and has blasted Hamas for using civilians as 'human shields' for its weapons. Its network of tunnels threaten to pose Israeli fighters with an extremely treacherous assignment as they seek to hunt down militants and bring home captives. On a zoom call earlier Friday with reporters, national security spokesman John Kirby was asked if U.S. officials were consulted in advance of the evacuation order, which prompted warnings of a potential humanitarian catastrophe. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Israel Friday, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Thursday, meeting with victims of the attack, and both got top level consultations. 'There was no prior consultation that I'm aware of before the IDF issued that evacuation warning,' said Kirby. The UN said in a statement that the order would transform a tragedy into a 'calamitous situation.' 'The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.' Responding to a question about the UN statement, Kirby said, 'Of course we're concerned about any additional loss of innocent human life. And we want to make sure that the innocent Palestinians and obviously the vast vast majority of them do not share Hamas's ideology did not ask for this. We want to make sure that those who want to leave have the ability to leave.' He then spoke about the effort to try to negotiate corridors for safe passage for civilians. He has faced repeated questions this week about Israel's 'siege' of Gaza, and its decision to cut off water and power. Kirby has responded by speaking of the need to bring in humanitarian assistance to one of the world's most densely-populated territories. 'And so we're working very aggressively with the Israelis and the Egyptians to try to find a safe passage out of southern Gaza. And we also want to preserve the ability to get humanitarian assistance in. So so if you're asking do we share concerns by the international community about humanitarian the desperate humanitarian needs inside Gaza? The short answer to that is of course we do yes, we do. And we don't want to see a single more, another innocent life lost here.' Patients waiting for hospital treatment are being texted to confirm they still require it, raising fears they could have their appointment cancelled if they dont respond. The NHS is contacting patients en masse with text messages asking them to confirm they still wish to attend a planned consultation, test or operation. Those receiving the text must click on a link to confirm they still want to go ahead. But the move has sparked fears some patients will have their appointment cancelled if they fail to respond. Charities also warn some people may assume the text is a scam because it asks patients for personal details. Adam Stachura, head of policy and communications for Age Scotland, said: This could help to cut down on the number of missed appointments and hopefully help others by reappropriating newly freed up slots. Tess White Scottish Conservative MSP has cancellation worry fears Patients are being texted to confirm they still require hospital treatment, raising fears they could have their appointment cancelled if they dont respond But there could be large numbers of older people who are going to have their appointments cancelled because they arent able to reply. Age Scotland research shows a fifth of people over the age of 50 dont have smartphones, which means they wouldnt be able to follow the links within the message. Around half of older people with a mobile device dont use it for internet services. Mr Stachura added: There could be people who have changed numbers and not thought to update their NHS records, and this message could very easily be mistaken for a scam. The number of Scots currently on NHS waiting lists has soared to more than 800,000. The text service is being rolled out by a new National Elective Coordination Unit (NECU) and has already begun in some health board areas. Patients receive a text message from a mobile number containing a link to answer questions about their appointment. If they do not respond, they will receive two telephone calls then a letter from their health board. If patients still do not respond to the texts and calls, the NECU refers the matter back to the health board which will have to decide whether to go ahead with the appointment or cancel it. Patients who do not confirm their appointments can face having the slot allocated to someone else. Boards using the service already include NHS Lanarkshire, Tayside and Grampian. Scottish Conservative deputy health spokesman Tess White said last night that the move was further evidence of the crisis engulfing the NHS on the SNPs watch. It is deeply concerning that our NHS has become so overstretched on the SNPs watch that patients are being contacted en masse to check if they will free up their slots, she said. It is yet another example of patients bearing the brunt of the SNPs health failures there is a worry that some unsuspecting patients may even find that their appointments have been cancelled if they dont respond. With our NHS already pushed to breaking point due to the SNPs dire workforce planning and Humza Yousafs flimsy recovery plan, this winter is a now terrifying prospect for patients and staff. The most recent NHS figures show 518,491 people waiting for outpatient treatment, and 149,255 waiting for inpatient or day case treatment. Meanwhile, there were 152,606 people waiting for key diagnostic tests. That is a total of 820,352 people on an NHS waiting list in Scotland at the end of June, up from 783,694 at the end of March. Among them were 1,587 people who had been waiting more than three years for inpatient treatment. Last night the NECU said patients remain on their respective waiting list until the NHS board agrees it is appropriate to remove the patient. A spokesman said: The National Elective Coordination Unit supports local NHS Scotland boards to ensure that information held on waiting lists is accurate and helping us to reallocate any appointments or operations that are no longer needed to others on the waiting list. If we receive no response, we will try to contact the patient twice by telephone. If they are unable to answer the call, we will leave a voice message asking them to call us back. If we still receive no response to these calls, the patient will receive a letter from their NHS board with instructions about what to do next. Messages will only be sent to patients who have a mobile phone number registered on their hospital records. All other patients will be contacted by telephone or letter. Throughout the waiting list validation activity, patients remain on their respective waiting list until the NHS board agrees it is appropriate to remove the patient. Police today handed out 24 fines over a lockdown-busting party at Tory headquarters during the pandemic. The fixed-penalty notices related to an event organised by London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey's team at Conservative campaign headquarters. Lord Bailey had previously apologised 'unreservedly' for the event organised by his team in December 2020 when Covid restrictions were in force. Police today handed out 24 fines over a lockdown-busting party at Tory headquarters during the pandemic. Pictured: Scotland Yard An investigation into the party was reopened in July after a video clip published by The Mirror showed staff appearing to dance and drink. The BBC also published an invitation, revealing the event was called 'jingle and mingle'. The Met Police confirmed the fines were issued for 'breaches of Covid-19 regulations'. A second investigation into a gathering on December 8, 2020, continues. Newly released body cam footage shows a Kentucky man admitting to killing his girlfriend as he was questioned by officers after being arrested. Tommy Powell was convicted of Amberly Harris' murder at Kenton County Court after he pleaded guilty in August. Last month, he was sentenced to life. Shortly after taking out a $20,000 Eagle Financial Services life insurance policy on her for 'accidental death and dismemberment', he shot Harris, 32, in the head in December 2022. He had nominated himself as the beneficiary of her policy. Tommy Powell was convicted of Amberly Harris' murder at Kenton County Court after he pleaded guilty in August. Last month, he was sentenced to life The footage shows a detective knocking on Powell's house in Independence and asking, 'Is Amberly here?' The killer responded, 'No. She passed away. I shot her.' The video shows two detectives then entering the house to find Harris' dead body, which they do in a back room The footage shows a detective knocking on Powell's house in Independence and asking, 'Is Amberly here?' The killer responded, 'No. She passed away. I shot her.' The video shows two detectives then entering the house to find Harris' dead body, which they do in a back room. Powell later told them he killed his girlfriend three days before they knocked on his door. A third officer is then seen handcuffing Powell and reading his Miranda rights. He later told police that he 'lost control' during an argument with his dead girlfriend, admitting he killed her with a '20-gauge' shotgun. They were able to recover the murder weapon inside the couple's house. During the trial, Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney Rob Sanders said Powell had a history of violence against Harris. In April 2022, he was convicted of a domestic violence assault. According to court records, Powell struck Harris in the face and choked her to the point of blacking out after an argument at their apartment over her social media. Harris had arrived at the Independence Police Department after the assault with abrasions and bruises on her neck, face and chest. Powell later told them he killed his girlfriend three days before they knocked on his door. A third officer is then seen handcuffing Powell and reading his Miranda rights. He later told police that he 'lost control' during an argument with his dead girlfriend, admitting he killed her with a '20-gauge' shotgun Harris's sister, Jessica Mann, attended Powell's sentencing and said his actions left her with an immeasurable loss Her killer was sentenced to conditional discharge and ordered to undergo anger management and domestic violence treatment, which he did not do. Powell's attorney argued during the murder trial that his history of mental health issues, addiction and service in the Navy should be kept in mind while being judged. The murderer had written an apology letter to Harris for killing her. Harris's sister, Jessica Mann, attended Powell's sentencing and said his actions left her with an immeasurable loss. 'Losing my sister was like losing a piece of my heart. It's never going to grow back,' Mann said. Powell will have to serve at least 20 years of his sentence before being considered for parole. Americans believe the Biden administration was wrong to unfreeze $6 billion of Iranian assets in a prisoner swap deal last month, according to an exclusive DailyMail.com poll. The issue has been in the headlines all week after Iranian proxy Hamas launched a bloody attack on Israel. The money was quietly put off limits again this week after Republicans hammered the administration for being too soft on Iran. Some 43 percent of Americans in our poll said unfreezing seized assets was the wrong thing to do, while 29 percent said it was right. The results come from a poll of 1000 Americans conducted from Tuesday to Thursday by J.L. Partners. The results come from a poll of 1000 Americans conducted from Tuesday to Thursday by J.L. Partners, and carry a margin of error of 3.1 points either way. President Joe Biden's administration has been under fire all week amid accusations that a prisoner swap deal could have let President Ebrahim Raisi's regime get its hands on $6 billion 'If Biden had not have re-frozen Iranian funds yesterday, he would have faced serious public pressure to do so,' said James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners on Friday. 'Americans believe it was an error, particularly Republicans and the all-important voter group of independents, and a majority of Americans think it is probably or definitely the case that Iran was behind the attacks. 'In the weeks and months ahead, the American public clearly expects a hawkish response on Tehran.' The Iranian oil revenues had been frozen in Seoul since 2019 after Washington imposed fresh sanctions under President Donald Trump. But the money was moved to bank accounts in Qatar as part of a prisoner swap last month that freed five Americans held by Tehran. The terms meant that it could not be accessed by the Iranian government directly, and could only be used to meet humanitarian needs. The money returned to the spotlight when Hamas, which is sponsored by Iran, launched its deadly attack. Tehran's history of support for the terrorist group made it 'complicit' in the slaughter, according to U.S. officials. Trump was among those who claimed a link between the $6 billion and the assault. 'Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration,' he said. An Israeli flag flies over body bags of more than 20 dead Hamas militants with the word 'terrorist' written in Hebrew, on a field at Kibbutz Be'eri, where dozens of civilians were killed. US officials say Iran's history of support for Hamas make it 'complicit' in the slaughter J.L. Partners polled 1,000 Americans from October 10 to 12 to gauge their views on Biden's response to the slaughter in Israel. Only a quarter said he had done well Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, said: 'The Biden Administration must be held accountable for its appeasement of these Hamas terrorists, including handing over billions of dollars to them and their Iranian backers.' There is no way the money could have been used by Hamas. And other Republicans suggested it was a more the case that the deal last month could have emboldened Iran and its proxies. But by Thursday, administration officials were briefing lawmakers that the money had been sealed off again. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House Democrats that Qatar had agreed to stop Iran from accessing the money, according to multiple reports. The issue is one of the reasons only 25 percent of Americans approve of the way Biden has handled the Israel crisis. Instead, some 37 percent said he had handled events badly according to our poll. Biden is already under intense pressure for the way he reacted after Hamas terrorists rampaged across Israel last Saturday morning, murdering 1,200 people. He said he only got up at 7:30am, hours after the slaughter began, and then hosted a barbecue on the following day. On Monday, with Israel still reeling from the shock, the White House observed Columbus Day, telling journalists before lunchtime that the president would be holding no public events. France has been put on its highest state of terror alert after an alleged ISIS supporter reportedly stabbed a teacher to death and seriously wounded two others in an act labelled 'barbaric Islamist terrorism' by President Emmanuel Macron. French authorities say that they have raised the counter-terror alert level in the country to 'attack emergency' - which can trigger extra security deployments and public warnings. It came after Mohamed Mogouchkov, a Chechen refugee aged 20, is said to have murdered Dominique Bernard, a French literature teacher in his 40s at the Gambetta high school in Arras at 11am local time. Witnesses said he could be heard to shout 'Allahu Akbar'; French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the attack bore a link to events in the Middle East, as Palestinian terror group Hamas called on Muslims to demonstrate on a 'day of Jihad'. The attack was the result of 'barbaric Islamist terrorism,' President Macron told reporters at the scene on Friday, but added that police had helped avoid another attempted attack elsewhere in France. This handout photo released by an anonymous source on October 13, 2023 shows the suspected perpetrator (C) of a knife attack being escorted by a policeman outside of the Gambetta high school in the town of Arras, northern France A video shows a confrontation between two men in the school grounds French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the Gambetta high school in Arras A pupil is comforted by a relative as he leaves Gambetta high-school in Arras, where a teacher was killed and two others were severely wounded French President Emmanuel Macron, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and officials arrive at the site Police investigate following the stabbing at the school in Arras on Friday morning Emergency services attend the scene of the fatal attack which took place around 11am local time (10am GMT) at the Gambetta high school in the city of Arras Israeli embassy worker is attacked in Beijing An Israeli embassy worker in Beijing was attacked on Friday, Israel's foreign ministry said. Video geolocated by AFP shows the man was stabbed with a knife on a street in the Chinese capital. 'An Israeli employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was attacked today,' a foreign ministry statement said, adding that the attack did not take place at the embassy compound. 'The employee is being treated at hospital and is in stable condition,' the statement said. 'The motive for the assault is being looked into.' A video posted on social media and geolocated by AFP to an area around a kilometre and a half (roughly 1 mile) from the embassy shows a man brandishing a knife repeatedly stabbing another man, with blood visible on the pavement. The man with the blade can later be seen leaving the site, weapon in hand. In another video of the same location, security staff are seen questioning people and making phone calls. A man then rushes in on a bike to where the blood-soaked and conscious victim is sitting, shouting 'ambulance!' to onlookers. The victim is seen being carried away by several others, likely for medical treatment, to a vehicle out of frame. During the video, a policeman can be heard saying he is from Xinyuanli police station. A person who answered the phone at that station told AFP they were 'not clear' about the details of the case. An AFP journalist at the scene where the stabbing occurred said there were eight plainclothes police officers standing around. There was no police tape cordoning off the area and no visible blood stains on the ground, which were seen in one video posted on social media. Three shopkeepers at stores directly in front of the attack's location said they did not see anything take place. The attack comes after Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages in their surprise attack on Saturday. Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for six days, killing over 1,350 people. A statement on the Israeli foreign ministry website warned that Hamas had called on 'all of its supporters around the world to hold a 'Day of Rage' on Friday to 'attack Israelis and Jews'. 'It is reasonable to assume that there will be protest events in various countries that are liable to turn violent,' the statement said. The Israeli embassy, located in a diplomatic neighbourhood of northeast Beijing, appeared to be operating normally on Friday afternoon, an AFP journalist saw. Security personnel asked AFP not to film the site, where no additional policing was visible from the outside. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond for comment. Advertisement He did not provide details, but police said a man armed with a knife was arrested coming out of a prayer hall in the Yvelines region west of Paris. The man's motives weren't immediately clear, officers said. Macron traveled to Arras along with the interior and education ministers. The French president stopped for a moment before the blanket-covered body of the teacher, which was in the parking lot in front of the school. A puddle of blood was visible as forensic experts worked around the body. Macron then went to see students from the school in an adjacent building. At least two other people were wounded, including a security agent who was stabbed multiple times and a teacher who is in a less serious condition, a source added. No pupil at the school was hurt. 'The teacher who was killed had come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives,' said Macron. Both Mogouchkov and his brother, who was also taken into custody, were known to the authorities and were on the national security watchlist, police said. Mogouchkov's brother is said to have spent 18 months in prison for distributing ISIS propaganda online, and Mogouchkov was also a known ISIS sympathiser, sources said. Sliman Hamzi, a police officer who was one of the first on the scene said Mogouchkov, a former pupil at the school, shouted: 'Allahu Akbar' - 'God is great' in Arabic. Mr Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer who was passing in front of the high school and called in. He 'was shouting: 'Someone is attacking with a knife,'' Mr Hamzi said. 'Colleagues arrived quickly but unfortunately couldn't save the victim,' Mr Hamzi said. Fabien Dufay, a PE teacher at the school said he had taught Mogouchkov in his final year 'three years ago'. He described him as a 'reserved, calm student with whom I had completely normal conversations.' The attacker 'had two knives in his hands,' says another teacher at the school, who asked not to be named. 'He turned to me and said, 'Are you a history teacher? Are you a history teacher?',' said the teacher, who then hid behind a glass door. He added: 'It was only when I left that I was able to see that the attack was much more serious than I thought. Someone was dead in front of the school.' Clips of what appear to be the attack circulated by students on social media show how a man appears to lunge at victims in the courtyard. One of the victims holds a chair between himself and the attacker to defend himself but is ultimately bundled to the ground and sustains several blows. Students meanwhile barricaded themselves in classrooms and were told to remain inside. The attack in Arras comes almost three years to the day after the murder of Paty, also by a Chechen extremist, which took place on October 16, 2020. It also comes with tensions rising in France, which has large Jewish and Muslim communities, after last weekend's attack by Hamas on Israel. President Emmanuel Macron said in an address to the nation on Thursday that 582 religious and cultural facilities in France were receiving stepped-up police protection. 'Those who confuse the Palestinian cause and the justification of terrorism commit a strong moral, political and strategic error,' he said. His office said he would head to the scene in Arras. There has also been controversy over the French government's ban on pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attack, with the left lamenting it was no longer possible to protest for peace but the right saying the measures did not go far enough. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Thursday ordered that the demonstrations be prohibited nationwide as they 'are likely to generate disturbances to public order,' adding that organisers should face arrest. This is the latest incidence of what appears to be a growing problem of knife violence in France. In June this year, a knifeman stabbed four children at a lakeside park in the French Alps, assaulting at least one in a stroller repeatedly. The attacker, a 31-year-old Christian Syrian refugee with permanent Swedish residency, mentioned his daughter, his wife and Jesus Christ during the attack in the lakeside town of Annecy. The stabbing follows a series of bomb, gun and knife attacks carried out by Islamic State and al-Qaeda operatives in France, dating back to early 2015. The deadliest single terrorist attack ever in the country came in November 2015 when 130 people were killed in Paris after suicide bombers pledging allegiance to ISIS targeted the Stade de France, cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan music venue, where 90 died. French police officers from the forensic service stand in front of the Gambetta high school in Arras French police and fire fighters secure the area after a teacher was killed and several people injured in a knife attack at the Lycee Gambetta-Carnot high school in Arras, northern France People stand near the Lycee Gambetta-Carnot high school after a teacher was killed and several people injured in a knife attack in Arras, northern France, October 13, 2023 French police officers from the forensic service stand in front of the Gambetta high school Earlier in the year, two Paris-born gunmen linked to Al-Qaeda broke into the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, leaving 17 people dead inside and three outside. In July 2016, 86 people were called and more than 400 injured when a 19 tonne truck was deliberately driven into crowds on the seafront promenade in the southern city of Nice. The terrorist turned out to be a Tunisian immigrant who was shot dead by police. During the same month, two Isis terrorists murdered an 86-year-old Catholic priest during a church service in Normandy. And in October 2020, three people were stabbed to death by a Tunisian immigrant in the Notre Dame basilica in Nice. There have also been frequent knife attacks on the forces of law and order, leading to the deaths of serving police. Firebrand Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a key ally of Donald Trump, has won a vote to be the Republican nominee for House speaker - but still faces a massive uphill battle to get the job. Jordan defeated Austin Scott, a rank-and-file Republican congressman from Georgia who has grown frustrated with the right wing of the party, in a 124 to 81 vote for the nomination. But in a follow-up vote, members were asked 'Would you vote for Jordan on the House floor?' Fifty-five of them said they would not - even as Republicans can only afford to lose four votes on the floor. Members were split on whether they actually believed Jordan could become the next House speaker. 'That's a really big mountain,' Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., told reporters. 'What did Boehner used to say? A leader without followers is just a person going for a walk.' 'There are concerns but I think they're manageable,' Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., - a pragmatic who nominated Jordan's candidacy - told DailyMail.com. 'I've talked to some of the 55, they want to have some conversations about how the House will function But I think there's a pretty clear path forward.' It came 10 days after Republicans ousted their own previous speaker Kevin McCarthy, which was the first time in U.S history that someone had been ejected from the job. Since then Congress has been paralyzed, unable to move forward with any action to support Israel in its war with terror group Hamas, or to avert a looming government shutdown as federal funding is set to run out in November. The sudden withdrawal of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise gives an opportunity for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. But it isn't clear he can amass the needed 217 votes to secure the position Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who's grown frustrated with the right wing of the conference, was defeated by Jordan To become speaker a candidate has first to secure the Republican party nomination. They then have to secure a majority - 217 votes - in a full vote on the House floor. Republicans have a slim majority and if only four Republicans, and all Democrats, vote against then that candidate will fail. Earlier this week, Scalise, who is currently battling blood cancer, was nominated to replace McCarthy. But Scalise dropped out when it became clear he had at least a dozen hardline opponents within his own party, making his path to the job nearly impossible. Jordan, who originally lost to Scalise in an internal vote, has his own set of detractors as well and it will also be difficult for him to reach 217 votes. Reps. Tom McClintock, Calif., and Reps. John Rutherford and Carlos Gimenez, both of Florida, say they still want McCarthy to come back and be speaker again. And other moderate Republicans also say they won't vote for Jordan because it would be 'rewarding bad behavior' from the party's right wing which voted to oust McCarthy. The whole scene 'makes us look like a bunch of idiots,' said Scott ahead of his announcement that he'd run against Jordan for the job. 'When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of doing this,' the rural Georgia Republican said of running for speaker. The House continues to function without an elected speaker. Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) has been filling the position. Without a Speaker, the House can't function The House dysfunction has prevented it form acting on even a simple resolution as close ally Israel comes under attack and prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gasa He said he did it because he was frustrated with the dysfunction - and mad at the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy last week. 'We've got a very small group of people that they have to have everything their way. We had a group that sabotaged Speaker McCarthy and now we've had a group that sabotaged Steve Scalise, both of them great people,' he said. 'We should just have a lottery. If you lose, you have to be speaker,' Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia said. Jordan could win support from many conservatives who feared Scalise would be a replay of the McCarthy speakership. But a band of party centrists have raised doubts about rallying behind Jordan, the former chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus chairman, who has played a leading role in congressional investigations into the finances of Hunter Biden. However, a confident Jordan said: 'I think we'll get 217 votes.' House Republicans met Friday morning in an effort to find a way forward. There has even been talk of trying to pass legislation that would provide increased authority for the temporary Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.).. A disappointed Scalise said: 'Our (Republican) conference still has to come together and it's not there. There's still some people that have their own agendas.' The list of Republicans who say they will oppose Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the House's number two Republican, for the job has grown longer, not shorter Former Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters after a Republican meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023 Democrats attacked Republicans for creating chaos, while Republicans accused each other of being 'dysfunctional and broken'. Scalise said his Republican colleagues needed to 'look in the mirror' and put aside rivalries, and do what was best for the country. He said: 'There's some folks that need to you look in the mirror over the next couple of days and decide to get back on track. You can try to get back on track, or you can pursue your own agenda, but you can't do both.' Scalise said he was still optimistic Republicans could coalesce around someone. 'I think we're gonna get there. It's not gonna happen tomorrow, it needs to happen soon,' he said. 'Dysfunctional, disorganized and broken,' is how Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, - who wants Donald Trump to be the House Speaker - described his party. 'I don't think the lord Jesus could get to 217!' Nehls recalled a member saying in a party meeting. Jim Jordan, Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, could try to become speaker Jim Jordan is a key ally in Congress of Donald Trump 'We're not moving forward,' said Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who admitted she is worried about how the disarray will play into her swing district race in 2024. 'We've got war in Israel ... It's really frustrating.' Nancy Mace, one of the Republicans who refused to back Scalise, said it was because of a comment he once reportedly made about former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Scalise was said to have described himself as like Duke 'without the baggage'. Most of the Republicans who refused to support Scalise were backers of Jordan. 'Members have got to get it through their heads that they're squandering a majority in the House. They are squandering a majority. The American people deserve better than this,' Republican representative Andy Barr said after Scalise announced his withdrawal. 'We were elected for a reason, but we are reversing an election because we can't even find a speaker,' he added. 'That is not what the American people voted for in 2022.' Rivals for the speakership Jim Jordan (left) and Steve Scalise (right) have worked closely together before 'We need to focus on the person that can get the votes and get the job done as quick as we can, get it done and move on,' Republican congressman Representative Roger Williams said on Friday. Republicans had been hoping to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing spectacle that occurred in January, when hardline conservatives forced McCarthy to endure 15 votes over four days before finally winning the gavel. Scalise's withdrawal followed days of closed-door stalemate. The ongoing schism within Republican circles has also raised speculation about Republicans possibly reaching out to Democrats to support a consensus candidate. Scalise and Donald Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee, faced off in an internal vote of the House GOP where Scalise won 113-99. The President of the United Auto Workers Union leading the charge against the largest automotive companies is in the top five percent of American earners. According to filings reviewed by Fox Business, Shawn Fain, who was elected to lead the United Auto Workers (UAW) in March, has earned over $340,000 in the last year. The outlet reported that the firebrand had earned $187,259 leading a UAW training program and a further $160,130 in his previous role as administrative assistant at the union. With an annual salary of $347,389, Fain, 54, is now considered to be part of the top 5 percent of earners in his home state of Indiana. It is likely that his new salary as President has now stepped over the $200,000 mark, with his predecessor earning $207,000 according to the Detroit Free Press. UAW President Shawn Fain, shown at a rally last weekend in Chicago, could see his salary hit over $200,000 after becoming President According to public records the union leader now resides in the state of Michigan in a four bedroom house said to be worth $547,000 According to CNBC, the top five percent income threshold in Indiana is around $192,000. Despite his high income, Fain has repeatedly attacked the wealthy automotive companies his union is currently battling with. In a speech livestreamed last week, the union leader even wore a t-shirt with the phrase 'Eat the Rich' on it. Fain has quickly become the face of the ongoing strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. According to public records the union leader now resides in the state of Michigan in a four bedroom house said to be worth $547,000. Fain had joined the UAW in 1994 while working as an electrician for Chrysler at its Kokomo Casting Plant in his hometown of Kokomo, indiana. He grew up surrounded by a family of UAW members, with his grandfather working at Chrysler, and two of his grandparents being UAW GM retirees. During a rally last week, he also told crowds: 'They look at me and they see some redneck from Indiana. 'They look at you and see somebody they would never have over for dinner or let ride on their yacht or let fly on their private jet. They think they know us. But us autoworkers know better.' Fain leaned on a historic visit from President Biden as he escalated the strike action in Michigan Striking workers are receiving $500 a week from the unions strike pay fund. In some states, laid-off workers could qualify for state unemployment aid, which, depending on a variety of circumstances, could be less or more than $500 a week. In an open letter to Fain sent by the Mack Trucks Workers Rank-and-File Committee earlier this week, they asked for him to take a pay cut to increase striking workers' pay to $750 a week. The committee said: 'President Fain, if you are unwilling to meet these demands, which correspond to the demands of the membership, then you should step aside and turn over control of the union to the rank and file. It is, after all, we who have the 'final say.' 'To our fellow autoworkers in the Big Three, we call on you to take up this fight yourselves and not allow your strike to be sabotaged by the UAW leadership. 'We have launched our strike in defiance of the apparatus, and we call on you to do the same. 'Establish rank-and-file committees at every factory and workplace. Demand that meetings be held to vote on an all-out strike. 'Formulate your own list of demands for your struggle. Restore power to where it belongs, with workers on the shop floor.' Workers stand on the picket line outside the General Motors Lansing Delta Plant in Michigan The UAW is seeking 40 percent pay raise over four years, as well as a four-day work week, paid at five, and better retirement and health benefits In a livestream earlier today, Fain told striking workers: 'We're entering a new phase of this fight, and it demands a new approach. 'The message to the companies is, don't you dare slow-walk or low-ball us. We will take out whatever plants they force us to.' His latest remarks come just days after the union announced a walkout at Ford's plant in Louisville, Kentucky, where some of their most profitable cars are made. The action saw 8,700 workers walk off their jobs, bringing the total members on strike to nearly 34,000. Original strike action was announced on September 15 on Detroit giants Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, initially taking down one plant at each company. The Kentucky action came after Ford had 'for two weeks' spoken of sweetening its economic offer, which includes a 23 percent wage increase over the course of the contract, Fain said. But when both sides met, Ford offered the same terms as two weeks earlier, Fain said. He commented: 'Taking out Kentucky truck sent a very clear message not only to Ford, but to GM and Stellantis as well. At this point in the process, we're interested in only one thing: a deal and a tentative agreement.' UAW President Shawn Fain, shown at a rally last weekend in Chicago, could see his salary hit over $200,000 after becoming President Workers at the Kentucky truck plant, which manufacturers some of Ford's most popular vehicles including F-series pickup trucks and large Ford and Lincoln SUVs A union worker at Ford holds a sign as strikers surround the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023 The union has since expanded the strike on the two subsequent Fridays following a Fain webcast. Earlier today, Stellantis announced temporary layoffs for 700 more workers from plants in Kokomo, Indiana, as a result of the UAW strike at its Toledo, Ohio factory. The company said it now has 1,340 employees on temporary layoff across three states. Ford executive Kumar Galhotra described the company as not able to further boost its economic offer. Galhotra, President of Ford Blue, said: 'We have been very clear that we are at the limit.' He insisted that the company had not misled the UAW on its negotiating stance. Ford has said the strike at Kentucky could damage the supply chain and result in layoffs of as many as 4,600 workers at other Ford facilities. Lloyds Bank was under fire last night after offering free counselling to staff 'appalled' by talk from the Conservative Party conference. The unusually party political move saw the bank offer its 30,000 staff professional help via BUPA if they found themselves concerned by trans rhetoric at the government's Manchester gathering. The conference saw trade minister Kemi Badenoch state that she would 'not apologise for fighting for a society that knows what a woman is,' while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared to suggest that trans activists were 'bullying' people into agreeing with their views. He told the conference in his keynote speech: 'Patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women, and we shouldn't get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. 'They can't. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman; that's just common sense.' Lloyds Bank has reportedly offered its staff counselling if they were affected by remarks made about trans and non-binary people at the Tory party conference (file photo) Several speeches at the Conservative party conference referenced transgender people including one in which Rishi Sunak said it was 'common sense' that 'a woman is a woman' Kemi Badenoch (left) told the conference she would not 'apologise for knowing what a woman is', while Suella Braverman (right) criticised 'gender ideology' In her message to staff, Lloyds HR boss Sarah Underhill told trans and non-binary staff: 'You are valued. You are welcome here' (pictured: a 'new progress' pride flag including colours for non-binary, transgender and intersex people) Following the event Sarah Underhill, human resources director at Lloyds - who declares her pronouns are 'She/Her' - wrote in an email to employees last Friday: 'Like many of you, I was appalled to hear the rhetoric coming from the Conservative Party Conference this week, targeting the trans and non-binary community. 'Hearing language that fuels hate and division is shocking. To all our trans and non-binary colleagues, please know that at Lloyds Banking Group you are not alone. You are valued. You are welcome here. 'I am aware of the brilliant work undertaken in the last few days by our Trans Working Group and their allies, to mobilise support, offering safe spaces for colleagues affected to talk, to vent and to find allyship and assurance. 'We have heard powerful examples from colleagues around their anger and fears. This is a moment that matters and I would ask that, as a community, we come together to offer allyship and support to anyone affected. 'Support is also available via our LGBTQ Mental Health Advocates and through the private medical healthcare available via BUPA. You can also contact Mind Out, our LGBTQ mental health partners.' Ms Underhill's remarks, reported by Guido Fawkes, seemingly referred to a series of statements by the Conservative leadership at last week's conference in Manchester. Alongside Ms Badenoch and Mr Sunak, Home Secretary Suella Braverman also waded in to the debate by criticising 'gender ideology'. And Health Secretary Steve Barclay promised to ban transgender patients from single sex wards. But Tories are unhappy with Lloyds' description of the comments as 'fuelling hate'. A Conservative source told the Mail: 'It's a shame to see such outrageous virtue signalling from one of the UK's biggest banks. 'Given the political hot water NatWest got themselves into recently, Lloyds would do well to keep out of politics and stick to serving customers.' Health secretary Steve Barclay used his party conference speech to announce that he plans to ban transgender patients from single-sex hospital wards Former Tory minister Sir John Hayes said that using a 'position of power' to propagate 'extreme views' amounted to 'exploitation' Former minister Sir John Hayes weighed in to the row over Ms Underhill's counselling offer to Lloyds staff, saying: 'This woman is clearly hugely out of touch, and she now needs to be out of time too.' Sir John went on: 'Sometimes when you hear these politically correct horror stories, it's because people are simply naive. They think they ought to be saying things, and say them accordingly. 'But sometimes it's a sign of someone who has a weird and warped view of the world - and I suspect in this case, someone with just such a view is irresponsibly imposing it on a large number of employees. 'It's perfectly permissible in free society to have extreme views, but to use a position of power to propagate those views is a kind of exploitation which requires investigation. 'I would certainly hope that the Financial Conduct Authority will look at this.' Lloyds was contacted for comment. The news came after it emerged that former UKIP leader Nigel Farage had opened a new bank account with Lloyds following his heavily publicised falling out with Coutts earlier this year. A man who was shot dead after he crashed his car into the lobby of San Francisco's Chinese consulate owned a cache or replica firearms as well as a book on political assassinations. Zhanyuan Yang, 31, was killed after he rammed his blue Honda sedan into the visa office on Monday. He emerged from the wreck bleeding and shouted, 'Where is the CCP?', an abbreviation for the Chinese Communist Party. He was shot by police at the scene and later died in hospital, officials confirmed. Now it has emerged the Chinese national owned a clutch of replica firearms, as well as assault weapons and a knife. A man who was shot dead after he crashed his car into the lobby of San Francisco's Chinese consulate owned a cache or replica firearms as well as a book on political assassinations The items were discovered in Yang's room at his Inner Sunset apartment, according to the SF Standard, which also found a bow and arrow mounted on his wall. The weapons were found along with a drone and a book about political assassinations entitled, 'Political Murder - From Tyrannicide to Terrorism.' Other works present included one from communist leader Mao Zedong, as well as Chinese-language books on various subjects and a copy of the Bible in English. A whiteboard seen in the room also contained communist party slogans from Deng Xiaoping written in Chinese. It is thought that Yang had been living at the apartment since 2016. Documents also uncovered at his disheveled lodgings revealed that he was a environmental sciences graduate of Xingtan College of Qufu Normal University in China. Yang's roommate, who declined to be identified, told the outlet he was 'very reserved' and played video games. 'If he became radicalized, it was recent,' she said. Yang was shot by police at the scene and later died in hospital, according to officials who did not state his motive The blue Honda sedan came to a stop in the lobby of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco (pictured) after Yang ploughed into the building on Monday However, she did state that Yang had recently started drinking alcohol, which he did not do previously and had begun acting strangely in recent months. She also added that the car that was crashed into the consulate belonged to their roommate. Yang was said to have had few friends and that they visited 'infrequently', while she thought most of his family were in China. Stanford student Sergii Molchanov was about two meters away from Yang when security guards grabbed him and pinned his arms behind his back. 'He looked at me and I was a little bit scared because I didn't know if he had any gun or something,' Molchanov told the SF Standard. Molchanov, who was at the consulate to apply for a visa, said he heard two gunshots when police arrived moments later. 'It's quite terrifying and shocking to see,' he added. 'I've seen this on TV and to witness it in real life is quite different. People were terrified. I was quite shocked with all that and am still processing that.' The consultation is a in a victory for the Mail's Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign Ministers are launching a consultation on banning wet wipes in a victory for the Mail's Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign. They are looking into banning wipes containing plastic in the drive to tackle plastic pollution in waterways and blockages in sewer pipes. Many retailers have already introduced wet wipes containing no plastic, including Boots, Tesco and Aldi. The ban would build on these voluntary schemes to make only plastic-free wipes available to consumers. A public consultation in 2021 found that 96 per cent of respondents supported a ban. Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said: 'Wet wipes containing plastic are unnecessary and are polluting our environment.' She added: 'We know Daily Mail readers care about the environment, and the Mail has been instrumental in growing public awareness of the impacts of plastic pollution.' It also forms part of the Government's wider action to eliminate avoidable plastic waste by 2042. The Government is launching a consultation on banning wet wipes as part of a drive to tackle plastic pollution in waterways (Stock image) David Henderson, chief executive of the industry body Water UK said: 'We welcome the Government's plan to ban plastics from wet wipes. When flushed, these wipes cause fatbergs and other blockages that trigger overflow spills into rivers or flood homes and businesses.' He added: 'As our Bin the Wipe campaign makes clear, these products should never be flushed.' Natalie Gourlay from Boots said: 'Boots removed all wet wipes containing plastic from sale in stores and online earlier this year as part of our long-standing commitment to sustainability and working with suppliers and customers to reduce the use of plastic. 'We are pleased to see the Government taking action.' Some critics have claimed further consultation on banning the wet wipes is unnecessary and that the Government should proceed with the ban. Several retailers including Tesco and Aldi have already launched plastic-free versions of wet wipes (Stock image) Steve Hynd from environmental organisation City to Sea said: 'The ban could and should have been introduced years ago. We were first promised it in 2018 and have since responded to numerous consultations and calls for evidence,' adding: 'I am not sure what else the Government is waiting for.' The Mail has successfully campaigned for a number of measures against plastic that have been brought in over the years, including a ban on plastic microbeads in personal care products, and a charge on single use carrier bags, which has seen their sales cut by 98 per cent since its introduction in 2015. Wet wipes contribute to 94 per cent of sewer blockages, which can lead to damage to properties and can result in sewage-related litter entering the environment. The consultation on the ban will run for six weeks. Republican Rep. George Santos went on a screaming tirade in the halls of the Capitol complex after an anti-Israel protestor confronted him. 'He has no business in this building. What's happening in Israel is abhorrent,' screamed an extremely emotional Santos. 'No one defending Hamas has any business in this building...He's an animal. He's a f***ing terrorist sympathizer,' he continued. The event occurred immediately outside of where Republicans are meeting to vote on a new House speaker nominee. Capitol Police stepped in to intervene and arrested the protestor, identified as Shabd Singh, who got under Santos' skin. He appeared to ask Santos about 'Israeli genocide,' sparking the embattled Republican's fury. Santos - who is under federal indictment for allegedly embezzling campaign funds and lying to Congress - also falsely claimed to be Jewish himself in the past. I just walked out of the elevator to this: pic.twitter.com/2JTPTOT8sW Aishah Hasnie (@aishahhasnie) October 13, 2023 'He has no business in this building. What's happening in Israel is abhorrent,' screamed an extremely emotional Santos A protester is detained after confronting members of Congress outside of a House Republican caucus meeting The event occurred immediately outside of where Republicans are meeting to vote on a new House speaker nominee He tried cleaning up his debunked religious claim by saying he meant he was 'Jew-ish.' 'I never claimed to be Jewish,' Santos previously told the New York Post. 'I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was 'Jew-ish.'' The protestor, who is apparently Jewish but critical of Israel, wished to speak with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He said he is critical of any new war in the Middle East. 'I was following Mr. McCarthy as he was walking down down the hallway. I was asking him questions of what he is doing to stop the ongoing committing of war crimes by the Israeli military,' Singh said. Santos was apparently holding a child at the time of the confrontation. 'And the next time he tries to walk past me. With a child in my hand, I want him out of here,' he stated. On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists burst through the heavily militarized border around the Gaza Strip and kill more than 1,300 people - most of them civilians - in an attack compared to 9/11 in the United States. The terrorists beheaded over 40 children and ripped elderly men and women from their beds, taking them into captivity in Gaza. 27 Americans have been confirmed killed by Hamas during the attack and over a dozen remain missing. The horrific attack has shaken the world and emotions remain raw as more reports and videos of the mass atrocity are released. Chaos has continued to engulf Congress as the House of Representatives entered its 10th straight day without a speaker. The Longworth House Office Building hallway was filled with reporters and members of Congress Friday afternoon staking out the latest Republican vote on a new speaker nominee The House currently finds itself unable to even pass a basic resolution dealing with the terror attack in Israel The Longworth House Office Building hallway was filled with reporters and members of Congress Friday afternoon staking out the latest Republican vote on a new speaker nominee. The House currently finds itself unable to even pass a basic resolution dealing with the terror attack in Israel, much less provide additional funding as a key ally prepares for a possible ground invasion amid warnings of a humanitarian tragedy. A potential government shutdown once again looms, with funding set to expire within weeks. The whole scene 'makes us look like a bunch of idiots,' said Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia earlier Friday. President Joe Biden stumbled once again while ascending a short flight of stairs at an event in Philadelphia on Friday. The president appeared to lose his balance while surmounting a trio of metal steps with a railing just as he was walking to get on stage. He quickly caught his balance and made it up the stairs to begin his speech. The event, about 'Bidenomics' and investing in the U.S., was to tout $7 billion in investment in new hydrogen production hubs. Biden, 80, has suffered a series of recent stumbles, including while de-boarding Air Force One, and fell to the ground after tripping on a sand bag at a Coast Guard Academy graduation this spring. President Joe Biden climbs stairs to deliver remarks on his economic objectives at the Tioga Marine Terminal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 13, 2023. He briefly stumbled before regaining his balance and starting his event. The latest trip came before an event where Biden also addressed the issue of American hostages detained inside Gaza. He had spoken to family members of those held captive earlier on Friday. Biden condemned the 'horrifying' Hamas attack in Israel and said the terrorists who killed Israelis including women and children 'make Al Qaeda look pure. They're pure evil.' The stumble came just at the start of an event, and aired on cable networks It came on a brightly lit day where Biden wants to try to focus on his plans to grow the economy in jobs, even during a week where he has been contending with the Hamas attack on Israel and fears of a widening conflict In late September, Biden slipped and almost fell while coming down the stairs of Air Force One. That happened while meeting with striking United Auto Workers in Michigan. The 80-year-old president's other stumbles have included falling while boarding Air Force One, tripping on various staircases, and taking a dramatic tumble at the Air Force Academy. Biden is battling public concerns about his age and performance. He has been continuing to try to campaign around the country while also holding official events outside DC, with polls showing him a in a close potential race with former President Donald Trump. This week he filed paperwork to run in the Nevada Democratic primary, set for February. The filing deadline is October 16. His top polling primary challenger, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on Monday announced he would run as independent. Aides are making adjustments to his routine to try to protect the president, including making increased use of shorter stairs on Air Force One. MARCH 2021: Biden stumbles up the stairs while boarding Air Force One Biden, then 78, was boarding the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews just before noon for a flight to Atlanta when he stumbled. He gripped onto the railing, steadied himself and kept going but lost his footing a second time and then a third. On the third trip, he fell to his knees. He got back up then carried on up the stairs before giving a salute at the top then disappearing into the aircraft. Once on the plane, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that he was '100 percent fine'. The White House blamed the wind. But it wasn't the only time he would struggle navigating the steps that have proved tricky for his predecessors, including Gerald Ford. While visiting Austria in 1975, Ford's knee gave way and he tumbled down the Air Force One steps. MARCH 2021: Biden's first stumble as he bounded up the stairs of Air Force One. The White House blamed the wind for his struggles He was on his way to Atlanta when he hit the steps, just two months after his inauguration JUNE 2022: Biden falls off his bike in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Biden was at his beach house with Jill for the weekend when he went out for a bike ride and stopped briefly to answer questions from the press. He was stopped in front of a group of reporters when he topped to the side and hit the tarmac. Gasps could be heard as he lay on the ground for 10 seconds before being helped up by the Secret Service. The White House later said his foot got caught on a pedal while he was trying to dismount and he wasn't hurt. Biden, the US oldest-ever president, is pictured sitting on the pavement after the fall, which transpired around 9:30 am Saturday, caught up in the bike's frame Gasps rang out after the president unexpectedly fell Saturday as he was trying to dismount his bike to chat with a crowd who had gathered along a Rehoboth Beach bike path MAY 2022: Biden nearly falls while walking up the stairs of Air Force One on his way to Illinois Biden was on his way to Illinois to discuss the recent downtick in - but still at a 40-year high - inflation, when he again slipped as he entered Air Force One. He managed to regain his composure, however, and did not hit the ground. Biden is known to take pride in keeping in shape. He works out every morning with a trainer, focusing on weights and strength training. He is an avid cyclist, regularly riding around his Delaware home. And during the work day he will often step outside for some air and a stroll around the grounds, frequently accompanied by his German Shepherd puppy, Commander, who he welcome to the family in December 2021. FEBRUARY 2023: Biden stumbles on the Air Force One stairs on the way back to the U.S. from Ukraine and Poland Biden was ending a visit to Europe when he nearly fell on Air Force One's steps. The 80-year-old was climbing the steps with his customary vigor when he misplaced his footing. He did not fall, however, and used his hands to support himself. FEBRUARY 2023: Biden concluded his *trip* to Ukraine and Poland by falling up the stairs of Air Force One as he was headed back to the United States MARCH 2023: Biden briefly stumbles while boarding a flight to Selma, Alabama One of Biden's brief wobbles on the stairs came during a trip to Alabama. He was walking up the Air Force One steps when he appeared to lose his balance, and carried on. President Joe Biden once again had trouble navigating Air Force One's stairs - briefly stumbling as he boarded the presidential aircraft Sunday as he departed from Selma, Alabama MAY 2023: Biden trips while walking on the stairs at the Itsukushima Shrine in Japan Biden tripped as he walked down the stairs of the Itsukushima Shrine in his rush to greet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The president was running late - all the other G7 leaders had arrived on Miyajima Island and were waiting on him to begin the tour of the holy site - when he stumbled and caught himself before he fell. He and Kishida continued on as if the slip didn't happen, joining the rest of the heads of state to see the iconic 'floating' torii gate. The evening on the famous island, known for its wild deer, capped the end of a long first day of the summit. After the tour, the world leaders - the heads of the United States, Japan, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and European Union - had a private dinner on the island. President Joe Biden tripped as he walked down the stairs of the Itsukushima Shrine June 2023: Biden tumbles during Air Force Academy commencement The president fell to the ground at the Air Force Academy commencement ceremony. The episode raised concerns inside and outside the White House, and prompted some adjustments to his travel protocol. Dramatic video of the event appeared to show the president tripping over a black sandbag that was on stage, where the president congratulated graduating cadets. 'I got sandbagged,' he joked to reporters following the tumble. Biden looks back at a sandbag after he fell on the stage at the Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony in Colorado on Thursday September 2023: Biden slipped de-boarding Air Force One Biden slipped and almost fell coming down the small stair case from Air Force One on Tuesday, just after it was revealed he is doing balancing exercises, wearing sneakers and using the shorter stairs in an effort to avoid any stumbles. The president used the lower stairs of Air Force One as he exited the presidential plane in Michigan to meet with striking auto workers. Close to the bottom, his heel slipped but he caught himself before he fell. He also appeared to be wearing hiking boots or work boots of some kind, which would be sturdier for his feet than dress shoes. For days now, from dawn to nightfall, Professor Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a top British-Palestinian plastic surgeon, has been wading through operation after operation in Gaza's Al-Shifa and Al-Awda hospitals. He is running on adrenaline and decades of medical experience. But every so often, something knocks him completely off balance - winds him. Not the relentless blood and gore, though he's seen more catastrophic injuries since he arrived in Gaza on Monday than during any of the multiple wars he's worked through in the past. Or the tales of entire families being wiped out as the Israeli army pulverises neighbourhood after neighbourhood. Not even the icy dread among his colleagues that their loved ones are among the dead. 'No, it's the little human things that break your heart,' he says. 'Like when a patient comes in, caked in blood and mud, and you clean them up to assess where the wounds are... but then you see something, the braids, the pink elastic of a hair band, or a bracelet. And suddenly you think, a little girl. Somebody's daughter. With half her face blown away.' But there is no time to dwell. The next case is already waiting. And the one after that. And then ten more. Professor Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a doctor with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), in Al Awda hospital, Gaza, in 2018 All four operating theatres at the Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza are already booked solid for the next 24 hours with patients suffering terrible burns, blast and shrapnel injuries, limbs crushed by falling masonry. The hospital hallways are rammed with trollies and bodies. 'This is a tsunami of wounded people - a site of total devastation,' says Dr Abu-Sittah, 54, who is working with charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. 'To give an idea of how bad it is, Gaza's entire hospital bed capacity is 2,500. Today, we have 6,500 injured.' He talks to me on Thursday evening, between operations, over WhatsApp video, from Al-Awda hospital - just hours before Israel's military announced to more than one million Palestinians that ahead of an expected ground invasion, they must evacuate northern Gaza and head to the southern part of the besieged territory. An exodus that the UN has warned would be calamitous. It is hard to imagine where on earth all those people could go; Gaza is one of the most densely populated territories in the world and so much of it has already been destroyed. Let alone how medical staff could contemplate evacuating an entire hospital, and all those critically-ill children. At this moment, though, Dr Abu-Sittah has just finished a procedure with a 19-year-old girl with shrapnel around her eyes and neck. The line isn't great and every so often he pauses to let the sounds of a nearby explosion fade away. Palestinian children wounded in Israel strikes are brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Dr Abu-Sittah arrived in Gaza on Monday morning, after a mad dash from London through Egypt before the border was sealed. 'As soon as I saw the news on Saturday, it was a no-brainer. I know the health service in Gaza, I've trained plastic surgeons here. And I know what's available, the facilities and the capacity of the staff. I knew it would be just God-awful.' It was worse than he could have ever imagined. His hardest case was a beautiful six-year-old girl. 'Her mother - an obstetrician at the hospital - and her sister were both killed and the little girl... half her face was missing from the blast.' Meanwhile, the father, a radiologist at the hospital, is in Jordan. 'God only knows when he'll get back. She's all that's left. It is unremitting. It feels harder when you have children yourself.' Dr Abu-Sittah has three sons. One is 12, one is doing his GCSEs and the other has just started university. He feels guilty leaving his family behind, but he knows he needs to be there. His father is Palestinian - a refugee in Gaza in 1948 before moving to Kuwait, where Ghassan was born, and later to Scotland, where Dr Abu-Sittah studied medicine at Glasgow University and picked up his Scottish burr. Between teaching and practising in the UK, he has experienced multiple instances of war in Gaza, as well as in Yemen, Mosul in Iraq and Beirut in Lebanon. A missile explodes in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on October 8 On Monday night, when he arrived in Gaza, he stayed with friends nearby. Or was going to, until the sirens sounded and they raced for shelter. When he returned the next morning, the entire street had been destroyed. Since then, he's been sleeping on a couch in the hospital and, like the rest of the staff, gets by on about four hours of broken sleep a night. 'It's too dangerous for anyone to go home,' he says. 'So staff sleep wherever they can find a space.' On Thursday, the day we speak, he'd just moved to the smaller Al-Awda hospital in the north - the area now due to be evacuated. 'They only have one plastic surgeon for the whole of the region and so many injuries, so I thought I'd be more use here,' he says. His day started at dawn when he was called to the Emergency Room after the nearby Al-Shati camp was hit, and whole families were being brought in. One, in particular, haunts him. 'There was a baby with a head injury, a four-year-old girl who was not going to make it, and an 11 or 12-year-old boy with 30 per cent burns, including his face,' he says. 'You're trying to do all this and the grandfather who survived is screaming, 'This is not a war, this is an execution!' It doesn't help that there are people everywhere. Not just patients and staff, but entire families, with nowhere else to go, who have converged on the hospitals. 'There are thousands in the Al-Shifa hospital compound. The corridors are full and those who can't find a corner are just in the car park - whole families, sleeping in cars.' READ MORE: The BBC journalist who wept for Gaza: Producer left grief-stricken at sight of victims in hospital wing says young orphan was the same age as his daughter - as his cameraman finds friend who survived bloodshed which killed his family Mr El-Bursh was left in tears after seeing the situation at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza yesterday Advertisement Naturally, the hospital staff are terrified for their own loved ones. 'Between cases, you see them all rushing to their phones to find out where they are - if they've had to move again, if they're all OK. Everyone knows someone. Everyone dreads knowing someone.' It can't be easy for his family either. Not least because the borders are sealed now. So he can't leave, even if he wanted to. 'My wife has had 22 years of it. The kids have grown up with it - so when they saw the news, they knew there was no question that I would be coming.' Even so, he does his best to keep in constant touch. 'Emojis, texts, lots of little messages. It is the least I can do,' he says. Meanwhile, in the hospitals, patients are backed up and energy and supplies are dangerously low. 'The other day we had a 14-year-old girl with 70 per cent burns in Al-Shifa hospital,' he says. 'You must scrub burns down with an antiseptic, to prevent sepsis. But there wasn't enough antiseptic, so we got a bar of soap and just used that.' He takes a deep breath. 'I think the whole system's got a few days and then it will collapse - unless they open a humanitarian corridor.' Already, the Al-Awda hospital is stopping operations at 9pm to conserve power. Soon lights will be turned out everywhere other than in the operating theatres And still the bombardment continues. 'The numbers are breathtaking. The Israeli army's destructive capacity is beyond question. This is an army built to face the Soviet Union. It is the strongest army outside Nato,' he says. Even though Dr Abu-Sittah is seasoned in the blood and gore of war, the horror can't fail to touch his soul. 'When you're working, you're running on adrenaline, but when you finish in the evening, the human part hits hard - all the children.' Because he knows better than anyone what lies ahead for the survivors. He's a world expert in the treatment of war injuries, particularly in children. 'They have lost so much, already - their homes, often their entire families. And when I see them, I know they have a lifetime of reconstructive surgery ahead of them. Operation after operation. Because the growing body of a child will always mean you have to keep going back as the body outgrows the scar. It never ends.' With that, the father of the girl with shrapnel injuries interrupts Dr Abu-Sittah to say a heartfelt 'thank you', and his break is over. He has several more surgeries before they turn out the lights tonight. And tomorrow is another early start with a couple of children with limb reconstructions and a man with exposed arteries in his thigh who needs dealing with urgently - unless something worse turns up overnight. Before he goes, I ask, what on earth will happen when the Israelis launch their ground offensive? 'I don't know. I just don't know,' he says quietly. 'I can't imagine it any worse than it is, but of course, it will be.' Distressing footage appears to show Hamas gunmen shooting 'indiscriminately' at portaloos during the Nova Music Festival in Re'im on Saturday. More than 260 people are understood to have died after armed men descended on the event near the border between Gaza and southern Israel last weekend. Hamas took some 150 Israeli, foreign and dual national hostages back to Gaza in the initial attack, Israel has said. The IDF shared the footage on social media ahead of an expected ground invasion of Gaza, captioned: 'This just shows you that Hamas does not care whothey just kill.' It comes as the Israeli military masses troops on the border with Gaza, telling some one million people to evacuate to the southern part of the besieged territory. The IDF said the footage showed a Hamas gunman shooting at toilets. It was not clear whether anybody was in the portaloos Charred and damaged cars along a desert road after an attack by Hamas militants at the Tribe of Nova Trance music festival near Kibbutz Re'im in southern Israel on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 Israel and Hamas have exchanged fire since the latter launched a surprise attack near the border on Saturday. Just after 6:30am, sirens sounded in Israel's centre and south amid reports of rocket-fire. It was the first direct conflict within Israel's boundaries since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Armed members of Hamas broke through Israel's security barrier and raided the Nova Music Festival near Re'im kibbutz. Israel claims 150 hostages were taken during the initial assault. Festival-goers have described being 'confused' by the sound of rockets and fleeing only when they heard gunfire. Many became stuck in traffic and fled on foot, hiding in ditches or climbing trees to avoid being targeted. Nearby, fighting was reported outside the Re'im army base, the HQ of the IDF's Gaza Division, which changed hands twice during clashes. As the fighting continued through the day, as many as 1,300 casualties - including 247 soldier - were reported. Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director of Human Rights Watch, pointed to Hamas 'shooting civilians en masse, taking hostages, including women and children - undeniably grave abuses of international law, for which there's no justification.' 'Massacring civilians is a war crime and there can be no justification for these reprehensible attacks,' said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary-general. 'These crimes must be investigated as part of the International Criminal Court's ongoing investigation into crimes committed by all parties in the current conflict.' Smoke billows following Israeli strikes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza, October 13, 2023 At least 1,200, including at least 326 children, have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced, after Israel launched sustained retaliatory strikes after Saturday's assault by Hamas Thousands of residential buildings have been destroyed in strikes on Gaza since Saturday Palestinians flee their homes in the southern Gaza Strip, October 13, 2023 The UN has urged Israel to rethink the order, calling it 'impossible' to orchestrate Israel retaliated with a 'complete siege' of Gaza on Monday and devastating airstrikes, destroying tens of thousands of residential buildings in the Palestinian enclave. The siege threatens to cut off food, fuel, water and medicine to much of Gaza's 2.3mn population. In recent days, rhetoric has stepped up around an anticipated ground invasion of Gaza, where Hamas is based, as revenge for Saturday's attacks. Earlier today, more than one million people living in the north were told to evacuate and head south in the next 24 hours. Rights groups, charities, nations and international bodies have urged Israel to reconsider. The UN warned that the order would be calamitous, resulting in a humanitarian disaster whether people can flee or not. 'The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening. How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated warzone in less than 24 hours?' U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths wrote on social media. A statement from the World Health Organisation said: 'WHO joins the wider United Nations in appealing to Israel to immediately rescind orders for the evacuation of over 1 million people living north of Wadi Gaza. 'A mass evacuation would be disastrousfor patients, health workers and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement.' More than 80 per cent of Gaza's population rely on humanitarian aid - which the EU said it would 'review' earlier this week - and most lack access to a vehicle. Much of Gaza's infrastructure has been damaged, making it difficult to travel by car in any case. A child carrying an infants car seat evacuates Gaza City following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza strip, 13 October 2023 Thousands have died and lost homes and personal possessions since last Saturday Palestinians evacuate the north as Israel appears to plan a ground invasion Rights groups have urged Israel to reconsider as Gazans flee the north, on Friday The United Nations also today said it had been 'collecting and preserving evidence of war crimes committed by all sides' since the violence started last week. That evidence could be added to an investigation by the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in past conflicts. 'Intentional targeting of civilians and civilian objects without a military necessary reason to do so is a war crime, period,' said David Crane, an American international law expert and the founding chief prosecutor of the United Nations' Special Court for Sierra Leone. 'And that's a standard that both sides are held to under international law.' U.S. President Joe Biden, at a meeting with Jewish leaders Wednesday, said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'that it is really important that Israel, with all the anger and frustration and just - I don't know how to explain it - that exists is that they operate by the rules of war - the rules of war. And there are rules of war.' A 76-year-old man from Minneapolis, Minnesota, pleaded guilty Friday to stealing 'Wizard of Oz' ruby slippers from Judy Garland Museum in 2005. Terry Jon Martin, 76, pleaded guilty to a single count of theft in a deal that could keep him out of prison due to his failing health, clearing up some of the mystery dating back 18 years. Martin, who lives near the late actor's hometown Grand Rapids, admitted to stealing the ruby slippers from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota. He used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum door and display case to take the slippers, Martin said at his change-of-plea hearing in federal court in Duluth. He thought the slippers had real rubies and had hoped to sell the gems. But when a fence told him they were glass, he got rid of the slippers. Terry Jon Martin (pictured), 76, pleaded guilty to a single count of theft in a deal that could keep him out of prison due to his failing health A pair of ruby slippers once worn by actress Judy Garland in the 'The Wizard of Oz' on display. Garland wore several pairs of ruby slippers during filming of the classic 1939 musical, but only four authentic pairs are known to remain The artwork, stolen in 2005, was recovered by the FBI in 2019. However, no suspect faced arrest until earlier this year when Martin was charged. Martin did not say how he got rid of them or to whom he gave them, leaving the slippers' whereabouts during the ensuing years a mystery. 'Terry has no idea where they were and how they were recovered,' Martins attorney, Dane DeKrey, said afterward. 'His involvement was that two-day period in 2005.' The attorney added that his client, in poor health, has been cooperative with authorities during the investigation. 'He's basically slowly suffocating to death,' DeKrey said. Martin, who appeared in court in a wheelchair with supplemental oxygen, has advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and struggles to breathe, Dekrey said in an interview ahead of Friday's hearing. Under the plea agreement, Martin would not face any time behind bars. The proposed sentence would let Martin die at home, the attorney said. Garland wore several pairs of ruby slippers during filming of the classic 1939 musical, but only four authentic pairs are known to remain. The slippers incorporate a dozen distinct materials including wood pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic, and glass. While sequins contribute to most of the ruby color, the bows of the shoes feature red glass beads. The stolen slippers were insured for $1 million, but federal prosecutors put the current market value at about $3.5 million. The slippers were on loan to the museum from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw when Martin stole them. Three other pairs are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and a private collector. Several rewards were offered over the years in hopes of figuring out who stole the slippers, which were key props in the 1939 movie. Garlands character, Dorothy, has to click the slippers' heels three times and repeat, 'Theres no place like home,' to return home to Kansas. John Kelsch, executive director of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, where Martin stole the precious artwork from in 2005 The FBI said a man approached the insurer in 2017 and said he could help get them back. The slippers were recovered during an FBI sting in Minneapolis. The FBI has never disclosed how it tracked down the slippers, which remain in the agency's custody. Martin said at the hearing that the theft had nothing to do with trying to get insurance money, as some have speculated. Martin has a 1988 conviction for receiving stolen goods but he remained free on his own recognizance after the hearing. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, told Martin that he isn't legally bound by the sentencing recommendation by the defense and prosecution. Schiltz ordered a presentence investigation and said he'd likely schedule the sentencing for about two and a half months from now. According to DeKrey, the nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines recommended eight to ten years in similar cases. The U.S. attorney's office said it would have no comment until after Martin is sentenced. Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She lived in Grand Rapids, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, until she was 4, when her family moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969. The Judy Garland Museum, which is in the house where she lived, says it has the worlds largest collection of Garland and Wizard of Oz memorabilia. China registers progress in crackdown on cultural relic crimes Xinhua) 14:28, October 13, 2023 BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A three-year campaign against cultural relics-related crimes has yielded marked progress, with Chinese police having solved more than 800 such criminal cases, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced Friday. The campaign was launched last year jointly by the MPS and the National Cultural Heritage Administration, with a focus on crimes involving looting ancient cultural sites and tombs, theft of stone carvings and underwater cultural relics, and theft and damage of revolutionary cultural relics. During the campaign, police closely monitored the underground cultural relic markets and online trading platforms, the MPS said. Over 13,000 pieces of cultural relics were recovered, among which 2,189 were deemed rare, according to the MPS. A number of suspects involved in the criminal activities were caught, it added. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of weapons to Russia in recent weeks to fuel its war in Ukraine, the White House said. Speculation about a possible deal between Pyongyang and Moscow has grown since last month, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the U.S. believes Kim is in return seeking sophisticated Russian weapons technology to boost his military and nuclear programs. The White House released images that it said show the containers were loaded onto a Russian-flagged ship before being moved by train to southwestern Russia. An image released by the US Government on October 13, 2023, reportedly shows the transfer of military equipment from North Korea to Russia A satellite photo shows increased activity at the Tumangang Rail Facility in North Korea Containers were shipped between Sept. 7 and Oct. 1 between Najin, North Korea, and Dunay, Russia. Kirby said: 'We condemn the DPRK (North Korea) for providing Russia with this military equipment, which will be used to attack Ukrainian cities and kill Ukrainian civilians and further Russia's illegitimate war. 'In return for support, we assess the Pyongyang is seeking military assistance from Russia including fighter aircraft, surface to air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment, or other materials and other advanced technologies.' The U.S. unveiled the conclusions of its intelligence gathering on Friday as North Korea lashed out at the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in South Korea. Pyongyang called that a provocation and again threat6ened to use nuclear weapons to defend itself. The U.S. has accused North Korea of previously providing ammunition, artillery shells and rockets to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during a meeting in Vladivostok, Russia on April 25, 2019 North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) shaking hands with Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) in Vladivostok on September 16, 2023 An intercontinental ballistic missile test at the Sunan international airport in Pyongyang North Korea has previously denied providing weaponry to Moscow. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, last week published satellite photos that showed a sharp increase in rail traffic along the North Korea-Russia border. It said satellite images taken on Oct. 5 captured "a dramatic and unprecedented level of freight railcar traffic" at the Tumangang Rail Facility. During Kim's six-day trip to Russia, his longest foreign travel as a leader, the two countries said they discussed boosting their defense ties but didn't disclose any specific steps. The trip to Russia was also Kim's first foreign trip since the pandemic, during which North Korea imposed tight border controls for more than three years. Russia and North Korea have drawn closer diplomatically since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. All across the West, there is no shortage of people blaming the horrors in Israel on Israel itself and openly supporting the perpetrators. The head of policy at the Community Security Trust, which monitors hate crimes committed against British Jews, has said: 'Anti-Semites are getting excited by the sight of dead Jews . . . Hamas murdering Israeli civilians has exhilarated them . . . We've had reports of people driving past synagogues shouting 'Kill the Jews'.' Anti-Semitic incidents in Britain are currently three times higher than they were this time last year, the charity adds. 'Free Palestine' graffiti has been scrawled on a railway bridge in Golders Green, a Jewish area of north London, while in Oxford Street, one young woman who may well have been radicalised in England was filmed ripping down posters that pleaded for the safe return of the babies taken hostage by Hamas. 'Free Palestine, f*** you!' she screamed at an onlooker who dared to remonstrate with her. On Thursday night in Paris, police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of people at a pro-Palestine rally, in which protesters chanted 'Israel murderer [sic]' and 'End the siege of Gaza.' Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in London on Monday 'Free Palestine' was scribbled on a railway bridge in Golders Green, North London - an area with a large Jewish population Women were filmed tearing down posters calling for the safe return of Israeli hostages captured by Hamas Outside the Sydney Opera House, about 1,000 protesters lit flares and waved Palestinian flags and some were filmed chanting: 'Gas the Jews.' In the U.S., meanwhile, 31 student groups at Harvard signed an open letter claiming that the 'Israeli regime' was 'entirely responsible for all unfolding violence', while California's Stanford University displayed a banner declaring that Palestine would be made free 'by any means necessary' a sinister slogan that tacitly justifies Hamas's slaughter of children in pursuit of its aims. Not to be outdone, the Chicago 'chapter' of the Black Lives Matter movement posted an image of a paraglider alongside the slogan 'I stand with Palestine'. The reference, of course, was to Hamas paragliders who descended on Israel's Supernova music festival last Saturday to rape and butcher at least 260 young people. In short, anti-Semites the world over have been emboldened by this crisis, and Jews are once again being blamed for their own massacre. And I am not remotely surprised. In my childhood, I was steeped in the Islamist movement's noxious anti-Semitism which has been on such ugly display this week. Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, I spent my early years escaping political strife after my father was imprisoned for being an anti-government activist. We moved between countries before settling in Kenya. The worst insult in the Somali community was to be called a 'Jew', not that any of us actually knew one. To be called a 'Jew' was so abhorrent, some felt justified in killing anyone who so dishonoured them with this 'slur'. As a teenager in Nairobi in the 1980s, I joined the Muslim Brotherhood the strict Sunni Islamist movement, founded in Egypt in 1928, from which Hamas ultimately descends. I vividly remember sitting with my female fellows in mosques, cursing Israel and praying to Allah to destroy the Jews. We were certainly not interested in a peaceful 'two-state solution': we were taught to want to see Israel wiped off the map. When I was 16, my school's teacher of religion was Sister Aziza. She read to us the Koran's lurid descriptions of the everlasting fire that burns flesh and dissolves skin the place reserved for Jews. Sister Aziza described Jews as physically monstrous, with horns coming from their heads, out of which flew devils that would corrupt the world. Jews controlled everything, she told us, and it was the duty of Muslims to destroy them. It was a lot to take in for a teenager who read Western romance novels in secret, but I believed every word. French police deployed tear gas and water cannons after a pro-Palestinian protest in Paris Protesters allegedly chanted 'Israel murderer [sic]' and 'End the siege of Gaza' in Paris Riot police push back pro-Palestine protesters after the organised protest in Paris was deemed illegal due to security concerns When the fatwa was issued against the British writer Salman Rushdie in 1989, a small crowd gathered in a Nairobi car park to burn a copy of his novel The Satanic Verses. Sister Aziza urged us to join in the condemnations of Rushdie and I am ashamed to say I took part in the book-burning. I was certain Rushdie should be killed, but the scene nevertheless made me uncomfortable. That seed of doubt grew over the next few years as I questioned why, if Allah was so just, women were treated as mere chattels in some Muslim families. AYAAN HIRSI ALI: 'Jews controlled everything, she told us, and it was the duty of Muslims to destroy them. It was a lot to take in for a teenager who read Western romance novels in secret, but I believed every word' Over time, my questions turned into open rebellion against the Muslim Brotherhood, Islam and, ultimately, my family. My father sent me to relatives in Germany in 1992 so I could go from there to Canada to join the distant cousin he had married me off to. I ran away from that marriage and travelled to the Netherlands where I sought asylum. Eventually, I became a member of the Dutch parliament, and later settled in America. I abandoned my religion, but I have never lost my clear-sighted understanding, forged in my childhood, of Islamism's pathological hatred of Jews, as well as Muslims considered as heretics and non-Muslims in general. The former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi a one-time leader of the Muslim Brotherhood declared that Muslims should 'nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred' of Jews. His organisation has done just that and the despicable sentiment is the underlying context to Hamas's most recent attacks. The truth, however, is that Hamas is no more a friend of the Palestinians than it is a friend of Israel. Those who see the conflict as a simple territorial dispute between a colonial state and a dispossessed minority fail to recognise Hamas for what it really is: a gang of genocidal Islamist thugs backed by a theocratic, anti-Semitic regime in Iran. A pro-Palestinian protester in New York City on Friday A child takes part in a pro-Palestine rally held in Canberra, Australia on Friday Useful idiots on the far-Left in Western countries, who blindly support Hamas because they see it as a freedom-fighting group, harm the very people they claim to defend. They say they want peace and perhaps many of them do. But real peace talks based on the 2020 Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab countries have made painstaking but undeniable progress despite the efforts of Hamas. Until Hamas's recent attacks, Saudi Arabia and Israel had looked set to normalise relations. This murderous incursion was an attempt to derail such talks and thus ruin any chance of lasting peace. Ordinary Palestinians want to build a prosperous, functioning society. Hamas, in its obsession with annihilating Israel, doesn't care about that. It wishes only to bring about a genocidal Islamist dystopia. It is Hamas, after all, that holds Palestinians hostage in Gaza, setting up military installations in and launching rockets from civilian areas in the full knowledge that counterstrikes will kill innocent people. It is Hamas that impoverishes Palestinians by stealing humanitarian aid to fund its terror. This is what 'by any means necessary' truly signifies: supreme callousness towards Palestinian life. If you genuinely want to see peace between Israelis and Palestinians, or more generally between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, then Hamas should be your enemy. And even if like many in the West, as we can now see you don't care at all about Israeli or Jewish lives, even if you care only about the lives of Palestinians, Hamas is still your enemy. After all, Hamas ruthlessly persecutes any Palestinians who disagree with it: a 2022 U.S. State Department report found that, among other abuses, Hamas detained and assaulted critical journalists. It is especially hostile to public figures associated with its rival Fatah, the Palestinian party voted out of office in Gaza in 2006, but which still runs the West Bank. Hamas harasses its own dissidents, and has invaded the home of at least one young critical activist, telling his parents to keep their son under control or else. As a Dutch MP in 2004 and 2005, I travelled to the West Bank and met Palestinians. In public, they spouted all the usual lines about Israel being their 'oppressor'. But once the cameras were switched off, they spoke more truthfully. A Palestinian demonstrator uses a slingshot amid clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank Hamas gunmen, seen in a file photo taken in December 2018 A Hamas fighter stands with a belt-driven machine gun as part of a military parade held in July this year They complained bitterly about their treatment by Hamas and other radical groups, and told me how money meant to feed the people was being taken to fund those organisations' activities and their leaders' luxurious lifestyles. Arabs and Palestinians alike told me how fed up they were with conflict, and how ready they were for peace. Hamas, like other Islamist groups, has done its best over the course of decades to stomp all over those wishes. And it has been successful. The shocking rise in anti-Semitism in the West owes much to the entrenched Islamist networks that have spent years stirring up this ancient hatred. Europe must now wake up to these fifth columnists who shamelessly celebrate violence and bigotry, promoting hatred of the Jewish minority in Europe. The West must also wake up to the moral corruption of its own Hamas supporters, from Left-wing university students to flag-waving street thugs. Meanwhile, elite human-rights organisations need to do far more to name terrorism when they see it. It is horrifying to see Amnesty International claiming that one of the 'root causes' of the crisis is 'Israel's system of apartheid imposed on Palestinians'. Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, should do more than merely equivocating in its insistence that no injustice can justify another. This is not to argue that Israel should be immune from criticism. My point is that much of the criticism is at best misguided and at worst thinly veiled anti-Semitism. Hamas, like Lebanon's Hezbollah, Isis in Syria and Iraq, Nigeria's Boko Haram, Somalia's Al-Shabaab and several other groups, are fighting not for the liberty and prosperity of Muslims but, ultimately, for the annihilation of Israel and the imposition of an Islamic state. If Palestinians and other Muslims have to suffer for that aim, then so be it. Well-meaning celebrities and broadcasters who, out of wilful ignorance and good intentions, hesitate to condemn Hamas as terrorists need to recognise this truth. Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli forces in the West Bank on Friday, leading to ugly scenes An Israeli missile explodes as it strikes Gaza City on Sunday - a day after Hamas began its murderous incursion into Israel Israeli border police struggle with a Palestinian Muslim woman during the first Friday prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque since Hamas mounted its attack These are dark times for Israel and for the world, but there are some reasons to be hopeful. This week's strong statement by America, Britain, France, Italy and Germany condemning Hamas while recognising the 'legitimate aspirations' of the Palestinians is a good sign. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's condemnation of Hamas is particularly welcome, given that, until recently, his party was led by a man who called these butchers his 'friends'. And if Israel and the Arab states do not allow their worst instincts to rule them, talks may continue and might just secure peace in the longer term. Hamas is another Isis. They are the enemies of Israel; they are the enemies of all Jews; they are the enemies of Palestinians; they are the enemies of peace and freedom. They are the enemies of Western civilisation itself. It is about time they were recognised as such. To achieve a two-state solution with free and prosperous Palestinians and a safe Israel the first, fundamental step is for people to stop chanting slogans in support of terrorists and murderers, and for everyone to cry in unison: 'Down with Hamas!' Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and founder of the AHA Foundation. The View co-host Sunny Hostin compared US extremist group Proud Boys to Hamas terrorists after the Palestinian militia massacred Israeli civilians. Hostin, 54, accused the Israeli leadership of war crimes as it brutally retaliates to Hamas' siege that began Saturday, while seemingly downplaying Hamas' designation as a terrorist group. 'I look at this from a legal perspective, and I think we all know Hamas has been designated a terror organization, just like many other terror organizations have this designation like the Proud Boys,' she said. The Proud Boys shot to prominence as one of the primary groups behind the riots at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and several of its leaders have been jailed over the violence. Hostin also warned that Israel's onslaught on Gaza, where over a million people were warned to evacuate Friday, could violate international law, adding: 'Retaliation against innocent civilians collectively is also terror and is also a war crime.' The View co-host Sunny Hostin accused the Israeli leadership of war crimes as it brutally retaliates to Hamas' siege that began Saturday, while seemingly downplaying Hamas' designation as a terrorist group Proud Boys extremists march towards the US Capitol in Washington on January 6. Several leaders including Joseph Biggs (center left) have been jailed over the violence, with Biggs notably qualifying for terrorism sentencing enhancement at his trial Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio (pictured with Joseph Biggs) was also found guilty of seditious conspiracy over the January 6 riots Hostin's remarks came days after Hamas launched a vicious attack on Israel that killed over 1,200 civilians, including at least 27 Americans. The ensuing violence and bloodshed led a number of US celebrities and organizations to issue statements in support of Israel, with Hostin appearing to be the only member of The View to show support for Palestinians. Before Hostin gave her 'legal perspective', her co-hosts Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro supported retaliatory measures against Hamas. The group has faced widespread condemnation for its role in the outbreak of the conflict this week, including a gruesome massacre at an Israeli music festival that killed 260 partygoers. With the group's aim 'to destroy Israel and to murder Jews', according to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Thursday, Behar stated that 'you cannot negotiate with people who want to kill you.' The stance led Hostin to note that although Hamas is a 'terror organization', the same designation was handed to the Proud Boys - one of the groups behind the violence at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The far-right extremist organization was rocked after the Capitol riots, which has led to the jailing of leader Joe Biggs alongside figureheads Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, and Enrique Tarrio. Notably, Biggs was among those sentenced under terrorism sentencing enhancements because he tore down a fence that stood between police and rioters. 'But I do think that what we need to remember is that there is an international human rights body of law, and when you look at that law, part of it is retaliation against innocent civilians collectively is also terror and is also a war crime,' Hostin continued. 'Those are not my words, those are the words of the law,' she added. Demonstrators shout slogans during anti-Israel protest in Dhaka on October 13 Israeli soldiers are seen at the site of the devastated music festival on Thursday 260 festivalgoers were massacred at the site, leading to widespread outrage at Hamas' brutal attack At least 260 were killed in the massacre while many are still missing either dead or taken hostage by the bloodthirsty militants The View chimed in on the war-torn region after Israel declared war on Hamas and readied to begin ground attacks into the Gaza strip, after previously shutting off all electricity and water to the region. Hostin also drew comparisons with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which followed similar measures to cut off resources to Ukranian communities. 'And the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said just last year, when we were all talking about Ukraine, she said Russias attacks against civilian infrastructure, especially electricity, are war crimes,' she said. 'Cutting off men, women, children of water, electricity and heating with winter coming, these are acts of pure terror and we have to call it as such.' As Israel readies to decimate the Gaza Strip, officials warned over one million residents to flee 'immediately'. But Hostin alleged that Israeli's are blocking the exit from Gaza, saying: 'Israel actually bombed the only exit out of Palestine to Egypt. What theyre trying and Egypt cut off the second one.' 'Egypt is afraid in many respects and doesnt want to get involved in this conflict. I think many people dont want to get involved in this conflict. But we cant lose our humanity. We must get involved in this conflict.' Troops remove the bodies of victims, killed during an attack by Hamas terrorists in Kfar Aza, on Tuesday Footage released by Hamas today allegedly shows the terrorists holding Israeli toddlers and children during the Saturday's shocking massacre A Hamas member is seen carrying a distressed infant and rocking them. The footage was recorded during as Hamas gunmen carried out their mass infiltration of Israel last Saturday, according to Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post It comes as sickening footage was released by Hamas on Friday alleging to show the terrorists holding Israeli toddlers and children during Saturday's gruesome massacre. As children cry, some Hamas members appeared to rock one in a pram, while others are carrying distressed infants and patting them on their backs. According to Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, the footage was recorded as the Hamas gunmen laid waste to areas of Israel on Saturday. The attack saw Hamas, proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the US, burst through the heavily militarised border around the Gaza Strip and kill more than 1,300 people - most of them civilians - in an attack compared to 9/11 in the United States The group took an estimated 150 Israeli, foreign and dual national hostages back to Gaza during its initial attack. Hamas said on Friday that 13 of them had been killed in Israeli air strikes. It has previously said four hostages died in bombardments. A group of masked men and woman throwing banned Nazi salutes and carrying a banner reading 'Expose Jewish Power' have been captured on video terrifying other passengers on a Melbourne train. Daily Mail Australia spotted the group staging a protest on the steps of the city's iconic Flinders Street Station early on Saturday morning behind a banner which read 'Expose Jewish Power'. The shocking display of racism came just hours before Australians went to the polls to vote on a Voice to Parliament after a divisive six-week campaign, ahead of planned pro-Palestinian rallies across Australia, and after terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas in which at least 1,200 died and hundreds where taken as hostages. An unidentified leader encouraged the group - dressed entirely in black - to make Hitler salutes in full view of passers-by. At the station, the group of protestors clad in all black clothing performed the Nazi salute On the train the group handed out racist fliers sang the Advance Australia Fair and another racist pro-white power anthem The group of about 30 people were singing songs about white supremacy and posing for photographs before they were approached by a small group of police officers. While two police watched on, a teenager of Middle Eastern appearance shouted 'f*** the Jews'. As a result of the police attention, the far-right group furled their banner, entered the station and boarded a 1.50am train on the Werribee line. READ MORE: Tradies accused of Nazi salutes outside Sydney Jewish Museum in the wake of Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel cover their faces after being charged Advertisement A number of passengers were seen to abandon the train, or change their mind about getting on, once they spotted the group of protestors. Once on the train they attempted to hand out 'business cards' for the National Socialist Network to the small group of other passengers headed home. The most chilling moment on the train came when the group confronted a passenger holding a handkerchief in the blue and white colours of the Israeli flag. The group demanded to know 'whats with the handkerchief. The terrified male passenger responded that someone gave it to me on my way to the train. Then they asked, menacingly, does it mean anything - its not Israeli, youre not a Jew? He said not to me and they moved on. On the train, they handed out racist fliers and sang Advance Australia Fair. They also sang a racist pro-white power anthem. At one point, a man of Middle Eastern appearance boarded the train and police asked him to sit behind them for safety. Police followed the group inside Flinders Street station where they boarded an early morning train to Werribee Daily Mail Australia spotted the group staging a protest on the steps of the city's iconic Flinders Street Station early on Saturday morning behind a banner which read 'Expose Jewish Power' On the train, the group attempted to hand out 'business cards' for the National Socialist Network to the small group of other passengers headed home At Footscray Station, a group of eight police officers boarded and prevented any more passengers from entering the train. The group of far-right protestors were seen posing for photographs with the police officers in the background. The leader of the group then encouraged them to sing more songs and throw more Hitler salutes. Daily Mail Australia witnessed the group leave the train at Altona. Victoria Police on Saturday confirmed that they attended Parliament House and Flinders Street station in the early hours of Saturday 14 October when they became aware of an 'unplanned demonstration'. 'There were no reported incidents during the demonstration and at this stage, unless further information is received, no offences were detected,' police said in a statement. Police said they would 'assess the circumstances surrounding the demonstration and review vision of the incident and people involved'. Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, who has led a national campaign to ban the Nazi swastika and criminalise the Nazi salute, told Daily Mail Australia: 'Victoria is now officially the neo-Nazi capital of our nation and today was a sad and dark day for our democracy. 'This beyond despicable display of Hitler worshipping and depravity belongs in Nazi Germany of the 1930s and Victoria Police and Premier Allan have to explain how this terrifying intimidation was allowed. 'I urge the Allan government to quickly implement the ban on the Nazi salute that they develop a plan of action to combat this violent extremist ideology and ask the Federal government to designate all such groups as terrorist organisations.' The disturbing incident comes just hours after three men were arrested for making Hitler salutes outside the Sydney Jewish Museum. It's understood the trio - aged 30, 31, and 40 - allegedly intoxicated, were doing Nazi salutes outside the museum in Darlinghurst shortly after midday on Friday. The three have each been charged with behave in offensive manner in/near public place/school, and knowingly display by public act Nazi symbol without excuse. All three have been granted bail and Daily Mail Australia was on the scene as two of the men walked free from Kings Cross police station about 6.30pm Friday. One of the men covered his face with his t-shirt while the other, wearing hi-vis, used a cap to shield his face from cameras. One man covered his face with a T shirt while another, wearing a hi-vis shirt shielded his face with a cap Three men have each been charged with behave in offensive manner in/near public place/school, and knowingly display by public act Nazi symbol without excuse The trio's alleged act follows 'appalling' protests held on the steps of Sydney Opera House on Monday evening in which a section of the crowd was filmed chanting anti-Jewish slogans and attempting to burn a Star of David flag. Both incidents come amid rising tensions over the Israel-Palestine conflict which has this week erupted after terrorist group Hamas sent hundreds of its members across the border from Gaza to commit a surprise attack against Israelis. The attack saw Hamas, proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the US, burst through the heavily militarised border around the Gaza Strip and kill more than 1,300 people - most of them civilians - in an attack compared to 9/11 in the United States. The group took an estimated 150 Israeli, foreign and dual national hostages back to Gaza during its initial attack. Hamas said on Friday that 13 of them had been killed in Israeli air strikes. It has previously said four hostages died in bombardments. Israeli soldiers have swept the southern towns and kibbutz farming communities since Saturday. They said they found the bodies of 1,500 terrorists, as well as large numbers of civilians killed by Hamas fighters. Megyn Kelly has slammed progressive members of Congress who blamed Israel for last weekend's terror attacks by Hamas that has led to the death of at least 1,300 Israelis. Kelly specifically called out Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush, describing their response as 'inhumane' after both released statements referring to Israel as an 'apartheid' state and calling for an end to the 'military occupation' of Gaza. 'I want you to think about the 12-year-old who said, 'I'm too young to go,' and hasn't been heard from since, okay? Because their response has been utterly inhumane, as inhumane you could argue, as the terrorists who grabbed those children to begin with,' Kelly suggested. There are 'raging anti-Semites in the halls of Congress' Kelly went on. 'Rashida Tlaib of course, predictably, she's the only Palestinian American a member of Congress, tweeting out finally - she went silent and then finally tweeted 100% she blames Israel,' said Kelly. Rep. Cori Bush, said Kelly, is directing her 'never ending life of grievance' at Israel. Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an unprecedented evacuation warning to a population of over one million people in northern Gaza and Gaza City to seek refuge in the south ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion Smoke rises from Gaza following a retaliatory Israeli airstrike earlier this week 'You've got Cori Bush, who, as far as I can tell, has done absolutely nothing in her life other than protest ... she became a star and has been pushing to defund the police all along and now she wants to take it out on the innocent Israelis too. 'The reaction from the established left has been absolutely disgusting,' Kelly said. Kelly said that even in the wake of the horrors experienced by the victims and their families, Congressional leftists who hate Israel should have had better sense than to point blame at Israelis while the ashes are still cooling. 'There are literally parents desperately searching for their babies right now. We saw the murders in the streets with our own eyes A bus stop full of elderly women, dead, murdered, toppledWho would murder a baby? An elderly person? ' 'Evil. Just absolute evil. And all they want to do is say 'Well, they're [Israel] evil too,'' Kelly said. 'You got some raging anti-Semites in the halls of Congress. Thanks a lot, Minnesota. Thanks a lot, Missouri. Thanks a lot, The Bronx, where AOC reportedly came from,' she added. 'They're open about it, they're not even trying to hide it, and they're the reason why a lot of this money does get funneled over there. They really see Israel as the aggressor.' On Friday sickening footage released by Hamas today allegedly shows the terrorists holding Israeli toddlers and children during the Saturday's shocking massacre. The video shows Hamas members holding the youngsters as they sit around a table. One is seen rocking a pram as an infant cries. Others are carrying the distressed children, rocking them and patting their backs. The footage was recorded during as Hamas gunmen carried out their mass infiltration of Israel last Saturday, according to Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post. The group took an estimated 150 Israeli, foreign and dual national hostages back to Gaza during its initial attack. Hamas said on Friday that 13 of them had been killed in Israeli air strikes. Some of the innocent children believed to be in the hands of attackers hands are as young as 9 months old. Little Ariel, three, and Kfir who is just nine months old were abducted by Hamas from their kibbutz in southern Israel on Saturday. Sisters five-year-old Raz and three-year-old Aviv Asher were kidnapped together with their mother Doron Asher Katz, and grandmother. The girls had been visiting their grandmother's village in southern Israel when Hamas pounced. 'I can't sleep I'm living outside my own body,' Yoni Asher told the New York Times. 'I have two little babies, two little girls. These little babies should not be held or kept by terrorists.' Mother of two boys aged 12 and 16, Renana Gomeh, explained how her children were in a safe room when Hamas took hostages. 'I was on the phone with my youngest, I wasn't at home at the time and all I could hear was him begging for them not to take him because he is too young,' she told MSNBC. 'They were taken out of their beds by terrorists who broke into my house. They broke the door and took them.' Ariel, 3, and 9-month-old Kfir were abducted alongside their parents, the family said Raz, age 5, and Aviv, age 3, were kidnapped by Hamas with their mother and grandmother, their heartbroken father said Photographs of some of the British Israelis who have been captured by Hamas on display Israeli mother Renana Gomeh's two sons aged 12 and 16 were kidnapped from their beds by Hamas terrorists A baby's seat and child's dress is seen covered in blood in the aftermath of a Hamas attack Speaking with staunchly conservative Texas Senator Ted Cruz who appeared as a guest on her show, agreed, saying that 'in today's Democrat party, anti-semitism has been normalized.' 'These radical leftists, they loathe the State of Israel You'll remember a few years ago when the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi tried to pass a resolution condemning anti-semitism. And it turned out she couldn't get her conference to agree. The Democrats could not come together and clearly condemn anti-semitism,' he said. Following the attacks that saw 2,000 rockets fired into Israeli cities on Saturday, Hamas terrorists carried out a ground attack that involved the kidnapping, torture and murder of hundreds of women, children and the elderly by militant Palestinian terrorists. The surprise attack came just one day after the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Yom Kippur War, which saw Israel battle existential threats from hostile neighbors led by Egypt and Syria. Bush and Tlaib, two hyper-progressive members of the Democratic Congressional Caucus, released statements over the weekend condemning Israel as an 'apartheid' state, and pointing blame for the Hamas terror attacks away from Palestinians Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri said the 'leveling' of Gaza would be a 'crime against humanity' In a series of posts on X, Omar called out the Israeli response to the attack Omar called for 'international' protections in Gaza after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched surprise multi-front attacks in Israel on Saturday The aftermath of a large explosion in Gaza, as Israel ramps up its war effort following attacks that have left more than 1,300 Israelis dead 'I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity,' Tlaib wrote in her statement. 'The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.' Tlaib called Israel an 'apartheid' state and criticized the United States for providing 'billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government.' While that support continues, she wrote, 'this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue,' blaming both the United States and Israel for the actions of Hamas that have left 900 Israelis and counting dead and thousands more injured and missing. 'The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence. We cannot ignore the humanity in each other,' she added. Tlaib has, throughout her time in public office, made controversial remarks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She has previously condemned Israel's policies about settlements in the West Bank and around the Gaza Strip. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for an 'immediate ceasefire and de-escalation' after Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday Rep. Ilhan Omar said 'violence will only repeat the back and forth' and has called for Israel to stand down Fellow member Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri boycotted Israeli President Isaac Herzog's joint address to Congress over the summer, and issued a statement on Saturday prompting the US to end its support for 'Israeli military occupation and apartheid.' Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, another Squad member and along with Tlaib one of the first Muslim women to be elected to Congress, also identified Hamas in her condemnation of the violence in Israel. 'I condemn the horrific acts we are seeing unfold today in Israel against children, women, the elderly, and the unarmed people who are being slaughtered and taken hostage by Hamas.' 'Such senseless violence will only repeat the back and forth cycle we've seen,' she wrote. She expressed compassion for the people in the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip. 'Reminder, Gaza doesn't have shelters or an iron dome and to please pray for them,' the progressive lawmaker wrote on X. 'May peace prevail in the region and move us towards a moral awakening to care about the human suffering we are seeing. Palestinians are human beings who have been in besieged and are deserving of protection from the international community,' Omar wrote. Some were moved to remind Omar that Hamas, the democratically elected leaders of Gaza, should have considered spending government funding on shelters instead of rockets used to attack Israel. Other Squad members, including Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, also called for an 'immediate ceasefire and de-escalation' in the region. 'I condemn Hamas' attack in the strongest possible terms. No child and family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region,' wrote AOC. Other Squad members, including Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, have called for an 'immediate ceasefire and de-escalation' in the region Israeli forces extracting dead bodies of Israeli residents from a destroyed house as fighting between Israeli troops and Islamist Hamas militants continues Cars and a stroller left behind at the scene of a rocket attack from Gaza on the weekend are pictured on a main road near the entrance of the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza On Friday, Ocasio-Cortez assailed Israel over its Gaza evacuation order as 'unacceptable,' saying on X: 'We must halt this.' Democrats have for years grappled with tensions between pro-Israel moderates and a faction of progressives critical of Israel, especially for its treatment of the Palestinians and expansion of Jewish settlements. This year's push by Netanyahu's far-right government for a judicial overhaul opened Israel up to fresh criticism, with the White House and many lawmakers echoing Israeli protesters who called the proposed moves undemocratic. Though polls continue to show overwhelming sympathy for Israel among the overall U.S. public, a Gallup survey in March found that Democrats were slightly more favorable toward the Palestinians than Israel. Biden, an avowed lifelong friend of Israel, has pledged to provide Israel with all the assistance it needs. He has so far refrained from any explicit call for Israel to curb its response, the kind of statements that White Houses have typically made during previous crises. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken edged the closest to such an appeal during a visit to Israel on Thursday when he said he hoped Israel, as a democracy, would 'take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.' Israeli officials insist their forces try to minimize civilian casualties. A White House official said Biden's aides have privately discussed their concerns with Israeli counterparts. 'We also recognize that they are being aggressive and in these early hours they need to be aggressive,' the official said. Since Saturday's attack, Israel has put Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, under total siege and launched a powerful bombing campaign that has destroyed entire neighborhoods. Biden, after keeping the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict at arm's length, now finds himself thrust into the middle of a major Middle East conflagration. Leading No campaigner and Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has said she 'doesn't know how The Voice is supposed to change anybody's life' as she urges Aussies to vote no as polls open. More than 7000 booths opened across multiple states at 8am on Saturday and will remain available for Australians to cast their vote right until 6pm. Speaking on Sunrise just after 8am, Ms Price said she is 'quietly confident' the referendum will go in her favour but said she did not want to 'take anything for granted'. Campaigners have issued their final pitches ahead of the historic Voice to Parliament referendum on Saturday with leading No campaigner Jacinta Nampajinpa Price (pictured) saying she is quietly confident of the No vote winning 'There is still a push to make sure that Australians are voting toward the 'No' vote as opposed to supporting this empty voice proposal change in our Constitution,' she said. Senator Price said there were 'a lot of red flags' with the fact Prime Minister Anthony Albanese failed to 'show any detail whatsoever as to how voting yes is supposed to change anybody's life'. She said Aussies need to understand the vote 'is not the only way forward'. 'I don't think we should be dividing ourselves along the lines of race,' Senator Price said. 'The Constitution belongs to every single Australian and we need to come together as Australians and I'm there with others to ensure that we will put hard work to bring about outcomes that this government is failing to do.' NSW Premier Chris Minns and Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney cast their vote at the polling booth in Carlton South Public School, Sydney 'CHANCE TO CHANGE HISTORY' Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney has made a major call on The Voice just minutes before polls were set to open for the landmark referendum. Ms Burney appeared on ABC News 24 just minutes before the booths opened, as she stood outside a polling booth in Brighton-Le-Sands, in Sydney's south. She said she was committed to working until 6pm Saturday to convince as many people to vote Yes. 'You have a chance to change history in this country,' she told the ABC. 'You have a chance to make Australia a better nation and get better outcomes for Aboriginal people.' Ms Burney said it was 'unacceptable' that the life expectancy of Aboriginal people is as low as 42 in some areas, while suicide rates are twice as high. Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney (pictured) said Australians have a chance to rewrite history and deliver better outcomes for Indigenous Australians by voting Yes After months of campaigning Australians will have their say as voters (pictured) head to the polls to cast their vote 'Every Australian today has a chance to change that. That's by voting Yes in this referendum,' she said. The Indigenous Australians Minister said she was determined on the referendum succeeding, saying the issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were a 'national shame'. 'The good thing is that everyone agrees on that,' she said. 'This is people's opportunity, we know one in five voters are still to make up their mind. This is everyone's opportunity to actually change those outcomes.' RECORD NUMBER OF VOTES A record number of Australians have already voted in the Voice referendum as the campaign enters its final hours. More than 5.4 million votes had been cast as of midday Friday at early voting centres around the country. The AEC has warned anyone who does not cast a vote will not only miss out on their opportunity but also risk being fined. Independent senator Lidia Thorpe casts her ballot in the Voice referendum at Reservoir in Melbourne Polls have opened up across the country (pictured) as Australians cast their vote for the historic referendum which is the first in more than 20 years. Pictured, voters collect their ballot papers at a St. Kilda polling station in Melbourne To sweeten the deal, the AEC says many booths will have a BBQ or cake stall running. It's also called on the some 2 million Australians who applied for a postal vote and have not yet returned it to do so as soon as possible. Australians are heading to the polls to vote on whether to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body, the Voice, in the Constitution. It is the first referendum to be held since 1999. While the polls initially favoured the Yes campaign, polls published in the lead up to referendum date have indicated Australians are likely to vote No. A surfer walks in front of a polling station on Bondi Beach as polls open in Australia's historic referendum to recognise First Nations people in the constitution and establish a Voice advisory body Voters are seen lining up on Sydney's Bondi Beach (pictured) on Saturday morning to cast their votes as the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) warns those who are eligible to vote and have not done so risk being fined Thousands of voting booths like this one in Bondi Beach (pictured) have been set up across the country with many Australians yet to cast their vote For the referendum to be successful, a majority of voters in a majority of states must vote Yes. In his final appeal to voters, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said if Australia would 'feel better' about itself if it voted Yes. 'We have an opportunity for Australians to do better. To do better to show respect for the First Australians, but to do something for ourselves as well,' he told reporters on the hustings in Adelaide. More than five million voters (pictured) have already cast their vote after early voting opened up last week But opposition leader Peter Dutton said he anticipated the vote would fail. 'The PM made a catastrophic mistake not providing the detail to Australians - he's instinctively won their hearts because Australians do want better outcomes for Indigenous Australia, but he hasn't won their minds,' Mr Dutton told ABC Radio. The vote count will start as soon as polls close at 6pm on Saturday. Sandlot star Marty York has confirmed that his mother was murdered in her California home. Deanna Esmaeel, a sheriff's deputy, was found dead inside her home in Crescent City, California on Thursday. 'This is the hardest post I'm ever going to have to write' York said in a statement. 'Last night my mother was murdered by a man she was seeing. Right now there is a nationwide manhunt.' Adding: If you've seen this man please call the police immediately. I can't even comprehend what is happening right now, but I feel if I find this person I'm going to physically maul him. I pray to God I don't find him because it will be a fate worse then hell.' Sandlot star Marty York has confirmed that his mother Deanna Esmaeel , left, was murdered in her California home Investigators have named Daniel James Walter, who recently changed his name to Edward Patrick Davies, as the suspect in Deanna's murder Pictures, believed to show the suspect Walter, have been released by the police 'Last night my mother was murdered by a man she was seeing. Right now there is a nationwide manhunt' York said in a statement Marty York is best known for his role as 'year-yeah' in the 1993 classic The Sandlot Del Norte County Sheriff's Office on Friday in the hopes of learning the whereabouts of Esmaeel's boyfriend, Daniel James Walter. Investigators have named Walter, who recently changed his name to Edward Patrick Davies, as the suspect in Deanna's murder, TMZ reported. Deputies have located Walter's vehicle but have not yet tracked down the 54-year-old. Sheriff Scott of the DNSO released a statement following Deputy Esmaeel's death, saying, 'We are all deeply heartbroken with the loss of Deputy Esmaeel. Our hearts and prayers go out to her family, friends, and co-workers.' Marty York is best known for his role as 'year-yeah' in the 1993 classic The Sandlot. A chartered flight to evacuate vulnerable Britons from Israel has left the country with more flights expected to depart in the coming days, the Foreign Office has said. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) did not confirm where the flight was due to land, but did say it has 'now left Israel, with further flights expected to leave in the coming days while commercial options are limited'. But according to flight tracker tool FlightRadar24, a Royal Air Force A400M transport plane left Tel Aviv and arrived in Larnaca in Cyprus late on Friday evening. It comes as Britons, including celebrity jewellery designer Olivia Grace, trapped in Israel have told of their anger and fear after an official evacuation flight promised by the government failed to appear. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also said the UK is doing 'everything we can to ensure the security of British citizens' after the Defence Secretary said it seemed 'very likely' that there are British hostages in Gaza. A member of London's Israeli community (left) hugs an Australian citizen evacuated from Israel, at Terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport on Friday A chartered flight to evacuate vulnerable Britons from Israel has left the country with more flights expected to depart in the coming days, the Foreign Office has said. Pictured: Travellers at Tel Aviv airport this afternoon as they wait for evacuation flights to UK According to flight tracker tool FlightRadar24, a Royal Air Force A400M transport plane left Tel Aviv and arrived in Larnaca in Cyprus late on Friday evening. Pictured: An RAF A400M Pictured on Thursday is a provisional office for the evacuation of British citizens at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel The UK Government had struggled to arrange repatriation flights from Israel but a FCDO spokesperson confirmed yesterday evening that a government chartered flight has left Israel. The FCDO has provided few details about the flight, but has said further flights are expected to leave Israel in the coming days. The news comes after around 180 citizens found themselves still stranded in the country on Friday night despite having paid 300 per seat for a mercy flight home to London on Friday night and being summoned to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Families with young children and people in wheelchairs were among those who say they were abandoned by consular officials and offered no food or water. The travellers also claim they were told by the UK crisis team, which had apparently been left in the dark by Whitehall, to leave the airport and find their own accommodation. Jewellery designer Olivia Grace, 50, from London, was among those allegedly booked on the non-existent flight. She says she spent more than 5,000 on commercial airline tickets in her bid to get home and was left feeling 'abandoned by my own country' after the flight failed to take off. Ms Grace, who created Penny Lancaster's engagement ring and made wedding bands for the model and her rock star husband Rod Stewart, was on holiday visiting one of her daughters in Israel when Hamas launched its terror attack last Saturday. Celebrity jewellery designer Olivia Grace, 50, (pictured) from London, was among those booked onto the non-existent flight. Ms Grace, who has spent more than 5,000 on commercial airline tickets in her bid to get home, said she 'felt abandoned by my own country' Despite paying 300 per seat and being summoned to Ben Gurion airport for a mercy flight home to London on Friday night, around 180 citizens found themselves still stranded in a country preparing for war. Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport on Thursday What airlines in the UK have said about flights to and from Israel British Airways: 'Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation we're suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including Wednesday, October 18. If you are due to travel with us we will be in contact with you directly, providing you options including a full refund or rebooking with another airline. Our teams will continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.' Virgin Atlantic: 'Due to the ongoing situation in Israel, some of our flights to and from Tel Aviv may face delays or cancellations. Based on the latest information, we have taken the decision to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours [from October 12]. The safety and security of our customers and our people are our number one priority and our flying programme to Israel remains under constant review. We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport.' easyJet: 'Due to the evolving situation in Israel, we have paused our flight operations to and from Tel Aviv until October 19. We will be contacting customers who are due to travel to and from Tel Aviv on these dates, by email and SMS with the details provided at the time of booking and check in. Any easyJet flight-only customers whose flights have been cancelled, will be able to request a voucher for the full value of their flight, a refund or transfer their flights free of charge for future travel.' Wizz Air: 'Attention all passengers travelling to/from Israel. Due to the escalation of the conflict in Israel, Wizz Air cancels all of its Israel flights for October 8-13. Affected passengers are notified via SMS/email. Further updates regarding flights to/from Israel beyond October 13 will be issued in due course. If you are to travel on Israel flights in the next days please proactively check Flight Info for the latest updates on your departure.' Advertisement Since then she has purchased tickets on British Airways, Whizz Air and Easyjet, only for the commercial airlines to suspend flights for safety reasons. When she received confirmation of her registration for a British government evacuation flight due out of Tel Aviv she wept with relief. The mother of two - who has also designed for TV star Alesha Dixon, Mission Impossible actor Simon Pegg, Hollywood veteran Goldie Hawn and made Tess Daly's jewellery for the Strictly Come Dancing final - got a call from the Foreign Office at 6pm on Friday night telling her to go to the airport as fast as she could. 'There were two British consular crisis people there when I arrived about 7pm. They led us through the initial security, told us to check in at 8.30pm for the flight at 11.45pm,' she told MailOnline yesterday. 'There were people with babies, people with sick children, people in wheelchairs, a lot of embassy staff and their families, everybody waiting gratefully. Then there was this announcement that there was no British rescue mission. 'A plane had been coming in from Latvia to repatriate us but it hadn't even taken off. It was chaos, there were people there with union flags on their jackets and polo shirts but they had any clue what the government was doing. 'All around us people from other countries were being taken out. We were next to a queue of Canadian nationals whose evacuation was orderly and efficient. They had three planes, we had none. I just felt as if there was nobody there for us in our time of need. I was on my own and I felt very vulnerable. 'We were told to go back to wherever we had come from. I was able to get into a hotel in Tel Aviv, the 65 Hotel Rothschild, which was being run by a skeleton staff of volunteers, and is full of people taking refuge from the conflict in the south. The hotel was doing its best to open its arms to everyone - if I hadn't found a place there I'd have been out on the street. 'I couldn't believe this was happening. It was all over the news, on the BBC, that the evacuation was starting. Why take us to the airport and make us pay 300 if there's no flight. There'd been no doubt in my mind that it would go ahead. I felt elation, I was at the airport, for the first time in days I could breathe. It's very very frightening here, when the sirens go off you have a minute to get to a shelter and there is funeral after funeral taking place around us. It feels as though it's escalating at the most enormous speed.' She added: 'I just needed to get home but I felt abandoned by my own country. There was no proper communication, that was the worst part, not knowing what to do or where to go. I was in Israel visiting my daughter who was celebrating her birthday - today I feel like I'm in freefall.' Ms Grace, whose Olivia Grace jewellery is on sale in London's most prestigious stores including Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, is believed to have been on a mercy flight to Gatwick leaving late yesterday. She had not been officially told of its existence but had found out via word of mouth from other British nationals trapped in Israel's unfolding horror. Travellers waiting for evacuation flights from Israel are pictured sitting on the ground at Tel Aviv airport yesterday UK airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have suspended all flights between the UK and Tel Aviv due to safety concerns. However, El Al has continued to operate services. Pictured: Travellers at Tel Aviv airport waiting for evacuation flights yesterday Also at the airport on Friday night were a British couple who prefer to remain anonymous but back up Ms Grace's account of the botched evacuation attempt. The retired grandparents who live in London and have a second home in Israel, were also sent emails confirming their places on the evacuation flight, after commercial carriers suspended operations. The FCDO posted details of the 8.45pm departure online and they made their way to the airport at 4pm. They also got as far as the check in desks before they were told the British rescue mission had been delayed until 11.45pm and then that it had failed altogether. 'Not only was there no flight, there had never been a flight,' they told Mail Online. 'We kept waiting and waiting, thinking we should stay. 'Even if the fight was going out in the early hours, we wanted to be on it, we wanted to get home to our children and grandchildren. We felt angry and anxious, in a big huddle with all the other British nationals just waiting and waiting for news. 'If the government says evacuate and tells the world they are evacuating British citizens - then they should do it. We also now expect to be on the flight to Gatwick, we're finally getting out of the war zone but we are deeply worried about everyone else who is yet to find a safe seat out.' Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport on Thursday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport on Thursday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport on Thursday Passengers arriving at Luton Airport from Israel yesterday have described taking cover in bomb shelters and the difficulty in getting flights out of a country preparing for war. Naftali, a student, 19, said some of his friends had their evacuation flight to the UK from Israel cancelled as their 'plane never made it to the runway'. 'During the day the airport has been mobbed with passengers,' he said. Naftali, who studies in Jerusalem, was among the passengers who arrived on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv at Luton Airport yesterday. He said he had been woken up by air raid sirens and taken cover in bomb shelters since the Hamas attack on Saturday. He said: 'We were woken up for prayers in the morning on the first day by the air raid sirens.' UK airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have suspended all flights between the UK and Tel Aviv due to safety concerns. However, Israel's flag carrier El Al has continued to operate services and its morning flight was the only arrival at Luton from Tel Aviv yesterday. El Al was the first commercial airline to equip its planes with missile defence systems to protect them against surface-to-air missiles. Gitty Stern, another passenger who landed at Luton from Tel Aviv, said more flights should be arranged for those wanting to return from Israel to the UK. 'I have quite a few friends and family that need to come back to the UK, but they're still stuck with no flights back,' she said. Ms Stern added that she had to evacuate to a bomb shelter this week. She said: 'We were worried as we didn't know what the next day would bring.' Drora Lopata, who also landed at Luton yesterday from Israel, said she was concerned for family members and had changed her flight so that she could come to the UK sooner than originally planned. Pictured: Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon, southern Israel, yesterday Pictured: Israeli emergency team look on damage following a rocket attack on the central city of Rehovot, Israel yesterday Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City yesterday (pictured). Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes Pictured: Missiles launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel are intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome defense missile system Israeli forces in the Northern Command sector, reserve forces, are pictured as they deploy in in the settlements near the border with Lebanon in the north of Israel on Thursday Two attempts by the Government to organise flights to repatriate British nationals from Israel have failed, aviation sources revealed yesterday. A flight organised by Britain was initially planned to arrive at London Gatwick Airport this morning but that was cancelled amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Another attempt by the UK to arrange a flight landing at the West Sussex airport at 5.40pm this afternoon also failed. This is despite several other flights from Israel due to land in Britain going ahead yesterday. These include scheduled services to Heathrow and Luton airports by Israeli airline El Al, and a repatriation flight to Heathrow for Australian nationals organised by the country's government and operated by Qantas. It is understood that one of the reasons for the lack of flights is Titan Airways, the contracted airline, having difficulties arranging insurance. The airline was approached for comment. A FCDO spokeswoman said: 'This is a fluid situation, and we are currently working to ensure the flight can proceed as soon as possible.' Three flights from the southern Israeli city of Eilat operated by Czech airline Smartwings landed at Stansted Airport on Friday night chartered by advocacy organisation Tzedek Association on behalf of the US government carrying mainly US citizens. Several airlines have suspended their flights between Israel and the UK, such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and Wizz Air. People walk next to a sign directing for Shelter after landing in Israel at the arrivals section of Ben Gurion International airport on Wednesday A woman is pictured embracing a fellow traveller as they wait for evacuation flights from Tel Aviv airport yesterday Several airlines have suspended their flights between Israel and the UK, such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and Wizz Air. Pictured: Travellers waiting for evacuation flights from Tel Aviv airport yesterday When the Foreign Office announced on Thursday that it would organise flights, it said the first one would operate that day and they will be available to 'British nationals, including dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK'. Each ticket will cost 300, which 'reflects the costs of operating the flight', according to the FCDO. The children and other dependants of British diplomats will also be given seats as 'we have a duty of care to our staff', it added. It comes after easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said on Thursday that the airline hopes to resume flights to and from Israel 'as soon as possible' but 'cannot say' when it will happen. The airline suspended its Tel Aviv operations after Hamas's attack on Saturday. Flights have been suspended until at least October 17. In the UK, easyJet usually serves Gatwick, Luton and Manchester airports from Israel. Mr Lundgren said the carrier will 'continue to evaluate this on a daily basis'. He added: 'We are making our decisions (based) on a multiple number of sources. We are engaging with probably 10 or 12 different authorities, government authorities, security experts, alongside the expertise that we have within ourselves. 'We are making then a weighted decision on what it would take for us to start up again. 'We want to start up again. We believe it's an important route to have in place. But for now, when we have weighed up all the information that we have, we have decided to continue to suspend the operation.' Mr Lundgren said 'a number of things' must happen for the airline to feel 'comfortable' about resuming operations to and from Israel. He added: 'That is obviously something that we want to do as soon as possible but we cannot say now when that is.' Mr Lundgren said the airline has not seen a reduction in demand for flights to other countries in the region, such as Egypt and Turkey. Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport on Thursday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport on Thursday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport on Thursday Members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community arrive at London Luton Airport on Thursday He said: 'I think that this is very much a specific issue locally from the demand point of view.' On Wednesday, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic suspended flights between the UK and Israel. British Airways flight BA165 returned to Heathrow after nearly reaching Tel Aviv before the decision was made. There were reports that Hamas had fired multiple rockets towards Ben Gurion Airport. A British Airways spokesman said: 'Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation, we're suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv. 'We're contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date. 'We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.' Wizz Air, which normally connects Israel with Gatwick and Luton, also suspended those flights. Virgin Atlantic decided to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for at least 72 hours. Israeli tanks move near the Gaza border as the army deploys military vehicles on Thursday Israeli occupation aircraft launch white phosphorus bombs west of Gaza City on Wednesday Israeli artillery fire rounds into the Gaza Strip from the border near Sderot on Thursday A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: 'As the dynamic situation evolves, we'll keep our flying programme under constant review. Our teams will be in contact with any affected customers to discuss their options, which include rebooking to a later date or a full refund. 'We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport.' A travel industry source said the number of UK tourists in Israel is low. Israel's ministry of tourism said it is 'committed to ensuring that all tourists visiting Israel are safe and informed'. It added it is operating a 'hotline via WhatsApp for tourists' on +972 55 972 6931. British people living on the border with Gaza have described the constant threat of rocket attacks and fears of terrorist Hamas gunmen bursting into their homes, but they have explained why they are refusing to move to safer parts of Israel. Beverley Jamil and Steve Malnick are part of a close-knit expat community that has set up home in Ashkelon, ten miles north of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave, which is so often target of militant attacks - where they are given just 15 seconds to take shelter after air raid sirens warn of incoming missiles. Beverley says her and Steve walk around with automatic pistols strapped to their belts and barricade their homes at night. But despite the horrific atrocities suffered close by and the clear danger they face, they are refusing to be moved to safer parts of Israel. She told MailOnline: 'This war has affected everyone in Israel. We all know someone who has been killed, captured or is missing. Beverley Jamil and husband Rueven with their dogs Israeli firefighters extinguish fire at a site struck by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 8, 2023. Israelis evacuate a site struck by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 8, 2023 'The first person I know that was killed was my best friend's brother-in-law. He was shot dead while riding his motorbike in Sderot on Saturday morning. 'Since then the number of people I know who have been killed or captured has been rising. But I won't leave Ashkelon. 'This is my home. This is where I met my husband, where I got married, where I brought up my daughters.' Beverley, who is originally from Whitefield, Manchester, moved to Israel 41 years ago, after she fell in love with Rueven, the man who would become her husband during a visit to Israel with her Jewish youth group as a teenager. The couple raised twin daughters, Noa and Efrat, who are now 26 and live in a comfortable bungalow with their three Shih Tzu dogs. However, the shocking events of Saturday when Hamas terrorists attacked innocent people at a music festival, beheaded babies, killing at least 1,3000 people and took hostages have left the family reeling. Beverley Jamil and Rueven at home with their dogs. Despite the horrific atrocities suffered close by and the clear danger they face, they are refusing to be moved to safer parts of Israel Beverley Jamil and Rueven. Beverley says her and Steve Malnick walk around with automatic pistols strapped to their belts and barricade their homes at night Beverley at home with her pets. She told MailOnline: 'This war has affected everyone in Israel. We all know someone who has been killed, captured or is missing' Steve Malnick, a gastric surgeon, said: 'My rental apartment was hit the other day. The windows were smashed and cars parked outside were burnt to a cinder' Destruction to Steve's apartment in Ashkelon Debris on a car parked outside Steve's apartment in Ashkelon. Ashkelon residents are given just 15 seconds to take shelter after air raid sirens warn of incoming missiles Beverley has barely left her home since. A volunteer ambulance driver, she monitors the security situation from a walkie talkie. Rueven wears an automatic pistol on his belt at all times. She explained: 'My brother still lives in Manchester. He's worried about me. 'We don't know how many terrorists got into Israel and how many are still at large. 'Every night we lock down the house and put a mattress in front of the door. 'My husband carries a pistol. He doesn't want to use it, but he will if he has to. 'Anyone could knock on the door and it could be a terrorist. We are scared. 'What happened on Saturday was barbaric. 'It was a massacre. 'On Saturday morning at about 6.30am we heard the siren and we did what we always do. We went into the shelter and waited for the all-clear. 'After a few more rocket attacks I got dressed and prepared to go to work as a volunteer driver for Magen David Adom, Israel's ambulance service. 'But my twin daughters both called me; 'You're not going out today,' they said. It's not just rockets, there are terrorists that have infiltrated Israel from Gaza,' they told me. 'Then we put the TV on and we learned there had been massacres. 'I know of ambulance workers who have been shot and injured. One was hit by gun-fire another was hit by shrapnel. Fortunately they both survived.' She continued: 'We haven't been able to take the dogs out for a walk. They get frightened too. They tremble with fear. 'When the sirens go off we have 15 to 30 seconds to get to the shelter before the missiles get to Ashkelon. 'But this time there are terrorists inside Israel and you don't get 30 seconds to shelter from gunfire. 'It's too scary for words. Now we sleep in the safe room with the dogs. Beverley Jamil and Rueven Beverley Jamil and Rueven with their pets Beverley Jamil and Rueven at home watching the news 'My nephew has cancelled his wedding that was supposed to take place next week. No one wants to sing and dance when we are at war. 'But I won't leave Ashkelon. This is my home. 'We need to destroy Hamas, not normal Palestinian families.' Steve Malnick, a gastric surgeon, also moved to Israel for love. He left Kenton, north London, 37 years ago to marry Israeli Aliza who he had met while travelling. The couple have raised three children, Ella, 36, Shelley, 32, and Shimon, 30 and set up home in Ashkelon. Steve, 65, takes shelter in ditches by the side of the road as he commutes to the hospital in the town of Rehovof where he works. He told MailOnline: 'Every day when I am driving to and from my hospital I have to stop the car and dive in a ditch to take cover from the missile attacks. 'My rental apartment was hit the other day. The windows were smashed and cars parked outside were burnt to a cinder. 'My tenants a man, his wife and their two children - have been staying at my home. 'But no terrorist is going to tell me where I can live. 'Ashkelon is my home. I have family and friends there. I'm not going to move. 'I am not ready to die. I want to live to see Tottenham Hotspur win the league!' Steve recalled how Hamas almost thwarted his daughter Ella's wedding ten years ago, but it still went ahead. He explained: 'Ten years ago there was another war with Hamas. 'The authorities banned all gatherings of more than 100 people because they would become targets for the terrorists. 'So the wedding venue that we had booked in Ashkelon had to cancel. Briton Stephen Malnick and his wife and their grown-up children. Left to right: Shimon, Ella, Aliza, Shelley and Stephen Gastric surgeon expat Briton Stephen Malnick with his medical team. Malnick is standing in the middle with a yellow lanyard Beverley Jamil and Rueven with one of their dogs at home Beverley Jamil and Rueven with their dogs sat against a propped up mattress 'But I found a hotel in Tel Aviv that would take us. The manager told us he would not take a penny more than the price we had agreed on in Ashkelon. 'There was a suicide bomber outside the wedding hall. 'My son Shimon was serving in the paratroop regiment and was in Gaza. 'We thought he would not be able to make it. His regiment was about to attack. 'But his commanding officer gave him leave and I drove down to Gaza to pick him up. 'When I got to the army base the soldiers told me I had a puncture. I got out of the car to fix it but the soldiers would not let me get dirty so they changed the wheel for me. 'Shimon had not washed or changed his clothes for a week. 'But I got him home put him in the shower and took him to the wedding. He made it! 'This is our lives. We live with this terrorist threat every day but we will not give in. We will not surrender.' Facing life in prison for murder, accused killer Kaitlin Armstrong was offered a plea deal that could have potentially saved her decades in prison, legal sources have told DailyMail.com. The former yoga teacher, 35, who is accused of gunning down her love rival in May 2022 rejected the deal by Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza. The leniency offered by Garaza was extended to Armstrong well before her attempt to escape from correctional officers Wednesday. Armstrong is due to go on trial on October 30 for the death of pro-cyclist Moriah 'Mo' Wilson, who police say was having an affair with Armstrong's boyfriend Colin Strickland. Wilson was found dead in an apartment in Austin, Texas, on May 11, 2022 on the same night she went for dinner and a swim with Strickland. Garza, a George Soros-backed DA, has faced scrutiny over his handling of other cases. In April, he allowed a serial sex offender to walk free with no prison time despite the fact that he broke a woman's leg while chasing her down, and then masturbated over her, court records show. The plea deal the Austin-based Garza offered Armstrong could have shaved years off a potential life sentence if she is convicted at trial, a legal source told DailyMail.com. 'She could have been released from prison in her 50s or 60s ... a heck of a lot sooner than if she's convicted by a jury and gets life in prison. 'Against the advice of her attorney, she rejected the plea deal. She is insisting on trying that case, but for her to again flee ... it's just insane,' said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to a gag order in the case. Kaitlin Armstrong, pictured after her arrest in July 2022, is charged with the murder of Moriah 'Mo' Wilson, who was romantically involved with her boyfriend Cyclist Moriah 'Mo' Wilson, had dinner with Armstrong's boyfriend the night she was shot and killed, prosecutors said. Authorities say Armstrong fell into a jealous rage and shot Wilson, 25, left, dead after she went for a swim and dinner with Armstrong's boyfriend, professional cycler Colin Strickland, right This week, while at a doctor's appointment to see an orthopedic surgeon, Armstrong ran from the guards who were escorting her back to jail. Footage of the incident shows Armstrong sprinting out of the doctor's parking lot and jumping over a fence as the guard tries to catch her and falls. The inmate jumped over a fence and made it about a block and a half into a neighborhood before the cops caught up with her and took her back into custody. She was able to get away because she was not properly restrained, explained Attorney Adam Loewy, who is not directly involved with Armstrong's case. Jose Garza serves as the district attorney in Travis County (Austin), Texas. He was elected in 2021 after running on criminal justice reform. 'It was a total break down in law enforcement; she didn't have her legs secured,' Lowey said. 'The officers involved will be facing some discipline. It was a mistake that was made.' Armstrong has also been slapped with an additional felony for the failed escape - and it could be used against her at her upcoming trial. 'She just made it a lot worse by trying to escape. That is admissible because it shows what is called "consciousness of guilt". The state can show evidence that someone did a crime and knows they are guilty,' Loewy explained. After Wilson was gunned down in 2022, Armstrong fled to New York and then Costa Rica using her sister's passport. She remained on the run for 43 days until US Marshall's arrested her. She also changed her appearance, and receipts for a plastic surgeon's office were found in the hostel where she was arrested. Police also said she underwent plastic surgery, said to be a nose job, and dyed her hair brown. 'Why did you get an ID that wasn't yours and flee the country. This is just another story they can tell the jury. She knows this trial is coming in literally weeks, and what does she do...she tried to escape,' the attorney stated. News of the peal deal rejected by Armstrong may not sit will with voters who elected the Austin district attorney. 'He's showing that he's less concerned with victims of crime, and more concerned with getting money for his re-election which will be back by (George) Soros,' said local attorney Bill Aleshire. The yoga teacher is pictured before the attack (left) and after fleeing the country (right). Police said she underwent plastic surgery, said to be a nose job, and dyed her hair brown while on the run While a fugitive, authorities say Armstrong got a nose job and changed her hair color to avoid being recognized. This photo above reflects how the yoga teacher looked before becoming a murder supect. The liberal DA ran on a platform of criminal justice reform in 2021 and was funded by the Democratic mega-donor and billionaire George Soros. Austin attorney Adam Loewy explained that Armstrong was not properly restrained Wednesday when she attempted to escape from authorities for a second time. In recent months, Garza has let off other criminals to the community's shock. In April, Garza released an admitted predator into the community with no prison time despite the fact he broke a woman's leg while chasing her down to masturbate while standing over her, court records show. Antonio Rios who also charged with indecent exposure for pleasuring himself in front of a child and additional women was released with no prison time after he accepted a plea deal from Garza. Rios pleaded guilty to aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and was released without even a GPS monitor. Garza's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the DailyMail.com As the Israeli army masses forces in preparation for a full-scale invasion of Gaza, its troops prepare to face a maze of narrow streets, vast tunnel networks, booby traps, and sniper positions. In this urban environment, the D9R armoured bulldozer, affectionately nicknamed Doobi or 'Teddy Bear', will be essential for a successful assault. A ground operation in the dense residential districts of the Palestinian enclave will require specialized equipment to clear the way for the 300 tanks and 173,000 soldiers massing on the border. Should fighting break out, the Israeli-modified Caterpillar bulldozer will be used to detonate mines and improvised explosive devices and to demolish obstacles in the path. With 15 tonnes of added armour and a reinforced blade, the D9R is almost impervious to guns or explosives and will play a key role in allowing infantry to advance safely. The D9R armoured bulldozer, affectionately nicknamed Doobi or 'Teddy Bear', will be essential for a successful assault In an urban warfare scenario the D9R would be used to clear mines and explosives from the path of advancing ground troops and tanks What is the D9R? Nicknamed Doobi or 'Teddy Bear', the D9R is the latest generation of D9 armoured bulldozers which were first deployed by the Israeli Defense Force in the 1950s. It is 26.2ft long x 13ft tall x 14.7ft wide (8m long x 4m tall x 4.5m wide) and weighs 62 tonnes. The vehicle is equipped with a large front blade and rear ripper attachment for clearing obstacles and detonating explosives. The armoured cockpit has room for a crew of two who are protected by bullet-proof glass against sniper and machine gun fire. The D9R can also be equipped with a mounted machine gun, grenade launcher, or smoke projector. Over 100 were deployed in the 2014 incursion Operation Cast Lead, a 22 day assault killing into Gaza by Israeli military forces. In 2018, the Israeli army revealed the D9R Panda, a remotely operated version of the vehicle. Advertisement The D9R gets its nickname 'the teddy bear' from military slang for a bulldozer of any kind. It can hold a crew of two soldiers in its armoured cockpit - a driver and a commander - where bullet-proof glass offers them protection against sniper and machine gun fire. In 2015, the D9R was upgraded with 'slat armour' to offer the vehicle more protection against the rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) widely used by Hamas in previous conflicts. Slat armour, also known as cage or bar armour, works by allowing the sensitive detonator tip of the rocket to pass through before deforming the explosive body so that it either does not detonate or is less effective. At 26.2ft long x 13ft tall x 14.7ft wide (8m long x 4m tall x 4.5m wide) and weighing 62 tonnes, the D9R is an enormous piece of military equipment capable of carving through any obstacle in its path. The D9R Dozer is powered by a Cat 3408C engine capable of generating 405 horsepower and pulling over 70 tonnes. Not only does this help the bulldozer plough through obstacles, but it also allows various infrastructure support roles such as digging trenches and building bridges or defensive structures. The Teddy Bear can also be equipped with a mounted machine gun installation, grenade launcher, or smoke projector for additional combat capability. In 2018, the Israeli army also began to deploy and operated the D9R Panda, a remotely operated version of the bulldozer for more hostile environments. The cost of a D9R is unclear as the vehicles are bought directly from Caterpillar by the Israeli military and are later outfitted with their specialist armour. However, the cost of a new Cat D9 bulldozer is at least $900,000 (739,624) even before any additional upgrades have been made. In response to the massacre of 1,300 Israelis by Hamas terrorists, the Israeli army has already pounded the 25-mile (45km) Gaza strip with over 6,000 bombs containing a total of 4,000 tonnes. Palestinian authorities claim that 1,400 people have so far been killed by the Israeli bombardment, and today Israeli authorities ordered the evacuation of Northern Gaza in preparation for an assault. With its reinforced blade and slat armour the Teddy Bear is almost entirely impervious to bullets and explosives The specialist slat armour was added in 2015 as a specific counter to the rocket-propelled grenades frequently used by Hamas The Israeli army announced that it has deployed the D9R Panda, a remote operated version of the armoured bulldozer for even more hostile environments Israel is drawing on its huge military might - including thousands of tanks, warplanes and troops in a full-scale ground invasion of the enclave in response to a series of terrorist attacks which killed 1,300 Israelis While Hamas is believed to be in possession of only around 10,000 rockets and cannot match the size or technological capacity of the Israeli army, the group's fighters are still expected to put up a bloody resistance. Before reaching Hamas' defensive strongholds, Israeli forces will have to breach a series of defensive lines including mines, mortar targets, anti-tank weaponry, and potentially suicide bombers. Since 2007, Hamas are believed to have built as many as 1,370 tunnels beneath the enclave, forming a network of hundreds of miles in length nicknamed 'the Gaza Metro'. As part of 2008's Operation Cast Lead, a large-scale incursion into Gaza, the Israeli army deployed 109 D9Rs which had a key role in demolishing buildings such as bunkers and tunnels. During the most recent conflict in 2014, at least 66 Israeli soldiers and six civilians were killed in the fighting, while in Palestine the UN reported 2,133 people were killed of which 1,489 were civilians. Given the current plans for a new assault on Gaza, the fighting this time will no doubt be bloody on both sides, with advanced technology such as the D9R playing a vital role for the Israeli forces. They're often referred to as 'man's best friend', but a new study has revealed that when it comes to aging, not all dogs are equal. Research shows that smaller dogs live twice as long as their larger counterparts. However, these diminutive pups age much more rapidly than bigger pooches, according to experts from Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest. Based on the findings, the experts recommend choosing dogs that weigh between 22lbs and 66lbs (10-30kg), such as Welsh Corgis, Whippets, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Schnauzers. 'For those who want a smaller-sized dog but do not want to risk severe mental health problems in old age or want a larger-sized dog but do not want to risk physical health problems at 7-8 years of age, we recommend a dog from the 1030kg size range,' said Borbala Turcsan, lead author of the study. They're often referred to as 'man's best friend', but a new study has revealed that when it comes to aging, not all dogs are equal. (stock image of chihuahua) Research has revealed that smaller dogs live twice as long as their larger counterparts (bottom right graph). However, these diminutive pups age much more rapidly than bigger pooches (bottom left graph), and have more severe aging symptoms (top right graph), according to experts from Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest While previous studies have shown that smaller dogs live longer, the team set out to understand how size impacts dogs, in terms of cognitive abilities. The researchers analysed data on 15,000 dogs, including their age, behaviour, and cognitive function. They also assessed each pup's size, head shape, and purebred status. Their analysis revealed that on average, behavioural and cognitive aging in dogs begins at around 10.5 years. However, the onset of aging, as well as the aging rate, depend on the dog's body size. Dogs weighing over 66lbs (30kg) show an earlier onset of age-related decline (by age two to three years), but show a slower rate of cognitive decline. 'Larger dogs experience a physical breakdown at an earlier age, and the accumulating illnesses, and degradation in sensory functions leads to "old-age behaviors" long before their mental decline would begin,' Ms Turcsan said. Pictured: a stock image of a Great Dane Mid-size dog breeds If you're considering getting a dog, the researchers suggest opting for a mid-size breed that weighs between 22lbs and 66lbs (10-30kg). According to the American Kennel Club, this includes: Shiba Inu (23lbs) Cocker Spaniel (25-30lbs) Whippets (25-40lbs) Irish Terriers (27lbs) Staffordshire Bull Terriers (28-38lbs) Skye Terriers (35-45lbs) Bearded Collies (45-55lbs) Setters (42-60lbs) Siberian Huskies (45-60lbs) Advertisement 'Larger dogs experience a physical breakdown at an earlier age, and the accumulating illnesses, and degradation in sensory functions leads to "old-age behaviors" long before their mental decline would begin,' Ms Turcsan said. In contrast, dogs weighing less than 14lbs (7kg), were four times more likely to have cognitive decline in old age. Delving deeper into the data, the team found that long-nosed dogs such as greyhounds, as well as purebreds, have a higher risk of cognitive decline in old age compared to short-faced dogs, such as pugs and French Bulldogs. Interestingly, the study found that owners start to see their dogs as 'old' around the age of six - regardless of their size. 'Owners consider their dogs "old" four to five years earlier than would be expected from behavioral data,' said Eniko Kubinyi, an author of the study. 'This may be due to graying and barely noticeable changes.' Overall, the findings suggest that body size not only influences a dog's life expectancy, but also its healthspan. If you're considering getting a dog, the researchers suggest opting for a mid-size breed that weighs between 22lbs and 66lbs (10-30kg). According to the American Kennel Club, this includes breeds such as the Shiba Inu (23lbs), Cocker Spaniel (25-30lbs), Whippets (25-40lbs) and Staffordshire Bull Terriers (28-38lbs). After months of anticipation, NASA's Psyche mission has finally launched today. The US space agency launched at 10:19 ET (15:19 BST) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 'Feel the noize! Ain't nothin' but a good time. All aboard the #MissionToPsyche! Next stop: A metal world,' NASA tweeted. Psyche is a spacecraft built to explore a 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid called 16 Psyche, which scientists think may be packed full of iron, nickel and gold with a value in excess of $10,000 quadrillion (8,072 quadrillion). That's enough money to make everyone on Earth a billionaire although even if NASA is able to confirm this is the case, there are currently no plans to extract the precious metals. After months of anticipation, NASA's Psyche mission has finally launched today. Following bad weather earlier this week, the US space agency launched at 10:19 ET (15:19 BST) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Psyche is a spacecraft built to explore a 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid called 16 Psyche, which scientists think may be packed full of iron, nickel and gold with a value in excess of $10,000 quadrillion (8,072 quadrillion) Psyche's launch had already been delayed once, with the $1.2 billion (988 million) spacecraft originally scheduled to blast into space on October 5, only for this to be put back by a week so that engineers could update the configuration of its thrusters. When it reached orbit, Psyche will embark on a six-year, 2.2 billion-mile (3.6 billion-kilometre) trip to a space rock of the same name, 16 Psyche. This 170-mile-wide (280 kilometre) asteroid sits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. No spacecraft has ever visited an object like 16 Psyche thought to have a surface containing substantial amounts of metal rather than rock or ice but if all goes to plan the orbiter will arrive at its destination in July 2029. The irregular and potato-like asteroid is believed to be the exposed core of a demolished protoplanet the building blocks of the rocky planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. 'Feel the noize! Ain't nothin' but a good time. All aboard the #MissionToPsyche! Next stop: A metal world,' NASA tweeted. The irregular and potato-like asteroid (depicted) is believed to be the exposed core of a demolished protoplanet the building blocks of the rocky planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars HOW MUCH IS PSYCHE WORTH? If 16 Psyche is in fact loaded with precious metals, it could be worth an extraordinary amount of money, according to Dr Linda Elkins-Tanton, a space scientist at MIT. She has calculated that the iron in 16 Psyche alone would be worth $10,000 quadrillion (8,072 quadrillion). Assuming the market for asteroid materials is on Earth, this could cause the value of precious metals to plummet, completely devaluing all holdings including those of governments, and all companies involved in mining, distributing and trading such commodities. Ultimately, it could lead to the collapse of the entire economy. Speaking to Global News Canada, Dr Elkins-Tanton said: 'Even if we could grab a big metal piece and drag it back here what would you do? 'Could you kind of sit on it and hide it and control the global resource kind of like diamonds are controlled corporately and protect your market? 'What if you decided you were going to bring it back and you were just going to solve the metal resource problems of humankind for all time? This is wild speculation obviously.' Advertisement If so, it could provide a unique opportunity to study how planets like our own formed. Scientists say the space rock is most likely a survivor of multiple violent hit-and-run collisions, common when the solar system was forming. During this smash-up and merging of smaller planetesimals, the resulting bigger objects start out completely molten. Heavy metals then sink to the core, while lighter rock floats to the top. With 16 Psyche, however, NASA thinks that after reaching this stage it was then hit by another asteroid which stripped it of its rocky mantle and left behind a bare metal core that has been detected today. Spectroscopic studies and radar observations suggest its surface is up to 95 per cent nickel and iron, a composition similar to that of Earth's core. If 16 Psyche is in fact loaded with precious metals, it could be worth a huge amount of money, according to Dr Linda Elkins-Tanton, a space scientist at MIT. She has calculated that the iron in 16 Psyche alone would be worth $10,000 quadrillion (8,072 quadrillion). Assuming the market for asteroid materials is on Earth, this could cause the value of precious metals to plummet, completely devaluing all holdings including those of governments, and all companies involved in mining, distributing and trading such commodities. Ultimately, it could lead to the collapse of the entire economy. Of course it's all speculative and hypothetical, because even if the space rock was worth anywhere close to that kind of money, it's not like it could easily be brought back to Earth and there are currently no plans to do so. The mission: This graphic provides a step-by-step guide of Psyche's journey to 16 Psyche How the journey will work: The spacecraft will embark on a six-year, 2.2 billion-mile (3.6 billion-kilometre) trip to a space rock of the same name, 16 Psyche. It will require a gravity assist from Mars in May 2026 to help it on its way, before arriving at its destination in 2029 Location: The 170-mile-wide (280 kilometre) asteroid sits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter 16 PSYCHE: KEY FACTS Date of discovery: March 17, 1852 Average distance to the sun: 437 million km Orbital period: 4.99 years Surface area: 165,800km2 (about twice the surface of Ireland) Mass: 2.3 x 1019kg Estimated ore value: $10,000 quintillion Advertisement 16 Psyche was actually only the 16th asteroid ever discovered, having been spotted in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis. It has an average diameter of some 136 miles (220 kilometres) and contains about 1 per cent the total mass of the entire asteroid belt around 440 billion billion pounds (220 billion billion kilograms) to be exact. That makes it among the 12 largest minor planets orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter. The Psyche spacecraft will carry with it several instruments, including two high-resolution cameras and a spectrometer to determine the asteroid's composition. It also has a magnetometer to check if the space rock has a remnant magnetic field, along with an instrument to measure its gravitational field. The orbiter will spend a total of 21 months orbiting the asteroid while capturing the first-ever images of 16 Psyche. The hope is that by mapping and studying the asteroid in such detail it will help researchers determine how it came to be, which could in turn shed light on the formation of our own planet. Holidaymakers should be wary of enticing 'low-deposit' breaks sold by travel firms, Which? warns. This is because in some cases, travel firms fail to make it sufficiently clear that holidaymakers could be forced to pay up to thousands of pounds if they need to cancel after booking their trip, new research by the consumer champion reveals. Which? explains that these 'low-deposit' schemes involve paying an initial amount upfront and are often shown alongside multiple payment options, potentially leading customers to believe the initial deposit figure is the entire deposit. Yet in many cases, this is just a first instalment towards a larger deposit, and if not clearly signposted, low deposits could leave customers unexpectedly out of pocket. One customer claims she will 'never book with Tui again' after she was blindsided by the company's terms and conditions when she tried to cancel her family holiday to Bodrum, Turkey. She thought she would only lose the 150 'low deposit' she had paid to secure the trip, but she was actually required to pay an extra 650, as the full deposit was 800 - something she hadn't realised when booking the holiday. Holidaymakers should be wary of enticing 'low-deposit' breaks sold by travel firms, Which? warns, as in some cases, the firms don't make it sufficiently clear that holidaymakers could be forced to pay up to thousands of pounds if they need to cancel after booking their trip Michelle Simons from Northampton tells Which? that she hadn't been abroad for 13 years and decided to go to a Tui store for specialist advice. While opting for a low-deposit trip she says the travel agent handed her a 'laminated piece of card with T&C's on', but she says that it was not verbally explained to her in the store that she would have to pay a larger amount if she opted to cancel later on. Which? reveals that an email confirmation was sent to Ms Simons that described later scheduled instalments as 'payments' - which Ms Simons says she thought would be towards the remaining balance of the trip, rather than a non-refundable deposit. After having second thoughts about her choice of holiday, Ms Simons decided to cancel the original holiday, believing she would only have to pay the 150 low-deposit payment, and book an alternative trip. 'That's when they told me I'd have to pay this full 800 deposit - so another 650 on top of the 150 I'd paid to cancel... I had no reason to think that the deposit I'd paid wasn't the full deposit,' she tells Which? Ms Simons explains to Which? that the store manager warned that she could be taken to court if she did not pay the remainder of the deposit. As she wasn't prepared to lose the money, she went ahead with the original holiday, Which? says. If you're considering a low-deposit booking, always take the time to check the terms carefully, Which? says Which? researchers found that Tui's online booking system offers both a 'low deposit' and a 'no deposit' payment option. The watchdog says that the fine print reveals that customers are liable to pay a 'full deposit' amount if they wish to cancel their 'low-deposit' trip. Those who opted for a 'no deposit' payment would also have to pay a non-refundable deposit, Which reveals. We have found many of these schemes can be confusing for holidaymakers, with cancellation fees and 'top up' deposit payments sometimes buried in the terms and conditions Naomi Leach, Deputy Editor of Which? Travel The consumer champion also expressed concerns over low-deposit schemes offered by other travel agencies, such as Loveholidays. When viewing a week-long holiday package for 3,490 for two people with Loveholidays to the Oberoi Beach Resort in the UAE for August 2024, Which? found a 'low deposit' of 29 per person was offered. If travellers select the low-deposit option, Loveholidays outlines a breakdown of future costs, calling them instalments', Which? says. It continues: 'It does not clearly indicate that the first two instalments make up the remainder of a larger deposit, meaning a customer might wrongly assume theyd lose just 58 if they wanted to cancel. In fact, theyd be required to pay a further 1,439 to cancel this trip - the remaining deposit due.' While Loveholidays does include a link to its terms and conditions under the heading 'I understand and agree to the following', Which? says the firm could be more explicit in highlighting the obligations in the main text. Which? adds that the company could clearly emphasise that the two payments of the 'low deposit' contribute to a non-refundable deposit, rather than describing them as 'instalments'. In addition, Which? says tour operator On The Beach requested 30 per person to secure a booking at HSM Canarios Hotel, Majorca. And, while it signposted cancellation charges and linked to its terms and conditions, they believe their low-deposit terms could be made clearer upfront. In contrast, Jet2s low deposit refers to the full deposit payable, Which? reveals. At 60 per person this initial payment is higher than with some other companies, but the original 60 per person payment is all a holidaymaker would stand to lose if they opt to cancel their trip, with no additional fees, the watchdog notes. A Tui spokesperson tells Which? it will review how it communicates its low-deposit option to customers WHICH? TIPS FOR NAVIGATING LOW-DEPOSIT OFFERS Firstly, Which? says to 'be wary when you see low-deposit offers - it often means youll have to pay a further deposit top-up payment (if it is non-refundable), even if you cancel a few days later'. It continues: 'Ensure you will be able to afford the holiday before committing - its unlikely you only stand to lose a low amount if you choose to cancel.' Secondly, Which? recommends that you 'read the full terms and conditions, and look out for extra charges you may be liable for'. It says: 'For instance, if you book a package deal through an online travel agent (OTA), you may have to pay the OTA an extra fee (over and above the deposit) when cancelling. For example, An OTA will often ask you to pay for the outstanding air travel amount, as flights are often non refundable.' Finally, the watchdog suggests you 'check sliding cancellation payment scales'. It says: 'If you cancel close to your departure/holiday date, youll likely owe more than just the deposit.' Source: Which? Travel Advertisement Meanwhile, holiday rental Cottages.com offers a low deposit in a similar way to Tui - with the initial low deposit making up just part of a larger deposit due. However, this is made much clearer at the outset, with a pop-up message appearing as soon as you select the low-deposit option, outlining precisely the amount that will be due if you decide to cancel - and explaining that this figure is the difference between the low and standard deposit amounts, Which? reveals. Commenting on the findings, Naomi Leach, Deputy Editor of Which? Travel, says: 'As the cost of living crisis continues to stretch household budgets to the limit, 'low' and 'no' deposit holiday schemes can be an enticing option, allowing consumers to spread the cost of their holiday over a longer payment period. 'However, we have found many of these schemes can be confusing for holidaymakers, with cancellation fees and 'top up' deposit payments sometimes buried in the terms and conditions. If you're considering a low-deposit booking, always take the time to check the terms carefully, so you understand exactly what you're liable for should you decide to cancel.' While Tui did not comment on Michelle Simon's customer experience, a spokesperson tells the watchdog: 'We welcome this feedback from our customers and strive to make booking a Tui holiday as easy as possible. We will review how we communicate our low-deposit offering during the online booking process as our customers tell us they value our low or no deposit offers and the option to spread the cost of their holiday via direct debit.' Which? says On The Beach did not respond to a request for comment. A Loveholidays spokesperson says: 'Our low-deposit scheme helps our customers pay for their holidays in instalments before departure, as opposed to all at once upon booking, which has become an increasingly popular choice amid the cost-of-living crisis. 'We provide customers with clear and accurate information about how all of our market-leading payment options work, with this information readily available on our website and throughout the booking process. 'We always have our customers' best interests at heart, so we are committed to reviewing this feedback from Which? in the context of further improving the bookings journey.' Jet2holidays says: 'Customers booking with Jet2holidays can be assured that they are paying the full deposit payable when they book with us. 'As a Which? Recommended Provider, Jet2holidays will never introduce top-up deposit payments, and we are pleased that Which? has highlighted that our low deposit refers to the full deposit payable. We make the terms and conditions of our low-deposit scheme very clear, which is why it is extremely popular with customers. This customer-first approach is one of the many reasons why holidaymakers choose us time and time again.' The ancient stone circle at Avebury is one of Britain's greatest archaeological treasures. It is Europe's largest stone circle, a World Heritage site and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. But an extraordinary set of photographs just released by Historic England reveal a chapter in the site's history that many aren't aware of. The images show a group of men in the 1930s erecting the stones. The archive images reveal the 'restoration' work taking place in the tiny Wiltshire village 90 years ago. With trucks, ropes and pulleys, the workmen are seen transforming an apparent empty grassy space into what we think of as the stone circle today. The old photos show the team excavating hidden stones, moving them into chosen positions and standing them upright on new concrete plinths, which are then hidden with soil. Newly digitised photographs reveal that the ancient stone circle at Avebury is actually a restoration by fabulously wealthy marmalade tycoon Alexander Keiller, carried out in the 1930s. Above, some of Keiller's men work on an excavation around an unidentified stone in the henge at Avebury The release of the images immediately shocked enthusiasts. After some were shown to a Facebook specialist group, their horrified comments included: 'I had no idea the circle is a restoration! I now no longer have the sense of awe and reverence I previously had of the circle.' The 'Ancient and Sacred Sites of Avebury' Facebook group has more than 3,000 members who are fans of the prehistoric site. One commented: 'We have no way of knowing if this disinterment and re-erection is a true replication of that original. Now I feel I was conned by my own romantic imagination.' Historic England released the 550 digitised photographic slides for the first time on its website last month and they are freely available to the public. We reproduce some of them here. The release of the images immediately shocked enthusiasts. After some were shown to a Facebook specialist group, their horrified comments included: 'I had no idea the circle is a restoration! I now no longer have the sense of awe and reverence I previously had of the circle' The ancient stone circle at Avebury is one of Britain's greatest archaeological treasures. It is Europe's largest stone circle, a World Heritage site and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year The rest are available to view at historicengland.org.uk. The story they reveal is that fabulously wealthy marmalade tycoon Alexander Keiller had bought much of the land at Avebury, including the manor where he lived. Keiller was a keen amateur archaeologist who was fascinated by the occult and sun worship. It was Keiller who financed the 'restoration' of the village's ancient monument. Fabulously wealthy marmalade tycoon Alexander Keiller carried out the restoration work in 1937 and 1938. One Avebury expert says: 'Keiller did a pretty good job actually. The stones are pretty much in the right places, although one might be upside down' In the specialist archaeological world it has always been known that Keiller did major work at the prehistoric site on the chalk downs near Marlborough in 1937 and 1938. One Avebury expert says: 'Keiller did a pretty good job actually. The stones are pretty much in the right places, although one might be upside down.' Mike Pitts - broadcaster, author and a leading expert on the Avebury site - adds: 'There's nothing controversial in these new images, but of course nowadays we wouldn't do it like that.' Nevertheless, to the non-specialist eye, the newly released pictures seem very surprising. Men in shirts, ties and waistcoats are seen posing alongside the 'ancient' stones they have just erected and set in concrete. Trucks, gunpowder and heavy machinery was used in the reconstruction process. Keiller's 'restoration' was necessary in the first place because, amazingly, the stone circle had been almost completely destroyed over the previous centuries. Keiller dug up stones that he found buried, re-erected fallen stones and, most controversially, added concrete markers where he thought stones should be The Neolithic standing stones had been repeatedly demolished between the medieval period and the 18th century. The majority of the stones from the site were destroyed or buried. The huge sarsen rocks were heated by bonfires, then smashed to pieces. It was part of a project by Christians trying to remove traces of a pagan civilisation. People may think sites like Avebury and Stonehenge are untouched ancient monuments, left by our ancestors just as we see them today, but these fascinating photos show the extent that modern interpretation has contributed to their current appearance In the 1930s, Keiller set out to restore the world's largest stone circle in the way he thought it should look. He dug up stones that he found buried, re-erected fallen ones and, most controversially, added concrete markers where he thought stones should be. He even demolished buildings that didn't fit in with his idea of how the newly reconstructed stone circle should look. The Avebury World Heritage Site is just 17 miles north of Stonehenge and is much larger and older than its famous neighbour. It covers almost nine square miles and includes Silbury Hill, Europe's largest prehistoric mound and the underground tombs at West Kennet Long Barrow. West Kennet Avenue, lined by standing stones, leads for over a mile to 'The Sanctuary', yet another stone and timber circle. Over the past 20 years, the stones within the Avebury complex have come to be seen as sacred objects, particularly at the solstice. Unlike Stonehenge, people are able to walk right up and touch Avebury's stones. Bizarrely, visitors have been known to press their ear against stones 'to listen to ancient voices' or hug them to feel their 'energy'. The more bohemian visitors are the most likely to be disappointed by the revelations that the stones were only erected and set in concrete just 90 years ago. A spokesperson for Historic England said the slides were not new but only recently made public: 'The slides were catalogued around 18 years ago but only digitised in the past couple of months. They've only been widely accessible (through being digitised) for the past month or so.' These images show the Avebury site before Keiller's restoration work The image shows the finished restoration in 1938 The two images above show the present-day Avebury World Heritage Site, which is just 17 miles north of Stonehenge and is much larger and older than its famous neighbour Mel Barge, inspector of ancient monuments at Historic England, said: 'In the late 1930s, Alexander Keiller cleared away nearby buildings and re-erected many stones. These images reveal how Avebury and the West Kennet Avenue looked in 1938 and 1939 before and after excavation and restoration work. 'People may think sites like Avebury and Stonehenge are untouched ancient monuments, left by our ancestors just as we see them today, but these fascinating photos show the extent that modern interpretation has contributed to their current appearance.' Nevertheless, the images will change the casual visitor's impression of the site to see that most have only been standing since 1938, some are supported by concrete plinths, some are upside down, some are missing and imagined stones are marked by concrete posts. 'Oh no, this is such a shock,' said one regular woman visitor. 'The experts may have known about all this for years, but the photos spell it out for the rest of us. I go there walking with my dog every week but it will never feel the same now.' It's the question that has sent tongues wagging across the world: who will steal the heart of Hollywood's newest bachelor Hugh Jackman? And while the Australian actor, 55, has stayed mum on his dating plans after splitting from wife Deborra-Lee Furness, there is certainly no shortage of A-list women who would fit perfectly on his arm. From Hollywood sirens to notoriously private starlets, meet the Hollywood stars ready to be swept off their feet by newly-single Hugh. Sharon Stone Like Hugh, Sharon has enjoyed an incredible career in Hollywood and is regarded as one of the most iconic actresses in showbiz. However the 65-year-old Basic Instinct star has struggled in the love department, having endured two failed marriages and number of high-profile flings over the years. Meet the single A-list women ready for Hollywood's hottest bachelor Hugh Jackman, 45, (left) to sweep them off their feet. Pictured right is single A-list actress Sharon Stone, 65 Stone was previously married to Phil Bronstein and Michael Greenburg, and was once engaged to Bill MacDonald. She has also dated a string of famous men since finding fame in the nineties, including the likes of John Kennedy Jr., David Duchovny, Eric Clapton, Jack Nicholson, and Dweezil Zappa. In December 2019, Stone revealed she'd turned to dating app Bumble to find love, but had been blocked because no one believed it was really her. Basic Instinct star has struggled in the love department, having endured two failed marriages and number of high-profile flings over the years.( Stone is pictured with ex-husband Phil Bronstein in 2000_ Taking to X (formerly Twitter) at the time, the Golden Globe winner made a public plea to the company to reinstate her account. The mother-of-three shared: 'I went on the @bumble dating sight and they closed my account. Some users reported that it couldn't possibly be me! Hey @bumble, is being me exclusionary ? Don't shut me out of the hive [sic]'. Nine hours after Sharon announced her account had been suspended, a spokesperson for Bumble told MailOnline it was back up and running again. In December 2019, Stone revealed she'd turned to dating app Bumble to find love, but had been blocked because no one believed it was really her Aside from their shared acting talents, Hugh and Sharon are also both proud parents to adoptive children from previous marriages. Sharon, who suffered multiple miscarriages, adopted three sons - Roan, 23, Laird, 18, and Quinn, 17 - while married to her former husband Phil Bronstein. Similarly, Hugh and Deborra-Lee adopted son Oscar, 23, and daughter Ava, 18, after the pair suffered fertility issues. Reese Witherspoon Legally Blonde star Reese Witherspoon, 47, officially announced her separation from husband-of-12-years Jim Toth in March, just a few months before Hugh confirmed his split from Deborra-Lee. Like Hugh, Reese is known as one of Hollywood's nicest actors, and boasts a loyal fanbase that has followed her career since the early 2000s. The pair are also known for maintaining friendly relationships with their exes. Reese is still on good terms with her first husband Ryan Phillippe - with whom she shares daughter Ava, 23, and son Deacon, 19. Like Hugh, Reese Witherspoon, 47, (pictured) is known as one of Hollywood's nicest actors, and boasts a loyal fanbase that has followed her career since the early 2000s Meanwhile, Reese and Jim have confirmed they are on good terms and are planning to co-parent their son Tennessee, 10, amicably. 'They really are the best of friends and this is such an amicable decision. They are so committed to co-parenting together. They are invested in their whole family and making this as smooth as possible for everyone,' the insider said. 'We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness, and mutual respect for everything we have created together,' the couple said in a joint statement confirming their split on March 24. Hugh and Reese are also known for maintaining friendly relationships with their exes. (Reese is pictured with ex-husband Jim Roth in 2020) Similarly, Hugh and Deborra-Lee made similar assertions in their break-up announcement last month, telling fans: 'Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness.' Sofia Vergara She's one of Hollywood's sexiest women, so it's no wonder fans are begging for Sofia Vergara to shack up with Hugh. The American-Colombian actress, 51, became hot property back in July after she announced her divorce from actor Joe Manganiello, 46, after seven years of marriage. On July 17, the former couple announced their split and issued a joint statement to Page Six, saying: 'We have made the difficult decision to divorce.' She's one of Hollywood's sexiest women, so it's no wonder fans are begging for Sofia Vergara, 51, (pictured) to shack up with Hugh 'As two people that love and care for one another very much, we politely ask for respect of our privacy at this time as we navigate this new phase of our lives.' In court docs obtained by TMZ, the Magic Mike actor cited 'irreconcilable differences' with the outlet claiming that Joe wanted children with the actress, who is already a mother to 31-year-old son Manolo Gonzalez Vergara. Sofia's reported disinterest in welcoming another child may come as no surprise as she famously duked it out in court with her ex-fiance Nick Loeb over their frozen embryos. The businessman sued the Modern Family actress after they split in 2014 in a bid to stop her from destroying the embryos, and over the course of their seven-year legal battle, the two also became intertwined in a very-public media war, hurling a slew of insults and making a series of personal jabs at one another in numerous interviews. The American-Colombian actress became hot property back in July after she announced her divorce from actor Joe Manganiello, 46, (left) after seven years of marriage Jennifer Aniston Hugh is known for his great sense of humour - something Jennifer Aniston has in spades. The Friends actress, 54, is currently single after a slew of failed romances including her well-publicised marriages to Brad Pitt and subsequently Justin Theroux. Hugh is known for his great sense of humour - something Jennifer Aniston, 54, (pictured) has in spades However, the Morning Show actress has reportedly expressed optimism about her love life, after an insider told UsWeekly Jennifer believes she will find Mr Right in the next five years. 'In her gut, Jen believes she'll eventually meet the right person,' a source insisted. However, the source added that Jennifer isn't going to 'beat herself up if it doesn't happen', adding: 'She is fine on her own. [Jennifer] is in a great place. She's happy, healthy and fulfilled by her career, family and friends.' The Friends actress, 54, is currently single after a slew of failed romances including her well-publicised marriages to Brad Pitt and subsequently Justin Theroux. (Pictured with Justin Theroux in 2017) '[She's] been through a lot, but she feels blessed to be thriving personally and professionally.' Jennifer struggled with fertility for years - something with which Hugh can empathise given his former wife's struggles to fall pregnant. 'It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road. It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it,' Jennifer told Allure magazine in November 2022. She continued: 'I don't have anything to hide at this point.' Jennifer struggled with fertility for years - something with which Hugh can empathise given his former wife's struggles to fall pregnant Mindy Kaling Hollywood funnywoman Mindy Kaling, 44, is reportedly single following her split from ex-boyfriend BJ Novak. And while The Office star rarely discusses her relationship status, fans are hoping she may end up crossing paths with Hugh. The brunette has two children - Katherine, five, and Spencer, two - and recently told Marie Claire magazine that she hasn't 'ruled out romance' and hopes to find a partner one day. Hollywood funnywoman Mindy Kaling, 44, (pictured) is reportedly single following her split from ex-boyfriend BJ Novak The brunette has two children - Katherine, five, and Spencer, two - and recently told Marie Claire magazine that she hasn't 'ruled out romance' and hopes to find a partner one day 'If you're a 42-year-old [single] woman with kids, it makes people sad I'm like, 'There is hope for us. There could be great stories about women, like me, finding love, finding happiness',' she told the magazine last year. And Mindy added, 'I can't imagine anyone besides me would write it, so I have to find the time to do that.' Angelina Jolie Silver screen siren Angelia Jolie, 48, became one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelorettes following her messy split from Brad Pitt in 2019. And it's no surprise fans are hoping for Hugh and Angelina to strike up a romance now that he is a free agent. Aside from their genetically-blessed looks and successful acting careers, the pair are also both parents to adopted children and share a love for philanthropy. Silver screen siren Angelia Jolie, 48, became one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelorettes following her messy split from Brad Pitt in 2019. (Angelina and Brad are pictured in 2015) Like Hugh, Angelina is a fierce advocate for human rights and actively participates in charities around the world. Intriguingly, Deborra-Lee previously said Hugh was forbidden to star opposite Angelina on a film, during an interview with the Today show in 2015. 'I've told his agent he's not allowed to work with Angelina [Jolie],' Deborra-Lee mused during an interview with then-host Lisa Wilkinson. Aside from their genetically-blessed looks and successful acting careers, the pair are also both parents to adopted children and share a love for philanthropy. (Angelina is pictured with her adopted son Maddox in 2023) Like Hugh, Angelina is a fierce advocate for human rights and actively participates in charities around the world 'I'm sure she's very nice and I love what she's doing - shining a light on awareness for adoption...' she trailed off, before adding: 'just kidding'. But a blushing Hugh seemed to give away the reality of the situation with a nervous giggle. Hugh and Deborra-Lee, 67, shocked fans when they announced they were divorcing last month. 'We have been blessed to share almost three decades together in a wonderful, loving marriage. Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth,' the couple said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. Hugh and Deborra-Lee (right) shocked fans when they announced they were divorcing last month 'Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness. We greatly appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy as our family navigates this transition.' The former couple signed the statement as 'Deb and Hugh Jackman,' adding: 'This is the sole statement either of us will make.' The Australian couple share two children together; Oscar, 23, and Ava, 18. Less than a year ago, Dean McDermott was living with wife Tori Spelling the daughter of a multi-millionaire inside the private enclave of Hidden Hills, counting the Kardashians and Jenners as neighbors. But now he's in the middle of a divorce from the Beverly Hills 90210 star, standing in line at a government welfare office, and living in a San Fernando Valley rental home with four male roommates. But there is one bright spot to McDermott's new life: The bit-part actor has a new girlfriend revealed for the first time in these exclusive DailyMail.com photos. She is 32-year-old Lily Calo, a senior account executive at Conscious Community Global in LA, first identified by PageSix. It is unclear where they met and how long they have been dating, however, the two were pictured together last week at the health and human services organization where they are apparently working on a project with the 'creative development team,' according to LinkedIn. Dean McDermott was spotted with his new girlfriend - identified as 32-year-old Lily Calo - for the first time during a trip to the Los Angeles welfare office The 56-year-old was snapped holding hands with the pixie-cut brunette while clutching a stack of envelopes as they headed to the Department of Social Services West Valley office in Chatsworth McDermott and Calo, a senior account executive at Conscious Community Global in LA, were pictured together last week at the organization where they are apparently working on a project with the 'creative development team,' according to LinkedIn On Tuesday, McDermott and his new squeeze were snapped holding hands as they headed to the Department of Social Services West Valley office in Chatsworth just an hour before it closed at 5pm. The cash-strapped Canadian, 56, appears to have fallen on hard times and forced to resort to government assistance after his separation from Spelling in June. McDermott was dressed casually in a simple black tee, worn out blue jeans, and biker boots, and clutched a stack of white envelopes to take into the government facility. Interestingly, he was missing the $1,250 Balenciaga fanny pack he was seen wearing during an outing in LA last month. His new brunette companion, was sporting a pixie cut and an army green jumpsuit paired with Converse high tops. According to her LinkedIn, New Jersey-born Calo was previously based in Austin, Texas, as the gallery director and co-founder of Canvas before moving to Los Angeles where she is believed to have met her new beau. She has been working at the company since September. In a 2021 interview, she said: 'I was a shy kid from the East coast with the humble goal of seeing the entire world and learning about as many other cultures as I could. 'I knew one way I could do this would be through the arts, but felt I was not an artist in any traditional sense. I eventually discovered my art was within writing and that reading ironically brought me out of my shell.' McDermott has been out of the dating scene for nearly two decades, but his girlfriend didn't seem to mind a couple's trip to a government office to apply for benefits. The pair were seen lining up outside the building, at one point getting cozy as his partner helped make sure he had filled out his paperwork correctly. Unlike the others in line, Dean seemed to be in good spirits and could be heard chuckling, and cracking jokes while waiting. The couple appeared to fly under the radar, with no one on line recognizing the former reality show star. Calo was previously based in Austin, Texas as the gallery director and co-founder of Canvas before taking up her current role last month in Los Angeles, where she is believed to have met her new beau The cash-strapped Canadian actor appears to have fallen on hard times after his separation from the 90120 star earlier this year Tori and Dean's financial woes had made headlines several times throughout their 18-year marriage, but it appears their split has forced McDermott to rely on government assistance At one point Dean got cozy with his girlfriend while waiting on the line, as she helped make sure he had filled out his paperwork correctly Instead, there was mostly just chatter about the particularly large crowd due to the office being closed for Indigenous People's Day the previous day. On the street just outside the building was a homeless encampment and some cars driving into the parking lot were rundown with bumpers falling off. It was clear the government office is a last resort for Los Angeles residents needing urgent financial assistance, food stamps and rental vouchers. After about 40 minutes McDermott and his girlfriend were let in by a security guard and then taken through a metal detector. They emerged after only 15 minutes and drove back to the tidy two-story, five-bed, three-bath, 2,500 square foot home with a pool that Dean shares with four roommates in the Valley. Similar homes on his block are going for between $6,000-$9,000 a month, so it's likely his share of the rent is at least $1,000. Meanwhile on Tuesday, estranged wife Tori Spelling, 50, was marking their daughter Hattie Margaret's 12th birthday social media. After waiting in line for about 40 minutes, the couple were let into the building by a security guard and then taken through a metal detector Tori and Dean married in 2006 and filed for divorce earlier this year. They have five children together, Liam, 16, Stella, 15, Hattie, 12, Finn, 11, and Beau, six The mother-of-five wrote in the caption of the post, 'My Hattie Cat is 12 todayThe beauty, the kindness, the humor, the creativity, the strength, the wisdom, the bravery this is the magical human that Hattie is.' Tori and Dean's troubled marriage appeared to be headed for an end on June 16 when the actor announced that they had split in a social media post that was quickly deleted. On top of the apparent marital strife, the couple had also famously endured their fair share of money woes, racking up thousands of dollars in debt and facing multiple lawsuits from credit card companies over unpaid bills which Spelling attributed to 'bad shopping habits.' Growing up, Tori, whose father Aaron Spelling was one of the most successful Hollywood producers, famously lived in the second largest home in all of Los Angeles. But her relationship with her parents became fiercely fractured after she left first husband Charlie Shanian to marry Dean in 2005. When her father died the next year he infamously left her only $800,000 of his $600million fortune. At the height of their out-of-control spending as a couple, Tori and Dean were shelling out $16,000 a month for a hilltop estate behind gates in the Lake Sherwood section of Ventura County. Tori and Dean infamously left each of their spouses and tied the knot after having an affair in 2005 In June, McDermott announced he had split with Tori on Instagram, but the post was removed less than 24 hours later While Dean was lining up for government assistance on Tuesday, Tori took to Instagram to wish their daughter Hattie a happy 12th birthday It was Tori's wealthy mother Candy Spelling, 78, who stepped in to pay what she called their 'necessities', such as housing, food, medical insurance and more when the couple's finances dried up. While Candy supposedly continues to support her daughter, it's now seems that Dean is on his own when it comes to finances. With the recent SAG-AFTRA strike, it is unlikely any acting gigs have come his way. His other side gigs like stand-up comedian and chef have failed to take off as well. Dean divorced first wife, Canadian TV host Mary Jo Eustace, 61, after meeting Tori on the set of the Lifetime TV movie Mind Over Murder in 2005. They share son Jack McDermott, 25. Tori and Dean married in 2006 and filed for divorce earlier this year. They have five children together, Liam, 16, Stella, 15, Hattie, 12, Finn, 11, and Beau, six. Real Housewives of Sydney star Krissy Marsh has issued the show's newcomers with a dire warning following season two's premiere. The original housewife, 51, warned the new stars not everyone on the show is 'going to like you' and you can't control what they think. 'Someone came up with calling me Chewbacca because I am big and I'm hairy. You can't let little things like that get you down,' she told The Advertiser on Thursday. 'I'm telling you, in that pressure cooker of reality TV, your true colours come out.' Krissy explained it can be confronting for the cast to watch some scenes as they air on television. Real Housewives of Sydney star Krissy Marsh's dire warning to newcomers as season two kicks off: 'It's a pressure cooker' 'A lot of people look at those true colours and say: "Do I really like that about myself?' So that'll be an interesting exercise,' she added. It comes after the controversial series premiered on Tuesday, six years after it was initially cancelled when the first season was deemed 'too mean' to continue. Krissy returned and she immediately landed in the firing line for calling new busty housewife Caroline Gaultier a 'porn star'. In a heated conversation during a lunch which saw all the housewives catch up, Bondi Vet star Dr Kate Adams was the surprising instigator. The celebrity vet revealed Caroline confided in her about the moment Krissy said the busty brunette beauty 'looked like a porn star' when they first met. The original housewife, 51, warned the new stars that not everyone on the show is 'going to like you' and you can't control what they think 'I think that Caroline was quite anxious because there had been a conversation a little while ago and I wasn't there, but they had mentioned the word "porn star",' Kate said to everyone's shock. However viewers at home will know the blonde singleton was sitting on the comment, as she earlier told producers she wanted Krissy to apologise to Caroline for the comment. 'The more I think about it, annoyingly that [porn star] comment came from a woman. It's pulling other women down, and she needs to apologise for it,' she said. However Krissy was having none of the confrontation, promptly turning to Caroline and saying: 'I can't believe that I would ever say to you, "You look like a porn star." It comes after season two premiered on Tuesday, six years after it was initially cancelled. Krissy returned and she immediately landed in the firing line for calling new busty housewife Caroline Gaultier a 'porn star' 'Because I would never refer to someone as a porn star, even if I thought it.' It was at this point Caroline finally spoke up and attempted to brush the issue off, saying she took Krissy's 'porn star' comment as a joke. But Krissy didn't let up, saying: 'Well, you know what, I'm pretty good at remembering the things that come out of my mouth. 'If I said that to you, I would remember that.' Krissy later told producers: 'No, I did not call her a porn star. I champion women like her. I am a woman like Caroline.' Christina Aguilera left her fans divided as she collaborated with Latto on an ad song for the food delivery app Just Eat. Just Eat, which operates in several European countries, brought the two musical artists together for an Italy-themed extravaganza. The duo were decked out in a string of splashily elaborate costumes, flashing the flesh in sumptuous ball gowns and saucy metallic lingerie. Their song consisted mostly of Latto rapping about Just Eat, while Christina provided backing vocals and let loose with her famous melismas. Fans leapt into the comments, and while some showered praise on the ad, others groused about how the 'lamest song' was 'SO beneath' Christina. Chow down: Christina Aguilera left her fans divided as she collaborated with Latto on an ad song for the food delivery app Just Eat Singing up a storm: Just Eat, which operates in several European countries, brought the two musical artists together for an Italy-themed extravaganza Use it or lose it: The duo were decked out in a string of splashily elaborate costumes, flashing the flesh in sumptuous ball gowns and saucy metallic lingerie Just Eat pulled out the stops for their new ad, which opened with Christina and Latto in an extravagantly designed hallway made to look as if it were done in marble. The two songstresses swanned across a set of chessboard tiles after descending a pair of curved staircases were set against some classical-style statuary. On the walls were several paintings of both Christina and Latto, designed to be a cheeky pastiche of Renaissance artworks. Latto looked every inch the busty bombshell in a pale blue frock covered in sequins, while Christina was swathed in a rose gold ball gown and glittering diamonds. At one point, the ad even saw them floating along a manmade canal in a gondola while chowing down on Just Eat food deliveries. 'The vocals you gave were simply marvelous!!!!!' squealed one fan in the comments. 'You need to collaborate in a full song.' 'Yaaaaaaaaas!' exclaimed another fan, while a third blared: 'IN LOVE WITH THIS,' and still another said wistfully: 'Im sad this is just a promo.' 'How PERFECT is it?' one admirer effervesced as another wrote: 'CREDITS TO THE MARKETING TEAM! That's what a team can do with a BUDGET.' All together now: Their song consisted mostly of Latto rapping about Just Eat, while Christina provided backing vocals and let loose with her famous melismas Divisive: Fans leapt into the comments, and while some showered praise on the ad, others groused about how the 'lamest song' was 'SO beneath' Christina Incoming: Just Eat pulled out the stops for their new ad, which opened with Christina and Latto in an extravagantly designed hallway made to look as if it were done in marble On theme: The two songstresses swanned across a set of chessboard tiles after descending a pair of curved staircases were set against some classical-style statuary Set dressing: On the walls were several paintings of both Christina and Latto, designed to be a cheeky pastiche of Renaissance artworks Living the life: At one point, the ad even saw them floating along a manmade canal in a gondola while chowing down on Just Eat food deliveries What if?: 'The vocals you gave were simply marvelous!!!!!' squealed one fan in the comments. 'You need to collaborate in a full song' Praise: 'Yaaaaaaaaas!' exclaimed another fan, while a third blared: 'IN LOVE WITH THIS,' and still another said wistfully: 'Im sad this is just a promo' 'No pun intended': 'Should've got @nickiminaj instead of that other girl,' one commenter wrote, adding by way of compliment: 'Christina ate though' Not all the commenters were so enthusiastic, however, with one qualifying his praise: 'Vocals amazing but I wish the same effort was put into her own art.' 'Girl, we wanted a new song not a new ad campaign,' moaned one fan with a crying iemoji, and another opined that Katy Perry's Just Eat commercial last year 'was better than this and definitely was catchier.' 'Should've got @nickiminaj instead of that other girl,' one commenter wrote, adding by way of compliment: 'Christina ate though. No pun intended.' Others were more openly contemptuous of the ad, such as one who wrote: 'This should be SO beneath you. I don't know what to think.' 'This is the lamest song,' another commenter wrote. 'I mean, is this an ad for Uber eats? I hope you got paid, in money, not food.' Helen Skelton insists she won't cut her ex-husband Richie Myler completely out of her life despite being left totally shocked by the rugby player leaving her for another woman. The television presenter, 40, announced her split from England and Leeds Rhinos rugby league star Richie, 33, in April last year. And, while she was left devastated by the break-up she says she wants to keep the sportsman in her life to a certain extent for the sake of her children. Helen, who shares sons Ernie, eight, Louis, six, and 22-month-old daughter Elsie with Richie, has opened up about her love life in her new autobiography In My Stride, in which she wrote according to The Sun: 'I was in shock. 'I know that following break-ups, people often say they didnt see it coming and it sounds like a cliche, but that was me.' Staying strong: Helen Skelton insists she won't cut her ex-husband Richie Myler out of her life despite being left totally shocked by the rugby player leaving her for another woman End of the road: The television presenter, 40, announced her split from England and Leeds Rhinos rugby league star Richie, 33, in April last year Despite her hurt she will ensure Richie is a constant in her life so her children always have a father figure. And she is refusing to delete pictures of herself and Richie taken during the happy times they shared together which she has posted on social media. She insists: 'I want them to know that we loved each other, but things change and thats OK too.' Helen was so distraught after her split from Richie that she was unable to tell her parents at first. She claims she kept it a secret from them for some time as she did not want to 'inflict' pain on them. But when her father noticed her spending a lot of time on her own with her children at her marital home, he surprised her with a visit from Cumbria. Helen wrote: 'He immediately stepped in, knowing I needed him, even though I didnt want to admit it.' Since his split from Helen, Richie has gone on to have a baby with new girlfriend Stephanie Thirkill, 32, the daughter of Leeds Rhinos president Andrew. Family: Helen, who shares sons Ernie, eight, Louis, six, and 22-month-old daughter Elsie with Richie, wants the sportsman as a constant in her life so their children have a father figure And Helen put the home she once shared with Richie on the market this summer before moving to Cumbria. Former Strictly Come Dancing star Helen and Richie married in 2013 and moved into their Yorkshire property together seven years later. The ex couple poured cash into a various renovations on the property until they split last year. Months later, Helen appeared on Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House and said she'd 'sold a load of stuff' as she cleared her life out. Meanwhile, it was recently reported Helen is dating again, one year after her 'trust was broken' by Richie. She is now 'reluctantly dipping her toe back into the dating pool', with a source telling OK! magazine: 'After her trust was broken, she's nowhere near ready for an all-in long-term romance. 'But she's not closing herself off to anything anymore. 'She's open to new adventures in all respects and is making it her aim to say 'yes' to more things that excite her.' Married At First Sight UK's Shona and Brad have been axed following a series of 'toxic' rows over the past few episodes. During Wednesday's episode of the E4 show, the married couple were told by experts Paul C Brunson and Mel Schilling they were getting booted off the show due to the level of toxicity in their relationship. But viewers were left rather confused when the pair vowed to 'try and make things work', even though they were told to leave the show for good. Paul made the brutal telling that the pair were axed which didn't go down well, with Shona and Brad insisting they really wanted to stay. Shona said: I don't want to go yet, guys. In the past I have ran, but I really want to stay.' Gone: Married At First Sight UK 's Shona and Brad have been axed during Thursday night's episode following a series of 'toxic' rows over the past few episodes Baffled: But viewers were left rather confused when the pair vowed to 'try and make things work', even though they were told to leave the show for good But Paul stressed that the 'intensity' of the relationship rows was too much of a strain on the marriage. Despite Shona pleading for another chance to stay, Brad said: 'Leaving is the best option for us to give us a chance. I feel caged, that's why it has become toxic'. As the group finally understood it could be the right thing to do, Shona said: He [Brad] has things he needs to work on, I need things I need to work on. I believe it is the right decision to go. 'This is what we have to do and it's a sign of growth. We are willing to give it a shot. Yes we have had toxic moments but the whole thing hasn't been like that.' Fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote: 'I didnt realise they were leaving the process with the intention of carrying on with their relationship.' 'Yes they need to go. Its emotionally abusive, toxic and unhealthy.' 'Wait hold on this is the first time the experts have told a couple to leave. Brad & Shona must be even more toxic that we ain't seeing'. Since quitting the E4 show, Brad has accused TV producers of turning him into a villain as he reveals: 'I was deeply unhappy filming the show.' Axed: The married couple were told by experts Paul C Brunson and Mel Schilling they were getting booted off the show due to the level of toxicity in their relationship Begging: Paul made the brutal telling that the pair were axed which didn't go down well, with Shona and Brad insisting they really wanted to stay Sad: Shona said: I don't want to go yet, guys. In the past I have ran, but I really want to stay' 'Toxic': But Paul stressed that the 'intensity' of the relationship rows was too much of a strain on the marriage Opinions: Fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote: 'I didnt realise they were leaving the process with the intention of carrying on with their relationship' Ready to go: Despite Shona pleading for another chance to stay, Brad said: 'Leaving is the best option for us to give us a chance. I feel caged, that's why it has become toxic' Left: As the group finally understood it could be the right thing to do, Shona said: He [Brad] has things he needs to work on, I need things I need to work on. I believe it is the right decision to go' Speaking out: The model was slammed on his time in the series after displaying 'controlling' and 'coercive' behaviour towards Shona Unfair: Brad believes viewers saw unfairly edited scenes featuring the couple as footage of them 'laughing' and 'joking' failed to make the cut, and he feels producers wanted to portray a negative narrative Brad believes viewers saw unfairly edited scenes featuring the couple as footage of them 'laughing' failed to make the cut, and he feels producers wanted to portray a negative narrative The model was slammed on his time in the series after displaying 'controlling' and 'coercive' behaviour towards Shona. However, Brad believes viewers saw unfairly edited scenes featuring the couple as footage of them 'laughing' and 'joking' failed to make the cut, and he feels producers wanted to portray a negative narrative. And he also admits watching the series has been 'difficult' given he was in a dark place while filming but has no issue with his former wife who he describes as 'a great girl.' Brad said: 'All they've shown is me and Shona all over each other physically or arguing, what an anti-climax that is but it's also great TV.' 'That aside, we had some great laughs, we had some great conversations, we were really connecting. There was a lot more depth there. 'But the narrative they wanted to play was if you jump too quickly into something this is how hard it crashes and you've got the experts there who give their guidance, that's all part of that narrative.' He added: 'I've been portrayed as an absolute villain.' Grimsby-born Brad's marriage appeared to be one of the strongest on the show, but fellow newlyweds didn't believe their relationship was genuine, which upset wife Shona. Hit: Brad was slammed by the show's experts for saying he 'allowed' Shona to feel desired emotions, leading some viewers to label him a 'bully', 'narcissistic' and 'controlling' Reflecting: Watching the footage back, Brad admits he was in a 'dark place' and says he was desperate to make things work with Shona, even though he now admits their connection wasn't strong He claims his sudden exit from the show was down to concerns over his mental health rather than the alleged behaviour he demonstrated towards Shona In one of the series' infamous dinner parties, Brad angrily reacted to Shona's frustration regarding others doubting their credentials, telling her to 'shut up.' And during the next episode's commitment ceremony, he was slammed by the show's experts for saying he 'allowed' Shona to feel desired emotions, leading some viewers to label him a 'bully', 'narcissistic' and 'controlling.' He said: 'If you knew me personally, you would know I'd never ever do that. I would never control anybody. What would I get from it?' Watching the footage back, Brad admits he was in a 'dark place' and says he was desperate to make things work with Shona, even though he now admits their connection wasn't strong. And he claims his exit from the show was down to concerns over his mental health. Brad confirmed for the first time he is in a new relationship with bridal model Hollie Baldwin, as revealed by MailOnline this week. On new girlfriend Hollie, he added: 'We couldn't be happier. I've never felt a connection better than what I've got with Hollie.' Brad didn't confirm whether he is still in touch with Shona, who has yet to speak in depth about their relationship, but he speaks of her highly. Split: Grimsby-born Brad's marriage appeared to be one of the strongest on the show, but fellow newlyweds didn't believe their relationship was genuine, which upset wife Shona New flame: Brad wants viewers to know the real him and confirmed for the first time he is in a new relationship with bridal model Hollie Baldwin, as revealed by MailOnline this week He said: 'The person I was matched with she's a great girl, I haven't got a bad word to say about her, she's such a warming light soul. 'We'd led different walks of life, I'd gone through different life challenges and then maybe she had, and I had a different perspective of the world that she had, we had clashes of heads at some points 'Bear in mind there's hours and hours of filming and they only showing snippets, some real short snippets 'Frustrations are really amplified in there, everything projected from me is trying to help, I would always help and guide, and that can come across as patronising and controlling to some people. 'It's like I've experienced more, so I can give you this wisdom but that's never how it's intended to come across.' Interview With The Vampire Rating: Cobra: Rebellion Rating: Soft porn, song and dance, dodgy special effects and a blood-soaked massacre in a church that becomes the prelude to gay ecstasy... Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt didn't give us any of that. The Hollywood duo starred as undead antagonists Lestat and Louis in the 1994 adaptation of author Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Though they raised a daughter together, there was no hint of a homosexual frisson between them perish the thought. But this hilariously pretentious remake of Interview With The Vampire (BBC2), starring Sam Reid as the dissolute French ghoul and Jacob Anderson as the New Orleans pimp who falls for him, is very different. For a start, it's set in 1910, not 1790. For another thing, Louis is mixed race, which is used as an excuse for depicting frequent racism and bigoted language. This hilariously pretentious remake of Interview With The Vampire (BBC2), starring Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson is nothing like the original It's the most breathtakingly dreadful costume drama since that court-of-the-Sun-King thing, Versailles, and I can't wait for the next episode But most of all, though it thinks it's being romantic and shocking, this Interview ends up more camp than Bela Lugosi and Peter Cushing dancing the fandango on Strictly. A series of set-piece scenes clash wildly in tone. The first has brothel-owner Louis trying to placate a boorish customer who got into a fight with one of the girls. We know the punter has been injured because blood is spurting from his head, as though he has a water pistol hidden in his ear. Later, a cheery lamplighter goes about his duty on a Louisiana boulevard. It's meant to be Storyville, the red light district, but it looks more like The Street Where She Lives from My Fair Lady. There's much chirpy whistling and then... whoosh, munch-munch-munch, Lestat the vampire gets him. Louis and his brother Paul put on a display of tap-dancing (1930s-style, but that's quibbling) at a family wedding. Then they climb up on a roof, very obviously in a studio, and watch the Technicolor sunset. It all looks like a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, until Paul abruptly tires of life and jumps to his death. Lestat, Louis and a girl called Lily (Najah Bradley) enjoy a languid threesome, so languid that Lily dozes off (honestly, you can't blame her). At this point, the less-than-subtle metaphor equating blood-sucking to gay sex becomes blatant, and the two chaps float into the air, entwined. Their love is consummated once more on the altar of a Catholic cathedral, after Lestat has punched his fist right through a priest's head, which Louis finds irresistible. This tale is related by Louis, a century later, to a journalist called Molloy (Eric Bogosian). We know Molloy must be a Great Writer, because he looks like Norman Mailer and says things like, 'Honesty is not a tactic.' This turgid political drama, about a flip-flopping Prime Minister (Robert Carlyle) and his adoring chief of staff (Victoria Hamilton) who runs the country for him, is simply forgettable (Pictured above right with Marsha Thomason, David Haig, Victoria Hamilton and Robert Carlyle) Set in Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, where ministers gather to watch national crises unfolding on big screens, the pattern never changes All in all, it's the most breathtakingly dreadful costume drama since that court-of-the-Sun-King thing, Versailles, and I can't wait for the next episode. Cobra: Rebellion (Sky Max) doesn't even have the distinction of being so bad it's unmissable. This turgid political drama, about a flip-flopping Prime Minister (Robert Carlyle) and his adoring chief of staff (Victoria Hamilton) who runs the country for him, is simply forgettable. Set in Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, where ministers gather to watch national crises unfolding on big screens, the pattern never changes. The PM is indecisive in the face of catastrophe, his wife is cross because he's late for dinner again, their daughter Ellie (Marisa Abela) is getting herself into all sorts of trouble, and the government consists entirely of frightfully posh people stabbing each other in the back. This time, a village Up North has fallen into a sinkhole created by railway excavations and tunnelling eco-warriors and Ellie is in one of those tunnels. Do I care? Not at all. Old softie of the night: With a face like crumpled newspaper, James Bolam was perfect as one of those grumpy Dales farmers always found in All Creatures Great And Small (Ch5). Of course he was too kind-hearted to see Blossom, his favourite cow, go to the knacker's yard. Penny Lancaster continued to walk with crutches as she joined husband Rod Stewart at a star-studded Jimmy Choo bash at the luxury brand's academy in London's Mayfair on Thursday. The blonde beauty, 52, who recently revealed she had suffered a torn meniscus on her right knee, made it a family affair with son Alistair, 17, and his girlfriend Eloise Darlington also tagging along. Penny opted for an androgynous look with a cream blazer which she layered over a shirt, tie and smart trousers. She added a little glamour to the ensemble with pendant earrings and a pair of comfy black boots, adorned with silver stud detailing. Meanwhile Sir Rod, 78, cut a stylish figure in his own monochrome pin-striped ensemble which he wore with a pair of snazzy zebra print dress shoes. Family affair: Penny Lancaster, 52 (far L) joined husband Rod Stewart, 78,(far R) son Alistair, 17 (R) and his girlfriend Eloise Darlington (L) at a star-studded Jimmy Choo bash at the luxury brand's academy in London's Mayfair on Thursday Style: The former model, 52, opted for an androgynous look with a cream blazer which she layered over a shirt, tie and smart trousers The rocker teased a glimpse of his hairy chest thanks to his white shirt which was worn open and a string of pearls around his neck. Meanwhile model Alistair, 17, followed in his famous father footsteps and donned a matching blazer. The striking teen however decided to dress a little less consciously and forwent matching trousers opting instead for all black with pricey Dolce & Gabbana belt. Girlfriend Eloise was the epitome of chic as she too dressed in black, adding a pop of colour with gold accessories. The group appeared in high spirts as they posed for snaps before heading heading into swanky event. Other guests included Love Island's Gemma Owen, designer Jeff Banks and socialite Lady Victoria Hervey. The evening saw seven students from the academy present their collections over the swanky building's seven floors. Stephen Smith, Founder and CEO of the Jimmy Choo Academy said: 'We are so excited to participate in this years' London Frieze Week and where better than to host in our beautiful Mayfair campus at 20 Hanover Square'. Chic: She added a little glamour to the ensemble with pendant earrings and a pair of comfy black boots, adorned with silver stud detailing Stylish! Meanwhile Sir Rod cut a stylish figure in his own monochrome pin-striped ensemble which he wore with a pair of snazzy zebra print dress shoes Old school: The rocker (right) teased a glimpse of his hairy chest thanks to his white shirt which was worn open (pictured with Alistair, left) Boys: Meanwhile model Alistair followed in his famous father footsteps and donned a matching blazer Low key: The striking teen however decided to dress a little less consciously and forwent matching trousers opting instead for all black with pricey Dolce & Gabbana belt Growing fast!Alistair towered over his famous father Gorgeous: Penny accentuated her features with a light dusting of make-up and swept her blonde tresses into a ponytail Perfection: Eloise (R) was the epitome of chic in all black, adding a pop of colour with gold accessories Fashion: She toted her essentials for the evening in an ultra stylish Chanel bag Chilly? The hitmaker wrapped a white scarf around his neck Say cheese! The group appeared in high spirts as they posed for snaps before heading heading into swanky event 'Our learners were previewed during an amazing charity ICON show during London Fashion Week and we now get to see their launch collections. The JCA show is truly the interconnection between arts and business given we have been able to incubate our graduating cohort, from idea to final presentation'. Last summer, Alastair made his modelling debut when he stared in an advertising campaign in Italy at the age of just 16, after signing a deal with luxury clothing label Palm Angels. My little brother has his own billboard in Milan, gushed his half-sister, Ruby Stewart, 36, after seeing huge images of him plastered all over the worlds fashion capital. Alastair is is one of eight children Rod Stewart has with five women, and has been married three times. Sir Rod has previously spoken about how close he is to three of his exes: actress Alana Stewart, and models Kelly Emberg and Rachel Hunter. Guests: (L-R) Ha Smith, Alastair Wallace Stewart, Sir Rod Stewart and Stephen Smith Dressed to impress: Former Love Island star Gemma Owen oozed sophistication in a silk key-hole top and high-waisted trousers Glam: She wore her brunette tresses loose and let them tumble past her shoulders Sparkly: Lady Victoria Hervey commanded attention in a dramatic gold sequinned mini dress Golden girl: The frock featured an assumertical neckline with shoulder pad and a draped panel from her waist Suited and booted: Designer Jeff Banks also made an appearance Rainy weather: Rod didn't let the rain dampen his spirits as he headed out of Annabel's Helping hand: His pal held out an umbrella to protect his signature mullet from the downpour Night owl: Rob appeared in great spirits as he headed home after a night out Happy: Rob posed for a selfie Partying into the early hours: The Maggie May hitmaker looked like he had a blast at the event Rod and Penny have been married since 2007 and share two children, Alastair and his younger brother Aiden, 12. Rod also shares children Kimberly Stewart and Sean Stewart with first wife Alana. They were married for five years from 1979 until 1984. In addition, Rob has daughter Renee Stewart and son Liam Stewart with his second wife Rachel Hunter, to whom he was married from 1990 until 1999 before eventually divorcing in 2006. The rock star is also father to Ruby Stewart, from a relationship with model Kelly Emberg, who he dated from 1983-1990. Rod's first child - Sarah Streeter from his romance with then-art student Susannah Boffey - was given up for adoption after he fathered her at age 18. Jodie Turner-Smith was spotted on a solo outing in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 37-year-old actress put on a stylish display as she stepped out in denim coveralls paired with metallic silver accessories for a shopping trip in West Hollywood. This comes amid the shocking announcement that the Independent star and Joshua Jackson, 45, have split after four years of marriage. Just days earlier, the Dawson's Creek actor appeared forlorn as he was spotted picking up moving supplies following the news that Turner-Smith had filed for divorce. The White Noise alumna who married Jackson in 2019 shirked their marital woes by going on a solo shopping trip and showing off her chic style while doing so. Solo outing: Jodie Turner-Smith was spotted on a solo outing in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 37-year-old actress put on a stylish display as she stepped out in denim coveralls paired with metallic silver accessories for a shopping trip in West Hollywood The model looked stunning as she made the streets her runway and showed off a pair of eye-catching metallic sneakers and a silver shoulder bag. She was also seen carrying a water bottle as well as her cell phone as she strolled casually down the street. To shield her eyes from the sun, she donned a pair of slim, rectangular shades. She also appeared to be sporting a minimal-to-no-makeup look to showcase her natural beauty. For other accessories, she sported a silver, chain-linked bracelet and, most noticeably, no rings at all. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Turner-Smith had filed for divorce after she 'decided she is done' with her 'unhealthy' marriage to Jackson. According to reports, their date of separation is listed as September 13 just a day after they attended a New York Fashion Week event together. The former couple share one child daughter Juno Rose Diana, three together. Effortlessly chic: The model looked stunning as she made the streets her runway and showed off a pair of eye-catching metallic sneakers and a silver shoulder bag. For other accessories, she sported a silver, chain-linked bracelet and, most noticeably, no rings at all Shocking split: This comes amid the shocking announcement that the Independent star and Joshua Jackson, 45, have split after four years of marriage Filed for divorce: Earlier this month, it was revealed that Turner-Smith had filed for divorce after she 'decided she is done' with her 'unhealthy' marriage to Jackson. The former couple share one child daughter Juno Rose Diana, three together Earlier this month, a source close to the pair told People that they had been growing apart recently as the quality of their marriage allegedly deteriorated. 'They are on very different paths in life,' the source claimed. 'It turned into an unhealthy marriage that made her unhappy.' The insider also said that despite their split, the pair will continue to co-parent their daughter, whose name was revealed to be Juno Rose Diana Jackson in the divorce filing. 'They want her to continue to thrive,' the source added. According to TMZ, Turner-Smith cited 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for the split and requested joint custody of their child. Frozen actor Jonathan Groff came out as gay to his brother after being reduced to tears by the sight of Michelangelo's David. Then just 23 years old, Jonathan was traveling through Italy on holiday after concluding his run in Spring Awakening, the musical that made him a Broadway star. His dashed around the country sightseeing, making his final solo stop in Florence before heading to Rome, where he would be with his brother. While strolling through the Accademia, he was struck by the display of Michelangelo's unfinished sculptures, which seemed to him to be 'constricted, like they're straining to be released from the marble and fighting for air.' Then, he told Conde Nast Traveler, he came upon the sight of the 'perfect, liberated' Statue Of David, which induced him to free himself by telling his brother the truth. Turning point: Frozen actor Jonathan Groff came out as gay to his brother after being reduced to tears by the sight of Michelangelo's David Iconic: He told Conde Nast Traveler he came upon the sight of the 'perfect, liberated' Statue Of David, which induced him to free himself by telling his brother the truth 'I started crying and wondered, What is it about this naked man that makes me so emotional?' the Hamilton heartthrob wrote. 'Afterward, I sat in a piazza, journaling, thinking about how nobody here knew or cared about me, and I decided to come out to my brother - who is also named David - the next day,' Jonathan recalled, dishing: 'Only my roommate knew I was gay, because he was also my secret boyfriend.' At Saby's restaurant in the Campo de' Fiori in Rome, Jonathan resolved to tell his brother, but was quivering with dread. 'My hands were shaking; my voice was hoarse from talking, because I hadn't spoken to anyone in seven days. But David also seemed nervous,' said Jonathan. 'He said, "Jonathan, there's something I need to talk to you about." He told me all about this girl that he was in love with, who is now his wife. 'It was like he was coming out to me, because we'd never talked about relationships or sex or love in our entire lives as brothers,' Jonathan revealed. 'He teed it up perfectly, and once he gave me all of the details, he said: "This is the first time I've ever felt this, and I'm wondering, What about you?"' Jonathan then 'shared everything with him. We just showed all of ourselves to each other. It never could have happened anywhere else.' Together again: At the time of his trip, Jonathan had just shot to fame on Broadway in Spring Awakening opposite Lea Michele, whom he is pictured reuniting with last year Shortly afterwards, Jonathan was linked to his fellow Broadway actor Gavin Creel, and his love life in the intervening time has included Star Trek star Zachary Quinto. Jonathan first shot to fame on Broadway in the 2006 musical Spring Awakening opposite rising starlet Lea Michele. Lea and Jonathan reunited when he achieved TV notoriety during his recurring guest run on Glee, where she was part of the principal cast. Since then he has made his presence felt in a number of high-profile projects including the Disney film Frozen and the original Broadway cast of Hamilton. Abbie Chatfield has revealed how she's voting in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum. In a lengthy post, the podcaster, 28, said she was voting Yes after spending the past year researching both sides of the debate. The former Bachelor star also admitted that it was hard for her 'as a white person' to even vote because it should only include First Nations people. She went on to say that she's been 'looking into how First Nations people will be voting' by speaking to her friends, watching debates, following polls, and actively searching for varied Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices on social media. 'I just wanted to vote the way that would represent First Nations people,' she said. Media personality Abbie Chatfield has revealed how she's voting in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum The podcaster, 28, said she was voting Yes after spending the past year researching both sides of the debate 'I understand as a white person I will never have a complete understanding of indigenous issues, no matter how much "research" I do, and First Nations people are not homogenous by any means,' she continued. 'This is why the content that I have been sharing has been information that I feel most directly and clearly shows the views of those who will be affected by the referendum.' Abbie added that it's not her place 'as a white person to prioritise my opinion over indigenous voices'. After explaining that she had also listened to progressive No voters and can 'completely acknowledge their points', she ultimately decided to vote Yes. It comes just days after the No campaign released shocking new data on how Indigenous people intend to vote, throwing into doubt a major claim made by the Yes campaign. The former Bachelor star also admitted in a lengthy post that it was hard for her 'as a white person' to even vote because it should only include First Nations people READ MORE: Stan Grant unleashes on Australia ahead of the Voice referendum calling it a 'mean country' with an 'absence of kindness' The former Q+A host called Australia a 'mean country' in a podcast ahead of the Voice referendum Advertisement The Yes23 campaign has repeatedly said 80 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people support the Voice, a figure which has also been used by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. But the No camp said its internal polling for First Nations people shows support for the referendum is far lower than the Yes side claims. In a poll in February it found Indigenous support for the Voice was at 60 per cent - at a time when the overall support in the general community was almost the exact same, at 59 per cent. By May, the number of Indigenous people backing the Voice had fallen to 57 per cent, and to 54 per cent among all Australians, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The 80 per cent figure is based on polls from January and March taken by Ipsos and YouGov, which found support for the Voice among Indigenous Australians at 80 per cent and 83 per cent respectively. A No camp spokesman said its figures, of support ranging from 57 to 60 per cent, rather than 80 to 83 per cent, 'blow away the Yes campaign's assertion that Indigenous Australians overwhelmingly support the Voice it's not true'. 'It's a lie that has propped up their campaign for months. The experience on the ground is clear Indigenous Australians are just as divided over the Voice as everyone else.' The Prime Minister said he believes the Yes campaign can win The No camp's polling was done online, which 'skews towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have access to the internet' and 'does not include face-to-face in remote communities'. But the Ipsos and YouGov polls were also conducted online. Early polling stations opened in some states on Monday, and were all open across Australia by Tuesday due to some jurisdictions having a public holiday. Like around 2.2million Australians, Mr Albanese has already voted in the referendum, doing so on Saturday in his home electorate of Marrickville in Sydney's inner west. 'Yes for recognition, Yes for listening, Yes for better outcomes,' Mr Albanese wrote in a social media post, accompanied by a photo of him putting his vote into the ballot box alongside his son Nathan. If the Yes vote is successful, the Voice will provide an avenue for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to advise the government on policy and legislation issues that directly impact them. The most recent Newspoll suggested the Yes vote would fail 36 to 56 per cent. READ MORE: Sunrise host Matt Shirvington confronts Anthony Albanese about huge problem for The Voice - before Albo blasts 'arrogance' of the No camp Matt 'Shirvo' Shirvington and co-host Nat Barr grilled the Prime Minister on Friday Advertisement Meanwhile, Australia's former chief justice Robert French KC says Australians are 'better than' abiding by the No campaigns slogan 'if you don't know, vote no,' in an address to the National Press Club on Friday. 'It invites us to a resentful, uninquiring passivity. Australians - whether they vote Yes or No - are better than that,' he said. 'We look forward. We can also look back to better understand where we have come from and where we are now.' The overwhelming majority of legal experts in Australia say the proposed amendment Australians are voting on is constitutionally sound and would 'enhance' the system of government, Mr French said. Daily Mail Australia contacted the Yes23 campaign, but it declined to comment. Total War: Pharaoh (PC, 49.99) Verdict: The ruling dynasty Rating: It's been a pharaoh time since we've had a Total War game like this. Sorry. Dreadful pun. But the point stands: it has indeed been a fair old time since we've had a Total War game in the style of Total War: Pharoah. Almost a decade, by my reckoning. In those years, the Total War series has gone wild in the crazy fantasy world of Warhammer, it's gone narrative-heavy in its offshoot Saga titles, but there hasn't been a new, big, nerdy, strategic-historical title since 2015's Attila. Until now, of course. Pharoah is classic Total War an expansive campaign map, all ancient Egypt and its environs, from which you jump into individual pitched battles though it has learnt a lot from the more recent titles, particularly when it comes to storytelling. It's been a pharaoh time since we've had a Total War game like this. Almost a decade, by my reckoning Here, the tales you can weave in between all the fighting of young rulers and would-be usurpers are tremendously compelling. As is the setting of Pharoah, which is perhaps the best of any Total War game. This is a time of collapse and threat, several thousand years BC, and it's drawn absolutely beautifully. But if there's one thing that's starting to feel a bit old in Total War, it's the warring itself. The battles have received several improvements in Pharoah, including some impressive weather effects The setting of Pharoah is perhaps the best of any Total War game. This is a time of collapse and threat, several thousand years BC, and it's drawn absolutely beautifully The battles have received several improvements in Pharoah, including some impressive weather effects, but it can still be hard to tell whether your careful strategies and tactics actually make a difference. Sometimes, clever placement of your troops seems to achieve nothing. Sometimes, clicking randomly seems to achieve victory. Still, whatever gives me a pharaoh shot at becoming Pharaoh Payday 3 (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, 34.99) Verdict: Cutdown crime Rating: Much like Payday 2 (or, for that matter, the original Payday), this has you and three online buddies conducting the heists of a Hollywood film producer's dreams How's this for a game of cops and robbers? Or perhaps I should say robbers and cops? Because the focus of Payday 3 is very much on the unlawful side of that eternal conflict. Much like Payday 2 (or, for that matter, the original Payday), this has you and three online buddies conducting the heists of a Hollywood film producer's dreams. Tool up, sneak in, get spotted, storm out guns ablazin'. So what's different this time? Quite a lot, certainly in comparison to Payday 2, which in the decade since its launch in 2013 has burgeoned into a cornucopia of criminality. Lots of different modes, lots of new heists, lots of promotional crossovers with other games and movies. So what's different this time? Quite a lot, certainly in comparison to Payday 2 which in the decade since its launch in 2013 has burgeoned into a cornucopia of criminality Tool up, sneak in, get spotted, storm out guns ablazin'. What's here is a confusing game: sublime in particular moments, empty outside of that Payday 3, by contrast, is very stripped back and, to some extent, that's how I like it. This is simply about the heists, which look better, run smoother, and are more satisfying than ever before. When everything's gone south, and you're trying to escape alongside your fellow thieves, all barking at each other through your microphones, it's some of the best gaming I've done all year. But there's stripped-back and there's sparse and, too often, Payday 3 feels like the latter. There are only eight missions here. There isn't even built-in voice chat, meaning that you either have to make alternative arrangements with your friends or, more often, do without the chat altogether. Which doesn't exactly help you to coordinate your master plan. Of course, like Payday 2, it's likely that Payday 3 will grow over the years. So check in with me in 2033. In the meantime, what's here is a confusing game: sublime in particular moments, empty outside of that. Ever since the brand launched in 2009, the Bronx and Banco brand has been adored by celebrities, socialites and sophisticated career women alike. On Thursday, founder Natalie De'Banco rolled out the brand's bridal show held at the Baccarat Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Decked out in a a frilly purple dress, Nicky Hilton Rothschild was among the beauties to attend the event that was filled with an assortment of models all dressed to the nines. The gorgeous number came complete with a two-tone purple design, plunging neckline, cinched in waist, and feathers around each sleeve that hung several feet down. Hilton Rothschild, 40, would also take advantage of the slit along the left side that allowed her to flaunt her left leg at a moments notice, which she took advantage of while parading in front of photographers out front of the luxury hotel. Elegant; Nicky Hilton Rothschild, 40, was the picture of high-fashion elegance when she attended the Bronx And Banco Bridal show at Baccarat Hotel in New York City in a two-tone purple dress adorned with feathers, a slit on the left, and a plunging neckline While striking various poses for the cameras, the socialite, fashion designer and model carried a dark purple clutch purse, all while onlookers on the streets admired all the high-fashion. Some of the people gathering along the bustling streets started snapping photos and videos. The younger sister of Paris Hilton dropped an assortment to poses with her blonde locks styled long, straight and flowing well past her shoulders with a part on the slight left. While still maintaining its elegance, the plunging neckline fell all the way down to near her waistline where the gorgeous garment began to be cinched. Rounding out her ensemble, the daughter of Richard and Kathy Hilton wore a pair of metallic silver heels that gave and an added touch of class and style. The hotel heiress only just celebrated her milestone 40th birthday in style last week in Paris, France 'Could not have asked for a better birthday week in the best city with my best friend! Most epic sisters trip!' she said, in a reference to her sister Paris in the City Of Light. High-fashion: The gorgeous number came complete with a two-tone purple design, plunging neckline, cinched in waist, and feathers around each sleeve that hung several feet down Sexy elegance: While still maintaining its elegance, the plunging neckline fell all the way down to near her waistline where the gorgeous garment began to be cinched While striking various poses for the cameras, the socialite, fashion designer and model carried a dark purple clutch purse, all while onlookers on the streets admired all the high-fashion Taking notice: : People began gathering on the street to get a view of the models and high-profile people like Hilton Rothschild at the event Hilton Rothschild , 40, would also take advantage of the slit along the left side that allowed her to flaunt her left leg at a moments notice Olivia Palermo, 37, was also on hand for the Bronx And Banco Bridal Show parading herself in two different high-fashion outfits. The socialite, model and fashion influencer stunned in a white crochet dress and full-length black shiny boots. The New York City native had her shoulder-length bob pushed back off her ears with a part in the middle. Palmero ended up pulling off a wardrobe change during the event when she reappeared outside the hotel to showcase herself in a black patterned dress and pointed black shoes. While she decided to keep the same hairstyle, the former star of The City did add a few necklaces to her overall look. Chic: Olivia Palermo, 37, stunned in a white crochet dress and full-length black shiny boots Changing it up: Olivia Palermo, 37, showed her versatility by also striking poses in a black-patterned dress Unique: Coco Rocha, 35, was a head turner in a gold-patterned, off-the-shoulder gown Coco Rocha, 35, was a head turner in a gold-patterned, off-the-shoulder gown at the bridal show. The Canadian model also wore open-toe heels, accessorized with a large necklace, and carried a red clutch purse for a round of photos outside the hotel. The Bronx and Banco brand quickly garnered a rapid following and serious international retail attention after its launch 14 years ago. Favored by celebrities, the Australian label attracted the likes of Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus, Lizzo, Doja Cat, Mary J. Blige, Megan Fox, Ciara, Megan Thee Stallion, Vanessa Hudgens, Paris Hilton, Normani, Selena Gomez, Halsey, Carrie Underwood, Hailey Steinfeld and models like Winnie Harlow, Amelia Hamlin, Alexandria Ambrosio and Frida Assen. The brand now has offices in New York City, Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia. Fans of the original Frasier series took to social media to lambaste the show's new reboot on Thursday after it premiered on the Paramount+ streaming service. Reactions to the continuation of the hit Kelsey Grammerstarring sitcom ranged from cautiously positive to scathingly negative, with many viewers focused on the glaring differences between the two shows. Many diehard fans of the original version of Frasier didn't mince words about their disappointment with the reboot which had its trailer debut in September with one viewer describing the reboot as 'about as funny as watching your own colonoscopy.' The Turkish film critic Ali Arikan stated that the revived Frasier amounted to 'a dreary encore' and added: 'I'm not even angry, I'm just sad.' However, others were more positive and suggested the reboot could eventually become enjoyable if it improved significantly from the first two episodes, which were released simultanteously. Disappointment: Fans of the original Frasier series took to social media to lambaste the show's new reboot on Thursday after it premiered on Paramount+ Ouch: Many diehard fans of the original version of Frasier, which had its trailer debut in September, did not mince words about their disappointment, with one viewer describing the reboot as 'about as funny as watching your own colonoscopy' Missed opportunity: Another viewer stated that the revived Frasier amounted to 'a dreary encore' and added that they were 'not even angry, I'm just sad' Some viewers noted that the reboot seemed to have been filmed different, apparently without a live studio audience, whose organic laughter might have pepped it up a bit. 'The new frasier seems to not have been filmed before a live studio audience. ... fake laughter is brutal,' wrote one viewer. Others had more fundamental complaints about the show, including about Frasier's son Freddie, who is played as an adult by the English actor Jack Cutmore-Scott. 'I hate Freddie on the new #Frasier. What a whiny little bish,' joked one user. Others complained that the adult version of Freddie bore little resemblance to the child version of the character established in the original series, and they thought there was little explanation for why he had changed so much Some Frasier fans didn't qualify their criticisms, with one viewer calling the reboot 'REALLY abysmal.' They assumed the show wasn't long for this world, and they wished that with the money spent on it 'they could have wrapped up #iCarly properly' One fan wrote that, despite its shortcomings, the new version of Frasier still had 'that snooty charm' that made the original show successful. Another wrote that the program was 'a bit bumpy in the beginning (as expected), but this show is actually going to work.' Awkward: Some viewers noted that the reboot seemed to have been filmed different, apparently without a live studio audience, whose organic laughter might have pepped it up a bit In bad company: The same viewer added a comparison to Netflix's The Ranch to flesh out their complaint Not buying it: Another account called the allegedly fake laugh track 'inauthentic' Maybe he has bad vibes: Others had more fundamental complaints about the show, including about Frasier's son Freddie, who is played as an adult by the English actor Jack Cutmore-Scott Poor resemblance: Others complained that the adult version of Freddie bore little resemblance to the child version of the character established in the original series, and they thought there was little explanation for why he had changed so much Tell us what you really think: Others didn't qualify their criticisms, with one viewer calling the reboot 'REALLY abysmal.' They assumed the show wasn't long for this world, and they wished that with the money spent on it 'they could have wrapped up #iCarly properly' Beyond human: It wasn't a good sign for the Frasier reboot that several social media commentators thought that AI must have played a part in writing its scripts Lack of laughs: Another person assumed AI was to blame because the jokes weren't 'hitting' One individual remarked that, although the first episode of the reboot had 'some rough moments,' it improved to the point that viewers would 'forget how antiquated the style is.' They followed up by watching the second episode of the show and proclaiming that it still had 'that snooty charm.' Many critics felt as if the original Frasier had made enough of an impact to have not warranted a reboot, including Jan Moir for DailyMail.com, who wrote that the show 'should have been left to rest in peace.' She added: 'The show's producers, which include Grammer himself, are asking a great deal from the audience; perhaps more than any audience might be willing to give.' Other outlets, including The Hollywood Reporter, were much harsher in their view of the new version of the program. The reboot was written off as 'a franchise extension that primarily feels like just that a franchise extension, rather than a worthwhile creative endeavor in its own right.' However, several others remained restrained in their criticism of the project, and Aramide Tinubu wrote for Variety: 'There is something so charming about dusting off and polishing up a past relic that makes it as refreshing as you remembered it.' The New York Times' James Poniewozik called the reboot a 'mediocre, anticlimactic return,' and he noted it was part of a trend of shows being revived that should have been left to rest, as the new version could never live up to the original. For the Hollywood Reporter, Angie Han was kind enough to say the new Frasier 'isn't awful' and was 'good for an occasional chuckle,' but she opined that it was also lacking anything 'especially exciting or interesting.' USA Today's Kelly Lawler gave the show just one out of four stars and called it 'as bad and cringeworthy as you could possibly imagine.' Robert Lloyd gave the show a rare positive review for the Los Angeles Times. He called it 'really quite good' and said it was 'freshly conceived and cast,' it's star excepted. Working it out: One individual remarked that, although the first episode of the reboot had 'some rough moments,' it improved to the point that viewers would 'forget how antiquated the style is' Getting better: Another wrote that the program was 'a bit bumpy in the beginning (as expected), but this show is actually going to work' Getting better: One individual remarked that, although the first episode of the reboot had 'some rough moments,' it improved to the point that viewers would 'forget how antiquated the style is' Working on it: Development on the rebooted version of Frasier began in the mid-2010s, and it was officially greenlit in 2021 Lucy Mangan was also positive on Frasier for The Guardian, giving it four out of five stars. She praised Grammer for navigating comedy and drama adroitly, and she urged viewers that the series improved dramatically after the first two available episodes once some of the scene setting was taken care of. Development on the rebooted version of Frasier began in the mid-2010s, and it was officially greenlit in 2021. Filming for the series commenced this past February and continued for several months before the project's crew wrapped in May. The new season of Frasier will run for ten episodes, and its finale will air on December 7. Tori Spelling's brother Randy has revealed how the actress is doing after moving into a recreational vehicle following her reported split from husband Dean McDermott. The American lifestyle guru, 45, said Tori was 'finding her way' after moving out of her family home following a massive mold infestation and into an RV with her five children. 'She's doing wonderful. One thing I'll say about Tori is she's creative, she's inventive, she's strong and she's resilient,' Randy said. 'Some people where I live would say being in an RV would be a vacation but then it gets sort of thrown out that there's homelessness.' Randy continued: 'We all struggle at times and she's finding her way. She's incredibly creative, strong and she's doing well right now.' Tori Spelling's brother Randy said the actress is 'strong and finding her way' amid money woes and 'split' from husband Dean McDermott after 18 years Tori and her five children - Liam, 16, Stella, 15, Hattie, 11, Finn, 10, and Beau, six - had to move out of their home after they discovered a massive mold infestation in May. The brood were soon pictured staying in a $100-a-night roadside motel, before they moved into a trailer. The move came just one month before it was revealed Tori and her husband Dean's marriage had ended. They tied the knot in 2006 but the troubled marriage appeared to be headed for an end on June 16 after the actor claimed on Instagram that they had split after 18 years - before the post was quickly deleted. He said that they 'would continue to work together as loving parents' to 'guide and love their children through this difficult time' and asked for 'privacy' as they 'take time' to 'work their way through it. The American lifestyle guru, 45, said Tori was 'finding her way' after moving out of her family home following a massive mold infestation and into an RV with her five children The move came just one month before it was revealed Tori and her husband Dean's marriage had ended Last month, Tori also confirmed that she had been hospitalized, sharing a photo of her hand hooked up to an IV on her Instagram Stories, which she captioned, 'Fourth day here and I'm missing my kiddos so much.' 'Grateful and so proud of my strong, brave, resilient and kind-to-the-core children, who remain positive no matter what comes my way,' she added. The hospital band revealed that she had been first admitted on August 17, which was the same day that she was seen filming a mystery project in Los Angeles. While it's unclear what caused her to be under medical care for half a week, Tori had previously spoken about an ongoing mold infestation inside her home that had made her kids 'so sick' for 'weeks.' Kate Walsh just turned 56. And the Hollywood actress proved she only gets better with age on Friday. The Grey's Anatomy star, who moved to Perth, Australia in 2020, looked incredibly youthful as she posed a in a plunging top to celebrate her birthday during a tropical island getaway. Kate also donned a hat made from tropical leaves and flowers in the image as well as a lei around her neck. It comes just days after Perth GP Deb Cohen-Jones shared an image of Kate in a leather cut-out dress at a restaurant in the city. Kate Walsh just turned 56 and the Hollywood actress proved she only gets better with age on Friday as she celebrated her birthday. The Grey's Anatomy star looked incredibly youthful as she posed a in a plunging top to celebrate her birthday during a tropical island getaway Kate and Deb along with two other friends enjoyed a dinner out for her special day. Kate is a fixture around Perth's social scene, attending Vogue Codes In Conversation breakfast in August in the city. She spoke to Vogue Australia's Edwina McCann about Hollywood and beyond, and her experiences as a woman in the world's most powerful industry. The actress relocated to Australia in 2020 after getting engaged to Western Australian farmer, Andrew Nixon. She recently revealed she had fallen in love with Australia's laid back lifestyle and was happy to call Perth home. It comes just days after Perth GP Deb Cohen-Jones shared an image of Kate (left) in a leather cut-out dress at a restaurant in the city Kate is a fixture around Perth's social scene, attending Vogue Codes In Conversation breakfast in August in the city. Pictured Kate relocated Down Under in 2020 after getting engaged to Western Australian farmer Andrew Nixon. Both pictured 'I really love Western Australia I think nature here eclipses everything. It drives me,' she told news.com.au. 'I like the slowness. It's really good for me. And then you go back overseas and you're like, "Oh my god. People are insane".' she added. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell looked like every inch the adoring couple...in the first official image from their upcoming romcom, Anyone But You. The A-list celebs play former college nemeses in the film slated to premiere on December 15. However, fans have been more entranced by the on-set romance rumors between the 26-year-old Euphoria starlet and the 34-year-old Top Gun: Maverick hunk. After weeks of speculation further fueled by Glen splitting with his model girlfriend, Gigi Paris Sydney finally shot down the rumors during a tell-all interview with Variety, saying 'Its a rom-com. Thats what people want!' She added that 'Glen and I don't really care.' Enemies to lovers: Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell are seen in the first image from their upcoming romcom Anyone But You...after months of onset romance rumors All for show: The White Lotus leading lady refuted the rumors during an interview with Variety, claiming that she and Glen didn't care about speculation that they had a romance behind the scenes while filming Anyone But You Further reiterating that she was just friends with the Devotion star, Sydney added that 'We have so much fun together, and we respect each other so much; hes such a hard worker, and Im a hard worker.' 'Were excited for the press tour [the interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike], and I literally just left ADR with him. We talk all the time like, "Thats really funny,' the blonde beauty quipped. Despite the pair continually denying any possibility of a romance, fans of the two Hollywood heavyweights found such statements hard to believe after the rom-com co-stars were spotted spending a lot of time together in Australia...when they weren't filming scenes. A production member on the film even relayed that many of the workers on set 'thought they were already a couple.' They continued with 'I knew him from Top Gun. But I just assumed they were a couple in real life. That's what it looked like to most of us. And to some of the extras as well.' Although the 6'0 heartthrob did break up with his girlfriend while filming Anyone But You, with Gigi even unfollowing the Madame Webb star, Sydney is still very much together with her fiance, Jonathan Davino, 38. The pair have looked more loved up than ever recently, with Sydney and Jonathan even joining Riverdale star Lili Reinhart on a double date with her boyfriend Jack Martin while the foursome were vacationing in Venice back in September. A source told TMZ back in April that the curvaceous beauty was 'still engaged,' to the Chicago restaurateur and that Glen and Sydney were 'not dating.' The same insider verified that Jonathan and his sex symbol fiancee were still living together as well, despite theories to the contrary. We are family: Many cast and crew on the set of Anyone But You assumed Sydney and Glen were dating given how close they were from day one on set Just friends: Adding further fuel to the fire was the fact that the Everything Sucks starlet was seen joining Glen's family on several outings while the actor's family was visiting him in Australia Look of love: What didn't help matters was how close the two appeared while giving press for their upcoming romcom before the SAG-AFTRA strike; seen in April Just acting: The petite leading lady has emphasized that she is just friends with the blonde hunk, as she is still engaged to Jonathan Davino Scandalous rumors aside, Anyone But You is written and directed by Will Gluck (Friends With Benefits, Easy A). The rom-com will debut in theaters everywhere on December 15. The Washington born beauty also serves as an executive producer on the film. Meanwhile, the single, Austin-born leading man is set to star in Twisters in 2024, his next film project, after Anyone But You drops this year. There was no shortage of celebrity support for the Schiaparelli and Neiman Marcus Cocktail Event at the John Sowden House in Los Angeles on Thursday. For the event, Taraji P. Henson spent a lot of her time with longtime friend, actress Gabrielle Union. Henson oozed elegance in a cream midi dress with a wide cloth trim at the bottom that hugged her womanly curves from top to bottom. The actress matched the striking spaghetti-strap number with a pair of black heels, all while she carried a gorgeous cream purse. Rounding out her overall look, Henson (born Taraji Penda Henson), 53, had her long raven tresses pulled up off her face and into a high ponytail and accessorized with a gold necklace and large hoop earrings. Elegant: Taraji P. Henson, 53, showed off her her high-end fashion sense at the Schiaparelli and Neiman Marcus Cocktail Event at the John Sowden House in Los Angeles on Thursday After striking a number of poses solo, the Empire alum would also snuggle up next to Union, who was decked out in an olive green convertible jumpsuit. The youthful piece helped showcase her fab figure with its shoulder-less design that included the impression of seashells over the chest region. The She's All That actress, 50, also wore a pair of gold shoes, carried a a light blue purse, and had her dark locks pulled up into a ponytail. At times, the two ladies could be seen laughing out loud during their one-on-one conversation. The two ladies have a 20-plus year friendship, and on a couple of occasions have worked together on a film. Both actresses have achieved groundbreaking success in Hollywood and have also thrived in entrepreneurship. Henson made a name for herself starring in Baby Boy (2001) as well as Hustle And Flow (2005), Hidden Figures and the hit Fox drama series Empire (2015-2020). Union became a household name thanks to Bring It On (2000), Deliver Us From Eva (2003) and the BET drama series Being Mary Jane (2013-2019). The two actresses also starred together in Think Like A Man (2012) and Think Like A Man Too (2014). Henson and Union have starred in two films together The two actresses have been friends for more than 20 years Henson was also all smiles when she met up with actress and director Regina King at the event. The Big Bang Theory star looked both stylish and chic in black slacks and a red shoulder-less top that resembled a bustier, but with wide matching trim along the bottom of the top. Some of the other celebrities on hand for the event included Delphine Bellini, Regina King, Demi Moore, Angela Bassett, Shalom Harlow, Scout LaRue Willis, Adria Arjona, Olivia Wilde, Natasha Lyonne, Janicza Bravo, Law Roach, Jeremy O. Harris, Maya Rudolph, Joey King and Chriselle Lim, among others. The partnership between Neiman Marcus and Schiaparelli dates back to 1940 when Maison founder Elsa Schiaparelli won one of the first Neiman Marcus Awards for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion for her significant influence on the industry. Neiman Marcus, in partnership with the French Maison, opens Schiaparelli's first West Coast location in the luxury retailer's Beverly Hills store. Gal pals: Taraji P. Henson and longtime friend Regina King, who were absolutely giddy with excitement, got to hang out much of night together Stylin': King, 52, looked both stylish and chic in black slacks and a red shoulder-less top that resembled a bustier with wide matching trim along the bottom The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button actress also took to her Instagram page on Thursday and shared a series of snaps of herself getting her makeup touched up ahead of the The Lancome x Louvre Dinner in Paris!!' Labeled as a '#Repost from @officialsheiks' in the caption, the photos were a promotion for an Us Weekly cover story titled, 'Go Behind the Scenes As Makeup Artist Sheika Daley Gets Taraji P. Henson Ready For The Lancome x Louvre Gala.' In her latest film, Henson voices the role of Victoria 'Vee' Vance, a meteor expert and a female villain who collaborates with Mayor Humdinger in PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie The computer-animated superhero comedy film has grossed more than $90.5 million against a budget of $30 million since its release on September 29. The sequel to PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021) also features the voices of Mckenna Grace, Marsai Martin, Christian Convery, Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, North West, Saint West, Lil Rel Howery, Serena Williams, James Marsden, Kristen Bell and Finn Lee-Epp. For her next role Henson plays the Shug Avery character in the new film adaption of The Color Purple, alongside Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi. The musical coming-of-age period drama film is the second film adaptation of the novel, following the original of the same name that was directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg and Quincy Jones return to produce this version, along with the stage musical's producers Scott Sanders and Oprah Winfrey, the latter of whom also starred in the 1985 film as Sofia. The Color Purple is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on Christmas Day, December 25 Jools Oliver became emotional as she waved her eldest child Poppy off at the airport to embark on an 'adventure of a lifetime'. The author, 48, and husband Jamie, also 48, said goodbye to Poppy, 21, and her boyfriend Ben as they headed off travelling. It comes after Poppy graduated from Leeds University in July with a degree in English and Creative Writing. Jools took to Instagram to share a few snaps of their goodbye and admitted the farewell was a parenting milestone she didn't enjoy. She wrote: 'Oh my word well that was SO hard another milestone of parenting that I am not that into! Proud mum: Jools Oliver became emotional as she waved her eldest child Poppy off at the airport to embark on an 'adventure of a lifetime' 'Hurry home': The author, 48, and husband Jamie, also 48, said goodbye to Poppy, 21, and her boyfriend Ben as they headed off travelling 'Have the time of your life little pops we are so proud of you and Ben make the most of every single minute and have the adventure of a lifetime. It goes without saying that each and everyone one of us are going to miss you so deeply. 'I have lost my little school run/coffee mates now you and Dase have both almost flown the nest just be safe and happy and look after each other xxx it goes without saying that I am counting down the days till you come home LOVE YOU xxxx'. Jools' followers took to the comment section to say they could relate to the heartache of seeing your child fly the nest. One wrote: 'My coops has just landed in Australia. Totally understand how you feel. Wishing them the best adventures, the best memories. Others said: 'Tracked my eldest around the world using 'find my iPhone' last year! Glad to say he's safely home now!!' 'Empty Nest Syndrome never goes away. I'm 74 and still wish my 4 were little again. But the best is yet to come. Grandchildren.' Poppy graduated from Leeds University in summer and proud mum Jools reflected on her journey in a sweet Instagram post. She wrote: 'What a wonderful, happy extremely emotional day celebrating Poppy's graduation. We have never felt so proud. Travelling adventure: 'Have the time of your life little pops we are so proud of you and Ben make the most of every single minute and have the adventure of a lifetime', she wrote Sympathetic: Jools' followers took to the comment section to say they could relate to the heartache of seeing your child fly the nest Flying the nest: It comes after Poppy graduated from Leeds University in July with a degree in English and Creative Writing Gorgeous: Poppy looked stunning in a navy blue dress with a ruffled skirt and her graduation cap and gown Family: Jools and Jamie share five kids together, Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo, 19, Petal Blossom, 13, Buddy Bear, 11 and River Rocket, five 'At the age of 4 you came home from school without your first reading book as they felt that you were not ready though many of your classmates were. 'You were so upset, so I brought you the same books and we read them together every night at bedtime and you came on in leaps and bounds! It was wonderful to watch. 'Thats my earliest memory of your complete obsession with books, reading and writing and thankfully it has never stopped!' She continued: 'Pops this really is an end of an era and we can not wait to see what your next challenge and adventure brings. Loved-up: The couple, who have been together since the age of 18, recently celebrated being married for 23 years Romantic: They also renewed their vows in April on the beach in the Maldives surrounded by their children Chip off the old block: Chef Jamie reportedly has a net worth over 240million. And it seems like his eldest son has caught the cooking gene as he is following in his father's footsteps 'Thinking of all the students who have been unable to receive their degrees, not have their work marked and their grades delayed. 'With Poppy's year being the "Covid freshers" they really deserve better, that being the understatement!!! 'So much sweat and tears literally went in to Pop finishing her dissertation and final exams. Hours and hours spent in the library most days till midnight! 'They all deserve to be acknowledged and they deserve to get their degree and celebrate their graduation. Hoping this happens very soon.' Jools and Jamie share five kids together, Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo, 20, Petal Blossom, 14, Buddy Bear, 13 and River Rocket, six. The couple, who have been together since the age of 18, recently celebrated being married for 23 years. They also renewed their vows in April on the beach in the Maldives surrounded by their children. Chef Jamie, who hails from Essex, reportedly has a net worth over 240million. And it seems like his eldest son has caught the cooking gene as he is following in his father's footsteps. Buddy has shown off his culinary skills on Jamie's Instagram account, delighting fans with his recipes. The teenager has become a big hit online courtesy of his Cooking Buddies series which has racked up millions of hits. Along with a family-friendly tuna pasta tutorial, Buddy has also filmed a video talking viewers through his favourite fajitas and whipping together a homemade pasta dish alongside Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo. Former Neighbours star Daniel MacPherson is making a comeback to the world of live television. The actor, 43, is set to become a part of the Channel 7 team for the upcoming Spring Racing Carnival coverage, commencing with this Saturday's Caulfield Guineas. 'I've been an owner for many years and have no regrets. I'm doing a bit of everything, it's the perfect way to start the spring,' he said. Prior to this new gig, MacPherson served as the host of the live show Dancing With the Stars but left the role in 2014 to fully dedicate himself to his acting career. Since that time, he has taken on various roles in film, television, and even graced the Melbourne stage in 2:22: A Ghost Story alongside Ruby Rose, who recently returned from Hollywood. Former Neighbours star Daniel MacPherson (pictured) is making a comeback to the world of live television, set to become a part of the Channel 7 team for the upcoming Spring Racing Carnival coverage, commencing with this Saturday's Caulfield Guineas 'I've been an owner for many years and have no regrets. I'm doing a bit of everything, it's the perfect way to start the spring,' he said He will be bringing his talents to 7Racing as a race day reporter, where he will conduct interviews with significant trainers, jockeys, and owners from the stalls and mounting yard, offering valuable racing insights to the audience. 'I had such a wonderful time in Melbourne working on 2:22 and to get back in spring is a reward for getting through winter. 'I'm interviewing [trainer] Ciaron Maher and he's one of the most enigmatic and interesting characters and I spent a few hours with him at his property,' McPherson said. He will be bringing his talents to 7Racing as a race day reporter, where he will conduct interviews with significant trainers, jockeys, and owners from the stalls and mounting yard, offering valuable racing insights to the audience. Pictured in 2018 MacPherson will be joining the existing on-air team alongside Jason Richardson and Hamish McLachlan. It comes as the former Dancing With the Stars host lifted the lid his on co-parenting relationship with ex-wife Zoe Ventoura earlier this year. He told The Daily telegraph he felt incredibly fortunate to see eye-to-eye with fellow actor Zoe when it came to raising their three-year-old son Austin. It comes as the former Ramsay Street resident has lifted the lid on his co-parenting relationship with ex-wife Zoe Ventoura (right) The former Neighbours star, told The Daily telegraph he felt incredibly fortunate to see eye-to-eye with fellow actor Zoe when it came to raising their three-year-old son Austin Daniel and Zoe share a son, Austin Xavier, three, (pictured) who was born in December 2019. They have chosen to keep their child out of the public eye and did not even announce Zoe was pregnant 'I've got a wonderful relationship with Austin's mum. We do a lot of stuff together as well as individually. It's so special,' he said. 'He's healthy, and he loves his mum and dadda and his mum and I look at each other and know we're doing it right.' Daniel, who recently debuted his new relationship with House Rules star Jessica Dover, also reflected on how far he's come over the past few years. He mentioned how he struggled managing his divorce, single parenthood, moving back to Australia after a decade in the USA, Covid lockdowns and having to step up as the eldest sibling in his family. 'So having been through I wouldnt say a baptism of fire, but just being through the blast furnace in many areas of my life for a couple of years to come out the other side took every ounce of mental strength,' he admitted. Daniel went Instagram official with his new girlfriend Jessica in April. Romance rumours began swirling in March when the Neighbours actor was spotted at the races with the former House Rules star. Romance rumours began swirling in March when the Neighbours actor was spotted at the races with the former House Rules star Jessica confirmed the news by sharing a series of photos to Instagram to mark Dan's 43rd birthday. 'Happy Birthday @danmacpherson. Adore you,' she wrote in the caption. Daniel reposted Jessica's tribute and also shared a picture of the model standing by the ocean alongside the text: 'Birthday visitor.' The new romance came two years after Dan split from Zoe in December 2020, following five years of marriage. The former couple shared almost identically worded posts on Instagram at the time, revealing they had mutually decided to separate. The couple share a son, Austin Xavier, three, who was born in December 2019. They have chosen to keep their child out of the public eye and did not even announce Zoe was pregnant. Jenna Coleman was spotted on the set of her new BBC drama Jetty for the first time on Thursday as she headed to a fish and chip shop in Manchester. The Victoria star, 37, cut a low-key figure as she transformed into rookie detective Ember Manning in the new thriller from writer Cat Jones and producers Firebird Pictures, which was announced by Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama in August. The actress sported edgy black combat boots with volumunious black tracksuit bottoms and a warm navy coat while walking with a takeaway box in hand. During the filming, she was seen wrangling with Nigerian-British actress Weruche Opia, 36, while the cameras panned around them. The series synopsis teases: 'As Ember gets close to the truth, it threatens to destroy her life forcing her to re-evaluate everything she thought she knew about her past, present and the town shes always called home'. Stepping out: Jenna Coleman was spotted on the set of her new BBC drama Jetty for the first time on Thursday as she headed to a fish and chip shop in Manchester Hold on: During the filming, she was seen wrangling with Nigerian-British actress Weruche Opia, 36, while the cameras panned around them Starring role: The Victoria star, 37, cut a low-key figure as she transformed into rookie detective Ember Manning in the new thriller from writer Cat Jones and producers Firebird Pictures, which was announced by Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama in August Stylish: Weruche looked trendy in a warm shearling jacket and complementary camel hued trousers Eat up! She was seem chomping on fish and chips between takes In the four-part series, a fire wrecks a holiday home in a Lancashire lake town and Jenna's character Detective Ember is tasked with seeing how the blaze connects to a podcast journalist, who is investigating a crime. The journalist is looking into a missing persons cold case and an illicit 'love' triangle between a man in his twenties and two underage girls. While she starts to close in on answers, Ember's life begins to fall apart, as she is driven to face up to her past, present and the town she's always called home. The Jetty is designed to delve into the moral legacy of the Me Too movement and ask questions about sexual morality, identity and memory. Of the show, Jenna said: 'I'm delighted to be returning to the BBC to be a part of The Jetty, with Firebird Pictures at the helm, bringing the story of Ember Manning to life... 'I look forward to exploring Cat Jones' darkly probing scripts, alongside Marialy Rivas' eloquent vision.' Writer and creator Cat Jones, of Harlots, EastEnders, Waterloo Road fame, said of the show: 'I'm thrilled to be making The Jetty for BBC One... 'Like millions of people all over the world, I've grown up loving and admiring BBC dramas, so getting to create one really is a dream come true... Tuck in: The actress sported edgy black combat boots with volumunious black tracksuit bottoms and a warm navy coat while walking with a takeaway box in hand Intense: The fight scenes between the pair took place in front of a line of boats 'The Jetty is a story I've wanted to tell for a long time but it wasn't until it found its champions at the fantastically writer friendly Firebird, that it really came to life... 'What feels like a total dream team continues to grow with the addition of Marialy Rivas to direct and the brilliant Jenna Coleman. I've no doubt audiences are going to be completely transfixed by her as Ember.' Executive producer Elizabeth Kilgarriff, of Bodyguard and Luther, said: 'Provocative, thrilling and deliciously surprising at every turn, Cat's beautiful scripts promise to take the audience on a rollercoaster ride where nothing is quite as it seems... 'To have the opportunity to work with Jenna again and see her bring our complex, funny and utterly human heroine Ember to life on BBC One, couldn't be more exciting and I can't wait to see the visual magic that the brilliant Marialy Rivas weaves as this powerful and gripping story unfolds.' Stepping out: In the four-part series, a fire wrecks a holiday home in a Lancashire lake town and Jenna's character Detective Ember is tasked with seeing how the blaze connects to a podcast journalist, who is investigating a crime The latest explosive trailer for Disney+'s Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story has been released, prior to the show's airing on Wednesday. In the shocking teaser, Coleen, 37, is seen tearfully divulging details of her investigation into her fellow WAG and unveiling the secrets of her hunt for the truth over who was leaking details of her life to The Sun newspaper. In the clip, Coleen is seen revealing that the saga, which began with a Twitter post on 9 October 2019, was 'constantly on her mind', before issuing the warning to Jamie Vardy's wife: 'Don't play games with a girl who can play better'. Coleen's husband Wayne features in the trailer, alongside Piers Morgan and Coleen's mother Colette and her friends, who shed light on the pains of the drama. The trailer also saw stock footage of both women arriving to the High Court last year with their husbands on their arms, while other clips depicted crowds chanting 'Your wife is a grass' while Jamie hit the pitch in the midst of the case. Tears: The latest explosive trailer for Disney+'s Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story was released on Friday in which she was seen breaking down amid her feud with Rebekah Vardy Pained: She detailed the emotional toll her quest for victory placed on her and how she was determined to reveal the truth in a peek at the three-part documentary released on October 18 Truth will come out: In the shocking teaser, Coleen is seen tearfully divulging details of her investigation into her fellow WAG and unveiling the secrets of her hunt for the truth over who was leaking details of her life to The Sun newspaper The big reveal: Coleen's eagerly-anticipated documentary is set to air on Wednesday Bitter: Rebekah, top, took Coleen, bottom, to the High Court for libel and lost after Coleen first accused her of leaking her stories to the press in October 2019 (pictured in 2016) Laying out the facts: Showing Coleen hard at work, she was seen laying out pages, including images of her family - comprising Wayne, 37, and their kids Kai, 13, Klay, 10, Kit, seven, and Cass, five - and other posts from the private page Ha! Coleen was seen crowding around a computer with her dad Tony and mum Colette Huh? In his first comment on the situation, Wayne said to the camera: 'I just thought what is she doing here, while laughing incredulously' Coleen was asked: 'Have you still got the post on your phone?', to which she responded: 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. I stick by them', before the footage panned to images of the duo entering court to the sound of a news report. The reporter read: 'Wagatha Christie starts today at the High Court, with fellow WAGs and former friends embroiled in a bitter row.' Coleen said: 'Someone on my personal account was informing The Sun newspaper of my private posts and stories - I thought, I'm gonna do something about it'. Showing Coleen hard at work, she was seen laying out pages, including images of her family - comprising Wayne, 37, and their kids Kai, 13, Klay, 10, Kit, seven, and Cass, five - and other posts from the private page. One of the film's commentators said: 'This is a detective story - you never find someone responsible with a smoking gun in their hand'. Coleen detailed: 'I needed evidence, I had to set a trap', before later conceding: 'I never imagined being in a legal battle'. She was joined in her car by the camera crew, where she pointed out paparazzi following her. Shedding further light onto the intricacies of the situation - and revealing the message Rebekah famously sent her, Coleen said: 'I had a message off Rebekah saying what is this and I said you know what it is. It was constantly on my mind'. Proof: Coleen detailed: 'I needed evidence, I had to set a trap', before later conceding: 'I never imagined being in a legal battle'. She was joined in her car by the camera crew, where she pointed out paparazzi following her' Brooding: She was shedding light on her quest for the truth in the eagerly-anticipated documentary Rage: Shedding further light onto the intricacies of the situation - and revealing the message Rebekah famously sent her, Coleen said: 'I had a message off Rebekah saying what is this and I said you know what it is. It was constantly on my mind' Serious: She posed within the court in images taken inside the court Where it began: In a tweet and on Instagram, Coleen said Rebekah's account had leaked information about her. It triggered a wave of social media reaction and saw her dubbed 'Wagatha Christie' She revealed her father had said: 'You're just not you anymore'. In his first comment on the situation, Wayne said to the camera: 'I just thought what is she doing here, while laughing incredulously'. Prior to the release, Rebekah added more fuel to her bitter legal battle with Coleen Rooney by applying to trademark the name 'Wagatha', it is claimed. The media personality, 41, registered the term Wagatha Christie six months ago, referring to the vicious showdown between the two WAGs. Rebekah took Coleen to the High Court for libel and lost after Coleen claimed in October 2019 that stories about her were being leaked to the Press from Rebekah's social media account. The story began when The Sun ran a number of fake articles about Coleen from September 2017 to October 2019, which came from Coleen's private Instagram. The Liverpudlian star claimed she only shared the stories with Vardy in a 'sting' operation, including claims that she travelled to Mexico to look into baby 'gender selection' treatment, a plan to revive her TV career and the flooding of her basement. Rebekah was on holiday in Dubai with her husband, Leicester striker Jamie, 36, when Coleen made the accusations on Twitter and Instagram about the leaks. Ins and outs: Coleen's quest for the truth was laid out in the teaser Fight: Prior to the release, Rebekah added more fuel to her bitter legal battle with Coleen Rooney by applying to trademark the name 'Wagatha', it is claimed Shocking: Rebekah said: 'At the time I felt physically sick. I think it must have been the biggest panic attack. I was totally shocked. What to do next? That's the million-dollar question' Rebekah said: 'At the time I felt physically sick. I think it must have been the biggest panic attack. I was totally shocked. What to do next? That's the million-dollar question. 'I couldn't understand why someone would do that. Why someone would do that knowing someone's vulnerable, knowing the impact something like that is going to cause. It's going to cause a s***-storm a massive one and that it did.' Referring to a fake story about a flooded basement in Coleen's new Cheshire mansion, Rebekah insisted: 'The first time I read about the flooded basement was in the Daily Mail online. I love how I get blamed for that one, incredible. 'If I had been selling stories, where are the messages saying "Give this to The Sun"? "Make sure I get paid for this". Where are they? There aren't any because they don't exist.' In June the following year, it was revealed that Rebekah was launching a libel case against Coleen which began in November. Guided tour: Coleen gave a glimpse behind the scenes of her war Victorious: Coleen won an order for Rebekah to pay up to 1.5million towards her legal bills The libel battle has its first High Court hearing in London. A judge ruled that Coleen's October 2019 post 'clearly identified' Rebekah as being 'guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust'. Mr Justice Warby concludes that the 'natural and ordinary' meaning of the posts was that Rebekah had 'regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Coleen's personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun of Coleen's private posts and stories'. In February 2022, a series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt - which Coleen's lawyers allege were about her - are revealed at a preliminary court hearing. Coleen's lawyers seek further information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told that Ms Watt's phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave, before further information could be extracted from it. In July, Rebekah lost her defamation case against Coleen, with the judge ruling that the accusation against her was 'substantially true'. Rising through the ranks: Coleen proved she was the winner Rebekah with her barrister Hugh Tomlinson KC during the trial last May. Her trademark covers everything from broadcasting to clothing and non-alcoholic drinks The I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! camp is starting to be constructed ahead of the 2023 series. Later this year a new crop of stars will touch down in the Australian outback to face their fears and compete to be crowned either the king or queen of the jungle. Ahead of the launch, which typically occurs in November, the crew have been hard at work assembling the camp, which is in Springbook National Park in Queensland, New South Wales. Giant wooden structures have been erected while what appears to be fairground parts, such as a dunk tank and prize wheel, have also been constructed. Close to the campsite is the crew's technical area, with lines of building and cars seen nestled among the trees. Work underway: The I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! camp is starting to be constructed ahead of the 2023 series with what appears to be fairground parts constructed Get them out of here! Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly will return to host the show The lineup for this year's I'm A Celebrity is yet to be announced but it was recently reported that First Dates' Fred Sirieix is 'in talks to star. The maitre d, 51, who previously said he 'would never' go on the ITV reality show, has been lined up in hopes 'hell be a hit with the ladies.' Fred once revealed that although he 'adore's frogs legs' the bushtucker trials aren't up his 'gastronomie' standard. A TV insider told The Sun: 'Show bosses hope hell be a hit with the ladies watching, which is part of the reason theyve targeted him. 'Everyones really excited that theyre close to signing him up.' In an interview with Hello! last year, he admitted the bushtucker trials put him off the idea of ever taking part in the reality series. 'I don't think I'd do I'm A Celebrity, I wouldn't be too keen on eating a camel's anus or something like that,' he explained. 'I know I eat frogs, I'm French, but at least those frogs are cooked! 'They are deliciously prepared, whereas a camel's anus is put in a blender and you have to eat it raw. It's awful. I know people who have been there - it's really not "gastronomie."' Get ready: Later this year a new crop of stars will touch down in the Australian outback to face their fears and compete to be crowned either the king or queen of the jungle Building work: Ahead of the launch, which typically occurs in November, the crew have been hard at work assembling the camp, which is in Springbook National Park in Queensland What's going on here? A wooden structure was erected in the middle of the jungle A challenge set? In an area that will no doubt be used for tasks a house shaped structure was erected Under wraps: One structure by the jungle's lake was covered by a long piece of tarpaulin It will be the second dose of jungle action for viewers this year after the first ever I'm A Celebrity: All Stars aired in spring. Myleene Klass was crowned the first I'm A Celebrity Legend after she beat Diversity dancer Jordan Banjo, 30, in the tense finale. With their former campmates and hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly watching on, Myleene and Jordan went head-to-head in a gruesome last trial as they predicted the number of a variety of nasties they would be able to eat before chowing down to see if they were correct. After triumphing, Myleene - who first appeared on the show in 2006 - was named the I'm A Celebrity Legend. Myleene said: 'Ive been in my element. I cant believe what the jungle gave me first time and Ive actually had the opportunity to relive it a second time round. 'Its one of those things, it was so magical the first time you start thinking did I remember that as it was or have I recreated those memories? 'They say dont go back to an ex and dont go back to a reheated dinner. I thought to myself oh no, what if its not as good? And Ive gone back into the bush and its been even bigger, more majestic, bigger trials. South Africa is vast. 'And its not been against any campmates, its been against the best of the best. 'Its just been mind blowing. Everything was as magical, very tough challenging both mentally and physically and something that Ive loved throwing myself into.' Victory lap: The bridge connecting the camp with the outside world has been checked over Heavy load: There were several vans seen dropping off crates of building material Melissa Doyle has shared rare images of daughter Talia visiting Kenya. Posting to Instagram on Wednesday to raise awareness about the International Day of the Girl, the Seven journalist, 53, shared sweet photos of herself and her daughter, 19, as they played with Kenyan children. With her long blonde hair and beaming smile, Talia looked the spitting image of her mother as she joined her in Kenya and had fun with the locals. Under the series of happy snaps, Doyle wrote a caption, saying that the International Day of the Girl is 'a chance to highlighting the challenges girls face around the world - and work together on improving their lives.' Melissa went on to inform her followers that child marriages have more than doubled since the pandemic, and that World Vision sponsorship can help educate and advocate for girls who don't have a voice. Melissa Doyle (pictured right) has shared rare images of daughter Talia (pictured left) visiting Kenya Posting to Instagram on Wednesday to raise awareness about the International Day of the Girl, the Seven journalist, 53, shared sweet photos of herself and her daughter, 19, as they played with Kenyan children With her long blonde hair and beaming smile, Talia looked the spitting image of her mother as she joined her in Kenya and had fun with the locals The television presenter, who has been an ambassador for the charity for years, took the 19-year-old for her first visit to the impoverished nation in April, and used images from that trip for her recent post. 'This is my beautiful baby girl, all grown up and visiting a school in Kenya,' the presenter wrote on Instagram at the time. She shared a number of photos of Talia speaking with locals and taking a very hands on approach to the trip. 'My heart is bursting with pride,' continued. The television presenter, who has been an ambassador for the charity for years, took the 19-year-old for her first visit to the impoverished nation in April, and used images from that trip for her recent post 'It is such a privilege to see first-hand the work @worldvisionaus is doing to give children access to health care and education.' Mel finished by saying Talia being on the trip with her made it 'extra special' for her. While on the trip, the two women saw farming regeneration projects, a women's empowerment saving group, and met Mel's sponsor child, Bridget, four. Mel has been a tireless World Vision sponsor for the past 20 years. 'This is my beautiful baby girl, all grown up and visiting a school in Kenya,' the beloved presenter wrote on Instagram. Both pictured 'It is such a privilege to see first-hand the work @worldvisionaus is doing to give children access to health care and education,' wrote Doyle She's visited Mongolia, Armenia, Lebanon and Indonesia as part of her work with the well-respected charity. Mel shares two children with her husband John, including son Nick, 21. The TV star opened-up about motherhood while speaking to The Daily Telegraph in April last year. Mel finished by saying Talia being on the trip with her made it 'extra special' for her Mel has been a World Vision ambassador for 20 years visiting Mongolia, Armenia, Lebanon and Indonesia as part of her work with the well-respected charity 'I have loved every single stage [of motherhood] but for different reasons,' she said. 'Talia is my best friend. I feel so lucky... I just feel so appreciative of having such an extraordinary young woman in my life who happens to be my daughter,' she added. In September 2021, Melissa admitted it'd been 'pretty tough' watching Talia go through her last year of high school during Covid lockdown. Mel (R) said her lookalike daughter Talia (L) is her 'best friend' as she reflected on motherhood and her career in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in April last year Talia, along with a generation of Aussie teenagers, wasn't able to spend time with friends or attend her school formal due to the pandemic. At the time, Melissa told The Daily Telegraph she felt sad watching her daughter 'miss out' on these rites of passage during endless days of home confinement. The mother of two said it was also unfortunate her son, Nicholas, had to spend his break from college in America living under lockdown in Sydney. Myleene Klass has candidly revealed that the arrival of her son gave her the strength to campaign for a change in UK miscarriage laws. The former Hear'Say star, 45, was a guest panellist on Loose Women on Friday, and revealed that having her son Apollo, four, after four devastating miscarriages, gave her the strength to push for the changes in the law. Myleene - who is also mum to daughters Ava, 16, and Hero, 12 - spoke candidly about difficult it is to talk about the trauma of baby loss and admitted she doesn't know how women cope if they are unable to go on to have rainbow babies. In addition, the former Popstars winner discussed her future plans to campaign for better data collection, to help better predict potential miscarriages. Elsewhere in the episode, Nadia Sawalha, 58, recalled the horrific time she put her foetus in a freezer after a tragic miscarriage. Real talk: Myleene Klass, 45, appeared on ITV 's Loose Women as a guest panellist, on Friday, where she candidly discussed enduring four miscarriages Candid: The radio host admitted that if she hadn't had her son, Apollo, four, following four miscarriages, she wouldn't be able to discuss baby loss (pictured with son Apollo in 2019) Horrific: Elsewhere in the episode, Nadia Sawalha , 58, recalled the horrific time she put her foetus in a freezer after a tragic miscarriage Myleene discussed her campaigning for miscarriage support, telling viewers: 'Just to give you the idea, the PTSD is the equivalent of a soldier returning from Afganistan 9 months later. 'Nobody wants to talk about this subject it's uncomfortable to talk about. There's no data protection on this. There's no medical recording. I had four miscarriages. If I didn't get my son I wouldn't be able to do this. 'Previously you'd have to wait to have 3 consecutive miscarriages until you have medical intervention. 'My next challenge is data collection. Has it happened to family members. I didn't know it has happened to my aunty 40 years ago. She called me her daughter.' Spurred on to talk about her own experience of miscarriage and having no help, Nadia - who has previously been open about her baby loss - admitted: 'I never had a thought I could ask for anything. 'My last miscarriage when there was no heartbeat, they said I could stay in hospital but on the labour ward. 'So I went home and miscarried there. I didn't know what to do with the foetus. I ended up putting mine in the freezer because I didn't know what to do. 'It was only this morning that someone should have helped me. It was very painful. It was very difficult. I feel time and time again women's health is put last.' Sad: Spurred on to talk about her own experience of miscarriage and having no help, Nadia admitted: 'It was very painful. It was very difficult' Speaking previously about the horrific ordeal, the TV star went on to reveal to viewers that she did have a 'meaningful' burial and planted her tree in the baby's memory. In the past, Nadia questioned whether her miscarriages were punishment for having an abortion earlier in life on her podcast Dealing With the Heartbreak of Miscarriage. It comes after Myleene made history in July by changing pregnancy loss laws, with changes meaning women will no longer have to wait until after three miscarriages to receive medical help and pre-conception advice. She has spent four years campaigning for changes to UK miscarriage laws with Labour MP Olivia Blake. Myleene recently recalled her experience after suffering four 'torturous' miscarriages as she changed pregnancy loss laws and told of her delight as a string of changes were approved. The changes were unveiled in the long-awaited Pregnancy Loss Review - an independent report on NHS miscarriage care and how it can be improved, which came after campaigning from baby loss charity Tommy's, who Myleene works with. If you have been affected by this story, you can seek advice at www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk or by calling 01924 200 799. David Haye shared a slew of posts from friends celebrating his birthday on Friday - with a loved-up tribute from his girlfriend Sian Osborne getting a special mention. The boxer, 43, has been in a relationship with the model since 2020. For his birthday, Sian posted several photos of the couple to her Instagram with the caption: 'Happy Birthday @davidhaye cant wait to continue this journey called life with you, and go on many more adventures my best friend'. The blonde beauty also shared another gallery of images, alongside a row of heart emojis. David then shared one of Sian's posts to his Stories, accompanied by a cartoon version of himself blowing a kiss. Happy birthday! David Haye shared a slew of posts from friends celebrating his birthday on Friday - with a loved-up tribute from his girlfriend Sian Osborne getting a special mention Long-term couple: The boxer, 48, has been in a relationship with the model, 31, since 2020 Special words: Sian had a heartfelt message for sportsman David on his birthday as she shared a glimpse at their life together on social media The first birthday message he reposted was from his daughter Sienna, who said: 'happy 43rd birthday Dad x your (sic) getting old'. One person who did not feature on David's Stories was his former flame Una Healy. One of The Saturdays, Una was reportedly involved in a throuple with the pair, although she has since denied this, saying she dated David first and when she found out Sian was in the picture she removed herself from the relationship. These claims were called into question as the three went on holiday together. Sian also posted several photos of the three to Instagram with the caption 'hoodwink: verb to deceive or trick someone'. 'A liar weaves a tangled web, trapping themselves in a labyrinth of deceit.' It comes after in August David hinted he is in a new throuple after splitting from Una earlier this year. The athlete shared a photo from Notting Hill Carnival of his girlfriend Sian posing with a stunning model named Danielle. Sharing the love: David took to his Instagram Stories to share Sian's post with his 550,000 followers Sian's birthday message: 'Happy Birthday @davidhaye cant wait to continue this journey called life with you, and go on many more adventures my best friend' Light of my life: Sian shared a number of pictures as part of her birthday post for David, including some of their holiday snaps Look of love: David and Sian could be seen looking off into the distance in one picture from a recent trip abroad Making memories: Sian shared a picture of herself and David as they watched the sunset on holiday while standing arm-in-arm on the beach Just friends? In February 2023, David posted this photo to Instagram with the caption 'Happy Valentines Day to the beautiful Queens in my life, making my world a better place to live in!' He captioned the snap 'my girls' as he thanked music legend Shaggy, who was performing at Carnival, for partying with the pair. 'Big bro @DiRealShaggy Thanks for taking care of my girls. They had a great time! I owe you one!!!' David wrote. Sian later reposted a copy of the photo shared by Danielle, who has worked as a model for Canadian fashion brand LANGsura. A representative for David was contacted by MailOnline for comment at the time. Thomas Skinner was surrounded by friends and loved ones as he celebrated the launch of his book Graft: How to Smash Life at a star-studded party on Thursday. The entrepreneur - who rose to fame on The Apprentice - looked in high spirits as he posed on the red carpet at Little Italy in Soho, planting a kiss on his wife Sinead. Sinead, who recently welcomed the couple's twin daughters, looked sensational in a glittering purple dress with a racy thigh high split. Also dressed to impress on the evening was Married At First Sight UK star Peggy Rose, who looked incredible in a billowing white blouse that she paired with a leather mini skirt. Britain's Got Talent comedian Francine Lewis also made a stylish appearance in a strapless green gown that clung to her hourglass curves. Cute couple: The Apprentice's Thomas Skinner kissed wife Sinead as he celebrated the launch of his book Graft: How to Smash Life at a star-studded party in London on Thursday Stunning: Married At First Sight UK star Peggy Rose looked incredible at the launch in a billowing white blouse that she paired with a leather mini skirt Glamorous: Britain's Got Talent comedian Francine Lewis also made a stylish appearance in a strapless green gown that clung to her hourglass curves The former Apprentice star marked the release of his book by hosting a star-studded bash, sponsored by Star Sports, for his celebrity friends and family. Graft: How To Smash Life features Thomas' tips and tricks for success, from fuelling yourself with a big breakfast to the importance of making mistakes. Thomas said of his new project: 'I was over the moon when HarperCollins contacted me about publishing my own book. Im just a geezer from Romford who loves grafting. 'I love getting out of bed every day, fuelling up on a Dinos breakfast and encouraging my followers to smash the day. 'Im delighted to be sharing my tips with you all. Go on, give it 110 percent and buy my book. BOSH!' Thomas, who has become known for his social media videos and 'Bosh' catchphrase, is kept busy with his many entrepreneurial efforts, having just filmed a show while also running his market stall, gym and various businesses. He told MailOnline in August: 'I'm just going to take every opportunity I can. The only thing I try to do is spend more time with my family, I always try and have at least one or two days a week with my son.' Thomas is father to Henry, two, and four-month-old twin daughters, Roma and Darla. Gorgeous: Sinead, who recently welcomed the couple's twin daughters, looked sensational in a glittering purple dress with a racy thigh high split Bosh! Graft: How To Smash Life features Thomas' tips and tricks for success, from fuelling yourself with a big breakfast to the importance of making mistakes Taking the plunge: Thomas' best friend Rylan Clark was at the bash in a sheer pussybow shirt The reality star's book launch comes after he revealed that he saved a stranger's life with his daily morning videos at Dino's cafe. Speaking to Johnny Seifert on Secure The Insecure podcast, he revealed: 'I'm just giving the same talk that I give to my friends and my staff and my family, just a little bit of motivation. 'I didn't realize how many people needed to actually hear that, they needed to hear it. After doing them for a few weeks, I mean, one thing that'll never leave me is, someone messaged me and told me that they was gonna, they was gonna kill themselves. 'They was on the brink of doing it. They'd written a letter to their best friend, they'd sorted everything out, they'd transferred the money over to their family. 'They was ready to do it, ready to take it. And one of their friends or someone sent them, someone sent them a link to one of my videos. 'And they messaged me at three in the morning when I was getting up and they said, "I've just scroll back and watched every single one of your videos" and told me what they was gonna do. 'And I thought, what? Like, these are helping people. If it helps just one person, I'm gonna carry on doing them. 'I never knew it was reaching that many people.' Striking: Reigning Apprentice winner Marnie Swindells looked stylish in a white bustier and pink satin cigarette trousers Kate Hudson put on an elegant display as she enjoyed a night out in Los Angeles on Thursday evening. The 44-year-old showed off her incredible, toned legs in a black satin miniskirt and sequined crop top as she headed to an event at the exclusive social club San Vicente Bungalows. The Almost Famous vet who was spotted on a family lunch date with her mother and her fiance just days before threw on a sharp white blazer with black stripes running down the side. For her evening out, she sported a pair of black leather pumps with clear, pointed heels. She was also seen carrying a ornately studded clutch purse and her cell phone as she made her entrance. Elegant: Kate Hudson put on an elegant display as she enjoyed a night out in Los Angeles on Thursday evening. The 44-year-old showed off her incredible, toned legs in a black satin miniskirt and sequined crop top as she headed to an event at the exclusive social club San Vicente Bungalows To keep her hair out of her face, she threw up her blonde tresses into a sleek and polished bun. She also modeled a pair of black, geometric and dangling earrings as her statement jewelry of choice. The Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery star looked glamorous in a glowing makeup look featuring a brick red lip. She highlighted her natural beauty and features with a shimmering champagne eyeshadow and rosy pink blush for her night out. Her last public outing was a casual lunch date with her mother, Goldie Hawn, 77, and her fiance, Danny Fujikawa, 37, just two days earlier in the Pacific Palisades. Hudson and musician started dating in 2017 and got engaged in September 2021. About a year into their romance, the pair also welcomed their first child together daughter Rani, four. Hudson also has two sons from two separate past relationships. Looking sharp: The Almost Famous vet threw on a sharp white blazer with black stripes running down the side She was spotted without her fiance, Danny Fujikawa , 37. Hudson and musician started dating in 2017 and got engaged in September 2021 (pictured July 2023) Her youngest child: About a year into their romance, the pair also welcomed their first child together daughter Rani, four Her youngest son: She also has 11-year-old son Bingham with her ex Matt Bellamy Her eldest child: She shares her eldest son, Ryder, 19, with her ex-husband Chris Robinson with whom she was married for two years until 2006 She shares her eldest son, Ryder, 19, with her ex-husband Chris Robinson with whom she was married for two years until 2006. She also has 11-year-old son Bingham with her ex Matt Bellamy whom she dated from 2010 until 2014. Before Hudson and Fujikawa started dating, they already knew each other for 15 years as he is the stepbrother of her best friends, Sara and Erin Foster. The couple originally met in 2002 when she was only 23 years old. At age 37, she started dating him in December 2016. Scarlett Johansson recently shared kind words toward Pamela Anderson for her choice to stop wearing makeup. The 38-year-old silver screen siren who also shared how she stays trim spoke with PopSugar and lauded Anderson, 56, for embracing her natural beauty. 'I think it is definitely different to see somebody that's in the public eye, a woman in the public eye, go to a fashion show or big event with no makeup on. It's just very different from what we're used to,' Johansson stated. It comes after the former Baywatch beauty attended Paris Fashion Week events sans cosmetics. Scarlett added, 'It's a powerful message for women to see that, whether they follow suit or whatever the effect is, in the zeitgeist. It's powerful for women to see other women rejecting standard beauty norms.' Supportive: Scarlett Johansson recently shared kind words toward Pamela Anderson for her choice to stop wearing makeup Natural beauty: It comes after the former Baywatch beauty attended Paris Fashion Week events sans cosmetics Jamie Lee Curtis, 64, has also given kudos to Anderson, in recent weeks. Taking to Instagram earlier this month, she shared bare-faced photos of the mother-of-two, who shares two sons with ex-husband Tommy Lee. In a caption to her 5.5 million followers, she wrote: 'THE NATURAL BEAUTY REVOLUTION HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!' She added, '@pamelaandeson in the middle of fashion week with so many pressures and postures, and and and, this woman showed up and claimed her seat at the table with nothing on her face.' The note finished, 'I am so impressed and floored by this act of courage and rebellion.' The post has so far racked up more than 888,000 likes from agreeing fans. Then, on October 6, Curtis uploaded a second post singing Pamela's praises. The Halloween actress shared behind-the-scenes outtakes of Anderson from her Netflix documentary Pamela, A Love Story in which she discussed her currented perspective on beauty. Inspirational: Scarlett, 38, spoke with PopSugar and lauded Anderson, 56, for embracing her natural beauty Moving: Scarlett added, 'It's a powerful message for women to see that, whether they follow suit or whatever the effect is, in the zeitgeist. It's powerful for women to see other women rejecting standard beauty norms' Shoutout: Jamie Lee Curtis has also given kudos to Anderson, in recent weeks Exhilarating: Taking to Instagram earlier this month, Jamie Lee shared bare-faced photos of the mother-of-two and declared, 'the natural beauty revolution has officially begun' In the clips, Pamela professed: 'I'm not trying to be the prettiest girl in the room. I feel like it's just freedom. It's like... a relief. I don't need a stylist. Like, I don't have a stylist. I don't have a glam team. I'm just kind of doing this freestyle.' Curtis captioned the post, 'FREEDOM IS BEAUTIFUL!' In August, the blonde pinup shared with Elle magazine that her perspective on beauty changed after the death of her makeup artist Alexis Vogel, who passed away from breast cancer in 2019. '[Alexis] was the best. And since then, I just felt, without Alexis, it's just better for me not to wear makeup,' she explained. She called the act 'freeing, and fun, and a little rebellious too.' Sophie Turner and her former sister-in-law, Priyanka Chopra, have seemingly unfollowed each other on Instagram. Following her recent split from Joe Jonas after four years of marriage, the 27-year-old Game of Thrones alum made the surprising decision to severe ties with the Quantico actress, 41, on social media. Despite still following her estranged husband and his three brothers Nick, Kevin and Frankie Jonas, fans expressed shock that the mother-of-two and former Miss World are no longer connected on the photo sharing app. Turner, however, still follows Kevin's longtime wife Danielle Jonas. Drama: Sophie Turner and her former sister-in-law, Priyanka Chopra , have seemingly unfollowed each other on Instagram; seen in 2017 Previously, Chopra, who has been happily married to Joe's younger brother Nick since 2018, served as one of Turner's bridesmaids and the flower girl at her intimate 2019 wedding in Las Vegas. Over the years, they displayed their close bond while sitting next to each other as Nick and Joe received received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, dancing at the siblings' shows and starring in the Jonas Brothers' music video for Sucker. Last week, reports surfaced that Chopra was been especially torn by Turner and Jonas' breakup. 'Sophie and Joe kept a lot of their friends separate, but a few are caught in the middle of this mess,' a source told Life & Style. 'She and Sophie were very close.' The source added: 'There was once a time Sophie thought she and Joe would move to London and so would Nick and Priyanka.' 'Priyanka loves Sophie and her nieces and doesnt want to do anything to jeopardize them being in her life.' In a 2019 interview with Elle just before Sophie and Joe tied the knot, the Citadel actress said, 'Ive never had a sister, so its really nice to have Danielle and Sophie, and just inheriting the family by proxy. 'Sophie is super talented, super funny and we have the most fun when we go out together,' Priyanka continued. 'Shes incredible. By the time this comes out, shell be the new Mrs. Jonas. I cant wait for her to join the family.' The Survive star has claimed that she was blindsided by Joe's request for a divorce and his refusal to allow her to travel with daughters Willa, three, and Delphine, 14 months, to the UK, as they had allegedly agreed previously. Bizarre: Following her recent split from Joe Jonas after four years of marriage, the 27-year-old Game of Thrones alum made the surprising decision to severe ties with the Quantico actress, 41, on social media (pictured in 2020) Raising eyebrows: Despite still following her estranged husband and his three brothers Nick, Kevin and Frankie Jonas, fans expressed shock that the mother-of-two and former Miss World are no longer connected on the photo sharing app Odd: Turner, however, still follows Kevin's longtime wife Danielle Jonas What happened? Previously, Chopra, who has been happily married to Joe's younger brother Nick since 2018, served as one of Turner's bridesmaids and the flower girl at her intimate 2019 wedding in Las Vegas Taylor Swift, who dated Joe, 34, for a few months in 2008, has reached out to Sophie, inviting her to girls nights in New York, where Sophie is living with her daughters while Joe travels with his brothers on tour. Sophie and her girls have reportedly been staying in an apartment the Grammy winner owns while she tries to iron out an agreement with her soon-to-be ex. The former couple have been working through court ordered mediation to decide the details of their divorce, including how to handle child custody. Former sister-in-laws: Last week, reports surfaced that Chopra was been especially torn by Turner and Jonas' breakup (seen in 2019) On Tuesday, DailyMail.com revealed that the former couple agreed to a custody sharing arrangement. The duo will each get two weeks at a time with their daughters Willa, three, and Delphine, one, until January. They will also be allowed to travel to anywhere in the US and the UK, meaning that Turner can bring the girls to England, which she claims will be their 'forever home.' While Jonas will get to take the girls on tour with his band The Jonas Brothers, Turner will get to spend Christmas with them in the UK with her family. The agreement comes after four days of intense mediation in New York, where the girls are currently staying with Turner. The resolution of custody of the children is expected to clear to way to finalizing the couples divorce. Jax Taylor looked smitten with wife Brittany Cartwright as he arrived at the grand opening of his new bar Thursday in Los Angeles. Jax, 44, gave Brittany a sweet peck on the lips as she stepped out of her car in front of the namesake establishment, Jax's Studio City. Brittany, 34, who has revealed she was 'broke' during her first season on Vanderpump Rules, showcased her toned legs in a brown mini dress and high heel sandals. The faux wrap frock featured long sleeves and a plunging neckline. The reality star's long, dark blonde hair was parted on the side and styled in loose curls. PDA: Jax Taylor looked smitten with wife Brittany Cartwright as he arrived at the grand opening of his new bar Thursday in Los Angeles Jax wore black jeans and a long sleeve black T-shirt with the message '#1 guy in the group' and a black billed hat with the bar's logo. While Jax was entertaining customers at the grand opening, fans were discovering a new side to the VPR alum during the debut of the new competition show House of Villains on E!. The show, hosted by Joel McHale, 51, features 'Villains from some of television's most popular reality shows... where each week one will be eliminated until only one winner remains' according to the description on IMDB. Jax and Brittany were fired from Vanderpump Rules in 2020. They were let go after wrongly and publicly accusing fellow castmate Faith Stowers, who is black, of committing a crime. Former stars Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute were also taken off the show following the incident, although Kristen returned this year after news Tom Sandoval had cheated on Ariana Madix with Rachel Leviss was revealed. Jax was also known for his explosive temper and arguments with his fellow castmates. 'Jax and I didn't get along with very well, but his reputation speaks for itself,' said his competitor and former Love Is Blind cast member Shake Chatterjie. Shapely: Brittany showcased her shapely legs in a brown mini dress and high heel sandals. The faux wrap frock featured long sleeves and plunging neckline Villain: Jax is capitalizing on his role as a reality show bad guy. He's taking part in the new E! competition show House of Villains, which debuted Thursday 'It's going to be very entertaining to watch,' he told People. Other baddies in the show include Johnny 'Bananas' Devenanzio from The Challenge; Omarosa Manigault Newman, The Apprentice; The Bachelor alum Corinne Olympios and Bobby Lytes from Love & Hop Hop: Secrets Unlocked. A trailer for House of Villains reveals both Jax and Shake butting heads often. 'Things were OK in the very, very beginning,' the Miami resident revealed, adding, 'But the nature of the show is, we're competing with each other.' 'This show almost forces you to do some sneaking around and some backstabbing.' Shake contended he and Jax 'were put into a situation where we're competing pretty early, and I knew I had to get an edge on him, so I did whatever I felt I had to do.' Dawn French has recalled the mortifying moment she sent a PR company a rude message declining their upcoming event by accident. The comedian, 66, who is set to appear on Friday night's episode of Graham Norton, explains that she sent the jokey message to the wrong person. When asked if she wanted to attend a premiere, she typed out a playful message to her PA saying she wouldn't attend a 'w***ky red carpet event with the usual t**ts'. However, rather than sending the message about the James Bond premiere to her PA, she instead responded to the PR company organising the event. Dawn said: 'I received an invite to the James Bond premiere. It was a big deal but red carpets are not my thing so I thought it would be funny to send my PA a response that would make her laugh, and then she could send a polite 'no' on my behalf. Oh no! Dawn French has recalled the mortifying moment she sent a PR company a rude message declining their upcoming event by accident Whoops! When asked if she wanted to attend a premiere, she typed out a playful message to her PA saying she wouldn't attend a 'w***ky red carpet event with the usual t**ts' (pictured on Friday October 13) 'I wrote, with lots of swearing, 'This will be another w***ky red carpet events be full of the usual t**ts and I would rather have my eyes pecked out by diseased pigeons and my breasts gnawed off by rabid wild dogs. 'I was a bit surprised a couple of minutes later to get an email from the PR department that had sent the invite, saying, "Thank you for your speedy response we totally understand' Oh dear, I was so embarrassed!" Dawn, who is on the show promoting her new book The T**t Files, appeared wearing a pink rosette, which had the words '#No1 T**t'. Talking about how she details with her mistakes, Dawn said: 'I suppose I'm trying to start up an anti-perfection league. 'We carry a lot of shame, humiliation, and guilt about our mistakes, and I thought, "These mistakes are where I have learnt the most and where the fun is." 'So, if you can wrangle back some of that shame and shine a light on it, it dissipates. If you own your mistakes, it's very empowering.' Earlier on Friday, Dawn recalled the 'horrifyingly scary' moment she met the late Queen Mother at the age of four, claiming the moment left her 'fuming'. Dawn met Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother - who died in 2002 at the age of 101 - when she visited her father's army base. Appearance: Dawn, who is on the show promoting her new book The T**t Files, appeared wearing a pink rosette, which had the words '#No1 T**t'' Lasting memory: Dawn recalled the 'horrifyingly scary' moment she met the late Queen Mother at the age of four, with the star claiming the moment left her 'fuming' (Dawn picture on This Morning on Friday) Special moment: Actress Dawn met Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother - who died in 2002 at the age of 101 - when she visited her father's army base (The Queen Mother pictured in November 1961) She said she'd prepared for the moment ahead of time, practicing the protocol for meeting the royal, but she was left stunned as the Queen Mother's 'brown' teeth left Dawn thinking she was 'a witch'. During an appearance on This Morning on Friday, Dawn explained: 'I was four. It was horrifyingly scary. 'We'd done curtsy practice. She came to my dad's army base. I was expecting unicorns and crowns and neither turned up. I'm fuming. 'A woman in a lilac outfit smiled at me and her teeth were brown. 'When you're four that's a witch. I would not speak to her.' Meanwhile, Dawn turned heads on Friday morning with a badge hilariously emblazoned '#1 TW*T' to promote her new book. Following an appearance on BBC Radio 2, Dawn was seen leaving the studios with a walking stick for the first time in years, raising questions about her health. She was first pictured with the stick back in 2009 following issues with her right leg. Dawn has not yet spoken about why the walking stick has made a reappearance. Screen star Dawn released autobiography The Tw*t Files: A hilarious sort-of memoir of mistakes, mishaps and mess-ups, this month. It detailed the reason she suddenly decided to quit French & Saunders, her hit show with best friend Jennifer Saunders. Shocked: Dawn was left stunned as the Queen Mother's 'brown' teeth left her thinking she was 'a witch' Dawn recalls the 'tipping point' came during filming for a sketch with pop star Anastacia. Dawn and Jennifer were filming the scene in the toilets in the BBC building with Dawn seen describing her fantasy that Anastacia will hear her sing and invite her to come on Top of the Pops with her. Anastacia stars in the sketch, overhearing the conversation. Cut to Dawn in the pop star's signature cowgirl look singing with the star on TOTP. Dawn writes in her new book that seeing herself in the costume was the moment she decided to quit the show. 'I'd genuinely never felt so ugly. I'd often voluntarily, happily been 'ugly' for hundreds of sketches'. 'I've never minded what something looks like, as long as it's servicing the joke right. The mirror was clearly telling me why this was so painfully abhorrent. Because the joke was on me.' Author: Meanwhile, Dawn turned heads on Friday morning with a badge hilariously emblazoned '#1 TW*T' to promote new book New accessory: The comedienne was seen with a walking stick for the first time in years, raising questions about her health After wrapping filming for the day, Dawn says she 'burst into hot, angry tears. I properly sobbed all the 28 miles home' before calling Jennifer and telling her she wanted to end their show. Speaking to The Times, Dawn insisted that her best friend didn't try to dissuade her, explaining: 'Jennifer would never fight me on something so big. 'She does say now, 'What the f*** were you thinking? We could have sorted that easily.' But it wasn't a problem.' As for her, she has never regretted her decision, adding: 'I think it was time to go to another chapter, and you have to know when that happens.' French and Saunders started working together when they met in their early 20s in 1978, with their eponymous sketch show first airing on BBC Two in 1987. The Graham Norton Show airs on Friday at 10:40pm on BBC One and iPlayer. Emmerdale viewers were delighted as they watched Aaron Dingle leave his mother Chas in the hands of her gangster hostage-takers during Friday's episode of the soap after he seemingly came to the rescue. Fans had watched Aaron rage at Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Caleb Dingle (William Ash) earlier this week after he was unveiled as the person the brothers had kidnapped and held in an abandoned farmhouse. But Aaron (Danny Miller) escaped the decaying property on Friday and made a dash for the location where Cain and Caleb had gone to meet the villainous Harry (Robert Beck) after he bundled Chas (Lucy Pargeter) into the boot of his car. Cain and Caleb had taken Aaron's money to give to Harry in the hope he would release Chas. In dramatic scenes on Friday, Aaron was seen careering onto the scene where the stand-off was happening between the Dingles and Harry, with Aaron smashing Harry to the ground as he plowed his car into him, seemingly coming to the rescue of his mother Chas. Gripping scenes: Emmerdale viewers were delighted as they watched Aaron Dingle leave his mother Chas in the hands of her gangster hostage-takers during Friday's episode Saviour? Aaron (Danny Miller) had seemingly come to the rescue of Chas (Lucy Pargeter) but he had other plans However, it soon came to light Aaron was only there to collect his money, with the character seething as he grabbed the duffel bag containing the currency before storming back to his car and leaving Chas in the hands of the gangsters. Aaron was last seen on the soap a year ago when he left the village after his younger sister Liv was killed in a storm. His mother Chas did not support her grieving son at the time as she was busy cheating on Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) with businessman Al Chapman. Despite Aaron needing the support of his mum, she sent him packing off to Italy with his boyfriend Marco. And her past actions towards Aaron left viewers praising Aaron for grabbing the bag of money rather than rescuing his parent. Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: 'Dont blame Aaron going to take his money and leaving Chas there. She deserves it, shes done nothing but neglected him and treated him like s**t.' Someone else posted: 'Aaron good lad - takes the money and leaves Chas behind - well played.' Another viewer posted: 'Aaron doesnt give a f**k about Chas hes taken that money and GONE.' Dramatic: Aaron was seen careering onto the scene of a stand-off between the Dingles and villainous Harry (Robert Beck), with Aaron smashing Harry to the ground with his car Plan: Cain (Jeff Hordley, left) and Caleb Dingle (William Ash, right) had taken Aaron's money to give to Harry in the hope he would release Chas Priorities: It soon came to light Aaron was only there to collect his money, with the character seething as he grabbed the duffel bag containing the currency before storming back to his car While someone else wrote: 'Watching tonight's #Emmerdale - wow, Aaron driving the car & running over Chas' captor, that was actually pretty cool! It sounded like Aaron really didn't like his mum last night.' 'Aaron is really in his f**k Chas era and I love him for it,' posted another viewer, while another soap fan tweeted: 'Aaron not giving a single f**k about Chas it seems.' 'Aaron just grabs the money and f**ks off, leaving Chas still hostage,' wrote someone else. Another viewer commented: 'Aaron is so funny running Harry over then just taking his money back and leaving Chas with them. Ive missed him so much.' While someone else shared: 'Aaron has just made things a whole lot worse for Chas.' Aaron later had a change of heart and left the money with Cain and Caleb meaning Chas was released before she headed back to the village. Emmerdale viewers were finally relieved of their suspense as the man held hostage in an abandoned farmhouse was revealed during Monday's episode - but many were left disappointed. Last week, viewers learned that Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Caleb (William Ash) had locked someone up in an abandoned farmhouse after taking a mysterious trip. Just seconds into the instalment, it emerged actor Danny, 32, had reprised his role as Aaron after being snatched from Italy for his own protection. Views: The past actions of Chas towards Aaron left viewers praising Aaron for grabbing the bag of money rather than rescuing his parent The character was seen sitting in a dark room with his hands bound together with rope and his hood up over his head, having been brought back to Yorkshire after picking a fight with the mafia while he was away - and he's back home for good. Cain and Caleb had previously left the village in a hurry and claimed they were working on a car consignment deal in Holland, but Moira Dingle (Natalie J. Robb) appeared unconvinced by the story. And in last Friday's episode, she further suspected Cain was lying when Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter) revealed he knew nothing about the deal. The drama-packed show saw Moira discover who her husband Cain and his half-brother Caleb had locked in the abandoned farmhouse, with viewers finding out this week. Aaron was last seen on the soap a year ago when he left the village after his younger sister Liv was killed in a storm. His mother Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) did not support her grieving son at the time as she was busy cheating on Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) with businessman Al Chapman. He's back: It comes after Emmerdale fans were relieved of their suspense as the man held hostage in an abandoned farmhouse was revealed as Aaron on Monday Prisoner: Last week, viewers learned that Cain and Caleb had locked someone up in an abandoned farmhouse after taking a mysterious trip Despite Aaron needing the support of his mum, she sent him packing off to Italy with his boyfriend Marco. But it seems there is still more to the tale, with Aaron raging and tied up in the barn, and Moira demanding answers from Cain. Aaron's return divided viewer opinion, with some soap fans baffled by what was unfolding on their screens while others were delighted to see him. Taking to Twitter, someone wrote: 'Can someone explain what's going on with Aaron?? Remember him leaving the village so why's he linked to gangsters in Italy and whys Cain kidnapped him ...very confused tonight??????? Please someone explain???' Someone else asked: 'When did Aaron get involved with the Italian mafia?' Another viewer posted: 'I'm not sure what this twist in #Emmerdale is for? Why is Aaron back? Why is he locked away like a prisoner?' While someone else exclaimed: 'Aaron being back with a pathetic story what a let down Hopefully it's a temporary stop.' Another viewer commented: 'Big disappointed it's Aaron, we are in for lots of scenes with him crying now.' Plot: Cain and Caleb snatched Aaron from Italy after he picked a fight with the mafia Views: Aaron's return divided viewer opinion, with some soap fans baffled by what was unfolding on their screens while others were delighted to see him Someone else wrote: 'Im glad Aaron is back but its a ridiculous storyline #Emmerdale,' while another viewer tweeted: 'Give out all yee like about the storyline - I'm just delighted to have Aaron back, and of course it means more Cain scenes. One other person shared: 'Never been more happy, the boy is BACK @DannyBMiller. Welcome home Aaron back where you belong #emmerdale.' Aaron made a brief return to Emmerdale for the 50th anniversary before making a quick exit. But former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! winner Danny has been in talks with soap bosses to make a comeback since January this year. Danny told The Sun: 'Aarons a lot more mature now, and thats obviously myself too as an actor and a person. 'When Jane [Hudson] and Laura [Shaw] had pitched the idea for me to come back I was over the moon. 'I was so excited but I had to keep it quiet from the beginning of the year. Its been months of not being able to tell people. 'Ive relocated and moved my family here and some of my closest friends and family dont know so its been hard to do. But with the respect and the appreciation to the show, I wanted to keep that secret.' Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX. Serial killer Stephen Reid's reign of terror came to an end during Friday's episode of Coronation Street as he left Weatherfield in a body bag. A shocking twist saw him mowed down by Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) as he sped to The Rovers after hearing the murderer (Todd Boyce) was back in town and had Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) hostage. But the surprises didn't end there for fans of the show, when in the last few moments it was revealed that his latest victim Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) was still alive. During the episode, residents were left reeling after Stephen's murderous activities were unraveled, but he was nowhere to be seen. While attempting to board his flight to Bangkok, he had realised his passport was missing and was forced to return to Weatherfield to confront partner Jenny. The end: Serial killer Stephen Reid's reign of terror came to an end during Friday's episode of Coronation Street as he left Weatherfield in a body bag Drama: A shocking twist saw him mowed down by Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) as he sped to The Rovers after hearing the murderer (Todd Boyce) had Jenny Connor held hostage Meanwhile, Jenny had heard noises coming from inside The Rovers Return and had taken it upon herself to investigate. Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) urged Jenny to not go inside, saying: 'Jenny this is not your responsibility this is a job for the police!' The two ladies were almost knocked off their feet when Dylan Wilson came rushing out of the pub with his friend. Elsewhere, Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) had also spotted something inside the pub and entered the boarded up Rovers to investigate. After speaking with Jenny, who explained she had caught Dylan smashing up glasses in the pub, Sarah revealed that she popped in after spotting someone upstairs. 'You saw me upstairs? I was never upstairs,' Jenny replied. 'I think we should go!' Sarah exclaimed after realising they were not alone. Before the duo got the chance to flee Stephen ran down the stairs and bashed his niece Sarah over the head with a wine bottle. Survived: But the surprises didn't end there for fans of the show, when in the last few moments it was revealed that his latest victim Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) was still alive Ouch: Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) had also spotted something inside the pub and entered the boarded up Rovers to investigate when Stephen bashed her on the head with a bottle Battle: After waking, Sarah hit Stephen over the head with a chair resulting in a scuffle that saw the serial killer take Jenny hostage Rushing to the scene: But as Stephen decides to set Jenny free, Peter speeds down the street, mowing down the murderer 'No, you made me do this, that was you! She is breathing she will fine. This was your fault! You were both sneaking around,' Stephen shouted at Jenny. Meanwhile, a worried Gail texts the Weatherfield group chat where she received a reply from 'Jenny' saying Sarah is at the precinct with her. Back at The Rovers Stephen is seen sending the message to Gail from Jenny's phone while he questioned her about the whereabouts of his passport. Jenny the began to piece everything together as she realised that Teddy's body must have been hidden in the roof box, not sewing machines as previously believed. Stephen admitted that he committed the crimes through 'fear of failing' saying it was he last chance to be a success rather than 'washed up and pathetic.' Jenny told Stephen that his passport was in her handbag and he should run before Audrey finds out who he really is in attempt to set herself free. As he confesses his love for Jenny, voices are heard outside the pub, but Stephen muffles Jenny's screams for help with his hand. After hearing the screams Sean Tully and rushes to help, informing the police that he thinks Stephen is inside The Rovers. After waking, Sarah hit Stephen over the head with a chair resulting in a scuffle that saw the serial killer take Jenny hostage. Stephen then walked Jenny out of the pub, holding at broken bottle to her throat, in front of the Platt family who have gathered on the pavement outside. Upset: Reeling from the shock of Stephens death, with mum Audrey (Sue Nicholls) crouched over him, fans were hit with another bombshell as Tim opens his eyes from the boot of his taxi Will Tim be found before its too late? Will Underworlds stolen money be found before the business collapses and will Peter be arrested for murder? Meanwhile at Roy's cafe, Carla takes a phone call from Peter Barlow and with the duo putting two and two together, Carla runs to the Rovers while the cabbie speeds to the scene. But as Stephen decides to set Jenny free, Peter speeds down the street, mowing down the murderer. Reeling from the shock of Stephens death, with mum Audrey (Sue Nicholls) crouched over him, fans were hit with another bombshell as Tim, whod been attacked by Stephen earlier in the week, opened his eyes from the boot of his taxi. Will Tim be found before its too late? Will Underworlds stolen money be found before the business collapses and will Peter be arrested for murder? Jessie Wynter and Will Young looked every inch the loved-up couple as they enjoyed a night out at England's friendly with Australia at Club Wembley on Friday. The Australian beauty, 27, cut a stylish figure in high-waisted denim and a white short-sleeved top, accessorising with black pointed-toe boots. Meanwhile Will, 23, donned a white T-shirt teamed with beige trouser and white trainers. The pair made the most of Club Wembley's facilities, as they sheltered from the pouring rain during England's friendly with their longtime sporting rivals, which ended in a 1-0 victory for the Three Lions. The couple - who met on the winter series of Love Island at the start of the year - couldn't keep their hands off each other as they beamed for the camera. Smitten: Jessie Wynter, 27, and Will Young, 23, looked every inch of the loved-up couple as they attended the England VS Australia match at Club Wembley on Friday Gorgeous: The Australian beauty cut a stylish figure in high-waisted denim and a white short-sleeved top, accessorising with black pointed-toe boots It comes after Will revealed he is already 'close to proposing' to the Australian personal trainer, less than one year into their romance. The farmer admitted he is 'creeping up' to popping the question to his girlfriend because he sees 'babies, marriage and living with Jessie for the rest of his life' in his future. The couple revealed they are currently 'saving to buy a house together' as they split their time between the UK and Jessie's home in Australia. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline at We Are FSTVL, the couple gushed over their whirlwind romance and Will admitted he has been hinting at rings sizes. Will told MailOnline: 'Last week I made a romantic gesture to Jessie. I won't lie, we are creeping up to the ring. We are creeping up to it. 'First stage is the goats, give us a couple of months and then the next thing is going to come and we will keep getting stronger and moving forward.' Jessie added: 'I love Will so much and I don't need a ring to know that. I know we love each other. 'We were sitting at dinner the other night and he takes my ring off my finger and was holding it and asked, "Does this ring fit you well?" I looked at him like, "What? Why do you care about that?". He was acting so awkward.' Look: Meanwhile Will, 23, donned a white T-shirt teamed with beige trouser and white trainers Loved-up: The couple - who met on the winter series of Love Island at the start of the year - couldn't keep their hands off each other as they beamed for the camera Thinking he was being subtle, Will said he thought his girlfriend 'hadn't clocked' what he was up to as he opened up about being in his 'first serious relationship'. Will continued: 'Not going to lie I thought Jessie hadn't clocked that. I just took the ring and was like, "How does this fit you?" 'It's the first time I've actually realised you clocked what I was doing. If I'm being completely honest, for me I know what I want and that's babies, marriage and living with Jessie for the rest of my life. It is going to happen. 'It's completely different to any relationship I have ever had, my last serious relationship was when I was 16, so it was very immature. 'Coming out the villa I had to tell her like, "This is my first proper relationship and I am still learning but we are growing together". 'We have got so much love for one another and we have silly disagreements, like "You haven't made the bed" but we talk through it and move on. 'Get this down, Will Young loves Jessie and wants to marry her. I say this to Jessie all the time, we are going to get married and have kids.' The couple, who currently live on Will's family farm in Buckinghamshire, have recently set their sights on buying a house together. Jessie, who is from Tasmania and also starred on Love Island Australia back in 2019, recently headed back home to visit her family and took Will along with her. The pair revealed they have 'nothing set in stone' yet and are enjoying jetting back and forth from the UK and Australia. Will explained: 'At the minute we have been to Australia and we came back for the UK summer. The plan for us is to do six months here and six months there. 'We are both real family people and I want to spend time with my family and Jessie and she wants to spend time with hers and me, so six months here six months there.' Jessie added: 'We are not setting plans. If we want to go to Australia, we will go. We have nothing set in stone, we are winning and I love the UK. Wedding bells: Will told MailOnline he is already 'close to proposing' to girlfriend Jessie Wynter, less than one year into their romance Romantic: Will admitted he is 'creeping up' to popping the question to his girlfriend, 26, because he sees 'babies, marriage and living with Jessie for the rest of his life' in his future 'We are saving for a house though, we have a joint account and I haven't had my nails done in months, we are being stingy.' Jessie went on to reveal that she 'didn't want to go on Love Island UK' but she had a 'weird feeling' which made her change her mind last minute. She also discussed the difference between the dating reality shows and how she 'felt more vulnerable' the second time around. Jessie told MailOnline: 'I almost didn't go on Love Island UK I was like, "I won't go but I have a weird feeling I might meet the one for me". I never thought I'd fall in love. 'UK was so different to Aus. In Australia I was strutting around doing whatever I wanted and the UK one is so structured and more intense. 'The first time I was like, "I don't care, I don't like anyone I'm just having a good time", whereas in the UK I was like, "I love this man", it was so different. 'I came out and I didn't know I was emotionally capable of everything. I felt so vulnerable because I had done it before and you know when someone is faking it.' Advertisement Gwyneth Paltrow radiated glamour in a green, one-sleeve silk jumpsuit and yellow high heels while celebrating the launch of the Goop Villa at The Colony Hotel, in honor of her wellness and lifestyle company's 15th anniversary. While celebrating her brand's milestone year of business, the Oscar winner, 51, flaunted her stunning physique in a figure-hugging ensemble - a custom piece from her G. Label by Goop brand - which hugged every curve of her incredibly toned frame, as she mingled with Sarah Wetenhall, Karolina Kurkova and Canadian model Kate Bock at the event. For the star-studded occasion, the mother-of-three opted to rock a sleek and straight hairstyle and a chunky statement necklace. At the exclusive event, attendees sat down for dinner in the heart of Palm Beach, Florida, which included a bitter greens and endive salad to start and the choice of either a potato crusted halibut or roasted Creekstone beef fillet. Glowing: Gwyneth Paltrow radiated glamour in a green, one-sleeve silk jumpsuit and yellow high heels while celebrating the launch of the Goop Villa at The Colony Hotel, in honor of her wellness and lifestyle company's 15th anniversary While celebrating her brand's milestone year of business, the Oscar winner, 51, flaunted her stunning physique in a figure-hugging ensemble - a custom piece from her G. Label by Goop brand - which hugged every curve of her incredibly toned frame, as she mingled with Karolina Kurkova (R) and Canadian model Kate Bock (L) at the event For dessert, guests enjoyed a sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream. Bettina Anderson, who is one of the founders of The Paradise Fund and a young patron of The Everglades Foundation, shared a snap of her table setting, in front of pink floral arrangements, to Instagram. 'Thank you for a beautiful night in the midst of a very dark week to remind us how many things we truly have to be grateful for,' she captioned the image. Additionally, Anderson shared a clip of Paltrow speaking about the Israel-Hamas war. 'I just want to acknowledge that it is, sort of, an odd night to be throwing a party, with everything that's been going on in the world,' she said. 'And, I'm a little bit lost for words about it.' The actress continued: 'But it's really my fervent hope that the world can be a little bit of a kinder, less dark, less ugly place going forward. And, we're so polarized, in so many ways, and I'm hoping that we can all strive going forward to find some common ground with what's happening right now in Israel.' Paltrow went on to say: 'The atrocities are sort of beyond comprehension and I fear that over the coming weeks all this is going to escalate and there's going to be a lot more bloodshed and pain everywhere.' Later, she expressed feeling 'happy to be with' her family who she loves 'so much.' Paltrow is pictured with Sarah Wetenhall, who wore a frilly white blouse, patterned pants and a navy blue crocodile embossed clutch Glamorous: For the star-studded occasion, the mother-of-three opted to rock a sleek and straight hairstyle and a chunky statement necklace Fierce: Kurkova rocked a denim jumpsuit and a gold belt, which accentuated her trim waist 'Don't forget to hug your kids extra tight tonight and be so grateful that we live in this amazing country, where we can express ourselves' she reminded other parents. Another video showed the performer saying: 'I've learned so much from building this company. I've learned probably more about myself than any other realm.' Additionally footage featured her encouraging guests to 'enjoy' the festivities. Upon sharing an image with Paltrow, Wetenhall called the celebration a 'wonderful night' and marveled at how after 'almost a year of collaboration and design' she was thrilled to see their 'meaningful project come to fruition.' 'Thank you to @gwynethpaltrow and the @goop team for trusting us with your vision and for being a wonderful brand partner. I am excited to welcome @goop into our Pink Paradise family, and grateful for the opportunity to not only work together, but also bring a new, reimagined residence to our guests and to the Palm Beach community. We cant wait for you to experience the @goop Villa at Palm Beachs pinkest hotel, and fall in love with it as much as we have,' she captioned her post. Paltrow spoke about the Israel-Hamas war during the dinner as she reflected on how it is 'an odd night to be throwing a party, with everything that's been going on in the world' 'It's really my fervent hope that the world can be a little bit of a kinder, less dark, less ugly place going forward,' she told guests. 'I'm hoping that we can all strive going forward to find some common ground with what's happening right now in Israel' Yum: At the exclusive event, attendees sat down for dinner in the heart of Palm Beach, Florida, which included a bitter greens and endive salad to start and the choice of either a potato crusted halibut or roasted Creekstone beef fillet Goop is a wellness and lifestyle brand and company founded by the Emma and Iron Man actress Paltrow. It has been estimated to be worth $200 million It was launched in September 2008 as a weekly e-mail newsletter providing new age advice, such as 'police your thoughts' and 'eliminate white foods', and the slogan 'Nourish the Inner Aspect.' In 2016, she became CEO. Her highlights are This Smells Like My Vagina candle as well as clothing and jewelry collections. The 21-year-old was linked to her previous Stanford boyfriend up until at least April 2023 Money can't buy you love, but it does help you mix in some fascinating social circles. I hear that Bill Gates's daughter is enjoying a passionate romance with Sir Paul McCartney's grandson. Phoebe Gates, 21, whose Microsoft founder father has a fortune of 88billion, is going out with Arthur Donald, 24, the elder son of photographer Mary McCartney and her first husband, TV producer Alistair Donald. By comparison, Macca is worth a measly 950million. Phoebe has shared this photograph online of her with Arthur, a New York-based climate investor, taken on a balcony in Paris. The two families already enjoy close connections with one another as Arthur's aunt, the fashion designer Stella McCartney is good friends with Phoebe's mother, Melissa Gates. 'Even when I was little, she would send me stuff and little notes and I'd be so excited,' Phoebe says of Stella. 'We are really deeply connected. Before dating the grandson of The Beatles singer - Phoebe was in a relationship with fellow Stanford student Robert Ross. Phoebe shared pictures of her cozying up with her then-boyfriend on Instagram and trolls were quick to leave racist comments about her interracial relationship with Robert Ross, who is black. Before Phoebe's romance with Arthur, she was going out with her fellow Stanford University student Robert Ross Phoebe Gates, 21, the daughter of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, is going out with Arthur Donald, 24, the elder son of photographer Mary McCartney and her first husband, TV producer Alistair Donald Phoebe Gates attends the red carpet for The Albies at the New York Public Library Before dating the grandson of The Beatles singer - Phoebe was in a relationship with fellow Stanford student Robert Ross She responded to the backlash during an interview with The Information, and she said she was 'done' with people making fun of her relationship. Despite the innocent nature of the photos of Phoebe and her then-boyfriend, Twitter was quick to react to the notion that Phoebe might be dating a black man, with many choosing to make crude jokes suggesting that her rumored beau was simply using her for her father's money. One wrote: 'Her net worth projected $130 Billion. I don't think he is her equal or they are doing 50/50. Just my guess [though].' Another chimed in: 'Phoebe Gates has a black boyfriend, young brotha do not pull out BE GREAT.' 'When Phoebe Gates' boyfriend get added to the joint checking account,' one person added, while sharing a video of a black man doing a celebratory dance. Phoebe shared pictures of her cozying up with her then-boyfriend on Instagram and trolls were quick to leave racist comments about her interracial relationship with Robert Ross, who is black The 20-year-old has gained more than 64,000 followers on TikTok and 195,000 on Instagram Phoebe Gates and Paris Jackson at the Stella McCartney show during Paris Fashion Week. Phoebe may have met her new beau through the close ties between the McCartney family and the Gates family The 20-year-old, who has gained more than 64,000 followers on TikTok and 195,000 on Instagram opened up about the highs and lows that come with getting so much attention online, and when she was asked about the worst part of being a social media sensation, the college student admitted: 'The misconceptions and conspiracy theories about my family and my relationship with my boyfriend. 'Its 2023. Im done being memed for being in an interracial relationship.' Phoebe's TikTok feed contains things like 'day in the life' type videos, as well as clips of her working out, showing off her favorite outfits and beauty products, reviewing different items, and trying out various makeup trends. It also features videos of her discussing political topics like women's rights and abortion, alongside her mother, Melinda Gates. At age 21, the college student and aspiring designer has already achieved a lot: she has made waves in the world of fashion - receiving invites to coveted New York and Paris Fashion Week shows, elite parties, and star-studded events - as well as racking up some celebrity friends along the way, becoming a viral social media star, and even landing an internship at British Vogue. And while some may argue that she has gotten to where she is thanks to her wealthy background, both Bill and Melinda have continuously insisted that they are working hard to ensure that their kids 'create their own path.' Bill - who has a whopping net worth of $107 billion - has voiced his fears over his kids becoming 'distorted' over 'wealth' on numerous occasions, and he once vowed to use his immense fortune to 'help the poor' rather than his own children In fact, Bill - who has a whopping net worth of $107 billion - has voiced his fears over his kids becoming 'distorted' over 'wealth' on numerous occasions, and he once vowed to use his immense fortune to 'help the poor' rather than his own children. While raising their children, the former couple - who split in May 2021 after 27 years of marriage - did their best to give their three kids - Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe - a normal childhood. They made them do chores and split the household work as evenly as possible, while tech mogul Bill has even admitted that he was a stickler about screen time - and didn't allow his kids to have phones until they were age 14. She often jets off on extravagant trips around the globe - and makes sure to document her endeavors on her Instagram account, where she has gained more than 314,000 followers. Phoebe has been adamant about wanting to find success on her own, and not because of her parents. But the 21-year-old has followed in their footsteps in one department - becoming a fierce women's rights advocate just like her mother. Last summer, she interned with British Vogue, who sent her to Copenhagen to cover Fashion Week. And the trip further cemented her passion. She explained: 'It was super interesting, and it was where I was like, "OK, I want to do a bunch more stuff."' 'There is some toxicity in the industry and I have a huge interest in women's health as well, so I wanted to work somewhere where it didn't feel like those were confounding with each other,' she added of her internship. Phoebe - who said she wants to 'be her own person' and 'branch away' from her parents - may have met her new beau through the close ties between the McCartney family and the Gates family. She grew close to Paul McCartney's daughter, designer Stella McCartney, after the two were introduced by her mother - who has also inspired her to want to go on her own path, rather than following in her parents' footsteps. Phoebe has been adamant about wanting to find success on her own, and not because of her parents. But the 21-year-old has followed in their footsteps in one department - becoming a fierce women's rights advocate just like her mother Bill has admitted that he was a stickler about screen time - and didn't allow his kids to have phones until they were age 14 While raising their children, the former couple - who split in May 2021 after 27 years of marriage - did their best to give their three kids - Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe - a normal childhood 'When I was little she would send me stuff and little notes and I'd be so excited. I've been asking my mom forever and ever if I could meet with her,' Phoebe said. 'I felt very connected to her, I feel like because she's been able to use the platform she had, because of who her dad is, and then she took that and instead of being like, "Oh, people define me by this," she took it and she was like, "OK, I have this immense privilege, now I'm going to use it to leverage something." 'What she chose to leverage is to launch a brand that is completely sustainable. So I think we are really deeply connected because that's a lot of what I think about. Stella invited Phoebe to attend her show at Paris Fashion Week last fall, where she wowed in a black bra, leather jacket, and white trousers - which contained an intricate painting of a bird on them. Her list of ex-boyfriends includes Silicon Valley millionaires and the son of high street guru Sir Philip Green. But Harry Potter star Emma Watson may now have cast her spell over a Syrian refugee filmmaker, who was seen putting a smile on her face this week. The actress, 33, cosied up to Hassan Akkad an English teacher in Damascus turned writer and human rights activist at a lunch in Mayfair. Ms Watson and Mr Akkad, who arrived in the UK by dinghy in 2015 following an 87-day journey across Europe, enjoyed a date at expensive Italian restaurant Cecconi's, where starters cost up to 23. One onlooker said: 'They seemed very cosy.' HAPPY TOGETHER Emma Watson appears to grown close to Syrian filmmaker Hassan Akkad Harry Potter star Emma Watson may now have cast her spell over a Syrian refugee filmmaker, who was seen putting a smile on her face this week Mr Akkad was seen putting a smile on Ms Watson's face at lunch this week in Mayfair, London Mr Akkad, 35, had written at length in his memoir Hope Not Fear, which Ms Watson heavily plugged on her Instagram UN book club in 2021, about his experience of meeting the actress and model Ms Watson was seen embracing him during their lunch date The pair enjoyed a date at expensive Italian restaurant Cecconi's where starters cost up to 23 Mr Akkad was later seen carrying her water bottle as they left the restaurant Ms Watson's bamboo water bottle features her initials ECW The pair were then seen getting into Mr Akkad's Skoda SUV They have enjoyed a close friendship since 2017, but Mr Akkad told the Mail yesterday that Ms Watson was 'out of my league' However, Mr Akkad told the Mail yesterday: 'She's out of my league.' Ms Watson was seen embracing him during their lunch date, however, and he was later spotted carrying her bamboo water bottle featuring her initials, ECW as they left the restaurant and drove off in his Skoda SUV. The pair have enjoyed a close friendship since 2017, when they met at a summit in Italy where they were both giving talks. Mr Akkad, 35, wrote at length in his memoir Hope Not Fear, which Ms Watson heavily plugged on her Instagram UN book club in 2021, about his experience of meeting the actress and model. He wrote: 'I suggested that we borrow one of the Maserati that were being loaned to guests and go for a drive. 'There I was, driving a car with Emma Watson through the stunning countryside. 'I kept saying how surreal the whole experience was and so Emma started filming me on her mobile phone. 'We went back and that night we danced together at the hotel.' Mr Akkad continued: 'Back in the UK, my friendship with Emma grew. 'We went to a music festival together and she introduced me to her friends. We have a shared passion for photography and films. We would usually spend time at her house because she didn't want to go out and get recognised.' Ms Watson (pictured at the Soho House awards in New York) previously dated Californian businessman Leo Robinton for two years Mr Akkad, an English teacher turned filmmaker and human rights activist, arrived in the UK by dinghy in 2015 following an 87-day journey across Europe Earlier this year, Ms Watson broke up with Brandon Green, son of Sir Phillip Green after they had dated for 18 months In 2017, Mr Akkad won a Bafta for his BBC2 documentary series Exodus: Our Journey To Europe, which includes footage of him clinging to the side of a sinking, overcrowded dinghy while attempting to cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece In 2017, Mr Akkad won a Bafta for his BBC2 documentary series Exodus: Our Journey To Europe. He captured footage for the series while travelling to the UK from Syria in 2015, having fled Damascus after being jailed for demonstrating against the government. The documentary includes harrowing footage of Mr Akkad clinging to the side of a sinking, overcrowded dinghy as he attempts to cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece. In 2020, he volunteered as a cleaner on a Covid ward in east London and was awarded British citizenship in 2022. Ms Watson previously dated Californian businessman Leo Robinton for two years. More recently, she dated Sir Philip's son, Brandon Green, for 18 months but the pair broke up earlier this year. Billie Piper has reportedly been left 'humiliated and betrayed' when she discovered that her ex husband Laurence Fox was 'wooing other women' during their marriage. The Doctor Who star, 41, who was married to the broadcaster, 45, from 2007 until 2016, discovered his disloyalty after an actress revealed Laurence had 'asked her out' multiple times while the former couple were still together. Honeysuckle Weeks made the revelation to The Telegraph in an interview earlier this week, leaving Billie 'enraged.' A source told The Sun: 'Billie was obviously stunned to read the interview - and discover her husband, with whom she was very much together at the time, was wooing other women. 'She feels humiliated and betrayed. God knows who else he tried to date when they were together.' Ex: Billie Piper, 41, has reportedly been left 'humiliated and betrayed' when she discovered that her ex husband Laurence Fox, 45, was 'wooing other women' during their marriage (pictured in 2014) Date: The Doctor Who star, who was married to the broadcaster from 2007 until 2016, recently discovered this infidelity after an actress, Honeysuckle Weeks (pictured) told a newspaper They added: 'Safe to say, she is extremely happy she and Laurence arent together today.' Speaking to The Telegraph Honeysuckle revealed: 'Laurence asked me out three times. On each occasion he stood me up. 'Although the real question is why did I keep agreeing? Mind you he was still married to Billie at the time.' MailOnline has contacted representatives for Billie Piper and Laurence Fox for comment. Billie and Laurence split after eight years of marriage in 2016, at the time they insisted there were 'no third parties involved' in their separation. A post on his official Facebook account made at the time read: 'Laurence Fox and Billie Piper have separated. No third parties are involved. 'For the sake of our family we request and appeal for space and privacy at this time'. The former couple shared two sons Winston, 14, and Eugene, 11. Laurence was recently fired from GB News after he made a series of remarks about political correspondent Ava Evans, which included asking 'who would want to s**g that?'. Embarrassed: A source told The Sun : 'Billie feels humiliated and betrayed. God knows who else he tried to date when they were together' (pictured last month) Troubles: Laurence was recently fired from GB News after he made remarks about political correspondent Ava Evans and arrested for allegedly conspiring to damage ULEZ cameras Later that same week he was arrested for allegedly conspiring to damage ULEZ cameras. He was released from a police station on Wednesday night, after a video was posted showing Metropolitan Police officers searching his house. Laurence was arrested after a video rant in which he is alleged to have encouraged others to damage Ulez cameras by threatening to cut them down with an angle grinder. While in police custody, GB News also released a statement to confirm his sacking and that colleague Calvin Robinson, following sexual comments he made about journalist Ava. Underbelly star Firass Dirani has been dropped from the cast of The Office Australia, five months after it was revealed he would star in the sitcom. Following his pro-Hamas rant video shared to social media this week, it has been revealed that producers from the spin off 'changed their mind' and the 39-year-old left the production before filming even started. Insiders at Amazon Prime Video, the production company behind the anticipated series, explained the situation to the Saturday Telegraph. 'Firass was announced as being cast in The Office Australia but he didnt make it to production,' they said. 'There were "differences" before production started. Production has wrapped up and he isnt in the show.' Underbelly star Firass Dirani has been dropped from the cast of The Office Australia, five months after it was revealed he would star in the sitcom (pictured on SAS Australia in 2020) The Saturday Telegraph states it is unclear what those 'differences' were. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Dirani for comment. Earlier this year, Prime Video revealed Dirani would star in the remake alongside Felicity Ward, who will play a 'modern-day David Brent'. Other stars cast in the series, that is a spin off from the iconic BBC sitcom and award-winning US version, are Edith Poor (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Steen Raskopoulos (The Duchess), Shari Sebbens. Firass Dirani is under fire after claiming those who back Israel are 'supporting apartheid' On Thursday, Dirani slammed Australians backing Israel, claiming they are 'supporting apartheid'. The Australian actor shared a video on social media expressing his support for Hamas after the Palestinian militant group unleashed a horrific attack on the Jewish homeland on Saturday. Dirani complained that Hamas - which is considered a terrorist group by the Australian government - is being 'propagated against as if theyre a terrorist militant group'. He also compared the plight of Ukraine - which was invaded by Russia in February 2022 - with the Hamas' cause, suggesting the recent attacks which have killed hundreds of civilians was 'Palestinians resisting the oppressors'. The now-deleted clip, obtained by The Australian, sparked outrage with viewers slamming Dirani's comments as 'demonic' and calling him out for blocking followers who challenged his stance. 'Seeing some people posting about in support of the Israeli flag and in a way that Hamas has been propagated against as if theyre a terrorist militant group,' Dirani, who has 63,000 followers, said. 'Not too long ago the Ukrainian people were armed and were fighting against Russia, and they were called heroes and people that were resisting, resisting the oppressors, and now when the Palestinians resist the oppressors, that has been going on for 75 years, theyre labelled something else. 'Theyre labelled as terrorists or militants, savages,' he continued. 'They have every right to defend themselves, and for those who are supporting Israel, ones that are posting the Israeli flag, you are supporting apartheid, you are supporting apartheid, period.' Carly Shamgar, who claims she was blocked by the actor, said his comments were 'cowardly and disgraceful'. Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with a body on Saturday October 7 'I was questioning whether hes actually stable, he sounded demonic, it really put the fear of God into me,' Ms Shamgar told the Australian. 'I was on a WhatsApp chat with my friends and we could not believe what we were listening to, with such a platform of 63,000 people and the ability to share on Instagram, its just not okay. 'Its cowardly and its disgraceful, if youre going to have the audacity to film yourself to camera to 63,000 followers proclaiming that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation and had every right to do what they did, then you need to engage in a civil conversation with people that actually challenge that.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Dirani for comment. Israelis were wrapping up the week-long religious holiday of Sukkot on Saturday morning when the Palestinian militant group rained around 2,200 bombs down from Gaza. Palestinian militants brandish weapons as they pass through Israeli territory on trucks People flee as clashes flare between Palestinian groups and Israeli forces in Gaza City following the earlier air strikes The bloodshed marked an escalation in the decades-long military and political conflict between Israel and Palestine. In Israel, at least 900 people have died and more than 2,300 have been injured by Hamas forces - including dozens of foreigners from the US, Thailand, Nepal, France, Ukraine, the UK, Brazil and Canada. Among those killed were young people who had travelled to attend the Supernova dance festival near Re'im kibbutz, in southern Israel near the Gaza strip. Footage shows horrific scenes, including festival-goers fleeing for their lives and Palestinian groups celebrating as they paraded the naked body of a German woman on a truck through Gaza. Meanwhile, Palestinian authorities estimate 560 people - including many civilians - have been killed and another 2900 injured in Gaza due to retaliatory attacks. The murder of civilians has drawn widespread condemnation from world leaders and prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say the country is at 'war'. Smoke rises from an explosion caused by Israeli airstrikes on the border between Egypt and Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday World leaders and diplomats - including Australian politicians - have thrown their support behind Israel. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday morning condemned the 'abhorrent attack on Israel', tweeting Australian 'stands with our friend Israel in this time'. 'This is a dreadful circumstance that people didn't see coming,' he later told ABC's Insiders. 'We of course are worried about escalation. 'There is no precedent for what is occurring here.' The conflict has ignited tension on Australian shores as Israeli and Palestinian supporters clash. Hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the Sydney Opera House on Monday night to demonstrate against the iconic building's sails being lit up in support of Israel. The incident sparked anger as pro-Palestine protesters were allowed to chant vile anti-Semitic comments while counter-demonstrators were ordered to stay home and arrested for trying to fly the Israeli flag. Gemma Atkinson was left heartbroken after the loss of her beloved auntie Sheila - as she shared a heartfelt tribute on her Instagram page on Thursday. The English radio presenter, 38, revealed the relative, 93, was the 'kindest most caring lady' and the 'matriarch of the family'. The Strictly star shared a sweet snap of auntie Sheila stamping a kiss on her little daughter Mia, three. She added an adorable clip of the beloved Auntie cuddling baby Thiago - whose Gemma gave birth in July. The Hollyoaks actress accompanied it with an emotional caption, as she penned: 'Today we said goodbye to Auntie Shelia. The kindest most caring lady and eldest relative we have. The matriarch of our family. After almost 93 years her body became tired.' Emotional: Gemma Atkinson was left heartbroken after the loss of her beloved auntie Sheila - as she shared a heartfelt tribute on her Instagram page on Thursday Beloved: The English radio presenter, 38, revealed the 93-year-old was the 'kindest most caring lady' and the 'matriarch of the family' 'Now at peace and reunited with Uncle Peter and many more relatives, Im sure theyll be having a celebration together just as we did today at her send off. As sad as funerals are, its always lovely having the family together having a good laugh and a good buffet!' she continued. 'Thanks for teaching our family to always stay positive. Im convinced thats why you lived so happy for so long, because regardless of the situation you always looked on the bright side. 'Sleep wellIll miss your pound coins sellotaped in my Birthday card this year, but I know youll check in on everyone now & again ,' the influencer added. Gemma reached out to the latest Strictly casualty Nikita Kanda after she became the second celebrity to be eliminated from the show. Radio presenter Nikita, 28, was booted during Sunday's dance off when she and pro partner Gorka Marquez had to take on Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima. After the result, the Strictly Come Dancing Instagram page shared a sweet tribute to the pair, writing: '@nikitakanda and @gorka_marquez have become friends for life and theyve had so much fun during their #Strictly journey! Were sad to see them leave.' Gemma, who fell in love with Gorka when she competed on Strictly in 2017, was quick to offer her support, commenting: 'You did wonderful Nikita.' Gorka also reached out on Instagram, writing 'I am proud of you. Thank you.' Sweet auntie: Gemma added an adorable clip of the beloved Auntie cuddling baby Thiago - whose Gemma gave birth in July Nikita left the show with Gorka , 33, after underwhelming on Saturday's Movie Night. Nikita faced Zara in the dreaded dance off, before judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and head judge Shirley Ballas saved Zara. Both couples performed their routines again on the show as first up was Zara and her dance partner Graziano Di Prima who performed their Pasodoble to The Puss Suite from Puss In Boots. Then Nikita and Gorka performed their Jive to Kids In America from Clueless again in a bid to impress the judges and remain in the competition. After both couples had danced a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts: Craig Revel Horwood chose to save Zara and Graziano. Craig said: 'The couple I'd like to save had both technique and theatricality, and that couple is Zara & Graziano.' Motsi Mabuse also chose to save Zara and Graziano, saying: 'I thought both couples gave it their best, but one couple made a few mistakes that were quite visible, so that's why I'm saving Zara and Graziano.' Anton Du Beke chose to save them too, explaining: 'I did think both couples danced better in the dance off. 'Unfortunately there were a couple of small mistakes from one of the couples, so the couple I would like to save is Zara & Graziano.' With three votes in favour of Zara and Graziano, they won the majority vote meaning that Nikita and Gorka would be leaving the competition. Head judge Shirley Ballas also agreed and said she would have decided to save Zara and Graziano. When asked by Tess about their time on the show, Nikita said: 'I don't want to leave yet, I feel like I've let him down. 'I've had the best time and I love all my Strictly family, I'm going to miss you all. This has been a dream come true, I'm so grateful. 'I've got to say the biggest thank you to Gorka, he has been the biggest support and I've had the best time ever.' Gorka was then asked by Tess about Nikita overcoming her nerves and how proud he is of her, he said: 'I am beyond proud of her, for someone that doesn't have any dance experience or performance experience to come on this show and dance in front of millions of people for three weeks, I think it's incredible. Support: Gemma Atkinson reached out to the latest Strictly casualty Nikita Kanda after she became the second celebrity to be eliminated from the show Axed: Radio presenter Nikita, 28, was booted off during Sunday's dance off alongside her pro partner and Gemma's fiance Gorka Marquez (pictured at Sunday's Pride Of Britain awards) Sweet: Gemma, who fell in love with Gorka when she competed on Strictly in 2017, was quick to offer her support, commenting: 'You did wonderful Nikita' All over: Nikita was the second celebrity to be eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing 2023 during Sunday night's tense results show 'You should be very proud of yourself, you have never let me down and I am very proud of you. 'This show is going to teach you so many things about yourself that you can take with you and I take incredible memories. I've never laughed so much in three weeks than I did with you!' Nikita and Gorka will be joining Fleur East and Janette Manrara for their first exclusive televised interview live on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday October 9 at 6:30pm. Kimberley Garner flaunted her toned body in a gorgeous cut-out dress at the VIP launch of Disney100: The Exhibition in London. The former Made in Chelsea star, 32, wore an abstract floor-length dark blue dress with light green detailing. It featured cut-outs on the front, sides, and back showing off her perfectly sculpted physique. Kimberley completed her look with silver heels and matching silver jewellery - featuring a statement chunky necklace. She smiled brightly and posed in front of a backdrop of Mickey Mouse from Disney's 1940 film Fantasia. Sculpted: Kimberley Garner flaunted her toned body in a gorgeous cut-out dress at the VIP launch of Disney100: The Exhibition in London Stylish: The former Made in Chelsea star, 32, wore a floor-length dark blue dress with green detailing The event was ahead of The Exhibition's opening on October 13th at London's ExCeL. Disney100 is a vault of treasures, showcasing hundreds of extraordinary objects, including many of Disney's Crown Jewels. It features more than 200 rarely-seen artefacts and works of art, costumes and props, and incredible memorabilia from the studio. Also at the event was British actress Judi Shekoni who wore a bright long-sleeved dress with intricate patterns and a pair of nude heels. The Only Way Is Essex star Jessica Wright also made an appearance with her mum Carol Wright. Jessica wore all black, while Carol opted for a forest green dress. Kimberley rose to fame in season three of E4's Made in Chelsea in 2012. Her storylines included a romance with co-star Richard Dinan whom she reconnected with in 2017. Kimberley is now thought to be dating the hunky Andreas Anthis whom she was first spotted with in the summer. Stunning: Also at the event was British actress Judi Shekoni who wore a bright long-sleeved dress with intricate patterns and a pair of nude heels Star-studded: The Only Way Is Essex star Jessica Wright also made an appearance with her mum Carol Wright. Jessica wore all black, while Carol opted for a forest green dress Say cheese! Influencer Chris Kowalski teamed his ultra stylish Kenzo sweater with a pair of Mickey Mouse ears Pose: Victoria Brown dazzled in a colourful sequin mini dress Lila Moss was the spitting image of her model mother Kate as she stunned in an all-black ensemble for the Haider Ackermann x Augustinus Bader x Tish Weinstock dinner in London on Thursday. The model, 21, showcased her slender physique in a form-fitting open blazer with silk embellishments. Lila flashed a glimpse of her flat abs in the elegant number, which she toted with black flared trousers. The fashion star wore maroon boots, matching the shade of her flawless manicure. She accessorised with a black knitted bag and donned a slew of dainty gold necklaces. Twins: Lila Moss was the spitting image of her mother Kate at the Haider Ackermann x Augustinus Bader x Tish Weinstock dinner in London on Thursday Fashionista: The model showcased her slender physique in a form-fitting open blazer with silk embellishments The stunner wore her golden locks loose in beach waves, and opted for a subtle palette flaunting her natural looks. Lila beamed while posing up for the camera alongside Vogue beauty editor Tish Weinstock. She joined her supermodel mum Kate, 49, for the swanky dinner, who slipped into a plunging all-black ensemble with gold detailing. They were joined by Sienna Miller, who recently announced she's pregnant with her second child, and her beau Oli Green. Sienna covered her growing bump in a Taller Marmo kaftan dress with an asymmetrical hem as she joined her boyfriend at the event. Kate shares Lila with her former partner Jefferson Hack who she dated for several years in the early 2000s. The model is currently in a relationship with Count Nickolai Von Bismarck. Rumours of Nikolai's split from Kate first started swirling when he was spotted heading to a hotel with model Camille Rowe in July. Toned: Lila flashed a glimpse of her flat abs in the elegant number, which she toted with black flared trousers Stylish: She accessorised with a black knitted bag and donned a slew of dainty gold necklaces Perfect pairing: Lila beamed while posing up for the camera alongside Vogue beauty editor Tish Weinstock But this week, Kate was seen heading to the Fendi runway show at Milan Fashion Week with Count Nikolai, their first sighting together this year. Last week, Kate opted to snub the Vogue World after party, while Nikolai was pictured partying at the event with her friend Rita Ora and Rafael Pavarotti. Kate has called Count Nikolai her boyfriend since 2015 and has daughter Lila, 19, from a previous relationship with Jefferson Hack. Opening up to Harper's Bazaar last year, Kate spoke about her relationship with Nikolai. She said: 'Being in love makes me feel beautiful. My daughter Lila inspires me to be the best person I can be. 'My favourite moments are when all the family are sitting down together having lunch on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the country.' In 2016, it was reported that Kate had split from Nikolai, after his partying ways became too much for her. The model is said to have previously argued with her beau over his refusal to calm his wild partying down, according to The Sun, but they later got back together. Lila is currently dating boyfriend Yoni Helbitz and the pair were seen strolling in London last month. She has been dating Yoni for around a year, with his identity confirmed in August. This summer, MailOnline exclusively revealed that Lila's beau was Yoni, with the pair seen out in London frequently together over the past few months. A source confirmed that the pair, who were first pictured together as friends two years ago, have been dating for around a year. Yoni's official job title is e-commerce coordinator / fashion marketer for fashion brand Self Portrait where he has been working for just two months. Before that, he worked as an e-commerce co-ordinator for James Lakeland Ltd and he also had a six months stint as an estate agent. The happy couple had kept their romance relatively under wraps, yet Instagram posts by Yoni reveal that they have been enjoying each other's company for quite some time. Cosy: They were joined by Sienna Miller, who recently announced she's pregnant with her second child, and her beau Oli Green Loved-up: Lila is currently dating boyfriend Yoni Helbitz and the pair were seen strolling in London last month - as the couple has been dating for about a year The fashion marketer's page features several snaps of himself enjoying dinner dates and days out with Lila amid their blossoming romance. Though Yoni is happy to share images of his famous girlfriend on social media, Lila keeps her page relatively professional, with her Instagram mainly filled with modelling shots of herself. Amid their city walks and holidays, Yoni no doubt has to pull himself away from his model love seeing as he's still studying and will finish his degree next year. It has vowed to give Nintendo and Sony access to Activision games for 10 years After nearly 22 months, Microsoft has completed its acquisition of video game-maker Activision Blizzard for $69 billion - closing the biggest tech deal in history. The deal encountered hurdles around the world, with regulators concerned that by owning Activision, which makes games like Call of Duty, Diablo and Overwatch, Microsoft could limit its games to its own Xbox platform. Industry rival Sony raised concerns that Microsoft could stop big games from being available on the PlayStation. But completion of the deal came seven hours after Microsoft got final approval from an antitrust watchdog in the UK, reversing its earlier decision to block the takeover. Taking over Activision could ultimately boost Xbox sales since Microsoft has plans to fold Activision titles into its 'Game Pass' subscription service, which works like Netflix for video games. In 2020 it took over another large gaming studio, Bethesda. Regulators in the US and UK were concerned that by owning Activision - the maker of Call of Duty, Diablo and Overwatch - Microsoft could limit its games to the proprietary Xbox platform. Pictured are Call of Duty games in a store in Manhattan, New York Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft's Xbox division, on Friday said users of other consoles would retain access to Activision titles. He is pictured outside a federal court in June On Friday morning trading was halted on Activision Blizzard shares after the acquisition. Stockholders were to receive $95 for each share they owned prior to the close. Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft's Xbox division, on Friday said: 'Whether you play on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC or mobile, you are welcome here - and will remain welcome, even if Xbox isn't where you play your favorite franchise.' Microsoft has long defended the deal as good for gaming, saying its goal was to get Activision games to more people on more platforms rather than trying to deprive those games from console-makers such as Sony and Nintendo. 'Players have always been at the center of everything we do. And as we grow, we'll continue to keep players at the heart of it all,' said Spencer. A key element of the deal is that Microsoft has agreed to hand the distribution rights of Activision games to French gaming publisher Ubisoft. It has also appeased Sony and Nintendo by signing deals promising that Call Of Duty games - the jewel in Activision's crown - will be available to their users for 10 years after the deal goes through. Microsoft in July won the right to close the buyout of Call of Duty game maker Activision Blizzard in the US after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) tried to block the deal. Similarly, the FTC had been hoping to scupper the takeover over fears it would stifle competition and prevent access to games for consumers. Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, said in a memo to employees on Friday said he will stay on as CEO until the end of 2023 Microsoft has committed to making Call of Duty available on PlayStation for the next ten years. Pictured is Call of Duty promotional material But Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley dismissed the claims, saying: 'To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content.' In the short term, it is unlikely gamers will see a change in the availability of popular Activision Blizzard titles, but well into the future things are more uncertain. The Ubisoft deal that will see the French company with streaming rights to the Activision titles has been signed for 15 years, but it is unclear what Microsoft may do after that. The human rights organization Amnesty International accused the Burmese army on Friday (October 13) of using a large unguided aerial bomb to attack and destroy a camp for displaced people in northern Burma, on the border with China. The attack, which targeted the camp near the town of Laiza on Monday evening, left 29 dead and 59 injured, according to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). An expert from the NGO analyzed photos and videos following the attack in Kachin State, which show evidence of a single, massive explosion that blew out dozens of nearby buildings including a church, a nursery school and several houses and started fires. In a statement, Amnesty further affirmed that "the size of the crater and the damage observed are consistent with the use of a large unguided aerial bomb present in the inventory of the Burmese army", adding that the blast caused catastrophic injuries () to the victims, including fatal head injuries, lacerations that exposed organs, and the removal and pulverization of limbs. The Kachin Independence Army, which defends the interests of the predominantly Christian Kachin ethnic group, has been in conflict with the Burmese army for decades. The military junta also said that bombs belonging to rebels in the region caused the explosion, without providing evidence. Amnesty International denies the allegations and says they are "contradictory to the accounts of corroborating witnesses, who indicated that the explosion served as the starting point for a coordinated attack." The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said he was alarmed by the attack and declared that those responsible should be held to account. At least one journalist died and several more were injured today due to an attack by Israeli forces against southern Lebanon, where there has been an outbreak of violence since last Sunday, a military source who requested anonymity informed EFE. The Qatari state channel Al Jazeera confirmed that two of its employees suffered injuries in the attack, perpetrated against the vehicle in which they were traveling in the Alma al Shaab area, and added that the "Israeli" action ended the life of another journalist, that does not identify. At least a fourth reporter was also injured as a result of the action, according to Al Jazeera. The Lebanese National News Agency (ANN) reported that the Jewish State attacked several points this afternoon in the area between the southern towns of Al Dhahira and Alma al Shaab, where exchanges of fire also occurred. Since last Sunday, the border area has seen a series of cross attacks between Israeli troops, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and Palestinian factions. In this context, the Jewish State has attacked Lebanese territory with artillery, aerial bombardments and, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), also with phosphorus bombs; while Hezbollah has fired several missiles into northern Israel and Palestinian militias have carried out cross-border infiltration, in addition to rocket fire. All of this is part of the ongoing war between Israel and the militias of the Gaza Strip, in which Hezbollah threatens to participate directly "if circumstances require it." Despite the expectations and efforts of the Spanish presidency since July, there will be no agreement on the reform of fiscal rules and European economic governance this month. Last Monday, the Spanish Government distributed among the 27 its first concrete proposal to seek consensus, a paper to find what in community jargon they define as "landing zone", something that can satisfy capitals that have positions completely opposite. But all the sources consulted, in almost a dozen delegations, point in the same direction: convergences are beginning to be perceived, there is lukewarm progress and sufficient maturity for the issue to reach the ministers' table. But it will take much more time. Hopefully, in November, but everything is beginning to point to December, where not only the members of Ecofin will see the issue, but probably the heads of State and Government at the last summit of the year, whose agenda is beginning to become overloaded. It is not only the question of the Stability Pact, of debt reduction or of how to enhance the essential investments to maintain growth. The governments of the 27 have not yet decided who will be the next president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), which leaves the future of the acting first vice president, Nadia Calvino, in the air. During the summer, Spain hoped that in Santiago de Compostela, a few weeks ago, a specific proposal on community governance would have been debated at the highest level, and that the race for the position of the Luxembourg-based Bank would have been closed. But neither of them came close. And now, neither. The sources consulted say that there is no rush, that the outgoing president, Werner Hoyer, has a mandate until January. The large countries (which in this case are the ones who will decide, since there is no vote by capital, but rather it is weighted by their weight in the capital of the EIB) have not spoken openly. Italy because it still has a candidate, to whom no one gives any chance, but who allows them to have a good hand in other negotiations. France seems to be leaning towards Nadia Calvino, since Emmanuel Macron has had his ups and downs in recent years with his great rival, the Danish Margrethe Vestager, but he has not yet spoken out. And the same goes for Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz supports the Spanish woman, but his Finance Minister, and key partner in the coalition government, prefers his Danish liberal colleague. From Berlin everything indicates that the balance is tipping in Calvino's side, but the moment is delicate. IF the thing had been resolved in Santiago, nothing would happen, but now Germany, which is the country that is being toughest on the issue of fiscal rules, has a good chance to pressure, or to sell its vote at a high price. The issue has been entrenched since day one. The previous rules, patched again and again since Maastricht (1993) did not work and everyone knows it. The proposal launched by the European Commission seeks to give it more pragmatism: more flexibility, more ad hoc adjustments for each Government and more national responsibility in the adjustment mechanisms so that it is not a robotic imposition from outside (replicating the model used in the Next Generation Funds ), through four-year national adjustment plans (extendable to seven for delicate cases) in exchange for much more effective, rapid and applicable pressure or even sanction measures. The problem is that Germany, and with it up to 13 countries, say no. There is a kind of split down the middle in the Union, although not all with the same degree of vehemence or rigidity. Berlin wants, contrary to the initial philosophical spirit, that there be annual adjustments for countries that have imbalances, that there be minimum forced reductions in debt or deficit. Warning, from the Executive or the Bundesbank, that an agreement that is too soft would generate distrust among investors and would not reverse the unrest that exists now, indirectly pointing to Italy and how the debt markets have punished their risk premium for the unilateral announcement that The year's deficit will be larger than expected. There are different formulas on the table, from an annual reduction to being during the four-year cycle, or up to 17 years for the most indebted countries according to the initial Spanish proposal, but the Netherlands and the so-called hawks or frugals demand that the debt reduction at the end of a clear path are there, with first and last name, with figures for everyone. On the other side, Spain, France or Italy, which say that this has not worked and will not work. They ask for more flexibility, more time for countercyclical adjustments. Or they ask that investments in strategic issues for the entire EU (such as green transition or digitalization but perhaps also in Defense seeing the state of the world) do not count towards debt or deficit. There are four axes that are being debated at the same time, and this Monday and Tuesday the ministers will address it for the first time in Luxembourg, trying to set guidelines for the technicians. The first are the safeguards required by the most orthodox countries, and specifically clear and annual number objectives for debt or deficit reduction of up to 0.5% annually. The second is the so-called "institutional balance." What role and weight does each actor have? The toughest ones do not want everything to remain in the hands of the European Commission, which they consider historically too soft and are looking for another pair of external eyes. "We trust the European Commission, but this is like when they diagnose you with something very serious: you trust the doctor, but just in case you ask for a second opinion," summarizes a diplomatic source. Which could be the European Fiscal Board, for example, which they want to give a leading role. The third divisive issue is application or execution. One thing is what the countries say they are going to do, the objectives they set, and another is what happens in reality. The pressure, fiscal coercion or sanction mechanisms must be outlined when, within an excessive deficit procedure, the required adjustments are not made annually, every four or seven academic years. The last question is that of investments. Those from the south want them to be left out of the calculations. They appeal to the Golden Rule, when debt is dedicated only to investment and not to even an increase in current spending, but they are still not convincing. Everyone agrees that investments are fundamental, but there was only a certain consensus on those related to Defense, which in the Spanish proposal would benefit from a special status. They would count, but it would also be a mitigating factor in the event of deficits above 3% of the Stability Pact, which will remain unchanged. The text presented on Monday by Spain is very open, alive. Some adjustments have already been made, based on the comments received, and it is not clear whether it will go with that to Luxembourg or a new one will be presented, if there is a possibility of landing at at least one of the points. But it is very difficult because they are all linked to each other, they cannot be negotiated in isolation. If you push on one side they will have to pull on the other. The ministers have taken advantage of the IMF's Marrakesh meeting for many meetings (also for the presidency of the EIB, whose organization falls to the Belgian minister), but at a technical level the issue remains at a standstill. Next appointment: in November and if a miracle were to occur, and Ecofin managed to reach an agreement, negotiations would begin with the European Parliament in the so-called trilogues, something that seems almost impossible during the Spanish presidency. The Twenty-Seven will vote on Friday October 13 on Brussels' proposal to renew the authorization of glyphosate in the European Union (EU) for ten years, against a backdrop of differences concerning the fate of the controversial herbicide. The European Commission proposed in September to renew its green light until December 2033, subject to conditions, after a report from a European regulator estimating that the level of risk did not justify banning the substance. This proposal has been discussed since Thursday within the framework of a technical committee bringing together representatives of the member states, who vote on Friday to approve it or not. Many member states have welcomed the proposal and if some countries have recommended specific additional restrictions, this idea is not supported by a large majority, assured last week the Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides . However, the differences displayed by Europeans could make it difficult to obtain the required qualified majority i.e. 15 states out of 27, representing at least 65% of the European population. Austria announced its opposition to the renewal of the authorization and Luxembourg signaled at the end of September its intention to vote against after having already temporarily banned the marketing of glyphosate on its territory. Belgium will abstain, due to differences in its government coalition, the Ministry of Agriculture reported to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Abstention also from the Netherlands, who judge that a vote for or against would not do justice to their nuanced position, according to outgoing Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema. Finally, as a result of the divisions in the ruling coalition in Berlin, Germany will not accept an extension of the authorization, a spokesperson for the German Ministry of Agriculture warned on Thursday. Uncertainty about Frances attitude Uncertainty remains over the attitude of France, the leading agricultural power in the EU. Deeming Brussels' proposal unsatisfactory, Paris said it wanted to influence its terms. Thus, France is opposed to any ban without a solution for farmers, but advocates an approach according to which glyphosate is restricted only to uses for which there is no viable alternative option, an approach that it intends to harmonize with the European level, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Glyphosate, the active substance in several herbicides including Monsantos Roundup, widely used around the world was classified in 2015 as a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization ( WHO). Conclusions confirmed in 2021 in France by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). Conversely, in July, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assured that it had not identified any critical areas of concern in humans, animals and the environment that could prevent the authorization of the herbicide. It only noted a high long-term risk in mammals for half of the proposed uses and recognized that a lack of data prevented any definitive analysis. Final word from the Commission? To take this into account, Brussels is proposing some safeguards, in particular with the "default" establishment of "buffer strips" of five to ten meters and equipment drastically reducing "spray drift", while the use for desiccation (spreading to dry a crop before harvest) would be prohibited. If the active substance is approved at EU level, each State remains responsible for authorizing products containing glyphosate, setting the rules for use according to crops, climatic conditions and geographical specificities. Brussels asks them to assess the potential effects on the environment and biodiversity, "co-formulants" (components of herbicides) and the exposure of consumers to "residues", while ensuring the protection of groundwater or surface: States could thus restrict the use of glyphosate, but only within the framework of the criteria set by the EU. The current authorization of glyphosate in the EU, renewed in 2017 for five years and then extended for another year, expires on December 15. If no qualified majority in favor of the text emerges on Friday, another vote will take place in November. If there is still not a sufficient majority to support the proposal, the Commission can then decide alone to extend the authorization only a qualified majority of states opposed to the text can block it. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met Brazil's Minister of Economy Fernando Haddad and discussed various issues of mutual interest, including the strengthening of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). She also met UK Chancellor of Exchequer Jeremy Hunt and discussed Bilateral Investment Treaty among other issues. "FM Smt. @nsitharaman thanked Mr. @Jeremy_Hunt for UK's strong and continued support to #G20India Presidency particularly in the Framework Working Group #FWG co-chair," the finance ministry said in a post on X. These meetings took place on the sidelines of the 4th G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) and the IMF-WB annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco. Brazil will take over the G20 presidency from India on December 1 and will host the next G20 meeting in 2024. Sitharaman wished Brazil success and assured full support. "The two ministers discussed issues of mutual interest, including strengthening MDBs, mobilising finance for climate change, crypto assets, financing cities of tomorrow, advancing financial inclusion, managing global debt vulnerabilities, and BRICS expansion," the finance ministry said in a statement. With Brazil taking over the G20 chair in 2024 and India joining South Africa as part of the 2024 G20 Troika, she said, "it is an excellent opportunity to provide positive momentum and elevation to the issues of the Global South, like the G20 Finance Track had done under the India Presidency to advance the interests of the Global South." For a large number of working professionals in NCR soon a specialised MBA program might hold passport to their growth opportunities. JK Lakshmipat University's (JKLU) Hari Shankar Singhania School of Business (HSB) has introduced India's first and only two-year fully residential MBA programme with a specialisation in Product Management. HSB's MBA degree will be awarded by JKLU, recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and accredited by NAAC with an A rating. This globally-recognised MBA programme is based on the curriculum certified by the International Software Product Management Association (ISPMA). It is designed to prepare students for the transition from functional roles to becoming influential leaders in the field of Product Management. Two Wanderers, a travel novel takes the reader on a tour of China to Europe and gives a glimpse of the terrain and its people on the way The dictionary meaning of the word wanderer is a person who travels from place to place without any particular destination or purpose. It reminds me of ones early college days when one was required to read the old English poem The Wanderer. It is narrated by a man deprived of his lord and kinsmen whose journeys lead him to the realization that there is stability only in heaven. The poem reads like the meditations of a solitary exile, extorting the values of faith and forbearance in the heavenly lord. However, the two original wanderers to whom all the traditional accounts of Buddhism relate were Maudgalyayana and Sariputra; they became spiritual wanderers in their early youth, then came across Buddhas teachings and later met Buddha and were ordained as monks. They later became two of the closest disciples of Buddha. Bappaditya Chakravartys novel Two Wanderers is set in the ninth century. It is the story of Snorre, a Nordic Viking and Sriverma, an Indian Buddhist scholar at Nalanda University. Both of them go through intense personal experiences in their wanderings, until their paths cross at Kashgar, and they embark on a journey together for Tibet. The journey is dictated part by expediency and part by a commitment made by Sriverma to a dying Buddhist monk. The journey to Tibet is itself fraught with dangers, both at physical and psychological levels. As the dreadful journey unfolds Snorre was seeking the meaning of action and adventure in life, whereas, Sriverma was seeking the meaning of knowledge. These two sides are joined together through the medium of emotion and passion, and both Snorre and Sriverma search for an understanding of these roots. Taken together, Sriverma and Snorres story defines a praxis for every man in search of answers to the eternal whys of life and living. While reading Two Wanderers, what struck me most was the amount of research into the topography, history and geopolitics of North India, Silk Route, Tibet and even Nordic areas of the 9th century that has gone into the book. We get to know that on your way from Sweden to Kashgar, you have to cross two rivers Emba and Dariya and pass through Tamday-Terek, a small desolate village a little away from the Emba river. Then you go through Kazaly and Chachkand; from Chachkand you cross Terek-Devan or Poplar Pass and then traverse through the Pamirs crossing two high passes and the Isfairan River. On the way, you pass through Kokand and Margclan, where there is an old fort believed to have been built by Alexander, the great, locally known as Sikander. This place Kashgar is rich and important because all the caravans travelling through the Silk Route have to pass through Kashgar. Like Samarqand and Chachkand, Kashgar also was a heavy mixture of all kinds of peoples and religions. There were Jews, Manicheans, Nestorian Christians, Zoroastrians, and of course, Muslims. There were pagans also from the wild nomadic tribes, and not a few Tibetans professing a religion they called Bon. The novel is full of such a wealth of information at every stage of description. Their journey to Tibet reads like a taut thriller with treachery, murder, betrayal, and espionageall aplenty. With the advent of Lady Pema, the daughter of a Tibetan chieftain, the author introduces the element of love in its full splendour. There are some profound thoughts expressed throughout the novel, perhaps emanating from the authors knowledge of Buddhist texts. For instance, the wanderer Sriverma told the Shreshthi of Kanyakubja, You see, I have reached the conclusion that to experience the world, movement is of the essence. I was proud of every step that I took because it signified my movementboth physical and in the mind. (The writer is an author, professor of English Literature and former editor of Sahitya Akademi. Views are personal) There is more to the Hamas-Israel conflict than meets the eye; it could be part of a larger gameplan of either side West Asia has been an enigma for many years, especially after the Balfour Declaration of 1917, when the then British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour promised the Jews a homeland of their own in the territory of Palestine. Missing in the Balfour Declaration was the timeline by which this was to be brought about. All three Abrahamic religions have a claim on the region centred around Jerusalem, considered one of the worlds holiest cities. The Jews hailed from there; Jesus Christ preached there and his miracles were performed in this area. He was crucified on Calvary Hill and was buried nearby. Jesus was born a Jew, some miles away at Bethlehem. Islams claim to Jerusalem and its territory is based on the belief that Prophet Mohammads favourite horse Barack took him to meet Allah from the centre of what today is Jerusalem. The spot from where the Prophet is said to have ascended to heaven is marked as the Al Aqsa mosque. In 1948, the region was divided into the Jewish part called Israel and the dominantly Muslim part called Palestine, which however, failed to become a proper country. It exists as a crowd, vaguely ruled by a terrorist organization called Hamas. Ever since the rule of the Ayatollahs began in Iran in 1979, that country has patronized Hezbollah, a terrorist group based in Lebanon, apart from also siding with Hamas (although the latter is a Sunni terrorist group). Whether this policy and measures thereof are meant to keep Israel on the boil, or are intended to engage in geopolitical manoeuvring in the West Asian theatre is a matter of debate. As is well known, the Arab sheikhdoms of the region have largely been indifferent to Israel despite the latters declared Jewish identity. Curiously, it is the non-monarchical countries like Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Syria that have been stridently anti-Israel. Since the coming to power of Gemal Abd El Nasser in Egypt in the early 1950s, the Arab monarchies, i.e., the sheikhdoms have been more wary of the threat of Arab socialism than Jewish nationalism. This must have been likely to keep their people loyal or subservient to their monarchies rather than any entity outside. In the process, the Palestinian issue fell into neglect. On the rebound, they have been dependent on terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. The current war between these outfits and Israel has indeed come as a rude surprise. It is a desperate attempt on their part, to wipe out the existence of the Jewish country. There are widespread allegations that the latest terrorist attack on Israel cannot be an independent act but has the guidance and support of some other country, possibly Iran. The Ayatollahs regime of Tehran has been apprehensive of Israel attacking or even destroying its nuclear programme. Israels great ally the United States of America certainly does not approve of what it calls nuclear proliferation, and Irans nuclear programme, although claimed by Teheran to be of only a peaceful nature, has been a hugely contentious issue of American administrations of both of the countrys political parties, Republican and Democrat, for a considerably long time. The question, therefore, arises: could this explosive war be an attempted pre-emptive strike by Iran to keep Israel or the US from attacking its nuclear sites? Alternatively, could it be a precursor for armed action by Israel and the US to knock out Irans nuclear programme, which according to Israeli and American allegations, is just a couple of steps away from building a bomb? This is no mere speculation. The late Saddam Hussein, Iraqs military dictator for three-and-a-half decades, was pursuing a similar nuclear program of an ostensibly peaceful nature. Saddam, though, was a self-declared enemy of the Jews; in 1981, without warning, Israeli F-16 and F-15 warplanes burst into Iraqi airspace without warning and in a matter of a few minutes, totally bombed the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor to ashes, completely ending Iraqs nuclear ambitions and wiping out an existential threat to Israel. A third possibility is that this is Irans bold gamble to grab for itself the dominant position of leadership in the politics of West Asia, although, for a Shia nation, such a role might be difficult to achieve and sustain in a Muslim world dominated by Sunni Islam. Whatever Tehrans aim, the attacks by Hamas have undoubtedly been on a large scale. Conversely, Israel might also look at this temporary rude military setback as an opportunity to not only obliterate Hamas but also wipe out Irans nuclear programme for good, which the Jewish nation sees as an existential threat to itself; indeed, many of Israels politicians and military leaders have often said so, publicly. Jerusalem would also want to reshape the politics of West Asia to its advantage in the decades to come. This is one objective which Israels foremost ally the United States would be unambiguously aligned with. Israels Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, even while launching a retaliatory war against the Hamas holed up in Gaza, has publicly declared his intention to do so, saying We will change the Middle East. Given the history of Jewish resolve, it shouldnt surprise us if this happens to be the beginning of that event. (The writer is a well-known columnist, an author and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed are personal) Assembly polls outcome in five states may impact 2024 Lok Sabha polls as it would reveal if the strategies employed by the political parties worked to their advantage Now battle lines have been drawn between NDA and I.N.D.I.A to establish supremacy in the ensuing five state assemblies though the former is ahead of the latter in releasing some lists of candidates which seems to be part of a well-thought strategy. Some writers are dubbing it as Semifinal to 2024 whereas others differ which makes no difference as voters will have a final say in deciding this qualm. By any stretch of the imagination, none can contest the logic of relevance of the outcome of five state-bound polls in creating a narrative that will influence the psyche of the voters during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. BJP high command and the top brass of RSS have made a conscious decision by opting for Prime Minister, Narendra Modi as the face of the party and refraining from naming chief ministerial candidates in poll-bound states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Based on a different analogy, BJP has experimented with a new strategy of fielding 24 MPs and 4 union ministers in three poll-bound states including MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh which reflects the saffron partys desperate move and resolve to ensure victory in these states to create a better narrative for 2024 parliamentary polls. 2nd, it may be aimed at neutralizing the anguish of the voters with sitting MLAs and they may have to rethink when new faces are fielded from such constituencies. Well-planned strategy: Political observers say that the party's strategists may have a twin purpose in opting for innovative methodology. First, Modi is a vote catcher, who has got a national and international image that could be exploited to woo the voters. Second, due to the presence of several aspirants for the top slot and as a preventive step to check factionalism and desertions, the BJP might have refrained from naming one candidate for the post of CM in each state. Entry of Ministers and MPs : To checkmate sitting CM, Shivraj Chouhan, the BJP high command surprised its ministers like Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste who figured in the first list of candidates for MP polls. As per party calculations, union ministers may have their influence across the state though they have yet to prove their statewide appeal amongst the people. Questions being asked whether they have nursed their respective assembly segments which is so essential to defeat the rivals? Political observers believe that ministers normally focus on bigger areas and hardly deal with a particular segment in their home states which may create problems for them. One can deny the fact that voters spread over right up to villages have become more demanding as well as conscious of their right to make logical decisions. The aspirations of unemployed youths are very high besides skyrocketing prices of essential goods etc. hence they may see a track record of five years of every candidate before exercising their franchise. Experts say that the ministers or MPs hardly do micro-level management of particular constituencies which should worry them in MP. They may not have the state-level stature when compared with Chouhan. Ignoring the risk factors: Political observers feel that if BJP fails to oust Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and C.S. Raos Bharat Rashtra Samithi(BRS) in Telangana besides losing MP then it may have a direct bearing on the 2024 parliamentary elections in 2024. But in case the results go in favour of BJP then it may have a double impact to ensure the victory of Modi for the third successive time. But contrary to it, there is no denying the fact that assembly polls are fought on local issues and voters may be swayed owing to freebies being distributed by CMs of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana besides being dispersed by CM of BJP-ruled MP. The political dynamics may be different when Modi appeals to the voters in the country to vote for him in 2024 and subsequently I.N.D.I.A fails to decide the PM candidate which would be attributed to inner contradictions and personal ambition of each regional satrap as well as that of the Grand Old Party. Raje loyalists are sidelined: In Rajasthan, the ground reports say that ministers like Ganjendra Singh Shekhawat, Ashwani Vaishnav, Arjun Ram Meghwal and even former union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore do not have grassroots-level mass appeal like Raje in Rajasthan. Diya Kumari, a member of ex ruling family of Jaipur, is a sitting MP from Rajsamand and will be contesting from the Vidhayadhar Nagar segment in the pink city which was being represented by Narpat Singh Rajvi, son-in-law of late Octogenarian, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. At the same time, Meena community leader, Rajya Sabha MP, Dr Kirori Lal Meena may prove an asset in the eastern region of Rajasthan as he will contest from the Sawai Madhopur seat, dominated by Meena-Gujjar communities. BJP kept Raje in political oblivion for five years which has alienated the ex-CM from party workers to some extent though she still has got maximum number of loyalist MLAs. Raje was missing from BJPs Parivartan Yatras even in her home turf, Jhalawar in Kota district where she wields immense influence which can be attributed to her long association with people. BJP could not play the role of an aggressive opposition during the 5-year regime of Ashok Gehlot as high command kept on experimenting with younger generation leaders Chhattisgarh is a tough call for the BJP: It will be Baghel versus Baghel in Chhattisgarh which is considered the strongest turf of the Congress due to the leadership of Bhupesh Baghel. The India Today-CVoter survey has predicted that BJP may narrow the gap by five per cent but it may not be sufficient to block Congress from surpassing the majority mark of 46 seats. BJP has named CMs nephew Vijay Baghel, Lok Sabha MP as a candidate for the top slot. BJPs Chhattisgarh unit could not put the Baghel government on the mat during the entire 5-year term which may give an advantage to Congress to retain power. Former CM Raman Singh does not figure in the scheme of things of high command. Ahead of the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ranvijay Pratap Singh Judeo, the present Raja of the erstwhile Jashpur state, has expressed his desire to resign from organizational posts but asserted his commitment to not quitting BJP. Telangana: Poised to witness a fierce battle While toying with the new idea of relying on the Charisma of union ministers or MP, BJP high command has given the command of state unit to union minister, G Kishan Reddy who faces a big challenge of bringing the party on track which is faction-ridden. The removal of Bandi Sanjay Kumar who was vociferous against the KCR government has not sent the right signal to the party cadres though the party denies it. BJPs Gujarat Model of replacing older generation leaders yielded positive results in Uttarakhand, Goa and Tripura but it miserably failed to deliver in Karnataka. Now it will be interesting to see whether the new strategy to push ministers and MPs into the electoral fray will work to the advantage of the party or it will backfire. (The writer is a political analyst and senior journalist; views are personal) Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Thursday announced his plans to introduce a Diwali resolution in the US House of Representatives to recognise the festival of lights. For Sikhs, Jains, and Hindus across the world and here in the United States, Diwali is a festival for gratitude as well as a celebration of the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil, Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. Each year, Diwali is celebrated by millions of Americans of Indian descent, as well as hundreds of millions more people across the world. This year, the festival will be celebrated on Sunday, November 12. I am proud to announce that I am reintroducing a bipartisan resolution to recognise the enormous religious, cultural, and historical significance of Diwali, he said. I hope my colleagues from both parties will join me in this effort and in wishing a safe and happy Diwali to all the families that will be gathering with their loved ones to light lamps and to pray for good health and peace," Krishnamoorthi said. He also released a draft of the proposed Diwali resolution, which recognises and appreciates the religious diversity in India and the United States, and acknowledges and supports the relationship of collaboration and respect between the two countries. Caught unaware by Hamas, IDF tanks bulldoze Gaza The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence on Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival. On Thursday, as Israel launched new air strikes on Hamas sites, the terrorist group fired multiple rockets fired towards Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv in Israel. However, Israeli Iron Dome intercepted these rockets near Ben Gurion Airport. Reports stated that planes were unable to land at the airport after strikes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Netanyahu alleged Hamas atrocities, including beheading soldiers and raping women. His allegations could not be independently confirmed. Hamas is ISIS, and just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed and Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated, Netanyahu said. They should be spat out from the community of nations. No leader should meet with them, no country should harbour them. And those that do should be sanctioned, said the Israeli Prime Minister. A new war Cabinet, which includes a longtime opposition politician, is now directing the fight. Every Hamas member is a dead man, Netanyahu said in a televised address, even as Israeli tanks rolled near Gaza border. In Gaza, the Israeli military said overnight strikes targeted Hamas elite Nukhba forces, including command centres used by the fighters who attacked Israel on Saturday, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative that it said was used to store unspecified weapons. Other air strikes killed commanders from two smaller militant groups, according to media linked to those organisations. Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership, Hecht, the military spokesman, said of Hamas. Not only the military leadership, but also the governmental leadership, all the way up to (top Hamas leader Yehia) Sinwar. Drone footage filmed by The Associated Press revealed extensive damage at the Shati refugee camp, in the north of Gaza, following overnight air strikes. Residents picked their way through the rubble as fire and rescue crews looked for survivors. While Israel has insisted that it is giving notice of its strikes, it is employing a new tactic of levelling whole neighbourhoods, rather than just individual buildings. Meanwhile, Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes on Thursday hit the international airports of the Syrian capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, damaging their runways and putting them out of service. State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that no one was hurt in the attacks. The Israeli military declined to comment. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed American support to Israel on Thursday. As Palestinians tried to stock up on bread and groceries amid dwindling supplies, Israel said nothing would be allowed into Gaza until around 150 hostages taken captive by Hamas during a weekend attack are freed. International aid groups warned of worsening humanitarian crisis after Israel stopped all deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity to the tiny enclave of 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. The war has already claimed at least 2,700 lives on both sides. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media. Lt Col Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that forces are preparing for a ground manoeuver should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometres (25 miles) long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Palestinians fleeing air strikes in Gaza could be seen running through the streets, carrying their belongings and looking for a safe place. The number of people who fled their homes soared 30 per cent within 24 hours, reaching 340,000 people by Wednesday night. Most crowded into UN-run schools while others are staying with relatives or even strangers who let them in. Lines formed outside bakeries and grocery stores during the few hours they dared open, as people tried to stock up before shelves emptied. Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues, warned Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. When power runs out, it puts newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. Kidney dialysis stops, and X-rays cant be taken, he said. With Israel sealing off the territory, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah. Egypts Foreign Ministry said it has not officially closed Rafah but air strikes have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to convince Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through Rafah. Four previous conflicts ended with the group still firmly in control of the territory it has ruled since 2007. Israel has mobilised 360,000 reservists, massed additional forces near Gaza and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that terrorism, no matter where it happens or for what reason, is against humanity. India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for a long time and two decades ago even Parliament was a victim of terrorism, Modi said, addressing the inaugural session of the Parliamentary (P20) Speakers Summit of G20 nations. The event is being attended by Speakers of Parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries. The Pan-African Parliament took part in the P20 Summit for the first time after the African Union became a member of G20 at the New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit last month. Modi regretted the world is yet to make a consensus on the issue of tackling terrorism of which India has been a victim. Terrorists wanted to take hostage, kill MPs. India has dealt with numerous such terror incidents, Modi shared with the Presiding Officers from the G20 nations. Against the backdrop of massive Israel-Palestine conflict in the West Asia region, the PM cautioned that conflicts and confrontations being faced by the world today do not benefit anyone, saying the world has to move forward with a human-centric approach. Now the world is also realising how big a challenge terrorism is for the world. Terrorism, wherever it may be, for whatever reason, in whatever form, is against humanity. In such a scenario, we will have to adopt a tough approach in dealing with terrorism, he said. Modi lamented that there is no unanimity on the definition of terrorism even in the United Nations. Everyone is aware of what is happening in various parts of the world. The world is grappling with conflicts and confrontations. Such a world full of conflicts and confrontations is not in anyones interest. A divided world cannot provide solutions to the big challenges before humanity. Today also, in the UN, the international convention on combating terrorism is waiting for consensus, the PM said in his address at the newly constructed Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in the national Capital. Modi said Parliaments and representatives across the globe will have to think about how they can work together in this fight against terrorism. The PM also underlined that there can be no better medium than public participation to deal with the worlds challenges. Modi called for looking at the world with the sentiment of one earth, one family, one future. The thematic session at the P20 Summit is focussed on four subjects of transformation in peoples lives through public digital platforms, women-led development, accelerating SDGs and sustainable energy transition. The P20 Joint Declaration adopted by participating G20 nations also talked about conflicts and peaceful resolution as spoken by the Prime Minister in his speech. In view of the constructive discussions held during the Ninth P20 and experience gained at the previous P20s, we reaffirm our commitment to continue our joint work to make an effective and meaningful parliamentary contribution to the G20 process, as appreciated by the G20 Leaders. We will continue to engage in parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue in relevant fora as a catalyst for promoting international peace, prosperity and harmony, including supporting the peaceful resolution of conflicts and disputes, stated the concluding part of the declaration. Reading out the resolution, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the unanimous adoption of the Joint Declaration at P20 Bharat exemplifies the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. As public representatives, we pledge to collaborate for a human centric, prosperous and harmonious future. Many congratulations to all the delegates for their support, Birla stated at the end of the opening session. Modi also said that the general election scheduled next year is the biggest festival in India where about 100 crore voters are eligible to exercise their mandate. I invite you to come and witness next years elections, Modi told delegates. India has conducted 17 general elections and over 300 State Assembly polls so far. In the 2019 general elections, people made my party victorious for the second time in a row; this was the worlds biggest election, Modi said amid the thumping of the desk. During the end of his speech amid huge applause, Modi said the use of EVMs has boosted transparency and efficiency in the election process and results are now declared within hours of the start of counting of votes. The PM also informed the delegates about some achievements of his governance including the participation of women in every sector with almost 50 per cent of the elected representatives in local self-government institutions being women. The recent law on granting one-third reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies will further enrich the countrys parliamentary tradition, he added. The PM also took the opportunity to inform that India has more than 900 TV channels in 28 languages to provide real-time information to people and more than 33,000 different newspapers published in about 200 languages. The parliamentary leaders also congratulated Indian Parliament for passage of the Womens Reservation Bill, ensuring reservation of one-third seats in the Lok Sabha and in State legislatures. In his address, Inter-Parliamentary Union President Duarte Pacheco said maybe if we have more women in the leadership of our countries, we will not have so many wars. He said it was important to have more women in a participatory democracy. Sources said the PM who was scheduled to leave after the pre-lunch session and his address stayed back to interact with the delegates and exchanged pleasantries with the members. President of the Mexican Senate Ana Lilia Rivera tied a rakhi on the wrist of Modi, who in turn gave her his blessings. The Indian Army with the help of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has achieved a rare feat of establishing a mobile tower and base transceiver station (BT) at the Siachen Glacier, the worlds highest battlefield. The tower was inaugurated on October 6 and provides mobile connectivity to the soldiers posted there at an altitude of over 15,000 feet. The setting up of a mobile tower on the Siachen Glacier is a significant achievement, given the harsh conditions with temperatures dipping to minus 30 to 40 degrees and the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan in the region. The tower will provide soldiers with a much-needed lifeline to their families and loved ones, and it will also improve their ability to communicate with each other and with their commanders. A base transceiver station is a radio transceiver that connects mobile devices to a cellular network. It sends and receives radio signals to mobile devices and converts them to digital signals that are then routed to other devices in the network or to the Internet. Siachen warriors, in collaboration with BSNL, established the first ever BSNL BTS at forward posts of the highest battlefield on October 6 to extend mobile communication for the soldiers deployed at more than 15,500 feet, the Fire and Fury Corps of the Indian Army posted on X on Friday. Union Minister of State for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan also took to X to share about this incredible development. He wrote, The BSNL with Siachen warriors installs first-ever mobile tower at Siachen Glacier. Now our heroes can talk to their near and dear ones at their convenience. Kudos to @BSNLCorporate and #SiachenWarriors. Lauding the feat, industrialist Anand Mahindra also shared how this seemingly small event in our turbulent world is in fact a big news. He wrote, These are photos shared by @devusinh of the first ever mobile tower installed in Siachen! A seemingly small event in our turbulent world. But it means our jawans who put their lives on the line every single day on the worlds highest battlefield to defend us are now strongly connected to their families. For them, this device is as important as the Vikram Lander. To me, this is really BIG news. The Indian Army was deployed there as part of Operation Meghdoot on April 13, 1984 to secure the Siachen Glacier, which was important from a strategic point of view since the glacier shares boundaries with Pakistan and China. Preventable vision impairment in the Indian workforce is resulting in an annual loss of $27 billion to the Indian economy. This figure surpasses losses in nearly all countries, except China and the United States. A global study highlights the urgent requirement for workplace initiatives that prioritise the well-being of employees, particularly concerning eye safety. Currently, India is home to 70 million people with visual impairments. Although ocular injuries are preventable, issues related to visual hazards and eye safety at work are significant. Many reported incidents of ocular injuries speak volumes about employees apathy in ensuring visual safety practices, the availability, and the use of eye protection glasses by workers. This situation puts them in a difficult position because workers who lose their eyes are more likely to lose their jobs, and even those who remain employed may experience a drop in productivity. Overall, sight loss costs the global economy $411 billion every year, said the study by International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), a global alliance of organisations working towards the elimination of avoidable blindness and vision impairment. No doubt, by investing in eye care and prioritising blindness prevention as public health initiatives, India can alleviate itself and its people from this financial burden in the years and decades ahead. The study also highlights that 13 million people live with vision impairment related to their work, and an estimated 3.5 million eye injuries occur in the workplace each year, accounting for 1 percent of all non-fatal occupational injuries. It cautions that as technology transforms the world of work and the future economy will be dominated by service industries and office-based jobs that involve prolonged screen usage. Without proper precautions, this can lead to eye strain and have a negative impact on eye health. This years World Sight Day, held on the second Thursday of October, has the theme Love Your Eyes at Work, emphasizing the importance of eye care in the workplace. The research, led by Kevin Frick from Johns Hopkins University in the US, utilised GNI per capita data from the World Bank to estimate the productivity losses among people aged between 50 and 65 years who had moderate to severe vision impairment and blindness due to uncorrected refractive errors or unoperated cataracts. An estimated 30 per cent of people with sight loss experience a reduction in employment, with women, people in rural communities and ethnic minority groups among the groups most affected. However, 90 per cent of sight loss is avoidable with early detection and treatment. Preventing sight loss with early detection and treatment for eye conditions like cataracts and myopia is vital to protect livelihoods and allow businesses to thrive. Business leaders have played a vital role in raising awareness of workplace wellbeing, from mental health to menopause, said Peter Holland, CEO of IAPB and Love Your Eyes campaign spokesperson, in a statement. Whether its through eye health education, connecting employees with eye health services, adding eye health to insurance plans or adjusting screen settings, there are many ways to build a vision-friendly work environment and create healthier, happier workers, he said. Without significant investment in preventative actions, these numbers are projected to increase, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and in indigenous and remote communities, warned the report. Visual hazards can come from tools, environment, chemical, heavy light, radiation or physical setting of the workstations may cause vision problems or eye injuries, according to ophthalmologists. Dr Vanathi Murugesan, Professor of Ophthalmology, Cornea & Ocular Surface, Cataract & Refractive Services, Dr RP Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS, Delhi, called for two main interventions that, she felt, can be of significant effectiveness to avoid workplace trauma. These include mandatory use of the various types of eye protection devices, along with environmental controls in the workplace and behavioural interventions. These emphasises on the adoption of best workplace practices of use of eye protection gear, she said in an article titled Vision wellness in occupational safety and health published in latest Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. Dr GVS Murthy, Director of the Disability Centre and Professor at the Indian Institute of Public Health Hyderabad opined that unlike the high-income countries, Indias other unique challenge is that 89.1 per cent of the worker population is in informal employment. This is a major challenge to deliver services as any employee health benefits do not cover these workers and are more difficult to reach, he said. With a population of nearly 1.4 billion citizens, India is an enormous nation with a gigantic economy. The Government has set the ambitious goal of growing the countrys GDP even further, to US$5 trillion, within the next decade. However, a number of ongoing problems threaten to derail this sweeping economic plan. One of these is the high cost of blindness and visual impairments. Seva Foundation, a non-profit organization which strongly believes that 'restoring sight is one of the most cost-effective health interventions to reduce poverty'.n its report entitled, The Social Cost of Blindness in India, released last year had put the avoidable ocular injury costs at USD54.4 billion at purchasing power parity exchange rates, or 0.6% of GDP, each year. That cost is only likely to grow as Indias population ages and becomes wealthier, it had noted. Sight-impaired children often face difficulties keeping up with their peers, which may lead to lower earnings when they reach adulthood. Caregivers frequently have to take time off of work to care for their visually impaired relatives or loved ones, said the Seva Foundation in its report. The Thinkers Club here arranged a webinar to gather opinions on the necessity of further amendments to the Constitution. The meeting was presided over by club president Barada Prasanna Das. Justice DP Choudhury was the chief Speaker, while Professor Dr Manas Behera was the analyst and former secretary of the Public Works Department Dr Nanda Nandan Das was the observer. The dignitaries and the intellectuals present said that as per the verdict of the Supreme Court, the basic structure of the Constitution should not be changed. However, they further said that law itself has no value, unless it satisfies the genuine need of the citizens. There is every possibility of getting newer problems in future. So the Constitution of the country cant be a static document only, they pointed out. The discussion revolved around issues like reservation policy, poverty, inequality, employment, biparty system, relevance of Upper House, religion and communal harmony, Parliamentary decorum, need to educate citizens and representatives of people on Constitution, setting minimum qualification for the voters and representatives of people, regional inequality and limiting election expenses, etc. The intellectuals wished that some steps are taken in respect of the above points to have a prosperous nation. The Delhi Polices Special Cell has arrested two shooters of Canada based gangster Arshdeep Singh Dalla alias Arsh Dalla gang after a brief encounter on Ring Road near Sarai Kale Khan on Wednesday night. The police said the arrested duo, Krishan Kumar and Gurinder, are associates of fugitive gangster Arsh Dalla. They were wanted in the local Congress leader Baljinder Singh Balli , who was shot dead at his home in Punjabs Moga. Balli (45), who was also known as namberdar locally, was the Congress block president in Ajitwal village. According to police, on the basis of a specific input, the team intercepted the duo on Outer Ring Road and on being asked to surrender, one Krishan fired one round towards the police team. Suddenly, the second gangster took out one live hand grenade from his bag but before he could pull the safety pin, they were overpowered by the team. One live hand grenade and one pistol along with five live cartridges were recovered. A case under relevant sections of the law has been registered and further investigation is in progress, said the official. The arrest was part of a larger operation by Delhi Polices Special Cell, aimed at cracking down on organised crime and terror activities in the region. The two were found in possession of a hand grenade, a pistol, and five cartridges. Canada-based gangster Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dala, a native of Dala village in Moga, is wanted by the NIA and Punjab Police. In his post, Dalla alleged that Baljinder Singh Balli had ruined his future and forced him into the gangster culture. Arsh Dalla, took responsibility for the murder in a detailed Facebook post. He also mentioned that the Congress leader was behind his mothers police custody, which motivated him to seek revenge. His involvement had also emerged in various targeted killings that took place in the border state of Punjab along with supplying militant hardware including RDX, IEDs, AK-47 and other arms and ammunition to modules in the state after importing them from Pakistan. A red corner notice against Arsh Dala was issued in May 2022. On October 7, the Special Cell had arrested Harjeet Singh, the last prominent on-ground operative of the Arsh Dalla-Sukha Duneke terror-gangster alliance, who was wanted by the law enforcement agencies, including the NIA, for multiple murders in Punjab and Haryana. An official said that Harjeet Singh (27), a resident of Bathinda district in Punjab, had been evading arrest for the past two years. A few days ago, Mohali police had arrested Mandeep Singh, alias Deepa, of Ajitwal, Moga; and Saurav Kumar, alias Saabi of Ludhiana. Both are associates of Dala. The duo was wanted by the Ludhiana and Moga police in multiple criminal cases and had also been declared proclaimed offenders by the respective local courts. According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Dalla gang is engaged in smuggling of arms, ammunition and explosives for the KTF from across the border. Dalla has been guiding and commissioning terrorist acts and also promoting terror, violence and large-scale extortion in India on behalf of the KTF. In the wake of mass murders in Fatehpur in Deoria, former chief minister and Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav is scheduled to visit the district on October 16 where he will participate in a shradhanjali sabha (condolence meeting). The condolence meeting will be held despite local authorities having imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, restricting public gatherings and protests in the area after protest from local residents over administrations decision to demolish the house of Prem Yadav, the main accused in the mass murders. Additionally, the police and administrative teams are identifying those responsible for the unrest, which extended from Bairiaghat to the murder site. Amid these security measures, Sheela, wife of deceased former district panchayat member Prem Yadav, expressed concern, stating that the heavy police presence has created an atmosphere of fear. She lamented that despite the wishes of those who knew her husband, they were being denied entry into the village due to restrictions under Section 144. Locals have also expressed regret at not being able to pay their respects to the deceased. Sheela has appealed for organisation of a Brahmabhoj (a customary Hindu ritual) in memory of her husband, highlighting the importance of respecting human emotions. She further emphasised the anxiety faced by her children, who were distressed by the unilateral decision to demolish their home. If a bulldozer razes our house, we will be ruined. On the one hand, my husband has been murdered and if the house is demolished we will lose roof over our heads, she said and urged the administration to reconsider the decision in view of the plight of her innocent children. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the tehsildar issued the final order to demolish the house of the accused in Fatehpur. An eviction order was passed, and fines were imposed on Ram Bhavan, Gorakh and Paramhans of Abhaypur village, who were found to be illegally occupying government land by constructing houses and boundary walls. It may be recalled that the tragic incident of October 2 in Fatehpur village in Rudrapur Kotwali area of Deoria district, resulted in the gruesome murder of a former district panchayat member over a land dispute. In retaliation, people from the former district panchayat members side entered the other partys house, and brutally attacked the inhabitants, killing the husband, wife, and three of their children with sharp weapons, leaving one son critically injured. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved the appointment of four special public prosecutors for trials in the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases, a fortnight after he recalled the file from the Delhi government over alleged delay. A Raj Niwas official said the Government has conceded that the opinion of L-G shall be required for the appointment of Special Public Prosecutors (SPPs) for CBI to conduct trials in Protection Of POCSO Act cases in various special courts of Delhi that has been stalled for over nine months. The file kept moving from the minister in charge to the chief minister since January and after the L-G, on September 22, invoked Rule 19 (5) of the Transaction of Business of GNCTD Rules (ToBR) and recalled all the files and proposals, they were submitted to him, he said. A fortnight after L-G V K Saxena invoked Provisions of Rule 19 (5) of the Transaction of Business of GNCTD Rules, 1993, in public interest and recalled the file pertaining to appointment of SPPs in CBI POCSO cases, the Delhi Government, which had been inordinately sitting on file for more than nine months, finally sent the file for the L-Gs approval, the official said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier taken a stand that the L-G does not have the power to grant sanction for approval of SPPs in these cases, the official said. On receiving communication from the L-G secretariat requisitioning the files in this regard, the Minister (Home), GNCTD, sought an opinion from the Law Department which said the matter needs to be processed quickly to obtain the opinion of the L-G so that the notification for appointment of SPPs may be issued under section 32 of the POCSO Act. The chief minister on October 6 endorsed that the file containing the proposal for issuance of notification on the appointment of SPPs for CBI to conduct trial of POCSO cases be submitted to the L-G, who had earlier taken serious note of the delay by GNCTD. On September 22, the L-G referred the matter to the Ministry of Home Affairs for necessary appointments and notifications under section 24(8) of CrPC. The CBI in December 2022 had requested for issuance of notification for the appointment of senior public prosecutors/prosecutors under section 32 of the POCSO Act for trials in POCSO cases in various courts in Delhi and a reminder was sent on March 15 this year. The cases relating to the POCSO Act are sensitive in nature and as per law trials in these cases are to be completed within one year from the date of cognisance of offence and the delay in appointment of SPPs will adversely affect the case of investigating agency and may give undue benefits to the perpetrators of crime against innocent children, the official said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged the parents of students in schools run by the Delhi Government and the MCD to attend the mega parent-teacher meeting to discuss the progress of their children. According to the city Government, a two-day mega parent-teacher meeting (PTM) is being organised for Government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools for the first time. Education Minister Atishi and Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohd Iqbal interacted with the parents of students at the Veer Savarkar Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Kalkaji and the MCD Primary School in Govindpuri ahead of the meeting. Kejriwal wrote in a post on X, Parents play a big role in the success of children. Today is Parents Day in all the schools of the Delhi government and the MCD. Today and tomorrow (Saturday), mega PTM is being organised in all the schools of the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation. I request all the parents that like always, you should come to their school with your children today, talk to the teachers about the progress of the children and openly discuss how we can do better for the future, he said. Education Minister Atishi echoed the chief minister. She said, A joint mega PTM has been organised in all Delhi government and MCD schools. For the first time this year, we are organising a mega PTM on two days, on October 13 and October 14, to enable more and more parents to attend their childrens schools. If they are unable to attend today, they can attend it on Saturday, she said. Parents have played a very important role in transforming education in Delhi government schools and this years arrangements are nothing short of a fest, she said. The mega PTM this year is being celebrated like a fest in all Delhi government and MCD schools and parents are actively participating in it. They are discussing with teachers their childrens learning, their performances and the ways to improve them. This will help them devise better strategies for the future of their children together, Atishi said. The minister asserted that the Kejriwal government aims to transform MCD schools, similar to Delhi government schools, and the involvement of parents in childrens education will reflect in their academic performances. After Delhi government schools, our priority is now to transform MCD schools. But in this process of change, parents have the most important role to play. The higher the involvement of parents in their childrens education, the better the academic performance of the children, she said. Deputy Mayor Iqbal said children and parents are enthusiastic about the mega PTM. Particularly, parents of children in MCD schools are very excited about this new experience and they hope that, very soon, their childrens schools will also be transformed, just like Delhi government schools, Iqbal said. During the conversation, parents not only expressed their confidence in enrolling their children in Delhi government schools but also highlighted the significant improvements. NHDC Limited is the nodal agency for organizing painting competition for energy conservation of BEE. Registration for school participation in the competition is going on. The competition will be organized in two categories, Category "A" (for students of classes 5, 6 and 7) and Category "B" (for students of classes 8, 9 and 10). For) will be held. In the first phase, the competition is organized at the school level, in which the school will have to organize the competition at its level and upload two best paintings of both the categories along with all the information. School will have to visit on www.bee-studentsaward.in or www.beeindia.gov.in and get free registration on website. The last date for registration and uploading of paintings is October 31, 2023. In the school level painting competition, the subject for both the categories ("A" and "B") is Life. Lifestyle for the environment or We are Pro-planet people. Out of all the entries received from the state, 50-50 paintings of both the categories selected by the jury will be called to Bhopal on 9th November to participate in the state level painting competition. The winners of which will get separate first prizes for both the categories. First Prize Rs. Rs 50,000, Second Prize Rs. Rs 30,000, Third Prize Rs. Rs 20,000 and 10 consolation prizes of Rs 7,500 will be given. Each participants of state level will get Rs 2000 as participation fee. The traveling expenses of all the participants along with their parents will also be reimbursed as per rules. The first, second and third prize winners of the state will also get an opportunity to participate in the National Painting Competition to be held in Delhi on 10th December, the expenses of which will be borne by Nodal agency. Students cannot participate in the competition individually, they can participate in it only after registration through the school. The purpose of organizing this competition is to educate the students, parents and society on important topics like energy conservation in student life. Our aim is to bring awareness and also to present creative ability through painting. Ajit Kumar Jain is the nodal officer of this competition. Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, Government of India since 2005. IWCS felicitates senior citizens Under the leadership of President Mala Shrivastava and Secretary Soma Bhaduri, Inner Wheel Club of Swarnrekha Ranchi honoured and facilitated Senior Citizens residing in Nandraj Old Age Home of Baritau, Ranchi. Bhajan Sandhya was arranged to the sheer delight of the elderly. Woollen nighties were gifted to 26 ladies, Woollen Inners were gifted to 18 men. A total of 43 Coffee mugs with the Inner Wheel logo & photos of our elders printed on the mugs were also gifted to them. People also enjoyed the halwa Prasad & snacks that the members of the club served them. In a small way the members of IWC of Swarnrekha Ranchi brought moments of joy in the lives of the Senior Citizens. SBPS students shine at Kala Utsav 2023-24 The students of Sarala Birla Public School, Ranchi yet again left their indelible mark in District Level Kala Utsav 2023-24 with their outstanding performance. Avani Chaudhary of Std. XII received the first prize in Classical Dance (girls category). Rituraj Roy of Std. X received the first prize in the Visual Arts (2-dimensional, boys category). Rohini Raj of Std. X secured the first position in Vocal music- traditional folk song (girls category) and Sarthak Lal of Std. IX secured second position in Vocal music- traditional folk song (boys category). Besides, Sahil of Std. XI also secured the third position in Instrumental Music (boys category). Avani Chaudhary, Rituraj Roy and Rohini Raj have also qualified for the state level of Kala Utsav. Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan held a meeting with all the collectors and district election officers of the state through video conferencing on Friday. Rajan gave necessary guidelines to the Collector and District Election Officers regarding distribution of prescribed Form 12D to voters aged 80 years and above and disabled voters to opt for the facility of voting from home. Joint Chief Electoral Officer Smt. Ruchika Chauhan, Basant Kurre and Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Pramod Kumar Shukla were present. Rajan said that all the District Election Officers should distribute Form 12D to eligible voters through Booth Level Officer (BLO). Along with this, Rajan also clarified that if a postal ballot has been issued in the name of a voter of 80 years of age or above, a voter with more than 40 percent disability or a voter engaged in essential services, then he/she will not be able to go and vote at any polling booth. Rajan directed to ensure that there is no duplicacy and names of deceased voters in the voter list. EPIC cards should be distributed to the voters whose names have been added to the list. All returning officers should visit the polling booths of their area and ensure availability of all basic facilities. Send timely proposals for setting-up necessary booths as per the rules at those polling centers where there are more voters than the prescribed number. Such polling booths should be divided into two parts for the convenience of the voters and the auxiliary polling booth should be built in the same premises or in a nearby building. Any religious and cultural programmes taking place in the state should not be used politically. Action under restrictive sections, against absconding accused and accused carrying rewards should be expedited. Citizens can complain about violation of model code of conduct through cVigil app Rajan said that cVigil app has been created by the Election Commission of India for the citizens. Any citizen can complain about violation of model code of conduct through the cVigil app. Citizen can download the cVigil app through Google Play or AppStore in smartphones. The complaint will be resolved within 100 minutes. Rajan instructed the collectors and district election officers to resolve the complaints received through the cVigil app within the stipulated time limit. Resolve applications received from Suvidha Portal within the time limit The Election Commission of India has provided an optional facility to the candidates for online data entry of personal details in the nomination form. This facility will be available for the candidates through the Election Commissions Suvidha Portal. For this the candidate will have to register and login with mobile number and OTP. This facility is available in English and Hindi languages. Candidates can give their personal details in the nomination form and affidavit. The facility of online payment of security deposit of the candidates is also available through Suvidha Portal. Collectors and District Election Officers will also resolve the applications coming through the Suvidha Portal within the time limit. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday directed the administration to ensure safe return of the 35 Odia workers reported to be held captive in Laos. As per the direction of Chief Minister, the Labour Commissioner took up the issue with the Indian Embassy at Laos. The embassy authorities informed that they are in touch with the labourers and all necessary steps would be taken for their safe return to India. Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal on Friday unveiled a comprehensive plan to tackle crop residue management in the state, marking a significant step toward addressing a persistent environmental concern. During a virtual meeting of the High-Level Task Force for Management of Air Pollution in Delhi-NCR, chaired by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Kaushal said that the state government has taken a momentous step towards harnessing paddy straw for sustainable energy and eliminating crop residue burning by 2027. This move is marked by the introduction of the Haryana Ex-Situ Management of Paddy Straw Policy 2023, a significant stride in promoting efficient paddy straw utilization and discouraging harmful residue burning. Aligned with the government's commitment to extract energy from paddy straw and reduce its environmental impact, this comprehensive policy establishes an end-to-end ecosystem for paddy straw utilization. At its core, the policy aims to attract private investment in paddy straw-based projects, encourage farmers to adopt responsible practices, and create a robust linkage between farmers and industries. He said that the state government has meticulously categorized 147 villages as red zones, 582 as yellow zones, and 6,175 as green zones, reflecting a commitment to efficiently manage crop residue. Kaushal said that Haryana boasts approximately 3,657,220 acres of land under paddy cultivation, with a goal to manage 7,314,440 metric tonnes of crop residue. The state government has strategically outlined several key strategies including- a staggering 2,462,882 metric tonnes of crop residue will be managed through this approach. With a focus on in-situ management, the state government aims to effectively handle 3,141,892 metric tonnes of crop residue.- Ex-situ Management: An additional 1,709,666 metric tonnes of crop residue will be addressed through ex-situ management. Kaushal said that to facilitate this endeavor, the state government is providing subsidies to farmers for the purchase of crop residue management machines, emphasizing a shift toward sustainable and eco-friendly practices. Notably, a substantial financial allocation of Rs. 300 Crore (comprising Rs. 180.00 crore of Central Share and Rs. 120.00 crore of State Share) has been earmarked by the Government of India under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme for the fiscal year 2023-24. The construction of a mosque on the land allotted to the Muslim community in Dhannipur village of Ayodhya on the order of the Supreme Court, is being delayed due to insufficient funds. In an effort to expedite the project, the trust overseeing the mosques construction has not only modified its name but also its architectural layout. The revised plan will soon be submitted for approval to the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA). According to Zafar Ahmed Farooqui, chief trustee of the mosque trust, the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation of India Trust, convened a meeting recently in Mumbai to take crucial decisions. As a result, the mosque will now bear the name of the last prophet of Islam, Muhammad bin Abdullah. The updated design is expected to accommodate up to 9,000 worshipers simultaneously, including facilities for women to offer namaz. Moreover, the ambitious project aims to include essential facilities such as a hospital, community kitchen, library and a research centre. The estimated cost of the entire construction is around Rs 1,200 crore. Funding for the mosque has been a persistent issue, but trust officials anticipate that the name change will pave the way for a solution. The land allotted for the mosque is situated in Dhannipur village in Sohawal area of Ayodhya. The previously proposed architectural plans had reached the approval stage with the Ayodhya Development Authority. However, an outstanding fee of Rs 1 crore was the final hurdle preventing green light to it. So far, the trust has collected Rs 40 lakh in donations for the construction of the mosque. With these modifications and renewed efforts to secure funding, the construction of the Ayodhya mosque is expected to gain momentum needed to fulfill the aspirations of the community. The project seeks to represent an emblem of religious unity and cultural harmony in Ayodhyas rich historical tapestry. Crime Branch Bhopal has arrested absconding accused in the NDPS case on Thursday morning and seized 250 grams of drugs worth Rs 2.5 lakh from the accused. According to the police, criminal cases are registered against the accused in several police stations. Apart from this, Rajesh Sharma was absconding for the past one month in the case of Minor Act. The accused is a resident of Kolar, Nayapura, Bhopal. The police are conducting an operation to catch illegal drug traffickers in the city and based on information regarding the absconding accused Rajesh Sharma. Police immediately took action on the information received. Rajesh Sharma alias Pandit was standing under an electric pole behind a community hospital near Nayapura Kolar, who was caught by the police. Accused confessed to the crime during police interrogation. He had bought 800 gms of drugs from Mohammad Tahir of Shahjahanabad. On the spot, 250 grams of drugs was recovered from his possession. Now the accused has been arrested and taken to police remand. Meanwhile, Piplani police have seized 63 liters of liquor worth Rs 22750 from Satnami Nagar; the accused has been booked for over two dozen cases. Police said that on Wednesday information was received that Poonam Jogi, a watch list goon of Piplani police, is keeping illegal liquor in her shop at Satnami Nagar. In the shop Poonam Jogi was found inside the shop and recovered two sacks, one sack contained 180 bottles of country made liquor while the other sack contained 170 bottles of country made liquor. A total of 63 liters of liquor worth Rs.22750 was confiscated under Section 34 (2) of the Excise Act for being illegal liquor. After some customers created a ruckus over exchange of soiled and torn currency notes in front of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Regional Office here recently, a special programme for exchange of notes was organised in a bank here on Friday. The Canara Bank at Unit-8 assisted people in getting their soiled or mutilated currency notes exchanged. The exchange mela was inaugurated by RBI Bhubaneswar Regional Director Sharada Prasanna Mohanty, who said there is already a provision where people can get their torn, soiled or mutilated notes exchanged at banks across the State. Through currency chests, we are asking banks to conduct such melas. We are also deploying manpower to provide technical assistance. We are going to organise such fairs at district level through banks, said Mohanty. He further said that if any bank is not accepting torn or soiled notes, people can lodge complaints with the RBI Ombudsman. Apart from this, the RBI has also constituted squads who undertake surprise visits to banks and check whether they are accepting torn and soiled notes and getting them exchanged. As people from remote areas cannot come to Bhubaneswar to get their torn notes exchanged, such programmes will be organised at the district level as well. In a renewed effort to unravel the complex web of the mining scam that transpired during the previous Samajwadi Party regime, the Enforcement Directorate is set to intensify its inquiry after languishing in the cold storage for approximately one and a half years. The recent appointment of a new investigating officer signals a reinvigorated pursuit of justice in this high-profile case. It is worth noting that, pursuant to the Allahabad High Courts directives, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate were tasked with investigating the mining scam. The probe cast a long shadow over key figures, including former mining minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, and several prominent IAS officers. The ED, during the course of its investigation, had detained Gayatri Prasad Prajapati on two occasions, subjecting him to extensive interrogation while also confiscating assets valued at crores of rupees. While IAS officers were also brought under the lens of investigation, progress in this regard had been impeded, primarily due to the non-receipt of crucial files related to mining lease allotments. A total of 23 files remain outstanding, posing the most significant obstacle in the inquiry. Reliable sources suggest that the IAS officers will soon receive notices to appear for questioning, as the ED resumes its vigorous pursuit of the truth. The agency had previously corresponded with the government on multiple occasions, beseeching them to provide these elusive files. Regrettably, these appeals bore no fruit, compelling the ED to initiate the investigation anew and draft another missive to the government, urging the immediate handover of the essential documents. The quest for justice in the mining scam continues, with the ED leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to unravel this intricate case. The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea by AAP MP Raghav Chadha challenging the trial courts decision of vacating an interim order which stopped the Rajya Sabha secretariat from evicting him from the government bungalow allotted to him. Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, after completing the proceedings, orally asked the counsel for the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to not take any action in the matter till the high court has delivered its judgment. I am not passing any interim order but till I decide it, nothing shall be done in the meantime, the judge said. While the counsel for Chadha submitted he has already filed his brief submissions in the case, the Rajya Sabha Secretariats lawyer said he will submit his synopsis by Friday evening. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Chadha, said the AAP leader has been directed to appear before the estate officer pursuant to Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act proceedings tomorrow. He said he proposes to request the estate officer to defer the proceedings as the high court has reserved its judgment in the matter. Chadha has challenged the trial courts October 5 order in which it observed he cannot claim an absolute right to continue to occupy the government bungalow during his entire tenure as a Rajya Sabha MP even after the cancellation of allotment. The trial court had made the observation while vacating an interim order passed on April 18 which directed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat not to oust Chadha from the government bungalow. It had noted Chadha was granted the interim relief without the due process of law. Chadhas counsel had contended before the high court that he was a victim of selective targeting as he was a vocal opposition member of Parliament. Chadha said he was the only sitting lawmaker in the Rajya Sabha ever to have been sought to be evicted from the bungalow allotted to him. Chadha was on July 6 last year allotted a Type 6 bungalow at Pandara Park but he made a representation to the chairman of the Rajya Sabha on August 29 requesting for a Type 7 accommodation. He was then allotted another bungalow on Pandara Road from the Rajya Sabha pool. However, in March this year, the allotment was cancelled. Governor CP Radhakrishnan today inaugurated JCI Ranchis EXPO UTSAV 2023 at Morhabadi Grounds. One of Jharkhands biggest consumer fair EXPO Utsav is being organised from 12th to 16th October at Morabadi ground Ranchi. This year it is the 26th edition of Expo. There are a total of 305 stalls in the German hanger, corporate hanger, womens pink hanger, furniture zone, startup zone, amusement park, and food zone. The fair will open at 11am and close by 9 pm. The entry tickets are priced at Rs 20 per ticket. In todays opening ceremony the President Arvind Rajgariah welcomed the Governor, distinguished guests and members and said that it is a matter of pride for JCI Ranchi for successfully doing Expo year after year. It has been hard work of members that Expo has attained this position. Lightning of the Lamp was done by the Governor and the JCI executive committee members. Expo Chief Coordinator Dr Sanjay Jain said that its the hard work and dedication of members to give the People of Ranchi such amazing Hitech Expo. Expo Utsav is called Ranchi Ka Tyohaar. He said that this time we will focus on training on entrepreneurship for members, stall holders and the public. There are a total of 39 startups in this years Expo. On 16th training will be given by Renowned Motivational Speaker Shiv Khera. He further added that there will be events on all 5 days of expo. Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan said that he was happy to see youth coming forward and organizing events of such huge magnitude. He congratulated the members of JCI, Ranchi for this Expo Utsav. He said that these kinds of events give motivation to people of Jharkhand specially the entrepreneurs to come forward and exhibit their products which creates huge business opportunities in the state. He said that JCI should open chapters in rural areas also so that youth can rise. Vote of thanks was delivered by Secretary Tarun Agrawal. Todays project Conveners for this opening ceremony were Ashish Bhala and Abhishek Narnoly. The master of ceremony was Anant Jain. Members present were Expo Co Coordinators Pratik Jain, Sunny Kedia, Rahul Tibrewal, Treasurer Abhishek Jain, VP business Piyush Kedia, Past Presidents, Past Secretaries, JCI members etc. This information was given by Expo media head Sidharth Chaudhary and PRO Praveen Agrawal. Keeping in view the possible arrival of very important persons in the state in the coming time, senior IB and SPG officials briefed all the senior police officers of the state on Friday through video conferencing from the police headquarters on their security arrangements. DGP Sudhir Saxena said that in the coming time, the police will have multidimensional responsibilities like arrival of very important people in the state, big festivals and ensuring adherence to model code of conduct etc. The purpose of today's discussion is that in these circumstances our preparation should be very good and in accordance with the standards set by the government. After carefully studying the Blue Book, Yellow Book and all security related circulars, brief them thoroughly up to the field staff (reserve level) so that strict adherence to security standards can be ensured. He said that the ASL report and the system should be taken very seriously. If public darshan and road shows etc. are organised, there should be strong security arrangements. DGP Shri Saxena said that today's conference will prove to be very useful for everyone. During this, VIP security in the context of upcoming elections by Dipankar Trivedi (IPS) Joint Director VIP Security, IB, study of relevant matters on VIP security, election visit of Prime Minister by Vimukt Ranjan DIG SPG - overview of security challenges, venue of ceremony On arrangements, helipad, route, motorcycle convoy, media facility, contingency planning and force deployment plan and Assistant Director of IB Deshraj Bhatoa discussed about VVIP security and counter measures like access control system, jammer. During the briefing session, IB Joint Director Shachi Ghildayal, Additional Director General of Police Adarsh Katiyar, Anil Kumar, Chanchal Shekhar, Jaideep Prasad, Yogesh Deshmukh and Inspector General of Police Anurag, Deepika Suri, Gaurav Rajpooj, Ashok Kumar Goyal, M.S.Sikarwar, Dr. Ashish, Abhay Singh, Commissioner Bhopal Harinarayanchari Mishra, Commissioner Indore Makrand Deuskar were present. The Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi, is back with the second edition of the Young Changemakers Programmes Rural Immersion Bootcamp (YCP - RIB). The first edition was nothing short of spectacular. With more than 100 students hailing from over 40 cities across our diverse nation, it was an event that resonated with the spirit of unity and progress. IIM Ranchi signed an MoU with the Rasabeda Village Committee, where they pledged an amount of 1.8 Lakh INR earned by students through the Young Changemakers Programme for the comprehensive development of the village. This collaboration paves the way for a bright future for the residents of Rasabeda. IIM Ranchi would provide support for developing and implementing the village development plan. Going global this time, the Rural Immersion Bootcamp is a four-day programme, from the 21st to the 24th of December 2023, designed for future leaders passionate about social work and community development and driven to create a sustainable and long-lasting impact. This event will serve as a global nexus, a crossroads of diverse perspectives and talents, where individuals from various cultural and geographical backgrounds converge to collectively explore, share, and celebrate the multifaceted spirit of inquiry and innovation that unites us all. It is designed to empower students, foster their ability to become active agents of change and enable them to proactively partake in meaningful actions, ultimately resulting in tangible, positive transformations on a global scale. IIM Ranchi extends a warm invitation not only to the spirited minds of India but also to trailblazers spanning the entire globe. The program welcomes students from all disciplines currently enrolled in grades 9 to 12 or any equivalent educational program. Accommodation would be provided at the IIM Ranchi campus. The participants will get the chance to learn from some of the countrys finest professors and esteemed guest speakers, who will equip them with all the knowledge required to tackle a live case study. Theres another exciting facet - Cultural Connect. Participants will participate in a cultural exchange, enhancing their sensitivity and awareness towards the tribals. This exchange represents the harmonious coexistence of diverse ethnicities, each contributing its unique colours to the rich fabric of our global heritage. Then, the young changemakers will get to visit Rasabeda village, where they will get a chance to gain an understanding of rural India and its complexities while interacting with the resilient people of Rasabeda. Participants will present their innovative solutions to the challenges they've unearthed. A panel of experts will assess these solutions based on their practicality, potential impact, and scalability, with the top team receiving the Programme Laureate certificate for their achievements. The registration details are available on IIM Ranchis official website and social media handles. The Rural Immersion Bootcamp serves as a platform that nurtures future leaders, where enthusiasm and commitment come together to create social change pioneers, all prepared to paint a brighter future with their impactful initiatives. Chandigarh MC honours its firemen Chandigarh: Honouring its firefighters for going above and beyond the call of duty, the Municipal Corporation on Friday felicitated the dedication and valor displayed by them during a major fire and rescue operation at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) on October 10. City Mayor Anup Gupta and Anindita Mitra, Commissioner, honored 66 firemen at a felicitation programme held at the community center, sector 21. The Mayor said that the heroic efforts of these daredevil firefighters, who risked their lives in the face of grave danger, deserve highest commendation. Their unwavering commitment to saving lives and property showcases the selfless dedication that is the hallmark of the firefighting and rescue personnel. Punjab CM expresses grief, sorrow over martyrdom of 19-yr-old Army jawan Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday expressed profound grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of 19-year-old Army jawan Amritpal Singh, who attained martyrdom while performing his duty. Amritpal Singh hailed from Kotli Kalan village in Mansa. The Chief Minister, in a statement, said that it is an irreparable loss for the country, in general, and for the distressed family, in particular. Extending his sympathies with the bereaved family of the brave martyr, he said that the Punjab Government is with the family in this hour of grave crisis. The monetary assistance will be extended to the bereaved family according to the State Governments policy. Co-op bank employees contribute Rs 39.33L in CMs relief fund Chandigarh: Employees of Co-operative Banks contributed Rs 39.33 lakh in Chief Ministers relief fund by handing over the cheque to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday. Lauding the benevolent gesture, the Chief Minister said that Bank employees had given their one days salary for this noble cause. The donation will go a long way in extending a helping hand to the needy people, said Mann while appreciating the philanthropic efforts made by these employees. BBMB organizes Hasya Kavi Sammelan, Hasya Natak under Hindi Pakhwara Chandigarh: Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) celebrated the rich cultural heritage of India by organizing the Hasya Kavi Sammelan and Hasya Natak on the occasion of Rajbhasha Prize Distribution Ceremony on October 11 at the Tagore Theatre, Sector-18, Chandigarh. BBMB chairman Manoj Tripathi was the chief guest of the event, aimed at recognizing the importance of Hindi language and promoting humour through poetry. The Rajbhasha Prize Distribution Ceremony was a part of the Hindi Pakhwada-2023 initiative, wherein BBMB had organized various competitions to encourage the use of Hindi and recognize the contributions of personnel who excelled in promoting our national language during 2022-23. In a political showdown that has taken a fascinating twist, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann have once again found themselves locked in a contentious battle over the summoning and legality of the upcoming two-day special session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, scheduled for October 20-21. The confrontation comes on the heels of a similar dispute earlier this year, marking the second time that the Governor and the Chief Minister are at loggerheads over the convening of an Assembly session. The heart of the matter revolves around the Governor's assertion that the special session, framed as an extension of the Budget session, is unequivocally illegal. The Governor's office has conveyed its objection in writing to the Vidhan Sabha, deeming any business conducted during this session as unlawful. Despite the Governors adamant stance on the sessions illegality expressed through a letter from his office to the Vidhan Sabha secretary on Thursday, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, a day later, released the sessions schedule, indicating a firm determination to proceed with the same. The schedule, revealed by the Vidhan Sabha, clearly outlines the session's structure, with three sittings, and the session adjourning sine die on Saturday, October 21. This two-day session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, slated for October 20-21, raises critical questions about its legitimacy and the conflicting positions of the Governor and the state assembly. The released schedule demonstrates the Vidhan Sabha's resolute intent to carry out the session, even in the face of the Governor's proclamation of its illegality. Governor's Objections The Governors office has consistently upheld its position regarding the illegitimacy of the special session. A communication from Punjab Raj Bhavans Under Secretary explicitly highlighted the Governor's prior objections to a similar extended session that took place in June. During that earlier instance, the Governor unambiguously labeled the session as patently illegal. This objection centers on the Governor's conviction that the special session, presented as an extension of the Budget session, fundamentally contravenes established legislative protocols and constitutional provisions. Notably, the Governor's office emphasized that the Budget session had officially concluded on March 22. Any attempt to prolong it under the pretext of a special session constitutes a glaring breach of constitutional norms. Consequently, any activities conducted during this extended session would be declared illegal and devoid of any legal effect. In their letter, Punjab Raj Bhavan directed the Vidhan Sabha secretarys attention to the Governor's earlier letter, dated July 24, 2023, which recorded Purohits objections to a similar extended session, which was styled as The Special Session of the 4th (Budget) Session of the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, and was convened on June 12, 2023, for June 19-20. The letter highlighted, Based on legal advice, and for reasons stated in the said letter, the Governor had pointed out that the calling of such a session was patently illegal, against the accepted procedure and practice of the legislature, and against the provisions of the Constitution. In the present case also, the calling of a Special Session of the 4th Budget Session of the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, suggesting that it is a continuance of the 4th session which was adjourned sine-die on June 20, 2023 is nothing but an attempt to extend the budget session which was summoned by the Governor on March 3, 2023 and which stood concluded on March 22, 2023, after the completion of the Agenda for business of the said session, it added. In view of the reasons stated in letter, dated July 24, any such extended session is bound to be illegal, and any business conducted during such sessions is unlawful, and ab-initio void, emphasized the letter, sent along with the Governor's missive of July 24. Govts Defiance In the face of the Governor's objection, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has chosen to assert its authority and proceed with its decision to hold a two-day special session apparently brushing aside the Governor's declaration of illegality and choosing to follow its own interpretation of the law. The Government's position is that since the fourth session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has not been prorogued, there is no requirement for the Governor's approval to convene the session. Instead, the assembly Speaker retains the authority to call a meeting of the Vidhan Sabha independently. A senior official of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha maintained that proroguing an assembly session is a formal procedure that marks the end of a particular session of a legislative body, be it a state assembly or the Parliament. It is a formal way to close a session. Proroguing is not a permanent closure of the legislative body, but it temporarily suspends its activities; and the assembly or the Parliament will meet again at a later date to start a new session, said the official. Further elaborating, the official said that the decision to prorogue a legislative session is typically made by the Governor or the President, acting on the advice of the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister. Proroguing is done through a formal proclamation. The official further clarified that while the adjournment temporarily suspends the proceedings during a session to be resumed on the same day or a later date, proroguing ends the current session. When a session is adjourned, the legislative body can resume its work without the need for a new session, added the official. Sessions Agenda, including SYL The upcoming special session of the Vidhan Sabha is expected to address several critical issues. Foremost among them is the recent directive from the Supreme Court regarding the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Punjab. The contentious project, which Punjab has been reluctant to complete citing water scarcity, has become a focal point of political and legal debates. The Government's intent in convening the special session is also to ratify changes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, enabling the establishment of an appellate tribunal. The law, which was passed by the Parliament and sent to all states for ratification, has been a point of contention between the Punjab Government and the Governor. The government had hoped that this extension of the Budget session would provide legal validation to the session, as it intended to ratify a law passed by the Centre. Continuous Conflict Between Raj Bhavan and Govt The latest clash between Governor Purohit and the Chief Minister is part of a broader and ongoing conflict between the Raj Bhavan and the AAP-led Punjab Government. Earlier this year, the Governor had declared the June session as a breach of law, and the four crucial bills passed during that session remain pending, including the Sikh Gurdwaras Amendment Bill, 2023, the Punjab Police Amendment Bill, 2023, the Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Amendment Bill, 2023, and the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023. District Magistrate of Amethi, Rakesh Kumar Mishra, got a case registered against Additional District Magistrate Ashok Kumar Kannaujia and retired sub-divisional magistrate RD Ram in connection with a Rs 382-crore compensation distribution scam during the widening of a road in Musafirkhana tehsil. According to reports, during the widening of Lucknow-Varanasi highway in Amethi, land of farmers of 45 revenue villages was acquired for the construction of a bypass in Jagdishpur and Musafirkhana areas of Amethi. In the land acquisition, a loss of Rs 382 crore was caused to the state treasury by illegally showing remote land next to NH-56. A case was registered on Wednesday against the then SDM of Musafirkhana RD Ram and ADM Ashok Kumar Kannaujia on charges of misuse of position and fraud. ADM Ashok Kumar Kannaujia is posted at the headquarters, while RD Ram has retired. On Wednesday, Musafirkhana Registrar Kanungo Surendra Prasad Srivastava filed a complaint against the then SDM RD Ram, Ashok Kumar Kannaujia and some other persons. Inspector Vinod Singh said that a case had been registered. The Government of India had given approval in the year 2012 for widening of Lucknow-Varanasi highway-56. The process started in the year 2014. Apart from widening of the road, land was acquired for the construction of a bypass outside the town in Jagdishpur and Musafirkhana. For the construction of the bypass, the officers illegally fixed the compensation for cultivable land at four times the circle rate instead of the land adjacent to the NH 56. When an investigation was conducted to determine irregularities in determination and distribution of compensation, a scam of Rs 382 crore was revealed. The then SDM RD Ram, who was posted from February 23, 2015 to September 18, 2015, and the then ADM Ashok Kumar Kannaujia, who was posted from September 19, 2015 to March 25, 2016, and some unknown persons have been found guilty of causing Rs 382 crore loss to the state treasury. Now after criminal investigation into the matter, further action will be taken against those held guilty in the probe. Special Police Establishment Lokayukta have caught a Patwari accepting bribe, Gwalior Lokayukta police team today caught a Patwari of Ashoknagar district red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 20000,he was demanding bribe for transfer of land. According to Gwalior Lokayukta SP Rameshwar Yadav, Babu Singh Dangi, a resident of village Padrai of Sagar district, had applied in his office that he had bought land in Ashok Nagar district, which the Patwari stationed there was demanding bribe from him instead of nominating it. The patwari demanded a bribe of Rs 20000 in return of land transfer In the application filed on October 9, the applicant stated that he has purchased a land in Nanoti village of Ashoknagar district, for which Patwari Halka No. 29 Tehsil Bahadurpur District Ashoknagar Rajesh Srivastava is demanding Rs.20,000 from him to change its name and recorded the demand in the mobile phone. After listening to the recording present with the applicant SP Lokayukta formed a team and planed to trap the Patwari, the Patwari invited the applicant to his official residence Tulsi Colony Mungavali with a bribe at Ashoknagar, Gwalior Lokayukta team today Patwari reached the residence of Rajesh Srivastava with the applicant. The Lokayukta team went out and sent the applicant Babu Singh with a bribe of Rs 20000 to the official residence of Patwari Rajesh Srivastava and while the accused was accepting the bribe he was nabbed by the lokayukta team. Non-governmental organisations will organise screening of short films, stage street plays and hold discussions, as well as circulate audio messages in the fourth phase of Mission Shakti to raise awareness among women about sexual exploitation and harassment on social media and inform them about various initiatives and schemes of the state government in this regard. These programmes will be conducted through circle-wise rallies in all the gram panchayats, wards, localities and enroute Durga puja pandals from October 15 to 24. The Women and Children Organisation has prepared 31 themes for short films, while eight themes have been selected for street plays. Additionally, the theme song (jingles) of the department will be broadcast through audio messages. ADG, Department of Women and Child Welfare and nodal officer of Mission Shakti, Padmaja Chauhan, said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced the fourth phase of Mission Shakti on Sharadiya Navaratri. As part of this, the department will inspire women and daughters across the state by presenting short films and street plays based on more than three dozen themes to voice support for the Yogi governments initiatives, raise awareness of crimes against women, and speak out against women-related abuses. The ADG further mentioned that in these 31 short films public awareness will be raised against the harassment and exploitation of women working inside the house. The films will also promote the services provided by the Women Power Helpline through various means. They will further highlight important laws on issues like child marriage, dowry practice, female foeticide, gender discrimination, child labour, and crimes against children and women. Additionally, they will also showcase the commendable efforts made by the Uttar Pradesh Police in various phases of Mission Shakti for womens safety and empowerment. This includes the Safe City project for womens safety, awareness campaigns, and special initiatives carried out by women police officers during the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Moreover, the promotion and dissemination of services provided by Women Power Line 1090 for corporate use will also be included in the films. Furthermore, films under Mission Shakti will also focus on creating social awareness against child marriage and showcase the women beat police and the women beat campaign-subjected films. They will showcase the acknowledgement received from the prime minister for various campaigns conducted under Mission Shakti. Additionally, the films will focus on spreading awareness about womens safety services provided by Women Power Line through security guards and will address issues like women trafficking and unethical business practices, among other important topics. During the circle-wise rallies, eight street plays will provide daughters with information on good and bad touches. They will raise awareness about social issues like harassment by relatives, stalking of girls by boys on the streets, harassment of girls through online mediums like WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, as well as through explicit phone calls and messages. They will also educate girls against domestic violence, child labour, sexual abuse, human trafficking and child marriage. The departments theme song Tu beti aur behen ka hai roop aur janani bhi tu hai, 1090 hai tere saath jahan kahin bhi tu hai will be broadcast in audio message. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to picturesque Adi Kailash located in the Himalayas ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in the five States has again showed the deep faith Modi has in Lord Shiva and Uttarakhand, the abode of gods. In his Pithoragarh visit on Thursday, the PM paid obeisance at Adi Kailash also known as Chhota Kailash, located at an altitude of more than 14,000 feet. Donning traditional attire of the Rang community, the PM appeared immersed in deep devotion to Lord Shiva. Though the visit of PM is being linked with the promotion of religious and spiritual tourism in Pithoragarh district and in Manaskhand area of Uttarakhand, the political message from the message is also clear. The election commission of India had recently announced the dates of the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh (November 17), Chhattisgarh (November 7 and 17), Rajasthan (November 25), Telangana (November 30) and Mizoram (November 7). The political analysts are dubbing the assembly elections in the five States as semi finals for the next years Lok Sabha elections. The offering of prayers by Modi at the holy shrine of Adi Kailash, sacred Parvati Kund and ancient Jageshwar temple gives a clear message to the followers of Hinduism which is in majority in the four states of MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana. It should be recalled that the PM had visited Kedarnath shrine in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand in October last year to take blessings of Lord Shiva just ahead of the assembly elections of his home State Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The BJP regained Gujarat with a thumping majority but it lost to Congress in Himachal Pradesh. It is pertinent to mention here that PM Modi has visited Kedarnath six times after he became the PM in the year 2014. He visited Kedarnath shrine before the assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in November 2021. Interestingly the BJP regained power in both these States. PM Modi came to offer prayers at Kedarnath shrine in May 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Earlier in April 2018, the PM had visited Kedarnath shrine just before the assembly elections of Karnataka where the followers of Shaivism constitute a formidable vote bank. Senior journalist Dinesh Juyal said that the visit of PM Modi was chiefly a political show aimed to woo the electorate in the upcoming assembly elections in the five states. Slain Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharmas wife on Thursday expressed shock over the High Court commuting to life imprisonment the death penalty of Ariz Khan, who was convicted for killing the officer in the 2008 Batla House encounter. Maya Sharma said the Delhi High Court order could affect the morale of Delhi Police personnel. Earlier in the day, the High Court upheld a trial court order convicting Khan of the murder of the slain inspector but refused to confirm the capital punishment. The trial court had convicted Khan on March 8, 2021, saying it was duly proved that he and his associates killed the police officer and fired gunshots at him. It said his offence fell under the rarest of the rare category, warranting the maximum sentence and that he be hanged by the neck till death. Maya Sharma said, We are totally shocked and surprised. After a years-long legal battle, the lower court had awarded the death penalty to Ariz. The court had said it was a rarest of rare case. Hence, it was proved that he was a threat to society. Then how can his death penalty be commuted? Dont you think this will lower the morale of the force, especially those officers who remain on the frontlines in such encounters, she asked. Maya Sharma said she is getting calls from people claiming iss desh mein justice ho hi nahi sakta (justice cannot be delivered in this country). You are not doing justice to the family that bore the loss, she added. Asked if her family will challenge the order in the Supreme Court, Maya Sharma said, Of course we will plan something. But first let the copy of the order come and we will see on what grounds the High Court has given this judgement. Sharma, an officer of the Delhi Polices Special Cell, was killed in the encounter between police and terrorists in south Delhis Jamia Nagar on September 19, 2008. Two terrorists were also killed in the encounter that took place days after five synchronised bomb explosions rocked the national capital, killing 39 people and wounding 159. The inspector had raided the place while looking for the terrorists responsible for the blasts. The trial court sentenced Khan to death on March 15, 2021 and imposed a fine of Rs 11 lakh on him, ordering that Rs 10 lakh be released to the family members of the slain inspector. Official promotional video for the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon unveiled (People's Daily App) 15:16, October 13, 2023 Chengdu will be the first Chinese city to host the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), to be held October 18-22. The Hugo Awards for the best science fiction or fantasy works of the previous year are the traditional highlight of the event. Check out 2023 Chengdu Worldcon. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Poll bugle has been sounded for the impending municipal elections in Punjab with the State Government writing to the Election Commission to conduct these elections by November 15 in the five municipal corporations of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, and Phagwara. Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday issued orders in this regard, endorsing the government's approach to conduct these elections. Punjab Government has been diligently preparing for these elections, expediting the process of ward delimitation since August. The green light has been given for elections in the Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayats across Punjab, with the election window spanning from November 1 to 15. Additionally, the Governor has approved holding by-elections in 27 wards of 39 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats. Once the election notification is issued, the State Election Commission will initiate the necessary processes to ensure the successful conduct of the elections. The impending Municipal Corporation elections have captured the attention of all political parties, especially as several municipal corporations in Punjab have completed their tenures. Ward delimitation is currently underway in these Corporations, and feedback from the public has been solicited regarding any objections or suggestions. Notably, the Congress party has challenged the ward delimitation process in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, potentially leading to a delay of three months in the corporation elections. The outcome of this challenge will significantly impact the election schedule. As the countdown to the Municipal Corporation elections continues, Punjab remains a focal point of political activity and anticipation. A Letter of Understanding (LoU) was signed between the Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar and the World Food Programme (WFP), New Delhi, on Friday. It was signed by Director of Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation, OUAT Prof Dayanidhi Mishra and Deputy Country Director, WFP Nozomi Hashimoto in the presence of OUAT Vice-Chancellor Prof Pravat Kumar Roul for establishing a Technical Support Unit (TSU) for the Rice Fortification Programme to support the Government of Odisha. Prof Roul opined that such an endeavour would underpin academic excellence in co-creating technological innovations and their applications in crop research and innovations. It would help strengthening the technical capabilities of the State Government departments implementing food-based safety nets on fortification. He also said the Technical Support Unit (TSU) would develop and sustain a conducive ecosystem on food fortification by engaging with partners, private stakeholders, converging departments and community institutions through research, academics, adherence to quality and social behaviour change communication drives. A pregnant leopard died after being hit by a train near Sukhi Sevaniya under Samardha Forest range in Bhopal on Thursday morning, an official release said. According to the release, the Samardha Forest range management received the information about the accident from the Railway Control Room at around 8 am on Thursday. Acting on the information, the team reached the incident spot, and upon inspection, it was found that the female leopard was lying dead after the accident. The accident was such that the foetus came out, which was found near the dead body of the leopard, the release read. The female leopard was brought to Van Vihar National Park where veterinarians performed post-mortem. After post-mortem, it was found that the age of the female leopard was found around 7-8 years. The last rite was performed by the forest officials, it added. Earlier on Wednesday, a five-month-old female cub of a white lioness named 'Meera' died after suffering from illness at Gandhi Zoological Park in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district. The female cub was ill for the past week and its kidneys and lungs had stopped functioning as a result of which the cub died. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday promised free education upto Class 12 and allowance for school children in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. Speaking at a rally in the tribal-dominated Mandla district ahead of the November 17 assembly elections, she also reiterated the promise of caste census, claiming that the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and tribals are not getting jobs in commensurate with their share in the population. "Recently, Bihar conducted a caste census and it was revealed that 84 per cent of the people belong to OBC, SC (Scheduled Castes) and ST (Scheduled Tribes) categories in the state. But their numbers in jobs are very low. To know their exact numbers and do justice to them, a caste census should be conducted in the country," the Congress leader said. The BJP government at the Centre does not want to talk about it....Injustice is being done to OBCs and tribals. They are not getting jobs according to their numbers. We want their count, to deliver justice to them, she added. Besides announcing a slew of promises including implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees, she also said that a Congress government would provide not only free education from Classes 1 to 12, but also allowance of Rs 500 per month to students from Classes 1 to 8, that of Rs 1,000 per month to those in Classes 9 and 10 and Rs 1,500 to those in Classes 11 and 12 under the `Padho-Padhao' (learn and teach) scheme. Tribals who collect tendu leaf for a living are being given shoes instead of bonus, the Congress leader claimed. "The shoes differ in size. They might be getting a commission.....Do shoes, slippers, umbrellas represent your respect? Is this your honour? You must get respect for your labour, Gandhi told the gathering. The BJP did nothing for the people in the last 18 years of its rule in MP but remembers them during elections and announces various schemes, she said. As many as "250 scams" took place in the state where the BJP has been in power for "nearly 225 months", Gandhi said, listing corruption scandals related to Vyapam examinations, the mid-day meal scheme and scholarships. She somewhat resembles her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and hence she has to be more responsible to the people, especially the tribal population, Priyanka said. She also listed other poll promises of her party such as a gas cylinder for Rs 500, monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to women, loan waiver, free 100 units of power per connection and 200 units at a half price, and free electricity to farmers for agricultural pumps of upto 5 HP capacity. The 12 guarantees she counted also included free electricity till 100 units and half rate for the next 100 units, gas cylinders for Rs 500, Rs 1,500 per month per woman, filling of vacant posts of SCs and STs in government jobs, implementation of the Sixth Schedule in areas with more than 50% tribal population and free electricity to farmers for agricultural pumps of up to 5 HP capacity. The body of a 70-year-old patient was left unattended for 17 days in a mortuary at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida, prompting Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak to order an investigation into the incident. The patient was admitted to the GIMS on July 22 after a brain stroke and passed away on September 23 after which the body was shifted to the mortuary. The person who brought the patient to the hospital remained inaccessible during the entire course of treatment, the GIMS said in a statement. However, earlier this week it came to light that the body was kept unattended in the mortuary for 17 days and the State Government took note of the incident, with Pathak, also the health minister, on Thursday ordering an investigation into the whole episode. A serious case of (hospital authorities) forgetting a body after keeping it in a freezer for 17 days has come to light at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida Noida. Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak has taken cognizance of this highly sensitive incident. Orders have been given to investigate the matter. Instructions have also been given to the principal secretary of the Medical Education Department to seek clarification from the director of GIMS, according to a state government statement. The institute staff had carelessly kept the body in the freezer for 17 days and forgot about it. Deputy Chief Minister Pathak said the entire incident will be investigated and strict action will be taken against those responsible, the statement added. The GIMS said the person who got the patient admitted to the hospital could not be contacted over the phone despite several calls made to him and eventually it informed the officials of the local Kasna police station about it. The entire treatment for over two months was provided free of cost to the patient and teams from multiple departments were looking after this patient, the hospital said. There are three destitute patients admitted in the hospital, which are left by the police or some attendants and it is very difficult to manage these patients for their day to day care and disposal, the hospital added. The escalating drug menace in Punjab took center stage as the Punjab Congress on Thursday staged a massive dharna at Faridkot. The protest saw a prominent presence of party leaders, including state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa, former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, among others. The party claimed that the people of Faridkot turned out in significant numbers to express their discontent regarding the worsening drug problem in Punjab. Warring, delivering a stern message to the gathered crowd, highlighted that the drug issue in Punjab had surged fourfold in the past year and a half under the Aam Aadmi Partys government. Directing his criticism toward AAP Government, Warring said that they had reneged on their promise to control the drug menace within their first four months in power. The drug problem has intensified by fourfold instead of being curtailed in four months, he said while conveying his anguish about the disintegration of families in the State due to drug addiction and the devastating impact on lives. Urging the State Government to take resolute action against the issue at hand, Warring clarified that his intent was not to engage in a political battle, but rather to work toward a better Punjab. I will not lay blame; we know who is responsible. Now is the time to work towards a brighter future, he added. Giving a call to protest the states next generation, Warring accused the past Chief Ministers of deceiving the people with false statements and failing to make sincere efforts to eradicate the drug menace. Synthetic drugs infiltrated our state around 16 years ago and have ensnared our youth ever since. The youth are our future, and we must protect it without delay," he emphasized. Warring addressed a range of pressing issues affecting Punjab, including the SYL canal dispute, the state's significant debt, unjustified arrests due to political pressure, and the resulting somber atmosphere in the state. Warring called on the ruling AAP to respond to the concerns of the people of Punjab. Questions are being asked, and it is time to provide answers. The people of Punjab will always stand for what is right and ensure that those in the wrong learn their lessons, he said. Amidst the intensifying political turmoil, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's daring challenge to the states opposition leaders for a high-stakes live debate on November 1, coinciding with Punjab Day, took a dramatic turn when Tagore Theatre declined to host the event. In a swift response, the Punjab Government secured an alternative venue, relocating the debate to the Punjab Agricultural University's (PAU) auditorium a move underscoring the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab Governments eagerness to host the debate, seemingly aimed at revealing the vulnerabilities of the state's conventional political parties. Mann, known for his bold and unconventional approach to politics, set the stage for a historic political showdown by challenging the state's key opposition leaders to a high-stakes live debate on November 1. This date holds historical significance for Punjab as it marks the state's formation as a Punjabi language-speaking entity under the Punjab Reorganization Act of 1966. The Punjab Government had initially requested the booking of Tagore Theatre on October 10 to hold the debate. Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar criticized the decision, poking fun at Chief Minister Mann for his preference for dramatic performances, reminiscent of his background in comedy. Jakhar also refused to participate in the debate unless it was held at the PAU. Tagore Theatre, however, refused to host the political debate, citing its rules and regulations. It clarified that the venue's primary mission is to promote art and culture, making it unsuitable for political events. This wasn't the first time the theatre had declined political event requests, as several political organizations had previously been turned down. The government has now booked the Dr Manmohan Singh Auditorium at PAU-Ludhiana, which will serve as the new battleground for the much-anticipated political face-off between Chief Minister Mann and the state's key opposition leaders. The University authorities confirmed the booking request for November 1 but noted that the Government hadn't provided any specifics about the event. They emphasized that the State Government could host any event in the PAU auditorium, but the same privilege didn't extend to political parties. Mann's decision to hold the debate on Punjab Day adds layers of symbolism to an already contentious issue the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute. This longstanding point of contention between Punjab and neighbouring Haryana has escalated due to a recent Supreme Court directive issued on October 4, instructing the Central Government to survey the canal's construction land in Punjab and assess the extent of work completed. Opposition parties have vehemently criticized the AAP Government's approach to this issue. Recent proceedings in the Supreme Court have seen the Punjab Government indicating its willingness to construct the canal, despite vehement opposition from the Opposition parties and farmers a stand that has become another point of contention in the ongoing political battle. As Punjab prepares for this potentially game-changing political showdown on November 1, citizens and political analysts are anticipating a historic debate with far-reaching consequences for the State and its residents. The rescheduled event at the PAU auditorium in Ludhiana promises to be a captivating spectacle in the heartland of Punjab politics, with its outcome keenly observed and analyzed. There is hope that it may yield meaningful solutions to the challenges confronting Punjab. Dealing a major blow to the trans-border narcotic network, the Punjab Police has foiled a major drug smuggling bid by the Pak-based smugglers with the arrest of two Indian drug smugglers after recovering 12 kg heroin from their possession. Those arrested have been identified as Gurbinder Singh alias Binder, and Kulwant Singh alias Kanta both residents of Mallan village in Tarn Taran. The Police have also impounded their Maruti Swift Dzire car (PB-18-M-8998) in which they were traveling. Sharing the information, the state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Thursday said that following reliable inputs about the attempt to influx of large quantity of heroin by Pak-based smugglers, the Police teams of Counter Intelligence-Ferozepur carried out a secret operation in the area of Qilla Chowk in Ferozepur, where these accused persons were expected to come after retrieving the heroin consignment from the border area. Police teams successfully apprehended both the accused persons when they were coming in their Swift Dzire car and recovered 16 packets of heroin, weighing 12 kgs, from their possession, he said. Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Counter Intelligence, Ferozepur, Lakbhir Singh said that both the arrested accused were already into the drug smuggling and have been facing several cases under NDPS Act. Further investigations are on to find out more people involved in this module and more arrests are expected in coming days, he said, adding that a case FIR, dated October 11, 2023, has been registered under sections 21(C) and 29 of the NDPS Act at Police Station SSOC Fazilka. This year, Ramleelas in Delhi are not only going to be richer in terms of grandeur and aesthetics, but will also revolve around themes ranging from the success of the G20 Summit to the replica of Varanasis Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The Ramlila committees in the national Capital are also ecstatic for the 14-day event with the Delhi Government granting them the permission to use of loudspeakers till midnight for Ramlila and Durga Puja. The Lav Kush Ramlila Committee, which organises Ramleela every year at the iconic Red Fort grounds, will witness Bollywood and TV personalities playing key roles like every year, said Arjun Kumar, chairman of the committee. The casting is underway and several actors have been finalised. TV actor Gagan Malik will play Lord Ram, Haryana-based actress Kavita Joshi will play Goddess Sita and Mukesh Rishi, known for his roles in films like Sooryavansham and Sarfarosh, will play the demon king Ravan, Kumar added. Lav Kush Ramlila Committee will make a 150X50 feet three-storey stage at the Red Fort ground. A model of Kashi Vishwanath Dham will be constructed atop the stage. Skilled craftsmen from Varanasi, Mathura, Rajasthan, and Haryana are diligently constructing the model, he said. These effigies will be 100 feet, 90 feet and 80 feet, in height respectively, he said. The Shri Ram Dharmik Leela Committee in Tri Nagar is celebrating the success of the G20 Summit. With a budget of approximately Rs 60 lakh, the committee is all set to host the celebrations from 15 to 24 October. This grand celebration is being organised in a 10,000-square metre area, said Anil Garg, general secretary of the committee said. To address the concerns and grievances of the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Punjabis, PUnjab Government is set to hold a series of NRI Punjabian Nal Milni programs across the state. These meetings are scheduled to be held in Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Patiala, Jagraon, and Gurdaspur on December 15, 18, 19, 22, and December 29, respectively. Sharing the information following a meeting with senior officials of the NRI Department, the states NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal explained that each of these meetings will cater to the issues and complaints of NRI Punjabis from specific districts within the State. The meeting on December 15 in Hoshiarpur will focus on addressing the concerns of NRI Punjabis from Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, SBS Nagar, and Kapurthala. On December 18, the program will be held in Bathinda, covering Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa, Fazilka, and Sri Muktsar Sahib. Similarly, the meeting on December 19 will target NRI issues related to Patiala, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, and Malerkotla districts. On December 22, issues of NRIs from Ludhiana, Barnala, Ferozepur, and Moga will be addressed at Jagraon. Finally, on December 29, the concerns of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, and Pathankot districts' NRIs will be discussed in Gurdaspur. Dhaliwal highlighted that the NRI Department had previously organized five successful meetings in December 2022, during which 605 different complaints were received from NRIs and effectively resolved. Additionally, the NRI police wing has received a substantial number of online complaints, all of which have been addressed in a timely manner at the 15 NRI police stations, district, and state levels. The Minister noted that PCS level officers have been appointed as nodal officers in various districts to handle the grievances of NRI Punjabis. They work in close coordination with the District Administrations to resolve problems and complaints, ensuring that specific cases are promptly addressed. Dhaliwal also encouraged NRI Punjabis to exercise their right to vote in the election of the president of NRI Sabha Punjab, underscoring the significance of selecting a deserving representative to champion their interests. The Government's commitment to addressing the issues of migrant Punjabis remains unwavering, with a focus on prompt coordination with Deputy Commissioners, SSPs, and relevant departments when specific cases arise. Terming the Pithoragarh visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as disappointing for Uttarakhand the Congress has said that the visit was nothing more than religious sightseeing and political manoeuvring. The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara said that PM Modi has visited Uttarakhand many times but the State has always remained empty handed. He said that the PM remained silent on the murder of Ankita Bhandari. The PM also didnt utter a single word to condole the recent deaths of seven locals on Dharchula- Gunji Road. Mahara said that the PM has visited Kedarnath many times and he always tries to establish himself as the disciple of Lord Shiva but has remained silent on the alleged gold scam in Kedarnath shrine. He said that by conducting a photoshoot in Adi Kailash temple where photography is prohibited, the PM has offended the sentiments of the people. He said that more than 400 villages of the State are affected by the disaster and their villagers are waiting to be shifted to safer places. Joshimath is suffering from land subsidence for the last one year but the PM has made no attempt to understand the pain of these people. Mahara added that the Congress government had given a proposal to the Modi government that green bonus should be given to Uttarakhand in lieu of its environmental services to the country but the BJP government has taken no notice . Mahara said that in the last 10 years of BJP rule not a single mega project was given to the State. He claimed that all the mega construction projects were sanctioned during Congress rule. In a sensational incident, the body of a woman, who appeared to be strangulated after being raped, was recovered from the bushes near a village in Bahraich district on Friday. The police suspect it to be a case of murder and claimed that rape would be only confirmed once the post-mortem report was received. At the time of recovery of the body, blood was oozing from the mouth and nose of the victim. There was a rope mark on her neck, suggesting that the victim was strangled to death," Station House Officer of Payagpur police station, Kamal Shankar Chaturvedi, said, adding that there were injury marks under the left eye and neck of the deceased. Superintendent of Police Prashant Verma said the woman seems to be around 25-year-old and efforts were being made to ascertain her identity. Further investigations are on. Meanwhile, three men allegedly gang-raped a minor after abducting her in Firozabad. They later fled the scene, dumping the victim in an unconscious state in a deserted place. The girl later narrated the incident to her parents, who lodged a report against the accused. The incident took place on Wednesday night in a village under Kotwali North police station. According to reports, the victim was going to her grandmothers house in the same locality on Wednesday evening when three men abducted her at knifepoint. They took the minor to a deserted area where they raped her by stuffing a cloth in her mouth. The accused threatened the minor girl with dire consequences if she reported the incident to anyone. Sources said that when the victims father did not get a call from her about reaching her grandmothers place safely, he grew suspicious. He contacted the girls grandmother to find out whether his daughter had reached. Later, the victims family members along with neighbours started searching for her after finding out that she did not reach her grandmothers place. While looking for her, they came to know that three men had abducted the girl at knifepoint and taken her to a deserted place. The girl was found lying unconscious in a vacant plot not far away from their locality. The girl narrated her ordeal to her parents after which a report was lodged with the police. North police station in-charge Kamlesh Kumar said, Three men identified as Ankush, Guddu and Rahul have been arrested on the basis of the complaint filed by the victims parents. The girl has been sent to the district womens hospital for medical examination. Further investigation into this case is on. In another incident, two teenage lovers consumed poison in Sharif Nagar village of Thakurdwara area of Moradabad district to end their lives. Both were found lying in the forest about two kilometers away from the village. They were shifted to hospital where the youth was pronounced dead while the girl was battling for her life. Reports said that Kamaldeep (19), son of Duryodhan of Sharif Nagar, was having an affair with a class 12 student (17) residing in the village. Both belong to the same caste and wanted to get married but the youths family was not in favour of marriage after which the two families had a dispute and the matter reached the police station. Later, an agreement was reached between both the parties that they would marry both somewhere else to end the dispute. Subsequently, Kamaldeeps family fixed his marriage with another girl following which he eloped with his lover and consumed poison in the jungles. After their families launched a hunt, they found both lying unconscious and shifted them to hospital where Kamaldeep was pronounced dead. A case was registered and further investigations are on. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal (AIIMS, Bhopal) celebrated World Arthritis Day, an annual global event dedicated to raising awareness about arthritis and other rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD). This years theme, Living with RMD at All Stages of Life highlighted the importance of early detection, timely treatment, and the possibility of a cure for arthritis. The event was jointly organized by the Department of Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR), and Orthopedics at AIIMS, Bhopal. The chief guest for the event was Prof. (Dr.) Ajai Singh, Executive Director of AIIMS, Bhopal, who delivered an inspiring address emphasizing the need for awareness that arthritis is a curable condition. Prof Ajai Singh dispelled the misconception that arthritis is an inevitable consequence of aging, stressing that it can affect people of all ages, including children. He highlighted that with the right treatment at the right moment, arthritis can indeed be cured. Only a small percentage, approximately 10-15% of patients, might require joint replacement surgeries, but many can experience significant improvement in their quality of life through proper care and treatment. Prof. Ajai Singh also underlined the crucial role of lifestyle in the management of arthritis. He urged people to consider lifestyle changes as an integral part of their treatment plans. These changes can significantly contribute to better pain management and overall well-being. AIIMS, Bhopal, is planning to establish a dedicated Rheumatology unit to provide comprehensive care to patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases soon. Welcoming the esteemed guests, Dr. V.K. Misra provided valuable insights into arthritis and its treatment. He emphasized that timely intervention and treatment play a vital role in achieving faster recovery and better outcomes for patients. The event saw the participation of faculty members, resident doctors, and patients, all coming together to commemorate World Arthritis Day and raise awareness about the importance of early diagnosis, effective treatment, and the potential for a life without the limitations of arthritis. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Friday that until new teachers were appointed, services should be taken from retired teachers and they should be given a fixed honorarium. Handing over appointment letters to 219 principals selected by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission as a part of Mission Rozgar at Lok Bhavan, the chief minister pointed out, During the previous governments tenure, secondary education colleges had become hotbeds of cheating. The cheating mafia took contracts to pass the children in the examinations. However, significant improvements have been implemented in the last six years to address this issue. Stating that principals were the backbone of educational institutions, the chief minister said, If principals remain disciplined and promote new activities and innovations in colleges, then meaningful outcomes will be achieved. He further said that the High School and Intermediate Board examinations conducted by the Secondary Education Council last year had become an example in the country. The Council conducted cheating-free exams for 56 lakh students within 15 days and also declared the results within 15 days, he added. He emphasised that principals should make schools the centre of creative activities and also engage with parents. Along with the curriculum, students should also be given information about the country, the world, and government schemes related to youth and women's welfare, he added. This not only imparts knowledge to the students but also raises awareness, making the principals tenure memorable, he stated. Yogi further said that this was the same Uttar Pradesh, where there were security breaches in the previous governments. The citizens of the state did not feel safe and there was a prevailing atmosphere of lawlessness and disorder, he added. He mentioned that earlier riots and corruption used to be the hallmarks of UP and investors were leaving the state due to these circumstances. When our government provided a safe environment, the state received investment proposals worth Rs 38 lakh crore through the Global Investors Summit. This will provide jobs to more than one crore youth, he said. Yogi further said that in the last six years, the state government had been successful in providing government jobs to six lakh youth in a fair and transparent manner, including the appointment of 1,64,000 teachers. The chief minister said that Uttar Pradesh was the centre of spiritual and cultural heritage. He said the state received the highest number of spiritual tourists in the country, and there was a significant growth in this sector. Before 2017, only 1.5-2 crore tourists visited Uttar Pradesh, but now this number has increased to 30 crore tourists in a year, he said and added that various types of employment were created with the arrival of tourists in the state. Yogi said that if collective efforts were made, Uttar Pradesh could become the leading economy in the country. He also emphasised that Uttar Pradesh was a centre for education. He said during the time of independence, UP had supplied teachers to various states in the country. We will again have to make efforts in that direction and raise an army of disciplined and patriot citizens, he concluded. In the programme, Minister of State of Secondary Education (Independent Charge) Gulab Devi, Chief Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary (Secondary Education) Deepak Kumar, officials from the Education department were present. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday asserted that Sanatan dharma guarantees peace in the world and Indian saints are ready to face every challenge that come their way and never run away when it comes to engaging in works of public welfare. Addressing thousands of saints from across the country at Baba Mastnath Math in Rohtak on the occasion of consecration of Brahmalin Mahant Shri Chandnathji Yogi, Yogi Adityanath said that the saints only aim was the welfare of the people and they were helping realise the governments resolve of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat by spreading awareness from village to village. The chief minister said, The Nath sect is the carrier of Indias Sanatan dharma. To reach the essence of Sanatan dharma, our sects, methods of worship, traditions, and beliefs have been truly dedicated. The paths may be different, but the destination is the same, and this destination is the re-establishment of the eternal truth of Sanatan dharma through united and strong efforts. The chief minister said that today, a magnificent Sri Ram temple was being constructed in Ayodhya. Those who did not believe in Sanatan dharma, used to run away just at the mention of the name of the Sri Ram temple. But those who had faith in Sanatan dharma had faith in their actions, he said. What was once deemed impossible for people, the new India has made it possible. There is turmoil around the world, but the guarantee of world peace lies only in Sanatan dharma and India, the chief minister added. Yogi further said that in times of global crises, every nation, every religious follower, and every distressed person was looking towards India with hope and this event strengthened that mission. This is the place of practice for the holy saints of the Nath sect. Mahant Balaknath Yogi is carrying forward the resolutions of Baba Chandanathji with dedication and foresight, which is commendable and praiseworthy, he said. The chief minister said that today India had the worlds largest population, which had got all its fundamental rights. From north to south and east to west, India continues to establish itself as Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat with full strength and behind this are our revered saints, who are spreading awareness from village to village, he said. He mentioned that the saints dedicated themselves entirely to the worship of their deity and the restoration of Sanatan dharma. Yogi further said, Be it the Ram Mandir movement or any other public movement, saints have always actively participated. Today, thousands of saints from all over the country present in this ceremony demonstrate that here, there is no division of caste, religion, or sect. Those who say that India is a land of diverse beliefs and worship methods should witness the unity of saints from all traditions present here. On this occasion, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, Swami Ramdev, Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, Swami Chidanand Maharaj, Swami Nirmalananda Maharaj, Swami Gyananand Maharaj, Baba Balak Nath Maharaj, Hari Chetananand Maharaj, Brahma Dev Maharaj, Chinmoy Pandya, Acharya Lokesh Muni, Naraharinath of Nath sect, Mahant Shernath, Union Minister VK Singh, Ramlal including a large number of Yogeshwars and saints were present. Fielding Union ministers and parliamentarians in assembly elections reflects the seriousness with which the BJP contests every election, senior party leader Anurag Thakur said here on Friday. Thakur was here to chair a meeting of BJP leaders in Maharashtra as part of plans to prepare strategies for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Interacting with mediapersons, the information and broadcasting minister said every poll is an opportunity to be elected again to serve the people. "In view of the upcoming elections, we need to strengthen the party at the grassroots level. We also need to strengthen the NDA. The BJP is holding organisational meetings and preparing strategies for the 2024 polls," Thakur said. "Every Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha election is important for us. We contest elections with full might. If you look at Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, several MPs and union ministers are contesting polls. It shows the seriousness with which we contest elections. We contest elections to win," he said. In candidate list announced so far for the latest round of assembly polls, the BJP has named 18 MPs, including four Union ministers: seven each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and four in Chhattisgarh. Thakur rejected the opposition INDIA bloc allegations that the BJP was pursuing discriminatory policies. "Modi has been practising the principle of Sabka Saath, Sabka vikas'. In the past nine-and-a-half-years no one can claim that they have been discriminated against. Under the Narendra Modi government, the poor and the needy have received benefits of several schemes," Thakur said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said justice to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots started being delivered only after the Narendra Modi government assumed office in 2014. Addressing a programme of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee here, Shah said 300 cases related to the 1984 riots were reopened and compensation of Rs 5 lakh was given to the family of each of the victims after 2014. "No one can forget the riots of 1984. No one was punished in those riots until the Modi government assumed office. Many inquiry commissions were formed but did not yield results. But Modi formed SIT, reopened 300 cases and started sending those who were guilty to jail, he said. The home minister said that after so many years, the process of giving compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the 3,328 victims was done by the Modi government. Paying glowing tributes to the Sikh gurus and the Sikh community, he said the Sikhs move forward taking both religion and karma equally and when it is an issue of sacrificing one's life for religion, a true Sikh never looks back. He said that from the days of independence struggle to the security of the country now, the sacrifice of Sikh brothers is unparalleled. Shah paid tributes to the Sikh gurus and said: "I bow my head to the Guru tradition of the Sikh religion. Guru tradition of 10 generations of Sikh Panth has set before the world an excellent example of struggle and sacrifice against injustice and barbarity before the invaders." He said the contribution of the 9th Guru Teg Bahadur to the country can never be forgotten. His supreme sacrifice against the atrocities of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb on the people in Kashmir shows his greatness, Shah said. The home minister said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided to celebrate a festival in memory of Guru Teg Bahadur, then it was decided that his admiration will begin from the same spot of the Red Fort from where his martyrdom was announced. On the founder of the Sikh religion Guru Nanak Dev, he said Guru Nanak Dev preached equality of all religions in many countries through 'Char Udasiyaan'. "His feet have been found from Karnataka to Mecca. No one can even imagine about traveling so much on foot in those days to spread the message of selfless love, he said. Shah also referred to the tradition of empowering women in Sikh religion and said it began years ago with the teaching of Mata Khivi's langar. From the fight against the rule of the Mughals to the movement against the British and the struggle for independence and even now, the Sikhs have always been at the forefront in making the supreme sacrifice to secure the borders of the country, he said. Hamas says Israel's heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed 13 hostages, including foreigners, held by the group. Hamas' military wing said in a statement Friday that the 13 were killed in various locations over the past 24 hours. It did not give the nationality of the foreigners. At least 27 American citizens have died and 14 remain unaccounted for as a result of unfolding violence in Israel and the US will arrange charter flights to evacuate its citizens from the strife-torn Jewish state, the White House has announced. Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel on Saturday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. So far, over 2,000 people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides. India is one of the first countries to evacuate its citizens from Israel. On the sixth day of violence, the Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, were killed in Israel. In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, over 1,400 people have been killed in Israel's offensive against the Palestinian militant group, according to authorities there. "We are all acutely aware of limited availability right now on commercial flights out of Israel and the demand signal by U.S. Citizens who may want to depart. The president has asked his team to ensure that we are assisting U.S. Citizens who do want to leave Israel and providing them with a safe means of doing that, said John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council at the White House. Beginning tomorrow, the United States government will arrange charter flights to provide transportation from Israel to sites in Europe. They're still working through some of the details of that to assist U.S. Citizens and their immediate family members who have, for whatever reason, not been able to provide commercial transit out of the country, he said on Thursday. The US is also exploring other options to expand the capacity of doing this, including exploring whether it is possible to help Americans leave by land and by sea, the White House said. We are working hard on this, we know there's a demand signal out there, and we're going to try the best we can to meet it, Kirby said. He encouraged American citizens in need of assistance to complete the intake form on the Travel.State.Gov website. We can now update the number of Americans that we know have been killed is 27 and the number of unaccounted for stands today at 14. We're obviously doing everything we can to support and inform the families, Kirby said. Kirby said that it is a common tactic in the Hamas playbook to break up hostages and move them around in small groups. So, we have nothing that would indicate to us that they would follow a different set of protocols, but I can't stand here before you and prove to you that that is exactly what's happening, he said. Kirby refuted allegations that Iran has used the USD 6 billion of American aid. It's still sitting in a Qatari bank. All of it. None of that money has been spent, and I have no updates to provide today...What I can tell you is that every single dime of that money is still sitting in a Qatari bank. Not one dime of it has been spent, he said. This account, although it is moved from South Korea to Qatar, was set up by the previous administration for the same purpose, he said. In fact, I think it was back in 2018, the former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo actually talked in quite some detail about how this money in these accounts could only be used for humanitarian purposes and that there was going to be oversight, he said. We've done nothing different. It is the same process. All we've done is move that fund from South Korea -- where, for some technical reasons, it wasn't accessible to Qatar, where it is more accessible," Kirby said. "All that said, none of it has been accessed by the Iranians at all. And even if they had accessed it, it wouldn't go to the regime, it would go to approved vendors -- that we approved -- to go buy food, medicine and medical equipment, and agricultural products and ship it into Iran directly to the benefit of the Iranian people, he added. Germany is offering military help to Israel and promising to crack down on support for the militant Hamas group at home following the groups attack on Israel. Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday underlined Germanys historical responsibility for Israels security. The Defence Ministry said it agreed to an Israeli request to use up to two of five Heron TP combat drones that are currently leased by the German military and were already in Israel for the training of German servicepeople. And Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in Brussels that Israel has requested ammunition for warships, a request that will now be discussed. Scholz told the German parliament that he has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform Germany of any needs, for example the treatment of wounded. At this moment, there is only one place for Germany the place at Israels side, he told lawmakers. Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the state of Israel. Scholz noted that thousands of people have demonstrated in support of Israel in recent days, but said that there were also other, shameful pictures from Germany last weekend. On Saturday, a small group handed out pastries in a Berlin street and dozens of people later demonstrated in celebration of the Hamas attack. Scholz said that Germany will issue a formal ban on activity by or in support of Hamas, which is already listed by the European Union as a terror group. He said groups such as Samidoun, which was behind the weekend pastry action, will be banned. Scholz said there will be zero tolerance for antisemitism. The chancellor also questioned the lack of a clear condemnation of the Hamas attack by the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying that their silence is shameful. Germany has suspended development aid for the Palestinian areas, though it is keeping up humanitarian help. Scholz also assailed Irans role in the region. We have no tangible evidence that Iran gave concrete and operative support to this cowardly attack by Hamas, he said. But is clear to us all that, without Iranian support in recent years, Hamas would not have been capable of these unprecedented attacks on Israeli territory. Several German citizens were among those kidnapped in Saturday attack. Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR Get Free Report) (NYSE:CNI) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from C$167.00 to C$159.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.80% from the stocks previous close. A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Canadian National Railway from C$160.00 to C$150.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. National Bankshares decreased their price target on Canadian National Railway from C$171.00 to C$168.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$172.00 to C$170.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Canadian National Railway from C$165.00 to C$163.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 19th. Finally, ATB Capital cut their target price on Canadian National Railway from C$180.00 to C$175.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of C$167.53. Get Canadian National Railway alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on CNR Canadian National Railway Stock Down 0.6 % CNR stock opened at C$147.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 85.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$151.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$156.01. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of C$143.99 and a twelve month high of C$175.39. The company has a market cap of C$96.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.70. Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR Get Free Report) (NYSE:CNI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The company reported C$1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$1.83 by C($0.07). Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 30.20% and a return on equity of 24.97%. The business had revenue of C$4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$4.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 8.4312823 EPS for the current fiscal year. Canadian National Railway Company Profile (Get Free Report) Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in rail and related transportation business. The company offers rail services, which include equipment, custom brokage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services including temperature controlled cargo, port partnership, transloading and distribution, logistic parks, customs brokerage, trucking, and moving grains in containers. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Canadian National Railway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian National Railway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSE:CP Get Free Report) (NYSE:CP) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Desjardins from C$117.00 to C$109.00 in a report released on Wednesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock. Desjardins price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.02% from the companys current price. Desjardins also issued estimates for Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys Q3 2023 earnings at $0.92 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $3.81 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $5.13 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $5.96 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $6.78 EPS. Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. ATB Capital set a C$120.00 price target on Canadian Pacific Kansas City and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. TD Securities increased their target price on Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$120.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$108.00 to C$111.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. CIBC cut their price objective on Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$125.00 to C$123.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$120.00 to C$115.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Pacific Kansas City has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$118.50. Get Canadian Pacific Kansas City alerts: Get Our Latest Report on Canadian Pacific Kansas City Canadian Pacific Kansas City Price Performance Shares of CP opened at C$99.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$92.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.87. The businesss 50-day moving average is C$105.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$105.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.68, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.67. Canadian Pacific Kansas City has a fifty-two week low of C$90.84 and a fifty-two week high of C$112.96. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSE:CP Get Free Report) (NYSE:CP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported C$0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.92 by C($0.09). Canadian Pacific Kansas City had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 41.96%. The firm had revenue of C$3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$3.29 billion. Research analysts predict that Canadian Pacific Kansas City will post 4.7619503 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Transactions at Canadian Pacific Kansas City In other Canadian Pacific Kansas City news, Senior Officer James Dominic Luther Clements sold 14,475 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$107.53, for a total transaction of C$1,556,427.27. In other Canadian Pacific Kansas City news, Senior Officer James Dominic Luther Clements sold 14,475 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$107.53, for a total transaction of C$1,556,427.27. Also, Senior Officer Keith E. Creel sold 3,608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$77.58, for a total value of C$279,893.13. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the companys stock. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Company Profile (Get Free Report) Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a transcontinental freight railway in Canada and the United States. The company transports bulk commodities, including grain, coal, potash, fertilizers, and sulphur; and merchandise freight, such as energy, chemicals and plastics, metals, minerals and consumer, automotive, and forest products. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Pacific Kansas City Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Pacific Kansas City and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eldorado Gold Co. (TSE:ELD Free Report) (NYSE:EGO) Stock analysts at Cormark dropped their FY2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Eldorado Gold in a research note issued on Tuesday, October 10th. Cormark analyst R. Gray now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.55 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $0.59. The consensus estimate for Eldorado Golds current full-year earnings is $0.82 per share. Cormark also issued estimates for Eldorado Golds FY2024 earnings at $0.64 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.53 EPS. Get Eldorado Gold alerts: Eldorado Gold (TSE:ELD Get Free Report) (NYSE:EGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported C$0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of C$0.10 by C$0.02. The firm had revenue of C$308.76 million during the quarter. Eldorado Gold had a net margin of 1.00% and a return on equity of 1.03%. A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Eldorado Gold from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from C$15.50 to C$16.50 in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Eldorado Gold from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Haywood Securities raised their price objective on shares of Eldorado Gold from C$16.50 to C$18.50 in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, National Bankshares raised their price objective on shares of Eldorado Gold from C$17.00 to C$17.50 in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of C$16.75. View Our Latest Research Report on ELD Eldorado Gold Price Performance Shares of TSE:ELD opened at C$12.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.50. The company has a market cap of C$2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.08, a PEG ratio of 56.20 and a beta of 1.24. Eldorado Gold has a 52 week low of C$7.21 and a 52 week high of C$16.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$12.54 and a 200 day moving average price of C$13.55. About Eldorado Gold (Get Free Report) Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, development, and sale of mineral products primarily in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. The company primarily produces gold, as well as silver, lead, and zinc. It holds a 100% interest in the Kisladag and Efemcukuru gold mines located in western Turkey; Lamaque gold mines located in Canada; and Olympias, Stratoni, Skouries, Perama Hill, and Sapes gold mines located in Greece, as well as the 80.5% interest in Certej development projects located in Romania. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Eldorado Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eldorado Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. LCI Industries (NYSE:LCII Free Report) Research analysts at DA Davidson dropped their FY2023 EPS estimates for shares of LCI Industries in a report issued on Monday, October 9th. DA Davidson analyst B. Rolle now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $3.45 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $4.80. DA Davidson currently has a Underperform rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for LCI Industries current full-year earnings is $4.69 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for LCI Industries FY2024 earnings at $7.00 EPS. Get LCI Industries alerts: Several other research firms have also recently commented on LCII. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of LCI Industries in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of LCI Industries from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Finally, CJS Securities cut shares of LCI Industries from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $113.17. LCI Industries Trading Down 3.5 % Shares of LCII opened at $112.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.06. LCI Industries has a 1-year low of $89.28 and a 1-year high of $137.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75 and a beta of 1.50. LCI Industries (NYSE:LCII Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.06). LCI Industries had a return on equity of 6.14% and a net margin of 2.12%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $997.16 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.06 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. LCI Industries Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. LCI Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.51%. Institutional Trading of LCI Industries Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in LCI Industries by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 633,122 shares of the companys stock valued at $80,001,000 after buying an additional 254,749 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in LCI Industries by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,194,933 shares of the companys stock valued at $131,287,000 after buying an additional 230,682 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in LCI Industries by 131.0% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 379,232 shares of the companys stock valued at $41,666,000 after buying an additional 215,088 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in LCI Industries by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,404,644 shares of the companys stock valued at $264,198,000 after buying an additional 206,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in LCI Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,741,000. 99.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. LCI Industries Company Profile (Get Free Report) LCI Industries, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and supplies components for the manufacturers of recreational vehicles (RVs) and adjacent industries in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and Aftermarket. The OEM segment manufactures and distributes a range of engineered components, such as steel chassis and related components; axles and suspension solutions; slide-out mechanisms and solutions; thermoformed bath, kitchen, and other products; vinyl, aluminum, and frameless windows; manual, electric, and hydraulic stabilizer and leveling systems; entry, luggage, patio, and ramp doors; furniture and mattresses; electric and manual entry steps; awnings and awning accessories; electronic components; appliances; air conditioners; televisions and sound systems; tankless water heaters; towing products; truck accessories; and other accessories. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for LCI Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for LCI Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA Free Report) Zacks Research increased their Q3 2023 earnings estimates for shares of Murphy USA in a report released on Tuesday, October 10th. Zacks Research analyst N. Choudhury now expects that the specialty retailer will post earnings of $5.29 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $4.91. The consensus estimate for Murphy USAs current full-year earnings is $21.54 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Murphy USAs Q4 2023 earnings at $4.28 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $20.39 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $4.08 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $7.71 EPS and Q4 2024 earnings at $5.32 EPS. Get Murphy USA alerts: Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The specialty retailer reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $6.09 by ($0.07). Murphy USA had a return on equity of 80.20% and a net margin of 2.59%. The firm had revenue of $5.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.61 billion. A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Murphy USA from $362.00 to $360.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Murphy USA in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $329.60. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MUSA Murphy USA Stock Performance NYSE:MUSA opened at $360.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.24. The stock has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.77. Murphy USA has a 1-year low of $231.65 and a 1-year high of $369.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. Murphy USA Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 7th. Investors of record on Monday, August 28th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a boost from Murphy USAs previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 25th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Murphy USAs dividend payout ratio is currently 6.16%. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.31, for a total transaction of $211,617.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Murphy USA news, CEO R Andrew Clyde sold 32,173 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.23, for a total transaction of $10,013,202.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,729 shares of the companys stock, valued at $53,758,446.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher A. Click sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.31, for a total transaction of $211,617.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,815 shares of company stock worth $22,153,785 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Murphy USA Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its position in Murphy USA by 136.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 85 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Murphy USA by 70.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 111 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Murphy USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Murphy USA by 522.9% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 218 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Murphy USA Company Profile (Get Free Report) Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Murphy USA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Murphy USA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS Free Report) Research analysts at William Blair cut their FY2023 earnings estimates for shares of Zoetis in a note issued to investors on Monday, October 9th. William Blair analyst B. Vazquez now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $5.34 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $5.42. The consensus estimate for Zoetis current full-year earnings is $5.42 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Zoetis FY2024 earnings at $5.87 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $6.60 EPS. Get Zoetis alerts: A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ZTS. StockNews.com cut shares of Zoetis from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Sunday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $204.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Zoetis in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a buy rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $190.00 to $201.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Zoetis currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $221.33. Zoetis Trading Down 1.5 % Shares of NYSE ZTS opened at $174.31 on Wednesday. The companys fifty day moving average is $182.26 and its 200-day moving average is $176.48. The stock has a market cap of $80.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.80. Zoetis has a twelve month low of $124.15 and a twelve month high of $194.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.16 billion. Zoetis had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 52.02%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zoetis Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Zoetis by 163,671.8% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 480,424,669 shares of the companys stock worth $82,733,932,000 after buying an additional 480,131,319 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,630,557 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,380,578,000 after purchasing an additional 213,907 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 19,510,212 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,859,222,000 after purchasing an additional 408,101 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,262,031 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,628,251,000 after purchasing an additional 167,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,007,840 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,998,585,000 after purchasing an additional 391,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.47% of the companys stock. Insider Buying and Selling at Zoetis In other Zoetis news, CEO Kristin C. Peck sold 13,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.97, for a total value of $2,339,610.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,843 shares in the company, valued at $10,230,034.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Zoetis news, CEO Kristin C. Peck sold 13,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.97, for a total value of $2,339,610.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,843 shares in the company, valued at $10,230,034.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Robert J. Polzer sold 1,179 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.94, for a total value of $223,939.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $446,928.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,930 shares of company stock worth $4,691,799 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the companys stock. Zoetis Company Profile (Get Free Report) Zoetis Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products in the United States and internationally. It commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep and others; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Zoetis Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Zoetis and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,701 shares of the transportation companys stock, valued at approximately $223,000. A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DAL. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 740 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,136.7% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 742 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 71.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Delta Air Lines alerts: Insider Activity at Delta Air Lines In related news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 7,056 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $317,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,136 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,286,120. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 7,056 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $317,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,136 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,286,120. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 3,350 shares of the companys 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 27,465 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,330,129.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,479 shares of company stock valued at $1,839,353. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders. Delta Air Lines Price Performance Delta Air Lines stock opened at $35.12 on Friday. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $40.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.70. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.52 and a 52 week high of $49.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.60 billion, a PE ratio of 7.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 12th. The transportation company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.08. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 59.56%. The firm had revenue of $15.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year. Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 11th. Delta Air Liness payout ratio is 8.62%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. 22nd Century Group restated a maintains rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $58.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $54.41. View Our Latest Report on DAL About Delta Air Lines (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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Delta Air Lines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Delta Air Lines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH Free Report) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,685 shares of the medical research companys stock after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Cos holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,960,111 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $2,743,888,000 after purchasing an additional 485,342 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,859,128 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $2,863,118,000 after purchasing an additional 106,063 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,701,334 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $619,740,000 after purchasing an additional 11,259 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843,051 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $421,878,000 after purchasing an additional 26,197 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 532.2% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530,675 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $360,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288,574 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.37% of the companys stock. Get Laboratory Co. of America alerts: Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance Shares of NYSE LH opened at $197.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $166.93 and a 1-year high of $222.33. The stocks 50-day moving average is $207.54 and its 200 day moving average is $217.42. Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement Laboratory Co. of America ( NYSE:LH Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The medical research company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.77 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.89% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 13.68 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 8th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Laboratory Co. of Americas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.07%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $238.00 to $230.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Finally, HSBC started coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They set a hold rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $244.55. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on LH Insiders Place Their Bets In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 5,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.57, for a total value of $1,057,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,275 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,231,731.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.65% of the companys stock. Laboratory Co. of America Profile (Free Report) Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics and Labcorp Drug Development. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Laboratory Co. of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Laboratory Co. of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Dfpg Investments LLC boosted its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 18.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,066 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 6,491 shares during the quarter. Dfpg Investments LLCs holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $6,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accel Wealth Management boosted its stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.6% in the second quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 7,828 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,139,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 7,624 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 930,211 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $135,290,000 after purchasing an additional 171,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC increased its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 19,723 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,868,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. 68.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. alerts: JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance Shares of NYSE JPM opened at $145.81 on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a twelve month low of $101.76 and a twelve month high of $159.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.19. The company has a market capitalization of $423.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Dividend JPMorgan Chase & Co. ( NYSE:JPM Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.75. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 23.45% and a return on equity of 17.29%. The business had revenue of $42.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s quarterly revenue was up 34.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 15.68 EPS for the current year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. This is an increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.03%. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms have weighed in on JPM. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $176.00 to $169.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Societe Generale lowered JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $158.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $168.47. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on JPMorgan Chase & Co. Insiders Place Their Bets In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, General Counsel Stacey Friedman sold 4,310 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.86, for a total value of $624,346.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 53,425 shares in the company, valued at $7,739,145.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the companys stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile (Free Report) JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). The CCB segment offers deposit, investment and lending products, cash management, and payments and services to consumers and small businesses; mortgage origination and servicing activities; residential mortgages and home equity loans; and credit cards, auto loans, leases, and travel services. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JPM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for JPMorgan Chase & Co. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 3,775,064 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the previous sessions volume of 3,803,722 shares.The stock last traded at $4.55 and had previously closed at $4.25. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Harmony Gold Mining in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Harmony Gold Mining from $3.80 to $3.40 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Harmony Gold Mining presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $3.40. Get Harmony Gold Mining alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on HMY Harmony Gold Mining Trading Down 1.8 % Harmony Gold Mining Increases Dividend The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $0.032 per share. This is a boost from Harmony Gold Minings previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmony Gold Mining Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HMY. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 1,303,063 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $5,343,000 after acquiring an additional 94,365 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Harmony Gold Mining by 0.3% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 58,627,033 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $240,371,000 after buying an additional 168,513 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Harmony Gold Mining by 319.0% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 849,122 shares of the mining companys stock worth $3,481,000 after buying an additional 646,476 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Harmony Gold Mining during the first quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining during the 1st quarter worth about $1,352,000. 28.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Harmony Gold Mining Company Profile (Get Free Report) Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited engages in the exploration, extraction, and processing of gold. The company also explores for uranium, silver, copper, and molybdenum deposits. It has eight underground operations in the Witwatersrand Basin; an open-pit mine on the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt; and various surface source operations in South Africa. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Harmony Gold Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Harmony Gold Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lowered its position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES Free Report) by 46.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 138,237 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 121,573 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.s holdings in AES were worth $2,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AES by 30.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 67,720 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,631,000 after purchasing an additional 15,827 shares during the last quarter. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in AES during the first quarter worth about $4,672,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AES by 2.8% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 100,670 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,424,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in AES by 48.5% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 138,957 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $3,346,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in AES by 14.1% during the first quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,585,131 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $110,043,000 after buying an additional 568,006 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.49% of the companys stock. Get AES alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at AES In other AES news, Director Maura Shaughnessy acquired 12,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.49 per share, with a total value of $243,625.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 60,653 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,182,126.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AES news, Director Alain Monie acquired 27,400 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.27 per share, with a total value of $500,598.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 28,725 shares of the companys stock, valued at $524,805.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maura Shaughnessy purchased 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.49 per share, with a total value of $243,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 60,653 shares in the company, valued at $1,182,126.97. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. AES Price Performance AES stock opened at $13.05 on Friday. The AES Co. has a 12 month low of $11.43 and a 12 month high of $29.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.98 and a 200-day moving average of $20.22. AES (NYSE:AES Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). AES had a negative net margin of 2.70% and a positive return on equity of 36.65%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The AES Co. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. AES Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.1659 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 31st. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. AESs payout ratio is presently -108.19%. Analysts Set New Price Targets AES has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of AES from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. UBS Group downgraded shares of AES from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of AES in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of AES from $23.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a sell rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.91. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on AES About AES (Free Report) The AES Corporation operates as a diversified power generation and utility company. It owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries. The company also owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market. See Also Receive News & Ratings for AES Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AES and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AKITA Drilling Ltd. (OTCMKTS:AKTAF Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,800 shares, an increase of 45.0% from the September 15th total of 4,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. AKITA Drilling Price Performance AKITA Drilling stock opened at $1.28 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1.32 and a 200-day moving average of $1.13. AKITA Drilling has a 1 year low of $0.86 and a 1 year high of $1.62. Get AKITA Drilling alerts: About AKITA Drilling (Get Free Report) See Also AKITA Drilling Ltd. operates as an oil and gas drilling contractor in Canada and the United States. It is involved in the drilling oil and gas wells, potash exploration and development wells, geothermal wells, disposal wells, and carbon storage wells, as well as wells to be developed into storage caverns for gas. Receive News & Ratings for AKITA Drilling Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AKITA Drilling and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Asahi Kasei Co. (OTCMKTS:AHKSY Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 26,800 shares, a decline of 65.2% from the September 15th total of 77,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 152,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Asahi Kasei Stock Performance Asahi Kasei stock opened at $12.46 on Friday. Asahi Kasei has a fifty-two week low of $11.80 and a fifty-two week high of $15.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.05 and a beta of 0.70. The firms fifty day moving average price is $12.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.44. Get Asahi Kasei alerts: Asahi Kasei (OTCMKTS:AHKSY Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter. Asahi Kasei had a positive return on equity of 4.02% and a negative net margin of 4.35%. About Asahi Kasei Asahi Kasei Corporation manufactures and sells chemical products in Japan and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Material, Homes, and Health Care. It provides caustic soda, chemical fertilizers, nitric acid, ammonia, acrylonitrile, methyl methacrylate, styrene, adipic acid, hexamethylene diamine, AH salt, propionitrile, sodium cyanide, acetonitrile, methacrylonitrile, cyclohexyl methacrylate, cyclohexanol, cyclohexane, and cyclohexene; polymers; chemical intermediates; additives; membranes and systems; clads and anchors; optical and printing materials; electronic materials; and lithium-ion battery and lead-acid battery separators. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Asahi Kasei Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Asahi Kasei and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Korea Fund, Inc. (NYSE:KF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,000 shares, a growth of 2,900.0% from the September 15th total of 100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days. Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Korea Fund A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Korea Fund by 13.5% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 453,678 shares of the companys stock worth $10,498,000 after buying an additional 54,032 shares during the period. Shaker Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in The Korea Fund by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Shaker Financial Services LLC now owns 13,069 shares of the companys stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Korea Fund during the 1st quarter valued at $68,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in The Korea Fund by 3,005.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,174 shares of the companys stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 31,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of The Korea Fund by 10.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,142 shares of the companys stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,563 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.75% of the companys stock. Get The Korea Fund alerts: The Korea Fund Trading Up 0.0 % NYSE:KF opened at $20.67 on Friday. The Korea Fund has a 52-week low of $19.40 and a 52-week high of $25.16. The businesss fifty day moving average is $21.68 and its 200 day moving average is $22.30. About The Korea Fund The Korea Fund, Inc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC. The fund invests in the public equity markets of Korea. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in growth stocks of companies. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for The Korea Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Korea Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. I thought the car was coming straight for me, it was so realistic I had to duck out of the f*cking way, a cinema patron told Hollywood Week. Sponsored by a bourbon whiskey company from somewhere down south, the new Jackass 4D Reality films North American release has wowed audiences from Alabama to Saskatchewan. The films producer, Avidor Nagelberger said: This time we went so far that some of our cast members and audience got splatted for real. Dont try these stunts at home kids or you too could end up like a well done steak. Oh, and remember folks, dont drink and drive, because we dont care if you kill yourself, its the innocent people you take with you that is the real tragedy. Thats your lesson in morality for today, you know how all American films have to have some moral treatise at the end of every movie, well, thats our message to you guys, so go home tonight and drive safe folks. The Jackass 4D Reality film will be released in the UK in November 2011. The 1960s were an odd period in the history of man. Compared to todays code of conduct, the era offered a fair share of controversial ads to the public, such as ones promoting smoking. Kubrick vs. The Moon What Really Happened? In a similar manner, film-making concurrently lived through an exciting period and gave birth to a lot of cinematographic attainments that changed the industry for good. This year humanity is celebrating exactly 50 years since the first landing on the Moon. In the year of 2019, when, some would argue, we are still not capable of sending a man to the Moon. Cynics have provided an equitable sharing of analyses that would suggest that some persons perhaps knew about the potential cover-up NASA had planned through in case of a failed mission. Lunar Craters Stanley Kubrick is the name behind world-acclaimed releases such as Dr. Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange, and one of the most influential film directors of all time. However, his global contribution might not be limited solely to cinematography. In the five decades from the supposed landing to this date, numerous critics suggested that the man was somehow involved in perhaps NASAs biggest project ever. First of all, we are underlining that by no means we claim or believe that Kubrick faked the Moon landing. Rather, we deem he might have been forced into playing along a fabricated lie fortified by the US government. With that out of the way, lets focus on the facts. Namely, Kubrick was approached by a couple of US representatives and asked to rent his studios to NASA to shoot footage that would later serve for then undisclosed purposes. Allegedly, he declined, but the hoax remained. It was no uncommon occurrence that the public believed everything was said in the media back then. And when one of the first doubters Peter Hyams presented his TV-brainwashes-us theory in quite a creative way, many followers began to question these news reports. Kubrick did film 2001: A Space Odyssey less than a year before. Lets try to break the tension a little right here. Do you personally believe in these conspiracy theories? Or are they simply a fancy of the modern sceptic? We guess only time will tell, but till then we have stuff to unwind to. Popular online slot creator Micro gaming was inspired by these Kubrick speculations, and put a twist on the heirloom. The companys latest video slot Banana Odyssey pays homage to the directors film-making and common themes seen in his films. This slot game can already be found at a number of famous UK gambling websites so you can enjoy even more of contemporary twists and turns made on the account of these conspiracies. Blinding Peaks Now back to entertaining these double-edged thoughts. Perhaps there would be fewer believers were it not for Kubricks 1980 The Shining. In it, American child actor Danny Lloyd starred as Danny, arguably the protagonist of the film. The film boasts a diapason of potential protagonists, but thats a subject for another article. Right now, lets look out for clues. Eleven years after the alleged landing of Apollo 11 to the Moon, Stanley Kubrick released The Shining prancing with a plethora of seemingly hidden plot holes. Devoted enthusiasts to date believe that the shrewd film-maker concealed or unveiled his involvement in the space endeavour. The creative masters response to the landing was a line-up of encoded messages spotted throughout the film. Hawk-eyed among you might have already observed these. At a crucial point in the film, Danny wears a knitted jumper with an Apollo 11 rocket splattered across its front and simultaneously rises to his feet as theatrical music plays in the background. Danny is believed to embody the launch of the rocket, which goes on to collapse and is never to be seen again. Kubrick-supporting fans find that this might be the directors cry for help. He showed us all actuality, and we turned our heads in obliviousness. Are we giving these trifles too much credit? Or are these bizarre interpretations solid truth we choose to ignore? I just bought my copy of the 2013 Mayan calendar and cant wait to flick each page over every month of next year, Darla Sentermin, a college student from Canterbury, England told the BBC. In France, there were thousands queuing up for hours to buy the 2013 Mayan calendar. I am optimistic that I will be able to use my 2013 Mayan calendar even though I might not be around tomorrow, Julien Poncie, from the French city of Strasbourg, told local radio stations. A Russian man who had built a bunker in his Moscow suburb apartment in preparation for the coming Mayan apocalypse tomorrow said: I bought the 2013 Mayan calendar as a way to remind myself of what days would come after the apocalypse has happened. Amongst the smouldering remains of a laptop in the corner of the room, it is certainly quite unusual to have had access to the Guardian newspapers morning pow wow session but nevertheless they allowed one of our photo journalists into a session. I was truly honoured to be welcomed into the Guardian inner sanctum and to view the Graunies hard at work. As for the interns, well, they were truly hard working busy bees as they were ferried around on carts on their daily duties. Each terrorist, ahem, I mean journalist has their own little writing cell not larger than a chicken coop, and of course amongst their possessions I found they all had a crucial piece of equipment, you guessed it, a copy of the latest edition of the Daily Mail, of course purely to use as toilet paper, our trusty photographer revealed. Guardian editor, Alan Rusbridger was on hand to explain a few things about working life in the left-wing newspaper. Some people say we are Trotskyites, or Brownites, and we fully subscribe to the communist ethos. Well, theyre correct. Therefore it is quite ironic that we would be so up in arms about all this spying malarkey. Remember that under the East German Stasi and Soviet era of Gordon Brown there was a similar element of spying that was going on as is now under the NSA and GCHQ. We should therefore be embracing the mass spying and soviet-style clamping down of freedom of speech under todays US and UK government. I do confess, we are very confused here at the Guardian. Now please excuse me, I have been called to the courtyard for my daily exercise which involves walking in an enclosed space for 20 minutes while armed guards watch my every move. 3705 Far Hills Avenue, Kettering, OH 45429 [ map it Free Event Fairmont Presbyterian Church, Kettering, Ohio, will host this show on Sat. Nov. 11th from 9-3. Featuring collectibles, baked goods, silent auction, lunch, and vendors with quality items. Fairmont Presbyterian Church presents our annual Art, Antiques, & Crafts Show. You will find beautiful items for Christmas gifts (and something to reward yourself for being so good this year!). Amazing bake sale Home cooked lunch HUGE vintage boutique "All about Christmas" room Silent Auction DOZENS of unique vendors and artisans offering quality items! All proceeds go to Dayton Food Bank, Kettering Backpack Program and the World Central Kitchen. For more information or if you have questions, call the church office at 937-299-3539. Cash filled in cartons seized by I-T sleuths during a raid on the house of builder Ambikapathi in Bengaluru on Friday. Bengaluru: In a raid by Income Tax officials in Bengaluru city on the residence of former Corporator Ashwathamma and Ambikapathy at R.T. Nagar on Friday unearthed an amount of about Rs 42 crore stashed in 23 cartons. A builder Ambikapathy is the Vice-President of Karnataka State Contractors Association and he had alleged 40 percent commission charge against the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. The cash-filled cartons were kept hidden under a cot before they were discovered by the raiding IT team. The seized cash was of Rs 500 denominations. Ambikapathy is said to have stopped taking contractor works for close to 8 years and he is said to be involved in real estate, agricultural activities, and owned a stone crusher among other businesses. His wife Ashwathamma was a Corporator once in 1995. It is suspected that the seized cash was meant to be used in the election expenses of Telangana and over the raid, Janata Dal Secular leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy suspected that the cash filled cartons were on their way in the election bound Telangana. He asked the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to "What probe will you order?" and stated that "Will the probe be either from the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, a sitting Judge or from a retired Judge?" Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar alleged that I-T raids are politically motivated and such raids are being conducted not only in Karnataka but in other States as well. Justice BV Nagarathna New Delhi: A 27-year-old married woman's petition to abort her 26-week foetus has become a talking point in the legal circles. While a section of experts argued in favour of medical termination of pregnancy, a few others fought for the rights of the unborn child. On Wednesday, while Justice B V Nagarathna said the petitioners "decision" not to continue with the pregnancy "must be respected", Justice Hima Kohli had stated "my judicial conscience does not permit" to accept her request because "which court will say stop the heartbeat of a foetus which has a life". The Supreme Court had on Thursday told the woman to reconsider her decision stating that even the unborn child had rights. Given two different opinons from Justice Hima Kohli and Justice BV Nagarathna, the matter was referred to a three-judge bench. CJI DY Chandrachud, who led the three-judge bench, asked the additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati to convince the woman to ensure her baby was born healthy. The bench also clearly stated that it wouldn't ask the doctors to 'stop the foetal heartbeat' saying "We can't kill the child." While the two bench had initially considered the woman's plea, they recalled the order following an application by the Union of India which cited an AIIMS doctor's email stating that the foetus was healthy. It was then that Justice Kohli recalled the earlier order stating her 'judicial conscience doesn't permit the petitioner to terminate the pregnancy'. She also expressed her disappointment at the doctor's conduct of sending an email even after being a part of the medical board which was in favour of an abortion. However, Justice Nagarathna stated that the woman should be allowed to terminate her pregnancy as she is strongly determined to do so. She also stated that the petitioner already had two kids, with the second child being born only a year ago. What is to be focused upon is, whether, the pregnant lady intends to give birth to a child or not, Justice Nagarathna said "The pregnant lady is not interested in continuing with the pregnancy. In such a situation whether the child to be born is viable or if the child would be a healthy child are not relevant considerations. What is to be focused upon is, whether, the pregnant lady intends to give birth to a child or not," she observed. PM Modi New Delhi: Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that terrorism anywhere in the world and any form is against humanity and conflicts do not benefit anyone. Addressing the inaugural session of the ninth G20 parliamentary speakers' summit (P20) at Yashobhoomi in the national capital, the Prime Minister asserted that this is a time for peace and brotherhood, as a divided world cannot provide solutions to big global challenges. Referring to the interconnected nature of the world, the Prime Minister said that a world full of conflict and confrontation is in no ones interest. "A divided world cannot provide solutions to the major challenges facing humanity. This is the time of peace and brotherhood, a time to move together. This is a time for growth and well-being for all. We have to overcome the global trust crisis and move forward with human-centric thinking. We have to look at the world in the spirit of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future'," he said. Calling for a tough approach in dealing with terrorism, the Prime Minister highlighted the cross-border terrorism faced by India for decades, killing thousands of innocent people. The Prime Minister recalled the terrorist attack on Parliament about 20 years ago, when it was in session. "India has reached here today after dealing with many such terrorist incidents," he emphasised. Talking about next years Lok Sabha elections, Modi informed the delegation that "1 billion" people will participate in the general elections next year. The Prime Minister invited the delegates to witness the elections and said that electronic voting machines (EVM) have brought transparency and efficiency to the election process as election results come within hours of the start of counting. The Prime Minister also informed the delegates about the recent law on granting one-third reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. "Out of more than 30 lakh elected representatives in the local self-government institutions, almost 50 per cent are women. India today is promoting womens participation in every sector. The recent decision taken by our Parliament (on womens reservation) will further enrich our parliamentary tradition," he said. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has asked officials to establish state-of-the-art hospitals for children in Vijayawada, Guntur and Visakhapatnam at a review meeting he held on Health on Friday. (Image source:Twitter) Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has asked officials to establish state-of-the-art hospitals for children in Vijayawada, Guntur and Visakhapatnam. "This should be similar to the one in Tirupati. Also, take steps to have a kidney research centre in Prakasam district," the CM said at a review meeting he held on Health here on Friday. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the health personnel surveyed 1,22,69,512 families as part of the Jagananna Aarogya Suraksha programme. It covered 3,17,65,600 people. Special care must be given to chronically ill patients, he said. "Ensure that the people get quality medical treatment at Jagananna Aarogya Suraksha camps. Let us set up a kidney research centre in Prakasam district and modern childrens hospitals in Vijayawada, Guntur and Visakhapatnam akin to the one in Tirupati," he said. The CM said Aarogya Suraksha was a prestigious programme that would enhance the goodwill of not only the government but also of the health department. Officials must get in touch with the district collectors and allot more funds to organise the Suraksha camps systematically without any hitch, he said. The Officials told him that so far 3,17,65,600 persons were treated at 5216 Aarogya Suraksha camps after conducting a survey on 1,22,69,512 families across the state. Some 2,841 girls were found to have anaemic conditions and necessary medical treatment and nutritious food are being given to them." He said there should be no undue hurry in extending medical treatment to the patients. At least two specialist doctors must be there in a team of four doctors who run the camps. Necessary awareness should be created among the people on using Aarogyasri services freely. "Officials should handhold the patients who need special treatment in hospitals and support them fully till their ailments are cured. Special attention should be paid towards patients who are in need of long-term treatment," Jagan Mohan Reddy said, adding that the same support should be extended to elderly patients too. The Chief Minister stressed the need to support the patients even after their discharge from hospitals through periodical check-ups and the supply of free medicines. He asked the officials to develop SOPs to support the patients not covered by Aarogyasri earlier. The government will release the necessary funds for this, he said. Data on such patients should be collected in all village and ward secretariats. Health camps must be conducted in at least four secretariats in each mandal every month. They must be linked with the village clinics and family doctors besides creating awareness among the people about these camps. "There should be weekly reviews with me on the conduct of Aarogya Suraksha camps," the CM told the officials. The officials said they have so far recognised 251 persons having birth-related defects and such people are being specially treated. "We are taking steps to issue certificates to the differently abled persons at the Suraksha camps, provide them pension and issue medicines to those who are seriously ill." Representational image. Pic courtesy: @NaroGilon Twitter Israeli ambassdor Naor Gilon heaped praises of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the latter was the first in the world to condemn what was happenning. He also went on to say that, the closeness between India and Israel simply cannot be put in words. "The level of support that we got from PM (Modi) among the first in the world came out and tweeted very clear condemnation. We will not forget that. After speaking to PM Netanyahu, PM Modi sent out another strong tweet...Many people including offered support...it's amazing....This wide & strong support is unprecedented for me. The closeness between India & Israel can't be explained in words," said Israeli ambassador Gilon. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS Free Report) by 60.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,869 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 12,775 shares during the quarter. Creative Plannings holdings in Fortis were worth $1,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Fortis by 1.7% during the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 90,708 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $3,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 1.0% in the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 170,297 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $9,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortis by 2.0% in the second quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 126,894 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $5,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456 shares in the last quarter. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd grew its position in shares of Fortis by 1.0% in the second quarter. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd now owns 31,792 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments grew its position in shares of Fortis by 5.3% in the second quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 85,552 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $3,686,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.18% of the companys stock. Get Fortis alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Fortis in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortis from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James dropped their price target on Fortis from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price objective on Fortis from $61.50 to $60.50 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Fortis from $38.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $56.81. Fortis Trading Down 1.7 % FTS opened at $40.09 on Friday. Fortis Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.76 and a 52 week high of $46.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.99. The firm has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Fortis (NYSE:FTS Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Fortis had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year. Fortis Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.437 per share. This is a positive change from Fortiss previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. Fortiss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.57%. Fortis Profile (Free Report) Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 443,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 102,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,328 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FTS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Fortis Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fortis and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Prisoners at Magilligan have picked up a record 28 creative writing awards in the annual Koestler Arts competition. Koestler Arts is UK prison arts charity, which encourages people in the criminal justice system to change their lives by participating in the arts. One Gold, two Silver, three Bronze, two Outstanding Debut Awards, five Highly Commended and 15 Commended awards were collected by the Magilligan prisoners. One prisoner also picked up a platinum award in the UKwide screenplay category. Two poems from the creative writing group were also selected to be included in Koestler's biennial poetry anthology, distributed to prison libraries all over the UK. Gary Milling, Governor at Magilligan Prison, said: This is the highest number of Koestler creative writing awards we have ever received in any year. Im also delighted that Time In, the Magilligan prison magazine produced by prisoners, got a Gold Award as it reflects a collective project. They are all well-deserved winners." Governor Milling added: This is all about building self-esteem, encouraging those people in our care to lead more positive lives by motivating them to participate and achieve in the arts. John Graham, head of education at the Magilligan campus of the North West Regional College, said: We are delighted that students in Magilligan have been awarded an unprecedented number of Koestler Awards in Creative Writing. The power of education transforms lives, and I firmly believe by encouraging prisoners in Magilligan to participate in creative writing, continuing their educational journey, this can happen. Fred Caulfield, Executive Director of Prison Arts Foundation, said: Consistently over many years I find myself astonished at the number of Koestler awards which are won by prisoners. Here again to prove my point in 2023 Koestler Award winners in creative writing total 28 Awards.This number actually stems from two sources: year by year the extraordinary developmental, artistic skills and educational professionalism by the artists that deliver our programmes, the other source is of course the high standard of prisoners' creative work which shows the value of the arts in prison. Twenty-three (23) companies from Northern Ireland, including City Hotel Derry, attended Flavours of Ireland 2023 in London. Flavours is Tourism Irelands annual B2B tourism workshop, where tourism companies from Northern Ireland meet and do business with top global inbound tour operators. Now in its 21st year, Flavours was held in Guildhall, in the City of London, and was attended by around 100 top global inbound tour operators whore mainly based in London and who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa. Flavours provides an excellent opportunity for the participating tourism providers from Northern Ireland to highlight and sell their tourism product and build valuable relationships with the global inbound buyers in attendance. The global operators are preparing to sign contracts for 2024 and beyond, so its a key time to influence the addition of new tourism products to their programmes that have the potential to deliver more regional and longer-stay business for the island of Ireland. David Boyce, Tourism Irelands Head of Global Inbound, said: Tourism Ireland is delighted that so many tourism organisations from Northern Ireland and so many leading global inbound tour operators took the time to join us at our annual Flavours of Ireland event. In 2019, these tour operators were responsible for delivering around 5 million bed-nights to the island of Ireland. As they prepare to sign contracts for 2024, we very much welcome the business and networking opportunities our workshop presented. Our aim is to increase awareness of Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland among these influential global inbound tour operators and to help our tourism partners secure a greater share of the huge worldwide tourism market. A woman has been given a suspended sentence at Derry Magistrate's Court today for a series of offences including criminal damage to vehicles. Corinna Frances Stepp (41) of MacNiece Close in Derry admitted the offences which occurred in March and April this year. The court heard that on March 12 the defendant was kicking at a door if a house. She then went and scratched a vehicle belonging to the injured party with a screwdriver. Stepp then scratched another are before getting into her own vehicle and driving into one if the cars before driving away. The court then heard that on March 20 police were called to a report of an incident where Stepp was banging at a door before she knocked over a bin and grabbed a bottle. The court also heard that on April 20 Stepp was in custody and became abusive and tried to grab keys from a civilian detention officer. She called the detention officer 'an ugly Fenians b-----d.' Stepp then spat at the officer but hit the cell door. At interview Stepp denied calling names and also the assault. Defence counsel Stephen Chapman said that this woman had never been in trouble before. He said some of this offending took place due to domestic circumstances. Stepp was sentenced to nine months suspended for two years, ordered to pay a total of 350 in compensation, was fined 300 and was disqualified from driving for four months. There has been widespread anger in Derry following a social media post by Israel's Defense Forces referencing Bloody Sunday. Members of the Bloody Sunday March Committee said they are 'staggered beyond belief' at at a post on X from the Israeli Defense Forces claiming that events in Israel are "Their Bloody Sunday." Spokesperson Kate Nash said there is no comparison between the events in Palestine and what occurred in Derry on January 30, 1972. Ms Nash said: "This is beyond outrageous - To have the memory of our innocent dead sullied by the apartheid forces of the Israeli State will cause deep hurt and anger in Derry. "The IDF commit Bloody Sunday type massacres every day of the week in Occupied Palestine. Just like in Derry their killers operate with impunity and Palestinians receive no justice. "223 unarmed Palestinian were massacred at the Gaza border fence by the IDF in 2018/19. "Shot by Israeli snipers, war criminals who were following in the bloody tradition of the murderous Parachute Regiment in the Bogside. "After these state killings, Israel did not become the pariah state that it should have, instead the so called international community actually increased military aid to the IDF killers. "The UK Government do not even offer the weakest of condemnation of the Israeli State. "It's clear from the Legacy Bill imposed on us and from their statement of ' unequivocal support ' for Israel that there truly is no British justice. "We send our solidarity to those who fight for justice and freedom for the Palestinians living under illegal occupation." A new witness has come forward to provide a statement in the long-running inquest into the Troubles deaths of 10 Protestant workmen murdered by the IRA at Kingsmill in 1976. Coroner Brian Sherrard told a review hearing at Laganside Courthouse on Friday it was clear that the witness had made the statement following his requests for people with information about the massacre to come forward. Mr Sherrard said the issue was a curveball at a late stage in proceedings and said the court would have to think carefully about how to deal with the new material. The textile workers were shot when their minibus was ambushed outside the village of Kingsmill, Co Armagh, on their way home from work on January 5 1976. Those on board were asked their religion, and the only Catholic was ordered to run away. The killers forced the 11 remaining men to line up outside the van before opening fire. Alan Black, who was shot multiple times, was the sole survivor. No-one has ever been convicted. The Kingsmill inquest opened in May 2016. It was then paused while police carried out a new investigation before resuming in 2017. The last evidence in the case was heard in March of this year. However, the coroner said on Friday that he had decided to hold a new hearing to provide an update on new developments in the case. Ronan Daly, counsel for the coroner, said: In and around May and June, your office was contacted by a Mr Vincent McKenna with information that he held in relation to the inquest proceedings. Mr Daly said a statement was taken in June from Mr Kenna, with a more detailed statement provided in July. Mr Sherrard said: One of the frustrations that I have felt in the course of dealing with this complex matter is that while we have a room that is full of evidence that has been supplied by the state, there is no evidence and no assistance coming from those who were responsible directly for these deaths. It has been a call at the end of every hearing that we have had for those who may know something about this matter to come forward. I think it is clearly in response to this call that Mr McKenna has offered to assist the inquest. The coroner said the real issue was what approach the court should take to the new material. He said: Mr McKenna talks about a meeting he had with a political figure. I know that the NIO have been seeking out whether there is any further information there. Barrister for the PSNI and MoD Peter Coll KC told the hearing that Mr McKenna had recently given evidence in the Coagh inquest. The Coagh inquest is examining the deaths of three IRA men killed in an SAS ambush in June 1991. Mr Sherrard said: We all understand this is a complex issue and this is to some extent a curveball at a fairly late stage in the process. Referring to Mr McKennas evidence in the Coagh proceedings, he added: I dont think there has been any formal judicial statement with regard to reliability concerning this gentleman. He has been cross-examined in one set of proceedings and there are no findings there. Barrister Eugene McKenna, who represents some of the Kingsmill families, said based on the statements provided by Mr McKenna there was potential relevance. He said: It is too early to take any view on reliability, credibility and ultimately what weight might be given to the evidence if it is deemed to be received. Mr Sherrard said: It is the coroner who calls the evidence in these matters and ultimately makes decisions and this is a case where we have a dearth of information from those who are said to be responsible for the deaths. Against that background I think the court is going to have to think carefully about the introduction of this material in one shape or form. I am going to keep an open mind. The coroner said given the potential significance of the new material he would allow all parties some time to take instructions and hold a further hearing later in October. HIGHLIGHTS Google has announced that it will offer copyright protection to its generative AI customers. The assurance reflects the company's commitment to stand by its users when confronted with copyright challenges, reinforcing confidence in the use of its AI-powered solutions. This means that if you are challenged on copyright grounds, Google will take responsibility for the potential legal risks involved. Google today announced that it will offer copyright protection to its generative AI customers. This assurance reflects the companys commitment to stand by its users when confronted with copyright challenges, reinforcing confidence in the use of its AI-powered solutions. Today were pleased to share how were addressing one key area of interest for our customers: intellectual property indemnity as it pertains to generative AI, the tech giant said in a blogpost. Also read: Googles AI-powered Search experience will let you generate images: Heres how This means that if you are challenged on copyright grounds, Google will take responsibility for the potential legal risks involved. Googles commitment to addressing copyright challenges is evident through its two-pronged, industry-first approach. The first aspect pertains to how Google utilises training data, while the second centres on the generated output of foundation models. This proactive strategy aims to provide users with increased peace of mind when leveraging Googles generative AI products. Also read: Microsoft says dont worry, it will protect Copilot AI users from copyright lawsuits An important note here: you as a customer also have a part to play. For example, this indemnity only applies if you didnt try to intentionally create or use generated output to infringe the rights of others, and similarly, are using existing and emerging tools, for example to cite sources to help use generated output responsibly, Google explained. As of now, the tech giant will provide protection for the output generated from these services: Duet AI in Workspace (including generated text in Google Docs and Gmail and generated images in Google Slides and Google Meet), Duet AI in Google Cloud (including Duet AI for assisted application development), Vertex AI Search, Vertex AI Conversation, Vertex AI Text Embedding API / Multimodal Embeddings, Visual Captioning / Visual Q&A on Vertex AI and Codey APIs. Last month, Microsoft also addressed the concerns about copyright issues related to its AI-powered Copilot services with a new commitment. The commitment assures customers that they can use Copilot and its output without worrying about copyright claims. If any legal challenges arise, the tech giant will take responsibility for the potential legal risks involved. Growing AI computing demands result in major improvements in servers and networking The LLM behind generative AI requires processing massive amounts of data for training and faster transmission, which has presented lucrative business opportunities for manufacturers. President of ASUS Cloud and Taiwan Web Service Corporation (TWSC) Peter Wu highlighted the distinctions between traditional AI and generative AI by referring to the two as AI 1.0 and 2.0 respectively. Wu pointed out that AI 1.0 involves building specific models through supervised learning and requires project creation and labeling. This process needs to be repeated for different models and can only solve specific problems. On the other hand, the generative AI of AI 2.0 is different. Once the model is built, it can learn autonomously. From an application perspective, generative AI is also smarter and more versatile. The volume of training data that needs to be processed for AI 2.0 is also significantly larger than previous AI models. Past models have parameters in the tens of thousands, while generative AI now demands tens of billions of parameters. Wu pointed out that many people will feel that the machine is smart when using ChatGPT. This is because once a model surpasses the 4060 billion parameter threshold, it reaches a kind of "enlightenment." OpenAI's GPT-3 has 175 billion parameters, and GPT-3.5 has around 200 billion parameters. GPT-4's LLM was announced on March 14, 2023, but it didn't disclose its parameter count. Some estimations suggest that GPT-4's parameters could be several times larger than GPT-3, while some suggest that it has reached one trillion parameters. To make AI smarter and increase the number of parameters, corresponding improvements in hardware equipment are necessary. Past architectures that required just one GPU or even just a CPU now require parallel processing with hundreds of GPUs. This shift necessitates changes in servers, network switches, and even the entire data center architecture. When looking purely at server design, in response to the cooling requirements of Nvidia's HGX module, it uses the 3D Vapor Chamber (3D VC) architecture. This architecture has a heatsink height of 3U (13.35cm), meaning that the chassis needs to be 4U or taller. As the chassis height increases, the internal mechanical component design needs to be adjusted to account for factors like airflow and pressure. The chassis's weight capacity and material also need to be reconsidered. The descriptions above have to do with air-cooling designs. Considering power usage effectiveness (PUE), liquid cooling can be a potential solution. However, liquid cooling would introduce even more significant changes, involving considerations for cold plates, water blocks, pipes, and cooling distribution units (CDUs). Additionally, how would one address the notorious leakage issues for water cooling? The other option is immersion cooling, and that presents its own set of challenges as well. Apart from mechanical components, power supply also needs to be considered. As power increases, the size of the power supply will also get bigger, but space is limited. Furthermore, with the increase in wattage, the power supply's conversion efficiency will reach titanium levels of 97% or higher. On top of that, not only is the server itself going to use more power but the entire data center's power design will also need to be elevated. Besides servers, the architecture of network switches also needs to change. Traditional data center architectures use PCIe switches to connect CPU and GPU NICs. However, for data transmission used in AI or machine learning, this architecture will face three limitations: inability to properly expand, lower performance, and higher transmission latency. Network switch manufacturer Accton pointed out that the new generation of data centers will need a different architecture to optimize the AI and machine learning process. This involves utilizing server fabric accelerators along with an integration of CXL memory technology and NICs. This allows for flexible expansion in AI or machine learning and reduces transmission latency. While this design still needs testing, it is expected to be the direction of AI network architecture. Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Amkor opens new factory in Vietnam Amkor Technology recently inaugurated its newest manufacturing facility in Bac Ninh, Vietnam. The Vietnam campus is poised to become Amkor's largest plant, occupying a massive 57-acre expanse within the Yen Phong 2C Industrial Park, according to the US-based provider of semiconductor packaging and test services. When finished, it will have 200,000 square meters of cleanroom space. Beginning with advanced system-in-package (SiP) and memory production, the plant will provide turnkey solutions to the world's leading semiconductor and electronic manufacturing companies, from design through electrical test. Amkor also disclosed that the company has committed US$1.6 billion for the first two phases of the project for facility, machinery and equipment. "This state-of-the-art factory in Vietnam will help Amkor provide an unrivaled geographic footprint to our customers, supporting global but also enabling regional supply chains. It's the kind of secure and reliable supply chain our customers needin communications, automotive, high-performance computing, and other key industries," said Giel Rutten, Amkor's president and CEO. "A large and skilled workforce, a strategic location, and support from government authorities made it an ideal location for Amkor's continued growth." India no longer a golden goose for China-based smartphone brands Despite having the most popular handset brands in India, China-based smartphone companies have been accused by India of setting up shell companies in India and involvement in illegal fund transfers, signaling India may no longer be a cash cow for Chinese companies. Earlier in October, the Enforcement Directorate of India arrested four executives on money laundering charges, including a Chinese national who worked for Vivo, a fresh setback for Vivo after August 2022 when the company was accused of evading taxes. Vivo is not alone among China-based smartphone vendors facing regulatory scrutiny in India. Honor has shifted its focus away from the world's second-largest smartphone market after China. Xiaomi has been investigated by the Indian authorities for customs duty evasion in the guise of royalty payments, leading to asset freezes of nearly US$700 million. Xiaomi said that most of the overseas fund transfers were for royalties paid to Qualcomm, a claim the Indian government disputes. India has been an important overseas market for Xiaomi. Since entering the Indian market in 2014, Xiaomi has seen rapid growth, selling 120,000 smartphones within a month by flash sale marketing. Over the years, Xiaomi has become the largest smartphone brand in India, holding a 20% market share in India in 2022 and investing in local production. In addition to money laundering and tax and customs duty evasion, China-based smartphone vendors were reportedly required to appoint Indian nationals as senior executives, such as CXOs, outsource manufacturing to local companies, and export through local distributors, underscoring India's ambition to boost its domestic supply chain. Data shows that China-based brands enjoy more than 60% of the smartphone market in India, while local brands, such as Lava and Micromax, hold a little more than 1% of the market. In late September, Dixon signed an agreement to manufacture products for Xiaomi through its subsidiary Padget Electronics, the first time Xiaomi outsourced manufacturing to an Indian EMS provider, implying the significance of India to Xiaomi even in the face of regulatory pressure. Source: IDC, October 2023 AS PART of operation Tara, Gardai attached to the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) North and Dublin Crime Response Team conducted searches in the Dublin 3 area, on Wednesday, 11 and Thursday, 12 October 2023 resulting in the seizure of cannabis worth in excess of 3.9 million. During the course of a search of a vehicle in Drumcondra, Dublin 3, on 11 October, the Dublin Crime Response Team seized 21 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of 420,000 (analysis pending). Following the seizure, a man (42) was arrested and detained at a Garda Station in the Dublin area, under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996. As part of the investigation an additional search was carried out at an industrial premises in the Fairview area of Dublin 3 by Gardai from DMR North attached to Drugs and Detective Units from Raheny and Clontarf Stations, supported by the Garda National Dog Unit, on 12 October. During this search a further 174 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of 3.5 million (analysis pending) was discovered. Investigating Gardai continue to detain the man (42) arrested on Wednesday under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996. He can be held for up to seven days. All of the drugs seized will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) for analysis. Investigations are ongoing and further updates will follow. Irelands deputy prime minister has called on Israel to rescind an order for citizens to evacuate Gaza, saying two wrongs dont make a right. It comes after the United Nations (UN) said it was told by the Israeli military that the approximately 1.1 million people in northern Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours, a move described by the international bodys humanitarian office as impossible. Speaking at an event in Co Cork, Micheal Martin said: Were all witnessing the horrific outcome of the Hamas attack on Israel and random and indiscriminate murder of Israelis. Elsewhere on Friday, Mr Martins cabinet colleague, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, voiced support for making Hamas a proscribed organisation under Irish law. Mr Martin noted the funeral of 22-year-old Irish-Israeli citizen Kim Damti, who died after an attack on a music festival near the Gaza border, as well as the harrowing account of Thomas Hand, who said his eight-year-old daughter Emily died following Hamas attacks on the Beeri Kibbutz. He said: The human suffering here is quite shocking and were now seeing the outcome of that violence in terms of terribly sad funerals and bereavement and confirmation of deaths. In respect of Israel and Gaza, weve been very clear that Israel has a right to self-defence but it must be within international law and that there are obligations under the Geneva Convention. It simply isnt feasible that a million people can move out of the city in 24 hours. That call by Israel should be rescinded and should be pulled back because I think everybody knows its not something that can be achieved at all and I think it puts enormous trauma on the ordinary civilians and Gazans. Two wrongs dont make a right and theres an obligation to protect civilians in Gaza, to protect children and families and so forth and people who have nothing to do with Hamas. There are challenges and I would accept that Israel has a legitimate right to deal with Hamas because Hamas has waged war on its civilians but it cannot be in the context of an attack on the civilian population of Gaza. Our value system is one that does not in any way support any collective punishment of an entire population. Thats not acceptable from our perspective. Mr Martin is working with the UN and European colleagues on establishing humanitarian corridors. Its now essential that significant amounts of humanitarian aid needs to get into Gaza into the hospitals there and also in terms of supporting children and families, he said. Asked about suggestions from some commentators that Ireland is inherently antisemitic, Mr Martin rejected the characterisation. He said: Ireland has a strong reputation globally in respect of its adherence to human rights. Were subscribed to all of the antisemitic conventions and we work with others to root out antisemitism. And we have a Jewish community in Ireland that we cherish and our constitution cherishes the Jewish tradition within Ireland also. And I think we have to separate that from legitimate criticism, from time to time, in terms of Israeli government policy towards the Palestinian question. And in democracies theres always room for legitimate debate but in respect of the Hamas attack on Israeli citizens, there can be no equivocation and no reservations in condemning the brutality, the barbarity of that attack. Also, there can be no sort of connection between that and the broader question of Palestine, and any attempts to connect the two, I think are wrong. Speaking to reporters in Co Tipperary on Friday, justice minister Ms McEntee was asked whether Hamas should be categorised as a proscribed organisation in Ireland, similar to its status in UK law. Well, I believe it should be and I have no reason to doubt why we could not do something like that, she said. The minister added: We have been very clear in our commentary and I have been very clear, Hamas is a terrorist organisation. I utterly, utterly condemn the brutal murders that took place in the last week or so and offer my condolences to all family members who have lost loved ones. It is important that Israel can defend itself, but it is very important in retaliating to these terrorist organisations that international law and humanitarian law is upheld. And I think everybody is worried of what potentially might unfold in the coming hours, not days or weeks, but in the coming hours. The most important thing here, whether we are prescribing an organisation or not as a terrorist organisation, is that civilian lives, innocent lives should not be lost. And I think there is an onus on us as a government on us as ministers but the international community to step in where possible and to try and prevent this from escalating any further. Irelands prime minister Leo Varadkar has also said Israel is engaging in collective punishment and does not have the right to breach international law in its response in Gaza. On Thursday, he said: Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves but they dont have the right to breach international humanitarian law. And Im really concerned about what Im seeing happening in Gaza at the moment. To me, it amounts to collective punishment. Cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies, thats not the way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself. Irish viewers have condemned comments made by Israel's ambassador to Ireland in an RTE Prime Time interview. A clip of last night's (October 12) show, which has amassed 104,000 views on X, shows Ambassador Dana Erlich responding to Prime Time host Fran McNulty's question on what innocent civilians in Gaza should do to protect themselves from retaliatory attacks from Israel. The interview comes in the wake of Hamas' attacks on Israel over the weekend, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 Israeli people and the capture of over 100 civilians as hostages. She said, "I would like to direct that question to Hamas. They have been planning this attack for so long. "They're stockpiling rockets for so long, they've been [sic] terror tunnels for so long, if only they would have invested that money in stockpiling food for their people or water for their people. Why didn't they take care of their people?" The international community has urged Israel to respond proportionally amidst fears of an imminent ground invasion and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Following Hamas' attack, Israel has shut off access to power, water and fuel in the Gaza region and has confirmed these necessities will not be restored until hostages are freed. McNulty asked the ambassador about the rationale for not allowing innocent civilians the right to leave, or the right to food, medicine or water. She said, "Right now we are at war. "When you are at war, you will do anything in your power to make sure that your people are safe. Talking about opening a border, our border that was just infiltrated in order to butcher our people, and you've heard those stories, you cannot stay indifferent to these stories. "I do not want to believe that there is anyone in Ireland that is indifferent to these stories and do not fully condemn all of it." X commentators weighed in, with most people condemning the ambassador's responses. However, several people criticised the host for his "biased" questions, with one person calling the interview "thuggish", while another called it "an utter disgrace". One commenter said, "Disgraceful interview and I feel so sorry for the poor ambassador! Shame on the lot of ye!" with another stating, "Absolutely shocking interview, that man should be ashamed of himself!" However, well over a hundred commenters condemned the ambassador's responses, with several others called for her expulsion from Ireland. One person said, "What Hamas did was deplorable but what Israel are doing and have been doing for decades is a lot worse." Another dismissed her justification as "genocidal talk" while a further commenter stated, "Despicable language justifying what are war crimes. It's one thing to claim defence. Another thing to defend the genocide of civilians." Earlier in the programme, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Miriam O'Callaghan that what Israel is doing amounts to "collective punishment". In response to this comment, Ambassador Erlich said, "Every rocket Hamas fires from their own populated areas to our populated areas is a war crime. So right now I think we are at 4,000 war crimes, not to mention the people who were butchered, the children that were burnt alive. "What will be a proportionate response to butchering your people? What will be a proportionate response to moving from house to house burning people alive?" In response to a question on the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) bombing neighbourhoods where children live, the ambassador said, "You've heard the people talk, and you've heard us, I feel the pain of the people in Gaza because they did not choose this. They're suffering from Hamas the same way we are suffering from Hamas. "Why are we not talking about Hamas? Why isn't the world, and I think most of the world is standing up and saying this has gone too far, Hamas needs to be stopped. "I can only hope that one day Hamas and their so-called leadership of Gaza will spend as much time thinking about their population as we are thinking about them. And we are thinking about everything, everything is calculated." According to Ambassador Erlich, as Hamas takes cover underneath mosques, hospitals and schools, the IDF is permitted to target them "under international law". She said, "We give notice of different headquarters that will be bombed, we make sure that as many civilians leave, but Hamas, their own leadership is forcing them, threatening them." In response to a question by McNulty on where civilians can go after being warned a bomb is imminent, she said, "There are shelters in Gaza, we're working daily with different UN organisations in order to make sure that they have." However, McNulty pointed out that retaliatory IDF bombs have resulted in the deaths of UN staff in Gaza over the last few days. According to the Times of Israel, "at least 11 UN staff and personnel, as well as 30 students at UN schools, have been killed in the Gaza Strip" since Hamas' initial attack on October 7. The ambassador said, "I am rejecting this equivalent or this equation that Hamas is anything in a moral compass close to what the IDF and Israel is doing. "What we are doing is doing everything in our power not to hit civilians. When we all saw the news, we didn't only think of ourselves. We thought of the people in Gaza and what was Hamas thinking starting this. We don't know what the end game is from their end." When asked if Gaza should fear being "crushed and destroyed", as per the comments of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ambassador Erlich said, "Right now we are at war. It's a war we didn't choose, we didn't start, but we need to make sure that our borders are secure, that our people are safe. "Our people are not safe yet. Not our people in Gaza, not our people in Israel. We will do everything we can to make our people safe." She continued: "We need the world to help us, we've suffered different wars, different terror attacks in Israel but we are a resilient country. This is nothing like we've seen. I don't think any western country has seen, humanity has seen. These are brutalities and atrocities we've not seen and we need the world to help us." The interview comes on the same day Irish-Israeli Kim Damti was laid to rest after being killed by Hamas. Ambassador Erlich confirmed the Israeli Embassy has been in touch with the family of Ms Damti, as well as the family of Irishman Thomas Hand, whose 8-year-old daughter was also killed in the attack. She stated she did "not know" what Israel's next move will be. She said, "The only logical step right now is to make sure our people are safe, I do not know what the next move will be, either an invasion I don't know that, that is a decision of our government and our Cabinet. "I do know right now our people are still not safe. And you're not talking about that." Annual education conference and expo aims to strengthen global cooperation 15:37, October 13, 2023 By Wu Chaolan ( People's Daily Online Yu Yunfeng, Secretary General of the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE), addresses the audience at the press conference for the 2023 China Annual Conference and Expo for International Education (CACIE) in Beijing on Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online) A press conference for the 2023 China Annual Conference and Expo for International Education (CACIE) outlined the event's highlights in Beijing on Thursday, with nearly 50 guests and media representatives in attendance. CACIE 2023, scheduled to unfold in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Beijing from Oct. 21 to 28, is themed "Advance and Connect: Converging the Power of Education." The main event of CACIE 2023, including CACIE plenary, CACIE night, 41 parallel forums and other networking opportunities will be held from Oct.26 to 28 in Beijing. It will serve as a platform for educational organizations to exchange ideas, strengthen friendships, and foster cooperation to promote high-quality educational development. CACIE 2023 is set to welcome representatives from education administrative departments, universities, foreign embassies, education organizations, service agencies, and corporations from over 60 countries and regions worldwide. Additionally, the expo will host 362 educational institutions from 33 countries and regions, providing a rich and diverse exhibition of educational opportunities. "As China's largest platform for international education exchanges, CACIE serves as a vital window connecting China's education to the world and plays a pivotal role as a bridge for the world to understand China," said Yu Yunfeng, secretary-general of the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). He noted that the event is dedicated to showcasing China's achievements in promoting high-quality education to both domestic and international guests, highlighting its ongoing efforts to expand educational outreach and actively participate in global educational governance. Christopher Willford, public engagement officer of the U.S. Embassy in China, expressed a warm welcome to Chinese students and underscored the increasing number of Chinese students enrolling in U.S. universities and colleges, as well as the issuance of over 90,300 visas for Chinese students, scholars, and their families, marking a substantial increase from the previous year. Jane Liu, the education manager of the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing, emphasized New Zealand's unwavering commitment to its international students from China, underscoring the nation's dedication to providing them comprehensive support and care through well-structured policies and a welcoming social environment. Shi Jia, marketing director at the German Academic Exchange Service(DAAD), highly commended the remarkable progress in people-to-people exchanges between China and Germany. "Within the context of the friendly and cooperative relations between these two countries, academic collaboration and exchange have seen significant growth," she said. During the press conference, representatives from participating countries provided insights into their upcoming events at CACIE 2023 and encouraged further international people-to-people and educational exchanges. Organized by CEAIE, CACIE stands as one of the largest and foremost international education events in the Asia-Pacific, where global educators converge to share ideas and pursue cooperation. It has been held annually since 2000. (Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Wu Chengliang) While more investment is welcome, Budget 2024 has not provided the radical rethink which was needed to bring Ireland in line with the best countries in the world for young children. Thats according to Early Childhood Ireland, the leading organisation in the early years sector, in response to news of some new funding in the Budget 2024 statement. Teresa Heeney, CEO of Early Childhood Ireland, said: We are pleased to hear that there will be improvements in the National Childcare Scheme for disadvantaged children, alongside fee reductions for many families. "Parents will be disappointed though not to see those further decreases until well into next year. It is also welcome that the vital area of Childminding will be brought into the National Childcare Scheme. We are also heartened to see that the Access and Inclusion Model will be extended beyond the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme hours. This has long been sought by Early Childhood Ireland and early years and school age care settings throughout Ireland. Also commenting, Frances Byrne, Director of Policy at Early Childhood Ireland said: We await further details from the Minister about plans to increase core funding to support improved pay and conditions for the workforce, as well as sustainability for providers in Louth. In our pre-Budget submission, Early Childhood Ireland had called on Government to publish a five-year plan for implementing additional investment in the sector, as well as unifying existing funding programmes, increasing graduate premiums and implementing better data recommendations from the Partnership from Public Good. "Regrettably, no new target or plan has been announced, meaning continuing uncertainty for families and settings, Ms. Byrne added. The proposal to develop an Equal Participation Model which will be focused on disadvantaged families is positive. This is an important milestone, and we look forward to working closely with the Department of Children and other stakeholders to develop it further, concluded Ms. Heeney. Parliamentary Politics Matters for Peace or An Pharlaimint agus an tSiochain is the theme of the 2nd Annual Oireachtas Essay Competition / Aiste an Oireachtais, to be launched by the Ceann Comhairle, Sean O Fearghail TD, on Tuesday 17th October in Leinster House. The Oireachtas Essay Competition was started last year by Independent NUI Senator Ronan Mullen with the support of An Ceann Comhairle and the Oireachtas Education Unit. The Competition is bilingual and aims to get young people to reflect on and discuss politics and the democratic process. Students across the Island of Ireland in 5th or 6th Year for the Leaving Cert or studying AS or A level subjects are eligible to enter. An increased prize fund of 6,000 is on offer this year. The Principal Sponsor is books and stationery retailer Eason with associate sponsorship from educational publishers CJ Fallon and Folens. Students participate by first registering on the Competition website www.oireachtasessay.ie / www.aisteanoireachtais.ie by Friday 10th November. On registration, each student will receive a numerical code with which they must upload their essays to the website by Friday, 24th November. This years Oireachtas Essay Competition invites students to think about how members of parliament should be, and can be, agents of peace, and how the work of parliament can contribute to peacebuilding, says Mr O Fearghail. The latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East, the invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in these and other places present what appear to many people as intractable problems that defy hope. "Yet peace must come. No matter how difficult progress may seem, people of goodwill must work for peace. Cultural, religious, community and political leaders all have a vital role. "The Senior Cycle students taking part in Aiste an Oireachtais are among those who will in future assume responsibility for our world. "Their preparation for that leadership role is part of their life now. We are delighted, through this Competition and in other ways, to support them as they prepare for future leadership. One of Asias leading financial publication, Asiamoney has, for a third year in a row, named Universal Robina Corp. (URC) as the Philippines most outstanding company in the consumer staples sector in its Asias Outstanding Poll 2023 Asiamoney handed the award to URC, one of the Philippines largest food manufacturers, after an exhaustive survey of the regions top capital movers and financial experts. URC president and CEO Irwin Lee said clinching the award three times in a row serves as a validation of the quality of our product, and a testament to the unyielding trust and confidence that our valued customers have in us. It is also a recognition of the remarkable dedication shown by our workforce, and a reaffirmation of the overall excellence that defines our company, he added. Asiamoney is a top source of news, commentaries and data services for international capital markets. The 2023 Asias Outstanding Company Poll covered over 1,225 fund managers, analysts, bankers and ratings agencies. In total, 7,653 votes were received for publicly listed companies across 13 markets in Asia. The results recognized 194 companies as being the most outstanding in their respective sectors and markets. The poll was designed to acknowledge listed firms that have excelled in areas such as financial performance, management team excellence, investor relations and corporate social responsibility. Lee thanked the diverse group of fund managers, analysts, bankers, and ratings agencies who participated in the voting. We are also grateful to all our stakeholders employees, suppliers, customers, and consumers whose unwavering support and dedication have been instrumental in our resilience during the recent challenging years, he added. Lee said the latest award reinforces URCs commitment to becoming the foremost sustainable food and beverage enterprise from the Philippines, that delight consumers around the world with good food choices. URC produces iconic brands such as Great Taste, C2 Cool & Clean, Piattos, Maxx candy and Cream-O cookies, which have been part of Filipinos lives for decades. One of the countrys largest food and beverage manufacturers, URC also has significant, and growing, presence in ASEAN. Its leading regional brands include Fun-O, Tivoli and Lexus. Latest: Skeletal remains found during the search of a home on Grattan Street in Youghal have been identified as the remains of Tina Satchwell. The remains were identified through dental records. The remains were found on Wednesday evening buried under concrete at the property at Grattan Street in Youghal. It is understood they were discovered in a walled-up area under a stairwell. Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster and anthropologist, Dr Laureen Buckley attended at the scene yesterday. Dr Bolster carried out a preliminary examination of the remains found on site. Local priest Fr Bill Bermingham said prayers at the house before the remains were taken to the morgue at Cork University Hospital for a postmortem examination. Gardai have until this evening to charge or release without charge a man in his fifties arrested for questioning in connection with the murder of Fermoy woman Tina Satchwell, who was reported missing by her husband in 2017. The man in custody was arrested at a bus stop in Youghal, Co Cork at noon yesterday and is being held at Cobh Garda Station. He can be detained for up to 24 hours under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. However, as he decided to take his eight hour sleep break he can now be held until this evening. From earlier: Gardai have until this evening to charge or release without charge a man in his fifties arrested for questioning in connection with the murder of Fermoy woman Tina Satchwell, who was reported missing by her husband in 2017. The man in custody was arrested at a bus stop in Youghal, Co Cork at noon yesterday and is being held at Cobh Garda Station. He can be detained for up to 24 hours under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. However, as he decided to take his eight hour sleep break he can now be held until this evening. A major development occurred in the murder probe on Wednesday evening when human remains were found buried under concrete in a property at Grattan Street in Youghal. The remains were discovered in a walled up area under a stairwell. It is understood some renovation work had been carried out in the property. Local priest Fr Bill Bermingham said prayers at the house before the remains were taken to the morgue at Cork University Hospital for a postmortem examination. Gardai have until this evening to charge or release without charge a man in his fifties arrested for questioning in connection with the murder of Fermoy woman Tina Satchwell, who was reported missing by her husband in 2017. Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster and anthropologist, Dr Laureen Buckley attended at the scene yesterday. Dr Bolster carried out a preliminary examination of the remains found on site. Samples of DNA from the remains will be compared with a DNA sample obtained from the family of Mrs Satchwell to see if there is a DNA match. A family liaison officer is in constant contact with the Dingivan family. The house in Grattan Street has been the subject of a major search since Tuesday of this week. Scenes of crime officers brought chainsaws, Kango hammers, hack saws and pickaxes in to the property as they commenced their search. Fencing was set up to allow gardai to carry out their work away from public view. A mini digger, a small dumper track and a mechanised jack hammer on a track machine were subsequently brought to the site. Gardai first arrested the man in custody at 5pm on Tuesday. He was taken to Cobh Garda Station for questioning. The man was released without charge late on Wednesday afternoon. A lock up shed outside Youghal which is being rented by the chief suspect in the case was also searched yesterday. A media briefing was held in connection with the case yesterday afternoon at Midleton Garda Station. Supt Adrian Gamble confirmed that a man was being detained for questioning in relation to the matter. Supt. Adrian Gamble speaking to the media outside Midleton garda station. Picture; Eddie O'Hare He urged members of the public who may have information on the murder case, no matter how insignificant they may view it to be, to contact gardai at the station, the garda confidential line or any garda station. Supt Gamble confirmed that remains were found at the house on Wednesday evening. The family of Tina Satchwell continues to be updated on the progress of this investigation by an appointed family liaison officer and my thoughts and the thoughts of the investigation team continue to be with them at this difficult time. Tina was reported missing by her husband Richard in March of 2017. In an interview with the Irish Examiner earlier this year Teresa Dingivan, sister of Tina, said that time had stood still for the family since their beloved sibling vanished in to thin air. The missing persons case was formally upgraded to a murder probe earlier this week. A 12 day search was carried out of Mitchells wood near Castlemartyr in Co Cork in March 2018 in connection with what was then a missing persons case. Richard Satchwell had told police that he last saw his wife on March 20th, 2017 when she asked him to go Dungarvan to run an errand. He reported her missing four days later having said that he presumed she had gone to stay with family in Fermoy. The public have been invited to attend the unveiling of a new Michael Collins statue in the city centre, at the site of one of Collins most famous public orations. The much anticipated statue, which will be located on Grand Parade close to the city library, will be officially unveiled by sporting legends Ronan OGara, Jimmy Barry Murphy and Rena Buckley on Friday, October 20. Renowned sculptor Kevin Holland was commissioned to create the new statue, which is based on the iconic 1922 photograph of Collins with a Pierce bicycle. Mr Holland also created the landmark statue of Collins in Clonakilty. The new city centre piece is being described as a monument for the people, from the people, funded through a crowd-funding scheme spearheaded by the Michael Collins 100 committee. Tadhg Crowley, relative of Michael Collins, standing with a vintage bicycle in front of Cork City Library on the Grand Parade, close to the site of the new Collins Statue. A public ceremony to celebrate its completion will take place outside Cork City Library this coming Friday at 12pm. "Were inviting everyone to join us for this momentous occasion and are honoured to have three Cork sporting legends unveil the statue - all extraordinary people in their own right like Collins himself," Michael Collins 100 Committee chairman, Tim Crowley, said. "We are expecting a large turn-out, so I would advise anyone who wishes to attend to get there before 12 midday. "It should be a great day and a fitting tribute to Corks and Irelands greatest hero." Members of the Collins family will also be present on the day. The armoured car 'Sliabh na mBan' from the convoy that made the historic journey on the day of Michael Collins death will be on show on the day and Cork singing legend John Spillane will perform a new Michael Collins song that he penned for the very first time. The Grand Parade site has historical links to Collins as on March 12, 1922, the so-called Big Fella attended a Pro-Treaty rally on Grand Parade where he delivered a passionate speech to a crowd of what was reported to have been around 50,000 people. Collins convoy would have also passed the spot early on the morning of August 22, 1922, on his journey from the Imperial Hotel where he spent his last night, on route to Beal na Blath where he was shot dead later that day. For more, see michaelcollinsstatue.com. Uisce Eireann has launched its new awareness campaign promoting a text alert service designed to provide important updates to business customers in Cork. The service, supported by Cork Chamber, will ensure that businesses stay informed about planned or unplanned water outages, as well as drinking-water restriction advisories, such as boil water notices. The new text-based service allows business customers to receive local updates straight to their mobile devices. Businesses will receive timely alerts in the event of network issues that may cause a water outage or affect water quality lasting four hours or more. Uisce Eireann will assess the issue and provide affected businesses with relevant information, including the anticipated duration of the outage. Cork Chamber CEO Conor Healy said: Being able to provide customers with real-time information is essential in this day and age. It will allow for businesses to plan and react to any water service outage in a much more efficient manner. Uisce Eireann will continue to provide detailed local and national information about services and supply issues on its website www.water.ie, as well as on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter. All customers can enter their address or eircode to access targeted local information about their water supply. Uisce Eireann head of water operations Margaret Attridge said: We understand the inconvenience and disruption water outages can cause to businesses. We also understand the importance of keeping our customers informed. Thats why we are launching our awareness campaign for our text alert system to provide local updates to our business customers in Cork, enabling them to plan and adapt accordingly. To sign up to the text alert service, businesses can visit the Uisce Eireann website at www.water.ie/business-updates. A FORMER stage and production manager on New Yorks Broadway is set to exchange the boards for the altar when she takes up the appointment as a Church of Ireland priest in the Cobh and Glanmire Union of Parishes in the new year. Reverend Elise A Hanley is to take up the appointment, announced at the weekend by the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Dr Paul Colton, in February, she told The Echo this week. While Reverend Hanley grew up just outside New York City, she has strong links to Cork as her grandfather sailed out from Cobh a century ago. My grandfather Michael Hanley left West Cork by way of Cobh to come to New York 100 years ago, and now I will make the return trip, she said, declaring herself to be thrilled by her appointment. At present, Reverend Hanley is serving as an Associate Rector at St Ann and the Holy Trinity Church and Pro Cathedral in Brooklyn and previously she worked on the Upper East Side of Manhattan island. She grew up as a Catholic and graduated from New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts and worked initially as a stage and production manager on, off and way off Broadway. She became a member of the Episcopal Church and, in May 2016, graduated from the Union Theological Seminary of the City of New York. She was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of New York in November of the same year. Married to Chris Ashley, who serves as a Chaplain at New Yorks Presbyterian Hospital, they share their home with their dog, Ted, a mini rescue schnauzer, and four cats. I greatly look forward to meeting everyone and beginning our good work together, she said as she anticipated her arrival in Ireland to begin her new role. Please pray for Chris and me as we prepare to move, and know that you will all be in our prayers. An older sibling of Tina Satchwell has said that her sister can now "rest in peace'. Teresa Dingivan posted on Facebook that the youngest of her four sisters was now with her late mother. "RIP to my beautiful sister Tina. You can rest now luv we found you I luv and miss you. You are now with mum. Fly high my beautiful girl." In a second post Ms Dingivan asked Tina to give her mother "a big hug." Tina hailed from a family of eight and was born in Fermoy, Co Cork. Teresa Dingivan previously told the Irish Examiner that Tina was "adored" by her parents. "She (Tina) was the youngest out of five girls, there were three boys too. We were a close family. She was loved, happy, a lovely younger girl." Ms Dinigivan said that Tina loved clothes and jewellery. She had good memories of Tina who was "kind and considerate" as well as being funny, bubbly and independent. Meanwhile, in 2021 Ms Dingivan spoke to the Irish Mirror newspaper. She expressed the belief that someone had a hand in the disappearance of her sister. She (Tina) wouldnt just disappear off the face of the earth. Ms Dingivan, who lives in the UK, said that Tina was always in Fermoy visiting family. She used to go and visit my niece. They had a lot in common. She used to go and visit my brother, my sister. She used to go swimming there or for a walk in the park. Ms Dingivan also said in the interview that there were no problems or signs of distress when family members last saw Tina. She was happy. She wasnt distressed. Nothing. AN advanced paramedic who became addicted to the painkilling drug Oxycontin has avoided jail sentences - for forging a prescription and driving under the influence of cocaine - by cooperating completely in her rehabilitation. Judge Helen Boyle said at Cork Circuit Appeals Court where Martina OSullivan appealed against sentences of five months and nine months that the appellant was engaging in every way and cooperating fully with the services. Alison McCarthy barrister reminded Judge Boyle that the appeal had been adjourned previously as the judge felt that not enough time had elapsed since the offences. State solicitor Frank Nyhan confirmed this and said to Judge Boyle, On the last occasion you were satisfied with the progress but you felt it needed more time. Judge Boyle agreed to suspend the two sentences that had been imposed on the appellant at Cork District Court and Mallow District Court. Ms OSullivan had been sentenced to five months for several offences including repeatedly driving under the influence of cocaine and having no insurance. And she was sentenced to the longer term for forging a prescription and presenting it at a pharmacy in Mallow Sergeant Pat Lyons said when the case first came up at Cork District Court that a motorist on the Cork Mallow Road became so concerned about Martina OSullivan driving on to the wrong side of the road and otherwise driving erratically that he managed to overtake her and signal for her to stop. INTERVENTION Judge Olann Kelleher said of this intervention: Members of the public have to be commended for stopping her before someone was killed on the Mallow Road, which is a dangerous road. People on the Mallow Road that day are lucky to be alive. Judge Kelleher imposed a jail term of five months on 44-year-old Martina OSullivan of 14 Upper St. Josephs Road, Mallow, County Cork, on counts including dangerous driving, having no insurance, drug driving and possession of Diamorphine (heroin) for her own use. The heroin possession was detected at Charlemont Terrace, Wellington Road, Cork, when Martina OSullivan was seen discarding items in her car. A bag of heroin was recovered. It had a street value of 280 and she admitted having it for her own personal use. When she was later tested for the presence of intoxicants in her blood, cocaine use was detected. The incident on Mallow Road occurred back on September 26 2019 when a concerned motorist called gardai and notified them that he had managed to get another motorist to stop and pull in after she had been driving erratically. Sgt. Lyons said, She appeared to be disoriented. She didnt know where she was. When she was blood-tested after this incident traces of Benzodiazepine, opiates and cocaine were discovered. She had been driving from Mallow to Cork and drove in to the path of oncoming traffic. Diarmuid Kelleher, solicitor, said at the time Martina OSullivan had qualified as an advance paramedic and she was based at Mallow hospital for a period and had her own jeep for travelling to emergency situations. On one occasion while dealing with a man who fell under machinery on a farm and went into a diabetic coma. Mr Kelleher said that while Ms OSullivan was trying to treat the patient in this difficult situation he rolled over and she got crushed between him and the machine. She was seriously injured. She was put on medication she was put on Oxycontin. She might as well have been prescribed Diamorphine. She was on it for two years, Mr Kelleher said. He said she was later put on similar drugs and had to go cold turkey to get come off the drugs. Mr Kelleher said she was incredibly sick. As an advanced paramedic she knew where people went to get illicit tablets. Someone said, These will help you, Mr Kelleher said in relation to the accused getting on to illegal drugs. Before Oxycontin she had not got as much as a parking ticket. Since all of this she has stabilised from Oxycontin but she has a long road, Mr Kelleher said. Now on appeal, Judge Helen Boyle has acknowledged that the appellant succeeded in travelling that road. THE funeral of a Cork woman who showed remarkable courage and resilience in her campaigns to promote organ donation is due to take place today. Isabel Terry Byrne, who was in her 40s, died last Thursday from health issues associated with pulmonary atresia. The Cork native was born with a defect of the pulmonary valve in the heart. Her illness had left her on bottled oxygen for 24 hours a day. However, a heart and double lung transplant in 2017 granted Isabel a new, albeit short, lease of life that gave her the chance to marry the love of her life Philip. Isabel recalled being proposed to in a hot air balloon during a previous Echo interview from October, 2018. Philip proposed to me on a hot-air balloon. she said at the time. We were in Philadelphia visiting my brother, Robert, for the first time in six years as well, so it was a fabulous trip. She had been sporting a twin diamond sapphire to match the pink one her father bought for her before he died. Dad bought me the pink sapphire ring when I decided to go on the transplant list, she had told The Echo. He said if I agreed to go on the list; he would buy me a sapphire ring. After my operation, I was so very tired, I felt like giving up. Mum was by my side all the time, showing me pictures of loved ones. She told me not to give up on myself. When she showed me a photo of us with dad, I believe that I smiled for the first time. It was first discovered that Isabel would need a heart transplant in 2003. It wasnt until 2009, however, that her illness escalated to the extent that she also required a double lung transplant. Isabel inspired many with her blog Life on the List, which documented her journey while encouraging others to consider organ donation. She often paid tribute to frontline workers and described being reunited with the medical team that conducted her transplant in a previous interview with The Echo. They recognised Philip at first, but not me. After everything that happened, they couldnt believe I was walking into that ward. The ICU nurses were crying. They said, at the time, that they didnt think I would make it to Christmas. Seeing me walking into that ward, looking so well, meant a lot to them. To find out more about signing up to become an organ donor visit www.ika.ie. James Cox A statue of Michael Collins will be unveiled on Friday, October 20th on the Grand Parade in Cork city, the scene of one of Collins most famous public orations. The near life-size statue will show Collins standing alongside a bicycle, "a nostalgic nod to the iconic photograph of him taken with a Pierce bicycle in Wexford in 1922". Collins famously cycled around Dublin regularly despite there being a bounty on his head. Renowned sculptor Kevin Holland was commissioned to create the new statue and the piece is being described as a monument for the people, from the people funded through a crowd-funding scheme spearheaded by the Michael Collins 100 committee. The name of every person who made a contribution to the fundraising drive is in a time capsule which has been placed in the plinth of the statue. Holland also created the landmark statue of Collins in Clonakilty. An open invitation has been extended for the public to attend the unveiling and be part of "an historic and long-awaited moment to honour Michael Collins". Michael Collins speaking from a platform on the Grand Parade in Cork in March 1922 to 50,000 people. The new statue will be unveiled on the exact spot where he gave the famous speech. Cork sporting heroes Ronan OGara, Jimmy Barry Murphy and Rena Buckley will officially unveil the statue with members of the Collins family and the Michael Collins 100 committee also in attendance. The Armoured car Sliabh na mBan from the convoy that made the historic journey on the day of Michael Collins death will also be on show, and Cork musician John Spillane will perform a new Michael Collins song that he wrote for the occasion. The public ceremony will take place outside Cork City Library on Corks Grand Parade on Friday, October 20th at 12pm. Cast in Germany, the new bronze statue is currently in Macroom where the final coat of bronze patina is being applied. At the launch of the Cork City Statue project at Cork City Hall in December 2022, with a 12-inch model of the statue were L to R Fidelma Collins (grand niece), Sculptor Kevin Holland and Nora Owen (grand niece). The statue will be set at ground level, "as a nod to Collins running the War of Independence among the people", inside a stone surround of carved limestone paving with information on Collins life. The site was chosen as it has historical links to Collins. On March 12th, 1922, the Big Fella attended a rally on Grand Parade. That day, Collins delivered a passionate speech to a reported crowd of 50,000 people. Collins convoy would have also passed the spot early on the morning of August 22nd, 1922, on his journey from the Imperial Hotel, where he spent his last night, on route to Beal na Blath where he was shot dead later that day. It is also possible that his body passed the location in the early hours of the following morning. Michael Collins standing with a bicycle at the Pierce bicycle factory in Wexford during a visit there in April 1922. The new Cork Statue is largely based on this photograph. Michael Collins 100 Committee chairman Tim Crowley said: Were inviting everyone to join us for this momentous occasion and are honoured to have three Cork sporting legends unveil the statue - all extraordinary people in their own right like Collins himself. We are expecting a large turn-out, so I would advise anyone who wishes to attend to get there before 12 midday. It should be a great day and a fitting tribute to Corks and Irelands greatest hero. CORK Cumann na nGaedheal TDs met today in Dublin to discuss a range of issues pertinent to the city and county, the Echo reported 100 years ago today, on Saturday, October 13, 1923. The first was the urgency for a pier in West Cork in light of the recent drowning disaster and for a slip at Crookhaven. Next was the extension of the city boundary, with a guiding role for Cork Corporation as the citizens best representative. The Dail grant for the School of Music amounted to 425 rather than the promised 1,425 and the TDs noted the paucity of the grant is no reflection on the activity of the school. With regard to Haulbowline, Dr Browne, Bishop of Cloyne, led a deputation earlier in the year to Dublin to press on the Government the importance of a future for the dockyard, but nothing has been heard since. The Government must be pressed again for proposals for reopening a place of so much former employment. The TDs also discussed bringing Corks roads to the immediate attention of the Road Board appointed by the Government; telephone extensions to Skibbereen, Bantry and Macroom; the 1 million national housing grant for ex-servicemen in the European war; and a Labour Exchange for Passage West. School Attendance The average attendance of children at school in Cork is 85%, whilst the figure for the whole of Ireland is just 63%. Plainly, Cork leads the way in the highly important matter of the education of our youth. Indeed, it has done so for years, and has now succeeded in establishing a record of the most brilliant order. To use a common expression, no city or town can hold a candle to it. Merit for this must be given where it is due. The School Attendance Committee has applied itself assiduously to its labours and its officers, in discharging their duties, have shown great zeal. So too, the priests of the various parishes who have taken a laudable role in the good work. The city citizenry, no doubt about it, increasingly recognise that the foundation of the temporal and spiritual wellbeing of our children is largely laid within the walls of the school-room. An ad in the Echo on Oct 13, 1923 Temporary Accommodation Deputy Lord Mayor Ellis presided at Cork Corporations meeting last night, during which proposals for the temporary accommodation for its staff were considered. Among the premises considered were: Mr Meaghers premises at 3/4 Sullivans Quay at no expense, provided the Corporation repair it free of charge; the Independent Chapel on Oliver Plunkett Street; 17, Charlotte Quay, off South Mall; 9/10 Dyke Parade. Sean Jennings offered three flats comprising 13 rooms and four attics. After further discussion, it was decided that a committee should go visit the places offered. Robert Day said he did not think anywhere should be taken until they were thoroughly satisfied the Corporation had no suitable premises of its own. Sir John Scott said he was present at the handover of the keys for Union Quay Barracks and had no hesitation in believing the premises was the Corporations. Mr Day proposed a postponement of further action until they had a report from the City Engineer regarding the School of Music. This was carried and the Engineer was accordingly instructed. Mallow Viaduct The re-opening of the Mallow viaduct will be performed by President Cosgrave on Monday. The Presidents party will leave Kingsbridge, Dublin, at 9am. and reach Mallow at 12. The destruction at Mallow has disrupted railway service for many months and its re-opening emphasises that reconstruction in Ireland is well under way. Poitin Raids The Civic Guard have carried out two successful poitin raids in West Cork. Bantry Guards found a quantity of spirit in the house of a farmer and the still-head, worm and boiler hidden around the farmyard. Seargeant McGuire made a similar discovery of distilling equipment in a house in the Ballineen district, but no spirit or wash. There was, however, a half a ton of grain which is believed to have been intended for the manufacture of potheen. International Snippets Warsaw: A fort in the Warsaw citadel blew up this morning in which explosives were stored. Great damage has been caused to property in the city. Berlin: Unemployment demonstrations at Hoechst yesterday developed into rioting. Shops were plundered and police were ordered to use their weapons. One man was killed. Osaka: Japanese submarine No. 70 which sank on August 21, has been towed to coast and four bodies have been recovered.Of the 96 crew, 11 were saved and 85 are reported missing. Philippines president visits San Miguel Poultry farm in Bulacan, Philippines Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited a San Miguel Foods Inc. (SMFI) poultry farm in the Philippines to highlight and convince people that the future of the agricultural sector lies in its modernisation. The 3.34-billion (US$58.1 million) Magnolia Poultry Farm situated in a 921.91-hectare property in Hagonoy, Bulacan, aims to house 28 world-class climate-controlled farmhouses that will produce 80 million birds annually. The facility targets to produce dressed whole chickens, processed chickens (marinated and deboned) and other chicken parts (liver, intestines, etc.). It has an estimated total annual capacity of 66.81 million kilogrammes. The farm features environmental controls, biosecurity measures, modernised feeding and watering systems, efficient waste management, and a modern farm layout and house design, among others, which would ensure optimal conditions for poultry production, resulting in high-quality and safe products. It also implements an antimicrobial policy, aiming for a 100% antibiotic-free operation, (except when necessary for disease treatments). SMFI has implemented the policy in Isabela province and parts of Bicol region and aims to eliminate the use of antibiotics nationwide. The SMFI farms also prioritise local sourcing, utilising raw materials from nearby producers and businesses for feed production and value-added processes of its popular Magnolia Chicken "Timplados." Each farm is also expected to generate approximately 1,000 job opportunities, both directly and indirectly, with each facility prioritising the employment of individuals from the surrounding communities. Marcos welcomed the increased poultry supply especially with the nearing holidays and peak season. He said an increase in prices of commodities is expected due to the demand surge but with modern farms such as SMFI's, consumers will no longer have to worry about poultry products supply and disparity in prices. The president welcomed SMFI's plans to put up similar modern poultry farms in 11 other areas in the Philippines, adding that with the increase and safe poultry production, the needs of the people would be satisfied. Marcos added that SMFI's farm would not affect the small fowl producers as the finished product would serve different markets. Ramon Ang, San Miguel president and chief executive officer, said the Magnolia production would be used for its ready-to-eat products and would not be supplied to wet markets. Ang added that he built the modern chicken farm in response to Marco's call to help the government ensure food security in the Philippines. - Malaya Business Insight Chongqing will get 1.2 billion yuan from the central and municipal finance in the coming 2 years for the construction of the basic capacity of vocational technical education,big online slot wins improvement of backward educational equipment, and solving the incomplete platform. After inviting experts of industries and enterprises for discuss, as well as approved by the professional construction guide committee, universities can open majors, in order to guarantee the scientificalness and normalization of the majors. Chongqing will adjust and optimize the special structure according to the actual situation of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries of Chongqing, especially the development requirements of the key industries, strategic newly emerged industries, modern service industries and agriculture, so as to form a special structure with the close connection with regional economy and industrial development, reasonable system, overall coverage and outstanding characteristics. It will also encourage the vocational colleges to apply for the majors adapted to the strategic newly emerged industries, hungered by the characteristic industries, and with the bright future, which are not on the major list. Chongqing will also keep improving the standard of per capita fund of vocational college students. The per capita fund of vocational college students will respectively reach 6,000 and 1,000 yuan, while the per capita financial subsidy for public expenditure of vocational college students will respectively reach 2,000 and 500 yuan. Liu Wei 1.2 bln yuan for vocational educationadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline At 16:40 on Mar 19th, Shandong police killed a wolf in the city of Zaozhuang. In the previous six days, a total of seven suspected wolf wounding cases were reported in Zaozhuang and a 62-year-old woman was killed by wolf. However, police investigators can not confirm that the wolf been killed is the same wolf in previous cases. It took over two hours for the police to kill the wolf, after chasing more than 20 km and crossing four rivers. Bureau of Forestry: killing is not illegal Zaozhuang City Forestry Administration official told reporters, although the wolf is provincial protected animal (at lower level of protection), as long as the wolf threat to human life and property, killing on the spot can also be understood, it does not violate relevant laws. Shandong police chased 20 km to kill a wolfadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline The russian port logistics company Summa Group in conjunction with the port of Rotterdam are considering the purchase of an asset in China. Chairman of the Summa Group Ziyavudin Magomedov told reporters on the sidelines of the APEC Business Advisory Council in Hong Kong. In China we are looking for an asset, said Mr.Magomedov, without revealing details of the possible deal. He also said that the Summa Group previously dealt with the acquisition of an asset in Australia, but later gave up. They offered an asset in Australia, but the group did not satisfy with the conditions of sale. said Ziyavudin Magomedov. In addition, Mr. Magomedov considering the establishment of bunkering business in the port of Hong Kong. Earlier, the Summa Group and the port of Rotterdam signed an agreement on strategic partnership in the port and logistics business. Russian company Summa Group to buy a port in Chinaadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline China plans to train 150,cool cat casino download Australia000 environmental workers per year to meet the souring demand for green professionals. A job fair held at Changsha Environmental Protection College (CEPC) on December 2, 2012 attracted more than 200 companies offering 3,000-plus positions. About half of the colleges 2,800 students ready to graduate half a year later in 2013 have signed employment agreements with employers. 80% of environmental protection engineering graduates in the college have found their desirable jobs. According to Deng Deai, vice president of CEPC, the countrys high attention to ecological civilization invigorates the environmental protection industry, thus spurring the demand for green professionals. Guo Yan China in Booming Demand for Green Professionalsadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Scientists in the United Kingdom may have uncovered a new mechanism that slows the aging process,betvictor app android and the secret is hidden within one of the world's most ancient diseases. Edinburgh University researchers have discovered that Mycobacterium leprae, the bacteria that causes leprosy, can rejuvenate liver cells in armadillos, which are natural hosts of the disease, leading to an increase in both the health and size of the liver. To achieve this, the bacteria somehow activates genes within liver cells that are related to metabolism, growth, and cell proliferation. The bacteria also downregulates, or suppresses, genes linked to aging, said authors of the study, which was published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. If further research can identify the specific mechanism employed by the leprosy bacteria, it could have real implications in treating liver diseases, and may also unlock new avenues for slowing down the aging process. "If we can identify how bacteria grow the liver as a functional organ without causing adverse effects in living animals, we may be able to translate that knowledge to develop safer therapeutic interventions to rejuvenate aging livers and to regenerate damaged tissues," said Anura Rambukkana, a professor of regenerative medicine at Edinburgh University, who led the research. Previous attempts to improve liver health using stem cells have often led to scarring and tumors, but the bacteria-induced rejuvenation caused no damage to the organs. Leprosy, a chronic infection that affects almost 250,000 people worldwide, is one of the oldest recorded diseases. Ancient skeletal evidence from India dates human infection back to at least 2000 BCE, and scholars believe an ancient Egyptian scroll from 1500 BCE contains one of the first known references to the affliction. In humans, the disease can cause damage to skin tissue, nerves, eyes, and respiratory tract. For millenia, affected people have suffered social stigma, but transmission rates are exceedingly low and infection can now be cured if there is an early diagnosis. Leprosy naturally infects humans as well as other animals, including monkeys and armadillos. Working with the United States Department of Health and Human Services in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Edinburgh team infected 57 armadillos with the parasite and compared their livers with those of uninfected armadillos and with those that were found to be resistant to infection. They found the infected animals developed enlarged yet healthy and unharmed livers with the same components, including blood vessels and bile ducts, as the uninfected and resistant armadillos. The team of researchers believes the bacteria 'hijacked' the inherent regenerative ability of the liver to increase the organ's size and, therefore, to provide it with more cells with which to increase. "This is an exciting study," said Darius Widera, an associate professor in stem cell biology at the University of Reading, who was not involved in the research. "Overall, the results could pave the way for new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of liver diseases such as cirrhosis However, as the research has been done using armadillos as model animals, it is unclear if and how these promising results can translate to the biology of the human liver." NBC reporter goes on long rant against Kari Lake after Arizona loss closeVideo NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard read off a laundry list of negative observations about the gubernatorial candidate. NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard offered a lengthy rant against Republican Kari Lake Tuesday after it was projected she would lose the Arizona governor's race. After news broke of Lake's loss at the hands of Democrat Katie Hobbs, Hillyard joined "Morning Joe" from Palm Beach, Florida, where he asked if he could "say something" about the defeated GOP candidate he covered on the campaign trail. "Would that be OK?" he asked. NPR PANNED FOR AZ RACE SLANT: 'ELECTION DENYING' KARI LAKE VERSUS KATIE HOBBS 'DEFENDING ELECTION INTEGRITY' China is currently negotiating with Russia to arrange the release of two detained Chinese fishing vessels and their crew. The Foreign Ministry says China hopes the two sides can solve the dispute, while keeping in mind the friendship between the two nations. The diplomatic wrangling follows the Russian coast guards seizure of two Chinese ships fishing in Russias exclusive economic zone. It has also been reported that another two Chinese fishing ships have also been detained off Russias Far-east Region. CNTV China seeks release of ships detained by Russiaadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang met with Russian business people here Saturday and expressed his hopes for advancing China-Russia trade and economic cooperation. Both China and Russia, the two giant neighbors, are newly emerging economies facing the tasks of national development. They also share economic complementarities and mutual political trust, which indicates that the China-Russia trade and economic cooperation have huge potentials and bright prospects, said Li. Li hoped major Russian enterprises, many of which have already carried out diverse forms of cooperation with Chinese enterprises, could further promote their cooperation in China and yield more fruits. Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov also attended the meeting and expressed support of Russia-China trade and economic cooperation. While highly valuing the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, Shuvalov insisted there is still room for further improvement and pledged that Russia is willing to improve its investment climate and to make concerted efforts with China to expand their cooperation into more fields. Li on Saturday also attended a signing ceremony of bilateral trade and economic agreements, with Shuvalov at presence, and 27 trade contracts were signed, worthy of 15.2 billion U.S. dollars in value. Li arrived here Thursday for an official visit at the invitation of the Russian government. He will also visit Hungary, Belgium and the European Union headquarters in Brussels. Xinhua Li Keqiang meets with Russian business peopleadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline College graduates in China prefer to work in second-tier cities and at state-run enterprises (SOEs),jackpot flash casino 777 poker a new employment report has suggested. Only 42 percent of those who graduated in 2012 hope to work in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which are recognized as Chinas most competitive cities. Some 53.8 percent of 2011 grads targeted work in these three urban areas, according to a report jointly released on Friday by a research center affiliated to Peking University and headhunting website Zhaopin.com. The trend of fleeing cities like Beijing is becoming more apparent, which will help provide a greater pool of talent for employers in smaller cities, said the report. It added that jobs in SOEs are the most desirable for 2012 graduates, followed by offers from foreign companies. College graduates tend to assess employers based on salary and welfare packages, and opportunities for personal development and promotion, according to the report. Xinhua Chinese grads eye smaller cities: reportadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Chinas high-skilled workers reached 31.2 million as of the end of 2011,suns line up today link slotomania 4.9 million more than at the end of 2009, according to official data released on Saturday. High-skilled workers accounted for 26.2 percent of Chinas 119 million skilled workforce as of the end of 2011, up 1.5 percentage points from the end of 2009, according to figures released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Securities (MOHRSS). Yin Weimin, the minister of MOHRSS, said high-skilled workers are important to the countrys economic progress and technical innovation. Yin said the ministry will further eliminate barriers that block the development of high-skilled workers and set up a scientific set of schemes to evaluate them. High-skilled workers usually refer to those who grasp expertise or sophisticated skills in a certain area. China aims to expand its high-skilled workers to 34 million by 2015 and 39 million by 2020. Xinhua Chinas workforce goes more skillfuladded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline German aircraft suppliers may get more orders from China. The Chinese state company Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd (Comac) asks German involvement in the development of its own aircraft, declared the Chinese during a visit of German business delegation to Shanghai. China will try to break the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing with the C919 passenger jet in 2017. So far, only Liebherr supplies landing gear and air conditioning systems for the C919. The Chinese are also interested in German engine technology and carbon fiber. MTU CEO Egon Behle commented on the Chinese to develop a jet engine. Seriously, there is no doubt, said Behle. He estimates that the Chinese have a double-digit billions to be put in the development of aircraft engines. According Comac, there are 200 firm orders for the C919 before year end. In the next 20 years, more than 4,000 jets are to be sold in China. Chinese aircraft manufacturer attracted German suppliersadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Behind its simple name,poker slots fair go casino bonus the process of making a great dish of Sichuan mapo tofu (sauteed tofu in spicy sauce) is very complicated. In addition to top quality soy beans for the tofu, there are a dozen other ingredients, including minced beef, Wenjiang garlic sprout, Pixian bean sauce, green garlic and minced ginger, which create a unique harmony in the spicy flavor commonly seen in Sichuan cuisine. Claudie, an Italian chef serving as the Ambassador of Sichuan Cuisine, has not only demonstrated Sichuan cuisine to the world at the Milan Expo, but has also gone to Chengdu to learn how to make a perfect dish of mapo tofu. Video provided by Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism Recently,oi bet the Dialogue between China-Japan Young Economic Leaders and the 2011 Entrepreneur Summit Forum was launched in Southern Hunans Hengyang City. The forum, aiming at investigating and analyzing the market of Hengyang City, provided a platform for outstanding young entrepreneurs of both China and Japan to promote in-depth cooperation, and shaped a new form for motivating Sino-Japan economic and trade cooperation with participation of non-governmental forces in the new situation. Representatives of Japanese well-known enterprises, including Mainichi Shimbun, ITOCHU Corporation, Sagawa Express, AEON Group, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Mori Building, attended the forum. In addition, Japan entrepreneurs visited some high-tech areas, such as Hengyang Baishazhou Industrial Park and the new industrial town and discussed with their counterparts on the current development of such sectors as heavy industry, non-ferrous metal industry, electric industry and logistics. Wu Lirong Dialogue Between China-Japan Young Entrepreneurs Held in Hengyangadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline A delegation of diplomats from seven European countries Sunday arrived at Kunming,best mining pool to join capital of southwest Chinas Yunnan Province, to see poverty-relief efforts in two remote bordering areas. The diplomats of Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, France, Romania, Switzerland and Germany and their wives will visit two counties in the prefectures of Wenshan and Honghe to see poverty-relief efforts there. They will visit local villages, schools, businesses and government agencies and talk with local residents to boost mutual understanding and to deepen cooperation in poverty reduction, said Gao Shuxun, vice governor of Yunnan. Gao said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have funded over 1,200 poverty-relief projects in the counties of Molipo and Jinping over the past 20 years and greatly improved the lives of local residents. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs have earmarked 266 million yuan (42.7 million U.S. dollars) to poverty reduction in the two counties since 1992. One third of the fund was from the European countries. The efforts have helped to build 200 schools and 100 clinics, to bring 600,000 kids back to school and to lift over 100,000 local residents out of poverty. Krieger Carlo, Luxembourgs ambassador to China, said that he looked forward to the trip to the remote villages in the bordering province of Yunnan. Yunnan, which borders Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, has a population of 40 million from 26 ethnic groups. Xinhua European diplomats visit SW Chinas poverty-stricken areaadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping Tuesday urged Turkey to prevent East Turkistan forces from conducting anti-China separatist activities on its territory. China hopes that Turkey will continue to take effective measures to oppose and prevent anti-China separatist activities by East Turkistan forces on its territory so as to ensure the healthy and steady growth of China-Turkey ties, said Xi at a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey s largest city of Istanbul. Xi stressed that the East Turkistan issue concerns Chinas national security and social stability, as well as its core interests. Prime Minister Erdogan has reiterated that Turkey adheres to the one-China policy and respects Chinas independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, Xi said. The prime minister has also stressed on many occasions that Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory and Turkey firmly opposes any person on its territory undertaking any activity detrimental to Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, Xi added. China appreciates these statements, Xi said. For his part, Erdogan reaffirmed that Turkey has consistently adhered to the one-China policy, recognized the Peoples Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of the whole Chinese people, and never allowed any activity on its territory that aims to undermine Chinas independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Xi arrived in Turkey Monday on an official visit at the invitation of Turkish President Abdullah Gul. Xinhua Chinese vice president urges Turkey to prevent separatist activities by East Turkistan forcesadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline WUHAN,game mega wheel 1x prediction tips Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The fact that China has the most "international wetland cities" drives home a crystal-clear message: China firmly upholds that respecting, adapting to, and protecting nature is essential for building itself into a modern socialist country in all respects. Of all the 43 international wetland cities worldwide, China has 13, including seven newly accredited during the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP14) to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, which is held in China's Wuhan and Switzerland's Geneva. China's impressive green efforts come at a time when the world's natural wetlands have declined by 35 percent since the convention's adoption in 1971, despite numerous conservation efforts. China's ceaseless endeavors to conserve the wetlands have reflected its distinct path to modernization, where harmony between humanity and nature is much valued. Over the past decades, China's great green transformation has demonstrated to the world a pragmatic approach that balances environmental protection with economic and social development. The world's largest developing country rejects modernization paths that consume excessive non-renewable natural resources in the process of its modernization. China, the world's second-largest economy and most populous country, pursues greener modernization and promotes high-quality development in the wetlands conservation cause. From 2013 to 2021, the country's gross domestic product grew at an average annual rate of 6.6 percent. Apart from economic accomplishments, China has created and restored more than 800,000 hectares of wetlands in the past decade, with the central government allocating 16.9 billion yuan (about 2.35 billion U.S. dollars) for wetland conservation. Wetlands, dubbed "kidneys of the Earth," are among the top stores of carbon, which means their existence contributes to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. China's relentless wetlands protection endeavors exemplify its pledge to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. From the temperate to tropical zones, from coastal to inland areas, and from plains to plateaus and mountainous areas, wetlands in China are shielded under a system for wetland protection and restoration that incorporates laws and regulations, investigation and monitoring systems. This year marks the 30th anniversary of China joining the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. In June, China's Wetlands Conservation Law took effect, marking a new stage of law-based wetlands protection in the country. "What we've seen with the government of China is really absolutely exciting because there's a move and amplification of legislation," Musonda Mumba, secretary-general of the Ramsar Convention, told Xinhua in a recent interview. "They have made sure that over 50 percent of the wetlands in China are under protection in one form or another, be it a national park or a community park," she added. During the conference, China announced it will designate a number of national parks, covering about 10 percent of the country's land area, and incorporate 11 million hectares of wetlands in the national park system. China's great achievements in wetland protection are of absolute importance not only at the national level, but also at the international level. China has provided training to 42 developing countries, contributing to global ecosystem governance. The country will promote international cooperation by protecting the four bird migration routes passing China and building an international mangrove center in the south China metropolis of Shenzhen. It was also at COP14 that China called for enhancing people's well-being globally by leveraging the role of wetlands in promoting sustainable development, tackling climate change, protecting biodiversity, and delivering more benefits to people around the world. Heading forward, China will continue to adhere to green development and advance ecological civilization. It will also continue to actively participate in global biodiversity governance, and contribute Chinese wisdom to achieving a global ecological civilization and building a community for all life on Earth. Chinas Ministry of Public Security has ordered the countrys police not to arrange road closures in general and to minimize time for traffic controls arranged for officials trips. Coming in response to central authoritys latest call to fight formalism and bureaucracy,free spin casino 0 no deposit bonus codes 2021 auraine women including excessive security measures that disrupt traffic, the ministry said in a circular made public on Friday that the moves aim to avoid inconveniencing the public wherever possible and guarantee their normal traffic rights. Local police officers are encouraged to step up inspection and research so as to better solve problems of major public concern, according to a statement from the ministrys traffic management bureau. Efforts should also be made to better educate police to curb formalism and bureaucracy at various levels, the statement urged. The ministry also asked its traffic management staff to address inconvenient, opaque and nonstandardized practices in law enforcement to ensure justice and equality. The ministry made the arrangement in response to new requirements announced after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee earlier this week. The new CPC leadership demanded, There should be fewer traffic controls arranged for leaders travel security in order to avoid unnecessary inconvenience to the public. Xinhua Chinese police to minimize traffic controls for officials tripsadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline The 2012 Golden Phoenix Financial Ceremony was held on February 28 in Beijing. Over 300 financial leaders, experts and scholars attend the ceremony including Liu Mingkang, ex-president of China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), and Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing, who points out in a theme speech that offshore finance is the big service on which Chongqing will exert great effort in 2012. Chongqing has made the first achievement on offshore financial business, leaving the following three aspects to be resolved. According to Huang that Chongqing is working on the building of inland financial center, which includes offshore financial settlement as a serious part. Moreover, development of e-commerce international settlement: Chongqing has a joint venture with Paypal, the world-largest e-commerce company, to deal with international settlement business. The third is the development of international settlement for commercial wholesale. Zhang Yingling Chongqing boosts offshore financeadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Hundreds of Chinese businesspeople involved in individually-owned businesses were honored for their excellent careers on Tuesday during an award ceremony attended by Vice Premier Wang Qishan. Some 302 people associated with individually-owned businesses received awards from the China Private-Owned Business Association,royal vegas online slots a non-profit organization for individual businesspeople. Vice Premier Wang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, presented awards to the winners at the Great Hall of the People. China has 110 million private businesspeople, including 84.55 million with individually-owned businesses. Individually-owned, private business has played an increasingly pivotal role in Chinas social and economic development, producing about 60 percent of the nations GDP, at least half of the tax revenue and 80 percent of jobs. Despite their tremendous contributions, they face many more difficulties in getting bank loans than their counterparts in state-owned sectors. The situation was getting notably serious during the global financial crisis, when individual businesses were hit with shrinking demand and soaring costs. To shore up the private sector, the government has implemented a raft of policies, including offering tax cuts and announcing guidelines to allow private businesses to enter key industries. The report to the 18th CPC National Congress noted, We must unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public sector, and ensure that economic entities under all forms of ownership have equal access to factors of production in accordance with the law, compete on a level playing field and are protected by the law as equals. Xinhua China honors private business eliteadded by chinatimesonline on View all posts by chinatimesonline Jerusalem, 12 October 2023 - WHO warns that the health system in the Gaza Strip is at a breaking point. Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade. Hospitals have only a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves and rely on generators to sustain the most critical functions. Even these functions will have to cease in a few days, when fuel stocks are due to run out. The impact would be devastating for the most vulnerable patients, including the injured who need lifesaving surgery, patients in intensive care units, and newborns depending on care in incubators. As injuries and fatalities continue to rise due to the ongoing air strikes on the Gaza Strip, acute shortages of medical supplies are compounding the crisis, limiting the response capacity of already overstretched hospitals to treat the sick and injured. The situation has also gravely disrupted the delivery of essential health services, including obstetric care, management of noncommunicable diseases such as cancer and heart diseases, and treatment of common infections, as all health facilities are forced to prioritize lifesaving emergency care. Access for emergency medical teams in the field is severely hampered by infrastructure damage. WHO has documented 34 attacks on health care in Gaza since last Saturday that have resulted in the death of 11 health workers on duty, 16 injuries, and damages to 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances. Without the immediate entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza especially health services, medical supplies, food, clean water, fuel, and non-food items humanitarian and health partners will be unable to respond to urgent needs of people who desperately need it. Each lost hour puts more lives at risk. WHO calls for an end to hostilities and the protection of health care and civilians against attacks. WHO also calls for the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor to ensure unimpeded access for health and humanitarian supplies, as well as for personnel, and the evacuation of patients and the injured. WHO further reiterates its call for the respect and protection of health care. WHO is ready to immediately dispatch trauma and essential health supplies through its logistics hub in Dubai and working with partners to ensure that they can reach the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing. Urgent access through the crossing is essential so that WHO and other humanitarian agencies can act quickly to help save lives. October 2023 emergency situation reports Ingham has two horses qualified for 2024 Olympics Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ at Boekelo. Image: Tilly Berendt Yasmin Ingham has secured qualification for next years Paris Olympics on her World Champion, Banzai Du Loir and her silver medal Nations Cup partner Rehy DJ, both owned by Janette Chinn and The Sue Davis Fund. Last weekend, the 26 year old helped Great Britain bring home a silver medal at the Nations Cup. Ingham and Rehy DJ were part of the British team at the final round which was held at Boekelo in the Netherlands. Speaking to Energy FM on the achievement, Ingham said: Its always a great privilege to represent my country at a Nations Cup, especially at a final. Rehy DJ put on a fantastic performance all week, but sadly one little mistake on the cross country cost us an individual top four place. However, its still amazing to be part of a silver medal winning team. She added: Were looking forward to next year with some exciting plans for the Spring. Invasive worm species found on boats An invasive non-native (INNS) worm species has been discovered on two boats in Ramsey after they were removed from the water for cleaning and maintenance. The boat-crane operator alerted the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) last week after noticing an unusual growth on the boats hulls and propellers. Both had been recently transported from Peel Marina to Ramsey for winter storage. DEFAs marine scientists took samples and subsequent investigations, including consultation with external experts, revealed the species is the Australian or trumpet tubeworm (Ficopomatus enigmaticus). The southern hemisphere species is a fast-growing, colonising tubeworm that can cause problems for boaters by attaching itself to man-made surfaces by developing thick layers of calcareous tubes. They can also pose a risk to the environment and biodiversity in particular areas, and may be difficult to eradicate and control. Due to the potential impact on ports and marinas, DEFA is working closely with the Department of Infrastructures Harbours team to develop a coordinated response. Boat owners can help protecting the spread by: Check your equipment, boat, and clothing after leaving the water for mud, aquatic animals or plant material. Clean everything thoroughly as soon as you can, paying attention to areas that are damp or hard to access. Use hot water if possible. Dry everything for as long as you can before using elsewhere as some invasive plants and animals can survive for over two weeks in damp conditions. DEFA will continue to respond to requests to help identify unusual or potentially invasive species, but relies on reporting from the public and the DoI. Reports of potential invasive species should be emailed to fisheries@gov.im with good quality pictures if possible. Treasury Minister attends Labour Party Conference Hon Dr Alex Allinson MHK, Treasury Minister, with Afzal Khan MP, Shadow Minister for Exports The Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson MHK led an Isle of Man delegation to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this week. The Minister said: As attention begins to shift to a UK general election, it is vital that we work to better understand the policy direction of the Labour Party, especially in keys areas such as tax, financial crime and renewable energy. Attending Conference is also an opportunity to strengthen existing relationships with Labour and build new ones, whilst setting out the Isle of Mans ambitions for the future and highlighting the positive contribution our Island makes to the UK and further afield. The delegation held discussions with Shabana Mahmood MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, which was particularly productive and reassuring around Labour Party tax policy development and its approach to future engagement with the Isle of Man. The biggest acquisition in gaming history and one of the largest in the tech industry is in the books. Twenty-one months after the deal was announced, Microsoft has bought Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, the largest acquisition in the company's history. CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer has asked Activision CEO Bobby Kotick to stay on until the end of 2023, at which point he'll be leaving the company. It's been a long road filled with plenty of twists and turns to get to this point. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially blocked the deal in April, though it and the companies agreed to pause Microsoft's appeal to try and resolve the regulator's reservations over the merger's impact on the cloud gaming industry. An appeal tribunal approved a request to delay the proceedings. In an attempt to win over the UK regulator, Microsoft agreed to sell the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles to Ubisoft. That means that not only should Activision Blizzard's games be on Xbox Game Pass, but they'll land on Ubisoft+ and any other game-streaming service Ubisoft decides to work with. Concerns about competition in the cloud gaming market was the CMA's reasoning for initially blocking Microsoft's takeover of Activision, but the watchdog said in September that the Ubisoft concession "opens the door to the deal being cleared." A few weeks later, the CMA has rubberstamped the merger. Microsoft also signed 10-year agreements with Nintendo and several cloud-gaming companies to offer its titles on their platforms. Those moves led to the European Union giving the merger the green light. The bloc's competition officials reportedly didn't see anything in the amended merger agreement (with the Ubisoft plan factored in) that would prompt a fresh antitrust investigation. The Federal Trade Commission's attempts to stop the deal over competition concerns haven't panned out. The agency sued to block it in December and an evidentiary hearing in that case was slated to take place on August 2nd. The FTC tried to temporarily block the merger with a preliminary injunction ahead of its administrative trial, but a judge denied that effort. The FTC still plans to challenge the merger. If that effort is successful, Microsoft could be forced to divest some or all of Activision Blizzard. But for now, the deal is done. It means, among other things, that Activision Blizzard titles will be available on cloud gaming platforms for the first time since the publisher pulled its titles from GeForce Now in early 2020. Its games will surely join Game Pass in the coming months, including on Xbox Cloud Gaming, and they'll pop up on Ubisoft+ and other platforms Ubisoft works with. Those waiting for Activision Blizzard's two biggest games of 2023 to hit Game Pass will certainly need to remain patient, though. The publisher has said Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Diablo IV won't hit the service until next year. Meanwhile, Blizzard games are already coming to Steam rather than being siloed on the Battle.net launcher. We'll probably see them appearing on Xbox's PC app too. For what it's worth, in court filings, Microsoft called Activision's strategy of releasing PC versions of Call of Duty titles exclusively on Battle.net in a bid to grow the platform a "resounding failure." ASSOCIATED PRESS One of the key reasons Microsoft gave for pursuing the deal was to accelerate its aim of becoming a major player in the mobile gaming market. With Activision Blizzard pulling in $1.9 billion in mobile revenue in the first six months of 2023 alone, it will achieve that goal practically overnight. King, which is behind the hugely successful Candy Crush franchise, generated more revenue ($1.49 billion) than Activision ($1.15 billion) in the first half of this year. Thanks largely to the massive success of Diablo IV, Blizzard brought in the most of the three units during that period with a hair over $1.5 billion. Still, King had 238 million monthly active users as of June 30th, just over twice as many as Activision and Blizzard combined. It recently emerged that Candy Crush Saga has generated over $20 billion in lifetime revenue. Blizzard has also been making a push into mobile gaming with the likes of Diablo Immortal. Activision, meanwhile, has Call of Duty Mobile in its portfolio and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is on the way. The company said in its most recent earnings report Call of Duty has around 90 million monthly players, "with over half of all engagement on the mobile platform." As for exclusivity of future projects, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has promised to "do whatever it takes" to keep shipping Call of Duty games on PlayStation. After months of refusing to do so, Sony eventually signed a 10-year pact just before the initial merger deadline of July 18th to keep that particular franchise on PlayStation, conceding defeat in its efforts to halt the acquisition. However, Microsoft will likely opt to keep other Activision Blizzard games off of PlayStation platforms, as it has done with ZeniMax/Bethesda titles Redfall and Starfield, as well as MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones project. Meanwhile, many observers hope that Microsoft will help stamp out the alleged toxic workplace culture at Activision Blizzard. Earlier this year, Activision Blizzard paid $35 million to settle SEC charges related to how it handled employees' workplace misconduct complaints. In 2021, the California Civil Rights Department (formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing) sued the company and accused it of fostering a "frat boy" culture in which female employees were harassed and discriminated against. Activision Blizzard countersued the CRD in December. The case hasn't been resolved. In fact, the CRD's lawsuit (which, along with other events, sent Activision's stock tumbling) set the ball rolling on Microsoft's acquisition of the company in the first place. ASSOCIATED PRESS Spencer hinted at efforts to improve the publisher's workplace culture. "Today is a good day to play. We officially welcome Activision Blizzard King to Team Xbox," he wrote on X. "Together, well create stories and experiences that bring players together, in a culture empowering everyone to do their best work and celebrate diverse perspectives." Spencer added that "whether you play on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC or mobile, youre always welcome here even if Xbox isnt where you play your favorite franchise. Because when everyone plays, we all win." Now that the acquisition has closed, a labor neutrality agreement between Microsoft and the Communications Workers of America will go into effect for Activision Blizzard workers in 60 days. That should make it easier for more of the publisher's employees to unionize. Some of Activision Blizzard's quality assurance (QA) workers have already formed unions. Earlier this year, hundreds of QA workers at ZeniMax Studios, a Microsoft subsidiary, voted to unionize with the CWA. Spencer sent the following note to Activision Blizzard employees to welcome them to the Microsoft fold: Today I am thrilled and honored to welcome you all to Team Xbox. Ive long been a fan of the incredible games and stories that your teams have created, and admired the impact that youve all had on gaming, entertainment and pop culture. Whether it was late nights spent playing the Diablo IV campaign with friends from start to finish, gathering the entire family in the rec room for our weekly Guitar Hero night, or going on an epic streak in Candy Crush, some of my most memorable gaming moments have come from experiences your studios have created. Bringing our teams together represents an incredible opportunity for us to learn from one another, unlock a world of possibilities, and continue doing what both of our companies have always done create stories and experiences that bring players together. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this moment possible. By combining Xbox with your teams skill and talent, energizing passion, and amazing legacy of games, we will bring the joy and community of gaming to even more players around the world. Our goal is to keep nurturing what makes you great, support you in doing your best work building groundbreaking games, and prioritizing our shared commitment to putting culture at the center of everything we do. We want to learn from your centers of excellence, exchange ideas and best practices, and empower you to bring your visions to life. As of today, we couldnt be more excited that Activision Blizzard employees are our colleagues, co-workers, and teammates. As mentioned in Bobbys email earlier, he has agreed to remain in his role through the end of 2023, reporting directly to me, to ensure a smooth and seamless integration. We look forward to working together as a unified team and we will share more updates on our new organizational structure in the coming months. Through this integration, we remain committed to being transparent and sharing information wherever possible. We have a dedicated team ensuring that you feel welcome, have opportunities to ask questions, and that we are creating a culture of trust, inclusion, and collaboration with you. Earlier today, I sent a note to Microsoft letting the rest of the company know that we can now officially welcome you. And there, I reiterate that we hold ourselves to a high bar in delivering the most inclusive and welcoming experiences for players, creators, and employees. We are one team Team Xbox. Over the coming weeks, Ill be visiting the Activision, Blizzard, and King offices, along with members of the Xbox Leadership Team. There, well have the opportunity to address questions and hear from each other. We also look forward to welcoming you alongside Team Xbox at our next virtual all-hands. More to come on these. Welcome to Team Xbox. Its a good day to play. Phil Update, October 10, 2023, 9:34AM ET: This story has been updated to include comments from Phil Spencer, and to add context about the labor neutrality agreement and unionization efforts at Activision Blizzard and Microsoft. Update, October 10, 2023, 10:06AM ET: Added Spencer's welcome note to Activision Blizzard workers. Cruise has been testing its self-driving vehicles in Houston since May, and it started giving employees, along with select friends and family members, fully driverless rides in August. Now, it's offering the public the chance to catch a ride to their destinations on robotaxis with no drivers behind the wheel. The company is now onboarding Houston residents who signed up for its waitlist, and it's also encouraging those who've yet to do so to visit its website and send in a request for access. Those who do get in early will be able to hail a driverless ride through its app for a flat fare of $5 for a limited time. Initially, Cruise will have the authority to operate seven days a week from 9PM to 6AM only in Downtown, Midtown, East Downtown, Montrose, Hyde Park and River Oaks neighborhoods. The company typically begins by deploying a small fleet of vehicles to cover a limited number of locations in a city, but it eventually expands its vehicles' availability. It will probably take some time before the company can operate around the clock in Houston, though. In San Francisco, for instance, Cruise was only given permission to offer paid daytime rides in August, months after staff members started testing its 24/7 service. It's worth noting that while Cruise was able to secure permission for the expansion, the company still faces pushback from critics raising concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicle tech. One of the commissioners from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) even voted against allowing the company to operate during daytime hours, arguing that the agency didn't have enough information to accurately evaluate the impact of autonomous vehicles on first responders. Shortly after the CPUC gave the company permission to offer paid daytime rides, the California DMV opened an investigation into a Cruise robotaxi's collision with a fire truck. The agency then asked Cruise to cut its fleet in half and to limit its driverless vehicles in operation to 50 during daytime and 150 at night while the investigation is ongoing. Proton sells a suite of privacy products, from email to document storage, so when I used Proton VPN I was already familiar with the company. We tested nine of the best VPN services available for our overall guide, including ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark and Tunnelbear. Proton promises privacy by default, but that left me wondering if the company meant rigorous security testing and if a focus on privacy would take away from ease of use. Because it balanced all of the above, Proton VPN landed at the top of our list. VPNs can be used for general web browsing, but I tested each one by streaming, gaming and evading geoblocking on the servers. I measured streaming speeds by watching Canadian Netflix from my home in the US, playing an online game from a UK-based VPN server and watching a live news channel on YouTube from a Hong Kong-based VPN. How much does Proton VPN cost? Proton offers a free, but limited, version of its VPN. It can be used on one device with access to servers in the Netherlands, United States and Japan. For $5.99 per month, Proton VPNs paid subscription includes access to more than 3,000 servers in over 65 countries, use on up to 10 devices and an included ad-blocker and malware protection. Or for $9.99 per month, Proton sells an unlimited package with access to all of its mail, calendar, drive, VPN and password manager products. Privacy and security When I tried out VPNs, I looked for options that kept my information secure without impacting my ability to easily browse the web. Proton VPN has a no-logs policy, meaning it doesn't collect data that passes through its network. Its passed external audits, is based on an open-source framework and it runs a vulnerability disclosure program. Proton VPN has a policy not to comply with law enforcement requests and has no forced logging requirements because it's based in Switzerland, according to the company. Speed and availability There was little to no lag when I used Proton VPN for its streaming, geoblocking and gaming capabilities. I also did a ping test to measure internet latency. Without a VPN, it took 43 milliseconds, but connected to Proton VPN, it took 49 milliseconds, which is not a big difference at all. For paid users, Proton VPN is available on more than 1,800 servers in 64 countries. Its available across iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, streaming services and more. Because it supports up to 10 devices at once, its also easy to use across an entire household of tech. Proton VPN pros and cons Even our top choice isnt perfect. The free version can be a bit finicky, and struggles to stay connected at times. According to Consumer Reports, it doesnt meet password complexity requirements and didnt offer clear protections against unauthorized access. Like many of its competitors, Proton VPN also tends to use misleading marketing language. Proton VPN makes lofty claims like bypassing censorship, keeping you safe from hackers and surfing the web without surveillance that cant always be factually backed up. The VPNs I tested were consistently good. They made it easy to browse the web securely. Proton VPN took the top spot because of its overall security and ease of use. The EPA is withdrawing its plan to require states to assess the cybersecurity and integrity of public water system programs. While the agency says it continues to believe cybersecurity protective measures are essential for the public water industry, the decision was made after GOP-led states sued the agency for proposing the rule. In a memo that accompanied the new rules in March, the EPA said that cybersecurity attacks on water and wastewater systems have the potential to disable or contaminate the delivery of drinking water to consumers and other essential facilities like hospitals. Despite the EPAs willingness to provide training and technical support to help states and public water system organizations implement cybersecurity surveys, the move garnered opposition from both GOP state attorneys and trade groups. Republican state attorneys that were against the new proposed policies said that the call for new inspections could overwhelm state regulators. The attorney generals of Arkansas, Iowa and Missouri all sued the EPA claiming the agency had no authority to set these requirements. This led to the EPAs proposal being temporarily blocked back in June. While it's unclear if any cybersecurity regulations will be put in motion to protect the public moving forward, the EPA said it plans to continue working with the industry to lower cybersecurity risks to clean and safe water. It encourages all states to voluntarily review the cybersecurity of their water systems, nothing that any proactive actions might curb the potential public health impacts if a hack were to take place. Ever since the highly publicized Solarwinds hack in 2020 that exposed government records and the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack that temporarily shut down operations for the oil pipeline system, it's been abundantly clear that government entities and public agencies are hackable and prime targets for bad actors. The Biden administration has initiated a national strategy focused on public-private alliances to shift the burden of cybersecurity onto the organizations that are best-positioned to reduce risks for all of us . The 18th Group of Twenty (G20) Summit concluded in New Delhi with three most remarkable achievementsthe passing of the G20 New Delhi Leaders Declaration, unveiling of the IndiaMiddle EastEurope Economic Corridor that aims to build an ambitious infrastructure project to connect India to Europe via West Asia, and the inclusion of the African Union (AU) as a permanent member of G20. However, the historic summit that brought together the AU and G20 coincided with a massive earthquake that hit Morocco, a North African country when the world leaders were coming together to forge unity and cooperation on major global issues and challenges. The earthquake was so severe that almost 2,000 people lost their lives and left many struggling to survive. The AU is a consortium of 55 member states that represent the countries of the African subcontinent. The Kingdom of Morocco has recently become the member of the AU in 2017 after years of withdrawal from the Organisation of African Unity in 1984 following the acceptance of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a member state with whom Morocco shares a territorial dispute over Western Sahara. The Morocco earthquake has come at a time when the admission of the AU is a significant step in forging SouthSouth cooperation and the importance of the global South in the international forum. In the G20 Summit, one of the major challenges facing the world leaders is how to grapple with the challenges of disaster risk and build community resilience for a safe and sustainable future. The proposals of the union and some state governments in favour of the 12-hour workday (only on permissible grounds, if required by the employers) with the restriction of a maximum 48 working hours a week and an opt-out option based on the voluntary consent of the employees have caused considerable controversy. Many trade unions have objected to the implementation of the 12-hour workday. The 12-hour workday is not new to the world. It is a modified combination of longer daily working hours and restricted weekly working hours. Many of our ancestors often worked for more than 12 hours a day. Many nations like Australia, the United States, Russia, Germany, and Austria witnessed labour agitations and loss of lives in protests for a shorter workday. Their protests gave us the eight-hour workday. With these successful protests, eight hours each were prescribed for work, recreation, and sleep. Washington, D.C. October 12, 2023 This October marks a significant milestone in cultural diplomacy between Malaysia and the United States. Malaysia's new Ambassador to the US, H.E. Dato' Seri Ambassador Nazri Aziz (pictured above), will introduce Washington, D.C. to the UNESCO-recognised splendours of Kelantan for the first time. Kelantan, a Malaysian jewel often overshadowed on the international stage, will take center stage through the "Sounds and Soul of the East Coast" Cultural Diplomacy program. This exclusive event will showcase Kelantan's rich tapestry of arts to an esteemed audience comprising diplomats, US Federal Government officials, and travel industry experts. The attendees will be captivated by a vivid panorama of music, shadow puppetry, dance, and traditional healing rituals from Kelantan. Spanning from October 19th to 30th, 2023, attendees will experience performances and demonstrations, including Kelantan shadow puppetry (Wayang Kulit Kelantan), Main Teri spiritual healing, Tari Inai dance, Silat Jawi martial art, and the musical performance, Dikir Barat. The Mak Yong Theater, recognized by UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, will be a highlight of this cultural program. The initiative has been meticulously crafted through collaboration between several notable bodies. These include The Embassy of Malaysia in Washington D.C., the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MOTAC), the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW), the diplomatic non-profit ASEAN Spouses' Circle, Washington D.C. (ASC), Washington D.C.'s networking organization, and the active Malaysian diaspora in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) region. Meet the Cultural Maestros: Geng Wak Long Representing the Kelantanese arts and heritage in Washington D.C. is Geng Wak Long, led by Mr. Kamrulbahri bin Hussin. Geng Wak Long is a Malaysian cultural arts group renowned for its advocacy in promoting and preserving the cultural heritage of Kelantan. This dedicated family arts company, which includes academic experts and Adiguru (Virtuoso Maestro) from institutions like the College of Creative Arts UITM and the National Academy of Arts and Heritage (ASWARA), has played a vital role in increasing understanding and appreciation of Kelantanese arts and culture among local and international communities. (For more information: http://www.kamrulhussin.com.my/ www.gengwaklong.com.my) The "Sounds and Soul of the East Coast" (pertaining to the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula) marks the inaugural event in a series of thematic cultural diplomacy programs to be hosted during the tenure of H.E. Dato' Seri Ambassador Nazri Aziz as the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States. These programs aim to promote Malaysia's arts and culture as integral to its national identity, highlight Malaysia as a tourism destination, and create momentum leading up to Visit Malaysia Year 2026. Furthermore, these initiatives play a vital role in fostering Malaysian cultural literacy among the diaspora in the US and the global community. H.E. Dato' Seri Ambassador Nazri Aziz as the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States: "Culture plays a pivotal role in diplomacy, serving as a bridge that fosters understanding and connection between nations. Customs and traditions are powerful tools that enable us to delve deeper into the essence of different cultures, ultimately leading to a better grasp of their people." Kamrulbahri bin Hussin: "One of our distinctive offerings is the introduction of 'Main Puteri,' a healing performance deeply rooted in Kelantanese culture. This tradition encompasses dance, chanting, music, trance, and ritual movements designed to address emotional and spiritual afflictions. Central to this practice is the 'tok puteri,' a shamanic figure who serves as both a spirit medium and healer, performing intricate dances in a trance state. On occasion, patients even join the performance, seeking emotional and spiritual release." PROGRAM: (Updated on Oct 11) 1. 60th Malaysia Day and 90th Armed Forces Day Reception Date: October 19, 2023 Venue: Tun Hussein Onn Hall, Embassy of Malaysia in Washington D.C. 2. Meridian Pre-Ball Dinner Date: October 20, 2023 Venue: Rumah Malaysia (Residence) 3. Engage Malaysia Tourism Date: October 25, 2023 Venue: Rumah Malaysia (Residence) 4. 60th Anniversary Dinner Gala Malaysia America Cooperation on Education Exchange MACEE) Date: October 27, 2023 Venue: Tun Hussein Hall, Embassy of Malaysia in Washington D.C. 5. ASEAN Joint Cultural Programme Date: October 30, 2023 Venue: U.S. State Department MEDIA RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE, INCLUDING EXTRA PHOTOS, INTERVIEW EXTRACTS, ETC. Global media inquiries: RICHARD BARNES +1 (202) 697-9778 rbarnes@barnes-media-international.com Embassy of Malaysia in Washington D.C. on Social Media Facebook: Embassy of Malaysia, Washington D.C. Instagram: myembwashingtondc X: MYembassyWDC Friday, October 13, 2023 If youre pursuing higher education or helping a loved one in college, youve likely heard of various tax credits and deductions designed to ease the financial burden of education expenses. Among these is the American Opportunity Credit (AOC). One of the most common questions we receive about this credit is, Is it refundable? If youre here with the same question in mind, read on to learn more about this tax credit and whether it can put money back in your pocket. What are the Benefits of the American Opportunity Tax Credit? The American Opportunity Credit aims to help eligible students or parents cover qualified educational expenses during the early years of higher education. It offers a generous credit structure, equal to 100% of the initial $2,000 spent on qualified education expenses, and an additional 25% of the subsequent $2,000. This combination allows for a maximum tax credit of $2,500 per eligible student, which makes it a substantial tax benefit for many families. Is the American Opportunity Credit Refundable? Yes, the American Opportunity Tax Credit is partially refundable. This means that if the credit reduces your tax liability to zero, you may be eligible to receive a refund of up to 40% of the remaining credit amount, with a maximum refund of $1,000 per eligible student. To put it simply, if your qualified education expenses result in a tax credit of $2,500, and your total tax liability is $1,500, you could receive a refund of $1,000, provided you meet the refundable criteria. Who Qualifies for the Credit? The tax credit can be claimed by either the paying student or parents of a dependent student, provided that the eligible student meets the following criteria: The student is pursuing a course toward a degree or a recognized education qualification. The student is enrolled at least part-time for at least one academic period beginning in the tax year. He/She has not completed the first four years of higher education at the start of the tax year. He/She has not claimed the AOTC for more than four tax years. The student is free of a felony drug conviction at the end of the tax year. Its important to note that to claim the full credit, your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) must be $80,000 or less if youre a single filer or $160,000 or less for joint filers. If your income falls above these limits, you can only claim a small percentage of the credit. Which Expenses Qualify for the Credit? Tuition and Mandatory Fees: The credit covers the cost of tuition and any required fees paid to the educational institution. These fees are essential for attending classes and completing your course of study. Required Course Materials: Expenses related to required course materials, such as textbooks and study materials, are also eligible for the tax credit. Whether you purchase them directly from the school or from external sources, you can include these costs. Program-Specific Equipment: In some cases, specific equipment necessary for your program of study can be counted as qualified expenses. For example, dental equipment for dental students would fall under this category. Whats Not Covered by the American Opportunity Tax Credit Certain expenses do not qualify as eligible education expenses for the AOC. Heres a breakdown of what falls outside the credits coverage: Expenses related to accommodations and meal plans, often referred to as room and board, do not qualify for the credit Expenses linked to transportation, such as commuting to and from the educational institution Payments for medical insurance, including student health fees Scholarships or grants to cover your education costs Any refunds provided by the school Any financial assistance provided by your employer for educational expenses Funds from a 529 savings plan to cover your education expenses How to Make A Claim? To claim the American Opportunity Credit, youll need to complete Form 8863 and attach it to your annual income tax return (Form 1040 or 1040-SR). The nonrefundable portion of the credit goes on Schedule 3, while the refundable portion goes on line 29 of Form 1040 or 1040-SR. Have Questions or Need Assistance with Form 8863? We understand that tax matters can sometimes be complex. If you have questions or need expert assistance in claiming the American Opportunity Credit, dont hesitate to contact us at Tax Samaritan. Our team of experts is here to provide guidance and ensure you make the most of your tax benefits. BOZEMAN, Mont. - The Montana Film Festival is happening this weekend and one MSU grads short film will be screened on Saturday. Kayla Arend, now and adjunct professor in New York Universitys Tisch School of Arts, wrote and directed the short film thriller titled Leaving Yellowstone. The film is about a woman who takes a winter trip into the park with her boyfriend, but the trip becomes a fight for her life. The story is based on an experience Arends friend had in real life. She took a trip to Yellowstone with a man she was dating. He got drunk while on the trip and became abusive, and she ultimately had to escape, Arend said. While traveling and promoting the film, Arend said she has realized how prevalent domestic violence is, especially in rural areas, and she hopes the film can raise awareness for that. She has also always been drawn to stories of survival and women in the wilderness. There are other themes throughout the film she hopes the audience takes away. One is female empowerment and, you know, creative problem solving to overcome your foe. And then two would be to, you know, ultimately inspire a more respectful connection to nature.Utilizing nature as an ally rather than an obstacle, Arend said. Arend has spent a lot of time recently traveling to film festivals and she said she is glad it is finding its audience and that the Montana Film Festival has decided to screen it. President Calvin Coolidge regarded a good budget as among the most noblest monuments of virtue. For Coolidge, fiscal conservatism or economy in government was a moral issue. Governor Kim Reynolds reflects not only the spirit of Coolidge, but just as with Coolidge, she is a true champion of fiscal conservatism. Governor Reynolds and the legislature have placed a priority on conservative budgeting. Prudent budgeting has resulted in multiple rounds of surpluses and with the end of fiscal year 2023, Iowa will have a $1.83 billion surplus. As a result of fiscal conservatism Iowas economy and fiscal foundation is strong. In addition to the $1.83 billion fiscal year 2023 surplus, Iowas reserve accounts will have a balance of $902 million, and the Taxpayer Relief Fund will have $2.74 billion. Conservative budgeting is at the heart of fiscal conservatism. During this past legislative session, the legislature enacted a $8.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2024, which only spends 88 percent of projected tax collections. This was only a slight increase from the $8.2 billion fiscal year 2023 budget. Further, the priorities of government are being met, including funding for public education. Governor Reynolds is also placing a priority on lowering income taxes. Since 2018, the Governor and the legislature have been lowering both individual and corporate income tax rates. In 2022, Governor Reynolds signed into law not only the largest income tax cut in state history, but it was also the most comprehensive tax reform measure in the nation. Iowas nine-bracket progressive income tax is being phased out until a flat 3.9 percent rate is achieved in 2026. Another part of the 2022 tax reform law was implementing a revenue trigger to lower the corporate tax rate. As a result of strong corporate tax revenues the rate will be lowered from 8.4 percent to 7.1 percent starting in 2024. This provides further evidence of the strength of Iowas economy because the 7.1 percent rate was projected to occur in 2027. The corporate rate will continue to be reduced until it reaches 5.5 percent. All of this is made possible as a result of conservative budgeting. What too many people overlook is that significant tax cuts like Iowas are only made possible by years of prudent and conservative budgeting. Without spending restraint, any tax relief, regardless of the tax, becomes impossible. Conservative budgeting has also led to other limited government policies. This past session the legislature passed Governor Reynolds state government reorganization reform measure. This new law is the first major effort to reform state government in nearly 40 years. Prior to the enactment of this law Iowa had 37 executive branch cabinet agencies more than all neighboring states, including our larger neighbors Minnesota and Illinois. Iowa now has 16 cabinet agencies. This has also led to a recommendation from the Boards and Commissions Review Committee to eliminate or consolidate 111 boards and commissions in Iowa, which would mean a 43 percent reduction in Iowas boards and commissions. Governor Reynolds is reigning in Iowas administrative state and establishing more accountability and oversight over Iowas unelected fourth branch of government. Iowas strong fiscal foundation will provide the foundation for more pro-growth policies in the 2024 legislative session. Weve seen what the powerful combination of growth-oriented policies and fiscal restraint can create, and now its time for Iowans to directly receive the benefits. I look forward to cutting taxes again next legislative session and returning this surplus back to where it belongs the people of Iowa, stated Governor Reynolds. Governor Reynolds and legislative leaders are looking to further lower the income tax rate and even place it on a path toward elimination. Iowa has the opportunity to not only achieve the lowest flat tax in the nation, but also be the first state to eliminate the income tax. Iowa is demonstrating that fiscal conservatism works. John Hendrickson is policy director of Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation This week is Banned Books Week. Supported by several groups, including the American Library Association and the National Book Foundation, the week is intended to alert the public to threats to what Americans read, especially in public schools. Long a rather quiet affair, over the last few years banning has become a major issue, with one group often portrayed as the culprit: conservatives. But it is not conservatives, or banners of any political stripe, that are the problem. It is public schooling itself. You are probably familiar with the typical battle: parents at school board meetings calling for the removal of books from libraries, recommended reading lists, or class assignments. Members of Moms for Liberty, founded by three mothers and former school board members, might be the best known activists fighting to restrict books such as Gender Queer: A Memoir, about author Maia Kobabes journey of sexual discovery. The many battles that have been fought over Gender Queer, which free expression watchdog PEN America reports was the fifth most challenged book in the last school year, are classic culture war: a clash of irreconcilable values. Supporters of stocking the book argue that kids of all genders need to see people like themselves in schools, and other students need to understand that people of all genders are full parts of society. Supporters are driven by values tolerance and inclusivity. Opponents argue that the book, which includes illustrated depictions of sexual activity, is inappropriate for children too young to thoughtfully grapple with it, and pornographic. They too are driven by values the desire to protect childrens innocence, and a belief that some sexual activity is inherently immoral. But why must groups such as Moms for Liberty attack such books in public schools? Because conservative families, just like liberal, must pay for public schools government schools which are inherently politically controlled. To get what they think is right schools where children cannot peruse, or be taught from, books with immoral content they must keep liberals from getting what they think right: inclusive collections. Liberals have also sought to sideline books, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird which include the N-word and some say promote white saviorism. In 2020, the Burbank school district in heavily blue California told English teachers that they could not teach those books and several others. In 2022, the Mukilteo district in solidly Democratic Snohomish County, Washington, ended required reading of Mockingbird. Conflict over literature in public schools is not one-sided. It also is not new. Founding-generation luminaries Benjamin Rush and Noah Webster, in promoting the idea of public schooling, disagreed whether reading the Bible in schools should be encouraged because religion was essential, or discouraged because using scripture as a pedagogical tool cheapened it. A few decades later, as public schooling started to grow, Roman Catholics and Protestants got into heated, sometimes even bloody, conflicts over whose version of the Bible would be allowed.. And books are just one of numerous public schooling culture war battlegrounds. Teaching the origins of life is arguably the quintessential conflict, immortalized in the play Inherit the Wind about the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. These fightseither an intelligent being created life or notpit religious conservatives against many liberals., and while they have subsided somewhat, in the mid-2000s the town of Dover, Pennsylvania was wrenched apart by a dispute over whether students should be told that evolution is a theory, not a fact. In February of this year, a bill was introduced in West Virginia to let teachers discuss Intelligent Design. Today we see constant culture war in public schools. The Cato Institutes Public Schooling Battle Map contains more than 3,700 fights, including recent throwdowns in Florida over Advanced Placement African American Studies and the states African American history standards, the latter of which includes an item saying that slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." They are fights not just over facts, but whether the country is inherently good or bad. Of course, theres sex education. New Jersey, for instance, created new standards in 2020, including on gender identity, and numerous districts have been embroiled in conflicts over adopting them. Then there are battles over prayer, pitting religious devotion against secularism, which we have seen in districts from North Carolina to California. Book banning in public schools does not spring from some conservative cabal. As battles fought all over the county attest, such actions are inevitable when people with opposing values any values must all pay for government schools. Neal McCluskey directs the Cato Institutes Center for Educational Freedom and is the author of The Fractured Schoolhouse: Reexamining Education for a Free, Equal, and Harmonious Society COLUMBUS As part of Gov. Mike DeWines H2Ohio Initiative, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources was joined by the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks to celebrate the completion of the Walnut Creek Treatment Wetland Restoration the first H2Ohio project in Franklin County. This restoration project was completed through the first round of the Ohio River Basin H2Ohio Wetland Grant Program. Now that its complete, the string of wetlands will filter nutrients from the water before it flows into Walnut Creek. The project also includes a line of vegetation that provides habitat for various amphibian, insect and aquatic species. This wetland treatment system is viewable from a new walking trail that connects visitors to Walnut Woods Metro Park. Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks also restored a small stream, associated floodplain and upland habitat on 55 acres outside of the H2Ohio project site. The total cost of this project was $1 million. DeWine created H2Ohio in 2019 as a comprehensive, data-driven approach to combatting algal blooms, enhancing water quality and improving water infrastructure over the long term. H2Ohio operates in partnership between the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Lake Erie Commission. The initiative focuses on encouraging agricultural best management practices, restoring and enhancing wetlands, upgrading outdated water infrastructure and replacing lead pipes. For more information on the H2Ohio initiative, visit h2.ohio.gov. COLUMBUS An individual suspected of trafficking red-eared slider turtles in Cincinnati and striking a state wildlife officer with his vehicle was recently indicted in Hamilton County by a grand jury, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. In July, State Wildlife Officer Brad Turner, assigned to Preble County, received a Turn-In-A-Poacher report regarding turtles being sold in Cincinnati. Turner and State Wildlife Officer Andrew Dowdell, assigned to Butler County, responded to the location. They found two men selling red-eared sliders without the required propagation permit. During the encounter, one of the suspects, Alonso Oliver-Tucker, 37, of Philadelphia, fled the scene, striking Turner as he sped off, according to an ODNR press release. Turner was treated at The Christ Hospital and released the same evening. The Cincinnati Police Department filed three arrest warrants for Oliver-Tucker, who was arrested several days later in Pennsylvania. The suspect was recently indicted by a grand jury in Hamilton County on two felony counts: assault on a police officer and failure to comply with an order of a police officer. The officers seized more than 100 red-eared sliders. An investigation into wildlife violations for both suspects is pending. The Division of Wildlife has received assistance in the proceedings of this case from the ODNR Division of Parks and Watercraft Nature Center at Hueston Woods State Park, as well as the Collaborative to Combat the Illegal Trade in Turtles. Anyone can report a wildlife violation through the Turn-In-A-Poacher program. Wildlife violations can be reported anonymously by calling 800-762-2437. New changes have been announced for the second round of the Slurry Infrastructure Grant scheme, which will open for applications in November. Five changes have been made that make the scheme significantly more accessible to farmers than the first round. Defra's grant scheme offers grants of between 25,000 and 250,000 for farmers in England to improve slurry storage. The grant takes slurry storage arrangements beyond legal minimums, with the aim of improving the use of organic nutrients on farm to aid productivity and reduce pollution. The most significant change is that pig farms will now be funded for up to eight months storage, compared with six months in the first round. Beef and dairy farmers will still be offered funding to achieve six months slurry storage. Pig producers who applied for six months of storage in round 1 will be able to increase to eight months. Defra said this will help producers with less land to safely store organic nutrients until they can safely spread it or export it to neighbouring farms to meet crop and soil needs. And another change to the grant means funding will be available towards a slurry separator as part of projects to increase storage capacity. The grant will provide a contribution towards a screw or screen press separator unit, gantry, and temporary storage of stackable materials. Defra said separators can make slurry easier to store, move around the farm and apply in line with a nutrient management plan. Support will also be available for covering for existing stores that are fit-for-purpose with impermeable covers. This option can be used alongside building a store, or on its own, as long as farmers meet scheme storage requirements and minimum grant thresholds. Defra said this will help farms who have recently invested in storage to further increase capacity by preventing rainwater from entering the store. Defra has added the option of in-situ cast concrete stores as an alternative to circular and panel stores, lagoons and bags, with the aim of improving flexibility in certain areas where it is harder to transport in pre-cast panels. An option for landlords to underwrite grant funding agreements has been added to give tenants more confidence to apply, where their landlord agrees to take over their agreement if they dont complete the project. Defra said it was making these changes to improve flexibility and environmental outcomes, adding that it appreciated that some farms may want to amend their round 1 application to take advantage of the revised offer. The National Pig Association (NPA) welcomed the changes, as the grants provided useful funding for pig producers to help improve slurry storage. NPA chief executive, Lizzie Wilson said: "We are really pleased the storage has been increased to eight months as this brings many more pig farmers into play. We were involved in the development of the scheme and, while we didnt get everything we wanted for example, we pushed hard for more storage capacity and permeable as well as impermeable covers this is a real improvement for pig farmers on round 1. We urge members to look at the guidance and consider applying if you think it could help your business." Fears have been raised over the prospect of new national parks in Scotland as tourism could be promoted over food production and farming. The Scottish government has opened the process for organisations and the public to submit proposals for Scotlands next national park. Currently, there are two national parks - the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs - with the devolved government hoping to extend the number. Potential contenders include Ben Nevis/Glen Coe/Black Mount, the Cheviots and Border Hills, Galloway, a Coastal and Marine Park, Glen Affric, Wester Ross and the Isle of Harris. But there are concerns that the creation of a new national park would de-prioritise farming, even though agriculture is likely to be the predominant land use. In announcing the process of appointing a new park, the Scottish government did not mention agriculture, food production or agri-tourism, despite these being key drivers of the rural economy. NFU Scotlands environmental policy manager, Sarah Cowie said the government's choice of wording was disappointing, which would in turn cause concern for farmers. We accept the fact that we have to take action on climate change... but our members are unconvinced that a new national park is the best way to do this," she said. "Were unclear on what the added value of a national park is and believe its objectives can be achieved through other existing means such as economic development agencies, regional land use partnerships (RLUP) and tourism bodies. For farming businesses to be profitable and sustainable, they have to invest and grow, and there are concerns that national parks are just another layer of bureaucracy which wont deliver for those living and working in the area." Some of NFU Scotland's members in the existing two national parks in Scotland say they have failed to make a positive contribution to farming. Tourism and attracting more visitors to an area is the main driver of a national park, they say, and that this is then prioritised over agriculture and food production. According to NFU Scotland, this has resulted in a failure to retain local people to the area and protect local businesses which ultimately, has a detrimental impact on the rural economy. Ms Cowie added: We have heard other concerns... they have evidence of overcrowding, congestion, irresponsible access, livestock attacks by dogs and other antisocial behaviour. "We recognise the benefits of public access, but it must be managed in a balanced way with support available for land managers where there are issues. "The key step the Scottish government has to take in order to strike this balance is to ensure lessons are learned from the mistakes of the current two national parks." The next national park will be announced before the end of this parliamentary session, in 2026. A new round of development grants offering people between 10,000 - 30,000 to fund shovel-ready peatland restoration projects has opened. The grant, launched by the Welsh government today (13 October), funds the preparations needed for farmers and landowners deliver peatland restoration. Applications should detail site-specific measures identified to prepare an actionable restoration plan; these could include peat, hydrology and habitat surveys, consents and community consultation, and other preparations. Peatland is the most valuable land resource in Wales for carbon, given its potential to store 30% of soil-based carbon. Yet, as the estimated 90% of Welsh peatlands in a damaged condition emit greenhouse gases, restoration is seen as vital to address climate change. Mannon Lewis who leads on the National Peatland Action Programme (NPAP) explained: This start-up grant aims to encourage landowners to understand their peatland and develop a plan so that theyre shovel-ready for restoration. "Successful applicants will show how the funding will develop an actionable peatland restoration plan. "Once the restoration plan is in place, options to progress to restoration action include our follow-on competitive delivery grant (50K-250k). The funding pot for this third round of development grants totals 100,000 and free guidance webinars, held on 27 October, will be available for potential applicants. Wales' Climate Change Minister, Julie James said: Weve seen increasing rates of peatland restoration in recent years, but there is still so much we need to do for us to accelerate restoration. "I encourage those with peatland to apply for this funding, as healthy peatlands help protect against the climate emergency. The development grant is part of NPAPs more extensive peatland restoration action funded by Welsh government to the value of over 2.5m over the next two years. Ben Affleck's Christian faith has allowed him to accept his imperfections. Ben Affleck embraced his imperfections after returning to religion The 51-year-old Hollywood actor became a member of the Methodist Church later in life after his ex-wife Jennifer Garner taught him "the ability to reach outside of yourself and take strength from something outside of human understanding". Affleck admits this renewed faith has had a profound effect on his life. In an interview with Sorted magazine, Ben said: "What I truly appreciate, even as I still grapple with my faith and beliefs, as I think all people do at times, is the profound idea that we all have imperfections. "It's our journey to seek redemption, embrace divine love, better ourselves, cherish others, refrain from judgement and extend forgiveness. "The concept that God, through Jesus, embraces and pardons all of us from those we admire to those we might judge or resent is powerful. "If God can show such boundless love, urging us to love, avoid judgement and offer forgiveness, it serves as a profound model of how we should strive to be." The 'Justice League' actor's religious journey came after a long and difficult battle with alcohol abuse. Ben blamed his own father Timothy's chronic alcoholism for his own drinking problems. He said: "Seeing my father inebriated daily surely left a mark. "I never imagined I'd follow that path, but it happened. "After work, I'd drink to the point of unconsciousness, mirroring my father's habits, though I never consciously made the connection. "In moments of personal turmoil, it's hard to recognise the negative patterns or consider how others see them, or even if they stem from past traumas. For me, drinking wasn't always about escaping reality; I genuinely liked the taste!" Despite his hardships, the actor said he was in a much better place now and doubts he will ever relapse. Affleck - who is now married to Jennifer Lopez - explained: "Alcohol dependency was something that I felt was getting out of control I didnt feel I had a good grip on my faculties and senses, but I must have had enough to know that what I was doing on an almost daily basis wasn't good for me, or those around me "At this stage in my life, I feel a lot stronger as regards my health and my tendency not to drink." Vietnams textile-garment export turnover reached only $22.5 billion in the first eight months this yeardown by $3.8 billion or 14.4 per cent year on year (YoY), according to official customs data. Such exports were worth $3.4 billion in Augustup by 5.5 per cent month on month, marking the fourth consecutive month the turnover has increased over the previous month. Vietnam's textile-garment export turnover reached only $22.5 billion in the first eight months this yeardown by $3.8 billion or 14.4 per cent year on year (YoY). Such exports were worth $3.4 billion in Augustup by 5.5 per cent month on month. However, the industry has shown several signs of recovery and scope for stronger growth in the last quarter. The export values to the United States, the European Union (EU) and South Korea saw decreases of 22.4 per cent, 11.9 per cent and 3 per cent YoY in the eight-month period, reaching only $10 billion, $2.66 billion and $2.08 billion respectively. The countrys textile and garment industry has shown several signs of recovery and scope for stronger growth in the last quarter this year despite a continued year on year (YoY) fall in export turnover in the first eight months, a domestic news agency reported. Textile exports to the United States have seen remarkable recovery in recent months, noted Tran Ngoc Liem, director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)'s branch in Ho Chi Minh City. The recent visit to Vietnam by US President Joe Biden, and the upgrade of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries offer good opportunities for Vietnams exports in general and its textile and garment exports in particular, he said. As US garment stockpile has sharply fallen, companies there are likely to import commodities from several nations, including Vietnam. Latin American countries, especially Peru, Chile and Mexico, are also perceived as a potential markets for Vietnam textiles and footwear. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) One of Bollywood's most respected actors, R. Madhavan, has shown his admiration for fellow actor Akshay Kumar's upcoming film, Mission Raniganj. In a recent online post, Madhavan whole-heartedly praised the making and storytelling of the movie, penning down his thoughts for his fans and Akshay Kumar's wide audience base. The buzz around Akshay Kumar's anticipated film, Mission Raniganj has been gaining momentum, with fans anxiously awaiting its release. Said to be one of the biggest Bollywood films to be released this year, the film's unique plot and engaging storytelling have captivated the attention of cinema lovers nationwide, including the admiration of key industry players like R. Madhavan. R. Madhavan is considered one of the most credible voices in the Indian film industry. His recent social media post praising Mission Raniganj has further piqued the interest of movie enthusiasts. Madhavan applauded the storytelling and essence of the film, indirectly adding more fuel to the fire of the eager audience awaiting the movie's release. With Madhavan's positive comments about Mission Raniganj, fans' anticipation seems to have reached a new peak. The combination of Akshay Kumar's performance and the fascinating plot of the film is pulling more and more Bollywood buffs towards theaters. The audience's excitement is palpable as they eagerly await the chance to view the distinctive storytelling that has earned high praise from an industry stalwart. The recent praises from R. Madhavan for Akshay Kumar's Mission Raniganj are testament to the movie's high quality of production and intriguing storytelling. It is clear that the audience is in for a memorable cinematic experience. As the film readies for its grand opening, fans and industry insiders alike wait with bated breath, eager to witness another stellar performance from Akshay Kumar. Inspirational tour across China: Tanzanian officer commends BRI for promoting global cooperation and connectivity 16:52, October 13, 2023 By Peng Yukai, Zhou Yu, Zhang Rong ( People's Daily Online Yahya Nawanda, the Regional Commissioner of Simiyu in Tanzania, lauded the pivotal role the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plays in fostering global cooperation and facilitating people to people exchanges between nations. In an exclusive interview with Peoples Daily Online recently, Nawanda expressed his appreciation for the BRI's capacity to strengthen international ties. We [China and Tanzania] have a very good relationship in terms of promoting the exchanges between our people and youth, he said, adding that the BRI serves as a platform for countries to learn from Chinas progress and for those lessons to benefit their own populations. Nawanda spoke highly of BRI projects in Tanzania, with a special mention of the transformative impact of the Tanzania-Zambia railway, a collaborative effort between China, Tanzania and Zambia. The Tanzania-Zambia railway project helps connect a lot of people from Tanzania and Zambia, he said, further highlighting its significance for Zambia, a landlocked country, by simplifying the transportation of goods. During the interview, Nawanda pointed out that the relationship between China and Tanzania has been significantly strengthened thanks to the BRI, and he enthusiastically conveyed his optimistic expectations for further progress. We need to take back home everything we are studying and witnessing, so that we can help our people and our nations, he said. (Web editor: Wu Chaolan, Liang Jun) Leo Show Timings In Tamil Nadu: As anticipation soars for the upcoming release of 'Leo,' starring Thalapathy Vijay, fans are eagerly counting down the days until October 19, the film's global theatrical release date. Leo Overseas Advance Sales: Vijay's Film Poised To Shatter Records With Astonishing Advance Bookings! The excitement was further intensified when the much-awaited Leo trailer was unveiled on October 5, igniting fervour among fans both online and in theatres. Tamil Nadu Government Issues New Guidelines for 'Leo' Release Meanwhile, ahead of the theatrical release of Thalapathy Vijay's 'Leo' on October 19, the Tamil Nadu government has released its latest Government Order (GO). This upcoming film has obtained authorization for up to five screenings each day during a six-day period, spanning from October 19 to October 24, in theatres across the state. According to the new government order, cinemas in Tamil Nadu are authorised to hold a special screening of 'Leo' on the specified dates. The initial screening is scheduled to commence at 9:00 a.m., and the final show should conclude at 1:30 a.m. In their latest government order, the state authorities have issued instructions to the licencing authorities under the Tamil Nadu Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955 and Rules, 1957, to constitute a special team in their jurisdiction to monitor the violations of provisions related to admission rates for cinemas screening 'Leo.' Additionally, directives have been issued to enforce adequate safety and security measures for the general public and theatergoers. This includes overseeing traffic management and parking arrangements while preventing the imposition of excessive admission fees during the special 'Leo' screenings. This latest Government Order (GO) from the Tamil Nadu government serves to clarify prior reports that indicated the first 'Leo' show in the state was scheduled to commence at 4 a.m. "Leo," directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by S. S. Lalit Kumar and Jagadish Palanisamy under the banners of Seven Screen Studio and The Root, is all set to grace the screens on October 19, 2023, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of Dussehra. Leo's Violent And Raw Content Garners An 18+ Rating, Exclusive To Adult Audience In UK The film boasts a captivating storyline, promising an enthralling thriller with Thalapathy Vijay in the lead role. Alongside him, a star-studded ensemble cast including Sanjay Dutt, Trisha, Arjun Sarja, Gautham Menon, Mysskin, and Priya Anand takes on pivotal roles, ensuring a remarkable cinematic experience. The screenplay is a collaborative effort by Rathna Kumar and Deeraj Vaidy, in conjunction with Lokesh Kanagaraj's creative direction. Lakshmi Moves To Mumbai Photo Credit: Gallery Lakshmi Manchu is the most successful actor-producer-talk show host, and philanthropist in Tollywood. She is one multi-talented woman who is an inspiration to many aspiring women. The actress is back in the headlines for exciting reasons. She moved to Mumbai, the city of dreams. The actress-cum-producer is said to have moved for professional reasons, strictly. Lakshmi is also open to giving auditions for roles in films, web series, etc. On the other hand, Lakshmi Manchu is also best friends with Rakul Preet Singh, Rhea Chakraborty and others. Rakul has been living with her beau Jackie Bhagnani in Mumbai. Even otherwise, the duo were also papped several times catching up in fancy diners in Mumbai. She frequently works out with Rhea Chakraborty when in Mumbai. Lakshmi has a good circle and she is only going to tap the right opportunities this time. As quoted in a report on Eenadu, Lakshmi Manchu said, "New city, new phase and I'm very happy about this. I thank my fans for believing in me and supporting me. I loved working in the South but there are some limitations. I only relocated for professional reasons. The opportunities are vast and I am willing to give auditions." On the work front, Lakshmi Manchu will be next seen in a female-centric film titled 'Agni Nakshatram.' Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2023) - Teras Resources Inc. (TSXV: TRA) (OTC Pink: TRARF) ("Teras" or the "Company"): reports that a Cease Trade Order has been issued by the Alberta Securities Commission ("ASC") and trading of the Company's shares has been halted. Teras, states, "We have not been able to complete the Company's May 31, 2023 annual Audit within the compliance deadline; therefore, the ACS has issued a Cease Trade Order. The reason the Company failed to meet its deadline was due to insufficient cash to pay its Auditors. The Company is currently working to resolve this matter within the time frame provided and will update the Shareholders with the Company's progress." About Teras Teras main project is its Cahuilla project located in Imperial County, California. For further project and corporate information, contact: Teras Resources Inc. Joseph Carrabba, President /CEO Peter Leger, Director Email: josephcarrabba@yahoo.com Email: pleger@teras.ca Website: www.teras.ca 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 of accuracy of this news release. This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein may be forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", " expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information regarding: the ability to raise the capital needed for the companies ongoing listing requirements and advancement of its project. This forward-looking information reflects the Company's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions the Company believes are reasonable. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the early stage development of the Company and its projects; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; commodity prices; the actual results of current exploration and development or operational activities; competition; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents and other risks inherent in the mining industry; lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting the Company; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183840 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2023) - Eureka Lithium Corp. (CSE: ERKA) (OTCQB: UREKF) (FSE: S580) ("Eureka Lithium" or "Eureka" or the "Company ) today announced FINRA has approved a change of the Company's OTCQB stock symbol. The common shares of Eureka will continue trading on the OTCQB ("OTCQB") under the new symbol "UREKF", effective Thursday October 12th, 2023, and will continue trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the existing symbol "ERKA". No action by the Company's shareholders is required with respect to the ticker symbol change. The Company's common shares will continue to be listed on the OTCQB and CSE, and the respective CUSIP numbers will remain unchanged. The Company also announces that it has entered into an arm's length marketing agreement effective October 23th, 2023 (the "Marketing Agreement") with Sideways Frequency LLC ("SFLLC"). As consideration for SFLLC's marketing and investor awareness services (the "Services"), the Company has agreed to pay SFLLC a fee of $150,000 (USD) for an initial term of two months (the "Initial Term"). The Company may elect to renew the agreement at any point during the Initial Term. The Services will include, but are not limited to, email campaigns, native advertising, display ads, lead generation, creation of content, strategic planning, digital advertisement placement, and overseeing progress and results of digital campaigns. Consideration offered to SFLLC does not include any securities of the Company. Aside from this engagement, the Company does not have any relationship with SFLLC and Mr. Wesley De Souza, CEO of SFLLC. About Sideways Frequency LLC Sideways Frequency LLC is in the business of preparing, from publicly available information, advertisements consisting of profiles overviewing publicly traded companies, running marketing campaigns including PPC marketing, email marketing, native advertising, and display ads, and maintaining or updating clients' websites as the client sees fit. Sideways Frequency LLC's business address is 1389 Center Drive, Suite 200, Park City, Utah, 84098. Sideways Frequency LLC can be contacted by email at info@sidewaysfrequency.com. The Company also announces that it has increased the marketing services budget with MIC Market Information & Content Publishing GmbH ("MIC") (Address: Gerhart-Hauptmann-St. 49b 51379 Leverkusen; email: contact@micpublishing.de; phone: +49 2171-7766628) which will continue at an increased spending rate until Oct 30th, 2023. MIC will continue to assist with the creation of text materials, advertorials, creation of campaigns, creation of ad groups, text ads and display ads, detailed keyword research and ongoing optimization, creation of remarketing campaigns, optimization of keyword set, ongoing bid management of ad word and keyword campaigns, coordinating online advertiser and corresponding marketing targets. The Company has paid an additional 100,000 Euro for the services and campaigns coordinated by MIC. MIC does not have any prior relationship with the Company, other than previous marketing engagements and is an arm's length transaction. Corporate Video To view a new Eureka Lithium corporate video, visit www.EurekaLithiumCorp.com (https://eurekalithiumcorp.com) or the following URL: Cannot view this video? Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vvm0zfNFp4 Corporate Presentation Visit the Eureka Lithium homepage or click on the following URL to view the Company's Corporate Presentation: https://eurekalithiumcorp.com/EurekaLithium_Q3_2023.pdf About Eureka Lithium Corp. Eureka Lithium is the largest lithium-focused landowner in the northern third of Quebec, known as the Nunavik region, with 100% ownership of three projects comprising 1,408 sq. km in the emerging Raglan West, Raglan South and New Leaf Lithium Camps. These claims were acquired from legendary prospector Shawn Ryan and are located in a region that hosts two operating nickel mines with deep-sea port access. For more information please contact: Jeffrey Wilson Chief Executive Officer Email: info@eurekalithiumcorp.com Cautionary Statement Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, such as statements regarding the contemplated completion of the Acquisition and the Concurrent Financing, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations and are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct, nor that the Acquisition will be completed as contemplated, or at all, or that the Concurrent Financing will be completed as contemplated, or at all. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law. The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183839 GLAND, Switzerland, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Huawei and IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, signed a strategic cooperation agreement to launch Phase 2 of the Tech4Nature partnership. Aligned with Huawei's TECH4ALL initiative and IUCN's Green List, the launch of Tech4Nature in 2020 marked the first time that either Huawei or IUCN had established a major partnership spanning the ICT and nature conservation sectors. A key output of Phase 2 will be to facilitate further collaboration between the two sectors. "Technology allows us to bridge the gap between science and action," said Dr Grethel Aguilar, Acting Director General of IUCN. "Conservationists can harness the power of big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to analyse vast datasets and ecological trends. This invaluable information aids in the identification and protection of critical habitats, guides our efforts, and can leverage necessary resources to protect threatened species." Phase 2 will expand the global impact of the Tech4Nature partnership and scale-up the use of digital technologies to drive the effective and equitable management of protected and conserved areas. Together, IUCN and Huawei will develop technology-based solutions for pilot projects in at least five countries, including Brazil, Kenya, Turkey, Mexico, and China. The Tech4Nature partnership will also contribute to the implementation of the 30x30 target defined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which calls for 30% of the Earth's land and sea areas to be conserved by establishing protected areas and effective area-based conservation measures. The partners plan to support the implementation of the GBF through knowledge-sharing and capacity-building, including supporting the Global Species Action Plan (GSAP) online knowledge platform and developing knowledge products. "We believe that the Tech4Nature initiative will build on the success of the first phase and expand its global impact," said Peng Song, Senior Vice President of Huawei and President of ICT Strategy and Marketing in his speech during the signing ceremony for the launch of Phase 2. "We also believe that more partners will join the Tech4Nature initiative, embrace digital technology, and contribute to the sustainable development of the planet." Marking the beginning of the second phase of the partnership, was the launch of the Tech4Nature - A Partnership for Our Planet publication. This flagship publication draws together the best practices and experiences of the first phase of the partnership between Huawei and IUCN, which piloted the use of ICT for nature conservation in five protected areas across the globe. It also features guidance on how technology can help different protected and conserved areas achieve the IUCN Green List Standard, and the role of technology in the GBF implementation. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2245871/Image1.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/huawei-and-iucn-to-expand-global-impact-of-nature-conservation-in-tech4nature-phase-2-301955272.html President Joko Widodo speaks during a press conference following the 1st High-Level Meeting of the Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali, on October 11, 2023. (ANTARA FOTO/Media Center KTT AIS Forum 2023/Akbar Nugroho Gumay/Spt) BALI, INDONESIA, Oct 12, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Indonesia, as host of the 1st High-Level Meeting of the Archipelagic & Island States (AIS) Forum, has called for the collaboration of AIS Forum participating countries to respond to various global challenges.Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), while opening the high-level meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday, highlighted that all archipelagic and island countries, whether large or small, developed or developing, are facing challenges, such as rising sea levels, marine resource management, and marine pollution."If we throw rubbish on land, it does not necessarily mean that the rubbish will move to land in another part of the world. However, if we throw rubbish into the ocean, the rubbish can reach any land in the world," he said.The president deemed collaboration and solidarity between archipelagic and island countries crucial to creating strategic, concrete, and tactical measures for tackling shared problems.The high-level meeting is deemed an important opportunity to set the direction of collaboration going forward.In this regard, he encouraged three aspects to be advanced: solidarity, equality, and inclusivity as principles that must be held together; priority on concrete cooperation that is adjusted to the needs of beneficiary countries; and third, robust and dynamic cooperation framework to respond to challenges going forward."Indonesia would like to invite all countries that are present; let us continue to choose to continue to build unity and continue to build collaboration even amid a divided world condition. Let us walk and work together," Jokowi stated.On that occasion, President Jokowi noted that Indonesia has also continued to echo the interests of archipelagic and developing countries at various international forums, such as in the 2022 G20 Summit, the 2023 ASEAN Summit, and the 2023 AIS Forum high-level meeting."Indonesia is also committed to preparing grant funds to be used for the interests of archipelagic countries and developing countries," he said.At a press conference held after the meeting, President Jokowi highlighted that developing and archipelagic countries have the same right to advance and carry out development.He also affirmed that Indonesia, as a maritime nation, would continue to be at the forefront of supporting the AIS Forum as an inclusive cooperation of archipelagic and island countries."For Indonesia, the sea is not a divider; but instead, the sea is a uniter," he remarked.Indonesia is hosting the 1st High-Level Meeting of the AIS Forum, which is attended by 32 countries out of 51 AIS countries and four international organizations.The high-level meeting raises the themes of the Blue Economy; Our Ocean, Our Future; and Solidarity.At the head-of-state level, Indonesia noted the participation of President of the Federated States of Micronesia Wesley Simina, Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Xanana Gusmao, the Premier of Niue Dalton Tagelagi, Prime Minister of Sao Tome and Principe Patrice Emery Trovoada, and Prime Minister of Tuvalu Kausea Natano.Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji Manoa Seru Nakausabaria Kamikamica and Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga Samiu Kuita Vaipulu were also in attendance at the meeting.Meanwhile, delegations of other countries are led by ministers, deputy ministers, high-ranking officials, and ambassadors during the high-level meetings.Source: Antara News Agency, https://www.aisforum.org/Source: Archipelagic and Island States Forum (AIS Forum)Copyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. BEIJING, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from China.org.cn: "The Belt and Road Initiative aims to bring together the people of the world to fight against the divisions in the global economy. So it is very important that we have such a forum," said African Union Representative to China Rahamtalla M. Osman when talking about the Belt and Road Initiative. African countries are actively participating in the Belt and Road Initiative as important partners. Of the 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, 52 have signed agreements on the Belt and Road Initiative. According to Osman, the most important thing about the Belt and Road Initiative is that it brings countries together to help each other. This help is not a kind of charity, but a win-win cooperation between China and the members of the African Union, and even all those who have joined the initiative. He said that in dialogues with China, Africa can talk about its own needs and achieve a win-win situation with China. Speaking about China-Africa trade, he said that Africa will continue to discuss with China how China can help it, through the Belt and Road Initiative or other mechanisms, to increase the value of its products and eliminate its dependence on the export of raw materials. He believed that efforts to improve the quality of exported products from Africa and allow them to be accepted in the Chinese market and benefit from the zero tariffs that China has released will help African economies move forward. Osman is very confident in the future development of the Belt and Road Initiative. Currently, the coordination and docking system between the Belt and Road Initiative and the African Union's Agenda 2063 has been fully developed. He felt that this will effectively help African countries solve the problems and difficulties they face. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, the Initiative has become a popular global public good and a platform for international cooperation. The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing in October this year. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mujFYpsPyOg Original Link: http://www.cnfocus.com/african-union-representative-to-china-bri-is-a-winwin/ View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/african-union-representative-to-china-the-belt-and-road-initiative-aims-for-mutual-support-and-win-win-cooperation-301955609.html BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2023, the leading Asia Pacific centred biotech CRO with global execution capabilities, announces significant senior executive hires to further expand services for Novotech's global biotech clients. Rick Farris, a seasoned professional in the clinical research and life sciences industry, has taken on the role of Managing Director for North America which includes teams in San Francisco, Boston, Boulder, and Charleston with further expansions underway. Dr. David Ng a specialist in biostatistics and biometrics has assumed the position of Global Vice President for Biometrics and Data Management. Novotech's CEO Dr. John Moller expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "I am pleased to extend a warm welcome to both Rick Farris and Dr. David Ng as they join the Novotech family. Their wealth of experience, proven expertise, and unwavering dedication to excellence in the clinical research and life sciences sector make them invaluable additions to our team. We are confident that their leadership and contributions will drive Novotech's continued growth and success." "Rick's extensive background, with 22 years in biotech clinical research and drug development, complemented by over 30 years in the life sciences, makes him exceptionally qualified for this critical leadership role within our North American operations," stated Dr. Moller. Dr. Moller highlighted Rick's substantial executive expertise, which encompasses a history with global CROs such as IQVIA. "Rick has led operations teams and played a key role in establishing global project management capabilities. His CRO background is diverse, including business development, client relations management, process reengineering, and consulting, with a specific focus on supporting biotech companies in bringing innovative drugs to market. Additionally, his areas of therapeutic expertise span reproductive health, oncology, diagnostic devices, and rare diseases." "I am very excited to join Novotech, a CRO I have successfully partnered with in the past on large global programs. Novotech's approach to client partnership and biotech focus is very appealing to me. I am joining at an exciting time, where Novotech is further expanding the North America operations to serve the innovative biotech market," commented Rick. Dr. David Ng's appointment as Novotech's Global VP of Biometrics and Data Management brings over three decades of biostatistics, data management, and strategic leadership. "He will lead a team of 350+ data managers in charge of helping sponsors with study design and statistical strategy," remarked Dr. Moller. Most recently Dr. Ng served as VP of Biometrics for WuXi Clinical, a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec. He also previously held senior and executive level roles at PPD, a division of Thermo Fisher Scientific. "His extensive track record will further expand our biostatistics services, from first-in-man to Phase IV trials, across a broad range of therapeutic areas," indicated Dr. Moller. "The landscape of clinical trial designs is growing increasingly intricate, prompting biotech companies to seek more scalable solutions, particularly in the field of data quality and biometrics. I am very pleased to be taking on this important role at such an exciting time in Novotech's global growth program. The biometrics team is exceptional, and I look forward to expanding our presence and capabilities to further support our biotech clients," stated Dr. Ng. Novotech has more than 3,000 employees operating across 25 geographies with 34 office locations, including Greater China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Europe. The CRO offers biotechs a unique and unparalleled suite of early to late-phase services across the US and Europe, with a foundation in Asia Pacific where the company has built a reputation for delivering high-quality expedited clinical trials. Recognized for its industry-leading contributions, Novotech has received numerous prestigious awards, including the CRO Leadership Award 2023 and the Best Cell & Gene Therapy CRO 2022 and 2023 awards. Additionally, the company was honored with the Asia-Pacific Contract Research Organization Company of the Year Award in 2023. Its commitment to collaboration is evident in the 50 Leading Site Partnership agreements it has signed over the past three years. About NovotechNovotech-CRO.com Founded in 1997, Novotech is internationally recognized as the leading Asia Pacific centred Contract Research Organization (CRO) with global execution capabilities. The Company has established itself as a clinical CRO with labs, phase I facilities, drug development consulting services and regulatory expertise. It has experience in over 5,000 clinical projects, including Phase I to Phase IV clinical trials and bioequivalence studies. Novotech employs over 3,000 staff globally across 34 office locations. Novotech is positioned to serve as a partner and ally to small and medium-sized biotech, biopharma and pharma sponsors seeking to conduct clinical trials in Asia Pacific, the US and Europe. For more information visit Novotech CRO ~During their Vietnam Visit, the delegation from King's University College signed an MOU with International University which is a part of Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City~ ~The partnership aims to promote academic exchange and support intercultural activities and projects in several mutually complimentary fields between students, faculty and staff from Canada and Vietnam~ HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- King's University College, under the leadership of President Dr. David C. Malloy, is building new academic and cultural ties between Vietnam and Canada. During their visit to Vietnam, the King's University College delegation formalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International University which is an integral part of Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City. This collaboration aims to facilitate student and faculty pathways, exchange programs involving students, faculty, and staff from both sides as well as research collaborations and 2+2 degree pathways. Speaking about the association, Dr. David Malloy,President King's University College, said, "Intra-institute partnerships in diverse countries are a key element of King's internationalization objectives. This partnership will provide an exciting launchpad for further collaboration in various arenas including reciprocal mobility of faculty, staff, students, and researchers. We look forward to cooperation and development with International University to further the internationalization objectives for everyone associated. This term, 20% of King's student body comprises of international students, and a small portion of these are originally from Vietnam. Our Vietnamese students and alumni are exceptional members of our community and we are eager to welcome more of them! We are also witnessing a steady inflow of students from Southeast Asia for courses such as analytics and decision sciences and economics and thus, the new partnership through the MoU comes at the right time for us." The MOU signed between King's and International University is based on organizing 2+2 transfer arrangements, future student exchanges, faculty mobility, joint research activities and collaborating on several fields, possibly economics and analytics and decision sciences between the universities. Speaking about the association,Assoc. Prof. Dinh Duc Anh Vu, Vice President of International University, said, "This partnership is poised to be a significant catalyst for nurturing our students' aspirations and fostering the emergence of future leaders who will guide global communities. Collaborations of this nature serve as invaluable bridges for cultural understanding and deeper ties between our two nations, with far-reaching benefits for both our students, faculty, staff and researchers." This partnership marks a milestone for King's and signifies Vietnam's growth in the international higher education market. Both the institutes believe that these partnerships will benefit the exchange of students, faculty, staff, and researchers involved as an opportunity to develop new perspectives, ideas, and knowledge. As part of the initial MOU, some initial ideas were generated about 2+2 agreements, student exchanges for the purposes of internships, semester abroad mobility, and/or for other academic purposes. As per the MOU both the institutions are signifying their desire for future collaboration over the next five years. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2245723/Kings_University_College.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/canada-based-kings-university-college-signs-mou-with-international-university-viet-nam-national-university-ho-chi-minh-city-to-strengthen-academic-ties-with-vietnam-301955379.html CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Newcrest Mining Ltd (NCMGY.PK), an Australian mining company, said on Friday that its shareholders have agreed to the acquisition of the company by Newmont Corp (NEM) via its unit Newmont Overseas Holdings Pty Ltd. In May, Newmont had agreed to acquire Newcrest for $1.10 per share. According to Newcrest, 84.74 percent of its shareholders were present and 92.63 percent were in favor of the scheme resolution as set out in the Notice of Scheme Meeting. Eligible Newcrest shareholders will receive 0.400 Newmont securities for each Newcrest share held on the record date of October 30, as per the terms. The company will now apply to the Australian federal court for approval of the scheme resolution on October 17. If the court approves the scheme at the second hearing, then a copy of it will be submitted to Australian Securities and Investments Commission or ASIC following which the scheme will become effective. It is expected that Newcrest shares will stop trading on the ASX, PNGX and TSX on October 26, and Newmont shares will commence trading on NYSE and TSX on November 6. Newcrest declared a special dividend of $1.10 per Newcrest share payable on October 27 to shareholders of record on October 19. Currently, Newcrest are trading at AUD26 up 0.78% in Australia and Newmont shares closed at $38.78 down 0.84% on the New York Stock Exchange. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Die Top 3 Dividendenaktien 2024 In diesem Report stellen wir Ihnen 3 Top-Aktien aus dem Energie-Sektor vor, die Sie unbedingt auf Ihre Watchlist setzen mussen. Lassen Sie sich diese kostenlose Analyse nicht entgehen! Hier klicken LONDON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BE OPEN Art, an online art gallery set up by BE OPEN think tank, a humanitarian initiative founded by international businessperson and philanthropist Elena Baturina, is running a new competition for emerging artists, aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities - BE OPEN Regional Art. Every month over July - September 2023, works by 20 emerging artists from the countries of Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam were posted at the online gallery for the public to select the Regional Artist of the Month. In July, August and September the titles were given to Maziyah Yussof, a multidisciplinary artist from Brunei; Dabi Arnasa, an artist from Bali; and another artist from Bali with artistic name Awshitttttt, consecutively Based on the amount of votes by the public and BE OPEN's art community members, the August winner Awshitttttt has become the Artist of the Region for Southeast Asia. The artist will be offered a grant of 500 euro from BE OPEN. A self-taught artist born in 1996 has had a passion for drawing and illustration since he was a child. Awshitttttt is now a professional artist focusing on digital painting and large-scale public murals. Portrait paintings, illustrations, and urban art are his artistic fields of expertise. His trademark is incorporating the delicate and iconic daisy flower as a representation of peace, love, and positivity. The Founder of BE OPEN Elena Baturina also selected her favourite artist in the region - Chau le Thai Huyen, a digital painter from Vietnam, who describes her own style as "impulsive and like a naive child with constructing and harmonious colors and bold composition." On the 1st of October, the focus of the competition moved to Central Africa. The regional competition runs alongside the regular ongoing work of BE OPEN Art, whose experts every month select 20 new artists for the gallery, and the public names the Artist of the Month and Year. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/be-open-art-congratulates-the-winners-of-the-regional-art-competition-in-southeast-asia-301955977.html At the Liquid Live event in Dubai, the Company gears up for launch of Alluzience in next wave of countries and presents exciting pipeline update Galderma, the emerging pure-play dermatology category leader, today hosts the first edition of its Liquid Live event in Dubai as a chance to discuss with clinicians the future of innovation in the field of neuromodulation as well as showcasing the latest neuromodulators from its aesthetics portfolio. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013777100/en/ Copyrights Sylvain Granjon To mark the progress in treatment optimization and showcase its commitment to further driving innovation, Galderma has organized the first ever Liquid Live event. This premium experience will convene over one hundred of Europe's leading aesthetics practitioners to immerse themselves in the future of the neuromodulator field. The Liquid Live event will include presentations from renowned experts on key data, the latest market trends and changes in patient needs, and sharing insights to advance the future of neuromodulation in aesthetics together. A year on from the launch of Alluzience, the first and only liquid ready-to-use neuromodulator in Europe with rapid onset and effects lasting for up to six months, Galderma is now getting ready to launch the product in 13 new countries1. Indicated for use in adult patients as a treatment to temporarily improve the appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines, this launch opened a new era of innovation in neuromodulation. As a ready-to-use liquid formulation, it has the potential to improve safety and dosing accuracy compared to existing neuromodulators that require reconstitution, enabling more precision and higher patient satisfaction. "Galderma is the leading innovator in neuromodulators and we are delighted to launch the Liquid Live event as an opportunity to convene leading experts in this field. Alluzience has a unique profile and its launch in 13 new countries is another exciting step in our journey of driving differentiated innovation and expanding our portfolio. Galderma has a strong track record as an innovator in neuromodulation having launched the first liquid neuromodulator, as well as the first neuromodulator with a six-month duration of action, and is committed to further innovation. Liquid Live offers the ideal platform for us to come together as we prepare to launch this unique product more broadly and explore the many possibilities for the future of neuromodulation together." GERRY MUHLE HEAD OF GLOBAL PRODUCT STRATEGY GALDERMA Galderma is well-positioned to continue to build its category-leading pipeline in injectable aesthetics, with proven in-house R&D capabilities in medical aesthetics. This includes successfully developing RelabotulinumtoxinA internally as well as the world's largest hyaluronic acid filler range, Restylane. Along with Sculptra, the first and original injectable poly-L-lactic acid collagen stimulator, Galderma's offering in neuromodulators and fillers is the broadest, unparalleled injectable aesthetics portfolio. About Alluzience Alluzience (abobotulinumtoxinA solution) is the first ready-to-use BoNT-A liquid neuromodulator formulation to be introduced in Europe. Alluzience is indicated for the temporary improvement in the appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines seen at maximum frown in adult patients under 65 years, when the severity of these lines has an important psychological impact on the patient. It should only be administered by a physician with appropriate qualifications and expertise in this treatment using the required equipment. Dosing and treatment intervals depend on assessment of the individual patient's response. The treatment interval should be no more frequent than every three months. For more information, please see the Summary of Product Characteristics2 Alluzience is a product under license from Ipsen. Alluzience is a registered trademark of Ipsen. Galderma has an exclusive license from Ipsen to develop, promote and distribute Alluzience in the approved indication in Europe. About Galderma Galderma is the emerging pure-play dermatology category leader, present in approximately 90 countries. We deliver an innovative, science-based portfolio of premium flagship brands and services that span the full spectrum of the fast-growing dermatology market though Injectable Aesthetics, Dermatological Skincare and Therapeutic Dermatology. Since our foundation in 1981, we have dedicated our focus and passion to the human body's largest organ the skin meeting individual consumer and patient needs with superior outcomes in partnership with healthcare professionals. Because we understand that the skin we are in shapes our lives, we are advancing dermatology for every skin story. Galderma's portfolio of flagship brands includes Restylane, Dysport, Azzalure, Alluzience and Sculptra in Injectable Aesthetics; Soolantra, Epiduo, Differin, Aklief, Epsolay, Twyneo, Oracea, Metvix, Benzac and Loceryl in Therapeutic Dermatology; and Cetaphil and Alastin Skincare in Dermatological Skincare. For more information: www.galderma.com. 1 Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia 2 Alluzience Summary of Product Characteristics, 2023 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013777100/en/ Contacts: For further information: Christian Marcoux, M.Sc. Chief Communications Officer christian.marcoux@galderma.com +41 76 315 26 50 Sebastien Cros Corporate Communications Director sebastien.cros@galderma.com +41 79 529 59 85 Emil Ivanov Head of Strategy, Investor Relations, and ESG emil.ivanov@galderma.com +41 21 642 78 12 Jessica Cohen Investor Relations and Strategy Director jessica.cohen@galderma.com +41 21 642 76 43 The immersive play experience opens today on World Play Day in London and runs until 18 th October. October. Local artist and limerick extraordinaire Angry Dan's riddles will unite players as they bring their unique 'superpowers' together to solve challenges and unlock new rooms. The LEGO Superpower Academy forms part of the LEGO Group's Play Is Your Superpower campaign which aims to inspire families to reprioritise play and experience the benefits it brings. LONDON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the LEGO Superpower Academy opens its doors in Shoreditch, London, giving families the chance to come together to solve a range of fiendishly fun challenges while they discover the superpowers that play gives them. The experience forms part of the LEGO Group's second annual World Play Day celebrations - a day dedicated to celebrating the benefits that play brings and encouraging families to take a moment to play. The LEGO Superpower Academy will be open from today until 18th October to help families rediscover the power of play as they unite superpowers to solve the experience's unique missions. Each room hosts a different challenge that will test the creativity, problem-solving skills, communication, and resilience of players set by the Professor of Play. Celebrities including Katie Piper, Giovanna Fletcher and Cara Delahoyde were the first to compete in the LEGO Superpower Academy yesterday. This included an immersive fun filled afternoon of play through teamwork and imagination. All those who completed the course and unleashed their superpowers graduated as qualified members of the LEGO Group's Play Squad. East London based artist, Angry Dan, has created a bespoke mural in Shoreditch which aims to inspire commuters to get involved in World Play Day. Guests and passers-by will be invited to design their own tiles and add it to the design, leaving their individual LEGO mark on the streets of Shoreditch. The LEGO Superpower Academy comes as new research from the LEGO Group finds that over half of children in the UK are spending less than 2% of their week (seven hours) playing, despite UK parents saying play is fundamental to kid's development and growth, boosting their creativity (59%), confidence (57%) and communication skills (54%). Alero Akuya, VP of Global Brand Development at the LEGO Group said "Kids and families need play, it's as simple as that. It helps children develop crucial superpowers, or 'skills' that benefit them both now and in the future. But it's not only children that benefit from play - it makes the whole family happier, builds stronger family bonds and improves wellbeing". Families who are unable to visit the experience in person can take part in an online mission inspired by the LEGO Superpower Academy and claim their Play Hero Badge at LEGO.com/kids. Please find more information on the event below Timings: 12th - 18 th October 9am - 6:75pm 12th - 18 October 9am - 6:75pm Address: The LEGO Superpower Academy, White Rabbit, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3HJ The LEGO Superpower Academy, White Rabbit, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3HJ Price: FREE - but tickets must be booked in advance here The LEGO Superpower Academy has also connected with local primary schools and community in East London bringing exclusive sessions and experiences to them on October 13th. Other initiatives from the LEGO Group to help families in the UK celebrate World Play Day in the UK: Selected LEGO Stores across the UK and Europe will be handing out free play mission packs on the day. Visit LEGO.com/stores for more details A range of playful and creative celebrities will take over the LEGO Group's social channels for '24 hours of fun' - sharing inspiration for how they are weaving play into the day LEGO Education will be helping teachers bring more play to the classroom with brand new activities designed to help students learn through play Families can take part in a range of quick and easy interactive games and experiences on LEGO.com The LEGO Life app will also offer kids a huge range of engaging Play Missions and challenges Show us how you play on the day using the hashtag TodayWePlay or visit LEGO.com/World-Play-Day to join in the fun. Notes to Editors * The LEGO Superpower Academy is open from 12th - 18th October 2023. About the research. 1015 Parents (21+) of children aged 6-12 across the UK on 07.08.2023 - 18.08.2023. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles. Where data is referenced as the LEGO Play Well study 2022, the research was conducted among a total of 32,781parents and 24,593children aged 5 -12 through a 20 minute online quantitative survey conducted across 35 markets in early 2022. About the LEGO Group The LEGO Group's mission is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play. The LEGO System in Play, with its foundation in LEGO bricks, allows children and fans to build and rebuild anything they can imagine. The LEGO Group was founded in Billund, Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, its name derived from the two Danish words LEg GOdt, which mean "Play Well". Today, the LEGO Group remains a family-owned company headquartered in Billund. However, its products are now sold in more than 130 countries worldwide. For more news from the LEGO Group, information about our financial performance and responsibility engagement, please visit www.LEGO.com/aboutus . Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2246558/Giovanna_Fletcher_Izzy_Judd.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2246560/Giovanna_Fletcher_and_Izzy_Judd.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2246561/Katie_Piper.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2246562/Cara_Delahoyde.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/celebs-and-their-families-unlock-playful-superpowers-at-the-launch-of-new-immersive-play-experience-the-lego-superpower-academy-301956030.html LEXINGTON, KY / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / The World Trade Center Kentucky (WTC-KY) is pleased to announce their upcoming trade mission to United Arab Emirates (UAE) October 14-22, 2023. This trade mission will introduce participants to UAE's dynamic economy and will provide a range of unique networking opportunities with global innovators. The delegation will benefit from a rich cultural experience while exploring the history of the region and its diverse, thriving global business scene. Like Kentucky, UAE's economy has grown exponentially in the past few decades, recently recording its fastest growth rate in a single year, over a ten-year period. WTC-KY's President & CEO, Omar Ayyash is thrilled to bring this opportunity to Kentucky companies. Ayyash notes, "our trade mission to Dubai and the UAE, will greatly benefit the participating businesses here in Kentucky and the surrounding region. GITEX is an exceptional ecosystem to experience, and Dubai is a magical place. Pictures only capture the surface of its stunning architecture, glamour, beaches, and Arab atmosphere." GITEX is the world's largest and most inclusive tech event and trade show, featuring the world's leading tech protagonists, inventors, academics, researchers, and developers. In addition to participating in GITEX, the delegation will have one-on-one meetings with the staff of Dubai's World Trade Center, key government officials, and area business leaders. The Delegation includes Kentucky business owners, academics, and international trade leaders for this weeklong opportunity-finding mission. Participants will benefit individually, but more importantly, their experience will help to strengthen Kentucky's trade, research, and innovation. International and domestic trade missions combine the ability to meet potential clients, distributors, government representatives, and educational institutes. Several members of the delegation will also share their expertise during the mission - speaking at the Rochester Institute of Technology - Dubai and the AmCham GITEX Kick-Off Breakfast. Sundeep Dronawat, CEO of Fetal Life, looks forward to joining the mission and notes the effort behind bringing this opportunity to life: "Omar and team have been tireless champions of international trade for Kentucky, and their work has been instrumental in the success of the World Trade Center KY's trade mission to Dubai. Omar's deep knowledge of the Middle East market and his strong relationships with key stakeholders will be invaluable in helping us to connect Kentucky businesses with new opportunities in Dubai and the wider region. We are grateful for his dedication and support, and we look forward to continuing to work with his team to grow Kentucky's exports and create jobs for our citizens," Dronawat stated. Dr. Adel Elmaghraby, Director of Industry, Research, and Innovation at the University of Louisville called the trade mission "an impressive organizational effort that puts Kentucky on the world map of business and educational leadership". About World Trade Center Kentucky As a member of the World Trade Center Kentucky (WTC-KY) our members are connected to 300 World Trade Center offices in over 90 countries around the World. For them, that means support and growth for their international business operations through our local resources, as well as a global network. As a member of the largest business-to-business international trade association in the world, the WTC-KY gives them access to markets around the globe. For additional information: Contact Omar Ayyash 502-338-9885 SOURCE: World Trade Center Kentucky View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792634/kentucky-delegation-heading-to-worlds-largest-technology-trade-show--gitex LONDON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) annually hosts and celebrates the UK's leading management consultancy firms and their impact in the public and private sectors. Enfuse Group was founded by Graeme Curwen and Harry Vazanias with the goal of helping companies to be remarkable in tomorrow's digital age. Since foundation, Enfuse Group has grown its footprint in the industry and over the years, has grown significantly with over 40 consultants and a thriving community and ecosystem of Associates and partner firms, who all share the same passion for delivering exceptional results. The company have a strong track record of working with some of the world's most recognised brands across a number of sectors including Retail, Hospitality, FMCG, Education, and Legal. Enfuse Group's rapid growth is a testament to their unwavering commitment to excellence and their ability to attract top talent in the consulting industry. This year, Enfuse Group were the recipients of the Best New Consultancy award. Additionally, Enfuse Group consultant Joe Taylor was recognised for his outstanding client work by being named as a finalist for Team Leader Consultant of the Year Awards . Graeme Curwen, Co-Founder and CEO of Enfuse Group commented: "This award is fantastic recognition for all the incredible work our entire company delivers. Not only our client-facing consultants but our non-client facing people too. Everyone has made a huge contribution to this achievement. It's a true testament to all the hard work everyone at Enfuse Group puts in every day both internally and with our amazing clients. Thank you to our amazing people, clients and to the MCA for being such a force for good in our industry." The Best New Consultancy Award is an award open to all consulting firms, including non-MCA members, which have been operating for less than 7 years. Enfuse Group were recognised for this award having demonstrated client focus, delivery excellence, commitment to people and operational excellence. The judges particularly commended Enfuse for their values-centric, hugely energetic approach and having strong demonstrations of repeat business. ABOUT ENFUSE GROUP Enfuse Group was founded by?Graeme Curwen?and Harry Vazanias with the vision of building a consultancy that would help their clients become top performers through Digital and IT as well as being a great place to work for their people. Since its foundation, Enfuse Group has worked both in the UK and internationally with some of the world's most recognised companies, across a number of sectors, to help them in their digital transformations. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2244476/Enfuse_Group_team.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/enfuse-group-celebrated-at-this-years-mca-awards-as-they-took-home-the-prestigious-best-new-consultancy-award-301956040.html VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Aton Resources Inc. (TSXV:AAN) ("Aton" or the "Company") is pleased to update investors on the first results from the recent reverse circulation percussion ("RC") drilling at the Semna prospect, located within its 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat" or the "Concession"), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Highlights: 21 holes were drilled at the Semna prospect, for a total of 3,662m, during the recently completed RC drilling programme; Preliminary results of 4m composite sampling are now available for the first 17 holes, SMP-001 to SMP-016, with 9 of the holes of targeting the Main Vein zone; 8 out of the 9 holes targeting the Main Vein zone intersected moderate to high grade gold mineralisation; Significant mineralised intersections from the Semna Main Vein zone included 14.63 g/t Au over a 12m interval (hole SMP-016); 29.8 g/t Au over a 4m interval (hole SMP-003); 7.03 g/t Au over a 4m interval (hole SMP-007) and 6.27 g/t Au over a 4m interval (hole SMP-006); (hole SMP-016); (hole SMP-003); (hole SMP-007) and (hole SMP-006); Drilling and underground mapping indicates that the mineralisation along the Main Vein zone appears to be generally quite consistent, and is open both along strike and continues at depth beneath the underground workings of the early twentieth century British mine at Semna. "I am pleased to be able to provide the first set of preliminary drill results from the Semna prospect, which was our primary target from the recent RC drilling programme" said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO. "We have long regarded Semna as one of the most promising exploration targets on the Abu Marawat Concession, and we are delighted with this first set of preliminary composite sample results from the first phase of RC drilling at Semna. The drilling has indicated that the high grade orogenic style gold mineralisation at Semna continues at depth beneath the old mine stopes, and is also open along strike. These results further indicate the potential of the Abu Marawat Concession to host multiple deposits with a variety of mineralisation styles, and Aton continues to look forward to developing the Concession over the long term." Semna Prospect The Semna prospect is located approximately 27km east-northeast of the Hamama West deposit and 13km north-northeast of the Rodruin deposit, and is accessed via desert tracks from either Hamama, Rodruin or the Abu Marawat deposit to the north (Figure 1). The Semna area has a long history of gold mining, during both ancient and modern times. There was archaeological evidence in the area suggesting that mining took place during the early Arab, Ptolemaic, and New Kingdom periods, and possibly dates back as far as the Old Kingdom period, over 4,500 years ago. In modern times, Semna was exploited between 1904 and 1906 by two British companies, the Eridia (Egypt) Exploring Company Limited and the Fatira (Egypt) Exploring Company Limited, which worked the Main Vein on two underground levels. By about 1908 however, the British gold mining industry in Egypt had been almost totally eclipsed by the discovery of oil, and was more or less moribund. There was also some further development work carried out at Semna in the 1950's by a subsidiary of the Egyptian Phosphate Company. It has been reported that the Semna mine had the widest vein exploited during the British era of mining in Egypt, which reached up to 6m width in places, and the British companies reported mining grades of over 2 ounces per ton. Reports from the British Mining Journal from 1905 indicated that some remnant pillars within the ancient Pharaonic-era stopes assayed up to 5.5 ounces per ton of gold. Figure 1: Geology plan of the Abu Marawat Concession, showing the location of the Semna prospect The mineralisation at Semna appears to be mainly hosted in a granodiorite body that has been intruded into a package of mafic to intermediate composition metavolcanic rocks. Metasediments with BIF horizons outcrop to the west and north of the main Semna mine area. Small bodies of outcropping pink granites, possibly related to the Younger Granite suite, outcrop approximately 750m south of the old mine workings. There are 4 distinct mineralised zones - the Main Vein and the South Vein zones have been the primary focus of historic mining, but there are also workings developed on the North Vein and the Central Vein zones (see Figure 2). The mineralisation is strongly structurally controlled, and is hosted in a series of steeply south-dipping shear zones that contain the gold-bearing quartz veins. These sub-parallel quartz veins strike approximately east-west and dip 60-75 to the south, but the dip and strike is quite variable within each vein, and the veins noticeably pinch and swell. The auriferous quartz veins carry variable amounts of accessory sulphide minerals, and are typically quite gossanous and rich in iron oxides at surface, as a response to weathering. Levels of copper are elevated, notably in the Main and North Vein zones. Figure 2: Semna gold mine drill hole collar plan In 2017, Aton carried out a surface sampling programme at Semna, reporting up to 5.17 g/t Au over a 9.7m interval from surface channel sample profiles, and individual assays of up to 10.8 g/t Au from grab samples (see news release dated November 22, 2017). This year Aton has reported additional surface grab sample results from the immediate Semna mine area including 27.6 g/t Au, 24.0 g/t Au and 16.95 g/t Au (see news release dated May 29, 2023), and 25.70 g/t Au and 16.55 g/t Au from the wider Semna regional area (see news release dated July 31, 2023). The Semna mine area has been heavily exploited by artisanal miners (or "dahabbas") since about 2020, but the Company is on cordial terms with them. The dahabbas completely vacated the Semna area prior to the commencement of the RC drilling, and there is an ongoing agreement in place for them to not return. Artisanal mining has primarily targeted the Main Vein zone ("MVZ") in recent years, both from surface and also from underground, but numerous other mineralised structures and veins have also been mined by the dahabbas in recent years (see news releases dated May 29, 2023, and July 31, 2023). Underground mapping at Semna Recent artisanal mining has now exposed the eastern end of the lower level of the twentieth century British mine workings, at an elevation of c. 565m, which allows easy access into the old workings. Company geologists have this year carried out an underground survey of the old workings. The survey was carried out using a Leica DistoX hand held laser, with inbuilt inclinometry and a sensitive magnetic compass for azimuth readings, and a traditional Silva mapping compass and tape measures for local measurements. A series of primary stations were established along the lower 565m level and these were surveyed in using multiple foresights and backsights. The survey was tied into the Universal Transverse Mercator grid system using an external station which was sited a few metres outside the eastern entrance to the 565m level, and was accurately surveyed in using a Leica Viva GS15 differential GPS system, at the same time the drill hole collars were picked up. Figure 3: Recent artisanal underground workings, below the 565m level of the Semna gold mine The survey along the 565m ore drive level established that the MVZ had been stoped out pretty much in its entirety both above and below it, from between approximately 558720E, some 45m from the eastern entrance of the drive, and 558550E over a c. 170m strike length underground. The mineralisation above the 565m level drive appeared to have been stoped out by the British miners during the 20th century, with some recent remnant pillar extraction by the dahabbas The MVZ has also been recently mined to an approximate depth of some 10-15m below the 565m level by the artisanal miners (Figure 3). Mapping of the recent workings has indicated that the dip of the MVZ is rather variable and ranges from about 56 to 80, but always to the south, averaging about 70. The mapping indicates that the MVZ is a strong shear zone which contains a white quartz vein, which pinches and swells, and has a width of variably but typically between 1 to 2m. In places the quartz vein branches into separate footwall and hangingwall veins, with the total width of vein and internal wall rock reaching up to at least 6m horizontally. The internal wall rock between the branches has been extensively worked and appears to contain abundant quartz vein splays from the main vein. In the deepest recent stopes the quartz vein is typically 1.2 to 1.8m wide and is well mineralised (Figure 3). Observations from the recent underground mapping appear to confirm the earlier geological interpretations of the MVZ. Figure 4: MVZ quartz vein underground, showing lenses and ribbons of vein-parallel sulphidic material (*) The vein itself consists of massive white quartz, which in the deepest stopes contains a sparse scattering of sulphide grains or less frequently ribbons and selvages of highly sulphidic vein material up to 8cm thick running parallel to the walls of the vein (Figure 4). The primary sulphide is pyrite, in places with subsidiary chalcopyrite, as well as other supergene and oxide copper minerals at higher elevations. In the deepest stopes the vein itself is heavily sheared, and the sheared and altered vein appears to be well mineralised, carrying abundant sulphides. The vein has persistent sheared margins 0.2 to 0.5m wide that are also phyllic altered and locally sulphide rich. Above the 565m level, oxidation of the sulphides is practically complete and only red and brown iron oxides are present, often filling the cavities left by the oxidation of the original sulphides and giving rise to the characteristic dark red honeycombed material widely seen on surface. In some areas the central part of the white quartz vein itself appears barren, and in the deepest stopes beneath the 565m level there is clear evidence that the artisanal miners were targeting the vein margins. This again confirms historical observations that the gold was primarily concentrated in sheared and altered wall rocks. 2 chip channel samples of 1m in width, across the quartz vein (1.8m wide at the sampled points), taken manually from the deepest underground stopes, returned assays of 9.06 and 4.08 g/t Au (sample numbers AHA-45649 and AHA-45650). Semna gold mine RC drilling 21 RC drill holes, SMP-001 to SMP-020, were completed at the Semna prospect, for a total of 3,662m metres (see Table 1, Figure 2 and Appendix A) during the recently completed RC drill programme. Preliminary results are now available for holes SMP-001 to SMP-016, from 4m composite samples (full details of the drill hole sampling procedure are provided in the next section). Hole ID Collar co-ordinates1,2 EOH depth (m) Dip Grid azimuth Comments X Y Z SMP-001 558599.7 2924514.6 604.6 214 -55.1 28.9 South / Central Vein zones SMP-002 558632.5 2924488.5 583.8 200 -65.4 2.7 South / Central Vein zones SMP-003 558683.0 2924664.7 622.6 180 -62.5 21.3 Central / Main Vein zones SMP-004 558666.3 2924614.8 631.5 260 -66.2 14.8 Central / Main Vein zones SMP-005 558684.3 2924722.4 629.8 140 -74.6 44.7 Central / Main Vein zones SMP-006 558649.2 2924699.0 635.7 140 -66.1 357.5 Central / Main Vein zones SMP-007 558590.7 2924635.0 643.1 220 -56.7 12.9 Central / Main Vein zones SMP-0083 558537.2 2924561.0 645.5 12 -55.0 20.6 Hole abandoned, collapsing at collar SMP-008a 558532.7 2924558.0 645.6 260 -56.2 24.2 South / Central Vein zones (re-drill of SMP-008) SMP-009 558517.8 2924489.8 648.4 187 -55.4 17.9 South Vein zone SMP-010 558470.6 2924531.7 666.6 180 -54.9 18.4 South Vein zone SMP-011 558493.2 2924596.7 667.6 240 -58.7 20.6 South Vein zone SMP-012 558482.8 2924567.6 666.4 160 -55.4 322.2 South Vein zone SMP-013 558528.3 2924666.1 652.8 240 -63.9 24.7 Central / Main Vein zones SMP-014 558573.7 2924727.7 638.1 160 -64.9 16.8 Central / Main Vein zones SMP-015 558771.1 2924686.0 595.5 120 -51.5 0.9 Main Vein zone SMP-016 558771.2 2924684.0 595.5 145 -75.6 358.9 Main Vein zone SMP-017 558852.6 2924704.1 569.3 200 -47.6 356.3 Main Vein Extension zone SMP-018 558939.8 2924792.9 567.0 140 -52.0 342.7 Main Vein Extension zone SMP-019 558851.9 2924677.7 570.3 152 -51.6 357.6 Main Vein Extension zone SMP-020 558883.8 2924732.4 568.8 112 -46.7 4.1 Main Vein Extension zone Notes: All co-ordinates are UTM (WGS84) Zone 36R Collar surveys undertaken using a Leica Viva GS15 differential GPS system All drill holes were surveyed using a gyroscopic survey tool, except SMP-008, which was not surveyed Table 1: Collar details of RC exploration drill holes at Semna 9 of the first 17 holes targeted the MVZ, with the other holes targeting the South Vein ("SVZ") and Central Vein ("CVZ") zones. Hole SMP-008 was abandoned due to the collar collapsing, and was re-drilled with hole SMP-008a. Of the 9 holes which targeted the MVZ all holes, except SMP-005, intersected significant mineralisation at moderate to high grades, with all the other 8 holes intersecting a minimum of 3.43 g/t Au over a 4m composite sample interval. All mineralised intersections from the initial 4m composite samples greater than 0.3 g/t Au are provided in Table 2. Significant mineralised intervals from the MVZ included 14.63 g/t Au over a 12m interval from 72m downhole depth (hole SMP-016); 29.8 g/t Au over a 4m interval from 136m downhole depth (hole SMP-003); 7.03 g/t Auover a 4m interval from 156m downhole depth (hole SMP-007), 6.27 g/t Au over a 4m interval from 116m downhole depth (hole SMP-006) and 5.37 g/t Au over a 4m interval from 184m downhole depth (hole SMP-004). The drill results suggest that the MVZ has a true width typically of a minimum of about 3m. Holes targeting the SVZ and CVZ returned only sporadic mineralised intercepts, such as 2.61 g/t Au over a 4m interval from 40m downhole depth (hole SMP-014 on the CVZ) and 1.11 g/t Au over a 4m interval from 28m downhole depth (hole SMP-001 on the SVZ). Hole ID Intersection (m) Au (g/t) Sample type Zone Comments From To Interval SMP-001 28 32 4 1.11 RC composite SVZ SMP-002 20 24 4 0.68 RC composite SVZ SMP-003 28 32 4 0.59 RC composite CVZ 136 140 4 29.80 RC composite MVZ SMP-004 132 136 4 0.85 RC composite CVZ 184 188 4 5.37 RC composite MVZ SMP-005 60 64 4 1.60 RC composite MVZ (HW?) Possible h/w structure? SMP-006 12 16 4 0.67 RC composite CVZ SMP-006 116 120 4 6.27 RC composite MVZ SMP-007 156 160 4 7.03 RC composite MVZ 176 180 4 0.50 RC composite MVZ (FW?) Possible f/w structure? SMP-008 - - - - - - Not assayed SMP-008a - - - - - - NSA > 0.08 g/t Au SMP-009 104 108 4 0.40 RC composite SVZ SMP-010 - - - - - - NSA > 0.06 g/t Au SMP-011 112 116 4 0.48 RC composite SVZ SMP-012 52 56 4 0.31 RC composite SVZ? SMP-013 184 192 8 2.20 RC composite MVZ SMP-014 40 44 4 2.61 RC composite CVZ 108 116 8 2.86 RC composite MVZ SMP-015 48 52 4 2.52 RC composite MVZ (FW?) Possible f/w structure? 76 84 8 3.03 RC composite MVZ SMP-016 72 84 12 14.63 RC composite MVZ (FW?) Possible f/w structure? 136 144 8 2.50 RC composite MVZ Table 2: Significant intersections from Semna RC drilling Discussion of results This first pass phase of drilling and underground mapping has confirmed the historical interpretations of the MVZ mineralisation at Semna as being associated with a shear hosted quartz vein that pinches and swells, and carries locally very high to bonanza grades ( eg. 29.8 g/t Au over a 4m interval in hole SMP-003). The mineralisation is interpreted as being structurally controlled and orogenic in style. This style of mineralisation is suggestive of significant depth potential. The 9 holes targeted the MVZ beneath the old British mine workings below the 565m ore drive level, with all drill sections reported herein appended to this release. The only hole, SMP-005, which failed to intersect mineralisation on the MVZ was drilled beneath the eastern end of the 565m level where the MVZ shear had not been stoped, but it did intersect 1.60 g/t Au over a 4m interval from 60m downhole depth, in a possible separate structure, in the hangingwall of the MVZ shear. The 9 holes drilled on the MVZ indicate good continuity of the mineralisation both along a strike length of c. 200m, and at depth beneath the old workings. Recent underground surveying and mapping has shown that the mineralisation was largely continuous from surface at a maximum elevation of 620m, down to an elevation of c. 550m, which represents the current base of the artisanal workings, although it has mostly been exploited by now, with very little potential for any recoverable mineralisation remaining above the 565m level. The current drilling intersected mineralisation to a minimum elevation of c. 460m in hole SMP-004 (5.37 g/t Au over a 4m interval), with mineralisation intersected in the deepest hole on the MVZ on each of the 4 drilled sections. The 2 holes drilled on the easternmost section 558770E, SMP-015 and SMP-016, both intersected 2 separate mineralised zones. It is not clear if these 2 mineralised zones are actually 2 separate zones, or if they represent fault repeated offsets of the MVZ shear. The deepest intersections on sections 2, 3 and 4 are all jogged off south of the predominant c. 70-75 dip of the MVZ. At the current drill spacing it is unclear if this is due to a change in orientation of the MVZ structure, possible fault offset, or if the deepest mineralised intersections represent en echelon mineralised zones. However the MVZ mineralisation is open at depth and along strike to both the east and west after this first phase of drilling. Sampling and analytical procedures The RC holes were drilled at 5" or 5" diameter, and the bulk percussion chip samples were collected directly into pre-written large plastic bags from the cyclone every metre, numbered with the hole number and hole depths, and laid out sequentially at the drill site. Between each metre of drilling the cyclone and top box were cleaned out with compressed air. The bags were logged on the drill sites by Aton geologists. The bulk 1m samples were weighed, and subsequently riffle split through a 3-tier splitter onsite by Aton field staff to produce an approximately 1/8 split, which was collected in cloth bags, numbered and tagged with the hole number and depth. The splitter was cleaned with compressed air between each sample. The reject material from this initial bulk split was re-bagged, labelled and tagged, and retained on the drill sites. A representative sample of each metre was washed and stored in marked plastic chip trays, each containing 20m of samples, photographed, and retained onsite as a permanent record of the drill hole. The 1m split samples, weighing approximately 5kg each were then transported to the Rodruin sample processing facility, where they were 1/2 riffle split into 2 separate sub-samples, weighing approximately 2.5kg. One of these sub-samples was marked and labelled, and retained at the laboratory for storage. The second 1m sub-samples were then combined into 4m composite samples, weighing approximately 10kg. These were thoroughly mixed and again riffle split to produce nominal c. 250-500g 4m composite samples which were dispatched to ALS Minerals for analysis. Again the splitter was cleaned with compressed air between each sample. The 4m composite samples were allocated new sample numbers. The bulk reject material from the riffle split 4m composite samples was disposed of. QAQC samples were inserted into the 4m composite sample stream at a rate of approximately 1 certified reference material (or "standard" sample) every 60 samples, 1 blank sample every 30 samples, and 1 field duplicate split sample every 30 samples. The 4m composite samples were shipped to ALS Minerals sample preparation laboratory at Marsa Alam, Egypt, where they were pulverised to a size fraction of better than 85% passing 75 microns. From this pulverised material a further sub-sample was split off with a nominal c. 50g size, which was shipped on to ALS Minerals at Rosia Montana, Romania for analysis. The 4m composite samples were analysed for gold by fire assay with an atomic absorption spectroscopy ("AAS") finish (analytical code Au-AA23. High grade samples (Au >10 g/t) were re-analysed using analytical code Au-GRA21 (also fire assay, with a gravimetric finish). Upon receipt of the final 4m composite assay results from the full Semna programme from ALS, a number of the retained 1m sub-samples will be selected by a senior Aton geologist for re-assaying, corresponding to 4m composite assays deemed to be of significance. The selected 1m sub-samples will again be riffle split to produce nominal c. 250-500g 1m split samples which will be allocated new sample numbers. These will be dispatched to ALS Minerals for the same sample preparation at Marsa Alam, and for subsequent analysis at Rosia Montana. The bulk reject material from the 1m sub-sample splits will be re-bagged and retained onsite for storage at Rodruin. QAQC samples will be inserted into the 1m split sample stream at a rate of approximately 1 standard every 30 samples, 1 blank sample every 15 samples, and 1 field duplicate split sample every 15 samples. The 1m split samples will again be analysed for gold by fire assay (analytical code Au-AA23), and for silver, copper, lead and zinc using an aqua regia digest followed by an AAS finish (analytical code AA45). Any high grade gold samples (Au >10 g/t) will again be re-analysed using analytical code Au-GRA21 (also fire assay, with a gravimetric finish). Any high grade Ag and base metal samples (Ag >100 g/t, and Cu, Pb and Zn >10,000ppm or >1%) will be re-analysed using the ore grade technique AA46 (also an aqua regia digest followed by an AAS finish). All intersections herein reported relate to 4m composite samples, results from the subsequent 1m splits will be reported when they become available. About Aton Resources Inc. Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) is focused on its 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat"), located in Egypt's Arabian-Nubian Shield, approximately 200 km north of Centamin's world-class Sukari gold mine. Aton has identified numerous gold and base metal exploration targets at Abu Marawat, including the Hamama deposit in the west, the Abu Marawat deposit in the northeast, and the advanced Rodruin exploration prospect in the south of the Concession. Two historic British gold mines are also located on the Concession at Sir Bakis and Semna. Aton has identified several distinct geological trends within Abu Marawat, which display potential for the development of a variety of styles of precious and base metal mineralisation. Abu Marawat is 447.7 km2 in size and is located in an area of excellent infrastructure; a four-lane highway, a 220kV power line, and a water pipeline are in close proximity, as are the international airports at Hurghada and Luxor. Qualified person The technical information contained in this News Release was prepared by Javier Orduna BSc (hons), MSc, MCSM, DIC, MAIG, SEG(M), Exploration Manager of Aton Resources Inc. Mr. Orduna is a qualified person (QP) under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. For further information regarding Aton Resources Inc., please visit us at www.atonresources.com or contact: TONNO VAHK Interim CEO Tel: +1 604 318 0390 Email: info@atonresources.com Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions; by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Appendix A - Semna preliminary drill sections SOURCE: Aton Resources, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792643/aton-drills-high-grade-gold-mineralisation-at-semna-including-1463-gt-au-over-an-interval-of-12-metres BETHESDA, MD / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Boss Design Center, a prominent name in the world of high-end home design and renovations, proudly announces the grand opening of its newest showroom at 7220 Wisconsin Ave Ste 110, Bethesda, MD 20814. A testament to cutting-edge design and luxury, the showroom is poised to redefine the way Bethesda homeowners approach their interior spaces. A New Era in Frameless Kitchen Cabinetry and Design The new Boss Design Center Bethesda showroom places a significant emphasis on frameless kitchen cabinetry-a design trend that offers homeowners a sleek, modern aesthetic without compromising on functionality. Gone are the bulky frames and hinges, replaced by streamlined, space-maximizing designs that seamlessly blend with any home's decor. The showroom also offers a stunning array of German kitchens, a testament to the brand's commitment to offering the very best in international home design trends. Known for their efficiency, precision, and modern sensibilities, these German kitchens are expected to be a massive hit among Bethesda homeowners looking for a blend of form and function. Bathrooms Redefined: Where Luxury Meets Functionality Beyond kitchens, the Boss Design Center showroom also offers a glimpse into the future of bathroom design. The new showroom showcases an array of luxurious bathroom displays, each carefully curated to offer visitors a taste of the future of home design. From modern faucets to elegant vanities, every piece is a testament to Boss Design Center's commitment to quality and innovation. "We are thrilled to bring our newest showroom to Bethesda, a city known for its discerning homeowners and taste for luxury," says Talha Gursoy, owner of Boss Design Center. "Every detail, every display in our showroom has been thoughtfully chosen to inspire our visitors and offer them tangible solutions for their home renovation needs." Historical Excellence with a Modern Touch Boss Design Center's history is steeped in a tradition of merging time-tested design principles with modern aesthetics. This balance ensures each renovation looks stunning and serves its functional purpose seamlessly. "Every room in a home tells a story, and our role is to enhance that narrative through design," Gursoy mentions. "Our new showroom is an extension of this ethos, a place where homeowners can envision the next chapter of their home's journey." About Boss Design Center With a reputation for excellence in home design and renovation, Boss Design Center offers homeowners bespoke solutions that transform spaces into functional works of art. In a move to redefine industry benchmarks, this company introduces a groundbreaking design-build process underpinned by unwavering integrity, business ethics, and stellar outcomes. This meticulous approach guarantees every interaction is thoughtfully orchestrated-from initial consultations to project completion. The forward-thinking strategies employed by Boss Design Center ensure homeowners have clarity at every project juncture. Detailed plans are shared, establishing transparent timelines and cost structures. Not only does Boss Design Center respond promptly to inquiries, but the team also strategically anticipates potential client queries, addressing them proactively for a seamless renovation experience. Led by Talha Gursoy, the team brings together international design trends, quality materials, and unparalleled craftsmanship to deliver projects that stand the test of time. Media Contact Organization: Boss Design Center Contact Person: Talha Gursoy Website: https://bossdesigncenter.com/areas-we-serve/maryland/bethesda-md/ Email: info@bossdesigncenter.com Contact Number: 3012009991 Address: 7220 Wisconsin Ave Ste 110 20814 City: Bethesda State: MD Country: United States SOURCE: Boss Design Center View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792697/boss-design-center-bethesda-opens-a-state-of-the-art-showroom-in-the-heart-of-bethesda Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Delivra Health Brands Inc. (TSXV: DHB) (OTCQB: DHBUF) (Delivra Health" or the "Company"), a consumer packaged goods company uniquely positioned in the health and wellness sector, is pleased to announce it will report its annual financial results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023 on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, before the market opens. Conference Call Details The Company will host a conference call on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. (EDT) / 8:00 a.m. (PDT) to discuss the Company's financial results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. Gord Davey, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jack Tasse, Chief Financial Officer of the Company will be conducting a question-and-answer session following management's prepared remarks. Participant Dial-In Numbers: All interested parties can join the conference call by dialing: 1-800-319-4610 (Canada/USA Toll Free) or 1-604-638-5340 (International Toll). Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and ask to join the Delivra Health call. A replay of the call will be available on the Company's investor page on its website at www.delivrahealthbrands.com/investors/quarterly-calls/ by the end of the business day on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. About Delivra Health Brands Inc. Helping people take control of their health with alternative wellness solutions is what energizes the Delivra Health team! The Delivra Health portfolio features innovative brands like Dream Water and LivRelief, which deliver relief from common everyday issues like chronic pain, anxiety, and sleeplessness. Delivra Health products have allowed millions of customers to reclaim their mobility, energy, and in turn, quality of life. The websites of the Company's two subsidiaries are Dream Water and LivReliefTM. For more information, please visit www.delivrahealthbrands.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates, and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements with respect to the timing of reporting the Company's annual financial results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the timing of the conference call, and the availability of the replay of the conference call. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; expectations regarding the size of the cannabis markets where the Company operates; changing consumer habits; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives; plans for expansion; political and social uncertainties; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; employee relations and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on cultivation, production, distribution, and sale of cannabis and cannabis-related products in the markets where the Company operates. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law. Additional information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated March 2, 2021, and under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's management's discussion and analysis dated May 23, 2023, for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2023, filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Neither TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Investor Relations: Jack Tasse Chief Financial Officer IR@delivrahealth.com 1-877-915-7934 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183781 Prof Dong SUN, JP, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, HKSAR Government, delivered opening remarks at the Symposium on Innovation & Technology The Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition) and electronicAsia opened today and will run till 16 October at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Start-up Zone gathers nearly 90 entrepreneurial firms, presenting innovative and promising products and solutions HONG KONG, Oct 13, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - The Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition), organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and electronicAsia, organised by the HKTDC and MMI Asia Pte Ltd, open today and will run till 16 October at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Industry professionals and buyers are welcome to visit and source at the fairs.As businesses worldwide boost their application of innovation and technology, the fairs gather nearly 3,200 exhibitors from 22 countries and regions, generating global business opportunities. In addition to Hong Kong, the fairs also feature exhibitors from Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea as well as Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. European exhibitors include those from Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland, as well as the United States. The extensive geographical reach of the shows demonstrates the industry's enthusiasm for expanding opportunities through exhibition platforms and cements Hong Kong's position as an international trade-fair hub.Themed New Tech. New Trend. New Lifestyle, the fair draws high-potential cutting-edge innovators such as Reefan International Limited (booth number: 1C-B02), which focuses on smart health-tech products; and Roadrover Technology (Hong Kong) Co., Limited (booth number: 1CON-016), a company that develops smart driving and automotive electronic solutions.The two fairs feature a plethora of exhibits. The old wing of the HKCEC showcases mainly technology products and services, including solutions utilising deep tech. Featured areas include the Tech Hall and Start-up Zone, which gathers nearly 90 start-up companies. The new wing of HKCEC will primarily showcase high-growth consumer electronic products. Highlight zones include the Hall of Fame and the debut Energy Storage Zone.Innovative products and solutions featured at the fair include:Wireless Charging TechnologyPortable Wireless Phone Charging Case (iii Hong Kong Limited; booth number CH-D15): Weighing just 80 grams, this portable device allows for easy charging of phones and Bluetooth earphones through public USB ports while safeguarding against data theft. Importers of mobile phone products in the US and Singapore will soon start to manufacture this innovative product. Buyers from Dubai, the Czech Republic and Japan have reached out to the company through the HKTDC's Click2Match smart business matching platform to schedule collaboration meetings during the fair.Network TechnologyRemote Control Machinery and Vehicle Solutions (eSIX Limited; booth number CH-A06): This network technology solution enables more efficient remote monitoring and control of machine operations. The related technological solutions have already been implemented in container terminals in Hong Kong and Shenzhen and a pilot project in Guangzhou is testing the remote control of autonomous vehicles.Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT)Fire Alarm System (FireAlert Limited; booth number CH-D01): Utilising thermal imaging cameras and wireless sensors, this system detects fire and smoke within buildings and pinpoints the fire.Artificial Intelligence (AI)AI Detection Camera (CY Technology [International] Limited; booth number 5F-G05): The vision system detects pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles in areas around the vehicle outside the driver's line of sight. It provides real-time visual and audio alerts, notifying the driver of potential risks.Robotics TechnologyUnderground Pipeline Robot (Bonbon-X Limited; booth number CH-C14): Equipped with infrared cameras, the robot is designed to replace workers in accessing underground pipelines to detect cracks and document the condition. It can also monitor gas concentration, temperature and humidity levels.The concurrent electronicAsia presents featured zones with a wide range of exhibits, such as electronics parts and components, keyboards and switches, power supplies, printed circuit boards and EMS, display technology, test and inspection equipment and more. The fair has also attracted leading technology companies, including Guangdong Fenghua Advanced Technology Holding Co., Ltd (booth number 5B-A20), a production base of high-end components and electronic materials; and Chily Precision Industrial Co., Ltd (booth number 5B-F02), manufacturer of power switches and power sockets from Taiwan.The organisers and partners are hosting more than 80 events and forums during the shows. The Symposium on Innovation & Technology, jointly organised by the HKTDC and Hong Kong Electronics & Technologies Association, was held today, with officiating guest Prof Dong SUN, JP, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry delivering opening remarks. Themed Unlocking Possibilities: Harnessing AI for Innovation in Consumer Electronics, the symposium featured heavyweight speakers who shared insights on industry-related topics and explored applications and opportunities brought about by AI. The event garnered enthusiastic participation from experienced technology experts and industry professionals.The Hong Kong Electronic Forum, organised by the HKTDC, MMI Asia Pte Ltd and the Hong Kong Electronic Industries Association, will be held tomorrow to explore multiple hot issues such as microelectronics ecosystem. The Reliability and Prognostics Health Management of Microelectronics Forum will be held on the closing day of the fairs.Start-ups will promote innovative ideas at other events, including the Investment Matchmaking and Hong Kong Value Creation for Technology: Pitching Competition to invite support from investors. Additionally, they will seek advice from experts on business development at the Meet the Mentors event.Under the EXHIBITION+ hybrid model, exhibitors and buyers can meet online through the Click2Match smart business matching platform in addition to attending the physical fair, and participants from all industries and buyers are welcome to join.Photo Download: https://bit.ly/3QgU7PaWebsitesHong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition): https://hkelectronicsfairae.hktdc.com electronicAsia: http://www.electronicasia.com Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition): https://hklightingfairae.hktdc.com Hong Kong International Outdoor and Tech Light Expo: https://hkotlexpo.hktdc.comMedia enquiriesThe HKTDC's Communications and Public Affairs Department:Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition)electronicAsiaFrankie Leung, Tel: (852) 2584 4298, Email: frankie.cy.leung@hktdc.orgJanet Chan, Tel: (852) 2584 4369, Email: janet.ch.chan@hktdc.orgAbout HKTDCThe Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong's trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedInSource: HKTDCCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - Israel has warned more than a million people in northern Gaza to evacuate southwards in the next 24 hours, ahead of an expected ground attack into the thickly populated enclave. Despite deploying tens of thousands of reservists along its southern border, Israel Defense Forces have not yet confirmed if it is going to intensify cross-border military operation along the ground. Hamas militants, who ignited the war with surprise attacks in Israeli cities last weekend, have reportedly told residents in the besieged Gaza Strip to ignore the evacuation order and not to leave their homes. The United Nations called on Israel to repeal the order for mass evacuation, warning that it will have 'devastating humanitarian consequences'. The Palestine Red Crescent Society, or PRCS, says there are 'no safe areas' to evacuate civilians. Hamas claimed that 13 Israeli hostages held in their custody have been killed in bombings by Israeli forces in Gaza since Thursday. The Palestinian militants had kidnapped around 150 people from Israel during their lightning attack Saturday. Israeli forces are continuing their bombardment of Gaza in response to it, and the death toll crossed 1300, reports say. 'PRCS calls on the world leaders and the international community to intervene immediately to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding right now,' it said in a statement Friday. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Tel Aviv Friday. He will meet with Israeli leaders 'face-to-face and underscore the unwavering support of the U.S. for the people of Israel and commitment to ensuring Israel has what it needs to defend itself,' the Pentagon said. Austin will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and the Israeli War Cabinet. He will also see firsthand some of the U.S. security assistance delivered to Israel. 'European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola will visit Israel Friday to express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks, and meet with Israeli leadership,' the Commission said in a press release. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Die Top 3 Dividendenaktien 2024 In diesem Report stellen wir Ihnen 3 Top-Aktien aus dem Energie-Sektor vor, die Sie unbedingt auf Ihre Watchlist setzen mussen. Lassen Sie sich diese kostenlose Analyse nicht entgehen! Hier klicken NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / In response to the unprecedented terrorist attacks and the resulting humanitarian crisis, Lee Maschler, the founder of Trillium, today announced a commitment to donate to four charitable organizations dedicated to providing humanitarian relief in support of the ongoing crisis. Consistent with Trillium's past philanthropic efforts, Maschler will personally donate $250,000 while an additional $250,000 will be available to match donations from employees, traders, and friends of Trillium. In doing so, they expect to raise $750,000. In an email to the company, Maschler addressed the impact of the devastating terrorist attacks and pledged support to the people of Israel. Maschler told his team, "We stand together in empathy, compassion, and unity. We hope for a peaceful resolution and extend our thoughts and prayers to all those affected. Together, we will continue to foster a culture of respect, understanding, and inclusion within our company." We encourage everyone to join Lee Maschler and Trillium in their effort to provide resources for the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Donations can be made directly to the following four charities at the links below. Please email a copy of your donation receipt to Trilliumcares@trlm.com and Trillium will send the matched amount directly to the organization. Organization Charity Description Direct Pledge (Before Match) Magen David Adom A paramedic and Red Cross service that is a leader in mass-casualty response and EMS technology $100,000 Yachar LChayal Yashar LaChayal brings soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces what they need when they need it $50,000 Save a Child's Heart Soroka Medical Center offers around-the-clock life-saving services $50,000 United Hatzalah The largest independent, fully volunteer emergency medical service organization committed to providing the fastest response to medical emergencies $50,000 About Trillium: Trillium is a leading proprietary trading firm, active in U.S., Canadian, and OTC Equities, and committed to building long and lucrative trading careers. By funding all trading with the firm's capital and investing more in training and technology than any competing firm, Trillium is the place where traders can reach their highest potential. Trillium is headquartered in New York City, with additional trading floors in Chicago and Miami. To learn more about Trillium, visit www.trlm.com. Contact Information Trillium Marketing marketing@trlm.com SOURCE: Trillium View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792661/lee-maschler-and-trillium-pledge-500000-in-response-to-humanitarian-crisis-in-israel-issues-matching-challenge With new details released from the very latest documents, Paul Brandus offers the unique perspective of a veteran member of the White House press corps and presidential historian. CLEVELAND, OH / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Excitement builds as the production team at Evergreen Podcasts collaborates with renowned host and author Paul Brandus to transform his new book, Countdown To Dallas, into an accompanying podcast, exploring the history and lore of the John F. Kennedy assassination and surrounding conspiracies. Countdown To Dallas by Paul Brandus Countdown To Dallas by Paul Brandus "You know how people say 'a picture is worth a thousand words'?" Paul Brandus remarks. "Actually, I think the reverse is true: a word is worth a thousand pictures. That's what podcasts can do. I'm proud to team up again with Evergreen. Their team is amazing, and it's always fun when we can make history come alive through vivid storytelling and the use of sound." Now, 60 years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, former White House correspondent Paul Brandus provides us an in-depth look at the seemingly unconnected events that led to that infamous afternoon in Dallas, Texas. Brandus takes us all the way back to 1939 to explore the troubled and broken life of Kennedy's killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, unpacking the conspiracy theories that have stained the pages of history for far too long. "It's an honor to collaborate with Paul Brandus on what is now our fourth podcast venture together," states Brigid Coyne, Evergreen's VP of Production. "His thoughtful approach to understanding Lee Harvey Oswald brings a fresh perspective to an extensively covered event. Our hope is that listeners will learn from and enjoy this retrospective look at the events leading up to November 22, 1963, as we approach its sixtieth anniversary." In 2017 the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) began releasing tens of thousands of pages of documents, most of them from the CIA and FBI. But both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden have cited personnel changes, the pandemic, and concerns of "national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs" for the continued withholding of thousands more. Six decades after the assassination, it is certainly worth considering what these final documents could contain. "History is never static. It is always marching forward, and so I thought the story of this tragic event needed to be updated," Brandus continues. With new details released from the very latest documents, Brandus offers the unique perspective of a veteran member of the White House press corps and presidential historian. He offers a unique take on the cultural and political climate of what he calls a "more innocent era" and reveals lesser-known details that debunk long-held - but still unproven - conspiracy theories that continue to hover over the assassination. "Countdown to Dallas" offers a detailed and unique perspective on this history-altering event - a perspective that many Americans today might find eye-opening. The first episode of the limited podcast series, Countdown To Dallas debuts on October 31. Subscribe now on Evergreen's website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you find podcasts. Interested in reading the book first? Countdown To Dallas by Paul Brandus is out now in bookstores near you. Also pick up Paul's Amazon best-seller, Jackie-a colorful biography of Jacqueline Kennedy in the years between her two marriages-and listen to its companion podcast, From First Lady to Jackie O, which has already received over 100,000 downloads. For more amazing stories about how false information turns our world inside out, listen to Paul's podcast, Disinformation. Connect with Paul on Twitter/X at WestWingReport or via his LinkedIn profile. Press inquiries: If you'd like to interview Paul Brandus about his new book, recent books, or podcast, please contact Evergreen Podcasts. About Evergreen Podcasts Evergreen Podcasts is an established podcast production network with a catalog of entertaining and thought-provoking shows rooted in high production quality and artistic integrity. With a diverse range of podcasts spanning genres such as true crime, pop culture, comedy, and beyond, Evergreen Podcasts connects listeners with engaging content that informs, entertains, and inspires. For more information, visit evergreenpodcasts.com. Contact Information Samantha Maloy Director of Marketing smaloy@evergreenpodcasts.com SOURCE: Evergreen Podcasts View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792700/six-seconds-six-decades-evergreen-podcasts-prepares-to-launch-countdown-to-dallas-podcast-by-paul-brandus FUZHOU, China, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On 12th October, the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 was held in Fuzhou, China. The event, jointly sponsored by the People's Government of Fujian Province, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, and the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, is a significant international gathering that focuses on the field of marine equipment. As a high-level, high-energy and high performing conference, it is dedicated to promoting cooperation and knowledge exchange within the industry across the world. The World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 is themed "Carrying the Dreams of Humanity to New Horizons", and organizes a range of activities that cater to professionals in the field, including the opening ceremony and main forum, 6 thematic forums and an achievement exhibition, and multiple side events are held concurrently, according to Fuzhou Leading Group for the Preparation of the Conference. During the opening ceremony and main forum, both domestic and international organizations, experts, scholars and heads from well-known enterprises in the field of marine equipment attend and make insightful keynote reports. The 6 thematic forums seminars, each focusing on a specific industrial topic, include the Asian Shipbuilding Technology Forum, the International Deep-Water Port Construction and Development Forum, the World Marine Civilization Exchange and Mutual Learning Forum, the Deep-sea and Far-sea Aquaculture Equipment and Industry Ecological Forum, the Green and Intelligent Development of Inland Ships Forum, and the International Boat Industry Development Forum. Up to now, more than 300 important guests have been invited to attend the forum. The achievement exhibition showcases products, technologies and solutions that have received authoritative recognition and awards in the field of marine equipment since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Notably, Fujian's achievements in building a strong marine province and the outstanding achievements in developing maritime equipment of various regions and fields in China are also unveiled. A number of side events are held concurrently, featuring the China Marine Equipment Expo and the Marine Equipment Industry Chain and Supply Chain Ecological Conference hosted by China State Shipbuilding Group, and the Marine Economic Cooperation Innovation and Development Conference held by the People's Government of Fujian Province. Image Attachments Links: Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=442638 Caption: World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 opens in Fuzhou, Fujian. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/world-marine-equipment-conference-2023-opens-in-fuzhou-fujian-province-301956110.html LONDON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LiteFinance was honoured to take home the "Best ECN Broker, Asia" and "Best Forex Brokerage Company, MENA" awards for 2023 at the prestigious Global Brand Awards. The Prestigious Global Brand Awards, an annual ceremony by Global Brands Magazine (GBM) based in England, strives to honour worldwide brands that distinguish themselves across diverse industries while ensuring that readers are up-to-date on pivotal trends in the realm of branding. Global Brands Magazine assessed numerous factors, including LiteFinance's trading platform, customer support, and regulatory compliance. LiteFinance stands out among traders; its innovative technology and commitment to client satisfaction have made LiteFinance worthy of Global Brands Magazine's recognition. Commenting on winning the award, Jay Reddy, Director of Global Brands Magazine, said, "We are honoured to announce that Global Brands Magazine has recognized LiteFinance as the 'Best ECN Broker, Asia' and 'Best Forex Brokerage Company, MENA.' These prestigious awards reflect LiteFinance's unwavering commitment to excellence in the financial industry. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of their team. LiteFinance remains steadfast in its mission to provide top-tier financial services to clients across Asia and the MENA region." "We look forward to watching LiteFinance grow even more vital in future years." Commenting on winning the award, Aleksey Smirnov, CEO of LiteFinance, said, "One look at our 18-year journey is enough to understand why our company is one of the leading brokers. During this time, we have achieved incredible results and established ourselves as a reliable and trusted partner for many traders worldwide. These awards are confirmation that we are on the right path. We are grateful to all the traders who have walked this path with us and those who have just joined us. Our team will continue to improve our services for you." About LiteFinance The online ECN broker LiteFinance has been providing its clients access to Tier 1 liquidity in the currency, commodity, and stock market since 2005. All major currency pairs and cross rates, oil, precious metals and stock indexes can be traded at LiteFinance. LiteFinance is a high-tech, reliable ECN broker with a strong reputation. Clients of LiteFinance can exploit a safe, user-friendly online platform for high-speed trading available in 15 global languages and provide access to a great deal of built-in tools for price chart analysis. The fans of the most popular trading platform, MetaTrader 4/5, can also use it. Trading with LiteFinance means a high-performance platform, low floating spreads, market execution with no requotes, professional assistance and access to exclusive analytical materials and signals. About Global Brands Magazine (England) Global Brands Magazine (GBM) has been at the forefront, bringing news, views, and opinions on brands shaping the future of their industry. The Magazine covers various sectors, including fashion, beauty, technology, and more. It targets business executives and marketing professionals, offering brand-building and management insights and analysis. The Magazine has over 9.5 million visitors and 14 million page views per month, making it one of the best and the most esteemed online magazines globally. The Magazine also maintains a strong presence on social media, boasting over 20k+ Facebook likes, 10k+ Instagram followers, 25k+ Twitter followers, and 3k+ LinkedIn followers. About the Global Brand Awards The Global Brand Awards is an annual event celebrating the accomplishments of the world's leading brands-these awards honour brands across various categories, including innovation, sustainability, customer experience, etc. The aim is to showcase best practices in branding, marketing, and customer engagement while providing recognition and exposure for the winning brands. We are excited to announce the highly anticipated awards ceremony, which will take place at The Athenee Hotel in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2024. To learn more about the awards, please visit the Brand Awards Winners section on the GBM website. To nominate your company or business leader for the Global Brand Awards 2023, please click on the following link: https://www.globalbrandsmagazine.com/nomination-form/ Checkout our social media shout outs from the links below: Facebook: https://bit.ly/3FfZ5FL Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3rYQnIO Twitter: https://bit.ly/3FfKlGT Instagram: https://bit.ly/3QbBagV Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2080309/4043105/GBM_AWARDS_2023_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/litefinance-receives-multiple-honors-at-the-prestigious-global-brands-magazine-awards-301956134.html TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY, ALPMY) said that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion relating to the use of Veoza(fezolinetant) 45 mg once daily for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause. vasomotor symptoms or VMS, also known as hot flashes and/or night sweats, are common symptoms of menopause. Worldwide, more than half of women 40 to 64 years of age experience VMS with rates in Europe ranging from 56% to 97%. If approved by the European Commission, fezolinetant will be a first-in-class, nonhormonal treatment option to reduce moderate to severe VMS associated with menopause, the company said in a statement. Fezolinetant works by blocking neurokinin B (NKB) binding on the kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin (KNDy) neuron, helping restore the balance in the brain's temperature control center to reduce the number and intensity of hot flashes and night sweats. The CHMP positive opinion will now be reviewed by the European Commission, which has the authority to approve medicines for European Union member states, as well as Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Northern Ireland. The EC has 67 days from the CHMP opinion to issue a final decision. Additionally, the positive opinion allows the submission of a European Commission Decision Reliance Procedure marketing authorization application to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which has the authority to approve medicines for England, Wales and Scotland following the UK's transition from the European Union. A final MHRA decision is anticipated in the coming months. For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Die Top 3 Dividendenaktien 2024 In diesem Report stellen wir Ihnen 3 Top-Aktien aus dem Energie-Sektor vor, die Sie unbedingt auf Ihre Watchlist setzen mussen. Lassen Sie sich diese kostenlose Analyse nicht entgehen! Hier klicken The global industrial robotics market is experiencing growth due to several factors, such as high requirements for automation, high labor costs and a dearth of skilled human workforce, an increase in investments in R&D activities, and the availability of affordable and energy-efficient robots. NEW CASTLE, Del., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Industrial Robotics Market by Type (Articulated, Cartesian, SCARA, Cylindrical, Others), End User Industry (Automotive, Electrical and Electronics, Chemical Rubber and Plastics, Manufacturing, Food, and Beverages, Others), Function (Soldering and Welding, Materials handling, Assembling and Disassembling, Painting and Dispensing, Milling, Cutting, and Processing, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032." According to the report, the Industrial robotics industry generated $38.0 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to generate $163.0 billion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 12.6% from 2023 to 2032. Industrial robotics is a sector that deals with the development, manufacture, and implementation of automated systems and robotic solutions in a variety of industries. These advanced robots are designed to perform a variety of tasks with remarkable accuracy, velocity, and productivity, and are employed in a variety of industrial settings to replace or assist human workers. These robots are employed to improve productivity, reduce safety, and streamline processes in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, automotive, electronics, logistics, and healthcare. Download PDF Sample of this Report @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/214 Prime Determinants of Growth: The global industrial robotics market is experiencing growth due to several factors, such as high requirements for automation, high labor costs and a dearth of skilled human workforce, an increase in investments in R&D activities, and the availability of affordable and energy-efficient robots. However, the high initial investment and installation costs and the threat of job displacement may restrain the market growth to some extent. Moreover, the increase in application areas and the evolving robotics and AI industry bring new opportunities for market growt. Report Coverage & Details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023-2032 Base Year 2022 Historic Year 2020 Market Size in 2020 $38.0 Billion Market Size in 2032 $163.0 Billion CAGR 12.6 % No. of Pages in Report 298 Segments Covered Type, End user Industry, Function, and Region Drivers High requirement for automation High labor costs and a dearth of skilled human workforce Increase in investments in R&D activities Availability of affordable and energy-efficient robots Opportunities Increase in application areas Evolving robotics and AI industry Restraints High initial investment and installation costs The threat of job displacement COVID-19 Scenario: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the global industrial robotics market, owing to the temporary closure of manufacturing firms during the lockdown. Not only the production but also the sale of industrial robots was hampered due to the closure of automotive, electrical, electronics, and other industries across the world, especially in the initial period of the pandemic. However, the pandemic has recovered, and the market is growing steadily. Buy This Research Report @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/81961517a8144b36bd615b67a8469cfe The articulated segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period- Based on type, the articulated segment held the highest market share in 2020, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global industrial robotics market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. On the other hand, the cylindrical segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 13.8% from 2023 to 2032. Owing to the high demand for cylindrical robots for pick and place, packaging, assembling-dissembling, and other applications in the warehouse and industrial sector is expected to drive the market. The electrical and electronics segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period- Based on end user industry, the electrical and electronics segment held the highest market share in 2020, accounting for around one-third of the global industrial robotics market, and is estimated to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. This is attributed to the increasing demand for articulated and other robots for miniature work in the electronics and electrical industry. However, the food and beverages segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 13.6% from 2023 to 2032. The rising population is expected to drive the demand for industrial robots in the food and beverages sector. The materials handling segment to rule the roost by 2032- Based on function, the materials handling segment accounted for the largest share in 2020, contributing to more than two-fifths of the global industrial robotics market revenue, and is expected to rule the roost by 2032. On the other hand, the painting and dispensing segment is expected to portray the largest CAGR of 14.4% from 2023 to 2032. Growth in automotive, food and beverage, chemical and other industries is increasing demand for industrial robots. Growth in the industrial sector will eventually have a positive impact on the Industrial robotics market. Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2032- Based on region, Asia-Pacific held the highest market share in 2020, accounting for nearly three-fifths of the global industrial robotics market revenue, and is expected to maintain its dominance by 2032. Leading countries like, Japan, India, and Korea are at the forefront of robotics adoption, especially in electronics, and machinery industries. However, the LAMEA region would exhibit the fastest CAGR of 13.8% during the forecast period. Make A Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/214 Leading Market Players: - ABB Ltd. (ABB Robotics) Daihen Corporation Denso Corporation (Denso Robotics) Fanuc Corporation Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Kuka Robotics Corporation Mitsubishi, Electric Corporation NachiFujikoshi Corporation (Nachi Robotic Systems) Panasonic Corporation Seiko Epson Corporation Universal Robots A/S Yaskawa Electric Corporation. The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global industrial robotics market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, investments, and acquisitions to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario. Trending Reports in Robotics Market: Global service robotics market is projected to reach $153.7 billion by 2030 Warehouse Robotics Market is projected to reach $15,792.0 million by 2030 Robotics Market is expected to reach $149,866.4 million by 2030 Adaptive robotics market is expected to reach $ 55,097.0 million by 2030 Construction Robotics Market registering a CAGR of 23.3% from 2020 to 2027. Robotic Gripper Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2030 Wearable Robotic Exoskeleton Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Industrial Robotic Motors Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2030 About Allied Market Research: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact Us: United States 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Follow Us on | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/industrial-robotics-market-to-reach-163-0-billion-globally-by-2032-at-12-6-cagr-allied-market-research-301956126.html NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / The Family Place, Texas' leading provider of family violence services, celebrated its 27th Annual Texas Trailblazer Awards luncheon On October 10, where Mary Kay Inc. CEO Ryan Rogers was awarded the prestigious Texas Trailblazer Award. The event, held at the Hilton Anatole Dallas, recognized Rogers for his unwavering commitment to enriching women's lives in Texas and around the world. Ryan Rogers, the grandson of the iconic beauty brand founder Mary Kay Ash, has been instrumental in upholding and advancing the mission of the Mary Kay Ash Foundation. Since its inception in 1996, the foundation has donated over $92 million to causes that resonate deeply with the brand's ethos - women's cancer research and the fight against domestic violence. These funds have been pivotal in supporting women's shelters, domestic violence service providers, and groundbreaking cancer research programs across the United States. The luncheon, co-chaired by Lindsay Jacaman and Holly Krug, was emceed by NBC5 anchor Meredith Land. Actress Brooke Shields served as keynote speaker. In addition to Rogers' accolade, the event spotlighted other luminaries. Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia and State Representative Victoria Neave Criado were honored with the Legislative Impact Award for their instrumental role in the creation of Texas House Bill 5202. This transformative law, signed on June 11, establishes a violent offender database, a crucial tool in the fight against repeat violent offenses. "Ryan Rogers' dedication to combating domestic violence and fostering positive change is truly commendable," said Family Place CEO Mimi Sterling. "His commitment to perpetuating a legacy of genuine community impact has empowered numerous domestic violence survivors to reclaim their lives with newfound strength and hope." Rogers now stands alongside past Texas Trailblazers Award luminaries such as former Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Paige Flink, Gloria Campos, Charlotte Jones, Lynn McBee, and Dr. Michael Sorrell. Under Rogers' leadership, Mary Kay continues to champion causes that uplift and support women, staying true to his grandmother's vision of enriching women's lives everywhere. Mary Kay Inc. CEO and Mary Kay Ash Foundation Board Member, Ryan Rogers, was presented with the Texas Trailblazer Award at the annual Texas Trailblazers Luncheon on October 10. The award recognizes those making an impact in their local community to bring awareness to and support ending domestic violence. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Mary Kay on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Mary Kay Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/mary-kay Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Mary Kay View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792766/mary-kay-ceo-ryan-rogers-recognized-with-the-texas-trailblazer-award-for-combating-domestic-violence-in-texas-and-beyond MARION, NC / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Greene Concepts Inc. (OTC Pink:INKW) is excited to announce that the Company has been selected to present BE WATER to the merchant team at Walmart's tenth anniversary Open Call event October 24 and 25 in Bentonville, Arkansas. Greene Concepts is one of 400 companies (out of 14,000 applications) chosen to present in person at Walmart's corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Greene Concepts will present the quality benefits of the Company's premium artesian spring water brand, BE WATER, in-person to Walmart's merchant team. As noted on Walmart's Open Call webpage, the event is Walmart's 10-year $350 billion commitment to strengthening U.S. manufacturing by sourcing products made, grown, or assembled in the U.S. Open Call 2023 provides the Company the opportunity to dramatically increase the availability and access of BE WATER to consumers by gaining a coveted spot on the shelves of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. Lenny Greene, CEO of Greene Concepts, states, "Presenting at Walmart's Open Call is one of the most significant experiences our company has been a part of since launching the bottling plant and brand several years ago. We are offered a chance to showcase the highlights, appeal, and benefits of BE WATER. The opportunity could exponentially increase our footprint in the beverage market. Open Call 2023 presents our Company the opportunity to have our products placed on Walmart's shelves within their brick-and-mortar locations and is in addition to our approved Walmart Marketplace Initiative which is for online sales." Mr. Greene concludes, "We have a tremendous product, our packaging is second-to-none, our bottles are durable, and the BE WATER label conveys a high-quality, healthy, and clean look. Additionally, the values messaged on the label contains aspirational virtues and our brand is a U.S. - based product that is ethically and proudly sourced in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Please follow along on our Company's journey to OpenCall2023 for additional information as we present BE WATER at Walmart's corporate office on October 24 and October 25." About Greene Concepts, Inc. Greene Concepts, Inc. (http://www.greeneconcepts.com) is a publicly traded company whose purpose is to provide the world with high-quality, healthy and enhanced beverage choices that meet the nutritional needs of its consumers while refreshing their mind, body and spirit. The Company's flagship product, BE WATER, is a premium artesian bottled water that supports total body health and wellness. Greene Concepts' beverage and bottling plant is located in Marion, North Carolina, and their water is ethically sourced from spring and artesian wells that are fed from a natural aquifer located deep beneath the Blue Ridge Mountains. Greene Concepts continues to develop and market premium beverage brands designed to enhance the daily lives of consumers. Safe Harbor: This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a few uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission and OTC Markets, Inc. OTC Disclosure and News Service. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, because of new information, future events or otherwise. CONTACT: Greene Concepts, Inc. Investor Relations IR@greeneconcepts.com SOURCE: Greene Concepts Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792746/greene-concepts-to-showcase-be-water-at-walmart-open-call-2023-in-bentonville JAKARTA, Oct 13, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Indonesian airline, PT TransNusa Aviation Mandiri (TransNusa), the new player with new rules, announced that it would become the second airline in the country to introduce commercial flights to Guangzhou, China. In addition to Guangzhou, TransNusa will also be introducing commercial flights to Singapore.Group CEO, Datuk Bernard Francis said that sales of tickets for the two new international destinations, Guangzhou and Singapore, was opened on 11 October."It is a great achievement for TransNusa to become the second Indonesian airline to obtain approval to start scheduled commercial flights to Guangzhou, China. In addition, we are very proud to be able to start commercial flights to Singapore at such a short timeframe," Datuk Bernard said, adding that the inaugural flight to Guangzhou has been scheduled for 16th November while the inaugural flight to Singapore has been scheduled for 20th November."At the initial stage, we will operate three return flights from Jakarta to Guangzhou weekly. However, by December, we will increase the flight frequency from Jakarta to Guangzhou and Guangzhou to Jakarta to seven times a week from three times a week," Datuk Bernard explained.Flights will depart Terminal 3, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 18.10 pm and arrive in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at 12.10 am. While flights from Guangzhou will depart on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 01.25 am and arrive in Jakarta at 05.40 am. Tickets for this new international route will be priced from Rp. 2,288,000 (USD145.00 onwards).Meanwhile, on commercial flights to Singapore, Datuk Bernard explained that TransNusa has received all necessary approvals and will be commencing to operate one round trip flight daily.The TransNusa flight will depart Jakarta at 07.45am and arrive in Terminal 2, Singapore Changi Airport at 10.40am while flights from Singapore to Jakarta will depart at 11.40am and arrive in Jakarta at 12.25pm. Tickets for this route will be priced from Rp. 799,000.00 (USD54.00 onwards).Since early this year, TransNusa has been enjoying a healthy growth pattern as it rebranded itself as a Premium Service Carrier for its international routes by introducing a new business model.Datuk Bernard had said previously that for its international routes, the services that TransNusa offers exceeds that of a low-cost airline."Based on our intensive market research, we know that traveller's behavioural pattern has changed, specifically due to the Covid-19 pandemic and as a result of this, we have curated different packages to meet the needs of different passengers."For our international flights, we not only provide premium services with competitive ticket prices in comparison to other low-cost airlines, but we have attractive new product bundles called SEAT, SEAT-PLUS and FLEXI-PRO."Our passengers will enjoy check-in baggage of between 15kgs to 30 kgs, depending on the product purchased," Datuk Bernard said, explaining that the baggage offering was over and above the 7kgs limit offered as a passenger's hand carry."For the highest package, FLEXI-PRO, we provide more complete services such as free baggage 30kgs, free to choose seats, free food, and drinks, priority at check-in and boarding, no less interesting is passengers' ability to be able to change the flight schedule without restrictions and obtain refund when needed."Many people look for competitive ticket prices when they want to travel, but they also expect the best service. Therefore, we are committed to providing affordable and competitive ticket prices, while still providing premium services to our customers. We offer various facilities and services that can enhance your travel experiences, such as more comfortable seats, high-quality food and beverages, as well as friendly and professional service from our crew. With our competitive ticket prices and premium services, we are confident that you will be satisfied with your travel experience with us." added Datuk Bernard.To further elaborate on just how much consideration TransNusa has given toward the customer's comfort, it would only be right to highlight the fact that TransNusa has configured their A320s with a 174 seat configuration, which allows for passengers to enjoy 30-31 inches of legroom that is comparable to the experience one would get in a full-service airline.In addition to this, TransNusa will as well be providing customers who purchase the more premium bundles, unlimited flight changes. Customers who have purchased a bundle that provides this service will only have to pay the difference in fare for the next flight and will not incur any penalty charges. Furthermore, passengers who opt for this bundle will also be entitled to a meal on board.Other than Guangzhou and Singapore, TransNusa also had commercial flights to Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru Malaysia, Bali and Yogyakarta.TransNusa: https://www.transnusa.co.id/Source: TransNusaCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. In diesem Report stellen wir Ihnen 3 Top-Aktien aus dem Energie-Sektor vor, die Sie unbedingt auf Ihre Watchlist setzen mussen. Lassen Sie sich diese kostenlose Analyse nicht entgehen! Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. In light of recent articles presented in the media naming 98 seafood companies, including Lund's Fisheries, Lund's Fisheries would like to issue a statement condemning IUU fishing as well as human right violations. CAPE MAY, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Lund's Fisheries takes allegations of this type seriously, which is why we engaged in numerous productive discussions with Ian Urbina and the staff of the Outlaw Ocean Project beginning in January 2023. In good faith, we conscientiously shared documentation, procedures, policies and industry knowledge surrounding domestic and international fishing, foreign processing and imports. We will continue to address Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, and forced labor allegations with industry members, NGOs, and our government to strengthen the seafood supply chain and provide consumers with the utmost confidence. Upon hearing questions and criticisms raised about Rongcheng Haibo, we initiated an internal investigation, and resolved not to renew existing contracts with Rongcheng Haibo until that work was complete. Although our investigation did not find any evidence of illegal activity or forced labor in the operations of Roncheng Haibo Seafood, we are maintaining our cessation of new business pending further investigation. Lund's Fisheries requires a Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) from all of our foreign suppliers. SMETA is the world's most widely used audit in assessing standards of labor, health and safety, environmental performance, and ethics. The SMETA audit is designed to help protect workers from unsafe conditions, overwork, discrimination, low pay, and forced labor. The SMETA process is what companies use to evaluate their suppliers, specifically when referring to forced labor risks. In addition, we also engage with each supplier, requiring that they sign a supplier declaration agreement, wherein they must agree to not employ forced labor. We analyze and evaluate all the documentation they provide to us, including their SMETA audit reports, annually, to verify the results. As a proud member of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership's Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable, Lund's Fisheries is committed to working towards sustainable fisheries and combatting IUU fishing and human rights violations globally. Lund's Fisheries is a family owned and operated, vertically integrated seafood harvester and processor which operates 19 fishing vessels on the East and West Coast of the United States and 5 seafood processing facilities in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California. Our US plants produce a variety of Marine Stewardship Council-certified whole and cleaned calamari products, sea scallops, and multiple species of finfish. Lund's Fisheries will celebrate our 70th anniversary next year. Our relationships with our customers, employees, consumers and partners are our first priority, and we take great pride in maintaining the integrity of what we do each day. About Lund's Fisheries Inc. Lund's Fisheries, Inc. is a third-generation, family-owned company and a primary producer of fresh and frozen seafood located in Cape May, N.J. Lund's purchases, produces and distributes nearly 75 million pounds of fresh and frozen fish annually. Its fresh and frozen domestic sales stretch nationwide while its frozen exports extend to markets around the world. Lund's Fisheries is committed to developing and managing systems and practices to fish within sustainable limits and track its products back to the harvest location to ensure they are sourced from fisheries that are well-managed, certified as sustainable or actively working towards implementing more responsible and sustainable harvesting practices. PRESS CONTACT: Bob Vanasse Stove Boat Communications (202) 333-2628 bob@stoveboat.com SOURCE: Lund's Fisheries Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792775/statement-from-lunds-fisheries-condemning-iuu-fishing-and-human-rights-violations BETHESDA, MD / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / K2 Construction Consultants has been awarded a five-year, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling value of approximately $253 million by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) to deploy technology designed to detect and prevent nuclear and radiological material or devices from entering the United States. K2 partnered with Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) and Culmen International to win the Radiation Portal Monitor Program (RPMP) Deployment contract. The K2 team will deploy radiation portal monitors (RPM) across the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders and at international airports, seaports, and global postal facilities, in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). "We are excited to expand our support of DHS to the CWMD mission from our many Transportation Security Administration (TSA) programs installing security screening systems and technology," said Paul Krogh, chief executive officer of K2 Construction Consultants, Inc. "The team brings extraordinary capabilities and wide-ranging expertise for the development of threat reduction systems, integration of security screening technologies, as well as program and logistics management, procurement, and construction." "The critical importance of preventing nuclear and radiological material from entering the United States cannot be overstated," said Jon Moretta, president, Engineered Systems for Parsons. "Working closely with K2, Culmen and DHS, we look forward to deploying technologies to help ensure the continued protection of American citizens and success of the RPMP mission." The K2 team will perform site surveys and designs, equipment installation, configuration management, and commissioning. "Culmen's capabilities and experience provides the Government with unique resources and expertise needed to fulfill the CWMD RPMP mission," said Dan Berkon, CEO of Culmen International. "Culmen is proud to be part of the K2 team enhancing U.S. and international security by implementing radiation portal monitoring solutions at critical sites." "We have assembled the strongest team in the industry to execute this important mission for CWMD," said Paul Krogh. "K2, Parsons and Culmen are ideally positioned because of our exceptional track records with DHS, TSA and CBP." About K2 Construction Consultants K2 Construction Consultants, Inc., is an industry leader in project management and controls, systems integration and the deployment and implementation of complex security solutions. For three decades, K2 has successfully supported a diverse range of domestic and international projects for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and large airports and transportation authorities. Please visit k2consulting.com and follow us on LinkedIn to learn about the solutions we offer. About Parsons Parsons (NYSE: PSN) is a leading disruptive technology provider in the national security and global infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cyber and intelligence, space and missile defense, transportation, environmental remediation, urban development, and critical infrastructure protection. Please visit Parsons.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn how we're making an impact. About Culmen International Established in 2004, Culmen International is committed to enhancing international safety and security, strengthening homeland defense, and optimizing government operations. We provide technical and management expertise, develop innovative technology solutions, and deliver logistics, training, and language services worldwide. With experience in over 140 countries, Culmen supports our clients to accomplish critical missions in challenging environments. Learn more at www.culmen.com and follow us on LinkedIn. Media Contacts: Frank Caskin 240.429.4682 Fcaskin@k2consulting.com Bernadette Miller 980.253.9781 Bernadette.Miller@parsons.com Virginia Pewett 703.224.7000 Virginia.pewett@culmen.com Contact Information Frank Caskin Communications Director caskin44@yahoo.com 240-429-4682 SOURCE: K2 Construction Consultants View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792838/k2-construction-consultants-wins-253-million-dhs-radiation-portal-monitor-deployment-construction-and-design-contract EQS-News: VIC Properties S.A. / Key word(s): Bond Holdco B147402 S.A. (formerly VIC Properties S.A.): Update on the Consent Solicitation Process - Results of Noteholders' Meeting held on 11 October 13.10.2023 / 18:00 CET/CEST The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO, OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN, THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA, CANADA, JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO RELEASE, PUBLISH, OR DISTRIBUTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES THE IMMEDIATE ATTENTION OF HOLDERS. IF HOLDERS ARE IN ANY DOUBT AS TO THE ACTION THEY SHOULD TAKE, THEY SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CONSULT THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL ADVISERS AUTHORISED UNDER THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000, AS AMENDED (IF THEY ARE LOCATED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM), OR FROM OTHER APPROPRIATELY AUTHORISED INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL ADVISERS (IF THEY ARE LOCATED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM). THIS NOTICE CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT IS OF INTEREST TO THE REGISTERED AND BENEFICIAL OWNERS OF THE NOTES (EACH AS DEFINED HEREIN). IF APPLICABLE, ALL DEPOSITORIES, CUSTODIANS AND OTHER INTERMEDIARIES RECEIVING THIS NOTICE ARE REQUIRED TO EXPEDITE TRANSMISSION HEREOF TO BENEFICIAL OWNERS OF THE NOTES IN A TIMELY MANNER. IF BENEFICIAL OWNERS OF THE NOTES ARE IN ANY DOUBT AS TO THE MATTERS REFERRED TO IN THIS NOTICE, THEY SHOULD CONSULT THEIR STOCKBROKER, LAWYER, ACCOUNTANT OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVISER WITHOUT DELAY. Holdco B147402 S.A. (formerly VIC Properties S.A.) (a societe anonyme, governed by the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) (the "Issuer") up to EUR 100,000,000 5.000% notes due 2023 (ISIN DE000A1943D1 and German Securities Code (WKN) A1943D) (the "Notes") Luxembourg, 13 October 2023. Update on the Consent Solicitation Process - Results of Noteholders' Meeting held on 11 October Capitalised terms used but not defined herein have the meanings given to such terms in the consent solicitation memorandum, dated 13 June 2023 where the Issuer has proposed certain amendments to the Terms and Conditions to, inter alia, amend the Redemption Date to 28 May 2029 (the "Consent Solicitation Memorandum" and the corresponding consent solicitation process, the "Consent Solicitation"). As part of the Consent Solicitation, the Issuer held a noteholders' meeting on Wednesday, 11 October 2023 in Berlin, Germany ("Noteholders' Meeting"), the Noteholders' Meeting approved the changes to the Terms and Conditions as proposed in the Consent Solicitation Memorandum. The formal publication of the result of the vote passed in the Noteholders' Meeting in the German Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) is expected for Tuesday, 17 October 2023. DISCLAIMER: This announcement contains important information, which should be read carefully. This announcement is for informational purposes only, and does not purport to be an exhaustive description of all relevant terms and conditions of the German Notes and/or the Consent Solicitation. Each Noteholder is solely responsible for making its own independent appraisal of all matters as such Noteholder deems appropriate. Nothing in this announcement constitutes or contemplates an offer of, an offer to purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. None of the German Notes have been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act, or the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States, and none of the German Notes may be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state or local securities laws. Nothing in this announcement constitutes a solicitation in any circumstances in which such solicitation is unlawful. None of Issuer or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives or affiliates of any such person, expresses any opinion about the terms of the German Notes and/or the Consent Solicitation. This announcement does not constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, an offer for the sale or subscription of, or a solicitation of any offer to buy or subscribe for, any securities of the Issuer or any of its affiliates or any other entity. The communication of this notice is not being made, and this notice has not been approved, by an authorised person for the purposes of Section 21 of the FSMA. Accordingly, this announcement is not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, persons within the United Kingdom save in circumstances where section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to any member of the Group. The distribution of this announcement may nonetheless be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions. None of I or any other person or their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives or affiliates will incur any liability for its own failure or the failure of any other person or persons to comply with the provisions of any such restrictions. 13.10.2023 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.eqs-news.com ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands (13 October 2023, 18:00 CEST) - IMCD N.V. ("IMCD" or "Company"), a global leading distribution partner, formulator of speciality chemicals and ingredients, announces that its Supervisory Board has nominated Mrs. Dorthe Mikkelsen for appointment as member of the Supervisory Board. This appointment proposal will be presented to the shareholders for their approval in an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be held on 27 November 2023. The nomination of Mrs. Mikkelsen is in response to the vacancy arisen by the resignation of Mrs. Valerie Diele-Braun, who has assumed her role as member of the Management Board as of 1 October and will be succeeding Piet van der Slikke as CEO of IMCD as of January 2024. Dorthe Mikkelsen (1967) has the Danish nationality and holds a degree in marketing from Copenhagen Business School and a master's degree in pharmacy from the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy. She is an experienced business leader and seasoned international executive in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. After starting her career at Novo Nordisk, Mrs. Mikkelsen joined MSD (Merck, Sharp & Dohme), one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world, where she held various management positions in over 25 years. Most recently, Mrs. Mikkelsen served as Senior Vice President and President Asia Pacific, with P&L responsibility for revenue of over EUR 2.3 billion and 3,500 employees (with oversight of total 7,000 employees). In 2021, Mrs Mikkelsen relocated back to Denmark and focussed on non-executive roles. She is currently a non-executive director at Falck, a global healthcare provider with operations in 26 countries in Europe, USA, and Latin America, where she is also a member of the Audit Committee and Remuneration & Appointment Committee. In addition, she is a non-executive director at Theramex, a leading global speciality pharmaceutical company dedicated to women's health, where Mrs. Mikkelsen also chairs the Remuneration Committee. Her industry-knowledge, in particular in the pharmaceuticals market segment, and international experience are deemed a valuable contribution to the Supervisory Board's composition. Her expertise gained in current non-executive roles will furthermore strengthen the Supervisory Board as a whole. Further details on the nomination are included in the documentation for the EGM, that is published on IMCD's website here. Attached, the press release in pdf format. - xxx - This press release contains information that qualifies as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation and was issued on 13 October 2023, 18:00 hrs CEST. About IMCD N.V. IMCD N.V. based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, is a leading global distribution partner and formulator of speciality chemicals and ingredients.IMCD is an expert solutions provider and adds sustainable value to the supply chain. Every day professionals focus on providing the best service through commercial and operational excellence. The company is mindful of the role they play in creating a better planet for all and formulates with consciousness and executes with care, to address business challenges of tomorrow, in partnership and transparency.? In 2022, with over 4,300 employees, IMCD realised a revenue of EUR 4,601 million. IMCD?N.V.'s?shares are traded at Euronext, Amsterdam?. Media contact IMCD Group Marnie Kontovraki Corporate Communications Director +31 10 290 86 84 mediarelations@imcdgroup.com IR contact IMCD N.V. Cecile Westerhuis Company Secretary +31 10 290 86 84 ir@imcdgroup.com Attachment Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares PR Newswire LONDON, United Kingdom, October 13 For immediate release 13 October 2023 FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC (the "Company") MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES The Company announces that it has today purchased 100,000 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 820 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company. The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 17 January 2023. Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 21,371,869; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 203,619,434. The figure of 203,619,434 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. For and on behalf of Frostrow Capital LLP Company Secretary For further information, please contact: Victoria Hale Frostrow Capital LLP Tel: 020 3 170 8732 Redde Northgate Plc - Transaction in Own Shares PR Newswire LONDON, United Kingdom, October 13 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION 13 October 2023 REDDE NORTHGATE PLC ("Redde Northgate" or the "Group" or the "Company") Transaction in Own Shares Redde Northgate plc (LSE:REDD) announces that on 13 October 2023 it purchased the following number of its own shares to be held in treasury: Class of shares : Ordinary shares of 50p ("shares") Number of shares purchased : 100,000 Weighted average purchase price paid : 318.075 pence per share Highest purchase price paid : 318.25 pence per share Lowest purchase price paid : 317 pence per share Following the above transaction, the Company's issued share capital consists of 246,091,423 ordinary shares of 50p each, of which 16,040,071 ordinary shares are held in treasury, and 1,000,000 preference shares of 50p each which do not carry any rights to vote. Therefore the total number of voting rights in the Company is 230,051,352 which may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. In accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation) as incorporated into UK domestic law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the schedule below contains detailed information about the purchases made by Numis Securities Limited on behalf of the Company as part of the Company's buyback programme. Schedule of Purchase - Individual Transactions (as at 13 October 2023) Number of shares purchased Transaction price (GB pence per share) Time of transaction Transaction reference number Venue 86,000 318.25 13:08:52 00067359999TRLO0 LSE 14,000 317.00 13:10:14 00067360037TRLO0 LSE Notes This announcement is made in accordance with the requirements of Listing Rule 12.4.6. For further information contact: Buchanan David Rydell/Jamie Hooper/Hannah Ratcliff +44 (0) 207 466 5000 Notes to Editors: Redde Northgate is the leading integrated mobility solutions platform providing services across the vehicle lifecycle. The Company offers integrated mobility solutions to businesses, fleet operators, insurers, OEMs and other customers across seven key areas: vehicle rental, vehicle data, accident management, vehicle repairs, fleet management, service and maintenance, vehicle ancillary services and vehicle sales. The Company's core purpose is to keep its customers mobile, whether through meeting their regular mobility needs or by servicing and supporting them when unforeseen events occur. With its considerable scale and reach, Redde Northgate's mission is to offer a market-leading customer proposition and drive enhanced returns for shareholders by creating value through sustainable compounding growth. The Group aims to achieve this through the delivery of its strategic framework of Focus, Drive and Broaden. Redde Northgate services its customers through a network and diversified fleet of over 120,000 owned and leased vehicles, supporting over 600,000 managed vehicles, with more than 170 workshop, body shop and rental locations across the UK, Ireland and Spain and a specialist team of over 6,000 automotive services professionals. Further information please visit the Company's website: Regulatory News: Sopra Steria (Paris:SOP): This is a joint press release by Ordina N.V. ("Ordina") and Sopra Steria Group SA ("Sopra Steria" or the "Offeror") pursuant to the provisions of Article 4, paragraph 3, and Article 17, paragraph 4 of the Dutch Decree on public takeover bids (Besluit openbare biedingen Wft) (the "Decree") in connection with the recommended public offer by the Offeror for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the capital of Ordina (the "Offer"). The information in this announcement is not intended to be complete. This announcement does not constitute an offer, or any solicitation of any offer, to buy or subscribe for any securities in Ordina. The Offer is made solely by means of an offer memorandum (the "Offer Memorandum") approved by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Stichting Autoriteit Financiele Markten, the "AFM") which was published on 17 July 2023, and subject to the restrictions set forth therein. Capitalised terms used herein but not defined in this press release will have the meaning as ascribed thereto in the Offer Memorandum. This press release is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, in or into, directly or indirectly, any jurisdiction in which such release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. Sopra Steria and Ordina are pleased to announce that 4,757,648 additional Shares, representing 5.29% of the Outstanding Capital, have been tendered under the Offer during the Post-Acceptance Period that expired at 17:40 hours CET today. Together with the Shares already acquired by the Offeror, this represents a total of 98.01% of the Outstanding Capital. As a result, the Offeror will meet the Statutory Squeeze-Out Threshold and will implement the Pre-Squeeze-Out Asset Sale and initiate Squeeze-Out Proceedings. The last trading date of the Shares on Euronext Amsterdam will be 14 November 2023 and listing and trading of the Shares will terminate as of 15 November 2023. Settlement Post-Acceptance Period Settlement of the Shares tendered during the Post-Acceptance Period and payment of the Offer Price will take place on 18 October 2023. The Offeror cannot guarantee that Shareholders holding Shares through an Admitted Institution will actually receive payment on that date from the Admitted Institution with whom they hold their Shares. As a result of such settlement, the Offeror will hold 88,228,900 Shares, representing approximately 98.01% of the Outstanding Capital. Pre-Squeeze-Out Asset Sale and Squeeze-Out Proceedings Since the Offeror will hold more than 95% of the Outstanding Capital upon settlement of the Shares tendered during the Post-Acceptance Period, the Offeror has elected to implement the Pre-Squeeze-Out Asset Sale. Consequently, the Offeror and Ordina will implement the Pre-Squeeze-Out Asset Sale and as soon as reasonably possible after completion thereof the Offeror will initiate Squeeze-Out Proceedings to buy out the remaining Shareholders, Reference is made to section 6.16.3 (Asset Sale and Squeeze-Out Proceedings)of the Offer Memorandum. Delisting As a result of the Offeror now holding more than 95% of the Outstanding Capital, Sopra Steria and Ordina will procure the termination of the listing and trading of the Shares on Euronext Amsterdam. In consultation with Euronext, it has been decided that the last day of trading of the Shares will be on 14 November 2023 and that the Shares will be delisted from Euronext Amsterdam on 15 November 2023. Reference is made to section 6.15 (Consequences of the Offer for non-tendering Shareholders) of the Offer Memorandum. Further information The Offeror is making the Offer on the terms and subject to the conditions and restrictions contained in the Offer Memorandum. In addition, Ordina has made available the Position Statement, containing the information required by Article 18, paragraph 2 and Annex G of the Decree in connection with the Offer. This announcement contains selected, condensed information regarding the Offer and does not replace the Offer Memorandum or the Position Statement. The information in this announcement is not complete and additional information is contained in the Offer Memorandum and the Position Statement. Shareholders are advised to review the Offer Memorandum and the Position Statement in detail and to seek independent advice where appropriate in order to reach a reasoned judgment in respect of the Offer and the content of the Offer Memorandum and the Position Statement. In addition, Shareholders may wish to consult with their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of tendering their Shares under the Offer. Digital copies of the Offer Memorandum and Position Statement are available on the website of Ordina (www.ordina.com) and a digital copy of the Offer Memorandum is available on the website of Sopra Steria (www.soprasteria.com). Such websites do not constitute a part of, and are not incorporated by reference into, the Offer Memorandum. Copies of the Offer Memorandum and the Position Statement are also available free of charge at the offices of Ordina and the Settlement Agent, at the addresses mentioned below. Ordina: Ordina N.V. Ringwade 1 3439 LM Nieuwegein The Netherlands The Settlement Agent: ING Bank N.V. Bijlmerdreef 106 1102 CT Amsterdam The Netherlands iss.pas@ing.com See also: www.shareholderofferordina.com About Ordina Ordina is the digital business partner that harnesses technology and market know-how to give its clients an edge. We do this by using smart solutions to connect technology, business challenges and people. We help our clients to accelerate, to develop smart applications, to launch new digital services and ensure that people embrace those services. Ordina was founded in 1973. Its shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and are included in the Smallcap Index (AScX). In 2022, Ordina recorded revenue of EUR 429 million. You will find more information at www.ordina.com. About Sopra Steria Sopra Steria, a European Tech leader recognised for its consulting, digital services and software development, helps its clients drive their digital transformation to obtain tangible and sustainable benefits. It provides end to-end solutions to make large companies and organisations more competitive by combining in-depth knowledge of a wide range of business sectors and innovative technologies with a fully collaborative approach. Sopra Steria places people at the heart of everything it does and is committed to putting digital to work for its clients in order to build a positive future for all. With 50,000 employees in nearly 30 countries, the Group generated revenue of 5.1 billion in 2022. The world is how we shape it Sopra Steria (SOP) is listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment A) ISIN: FR0000050809 For more information, visit us at www.soprasteria.com. Information for US Shareholders Shareholders in the United States are advised that the Shares are not listed on a US securities exchange and that the Company is not subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "US Exchange Act"), and is not required to, and does not, file any reports with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") thereunder. The Offer is made for the issued and outstanding shares of the Company, which is domiciled in the Netherlands, and is subject to Dutch disclosure and procedural requirements. The Offer is made in the United States pursuant to Section 14(e) and Regulation 14E under the US Exchange Act, subject to the exemption provided under Rule 14d-1(d) under the Exchange Act for a Tier I tender offer (the "Tier I Exemption"), and otherwise in accordance with the disclosure and procedural requirements of Dutch law, including with respect to the Offer timetable, settlement procedures, withdrawal, waiver of conditions and timing of payments, which are different from those of the United States. In particular, the financial statements included in section 13 (Financial Information Ordina) of the Offer Memorandum have been prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, as adopted by the European Union ("IFRS"), and/or Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code, and may not be comparable to the financial statements or financial information of US companies or companies whose financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The Offer is made to the Shareholders resident in the United States on the same terms and conditions as those made to all other Shareholders to whom an offer is made. Any informational documents, including the Offer Memorandum, are being disseminated to US shareholders on a basis comparable to the method that such documents are provided to the other Shareholders. As permitted under the Tier I Exemption, the Settlement is based on the applicable Dutch law provisions, which differ from the settlement procedures customary in the United States, particularly as regards to the time when payment of the consideration is rendered. The Offer, which is subject to Dutch law, is being made to the US shareholders in accordance with the applicable US securities laws, and applicable exemptions thereunder, in particular the Tier I Exemption. To the extent the Offer is subject to US securities laws, those laws only apply to US shareholders and will not give rise to claims on the part of any other person. US shareholders should consider that the price for the Offer is being paid in EUR and that no adjustment will be made based on any changes in the exchange rate. The receipt of cash pursuant to the Offer by a US Shareholder will generally be a taxable transaction for US federal income tax purposes and may be a taxable transaction under applicable state and local, as well as foreign and other tax Laws. Each Shareholder is urged to consult its independent professional advisors immediately regarding the tax consequences of acceptance or non-acceptance of the Offer. It may be difficult for US Shareholders to enforce their rights and claims arising out of the US federal securities laws, since the Offeror and the Company are located in a country other than the United States, and some or all of their officers and directors may be residents of a country other than the United States. US Shareholders may not be able to sue a non-US company or its officers or directors in a non-US court for violations of the US federal securities laws. Further, it may be difficult to compel a non-US company and its affiliates to subject themselves to a US court's judgment. Neither the SEC nor any US state securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the Offer, passed upon the fairness or merits of the Offer or provided an opinion as to the accuracy or completeness of the Offer Memorandum or any other documents regarding the Offer. Any representation to the contrary constitutes a criminal offence in the United States. General restrictions This press release contains inside information within the meaning of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014). The information in this announcement is not intended to be complete. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or an invitation to acquire or dispose of any securities or investment advice or an inducement to enter into investment activity. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire the securities of Ordina in any jurisdiction. The distribution of this press release may, in some countries, be restricted by law or regulation. Accordingly, persons who come into possession of this document should inform themselves of and observe these restrictions. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Offeror and Ordina disclaim any responsibility or liability for the violation of any such restrictions by any person. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of that jurisdiction. Neither Ordina, nor the Offeror, nor any of their advisors assume any responsibility for any violation by any person of any of these restrictions. Shareholders in any doubt as to their position should consult an appropriate professional advisor without delay. Forward-looking statements This press release may include "forward-looking statements" such as statements relating to the impact of the Transaction on the Offeror and Ordina and the expected timing and completion of the Offer and the Transaction. Forward-looking statements involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that all occur in the future. Generally, words such as may, should, aim, will, expect, intend, estimate, anticipate, believe, plan, seek, continue or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the Offer Memorandum. Although the Offeror and Ordina, each with respect to the statements it has provided, believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that such statements will be fulfilled or prove to be correct, and no representations are made as to the future accuracy and completeness of such statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, (i) the risk that required regulatory approvals may delay the Offer or result in the imposition of conditions that could have a material adverse effect on the integration of Ordina into the Offeror's Group or cause the Offeror to abandon the Offer, (ii) the risk that the Offer Conditions may not be satisfied, (iii) risks relating to the Offeror's ability to successfully operate Ordina without disruption to its other business activities, which may result in Ordina not operating as effectively and efficiently as expected, (iv) the possibility that Ordina may involve unexpected costs, unexpected liabilities or unexpected delays, (v) the risk that the businesses of the Offeror or its Affiliates may suffer as a result of uncertainty surrounding the Offer, (vi) the effects of competition (in particular the response to the Offer in the marketplace) and competitive developments or risks inherent to the Offeror's or Ordina's business plans, (vii) the risk that disruptions from the Offer will harm relationships with customers, employees and suppliers, (viii) political, economic or legal changes in the markets and environments in which the Offeror and its Affiliates, shareholders, officers, directors, employees, advisors, agents, representatives and members do business, (ix) economic conditions in the global markets in which the Offeror and Ordina and, where applicable, their respective Affiliates operate, in particular the current macro-economic developments, (x) uncertainties, risks and volatility in financial markets affecting the Offeror and Ordina and, where applicable, their respective Affiliates, shareholders, officers, directors, employees, advisors, agents, representatives and members, and (xi) other factors that can be found in the Offeror and Ordina's press releases and public filings. Each of the Offeror and Ordina expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by Applicable Rules or by any Competent Regulatory Authority. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013029535/en/ Contacts: For more information: Investor Relations Olivier Psaume olivier.psaume@soprasteria.com +33 (0)1 40 67 68 16 Press Relations Caroline Simon (Image 7) caroline.simon@image7.fr +33 (0)1 53 70 74 65 For more information: Investor Relations Anneke Hoijtink anneke.hoijtink@ordina.nl +31 615396873 Media relations Uneke Dekkers, CFF Communications uneke.dekkers@cffcommunications.nl +31 650261626 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Aztec Minerals Corp. (TSXV: AZT) (OTCQB: AZZTF) is pleased to announce that the company is presenting a live virtual corporate update hosted by Red Cloud Financial Services on October 16th, 2023 at 2:00 ET. We invite our shareholders, and all interested parties to register for the webinar and participate in the live Q&A session at the end of the presentation moderated by Red Cloud. The replay will be emailed out to all webinar registrants proceeding the event and will also be available on the Red Cloud website. For more information and to register: https://redcloudfs.com/events/aztec-minerals-corp/. Aztec Minerals is a mineral exploration company focused on two emerging discoveries in North America. The Cervantes project is an emerging porphyry gold-copper discovery in Sonora, Mexico. The Tombstone project is an emerging gold-silver discovery with high grade CRD silver-lead-zinc potential in southern Arizona. Commodities to be covered: Gold, Silver, Copper About Aztec Minerals Corp. Aztec Minerals is a mineral exploration company focused on two emerging discoveries in North America. The Cervantes project is an emerging porphyry gold-copper discovery in Sonora, Mexico. The Tombstone project is an emerging gold-silver discovery with high grade CRD silver-lead-zinc potential in southern Arizona. About Red Cloud Securities Inc. Red Cloud Securities Inc. is an IIROC-regulated investment dealer focused on providing a full range of brokerage services to all investor types focused in the junior resource sector. Our services include Investment Banking, Research, Institutional and Retail Trading, Institutional Sales, and Retail Investment Advisory services. About Red Cloud Financial Services Inc. Red Cloud Financial Services Inc. is a globally focused capital markets advisory firm that provides a full range of executive strategy, media, marketing, and corporate access services. Our breadth of services combines with our significant knowledge of the junior mining industry combine for unique product offering. The company was founded by capital markets professionals with extensive experience in the junior mining industry. For further information: Aztec Minerals Corp. Simon Dyakowski +16046197469 simon@aztecminerals.com For additional information contact marketing@redcloudfs.com or visit: www.redcloudfs.com www.facebook.com/RedCloudFinancialServices www.twitter.com/RedCloudFS www.linkedin.com/company/red-cloud-financial-services-inc www.youtube.com/c/RedCloudFinancialServicesInc www.instagram.com/redcloudfs LONDON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pinewood Asia Pacific (Pinewood AP), an Asian-based technology supplier, welcomed on Friday a decision by a UK High Court judge to dismiss efforts by a Pendragon subsidiary to have the claim dismissed and the case will now go to court. Pinewood AP alleges contract breaches by Pendragon subsidiary Pinewood Technologies PLC in their reseller agreement, resulting in Pinewood AP being unable to fulfil contracts it had devoted time and resources into building. "We are delighted that the judge has rightfully decided to dismiss the strikeout and that Pinewood Technologies PLC have a case to answer," said Pinewood AP Chief Executive David Neilsen. "Alongside Josephine Lee, we set up a business, won contracts and thought we had a good partnership with Pendragon.." "We are pleased that we will take the matter forward in court and that justice has a chance to be done. We are doing this not only for ourselves, but for all the staff we had to make redundant," Neisen said. Whilst the case continues, Pinewood AP intends to seek permission to appeal with respect to certain aspects of the judgment. Notes to editor: Brief outline of the case The case revolves around an alleged breach of contract between Pinewood Technologies PLC and their reseller in Asia, Pinewood Technologies Asia Pacific Limited (Pinewood AP). "The Reseller Agreements envisaged that the Claimant Pinewood AP would devote significant costs and resources to promote and sell the Pinewood DMS in the Asia Pacific region in accordance with certain targets, whilst restricting its ability to generate alternative sources of income." There were contractual obligations within the agreements including development obligations that would be made by Pinewood Technologies PLC who would make the necessary developments to enable the reseller to sell the system in the territories they operated in. Two key obligations are that Pinewood UK would: "make any necessary changes to ensure that the Pinewood Dealer Management System meets the legal requirements of the Territory, provided that [Pinewood AP] provides Pinewood Technologies PLC reasonable notice and detail of the changes required" (the "Legal Requirements Obligation"); and use "its best endeavours to make any necessary changes to ensure that the Pinewood Dealer Management System meets the vehicle manufacturer franchise standards of the franchises held by Contracting Customers" (the "Franchise Standards Obligation"). Despite repeated requests and notice periods, Pinewood Technologies PLC did not meet these obligations, resulting in Pinewood AP struggling to fulfil their contracts with their customers. With some of these developments necessary to operate in certain territories, it was imperative that the conditions were met. As a result of Pinewood AP not being able to fulfil their contracts, their business model, which they had diligently built and resourced, was no longer viable in its current state. Upon the failure of Pinewood AP to fulfil all their contracts in Asia, Pinewood UK then approached the customers of Pinewood AP and subsequently won numerous contracts from Pinewood AP. The developments requested by Pinewood AP would obviously still be required by the customers and, with Pinewood UK knowing these were required (having been told about them through Pinewood AP's work) quickly then, with Pinewood AP removed from the picture, completed the developments they had been unable to previously do so. The alleged actions of Pinewood UK have meant that they have been able to profit from their breach of contract. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/pinewood-asia-pacific-welcomes-uk-court-decision-to-uphold-case-against-pendragon-subsidiary-301956517.html RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Derayah Financial, a leading Saudi financial services company, and Al Ramz Corporation PJSC, a renowned financial institution headquartered in the UAE, announced an agreement strategic partnership includes various investment banking aspects. The announced strategic partnership aims to exchange knowledge and expertise under a new joint venture entity, aligning with CMA's vision to enhance the market and broaden investment offerings in the Saudi market. According to the agreement, both parties are committed to allocating the necessary investments and technical expertise to ensure the new company achieves its set objectives and helps it grow and attain a leading position in the sector. The strategic partnership represents a milestone as it will be pivotal in enhancing the parties' position in Saudi Arabia's financial markets, according to the CEO of Derayah, "it helps to introduce high levels of service to clients, and leveraging their combined strengths and expertise to shape the future of market making and liquidity provision". This partnership signifies a new era of cross-border financial collaboration, enhancing both companies' capacity to serve investors and contribute to the advancement of Saudi Arabia's thriving financial markets under "Vision 2030". Market making and liquidity provision play critical roles in the health and vibrancy of financial markets. Through this partnership, Derayah and Al Ramz bolsters such key market mechanisms, driving the growth and resilience of Saudi Arabia's financial sector while offering clients enhanced trading possibilities and a more seamless investment experience. The strategic partnership aligns with the vision of both sides, as it sets new standers in market making and liquidity provision through the combined experience and expertise of Derayah and Al Ramz, driving not only the growth of their institutions but also contributing positively to Saudi Arabia's thriving financial sector. This alliance underscores our unwavering commitment to our clients and stakeholders, according to the Group Managing Director of Al Ramz Corporation PJSC who stated that "the partnership aims to set new standards in market making and liquidity provision through the combined experience and expertise of Al Ramz and Derayah". The announcement marks the mobilization of establishing the joint venture, after obtaining the regulatory approvals, and the teams are ready to start tapping the Saudi market with a focus on market making and liquidity provision. Both Al Ramz and Derayah are committed to realizing the full potential of this partnership and contributing to the growth and development of the Saudi financial industry. Derayah Financial is a private joint stock company licensed by the Saudi Capital Markets Authority [CMA] and considered the largest unaffiliated financial broker based in Riyadh; it has achieved remarkable success since its launch in 2007. Derayah provides many services to its client base, including local, regional and international financial brokerage services, and it is considered the largest independent financial brokerage company in the Middle East and has the third largest market share in the Saudi market and the largest market share as a non-banking entity, in addition to the investment advice service and the investment funds supermarket service, in addition to managing financial assets and providing innovative investment solutions. Al Ramz Corporation PJSC founded in 1998, it is a UAE domiciled public joint stock company listed on the Dubai Financial Market and regulated by the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority and the Dubai Financial Services Authority. It provides a broad spectrum of services including asset management, corporate finance, brokerage, security margins, market making, liquidity providing, public offering management and financial research. Media Contact Organization: Derayah Financial Contact Person: Maha AlRasheed Website: https://www.derayah.com Email: Maha.alrasheed@derayah.com City: Riyadh State: Riyadh Country: Saudi Arabia SOURCE: Derayah Financial View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/792967/derayah-and-al-ramz-forge-strategic-partnership-to-bolster-market-making-in-saudi-arabia In diesem Report stellen wir Ihnen 3 Top-Aktien aus dem Energie-Sektor vor, die Sie unbedingt auf Ihre Watchlist setzen mussen. Lassen Sie sich diese kostenlose Analyse nicht entgehen! WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices rose sharply on Friday amid rising concerns about the potential impact of the ongoing Israel - Hamas war on global crude supplies. Israel's military today called for all civilians of Gaza City, more than 1 million people, to relocate south within 24 hours. The Israeli military said it would operate 'significantly' in Gaza City in the coming days and civilians would only be able to return when another announcement was made. The United States' decision to tighten sanctions against Russian crude exports has also raised supply concerns. The U.S. Treasury Department said that it has imposed its first set of sanctions on two companies that shipped Russian oil in violation of a multinational price cap of $60 a barrel. Russia is the world's second-largest oil producer and it is feared that the new sanctions could tighten global supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $4.78 or about 5.8% at $87.69 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained about 6% in the week. Brent crude futures for December settled at $90.89 a barrel, gaining $4.89 or about 5.7%. Baker Hughes said today that the number of active rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by 4 to 501 this week. 'Crude prices are surging as the oil market will remain very tight given escalating geopolitical risks could threaten supplies and after banks continue to describe the US economy as resilient,' says Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Akwaaba Mining Ltd. (TSXV: AML) ("Akwaaba" or the "Company") announces the consolidation of its common shares on the basis of 1 post-consolidation shares for every 20 pre-consolidation shares issued and outstanding as of the close of business on October 12, 2023. The shares are expected to begin trading on a consolidated basis on the TSX Venture Exchange on Thursday, October 19, 2023. The share consolidation was approved by the Company's shareholders at the annual and special meeting held on March 31, 2023. The Company's shareholders will receive 1 post-consolidation common share for every 20 pre-consolidation shares held by them. No fractional shares will be issued as a result of the consolidation. Fractional interests will be rounded to the nearest whole number of shares without any consideration payable therefor. The consolidation affects all the Company's common shares outstanding on October 12, 2023. As a result, the number of issued and outstanding shares will be reduced to 10,259,374 from 205,187,470, subject to treatment of fractional shares. Each shareholder's percentage ownership in the Company and proportional voting power will remain unchanged, except for minor adjustments resulting from the treatment of fractional shares. The new CUSIP number for the post-consolidation shares is 01021L205 and the new ISIN number is CA01021L2057. The Company's common shares will continue to trade under the symbol "AML" and the Company's name will not change. Shareholders who hold their shares in brokerage accounts or in "street name" are not required to take any action to effect an exchange of their shares. Registered shareholders will receive a letter of transmittal from Computershare Investor Services Inc., the Company's transfer agent. The letter of transmittal will contain instructions on how registered shareholders can exchange their share certificates representing pre-consolidation shares for new certificates representing post-consolidation shares. Until surrendered, each share certificate representing pre-consolidation shares will represent the number of whole post-consolidation shares to which the holder is entitled as a result of the consolidation. The consolidation will not have any effect on the number of issued and outstanding common share purchase warrants of the Company. However, as a result of the consolidation, the number of shares issuable upon the exercise of each warrant will be reduced and the exercise price increased, the whole in accordance with the terms of the instruments governing the warrants. Management believes that the share consolidation is necessary to provide the Company with a share structure that will better attract capital financing and that will provide for future growth opportunities. The share consolidation is subject to final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange. On behalf of the Board of Akwaaba Mining Ltd.: "Iyad Jarbou" Chief Financial Officer Tel: 604.362.7685 Email: iyad@akwaaba-mining.com FORWARD-LOOKING AND OTHER CAUTIONARY INFORMATION Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain 'forward-looking information' and 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This release may contain statements that are forward looking statements and are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183905 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Xineoh Technologies Inc. ("Xineoh" or the "Company") at the forefront of AI-driven insights, proudly announces a teaming agreement with a preeminent global technology consulting firm (the "Consulting Firm"). Xineoh is bound by confidentiality agreements that prevent the disclosure of the partner's identity. Together, Xineoh and the Consulting Firm are actively co-pitching Xineoh's AI solutions to clients, underscoring our combined strength and synergy. One of the pivotal initiatives of this collaboration has been to respond to a Request for Proposal (RFP) with a renowned global leader in the consumer goods sector. This RFP signifies our joint commitment to deliver unparalleled value across consumer facing industries, showcasing the broad applicability of Xineoh's innovative AI solutions. Xineoh's CEO, Vian Chinner, commented, "These joint RFP initiatives underscore the spirit of true collaboration. Teaming up with an industry giant and co-pitching to market leaders across sectors validates the more than 10 years that Xineoh has spent developing its proprietary AI algorithms.." As we forge ahead, Xineoh and the Consulting Firm continue to engage with other major enterprises in diverse consumer facing sectors, exploring potential Proof of Concepts (POCs). Xineoh's continued expansion into these sectors cements its reputation as a top-tier solution for businesses seeking the most robust AI-powered consumer behaviour insights. About Xineoh Technologies Inc.: Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Xineoh Technologies Inc. is a pioneering force, transforming raw data into actionable intelligence. Our proprietary AI algorithms offer businesses a unique lens, driving growth and redefining data-driven strategies. For more information, please contact: Vian Chinner admin@xineoh.com 604-681-8030 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release discusses items that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements include those with respect to the details of the collaboration with the Consulting Firm, future customers and POCs, future prospects and strategy of the Company and the performance of its technology. Although the Company believes in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, they can give no assurances that those expectations will be achieved, and actual results may differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements and information. Such assumptions, which may prove incorrect, include the following: (i) the Company will succeed in obtaining any necessary future financing to fund its ongoing operations, (ii) no material obstacles, technical or otherwise, will hinder the Company's operations, and (iii) the Company will be able implement its business plans in a profitable manner. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include (i) the Company's failure to make effective use of its available funds, (ii) the failure of the Company's commercialization strategy for technical, logistical, labour-relations or other reasons, (iii) an increase in the Company's operating costs above what is necessary to sustain its operations, (iv) cybersecurity issues, labour disputes or the materialization of similar risks, (v) a deterioration in capital market conditions that prevents the Company from raising the funds that it requires on a timely basis, and (vi) generally, an inability of the Company to develop and implement a successful business plan for any reason. These factors and others are more fully discussed in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183882 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Scope Carbon Corp. (CSE: SCPE) (OTCQB: SCPCF) (FSE: VN8) ("Scope" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to 1,250,000 units ("Units") at a price of $1.60 to raise gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one half of a common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional common share at an exercise price of $2.25 for a period of two years upon issuance. The Company does not anticipate paying any finder's fees in connection with the Offering. The Company intends to use the aggregate net proceeds of the Offering in connection with its ongoing acquisition of Farm Flight, Inc. as well as for general working capital purposes. About Scope Carbon Corp. Scope is a technology company located in Vancouver, British Columbia and is focused on the commercial development of its AI-driven image software, which the Company intends to use for the identification and estimation of carbon-based lifeforms and carbon emissions, both key components in the identification of carbon credits. The Company is currently focused on the commercial development of its technology (the "Scope Analysis Platform") through its research and development program, to expand its capabilities of the Scope Analysis Platform and provide a one-tool solution in carbon mapping. For more information please visit Scope Carbon Corp., or follow along on social media. LinkedIn: @Smarter Markets Facebook: Scope Carbon Corp. Twitter: @scopecarboncorp Contact Information James Liang, Chief Executive Officer info@scopecarboncorp.com (604) 683 0911 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements that constitute forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical statements of fact are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, future, strategy, objectives, goals and targets, and more specifically any expectations with respect to the Offering, the use of proceeds of the Offering and the completion of the Offering. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable and reflect expectations of future developments and other factors which management believes to be reasonable and relevant, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "aim", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, including, but not limited to, those risks and assumptions described in the Company's prospectus dated August 10, 2022, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. While Scope considers these assumptions to be reasonable, based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. In addition, forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions, continued satisfaction of Canadian Securities Exchange requirements, product safety and recalls, regulatory compliance and risks associated with the Company's business. For more information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause anticipated opportunities and actual results to differ materially, please refer to the risk factors set out in the Company's prospectus dated August 10, 2022, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, unless required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Canadian Securities Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the business of the Company and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof. Not for distribution to United States news wire services or for dissemination in the United States To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183945 Claus Lang, CTO and Thomas Kaiser, CEO Kodex AI, a Berlin, Germany-based startup developing AI-powered solutions for the financial industry, raised 1.6M in funding. The round was led by Signals VC, with participation from Techstars, Deutsche Bank, and angels investors including: Tobias Hann, CEO of Mostly AI; Sabine Bendiek, Board Member at SAP; Verena Rappel, Board Member at Allianz Services; Barney Hussey-Yeo, Founder of Cleo and Karl Moritz Hermann, former data scientist at Google DeepMind. The company intends to use the funds to expand its development efforts to empower financial professionals with its AI solution, powered by a purpose-built LLM. Led by Claus Lang, and Thomas Kaiser, Kodex AI is a startup providing AI-powered solutions for the financial industry. Its vision is to develop a copilot tailored to the specific needs of financial services professionals, enabling them to find the right information and make decisions faster. The software is currently in private beta with select financial institutions and the team anticipates a broader launch later this year. FinSMEs 13/10/2023Berlin-based startup aims to empower financial professioals with its AI solution, powered by a purpose-built LLM Upvest, a Berlin, Germany-based fintech company providing investment infrastructure, raised 30M in funding. The round was led by existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, HV Capital, Earlybird, Notion, ABN Amro Ventures, Partech, and 10x Capital, with a new addition from BlackRock. The company intends to use the funds to enhance its product offering and regional expansion with leading fintechs, banks and wealth managers. Led by CEO Martin Kassing, Upvest provides a platform that facilitates investment asset classes such as stocks, ETFs, and some mutual funds and can be easily extended to further asset classes like bonds, derivatives, and crypto, as well as any investment use case enabled by the fractional trading engine. Fintechs such as Revolut and Raisin Bank and digital wealth managers such as Plum already partner with it to offer savings plans, tailored investment portfolios, and real-time fractional investing in any asset class offered by Upvest. FinSMEs 13/10/2023 Raghunandan G, Founder & CEO at Zolve Zolve, a NYC-based cross border fintech company helping immigrants across the world gain access to financial services, secured a warehouse debt facility of up $100m from Community Investment Management (CIM). The $100m debt fund secured from CIM will be used for further expansion across UK, Canada and Australia. Led by Raghunandan G, Founder, Zolve is a fintech company which provides financial services to immigrants. Since its inception in August 2021, the platform has attracted around 500,000 users, facilitating transactions worth more than $600M. The Zolve Debit Card, and Zolve Credit Card, and Zolve Azpire Credit Card are issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, Member FDIC and the Zolve account is offered by Community Federal Savings Bank. In February 2021, the company raised $15M in seed funding, led by Accel and Lightspeed followed by $40M raise in October 2021. FinSMEs 13/10/2023 Veteran actress Bhairavi Vaidya, who was known for films like Chori Chori Chupke Chupke and Taal, passed away due to cancer. The demise happened on October 8, she was 67. Actor Surabhi Das, who played the titular character in the show, confirmed the death of her co-star to India Today and said, I am really saddened by the news of her passing away. I shared great times with her on sets. Details of prayer meet CINTAA shared the details of her prayer meet. They tweeted- Prayer Meet Date: thursday, 12th October 2023 Time: 5 TO 7 PM Iskcon Auditorium Juhu, Mumbai. Childhood love is like moody mirages that keep popping up every now and then. Sometimes you need to make difficult choices in life and need to be ruled by the head and not the heart. Lionsgates Past Lives is all about that. Childhood loves are difficult to forget and first flames will always remain first flames. First love or crush or memories do not fade easily and they keep coming back to you like snap shots and there is a strange kind of yearning to go back to those days. Celine Songs film debut, starring Greta Lee, shows two childhood friends who share a beautiful, unspoiled love across two decades and two continents. They met over skype after twelve years of searching, but finally both didnt want to part with their roots and wanted to take a break. It is a story of love and regret and the constant thing that lingers in the mind of the two childhood lovers is what if? What if we would have tried a little harder to be with each other? When they met after twelve years of separation, he didnt want to leave Seoul and she didnt want to leave New York, the city she migrated to as a kid. It is this harsh thing about regret that it can kill you like gangrene and finally you have to go through complete amputation of that part of your life which is not only dear, but very special too. Going back to the story about Past Lives, it revolves around Nora (Greta Lee) and her childhood sweetheart Hae Sung (Teo Yoo). The film shows how the two met in school in Seoul. Nora is shown to be a cry baby and she used to always vent out her anger and grief to Hae Sung. And Hae Sung was this cool, composed, patient man always soft with Nora. He is every womans desire and a very stable partner material who believes in the stoic philosophy of suppression of emotions. Nora who was called Na Young then, on the other hand was the competitive one who wants to be a winner all the time. There are some real sweet moments of childhood love, which brings out the characters of the two in a vivid way. There is a scene where Na Young or Nora tells her mother that, I will probably marry him. The true character traits come out of any particular character very early in life and it is very easy to catch those traits of a person early in life because they are unfiltered. This is one of those childhood scenes where Na Young is upset because Hae Sung scored more marks than her. But the kind uncompetitive person Hae Sung is, he doesnt get annoyed by her behaviour and he is seen comforting her. There are a lot of things in the movie that are left unspoken and that is the brilliance of the filmmaker, Celine Song. The brilliance of the movie lies in the method of storytelling and Celine Song has completely nailed it. With no show of pomp and unnatural visuals and lovemaking scenes, the movie touches the heart of all. And many may feel that it is my story. With Korean dialogues used every now and then, there is nothing alien about the world of Hae Sung and Nora. Rating: 4 out of 5 Past Lives is showing on Lionsgate Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Join our Whatsapp channel to get the latest global news updates. Marvel Cinematic Universe, fondly known as MCU by fans across the globe, has made some of the biggest blockbusters in cinema history. Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame are two of their most profitable ventures so far. However, they have seen two major setbacks unfortunately, with the dual disappointments in the form of She-Hulk and Secret Invasion, two very anticipated shows that failed to excite the viewers. One of their most ambitious projects Daredevil: Born Again was halted due to the Hollywood strike. And two of their other massive shows failed to excite the viewers. What next for the juggernaut? What next for Marvel? The Hollywood Reporter states that one of the first steps taken by the studio is to drop the idea of not creating pilot episodes and hiring showrunners. An insider told the portal they believed in the idea of post production to do most of the heavy lifting, creating the notion that the director doesnt matter. They now plan to create pilot episodes and hire showrunners that can write these episodes for them. Statement from Brad Winderbaum, Marvels Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation He told The Hollywood Reporter, Were trying to marry the Marvel culture with the traditional television culture. Chris Evans on returning to Marvel Yeah, maybe. Ill never say never, just because it was such a wonderful experience. But Im also very precious with it. Its something that I am very proud of. And like I said, sometimes I cant believe it even happened. And I wouldnt want the black eye if it felt like a cash grab or if it didnt live up to expectations or if it just felt like it wasnt connected to that original thing. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Vicky Kaushal has always nailed his performances, especially in films like Raazi and URI, not to forget Masaan and Manmarziyaan. He reunites with his Raazi director Meghna Gulzar for another gripping tale Sam Bahadur. The actor plays the role of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, and he immerses himself into the psyche and physicality of his personality. This could be a performance to remember for years. Heres the teaser of the film thats all set to release on December 1: The film also stars Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh (who plays the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi). Who was Sam Manekshaw? Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, also known as Sam Bahadur, was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. His active military career spanned four decades and five wars, beginning with service in World War II. Vicky Kaushal and Meghna Gulzar on the film Talking about the film, Vicky Kaushal said in a statement, I had always heard stories about Sam Bahadur from my parents who hail from Punjab and have seen the 1971 war but when I read the script I was completely blown away. He is a hero and patriot who is still remembered and loved to this day and capturing his spirit in the film is of the highest importance to me. Meghna Gulzar said in a statement, He was a soldiers soldier and a gentlemans gentleman. They dont make men like Sam Bahadur anymore. Im so honoured to be telling his story with Ronnie Screwvala and the incredibly talented Vicky Kaushal. On the Field Marshals birth anniversary, his story has got its name. I couldnt be happier. The first look of Vicky Kaushal in Sam Manekshaws biopic was released in 2019 marking Sams death anniversary, paying him a tribute. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Israel is still reeling from the audacious attacks perpetrated by Hamas over the weekend. The Israel Defense Forces are recovering bodies that reveal the horrors of the attacks. The attacks have been cruel in nature, they say, with newborn babies being burnt to death, some being shot in the face, a mothers tummy being ripped open while a baby was still attached to the cord, and people being stabbed. Ruthless terrorists gunned down innocent Israeli civilians in the streets, murdering anything that moved. These terrorists broke into homes and shot people point blank as if they were stomping on insects, Gilad Erdan, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, told ANI on Monday. What Israeli forces found Yossi Landau has spent decades collecting corpses in Israel, but he almost reached breaking point recovering the remains of people killed by Gaza militants in the countrys deadliest assault. Landau woke to the sounds of sirens on Saturday, a moment he had become used to as Israelis took shelter from incoming rocket fire. Also Read: How Israel is bombing Gaza every 30 seconds It was not until later that he realised the launches were only a cover up, because the main part is the invasion by Hamas militants, who swept across the Gaza border to kill an estimated 1,200 people. From his home in Ashdod, a coastal city north of Gaza, he recalled seeing the horror as he rushed to the scene. I saw cars turned over, I saw people on the street dead, Landau said in Sderot, a town near the border where multiple residents were killed. He has 33 years of experience volunteering for Zaka, an organisation that recovers the bodies of people who suffered unnatural deaths. But as gunfights raged between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces, Landau said he witnessed violence he had never seen before. A piece of road that shouldve taken 15 minutes, it took us 11 hours because we went and picked up everyone, put them in a bag, said the 55-year-old. Abandoned cars that were torched or riddled with bullet holes still litter the landscape of southern Israel. After already loading dozens of corpses onto refrigerated trucks, Landau and fellow volunteers reached Beeri, a kibbutz of around 1,200 residents five kilometres (three miles) from Gaza. Also Read: Horror of Hamas: Inside the Israeli kibbutz where children and women were beheaded I felt that Im falling apart, not only me, my whole crew, he recalled, after entering the first home and finding a dead woman. Her stomach was ripped open, a baby was there, still connected with the cord, and stabbed, said Landau. The Zaka volunteer said he saw multiple civilians, including around 20 children, who had their hands tied behind their backs before being shot and torched. We saw some victims positioned that they were sexually abused, he added. Devastation and loss More than 100 people have been killed in the kibbutz, while around 270 were left dead at the nearby Supernova music festival. Also Read: How cheap drones helped Hamas ambush Israels sophisticated weaponry While the bodies of the revellers have been removed from the site, their belongings were left strewn across the dusty grass. When an AFP journalist visited on Thursday, beanbags, artworks and a bag of energy drinks were among the possessions on the ground as soldiers walked by. Blood splattered the inside of a car, not far from a sign detailing hiking routes through the forest. Although Israel said it has retaken control of the border area, the army still reports firefights with holdout militants. The military announced soldiers had killed a terrorist around a kibbutz a few kilometres away from the festival grounds on Thursday, soon after distant gunfire was heard from the site. In response to the Hamas assault, Israel has so far hit Gaza with 6,000 bombs according to military figures. Also Read: They took my wife and daughters: The horror stories of Hamas violence The strikes have killed 1,417 Gazans, according to health officials in the Palestinian territory. Confronting with the scale of violence, Landau said he doesnt feel anything right now. We just take our feelings, with our job, and we separate it. And thats what we have to do, he said. With inputs from AFP Its nearly a week since Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, launched audacious and deadly strikes against Israel by land, air and sea. Israel has hit back with strikes of its own in the Gaza Strip. The war as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said is taking a heavy toll on human life; until now, 1,400 have died in Gaza, while the Israeli toll stands at 1,300. Many more have been taken hostage by Hamas. Amidst this fierce battle, which is likely to escalate with Israel putting boots on the ground in Gaza, India has been working hard and fast to evacuate its citizens around 18,000 live there and bring them home to safety. On Friday (13 October), the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi saw a gamut of emotions, from relief to happiness as the first batch of 212 Indians returned home from Israel as part of the evacuation mission, dubbed Operation Ajay. Please also read: From rescue ops to diplomacy: How Sanjeev Singla, India envoy to Israel, is rising up to challenge There were smiles and tears all around, with chants of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata ki Jai ringing out loud as citizens touched down in Delhi. As the war continues to unfold in the Gaza Strip, India has sounded an alert to secure Israeli nationals, including diplomats, staff, and tourists, in the country. Its been reported that New Delhi has been asked to increase deployment on the streets to keep vigil during Friday prayers. Additional security has also been deployed in sensitive areas such as the Israeli embassy and Jewish religious establishments. News18 has also reported that the alert has stated that more security be provided to Jewish festivals this month. In view of the latest development, it is requested to strengthen the security arrangement for Israeli missions, diplomats, officials, staff, business establishments, Chabad houses, Jewish community centres, a top government official quoting the letter told News18. The alert has been sounded off days after countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany, heightened security around potential Jewish targets and pro-Palestinian protesters in view of the escalating violence in Israel. In light of this new development, we take a look at how Israelis and Jews have made India their home and how safe they are in the nation. Jews in India: A look back A religious minority in India, Jews have been living in the country after migrating over 2,000 years ago. In fact, Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to enter India. Today, there are around 6,000 Jews living in India. It is said that they made their way to the country through the sea route from Judea (southern Palestine) and settled here, calling it their home. Jews in India are divided into separate groups, depending on their geographical location and origin myths in the country. There are four main groups: The Bene Israelis, who make up the largest Indian Jewish group and are primarily settled in Maharashtra and Konkan. Theres also the Cochin Jews, who first arrived in the contemporary state of Kerala about 50 CE. The local legend states that they moved to the country after the first temple was destroyed during the siege of Jerusalem and were warmly received by Cheraman Perumal, the ruler of the Chera dynasty. The Baghdadi Jews arrived in port cities like Calcutta, Bombay, and Rangoon in the most recent wave of migration. Theres also the Bnei Menashe, who are settled in the North East. And even though some Jews returned to Israel in 1948 after the declaration of the state of Israel, they have retained some aspects of the local culture. Rabbi Malekar told the Indian Express that many Bene Israelis who went back to Israel still speak Marathi, they wear the local Maharashtrian dress and tie the Mangal Sutra in their weddings. Apart from the Jews in India, there are a significantly large number of Israelis who travel to India. More than 40,000 Israelis visit India each year, many choosing to visit the country after finishing their compulsory army service. They live in the smaller towns and villages of India for as long as their money can last them, and revel in the freedom India offers them after their rigorous term of service. Israel-Palestine conflict: Related coverage Who can broker peace between Israel, Hamas? Can India help? Israel-Palestine conflict: Why India cant afford to take sides How a drawn-out Israel-Hamas war could hurt the Indian economy How Sanjeev Singla, Indias envoy in Tel Aviv, is assuring the safety of nationals in Israel Safe and sound in India Jews in India have enjoyed a relatively peaceful life, without incidents of anti-Semitism. Scholars have frequently noted that India remains to be the only place in the world where Jews never had to face anti-Semitism. In fact, until 2008 when Pakistani terrorists had breached Indias maritime borders and entered Mumbai, the financial capital, and attacked several locations on 26 November, Jews in India had witnessed no violence. It was only then that terrorists had attacked Chabad House (a Jewish community centre) run by Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka Holtzberg in Colaba. The terrorists had held the Rabbi and his wife along with their guests hostage for 40 hours however, the Rabbis two-year-old son Moshe and the cook were able to escape 12 hours into the siege. At the end of the operation, the Rabbi, his wife and five of the hostages were found dead. Another instance when Israelis were targeted in India came in February 2012 when an Israeli diplomats wife was injured in a car bomb in Delhi. The woman, Tal Yehoshua Koren, sustained moderate injuries that required surgery to remove shrapnel while her driver and two bystanders suffered minor injuries. And the most recent incident that prompted a security alert was when a minor bomb exploded near the Israeli embassy in the national capital. The incident happened just after the Beating the Retreat ceremony ended in Lutyens Delhi. No one was injured in the incident, but India and all elements in Israel regarded the explosion as a terrorist incident. Anti-Semitic attacks around the world But while Jews enjoy peace and safety in India, they are seeing a rise in attacks elsewhere in the world. In the United Kingdom, anti-Semitic incidents have more than quadrupled since Hamas attack on Israel, said a charity. The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 89 anti-Jewish hate incidents from 7 to 10 October. That marked a more than four-fold rise on the 21 anti-Semitic incidents recorded in the same period last year. Moreover, anti-Jewish threats on Telegram, a platform popular with Islamic State militants and white supremacists, surged by an alarming 488 per cent in the first 18 hours of Saturday, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the oldest Jewish civil rights group in the United States. The US has also seen sporadic anti-Semitic incidents. In Salt Lake City, Utah, a synagogue was forced to evacuate after receiving a bomb threat. In St. Louis, Missouri, a swastika was spray-painted on the side of a truck. In Sydney, unverified footage distributed by the Australian Jewish Association appeared to show a group of protesters outside the Sydney Opera House shouting, Gas the Jews. With inputs from agencies Israels deadly war with Hamas has entered its seventh day. Amid speculations of a ground offensive, the Israeli military has asked 1.1 million civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate. However, Hamas on Friday (13 October) reportedly called on Palestinians in Gaza to stay put and avoid Israels order. As the war rages on, social media is filled with rampant disinformation. Since the latest escalation started on the weekend as Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on the West Asian nation, unverified posts, videos and images on the conflict keep surfacing on platforms like Facebook, X and TikTok. These are further amplified by thousands and sometimes even millions of accounts. One explosive claim that made headlines globally was that Hamas beheaded babies when it infiltrated the southern Israeli territory bordering Gaza on 7 October. Heres all we know about this allegation so far. How the unverified claim spread The allegation flared up after Nicole Zedek, a reporter with Tel Aviv-based news channel i24, said in a live broadcast that Israeli soldiers told her about witnessing decapitated babies. Later, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the scene at the kibbutz of Kfar Aza as a massacre, saying women, children and elderly were brutally butchered in an ISIS way of action, as per a CNN report. This claim was reiterated by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus spokesperson, Tal Heinrich, who said on Wednesday (11 October) that babies were found with their heads decapitated in Kfar Aza, the report added. The accusation further blew up after United States president Joe Biden claimed to had seen pictures of beheaded children in a meeting with Jewish community leaders on Wednesday. I have been doing this a long time, I never really thought that I would see have confirmed pictures of terrorist beheading children, he said. However, the White House later walked back on Bidens claim, saying the remarks were based on news reports and comments by the Israeli government. A White House spokesperson later clarified that US officials and the president have not seen pictures or confirmed such reports independently, reported The Washington Post. According to The Times of Israel, in a conversation with Biden on Wednesday, Netanyahu told the US president: They took dozens of children, bound them up, burned them and executed them. They beheaded soldiers, they mowed down these youngsters who came to a nature festival. Later that day, an IDF spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, alleged that they got disturbing reports that came from the ground that there were babies that had been beheaded. I think we can now say with relative confidence that unfortunately this is what happened in Beeri (a small kibbutz in southern Israel), he was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. Whats happening now? On Thursday (12 October), the Israeli Prime Ministers Office released what it said were horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters. One image appears to be the body of a blood-stained baby, lying inside a small body bag. Other distressing pictures showed charred remains of infants. Netanyahus office said, Hamas is inhuman. Hamas is ISIS, comparing the Palestinian militant group to the Islamic State, which was notorious for its brutal execution videos. Israels PMO said these were some of the photographs shown to US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who was in Tel Aviv yesterday. A spokesman for the PMO told The Times of Israel they shared the images on X so that the world will see just a fraction of the horrors that Hamas carried out. Firstpost has decided not to share the tweet due to the graphic photographs. Also, we cannot independently confirm the veracity of the images. Commenting on the pictures which he said displayed simply depravity in the worst imaginable way, Blinken said, Its hard to find the right words, its beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and God forbid experience. A baby, and infants riddled with bullets Soldiers beheaded, young people burned alive in their cars. Its simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. Images are worth a thousand words. These images may be worth a million, Reuters quoted the US secretary of state as saying. These pictures were also part of a video played by Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant for his counterparts at NATOs Brussels headquarters, reported Reuters. According to a CNN report published on Thursday night, an Israeli official said the Netanyahu government has not confirmed the claim that Hamas militants cut off the heads of babies during their rampage on 7 October. There have been cases of Hamas militants carrying out beheadings and other ISIS-style atrocities. However, we cannot confirm if the victims were men or women, soldiers or civilians, adults or children, the official told the American broadcaster. Hamas denies allegations On Wednesday, Hamas denied claims that its attackers beheaded children and assaulted women, calling them lies. As per CNN, Izzat al-Risheq, a senior official and spokesperson for the militant group, said that the international media had spread lies about our Palestinian people and the resistance claiming that members of the Palestinian resistance beheaded children and attacked women with no evidence to support such claims and lies. However, multiple reports have confirmed that Hamas gunmen targeted women. Medics, international human rights organisations and journalists have reported that militants killed women, children and the elderly during the stealth attack. Thousands have died and many people have been injured in both Israel and Gaza since the conflict erupted on the weekend. With inputs from agencies European countries are in a rush to contain any tensions arising from the Israel-Hamas war, amid a reported surge in antisemitism worldwide. While France has banned all pro-Palestinian protests, Germany has also toughened its stance. Israel declared war after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack last weekend, killing over 1,200 people, including foreigners. Gaza officials have said Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,500 people and wounded over 6,600 others. Amid the recent flare-up, lets understand what antisemitism is and how Europe is scrambling to crack down on it. Antisemitism Antisemitism is prejudice against or hatred of Jewish people. This has existed for thousands of years, with its worst example being the Holocaust. Nazis in Germany and their collaborators killed six million Jews in Europe during the Second World War. Dr Karen Auerbach, an associate professor of history at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, told ABC7 Chicago, There is no one thing that is antisemitism. There have been anti-Jewish ideas and sort of forms of systems of anti-Jewish thought that have changed over time with common themes, common tropes but with different political context and used in different ways. Although antisemitism works like other forms of hatred as it presents Jews as the other, it is different in the way that it portrays Jewish people as a nefarious group trying to control the economy, religion, health care systems, the media, primarily, the world, Auerbach explained. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the oldest Jewish civil rights group in the United States, antisemitism can be reflected in many ways including religious teachings, political efforts, or prejudiced or stereotyped views. One form of antisemitism surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic when the Holocaust was trivialised and sometimes even outrightly denied. ALSO READ: What will happen if Israel invades Gaza? Recent rise in antisemitism Hamass recent attack on Israel has laid bare the deep divisions across the world. While some have expressed support for the impoverished Palestinian people of Gaza, others have held demonstrations in solidarity with Jewish-majority Israel. However, incidents of antisemitism have also surged amid the war between the West Asian nation and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. There has reportedly been an online spurt in threats against Jews, public display of antisemitic symbols and intimidation of Jewish institutions. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Jewish threats on Telegram increased by 488 per cent in the first 18 hours of 7 October the day when Hamas carried out its stealth attack on Israel, reported Voice of America (VOA). In US Salt Lake City, Utah, a synagogue had to be evacuated after receiving the Jewish house of worship received a bomb threat. A kosher restaurants glass door was shattered in Jews-dominated neighbourhood Golders Green section in United Kingdoms London city. Mayor Sadiq Khan denounced the incident, saying he stood with Londons Jewish community and the culprit would face the full force of the law, reported The Times of Israel. Europes crackdown on antisemitism German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday (12 October) pledged zero tolerance on antisemitism and said anyone who condones the crimes of Hamas, uses its symbols or expressions praising murder and manslaughter, or burns Israeli flags could be prosecuted. These means expressly include bans on associations and activities. The Federal Ministry of the Interior will issue a ban on Hamas activities in Germany, he was quoted as saying by Politico. Accusing pro-Palestinian group Samidoun of celebrating Hamas terror in Israel on Germanys streets, Scholz announced a ban on the outfit in the country. Our law governing associations is a sharp sword. And we, as a strong constitutional state, will draw this sword, he told Bundestag, the German parliament, as per Reuters. Samidoun, which calls itself a Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, had posted pictures online on Sunday of pro-Palestinian demonstrators handing out sweets in Berlin apparently celebrating Saturdays Hamas attack in Israel. Scholz said that while thousands of people rallied in support of Israel, Germany had also witnessed disgraceful images on our streets in which the most brutal acts of terror have been celebrated in broad daylight. He called the images of the celebration in Berlin of Hamass attack despicable and inhuman, adding they contradict all the values to which we as a country are committed, reported Politico. According to German magazine Der Spiegel, Samidoun, which has been organising pro-Palestinian protests, is now being monitored by Berlins domestic intelligence agency. French president Emmanuel Macron warned on Thursday that antisemitism and defending terror acts would be severely dealt with in the country. As per The Guardian, he said France should not give in to any form of hate but stay united. Offering firm and complete support to Israel, Macron said the conflict was not between Israel and Palestine but between terrorists and a country with democratic values. French interior minister Gerald Darmanin also prohibited pro-Palestinian demonstrations. He gave strict instructions to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they are likely to generate public order disturbances, as per a document seen by AFP. The organisation of these prohibited demonstrations should lead to arrests, Darmanin said. According to the minister, over 100 antisemitic cases have been reported in France and 24 people arrested in such incidents since Hamass attack on Israel. Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo, there was an increased vigilance for antisemitic attacks, adding that his country is bolstering the security of its Jewish community. After UKs Community Security Trust, a body that provides security advice to Jewish communities, said reports of antisemitic incidents had surged 324 per cent since the Saturday attacks as compared with the same period last year, British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, pledged 3m in additional funding to protect Jewish schools and synagogues, reported The Guardian. In Spain and Portugal, synagogues were vandalised with pro-Palestinian graffiti. A synagogue in Spain was defaced with the words free Palestine, triggering security concerns for the Jewish community. The Jewish Community of Porto said on Wednesday that the Kadoorie Mekor Haim synagogue was coated with graffiti including the slogans like free Palestine and end Israel apartheid, as per The Guardian. With inputs from agencies The Israel-Hamas war is intensifying. On Day 7, as the collective toll rises to nearly 3,000 people, Hamas the Palestinian militant group has asked residents to stay put and not fall for the evacuation warning. The statement from the group on social media website X came after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered the relocation of nearly 1.1 million Palestinians from north of Wadi Gaza to Southern Gaza within 24 hours. Israel is on the warpath against Hamas, alleging that its members carried out atrocities worse than ISIS killing innocent civilians, women, children and mutilating their bodies. But who makes up the leadership of the Hamas? And where are they located? Ismail Haniyeh The 60-year-old serves as the head of the Hamas political wing. Considered The Politician, he assumed the seat of power in 2017, succeeding Khaled Meshaal. However, he was already a known figure when he became Palestinian prime minister in 2006 following an upset victory by Hamas in that years parliamentary election. Known to be calm and pragmatic, Haniyeh joined the Hamas in 1987 when the militant group was founded as the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, broke out against Israeli occupation, lasting until 1993. During that time Haniyeh was imprisoned by Israel several times, and then expelled to south Lebanon for six months. He has long camped for a reconciliation between the armed resistance against Israel and a political stance within Hamas, which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States. Declared a terrorist by the US State Department in 2018, Haniyeh reportedly splits his time between Turkey and Qatar. In fact, in footage broadcast by Hamas-linked media on Saturday, Haniyeh is seen watching images on television from an unknown location of the unfolding attack on Israel, before joining other Hamas leaders in a prayer to thank Allah for this victory. Israel-Hamas war: Related coverage How Hamas compares to Israel in weapons stockpile The Business of Terror: Who funds Hamas, how does it get weapons? How Hamas uses tunnels in Gaza to target Israel Mossad, Aman, Shin Bet: How Israels intelligence agencies failed to prevent Hamas attack How Hamas rose to power and how it could meet its end Mohammed Deif Mohammed Deif is the shadowy leader of Hamas military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which was created around 1991. Better known as The Guest, he is Israels public enemy number one and a man they tried to assassinate at least six times and on the US list of international terrorists since 2015. Considered by Hamas as the groups chief of staff, Deif is the one who announced in an audio message the start of the Hamas attack on Israel dubbed Al-Aqsa Flood. In the recording Deif is heard saying that the positions and fortifications of the enemy have been targeted by 5,000 rockets and shells during the first 20 minutes of the attack. Hamas which released the audio message also posted a picture of Deif in the shadow, as it usually does so that he could not be identified. Only a few, poor-quality photographs of Deif are known to exist, the most recent taken some 20 years ago. His hiding place is unknown, and he is reported to be a master of disguise who is able to blend seamlessly into the population. Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab al-Masri, was born in 1965 in Gazas Khan Yunis refugee camp. He has been involved with Hamas since the 1980s and took part in many of its operations, including the abduction of soldiers and suicide bombings. He was appointed head of Hamas military wing in 2002 after the death of his predecessor, Salah Shehade, in a raid. Two years earlier, at the start of the second intifada, Deif had escaped, or was freed, from a prison run by Yasser Arafats Palestinian Authority. Shortly after he was named Hamas military head, Israel launched its fifth bid to assassinate him in Gaza, in an attack that left him severely wounded, with unconfirmed reports suggesting he had been left paraplegic. The last time Israel tried to assassinate Deif was in 2014 when it launched an air strike on Gaza, killing his wife and one of the couples children. Deifs enemies have dubbed him the cat with nine lives while Palestinians consider him a living legend. Yahya Sinwar A former commander of the Hamas military wing, Sinwar, who is aged 61, is today considered the strongman of Gaza. He rose through the ranks of Hamas as a fierce advocate of armed struggle against Israel and is considered by the group as their defence minister. An aura of mystery surrounds the slightly-built, Hebrew speaker Sinwar, who knows Israel well, having spent 23 years in Israeli jails before his release in 2011 in a prisoner exchange involving French-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was held captive by Hamas. Like Deif he also is on the US list of wanted international terrorists since 2015. In 2021, Israeli officials targeted Sinwars home and office in the south of the Gaza Strip during an uptick in hostilities, as per a Washington Post report. On Thursday, Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters the offensive on Gaza targets senior Hamas leaders including Sinwar. A day earlier, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces, had said: Yahya Sinwar is the commander of the campaign, and he is a dead man. Hamas military and political leadership, all of its assets, are subject to attack and doomed. With inputs from AFP Israels relentless attack on Gaza continues. Since the start of the conflict last Saturday after Hamass stealth attack, the Israeli military has dropped 6,000 munitions on the enclave, every 30 seconds. The death toll in the strip has climbed to more than 1,400. There has been growing speculation that both sides have committed war crimes. Amid this, a rights group has accused the Israeli forces of using white phosphorus. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying the use of such weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury, according to a report by Reuters. While the Israeli military has launched retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza, it is also fighting with Lebanons Hezbollah, a militant group backed by Iran. Dont miss: Our special coverage from Tel Aviv on the Israel-Hamas war Human Rights Watch claims that verified videos taken in Lebanon on 10 October and Gaza on 11 October show multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border. It provided links to two videos posted on social media that showed 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles being used, apparently as smokescreens, marking, or signalling. Both show scenes near the Israel-Lebanon border, it said. They did not post a video of the use of the munitions in Gaza but Palestinian TV channels have broadcast videos in recent days showing thin plumes of white smoke lining the sky over the Hamas-controlled enclave. Human Rights Watch has determined based on verified video and witness accounts that Israeli forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively. New Q&A:https://t.co/1py96nOh1k Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 13, 2023 We explain what this dangerous chemical substance is and how it has been used in conflict in the past. What is white phosphorus? White phosphorus is a toxic chemical, which burns at more than 800 degrees Celsius, which is high enough to melt metal. Often yellowish or colourless, this wax-like chemical substance, some say, smells like garlic. It is used as a weapon in conflict and is deployed in the form of bombs, grenades, rockets or artillery shells, according to a report by Al-Jazeera. White phosphorous munitions are made after combining a mixture of white phosphorus and rubber. Since the chemical ignites instantly in contact with oxygen, its function as a weapon is to burn, fast and bright. It is used by militaries around the world, including Israel and the United States, to illuminate targets as part of tracer munitions at night. White phosphorus weapons are also used to create smokescreens during the day, as they release a huge amount of smoke when burned. The smoke lasts for close to seven minutes. This is why phosphor remains one of the fastest ways to make highly dense and effective smoke screens, according to Dan Kaszeta, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, the UKs leading security and defence think tank. Israel-Palestine conflict: Related coverage What will happen if Israel invades Gaza? Who can broker peace between Israel, Hamas? Can India help? Israel-Palestine conflict: Why India cant afford to take sides How a drawn-out Israel-Hamas war could hurt the Indian economy How Sanjeev Singla, Indias envoy in Tel Aviv, is assuring the safety of nationals in Israe How dangerous are white phosphorus munitions? White phosphorus burns human skin and disintegrates tissues inside the body. It ignites when exposed to oxygen and continues to burn until it is deprived of oxygen or it is exhausted, reports Al-Jazeera. The toxic chemicals are absorbed by the body and cause multiple organs like the heart, liver and kidneys to dysfunction. The burns have a double effect they have a local effect because of the burn itself which is generally quite severe and very deep, and then the second effect is metabolic, which can kill the patients, Roman Hossein Khonsari, professor of maxillofacial surgery and plastic surgery at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris told Al-Jazeera. According to Khonsari, who worked during the Armenia-Azerbaijan war, if doctors are unable to identify that burns are caused by white phosphorus and the victim does not receive necessary treatment, they face a risk of organ failure. Experts say that white phosphorus sticks to many surfaces, including skin and clothing, and is difficult to wash off. Inhaling the fumes can be lethal, leading to severe irritation to the eyes and making them sensitive to light. Exposure to the chemical can also result in facial paralysis and seizures. Is white phosphorus banned? White phosphorus is not banned in wars by international conventions. It has been categorised as incendiary weapons designed to set fire to objects or cause burn or respiratory injury to people through the action of flame, heat, or combination thereof under Protocol III in the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), signed in Geneva and enforced from 1983. However, its use as an incendiary weapon has been banned in areas with civil population. There is one loophole in the restrictions though. Incendiary weapons launched from the ground are governed by less strict guidelines than those dropped from the air. Israel and the US are not signatories to Protocol III. They claimed to use white phosphorus in line with international regulations. Has Israel used white phosphorous in Gaza? Israels military said it was currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza. It did not comment on allegations of their use in Lebanon. However, this is not the first time Israel has been accused of using the highly combustible substance in Gaza. According to HRW, the Israeli Defense Forces used white phosphorus during a 22-day conflict, Operation Lead Cast, in Gaza, which lasted from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009. The Israeli military repeatedly exploded white phosphorus munitions in the air over populated areas, killing and injuring civilians, and damaging civilian structures, including a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse and a hospital, HRW said in its 2009 report. Back then, the Israeli military first said that it used white phosphorus to mark targets but later denied using it. Israel said it had launched its investigation which proved that the use of white phosphorus was for operational needs only. Based on the findings at this stage, it is already possible to conclude that the [armys] use of smoke shells was in accordance with international law These shells were used for specific operational needs only and in accord with international humanitarian law, the Israeli army had said in a statement. With inputs from agencies Is Israeli preparing for a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip? Will the Israelis go into the main cities and can Israel conquer Gaza? Given the scope and brutality of the Hamas attack over the weekend, Israel may begin a ground invasion in Gaza in addition to the airstrikes already underway, which might imply a long, brutal fight on both sides, with Palestinians bearing the brunt of the casualties and destruction. Khaled Elgindy, director of the Middle East Institutes Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs, told Vox that the chances of a ground invasion are greater than they were in previous rounds of violence in Gaza. Although the next phase of Israels operation in Gaza has not yet begun, previous disputes between Israel and Gaza, as well as Netanyahus heightened rhetoric, indicate that it will be disastrous. Netanyahu hes always been very cautious around widespread use of military force, Daniel Byman, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told Vox, adding, He hasnt done the kind of big wars like we saw in Lebanon in 2006, so he tends to be cautious. But it may be hard to be cautious in these circumstances. An Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip would further escalate the war raging since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack, killing hundreds of civilians. A ground invasion also would threaten to draw in the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah from the north. Also Read: How Israel is bombing Gaza every 30 seconds The United States has deployed one aircraft carrier group to the region, with another on the way later this week reflecting concerns of a widening conflict and meant to establish a force that deters Iran and others. It would be the third major ground assault in Gaza since Israel left the seaside enclave in 2005. Heres what is known about the weapons of those who would be involved. Israel Israels military has long been supported by the United States, with $3.3 billion in congressionally mandated annual funding, plus another $500 million toward missile defence technology. Israel is one of the best-armed nations in the wider West Asia. Its air force includes the advanced American F-35 fighter jet, missile defence batteries including the American-made Patriot, and the Iron Dome missile defence system. Israel has armoured personnel carriers and tanks, and a fleet of drones and other technology available to support any street-to-street battles. Israel trains soldiers on such techniques at its Urban Warfare Training Center, known colloquially as Mini Gaza. Israel has some 170,000 troops typically on active duty and has called up some 360,000 reservists for the war three-fourths of its estimated capacity, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Israel has also long maintained an undeclared nuclear weapons program. Hamas Hamas, the rulers of the Gaza Strip since 2007, do not have the billions of dollars in aid and advanced weaponry of the Israeli military. But the surprise weekend attack included militants on paragliders and grenade-dropping drones, and Hamas can leverage guerrilla warfare tactics that could make any ground assault dangerous for Israeli troops. Also Read: How cheap drones helped Hamas ambush Israels sophisticated weaponry Hamas has 15,000 to 20,000 fighters, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates. Israel puts the number higher, at up to 30,000 fighters. The Hamas arsenal includes assault rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank weapons, as well as longer-range sniper rifles. In the past, Hamas has employed boobytraps and suicide bombers. Though Israel has a vast missile defence network, Hamas has created a vast supply of locally manufactured missiles with the aim of firing multiple salvos to break through. The Israeli military says over 5,000 missiles have been fired toward the country since the war began. Israeli intelligence in 2021 estimated Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza, had some 30,000 missiles in their arsenal. Analysts say there are no signs, yet, that Hamas has developed guided missiles, which can more precisely strike at targets. Also Read: How Hamas uses tunnels in Gaza to target Israel Hezbollah The Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah sits just across Israels northern border. Since Hamas attack, there have been limited exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, but no wide-scale offensive. But the forces Hezbollah could bring remain a concern for Israel. Hezbollahs leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had boasted that the group has 100,000 fighters, though other estimates put its troop strength at less than half that. Hezbollah holds a vast arsenal mostly of small, man-portable and unguided surface-to-surface artillery rockets, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The US has estimated Hezbollah and other militant groups in Lebanon have some 150,000 missiles and rockets. Hezbollah also has been working on precision-guided missiles. Hezbollah has previously launched drones into Israel. Its forces also have assault rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, roadside bombs and other weaponry. The United States The US military has sent the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford and its battle group to the eastern Mediterranean to provide air support if needed to Israel with its surveillance aircraft and F-18 fighter jets. Meanwhile, the USS Dwight D Eisenhower carrier strike group will leave its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, and sail for the Mediterranean, potentially doubling the Navys Israel response. The US military also maintains a vast network of bases across the wider Middle East. However, because Israels punishing airstrike campaign on the Gaza Strip has inflamed anger among Muslims in the wider region, the US will likely be asked not to fly any potential air missions out of those nations. That would force the Pentagon to rely on carrier-based launches to provide any support to Israel it may need. With inputs from AP On 7 October, hours after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched one of its most daring and deadly attack on Israel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the terrorist attack and expressed solidarity with Israel. This was followed by a call between the leaders of India and Israel PM Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu on 10 October following which the former posted on social media: People of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Two days later, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a weekly press briefing has issued a formal statement on the evolving Israel-Hamas war, which has so far claimed nearly 3,000 lives, and its stance on the long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine. What have we gathered from the statement? Where does India stand on the ongoing conflict? We explain it all. MEA speaks On Thursday, MEAs Arindam Bagchi held a weekly press briefing in which he stated that the Hamas attack on Israel over the weekend was a terrorist act. When further asked how India views Hamas, he said the designation of a terrorist organisation under Indian laws is a legal matter. I would refer you to the relevant authorities on this. I think we have been very clear that we see this as a terrorist attack. But on the designation part, the relevant authorities are best placed to respond to it, he said. In the course of his briefing to the media, Bagchi also reaffirmed Indias long-standing position of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine living side-by-side at peace with Israel. Bagchi said, Our policy in this regard has been long standing and consistent. India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel. VIDEO | We have been very clear that we see it as a terrorist attack. As far as Palestine is concerned, India has advocated the resumption of direct negotations towards establishing the sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine living within secure and recognised pic.twitter.com/wpmec9r8T6 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 12, 2023 When asked about the plight of people in the Gaza Strip in view of Israels counter-attacks and US president Joe Bidens message to Tel Aviv to operate by the rules of war, the MEA spokesperson stated that there was a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law as also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Israel-Palestine: Related coverage In Photos | How children have the most to lose in the Israel-Hamas War Israel-Palestine conflict: Which nations have been drawn in? The Business of Terror: Who funds Hamas, how does it get weapons? Israel-Hamas war: Could Russia benefit from conflict? Who can broker peace between Israel, Hamas? Can India help? Indias diplomatic tightrope The MEA statement on the ongoing war is nuanced and reflects New Delhis balancing act. This is because India has strong ties with both stakeholders Israel as well as Palestine. India in its early years had a pro-Palestine bent. Its ties with Israel changed much later it recognised Israel in 1950 but did not establish diplomatic relations until 1992. In the years to follow, Indias diplomatic relations have changed; PM Modi has established closer ties with Tel Aviv. But Thursdays remarks reflect Delhis tightrope walk, as it has Israel as a key partner and allies in a divided Arab world on the other, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran and Egypt. Notably, in an attempt to reach out on both sides, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a discussion with his counterpart from the UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday on the ongoing issue. News agency PTI reported that the two leaders deliberated on the evolving situation during a phone conversation, with the Indian leader posting later on X: Spoke to Foreign Minister @ABZayed of UAE this evening. Discussed the ongoing crisis in West Asia. Agreed to stay in touch. For India, the West Asia region holds importance: over 90 lakh Indians live and work in the region and New Delhi imports more than 50 per cent of its crude oil requirements from the region. Moreover, Indias political and defence ties are also growing in the region. Importantly, Indias fourth largest trade partner today is Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, India is Israels biggest arms customer. Recently, India, along with the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union also announced the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor during the G20 Summit in New Delhi. Prime Minister Modi had then said the connectivity project will be the basis of world trade for centuries. The project was also seen as a counter to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative project. However, the current violence is now pushing nations in the region and even across the world to pick and choose sides. A divided world The Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing violence has triggered global concerns and divisions across the globe. The United States has made it amply clear that they are with their ally, Israel with President Biden saying: In this moment, we must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel. Major European powers have also strongly backed Israel following the trauma of Saturday. In an unusual move, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain joined the US in making a joint statement of steadfast and united support to the state of Israel which condemned Hamas appalling acts of terrorism. Our countries will support Israel in its efforts to defend itself and its people against such atrocities, said Biden, French president Emmanuel Macron, British prime minister Rishi Sunak, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and German chancellor Olaf Scholz. Other Western nations, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand have condemned Hamas and made statements of solidarity with Israel. Notably, the war has divided the Arab world too. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have criticised the Hamas attack in a rare departure from the past. The UAE slammed the Hamas attack as a serious and grave escalation. The UAE foreign ministry statement said it was appalled by reports Israeli civilians were taken as hostages from their homes, but avoided criticism of Israels deadly strikes on Gaza. Bahrain also criticised the attacks by Hamas, saying it constituted a dangerous escalation that threatens the lives of civilians. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia tried to strike a balance, mentioning Israeli occupation forces, with no condemnation of the Hamas attacks. Qatar, Kuwait and Oman have been critical of Israel. With inputs from agencies Israel and Hamas are fighting an intense war. It has global repercussions and India has a lot to worry about. New Delhi is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it has a traditional relationship with Palestine and a growing friendship with Israel. Thats not all. Among its first concerns are Indians stranded in Israel there are 18,000 and their safety matters. At the centre of this volatile situation is Indias ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Kumar Singla. In times of conflict in a foreign land, every nations big priority is securing the safety of its people. Embassies have a big role to play and they are led by the ambassador, who is their countrys official representative in the host nation. Dont miss: Our special coverage from Tel Aviv on the Israel-Hamas war In Tel Aviv, Singla has a task at hand. He has to manage 18,000 Indians and 85,000 Jews of Indian origin as the conflict with Hamas intensifies. We take a look at how Singla is standing in for New Delhi in this testing time. Rescuing Indians in Israel India on Friday announced the launch of Operation Ajay to rescue its nationals stranded in Israel, as rocket attacks from Gaza continue to hit its cities days after Hamas unprecedented assault. The Indian government is paying (and praying) for the return of its citizens. The rescue operation is massive, keeping in mind the sheer number of Indians caught in the middle of the conflict. They include students, IT professionals and caregivers. But how does India decide who will be ferried first? The passengers are picked on a first come first serve basis. A drive was launched at the Indian embassy in Tel Aviv to register at the missions database, according to a report in NDTV. The first flight to Israel under Operation Ajay landed in New Delhi on Friday morning. It was carrying 212 Indians, who were relieved to be back home. More such flights will follow in days to come. The Indian embassy under the guidance of Singla has been working round the clock, keeping in touch with those stuck in Israel. The Embassy has been working constantly to help our fellow citizens in Israel through a 24-hour helpline. Please remain calm & vigilant & follow the security advisories. 24*7 Emergency Helpline/Contact: Tel +972-35226748 Tel +972-543278392 Email: cons1.telaviv@mea.gov.in pic.twitter.com/Y7HehsaJOf India in Israel (@indemtel) October 11, 2023 We are thankful to India... Most of the students were a little bit panicked. Suddenly we saw some notification and links for every Indian citizen through the embassy of India which boosted our morale, Shubham Kumar, a student in Israel, told news agency PTI. We felt like the embassy of India is connected with us, which was a kind of relief to us. And then we got all the arrangements, he added. Since the conflict broke out, Singla has been monitoring the situation closely and regularly keeping in touch with the Indian diaspora in Israel. The Indian embassy was quick to activate 24/7 helpline numbers (+972-35226748 and +972-543278392) to keep all communication channels with its nationals open. Indian citizens in Israel who need assistance or wish to register with the embassy can also reach out to officials via email (cons1.telaviv@mea.gov.in). In a video message posted on X, Singla said, To our fellow Indian citizens in Israel. This is to assure you that the embassy is working constantly for your safety and welfare. All of us are going through very difficult times, but please do remain calm and vigilant and follow the local security guidelines, he added. We are here to help you, and we thank many of you who have sent so many messages of appreciation to us. We are monitoring the situation closely, and please stay tuned for any updatesJai Hind, the envoy said further in his video message. Message from Ambassador Sanjeev Singla to the members of Indian community in Israel pic.twitter.com/FKUqJZykeF India in Israel (@indemtel) October 11, 2023 The embassy has issued an important advisory to Indian citizens in Israel, requesting them to remain vigilant, observe safety protocols exercise caution, and stay close to safety shelters as advised by the local government authorities. Rikki, a woman of Indian origin in Israel, was thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We are thankful to PM Modi that he is supporting us. Hes doing a lot of things for us, for Israel and for our community in India. And we think that the things that he is doing for us, its very strong, she was stated as quoting by ANI. The diplomatic challenge The war poses a big diplomatic challenge for India. New Delhis traditional position on the conflict was reiterated by the Ministry of External Affairs, as it backed an independent Palestine in a statement on Thursday. However, hours after the Hamas assault on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep shock at the terrorist attacks. The PM has over the year invested in the relationship with Israel. And one key cog in his growing friendship is the Indian envoy. Singla was appointed Indian ambassador to Israel in October 2019, during PM Modis second term in office. He leads a team of seven officers in the embassy in Tel Aviv. This is his second stint in the country. He served in the Indian embassy between November 2013 and July 14. Between the two appointments, he worked closely with the prime minister as his private secretary. The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer is known among his peers as an expert on Israel and other countries in West Asia. A senior IFS officer, who worked with Singla in the MEA, told News18 that Singla has contributed significantly to shaping Indias diplomatic and strategic ties with Israel. India and Israels strategic partnership took new strides after PM Modi visited the country in 2017. There has been increased cooperation in defence, innovation and knowledge. PM Modi sensed that the partnership (with Israel) will evolve into an important one. He wanted an officer with whom he can communicate and who could implement his ideas, contributing to the (India-Israel) diplomacy to a great extent. That is why he picked Singla, who was then serving as his private secretary and had a brief experience in the embassy in Israel too, a retired IFS officer to News18. Life as a career diplomat Singla is a 1997-batch IFS officer. He has served in Indian missions in several capacities. One of his first appointments was in Paris, France in September 199. He has also served in Dhaka and Geneva. The diplomat worked on the US desk in the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, as the deputy chief of protocol and as director at the foreign secretarys office. Singla has had a long diplomatic career. His role in Israel is among the most challenging yet. But he has got Indias back. With inputs from agencies It all began with a letter. The letter from Harvard University student groups blaming Israel for Saturdays horrific Hamas attacks on the country has drawn a huge backlash from prominent alumni and US lawmakers. It has also resulted in an Israeli couple stepping down from their roles as board members of the university and many business leaders demanding that Harvard release the names of the students. Lets take a closer look. The controversial letter On 7 October, the same day that Hamas carried out a meticulously prepared surprise cross-border strike on Israel, a number of Harvard University student organisations posted a letter to social media. It was co-signed by 33 student groups. They claimed that Israels apartheid regime was entirely responsible for the conflict, which has so far resulted in the deaths of nearly 2,800 people in Israel and Gaza, many of whom were civilians. Todays events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison, the statement read. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Palestine Solidarity Committee (@harvardpsc) It also encouraged Harvard to withdraw its sizable endowment from any companies linked to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are largely recognised as illegal by most of the worlds nations. Harvard is not like other universities. It has produced eight previous US presidents, four current justices of the Supreme Court, and many more significant figures in politics and industry. The university frequently stands in for the rest of US academia with its policies on issues like affirmative action. America progresses as Harvard does. More on the Israel-Palestine war India sounds alert for Israelis amid war: How safe has the country been for Jews? The truth about babies being beheaded in Israel How Israel is bombing Gaza every 30 seconds Criticism The reaction to the letter was swift. The matter swiftly escalated to a high-level national political and cultural debate, with opposing parties accusing one another of utilising risky strategies, engaging in argumentation in bad faith, and violating free speech and intellectual freedom, according to The Independent. Those engaged in academic discussions and campus activity related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and occupation claim that this poisoned climate is a frequent, worrisome aspect of their world. Ted Cruz, a US Senator, and Lawrence Summers, a former Harvard president and Treasury Secretary, both rapidly expressed their opinions online. Summers wrote on X, The silence from Harvards leadership, so far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported student groups statement blaming Israel solely, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel. To be clear nothing is wrong with criticizing Israeli policy past, present or future. I have been sharply critical of (Israeli) PM (Benjamin) Netanyahu. But that is very different from lack of clarity regarding terrorism. In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today. Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) October 9, 2023 According to The Harvard Crimson, 17 student organizations including Harvard Hillel and Harvard Chabad as well as some 500 members of the faculty and staff responded with letters of their own. The letter from almost 160 Harvard faculty members says the student signings of the original statement can be seen as nothing less than condoning the mass murder of civilians based solely on their nationality. The events of this week are not complicated, the faculty response says, adding, Sometimes there is such a thing as evil, and it is incumbent upon educators and leaders to call it out, as they have with school shootings and terrorist attacks. Billionaires demand names of students But after exchanging a few letters and declarations, the controversy swiftly grew more heated. In a post on social media, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman stated that his colleagues had asked him to provide the names of the students who had signed that first letter so that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members. If, in fact, their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known, he continued. One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts. I have been asked by a number of CEOs if @harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas heinous acts to Israel, so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their https://t.co/7kzGOAGwp9 Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) October 10, 2023 The CEOs of Sweetgreen and MeUndies also spoke out in favour of the initiative, with Jonathan Shokrian of MeUndies likening the concepts in the initial letter to a cancer. Other executives also expressed support for the initiative. By Wednesday, a doxxing truck had surfaced close to the Harvard campus. It circled the school while flashing images of Harvard students and groups that were purportedly associated with the initial statement. According to the New York Post, nonprofit news monitoring organisation, Accuracy in Media was operating the truck. The group deployed the truck because its incredibly important to know who the hateful antisemites are in our society. And its important for people to know that their actions have consequences, the companys president Adam Guillette told The Post. As campus tensions increased, there was suddenly a backlash to the backlash, with groups and individuals from a range of diverse perspectives expressing a sentiment that things had gone too far. Backlash to the backlash As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, Harvards president Claudine Gay wrote in a statement released on Tuesday, adding, Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever ones individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region. We will all be well served in such a difficult moment by rhetoric that aims to illuminate and not inflame, she added. And I appeal to all of us in this community of learning to keep this in mind as our conversations continue. According to the New York Post, Harvard alumni, including former school president Larry Summers, have criticised Gay for issuing the delayed statement. According to member of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee Sanaa M. Kahloon, the groups message as a whole has been misinterpreted. To restate what should be obvious: the PSC staunchly opposes violence against civilians Palestinian, Israeli, or other, she said. The committee claimed that after receiving racist hate speech and death threats on social media, the group was compelled to cancel a scheduled vigil intended to mourn all innocent lives lost. In the meantime, some of those who disapproved of the initial student letter also objected to its critics strategies. It said in an online statement, Harvard Hillel strongly condemns any attempts to threaten and intimidate co-signatories of the Palestine Solidarity Committees statement, including the bus on campus displaying the names and faces of students affiliated with the groups who have signed it. We will continue to reject the PSCs statement in the strongest terms and demand accountability for those who signed it, the statement continued. But under no circumstances should that accountability extend to public intimidation of individuals. Summers, the former Harvard president, also expressed his concern, by saying, I yield to no one in my revulsion at the statement apparently made on behalf of 30 plus @Harvard student groups. But please everybody take a deep breath. Many in these groups never saw the statement before it went out. In some case those approving did not understand exactly what they were approving. Probably some were naive and foolish. This is not a time where it is constructive to vilify individuals and I am sorry that is happening. I yield to no one in my revulsion at the statement apparently made on behalf of 30 plus @Harvard student groups. But please everybody take a deep breath. Many in these groups never saw the statement before it went out. In some case those approving did not understand exactly Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) October 11, 2023 Harvard law scholar Laurence Tribe linked the doxxing tactics to McCarthyism, the Cold War-era search for alleged Communists at US institutions that resulted in multiple First Amendment violations, in an interview with CNN. Israeli billionaire quits Harvard board Idan Ofer, an Israeli shipping magnate who is worth several billion dollars, and his wife Batia have resigned from their positions on the board of Harvards Kennedy School, according to NDTV. Their resignation is in protest over the universitys allegedly ambiguous response to a letter from student organisations. Their primary cause of discontent was Claudine Gay, president of the university, who had responded slowly and ineffectively. The couple reportedly stated that they left the board in protest of the shocking and insensitive response by the president of the university, who did not condemn the letter by student organisations that blamed Israel for the massacres. TheMarker, a Hebrew-language news outlet, reported that the couples decision to resign. With inputs from agencies Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said the Congress, which had passed a resolution in support of Palestine regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, should make coalition governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Congress should have condemned the terror attack by Hamas on Israel before speaking about Palestine, the chief minister told reporters in Jorhat on Thursday night. They should have criticised the Hamas for taking women and children hostage and then could have spoken about Palestine, he said. The chief minister said the Congress resolution does not have any mention of terrorism, Hamas, women and children as hostages, but only Palestine, which is similar to the statement of Pakistan, he said. If you ask me, the Congress should form its next government in coalition with the Taliban in Afghanistan or with Imran Khan or Shahbaz Sharif in Pakistan, Sarma said. The chief minister had earlier slammed the Congress over the CWC resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict and equated the opposition partys statement to that of Pakistan and the Talibans position. In a post on X, Sarma had said the Congress, Pakistan and Taliban do not condemn Hamas or deplore terror attacks on Israel and are silent on women and children being taken hostages. Sarma had alleged that sacrificing the nations interest to politics of appeasement is in the Congresss DNA. On the attacks by Hamas on Israeli cities, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had on Thursday said India considers them as terrorist strikes. To a question on Indias position on the Palestine issue, he said New Delhi always advocated resumption of direct talks towards the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine living side-by-side and at peace with Israel. The first charter flight carrying 212 Indian nationals from war-battered Israel landed at Delhi airport on Friday under governments Operation Ajay initiative. #WATCH | First flight carrying 212 Indian nationals from Israel, lands at Delhi airport; received by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar pic.twitter.com/uB71qIBmJy ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 Union Minister Rajiv Chandrashekhar welcomed the Indian nationals evacuated from the war-battered region and was seen interacting with them. #WATCH | Delhi: Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar interacts with the Indian nationals evacuated from Israel pic.twitter.com/itSzrwY4OD ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 Speaking to ANI news agency at the airport, Chandrashekhar said, Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them, bring them back home safely. We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the flight crew of this Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly and back home to their loved ones. Indian nationals evacuated from the war zone thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his team, especially the Embassy in Tel Aviv, for doing a tremendous job. The situation was very bad over there EAM Dr S Jaishankar and his team, especially the Embassy in Tel Aviv did a tremendous job. And were really very grateful to the Government in India, said an Indian national who returned from Israel. #WATCH | Delhi: An Indian national who returned from Israel says, The situation was very bad over there EAM Minister Dr S Jaishankar and his team, especially the Embassy in Tel Aviv did a tremendous job. And were really very grateful to the Government in India. pic.twitter.com/nnlU3yIAFO ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 This is the first time that we are facing this situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as possible so that we can go back to work as earliest as possible, said another Indian national after reaching back home safe. #WATCH | Delhi: An Indian national who returned from Israel says, This is the first time that we are facing this situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as https://t.co/XPUDlnv3Lf pic.twitter.com/Fu10lZ7DHc ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 The passengers were chosen on a first come first serve basis after a drive launched by the Indian embassy for all Indians to register at the missions database. The government is bearing the cost of their return. The flight, which took off at 22:14 local time, was arranged to facilitate the return of those who were unable to do so because Air India had immediately suspended its flight on the day fighting began on 7 October, and its commercial operation remains suspended till now. Operation Ajay gets underway. 212 citizens onboard the flight are enroute New Delhi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a post on X earlier. There was a long queue of Indians, including students, at the airport to board the special flight being operated under Operation Ajay from Tel Aviv. Israel has vowed an unprecedented offensive against the Islamic militant group Hamas ruling Gaza after its fighters broke through the border fence and stormed into the countrys south through air, land and sea on 7 October. On the sixth day, the Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, were killed in Israel, a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks. In Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, at least 1,417 people, including women and children, have been killed, according to authorities there. With inputs from agencies Congregational prayers were not allowed at the historic Jamia Masjid here on Friday in view of apprehensions of protests against the Israeli action in Gaza, sources said. The grand mosque located in the Nowhatta area of the city here was locked and no Friday prayers were allowed, officials said. Security forces personnel were deployed in strength around the mosque to maintain law and order, they said. While there was no official word on the reason for the closure of the mosque for prayers, the sources said there were apprehensions of protests against the Israeli action in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli action follows a series of brazen attacks on its towns by Hamas militants over the weekend which triggered fresh tensions in the region. Anti-American slogans were raised by people in Budgam after Friday prayers amid the ongoing war in Israel. #WATCH | J&K: Anti America-Israel slogans raised in Budgam after Friday prayers amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. pic.twitter.com/JcoITpu2DA ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 The Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid the managing body of the mosque in a statement, said police officials have closed the gates of the mosque in Srinagar and informed it that Friday prayers will not be allowed. The Auqaf also claimed that Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has yet again been put under house arrest early morning today. The Mirwaiz was recently released after four years of house detention in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India is promoting the participation of women in every sector with almost 50 per cent of the elected representatives in local self-government institutions being women. The recent law on granting one-third reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will further enrich the countrys parliamentary tradition, he said addressing the inaugural session of the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20) here. Prime Minister Modi also said that India has more than 900 TV channels in 28 languages to provide real-time information to people and more than 33,000 different newspapers are published in about 200 languages. He emphasised the huge flow of information and the level of freedom of speech in India.In this world of the 21st century, this vibrancy of India, unity in diversity, is our greatest strength. This vibrancy inspires us to fight every challenge and solve every difficulty together, he said. In his address, Inter-Parliamentary Union President Duarte Pacheco said maybe if we have more women in the leadership of our countries, we will not have so many wars.He said it was important to have more women in a participatory democracy. Modi informed the delegates about the recent decision to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. He also told them that out of more than 30 lakh elected representatives in the local self-government institutions, almost 50 per cent are women. India today is promoting womens participation in every sector. The recent decision taken by our Parliament will further enrich our parliamentary tradition, the prime minister asserted. As the Israel-Hamas war escalates, a nationwide security alert has been sounded by India to secure Israeli nationals in the country. The alert was shared with all concerned security establishments and police earlier on Friday asking to strengthen the security of a few listed places. The alert has been announced to secure Israeli nationals, including diplomats, staff, and tourists. Heavy deployments have been made at places with a high footfall of Israeli nationals, delegates, Kosher restaurants, museums, schools, resorts, and tourist spots, a top government official told News18. As per sources, cops, including local police, have been asked to deploy patrolling staff for round-the-clock monitoring. Also, additional forces will be given to local police if required to make sure Israeli nationals in India are safe. In view of the latest development, it is requested to strengthen the security arrangement for Israeli missions, diplomats, officials, staff, business establishments, Chabad houses, Jewish community centres, the top government official said. According to reports, police will be deployed in large numbers during Friday prayers and security has been amped up at Jewish religious establishments and the Israel Embassy. Apart from India, many countries including the US, UK, France and Germany, have increased security around potential Jewish targets and pro-Palestinian protesters in view of the escalating violence in Israel. On Thursday, France banned all pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the interest of public order. Critics of the ban argue that it infringes on freedom of speech and assembly. The Israeli casualties surged past 1,300, while Gaza authorities have reported the deaths of over 1,500 Palestinians as the Israel-Hamas war entered its seventh day on Friday. The total death toll currently stands at around 2,800. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, soon after the surprise and unprecedented attack by Hamas on Saturday (7 October), declared a state of war and vowed to reduce Gaza to rubble. Meanwhile, the flight under Operation Ajay landed in New Delhi on Friday which evacuated 212 Indian nationals stranded in war-hit Israel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit, also referred to as P20, is the mahakumbh of parliamentary practices of the world. VIDEO | I welcome you at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20) on behalf of 140 crore Indians. This Summit is like a Mahakumbh of parliamentary practices from across the world, says PM Modi at 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20) in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/G9TIlD7tql Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 13, 2023 Addressing the two-day summit in New Delhi, PM Modi said, I welcome you at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20) on behalf of 140 crore Indians. This Summit is like a mahakumbh of parliamentary practices from across the world. He said this is a festive season in India, but this time, G20 maintained the excitement of festive season throughout the year. Across the year, we hosted G20 delegates in different cities of India. Because of this, there was an environment of festivity in those cities. After that, India landed on the Moon which increased the celebration, said the Prime Minister. PM Modi said P20 Summit is being held on the land of India, which is the mother of democracy, the worlds biggest democracy. This summit is also a medium to celebrate the power of the people of our country Parliaments across the world are an important place for debate and deliberations, he said. Talking about the elections in India, PM Modi said Indias parliamentary procedures have seen continued reforms over the time and these procedures have strengthened. #WATCH | PM Modi at ninth P20 Summit in Delhi, says In India, general elections are considered the biggest festival. Since independence, India has seen 17 general elections and more than 300 state assembly elections. India conducts not only the biggest election but the pic.twitter.com/3c0sS7Yy5t ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 In India, general elections are considered the biggest festival. Since independence, India has seen 17 general elections and more than 300 state assembly elections. India conducts not only the biggest election but the participation of people has been continuously increasing. The 2019 general elections in India was the largest election exercise in human history more than 600 million voters took part in this exercise. 70 per cent of voter turnout in the 2019 election shows the faith of people in parliamentary practices in India. In 2019, more than 600 political parties took part in the general elections, he said. He also invited all the delegates present at the summit to visit India to witness the general elections early next year. India has been using EVMs for over 25 years now to increase transparency and efficiency during elections. In 2024, during the general elections, around 100 crore or 1 billion voters are going to cast their votes. I invite all the delegates to visit India to witness the next general elections, said PM Modi. He said that today India promotes womens participation in every sector and has set aside 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislative assemblies as well. India has decided to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and state legislative assemblies. There are about 32 lakh elected representatives in local self-governance institutions in India. Out of these, about 50 per cent are women representatives. India today promotes womens participation in every sectorHundreds of languages are spoken in India. There are more than 900 TV channels in India in 28 languages More than 33,000 different newspapers are published in about 200 languages, said the PM. Talking about terrorism, he said Parliaments across the world and their representatives have to think on how to work together in this fight against the menace. India has been facing cross-border terrorism for many years now. Around 20 years ago, terrorists targeted our Parliament at the time when the session was on. The world is also realising how big a challenge terrorism is for the globe and that it is against humanity. Parliaments in the world and their representatives have to think on how to work together in this fight against terrorism, said the Prime Minister. #WATCH | PM Modi at the ninth P20 Summit in Delhi, says India has been facing cross-border terrorism for many years now. Around 20 years ago, terrorists targeted our Parliament at the time when the session was on. The world is also realising how big a challenge terrorism is for pic.twitter.com/itDjZn3uQ8 ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 He added, A world full of conflicts and confrontation cannot benefit anyone. A divided world cannot give solutions to the challenges before us. This is a time for peace and brotherhood, a time to move together, a time to move forward together. This is the time for development and welfare of all. Addressing the summit earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the theme of the P20 Summit is One Earth, One Family, One Future. We consider the world as a familyThe vision of Mission Life put forward by PM Modi was discussed in the pre-summit yesterday. Delegations from several countries believe that protecting the environment is not a matter of a single country, it is the responsibility of all the countries. I am happy to announce that we got support from G20 counties for this mission, said the Speaker. The event is being attended by Speakers of Parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries. The Pan-African Parliament is also taking part in the P20 Summit for the first time after the African Union became a member of G20 at the New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit last month. The thematic sessions during this P20 Summit will focus on four subjects transformation in peoples lives through public digital platforms, women-led development, accelerating SDGs and sustainable energy transition. Following the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20) a joint final statement is planned to be adopted. With inputs from agencies After arriving in New Delhi in the special chartered flight that carried 212 Indians from the war-struck country of Israel under Operation Ajay, the repatriated Indian nationals thanked the Indian government for bringing them back safely. The chartered flight repatriated 212 Indians from Israel and landed in the national capital on Friday morning. This is the first time that we are facing this situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as possible so that we can go back to work as earliest as possible an Indian national told ANI. Another Indian woman, an agricultural researcher who along with her husband was doing her postdoctorate studies in Israel was on the flight which took off from Ben Gurion airport in Israel on October 12. The woman was carrying in her arms her 5-month-old son, who was born in Israel when she landed in the national capital and there was visible relief on her face. She said, On the first day, we were sleeping and around 6.30 there was sirenso we ran towards the shelter and it was very hard but we managed. We are feeling relaxed and we thank the Government of India #WATCH | Delhi: An Indian national who returned from Israel says, On the first day, we were sleeping and at around 6.30 there was sirenso we ran towards the shelter and it was very hard but we managed. We are feeling relaxed and we thank the Government of India pic.twitter.com/2OeDvLwJQ5 ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 Another man said, I thank the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv. They supported us. We registered on the portal and the process was very easy. The operation is excellent. We are very happy to come back to India #WATCH | Delhi: An Indian national who returned from Israel says, I thank the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv. They supported us. We registered on the portal and the process was very easy. The operation is excellent. We are very happy to come back to India pic.twitter.com/NtRkquOzmH ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 There was a long queue of Indians, including students, at the airport to board the special flight being operated under Operation Ajay from Tel Aviv. Israel has vowed an unprecedented offensive against the Islamic militant group Hamas ruling Gaza after its fighters broke through the border fence and stormed into the countrys south through air, land and sea on 7 October. With inputs from agencies The first charter flight carrying 212 Indians evacuated from Israel under Operation Ajay arrived in New Delhi in the early hours of Friday. Speaking about the mission, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said today India does not ask for help, but it offers help. Speaking to reporters, Thakur said: Whether it is the COVID era or the time of the Ukraine-Russia war or during the Arab Spring, India has done one operation after another and rescued Indians. This has been happening for the last nine-and-a-half years. Not just our citizens, we have rescued the nationals of other countries also Today, India does not ask for help, it offers help, Thakur said. The first batch of 212 Indians, including students and one infant, returned to New Delhi from Israel onboard a chartered flight on Friday. India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar announced the launch of Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back home as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas terrorists over the weekend triggered fresh tension in the region. The passengers were chosen on a "first come first serve" basis after a drive launched by the Indian embassy for all Indians to register at the mission's database. The Indian government is bearing the cost of their return. The flight took off at 22:14 local time from the Ben Gurion airport. It was arranged to facilitate the return of those who were unable to do so because Air India had immediately suspended its flight on the day fighting began on October 7, and its commercial operation remains suspended till now. For the unversed, Ben Gurion International Airport is the main international airport of Israel. It is situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod. The multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza since Saturday and the subsequent Israeli retaliation have left around 2,800 people dead. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks by Hamas. With inputs from agencies What is currently happening in Israel is a microcosm of an acute global issue. That is why Israels response at this juncture can be a significant historical turning point or a monumental, wasted opportunity. This is true not only in moral and strategic terms, but also for the intricate interplay between them. The waves of pacifist-liberal appeasement that have swept through Europe since World War II have encountered significant challenges in recent years, particularly due to the influx of Muslim immigrants and the bloody conflict in Ukraine. Europe is in a state of confusion as a surge of conservative and nationalist sentiments in numerous European nations, ranging from Finland and Sweden to Hungary, Poland, Germany, and France, signals a growing disillusionment with the efficacy of liberal discourse as an adequate tool for the management of both domestic and foreign policy, even if those sentiments at times drift into xenophobic territory. The abuse of Western liberalism by anti-liberal forces within Islam has rendered the exclusive or near-exclusive emphasis on individual rights an ethically questionable stance for culture and society that thereby disarms itself of the means to safeguard itself. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. This may be just the first, troubling stage, while the real predators ominously lurk around the corner. The tremendous placatory confusion in the Wests approach to Iran, coupled with its complete disregard for Irans Muslim-Messianic ideology and aggressive inclinations, as well as its attempt to translate the Iranians motives into the language of Western interests, poses a genuine threat to the Western world. This is a direct result of the pacifism embedded in the West and its fear of engaging in a conflict that could result in far-reaching suffering to uninvolved populations. The Wests reluctance to take decisive action while it still can lead to catastrophic consequences when the day of reckoning arrives. If Europeans want to envision the potential outcome, the collaborative efforts between Iran, a Shiite power, and Sunni political Islam represented by Hamas in our region can provide them with a graphic illustration. And now back to Israel. The horrific events weve witnessed in the past few days are just a small preview of the potential disasters that could unfold if Israel persists in its failure to grasp the dynamics of this region and continues to behave as if the one hundred thousand missiles (100,000!) with which Iran has armed Hezbollah are merely sitting around to rust in warehouses. The recent developments should dispel any lingering doubts harboured until this week: Israel cannot afford to simply accept the empowerment of monstrous terrorist organisations on our borders and the intensified training of the 2,500 elite fighters of the Radwan force is a profoundly concerning development that cannot be overstated. Regrettably, there is no way to eliminate this threat without causing significant collateral damage to the rest of the population. But the West has become impotent in terms of its capacity to use force. The combination of liberal pacifistic rhetoric, Christian roots and the scars of a fascist and totalitarian past has taken its toll. Regardless of the reasons, this is the current reality and the source of the confusion that is significantly impacting the mindset of the elites in Israel too, who are closely aligned with this perspective in the West. *** And this is also a window of opportunity that has opened. The devastating attack on Israel offers us the possibility, justification and legitimacy to help the West shift its paradigm. The Western world is watching with silent expectation that we offer a viable alternative to the impractical language of individual rights that it itself is still speaking. The terrible price in blood that we have paid, and may yet pay, is a searing pain beyond measure, but our historical and moral obligation to the victims is to transform the tragedy of their deaths into a moment that will avert an even greater catastrophe for Israel and the world. It will require an extraordinary societal effort to counter our natural tendency to cling to established paradigms, which are hardwired into our brains at an almost biological evolutionary level. But it is a matter of survival and existential necessity to envision a new regional order and strive for its realisation while this unique window of opportunity remains open. This new order consists of several components, ranging from milder to more substantial measures: The complete and decisive elimination of Hamass military capabilities and all of its governing structures. The strategic relocation of the Gaza Strips population, from north to south in response to IDF airstrikes, with the ultimate goal of encouraging their resettlement in Sinai or other countries. It is important to note that this population consists mostly of refugees, whose resettlement has been hindered by the Arab world, unlike other refugees from the mid-20th century. Furthermore, approximately half of the population is under the age of 18 and has grown up under the educational influence of Hamas. The dire implications are obvious. Assertion of sovereignty over the northern half of the Gaza Strip and the establishment of a substantial security buffer zone along the entire length of the Gaza Strip, devoid of civilian populations and structures. This process should serve as a model for ongoing proactive measures against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. This sequence of actions will yield several desired outcomes. It will send a clear message to our enemies regarding the consequences they face if they pose a credible threat to us. While this may not eliminate them immediately, it will undoubtedly deal a significant blow to their morale and motivation. It will fundamentally eliminate the threat emanating from the Gaza Strip. This approach can serve as an appropriate model for addressing ongoing threats from the north and, no less importantly, for how the West should deal with the challenges emanating from Iran. Additionally, it will signal a new stance toward totalitarian countries that pose a threat to world order, with a particular focus on China. While this basic framework does not delve into the range of operational and international challenges it presents, it must be evaluated from a strategic, deterrent and utilitarian perspective. I see no moral advantage in continuing to assess the situation solely through the lens of the suffering of the Gazan population, an approach marred by both a moral and existential distortion. Translated by Ruchie Avita The author is founding director of the Jewish Statesmanship Center in Jerusalem. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The infamous aphorism of divide et impera (divide and rule) politics, historically repudiated by the Grand Old Party, has returned with Rahul Gandhi making strong pitches for the Bihar governments decision to release the caste survey data. As soon as the chariot wheels of the British Empire set foot in India, a malevolent design was orchestrated for a cynical chasm by vivisecting Indias Hindus into categories. The manufactured and ostensible schisms were further incised to exploit the burgeoning population of Hindus. Ever since India has been held in the thrall of caste calculus that dominates electoral politics, a term that was alien to us until introduced by Sir HH Risley in the 1901 census. The idea of conducting a caste-based census has been at loggerheads with Jawaharlal Nehru and Rahuls father, former PM Rajiv Gandhi, who believed that a caste survey polarised society along the lines of caste. Back in the heyday of the Congress party, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a letter to the chief ministers, said, If we go in for reservations on a communal and caste basis, we swamp the bright and able people and remain second- or third-rate. I am grieved to learn how far this business of reservation has gone based on communal considerations. It has amazed me to learn that even promotions are sometimes based on communal or caste considerations. This way lies not only folly but also disaster. Let us help the backward groups by all means, but never at the cost of efficiency. Decades later, in September 1990, Rajiv Gandhi opposed the Mandal Commissions report ensuring reservation for the OBSs to the extent of 27 per cent. Rajiv Gandhi, the then leader of the opposition, said, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, before I start on what I really wanted to say, I must say that I have been terribly pained with what I have heard just now from one of the members of the government, one of the ministers. It is extremely sad that the thinking in this government revolves around caste, and perhaps that is why we are so sorry. Sir, even at this late hour, there is time to pull the country back from this caste division. In fact, from the time of BR Ambedkar until 2011, Congress has been considered to be against reservations for the backward classes. Perhaps the somnolent Congress must always look for skeletons in their closet before jumping on the very bandwagon their leaders once opposed! Extending support to the caste enumeration in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi posted on X: Out of 90 secretaries of the Central Government, only three are OBC, who handle only 5 per cent of Indias budget! Not a single secretary was from the OBC community in 2019. Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics in India. The greater the population, the greater the rightsthis is our pledge. Being a late entrant in the caste equations, Rahul Gandhi advocating the Jitni aabadi, utna haq (rights proportional to population) slogan is a desperate gamble to incorporate OBC sentiments. But Rahul Gandhis recent bonhomie with the OBCs is pure sophistry. Even if he were to be taken with an earnest noteon face valuehe alludes to a majoritarian system where the staggering majority with landslide numbers would monopolise the resources and the system. This again challenges the stand of former PM Manmohan Singh, who observed that minorities, especially Muslims, should have the first right over national resources. The logic, cogency and coherence were never lost more than now! In stark contrast, recognising the legitimate demands of the OBCs, the top echelons of the Bhartiya Janta Party, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, reiterated the partys commitment to inclusivity by welcoming the decision of the VP Singh government. Lashing out at Rahul Gandhi, JP Nadda, the BJP President, said, The first OBC Prime Minister for India was given by the BJP and NDA, and that is Narendra Modi. Out of 303 BJP MPs, 85 are OBC, which makes 29 per cent. Out of 1358 MLAs, 27 per cent are OBCs. Out of 163 MLCs, 40 per cent are OBCs. We have more OBC MPs than the total number of Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha. The sharp irony of Modis inclusive frame is that his ideas ostensibly seem to fare closer to the Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi, who envisioned a country free of casteism, than the political formations that swear by them. PM Modi has not just marginalised caste-based Mandal politics but has also empowered the marginalised to put them on an equal footing with the social mainstream. In 2022, Draupadi Murmu, governor of Jharkhand and hailing from the Santhal tribals of Odisha, was bestowed as the NDAs presidential candidate. Queering the pitch for todays opposition is the BJPs politics of integration and homogenisation of the backward classes, thereby rendering the salience of caste-based politics and caste-based dime-a-dozen parties toothless. Ironically, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, at a conference in 2021, said: Adivasis were never Hindus, and they will never be. Look at the pattern: from Jharkhands Chief Minister Hemant to Bihars Education Minister Chandra Shekhar to a leading face of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Swami Prasad Maurya, to Congress leaders, to Tamil Nadu minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin, there has been a constancy to vitiate the vicious against Sanatan Dharma. This desperate and diabolical attempt to divide Hindus is the last straw that the desperate and disparate conglomeration of regressive parties that goes by the acronym I.N.D.I. Alliance is clutching to for the 2024 general elections. The oppositions politics is stuck in the quicksand of 1990s Mandal-era caste dynamics, and its aim is polarisation among castes to foil the unity of Hindus across India and weaponising caste for a divisive split and conquer game plan. Despite caste dynamics being a formidable force for political expediency, PM Narendra Modis massive rural drive, emphasising the single plank of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas has won him plaudits and ubiquitous presence in the electoral fray. Narendra Modis relentless pursuit of a civilisational repair of a united and unified India, free from fragmented identity politics, and a seamless, monolithic Hindu identity is said to define a Naya Bharat. Interesting will be the 2024 general elections, where the main poll plank of the opposition seems to be the caste narrative of keeping the Muslim vote bank intact while dividing the Hindus into motley castes. The author is an independent journalist and columnist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The geopolitical consequences of the bloody clashes between Israel and Hamas risk to be serious. Already the Ukraine conflict has been very disruptive at the international level. This conflict which is pitting the US, NATO and the G7 against Russia continues, with China positioning itself on Russias side in view of its own confrontation with the US. India, as well as the Global South in general, is affected by this European conflict, with disruption in global supply chains, energy flows, and food and fertiliser shortages. On top of that, a new conflict in a highly volatile region has erupted which will affect India and the Global South as well. This region has already seen wars against terrorism by Western powers, be it in Iraq, Libya or Syria. Iran is treated as a terrorist state by the US. It is accused of supporting Houthi terrorists against Saudi Arabia, and viewed as a prime backer of Hamas in Gaza as well as the Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is a vociferous supporter of the Palestinian cause and has assumed the leadership of the struggle against Israel. Turkey has had close links with Hamas. Qatar hosts Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas, and offers financial support to the organisation. A flare-up of conflict between Israel and Hamas can therefore create wider disruptions. The conflict provoked by brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians across the Gaza Strip, especially the unprecedented scale of the attacks, both in the audacious manner of execution and the number of casualties inflicted, has inevitably provoked a massive Israeli retaliation. The Israeli leadership has made it clear that Gaza will suffer retribution it has never seen before. The Israeli armed forces are pummeling the Gaza Strip militarily, buildings are being destroyed, and food, fuel and water supplies to the territory have been cut off. Civilian casualties in Gaza are mounting. The danger of the conflict widening is real. Hamas may have provoked this conflict and Israel may feel justified in avenging itself, but the collective punishment being inflicted on the Gaza population, the scenes of human misery on television and the social media, civilians, including children, getting killed, lack of medical supplies etc. risk to inflame public opinion in the Arab, indeed in the Islamic world, besides raising humanitarian concerns more broadly. This is not the first time that Hamas has provoked a conflict with Israel, knowing from past experience that Israel will respond with ferocity. The jihadi mindset is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for a larger purpose, however monstrous. Its strategy is to compel Israel to precisely do that with the goal of inflaming the Arab street when images of fellow Palestinian Arabs being bombarded and killed are diffused on TV screens worldwide, intensifying international political humanitarian concerns about Israels visible disproportionate use of force and by imposing suffering on others denting its image of a country whose people have historically suffered enormously. The Palestine cause has receded from the political landscape of the Arab world. Key Arab countries such as the UAE and Morocco have normalised relations with Israel, following the Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia has been engaging with Israel discreetly for some years. The normalisation of Saudi Arabia-Israel ties seems to have been on the anvil under US auspices, which if it had materialised would have marginalised the Palestinian cause even further. This may explain the timing of the Hamas offensive, the goal being to derail this process and deny a major political victory to the US and the moderate Arab states that were distancing themselves from the Palestinian question. The degree of political progress made in normalising Israels ties with the Gulf countries is reflected in the establishment of I2U2 that groups Israel, India, UAE and the US with a view to fostering mutually beneficial trade, economic and technological cooperation. On the margins of the G20 summit, the US, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France, Germany and the EU announced plans for creating an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Both these projects envisaged a peaceful Middle East, undisturbed by the unresolved Palestinian issue. With the latest developments, these projects will be put on hold. Saudi Arabia has put an end to negotiations with the US on normalising ties with Israel. Iran, while denying any role in instigating the Hamas attack, has fully backed it. That the Saudi Crown Prince and Sheikh Zayed of the UAE have thought it necessary to discuss the latest developments with Irans President Raisi suggests a re-centring of the Palestinian question in Middle East politics. It can be argued that the US possibly committed a strategic mistake in pushing the Abraham Accords in the belief that the Palestine question was no longer central to the politics of the Arab world, that it could be kept isolated from the political and economic dynamics especially in the Gulf countries in favour of economic growth, modernisation and religious moderation as survival strategies in a fast-changing global economic and technological developments. The US had got away by virtually abandoning the two-state solution in Palestine, it ended all aid to the Palestine National Authority, did not deter Israel to expand its settlements in the West Bank and moved its Embassy to Jerusalem. In hindsight, it would seem it would have made sense to promote a final reconciliation between Israel and the Arab world, especially as key Gulf countries were receptive to this goal, by finding some equitable solution in Palestine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as is accepted by high-level political and other commentators in Israel, has been determined to prevent the emergence of any independent Palestinian state, to the point of backing Hamas against the Palestine National Authority on the West Bank to keep the Palestine movement divided. Israel politics itself is deeply split, with many extreme right wing elements determined to expand settlements in the Israeli occupied West Bank, and indeed wanting to annex it. Netanyahu is dependent on these messianic elements in his coalition government, and, in the eyes of many in Israel, they are the ones who are responsible for creating a situation that has erupted today. The situation in West Asia has entered a dangerous and unpredictable phase. Hezbollah has not entered the fray yet, but it could potentially if Iran is threatened. The US is fully backing Israel. Its decision to move its aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean is premised on deterring a wider conflict. The US seems also to be counselling Israel to avoid massive civilian casualties in Gaza, as that would turn the Arab street against the US too. Russia has adopted a balanced position, cautioning against civilian casualties and advocating a two state solution, a line broadly followed by China. India, to begin with, has focused narrowly on the brutality of the terrorist attacks on Israel and expressed its solidarity with it, rather than on the broader political issue of a Palestinian homeland. This is in line with its position, and that of the UN, the G7, G20, the BRICS, the SCO, that no cause justifies the recourse to terrorism, and that there should be zero tolerance of terrorism by the international community. The Ministry of External Affairs has now issued a statement reiterating its established position on Palestine, namely, supporting the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, besides indirectly cautioning Israel to observe international humanitarian law. The writer is a former Indian Foreign Secretary. He was Indias Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It took another genocidal attack on Jewish people to reveal the vacuousness and inversion of normative paradigm in western intellectual framework. Sitting here in India, I have been watching in stunned disbelief how fancy academic jargon is being used to make an argument that at its core is as monstrous and morally repugnant as the barbaric assault inflicted on civilians by Islamist terrorists of Hamas that the Israelis got what they deserved. It is based on a false equivalence and an onerous both-siding that there is no moral difference between the state of Israel and the Palestinian terrorists and a reduction of the Jewish identity from human beings to Zionist settlers against whom violence is not only justified, but also social justice. Thats why Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American lawmaker from the Democratic Party, remained stubbornly silent despite repeated questioning from a Fox News reporter on whether she had any comment on reports that Hamas had beheaded babies during the terrorist attack that left over 1200 Israeli people murdered. Thats why Zareena Grewal, an American studies professor, came out in open support of the barbarism and massacre committed by Hamas operatives on the Jewish people, because according to her settlers are not civilians, as she wrote in response to a journalists quip: Civilians are civilians are civilians, doesnt matter where. Grewal is a historical anthropologist and a documentary filmmaker whose research focuses on race, gender, religion, nationalism, and transnationalism across a wide spectrum of American Muslim communities, according to her profile at Yale University, an Ivy League institution. If one expected that brutalising of women, atrocities against innocent civilians babies in cots, elderly people, partying youth, people going about their lives, sleeping inside their homes, their safe shelters would be the most obvious thing in the world to denounce, it apparently isnt. How difficult is it for the civilised world to call out what really happened over the past few days as Islamist fanatics went about burning couples alive, raping women, parading them as trophies, blood dripping from between their legs, defiling the corpses, streaming on social media the slaughtering of a grandmother, taping the killing of hostages and sending videos to their parents, pumping wanton bullets into young people at a music festival, decapitating babies, snatching away toddlers from mothers and the elderly to be taken as hostages? How low is the bar of morality? On the early hours of Saturday morning (7 October), thousands of young men and women were dancing to the beats of an open-air music festival at a vast field near the Gaza border when dozens of Hamas terrorists crossed the border in hang gliders, blocked all exits and opened random fire on the crowd in a frenzy of vicious violence, pumping bullets into the youth through their automatic guns. Among the 3500 who were gathered, 260 were mowed down and an unknown number taken hostage. The Tablet magazine spoke to the survivors of the horrific ordeal. Women have been raped at the area of the rave next to their friends bodies, dead bodies, said some. The report stated Several of these rape victims appear to have been later executed. Others were taken to Gaza. In photographs released online several were paraded through the citys streets, blood gushing from between their legs. One young woman who attended the festival, a German-Israeli tattoo artiste who loved to dance, was murdered, raped, and stripped naked, thrown in the back of a pickup truck to be paraded around while a screaming crowd chanted Allahu Akbar and spat on her. Footage, purportedly of an interrogation of a captured Hamas operative reveals that the terrorists intended to rape the women who were captured. The father of an eight-year-old girl, Emily, murdered by Hamas, is quoted as saying in a video clip shared by the state of Israel, when we found out that Emily was dead we went yes and smiled, because that is the best news of the possibilities I knew. It leaves little to imagination what monstrosity little Emily would have been subjected to, what terrifying turn of fate, that the father preferred her death instead. It tells us why faced with Islamist barbarism, Hindu women chose self-immolation over dishonour. In which moral universe does this resemble a resistance? To give this degradation, this wanton violence the colour of a political movement is to both dehumanise the Jewish people to the extent of comparing them to cockroaches and give moral legitimacy to the pogrom carried out by Hamas. If this seems beyond the pale of human imagination, it happened right after. At a Palestine solidarity rally in New York by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in New York, whose members belong to the ruling party of Joe Biden administration and lawmakers such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, one speaker described the carnage by Hamas at the music festival as as you might have seen, there was some sort of rave or desert party where they were having a great time, until the resistance came in electrified hang gliders and took at least several dozen hipsters to clapping and celebrations. On Thursday, Israels foreign ministry posted on X the graphic, gruesome image of a car burnt to cinders containing charred bodies of people who were burnt alive by the Hamas terrorists. The official handle of the state of Israel said it was left with no choice but to share the image of a baby murdered in its crib by the Islamist radicals of Hamas because members of an unholy alliance of Leftists, liberals and Islamofascists around the globe were claiming that reports of babies decapitated by the terrorists would be taken as lies unless the state of Israel shares tangible proof. Images, or it didnt happen, bayed the morally decrepit group that included some noted global media networks. Not even a confirmation of the monstrosity by the Israel prime ministers office, not even an affirmation by US president Joe Biden could satiate their bloodlust. The single-point obsession seemed to be whether the children were beheaded, or merely murdered, as if the butchering of kids by Hamas would fall within acceptable levels of civility. If evilness had a metric, denying the monstrosity would rank alongside the merciless slaughtering of children. What political compulsion allows decapitation of babies to become the subject of a grisly debate? Perhaps the attempt was to portray Israelis as liars, that may then enable the terror apologists to dismiss the Hamas atrocities as exaggerated to strengthen its resistance propaganda. In posting the images of slain children, the state of Israel said, This is the most difficult image weve ever posted. As we are writing this we are shaking. We went back and forth about posting this, but we need each and every one of you to know. It is not difficult to understand why the Israelis are reduced to suffering this humiliation on top of the tragedy that goes against the grain of human civilisation. They understand that despite being at the receiving end of a genocidal attack, the biggest since the Holocaust, they have no moral authority to become the victims. The Jewish people, in the twisted world of Leftist identity politics, are the aggressors even when they are being raped, butchered and burnt alive. It seems scarcely believable that in anti-Semitism and human depravity, the western world and Anglosphere would put to shame even the Nazis who exterminated Jews during the Holocaust. Hitlers twisted men committed unspeakable war crimes. But, as Bari Weiss points out, at the end of the Second World War, it took the Allies months, if not years, to uncover the full scale of Germanys war crimes. Thats because the Nazis tried to hide them. In October 2023, Hamas broadcast what they didwhat they are doingin real time. The scary thing is, even as Hamas broadcast its genocidal intent and seemed utterly proud of it, western societies, academia, media, Leftists and so-called progressives a not-so-inconsiderable group with tremendous discourse power alongside Muslim advocacy groups sought to play down the monstrosity of Hamass twisted, fanatic acts in two ways by creating a moral equivalence with the state of Israels occupation and apartheid and dehumanising Jews, suggesting that some exterminations are acceptable. As Frank Furedi writes in Spiked magazine, the singling out of Israel as a unique source of malevolence runs in parallel with the attempt to dehumanise Jews indeed, to call into question the moral status of Jewish identity A Middle Eastern version of anti-Jewish sentiment has merged with classical European anti-Semitism over recent decades. And it has evolved even further by feeding off of Western identity politics. This is why an anti-Jewish pogrom is currently being heralded by leftist identitarians as a fine example of the politics of decolonisation. This ethno-radicalism in American higher education institutions creates the paradigm where it is acceptable to call for gassing the Jews, fu**ing the Jews, as thousands of protestors gathered outside Sydneys iconic Opera House did on Monday, alongside chants of Allahu Akbar, according to footage shared by the Australian Jewish Association. As many as 33 student groups from Americas Harvard University co-signed a letter authored by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, stating that that the Israeli regime is entirely responsible for all unfolding violence even as Hamas terrorists were pumping bullets into the residents of a sleepy kibbutz at southern Israel. Many died in their sleep, on their beds. Some were fried alive. But its all the victims fault, according to the student groups at Harvard, some of whose broken moral compasses seems to have jolted back into shape faced with threats from business executives that these students wont be considered for hiring. At the root of this moral cowardice lies a fetishization of identity politics by the Wests educational institutions. Words are violence, silence is violence, microaggression can get tenured professors sacked, but real violence of the sort that Hamas perpetrated will invite silence, prevarication, equivocation, or even victim-blaming. The core of this ideological perversion can be traced to an insidious argument that there is no moral difference between Israel and its enemies. It is not enough to say terrorism in any form is unacceptable. We must mitigate this bad faith argument. If Palestinians are not Hamas, and do not deserve to be gutted in retaliatory strikes by Israel, they should stage a revolt against Hamas leadership and refuse to be used as human shields. If Hamas cares for the citizens of Gaza who have elected the terrorist organization to power, its leadership, instead of hiding in Qatar, should simply return the hostages, hand over the operatives to Israel and stop risking the lives of innocent children in Gaza. It cannot be expected that after suffering its worst violence since the Holocaust, the Jewish people will simply turn over the other cheek. None of this would happen. And there lies the core of this fallacious argument. The people of Gaza voted to power an organization that has in its charter an explicit objective to obliterate Jews. The first version of Hamas charter, adopted in 1988, begins: Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. Can the state of Israel, which has made great advancement in science and technology and aims to be a superpower in robotics and Artificial Intelligence even as it struggles to survive in a hostile neighbourhood, can realistically be compared to Palestinians who have chosen a leadership that proclaims The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Even if we accept the Palestinian argument that Israelis are oppressors, does it imply that Hamas is so devoid of moral agency that its only remedy is to cut the throats of babies in crib and rape Jewish women? What does it speak of the morally cretinous western academia that makes this convoluted argument? As Sam Harris argued in a 2014 podcast, One of the most galling things for outside observers about the current war in Gaza is the disproportionate loss of life on the Palestinian side. This doesnt make a lot of moral sense. Israel built bomb shelters to protect its citizens. The Palestinians built tunnels through which they could carry out terror attacks and kidnap Israelis. Should Israel be blamed for successfully protecting its population in a defensive war? Israel is using its soldiers and weapons to rescue and save civilians. Hamas is using civilians to protect its weapons and terrorists. There is no space for onerous moral confusion here. The West should take its cue from India that has called out the terrorism of Hamas in no uncertain terms and has stood steadfast with Israel in its hour of tragedy displaying moral clarity. We could do this because we have lived through Islamist terror, suffered from it, and have been at the receiving end of vacuous moral lectures from the West, just as Israel is experiencing now. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Even as the countdown for the 2023 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan has begun, Yashodhara Raje Scindia and Vasundhara Raje Scindia are facing an uncertain future. Yashodhara, currently a minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhans ministry, has already opted out of electoral politics due to her precarious post-COVID health. However, she has not resigned as a minister and official sources maintain that, for the past six months, she has regularly attended all meetings, gone on tours, and carried out routine work. Vasundhara, who had to overcome all odds to become the first woman chief minister of Rajasthan, is now engaged in a grim battle for survival. She is not being projected as a chief ministerial nominee and many of her supporters have failed to secure party tickets. Informed sources suggest that Vasundhara is eager to settle scores with her internal detractors, but a likely landslide victory for the BJP, as indicated by some pollsters and survey agencies, points to her potential political irrelevance. The presence of Jyotiraditya Scindia as a Union Minister has effectively limited Vasundharas options for a role in national politics outside of Rajasthan. Sources close to both Yashodhara and Vasundhara express a sense of hurt and dejection, highlighting how, as the daughters of Amma Saheb, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia, they remained loyal and committed to the BJP. Vijayaraje was a founding member of the BJP in 1980 and an iconic figure of the BJPs earlier incarnation as the Bharatiya Jan Sangh. Despite being a towering figure, she did not seek any ministerial or gubernatorial assignments throughout her six-decade-long political career. Rajmata was also a major fundraiser for the Jan Sangh and BJP. In fact, Rajmatas entry into the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in 1967 paved the way for a significant political turn of events when 36 Congress MLAs defected to the opposition ranks, with Rajmata perceived as the mastermind behind Mishras ouster as chief minister. For the first time in central India, a non-Congress party, the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD), formed the government. Rajmata, however, declined the position of chief minister and did not provide any reasons for her decision. In the 1980s, when asked to lead the BJP, she informed Advani, as recounted in the veterans book My Country, My Life, that she had been advised against accepting any public role by the chief priest of Pitambara Peeth, Pujyapad Swamiji Maharaj. Under her leadership, the Jana Sangh defied the Indira wave in the 1971 Lok Sabha polls, a period when the Congress secured 352 seats in the House. The Jana Sangh won three seats in the Gwalior regionRajmata from Bhind, her son Madhavrao from Guna, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee from Gwalior. During that era, Congress policies, programmes and leadership underwent radicalisation. Indira displayed extraordinary political acumen and a keen sense of realpolitik by setting one Congress leader against another, delivering a significant blow to conservatives during the nationalisation of banks and the abolition of the privy purse. The privy purse was the payment made to the 565 royal families of princely states as part of their agreement to integrate with India in 1947. The Nizam of Hyderabad was the largest recipient, receiving a tax-free pension of over Rs 80 million a year. The Scindias used to receive Rs 25 lakh a year. For the first time, the Scindias, along with other royals, had to file income tax returns. Rajmata, in her memoirs, wrote about this sudden change in status. She said, Money was never a consideration. When you are young, you dont think too much about poverty or other people. So, I used to enjoy myself. For example, if I went shopping, Id buy saris by the dozen or jewellery not just one item, but six to ten pieces at a time. However, this changed after the abolition of the privy purses, and the Scindias had to think twice before making expensive purchases. Blessed with the ability to laugh at herself amid adversity, the Rajmata would often quip, Now we dont buy; we are the sellers. The Gwalior royals possessed dozens of elephants that were used for ceremonial occasions. The Rajmata was initially reluctant to sell them, but the upkeep of the lavish household became challenging. Moreover, the Rajmata had irked Indira by supporting newspaper magnate Ramnath Goenka, ensuring his electoral victory in Vidisha, a part of the former Gwalior state. Contesting as an Independent and considered an outsider, Goenkas win was particularly remarkable as it occurred amidst the 1971 Indira wave. The Rajmata played a pivotal role in Goenkas campaign, as his newspaper, The Indian Express, was known for its anti-establishment stance. The situation took a dramatic turn with the onset of the 1975 emergency when the Scindias became Indiras target. Taroon Coomar Bhaduri, an author and journalist, who served as the state correspondent for The Statesman in Bhopal at the time, revealed in his book, Off the Records, that upon learning about the Rajmatas comfortable detention during the Emergency, Indira was incensed and ordered her transfer to Delhis Tihar Jail. Simultaneously, income tax officials and several other agencies carried out raids at the Jai Vilas Palace, the Scindias residence in Gwalior. A report published in India Today on 30 September, 1991, claimed that during the 1975 Emergency raid, tax authorities uncovered 53 quintals of silver articles and trunkfuls of jewellery at Jai Vilas Palace. The Scindias faced charges related to economic offenses, including gold smuggling, allegations vehemently contested by the Rajmata and her daughters. The tax officials not only discovered silver and jewellry but also confiscated notations for a new raga composed by Ustad Allauddin Khan and named after Vijayaraje, which they initially believed to be some kind of secret code. The maestro had created this raga, possibly within the first five years of Vijayarajes marriage to Jiwajirao, as a gesture of gratitude for her sponsorship of a surgery in Gwalior. While housed in Tihars ward No. 3, the Rajmata found a way to interact with Nanaji Deshmukh, a Jana Sangh veteran who was incarcerated alongside Arun Jaitley, George Fernandes, Parkash Singh Badal, Choudhury Charan Singh, Lala Hansraj and others under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). The Rajmatas doctor had recommended yoga, and in Tihar, Deshmukh conducted yoga classes in the mens ward. Jail authorities allowed him to teach yoga to the Rajmata as well. In their best-seller, Black Warrant [Roli Books], jailer Sunil Gupta recounted to co-author Sunetra Choudhury, I do not know how much yoga they did, but these deliberations were the seeds of the Janata Party. Gupta, who was a young officer at the time, found it fascinating to witness how Badal acted as a bridge between leaders of the Hindu right and Indian communists, creating a broad platform against Indira. Badal initially brought these ideologically opposing figures together through games like carom, and as rapport developed, plans to overthrow the Indira regime through democratic means took shape. Ultimately, the opposition successfully toppled the Indira regime after the emergency was lifted. Despite having such a significant Rajmata legacy and a strong political connection, the marginalisation of Yashodhara and Vasundhara is evident. The writer is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including 24 Akbar Road and Sonia: A Biography. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The effluvium of piled-up decaying corpses pervaded the air while other bodies were buried in shallow graves as horrified families mourned the loss of their loved ones amid the rubble of concrete structures. The scene was the systematic slaughter of around 300 Iraqi civilians by the monstrous Islamic State (IS) while retreating from the Iraqi town of Hamam al-Alil in November 2016. Similarly, IS savages murdered 233-262 civilians in and around the Syrian city of Kobani in June 2015. By all accounts, this was a planned attack on the civilian population of this area, Letta Tayler, senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher, had told Human Rights Watch. Around eight years later, a similar bloodbath occurred on 7 October. Between Saturday and Monday morning, over 1,200 targets were hit by Israeli aircraft across the Gaza Strip, including weapons storage and manufacturing sites, command and control centers, rocket launchers and more. Today we doubled that number. pic.twitter.com/bRxZetbNqP Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 9, 2023 Around 5,000 rockets fired. More than 1,200 dead and around 3,400 injured. Bodies were scattered in cities and towns, at kibbutzim and the Tribe of Nova music festival (an all-night dance party to mark the Jewish holiday Sukkot which turned into a dance of death), and 150 people were taken hostage, including women and children. The perpetrators were Hamas terrorists of its military wing Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, who butchered men, women, children, toddlers and the elderly raiding kibbutzim, cities and towns after firing a fusillade of rockets supplied by Iran and the Lebanese terrorist organisation Hezbollah. The number of horrifying pictures and videos showing Hamas dragging Israeli soldiers and civilians through the streets of Gaza was gut-wrenching. Videos show three men being captured and injured Israeli soldiers and civilians with their hands tied being dragged to vehicles as terrorists on bikes, boats and paragliders stormed kibbutzim like Kfar Aza, Beeri, Urim and others, cities and towns in the multipronged ambush. Hamas is worse than ISIS [IS], Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted while sharing a picture of Hamass brutality. At least, 260 revellers at the music festival were shot dead at point-blank range by Hamas, their belongings were stolen and their bodies piled up in tents. Around 100 people were shot dead at Kibbutz Beeri, a self-sustaining farming community of 1,000 residents. An 18-year-old girl was executed in front of her sobbing siblings and parents in their home. This is one of those videos we wish we didnt have to share. An Israeli child is executed in front of her siblings and parents who are currently being held hostage by Hamas. If this isnt pure evil, nothing is. Please help us make sure the world knows what is happening. pic.twitter.com/soOloHPDFA Israel (@Israel) October 8, 2023 Shani Louk, a 23-year-old woman, was kidnapped at the festival, stripped naked and paraded through the streets of Gaza in a flatbed truck. Shani Louk, one of the attendants of the music festival in Israel, who was captured by Hamas terrorists, reportedly, is alive and in critical condition in a Hamas hospital. We now have evidence that Shani is alive but has a serious head injury and is in critical condition. pic.twitter.com/pVa8Y6BBwr Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 10, 2023 Noa Argamani, a 25-year-old woman, was hoisted onto a motorcycle by terrorists from the Nova festival as she pleaded for life. Noa was partying in the south of Israel in a peace music festival when Hams terrorists kidnapped her and dragged her from Israel into Gaza. Noa is held hostage by Hamas. She could be your daughter, sister, friend.#BringBackOurFamily pic.twitter.com/gi2AStVdTQ Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 7, 2023 Sharing pictures on X, the IDF tweeted: This is incriminating evidence of the war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organisation. This is incriminating evidence of the war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organization. pic.twitter.com/gM9mWZVkeG Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 9, 2023 What is the difference between the IS and Hamas? None. Both groups are demonic wolves preying on innocent civilians to satisfy their bloodlust knowing well the futility of their objectives. They are killing women and children in a very cold way, Israeli Major General Amos Yadlin (retired), the former head of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman), said while comparing Hamas with the IS. Major General Itai Veruv (retired) never saw anything like this in his 40 years of service with the IDF. I have heard during my childhood about the pogroms in Europethe Holocaust, of course. All my family came from Europe. They are survivors. But I never thought I would see things like that, he told CNN about the Kfar Aza massacre. Gilad Erdan, Israels ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News that October 4 was Israels 11 September. This is our 9/11. Babies, women, and the elderly were dragged outside of their homes and were taken hostage. Well-organised political, terrorist organisation Hamass barbarianism, on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, is the bloodiest terror attack on Israel. The level of intelligence, calculation, planning and coordination was unprecedented even compared to Al-Qaeda and the LTTE, which both could attack from air, land or sea but were unable to execute such a simultaneous assault. Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the coordinated land-sea-air Hamas blitzkrieg, in collusion with another Gaza terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the butchery of Israeli civilians on October 7 should shatter any remaining delusion about the terrorist outfit being an Islamic resistance against Israel. War in Israellast 30 hours. pic.twitter.com/EdCarXTqg0 Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 8, 2023 Hamasthe acronym for Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiyya (Arabic for Islamic Resistance Movement)like the PIJ, is an offshoot of the Sunni Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood founded by quadriplegic Palestinian cleric Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 1987. Designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Israel, Canada, Japan and Australia, Hamas is not a ragtag group of terrorists. Hamas is an extremely well-organised and funded Islamist political and terrorist organisation which governs Gaza and is opposed to Fatahthe Palestinian party governing the West Bankand its head Mahmoud Abbas, who is also the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. After winning the Palestinian Legislative Council election in 2006, Hamas controlled several important significant ministries in Gaza and expelled the PNA and Fatah from Gaza in a violent battle the next year. In 2017, Ismail Haniyeh, who now operates from Doha, replaced Khaled Meshaal as Hamass political chief. Issam al-Daalis is Gazas de facto prime minister with day-to-day affairs managed by Yahya Sinwar, a former Al-Qassam Brigades head. Founded in 1991, the Al-Qassam Brigadesthe Hamas military winghas a huge arsenal of missiles, rockets and weapons. It is also active in the West Bank in cooperation with Fatahs Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and PIJs Al-Quds Brigades under the umbrella organisation called the Jenin Battalion. Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is Hamass main funding source and supplies weapons and rocket technology to the group. Iran also provides up to $100 million annually in combined support to Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas, Palestine Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a 2020 US State Department report said. Hamas always uses human shield When Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant ordered the unjustified complete siege of Gaza while fighting barbarians, Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obaida threatened that Hamas would start executing the civilian hostages and broadcast it if the IDF targets Gazans without warning. Every targeting of our people without warning will be met with the execution of one of the civilian hostages, he said. The hostages include Israeli children, parents, IDF personnel and foreigners (from Canada, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico and many other nations). Al Qassam Brigades claimed to have captured dozens of Israeli soldiers on Saturday. We bring good news to our (Palestinian) prisoners and our people that the Al-Qassam Brigades have dozens of captured (Israeli) officers and soldiers in their hands, Obaida said on Telegram. Hamas political bureau deputy chief Mousa Abu Marzouk claimed on Arabic news outlet al-Ghad TV that the hostages include high-ranking IDF officers. The most ironic part of Obaidas statement was that Israel doesnt understand the language of humanity and ethics. When fiends that massacre women, children, toddlers and old people offer the excuse of humanity and ethics to hold hostages to use them as human shield, it is reprehensible and can trigger only disgust and rage. Voice of America journalist Linda Gradstein too fears that Hamas will the hostages to prevent Israeli air raids. The biggest concern is the dozens of Israelis kidnapped and hidden in Gaza will be used as human shield to prevent an Israeli attack. This is completely unprecedented, she said. Hamass brutal human shield tactics might be unprecedented for Israel but not for Gazans. The terrorist group uses the enclaves residents as human shield in almost every war with Israel and stores weapons in civilian buildings to prevent detection and targeting. In May 2021, Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israelis from Gazas densely populated urban areas while using its civilians as human shield, NGO United Nations Watch said in a report submitted to the secretary general. Terming the Hamas action as a double war crime, the report read: Hamas not only deliberately attacks Israeli civilians, but intentionally exposes its own civilians to the deadly consequences of the hostilities it provokes itself. During the July-August 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge, the IDF found a Hamas combat manual on urban warfare belonging to the Shujaiya Brigade of the Al-Qassam Brigades explaining the benefits of human shield. As per the manual, Hamas knows that the IDF will do its best to limit civilian casualties and the terror group will exploit such situations by using civilians as human shield. Hamas' use of civilians in Gaza was preplanned. How do we know? By their human shields manual: http://t.co/dYcEM5s71p pic.twitter.com/YwLOEFV6uT Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) December 10, 2014 In a portion titled Limiting the Use of Weapons, the manual explains that the IDF must limit its use of weapons and tactics that lead to the harm and unnecessary loss of people and [destruction of] civilian facilities. It is difficult for them to get the most use out of their firearms, especially of supporting fire [e.g., artillery]. Hamas' message to terrorists in a combat manual: Human shields are a benefit in our battle against the IDF http://t.co/bSYrZRqgVq Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 6, 2014 According to Hamas, the presence of civilians are pockets of resistance that cause three major problems for advancing troops: (1) Problems with opening fire (2) Problems in controlling the civilian population during operations and afterward (3) Assurance of supplying medical care to civilians who need it. The manual also discusses the benefits of the destruction of civilian homes. This increases the hatred of the citizens towards the attackers [the IDF] and increases their gathering [support] around the city defenders (resistance forces. Only 365 sq km in size, Gaza is 41 km long and 6-12 km wide but is home to 2.3 million people. When Hamas fires rockets from the third most densely populated area in the world, it becomes extremely difficult to locate attackers who can disappear into its civilian population or the labyrinth of tunnels used to attack the IDF or store rockets. In a May 2021 report, The Washington Post quoted Israeli officials as saying that Hamas had spent $1.25 billion to build more than 1,300 tunnels between 2007 and 2014. In July 2014, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency found Hamas rockets secretly stored in one of its vacant schools. As soon as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets. The school is situated between two other UNRWA schools that each can accommodate 1,500 internally displaced persons, the report read. Clearly, Hamas takes advantage of UNRWAs humanitarian assistance and shelter during clashes with Israel by using civilians and such buildings as shield. We develop anti-missile systems to protect. We use anti-missile systems to protect our civilians. They [Hamas] use their civilians to protect their missiles. Thats the difference, Netanyahu had told CNN. In the ongoing conflict, Hamas has flagrantly violated the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1998 International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute by using captive Israelis as bait. According to Article 23 of Geneva Convention III: No prisoner of war may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone nor may his presence be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations. Article 28 also bars using a protected person [civilian] to render certain points or areas immune from military operations. International humanitarian law explicitly prohibits the use of civilian population or an individual in war to shield military targets from attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations. Article 51(7) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions states: The presence or movement of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular, in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations. Therefore, Hamass threat of executing the hostages if Israel attacks without warning violates IHL on civilians. Even if Israel warns civilians before bombing a building or house, Hamas can always claim otherwisewarnings, claims and counterclaims are a grey area in conflict zones. Article 51 (2) specifically bars actions that spread terror among the civilian population, which shall not be the object of attack. Indiscriminate attacks to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction are also prohibited. Hamas has also committed war crimes in the conflict by violating Article 8(2)(b)(xxiii) of the ICC Statute, which prohibits using the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations. Terming Hamas as a mere Islamic resistance movement against Israeli occupation while not uttering or writing a word on the IS-like monstrosity is supporting the carnage and terrorism. It is the worst form of hypocrisy. Should the storming of a mosque [Al-Aqsa] trigger such barbarity that women, children and toddlers are shot in cold blood? The writer is a freelance journalist with two decades of experience and comments primarily on foreign affairs. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. What is the United States of America up to in the Israel-Hamas war? President Joe Biden has been making many statements, his secretary of state is in Israel, theyve deployed their biggest warship and sent a plane full of critical ammunition. But what is Americas game plan? This matters because the US is Israels closest ally. No matter who is president is Washington or who is prime minister is Jerusalem, this relationship has stood the test of time. So, its no surprise that the US has professed unconditional support to Israel. All senior officials have condemned the Hamas attack and they have said that Israel is right to defend itself. President Joe Biden went a step further. He brought up the holocaust. This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty, not just hate, but pure cruelty against the Jewish people, and I would argue it is the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, he said addressing a roundtable of Jewish leaders in Washington. In absolute number terms, he may have a point. Israel has fought multiple wars since the nation state was formed in 1948, it has been surrounded by hostile neighbours, it has withstood attacks and fought wars, it has also suffered many casualties over the years, but nothing matched the brutality, scale and suddenness of what we saw on October 7. Hence Bidens statement. And he is not just spouting emotional rhetoric, the US President has also put a plan in motion. Broadly, we can break the US response into four parts. Part 1: Support The first part of the US strategy is providing material support to Israel. Here is what it entails: Were surging additional military assistance to the Israeli defense force, including ammunition, interceptors to replenish the Iron Dome, said Biden. These supplies have started arriving and more are on the way. The US is currently relying on its existing budget to send weapons. Washington says it has enough for both Israel and Ukraine in the short term but that may not last too long. So, the Biden administration is making an appeal to the U.S. Congress, trying to squeeze out more funds for all the wars. Part 2: Intimidation The second is intimidating Israels enemies. Theres some serious muscle flexing going on. In Bidens words: We moved the US carrier fleet to the eastern Mediterranean; are sending more fighter jets there in that region and made it clear, made it clear to the Iranians: be careful. Heres what US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, said: The USS Gerald R Ford strike group has now arrived in the eastern Mediterranean. As President (Joe) Biden has said, for any country, for any organisation, for anyone thinking of trying to take advantage of the agony in Israel, to try to widen this conflict or to try to spill more blood, we have just one word: dont. The USS Gerald Ford is the worlds biggest and most advanced warship. Its been deployed to help Israel and it wont be the only US aircraft carrier in the region. Reports say the USS Dwight D Eisenhower is also heading here today. Meanwhile, American aircraft are heading to US military bases in West Asia. So the message is clear: the US has Israels back, and this message is aimed at specific players Iran, Hezbollah and any other enemies of Israel. If anyone interferes, the US will strike. Parts three and four are diplomatic. Yesterday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Israel. Hes there to show solidarity. He met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told him that the US isnt going anywhere. It was a powerful show of support. But thats not the only reason Blinken is in Israel. He will also be working diplomatic back channels to help innocent Palestinians caught in Gaza. Part 3: Helping refugees As we keep saying, Hamas is not Palestine. Hamas have effectively held innocent Palestinians hostage in Gaza and these people need to get out of the besieged strip. Blinken is in touch with all the actors. Today, he will meet the president of the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The US is working to open up a refugee corridor. Let me just say right up front, were actively discussing this with our Israeli and our Egyptian counterparts. We support safe passage for civilians. Civilians are not to blame for what Hamas has done, they didnt do anything wrong and we continue to support safe passage, said US national security spokesperson John Kirby. Talks with Egypt are shaky. Reports say Cairo doesnt want an influx of refugees. But theres no other way out for the people of Gaza. Its either Egypt or the Mediterranean. So, Blinken is here to iron out this refugee corridor issue. But that isnt his only diplomatic mission. Part 4: Retrieving the hostages An important part of the U.S. response is hostage negotiations. Finally, were of course very focused on our own people, our own citizens. We lost 22 Americans. that number could still go up and it probably will. At the same time, we have a number of Americans who remain unaccounted. We are working very closely with the government of Israel to determine their whereabouts and if they have been taken hostage by Hamas to work to secure their release, says Blinken. How many American hostages have Hamas taken? The US is not sure. So far they say 17 Americans remain unaccounted for, not all of them are believed to be hostages. But the number could go up. Its a rapidly changing situation in Israel, which is why Biden has sent his top diplomat Blinken to secure the hostages. Theres a lot of work to be done, and it has to be done fast. Every moment passed, means higher risk for innocent lives. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In the complex and ever-evolving landscape of West Asia, the nations in the region are quietly working behind the scenes to broker peace amid ongoing conflicts. Leading the charge in these diplomatic efforts is Saudi Arabia, with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman recently taking a significant step by engaging in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. This conversation marked the first direct dialogue between the two leaders after the restoration of ties between their nations. The discussions between MBS and Raisi primarily revolved around the urgent need for peace in the region. Both leaders expressed their solidarity with Palestine and voiced concerns about the well-being of civilians caught in the crossfire. Furthermore, they emphasised the importance of adhering to international law, reflecting a shared commitment to resolving ongoing conflicts in a just and lawful manner. Iran, on the other hand, went a step further by placing blame on both Israel and the US. However, the conflict in West Asia has attracted a multitude of stakeholders beyond Saudi Arabia and Iran. Countries such as Qatar, Egypt and Turkey are actively involved in peace efforts. Among them, Qatar stands out due to its unique connection with Hamas as it hosts the political office of the Palestinian group. Doha has been engaged in talks with several influential nations including the United States, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and the UK. While specific details of these discussions remain limited, many suggest that talks of a prisoner swap were underway. But those negotiations appear to be on hold for the time being. Egypt, on the other hand, plays a crucial role as the gatekeeper of the Rafah Crossing, the sole access point in and out of the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel. Gaza has a total of seven border crossings, with six of them controlled by Israel. Egypt has historically been a key mediator in West Asian conflicts including during the 2021 Gaza War. However, the current situation is somewhat different with Egypt focused on its forthcoming elections and taking a more cautious approach. Reports suggest discussions on providing aid but any plans for a safe passage have been rejected possibly due to concerns about the influx of refugees into Egyptian territory. Turkey, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, maintains an active role in the region. Erdogan has been in talks with Hamas seeking to negotiate the release of hostages. Turkeys historical ties with Hamas make these efforts a continuation of their ongoing relationship. Although progress on this front has been limited, Erdogan remains committed to facilitating dialogue among West Asian leaders including those of Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He has also condemned the recent attacks on Gaza. Jordan, as the custodian of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, has consistently been a stakeholder in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Recently, Jordan sent its first aid plane to Gaza intending to deliver aid through the Rafah Crossing. However, the actual delivery depends on permissions and conditions. While West Asian nations are intensifying their diplomatic and relief efforts, some like the UAE, Morocco and Bahrain face a delicate balancing act. Despite normalising ties with Israel, they must navigate the divide between official commitments to Israel and public sympathy for the Palestinian cause. The Abraham Accords, which aimed to usher in an era of peace and prosperity, have struggled to address the root causes of the ongoing conflicts. Normalisation of relations between Arab nations and Israel often equated economic cooperation with political peace, which has proven to be a complex and aspirational goal. While the region grapples with its complex geopolitical dynamics, a more stable and peaceful West Asia is perhaps desired by all, even as the challenges persist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The most dramatic scenes are playing out in Gaza. People here are waking up to horror: destroyed neighbourhoods, buildings reduced to rubble, families killed, and children fighting for their lives. There is no electricity and no place to bury bodies. This is a humanitarian disaster, and its not the first, though it may end up being the worst that Gaza has seen. Hamas attacked Israel and went back to Gaza with Israeli hostages. Their assets are embedded in civilian infrastructure. In the past, theyve been used to using the people of Gaza as human shields. And this time too, its the ordinary Gazans who are bearing the brunt. The Gaza Strip is home to 2.3 million people. It is one of the worlds most densely populated areas. Israel is currently pounding this strip. Hundreds of Hamas targets are being struck every day, and the result is being reflected in the rising death toll. More than 1,400 people have been killed. This includes 12 workers of the United Nations; nearly 340,000 people have been displaced, and these numbers are expected to rise. Plus, Gaza is now out of electricity. When the war started, Israel cut off the power supply to them. Gaza depends on Israel for food, water, and power supplies. It has only one power plant of its own. It was running until Wednesday, but now it has run out of fuel. So, there is a blackout. Ordinary Gazans are having to rely on private generators, and most dont have the fuel to run these, for two decades now, Gaza has been under a blockade. So everything is scarce, including fuel. And now, with Israel imposing a total siege, all supplies have been cut off. Gaza has one border crossing into Egypt. That too was shut down on Tuesday. Currently, hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed. They are treating hundreds of victims. But they dont know how long they can do this. Without power, many medical devices have stopped functioning. And those that are running could stop in hours. Several lives depend on these machines. So you get the pictureit doesnt look good for Gaza. So innocent Palestinians are dying.But what is the international voice of the Palestinian cause doing about it? Lets talk about the Palestinian Authority. Quick primer: The Palestinian Authority (PA) was set up in the mid-1990s. It was a product of the Oslo accords. Whats the Oslo Agreement? A deal between Israel and Palestine that was supposed to pave the way for an independent Palestinian state. It was signed 30 years ago, but it did not deliver. And now it has become irrelevant. Today, the PA controls parts of the West Bank; they once controlled Gaza too, but that changed in 2006. In 2006, elections were held, the last elections in Palestine, both in the West Bank and Gaza. The PA retained the West Bank, but Gaza went to Hamas. Soon they established their complete control. So now Hamas runs the Gaza Strip, theyre at odds with the Palestinian Authority. Theyre political rivals. Both say they represent Palestine and fight for the Palestinian cause. But theres a difference. The PA has more political legitimacy. The international community recognises it. In contrast, Hamas has few partners. Most countries have designated it as a terrorist organisation. In 2014, the two groups tried to join hands to form what they called a national accord government. But it did not hold. Then, in 2021, there was a plan to hold elections. Both sides agreed. But again, it never materialised. And its not like the PA has great credentials. Theyve been charged with massive corruption. Theyve been accused of capitulating to Israel. Theyve been slammed for authoritarianism. And for the general lack of support, On paper, the PA represents Palestinians, but on the ground, the people dont agree. 63 percent of Palestinians see the PA as a burden, and with this conflict, its legitimacy is being questioned further. And this doesnt augur well for the people of Palestine. Theyre under attack. Theyre losing aid and political support. And they dont have a legit representative to engage with the world. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. India has launched another mission to help Indians get home. Its called Operation Ajay. The first flight with 230 passengers from Israel landed in New Delhi this morning. We expect many more such flights in the days ahead because there are thousands of Indians in Israel, about 18,000. Many moved here for work or higher education. There are plenty of Indians working in Israels healthcare sector as well. India and Israel are friendly countries, the people-to-people ties are strong, but right now, New Delhi believes that Indians need to come back home because the war is escalating. The consul general of Israel, Kobbi Shoshani, sent out this message yesterday: There are around 18,000 Indian citizens in Israel once we win this war against Hamas, ISIS terrorists, Jai Hind. This is not the first such mission to bring Indians home. Earlier this year, the government had launched Operation Kaveri to bring Indian citizens home from the Sudan. That conflict is still on. Last year, India airlifted its students from Ukraine after the war broke out. And now, theyre at work in Israel. Indias ministry of external affairs has been working on a war footing. New Delhi says its priority is the safety of Indian citizens. After evacuation, its time for diplomacy But lets also discuss what next? What happens after Indians are brought back? Will that be the end of New Delhis role in this crisis? Will India try to negotiate or mediate like other regional and international powers? We ask because India is once again uniquely placed. It has leverage on both sides Israel and the Arab world. Historically too, India had a good equation with Palestinians. So, what is New Delhis position on this crisis? Heres what the government says. Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson, Indian ministry of external affairs, says: Our policy has been longstanding and consistent. India always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel. I think that position remains the same. He says that Indias position remains the same and that India has always wanted peace in the region, but will India make an effort to build that peace? Will India leverage its ties? Will it offer to mediate? If it does, it will be a departure from the past because India has never been a power broker in West Asia. That has traditionally been American turf, although its been changing of late. China stepped in a few months ago to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and this is in West Asia, far away from Chinas traditional sphere of influence, yet Beijing waded in. Watch: Time for a policy shift? So West Asia and its power politics is changing. What about India? India refrains from unilaterally entering conflicts. India participates through multilateral platforms. India sends troops to conflict zones as part of the UN peace keeping mission. But all of that is part of Indias traditional approach. In recent years, weve seen some shifts. Six years ago, India dehyphenated Israel and Palestine. A week ago, the Indian prime minister called Hamas terrorists. In the last one year India has called out western hypocrisy at the highest levels refused to take sides in the Ukraine war, pulled off a wildly successful G20 summit, showed its diplomatic heft by forging consensus, demanded its rightful place at the U.N high table. India is ready to join the big league, but is India also looking at taking up big challenges? And right now, none seems bigger than this one in West Asia. So, will New Delhi step up? Or will it work behind the scenes? In the world of diplomacy, we are always engaged in conversation and contacts. Of course we maintain close contacts with all relevant stakeholders at various levels, said Arindam Bagchi yesterday. This was in response to a question about India reaching out to the UAE. He said India is engaging with all stakeholders. At this point, its hard to say whats shape and scope of this engagement. Well be tracking this space for you. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As Israel prepares for a ground invasion to stamp out the Hamas terrorists who killed over 1,300 of its people, overwhelmingly civilian, many elsewhere are not only denying what happenedcalling it propaganda by the Israeli governmentbut also positing this retaliation almost as a unilateral attack. Behind statements like this was Israels 9/11 or Pearl Harbour moment it is important to understand why this murderous assault by Hamas was different from all others. Yuval Noah Hariri, known for his bestseller Sapiens, is perhaps the best person to put his finger on the nub of what happened on 7 October 2023 in the areas of Israel bordering Gaza. He wrote in The Washington Post, As more and more horrific stories and images emerge about the massacre of entire communities, it dawned on us that what has happened is nothing like the Yom Kippur War people are making comparisons to the Jewish peoples darkest hours. He compared the bloodthirsty rampage of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists to the the mobile killing units of the Nazi Einsatzgruppen which also went into villages to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust and the pogromswaged against Jews in the Russian Empire. He repeated this opinion subsequently in TV interviews, throwing light on why Israel is in no mood to be magnanimous about the murderers of innocents, including children and the elderly. Ilan Troen, a professor at Israels Ben Gurion University, whose daughter and son-in-law died while saving their son (she took the bullet meant for the boy), wrote in an online article: Never again! It was never supposed to have happened. But it has, and is. We are witnessing in real time a pogrom. We thought that the most extensive pogromthe Holocaustwould mark the end of the terrible record of violence against Jews, just because they are Jews. Not so. It is surprising that the word pogrom has been rarely used by all the experts and commentators as more gruesome evidence of the slaughter of entire families in Israeli settlements come out. A thoughtful use of the P-word would help understand why Israel remains implacable about retribution against Hamas despite international concern about its impact on Gazas residents. Memories of Russian and Nazi pogroms are seared into the Jewish consciousness. Pogrom is derived from the Russian word for destruction or wreaking havoc and has come to mean a large-scale murderous attack condoned and often carried out by those in power against people of a single religion or ethnicity. It was used to describe the attacks on Jews who resided in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and similar anti-Semitic actions in and by other countries. Pogrom has come to acquire a broader application, of course. Even the words used by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel on Wednesday underlined the one-sided slaughter that characterise pogroms: A baby, an infant riddled with bullets, soldiers beheaded, young people burned alive in their cars he mentioned at a press conference. And earlier in the day he pointed out, Women raped. Parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents. How are we even to understand this, to digest this? Chilling videos of Hamas terrorists shooting drivers and passengers in their cars, dragging out men, women and children from their homes to execute them in ways accurately described at ISIS-like, reiterate the nature of the attack. It was indeed a pogromironically, the first against Jews since the end of the Third Reich. No other war Israel has fought with its Arab neighbours since 1948 was preceded by or precipitated such a one-sided massacre of Jewish civilians. The communal killings due to the Partition in 1947 must be deemed pogroms as only Hindus and only Muslims were killed en masse inside the newly-divided Pakistan and India, respectively. The 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, wherein the deaths were exclusively from one community is a tragic case of a non-Jewish pogrom in independent India though other riots have been labelled with the P-word. Killings of Christians and Hindus in Pakistan are also pogroms. What many Islamic terrorists perpetrate are also, undoubtedly, pogroms as their targets are one specific community. In Israel, their targets are Jews (of all ages) and in India they are Hindus. In almost all cases the casualties are civilians, except in the border areas where the military are their targets, at least initially. Hamas first homed in on army units too, but their intention was clearly to kill and kidnap Jewish civilians, no matter what their age, gender or nationality. Conversely, what the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are planning is not a pogrom as its ire is not directed at Palestinians as a community or Muslims, but only those among them who are hardened Hamas or Islamic Jihad cadres. Unfortunately, the Israeli counter-attack seems like a pogrom as the dead so far are mostly non-combatant Palestinians. But that is because Hamas persists in staying among them, to deter deeper retaliation, which is a calculatedly callous tactic. Palestinians just want a normal life in their homeland while Hamas is focused on destroying Israel as a state. Hamass covenant states, There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavours. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with. Thus using the word pogrom to describe the Hamas objective is apt. Similarly, the reason for the ferocity of the Israeli responseincluding an imminent invasion of Gazato Hamas intention is equally plain. Having been at the receiving end of an attempted mass extermination event orchestrated by Hamas, Israel cannot countenance a repeat. Ever. It will want to impress upon its enemies that there will be no second chance for those who carry out pogroms. After all, Never Again is an article of faith that they cannot forget. The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization, has been a prominent actor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. As part of their armed struggle against Israel, they use a wide range of homemade weaponry, the most notable of which is the Qassam rocket. First introduced by Hamas in the early 2000s, the Qassam rocket is named after Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, an iconic Palestinian nationalist and religious leader. Initially, the rockets were very crude and simple in design because they were homemade and cost about $800 a pop. However, over the years, they have evolved both in terms of design and performance. With each new iteration, Hamas increased the range of these rockets. Now, experts believe that the rockets cost about $3600 or about Rs 3,00,000 a pop. The Qassam rockets have never had a guidance system, and it was by design. The Qassam rockets were never intended for a targeted strike. Hamas objective was to fire an indiscriminate number of Qassam rockets at Israel and cause maximum chaos. Whether their rockets hit civilian targets or military ones, did not matter. What goes into making a Qassam rocket? The Qassam rocket is basically made up of four components. First, there is the Launch tube, which is a simple steel or metal tube. These tubes are typically around 3 to 4 meters in length and are buried partially in the ground to act as launchers. At the very top of the rocket is a very rudimentary warhead, which contains a mix of homemade explosives. The size and composition of the warhead can vary, but it is generally designed to be small, making it suitable for short-range strikes. Then, there is a set of stabilizing fins, near the base of the rocket, which help stabilize the rockets flight path. These fins are made from simple materials like sheet metal or metal rods. Finally, there is the propellant. The rockets propulsion system relies on a solid propellant. The exact composition of the propellant has evolved over the years, as Hamas has sought to improve the rockets range and accuracy. Ease of fire has made it a favourite among West Asia terrorists While it was the Hamas that developed the Qassam rocket, the fact that it is easy to fire has made it a favourite among terrorist and militant groups around the area. Normally, Hamas terrorists prepare the rocket for launch. The rocket, along with its launch tube, is concealed underground or in remote locations to avoid detection by Israeli security forces. When its time to launch, the rockets solid propellant is ignited. The propellant burns rapidly, producing a high-pressure gas that propels the rocket upward. There is no guidance system as such so there are no definite targets. The rockets are just pointed towards the target, that is Israel, and fired. The stabilizing fins help guide the rockets flight path, allowing it to maintain a relatively straight trajectory towards its intended target. The explosive warhead is designed to detonate upon impact, and cause as much damage as it can in a small area. The accuracy of Qassam rockets has historically been low on accuracy, making them more of a psychological weapon than a precision tool. Qassam Rockets: Then and Now Hamas has continually sought to improve the performance of its Qassam rockets. Over the years, they have made several advancements, Early Qassam rockets had a very short range, limiting their effectiveness. Hamas has gradually increased the rockets range, allowing them to target areas deeper within Israel. Furthermore, the explosive power of Qassam warheads has also been enhanced, allowing for more destruction. Hamas has developed various versions of the Qassam rocket, including the Qassam-2 Qassam-3, and Qassam-4. All of these rockets have basically the same features only the length of the rocket has been changed, which allows for more solid fuel, and therefore a longer range. The use of homemade rockets like the Qassam poses significant challenges in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their indiscriminate nature makes them a threat to civilian populations on both sides. In the wake of recent Hamas attacks that claimed the lives of over 1,200 Israelis, social media has become a primary source for updates on the situation. TikTok, a leading social media platform, has come under scrutiny for featuring sponsored content linked to the Israel-Palestine conflict, some of which includes graphic imagery and biased information, as reported by Fortune. TikTok users searching for terms like Palestine and Israel have encountered videos sponsored by individuals expressing their views on the conflict. These sponsored videos have, in some cases, included disturbing content and were promoted for a mere few dollars using TikToks Promote feature. One such video by the user eye.on.palestine displays images of deceased children, explosions, and devastated cityscapes, accompanied by a caption calling for support for Palestine and its people. These videos have gained prominence in searches related to the conflict. For example, Joseph Peretz, a New York-based public transit operator, spent $7 to promote a video of himself praying for Israel. This video garnered 135,000 views when users searched for Israel on TikTok, a significant increase compared to his usual video views. Peretz explained that he aimed to spread the message of Jesus through advertising on TikTok. Marketing expert Yu Yang Pei highlighted that TikToks Promote function allows users, even without credentials, to easily and inexpensively spread their perspectives on sensitive topics to a broad audience. By spending as little as $7, users can disseminate propaganda on highly divisive subjects. TikTok, however, claimed that users cannot select specific keywords for their sponsored videos to appear in search results. The platform serves paid content according to its algorithm, adhering to community guidelines that prohibit violent, hateful, or misleading material. Notably, the term Israel Palestine was not considered a guideline violation. Shortly after being informed about the planned article on sponsored content related to Israel-Palestine searches, TikTok removed sponsored content from searches for Israel, Palestine, and Israel Palestine. The prevalence of sponsored content on TikTok regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict demonstrates the ease of spreading misleading information with a minimal budget, reminiscent of past incidents where social media was manipulated to influence public discourse. This phenomenon occurs as many people turn to social media platforms for information, given increasing scepticism towards traditional news outlets. TikTok, like other social platforms, faces criticism for disseminating misinformation, graphic content, and divisive narratives on politically charged issues, particularly during times of conflict. As a result, EU industry chief Thierry Breton has called on the CEOs of TikTok and Meta to address disinformation and harmful content related to the Hamas-Israel conflict in compliance with EU laws. Simultaneously, grassroots movements are encouraging Jewish and Israeli individuals to delete social media accounts to avoid distressing and problematic content related to the conflict. At least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the northern Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, Hamass armed wing said Friday. In a surprise assault early Saturday, Hamas militants stormed Israeli communities near the Gaza border and fired barrages of rockets, in an attack that claimed more than 1,200 lives. Israel says Hamas has taken more than 150 people hostage, including both civilians and security forces. Thirteen prisoners including foreigners were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement. Israel has rained air and artillery strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip a densely populated enclave of 2.4 million people flattening buildings and killing more than 1,500 people. According to the Hamas media office in Gaza, at least 500 children are among the dead. The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades had warned this week that every targeting of our people without warning will be met with the execution of one of the civilian hostages. United States support for Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas is ironclad, Secretary of Defence Llyod Austin said Friday. Austin, while addressing a joint presser with Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, said that the US will make sure Israel will have what it needs to defend itself. Austin is in Israel on for meetings with senior government leaders and to see first-hand some of the US weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel in the first week of its war with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Austin stressed this is no time for neutrality and the US was behind its ally Israel in its war on terror. Gallant informed that Israel will on Friday recieve second US aircraft carrier. He also said the ongoing conflict was a war on the wxistence of Israel as a democratic state. While responsind to a question on if he thought Iran was a party to Hamass Saturday attack, he said that Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas were one axis, an axis of evil. Hamas terrotists launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel on Saturday via land, sea and air. That attack, so far, has left 1200 dead and thousands wounded besides over a hundred in Hamas capitivity in Gaza. Israel responded to the attack with instense strikes on Hamas target in Gaza. The retaliatory attack has, so far, left over 1500 dead and thousands wounded, taking the total death toll in the ongoing conflict around 2700. Australians are flying to Israel to join the country which is at war against Hamas. It comes after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) warned 1.1 million Palestine citizens to relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours ahead of the likely ground invasion by its troops. The IDF at midnight on Friday notified the UN that the entire Palestinian population north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to Southern Gaza within 24 hours. According to a report by The Sydney Morning Herald, a senior Israeli official confirmed that some Australian residents with specialised skills and training were among the 360,000 reservists who have been called up to fight since Israel declared war against Hamas. Last week, some reservists had made their way from Australia to Israel on commercial flights, while others linked up with a repatriation flight from Bangkok organised by the Israeli government. Australia committed to striking a fatal blow against Hamas The Israeli ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said his country was committed to striking a fatal blow against Hamas that ruled Gaza since 2007. This is a war we did not ask for or start, but we are determined to win it, said Maimon. The ambassador was visiting Israel when Hamas launched a brutal series of killings on Israeli civilians across the Gaza border on Saturday (October 7). Meanwhile, more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed in the assault by Hamas. Gaza authorities said more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory strikes by Israel. Australia arranging flights to help citizens flee Israel Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said 1,600 Australians had registered for repatriation, including 19 in Gaza. An estimated 10,000 Australian citizens are in Israel, including dual citizens and tourists, a report by Australian Associated Press said. Australia is arranging at least two charter flights to help citizens to flee Israel and occupied Palestinian territories. These flights are addition to two Qantas services already announced. The Australian government described the situation in Israel as highly challenging and rapidly changing but said there had been no evacuation of the Australian embassy in Tel Aviv. With inputs from agencies The Beijing Chabad said that it will shut operations in the city for the weekend under the advice of the Israeli Embassy and police after an Israeli diplomat was stabbed earlier in the day. According to reports, the diplomat, who worked in Israels embassy in Beijing, was attacked within the vicinity of the embassy. Israels foreign ministry confirmed the attack and said the diplomat was rushed to a hospital for treatment and is in stable condition. The Chabad said that police officials have promised protection to it for the next 24 hours. Half a dozen policemen in plain clothes have been stationed around the embassy in China in addition to the normal contingent of uniformed officers. Israels foreign ministry confirmed the attack and said the diplomat was rushed to a hospital for treatment and is in stable condition. Meanwhile, Israelis expressed deep disappointment with Chinas statements concerning Hamas assault on southern Israel. The deputy director for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Rafi Harpaz emphasised that the messages from China have no clear and unambiguous condemnation of the terrible attack and heinous massacre committed by the terrorist organisation Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza. As the Israel-Hamas conflict entered its seventh day on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority in Amman, Jordan on Friday. Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel on Saturday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas key infrastructure. So far, over 2,000 people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides. The Palestinian Authority head represents the Fatah party a bitter political rival of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. A day prior to his meeting with Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas also met with Jordans King Abdullah. After the meeting, the Palestinian Authority made an appeal to stop the war. A statement by the Secretary General of the PLO executive committee on behalf of Abbas said, We affirm the policy of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, which rejects violence and adheres to international legitimacy, peaceful popular resistance, and political action as a path to achieving our national goals of freedom and independence. Mr. Presidents meeting with the Jordanian King comes within the framework of the efforts made by the Palestinian leadership around the clock to stop the destructive war, and within the framework of coordinating positions between Palestine and Jordan the statement further said. Mahmoud Abbas in his statement also made an appeal for allowing international aid into Gaza.During his meeting with the Jordanian King, His Excellency called for an immediate halt to the comprehensive aggression against our people, the provision of humanitarian medical and relief aid, the provision of water and electricity, and the opening of urgent humanitarian corridors in the Gaza Strip the statement read. Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Blinken also called on Jordans King Abdullah. In his meeting, King Abdullah urged for an opening of a humanitarian corridor for Gaza. A statement from the Royal Hashemite court said, His Majesty King Abdullah II, receiving US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urges opening urgent humanitarian corridors for medical and relief aid to Gaza, calling for protecting civilians, de-escalating, and ending the war on Gaza. US Secretary of State has also planned to visit key allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to minimise the aftereffects of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Washington has affirmed it solidarity with the Israeli people and the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government. It has also provided Israel with military support, moving warships, aircraft and special operations forces to the region. After the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) warned Palestinians in Northern Gaza to evacuate the region within 24 hours, Hamas has asked residents to stay put and not fall for the evacuation warning. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs has asked Palestinians living north of Wadi Gaza to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation. In a statement posted on its website, Hamas called Israel delusional for thinking people would flee the region after their warning. Scenes of migration and displacement are a thing of the past and wont be repeated, except with the victorious return of our people to our occupied land, the terror group said. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) notified the UN at midnight on Friday that the entire Palestinian population north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to Southern Gaza within 24 hours. A UN spokesperson said the warning was delivered to team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UNs Department of Safety and Security in Gaza by their liaison officers in the IDF. The warning indicated that the IDF might be preparing to launch a ground invasion after six days of aerial attack in response to a surprise and unprecedented Hamas onslaught on Saturday (October 7). We will stay Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian academic and writer based in Gaza, said on X, We are staying. Some families left to other areas also bombed by Israel. If we are bombed anyway, many believe we must stay wherever we are but also to prevent another Nakba [displacement] of native Palestinians. In 1948, a large-scale displacement of Palestinians took place when Israel was formed into a nation. #GazaGenocide: Will this be our last sunrise?! We are staying. Some families left to other areas also bombed by Israel. If we are bombed anyway, many believe we must stay wherever we are but also to prevent another Nakba/displacement of native Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/ZoDR5Xs0L4 Refaat (@itranslate123) October 13, 2023 The head of Hamass political and international relations bureau, similarly, said that Palestinians living in Gaza will not leave their homeland despite Israels warning. We have two options: To defeat this occupation or to die in our homes, Basem Naim told Al Jazeera. We are not going to leave. We are not ready to repeat the Nakba again, he added. Hamas has made an urgent plea to international relief organisations to deliver essential medical and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, where Israels ongoing airstrikes have exacerbated a deepening humanitarian crisis, CNN reported. The region faces the risk of starvation and the imminent depletion of fuel resources as Israel has withheld critical supplies in response to Hamas recent acts of violence. Hamas issued a statement, urging all relief, health, and charitable institutions in the Arab, Islamic, and international communities to swiftly provide necessary medical and humanitarian aid, as well as fuel, to save the lives of over two million Palestinian residents. Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Alkaila also warned of an imminent healthcare system collapse in Gaza due to severe shortages of medical equipment, surgical supplies, medications, and blood bags. Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt expressed strong disapproval of a complete blockade, which would deny access to electricity, water, food, and essential goods necessary for civilian survival in Gaza. She emphasised that Israel has a responsibility to permit humanitarian aid access and ensure assistance for the civilian population. Providing humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza should be a top priority, she added, according to CNN. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of at least 1,537 individuals, including 500 children and 267 women, since their commencement following a deadly Hamas attack last Saturday. An additional 6,612 people have sustained injuries. A statement from the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs revealed that over 330,000 individuals have been displaced in Gaza since Israel initiated its bombardment of the region. While Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, maintains control over Gaza, Israel has enforced strict restrictions on the movement of residents and goods in and out of the densely populated territory. These restrictions have now been tightened further in response to Hamas unprecedented attack, CNN reported. Ahead of a probable ground attack, the Israeli military has urged people in Gaza City to evacuate south for their own safety and the safety of their families. Distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields, IDF said in a message. The Israeli military has warned the entire Palestinian population north of Wadi Gaza to relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours. There are roughly 1.1 million Palestinians living north of Wadi Gaza, a UN spokesperson said. The warning also applied to UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities in those areas. Israels message warning Gaza City civilians to evacuate The message published by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for Gaza stated, The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection, and to move to the area south of Wadi Gaza, as shown on the map. It further stated that the Hamas terrorist organisation waged a war against the State of Israel, and Gaza City is an area where military operations take place. This evacuation is for your own safety, it read. You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting you to do so is made. Do not approach the area of the security fence with the State of Israel, IDF told people residing in Gaza. IDF announcement sent to civilians of Gaza City: The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, as shown on the map. The Hamas terrorist organization Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2023 Stating why it has been asking Gaza nationals to evacuate, the IDF said: Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians. Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields, it said. The IDF has assured people that in the following days, it will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. With inputs from agencies The Israeli military Friday dropped flyers on Gaza warning residents to flee immediately to the south of the enclave. Evacuate your homes immediately and go south of Wadi Gaza, AFP reported the flyers as saying. A map featured on the flyers showed an arrow pointing south across a line in the central Gaza Strip. The message signed by the Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate public shelters in Gaza City. The flyers warned residents to not return to your homes until further notice from the Israeli military. The leaflet drop follows UN officials saying they were informed by the Israeli military that residents must flee northern Gaza within 24 hours, a timeframe an army spokesman would not confirm. The warning comes amid the large-scale bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli military, which has killed more than 1,530 people according to health officials. This comes as Israels response to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamass attack on southern Israel last Saturday. On Saturday, Hamas terrorists crossed from Gaza to launch attacks in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed, and over a hundred were abducted and taken back to the enclave as hostages. Thousands are reported to be injured with many in critical condition and the death toll continues by the hour. With AFP inputs Thousands of people, Israelis, Palestinians and foreigners, have been killed since Hamas militants attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip six days ago. Most were civilians, with horror stories emerging about the militants rampage and the devastating military retaliation it provoked. Israel has vowed to crush Hamas and looks poised to send ground troops into the densely populated besieged enclave, as calls mount for a humanitarian corridor to be opened and offers to broker peace come in. This is what we know about the war so far: How did it start? Hundreds of Hamas gunmen attacked Israel from Gaza at dawn on Saturday, on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. The Iran-backed Islamists said they fired around 5,000 rockets into Israel, 50 years and one day after the start of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The offensive, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, saw them breach security fences surrounding the heavily fortified enclave using explosives and bulldozers. They then streamed into Israel on motorbikes, pickup trucks, motorised gliders and speed boats, targeting nearby communities in the south. At a music festival near Kibbutz Reim, close to Gaza, hundreds of young Israelis and foreigners were gunned down at close range. Those who managed to escape were shot at in the desert scrub or as they tried to flee in their cars along the road. Some hid under bloodied bodies until the military arrived hours later. Israel said about 270 were killed in total. More than 100 civilians, including children, were killed at the Kfar Aza kibbutz, according to Israeli forces. Many died when their homes were set on fire, they added. But Hamas disputed the account, calling it a fake and false Israeli narrative. How has Israel reacted? Israel declared war on Hamas on Sunday and has since fired thousands of munitions at Gaza targets from land, air and sea, flattening entire neighbourhoods and sending frightened residents fleeing for safety. UN humanitarian agency OCHA, citing Palestinian authorities, said more than 2,500 homes have been destroyed or made uninhabitable by the bombing. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is sheltering more than 60 per cent of the 423,000 people displaced in recent days in the Gaza Strip, which is home to about 2.4 million people and has been blockaded since 2006. Israels Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday ordered a complete siege of Gaza, meaning no electricity, no food, no water, no gas. The UN criticised that as a possible violation of international law. Israels military has called up around 300,000 reservists and massed tens of thousands of troops and heavy armour near Gaza, for a campaign it has dubbed Swords of Iron. Top officials said on Tuesday that troops had largely reclaimed the embattled south and the border around Gaza. Holdout Hamas fighters have been dislodged from more than a dozen communities, it added. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formed an emergency unity government for the duration of the war. What is the death toll? Israel says Hamas gunmen have killed more than 1,200 people and wounded over 2,700 in Israeli cities, towns and kibbutz communities. The military said 258 Israeli soldiers have been killed and the bodies of 1,500 Islamist militants have been found in recaptured areas. Among the foreigners killed were at least 25 US citizens, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Israeli strikes on the coastal enclave have killed more than 1,530 people since Saturday, including 500 children, according to the health ministry in Gaza. What about the hostages? Israel estimates Hamas has taken more than 150 people hostage Israelis, foreigners, and dual nationals. The army confirmed it has contacted the families of 120 captives. Hamas has threatened to kill them one by one if civilian targets are bombed without warning. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was in contact with Hamas and Israel to try to facilitate the release of the hostages. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a negotiation process with Hamas to release abductees and says he is willing to act as an intermediary. Hamas has ruled out negotiating a prisoner swap with Israel while the military operation continues. Is the conflict limited to Gaza? No. There have been days of back-and-forth shelling with the Iran-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah on Israels northern border with Lebanon. Israel on Tuesday exchanged fire with militants in Syria, where Iran backs the government after the army said munitions were fired towards the occupied Golan Heights. On Thursday, Israeli strikes knocked out of service Syrias two main airports at Damascus and Aleppo. Israels ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, said the strike on Damascus airport was intended to stop weapons deliveries from Iran. What has Hamas said? Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh vowed to press ahead with the battle to liberate our land and our prisoners languishing in occupation prisons. There were about 5,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including 160 children and more than 1,000 who were detained without charge, according to a July UN report. Hamas has called on resistance fighters in the West Bank as well as in Arab and Islamic nations to join the battle. How has the world reacted? The United States has led Western support for Israel, with President Joe Biden vowing rock solid and unwavering backing for Israel. Blinken delivered the message in person on Thursday. Washington has sent additional military support to Israel, including missiles for its Iron Dome interceptor system, and is deploying hostage experts. Biden urged Israel to exercise restraint and follow the rules of war in its response, while NATO said it had to do so with proportionality. The UK is sending maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to track threats to regional stability such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups, London said. Iran has celebrated the Hamas assault but has repeatedly denied allegations it had a role in it. Whats happening in Gaza? Fuel, food and water are running low in Gaza because of the Israeli strikes and siege, prompting calls for immediate humanitarian aid to be sent. The first shipment arrived in Egypts Sinai on Thursday from Jordan but it was not immediately clear when it would get into Gaza. The locals held a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Thursday (local time) and urged the Israeli government to exchange hostages/prisoners with terrorist group Hamas. The demonstrators have called on the Israeli government to talk to Hamas and ensure that the women and children who are held captive are released. They used placards and raised slogans to raise the demands. The government of Israel should talk to Hamas to ensure that the women, children and civilians who have been taken hostage should be released, a local protesting in Tel Aviv amid Hamas attack on Israel told ANI. Meanwhile, another protesting local said that the government should pull out all stops to make sure the kidnapped hostages are released. We are calling the government to do everything they can in order to release the prisoners, the kidnapped hostages. To do everything they can to exchange prisoners, says Dafna, a local protesting in Tel Aviv said. The death toll in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports. The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military has so far notified families of 97 hostages who were being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel Friday for a visit aimed at showing solidarity with a country still reeling from a devastating Hamas attack that has left thousands dead. Austin will meet with officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant during the visit to Israel his third as Pentagon chief which follows one by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The war between Israel and Hamas has entered the seventh day and has left 2,800 people dead since 7 October. At least 27 American citizens have been killed in the war while another 14 remain missing, National Security Council spokesperson Jon Kirby said. Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State, after concluding his visit to Israel, departed for Jordan on Friday where he will meet Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan. Meanwhile, the United Nations has said the Israeli Defence Forces have warned 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) notified the UN at midnight on Friday that the entire Palestinian population north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to Southern Gaza within 24 hours. A UN spokesperson said the warning was delivered to team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UNs Department of Safety and Security in Gaza by their liaison officers in the IDF. With inputs from AFP An Israeli diplomat was allegedly stabbed in Chinas capital Beijing on Friday. The attack was reported amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The attack on Israeli diplomat in China is being said to be a suspected terrorist attack. According to reports, the diplomat, who worked in Israels embassy in Beijing, was attacked within the vicinity of the embassy. Israels foreign ministry confirmed the attack and said the diplomat was rushed to a hospital for treatment and is in stable condition. Meanwhile, Israeli expressed deep disappointment with Chinas statements concerning Hamas assault on southern Israel. The deputy director for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Rafi Harpaz emphasised that the messages from China have no clear and unambiguous condemnation of the terrible attack and heinous massacre committed by the terrorist organisation Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza. With inputs from agencies The United Nations has said the Israeli Defence Forces have warned 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) notified the UN at midnight on Friday that the entire Palestinian population north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to Southern Gaza within 24 hours. A UN spokesperson said the warning was delivered to team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UNs Department of Safety and Security in Gaza by their liaison officers in the IDF. The warning indicated that the IDF might be preparing to launch a ground invasion after six days of aerial attack in response to a surprise and unprecedented Hamas onslaught on Saturday (October 7). UN considers evacuation impossible The UN spokesperson said the organisation considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation, the spokesperson added. Israel slams UN Israels Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan tears into the UN over the latters response to IDF warning that 1.1 million Palestinians living north of Wadi Gaza to evacuate by midnight on Saturday. Attacking the UN, Erdan said: The UNs response to Israels early warning to the residents of Gaza is a disgrace! For many years, the UN turned a blind eye to the arming of Hamas and its use of civilian populations and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip for murder and for stockpiling its weapons. Now, instead of standing with Israel whose citizens were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists and which still tries to minimise harm to non-combatants, it preaches specifically to Israel, he said. It would be better for the UN to focus now on returning the captives, condemning Hamas and supporting Israels right to defend itself, he said. Hamas calls Israels warning fake propaganda According to a Reuters report, a Hamas official said the UN statement warning that Israel has told people in northern Gaza to leave to the south of the enclave is fake propaganda, and urged Palestinians in Gaza not to fall for it. It is worth mentioning that Israel has already imposed a complete siege on Gaza shutting off water, power and gas, shuttering its own border crossings into the enclave, and bombing Egypts Rafah crossing, temporarily rendering it unusable as well. With inputs from agencies Irans foreign minister, whose government supports Hamas and other Middle East militant groups, said on Thursday opening a new front against Israel would depend on Israels actions in Gaza. Although Tehran has been a long-term backer of Hamas, Iranian officials have been adamant that the country had no involvement in the militants attack against its arch enemy Israel on Saturday. Nevertheless, the United States fears the opening of a second front on Israels northern border with Lebanon if Hezbollah, another heavily armed Islamist group backed by Iran, were to intervene. Officials of some countries contact us and ask about the possibility of a new front (against Israel) being opened in the region, said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. We tell them that our clear answer regarding future possibilities is that everything depends on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza, he said, according to a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry. Even now, Israels crimes continue and no one in the region asks us for permission to open new fronts. Later on Thursday, Abdollahian arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut, where he was received by Hezbollah and Hamas among other pro-Iran groups. He is scheduled to meet Lebanese officials on Friday before heading to Damascus. Speaking from Beiruts airport, the top diplomat said that Irans regional allies, known as the axis of resistance, could respond if Israels Gaza offensive escalates. The continuation of war crimes against Palestinians and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axes, he told reporters. At least 1,200 Israelis, foreigners and dual citizens were killed by Hamas militants during its attack on Saturday. In Gaza, health officials reported 1,417 Palestinians killed by Israels retaliatory barrages against the coastal enclave. The West has been cautious about Iran since Saturday, but its leaders have warned Tehran in no uncertain terms against intervening in the war. US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he had made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful. After Iraq, Amir-Abdollahian will travel to Lebanon, where Hezbollah has, so far, been content to hold back from joining the war triggered by its ally Hamas. In a call with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday appealed to all the Islamic and Arab countries to reach serious convergence and cooperation on the path of stopping the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian nation. The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is coming 17:11, October 13, 2023 By Zhao Tong, Zhang Wenjie ( People's Daily Online The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing from Oct.17 to 18 under the theme "High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity". Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the forum and deliver a keynote speech, and hold a welcome banquet and bilateral events for the guests attending the forum. As of the end of September, representatives from over 130 countries and multiple international organizations had confirmed participation in the forum. It fully indicates the international community's confidence in and expectation for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. The year 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). By July this year, more than three quarters of all countries in the world and over 30 international organizations have signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China. The BRI has so far established more than 3,000 cooperation projects and galvanized nearly $1 trillion of investment. Events during the forum include the opening ceremony, three high-level forums on connectivity, green development and digital economy, and six thematic forums on trade connectivity, people-to-people communication, think tank exchanges, clean Silk Road, subnational cooperation and maritime cooperation. A CEO conference will also be held. Looking forward to the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, each participant should have the belief that people of all countries deserve a better future, and Belt and Road cooperation will definitely bring about a better world. (Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chengliang) North Korea refuted allegations that its weapons were being used by Hamas in the attack on Israel, asserting that such claims, as reported by certain media outlets, were part of a Washington-driven effort to shift responsibility for the conflict to a third country from itself. Military experts, earlier this week, suggested that photographs from the conflict indicated potential use of North Korean weaponry, including the possibility of F-7 rocket-propelled grenades by Hamas militants. Bruce Bechtol, a professor at Angelo State University in Texas with expertise in North Koreas arms sales, noted that there have been reports of Hamas employing the F-7 for several years. This could be new supplies or from previous shipments going back as far as 2009, he said, adding that in any case the weapons likely took an indirect route to Hamas from North Korea through Iran or Syria. The Norths official KCNA news agency called the claims of its weapons being used in the attacks a groundless and false rumour. It is nothing but a bid to shift the blame for the Middle East crisis caused by (the United States) wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country and thus evade the international criticism focused on the empire of evil, it said. According to European researchers Joost Oliemans and Stijn Mitzer, the F-7 is easily discernible from similar RPGs by the red band around the warhead. Such red bands are visible in photos shared by the Israeli Defense Force, and other social media accounts. The F-7, as well as small numbers of North Korean Bulsae-2 anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), were seen in use by Hamas in 2021 clashes as well, the researchers said at the time. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday said he could not confirm the reports about the source of the rockets being used by Hamas. The United States security strategy elsewhere in the world including the Korean peninsula will not be affected by the Israel-Hamas crisis, Kirby added. North Koreas state media earlier this week blamed Israel for causing bloodshed in Gaza. The latest Israel-Palestinian conflict began on the weekend with a surprise attack by Hamas, the deadliest by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. Palestinian officials have told WHO that it would be impossible to move vulnerable hospital patients to the southern Gaza Strip, the UN health body said Friday. Israel has given Palestinians 24 hours to leave the northern Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive in retaliation against Hamas for the deadliest attack in Israeli history. The two major hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip had already exceeded their combined 760-bed capacity, and the hospitals in the south of Gaza are overflowing, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva. With ongoing airstrikes, civilians have no safe place left to go. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed WHO that is impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients from the north of Gaza. Jasarevic said the health system in the Gaza Strip was now at breaking point, with six of the seven main hospitals in Gaza only partially functioning. WHO joins the wider United Nations in appealing to Israel to immediately rescind orders for the evacuation within the next 24 hours of 1.1 million people living north of Wadi Gaza, and an end to hostilities and violence in the Gaza Strip, where unimaginable human suffering is unfolding, the spokesman said. The concern is rising over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the long-blockaded Palestinian enclave, where Israel has now imposed a total siege, cutting off water, food and energy supplies. Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel, water, food and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade, said Jasarevic. The WHO said it stood ready to bring medical supplies into the Gaza Strip once it is able to do so. We have our logistics hub in Dubai and we are ready to move as soon as we get a signal, Jasarevic said. US Secretary of State Antony Blinkens visit to Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has brought to light the harrowing realities faced by civilians in the region, as well as the security concerns that continue to escalate. Ive seen a baby, an infant riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars or in their highway rooms. It almost defies comprehension, Secretary Blinken expressed anguish at the barbarity of the Hamas attack on 7 October in southern Israel. So, we did see, photographs and videos that, the Israeli government shared with us Its hard to find the right words. Its beyond what anyone would ever wanna imagine much less actually see and god forbid experience, said Blinken on horrific photographs of the Hamas attack. He also shed light on the challenges posed by Hamas use of civilians as human shields, which has been a recurring and deeply troubling tactic. Blinken emphasised that civilians are not the target of Israels operations in Gaza. On the Mediterranean situation in Gaza, I think its first important to remember a fundamental issue that makes this complicated. Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields. Something thats not new, something that theyve always done intentionally putting, civilians in harms way to protect them to try to protect themselves or protect their structure or protect their weapons Civilians should not be used in any way as the targets of military operations. They are not the target of Israels operations, added the US Secretary. Furthermore, Secretary Blinken discussed efforts to address the humanitarian needs of the people living in Gaza while safeguarding them from harm during Israels legitimate security operations aimed at defending itself from terrorism. He also explored the possibilities of providing safe passage for civilians who wish to leave Gaza, acknowledging the importance of protecting innocent lives. We did discuss ways to address the humanitarian needs of people living in, Gaza to protect them from harm while Israel conducts its legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism and to try to ensure that this never happens again. We also talked about, possibilities for safe passage for civilians who want to leave or get out of the way, in Gaza, and thats, a conversation to the discussion that we will pursue, in the coming days, including some of the countries that well be visiting, he said. In his discussions with Israeli leadership, Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the United States unwavering support for Israels right to defend its people and its determination to prevent a recurrence of the tragic events that unfolded recently. Secretary Blinken, on behalf of President Biden, also emphasized the importance of preventing any further fronts in the ongoing conflict and warned against any attempts by state or non-state actors to exploit the situation. Its our determination and, that of Israel as well, that not be a second front or a third front. And we are working, as hard as we can, working with other partners in the region, to try, to ensure that the case. President Biden has also been very clear that no one, state or non-state actor should try to take advantage of this moment, Blinken said. The US is actively assisting Israel at its request and is committed to providing the necessary support for the nations security efforts. Presidents been very clear we stand with Israel. We stand with Israel in its determination to defend its people, defend its country. We stand with Israel in its determination to do everything possible to ensure that what happened on Saturday never happens again, he added. Earlier in the day, Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked Blinken and the US for their continuous support and added that the security and defence of the Israeli people is the highest priority at the moment. One thing is clear. Because of that day its the highest number of Jews ever killed since the Holocaust I think we must be clear that this is not only unacceptable, which the president said, but the sense of security and defence that the people of Israel deserve is something which is of highest priority so that these pictures will never occur, Herzog said. Blinken also met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and affirmed US commitment to support Israel. The message that I bring to Israel is this you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side, The Times of Israel quoted Blinken as saying. He added, Thats the message that President Joe Biden delivered to the prime minister from the moment that this crisis began. Notably, the death toll in Israel since the Hamas attack on 7 October has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports. The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said. A teacher was killed and two other people severely wounded Friday in a knife attack at a school in the town of Arras in northeastern France, police and regional officials said. The perpetrator has been detained by police, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Une operation de police a eu lieu au lycee Gambetta a Arras. Lauteur des faits a ete interpelle par la police. Gerald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) October 13, 2023 Local police said that the situation had been contained and no longer posed a danger to the public. The attacker was of Chechen origin, on the national security register, AFP reported citing a French police source. He shouted Allahu akbar, the police sources added, according to AFP. France President Emmanuel Macron will visit the site of the school attack. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Israel Friday and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the country reels from a devastating attack by Hamas militants that has left thousands dead, an American defence official said. Austins trip which follows a visit to Israel by Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also include meetings with defence officials and the countrys emergency government, the US official said Thursday. Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people in Israel and took about 150 hostages in their surprise onslaught from Gaza on Saturday. Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza for six days, claiming over 1,350 lives. Washington responded by sending an aircraft carrier and other warships to the eastern Mediterranean and promising munitions and other equipment to Israel. Austin told journalists in Brussels on Thursday that the United States had no early warnings or indications that the Islamist group would launch its bloody assault. He also said Washington has not placed any conditions on the way Israel can use the weapons it provides. This is a professional military, led by professional leadership, and we would hope and expect that they would do the right things in the prosecution of their campaign, he said. Israel has prepared for a possible ground invasion of the Palestinian territory after what has been labelled Israels 9/11. Fears have grown for Gazas 2.4 million people now enduring the fifth war in 15 years in the coastal enclave, which has also seen Israel cut off water, food and power supplies. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Israel on Friday for meetings with senior government leaders and to see first-hand some of the US weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel in the first week of its war with the militant Hamas group. Austin is the second high-level US official sent by President Joe Biden to visit Israel in two days. His quick trip from Brussels, where he was attending a NATO defence ministers meeting, came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region. Blinken is continuing the frantic Mideast diplomacy, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict. Austin met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spent nearly two hours with Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. Speaking in front of reporters before he met with the prime minister, Austin told Netanyahu, As the president said, we have your back. He added, We do stand with you, Mr. Prime Minister. Also Friday, the Israeli military directed hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza City to evacuate for their own safety and protection, ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Gazas Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm against Israel. Defence officials travelling with Austin said he wants to underscore Americas unwavering support for the people of Israel and commitment to making sure the country has what it needs to defend itself. A senior defence official said the US has already given Israel small-diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome system and more will be delivered. Other munitions are expected to arrive Friday. Austin has spoken nearly daily with Gallant and has directed the rapid shift of U.S. ships, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and the region. Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the U.S. moved warships and aircraft to the region. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing Friday from Virginia, also heading to the region. Austin declined to say if the US is doing surveillance flights in the region, but the US is providing intelligence and other planning assistance to the Israelis, including advice on the hostage situation. A day after visiting Israel to offer the Biden administrations diplomatic support in person, Blinken was in Jordan on Friday and held talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II. They did not speak to reporters after the meeting. Blinken then went on to a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has a home in Amman, the Jordanian capital, before leaving for Qatar. Blinken discussed Hamas 7 October attack with the king and efforts to release all hostages the militants seized, as well as efforts to prevent the conflict from widening, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. The US top diplomat underscored that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian peoples right to dignity and self-determination and discussed ways to address the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza while Israel conducts legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism, Miller said. The monarch rules over a country with a large Palestinian population and has a vested interest in their status while Abbas runs the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank. According to a palace statement, Abdullah stressed the need to open humanitarian corridors for medical aid and relief in Gaza while protecting civilians and working to end the escalation of the conflict. He appealed against hindering the work of international agencies and warned against any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza and elsewhere or to cause their internal displacement. Earlier on Friday, Israels military had told some 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north, according to the United Nations an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion by Israel against the ruling Hamas. The king also urged for the protection of innocent civilians on all sides, in line with shared human values, international law and international humanitarian law. In Doha, Qatars capital, Blinken is to meet later Friday with Qatari officials who have close contacts with the Hamas leadership and have been exploring an exchange of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for the release of dozens of Israelis and foreigners taken hostage by Hamas during the militants unprecedented incursion into southern Israel last weekend. Blinken will make a brief stop in Bahrain and end the day in Saudi Arabia, a key player in the Arab world that has been considering normalizing ties with Israel, a US-mediated process that is now on hold. He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend. The United States is in discussions to open Gazas Rafa border crossing to foreign nationals who want to flee as Israel readies for an expected major offensive. That is also something we discussed with Israel, something we continue to discuss with Egypt the importance of the Rafah crossing being open for American citizens and for foreign nationals of other countries who want to leave and have the right to leave, AFP quoted a senior US official as saying. Israel on Friday warned civilians in northern Gaza to immediately leave for the south as it continues to raze Hamas targets. The warning comes amid the large-scale bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli military, which has killed more than 1,530 people according to health officials. This comes as Israels response to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamass attack on southern Israel last Saturday. Gaza is a tightly packed Palestinian enclave to the southwest of Israel only 41 km long and 6-12 km wide. It houses over two million Palestinians. To the north and west, it is bordered by Israel, and to the east lies the Mediterranean Sea and Israel has blockaded it on that side as well. The only way out for civilians is the narrow border with Egypt with the Rafah crossing. Gazans have thronged the crossing in the last few days in hopes of fleeing the unrelenting Israeli air strikes. On Saturday, Hamas terrorists crossed from Gaza to launch attacks in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed, and over a hundred were abducted and taken back to the enclave as hostages. Thousands are reported to be injured with many in critical condition and the death toll continues by the hour. With AFP inputs The US will arrange charter flights to facilitate the evacuation of its citizens from Israel after 27 American citizens have lost their lives, and 14 are still unaccounted for, the White House said. The Israeli military reported a death toll of over 1,300 individuals, including 222 soldiers within the country on the sixth day of conflict. In the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, authorities have reported that more than 1,400 people have lost their lives as a result of Israels offensive. India is the first country to evacuate its citizens from Israel after Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. We are all acutely aware of limited availability right now on commercial flights out of Israel and the demand signal by U.S. citizens who may want to depart. The president has asked his team to ensure that we are assisting U.S. citizens who do want to leave Israel and providing them with a safe means of doing that, said John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council at the White House. Beginning tomorrow, the United States government will arrange charter flights to provide transportation from Israel to sites in Europe. Theyre still working through some of the details of that to assist U.S. citizens and their immediate family members who have, for whatever reason, not been able to provide commercial transit out of the country, he said. The US is also exploring other options to expand the capacity of doing this, including exploring whether its possible to help Americans leave by land and by sea. We are working hard on this, we know theres a demand signal out there, and were going to try the best we can to meet it, he said. He encouraged American citizens in need of assistance to please complete the intake form on Travel.State.gov. We can now update the number of Americans that we know have been killed to 27 and the number of unaccounted for stands today at 14. Were obviously doing everything we can to support and inform the families, Kirby said. Kirby said that it is a common tactic in the Hamas playbook to break up hostages and move them around in small groups. So, we have nothing that would indicate to us that they would follow a different set of protocols, but I cant stand here before you and prove to you that that is exactly whats happening, he said. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Friday released footage showing an elite unit called the Flotilla 13 carrying out a rescue operation for over 250 hostages around the Gaza security fence. More than 60 Hamas terrorists were killed and 26 were apprehendedincluding Muhammad Abu Aali the Deputy Commander of the Hamas Southern Naval Division. In the video, Israeli soldiers can be seen going inside the buildings where the hostages have been held and firing shots at the terrorists. A soldier can also be seen throwing a grenade at the outpost. The war between Israel and Hamas has entered the seventh day, leaving 2,800 people dead since Saturday. Meanwhile, the United Nations has said the Israeli Defence Forces have warned 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) notified the UN at midnight on Friday that the entire Palestinian population north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to Southern Gaza within 24 hours. A UN spokesperson said the warning was delivered to team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UNs Department of Safety and Security in Gaza by their liaison officers in the IDF. Chants of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata ki Jai were heard loud mid-air on the first charter flight that evacuated 212 Indians from war-battered Israel. The flight, under Operation Ajay, departed from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening and arrived in New Delhi in the early hours of Friday. Operation Ajay was launched by India on Wednesday to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to return home as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas since Saturday (October 7) triggered fresh tension in the region. Ahead of the take-off, there was a long queue of Indians, including students, at the airport in Tel Aviv to board the special flight being operated under Operation Ajay. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar welcomed the passengers at the Delhi airport as they streamed into the lounge area from the tarmac side. Chandrasekhar greeted the Indians returning from Israel with folded hands and also shook hands with many of them saying, "Welcome home". The Indian embassy in Israel has announced a second flight for Friday and has sent out emails registering to leave on a "first come first serve basis". On Thursday, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said around 18,000 Indians are currently residing in Israel while about a dozen people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza. VIDEO | "Our focus is to bring back Indians who want to come out of Israel. There are 18,000 Indians including students," says @MEAIndia spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. pic.twitter.com/xymp1lpY14 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 12, 2023 The Israeli casualties surged past 1,300, while Gaza authorities have reported the deaths of over 1,500 Palestinians as the Israel-Hamas war entered its seventh day on Friday. The total death toll currently stands at around 2,800. With inputs from agencies Lebanons Iran-backed Hezbollah movement on Friday said it would be fully prepared to join its ally Hamas in the war against Israel when the time is right. Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem spoke as Hamas and Israel traded heavy fire for a seventh day, after hundreds of Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel on Saturday and killed more than 1,300 people. Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,537 people. We, as Hezbollah, are contributing to the confrontation and will (continue) to contribute to it within our vision and plan, Qassem told a pro-Palestinian rally in Beiruts southern suburbs. We are fully prepared, and when the time comes for action, we will take it, he said. The official, whose remarks coincided with a visit by Irans foreign minister to Beirut, rebuffed calls for Hezbollah to stay out of the war. An outreach by major countries, Arab countries, and envoys from the United Nations, directly and indirectly, asking us not to interfere in the battle, will not affect us, he said, adding that Hezbollah knows its duties. Israel has traded fire with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in Lebanon in recent days, although the tit-for-tat attacks have remained limited. On Monday, Hezbollah said Israeli strikes killed three of its members, while Palestinian fighters claimed a thwarted infiltration bid. Israel said it hit Hezbollah observation posts on Tuesday, while Hamass armed wing claimed rocket fire. On Wednesday, Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli position near the village of Dhayra. Israeli retaliatory fire shortly after wounded three people and turned Dhayra into a ghost town. Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Thursday announced his plans to introduce a Diwali resolution in the US House of Representatives to recognise the festival of lights. For Sikhs, Jains, and Hindus across the world and here in the United States, Diwali is a festival for gratitude as well as a celebration of the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil, Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. Each year, Diwali is celebrated by millions of Americans of Indian descent, as well as hundreds of millions more people across the world. This year, the festival will be celebrated on Sunday, November 12 I am proud to announce that I am reintroducing a bipartisan resolution to recognise the enormous religious, cultural, and historical significance of Diwali, he said. I hope my colleagues from both parties will join me in this effort and in wishing a safe and happy Diwali to all the families that will be gathering with their loved ones to light lamps and to pray for good health and peace, Krishnamoorthi said. He also released a draft of the proposed Diwali resolution, which recognises and appreciates the religious diversity in India and the United States, and acknowledges and supports the relationship of collaboration and respect between the two countries. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced an extension of the maximum validity duration for some EAD categories to five years in an effort to address the ongoing backlog in processing Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). According to a Times of India report, Foreign nationals with pending Adjustment of Status Applications are one of the EAD groups addressed by this policy announcement. The adjustment of status is the final phase in the green card application process and can take a few years. While this application is pending, applicants have the option to apply for an EAD, which grants them the ability to continue to work in the US. This new policy will be applicable to any eligible EAD applications that were pending or filed on or after September 27, 2023, added the report. This development has been largely appreciated by US employers and immigrant workers such as H-1B visa holders who are on track for a green card a significant number of whom are from India. In the past, several individuals have suffered gaps in work authorisation due to processing delays. According to the report, citing Immigration attorneys, H-4 spouses eligible for work authorisation or international students covered by the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, do not qualify for the extended EAD validity period. Previously, EADs for Adjustment of Status applicants were only valid for two years, necessitating frequent extensions. The new rule is expected to reduce the need for extension applications. Adjustment of status and other applicants eligible to benefit from the new five-year maximum EAD validity period will not be required to renew their EADs as frequently as they did under the prior policy, reducing some administrative burden associated with their pending immigration processes. USCIS says that in making the policy change, the agency aims to significantly reduce the number of EAD renewal applications filed with the agency in the next several years, which should contribute to a reduction in case processing times and backlogs, Times of India quoted Mitch Wexler, partner at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm, as saying. Asylees, refugees, noncitizens who have been granted a withholding of removal, noncitizens whose petitions for asylum or a withholding of removal are still pending, and noncitizens who are requesting a suspension of deportation or cancellation of removal are additional EAD categories that are eligible for five-year validity periods. With inputs from agencies Telecom Carriers Warn Against Misinformation Amidst Regulatory Concerns News oi -Kabir Jain Incumbent telecom giants like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea have raised concerns over what they term "misinformation and falsehood" perpetuated by vested interests within the tech and internet sector. This development comes on the heels of a letter submitted by over 100 startups and internet companies to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last month, expressing apprehensions regarding the potential overregulation of internet companies and Over-The-Top (OTT) services. Startups' Letter to TRAI The letter, endorsed by influential figures in the tech industry including MapmyIndia's Rohan Verma, Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and Practo's Shashank ND Singh, highlighted concerns that overregulation could have discriminatory implications for internet companies and OTT services. The tech leaders emphasized the importance of fostering innovation and the growth of startups in the digital landscape. Cellular Operators Association of India's Response In a swift response, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) addressed TRAI acting chairman Meenakshi Gupta with a letter dated October 4, 2023. The COAI expressed strong disagreement with the viewpoints presented in the startups' letter and labeled them as misleading and false. The COAI urged the regulator not to lend credence to the submission and the signatures collected, asserting that the entire premise of the letter is grounded in deceit and misconceptions. According to the telecom body, the letter propagated falsehoods and argued against allowing price differentiation based on the type of content accessed on the internet, contending that it would undermine the fundamental principles upon which the internet has evolved and revolutionized connectivity. The COAI went further to suggest that the letter's foundation is built upon misinformation, and it was used to garner support from various Indian internet companies. The telco group strongly maintained that supporting small OTT players and startups by exempting them from fair share charges would foster innovation and entrepreneurship, ensuring that these nascent ventures are not hindered. A Controversy Unfolds This debate has snowballed into a substantial controversy, particularly concerning the notion that substantial OTT players should compensate telecom service providers for deploying network infrastructure. Telecom companies argue that these large OTT players are essentially benefiting from network resources without contributing fairly. As the industry grapples with these issues, the matter of regulating internet companies and OTT services continues to be a subject of intense debate, with stakeholders from all sides presenting their perspectives on the matter. TRAI will play a pivotal role in determining the regulatory framework for this burgeoning sector. Via Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. I MEF Announces Marine Rotational Force - Southeast Asia Deployment US Marine Corps News 11 Oct 2023 | Capt. Larry Boyd 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit Camp Pendleton, California -- Marine Rotational Force - Southeast Asia began its second rotational deployment on September 26, 2023, with a team of Marines and Sailors participating in exercise Sama Sama in the Republic of the Philippines. The force is also slated to conduct a series of back-to-back exercises and security cooperation engagements with important regional allies and partners in Southeast Asia, including the Philippine Marine Corps, the Royal Malaysian Navy, and the Indonesian Marine Corps. This rotation will continue through mid-December and marks a significant step towards implementing Marine Corps Force Design concepts for the efficient force deployment and sustainment of U.S. Marine forces in the vast Indo-Pacific region. MRF-SEA serves as a flexible deployment option for joint force commanders to advance maritime security objectives in close partnership with regional Allies and partners. As a task-organized force, it can be adjusted to fit the specific needs of the theater, including changes in composition, size, and duration. As a forward-positioned force, it is optimized to conduct security cooperation engagements with allies and partners in Southeast Asia while also standing ready to support crisis or contingency response in the region. MRF-SEA uses intra-theater transportation platforms and a distributed command and control structure, minimizing logistics requirements. While MRF-SEA is operating in the Indo-Pacific region, the command and control is performed from the West Coast, offering access to a wide array of resources, encompassing military personnel, equipment, and support services. "Leading Marine Rotational Force - Southeast Asia while shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners, inside their respective command posts, provides a remarkable and dynamic vantage point," said Col. M. Thomas Siverts, commanding officer, MRF-SEA 23. "We are enabling operations that span the vast expanse of the Indo-Pacific region, demonstrating our adaptability in pursuit of our mission. This unique setup emphasizes our commitment to shared security objectives and enhances our collaboration with Allies and partners in a rapidly changing environment." This rotation of MRF-SEA is led by the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit commanding officer and command element. The modular force will exercise interoperability and enhance relationships with several priority Southeast Asian allies and partners. The force consists of a small command element with attached enablers, a reconnaissance platoon, joint terminal attack controllers, air and naval gunfire liaisons, explosive ordnance disposal Marines, and unmanned aerial systems operators. Exercises and engagements during this deployment will provide opportunities to enhance partnered interoperability in combined heliborne operations, amphibious raids, coastal defense operations, company and platoon-level combined live-fire exercises, naval operations, and subject matter expert exchanges. These exchanges will cover a variety of training topics including reconnaissance; explosive ordnance disposal; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense; operations in the information environment; joint fires; fire support; and unmanned aerial system operations. MRF-SEA's deployment advances the Marines Corps' force modernization by executing distributed command and control and force models that support concurrent and geographically dispersed activities. In addition to providing command flexibility, this distributed command and control limits forward logistical requirements in a potentially contested environment. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran and Saudi Arabia say Israel, US inviting 'destructive insecurity' for Tel Aviv, allies Iran Press TV Wednesday, 11 October 2023 11:29 PM Iran and Saudi Arabia have said that the Israeli regime's crimes and the United States' green light for the atrocities stand to invite "destructive insecurity" for the occupying regime and its supporters. The remarks were made on Wednesday in the first phone call to take place between President Ebrahim Raeisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian chief executive's deputy chief of staff for political affairs, wrote on a message on X, formerly known as Twitter. The comments came after the Gaza Strip's resistance movements initiated their biggest operation against Israel in years on Saturday in response to the occupying regime's decades-long campaign of bloodshed and destruction against Palestinians. Codenamed the al-Aqsa Storm Operation, the campaign killed at least 1,000 Israeli forces and settlers and injured thousands more. Nearly 150 others were also taken captive by the resistance forces. Shedding further light on the contents of the conversation between Raeisi and bin Salman, Jamshidi said, "...the 2 agreed on the need to end war crimes against Palestine." Israel has responded to the Palestinian operation by waging a "long" war against Gaza, for which it has called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists. The Israeli war has killed at least 1,100 Palestinians, including 326 children, and injured 5,339 others. The military campaign has seen the regime leveling entire districts and featured its use of banned white phosphorous munitions against densely populated neighborhoods. Earlier this week, Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Yoav Gallant announced a "total blockade" to stop food and fuel from reaching Gaza, home to 2.3 million people. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said he was "deeply distressed" by Israel's announcement of the complete siege. "The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities; now it will only deteriorate exponentially," Guterres said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister Sklenar at NATO Defence Ministerial in Brussels: "We are witnessing new security challenges, yet the situation in Ukraine continues to be at the centre of our attention" Ministry of Defence of The Slovak Republic 11.10.2023 Defence Minister Martin Sklenar today travelled to Brussels, where he has been taking part in a meeting of Allied Defence Ministers at NATO HQ. The so-called Defence Ministerial, which is due to last until Thursday, has begun with the first formal meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) since its creation at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023. Ukraine was represented at the NUC meeting by Defence Minister Rustom Umerov. Also in Brussels, the 16th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (the so-called 'Ramstein format'), with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance, was held ahead of the official start of the Defence Ministerial meeting. During the discussion on Ukraine, Allied Defence Ministers focused on developing lines of support for Ukraine in the transformation process for its future NATO membership. They clearly expressed the necessity to continue with the steps agreed. "We are witnessing new security challenges - in our immediate neighbourhood and, most recently, in the Middle East. Yet, for understandable reasons, the situation in Ukraine continues to be at the centre of our attention," Defence Minister Sklenar stated, presenting Slovakia's continued assistance to Ukraine bilaterally and at Alliance level, which includes, for example, the Slovak defence industry's intensified production of artillery munitions as well as Slovakia's humanitarian demining efforts. Allies along with their Ukrainian counterparts also discussed Ukraine's reform plans in the security sector, in the fight against corruption, and in the field of strengthening transparency, as well as other reforming measures conditioning Ukraine's future NATO membership. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Government of Canada provides funding for humanitarian assistance in response to worsening conditions in Israel, West Bank and Gaza Strip Global Affairs Canada News release October 12, 2023 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, announced that Canada is providing an initial $10 million in funding for humanitarian assistance in response to recent appeals from experienced and trusted humanitarian partners to address urgent needs stemming from the crisis in Israel, West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This funding will help provide food, water, emergency medical assistance, protection services and other life-saving assistance. Canada will ensure that no money goes into the hands of Hamas. Details on allocations to specific partners will be shared in the coming days. A portion of the funding will support the Canadian Red Cross and its partners - the Palestine Red Crescent Society and Magen David Adom. The safety and well-being of civilians must be a top priority. Canada remains steadfast in its call for compliance with international humanitarian law. We urge all parties to actively facilitate the swift and unobstructed passage of essential humanitarian relief to civilians in need, underscoring our collective responsibility to uphold the principles of humanity, dignity, and protection for all. Quotes "This initial funding commitment will allow partners to scale up their efforts and provide assistance to people in urgent need. We continue to call for safe and unrestricted humanitarian access to be allowed throughout the region." - Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address October 12, 2023 Transcript Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Holds a Press Conference Following a NATO Defense Ministers Meeting, Brussels, Belgium SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Good afternoon, everyone. We've had a great few days of discussion with my fellow ministers of defense, but before I get to that, let me add a few words about the terrible situation in Israel. We are appalled by the emerging scope of the atrocities committed by the terrorists of Hamas. Our hearts are with all those whose loved ones were murdered or wounded or taken hostage. No country would live with the wholesale killing and kidnapping of innocent people, including the very old and the very young. Now yesterday, I mentioned the changes to our force posture to reinforce deterrence in the region, and I want to underscore that message. Nobody should try to take advantage of this vile Hamas assault to cause more bloodshed or instability. Our support for Israel is rock-solid. We are working urgently to get Israel what it needs to defend itself, including munitions and Iron Dome interceptors, and we will do so even as we continue to support the people of Ukraine as they fight against Russian aggression. But make no mistake: We can and will stand by Israel even as we stand by Ukraine. The United States can walk and chew gum at the same time. So let me turn to the agenda of this defense ministerial. Especially in challenging times, it's great to be back at NATO. Let me thank Secretary-General Stoltenberg for bringing a us all together today and for all of his leadership. Now, this was our first meeting of defense ministers since the Vilnius Summit in July. Our leaders made historic decisions at Vilnius to enhance NATO's deterrence and defense, and we also had the privilege of welcoming Finland, which joined a NATO summit for the first time as an ally. Let me urge all of our allies to support the immediate accession of Sweden, which is both a proud democracy and a highly-capable defense partner. Vilnius was a watershed for NATO's collective deterrence and defense. Our leaders endorsed NATO's new family of regional defense plans, and that will significantly improve our ability to deter and defend against any threat. We also established a new multinational and multi-domain allied reaction force. This new force will provide more response options to threats and crises across all domains. At Vilnius, our leaders also endorsed a new defense investment pledge, and that pledge affirmed our shared commitment as allies to spend at least two percent of GDP on defense. Let me also underscore the words of "at least two percent". We urgently need to do more to fulfill the commitments that all of our leaders have made, and this investment will help us strengthen our defense industrial bases and standardize critical munitions and improve NATO interoperability. NATO's new Defense Production Action Plan will guide this important work. It will aggregate demand to meet our capability targets and encourage multinational cooperation and foster more agile procurement and enhance our transparency with industry. Finally, at Vilnius, we reaffirmed our enduring commitment to a free and sovereign Ukraine. We established the NATO-Ukraine Council. We agreed to develop the Comprehensive Assistance package into a multiyear program for critical nonlethal aid. We expanded NATO's practical nonlethal support for Ukraine, including medical supplies and MREs, and that complements bilateral security assistance that the United States and other countries around the world have provided to Ukraine over the past 20 months. And I should say again that the Ukrainian Forces continue to make steady progress in their counteroffensive. So today, we discussed the work that we've done together since Vilnius to implement these important decisions, and that included conversations on several key issues, including deterrence and defense to support Ukraine and NATO's ongoing operations in the Western Balkans and in Iraq. So it was a productive day, and I am tremendously proud of all the progress that NATO has made. We've still got a lot more to do, but we will get it done together and we will live up to the commitments that we have made to ourselves and to each other. Now, let me be clear: NATO is a defensive alliance, and we will not be drawn into Putin's illegal war of choice, but we will stand up for Ukraine's right to defend itself and we will continue to strengthen this alliance for the challenges to come and we will defend the sovereignty and territory of every NATO ally. America's commitment to that mission is ironclad, and so is our commitment to Article 5. And one last thing: We are especially proud that we'll be hosting our allies next summer at the Washington Summit, and we're excited to come together to commemorate the 75th anniversary of this great alliance. So thanks again for being here, and with that, I'll be happy to take a couple of questions. STAFF: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. First question will go to Gordon Lubold, Wall Street Journal. Q: I know you like multi-part questions so I'm going to make two different questions real quick. The first one is the crisis in Gaza has amounted to a moment of a motion for the Israelis of the world. Prime Minister Netanyahu referring to Hamas militants as dead men walking, your own people referring to an ISIS moment. Into this emotion and into this conflict, the U.S. is pouring munitions, weaponry, and other things. I'm wondering what assurances or what conditions, even, have you asked for from the Israelis to make sure that some of this weaponry, that's American weaponry, is used discriminately and not indiscriminately and potentially killing civilian -- innocent civilians in Gaza? And then the second question is just is ISR coverage part of the package of offerings? And I guess a third one -- have you seen -- have you seen any amassing of any Hezbollah forces along the border? Thank you. SEC. AUSTIN: Any massing of Hezbollah forces? Q: Yeah. SEC. AUSTIN: Yeah. In -- in terms of -- thanks, Gordon, for the questions, but -- even though there were, like, six of them -- but in terms of conditions that we would place on the security assistance that we're providing to Israel, we've not placed any conditions on the provision of this equipment. This is a professional military led by professional leadership. And we would hope and expect that they would do the right things in the prosecution of their campaign. And we'll -- you know, we will make sure that -- we will leave it to them to define what their operations are going to look like, but again, we have no reason to believe that they would do anything differently. In terms of our provision, our assistance and intelligence assistance to Ukraine -- to -- excuse me -- to Israel, we will support them in any way that we can. Certainly intelligence is a part of that. And I won't get into the specifics of what that means - ISR, other types of collection. We've worked with the Israelis, you know, over many, many years and those sharing mechanisms are there, those channels are there to share information, and we will look to continue to do that. So I think I got -- Hezbollah, okay. We've not seen any massing of forces along the border, and again, this is something that, you know, the Israelis are focused on. We are also looking for additional things that could widen the conflict here, and hopefully we won't see those things but we've not seen that to this point. STAFF: Thank you very much. All right, our next question will go to Thomas (inaudible), (inaudible). Q: Thanks a lot. (Thomas ?) (inaudible) with (inaudible). Mr. Secretary, I'll also ask a couple of question also related to Israel. The first one would be have there been other allies besides the U.S. and Germany that today pledged military support to Israel? And when it comes to this support, in your assessment, what would be or could be the further needs of Israel if this conflict continues? And third question, somewhat related to what my colleague asked, Secretary General Stoltenberg told us after the meeting -- he made an announcement after the meeting that allies have made clear Israel has a right to defend itself but with proportionality. Could you please explain if you share this statement with proportionality and what it actually entails in a situation like this? Thank you. SEC. AUSTIN: Yeah, so as we were briefed by Minister Gallant earlier today, what we heard from allies in the room was a unity among all of the allies in terms of strong support for Israel and unity in condemning the horrible actions of Hamas. What the United States is doing -- you've heard us talk about a number of times, and that is we're moving rapidly to provide Israel what it needs to continue to protect its citizens and to protect its territory. And you've already seen the evidence of that happening, and that will continue. You know, we'll stay engaged with the Israeli leadership and make sure that, you know, we're tracking along with their needs as those needs change. And as is the case with any fight or any operation, needs will change as, you know, things evolve there. So we anticipate that. You know, I've talked to Minister Gallant just about every day since this began. We had a great relationship leading into this, and that made it very easy for us to connect and exchange information in frank and open ways. So we're going to continue to do what's needed to support them and we're going to do it as rapidly as possible. In terms of needs for Israel going forward, again, I go back to what I just said -- this will evolve and those needs will emerge, and we'll let Minister Gallant and the Israeli leadership define what those requirements are. We'll try to anticipate as best we can. And I am sure that countries on a bilateral basis will engage Minister Gallant and work with them, and if they can provide assistance or resources, then they will do that. I would agree with the Secretary General in that the Israelis have a right to protect their people, and we would expect that they're going to remain focused on that. So -- and I won't try to define proportionality for you. STAFF: Thank you very much. Our next question will go to Will Dunlop, Agence France-Presse. Q: I'll keep it to two questions. Secretary Austin, first, did the United States have any advanced warning or other indication that Hamas would attack Israel? And second, there've been contradictory reports about Iran's potential role. What's the latest U.S. assessment on Tehran's involvement in, or knowledge of, the Hamas attack? Thank you. SEC. AUSTIN: Give me that second piece again? Q: There've been contradictory reports about Iran's potential role in the attacks, if any. What is the latest U.S. assessment on Tehran's involvement in, or knowledge of, the attack? SEC. AUSTIN: I'll take the second part first. I think you heard us say yesterday, Will, that we've not seen any indication that Iran was involved in the planning or the execution of this attack. We've not seen any of those indications yet. And this is something that we remain focused on. And, of course, you know, what we know at this point is that there are no indications that was the case. But again, we will remain focused on this. We also know that Iran has a long track record of supporting Hamas, and so there's a relationship there that extends over the years. But in terms of their active participation in the planning and the execution of this attack, we've not seen any indications of that yet. So, in terms of early warning or our -- indications and warning that we may have had that this was going to occur, of course, Will, if we had those indications, we would share them with our with Israel. But to my knowledge, we did not see that. STAFF: The next question will go to Stuart Lau, Politico. Q: Stuart Lau, Politico. Mr. Secretary, a couple of questions. First, regarding the disruption of the undersea cables between Finland and Estonia, is there any indication that Russia may be behind this? And what possible actions should NATO consider if state actors are behind it? And a second question about military commitment to Europe, is there any indication that future delivery of Iron Dome to Israel might come at a cost of existing security commitments to Europe, especially Poland? Thank you. SEC. AUSTIN: First, I am certainly aware of the reports of the attacks on the infrastructure, undersea infrastructure there, and I have been in touch with my colleagues in Finland and Estonia. They are investigating this, and so, because they are investigating this, I won't speculate on who may have been involved. I think the right thing to do is to wait for the results of the investigation. I will tell you that we have offered our help to Finland. Anything that they need to conduct this investigation, we stand ready to provide. In terms of Iron (Dome) -- you know, what's being provided to Israel, and will that disadvantage other countries in Europe, I certainly don't think so. I think, again, our focus is to make sure that we get Israel what it needs in order to protect itself, protect its sovereign territory. So -- and I won't speculate on, you know, one way or the other -- but I will tell you that Poland is, you know, has a lot of capability and, as you may know, I am in contact with my Polish counterpart on a routine basis. And they have played a key role in providing security assistance to Ukraine. So I think, again, my focus is going to continue to be to support Ukraine and to provide support to Israel as rapidly and as effectively as we can. And so I'll leave it at that. STAFF: Ladies and gentlemen, that is all the time we have for today. This concludes the press conference. Thank you very much. https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3555319/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address October 12, 2023 Transcript Senior Defense Official Holds a Background Briefing on Israel SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks, everybody, for tuning in today. Let me start by first acknowledging once again the truly heinous nature of Hamas's Saturday attack on Israel and the Israeli people. As you've heard from President Biden to Secretary Blinken in Israel today, these are ISIS-level, brutal, cruel tactics. We mourn with the Israeli people for the loss of life, send condolences to them, and are firmly standing with them in their right to defend themselves. I want to again update you on where we are with the Department of Defense's support to Israel. So first of all, let me talk about the posture increases that Secretary Austin ordered over the weekend. You will have seen the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group has arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday of this week. The 354th Fighter Squadron and their A-10 Thunderbolt IIs arrived in the region to support the United States Air Force today. And we are continually adjusting and monitoring our posture -- our posture in the region to ensure we are positioned in support of Israel's defense. Let me again reiterate one of the main messages that this rapid increase in posture is intended to send to both state or non-state actors. The United States is unequivocal in its support for the defense of Israel and is sending a warning to any entity that would consider taking advantage of this conflict and this war to escalate violence -- one word, quite simply, don't. In order to reinforce the absolute and unwavering support of this administration, and particularly in the Department of Defense, I would like to confirm for you that Secretary Austin plans to travel to Israel tomorrow. He's expecting to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Gallant, and the Israeli War Cabinet. This is sending a quite clear signal of the depth of U.S. commitment to Israel's security. You've seen President Biden speak at the podium multiple times, Secretary of State Tony Blinken traveled to Israel today, and Secretary of Defense Austin tomorrow. What is quite clear from -- is the commitment of this administration and our Cabinet to support the Israeli people as they work to restore security to their people. During Secretary Austin's visit, one, he will underscore his unwavering commitment to Israel's security. He is looking forward to speaking in depth with Israeli leaders about their operational planning and their objectives for this conflict in response to Hamas's brutal ISIS-style attack. Number two, Secretary Austin will be discussing Israel's security assistance needs there. And I'd like to provide you an update. The first shipment of our military aid, including munitions, arrived earlier this week. We fully expect to see continuous delivery of U.S. security assistance to Israel in response to their requests. There are also deliveries and preparation of Iron Dome missile interceptors, and we will continue to be responsive to Israel's requests for air defense, artillery ammunition, and precision-guided munitions. Secretary Austin's commitment to responding expeditiously to Israel's requests is a high priority for his national security team, and he is working with us daily to ensure that we are responsive in moving out. And finally, Secretary Austin is going to repeat what you heard from President Biden earlier this week and Secretary Blinken today -- to any actor, state or non-state, seeking to escalate this conflict, do not. We have adjusted our posture, we are expediting security assistance, and we are unwavering in our commitment to support Israel. You heard these messages this week while Secretary Austin was in Brussels, and we fully expect the rest of the U.S. administration to continue making these messages and demonstrating in words and deeds our ironclad commitment to Israel's security. Thanks, and I look forward to your questions. STAFF: Great, thank you. Our first question will go to Tara Copp, AP. Q: Hi, thank you for the call. Are you expecting during the Secretary's visit tomorrow to make any additional commitments of munitions or additional force presence? And will there be any discussion of what the Defense Department could do to help U.S. hostages and Israeli hostages as well? Thank you. SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks for that question. Going to leave any announcements during the Secretary's trip to the Secretary. Needless to say, we intend to continuously be providing much needed security assistance to Israel. And on your second question, we are providing advice and consultations to the Israeli Defense Forces on hostage recovery efforts. This is a high priority here, as it is for the Israeli government. STAFF: Thank you. Our next question will go to Jen Griffin, Fox News. Q: Oh. Hey, this is Liz in for Jen. My first question is -- is there any shortage or is there any concern there could be a strain providing weapons for both Israel and Ukraine? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks for that question. Put simply, we are the strongest nation in the world with the most combat credible military. We are capable of supporting Ukraine and Israel in their hours of need. Ukraine is defending freedom against Russian tyranny and Israel is defending its people against horrific terrorist acts. We feel we can and must do both, and the cost of inaction would be much higher and more costly. STAFF: OK, great. (CROSS-TALK) QUESTION: ... sorry, just to follow up -- this is Jennifer. But there's already been a strain on 155 millimeter shell ammunition. How are you dealing with that strain, given that Israel is going to need that kind of ammunition as well? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: We are assessing all of our global stocks. I would not focus on one particular kind of ammunition. What we are focused on is requirements, what do the Israelis assess they need now and what do they need days and months from now. And based on that information and that level of close consultation we are working with them on all available kinds of ammunition to respond to their needs. STAFF: Thank you. Our next question will go to Alex Horton, Washington Post. Q: I'm curious about some of our understanding that Hamas used some western or U.S. provided weapons, you know, either they've already had or took while conducting their operation. Can you elaborate on that? Any kind of weaponry or equipment that you saw coming from the west used in these attacks? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I don't have any comment on that at this time. Let me just sort of reflect on the fact that since Saturday we have been focused on supporting the Israelis as they sought to clear villages where Hamas was present and secure Southern Israel. And understanding their operational objectives for Gaza, we will continuously be consulting with the Israelis on the types of weapons and their analysis of the tactics Hamas used. I anticipate and expect that to be an ongoing discussion. STAFF: Thank you. Our next question, Idrees Ali, Reuters. Q: Hey there. Firstly, do you have any evidence that Hamas got or carried out any training outside of Gaza for the attack? And secondly, I think it's pretty widely accepted that there was an intel failure on the Israeli side. How comfortable and confident are you that given that they had poor intel about the attack that they have good enough intel to carry out strikes inside Gaza, A, to be successful and, B, not to kill civilians given that in the past they have a history of pretty high numbers of civilian casualties? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sure. Well, let me first say, as I believe you heard Secretary Austin say earlier today, Israel -- the Israel Defense Forces are a professional force with professional leaders and we continuously consult with Israel just as we do with any ally or partner on the ways in which we can mitigate civilian harm, adhere to the laws of armed conflict and uphold international humanitarian law. We would expect in this case for that to be no different. And that's, of course, an area that we discussed with the Israelis as we do with any ally or partner. STAFF: Great, thank you. Next question, we'll go to Tom Bowman NPR. Q: -- so on the Israeli, Hamas training, sorry. SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters here today. Thanks. STAFF: Next question, over to Tom, NPR. Tom, do we have you? Q: Can you hear me? STAFF: Okay. Yes, all right. Got you. Q: Okay. Yes, you mentioned the first shipment earlier in the week of munitions. I'm told hundreds of small diameter bombs are in that shipment. Can you confirm that? And ballpark on the numbers of other items, Iron Dome interceptors, BGMs, are we talking hundreds, thousands? And again, just a ballpark number. And also, getting to the hostage situation, are the experts, including JSOC, already on the ground? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks, so let me take that question first. There are personnel on the ground as part of a larger assistance package in support of CENTCOM. And that includes military personnel advising and consulting on hostage recovery efforts. On the question about the specifics, I'm going to defer you to the government of Israel on that. Needless to say, you hit the mark. It's both munitions and air defense. And we intend to continuously be delivering both to the Israel Defense Forces. Q: Yes, can you give us a ballpark? Hundreds, thousands of these munitions? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I'm not going to do that today and would defer you to the government of Israel. STAFF: Thank you. Our next will go to Courtney Kube, NBC. Q: Thank you. When you say you hit the mark, you're confirming that it's the small diameter bombs that the munitions? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Small diameter bombs are certainly part of a category of precision guided munitions that we are consulting with the Israelis on. Q: And then you mentioned -- thank you. And then you mentioned that the fighter squadron of A10s that arrived today, have any -- is that the only air platform that's arrived there so far that was announced on Sunday? And then, can you just say -- I mean, the Ford is there, the ships are there, like what are those -- and we're hearing that some of the -- I think, like the Hawkeyes are flying off the Ford. Like can you say what the Ford is actively doing right now or what -- to support Israel? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sure. So, first of all, we expect to see more posture increases flowing in over the next week. And in terms of the activities of the Ford, that is the largest aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy, plus all of the accompanying assets that come with it. They will be conducting a range of activities, including intelligence support, maritime support, long-range strike options, et cetera. And we expect all of that to remain active and available in support of Israel's defense. Thank you. Q: But was it A10s - STAFF: Our next question - Q: -- the A10s is the only ones that there are now then, of the -- of the ones that were announced on Sunday, none of the others have arrived yet. Is that -- that's fair to say? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I have seen CENTCOM announce the A10s. Q: Thank you. STAFF: Okay, we're going to go onto the next question. Fadi, Al Jazeera. Q: Thank you for doing this. Appreciate your time. So, I have two questions. As you mentioned the secretary today, said that he hopes, and his expectations are that Israel will do the right thing in operating in Gaza. However, so far, based on official numbers in the U.N., 1,400 Palestinians have been killed, to include 447 children, 12 U.N. staff, thousands of buildings destroyed, neighborhoods wiped out. So, so far has Israel been conducting this operation in Gaza met your expectation? And then on following up on the increase in posture, from the Pentagon point of view, is -- are all options on the table when it comes to the defense of Israel, in terms of U.S. troops presence? Thank you very much. SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sure. So, let me take the second question first. We have no intention of putting U.S. forces on the ground at this time, but we are providing advice, and we will continue to consult with our Israeli partners about their security assistance needs. Let me just be very clear about U.S support to Israel. The civilian protection and humanitarian suffering is always an area of concern for the United States and it is one that we are consistently discussing and will always discuss with allies and partners. Civilians in Gaza are not to blame for Hamas' horrific terrorism. The civilians are protected under laws of armed conflict and should be given every opportunity to avoid the fighting. And I would note here, of course, that nothing in any of Hamas' actions over the past week would suggest that Hamas values or prioritizes civilian lives. STAFF: Great. We'll go to Lara Seligman, POLITICO. Q: Hi, thanks so much for doing this. A couple questions. First of all, just a follow up on what you said about force posture increases flowing in over the next week. Are you referring to just the aircraft that was already announced or is there anything else that is being sent over that we don't know about already? And then just also on Secretary Austin's trip, can you just give us a couple more details to the extent you can. Is he traveling directly there from Brussels? Who is going to meet with? And how long is he staying? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sure. So, yes, he's traveling there directly from Brussels. We expect that he will meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. Sorry, Lara, tell me what was your first question again? Q: Just on the posture increases flowing in over the next week, yes, what additional --. SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Let me be very clear, the announcements of the posture increases on Sunday are extremely significant and sizable. And it's going to take a couple days to get all those augmentations in place, which is why you're going to see that flowing in. In terms of additional posture adjustments, what has been very clear, especially in the past year from our U.S. military is that we remain able and capable and willing to dynamically and expeditiously flow forces into the region. You saw us do it over the summer, you saw us flow in massive amounts of force and thousands of U.S. personnel earlier this year for the most significant bilateral exercise with Israel. And we maintain the ability to that here. I have no further posture adjustment to announce today. But nobody should question the ability of the U.S. military to do that expeditiously at the direction of President Biden. STAFF: Great. Thank you. Next we'll go Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg. Q: Hi, I had a couple questions about the Iron Dome. Can you walk through the mechanics of the transfer of the Iron Dome, of the interceptors that are already in Israel but in U.S. possession to Israel and then the future flow, will those come from the U.S., the two batteries in the United States? And can you confirm that we have about 312 interceptors in the U.S. inventory at this point? But first question, are the interceptors that you transferred to Israel this week part of a U.S. order that was going to the Second Army Battalion? Or battery, excuse me? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Those are a lot of very detailed and specific questions that - Q: Right. SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: -- I can't get into them. Q: Can you talk in general then? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I think you well know that the U.S. Army has Iron Dome batteries and interceptors within its stocks, and we are actively consulting with Israel on making available air defense support, including Iron Dome. STAFF: Okay, and we're going to - Q: Thanks. STAFF: -- just have time for just a few more questions here. Eric Lipton, New York Times. Q: Yes, thank you. Are the munitions and interceptors that you are sending now, are they above and beyond what Israel had already ordered and were on the way? And, but also, can you confirm that the JDAM kits are part of, in addition to, the small diameter bombs and ammunition and interceptors, that the JDAM kits were part of what's being sent? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sorry, there's so many detailed questions. Okay, the request for additional Iron Dome defense that we are discussing is most likely going to be above and beyond what Israel has already ordered. And tell me again your second question. Q: The JDAM kits are part of the precision guided munitions that are in addition to the small diameter bombs, but JDAM kits are also part of what is going there in the near term? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sure, I will refer you back to my earlier comments. One of the categories we are working with the Israelis on are precision-guided munitions. Small diameter bombs and JDAM kits are part of those categories. Q: Thank you. STAFF: Thank you. Next question will go to Konstantin, Military.com. Q: Thank you. Earlier this afternoon, the NSC spokesman John Kirby said that the Israelis have made it very clear that they don't want foreign troops on their soil, that they want to prosecute hostage rescue operations on their own. Are you able to offer any more insight or detail into why the Israelis are not interested in having U.S. troops participate in combat operations in this conflict? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I would refer you to the government of Israel for their thinking on what their requirements are. What I do want to make clear is that we are consistently and continuously consulting with them on their needs. What they have asked for us is to expedite security assistance so that they are able to defend themselves. Q: Appreciate that. And then one quick follow-up if that's OK. You mentioned that long-range strike from the Ford and its strike group is one of the options on the table. Does that -- just to be -- to be clear, that leaves on the table the option that the Ford or one of ... (CROSS-TALK) ... accompanying ships will launch missiles? SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: What I said is that that is a capability of the U.S. carrier strike group. I didn't say that that is an option on the table. Q: OK. Thank you for clarifying. SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: And again, let me be very clear, we have deployed a massive amount of force to make very clear that the United States stands with Israel and to send a strong message to state and non-state actors who would even be considering escalating this conflict. I think it is very important for these leaders and these groups to understand the full capability of the U.S. military, which we have deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean. STAFF: Great. And our last question -- we'll take the last one from Jeff Schogol, Task & Purpose. Q: Thank you. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit has left Kuwait. Are they being positioned in case they're needed for a non-combatant evacuation operation? And I just wanted to clarify something. The Defense Department is saying it is not interested in putting forces on the ground. I think you said there are U.S. military advisors in Israel advising on hostage rescue. So are there U.S. forces on the ground? Thank you. SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: First of all, on the Marine Expeditionary Unit, we are constantly moving our Marine and naval assets around the theater, based on what the requirements are. And on your second question, we have military personnel that are part of the U.S. embassy team, and on any given day, they are overseeing security cooperation, security assistance, managing senior leader visits, or providing specific support to exercises or specific needs of our partner. In this case, those U.S. military personnel are providing advice on hostage recovery, which obviously is a really significant concern and priority for both the United States and Israel. STAFF: Great. I know our Senior Defense Official has a very busy schedule today, so we're going to wrap up the call with that. Again, this call was all on background, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to follow up. Thank you. https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3555887/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address October 12, 2023 By Jim Garamone , DOD News Austin Says U.S. Will Supply Military Necessities to Israel, Ukraine The United States will supply Israel with the capabilities it needs to combat the Hamas terror group even as it supplies Ukraine with the weaponry needed to defeat Russia, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said today at NATO headquarters in Brussels. "We can and will stand by Israel, even as we stand by Ukraine," Austin said at the conclusion of a meeting of NATO defense ministers. "The United States can walk and chew gum at the same time." The NATO defense ministers discussed the situation in the Middle East during their meeting. "We are appalled by the emerging scope of the atrocities committed by the terrorists of Hamas," Austin said. "Our hearts go out to all those whose loved ones were murdered or wounded or taken hostage. No country would live with the wholesale killing and kidnapping of innocent people, including the very old and the very young." In response to the terror attacks out of Gaza, the United States moved naval and aviation assets to the Eastern Mediterranean and Persian Gulf region to reinforce deterrence. "Nobody should try to take advantage of this vile Hamas assault to cause more bloodshed or instability," Austin said. "Our support for Israel is rock solid. We're working urgently to get Israel what it needs to defend itself, including munitions and Iron Dome interceptors. And we will do so, even as we continue to support the people of Ukraine as they fight against Russian aggression." This was the first defense ministers' meeting since the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, over the summer. He noted that leaders at the summit welcomed Finland as a member of the alliance, and he called for the immediate accession of Sweden to the defensive organization. Austin said the defense leaders discussed the alliance's new regional defense plans and the progress on the new multinational and multidomain allied reaction force. "This new force will provide more response options to threats and crises across all domains," he said. The ministers also discussed the defense investment pledge. That pledge re-affirmed the commitment of alliance nations to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. "Let me also underscore the words of 'at least 2 percent': We urgently need to do more to fulfill the commitments that all of our leaders have made," he said. The ministers examined ways to strengthen defense industrial bases in the various countries with an eye toward improving alliance interoperability. Overarching all this is the discussion about Ukraine and the alliance's enduring commitment to a free and sovereign Ukraine. Ukrainian forces continue to make steady progress against Russians occupying their country, Austin said, and NATO nations have been critical in helping the nation keep up the fight. "I am tremendously proud of all the progress that NATO has made," the secretary said. "We [have] still got a lot more to do, but we will get it done together." The NATO nations are living up to the commitments they have made. "Let me be clear, NATO is a defensive alliance," Austin said. "We will not be drawn into [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's illegal war of choice, but we will stand up for Ukraine's right to defend itself. And we will continue to strengthen this alliance for the challenges to come. And we will defend the sovereignty and territory of every NATO ally. America's commitment to that mission is ironclad, and so is our commitment to Article 5" of the North Atlantic Treaty. According to NATO, that language invokes principle of collective defense. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address October 12, 2023 By Joseph Clark , DOD News Austin's Upcoming Trip to Israel Underscores U.S. Commitment Following Attacks Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will travel to Israel on Friday to meet with Israeli leaders and underscore the United States' unwavering commitment to support Israel following the recent deadly attacks by Hamas terrorists, Defense Department officials announced today. Austin is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and members of the Israeli War Cabinet to discuss Israel's operational planning and objectives and security assistance needs in response to the series of attacks launched early Saturday. "This is sending quite a clear signal of the depth of U.S. commitment to Israel's security," a senior Pentagon official said. "What is quite clear is the commitment of this administration and our Cabinet to support the Israeli people as they work to restore security to their people," the official said. Austin's visit follows days of close coordination between the U.S. and Israel. Soon after the attacks, he announced measures to bolster U.S. presence in the region to strengthen its deterrence against further attacks. That enhanced posture includes the positioning of the USS Gerald R. Ford Strike Group in the Eastern Mediterranean and bolstering Air Force fighter presence in the region. The carrier strike group arrived on station Tuesday. Pentagon officials announced the arrival of a squadron of Air Force A-10Thunderbolt II attack aircraft in the region today. "We are continually adjusting and monitoring our posture in [...] in the region to ensure we are positioned in support of Israel's defense," the Pentagon official said. "The United States is unequivocal in its support for the defense of Israel and is sending a warning to any entity that would consider taking advantage of this conflict and this war to escalate violence. One word, quite simply, 'don't,'" the official said. In addition to increasing its force presence in the region, the U.S. has also begun to flow military assistance to Israel and is preparing delivery of rounds to replenish Israel's Iron Dome missile interceptors. "We will continue to be responsive to Israel's requests for air defense, artillery, ammunition and precision-guided munitions," the Pentagon official said. "Secretary Austin's commitment to responding expeditiously to Israel's request is a high priority for his national security team." Austin this week convened the 16th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and attended a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The secretary has underscored the United States' commitment to assisting Israel, while at the same time continuing to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's ongoing war of aggression. "Our support for Israel is rock solid," Austin said earlier today in Brussels. "We are working urgently to get Israel what it needs to defend itself, including munitions and Iron Dome interceptors. And we will do so even as we continue to support the people of Ukraine as they fight against Russian aggression. "Make no mistake: We can and will stand by Israel even as we stand by Ukraine," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address October 12, 2023 By Jim Garamone , DOD News NATO Defense Ministers Deal With Range of Alliance Issues While the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East dominated, NATO defense ministers dealt with a range of issues during their defense ministerial in Brussels today. The ministers discussed progress made in strengthening deterrence in the region and the various NATO missions and operations, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a news conference following the meeting at NATO headquarters. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III attended the meeting and chaired a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group immediately prior to the NATO ministerial. Stoltenberg said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed the ministers on the horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, and Israel's ongoing response. "The allies strongly condemned Hamas' indefensible attacks on civilians, and called for the immediate release of all hostages," the secretary general said. "Israel has the right to defend itself. And as the conflict unfolds, the protection of civilians is essential. No nation or organization hostile to Israel should seek to take advantage of the situation, or to escalate the conflict." The NATO ministers also addressed alliance missions and operations, including in the Western Balkans and in Iraq. "In response to recent tensions in Kosovo, NATO has deployed hundreds of additional reserve forces to our [Kosovo Force] operation in recent weeks," he said. The KFOR is conducting more patrols in the northern part of Kosovo. "These are prudent steps to ensure KFOR has the forces it needs to fulfil its U.N. mandate impartially," Stoltenberg said. He said leaders in Serbia and Kosovo must behave responsibly, refrain from destabilizing actions and re-engage in the European Union-sponsored dialogue. "This is the only way to lasting peace in Kosovo," he said. In Iraq, the NATO mission is expanding support to Iraqi security institutions, to help prevent the return of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. "Terrorism remains the most direct asymmetric threat to the alliance," he said. To combat this, Stoltenberg announced that Assistant Secretary General Tom Goffus will serve as special coordinator for counterterrorism. "He will ensure that NATO's response to terrorism remains strong, effective and coherent," Stoltenberg said. Defense ministers also discussed moves to strengthen alliance defenses announced during the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania last summer. NATO leaders agreed on the most robust defense plans since the end of the Cold War, the secretary general said. "We are now taking the next steps: This means assigning the necessary forces, developing new capabilities and adjusting our command and control structures," he said. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has rattled the nuclear saber. "Russia's war on Ukraine is a reminder of the important role NATO's nuclear weapons play in deterring aggression," Stoltenberg said. "Next week, NATO will hold its annual nuclear exercise, Steadfast Noon. This is a routine training event that happens every October." The exercise will take place over Italy, Croatia and the Mediterranean Sea. "Our exercise will help to ensure the credibility, effectiveness and security of our nuclear deterrent," he said. "It sends a clear message that NATO will protect and defend all allies." The ministers also discussed damage to critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. A gas pipeline and a communications cable connecting NATO allies, Finland and Estonia were damaged Oct. 10. The allies will work with Finland and Estonia to establish the facts behind the incident. "If this is proven to be a deliberate attack on critical infrastructure, it would be a serious incident, and it would be met by a united and determined response," Stoltenberg said. Finally, the secretary general raised the need to move forward on the ratification of Swedish membership in the alliance. "I'm glad that the Turkish defense minister confirmed that Turkey stands by the agreement from Vilnius to finalize Swedish accession," he said. "I now expect that the Turkish government will submit the accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly and work with the assembly to ensure speedy ratification." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Oman: EU - GCC Joint Council and informal EU Foreign Affairs Council focus on the latest developments in the Middle East European External Action Service (EEAS) 12.10.2023 EEAS Press Team The recent terrorist attack of Hamas against Israel, the resulting escalation between Israel and Hamas, the international efforts to prevent further spill-over of the conflict, as well as closer cooperation between the European Union and the Gulf countries, were at the centre of three days visit by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell to Oman. In Muscat, the High Representative co-chaired the 27th joint ministerial meeting of the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council and its member states. Beyond confirming the mutual interest to deepen the already good EU-GCC cooperation, the Joint Council - as agreed by the EU and GCC member states - adopted a Co-Chairs Statement. In this statement, the Joint Council expressed deep concern about the grave developments in Israel and Gaza and condemned all attacks against civilians, reminding the parties of their obligations under the universal principles of International Humanitarian Law. It further called for restraint, the release of hostages and allowing access to food, water and medicines according to International Humanitarian Law. The statement also stressed the urgent need for a political solution to the crisis to avoid repeating this vicious cycle of violence. It called for a halt to all acts of violence and any unilateral measures, and supported the efforts of Saudi Arabia, the European Union and the League of Arab States in cooperation with Egypt and Jordan to revive the Middle East peace process . The EU and the GCC Ministers reiterated their commitment to a two-state solution in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and all relevant UN resolutions. They stressed the importance of sustained financial support for UNRWA, the Palestinian Authority, and for the humanitarian and development needs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In light of the presence of a number of Foreign Ministers of the EU in Muscat, the High Representative convened an emergency meeting of EU Foreign Ministers to address the situation in Israel and in the region. The Ministers endorsed the elements of the EU/GCC statement, reiterated their solidarity with Israel and discussed the EU relationship with the Palestinian Authority. The ministers made a clear distinction between Hamas, a terrorist organization, the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority. The overwhelming majority of ministers expressed themselves against the suspension of the payments of EU funds and asked for the continuation of support to the Palestinian people. Ministers also discussed the reaction of Israeli Defence Forces to Hamas' attack and reaffirmed the position of the EU that Israel has the right to defend itself in line with international law, including International Humanitarian Law. Ministers expressed concern over the situation of civilians in Gaza, which was already very dire and is increasingly worsening. There was an overwhelming assessment that the EU should be prepared to support the Palestinian people more in the coming weeks. In the margins of the multilateral meetings in Muscat, the HR/VP held talks with number of partners bilaterally: Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Baidr al Busaidi, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Kuwait, Sheikh Salem Al Sabah, Saudi Arabia, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud and Bahrain, Abdullatif bin Rashid al Zayani. He also met Qatari Minister of State, Soltan bin Saad Al Muraikhi and UAE State Minister, Reem Al Hashimy. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China has no self-interest in the Palestinian issue, always standing on the side of peace, fairness, and justice Global Times By Global Times Published: Oct 13, 2023 12:22 AM China has no self-interest in the Palestinian issue and has always stood on the side of peace, fairness, and justice, said Zhai Jun, the Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue, during a phone call with Rafi Harpaz, the Deputy Director General in charge of Asia-Pacific affairs of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. Zhai expressed deep concern over the escalating tension and violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that China is deeply saddened by the civilian casualties and extends condolences to the families of the victims. China condemns the acts that harm innocent civilians and calls for an immediate ceasefire and cessation of violence, said Zhai. Zhai said that China calls for the resumption of peace talks based on the two-state solution to restore confidence in achieving peace for both sides. The international community should play a practical role in preventing the situation from escalating and causing a humanitarian disaster. "China sincerely hopes for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine, and is willing to work with the international community to promote peace dialogues, so as to create conditions for achieving peace," Zhai added. Harpaz introduced Israel's views and stance on the current situation, and said Israel will make sure Chinese nationals within its territory are protected. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address FM confirms three Chinese nationals killed, two missing in Palestine-Israel conflict Global Times By Global Times Published: Oct 12, 2023 05:15 PM The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed that three Chinese nationals have been killed, two are missing and several others have been injured during the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict, in response to the question raised by the Global Times on casualties of Chinese nationals. We express deep condolences to the victims and extend sincere condolences to the families of the victims and the injured, said FM spokesperson Wang Wenbin. Wang said that relevant Chinese diplomatic missions abroad are making every effort to coordinate the treatment of the injured and handle the aftermath of the incident. "We have urged the foreign parties to spare no effort in searching for the missing persons and take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions," said Wang. As of Wednesday, the Palestine-Israel conflict had killed over 2,300 people on both sides, according to death toll released by the Palestinian health care authority and a spokesperson for Israeli national defense forces. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said that 11 UN workers were dead following Israeli airstrikes. China remains deeply concerned over the escalating situation which has resulted in numerous innocent civilian casualties and over the serious deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Palestine, Wang said, noting that China will maintain communication with relevant parties to promote ceasefire and help alleviate an unfolding humanitarian crisis. "China will work with regional countries and the international community to play a constructive role in promoting a comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue," said Wang. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China calls for return to 'two-state solution' to end cycle of conflict between Palestine, Israel Global Times By Global Times Published: Oct 12, 2023 01:13 AM To end the cycle of conflict between Palestine and Israel, there must be a return to the "two-state solution," and resumption of peace talks aimed at establishing an independent state of Palestine to achieve peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel, said Zhai Jun, special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, in a phone call with Amal Jadou, first deputy minister of foreign affairs of Palestine, on Wednesday, according to China's Foreign Ministry. China is deeply saddened by the current escalation of tensions between Palestine and Israel, which has caused a high number of civilian casualties, said Zhai. China has expressed serious concerns about the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Palestine. The priority is to cease fire immediately and protect civilians, Zhai noted. The international community should earnestly play its role, work together to cool down the situation, and provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian people, Zhai added. China will continue to promote a ceasefire and cessation of violence, help to ease the humanitarian crisis, and actively promote peace talks, playing a constructive role in promoting a comprehensive, fair, and lasting settlement of the Palestine question. Jadou expressed appreciation for China's long-standing and just position on the Palestine question and its active efforts to promote peace talks. At present, the humanitarian situation in Palestine is extremely grave. The international community should shoulder its responsibility to promote a ceasefire, restart peace talks and establish an independent Palestinian state on the basis of the two-state solution, said Jadou. Palestine trusts China and hopes that China will continue to play a constructive role in the current situation, Jadou noted. Zhai also had a phone call about the Palestine-Israel situation with Assistant Minister of the Palestine Department in the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Osama Khedr on Tuesday. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China, India agree to maintain peace at border in 20th corps commander level meeting Global Times By Liu Xuanzun Published: Oct 12, 2023 08:01 PM Updated: Oct 12, 2023 11:21 PM China and India are effectively managing the risk of another border conflict, experts said on Thursday, after the two countries held, earlier this week, the 20th round of corps commander level meetings where they agreed to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas as the two sides continue to work out a mutually acceptable solution on the issue. The Chinese and Indian militaries held the 20th round of corps commander level meetings at the Moldo-Chushul border meeting point on the Indian side on Monday and Tuesday, in which the two sides had positive, in-depth and constructive exchanges on resolving the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control in the western sector of the China-India border in a mutually acceptable manner at the earliest possible date, according to a Thursday press release from China's Ministry of National Defense. Under the guidance of the two countries' top leaderships, the two sides exchanged views in a frank, open and forward-looking manner, as they agreed to maintain the momentum of communication and dialogues through military and diplomatic channels so as to resolve the remaining issues as soon as possible, the press release said. In the interim, the two sides are committed to maintaining peace and tranquility in the border regions, it said. India's Ministry of External Affairs also released a press release on Wednesday, stating that the two sides are working on an early and mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues, and will maintain peace and tranquility on the ground. The previous round of meetings was held in mid-August, with both sides agreeing on similar issues. With the continued meetings between China and India, the possibility of another border conflict is very low, Zhao Gancheng, a research fellow from the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday. One important aim of communication and dialogues is to not let the situation deteriorate, Zhao said. No significant breakthrough was made at the latest meeting, The Times of India reported on Thursday, citing an anonymous source. Zhao said that right now, it is difficult to resolve all of the issues once for all. India raised demands including the disengagement of Chinese troops to locations asked for by India, which are unacceptable to China, and it was India that had stirred up the troubles in the first place, Zhao said. Both sides said they are working on a mutually acceptable solution and maintaining peace and tranquility in the interim, which is the practical way to go in order to avoid another conflict, he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt on the situation in Israel and Palestine Government of Norway News story | Date: 12/10/2023 I am deeply alarmed by the dramatic escalation in Israel and Gaza. The high number of people killed and injured is shocking. It is heartbreaking that hundreds of children have lost their lives in recent days, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt. I strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel. The death and destruction wrought by the terrorists is appalling. All hostages must be released immediately. These are extremely challenging times for Palestinians and Israelis. I would like to convey my heartfelt sympathy to all the victims and their families. The scale of destruction in Gaza is enormous. A large number of civilians have been killed. Given a full blockade by Israel, closed border crossings and continued Israeli attacks, I fear that the civilian population in Gaza will face even greater hardship in the days to come. There is an urgent need to stop the violence and de-escalate the situation. International humanitarian law must be respected. All civilians must be protected. All actions that could contribute to a further escalation of the situation must be avoided. I call on all sides to use diplomatic rather than military means. Israel has the right to defend itself against armed attacks. That said, all countermeasures must be necessary and proportionate, as required by international law. The establishment of a full blockade, including on access to electricity, water, food, and other goods that are indispensable for the survival of the civilian population in Gaza, is unacceptable. Israel has an obligation to allow for the entry of humanitarian aid and to ensure access to humanitarian assistance for the civilian population in Gaza. As chair of the AHLC, the international donor group for Palestine, Norway encourages the international community to continue its financial assistance to the Palestinian people. This includes support to the Palestinian Authority channelled through the World Bank, assistance via international organisations such as the UN system, and support to humanitarian organisations and Palestinian civil society. Humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza should be a key priority. The situation will only deteriorate further if the international community suspends or reduces its assistance at this critical juncture. Functioning Palestinian institutions and the delivery of basic services are crucial to avoid further destabilisation and preserve the objective of the two-state solution. I support any efforts aimed at preventing a further deterioration of the situation. There is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The only way to achieve peace, is to restart a political process between the Israelis and the Palestinians. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Government to increase humanitarian assistance to Armenia Government Offices of Sweden 12 October 2023 The Government is allocating SEK 15 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to support refugee reception in Armenia. This targeted assistance is being provided in light of the developments in Nagorno-Karabakh. Since Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh on 19 September, Armenia has received more than 100 000 refugees from the region in a short period of time. An emergency response plan from the UN, prepared in consultation with the Armenian Government, was presented on 7 October. "Armenia has received a large number of refugees in a very short period of time as a result of Azerbaijan's military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Now that the Armenian Government and the UN have prepared a response plan, Sweden is quickly increasing its support to shore up activities so as to meet the needs," says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell. The assistance for refugee reception in Armenia will be distributed within the framework of the Government's extensive core support to the UNHCR for 2023. Through Sida, Sweden has already allocated SEK 15 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which conducts humanitarian operations inside Nagorno-Karabakh, and almost SEK 2.5 million to Action Against Hunger's activities in Armenia. In total, the targeted Swedish humanitarian assistance in response to the latest developments in Nagorno-Karabakh amounts to just under SEK 32.5 million. Sweden also contributes to civil support through the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency within the framework of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. In addition, the EU has allocated more than EUR 10 million in humanitarian assistance. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The IDF Targeted the Hamas' Nukhba Elite Forces IDF Press Release 12.10.23 IDF Overnight (Thursday), the IDF conducted a wave of strikes targeting the Nukhba elite forces of the Hamas terrorist organization, by striking operational command centers used by operatives who infiltrated the communities surrounding Gaza last Saturday. The Nukhba elite forces consist of terrorists selected by senior Hamas operatives, designated to carry out terrorist attacks such as ambushes, raids, assaults, infiltration through terror tunnels, as well as anti-tank missile, rocket, and sniper fire. The Nukhba elite forces were one of the leading forces that infiltrated the State of Israel in order to carry out murderous acts of terror against its civilians. Furthermore, IDF aircraft struck Muhammad Abu Shamla, a senior Hamas naval operative in the Rafah Brigade. Abu Shamla's residence was used to store naval weapons designated for terror against the State of Israel. Attached is the footage of the overnight strikes in the Gaza Strip: https://bit.ly/3RRcUSD Attached is footage of the strike on Muhammad Abu Shamla: https://bit.ly/3trv6Iq NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IDF Daily Recap: October 12th, 2023 (16:00) IDF Press Release 12.10.23 Daily Update Overview Following Hamas' barbaric invasion on Saturday, the IDF continued land, aerial and naval attacks on terrorist sites in the Gaza Strip, reaching over 2,600 targets. Sites affiliated with the Hamas Nukba commando force, as well as senior Hamas leaders, were a focus of these strikes yesterday and last night Defense of the Israeli homefront remains paramount. Yesterday Israeli forces neutralized terrorists in a number of incidents in southern Israel. At least two new infiltration attempts were thwarted by IDF forces. The repair of breaches in the security fence is nearly completed. In parallel, defense is being augmented by aircraft and ground forces Following an anti-tank missile attack on forces along the Blue Line in Israel's north, the IDF struck a Hezbollah outpost and fired artillery in response Message from Lt. Col. Richard Hecht Six days later, the depth and depravity of the violence against Israeli civilians continues to come to light. I've seen this - first hand - in visits I've conducted down south with international media today and yesterday. Terrorists masquerading as soldiers, civilians butchered or burnt - the world is outraged. The magnitude of the violence may be shocking but Hamas' mission is no surprise. The organization aims to wipe Israel off the map and despite the global outrage, they aren't stopping either. Yesterday, while down south, I was just minutes from an attempted attack near Nir Am and rockets continue to be fired at Israeli civilians. We are not complacent. The IDF has been fighting back - with force - against the savage violence and ongoing violence. And we will not stop in the face of this inhumane aggression. The IDF continues to defend the State of Israel and its citizens. To date, over 300,000 reserve soldiers have been drafted and are deployed around the country as we prepare for a broader range of responses. The pace of our offensive operation is increasing and we stand ready for the next stage. We will defend the State of Israel. Data Points Over 2,687 targets attacked 222 IDF soldiers confirmed as killed in action 97 families have been informed regarding the abduction of their loved ones. 300,000+ reservists drafted 5,000+ rockets launched into Israel Key Links Morning briefing from the IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. (Hebrew Video, English transcript) Footage of overnight strikes in Gaza (video) and strike on Muhammad Abu Shamla (video) Video of repair activities on the Gaza security fence Video of the IDF strike on the Gaza University, which was used for military intelligence and weapons research/development training purposes Arena Updates War on Hamas in Gaza On day six of the war with Hamas, the IDF continues to strike back, aiming to defeat Hamas and its capabilities. Over the course of many aerial sorties, the Israeli Air Force struck senior leadership, command and control centers, rocket launch sites, key Hamas financial and government institutions that contribute to its military operations. One particular focus last night (Wednesday/Thursday) was strikes conducted on dozens of Hamas' Nukhba force sites. Hamas' elite commando unit, which typically trains for kidnappings and infiltrations, was heavily involved in Saturday's horrific attacks. The IDF is leveraging intelligence, including videos from the attack, to ensure that the IDF reaches every terrorist involved in the attacks. For example, between Tuesday and Wednesday, Mustafa Shaeen, who helped document the attacks, was targeted. The IDF is leveraging intelligence to strike a crushing blow to Hamas. Examples of this include targeting Hamas' early warning system installed in water heaters on top of residential homes, a strike on Muhammad Abu Shamla, a senior Hamas naval operative in the Rafah Brigade, a strike on the Gaza University (video), which was used to for intelligence and weapons development training (and which the IDF had flagged last year), and more. Defense of Southern Israel Despite ongoing attempts from Hamas terrorists, no infiltrations are currently taking place across the security fence. The engineering work on repairing breaches in the fence is nearly complete. These efforts are being secured by dozens of tanks, helicopters, drones and ground forces. Infiltration attempts by Hamas continue, and the IDF has been thwarting them, including a targeted attack on a Hamas navy commando (video) and an attack on a terrorist approaching the Gaza security fence. The IDF also continues to identify and neutralize terrorists within southern Israel. This included one engagement yesterday afternoon, in which two terrorists were neutralized near Zikim, as well as another in which two terrorists were neutralized between Saad and Miflasim. In another incident, three terrorists were targeted by tank fire after being identified by IDF ground in the vicinity of Nir Am. Additional Arenas Following an attack yesterday morning on Israeli forces near Al-Aramshe , along the Blue Line in Israel's north, the IDF responded with artillery and targeted a Hezbollah observation post. The military is in a state of heightened readiness and prepared for any threats. IDF reserve forces are also deployed and actively monitoring the area. In addition, activities across Judea and Samaria continue on a daily basis in order to ensure the safety and security of Israel and Israeli citizens. The Homefront Rocket fire from Gaza has continued, including barrages of rockets towards southern and central Israel. There have been a number of civilian injuries, primarily from rockets targeting towns and cities in southern Israel. These rockets are also targeting both central and even northern Israel; in one case last night, a rocket fired from Gaza reached the Carmel region. In total, over 5,000 rockets have been fired at Israel. Another 33 families of IDF soldiers killed in action were notified today, bringing the total number of families notified to 122. A full list of IDF casualties is available here (Hebrew). As of this morning, 97 families have been notified that their loved ones were abducted. The IDF is displaying an abundance of caution in veracity, which does require certain compromises with regard to speed of notification. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran FM, Iraqi PM discuss Palestine situation IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 12, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdullahian has discussed the latest developments in Palestine with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani. In the Thursday meeting, the two sides also discussed potential ways out of the current crimes committed by the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the day, Amirabdollahian discussed regional issues with Iraqi National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji. The top Iranian diplomat started his regional tours on Thursday at noon amid the escalation of conflict between the Zionist regime and the Palestinian resistance movement. 4208**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Raisi, bin Salman discuss Palestine developments over phone IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 12, 2023 Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have held their first telephone conversation to discuss the latest developments in Palestine. The 45-minute conversation centered on the latest developments in Palestine and the necessity of halting the crimes of the Zionist regime in the occupied lands, Iran's Deputy Chief of Staff for Political Affairs to the President, Mohammad Jamshidi, wrote on his account on the X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday evening. "In the first phone call between Ayatollah Raisi & HRH Mohammed bin Salman, the 2 agreed on the need to end war crimes against Palestine. Islamic unity was stressed & both believed the regime's crimes & the US green light will cause destructive insecurity for the regime & backers," Jamshidi wrote. According to a Thursday report by IRNA, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman praised Riyadh and Tehran for their efforts to ensure regional stability, describing the revival of cooperation between the two countries as the beginning of convergence. The current situation in Gaza is distressing and dangerous, the Crown Prince said, acknowledging that the rights of Palestinians are being violated. He emphasized that such violations could lead to an escalation of insecurity in the region. This conversation comes in the wake of an operation dubbed Al Aqsa Storm staged by Palestinian Resistance fighters against the Zionist regime on Saturday, October 7. The operation, which originated from Gaza in the occupied lands, has been unprecedented against the occupying regime for the past 75 years. 1483**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lithuania's Foreign Minister Landsbergis: "The war in Ukraine has a huge global impact" Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2023.10.12 On 12 October, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis is visiting Cairo, where he met with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. At the meeting, Landsbergis said that Lithuania and Egypt, Europe and the Arab world were interested in maintaining a rules-based order that would help ensure peace and stability. "Lithuania condemns the brutal Hamas attack on Israel. Lithuania shares grief with the victims' families and demands an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. "As Israel faces the unprecedented attacks, it has a legitimate right to defend itself within the limits of international humanitarian law, especially as regards the protection of civilians," Landsbergis said. Lithuania's Foreign Minister insisted that in focusing on Israel and Palestine, it was crucial to remain committed to Ukraine, which continued to stand up against Russia's aggression. "Although geographically the war rages on the European continent, it has a huge global impact. By destroying grain storage facilities, ports and dams, Russia is seeking to block the access of Ukrainian grain supplies to the world's most vulnerable countries. In my opinion, these deliberate actions amount to crimes against humanity. Russia also seeks to spread instability not only in Europe but also in Africa and some Arab countries through its mercenaries and violent propaganda," Landsbergis said. The Foreign Minister once again stressed that Ukraine's victory in this war and its complete territorial integrity was the only way to restore stability and rules-based order in Europe and the world. The head of Lithuania's diplomacy expressed hope that Egypt would consider opening an Egyptian embassy in Vilnius. "I encouraged the Foreign Minister to consider opening the Egyptian embassy in Vilnius that would help to strengthen our relations further," Landsbergis said. The meeting also focused on bilateral political and economic cooperation issues. The interlocutors exchanged views on cooperation in multilateral formats and discussed the global consequences of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, security issues of the Middle East region and other countries. Egypt is an important partner of Lithuania and the European Union in dealing with illegal migration, global food security policy, and ensuring the stability of international trade traffic in the Suez Canal. Prospects for expanding cooperation in high-tech and communication, transport, energy, digitalisation and green technologies were also discussed. It was the first working visit of Landsbergis to Egypt. The Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry visited Vilnius on 19 October 2019. Last year, the countries commemorated the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address We have to implement Vilnius Summit decisions quickly, says A. Anusauskas at the NATO Defence Ministers meeting Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence 2023-10-12 International cooperation | Security and defense policy Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anusauskas and his NATO counterparts discussed the decisions taken at the NATO Summit in Vilnius and underscored the necessity to put them into practice shortly at the NATO Defence Ministers meeting on October 11-12. "We have to implement the decisions taken in Vilnius quickly. Executability of the NATO defence plans is critical. Lithuania also calls for practical implementation of the Rotational NATO Air DE fence Model in our country. It is very important for us," said A. Anusauskas at the main Defence Ministers session. Minister discussed the implementation of the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model from the eastern flank of NATO with individual colleagues as well. A. Anusauskas had separate meetings with counterparts from Greece, Spain, Norway, Finland and Germany to invite them to contribute practically. The Rotational NATO Air Defence Model would ensure rotational deployments of Allied ground-based air defence systems and strengthened aviation capabilities and thus enhance readiness of the NATO air and missile defence capabilities. The NATO Defence Ministerial addressed strengthening NATO's deterrence and defence, NATO operations, most relevant aspects of assistance to Ukraine. During the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council Defence Ministers A. Anusauskas welcomed Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov as an equal in the NATO community. "We see this Council as a new ambitious step. The aim is to facilitate a fast and straight Ukraine's path towards the NATO membership. It cannot be simply the same thing we had only put differently. Second, we value Ukraine's effort to implement the defence reform in spite of war. We support everything you do. And third, NATO awareness in Ukraine has to improve. Fully operational NATO Liaison Office in Kyiv is crucial. It must be put back to work as soon as possible," said A. Anusauskas. The Northern Group Defence Ministers discussed critical infrastructure security. Ministers were debriefed by the Finnish and Estonian Allies on the assessment of the pipeline incident and discussed potential directions of cooperation in critical infrastructure security. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Defence Ministers address deterrence and defence, NATO missions, situation in the Middle East NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 12 Oct. 2023 NATO Defence Ministers wrapped up two days of meetings in Brussels on Thursday (12 October 2023), addressing the Alliance's defence plans and operations, and meeting with their Israeli counterpart. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant briefed his NATO counterparts by videoconference on the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians. Condemning Hamas' terrorist attacks, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said: "Israel has the right to defend itself and as the conflict unfolds, the protection of civilians is essential". He added that "no nation or organisation hostile to Israel should seek to take advantage of the situation, or to escalate the conflict." On the Western Balkans, Mr Stoltenberg said that NATO has deployed hundreds of extra troops to Kosovo to ensure KFOR has the forces it needs to fulfil its UN mandate impartially. He called on Belgrade and Pristina to "behave responsibly, refrain from destabilising actions, and re-engage in the EU-facilitated dialogue". He added that in Bosnia, NATO continues to support the EU-led operation Althea, which plays a key role for regional stability. On Iraq, NATO's mission is evolving to provide more support to the Iraqi security forces. On deterrence and defence, Allies discussed the next steps in operationalising NATO's new defence plans, including by assigning forces, developing new capabilities, and adjusting command and control. Mr Stoltenberg also noted that NATO will start its long-planned nuclear exercise "Steadfast Noon" next week. The exercise will send "a clear message that NATO will protect and defend all Allies," the Secretary General said. Ministers also addressed damage to critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Allies expressed strong solidarity with Estonia and Finland as they work to establish the facts. Secretary General Stoltenberg said NATO would have a "united and determined response" if proven the incident was a deliberate attack. Yesterday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with NATO Allies and partners in the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Allies assured President Zelenskyy that they would sustain and step up military aid to Kyiv as it braces for another wartime winter. In the first NATO-Ukraine Council at ministerial level, Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov updated Allies on the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine's most urgent needs. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Secretary General: "Israel does not stand alone" NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 12 Oct. 2023 NATO Allies condemned the horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel in a meeting of Defence Ministers on Thursday (12 October 2023). Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed ministers by video conference on the atrocities by Hamas perpetrated against Israeli civilians and the nationals of several NATO Allies. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO condemned the terrorist attacks in the strongest possible terms, adding: "Israel does not stand alone." Allies expressed solidarity with Israel, making clear that it has the right to defend itself with proportionality against these unjustifiable acts of terror. They called for Hamas to immediately release all hostages, and for the fullest possible protection of civilians. Allies also made clear that no nation or organisation should seek to take advantage of the situation or to escalate it. A number of NATO Allies made clear that they are providing practical support to Israel as it continues to respond to the situation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary General welcomes US Secretary of Defense to meeting of NATO Defence Ministers NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 12 Oct. 2023 Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III to NATO Headquarters on Thursday (12 October 2023) for a second day of meetings of Allied Defence Ministers. Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Secretary Austin for the United States' strong leadership on key issues, including support to Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, NATO deterrence and defence, and NATO operations and missions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 2023 University Presidents Forum held in Shenyang People's Daily Online) 16:46, October 13, 2023 The 2023 Northeast Asia (Shenyang) Conference on Exchange of Professionals and the 2023 University Presidents Forum are held in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Oct. 12, 2023. (Photo/People's Daily Online) The 2023 Northeast Asia (Shenyang) Conference on Exchange of Professionals and the 2023 University Presidents Forum were held in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province on Oct. 12. Liaoning warmly welcomes talents from all walks of life to come for employment and entrepreneurship. It eagerly looks forward to deepening exchanges and cooperation with universities and sincerely hopes to create a bright future together with friends from all sectors, said Li Lecheng, governor of Liaoning Province. In his speech, Xu Lijing, deputy editor-in-chief of Peoples Daily, expressed the hope of providing further intellectual support for the comprehensive revitalization of northeast China, especially in terms of talent revitalization, and to create a favorable public opinion atmosphere. Wang Xinwei, Party chief of Shenyang city, expressed his hope that this event would enhance communication, foster exchanges of ideas, and encourage the sharing of wisdom among participants. He encouraged active knowledge sharing and the adoption of forward-thinking approaches, urging everyone to contribute suggestions to support the revitalization and development of Shenyang. Guests participating in the 2023 University Presidents Forum pose for a group photo. (Photo/People's Daily Online) Guests from over 100 universities across the country engaged in discussions and exchanges on a wide range of topics such as leveraging the role of universities as the main force in basic research to achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, enhancing the ability to cultivate top-notch innovative talents and comprehensively improving the quality of independent talent development. An intelligent Q&A System for universities was jointly launched by People's Daily Online and People AI during the conference. The system is able to provide precise identification, multi-round interaction, consultation and complaint services, policy tracing, intelligent guidance, media feedback, intelligent form submission, and decision-making support functions for university faculty and students. An intelligent Q&A System for universities is jointly launched by People's Daily Online and People AI during the conference. (Photo/People's Daily Online) Ten sessions of the University Presidents Forum, a national-level large-scale annual education forum, have been successfully held with the participation of over 600 university Party secretaries and presidents. It has become an annual event that fosters consensus and supports the reform and development of higher education in China. The 2023 Northeast Asia (Shenyang) Conference on Exchange of Professionals attracts many job seekers. (Photo/People's Daily Online) The 2023 Northeast Asia (Shenyang) Conference on Exchange of Professionals included 13 themed forums and the region's largest job fair that encompassed both domestic and international participants. The conference reached over 400,000 university graduates through online and offline channels. It is expected to offer 150,000 jobs for job seekers from Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces, as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming) NATO strengthens joint air power cooperation NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 12 Oct. 2023 Two initiatives were signed in the margins of the NATO Defence Ministers' meeting this week (11-12 October 2023), demonstrating Allies' commitment to work together to strengthen NATO's deterrence and defence in the air domain. On Wednesday (11 October 2023), Germany and the United Kingdom joined the NATO Flight Training Europe (NFTE) High Visibility Project, bringing the total number of participants to 12 (Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Spain, Turkiye, United Kingdom). NFTE aims to ensure that sufficient state-of-the-art pilot training is available around Europe in a cost-efficient and interoperable manner. NFTE will leverage existing national and multinational facilities in Europe and, where necessary, expand or create new training capacity to address training requirements for different types of pilots. These can include basic, intermediate, and advanced categories of training for fighter jet, helicopter, and transport pilots, as well as personnel who remotely pilot unmanned aircraft. This is a high priority, especially for many smaller European NATO Allies whose training requirements do not justify the creation of national training centres. NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said: "NATO's strength comes from our unity, our posture, the related forces and capabilities, and from systematically training together and forging trusting relationships in the process. This carries particular importance at a time when we need to ensure the executability of our defence plans. NATO Flight Training Europe is an excellent example of this. This important multinational effort will help us develop a shared approach to training the next generations of aircrews." On Thursday (12 October 2023), 13 Allies (Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Turkiye) and invitee Sweden signed an agreement to cooperate on cross-border airspace. This reflects the participating nations' commitment to ensure that Allied civil and military authorities can collaborate on the use of air space for NATO training and exercises, and other air activities in several regions of Europe. The use of larger volumes of national airspace by NATO requires close coordination between civil and military authorities to deliver airspace solutions in a safe and flexible manner. As the recent Air Defender 23 exercise showed, NATO's ability to train at scale in the air domain is a critical element of the Alliance's overall deterrence and defence. Mr Geoana said: "The solutions will be considered across several European regions and will deliver a flexible approach to airspace management. They will help the Alliance to strengthen NATO's air and missile defense capabilities. Close collaboration will be required between civil and military users of our airspace [...] This has also set an excellent example of close collaboration between our military forces and our civilian aviation colleagues." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Congressional panel: US must prepare for potential wars with both China, Russia Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 6:52 PM The United States must be prepared for potential simultaneous wars with China and Russia, a new bipartisan Congressional report says, warning that the US is currently not ready for facing two nuclear powers for the first time. A new report by a Congressionally mandated commission - titled "America's Strategic Posture" - released on Thursday, warned that the US must either expand its conventional forces or restructure its nuclear arsenal to tackle the "existential challenge" posed by the alleged nuclear threat from China and existing risk from Russia. Released by the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, the 160-page assessment was the result of a year-long effort by a group of leading bipartisan nuclear experts. "It is an existential challenge for which the United States is ill-prepared, unless its leaders make decisions now," the report says, focusing heavily on a worst-case scenario of coordinated Russian and Chinese aggression. The report comes amid tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan plus other issues, and deteriorating frictions between the White House and the Kremlin over Russia's war in Ukraine. "The new global environment is fundamentally different than anything experienced in the past, even in the darkest days of the Cold War. The US is on the cusp of having not one, but two nuclear peer adversaries, each with ambitions to change the international status quo, by force, if necessary," it cautioned. The new assessment would overturn current US national security strategy, calling for winning one conflict while deterring another. It also calls for huge defense spending increases with uncertain Congressional support. "While it requires significant investment to maintain a strategic posture sufficient to prevent war with a major power, it will be far more expensive, in lives and resources, to fight such a war," the report said. The panel warned that the US is currently without a comprehensive strategy to tackle two simultaneous nuclear wars with its two big rivals, calling on Washington to invest more in missile defense, including systems that could "deter and defeat coercive attacks by Russia and China." "US defense strategy to address the two-nuclear-peer threat requires a US nuclear force that is either larger in size, different in composition, or both," it said, stressing that Washington "lacks a comprehensive strategy to address the looming two-nuclear-peer threat environment." Following the release of the report on Thursday, Roger Wicker, a top Republican on the US Senate Committee on Armed Services expressed his worries over the US's current military might in case such wars break out. "It is apparent from the report that there is much more that we should be doing to ensure our military, and particularly our nuclear forces, are capable of deterring two near-peer nuclear adversaries at the same time," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Islamic Jihad commander, hundreds of civilians killed in Israeli air raids on Gaza Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 11:07 AM A senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement and his family have been martyred in the latest round of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, as the regime's relentless onslaught on the besieged enclave enters its sixth consecutive day. In a statement on Thursday, the Islamic Jihad confirmed that Abdul-Rahman Shehab, a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement, and his family were killed when the Israeli military carried out airstrikes against targets in the Jabalia neighborhood in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli regime's airstrikes also killed another Palestinian reporter in the Jabalia refugee camp. According to reports, seven Palestinian journalists and photographers have been killed by Israeli military air raids on Gaza. In the Thursday attacks, at least 10 Palestinian civilians, including women and children, were killed by an Israeli missile attack on the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. Dozens of injuries have also been reported after Israeli warplanes fired four missiles at homes, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency. These attacks came as the United Nations called for the establishment of a safe corridor to facilitate the delivery of much-needed medical, food, and fuel supplies, essential for powering Gaza's electricity generation station. "In previous escalations, there would always be some time, even a half-hour, without airstrikes," said Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent. "But now, there is not a single minute. That's why the casualties keep going up and up." Heavy casualties were also reported at Gaza hospitals. According to the latest statistics from Gaza's Health Ministry, the death toll has reached 1,354, including scores of children, with 6,049 wounded since Israel began its bombardment of the territory. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has reported that nearly 218,600 people are sheltering in 92 UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip. Many others are displaced in government schools and other buildings. In total, at least 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced across Gaza. The United Nations human rights chief on Tuesday warned that Israel's imposition of a total blockade on the Gaza Strip amounts to a war crime and violates international law. Israel launched deadly strikes on the Gaza Strip on October 7, after the resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation al-Aqsa Storm in the occupied territories. Hamas said its operation came in response to Israel's violations at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds and growing settler violence. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel killing Palestinian women, children over defeat to resistance: Raeisi Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 10:41 AM Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi said on Thursday that the Israeli regime is dropping bombs on defenseless Palestinian civilians due to its failure to face off resistance fighters. "This is not an effort to achieve victory," Raeisi said on Thursday, referring to the relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military. "This is a defeat when one chooses to face off women and children," he said. The Iranian president said the young Palestinians' fight to defend their homeland and people is a source of pride for the Islamic Republic and other Muslim nations. On Saturday, Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the largest military operation against the occupying entity in decades, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. The resistance movement said that its operation came in response to Israel's violations at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds and growing settler violence. In response, Israel launched deadly strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip. The regime's authorities also ordered a total blockade of Gaza to compensate for heavy losses suffered during Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, the death toll has reached 1,354, including scores of children, with 6,049 wounded since Israel began its bombardment of the territory. Raeisi also said what is happening against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories and the Gaza Strip is an appalling crime and a blatant example of crime against humanity. "According to international laws and regulations, those who commit these crimes and support them must be held to account," he said, pointing to the US support for the occupying regime. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Islamic Jihad calls on West Bank resistance to join operation against Israel Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 8:03 AM The Islamic Jihad resistance movement says the ongoing operation against Israel is no longer limited to the Gaza Strip and other fronts, including the resistance groups in the occupied West Bank, may soon join the large-scale battle. In an audio speech on Wednesday, a spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement, Abu Hamza, said Operation al-Aqsa Storm may soon expand to include the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, Lebanon's al-Mayadeen news channel reported. He added that the scope of fire is expanding, stressing that the events in south Lebanon were merely a small example of what is awaiting the enemy. He expressed confidence that victory is just around the corner. The military spokesperson addressed resistance fighters in the West Bank, calling on the Jenin and Lion's Den brigades, as well as all the Palestinians there to engage in confrontations with the Israeli occupation. "We have come prepared for you outside Palestine just as we were inside Palestine, and the events that unfolded in the Gaza Envelope shall be mirrored in other battlegrounds," he further said. Pointing to Israel's brutal attacks on the Gaza Strip, he emphasized that the enemy was not able to face the resistance, so it vented its anger on women and children. On Saturday, Hamas launched the largest military operation against the occupying entity in decades, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm. The resistance movement said that its operation came in response to Israel's violations at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds and growing settler violence. Israeli media outlets report that more than 1,300 settlers and troops have been killed, while the number of those injured exceeds 3,300. Following Hamas' surprise attack, Israel launched deadly strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip. Israeli officials also ordered a total blockade of the already besieged Gaza to compensate for heavy losses suffered during Operation al-Aqsa Storm. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, the death toll from Israeli airstrikes has reached 1,200, including scores of children. The attacks have left nearly 5,600 injured. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Raeisi: No new order will take hold in region until Palestinian rights upheld Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 7:01 AM Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says no new order will take hold in the region until the rights of the Palestinian people are upheld. Raeisi made the remarks during a phone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday night. "Today, all those who had openly declared their relations with the Zionist regime under the pretext of defending the rights of the Palestinians have been disgraced," he said. "It has been proven to the whole world that the Zionist regime is in its weakest state," he added. According to Raeisi, Israel suffered a blow during the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement's Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, which he said was "unprecedented in its 75-year history." "In recent days, the extreme cabinet of this regime has broken all boundaries of audacity and shamelessness and committed great crimes," he added. On Saturday, Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, a surprise attack, in the occupied territories, saying it was a response to the regime's violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds. The Israeli regime responded by carrying out deadly strikes on the densely populated Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,200 people so far. Israeli authorities also ordered a total blockade of Gaza to compensate for heavy losses suffered during Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. The Iranian president also called for unity among all Islamic and Arab countries as well as all the free people of the world to put an end to Israeli atrocities against the innocent people of Palestine. The Islamic Republic, he said, is trying to establish such coordination as soon as possible by contacting the heads of Islamic countries. President Raeisi blamed the Palestinian people's wrath on repeated attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the al-Aqsa Mosque, daily killings of Palestinians and the extreme policies of the cabinet of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Today, the Zionists, contrary to all international treaties, have completely besieged Gaza and cut off the supplies of water, electricity, medicine and fuel to the oppressed people of this region, while the self-styled advocates of human rights are trying to change the place of the oppressor and the oppressed through their double standards, which makes the Zionist regime arrogant and leads to the continuation of the genocide of Palestinians." For his part, President Assad said the great victory achieved by the resistance movement against the Israeli regime shows that the regime is much weaker than it reveals. "Today, the most obvious issue before us is that all Arab and Islamic countries should agree on a single and clear position to support the rights of the Palestinian nation and the oppressed people of Gaza," he said. "We must use all our efforts to speed up the creation of this consensus and a unified position in support of the oppressed people of Palestine, because every hour of delay in this regard will cause the Zionist regime to commit more crimes against the oppressed people of Gaza and Palestinians," he added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel cutting off Gaza's water, electricity amounts to collective punishment, systematic war crime: FM Amir-Abdollahian Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 6:48 AM Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Israel's move to cut off water and electricity supplies to the already besieged Gaza Strip amounts to collective punishment and systematic war crime. "The continuation of and an increase in war crimes in Gaza, its blockade and targeting of residential areas, hospitals and schools, as well as cutting off its water and electricity, amount to collective punishment and a systematic war crime," Amir-Abdollahian said in a phone call with his Emirati counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday. He warned that the persistence of such a situation would further complicate the conflict, adding that the Israeli regime is accountable for the ensuing consequences. Israeli energy minister Israel Katz said on Monday that he had instructed authorities to cut the water supply to the Gaza Strip. "All the water supply pipes from Israel to the Gaza Strip have been disconnected," he added. The top Iranian diplomat censured Israel's war crimes in Gaza and the regime's tightening of the siege, urging Muslim and Arab countries to support the Palestinian people. Pointing to Israel's indiscriminate attacks on Gaza, which have killed and wounded many Palestinians, the top Iranian diplomat reiterated Iran's call for an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip launched large-scale Operation al-Aqsa Storm against Israel on Saturday. According to Israeli media outlets, the death toll from the Hamas attacks has risen to 1,300 while the number of those injured exceeds 3,300. The Emirati minister, for his part, stressed the importance of unanimous support for the Palestinian people and civilians in Gaza in the face of Israel's brutal attacks. Nahyan said the United Nations and the International Red Cross should fulfill their duties to support the people of Gaza and create safe passage of the wounded out of the territory. He noted that he would raise the issue of an OIC emergency session with Arab countries. In another telephone conversation with Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian held Israel accountable for the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip as trapped residents are cut off from food, water and electricity, voicing Iran's readiness to send humanitarian aid to the region. The death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,200, with around 5,600 wounded, Palestinian media reported earlier, citing Gaza's health ministry. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China replaces 'Tibet' with 'Xizang' in latest diplomatic documents The move is seen as 'completely politically-driven, to legitimize the occupation and rule of Tibet,' say experts. By Yitong Wu and Chingman for RFA Cantonese 2023.10.12 -- China has replaced the use of the term "Tibet" with "Xizang" as the romanized Chinese name on official diplomatic documents, a recent speech by the Foreign Minister Wang Yi shows. The change comes as Chinese Communist Party scholars advocate an amendment to the translated name which they claim will prevent the Dalai Lama from reestablishing the right to speak about Tibet. They pointed out that the Party needed to promote its legitimate occupation and rule of the autonomous region. On Tuesday, the Chinese media and the official account of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, "United Front News," touted that "there is no more Tibet in the official documents of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs." In the English transcript of Wang's speech at the opening ceremony of the Third Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation on Oct. 5, Xizang was used throughout the copy. The commonly used name of Tibet by the international community encompassed not just Tibet alone, but also Tibetan-related areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces, according to Chinese media reports. This geographical scope is consistent with the "Greater Tibet" defined by the 14th Dalai Lama. Chinese media outlets quoted Chinese official experts as saying that the name "Tibet" has been geographically misleading to the international community, and rectifying it "will help enhance China's international voice on Tibet." Dawa Tsering, director of the Tibet Policy Institute, told Radio Free Asia that scholars of Tibetan history and culture are aware that the geographical concept includes all Tibetan areas, and the CCP's move was completely politically-driven, to legitimize the occupation and rule of Tibet. "It's a terribly bad political maneuver by the CCP. Concepts that have existed in history express historical facts. That 'Tibet' refers to the entire Greater Tibet or the entire area where Tibetans live," Tsering said. "By imposing its Chinese concept on the English one, it wants to secretly change the concept. It wants to tell others that Tibet is just the 'Tibet autonomous region.' Apart from expressing its sovereignty it is adopting a divide-and-rule policy for Tibet." Tsering called on the international community not to compromise with the CCP's efforts to reshape history and to stick to the established term "Tibet." "This is also a litmus test to see whether the international community will succumb to the CCP's tyranny. If you give in, you will call 'Xizang' like the Chinese parrot; if you don't give in, just continue to use 'Tibet' because this is a true fact. The most important thing is not what China does. It's about whether the international community will buy it," he added. Yang Haiying, a professor of Mongolian origin at Shizuoka University in Japan, believes that the CCP is trying to cover up its serious repression in ethnic minority areas through the "rhetoric" of "de-ethnicization." "These are political actions of 'de-ethnicization.' 'De-ethnicization' is equivalent to the idea of resolving ethnic issues. It is an approach to deny ethnicity by emphasizing 'de-ethnicization' of regions," said Yang. "One way is to shrink the scale of Tibet's expansive cultural area, and more so, the other is that [the CCP] will soon say 'there are no Toubou [or Tubo] people in China, but only Tibetans.'" Yang also pointed out that the CCP is violating its own laws, saying that "Inner Mongolia" was replaced by "Nei Menggu" on the passports of Inner Mongolians a few years ago. "It always uses Chinese language to express the terms inherent to each ethnic group. In fact, this approach conflicts with the regulations of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, which stipulates that 'the name follows the owner.' In the past, it used to change the name secretly, but now it is changing things openly without abiding by laws," Yang added. At China's 2014 National People's Congress, Zheng Gang, a local official in southern Hainan province and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, proposed changing the translation of the name of Tibet, claiming that "Tibet" would serve the Dalai Lama's interests. China's United Front Work Department repeated Zheng's views in this week's post on its WeChat account. In fact, since 2019, Chinese official media outlets such as Global Times, People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and CGTN have all used the term "Xizang" instead of "Tibet." In August this year, the CCP convened the 7th International Symposium on Tibetan Studies in Beijing to rebuild the media's image of Tibet as a region different from that of the West. Translated by RFA staff. Edited by Taejun Kang 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 October not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lao president visits village for residents displaced by rail project The new community has electricity, water and sturdy homes - but few ways to make a living. By RFA Lao 2023.10.12 -- Laos' president urged local officials to help villagers with jobs and subsistence farming during a visit to a newly built community where 400 residents displaced by the US$5.9 billion China-Laos railway project have recently moved. President Thongloun Sisoulith questioned the villagers in Luang Prabang province's Xieng Ngeun district over whether the rows of red-roofed homes represented an improvement over their previous livelihood. "He asked the affected villagers to compare between living in the old village and the new village," a local official told Radio Free Asia. "How do they feel? Are they happy or not? If they have problems, what are the problems? He wanted to help them." It wasn't clear what they told the president, but one resident of Buam Aor village told RFA that people had no choice but to follow government orders and relocate. "Villagers have no money and no land for agriculture," he said. "They have urged the government and related sectors to help them." The president's visit to Buam Aor on Oct. 6 comes as a number of large-scale development projects in recent years - including dams, mines and the 422-kilometer (262-mile) railway - have forced thousands of Laotians from their longtime villages. In the case of the railway, many families were pushed out of homes that had spacious farmland nearby to make way for track, stations, tunnels and bridges. They were then relocated to more confined spaces within resettlement villages set up by the Lao-China Railway Company. Struggling to make a living When the railway opened in 2021, Sisoulith called it "a significant milestone in history and a new era for the development of modern infrastructure" in the country The World Bank said that the Vientiane-Kunming route would boost tourism, freight transport and trade in agriculture, giving Laos' pandemic-hit economy a shot in the arm. For China, it's seen as the first stage of a future high-speed rail link through Laos to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore that would further cement China's status as the dominant trading partner with Southeast Asia. While some villagers have benefited from economic development along the route of the railway, others have told RFA that they are struggling to make ends meet. In Buam Aor, more than 100 two-story homes with cement foundations, a public water system and electricity were built along the Mekong River in 2022. The village is about 24 km (15 miles) from Luang Prabang. The local official told RFA that most people were better off because of the new village's paved roads, school and medical clinic. However, some are still complaining that they want more land for farming and access to better jobs, he said. "But there isn't funding for that," he said. "Officials are searching for funding from other projects for them." Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content October not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Former Fiji prime minister not guilty in abuse of power case State prosecutors had alleged the former leader interfered in a police investigation. By Reg Smith and Stephen Wright for BenarNews 2023.10.12 -- A Fiji court on Thursday found former strongman prime minister Frank Bainimarama not guilty of perverting the course of justice, cauterizing a potentially divisive case in a Pacific island country that has suffered four coups since the late 1980s. Bainimarama and former Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho had been accused of stopping a police investigation into complaints of financial mismanagement at the University of the South Pacific, which is headquartered in Fiji. "I want to thank the many prayers from relatives and friends that have been said on our behalf," a relaxed and smiling Bainimarama said as he left a Suva courthouse surrounded by supporters following the ruling. "Truth will prevail," he said in a video livestreamed by his political party. Qiliho, who stood next to Bainimarama outside the courthouse, was found not guilty of abuse of office. Bainimarama's 16 years in power ended in December after his Fiji First Party dropped below 50% of the vote in national elections, allowing opposition parties to form a coalition government led by former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. Both men are former coup leaders - Rabuka in the late 1980s and Bainimarama in 2006. A purge of Bainimarama appointees from important public positions followed the first change in government in Fiji since Bainimarama's coup, along with a slew of investigations into alleged abuses of office and the removal of restrictions on the media. A senior minister in Bainimarama's government, former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, was charged in May with abuse of office. State prosecutors had alleged that Bainimarama and Qiliho, who was suspended in January, had "arbitrarily and in abuse of the authority of their respective offices, terminated an active police investigation" in 2020. However, the judge, Seini Puamau, said prosecutors failed to make a compelling case that Bainimarama had advised Qiliho to end the police probe. "He never made any suggestions to Commissioner Qiliho for him to stop the investigation," she said. "He simply thought the commissioner had more important things on his plate" than personally handling the university investigation while Fiji was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. Puamau also said that a state witness, former acting police commissioner Rusiate Tudravu, had an axe to grind following his dismissal from the Fiji Police Force for a reason unrelated to the court case. Nothing in his evidence pointed to Bainimarama directing him or anyone else to stop the investigation, she said. Qiliho, meanwhile, had not been aware the investigation had ended until he was questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department in 2022, Puamau said. Fiji, a linchpin nation in a region increasingly contested by major powers, had a burgeoning relationship with China under Bainimarama. Ties have been strained under Rabuka, who put a police cooperation agreement with China under review and reasserted the importance of maintaining a close security relationship with the United States and countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Fiji's ties with China had blossomed after New Zealand, Australia and other countries sought to punish Bainimarama and his government for the 2006 coup. Bainimarama left office grudgingly and stayed in the official prime minister's residence for several weeks after Rabuka was confirmed as Fiji's new leader by a vote in parliament. He was suspended from parliament in February for three years after accusing the country's president of failing to follow the constitution, which gives the military a guardian role over the nation's politics, but remains leader of FijiFirst. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization. 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 October not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Bulgarian Government Faces No-Confidence Vote Over Green Transition Plans By RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service October 12, 2023 The Bulgarian government faces a vote of no-confidence in parliament on October 13 over plans for a transition to cleaner energy and other policies in the energy sector that have sparked angry protests from miners and other workers. The motion, filed by the nationalist and pro-Russian party Vazrazhdane and backed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), and the small populist party There Is Such People (ITN), is seen as having little chance of succeeding as the three parties do not have enough seats in the parliament. Members of the three opposition parties said the government's policies in the energy sector were a "risk for national security" during debate on the motion in parliament on October 12. Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov countered that there was "no basis for the opposition's criticism," adding that he was confident the government would receive enough support to survive the vote. The opposition parties has criticized the government's decision to adopt and send to the European Commission plans for the green transition of three coal-mining regions -- Stara Zagora, Pernik, and Kustendil -- which are expected to be hit hard by the switch to cleaner energy. Adoption of the plans was a condition for the European Commission to allocate 1.2 billion euros ($1.27 billion) in funds that would be used for the green transformation of the regions and the creation of new jobs for coal workers. The plans must include a timetable for reducing the capacities of coal-burning power plants in order to be approved by the European Commission. The adoption of the plans sparked protests of miners and other energy sector workers who fear they would lose their jobs. The government negotiated an agreement with the protesters, with Denkov saying the government won't close any coal-burning power plants before 2038. He added, however, that "the market will decide which ones will stay." Still, Iskra Mihaylova, a lawmaker from Varzrazdane, claimed that the coal regions are facing an "economic catastrophe" as a result of the government's decisions. Konelia Ninova, the leader of BSP, also criticized the government's actions in the nuclear energy sector and said that the government itself is "a risk to national security." But Kiril Petkov, a lawmaker from We Continue The Change - Democratic Bulgaria, said the no-confidence vote was part of a campaign for "propaganda based on fear and hatred." "I suspect that some of you regret that we are in the European Union and would be happy if we could participate in Putin's Eurasian Union," he said during the debate, referring to some of the opposition parties' pro-Russian orientation. The three opposition parties, supported by one independent lawmaker, have only 72 of the 240 seats in parliament. The two ruling parties -- We Continue The Change - Democratic Bulgaria and GERB -- have a majority of 132 lawmakers, while the Movement For Rights And Freedoms has 36 lawmakers. Observers see the motion as a means for the opposition to raise its profile before an upcoming local election in late October. Political turbulence is nothing new in Bulgaria. This is the first motion for vote of no-confidence against Denkov's government, which was formed in July after five general elections within two years. We Continue The Change - Democratic Bulgaria and GERB have long been rivals but agreed to form a government after negotiations that lasted more than two months following the elections on April 2. Former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's GERB party came first but it failed to cobble together any support to form a government. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-no-confidence- vote-green-transition/32634808.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Armenia Ask UN Court To Force Baku To Protect From 'Ethnic Cleansing' In Nagorno-Karabakh By RFE/RL's Armenian Service, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service October 12, 2023 Armenia has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take measures to protect the rights of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh to ensure Azerbaijan does not "ethnically cleanse" the breakaway region after Baku launched a lightning offensive last month that triggered most residents to flee the area. The hearing started at The Hague-based United Nations court on October 12 with statements from both sides. Armenia has been demanding that Azerbaijan refrain from "punitive actions against current or former Nagorno-Karabakh leaders or military personnel." "Nothing other than targeted and unequivocal provisional measures protecting the rights of ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will suffice to prevent the ethnic cleansing Azerbaijan is perpetrating from continuing and becoming irreversible," Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the lead counsel for Armenia's legal team, told the court. Baku and Yerevan were locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly ethnic Armenian-populated region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people. Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict brought little progress and the two sides fought another war in 2020 that lasted six weeks before a Russian-brokered cease-fire, resulting in Armenia losing control over parts of the region and seven adjacent districts. With its September lightning offensive, Azerbaijan effectively regained control of the rest of Nagorno-Karabakh. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians -- virtually the entire population -- have fled to Armenia. Azerbaijan's legal team was to present its case later in the day on October 12, but the Foreign Ministry has previously said the departure of ethnic Armenians was "their personal and individual decision and has nothing to do with forced relocation." A court ruling is expected in the case in a few weeks. Judgments of the court are binding. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-azerbaijan-international- court-justice-ethnic-cleansing/32634791.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US 'Ill-Prepared' to Face Nuclear Challenges From China & Russia, Report Reveals Sputnik News 20231012 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is ill-prepared to deal with nuclear challenges from Russia and China, a congressional commission said in a report released on Thursday. "Given current threat trajectories, our nation will soon encounter a fundamentally different global setting than it has ever experienced: we will face a world where two nations possess nuclear arsenals on par with our own," the report said. "In addition, the risk of conflict with these two nuclear peers is increasing. It is an existential challenge for which the United States is ill-prepared, unless its leaders make decisions now to adjust the US strategic posture." The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States said it has a robust array of threat assessments from the Intelligence Community and Defense Intelligence Enterprise and concludes the United States will be poorly prepared to deal with these challenges specifically from 2027 to 2035 and beyond. The commission urges the United States to address this issue urgently and resolutely. According to the report, this includes fielding strong deterrent capabilities and bolstering the US industrial base and American innovation. The report also emphasized the US president and the Congress must ensure appropriate, consistent, and timely funding to support the United States' strategic posture. Compiled from more than 100 briefings with security and intelligence insiders, the 160-page report further warned the US found itself in a "new global environment [that] is fundamentally different than anything experienced in the past, even in the darkest days of the Cold War." Among the potential solutions, the panel specified a much-needed boost in the stockpile of B-21 bombers and Columbia-class, nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, among other weaponry. At present, the US is in the process of replacing its nuclear submarines, intercontinental ballistic missiles and stealth bombers, a feat that insiders have said will carrying a hefty price tag of $1 trillion. However, it's believed the process itself may take years during to supply chain shortages and skyrocketing costs. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Blinken Says US Supports Finland, Estonia's Probe Into Balticconnector Gas Pipeline Damage Sputnik News 20231012 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States supports the investigation of Finland and Estonia into the causes of the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which runs from Finland to Estonia under the Baltic Sea. "We stand with NATO Allies Finland and Estonia as they investigate damage to undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and support their ongoing investigation to determine the cause," Blinken said on X (formerly known as Twitter). Earlier on Wednesday, Finnish police spokesman Mikko Simola said that some external traces had been detected in the seabed near the site where Balticconnector was damaged, adding that the Central Finland Police Department was investigating the matter together with colleagues from Estonia. On Wednesday, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said that his ministry obtained photo and video footage of the damage, which suggests that the pipeline had been pulled from one side and dragged. Authorities cannot rule out that the pipeline had been damaged by an anchor, media reported. On Tuesday, NORSAR, an independent seismic monitoring organization, said that it had recorded what appeared to be an explosion at the pipeline. The suspected explosion was measured at 1.0 on the Richter scale, which NORSAR said was much smaller than the explosion at Russia's Nord Stream pipeline in September 2022. Balticconnector was shut down early on October 8 after a sudden drop in pressure raised concerns that gas was leaking from the 48-mile undersea pipeline, which has an annual capacity of up to 2.6 billion cubic meters. Pipeline operator Gasgrid Finland said the pipeline appeared to have been damaged. Balticconnector is a gas pipeline connecting the Finnish city of Inga and Estonia's Paldiski. The pipeline gives Finland access to Latvia's Incukalns underground gas storage facility. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Antony J. Blinken At a Press Availability US Department of State Remarks Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State David Intercontinental Hotel Tel Aviv, Israel October 12, 2023 SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good evening, everyone. I came to Israel bearing a simple message: The United States stands with Israel and with its people - today, tomorrow, every day. In my meetings with the prime minister, with President Herzog, with the ministers in Israel's newly formed national emergency government, we discussed in detail what Israel needs to defend itself, its people, and how the United States can help to meet those needs. We're delivering on those needs as we speak, and we will work closely and swiftly with Congress to meet them as they evolve. This afternoon, I met with families of American citizens that Hamas has killed or taken hostage. The enormity of their anguish, their loss, is immeasurable. For the families of the missing, there's an unrelenting agony of not knowing the fate of their loved ones - something that I don't think most of us can truly understand, truly contemplate, if you're not in their shoes. No one should have to endure what they're going through. There are so many families like them. The United States is one of more than 30 countries where family members, friends, entire communities are being forced to go through this wrenching experience because of Hamas's disdain for human life and basic human dignity. We're doing everything we can to secure the release of the hostages, working closely with our Israeli partners. I brought with me to Israel our Deputy Special Representative for Hostage Affairs Steve Gillen, who joined my meetings with the families and will stay on the ground here to support the efforts to free their loved ones. I also had a chance to see up close the genuinely inspiring solidarity of the Israeli people in the wake of Hamas's attacks when I visited one of the many sites where citizens have swiftly organized efforts to collect, to sort, to distribute donations to those in need, including many families who have been displaced from the south. I had a chance to meet with some of the volunteers - several of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens. One young couple told me how they narrowly escaped with their own lives when Hamas terrorists attacked the Supernova music festival. They told me about their friends who were not fortunate, who were killed at that festival; others taken hostage or still missing. In our time here in Israel, everywhere we've gone we've met people who've been touched in one way or another by Hamas's bloody hand. A loved one, a friend, a classmate, a neighbor, a colleague - killed, maimed, missing. We encountered a nation knit together by grief, but also a nation united in resolve. The United States shares that resolve. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Israel. From here I'll go on to Jordan, where I'll meet with His Majesty King Abdullah, and with Palestinian Authority President Abbas. And then over the coming days we'll visit with leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Qatar. Across each of these engagements, we'll continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages. We'll also discuss how we can continue to make real our affirmative vision for a region that's more peaceful, more prosperous, more secure, more integrated. And in fact, that is the choice, and the choice in some ways has been made even more stark by the actions of Hamas on Saturday. One path forward is a region that comes together, integrated, normalized relations among its countries, people working in common purpose to common benefit. More peaceful, more stable. Then there's the path that Hamas has shown in the stark, clear light: terror, destruction, nihilism. The choice could not be more clear. We know the choice that we're making, our partners are making. We have work to do to carry it through. In all that I did today, I was supported by an exceptional team here in Israel. It's been doing crucial work in incredibly difficult conditions, led by a remarkable charge d'affaires, Stephanie Hallett. Stephanie is doing an extraordinary job. We also look forward to welcoming our future ambassador, Jack Lew, to Israel. As many here know, Hamas launched its attack on Simchat Torah. This is the day that Jews celebrate finishing the reading of the Torah. This Saturday, Jews around the world will chant the first words of the book of Genesis. They'll read that in the beginning, there was darkness; and then there was light. That the first person was alone until a partner joined them. I'm standing here today alongside our Israeli friends and all those who reject terror to help find the glimmers of light, even in this moment of deep darkness, and to make clear as that as long as there's a United States, Israel will never be alone. With that, happy to take some questions. MR MILLER: The first question goes to Shaun Tandon with AFP. QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Good evening. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Shaun. QUESTION: Could I just ask you, to begin with, Prime Minister Netanyahu has shared what he's - what are very gruesome photos - he said that he shared them with you. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Yeah. QUESTION: I know they're very disturbing to look at, but I wanted to see, first of all, what you - what your reaction was to those. And if I may, like, while understanding and acknowledging the great suffering that's been experienced by Israelis, there's a lot of concern in some quarters about the situation in Gaza as well - people looking for food in light of the cutoff. Was that discussed at all in terms of the humanitarian situation in Gaza? Was there any call for easing some of these conditions or for restraint, as we expect a ground offensive? And if you'll allow me just one thing that's been reported just recently, there was a report in The Washington Post that the United States and Qatar have decided to slow down or suspend the access that Iran has to the $6 billion that's been put in the special account. Could you say if this is accurate? And if it is, could you explain whether this is a slowdown or something more formal than that? Thanks very much. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Great. Thanks, Shaun. So we did see photographs, videos, that the Israeli Government shared with us. Some, I think, has actually already been seen in public media. Others were new to me and, I think, new to our team. It's hard to find the right words. It's beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and, God forbid, experience. A baby, an infant, riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded. Young people burned alive in their cars or in their hideaway rooms. I could go on, but it's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. It almost defies comprehension, and as I've been saying, to me, it, in the most immediate future, hearkens back to ISIS and some of the very things we saw when it was on its rampage that, thankfully, was stopped. So I think for any human being to see this, it's really beyond almost anything that we can comprehend, digest. And I'd just add that when you see this, you try to imagine - maybe not try, you can't help but imagine - yourself, your family, your loved ones, your friends, in that situation, in that predicament. And maybe the best word for it for me is overwhelming. I think what it's done is, as I said, united a country in profound grief, but also united a country in resolve. And it's imperative that the rest of us share that resolve. I said this earlier: This is a moment for moral clarity. This is a moment where everyone needs to make clear that there is revulsion, disgust, and a determination, a determination not to allow this to go forward. So images are worth a thousand words. These images may be worth a million. On the humanitarian situation in Gaza, I think it's, first, important to remember a fundamental issue that makes this complicated. Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields - something that's not new, something that they've always done - intentionally putting civilians in harm's way to protect - to try to protect themselves, or protect their infrastructure, or protect their weapons. So that's one of the basic facts that Israel has to deal with. And of course, civilians should not be used in any way as the targets of military operations. They are not the target of Israel's operations. We did discuss ways to address the humanitarian needs of people living in Gaza, to protect them from harm while Israel conducts its legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism and to try to ensure that this never happens again. We also talked about possibilities for safe passage for civilians who want to leave or get out of the way in Gaza, and that's a conversation, a discussion, that we will pursue in the coming days, including with some of the countries that we'll be visiting. So this is important, and this is an area for focus. With regard to the $6 billion, first, again, it's always worth repeating the facts, because, unfortunately, the facts get lost along the way. The money that Iran accrued in bank accounts, in this case in South Korea, for the sale of its oil was done pursuant to an arrangement established by the previous administration, the Trump administration. None of the funds that have now gone to Qatar have actually been spent or accessed in any way by Iran. Indeed, funds from that account are overseen by the Treasury Department, can only be dispensed for humanitarian goods - food, medicine, medical equipment - and never touch Iranian hands. We have strict oversight of the funds, and we retain the right to freeze them. MR MILLER: Next question goes to Gil Tamary with Channel 13. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much. Gil Tamary Channel 13 Israel. The President compared, rightfully, Hamas horrendous massacre to ISIS. Can you provide assurance to Israel that the Biden administration will not attempt to halt Israel effort until the goal of eliminating Hamas from Gaza is completely achieved, regardless of how long it may take? And with your permission, second question. If Hizballah opens a second front in the north, can we expect that if needed the U.S. will use its military assets in the region to fight against Hizballah together with the IDF? SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. With regard to the first question, the President's been very clear, I've been very clear - we stand with Israel. We stand with Israel in its determination to defend its people, defend its country. We stand with Israel in its determination to do everything possible to ensure that what happened on Saturday never happens again. And in that determination we're, of course, as you know, providing assistance as requested by Israel for its efforts. That will continue, and we're working closely with Congress to make sure that Israel has what it needs to do what it must. With regard to the second front, as I mentioned earlier, it's our determination and that of Israel as well that there not be a second front or a third front. And we are working as hard as we can, working with other partners in the region, to try to ensure that that's the case. The President has also been very clear, President Biden. He's been very clear that no one, state or non-state actor, should try to take advantage of this moment. And he's backed up that warning with a deployment of our largest carrier group, the Gerald R. Ford, as well as, again, making sure that Israel has what it needs and that we also have appropriate assets in place. Beyond that, I'm not going to speculate on future events. MR MILLER: For the next question, Ed Wong with The New York Times. QUESTION: Hi. Thank you, Secretary Blinken. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Ed. QUESTION: Many people have likened the horrendous violence by Hamas to the attacks of 9/11 in the U.S. As you know, the U.S. earned lots of goodwill after those attacks, and there was - were many expressions of solidarity for the U.S. from around the world. But soon afterwards, the U.S. squandered that goodwill when it began its invasion of Iraq. And now decades onward, in retrospect, many people think that the most lasting consequences of 9/11 were the two wars that many Americans deem were disasters in hindsight. And so I wonder what lessons might you have for Israel, as a friend of Israel, looking back at the aftermath of 9/11? Second, I wonder whether your team has an assessment of what Hamas's goals were in carrying out the attacks and whether it has gotten any closer to those goals with these attacks? SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks, Ed. First, let me say this, with regard to 9/11 - if you look at this in proportion to the size of Israel's population, this is the equivalent of ten 9/11s. That's how big and how devastating this attack has been. And of course, each of these situations is very different and it's important to keep that in mind. Of course, we're always trying to draw the lessons from our - from past experience, as they may or may not be applicable to what we or our partners are doing now. And of course, we're in very close conversation with Israel about the work it's undertaking, as I said, to make sure it can defend itself, defend its citizens, and to the best of its ability ensure that this doesn't happen again. Those are the objectives. And, again, I'll leave the operational details to Israel and simply say again, that as we have these discussions, we're looking at past experiences, including many past experiences more immediate to this challenge, including in Gaza and including in the region. With regard to the goals of Hamas, I think that is a question mostly on which I could speculate but not give you a - any kind of clear and definitive answer. There are a number of possible explanations. We have not heard from them what their goals are. And I have to tell you that in many ways the simplest explanation may be the most compelling: this is pure evil. There may be second or third-order interests. For example - I've noted this before - we've been engaged, as you know, in trying to support and advance the possibility of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and other countries that do not yet have normalized relations with Israel, something that is very challenging, very difficult, but also very possible, and something that would have a profound effect on the region, on the countries in question and on the region - a region that's been in turmoil for so many decades that through normalization, through greater integration then has a path to much greater stability, much greater peace, much greater opportunity for everyone in the region. Now, who opposes normalization? Hamas, Hizballah, Iran. I think that speaks volumes as well. MR MILLER: And the final question goes to Christine Rinawi with Al Araby News. QUESTION: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, can you discuss what Netanyahu - the need for Israel to commit to international law on the war in Gaza and any more details about the humanitarian corridors in Gaza? And following on my colleague question, the spokesperson of the White House retracted President Biden's claim of seeing pictures of beheaded children, but today you mentioned in your press conference about the babies slaughtered and the woman raped. Did you see the evidence of that? Thank you. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. To the first part of your question, I think you've heard the President address this. I've also addressed it in different ways, which is to say this: for democracies like the United States, like Israel, it's vitally important that we respect and follow international law, humanitarian law, the law of war, as applicable. And it's a standard that we hold ourselves to and it's a standard that we look to, including if and when we fall short of it. So this is something that motivates both of us, and of course it's what distinguishes us and other democracies around the world from terrorist organizations like Hamas, which have absolutely no regard for the rule of law, for humanitarian rules and rights, for any basic standards of human decency. On the contrary, as we were discussing just a few minutes ago, they quite literally and deliberately target civilians, and not just target civilians - target them in the most inhumane ways possible - and at the same time, use them as human shields. So that's a profound distinction between our countries and a group like Hamas. When it comes to the photographs, the videos, I described what I saw today. That doesn't mean it's the entire universe. We had an opportunity to see some of the photographs and videos. Unfortunately, there are many, many, many others, and every day the world is seeing new evidence of the depravity and inhumanity of Hamas - depravity and inhumanity directed at babies, at small children, at young adults, at elderly people, at people with disabilities. The list goes on, and on a basic human level, how anyone cannot be revolted and cannot reject what they've seen and what the world has seen, it's beyond me. Thank you. MR MILLER: Thank you all. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu After Their Meeting US Department of State Remarks Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State The Kirya Tel Aviv, Israel October 12, 2023 PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Mr. Secretary, my good friend Tony, thank you for your important visit here today. Thank you, thank President Biden, and thank you to the American people for your incredible support for Israel in our war against the barbarians of Hamas. I thank you in English; I want to thank you in Hebrew as well. (In Hebrew.) Mr. Secretary, your visit is another tangible example of America's unequivocal support for Israel. Hamas has shown itself to be an enemy of civilization. The massacring of young people in an outdoor music festival; the butchering of entire families; the murder of parents in front of their children and the murder of children in front of their parents; the burning of people alive; the beheadings; the kidnappings - of a young boy - not only kidnapped, molested, hurt, attacked; and the sickening display of celebrating these horrors, the celebration and glorification of evil. President Biden was absolutely correct in calling this "sheer evil." Hamas is ISIS, and just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. And Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated. They should be spit out from the community of nations. No leader should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned. Tony, my friend, I say to you, I say to all of us: There will be many difficult days ahead, but I have no doubt that the forces of civilization will win. And the reason that's true is because we understand what is the first prerequisite of victory. It's what you just said in our meeting: moral clarity. This is a time - a particular time, a special time - that we must stand tall, proud, and united against evil. Tony, you are taking that stand. America is taking that stand. Thank you for being here today. Thank you, America, for standing with Israel today, tomorrow, and always. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Mr. Prime Minister, I'm grateful to be back in Israel in this incredibly difficult moment for this nation - but, in fact, for the entire world. If you'll permit me a personal aside, I come before you not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew. My grandfather, Maurice Blinken, fled pogroms in Russia. My stepfather, Samuel Pisar, survived concentration camps - Auschwitz, Dachau, Majdanek. So, Prime Minister, I understand on a personal level the harrowing echoes that Hamas's massacres carry for Israeli Jews - indeed, for Jews everywhere. I also come before you as a husband and father of young children. It's impossible for me to look at the photos of families killed - such as the mother, father, and three small children murdered as they sheltered in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz - and not think of my own children. This was just one of Hamas's countless acts of terror - in a litany of brutality and inhumanity that, yes, brings to mind the worst of ISIS. Babies slaughtered. Bodies desecrated. Young people burned alive. Women raped. Parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents. How are we even to understand this, to digest this? And yet, at the same time - at the same time that we've been shocked by the depravity of Hamas, we've also been inspired by the bravery of Israel's citizens: the grandfather, who drove over an hour to a kibbutz under siege, armed only with a pistol, and rescued his kids and grandkids; the mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his, giving him life for a second time; the volunteer security teams on the kibbutzes, who swiftly rallied to defend their friends and neighbors, despite being heavily outnumbered. And we are lifted by the remarkable solidarity of the Israeli people, demonstrated in the long lines of people giving blood, in the hundreds of thousands of reservists who've mobilized, some rushing home from abroad, people around the country opening their homes to fellow citizens displaced from the south. The people of Israel have long - and rightly - prided themselves on their self-reliance, on their ability to defend themselves, even when the odds are stacked against them. The message that I bring to Israel is this: You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself - but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there, by your side. That's the message that President Biden delivered to the prime minister from the moment this crisis began. It's the message that I and my other colleagues in the government have delivered to our Israeli counterparts on a daily - even an hourly - basis. It's the message that I bring with me to our discussions today, and it's what I'll affirm when I meet with the members of Israel's newly formed national emergency government. We welcome the government's creation and the unity and resolve that it reflects across Israel's society. We're delivering on our word - supplying ammunition, interceptors to replenish Israel's Iron Dome, alongside other defense materiel. The first shipments of U.S. military support have already arrived in Israel, and more is on the way. As Israel's defense needs evolve, we will work with Congress to make sure that they're met. And I can tell you there is overwhelming - overwhelming - bipartisan support in our Congress for Israel's security. Here in Israel, and everywhere, we will reaffirm the crystal-clear warning that President Biden issued yesterday to any adversary - state or non-state - thinking of taking advantage of the current crisis to attack Israel: Don't. The United States has Israel's back. We've deployed the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean. We've bolstered the presence of U.S. fighter aircraft in the region. We're providing other support as well. We continue working closely with Israel to secure the release of the men, women, children, elderly people taken hostage by Hamas. We're pursuing intensive diplomacy throughout the region to prevent the conflict from spreading - and I'll be doing that over the course of my trip in the coming days. Too often in the past, leaders have equivocated in the face of terrorist attacks against Israel and its people. That's why we've been adamant with all countries in the wake of these attacks: There is no excuse, there is no justification for these atrocities. You heard the prime minister say it. This is - this must be - a moment for moral clarity. The failure to unambiguously condemn terrorism puts at risk not only people in Israel, but people everywhere. Look at what just happened. Individuals from 36 countries killed or missing in the aftermath of Hamas's attacks. Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas - no region has escaped Hamas's bloody reach. Anyone who wants peace and justice must condemn Hamas's reign of terror. We know Hamas doesn't represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations to live with equal measures of security, freedom, justice, opportunity, and dignity. We know Hamas - instead of promoting the well-being of its citizens - rules repressively and dedicates the resources it has to terror tunnels and rockets. We know Hamas didn't commit its heinous acts with the interests of the Palestinian people in mind. We know Hamas does not stand for the future that Palestinians want for themselves and for their children. Hamas has only one agenda: to destroy Israel and to murder Jews. No country can or would tolerate the slaughter of its citizens - or simply return to the conditions that allowed it to take place. Israel has the right - indeed, the obligation - to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens again. As the prime minister and I discussed, how Israel does this matters. We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by striving for a different standard - even when it's difficult - and holding ourselves to account when we fall short. Our humanity - the value that we place on human life and human dignity - that's what makes us who we are. And we count them among our greatest strengths. That's why it's so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. And that's why we mourn the loss of every innocent life, civilians of every faith, every nationality, who have been killed. Tragically, the number of innocent lives claimed by Hamas's heinous attacks continues to rise. Among those, we now know that at least 25 American citizens were killed. We join families in Israel, in the United States, around the world in mourning their immeasurable loss. Nearly 15 years ago, my stepfather, who I alluded to earlier, Samuel Pisar, came here to Yad Vashem to perform the mourner's prayer that he wrote to accompany Leonard Bernstein's Third Symphony, "Kaddish." Reflecting on the unspeakable horrors that he'd endured as a boy in the Nazi concentration camps, he wrote: "That man / though created in your image / and endowed with the freedom to choose / between good and evil / Remains capable of the worst, as of the best / Of hatred, as of love / Of madness, as of genius." In this moment where evil, hatred, and madness have once more taken so many innocent lives, we must stand together resolved to confront what is worst among humanity with what is best. We must provide an alternative to the vision of violence and fear, nihilism and terror presented by Hamas. That is what the United States will do, standing with Israel, working together with its people - and all those in this region who remain committed to the vision of a more peaceful, a more integrated, a more secure, a more prosperous Middle East. Thank you very much. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Call with Moroccan Foreign Minister Bourita US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson October 12, 2023 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke yesterday with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita about Hamas' unconscionable terrorist attack against Israel. The Secretary and the Minister discussed efforts to prevent a regional escalation and secure the release of hostages. The Secretary praised King Mohammed VI's commitment to peace and security in the region and welcomed continued close cooperation between Morocco and the United States. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Meeting with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Grundberg US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson October 12, 2023 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met Tuesday with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg to discuss the situation in Yemen and the urgent need for a durable resolution to the conflict. The Secretary and the Special Envoy spoke about the steps required to end the Yemen conflict as soon as possible and resolve the humanitarian and economic crises facing Yemen, even and especially as the Middle East region faces other challenges. Secretary Blinken underscored U.S. sustained support for an inclusive UN-mediated, Yemeni-Yemeni political dialogue and reiterated that Yemen now has an unprecedented opportunity for peace - he thanked the UN Special Envoy for his tireless efforts in this regard. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK government to arrange flights to get British nationals out of Israel Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announces that the UK will facilitate flights to help British citizens wanting to leave Israel. 12 October 2023 Foreign Secretary announces that the UK is set to facilitate flights to help British citizens wanting to leave Israel the first flight is expected to leave Tel Aviv today (Thursday). Further flights are planned in the coming days, subject to the security situation on the ground the UK has also sent a Rapid Deployment Team to Israel to assist British citizens on the ground The UK government will facilitate commercial flights to the UK to help British nationals wanting to leave Israel following the Hamas attack, the Foreign Secretary has announced. The first flight is due to depart from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv today (Thursday 12 October). Vulnerable British nationals will be prioritised for these flights. At this stage we will contact those who are eligible for the flights directly and British nationals should not make their way to the airport unless they are called. Since Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel, UK government officials have been working around the clock in London, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to support British citizens in the country. A Rapid Deployment Team has also been sent to Israel to bolster the efforts of British consular officials. The safety of all British nationals in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice. Those in Israel and the OPTs, including Gaza, are advised to register their presence with the Foreign Office. The FCDO continues to advise against all travel to parts of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and to advise against all but essential travel to all other parts. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly visited Israel yesterday (Wednesday) to reiterate the UK's unwavering solidarity with the Israeli people following Hamas' terrorist attacks. He met senior Israeli leaders to outline UK support for Israel's right to defend itself. Background British nationals, including dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK, will be invited to take up seats on the flights. these are paid commercial flights - our standard procedure. Each ticket will cost 300. This reflects the costs of operating the flight only the children and other dependants of British diplomats will also be given seats, as we have a duty of care to our staff while it is our intention to run these flights, security considerations will always be paramount in addition to our travel advice for Israel and the OPTs, we also advise against all travel to parts of Lebanon NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Coordination between the African Union, UN, and sub-regional organisations is critical to ending conflict: UK statement at the UN Security Council Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on the African Union. 12 October 2023 Thank you, President, and I join others in thanking the Special Representative, the Permanent Observer and Mr. Dersso for their briefings. President, UN-AU cooperation is fundamental to achieving our shared goal of a freer, more secure, more prosperous, greener, and healthier continent. So I am delighted we demonstrated our shared commitment by agreeing a communique at last week's AUPSC/UNSC meeting in Addis. President, I want to highlight three points about this partnership: Firstly, following nine coups on the continent since 2020, efforts to tackle this scourge and its underlying causes are critical. The AU PSC's decisive action in this regard has been important. I reiterate UK support for efforts by AU and sub-regional organisations, including ECOWAS, to bring about inclusive political dialogue and peaceful return to the constitutional rule. We look forward to deepening this dialogue, including exploring the potential of the New Agenda for Peace as Mozambique outlined on behalf of the A3 earlier. Secondly, coordination between the AU, UN, sub-regional organisations, and international partners is critical to ending conflict and promoting stability. This is why the UK has long supported permanent African representation on the Security Council. And it is why we look forward to working with Council colleagues on a framework resolution about UN financing for AU-led missions. We reiterate our concern about the potential for terrorism in the Sahel to spread to coastal states in West Africa. And we express our resolute support for efforts to tackle this, particularly regionally-led solutions such as the Accra initiative. We remain committed to the current sustainable drawdown of ATMIS and thank the AU Commission and TCCs for their tireless work in supporting Somalia's security. Since 2022, we have given over $60 million in funding and will contribute again this year. We also support a coordinated African-led response to the crisis in Sudan that harnesses a supporting role for the UN. Thirdly, I welcome the continued implementation of the AU-UN framework for the implementation of agenda 2063, and the 2030 agenda, and the Silencing the Guns agenda. To realise their shared vision of inclusive and sustainable economic development we must increase international cooperation. Indeed, collaboration is instrumental in addressing the humanitarian challenges on the continent such as food insecurity, where more than 160 million people in Africa are acutely vulnerable. Next month, we are partnering with Somalia and UAE to host a Global Food Security Summit, bringing together international expertise to galvanise action to prevent food insecurity, malnutrition and to save lives. President, we look forward to developing and deepening the cooperation between the AU and the UN in pursuit of our shared goals. Thank you. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Humanitarians call for urgent aid access to Gaza 12 October 2023 - Gaza is on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity and critical supplies, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday. No aid can come in from the outside for the 2.3 million residents of the sealed-off enclave, and some 220,000 displaced people are sheltering in schools run by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA. Stocks depleting fast Humanitarians are continuing to support Gaza's population as best they can. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that together with UNRWA it delivered fresh bread from "bakeries still able to operate" and food to over 175,000 displaced people across 88 shelters on Wednesday, with plans to "reach over 800,000 people across Palestine". The humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) reported that mass displacement has been continuing, increasing by 30 per cent in just the previous 24 hours, said UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York. This brings the cumulative figure to more than 338,000, "of whom over two thirds are taking shelter in schools run by UNRWA", the UN Relief and Works Agency, he added. Nearly 218,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) are sheltering in 92 of their schools. More than 2,500 units of housing have been destroyed or severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable, while nearly 23,000 others have sustained moderate to minor damage. At least 88 education facilities have been struck, including 18 UNRWA schools, two of which were used as emergency shelters for displaced people, as well as 70 Palestinian Authority schools. "This means that for the sixth consecutive day, more than 600,000 children have had no access to education in a safe place in Gaza", said the Spokesperson. Meanwhile, WFP stressed that its food assistance stocks were running out and called for urgent aid access. More humanitarians killed UNRWA further announced on Thursday that 12 of its personnel have been killed since 7 October in the Gaza Strip. The UN agency wrote on social platform X, "we mourn this loss and are grieving with our colleagues and the families", reiterating that "UN staff and civilians must be protected at all times." The UN health agency WHO, warned late on Thursday that hospitals in Gaza are "at a breaking point." Hospitals have just a few hours of electricity each day and are being forced to ration depleting fuel reserves to sustain just "the most critical functions" in overcrowded treatment areas. Acute shortages of medial supplies are compounding the crisis, limiting the response capacity, WHO added. Rights experts call for hostages release UN-appointed independent rights experts on Thursday added their voice to calls for Hamas to release people taken hostage during its attack on Israel - while also calling for the targeting of civilians in the Palestinian enclave to stop. The experts, who include Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, called for urgent accountability for the "horrific crimes committed by Hamas". 'No justification' The rights experts also condemned Israel's "indiscriminate" attacks against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and a further tightening of the "unlawful blockade" against the enclave. "There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces. This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime," the experts said. The rights experts warned of a severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave and of the "inescapable risk of starvation" faced by its population, adding that "intentional starvation is a crime against humanity". According to media reports on Thursday, the current conflict, which is expected to escalate further, has claimed at least 2,400 lives. More than 100 Israelis and foreign nationals, including children and older persons, are being held hostage in Gaza. Water crisis A water crisis is worsening across Gaza and in UNRWA emergency shelters "due to damaged infrastructure, lack of electricity needed to operate pumps and desalination plants, as well as limited supply of water in the local market", Mr. Dujarric said. "Water supplies cannot be replenished due to the total blockade on the Strip by the Israelis authorities. Fuel cannot be brought in, and Israeli water suppliers can no longer deliver water in Gaza." The UN's sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA said late on Thursday that it is "deeply concerned" for the safety and wellbeing of women and girls who have been caught up in the violence in Gaza. Gaza is home to 50,000 pregnant women, who are currently unable to access essential health services. Some 5,500 of these women are due to give birth in the coming month. Dozens of births a day imminent That is equal to 166 births per day, taking place with inadequate access to healthcare or even clean water, the agency said. "UNFPA is prepositioning supplies to be ready to deliver if siege conditions are lifted. We have provided medicines essential for safe delivery to the health authorities in Gaza and we are providing dignity kits to UNRWA shelters." One agency staff member based inside Gaza and continuing to provide services, spoke for many UN workers caught up in the violence along with hundreds of thousands of civilians, noting that "my only goal is to breathe. To stay alive." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group Visits Republic of Korea US Navy 12 October 2023 From Petty Officer 2nd Class Askia Collins, Commander, Task Force 70 / Carrier Strike Group 5 The U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) led Carrier Strike Group 5 to the Republic of Korea (ROK) for a port visit Oct. 12. The Nimitz-class Ronald Reagan was joined by the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam (CG 54) and USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) in Busan, while the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86) pulled in to Chinhae. The visit takes place following a flag-level trilateral engagement at-sea aboard USS Ronald Reagan involving Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, ROK Navy Fleet Commander, Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo, and Commander, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) Self Defense Fleet Vice Adm. SAITO Akira. "The U.S. Navy and our carrier strike groups have a long and productive history with our Korean allies, and our port visit here is the latest opportunity to strengthen the relationships between our people and navies," said Rear Adm. Pat Hannifin, Commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5. "Since the establishment of our Mutual Defense Treaty in October of 1953, the alliance between the U.S. and Republic of Korea has become the linchpin of peace and security in the region. The professional and personal exchanges that take place during port visits like this one build bonds across our navies, nations and cultures that benefit the entire region. We are honored to share this time with such gracious hosts." Following the flag-level engagement at sea, the carrier strike group joined the Republic of Korea Navy's Sejong the Great-class destroyer ROKS Yulgok Yi I (DDG 992) and the first-in-class fast-combat support ship ROKS Cheonji (AOE 57), as well as Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181), for a trilateral training event. The event included anti-piracy training and cooperative maneuvering. "Ronald Reagan recently sailed together with the Republic of Korea Navy, and during our port visit to Busan, Reagan Sailors will get the opportunity to further enhance our relationships with the South Korean people ashore," said Capt. Daryle Cardone, commanding officer, USS Ronald Reagan. "In addition to liberty, we plan to celebrate the U.S. Navy's 248th birthday together and participate in several community relations projects. We truly do go together, or as it is said in Korean, 'Katchi Kapshida.'" This port visit also coincides with the 70th anniversary of the United States-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty, codified Oct. 1, 1953. Forged during the Korean War, the US-ROK Alliance has evolved into a global comprehensive strategic partnership in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, and operates in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Readout of U.S. Under Secretary of the Navy Honorable Erik Raven, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti's Meeting with the Mayor of Yokosuka, the Honorable Katsuaki Kamiji US Navy - Press Release 12 October 2023 Vice Chief of Naval Operations Spokesperson Cmdr. Desiree Frame provided the following readout: The Honorable Erik K. Raven, Under Secretary of the Navy, and Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti met with the mayor of Yokosuka, Japan, the Honorable Katsuaki Kamiji, today to thank Mayor Kamiji for Yokosuka's longstanding history of hosting U.S. Navy assets in the U.S. Seventh Fleet. The leaders discussed the strong partnership between the Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the United States' commitment to the defense of Japan. Raven, Franchetti and Kamiji shared their thoughts on the importance of Allied naval presence in the Indo-Pacific, as well as security and stability in the region. Yokosuka is the only city in the world with a forward-deployed U.S. aircraft carrier, and both leaders spent time discussing the upcoming hull swap between the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS George Washington (CVN 73). Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka is the largest overseas U.S. naval installation in the world, and serves as the home to U.S. Seventh Fleet. This was Raven and Franchetti's first meeting with Mayor Kamiji. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Blinken Starts Middle East Tour in Israel, Calls for 'Moral Clarity' in Condemning Hamas By Cindy Saine October 12, 2023 Secretary of State Antony Blinken has completed an emotional visit to Israel, where he said American support for the Jewish state will never falter, following attacks by Hamas militants that killed hundreds of Israelis. "The message I bring to Israel is this: You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself. But as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to," he said, speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Thursday. Blinken was asked about photos Netanyahu showed him of babies and young people slaughtered in terror attacks Saturday by Hamas. Blinken said the images were overwhelming. "This is a moment where everyone needs to make clear that there is revulsion and disgust and the determination not to allow this to go forward. So, images are worth a 1,000 words. These images may be worth a million," he said. Blinken is heading from Israel to Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday. He announced a major diplomatic tour in the coming days, saying he will visit with leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Earlier, Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called on countries around the world to condemn the deadly surprise attacks by Hamas, saying this is a moment for "moral clarity." Netanyahu thanked Blinken for coming to Israel in the middle of the crisis and for America's support, while giving an emotional account of the attacks that have killed more than 1,000 Israelis. "The burning of people alive, the beheadings, the kidnappings of a young boy not only kidnapped, molested, hurt, but the attack and the sickening display of celebrating these horrors, the celebration and glorification of evil. President Biden was absolutely correct in calling this sheer evil," Netanyahu said. Blinken, who arrived earlier in the day, began with a personal aside, saying he had come to Israel at this critical time as a Jew, and as a husband and a father. "You've heard the prime minister say this must be a moment for moral clarity," he said. "The failure to unambiguously condemn terrorism puts at risk not only people in Israel, but people everywhere." Blinken said the Hamas attacks affect the whole world. "Look at what just happened individuals from 36 countries killed or missing in the aftermath of the heinous attacks. Europe, Asia, Africa the Americas no region has escaped Hamas' bloody reach," he said. Blinken will hold talks in the region on how to win the release of an estimated 150 hostages held by Hamas. The number of U.S. citizens confirmed dead in the Hamas attack in Israel over the weekend has risen to 27, with 14 more still unaccounted for, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday. Blinken's visit to Israel is the first leg in a major diplomatic push to several countries in the Middle East to prevent the violence from spilling over into other countries. He is expected to hold talks with leaders in the region on establishing a humanitarian corridor, with some 2 million Palestinian civilians trapped in Gaza while Israel seeks to destroy Hamas' operating capacity there. Blinken had this to say about the situation. "Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself," said Blinken. "How Israel does this, matters. We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by placing value on human life. So, it is important to take every precaution. We mourn the loss of every life." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel Vows No End to Siege of Gaza Until Hostages Released By VOA News October 12, 2023 The latest Israel vows no end to siege of Gaza until hostages are freed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel has a right to defend itself, highlights need to protect innocent civilians in the conflict as he meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu NATO condemns Hamas attacks, expresses solidarity with Israel U.N. says 340,000 people displaced in Gaza Israel says 1,300 killed in Hamas raid; Gaza says 1,500 killed in retaliatory strikes Israel on Thursday launched new attacks on Gaza, vowing there would be no letup in its bombardment of the Hamas-controlled territory until the militants release the estimated 150 hostages they are holding. "Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be lifted, no water hydrant will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home," Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz posted on X, formerly Twitter. "Humanitarian for humanitarian. And nobody should preach us morals." On Thursday, Human Rights Watch confirmed that Israel used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza on Wednesday in what constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law. White phosphorus can cause severe burns and long-term health issues. Israel ramped up preparations for a ground invasion of Gaza but said no decision had been made on moving forward with such an offensive. Israel's military has positioned 300,000 reservists near the Gaza border as it responds to a Hamas attack that killed at least 1,300 people in Israel. A campaign of Israeli airstrikes that began hours after Saturday's Hamas incursion has killed at least 1,500 people in Gaza. Israel says it has dropped 6,000 bombs over six days of bombardment. "The numbers of casualties are increasing every hour," Bashar Murad, director of the humanitarian group the Palestinian Red Crescent, told Alhurra, an Arabic language satellite TV sister organization of the Voice of America. "The number of dead and injured that arrived to the hospitals is much more than the capacity of these hospitals." The U.S. said that 27 Americans were killed in the Hamas attack and 14 are missing. The United Nations said nearly 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in Gaza, with more than two-thirds of them taking shelter in U.N. schools. Humanitarian organizations have expressed alarm about the fast-dwindling supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine in Gaza amid an Israeli blockade of the narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, "The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis. And naturally, the Zionist entity and its supporters will be responsible for the consequences of that." Amirabdollahian was speaking through a translator upon his arrival in Beirut. Iran and Israel are enemies, and Iran supports Hamas, but Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the recent Hamas rampage. Meanwhile, the chief of staff for Israel's military, Herzi Halevi, acknowledged Thursday that the military had failed to protect people living near Gaza when Hamas launched its attack. He said the Israel Defense Forces are "responsible for the security of the country and its citizens, and on Saturday morning in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, we did not," Halevi said. "We will learn, we will investigate, but now is the time for war." Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi highlighted the need to "ensure the regularity of humanitarian and relief services, as well as aid to the people in the Gaza Strip." Sissi's office said in a statement that he told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a phone call Thursday that Egypt is pushing for calm to prevent "sliding into a bloody path" where civilians will pay the price. The World Health Organization said it has documented 34 attacks on health centers in Gaza since Saturday that have led to the deaths of 11 health care workers on duty, as well as 16 injuries. Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented at least seven journalists killed in Gaza since Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself following the Hamas attack, while also stressing the need to take precautions to prevent harm to innocent civilians. "We know Hamas didn't commit its heinous acts with the interests of the Palestinian people in mind," Blinken said as he spoke to reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Hamas has only one agenda: to destroy Israel and to murder Jews." Netanyahu thanked the United States for its support and vowed to crush Hamas in the same way that Islamic State group was defeated. "There will be many difficult days ahead, but I have no doubt that the forces of civilization will win," Netanyahu said. "We must stand tall, proud and united against evil." The U.S. has provided more military assistance to Israel to defend itself, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin saying the U.S. is placing no specific conditions on how Israel uses the American-provided munitions. Blinken is also due to visit Jordan, where a U.S. official said he will meet Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II. Also on Friday, Brazil, which holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council, is set to chair a council meeting to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict. NATO said defense ministers meeting Thursday in Brussels condemned the Hamas attack, expressed their solidarity with Israel and called on the militants to immediately release all hostages. "Israel does not stand alone," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed the NATO defense ministers by video conference to update them about the conflict. The United Kingdom, meanwhile, said Thursday that it will send surveillance aircraft and two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean in plans "to support Israel." At the White House, President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington's support for Israel and assured a group of Jewish leaders Wednesday that his administration was "working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel." Netanyahu created a war Cabinet with former defense chief Benny Gantz, a centrist opposition National Unity Party leader, along with Gallant, so they can solely focus on combating Hamas. The unusual arrangement, with other Cabinet members from Netanyahu's right-wing government apparently remaining in place, pieces together a degree of unity after years of bitterly divisive politics. Netanyahu has vowed to end Hamas' rule in Gaza so that the militants can no longer threaten Israel. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report. Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taliban Decline Pakistan's Quake-Related Aid Over Controversial Tweet By Ayaz Gul October 12, 2023 Afghanistan's Taliban have blocked earthquake-related relief assistance from Pakistan over a controversial social media post by the country's prime minister amid an already strained bilateral relationship, VOA learned Thursday from highly placed official sources. A senior Taliban official, speaking on condition of anonymity while not being authorized to discuss the matter publicly, confirmed that Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar's post on X (formerly Twitter) was behind their refusal to accept the aid. The controversy started after a strong 6.3-magnitude quake struck parts of the western Afghan province of Herat. Islamabad immediately announced it would urgently dispatch a transport plane loaded with 5,000 winterized tents, 15,000 blankets, food items, medical supplies and a team of medical doctors for victims of the deadly calamity. The National Disaster Management Authority prepared the consignment, sharing details on its official website. Hours later, Kakar claimed in a post on X that the aid was being dispatched at the request of the Taliban government, even though Kabul has to date formally not asked foreign countries to send relief. Kakar also posted inaccurate details of the items his government had planned to send to Afghanistan. "I have instructed @NDMAPk to send maximum support to the affected," the prime minister wrote, adding, "Afghanistan government has specifically asked for sending medical team, field hospital, 50 tents and 500 blankets. ... all the requested items are being dispatched in the afternoon today, with more relief goods to follow," Kakar added. But the Pakistani plane has since not taken off, and neither side has officially cited reasons for the delay. "Although no such request was made and our government was ridiculed for it," the Taliban official said in written comments shared via a Whatsapp messaging platform when asked about their refusal to accept Pakistani aid. He criticized Kakar's statement as "irresponsible" and advised the Pakistani leader to be extremely careful while issuing statements about Afghanistan. A top Pakistani official privy to the matter questioned the Taliban assertions when asked to explain why Islamabad could not send the relief goods to Afghanistan. "Kabul neither says yes nor a no; they have made a formal request for assistance and told us that they will let us know when to send," the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to interact with the media publicly. Earlier on Thursday, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson, at her weekly news conference, avoided directly commenting on the controversy when asked for progress on sending Afghan relief aid. "Pakistan expresses deep sympathy with its Afghan brothers and sisters, as they face a very difficult situation following the earthquake that took place a few days ago," Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said. "Pakistan also stands in solidarity with its Afghan brothers and sisters and remains in contact with the interim Afghan government to meet any needs they may have during the relief and recovery efforts," she added. Relations between the two neighboring countries have been strained over allegations that militants sheltering on Afghan soil are responsible for a dramatic uptick in deadly attacks in Pakistan since the Taliban seized power two years ago, charges Kabul rejects. Tensions increased after the Pakistani government gave all foreigners, including an estimated 1.7 million Afghans, a one-month deadline to leave or face deportation after November 1. Taliban leaders have severely criticized the decision and repeatedly urged Pakistan to review it, warning it could "seriously hurt" bilateral ties. However, spokesperson Baloch reiterated Thursday that Islamabad was determined to enforce the policy to make sure individuals overstaying their visas or possessing no documentation leave Pakistan. She said the deportation would be completed orderly and in line with local immigration laws. "This requirement pertains to all nationalities and is not specific to any nationality. ... There are different prescriptions within these laws, including deportation. This process will be completed in a phased and orderly manner." Pakistan has repeatedly clarified that the November 1 deadline is not meant for 1.4 million officially designated Afghan refugees and more than 800,000 Afghan citizenship card holders living lawfully in the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan Officials Lower Earthquakes' Death Toll By Ayaz Gul October 12, 2023 Afghanistan's Taliban government Thursday lowered the death toll from a series of recent earthquakes that struck western districts to about 1,000, revising the previous figure of more than 2,000 fatalities. The Afghan Public Health Ministry posted the latest toll on X, formerly Twitter, saying around 2,400 people had been injured since Saturday, when the first 6.3-magnitude quake rattled several districts in the western Herat province, bordering Iran. A UNICEF spokesperson told VOA Thursday that "over 90% of those reported killed" were women and children, saying casualty "numbers are still in flux." The United Nations documented the death of around 1,300 people and nearly 1,700 injured as of Thursday. VOA reached out to U.N. officials to seek a clarification about the discrepancy but did not receive a response immediately. Repeated aftershocks hit the Afghan disaster zone before it was shaken by another 6.3-magnitude quake Wednesday that was followed by three substantial tremors. The latest United Nations situation report said that Wednesday's earthquake and aftershocks affected villages in the Injil, Gulran, and Kushki Robat-e-Sangi districts of Herat, injuring at least 140 people. "Chahak village in Injil district, with 1,250 residents, has been completely destroyed along with five neighboring villages," it said. Provincial officials reported at least one death and injuries to over 150 people from the latest quake. Siddig Ibrahim, UNICEF field officer for western Afghanistan, told VOA earlier this week that when the first earthquake hit, people thought it was an explosion and ran into their homes. "Unfortunately, the earthquake continued, and houses started collapsing," Ibrahim said. "Women and children are often at home, tending to the household and caring for children, so when structures collapse, they are the most at risk." UNICEF launched a new appeal for Afghanistan on Wednesday, calling for an initial $20 million to respond to the quakes. The World Health Organization has reported damage to 21 health facilities in 10 districts, with half caused by the October 11 tremors. So far, WHO and other agencies have provided health care services to more than 5,600 people in several highly affected districts, mainly in Zindajan, which was close to the epicenter of Saturday's quake. Afghan hospitals, already severely underequipped and underfunded, were quickly overwhelmed. Providing shelter to quake victims on a large scale would be a challenge for the Taliban government. "That area suffers from extreme cold, and staying outdoors for affected families after the evening is tough," Public Health Minister Qalandar Ebad told reporters Wednesday. "They can live in tents for one month, but beyond that, it would probably be very difficult," he said. The government has provided medicine, equipment, food, drinking water, tents, and other necessities for the victims but they still need more help, Ebad said. He praised international aid organizations for supporting his government in bringing much-needed relief goods to quake victims. Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that several countries had also sent relief items to displaced families in Herat. This story has been updated to include U.N. estimates of the number of earthquake casualties. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kenyan Court Temporarily Suspends Deployment of Police Force to Haiti By Mariama Diallo October 12, 2023 A Nairobi court this week temporarily suspended a Kenyan government plan to deploy 1,000 police officers to Haiti. The case was brought to court by three petitioners, including opposition politician and constitutional lawyer Ekuru Aukot, who told VOA the proposed deployment was unconstitutional. Analysts say there may be a way for the government to argue its case. The ruling by the High Court of Kenya puts a hold on the deployment of police officers to Haiti or any other country, pending another hearing scheduled for October 24th. This will allow government officials to respond to the arguments made against them in the petition, the ruling shared with VOA says. The petitioners include opposition politician and constitutional lawyer Ekuru Aukot. The politician told VOA that although he cannot really discuss a matter that is actively in court, he maintains that the government's plan to send 1,000 of its police to Haiti is not in line with the constitution. "The whole thing is very un-procedural," said Aukot. "It is unconstitutional. And for me, as a person who sat on the committee of experts and as a CEO to direct the writing of our current constitution, it behooves me to be able to point out an unconstitutional decision." The U.N. Security Council last week approved a Kenya-led multinational security force aimed at helping the troubled Caribbean nation. While many in Kenya question their country's lead role in this mission, some have been supportive of President William Ruto. He says, "It's a mission for humanity and ... is of special significance and critical urgency" for Kenyans. A representative from the Ruto government told us on Tuesday that the government will argue its case and abide by the court's decision. Meanwhile, in the petition shared with VOA, Aukot cites two articles in the Kenyan constitution. They say that only Kenya Defense Forces can be deployed to another country and that the National Police Service will only function throughout Kenya. But... "There is an inkling in Section 107 and 108 of the National Police Service Act, and it says the National Police may, it's very discretionary, may be deployed but it has to be upon a request from a reciprocating government," said Aukot. "And that's one of the gists of the question we are raising, which I don't want to discuss in detail because it's a matter for determination." Haiti did ask for help but didn't ask Kenya specifically and there is no reciprocal agreement between the two governments, Francis Khayundi, assistant professor of international law at the United States International University - Africa, told VOA. Khayundi says the court's decision is in line with the petitioners' argument on what processes had not been followed. "For me looking at the petition and looking at what the laws provide, it makes sense because as it is, procedure was not followed or better yet, not all information is being given that would make us know why Kenya is getting involved," said Khayundi. But Khayundi notes there may be a way for the government to make its case. "Actually, there's provision for the police to be deployed outside the country; however, this is a decision that has to be taken by the National Security Council; it's informed by Article 240 of the Kenyan constitution. So far, we have not heard of any decisions being taken by the National Security Council to deploy the police, so I think that is where the issue is," said Khayundi. He says the NSC is a body established by the constitution that includes the president, his deputy, a few Cabinet secretaries, the attorney general, the director general of the national intelligence service, and the inspector general of the National Police Service. And so far, they've only mostly heard from the president and a few Cabinet secretaries making the case for deployment. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Norwegian FM calls for de-escalation in Israeli-Palestinian conflict People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:16, October 13, 2023 OSLO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt on Thursday called for de-escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Huitfeldt said in a statement that there is an urgent need to stop the violence and de-escalate the situation. "All actions that could contribute to a further escalation of the situation must be avoided." She said there is no military solution to the conflict and the only way to achieve peace is to restart a political process. Huitfeldt said Norway encourages the international community to continue its financial assistance to the Palestinian people. "The situation will only deteriorate further if the international community suspends or reduces its assistance at this critical juncture," she said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gazans trapped in ever-worsening situation with health system overwhelmed People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:24, October 13, 2023 GAZA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The 35-year-old Farid Abdul Halim Mousleh thought that escaping the fierce bombardment on his town of Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza, would spare his family from the ongoing Israeli air strikes on the coastal enclave that have lasted for six days. However, it seems that no place is safe in the Gaza Strip anymore as his new home in the heart of the Gaza City was also subjected to Israeli shelling, injuring him and his father and killing two of his elderly relatives. Struggling to come to terms with the sudden and devastating losses in grief, the man, with his head all bandaged and eyes swollen from injuries, told Xinhua that "we did not expect such a tragedy." Mousleh recalled that his family was getting ready to sleep when the Israeli attack began. Then he rushed out of the building to Jalaa Street in the heart of Gaza City with his parents, his wife, four children and some elderly relatives. The next morning, after a strong airstrike hit the place again where they had sought refuge, he woke up in a hospital bed. Mousleh is one of the thousands of Palestinians who had to flee their homes in the border town of Beit Hanoun with Israel and other neighborhoods and camps in Gaza due to the continuous and intense Israeli bombardment for the past six days. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched since Saturday thousands of rockets at Israeli cities, while hundreds of its militants infiltrated the Israeli towns adjacent to Gaza, killing and wounding Israelis. Israel, in response, launched intense and unprecedented attacks on the Gaza Strip, causing widespread destruction and sometimes wiping out entire neighborhoods. Now, the Shifa Medical Complex, a main medical center in Gaza, is overcrowded with casualties from Israeli shelling, including dozens of entire families. The injured have spread out on the hospital's grounds, with some sleeping on mats or blankets, and children without shoes cling to their mothers when they hear the sound of explosions. Facing the ever-worsening situation, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila warned of the collapse of the overwhelmed healthcare system in the Gaza Strip due to a severe shortage of medical supplies. Alkaila said in a press release that the large number of casualties exceeds the capacity of Gaza's hospitals, calling on international organizations and the Red Cross to immediately intervene and provide medical aid. The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip and West Bank has totaled 1,448, while 6,868 others were wounded, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry on Thursday night. Meanwhile, Israel's public broadcaster Kan said the Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300. Israel cut off its power supply to the Gaza Strip and ordered a complete siege on the Palestinian enclave, home to over 2.2 million people. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Thursday that at least 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the escalation on Saturday. "The water crisis is looming in UNRWA shelters and throughout Gaza due to the lack of electricity needed to operate pumps and water desalination plants and the limited water supply in the local market," added the UN agency. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 12 October 2023 - Day 596 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 31 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 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of October 12, there were 55x combat engagements. Russian forces launched 2x missile and 55x air strikes, more than 20x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. 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. The Russian invaders launched air strikes near Popivka and Seredyna-Buda (Sumy oblast). About 20x settlements came under Russian artillery and mortar fire, including Bleshnya, Buchky (Chernihiv oblast), Mefedivka, Seredyna-Buda, Fotovyzh, Chuikivka, Stepok (Sumy oblast), Hatyshche, Vovchans'k, and Veterynarne (Kharkiv oblast). Kup'yans'k axis: Ukrainian soldiers repelled 4x Russian attacks in the vicinity of Syn'kivka and 8x attacks near Ivanivka (Kharkiv oblast). The Russian adversary fired artillery and mortars at more than 15x settlements, including Kam'yanka, Dvorichna, Ivanivka, and Syn'kivka (Kharkiv oblast). Lyman axis: Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of settlements of Nevs'ke, Bilohorivka, Novolyubivka, Serebryans'ke forestry (Luhansk oblast), Spirne, Vesele, and Sivers'k (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian defense forces repelled 4x Russian attacks in the vicinity of Makiivka (Luhansk oblast) and Serebryanske forestry (Donetsk oblast). The Russian invaders fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Nevs'ke, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Spirne, Rozdolivka, and Verkhn'okam'yans'ke (Donetsk oblast). Bakhmut axis: Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Klishchiivka and Andriivka (Donetsk oblast). More than 10x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, and Chasiv Yar (Donetsk oblast). Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders are bravely holding the line, repelled 7x Russian attacks in the vicinity of Avdiivka and 7x more attacks near Lastochkyne, Tonen'ke, Pervomais'ke, and Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast). The Russian occupiers launched air strikes in the vicinities of settlements of Novokalynove, Keramik, Stepove, and Avdiivka (Donetsk oblast). The Russian invaders fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Novokalynove, Stepove, Avdiivka, and Pervomais'ke (Donetsk oblast). Mar'inka axis: during the day of October 12, Ukrainian defense forces successfully repelled about 10x Russian attacks in the vicinities of Mar'inka, Pobjeda, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast). About 10x settlements, including Heorhiivka, Mar'inka, Pobjeda, Novomykhailivka, and Katerynivka (Donetsk oblast), were under artillery and mortar fire of the Russian occupiers. Shakhtars'ke axis: Russian forces launched air strikes near Novomykhailivka and Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast). Around 10x settlements, including Vodyane, Vuhledar, Zolota Nyva, and Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast), came under artillery and mortar fire. Zaporizhzhia axis: Russian forces made unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost position in the vicinity of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast). The Russian occupants launched an air strike near Novodanylivka (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Around 20x settlements, including Malynivka, Orikhiv, Novoandriivka, P'yatykhatky, and Stepove (Zaporizhzhia oblast), came under Russian artillery and mortar fire. Kherson axis: Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at Antonivka, Bilozerka (Kherson oblast), the city of Kherson, 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 occupation forces, exhausting the Russian forces all along the front line. During the day of October 12, Ukrainian Air Force launched 12x air strikes on the concentrations of Russian troops, weapons, and military equipment, and 2x air strikes on anti-aircraft missile systems. The Ukrainian missile troops hit 1x command post and 9x artillery systems of the Russian invaders. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces supported by aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems repelled seven counter-attacks of assault detachments of the AFU 4th Tank Brigade, 14th, 32nd, and 115th mechanised brigades near Sinkovka, Ivanovka (Kharkov region), and Makeyevka (Lugansk People's Republic). In addition, Russian units inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 14th Mechanised Brigade and 103rd Territorial Defence Brigade near Kupyansk and Berestovoye (Kharkov region). The enemy has lost up to 105 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two motor vehicles, one Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer, one U.S.-made M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer, as well as one D-30 howitzer. In Krasny Liman direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, helicopters, artillery repelled three attacks of assault detachments of the AFU 21st and 67th mechanised brigades close to Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic) and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic). The AFU losses amounted to up to 55 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, as well as two D-30 howitzers. In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled three attacks of AFU assault detachments near Kleshcheyevka and Pervomayskoye (Donetsk People's Republic). Ground-attack aircraft launched strikes at manpower and hardware of the AFU 10th Mountain Assault Brigade, 53rd, 93rd, and 110th motorised brigades close to Belogorovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Kurdyumovka, Avdeyevka, and Mariynka (Donetsk People's Republic). ?? During the day, the enemy lost more than 340 Ukrainian troops killed and injured, one tank, five armoured fighting vehicles, and six motor vehicles. In the course of counterbattery warfare, one French-made Caesar self-propelled howitzer, two D-20 howitzers, and one D-30 howitzer were neutralised. In addition, three AFU ammunition depots were destroyed close to Avdeyevka, Orlovka, and Latochkino (Donetsk People's Republic). In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces, helicopters, and artillery inflicted loses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 58th Motorised Brigade and 79th Airborne Brigade near Urozhaynoye and Novomikhailovka (Donetsk People's Republic). Up to 165 Ukrainian troops, two motor vehicles, one Grad MLRS combat vehicle, one M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer, and one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery howitzer were neutralised. In Zaporozhye direction, two attacks of assault detachments of the AFU 23th and 65th mechanised brigades near Rabotino (Zaporozhye region) were repelled by competent actions of the Russian units, air strikes, and artillery fire during the day. The enemy lost up to 30 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two armoured fighting vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, one D-20 howitzer, and one U.S.-made M119 howitzer. In Kherson direction, up to 50 Ukrainian troops, 11 motor vehicles, and one D-30 howitzer have been neutralised during the day. In addition, one electronic warfare station, as well as one ammunition depot, were neutralised close to Berislav (Kherson region). Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 129 areas during the day. One military hardware depot was destroyed near Ismail (Odessa region). An AFU hangar with landing boats was wiped out close to Solonzhaki (Nikolayev region). Air-delivered ordnance depots of the Ukrainian Air Force were destroyed at Mirgorod airfield (Poltava region) and Dnepr airfield (Dnepropetrovsk region). Air defence units intercepted six U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles during the day. ?? Moreover, 39 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were downed close to Spornoye, Peski (Donetsk People's Republic), Belogorovka, Nyrkovo (Lugansk People's Republic), Novofedorovka, Romanovskoye, Gulai Pole (Zaporozhye region), Nikolayevka, Novaya Kakhovka (Kherson region). In total, 488 airplanes and 250 helicopters, 7,748 unmanned aerial vehicles, 441 air defence missile systems, 12,528 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,163 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,738 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 14,115 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran determined to continue activities related to space launch vehicles IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 12, 2023 New York, IRNA -- The ambassador and permanent representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations has said Tehran is determined to continue its "activities related to ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles." Amir Saeid Iravani made the remarks on Wednesday local time in a letter to Secretary-General of the UN Antonio Guterres and President of the Security Council of the UN SArgio FranAa Danese. In his letters, the ambassador has warned against any political approach taken by certain states towards the space programs of developing countries. The Islamic Republic strongly rejects ungrounded claims made on October 9, 2023, by Britain, Germany and France about Iran's space activities. Below is the full text of the letter written by the Islamic Republic representative in response to the three countries' claims: In the Name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful Excellencies, I am writing to you in response to the letter dated 9 October 2023 addressed to the President of the Security Council and the Secretary-General from the representatives of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to the United Nations (S/2023/747), in which the authors of the letter above have once again desperately attempted to establish an unrelated and fabricated link between paragraph 3 of Annex B to Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) and Iran's Qased Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) on 27 September 2023 which successfully launched the Noor-3 satellite into orbit. The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects unsubstantiated allegations made against it in the letter and reiterates that Iran has not conducted any activity inconsistent with Resolution 2231 (2015) Iran regards such allegations as unfounded that are equally as unjustified as the arbitrary and misleading interpretations of Resolution 2231. Iran's position regarding these repeated and unfounded claims has been elaborated in its numerous letters, including letters dated 26 May 2022 (S/2022/438), 24 October 2022, (S/2022/794), 28 November 2022, (S/2023/882), and 14 June 2023 (S/2023/439). The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly stated that its missile and space programs fall outside of the purview or competence of Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) and its annexes. The respective governments of the authors of the aforementioned letter must fully and genuinely comply with all of their respective legal obligations under that Resolution, including by refraining from any actions that undermine the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), particularly its Annex A, rather than engaging in such an unethical exercise while also stating politically motivated and repeated unfounded claims against the Islamic Republic of Iran. We caution against any politically driven approach used by certain developed countries with space programs that seek to demonize the use of space technology for peaceful purposes by developing countries under absurd pretexts, such as proliferation concerns. This hypocritical approach seriously jeopardizes the exercise of the inherent right of States to access space and celestial bodies as well as their freedom to explore and use outer space for peaceful purposes, including their free access to space science, technologies, and applications without discrimination of any kind. We reiterate, once again, that Iran is determined to continue its activities related to ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles, both of which are within its inherent rights under international law and are necessary for the preservation of its security as well as socioeconomic interests. Given the mandate outlined in the note by the Security Council President on the Council's tasks pursuant to Resolution 2231 (2015) (S/2016/44), the Secretary-General is expected to take his mandate and desist from reporting on such irrelevant activities in his subsequent report on the implementation of Resolution 2231 (2015). Instead, based on the aforesaid terms of reference, the Secretary-General is kindly urged to report the non-compliance of France, Germany and the United Kingdom with their obligations under the Resolution. I would be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated as a document of the Security Council. Please accept, Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration. 1483**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran says to continue space program under international law Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 4:30 PM Iran's permanent ambassador to the United Nations says the Islamic Republic is determined to keep up with its activities related to ballistic missiles and space-launch vehicles within the framework of international law. Amir Saeid Iravani addressed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council's President Sergio Franca Danese in a letter on Wednesday. "We reiterate, once again, that Iran is determined to continue its activities related to ballistic missiles and space-launch vehicles, both of which are within its inherent rights under international law and are necessary for the preservation of its security as well as socioeconomic interests." The letter came after Britain, Germany and France claimed in a letter to the UN on Monday that Iran's space activities violate the Security Council's resolutions. The trio submitted the letter after Iran launched Qased (Messenger) satellite carrier in late September. Iravani also said in his letter that the UK, France and Germany "once again desperately attempted to establish an unrelated and fabricated link between paragraph 3 of Annex B to Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) and Iran's Qased Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) on 27 September 2023 which successfully launched the Noor-3 satellite into orbit." "The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects unsubstantiated allegations made against it in the letter and reiterates that Iran has not conducted any activity inconsistent with Resolution 2231 (2015). Iran regards such allegations as unfounded that are equally as unjustified as the arbitrary and misleading interpretations of Resolution 2231," Iran's UN envoy said. The Islamic Republic's "position regarding these repeated and unfounded claims has been elaborated in its numerous letters," Iravani said. London has also claimed the carrier used "technology essential for the development of a long-range ballistic missile system." Iravani reiterated that "Iran has repeatedly stated that its missile and space programs fall outside of the purview or competence of Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) and its annexes." Despite sanctions imposed by Western countries in recent years, Iran has managed to take giant strides in its civilian space program. It is among the world's top 10 countries capable of developing and launching satellites. "We caution against any politically driven approach used by certain developed countries with space programs that seek to demonize the use of space technology for peaceful purposes by developing countries under absurd pretexts, such as proliferation concerns," the Iranian diplomat said. "This hypocritical approach seriously jeopardizes the exercise of the inherent right of states to access space and celestial bodies as well as their freedom to explore and use outer space for peaceful purposes, including their free access to space science, technologies, and applications without discrimination of any kind." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint Statement on U.S.-Singapore Space Dialogue Media Note Office of the Spokesperson October 12, 2023 The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Singapore at the U.S. - Singapore Space Dialogue. Begin Text As called for in the March 2022 U.S.-Singapore Joint Leaders' Statement, the United States and Singapore held the first bilateral Space Dialogue in Washington, D.C. on October 10, 2023. The U.S.-Singapore Space Dialogue is a platform designed to strengthen bilateral exchanges and entrench cooperation in civil space matters. It is yet another example of the expansion of cooperation between the United States and Singapore into emerging and frontier areas. The U.S. delegation was led by Valda Vikmanis-Keller, Director, State Department Office of Space Affairs, and the Singapore delegation by Ronald Tong, Acting Executive Director, Office for Space Technology & Industry (OSTIn). Both delegations were represented by a range of ministries and agencies involved in civil space activities. Both sides agreed that earth observation is a priority area for bilateral cooperation. They discussed a range of programs that use satellites to better understand climate change and environmental conditions, prepare for and respond to disasters, and improve natural resource use. They agreed to consider possible joint projects in a range of areas including air quality research, fire and smoke haze detection and assessment, and the use of small satellites for earth observation. The delegations recognized the potential for expanded cooperation on space-related use cases. One area of cooperation is in the maritime domain, where satellite remote sensing and communications will enhance maritime domain awareness and connectivity. This will support the broad range of government and commercial interests in security, ensure the safety of life at sea, protect the environment, and promote the development of digital and decarbonization solutions. Another area of cooperation is in the aviation domain whereby the provision of safe and efficient air traffic management can be enhanced with satellite voice and data communications over oceanic and remote areas. Satellite data communications will also become increasingly important for future aviation concepts of operations. Both countries reviewed joint efforts to promote the sustainability of the outer space environment. This includes work in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and other UN bodies, and work under the Artemis Accords, which seeks to establish guidelines to ensure safety and responsible behavior in outer space as countries explore the Moon and beyond. They also noted the importance of dealing with the growing problem of orbital debris. Following the government-to-government discussions, both sides held a commercial Roundtable which brought together over twenty private space companies and research institutions from each of the two countries. The Roundtable was chaired by Richard DalBello, Director of the Department of Commerce's Office of Space Commerce, and Ronald Tong, Acting Executive Director, OSTIn. The session allowed industry representatives to better understand how the United States and Singapore promote their respective commercial space sectors and to outline their interests in bilateral cooperation. Existing partnerships were examined to help boost ties between the two commercial space sectors. A networking session was also held to discuss how to create new partnerships between the commercial space industries from the United States and Singapore. Both countries agreed to continue work in the areas mentioned above and to explore other joint research and development collaborations, policy discussions, industry engagements, and educational exchanges. End Text NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minister of National Defence Bill Blair concludes productive visit to Belgium for Ukraine Defense Contact Group and NATO Defence Ministers' Meetings National Defence News release October 12, 2023 - Brussels, Belgium - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, concluded a productive visit to Brussels, Belgium, where he participated in the 16th United States-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defence Ministers' Meeting (DMM). During the UDCG meeting on October 11, hosted by United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Minister Blair announced that Canada would provide a new package of military assistance to Ukraine, including $25 million worth of winter clothing and equipment and various types of 155 mm artillery ammunition, smoke ammunition, gas masks, aircraft bombs, and naval ammunition. On the margins of the UDCG meeting, Minister Blair participated in a meeting of Defence Ministers from the Joint Coalition on F-16 Training, led by the Netherlands and Denmark. Minister Blair hosted Ukraine's Defence Minister, Rustem Umerov, for a bilateral meeting. Minister Blair reaffirmed that Canada will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, and received an update on the battlefield situation from Minister Umerov. Minister Blair committed to remaining in close contact with Minister Umerov, so that Canada can step up to meet Ukraine's most pressing defence priorities. Negotiations were recently launched for Canada-Ukraine bilateral security commitments, following Canada's endorsement of the G7 Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine on the margins of the NATO Summit in July. On October 11, Minister Blair also met with Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of Defence of the Netherlands. Minister Blair thanked Minister Ollongren for the Netherlands' leadership role in the Joint Coalition on F-16 Training and reaffirmed that Canada will contribute to the coalition by supporting the training of Ukrainian personnel. Minister Blair also met with Andris SprAds, Latvia's Minister for Defence. Minister Blair highlighted Canada's plans to scale up its military presence in Latvia, following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement that Canada is committing $2.6 billion in funding starting in 2023-24, to renew and expand Operation REASSURANCE for three years. Up to 2,200 troops will be persistently deployed, more than doubling Canada's previous deployment. Through our close collaboration with our Latvian counterparts and NATO Allies, we are continuing our work to implement the Canada-Latvia Roadmap that was signed in summer 2023. Minister Blair also spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who welcomed Minister Blair to Brussels for his first meeting of NATO Defence Ministers. Minister Blair reiterated Canada's strong commitment to NATO, and contributions to the biggest reinforcement of the Alliance's collective defence in a generation. To advance this reinforcement, Minister Blair later attended a working dinner with representatives from Germany and the United Kingdom, which, like Canada, lead multinational NATO Battle Groups in the Baltic states, as well as representatives from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, which host these Battle Groups. On October 12, NATO Defence Ministers received a briefing from Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant about Hamas' terror attack against Israel. Minister Blair condemned this attack in the strongest possible terms, and assured Minister Gallant that Canada's support for the Israeli people is steadfast. Minister Blair also reiterated Canada's support for Israel's right to defend itself, in accordance with international law. On the margins of the NATO Defence Ministers' Meeting, Minister Blair met with Sweden's Defence Minister PAl Jonson. Minister Blair noted Canada's strong support for Sweden's accession to NATO, and the two Ministers discussed the impacts of climate change on security, and security challenges facing the Arctic. Minister Blair also participated in a bilateral meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorious. Minister Blair welcomed Germany's ongoing military support to Ukraine, and thanked Germany for being a Sponsoring Nation of the NATO Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence in Montreal. Finally, Minister Blair met with Finland's Minister of Defence, Antti HAkkAnen. Minister Blair stated that he looks forward to strengthening the Canada-Finland defence relationship given Finland's accession to NATO. The two Ministers also discussed the protection of critical infrastructure, and Finland's investigation of damage to its underwater infrastructure. During the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers, Ministers agreed that Allies must and will continue to support Ukraine, as it fights against Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war. To that end, Ministers reaffirmed NATO's close relationship with Ukraine by participating in the first NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of Defence Ministers. Ministers also took stock of efforts to strengthen the Alliance's deterrence and defence posture, following decisions at the Madrid and Vilnius summits. As a founding member of NATO, Canada will continue to provide valuable contributions to the Alliance. Quotes "Canada's support for Ukraine and the NATO Alliance is steadfast. As we wrap up these productive meetings, Canada will continue to work alongside its partners and Allies to strengthen collective defence, contribute military aid to Ukraine, and uphold the rules-based international order. The NATO Alliance is united and our partnership is resolute." The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence Quick facts NATO is a cornerstone of Canada's international security policy. Canada steadfastly supports NATO's principle of collective defence and is providing direct support to NATO missions and operations to this end. Current Canadian contributions to NATO include: leading the multinational NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group in Latvia; providing consistent and episodic support to NATO maritime forces through the deployment of Royal Canadian Navy vessels in European waters; providing advisory support on institutional reforms to build lasting security and stability through NATO Mission Iraq; and continuing to provide CAF personnel support to the NATO-led international peace support operation in Kosovo through Operation KOBOLD. Canada is contributing to multinational efforts to train pilots and other Ukrainian personnel to maintain and support Ukraine's future F-16s. Under Operation UNIFIER, Canada has trained more than 38,000 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) since 2015. Canada will extend this mission until March 2026, providing significant capacity for the CAF to respond to Ukraine's urgent training needs. More than 300 CAF members are deployed in various roles such as the provision and coordination of training, national command support, and the facilitation and delivery of military donations to Ukraine in coordination with allies. Defence spending in Canada has been steadily increasing. As a result of Strong, Secure, Engaged and subsequent funding increases, including funding for NORAD modernization and continental defence announced in June 2022, DND's annual budget is expected to more than double over ten years, from $18.6 billion in 2016-17 to $39.7 billion in 2026-27 on a cash basis. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EU top diplomat visits China; trip to 'seek common ground' Global Times By GT staff reporters Published: Oct 12, 2023 11:46 PM EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell started his visit to China on Thursday, and was scheduled to meet some business representatives and Chinese academics in Shanghai, with the focus on issues such as the EU's strategic autonomy, trade tensions between the EU and China, the escalating Israel-Palestine conflict and the Ukraine crisis. With the bloc's top diplomat urging Beijing to stop viewing China-EU relations solely through its rivalry with the US and expressing doubt on its neutral position on the Ukraine issue, some experts said the messages released ahead of the visit reflected some misunderstandings in Europe about EU-China ties. But most importantly, Borrell's trip is expected to help bring divergences under control and find common ground to work together. "Inspiring exchange in Shanghai with European companies on economic and business challenges. We must address these challenges because neither we nor China can ignore each other's market," Borrell said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. Borrell is scheduled to visit China from Thursday to Saturday, and will co-chair the 12th EU-China Strategic Dialogue together with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a media advisory released on the European External Action Service. The European diplomat will also give a speech at Peking University. Finding common ground Ahead of the visit, Borrell said in an interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that "China should stop viewing its relationship with Europe through the lens of its rivalry with the US," and "his first objective" is to reaffirm that EU takes China seriously and "we expect China to take us more seriously." Some global issues will be discussed during the meeting between Borrell and Wang, such as escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine and the Ukraine crisis, the EU's top diplomat revealed in the interview. But he also pointed out that the EU is not "totally convinced by China's argument that China is neutral in this conflict." "Those remarks of Borrell showed that there are some misunderstandings about EU-China relations inside Europe, which could be misled by the US," Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Thursday. China has always supported the strategic autonomy of the EU, and expects it to play a more important role in a multipolar world, Sun said. "What we oppose is the US sabotaging and blocking the cooperation between China and the EU, and there are many Atlanticists in the EU who have been criticizing China from the perspective of Washington." The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Borrell's visit is conducive to the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations. China is willing to work with the EU to strengthen strategic communication, coordination and cooperation, enhance mutual trust and appropriately handle differences, as the two powers share a wide range of common interests. During the meetings with Borrell, the Chinese side will present its views on the EU's recent China policy, correct the EU's biased perception of China, and prevent some concepts and policies unilaterally proposed by the EU from causing more trouble to bilateral relations, some experts said. Bloomberg described this trip of the EU's top diplomat as a "delicate task", as he has to "push back against Chinese subsidies and prevent the $900 billion relationship from imploding into a trade war. The EU recently launched a probe into so-called state subsidies on China's electric vehicles. With some competitive factors in EU's China policy increasing and systemic rivalry strengthening, especially when the EU seeks to reduce reliance on China over "de-risking" concerns, the significance of Borrell's visit lies in exchanging views on divergences and bringing differences under control, Sun said, noting that more importantly, the two sides can find more common ground on global governance, regional and global issues and economic cooperation. Only by keeping a moderate balance between China and the US can Europe achieve greater strategic autonomy, experts said. "In other words, the more options Europe has, the greater the possibility for strategic independence. If Europe were to simply lean toward the US, then the option of a relationship with China would be off the table," Jiang Feng, a research fellow at the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday. Europe should recognize its role as a force for peace and development. Suppressing and containing China like the US and instigating great power confrontations will only lead to greater regional instability, Jiang noted. "This lesson becomes even clearer after the heightened US-Russia or West-Russia confrontations that eventually plunged Europe into chaos," he said, noting that Europe became the primary victim, which should serve as a wake-up call. Despite facing challenges, both China and Europe are currently seeking to stabilize bilateral relations and move forward from the turbulent and icy periods of the previous years, which also represents the largest consensus between the two sides, experts said. Reflection needed Borrell's visit comes just days after tensions between Israel and Hamas continued to escalate, which are not part of the official agenda of the meeting but which "will no doubt" be raised, the SCMP said, citing senior EU sources. He was also quoted as saying in the media report that the EU and China can try to work together on issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, but doubted China's consistent position on the Ukraine crisis. China is not a party to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and its stance on the issue has been clear and consistent, Gao Jian, director of the Center for British Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday. "As a major country, China will absolutely not accept any interference from international political forces in its development or its normal bilateral relationship with Russia. This is because China is a nation with genuine strategic independence and the ability to act autonomously," he said. What the European side should reflect on is the root cause of the outbreak of the conflict. The formation of the EU came after years of war and was based on self-reflection for peace. For Europe today, to approach the Russia-Ukraine conflict with a confrontational mindset and attempt to resolve it through military means seems both irrational and unlikely, Gao said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Third-child ratio rises among China's 2022 newborns, showing effect of policy Global Times By Du Qiongfang Published: Oct 12, 2023 10:42 PM The ratio of third children among Chinese newborns in 2022 was 15 percent, 0.5 percentage points higher than in 2021, a statistical bulletin released by China's top health authority on Thursday showed. Experts said the increase shows China's third-child policy has had an impact and that the government should keep boosting childbirth-supporting policies. According to the Statistical Bulletin on Health Development in China 2022 released by the National Health Commission (NHC), the Chinese mainland had 9.56 million newborns in 2022, with the second child of a married couple and three or more children in a family accounting for 38.9 percent and 15 percent respectively. The 2021 health statistical bulletin showed the number of births in China was 10.62 million in 2021. And the ratios of second-child and third-child among newborns were 41.4 percent and 14.5 percent. Comparing the statistics in 2021 and 2022, the dropping proportion of second-child newborns indicates that the accumulation effect of second-child births has basically come to an end, while the increased proportion of third children shows that the third-child policy has achieved some results, He Yafu, an independent demographer, told the Global Times on Thursday He pointed out that the decreasing numbers of first-child, second-child, and multiple-child births reflect that both the number of women of childbearing age and the fertility rate are declining. "The decline in women of childbearing age exposes the structural problems in China's population and will have a significant impact on the population for a long period of time in the future," He said. He told media that the number of births in 2023 is likely to decrease by around 10 percent compared to 2022, dropping to approximately 8.5 million given factors such as the continued decline in the number of women of childbearing age and in marriage registrations. At the same time, China is continuing to invest more in expanding the capacity of healthcare resources and improve the healthcare service system. By the end of 2022, the total number of healthcare institutions nationwide amounted to 1.03 million, an increase of 1,983 from 2021. The total number of beds in medical and health institutions reached 9.75 million nationwide, 300,000 more beds than 2021. The number of medical and health institution beds per thousand of people increased from 6.7 in 2021 to 6.92 in 2022. In terms of medical personnel, the total number of doctors and nurses nationwide reached 14.41 million at the end of 2022, an increase of 425,000 from 2021. The improvements in healthcare services benefited pregnant women and newborn children. According to the 2022 health statistical bulletin, maternal and child health care has been improved. A total of 97.9 percent of pregnant women had prenatal check-ups and 96.5 percent had postpartum check-ups in 2022. Both increases from 2021. In 2022, the mortality rate of children under 5 was 6.8 per thousand while the infant mortality rate was 4.9 per thousand. The pregnant and maternal mortality rate was 15.7 per 100,000. All down from 2021. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address BRI paves way for common development, prosperity for all countries: FM Global Times By Global Times Published: Oct 12, 2023 08:51 PM The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has paved the way for common development and prosperity for all countries in the world, demonstrating China's sense of responsibility as a major country, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry, told a press conference on Thursday. Wang said that development is a timeless theme for humanity. Breaking development bottlenecks, narrowing the North-South gap, and getting rid of development difficulties are pressing challenges for the world. Wang's remarks came after China released a white paper on the BRI on Tuesday, in which the word "development" appeared some 200 times, making it the most used key word in the document. "Amid the new international situation, the world needs the BRI more than ever before, as a failure to cooperate is the greatest risk, a failure to unite is the greatest challenge and a failure to develop is the greatest insecurity," Liang Haiming, dean of the Hainan University Belt and Road Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday. Liang noted that amid the world's weak economic growth due to the pandemic, the high-quality construction of the BRI signals to the world that China continues to uphold the opening-up policy to create a better environment for investors from all over the world and shows that China is actively looking for a way for the world's economic development. The BRI created a better environment for China's development and makes more contributions to the world's development, Liang said. Wang said over the past decade, Belt and Road cooperation has focused on connectivity - the lack of which is considered the biggest bottleneck for development. Wang said a large number of landmark projects, such as the China-Laos Railway, the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, the Budapest-Belgrade Railway and the Piraeus Port, have been put into operation. The China-Europe Railway Express opened up new corridors for land transport on the Eurasian continent. The Maritime Silk Road shipping network provides service around the world. The connectivity framework of "six corridors, six routes, and multiple countries and ports" has basically taken shape, Wang noted. New roads, railways and airlines - like blood vessels - have greatly improved transportation, enabling a more efficient trade network and slashing the cost for accessing the global market by Belt and Road partner countries, which has boosted their own development capacity and helped build a path towards a more prosperous future, the spokesperson said. The BRI has made hope real for people in participating countries who desire common development. The initiative is aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and synergized with various countries' development strategies. It has led to over 3,000 cooperation projects, including countries' landmarks, livelihood projects, and milestones of cooperation. The World Bank has estimated that by 2030, BRI-related investments could lift 7.6 million out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty, Wang noted. "We look forward to reviewing the experience we've gained and planning the future together with our partners at the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. We hope the BRI will serve as wings for the world on a journey towards more peace, growth, cooperation and a better future for all," Wang noted. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on October 12, 2023 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China 2023-10-12 18:51 Beijing Daily: On October 11, the Arab League convened an emergency foreign ministers' meeting to discuss the situation between Palestine and Israel and adopted a resolution, calling on the two sides to exercise restraint, stop hostilities at once and reinvigorate the peace process. What's China's comment? Wang Wenbin: We take note of the Arab League's emergency foreign ministers' meeting and resolution. We support the Arab League in playing an important role on the Palestinian question. China shares a similar position with Arab states on this question. Both sides call for an early end to the violence, condemn actions against civilians and believe it is essential to avoid further escalation of the situation which will lead to humanitarian disasters. We both believe that the international community needs to play an effective role, provide humanitarian support to the Palestinian people and work for the early resumption of the peace talks. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict keeps repeating for a fundamental reason: the Middle East peace process has been off the right track, the foundation of the two-state solution has been continuously eroded and relevant UN resolutions are not followed through in good faith. China stands ready to continue communication and coordination with the Arab League and others to actively bring parties to the table and keep working to bring the peace process in the Middle East back to the right track. Al Jazeera: Israel's military actions against the Gaza Strip will inevitably affect the strategic balance of the region and even the world. Will the current crisis in the Middle East be on the agenda of the third BRF? Wang Wenbin: China has announced that the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing next week. We stand ready to work with all parties for more good outcomes from the forum and seek greater synergy in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. Regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, we have shared our position on the issue. China calls on relevant parties to cease fire and restore peace as soon as possible. We will keep working with the international community to that end. Global Times: The new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict has reportedly killed and wounded more than 10,000 people, including many foreign citizens. So far, 22 American citizens have been killed, and more than 10 British citizens are dead or missing. Does the spokesperson know the current situation of Chinese casualties? Wang Wenbin: It is learned that three Chinese citizens have sadly been confirmed killed in the conflict, two are missing and several have been wounded. We offer deep condolences over those who have lost their lives and sincere sympathies to the families of the victims and the wounded. Our embassies and consulates are making every effort to get treatment for the wounded and make proper arrangements for the deceased. They have been urging relevant parties to do everything needed for the search and rescue of missing Chinese and take every effective step to keep Chinese nationals and institutions safe. Reuters: On Tuesday, you have mentioned that as official creditor, the Export-Import Bank of China tentatively agreed with Sri Lanka on the debt treatment. Is "debt treatment" a kind of debt restructuring as you have mentioned? Can you brief us on the details of the agreement? Wang Wenbin: I'm not sure if you have noticed that the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies of Sri Lanka released information on October 11 about the preliminary agreement reached with the Export-Import Bank of China on the debt treatment, saying that it will provide an anchor to Sri Lanka's ongoing engagement with the Official Creditor Committee and commercial creditors and facilitate the approval process of the IMF-supported program. I would like to reiterate that China will continue to support our financial institutions in having active consultations with Sri Lanka. We will work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to jointly play a positive role in helping Sri Lanka navigate the situation, ease its debt burden and achieve sustainable development. At the same time, we call on multilateral institutions and commercial creditors to take part in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring for fair burden-sharing. TASS: It was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic have both confirmed their attendance at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Can the foreign ministry share which countries' leaders will attend the event? Wang Wenbin: China is keeping in touch with relevant parties and we will release information in due course on the specifics about participating countries. Kyodo News: It was reported that an opinion poll jointly conducted by Japan and China shows worsening public sentiments against each other amid antagonism between Japan and China over the discharge of "treated water" into the ocean. What is your comment on this? Wang Wenbin: We noted the reports. We also noted that respondents in both countries generally agree to the importance of China-Japan relations and hope to see ties improved and common efforts for peace and prosperity in the region. China and Japan are neighbors and both are important countries in the region. To nurture and grow China-Japan friendship serves the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between China and Japan. We hope that Japan will work with us and use the 45th anniversary as an opportunity to improve bilateral relations and nurture friendliness between our two peoples. Bloomberg: Can you tell me whether or not US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be attending Chinese defense forum next month? Wang Wenbin: I'd refer you to competent authorities. Al Jazeera: Sources say that Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue will talk with the Israeli government about the current situation between Palestine and Israel. Can you confirm this? Wang Wenbin: China is closely following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. We urge relevant parties to immediately cease fire. China is in touch with relevant parties and will keep working for the peace and stability in the Middle East. CCTV: We saw that in the recently released White Paper "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future", the word "development" appeared some 200 times, making it the most used key word in the document. How does the Belt and Road Initiative matter to the common development of the world? Wang Wenbin: Development is a timeless theme for humanity. Breaking development bottlenecks, narrowing the North-South gap, and getting rid of development difficulties are pressing challenges for the world. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has paved the way for common development and prosperity for all countries in the world, demonstrating China's sense of responsibility as a major country. Over the past decade, Belt and Road cooperation has followed the principles of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits and a high-standard, people-centered and sustainable approach and focused on connectivitythe lack of which is considered the biggest bottleneck for development. A large number of landmark projects, such as the China-Laos Railway, the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, the Budapest-Belgrade Railway and the Piraeus Port, have been put into operation. The China-Europe Railway Express opened up new corridors for land transport on the Eurasian continent. The Maritime Silk Road shipping network provides service around the world. The connectivity framework of "six corridors, six routes, and multiple countries and ports" has basically taken shape. New roads, railways and airlineslike blood vesselshave greatly improved transportation, enabling a more efficient trade network and slashing the cost for accessing the global market by Belt and Road partner countries, which has boosted their own development capacity and helped build a path towards a more prosperous future. Over the past decade, the BRI has made hope real for people in participating countries who desire common development. The initiative is aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and synergized with various countries' development strategies. It has led to over 3,000 cooperation projects, including countries' landmarks, livelihood projects, and milestones of cooperation. Under the initiative, new bridges are built to link up roads for local communities; new schools are set up to provide more education and hope; more wells are dug to meet local need for drinking water; Juncaoa technology for growing mushroomshas been taught as a way to help the poor better their incomes and lives; industrial parks are established which, by employing people, help lift their entire families out of poverty. And the list goes on. The World Bank has estimated that by 2030, BRI-related investments could lift 7.6 million out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty. The BRI's first decade has been a decade of championing the trend of cooperation and bringing benefits to the people. It is a popular initiative aimed to make the world a better place. The BRI provides not just a road to prosperity but also hope for humanity. We look forward to reviewing the experience we've gained and planning the future together with our partners at the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. We hope the BRI will serve as wings for the world on a journey towards more peace, growth, cooperation and a better future for all. Al Jazeera: The US has sent a fleet to respond to the situation in Palestine and Israel. In face of deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, has China considered taking other steps to uphold an objective and fair position and avoid more severe humanitarian crisis? Wang Wenbin: China is deeply saddened by the heavy casualties of innocent civilians caused by the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. We are gravely concerned about the severe deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Palestine and worried about the serious impact of the escalating conflict on the peace and stability in the region. The priority now is to immediately cease fire and protect civilians. The international community needs to play an effective role, work together to cool down the situation, and provide timely humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine. To end the cycle of conflict between Palestine and Israel, the key is to return to the two-state solution as the basis, restore peace talks, establish an independent State of Palestine, and realize the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel. China will continue to stay in contact with relevant parties to work for a ceasefire and stop of the violence, help ease the humanitarian crisis, actively promote peace talks, and work with countries in the region and the rest of the international community constructively for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Activists slam China's election to UN Human Rights Council Beijing is 'unfit' for membership, more than 80 groups representing Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers say By Amelia Loi and Cheryl Tung for RFA Mandarin and Cantonese, Alim Seytoff for RFA Uyghur 2023.10.12 -- Rights groups and overseas activists slammed China's re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council, saying Beijing is 'demonstrably unfit' to be a member because it actively seeks to undermine the protection of human rights. China was among 15 members re-elected to the 47-member council, which was created in 2006, by secret ballot on Oct. 10, its second term on the council. The result was immediately criticized by more than 80 organizations representing Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers and other groups, including New York-based Human Rights Watch. "China has utterly failed to meet [the] expectations for candidates, and has actively sought to undermine the promotion and protection of universal human rights around the world," a statement published on the website of the World Uyghur Congress and signed by 88 groups around the world said. China is "demonstrably unfit to hold a seat" on the council and has "has used its power and influence to attempt to silence the voice of civil society at the U.N.," the statement said. 'Patterns of intimidation' The election came as U.N. human rights experts said they were "very troubled" about the mass trial of 47 democracy activists currently under way in Hong Kong, and expressed "grave concern" over the enforced separation of Uyghur children from their parents to attend Mandarin-language boarding schools. "The UN Secretary-General has recognized China as engaging in 'patterns of intimidation and reprisals' against human rights defenders and remains one of the top perpetrators of reprisals globally," the groups' statement said, calling on the United Nations to leave a chair empty on the council instead. Human Rights Watch said in an Oct. 5 statement that China is responsible for "crime against humanity," including cultural and religious persecution, family separation, mass arbitrary arrests and detention, rape, torture, and enforced disappearances targeting Uyghurs in Xinjiang. World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa condemned China's re-election. "The election of China, an authoritarian regime that has been committing an ongoing and active genocide against the Uyghur people for the past seven years, not only violates the founding principles of the U.N., it also violates the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights," he said, likening it to "a wolf caring for the sheep." "China should be removed from the U.N. Human Rights Council and even the Security Council in order to guarantee the human rights and security of all peoples, especially those who live under its brutal regime," he said. Tried to block discussion of Uyghur report Human Rights Watch China Director Sophie Richardson said China's presence on the council will also affect the way it functions, limiting its effectiveness. "This is a government that worked very hard [last year] to defeat even a discussion about the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' report on the Uyghur region," Richardson said. "We see the Chinese government trying to undermine existing international human rights law and norms in a way that would make the Human Rights Council a much less effective protector and defender of human rights," she told Radio Free Asia in an interview on Oct. 5. Benedict Rogers, who heads the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch, agreed, citing Beijing's regional influence. "China has been the single largest supplier of financial support to both the regimes in Myanmar and North Korea," Rogers said. "[It is] also the largest provider of arms and diplomatic and political cover." China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Dai Bing, hit back at criticism of his country's rights record on Oct. 10, accusing the United States of "fabricated lies and malicious smears." "The Chinese side firmly opposes the fabricated lies and malicious smears of China by the U.S. representative," Dai told the Human Rights Council. "Everyone who is without prejudice ... knows that people of all ethnic groups in China live together in harmony ... and people from all walks of life in Hong Kong enjoy extensive rights and freedoms." Tibetan reaction The Tibetan government-in-exile also believes Beijing shouldn't be on the council. "The Central Tibetan Administration does not consider China an appropriate member of [the council] on the grounds of the present situation in China and its abusive human rights record," said CTA spokesperson Tenzin Lekshay. Nyiwoe, a researcher at the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy said council members should fully respect the importance of human rights. "China does not abide by these rules and is very selective in defending [certain] rights according to its will and ignoring those which are irrelevant to it, posing a threat to [human rights] norms," Nyiwoe said. "China is not at all suitable to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council." Richardson said China's re-election happened in part because four governments ran for four empty seats on the council, making its victory uncontested. "If there is an encouraging aspect to this outcome, it's that once again China, the Chinese government, got the lowest number of votes for that group," she said. "And that I think indicates that if other governments had run, the Chinese government might have lost." Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Additional reporting by RFA Tibetan. 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 October not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US calls for China to 'confirm' location of rights lawyer Lu Siwei was arrested in Laos while trying to travel to the US. Beijing says it's none of Washington's business. By Alex Willemyns for RFA 2023.10.12 -- The United States has condemned last month's "forced repatriation" of rights lawyer Lu Siwei and called for China to identify his location. Lu was arrested in Laos on July 28 while trying to travel to the United States, his family says. Lao authorities told Lu's lawyer he was sent back to China last month, and the Chinese Embassy in Vientiane said he was wanted in Sichuan province for an illegal border crossing. In a statement Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called for Lu's current location to be identified. "The United States condemns the forced repatriation of People's Republic of China (PRC) national and human rights lawyer Lu Siwei to the PRC from Laos, at the request of PRC authorities," Miller said. "We call on the PRC to confirm Lu's current location; allow for external verification by independent observers of Lu's well-being, including access for doctors to treat Lu's chronic health condition; and enable his access to a lawyer of his choosing," the spokesman said. Don't interfere Lu, an outspoken rights advocate, was arrested while trying to board a train to Thailand en route to the United States to join his family. The lawyer had been under surveillance in China since his attorney's license was revoked in 2021 for speaking out on a case linked to the 2019 democracy protests in Hong Kong. Authorities had installed a camera at the door of his home, and he was also banned from leaving China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday that Lu's case was not Washington's business and said he was being dealt with lawfully by authorities. "The judicial organs strictly handle cases according to the law and the relevant person's legitimate rights are fully protected," Wang said. "The U.S. must not interfere through any means with Chinese judicial organs' handling of cases according to the law." But there remain fears about how Chinese authorities will treat Lu. Lu's wife, Zhang Chunxiao, told Radio Free Asia after he was repatriated last month she believed he would be "probably tortured" and that she and their daughter would not see him for a decade. 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 October not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Borrell Arrives in China for EU-China Strategic Dialogue Sputnik News 20231012 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell Fontelles said Thursday that he has landed in China to co-chair the EU-China Strategic Dialogue with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. "Just landed in China to co-chair the EU-China Strategic Dialogue with my counterpart Minister Wang Yi. An important visit to discuss EU-China relations, key regional and global challenges with government authorities, scholars and business representatives," Borrell said on X (formerly known as Twitter). Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday that Borrell would visit China from October 12-14 to hold another round of China-EU strategic dialogue at the invitation of Wang, adding that Borrell's visit would facilitate a healthy and stable development of bilateral relations and prepare the soil for the next stage of high-level cooperation between the countries. In July, the EU foreign policy chief said he hoped to travel to China this fall to discuss bilateral relations and prospects for cooperation after his visit was postponed twice. The trip was first pushed back in mid-April when Borrell tested positive for COVID-19 and was postponed again in July, allegedly due to then-Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang's health issues. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Minju Joson on Ever-Developing Strategic DPRK-Russia Friendly Relations Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Pyongyang, October 12 (KCNA) -- Minju Joson in an article on Thursday says that the peoples of the DPRK and Russia are significantly celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations at a time when the history of the bilateral relations witnesses a new heyday of friendship, solidarity and cooperation. Since the establishment of the DPRK-Russia diplomatic relations, the governments and peoples of the two countries have ceaselessly developed their friendly relations for 75 years, closely cooperating with each other in different fields such as politics, economy and culture on the principle of independence, equality and mutual respect, the article says, and goes on: The DPRK-Russia friendly relations have developed century after century despite the stern tempest of history. This would have been unthinkable without the undying exploits performed by President Kim Il Sung , Chairman Kim Jong Il and the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un who provided sagacious guidance to steadily develop the long-standing traditional DPRK-Russia relations of friendship in keeping with the interests and desire of the two peoples and make the relations the cornerstone for ensuring regional peace and realizing international justice. Kim Jong Un paid a historic visit to the Russian Federation this year marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the DPRK-Russia diplomatic relations, thus opening a new chapter of the bilateral friendly relations. His recent official goodwill visit to the Russian Federation marked a historic occasion for further strengthening the traditional ties of DPRK-Russia good neighborly cooperation based on the comradely friendship and militant unity and for opening a new chapter for the development of the bilateral relations. The strategic DPRK-Russia friendly relations with the long history and traditions will as ever be consolidated firmly and developed ceaselessly by the concerted efforts of the governments and peoples of the two countries. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Greetings to Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un Vladimir Putin sent a message of greetings to Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. October 12, 2023 11:15 The message reads, in part: "In 1948, the Soviet Union became the first country to recognise the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Since then, Moscow and Pyongyang have developed strong relations of friendship, good-neighbourliness and cooperation. It is gratifying that Russian-Korean ties continue to develop in all areas based on the glorious traditions of the past, as our recent meeting at the Vostochny Space Launch Centre has shown clearly. I am confident that the implementation of the agreements reached will help us build up our constructive bilateral interaction in the interests of our nations and security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia as a whole." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China repatriates N Korean escapees after Asian Games: source Most of the defectors were civilians and religious figures who were attempting to travel to the South. By Mok Yongjae and Kim Ji Eun for RFA Korean 2023.10.12 -- China has repatriated more than 500 North Koreans shortly after the Hangzhou Asian Games, multiple sources working to rescue North Koreans in China told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday. Most of the North Koreans were civilians and religious figures who were arrested while attempting to travel to South Korea from China, the sources added. According to the J.M. Missionary Union, which has been working to rescue North Koreans, the repatriation took place in the Chinese cities of Tumen, Hunchun, Changbai, Dandong, and Nanping. Beijing and Pyongyang had previously agreed that the repatriation would take place immediately after the Asian Games, it said. "At around 7:30 p.m. local time on the 9th of this month, after dark, the repatriation was secretly carried out through various Chinese customs offices along the border between North Korea and China," an official at the J.M. Missionary Union told RFA on Oct. 11, adding that the people were arrested during the COVID pandemic and kept in Chinese detention centers. "Previously, some North Koreans were repatriated as China began repatriating North Koreans on Aug. 29. Some defectors were also sent back to the North last month on Sept. 18, just before the Asian Games," said the official. "Following this, a large-scale repatriation of more than 500 defectors was carried out on Sep. 9." Peter Jung, head of Seoul-based rights NGO Justice for North Korea, also told RFA that a large number of North Koreans had been repatriated through the North Korean-Chinese border, including children, and that the repatriations had taken place simultaneously in several areas. "Our sources told us that a North Korean defector, who was just hours away from being repatriated, called his family in China in a tearful voice, asking them to take care of his remaining children because he did not know what would happen to them if he was repatriated," said Jung. "North Korea had closed its borders and refused to repatriate defectors from China due to the COVID, but as both China and North Korea have relaxed their anti-COVID policies, we understand that Chinese authorities have urged North Korea to accept defectors," he added. Separately, the U.S.-based civil society organization One Korea Network also said in a press release that the Chinese government secretly repatriated North Korean defectors on Monday through the cities of Tumen, Hunchun, Dandong, Nanping, and Sanjiang. The repatriation was reportedly carried out under tight security and in secret, making it particularly noteworthy that it took place 10 days before North Korea's party founding day on Oct. 10, and just after the end of China's National Day holiday and the Hangzhou Asian Games. "The detention center workers had not been informed of any information regarding the movement of the North Korean defectors in their custody," a source in Yanji, China, told RFA on Nov. 11, citing a detention center worker. "Under these circumstances, the defectors were suddenly loaded into cars at dawn on the 9th and taken somewhere." Another China-based source said: "I understand that [Chinese authorities] make the North Koreans gather at night in certain places, such as Yanji, and then pick a time when the area goes quiet before sending them back to the North, while maintaining the highest possible monitoring." Meanwhile, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Nov. 11 that it had no confirmation on whether China repatriated North Koreans immediately after the Asian Games. "The South Korean government is making diplomatic efforts to ensure that North Koreans living abroad are not forcibly repatriated and can safely and quickly go to their desired destinations," the ministry said. Translated by Taejun Kang. Edited by Elaine Chan Update corrects the English name of Justice for North Korea and adds information about it. Copyright 1998-2016, 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 October not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Congratulates Kim Jong Un on Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Sputnik News 20231012 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and North Korea, adding that ties between nations are developing in all areas. "Dear comrade Kim Jong Un, please accept my heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our states... I note with satisfaction that, based on the glorious traditions of the past, Russia-Korea ties continue to actively develop in all directions," Putin said in a letter to Kim, as quoted in the Kremlin's statement. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Activists Slam China After Alleged Forced Repatriation of North Koreans By William Gallo October 12, 2023 Human rights activists are criticizing China after reports that Beijing forcibly returned more than 500 North Korean defectors. According to several South Korean rights groups that work with North Korean refugees, the defectors were sent across the China-North Korea border earlier this week, shortly after the end of the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. The reported mass repatriation of North Koreans is China's first since Pyongyang began loosening its COVID-19 border restrictions in recent months. Before the pandemic, China regularly sent defectors back to North Korea, where they face punishment including forced labor, imprisonment, torture, or execution. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not confirmed the repatriation, but defended Beijing's approach toward such North Koreans, which it views as illegal economic migrants. At a Thursday briefing, spokesperson Wang Wenbin insisted there are no "so-called defectors" in China. "China has always maintained a responsible attitude and dealt with them properly in accordance with the combined principles of domestic and international law and humanitarianism," he added, according to Reuters. Jihyun Park, who escaped North Korea and is now a Britain-based human rights activist, rejects that notion, saying North Korean defectors should be given protections afforded to refugees under international law. "The forced repatriation of North Korean defectors is not just a matter of North Korean citizens; it is an international human rights issue," Park told VOA. "Especially, China, as a member of the United Nations, is violating international agreements such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness," she added. Park first fled North Korea in 1998, during a devastating famine. She made it to China, where she was sold by smugglers into a forced marriage. Six years later, she was arrested by Chinese police and sent back to North Korea, where she was sentenced to a prison camp for political criminals. She escaped a second time in 2004, and eventually was granted asylum in Britain. "Being sent to North Korea was, in itself, a death sentence for us, like stepping into the tunnel of hell. That nightmare still haunts us to this day," Park said. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, says it is still working to confirm the reported repatriation. "The government is constantly asking the Chinese side to cooperate on a variety of occasions so that defectors who are staying overseas can go safely and quickly to the places they want without being forced to return to North Korea against their will," South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement. The U.S. government is also aware of the reports regarding forced repatriation, according to a U.S. State Department spokesperson. "North Koreans forcibly repatriated are reportedly commonly subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, forced abortion, other forms of gender-based violence, and summary execution," the spokesperson said. "We call on all states to respect the principle of non-refoulement and to uphold applicable non-refoulement obligations." The number of North Korean escapees plummeted to historic lows in recent years, according to figures from South Korea, as Pyongyang imposed harsh lockdown measures. Although North Korea began to loosen its COVID-19 border controls in August, the number of defectors may remain low, since activists say North Korea used the pandemic to significantly boost border security measures. Nike Ching contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Int'l Affairs Analyst on Present Middle East Crisis Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Pyongyang, October 13 (KCNA) -- Ri Kwang Song, a commentator on international affairs of the DPRK, issued the following article titled "The current Middle East crisis predicts the U.S. bigger strategic defeat" on Friday: Global peace and stability are exposed to serious threat as the Ukrainian situation has been prolonged due to the interference of the U.S. and the West. Under such circumstances, military conflict of unprecedented scale occurred in the Middle East, arousing great concern of the international community. The international community made a conclusion that the source of the crisis outbreak is the U.S. openly patronizing its ally, which illegally occupied the territory of Palestine and has wantonly violated the interests of Palestinians, and pursuing the most reactionary policy toward the Middle East. The U.S. has pushed forward the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries, advocating "Middle East peace", but it is aimed only to encircle and contain Iran and other anti-U.S. independent countries in the region, not for genuine peace in the Middle East. Consequently, the U.S. arbitration resulted in extreme confrontation and contradiction among the forces, not regional detente, and brought about an adverse effect whereby the prospect of settling the Palestinian problem, the core of the Arab cause and the essence of the Middle East issue, came to be gloomier. This time, too, the U.S. is driving the military tension in the Middle East into the brink of a war by selecting a commitment to unshakeable military support to its ally, not a political solution to the regional crisis. The international community is now becoming increasingly critical of the U.S. which takes a clear-cut double-standard attitude as it has called for Ukraine's right to self-determination and territorial integrity in Europe but totally ignores the pains the Palestinian nation has suffered for decades due to Israel. The reality clearly proves that the U.S. is not a "mediator" but a wrecker of Middle East peace and it is not a partner but a foe of Arab. What should not be overlooked is that the U.S. is resorting to its stereotyped smear campaign against the DPRK again to deliberately link the recent Middle East crisis to the latter. The U.S. administration's reptile press bodies and quasi-experts are spreading a groundless and false rumor that "north Korea's weapons" seemed to be used for the attack on Israel. They are also building up public opinion that the DPRK will make free use of the "strategy for blackmail diplomacy" escalating the regional tension by taking advantage of the U.S. great interest in the Middle East and Ukraine. Clear is the U.S. sinister intention. It is nothing but a bid to shift the blame for the Middle East crisis caused by its wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country and thus evade the international criticism focused on the empire of evil. The DPRK is watching with vigilance the illegal acts of the U.S. which has spawned war and armed conflicts in different parts of the world and shifted the responsibility for them onto independent sovereign states. The U.S. should not act rashly. Its hegemonic and double-standard policy towards the Middle East is not increasing its influence but decreasing it and leading to a disaster of shaking its overall foreign policy. The world reviews meaningfully that the Middle East situation shows the failure of the U.S. information warfare, judgment on the situation and foreign strategy. The Middle East crisis, which emerged as a huge strategic burden to the U.S., in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis, marked a decisive occasion of clearly revealing the critical point of the U.S.-style strategy for hegemony to establish a "world order based on rules" through the strengthening of ties with its allies and partners and the future of the only superpower getting darker. The present Middle East crisis is no more than a prelude to a new strategic defeat to be endured by the U.S. The more desperately the U.S. tries to obliterate international justice and disturb global peace and stability, the stronger the international community's determination to resolutely punish it will grow. The U.S. will have to pay dearly for it. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address KCNA Commentary on U.S. Deployment of Nuclear Strategic Assets Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Pyongyang, October 13 (KCNA) -- The U.S. 5th airborne division, including carrier Ronald Reagan, entered Pusan Port on October 12. On October 9 and 10, the U.S. staged a "sea interception and anti-piracy drill" targeting the DPRK on the waters off Jeju Island, with the involvement of carrier Ronald Reagan, cruisers Antietam and Robert Smalls, warship of the Japan maritime "Self-Defense Force" Hyuga, an Aegis destroyer and logistic support ship of the south Korean puppet navy. The U.S. and the south Korean puppets are claiming that the entry of the U.S. carrier Ronald Reagan into the operation base in Pusan is aimed to "increase the regular visibility of the extended deterrence". It is an undisguised military provocation driving the situation to the irrevocable catastrophic circumstances that the U.S. persists in introducing various nuclear strategic assets into the Korean peninsula where a possibility of constant military collision exists and the danger of outbreak of a nuclear war is rampant. Moreover, the U.S., together with the south Korean puppets, is operating the nuclear war mechanism called "Nuclear Consultative Group" and pushing forward the nuclear war confab targeting the DPRK at the stage of practice. In such situation, the introduction of a group of nuclear-powered carriers advertising that they can fight a war into the Korean peninsula goes to prove that the U.S. scheme for nuclear attack on the DPRK and its implementation have reached the most serious phase of systematization and visualization and the outbreak of a nuclear war comes to the fore. The DPRK has already clarified its corresponding action choice and response direction as regards the fact that the military hysteria of the U.S. and the gangsters of the "Republic of Korea" has gone beyond the red line. The DPRK's doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons already opened to public allows the execution of necessary action procedures in case a nuclear attack is launched against it or it is judged that the use of nuclear weapons against it is imminent. The DPRK repeatedly clarified that its armed forces would thoroughly deter and repel the U.S. and its stooges' frantic moves to ignite a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula and thus fulfill in a responsible manner the important mission for defending the national sovereignty, territorial integrity and fundamental interests and ensuring peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the region. It is as clear as noonday what result will be brought to the Korean peninsula, where huge armed forces and nuclear weapons are standing in confrontation with one another, even if a spark is produced. The U.S. should realize that its huge strategic assets have entered the extremely dangerous waters. The DPRK's most powerful and rapid first strike will be given to the "extended deterrence" means, used by the U.S. to hallucinate its followers, and the bases of evil in the Korean peninsula and its vicinity. The U.S. will come to keenly realize that such demonstrative actions as the deployment of nuclear strategic assets in the region of south Korean puppets only lead to a disaster of aggravating its distressing and uneasy security crisis, though they may set the group of traitors at ease even a bit. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Transcript of Weekly Media Briefing by the Official Spokesperson (October 12, 2023) India - Ministry of External Affairs October 12, 2023 Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: A very good afternoon to all of you. Thank you for joining us for this weekly press briefing. I see a large turnout. Always nice to see that. I have an announcement and then I'll open the floor for questions. You would be aware of the developments in Israel. As announced by External Affairs Minister yesterday, Operation Ajay has been launched to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to come back. The first charter flight will be reaching Tel Aviv later tonight to pick up Indian citizens and is likely to return to India tomorrow morning. We will share with you information about further flights as they are finalized. This is still an evolving situation. As you are aware, External Affairs Minister took a preparatory meeting earlier in the day. We were also in touch with, of course, with our Embassy in Tel Aviv, our Representative Office in Ramallah, as well as with the Missions in the neighbouring countries there, particularly Jordan, Syria, Egypt, etc. And we are keeping a close watch on developments as well as what steps we need to take to assist Indian citizens who are in Israel. With that announcement, I am happy to try to take questions on that. Sidhant: Hi, this is Sidhant from WION. How worrisome do you see the situation on ground for Indian citizens in Israel, if you can talk about that? And also, are we reaching out to Israel in terms of any support, especially when it comes to weapons? Are we considering that? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Let me do one thing. I think there might be interest in this topic, so let's take that together. There are other issues. So, yeah, go ahead. This is on the situation in Israel. Meghna Dev: Sir, Meghna from DD News. Any figure on how many Indian nationals have registered to be evacuated and how many flights are we planning initially? Siddhant: Hi, Sir. I'm Siddhant from CNN News 18. The Foreign Ministry of Israel has confirmed that they have reached understanding with some countries, where those countries are sending reservists in a flight to Israel, and Israel will send their citizens back. Is this the same understanding they have with India? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Could you repeat? Understanding with India, between the Foreign Ministry of Israel? Siddhant: No. Israel and India, Sir, because other European countries are sending their people back in the same flight, and then that flight is taking their citizens. It's like a barter. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Yes. I'm sorry. Okay. Can you repeat your question? What exactly is barter...? Siddhant: Yeah. Reservists, Israelis reservists. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Israelis going back. Yeah. Got it. Siddhant: So are we also sending some reservists back in this flight? Sandeep: Sir, Sandeep from New 18 India. Sir, mera sawal hai ki Air Force ko bhi aap logon ne standby pe rakha hai agar jarurat padi toh, kya air force ka bhi istemaal kiya jayega is evacuation ke liye? [Question in Hindi: Approximate translation] Sir, Sandeep from New 18 India. Sir, my question is whether the Air Force has also been put on standby by you, and if needed, will the Air Force be utilized for this evacuation? Manas: This is Manas from PTI. I just want to know, in fact, how India sees the overall situation that has arisen out of the conflict between Israel and Hamas and our position on Palestinian cause. So what do you have to say on that in the context of the current situation? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Your question is on the Palestinian position, right? Manas: Yeah. As well as overall situation, Sir. Ayushi Agarwal: Sir Ayushi Agarwal from ANI. Sir, there were reports where an Indian caregiver from Kerala who was injured during the attack by Hamas. Are we in touch with her family and any Indian casualty that we know of? Rishikesh: Sir, Rishikesh from PTI. Is India supporting Israel in war against Hamas? Especially there are reports of massive of civilian casualties in Gaza. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Sorry I didn't get your question. Could you repeat it? Rishikesh: Is India supporting Israel on war against Hamas? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: By doing what? Rishikesh: Moral or like that. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Generally, you mean what is our stand? Rishikesh: Yes. And did PM Modi convey to Israeli PM that this is not an era of war? Yeshi Seli: Yeshi Seli from the New Indian Express. Is there any evacuation program for Indians stuck in Palestine as well, or this is only for Israel? Milan: Milan from India today. Just want to understand India's stance now, considering the recent events. Will India also go ahead and look at changing its stance, or maybe trying to suggest, as other nations are suggesting, that Hamas is a terrorist organization? Meghna Dev: Sir, Meghna from DD News. We know that security has been increased outside the Embassy of Israel in New Delhi and also other Jewish establishments. Are there any security concerns that the Israel Embassy has conveyed to us? Pia: Hi, Pia with the Print. Just a simple question. How many Indians in the first batch? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Which batch? Pia: The first batch of Indians being evacuated in the flight. Devirupa: This is Devirupa from the Wire. I'm just appending to the earlier questions from Manas and others. Other countries, for example, UAE, Jordan, Egypt, and Japan, they've all called for maximum restraint on.... they've not named which party, but they called all sides to exercise maximum restraint. Is that also something that we would like to add to it? Add our voice to it. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Add to what, sorry? Devirupa: Add our voice to the call of restraint in the region. Rishabh: Sir, Palestinian envoy to India yesterday in an interview said that he would ask India to intervene and de-escalate the whole issue. What's India's position on that? This is Rishabh from Times Now, Sir. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay, I'll try to answer many of these questions now. I think a lot of similar questions. Look, I think on this, you've seen the statements or the comments by Prime Minister. I think that's been very clear on them. But let me try to answer some of the specific queries that you had. Let me first look at Operation Ajay. Look, as I said, the ferry flight is expected to reach today, later in the evening. And then hopefully, they'll pick up passengers and come back tomorrow morning. We expect, I think, it can carry about 230-odd passengers. That's what we're hoping can fill it up. But depending... look, this number is broad. How many people can get onto a flight is determined by various factors, including what is the flight parameters. So let's say in that range, we were trying to work that out. So that was one. Aapne pucha tha Sandeep ji ki hamari vayu sena ki agar... ji hamare pas sare options hain. Jo jarurat padega hum woh use karenge. Abhi ke liye charter flight gayi hai, par jaisa ki humne kaha humne purane kuch aise sthitiyon mai hamare vayu sena ka bhi assistance liya hai. toh abhi ke liye hum abhi charter flight dekh rahe hain, par ye main ye rule out nahi karunga. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] You had asked, Sandeep ji, whether our Air Force is..., yes, we have all options. We will use whatever is needed. Right now, charter flight has been sent, but as we mentioned, in previous similar situations, we have also taken assistance from our Air Force. So, for now, we are currently looking at charter flights, but I won't rule this out. There was a query Siddhant, about people being taken on this side. Look, that I think you would ask the Israeli embassy. We have chartered a flight for bringing people back. So how it happens, talk to the charter organization and the Embassy, I think, is the best to answer your query on that one. There's no barter. Then there was a query of how many Indians, I think Meghna, you asked that question, how many Indians. Look, this is a dynamic situation. It's evolving. There are a lot of people. In fact, I would request Indians in Israel, if you haven't registered with the Embassy, please do register with the Embassy. But we are taking it based on the number of flights. So today's flights, we have the numbers that are there. And we will have more flights depending on the demand for them. So at this point, we are trying to address it as per the demands. As regards security concerns, look, this is a topic I will not be in a position to discuss. You have to ask the agencies. We will, of course, as part of our obligations on the Vienna Convention, provide all necessary security to countries that have their Embassies or diplomatic Missions here. But what measures and et cetera is best left to the judgment of experts in that field. I don't want to comment on it. I think you had a query, Sidhant, right in the beginning about weapons of support. I'm not aware of any such request or anything that we are doing, at all. Our focus right now is to make sure that those Indians who are in Israel are able to come out of Israel, those who want to. I think there are about 18,000-odd Indian citizens. A small percentage of that are Indian students, (inaudible). You said, how worrisome is the situation? Of course, look, a situation where there is conflict going on is of concern. But I would request the Indian citizens there to follow the advisories issued by our Mission in Tel Aviv. And they are the best judge. And be cautious, take the precautions. And if they feel that they need assistance, to reach out to our Embassy directly. Ayushi, you asked about one person, one citizen, who was there, I think injured. Yes, we are aware of that case. Of course, we are in touch with them. I understand the person is in hospital, but I think improving or in a better situation. We are also, of course, thankfully have not heard of any Indian casualty so far. I think there was also a question by Yeshi, are you looking at evacuation? There's not so much in evacuation as we are actually getting focuses on assisting people, getting out. I think my understanding, the number is about a dozen or 13 or something...a dozen odd people are in the West Bank and three or four in Gaza. So if they request assistance, we will. But that number, as you can imagine, is very small. And we will see what needs to be done. For the moment, we haven't received requests there. The requests what we have received are largely from Israel. Moving on to the discussions that have happened largely on this. Look, let me try to answer some of those. On the issue of how we see Hamas, for example...As you are aware, the designation of a terrorist organization under Indian laws is a legal matter. And I would refer you, I think, Milan, you asked...I would refer you to the relevant authorities in this. I think we've been very clear that we see this as a terrorist attack. But on the designation part, the relevant authorities are best place to respond to it. How do we see the situation on Palestine or our position on that? Our policy in this regard has been long-standing and consistent. India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent, and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognized borders side by side at peace with Israel. And I think that position remains the same. There were some queries about how do we see the developments that are happening, including the violence that's taken place, as well as did Prime Minister raise some issues. I think Prime Minister's conversation or his comments stand on their own. And I think they do not require any clarification. On Palestine, as I mentioned, we have said our position...on what is our long-standing position. The only element that I would like to add is that there is...regarding particularly the humanitarian situation or the developments, you said, I think, restraint, Devirupa, you had asked. And Rishabh, I think you had asked about whether the intervention, I don't know what you meant by intervention. As I said, our focus is to assist our citizens. But there is an universal obligation, I think, to observe international humanitarian law. There is also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. And I think that accurately sums up how we look at this position. I think I have covered most of the queries. If there are a couple of more hands...if there is something on an extra or additional clarification or....and then we will move on to some other topics. Madhurima: Sir, I'm Madhurima from Republic TV. I want to ask that how is India connecting with other nations in the Middle-East on the Israel situation? Like we heard that EAM speaking to UAE counterpart, any other conversations that are happening in this connection. Thank you, Sir. Madhurendra: Sir, Madhurendra main News Nation se. Strategic partner ke taur par hum Israel ki kya madad kar sakte hain? Aur kya taiyari hai? kyuki pichle agar 65 se lekar 71 ke war mai dekhain toh Israel ne unconditional bharat ki madat ki thi. Is waqt Israel war mai hai aur ye ek declared war hai toh hum unki kya strategically madat kar rahe hain ya kar sakte hain? [Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sir, I'm Madhurendra from News Nation. As a strategic partner, what assistance can we provide to Israel? What preparations are in place? Because if we look from the 65 war to the 71 war, Israel had provided unconditional support to India. Currently, Israel is in a state of war, and it is a declared war. What strategic assistance are we giving or can offer to them? Sandhya: Sandhya from ET. Sir, I just want to get a sense, given this background with what's happening in Israel, what is the status of IMEC? And do you think that will be impacted in any way now? Yeshi Seli: Just to follow up only, considering what would India's position be as U.S. has reiterated to Israel that they must follow laws of the war? And what is India's position on that? Because as we all know, Gaza Strip is now being... Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I just answered the question, but I'll repeat that. Shalinder: Sir, Shalinder, News 18 se. Ek clarification, kya hum isko evacuation bol rahe hain ya nahi? kyuki tweet mai bhi humne dekha ki evacuation is not mentioned, it's been said ki unko facilitate kiya ja raha hai waha se return, jo waha se return hona chah rahe hain unke liye, kyunki airspace abhi band nahi hua hai. [Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sir, this is Shalinder from News 18. One clarification, are we calling this an evacuation or not? Because in the tweet also, we've seen that evacuation is not mentioned; it's been said that they are being facilitated for return from there, for those who want to return from there, because airspace has not been closed yet. Dusra sawal jo Gaza mai ek kashmiri lady hain, jo fasi hui hain, unke husband Palestinian hain, ye case aapki knowledge me hoga. Unke return ke liye, kyuki aapne kaha ki 12 ke aas paas West Bank me hain aur 4 ke aas paas Gaza me hain, unke return ke liye koi plan abhi hai? Ya unko wahan se nikalne ka aisa koi Operation Ajay bhi chalaya jayega? [Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Another question, there is a Kashmiri lady stranded in Gaza whose husband is Palestinian. This case might be in your knowledge. For their return... because you mentioned that there are around 12 individuals in West Bank and around 4 in Gaza. Is there a plan for their return? or will any such Operation Ajay be carried out for their return also? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Let me just take...Milan, on your question, let me repeat what I just said. I think that sums up as I said. We do believe there is a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law. And there is also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. I think that addresses your query. I don't want to repeat it again. Madhurendra aapne pucha tha, dekhiye hamari jo ismai policy se rahi hain woh hamesha se long standing rahi hain, consistent bhi rahi hain. Bharat ne hamesha kaha hai ki direct negotiations kiya jaye, unki shuruwat phir se karain, uska samarthan kiya hain, taki israel ke sath shanti se, surakshit, aur recognised seemaon ke bhitar rahne wale ek samprabhu, swatantra, aur viable Palestinian state ki sthapna karega. Aap chahte the hindi mai. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Madhurendra, you asked, look, our policy in this regard has been long standing and consistent. India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side by side at peace with Israel. You wanted it in Hindi. Madhurima you had asked about how is India connecting...look, in the world of diplomacy, we are always engaged in conversations and contacts. At the External Affairs Minister level, as you correctly mentioned, he had a talk. Whenever there is some specific engagement that takes place, we will certainly share with you, but of course we maintain close contacts and we have been at various levels with all relevant stakeholders and I think that's part of our diplomatic outreach. Sandhya, your query was on IMEC, was it? I think you are comparing apples and oranges in terms of the current one. Look, the issues of let's say the IMEC, the initiative like that, these are initiatives with long-term significance and what you are talking about in terms of what we are addressing in terms of let's say Operation Ajay is a response to a terrorist attack and what we have to do. So I think those are not comparable. We value the IMEC as an initiative with long-term significance. Shalinder, aapka prashna tha, evacuation keh... Pata nahi is nomenclature se kya fark padta hai, hamare liye focus hai ki kis tarah se Bharat ke nagrik jo wahan pe hain unko wapis la paye jo aana chahte hain. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Shalinder, your question was whether to call evacuation... I don't know what difference the nomenclature makes. For us, the focus is on how we can bring back the Indian citizens who wish to return from there. Gaza mai aapne jikar kiya, hain hamare 3 ya 4 citizens hain, hum unke sath sampark mai hain. Par abhi jo constraints hain usmai, dikkat hai unko directly nikalne ke liye, par hum koshish kar rahe hain jo bhi solution ho sake, usmai hum jitna madad kar sake hum karenge. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] You mentioned about Gaza, yes our 3 or 4 citizens are there. We are in contact with them. However, there are currently some constraints in directly bringing them out, but we are making efforts to provide solution and will provide whatever assistance we can. Madhurendraji, sorry aapka prashna...strategic partner ke taur pe...dekhiye aap galat prashna puch rahe hain. unhone humse manga hai kuch aisa? Mujhe toh malum nahi hai. Jitna humne keh diya. Pradhan Mantri ji ne jo kehna tha unhone apne tweet mai keh diya hai, unka press release bhi nikla hai. Uske aage main kuch keh nahi paunga. Aur mujhe aisa kuch malum nahi unhone kuch specific request ki hai hume. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Madhurendraji, sorry your question...as a strategic partner... look, you are asking the wrong question. Have they requested something specific from us? I don't know any such thing. As we have said, what the Prime Minister had to say, he has stated in his tweet, and a press release has also been issued. I won't be able to comment further. I am not aware of any such specific request from them. Moving on to other topics. Go ahead Sudhi. Sudhi Ranjan: Sir, Shudhi Ranjan from Bloomberg. Sir, moving away from Israel and Gaza. On Canada, Sir, there have been reports that the External Affairs Minister had met his Canadian counterpart. Now, can you give us a confirmation or a denial on that? Denial or confirmation or any details of the meeting, whatever is possible, Sir. And also, adding to that, the Speaker, Canadian Speaker, was absent at the G20 Parliamentary... G20 Lawmakers' Meet. Now, is India seeing this as a continuation of spat between India and Canada, or is it seeing it separately, as a separate incident? Vineeta Pandey: This is Vineeta Pandey from the Asian Age Deccan Chronicle. My question is, what is the update on the Canadian diplomat staff here, given that India had asked for parity in ranks and numbers. Is there any update on that? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Let me, maybe take all the Canadian ones together. Anything else? Ayushi Agarwal: Sir, Ayushi Agarwal from ANI. Sir, Canadian Prime Minister, while discussing this Israel-Hamas situation with some of his leaders, he brought up the issue of India, he said the diplomatic spat, and also... your comment on that, his discussion with Jordan and UAE ministers. Madhurima: Sir, I wanted to ask that if Canadian diplomats who were supposed to leave, have they left or not? Because Canadian reports are suggesting that there has been an understanding between the two countries and that they're not... And an extension to that, that Trudeau has been tweeting that while speaking to the world leaders, he's also talking about India to them. How does MEA respond? Yeshi Seli: Is any Canadian parliamentarian coming for the P20? Pia: Pia with the Print, just wanted to clarify some claims that came in a Financial Times report recently that said EAM met Canadian... Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: First question by Sudhi already. Anybody else? Manas: Manas from PTI. The reports from Canada actually indicated that Canadian Foreign Ministry suggesting, actually questioning India's argument on parity of diplomatic presence, saying that no such provision exists under the Vienna Convention. So what do you have to say on that? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Let me just try to answer. I think there are two or three types of questions. Let me start with the basic one, the parity one. We've spoken about parity here earlier, a couple of times I think. Let me stress that we remain committed to what we said, that is ensuring parity in our diplomatic presence. We remain engaged with Canadian authorities on the modalities of achieving that. And when we have something specific to share, we will certainly do so. For the moment, let me just emphasize that we are engaged with the Canadian authorities to ensure the parity, that we have mentioned. There was a related question on Prime Minister Trudeau having raised this with other leaders. Look, I don't know really how this helps address the core issue. And what is the core issue? The space given by Canada to terrorists and criminal elements. And as regards upholding international conventions that came up in that conversation, some of them, as well as I think, Manas's query...we would urge Canada to take more seriously their international obligations to provide security to our diplomats and their premises. From our part, I can assure you that everything India is doing is in compliance with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. So I think Manas, that was a specific query you had. As for the query about reports of meeting between External Affairs Minister and his Canadian counterpart, let me say that we have been in touch with the Canadians at various levels. Regarding any specific interaction, I don't have any particular information to share. Yeshi, your question about Canadian Parliament or if anybody else is coming. We invite all members for G20 events, in this case the P20. Participation is their decision and is subject to a number of factors. I think you should ask them. I'll have to check whether anybody is actually attending from Canada, because I think the Parliament Speaker could not attend. Huma Siddiqui: Sir, I'm Huma Siddiqui from the Financial Express. There are reports coming that there are discussions going on between India and Russia for the Annual Summit. Any update on that? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: About the summit? Huma Siddiqui: Yes. Vedika: Vedika from CNN. Just a question on whether visas are being processed for Pakistani nationals to attend the match on Saturday, India versus Pakistan. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: You mean as players? They're here? Vedika: No, no. I'm talking about visitors. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Fans? Vedika: Yeah, fans from Pakistan. Thank you. Urvashi: Sir, Urvashi Khona from The New Indian. You spoke about the Canadian Speaker not coming, but what was the reason that has been specified? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I answered it. Urvashi: Because it is a U-turn that has been taken. They at first confirmed it and then later on they have just not... Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: You just walked in. You missed part of it. I'll repeat the answer for you. Sandeep: Sandeep from News 18 India. Sir India aur China ke beech jo corps commander level talks hue the, 20va talk tha, Sir woh bhi bina kisi consensus ke reh gaya. Kya wajah hain kyu nahi consensus ban pa rahi hain 20 baar varta ho chuki hain phir bhi? [Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sandeep from News 18 India, Sir, the Corps Commander-level talks held between India and China, it was 20th round. Sir, and it has also concluded without any consensus. What is the reason for not being able to reach a consensus even after 20 rounds of talks? Madhurendra: Sir, Madhurendra News Nation se, China aur Bhutan khas taur se apne boundary ki issues ko settle kar rahe hain aur jo reports thi uske mutabik doklam jisko lekar kafi vivad hua tha, uska bhi settlement kiya ja raha hain. Kya is boundary settlement par Bharat ki najar hain, aur agar hain toh hum kaise isko dekhte hain? [Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sir, Madhurendra from News Nation, China and Bhutan are settling their boundary issues, and according to reports, there is also a settlement being worked out for the Doklam issue, which had caused a significant dispute. Is India keeping an eye on this boundary settlement, and if so, how are we viewing it? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Matlab general comments chahiye mujhse? Madhurendra: Yes. Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Look, Vedika on your question on visas...visas, general visas are not handled... we are not the right Ministry and I would refer you to the relevant authorities for that. I don't have any update. Urvashi, your query was on...the last part about Canada Speaker. Let me just address that because I just said...look, we invite all leaders, all countries to participate and the same was done for the Parliament-20, that is going on. Participation is their decision and there are usually a number of factors that go into that, so I would request you to ask the Canadian side on it. Huma, your query was on the issue of...something about, you said, whether is it happening or not happening? That kind of thing? Okay. Look, as you know, for these kind of high-level interactions, we announce these things at the appropriate time. I have no update, to be honest. I saw some reports based on what our Ambassador in Moscow said. I think he wasn't quoted accurately. I don't think there is an immediate date or plans for that, but when we have anything to share with you, we'll certainly do that. Sandeep ji aapka prashna tha ki hamara China ke sath jo warta chal rahi hain usmai kyu nahi ho raha hai success. Hum bhi chahte hain isliye toh baat kar rahe hain, taki koi successful solution ho. Main nahi kahunga consensus nahi hain, hamari taraf se aata hain...jo hamne kaha hai us press release mai, hamara kya perspective hain aur hum kis tarah se aage badha rahe hain isko. Aapne agar dekha hoga mere paas abhi yaha pe hai ye, jo 20th round abhi varta hui thi corps commander level pe. Aur humne jaise kaha hain ki, ispar batchit hui aur baki issues pe jaise hamare leaders ki taraf se jo guidance tha, uske basis pe hum log aage baatchit karte rahenge aur ismai momentum jo hain dialogue aur negotiations ka, isse bhi hum aage badhate rehenge. aur is beeach peace and tranquillity jo hain beherhal usko rakhna chahiye. Agar bahot aasan hota toh solve ho jata, mudde kafi hain isliye vartalaap chal rahi hain aur hamari koshish yahi rahegi ki hum ispe koi solution nikal paye. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sandeep, your question was about why our ongoing talks with China are not achieving success. We also want success, which is why we are in discussions to reach a successful solution. I won't say there is no consensus, but our perspective and how we are proceeding are reflected in the press release we issued. If you have seen, I have here the details of the recent 20th round of talks at the Corps Commander level. As we have mentioned, discussions took place, and based on the guidance from our leaders, we will continue to engage and the momentum in dialogue and negotiations, we will keep further increase it, while there should be peace and tranquillity in the region. If it were easy, it would have been resolved by now, but there are several issues, which is why discussions are ongoing. Our effort is to find a solution to these issues. Madhurendra ji aapka prashn tha, aap koi media report ki baat kar rahe hain ya generally? Main Sirf itna kahunga ismai ki dekhiye sarkar sabhi muddon par lagatar najar rakhti hai aur Bharat ki suraksha ko prabhavit karne wale koi bhi issue ho iski liye jo bhi safeguard, koi measure lena ho, ye puri tarah leti hain. Aur main ye bhi kehna chahunga ki Bhutan ke sandarbh me, Bharat aur Bhutan ke beech bahot karibi aur vishist sambandh hain. Aur jo inke beech vishwas, aapsi samjh, aur aapsi chinta ke muddon par close consulation rehta hain, ye iski visheshta hain. Toh main itna hi kehna chahunga, aage aur kuch nahi hain mere pas kehne ke liye iss topic pe. [Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Madhurendra, your question was...are you referring to a specific media report or speaking generally? I would like to say that the Government keeps a constant watch on all developments that have bearing on India's security and takes all necessary safeguards and measures. I would also like to mention in context of Bhutan, that India and Bhutan share a very close and unique relationship. And it is characterised by the mutual trust, understanding, and close consultation on issues of mutual concerns. So, I would like to say this and I don't have anything more to add on this topic. Yeshi Seli: It says UK's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak likely to come to India? Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: When we have something to share with you on a high level visit, we'll certainly do so. Thank you. Good afternoon. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DRDO's oceanographic research vessel 'INS Sagardhwani' embarks on Sagar Maitri Mission-4 to establish long-term scientific partnerships with Indian Ocean Rim countries in 'Ocean Research & Development' India - Press Information Bureau Ministry of Defence Posted On: 12 OCT 2023 5:53PM by PIB Delhi INS Sagardhwani, an oceanographic research vessel of Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) of DRDO, embarked on a two-month long Sagar Maitri (SM) Mission-4 from South Jetty, Southern Naval Command (SNC), Kochi on October 12, 2023. Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat flagged-off the ship in the presence of Officiating Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (South) Rear Admiral Upal Kundu and other senior officials of DRDO & Indian Navy. Sagar Maitri is a novel initiative of DRDO that supports the broad objective of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's policy declaration 'Safety and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)' to promote closer cooperation in socio-economic aspects as well as more significant scientific interaction, especially in ocean research among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries. Under the aegis of this policy, DRDO initiated a scientific component named 'MAITRI (Marine and Allied Interdisciplinary Training and Research Initiative)', which focuses on establishing long-term collaboration with IOR countries in the field of 'Ocean Research and Development'. In the SAGAR MAITRI programme, INS Sagardhwani will retrace the tracks of INS Kistna, which participated in the International Indian Ocean Expedition during 1962-65. The missions aim to establish long-term scientific partnerships and collaborations with Oman, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Myanmar a the eight IOR countries. In earlier SAGAR MAITRI missions, the delegation visited Yangon (Myanmar) in April 2019, followed by the second mission (SM-2) to Klang (Malaysia) in August 2019 & Singapore in September 2019, including the conduct of one-day scientific seminars in all three countries. In February 2020, the NPOL conducted oceanographic studies in the Southern Indian Ocean, including an equatorial transect, as part of the third mission (SM-3). The current mission (SM-4) plan includes scientific deployments onboard INS Sagardhwani in the Northern Arabian Sea and initiating collaborative research programmes with the Department of Marine Sciences & Fisheries at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. These missions give the scientists an opportunity to cooperate and build strong working relationships with their IOR counterparts studying the oceans. INS Sagardhwani is a marine acoustic research ship designed and developed by NPOL, Kochi and constructed indigenously by GRSE Ltd. It was launched in July 1994. The NPOL is involved in studying the ocean environment and other related fields. The vessel has been engaging in extensive oceanic observing missions and research for the last 25 years. ***** ABB/Savvy (Release ID: 1967131) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran FM discusses regional issues with Iraqi security advisor IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 12, 2023 Baghdad, IRNA -- Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdullahian has discussed regional issues with Iraqi National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji. Upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Iranian minister started meeting with Iraqi authorities, including the National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of Iraq Qassim al-Araji. The two sides mainly focused on regional developments, in particular the Zionist regime's crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. In the meeting, al-Airji emphasized Iraq's support for the Palestinian nation and condemned the Zionist regime's atrocities. He announced that a large anti-Zionist demonstration is scheduled to be held in Baghdad on Friday. Amir Abdullahian is going to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani after the meeting. 4208**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran FM kicks off regional tour for talks focusing on Gaza war IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 12, 2023 Baghdad, IRNA -- Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, has embarked on a regional tour, starting with Iraq, to discuss the ongoing situation in the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to severe airstrikes by the Zionist regime over the past six days Amirabdollahian departed from Tehran for Baghdad on Thursday, where he is scheduled to meet with high-ranking Iraqi officials, including his counterpart Fuad Hussein. Following his visit to Iraq, the Iranian diplomat will proceed to Syria and Lebanon. Before his departure, Amirabdollahian addressed reporters in Tehran, stating that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is the primary source of crises in West Asia. He also said that the Zionist regime is attempting to massacre the entire population of the Gaza Strip by committing war crimes against civilians, imposing a total blockade, and depriving Palestinians of essential necessities such as electricity and water. Amirabdollahian emphasized that the ongoing conflict in Gaza is not targeted at a specific group but affects all Palestinians. The Foreign Minister also commented on the operation launched from the Gaza Strip against Israeli positions on October 7, describing it as a "spontaneous and fully Palestinian measure" taken in response to the continued war crimes by the Zionist regime. 4208**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran, Russia discuss strengthening energy ties IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Oct 12, 2023 Moscow, IRNA -- Iran's Oil Minister, Javad Owji, and the Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee of Russia, Alexey Miller, have held discussions in Moscow to strengthen bilateral energy ties. The talks were held in the Russian capital on Wednesday. During the talks, Owji expressed optimism about establishing an energy hub with Russia in southern Iran. He also noted the launch of the Iran-Russia natural gas corridor through neighboring countries as a positive step towards regional cooperation. Miller, on the other hand, stated that Gazprom, Russia's state company, is ready to initiate new collaborations with Iran. This aligns with Russian President Vladimir Putin's earlier announcement about enhancing energy ties with Iran, a move that was welcomed by the Iranian oil minister. Owji is currently in Moscow to participate in the international forum of the Russian Energy Week from October 12-14. 1483**9417 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran says has access to unfrozen funds in Qatar, rejects reports otherwise Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 6:54 PM Iran has rejected a report that says the country had been barred from accessing its $6 billion funds recently unfrozen and transferred to Qatari banks. "There has been no change in the issue of Iran's access to its foreign exchange resources in Qatari banks and the agreement [reached in this regard] remains in force," Nour News, which is affiliate to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Washington Post reported that US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo had told House Democrats that American officials and the Qatari government had agreed to stop Iran from accessing a $6 billion account in light of a surprise attack by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group against Israel. Adeyemo's remarks were cited by two people who were speaking on the condition of anonymity. Back in August, Iran and the United States agreed to a Qatar-brokered deal to secure the release of some $6 billion of Iranian funds that had remained blocked in two South Korean banks since 2018 under the pretext of US sanctions. The money was successfully transferred last month to accounts held by six Iranian banks in Qatar's Ahlibank and Dukhan Bank. The administration of US President Joe Biden claimed at the time that the funds and the proceeds of Iranian oil sales to South Korea could only be spent on "humanitarian" purposes. However, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi underscored Tehran's full authority on its assets, saying it is the Islamic Republic that decides how to spend the funds and that the money will be spent "wherever we need it." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's foreign minister meets Iraqi PM, talks Palestine developments Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 4:39 PM Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian of Iran has met with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and discussed bilateral relations and the current developments in the occupied Palestinian territories. The meeting took place in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Thursday amid Israel's deadly onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip that followed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on October 7. Amir-Abdollahian has traveled to Iraq as part of a regional tour that will also take him to Lebanon and Syria. The Iranian foreign minister called for an end to Israeli war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza. Amir-Abdollahian said the Palestinian operation was a reaction to measures taken by the regime of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "It is no secret that we are facing war crimes by the Zionist regime against the Palestinian nation and ordinary citizens in Gaza. The US and some parties are also sending weapons to Israel and have allowed this criminal regime to brutally kill Palestinian citizens and civilians in Gaza. The Zionist regime has imposed a complete siege on Gaza, cut off its water, electricity and fuel, and prevents the delivery of food and medicine." "In such a situation, anything can happen and we can witness new events in the region... It is definitely necessary to stop the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza, and the role Iraq can play is paramount to this aim." The Iranian minister said the Islamic Republic welcomes and supports any initiative by Muslim countries meant to support the Palestinian nation. Sudani, for his part, said that the Palestinian issue is not a political but an ideological issue and that supporting Palestine shows the conscience of Muslims and freedom-seeking people. Iraq was not surprised by Operation Al-Aqsa Storm because the rights of the Palestinian people cannot be ignored or consigned to the oblivion by the normalization of ties with the Tel Aviv regime, he said. It is natural for the Palestinian people to launch an Intifada (uprising) in a bid to uphold their rights as they have been deprived of their basic rights amid Israel's non-adherence to UN resolutions. Amir-Abdollahian has travelled to Iraq as part of regional tour that will also take him to Lebanon and Syria. 'Iran supports inalienable rights of Palestinians' Upon arrival in Baghdad, the top Iranian diplomat held talks with Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji. During the meeting, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is aware of Iraq's "good position" in support of Palestine. He also noted that the Islamic Republic has always supported the inalienable rights of Palestinians. "What happened in Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was a completely Palestinian action, a spontaneous move in reaction to the Zionists' continuous and provocative crimes against the Palestinians as well as repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque." "What is happening in Gaza by the Zionist regime is a clear example of war crimes and if it is not stopped, it can affect the entire region," the Iranian minister said. Amir-Abdollahian said the United States is sending weapons to Israel at a time when the regime is massacring the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Israelis, he said, "cannot put Gaza under a complete siege, bombard civilians and commit war crimes while expecting that there will be no reaction to these crimes." Iran is ready to host an extraordinary ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), he said. The foreign minister thanked the Iraqi government for implementing a security pact between the two neighboring countries and underlined the need for its full implementation. On March 19, in Baghdad, Iran and Iraq signed a security agreement encompassing coordination in protecting the shared border. Under the deal, the Iraqi government had promised to disarm terrorist and separatist groups based in the Kurdistan region by September 19, vacate their military barracks, and transfer them to the camps established by the Baghdad government. Araji, for his part, said the Iraqi government and factions adhere to the security agreement with Iran and consider it beneficial for both countries. He said the crimes of Israel against women and children in Gaza are unacceptable and need to stop. On Friday, a million-strong demonstration will be held in Baghdad in solidarity with Palestine, the Iraqi official informed the Iranian foreign minister. Operation Al-Aqsa Storm led Israel to launch an onslaught on the Gaza Strip. Well over 1,400 Palestinians have been killed so far. More than 6,200 have been injured. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's FM to make regional tour to Iraq, Lebanon discuss Palestine developments Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 10:26 AM Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will embark on a regional tour that will take him to Iraq and Lebanon to discuss the large-scale military operation by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas against Israel. Amir-Abdollahian is scheduled to leave Tehran for Baghdad on Thursday and he will then depart for Beirut to hold talks with officials of the two Arab countries on mutual relations and leading developments in the region, particularly Palestinians' battle against Israel, known as Operation al-Aqsa Storm. Since the beginning of the operation on Saturday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and the foreign minister have held several phone conversations with their counterparts, especially those from Muslim countries. They have called on all the Muslim states to reinforce unity and support the Palestinian people in the face of Israel's criminal acts. They have also stressed the importance of putting an immediate end to the Israeli regime's brutal attacks against the Palestinians and called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene an emergency session. On Saturday, Hamas launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm, a surprise attack, in the occupied territories, saying it was a response to the regime's violations at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds. The Israeli regime responded by carrying out deadly strikes on the densely-populated Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,200 people so far. Israeli authorities also ordered a total blockade of Gaza to compensate for heavy losses suffered during the unprecedented operation by Hamas in years. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mahsa Amini And Iran's Women, Life, Freedom Movement Short-Listed For EU's Sakharov Prize By RFE/RL October 12, 2023 Mahsa Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran that was triggered by the death of the 22-year-old are among the three shortlisted nominees for this year's Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament's top rights award. Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in Tehran last year while in the custody of the notorious morality police for an alleged hijab infraction, and the movement were nominated by the parliament's three largest parties, making her the favorite to be chosen for the prize when Parliament President Roberta Metsola and the political group leaders make their decision on October 19. The nomination of Amini and the movement is a "recognition for their brave efforts to stand up for women's rights," said David McAllister, chair of the EU parliament's foreign affairs committee. "The parliament stands with all of those around the world who dedicate their lives to defending democratic values," he added in a statement on October 12. Amini's death in September 2022 triggered anti-government protests in Iran which represent the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution. The authorities responded to the unrest with a crackdown on demonstrations that has left hundreds dead and thousands injured. More recently, 16-year-old high-school student Armita Garavand was reportedly assaulted by the city's notorious morality police on the Tehran subway on October 1 for not wearing a hijab, or Islamic head scarf. The other shortlisted nominees for this year's Sakharov Prize are rights activists Vilma Nunez de Escorcia and Monsignor Rolando Jose Alvarez Lagos from Nicaragua and three women who have fought for abortion rights -- Justyna Wydrzynska from Poland, Morena Herrera from El Salvador, and Colleen McNicholas from the United States. The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded each year by the European Parliament. It was set up in 1988 to honor individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms and comes with an sum of 50,000 euro ($53,000). The prize is named in honor of Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov. Last year, the European Parliament awarded the prize to the people of Ukraine, represented by their president, elected leaders, and civil society, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Other previous winners include the jailed Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny, the democratic opposition in Belarus, and the jailed advocate for China's Uyghur minority, Ilham Tohti. This year's winner will receive the award at a ceremony during the European Parliament's December 13 plenary sitting in Strasbourg. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-amini-women-freedom- movement-sakharov-prize-eu/32634227.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address October 12, 2023 Release Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Call With Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant Oct. 11 to receive updates on Israel Defense Forces operations to defend the Israeli people and territory from Hamas' terrorist attack. The Secretary underscored his commitment to ensuring Israel has it what it needs to defend itself and reiterated his commitment to deterring actors that may seek to escalate this conflict. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3554526/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM Netanyahu Currently Meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Israel - Prime Minister's Office The 37th Government 12.10.2023 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, At the start of the expanded meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked Secretary of State Blinken for his statement: 'We are here; we are not going anywhere'. Also participating in the meeting were Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, the Director of the National Security Council, the Prime Minister's Military Secretary, the Israeli Ambassador to the US and the Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Adviser. Among those attending for the American side were the Acting US Ambassador to Israel, the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and the Diplomatic Adviser. Afterwards, Prime Minister Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Blinken will meet privately and then issue statements to the media. Following the statements, there will be an additional expanded meeting with the participation of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Unity Chairman MK Benny Gantz and MK Gadi Eisenkot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WJ5rRVTCVs NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Meeting with Jewish Leaders on Biden-Administration's Commitment to Supporting Israel and Countering Antisemitism October 12, 2023 On Wednesday evening, President Biden spoke with leaders from the American Jewish community at the White House to pledge his full and continued support for the Government and people of Israel. In his remarks, the President reiterated his deep sympathy for all those missing, wounded, and killed in the unprecedented and appalling assault by Hamas terrorists. President Biden emphasized that there is no justification whatsoever for terrorism and that America cannot be silent in the face of these unconscionable attacks. He reiterated the Biden-Harris Administration's unwavering commitment to supporting Israel and its right to defend itself. The President reiterated his strong commitment to pursuing every avenue to bring American hostages currently held by Hamas terrorists home to their families. Following the President's remarks, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall, Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, and Director of the Office of Public Engagement Stephen Benjamin held a roundtable discussion with the Jewish community leaders. The participants discussed the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel, the President's multidimensional commitment to support Israel's security in the wake of the attack, and the Administration's enduring responsibility to protect Jewish communities from antisemitic incidents in the U.S. The group addressed a number of topics, including the Administration's focus on ensuring that antisemitic incidents in the U.S. are identified, condemned and, as appropriate, investigated. In addition, they discussed the importance of vigilance against a rise in antisemitic actions. Participants also discussed the importance of solidarity with the Jewish community as it feels intense grief in the aftermath of the horrific events in Israel. The roundtable also discussed a meeting held on Tuesday following the terrorist attack on Israel with representatives of departments and agencies across government who were involved in the development of the President's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. The group, which includes representatives of more than two dozen federal agencies, met to share information and resources, detail outreach strategies, and discuss ongoing efforts to prevent antisemitism and other forms of hate in the United States in response to this weekend's horrific events. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Debate Over Kazakh President's Father Highlights Cult Of Personality Sensitivities By Chris Rickleton, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service October 12, 2023 ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev appeared to pour cold water on the culture of over-the-top praise from officials that had defined the personality cult of his predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbaev. "I see it negatively. The reason is that I was brought up in a very specific context, where odes of praise were simply absent.... I would say that I have a lifelong natural immunity to this kind of performance," Toqaev said during an interview with state television channel Khabar in January 2022. "But it seems you can't change our intelligentsia," he added, somewhat despairingly. That last observation was borne out at a recent event held at an Almaty university to open a classroom in honor of Toqaev's father, Kemel Toqaev, who worked as an editor at communist newspapers and authored detective novels. The discussion of the late Toqaev's work at the October 4 event turned into a praise fest in the Soviet tradition, with pleasant words also reserved for the president. "Kemel Toqaev could not have imagined that his son would become famous at the international level, that he would become our head of state [after serving as] deputy to the United Nations secretary-general," said Zhanseit Tumeibaev, rector of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU). "He did not get to see these things," Tumeibaev said of the writer who died in 1986. "But he has probably turned in [his grave] with happiness."" Kemel Toqaev was not unknown during the Soviet period and was regarded as something of a pioneer in the detective genre in communist-era Kazakhstan, with his writing earning him four editions of a prize co-sponsored by the Writer's Union and the Interior Ministry of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. But despite his son's high profile in Kazakh politics throughout much of independence, he still falls short of being a household name in the vein of more celebrated authors like Mukhtar Auezov. And among the post-Soviet generation, recognition of the man is low, with KazNU students either not knowing of him at all or otherwise unable to say much about his professional life when asked by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, Azattyq. That fact -- and Kazakhstan's long experience with personality cults -- seemed to justify the question posed to Tumeibaev, the rector, by an Azattyq correspondent after the classroom opening had finished. Would the university have honored Kemel Toqaev if he wasn't the president's father? Lecturer Sacked, Not Sacked Amid Cult Debate Ironically, given that the presentation was being held at the journalism faculty, Azattyq journalist Meyirim Bakhytzhan was physically manhandled by university staff as she tried to approach Tumeibaev. After relenting to an interview, Tumeibaev soon grew irritated with the line of questioning, eventually grabbing the microphone and turning it back on the journalist. "What is your goal here?" Tumeibaev demanded, before ending the interview. The fallout did not end there. By October 7, Dastan Qastai, a lecturer in the journalism faculty, said he had been dismissed following an inquest by the university's leadership. "The university management is blaming teachers for the fact that independent media came to the event on October 4. For the next two days [after the opening] they interrogated everyone to find out who invited [independent media]. And their suspicions fell on me," Qastai told Azattyq. Then-acting head of Qastai's faculty, Manshuk Muqasheva, denied that he had been dismissed when contacted by Azattyq. But Higher Education Minister Sayasat Nurbek acknowledged having to interfere in what had clearly become a tense situation, writing on Facebook that he had given the university "advice on the fact that teachers should not be dismissed or persecuted." "I am pleased to inform you that there is currently no order to dismiss Dastan Qastai -- he will continue to work at the Faculty of Journalism," Nurbek wrote. RFE/RL's Kazakh Service on October 9 reported that Muqasheva had been dismissed, citing a social-media post by Deputy Rector Lazzat Erkinbaeva. Tumeibaev, however, has retained his post. After cruising to victory in the presidential election in November, Toqaev pledged that he would not rule past 2029. The latest version of the constitution restricts future presidents to a single, seven-year term in office and prohibits close blood relatives of the president from obtaining political or state corporate jobs -- nods to the personal excesses of the Nazarbaev era. For the moment, Toqaev has displayed a more understated leadership style than his 83-year-old mentor, who definitely had no immunity to bootlicking -- as lists of compliments directed toward Nazarbaev compiled by Azattyq attest. Back in the day the current head of state was singing along with the rest of the choir. In fact, on the very day that he was inaugurated as acting president in 2019, it was Toqaev who spearheaded a proposal to rename Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, as Nur-Sultan in honor of the man who had promoted him as a loyalist successor. But after massive, bloody, and regime-rattling political unrest in January 2022, the Nazarbaev leadership cult faded quickly. Anti-government protests led to one of the largest statues built for the strongman being torn down in the town of Taldyqorghan, while their aftermath saw the capital's former name restored. Nazarbaev himself was stripped of his privilege-packed constitutional title, "elbasy," or "leader of the nation," and his family members and in-laws lost lucrative and powerful positions. One of them -- nephew Qairat Satybaldy -- fell so far that he was sentenced to jail in a corruption trial last year. The Medals That Weren't And The Disappearing Documentary With that backstory, it is unsurprising that many Kazakhs are loath to see any sort of new cult emerge. And yet, as Toqaev pointed out, old habits die hard. In July, Protenge, an investigative media outlet that specializes in scrutinizing public finances, spotlighted three short video clips paid for by the government of Eastern Kazakhstan Province and costing around $10,500 in total. The clips were a hagiography, praising Toqaev's oratory, memory, "encyclopedic knowledge," and mastery of five languages, among other qualities. But after Protenge wrote about the videos, they were promptly deleted from the YouTube channel of the regional media outlet that published them. Protenge noted that the videos had not been popular, at any rate, racking up only a few thousand views and a number of critical comments. In August, underlings were at it again, as local authorities from Zhetysu Province put out a tender for 50 carpets featuring Toqaev's image and 200 medals engraved with his father's face. But when news website Liter.kz published a report on the tender, it soon vanished from the state procurement portal. The timing of these initiatives is not an accident. October 2 marked 100 years since the birth of Kemel Toqaev, and Ushtobe, a town situated in Zhetysu Province, is the Toqaev family's hometown. To this end, Ushtobe gained a new town square named for Kemel Toqaev this month, with a monument featuring a book -- rather than a bust or statue of the man -- as its centerpiece. A harmless dedication to a hometown hero and a pioneer of detective novels in Soviet Kazakhstan? Maybe, if the tributes stop there. But the trend still points to "a continuation of sycophancy -- a disease that we have been ill with for some time," according to political analyst Dos Qoshim, who spoke to Azattyq. "It is cringeworthy and uncomfortable," Qoshim said, while admitting that he had grown up reading Kemel Toqaev's detective books. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-debate-president-s- father-cult-of-personality-toqaev/32634357.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Child killed, 8 civilians injured in shell attack in Myanmar's Bago Junta forces fired at 4 villages in Kyaukkyi township By RFA Burmese 2023.10.12 -- One child was killed and several others were injured after a series of attacks throughout Bago division's Nyaunglebin district, according to the Karen National Union. The ethnic armed group controlling the area reported that two children are among the eight people hurt by heavy artillery fired by junta troops. Two junta battalions attacked Mone township for nine continuous hours, starting at noon, residents reported. The attack targeted multiple residential villages, killing 14-year-old Yu Ya Ti Naing in Kyaw Hla. The junta's Infantry Battalion 264, based in Kyaukkyi township, fired at Ywar Kan Lant village on Tuesday afternoon. One family told Radio Free Asia that three of its members were wounded in the attack, including their two-year-old child, Naw Ke Balu Mu. In Nandameik village another two-year-old and three adults were injured. Shrapnel also injured one abbot at a monastery in Tha Nat Kwin village. One Nandameik resident, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons, told RFA that two shells could be heard landing in the village. "One landed on the side of the village and the other landed on a house. All four of its family members, including a child and an elderly person, were hit and injured," they said. "The army is firing heavy weapons at villages almost every day." RFA called the Bago region's junta spokesperson, Tin Oo, for more information on the attacks, but the calls went unanswered. Clashes in Nyaunglebin district have been frequent this year, given the Karen National Union's strong presence in Kyaukkyi, Shwekyin, and Mone townships. In August, several attacks in the district injured 20 people and killed five. After a series of attacks in May, roughly 150,000 people were displaced in Nyaunglebin district alone since the coup. Since 2022, armed resistance across central regions of the county has prompted increased attacks from junta adversaries, including airstrikes and gunfire. Nationwide, 816 civilians were killed and 1,628 were injured by military attacks from January 2022 to September 2023, according to data compiled by RFA. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content October not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian, Pakistani Energy Heads Discuss Supplies of Hydrocarbons to Pakistan - Moscow Sputnik News 20231012 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov and Pakistani Energy Minister Muhammad Ali discussed prospects for increasing supplies of Russian hydrocarbons to Pakistan during the Russian Energy Week, the Russian Energy Ministry said on Thursday. "[Shulginov and Ali] discussed ... [at the Russian Energy Week]: issues of strengthening bilateral relations in the oil and gas sector, including trade; organizing work to prepare a Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Gas Industry of Pakistan, including the construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline; prospects for increasing supplies of Russian hydrocarbons to Pakistan," the ministry said in a statement. The Russian Energy Week is being held in Moscow from October 11-13, bringing together high-ranking officials and representatives of leading energy companies from over 60 countries. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev Vladimir Putin had a meeting with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. October 12, 2023 17:40 Bishkek The Russian side was represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister and Russian Co-Chair of the Russian-Azerbaijani Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Alexei Overchuk, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin. The Azerbaijani side was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, Presidential Aide Hikmet Hajiyev, Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov, and Economic Minister Mikayil Jabbarov. On October 13, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev will take part in a meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Bishkek. * * * President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Aliyev, I am very happy to see you. Last time we were speaking on the phone. Of course, the number one issue is the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, let us be direct. However, we also have another agenda, which is quite extensive. I suggest structuring our work the following way: let us perhaps begin with the second part and give the floor to our colleagues, and then, when we are face to face, we will discuss the full spectrum, including sensitive issues. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev: Thank you, Mr Putin. I am glad to see you again. As you have noted, we had a talk recently, and it is gratifying that you found time for a meeting during your state visit to Kyrgyzstan. In fact, there are many issues, and I think that your proposal is quite reasonable: my colleagues and I will talk about the bilateral agenda, especially since we have plenty to talk about. This year's results are very impressive in terms of trade, industrial cooperation, and cooperation in the transport sector: there are a lot of new projects. And then we will go over to regional and security issues. Thanks again for the meeting. <...> NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Official event marking the 20th anniversary of establishing a Russian air base in Kyrgyzstan Vladimir Putin and Sadyr Japarov spoke at an official event marking the 20th anniversary of establishing a Russian air base in the Kyrgyz Republic. October 12, 2023 13:50 Bishkek President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, Comrade officers, dear friends, We have gathered here to celebrate, in an impressive setting, the very significant 20th anniversary of establishing a consolidated Russian airbase in the city of Kant, the Kyrgyz Republic. This is a milestone for cooperation with our Kyrgyz friends in defence and for strengthening overall regional security. I would like to recall that this Russian airbase was established in Kyrgyzstan following a proposal by the Kyrgyz leadership during a complicated period when international terrorists attacked the republic from Afghanistan. The deployment of our military contingent became a decisive factor in countering and fighting this threat that emanated from another country. Over the past 20 years, the airbase has played and continues to play a key role in ensuring the security of Kyrgyzstan and providing air support for the Rapid Deployment Forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in the Central Asian region. Russian service personnel stationed in Kyrgyzstan are serving honourably; they are successfully accomplishing their diverse objectives and helping Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies fight extremism, terrorism, illegal drug trafficking and organised crime. The airbase operates under CSTO's primary objectives. For example, its aircrews were involved in the organisation's special mission to reinstate law and order in Kazakhstan in January 2022. I would also like to point out that today service personnel from Kant Airbase are taking part in the CSTO collective force exercise, Indestructible Brotherhood-2023 being held in Kyrgyzstan and, together with units from other member states of the organisation, are training to work as a team in peacekeeping operations. I would like to emphasise that the service personnel at Kant Airbase work professionally, with full dedication, showing bravery and heroism. It is no coincidence that many of them have been honoured with Russian state awards, including the Order of Courage. And of course, I would like to thank our Kyrgyz friends for their assistance in the operation of the airbase in the Republic and for their kind attitude towards our service personnel and their families. We certainly value this. For my part, I would like to assure you that Russian leadership will continue to pay close attention to providing the airbase with the most advanced weapons, modern equipment and facilities. We will do everything necessary to resolve any domestic or social concerns of these service members. Speaking directly to the command of the Kant Airbase, to all its personnel, I would like to emphasise once again: we highly appreciate the fact that you are performing difficult service abroad, far from your homeland. We understand that this is associated with certain difficulties, but it also imposes a special responsibility on you; it requires constant vigilance, composure, tact and friendly attitude towards the host country's people. I know you will not let us down. I count on you. I know that while you are at this leading outpost, performing your daily military duty, you will be faithful to your oath and to the Fatherland. And of course, I expect that military and defence industry cooperation between Russia and Kyrgyzstan, our allied relations, symbolised by the presence of the Russian military force in Kant, will continue to strengthen and expand to ensure the security of our two countries. Thank you for your attention. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov: Mr President, dear friends! It is a great pleasure for me to be here today at this official event marking the 20th anniversary of opening this airbase in the city of Kant and to congratulate all of you on this landmark event in Kyrgyz-Russian relations. In 2003, in an effort to strengthen the security of the Central Asian region, our two countries decided to establish a military airbase at the airfield in Kant. The base later became part of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces in the Central Asian collective security region. This made it possible to expand the Collective Security Treaty Organisation's collective forces and to further organise a collective security system that can meet today's threats. Mr President, we can say confidently that the opening of the Kant Airbase was an essential and timely measure. Against the backdrop of turbulent geopolitical reality when the global and regional situation is developing rapidly and rather unpredictably, and when additional factors that impact the security of the Central Asian region's countries are emerging, the issue of ensuring regional security is a high-priority objective. As a component of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian collective security region, this Russian airbase successfully accomplishes its objectives and serves to deter terrorist and extremist threats in the region. On the whole, the opening of the airbase served as a good foundation for expanding military and military-technical cooperation, including the creation of a substantial regulatory legal framework and establishing stable mechanisms for military interaction. Today, we have provided for the uninterrupted operation of this consolidated Russian military base, including the aviation component. In the past 20 years, we have put considerable joint efforts into expanding the infrastructure, beefing up the combat component and creating favourable social conditions for the everyday life of its personnel. Mr President, and everyone here, Since its establishment, the Kant Airbase and the Russian military personnel have traditionally taken part in international military exercises held both in the Kyrgyz Republic and in neighbouring countries. This year, the Russian side supported Kyrgyzstan's initiative to include warships from the Russian Navy test base in Karakol in the joint CSTO peacekeeping exercise, Indestructible Brotherhood-2023, and to conduct several sessions of the exercise in the waters of Lake Issyk-Kul. This is yet further evidence of the high level of mutual understanding achieved between our armed forces. Mr President, Yesterday, our parliament ratified the agreement on establishing a united regional air defence system of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation, which was signed in Moscow. I am convinced that once established, the regional air defence system will be an effective means of protecting our common airspace from threats and will contribute to strengthening mutual relations in the military sphere. In this context, I would like to note our interest in continuing cooperation in this important area by upgrading military equipment and infrastructure, training military personnel and exchanging experience. Mr President, everyone! Today we can say with full confidence that Russia's Kant Airbase is a reliable guarantor of security and stability in the Central Asian region. I sincerely congratulate the personnel of the Kant Airbase on its 20th anniversary. I wish you good health, peaceful skies, prosperity and further success in the noble cause of serving the Fatherland. Thank you for your attention. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Signing of joint documents and media statements by Vladimir Putin and Sadyr Japarov Vladimir Putin and President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov took part in a ceremony to sign joint documents as part of the President's official visit to the Kyrgyz Republic and made statements to the media. October 12, 2023 13:30 Bishkek Among the documents signed at the ceremony were an intergovernmental agreement on the terms of operation of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Bishkek, an agreement on cooperation between the two countries' ministries of justice, an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on ensuring biological safety and interdepartmental memorandums of understanding in forestry development as well as environmental and natural resources protection. * * * President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov: Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to welcome President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on an official visit to Kyrgyzstan. I am delighted that President Putin has returned the official visit I made to Russia five months ago. It is yet further proof of the strong interstate relations between Russia and Kyrgyzstan. I would like to note with satisfaction that the agreements reached during our meeting in Moscow are being implemented. President Putin and I held substantive talks on current aspects of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between our countries, which are strategic partners. We reaffirmed our strong commitment to stimulating and expanding our bilateral cooperation. Evidence of this is the bilateral documents we have signed. We share the opinion that trade between our countries is below our countries' potential. In this connection, we agreed to take measures to increase mutual trade and to strive for the ambitious target of $5 billion. During our talks, we highlighted cooperation in investment, fuel and energy, as well as agriculture. We have decided to intensify the efforts of our governments towards economic diversification and the implementation of major investment projects aimed at boosting our economic interaction. Today we also pointed out the importance of using bilateral mechanisms, in particular, the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation and the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, in the interests of our countries' development. I would like to note with satisfaction the positive results of the 10th Kyrgyzstan-Russia Interregional Conference on Industrial Cooperation, which took place in Jalal-Abad yesterday and included representatives of the regions and business communities of our countries. I would like to emphasise that this platform is highly popular and has great potential. It is gratifying to note that the conference led to the signing of documents and contracts exceeding $3,5 billion. I would also like to note that we place great emphasis on expanding cultural and humanitarian cooperation with Russia. In this regard, I would like to note the role of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, which has become one of the leaders in higher education and science in Kyrgyzstan over the past 30 years. Since its inception, the university has produced a large number of highly qualified specialists now working in Kyrgyzstan, Russia and other countries. It should be noted that Kyrgyzstan's chairmanship in the Commonwealth of Independent States coincided with the Year of Russian as the Language of Interethnic Communication in the CIS. The city of St Petersburg was also announced the cultural capital of the CIS in 2023. We also discussed the celebration of the 95th birth anniversary of Chingiz Aitmatov, an outstanding writer, on a global scale. Speaking of security, we noted the positive role of the joint Russian military base in Kant and spoke in favour of strengthening cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, extremism, drug and arms trafficking, cybercrime and other forms of transnational organised crime, both bilaterally and at international organisations. Cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Russia in the EAEU has particular relevance. We will make every effort to further deepen integration processes and achieve the goals of the union. The results of this visit inspire optimism about the further development of Kyrgyz-Russian relations. It is with great pleasure that I now give the floor to our dear guest, the President of Russia. Please, Mr President. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, colleagues. Ladies and gentlemen, I fully agree with President Japarov: today's talks indeed took place in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. They were also very productive - our colleagues talked to each other, and almost all of the participants spoke and made their proposals for the development of our cooperation. We substantively discussed the entire range of bilateral ties, as well as current regional and international issues. An extensive package of interstate and interdepartmental documents has been prepared for the visit. You have just seen the signing ceremony for them. When discussing trade and economic partnership, we all noted with satisfaction that last year, bilateral trade increased by 37 percent and reached a record high of $3.4 billion, and added almost 18 percent in the first half of this year. And I fully agree with my colleague, the President - we certainly have good prospects for further growth. Our countries are quickly shifting to national currencies in bilateral trade and building stable channels of lending and banking cooperation. As a result, the share of the ruble in counter commercial transactions reached an impressive 83 percent. Russia is the biggest investor in the Kyrgyz economy. One third of all direct foreign investment in the country comes from Russia. There are some 800 Russian-Kyrgyz enterprises engaged in such key sectors as energy, mining, machine-building, agriculture and transport that are successfully operating in the republic. Important support to the Kyrgyz economy is being provided by the bilateral Development Fund, completely financed by Russia. Through the Fund, some $520 million was invested in over 3,000 joint projects in the real sector of the Kyrgyz economy. I want to note that as of late, these projects, with the direct involvement and support of the President of Kyrgyzstan, have become sustainable in a major way, which is very important for the development of the republic's economy. The bilateral intergovernmental commission, whose regular meeting took place in Bishkek this March, is operating and achieving good results. As it was already said, Jalal-Abad yesterday hosted the 10th anniversary meeting of the Russia-Kyrgyzstan Interregional Conference, which brought together heads of regions and municipalities, ministries, agencies and parliamentarians, as well as business, expert and civic representatives from the two countries. President Japarov and I have sent video greetings to the conference participants and praised the practical role that our multifaceted interregional cooperation plays in strengthening interaction between the two countries. I want to note that Russia and Kyrgyzstan are closely cooperating within the Eurasian Economic Union; along with other member states, we are working on creating common markets of goods, services, capital and labour. It is obvious that Eurasian integration yields undeniable dividends to all participants in the process, including, of course, Kyrgyzstan. For instance, in the past eight years since the republic joined the EAEU, its GDP and industrial output has increased by 130 percent. Exports have doubled. It was emphasised during the talks that energy is among the most important spheres of Russian-Kyrgyz cooperation. Our country is the primary supplier of petroleum products to Kyrgyzstan. We fully cover Kyrgyz consumers' needs in gasoline and diesel fuel. Last year, we exported nearly 1.2 million tonnes of fuel, and we plan to supply as much by the end of this year. These supplies are carried out on concessional terms free of export duty, which also has a direct economic effect for the Republic and economic operators. Gazprom is instrumental in providing help to the Kyrgyz government's gasification programme and has already invested 18 billion rubles in Kyrgyzstan's gas supply system covering 30 percent of the Kyrgyz territory with gas supply infrastructure. We are aware that the President of Kyrgyzstan has set a goal for all participants in this process to cover 60 percent of the territory, and we will be there to contribute to this effort. Bilateral industrial cooperation is expanding. With Russia's participation, the Talas Gold Mining Complex was built and put into operation at the Jerooy deposit in northwestern Kyrgyzstan. Joint production of monocrystalline plates for solar power stations is currently in progress in Kyrgyzstan. Today, President Japarov and I focused on expanding bilateral military and defence industry cooperation. In a short while, we will participate in a ceremonial event dedicated to a significant milestone, namely, the 20th anniversary of the Russian airbase Kant. This military outpost significantly strengthens the Republic's defence capabilities, ensuring security and stability throughout the Central Asian region and addressing acute challenges and threats such as terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, and organised crime. Currently, the servicemen stationed at Kant are taking part in the Indestructible Brotherhood-2023 peacekeeping exercises conducted by the CSTO on Kyrgyzstan's territory. President Japarov and I were just talking about the founding of Kant, and I remember very well how this airbase was created. The Republic's leadership directly approached the Russian Federation with a request to swiftly deploy our aviation wing here because Kyrgyzstan was under attack by armed groups, and many people were impacted, which required a rapid joint response. Today, this base has acquired a major status and regional importance. Today we also mark another important anniversary, 30 years of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. This anniversary once again emphasises the multi-dimensional nature of the Russia-Kyrgyzstan partnership that extends to many areas, including, certainly, cultural and humanitarian affairs. The Slavic University has 8,500 students from 20 countries. In 2023, Russia allocated around 450 million rubles for the university's activities. In addition to that, branches of Russian higher education institutions open in the Kyrgyz regions. There is a centre of the Lomonosov Moscow State University in Osh. A branch of Moscow State University will soon open in Karakol. More than 100 teachers from Russia were sent to Kyrgyzstan this year as part of the Russian Teacher Abroad project. We understand that it is not a sufficient number and the President of Kyrgyzstan has goals that are more ambitious - and we fully support this and will move in this direction. I want to mention that overall, 16,000 Kyrgyz students study in Russian universities, including around 7,000 who study tuition-free. Russia also helps Kyrgyzstan to develop its Russian-language secondary education system. I should mention that on September 1, President Japarov and I launched the construction of three Russian-language schools - in Bishkek, Batken and Karakol. In the next few years, we plan to build nine Russian-language schools in all seven regions and in the two biggest cities, for more than 11,000 pupils. When we exchanged opinions on the most topical regional and global issues, we confirmed that Russia and Kyrgyzstan have close or overlapping positions, as diplomats like to say. Our countries coordinate their work within the UN and other leading international platforms, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Commonwealth of Independent States whose summit we will attend tomorrow. Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our Kyrgyz friends and President Japarov for our productive work together. I am confident that the results of this visit will help the allied relations between Russia and Kyrgyzstan continue to progress, and will certainly benefit all citizens of the two countries. Thank you very much. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia-Kyrgyzstan talks Vladimir Putin held talks with President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov at the Ala Archa State Residence in Bishkek. October 12, 2023 12:45 Bishkek The official welcoming ceremony for Vladimir Putin, hosted by President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, took place at the Ala Archa State Residence. * * * The beginning of Russian-Kyrgyz talks President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov: President Putin, members of the delegation, I wholeheartedly welcome you and members of the Russian delegation to Bishkek. First of all, I would like to say that your visit has a major symbolic meaning because it is held on the 20th anniversary of the Kant Air Force Base and the 30th anniversary of Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. These singular events in our bilateral relations are the symbols of our friendship. We highly value the strategic partnership and allied relations between Russia and Kyrgyzstan. A few weeks ago, on Knowledge Day, marked on September 1, we attended the ceremony to launch the construction of the first three Russian-language schools in Kyrgyzstan. I am confident that the future graduates of these schools will make a large contribution to the strengthening of Russian-Kyrgyz relations. In this context, I would like to note the active growth of contacts and exchanges between our countries departments and regions, as well as people-to-people diplomacy, namely Memory Train, Scarlet Sails and concerts by the masters and young ballet professionals in Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan and Kazan. Fifteen students will visit Russia soon within the framework of the Interdom for Children of Kyrgyzstan project. We also appreciate the recent visit by the leaders of the Russian Government, the Emergencies Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Russian National Guard and other delegations to Bishkek. It is notable that development of our common future is based on the solid foundation of the traditional relations of friendship. We have the basis and good prospects for strengthening relations of alliance and strategic partnership between Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Mr President, you have the floor. Please. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, colleagues. First of all, I would like to thank the President for the invitation. We had really good reasons to meet, but even without them, this visit is long overdue, and we have been talking about this for a long time. I am delighted to be in Kyrgyzstan today. We highly appreciate the work done by Kyrgyzstan during its chairmanship of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Russia is taking over the baton from Kyrgyzstan; it will chair the CIS in 2024. We also have a busy bilateral agenda. Indeed, as my colleague has just noted, there are dates that should be given enough attention, and overall, our ties are expanding successfully. In this regard, our delegation's agenda is also full. We will take part in events dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Russian military base in Kant. As for economic cooperation, Russia is one of Kyrgyzstan's leading trade and economic partners. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 37 percent to a record high of almost $3.5 billion and added another 17.9 percent in the first half of this year. Russia is the largest investor in the Kyrgyz economy, accounting for about 36 percent of accumulated foreign direct investment in that country. There are 800 companies with Russian capital in the republic. Our intergovernmental commission is carrying out this work. Its Russian co-chair is Mr Overchuk, who is on my left, and on the Kyrgyz side, Prime Minister Japarov. We believe that the work is going well. The intergovernmental programme of economic cooperation until 2026 is in progress. The business council met shortly before our meeting, reaffirming the interest of businesses on both sides in joint projects in energy, industry, agriculture, and high technology. Region-to-region ties are also growing fast. More than 80 Russian regions are actively cooperating with all seven regions of Kyrgyzstan. The 10th Russia-Kyrgyzstan interregional conference took place yesterday, and I think it was very useful. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Friendship Park of the Regions of Russia and Kyrgyzstan was also held there. Those are significant and very positive steps. I would like to conclude my opening remarks now, and as we have agreed, we will give the floor to our colleagues who can tell us in more detail about every area of our cooperation. Thank you very much. Sadyr Japarov: Very well, thank you. Mr President, The expanding trade, economic and investment ties with Russia certainly play a key role for us. In this regard, we are committed to increasing bilateral trade. <... > NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address What Is The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty And Why Is Russia Threatening To Pull Out? By Mike Eckel October 12, 2023 The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The Treaty on Open Skies. New START. For years, the pillars of international arms control have been crumbling: agreements signed by Washington, Moscow, and others during and after the Cold War aimed at reducing the threat of nuclear war, costly arms races, or overall military tensions. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty may be the next to go. Signed in 1996, the treaty was a major step to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons technology and keeping a lid on the arsenals of the world's biggest nuclear powers. Along with earlier treaties, the agreement, known as the CTBT, also aimed to reduce the spread of radioactive material that was blasted into the atmosphere and the oceans during the frenzied days of the Cold War. Here's the problem: The treaty never went into effect because a number of countries, including the United States, never ratified it. Still, most signatories -- including Russia and the United States, whose arsenals are by far the biggest in the world -- have abided by the ban. Now, however, Russia is making noises about backing out and "de-ratifying" the treaty. Here's what you need to know about the CTBT and its potential unraveling: How'd It Come About? The United States and the Soviet Union, as well as Britain, conducted hundreds of nuclear tests between 1945, when the world's first atomic bomb was detonated in the U.S. state of New Mexico and 1961, when Soviet officials detonated the world's most powerful weapon, the Tsar Bomba. France joined the nuclear testing club in 1960; China, in 1964. The fallout, literal and figurative, from the testing led to a partial ban on atmospheric, oceanic, and space tests in 1963; underground tests continued to be allowed. In 1974, India tested its first nuclear device, further expanding the nuclear club. A 1980 test by China became the last atmospheric test by any country anywhere. Moscow's final test -- underground -- occurred in October 1990 on the remote Arctic archipelago called Novaya Zemlya. Britain, the United States, France, and China all conducted their final tests in the years that followed, prior to 1996, mainly underground. What's It Do? The CTBT basically bans all tests that result in a fission chain reaction, essentially a nuclear explosion. Signed in 1996, the treaty was sent out to 187 signatory countries for ratification, but it has never come into effect because of a group of holdout countries. Russia signed and ratified the treaty in 2000. The United States signed, but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify, citing concerns about verifying other countries' compliance with the ban. Despite nonratification, the United States has complied with the moratorium. China signed but didn't ratify. Neither India, nor Pakistan, nor North Korea -- all of which have conducted open nuclear tests since 1996 -- is a member. The treaty does allow for states to conduct subcritical, or zero-yield tests. Those involve explosives and nuclear materials but do not result in a fission reaction, the reaction that gives atomic weapons their terrible power. Both the United States and Russia are known to have conducted such tests. Despite not ratifying the treaty, the United States does provide $33 million annually in funding for a system set up to monitor possible nuclear tests, as well as the Vienna-based organization charged with overseeing it. What's The Problem Now? As relations between Washington and Moscow have worsened, major treaties between them have also frayed or collapsed entirely. Washington unilaterally pulled out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty in 2002, angering Moscow. Washington for years accused Moscow of trying to cheat on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty until it effectively collapsed in 2019. In 2021, Russia withdrew from the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows countries to conduct surveillance flights over one another's territories in order to observe weapons and military sites. Both countries have adhered to New START, which capped the number of warheads and "delivery vehicles" each could possess. New START's extension, by both Russia and the United States in early 2021, was a lone bright spot in the continuing erosion of arms control. But the agreement expires in 2026 and cannot be extended. Unless a successor treaty can be agreed upon and ratified, there will be no limits on the countries' arsenals after that year. Tensions over Ukraine have kept the two sides from even sending inspectors to one another's countries, as stipulated for in New START. Both countries have also moved to modernize and upgrade their arsenals. But in a sign of deepening distrust, the U.S. State Department suggested in a 2022 report that Russia had not adhered to the standard of "zero-yield" testing. So Russia Wants To Pull Out Then? For more than a decade, the Kremlin has increased spending not only on conventional weapons and force strength but also on modernizing and expanding its strategic arsenal. In 2018, Putin boasted that Russia was developing new weapons like an unmanned, nuclear-capable, underwater torpedo, and a hypersonic "glide" missile. He also bragged of the development of a nuclear-powered cruise missile -- the Burevestnik, which has had major problems. In recent years, researchers have been monitoring a surge of activity on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago: satellite imagery showing an uptick of construction at one or possibly two settlements that researchers had identified as sites for a possible test of a nuclear device or the trouble-plagued Burevestnik. A top Russian nuclear researcher called for Russia to resume testing, and on October 5 Putin announced a successful test of the Burevestnik, though he provided no details. Putin also opened to the door to Russia resuming nuclear testing, saying it could "de-ratify" the CTBT. A week later, on October 12, the speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, introduced legislation to withdraw ratification. The prospect of Russia withdrawing prompted alarm bells, including from the CTBTO, the Vienna-based organization charged with monitoring compliance. What Happens Next? Even if "de-ratification" ends up happening, as is likely in the Kremlin-controlled parliament, that does not necessarily mean Russia will start blowing up uranium or plutonium again, on Novaya Zemlya or otherwise. "I think that withdrawal of ratification is a strictly political step -- leveling status with the U.S.," said Nikolai Sokov, a former Russian Foreign Ministry official and arms control expert. "I think the main motive is the perception that 'Russia tried too hard in the past and made too many concessions' and now 'We're not interested in arms control more than other countries.'" Leonid Slutsky, head of the Duma's foreign affairs committee, emphasized that Russia would not be withdrawing its signature under the treaty or "withdrawing from the voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing." "We are withdrawing the ratification, thus restoring legislative parity with the U.S. Congress," he told the newspaper Kommersant. "It was especially important for [the CTBTO] to hear that revoking ratification does not mean that Russia intends to resume nuclear tests and implies that Russia will continue to fully participate in the work being done for the Treaty's entry into force," Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's ambassador in Vienna, told the state news agency RIA Novosti. Still, it's not a good sign, experts say -- all the more so, given the demise of other treaties. Russia or any major nuclear power backing out of the CTBT "would be a huge blow to the [global nonproliferation] regime and would undoubtedly lead to a cascade of nuke testing by other states," Lynn Rusten, a former U.S. arms control negotiator, told RFE/RL. There could also be other nonproliferation or arms control treaties that are at risk, since, according to Sokov, the Kremlin has initiated a review of all similar agreements. One strong candidate for "de-ratification" or a downgrading of Russia's involvement, he said, is the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, which obligates members to destroy their stocks of chemical weapons. Russia's compliance with that treaty has been in question since the near-fatal poisonings of former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal in England in 2018 and opposition activist Aleksei Navalny in Siberia in 2020. In both cases, Western scientists identified a powerful Soviet-era nerve agent and suggested that Russia had maintained a secret, undeclared chemical weapons program. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nuclear-test-ban- treaty-russia-pull-out/32634674.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Sanctions Owners Of Two Vessels For Carrying Russian Oil Priced Above Cap By RFE/RL October 12, 2023 The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions on two companies for allegedly violating a price cap on Russian oil agreed last year by Western countries. Vessels owned by companies based in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey were cited as having violated a price cap set in December by the countries in the Group of Seven leading economies, the European Union, and Australia. The coalition set the price cap at $60 per barrel for Russian crude to restrict income for Russian oil that could then be used to fund its invasion of Ukraine. A vessel owned by U.A.E.-based Lumber Marine was found to have violated price-cap policy, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a news release. The vessels carried Russian-origin crude priced at more than $75 a barrel, the Treasury said in a statement on October 12. The department also sanctioned Turkey-based Ice Pearl Navigation Corporation, saying one it its vessels carried crude oil priced above $80 a barrel. "Today's action demonstrates our continued commitment to reduce Russia's resources for its war against Ukraine and to enforce the price cap," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in the statement. The cap bans Western companies from providing maritime services such as insurance, finance, and shipping to Russian seaborne oil exports sold above $60 a barrel. The coalition implemented the program to restrict Russian revenue while keeping oil flowing to markets. Both tankers used U.S.-based service providers while transporting the Russian origin oil, the Treasury Department said. "Because of the actions we're announcing today, and the further actions we will take in the coming weeks and months, these costs will continue to rise and Russia's ability to sustain its barbaric war will continue to weaken," a senior Treasury official told reporters in a conference call. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on October 11 said the price cap had sharply reduced Russian revenues over the past 10 months and that it was critical to keep imposing severe and increasing costs on Russia over its war in Ukraine. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-treasury- sanctions-russian-oil-price-cap/32634819.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Northern Fleet ships detachment completes tasks of long-distance campaign in Arctic and returns to base 12.10.2023 Today, the main base of the Northern Fleet - Severomorsk - hosted a meeting of a detachment of ships and support vessels of the Northern Fleet, which completed the implementation of the next, 12th Arctic campaign on the seas of the Arctic Ocean and acted as part of the Arctic expeditionary ship grouping. The report on the successful completion of the assigned tasks by the crews of warships and support vessels was received by the Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet, Vice Admiral Konstantin Kabantsov. The Chief of the Fleet Staff congratulated the North Sea sailors who took part in the long-distance campaign on the successful solution of all tasks and returning home. The twelfth Arctic campaign of the Northern Fleet began on August 10 and lasted 64 days. The Arctic group under the flag of the Deputy commander of the Northern Fleet, Vice Admiral Oleg Golubev, has traveled more than 10,000 miles during this time. The geography of the hike covers the waters of the Arctic seas from the Franz Josef Land archipelago to the Novosibirsk Islands. During the campaign, the North Sea sailors conducted a number of exercises on the defence of the island and continental territories of Russia in the Arctic, interacted with the tactical groups of the Northern Fleet, located on a permanent basis on the islands of Zemlya-Alexandra and Kotelny in the Arctic Ocean. The sailors of the Northern Fleet also conducted a set of exercises to ensure the safety of maritime navigation and other types of maritime economic activity of Russia in the Arctic zone. Information Activities Office of the Northern region (Severomorsk) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Instructs Cabinet to Consider Formation of Central Eurasian Transport Corridor Sputnik News 20231012 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to submit proposals for the formation of a Central Eurasian transport corridor through Mongolia and Western China, according to a document published by the Kremlin on Thursday. "To consider the issue of forming a Central Eurasian transport corridor through Mongolia and Western China and to submit proposals on possible measures for its formation," the document said. The order must be completed by February 15, 2024. According to the document, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will be in charge of the initiative. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin: Russia to Continue Delivering Modern Weapons to Its Military Base in Kyrgyzstan Sputnik News 20231012 Svetlana Ekimneko Russian President Vladimir Putin is on a two-day official visit to Kyrgyzstan, to take part in a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State, and hold a number of bilateral meetings, including with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Russia will continue to deliver modern weapons to its military base in Kyrgyzstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized on Thursday. "For my part, I would like to offer assurances that the Russian leadership will continue to pay close attention to the issues of providing the air base with advanced types of weapons, modern technology and equipment," said Putin. The Russian leader, who is on a two-day official visit to Kyrgyzstan, addressed the command and personnel of the airbase, emphasizing that the Russian authorities highly value the challenging service they carry out abroad. Putin hailed the military outpost's contribution to bolstering the Kyrgyzstan's defense capability, providing security and stability in the entire Central Asian region, and recalled how he had attended the ceremony of opening the Kant air base in October 2003. Russia's airbase in the town of Kant, located some 12 miles (19.3 km) outside of the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, was set up in 2003 as part of the Collective Rapid Deployment Force. It was tasked with ensuring the security of the airspace of the states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). "I remember how the Kant base was established, when the [Kyrgyz] republic's leadership turned to the Russian Federation with a request to deploy our air wing as soon as possible because Kyrgyzstan had been attacked by armed gangs... and this required a quick and joint reaction," the Russian leader pointed out. Regarding the current round of talks in Bishkek, Vladimir Putin said they "focused on the issues of expanding bilateral cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres." In turn, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said that he and his Russian counterpart had underscored the significant role that the Russian military base in Kant plays in ensuring the security of the region. Both leaders spoke in favor of "strengthening cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, extremism, drug and weapons trafficking, cybersecurity and other forms of transnational organized crime, both in a bilateral format and within international organizations," Japarov said. During his two-day official visit to Kyrgyzstan, Putin will take part in the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State, as well as hold a number of bilateral meetings. The first day of the visit began with an official meeting in extended format between the Russian leader and his Kyrgyz counterpart. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Treasury Sanctions Entities for Transporting Oil Sold Above the Coalition Price Cap to Restrict Russia's War Machine U.S. Department of the Treasury October 12, 2023 WASHINGTON -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is imposing sanctions on two entities and identifying as blocked property two vessels that used Price Cap Coalition service providers while carrying Russian crude oil above the Coalition-agreed price cap. This action underscores the Treasury Department's commitment with its international partners to responsibly reducing Russian government oil profits and constraining the Russian war machine. Treasury and the coalition will remain vigilant in monitoring the compliance of shipping companies and vessels participating in the Russian oil trade while using the services of Price Cap Coalition service providers. In addition to today's sanctions actions, the Price Cap Coalition has also published a Coalition Advisory for the Maritime Oil Industry and Related Sectors. The Advisory, which is directed at both government and private sector actors involved in the maritime trade of crude oil and refined petroleum products, provides recommendations concerning specific best practices and reflects our commitment to promoting responsible practices in the industry, preventing and disrupting sanctioned trade, and enhancing compliance with the price cap. "Today's action demonstrates our continued commitment to reduce Russia's resources for its war against Ukraine and to enforce the price cap," said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. "We remain committed to implementing a price cap policy that has two goals: reducing the oil profits upon which Russia relies to wage its unjust war against Ukraine and keeping global energy markets stable and well-supplied despite turbulence caused by Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. We will continue to take actions to achieve these two goals." THE PRICE CAP The United States is part of an international coalition (the Price Cap Coalition), including the G7, the European Union, and Australia, that have agreed to prohibit the import of crude oil and petroleum products of Russian Federation origin. These countries, home to many best-in-class financial and professional services, have also agreed to restrict a broad range of services related to the maritime transport of crude oil and petroleum products of Russian Federation originaunless that oil is bought and sold at or below the specific price caps established by the Coalition or is authorized by a license. This policy is known as the "price cap." The price cap is intended to maintain a reliable supply of crude oil and petroleum products to the global market while reducing the profits the Russian Federation earns from oil after its own war of choice against Ukraine inflated global energy prices. All Coalition members are dedicated to enforcing the price cap, as noted in the Coalition statement regarding this U.S. action, and to promoting responsible practices in the maritime oil industry, as outlined in the Coalition Advisory for the Maritime Oil Industry and Related Sectors. VESSELS CARRYING RUSSIAN OIL PRICED ABOVE THE PRICE CAP Today, OFAC demonstrates the importance of compliance with the price cap policy and continues its efforts to constrain Russia's ability to prosecute its war against Ukraine. The crude oil price cap took effect in December 2022 with a cap on Russian crude oil at $60 per barrel. The SCF Primorye carried Novy Port crude oil priced above $75 per barrel from a port in the Russian Federation after the crude oil price cap took effect. United Arab Emirates-based Lumber Marine SA is the registered owner of the SCF Primorye. As described in OFAC's April 17, 2023 Alert, OFAC is also aware of reports that Eastern Siberia Pacific Oil (ESPO) and other crudes exported via Pacific ports in the Russian Federation, such as Kozmino, may be trading above the price cap and may be using covered services provided by U.S. persons. OFAC continues to monitor this activity closely. The YasaGolden Bosphorus carried ESPO crude oil priced above $80 per barrel after the crude oil price cap took effect. Turkiye-based Ice Pearl Navigation Corp is the registered owner of the Yasa Golden Bosphorus. Both the SCF Primorye (IMO 9421960) and the Yasa Golden Bosphorus (IMO 9334038), which conducted port calls in the Russian Federation, used U.S.-based service providers while transporting the Russian origin oil. Lumber Marine SA and Ice Pearl Navigation Corp were both designated pursuant to Executive Order 14024 for operating or having operated in the marine sector of the Russian Federation economy. OFAC also identified the SCF Primorye and the Yasa Golden Bosphorus as property in which Lumber Marine SA and Ice Pearl Navigation Corp, respectively, have an interest. SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt. These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC's Frequently Asked Question 897. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here. For identifying information on the entities sanctioned and vessels identified today, click here. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement of the G7 and Australia on Actions Taken to Enforce Price Caps for Seaborne Russian-Origin Oil and Petroleum Products U.S. Department of the Treasury October 12, 2023 Berlin, Brussels, Canberra, London, Ottawa, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Washington We, the members of the Price Cap CoalitionaAustralia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United Statesaestablished price caps on seaborne Russian oil as outlined in the G7 Finance Ministers Statement on 2 September 2022, the Price Cap Coalition ("Coalition") Statement on 2 December 2022, and the Coalition Statement on 4 February 2023. The price cap policy supports stability in global oil markets by allowing our service providers to continue to participate in shipments of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products to other countries, if prices do not exceed the caps. Thus, the price cap minimises negative economic spillovers of Russia's war of aggression, especially on low- and middle-income countries. In addition, the policy diminishes Russia's ability to finance its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. The policy also empowers industry worldwideaespecially importers in the developing countriesato negotiate for Russian oil prices below the prevailing market price. Since the establishment of the price cap policy, the Coalition has closely monitored marketsaincluding price trends and volumes exported by Russia to ensure that the price cap continues to function as intended. Russian oil tax revenue was down 45% from January-August this year, relative to 2022. Given recent price movements, the Coalition is focusing on supporting compliance and enforcement of the policy. Today, the Coalition is issuing a Maritime Safety Advisory to promote responsible practices in the maritime oil industry and enhance compliance with the price caps on crude oil and petroleum products. By adopting the recommendations in the advisory and previous guidance documents, industry stakeholders can reduce their exposure to possible risks associated with recent developments in the maritime oil trade. In addition, the Coalition is issuing this statement to underscore the risks of violating price cap rules. In the normal course of business, Coalition service providers may interact with market participants in other jurisdictions. Where we have evidence that companies or persons have engaged in illicit or deceptive practices related to shipments of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products, we will respond in accordance with the respective restrictive measures established by the Coalition Members. In this context, we highlight that the United States is also taking action to impose sanctions on two entities and identify vessels as property in which those entities have an interest. These entities own vessels that used Price Cap Coalition service providers and that carried Russian crude oil above the price cap limit. The SCF Primorye carried Novy Port crude oil priced above $75 per barrel from a port in the Russian Federation after the crude oil price cap took effect. United Arab Emirates-based Lumber Marine SA is the registered owner of the SCF Primorye. The Yasa Golden Bosphorus carried ESPO crude oil priced above $80 per barrel after the crude oil price cap took effect. Turkiye-based Ice Pearl Navigation Corp owns the Yasa Golden Bosphorus. Both the Yasa Golden Bosphorus and the SCF Primorye, which conducted port calls in the Russian Federation, used U.S.-based services providers while transporting the Russian origin oil. As a Coalition, we reiterate our strong commitment to imposing sanctions and other economic measures against Russia in response to its illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war. The Coalition stands behind U.S. initiatives to enhance compliance with the price caps. Moving forward, Coalition Members will continue to take action as appropriate based on their respective legislative frameworks and as evidence indicates violations related to each respective jurisdiction. Our Coalition takes all allegations of evasion and illicit activity seriously, and all Coalition members will respond as appropriate if industry players violate our rules. The price cap is a dynamic tool, and the Coalition is committed to enforcing compliance with the price cap to deny Russia the revenue it needs to prosecute its brutal war agains Ukraine. At the same time, the Coalition remains committed to preserving stability in global energy markets, in terms of both price level and supply. Engagement with maritime industry partners has been key to the development of the price cap policy. As the Coalition has made clear from the outset of the policy, good-faith actors can continue to rely on proportionate, case-by-case enforcement and concepts such as the 'safe harbor' established by the United States price cap compliance framework. ### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli airstrikes target Syria's Damascus, Aleppo airports Iran Press TV Thursday, 12 October 2023 12:39 PM Israel has carried out aerial assaults on Syria's two main airports in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo, putting both facilities out of service. Citing a military source, Syria's official SANA news agency reported on Thursday that the shelling occurred "simultaneously" and caused material damage to the airports' landing strip. "Israeli aggression targets Damascus and Aleppo airports," the state television reported on its Telegram channel on Thursday. Meanwhile, local media reported that Syrian air defenses were launched in response to the Israeli attacks. There were also reports of damage at the Aleppo airport with no casualties. The Israeli aggression comes at a time when the occupying regime is conducting a deadly bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,354 Palestinians and destroying whole neighborhoods. Israel launched the Gaza raid on Saturday after the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement waged a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the usurping entity. Israel frequently attacks the positions of Syria's military and its allies since 2011, when the Arab country found itself in the grip of rampant foreign-backed violence and terrorism. The regime's attacks mostly target the positions of Syria's allies that have been aiding the country in its uphill battle against foreign-sponsored terror groups. Damascus has repeatedly complained to the United Nations over the Israeli assaults, urging the world body's Security Council to take action against Tel Aviv's crimes. Its demands, however, have fallen on deaf ears. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address QA-11, 12 October 2023, Statement of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Tanju BilgiA, in Response to a Question Regarding the Renewal of the US Presidential Executive Order Titled "National Emergency" with Respect to Syria Republic of Turkey - Ministry of Foreign Affairs Operation Peace Spring, subjected to baseless allegations on this Executive Order being renewed by the US President, was in essence carried out on the basis of the right of self-defense in accordance with the Article 51 of the UN Charter and relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council on the fight against terrorism and has provided an environment of peace and stability in the region. It dealt a blow to the terrorist activities of PKK/YPG and DEASH terrorist organizations, removed them from our borders and contributed to the preservation of territorial integrity of Syria. Instead of opting for such unilateral acts, support by the US for TArkiye's stability-oriented policies towards Syria which prioritize this country's unity would befit more to the deep-rooted and valuable relations between the two allies. In this context, we expect the US to terminate its engagement with the separatist terrorist organization and fulfill the provisions of the Joint Statement dated October 17, 2019. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan creates task force to study Israel-Hamas war as part of defense prep ROC Central News Agency 10/12/2023 03:54 PM Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has appointed a task force to examine the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (ea) said Thursday. The task force has been created with the understanding that intelligence is a key factor in the process of preparation against potential enemy attacks, Chiu said, when asked by reporters what lessons the Israel-Palestinian war held for Taiwan. While Taiwan should "make preparations for war, it should not court war," however, as the collateral damage can be "harrowing," Chiu told reporters, before attending a hearing of the Legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee. He said Taiwan's armed forces hope to prevent war, and they have been working tirelessly to that end, while doing their best not to misjudge the situation. Taiwan's military has been closely monitoring the situation around the country, paying close attention to any signs of an enemy advancement, which would form the basis of the military's judgment of the situation, Chiu said. On the question of whether Taiwan was capable of calling up 300,000 reservists in a single day like Israeli recently did, Chiu did not give a direct answer, saying only that Taiwan is a small country, and its armed forces have mobilization plans in place. Attendance has been "quite high" at past reservist training programs, he added. During the legislative hearing, meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (cZasa) urged the MND to work with the Ministry of the Interior to more widely publicize the locations of the country's air raid shelters, so that people could quickly get to safety in the event of an airstrike. Currently, the full information about air raid shelters can only be accessed by scanning a QR code in an online file called the All-Out Defense Handbook, Wang said, adding that not everyone knows how to do that. He suggested that the defense and interior ministries work to ensure that the shelter information can be also printed for distribution to residents of every district, borough and neighborhood in the country. In response, Chiu said an evaluation of Wang's proposal should not be a problem, as the MND's All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency usually meets weekly or biweekly with staff members of several central government agencies. (By Sean Lin) Enditem/pc NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkiye, Gazprom Agree to Draft Roadmap for Gas Hub in Near Future - Energy Minister Sputnik News 20231012 ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkiye and Russia's Gazprom have agreed to draft a roadmap for a gas hub in near future, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday. "During our negotiations with Gazprom, we decided, by mutual agreement, to draw up a roadmap on this issue in the near future, and then we will jointly carry out work related to the implementation of the natural gas center in the near future. We agreed on this issue," the minister said, as quoted by Turkiye's newspaper. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, that the proposed gas hub project in Turkey will be an electronic platform for gas trading that will benefit all sides. In October 2022, the presidents of Turkey and Russia instructed their relevant authorities to map out the possibility of creating a gas hub in Turkey where traffic could be diverted from the damaged Nord Stream pipelines. During a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi in September this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hopes negotiations on the creation of a gas hub in Turkey will soon be completed. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM call with President el-Sisi of Egypt: 12 October 2023 The Prime Minister spoke to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi this morning, following the terrorist atrocity carried out by Hamas in Israel. 12 October 2023 The Prime Minister spoke to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi this morning, following the terrorist atrocity carried out by Hamas in Israel. He expressed his condolences for the Egyptians who have lost their lives, along with so many others. The Prime Minister said that terrorism is an evil which must be confronted, wherever we find it. It was also important that the conflict did not spread further. He noted the importance of Egypt's historic role in the region, including in seeking de-escalation. The Prime Minister acknowledged the challenging security situation at the Rafah border crossing. He offered the UK's support to try to manage this situation and keep the route open for humanitarian and consular reasons, including for British nationals. The leaders agreed to remain in contact as the situation develops. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zelensky visits NATO headquarters to secure military assistance Global Times West shifts focus to Israel; support for Kiev faces voter backlash: analysts By Deng Xiaoci Published: Oct 12, 2023 08:14 PM Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly made a surprise visit to the NATO headquarters in the hope of securing aid from the military alliance on Wednesday local time. Chinese analysts commented on Thursday that Zelensky's NATO headquarters visit, his first since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in early 2022, was an obvious sign of his growing concern over NATO diverting assistance from Ukraine to Israel. They also pointed out that the US and NATO's assurance of continuing aid to Kiev is fragile as the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict is becoming "a hot potato," especially as many of these countries face election campaigns, testing the will of key allies. At NATO, Zelensky said he was counting on the West to supply more air defense support, long-range missiles and artillery to help his country "survive this next winter." And he said that "of course, everybody's afraid" that Western assistance would dwindle as the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues, the New York Times reported. Top NATO officials sought to reassure Zelensky by pledging more than $2 billion in additional military aid to be delivered before winter sets in. Likewise, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed on Wednesday that Washington's military support for Israel will not compromise its commitment to Ukraine, the AFP reported. However, the New York Times, which reported the visit, cited unnamed "senior officials" as saying that Ukraine might have cause for concern, given the situation in Israel and the budget fight in the US Congress that threatens American war funding. At least some of the American weapons flow could dry up in a matter of months if the money is not approved quickly, according to one senior US official who spoke to journalists in Brussels on condition of anonymity. It is natural for Zelensky to take note of the outbreak of the fresh Palestine-Israel crisis, but as long as the conflict is limited to Gaza, the US-led West would not have to divert significant military resources to Israel, as Hamas is in fact no match for it, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Time on Thursday. What the US fears is the spillover of the conflict, which could lead to a full scale Middle East war, with other Muslim and Arab countries getting involved, and the US is gearing up in the region to deter Iran, Li explained. Still, it is likely to be a challenging winter for Ukraine. The war of attrition puts great pressure on NATO member countries and the US, especially because many of these countries are entering election season, and the public is strongly opposed to diverting resources toward war, analysts said. Having the resources to balance two conflicts is one thing, but having the political will under domestic pressure to actually do so is another, Li said. Within the US, supporting Israel is a matter of "political correctness" and enjoys bipartisan agreement, however the case for Kiev is more complicated, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday. Kiev's domestic corruption issues have impeded US policymaking when it comes to military aid, where Republicans would like to ensure the funding is spent in the right place, causing fractures within the Congress, Song said. Opposition to continuing current levels of support to Ukraine is undoubtedly rising, so the Congress is likely to impose restrictions on aid, Li noted. "However, whether they will completely refuse aid to Ukraine, personally, I believe the likelihood is low. The US still needs to assist Ukraine, even if the funding from the Congress is reduced or, in the most extreme case, not allocated at all." It is worth noting that even without the emergence of the latest Palestine-Israel crisis, US and Western military assistance to Ukraine had already reached tipping point, with several European countries already announcing decisions to stop aiding Kiev, Cui Heng, a scholar from the China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday. Objectively speaking, supporting Israel, at the moment, is more urgent and of greater geopolitical importance for the US and the West than supporting Ukraine, Cui pointed out. The 2024 election is the most important thing for both the GOP and the Democrats, and there are issues that take greater priority over Ukraine, such as China-related matters and the Jewish lobby, which are key to the vote, Cui said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Defence Minister: Latvia will actively facilitate Ukraine's NATO integration Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Defence 10/12/2023 Information prepared by Media Relations Section On Wednesday, 11 October, Defence Minister Andris SprAds attended the NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels, which also included NATO-Ukraine Council work session that focused on the next steps Ukraine needs to take to become a member of the Alliance. Meeting also addressed current developments on the frontline and support provided by members of the Alliance to help Ukraine push back the Russian aggression. 'This was the first defence minister-level meeting in the history of NATO-Ukraine Council. We have made the next step towards Ukraine's full integration into Alliance and Latvia will actively facilitate this process going forward. Ukraine belongs in NATO and allies will spare no efforts or resources to make sure Ukraine joins NATO as soon as possible,' Defence Minister Andris SprAds said. Meanwhile, Latvia is fully committed to continue Ukrainian military training programme and has already trained around 3,000 Ukrainian troops this year. In September Latvia also joined the IT coalition led by Estonia and Luxembourg. Mission of this coalition is to develop secure, reliable and resilient IT infrastructure at the Ukrainian Defence Ministry and Ukrainian Armed Force units. As reported earlier, since Russian invasion of Ukraine, Latvia has provided Ukraine military assistance well beyond 1% of Latvia's GDP, making Latvia one of the leading countries in terms of support afforded to Ukraine. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The human rights situation of displaced Ukrainian Roma raises concerns amidst continuing prejudice OSCE | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 12 October 2023 Roma fleeing the armed conflict in Ukraine continue to experience prejudice when seeking support or aid, said participants at an event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 11 October 2023, on the margins of the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. Representatives of Roma civil society and OSCE states discussed the most pressing challenges facing displaced Roma people, both internally and in countries neighbouring Ukraine. They also exchanged good practices and recommendations on ways to meet the needs of these communities. "Roma fleeing the violence are experiencing significant challenges in accessing the support services they need," said ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci. "The situation of women is of particular concern, with prejudice against Roma compounded by longstanding gender inequality." Julian Kondur, from the Roma Women's Fund 'Chiricli' international charity, pointed out that the ongoing armed conflict has further deepened the socio-economic exclusion of many Roma. "Access to housing and documentation remain the key issues for internally displaced Roma," he said, adding that civil society has played a crucial role in helping those in need and advocating for policy changes. The root causes of unequal treatment are entrenched in anti-Roma sentiment, said Olena Vaidalovych of the Towards Dialogue Foundation. "The large number of refugees has highlighted areas of poor social cohesion. National authorities need to put measures in place to ensure inclusion for all refugees without practices of segregation for the most marginalized," she said. ODIHR assists countries across the OSCE in combating racism and discrimination and addressing Roma and Sinti issues in crisis and post-crisis situations, in line with the 2003 OSCE Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area. ODIHR has been monitoring reports of human rights violations against Ukrainian Roma since February 2022. The event was part of ODIHR's Advancing the Human Dimension of Security in Ukraine project. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Drones Damage Danube Port Facilities Amid Intense Fighting In Donetsk Region By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service October 12, 2023 A fresh wave of Russian drone strikes on Danube port installations critical for Kyiv's grain export caused damage and injury, Ukrainian authorities said on October 12, as Romania urged Russia to stop its attacks after again finding debris on its territory near the border with Ukraine. Ukraine's Southern Defense Force and Odesa regional Governor Oleh Kiper said that air defenses shot down 28 out of the 33 Iranian-made drones launched by Russia at the Odesa and Mykolayiv regions, but some of the drones, launched from different directions, "used complex trajectories and features of the landscape" to strike grain storage facilities in the Ukrainian port of Izmayil on the Danube River. Since the collapse in July of a United Nations-brokered deal allowing the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments from Black Sea ports, Ukraine has used its Danube ports of Reni and Izmayil on the border with Romania to ship food to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta. Kiper said in a message on Telegram that port infrastructure and residential buildings in Izmayil sustained damage and several fires broke out but were rapidly extinguished. An 88-year-old woman sustained burns and was receiving emergency treatment in the hospital, Kiper said. In Bucharest, Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu said the drone strikes on Izmayil had "again serious consequences." "New evidence of impact was found on Romania's soil. We call on Russia to stop these #war crimes," she said on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Romanian Defense Ministry said a crater caused by the possible explosion of a drone was found early on October 12 near its Danube border with Ukraine. Romanian news reports said that the crater had a 4-meter diameter and a depth of 1.5 meters and it contained smoldering debris. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian troops are resisting Russian forces' renewed assaults on Avdiyivka, an industrial town in the eastern region of Donetsk with a prewar population of around 31,000 people that has now shrunk to an estimated 2,000. "Avdiyivka. We are holding our ground," Zelenskiy said on Telegram. "It is Ukrainian courage and unity that will determine how this war will end. We must all remember this." Russian troops significantly stepped up attacks on Avdiyivka on October 10 in an effort to make a breakthrough in the area, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military said in its evening report on October 12. The Ukrainian military repelled seven attacks in the Avdiyivka area on October 12 and seven more near other towns in the Donestsk region, the General Staff said. The report said overall there were 55 combat clashes during the day at the front. "The enemy launched two rocket and 55 air strikes [and] launched more than 20 attacks from rocket salvo systems on the positions of our troops and populated areas," the General Staff said. "The operational situation in the east and south of Ukraine remains difficult." Ukrainian forces also repelled attacks in the areas of Kupyansk, Lyman, and Marinska, according to the report, which also said that Russian forces tried unsuccessfully to regain its position in the Robotyny area of the Zaporizhzhya region. The General Staff also added that Ukrainian forces continue offensive operations in the areas of Melitopol and Bakhmut. Meanwhile, the governor of Russia's southern region of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said early on October 12 that three people were killed by debris from a downed drone that fell on a residential building. Ukraine, whose civilian and energy infrastructure has been subjected to relentless Russian drone and air strikes that have caused massive damage and hundreds of casualties, has in recent months stepped up its own drone attacks on bordering Russian regions. With reporting by Reuters and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-odesa-drone-strikes- grain-warehouse-belgorod/32634003.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Amid Talk Of Ukraine Fatigue, Zelenskiy Seemingly Snubbed By Romanian Parliament By Andreea Pora, Oana Despa, Andy Heil October 12, 2023 For most of the world, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is the face of Ukrainian resistance to a 19-month-old Russian invasion with no end in sight. As such, he has made the pitch for continued Western resolve and support his top priority everywhere he goes. So, while his launch of a "strategic partnership" alongside Romanian President Klaus Iohannis this week was good news for Kyiv, it might have been overshadowed by what didn't happen in Bucharest. Faced with threats from nationalist, pro-Russian lawmakers of something "bad" happening if they "caught" Zelenskiy in the Romanian Parliament, official plans were abandoned for the Ukrainian head of state to give a speech to lawmakers. Iohannis and other Romanian officials were tight-lipped about the climbdown, except to cite time constraints and a "busy" schedule. At a press conference at the presidential residence, Zelenskiy -- a popular TV comic before becoming a wartime president -- joked diplomatically that while "you understand that I don't have a problem with speeches, in any country...I haven't prepared any speech, with all due respect." "I'm not ready to do it," he said. "But next time, I assure you that I'll come and give a speech, with great pleasure." But the timing was particularly awkward, with fresh talk of Ukraine war fatigue among Western allies fueled by Congressional wavering in the United States and government positions seemingly hardening in Warsaw and Bratislava. Valentin Naumescu, a professor of international relations at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj and director of the Center for the Study of the European Union's External Relations and Global Order (EUXGLOB Center), said the cancellation represented an "abandonment of the discourse" and was "extremely depressing" for Romania in particular. "It created the impression of a vulnerable and weak country where nationalists, extremists, and pro-Russians impose their agenda," Naumescu said. "We are witnessing an increase in anti-Western [sentiment] that manages to intimidate the leadership at the top of the Romanian state, the fundamental institutions of democracy." Romania shares over 600 kilometers of border with Ukraine, including land and maritime boundaries. Along with a handful of other so-called frontline EU and NATO states, Romania is a key alternate export route for Ukrainian goods otherwise blockaded by Russia's Black Sea naval forces. Romania's grand-coalition government has quietly provided military aid to Ukraine alongside its NATO allies and cautiously echoed the official EU position of strong support for Kyiv, although cracks have occasionally emerged to suggest there is some disagreement behind the scenes in Bucharest. Despite Iohannis's pledge this week of military support for Ukraine "until victory over Russia," the nature of that support will continue to generate political debate. Historian Cosmin Popa told RFE/RL's Romanian Service that the visit itself was "very clear proof...of the acceleration in the warming of relations between Ukraine and Romania" amid widening tensions with regional allies such as Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. He added, however, that Romanian officials' apparent reluctance to go through with the invite was sure to embolden anti-Ukraine and pro-Russian voices. Popa warned that a cancellation "for political reasons, for bilateral reasons, or for reasons related to the inability of the leaders of Parliament to control any noisy demonstrations in the Parliament shows that...those in charge of Romania are only encouraging a state of unjustified hostility toward Ukraine and [encouraging] Russian propaganda and interests." Many Romanians welcomed Ukrainian war refugees spilling into their country on a mass scale soon after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The UN refugee agency credited them and their government with "speed and generosity" in their response to the humanitarian crisis. The UNHCR said this month that more than 85,000 Ukrainian refugees are present in Romania and 144,000 have been granted temporary protection, which, under EU regulations, gives them access to housing, health care, and the job market. But swelling populist and right-wing political forces, including some with pro-Moscow views, have consistently attacked Romania's participation in Western sanctions against Russia along with military and other support for Ukraine. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unification of Romanians, and Diana Sosoaca, a notorious conspiracy theorist in Parliament, leapt on the offensive ahead of this week's visit, Zelenskiy's first to Romania since the Russian invasion began. "Don't dare to put him in the Romanian Parliament," Sosoaca threatened in one social media post. "I'm telling you this much, Mr. Iohannis: If I catch him in Parliament, it will be bad!" When Zelenskiy did visit Parliament on October 10 -- not for a speech but to meet with individual lawmakers -- Sosoaca filmed a video of herself shouting questions to him about ethnic Romanians in Ukraine and posted it on social media, adding that he didn't have the "courage" to respond. She also seized on Zelenskiy's gaffe in a televised interview in which he referred to the "Moldovan language," which is used in the region as a name for the Romanian language, saying it "doesn't exist." Simion mocked the cancellation of the speech to lawmakers, saying that, "with pain in our hearts, we announce that the brave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will not come to the Romanian Parliament today." Zelenskiy has addressed five European Parliaments since the war began, in addition to the U.S. and Canadian legislatures, as part of a constant push to encourage ongoing military and other assistance. He spoke to the Romanian Parliament via video link in April 2022. Lawmakers from the far-right, pro-Russian Freedom Party in Austria walked out of Zelenskiy's video address to their parliament in March, complaining it was a violation of the country's constitutionally required "permanent neutrality." Vienna has supported Ukraine diplomatically and with humanitarian assistance but not militarily. Since Russia launched a covert invasion of Crimea in 2014 and supported armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the international community has imposed an unprecedented range of sanctions on Russia, in addition to providing political and other support for Ukraine's defense. The sanctions were significantly strengthened following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. "The Romanian state was put in an embarrassing situation," Cristian Pirvulescu, dean of the political science faculty at the National School of Political Science and Public Administration in Bucharest, told RFE/RL's Romanian Service. The authorities had plenty of warning that pro-Russian lawmakers like Simion and Sosoaca were likely to try to disrupt the event, he said, and could have ensured order. Their inability or unwillingness to do that placed themselves and Zelenskiy in an unpleasant situation and was "a shame." "You can't let a hysteric do things like that," Pirvulescu said. Written by Andy Heil in Prague based on reporting by RFE/RL Romanian Service correspondents Andreea Pora and Oana Despa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-fatigue-zelenskiy- snubbed-by-romania-/32634822.html Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement by Russian Defence Ministry 12.10.2023 On 11 October at around 11.50 p.m., the Russian Armed Forces have foiled another attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack by fixed-wing UAVs at facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation. One Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down by alerted air defence systems over Belgorod region. Department for Media Affairs and Information NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zelensky's Statement on Final Stage of Conflict Shows Hopelessness - Lavrov Sputnik News 20231012 BISHKEK (Sputnik) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's recent statement on Kiev entering a final stage of conflict with Moscow shows his hopelessness, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. "I think [of it] as an admission of hopelessness," Lavrov told reporters, when asked about Zelenskyy's statement. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with a Romanian TV channel that the conflict in Ukraine is at its final stage. In addition, Zelensky admitted that Ukraine is afraid of a possible shortage of financial resources and weapons. He added that Kiev has "many more fears" in the current situation. In September, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference after his speech at the UN General Assembly that Russia was ready for talks on Ukraine, but would not consider proposals for a ceasefire. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Officials Actively Promoting Idea of Sending Russia's Frozen Funds to Ukraine - Reports Sputnik News 20231012 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US officials have intensified their efforts to convince Western governments to use frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia to support Ukraine, an American newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The idea has gained more popularity in recent times amid new obstacles faced by the US and the EU governments in attempts to send money of their taxpayers to Ukraine, the newspaper said. However, there are still certain financial and legal challenges preventing the Western authorities from confiscating Russia's resources. In particular, the United States and the European Union are concerned over the possible loss of trust from other governments keeping their money in Western banks, the news agency stated. Moreover, there are special constitutional norms forbidding the White House to confiscate anyone's money unless the country is involved in war with the United States, US lawyers told the newspaper. The EU member states have reported having more than 200 billion euros ($211 billion) of Russian central bank's assets frozen in their banks. Moreover, EU banks are holding 24.1 billion euros of assets belonging to individuals and private entities. Earlier this year, EU representatives, commissioners and legislators started discussing a legal framework that would enable confiscation of assets of Russian citizens and entities accused of violating EU sanctions. However, no concrete steps have been taken in this regard so far. Moscow has on many occasions said that any attempts to confiscate frozen Russian assets are an expropriation of property and a violation of international law. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik that Russia would do everything possible to return the seized assets. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Three Dead After Ukrainian Drone Debris Falls on House in Russia's Belgorod Sputnik News 20231012 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A child died when debris from a drone fell on a house near the Russian city of Belgorod, so the death toll has risen to three, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. "Three people, including a small child, died," Gladkov said on Telegram. The governor said two injured people are in intensive care. Earlier, he said two people were killed when debris from the drone, shot down by Russian air defenses, fell near Belgorod and caused a fire in a house, adding that a child could be under the rubble. Ukraine has been sending drones into the Russian territory almost daily since it launched a counteroffensive in early June. The United Nations said in August, following a botched drone strike on Moscow, that it did not want to see any targeting of civilian infrastructure. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Downs Ukrainian Drone in Belgorod, 3 Dead By VOA News October 12, 2023 A Russian official said Thursday that debris from a downed Ukrainian drone killed three people in the Belgorod region of Russia. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, said on Telegram that the debris destroyed a house and that three bodies were recovered from the rubble. Russia's Defense Ministry said it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack, with air defenses downing a drone over Belgorod. Belgorod is one of the Russian regions that borders Ukraine. Ukraine's military said Thursday that Russia attacked overnight with 33 drones targeting multiple regions, and that Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 28 of the aerial vehicles. One of the targeted regions was Odesa, in southern Ukraine, where officials reported damage to port infrastructure and residential buildings. At least one person was injured. Odesa has been a frequent target of Russian aerial attacks. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises Lumen Technologies, Inc. (Lumen or the Company) f/k/a CenturyLink, Inc. (CenturyLink) (NYSE: LUMN) investors that a lawsuit filed on behalf of investors that purchased Lumen securities between March 11, 2019 and July 14, 2023, inclusive (the Class Period) Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy , by phone 844-767-8529 or email : lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com . The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses. Lumen Technologies, formerly known as CenturyLink, is a telecommunications and technology company that offers various products and services to businesses and residential customers in the United States and globally. The company is a member of USTelecom and has inherited telecommunications cables from the Bell Telephone Company. A lawsuit alleges that Lumen failed to disclose the presence of lead-covered cables within its network, posing environmental and public health risks, as well as potential legal and regulatory consequences. Stock prices dropped after reports of lead contamination and lawmakers' concerns about telecom firms' responsibility. Lumen's management later disclosed the potential extent of lead in its copper network but could not estimate remediation costs during a quarterly earnings call in August 2023. Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information. The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims against caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firms founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq. Admitted CA and NY Bar lesley@portnoylaw.com 310-692-8883 www.portnoylaw.com Attorney Advertising LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses The Portnoy Law Firm advises DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc. (DigitalOcean or the Company) (NYSE: DOCN) investors that the law firm has initiated an investigation on behalf of investors that lost money on their DigitalOcean stock. DigitalOcean investors are encouraged to contact the firm to discuss their legal rights. Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy , by phone 844-767-8529 or email : lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com . The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses. The investigation concerns whether DigitalOcean and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities violations or other unlawful business practices. Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information. The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims against caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firms founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq. Admitted CA and NY Bar lesley@portnoylaw.com 310-692-8883 www.portnoylaw.com Attorney Advertising Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) investors that a lawsuit filed on behalf of investors that purchased Comerica securities between February 9, 2021 and May 29, 2023, both dates inclusive (the Class Period). Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy , by phone 844-767-8529 or email : lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com . The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses. According to the lawsuit, the defendants were accused of making false and/or misleading statements or omitting important information during the specified Class Period. These alleged actions include: Inadequate Oversight of Vendors: The lawsuit contends that Comerica did not sufficiently oversee the vendors responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Direct Express program. This program facilitates the distribution of federal benefits to millions of Americans who lack bank accounts. Non-Compliance with Federal Contract: It is claimed that due to operational issues in the Direct Express program, such as mismanaging fraud disputes and permitting sensitive data to be handled in a vendor's office in Pakistan, Comerica was not in accordance with the terms of the Federal Contract. The defendants are alleged to have known about this non-compliance. Regulation E Violations: The lawsuit asserts that Comerica was aware of and did not disclose potential breaches of Regulation E. These breaches pertained to insufficient fraud prevention measures within the Direct Express program and inadequate responses to instances of fraud. False Statements: The defendants' statements about Comerica's business, operations, and future prospects are claimed to have been materially false and misleading or without a reasonable basis throughout the relevant period. It is further alleged that when the actual details came to light, investors suffered financial losses as a result. Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information. The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims against caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firms founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq. Admitted CA and NY Bar lesley@portnoylaw.com 310-692-8883 www.portnoylaw.com Attorney Advertising NEWARK, Del, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global acai berry market is on the brink of reaching a substantial valuation, projected to reach US$ 1,656.7 million by 2023. The growth is primarily driven by the burgeoning interest and insights surrounding the beverage packaging market. The trend is expected to open doors to new opportunities within the market, with a projected CAGR of 4.2% from 2023 to 2033. By 2033, the market is poised to soar to an estimated total valuation of around US$ 2,500.5 million. The acai berry market has witnessed a sustained global expansion, driven by the increasing consumption of superfoods among diverse populations worldwide. The remarkable growth can be attributed to the myriad nutritional benefits of acai berries, making them a highly sought-after ingredient in the food and beverage industries. Get Ahead with Our Sample Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1207 Among the most prominent advantages linked to acai berries are their potential anticancer properties, their contribution to enhanced cardiovascular health, and their role in reducing the risk of major cognitive illnesses such as Parkinson and Alzheimer. Acai berries have gained popularity as weight loss supplements, further fueling their demand. The versatile berries have also found applications in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, reflecting their growing significance in various sectors. The increasing awareness of the health benefits offered by acai berries is a primary driver of the consistent global demand for these superfruits. For instance, there is a growing demand for acai berries to support heart health, with consumers recognizing their potential. Another noteworthy trend propelling the acai berry market is its utilization in the cosmetics and personal care industries, aligning with global consumer preferences for organic cosmetics. The heightened demand for organic cosmetics is particularly pronounced among consumers with significant disposable income, spanning developing and developed economies. The rising popularity of natural nutritional supplements in developed markets has further driven the demand for acai berries. The role of online channels in distributing acai berry products has expanded across various regions worldwide. As the world continues to recognize the nutritional prowess of acai berries, their prevalence in diverse industries and growing accessibility through online platforms are set to propel their prominence further, solidifying their status as a global superfood sensation. Key Takeaways from the Market Study The market valuation in 2022 was US$ 1,600 million. The valuation of the market in 2018 was US$ 1,467.9 million. Based on applications, nutraceuticals will register at a market share of 50.23% by 2033. The acai berry market size expanded at 2.17% CAGR between 2018 and 2022. Japan is estimated to reach a market share of 8.99% in 2023. Brazil experiences significant growth, with a projected market share of 11.9% in 2023. Rising awareness and a noticeable shift towards healthier alternatives are responsible for the surge in demand for acai berry nutraceuticals market, comments Nandini Roy Choudhury, Client Partner at Future Market Insights. Buy now for detailed information on every segment: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/1207 Competitive Landscape The sector possesses a considerable assortment of market contributors. Innovation and research assume a crucial role among these entities, primarily emphasizing incorporating environmentally sustainable product ranges as a fundamental element of their production initiatives. Additionally, they deploy various expansion tactics, such as partnerships, corporate mergers and acquisitions, and thorough examination of regulatory authorizations, to reinforce their foothold in the market. Some of the key developments are Organic acai products are provided by Sambazon, Inc. The products encompass a wide range of offerings, including acai juice blends, functional blends, supplements, frozen items, and Amazon energy products. Acai orange juice and whole-food protein smoothies are part of their product line. Sambazon is a socially and environmentally conscious company committed to leveraging organic food and beverages as vehicles for positive change. They ethically source Amazon Superfoods such as acai, acerola, and guarana to create fresh juices, smoothies, and frozen products that deliver innovative nutrition, exceptional flavor, and a heightened sense of awareness. Key Companies Profiled in the Market Sambazon, Inc Acai Roots, inc. Acai Frooty Nativo Acai Acai Exotic LLC Jamba Juice Inc Sunfood Phyto Nutraceutical's Naked Juice Company The Coca-Cola Company More Valuable Insights Available Future Market Insights offers an unbiased analysis of the global acai berry market, providing historical data for 2018 to 2022 and forecast statistics from 2023 to 2033. To understand opportunities in the acai berry market is segmented based on Form (Pulp, Dried), By Application (Food and Beverage, Nutraceuticals, Cosmetics and Personal Care, Others), Region (North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South Asia and Pacific, East Asia, Middle East and Africa). Ready to Learn About Our Approach? Explore Our Methodology: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/request-report-methodology/rep-gb-1207 Key Segments of the Acai Berry Market By Form: Pulp Dried By Application: Food and Beverage Nutraceuticals Cosmetics and Personal Care Others By Region: North America Latin America Western Europe Eastern Europe South Asia and Pacific East Asia Middle East and Africa About the Food and Beverage Division at Future Market Insights The food and beverage team at Future Market Insights offers expert analysis, time-efficient research, and strategic recommendations to provide authentic insights and accurate results to help clients worldwide. With a repertoire of over 100+ reports and 1 million+ data points, the team has been analyzing the industry lucidly in 50+ countries for over a decade. The team provides a brief analysis of key trends including competitive landscape, profit margin, and research development efforts. Author by: Nandini Roy Choudhury (Client Partner for Food & Beverages at Future Market Insights, Inc.) has 7+ years of management consulting experience. She advises industry leaders and explores off-the-eye opportunities and challenges. She puts processes and operating models in place to support their business objectives. She has exceptional analytical skills and often brings thought leadership to the table. Nandini has vast functional expertise in key niches, including but not limited to food ingredients, nutrition & health solutions, animal nutrition, and marine nutrients. She is also well-versed in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, retail, and chemical sectors, where she advises market participants to develop methodologies and strategies that deliver results. Her core expertise lies in corporate growth strategy, sales and marketing effectiveness, acquisitions, and post-merger integration, and cost reduction. Nandini has an MBA in Finance from MIT School of Business. She also holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from Nagpur University, India. Nandini has authored several publications, and quoted in journals including Beverage Industry, Bloomberg, and Wine Industry Advisor. Explore FMIs related ongoing Coverage in the Food and Beverage Domain The Mulberry Market is valued at USD 40.0 Billion in 2022 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period, to reach a value of USD 66.7 Billion by 2032. According to the research of Future Market Insights, the Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seed Oil Market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 5.0% over the forecasted period. According to Future Market Insights research, during the projected period, the Strawberry Seed Oil Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.40%. The market value is projected to increase from US$ 826.6 million in 2023 to US$ 1,271.5 million by 2033. Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seeds Market segment analysis, regional outlook, share, growth; Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seeds Market forecast 2017 to 2027 According to a study by Future Market Insights, the Boysenberry Market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecasted period. The value of the industry is expected to rise from US$ 482.9 million in 2023 to US$ 848.6 million in 2033. About Future Market Insights (FMI) Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, recipient of the Stevie Award, and a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) offers profound insights into the driving factors that are boosting demand in the market. FMI stands as the leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, consulting, and events for the Packaging, Food and Beverage, Consumer Technology, Healthcare, Industrial, and Chemicals markets. With a vast team of over 5000 analysts worldwide, FMI provides global, regional, and local expertise on diverse domains and industry trends across more than 110 countries. Contact Us: Nandini Singh Sawlani Future Market Insights Inc. Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive, Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA T: +1-845-579-5705 For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com LinkedIn| Twitter| Blogs | YouTube WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, SOME (So Others Might Eat), a DC-based nonprofit focused on combating poverty and homelessness, unveiled its newest addition to the D.C. skyline with the official opening of Roberts Residences at 1515 North Capitol Street NE. The 92,000 square-foot, 15-story building, now the tallest in Ward 5, stands as a testament to the ongoing commitment to provide affordable, high-quality housing to underserved residents in the nation's capital. "Today, with the unveiling of Roberts Residences, we are not just celebrating a building. We're recognizing a dream realized, the power of collaboration, and the enduring spirit of our community, said Ralph Boyd, president and CEO of SOME. This building also reflects a shared achievement, made possible through the steadfast commitment of partners such as the Department of Housing and Community Development and the D.C. Housing Finance Agency. Our gratitude extends to JP Morgan Chase, Lument, and Enterprise for their unwavering belief and support in our mission." Roberts Residences is designed for single adults, with 75 units reserved for people earning below 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and all units allocated for those below 50% AMI. Through a partnership with D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA), 75 out of the 139 units are subsidized, ensuring residents contribute only 30% of their rent based on their income, with DCHA covering up to the remaining 70% for subsidized units. "Delivering this project ahead of schedule, even amid challenges, underscores our dedication to community-driven projects, said Bill Bartling, Vice President and Business Unit Leader at Clark Construction, the company responsible for the state-of-the-art development. We expect Roberts Residences to become a cornerstone of the neighborhood and are proud to have partnered with SOME in bringing this vision to life." Drawing from its history of effectively using diverse financial mechanisms, JP Morgan Chase has been instrumental in bringing projects like Roberts Residences to fruition. Roberts Residences will have a tremendous impact on the community and the District residents who call it home, said Caitlin Gossens, Senior Commercial Banker at JPMorgan Chase. Chase is committed to helping SOME create quality, stable homes and providing supportive services for residents transitioning out of homelessness. Through their tireless efforts, SOME is closing the housing gap in our nations capital and is transforming lives. Tenants are scheduled to move into their new homes later this month. The building's strategic location, just blocks from SOMEs main campus on O Street NW, ensures residents have ready access to emergency, social, and healthcare services. Furthermore, residents benefit from amenities like a computer lab, library, classroom space, gym, and Wi-Fi-enabled rooms all aimed at fostering a sense of community and viability. Over the life of this project, thousands of people will call this property their home. With SOMEs extensive supportive services, which include financial planning, employment support, health services and vocational programming, the Roberts Residences will be a launchpad for many people to gain their footing and move up to find financial stability, said Scott Hutter, Director of Multifamily Lending at DC Housing Finance Agency. SOMEs unwavering commitment to social justice through housing is unrivaled. At DCHFA, it's a privilege to continue to work with them and we look forward to doing so much more. To learn more, visit SOME.org/Housing . About SOME Since 1970, SOME has been a care provider and a beacon of hope to residents in our nations capital. Our services are available to individuals, families, senior citizens, veterans, and those affected by physical or mental illness. We strive to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness daily through our comprehensive Whole Person Care approach. To learn more, visit SOME.org . Contact Kerry-Ann Hamilton Consulting Group kerry@kahconsultinggroup.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9ec035ce-1837-4804-9f06-eb11855996ce Newark, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the remote asset management market will grow from USD 26.13 Billion in 2022 to USD 106.26 Billion by 2032. The remote asset management market is expanding due to the requirement for surveillance control and the increasing need for streamlining operations. Further, many organizations invest in such software to reduce their dependability on third-party service providers. Download Report Sample (230+ Pages PDF with Insights) at: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/12635 Key Insight of the Remote Asset Management Market North America region to account for the largest market size during the forecast period. North America region will hold a significant market share due to the rising number of companies providing remote asset management solutions and services. Further, the regional companies and concerned authorities are investing in the Internet of Things, machine learning and artificial intelligence, providing lucrative opportunities for remote asset management solution providers. The rising cases of shipment displacement have led to increasing requirements for real-time location status updates for the shipment. Thus, most logistics companies now invest in remote asset management solutions to ensure the safety of their assets. The services segment is expected to augment the market during the forecast period. The component segment is divided into solutions and services. The solution segment further includes asset performance management, real-time location systems, surveillance & security, analytics & reporting and others. The services segment is expected to augment the market during the forecast period. With remote asset monitoring services, consumers can collect real-time data on each of their assets, forecast productivity, stop unneeded downtime, and cut operating costs. The cloud segment is expected to augment the market during the forecast period. The deployment mode segment is divided into on-premises and cloud. The cloud segment is expected to augment the market during the forecast period. The organization can track and monitor assets remotely due to cloud-based asset management. The cloud-based asset audit is more effective when an organization has several branches. The mobile asset segment is expected to augment the market during the forecast period. The asset types segment is divided into mobile asset and fixed asset. The mobile asset segment is expected to augment the market during the forecast period. Mobile asset management makes a platform-independent processing of mobile device maintenance and service procedures possible. Organizations can benefit from the mobile asset management application's streamlined cloud-based software solution and improved mobile usability. The transportation & logistics segment will augment the market during the forecast period. The end-users segment is divided into manufacturing, building automation, retail, healthcare, transportation & logistics, energy & utility and others. The transportation & logistics segment will augment the market during the forecast period. Logistics firms transport many items, and thus, they rely on transportation to run their business. This implies that they must continuously be aware of the location of their assets. They must deliver their goods fast and in good condition if they want to stay competitive, and a remote asset tracking solution could be useful in this situation. Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/buying-inquiry/12635 Market Dynamics Driver: Rising use of smart asset tracking The consumer may track vehicle updates using the IoT-based asset tracking system's rapid asset tracking with GPS monitoring technologies. With the aid of communication protocols, one can interconnect smart devices and receive immediate warnings for tracking. To reduce the difficulties of managing corporate operations, it is skillfully designed to provide end-to-end services and intelligent asset tracking. Advanced sensor-based functions are used by the real-time asset-tracking solution to deliver quick and useful insights. The IoT-based asset management system offers rapid filtering so the client can check their status in real-time and usage patterns. Restraint: Requirement of customization Certain remote asset management software requires extensive customization for a few applications. The user-friendly system might only require some of the needs of the organization. Thus, the customer might require a system customized to their requirements, which can lead to high instalment costs. Thus, due to this, there is a need for more deployment of remote asset management. Opportunity: Investment in predictive analytics Investment managers now have access to a potent new tool called predictive analytics, which uses data, machine learning approaches and statistical algorithms to predict future trends and patterns. By using it, managers can make better decisions and maximize profits by spotting possibilities and hazards that could otherwise go overlooked. The capacity to implement predictive analysis by using remote monitoring at an enterprise scale will fundamentally alter how assets are managed and run. Organizations are experiencing increased production and profit by making the most of significant resources. Industrial operations are starting to change due to the integration of predictive maintenance with the help of remote monitoring. Challenges: Lack of required infrastructure Most remote asset management companies need help to cope with the existing infrastructure. The solution operates between specified ranges, thus serving as a restraint. The solutions and services are only partially designed to be equipped in regular environments. The need for more infrastructure, especially in developing countries, challenges the operationability of remote asset management solutions. Browse the full report with Table of Contents and List of Figures: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/remote-asset-management-market-12635 Some of the major players operating in the Remote Asset Management market are: Accruent AT&T Ascent Intellimation Pvt. Ltd. Bosch.IO EAMbrace Cisco Systems, Inc. IBM Corporation Hitachi Ltd. Infosys Limited PTC Meridium Inc. RapidValue Solutions ROADWORKS RCS Technologies Rockwell Automation, Inc. Schneider Electric SAP Siemens AG Vodafone Group Verizon Key Segments Cover in the Market: By Component: Solution o Asset Performance Management o Real-Time Location System o Surveillance & Security o Analytics & Reporting o Others Services By Deployment Mode: On-premises Cloud By Asset Types: Mobile Asset Fixed Asset By End-users: Manufacturing Building Automation Retail Healthcare Transportation & Logistics Energy & Utility Others By Region North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC) South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America) The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA) Inquire for Customized Data: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/request-customization/12635 About the report: The market is analyzed based on value (USD Billion). All the segments have been analyzed on a global, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyzes driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges to gain critical market insight. The study includes Porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, product analysis, supply and demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis. About The Brainy Insights: The Brainy Insights is a market research company that provides actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. They have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the client's objectives of high-quality output within a short period. They provide both customized (client-specific) and syndicate reports. Their repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Their customized solutions meet the client's requirements whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market. Contact Us Avinash D Head of Business Development Phone: +1-315-215-1633 Email: sales@thebrainyinsights.com Web: http://www.thebrainyinsights.com New York, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global A erosol V alve M arket is expected to witness significant growth at a CAGR of 3.6 during the forecast period of 2023-2031. Factors such as the high demand for aerosol valve from cosmetics and personal care industry, increasing demand for convenience packaging, and others are accelerating the demand for aerosol valve, which, in turn, is boosting market growth. In addition, the development of new aerosol valve that are made from more sustainable materials will further boost the market growth during the forecast period. According to a recent report by Consegic Business Intelligence, the aerosol valve market is poised for strong expansion and is expected to reach USD 2,936.17 Million by 2031 USD 2,214.22 million in 2023 with a compound annual growth rate of 3.6% during the period of 2023-2031. The market was valued at USD 2,147.50 million in 2022. The report highlights the growing demand for High demand for aerosol valve from cosmetics and personal care industry across the globe, which is augmenting the global market growth. Consegic Business Intelligence study also provides insights into the market's competitive landscape, market segmentation, regional outlook, and emerging technologies in the aerosol valve market. Get Sample Report@ https://www.consegicbusinessintelligence.com/request-sample/1328 Aerosol valve are the mechanical devices used in aerosol packaging to control the release of product contents, typically in the form of spray, foams and mists. These valves play a crucial role in aerosol containers, ensuring that the aerosol inside is dispensed in a controlled and efficient manner. Aerosol valve are used to dispense cooking spray in a fine mist, which helps to prevent food from sticking to pots and pans. Aerosol valve are also used to dispense whipped cream and cheese spray, which are popular toppings for desserts and snacks. Aerosol valve are designed with specific characteristics to suit the product and its intended use. They are essential for controlled and consistent dispensing of various substances in a wide range of industries. Global Aerosol Valve Market: Report Attributes Report Attributes Report Details Study Timeline 2017-2031 Market Size in 2031 (USD Million) USD 2,936.17 Million CAGR (2023-2031) 3.6% By Type Continuous and Metered By Valve Type Vertical Valve and Tilt Valve By End User Cosmetics & Personal Care, Healthcare, Food & Beverage, Homecare, Automotive, and Others Report Coverage Company Ranking and Market Share, Growth Factors, Total Revenue Forecast, Regional Competitive Landscape, Business Strategies, and more. By Region North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Africa Key Players Summit Packaging Systems, Aptar Group, Clayton Corp., Salvalco, KOH-I-NOOR Mlada Vozice a.s., Mitai Valve, LINDAL Group, Precision Valve Corporation, Coster Tecnologie Speciali S.p.A., Newman Green, Aroma Industries, and Guangzhou Zhongpin Aerosol valve Co., Ltd. Immediate Delivery Available, Buy Now @ https://www.consegicbusinessintelligence.com/secure-checkout/1328 Global Aerosol Valve Market Segmentation Details: Based on Type, the continuous segment contributed the largest shares to the market growth in 2022. Continuous aerosol valve are the highest used type of aerosol valve. They are used in a wide variety of products, including personal care products, household products, and food and beverage products. Continuous aerosol valve dispense the product in a continuous stream when the actuator is pressed. Significant growth in the demand for continuous aerosol valve from these applications is driving the segment growth worldwide. Based on Valve Type, the ethylene glycol segment contributed the largest shares to the market growth in 2022. Vertical aerosol valve are very convenient to use. Consumers can simply press down on the actuator to dispense the product in a vertical stream. This is especially convenient for products that are used frequently, such as hairspray and air freshener. The significant growth in the sales of these products is driving the segments growth worldwide. Based on the End User, the cosmetics & personal care segment accounted for the largest market share in the year 2022. Aerosol valve are an essential component of many popular cosmetics and personal care products. They offer several advantages that make them ideal for packaging these products, including convenience, control, versatility, and hygiene, which is driving the segment growth. Based on Region, in the year 2022, Europe accounted for the largest share contribution to the market growth. The high production of aerosol across Europe is one of the major factors that is influencing the market growth across the region, which is driving the demand for aerosol valve in Europe. Get Sample Report@ https://www.consegicbusinessintelligence.com/request-sample/1328 Competitive Landscape Summit Packaging Systems, Aptar Group, Salvalco, and LINDAL Group are major market players that comprise the latest market circumstances. These companies are substantially leveraging their technologies for the development of a new range of aerosol valve. Further, the aerosol valve market is expected to grow steadily due to the development of new aerosol valve that are made from more sustainable materials, especially in regions such as the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe are estimated to boost the market statistics in the coming years. Additionally, the trend of using convenient and easy-to-use products is benefiting the market growth globally. Recent Developments In July 2022, Precision Valve Corporation, a global manufacturer and supplier of aerosol valve, actuators, and other dispensing solutions announced the launch of STORM, which is disruptive break-up technology for spray actuators. In June 2021, LINDAL Group announced the launch of Flio440, which is a spray head with an attached overcap, suitable for both technical and home care applications. Flip440 is a 35mm diameter actuator that snaps onto the mounting cup, making it compatible with all popular cans on the market. Key Market Takeaways Europe accounted for the highest market share at 35.55% valued at USD 763.44 million in 2022 and will reach USD 788.26 million in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 1,048.80 million in 2031. Moreover, in Europe, Germany accounted for the highest market share of 23.10% during the base year of 2022. Based on type, the continuous segment accounted for the highest share contribution to the aerosol valve market statistics in 2022. Based on valve type, the vertical valve segment accounted for the highest share contribution to the aerosol valve market statistics in 2022. In the end user, the cosmetics & personal care segment is expected to contribute significant shares to the growth of aerosol valve market statistics during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is expected to boost the market demand for aerosol valve due to the growing awareness personal care across the region. The growing cosmetics and personal industry across the region are driving market growth across the Asia Pacific region Browse Full Report & TOC @ https://www.consegicbusinessintelligence.com/aerosol-valves-market List of Major Global Aerosol Valve Market: Summit Packaging Systems Aptar Group Clayton Corp. Salvalco KOH-I-NOOR Mlada Vozice a.s. Mitai Valve LINDAL Group Precision Valve Corporation Coster Tecnologie Speciali S.p.A. Newman Green Aroma Industries Guangzhou Zhongpin Aerosol valve Co., Ltd. Global Aerosol Valve Market Segmentation: By Type Continuous Metered By Valve Type Vertical Valve Tilt Valve By End User Cosmetics & Personal Care Healthcare Food & Beverage Homecare Automotive Others Request for Customization @ https://www.consegicbusinessintelligence.com/request-customization/1328 Frequently Asked Questions in the Aerosol Valve Market Report What was the market size of the aerosol valve industry in 2023? In 2023, the market size of aerosol valve is USD 2,214.22 million. What will be the potential market valuation for the aerosol valve industry by 2031? In 2031, the market size of aerosol valve will be expected to reach USD 2,936.17 million. What are the key factors restraining the growth of the aerosol valve market? Stringent government regulations for the use of aerosol valve along with rising environment concerns is restraining the market growth at the global level. What is the dominant segment in the aerosol valve market by type? In 2022, the continuous segment accounted for the highest market share in the overall aerosol valve market. Based on current market trends and future predictions, which geographical region is growing at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period in the aerosol valve market? Asia Pacific region accounted for the highest CAGR in the overall aerosol valve market. Our Other Research Reports here:- Industrial Wireless Solution Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends | Analysis Forecast 2023 - 2030 Isolation Amplifiers Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends | Analysis Forecast 2023 - 2030 Metal Hoses Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends | Analysis Forecast 2023 - 2030 Mosquito Repellent Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends | Analysis Forecast 2023 - 2030 RF Power Amplifier Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends | Analysis Forecast 2023 - 2030 About Consegic Business Intelligence Pvt Ltd. Consegic Business Intelligence Pvt Ltd . is the leading research industry that offers contextual and data-centric research services to its customers across the globe. The firm assists its clients to strategize business policies and accomplish sustainable growth in their respective market domains. The industry provides consulting services, syndicated research reports, and customized research reports. Topnotch research organizations and institutions to comprehend the regional and global commercial status use the data produced by Consegic Business Intelligence Pvt Ltd. Our reports comprise in-depth analytical and statistical analysis on various industries in foremost countries around the globe. Contact: Consegic Business intelligence Pvt Ltd. Contact no.: (US) (505) 715-4344 Denver, CO, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ATAX Tax Service proudly announces Diana Luna as its 100th franchisee, a remarkable achievement in the companys journey and a testament to Luna's unwavering resilience and dedication.Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Diana Lunas story embodies the spirit of the American Dream. As a first-generation American of Hispanic descent, Diana's journey was met with numerous challenges. Her parents, immigrants with no high school education, faced immense hardships. After her father's deportation, her mother single-handedly raised six children. Diana, being the second oldest, faced her own set of challenges, becoming a mother at the tender age of 16. But with the unwavering support of her family, especially her mother and now-husband, she rose above adversities. At 18, Diana embarked on her professional journey with Farmers Insurance and promptly secured her insurance license. A passion for accounting, kindled during a high school class, led her to pursue a bachelor's degree in the field. "I fell in love with the idea of a career in accounting, because you can really help people," Diana said. Today, not only is she an ATAX franchisee, but she's also spearheaded the launch of an Estrella Insurance Franchise.2023 was a phenomenal year for Diana. Not only did she join the ATAX family and rank as the #3 highest producing new office, but she also became a Certified Acceptance Agent with the IRS. Her role allows her to empower others, especially those without a social security number, by teaching them how to kick-start their businesses, obtain an EIN, and ultimately, find a path towards legal employment and citizenship. Her journey in the financial sector began with an internship under the guidance of Enrique Medina, an accomplished Area Representative, franchisee with ATAX Tax Service, and an Estrella Insurance franchisee. Witnessing Enrique's transition from a local tax office to an ATAX franchise, Diana was inspired to follow in his footsteps. Recognizing her potential, Enrique said, "Her drive and motivation is outstanding. Her love of her family and her roots have made her a superstar. "Diana Lunas story is not just about her achievements; its about the strength of character, perseverance, and the belief that with the right guidance, training, and support, one can truly achieve greatness. As she often reiterates to her daughters, " As women we can do anything. "ATAX Tax Service is one of the leading tax preparation and business services franchises in the U.S., with a strong commitment to providing personalized financial solutions for individuals and businesses alike. Specializing in a comprehensive suite of services, including tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, and incorporation services, ATAX is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of its diverse clientele. Guided by core values of professionalism, integrity, and community engagement, ATAX is not just about numbers it's about empowering individuals, entrepreneurs, and communities to achieve financial success and economic growth.For more information, visit www.atax.com. Attachment Lafayette, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lafayette, Colorado - Encore Data Products, based in Lafayette, Colorado, is pleased to announce that they will be attending the 2023 Fall MassCUE conference October 18-19 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Having previously enjoyed a positive experience at the conferences past iterations, the company looks forward to making an appearance once again this October. Those who were on the fence about attending the Fall MassCUE conference may wish to know that early bird registration will close soon, but everyone still has time to register for the conference if they are set on attending. For their part, Encore Data Products is keen to meet potential peers and partners at the conference, and they look forward to exchanging information on their various products and services. Lately, the company has been focusing on supplying school classroom headphones to various institutions, and they remain committed to this goal for the foreseeable future. As the classroom becomes increasingly digital (and with students doing as much work at home as they do at school in many cases), the ability to maintain a certain standard of access to technology across a student population is invaluable. Encore Data Products seeks to support schools that are pursuing such outcomes, especially since the company is certain this represents an important part of the current and future classroom experience. Encore Data Products contributions are an excellent example of the products and services that tend to stand out at the Fall MassCUE conference. Considered by many to be the foremost education technology conference in New England, it consists of a two-day event that features a number of Encores peers. Said peers will be making invaluable contributions of their own (as they have in past conferences), hosting workshops, presentations and even comprehensive demonstrations on a wide variety of subjects. The overall objective of the conference is to promote the dissemination and adoption of enhanced learning techniques, especially when supported by compatible technologies. There is a focus on digital equity as well the belief that every person should have equal access to digital technologies. This includes internet access, a point which many might have become familiar with as a result of the pandemic. Without digital equity, true progress cannot be achieved, so the technologies on show at the Fall MassCUE conference typically aim to be as accessible as possible. True advancement, as Encore Data Products and their partners will argue, must include as many people as possible, taking their means and backgrounds into consideration (among other factors). Without digital equity, a technological revolution would only serve to widen the gap between people, presenting some with new opportunities while leaving others behind in several areas, such as their education and careers. This noble cause (and the chance to showcase their innovations) draws hundreds of education technology companies and nonprofit organizations to the conference every year. Through their participation, they are able to bring the latest in technology advances to every educator and administrator in attendance. In turn, these attendees can share what they learn with their respective institutions, potentially benefiting students, faculty and innovators down the line. In addition to headphones, Encore Data Products provides a range of AV products and accessories (webcams and document cameras, charging carts, cases and more). While many might regard such products to be a common sight in their communitys classrooms, the company points out that this is not true for everyone. The adoption and utilization of technology may be different from one area to the next, and there is a need to provide a certain standard of equipment to ensure every student has the same baseline of opportunities to take advantage of in their education. The same may be true for the staff themselves who are obliged to use digital materials, either created themselves or supplied by like-minded individuals and organizations, to supplement a course. Encore Data Products remains committed to providing reliable and affordable equipment to schools and educational institutions, and they look forward to sharing news about their work at the Fall MassCUE conference. Those who wish to connect with the company are welcome to pay them a visit in person at the conference as well. Alternatively, they may contact the team directly to pursue any other inquiries. Recent News: Encore Data Products Spotlights the NEW AE-35 USB-C Headphones and AE-36 USB-C Headsets from AVID Products ### For more information about Encore Data Products, contact the company here: Encore Data Products Sabrina Manno 866-926-1669 sabrina.manno@encoredataproducts.com https://www.encoredataproducts.com/ 1729 Majestic Drive, Suite 2 Lafayette, Colorado 80026 Salisbury, MD, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perdue Farms , named one the most trustworthy companies in America by Newsweek, hosted its eighth annual Animal Care Summit this week near its Salisbury, Maryland headquarters. The annual event plays an integral role in the companys animal care strategy, with this years summit focused on reaffirming the importance of, and Perdues commitment to, No Antibiotics Ever (NAE) practices. In 2002, we listened to consumers and made the decision to transform our company in order to remove all antibiotics from Perdue products. To accomplish that, we needed to enhance our animal care practices, ultimately benefitting the health, environment and quality of our chickens, said Dr. Bruce Stewart-Brown, Perdues Senior Vice President of Technical Services and Innovation and veterinarian who is helping guide Perdues approach to animal care. Using antibiotics for preventive care can be a crutch, and we firmly believe a better, more sustainable approach is to provide better care, and stop covering up poor environmental conditions and bad practices. At Perdue, our annual Animal Care Summit allows us to share our latest progress and challenges, including the balance of advancing animal care practices while leveraging our vertical integration to improve environmental impacts across our supply chain, said Drew Getty, Vice President of Environmental Sustainability at Perdue Farms. Were proud of our long legacy of animal care, which dates back to the companys founding in 1920. Its not always the easy way, but its the Perdue way. This year, summit attendees including farmers, retailers, and animal advocates experienced an interactive farm tour for an inside look at how Perdue is investing in the future, including: A first-ever look into the future of chicken house enrichments , an innovative advancement that shows how enrichments can provide space improvements, giving chickens the opportunity to move beyond the floor of the chicken house. , an innovative advancement that shows how enrichments can provide space improvements, giving chickens the opportunity to move beyond the floor of the chicken house. A deep dive into on-farm hatcheries , showcasing the positive benefits of this unique practice and the interesting research behind Perdues strategy. , showcasing the positive benefits of this unique practice and the interesting research behind Perdues strategy. An interactive chicken feed demonstration, transparently explaining the benefits of the nutritious, all vegetarian, no-antibiotic-ever feed that is given to every Perdue chicken. Dr. Stewart-Brown, Dr. Lance Price, professor at George Washington University, and Dr. Michelle Kromm, principal at FoodForward LLC, offered an in-depth look at the state of antibiotics in livestock, including roadblocks to curbing unnecessary use and the implications of overuse, from diminished efficacy of antibiotics for humans to lessened ability to treat sick animals. The panel also emphasized the importance of working closely with veterinarians to bring solutions to the broader animal agriculture industry. In addition, attendees heard from experts on a variety of topics, including the Better Chicken Commitment and our research into slower growing breeds. Perdue presented the results of a 26-flock trial involving side by side houses comparing the current commercial breed compared to a GAP/BCC compliant slower growing breed. This trial also included a Life Cycle Assessment comparing the carbon footprint of these two breeds. A worldwide expert on Avian Influenza, Dr. David Swayne, helped the audience understand the current state of avian influenza. His comments included the diseases history as well as what might be expected in the coming year. Perdues annual Animal Care Summit exemplifies the companys transparency in its practices to key stakeholders by showing its progress to its Commitments to Animal Care program established in 2016, which includes: Chickens : Based on the Five Freedoms, Perdue will go beyond just the needs of its chickens to also include what its chickens want. : Based on the Five Freedoms, Perdue will go beyond just the needs of its chickens to also include what its chickens want. Farms : Perdue will recommit to relationships with farmers who raise its animals. : Perdue will recommit to relationships with farmers who raise its animals. Trust : To build trust, Perdue will be transparent in its programs, goals, and progress. : To build trust, Perdue will be transparent in its programs, goals, and progress. Continuous Improvement: Perdue will continue to build an animal care culture within the company through continuous improvement. Watch this video to learn more about Perdues Commitments to Animal Care journey of continuous improvement. About Perdue Farms Were a fourth-generation, family-owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services. The premium protein portfolio within our Perdue Foods business, including our flagship PERDUE brand, Niman Ranch, Coleman Natural, and Yummy, as well as our pet brands, Spot Farms and Full Moon, is available through various channels including retail, foodservice, club stores, and our direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com. Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. Now in our companys second century, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey, pork, beef, and lamb, and in USDA-certified organic chicken and beef. Learn more at Corporate.PerdueFarms.com. Attachment CRANBURY, N.J., Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC), the leading multimedia peer-reviewed journal dedicated to issues in managed care, is pleased to announce its Institute for Value-Based Medicine (IVBM) event on Oct. 17 at the AC Hotel Charlotte Ballantyne in Charlotte, North Carolina. This event, "The Challenges Facing Value-Based Oncology Care in a Postpandemic World," will convene health care industry leaders to explore the latest innovations in value-based care and the evolving landscape of a postpandemic world. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically reshaped the health care landscape, presenting unique challenges to the delivery of oncology care. IVBM recognizes the pressing need to address these issues and foster discussions that can lead to innovative solutions for value-based oncology care. The event will cover the following sessions: Panel: Long COVID, Inflammation, and Cancer Kashyap Patel, M.D., Asutosh Gor, M.D. and Viral Rabara, M.D. Panel: Health Disparities Prince Mohan Anand, M.D., Vasant Patel, M.D. and Sashi Naidu, M.D. Panel: Solving Health Disparities at the Local Level and Scaling It Up Developing Playbooks Kashyap Patel, M.D., Asutosh Gor, M.D., Viral Rabara, M.D. and Niyati Nathwani, M.D. Social Determinants of Health and Community Oncology Kashyap Patel, M.D. Fireside Chat: Bringing Cell Therapy, CAR T, and BMT Collaboration in Community Oncology to Bring Access Close to Home Kashyap Patel, M.D., and Abhishek Chilkulwar, M.D. In light of the ongoing changes in health care delivery and the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this event will feature a distinguished panel of healthcare experts, and oncology specialists who will delve into the key issues and emerging trends in value-based oncology care. IVBMs event will provide a unique platform for attendees to gain insights, share experiences, and engage in meaningful discussions with industry peers and experts. In addition to the invaluable knowledge exchange, the event will offer attendees a complimentary dinner, fostering networking opportunities in a relaxed setting. To learn more about the event, visit the registration page. About The American Journal of Managed Care The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) is a multimedia, peer-reviewed, MEDLINE-indexed journal that keeps industry leaders on the forefront of health policy by sharing digital research relevant to industry decision-makers. Other brands in the AJMC family include The American Journal of Accountable Care and Evidence-Based Oncology. These comprehensive, multimedia brands bring together views from payers, providers, policymakers and other industry leaders in managed care. AJMC is a brand of MJH Life Sciences, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels. Media Contact: Lauren Garafola MJH Life Sciences lgarafola@mjhlifesciences.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7bd715cc-283f-4f45-a2b7-b8ffd60d875b Covington, KY, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE COVINGTON, KY Julie Brazil, COO, and Karen Hargett, CHRO, of Gravity Diagnostics have been named as category winners for the 2023 Cincinnati Business Courier C-Suite Awards. Julie Brazil, Gravitys COO and Co-Founder, was awarded the top honor in the Chief Operating Officer for a Privately Held Company category. She credits her biggest win as the adaptability to whatever landscape the business meets and the teams ability to work together regardless of the circumstance. She is proud to lead an industry-changing organization without having to compromise commitments to compliance and customer care. Read her full winner profile here. Jaclyn Trent, Sr. Director of Sales for Gravity who accepted the award on Julies behalf, stated in her speech, She challenges us to think bigger, to become experts in our field, and to do more each day to not only make ourselves better but others around us better. The Gravity team has excelled under the leadership of Julie. We thank her for the continued commitment to the patients we serve, the accounts we support, and the guidance she provides for every Gravity employee. Karen Hargett, Gravitys Chief People Officer, was awarded the top honor in the Chief Human Resources Officer category. Her commitment to empowering employees to reach their full potential was a standout among the finalists. Read her full winner profile here. She credits Gravitys winning strategy to working on a leadership team that truly believes in the importance of its people, stating in her acceptance speech, Theres no way you can be successful in HR if you dont have a passion for it, and to do it at a company and with people that share that passion I feel incredibly lucky. The leaders I work with include HR in their decision making, and thats the difference. Were not afraid to challenge each other and Im grateful to have a team that recognizes how critical our people are. The Cincinnati Business Courier recognizes top executives and their performances in regional business and nonprofits. 45 finalists and 16 winners in 8 categories were selected by independent judges. This was the ninth year for this annual recognition. About Gravity Diagnostics Gravity Diagnostics is a state-of-the-art CAP-accredited and CLIA-certified laboratory licensed in all 50 states providing innovative laboratory testing in the areas of COVID-19, upper respiratory, toxicology, pharmacogenetics, sexually transmitted infections, and blood hematology. The company is an advocate for physicians, patients, and their communities, supporting them with unsurpassed integrity, regulatory compliance, and clinical expertise. Gravity currently serves over 1,000 customers from small private practices to universities to Fortune 500 companies. Learn more at gravitydiagnostics.com. ### Attachments MIAMI, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (the "Company") (NYSE: PFLT) (TASE:PFLT) announced that it will report results for the fourth fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2023 on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 after the close of the financial markets. The Company will also host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Thursday November 16, 2023 to discuss its financial results. All interested parties are welcome to participate. You can access the conference call by dialing toll-free (888) 204-4368 approximately 5-10 minutes prior to the call. International callers should dial (646) 828-8193. All callers should reference conference ID #3662054 or PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. An archived replay will also be available on a webcast link located on the Quarterly Earnings page in the Investor section of PennantParks website. ABOUT PENNANTPARK FLOATING RATE CAPITAL LTD. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. is a business development company which primarily invests in U.S. middle-market private companies in the form of floating rate senior secured loans, including first lien secured debt, second lien secured debt and subordinated debt. From time to time, the Company may also invest in equity investments. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. is managed by PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC. ABOUT PENNANTPARK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, LLC PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC is a leading middle market credit platform, managing $6.6 billion of investable capital, including potential leverage. Since its inception in 2007, PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC has provided investors access to middle market credit by offering private equity firms and their portfolio companies as well as other middle-market borrowers a comprehensive range of creative and flexible financing solutions. PennantPark Investment Advisers, LLC is headquartered in Miami and has offices in Chicago, Houston, New York and Los Angeles. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. You should not place undue influence on such forward-looking statements as such statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. CONTACT: Richard T. Allorto, Jr. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. (212) 905-1000 www.pennantpark.com Los Angeles, CA, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the Mid-Autumn Festival cruise celebration, Numerous filmmakers from both China and the United States gathered here, coming together to celebrate this grand occassion. Mr. Jiaming Chong was honored to receive the Outstanding Young Producer Award from Christine Xu, CEO of Uplive and the producer of the Emmy Award-winning series "The Bay," along with the renowned Hollywood special effects artist and film director Henry Lipatov and television show and event director Doug Ivanovich. This recognition highlights Jiaming Chong's exceptional contributions to the film industry over the years. During the event, these three passionate producers engaged in a meaningful discussion with Jiaming Chong about the future of Sino-American film collaboration. Jiaming emphasized the importance of close cooperation between young filmmakers from China and the United States in producing more Sino-American co-productions. He also shared insights into the preparations for his feature film "Pet Story" as a producer and screenwriter, which is set to bring together creative talents from both China and the United States, promising an enthralling cinematic experience for audiences. Jiaming Chong's outstanding achievements in both feature film production and short film production were pivotal factors in his receipt of the Outstanding Young Producer Award on this occasion. As he has also achieved significant success in the realm of short films. His short films "Sunset" and "Thanks for the Dance" were selected for prestigious film festivals such as the Palm Shorts International Film Festival and the Toronto Lift-Off International Film Festival. Furthermore, during his tenure at Easyfind Pictures, he was involved in the production of two documentaries, " The Foreigner's New Adobe" and "Thirty-Three," both of which were shot during the pandemic. The three esteemed producers mentioned Jiaming's dedication in continuing to create content amidst adversity. Despite challenges such as location lockdowns and transportation restrictions during the pandemic, Jiaming demonstrated his determination to complete these documentary projects. This experience not only showcased Jiaming's talent and resilience but also highlighted his outstanding performance in the film industry. During his tenure as a producer and Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at Easyfind Pictures, Jiaming led the company to receive the "Bemy Award" from the Influencer Economy Alliance, marking a significant transition for Easyfind Pictures from a traditional advertising production company to a player in the new media industry. This achievement was recognized and celebrated by Lin Guang, the founder of the Bemy Award and President of the All-American Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, who also presented him with an award certificate. Christine Xu, as the producer of the Emmy Award-winning series "The Bay" and CEO of Uplive, has achieved remarkable success in the film and media industry. Henry Lipatov is renowned for his outstanding work in special effects and directing, having received multiple international awards, including the Macabre Faire Film Festival Jury Prize, The Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards, and nominations at the London International Motion Pictures Award film festival. Doug Ivanovich, on the other hand, served as the executive producer of the 2019 American Icon Awards, which honored Al Pacino. In addition to celebrating their achievements, Jiaming Chong extended a warm invitation to the three producers to attend the upcoming Ma Jian NFT Contest, a grand event he is producing next year. This event aims to provide a platform for international filmmakers and artists to explore the intersection of digital art and filmmaking, foster Sino-American cultural exchange, and create a broader stage for future film collaborations. Media Contact: US Overseas Student Union Contact Person: Zhihao Dong Email: zhihao.d@usosu.org Website URL: www.usosu.org Disclaimer: There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this PR should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security, or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. It is your responsibility to determine whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. Consult your business advisor, attorney, or tax advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation. For more info, please contact brandnewsproject@gmail.com. Attachment TORONTO, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mully Childrens Family Canada (MCF Canada) wish to announce that a concert in tribute to Dr. Charles Mulli and the achievement of Mully Childrens Family (MCF) will be held Saturday 28 Oct 2023, 7.30 PM at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Bayview and 401, Toronto. With his wife Esther and their daughter Ndondo, Charles Mulli will be visiting Canada 20 October to 2 November 2023 speaking in Grande Prairie, Winnipeg, and Toronto. MCF Canada have arranged events open to the public. Dr. Mulli is the founder and CEO of the world-class highly successful childrens rescue programme in Kenya. Unique in its deliberate movement to self-sufficiency, MCF, the largest family in the world, across 11 villages in Kenya and Tanzania have rescued over 5,000 children (2022) from the poverty that kills. MCF (Ndalani), the largest campus, houses, clothes, feeds, and schools about 1,200 beneficiaries. Come and meet this African family solving a dreadful African problem. It is estimated 9.5 million Kenyan children live in conditions where the death rate is one in five. Disease, starvation, illiteracy, homelessness, and deprivation in the slums lead to sex trafficking, shortened lives, criminality, addictions, prison, and exploitation. MCF over its 34 years have rescued 26,000 children, reintegrating them back into their Kenyan communities with the capability of a dignified livelihood. Rescued children are rehabilitated from their trauma in the MCF village homes that provide education, sports, talent development, leadership training, music, and faith. Windjammers and Charles Cozens are thrilled to hold a musical tribute supporting MCF. Windjammers, founded in 1993, is a premier Canadian pop wind orchestra. All the 40+ musicians volunteer their considerable musical skills in support of selected humanitarian charitable organizations, offering a great range of pop music. Windjammers will perform The Villages of The Way supporting Mully Childrens Family (MCF) of Kenya. The music program will feature jazz, gospel jazz, and African pop music organized around the villages in which MCF have family homes. Concert goers will not only enjoy a powerful brilliant concert by the Windjammers but they will have an opportunity to hear Dr. Mulli in person and know they are supporting MCF. All proceeds are donated to MCF through MCF Canada. Tickets at $25.00 each are on sale through Eventbrite or at the door. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/62ee3292-275b-4fbc-b7e6-b8083d7f4ad5 Vancouver, October 12, 2023 - Highlander Silver Corp. (CSE:HSLV) (the "Company" or "Highlander Silver") announces that, further to its news release on October 3, 2023, effective at the opening of trading on October 17, 2023 (the "Effective Date") the common shares of the Company (the "Shares") will commence trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange on a consolidated basis, with one post-consolidated Share outstanding for every two pre-consolidation Shares (the "Consolidation"). As a result of the Consolidation, on the Effective Date, a total of approximately 30,460,433 Shares will be issued and outstanding, subject to adjustments for rounding, with approximately 1,450,000 Shares reserved for issuance. No fractional shares will be issued. The number of post-consolidated Shares to be received will be rounded up to the nearest whole number for fractions of 0.5 or greater or rounded down to the nearest whole number for fractions of less than 0.5. The exercise or conversion price and the number of Shares issuable under any of the Company's outstanding convertible instruments will be proportionately adjusted upon the effectiveness of the Consolidation. Shareholders of record as of the Effective Date who hold Shares represented by a physical certificate or DRS statement will receive a letter of transmittal from the transfer agent for the Company, National Securities Administrators Ltd., with instructions on how to exchange their existing certificates or DRS statements for certificates or DRS statements representing Shares on a post-Consolidation basis. About Highlander Silver Highlander Silver Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the exploration of silver-polymetallic projects in central Peru, as well as targeting the acquisition of additional mineral projects by leveraging the team's significant experience in Peru and South America more widely. Additional information about Highlander Silver and its mineral projects can be viewed on the Company's SEDAR (www.sedar.com) profile at www.sedar.com and its website at www.highlandersilver.com Neither the CSE nor the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. For further information, please contact: David Fincham Chief Executive Officer Highlander Silver Corp. (604) 283 7630 info@highlandersilver.com Forward - Looking Information Certain information contained in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. This includes, but is not limited to, information or statements with respect to the completion and effective date the Consolidation, the number of post-consolidated Shares, and the Company's transfer agent sending a letter of transmittal. Such forward looking information or statements can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipates", "plans", "suggests", "targets" or "prospects" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "will" be taken, occur, or be achieved. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company and/or its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, and delays in obtaining governmental or stock exchange approvals. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking information contained herein are made as of the date of this news release. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. VANCOUVER, Oct. 12, 2023 - TSX VENTURE COMPANIES RE ROYALTIES LTD. ("RE") BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of Dividend BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 1 Company The Issuer has declared the following dividend: Dividend per Common Share: $0.01 Payable Date: November 22, 2023 Record Date: November 01, 2023 Ex-dividend Date: October 31, 2023 ________________________________________ NEX COMPANY Emperor Oil Ltd. ("EM.H") BULLETIN TYPE: Listing Maintenance Fees - Delist BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 NEX Company In accordance with NEX Policy, Section 15, effective at the close of business, Friday, October 20, 2023, securities of Emperor Oil Ltd. (the "Company") will be delisted from NEX, for failure to pay their quarterly NEX Listing Maintenance Fees. Prior to delisting, the shares of the Company were subject to a suspension from trading. ________________________________________ 23/10/12 - TSX Venture Exchange Bulletins TSX VENTURE COMPANIES CARESPAN HEALTH, INC. ("CSPN") BULLETIN TYPE: Resume Trading BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 6:30 a.m. PST, October 12, 2023, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made. ________________________________________ EDGEWATER WIRELESS SYSTEMS INC. ("YFI") BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for Debt BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 360,939 shares at a deemed price of $ 0.05 per share to settle outstanding debt for $ 18,047.12. Number of Creditors: 10 Creditors Non-Arm's Length Party / Pro Group Participation: Creditors # of Creditors Amount Owing Deemed Price per Share Aggregate # of Shares Aggregate Non-Arm's Length Party Involvement: 3 $3,478.36 $0.05 69,565 Aggregate Pro Group Involvement: N/A N/A N/A N/A ________________________________________ FUELPOSITIVE CORPORATION ("NHHH") BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for Debt BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 5,297,862 common shares at a deemed value of $0.065 per share and 3,251,708 common share purchase warrants, each exercisable at $0.09 per share for a period of 3 years, to settle outstanding debt for $344,361.04. Number of Creditors: 5 Creditors For more information, please refer to the Company's news releases dated August 1 and September 11, 2023. ________________________________________ Grid Metals Corp. ("GRDM") BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Purchase Agreement BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's Option Termination Agreement dated July 3, 2023 (the "Agreement") between the Company and a Non-Arm's Length Party of the Company. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company issued an aggregate of 7,142,858 common shares to a Non-Arm's Length Party to cancel its option to purchase an effective 15% additional interest in the Campus Creek and Donner Lake Lithium joint ventures. For further details, please refer to the Company's news releases dated July 5, 2023 and October 2, 2023, and the Company's Management Information Circular dated August 28, 2023 (filed on SEDAR). ________________________________________ Laurion Mineral Exploration Inc. ("LME") BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Purchase Agreement BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to the arm's length acquisition of 53 mineral exploration claims located in the Irwin, Pifher and Sandra Townships of the Thunder Bay District in Ontario (the "Properties"), pursuant to a purchase agreement, entered into between Laurion Mineral Exploration Inc. (the "Company") and certain arm's length parties (the "Vendors"). As consideration for the acquisition, the Company has issued an aggregate of 142,857 common shares to the Vendors. Further, the Vendors will retain a 1% NSR on gold and base metal production from the Properties. The Company will have the option to buy-back at any time 0.5% of such NSR for $500,000. For further details, please refer to the Company's news release dated October 11, 2023. ________________________________________ SLAM Exploration Ltd. ("SXL") BULLETIN TYPE: Halt BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 7:02 a.m. PST, October 12, 2023, trading in the shares of the Company was halted, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules. ________________________________________ SLAM Exploration Ltd. ("SXL") BULLETIN TYPE: Resume Trading BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 9:30 a.m. PST, October 12, 2023, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made. ________________________________________ YORKTON EQUITY GROUP INC. ("YEG") BULLETIN TYPE: Halt BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 5:40 a.m. PST, October 12, 2023, trading in the shares of the Company was halted, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules. ________________________________________ YORKTON EQUITY GROUP INC. ("YEG") BULLETIN TYPE: Resume Trading BULLETIN DATE: October 12, 2023 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company Effective at 6:30 a.m. PST, October 12, 2023, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made. ________________________________________ SOURCE TSX Venture Exchange TSX Venture Exchange: BSK Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MAL2 OTCQB Venture Market (OTC): BKUCF /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES./ VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - Blue Sky Uranium Corp. (TSXV: BSK) (FSE: MAL2) (OTC: BKUCF), ("Blue Sky" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has closed the 2nd and final tranche of the non-brokered private placement financing announced on September 26, 2023 and increased on October 4, 2023, consisting of 7,133,333 units (each, a "Unit") in this tranche at a price of $0.075 per Unit for gross proceeds of $535,000. In total, the Company issued 20,466,666 Units for total gross proceeds of $1,535,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit consists of one common share and one transferrable common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one additional common share in the capital of the Company at $0.12 per share for three (3) years from the date of issue. In this tranche, finders' fees of $32,371.50 were paid in cash on a portion of the private placement to parties at arm's length to the Company. In addition, 431,620 non-transferable finder's warrants were issued (the "Finder's Warrant"). Each Finder's Warrant entitles a finder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.075 per share for three years from the date of issue, expiring on October 13, 2026. In total, cash finders' fees of $97,293 were paid and 1,297,240 Finders' Warrants were issued for the Offering. There is an offering document relating to the Offering that has been amended to reflect the increase in size of the Offering, which can be accessed under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website at www.blueskyuranium.com. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering for exploration programs on the Company's projects in Argentina and for general working capital. The Offering is subject to regulatory approval, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the 1933 Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities in any jurisdiction. About Blue Sky Uranium Corp. Blue Sky Uranium Corp. is a leader in uranium discovery in Argentina. The Company's objective is to deliver exceptional returns to shareholders by rapidly advancing a portfolio of surficial uranium deposits into low-cost producers, while respecting the environment, the communities, and the cultures in all the areas in which we work. Blue Sky has the exclusive right to properties in two provinces in Argentina. The Company's flagship Amarillo Grande Project was an in-house discovery of a new district that has the potential to be both a leading domestic supplier of uranium to the growing Argentine market and a new international market supplier. The Company is a member of the Grosso Group, a resource management group that has pioneered exploration in Argentina since 1993. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Nikolaos Cacos" ______________________________________ Nikolaos Cacos, President, CEO and Director Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, statements about the receipt of regulatory approval for the Offering, the Company's plans for the closing of the Offering, finder's fees on the Offering, the use of the proceeds from the Offering, the Company's plans for its mineral properties; the Company's business strategy, plans and outlooks; the future financial or operating performance of the Company; and future exploration and operating plans are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and, even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: the impact of COVID-19; risks and uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary approvals, including Exchange approval for the closing of the Offering, the ability to obtain, amend, or maintain licenses, permits, or surface rights; risks associated with technical difficulties in connection with mining activities; and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Readers are encouraged to refer to the Company's public disclosure documents for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, unless required pursuant to applicable laws. SOURCE Blue Sky Uranium Corp. TORONTO, Oct. 13, 2023 - Mandalay Resources Corp. ("Mandalay" or the "Company") (TSX: MND) (OTCQB: MNDJF) announces today its production and sales results for the third quarter of 2023. The Company forecasts finishing 2023 on the low end of its previously disclosed production guidance range of 88,000 - 100,000 gold equivalent ounces. Third Quarter Production Highlights: Consolidated saleable gold equivalent production of 22,032 ounces; and Consolidated saleable gold equivalent sold of 20,568 ounces. Frazer Bourchier, President and CEO, commented: "During the third quarter of 2023, our operations performed in-line with previous quarters. Costerfield is expecting stronger production in the final quarter to achieve our year-end guidance based on planned mining of higher-grade areas. On a consolidated basis, the Company produced 22,032 and 62,868 saleable gold equivalent ounces during Q3 2023 and the first nine months of this year, respectively. Notably, Bjorkdal continues to show improvements and achieved its highest quarterly rate since Q1 2022. At Costerfield, processing of higher grade ore was delayed during the quarter due to both slower stope progression and lower mill throughput." Ryan Austerberry, COO, commented: "Bjorkdal produced 11,224 saleable gold ounces in Q3 2023. We are seeing encouraging signs of stable stoping tonnes from the underground and improved grades as we start to process material from the higher-grade Eastern Extension zone. We are looking towards building upon this success and will continue to focus on mining from the Eastern Extension while concentrating less on areas that are of lower grade. Over the last quarter of 2023 and into 2024, we are anticipating higher grades due to the steady ramp-up of the Eastern Extension zone's tonnage contribution to the overall mill feed. "Costerfield produced 10,808 saleable gold equivalent ounces in Q3 2023, as it encountered a few challenges leading to deficits in both milled tonnes and underground gold grades. As we progress more of our production fronts into Shepherd, the processing plant was temporarily challenged with the hardness of the ore encountered transitioning into this zone. We are actively re-configuring the circuit to optimize the throughput to get back to mill plan. The lower grades can be attributed primarily to a delay in production of high grade stopes in Youle, which we expect to mine in the future. Although a month later than planned, the replacement loader for the gear lost earlier in the year due to a fire was commissioned in the quarter. We do expect to finish the year strongly, with a third successive quarter-over-quarter improvement." Mr. Bourchier concluded, "In my first two quarters as CEO, we shifted to continuously monitoring key metrics to better manage challenges and mitigate operational risks. The Company remains focused on establishing a sustainable track record of operational results, further ramping up organic exploration spend and capitalizing on any opportunities to underpin future success and growth moving forward." Saleable Production for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2023: In the third quarter of 2023, the Company produced a total of 19,601 ounces of gold and 395 tonnes of antimony representing a total of 22,032 ounces of gold equivalent, versus 22,817 ounces of gold and 582 tonnes of antimony in the third quarter of 2022, representing a total of 27,287 ounces of gold equivalent. Production at Bjorkdal was 11,224 ounces of gold in the third quarter of 2023 versus 10,291 ounces of gold in the third quarter of 2022. Production at Costerfield was 8,377 ounces of gold and 395 tonnes of antimony in the third quarter of 2023 versus 12,526 ounces gold and 582 tonnes antimony in the third quarter of 2022. Saleable Production for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2023: The Company produced a total of 53,631 ounces gold and 1,456 tonnes antimony, representing a total of 62,868 ounces of gold equivalent production, versus 66,793 ounces gold and 1,788 tonnes of antimony in the corresponding nine months of 2022, representing a total of 80,223 ounces of gold equivalent. Production at Bjorkdal was 30,590 ounces gold. Production at Costerfield was 23,041 ounces gold and 1,456 tonnes antimony. Table 1 - Third Quarter and Nine Months Saleable Production for 2023 and 2022 Metal Source Three months ended September 30 2023 Three months ended September 30 2022 Nine months ended September 30 2023 Nine months ended September 30 2022 Gold (oz) Bjorkdal 11,224 10,291 30,590 30,991 Costerfield 8,377 12,526 23,041 35,802 Total 19,601 22,817 53,631 66,793 Antimony (t) Costerfield 395 582 1,456 1,788 Gold US$/oz 1,928 1,730 Antimony US$/t 11,865 13,286 Total Gold Eq. (oz)(1) Bjorkdal 11,224 10,291 30,590 30,991 Costerfield 10,808 16,996 32,278 49,232 Total 22,032 27,287 62,868 80,223 1. Quarterly gold equivalent ounces ("Gold Eq. (oz)") produced is calculated by multiplying the saleable quantities of gold ("Au"), and antimony ("Sb") in the period by the respective average market prices of the commodities in the period, adding the amounts to get a "total contained value based on market price", and then dividing that total contained value by the average market price of Au in the period. Average Au prices in the periods are calculated as the average of the daily LME PM fixes in the period, with price on weekend days and holidays taken of the last business day; average Sb price in the period is calculated as the average of the daily average of the high and low Rotterdam warehouse prices for all days in the period, with price on weekend days and holidays taken from the last business day. The source for Au price is www.transamine.com, and Sb price is www.metalbulletin.com. Sales for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2023: In the third quarter of 2023, the Company sold a total of 18,106 ounces of gold and 400 tonnes of antimony, representing a total of 20,568 ounces of gold equivalent, versus 22,273 ounces of gold and 557 tonnes of antimony in the third quarter of 2022, representing a total of 26,551 ounces of gold equivalent. Bjorkdal sold 10,751 ounces of gold in the third quarter of 2023 versus 10,001 ounces of gold in the third quarter of 2022. Costerfield sold 7,355 ounces of gold and 400 tonnes of antimony in the third quarter of 2023 versus 12,272 ounces of gold and 557 tonnes of antimony in the third quarter of 2022. Sales for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2023: The Company sold 53,326 ounces gold and 1,455 tonnes antimony, representing a total of 62,566 ounces of gold equivalent, versus 67,845 ounces gold and 1,832 tonnes antimony in the first nine months of 2022, representing a total of 81,612 ounces of gold equivalent. Bjorkdal sold 30,211 ounces gold. Costerfield sold 23,115 ounces gold and 1,455 tonnes antimony. Table 2 - Third Quarter and Nine Months Sales for 2023 and 2022 Metal Source Three months ended September 30 2023 Three months ended September 30 2022 Nine months ended September 30 2023 Nine months ended September 30 2022 Gold (oz) Bjorkdal 10,751 10,001 30,211 31,111 Costerfield 7,355 12,272 23,115 36,734 Total 18,106 22,273 53,326 67,845 Antimony (t) Costerfield 400 557 1,455 1,832 Gold US$/oz 1,928 1,730 Antimony US$/t 11,865 13,286 Total Gold Eq. (oz)1 Bjorkdal 10,751 10,001 30,211 31,111 Costerfield 9,817 16,550 32,355 50,501 Total 20,568 26,551 62,566 81,612 1. Quarterly Gold Eq. (oz) sold is calculated by multiplying the saleable quantities of Au and Sb in the period by the respective average market prices of the commodities in the period, adding the amounts to get a "total contained value based on market price", and then dividing that total contained value by the average market price of Au for the period. The source for Au price is www.transamine.com, and Sb price is www.metalbulletin.com, with price on weekend days and holidays taken of the last business day. About Mandalay Resources Corporation: Mandalay Resources is a Canadian-based natural resource company with producing assets in Australia (Costerfield gold-antimony mine) and Sweden (Bjorkdal gold mine). The Company is focused on growing its production and reducing costs to generate significant positive cashflow. Mandalay is committed to operating safely and in an environmentally responsible manner, while developing a high level of community and employee engagement. Mandalay's mission is to create shareholder value through the profitable operation and continuing the regional exploration program, at both its Costerfield and Bjorkdal mines. Currently, the Company's main objectives are to continue mining the high-grade Youle vein at Costerfield, bring online the deeper Shepherd veins, both of which will continue to supply high-grade ore to the processing plant, and to extend Youle Mineral Reserves. At Bjorkdal, the Company will aim to increase production from the Aurora zone and other higher-grade areas in the coming years, in order to maximize profit margins from the mine. Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the Company's expected production of gold and antimony and costs for the 2023 fiscal year. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, changes in commodity prices and general market and economic conditions. The factors identified above are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Mandalay. A description of additional risks that could result in actual results and developments differing from those contemplated by forward-looking statements in this news release can be found under the heading "Risk Factors" in Mandalay's annual information form dated March 31, 2023, a copy of which is available under Mandalay's profile at www.sedar.com. In addition, there can be no assurance that any inferred resources that are discovered as a result of additional drilling will ever be upgraded to proven or probable reserves. Although Mandalay has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mandalay-resources-announces-production-and-sales-results-for-the-third-quarter-of-2023-301955637.html SOURCE Mandalay Resources Corp. Renault now obstacle to Andretti green-light Renault-linked Alpine may have emerged as an obstacle to Andretti-Cadillac joining Formula 1. Start, Qatar GP 2023 McLaren Although Cadillac is owned by General Motors, Andretti's plan to enter the sport as early as 2025 is dependent on a rebadged customer engine. But Alpine boss Bruno Famin this week said the Renault engine deal agreed with Andretti earlier this year has now expired , with talks only to resume if Liberty-owned Formula One Management green-lights the American outfit. In principle, we have nothing against an eleventh team if it turns out that it increases the value of the sport, Famin is now quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. But it is not our job to judge that. We follow the regulations, regardless of whether they are the sporting regulations or the Concorde Agreement. Auto Motor und Sport believes FOM saying 'yes' to Andretti depends in part on the team having an engine deal in place. And Alpine no longer sounds keen on adding an engine customer to its roster at all. The priorities have shifted, interim team boss Famin explains. Our first priority is to develop the best possible engine for 2026. Some might therefore see Alpine as a key obstacle to Andretti being approved to race in Formula 1 - as per the wishes of Liberty and the bulk of the existing ten teams. It opens up the spectre of potential legal action instigated by Andretti, linked perhaps to European Union anti-competitive directives. Andretti won't go to court, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is quoted by Speed Week. Nobody wants a legal dispute and nobody here is talking about it. A story like that might sound exciting to certain media, but why should we involve a judge? We will resolve this in constructive discussions, he added. But I see no reason to rush. I am in no position to pressure the FOM or tell them what to do, said the FIA president. The Andretti camp is being very quiet about the matter at the moment, but Michael Andretti's famous father Mario is quoted by Ouest France newspaper as sounding hopeful. Huawei is committed to deploying solutions that fit every economic scenario. 5.5G, currently also referred to as 5G-Advanced, is the next evolution of 5G mobile networks. According to industry experts at MBBF2023 in Dubai. Tests on early versions have shown speeds 10 times faster than 5G, low latency, strong uplink and downlink connections, support for harmonized communication and sensing and ability to support millions of connected devices at faster speeds. These new features experts say opens new possibilities in the world of connectivity that will transform Connecting industries, Passive-IoT, Connecting Vehicles and Connecting things to usher humanity into the intelligent connected future. But while 5G is being rapidly deployed around the world, Africa is falling behind with just a dozen countries launching 5G networks. According to GSMA data only Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, Madagascar, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe, and Zambia out of the 54 countries have deployed 5G in select areas with the rest still on mix of 2G, 3G and 4G as at 2023. With digitalization drive happening in Ghana and other African countries and the 5G success stories presented at this years MBBF coupled with new opportunities and benefits unveiled by 5G and its early-stage next evolution 5G-Advanced, 5G may just be the missing element to tie everything together and to propel economies unto new frontiers if adopted early. Why then, is Ghana not in the list of first African countries deploying 5G? The chief of Wireless Solutions for Huawei, Mr. Cao Ming, while engaging with the media, at the MBBF 2023 event, shared that, he understands the African Telecoms Market due to his previous role on the continent and continued to explain that a country's adoption and transition to higher and advanced technology is dependent on several factors such as economic development stage, service needs, as well as the maturity of the device ecosystem, among other factors. Citing South Africa as an example, he explained; that 5G networks have been deployed in Johannesburg and Cape Town, while rural areas are still on 2G or 3G networks mainly because of the unique circumstances of the locations. Huaweis Commitment The Wireless Solution Chief of Huawei, Mr. Cao Ming, however, was quick to add that Huawei as a company is dedicated and committed to building and developing technology solutions that meet every type of economy. "Huawei recognizes that different countries are at different phases of industry development and Huawei as a solution provider is committed and dedicated to providing diverse solutions for different scenarios and markets at different phases" Mr Ming continued. On addressing the issue of cost barrier, he added; Our fundamental principles of innovating products and solutions is also to protect long term investments of Telcos" and further stated Huawei is in constant talks with ecosystem partners to ensure future 5.5G offerings will be backward compatible with 5G technology just as 4G investments can support 5G connectivity. About MBBF2023 The Global Mobile Broadband Forum - MBBF2023 hosted by Huawei in collaboration with GSMA, GTI, and the SAMENA Telecommunications Council is an annual event which brings together key stakeholders and ICT industry leaders across the globe to discuss the development direction of the s communications industry and the infinite possibilities of mobile connectivity. This year's MBBF2023 at the JAFZA Convention Center in Dubai had focused group discussions, 5G indoor round table, Huawei CTO roundtable and various exhibition booths showcasing and demonstrating the new exciting features 5G enables such as, Self-Guided Vehicles, Glasses-Free 3D, Generalized Cellular IoT and Guaranteed Intelligent Computing Everywhere for the future. King Paluta praises Okyeame Kwame as best rapper alive Graphic Showbiz Showbiz News Oct - 13 - 2023 , 12:31 For rapper King Paluta, theres no point debating about who the best rapper alive. He has choice and it is Okyeame Kwame. In a twitter post on Wednesday, the young chap who has never hidden his admiration for the 2009 Ghana Music Awards Artiste of the year winner passed his judgement. You still the Best Rapper Alive Braa. Insha Allah is a big jam, he tweeted. His tweet was a response to Okyeame Kwames post of hitting the rap gym before featuring King Paluta on his latest song, Insha Allah. And to perhaps, give honour to whom honour is due, King Paluta returned the kind gesture by praising the music prowess of Okyeame Kwame as the best rapper alive. Okyeame Kwame has featured King Paluta on his new song Insha Allah. Already, the newest tune is getting lots of attention on social media with the rap battle that the two served rap enthusiasts and music audience on the song. Insha Allah is one of the songs off Okyeame Kwames upcoming album. Read also: MUSIGA and GHAMRO treating old musicians like we dont matter Naa Amanua S3fa: Talk of disunity in the music industry is an allusion Edith Mensah Showbiz News Oct - 13 - 2023 , 20:01 Talk of Ghanaian musicians not being united has always been on the radar but Black Avenue signer S3fa says it's just an illusion in people's minds. In a recent interview on Property FM in Cape Coast, the Echoke artiste explained that perceived disunity among musicians is fueled by misleading views of commentators on social media. "The funny thing is that they say that the people outside, that means you havent even seen it, and its just things that are being put on social media that theyre judging from," S3fa explained. She also emphasised the support Ghanaian artistes exhibit during shows, especially in December, to demonstrate their unity and mutual respect. "I think that in the industry, we are okay, and we're friendly as colleagues, especially when it gets to December. You know all these artistes that do shows, and you have colleagues going to support them all the time. I do it all the time, so there's unity," S3fa stated emphatically. S3fa further asserted that although she and her colleagues may not publicly display a strong bond, they are very united. She added that artistes are diligently working on themselves and their respective careers, which might explain why they are not seen partying together frequently and mostly seen in each other's company. "So you might not see us partying all the time because everybody is busy working," she added. Nobel Prize Month of October! Brig Gen Dan Frimpong Opinion Oct - 13 - 2023 , 10:24 October is the month of Nobel Prizes! On October 6, 2023, the Nobel Foundation announced the winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. It was not without controversy! While the recipient, Iranian engineer/Human Rights Activist Narges Mohammadi, remains in Iranian prison for her activism, the Iranian government expressed its dismay/unhappiness with the Nobel Foundation for the award. The Nobel Prize is the worlds most prestigious award given annually to individuals/organisations in recognition of excellence in six fields. Immediate questions that come up include; Who is Nobel? What is a Nobel Prize? What is the significance of a Nobel Prize? Has a Ghanaian ever won the Nobel Prize? What lessons can Ghana learn from the Nobel Prize awards? AB Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor and armaments manufacturer. He created the Bofors Steel Company which he later converted into an Armaments manufacturing company. He was also a writer/author. His most enduring invention, however, was the DYNAMITE. In 1888, Alfreds younger brother Ludwig Nobel died. Mistaking the dead Nobel to be Alfred, several newspapers published obituaries about the living Alfred Nobel. None was positive. Indeed, a French obituary stated: Le marchand de la mort est mort (The merchant of death is dead.) He was condemned for inventing weapons of destruction like the cannon and dynamite. One publication said: Dr Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever, died yesterday. Alfred was disappointed with what he read. The effect of these publications on him was profound! Alfred Nobels conscience pricked him about what legacy he was leaving behind and how negatively humanity would remember him despite all his inventions. He, therefore, decided to bequeath his fortune to humanity for the promotion of peace and development through a Nobel Foundation. Nobel Prizes In his will in 1895, a year before he died, Alfred Nobel established five prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature and Peace. These awards were to be made to individuals or a group of individuals not exceeding three, or an organisation, for making a positive contribution to humanity after Nobels death. The first awards were made in 1901. In 1968, a new prize for Economics was added by the Swedish Central Bank, bringing the Nobel Prizes to six disciplines. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the others are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, annually. For 2023, each winner won 11 million Swedish crowns (US$986,000). Additionally, winners also receive a gold-plated green-gold medal, symbolising their remarkable contribution to their respective fields, and a diploma. African Nobel Prize Winners In 2001, Ghanaian UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the United Nations. South African winners of the Nobel Peace Prize include Albert Lithuli, President of the African National Congress in 1960, Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1984 and Nelson Mandela in 1994 for their fight against apartheid (apart-ness). Apartheid in the Afrikaans language of the minority Boers meant apart-ness/separation. Blacks were legally segregated and discriminated against. They were second-rate humans! Apartheid was finally banned in South Africa in 1994, having begun in 1948. In 2008, given a choice by American Billionaire Warren Buffet to pick any car of his choice for a gift, Archbishop Tutu picked a modest Toyota Corolla with a manual transmission over the luxury BMWs and Mercedes Benz. He gave the cash left over from Warren Buffets present to the poor. The Desmond Tutu Intellectual Property Trust, which manages his legacy, has put the old car on show along with his books and possessions in honour of Tutu's 92nd birthday, which he would have celebrated on Saturday, October 7, 2023. For the first time in the history of Nobel awards, the Nigerian poet Wole Soyinka won the Prize in Literature in 1986, making him the first African to win a prize other than for Peace. In 2004, the Kenyan Environmentalist Professor Wangari Maathai won the Peace Prize for her contribution to greening the environment in Kenya through tree planting. She led her Green Belt Movement, an NGO she founded in 1977, to plant over 50 million trees all over Kenya. Discussion The only Ghanaian winner of the Nobel Prize is Mr Kofi Annan, a prize he won jointly with the UN. The challenge to the Ghanaian youth is to work hard and follow the example of Kofi Annan. With discipline, strong leadership skills, hard work and integrity, the youth can win future individual Nobel Prizes for Ghana. Kenyas Wangari Maathais award should encourage Ghanaians about the virtue of ensuring a green environment. The tendency of real estate agents to raze every tree in sight down before they start building is wrong and must stop! Elsewhere, no damage is allowed to vegetation! Galamsey will not be mentioned! Nigerias Wole Soyinkas award again emphasises the importance of hard work, determination, resilience and tenacity. Summary In correcting the unintended negative consequences of his inventions, Nobel bequeathed to humanity his huge fortune. Starting in 1901, five prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature and Peace have been awarded. In 1968, Economics was added. Archbishop Tutus choice of a Toyota Corolla over BMW and Mercedes must be a lesson in modesty and humility to Ghanaian politicians. Trust chairperson Mamphela Ramphele told Reuters, referring to Tutu by his nickname: "We hope this lesson ... by the Arch (Tutus nickname) about us not being tempted by opulence, but being sensitive to the least amongst us is the takeaway people (who have) seen that car will make." Finally, Ghanaian leaders must realise that unlike Alfred Nobel, whose brothers death made him aware of how much he was hated, and, therefore, redeemed himself through philanthropy, such second chances do not happen often. Therefore, do the right thing! Leadership, lead! Fellow Ghanaians, WAKE UP! Brig. Gen. Dan Frimpong (Rtd) Former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association Nairobi, Kenya ECOWAS urges calm in Liberia while awaiting election results GraphicOnline International News Oct - 12 - 2023 , 17:14 ECOWAS has appealed to Liberians, particularly political parties, candidates, and their supporters, to remain calm and patiently wait for the official declaration of the results by the National Elections Commission (NEC). It reminded candidates and political parties of the commitments made within the framework of the Revised Farmington River about their decision to abide by the rules and regulations governing the polls and to use legitimate means to address all their challenges. The NEC has 15 days after the day of the election to declare results. Already, some senatorial and House of Representative candidates have learned their fate. This was contained in a preliminary statement issued by ECOWAS and signed by the Head of its Observer Mission in Liberia, Prof Attahiru Jega. Prof Jega, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, is leading a 100-member Observer Mission to Liberia. Liberians went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a president from a list of 20 candidates, including President George Weah, who is seeking re-election. Others elected were 30 senators and 73 members of the House of Representatives. With 19 NEC Magistrates (regional offices), they are collectively collating results from the presidential, senatorial, and House of Representatives races at 5,890 polling places. Commendation Prof Jega commended the high sense of patriotism exhibited by polling staff, the security forces, and the general populace, who collectively played their parts in ensuring the peaceful conduct of the polls. He urged all stakeholders to refrain from making any statements that may lead to a breach of peace. "The Mission urges the National Elections Commission to diligently, but urgently, work to ensure the timely and transparent release of the results to defuse any latent tensions that may arise out of long waits for results," Prof. Jega noted. He gave the assurance that the ECOWAS Observer Mission will continue to closely monitor the concluding phases of the electoral process, in particular, the aggregation, collation, and release of the results from the counties and the declaration of preliminary results nationally and will make further pronouncements should the need arise. Rains The Mission said it had noted the challenges associated with infrastructure and their impact on the smooth conduct of the elections. "While the Mission urges the Government to put in measures to ameliorate the infrastructure conditions of the country, it also urges the National Parliament and other critical stakeholders to consider the review of the relevant portions of the Constitution and the electoral law to allow for national elections to be held on dates during the dry season." Voting The Mission noted that the polling process generally proceeded smoothly and in a largely peaceful atmosphere, and eligible voters were able to freely participate in the process, even though the long queues, congestions at the voting precincts, and the slow pace of the process led to some grumbling and agitations by voters. To address congestion and long queues at polling precincts, reforms may be introduced in the electoral laws to reduce the number of voters per polling unit, taking into consideration the resource needs for such reforms. Kwamena Nyamekye, MONROVIA Excel-Plus Education hosts 2023 UCA Open Day in Accra GraphicOnline Education Oct - 13 - 2023 , 02:44 Excel-Plus Education, a leading force in the field of education, is set to host the 2023 University for the Creative Arts (UCA) Open Day in Accra, offering an invaluable opportunity for students aspiring to pursue studies in art, music, fashion, or design. Scheduled for Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at the Excel-Plus Education-Accra Office in Dzorwulu, the event aims to provide hundreds of students with comprehensive insights into UCA's extensive array of programs, tuition options, accommodation, and more. Yvonne Ntiamoah, Academic Advice Manager at the University for the Creative Arts- UK, emphasized the enriching educational experience, highlighting its role in guiding students in crafting portfolios for both professional and academic purposes. Joseph Quainoo, General Manager of Excel-Plus Education, underscored the event's significance, noting that students will have the chance to interact with seasoned tutors who can offer valuable guidance in realizing their educational and career aspirations within the Creative Arts Industry. He encouraged all interested students to secure their free spot by visiting [Excel-Plus Education's official website - https://www.excelplusonline.com or accessing the registration form through this link - https://forms.gle/f3XUWodyrC2jJv1YA. Quainoo remarked, "This is indeed a life-changing opportunity. I urge all interested parties to join for free. It is our sole aim at Excel-Plus Education to bring out the best in you by putting you in charge." Excel-Plus Education, renowned for its global network of partner universities, has been a catalyst in shaping the educational journeys of numerous students in Ghana and across the African continent, striving to provide quality education for a brighter future. NSMQ 2023: See all the 18 schools that have qualified for the quarter-finals so far (LIST) GraphicOnline Education Oct - 13 - 2023 , 07:54 On the second day of the one-eighth contest of the 2023 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) yesterday, nine schools demonstrated their prowess, earning coveted spots as seeds in the quarter-finals. Opoku Ware School showcased their mettle, triumphing over Tamale Islamic SHS and Nifa SHS. The Santasi institution clinched victory with an impressive 49 points, leaving Tamale Islamic SHS and Nifa SHS trailing with 42 and 20 points respectively. St John's School, likewise, exhibited exceptional knowledge, prevailing over St Mary's Boy's SHS and Ghana SHS, Koforidua, securing a place in the quarter-finals with a score of 38 points. St Mary's Boy's SHS managed two points less, while Ghana SHS, Koforidua, concluded the contest with 27 points. Osei Tutu SHS emerged victorious in the third contest, surpassing University Practice SHS and Winneba SHS. They achieved a commendable 42 points, with University Practice SHS and Winneba SHS falling behind with 36 and 20 points respectively. The stage is set for fierce competition in the quarter-finals, with Opoku Ware School, St John's School, and Osei Tutu SHS poised for an intense face-off. In a nail-biting fourth contest, St James Seminary SHS secured their triumph after a formidable struggle against Our Lady of Mt Carmel Girls SHS and St Thomas Aquinas. The victory was sealed in a tiebreaker with Our Lady Mt Carmel, as both schools amassed 44 points after the final round. Presby SHTS, Aburi, faced off against KNUST SHS and T.I AMASS, Kumasi, in the fifth contest of the day. Presby SHTS emerged victorious with an impressive 47 points, while KNUST SHS and T.I AMASS, Kumasi, fell short with 33 and 32 points respectively. Pope John Minor Seminary SHS stole the spotlight, amassing a staggering 56 points, the highest score of the day. Their remarkable performance led them to victory over Simms SHS and Sunyani SHS, who garnered 47 and 29 points respectively. St James Seminary SHS, Pope John Seminary & SHS, and Presby SHTS, Aburi, are set to clash in what promises to be an electrifying quarter-final showdown. Meanwhile, Labone SHS and SDA SHS, Agona, faced a tough challenge from Aburi Presby SHS. Labone struggled with 42 points, while SDA SHS secured 19 points. Aburi Presby SHS emerged victorious with a total of 45 points. In a fiercely contested battle, the 2022 first runners-up, Prempeh College, outshone T.I AMASS, Fomena, and Navrongo SHS, securing their berth in the quarter-finals with an impressive 52 points. T.I AMASS, Fomena, and Navrongo SHS trailed behind with 34 and 28 points respectively. In the final contest of the day, Mawuli School demonstrated their prowess, besting Amaniampong SHS and St Catherine SHS to clinch victory with an impressive 52 points. They are now poised to face Prempeh College and Aburi Presby SHS in what is expected to be a fiercely competitive quarter-final round. Click here for the fixtures for today's final one-eighth clashes with defending champions Presbyterian Boys SHS, St. Augustine's College and Mfantsipim in action. See the list of schools that have won seeds for the quarterfinals of the NSMQ below; Poor academic performance: Dismissed students can reapply UG Emmanuel Bonney Education Oct - 13 - 2023 , 08:38 Students of the University of Ghana who will be withdrawn for obtaining the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) below 1.00 can reapply to enter the institution to pursue other courses. They can, therefore, pursue other programmes with their West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, in addition to the ones they were undertaking before their withdrawal. This means that they have to restart from Level 100. They are at liberty to reapply and the reapplication should be with their WASSCE results. They can apply to other programmes and not necessarily to what they were undertaking before they were withdrawn. They can apply for other programmes, once they qualify with their WASSCE results, the Director of Public Affairs of the University of Ghana, Dr Elizier T. Ameyaw-Buronyah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday. Notice In a notice dated October 6, 2023, the University of Ghana (UG) indicated that it would withdraw students with a CGPA below 1.00 in the Colleges of Basic and Applied Sciences, Education and Humanities, effective the 2023/2024 academic year. This is in accordance with Section 9.26 of the University Regulations for Junior Members (2017), which states, among other things, that undergraduate students who did not achieve the stipulated minimum CGPA for progression to the next level of study should be withdrawn from the university. The notice, signed by the Director of Academic Affairs, L.A. Nyarko Danquah, said a specific notice for the College of Health Sciences would be issued in due course. Minimum Presently, the minimum CGPA prescribed for the above-listed colleges is 1.00. In this respect, current level 200 and level 300 students are hereby directed to review their academic performance from their online provisional transcript in their Management Information Systems (MIS Web). Students who have received examination results for all 2022/2023 registered courses and obtained a CGPA below the approved minimum for their college should expect official withdrawal letters from the University via their official UG email addresses soon, the notice said. It said for those who had already remitted their tuition fees for the 2023/2024 academic year, a refund would be processed upon request. Invitation We recognise the significance of this announcement and extend an invitation to any student who has questions or requires support, to contact the relevant College Academic Affairs Office. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter, it emphasised. Commenting further, Dr Ameyaw-Buronyah said the decision of the university was to draw the attention of students who were yet to attain the CGPA 1.000 that there was a clause that required them to meet that in the institution. The objective, she said, was to make current students in the institution upscale their academic performance and that the decision by the university was not the first. She advised those in the institution to sit up and take their studies seriously in order to improve upon their academic performance. Dr Ameyaw-Buronyah advised them that the ultimate aim of their stay in school was grade and class, which would carry them further in life and, therefore, they should study hard. 2,000 Families to lose houses - To save Weija Dam Emelia Ennin Abbey Oct - 13 - 2023 , 09:24 More than 2,000 families will be forced to evacuate their houses according to a demolition order issued by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to some residents in Gbawe Gonse in the Weija Gbawe Municipality of the Greater Accra Region. Last Monday, October 9, 2023, a number of houses were marked with red paint inscription which read to be demolished by GWCL and the date October 9, 2023, written below it. The markings were done by some men in civilian clothes suspected to be from the Weija Gbawe Municipal Assembly and the GWCL under the supervision of armed men in military uniforms. Call on government When the Daily Graphic visited the area on Tuesday, October 10, it found that some buildings that were more than 600 metres from the river with others on a nearby hill had been marked for demolition. The marking was done on October 9, 2023, and that was the date they wrote on all the buildings. That has left most of us confused because it doesnt state when the demolition would be done or give us grace period to evacuate our buildings, said Mr Asare who had been living in the community for the past 30 years. Mr Asare, who is also a governments appointeee to the Weija Gbawe Municipal Assembly called on the government to intervene to ensure the demolition was not carried out and lives were protected. We support any initiative to protect the water body but that must not involve the use of the military, said Mr Asare who called for an engagement between the GWCL and the residents to come up with permanent solutions to the issue. One of the affected houses For residents and homeowners in the affected areas, including Agape Down, Agape Royal and Ablekuma Joma, the move to demolish their over 500 houses had left them spending the last two days under the looming fear that their hundreds of millions of Ghana cedis-worth properties were going to be pulled down with no compensation or a resettlement plan. Already, a number of houses had been demolished about a fortnight ago in Joma, a nearby community in the same municipality with no prior notice or compensation for the victims. The demolition in the two communities will be the second in 12 years in the same area by the GWCL following a demolition of more than 500 completed and uncompleted houses in December 2011 which left more than 2,000 people homeless and led to the death of a pregnant woman. During the first demolition exercise, the GWCL cited encroachment of the buffer zone of the Densu River which feeds the Weija Dam, a crucial national asset providing potable water for thousands of residents of the central and western parts of Accra as the reason. However, with the upcoming demolition no reasons have been given while most of the houses that have been marked were far from the buffer zone of the river. Houses marked Many people went into abject poverty after the first demolition of houses in this area, marriages were broken, and many died slowly. How can we as a nation be doing this to our own people? We are not foreigners. We are Ghanaians who have toiled to earn some income to provide shelter for ourselves and our families, a resident whose house had been marked with red paint indicating plans of the GWCL to pull it down, stated. A woman whose one storey building had been marked, Agatha Ofori, said she had been subjected to emotional torture I cannot sleep. It has not been easy for us. She said My husband and I learned after we had built our house and moved in that some houses in this area were demolished some time ago. Looking at the current cost of land and building materials, how can we evacuate our homes now? Where will we go with our children? A retiree, John Kpeglo, who has rebuilt half of his building which was pulled down during the first demolition exercise said: I am afraid. I plead with the government to help us. He said the landlords association was ready to plant trees to demarcate the land and state clearly what the boundaries were. Duriing the visit, it came to light that the distraught residents had just ended a meeting to discuss the way forward. Most of the affected residents, especially the women with their eyes heavy with tears, appealed to the government to come to their aid. They said the assembly had provided GPS addresses to houses in the area and took property rates from them, and the Electricity Company of Ghana had supplied electricity to the area while the community had demarcated electoral areas. No one can say we live here illegally because these things were not done for ghosts, said one resident who pointed to a request notice from the assembly for property rate on one of the houses. They believe the earmarked demolition was being done at the blind side of the court since there was a standing injunction against any demolition in the area. Others wanted to know what will happen to the government agencies such as the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Land Commission, Weija Gbawe Municipal Assembly, Forestry Commission, Ministry of Works and Housing and Ghana Water Company Limited that sat aloof and allowed the people to sell and build on the land after the first demolition exercise more than a decade ago. However, when the Daily Graphic contacted the Head of Communications of the GWCL, Stanley Martey, he said he could not comment on the issue and that the company was not aware of the demolition exercise. Ambassadors donate GH100,000 to Gbewah Palace reconstruction fund Zakaria Alhassan Oct - 13 - 2023 , 09:15 A group of Ghanaian Ambassadors of Dagbon descent, have donated an amount of GH100,000 to the local fundraising committee for the reconstruction of the Gbewah Palace, the seat of the Overlord of Dagbon, in Yendi. They also presented a plaque with the names of members of the group who are serving in various countries around the globe inscribed on it to the Overlord, Ya-Na Abukari II, at his residence in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital. The amount is their contribution towards the construction of the project. Presentation The Consul General at the Ghana Embassy in Nigeria, Hajia Samata Gifty Bukari, made the presentation on behalf of the group last Tuesday. She said after learning about this laudable initiative, my colleagues and I decided to come together to mobilise some funds as a responsibility to support the construction of the new palace befitting the status of Dagbon. Hajia Samata said it was the beginning of more of such support from the group to ensure the project was successfully carried out. She expressed appreciation to Ya-Na Abukari II and other stakeholders who were all working hard to realise the vision of the Overlord. The Chairman of the local fundraising committee, Alhaji Sheriff Mahama, who received the donation, thanked the group for the gesture. He also expressed appreciation to all those who had so far donated to his outfit and pledged that the funds would be used for the intended purpose. For those, who are yet to donate, our doors are always open, the project is a worthy cause and we, therefore, entreat you to also extend a helping hand, Alhaji Sheriff added. Initiative The Ya-Na explained that upon his ascension to the skin, he decided to assemble all the chiefs under his jurisdiction to brief them about the idea of constructing a new palace befitting the kingdom. This was later made known to the entirety of Dagbon who embraced it and a committee was subsequently set up to oversee the realisation of the project. At the moment, work is on course and the chiefs and people are cooperating. I will like to commend all those who have supported us in this endeavour; the journey is still long, but by the grace of God, we shall get there, he said. Child Rights International empowers children in cocoa-growing communities GraphicOnline Oct - 13 - 2023 , 20:23 Child Rights International (CRI), a non-governmental organization dedicated to safeguarding the rights and well-being of children, has launched a series of initiatives to empower children in cocoa-growing communities throughout Ghana. In a press release, CRI said through its Community Remediation and Empowerment Programme (CREP), it has provided educational opportunities and vocational training for children in various cocoa-growing communities. This year, CRI has supported a total of 25 children across three cocoa-growing districts to embark on apprenticeships in vocations such as hairdressing, masonry, plumbing, and sewing. An additional 113 children are set to benefit across five districts. CRI has also provided five nursery schools within the Atwinma Mponua, Ayensuano and West Akim Districts with child-friendly furniture, educational materials, and refurbished classrooms. CRI is also actively involved in the renovation of two kindergarten schools in the Atwinma Mponua and Suhum Districts. Additionally, approximately 4,000 Junior High School (JHS) students across 35 districts within the Ashanti, Eastern, Western-North, Bono, Ahafo, and Western regions will receive textbooks, exercise books, and notebooks. Under the CRI Tony Fofie Child Development Fund (TFDF), a total of 31 students have received scholarships, with 29 of them awarded tertiary scholarships and two given secondary scholarships. In a resolute effort to eliminate child labor, CRI has established partnerships with eight organizations, collectively working across 1,250 cocoa-growing communities. These collaborations equip children with essential technical skills and education, protecting them from engaging in hazardous activities. CRI's School Mobility Project (SMP) has also provided 13 modified tricycles in five cocoa-growing districts to assist school children in rural communities with their daily commute to school. CRI's Executive Director, Mr. Bright Appiah, emphasized the significance of technical education, describing it as the key to empowering young people with practical skills and enabling them to pursue careers aligned with their passions while simultaneously safeguarding them from perilous activities. Hon. Comfort Asante, the Municipal Chief Executive of New Juabeng North, expressed her heartfelt gratitude to CRI and its esteemed partners for their invaluable support. She urged skills tutors to remain steadfastly committed to the education of children, emphasizing that such dedication is a collective endeavour, requiring the unwavering commitment of all parties involved. Child Rights International remains committed and dedicated to improving the lives and well-being of children, particularly in cocoa-growing communities across Ghana. Through its diverse programmes and initiatives aimed at eradicating child labour, CRI strives to ensure a brighter and more promising future for the children in these communities. Read the entire statement below; Commemoration of World Sight Day: Include provision of eyeglasses in health insurance scheme GHS Dickson Worlanyo Dotse & Jemima Okang Addae Oct - 13 - 2023 , 04:00 The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has commemorated this years World Sight Day with a call for the inclusion of reading glasses in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). There are effective eye care interventions ranging from promotion, prevention, treatment to rehabilitation and it is our desire to see the inclusion of spectacles on the NHIS list, at least for children, and some cost-effective interventions such as cataract surgery to restore vision to those who are blind from cataracts, it said. It added that a healthy eye contributed to productivity and economic growth. The Head of the Eye Care Unit of the GHS, Dr Hornametor Afake, also said that the slightest vision impairment can reduce a persons productivity by 10 per cent and accuracy by 22 per cent which could adversely impact the overall economy. He said that eyeglasses were cost-effective correction of refractive error, the leading cause of vision impairment and blindness in the country. Dr Afake was speaking at a press conference held at the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) in Accra yesterday. World Sight Day is observed annually on the second Thursday of October as a global event to draw attention to blindness and vision impairment. This years celebration is on the theme: Love your eyes at work. The focus is on helping people to understand the importance of protecting their vision at the workplace. As part of the activities to mark the day, the GHS, in collaboration with eye care partners, Vision Spring, carried out a free eye screening exercise for workers and employees of the GCGL and other selected institutions across the country. Situation Dr Afake mentioned that globally, at least 2.2 billion people had a near or distance vision impairment with almost half of those cases being preventable or yet to be addressed due to the lack of access. He said that approximately, 230,000 people, about 0.74 per cent of the population in the country were blind. Out of that, 127,000 were as a result of cataract, 44,500 (19.4 per cent) glaucoma, 30,000 (12.9 per cent) posterior segment, and 26,000 (11.2 per cent) cornea opacity. Dr Afake said that although glaucoma was the second major cause of blindness and irreversible blindness in the country, its medication was costly and only few were covered by the NHIS. Advice Dr Afake advised employers to prioritise eye care of their workers because evidence showed a positive correlation between a healthy eye and productivity. Vision impairment poses an enormous global financial burden. Unaddressed poor vision globally results in $411 billion in lost productivity each year, he added. Dr Afake also said that children with vision impairment are up to five times less likely to be in formal education, and they also often achieve poorer outcomes. Farmers The Vice-President of VisionSpring in charge of global programmes, Anne Coolen, said her outfit was also supporting cocoa farmers because they engaged in hand pollination which required clear near vision. She said farmers were very crucial to the national economy and, therefore, including provision of eyeglasses under the NHIS would go a long way to increase productivity. So, this year alone, we are screening 60,000 farmers in the Ashanti Region and make sure they have access to cheap, affordable pair of glasses, Ms Coolen added. ECOWAS needs support to flush out terrorists President Akufo-Addo Daily Graphic Oct - 13 - 2023 , 03:43 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed confidence that terrorists can be chased out of West Africa and the Sahel Region with the right amount of support to ECOWAS. In that regard, he said West African troops could do the job without the involvement of foreign troops, and cited The Accra Initiative as a good example of indigenous self-help. President Akufo-Addo, who was speaking on Democracy and Security in West Africa at the United States Institute of Peaces Programme on Governance and Peace in Washington DC yesterday, called on leaders of the global community to activate the provisions of chapters seven and eight of the UN Charter in order to provide proportionate support to Africas fight against terrorism and violent extremism. ECOWAS states President Akufo-Addo said despite the considerable economic difficulties confronting ECOWAS Member States, the four military-led States, having been suspended, had made clear their willingness to take the fight to the terrorists if they were sufficiently empowered. Comparisons, they say, are odious, but some cannot be ignored. The Russian war on Ukraine has elicited, according to my information, some US$73.6 billion in American support for Ukraine, US$138.8 billion from the European Union (EU) and its institutions, and US$14.5 billion from the United Kingdom (UK), he said. On the other hand, the President said, the security assistance from the US, the EU and the UK to ECOWAS had in the same period amounted to US$29.6 million. Citing rising levels of displacement of populations in many parts of the Sahel as a result of the insecurity engendered by the armed groups, President Akufo-Addo said: Africa had become the centre of attraction for terrorist groups which are multiplying in the region following defeats suffered in other parts of the world. He said the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing countries had unfortunately left many countries and regional bodies, particularly in the Sahel, in very dire economic situations. The situation, he said, had compounded the challenges faced by countries on the continent in the mobilisation of resources to fight terrorists in their backyards. The focus on this and the challenge against democracy across the region is because we have, virtually, run out of time to work together in the spirit of multilateralism. If we do not renew our commitments to build, keep and consolidate peace and democracy all over the world, we would have to brace ourselves to live in a new and more dangerous world today and in the future, President Akufo-Addo emphasised. Terrorists Explaining the emergence of terrorists in West Africa, the President said the terrorists were chased out of the Middle East and Afghanistan before taking refuge in Libya, from where they fled across the Sahara to find refuge in northern Mali after Gaddafis downfall. He said the terrorists had since then spread their pernicious influence eastwards and southwards, with the coastal states of West Africa being their ultimate destination. "The recent demonstrations in Accra by Democracy Hub and other groups revealed that some protesters and individuals purporting to provide private security for dignitaries were seen wearing military pattern camouflage uniforms and other accessories," the statement read. The GAF emphasized that this trend could lead to individuals being wrongly identified as GAF personnel, potentially tarnishing the image of the GAF. "Moreover, these unauthorized acts are in violation of the National Liberation Council Decree (NLCD) 177 of 1967, which is still in effect. This Decree states that 'no person shall wear or use any military uniforms, equipment, or accoutrements or other material unless he or she is a member of the Armed Forces of Ghana,'" the statement revealed. Additionally, the statement highlighted that apart from the illegality of using these uniforms and equipment during protests, individuals with criminal intentions may use them to impersonate and deceive unsuspecting members of the public, facilitating criminal activities. The GAF emphasized that such actions create a sense of insecurity within the country and further damage the reputation of the military. "The GAF will not allow this situation to persist and will henceforth make arrests of culprits who will face the full extent of the law," the statement asserted. The GAF also called for the cooperation of the general public in discouraging the use of military uniforms and accessories, especially during future protests. "Those who continue to violate this law will be apprehended. The GAF reassures the general public of its commitment to safeguarding the citizenry and the territorial integrity of Ghana at all times. It therefore requires the support of all to enforce measures in the interest of the necessary peace and security," it concluded. Ghana committed to strong reforms, growth Daily Graphic Oct - 13 - 2023 , 12:00 The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has reiterated the countrys commitment to strong reforms and growth under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) supported post-COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG). Highlighting the countrys progress under the $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) supported programme, Mr Ofori-Atta thanked the IMF for the strong collaboration and support that has enabled rapid progress at all stages. He said this during a meeting with the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, during the IMF Annual Meetings being held in Marrakech, Morocco from October 9 to 15, this year. Mr Ofori-Atta also called on the IMF and other multilateral organisations to scale up support to nations such as Ghana that had implemented the necessary reforms towards debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability. During the interaction, Ms Georgieva congratulated Ghana on the progress made towards reforms, and the achievement of a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) for the first programme review on October 6, 2023. Commendation She also commended the Government of Ghana for its perseverance and commitment and urged the country to stay the course. It is expected that the IMF Board will vote next month to approve Ghanas SLA for the first review. This would pave the way for the release of the second tranche of $600 million bailout funds. Opportunity Speaking later to the Daily Graphic from Marrakech, Mr Ofori-Atta described the Annual Meetings as an opportunity for a new beginning for the global financial architecture. He said, We have held very productive meetings with the IMF, World Bank, DFC, Open Society and the Commonwealth Group of Finance Ministers. The consensus is clear: Ghana is firmly on the path to economic recovery and there is great support to ensure that we succeed as a nation. However, beyond that, she added: we are calling for a re-engineering of the global financial architecture to ensure that no nation gets left behind, and that there is greater representation and broad-based prosperity. In his remarks at a Roundtable hosted by US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, on IMF Policy Priorities, Mr Ofori-Atta lauded the transformative leadership of Georgieva, which had led to the achievement of truly momentous things. He, however, charged the IMF to strengthen the global financial safety net through bold reforms in the global financial architecture. Mr Ofori-Atta said there was the need to stretch the IMF to do more and that the need is great. And at these Annual Meetings, the developing world is asking the international community to do all it can to advance a reform agenda that ensures institutions like the IMF have the requisite mandates, financing and governance models to deliver transformative impact. Advocate Mr Ofori-Atta further advocated an IMF that was able to provide sufficient resources at scale to strengthen the global financial safety net. The Finance Minister called for reform of the available tools and lending instruments of the Fund to deal with global exogenous shocks. On governance, Mr Ofori-Atta pushed for broad-based prosperity anchored on bold changes to the global financial architecture, including increasing Sub-Saharan African representation on the IMF Executive Board, through the creation of a third African seat on the board. Poverty reduction At a separate event on the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), the Minister of Finance acknowledged the important role of concessional funding to low-income countries through the PRGT. He went on to advocate a more permanent way of funding the PRGT, given recent global events that have buffeted many economies. On the sides of the Annual Meetings, the Ghanaian delegation has so far participated in various high-level roundtables and held discussions with World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga; World Bank Managing Director for Operations, Anna Bjerde; US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) CEO, Scott Nathan; European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President, Odile Renaud-Bass; Vice President of Japan International Cooperation (JICA), Naoki Ando; and Deputy Prime Minister of Korea, Choo Kyung-ho. The bilateral meetings have focused on Ghanas recovery and progress under the IMF supported programme, with projections for macroeconomic stability and opportunities for growth, investment, capacity-building and knowledge sharing. Historic Africa has taken the spotlight at this years Annual Meetings, with a strong focus on the need to create buffers and pursue growth opportunities in the short, medium and long term. The first and only Annual Meetings held on the continent prior to 2023, were held in Kenya, fifty years ago, in 1973. The historic Marrakech gathering thus marks the second time that Africa has hosted the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings. When asked about his first experience of IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings on the African continent, Mr Ofori-Atta commended the Moroccan authorities for a smooth and well-organised event. We are proud of what Morocco has achieved in spite of the loss and devastation caused by the recent earthquake. We extend our deepest sympathies to the people of Morocco and commend them highly for their resilience which has culminated in a seamless event, made memorable by the exceptional Moroccan hospitality, he said. GOIL wins big at three awards - CEO, company recognised Daily Graphic Oct - 13 - 2023 , 06:37 GOIL PLC has won the 2022 CIMG Petroleum Company of the Year and honoured with the retention of the CIMG Hall of Fame for the fourth successive year. GOIL has also been decorated with the Iconic Ghana Oil Marketing Company of the Decade award at the Made in Ghana Awards, both held in Accra. The CIMG awards, particularly, recognised GOIL for marketing excellence, business leadership and overall growth, and commended the company for constantly providing quality products and catering for the growing demands of the energy sector in an ethical, safe and environmentally friendly manner. At the Made in Ghana Awards, GOIL was acknowledged as being an outstanding Ghanaian owned oil marketing company, contributing immensely to the country through its vast business expansion facilitating economic growth. In a related development, the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director, Kwame Osei Prempeh, was recognised as CEO of the Year (Energy) at the Ghana CEO Awards at an impressive ceremony attended by the Vice-President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia. Mr Osei Prempehs leadership efforts were recognised in the energy sector for relentlessly working hard in bringing great ideas into fruition and championing the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country. "Greedy" Ato Essien deserves to be in jail for 15 years - Judge Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Oct - 13 - 2023 , 08:11 The founder of the defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour by the Accra High Court for stealing over GH90 million of the banks money. Essien, thus, becomes the first banking executive to serve a jail term following the massive banking sector clean-up in 2017 that led to the collapse of seven indigenous banks, including Capital Bank. Clad in a brown kaftan, and wearing a nose mask, Essien stood, looked at the judge in a solemn manner as his marching orders to prison were read to him on Thursday (Oct 12, 2023). Sheer greed In a ruling, the court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, held that Essien exploited Capital Bank to his advantage and dissipated the funds of the bank without taking into consideration the depositors of the bank. The convict demonstrated sheer greed in his desire to own another bank besides Capital Bank Ltd and left no stone unturned through subterfuge and deceit with pure criminal intent to set up Sovereign Bank Ltd. Being in a position of trust, he was expected to have demonstrated a sense of responsibility and true fidelity. He had no cause, whatsoever, to steal such gargantuan sums of money, the presiding judge held. Justice Kyei Baffour, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, said he also decided to impose the sentence on Essien due to the hardship people encountered during the collapse of Capital Bank, a situation which continued to leave many people in destitute and suffering. I cannot fail to take into account the trail of pain and tears that had been occasioned by the criminal conduct of the convict (Essien). Countless number of innocent citizens lost their jobs and are still job hunting. The nation had to spend huge sums of money to bail the creditors and depositors, Justice Kyei Baffour ruled. On December 13, 2022, Essien pleaded guilty to 16 counts of stealing and money laundering when he admitted to dissipating over GH90 million of liquidity support extended to Capital Bank by the Bank of Ghana (BoG). He was accordingly convicted by the court, but avoided a custodial sentence when he reached an agreement with the Attorney-General (A-G) to repay the GH90 million to the state as reparation and restitution. The agreement was pursuant to Section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), which allows accused persons standing trial for causing economic loss to the state to admit the offence and pay the money to possibly avoid prison. Essien paid GH30 million in December last year, and per the agreement as adopted by the court was supposed to pay the remaining GH60 million in three GH20 million, installments, with the first payment on or before April 28, 2023; second payment on or before August 31, 2023, and the last tranche on or before December 15, 2023. Justice Kyei Baffour, after giving the green light for the agreement to be effective, ruled that Essien risked going to jail if he failed to abide by the terms as stipulated by Section 35 of Act 459. It can therefore be said that Essien sent himself to prison when he failed to meet the deadlines to pay the money per the agreed terms, forcing the A-G to file an application under the same Section 35 of Act 459 for the court to impose the custodial sentence on him. As of Thursday (Oct 12, 2023) when he was jailed, Essien had paid only GH7 million out of a possible GH40 million, missing the instalment payments for April 28 and August 31 this year per the agreement. In total, Essien had paid GH37 million of GH90 million, with an amount of GH53 million remaining to be paid. Custodial sentence Making a case for imposition of custodial sentence, a Senior State Attorney, Joshua Sackey, argued that in spite of several opportunities granted Essien by the court to pay the money, he had failed to abide by the terms of the agreement. The court should, therefore, pass custodial sentence on the convict (Essien) since his conduct is a clear violation of Section 35(7) of Act 459, the Senior State Attorney submitted. In response, counsel for Essien, Baffour Gyaewu Ashie, opposed the application, with a case that his client had demonstrated clear intention to pay the money. According to counsel, it was based on Essiens willingness to pay the money that was why he immediately paid GH30 million in December last year. Counsel further added that Essien was making all efforts to pay the money but circumstances beyond his control had made it extremely difficult for him to pay. He said the convict had initiated steps to sell a water treatment plant at Prampram valued at $10 million, only to later realise that a different entity had won a judgment debt in relation to that property. The convict is not working, his passport had been seized, making it very difficult for him to raise the money in and outside Ghana, counsel added. He pleaded with the court to give his client up to six months to raise the money and pay the outstanding amount. Ample time Ruling on the A-Gs application to impose custodial sentence on the convict, Justice Kyei Baffour held that Essien had been given enough grace period to meet his obligations, but he had squandered the opportunity, citing numerous excuses. For instance, the court said after he failed to meet the April 28 deadline and the A-G filed the application to impose custodial sentence in May, this year, the court accepted a plea by Essien to be allowed to sell some properties, including the one at Prampram, to offset the debt. Justice Kyei Baffour held that evidence on record showed that Essien knew that the property at Prampram was a subject of litigation, yet he went ahead and told the court that he was trying to sell it to meet his obligation. It was the view of the court that Essien was not ready to pay the money and, therefore, it was imperative for him to serve the jail term as stipulated by Section 35 of Act 459. The ample time afforded the convict (Essien) has only showed that he is not in any position to pay the monies. In fact, the court in its unusual overindulgence of the Convict/Respondent failed to sit on the 27th of July, 2023 hoping that the two months vacation that followed being August and September, the convict , if he had the means to pay the monies, would have received monies to pay the Republic, Justice Kyei Baffour added. Sentence After granting the A-Gs application for a custodial sentence and listening to a plea of mitigation from Essiens lawyer, Justice Kyei Baffour imposed various jail terms on the 16 counts of stealing, conspiracy to steal and money laundering which Essien pleaded guilty to. The highest jail term was 15 years with the lowest being a year. The court held that Essien will serve all the sentences concurrently, meaning as he served the highest term of 15 years, he will also be serving the other jail terms. However, Justice Kyei Baffour said Essien would be able to regain his freedom if he paid the GH53 million outstanding amount. HACSA launches Tech-for-Girls training initiative Dickson Worlanyo Dotse Oct - 13 - 2023 , 08:15 An innovative training initiative aimed at equipping hundreds of girls with information and communication technology (ICT) skills for career development,Tech-for-Girls, has been launched. It was launched by the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa (HACSA) Foundation in partnership with The African Freelancers (TAF) College. Under the sponsored training initiative, which forms part of HACSAs Lifeline for Africa programme, participating girls and young women from across the country would be offered digital literacy and analytical skills in various ICT fields, in addition to entrepreneurial and management skills including communication, customer service and business management. Project The project is starting with the first batch of 20 students who will undergo 12 weeks of training at TAF College, after which they will be engaged in mentorship and internship activities. The launch of the Tech for Girls initiative follows the successful implementation of HACSAs Girls Can Code project that trained dozens of girls in computer coding. It also follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding last July between HACSA and TAF College, in which HACSA is supporting the training of 100 students in various creative and innovative fields under HACSAs Lifeline for Africa Programme, as well as the provision of GH100,000 to TAF College to facilitate the training activities. Launch Launching the project, a renowned Ghana-born British actress, Adjoa Andoh, commended HACSA Foundation and the TAF College for the creation of the Tech for Girls concept, indicating that it would help in preparing girls, particularly underprivileged ones, for the future. This will surely enable girls and young women to overcome obstacles and flow in their career paths, leveraging technology. Tech is the future, and we need to grab all the tech that is around us for self and societal development, she said. She encouraged the beneficiaries to effectively utilise the opportunity to develop themselves in a way that they can serve as role models for their peers and younger ones. The President of HACSA Foundation, Johanna Svanikier, explained that the initiative was designed to create opportunities for African girls and women to immerse themselves in technology and acquire the skills to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in addition to soft skills like leadership, entrepreneurship and emotional intelligence. Mrs Svanikier, who is a former Ghana Ambassador to France, noted that because all jobs, soon, would have ICT components, it was critical for the youth, especially girls, to secure and use ICT skills to build their careers. Gender parity This initiative represents a significant step towards gender parity in tech industries and creates opportunities for women and girls to excel in this vital field, she stated. HACSA, she said, was fully funding the training of the beneficiaries through financial contributions from members and patrons of the HACSA Sankofa network and other philanthropists, adding that the training for each beneficiary is costing GH10,000. She, therefore, called for support from institutions and individuals to enable the project to enrol and assist more girls. The Founder of TAF College, Rev. Johnnie Oquaye, indicated that the project was not just an ICT training initiative but symbolises the fostering of creativity in digital literacy. Citing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Five, which aims at achieving gender equality and empowerment for all women and girls, Rev. Oquaye noted that the initiative would go a long way in contributing to the attainment of SDG five in Ghana. This initiative is in line with the aspirations of millions of African girls who desire to develop and nurture skills in ICT for their careers, he stressed. He thanked HACSA Foundation for its immense support to the growth of TAF College and gave the assurance of the commitment of the management of the college in ensuring the success of the initiative. Inter ministerial committee formed to address Volta Dam spillage induced flooding Elizabeth Konadu-Boakye Oct - 13 - 2023 , 17:52 The government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to help address havoc caused downstream by the Akosombo Dam spillage. Tracts of land and communities downstream the Akosombo and Kpong dams have been flooded. This follows the second-stage spillage of the two dams used to generate about a third of Ghanas electricity supply. The Volta River Authority (VRA) started the controlled spillage at the Akosombo and Kpong dams, both in the Eastern Region, from September 15, 2023 following excess water in both reservoirs due to appreciable levels of rainfall. The spillage has affected almost all the communities along the lower Volta Basin, resulting in widespread power cuts in the affected communities. The GRIDCo sub-station in Fievie, Sogakope, in the Volta Region, has been inundated with floods, leading to the shutting down of the station. Committee The committee headed by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare would coordinate government's response to the spillage. The other committee members include ministers from National Security, Interior, Defence, Energy, Finance, Local Government, Works and Housing, Roads and Highways, Environment, Sanitation, Lands and Natural Resources and Information. Water level The maximum level of water in the Akosombo Dam should be 276 feet. As of Thursday (Oct 12), the water level in the dam was 276.92 feet or 84.405 metres. Before the spillage, the level was 272.50 feet or 83.058 metres. The spillage has affected almost all the communities along the lower Volta Basin, resulting in widespread power cuts in the affected communities. The VRA, has so far presented some relief items to people affected by the floods, while positioning officers in communities to always monitor and assess the situation for remedy since the start of the operation. The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) is also said to be assessing the damage for the necessary intervention. Partner researchers to help guide policies - Prof. Akpalu urges state institutions Zadok Kwame Gyesi Oct - 13 - 2023 , 11:44 The Director of the Environment for Development initiative (EfD) Ghana, Professor Wisdom Akpalu, has called on state institutions and agencies to partner with researchers and research institutions to help guide policy decisions. He explained that research guided policies would help the various public agencies, including the private sector to implement workable initiatives that would help to advance the development and growth of the various sectors of the economy. For him, research was extremely important in the development of any nation and that Ghana could not be an exception, saying If you dont know where you are going, how do you get there? Prof. Akpalu was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the 17th annual conference of the EfD in Ghana, which was held from October 5-9, 2023 in Accra, to discuss environment and development issues. The conference, which was on the theme: Sustainable Fisheries Management in Ghana: Prospects and Challenges", brought together about 200 international researchers, particularly those in the global south. The annual conference was preceded by a Policy Day on October 4, which gathered members of the EfD network and key fisheries sector stakeholders in Ghana to foster research-led discussions and connections that would make vital contributions to Ghanas efforts to achieve a resilient and sustainable fisheries sector. EfD-Ghana EfD Ghana was established in 2019 and is one of EfDs 13 international centers promoting the sustainable management of natural resources through policy-relevant research, policy engagement, and capacity development. It is hosted at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana (UG), and the School of Research and Graduate Studies (SRGS) at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Prof. Akpalu, who is also the Dean of the School of Research and Graduate Studies of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), said the EfD over the years had conducted a number of impactful researches within the field of environment that had contributed in diverse ways to the development of the Ghanaian economy, particularly the fisheries sector. We do a lot of policy focused research, research that can influence the way policy is made as well as building the research capacities of junior researchers, he noted. He particularly commended the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) for their close collaborations over the years, saying from mine experience, I will say that the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture has been remarkable in embracing the work we do. He explained that there was the need for public institutions to partner academia, particularly researchers or research institutions in order to enable them make well informed policies. Global South issues On his part, the Global Director of EfD, Prof. Gunnar Kohlin, described the conference as the biggest conference of researchers on environment in the Global South. He said the conference was held in Ghana to feature Ghana as the new centre among the network and also to strengthen collaborations with its members. For him, the conference would enable new members to meet and network with seasoned researcher from across the globe. Prof. Kohlin commended the Ghanaian team for their successes and influence on public policies, particularly in the areas of fisheries. He further commended the Ghanaian team for their close collaborations with the media to communicate their research findings to the larger Ghanaian society. He said members of the EfD networks across the globe were contributing greatly to the sustainable use of natural resources. Prof. Kohlin also explained that the network had offered opportunities to countries to learn from each other, particularly those having similar challenges in terms of natural resource use. The Chief Economist and Vice President of the African Development Bank, Prof. Kevin Chika Urama, called on African experts, policy makers, academia, civil society to come together with global experts in order to understand the global and continental and reginal imperatives in green transitions. He therefore urged the participants of the conference to use their experiences and skills to help countries in creating practical and implementable policies, as well as building the capacities of institutions to be able to support the green transitions and inclusive growth globally. Refrain from using AI sermons Bishop Daily Graphic Oct - 13 - 2023 , 08:22 Ministers of the gospel, especially those of the Methodist Church, Ghana, have been cautioned to desist from the wholesale adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) sermons to preach to their congregations. The Bishop of the Northern Accra Diocese (NAD) of the Methodist Church Ghana, Rt Rev. Prof. Joseph M.Y. Edusa-Eyison, who gave the caution, said it was unethical and unchristian for Ministers of the gospel to adopt AI sermons to preach. He, therefore, cautioned reverend ministers who were culpable to desist from such practice. Sermon He said a sermon must be truth preached through a personality with originality and independence of thought, affirming the fact that the best theologian was the one who combined the mind and heart with rationality and emotions in preaching and in general life. According to the Bishop, God created man in his own image, breathed life into man to make him a human being and commanded him to have dominion over all that was in the universe and that there was no room for machines to take over the control of the world over man. Bishop Edusa-Eyison, an accomplished and renowned Church Historian and Liturgist, made the remarks at the first lecture to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Northern Accra Diocese (NAD) of the Methodist Church Ghana which was carved out of the Accra Diocese in December 2018. Lecture The lecture, which was on the theme; Artificial Intelligence in Global Understanding of Christianity was delivered by the Superintendent Minister of the Accra North Circuit of the Methodist Church Ghana, Very Rev. Emmanuel Aryee. It was held at the Kwesi-Dickson Memorial (KDM) Methodist Church, Adjiringanor, in the Airport East Circuit, Accra. Very Rev. Aryee said in spite of the huge advantages of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for mankind, it also had its downside which could be of negative consequences if not properly handled as it was estimated that by the year 2050, AI would have advanced to the stage where it could out do man in service delivery and several aspects of life. He said with the advent of aeroplanes without pilots, cars without drivers, drones and robotic ingenuity all over the place, including technological advances in health care, man must begin to be aware and prepared for all eventualities. Very Rev. Aryee was of the view however that, in all those developments, man would be in control as machines or AI for now had no emotions and human feelings which were critical in the life and nature of humans. The Chairman for the lecture, Very Rev. Dr Abedu Quarshie, Lecturer at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Accra, advised reverend ministers and other public speakers to be always conscious of the reality that technology had developed in such a way that whatever you say gets to the entire world immediately. He expressed appreciation to the Northern Accra Diocesan authorities, the Anniversary Planning Committee and Very Rev. Emmanuel Aryee for the programme which he described as very educative and insightful. SOEs must adhere to highest corporate governance standards Joshua Bediako Koomson Oct - 13 - 2023 , 12:55 State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) have been advised to adhere to the highest standards of corporate governance by operating efficiently and continually striving for improvement. This is because corporate governance is not a mere obligation but a strategic asset, thus, SOEs should ensure transparency, accountability and fairness in management and decision-making. Additionally, that would help instil investor and public confidence, attract investment and ensure that the whole nation benefited. The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, who gave the advice, was speaking at the second edition of the Public Enterprises League Table (PELT) Awards which was held in Accra yesterday. Event The awards was organised by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), in collaboration with the Public Enterprises Secretariat (PES) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF). Held on the theme: "Developing the Economic Superhighway through Enhanced Corporate Governance of Specified Entities, the awards ceremony recognised the most outstanding specified entities based on the evaluation of the Annual Performance Contract they signed with the government. Awardees The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) took home the ultimate award as the Entity of the Year It also won the SOE of the Year and Most Innovative SOE of the Year. Other awardees were the Civil Aviation Authority (SOE of the Year), the Ghana Metrological Agency (Most Efficient SOE of the Year); the Ghana Airports Company Ltd (Most Profitable SOE of the Year) and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (Most Compliant SOE of the Year). The rest are the Northern Electricity Development Company Ltd (Best SOE in Dynamic Effect); the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (Most Compliant SOE) and the Gaming Commission of Ghana (Most Financially Sustainable SOE). Financial Regulation Mr Dame further urged the entities to recognise the importance of working within the confines of the Public Financial Management Regulation 2019 (L.I. 2378) which brings clarity to processes and functions outlined in the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921). He said those laws set a high standard for accountability and performance measurement in the public sector. Also, he explained that they provided a framework that ensured prudent financial management, transparency and the efficient use of public resources. Therefore, it is imperative for Specified Entities to operate within the confines of the laws to be able to demonstrate good corporate governance culture. Godfred Yeboah Dame, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, addressing the ceremony The boards of specified entities bear the responsibility of ensuring that the mandates of their entities are fulfilled. By so doing, there is assurance that as fiduciaries, the interest of their principals, which are the people of Ghana, are held and promoted, Mr Dame stressed. Collaboration with SIGA The Attorney-General also emphasised his resolve to work closely with the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) to fulfil its vital mandate since the latter played a crucial role in overseeing and coordinating the government's interests in SOEs. Through the collaboration with SIGA, he said they would create an environment where Specified Entities could thrive, make substantial contributions to the economy and uphold the principles of good corporate governance. He further gave an assurance that his ministry would continue to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework governing those entities to ensure that they operated with integrity, transparency and accountability. Improved performance of SOEs The Director-General of SIGA, Edward Boateng, said since the launch of the awards last year, a notable transformation had occurred in the discourse surrounding state entities. He said the discussions were rapidly shifting from concerns about non-performance to accounts of improved performance and efficiency. He said the shift was not merely anecdotal but was substantiated by empirical evidence, indicating that there was a substantial rise in average scores between the 2020 and 2021 Performance Contract evaluations. Mr Boateng said on the 5-point scoring system used to gauge the performance of SOEs, 64 enterprises achieved an overall average performance index score of 2.737 during the 2021 Performance Contract Evaluation. Although the performance is still below average on the 5-point scoring scale, he said it represented a marginal improvement of some 6.65 per cent compared to the preceding fiscal year's average score of 2.566, involving 50 SOEs. Soldier under investigation for fraud found dead in guard room Enoch Darfah Frimpong Oct - 13 - 2023 , 18:42 A soldier, who was under investigations for several cases of fraud, and had been arrested and placed in close custody in a guard room has been found hanging in a suspected suicide incident. The soldier from the 48 Engineer Regiment was arrested on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at about 7:30 pm on a report to the Regiment for defrauding a defence civilian staff. The Ghana Armed Forces in a press statement named the deceased as Lance Corporal Sapak Dickson. His lifeless body was found in the unit's guard room on Friday morning, October 13, 2023 at 5:30 am. The statement was signed and issued on Friday [Oct 13, 2023] by Brigadier General E. Aggrey-Quashie, the Director General of Public Relations at the Ghana Armed Forces. "Preliminary investigative report indicates that the soldier who was under investigations for several cases of fraud, was placed in close custody on Wednesday 11 October 2023 at about 1930 hours on a report to the Regiment for defrauding a Defence Civilian Staff," the press statement said. "A team from the Ghana Military Police and a CID personnel from Teshie Divisional Police Headquarters were dispatched to the scene for investigations," it added. The body of the deceased soldier has since been conveyed to the 37 Military Hospital mortuary. "GAF takes this opportunity to express its deepest condolences to the bereaved family, colleagues, friends and loved ones of the deceased soldier" the statement signed and issued by Brigadier General E. Aggrey Quashie, the Director General of Public Relations at the Ghana Armed Forces said. Writer's email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow @enochfrimpong Follow @Graphicgh Speaker, MPs mourn with Kufuor Daniel Kenu Oct - 13 - 2023 , 06:54 The funeral of former First Lady Theresa Kufuor should focus on celebrating her life for Ghanaians to know her value to the nation. That will be a befitting memorial for the late Mrs Kufuor who did a lot for Ghana but because of her quiet nature and character her deeds were not celebrated publicly. The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, shared his opinion when he led a team of Members of Parliament (MPs) and parliamentary staff to commiserate with former President John Agyekum Kufuor at his residence at Peduase in the Eastern Region. He said while it was natural for Ghanaians to be saddened by her death, it was inevitable and not shocking, given that she had been very ill for a long time. "To some of us, her death was not shocking because we had information long ago of her illness," the Speaker said. Funeral rites Mrs Kufuor died at age 87 on Sunday, October 1, 2023. Last Wednesday, the family organised the one week observance of her passing with a Requiem Mass and family gathering at Kufuors Peduase residence. A burial service has been scheduled to take place at the forecourt of the State House on November 16, 2023, and the body will be subsequently conveyed to Kumasi for the burial and final funeral rites on November 18. Assurance Mr Bagbin assured President Kufuor of his support as well as that of Parliament as he mourned his late wife. "I assure you of my support through this period for a successful funeral to the glory of God and humanity. "Be assured that Parliament is with you on this matter. Parliament will be part of the activities of the funeral throughout. "You are not alone. Her transition will be glorious," the Speaker told Mr Kufuor. Memories Mr Kufuor recalled some of the memorable periods in his 62 years of marriage to the late wife. He said she was a devoted Catholic who did a lot behind the scenes. "She built three schools, including one in Kumasi, and when I told her she needed to let the public know her good deeds to society, she refused. "That's the kind of personality she was," he said. Former President Kufuor expressed appreciation for the sympathy from the Speaker and his delegation, intimating: "I'm happy I have got people like you to share in my pain." Watch: Prez Akufo-Addo's conversation at the United States Institute of Peace GraphicOnline Oct - 12 - 2023 , 12:38 The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, left the country on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at the invitation of the President of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) to deliver a keynote address at the headquarters of the Institute in Washington D.C. today (Thursday, 12th October 2023). As West Africa and the Sahel face a wave of extraconstitutional movements and growing political instability, the United States and its partners are seeking ways to best support Ghana, seen as one of the United States most enduring democratic partners in West Africa, and other longstanding democracies in the region, to promote and sustain democracy as a governance model. The discussion with President Akufo-Addo will also examine Ghana's critical role as a regional leader in promoting peace, stability and sustainable development, with the President also set to meet with other US officials whilst in Washington D.C. He was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchway and officials from the Presidency and Foreign Ministry. President Akufo-Addo will return to Ghana on Sunday, October 15, 2023, and, in his absence, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60 (8) of the Constitution, act in his stead. Watch the live stream below; Absorb cost of dialysis - Hassan Ayariga urges govt Daily Graphic Politics Oct - 13 - 2023 , 01:54 The All People's Congress (APC) has called on the government to absorb the cost of dialysis and childbirth delivery in the country. The APC leader has also urged the government to scrap all taxes on medical consumables for dialysis. In a statement signed by its founder and leader, Hassan Ayariga, it described a 100 per cent increment of the high cost of dialysis in Ghana as sad and worrying. A whopping 100 per cent increment is a big problem for Ghanaians living with kidney disease. We cannot allow our citizens to face these challenges when the Government can absorb the cost of dialysis, it said. Taxes It questioned why the government was taxing consumables for dialysis and giving free taxes to foreign-owned businesses to the detriment of our fellow Ghanaians. Many foreign businesses in Ghana are exempted from paying taxes on imported goods and services, while our own government agencies and institutions are made to pay huge taxes for the same goods and services. Why? it queried. The statement indicated that the lives of Ghanaians must be protected by all means necessary, stressing that a healthy society is a healthy nation. Centres It also urged the government to build dialysis centres in all the regions of Ghana and also consider manufacturing and producing some medical consumables in Ghana to help reduce the cost of treatment. It further called for the scrapping of all taxes on medication for non-communicable diseases to reduce the cost of drugs and treatment of those diseases. The statement also called for the restructuring and resourcing of the National Health Insurance Scheme to absorb certain communicable diseases and urged the government to build a good health infrastructure to facilitate the transplant of organs. Mahama supports CHASS call for SHS Food procurement policy change Kweku Zurek Politics Oct - 13 - 2023 , 07:26 Former President John Dramani Mahama has expressed support for the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in their plea for Senior High Schools (SHS) to have the authority to directly purchase food items for their students. Mahama affirmed that this proposal echoes sentiments he conveyed in 2020. Currently, the government, facilitated by the National Food Buffer Stock Company, supplies food provisions to senior high schools across the nation. However, this system has faced criticism as schools have consistently reported issues with food shortages. In November 2020, Mr. Mahama pledged that, under the free SHS policy, it would be the responsibility of school managements, in the next NDC government, to oversee the feeding of students. During a rally in Navrongo, Upper East Region, he declared that grants for procuring food items would be allocated to school heads to fulfill this obligation. Taking to Facebook on Thursday, Mr. Mahama posted, I agree with the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) that Senior High School management should be allowed to procure food items for their students. This change in policy aligns with my stance, which I announced in Navrongo in November 2020. In his post, Mahama underscored the importance of this shift, asserting that it would "eliminate the unnecessary hindrances that hamper the feeding of SHS students in Ghana." NPP National Chairman renders apology to UTV management Daily Graphic Politics Oct - 13 - 2023 , 03:16 The National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Stephen Ntim, has rendered an unqualified apology to the management of United Television (UTV) after some irate youth of the party unlawfully invaded the studios of the station last Saturday evening. Chairman Ntim, who was not happy with the conduct of the NPP youth, walked into the studios of Peace FM and publicly condemned their action. In rendering the apology, he assured that the party leadership will ensure that such reprehensible action is not repeated. Apology On behalf of the party, Im rendering an unqualified apology to the management of Despite media, to you Kwami Sefa Kayi and all Ghanaians for what happened. The NPP tradition does not countenance such misbehaviour as we are noted to be disciplined people. I want to assure you that going forward, the party leadership will ensure that no such reprehensible act is repeated. We will be guided by discipline in our actions, you can count on us, Chairman Ntim stated. He added, You know me, theres been several incidents where I have been provoked but I never reacted and always maintained my cool and this is the sort of quality I want transcended to party members from the national to polling station levels. I want everyone to have self-control in our political discourse. Internally, we will put measures in place to ensure that this sort of behaviour does not re-occur. This assurance goes to all media houses across the country. Background On the evening of Saturday, October 7, 2023 during the live broadcast of United Showbiz, a group of NPP members invaded the UTV studios. The group was upset that KwameAsare Oben, a.k.a A Plus tore into pieces a letter from the NPP leadership to the management of UTV requesting a reform of United Showbiz. Software The Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro ship with Android 14 out of the box with Google's exclusive suite of software features that it reserves for the Pixel devices. The focus this year is unsurprisingly on AI, with most apps getting at least some level of AI enhancement. Google Photos gets most of the new AI-assisted trickery. The new Audio Magic Eraser feature can automatically remove background noise from your videos while maintaining focus on the subject. That... sounds pretty cool. But then there is the new Magic Editor, which not only lets you remove background distractions but also move entire subjects around the frame, swap backgrounds, and change the lighting. The final result can look essentially nothing like the original picture, should you so wish. The Best Take feature goes even further. Take a burst of a group of people and should you not like someone's expression, you can swap their entire face or head with one of your liking. Reality can literally be whatever you want. We could sit here and argue all day about what even is the point of taking candid photos in the moment or visiting specific places at a specific time anymore if you can just change them to whatever you want later with AI-generated versions but perhaps that's a discussion for another day. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinions about this and the features are, after all, optional. It's worth noting that features like Magic Editor first require you to back up the image to the Google Photos cloud before they work. Also, the new Magic Eraser feature works better on larger distractions and more complex structures but only on the Pixel 8 Pro. Google also announced two more features for the Pixel 8 series that will be arriving later. One is Video Boost, which uploads your videos to the cloud and processes them further for even greater dynamic range and detail. We can't test this now but the company did compare it against the video from the iPhone 15 Pro Max during the keynote, where the Pixel 8 Pro Video Boost video looked a lot better. Then again, it's hardly fair to compare a locally processed video against one cooked overnight on the cloud and not really the slam dunk Google thinks it is. The other feature is Assistant with Bard. This is simply Google integrating its AI chatbot with Assistant that works in a way where it can combine data from multiple Google apps on the device to provide relevant results for your queries. This is also something that we cannot test for now. What we did test is the new temperature sensor and the Temperature app on the Pixel 8 Pro. It lets you pick from a variety of surface types and then point the sensor on the back towards it. The phone needs to be fairly close to the subject to take a reading and for now, does not work with humans or animals as it is awaiting approval. We can't quite vouch for its accuracy but it was fun to check the temperature for things around the house. However, without skin temperature check, the app would quickly become a gimmick, so hopefully, it arrives sooner rather than later in a future update. Temperature app Google has also managed to come up with a secure new face unlock feature that works with just the front camera. It allows you to access apps locked behind your phone's device lock to be unlocked with just your face, similar to the iPhone or the Pixel 4. You can still use the fingerprint sensor but if you also add your face data then instead of asking for your fingerprint the phone will just scan your face and unlock the app. We tried this with password manager apps and it worked perfectly. The apps themselves don't need to change and aren't even aware of the new face unlock feature; the device handles everything automatically. The rest of the software experience is pretty much carried over from the previous Pixel phones. The default Android UI design hasn't changed much recently and it feels like deja vu every time you pick up a new Pixel phone, something iPhone users are already familiar with. If you upgrade to this from a Pixel 5 or 6, you will feel right at home but also maybe a bit disappointed that things are mostly the same. Android 14 UI Google is also lagging behind other Android manufacturers in terms of customizability. Take the launcher for example, which is still very basic. You don't even get the option to move or uninstall multiple apps at once, something even iOS has. Google is also very stuck in its ways of adopting new features and technologies that others have, so things like Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and Bluetooth LHDC are all absent here even though they are quite common on other phones. But few things compare to how annoying it is to update the software on Pixel phones. Most other Android phones will wrap things up within ten minutes or so but not the Pixels. Every single software update, even minor ones, can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to install. For most users, this isn't an issue as it's just something that happens in the background but if you care enough about your updates to manually install them, you are going to waste countless hours over the course of owning these devices. Speaking of updates, Google has promised a rather ambitious seven years of update cycle for the Pixel 8 series. We have no real reason to doubt the company as so far it has kept up with its promised updates for previous Pixel devices. However, seven years is a long time and one has to wonder what the state of the hardware will be in 2030 when the phones get their final update. Will the phones even be usable then remains to be seen and that concerns us more than whether or not Google will follow through with its promise. Performance The Pixel 8 devices run on the new Google Tensor G3 chip, which is based on Samsung's 4nm manufacturing process. It features a nona-core design with 1x 3.0GHz Cortex-X3, 4x 2.45GHz Cortex-A715, and 4x 2.15GHz Cortex-A510. The GPU is an Immortalis-G715 MP10. The Pixel 8 comes with 8GB of LPDDR5X memory and the Pixel 8 Pro comes with 12GB of LPDDR5X, with no further variants. For storage, you get a choice of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1 TB UFS 3.1 on the Pixel 8 Pro and only 128GB and 256GB on the Pixel 8. However, the storage options depend on the region; in India, for example, both phones only come in 128GB configuration, which is laughably small by today's standards, especially on the flagship Pixel 8 Pro. GeekBench 6 Multi-core Single-core iPhone 15 Pro Max 7237 Apple A17 Pro 256GB, 8GB RAM iPhone 15 Pro 7172 Apple A17 Pro 256GB, 8GB RAM Galaxy S23 5327 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 256GB, 8GB RAM Galaxy S23+ 5261 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 512GB, 8GB RAM Galaxy S23 Ultra 5077 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 512GB, 12GB RAM OnePlus 11 5043 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 8GB RAM Pixel 8 Pro 4492 Google Tensor G3 128GB, 12GB RAM Pixel 8 4404 Google Tensor G3 128GB, 8GB RAM Nothing Phone (2) 4219 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 256GB, 12GB RAM Xiaomi 13T 3841 Dimensity 8200 Ultra 256GB, 8GB RAM Pixel 7a 3631 Google Tensor G2 128GB, 8GB RAM Google Pixel 7 Pro 3589 Google Tensor G2 128GB, 8GB RAM Xiaomi 13T Pro 3528 Dimensity 9200+ 512GB, 12GB RAM iPhone 15 Pro Max 2926 Apple A17 Pro 256GB, 8GB RAM iPhone 15 Pro 2922 Apple A17 Pro 256GB, 8GB RAM Galaxy S23 2028 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 256GB, 8GB RAM Galaxy S23+ 1997 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 512GB, 8GB RAM Galaxy S23 Ultra 1913 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 512GB, 12GB RAM Pixel 8 Pro 1766 Google Tensor G3 128GB, 12GB RAM Nothing Phone (2) 1725 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 256GB, 12GB RAM Pixel 8 1668 Google Tensor G3 128GB, 8GB RAM OnePlus 11 1527 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 8GB RAM Google Pixel 7 Pro 1448 Google Tensor G2 128GB, 8GB RAM Pixel 7a 1443 Google Tensor G2 128GB, 8GB RAM Xiaomi 13T Pro 1316 Dimensity 9200+ 512GB, 12GB RAM Xiaomi 13T 1116 Dimensity 8200 Ultra 256GB, 8GB RAM AnTuTu 9 Galaxy S23 Ultra 1241531 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 512GB, 12GB RAM 1440 x 3088 px Galaxy S23+ 1234077 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 512GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23 1231075 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC 256GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2340 px Xiaomi 13T Pro 1214085 Dimensity 9200+ 512GB, 12GB RAM 1220 x 2712 px OnePlus 11 1140661 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 256GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2340 px Pixel 8 926801 Google Tensor G3 128GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2400 px Pixel 8 Pro 924853 Google Tensor G3 128GB, 12GB RAM 1344 x 2992 px Nothing Phone (2) 895434 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 256GB, 12GB RAM 1080 x 2412 px Xiaomi 13T 825858 Dimensity 8200 Ultra 256GB, 8GB RAM 1220 x 2712 px Google Pixel 7 813114 Google Tensor G2 128GB, 12GB RAM 1440 x 3120 px Google Pixel 7 Pro 796369 Google Tensor G2 128GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2400 px Pixel 7a 765281 Google Tensor G2 128GB, 8GB RAM 1080 x 2400 px GFXBench (onscreen) Aztek ES 3.1 High Aztek Vulkan High Car Chase ES 3.1 Galaxy S23 90 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23+ 89 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Xiaomi 13T Pro 71 Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px Pixel 8 62 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px Nothing Phone (2) 59 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px Galaxy S23 Ultra 54 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1440 x 3088 px Pixel 7a 50 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Google Pixel 7 49 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1440 x 3120 px OnePlus 11 49 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Pixel 8 Pro 41 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1344 x 2992 px Xiaomi 13T 36 Dimensity 8200 Ultra Mali-G610 MC6 1220 x 2712 px Google Pixel 7 Pro 26 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Galaxy S23 98 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23+ 93 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Xiaomi 13T Pro 70 Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px Galaxy S23 Ultra 60 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1440 x 3088 px iPhone 15 Pro Max 58 Apple A17 Pro Apple GPU (6-core graphics) 1290 x 2796 px Pixel 8 56 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px Nothing Phone (2) 55 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px OnePlus 11 53 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Pixel 7a 49 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Google Pixel 7 46 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1440 x 3120 px Xiaomi 13T 37 Dimensity 8200 Ultra Mali-G610 MC6 1220 x 2712 px Pixel 8 Pro 36 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1344 x 2992 px Google Pixel 7 Pro 25 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Galaxy S23+ 110 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23 110 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Xiaomi 13T Pro 84 Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px Pixel 8 73 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px Galaxy S23 Ultra 67 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1440 x 3088 px Pixel 7a 62 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Nothing Phone (2) 60 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px iPhone 15 Pro Max 60 Apple A17 Pro Apple GPU (6-core graphics) 1290 x 2796 px Google Pixel 7 59 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1440 x 3120 px OnePlus 11 57 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Pixel 8 Pro 49 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1344 x 2992 px Xiaomi 13T 43 Dimensity 8200 Ultra Mali-G610 MC6 1220 x 2712 px Google Pixel 7 Pro 34 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px GFXBench (offscreen) Aztek ES 3.1 High 1440p Aztek Vulkan High 1440p Car Chase ES 3.1 1080p Galaxy S23+ 62 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23 61 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px OnePlus 11 61 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Xiaomi 13T Pro 60 Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px Galaxy S23 Ultra 59 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1440 x 3088 px Nothing Phone (2) 42 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px Pixel 8 40 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px Pixel 8 Pro 40 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1344 x 2992 px Pixel 7a 32 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Google Pixel 7 31 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1440 x 3120 px Google Pixel 7 Pro 29 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Xiaomi 13T 29 Dimensity 8200 Ultra Mali-G610 MC6 1220 x 2712 px Galaxy S23 Ultra 69 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1440 x 3088 px Galaxy S23+ 69 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px OnePlus 11 68 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23 65 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Xiaomi 13T Pro 61 Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px iPhone 15 Pro Max 41 Apple A17 Pro Apple GPU (6-core graphics) 1290 x 2796 px Pixel 8 37 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px Pixel 8 Pro 37 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1344 x 2992 px Nothing Phone (2) 36 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px Pixel 7a 33 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Google Pixel 7 31 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1440 x 3120 px Google Pixel 7 Pro 30 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Xiaomi 13T 30 Dimensity 8200 Ultra Mali-G610 MC6 1220 x 2712 px iPhone 15 Pro Max 140 Apple A17 Pro Apple GPU (6-core graphics) 1290 x 2796 px Galaxy S23+ 130 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23 127 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23 Ultra 126 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1440 x 3088 px OnePlus 11 126 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Xiaomi 13T Pro 114 Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px Nothing Phone (2) 92 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px Pixel 8 80 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px Pixel 8 Pro 78 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1344 x 2992 px Google Pixel 7 66 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1440 x 3120 px Pixel 7a 64 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Google Pixel 7 Pro 63 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Xiaomi 13T 56 Dimensity 8200 Ultra Mali-G610 MC6 1220 x 2712 px 3DMark (offscreen 1440p) - Wild Life Extreme Galaxy S23 3852 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23+ 3830 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Galaxy S23 Ultra 3790 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC Adreno 740 1440 x 3088 px iPhone 15 Pro Max 3746 Apple A17 Pro Apple GPU (6-core graphics) 1290 x 2796 px iPhone 15 Pro 3712 Apple A17 Pro Apple GPU (6-core graphics) 1179 x 2556 px OnePlus 11 3594 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Adreno 740 1080 x 2340 px Xiaomi 13T Pro 3567 Dimensity 9200+ Immortalis-G715 MC11 1220 x 2712 px Pixel 8 2450 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1080 x 2400 px Nothing Phone (2) 2449 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Adreno 730 1080 x 2412 px Pixel 8 Pro 2436 Google Tensor G3 Immortalis-G715s MC10 1344 x 2992 px Pixel 7a 1859 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Google Pixel 7 1848 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1440 x 3120 px Google Pixel 7 Pro 1835 Google Tensor G2 Mali-G710 MC10 1080 x 2400 px Xiaomi 13T 1739 Dimensity 8200 Ultra Mali-G610 MC6 1220 x 2712 px In terms of synthetic benchmark performance, the Tensor G3 is handily beaten by the latest generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which has double-digit percentage gains in every area. And then there is the Apple A17 Pro, which we aren't even going to bother comparing as it's not even in the same class. All you need to know is that even the A14 Bionic was faster than the Tensor G3. Synthetic benchmarks are one thing but real-world performance is another. Unfortunately, things aren't exactly great here either. The Pixel 8 phones really don't feel any better to use than the Pixel 7 phones, which themselves weren't that great to begin with. The issue still seems to be of optimization, as most third-party apps on Android are optimized for Qualcomm chips, which is why even something like the Nothing Phone (2) with a slightly older chip and similar benchmark scores feels a lot smoother to use. However, the worst part is that the Pixel 8 phones don't even feel great to use in Google's own apps. Scrolling side by side on the Pixel 8 Pro and the aforementioned Nothing Phone (2) in the Google Play Store, the latter was night and day better with a far smoother and consistent scrolling experience. The Pixel 8 Pro, on the other hand, was very jittery with consistent stutters that never went away no matter how many times the app was opened and loaded. In the Google Photos app, the Nothing Phone (2) also loaded image editing features like Magic Eraser faster than the Pixel 8 Pro and the results looked the same on both. One could dismiss these as teething issues of new phones but after having lived with the Pixel 7 Pro for a year, we beg to disagree. The experience on that device was much the same, where it would routinely get lapped by Snapdragon devices costing a quarter the amount, often in Google's own apps but also in most other Android apps in general. Gaming performance also wasn't great. The Pixel 8 Pro struggled to maintain 50fps in Genshin Impact at the highest setting when the newest iPhones can hit 120FPS on similar settings, especially with MetalFX image upscaling that looks indistinguishable from native on a phone's screen. There's also no support for ray tracing so if that's something you care about then you are out of luck here. At this point, Google's decision to stick with the Samsung-manufactured Tensor chips seems inexcusable. The performance simply isn't there, neither in benchmarks but more importantly, in real-world usage. The phones mostly feel fine in use if you don't mind the jittery scrolling but this is simply not the desired experience of flagship devices. The chip also still runs fairly warm most of the time and while we didn't do battery testing here, we aren't expecting great things. The saga of the iPhone 12's high SAR values in France is almost concluded. The update that will fix the high SAR values on the iPhone 12 in France will be released by Apple "by October 24" to all French iPhone users, according to France's ANFR, the national regulator of frequencies. That update, by the way, is iOS 17.1, according to the information Apple itself shared recently. It's safe to assume that it will, like all other iOS updates, go out globally on the same day. To recount the saga in brief: first, France banned iPhone 12 sales in the country over high SAR values found by ANFR. Then, Apple promised it would issue a software fix. At the end of last month, the update was approved by the French authorities. Today, those same authorities have announced the release date. And so, after October 24, the iPhone 12's high SAR values will hopefully not be an issue anymore. There is, however an unfortunate flip side to all this. The reason the high SAR values were registered was, according to Apple, an off-body detection function in iOS. This detects when the phone isn't held on the body, and in that scenario it increases transmit power. Now, this will be disabled in France, which may mean that the iPhones in question could have worse data connectivity in edge coverage areas. Aside from this, iOS 17.1 also brings a favorites system for Apple Music, support for AirDrop over the internet, new options for bank and card balances in the Wallet app, a Dynamic Island flashlight indicator, support for the Nintendo Switch N64 Controller, improvements for Photo Shuffle on the lock screen, and some Action Button features (like Camera, Flashlight, Voice Memo, Focus, and Magnifier) will be disabled while the iPhone is in your pocket. Source (in French) | Via 1 (in French) | Via 2 Last week Samsung released One UI 6 beta for the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5, now the older foldables are getting their first taste of Android 14 too Galaxy Z Fold4 and Galaxy Z Flip4 units in South Korea are seeing the beta firmware. Surprisingly, the Galaxy F23 mid-ranger is joining them. One UI 6 brings a redesigned Quick Panel, plus AI features for the Gallery Photo Remaster and Object Eraser and more. Additionally, Samsung Studio is a new multi-layer video editor that can add text, stickers and music to your clips. There are new camera widgets too, which can be configured to launch the camera app in a specific mode (e.g. front or back camera, photo or video mode, pro mode, night mode, etc.). One UI 6 beta arrives on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 Version 6 also features some changes to multitasking. When you have a pop-up window open and go to Recent apps, the window is no longer minimized so you can continue using it after you return. You can now also drag and drop things on the homescreen with two hands one hand holds the icon or widget, the other hand scrolls to the desired homescreen pane. This makes moving things around much easier on the large internal display of the Folds. Theres no word on when One UI 6 beta will be available for Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 outside of Korea. The Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 updates rolled out only in the US and India, so Samsung is taking things slowly. As for the Galaxy F23, this is a version of the Galaxy M23 sold in India - both have very nearly identical hardware and launched with Android 12. The F23 received Android 13 in December of last year. This suggests that the update for the M23 version shouldn't be far behind, but we haven't heard anything yet. Samsung Galaxy F23 also receiving One UI 6 beta While you wait, you should install the Samsung Members app as you will need it to apply for the One UI Beta Program. Once the beta is available in your region, the app should show a notification. Of course, it may be wiser to skip the beta altogether and just wait for the stable release. Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3 Back in January of 2022, Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Activation Blizzard in a transaction valued at $68.7 billion the largest deal in the gaming industry. The deal didnt exactly go as planned with regulators from the US, the EU and the UK objecting to the takeover. Microsoft managed to win a court injunction in the US and later received approval from the EU regulators which left the UKs Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as the only major hurdle against the deal. Well, that hurdle has now been cleared as the CMA has given the green light on the deal. The key bit is Microsoft will divest cloud gaming rights for Activision titles to Ubisoft which eliminates the CMAs biggest gripe with the deal. This means Microsoft will not be able to license any cloud gaming rights for existing or future Activision Blizzard titles over the next 15 years. The CMA believes this will result in improved competition which is better for consumers and for economic growth. The sale of Activisions cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft will prevent the distribution of important, popular content including games such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft from coming under the control of Microsoft in relation to cloud gaming. The restructured deal substantially addressed the concerns that the CMA had following its original investigation, which concluded earlier this year. The CMA did identify limited residual concerns with the new deal, but Microsoft gave undertakings that will ensure that the terms of the sale of Activisions rights to Ubisoft are enforceable by the CMA. The CMA consulted on these undertakings and is satisfied that this will provide the safety net needed to make sure this deal is properly implemented.- CMA press release Activision Blizzard will now become a division of Microsoft Gaming which will make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company after Tencent and Sony. Source Farmers can be paid up to $20,000 each for crop losses attributed to Typhoon Mawar, Attorney General Douglas Moylan said in a newly released legal opinion that would allow the use of a $2 million funding under a local law. The post-Mawar aid has been delayed for months because of a conflict between administrative rules on the maximum amount that can be paid out to farmers. The Department of Agriculture sought the attorney generals opinion to resolve that conflict. A prior rule says the maximum amount payable is capped at $1,500 per farmer for crop or livestock loss and $1,500 for property damages incidental to farming operations, while a newer rule says the maximum amount payable is $20,000 per farmer. Moylan, in an Oct. 11 legal opinion, wrote that the two conflicting rules cannot be reconciled; therefore, the later in time rule must apply. Public Law No. 24-256 signed into law on August 14, 1998, which provides for a maximum amount payable of $20,000.00 per farmer, is the law that governs the limits that are payable to farmers, Moylan wrote in his five-page opinion addressed to Guam Agriculture Director Chelsea Muna-Brecht. Since the Guam Administrative Rules are accurate only up to 1997 and Public Law 24-256 was passed in 1998, this means that the rule stated in that law must control, he said. This means that the maximum potential compensation for losses attributed to Super Typhoon Mawar is $20,000.00 per farmer to be determined in accordance with the calculation guidelines provided herein as well as any guidelines remaining in PL No. 22-64 that were not amended by PL No. 24-256, Moylan said. Farmers still reeling from Mawars devastation in May have been waiting for months for payments from the $2 million crop loss program funding. The Legislature allocated in June $2 million for the Crop Loss Program to help ranchers and farmers recover from the devastating loss of crops caused by Mawar. The amount was from the Rainy Day Fund. The governor signed the bill into law on June 30. Completely unacceptableSen. Dwayne San Nicolas, chairman of the committee on emergency response, on Thursday said its horrible and completely unacceptable to learn that dozens of farmers, who applied for the Crop Loss Compensation Program, are still waiting for relief several months after applying. The 37th Guam Legislature allocated $2 million, in June 2023, from the Rainy-Day Fund for the Crop Loss Compensation Program to help ranchers and farmers recover from the devastating loss of crops caused by Super Typhoon Mawar, he said. San Nicolas continues to receive pleas from farmers who have yet to get assistance under the program. He said farmers continue to struggle as finances are dire. These funds should have been distributed to our farmers months ago, the senator said. This is their livelihood, and the government of Guam should be helping them recover. It was at a Sept. 7 legislative oversight hearing that the Department of Agriculture told senators that the cause of the delay in payments is a lack of clarity on the maximum amount that farmers should be compensated. The attorney general opinion was released a day after yet another typhoon grazed Guam on Tuesday, Typhoon Bolaven. The Department of Public Health and Social Services has announced the launch of the mybenefits.guam.gov web-portal, according to a press release by the agency. The University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability, in collaboration with the Guam Department of Agriculture and other partners, invites the community to a public meeting regarding the Guam Habitat Conservation Plan, according to a press release by UOG. This meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 17, 2023, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be held at the Jesus and Eugenia Leon Guerrero School of Business and Public Administration Building on campus. The meeting will discuss the progress made in developing the Guam HCP, address questions from the community, and gather valuable feedback. The Guam HCP is a long-term strategy aimed at safeguarding endangered species and their habitats, preserving Guams unique biological and cultural heritage for future generations, and promoting sustainable economic development and streamlined regulations. This plan will play a crucial role in shaping future land use planning and supporting the sustainable implementation of existing land use plans. This meeting is a testament to UOGs dedication to fostering community engagement and collaborative efforts, UOG President Anita Borja Enriquez said. By supporting the Guam Habitat Conservation Plan discussion, we affirm our commitment to preserving our islands rich biodiversity, ensuring a sustainable future for both our community and the environment we call home. Dr. Austin Shelton, Director, UOG Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant, said, Caring for our island environment is not just a responsibility; its a shared vision we must all support. By coming together, sharing knowledge, and empowering one another, we pave the way for a greener, more sustainable tomorrow for us and generations to come. Over the past two years, Dr. Else Demeulenaere, Associate Director at the UOG Center for Island Sustainability, and her team at CIS and Sea Grant, have collaborated with local and federal agencies to develop the Guam HCP. We initiated our collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, Guam Department of Agriculture, and the consulting firm ICF during the summer of 2021, said Demeulenaere. This project has been complex, with many moving parts, and we are eager to engage with stakeholders and the public. Endangered species Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are home to several endemic species found nowhere else in the world. Due to their small populations, they are at risk of extinction in the face of changing land use. In 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services listed 23 species in Guam under the Endangered Species Act. As Guams population continues to grow, the demand for places to live, work, and enjoy recreation, along with necessary infrastructure like roads, schools, restaurants, and housing, increases. This growth can lead to conflicts over land use. The Guam HCP aims to help the Government of Guam find a middle ground as it strives to protect Guams unique species while facilitating responsible development and ensuring the preservation of endangered species habitats. At the meeting, Demeulenaere and her team will present their vision for conserving endangered species and their cultural significance while promoting sustainable economic development through this plan. For more information about the meeting, please visit guamhcp.com or contact Caley Chargualaf at chargualafc10679@triton.uog.edu or (671) 797-5985. Haiti - Security : At least 360 people have been kidnapped in the last 3 months At least 362 cases of kidnappings were recorded in Haiti in the third quarter, an increase of 141.3% compared to the previous period, where 150 kidnappings took place, the Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights (CARDH) reported this Wednesday. According to the CARDH Crime Monitoring Unit, between last July and September, 11 collective kidnappings were recorded, most of them in Bas-Artibonite. In this area, there were 6 collective kidnappings during the previous quarter, an increase of 83.3%, the study adds. "This department will become a main hub for kidnappings if action is not taken," the entity warned. The increase in kidnappings is due to the weakening of the "Bwa Kale" citizen movement, which in certain localities confronted powerful armed gangs, as well as the absence of measures to prevent the resurgence of violence caused by them. The organization reported that from January 1st to September 30 of this year, there were 901 kidnappings in the country, of which at least 63 were foreign citizens. During the same period, CARDH said 1,564 homicides were committed. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Masacre river : Haiti reaffirms the sovereign right of the Haitian people The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Haiti to the Organization of American States (OAS), expressed this Thursday its willingness to welcome the calls for dialogue launched by various commissions from other countries, in the face of the current conflict with the Republic Dominican about the construction of a canal on the Masacre River. Through a declaration, they detailed a series of considerations which establish their "right to access and to the equitable distribution of the resource" shared with the neighboring country. "Haiti welcomes all calls for dialogue from partner States and international institutions in relation to the dispute with the Dominican Republic over the use of shared water resources of the Masacre River," the statement said. The letter underlines the "desire to continue the dialogue with the neighboring country" Below is the full statement : "REPUBLIC OF HAITI MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND CULT The Republic of Haiti welcomes all calls for dialogue from partner States and international institutions in relation to the dispute with the Dominican Republic over the use of shared water resources of the Masacre River. Took careful note of the elements contained in the declaration published by the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States on September 27, 2023, recalling in particular the inalienable right of both Parties to use this river in a just and equitable manner for their needs agricultural and industrial, in accordance with article 10 of the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Arbitration of February 20, 1929. For a better understanding of the case, the following facts should be taken into account: - The Masacre River is a border waterway fed by tributaries from both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Haitian territory thus contributes to generating mobilizable flows along the upstream sections of this common river. - On the other hand, downstream of the Ouanaminthe-Dajabon axis, the river bed is no longer cut off, the high waters therefore overflow the banks to flood the plains on either side of the border. Consequently, the lower plain of Maribaroux is naturally and regularly flooded by the floods of the Masacre river. - The canal under construction in Ouanaminthe will be supplied by a bank intake, which will be the first intake structure built by the Haitian side on this shared watercourse. It is located below a dozen water intakes already built and operated by the Dominicans. In addition, the dimensions of the canal and its water intake are not large enough to divert the Masacre River from its small natural channel. These data and considerations establish our right to access and to the equitable distribution of the resource. Accordingly, the Republic of Haiti reaffirms the sovereign right of the Haitian people to use the shared water resources of the Masacre River in a fair and equitable manner. Likewise, it reiterates its desire to continue dialogue with the neighboring country, as demonstrated in the note of September 15, 2023 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic. Read also on the Haiti Irrigation Canal affair : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40492-haiti-canal-conflict-a-haitian-delegation-in-the-dominican-republic-today.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40478-haiti-flashthe-dominican-government-announces-measures-and-issues-an-ultimatum-to-haiti-canal-river-massacre.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-40476-icihaiti-diversion-canal-tension-rises-in-the-dominican-republic.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40463-haiti-flash-4th-day-of-border-closure-in-dajabon-the-standoff-continues.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40450-haiti-flash-diversion-channel-the-dominican-republic-sends-armored-vehicles-to-the-northern-border-with-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40406-haiti-politic-the-dr-asks-haiti-to-stop-the-resumption-of-work-on-the-diversion-channel-of-the-massacre-river.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36174-haiti-politic-claude-joseph-deplores-the-stoppage-of-the-construction-of-the-irrigation-canal-of-the-massacre-river.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34875-icihaiti-rd-resumption-of-works-of-the-massacre-river-irrigation-canal.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34389-icihaiti-dr-stop-in-haiti-of-the-construction-of-the-canal-to-collect-water-from-the-massacre-river.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33974-haiti-dr-the-construction-of-the-haitian-canal-on-the-massacre-river-on-the-way-to-becoming-an-international-affair.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33953-haiti-flash-dominican-geologist-osiris-de-leon-denies-haiti-s-assertions.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33945-haiti-flash-canal-on-the-massacre-river-in-haiti-dominican-president-abinader-raises-the-tone.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33854-haiti-flash-president-abinader-announces-the-construction-of-a-dam-on-the-artibonite-river-in-dominican-soil.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33823-haiti-agriculture-diversion-of-the-massacre-river-in-search-of-a-solution-with-the-dr.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33596-haiti-flash-conflict-with-the-dr-over-a-canal-diverting-the-massacre-river-to-haiti.html SL/ TB/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Security : Opening ceremony of the Civil Prison of Petit-Goave At the beginning of the week, under the instruction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Haitian National Police, Mr. Frantz Elbe, the Director of the Prison Administration, Inspector General (IG) Pierre Rene Francois, carried out the ceremony opening of the Civil Prison of Petit-Goave. The opening ceremony of the Civil Prison of Petit-Goave took place in the presence of police officers of all ranks and grades, judicial authorities, and other personalities. The construction of this international standard prison was launched in 2011 and completed in 2023, with the support of the American government, through the "Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement" (INL). Stressing that the keys were handed over to Commander-in-Chief Frantz Elbe, during a ceremony held at the DGPNH, on Wednesday August 30, 2023. In his speech for the occasion, IG Francois, of the Directorate of Prison Administration, demonstrated the desire of the PNH High Command to create detention conditions that meet international standards. As for the Police Commissioner Jean Sony Joseph Louidor, responsible for the said prison, he would like to congratulate the construction of this prison center which will play its role in the Jurisdiction of Petit-Goave, by serving as a space for social reintegration for prisoners . Should be noted that this prison can accommodate a total of 292 inmates and is equipped with dormitories, medical rooms, among others. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... New Dominican consul in Port-au-Prince President Luis Abinader issued Decree 479-23 appointing several consuls. Through this decree Viriato Antonio Segura Paniagua was appointed consul in Port-au-Prince OAS sends technical mission to Haiti The Organization of American States (OAS) announced, this Thursday, October 12, 2023, the dispatch of an immediate technical mission to Haiti, to evaluate the construction of a canal on the Massacre River. This will be a mission that will work both on the water resources level and on the legal level. It was the secretary general of the hemispheric organization, Luis Almagro, who made the announcement. Ariel Henry receives the new Canadian ambassador The Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, received, Thursday morning at the Official Residence, the new Canadian Ambassador to Haiti, Mr. Andre Francois Giroux. The discussions focused, in particular, on Haitian-Canadian cooperation, and Canada's desire to continue to support the Haitian National Police (PNH) in its efforts to restore security. Together they reviewed the strong ties that unite the two countries and discussed the major issues of the day, as well as the Canada-CARICOM Leaders' Summit. Digicel : Optical fiber cut, problems in the Great South Digicel informs the population in general and the inhabitants of GREAT SOUTH in particular that it has an OPTICAL FIBER cable which is cut in the MARTISSANT zone, which causes all the inhabitants of GREAT SOUTH some difficulties in using its services. All teams are mobilized to quickly remedy the outage and we guarantee customers that service will be restored as quickly as possible. Once again, the company apologized to its customers. Foot CNL 2023 - 2024 : Haiti-Suriname [1-1] Concacaf National League 2023-2024, the Grenadiers scored 1-1 on displacement Thursday evening against Suriname. Mikael Cantave marked his return with a splendid goal in the 51st minute marking the equalizer for the Haitian team who had conceded the opening score in favor of the locals on a goal from R. Harps in the 17th minute. The next rendezvous of the national eleven is scheduled to face Jamaica on Sunday, October 15 at 8 a.m. at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad & Tobago. HL/ HaitiLibre By William Schwartz | Published on 2023/10/12 By the end of the seventh episode, the conflict in "Song of the Bandits" had come to a small frontier town. For reasons not entirely clear to me, Gwang-il and his own Japanese military detachment arrives and immediately picks a fight with the local head of the Japanese security forces. This allows Yoon to make an escape. As the eighth episode opens Gwang-il is able to catch up with Yoon outside of town, as have Yoon's own allies, effectively leading to the end of Yoon as an antagonist. Advertisement With Gwang-il gone, the role of antagonist falls to the bandit leader who was tricked into going after money that wasn't on the carriage. The money in general isn't that important for the last couple of episodes. Hee-shin succeeds in taking that money where it was supposed to do, and has about as little to do in these final episodes as she did for the rest of the series, despite marrying one of her two love interests. Anyway, the bandit leader has been working for the Japanese, and is trying to smoke out rebel forces in Gando- or Yanbian, is what this region is called today. Yoon and the rest of the squad is left to pull one last hustle in an attempt to break free, and it's not much of a spoiler that they're able to succeed. If the first seven episodes of "Song of the Bandits" were an overly long heist movie, the last two episodes are something else altogether. Calling them a movie in their own right doesn't seem appropriate, since "Song of the Bandits" in its final acts is more akin to a teaser. The bandit leader has gone from a one-off buffoon to a serious villain with his own menacing team of comparable competence to Yoon's. Technically Yoon has never really been in charge of the team. That role has gone to Choong-soo (played by Yoo Jae-myung), in more plot that's necessary to explain what's going on but not that interesting. "Song of the Bandits" ends on such a weak note it's clear that the production team was hoping for a second season. The numbers for the drama have been lacking enough this seems unlikely- as of this writing "Song of the Bandits" is the third most popular series in South Korea and isn't charting anywhere else. The action in this show is neat enough, but unfortunately the melodrama tends to drag it down. Written by William Schwartz ___________ "Song of the Bandits" is directed by Hwang Joon-hyeok, Park Hyeon-seok, written by Han Jeong-hoon, and features Kim Nam-gil, Seohyun, Yoo Jae-myung, Lee Hyun-wook-I, Lee Ho-jung, Kim Do-yoon-I. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2023/09/22, Fri on Netflix. Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up New Ad-free Subscriber Login Email Password Password Username Subscribe to our daily NewsLetter Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password or receive our NewsLetter. Stay logged in Lost password Contact (HedgeCo.Net) The Commodity Futures Trading Commision has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Tennessee resident Stephen Ehrlich, the former chief executive officer of now-bankrupt entities Voyager Digital Ltd., Voyager Digital Holdings, Inc., and Voyager Digital, LLC (collectively, Voyager). The complaint charges Ehrlich with fraud and registration failures in connection with the Voyager digital asset platform and Voyagers operation of an unregistered commodity pool. Ehrlich and Voyager falsely touted the Voyager platform as a safe haven to earn high-yield returns to induce customers to purchase and store digital asset commodities. In its continuing litigation against Ehrlich, the CFTC seeks restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations, as charged. This is yet another CFTC action seeking to hold accountable a chief executive officer for his role in the fraudulent operation of a digital asset platform, said Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley. Ehrlich and Voyager lied to Voyager customers. While representing they would treat customers digital asset commodities safely and responsibly, behind the scenes, they took shockingly reckless risks with their customers assets, leading to Voyagers bankruptcy and huge customer losses. When their business began to collapse, they continued lying to their customers, concealing Voyagers true financial health. Amplifying their fraud, Ehrlich and Voyager broke their trust with customers while acting in capacities that required CFTC registration, which they failed to obtain. Case Background The complaint alleges, from at least February 2022 through July 2022, Ehrlich and Voyager engaged in a scheme to defraud customers by misrepresenting the safety and financial health of the Voyager digital asset platform. Ehrlich and Voyager, via publicly available postings on social media and their website, touted Voyager as a safe haven for customers digital assets in an otherwise volatile market environment and that Voyager would operate with the same level of rigor and trust as a traditional financial institution. Ehrlich and Voyager also promised customers high-yield returnsas much as 12%on certain digital asset commodities stored on the Voyager platform. To generate income to pay its customers the promised returns, Ehrlich and Voyager pooled customer assets stored on the Voyager platform and transferred billions of dollars worth of customers digital asset commodities as loans to high-risk third parties. In early 2022, following grossly inadequate due diligence, Ehrlich and Voyager transferred over $650 million in customer digital asset commodities to Firm A (a digital assets hedge fund) on an unsecured basis, with the understanding that Firm A would generate returns for Voyager by pooling Voyagers investment and trading commodity interests. In so doing, Voyager operated the Voyager Pool and acted as a commodity pool operator (CPO) without the required CFTC registration. Additionally, Ehrlich did not register as an associated person of a CPO, despite soliciting members of the public to contribute to the Voyager Pool. Based on the false promises related to the safety of Voyagers operations and receipt of high-yield returns, customers often collectively stored more than $2 billion worth of digital asset commodities on the Voyager platform. However, instead of providing a safe haven, Ehrlich and Voyager transferred customer digital assets to risky counterparties, such as Firm A, to fuel the high-yield returns used to attract and retain customers. In June 2022, Voyager recalled its customer digital assets commodities from Firm A. Firm A defaulted and, as a result, Voyager experienced dire operational liquidity issues. However, Ehrlich continued to falsely assert publicly that customer assets were safe with Voyager. On July 5, 2022, Voyager filed for bankruptcy, owing its customers in the United States more than $1.7 billion. CFTCs Commodity Pool Fraud Advisory The CFTC has issued several customer protectionFraud Advisories and Articles, including the Commodity Pool Fraud Advisory, which warns customers about a type of fraud that involves individuals and firms, often unregistered, offering investments in commodity pools. The CFTC also strongly urges the public to verify a companys registration with the CFTC before committing funds. If unregistered, a customer should be wary of providing funds to that company. A companys registration status can be found using NFA BASIC. Customers and other individuals can report suspicious activities or information, such as possible violations of commodity trading laws, to the Division of Enforcement via a toll-free hotline 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382), file a tip or complaint online, or contact the Whistleblower Office. Whistleblowers may be eligible to receive between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected paid from the CFTC Customer Protection Fund financed through monetary sanctions paid to the CFTC by violators of the CEA. (CNBC) Britains top competition watchdog on Friday gave the green light to Microsofts proposed $69 billion takeover of gaming firm Activision Blizzard, removing the last major hurdle for the deal to close. It marks a major U-turn from the CMA, the staunchest critic of the takeover, which effectively blocked the deal earlier this year over concerns that the acquisition would hamper competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. To read this article: This fall , the Helsinki metropolitan area transforms into a vibrant hub of cultural activity, offering residents and visitors alike a plethora of artistic experiences, spanning classic and contemporary art, hands-on history, and multifaceted explorations of various artistic mediums. Significant attention is garnered by expected high-caliber exhibitions featuring works from classic artists such as Rafael Wardi and Kaija Aarikka to masters of impressionism, including Claude Monet and August Renoir. Moreover, top-tier contemporary art finds a home in the city, with displays from Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda at Amos Rex and the Ars Fennica exhibition at Kiasma, offering a rich palette of aesthetic experiences for art aficionados. Wardi's exhibition at Didrichsen Art Museum, shining a spotlight on his colourful and radiant works, and Kaija Aarikkas playful and colourful design classics at Helsinki's Taidehalli, celebrating her extensive 60-year career, stand out as two of the most anticipated events this season. Impressionism lovers will bask in masterpieces showcased at Ateneum, where international front-runners of the movement like Monet, Renoir, and Paul Signac enchant with their innovative uses of color and light. In a different aesthetic spectrum, Ryoji Ikeda mesmerizes with his unparalleled art experience in the subterranean halls of Amos Rex. Simultaneously, Ars Fennica 2023 introduces us to the intriguing world of its five finalists at Kiasma. However, the offerings extend beyond conventional art spaces, into museums and exhibitions that unravel stories from diverse aspects of history and modern life. Helsinki City Museum invites fitness enthusiasts to a nostalgic trip back to the 80s and 90s, exploring the evolution of gym culture. Meanwhile, Musiikkimuseo Fame unfolds the enthralling narrative of Finnish rap, scripted by Karri "Paleface" Miettinen, encapsulating its journey from niche genre to mainstream phenomenon over four decades. Photography exhibits also offer a window into the past and varied expressions of artistic perspectives. For instance, Hakasalmen Huvila displays Volker von Bonin's iconic and seldom-seen photographs of Helsinki from the 1950s80s, while Adolfo Vera, a Chilean artist and refugee, shares a poignant narrative through his documentation of refugee life in Finland from the 1970s. Whether it's engaging with the sweaty history of Finnish gyms, diving deep into the 40-year saga of Finnish rap, or experiencing nostalgic views through historic Helsinki photos, the metropolitan area ensures a comprehensive cultural journey this fall. In a union of tales from Finlands hip-hop roots, snapshots from its dynamic history, to immersive worlds crafted by legendary artists, Helsinkis fall scene provides a rich, diverse cultural journey, striking a harmonious chord between past and present, classical and contemporary, ensuring that there's something for every cultural connoisseur this autumn. This is just a taste of the capitals autumnal cultural buffet, with many more exhibits and shows unmentioned, but just as deserving of exploration and admiration. In every piece and every exhibition, there's a dialogue between artist and observer, history and future, waiting to be engaged with. HT In a groundbreaking initiative , the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health has unveiled the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize occupational safety. A four-year research project, titled "Improving Safety Management through Data Mining AI Safety," conducted in collaboration with four Finnish industrial companies, explored how machine learning methods could enhance safety management and occupational safety protocols. Traditional methods of reviewing vast amounts of occupational safety data have proven cumbersome for organizations. However, AI, particularly machine learning techniques like text mining, offers an efficient solution. These methods can quickly analyze extensive datasets, including implicit information related to the operating environment and context, enabling a comprehensive understanding of occupational safety trends. "Artificial intelligence requires high-quality data to provide valuable insights. Systematic data collection, particularly related to deviations and human behavior, is essential. Contextual data is crucial for preparing forecasting models, helping organizations identify factors associated with safety issues," emphasized Maria Tiikkaja, Head of Research at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. A pivotal aspect of the research was the development of a comprehensive guide aimed at organizations. This guide offers valuable methods for collecting safety data, enhancing data quality, and utilizing it effectively in machine learning-based safety management. Emphasizing the importance of data quality over quantity, the guide focuses on factors underlying safety issues, encouraging organizations to delve into personnel training and identify key elements. "Instead of fixating on mandatory safety observation reporting quotas, organizations should concentrate on understanding the nuances of safety through comprehensive personnel training," advised Tiikkaja. The guide advocates user-friendly data systems, accessible interfaces, and streamlined data recording processes. The ultimate goal is to create diverse, analyzed benchmark data amalgamated from various organizational functions. These analyses yield critical reports, empowering organizations to prepare comprehensive occupational safety overviews and facilitate continuous learning. In the ideal scenario, organizations can leverage this analyzed occupational safety data to develop innovative strategies, ushering in a new era of occupational safety management and operations. With AI's transformative potential, the future of occupational safety is marked by proactive measures, data-driven decisions, and a safer workplace for all. HT Radio, TV broadcasters launch history museum North Carolina radio and television broadcast leaders this week announced the launch of the North Carolina Broadcast History Museum, a non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving the state's broadcasting legacy. North Carolina has a rich broadcast history starting as early as March 1902 when radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden transmitted a 127-word voice message from his Cape Hatteras transmitter tower to Roanoke Island. Fast forward to July 23, 1996, when WRAL-TV became the first television station in the United States to broadcast a digital television signal. North Carolina is home to a number of legendary broadcast personalities, including Andy Griffith, born in Mount Airy, Charles Kuralt and David Brinkley from Wilmington, Jim Nantz, ABC sportscaster from Charlotte, and National Public Radio newscaster Carl Kasell from Goldsboro. The museum is seeking assistance from the public and people who worked in broadcasting to collect artifacts, documents, photographs and recordings that chronicle the history of prominent radio and television stations, broadcasters, programs and events. Through exhibits and collections, the museum seeks to highlight the contributions made by North Carolina broadcasters in shaping the industry and the state's culture landscape. A distinguished group of broadcast professionals leading the effort include Don Curtis, CEO, Curtis Media Group; Jim Goodmon, CEO, Capitol Broadcasting Co.; Wade Hargrove, media lawyer; Harold Ballard, Broadcast Engineer; Caroline Beasley, CEO, Beasley Media Group; Carl Venters Jr., Broadcast Executive; David Crabtree, CEO, North Carolina Public Media; Dr James Carson, Broadcast Executive; Jim Babb, Broadcast Executive; Cullie Tarleton, Broadcast Executive and former member of the N.C. House of Representatives; Dave Lingafelt, Broadcast Executive; Carl Davis, Jr., Broadcast Engineer; Jim Heavner, Broadcast Executive; and Mike Weeks, Broadcast Executive. The North Carolina Broadcast History Museum website will serve as a digital repository accessible by the public that will grow in content and importance as items are gathered and displayed. The museum website is under construction and available at https://NCBMuseum.com. Future plans include a brick-and-mortar facility for education, inspiration and enjoyment. No definitive proof Asheville exports homeless to Hendersonville City residents attended a forum on city issues Monday, Oct. 9, at the Health Sciences Building on the Pardee campus. At a Council Conversations forum Monday night, a city resident said he had heard the reason for an increasing homeless population in Hendersonville. I have heard from a very reliable source that Asheville police are bringing people here and dropping them off, he said. Its a common perception, City Manager John Connet responded, that lacks hard evidence. I dont know that we have any definitive proof that thats happening, he said. We hear the same thing. We hear theyre being bused in. We hear theyre getting bus tickets. But we dont have any definitive proof that thats happening. A surge in homelessness can happen anywhere and is happening anywhere even Mayberry. Mount Airy, the model for the beloved Andy Griffith series set in a small town of innocent character, is seeing the problem, too. Connet knows because he recently heard about it from Mount Airys town manager. And her quote to me in a text was, our homeless population has grown so much its like theyre being bused into our community, he said. So that perception is in a lot of communities. When Connet told the same story when he presented a report on homelessness last week to the City Council, he punctuated it with a question: How many times have you heard that in Hendersonville? Lack of affordable housing, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues are all commonly cited as causes of homelessness, Connet said. And as the numbers have increased here, the city is fielding more and more complaints about panhandling, camping on public and private property, people generally feeling unsafe and homeless men and women ruining the downtown atmosphere. 1,200 interactions with homeless people From March of 2022 through September of this year, police officers had 1,200 interactions with homeless 700 of them arising from suspicious person calls, Police Chief Blair Myhand told the council. That could be anything a person sitting in front of a business, someone just hanging out in a parking lot or over by White Street, he said. We are mostly complaint driven. Panhandling thankfully we do not see a lot of panhandling in the city. Its not 700 individual people. Were dealing with some of the same people over and over again. Community Development Director Lew Holloway described the citys code enforcement response. If we receive a complaint about a camp and a nuisance violation or an illegal use violation we are first doing a site visit, he said. If the site is occupied, we are connecting with PD to provide assistance on site. If the homeless camp is on private property, code enforcement tries to make contact with the owner to resolve the problem. If the camp is on public property, he said, were allowing at least 14 days for the occupants to clean up and leave. If its on private property, were asking the private property owner to allow that timeframe but we do not have any way of requiring them to do so. Low-barrier versus high-barrier shelters An ongoing debate nationally focuses on low-barrier versus high barrier shelters, Connet said. The 75-bed Hendersonville Rescue Mission is considered a high barrier shelter and the high barrier means you have to enter into their drug rehab programs, you have to attempt to get a job several criteria before they allow you to stay there, he said. The low barrier approach sometimes known as housing first is based on the belief that you have to get the folks housed before theyll accept treatment. Theres a huge debate in the country about low-barrier and high-barrier shelters. One consequence is that if you do build these types of low-barrier shelters, they will come, he said. Youre not only taking care of homeless in our community, but maybe homeless from other communities. It is a very transient population. Mayor pro tem Lyndsey Simpson supported the idea of a low-barrier shelter. Whether or not theyre choosing to be homeless, they have some sort of unmet need, she said. And when you have a lot of unmet needs and you are living in a constant state of stress and trauma, you are not necessarily capable of making the best decisions for yourself. So, for us to say people are choosing that, yes, they may be in the moment, but that doesnt mean that they are in the right headspace to be making those choices. Connections Center expected to go in Opp House At Monday nights forum, Smith revealed that a partnership of the city and others is close to getting a courts OK to acquire the vacant Opportunity House for the Connections Center, a one-stop clearinghouse for services homeless people. The future of the Opp House property, which has been in receivership since July 2022, remains in the hands of Henderson County Civil Superior Court. Were waiting for a judge to sign off on that transfer of the property, Smith said. Well be a part owner and well lease it. So once we get through that legal hurdle I do not know why its taking so long then the Connections Center can move in and start renovating the building and begin to provide these services. He projected an 18-month time frame to get the building ready. It depends obviously on the condition of the building, Connet said. They would like to at least do the minor renovations so they can create an office as soon as possible. The city received a grant of $1.5 million to support the Connections Center and appropriated $800,000 in American Rescue Plan money for the project. Jennifer Hensley said addiction recovery programs are a proven answer. Community-based diversion programs do work and so I think we have a long way to go in the community, she said. But I also agree with Chief Myhands statement that people do have the right to be homeless, but when youre breaking and entering into peoples property, when youre stealing, and youre committing crimes the law has to respond. Unsurprisingly, given the intractability of the homeless challenge in cities big, medium and small, Connet told the council: Theres no silver bullet. There is no answer at the end of this presentation. Theres just more work to be done on behalf of our community because the city cannot solve this problem by ourselves. We should be conveners of a partnership of nonprofits, other jurisdictions and the community in general. LIGHTING Henley Bridge would give the town with own London Eye-style attraction, a resident has claimed. Make Henley Shine, a group of business people, is seeking planning permission to attach 456 mini LED lights to the Grade I listed structure. So far more than a dozen residents have written letters of support to South Oxfordshire District Council and Wokingham Borough Council, the planning authorities on either side of the river. Caroline Bottomley, of Bolney Road, Shiplake, claims that when the lights attached to the bridge unlawfully by artist Clive Hemsley in 2018 had to come down the town lost a little bit of its spirit. She says: Bravo to this group who have fought hard to restore what is such an asset. It is Henleys version of the London Eye. Former town councillor Will Hamilton, of Greys Road, Henley, says the lighting plan is an exceptional project supported by the community. He says: This project would bring our iconic bridge in line with lit London Thames bridges and provide an outstanding, sympathetic LED illumination of Henley Bridge for visitors and residents year round. Simon Pickup, of Station Road, Shiplake, says lighting the bridge would make it attractive in the dark and improve safety for boaters at night. Luke Breen, of Friday Street, Henley, says: I fully support this well-considered planning application that is basically a modern-day enhancement of the festoon lighting that the bridge had back in the early 20th century. This project is of huge benefit to our town and planning permission should be granted. Oliver Mahony, of Greys Road, Henley, says: This is a great initiative, introducing sustainable lighting to the town, which is being executed professionally, is sympathetic to the local environment and respectful of Henleys historic bridge. It would help revitalise the town, benefitting residents, businesses and visitors. Rich Pullen, of Brewery Mews, Henley, says: I have lived in Henley for around 25 years. Many of the areas and buildings along the river front are already illuminated. I believe it would be a fantastic addition for the bridge to be illuminated too, so that Henley can look even more fantastic. Mike Trethewey, of Queen Street, Henley, says the plan is a great idea, adding: Will light up the town. I hope the applications are successful. Sean Diamond, of Aston Lane, Remenham, says: Full support for this brilliant and well-considered proposal. A fantastic initiative. Pat Sly, of Remenham Lane, says: I am very happy to support this application and do hope that it will be successful. Jack Dann, of Greys Road, Henley, says: Wonderful idea and totally agree that this should be accepted. Ian Holliday, from Henley, says: Ive reviewed the lighting design proposal and think it is excellent. The bridge does need to be highlighted as part of Henleys heritage and Id welcome this installation. Suzanne Scott, from Middle Assendon, says: Super proposal, good concept and well supported professionally. With the amount of existing light coming from the Angel particularly, it would be incorrect to refuse this application on the grounds of light spill. Having a lit-up bridge as one of the main arterial routes into Henley is a positive contribution to the area, highlighting the beautiful historic bridge and causing no harm to the conservation area. Mark Lucani, of Farm Road, Henley, says: This would be a great addition. I am surprised it has taken so long. Kate Holden, from Henley, said: I think this is a great idea; it creates a sense of art for everyone and also enhances the key focus for Henley. Maria Loggie, of Woodlands Road, Harpsden, says: I am fully in support of our bridge being adorned with these lights. Landmarks all over London have been enhanced with beautiful lighting which just intensifies their beauty. Henley Bridge would be stunning lit up. Rachel Shaw, of Ravenscroft Road, Henley, says: The addition of lights to Henley Bridge is a welcome and positive move for the town. Make Henley Shine says the aim is to celebrate the historical and cultural significance of the 1786 bridge. The lights would be laid flat on the arches, spaced 50cm to 61cm apart and linked by a single cable. They would not be fixed to the stonework but screwed into the large joints between the stones. The lights would come on automatically at dusk before being turned off at midnight. They could be programmed to feature different colours and go on and off in sequence. Make Henley Shine says once it raises the 200,000 needed to fund the project for 10 years it would gift the lights to the town council. The two councils are due to make a decision next month. Editors note: On October 6th 2023 Narges Mohammadi, the author of White Torture, a book recommended below, received the Nobel peace prize. PREMIUM FILE - Iranian Narges Mohammadi, delegate of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, listens to a question during a press conference on the Assessment of the Human Rights Situation in Iran, at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 9, 2008. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Narges Mohammadi for fighting oppression of women in Iran. The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the prize Friday, Oct. 6, 2023 in Oslo. (Magali Girardin/Keystone via AP, File)(AP) LAST YEAR the rage of Iranian women boiled over. In September the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Irans morality police for wearing her hijab incorrectly, provoked massive protests by both women and men. Hijab-burning protesters demanded not just equality for women but the removal of Irans Islamist regime. In trying to suppress the demonstrations, the regime has killed more than 400 people. Although Irans theocratic government discriminates against women, in some ways they are better off than those in other conservative Muslim countries. The share of women in higher education has risen 20-fold since the regime took power in 1979. Educated but thwarted, many Iranian women are in a good position to describe their plight and demand change. These books portray the stunting of womens lives in the country, as well as their variety. The Pomegranate Lady and Her Sons: Selected Stories. By Goli Taraghi. Translated by Sara Khalili. W. W. Norton Company; 320 pages; $15.95 and 11.99 The Flowers of Shiraz, a story in this collection, is about a company of eighth-graders who dance. They are fat, thin, lanky, short, frizzy-haired, and olive-skinned. The year is 1953; a coup backed by America and Britain has toppled the prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, who had sought to nationalise the countrys oil resources. In the evenings the dancers meet at Tajrish Bridge and take part in bike and running races with other children. They get caught up in a pandemonium. Groups shout slogans in support of Mossadegh. Supporters of the shah, who backed the coup, spit at the children. Goli Taraghis collection of short stories blends everyday life with political commentary. She writes from France, to which she moved in 1979. Some of her stories examine the paradoxes of exile: relief and the longing for home. Others depict how characters cope with living in Iran; some defy restrictions, and one man wanders about the country aimlessly for months. No one, not even the exiles, escapes Irans explosive politics. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. By Azar Nafisi. Random House; 356 pages; $18. Penguin; 9.99 Education became an ideological battleground after the Islamic revolution. Government-appointed administrators banned several books from Tehran University. Agents of the regime infiltrated student groups. Azar Nafisi, a professor of English at the time, was sacked. Her response was to set up her own informal English department, meeting with seven of her best female students weekly in her living room to study the novels of Vladimir Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen and Henry James. The young women are children of the Islamic Republic. Some accept its ideology, others do not. To one student Daisy Miller, the unconventional protagonist of a novella by James, is obviously a bad girl; she is reactionary and decadent. Another envies Daisys courage. The tensions that play out violently on Tehrans streets do not disappear in Ms Nafisis living room, but they become subjects of reflection and debate. This memoir ends with Ms Nafisis departure from Iran in 1997. The women she left behind, it is safe to say, were permanently changed by her makeshift school. Iran Awakening. By Shirin Ebadi and Azadeh Moaveni. Penguin Random House; 256 pages; $18. Ebury Publishing; 13.99 In late 2000 Shirin Ebadi, a titan of human-rights law in Iran, took on a high-profile case: the trial of intelligence agents who had killed dissident intellectuals in the late 1990s. Ms Ebadi was representing the family of two victims. While looking through evidence from the investigation, she came across the transcript of a conversation between a government minister and a member of the death squad. In it, she found her own name: The next person to be killed is Shirin Ebadi, she read. Iran Awakening is a memoir of a life that spans the rule of the shah to that of ayatollahs by someone who is at once a witness, a protagonist and an astute commentator. Menaced by the regime, in 2003 she was awarded the Nobel peace prize. Ms Ebadi, in exile in London since 2009, remains a nationalist, arguing that Iran must solve its own problems without foreign interference. Islam, she thinks, is perfectly compatible with womens rights. It is not religion that binds women, she writes in her memoir, but the selective dictates of those who wish them cloistered. White Torture. By Narges Mohammadi. Translated by Amir Rezanezhad. Oneworld Publications; 272 pages; $30 and 20 After a summer of unrest in 1999, the regime frequently made use of white torture, or extreme sensory deprivation, to extract information from prisoners or force confessions. Those prisoners are held alone in soundproof, four-square-metre cells, some lit unceasingly by a single bulb. Once in a while, they are allowed 20 minutes of fresh air. White Torture is a collection of interviews conducted by Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian activist. Incarcerated in Ward 209 of Tehrans infamous Evin Prison on charges of attempting to undermine the Islamic Republic, Ms Mohammadi recorded the testimonies of 13 other women held on similar charges (some conversations took place outside prison). Marzieh Amiri, a journalist and activist, was sentenced to ten years behind bars, though she was released in 2019 after seven months. During her incarceration she beat her head against a wall, hoping the pain would dull her thoughts. Prison worsened her epileptic seizures, she says. But the regimes brutal tactics do not break wills, these interviews show. None of the women expresses regret for her resistance; most had been arrested and tortured before their latest detention. Sin. By Forugh Farrokhzad. Translated by Sholeh Wolpe. University of Arkansas Press; 166 pages; $16.95. Forugh Farrokhzads frankness and playfulness about sex would not shock Western readers today. But the literary elite of 1950s Iran was scandalised by her poetry. Many refused to believe that a woman had written it. Farrokhzad published four poetry collections in her short life (she died aged 32 in a car crash in 1967). Respect eventually came to her, first because of her work as a filmmaker. The House is Black, a documentary about a leprosarium in the city of Tabriz, was released in 1962 to critical acclaim. Reborn, published in 1964, is widely considered to be the best collection of poetry in the short history of Persian modernism. (Several of its poems are included in Sin.) After the revolution, the state banned Farrokhzads poetry rather than merely deprecating it. Her publisher refused to stop printing; he was jailed, and the building housing his printing presses was burned to the ground. Also try: To learn more about the plight of women in Iran and whether their discontent poses a threat to the regime, read our analysis of last years protests and our forecast of how they might play out this year. Here you can read more about Irans morality police. Our recent film asks whether Iran is on the verge of a revolution. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. 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Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Kolkata, West Bengal, India Business Wire India Flutrr, Indias first vernacular dating app, has announced a fundraise of INR 4 Cr in a round led by The Chennai Angels. The round saw participation from individual investors such as Vivek Singh, Adhiraj Sarin, Ramki Ravulpalli, among many other reputed investors. Flutrr intends to deploy the newly acquired funds to expand its user base to 5 million and achieve a monthly revenue of Rs. 100 lakhs, positioning itself as a highly profitable enterprise. Small-town India, colloquially known as "Bharat", boasts around 500 million youth who lack English fluency. However, the 'JIO Effect' has brought affordable internet access to even the remotest corners of the nation, leveling the digital playing field. Flutrr is pioneering this change by offering a dating app available in 16 Indian languages, enabling young individuals to connect with potential romantic partners in their native tongues. At Flutrr, we want to bring back romance by creating more deep and meaningful connections, said Anirban Banerjee, Flutrrs Co-Founder and CMO. Beyond this, Flutrr is dedicated to empowering women in small towns to assert their identity and freedom in selecting life partners, underpinned by proprietary technology ensuring safety and privacy in the online dating experience. The Founding team consists of father and son duo, Kaushik Banerjee and Anirban Banerjee. Commenting on the recent fundraise, Kaushik Banerjee said, Flutrr transcends the typical dating app. We are dedicated to one profound mission: empowering small-town youth in embracing their freedom to select their romantic partners in the language of their roots. Over time, we've garnered substantial support from luminaries within the corporate sphere, including top-level executives from Fortune 500 companies. The recent funding round led by The Chennai Angels, one of the most prestigious Angel platforms in the country, gives us confidence that we are on the right path. Flutrr has not only pioneered a unique business model tailored for India's hinterlands, but it has also achieved remarkable milestones in a short span of time. With over 600,000 downloads and an active user base exceeding 400,000, Flutrr is on course to achieve a break-even point by March 2024. Investment Director from The Chennai Angels, Vikas Chawla said, The Indian dating ecosystem is evolving in not just India, but also in Bharat. Flutrr recognizes this evolving landscape and is seizing the opportunity by offering a range of features designed to enhance user compatibility, safety, and privacy. We, at The Chennai Angels are excited about the prospect of scaling this journey together with Flutrr. About The Chennai Angels The Chennai Angels (TCA) is one of Indias most active Angel Investing groups. Founded in the year 2007, it is comprised of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders with a track record of starting and scaling large enterprises. Over the years, TCA has invested over INR 135 Cr across 80 start-ups in India. House of Wok, is a Pan-Asian restaurant and a culinary gem born out of the passion and love for gastronomy that made its debut in October 2019, founded by two childhood friends, who shared a fervent passion for gastronomy. The brand is an amalgamation of aroma and culinary techniques from countries like Thailand, Japan, and China, to provide a unique culinary experience to its patrons in India. House of Wok infuses its travel into its menu, and every dish they serve tells a story. From Thailand's bold and spicy curries to Japan's delicate and refined sushi, the brand strives to bring the world's flavors to your table. Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind starting House of Wok and the journey from being a software engineer to a successful restaurateur? I have been a coder since early childhood and naturally chose software engineering when it came to picking up a major in college. An opportunity came in 2018 where I had an option to leave my venture funded health tech start up (which I started back in 2012), and start over fresh. I have been extremely fond of food, and just like I guess most of us also wanted to have a restaurant of my own. I enjoy travelling a lot, and always make it a point to visit the popular local eateries of the city I would be in. From my travels, I stumbled upon a very tiny place with a huge line outside. The menu was simple, pick either rice or noodle, then pick protein and veggies, and finally choose a sauce. It would then be prepared right in front of you and served in an easy to carry box. From the many restaurants and food experiences I have had, the above one had stayed with me the longest. And therefore before I knew it, House of Wok was born in 2019 with a take on what I had seen and tweaks on what I felt would work best for our market. 2. House of Wok is known for offering global Pan-Asian cuisine. How did you decide on this concept, and what sets your restaurant apart from others in the same niche? I feel that keeping it strictly Pan Asian and that too authentic allowed us to stand out. It also gave us the platform to present various popular dishes we have stumbled across in our travels to Thailand, Japan and China. We dont shy away from challenges. Back when people were selling curry dim sums with dim sums placed in a box full of curry sauce, we realized that its just too messy to eat and we therefore put the curries inside our dim sums. Our Green Curry Veg Dim Sums (a fusion between Thailand and China), are our most popular dim sums till date. We keep innovating with our menu and are extremely brutal when it comes to deciding what stays and what doesnt. A very recent example is of lobster dim sums which we introduced early this year. While we loved the dim sums and were extremely confident of its flavours, we just werent getting enough love from our customers. We realized that perhaps people werent looking to try this for delivery and have therefore discontinued them. We will however be bringing it back for our next dine-in very soon. Its our consistency and perseverance that sets us apart. A validation we keep getting from our loyal customers who keep coming back to us for repeats of their favourites. 3. Your restaurant incorporates flavors from various Asian countries like Thailand, Japan, and China. Could you share how you go about curating your menu and what the process is like in infusing the essence of these cultures into your dishes? We have tried some or the other variation of almost every dish on our menu in our travels. The experience of travelling to all these countries, not only gave us ideas on curating the local favourites, but also helped us create fusions like our curry dim sums and wasabi infused prawns. Whenever we add a new dish to our menu, we put it through several taste tests, even after finalizing the recipe. This ensures that we can consistently provide the same great taste to our customers, no matter which of our kitchens they order from. We also test how our dishes would taste if they have to spend some time in a delivery box, and we consider different delivery times for this as well. 4. Could you discuss the role of technology in the growth and operation of House of Wok? As a software engineer, how have you leveraged technology to enhance the customer experience and streamline restaurant operations? While the cooking happens in the kitchen, we use software to track our inventories and food costs in real time. We use digital tools to manage almost every little thing in our kitchens, thus reducing our dependence on paper along with manual and error prone processes. We also look at data that we get from our channel partners to take decisions on our operational and marketing strategies. 5 . What do you see as the future of House of Wok? Are there any exciting developments or expansion plans that you can share with us? Our journey so far has proved to us that this is sustainable and scalable. We are working on opening more of our outlets across various formats and cities. We have started looking for regional/local franchise partners who are as passionate about food as we are, and are looking to bring House of Wok to their cities. Our first sit down with alcohol would open by the end of this year in Gurgaon. This would be on FOFO model (franchise owned franchise operated) We would also be finally entering the Punjab region within this year, making it our first store outside our home city. This would be on FOFO model as well. 6. . Could you share some insights into the challenges you've faced in the restaurant business, especially in light of the unique circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how you've navigated through them? Lack of experience in the industry led us to burn a lot of money at the beginning. It took us a while to understand the nuances of the trade, and setup processes that would help us to not only offer consistency to our customers, but also optimize operations. We have had great success in setting up base kitchen operations for few of our items, and are planning to build on that to cover more of our menu. The end goal is to have a tighter control on the quality of food reaching our customers which isnt always possible when procuring from multiple vendors. We are building a supply chain to not only help our company owned kitchens, but also support our franchisees to help them offer the same level of taste and experience to their customers. 7. Lastly, for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to enter the restaurant industry, what advice or lessons learned from your journey would you like to pass on to them? Passion alone isnt enough to survive or scale. Understand the business, your market, and your customers before spending your hard-earned money. Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! The working MEXC referral code is 1nLqn. Using this referral code you will get an exclusive bonus worth $1000. MEXC Global is a cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for users to trade a wide range of cryptocurrencies. About MEXC Exchange In the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, the landscape is dotted with numerous cryptocurrency exchanges, each vying for a slice of the trading market. One of these contenders is MEXC, a platform often referred to as "MEXC Global." This exchange has garnered increasing attention in recent years due to its unique features, a commitment to security, and a growing user base. In this article, we'll delve into MEXC Exchange, exploring its history, services, notable features, security measures, and its role in the broader crypto ecosystem. MEXC Exchange was established in 2018, and it has rapidly expanded its presence in the cryptocurrency exchange arena. Founded by a team of experts with extensive experience in blockchain technology and traditional finance, MEXC aimed to create a user-friendly, global trading platform. The exchange started as a spot trading platform but has since diversified its offerings, including derivatives trading and decentralized finance (DeFi) services. It now supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including major assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), as well as numerous altcoins and tokens. MEXC Features Spot and Derivatives Trading: MEXC offers both spot trading and derivatives trading services. Spot trading allows users to buy, sell, and trade a variety of cryptocurrencies. Derivatives trading, on the other hand, allows for more advanced trading strategies, including futures and perpetual contracts. Staking and Yield Farming: MEXC provides staking and yield farming services, allowing users to earn passive income by locking their assets in various DeFi protocols and liquidity pools. Users can stake their tokens and earn rewards in the form of additional tokens or a share of trading fees. 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Community and Partnerships: MEXC Exchange actively engages with its user community through various social media channels and community platforms. This engagement allows users to stay updated on platform developments, promotions, and important announcements. Additionally, MEXC has formed partnerships with a range of blockchain projects, further expanding its ecosystem and offerings. Global Reach: MEXC aims to serve a global audience, and its efforts to provide multi-language support and user-friendly features have contributed to its growth worldwide. The exchange is known for its accessibility to traders from various regions and backgrounds. Token (MX Token): MEXC has its native utility token called "MX." MX Token serves multiple purposes on the platform, including payment of trading fees, participation in token sales, and staking for rewards. Users can also earn MX Tokens through various promotions and trading activities on the exchange. Challenges and Competition: MEXC Exchange operates in a highly competitive industry, and it faces challenges common to most cryptocurrency exchanges. These challenges include regulatory compliance, security threats, and the need to continually innovate to stay competitive. Additionally, as the cryptocurrency market is characterized by volatility, exchanges like MEXC must be prepared to handle rapid fluctuations in trading volumes. Regulatory Compliance: The regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency exchanges varies from one jurisdiction to another. MEXC Exchange, like others in the industry, needs to navigate a complex web of regulations and ensure compliance in the regions where it operates. Meeting these regulatory requirements is essential for building trust with users and avoiding legal issues. 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 contents of the article/advertisement and/or views expressed herein. The reader is further advised that Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. 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 views, opinions, announcements, declarations, affirmations etc., stated/featured in same. The decision to read hereinafter is purely a matter of choice and shall be construed as an express undertaking/guarantee in favour of Hindustan Times of being absolved from any/ all potential legal action, or enforceable claims. The content may be for information and awareness purposes and does not constitute a financial advice. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! India, 11th October 2023: Symbiosis Centre of Information Technology (SCIT), a well-known constituent of Symbiosis International (Deemed University), is known as one of the leading institutes for technical and business education in India. The institute has invited applications for its two tech-centric management programmes, MBA in IT Business Management (ITBM) and MBA in Data Sciences and Data Analytics (DS & DA) via SNAP (Symbiosis National Aptitude Test) 2023. The registration process for SNAP 2023 closes on November 23, 2023, and the registration for SCIT closes on December 21, 2023. Candidates can begin this journey by completing SNAP registration followed by successful SCIT registration at the official SCIT registration website. Welcoming the new cohort, Dr. Dhanya Pramod, Director, SCIT said, SCIT's MBA programmes prepare candidates to be tech-savvy business leaders in today's technology-driven business landscape, spanning e-commerce and finance. The curriculum focuses on honing analytical skills to tackle industry challenges. Alongside technical knowledge, students benefit from mentorship by industry experts and a broad professional network. SCIT invites aspiring individuals to join their journey towards becoming the next generation of business leaders, combining technology expertise with a deep understanding of the business world. In 2023, the SNAP Computer-Based Test (CBT) will be conducted on three separate dates, providing candidates with the flexibility to select the date that best suits their schedule: December 10, 2023 (Sunday), December 17, 2023 (Sunday), and December 22, 2023 (Friday). The much-anticipated SNAP 2023 examination results will be revealed on January 10, 2024 (Wednesday). To access the admit cards for the SNAP Test, candidates can log in to the official SNAP website, www.snaptest.org, on December 04, 2023 (Monday) for SNAP Test 1 and December 09, 2023 (Saturday) for SNAP Test 02 and SNAP Test 03. It's worth noting that the payment deadline aligns with the registration closing date of the examination. SCIT is at the forefront of grooming future leaders for the technology-centric landscape of Industry 4.0. These programmes seamlessly blend core management principles with cutting-edge technical knowledge from disciplines such as Computer Science, cyber security, AI & ML, Data Science, and Analytics to name a few. Moreover, the curriculum is tailored to serve applications across diverse sectors, including Finance, IT, Operations, Supply Chain Management, and General Management. To ensure excellence, SCIT has world-class facilities and robust industry connections that help candidates in the learning process. Also, the cohort gets the sought-after opportunity to be groomed by pioneering faculty members and industry leaders, graduating as industry-ready professionals with hands-on experience in essential tools like R, python, Hadoop, and MapReduce, among others. The MBA in ITBM programme is designed for aspiring technocrats, specializing in areas such as Systems, Information Security, Digital Transformation, and Data Science. Graduates are equipped for roles in Functional Consultancy, Product Management, Cybersecurity consultant, Business Development, ERP Implementation, and more. The SCIT programme prepares students to excel in a tech-driven business world, where technology is the key to solving problems and optimizing operations. Similarly, the MBA (DS & DA) programme is tailored to equip management professionals possessing a strong scientific and analytical inclination with the skills to address data-driven, real-time challenges prevalent in today's dynamic landscape. It aims to prepare candidates for various significant roles within the burgeoning Data Sciences and Analytics sectors, aligning them with the demands of the industry. In conclusion, SCIT, an integral part of Symbiosis International (Deemed University), stands as a beacon of excellence in grooming future leaders for the technology-centric landscape. The institutions MBA programmes adeptly blend technical acumen with management expertise, positioning graduates as formidable contenders in the ever-evolving world of IT, Data Science, Systems, and beyond. With robust industry connections and a dedicated faculty, SCIT is the launchpad for aspiring professionals poised to make a profound impact. For more information visit: SCIT Pune Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! India, 13th October 2023: Over decades of excellence, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), powered by the conjoined effort of its several constituents, has cemented itself as one of the premier educational hubs in the country. Especially for business studies, Symbiosis is one of the top choices of students around the country. Such has been the overarching influence of Symbiosis leadership, that a relatively young and progressive B-school such as SIBM, Nagpur today enjoys the status of being positioned among the fast-growing and leading management education centres in the country. As a result, this year, much like the previous years, Symbiosis has already witnessed numerous applications from prospective students across the country seeking to claim a seat at SIBM, Nagpur. A dream B-school for many ambitious management aspirants, SIBM, Nagpur offers cutting-edge programmes - MBA and MBA (Food and Agri-Business Management), designed to propel candidates to the heights of the corporate world. What sets the institution apart is how industry-centric the education is, giving a definitive glimpse of the industry to the candidates even before they foray into the real world. Moreover, industry connections play a crucial role in securing promising internships and final placements while also helping candidates gain a huge edge over the competition. Elaborating on the vision of the institute, Dr. Shrirang Altekar, Director of SIBM Nagpur said, Right from the year of inception, we have been the institution for the ambitious. With every successive batch the aim of every faculty member as well as that of the decision-makers in the SIBM, Nagpur management remains the same: training the next crop of visionaries and astute business thinkers. We want our cohort to be competent to tackle the persistent and emergent challenges the industry as well as those that the society at large faces. In this conjoined effort, SIBM, Nagpur leaves no stone unturned. We are committed to bringing together leading experts from academia under one roof so that the candidates can master every nuance of the business courses we offer. He further added, At the same time, we strive to help students network with expert industry mentors from our extensive industry connections, thus helping them be industry-geared early on in the B-school journey. Above all, our MBA programmes are about holistic grooming, which is essential for being in good stead in todays dynamic world, be it the ever-expanding food and agriculture sector or fast-paced industries such as Finance, Operations, Marketing, Analytics, etc. SIBM, Nagpurs MBA programme offers comprehensive knowledge in business studies, preparing future management professionals with a holistic perspective of the industry. It enhances analytical, interpersonal, and strategic skills while providing expertise in Finance, Operations, Business Analytics, Operations and Supply Chain, and Marketing. The pedagogy includes real-world industry problems and case studies that offer invaluable insights into the nature of the market. Similarly, SIBM, Nagpurs MBA in Food and Agri-Business Management addresses the growing demand for skilled management professionals in India's agriculture-based economy and evolving global consumption patterns. Graduates of this specific programme are poised to tackle the challenges of this sector, which is expected to reach $535 billion by 2025-2026. In other words, the students are trained for lucrative career opportunities in the rising sector. Be it the emergent industries or the classic professions, SIBM. Nagpur endeavors to equip its candidates with a coveted array of skills required to lead the way in the industry. Towards this success-ensuring education, lies the dedication of SIBM, Nagpurs faculty members, all of whom hold pathbreaking doctorates in their respective fields of interest. Moreover, the frequently arranged guest lectures coupled with industry-related mentorship and alumni interactions create a unique synergy of vibrant ideas among students, preparing them to think like a pioneer. In the same manner, the sprawling infrastructure and the availability of educational resources add to the growth of the candidates, complementing the knowledge they directly gain from the AICTE-approved courses and the Capacity Building Programme, in association with several government entities. Candidates also get the one-of-a-kind opportunity to be part of several renowned and competitive Corporate Associate for Management Development programmes, adding more feathers to their cap. To conclude, SIBM, Nagpur with its promising faculty, industry and alumni network, world-class infrastructure, and pedagogy has cemented itself as a top B-school in India and is poised to continue on that path of excellence in the coming years as well. For more information, visit: https://www.sibmnagpur.edu.in/ Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Vellvette Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd., the parent company of the beauty brand Sugar Cosmetics, has partnered with Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan to elevate its skincare brand, Quench Botanics. Kapoor Khan has become a strategic investor and co-owner of Quench Botanics, Live Mint reported. Kareena Kapoor Khan with Sugar Cosmetics CEO Vineeta Singh(X/Vineeta Singh) Quench Botanics, introduced by Vellvette Lifestyle last year, was designed to introduce Indian consumers to Korean beauty products and regimens. The brand offers a range of skincare products made in Korea, which are currently available in over 1,000 offline stores. Kareena Kapoor Khan's association with the brand is expected to capitalise on her significant social media presence and passion for the beauty category. Vineeta Singh, co-founder & chief executive of Sugar Cosmetics, said that the partnership leverages the strengths of both parties Vellvette Lifestyle's knowledge and distribution capabilities in the beauty industry and Kareena Kapoor Khan's dedication to the category. India is the only market in the world where the beauty and personal care market is set to grow in double-digits over the next decade. Celebrities see that there will be large brands that didnt exist five years ago. I feel theyve realized that partnering with companies, which will create the brands of the future, will help them have a long-term impact, as opposed to say annual endorsement opportunities which are really linked to a celebritys career in that given year," Singh said, Mint reported. Skincare products could potentially contribute to approximately 15% of the company's revenue within the next two to three years. This growth aligns with the company's plans for a future listing on the public market. Sugar Cosmetics is known for its coloured cosmetics, including lipsticks, eye shadow sticks, and cream concealers. In contrast, Quench Botanics offers a range of creams, skin patches, serums, and other skincare products. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Come Friday, Bengaluru, being described as "Mecca for metal music in India", by fans and bands, will host the second edition of The Uprising, an indoor metal music festival. Incidentally, the festival was also held in Mumbai last year. This year, the festival will see an international act, symphonic metal legend Fleshgod Apocalypse from Italy, perform for the first time in the IT hub. However, this is not the first time in India for the band. "We played in Mumbai back in 2015. So, it has been a while. But we heard good things about Bengaluru. We absolutely loved the warmth and hospitality of the people here. And the culture is very appealing. Indian food is definitely something we are looking forward to," Francesco Paoli, leader of the band, told PTI via email. "India has always been noted for having an increasing metal fan base over the last few years," added the musician. READ | There is something known as a soundcheck: Grammy winner Ricky Kej's dig at Trevor Noah over cancelled Bengaluru show Incidentally, the festival was also held in Mumbai last year. But due to an "underwhelming response", the organisers said they have decided to hold the festival only in Bengaluru this time round. "The band was also not available for the Mumbai dates, so that is one of the challenges that we had," said Hitesh Mittal, co-founder of Bengaluru-based India Artists Collective, which is organising the festival for the last two years. But both Mittal and his co-founder Chintan Chinnappa agree that Bengaluru has definitely proved itself to be a hub when it comes to heavy metal music. "Bengaluru has always been the rock capital of India. And I think from the early 2000s itself, the metal scene in Bengaluru has definitely boomed out. And today it stands at its absolute peak. Were seeing a greater number of shows happening than ever before. We have a lot of more organisers and promoters coming into the scene trying to bring in many more international acts," said Chinnappa, who is also part of Bengaluru-based metal band Inner Sanctum. Mittal and Chinnappa trace the evolution of Bengaluru into a metal destination to Sunday jams held in the early 2000s. "Sunday jams brought in live bands. So, this kind of just opened up the whole scene and youngsters like us back then would look forward to going to these jams to watch bands play. And thats also where we picked up instruments and formed bands" said Chinnappa. Although initially, it was more rock music than heavy metal, with time, very early metal bands from India started popping up in these jams, introducing people to a new wave of heavy metal music. They also said the big Anglo-Indian community in Bengaluru played a part in pushing western music, including rock and metal, into the mainstream. "It started very slow where you had a lot of people listening to The Doors, The Beatles and all of that. And it graduated from that into metal like Iron Maiden and Metallica," added Chinnappa. Mittal, who started his own death metal act, Abandoned Agony, way back in 2006, said the metal audience is still evolving in India. "I think with rap and R&B and all of those new forms of music sort of picking up a little more pace in India, the metal did take a beating at some point in time. But now there is a revival, which we are also assisting through the Uprising fest," added Mittal. Although Paoli said a lot of international metal bands are fascinated by the colourful Indian culture, India is still a long way from becoming a sought-after destination by popular international metal acts, said the organisers. "India is not a part of the tour route for most international bands. I mean, initially, big metal bands like Metallica were coming to India. But then that sort of stopped for quite some time. So, one of our objectives is actually to get India back onto the tour route. Now, they usually go to Dubai and they skip India and go directly to China or other Southeast Asian countries, Mittal said. READ | Bangalores shambolic state has provided enough content for Trevor Noahs future shows, says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Part of the reason is the overhead cost, which makes organisers hesitate to bring in artistes from outside India. But the biggest hurdle, however, is the bureaucracy, said the organisers. "We have a lot of rules for our live venues, which sort of takes away from the overall metal experience. To give you an example, indoor venues in India do not allow pyrotechnics. This is permissible in Bangkok and other Southeast Asian countries. As it adds a lot of value to live acts, big bands prefer doing that and going to venues that offer them that," said Chinnappa. As for Bengaluru, with the Trevor Noah show exposing the lack of infrastructure in some of its venues, the organisers said they had been careful about the choice of venue. "We have chosen an indoor venue (White Lotus Club in HSR Layout) that can host about 1,400 people. We are hoping for at least 1,000 to turn up. This is a proper live venue, so the acoustics are fully treated," added Mittal. The Uprising 2023 will also feature two Indian metal bands Bengaluru-based extreme metal act Moral Collapse and up and coming tech death band from Hyderabad, Septic Isle. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After recovery of 30 kg cocaine from two Punjab-based drug smugglers in Ramban on September 30, the Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab Police have arrested eight accused so farfour each from Kupwara and Punjabs Ludhiana. J&K DGP Dilbag Singh showing the materials seized, in Jammu on Thursday. (PTI) Addressing media persons in Jammu, J&K Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said, After the recovery of the contraband, Ramban police worked in close co-ordination with Punjab cops and traced forward and backward linkages of the consignment. In this regard, a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was registered and a special investigation team was constituted, officials said. Special teams were deputed by the Ramban senior superintendent of police to Kashmir and Ludhiana. With the help of technical intelligence and after strenuous efforts, a truck was seized and its driver arrested. The driver was responsible of delivering the consignment in lieu of 45 lakhs at Parimpora, said the DGP. On questioning, the driver disclosed name of another peddler, who was arrested from Kupwara district. It led to arrest of three more peddlers belonging in Kupwara. They all confessed having received the contraband from Pakistan. Their questioning led to recovery of cocaine like substance weighing 4 kg and 198 grams and 43, 17,000, said Singh. In simultaneous investigation, a special team in collaboration with Intelligence Bureau, assisted by Punjab police, traced the trail of digital footprint on various networks. It led to the arrest of notorious drug peddler, Manjeet Singh of Ludhiana, who is the kingpin of the drug racket, he said. So far, we have arrested eight drug peddlers, four each from Kupwara and Ludhiana. The case is still under investigation, he said. Seizure from Manjeets premises included 14 cheque books, two fixed deposit certificates, 12 aadhar cards, nine ATM cards, two pen drives, 38 fake number plates of vehicles, two fake badges of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Punjab Police, a fake sticker of Punjab government , a fake driving license, 14 registrations certificates, a PAN card, eight cell phones, a German made revolver, four diaries, six passports, a currency counting machine, three weighing scales, a rent deed, 44 gm gold, 385 gm silver, 600 gm cocaine like substance, and 4,94,50,000. Dilbag Singh said Pakistan, as part of its narco-terror strategy, continued to smuggle drugs to fund and fuel terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. On September 30, Ramban police had arrested two smugglers, Sarabjeet Singh from Jalandhar and Honey Basra from Kapurthala. J&K has achieved a significant milestone in the fight against terrorism this year so far as the Union territory witnessed the lowest number of terror incidents and civilian deaths in over three decades, the DGP added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Himachal Pradesh government has decided to secure a loan of 1,000 crore ahead of the Diwali festivities to accelerate development initiatives and address financial demands of the people. An official notification in this regard was issued on Thursday by finance secretary Abhishek Jain. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during an SDMA event in Shimla on Friday. (HT Photo) According to the schedule, the Reserve Bank of India is set to raise 1,000 crore through an open auction on October 17 with the funds expected to be transferred to the state governments account on October 18. The loan, with a tenure of 20 years, will be due for repayment on October 18, 2043. The notification adds that this move has received approval from the Union government. With this 1,000 crore, the loans secured by state government in the current financial year stand at 3,300 crore. The state has a borrowing limit of 6,200 crore till this December. The current government has raised loans totalling to over 7,000 crore. The loan, raised just prior to the Diwali season, hints at the possibility of the state government considering an additional disbursement of dearness allowance to its employees. The delayed payments are estimated at around 10,500 crore. The state governments financial requirements have also been worsened by the 4,500-crore relief package in the wake of a natural disaster during the monsoon season. Consequently, the government is securing additional financial resources to address these obligations and for developmental endeavours. The debt burden of the state government was 69,476 crore at the end of the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government. The government, with Jairam Thakur as the CM, had inherited a debt burden of 50,773 crore from the Virbhadra Singh government. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who has been blaming the previous government for poor financial management. During the monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha, Congress brought a white paper which claimed that current government inherited liabilities of 92,774 crore from previous government. According to the white paper, there is a debt of 1,02,818 on each person in the hill state. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court, Panchkula, dismissed the bail plea of an aide of Pakistan-based proscribed listed Khalistani terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu, alias Rinda. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court, Panchkula, dismissed the bail plea of an aide of Pakistan-based proscribed listed Khalistani terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu, alias Rinda. (Representational image) The court of special judge, NIA, Panchkula, Rajeev Goyal, dismissed the bail plea of Sukhbir Singh alias Jasan, 23, of Ferozepur presently lodged in Central Jail, Ferozepur. As per NIA, Sukhbir is also involved in terror conspiracy, smuggling and transportation of arms and ammunition and explosives as well as narcotics sent by terrorist Rinda through drones. The NIA found applicant to have remained involved along with his co-accused in the acts of terror. Thus, very serious allegations of applicant involving himself into terrorist activities on Indian soil have been levelled against the applicant, ruled the court while dismissing his bail plea on Thursday. Sukhbir had sought bail saying that he was not named in the FIR, but later on he was nominated as an accused on the basis of disclosure statement by co-accused Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi. The application pointed out that Sukhbir has been in custody since September 1, 2022, and challan has already been filed in the case. Opposing the grant of bail, special public prosecutor for NIA said that Sukhbir along with the co-accused used to pick consignments sent from Pakistan by Rinda through drone droppings and he helped the other co-accused in identifying the drone site/location at Rajoke, Tarn Taran and picked such consignments on multiple times. Ammunition seized in May 2022 The Haryana Police had on May 5, 2022, seized three IEDs, one pistol with two magazines, 31 rounds of ammunition and 1.30 lakh in cash from four accused, Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, Amandeep Singh, alias Deepa, Parminder Singh, alias Pinder, and Bhupinder Singh. They were going to deliver the consignment to Adilabad, Telangana, in the Innova car, in which a specially designed cavity had been created to hide the arms and cash. A case was registered at police station Madhubhan, Haryana. On May 24, 2022, the NIA took over the investigations in the case. Investigations by the NIA revealed that the four men had received multiple consignments of arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics, which were sent via drones from Pakistan by wanted terrorist Rinda. The supplies were delivered to pre-determined locations near the Indo-Pak border. Further investigations showed that Gopi had earned a lot of money by smuggling arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics. Extensive investigations led to the seizure of the Innova car and 7,80,000 by the NIA on March 30, 2023. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Punjab BJP vice-president and former state minister Raj Kumar Verka on Friday announced his decision to quit the party and return to the Congress. Punjab BJP vice-president Raj Kumar Verka (right) addressing a press conference at his residence in Amritsar on Friday. He was accompanied by his nephew, Priyanshu Verka, and supporters. (Sameer Sehgal/HT) A prominent Dalit face in the states politics, Verka told reporters in Amritsar: I made a mistake by joining the BJP but now Im going to rectify it. Im leaving for Delhi. On returning, I shall address you again but from a Congress platform. Also read: Punjab governor objects to AAP govt calling extended assembly session Asked why he was quitting, he said: Unlike the Congress, the BJP has not been able to accommodate all sections of society. So, leaving my mother party was my fault. All my aides will also be returning to the Congress with me. Verka holds sway in the Scheduled Caste community in Amritsar. He joined the BJP along with other Punjab Congress leaders in Delhi in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah on June 5 last year. He represented Amritsar West constituency (SC) from 2012-22. He was elected MLA from the erstwhile Verka constituency in 2002. Verka chaired state corporations besides serving as Punjab minister of social justice, medical education and research, and new and sustainable resource of energy during the previous Congress government. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Surjit Singh Surjit Singh is a correspondent. He covers politics and agriculture, besides religious affairs and Indo-Pak border in Amritsar and Tarn Taran. ...view detail Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday claimed that the world is running due to the Sanatana Dharma and those who are trying to eradicate it are harming themselves. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, yoga guru Ramdev and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a religious function in Rohtak on Thursday. (Manoj Dhaka/HT) Addressing a gathering at Baba Mastnath University on the occasion of a religious function, Bhagwat said that he feels sorry for those people who are claiming to eliminate Sanatana. I am not angry with such people and these remarks are being given due to ignorance. Sanatana has strengthened Indian culture, and this has provided peace across the world. Sanatana believes in uniting people across all castes and religions. God only helps us when we work unitedly, he added. Uttar Pradesh chief minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath said that people are leaving Afghanistan and Ukraine due to violence, but India has ensured peace as it believes in Sanatana. Some people have the misconception that Ram Temple will not be built but those believing in Sanatana have a hope that one day it will be constructed. The people are facing war-like situations in Afghanistan and Ukraine, and they are leaving their nations. Under PMs leadership, India and Sanatana have guaranteed peace and people are looking towards India with hope, the UP CM added. Yoga guru Ramdev said that saints have contributed a lot to yoga and Sanatana dharma will remain forever. If we get united and work towards a fixed goal, India can become vishwaguru in 2035 instead of 2047. People should work 18 hours to make India a powerful country, he added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! The Delhi high court has dismissed the anticipatory bail application of the two children of suspended women and child development (WCD) department official Premoday Khakha, accused of raping a minor girl in his care multiple times at his residence in Burari between November 2020 and January 2021. The Delhi high court said that granting Premoday Khakhas children pre-arrest bail would not only be premature but may also tantamount to derailing the investigation, which is at a nascent stage. (File Photo) Khakhas 19-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son are accused of abetting the alleged crime. According to the first information report (FIR) registered by the Delhi police on August 13, 2023, the girl had informed them about the incidents of rape but they disbelieved her. It was also stated in the FIR that Khakhas son had procured a pregnancy test kit from the market at the behest of his mother that was used by the girl to confirm the pregnancy. Post this, she was given abortion pills by Khakhas wife, which led to the termination of the pregnancy. The FIR was registered under sections 376 (2)(f) (rape), 509 (outraging womans modesty) 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) 313 (causing miscarriage without womans consent) 120 B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 read with sections 6 (sexual assault) and 21 (punishment for failure to report or record a case) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 (POCSO). Taking note of the fact that the investigating agency was unaware of the childrens whereabouts, justice Saurabh Banerjee said on Wednesday that granting them pre-arrest bail would not only be premature but may also tantamount to derailing the investigation, which is at a nascent stage. Lastly, this court cannot lose sight of the means, position and standing of the father of the applicant, who is a co-accused, coupled with the likelihood of tampering with the evidence and influencing the witnesses, causing obstacles to the investigation and resulting in derailing of the trial, most relevantly, and that the applicant is not traceable despite efforts of the investigating agency, which lead to a conclusion that he may be a flight risk upon grant of anticipatory bail, the court said. Khakhas son and daughter, appearing through advocate Rahul Kumar, told the court that a specific role was assigned to them in the FIR. Stressing on their clean antecedents, he made an attempt to convince the court to grant them pre-arrest bail and also said that the son was recently enrolled in a College in Puducherry for further studies. Kumar also argued that the notice issued by the police under section 41A of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was improper. He added that the arrest would be arbitrary and unlawful since the children had already joined the investigation. Opposing the anticipatory bail, special public prosecutor (SPP) Rupali Bandhopadhya, appearing for the Delhi police, said that Khakhas children were non-cooperative as their mobile phones had been switched off for the past one month and the investigating agency failed to trace them despite best efforts. She added that Khakhas son was actively involved in the commission of the offence as he himself had procured the medical pregnancy test kit. Opposing Khakhas daughters bail, the SPP said that she failed to inform the appropriate authorities about the incident irrespective of the girl sharing her plight with Khakhas daughter. Both applicants have actively abetted in the crime and hence their bail applications must be rejected, the SSP added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra chaired the High-Level Task Force meeting on air pollution in Delhi-NCR at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Friday. Air pollution levels in Delhi touch hazardous levels every winter, and while they are driven initially by fumes from stubble fires in neighbouring states, vehicles are among the key sources of pollution at a local level. (Picture for representation only) The meeting was held to review the preparedness of various stakeholders to deal with the issue of adverse air quality in Delhi-NCR as the winter season approaches. During the meeting, the Principal Secretary discussed in detail about various measures being undertaken to reduce the impact of different sources of air pollution including industrial pollution; vehicular pollution; dust from construction and demolition (C and D) activities; dust from roads and ROWs; burning of municipal solid waste (MSW), biomass and The misc. waste; agricultural stubble burning; and dispersed sources. Greening and plantation initiatives to abate air pollution were also deliberated during the meeting. Principal Secretary also discussed the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), its monitoring and measures to improve its enforcement at the field level. He said that strict implementation of the actions listed in the GRAP by all concerned is critical to prevent the worsening of air quality. MM Kutty, Chairman, CAQM informed that industries of NCR are being shifted to cleaner fuels and out of 240 industrial areas, as many as 211 have already been provided CNG connection. Similarly, out of 7759 fuel-based industries, as many as 7449 have shifted to PNG/approved fuels. Chairman, CAQM also briefed that there has been an increase in e-vehicles and presently 4,12,393 e-vehicles are registered in NCR. The number of e-buses and battery charging stations has also increased and now there are 4793 EV charging points in Delhi. As regards, Construction and Demolition (C-D) waste management, CAQM informed that 5 C-D waste processing facilities with the capacity of 5150 tonnes per day (TPD) are operationalised and one more facility with 1000 TPD capacity is in the pipeline in Delhi. In Haryana, the C-D facility with 600 TPD capacity is operational and 700 TPD is in the pipeline. In Uttar Pradesh, 1300 TPD is operational and 2 facilities are in the pipeline. All the states were requested to augment C-D waste processing capacities. In an effort to ensure the reduction of the paddy stubble burning across Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the Principal Secretary to the PM instructed close monitoring of the issue by the Chief Secretaries of the three states. He advised the in-situ management of paddy stubble through Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines and the use of bio-decomposers. He also advised the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) to improve the technology. Elaborating on ex-situ management of paddy stubble, he advised working on developing the economic use of paddy straw. He stressed developing adequate storage facilities for baled straw along with infrastructure for baling, briquetting and pelleting etc. for effective ex-situ utilisation of paddy straw. Further, strict adherence to the stipulated targets for co-firing biomass, with a focus on paddy straw, in the thermal power plants biomass was also discussed. During the discussion, the Principal Secretary emphasized on a multi-pronged approach comprising several measures, such as procurement of biomass pellets, adopting the benchmark price issued by the Ministry of Power, expanding gas infrastructure and supply in the entire NCR region by March 2024, and ensuring expeditious supply of biomass on demand. Further, there should be intensified drives to replace overaged vehicles, vehicles that are visibly polluting because of overloading and other reasons, and stricter implementation of actions envisaged in the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) by all concerned. The meeting was attended by all major stakeholders viz. Secretaries to the government in the Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, Power, Petroleum, Road Transport and Highways, Housing and Urban Affairs, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, besides the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas, Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi, Central Pollution Control Board and the respective State Pollution Control Boards/DPCC were present in the review meeting. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Three people were arrested from two warehouses in Farrukhnagar for allegedly selling banned firecrackers, officials aware of the development said on Friday. Police said the crackers were intended to be sold in Gurugram and Delhi NCR ahead of Diwali. (Representational image) Joint raid by a team of the chief ministers flying squad and police was conducted at the two godowns. Police seized three tonnes of banned firecrackers from the warehouses in Dabodha village in Farrukhnagar on Friday. Police said that many small-scale units are manufacturing banned crackers and are stocking them for sale ahead of Diwali. There are manufacturing units in Jhajjar too which are producing banned crackers. Some licence holders are also involved in illegal manufacturing, said deputy superintendent of police Inderjeet Yadav, a member of the flying squad, adding that these firecrackers were intended to be sold in Gurugram and across Delhi NCR. Police said that officials of the fire and pollution department were also part the raid which was conducted in the presence of a duty magistrate. On October 10 last year, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) had banned the manufacture, sale and use of firecrackers, except green crackers, following which the district administration and police have been keeping a close watch. On the complaint of CM flying squad, two separate FIRs were registered under Section 9B of Explosive Act 1884 and Section 188 (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code at Farrukhnagar police station on Friday. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON It may need a trial to determine the religious nature of the place where the Gyanvapi mosque stands in Varanasi, the Supreme Court observed on Friday, even as the mosque management committee pressed that any suit seeking the right to worship Hindu deities inside the complex or title of the land was absolutely barred under the law. Due to paucity of time, the bench adjourned the hearing of the matter to October 16. (Pic for representation) You are saying you are covered by the Places of Worship Act, 1991. You say you cannot alter the status as it existed as on August 15, 1947, and it cannot be converted also. Therefore, what was the religious character also has to be led by evidence. Is it not? a bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, asked senior counsel Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared for the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the 17th century mosque. Ahmadi maintained that the suit filed by some Hindu women seeking right to worship was ex facie barred because their plaint too states that it is a mosque. But the bench, which also included justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, replied: You are saying it is barred by the 1991 Act..It will have to be seen at evidence in trial. Senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for some of the Hindu women plaintiffs, said that she would be opposing any plea to halt the proceedings before the Varanasi civil court on the ground of maintainability of their suit. Due to paucity of time, the bench adjourned the hearing of the matter to October 16. The 1991 Act locks the position or religious identity of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947, with the exception of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid and barred any court from entertaining a matter that seeks to alter the religious nature of that place. This has, however, not prevented a spate of litigations in recent months, which include several suits regarding the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura. While the Varanasi district judge is holding a joint trial of eight suits claiming the existence of Hindu idols inside the Gyanvapi mosque, there are 10 suits pending before a Mathura trial judge relating to Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute. Meanwhile, a batch of petitions some seeking to scrap the 1991 Act and some others asking for tight enforcement of the same law-- have remained pending before the top court since March 2021. The Supreme Court is seized of a bundle of petitions filed by the mosque management committee, challenging the spot inspection and order of scientific survey of the mosque complex, as well as order upholding the maintainability of the suits. Through its petition, the mosque management committee endeavours to bar all claims over the access to the mosque or title of the Gyanvapi complex, relying on the 1991 law. Section 3 of the Act imposes a prohibition on individuals and groups of people against converting, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination -- or even a different segment of the same religious denomination. It had earlier sought to get the case thrown out under Order VII Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC). But last September, the Varanasi district judge dismissed the committees application. This judgment was upheld by the Allahabad high court in May, compelling the committee to approach the Supreme Court. The other petition has challenged the May 2022 order of the Varanasi court directing a full survey of the mosque complex through an advocate commissioner. After the mosque management committee challenged this before the top court, the bench declined to stop the survey but directed that the section of the complex where the Shivling was reportedly found shall remain protected, adding Muslims would also have the right to offer namaz in other sections of the mosque without any hindrance. On May 20, 2022, the Supreme Court transferred the suit from a civil judge to the Varanasi district judge, citing the complexities and sensitivities involved in the matter. It further asked the district judge to decide on priority the application of the mosque management committee under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC that challenged the maintainability of the suit. Last month, the apex court refused to halt the ASI survey of the mosque, observing that it could not find fault with the district courts order of July 21, nor would it interfere with every interlocutory direction passed in the case. The bench held that the order of the Varanasi district judge could not be construed to be without jurisdiction since the CPC empowered a court to issue a commission for a scientific investigation, the report of which was subject to be argued and tested at the time of the trial. At the same time, the bench noted that the high court was correct in introducing some additional safeguards to circumscribe the order of the district judge, which included the directions passed to ensure there would be no excavation at the site, nor destruction of any part of the existing structure. The top court added that ASI would carry out its survey only using non-invasive methods. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has ordered the Uttar Congress Committee (UPCC) to clear pending bills of 2.66 crore of the U.P. State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) within three months for utilising its buses between 1981 to 1989 while disposing of a 25-year-old petition. For representation only (HT File Photo) During this period, the Congress party was in power in the state and it used buses and taxis for its rallies. A division bench of justice Vivek Chaudhary and justice Manish Kumar passed the order last week and ordered the UPCC to pay the pending bills with 5% interest from the date when they were due. In the present case, the political party in power had exercised its dominant position and utilised public property for its political purpose, observed the court. The court added that public exchequer cannot be used for political purposes. The court also observed that simply alleging political bias or raising technical points cannot absolve the UPCC from paying its pending dues. The petitioner (UPCC) showed its intention when it had filed the present writ petition and obtained an interim order but for the last 25 years it has not acted in furtherance of the assurance given on the first date of hearing, said the court. Even though the amount is not recoverable under the provisions of Act of 1972 but for the reasons discussed above this court does not find it a fit case for exercising its discretionary jurisdiction in favour of petitioner (UPCC), said the court. The court had passed the order on a writ petition filed by the UPCC in 1988 challenging the recovery notice issued by Tehsildar (Sadar), Lucknow, on November 10, 1998. The UPSTRC had approached the high court claiming an amount of 2.66 crore due on the UPCC. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Pawan Dixit Pawan Dixit has been a journalist for over a decade. He has extensively covered eastern UP for around five years, covered 2012 UP assembly polls, 2014 Lok Sabha polls while being stationed in Varanasi. Now, in Lucknow, he covers outstation political assignments, reports special cases from district court, high court and state information commission ...view detail Bhiwandi HT Image A 9-year-old boy drowned in the Kamvari river in Bhiwandi recently, the police said on Sunday. The police said the deceased has been identified as Vikas Vinod Singh Thakur, who lived with his parents in the Mithpada area, Shelar village, Bhiwandi. The incident took place at Kamvari River situated at Nadi Naka, under Bhiwandi Taluka police station jurisdiction on Saturday. Police said that Thakur along with his two friends came to the river to swim but he could not gauge the depth of the water and ventured deeper into the river and drowned. Senior Police Inspector, Ranvir Bayas, Bhiwandi Taluka Police Station said, Thakur friends fled from the spot due to fear after seeing he was drowning. Thakurs parents and neighbours launched a search for him when he did not come home by evening. They approached the police station about their missing son. Thereafter, two friends of Thakur narrated about the incident. We informed the fire brigade team and their team fished out the body which was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital. A post-mortem was conducted, and the body was handed over to family members for final rites. Bayas said. The Bhiwandi Taluka police lodged an Accidental Death Report. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Navi Mumbai Narcotics worth 1.1 crore seized The Anti Narcotics Unit (ANU) of Navi Mumbai has arrested a 29-year-old man from Goregaon who came to sell drugs in APMC area on Tuesday evening. The accused has been identified as Shamsuddin Abdul Kader Etingal (29). ANU has seized 1 kg 11 grams of MD (Mephedrone) worth 1.1 crore from him. The ANC had received a tip about a man who was expected to come near Satra Plaza at APMC node of Navi Mumbai with MD. Accordingly, Senior Police Inspector Neeraj Chaudhary of the ANC and his team laid a trap near the Satra Plaza building on Tuesday evening. At around 4.30 pm, the accused Etingal was seen suspiciously loitering in the area and was nabbed by ANC. He was frisked and the police found MD weighing 1.1kg. On further interrogation, he revealed that he had received the drugs from a person named Raju in Vasai. This was his first arrest. A class XII pass out, he runs a mobile accessories shop in Andheri. We are investigating the case further to find the buyers and suppliers of the drugs, Chaudhary said. The family of the accused originally hails from Ernakulam district of Kerala. Etingal was born and brought up in Mumbai, and has been now disowned by his family. He lives alone in Goregaon. This is the second seizure of drugs done by ANC in this month. Last week, a Nigerian was nabbed from Ulwe with MD worth 85 lakh. In that case, the ANC had found links to Nalasopara where too a large number of Nigerians reside. According to police, the MD found from Nigerians and Indians are different in quality even as the rates are same. The ones found from Nigerians are more in crystal form and white in colour, while the ones found with Indians is in powder form and yellowish in colour. Etingal has been arrested under the sections 22 (punishment for contravention about psychotropic substances) and 8 (c) (producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, using, consuming, importing, exporting any narcotic drug/psychotropic substance) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The accused has been remanded to police custody till October 16. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Thane HT Image The Naupada police arrested Kalyan resident Amol Andhale, one of the five named in the case, in the early hours of Thursday in connection with the cheating case related to 260 bank accounts which transacted a whopping 16180 crore. This is the first arrest in the case. A team of officials raided his offices in Navi Mumbai and questioned some employees in those offices. According to them, Andhale was in charge of offices of five firms set up by the firm Riyal Enterprises. The police came to know that Amol Andhale had asked Kedar Dighe to open new bank accounts and bring passbooks and cheque books of these accounts. The police recorded statements of five employees who were working under Andhale in Thane, Navi-Mumbai and Mumbai area. Police sources said that the accused had also deceived the income tax and GST authorities, and these agencies would conduct a separate probe into the offences. The police estimate the volume of transactions to be 16,181.41 crore, and are investigating the source of this money. In July, HT had exclusively reported a cyber fraud which happened through the escrow account of a payment gateway company, in which 25 crore were siphoned off. While investigating the case lodged at Shrinagar police station, it was found that of the 25 crore, an amount of 1.39 crore had been transferred to Riyal Enterprises, a company with offices at Vashi and Belapur, after which a cheating case was filed against the owners at Naupada police station. The investigations showed that some of the 260 bank accounts used by Riyal Enterprises and its five partnership firms belonged to economically underprivileged people. The police suspect that Andhale and Dighe, both whom worked with banks, had expertise in KYC process and used the identity documents like Aadhar card and Pan card to open multiple bank accounts in the name of slum dwellers and moved money through them. Meanwhile, a relative of Amol Andhale told HT Amol was working for someone and he was following his seniors orders. What police are claiming about Amol is questionable and we will challenge it. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak on Friday ordered an inquiry into Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida after it came to fore that the hospital allegedly forgot to inform the police about the death of a 70-year-old man and his body lay forgotten in the hospital mortuary for about 15 days. HT Image The matter was reported on October 7 when the hospital sent out a memo to Kasna police station informing them about the death. The memo stated that on July 22, a person identified as Sohanpal (70), a resident of Eta-1, Greater Noida, was brought to GIMS in a critical condition. He died on September 23 and his body was moved to the mortuary, but the hospital did not inform the police, which is the next step in such cases, said Santosh Kumar Shukla, station house officer of Kasna police station. According to legal procedures, the hospital has to inform the local police station about any death happening at their facility immediately, so that police can carry out further legal proceedings, which include filling out an identification form and getting the autopsy done, in case the body remains unclaimed. Shukla informed Surajpur SHO about the memo as the deceased was a resident of a locality under the jurisdiction of the Surajpur police station. We took the body into custody and carried out its identification and sent it out for a post-mortem examination to the mortuary in Sector 94, Noida. There, doctors revealed that the body was at least 15 days old, said Awadhesh Pratap Singh, SHO of Surajpur police station. The matter was brought to the attention of higher officials of the health department. Once the forensic doctors raised concerns that a body was brought for autopsy 15 days after death, the matter was communicated to officials of GIMS. The institute does not come under the district health department, said Dr Sunil Kumar Sharma, chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar. SHO Singh said on October 8, an autopsy of the deceased was carried out and on October 9, the body was cremated. Police contacted a neighbour of the deceased in his locality and with his help, the body was cremated on October 9, said Singh. On October 9, GIMS released a statement on the matter. The patient was admitted to the GIMS on July 22 after a brain stroke and died on September 23 after which the body was shifted to the mortuary. The person who brought the patient to the hospital remained inaccessible during the entire course of treatment, GIMS said in a statement. The statement added that the person who got the patient admitted to the hospital could not be contacted over the phone and, eventually, on October 7, the hospital informed the Kasna police station about the death. The entire treatment, for over two months, was provided free of cost and teams from multiple departments were looking after the patient, the hospital further said. According to a statement by the state government on Friday, deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, who is also the health minister, has taken cognizance of the matter and has directed the principal secretary of the medical education department -- GIMS comes under this department -- to seek clarification from the director of GIMS. A serious instance of a dead body being forgotten in a freezer for 15 days has come to light at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida. Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak has taken cognizance of this highly sensitive incident. The institute staff had carelessly kept the body in the freezer for 15 days and forgot about it. The deputy CM said the entire incident will be investigated and strict action will be taken against those responsible, the statement said. Pathak also released a similar statement on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle. GIMS director brigadier RK Gupta (retired) was unavailable for a comment on the matter. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Gujarat high court on Thursday refused to stay the summons issued to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP, by a magistrates court in a defamation case filed by the Gujarat University in connection to Prime Minister Narendra Modis educational qualification. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (left) and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh (right) (File Photo) Justice JC Doshi while hearing their joint petitions seeking quashing of the summons issued by the trial court, issued notice to the Gujarat University and state government on Thursday and posted the matter for a detailed hearing on November 3. The magistrate court in Ahmedabad, which is conducting the trial in the defamation case, will take up the matter on October 14. The two AAP leaders have contested the summons issued by an Ahmedabad magistrate court in a criminal defamation complaint lodged by the Gujarat University against them. Additionally, they are pursuing the annulment of an Ahmedabad sessions court order, which had upheld the summons issued by the magistrate court. The magistrates court in Ahmedabad which is conducting the trial in the defamation case had issued summons to the AAP leaders in April. Kejriwal and Singh were initially summoned by a magistrate court to appear before it on April 15, and subsequently, a fresh summons was issued on May 23. In response, the two AAP leaders approached the high court on September 16, where they sought to challenge the April summons and requested its annulment. Kejriwal and Singh allegedly made derogatory statements defaming the varsity over the controversy pertaining to PM Modis academic degree. The defamation complaint was moved by Gujarat University registrar Piyush Patel. According to Patel, Kejriwal made such defamatory utterances at a press conference on April 1 and Singh made such utterances at a second press conference on April 2. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! The Uttar Pradesh government has made available 1,000 crore for acquiring land for the expansion of the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi. Narendra Singh, vice-chairman, Purvanchal Development Board, being welcomed by divisional commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma (HT Photo) Around 350 acres of land will be purchased in the next two months for the purpose, said divisional commissioner, Varanasi, Kaushal Raj Sharma in 12th meeting of Purvanchal Development Board, held in Varanasi, on Friday. The Purvanchal Development Board was formed on December 28, 2018 as a consultative body under the chairmanship of the chief minister, in which eight divisions have been included. Sharma presented details of the work being done for the development of Varanasi Division. He informed the board about the efforts being made to free Varanasi from traffic jams. He said that the work of air street-widening and runway expansion will be done. It will promote the development of an aero bridge and cargo and thus, the vegetables and fruits in large scale will be exported to Gulf countries directly. In the current year, more than 600 tonnes of Langra mangoes and vegetables have been exported. To further promote this, a packaging house has been built in Karakhiyaon in which grading and sorting work is being done, Sharma said. Describing the development work done in waterway transport, he also informed about the ropeway project currently being built in Varanasi. He also enumerated developmental work done in Varanasi in the last nine years. District magistrate S Rajalingam gave information about the paddy purchase centre and said that last year 45,000 metric tonnes were purchased against the target. This year 498 purchasing centres have been made. Narendra Singh, vice-chairman, Purvanchal Development Board, chaired the meeting at the Circuit House, Varanasi. Members of the board, Jai Prakash Nishad, Vijay Shankar Yadav, Pardeshi Ravidas, Arvind Singh Patel, Jitendra Pandey, Vijay Vikram Singh, Rajkumar Shahi, Omprakash Goyal, Dr. KP Srivastava and Ashok Choudhary attended the meeting and expressed their views related to the development of Purvanchal. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! .LUCKNOW For representation ony (HT File Photo) The concept of a hospice is yet to take hold in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, we are at a nascent stage where general care of elderly has started at a few centres but hospice care is yet to be made available, said Prof Kauser Usman, HoD geriatric medicine, King Georges Medical University (KGMU). The basic goal of palliative care is to ease the suffering of a patient in a terminal-stage disease and make the experience as pleasant as possible. This year, the theme of the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (October 14) is Compassionate Communities: Together for Palliative Care. Sample this. The palliative care unit of the KGMU started home care service in 2016 and till now 260 patients have benefited from it. Obviously the need is much more. Just as new hospitals are coming up, we need to get palliative care centres too, keeping in view the pain and suffering of those in end-stage disease, said Dr Sudhir Singh of department of radiotherapy at KGMU. KGMU has a 10-bed palliative care unit while in the private sector not even a dozen such centres run in the state capital. Less than 1% of the population has access to palliative care. Despite the need, hospice care isnt available as only numbered people are trained in this, said Dr Abhishek Shukla, head of the Aastha Hospice and Geriatric Care Centre. Palliative care is required for patients with life-limiting disease such as cancer, and when patient response to treatment is actually not benefiting much. A hospice is needed when doctors have given up and a few months of life are left. Suffering whether it is physical or mental, troubles a lot. Hence, palliative care also talks about counselling for both the patients and family members, said Dr Shukla. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON BETTIAH: Four men arrested in Bihars West Champaran district on charges of kidnapping a jewellers 14-year-old son on Wednesday have told the police that they killed the teenager before making the call to seek 20 lakh ransom, police said on Friday. West Champaran SP D Amarkesh said the four suspects told interrogators that they killed the boy soon after kidnapping him (Getty Images/iStockphoto) The class 9 students body was recovered from a secluded place near a steel plant in Kumarbag, 12 km from district headquarters Bettiah, at the instance of the four suspects, West Champaran district superintendent of police (SP) D Amarkesh said. Amarkesh said the body was recovered from a pond at about 1:30am on Friday. His hands and legs had been tied. Police said there were multiple injury marks on his body. The boys uncle, Suraj Kumar, said they had hoped the young boy would be safe. We were hopeful that Ashish would be rescued safely before we came to know about his death, Kumar said. The boy, a class 9 student of Kumarbag high school near Bettiah, went missing on Wednesday. Bettiahs sub divisional police officer Mahtab Alam said the boy was at school till 1pm on Wednesday. But he was nowhere to be found around. His school bag was at the school, Alam added. Amarkesh said the boys body was located following the arrest of the four suspects. The kidnappers killed the boy on Wednesday itself and made a ransom call after the murder, he said, citing the interrogation of the four suspects. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! The Jharkhand high court on Friday dismissed chief minister Hemant Sorens petition challenging the ED summons and two contentious provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), saying the plea was not maintainable. The Jharkhand high court on Friday dismissed chief minister Hemant Sorens petition challenging the ED summons (HT Photo) Soren had challenged the summons issued by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) for questioning in connection with an ongoing money laundering probe related to an alleged land scam in Ranchi in the past two months, the first being on August 7, besides terming section 50 and section 63 of PMLA unconstitutional. These two sections give the federal agency power to summon witnesses and extract confessions under the laws section 50 and the punishment for false information under section 63. On Friday, a division bench of chief justice Sanjaya Mishra and justice Anand Sen took up the matter for hearing. After hearing both sides, the bench decided to dismiss the petition. Appearing on behalf of Soren, senior counsel Kapil Sibal argued that the ED summons lacked clarity as there is no case pending against the chief minister, and the summons did not clarify whether he has been summoned as an accused or a witness. The court dismissed the petition, saying it was not maintainable at this stage. Firstly, the plea seeking to set aside the ED summon has become infructuous as the life of the challenged summon has expired, and there is no fresh summon pending. Secondly, on the issue of challenging sections 50 and 63 of the PMLA Act, the court observed that the Supreme Court has already decided on the issue (in a separate case), said a senior counsel who was part of the proceedings. The chief minister has skipped five summons issued by the ED questioning so far, with the last one being on October 4. Since the summons date has already expired, there was no scope to stay or strike it down, the counsel added. The chief minister moved the high court on September 23, days after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea and directed him to approach the concerned high court. While Sorens lawyers remained tight-lipped over the future course of action, people close to the developments said a lot will depend on possible ED action, besides the upcoming review by the Supreme Court on October 18, when a special bench is scheduled to take up petitions challenging its judgment upholding contentious provisions of the PMLA. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vishal Kant Vishal Kant works as an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times. He tracks developments in Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi government. Vishal has spent about a decade covering the city politics and governance, besides writing on Delhis civic issues, urban transport and infrastructure. ...view detail To improve the overall quality of education and to provide the right teaching environment to medical students, the National Medical Commission (NMC) decided to limit the undergraduate seats in each state. According to the NMC, the decision has been applauded by various state branches of IMA, students associations, and the medical fraternity in general.(HT File Photo) According to a press release by the NMC, considering its objective and commitment to providing quality education, the UG seats in each state have been decided to be limited to 100 per million population. It is expected that this will reduce regional disparities in the availability of healthcare professionals and will go a long way in ensuring effective quality of education. With this ratio there will be still potential for the addition of about 40,000 MBBS seats in the country if the medical colleges are evenly distributed, read the official statement by the NMC. According to the NMC, the decision has been applauded by various state branches of IMA, students associations, and the medical fraternity in general. In the past, various courts had made observations on the crowding of medical colleges in the states. One such instance was when the Madurai bench of Madras High Court cautioned NMC against crowding of medical colleges. After considering various observations, the NMC decided to include the provision to limit the seats in the recently notified MSR guidelines 2023. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Get latest news on Education along with updates on Board Exams and Competitive Exams at Hindustan Times. Also get latest Job updates on Employment News The class 12 and class 10 board exam dates for 2024 have been released by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB), Gandhinagar. The GSHSEB Class 12 science stream and Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSC) will be held between March 11 and March 26, 2024. The GSHSEB class 10th and class 12th admit card is available on the official website. GSHSEB announces exam dates for classes 10th and 12th for 2024 Rajasthan Staff Selection Board, RSMSSB will begin the registration process for Animal Attendant posts on October 13, 2023. Candidates who want to apply for the post can do it through the official website of RSMSSB at rsmssb.rajasthan.gov.in. RSMSSB Animal Attendant Recruitment 2023: Registration for 5934 posts begin today (HT file) The last date to apply is till November 11, 2023. The correction facility will open for 7 days from the last date of registration. The written examination will be conducted in between April to June 2024. Candidates should have passed secondary or its equivalent examination from a recognized Board established by law in India to apply for the post. Knowledge of working in Hindi written in Devanagari script and knowledge of the culture of Rajasthan. The age limit should be between 18 to 40 years of age. RSMSSB Animal Attendant Recruitment 2023: How to apply To apply online candidates can follow the steps given below. Visit the official website of RSMSSB at rsmssb.rajasthan.gov.in. Click on RSMSSB Animal Attendant Recruitment 2023 link available on the home page. Enter the registration details and register yourself. Once done, fill the application form and make the payment of application fees. Click on submit and download the page. Keep a hard copy of the same for further need. The application fees is 600/- for unreserved category and 400/- for SC/ST and other categories. The payment should be made through online mode. For more related details candidates can check the official website of RSMSSB. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Get latest news on Education along with updates on Board Exams and Competitive Exams at Hindustan Times. Also get latest Job updates on Employment News Ratna Pathak Shah has said it is an embarrassment that senior male actors romance younger heroines. Speaking with India Today in an interview, the actor also recalled her husband Naseeruddin Shah's role in Vidya Balan's The Dirty Picture. (Also read: Monisha and Maya Sarabhai reunite) Ratna Pathak Shah ccalls it an embarrassment that senior male actors romance heroines of 'their daughters' age'. Ratna on senior actors romancing young heroines Asked about senior actors romancing younger heroines onscreen, Ratna said, "My husband (Naseeruddin Shah) was playing a senior actor in The Dirty Picture and he had a scene which required him to go running to his mom and say 'Ma, main college mein first-class first ho gaya (I topped the college exam with a first-class)'. That was supposed to be a joke in the film, but unfortunately, that is the reality." No competition "Unko sharam nahi aati to mai kya bolun? Betiyo ki umar ki ladkiyon se ishq ladane mein unko sharam nahi aati to mai kya bolun? (What can I say when they do not feel ashamed romancing women their daughters' age? What can I say if they are not ashamed of doing it)? It is an embarrassment." When Dia Mirza, who was also present for the interview, suggested that maybe women should also be allowed to play such parts, Ratna shrugged and added, Uh! What is this, a competition? Ratna's new film Ratna and Dia were promoting their new film Dhak Dhak which releases on Friday in theatres. Touted to be India's first female road trip movie, Dhak Dhak features Ratna as Biker Nani who takes a bullet ride to Ladakh's famous Khardung-La pass, the highest motorable road in the world. More about Dhak Dhak Dhak Dhak also features Sanjana Sanghi, and Fatima Sana Shaikh, apart from Ratna and Dia. The film is directed by Tarun Dudeja who has also co-written the film with Parijat Joshi. Viacom18 Studios produced it in collaboration with Taapsee Pannu and Pranjal Khandhdiya's production company Outsider Films. Talking about the film, Ratna had told PTI about the apprehensions she had before signing it. When I was offered this film and I had gone to a party and there I had met Arshad Warsi and he said, Ive heard that theres somebody making a film about women bikers and they want you to play it? You are going to do it, na? I was like, Are you crazy, me on a bike, now?. He said, They will look after you, dont be silly, you have to do it. He gave me so much confidence, then suddenly I felt, I could possibly imagine doing this'. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Netflixs hit live-action adaptation of One Piece will explore Luffys challenges as the leader of the Straw Hats in Season 2, according to showrunner Matt Owens. Netflixs One Piece won over fans and critics(Netflix) Owens spoke to Deadline about what fans can expect from the second season of the series, which is based on Eiichiro Odas popular manga. He said that one of the main themes they are working with is the difficulty of being a captain, especially as Luffy and his crew enter the dangerous Grand Line. Without saying too much, and speaking to any new characters that we might meet, I would say a major theme that were working with in Season 2 is the challenge of leadership, he said. From Luffys perspective, hes got his crew now, and they are setting out to the Grand Line. Theyre doing the thing, and there are a lot of challenges that come with that responsibility. And that theme ties into some other stories and characters that I wont give away just yet. But the challenge and leadership is a big theme for us in Season 2. Owens also revealed that the writers room for Season 2 has resumed after the Writers Guild of America strike ended. He said that their first goal is to finish writing the scripts for Season 2, which will then allow them to proceed with other aspects of pre-production, such as building sets and planning schedules. He admitted that the writing process would take some time, as they only managed to complete a few story outlines before the strike. It is still unknown if Season 2 will cover the entire Alabasta saga, which is one of the longest and most epic arcs in the manga and anime. However, Owens confirmed that Season 2 will include the Loguetown and Drum Island arcs, which introduce important characters like Captain Smoker and Tony Tony Chopper. ALSO READ| After Netflix, One Piece's Luffy will take over New York skies this Thanksgiving The casting for Season 2 has not started yet due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, but actress Jamie Lee Curtis has already expressed her interest in playing Dr. Kureha, the eccentric doctor who lives on Drum Island. One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy (Inaki Godoy), a young pirate who wants to find the legendary treasure of Gold Roger and become the King of the Pirates. Along his journey, he recruits his loyal crew members: Nami (Emily Rudd), a skilled thief and navigator; Zoro (Mackenyu), a master swordsman and bounty hunter; Sanji (Taz Skyler), a talented cook and fighter; and Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), a clever inventor and marksman. You can binge all eight episodes of One Piece Season 1 on Netflix now. Actor Mrinal Navell, known for her role in the Yeh Jhuki Jhuki Si Nazar and Kundali Bhagya recalls the time when she was asked to compromise for a role in an ad. It happened around a year ago when I was still doing my first show. I used to give many auditions for TV commercials, she shares, continuing, He (Casting agent) told me that two girls have been shortlisted, out of which one will be finalised for an ad with Kartik Aaryan (actor). And the next day, I got a message that I had to compromise to get the role. I knew what compromise meant, but I still wanted to know what he wanted to say exactly. Mrinal Navell on her casting couch experience The actor confronted the situation, asking, What compromise are you talking about? To which he replied, Just a casual hookup, just a night out, and we can sign the contract there. Disturbed by the proposal, the 22-year-old didnt let this go. I bashed him, after which he deleted that message. I said that I dont need such things, after which he tried to push me by saying its a golden opportunity for me and I shouldnt let it go. When he started pressurising me, thats when I lost my calm and bashed him even more. The person even went on to claim, Tum TV actors ko nahi pata filmein kaise banti hai and kaise casting hoti hai, sabko aisa karna padta hai. Agar aap maanjao toh aapko aage jaake film bhi dila denge. I blocked him and never heard from him again, Navell further elaborates, also emphasising the importance of vigilance within the industry. Even if every person doesnt say it, they tend to throw hints. This person just directly said it, which is why I remember the incident so precisely. She continues, At so many auditions, girls are sitting in short clothes, and they stare so strangely. But, you have to create a vibe for yourself, so that the other person doesnt approach you like that. They even ask us girls to wear short clothes. Audition mai acting aur look dekhna hota hai, uske liye chhote kapde pehnna zaroori nahi hota. There are many people like this; we just have to be careful. Girls should be more careful and smart as they tend to get scared. Acha kaam bina compromise ke bhi mil jaata hai, the actor wraps up, cautioning her peers in the industry. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Saari ka pallu and kurtas worn with pride, are being flaunted by students across Delhi University, courtesy the Ethnic Day celebrations on campus that have gained immense momentum this year. Setting the culture vibe right, with their traditional best attires, many are taking the Insta by storm. But why? We want to lay emphasis on our culture and traditions, which are somewhat getting forgotten amid the rush to look cool in casuals, says Yogita Yadav, a first-year student of BA (Hons) Political Science at Shaheed Bhagat Singh (Evening) College (SBSC). Hansraj College students bring their A-game in fashion for Ethnic Day celebrations on their campus. SBSC will be hosting Divyotsav Ethnic Day next week, to lay emphasis on Indian culture. We have planned several competitions in dancing, singing, painting, poetry, and photography with the catch that these must be deep-rooted in our Indian traditions and reflect some aspect of it, adds Yadav, sharing how the Ethnic Day celebrations have become a trend across the varsity. Its also a way to pay homage to the rich diversity of India, which is represented by students who come from all across the country to study here in DU, says Yash Pandita, a second-year student of BA (Hons) English at Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College. Pandita is the cultural secretary of the team that recently organised an Ethnic Day on Tuesday, and shares, Our peers were dressed in phulkari dupattas and mekhla chadors, to pay a tribute to their ancestors. DU is indeed a melting pot of cultures and what better way than an ethnic day to make everyone feel a part of the larger community. A similar spectacle was witnessed at Hansraj College recently, where students gathered near the Mitti Cafe and the Lovers Point, to showcase their outfits in a retro and filmi vibe, says Soauham Sharma Malhotra, a first-year student of BA (Hons) History, adding, Ethnic Day is indeed a new concept, which is being used as an excuse to ask the freshers to let their hair down while staying true to their roots! This helped many bond with their classmates as well as seniors Though it took me a while to bring myself to wearing a kurta to college, but I must say that when I saw everyone at the gala, they looked gorgeous. I even brought a bunch of roses to give them to my friends. Vidhi Kanojia from LSR opted for a Rajasthani look for the Bahubhashi Day in her college. At Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) for Women, Project Bahubhashi aka Bahubhashi Day was celebrated, on Thursday. As the name suggests, this is the day when we honour the linguistic diversity of our country. So what better way than to make everyone wear ethnic, asks Vidhi Kanojia, a second-year student of BA (Hons) Journalism, adding, Students dressed up in traditional clothes from their respective states and some even wore costumes to represent a state that they dont belong to but really admire. Teaching each other a little bit about their languages, we also put up stalls to showcase artefacts from different parts of India. It was truly a fun way to indulge in folk music and dance performances. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has moved the Delhi High Court challenging his arrest and remand by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi Excise Policy case. AAP MP Sanjay Singh being taken to the Rouse Avenue Court by the Enforcement Directorate officials on October 10.(PTI) Singhs plea was mentioned before the bench of Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula. The Rajya Sabha MP's counsel told the court that his client was not provided with the grounds for arrest. The court will hear the matter today. Singh was arrested by the probe agency on October 4 in connection with a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22. In its charge sheet, the central agency alleged that Singh played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the policy and claimed that the policy favoured several liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. Singh has denied the charges saying they are false and baseless. A special court on Tuesday extended the ED custody of Singh till October 13, saying the remand was necessitated based on the discovery of new facts, and the recovery of fresh digital evidence in a recent search conducted by the federal agency. Singh claimed before the judge that the ED tried to whisk him away from its office with anulterior motive. After you granted remand (to ED) on the last date of hearing, at 10 at night, I was told that I was being taken somewhere else. I asked why didn't they inform the court. They (ED officials) said there was some issue of chemical pesticides. They said they had got phone calls from people above. I told them I won't go outside without the court's order. They asked me to give that in writing. The Aam Aadmi Party claimed that the ED was conspiring to kill the Rajya Sabha MP. It became clear that ED is conspiring to kill Sanjay Singh on the BJP's direction. It's a big question which should be answered by both ED and BJP, he further claimed," AAP leader Dilip Pandey had said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A chartered flight carrying the first batch of Indian citizens stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war with Hamas, arrived in Delhi on Friday morning. The flight carrying 212 passengers took off on Thursday night from the Ben Gurion airport in Israel under Operation Ajay. Stranded Indians in war-hit Israel return to India A video shared by news agency ANI showed the passengers chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', 'Vande Mataram' slogans as they reached India. The repatriated Indians thanked the government upon landing and recounted their experience. One of the passengers told ANI," This is the first time that we are facing such a situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as possible so that we can go back to work as early as possible. Another passenger - Shashwat Singh - who has been living in Israel since 2019 told PTI, We woke up to sounds of air raids' sirens. We stay in central Israel. I don't know what shape this conflict will take. An Indian woman who was pursuing a post-doctorate course in Israel with her husband returned to India with a 5-month-old son in her arms. We live in the southern part of the city. It's safeBut because of him (her son) we decided to come back to India. Describing the day the Hamas attacked Israel, she said, On the first day, we were sleeping and at around 6:30, there was a siren. For the two years we had been there we had not experienced that much chaos. And with my son it is hard. But we managedWe ran to a shelter and were there for I guess two hours, when we heard another siren. What is Operation Ajay? The Centre on Wednesday launched Operation Ajay to bring back stranded citizens from Israel, which is fighting with Hamas. This came after Air India and other airlines suspended all its commercial operations to and from Israel as the war began on October 7. According to the government, special chartered flights will bring back the Indians under this operation, and the Indian Navy ships will also be deployed if the need arises. Notably, there are around 18,000 Indians in Israel including students, professionals, and traders. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on Friday approached the Supreme Court against Andhra Pradesh high court's order denying him anticipatory bail in the FiberNet scam case. A bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi will hear the case later in the day, reported Live Law. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu (File Photo) The bench will also hear Naidu's petition to quash the FIR in the skill development scam case at 2pm. In a major setback for Naidu on Monday, the Andhra Pradesh high court rejected the anticipatory bail petitions of the TDP chief in three corruption cases - the Inner Ring Road, Fiber Net, and Angallu 307 cases. All three cases are similar alleged corruption cases registered by the YSRCP-led Andhra Pradesh government against Naidu. The Angallu case is connected to the riots that took place during a political rally taken out by the TDP chief on August 4. What is the AP Fibernet case? The FiberNet case relates to the alleged tender manipulation in allotting a work order under Phase-1 of the AP FiberNet Project of 330 crore to a favoured company. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) alleged that irregularities took place from the allotting of the tender to the completion of the total project, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer. Also read: Another warrant issued against TDP chief Naidu According to a statement by the CM's office, Naidu gave approval for the estimates of the project without any market survey done. "He used his influence to revoke the blacklisting on M/s Terasoftware and got the contract awarded to the company by silencing the protests from other bidders, the statement said. On Thursday, a special court allowed CID to issue a prisoner transit (PT) warrant against Naidu in the AP FiberNet case. The special ACB court also directed the CID to produce Naidu before it on October 16. However, the court noted that any order from the top court in the interregnum would be binding on it. However, the Court noted that any order from the Supreme Court (With inputs from agencies) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday cautioned that conflicts and confrontations faced by the world today do not benefit anyone and that a divided world cannot give solutions for challenges before humanity. Addressing the inaugural session of the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in the national capital, PM Modi said that the world needs to move forward with a human-centric approach. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the inaugural session of the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in New Delhi. This is a time for peace and brotherhood, a time to move together, a time to move forward together. This is the time for development and welfare of all, PM Modi said. Modi's remarks come against the backdrop of a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend which triggered fresh tensions and a war situation in the region. The conflict has resulted in the killing of over 2,800 people on both sides. Here are the top quotes of PM Modi from the P20 Summit: India has been facing cross-border terrorism for many years now. Around 20 years ago, terrorists targeted our Parliament when the session was going on. The world is also realising how big a challenge terrorism is for the globe. Parliaments in the world and their representatives have to think about how to work together in this fight against terrorism. Terrorism may happen anywhere, for whatever reason, in whatever form, but it is against humanity. India today is promoting women's participation in every sector. The recent decision taken by our Parliament will further enrich our parliamentary tradition. India has decided to provide 33% reservation to women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. There are about 32 lakh elected representatives in local self-governance institutions in India. Out of these, about 50% are women representatives. India not only conducts the world's largest elections, but people's participation in it is also continuously increasing. Since independence, India has seen 17 general elections and more than 300 state assembly elections. The 2019 general elections in India was the largest election exercise in human history - more than 600 million voters took part in this exercise. 70% of voter turnout in the 2019 election showed the faith of people in parliamentary practices in India. India has been using EVMs for over 25 years now to increase transparency and efficiency during elections. In 2024, during the general elections, around 100 crore or 1 billion voters are going to cast their votes. I invite all the delegates to visit India to witness the next general elections. The P20 summit is being held in India - which is the mother of democracy, and the largest democracy in the world. Dehradun/Pithoragarh: Previous governments ignored the development of border areas as they feared enemies may enter our country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, asserting that development of border villages was his governments priority. Prime Minister Narendra Modi accuses previous government of ignoring development of border villages. (ANI) Addressing a public meeting in border district of Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, Modi said that New Bharat has moved away from such fear as it is working on multi-pronged development of border villages. He also recalled that earlier the border villages were referred to as last villages. Previous governments didnt develop border areas as they feared that enemies may come inside. We have moved away from such logic. We are not fearful and we dont instill fear [in others], Modi said. Development of border villages, which we consider as our first villages, is our priority. Modi asserted that his government has taken decisions on issues pending for 30 to 40 years, such as womens reservation law. Our government took the historic decision of providing 33% reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. I received letters from women of Uttarakhand. With their blessings, we will take our country to new heights, he said. There was a time when a mood of despair gripped the nation, Modi said. Everyone prayed and wondered when the country would be pulled out of the dark shadows of scams of thousands of crores of rupees But now, when the world is surrounded by challenges Indias voice is getting stronger. Our people feel a sense of pride globally. In the last five years, Modi said, 135 million people have risen above the poverty line in the country. It is a proof that we can overcome poverty We take responsibility and we dedicate ourselves to achieving this, he added. The PM further said that the strength of India is being acknowledged globally and it was evident during the G20 summit held in Delhi last month. It has become possible only because the people of the country have him a chance to serve them. When I meet leaders and dignitaries from around the world, I look into their eyes. When they look at me, they do not see me but the 140 crore [1.4 billion] people of this country in me, he added. Earlier in the day, Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation of development projects in Uttarakhand worth nearly 4,200 crore. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and human resource head Amit Chakrabortys plea challenging their arrest by the Delhi police in a case lodged under anti-terror law the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the court order remanding them in police custody for seven days. NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha being brought to the Patiala House court by Delhi Police's Special Cell in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA in New Delhi on Oct 10. (PTI) Purkayastha and Chakravarty argued that their arrest and remand cannot be sustained as the grounds of arrest were not supplied to them at the time of arrest and the remand order was passed by the trial court in a mechanical manner, in the absence of their lawyers. This court does not find any merit in both of the petitions, the same are accordingly dismissed, said bench of justice Tushar Rao Gedela. On October 6, the high court refused to grant them interim bail saying that the allegations against them were not of such a nature where immediate relief could be given but questioned Delhi police for its failure to provide the duo with grounds of arrest in the remand application. Purkayastha and Chakraborty were arrested on October 3 after 400 police officials raided around 30 locations across Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Mumbai and Ghaziabad, questioning 46 people, including journalists, freelancers, writers and satirists, for eight hours. The two were produced before a sessions court at the end of their police custody for seven days and sent to Tihar jail till October 20. In its first information report (FIR), police stated that the founder allegedly conspired with a group named Peoples Alliance for Democracy and Secularism to sabotage the 2019 general elections and Chinese firms such as Xiaomi and Vivo incorporated shell companies illegally to infuse foreign funds to disrupt the countrys sovereignty. On Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided office premises of NewsClick and its founder Prabir Purkayastha after registering a case to probe violation of foreign funding law by the news portal. The agency registered a case under sections of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) on October 7 based on a reference received from the ministry of home affairs (MHA). A CBI spokesperson said it was alleged that their company received unexplained export remittance of 28.46 crore through four foreign entities in violation of FCRA provisions. It was further alleged that there was an unexplained receipt of foreign fund of 9.59 crore (approx.) by incorrect characterization of the fund as FDI. The director of said private company with his close associates allegedly violated the provisions of FCRA, 2010, the spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Union ministry of home affairs has upgraded the security of external affairs minister S Jaishankar to Z category, people familiar with the matter said, over new posters put up by Khalistani groups in Canada that carry the images of the minister, along with those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in calling for their assassination. New posters promoting hatred against India threatening PM Narendra Modi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma are in full display on the busiest road of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, BC, Canada. Khalistani group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) put up these posters on Tuesday, announcing a referendum on whether a separate State should be carved out of India, outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, where Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed by unidentified men on June 18 in an alleged gang war. According to the posters, people aware of the matter said, a referendum will be held in Vancouver on October 29, after a protest that will be launched on October 21 from Surrey to the Indian consulate. The posters, one of the people cited above said, previously called for the assassination of the Indian high commission to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, and consul generals Manish and Apoorva Srivastava. Posters previously called for the assassination of the Indian high commission to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, and consul generals Manish and Apoorva Srivastava. The Union ministry of home affairs has upgraded the security of external affairs minister S Jaishankar to Z category, people familiar with the matter said, over new posters put up by Khalistani groups in Canada that carry the images of the minister, along with those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in calling for their assassination. Proscribed Khalistani group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) put up these posters on Tuesday, announcing a referendum on whether a separate State should be carved out of India, outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, where Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed by unidentified men on June 18 in an alleged gang war. According to the posters, people aware of the matter said, a referendum will be held in Vancouver on October 29, after a protest that will be launched on October 21 from Surrey to the Indian consulate. The posters, one of the people cited above said, previously called for the assassination of the Indian high commission to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, and consul generals Manish and Apoorva Srivastava. One of the old posters which called for the assassination of the Indian high commission to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma, and consul generals Manish and Apoorva Srivastava. Their appearance comes at a time when Khalistani extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun equated the secessionist movement with the situation in Palestine, saying that the SFJ will carry out Hamas-like attacks. The Canadian high commissioner to India, Cameron MacKay, was summoned to South Block on Wednesday and a protest was conveyed. The protest note asked the Trudeau government to immediately pull down the posters at Surrey Gurudwara, investigate the threat to PM, EAM and India's too diplomat in Canada and then take strong action against the guilty. Simultaneously a protest was conveyed to Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa at the same time, a second person said. Officials familiar with the development said that Jaishankar will now be guarded by the VIP security wing of the Central Reserve Security Force (CRPF), which guards around 176 people in the country, with the highest threat perception. A Delhi Police officer, on condition of anonymity, said that police too had received inputs of threats to Jaishankar from separatist groups. Nijjars death turned into an unprecedented diplomatic crisis when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed on September 18 that there may be a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. India has dismissed the accusation as absurd and motivated. India also suspended new visas for Canadians on September 22. On October 3, Canadas foreign minister Melanie Joly said Canada wants private talks with India to resolve the diplomatic dispute, which has since snowballed with India asking Ottawa to withdraw 41 diplomats. Trudeau said Ottawa was not looking to escalate the dispute. "We're taking this extremely seriously, but we're going to continue to engage responsibly and constructively within with the government of India," he told reporters separately the same day. Canada, however, has not shared any credible evidence with India. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi: The upcoming election for the top World Health Organisation (WHO) position in South Asia has generated a high-decibel campaign featuring a public health expert from Nepal and the Bangladesh premiers daughter, though India has publicly maintained silence on the matter because of its strong ties with both countries. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with her daughter, Saima Wazed, who is best known for her work in autism.(ANI File) The two candidates are Shambhu Prasad Acharya, a veteran of the WHO system who is currently a director in the office of Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, and Saima Wazed, the daughter of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is best known for her work in autism. With a little for than a fortnight to go for the election for the post of regional director of WHO South-East Asia Region, people familiar with the matter said Wazed is widely tipped to win with the backing of a majority of the 11 participating countries, including India. The election will be decided by a secret ballot to be held at a closed-door session in New Delhi during October 30-November 2. The WHO office for South Asia is one of six regional units and the member countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste. The expertise of candidates in public health issues is important, but the reality is that a lot of such elections to multilateral bodies under the UN and WHO are decided partly on geopolitical considerations, a diplomat from one of the participating countries said on condition of anonymity. The current regional director is Indias Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the first woman to hold the post. She is in her second five-year term following a unanimous re-election in 2018. Lobbying for such elections often begins years in advance, with a country seeking support for its candidate in return for backing other nations in voting at some other UN or WHO agency. An early indication of Indias support for the Bangladeshi candidate emerged in a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Dhaka in March 2021. Bangladesh side thanked the Government of India for confirming support in favour of Bangladeshs candidate to the post of Director, South East Asian Regional Office of the WHO in 2023, the statement said. Since then, Bangladesh has secured the support of a majority of the 11 participating countries, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Wazed accompanied the Bangladeshi premier when she travelled to India for the G20 Summit last month. The high-pitched campaign for Nepals candidate has focused on Wazeds lack of qualification in medicine or a PhD, but the people pointed out that this isnt an essential requirement under the WHOs provisions for such elections. The campaign has also called for reforms of the closed-door process for such elections. No one is doubting Prasads credentials as he has served in various capacities with the WHO in Geneva since 1999, though some of the personal attacks on the other candidate have come as a surprise, a second person said. The people said Bangladeshs campaign has focused on the need to inject new blood into the functioning of WHOs regional office and pointed to Wazeds work in updating public health-related rules in Bangladesh and her role in enacting the countrys Mental Health Act of 2018 and National Mental Health Strategic Plan of 2020-25. She was also a member of the WHO expert panel on mental health during 2014-22. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The government has described the Global Hunger Index 2023, which ranked India at 111 among 125 countries, as an erroneous measure of hunger and has rejected the findings as it suffers from serious methodological issues". India was the lowest ranked South Asian country in Global Hunger Index even behind Pakistan.(AP / Representational Photo) The Global Hunger Index released by Concern Worldwide and Welt Hunger Hilfe, non-government organisations from Ireland and Germany respectively, has ranked India even below its neighbouring countries Pakistan (102th), Bangladesh (81st), Nepal (69th) and Sri Lanka (60th). This year's index showed a four-place slip as in 2022 India ranked 107th out of 121. The Global Hunger Index continues to be a flawed measure of Hunger and it does not reflect Indias true position, a statement from the ministry of women and child development said. The Union ministry argued that three of the four indicators on which the index is calculated are related to the health of children and thus, it cannot be representative of the entire population. It added that the fourth and most important indicator Proportion of Undernourished (PoU) population is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size of 3000. ALSO READ- Biased, erroneous: Centre rejects 2022 hunger index report Key findings from Global Hunger Index 2023 With a score of 28.7 on the Global Hunger Index-2023, India has a serious level of serious hunger, the report said. It added that the rate of undernourishment in India stood at 16.6 per cent and under-five mortality at 3.1 per cent. The prevalence of anaemia in women aged between 15 and 24 years stood at 58.1 per cent, according to the controversial index. It ranked the country reporting the highest child-wasting rate, which is based on children's weight relative to their height, at 18.7 per cent. India's response to the report The government said the proportion of child wasting, as determined from 'Poshan Tracker' is consistently below 7.2% month-on-month, as compared to 18.7% in the Global Hunger Index 2023. The Poshan Tracker app is a real-time monitoring tool developed and deployed by the ministry of women and child development and used to formulate important policy decisions. In its statement, the government said that it has prioritised several key activities to address the challenge of malnutrition under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0). Additionally, it said, that under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) a total quantity of approximately 1118 lakh tonnes of food grains had been allocated under the scheme in 28 months for nearly 80 crore beneficiaries. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India has become a country that can be relied on to fight for its citizens in tough times, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Friday, hailing the central governments efforts in bringing back the Indians stranded in war-torn Israel. BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia. (File Photo) This was a moment of pride for Indiain the midst of a horrifying war in Israel, a sensitive and a strong government is taking concrete steps towards those trapped in Israel. This shows that if anyone has the ability or the heart to work 24 hours for its citizens even in difficult times, it is Shri Narendra Modi jis government, the central government, BJP National Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said at a press conference in Delhi. He said that at least 212 Indian citizens have returned from Israel to India safely as of Friday morning. We know that India has become a country that stands with its citizens in good and bad times. We used to watch other developed nations, like the USA or the UK, run rescue operations a decade ago. They used to get their own citizens and also citizens of other countries from war-torn areas. Today, things have changed. Now, Indias strong government, under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is not only helping its own citizens but also the citizens of other countries, Bhatia said. He also recounted several successful rescue operations conducted over the years since 2015 under the Modi government. Speaking of Operation Rahat in 2015, Operation Sankat Mochan in 2016, and the recent rescue operations in Afghanistan and Ukraine, Bhatia said India has been working hard to repatriate not only its own citizens but also the citizens of other countries now. Operation Ajay is also important because every Indian today even if they are in a foreign country has faith that the Indian government and the 140 crore Indians will take every step necessary to ensure the safe return of these citizens. Bhatia also praised the efforts of minister of external affairs S Jaishankar in coordinating with Israel to meet the needs of all citizens stuck in Israel. He appealed to the Indians in Israel to stay calm and remain safe. I appeal to those citizens stuck there to stay calm and remain safe, and we will ensure that each one of you returns to India safely. This is our commitment to you, and I make this statement with some responsibility here. In tough times, we will give out a strong message that times may be tough, but India is tougher. We will ensure the safety of every citizen who is stuck in the war-torn region, Bhatia said. The BJP spokesperson also thanked the media for making India proud by reporting bravely from the war-torn regions in Israel without fear and hesitation. It shows your commitment to reporting every event that affects the lives of human beings and especially of IndiaI applaud the passion of every journalist. India is proud of you, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Glad to be home and traumatised by what they had seen in the last few days, the first batch of around 200 Indians returned from Israel on Friday with the sound of air raid sirens, rocket fire and screams ringing loud in their ears. Indian nationals evacuated from Israel under Operation Ajay arrive at Indira Gandhi International airport, in New Delhi on October 13.(PTI) Israel witnessed a surprise and unprecedented attack by Hamas in its southern parts on Saturday morning. At least 700 people have been killed and more than 2,100 injured in Israel the deadliest day for the country in at least 50 years. Follow Israel-Hamas war LIVE updates here. "We woke up to sounds of air raid sirens. We stay in central Israel and I don't know what shape this conflict will take," said Shashwat Singh soon after landing at Delhi airport along with his wife. The post-doctoral researcher in agriculture, who has been staring in Israel since 2019, said the sound of those sirens and the nightmarish experience of the past few days still haunt him. The evacuation of Indians is a "praiseworthy step", Singh said soon after the flight landed. We hope peace will be restored and we will return to work... The Indian government got in touch with us via email. We are thankful to Prime Minister Modi and the Indian Embassy in Israel. India has launched Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back home as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend triggered fresh tension in the region. Many students who returned home recalled the fateful night of Saturday and how they had to rush to shelters multiple times in the wake of rocket attacks by Hamas. Suparno Ghosh, a West Bengal native and a first-year PhD student of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev at Beersheba in Israel, was also among the group of Indians who reached Delhi on the special flight. "We could not know what happened. On Saturday, some rockets were launched. But, we were safe in shelters... the good thing is that the Israeli government has made shelters everywhere, so we were safe," he said. Several women students also recounted the grim situation they faced when the attacks happened. "It was a panic situation. We are not citizens there, we are just students. So, for us whenever the sirens go on, it's a panic situation for us," Jaipur native Mini Sharma told PTI. Asked when she received the information about the rescue flight, she replied, "Just a day before." "We packed our bags yesterday morning after receiving a message from the Indian Embassy. They were very helpful. We were able to get in touch with them round the clock," Sharma said. Deepak, another student, said, "We heard sirens on Saturday. We could also hear the sound of the attack. Israeli authorities were instructing us (to take safety measures). I am happy to return home but at the same time sad that our friends are there (in Israel)." The evacuation process was very smooth, the student told reporters. Duti Banerjee, another West Bengal native who was also among the first batch of Indians evacuated from Israel, said the situation in Israel was "pretty messy and unsettled". "Normal life has been paused. People are scared and angry. Even when I was leaving, I heard sirens and had to go to a shelter," she said. Soni, another student, thanked the governments of India and Israel for "taking such good care of us". "I booked two flights as I was not sure when would the Indian government evacuate us. But, I am glad to be back... many Indians still in Israel," she said. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said around 18,000 Indians are currently residing in Israel while about a dozen people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar welcomed the passengers at the Delhi airport as they streamed into the lounge area from the tarmac side. He greeted them with folded hands and also shook hands with many of them saying, "Welcome home". SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy along with his cabinet colleagues will be moving to Vishakhapatnam to oversee various development programmes in north coastal districts of the state, a government order (GO) issued on Wednesday night said, even as the matter pertaining to three capitals for the state is pending before the Supreme Court. A drone visual of an under-construction chief ministers camp office building at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam, on August 12. (ANI) The government order (GO No. 2015), issued by chief secretary KS Jawahar Reddy, came weeks after the state cabinet had on September 20 given its approval to shift the administrative offices from capital Amaravati to the port city in a phased manner. According to the GO, reviewed by HT, the chief minister would camp at Visakhapatnam for review and monitoring of the welfare and development programmes in Uttarandhra (North Andhra) districts comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Parvathipuram Manyam, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Anakapalli. The chief minister would like to review these programmes with ministers, senior officers and district officials, so that decisions taken are communicated to field level functionaries quickly. This necessitates setting up of the camp office for the chief minister and accommodation for supporting senior functionaries, including special chief secretary to government [municipal administration and urban development], special chief secretary to government [finance]; and secretary to government [services and human resources management] and General Administration Department [GAD], the GO said. It further said that the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues would be moving to Visakhapatnam to oversee development in the North Andhra region, which continues to exhibit low socio-economic development indicators in terms of health, education, irrigation, intensity, connectivity etc. This area is also home to a large concentration of the Tribal and particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups [PVTG] population in the state. Four out of five districts of the region have been identified as Left-Wing Extremism [LWE]- affected districts by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the GO said. Further, some of the districts of the said region are covered by the Backward Region Grant Fund. Two of the three aspirational districts identified by NlTl Aayog are in this region, it said. Duly acknowledging the context of its historical backwardness, Section 46[3] of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 provides for incentives and special development for the North Coastal region, the GO said. It further said orders have been issued to all the secretaries to government, heads of departments and special officers to visit the North Coastal districts regularly to conduct period review and monitoring of the welfare and development programmes and implementation of chief minsters assurances. Earlier, the state cabinet had approved shifting of administrative offices to Vishakhapatnam in a phased manner, a decision in line with the Jagan governments push to have three capitals for the state executive (administrative) at Visakhapatnam, while legislative and judicial capitals at Amaravati and Kurnool, respectively. A legislation passed by the state legislature in June 2020 was challenged by the farmers of Amaravati under the banner of Amaravati Rajadhani Parirakshana Samithi (Amaravati capital protection committee) in the high court. After prolonged hearings, the state high court on March 3, 2022, upheld Amaravati as the only capital of the state and questioned the legislative competence of the assembly to pass the three capitals bill. In September 2022, the state government challenged the high court verdict in the Supreme Court, which is presently hearing the case. The next hearing will take place in November. In the first phase, the CMO [chief ministers office] will be shifted and it will start operating from the port city with effect from October 23 [Dussehra], states minister for information and public relations Chelluboina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna had told reporters following the cabinet decision last month. A senior official of the state secretariat, requesting anonymity, however, said that since shifting the administration to Visakhapatnam might face legal hurdles as the issue is pending before the apex court, the government has come out with a new strategy to shift the CMO and other offices through an administrative order. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), a constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala merged with the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD) on Friday in the presence of Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and senior leaders at an event in Kozhikode in Kerala. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav (HT) The move has led the Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD) to expand its base in Kerala, ahead of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. According to RJD leaders, former LJD MP and state president M V Shreyams Kumar, LJDs lone MLA and former minister K P Mohanan , district presidents of the LJD and other leaders were present at the event. Insiders in the RJD, after inducting the LJD in its fold, have sent across a message of partys growing base in Kerala and also announced its plans to contest from at least five parliamentary seats in alliance with Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The merger of LJD with RJD is a big boost as it has now increased the partys strength in Kerala and also a big move to expand the partys base nationally ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls, said former minister and senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui over a phone call from Kozhikode. Siddiqui along with RJDs Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha has accompanied Tejaswhi to attend the merger event. The deputy chief minister of Bihar, in a press statement, said the party would now have MLAs in Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala assembly, which is a sign of the partys growing base across the country. The merger and unity like this can help bridge the divides, promote collaboration and prevent internal conflicts that might undermine the overall goals of socialism, Yadav said. LJD, before its merger with RJD in March, 2022 nationally, was in talks of merger with Janata Dal (Secular) earlier, people familiar with the matter said. However, the same did not materialise. The JD(S) , led by former chief minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy , joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September this year, the people added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Crime Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the alleged abduction and murder of the two Meitei students in Manipur, who had gone missing since July 6, officials aware of the matter said on Friday. This is the fifth arrest in the case. Paolun Mang was arrested on Wednesday from Pune in Maharashtra and produced before a CBI court (Representative Photo) Paolun Mang was arrested on Wednesday from Pune in Maharashtra and produced before a CBI court, which sent him to police custody until October 16, said officials. Mangs role was prominent behind the abduction and murder of the two students. He is being questioned based on the interrogation of the four people who were arrested before, said a CBI official, who asked not to be named. Four suspects two men, Paominlun Haokip and S Malsawm Haokip, and two women, Lhingneichong Baitekuki and Tinneilhing Henthang were arrested on October 1 by the CBI-led security forces team in connection with the alleged abduction and killing of two students belonging to the Meitei group. The probe so far has revealed that the boy Phijam Hemanjit Singh (20) of Takyel and girl Luwangbi Linthoingambi Hijam (17) of Tera were allegedly abducted by Kuki militants in Laimaton on July 6. While CBI officials are yet to recover the bodies, photographs surfaced in September indicated that they were killed. For more than two months, until their photos surfaced on social media, the families of the students believed that their children were missing but were alive somewhere in the ethnic strife-torn state. However, on September 25, two days after the state government restored cellular internet services, several photos of the students surfaced on social media. One photo showed them sitting on the ground in what appears to be a forest with two armed men in the background, and another showed them apparently lying dead. The two are wearing the same clothes as seen in the first photograph. Their faces are not visible in the second photograph. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the photographs. The incident once again triggered protests across the state. On September 28, a huge mob even tried to storm chief minister Biren Singhs private residence at Luwangsangbam. Police and security forces had to resort to firing tear gas shells to contain the protests in the days after the photos surfaced on social media. A special CBI team led by senior officer special director Ajay Bhatnagar was flown to Imphal to probe the alleged murder of the two students. Officials said that the CBI is on the lookout for LHingneichongs husband, Wohkhogin Baite alias Tiger (36), a militant who is alleged to be the main accused in the case. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hyderabad Family members of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and party leaders on Friday raised serious concern over the formers health conditions in Rajahmundry central jail, where he had been lodged on judicial remand for more than month. N Chandrababu Naidu (PTI) According to his family members, Naidu has been suffering from dehydration due to unbearable heat and humidity in the prison and, since Thursday, has developed rashes due to skin allergy. Naidus wife Nara Bhuvaneshwari, who had called on him in the jail during the mulaqat (interaction) on Friday morning, took to X (formerly Twitter) saying she was deeply concerned for her husbands well-being, as the state government has failed to provide him with the timely medical care he urgently needs in prison. He has already lost 5 kg weight, and any further weight loss could have severe consequences for his kidneys. The overhead water tanks are unsanitary and pose a serious health risk. These dire circumstances create a clear and immediate threat to my husbands life, she posted. Naidus son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh alleged that there is an undeniable and immediate threat to Naidus life. He is being deliberately harmed. His safety is unquestionably at risk, he said. Stating that the TDP chief is facing a dire situation, Lokesh said his father is living with mosquitoes and is being given contaminated water. He is suffering from weight loss, infections and allergies, all without access to timely medical assistance, he said. Alleging that the state government is trying to administer steroids to Naidu, the TDP general secretary wondered what the government doctors and administration are trying to hide. If any harm befalls @ncbn garu, @ysjagan will be responsible, Lokesh posted. TDP spokesperson Kommareddy Pattabhi told reporters that his party was taking legal recourse to shift Naidu either to a super speciality hospital or a government hospital where all medical facilities are available. On the one side Naidu is suffering from dehydration and on the other he has some skill allergy issues. The medical treatment extended to him inside the jail is not at all satisfactory, Pattabhi observed. Meanwhile, TDP MPs Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar and K Rammohan Naidu also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over the health condition of their party president and seeking his intervention to see that Naidu got the best treatment. Deputy inspector general of prisons (north coastal Andhra) Ravi Kiran told reporters that there was absolutely no truth in the reports that Naidu had lost five kgs of weight in the last one month. When he was brought into the jail on the night of September 10, his weight was 66 kg and today his weight is 67 kg, he said. With regard to the concerns about Naidu suffering from dehydration, the DIG said Naidu is being administered oral rehydration solution (ORS). He admitted that Naidu had suffered skin allergy and rashes on his body and a team of dermatologists from Government General Hospital, Rajahmundry had treated him and given him medicines and lotion for the skin allergy. Otherwise, his health is absolutely fine. There are no security lapses for him either, he said. On Bhuvaneshwaris complaint that Naidu was being provided with unhygienic water from the overhead tank, Ravi Kiran reminded that the TDP chief, being a remand prisoner, was getting the same facilities like all the other 2,100 prisoners were being given. We are going as per the rules. There is no scope for providing air conditioners or coolers as per the jail manual. As per the court directions, he has been lodged in a special barrack and given access to home food and drinking water, he said. YSR Congress party general secretary and advisor to the government Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy described the TDP leaders concern over Naidus health in jail as a big drama. He is a remand prisoner and whatever facilities that are given to a prisoner, he will also have to face. He should remember that jail is not his mother-in-laws place, where air-conditioned rooms are provided. Even Laloo Prasad Yadav and Om Prakash Chautala, who are older than Naidu had to face the same jail conditoins, Sajjala said, adding that there would be no special treatment to Naidu. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Thursday inducted 33 buses, six of them airconditioned, that will be operated in Malkangiri district that had been the hub of Maoist violence for decades. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during the flagging off the first phase of buses under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) scheme, in Malkangari on Thursday. (ANI Pic Service) Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who travelled for three kilometres in one of the airconditioned buses in Malkangiri on Thursday, said the bus service will connect far flung parts of the state and the district under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) transport system. Communication is the basis of development and that Laccmi yojana will connect everyone with development. The Gurpriya Setuwas a big milestone in the development of Malkangiri. Through this bridge, the light of development has come to the Swabhiman Anchal. Now under the LAccMI scheme, buses will come near your house and children will be connected with their schools and colleges. They will also connect the farmers with their markets and take the patients to hospitals. Mothers can conveniently go to different places for their work, Patnaik said in his speech at the function. In the first phase, 33 buses including 6 AC buses will link all the 111 gram panchayats of the district. This will be the first time that buses will reach 80 of these gram panchayats. The non-AC buses will connect the grampanchayats to block headquarters while the AC buses will connect the the block headquarters to district headquarters. The Malkangiri district administration has provisioned autorickshaws to connect the villages with grampanchayat headquarters under the scheme. Officials said the bus service would also be rolled out in five other Maoist-affected districts of Rayagada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Gajapati districts. More than 1,000 buses will run across the state under this scheme over next 10 years. The tickets in these buses would be at lest 20% cheaper than the private buses. Mangulu Sisa of Malkangiris Gomphakunda grampanchayat said it was a dream come true. Ten years ago, many of us had to walk long distance to get a rickety bus. I never dreamt that we can get such new buses in Malkangiri and travel in them, paying less than the rickety private buses, Sisa said. Internal security experts said plying new buses in Malkangiri was big on optics too. Not too long ago playing a bus in the Maoist hotbed was unthinkable as it was more likely to be blown up. On another level, the plying of such buses would endear the government to the people as the Maoist propaganda of govt not caring enough for the people would die a swift death. This would reduce the governance deficit, said Dipak Kumar Nayak, a research associate at the Delhi-headquartered Institute for Conflict Management. Fakir Mohan Pradhan, another expert on Maoist issues, said the presence of spanking new buses on Malkangiri roads as rest of Maoist-affected districts was a powerful symbol of governance. The Naveen Patnaik government has seen the worst days of Maoist violence. It must be gratifying for the government to put the terrible days behind it, said Pradhan. The government plan to operate buses in the interiors had earlier prompted protests by private operators. The government, however, convinced them to put off their the protest to October 31 following an assurance that the government will look into their demands, which included procurement of their buses for the new transport network programme. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The first charter flight to repatriate Indian citizens stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war arrived in New Delhi on Friday morning. The flight - carrying 212 Indian passengers including an infant - took off on Thursday night from the Ben Gurion airport in Israel under Operation Ajay. According to reports, the passengers were chosen on a first come first serve basis. Israel-Hamas war news: 1st flight carrying 212 Indians takes off from Israel In a video shared by news agency ANI, union minister Rajeev Chandrashekar can be seen present at the airport to receive the Indian nationals. On Thursday night, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar shared pictures of the first repatriation of the stranded citizens on X, formerly known as Twitter saying: Operation Ajay gets underway. 212 citizens onboard the flight are enroute New Delhi. The government launched Operation Ajay on Wednesday to bring back stranded citizens from Israel - which is witnessing fierce fighting with the terrorist group Hamas. This came after Air India and other airlines suspended all its commercial operations to and from Israel as the war began on October 7. Launching #OperationAjay to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to return. Special charter flights and other arrangements being put in place Fully committed to the safety and well-being of our nationals abroad, S Jaishankar had announced on X. Under this operation, special chartered flights will bring back the Indians, and the Indian Navy ships will also be deployed if the need arises. Notably, there are around 18,000 Indians in Israel including students, professionals, and traders. Meanwhile, the ministry of external affairs has set up a 24-hour control room in the national capital to monitor the situation in Israel and Palestine. The phone numbers for the control room are: 1800118797 (toll free), +91-11 23012113, +91-11-23014104, +91-11-23017905 and +919968291988, while the email ID is situationroom@mea.gov.in. The Indian embassys 24-hour emergency helpline can also be accessed on the numbers +972-35226748 and +972-543278392, and the email ID cons1.telaviv@mea.gov.in. The Israel-Hamas war The war between Israel and Hamas entered its seventh day on Friday and is expected to escalate further. According to the latest reports, over 2,800 people from both sides have been killed so far, while 423,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. The Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday citing a long-running dispute over the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The Israeli military is retaliating for the Hamas attack with near-constant airstrikes. On Thursday, Israel said that they are preparing for a possible ground operation in Gaza but that political leadership has not yet decided on one. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in New Delhi on October 13.(PTI) The summit is being hosted by the Parliament under the broader framework of India's G20 Presidency. Addressing the summit, Modi said that it is the mahakumbh of parliamentary practices of the world. I welcome you at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) on behalf of 140 crore Indians. This Summit is like a 'mahakumbh' of parliamentary practices from across the world, he said. The prime minister added that parliaments are an important place for debate and deliberations. He also hailed India's moon landing and the successful conclusion of the G20 summit. Today, we are hosting the P20 Summit. This Summit is also a medium to celebrate the power of the people of our country. P20 Summit is being organised in India, which is the mother of democracy and the world's biggest democracy too, he pointed out. He also said that conflicts and confrontations being faced by the world today do not benefit anyone. The remarks come amid a war between Israel and Palestine-based Hamas militants, which has resulted in the killing of over 2,800 people in both countries. "A divided world cannot give solutions to the challenges before us. This is a time for peace and brotherhood, a time to move together, a time to move forward together. This is the time for development and welfare of all," he said. The P20 Summit is being attended by Speakers of Parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries. Its theme is 'Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future. Speakers and heads of the delegation of Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Spain, European Parliament, Italy, South Africa, Russia, Turkiye, Nigeria, Australia, Brazil, UAE, Singapore, Japan, Egypt and Bangladesh were present in the event. Notably, the representative of Canada did not attend the event, according to ANI. According to the prime minister's office, the P20 Summit will focus on the following four subjects - Transformation in People's Lives through Public Digital Platforms; Women-led development; Accelerating SDGs; and Sustainable Energy Transition. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Political exigencies cannot be a reason to speed up the Constitution bench hearing of a clutch of petitions that seek the court to determine the subjects and objective of a draft legislation for justifying its passage as a money bill, obviating the need of Rajya Sabha oversight, the Union government submitted in the Supreme Court on Thursday. HT Image As a seven-judge bench issued procedural directions to keep the matter ready for hearing after four weeks, the petitioners, led by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, urged the court to hear the matter on priority. While the bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, said that he would look into the request, solicitor general Tushar Mehta objected to prioritising the matter. We would request that your lordships may go by seniority (of the cases). Priority cannot be based on political exigencies, Mehta told the bench, which also included justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Responding, the CJI said the court would take a call. The bunch of 22 petitions on money bill chronologically stands at the fifth position in the list of six cases before the seven-judge bench. The oldest case in the list is a petition from 1994 while the money bill case arose in 2019. The controversy before the court revolved around the interpretation and applicability of Article 110 of the Constitution, which defines a money bill. The provision states that a money bill is a draft law that must deal only with matters specified in Article 110 (1)(a) to (g) taxation, borrowing by the government, and appropriation of money from the Consolidated Fund of India, among others. Any other matter incidental to the subjects mentioned above, the provision states, can also be classified as a money bill. Unlike any other bill, a money bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha cannot reject or amend such bills. While the Rajya Sabha can surely suggest amendments, it is for the Lok Sabha to accept or reject them. The Lok Sabha Speaker decides whether a bill can be considered a money bill or not. In 2018, a five-judge bench dwelled on the contours of a money bill as it examined whether the Aadhaar Act could be passed as a money bill or not. By 4:1 majority, the Constitution bench ruled that no illegality was committed by passing the draft law on Aadhaar as a money bill in Parliament. The majority opinion pointed out that since the chief objective of the Aadhaar act is to grant social welfare benefits from the Consolidated Fund of India, there was nothing wrong with it being certified as a money bill. Other provisions in the law, the majority said, were incidental and could not change the fundamental nature of the act. Writing the lone minority opinion, justice Chandrachud said that the passage of the act as a money bill constituted a fraud on the Constitution because anything can then be passed as a money bill by linking it to the Consolidated Fund of India. The dissenting opinion pointed out that Article 110 is clear that the draft law must deal only with the subjects pertaining to taxation, credits, consolidated money, Union governments spending and borrowings. Almost a year on, another five judge-bench was called upon to decide the validity of the 2017 Finance Act and the rules framed thereunder in the wake of the governments move to revamp the functioning of tribunals. The constitutional validity of Part XIV of the Finance Act was challenged on the ground that the provisions relating to the functionality of tribunals could not form part of a money bill for the purposes of Act 110 of the Constitution. The petitioners argued that Part XIV of the Finance Act was not a money bill and was inserted only in order to circumvent the Rajya Sabha. In its 2019 judgment, the Constitution bench not only struck down a raft of rules concerning the appointment and service conditions of the members of tribunals, but it also referred the issue of money bill to a bench of seven judges after noting that the Aadhaar Act judgment in 2018 did not substantially discuss the effect of the word only in Article 110(1). Further, the 2018 judgment, it said, did not examine the repercussions of a finding when some of the provisions of an enactment passed as a money bill do not conform to the subjects enumerated under the constitutional provision. Notably, a bundle of amendments in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) pertaining to bail and classification of predicate offences were made between 2015 and 2019 through finance acts, which were also passed as money bills. When a three-judge bench in July 2022 affirmed the sweeping powers given to the Enforcement Directorate under the PMLA for summoning individuals, making arrests, conducting raids and attaching properties of the suspects, it also left it to the seven-judge bench to decide whether these amendments could have been passed through the money bill route. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a verdict of the Allahabad high court ordering a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the staff recruitment process at the Uttar Pradesh legislative council over alleged nepotism and favouritism in the selection process. The Supreme Court stayed the Allahabad high court verdict ordering a CBI probe into the UP legislative council recruitment (PTI) A bench of justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol stayed the high courts September 18 order on an appeal filed by the UP legislative council which said the high court converted an appeal filed by a group of unsuccessful candidates into a suo moto petition and passed orders without hearing the council. The impugned order (of the high court) is stayed, the bench said in its order as it sought response from the unsuccessful candidates, who were petitioners in the high court, within four weeks on the appeal filed by the legislative council. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the UP legislative council told the top court that the high court failed to realise that the petition at the behest of unsuccessful candidates was not maintainable. Rohatgi said a 2019 amendment to the UP Legislative Council Secretariat Service Rules, 1976 gave powers to the councils chairperson to authorise any external agency to conduct an examination and hold recruitment for the Grade 3 vacancies in the council secretariat. Prior to this amendment, the state made recruitment through the UP public service commission. He further stated that these candidates took the examination, participated in the process and then turned around to challenge the recruitment after they failed to clear the test. Rohatgi said a single bench of the high court refused to entertain their petition and later they appealed before a two-judge bench of the high court which converted it into a suo moto petition. The top court asked the state, How was the agency (which conducted the examination) selected? Rohatgi told the court that this question was not open to be raised by the candidates who participated in the exam and challenged it after being unsuccessful. The petitioners before the high court were also represented in court by their lawyers who requested for a report to be called from the CBI to ascertain the progress of investigation. The appeal, filed by the legislative council through advocate Ruchira Goel, cited the Supreme Court decisions that the CBI probe must only be ordered in exceptional circumstances and questioned the high courts findings of nepotism, favouritism, fraud in the selection process and the manner by which the external agency was selected. The UP legislative council also reasoned that the issues on which the matter was referred to CBI were never raised in the petition or the appeal filed by the unsuccessful candidates. Even the 2019 amendment to the recruitment rules were not under challenge before the high court, the appeal said. One of the grounds for the high court to order CBI probe was the exclusion of UP subordinate selection board (UPSSB) and the UP public services commission (UPPSC) from the recruitment process. The council told the top court that the UPSSB was not empowered to conduct selection to the secretariat of the legislative council and assembly. The council also added that the UPs public service recruitment body had given its no objection certificate before the 2019 amendment was notified. SRINAGAR: Security forces on Friday detected an improvised explosive device (IED) planted along the Baramulla-Handwara road in north Kashmir, the army said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Police said the IEDs were three cylinders suspiciously lying on roadside in north Kashmirs Handwara district (X/ChinarcorpsIA) Armys Chinar Corps said the police and army recovered the IED and subsequently destroyed it. Chinar Warriors and J&K Police averted a major terror incident today by recovering and in-situ destroying an IED on Langate - Watergam Road, it said. Police said the IEDs were three cylinders suspiciously lying on roadside in north Kashmirs Handwara district, linked to each other with wires. They said that the objects lying along the roadside raised suspicion of a road-opening party of security forces which scans the highways for hidden explosives, leading them to stop traffic and raise alarm. Security reinforcements including police and army rushed to the area. A police officer said that the small cylinders were found hidden using bushes near the crossing. The cylinders were subsequently destroyed by police and army, he said. Traffic was suspended for some time till the objects were destroyed. There was no loss of life or property in the incident, the officer said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NCP founder Sharad Pawar on Friday said his faction of the party feared delay tactics were being employed by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar in disposing off petitions regarding disqualification of rebel MLAs. The Sharad Pawar camp has filed three petitions for disqualification of rebel MLAs. (PTI photo)(HT_PRINT) "NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) have approached the Supreme Court to give directions to the Maharashtra Speaker to take a decision regarding the disqualification of some MLAs in a time-bound manner. SC can direct the Speaker to take a decision in a time-bound manner. We fear that delay tactics are being used in the matter," he was quoted as saying by ANI. The Supreme Court today pulled up Narwekar for delaying adjudication of disqualification petitions against rebel MLAs. The court said if the Speaker fails to expedite the process, it will fix a timeline. The court said it was concerned about ensuring the dignity of the court and said its orders must be complied with. The court will hear the matter next on Monday. Also read: Supreme Court raps Maharashtra speaker over disqualification pleas against Shinde, his MLAs The court was referring to its September 18 order directing Narwekar to provide the timeline for deciding on the disqualification petitions filed by the Sharad Pawar faction of the party. The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has also demanded timely disposal of disqualification petitions of its rebel MLAs, including Eknath Shinde. The Sharad Pawar group had approached the Supreme Court seeking directives to Narwekar to take action against MLAs who shifted loyalty to his nephew Ajit Pawar. On July 2, Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government. He later declared he had the support of 40 lawmakers. On Thursday, Sharad Pawar said his nephew will never become the chief minister of Maharashtra. "Ajit Pawar becoming chief minister will remain only a dream." He expressed confidence that the Maha Vikas Aghadi of the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar group) and Congress will come to power in Maharashtra after the 2024 elections. With inputs from PTI, ANI SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday attended a felicitation programme organised by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, where he spoke about the role of the Sikh community since their fight for Indias freedom and thanked them for their relentless dedication to the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee felicitates Union home minister Amit Shah (Twitter/@AmitShah) Addressing a gathering, Shah spoke about the sacrifices made by the Sikh community and said that the contribution of Sikh Gurus to the country cannot be repaid even in thousands of years. No one in the whole world can match the sacrifices made by Sikh Gurus for humanity and the country, he said. The Sikhs have a long tradition of fighting against the invaders, against injustice, against destruction, and have been making sacrifices for ten generations. The sacrifices that the Gurus have made for humanity and for the country are unlike anything else in the world. Not just I, but every person in the world who is aware of history, respects it, Shah said. Shah said be it Indias freedom struggle, fight against the Mughals or fight against the Britishers, partition or sacrificing for the country, the Sikh community has always been number one. Paying tributes to the Sikh gurus and the Sikh community, he said the Sikhs move forward taking both religion and karma equally. He said that a true Sikh never looks back when it comes to sacrificing ones life for religion. He further spoke about the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Teg Bahadur. I can say without hesitation that this country can never forget the gratitude that the ninth Guru Teg Bahadur Ji has given to this country, Shah said. Today, we are following the message of equality that Guru Nanak Dev Ji spread among all religions in the world, he added. Lauding the Sikh community for the efforts during COVID-19, Shah said he was inspired by their relentless service during that time. I would definitely like to mention the spirit of service, and how the Sikhs have remembered the teachings of the Gurus. I have seen it with my own eyes when Corona(virus) hit Delhi. There were langars in gurdwaras, people came out to serve at the gurdwaras. Even funerals of those who did not belong to the same religion took place at the gurdwara, the home minister said. Shah said justice to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were delivered only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government assumed office in 2014. No one can forget the riots of 1984. No one was punished in those riots until the Modi government assumed office. Many inquiry commissions were formed but did not yield results. But Modi formed SIT, reopened 300 cases and started sending those who were guilty to jail, he said. Shah also spoke about how under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), many from the Sikh community have gotten citizenship in India. Under CAA, PM Modi gave citizenship to those Sikh brothers who wanted to come here from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan. The Panth has done so much for the country, society, humanity, he said. The controversial Citizenship Amendment Act was first introduced in Lok Sabha in 2016, however, lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha in 2019. It was reintroduced in 2019 by Shah and was subsequently passed. The purpose of the Act was to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. It was designed for migrants of six religions only Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from three countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Also, present in attendance were the Jathedar of Takht Patna Sahib Giani Baldev Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa, National Minorities Commission chairman Iqbal Singh Lalpura, Tarlochan Singh, and others. After the event, Sirsa thanked the Union home minister for his kind and encouraging words at the event. I am incredibly proud and grateful for the strong turnout of Sikh brothers and sisters in todays event honouring @AmitShah Ji, the Honble Home Minister of our country. Im also thankful for the kind and encouraging words Amit Shah Ji shared about me within our community. The significant presence of the Sikh community today sends a clear message that we stand for peace, progress, and prosperity, for our entire nation, he wrote on X. New Delhi: The risk of another glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF) downstream of South Lhonak lake in Sikkim is still real, glaciologists and expertswarned, recommending that the glacier should be monitored effectively. Experts warn about the risk of another glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF) downstream of South Lhonak lake in Sikkim. (REUTERS) According to glaciologists at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), a large chunk of ice may have fallen from the glacier into the lake creating waves that toppled the moraine dam leading to a GLOF and causing severe flash floods downstream on October 4 that killed around 91 with many still missing, but there is still a lot of water left in the lake. The risk has not been eliminated which is obvious from satellite images. There is a slight reduction in the ice area but almost half of the glacier has not deglaciated yet. There is a lot of water and ice in the South Lhonak lake which makes it susceptible, said Anil Kulkarni, glaciologist and distinguished scientist, IISc. Since most of the glacier is still intact, it will continue to retreat at the rate of 20 to 25 metres per year as per our analysis. Retreat of the glacier will lead to further expansion of the lake due to meltwater. We dont know when further breach can happen but people need to prepare. We have already suggested mitigation options to the Sikkim government, added Kulkarni. According to research by IIScs team of glaciologists, the volume of the South Lhonak lake (in 2015) was estimated as 60 10.8 million cu.m with the projection that with prolonged retreat of the glacier, the lake was likely to expand to a maximum volume of 90 16.2 million cu.m. IIScs recommended solutions include engineering interventions such as lake water siphoning and controlled widening of the discharge channel. Long-term strategies include identifying locations vulnerable to GLOF using computer simulation, monitoring lake expansion, determining structural strength of the moraine dam, maintaining safe water level in the lake through siphoning, and determining future glacier lake sites using remote sensing techniques. Among short term solutions, the government can also consider construction of check dams which can reduce the overall impact of GLOF, said Kulkarni adding that the mountain regions are already seeing a lot of changes and glaciers are vulnerable due to climate change. We need a very specific strategy for these regions like having zonation maps. We already know where these lakes are. The red zones downstream need a special strategy like not allowing constructions, large projects etc. Locating large constructions such as dams is very risky here.. Floods associated with the GLOF washed away part of the Teesta 3 dam damaged parts of Teesta 5, wrecked bridges and drowned roads. In addition to new landslide at #SouthLhonaklake, I think there is substantially more to come down. The glacier retreated ~170-250m between March 2023 and October, which likely played a destabilizing role on the moraine (and probably exacerbated by being very wet), tweeted Dan Shugar, geomorphologist, Associate Professor, University of Calgary on October 11. To my eye, there appears to be lots of sediment extending ~500m up the glacier which is at the same angle as the failed material, and with a similar slip face at the top. If the glacier retreats another few hundred meters in the next year or two, this material may come down, he added, posting satellite images of the lake. HT reported on October 8 that glaciologists warned earlier this year that there could be a GLOF at the Gephang Gath lake in Himachal Pradesh. There are 337 potential glacial lake sites in HP and Uttarakhand according to IISc. . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi From left: HT Media board member Priyavrat Bhartia, former SC judge justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, former Union minister M Veerappa Moily presenting the Saraswati Samman to noted author and activist Sivasankari, and director of the KK Birla Foundation, Dr Suresh Rituparna in New Delhi on Thursday. (Hindustan Times) Noted author and activist Sivasankari was honoured with the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2022 for her memoir written in Tamil, Surya Vamsam, at the National Museum in Delhi on Thursday. Former Union minister and a former recipient of the award, M Veerappa Moily, who was the chief guest at the event, hailed Sivasankari as a national icon. Sivasankari ji has taken it as a mission in life to push the vision of India and these volumes reflect the literary heritage of various languages. She possesses unique character and scholarship, and she is the icon of India. We are proud of her. Women had the greatest role to play in the legendary literary history of India and Sivasankari ji represents that kind of a legend. I compliment justice Sikri and members of the jury for having selected a right and legendary person who truly represents the legacy of Tamil Nadu and India, Moily said. The Saraswati Samman, instituted by the KK Birla Foundation, carries a plaque, a citation, and a cash prize of 15 lakh. Sivasankari is the 32nd recipient of the award, joining a pantheon of writers over the years. The selection follows a rigorous three-tier process leading up to a final decision by Chayan Parishad currently headed by former Supreme Court judge, justice Arjan Kumar Sikri. Sivasankari told the audience how her passion to write was a way of giving back to the society. For me writing is a lifetime process Im so happy that my book has been so well received not only by my readers but also by my critics. I will be very, very honest, my book is a very transparent work and I have not lied anywhere or exaggerated any incident or character or word in it and its a transparent honest narration. Some critics even said that what we all do in seven lives, Sivasankari has done in one life, the author said. HT Media board member Priyavrat Bhartia, speaking on behalf of HT Media chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia, who could not be present at the ceremony, congratulated Sivasankari and noted how the writer was an inspiration for generations. The winner of this years award, Sivasankari ji joins a pantheon of Saraswati Samman recipients over the years that includes stalwarts across the Indian literature landscape... As all Saraswati Samman recipients are, Sivasankari ji is an inspiration for a generation of writers, he said. Justice Sikri underlined how each and every jury member was in favour of Sivasankari. Genuinely, you deserve the award, he told the author. The director of the KK Birla Foundation, Dr Suresh Rituparna, shared a vote of thanks while concluding the event. Sivasankaris literary career spans over five decades. She is the author of 36 novels, 48 novellas, 150 short stories, 15 travelogues, seven collections of essays, and three biographies.Her 2019 memoir, Surya Vamsam, unfolds in two volumes -- the first is the metamorphosis from a child to a young writer, and the second is the life and times of an acclaimed author spreading her wings. At the same time, the volumes also chronicle the larger journey of a society in transformation. The Saraswati Samman, given annually for outstanding literary works in 22 Indian languages in the last 10 years, is among the highest recognitions in the field of Indian literature.Besides the Saraswati Samman, the Vyas Samman and the Bihari Puraskar are other literary awards instituted by the foundation. New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is considering Indias request to not allow Chinese Survey and Research Vessel Shi Yan 6 to undertake a joint military scientific research with the island nations National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) in Sri Lankas Exclusive Economic Zone between late October and November this year, people familiar with the matter said. Sri Lankas President Ranil Wickremesinghe with Prime Minister Narendra Modi (File) (Raj K Raj/HT Photo) President Wickremesinghes response to the issue, raised by external affairs minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with the Sri Lankan head of state in Colombo on October 11, was non-committal, the people added, asking not to be named. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Sabry was quoted by Sri Lankas The Island newspaper on October 9 saying that his country had given permission to the Chinese ship for docking at Colombo deep seaport in November. The same report quoted him as saying that Sri Lanka does not want to get involved with big power rivalry going on between China, India and the US. Interestingly, a US navy ship, USNS Brunswick, docked in Colombo on Wednesday, and no dates have yet been announced for the visit of Shin Yan 6, the Chinese vessel. The Chinese vessel was earlier maintaining position 1,000 km east of the China-controlled Hambantota port in the Island nation, and is currently about 280 nautical miles (500 km) east of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal. Carrying nearly 2,000 tonnes of diesel, the ship has enough supplies to last for two more months. The ship entered the Indian Ocean Region on September 23. In July, after a visit by the Sri Lankan President, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was necessary the two countries worked together, keeping in mind each others security interests. The final decision on the ship, HT learns, may be taken by Wickremesinghe during his visit to Beijing to attend the BRI summit on October 17-18 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Over the past five years, Chinese ships have been active in the Indian Ocean Region with the PLA Navy growing into a proper blue water navy. The total number of vessels including warships, ballistic missile trackers, survey and research vessels recorded in 2019 were 29, grew to 39 in 2020, then 45 in 2021 and 43 in 2022. This year, till September 15, 28 Chinese ships have been recorded in the region. Even though Sri Lanka and China have dismissed New Delhis concerns and passed off the ships visit as having to do with routine marine research, Indias national security planners are convinced that the PLA is mapping the Indian Ocean bed to chart out new sea routes to the east and north coast of Africa as well as Indian Ocean Littoral States that bypass India altogether. This research is a precursor to Chinese strike forces patrolling the high seas in IOR as early as 2025, they believe. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court has declined a plea filed by an 89-year-old man seeking a divorce from his 82-year-old wife, saying that the institution of marriage is still considered to be a pious, spiritual and invaluable emotional life net between couples in Indian society, news agency PTI reported. The order was passed by the Supreme Court on October 10.(File) The order was passed by a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi on October 10. The 89-year-old had filed the plea before the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Punjab and Haryana high court, which had reversed a Chandigarh district court order granting divorce to him in 1996. The estranged couple had married according to Sikh rites in 1963 in Amritsar and had three children two daughters and one son. The man is a qualified doctor and retired from the Indian Air Force, while his wife is a former teacher. The relations between them turned sour when the husband was posted in Madras in January 1984 and the wife did not join him. She preferred to stay initially with her in-laws and later with her son, according to PTI. The man claims that she treated him cruelly and deserted him by not joining him in Madras, and thereafter not taking care of him though he had a heart problem. He also alleged that his wife filed complaints against him before Air Force authorities, maligning his image. In his plea before the Supreme Court, the man argued that he has been living separately from his wife since 1996 and that their marriage has already been irretrievably broken down. The wife argued that she did not want to die with the stigma of being a divorcee and claimed that she had made all efforts to respect her marriage with the octogenarian and that she was still ready to look after her husband with the assistance of her son. Urging the Supreme Court not to interfere with the order of the high court, she submitted that a mere long period of separation could not be tantamount to an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and that her husband has failed to make out any ground either of 'cruelty' or 'desertion'. In its order, the Supreme Court noted that several other relationships stem and thrive on the basis of matrimonial relationships in society. "Therefore, it would not be desirable to accept the formula of 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage' as a strait-jacket formula for the grant of relief of divorce under Article 142 of the Constitution of India," the bench said in its order, according to PTI. The bench noted the woman all throughout her life has maintained the sacred relationship and has taken care of her three children, despite the fact that her husband exhibited total hostility towards them. "The respondent (wife) is still ready and willing to take care of her husband and does not wish to leave him alone at this stage of life. She has also expressed her sentiments that she does not want to die with the stigma of being a 'divorcee' woman. In contemporary society, it may not constitute a stigma but here we are concerned with the respondent's own sentiment," the bench wrote. It added that granting divorce would not be doing complete justice to the parties, but would rather be doing injustice to the woman. "In that view of the matter, we are not inclined to accept the submission of the appellant to dissolve the marriage on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage," the bench wrote. It also mentioned that considering that the estranged couple are in the "late evening of their lives", the court had expected them to sit together and explore the possibility of an amicable settlement, but added that any such effort failed to bring out any result. (Inputs from PTI) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court on Friday called for a fresh report from the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on whether the foetus is suffering from any substantial abnormality, after it agreed to hear the plea and pass an order for the medical termination of a 26-week pregnancy following the Centre's submission that the court that it has not been able to persuade the married woman against her petition. The woman pleaded for an immediate termination of her pregnancy. The woman pleaded for an immediate termination of her pregnancy. (Pic for representational purpose only) The bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also called for a fresh report on the health conditions of the woman in view of the drugs she had been taking for her postpartum depression. The next hearing of the case has been scheduled for Monday. The petitioner is here. Unfortunately, we have been unable to convince her. She is still vulnerable, additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati earlier informed the bench. On Thursday, the Supreme Court gave the 27-year-old woman 24 hours to reconsider her plea for immediate termination of her pregnancy, a day after a two-judge bench sharply differed on the case. A three-judge bench led by CJI Chandrachud said the highest court of the land cannot overlook the rights of an unborn child when it has to deal with cases of abortion. The woman had approached the court, saying she was unaware of her third pregnancy due to a disorder called lactational amenorrhea, and suffered from postpartum depression and poor financial conditions. Cognisant as we are of a womans autonomy in these cases, we cannot be oblivious to the rights of an unborn child...We cannot kill the child, said the bench, as it asked the womans lawyer Rahul Sharma and Bhati, who appeared for the Union government, to explain the courts preliminary views to the woman and come back with her answer on Friday. The larger bench was set up a day after a bench comprising two women judges delivered a split verdict on the Centres plea to recall an order passed on October 9, allowing the married mother of two to end her pregnancy owing to her vulnerable physical and psychological conditions. Justices Hima Kohli and BV Nagarathna had, on Monday, allowed the woman to end her pregnancy, but two days later, sharply differed on whether the abortion could go forward, after a medical report said the foetal heart would have to be stopped as part of the procedure. The split verdict came on a recall petition by the Centre. Justice Kohli said she was not willing to proceed with the earlier decision and wondered which court would ask to stop the heartbeat of a foetus that has life. But justice Nagarathna remained firm on the October 9 order, prioritising the womans decisional autonomy in matters of pregnancy. Following the divergence of views, the matter was referred to the CJI on the administrative side to set up a larger bench. The 2021 Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act allows both married and unmarried women to undergo termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks following an opinion by a registered medical practitioner. Certain categories of vulnerable women, such as rape survivors, minors and mentally infirm women, can undergo abortion up to 24 weeks under the law. Abortion after 24 weeks is permitted only in cases when there are serious threats to the life or well-being of a woman or for substantial foetal abnormalities. Such cases usually land up before courts that set up medical boards to help it taking a call. When the three-judge bench took up the Centres plea on Thursday, Bhati argued that the right to decisional autonomy and reproductive rights are not absolute rights, like any other rights. They are subject to a legal regime (MTP Act), which has withstood the scrutiny of the court as well. To go against the law and medical opinion will be difficult and chaotic for the country, said the ASG, adding it could be difficult for the court to go only by the choice of a woman, who in the doctors opinion, was vacillating in her response. Bhati suggested that the woman could be counselled because allowing her plea in such a state of mind could eventually prove detrimental to her. The law officer further said that postpartum depression was one of the most common medical conditions for women after having children. At this point, the bench asked the womans lawyer, Rahul Sharma, if she wanted the foetusto be put to death. Today, its a viable child and not strictly a medical termination of pregnancy. The doctors are in a serious ethical dilemma because they will have to stop the foetal heart. They are asking us, Mr Supreme Court, direct us to stop the foetal heart. In plain English, what you are asking for is putting the child to the death under the orders of this court, it told Sharma. Responding, Sharma said that she does not want the foetus to be killed. But the court said that there is an inherent danger in what the woman wants. What your client says is Relieve me today and do whatever you need to do. But since she does not want the foetal heart to be stopped, it means that if the child is delivered today, there are great chances of the child being born with serious deformities, it said. The bench asked Sharma why his client would rather take the consequences of a child getting born physically and mentally deformed instead of waiting for a few more weeks when she has already waited for 26 weeks. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: Talks between India and the United Kingdom on a trade deal have reached an advanced stage as negotiators have significantly narrowed differences on key issues while a few unresolved matters will require a political nod, four officials aware of the developments said on Friday. Indias key ask for liberalising business mobility for short duration deployment of professionals is only to facilitate trade between the two countries (File Photo) Among the issues on which the two sides have narrowed divergences are business mobility, Scotch whisky and automobiles, increasing hopes for a breakthrough within the next two weeks, the officials said on condition of anonymity. Indias key ask for liberalising business mobility for short duration deployment of professionals is only to facilitate trade between the two countries, particularly in services, and it is in no way related to the larger issue of immigration, which is not even part of the free trade agreement (FTA), they said. It seems the UK has nearly agreed to grant access to Indian professionals for business-related visits on a reciprocal basis. Modalities are being discussed between the two sides, one official said. The negotiators under the direct guidance of commerce secretary-level officials are currently holding talks in New Delhi. With the UK reluctant to go beyond the current level of 100,000 work visas issued to Indians annually, the Indian side suggested as a compromise that the number could be increased while reducing the duration of visas. Replying to a specific question on the possibility of concluding the FTA by the end of this month, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Friday that talks are at an advanced stage and negotiations are going on, so we should wait till the talks are over. Barthwal travelled to London last week to give a boost to the talks and his UK counterpart was in New Delhi this week for the same purpose. It is now widely expected that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may visit India from October 28 to endorse an agreement, if the negotiations covering 26 chapters are concluded, a second official said. The officials said a few unresolved issues require a political nod. A majority of the chapters are either closed or are at advanced stage of negotiation. High level engagements at various levels are ongoing to iron out differences, a third official said. Among issues that remain to be addressed are inter-company movement of workers, rules of origin and greater access to Indian markets for British dairy products and electric vehicles. HT reported on October 9 that a planned visit by Sunak to India this month is being linked to positive outcomes in the negotiations on the FTA. Indian and British negotiators are currently continuing the 13th round of talks that began on September 18. According to a report by Politico, British officials will brief Sunak on the outlines of the FTA next week as he makes a final call on whether to seal the coveted pact in New Delhi later this month. The report quoted an unnamed senior UK official as saying that negotiations were in the final stages. If they can conclude a deal it obviously makes sense that hed go, the UK official told Politico, referring to Sunaks planned trip. Mobility, automobiles and whisky had been some of the vexed issues, but it seems a win-win situation has emerged after intense negotiations, the third official said. HT reported on October 3 that Indian industries were unwilling to offer import duty concessions to British manufacturers without London allowing easier mobility for Indian professionals. If business mobility or easier temporary movement of Indian professionals to the UK for business purposes is taken out of the negotiations, there wont be any significant gain for India as most Indian goods (more than 60% of total merchandise) already have duty-free access to the UK market, and most other items attract a low tariff of 5%. According to an information note from the UKs Department for International Trade, the simple average tariff on goods imported into Britain from India is 4.2%, compared to 14.6% simple average tariff on British exports to India. The majority of product lines (66%) on Indian exports to the UK face no tariffs. In comparison, only 3% of product lines on UK exports to India can enter tariff free, it said. Besides, India has a very high import duty on automobiles (100%) and whisky (150%). Indian industry has expressed willingness to substantially reduce tariffs in automobiles and whisky provided there are similar concessions in business mobility, the three officials cited above said. The two sides have also reached understanding on provisions related to labour standards and rights and sustainable business as these are not binding or legally enforceable, a fourth official said. However, the window for striking a trade deal is narrowing as both India and the UK are set to hold a general election next year. The two countries have already missed a deadline for finalising the FTA by Diwali in 2022. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Tamil Nadu police have shot down two criminals, who were wanted for the murder of an AIADMK functionary, in Thiruvallur district on Thursday, officers familiar with the matter said. This is the third case of extra judicial killing that the Tamil Nadu police has resorted to in the last three months. The criminals had several cases of murder, kidnapping and extortion against them. (HT Archive) According to the police, they had to open fire because the criminals, identified as Muthu Saravanan and Sunday Satish, tried to attack them and escape. Three police personnel have been injured in the encounter. The criminals had several cases of murder, kidnapping and extortion against them and were also charged with the killing of an AIADMK functionary Parthibap (53), while he was on his morning walk, in Thiruvallur on August 17. A special team was formed to find the two criminals for Parthibaps murder last August, said Avadi police commissioner, K Shankar. After the police received a tip off that the criminals were hiding in Thiruvallur, more than 50 km from Chennai, the special team came to arrest them early on Thursday morning. The criminals started firing with the two pistols they had. Three policemen sustained injuries on their hands, said Shankar. So police shot back and the criminals suffered grievous injuries. They were taken to a hospital nearby, but were declared brought dead. Their bodies have been sent to Stanley medical college. The injured policemen are also undergoing treatment at Stanley hospital. While Saravanan had six murder cases against him, his close associate Satish had five murder cases, besides several attempted murder cases. Their prime job was extortion, said Shankar. They used to threaten people and if they dont pay up, they used to kill them. In September, police had shot down A Viswanathan, who was categorised as an A+ criminal (most notorious among criminals). He had more than 25 cases registered against him including five for murder, extortion and drug peddling. He used to operate in the industrial manufacturing hub of Sriperumbudur near Chennai. On September 16, when police went to arrest Viswanathan, he attacked two officers including a sub-inspector Murali, who shot him in self-defence. Later, a three-page complaint from Viswanathan addressed to senior police officers in Kancheepuram and Tamil Nadu governments home department dated August 28 surfaced. In his purported complaint letter, the criminal had said that two police officers (inspector Parandhaman and sub-inspector Dhayalan) in the Sriperumbudur police want to encounter him meaning resort to extra judicial killing. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has roped in senior leaders, including MPs and ministers to lead the electioneering for the state assembly elections scheduled to be held on November 30, party leaders familiar with the matter said. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (File Photo) The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief, who held a meeting of senior party functionaries at his residence till Thursday night, finalised the party in charges of as many as 54 out of 119 assembly constituencies in the state. According to the list released by the party on Thursday night, KCRs son and BRS working president K T Rama Rao has been made the charge of the Kamareddy assembly constituency, where the chief minister is contesting for the first time. KCRs daughter and member of the legislative council Kalvakuntla Kavitha has been designated as the party in charge of the Nizamabad (urban) assembly constituency, which is also closer to Kamareddy. Similarly, for the Gajwel assembly constituency in Siddipet district which is presently being represented by KCR, his nephew and state finance minister T Harish Rao has been made the in charge. Gajwel has been an impregnable fortress for the chief minister, he doesnt want to take chances this time due to the keen contest from the opposition parties. Simultaneously, he has chosen to contest from Kamareddy, which is also likely to witness a tough fight. That is why KCR has entrusted these constituencies to his son and nephew, to ensure that there are no hiccups and he can win the seats with a huge majority, a party functionary familiar with the development said. According to the party members, while KTR will focus only on Kamareddy, Kavitha and Harish Rao have been entrusted with the additional responsibility of overseeing the party campaign in Bodhan and Jangaon assembly constituencies, respectively, as well. Former Karimnagar MP and KCRs close aide B Vinod Kumar will look after the party electioneering in the Vemulawada constituency, BRS floor leader in Lok Sabha Nama Nageshwar Rao will oversee electioneering in Wyra (ST) constituency and his Rajya Sabha colleague and industrialist B Parthasarathi Reddy will look after Sathupally constituency. In a conference call over the phone with the party in-charges on Friday, KTR said they would have to play a vital role in overseeing the poll campaign in their respective constituencies as per the partys directions. He said there was a positive atmosphere for the BRS as the people had complete faith in the chief ministers leadership. He asked them to take the state governments achievements in the last nine and half years to every doorstep of the people. The opposition parties might make many promises to the people, but we shall go to the battlefield to showcase the progress achieved by the KCR government, he said. The BRS working president further asked them to coordinate with the local leaders in overseeing the electioneering and managing the party activities at the booth level. Meanwhile, as per the discussion at the meeting convened by KCR on Thursday, it was decided that the CM would conduct a whirlwind tour of every nook and corner of the state in the next 45 days, starting October 15. As per the discussions, KCR will kickstart his election campaign from Husnabad constituency on October 15. On the same day, he would the BRS manifesto. From October 15, he would address 40 public meetings till November 9, the day he will file nominations both in Gajwel and Kamareddy. In the next three days, KCR will address two public meetings a day, after which he would step up his campaign across the length and breadth of the state. He is planning to cover as many as 80-90 assembly constituencies till the last day of campaigning, the party official quoted above said, adding a final campaign plan would be unveiled after the Dusshera festival on October 23. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: The world has started to realise that terrorism in any part of the world, in any manifestation or for any reason is an act against humanity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday in remarks that are seen as an oblique reference to the deadliest attack by Hamas on Israeli soil in 50 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during the inauguration of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20), at Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI) Addressing the P20 or the parliamentary leaders of the G20 countries at Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in Delhi, the prime minister urged all parliaments and its representatives to come together against terrorism and pointed out that that the perpetrators of terror are taking advantage of the lack of global consensus on the definition of terrorism. Now the world has started to realise how terrorism poses a grave threat to this world. Whichever part it might be, whatever might be the manifestation of the reasons and in whichever form, terrorism is against humanity. We have to continue to fight against terrorism, PM Modi said. Also Read: India says Hamas assault a terror attack, backs talks to create Palestinian state The lack of consensus on the definition of terrorism is extremely unfortunate. Even today, the UN International convention on combating terrorism is awaiting consensus. The perpetrators against humanity are taking advantage of this position, PM Modi added, urging all parliaments and the elected representatives to think how we can work together against terrorism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Duarte Pacheco arrives for the inauguration of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20), at Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi. (PTI) Prime Minister Modi mentioned, without naming Pakistan, how India has emerged stronger from a spate of terror attacks including one on the Indian Parliament in 2001 when it was in session. To be sure, PM Modi didnt mention Israel or Hamas in his speech but stressed that the world was going through crises arising out of conflicts and confrontations. In various corners of world, whatever is happening, no one is untouched from. The world is going through crises arising out of conflicts and confrontations. This crises-laden world is not beneficial to anyone. A divided world cant provide solutions to the major challenegs faced by our planet. This is time of peace and brotherhood. It is the time to work together, to move forward together. This is the time for development and welfare, the PM said. We have to erase the crisis in global confidence. And move ahead of human-centric ideas. We have to see the world in the light of one earth, one family, one future, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Saubhadra Chatterji Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies. ...view detail Amid the war of words between Uttar Pradesh chief minister Brajesh Pathak and Samjawadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the former on Friday affixed "servant" to his name and rechristened himself as 'Servant Brajesh Pathak' on X (formerly Twitter). Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times) The development came two days after Yadav slammed Pathak while calling him a "servant" connoting deputy CM as nothing more than a minion in the BJP. The deputy chief minister affixed "servant" to his name on the micro blogging platform.(X) The SP chief on Wednesday scaled the locked gate of the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) to garland a statue of the social leader on his birth anniversary. On this incident, Pathak took a dig at Yadav saying that if he is so good at climbing, he should have participated in the Asian Games and won some more medals for the country. Reacting to Pathak's comments, Yadav reportedly asked if he should respond to the "servant deputy chief minister's" remarks. Yadav asked: Would we respond to the servant deputy chief ministers wordswould I respond to the words of such a deputy chief minister who ruined hospitals in the state. The war of words ensued further when Pathak dubbed Yadav as king or Raja. "Of course, Akhilesh is a raja and I am a servant of people. He has nothing to do with the people... the only thing he does is make statements. He is from a family of kings, I am the servant of people," he said. I am thankful to Akhilesh ji for acknowledging the fact that I am a servant. It is true that I am servant of the people of UP. Whereas Akhilesh Yadav, who himself was the UP CM and his father remained UP CM for multiple times, lives like a Raja," Pathak further said. Later, the deputy chief minister affixed "servant" to his name on the micro blogging platform. Srinagar: Authorities in Kashmir did not allow Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar and put its chief priest Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house detention, the managing body of the mosque said on Friday. The Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid said the police closed the gates of the mosque(ANI File) The Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid, which manages the grand mosque in Srinagars old city, said the police closed the gates of the mosque and informed devotees that the Friday prayers will not be allowed today. Mirwaiz-i-Kashmir Molvi Umar Farooq who was finally allowed to offer Friday prayers and deliver Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid after four years of house detention (on September 22) has yet again been put under house arrest early morning today, the Anjuman said in a statement. A call to SSP Srinagar Rakesh Balwal didnt elicit any response. The development at Jamia comes amid the escalation of conflict in West Asia after the Hamas attack in Israel and the subsequent bombardment of Gaza in Palestine by Tel Aviv. Kashmiris have often expressed their solidarity with Palestinians and in the past have protested in Srinagars old city particularly around Jamia Masjid against Israels actions in Palestine. Meanwhile, a protest was held against Israels killing of civilians in Gaza in central Kashmirs Budgam district. Scores of people carrying banners supporting Palestine came out on roads after Friday prayers in Budgam and denounced Israels bombardment of civilians in Gaza. On Wednesday, Hurriyat Conference chairman and Muttahida Majlis-e -Ulema patron Mirwaiz expressed anguish and grief at the loss of previous human lives including women and children in the latest escalation in the Palestinian-Israel conflict. Also Read: Iran warns war could spread if Israeli strikes on Gaza continue Mirwaiz said that the roots of this conflict are in its colonial past. Palestinians have been gravely wronged and are suffering as a consequence of the conflict. Routinely their young , women and even children are killed , their homes are bombed and destroyed , they are subjected to humiliation and surveillance all the time, their livelihood fast dwindling, Mirwaiz said in a statement. The people of Kashmir stand united in unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine, sharing a deep hope for the resolution of the conflict and an end to the profound human suffering it has caused, he had said. After more than four years of house arrest, chief cleric and Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz was allowed to move out of his house and deliver the Friday sermon at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar on September 22. Mirwaiz was put under house arrest ahead of the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A on August 5, 2019. His release came weeks after he served a legal notice to the lieutenant governor administration over his house detention and denial to visit the Jamia Masjid since 2019. He has been leading the prayers and delivering Friday sermons at Jamia Masjid as part of the Mirwaizs family tradition. West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inviting her to the Raj Bhavan for a meeting on the appointments of vice-chancellors at different universities in the state, a senior official said. West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose. (PTI) Bose's letter to Banerjee on Thursday came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court staying the emoluments of the newly appointed interim vice-chancellors of state-run universities in West Bengal and asking the governor to sit with the chief minister "over a cup of coffee" to resolve the deadlock over the appointment of VCs. "The governor has written a letter inviting the CM to Raj Bhavan for a meeting on the appointments of VCs at different universities in the state," the official told PTI. The governor's office is "expecting a reply from the CMO soon", he said. The top court had on October 6 said there is a need for reconciliation between the governor and the chief minister "in the interest of educational institutions and the future careers of lakhs of students". A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta said the stay on emoluments to interim VCs appointed in August will continue till the pendency of the state government's petition against the governor's action of appointing interim vice-chancellors. The governor is the ex-officio chancellor of state universities. The apex court was hearing an appeal of the West Bengal government against the June 28 order of the Calcutta High Court which stated there was no illegality in the orders issued by the governor appointing interim VCs in 11 state-run universities. On September 27, the top court had sought names of eminent personalities including scientists, technocrats, administrators, educationists and jurists for setting up a search committee for short-listing and appointing VCs in state-run universities. Taking note of the running feud between the state and the office of the governor on the issue, the top court had decided on September 15 that it would set up a search committee to pick VCs. Earlier, the high court had held that the chancellor has the power to appoint VCs as laid down in relevant enactments. The relations between Raj Bhavan and the West Bengal government nosedived when the governor started appointing interim VCs of 11 state universities after the term of full-time VCs of 31 universities expired in April-May this year. As the state government accused Bose of bypassing it by taking the decision, Raj Bhavan maintained that every step was taken as per the law in the interest of students to ensure there was no deadlock in the functioning of the universities. The winter of 2018 was a strong one for Indian airlines. SpiceJet was outgrowing its shadow of the near death experience of 2014, IndiGo had inducted its 1st A321neo and 50th A320neo and Go Air had started international services, much later than what an airline in India would have typically done. As airlines scanned for new destinations - where the growing middle class would travel, it zeroed in on Maldives. Go Air and IndiGo announced flights to Male in quick succession, adding to the miniscule number of flights that existed between the two countries. IndiGo, as always, far outnumbered the flights which Go Air announced. The second boom to Maldives is starting this winter with the first set of flights being announced by Vistara and again outnumbered by IndiGo in due course of time.(REUTERS) People flocked Maldives in droves and Instagram was full of Maldives holiday pictures and videos. The connectivity until then comprised that of Air Indias flight from Bengaluru and SpiceJets from Trivandrum while Maldivian also operated to India. Suddenly, tourists landed from Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and more. The low cost of travel, relatively shorter flight and the costs saved on these being invested on fancy resorts worked well, making one wonder what was stopping airlines from doing this in the past! Maldives became so popular that it was one of the first revenge tourism destinations for Indias even as the consequences of testing COVID positive and being forced to spend on extending stay started coming out. The attractiveness of a beach holiday with ample sun and Fear of Missing Out in the instagram days has got everyone hooked to Maldives. The second boom to Maldives is starting this winter with the first set of flights being announced by Vistara and again outnumbered by IndiGo in due course of time. Who is flying and from where? IndiGo will operate flights to Male from Delhi (four times a week), Hyderabad (thrice a week), Bengaluru (Daily), Kochi (Daily) and Mumbai (Daily).The announcement for flights from Delhi comes within days of Vistara announcing a Daily departure to Male from Delhi, this winter schedule which beings October 31, 2023. A few weeks ago, Air India updated its booking engine with flights from Bengaluru and Mumbai to Male, which will operate four times a week each. Maldivian will operate to Bengaluru, Trivandrum and Kochi. There will be an addition of approximately 500 seats per day each way between India and Maldives which will be welcomed by the tourism industry in Maldives. What do the numbers say? In the October-December quarter of 2018 when the first phase of expansion to Maldives began, 51,000 passengers travelled between India and Maldives on direct flights. These went up to 60,000 passengers in the same quarter in 2019. This translates to nearly 700 passengers a day each way between India and Maldives! Even as COVID played spoilsport, the October to December quarter of 2020 saw 32,000 passengers each way. Come 2021, the numbers broke all records as India was past the deadly second wave and Maldives had started welcoming tourists with restrictions while most of the world was still out of bounds. A bumper 1.15 lakh passengers flew to Maldives from India in Q4 of CY 2021, which averages at 1250 passengers per day, on direct flights. This dropped in 2022 as the world opened up and Indians flew to destinations all across. Chasing routes, one route at a time IndiGo does not take its competition lightly and neither treats it kindly. If there is an opportunity to push the competition, IndiGo has always jumped on to it. IndiGo has around 40 planes grounded due to engine issues with Pratt & Whitney.It has had to reinduct some of its aircraft which were being returned due to end of lease tenure, it also added a 15+ year old A320ceo to its fleet. In such dire times, it continues to expand and its choice of destinations remains a mix of blue oceans strategy like those to Central Asia without batting an eyelid on chasing competition like the case with Maldives, where both Air India and Vistara are expanding. The low cost carrier market on the international side has far outgrown the initial thought of catering to blue collared workers of the gulf. The burgeoning middle class has latched on to the idea of travelling to new destinations in the region, some of which are cheaper than domestic holiday destinations. Maldives, on the other hand, is expensive and a cheaper flight option balances the high costs of hotels. As the Tata group of airlines consolidate, they always have an option of shifting routes from the full service carriers to low cost carriers. Will IndiGo expand on the premium side needs to be seen in years to come. The latest tangle in the whole puzzle could be the change in regime in Maldives. How the relations with India span out and if they impact the visa rules will decide the future course of action for airlines. Ameya Joshi is an aviation analyst. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) president Y S Sharmila, while ending the prolonged stalemate over the merger of her party with the Congress, on Thursday announced that her party would contest in all 119 assembly constituencies in Telangana in the upcoming assembly elections, scheduled to be held on November 30. YS Sharmila Shamila, who convened a meeting of her party leaders and supporters at her Lotus Pond office in Hyderabad, announced that her party is committed to fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Telangana and bringing back the welfare state envisaged by her father late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh. While quoting the speech of Sharmila at the meeting, a YSRTP spokesperson said in a statement that she would contest from Palair assembly constituency in Khammam district, as decided earlier. If needed, my mother Y S Vijayamma, too, will contest in the assembly elections to do good for the people of Telangana, the spokesperson quoted Sharmila as saying. Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, said the YSRTP, which started its journey two years ago, stood as the sole party committed to the fight for cause and concern of people of Telangana. With tireless padayatra covering 3,800 km, we won the hearts of the people and we were the first and most honest in fighting for every cause and concern of the people of Telangana. Our intense fight against unemployment was a reason why KCR [Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao] released at least a few job notifications, she claimed. Explaining the reasons for the proposal to merge her party with the Congress, Sharmila said her noble intention to take the step was to ensure the anti-establishment vote was not divided, as she felt the alleged autocratic rule of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi did not deserve another term. Without commenting on the failure of the talks with the Congress, the YSRTP president said it was time to move on and fight the most important battle for the state. We declare with pride that we are ready, she said. The party spokesperson said Sharmila had invited applications from interested candidates to contest the elections in all the constituencies in Telangana. We shall give tough fight to all the contenders, he said, quoting the party president. Meanwhile, the Telangana Congress refused to comment on Sharmilas decision to contest alone in the assembly elections. We do not want to react to her statement on failure of talks with the Congress. We shall discuss the development within the party, before making any comment, Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president and former MP Dr Mallu Ravi said. Sharmila held several rounds of talks with the Congress leaders in the last four months, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on August 31, on her proposal to merge the YSRTP with the Congress. While she was firm on playing a role in the Telangana Congress, the high command asked her to keep away from Telangana and offered to make her the president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), but she refused the offer, a party functionary said. The YSRTP functionary said Sharmila felt there was no point in going to Andhra Pradesh to fight against her own brother Jagan Mohan Reddy. Secondly, the Congress is a virtual non-entity in Andhra Pradesh, as it had not won even a single assembly or Lok Sabha seat in the last two terms and its vote share was just 1.29%, which is less than the vote share of 1.5% of NOTA. She wont be able to do anything in Andhra, the party functionary said. Moreover, Sharmila had floated the party in the name of Telangana and if she runs away from the battle field and moves to Andhra, she will lose her credibility. For good or bad, she has decided to confine herself to Telangana and test the waters, the party functionary said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A few years ago, an immigration official in Delhi leafed through Swati Nayaks passport and asked: What is the reason for your trip? PREMIUM Amid shrinking land holdings, uncertain harvests and the climate crisis, Nayak works to help new seed varieties reach the fields and regions where they can make the most difference. In Odisha, for instance, he has earned the nickname Bihana Didi (Seed Sister) after she and her team introduce the drought-tolerant and now-highly-popular Sahbhagi rice variety to the region. (HT Photo: Sanchit Khanna) She was an agriculture scientist attending a global conference, she responded. He looked up and said: Do women also do this kind of farm work? says Nayak, 39. She is admittedly one of a very few women in her field. Growing up in Odisha, being a doctor or an engineer was the definition of success, and I experienced that societal pressure since I was academically bright, she says. But something about those goals was suffocating me. I would often think that there has to be a more beautiful world out there, with other dreams to pursue. She knew nothing about agriculture, but developed an affinity for biology and the natural sciences. She sought out and aced an entrance exam conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research; went on to do a Masters in rural management from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). She has since worked with tribes, small-land-holding farmers, women and men trying to support growing families off variable harvests. Her role has been focused on seeds collaborating on new varieties, testing them in fields, working to promote the most resilient and high-yield ones, and to ensure that there is a viable market for these harvests. It was an unconventional choice: a career in the niche field of bridging the gap between laboratory and farm, and farm and market. I think my parents were initially heartbroken, she says, smiling. But the choices have paid off. Nayak, who lives in Delhi, is now South Asia lead with the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). In that role, she has been responsible for the field-testing of 500 new varieties of resilient, high-yield, bio-fortified rice, with 20 of these varieties gaining ground in Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and beyond India, in Bangladesh and Nepal. She has earned the nickname Bihana Didi (or Seed Sister) among the tribal communities of Mayurbhanj, Odisha, where she and her team formulated a strategy to introduce the drought-tolerant and now-highly-popular Sahbhagi rice variety, in 2014. And, last month, Nayak was announced as the winner of the Norman E Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation, for her innovative approach to engaging farmers in demand-driven rice seed systems. The award, instituted in memory of the American Nobel laureate, agronomist, and chief architect of the Green Revolution worldwide, is given to one exceptional scientist under 40 each year, working in the field of food and nutrition security and hunger eradication. Incidentally, many previous winners have been from the Global South (Bangladesh, Turkey, Mexico, Benin), representing interesting innovations and new approaches to unfolding issues. Nayak is the third Indian to win. Amid the climate crisis, her work takes on even greater urgency. How is a farmer with less than one hectare of land to plan for the overlapping challenges of heatwaves, droughts and floods? Climate change is real and small land holders in particular are facing challenges, she says. *** How did a young woman from Nimapada, a town 40 km outside Bhubaneswar, end up a global awardee in a field as niche as lab-to-farm-to-fork? I gained considerable managerial perspective in the context of rural livelihood during my two-year Masters at IRMA. I really enjoyed that mix. I found economics and agribusiness classes more interesting than genes and genomes, says Nayak, who also has a PhD in agricultural extension management strategy from Amity University. She knew she wanted to be a footsoldier in the fight for food security. So when companies, NGOs and government institutions conducted campus-placement interviews at IRMA, she chose to enlist with the governments Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA). She spent 18 months there, as head of a project-monitoring unit in Andhra Pradesh. Then two years with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in Delhi, in 2011-13. There, she anchored a women farmers empowerment programme that has helped millions of women make their fields more profitable, market forest produce, and enrol in training programmes to study subjects such as crop production, machine-handling and post-harvest storage. Women farmers are keen learners, and can change decisions in the household, Nayak says. About 50% of the workforce in agriculture is women. But they dont have a share or presence in landholding patterns, and are therefore not recorded as farmers. As a result, they lose access to first-hand information, credit and training. In her own domain, women remain rare. I was brought up to be independent, opinionated and dream big. But I still faced many challenges, Nayak says. I had motherhood, social expectations and biological limitations that I had to overcome to break the glass ceiling. But I had both passion and conviction. In 2016, for instance, Nayak was juggling the roles of mother to a seven-month-old, professional at IRRI, and PhD student. I had to reduce my workload to be there for my baby. I worked all week and had PhD classes on the weekend. There were moments when it felt almost too much. But I went into that phase knowing I would have to work ten times harder than men or women who had no children, so I kept myself motivated. It helped that she had tremendous support from her husband, stock market expert Priyadarsi Bal, 41. He has broken a lot of gender norms and stereotypes. Be it taking care of our child or household duty, we are equal partners, Nayak says. Whats next for the seed sister? I have always worked for people who are less privileged. The goal has been empathy and inclusivity, Nayak says. I am just a drop in the ocean, but I want to be an example to women. I want them to know that independence can work. And that excellence only comes from having the courage to take risks. Theres no denying it: Taylor Swift is currently among the most successful pop stars on the planet, an absolute cultural and economic powerhouse. Her record-breaking distinctions include more number-one albums on the US Billboard charts that any woman in history; in 2022, her album "Midnights" pushed UK vinyl sales past those for CDs for the first time in 35 years; and this year, she became the most streamed female artist on Spotify. Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" concert film is set to become the big movie event of the fall. Why is she so successful? (Reuters) Her current "Eras" world tour is on track to become the highest-grossing tour ever, with her concert dates becoming significant economic factors for the host cities, which have on occasion found themselves having to make public-transit system improvements to deal with the numbers of concertgoers. Taylor Swift even managed to put the German city of Gelsenkirchen on the global map by booking her tour there. Analyzing the hype from all angles There are countless articles online attempting to analyze and explain why and how she's had this success and impact. Experts from fields such as economics, linguistics, psychology, neuroscience and music management have all tried to parse the phenomenon. Universities in the US and Australia are organizing conferences on the Swift phenomenon. There's even a Wikipedia article dedicated solely to the "Cultural impact of Taylor Swift." But maybe you, dear reader, just don't get the hype. Maybe you have listened repeatedly to Taylor Swift's music, trying and failing to hear in it what so many others seem to do. Perhaps the repeated assertions by critics and experts that she is an exceptionally gifted songwriter just don't convince you. 'Swifties' in unexpected places Full disclosure: This author is one of those people. If the critics couldnt convince me, why not ask fans themselves? So I turned to people who at least in one point share my music taste: members of a Facebook fan group devoted to the British band IDLES. You might think there wouldnt be any overlap between shouty left-wing punk and Taylor Swift's glossy pop music, but it turns out there is. One "Swiftie" (as Taylor Swift fans are known), 25-year-old Amy Duhig from the UK, says, "I think she captures girlhood amazingly. She's gotten a lot of hate for being very feminine but hasn't changed anything about herself. (...) You can also see her grow so much in her music and older fans feel like they have grown up with her, as young teenagers... She's very good at putting feelings into words and writing in metaphors that people can relate to. She writes about so many different situations but can really capture people's feelings and probably makes them feel understood." Melanie Horne, a Canadian fan closer to the 33-year-old Swift's age, said, "I think she really knows how to capture a moment and she can evoke memories in me like no other artist. I'm in my 30s but I can sit down and listen to a song she wrote when she was a teenager, and I'm transported back to high school again. The songs that she wrote when she was young completely capture all the best and worst things about a girl growing up." Horne predicts Swift will one day be recognized as the voice of a generation of women. Taylor Swift fans are not only young women But even women older than that generation find Swift's music relatable. A German fan, 45-year-old Kathy Kossatz, said that her "music is glossy and intimate at the same time. () When listening to Taylor, you get the feeling she is alone with you in a room. It feels close while also being catchy pop music." When asked why Kossatz thinks Swift is so successful, she said, "Her music connects with the most diverse people. Mainstream pop fans love the accessibility and catchiness, teenagers feel heard, music nerds and critics acknowledge her talent and even indie/punk rock fans like me cannot resist. Her music and the topics she sings about are very universal. It's relationship-stuff, some songs are a bit socio-critical but not too much, yet it always feels honest and smart and (almost) never dull. This makes it appealing to so many different people." That diverse appeal was reflected in responses from people like David van der Burg, a 56-year-old in the UK who "will always identify as a punk," and says, "I love that so many of her songs tell a story and do so within the confines of a short pop song, quite a talent," and added, "What sets her apart from her contemporaries, and why she is so successful, is her repeated ability to reinvent herself. Even my die-hard indie friends loved 'Folklore' and 'Evermore,'" referring to the two albums Swift wrote and recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown and that veered into the indie-folk genre. Admired for asserting her rights Van der Burg also highlighted a non-musical aspect of Swift's appeal: her assertion of herself as an artist. As Hayden Binns put it, "The most bada** piece of 'f*ck you' to the music industry is her current re-recording of her back catalog following the sale of her masters. I read about it, thought it was a cool thing and then started listening to her. I'm now a big fan even if I started my musical listening journey as a metalhead." Admiration for Swift's assertion of her artistic independence was echoed by others. Even those who don't care for her music appreciate that aspect of her career, and some said the way she stood up for herself in the face of a sexual assault changed their minds. UK fan Jo Shepherd explained, "The turning point for me was the court case, where she very calmly and intellectually took apart the testimony of the bloke that had put his hand up her skirt. She was so incredible, and still relatively young." With that combination of such broad appeal, confidence and a willingness to experiment and grow as an artist, it seems likely that the Taylor Swift phenomenon will go on for some time to come, at least as long as she can make her experiences relatable to others while still surprising fans with her music and image. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! As I binged on the first three episodes of the new season of The Morning Show, I was struck by one thing. Every woman on the show was depicted in sky-high stilettos. Now I can understand on-air anchors (Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon) being portrayed wearing vertiginous heels but I have been around in enough TV studios to know that production staff who are on their feet all day tend to wear flats, or even sneakers, to get through their day. So, this struck a rather jarring note, to say the least, in a show that purported to show the real world of morning television. And Just Like That (2021 - ) is considered out of tune because Sarah Jessica Parker and her co-stars still live in their stilettos. A small minority of women may still favour high heels think Melania and Ivanka Trump but most women have tired of their charms. (Adobe Stock) And after that, I could not stop noticing the incongruous use of stilettos in other shows as well. The new season of The Split a British legal show set in a firm of family lawyers had Nicola Walker wearing 5 inch heels as she teetered around her office, attended depositions, went to court, and then to dinner with her family. No woman could survive a day like that in those heels in real life. In fact, if you took a walk around the Inns of Court in London, you would be hard pressed to find a single female lawyer in heels like these. They know better than to wreck their knees and backs by balancing precariously on heels all day. The ladies of Four More Shots Please! are almost always wearing stilettos. In real life, women are more likely to rock sneakers, ballet flats or wedges. (amazonprime) In fact, one of the reasons why the new reboot of Sex and The City, called And Just Like That, was considered out of tune with the times was because Sarah Jessica Parker and her co-stars seemed to live in their stilettos as they traipsed through the streets of New York City. How very 1990s, they critics scoffed, surely the ladies should have embraced the Zeitgeists new-found love for flats by now? The fact that they were stuck in the fashion mores of the decade in which they came of age, aged them much more than the wrinkles they had Botoxed away. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Bollywood stars stepped out in Mumbai to attend the Elle Beauty Awards 2023. The guest list included celebrities like Janhvi Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Shanaya Kapoor, Alaya F, Bhumi Pednekar, Vijay Varma, Babil Khan, Vaani Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Surveen Chawla, Divya Khosla Kumar, Mira Rajput Kapoor, Shriya Saran, Saiee Manjrekar, Fatima Sana Shaikh, and more stars. They walked the red carpet event in head-turning ensembles. Soon, pictures and videos from the star-studded occasion made it online. Here's a look at the stars who were the best-dressed celebrities at the bash. Scroll through to know who wore what. Ananya Panday, Janhvi Kapoor, Alaya F to Shanaya Kapoor; what best-dressed stars wore to Elle Beauty Awards. (HT Photo/Varinder Chawla) Best-dressed stars at Elle Beauty Awards: Who wore what Ananya Panday Ananya Panday served glamour and elegance at the Elle Beauty Awards red carpet in a killer black gown featuring a strapless plunging neckline, a corseted bodice, and a voluminous floor-grazing skirt. She styled the outfit with an emerald layered necklace, earrings, a sleek ponytail, high heels, and striking minimal glam picks. Alaya F Alaya F won the 'Naked Dress' trend at the Elle Beauty Awards in a jaw-dropping see-through dress featuring a sheer silhouette, heavy pearl embellishments, a figure-hugging silhouette, and a risque thigh-high slit. She wore the ensemble with killer high heels, a braided hairdo adorned in pearls, pearl earrings, mascara-adorned lashes, and dewy glam picks. Janhvi Kapoor Janhvi Kapoor stole the show at the Elle Beauty Awards in a silver mesh gown featuring a one-shoulder neckline, a cut-out on the waist, a thigh-high slit, and a figure-skimming silhouette. Side-parted open voluminous locks, strappy silver high heels, statement rings, and killer glam picks gave the finishing touch to her red-carpet look. Bhumi Pednekar Bhumi Pednekar attended Elle Beauty Awards in a black gown featuring a strapless silhouette, a plunging neckline, a corseted bodice, an OTT structure on the waist, a front slit, floor-sweeping train at the back, and a floor-length scarf placed on her neck like a dupatta. She styled the outfit with high heels, statement earrings, rings, open locks, and mauve lip shade. Shanaya Kapoor Shanaya Kapoor slayed the Gen-Z styling for her Elle Beauty Awards appearance in a grey tank top and a silver sequinned figure-hugging skirt featuring a knotted design on the waist, a thigh-high slit on the front, and floor-grazing hem. The ensemble is from Michael Kors. She styled the outfit with an open wet hairdo, a Bulgari bracelet, dainty ear studs, subtle eye shadow, glossy pink lip shade, and a blushed dewy base. Mira Kapoor Mira Kapoor arrived at the Elle Beauty Awards in a statement saree gown by Shantanu & Nikhil. It featured an embellished corseted strapless blouse, a gathered skirt design, a thigh-high slit on front, a floor-sweeping train, an embellished tulle pallu-like structure, and a figure-sculpting silhouette. She wore it with a dainty necklace, rings, high heels, side-parted wavy locks, and minimal glam. Rakul Preet Singh Rakul Preet Singh attended the Elle Beauty Awards in a blush pink Gauri and Nainika gown featuring a strapless neckline, a fitted bodice, a voluminous layered tulle skirt, and a floor-sweeping hem adorned in ruffles. She styled the ensemble with statement rings, a bracelet, pearl earrings, a top knot, fuchsia pink lip shade, shimmery eye makeup, and blushed cheeks. Vaani Kapoor Vaani Kapoor served a Disney Princess moment on the red carpet at the Elle Beauty Awards in a black and blush pink gown featuring a plunging neckline, corseted bodice, a flared skirt, and a front skit. A messy top knot, minimal glam, statement earrings, black high heels, nude lip shade, and striking eye makeup rounded it off. Vijay Varma Vijaya Varma made heads turn at the Elle Beauty Awards in his dapper and laidback checkered grey ensemble featuring an oversized notch-lapel blazer, coordinated pants featuring a slit on the knees, and a white baggy tank top. The actor complemented his outfit with chunky Chelsea boots, rings, a clean-shaven look, and a messy hairdo. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Solar Eclipse 2023: The spectacular phenomenon of Solar Eclipse is awaited. This solar eclipse is a sky watcher's marvel for many reasons. This thrilling celestial event will take place on Saturday October 14. The phenomenon is also known as 'Ring of Fire' - it will be seen that the moon will come in between the earth and the sun leading to a marvelous ring of fire to be seen from earth. This phenomenon will happen because most of the sun will be covered in the shadow of the moon, leading to a bright ring of fire to be visible in the sky. Solar Eclipse 2023: Safe ways to watch solar eclipse(Unsplash) People in the Western Hemisphere will be able to witness the event people in India will not be able to see this Solar Eclipse. The narrow path that crosses the USA from Oregon to Texas will be able to see the Ring of Fire. However, while watching a Solar Eclipse, we should be extra careful about taking care of our eyes. As we gear up to witness one of the most fascinating celestial events, here are a few tips to keep in mind. We're now on WhatsApp. Click to join ALSO READ: Solar Eclipse 2023: All you want to know about 'ring of fire' solar eclipse Solar Eclipse glasses: We always have a pair of Solar Eclipse glasses lying around somewhere in the house. They are also very cheap, and they protect the eyes. In fact, as we watch the live stream of the Solar Eclipse on YouTube, we should equally be careful. Solar Eclipse viewer: A small piece of cardboard with a Solar Eclipse viewer helps in carrying it wherever we go and protecting our eyes from the direct rays of the sun. Projecting the sun: One of the best ways to view the Solar Eclipse is to project the sun. All we need is a pair of binoculars and a telescope, and a little bit of adjusting throughout the Eclipse, and we can have our own watch. Stand near a tree: The gaps of the leaves often act as a pinhole camera and make for a healthy way to watch the Solar Eclipse. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Skywatchers are in for a treat this month as a spectacular Solar Eclipse will be visible this weekend. Also known as Ring Of Fire or Annular Solar Eclipse, the rare astronomical phenomenon will fall on Saturday, October 14, the same day as Mahalaya - which marks the beginning of Debi Paksha and is celebrated by the devotees of Maa Durga a week before the Durga Puja. The Solar Eclipse or Ring Of Fire will be visible across the Americas. Though Indians will not be able to witness the astronomical event physically, there are other options to enjoy the Solar Eclipse. Scroll through to find out when, where and how to watch the rare Annular Solar Eclipse. An Annular Solar Eclipse or Ring Of Fire will appear on October 14, Saturday. (AP) (Also Read | Solar Eclipse 2023 on October 14: Will Ring of Fire be visible in India? Know details and where to watch Surya Grahan) When and where to watch Surya Grahan on October 14 A Solar Eclipse or Ring Of Fire occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. However, when the Moon is at its farthest point from the Earth, at the correct distance, it is too small to cover the Sun completely and forms a ring around it from Earth's perspective. This occurrence is known as an Annular Solar Eclipse or Ring Of Fire. The same phenomenon is expected on October 14, 2023. Mitzi Adams, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch Assistant Chief, said in a statement, on the NASA website, "It is like nothing you've ever experienced before. It's sort of like somebody puts a bowl on top of Earth right above where you're standing. In the middle of the day, it gets darker, but you can still see light around the rim." Though the Annular Solar Eclipse or Ring Of Fire is not visible in India, people in the Western Hemisphere can experience this Eclipse. It will be visible along a narrow path that crosses the USA from Oregon to Texas, passing over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, parts of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil. Meanwhile, a Partial Solar Eclipse will be visible from Alaska to Argentina. How to watch Annular Solar Eclipse or Ring Of Fire LIVE It is never safe to watch an Annular Solar Eclipse with the naked eye. One should always use specialised eye protection designed for solar viewing. Moreover, watching the Eclipse with a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter will instantly cause severe eye injury. Meanwhile, the start of a Partial Solar Eclipse will be visible at 8:06 am PT. The period of Annularity, when the Ring Of Fire is visible, will last around five minutes. The maximum coverage will happen at 9:18 am PT. You can watch when the Solar Eclipse will be in your area and what you'll be able to see at the Great American Eclipse website and TimeandDate.com. You can also watch it LIVE on NASA's live stream at 11:30 am ET (9:00 pm IST) on Eclipse Day. Click here. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! WHAT ARE YOUR pronouns? In English, the most common answers are he or she. But a growing number of people identify as neither male nor female, and ask to be referred to with novel pronouns . They is by far the most common of these. In English, the linguistic adjustments required to accommodate non-binary people are relatively limited. For gendered languages, gender-neutral options are a bigger problem. How do these languages handle the issue? PREMIUM Movements to make gendered languages less sexist have existed for years.(Shutterstock) Movements to make gendered languages less sexist have existed for years. Many languages have a default masculine, where a generic (say) student or professor is given masculine gender and mixed groups are referred to with masculine adjectives. Efforts to promote change in different countries are sparking opposition from linguistic conservatives. Berlins mayor recently said he would refuse to sign documents using new plural endings designed to include both women and men. Germanys main opposition leader has claimed that such language is driving voters to the far right. The push to accommodate non-binary people has in some cases piggybacked on these earlier campaigns for gender neutrality. Nearly all European languages (descended from a common ancestor) have two or three genders, and the neuter gender is not normally used for humans. French uses the interpunct, a kind of floating dot, to insert the feminine ending into the generic masculine: pretes means ready, and is intended to include both men and women and, presumably, those who identify as neither. But it is pronounced identically to prets, the masculine word. As in German, no easy alternative has emerged. Spanish activists have found a more elegant fix. They use -e endings on nouns and adjectives, in contrast to the usual -o (masculine) and -a (feminine); the pronoun elle resembles el (he) and ella (she) and is used by some non-binary people. In Swedish han (he) and hon (she) have been joined by hen. It serves for both non-binary people and as the gender-neutral pronoun in sentences like If a customer has a complaint they should put it in writing. It was coined decades ago, but came to prominence after it was used in a childrens book in 2012. Data show that in 2018 it was about one-hundredth as frequent as han and hon put together, on an upward trend from previous years. Some languages have a head start when it comes to accommodating non-binary people. Manyincluding Estonian, Chinese and Hungarianhave one word that means both he and she. Still, there can be wrinkles. In Mandarin the word ta is written using different characters for he () and she (). They differ in the radical element, the part of the character that carries the general area of meaning: he has a person radical, while she has a woman radical. Some non-binary people have begun using a roman-alphabet TA or X in place of that radical, next to the remainder of the character. Others have tried to craft new Chinese-style characters. But the Peoples Republic, which has little time for transgender rights, is cold to any such ideas. If linguistic accommodations for non-binary people are to catch on, they must be used by large numbers of people, such that they become commonplaceand it helps a great deal if they are easy to say. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com On the morning of October 9th, the National Bureau of Economic Research circulated a working paper to economists around the world entitled Why Women Won. In the paper, Claudia Goldin of Harvard University documents how women achieved equal rights in American workplaces and families. Rather fittingly, a few hours later, Ms Goldin was announced as the winner of this years economics Nobel prize, for advancing our understanding of womens labour-market outcomes. PREMIUM Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin(X/@NobelPrize) Ms Goldins research has busted other myths, too. Lawrence Katz, her colleague and husband, marvels at her ability to trawl archives to fill gaps in the historical data on womens work. Simple statistics, such as the female employment rate, were mismeasured because when surveyed, women might respond Im a housewife, notes Ms Goldin, even if they managed the family business. Once corrected, the employment rate for white married women, for example, was 12.5% in 1890five times greater than previously thought. Before Ms Goldins work, economists had thought that economic growth led to a more level playing field. In fact, Ms Goldin showed, the Industrial Revolution drove married women out of the labour force, as production moved from home to factory. In research published in 1990 she demonstrated that it was only in the 20th century, when service-sector jobs proliferated and high-school education developed, that the more familiar pattern emerged. The relationship between the size of Western economies and female-labour-force participation is u-shapeda classic Goldin result. Having been the first woman to be granted tenure at Harvards economics department, Ms Goldin is now the third woman to have won the subjects Nobel prize. Taken together, her research provides a comprehensive history of gender labour-market inequality over the past 200 years. In telling this history , she has overturned assumptions about both historical gender relations and what is required to achieve greater equality in the present day. Her findings also showed that the gender wage gap narrowed in bursts. Womens wages rose relative to mens in 1820-50 and then again in 1890-1930, before shooting up in 1980-2005 (see chart). What drove these bursts? The initial two came well before the equal-pay movement and were caused by changes in the labour market: first, during the Industrial Revolution; second, during a surge in white-collar employment for occupations like clerical work. For the third and most substantial drop, in the late 20th century, Ms Goldin emphasises the role of expectations. If a young woman has more say over when and whether she will have a child, and more confidence that women can work in a wide range of jobs, she may invest more in the future, such as by staying in school for longer. In work published in 2002 Ms Goldin and Mr Katz detailed the example of the contraceptive pill, which was approved in 1960, and gave women more control over decisions about children. Between 1967 and 1979 the share of 20- and 21-year-old women who expected to be employed at 35 jumped from 35% to 80%. Expectations also matter for employers. Although the pay gap narrowed in the early 1900s, the portion driven by discrimination, rather than job type, grew. An important factor, says Ms Goldin, was changes in how payment was decided. Wages used to be tied to outputhow many clothes were knitted, for instance. But after industrialisation, workers were increasingly paid periodically, in part because measuring an individuals output became trickier. Therefore more ambiguous factors grew in importance, such as ideas about how long a worker would stay on the job. This penalised women, who were expected to quit when they had children. Since around 2005 the wage gap has hardly budged. Here Ms Goldins work questions popular narratives that continue to blame wage discrimination. Instead, in a book published in 2021, Ms Goldin blames greedy jobs, such as being a consultant or lawyer, which offer increasing returns to long (and uncertain) hours. She explains how such work interacts with the so-called parenthood penalty. Lets say there are two lawyers, equally brilliant, explains Ms Goldin. Once children arrive, they realise that they both cant work these gruelling hours. Women spend more time raising children, which is why the gender pay gap tends to open up after a first child. Both partners could take on less demanding jobs, but then the couple would earn less as a unit, she explains. Ms Goldins research holds lessons for economists and policymakers. For the former group, it shows the importance of history. Ms Goldins prize is the first economics Nobel awarded for work largely in economic history since Robert Fogel, her former adviser, triumphed in 1993. Before Ms Goldins research, many academics considered questions about historical gender pay gaps to be unanswerable because of a paucity of data. Yet she has repeatedly demonstrated that digging through historical archives allows researchers to credibly answer big questions previously thought beyond their reach. For policymakers, Ms Goldins research demonstrates that fixes for gender inequality vary depending on time and place. In early 20th-century America, companies barred married women from obtaining or retaining employment. A policy response came with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned such behaviour. Today, wage gaps persist because of greedy jobs and parental norms, rather than because of straightforward employer discrimination. In the past, Ms Goldin has suggested more flexibility in the workplace could be a solution to the problem. Perhaps working out how to achieve it will be her next act. For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in economics, finance and markets, sign up to Money Talks, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com A woman organised a very special and unusual celebration with her friends and family when she decided to get married to herself. The UK woman decided to stop waiting for the right partner and tied the knot with herself. She also spent 10,000 (nearly 10 lakh), which she had saved for the past 20 years, on celebrations. The woman in the UK first came up with the idea when she gifted herself a diamond engagement ring (Representative image). (Unsplash/@thomasae) Sarah Wilkinson, 42, hosted the wedding at Harvest House in Felixstowe, Suffolk, reports the BBC. She celebrated by saying 14 vows to herself in front of 40 of her closest family and friends. Also Read: Woman who married herself celebrates her first wedding anniversary Talking about how her close ones reacted to her decision, Wilkinson said that they were not surprised to hear her 'outlandish idea.' She added, No one stopped smiling all day and everyone said what an amazing time they had. Nearly every single one said 'That's such a Sarah thing to do. Why did she decide to marry herself? Wilkinson turned 40 during the pandemic-induced lockdown and decided to gift herself a diamond engagement ring. Since then, she had lingering thoughts about getting married to herself, instead of waiting for 'Mr Right. "I think you get to the point where you think 'I might not have this with a partner by my side, but why should I miss out?' That money was reserved for my wedding - it was a case of it's there and why not use it for something I want to do, she told the BBC. How did Sarah Wilkinson celebrate her big day? The bride came to the venue wearing a traditional white gown accessorised with sequins. As for her cake top, she chose a figurine of a bride kissing a frog. She also walked down the aisle with her mother to complete the ceremony of getting married to herself. Wilkinson shared that she loved being the centre of attraction on her big day. "The ceremony wasn't an official wedding, but I had my wedding day, she added. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hong Kong: HK, Jiangsu sign co-operation pact Chief Executive John Lee today held a high-level meeting with CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee Secretary Xin Changxing in Hong Kong and both officials witnessed the signing of bilateral agreements for promoting joint developments. Mr Lee said at the meeting that both Hong Kong and Jiangsu are important to the country's high-quality development, with the province playing an important role in the development strategies of integration of the Yangtze River Delta and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is one of the core cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and has the distinctive advantages of one country, two systems, enjoys the strong support of the motherland and is closely connected to the world, he added. The Chief Executive also noted that Hong Kong's eight centres under the National 14th Five-Year Plan complements Jiangsu's development positioning of one centre, one base, one hub and that deepening co-operation between the two places will create more and better development opportunities. Hong Kong and Jiangsu reached a consensus in 12 co-operation areas including: the Belt & Road Initiative, finance, innovation and technology, trade and industry, construction and modern service industry, legal services, education, culture and tourism, health and hygiene, exchange of talent, youth development, and facilitation for Hong Kong people in the Mainland. Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki and Jiangsu Provincial People's Government Vice Governor Fang Wei signed the co-operation agreement on deepening the exchange between both places. Five co-operation agreements were also signed by government departments and organisations of the two places, encompassing education, youth development, innovation and technology co-operation, investment promotion, and economic and trade co-operation. This story has been published on: 2023-10-13. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. More than 90 per cent of the people killed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in western Afghanistan last weekend were women and children, U.N. officials reported Thursday. Afghan women mourn relatives killed in an earthquake at a burial site after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan.(AP) Taliban officials said Saturday's earthquake killed more than 2,000 people of all ages and genders across Herat province. The epicentre was in Zenda Jan district, where 1,294 people died, 1,688 were injured and every home was destroyed, according to U.N. figures. Women and children were more likely to have been at home when the quake struck in the morning, said Siddig Ibrahim, the chief of the UNICEF field office in Herat. When the first earthquake hit, people thought it was an explosion, and they ran into their homes, he said. Hundreds of people, mostly women, remain missing in Zenda Jan. The Afghanistan representative for the United Nations Population Fund, Jaime Nadal, said there would have been no gender dimension to the death toll if the quake had happened at night. At that time of the day, men were out in the field, Nadal told The Associated Press. Many men migrate to Iran for work. The women were at home doing the chores and looking after the children. They found themselves trapped under the rubble. There was clearly a gender dimension. The initial quake, numerous aftershocks and a second 6.3-magnitude quake on Wednesday flattened entire villages, destroying hundreds of mud-brick homes that could not withstand such force. Schools, health clinics and other village facilities also collapsed. The Norwegian Refugee Council described the devastation as enormous. Early reports from our teams are that many of those who lost their lives were small children who were crushed or suffocated after buildings collapsed on them, the council said. The maternity hospital in Herat province has cracks that make the structure unsafe. The U.N. has provided tents so pregnant women have somewhere to stay and receive care, Nadal said. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the world body also has provided ambulances to a regional hospital and distributed solar lamps, hygiene kits and other aid to hundreds of displaced families. The World Food Program is sending over 81 tons of food, Dujarric said at U.N. headquarters Thursday. Many people inside and outside Herat's provincial capital are still sleeping outside, even as temperatures drop. The disproportionate impact of the quake on women has left children without mothers, their primary caregivers, raising questions about who will raise them or how to reunite them with fathers who might be out of the province or Afghanistan. Aid officials say orphanages are non-existent or rare, meaning children who have lost one or both parents were likely to be taken in by surviving relatives or community members. Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, where there are a number of fault lines and frequent movement among three nearby tectonic plates. Women may be at risk of not getting information on earthquake preparedness because of Taliban edicts curtailing their mobility and rights, and restrictions imposed on female humanitarian workers, a U.N. report has warned. Authorities have barred girls from school beyond sixth grade and stopped women from working at non-governmental groups, although there are exceptions for some sectors like health care. The Taliban also say that women cannot travel long distances without male chaperones. Aid agencies say their female Afghan staff members are for now working freely in Herat and reaching women and girls affected by the earthquake. UNICEF has launched a USD 20 million appeal to help the estimate 13,000 children and families devastated by the earthquake. HAMAS SAYS IT is expecting a ground invasion of Gaza. It is steadying the nerves of its population for the suffering that will follow. Either we die slowly or we die taking the occupation with us, says a Hamas official referring to Israel. It argues that the winds are in its favour. After multiple wars, its forces are more battle-hardened, innovative and better-equipped than ever. In a clash with Israel in 2014 its brigades continued fighting for 50 days. Israeli air power is pummelling Hamas, but the group believes that Israels list of targets is partial and outdated. It also thinks that Israels decision-making is impaired by internal political disputes and that the Jewish state may be ill-placed to win a ground war. Fighting in the densely populated strip will exact a steep humanitarian toll that could sway global public opinion against Israel and draw sympathisers elsewhere in the region into the fray, Hamas hopes. PREMIUM An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer fires rounds towards the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 13, 2023. Palestinians carried belongings through the rubble-strewn streets of Gaza City October 13 in search of refuge as Israel's army warned residents to flee immediately before an expected ground offensive in retaliation against Hamas for the deadliest attack in Israeli history. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)(AFP) Above all, notes Hamass military spokesman, it holds more than 100 Israeli hostages who would be at as great a risk from an Israeli offensive as Palestinian civilians. It intends to use them as bargaining chips to secure a mass release of Palestinian prisoners and to end Israels blockade. Negotiations have already started through the Egyptians, says a Hamas official. And, notes an Israeli mediator, referring to the captured Israeli soldier Hamas exchanged for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in 2011, the price they will seek to exact now will be higher because they have a hundred Gilad Shalits. Hamas has said they will execute one hostage for each unannounced Israeli strike on homes in Gaza (though the hostages are valuable bargaining chips). Before the latest attack Israel and Hamas had fought four major wars and had a number of smaller clashes since the Islamist group took control of Gaza and its 2m people in 2007. These cost thousands of lives, most of them Palestinian. But since the end of a two-week-long battle in 2021, Hamas has avoided escalating the conflict and has indeed restrained other Palestinian militants when they fired rockets into Israel. Many Israelis believed the Islamist group was more interested in maintaining a ceasefire in order to focus on rebuilding the impoverished and overcrowded coastal strip than in sparking another bloody and pointless war. The Israeli government hoped that allowing thousands of Palestinian labourers to work in Israel so long as calm prevailed would provide a further incentive to keep the peace. And some officials hoped that Hamas itself could be co-opted into a long-term truce. Its brutal attack on October 7th shattered that illusion. Once a terrorist group, always a terrorist group, says Yaakov Amidror, a former head of Israels National Security Council. For some time there have been signs that Israel might have been misreading the situation in Gaza. For years, Israeli officials have shrugged off warnings that living conditions in the enclave were so dire that the frustrations they caused could spark an explosion. When Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in 2005, it was hoped that the territory would be able to export produce into Egypt and Israel and import goods through a border crossing with Egypt. But since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 the territory has been under a blockade by both countries that has constrained trade, strangled its economy and largely confined its people. Adding to those grievances was a sense in Gaza of abandonment by the wider world. Earlier this summer Qatar, which had been sending Hamas $30m a month to pay the salaries of public servants among other things, cut the payments to $10m a month. Even that often arrived late. (If youre trying to pay your way out of resistance, you better pay and pay the maximum, says an interlocutor shuttling between Hamas and Western governments.) The Abraham accords, which established diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates, added to Gazans feeling of suffering alone. Weve decided to put an end to all this, said Muhammad Deif, the military wings commander, in a communique announcing the attack. So that the enemy understands that he can no longer revel without being held to account. The Islamists are also seeking to change things far beyond Gaza. We want to spark rebellion in the occupied West Bank, said a Hamas official, both against Mahmoud Abbas, the ailing president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Israel, which props up the PA. Hamas also aims to return the issue of Palestine to the top of the Middle Easts political agenda. In Lebanons Palestinian refugee camps, visitors report a carnival atmosphere. In Egypts second city, Alexandria, a policeman shot dead two Israeli tourists. And Hamas hopes to spark a wider conflict by appealing for help from other members of the axis of resistance, as Iran and its satellites in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the Houthi-run part of Yemen like to call themselves. Yet it is far from clear that the other members of that axis will be enthusiastic about joining the fight. Hizbullah, the party-cum-militia in Lebanon, has a huge arsenal of rockets aimed at Israel. But the bitter war it fought with Israel in 2006 was so destructive that Hizbullah has refrained since then from starting another one. And Lebanon, with its collapsing economy, is in no shape to deal with another calamity. Hizbullahs patron, Iran, also seems to want it to keep its satellites powder dry; the thousands of rockets it has provided to Hizbullah are intended to deter Israel from bombing Irans nuclear programme. And for all its rhetoric, Iran has never gone to war for the Palestinians. We know were a tool [of Iran], says the Gaza official, noting that Hamas and Iran lie on opposite sides of Islams sectarian divide between Shias and Sunnis. At the end of day we just have a zawaj muta, a temporary marriage. In an attempt to avoid opening another front, Israeli officials have played down the role of Iran and Hizbullah. But the axis has done little to disguise its gloating at Israel and support for Hamas. On October 9th the Wall Street Journal quoted two unnamed officials from Iran and Hizbullah saying that the Islamic Republic had plotted the attack for weeks. It noted that Ismail Qaani, the head of the foreign arm of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had repeatedly met with Hizbullahs leaders and Hamas officials, including Saleh al-Arouri, its representative in Beirut, ahead of the attack. Yet this version of events probably overstates Irans role. Although Hamas gets arms and training from Iran, the Palestinian group insists that it alone decides whether and when to launch operations. In any case, it had many reasons of its own for attacking. Irans main concern is that the region is slipping out of its orbit into Americas and Israels. Saudi Arabia and Israel have both said publicly that they are taking steps towards establishing diplomatic relations and that these are being underwritten by security guarantees from America. Further progress was expected with the visit of a third Israeli cabinet minister to Riyadh later this month. Just days before this attack started Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that countries establishing relations with Israel were putting themselves in harms way. Indeed, after a period of relative calm in the region, Irans allies are renewing hostilities on several fronts. The Houthis, the Shia armed group that controls Yemens capital, recently staged their first cross-border attack on Saudi Arabia for months. Militias aligned with Iran in eastern Syria have also lobbed rockets at American bases and encouraged Arab tribes in the region to rebel against local Kurdish control. Still, pressure on other members of the axis to do more may increase as the fighting in Gaza intensifies. Two months ago Hizbullah conducted a much-hyped military exercise in southern Lebanon in which it practised capturing Israeli towns. That Hamas has now done so puts them under pressure, says Hilal Khashan, a Lebanese security expert. The day after Hamas launched its attack, Hizbullah shelled three Israeli positions on the Shebaa farms, a parcel of contested land in the foothills of the Golan Heights. The location of this attack appears designed to assuage the movements hotheads, while also signalling to Israel that it wants to avoid escalation. The question is how long that complex calculation holds. 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that calls to impose a blockade of Gaza similar to Nazi Germany's siege of Leningrad during World War Two were unacceptable and called for mediation to save civilian lives. Russia's President Vladimir Putin (AFP) "Israel has faced such an unprecedented attack," Putin said. "But despite all the bitterness on both sides, I still think that we need to think about the civilian population." He said there had been calls even in the United States for a blockade of Gaza on a par with "the siege of Leningrad during World War II" and that such calls were unacceptable. China said on Thursday it had sent fighter jets to monitor and warn a US Navy patrol aircraft that flew through the Taiwan Strait. Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing. (REUTERS) China claims sovereignty over democratically-governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the narrow waterway. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway. Earlier on Thursday, the US Navy's 7th fleet said the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane, which is also used for anti-submarine missions, flew through the strait in international airspace. "By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations," the Navy said, adding that the aircraft's transit demonstrates the United States' commitment to a "free and open Indo-Pacific". China's military described the flight as "public hype", adding it had sent fighters to monitor and warn the US plane. "Troops in the theatre are always on high alert and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability," the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement. Taiwan's defence ministry said the US aircraft had flown in a northerly direction through the strait and stuck to its median line. Taiwan's forces kept watch the situation was "as normal", the ministry added. China stages almost daily military activities of its own in the Taiwan Strait and seas and skies around Taiwan. The United States last announced a Poseidon mission through the strait in July. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Elon Musks X faces further intense scrutiny in the European Union after regulators demanded answers over concerns about illegal and even terrorist content on the social media platform. (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on October 10, 2023, shows (L) SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk during his visit at the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on June 16, 2023 and (R) the new Twitter logo rebranded as X, pictured on a screen in Paris on July 24, 2023.. The EU's digital chief Thierry Breton warned Elon Musk on October 10, 2023, that his platform X, formerly Twitter, is spreading "illegal content and disinformation", in a letter seen by AFP. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)(AFP) The European Commission late Thursday said it sent X a formal request for information under its strict new digital content management rules following indications about the potential terrorist and violent content. X, formerly known as Twitter, received a one-week ultimatum until Oct. 18 to respond to regulators questions about the activation and functioning of its crisis-response protocol, and will have to respond on other questions by Oct. 31, the commission said in a news release. This formal request for information is a step to fully understand what measures @X is taking to ensure online safety, commission Vice President Vera Jourova wrote in a post on X. The move comes after the EUs internal market commissioner Thierry Breton set a 24-hour deadline for X owner Musk to respond to allegations that the platform was ignoring notices of illegal content in relation to the Israel-Hamas conflict. In the letter to X earlier this week, which Breton posted on the social platform, he reminded Musk that he has an obligation to take very precise content moderation measures under the EUs Digital Services Act. X faces possible fines if it provides the commission with incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in response, according to the news release. Xs spokespeople didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment. John Kirby, the spokesman for the US National Security Council, told reporters Thursday he was grateful that X removed some disinformation related to the attack on Israel. ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok on Thursday was added to a growing list of leading social media players, along with Meta Platforms Inc., that Breton has been warning to take prompt action to stop the spread of disinformation. Social media companies are required under the new law to hire more content moderators and use risk mitigation methods to decrease the spread of harmful content. Companies that fail to comply could face fines as high as 6% annual revenue or even be banned from the bloc if they repeatedly break the rules. --With assistance from Jennifer Jacobs. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. In a heated exchange on Fox News, host Sean Hannity and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy clashed over recent comments made by Ramaswamy regarding the Republican party's stance on Israel. The heated debate highlighted the ongoing discord within the GOP, with Hannity questioning Ramaswamy's credibility and qualifications for the presidency. AUSTIN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 12: Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks to college students during a campaign rally in the Hogg Memorial Auditorium at the University of Texas at Austin on October 12, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Ramaswamy engaged students with a Q&A, while speaking about his current approach, vision and future direction if he is elected president.(Getty Images via AFP) The confrontation began when Hannity pressed Ramaswamy to defend his remarks about the GOP's "selective moral outrage" towards terrorist attacks by Hamas. Ramaswamy vehemently denied Hannity's characterization, leading to a tense back-and-forth. Hannity accused Ramaswamy of consistently denying his own words, stating, "You say stuff and then deny it. So why don't you just own what you say and stand by it and stop playing these games?" Ramaswamy, undeterred, defended his position and criticized Hannity's portrayal of his comments. The exchange escalated with Hannity pointing out Ramaswamy's lack of political experience, saying, "I think people who never held public office, like you, maybe they're not qualified to be president!" Hannity's statement drew attention for its unintended implication about former President Donald Trump, who also lacked prior political experience before assuming office. Social media quickly picked up on the irony, with users highlighting the comparison between Ramaswamy and Trump. Ramaswamy, seizing the moment, took to social media to emphasize the significance of outsiders in politics. His response on X (formerly Twitter) emphasized that even Trump lacked traditional political experience and went on to become the President of the United States, suggesting that being an outsider could be an asset. The clash underscores the divisions within the Republican party and the complexities of the upcoming 2024 presidential race. As the political landscape continues to evolve, the debate between seasoned politicians and political outsiders will undoubtedly remain a focal point of discussion. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning on Thursday stating the healthcare system in Gaza was at a breaking point, days after Israel announced a complete blockage of electricity, food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City as Israeli warplanes pummel Gaza to avenge the Hamas attack. (AP) Releasing a statement, WHO said, WHO warns that the health system in the Gaza Strip is at a breaking point. Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade. The strip, which hosts about 2.2 million Palestinians, is home to the Hamas militant group which mounted the biggest attack on Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War. As Hamas militants went on killing civilians and taking Israeli soldiers hostage, Israeli Defense Forces launched a counterattack against Hamas in Gaza. WHO added that the hospitals only had a few hours of electricity every day and were forced to ration fuel reserves which were increasingly depleting. Hospitals have only a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves and rely on generators to sustain the most critical functions. Even these functions will have to cease in a few days, when fuel stocks are due to run out. Israeli energy minister Israel Katz said on Thursday the country will not allow basic resources including electricity, water and fuel or humanitarian aid inside the Gaza Strip until Hamas released Israeli hostages. Katz said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home. Humanitarian for humanitarian. And no one will preach to us morals. Further speaking about the impact of a complete shutdown of all resources, WHO said it was devastating for the vulnerable patients, including the injured who would need life-saving injuries, the patients in Intensive Care Units (ICU) or the newborn infants who needed to be put on incubators. WHO added, As injuries and fatalities continue to rise due to the ongoing air strikes on the Gaza Strip, acute shortages of medical supplies are compounding the crisis, limiting the response capacity of already overstretched hospitals to treat the sick and injured. The organisation also said that the blockade had gravely disrupted the delivery of essential healthcare services, which included obstetric care, management of noncommunicable diseases such as cancer and heart diseases, and treatment of common infections, since the hospitals were forced to prioritise lifesaving emergency care to people. WHO also pointed out the damaged infrastructure as a result of intensive strikes on Gaza. WHO has documented 34 attacks on health care in Gaza since last Saturday that have resulted in the death of 11 health workers on duty, 16 injuries, and damages to 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances, the statement read. It added that unless humanitarian aid reaches Gaza especially that related to health services, medical supplies, food, clean water, fuel, and non-food items then health officials would be unable to provide aid to people who urgently need it. Each lost hour puts more lives at risk. WHO also called for an end to hostilities and urged for protection of health care and civilians against Hamas' attack. WHO also calls for the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor to ensure unimpeded access for health and humanitarian supplies, as well as for personnel, and the evacuation of patients and the injured. WHO further reiterates its call for the respect and protection of health care. WHO concluded the statement saying, WHO is ready to immediately dispatch trauma and essential health supplies through its logistics hub in Dubai and work with partners to ensure that they can reach the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing. Urgent access through the crossing is essential so that WHO and other humanitarian agencies can act quickly to help save lives. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Gaza's ruling Hamas militants called on Palestinians to rise up on Friday in protest at Israel's bombardment of the enclave, urging Palestinians to march to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Yassin Mosque destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. (AP) Israel has been pounding Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire in retaliation for a Hamas rampage in Israel this week that has killed at least 1,300 people, the deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli history. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. The Gaza violence has reignited tensions in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank, where Israeli troops have killed at least 34 Palestinians during clashes since the Saturday Hamas attack, according to Palestinian officials. In a statement calling for a "general mobilization," Hamas urged Palestinians to protest in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound -- one of the Middle East's most volatile holy sites -- and stay there throughout Friday, when Muslims hold large weekly prayers. The compound is Islam's third holiest side after Mecca and Medina and the most sacred to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. Clashes at the compound helped set off an 11-day Israel-Gaza war in May 2021. Hamas urged Palestinians in the West Bank to "demonstrate, mobilize and clash" with Israeli troops and settlers. Israel's military, which has also traded blows in recent days with militants over its northern border in Syria and Lebanon, had no immediate comment. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday thanked US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin for United States' support to the country in the war against terror group Hamas saying that the world has to unite to help Israel fight Hamas. Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Tel Aviv(X/ ANI) Follow LIVE Updates "Hamas is ISIS. Hamas is worse than ISIS. Just as the whole civilised world united to fight ISIS, the world has to unite to help us fight Hamas. I know that you stand with us," Netanyahu said to Austin, who made a solidarity visit to Israel on Friday, a day after secretary of state Antony Blinken's visit to the war-shed country. Meanwhile, Austin reaffirmed US' support to Netanyahu saying that America stands with Israel. As the president said, we have your back. We do stand with you, Mr. Prime Minister, Austin told Netanyahu. Austin met with Netanyahu and spent nearly two hours with minister of defence Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. Read here: Palestine supporters protest as Israel urges evacuation in Gaza amid war Asked about the likelihood of civilian casualties in Gaza, Austin said Israel has the right to defend itself and added that he has worked with Israeli forces over the years, when he was in the military. They are professional, they are disciplined and they are focused on the right things, he told reporters, after meeting for nearly two hours with Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. Austin underlined that there is "never any justification for terrorism and that's especially true after this rampage by Hamas". Additionally, the US defence secretary affirmed that Pentagon was ready to deploy more military aid to Israel as Israeli forces prepare for a retaliatory attack on Gaza. "The US Department of Defense stands fully ready to deploy additional assets if necessary," he said. On the war front, Israeli military urged around one million Palestinians in Gaza City to evacuate for their own safety and protection, ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. However, Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel. Read here: 'Hamas is ISIS, will be crushed soon': Netanyahu's warning as war enters Day 6 The assault by Hamas on Israel last week killed over 1,300 people, mostly civilians, including women and children. Israel has since been hammering Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire and more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. A ground invasion of the besieged enclave appears to be imminent. (With inputs from agencies) In the early hours of Saturday, October 7th, terror struck Be'eri Kibbutz near the Gaza border, shattering the tranquillity of this close-knit community. What began as a seemingly ordinary day swiftly turned into a nightmare as Hamas militants infiltrated the kibbutz, leaving the residents trapped in their homes, frantically communicating their fear, desperation, and pleas for help through a WhatsApp group chat shared with the BBC. CORRECTION / Mourners duck for cover upon hearing sirens warning of incoming rockets during the funeral of Tom Godo, killed during the attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on the Kibbutz Kisuffim last week, in Kibbutz Naan near Tel Aviv on October 13, 2023. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants entered Israel in a surprise attack leading Israel to declare war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 8.(AFP) The incident began with a message: "We have a terrorist on the stairs. Call someone." The mothers on the Be'eri mothers' WhatsApp group found themselves at the epicentre of a day-long rampage, documenting their horror, confusion, and efforts to survive as Hamas gunmen roamed the streets, setting homes ablaze and taking hostages. Inside their safe rooms, these women, along with their families, exchanged messages detailing the chaos unfolding outside. They shared information about the gunmen's locations, offered tips on coping with smoke-filled rooms, and, most heartbreakingly, asked for help that, in some cases, never arrived. The chat transformed into "Be'eri Mothers Emergency," a desperate plea for assistance. Dafna Gerster, visiting from Germany, described the moment the community realized something was terribly wrong: "Usually you have an alarm... This time, there was no alarm, and it was so loud. It's a sound we could not identify." As the day wore on, the residents barricaded themselves in their reinforced safe rooms, desperately seeking advice on how to secure their doors against the militants. One person asked, How do you do an emergency lock? And how do we know that it is really locked? "Can you lock the safe room?" questioned another. Some even shared makeshift solutions, like using wet cloths or urine to combat smoke inhalation. Entire house is full of smoke what should I do? "Try to put a wet cloth on your face. Or urine," a resident suggested. Amidst the horror, residents exhibited immense bravery, trying to protect one another and uphold their community spirit. Golan Abidbol stood guard in his kitchen, ensuring neighbours were safe, while others offered calming words and encouragement to those in distress. In one exchange, a plea was made: "Is there something someone can say to calm us down?" Almost instantly, a neighbor responded, saying, "I'll tell you," and went on to describe how the army would be able to handle it, providing a reassuring voice amidst the tension. Throughout the day, the residents' WhatsApp messages oscillated between fear, hope, and despair. They implored for military intervention, questioned the absence of help, and shared their mounting dread. "We understood it wasn't just one terrorist, it was a massive attack," Michal Pinyan said. "In each neighborhood of the kibbutz, we heard 'they're here, they're here,' so they were in each neighborhood at the same time." As darkness fell, the chat became a lifeline, keeping hope alive in the face of unimaginable terror. Residents coordinated efforts to identify soldiers from Hamas militants, relying on code words and mutual trust. The arrival of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) brought a glimmer of hope, but uncertainty still loomed as residents grappled with conflicting reports. The ordeal finally ended with the arrival of the IDF. Families, traumatized and exhausted, were evacuated to safety. As the survivors cope with the aftermath, they mourn the loss of their friends and family, questioning the safety they once took for granted. "They are our friends, they are our family, they are everything to us," Golan Abidbol said. "We want them back." SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Israeli military on Friday dropped flyers on Gaza warning residents to flee "immediately" to the south, AFP correspondents in the Palestinian territory said. Israeli army infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip(AFP) "Evacuate your homes immediately and go south of Wadi Gaza," read flyers dropped by drones and seen by AFP. A map featured on the flyers showed an arrow pointing south across a line in the central Gaza Strip. The message signed by the Israeli military ordered residents to "evacuate public shelters in Gaza City". Some 423,000 Gazans have been displaced in recent days, 60 percent of whom are taking shelter with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The flyers warned residents to "not return to your homes until further notice" from the Israeli military. The leaflet drop follows UN officials saying they were informed by the Israeli military that residents must flee northern Gaza within 24 hours, a timeframe an army spokesman would not confirm. The mass displacement order comes amid large-scale bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli military, which has killed more than 1,530 people according to health officials. The war erupted on Saturday when Hamas militants crossed from Gaza to launch attacks in which 1,200 people were killed, Israeli officials said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Israel Hamas War News highlights: The Israeli military bombarded the Gaza Strip with more airstrikes as it continued blocking electricity, fuel, water and food on Thursday ahead of a possible ground operation if the government allows, in the strip which hosts around 2.2 million Palestinians. Over 2,800 people have died on both sides since the October 7 war began. Palestinian protesters push a dumpster to be used for cover during clashes with Israeli forces following a rally in solidarity with Gaza (AFP) Israel's energy minister Israel Katz said on Thursday the country will not allow basic resources including electricity, water and fuel or humanitarian aid inside the Gaza Strip until Hamas released around 150 Israeli hostages. Katz said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home. Several international aid groups said on Thursday that the humanitarian crisis was worsening as Israel continued blocking the entry of supplies through Egypt. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Tel Aviv on Thursday and assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of continued support from the US. Blinken said, You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to. ... We will always be there by your side. At least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, the armed wing of Palestine-based Hamas wing said on Friday, reported AFP. TOPSHOT - Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12, 2023.(AFP) The militant group said that six of the hostages were killed in strikes on two separate locations in the Northern district, while seven others died in strikes that hit three locations in the Gaza district. Israel claims that Hamas took 150 people hostage, including both civilians and members of security forces, when it attacked the country from the Gaza border on October 7. At least 1,300 people were killed in the worst attack on civilians in Israel's history. Israel has responded so far by putting Gaza, which is home to 20.3 lakh people, under siege and launching a bombing campaign that destroyed whole neighbourhoods. According to authorities more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed and thousands have been injured and displaced. On Friday, the Israeli military called for all civilians of Gaza City, more than 10 lakh people, to relocate within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks nearby ahead of a possible ground invasion. "Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the military said. Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes on October 13.(AFP) The military claimed that Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians. An unidentified Hamas official said the relocation warning was "fake propaganda" and urged citizens not to fall for it, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the United Nations said it considered it impossible for such a movement of people to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded, avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. (Inputs from agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail North Korea denied on Friday its weapons were used by Hamas in the attack against Israel, saying the claim made in some media reports was a bid by Washington to divert the blame for the conflict from itself to a third country. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during the 9th Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in Pyongyang.(via REUTERS) Radio Free Asia reported this week citing military experts that Hamas militants may be using North Korean weapons and said footage of Palestinian fighters showed what appeared to be a rocket launcher suspected to be from the North. US government-owned Voice of America also cited an intelligence expert as saying some of the weapons used by Hamas likely originated from North Korea. "The US administration's reptile press bodies and quasi-experts are spreading a groundless and false rumour that 'north Korea's weapons' seemed to be used for the attack on Israel," the North's official KCNA news agency said. "It is nothing but a bid to shift the blame for the Middle East crisis caused by its wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country and thus evade the international criticism focused on the empire of evil," it said. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday said he could not confirm the reports about the source of the rockets being used by Hamas. The United States' security strategy elsewhere in the world including the Korean peninsula will not be affected by the Israel-Hamas crisis, Kirby added. North Korea's state media earlier this week blamed Israel for causing bloodshed in Gaza. North Korea routinely blames the United States for pushing the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war. The Israeli conflict has emerged as another "huge strategic burden" for Washington in addition to the Ukrainian crisis, KCNA said, and showed the limitations of the US strategy for hegemony and its goal of becoming the sole global superpower. The latest Israel-Palestinian conflict began on the weekend with a surprise attack by Hamas, the deadliest by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. More than 423,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said, following heavy Israeli bombardments in retaliation for Hamas's attacks. A ball of fire errupts and smoke billows on the horizon during an Israeli air strike in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP) As of late Thursday, the number of displaced in Gaza rose by 84,444 people to reach 423,378, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement sent on Friday. The announcement came as Israel pounded the Gaza Strip in response to Saturday's surprise attack, the deadliest since the country's creation in 1948. Hamas gunmen swept into small towns, kibbutzim and a music festival in the desert, indiscriminately killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 150 hostages into Gaza. Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Gaza -- -- a densely populated enclave of 2.3 million people, flattening buildings and killing more than 1,400 people. Israel has also prepared for a possible ground invasion of the Palestinian territory. "Heavy Israeli bombardments, from the air, sea and land, have continued almost uninterrupted," OCHA said in its update. "Multiple residential buildings in densely populated areas have been targeted and destroyed during the past 24 hours." It said more than 270,000 people -- two-thirds of the displaced -- have sought shelter in schools run by the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. Another nearly 27,000 people had fled to schools run by the Palestinian Authority, while more than 153,000 people found shelter with relatives and neighbours and in other public facilities. OCHA said that around 3,000 people had already been displaced within the enclave prior to Saturday's attack. The bombing campaign has destroyed 752 residential and non-residential buildings, comprising 2,835 housing units, OCHA said, citing numbers from the Gaza Ministry of Public Works and Housing. Another nearly 1,800 housing units have been damaged beyond repair and rendered uninhabitable, it said. The UN agency also voiced alarm at the significant destruction of civilian infrastructure damaged in the shelling. At least 90 educational facilities, including 20 UNRWA schools and 70 schools run by the Palestinian Authority, have also been struck and damaged, with one of the schools completely destroyed. "Eleven mosques were targeted and destroyed, while seven churches and mosques sustained damage," OCHA said. Water and sanitation facilities have been also hit, it said, adding that since the hostilities began, six water wells, three water pumping stations, one water reservoir, and one desalination plant serving more than 1,100,000 people were damaged by air strikes. Amidst war with Hamas militant group, Israel's public diplomacy minister Galit Distel Atbaryan announced to step down from her post citing the stripping of her ministry's already limited powers. Public diplomacy minister Galit Distel Atbaryan. (Flash90) Atbaryan's decision comes after the Netanyahu's government empowered the Diaspora Affairs Ministry to oversee Israel's international public diplomacy efforts alongside the Foreign Ministry earlier this week. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the former public diplomacy minister while expressing her frustration and the need to prioritise Israel's interests during the tumultuous time, explained how Netanyahu's office decided to appoint the diaspora affairs ministry as responsible for coordinating Israels war-time public diplomacy alongside the foreign ministry following Hamass brutal assault. The diaspora affairs ministry accordingly had more resources, manpower and authorities than her nascent office, and therefore I cannot find at this moment any justification for this doubling of powers. She further said, "Emptied of the authority it was originally given I have no choice but to honestly admit that every day it would continue to operate would be a waste of public funds. Ego aside - the good of Israel comes first, certainly during such a difficult war." In her official statement, Atbaryan said, "The ministry of information was assigned the task of strengthening national resilience. But there is already a very talented minister for national security affairs, there is the Home Front Command, there are civil organizations that do sacred work, and to be honest - I can't find any justification for this doubling of powers. Running a government office is an expensive matter, and the people of Israel need every shekel. And when I see the Ministry of Information that has been emptied of the powers it was given in the first place - I can only honestly admit that every day it is operated from now on is a waste of public funds." Atbaryan concluded her statement by announcing her resignation from the position while expressing confidence in her successor, Amichai Shikli. She thanked PM Netanyahu for his trust and called on him to allocate the entire ministry's budget to citizens in the south of the country. The ministry of public diplomacy struggled to assert itself since its formation. It faced continuous criticism while its relevance and lack of substantive influence was frequently questioned. The ministry, essentially consisting of the minister's office, failed in multiple attempts to appoint a ministry director-general, according to Times of Israel. Atbaryan tended to make headlines for divisive remarks and comments, including a cabinet meeting over the summer where she reportedly got into a heated fight with Intelligence Minister Galit Gamliel, saying: Bite me, you moron, no one in Likud likes you," the report added. Irans foreign minister warned Friday that if Israels attacks on the Gaza Strip dont stop immediately, the violence could spread to other parts of the Middle East. Palestinians evacuate wounded after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza Strip on October 12.(AP) Hossein Amirabdollahian is on a tour that took him to Baghdad before Beirut, and later in the day he is scheduled to travel to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Iran heads the so-called axis of resistance that includes powerful militant groups in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq. Follow Israel-Hamas war LIVE updates here. Amirabdollahian spoke to reporters in Beirut after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, during which the two officials called for an end to Israels attacks on Gaza. He also met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the speaker of parliament. There have been concerns that the war could spread to Lebanons border where Hezbollah fighters have been on alert following Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Saturday that left hundreds of people dead. On Thursday, Israels military struck two of Syria's main international airports, in Damascus and Aleppo, putting them out of service. Flights were diverted to an airport in the coastal province of Latakia. The strikes came after shells were fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Palestinians flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes, on October 13, 2023. (AFP) Sporadic acts of violence along the Lebanon-Israel border over the past days left three Hezbollah fighters dead on Monday. Israels military said one Israeli soldier was killed in an anti-tank missile attack on Wednesday. US President Joe Biden has warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict, sending American warships to the region and vowing full support for Israel. What is funny is that at a time when America is calling on parties for self restraint, it is allowing the criminals in the fake Zionist entity to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza, Amirabdollahian said. He warned that if these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity dont stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility. He did not elaborate but it was an apparent hint that Iran-backed groups could join the war. Senior Hamas official Ali Barakeh told The Associated Press this week in Beirut that allies like Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah will join the battle if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation. Amirabdollahian said: America cannot send weapons and bombs to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza and at the same time calls on all sides for self-restraint. Amirabdollahian called on the foreign ministers and the leader of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a grouping of 57 countries with important Muslim populations, to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. After meeting Mikati, Amirabdollahian said the aim of his visit to Beirut is to preserve security in Lebanon amid regional tensions. What is important for us is security in Lebanon and how to preserve calm, Amirabdollahian said. He added that what Hamas did over the weekend was in response to the policies of Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Israel's ground forces have made localised raids into Gaza in the past 24 hours, Israel's military confirmed on Friday, the 7th day of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The raids were also aimed at locating missing persons. The military confirmed that there are at least 120 captives in Gaza. The conflict began on Saturday after Hamas launched an unexpected attack on Israel in retaliation for which Israel announced war against Hamas. So far, there has been no ground invasion as attacking densely populated Gaza inhabited by both Israelis and Palestinians would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel on Friday asked civilians to empty the northern region and move to the south indicating that the next step unmistakably is a ground invasion. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Israel-Hamas conflict on 7th day: Here are 10 latest developments 1. Gazans started to evacuate the northern part of the city though Hamas called on people to stay in their homes, saying that the evacuation order was 'psychological warfare' to break the solidarity. 2. White House spokesperson John Kirby said it is a tall order that one million people would have to move to the South. "We understand what they're trying to do this -- to try to isolate the civilian population from Hamas, which is their real target," Kirby said. 3. Gaza is without water and electricity and Israel said it would not allow any supplies until Hamas frees the hostages. 4. Videos of Friday showed families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with blankets and possessions leaving Gaza city. 5. Israel said Hamas is hiding behind the people in Gaza and that's why Israel wants them to move as Israel's military will protect the people of Israel. 6. For many Gazans, there is no place to go, while the Gaza government said it is not possible to empty the hospitals spilling with patients. 7. Egypt has been alarmed as many Palestinians may enter into its Sinai Peninsula. It is trying to negotiate entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Egypt's Rafah crossing, the only entry not controlled by Israel, has been closed because of airstrikes. 8. Former US president George W Bush supported Biden's support to Israel and said one side is guilty and it's not Israel. Youre dealing with cold-blooded killers. You can make all kinds of excuses why they are, but they are. Negotiating with killers is not an option," Bush said. 9. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday said Hamas fighters took "evil to another level" from Islamic State jihadists, 10. It came to the surface that Hamas held rehearsal and posted the video of mock attacks on social media. (With agency inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Poulomi Ghosh Poulomi Ghosh is a journalist with Hindustan Times, New Delhi. ...view detail Israel on Thursday condemned former US President Donald Trump's remarks praising the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and criticising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the ongoing war, calling it shameful and unreliable. Former US President Donald Trump (AFP) It is shameful that a man like that, a former US president, abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israel's fighters and its citizens, Israeli communications minister Shlomo told local media Channel 13. Addressing a rally in West Palm Beach, Trump on Wednesday blamed the Israeli and US government officials for revealing the weaknesses of Israel, which he said provoked Hezbollahs attack. He also called Hezbollah - a sworn enemy of Israel - very smart. "Netanyahu has been hurt very badly because of whats happened here. He was not prepared. He was not prepared and Israel was not prepared, he added. Trump, who is a frontrunner to become the party's 2024 presidential nominee, also suggested that if he was president, the US would have detected and prevented the terrorist attack in Israel. White House slams Trump Meanwhile, the White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates called Trump's comments dangerous and unhinged and said, It's completely lost on us why any American would ever praise an Iran-backed terrorist organization as smart. Several of Trump's opponents in the Republican contest also criticised the former US President. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, It is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as very smart. Trump's former vice president Mike Pence said, This is no time for any former president or any other American leader to be sending any message other than America stands with Israel. Israel-Hamas war The war between Israel and Hamas militants entered its seventh day on Friday - with the death toll rising to over 2,800 on both sides. The Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday citing a long-running dispute over the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The Israeli military is retaliating for the Hamas attack with near-constant airstrikes. Several citizens of other countries in Israel have been killed or abducted by the Hamas militants in the past few days. The number of US citizens confirmed to have been killed has risen to 25, while 17 more Americans are missing, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. (With inputs from agencies) Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Israel of using white phosphorus during its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and said that it puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries. The body said that the use of white phosphorus puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries.(X) White phosphorus, which is used for marking or signaling, has a significant incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other objects on fire. Follow Israel-Hamas war LIVE updates here. The use of white phosphorus in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk, the human rights body alleged. The body added that it analysed verified videos taken in Lebanon on October 10 and Gaza on October 11 showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border and interviewed two persons who described observing strikes consistent with the use of white phosphorus. Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering, Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said. "White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians. Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City (AFP) In response to the allegations, Israel's military said it was not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza, reported Reuters. It, however, did not provide comment allegations of their use in Lebanon According to Reuters, the Israeli military in 2013 said it was phasing out white phosphorus smokescreen munitions used during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza, which drew war crimes allegations from various rights groups. Israel has been carrying out airstrikes in Gaza in retaliation for an attack by militant group, Hamas, in southern Israeli towns on October 7. Over 2,800 people have died on both sides. On Friday, the Israeli military called for all civilians of Gaza City, more than 10 lakh people, to relocate within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks nearby ahead of a possible ground invasion. "Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the military said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At least 45 people were killed and dozens more injured after Israeli military bombarded a residential building in a densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, Gaza's interior ministry said as fighting reaches its seventh day on Friday. The Israeli military pulverized the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said on Thursday its complete siege of the territory which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during a grisly weekend incursion. Graphic content: A Palestinian woman comforts her children as they wait at the hospital to be checked, as battles between Israel Hamas continue for the sixth consecutive day, in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, (AFP) International aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis after Israel prevented entry of supplies from Egypt to Gazas 2.3 million people even as the Israel-Hamas war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides. Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, whose government backs Hamas, has warned opening a new front against Israel would depend on Israel's actions in blockaded Gaza. Follow Live Updates on Israel-Hamas war Gaza conflict: Latest updates on Israel-Hamas war: Ground invasion in Gaza: The Israeli military prepared for a possible ground invasion in Gaza on Friday as it pounded the tiny coastal strip in retaliation for the unprecedented weekend attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas, news agency AP reported. Israel has made it clear that nothing would be allowed into Gaza until the release of around 150 hostages taken captive by Hamas during an unprecedented surprise attack on Saturday into Israel that also left hundreds killed. 2,800 killed on both sides: The Israel and Hamas war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides. Gaza's health ministry has said 1,537 Palestinians, including 500 children and 276 women, were killed and 6,612 were wounded in ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the enclave. Meanwhile, the Israeli military bombarded a residential building in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens more, Gaza's interior ministry said. The air strike hit the Shihab family house at the centre of the Jabaliya camp, interior ministry spokesperson Eyad Bozum told AP. The house was packed with dozens of relatives at the time of the air strike, Bozum said. Over 423,000 people displaced in Gaza: More than 423,000 people have now been forced to flee their homes in Gaza, the United Nations said, as the number of displaced people had risen by an additional 84,444 people late on Thursday night, amid heavy Israeli bombardments. Iran's warning: Iranian minister of foreign affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian said that if Israels bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on other fronts", an apparent reference to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel is nervously watching Hezbollah on Israels northern border and has sent troop reinforcements to the area. Qassim Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said the group will not allow Hamas destruction and wont leave Gaza alone to face a ground incursion. First flight carrying Indians arrives in Delhi: The first charter flight carrying 212 Indians, including an infant, from Israel's Ben Gurion Airport landed in Delhi airport on Friday morning. The Indians left for the home country on a "first come first serve" basis, informed sources told news agency PTI. The flight, which took off at 22:14 local time, was arranged to facilitate the return of those who were unable to do so because Air India had immediately suspended its flight on the day fighting began on October 7, and its commercial operation remains suspended till now. Those who are returning will not be paying any fare and the government is bearing the cost of their return. There was a long queue of Indians, including students, at the airport to board the special flight being operated under 'Operation Ajay' from Tel Aviv. Nepalis return home: More than 200 Nepali nationals evacuated from Israel returned home on Friday as the government worked to bring back the bodies of 10 Nepali students killed in the unprecedented attack by Hamas. Nepals foreign minister, Narayan Prasad Saud, accompanied 254 citizens on a plane chartered by the government. The returnees were welcomed home by family and friends at Kathmandu airport. Iran President, Saudi Crown Prince hold first call: In a significant diplomatic development, Iran President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) held a telephone conversation and discussed the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. This conversation marked their first interaction since the restoration of diplomatic ties between Tehran and Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported. The leaders engaged in the discussion on Wednesday, emphasising "the need to end war crimes against Palestine," Iranian presidential political affairs aide, Mohammad Jamshidi posted on X. Reactions from other countries: India on Thursday described the assault mounted on Israel by the Hamas militant group, which rules the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, as a terrorist attack, and said it has always backed direct negotiations for establishing a sovereign state of Palestine that can exist side-by-side with Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to. ... We will always be there by your side. Britains government said it was deploying two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean within days to show support for Israel, offer deterrence and assurance and support humanitarian efforts. Malaysian foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir slammed Israels outrageous acts of cruelty in cutting off food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip and said Malaysia will provide an emergency fund to help Palestinians. Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point. However, it pushed back against proposals to establish escape corridors out of Gaza, saying an exodus of Palestinians from the enclave would have grave consequences on the Palestinian cause. G-7 condemns Hamas: Finance ministers from the worlds most advanced economies condemned Hamas for its attack against Israel, as war in the Middle East added to the threats facing the global economy. We unequivocally condemn the recent terror attacks by Hamas on the State of Israel and express our solidarity with the Israeli people, the Group of Seven countries said in a statement on Thursday in Marrakech, Morocco, reported Bloomberg. (With inputs from agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Israeli military on Friday asked the United Nations that the 10.1 lakh Palestinians in Gaza should relocate to the enclave's south within the next 24 hours, a UN spokesman said, in what Palestinians fear could be a precursor to a planned Israeli ground offensive, news agency Reuters reported. Israeli soldiers patrol at the place where 270 revellers were gunned down or burnt in their cars by Hamas gunmen near kibbutz Beeri during at the Supernova music festival in the Negev desert. (AFP) The Israeli military also applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities, including schools, health centres and clinics, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. The Israeli military warning came as Israel amassed tanks near the Gaza border and pounded the Palestinian enclave with air strikes following a deadly Hamas militant attack in Israel. "The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. Follow Live Updates on Israel-Hamas war "The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation," he said. In a video statement, the Israel Defense Forces or IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said the aim is to minimise the damage to civilians. "There are significant combat operations ongoing, and we are preparing for the future and the continuance of our combat operations. Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate so that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip... The IDF remains fully committed to the law of international conflict. We will carry ourselves accordingly in sharp contrast to the enemies around us and to Hamas, which is in total disregard of anything related to values, norms and definitely not the laws of armed conflict...," Conricus said. Reacting to the development, head of the Hamas government media office Salama Marouf said the warning was an attempt by Israel to broadcast and pass on fake propaganda, aiming to sow confusion among citizens and harm our internal cohesion. We urge our citizens not to engage in these attempts, he added. The weekend rampage by Hama militants killed 1,300 people and was the worst attack on civilians in Israel's history. Israel has responded so far by putting Gaza, home to 20.3 lakh people, under siege and launching a bombing campaign that destroyed whole neighbourhoods. Gaza authorities said more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Israel Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Friday that Sara Netanyahu, the wife of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and US First Lady Jill Biden exchanged letters on Israel's ongoing conflict with Hamas, saying that their interaction was personal and moving. Sara Netanyahu (left) and Jill Biden in New York City on September 20, 2023. (Image courtesy: Cleveland Jewish News) The PMO posted images of the letters on its X (previously Twitter) account. The US First Lady began the exchange; her message to Sara Netanyahu read: Like so many Americans, I am deeply concerned for the people of Israel in the face of this unconscionable terrorist attack. Our resolve is clear even though our hearts are broken. We stand with the State of Israel and its people, always. You and Bibi are in my prayers. Bibi is the nickname of Benjamin Netanyahu. His spouse, meanwhile, wrote back: At this disheartening of times, your letter was a ray of light. You are a true friend. Bibi and I appreciate that and the unwavering support you and Joe have shown us. At the moment, we share a broken heart, but Israel's resolve will see us emerge victorious in this war of good over unspeakable evil. We have no other choice. Friday marked day 7 of Israel's conflict with Hamas, which began on October 7, when Hamas terrorists entered the country's territory from the Gaza Strip which the group governs and killed citizens and took hostages. In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are undertaking Operation Swords of Iron. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT News Desk Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered. ...view detail Georgia Representative Austin Scott has thrown his hat into the ring for the Speaker of the House position, setting the stage for a tense battle within the Republican Party. Scotts unexpected announcement came as a response to the ongoing struggle within the GOP, which intensified after Majority Leader Steve Scalise withdrew his candidacy. WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 13: U.S. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) speaks to reporters as House Republicans hold a caucus meeting at the Longworth House Office Building on October 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. House Republicans continue to debate their pick for Speaker after their initial nominee, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), withdrew his name from the race after failing to secure the number of votes needed. The full House of Representatives is expected to vote on a replacement for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) after he was ousted last week.(Getty Images via AFP) On the platform formerly known as Twitter, Scott declared, We are in Washington to legislate, and I want to lead a House that functions in the best interest of the American people. Despite his initial reluctance, Scott expressed concern about the current state of the House, stating, I want a House that functions correctly, but the House is not functioning correctly right now. The decision to challenge the more prominent contender, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, signals a significant shift in the dynamics of the race. Scott, now in his seventh term, criticized the Republicans who aligned with Democrats to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, labelling them as grifters who undermined the partys integrity. Also Read | Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy lead, surprising UN ambassador Nikki Haley in latest GOP assessment Although Scotts bid has been viewed by some as an anti-Jordan effort, he denied any personal animosity, describing Jordan as a friend. However, Scotts firm stance against Jordans candidacy echoes the sentiments of several lawmakers, including Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who firmly stated that there was nothing Jordan could do to gain his support. The Speaker candidate forum, scheduled for Friday afternoon, will be a crucial battleground where Scott will make his case to fellow House Republicans. With divisions within the party becoming increasingly apparent, the outcome of this race could significantly impact the GOP's direction. As the Republican Party navigates this unexpected twist, Scott's entry into the race adds complexity to the already contentious Speaker selection process. Israel's former prime minister Naftali Bennett in an interview with the Sky News blasted the anchor when he was asked about the plight of the Palestinians in hospitals, no electricity and water connection in Gaza. "Are you seriouslykeep asking me about Palestinian civilians? What is wrong with you? Have you not seen whats happened? Were fighting Nazis, the former PM who joined the soldiers at the battlefield on the day Hamas launched the attack on Israel said. Former Israel PM Naftali Bennett shut Sky News anchor on a question on Palestinians suffering. "We don't target them. Now the world can come and bring them anything they want...you want to bring them electricity...I am not going to feed electricity or water to my enemies. If anyone else wants, that's fine. We are not responsible," the former PM said. Read | Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza, Lebanon: Human Rights Watch On being interrupted by the anchor, Naftali said, "No, you listen to me. I have heard you enough." "This is my programme, and I am asking the questions. You are raising your voice, anchor Kamali Melbourne said. Israeli embassy staffer attacked in Beijing amid war against Hamas in Gaza "Shame on you," the former PM said again interrupting the anchor. "It's nothing about shame. we are trying to have a conversation about a very serious situation and you are refusing to address it" Kamali replied, while the former PM continued his offensive. As the heated argument went on with both sides refusing to budge, the anchor said a clear distinction has already been made between Hamas and Palestine. "I am going to ask you very directly what is going to be done to make sure that those innocent people (Palestinians) don't get killed as innocent Jewish people got killed on Saturday?" the anchor said. "Were going to target Hamas, and were telling Hamas that if you use anyone as your human shield that its their responsibility," the former PM answered. The clip went viral as the world witnesses a major conflict between Israel and Hamas with Israel now preparing for a ground operation in Gaza. The world powers are divided over their support for Israel and Palestine. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Poulomi Ghosh Poulomi Ghosh is a journalist with Hindustan Times, New Delhi. ...view detail Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told US secretary of state Antony Blinken that Palestine rejects the "forced displacement" of Palestinians in Gaza and that such an event would constitute a "second nakba". Nakba, an Arabic word for catastrophe, refers to the mass displacement of Palestinians in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. The president told Blinken that humanitarian corridors must be allowed in the blockaded coastal enclave immediately to prevent a humanitarian disaster, Reuters reported citing the official Palestinian news agency. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shaking hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan on Friday. (via REUTERS) As the United States aid Israel in its fight against Hamas that launched a massive and unprecedented attack on Israel, Blinken met the Palestinian President in Jordan on Friday. On the 7th day of the ongoing war between Israeli forces and Hamas, Israel called for an evacuation of all civilians in Gaza city indicating that there will be a ground operation soon. Israel gave the United Nations 24 hours to move its staff from nearby areas. Gaza is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Israel has asked civilians to move from north to south. A densely populated city with tunnels underground would be wiped out if Israel launched a ground attack. The entire population of the northern region has been asked to migrate to the south. Gaza's Hamas rulers asked Palestinians in Gaza to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel. Israel said it needed to target Hamas military infrastructure, much of which is buried deep underground and hence the evacuation order has been given to avoid harming civilians. Evacuation in 24 hours tall order: White House White House spokesperson John Kirby said moving the Gazans in 24 hours will be a tall order. "That is a lot of people to move in a very short period of time," Kirby said in an interview on MSNBC. "We understand what they're trying to do and why they're trying to do this -- to try to isolate the civilian population from Hamas, which is their real target," Kirby said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Poulomi Ghosh Poulomi Ghosh is a journalist with Hindustan Times, New Delhi. ...view detail Tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated in countries in the Middle East and beyond on Friday after Israeli defence forces called for an evacuation of all civilians from Gaza in an unprecedented order ahead of an expected ground invasion amid the ongoing war with Hamas militants which claimed the lives of over 1,300 Israeli civilians. Muslims protest against Israel's military operations in Gaza and to support the Palestinian people.(AP) Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas in its entirety, prompting warnings from Iran the militant groups main supporter of a multi-front war should the offensive on Gaza continue. In Iran's Tehran and Arak, several people marched in support of the Palestinian. People also marched against the Israel strikes in Yemens Sadah and Palestinian Khan Dannun camp in Syria. Additionally, tens of thousands of Iraqi protesters carrying Palestinian flags rallied in central Tahrir Square in Baghdad against Israels bombardment of targets in Gaza chanting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans, after Hamass call for a Day of Rage across the Islamic world. In Indonesia, Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the suspected mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings, joined dozens of people in a march against Israel in the Javanese city of Solo, reported Reuters. In the Bangladesh's Dhaka, Muslim activists chanted slogans as they protested against Israel's actions after Friday prayers at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. Additionally, members of Japan's Muslim community protested near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo with holding signs and chanting slogans including "Israel, terrorist" and "Free Palestine". In Sri Lanka, protesters held up signs saying, Palestine you will never walk alone, Reuters report added. In Kashmir, some protestors took to the streets with placards reading Ya Allah protect our brothers and sisters in Gaza and Palestine. Although, the Friday prayers at the main mosque in Srinagar were cancelled to avoid unrest. Pro-Palestinian rallies were also planned in Rome, Munich, Istanbul, Belgrade and other cities. On the other hand, Jewish communities in France and other European cities planned to hold rallies in solidarity with Israel after the cross-border Hamas assault from Gaza. The Israeli army earlier today urged around 1 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza to move south of the Gaza river, warning of significant military activity in the area. The evacuation order has sparked widespread panic among civilians and aid workers already running from Israeli airstrikes and contending with a total siege and a territory-wide blackout. Meanwhile, Hamas has dismissed it as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes. However, the United Nations warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous. It it had relocated its central operations center and international staff to a location in the south of Gaza to continue its humanitarian operations for refugees It urged the Israeli authorities to protect all civilians in UNRWA shelters including schools, a statement from the UN Relief and Works Agency said. They are UN facilities. They must be protected at all times and must never come under attack in accordance with international humanitarian law, it added. The assault by Hamas on Israel last week killed over 1,300 people, mostly civilians, including women and children. Israel has since been hammering Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire and more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. A ground invasion of the besieged enclave appears to be imminent. (With inputs from agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Russian investigators on Friday detained three lawyers who have worked for Alexei Navalny, allies of the jailed opposition leader said, in what they called a move to deepen his isolation and deprive him of legal support. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny's lawyer Igor Sergunin sits in a cage in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia.(AP) Navalny aides said lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser were being investigated on suspicion of belonging to an "extremist group". The detentions came as Navalny, 47, awaits transfer from the penal colony where he has been held to a harsher "special regime" establishment, after being convicted of a range of new charges relating to "extremist" activity. Navalny, the best-known domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, was sentenced in August to an additional 19 years, on top of 11-1/2 years he was already serving. One of the lawyers, Kobzev, had been due to appear with Navalny on Friday in the latest of a series of lawsuits Navalny has filed against the IK-6 penal colony, about 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow, where he is currently held. "Information has just arrived that, of course, perfectly characterizes not only my proceedings but also the state of the rule of law in Russia." Navalny told the judge on learning of the investigations against his lawyers. "As in Soviet times, not only political activists and political prisoners but also their lawyers are being persecuted." Navalny has been in prison for two years and nine months since being arrested on his return from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with a nerve agent in Siberia. The Kremlin denied trying to kill him, and refuses to comment on his case or his treatment by prison authorities. It has sought in the past, without providing evidence, to portray him as a puppet of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Despite his imprisonment, Navalny has been able through his lawyers to post on social media and file frequent lawsuits over his treatment in prison, where he has endured long spells in solitary confinement for trivial misdemeanours like failing to fasten the top button of his uniform. He rejects all the charges against him as politically motivated and designed to silence his criticism of Putin. Navalny aide Leonid Volkov posted on the X social media platform that the three lawyers faced up to six years in prison if found guilty of belonging to an extremist group, "just for being Navalny's lawyers". "This is an act of intimidation with a clear intention to strengthen Navalnys isolation from the outer world," Volkov said. He said it would mean that after Navalny's expected transfer to the new penal colony, "his lawyers will not be able to visit him there or even to find out his whereabouts if theyre locked up themselves", a prospect that Volkov described as "terrifying". Burkina Faso's government said Friday that it had signed an agreement with Russia for the construction of a nuclear power plant to "cover the energy needs of the population," less than a quarter of which has access to electricity. Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting Burkina Faso's junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore in Saint Petersburg(file) Burkina Faso has been ruled by a military junta since last year and has sought to diversify its international partners, moving closer to Russia in particular. "The government of Burkina Faso has signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a nuclear power plant," it said in a statement. "The construction of this nuclear power plant in Burkina Faso is intended to cover the energy needs of the population," it added. The agreement was signed at the Russian Energy Week in Moscow, which was attended by Burkina Faso's energy minister Simon-Pierre Boussim and Nikolay Spassky, the deputy director general of Russia's state atomic energy agency Rosatom. The document "fulfils the wish of the president of (Burkina) Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, expressed last July at the Russia-Africa summit during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin," the statement said. Rosatom said in a statement that "the memorandum is the first document in the field of the peaceful use of atomic energy between Russia and Burkina Faso." It said the agreement laid the foundations for cooperation in areas including the use of nuclear energy in industry, agriculture and medicine. Just under 23 percent of Burkina Faso's population had access to electricity at the end of 2020, according to the African Development Bank. Double production "We plan, if we can, to build nuclear power plants by 2030, in order to solve the problem of the energy deficit," Russia's TASS news agency quoted Boussim as saying on Thursday. "Our challenge is to double our electricity production by 2030, which will allow us to boost the industrialisation of Africa," he added. Burkina Faso imports a large part of its electricity from neighbouring Ivory Coast and Ghana, while producing some of it locally, mainly through hydroelectric or solar power. The only nuclear power plant on the African continent is near Cape Town in South Africa. Burkina Faso has been ruled by a military junta since a coup in September 2022, which has seen the country distance itself from France, its historic partner and former colonial power. In search for new allies, Ouagadougou has drawn closer to Moscow. At a Saint Petersburg summit in July, Putin announced that Moscow would deliver free grain to six African countries, including Burkina Faso, over the coming months. In early September, a Russian delegation visited Ouagadougou to discuss developing military cooperation with the ruling junta. Burkina Faso has faced years of deadly jihadist violence, which has left more than 17,000 civilians and troops dead and over two million people displaced. A suicide bombing ripped through a Shi'ite mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least seven worshippers, a government official said. The incident occurred in the Pol-e-Khomri - the provincial capital of Baghlan.(Rep image) "A blast has taken place at a Shi'ite mosque," the official, Mawlawi Hashimi, told Reuters in Baghlan province where the incident took place. Seven people were killed during prayer and another 15 suffered injuries in the attack in the city of Pul e Khumri in Baghlan, he said, adding that all the casualties were Shi'ites. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration has faced an insurgency by Islamic State militants, who have claimed a series of deadly attacks on civilians, foreigners and Taliban security forces in recent months. Sunni Islamist militants consider Shi'ites to be heretics. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Debarghya Das, widely known as Deedy on social media, is not only a prominent figure in the tech world but also a notable example of the intricate and evolving immigration journey for non-U.S. citizens looking to build their lives and careers in the United States. In a candid interview with Hindustan Times, Deedy shared his personal immigration experiences, challenges, and insights into the ever-changing landscape of U.S. immigration. 40% decrease in H-1B Labor Condition Application (LCA) filings in Q3 FY 2023(Reters File Photo) Born in India, Debarghya's U.S. journey began during his childhood when he spent seven years in the United States. However, he returned to India and his official immigration journey recommenced in 2011 as an F-1 student. In 2015, he secured a spot in the H-1B lottery and then applied for a EB-2 green card. 'EB-1s are now the most backlogged it's ever been (they are processing 2017 applications) and my priority date, ported from the EB-2, is 2018. Right now, I'm in the process of filing for a green card and will be granted work (EAD) and travel documents (AP) to no longer be reliant on an H-1B.' Deedy mentions. He expects to hold a US passport by 2029. After his year long-experience and research Deedy religiously offers valuable advice to those considering U.S. citizenship. The immigration journey is a long and hard one, especially today, and you should be extremely committed to the US if you truly want to go through with it, he stresses. Barriers in US Immigration Process He also highlights various barriers and strategies for those seeking citizenship, including focusing on programs offering STEM OPT extensions, "H-1B lottery rates are at an all time low, I'd suggest most people look into how they can apply for an O-1A and talk to a lawyer. If neither of these options work, "Day 1 CPT" is a last resort." Tips to acquire US Citizenship After securing a visa that allows one to stay in America for 3-6yrs (H-1 / O-1 usually), ideally the employer applies for an EB-2 or EB-3. It locks in a priority date quickly and allows you to renew H-1B indefinitely. After this is done, he recommends; "1. Marry a US citizen 2. Check qualification for an EB-1A 3. Ask your employer to move you out of the US in a managerial role for one year and come back on an EB-1C 4. Save up $900k or $1.8M to invest as a part of the EB-5 program" EB-1 green card backlog There is a surging backlog in EB-1 green card applications from India, mainly due to an influx of applicants, including those using older priority dates from EB-2 or EB-3 applications. This has led to a retrogression of 6.5 years in the processing of EB-1 green cards, affecting individuals across various subcategories, including outstanding researchers and those with extraordinary abilities. "It just means anyone applying for an EB-1, which used to be the first preference green card which was almost always "current" in terms of processing, will have to wait a long long time (could be up to 8-10yrs) to get their green card," Deedy explains. Reason & imapct of decline in LCA filing Shifting the conversation to the H-1B visa program, he acknowledges a 40% decrease in H-1B Labor Condition Application (LCA) filings in Q3 FY 2023 can be linked to reduced hiring following tech industry layoffs. He noted that the long-term impact of these changes remains uncertain, especially in light of economic challenges. "H-1B hiring will likely continue and be India-heavy. In the long run, the pressure on US citizenship will continue. I expect it to be slightly reduced as more and more people go to Canada. More and more Indians will shift their green card to EB-1 and eventually the priority dates for all categories will regress making it take 10-15+ years from start to finish on most green card applications. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A fathers worst nightmare came true when he discovered his daughters lifeless body in a car riddled with bullets after a terrorist attack in Israel. Danielle Waldman withe her boyfriend of six years, Noam(Eyal Waldman/Facebook) Eyal Waldman, the founder of Mellanox which supplies computer network products, and a successful tech entrepreneur, had hoped that his 24-year-old daughter, Danielle Waldman, was still alive after Hamas militants stormed a music festival and killed hundreds of people on Saturday. He used the tracking features on her phone and Apple Watch to locate her, but what he found was a horrific scene of violence. I have seen exactly how she was murdered from two directions by at least three to five people that had attacked it, he told CNN. From the shells that we have found, there were at least three guns that were shooting at the car. Danielle, who was born in Palo Alto, California, had attended the Nova Festival in southern Israel with her boyfriend of six years, Noam Shai. They were among some 260 victims who died in the massacre. Waldman said his daughter and her boyfriend, along with two or three other young people, had tried to escape the chaos by getting into a white Toyota hatchback. But they were trapped by the terrorists and shot with AK assault rifles. They have done nothing to hurt anyone, he said of the victims. Danielle had recently moved into a new apartment with Noam and their dog. She had served in the Israeli military, where she met and fell in love with Noam. ALSO READ| Israeli student at Columbia University beaten during argument involving Israel-Hamas conflict Her father recalled their last conversation, in which she revealed that she wanted to marry Noam. Each and every one that met her has loved her, Waldman quoted to CNN. Shes done nothing wrong and nothing bad to anyone. Instead of celebrating their wedding, Danielle and Noam were buried next to each other on Thursday. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Fox News host Sean Hannity had a heated on-air interview with GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Thursday. Sean then went on to make a comment that has been turning heads all over the internet and it was: I think people that never held public office, like you, maybe theyre not qualified to be president. While the entire interview was filled with a series of shouting matches and verbal spats, here are some of the conversations between the two that are now making rounds on the internet and are being discussed in every nook and corner of the USA. Sean and Vivek discussed the Israel War Earlier this week Vivek had an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, where the Republican candidate said this about the ongoing Israel war: The selective nature of ignoring certain other conflictswhile even more importantly ignoring the interests of the U.S. right here at homeis what irritates the heck out of me, out of the politicians in both parties," he said providing an example of an armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It is shameful, and I think that there are, frankly, financial and corrupting influences that lead them exactly to speak the way they do. Thats just the hard truth, he added. Quoting these comments Sean stated, Youre saying that her concern for Israel is driven by financial and a corrupting influence. And your explanation that there is a disproportionate focus on rape, kidnapping and murder of the Jewish people in this attack and, your quote, That there are, frankly, financial and corrupting influences that lead them exactly to speak the way they do.' To this Vivek claimed that it was a shameful mischaracterization of his comment. Well, the 61-year-old host was not happy with this and accused Vivek "You say stuff and then you deny it. You deny your own words. So, you know, why dont you just own what you say and stand by it and stop playing these games? While a couple of to-and-fro verbal accusations followed these comments the interview ended with Vivek being taken off the screen as Sean declared: Thank You. Goodbye. He then went on to make a comment that has been turning heads all over the internet and it was: I think people that never held public office, like you, maybe theyre not qualified to be president. Vivek Ramaswamy on Sean Hannity Answering Sean's last comment, Vivek took to X to reply to the Fox host writing, "For years, @seanhannity has railed against 'fake news.' I guess hes become it. My comments about lobbyists were about Azerbaijan, not Israel. This interview was sponsored by @NikkiHaley," with a laughing emoji and attached his interview with Sean. Sean and Vivek clashed over Nikki Haley In one of the segments of the interview, Vivek was asked to respond to his remarks on Nikki's response to the Hamas attack on Israel. In the interview with Tucker Vivek had said this about Nikki: I think that she is somebody that, like many politicians, is in a position to get wealthier from war. Well, the fact of the matter is, I think anybody who has been a military contractor, anybody who has made $8 million, including on serving on the board of Boeing, collecting stock options while running for U.S. president, on corporate boards, has made money for military contracting through a family business, is disqualified from being the U.S. president in a time of war. I think we cannot see our march to World War III in this country, Social Media Reactions Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! Kaiser Permanente and a coalition of unions have finally shaken hands on a tentative agreement, a week after more than 60,000 workers left their jobs in protest. Last week, more than 75,000 workers went on strike in eight states and the District of Columbia. On Friday morning, the tentative agreement was announced on X (Formerly Twitter) by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, writing, "The frontline healthcare workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente. We are thankful for the instrumental support of Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su. A full announcement will follow shortly." Last week, more than 75,000 workers went on strike in eight states and the District of Columbia. Among those who went on strike were laboratory workers, licensed vocational nurses medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, respiratory therapists as well and housekeepers, all of whom are essential in a medical environment on a daily basis and whose absence can create a dent in providing adequate care to patients. As reported earlier by us, the demands of the workers on the protest were higher wages and higher staffing levels as the shortage in staff at clinics and hospitals was making it impossible to care for patients judiciously. Additionally, the workers also stated that the raise provided to them by Kaiser was not keeping up with the rising costs of day-to-day life. Kaiser leaders defended themselves saying they had been trying to reach an agreement in good faith and argued that the organization had been working to address the effects of a national crunch on healthcare staffing, successfully hitting a target to hire 10,000 new employees represented by the coalition. Days after the first strike ended, the coalition of unions had warned that another strike of a bigger scale could be organised from November 1 to November 8, after a union contract covering workers in the Seattle area expired. The tentative deal if successful, is expected to avert the forewarned strike. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! The small town of Frazier Park, California, is buzzing with excitement and curiosity after a customer at a local store bought the winning ticket for the $1.76 billion Powerball jackpot, the second-largest in history. Store co-owner Nidal Khalil talks with the media at the Midway Market & Liquor store, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in Frazier Park, Calif., where a winning Powerball lottery ticket was sold. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)(AP) The town, which has a population of about 3,100 and is located 75 miles north of LA, is wondering who the lucky winner is and whether they are a resident or a visitor. The ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor, a family-owned store that has been in business since 1994. The co-owner, Nidal Andy Khalil, a Syrian immigrant, said he was happy for the winner and hoped it was one of his regulars. ALSO READ| $1.7billion jackpot! What will you buy with this money? Here's what other jackpot winners did I found out about 9:30 pm last night, actually through social media, Khali told The New York Post with a smile. I didnt even believe it at first. I think this could be the biggest thing thats ever happened at Frazier Park. I hope it is one of my regular customers because we have a few who buy tickets every day. Khalil said he will use part of the $1 million that the store will receive from the jackpot to save for his childrens college education. His nephew Chris Khalil, who also works at the store, said he was shocked by the news and that the money will help him with his upcoming wedding. The news spread quickly through Frazier Park, a mountain community that consists mostly of retirees, veterans and lifers. Jonathan Khalil, left, and Chris Khalil, sons of the store co-owners, hold up a ceremonial check presented to them by lottery officials at the Midway Market & Liquor store, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in Frazier Park, Calif., where a $1.765 billion winning Powerball ticket was sold. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)(AP) On a local Facebook group, people speculated and guessed who the winner could be. Some also asked the winner to donate some of the money to improve the towns park and buildings. At Sues Tavern, the towns favorite bar, customers expressed their disbelief and regret that they didnt buy the ticket themselves. Many, however, said they were glad that Khalil will get some of the money, as they praised his generosity and kindness. People who visited Midway Market & Liquor on Thursday congratulated Khalil on his win and shook his hand. ALSO READ| US Powerball player bags the lottery's whopping $1.76 billion jackpot, games second-largest prize We were here last week and I told Andy, We are due! We are going to get that big hit,' resident Dale Chester said. Nick Miller, a patron at Sues Tavern, said he would keep quiet if he had won the jackpot. My mom, my sister, and my wife if I had one wouldnt even know and I would get divorce papers drawn up quickly, Miller, 42, joked. If it was me, I wouldnt tell anyone because thats Kim Kardashian-like money. Thats no joke. The winning numbers were 22, 24, 40, 52, 64, and the red Powerball 10. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" "Exciting news! Hindustan Times is now on WhatsApp ChannelsSubscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here! US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said that the US will continue to coordinate with Israel to help secure the release of hostages from the clutches of Hamas, including American citizens. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (L) shakes hands with Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (AFP) Further stating that there is no justification for terrorism, Austin said, "Now, this is no time for neutrality, for false equivalence or for excuses for the inexcusable." "We will continue to coordinate closely with Israel to help secure the release of innocent men, women and children in the clutches of Hamas, including American citizens," the US Defence Secretary said during a press conference with the Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday. Reaffirming US support in the first week of their war against the terror Hamas group, Austin said: "I extend my deepest condolences to the Israeli people, for those wounded and killed in this war by Hamas. I am also here in solidarity with all the families still living the waking nightmare of not knowing the fate of their loved ones." Austin, the second high-level US official sent by President Joe Biden to visit Israel in two days amid the Israel-Hamas war, Austin said: "In times like these, sometimes the best thing that a friend can do is just to show up and to get to work. Now, this is no time for neutrality, for false equivalence or for excuses for the inexcusable. There is never any justification for terrorism, and that's especially true after this rampage by Hamas anyone who wants lasting peace and security for this region must condemn Hamas..." On arrival in Tel Aviv, Austin said that US support for Israel was ironclad. According to a statement from the US Department of Defence, Austin's visit to Israel underscores the United States' unwavering commitment to support Israel following the recent deadly attacks by Hamas terrorists. The US Defence Secretary said Israel is a small country, a place where everybody knows everybody. "And in times of trial, the intimacy of your society deepens the intimacy of your grief. But that's not a weakness," he said. Austin's visit to Israel comes as the Israel-Hamas conflict entered the seventh day, the Israel Defence Forces called for an immediate evacuation of Gaza. In a statement, the IDF said that all civilians of Gaza City must move from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza. The IDF asked civilians to distance themselves from Hamas terrorists who are using them as human shields. The IDF said they will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. Hamas has dismissed Israel's orders for Palestinians to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip and asked the residents to stay put, the Times of Israel said. "The US will make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself. Israel has a right to protect its people... Democracies like ours are stronger and more secure when we uphold the laws of war. Terrorists like Hamas deliberately target civilians. But democracies do not. This is a time for resolve, not revenge. For purpose, not panic. Security, not surrender..." the US Defence Secretary said. He said, "I planned the war with ISIS, this is worse" Austin on Friday also held a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. PM Netanyahu said "I'm very happy to see you today. I'm very appreciative of the strong stance of the President, you, Secretary Blinken, the American people and the American government. He said: "Hamas is ISIS, and I think what you said and in many ways the President has said, in many ways, Hamas is worse than ISIS." "Just as the entire civilized world united to fight ISIS, the united civilized world has to unite to help us fight Hamas. I know that you stand with us and I appreciate it mightily," Netanyahu added. Earlier in the day, Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said that the death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 and more than 3000 have been injured. He also touched on the ongoing efforts to collect the bodies and bring them to Tel Aviv for identification before handing them over to their loved ones. Calling it a "tedious and detailed process", he noted that Israel has never in history faced such a situation. "Unfortunately the number of Israeli casualties has risen to 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers and more than 3000 wounded. There is a massive national effort involving almost all of the security organisations and many of the ministries of the Israeli state, which is focused on taking the bodies from the same communities that we spoke about yesterday, like for instance ... and other communities and the entire southern area, collecting the bodies, bringing them to a centre in Tel Aviv, identifying them and then making sure they are next to their kin. Their loved ones are able to take them and to provide them with a final and respectable burial that's ongoing," Lt. Col. Conricus said. Half Moon Bay, CA (94019) Today Intervals of clouds and sunshine. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. High 69F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Choice Hotels EMEA unveils first property to complete its major brand refresh Comfort Hotel Prague City East is the first Comfort Hotel to feature signature Comfort Hub and range of hallmarks that embrace local influence All Choice Hotel brands are being refreshed in EMEA with EMEA properties set to transition to new brand identities over the coming years Choice Hotels EMEA, the 100% franchise focused hotel company, has today unveiled the first property within its portfolio to have undergone a major transformation as part of the group's regional brand refresh. Situated near Prague's city centre, the refreshed Comfort Hotel Prague City East, which boasts a pop art theme, is aligned with Choice's new Comfort brand experience. It stands out by providing value-driven guests offering friendly, warm and vibrant service alongside all-around efficiency at a price point guests want, in the location they want. With franchisees having considerable flexibility in their design choices, the newly refreshed Comfort Hotel Prague City East is aligned with the new design philosophy for Comfort which is focused on the energy of colour. Pop-art decoration underlines the overall impression throughout the hotel, which is seen in bedrooms, corridors, and communal spaces, colourfully enhancing its light, bright and airy spaces. The hotel is also the first in EMEA to showcase the brand's signature Comfort Hub - a new multi-purpose space which is the first area guests experience on arrival. It's where they check in and out and go for anything from a morning coffee to an evening drink, with a quiet space for working to a lounge area for socialising. Additionally, visitors to Comfort Hotel Prague City East are now warmly welcomed by the hotel's Roaming Comfort Crew dedicated to ensuring a memorable and personalised stay. Over the coming year, Comfort hotels in EMEA are expected to reveal their new identities, developed with support from Choice Hotels. They are encouraged to showcase and embrace local, cultural influences since local inspiration is part of the Comfort brand identity through the We Love Local! Programme. As part of the We Love Local! Programme, four bee hives have been installed on the roof terrace of the Comfort Hotel Prague City East resulting in a bountiful harvest of 50 kilograms of honey. The golden nectar harvested graces guests' breakfast tables and also serves as a special token of appreciation for business partners. Plans to add further bee hives next year support the hotels' contribution to sustainable development and fostering biodiversity which is an integral part of the properties' "We love local" concept. Easily reachable from Prague's airport, the hotel is well connected to the whole city via tram and metro and with its spacious guest rooms and modern amenities, is the perfect base to explore the region. The Comfort brand refresh responds to independent consumer research conducted in the UK, France and Germany. The findings revealed Comfort customers seek genuine hospitality and personal service. They seek a hotel with a modern design that provides a warm, vibrant and friendly place to stay with energising casual spaces for socialising, relaxing, sleeping and working. while also embracing and supporting local provenance. The Choice Hotels EMEA portfolio now encompasses Comfort, Clarion, Quality, Sleep Inn, and the Ascend Hotel Collection - with a diverse portfolio of properties across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, The Nordics, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. For further information on Choice Hotels, please visit: https://www.choicehotels.com/en-uk . Hotel website Guzinski joins the Halcyon team with more than 20 years of experience managing sales teams, revenue and budget, developing new business strategies, marketing strategies and more in the hospitality field. With an esteemed career in sales, marketing and catering, Guzinski's background includes previous roles such as the regional director of sales at Magnolia Hotel Denver, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel; director of sales at Wildernest Vacation Rentals in Silverthorne, Colorado; director of sales and catering at Inn at Cherry Creek; and cluster sales and catering manager at Marriott/White Lodging Services Corporation in Louisville, Colorado. Guzinski earned a bachelor of arts in hospitality business from Michigan State University and volunteers throughout the year with Volunteers of America, Volunteers of Outdoor Colorado, Food for Thought and Ronald McDonald House Charities. In her new role, Guzinski will lead all strategic sales and marketing initiatives, including oversight of the sales at the Halcyon. The Lux Collective is pleased to announce the establishment of its new regional office in the Middle East and the appointment of Christian Pertl as the Sales Director, based in Dubai. With three decades of experience in the luxury hotel sector, Christian Pertl is an expert in marketing and brand strategy, consistently seeking to innovate by deploying unique commercial and operational strategies focused on total revenue optimization. Christian Pertl's distinguished career attests to his visionary leadership. A hotelier at heart, he is passionate about training and team development. His advocacy for talent development underscores his unwavering commitment to promoting individual and organizational growth. His approach to change management and innovation has enabled him to transform teams and drive the expansion of renowned international hotel brands. Before joining The Lux Collective, Christian Pertl served as the Sales Director for Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, which is part of John Keells Holdings, a multi-billion dollar diversified company listed on the Colombo stock exchange. He also held leadership roles at Hyatt International, Jumeirah, and IHG. In addition to a business degree in tourism and hotel management from Austria's College for Tourism and Hotel Management, Christian Pertl holds master certificates in hotel management and hotel real estate investments and asset management from Cornell University. Mr. Pertl will strengthen the group by focusing on awareness strategies for its portfolio of brands across all channels, while empowering teams and elevating the industry. He will also spearhead the launch of two properties opening in 2024 - LUX Al Jabal and LUX Al Bridi in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, reinforcing the brand's commitment and presence in this rapidly growing region. Travelodge, the UKs first budget hotel chain, which operates nearly 600 hotels across the UK, Ireland, and Spain, is delighted to announce it has entered a sublet agreement with Popeyes Louisiana Chicken. The global brand, which is renowned for its Shatter Crunch chicken, is taking the UK by storm and has opened one of its first UK drive-thru restaurants at the Northampton Upton Way Travelodge hotel site. In a unique sublet deal, Popeyes UK is the latest retail brand to join the Travelodge mixed-scheme development partnership portfolio. Over the last three decades, Travelodge, the pioneering hotel chain has been the first hotel brand to partner-up with a number of household brands in a variety of mixed use developments alongside other complementary uses - such as retail, food & beverage, coffee shops and drive-thrus. This includes Travelodge hotels operating alongside a popular retail brand such as Starbucks, Subway, McDonalds and now Popeyes Louisiana Chicken. Travelodge was also the first hotel brand to partner with some of Britains biggest supermarkets and retailers such as: Tesco, Sainsburys, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, Home Bargains and Waitrose - making it easier for customers to pick up essentials during their stay. Today, over a third of Travelodge hotels are located within a mixed development scheme with household brands. Detailed are some of the brands that Travelodge has worked with in development partnership programmes. Source: Travelodge Travelodge is keen to expand its development brand partnerships as part of its UK expansion programme which includes looking for a further 300 hotel sites across the country. Mixed-use development is gaining popularity not just in the UK but across the globe as it is becoming a more prominent feature of planning policy, with the aim of revitalising urban centres and generating benefits for all stakeholders and the community. It also reduces the neighbourhood carbon footprint and minimises air pollution. In addition it spurs revitalisation, supports regeneration and enhances an areas unique identity and development potential by promoting a sense of place and community. Also certain brands such as Travelodge can influence other brands to invest into the programme and enhance the customer experience. For example our London Manor House Travelodge is a part of a mixed-use, new development, including a Co-Op convenience store, a coffee shop and a hostel. From the 300 hotel locations where Travelodge is actively looking to open a hotel - 120 of these locations currently do not have a Travelodge hotel and fifty of these sites do not currently have a branded budget hotel. Therefore opening a Travelodge in these locations would greatly impact on the towns economy and attract more business and leisure visitors to the area. Collectively this expansion programme could create around 9,000 new jobs across the UK. The Popeyes drive-thru restaurant is located at the site of the first Travelodge hotel in Northampton at Walter Tull Way, Upton, Northampton. Today, Travelodge operates ten hotels across Northamptonshire and the group has also recently acquired the lease of the Ibis hotel in Wellingborough and is actively looking for a further hotel in Corby. We are constantly looking at new and innovative ways to develop our estate and enhance the customer journey. We have experience of working with major retailers and hospitality companies to help maximise development opportunities to support local growth, job creation and regeneration. As pioneers of the budget hotel sector, we are delighted to enter a sublet agreement with Popeyes and to offer the first hotel drive-thru restaurant at our Northampton Upton Way Travelodge site. As we look to the future, we have identified that we can grow our business with a further 300 hotels across the UK and we welcome the opportunity to continue to work with Popeyes as well as other major retailers and hospitality companies on mixed-development schemes. This investment from third party investors will help to create around 9,000 new jobs, support local economies and importantly give our guests a great base location for their business and leisure trips. Steve Bennett, Travelodge, Chief Property & Development Officer Travelodge currently has opportunities for retail sublets across the UK - for further information please visit:www.travelodgeproperty.co.uk. About Travelodge In 1985, Travelodge became the UK's first budget hotel brand when it opened its first hotel at Barton-under-Needwood. Today, we operate nearly 600 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain and annually welcome over 21 million guests. With rooms from 38 or less, Travelodge is the ideal base for all business and leisure trips and we aim to offer customers the location, value and quality to suit all their travel needs. We are currently looking to expand our UK hotel network and we have identified a further 300 locations where we would like to open a Travelodge hotel. Travelodge employs over 12,000 employees and is dedicated to creating an environment where everyone can learn more, earn more and belong. www.travelodge.co.uk The Travelodge Press Office +44 1844 35 8703 Travelodge Its no secret that smartphones are ubiquitous, and its part of our daily life. In 2023, more than 4.6 million people owned a smartphone, and it is projected that more than 5.1 million will own one by 2028.* While smartphone usage varies by person, its clear that hotel mobile marketing needs to be part of your strategy. Our custom research revealed that nearly one-third (32%) of people booked their travel on a mobile device using a website and 23% booked using a mobile app. Travelers from Mexico were the most likely to book using a mobile device, with 39% booking on mobile web and 36% on a mobile app. When it came to hotels, more than one-third of travelers (34%) booked their trip via mobile web and 25% booked on a mobile app. These mobile travel trends are invaluable to hotel advertisers as they plan their campaigns, and it emphasizes the importance of having a well-planned mobile hotel advertising strategy. Why a mobile-first approach matters for your hotels ads Mobile marketing in the hospitality industry is a highly effective tactic that should be part of your overall advertising strategy. Building a strong plan that includes using different mobile ad types and formats gives you the advantage of reaching your ideal traveler in real time as they are being inspired, researching, and planning for their next trip. Get the TravelAds guide Despite the popularity of booking travel on a desktop, maintaining a mobile presence is essential, especially when trying to connect with hotel guests. Advertising on mobile devices offers several advantages: Increase your reach : As the number of mobile users continues to grow, and booking on mobile becomes more popular, mobile hotel advertising allows you to get in front of an ever-expanding audience. Two of our solutions, TravelAds and Accelerator, offer cost-effective ways to boost your visibility with travelers who are looking to book. : As the number of mobile users continues to grow, and booking on mobile becomes more popular, mobile hotel advertising allows you to get in front of an ever-expanding audience. Two of our solutions, TravelAds and Accelerator, offer cost-effective ways to boost your visibility with travelers who are looking to book. Connect with travelers in real time : Building a mobile ad campaign lets you reach travelers as theyre planning their next stay. Reach them while theyre active at any point throughout their journey, from inspiration and planning to research and booking. : Building a mobile ad campaign lets you reach travelers as theyre planning their next stay. Reach them while theyre active at any point throughout their journey, from inspiration and planning to research and booking. Target your hotel ads : With TravelAds you can tap into our device-based targeting capabilities for a specific demographic or location, by traveler interest, and more. This ability to be precise in targeting your ideal traveler helps you tailor your ads to increase room bookings. : With TravelAds you can tap into our device-based targeting capabilities for a specific demographic or location, by traveler interest, and more. This ability to be precise in targeting your ideal traveler helps you tailor your ads to increase room bookings. Create ads to boost brand awareness : Build rich media ads to engage travelers looking for a place to stay. Develop marketing campaigns that showcase the unique amenities of your property, promote special offers, or highlight reviews from other travelers to create a memorable impression of your hotel. : Build rich media ads to engage travelers looking for a place to stay. Develop marketing campaigns that showcase the unique amenities of your property, promote special offers, or highlight reviews from other travelers to create a memorable impression of your hotel. Deliver a seamless experience : Ensure the booking process for mobile devices or mobile apps is a priority to give active mobile users a seamless experience when booking your property. : Ensure the booking process for mobile devices or mobile apps is a priority to give active mobile users a seamless experience when booking your property. Build a cost-effective campaign: TravelAds pay-per-stay model is a leader in advertising for the hospitality industry. And its easy to get started: Simply set a budget, identify your target audience, work with our digital experts to use our first-party data to refine your campaign, and get real-time reporting to optimize your advertising spend. To create the biggest impact for your hotel brand, mobile advertising needs to be an integral part of your strategy to reach your target audience, engage with travelers in real-time, and provide a seamless user experience. Mobile advertising has arrived and is here to stay as an essential component of a comprehensive hotel advertising strategy. How to set up a mobile hotel advertising campaign To build a successful mobile ad strategy for your property, here are some tips to follow: Define your goals : The first step is to always know what you want to achieve with your ad campaign. Are you looking to increase bookings, boost brand awareness, or target a specific audience? Rank the priority of each goal to determine how youll launch and manage your campaign. : The first step is to always know what you want to achieve with your ad campaign. Are you looking to increase bookings, boost brand awareness, or target a specific audience? Rank the priority of each goal to determine how youll launch and manage your campaign. Identify your target audience : TravelAds uses our refined targeting capabilities to reach the audience you want. We can help you reach travelers based on trip details, custom audiences, destination, type of device, and more. : TravelAds uses our refined targeting capabilities to reach the audience you want. We can help you reach travelers based on trip details, custom audiences, destination, type of device, and more. Choose the right mobile ad types and formats : There are various mobile ad types and formats, including display ads, video ads, and native ads. Learn about each ad type and format to understand how certain ad types will best align with your campaign goals and target audience. : There are various mobile ad types and formats, including display ads, video ads, and native ads. Learn about each ad type and format to understand how certain ad types will best align with your campaign goals and target audience. Create compelling content : Engaging and persuasive ads that highlight your propertys unique amenities, promotes special offers, and showcases positive reviews will resonate with travelers. : Engaging and persuasive ads that highlight your propertys unique amenities, promotes special offers, and showcases positive reviews will resonate with travelers. Set a budget and monitor performance: With a variety of advertising options available that range from TravelAds pay-per-click model to co-op campaigns, its up to you how you want to allocate your mobile advertising budget, and our real-time reporting will help you keep tabs on how your campaign is performing. A mobile-first approach is crucial in todays digital landscape. We help you build effective campaigns by providing multiple marketing approaches and our real-time reporting makes it easy to stay on top of your campaigns performance. By following these steps, you can get started on developing a successful mobile hotel advertising campaign to reach your target audience. Advertising solutions to use throughout travelers booking journey Early in their booking journey, about 21% of travelers reported finding initial travel inspiration from advertising, social channels, and other forms of media. With a mobile-first mindset, you can get your hotel in front of these travelers with TravelAds targeting capabilities to increase your brands visibility with people looking to be inspired for their next trip. If youre looking to connect with travelers who are ready to book, consider pairing TravelAds and Accelerator. Properties that concurrently ran these ads saw nearly 25% higher gross booking value and nearly 30% higher net room nights than only running TravelAds.** And if youre looking for a branded mobile experience with custom audience targeting, consider using TravelAds and display advertising together to enhance travelers experiences. When Palace Resorts used these two solutions in its campaign, it saw a 2.6 times increase in conversation rate with travelers who saw multiple ads. Using TravelAds in tandem with display advertising made the impact we were looking for. DANIEL CONTE, DIRECTOR OF ONLINE DISTRIBUTION From TravelAds targeting capabilities and search sort features to branded display options, our full-funnel solutions will help you reach the travelers you want to connect with. Ready to get started? Contact one of our digital experts today. *https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1143723/smartphone-users-in-the-world **Expedia Group, TravelAds and Accelerator incremental data, 2022 About Expedia Group Media Solutions Expedia Group Media Solutions is a global travel advertising platform that connects marketers with hundreds of millions of travelers across the Expedia Group brands. With our exclusive access to more than 70 petabytes of Expedia Group traveler search and booking data, we offer advertisers actionable insights, sophisticated targeting, and full-funnel results reporting. Our suite of solutions includes display, sponsored listings, audience extension, co-op campaigns, and custom creative campaigns all designed to deliver on the objectives of our advertising partners and add value for travel shoppers on our branded sites globally. With a consultative approach and more than 20 years of travel and media experience, we help our advertising partners inspire, engage, and convert travelers for meaningful results. For more information, visit www.advertising.expedia.com. 2022 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. CST: 2029030-50 View source NMG Network, the leading creator of custom media experiences for luxury and leisure travel, hospitality, and premium residential partners, has been selected by Auberge Resorts Collection to develop a new multichannel media program exclusively for its portfolio of one-of-a-kind luxury hotels, resorts and residences including some of the world's most inspiring and decorated hotels. Beginning this spring, an immersive digital experience offering bespoke video content and a bi-annual publication will be made available exclusively to guests across all 27 Auberge properties and visitors to the Auberge website. Guests at the award-winning hotels, resorts, and private residences (accolades include Auberge as the most awarded brand on: "World's Best, Readers' Choice," Conde Nast Traveler; "World's Best," Travel + Leisure; "Great Design Award," Architectural Digest) will receive a custom, highly curated publication with original photography and editorial from NMG's award-winning team and contributors. The documentary-style video, website, and publication will feature a mix of colorful and unique culinary, design, travel, art, fashion, and culture coverage focused on Auberge destinations through the lens of local personalities, experts, insiders, and tastemakers who will highlight the unforgettable, one-of-a-kind experiences on offer at Aubergea destination journal for the modern luxury traveler. "In an age of advertising noise, NMG presents a truly unique opportunity for brands to reach a highly targeted demographic like no other platform can offer," said Jason Cutinella, founder and CEO of NMG Network. "Our focus isn't just wide reach, it's precision. We stand behind our promise of guaranteed viewership. Our partners' high occupancy rates and built-in high-net-worth clientele are a testament to the luxury audience we cater to. We pride ourselves on exclusivity, allowing only a select number of brands to partner with us each season. This isn't because we're restrictive, but because we believe in offering a media environment that's both safe and high-quality. Our partnership with Auberge embodies the very essence of what NMG stands for: crafting one-of-a-kind experiences, both for the consumers and our media brand partners. At NMG, we're not just another media platform; we're a curated experience." "We are delighted to partner with NMG to launch a new print publication and digital media experience that will allow us to share the rich Auberge Resorts Collection story on a greater scale and in a deeper, more meaningful way," says Mike Minchin, Chief Marketing Officer of Auberge. "As we continue to grow our portfolio of one-of-a-kind hotels, resorts and residences, there are so many inspiring stories to tell about our destinations, properties and people, and we look forward to seeing NMG bring these to life through the lens of interesting personalities, travel experts and tastemakers." NMG boasts multi-Emmy Award-winning channels, expertly curated to foster brand loyalty and drive purchase intent. Through its targeted omnichannel storytelling, NMG offers partners a unique opportunity to reach discerning consumers in their preferred content spaces, delivering authentic, informative, and engaging experiences. Jason Cutinella, founder and CEO of NMG Network, has always emphasized creative integrity and compelling storytelling in establishing NMG's custom channels. Established in 2009, NMG Network has been illuminating unique narratives with original video and print content for key partners and destinations around the globe. About NMG Network NMG Network is the leading creator of custom media experiences for luxury and leisure travel, hospitality, and premium residential partners. Our highly targeted omnichannel approach to storytelling provides a unique opportunity to connect with the most sophisticated and sought after consumers where they prefer to engage with content that informs, inspires and entertains. In addition to its award-winning video, print and digital channels created for clients including The Little Nell, Marriott Residences International, Shutters on the Beach, Hotel Casa del Mar, Halekulani Hotel, Park Lane Ala Moana and Hawaiian Airlines. View more channels at NMGnetwork.com . About Auberge Resorts Collection Auberge Resorts Collection owns and operates a portfolio of exceptional hotels, resorts, residences and private clubs. While Auberge nurtures the individuality of each property, all share a crafted approach to luxury that is expressed through captivating design, exceptional cuisine and spas, and gracious yet unobtrusive service. Properties in the Auberge Resorts Collection include: Auberge du Soleil, Calistoga Ranch and Solage, Napa Valley, Calif.; Esperanza and Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, Los Cabos, Mexico; Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colo.; Malliouhana, Anguilla; Nanuku, Fiji; Element 52, Telluride, Colo.; Hacienda AltaGracia, Costa Rica; and Auberge Beach Residences and Spa Fort Lauderdale (opening late 2017) and The Lodge at Blue Sky, Utah (opening 2018) with several others in development. For more information about Auberge Resorts Collection, please visit http://www.aubergeresorts.com. Follow Auberge Resorts Collection on Facebook at facebook.com/AubergeResorts and on Twitter and Instagram at @AubergeResorts. In today's digital age, businesses inside and outside the hospitality industry are generating more data than ever before. This data is a valuable asset, and should be used to gain insights into customer behavior and make better decisions about marketing campaigns and the customer journey. Owners regularly receive digital marketing performance reports or reports from their marketing agency and the next question is: Is this good or bad? Many management companies and ownership groups spend far too much time aggregating data and not enough time creating action plans from the analysis of that data. If you are lucky enough to have access to large amounts of data, big data can also be overwhelming you don't know where to start. There is so much data available that it can be difficult to know where to start. What Can You Do with Big Data for Digital Marketing? There are a number of ways that big data analytics can be used to improve digital marketing performance and total online presence. Big data analytics can be used to see what is working and what is not, and make adjustments as needed. By using the right data, the data can guide you toward strategic shifts or facilitate a better understanding of the gaps. Reallocate marketing budgets more effectively and reach the right personas with their messages. Track campaign performance on various platforms and channels. Perform a website conversion analysis. Create a better balance between organic and paid efforts. Ensure fair share to your website or that you are not overly reliant on 3rd party channels. The Incorrect Assumption in Comparing Your Hotel's Website Performance to Itself Traditionally, hoteliers have primarily focused on a hotel's website performance against itself year over year to determine positive or negative trends. But, having your hotel be consistently available across locations online means bringing in more data points to make sense of what is good and what is bad. For example, your website year-to-date has made $400K+ and that is 10% higher than the same time last year. While the percentage increase is positive, was the baseline good? Ideally, you would look at your website's (or brand.com's) contribution against similar hotels to know if your website is getting its fair share. Source: Cogwheel Marketing Where Guests Can Find your Hotel Online It is imperative to understand the buyer's journey is complex and potential guests are doing massive amounts of research before selecting not only a hotel, but also the channel or site with which to make that transaction. We have to look at how your hotel sits on the shelf within these arenas as well: Google OTAs like Expedia and Booking.com Social Media Reviews Then, we have to understand they are all interconnected and cannot be assessed in a silo. For example, if you have poor reviews, throwing money into Google Ads will likely yield less than the desired results. Different Ways to Benchmark Your Hotel's Digital Data In addition to the above action items, big data analytics is used to benchmark your hotel's performance against other hotels. This can be done by comparing your hotel's performance to: A weighted historical average: This is a benchmark that takes into account your hotel's historical performance, preferably with multiple years of data. Your portfolio: This is a benchmark that compares your hotel's performance to the performance of other hotels in your company's portfolio. Category hotels: This is a benchmark that compares your hotel's performance to the performance of other hotels in the same category. Category hotels can be a valuable benchmark when you want to see how similar hotels perform online. Most hotels can be grouped into economy, extended stay, limited service (no meeting space, no F&B), select service (F&B and meeting space), select service luxury (meeting space and F&B), full service, full service luxury, resort, and convention. Similar to a STAR report but for marketing, by benchmarking your hotel's performance, you can identify areas where you are doing well and areas where you can improve. While a STAR report benchmarks your hotel against select hotels in a given market, the digital landscape of offerings is much larger than the handful of hotels in your STAR report. Additionally, like hotels, tend to showcase similar metrics in the online space. Understanding this information can be used to make better decisions about your digital marketing campaigns and to improve your hotel's overall performance. Source: Cogwheel Marketing Where to Get the Data to Benchmark Mainstream hotel business intelligence tools pull data from the PMS (Property Management System). The fallacy in using this data for digital marketing is that it implies the customer journey starts when a booking is made, when it actually started long before that. Which means sometimes our most important KPI becomes ROAS. Ideally, you would look at your hotel's online flywheel (or funnel) to ensure your hotel is in front of your target audience and that they then consider your hotel as a potential option when a destination has been selected. Then, and only then, do we look at the booking and the point of sale. We, as hoteliers, have the tendency to credit whatever channel or effort was last used when making that booking. The truth is there were many touch points prior to that, evolving their decision making. Therefore, this data needs to come from your CRS and other sites, not your PMS. Source: Cogwheel Marketing Create an Online Scorecard to Leverage Various Benchmarks While different markets will vary in terms of revenue, ADR and number of rooms, we can normalize other digital marketing data points in terms of percentages and reach. There are 10 KPIs you can use as a starting point to start benchmarking your hotel's performance: Channel Mix > Brand.com Contribution Percentage. This metric tells us if you are getting your fair share of business through your website. Channel Mix > OTA Contribution Percentage. This metric tells us if we are overly reliant on 3rd party channels. Website Conversion. This metric tells us how well we convert potential customers once they land on our website. Brand.com > Percent of Search Traffic. Google (and other search engines) are still a major player in driving traffic to your hotel. This metric tells us how well the combined efforts of organic search and paid search perform and if balance exists. Brand.com > Percent of MetaSearch Traffic. By combining the efforts of both your organic and paid MetaSearch efforts, you can see if the funds dedicated to this channel are really moving the needle. Brand.com > Percent of Social Traffic. By combining your total social media traffic from organic and paid, you can determine if your efforts are creating interest. While this varies across hotels, it tends to normalize with like segment hotels. Social Media > Number of Impressions. While this metric is hard to put into a percentage, it does determine the exposure you get on social media. While much of social media content is consumed, but not acted on at that moment, this is a metric to balance against percent of social traffic and gauge views. Social Media Spend. This metric is important because many hotels still do not make any investments in their social media advertising. While you may not need to, it is important to understand what other hotels do, and the impact it has on impressions. OTA Ads > Spend. Whether Expedia Travel Ads or Booking Native Ads, OTA ads can contribute to your OTA contribution in Channel Mix. The spend can vary depending on the hotel size and market but still gives a baseline against ROAS. OTA Ads > ROAS. In reality, almost all hotels have a strong ROAS on OTA ads but this allows you to determine how your hotel stacks up. Identifying Gaps in Your Hotel's Online Presence Big data is a powerful tool that helps businesses improve their digital marketing campaigns. By using big data analytics, businesses can track campaign performance, identify imbalances in channel mix, reallocate digital marketing funds and research gaps in their online presence. Businesses can also use big data to benchmark their performance against other hotels and to tell a story about their hotel, their customers and their online journey leading up to booking. By following these tips and using a hotel digital marketing reporting tool, businesses can use big data to take action and implement informed decisions about their digital marketing that will improve their hotel's overall performance and profitability. Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from http://www.hotelexecutive.com/. Stephanie Smith Founder and Digital Matriarch +1 540 239 1052 Cogwheel Marketing In a recently contributed article on Hospitality Net, I asked myself the question of why we see a slow pace of hotel groups upgrading to contemporary tech stacks. Innovative and open-architecture applications that the hospitality sector has long anticipated are now accessible, providing vast and flexible options ready to be deployed. From data analytics, digital transitions, and understanding revenue flows to business intelligence, everything is available at attractive SaaS pricing. Modern technology solutions available today have the potential to transform our industry into genuine tech and data-driven entities. Yet, the question remains: why haven't all made the shift instantly? What's holding us back? Dave Berkus Managing Partner at Wayfare Ventures LLC Thanks to Michael Levie for a provocative question. My answers: 1) Money: Like the old adage about advertising (which 50% of my spend is responsible for my 50% wasted cost?), much of the world's senior management is not comfortable with AI or advanced tech spending - yet. This may be a combination of generational comfort and conservative spending during theser times. 2) Skills: Implementation of many of these newer technologies takes local skills to tweak, monitor and maintain. I'd guess that 1% of those in informational technology leadership at the property level worldwide have a level of skill necessary to deploy, monitor and maintain databases or interconnectivity issues. 3) Desire: Perhaps generational. If it isn't broken, don't touch it. Not all of us are early adapters. I believe Geffrey Moore in Crossing the Chasm years ago stated that only 2% of us are early adapters. This is an industry that in general seems to follow, not lead. We hear about the amazing new labor and cost-saving technologies but wait to see if they are as real as promoters present them. The solution lies in effective and accurate customer success stories, IT management education, and simple, incremental, and cost-effective senior management presentations. Ian Millar Manager of Institute of Business Creativity & Senior Lecturer at EHL Hospitality Business School There are many factors and its not the technologies itself. Budgets for sure are tight and The return on investment for these technologies may not be immediately apparent, leading to hesitation in adopting them, disruption to operations will come into play especially if its PMS related but probably the biggest factor is the human factor. We need more technology and digitally minded people sat around the table. There should be a digital transformation director in place, data experts employed and should be a number one company priority for sure. Furthermore, concerns about data security and privacy are paramount in the hotel industry, as they handle sensitive guest information. Implementing new technology can bring risks, and hotels need to be cautious in ensuring that guest data remains secure. Max Starkov Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant Last year hoteliers invested in technology less than 2.75% of room revenue (STR) - compare this to 15% for Expedia or Booking. Only through accelerated investments in technology - cloud, mobility, AI, robotics, IoT, etc. can the industry reduce staffing needs and unsustainable labor costs, and "appease" the exceedingly tech-savvy guests and their high tech expectations. By investing in technology, hoteliers can reduce, on average, their staffing needs by 50% and afford to pay their employees living wages, train them better and empower them to provide stellar service. What's holding us back? Reluctance to invest in technology, coming from the lack of understanding that we are serving technology-obsessed travel consumers who demand a hotel technological experience equal or better to what they have at home. Lack of proper technology education. How many hospitality schools today teach technology courses? Only a few. NYU Tisch Center for Hospitality offers "Current and Future Hospitality Technologies" graduate course since 2019. And finally, hospitality has become an industry of buzzwords and gadgets, Not investments in a well-thought out tech stack, but singular flashy applications in the hope of impressing guests and ownership. Ex. A property with 7-year old website and no CRM now has a robot. The hospitality industry's hesitant approach to modern technologies is deeply rooted in three decades of reliance on outdated technologies. In particular the PMS is the biggest hurdle of moving to newer technology. Even major hotel brands persist with legacy, all-in-one PMS that compromise the customer experience, and cause substantial delays in keeping up with industry trends and attaining a competitive edge. However, the real hurdle doesn"t lie in the lack of cutting-edge solutions; it's the reluctance of both individuals and organisations to embrace change. While migrating from a legacy PMS to an open property management platform offers a compelling opportunity, true success requires a parallel transformation on an operational level in the organisation. Technology isn't a one-time investment; it's an ongoing process that requires top-down commitment to change. Blindly adopting new tools without a meticulous review risks missing potential benefits and invites failure. Shining examples abound of modern tech-focused accommodation providers that revolutionise the hotel industry with a resilience to change. These innovators understand that embracing risk is integral to creating something truly innovative. Numa, Limehome, Mollie"s UK, STAYERY, mk Hotels, citizenM, and others exemplify the possibilities achievable today through open platforms delivering outstanding results for both guests and employees. Adam Mogelonsky Partner at Hotel Mogel Consulting Ltd. As we all often say, "Hospitality is a people industry." This highlights one of our greatest strengths in how we bring people from diverse backgrounds and geographies together, and create meaningful experiences for our guests. That also means it's a business deeply rooted in history, culture and relationships, and these are all things that are much harder to systemically change in one fell swoop when compared to other companies in newer industries like a tech startup/scaleup. So, just as hospitality is and will always be about people, this great advantage we have over other sectors can also be our Achilles heel when it comes to rapid change. Most CEO's are not tech savvy. Their focus is on creating new brands or getting more hotels. It would be great to see how a OTA CEO would change the tech stack of a hotel group. I suppose creating a tech strategy at all would be number one. At Hospitality Upgrade's Executive Vendor Summit, the CIO panel is a highlight. When asked about their IT strategy, all five CEOs replied that they had NONE! This was not surprising to me because the demand for hotel technology is dominated by problem solving. We need something for housekeeping, a new IBE, a cloud based PMS, a service bus ... A clear strategy with the guest in mind is missing. For an OTA CEO it would be clear that the Golden Record should be the key element of the hotel's IT strategy and every tool must be connected to it. This is what differentiates the big data OTAs from the "fix the problem" approach that dominates our industry. The solution: Senior management needs to become tech savvy, and understand the potential of data. The first step would be to create a guest-centric IT strategy where CDM, CRS and PMS share the same central profile. Lots of reasons. The big chains are locked into their supplier relationships and would lose their big discounts if they jump, plus they have built other products that rely on their core systems, so would incur a big cost of change. Decisions are being made at owner/operator level based on value engineering - the site level GMs and IT team may not have a final say. In resort hotels, the incumbents have created a full ecosystem covering PMS, POS, spa, M&E, etc. They aren't best of breed anywhere, but they share a single customer record, so keep billing and marketing simpler. Many new best of breed PMS players don't link via API or otherwise to best of breed POS or spa or RMS players, so the risk moves to the client. Partner system marketplaces help, following the Salesforce Force.com App Store concept. The newer players need to build partner interfaces in advance of requirements. It's good to think of technology adoption as a spectrum, not a black/white situation. Some hoteliers are very advanced, some are in the middle, and some are clearly lagging behind. For those, there are a few reasons: Business as usual is good enough. I'm doing a record year in revenue! It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. That's why you typically see innovation when a new management team comes in, there's a change of generations running the business, etc. There's a minimum scale to make an effort worthwhile. So independent, small hotels have it harder. Fragmentation and speed of change in tech solutions make it challenging for a hotelier to understand the landscape and define her priorities. Even so, I'd argue that almost any investment in hotel technology, at this stage, pays off. The move from "not doing something" to "doing something simple" brings immediate value; the proof is that, once a hotelier starts using some new technology, they almost never go back to the old method. In the ever-evolving landscape of the travel and hospitality industry, the persistent need to sell and advocate for technology solutions underscores a broader issue: the industry's struggle to fully embrace these advancements. Despite the fact that these technologies are no longer "modern" but rather integral to competitiveness and efficiency, there remains a lack of entrenched understanding. Several factors contribute to this hesitance. First, there's a reluctance to be pioneers or leaders in adopting new tech, often stemming from the fear of unforeseen challenges. Second, a prevalent lack of profound knowledge or appreciation for the transformative potential of technology persists. Third, there's a sense of uncertainty regarding the path forward and where to invest resources optimally. Lastly, the sheer complexity of integrating new technologies into legacy systems can be daunting. This intricate web of challenges holds back progress in an industry where adaptability and innovation are paramount. However, it's vital to remember the age-old adage: "nothing ventured, nothing gained." While the journey towards technological transformation may be daunting, the rewards in terms of enhanced efficiency, customer experience, and competitive advantage are immense. Experienced guidance through these obstacles and facilitation of successful adoption of technology is instrumental in turning uncertainty into opportunity. Not all, but many, of the hotels we work with are holding onto their legacy property management systems. When it comes to full-scale digital transformation and cloud migration, there are genuine concerns about disruption and costs. Those are the pinch points and the nature of the hotel business is a factor too: open 24/7, constantly customer-facing, with tight margins and pressure on staffing. As participants in the hotel technology industry, we should acknowledge its shortcomings. There is a significant lack of regulation and transparency and, unfortunately, quite a few cowboys out there. As consultants and vendors our focus is on the specific needs and requirements of our customers. If a hotel client wants a better way of collecting and accessing guest data, or a particular business intelligence tool, we can create integrations and customisations with whatever system the hotel has in place whether on-premise or in the cloud. Of course, we'd love more businesses to focus on long-term strategic projects rather than short-term fixes, but there is no value in us being judgemental. We all live in the same world. It's not perfect and there is plenty of progress to make. What is required is practical, realistic, and empathetic collaboration. Hotels commonly rely on Property Management Software (PMS) as their primary technological solution. However, the persistence of legacy on-premises PMS and POS systems, characterised by numerous guest profiles and data silos, presents significant challenges for businesses seeking to enhance their operational workflows and implement innovative strategies. The integration of advanced solutions into these outdated models often forces hotels to maintain multiple databases and dashboards, leading to a disjointed data flow and inconsistent workflows. The key to leveraging modern technology effectively is not patching together various solutions through open APIs or data warehouses. Instead, it necessitates a comprehensive approach that centres on adopting an all-in-one solution capable of addressing the evolving landscape of data insights. This approach not only fosters streamlined and synchronised operations across different departments but also facilitates the seamless adoption of new technologies by employees, requiring minimal training. Stanislav Ivanov Founder and Editor-in-chief of ROBONOMICS: The Journal of the Automated Economy I think that the main problem is not so much the technology-related costs (which are dropping) or technologies' capabilities (which are increasing) but the mentality of managers and employees. The we-have-always-done-it-this-way mentality is hurting the adoption of innovative technologies. Implementing new technologies that reorganise processes in hospitality companies means embarking on a long journey that leads to significant changes in the way managers and employees work. And most people do not want change. They will resist change because they are afraid that smart technologies will make them obsolete and they need to go outside of their comfort zone to learn new things in order to remain relevant. Second, using AI may lead to losing part of the control in decision-making (e.g. in hotel pricing) something that managers do not wish to do. Third, artificial intelligence works best when coupled with natural intelligence. However, people often overtrust AI or are too sceptical towards technologies and both perspectives lead to failure in technology implementation. Overtrust inflates expectations towards technologies and leads to disappointment when technologies do not deliver them which holds new tech investments. Scepticism downgrades the potential tech performance and also holds back investments in new technologies. Some hoteliers believe transitioning to the cloud is complicated and requires specialized knowledge, but if they rely on experienced and proven technology solutions partners with advanced data migration tools and mature cloud transition processes, moving to the cloud is straightforward. So why are hoteliers still resistant? Cost concerns are probably the leading barrier, as many hoteliers don't take the time to understand the true costs of not moving to the cloud, which can be a major inhibitor in launching new initiatives or integrating essential new solutions. Others incorrectly believe their data is more secure in a server located at the hotel, rather than in the cloud. Despite these challenges and concerns, many hospitality organizations are gradually adopting cloud technologies as they recognize the superior security, scalability, flexibility, cost-efficiency, and improved guest experiences the cloud can provide. Oracle has helped ease and streamline the migration of hotel technology to the cloud with tools that can automate configuration and retain the historical data that is important to hotels. Oracle also provides eLearning and in-app guided learning to facilitate a more enjoyable and effective onboarding experience to guide hotels and brands through their transformation further. Wait! Before you go Please sign up for our Evening Digest and Breaking Newsletters Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Subscribers to Register-Star or The Daily Mail are eligible to receive full access to HudsonValley360. If you have an existing print subscription, please make sure your email address on file matches your HudsonValley360 account email. remaining of Thank you for using HudsonValley360! On your next view you will be asked to log in or create an account to continue reading. A design rendering of a new Greylock Elementary School, the preferred option of the School Building Committee. PreviousNext North Adams Building Committee Recommends New $61M Greylock NORTH ADAMS, Mass. A new $61 million Greylock School was the choice of the School Building Committee on Thursday. That recommendation will be taken up by the full School Committee on Oct. 17 in anticipation of a submission of the city's preferred option to the Massachusetts School Building Commission's Facilities Assessment subcommittee. The committee was tasked with deciding a preferred schematic option out of the three that were proposed: a renovation at Brayton School, addition/renovation at Greylock or a new Greylock. The writing was on the blackboard as the discussion got underway at Brayton School. Each committee member indicated a preference for Greylock and more of them specifically for a new build because of the site, the ease of transferring students, and the fact it isn't attached to another building. "Greylock new to me is like the clearest of all these," said committee member Benjamin Lamb, a parent. "At the new building, there's not all these unknowns that you can discover when you punch a hole in a wall or roof and when you're talking about the Y and you get to Brayton, it's like putting petroleum jelly all over that lens, right? ... "It feels like going with the clearest, cleanest option that gives the best nonstop single-phase site control that doesn't deal with the gooiness of a roofline and everything that gets triggered in a building like this [Brayton] ... Am I crazy that Greylock new makes so much sense?" Mayor Jennifer Macksey agreed that Greylock was the better site "because of the unknown of this building." "Looking at the numbers, I feel Greylock is feasible for us in the long term," she said. Superintendent Barbara Malkas noted that Colegrove Park Elementary had an influx of students after it opened as families moved into that neighborhood to attend the new school. "If you build it, they will come," she said. The preliminary estimates provided by designer TSKP Studio put all three options within a $1 million of each other. However, there's a great deal of uncertainty with the cost range of Greylock new option running much higher than the other two. On the other hand, said Jesse Saylor of TSKP, those outward projected costs may be too conservative based on the average costs calculated by the MSBA. "Our initial range that we had presented was construction costs between $730 and $916 [per square foot] for new construction. But what we realized is that that was too high," he said. "Our office has just completed ... two elementary schools in the MSBA pipeline recently, our designs have been below the MSBA average construction costs." The most recent schools are coming in at $700 a square foot, which is below the MSBA average. One outlier in Amherst is a net-zero school "with all the bells and whistles." The MSBA is currently capping its reimbursement at $432 a square foot but Saylor noted on the graph shown to the committee that it had jumped up at several points as prices increased. There was the possibility it could do so again but it's not guaranteed that would happen before the city signed a funding agreement in June. Business Administrator Nancy Rauscher said there elements of Colegrove Park Elementary School that are showing inefficiencies where the project could not go new. "But those little variables out there, including that potential for a higher end on the range for new school would be a concern and also just the issue around the MSBA construction cap," she said. Richard Alcombright, who as mayor shepherded the Colegrove project, thought Brayton and the attached YMCA was in a better situation for reuse than Greylock, or the Sullivan School closed during his tenure. "I think it leaves the mayor, the administration of the city with a much more marketable option or usable option for this building," he said. "It takes that pressure away. So I apologize Sullivan is still there." The MSBA is expected to fund 80 percent of eligible costs. The city's contribution would range between $20 million and $30 million, or more than three times what it paid for Colegrove Park. "I also think that if we don't make the right decision now between a renovation and a new we'll never see it and I think we have to look to the future," said Macksey. "I caution everyone that these are estimated costs. I don't want anybody to go out thinking we're building a $61 million school and the taxpayers have to pay for that. This is still a lot of work in progress, but I'm in favor, obviously, of a new school." Saylor also cautioned that there was a lot of work ahead. "We're not done when we select an option today," he said. "It's just choosing a direction." After more than 30 minutes of comments and questions, the committee was ready to vote. "Although I'm not in the classroom, I do spend a lot of time with people who are and I do think that the Greylock new really seems to be the option," said Lisa Blackmer, business administrator for the Northern Berkshire School Union, who made the motion to select a new Greylock. The vote was unanimous and will be take up by the School Committee next week for a vote on whether to submit a new Greylock as the preferred option. South County Road Construction Operations LEE, Mass. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) announced that crews will be conducting overnight hour paving, bridge repair, and traffic marking operations on I-90 eastbound and westbound in Lee, Becket, and Otis. The work will be conducted at various times and locations from Monday, Oct. 16 through Friday, Oct. 20. Lane closures will be in place during the construction operations and traffic will be able to travel through the work zones. The schedule for the work and lane closures will be as follows: Lee Paving operations will be conducted nightly on I-90 eastbound between mile marker 12.2 and mile marker 14.6, from Monday, Oct. 16, through Friday, Oct. 20, from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. the next morning. The work is expected to conclude by 5:00 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 20. Bridge repair operations will be conducted on I-90 eastbound and westbound at mile marker 9.4, on Wednesday, Oct. 18, through Friday, Oct. 20, from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. the next morning. The work is expected to conclude by 5:00 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 20. Becket/Otis Traffic marking installation will be conducted nightly on I-90 eastbound and westbound between mile marker 14.6 and mile marker 21.7 from Monday, Oct. 16, through Friday, Oct. 20, from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. the next morning. The work is expected to conclude by 5:00 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 20. Otis Bridge repair operations will be conducted on I-90 eastbound and westbound at mile marker 22.5, on Monday, Oct. 16, through Wednesday, Oct. 18, from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. the next morning. The work is expected to conclude by 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Appropriate signage, law enforcement details, and messaging will be in place to guide drivers through the work area. Drivers who are traveling through the affected areas should expect delays, reduce speed, and use caution. All scheduled work is weather dependent and subject to change without notice. Mass State Police Not Aware of Any Jihad Threats BOSTON State police have released a statement regarding "vigilance and readiness" after a former Hamas leaders call for a "global day of jihad" on Oct. 13. "At this time we are aware of no specific or credible threats in Massachusetts related to the attack on Israel or the call for jihad by terrorists, but as ever, we remain vigilant and will advise our citizens if that changes," The Massachusettes State Police wrote. "Please know that we maintain constant vigilance and a consistently high state of readiness to rapidly respond to developing threats, critical incidents, and requests for assistance." Fear of violence spread on Friday after Khaled Meshaal, former leader of the terrorist group Hamas called for a "Global Day of Jihad" or attacks against non-Islamists. A number of major cities have increased security. The statement was in regard to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. "Our Fusion Center our intelligence center is in constant communication with our local, federal, and international law enforcement partners regarding potential threats, while our Watch Center monitors incidents across the state and region 24/7/365 to provide awareness to incident commanders and coordinate deployment of State Police assets as needed," the state police reported. Haiti - Security: Towards the signing of a MoU Homeland Security Investigations - PNH Recently, a planning meeting for a memorandum of understanding took place between the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Haitian National Police (PNH). During a visit by a high Haitian delegation to Washington, led by the Minister of Justice, the Haitian and American Governments agreed on the principle of signing in the coming days a Memorandum of Understanding between the "Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)" and the Haitian National Police (PNH) to fight against transnational crimes, particularly against illicit firearms trafficking and financial crimes. Learn more about HSI : HSI is the primary investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, particularly criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which commerce, travel and security flow. international finance. HSI's mission is to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle terrorist, transnational, and other criminal organizations that threaten or seek to exploit U.S. immigration and customs laws. IH/ iciHaiti Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky and TSplus, a leading provider of Remote Access solutions, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in the creation of Cyber Immune Virtual Desktop access solutions. The MoU was signed at Tech Week Singapore 2023, Asias most important technology event for businesses. Under the MoU, both companies will cooperate to enhance their products. In addition, they will determine the markets needs in Cyber Immune endpoints in mutual vertical products and explore ways to fulfill them against the global market landscape. Kaspersky and TSplus will also take the opportunity to demonstrate their collaborative success to representatives of enterprises, governments, and the academic community in order to raise awareness and establish the demand for Cyber Immune solutions. Kaspersky, as a part of the cooperation, will provide KasperskyOS operating system and relative Cyber Immune software products and solutions, while TSplus will provide Remote Desktop, Application delivery and RDP cyber shield solutions for corporate customers. In addition, both parties will now have an opportunity to participate in each other's marketing activities as strategic partners. (From left) Andrey Suvorov, Head of KasperskyOS Business with Dominique Benoit, CEO of TSplus Commenting on the successful MoU, Andrey Suvorov, Head of KasperskyOS Business said: With an ever-evolving work environment, we have increasingly noted a demand for Remote Desktop solutions around the world accompanied by an exponential demand for protective solutions to secure these operating environments. We develop these kinds of products and solutions based on the KasperskyOS operating system. One such product is Kaspersky Thin Client the world's first thin client with Cyber Immunity that requires no additional antivirus protection tools. We believe this product has great export potential, and our partnership with TSplus reinforces this belief. I hope that through this partnership well be implementing successful projects to protect user devices, and together well take another step closer to a Cyber Immune future. Dominique Benoit, CEO of TSplus added: "We are excited to partner with Kaspersky, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions. This partnership will enable us to expand our offerings in a whole new way. The Kaspersky Cyber Immune thin client is the perfect platform to continue to develop the most comprehensive and secure Remote Desktop, Application Delivery and Server Security solutions on the market. The agreement between the two companies is signed for three years, with an opportunity to extend it further after that period. More information about Kasperskys Cyber Immune approach can be found here. Set foot in Qingshan, a village nestled amid lush green mountains, and visitors are greeted by its artistic vibe. About 25 miles to the northwest of downtown Hangzhou city and in the Yuhang district of Zhejiang province, Qingshans roadsides and fields are studded with distinctive art installations. A nearby dam gives a birds-eye view of the art, which ranges from vivid paintings and balloons in the shape of eggs to bamboo-woven Mobius strips. Each of them has a theme, said Lin Hong, a senior village official. For example, the egg-shaped piece seeks to increase public awareness of the protection of biodiversity, while the Mobius strip embodies the never-ending symbiosis of bamboo culture and bamboo weaving techniques. The pieces of public art are scattered throughout every corner of the village, carefully sited in relation to the surrounding environment, and wait for visitors to explore them by foot. The villages buildings add traditional craftsmanship to the artistic atmosphere. The exterior of the visitor centre is wrapped in bamboo, and blends traditional craftsmanship with modern design, Lin said. It is both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly. Within walking distance, a design-themed library created inside a disused auditorium enables visitors to appreciate the process of embroidery, lacquer art, woodblock carving and natural dyeing, and to develop a good understanding of the beauty of traditional crafts. Two of the villages many old buildings have been transformed into art spaces, thanks to a group of craftsmen, artists and curators, who have settled in Qingshan village over the years. One of the groups, from the Rongsheji craftsmanship workshop, is dedicated to incorporating traditional materials and construction techniques into village buildings. We found a lot of creative inspirations in the village, said Zhang Lei, who is in charge of the workshops operations, and who has been living in Qingshan village for the past five years. Over the years, team members have come and gone, but in the end, those who have stayed are the ones who truly enjoy rural life. Efforts by local authorities to improve infrastructure and the rural environment especially water quality since 2014, and the encouragement of multi-sector development such as rural tourism, have attracted designers and artists from all over the country. Zhang has also helped around 30 villagers create woven bamboo artwork, to help increase their incomes. The handicrafts the artists and villagers have produced together have been shown at exhibitions at home and abroad, including at the Milan Design Week and the Design Shanghai. They have also been sold on the market, where they have made twice the profit of similar competitive products, Lin said. The villages design industry has accelerated the integration of culture and tourism, which has been bringing in around 30,000 visitors a year. Its collective annual income has now risen past 1.5 million yuan (168,000). Developments in Qingshan village are part of the efforts by Yuhang district to explore the coexistence between art and rural life and empower the village cultural industry. About an hours drive to the south, enormous bamboo forests surround Zijing village, which produces about three million flutes every year. Going deeper in the village, a museum in the shape of a music note jumps out. It was built on the site of a former bamboo factory, and now presents a vivid walk through local bamboo and flute history. Visitors discuss calligraphy in Nanshan village in Hangzhou (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY) About 19 miles to the northeast of Zijing, calligraphy culture has taken shape in Nanshan village. Local authorities set up a calligraphy association in 2015, which inspired many villagers to pick up the art form. Nanshan was designated a calligraphy village last year. Those artistic endeavours have vitalised rural resources, and helped promote the integrated development of agriculture, culture and tourism, and ultimately, the rural economy. During the first six months of this year, the collective operating income of villages in Yuhang rose to 506 million yuan (56.6 million), and disposable incomes rose to 30,257 yuan (3,380) per person, an increase of 6.5 per cent year-on-year, according to the district. During the afternoon of the second Saturday of every second month, musician Cheng Yu dresses in traditional Chinese attire and takes a guqin and pipa to a special gathering she started in London 20 years ago. Cheng, who is a virtuoso of the two instruments, trained at Xian Conservatory of Music in the 1980s before playing the pipa with the China National Traditional Orchestra. She later studied for masters and doctoral degrees in ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in the 1990s. She has been active ever since in teaching and performing Chinese music in the United Kingdom. To Cheng, sharing and promoting Chinese traditional instruments and music brings her the utmost joy and fulfillment. This is something that I enjoy doing. It enables them to appreciate a culture that is very unique and different from theirs. The gathering Cheng initiated, called yaji, is a tradition among Chinese literati that goes back more than 1,000 years, to when ancient scholars and artists first got together to drink tea, write poems, appreciate art and enjoy music. The bimonthly yaji in London is now organised by the London Youlan Qin Society and focuses on traditional Chinese music, with attendees playing various pieces of music on Chinese instruments, including the guqin, pipa and flute, and with musicians sharing their understanding of the music. The guqin, or qin, a seven-stringed Chinese zither, is one of Chinas oldest instruments, with a history dating back about 3,000 years. Twenty years ago Unesco proclaimed Chinas ancient guqin music a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity. Over the years the yaji gatherings in London have drawn professional musicians, scholars, office workers and amateur appreciators of Chinese culture, among others, with attendees coming from all over the UK, and sometimes from elsewhere in Europe. In July the society marked its 20th anniversary with the 124th yaji gathering in the Djam Lecture Theatre at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Charlie Thomas, who travelled from Birmingham to London for the gathering, as he had done five times before, said: Its not just Chinese people who come. I met a German lady who also liked guqin, and I started talking with her. People here are so welcoming, and they have different backgrounds but share similar interests in guqin. Thomas has studied guqin with Cheng for about a year. Compared with violin, the sound of the guqin is very meditative and more calming, he said, adding that playing the instrument helped him calm down and solved a sleeping problem he had. Cheng Yu and the Silk Breeze ensemble perform her composition Dream Butterfly on a five-stringed pipa at East Londons Rich Mix Theatre in 2021 (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY ) Cheng, born into a musical family in Beijing, first studied the pipa, the Chinese plucked lute, with her father when she was seven, and she was then able to study with a guqin master, Li Xiangting, when she was at the Xian Conservatory of Music. My father is a pipa master, and I still remember receiving the pipa on my seventh birthday as a gift, Cheng said. My grandfather plays the guqin, so I was interested in learning both. In the early 2000s Cheng conducted research to recreate the five-string pipa, which was lost in the 8th century in China, with the current pipa having only four strings. For her work she won major awards from Women in Music, the Arts Council of England, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Throughout the years Cheng has been active in performing at various concerts and on special occasions and in collaborating with musicians from different genres and countries. She also co-founded the UK Chinese Ensemble, which performs throughout the UK and the rest of Europe on occasions such as the Chinese Spring Festival when tens of thousands of people gather in Trafalgar Square to watch the annual grand show. Three decades have flown by since I first came to London, and I have taught hundreds of students, Cheng said. I enjoy what I am doing. I simply feel the joy when watching them progress in their skills and understanding of Chinese music. As soon as Andrej Karpathy saw a video of a China-made, lanky, futuristic humanoid robot in August, he was quick to express his excitement. I want one. Or two. A few, Karpathy said in a tweet, adding Looks impressive $90K, 47 kg. Yes, humanoid is the right form factor. One of the founding members of OpenAI, the US company that developed the widely popular generative artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT, Karpathy was referring to the Unitree H1, a 5.9ft tall, 104lb laser-radar-equipped humanoid developed by Unitree Robotics, a robotics startup in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The video also showed that the robot which can move about five feet per second is capable of restoring its balance within two steps in the wake of an abrupt kick and can even slightly sidestep in advance upon sensing whether a human intends to lift a foot or not. According to its developer, the Unitree H1s maximum knee joint torque reaches 266 foot-pounds and each leg has five degrees of freedom. Driven by technological advancements in AI, humanoid robots such as Unitree H1 are the hottest topic in the intelligent robotics industry today. Currently, new technologies, products and formats represented by humanoid robots and general artificial intelligence are thriving and becoming the pinnacle of global technological innovation, a new track for future industries, and a new engine for economic growth, said Xu Xiaolan, Chinas vice minister of industry and information technology. Breakthroughs in AI, she said, have provided an important driving force for the innovative development of humanoid robots, and the world is experiencing a wave of integration between humanoid robots and general AI. General AI refers to AIs versatility in doing multiple tasks such as writing essays, checking programme bugs and making business plans. This differentiates it from previous narrow AI projects that excel in only one area. The global humanoid robot market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 52.8 per cent from 2023 to 2030, according to market research company ReportLinker. The China Electronics Society has also forecast that the market size of humanoid robots in China is expected to reach about 870 billion yuan (98.7 billion) by 2030. Robotics is considered the crown jewel of manufacturing, with humanoid robots being the ultimate goal for many across the industry. Compared with industrial robots that are valued for their specialised mechanical capabilities, the main challenge in developing humanoid robots is how to perfectly simulate human processes of perception, cognition, decision-making, and execution under various scenarios, experts said. A Walker X robot made by UBTech Robotics is displayed at an expo in Shanghai (LONG WEI / FOR CHINA DAILY) At the World Robot Conference 2023 in Beijing in August, humanoids took centre stage. UBTech Robotics, an AI and humanoid robotics company in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, showcased its Panda Robot and the Walker X, a large humanoid service robot. The black-and-white creature named Youyou could introduce itself, pull off some tai chi moves and wield a calligraphy pen with a flourish. It was the subject of many photographs by visitors at the venue. It introduced visitors to Chinas experience in smart cities, agricultural technologies and environmentally friendly practices. In the past six to eight months, a large number of new humanoid robots companies have emerged, indicating the publics recognition of this industrial segment, said Fu Chunjiang, vice president of UBTech Robotics. Xiaomi Corp also showcased its emotion-detecting humanoid robot CyberOne. Measuring 5.6ft tall and weighing 115 lb, CyberOne supports up to 21 degrees of freedom of motion and achieves a real-time response speed that allows full human movement simulation. The robot has a self-developed environment semantics recognition engine and a vocal emotion identification engine, enabling it to recognise 85 types of environmental sounds and 45 classifications of human emotion. CyberOne is able to detect happiness, and even comfort a user in times of sadness, the company said. The rise of the robot industry chain is closely related to the revolutionary wave of general AI, said Chen Jia, a researcher at the International Monetary Institute of Renmin University of China. Humanoid robots will be an industry field with great growth potential in the next decade. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A climate researcher has been sacked after he refused to fly home from a fieldwork project in Papa New Guinea because he avoids flights in order to minimise his carbon footprint. Dr Gianluca Grimalda was notified on Wednesday by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany that his research contract had been terminated. The academic has refused to take flights since 2010 unless there was no other option, a stance that his employer previously supported. Earlier this year, Dr Grimalda embarked on a 35-day, 9,300-mile (15,000km) overland journey including through Iran, India and Thailand to reach Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific. Since I do not teach and meetings can be held online, there is nothing that requires my presence in Kiel, Dr Grimalda wrote, in a statement to The Independent. Burning 4.9 tons of CO2 about how much the global citizen of the world emits in one year for the absurd request to work on site is inacceptable in the current climate emergency. I am going to file a lawsuit for unlawful dismissal against this decision. The Independent has contacted the Kiel Institute for comment but they have not yet responded. Last week the academic, who is a member of protest group Scientist Rebellion, told The Independent how he feared losing his job over his beliefs. Maybe I will not find another research position, he said. Doing research is the thing I love the most in my life. Dr Grimalda started working at the Kiel Institute in 2013 and for the past six months, has been in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea studying the social impacts of climate change and market integration among 30 communities. The academic acknowledged that he had been delayed in his return to Germany which he attributed to his group being held hostage and additional security threats in Papua New Guinea. Last month, his bosses sent an official warning and demanded he return to his desk by 2 October, the scientist said. His salary was stopped in September, he added, a source of major stress. I pay for the healthcare of my mum in Italy. One-third of my salary goes to the payment of the healthcare of my mum, he said during a WhatsApp call from Bougainville Island on 4 October. He added: I perceive immoral blackmail in what they were telling me. They wanted me to renege on my moral principles, on my commitment, in order to admit my failure in not having complied with the agreement that I had with them. The academic documented his slow travel journey from Germany to Papua New Guinea in an epic Twitter thread (Gianluca Grimalda) Dr Grimalda is travelling on a cargo ship for the first leg of his journey home, a voyage which required special permission from the National Maritime authority of Papua New Guinea, before continuing via bus, train and passenger ferries. He has calculated that his slow-travel route, which will take about 50 days, will reduce his emissions more than tenfold from 5,300kg of greenhouse gasses from flying to 420kg. My stance is to not take a plane unless there is no alternative, he said. He explained that on the outbound journey, he was forced to take two flights - one because Chinas borders were still closed in February due to Covid, and another to reach Papua New Guinea from Singapore. The scientist said that the Kiel Institute has been supportive of his slow travel in the past, and that it has not impacted his work. I analyse my data, write articles, read articles. There is nothing that I can do in Germany in my office that I cannot do while traveling, he said. Occasionally I dont have internet while traveling but I just wait a little time and then I can connect to the internet. He acknowledged that he was supposed to have returned to Kiel by 10 September but said that he had informed his head of department about the security threats he had faced. Gianluca Grimalda with residents in Papua New Guinea. He says his promise to locals about cutting his carbon footprint has given him resolve (Gianluca Grimalda) We were held hostage for some hours under machete threat. All of my belongings were confiscated, he said. I now learned that I should have also informed the personnel office, I was not aware of that. Apparently for the Kiel Institute that was a major infringement of my contractual obligations. But I really had no idea, I thought that informing my immediate supervisor was enough. Dr Grimalda said that he was given an informal warning and threatened with dismissal by Kiel in 2022 over civil disobedience actions he took part in with Scientist Rebellion, an activist organization. In an email to The Independent last week, Guido Warlimont, head of communications at the Kiel Institute, wrote: We remain committed to our policy of not publicly discussing or commenting on personal legal matters. This is also for the protection of our employees. In general, the Institute encourages and supports its staff to travel climate-friendly. We are committed to do without air travel in Germany and in other EU countries as far as we can. We pay to Atmosfair to offset emissions through climate protection projects. Mr Warlimont added that Dr Grimalda planned his trip to Papua with Kiels support, and that the institute had supported a slow travel trip that he made previously. Flying is one of the most emissions-intensive pursuits an individual can do. A persons carbon footprint increases by ticket class and rockets with private jet travel. Domestic and international aviation is responsible for about 10 per cent of transport sector emissions. Roughly 1 per cent of the global population is responsible for more than half of these, the UN says. Dr Gianluca Grimalda crossing a stream with a local resident to reach a village in Papua New Guinea (Gianluca Grimalda) Flying is expected to boom in the coming decades as more countries grow their middle classes. Carbon emissions from the airline industry grew by 75 per cent from 1990 to 2012, according to the David Suzuki Foundation. If left unchecked, they could consume quarter of the available carbon budget for limiting temperature rise to 1.5C, the research group said. Dr Grimalda said that his resolve had been strengthened by what he witnessed in Papua New Guinea, one of the worlds most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis. The country is experiencing sea-level rise and more frequent storm surge, forcing coastal communities to relocate. In mountain villages, drought is causing food shortages. Im going to stick to this promise I made to all these people who are so exposed to climate change without having any responsibility, he told The Independent. Sea level rise is not because of their emissions. People from the US are the ones with the highest carbon footprint in the world, but also Europeans. I dont want to fail these people one more time, even if this means losing my job. Dr Grimalda said that, by his calculations, even his slow travel plans are equivalent to the average Papuans emissions in one year. My estimation is the average person from Bougainville emits 400 kg carbon dioxide in one year, he said. To give you a sense of proportion, the average person in the world emits four tons of carbon dioxide in one year [and] the average US citizen emits 20 tonnes. The Italian academics story has resonated through the realms of academia and beyond. His saga, which he has shared on X, formerly Twitter, has received hundreds of comments and mounting media attention. Fellow academics have written to the Kiel Institute in protest on his behalf. We need more people like [Gianluca Grimalda], wrote PhD student Tuulia Reponen. You are my hero. Some 70 per cent of carbon emissions come from just 100 companies worldwide, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Mr Grimalda acknowledges that he would be a fool to think his individual actions could alter the course of the climate crisis. But I thought that this was the right occasion to really sound the alarm bell, to tell as many people as possible that we really need to change completely our lifestyle, he said. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Spooky season gets extra scary with the 13th of October falling on an unlucky Friday this year. Although the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday one to three times a year, and already occurred in January of this year, fear of Friday of the 13th in October has been amplified in the past by a number of factors, including the Friday the 13th slasher movies. However, superstitions revolving around the spooky date have actually been around for centuries. The number 13s history of discord can be traced back to the Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party in Valhalla. When Loki - the trickster god who was not invited - showed up as the 13th guest, he exacted his revenge by enlisting Hor, the god of winter and darkness, to shoot the god of war, Balder, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. The union of day and date has also been traced back to King Philip IV of France arresting hundreds of Knights Templar on Friday 13 October 1307. The Catholic crusaders were apprehended under pressure from Pope Clement V over allegations that new recruits to the order were being forced to spit on the cross, deny Christ and engage in homosexual acts during initiation ceremonies. The claims, seemingly entirely without foundation, were a convenient pretext for Philip to persecute the wealthy order and waive debts he owed them following war with England. Charged with moral and financial corruption and worshipping false idols, often following confessions obtained under torture, many of the knights were later burnt at the stake in Paris. Friday the 13ths unluckiness also has biblical origins, according to Dr Phil Stevens, a retired anthropology professor from SUNY at Buffalo. The professor cited the Last Supper, which occurred on a Thursday evening and 13 people including Jesus Christ feasted at the table. Because Christ was betrayed by Judas and crucified on Good Friday, historians like Dr Stevens believe that Friday the 13th embodies misfortune. Dr Stevens explained to USA Today: Friday, the 13th you get a double whammy. You get both of these elements coming together: the taboo against 13, and the crucifixion, which was on a Friday. For centuries, people have held superstitions regarding Friday 13th, such as avoiding black cats, cracks on the sidewalk, or throwing a pinch of salt over your shoulder. The superstitions revolving around black cats date back to the Middle Ages, when the felines were reportedly associated with witchcraft. In 1233, Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull called Vox in Rama, in which the church declared that black cats were a vessel of the devil. According to historians, black cats were often used as a tool to discredit those threatening the churchs power and legitimacy, often labelling them witches or heretics. Meanwhile, cracks on the sidewalk dont have a history of satanic panic, but rather are believed to incur the wrath of the spirits of the dead if stepped on. According to early European and American folklore, cracks - whether in sidewalks, walls, floors, or soil - indicated rifts between Earth and the metaphysical realm. No matter how small they may be, if you were to step on these cracks no matter how narrow, you could allegedly bring about misfortune to you or your family. Throwing a pinch of salt over your shoulder can allegedly ward off evil spirits you mightve angered, according to Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Behavioural scientist, Jane Risen, found that ancient superstitions such as avoiding black cats and sidewalk cracks can even affect skeptics and nonbelievers alike. Even if I dont actively believe, just that fact that Friday the 13th exists as a known cultural element means that I entertain it as a possibility, Risen explained to National Geographic. That adds a bit more fuel to this intuition, makes it feel a bit more true, even when you recognise that its not true. She added: We find that people who jinx themselves dont think the bad outcome is especially likely if they knock down on wood. So, the ritual does seem to help manage their concern. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Lorraine regular Dr Amir Khan and This Mornings Dr Zoe Williams have joined forces to support the launch of the UKs first ever dedicated male breast cancer organisation. Called Moobs, the organisation was founded by James Richards, 37, who is currently undergoing treatment for the disease after being diagnosed in February, aged 36. Moobs main mission is to raise awareness of breast cancer amongst men, and provide a helpful resource for men who get diagnosed. The organisation also runs a monthly support group via Zoom, to help reduce the isolation for men affected. As a male, Ive always been aware of the risks of prostate and testicular cancer, but I had no idea men were able to get breast cancer you just dont hear of it, said Richards. In the days following my diagnosis, I was surprised by the lack of tailored support and information readily available around the disease, and much of my treatment plan was based on what was offered to women. There are differences, but with so few cases and a lack of funding for male breast cancer, we are in danger of isolating those that need support the most. Around 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, making it the most common form of cancer in the UK. There are also around 400 new diagnoses a year in men yet awareness of the condition in males is much lower. Its believed this is contributing to men being less likely to see their doctor when early signs arise, and a 2019 US study found male breast cancer patients have a 19% higher mortality rate than women. As with women, male breast cancer tends to mostly affect older men, aged 60-70. However, it can potentially occur in younger men too, so being aware of the symptoms is important for everyone. Checking for signs When it comes to checking for warning signs, Dr Amir Khan said its very similar for both men and women. I always say to women, be breast aware so thats knowing whats normal for you, and then being aware of any changes and getting them checked, and its exactly the same for men, Khan told the PA news agency. [Often] men dont know that theyve got breast tissue but all men have breast tissue, and that means theyre at risk of getting breast cancer. It is a much lower risk than in women, but the risk is still there. So what I would say to men is, just as often as you check your balls for any lumps, you should be checking your breasts as well. Do them both balls and breasts in the shower, once a month. Khan explained that the majority of the breast tissue in men is located around the nipple area -so that is the part you need to be hyper vigilant about when checking for changes. But saying that, you should be checking the whole of your chest area, right up to the collarbone and under your arm. As well as that, nipple changes are really important too so if one nipple has suddenly changed, if its pointing inward instead of outward, or if theres any skin dimpling, any new unexplained rashes around the breast area, or even unexplained persistent breast pain or chest pain, get that checked out. See your GP While these things dont mean you definitely have cancer, its always best to get things checked with your GP quickly. We will be able to either reassure you, or make that onward referral. And it is incredibly rare were talking 400 or so men each year diagnosed with breast cancer, Khan added. But its always better to be safe than sorry, and the longer you leave it [if it is cancer], sadly, the worse the outcome is likely to be. So as soon as you pick anything up, go and see someone. For more information, visit moobs.uk Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} With all the access teenagers today have to the internet and social media, they may see more distressing news stories than even their parents. Palestinian militant group Hamas deemed a terrorist group by the UK Government invaded Israel on Saturday from Gaza, with rocket attacks by air as well as military in boats. Since then, Israel has sealed the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip off from food, fuel, medicine and other supplies, while launching retaliatory air strikes on the territory, which is home to 2.3 million people. The most recent numbers suggest 900 people have been killed in Israel, 700 in the Gaza territory and the West Bank, and many hostages have been taken. Hamas has pledged to kill captured Israeli hostages if attacks target civilians in Gaza. The conflict has sparked protests by pro-Palastine and pro-Israel groups in the UK and prompted political division on social media. Teenagers are likely to be exposed to a lot of the news, internet discussion and perhaps distressing images of conflict. So how should parents approach this? Talk about it at home Dr Jeri Tikare, clinical psychologist at Kooth, a digital mental health platform, believes parents should be as truthful as they can with their teenagers. This means that it is important for us to not to hide things away from them. It is better for them to hear it from us (their people of safety) as opposed to reading it or hearing it from others, he says. Also bearing in mind the curious nature of the mind. It is inevitable that for things that they do not understand, they might research and look for answers. It can be helpful if they get their information from a reliable source which can feel contained and reassuring. But share information at a level that is developmentally right and just enough to help the young person feel contained and safe. Check yourself As the parent, learn the basics of what is going in the conflict yourself from reputable sources so you can have balanced, informed conversations with your child. It can also be useful to be aware of our own reactions as parents or primary caregivers, he says. One of the ways young people learn and develop is via observing and then modelling adult behaviour. Hence, they can pick up anxieties or worries displayed by parents. Validate and normalise expressing emotion If your teen is particularly affected by distressing news stories about war and conflict, Tikare encourages parents to give their teenagers the opportunity to express how they are feeling in different ways such as writing, drawing, stories, songs, and things that feel helpful for the young person. Some find a feelings box helpful, he adds. It might also be helpful to introduce them to some simple relaxation techniques such as taking three deep, slow breaths, breathing in for a count of three and out for three. Be there for them Giving your teenager the space, time and encouragement to open up about how they feel on any subject world news or otherwise is key. I know that life can be hard, busy and sometimes young people are aware of this and might not want to disturb you, Tikare says. Therefore, it might be helpful to make a conscious effort to let them know that you are mindful of how difficult it can be and reassure them that you are available to talk about things. Giving them extra love and attention at this time can be helpful, especially at difficult times like this. Discuss social media Tikare acknowledges that television, social media and other platforms can be very distressing and exacerbating for teenagers. But you may not be able to prise your child away from posting on their social media accounts altogether. It would depend on the motivation behind posting and where they are posting, Tikare says. Posting about the feelings experienced around the conflict in a supportive and possibly moderated space, with people sharing similar feelings associated with the conflict, can help normalise the experience and leave them feeling less alone. On the other hand, it could also expose them to content and comments that could potentially trigger distress. So be sure to make them aware of the content they may come across online. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Although people typically associate the month of October with spooky season and the beginning of fall foliage, the month is also known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast Cancer Awareness Month dates back to 1985, when the American Cancer Society picked one week in October and teamed up with the pharmaceutical division of Imperial Chemical Industries now part of AstraZeneca, which has worked to develop medicines for breast cancer treatment. The initial goal for the week-long event was to raise awareness towards breast cancer screenings and mammograms. First Lady Betty Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer when her husband, former US president Gerald Ford, was in office. As a breast cancer survivor, she initially helped bring attention to the disease during the week-long event. Over the years, the original week transformed into a month-long event. The goals for Breast Cancer Awareness Month have also evolved over time, such as supporting people diagnosed with breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer, educating people about breast cancer risk factors, stressing the importance of regular screening starting at age 40, and fundraising for breast cancer research. However, the well-known pink ribbon associated with Breast Cancer Awareness Month wasnt introduced until the 1990s. The inspiration for the ribbon dates all the way back to 1979, when the wife of a hostage who had been taken in Iran tied yellow ribbons around the trees in her front yard as a symbol of her desire to see her husband return home safely. Ribbons were also used years later during the AIDS epidemic, when activists made bright red ribbons to represent those affected by AIDS. The AIDS ribbon was made mainstream after the 1991 Tony Awards, when actor Jeremy Irons was the first to publicly wear the pinned ribbon with a singular loop while hosting the awards show. A woman named Charlotte Haley is attributed with the creation of the Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon, as she was the granddaughter, sister, and mother of women who have all battled breast cancer. Initially, she designed the breast cancer ribbon to be peach-coloured instead of pink. With each ribbon, she passed out a card that read: The National Cancer Institute annual budget is $1.8 billion, only five per cent goes for cancer prevention. Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon. Because of her success in passing out thousands of ribbons, many corporations and news outlets reached out to Haley asking to showcase her ribbons and the message she was promoting. She declined each offer as she believed they were too corporate, but Self magazine was increasingly persistent. The magazines lawyer insisted they change the symbols colour, and the pink ribbon was born. In October 1992, the pink ribbon first spread across the nation after Estee Lauder displayed the symbol on its cosmetic counters throughout the country. While the iconic shade of pink is normally associated with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, other colours have been introduced, including hot pink for inflammatory breast cancer; teal and pink for hereditary and gynecologic cancers; pink and blue for male breast cancer; and teal, pink, and green for metastatic breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women after skin cancer. There is a 13 per cent chance, or one in eight chance, that a woman will develop breast cancer at some point in her lifetime. Although breast cancer is more typically associated with women, it can also occur in men. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated 17 October to 23 October as Mens Breast Cancer Awareness Week. While Friday the 13th may be a spooky-themed day, dont forget that its also Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} On Saturday 7 October, the militant group Hamas labelled as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the EU invaded Israel from Gaza, launching a horrific series of attacks on civilians along with thousands of rockets fired at population centres. The assault is the deadliest in the Jewish nations history, with thousands of soldiers and civilians having been killed, wounded or abducted. Following the incursions, Israel declared war on Hamas, prompting a military operation in Gaza. Israel has also cut the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip off from food, electricity, medicine and other supplies until they release the dozens of hostages captured during the assault. In addition, according to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Approximately 6,000 bombs have been dropped on the Gaza Strip with a total weight of 4,000 tonnes. An estimated 1,799 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gazas health ministry. The tragedy and devastation is harrowing, especially surrounding reports of babies and other children being killed, leading to a storm of emotions, among them how to communicate about the tragedy with children. On top of this, a childs propensity to notice the slightest signs of confusion, uneasiness and grief are often underestimated, said Dr Robin Gurwitch, a professor in the Duke University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science in North Carolina, noting that a small change in routine or signs of distraction can be picked up by young children. Right now [is] creating a whole series of emotions from anger, to sadness, to horror, to anxiety, depression, fear a myriad of emotions that are happening, Dr Gurwitch told The Independent. And for adults, it may lead to things like anxiety, depression, a sense of helplessness, problems with sleeping. The really young children, the twos and threes, and maybe even the fours dont truly understand whats happening, said the senior advisor to the Terrorism and Disaster Program of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. And kids can pick up on anxiety, kids can pick up on distress. So if they recognise that somethings wrong, they may have more meltdowns and temper tantrums. ... Because theyre too little to know whats going on is that they pick up on our cues, even infants pick up on those cues. And while children aged two through five may not be exposed to any online news like those in elementary school could be at the moment, their attention to mood shifts could not only lead to their own behavioural changes but questions. After speaking with Dr Gurwitch, as well as Robin Werner, director for early childhood at Solomon Schechter Day School in Greater Hartford, and Rabbi Jonathan Berger, the head of school, The Independent has compiled a set of guidelines for how to talk to young children about whats going on between Israel and Hamas. Find out what they know/understand First, its important to start any conversation of this nature by inquiring about what a child already knows or has heard. For a productive conversation to take place, and to know how much needs to be explained or divulged, you need to figure out what they think they know. This also helps to prevent you from providing unnecessary information. One thing that can happen is a parent will hear a question and start unloading everything, but the kid didnt know or want to hear all of that, they actually had a smaller question, Rabbi Berger said. So, you first want to make sure you understand your child, like where theyre coming from and what they want to know about. Though you may be doing everything in your power to shield your kids from horrific realities and, according to Rabbi Berger, its easier to do so for younger infants its very possible older children have been exposed in some way, even if they dont fully understand it. It is a wish rather than a reality that our children dont know whats happening. Because they have heard adults in conversations, theyve been in a room and even if the adults dont think theyre watching the TV, theyre hearing it, Dr Gurwitch explained. To start, you can say: There was a horrible attack in Israel, tell me what you know about it. Answer questions truthfully Once you have a firm understanding on what theyve been exposed to, its important to respond to their questions in both a candid and careful manner. If kids see us as people who should be trusted adults, not talking about something makes it even scarier for them, Berger noted. If they see us afraid to talk about something, which is how its going to come across, thats ultimately a lot worse for them. Meanwhile, say the experts, keep in mind what information is age-appropriate and which details arent necessary for them to know. Overall, its best to keep your answer simple, limiting yourself to one or two sentences. As Dr Gurwitch pointed out: It is okay not to share the gruesome details. You know, if children say I know that there were children that got killed, yes, there were. But you dont have to say they beheaded them. So we answer it in a way they understand how we talk to a five-year-old is certainly going to be different than how we talked to the 11-year-old, she went on to say. So at a level they can understand. Ask how they feel and validate them After youve given them a chance to ask questions, and youve answered their inquiries honestly and simply, allow them to open up about how theyre feeling. Whether theyre exhibiting feelings of distress or noticing adults in their life acting differently, children should be given the space to speak on the situation is affecting them. Like grown-ups, kids too can feel the weight of a myriad of emotions, and they then need to be validated too. We validate rather than try to talk them out of it, Dr Gurwitch said. Emphasise safety and be positive Wrapping up the conversation on a positive note is essential, the experts said. Infants, toddlers and elementary school children have innocent natures that should be protected. And although you as an individual may find it difficult to assume an optimistic mindset, a child needs to know is that theyre safe and we care about the innocent people affected in Israel and Gaza. Theyre so innocent. They dont know whats going on. And they just come to school with smiles on their faces and see whats in front of them, Werner said. You want to make sure that they know that were safe. According to the early childhood director and Jewish educator, emphasising the level of concern and attention designated to the safety of humanity is crucial. A simple answer is: We care about Israel. Everyones feeling this way because we care. But as simple as you can, as honest as you can, as loving as you can, as empathetic as you can be to a child who, you know whos innocent and who looks at the world with rose-coloured glasses. Aside from ensuring curious children are well-informed to the level they should be, Dr Gurwitch noted the necessity of having other trusted adults for parents and teachers to talk to. This not only benefits the adults mental state but aids a childs perception of the situation. What they need to see is that we can pull ourselves together and be fine, she said. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Perfume brand Jo Malone has distanced itself from its founder and namesake, makeup mogul Jo Malone, after her son was caught up in a row over the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Malone, 59, founded the fragrance company in 1990 before selling it to Estee Lauder in 1999. She remained at the brand as its creative director until 2006 before leaving to establish Jo Loves a separate, London-based venture. On Friday (13 October), the Jo Malone X/Twitter account shared a statement clarifying that Jo Malone the individual has not been affiliated with the Jo Malone London brand since 2006. This comes after the entrepreneurs son was linked to a pro-Palestine Harvard student group caught up in controversy over a statement addressing the Israel-Hamas conflict. On Thursday (12 October), The Telegraph reported that Malones son Josh Willcox, 22, helps run the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) one of the student societies that issued a widely-criticised statement holding Israel entirely responsible for all unfolding violence triggered by the devastating Hamas attack on 7 October. More than 2,600 Israelis and Palestinians have died since the war errupted on Saturday 7 October, when Hamas terrorists stormed Israeli cities, killing hundreds of civilians and escaping with at least 130 hostages. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed vengeance against Hamas for this wicked day, ordering retaliatory airstrikes on targets in Gazan cities and a total siege blocking supplies of food, water, and power from entering the 42km Strip. Israeli army infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel (AFP via Getty Images) On the same day, a group of 33 student-run organisations at Harvard released a joint statement declaring that Israels apartheid regime had created the conditions for the Israel-Hamas war. Todays events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison, the statement read. When Willcoxs role at the PSC, listed on Harvards online directory of its student groups, was revealed, social media users issued calls to boycott Jo Malone London on X, formerly Twitter. In response, the luxury brand released its statement, which read: This is an extremely difficult time for everyone and please know we do not condone violence of any kind. At this time, we would like to clarify that Jo Malone the individual has not been affiliated with the Jo Malone London brand since 2006. We continue to lead with kindness. Malone in a statement to The Independent said: We as a family are heartbroken by the events of recent days and strongly condemn all forms of violence. The abhorrent attack on innocent people on Saturday in Israel is beyond what any family should endure. We again strongly condemn all forms of violence and those that incite it. We have always acted with a heart for people wanting always to strive towards a peaceful solution to any conflict. This is an horrendous moment in our history where innocent people are paying the greatest price with their lives. It is utterly heartbreaking and must stop. As a family our hearts goes out to all those suffering terrible losses at this time and we send untold gratitude to all those selflessly risking their lives for others. We call upon all leaders to find a humanitarian resolution for all. (Alamy Stock Photo) The backlash to the Harvard letter was severe. Multiple influential Harvard alums, including US senator, Ted Cruz denounced the statement, writing on X/Twitter: Given the choice between standing with Israel or supporting terrorists who are raping, kidnapping and killing thousands of women and children31 student groups choose the terrorists. Their blazing hatred and antisemitism [is] utterly blinding. Other notable figures who criticised the student groups include former Harvard president and Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, and billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. Shortly after, Harvards president Claudine Gay said that no student group not even 30 student groups speaks for Harvard University or its leadership, in a statement released on Tuesday (10 October). As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, she said. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever ones individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region. The PSC on social media said it had been flooded with racist hate speech and death threats in the days since the controversy erupted, and that it had been forced posptpone a vigil intended to mourn all innocent lives lost in view of credible safety concerns. To state what should be clear: PSC staunchly opposes all violence against all innocent life and laments all human suffering, a follow-up statement shared on the groups Instagram read. On Thursday (12 October), the universitys student-run newspaper The Harvard Crimson reported that a doxxing truck had appeared on campus that was digitally displaying the names and faces of students connected with the anti-Israel statement, branding them Harvards Leading Antisemites. As of Thursday evening, at least nine of the 33 original signatories had withdrawn their support for the statement. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Kourtney Kardashian has candidly addressed the criticisms surrounding her pregnancy. Speaking to Vanity Fair Italia for her cover story, the 44 year old expressed how she feels about the backlash she received after sharing the news that she and Travis Barker, 47, are expecting their first child together. Those comments dont affect me, she told the outlet for the 13 October article. To those who make them, I just say: how dare you question Gods plan? The reality star and the Blink-182 drummer struggled to conceive, attempting multiple rounds of in vitro fertilisation. After a long emotional struggle, they decided to let fate do its thing and halted their efforts. I knew deep down that it wasnt the right thing. And in fact, I kept telling Travis: If were meant to have a baby, then its just going to happen, Kardashian noted. And so it was: When we stopped forcing the process, then it happened. On 16 June, the Lemme founder announced she was pregnant with her fourth baby. In a sea of fans at her husbands concert, Kardashian proudly held up a sign that read, Travis, Im pregnant! The sweet sentiment an ode to the Blink-182 1999 All the Small Things music video was met with harsh comments when she posted a slew of photos from the night on Instagram, many of which focused on Kardashians age. Kardashian shares Mason Disick, 13, Penelope Disick, 11, and Reign Disick, eight, with her former on-again, off-again boyfriend Scott Disick. And while shes not new to the motherhood journey, she confessed this pregnancy feels unique. Physically I feel great, she told Vanity Fair Italia. I like being pregnant. Im obsessed with the idea of being pregnant! But this time, unlike the other three, I was followed by a different group of doctors who, in the first months, gave me many restrictions. No workouts, no Pilates, no caffeine, no plane trips. Even no sex, she continued. Well, I think all this caution made me a little afraid because in the past I had never had to be careful. It took me a while to let go of the fear, I would say that right after the surgery I got to the point where I let go, I stopped worrying. In early September, Kardashian was rushed to the hospital for urgent foetal surgery. The update came after Blink-182 told fans theyd be postponing their Ireland tour dates due to an an urgent family matter, which involved their drummer. The expecting mom didnt disclose the details of her hospital visit to the magazine, noting that she wasnt ready to speak more on the subject. But since then, Kardashian has done everything she can to focus on the arrival of her baby boy. Now I talk to the child every day, have a positive mindset, keep my head straight and say a lot of prayers, she remarked. According to her, she previously took the pregnancy for granted, but now shes feeling even more thankful. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Dismembered limbs lie on the street next to playing children. Prisons are arenas of gang warfare. Bloodshed keeps schools shut down. And a presidential candidate is assassinated in broad daylight. This is the new Ecuador. The South American nation of 18 million people was long a spot of calm in a region shaken by political upheaval, economic turmoil and guerrilla warfare. But a wave of criminal violence has surged in recent years, upending life for Ecuadorians. The bloodshed is a product of narco gangs tiring of playing cat-and-mouse with the authorities in more militarized countries like Colombia and Mexico. They are seeking out smuggling routes in new countries with less vigilance. Authorities documented 4,603 homicides in 2022, nearly doubling the toll of the previous year and making Ecuador one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America. This year, violence and drug seizures have only continued to soar in the lead-up to the countrys presidential run-off election Oct. 15. Nowhere has been hit harder than Guayaquil, Ecuadors biggest city and home to the countrys most bustling port, from which drugs and other illegal goods pour out. Gunshots regularly ring out, their sounds reverberating over multi-colored homes that wind up into the mountains overlooking the nearby Pacific. Tension grips the streets, where heavily armed police and soldiers patrol and sometimes roar by atop tanks. As the government struggles to keep an emerging flock of narco groups at bay, things came to a head in August when an anti-corruption presidential hopeful, Fernando Villavicencio, was gunned down while leaving a campaign event less than two weeks before the first round of the presidential election. Shortly before his death, the candidate had sent a message: Im not scared. Few others in the Andean nation can say the same. AP reporter Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} North Korea lashed out Friday at the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in South Korea, calling it a provocation and again raising the specter of using nuclear weapons to defend itself. Emboldened by its advancing nuclear arsenal, North Korea has increasingly issued threats to use such weapons preemptively. But the North is still outgunned by U.S. and South Korean forces, and experts say it is unlikely to use its nukes first, though it will continue to upgrade those arms without returning to diplomacy for the time being. The Norths latest nuclear threat came a day after the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived at South Koreas southeastern port of Busan, following U.S.-South Korean-Japanese naval exercise in international waters earlier this week. South Korean defense officials said the carrier is to be docked at Busan for five days as part of an agreement to increase the temporary deployments of powerful U.S. military assets in response to the Norths growing nuclear program. On Friday, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency called the aircraft carriers arrival an undisguised military provocation" that proves a U.S. plan to attack North Korea is being realized. It threatened to respond in line with its escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes the preemptive use of nuclear weapons The (North Korean) doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons already opened to public allows the execution of necessary action procedures in case a nuclear attack is launched against it or it is judged that the use of nuclear weapons against it is imminent, the KCNA dispatch said. North Koreas "most powerful and rapid first strike will be given to the extended deterrence means, used by the U.S. to hallucinate its followers, and the bases of evil in the Korean peninsula and its vicinity, KCNA added. North Korea has argued it was forced to develop nuclear weapons to cope with what it calls the U.S. and South Korean plots to invade. It has often made furious responses to the deployment of U.S. strategic assets like aircraft carriers, long-range bombers and nuclear-powered submarines as well as U.S. joint training exercises with South Korean forces. Many experts say North Korea heightens tensions with its rivals to provide a pretext for expanding its nuclear arsenal and then uses the arms as leverage to wrest greater outside concessions. Since last year, North Korea has conducted more than 100 missile tests in the name of responding to the expanded U.S.-South Korean military drills. Washington and Seoul say their drills are defensive in nature. Last year, North Korea adopted a law that stipulates a broad range of situations in which it can use nuclear weapons, including when it determines that its leadership faces imminent attack by hostile forces or when it needs to prevent an unspecified catastrophic crisis to its people and government. The U.S. and South Korean governments have repeatedly warned that any attempt by North Korea to use nuclear weapons would result in the end of the North's government led by Kim Jong Un. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rishi Sunak has called on Israel to protect ordinary Palestinians as it hunts down Hamas militants responsible for killing hundreds of Israelis. Downing Street confirmed the Prime Minister spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday after agreeing to send Royal Navy vessels and Royal Air Force surveillance planes to support Tel Aviv after Hamas attack. A No 10 spokeswoman said that during the phone call Mr Sunak reiterated that the UK stands side by side with Israel in fighting terror and that Hamas should never again be able to perpetrate atrocities against the Israeli people. She added: Noting that Hamas has enmeshed itself in the civilian population in Gaza, the Prime Minister said it was important to take all possible measures to protect ordinary Palestinians and facilitate humanitarian aid. The comments from Mr Sunak, who is in Sweden for the Joint Expeditionary Force summit, come after the United States reminded Israel that how it defends itself matters. US secretary of state Antony Blinken said it was important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. The UN said on Friday Israels military had directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, within 24 hours. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the order impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences. Israels military also directed the hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza City to evacuate for their own safety and protection, claiming Hamas militants were hiding in tunnels under the city. Mr Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas after its fighters stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. The Israeli military has pulverized the Gaza Strip with missiles in reply, with a ground offensive also being prepared a move that is likely to increase the death toll. The conflict is thought to have already left close to 3,000 people dead. Tel Aviv said on Thursday its complete siege of the territory would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during its murderous weekend incursion. The Prime Ministers approach, having been unequivocal in expressing that the UK supports Israels right to defend itself, appears to have shifted to focusing on the humanitarian picture in the region. During a call with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday, he offered UK support to keep the Egypt-Gaza border open to allow people to leave the 25-mile strip as Israel continues to retaliate. Downing Street said the military package being sent to the eastern Mediterranean including the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels Lyme Bay and Argus, three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines was a contingency measure to support humanitarian efforts, as well as backing-up operations to shore-up stability in the Middle East. Surveillance flights were expected to start flying over the region on Friday, which No 10 said would look to track threats to regional stability, including monitoring for the potential transfer of weapons to terrorist groups. There has been a cross-party call from Westminster politicians for Israel to ease its blockade on basic necessities, with Gazas only power station shut down and without fuel. Labours shadow foreign secretary David Lammy tweeted: Labour fully supports Israels right to defend itself, rescue hostages and protect civilians, in line with international law. We must distinguish Hamas terrorists from the Palestinian people. There must be humanitarian access to Gaza, for food, water, medicines and electricity. Alicia Kearns, Conservative chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told LBC that Tel Aviv has a duty under international humanitarian law to ensure that Gazas 2.3 million population have access to medical aid and water. We can get the humanitarian aid in but no-one else can switch back on water apart from the Israelis, she said. The UK Government has announced that, with the situation in Israel and Gaza worsening, it is arranging flights to help British nationals leave Israel. The first flight was expected to leave the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Thursday but the Foreign Office suggested none had departed. A spokeswoman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: This is a fluid situation, and we are currently working to ensure the flight can proceed as soon as possible. The fallout from flare-up of violence has been felt in Britain, with a four-fold rise in antisemitic incidents, according to the Community Security Trust, and a tripling of anti-Muslim cases being recorded by the group Tell Mama UK. No 10 announced that 3 million in extra funding will be given to provide the Jewish community with additional protection, with strengthened security at schools and synagogues. Some north London Jewish schools were said to have told parents to keep their children at home on Friday. Torah Vodaas Primary School in Edgware, Ateres Beis Yaakov Primary School in Colindale, and Menorah High School in Neasden told parents they would not reopen until Monday, according to Sky News. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Winning the Tamworth by-election would be a tough ask for his party, Sir Keir Starmer said, as he visited the seat ahead of next weeks by-election. The poll will be a key test for Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks pitch that the Conservatives represent a vote for change, especially as the cause of the by-election is linked to one of the pivotal moments of former PM Boris Johnsons downfall. Former Tory whip Chris Pincher, who had represented the constituency since 2010, resigned as an MP last month after losing an appeal against a Commons suspension for drunkenly groping two men. He had been sitting as an independent MP since July 2022, having lost the Tory whip after the allegations emerged. Mr Johnsons handling of the incident when the allegations first surfaced, including when it emerged he had previously been told of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Mr Pincher, was the final straw for many of his ministers, and it precipitated a cascade of resignations that ultimately ended his premiership. At the last general election in 2019, Mr Pincher won a majority of 19,634 for the Tories. But with Labour overturning a 20,000 Conservative majority in Selby and Ainsty in July, and with the opposition party enjoying double-digit poll leads, Sir Keirs party is looking for a win to maintain a sense of momentum going into the next general election. Labours failure to overturn a 7,000 majority in the London constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip on the same day as the Selby and Ainsty by-election in July was widely associated with Labour mayor Sadiq Khans extension of the citys ultra low emission zone. Mr Sunak has since shifted the Governments approach to reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality, with critics saying he is watering down environmental targets. But the Prime Minister has said he is taking a fairer and more pragmatic approach to reach net zero, which he says demonstrates in part why he is the party leader who will do things differently. Sir Keir visited Landau Forte Academy sixth form in Tamworth on Friday, with his partys candidate, Sarah Edwards. Sir Keir said: This by-election will be a tough ask. We have to earn every vote. But its a sign of how far weve come since 2019 that we are pushing the Tories in these areas. Its a two-horse race here. He added: My message to Conservative voters in Tamworth, who are fed up with this chaotic government, is to vote for Labours Sarah Edwards to send a message that enough is enough, and its time for a change. The by-election in the Staffordshire seat will take place on October 19, the same day as the contest for former culture secretary Nadine Dorries Mid Bedfordshire constituency. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Counter-terrorism police have arrested a young woman on suspicion of supporting Hamas following a protest in Brighton. The woman, 22, was arrested on Thursday under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Section 12 makes it an offence to invite support for an organisation that has been proscribed terrorist by the government. Hamas IDQ, the military wing of Hamas, was proscribed by the Home Office in March 2001. The proscription was extended to cover Hamas in its entirety in November 2021. The suspect was arrested after police reviewed footage from a pro-Palestine demonstration in Brighton on Sunday after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack in Israel the previous day. Superintendent Petra Lazar from Sussex Police said: After reviewing footage from the protest event held in Brighton on Sunday, 8 October the matter was investigated by Counter-Terrorism Policing South East. We will continue to support them as they conduct their investigation. We are aware that the ongoing conflict in Israel and the border with Gaza is generating public concern and is impacting communities globally and locally, and we extend our support to those affected in Sussex. Sussex Police has increased visibility across parts of Sussex to provide an increased presence and reassurance to our local communities. We recognise there is the potential for increased tensions and are engaging and working with communities and partners to ensure people feel safe and protected. Officers would like to speak to anyone who attended the protest, particularly those who may have footage of the protest and speech. Protesters at a rally in Brighton (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Anyone with helpful information has been asked to call 101, quoting reference 781 of 07/10. Dozens of people took part in a rally in Brighton on Saturday after war broke out between Israel and Hamas, a conflict which has already claimed thousands of lives. The conflict unfolded after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday morning, with Israel responding with retaliatory strikes and readying its military for a possible ground invasion. The Israeli Defence Forces last night issued a 24-hour evacuation notice to Gazans in the northern regions at midnight on Friday, saying areas near Gaza City had been used for Hamass military operations. The IDF called on all civilians to leave the area and head southward, a task that the United Nations said was impossible. Moving through the densely-populated, heavily destroyed region would be too difficult, they said. Palestinian civilians living in northern Gaza have said they are ignoring the Israeli order to evacuate southward because they have no place to go, sparking fears that they could become victims of the anticipated ground offensive. The United Nations has urged Israel to rethink its evacuation notice, warning that it would likely result in hundreds more civilian deaths. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The trial of former soldier Daniel Khalife, who is accused of passing sensitive information to Iranian intelligence, has been put off following his alleged prison escape. The 22-year-old was due to go on trial on November 13 but at a hearing on Friday Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said that was wholly unrealistic and put the case back. Khalife is charged under the Official Secrets Act of gathering information that might be useful to an enemy of the UK between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022. The prosecution alleges Khalife passed sensitive material to Iranian intelligence and had more material in his possession for that purpose, which he denies. The charge against him says that for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state he obtained, circulated, recorded, published or communicated to any other person notes, documents or information which might be or were intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy. A second charge alleges Khalife elicited information about armed forces personnel on August 2 2021. This allegedly relates to him obtaining personal information from the MoD (Ministry of Defence) Joint Personnel Administration system of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. He is also charged with perpetrating a bomb hoax on or before January 2.The charge says he placed three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation to spark fears it was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property. While on remand on those charges at Wandsworth prison in south London, it is alleged Khalife escaped on September 6 by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry. He was arrested on a canal towpath in west London on September 9 after being pulled off a push bike by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer. The defendant has denied all the charges against him. On Friday, he appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh prison wearing a blue and yellow jumpsuit. During the hearing, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said the planned trial date at Woolwich Crown Court in November was wholly unrealistic. He set a further hearing for December 21, when a new trial date at either Woolwich Crown Court or the Old Bailey will be discussed. Khalife, who spoke only to confirm his identity, was further remanded into custody. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A banned dog owner has been jailed for 18 months after his two XL Bully dogs mauled a woman during a vicious seven-minute attack. Rachael Millard, 35, was walking her own two dogs in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, when the aggressive XL bullies charged out of an open door towards her. Ms Millard tried to protect her puppy and was left with serious puncture wounds as the two dogs repeatedly bit and dragged her in the prolonged savaging. A court heard Marcus Walsh, 41, was banned from owning dogs at the time when the two dangerous dogs carried out the attack. Walsh, of Penydarren, pleaded guilty to owning a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury and received an 18-month sentence. The two XL Bully dogs belonging to Marcus Walsh who attacked a woman and her puppy in Barry (WALES NEWS SERVICE) The latest attack comes as the government looks to ban American XL Bully dogs in response to a series of attacks. Prime minister Rishi Sunak pledged to ban the breed in September by the end of the year. Rachael Millard with her dog Floyd who was with her at the time of the attack. (WALES NEWS SERVICE) Ms Millard suffered puncture wounds to her legs and fingers and had been left scarred by the prolonged attack which lasted seven minutes. In a victim personal statement, she said she was overwhelmed when seeing two dogs approaching and would look for an exit whenever she entered a park in case she needed to escape. She told Newport Crown Court she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was hypervigilant when walking her own pets. Prosecutor Roger Griffiths said: Ms Walsh saw two young girls open the front door of a property and two dogs ran out of the property and ran towards her to attack. Following the attack Mr Walsh went to Ms Millards house armed with flowers and begged her not to tell police as he was banned from owning dogs, the prosecutor added.. Mr Walsh pleaded guilty to owning a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury and was jailed for 18 months and banned from owning dogs for a further 10 years. The court heard he had previous convictions for another dangerous dog attack and at the time of the offence was serving a five-year ban from owning them. Judge Daniel Williams told Walsh: You are not a fit a proper person to own a dog. Earlier this month, a 54-year-old man was mauled to death by an XL bully in Sunderland. Officers from Northumbria Police shot the dog involved in the attack and took another, also believed to be an XL Bully, into custody. In September, a 60-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a dog dangerously out of control after two men and an 11-year-old girl were injured by an XL bully crossbreed in Birmingham. In a separate incident Ian Price, a 52-year-old from Staffordshire, died in hospital after being attacked by two XL bullies. Under new laws, owners could face a requirement to neuter their dogs and muzzle them in public, the governments chief vet has suggested. Many XL bully owners have protested Rishi Sunaks ban as crowds amassed in London in September to protest the move, insisting their dogs are completely safe and that only a minority are dangerous. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A delivery driver has been found guilty of murdering his wife and covering it up by setting fire to their home and blaming their teenage son for re-enacting a scene from a Netflix thriller. Amidu Koroma, 48, had denied being responsible for the death of 46-year-old community nurse Mariam Kamara, casting suspicion on his innocent 19-year-old son Ishmael. It was claimed the teenager was troubled and had killed his mother while re-creating a scene from the thriller You. In season three of the show, the main character kills his wife and then sets fire to their home to cover up the scene and fake his own death. Jurors heard Koroma had a toxic relationship with Ms Kamara and she feared he was going to kill her, after a series of rows over money and his refusal to leave the house. Koroma, who had a child with another woman, was found guilty of her murder following a trial at the Old Bailey. Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC had told how a fire broke out in an upstairs bedroom of the family home in Railton Road, Brixton, south London, in the early hours of January 24, 2022. After getting out of the building with his father, Ishmael Koroma called the emergency services, with the fire brigade arriving at 4.12am. As flames and smoke gushed from a first-floor window, the defendant calmly told emergency workers that his wife was trapped inside, the court heard. Ms Kamaras badly burnt body was later found lying on her bed surrounded by the distinctive smell of accelerant. Amidu Koroma tried to blame his teenage son for the murder (Met Police) An empty jerry can and funnel were discarded on the ground floor and the victims blood was identified on bannisters near the bottom of the stairs. A post-mortem examination concluded Ms Kamara had died from stab wounds to the neck and chest before the fire started. The defendant denied going into the blazing bedroom yet had sustained a burn to his foot from close proximity to the flames. An analysis of his clothes revealed heat damage caused by exposure to flames, jurors were told. A kitchen knife stored in a block was examined and found to have Ms Kamaras blood on it. Ms Johnson said there were only two possible candidates who could have been responsible for Ms Kamaras death as there was no evidence anyone had forced entry to the home, stabbed her and staged a fire before leaving unnoticed. She said: This defendant denies that he is responsible for the murder but the background evidence and the scientific evidence all point to his sole involvement in Mariams death. Whereas the defendant had a burn to his foot, singed hairs in his beard, flash burning to his jogging bottoms and sweatshirt, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that Ishmael did anything other than sleep in his bedroom that night until his father woke him up to get out of the house. He was found guilty of murder following a trial at Old Bailey (PA Archive) In a police interview, Koroma said he had been asleep on the sofa and was woken by the smoke alarm at 3am. He claimed he ran upstairs, noticed black smoke everywhere and shouted at Ms Kamara to get out but did not try to go inside her bedroom due to the big flame. During the trial, he changed his account saying Ishmael had woken him up downstairs and he had wanted to protect him. Under cross-examination, accountancy student Ishmael denied being unstable and killing his mother after having a bad parents evening. The court heard his parents relationship had all but ended and Koroma had left the family home to live with another woman several times only to return pleading for forgiveness. There were frequent rows over money and Ms Kamara only stayed for the sake of her son, who was about to go to university, the court was told. Ms Johnson said: Unbeknown to her son, Mariam had set up some very generous life insurance policies for his benefit. Mariam was known as a very kind and charitable woman who was always looking out for others in need. Ms Kamara had been planning a trip to Sierra Leone where she was building a house and had formed a close relationship with another man. She told a friend she feared Koroma would kill her and he had refused to leave the house. Ms Johnson told jurors: The scientific evidence, the evidence of the poor state of the marriage, the defendants threats to kill Mariam and the defendants inconsistent accounts of his behaviour that night all point conclusively to the defendant stabbing his wife to death. Koroma will be sentenced on Monday. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A massive increase in antisemitic hate crimes has been recorded by the Metropolitan Police since the eruption of violence between Israel and Hamas militants. In the period between 30 September and 13 October, the force recorded 105 incidents of antisemitism and 75 offences up from just 14 incidents and 12 offences during the same period in 2022. Incidents include intimidation outside synagogues and German military music being played loudly, to thoroughly offensive behaviour where Jewish people have been confronted by a protest group laughing about the numbers of deaths. Condemning the rise of antisemitism as disgusting, prime minister Rishi Sunak has announced 3m in extra funding to protect schools, synagogues and Jewish communities. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced increased funding to keep the British Jewish community safe (Lucy North/PA) (PA Wire) The Met Police told a press conference on Friday that an increase in Islamophobia had been recorded, but nothing alike in the scale of increase. The shocking rise in incidents comes as three north London Jewish schools close for the day, citing concerns for childrens safety amid a rise in antisemitism. Ateres Beis Yaakov Primary School in Colindale, Torah Vodaas Primary School in Edgware, and Menorah High School in Neasden all told parents on Thursday they would not reopen until Monday. Sky News also reported that a fourth school had told parents to keep their children at home. Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who is leading Londons response to the conflict, said that no specific threat had been made but closure decisions remained in the hands of the individual schools. The head teacher of Menorah High School for Girls, a state secondary school with 389 pupils, said the decision was made in view of the planned protests on Friday. The BBC reported that Esther Pearlman told parents: Please be aware that this difficult decision has been reached because the [sic] of the risk of violence on the streets. A large pro-Palestinian protest on Saturday has been planned in London (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The police are concerned that as the girls are not in school, they will venture outdoors and have asked us to advise you that it is incumbent on you as parents that your children remain indoors. One father said he had been advised by his childrens schools to disguise their uniforms so they are not signalling in any way they are Jewish. In response, the Met Police said it had 300 dedicated school officers who are meeting headteachers and parents, while one of its frontline commanders held a meeting with 2,000 parents to address their concerns. By the end of Friday, all 300 synagogues across the city will have been visited by officers, while an additional 1,000 officers are patrolling vulnerable locations to provide reassurance and support. Mosques and other places of worship have also been visited, while conversations are ongoing with religious and community leaders, with police patrols expected to continue into the foreseeable future. A planned pro-Palestinian protest which is due to take place in central London on Saturday will also be carefully monitored, with the Met anticipating more than 10,000 people attending. An additional 1,000 officers are patrolling vulnerable areas in London (Getty Images) Protestors carrying flags supporting Hamas or other proscribed organisations will be arrested, while the force has asked for absolute clarity from the Crown Prosecution Service as to which behaviours cross the criminal threshold. A woman has been arrested on suspicion of supporting the terror group after a speech was made at a demonstration on Sunday. The 22-year-old remains in police custody. The protest comes after the conclusion of the 24-hour warning given to the 1.1m residents of north Gaza to evacuate, despite having nowhere to go. The besieged enclave has been targeted by thousands of airstrikes since last weekends unprecedented attack on Israel, orchestrated by Hamas, the terror group that rules the Gaza Strip. Announcing new funding to help keep communities safe, Mr Sunak told broadcasters in Gotland, Sweden: "Theres been a, quite frankly, disgusting rise in antisemitic incidents over the past few days. "Thats not right. We have provided extra funding to the Community Security Trust to make sure that Jewish institutions - whether thats synagogue or schools - have all the protection they need and the police have all the support that they need to ensure that our streets are safe for people from all communities. "Because we will absolutely not tolerate people inciting hatred, or violence, or racist activity, intimidating or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated. "It will be met with the full force of the law." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The mother of a 29-year-old man with severe learning disabilities and end-stage kidney disease is absolutely overjoyed after winning a life-sustaining treatment fight in a specialist court. Doctors told a judge that autistic Jordan Tooke would need to be sedated in order to be given dialysis three times a week and argued such moves were not in his best interests. Lawyers representing hospital bosses described the case as heart-breaking and ethically very difficult but said specialists felt such treatment would be too much of a burden for Mr Tooke because of his learning disabilities. His mother, Camilla Tooke, 57, who lives in Norwich, disagreed and Mr Justice Hayden, who was told Mr Tooke could die in months without treatment, has decided dialysis should be tried. We are really considering matters of life and death Mr Justice Hayden Mr Justice Hayden has ruled in favour of Mr Tookes mother after considering arguments at a hearing at the Court of Protection, where judges analyse issues relating to people who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves, in London. Mrs Tooke had told Mr Justice Hayden: Going through dialysis three times a week is burdensome but at least he will have a life. Mr Justice Hayden described the case as very difficult and challenging and a delicately balanced ethical dilemma. In a ruling, he said: This case is truly about life-sustaining treatment. We are really considering matters of life and death. But the judge said he was certain trying dialysis was in Mr Tookes best interests. The judge added: I think he is entitled to the opportunity that it presents. Judges normally rule that patients at the centre of Court of Protection cases should not be named in media reports in order to protect their privacy. And it is after a great deal of soul-searching and anxious thought that (specialists have) come to the view that it is not in his best interests to be provided with haemodialysis under sedation Katie Gollop KC But Mr Tookes mother wanted him to be named and Mr Justice Hayden agreed, saying publicity may help to find a kidney donor. Mrs Tooke said the family has the result it wanted. We are overjoyed, she told the PA news agency after the ruling. It has been a long fight. But getting this outcome we are absolutely overjoyed. Specialists at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust are involved in Mr Tookes care and treatment. Bosses at the three authorities launched litigation and asked Mr Justice Hayden to make decisions about what moves were in Mr Tookes best interests. Understandably, all (Mrs Tooke) wants is what any parent would to be able to provide the best opportunities for their child Liz Davis, Irwin Mitchell Barrister Katie Gollop KC, who represented the three authorities, told Mr Justice Hayden Mr Tookes renal function had deteriorated to the extent that a decision as to whether it was his best interests to start haemodialysis could not wait. It is a heart-breaking case and one which is ethically very difficult, she said. And it is after a great deal of soul-searching and anxious thought that (specialists have) come to the view that it is not in his best interests to be provided with haemodialysis under sedation. She added: In coming to that view they have not lost sight of the fact that if he is not dialysed Jordan is likely to die of end-stage renal failure within 12 months. They have also kept Jordan at the centre of their thinking. Specialists told the judge they were prepared to try if he thought dialysis was in Mr Tookes best interests. Lawyer Liz Davis at Irwin Mitchell, which is representing Mrs Tooke, said after the ruling: This is a really emotive case which once again brings the issue of provision of medical treatment to autistic people and people with learning disabilities into the spotlight. Understandably, all (Mrs Tooke) wants is what any parent would to be able to provide the best opportunities for their child. She said Mr Tookes family tried to reach an agreement with hospital bosses and described the issue as incredibly important and time-critical. Without haemodialysis, its expected that Jordan will die in only a few months, she added. Therefore, the court has been asked to make a judgment as to whats in his best interests. The family believe that haemodialysis and searching for a kidney donor is in Jordans best interests. Mrs Tooke said she wanted to thank lawyers for their efforts, adding: I want to say thank you to Liz Davis at Irwin Mitchell, Sarah Coleman at Mencap, Ben McCormack and Victoria Butler Cole for all their help and support. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The trial of five Bulgarians accused of being part of a Russian spy ring in Britain will examine up to 80,000 messages, a court has heard. Three men and two women are alleged to be part of a network conducting surveillance on behalf of the Russian state. Bulgarian nationals Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, Katrin Ivanova, 31, Ivan Stoyanov, 31, and Vanya Gaberova, 29, are charged with conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state between August 30 2020 and February 8 2023. They appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday via video link from prisons including HMP Belmarsh, HMP Frankland and womens prison HMP Bronzefield. They spoke only to confirm their names and dates of birth at the preliminary hearing. Judge Mr Justice Jeremy Baker estimated the trial could last at least six weeks, but Stephen Kamlish KC, defence counsel for Roussev, suggested it could require longer due to the vast amount of evidence to consider - including 80,000 messages. A trial date has not yet been set. The defendants were arrested by the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command in February under the Official Secrets Act. Roussev, Dzhambazov and Ivanova were charged on 11 February 2023 with possession of false identity documents with improper intention under section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010. All five were arrested in February this year for alleged offences contrary to the Official Secrets Act. Westminsters Magistrates Court heard last month that the group was accused of being part of a surveillance network allegedly coordinated in the UK. The defendants are accused of conspiring to collect information with another person known as Jan Marsalek and others unknown. Mr Marsalek was the Austrian former chief operating officer of the company Wirecard, who became a wanted man in Germany after being suspected of having committed fraud. Mr Stoyanov is said to be an amateur mixed martial arts fighter who appeared in contests in the UK. Ms Gaberova is an award-winning beautician and Mr Roussev previously worked in financial services. Mr Dhzambazov and Ms Ivanova lived as a couple and ran a community organisation for Bulgarian citizens living in the UK. The defendants were remanded in custody until the next hearing at the Old Bailey on 10 November. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} First Minister Humza Yousaf said he genuinely does not know if he will see his in-laws, who are currently trapped in Gaza, again and feels completely powerless to help them. Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla went to visit relatives in Gaza last week and became trapped after Hamas militants massacred hundreds of Israelis on Saturday, triggering an escalation in the conflict. Mr Yousaf also accused the Israeli government of going too far. He told the BBCs Chris Mason: All of us have said that, myself included, but collective punishment cannot be justified. Yes, they are going too far, collective punishment cannot be justified. It is innocent men, women, children, babies, with nothing to do with Hamas, who are paying an extraordinary price for those atrocious attacks, that they have nothing to do with. On Friday, Mrs El-Nakla shared a video asking: Where is the humanity? which Mr Yousaf told Sky News was a really hard video to watch for both him and his wife, Nadia El-Nakla. In an emotional interview, Mr Yousaf told Beth Rigby, Skys political editor, he did not know if he would see his in-laws again. He said: I do not know, I genuinely do not know if I will see my in-laws again. Nadia doesnt know shes going to see her mum and dad again. And all we can do is watch the news and look at all the rolling coverage. Despite being First Minister of Scotland, Mr Yousaf told Ms Rigby he felt completely powerless to help his mother and father-in-law. He said: All we can do is try to tell peoples story. I cannot tell you how powerless and helpless I feel. Your first instinct is to protect your family as best you can and I am completely powerless. Mr Yousaf also revealed that his youngest daughter, Amal, four, asked him if granny would be back in time for Halloween, and that they had told her she was scared of the thunder. They told her that she would be back, but Mr Yousaf told Sky News: We honestly dont know if she will. Mr Yousaf also spoke to Channel 5 News on Friday and said he had been in touch with a junior minister from the Foreign Office, but he was pretty disappointed Foreign Secretary James Cleverly had not been in contact with him. Mr Yousaf completed a round of interviews with broadcasters on Friday ahead of the SNP conference in Aberdeen, which starts on Sunday. Mr Yousaf said he and his wife were distressed about the situation and pleaded with the international community to open up humanitarian corridors so that people can leave Gaza. He was asked if the Prime Minister had been in touch. Mr Yousaf said: No. No, and thats disappointing, but, look, I accept the Prime Minister has lots to do and lots to get on with. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The mother-in-law of Scotlands First Minister has asked where is peoples humanity? in a tearful video from Gaza. Elizabeth El-Nakla the mother of Humza Yousafs wife Nadia travelled from her home in Scotland last week to visit family in Gaza with her husband Maged, but has since been trapped there following the Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent reprisals. According to the UN, Israel has made a plea to Palestinians for them to move to the southern part of the Gaza Strip ahead of a ground offensive, although Hamas has asked them to stay in place. The region subject to the order includes Gazas biggest hospital, which Human Rights Watch has said is dealing with more than 6,000 casualties, and two major refugee camps. The UN described the military order as devastating. Speaking from Deir Al-Balah, south of Gaza city, Ms El-Nakla who said the video would be her last said: Everybody from Gaza is moving towards where we are. One million people, no food, no water and still theyre bombing them as theyre leaving. Where are you going to put them? But my thought is all these people in the hospital cannot be evacuated. Where is humanity? Wheres peoples hearts in the world, to let this happen in this day and age? May God help us, goodbye. In a post alongside the video, Mr Yousaf said: This is Elizabeth El-Nakla. She is my mother-in-law. A retired nurse from Dundee, Scotland. She, like the vast majority of people in Gaza, has nothing to do with Hamas. She has been told to leave Gaza but, like the rest of the population, is trapped with nowhere to go. Among the first to comment on the post was former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wrote: My heart breaks for the people of Israel and for all the innocent civilians in Gaza who are also paying the price of Hamas appalling acts of terror. Closer to home, my thoughts are with my friends Nadia and Humza and their family, and also with Scotlands precious Jewish community, at this unimaginably awful time. The video comes after Mr Yousaf urged the international community to step up. He said on Twitter: UN has said the order to move 1.1m people in 24 hours will lead to devastating humanitarian consequences. The international community must step up and demand an end to collective punishment. Enough. There can be no justification for the death of innocent men, women & children. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Charities have urged the UK Government to work with Israel to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe for Palestinians in Gaza. ActionAid UK, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Medical Aid for Palestinians (Map) and Christian Aid warned that Israels order for one million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north will have grave humanitarian and health consequences. The UN has warned that almost half of Gazas total population fleeing at once would be calamitous. Hamas, who staged a brutal attack on Israel on Saturday, dismissed the evacuation order and called on people to stay in their homes. Dr Halima Begum, chief executive of ActionAid UK, said the charity considered it impossible for such an evacuation to happen without disastrous consequences. As a humanitarian organisation with a particular focus on women and girls, we urge the parties to consider in particular the plight of pregnant women and terrified, vulnerable children at risk of separation from their parents amid the chaos and confusion of this escalating conflict, Dr Begum said. In the strongest possible terms, we therefore urge the UK government to work with the Israeli government to take all necessary steps to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. The ICRC said the evacuation order coupled with the complete siege explicitly denying them food, water, and electricity, are not compatible with international humanitarian law. The charity said in a statement: Nothing can justify the horrific attacks Israel suffered last weekend. Our hearts go out to people who lost family members or are worried sick about loved ones taken hostage. We reiterate our call for their immediate release and stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits. But those attacks cannot in turn justify the limitless destruction of Gaza. The parties must not neglect their legal obligations regarding the methods and means used to wage war. When military powers order people to leave their homes, all possible measures must be taken to ensure the population has access to basic necessities like food and water and that members of the same family are not separated. Gaza is a closed area of limited size and resources. People have nowhere safe to go and many, including the disabled, elderly, and sick, will not be able to leave their homes. International humanitarian law protects all civilians, including those who remain. Today, it is impossible for Gazans to know which areas will next face attack. Melanie Ward, chief executive of Map, urged the international community to demand that Israel rescind its warning and ensure Palestinian civilians are protected from attack. They should remember their responsibility to protect against atrocity crimes, including ethnic cleansing, she added. Our colleagues in Gaza are frightened. Incredibly, some are still out distributing the supplies we have been able to procure locally amid the bombardment. Osai Ojigho, Christian Aids director of policy, public affairs and campaigns, said: All parties must abide by international humanitarian law and unconditionally agree to protect civilians and key services, starting with establishing safe humanitarian access as requested by the UN. With the civilian population of Gaza already on their knees, the UK Government must not cut aid to the Palestinian people. We need that commitment today. As we pray for an end to the conflict, international leaders must also act and help secure a lasting peace that achieves justice and dignity for all. The charity added that one of its partners in Gaza had warned the situation was deteriorating very badly. ActionAid UK and Christian Aid have launched appeals and are calling on the British public to help raise funds to support the victims of the conflict. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The UK Defence Secretary has insisted Israel has the right to go after Hamas following an Israeli order for the evacuation of northern Gaza. Grant Shapps said Israel should act within international law, and while he appeared to stop short of explicitly endorsing the evacuation order and related tactics, he said it is right for Israel to give advanced warning of military action so people can move. He also said it seems very likely that there are British hostages in Gaza. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, and has called on Israel to protect ordinary Palestinians as it hunts down Hamas militants. The UK has sent Royal Navy vessels and Royal Air Force surveillance planes to the area. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has not ruled out Britain sending further assistance, saying London will provide absolutely everything they need in efforts to come to Israels defence in their hour of need. Speaking to Sky News during his visit to Marrakesh, Morocco, for the annual International Monetary Fund meeting, he said Hamas massacre of hundreds of Israelis on Saturday, including killing children, was the most appalling, brutal, murderous terrorism that I think I can remember seeing in my adult lifetime. According to the United Nations, Israels military has told some one million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north ahead of an expected ground invasion, with the international body warning that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous. Tel Aviv said on Thursday its complete siege of Gaza would remain in place until some 150 hostages are freed. Hamas, the group responsible for the attack on Israel at the weekend which has already claimed at least 2,400 lives, has said Israels heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed 13 hostages, including foreigners, held by the group. Israel is letting people know in advance and we very much support that advanced notice being given Grant Shapps Mr Shapps told ITVs Good Morning Britain he would treat Hamass claim with caution but deep concern. Speaking to GB News earlier about the UKs assistance including Navy ships being sent to the region, Mr Shapps said: Were sending not just ships but also aircraft to really monitor the situation, provide surveillance, provide the potential for humanitarian aid, but also to act as a deterrent in the wider region. He also told Sky News the aircraft would also be able to provide intelligence gathering. Asked on BBC Breakfast about Israels tactics, including cutting off electricity and the reported evacuation, Mr Shapps said: The question is, what is Israel to do? Leave these Hamas terrorists to come in and slaughter people again? Or deal with them once and for all? And the fact that Israel gives notice is in stark contrast (to Hamas). I think Israel finds itself in a very difficult situation, and to be clear: Israel needs to act within international law just like any other nation But Israel will also obviously need to deal with these Hamas terrorists. He added: Israel is giving due warning, but they are going after those terrorists, and we absolutely respect Israels right to do that. Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme about the reported evacuation order, Mr Shapps said: I think its very important that Israel does provide information about its intentions, because as you rightly say it is the case that we want to enable Hamas to be removed from the scene, but to do so in a manner that does not affect Palestinian populations as far as is possible. The difficulty is that Hamas hide themselves within that population deliberately using the population as human shields. So Israel is letting people know in advance and we very much support that advanced notice being given. Mr Shapps was repeatedly asked to explicitly say if the UK supports the evacuation order. He said weve never been in these times, and drew a hypothetical comparison to how the Government would react if an attack of equivalent scale happened in the UK. The Defence Secretary said: You would expect Britain, and in this case you would expect Israel, to have the right to defend itself. Now, if those terrorists then hide themselves within populations, it is right to give that population notice so that they can move. Put to him that his words suggest the UK supports the action, Mr Shapps said: The UK Government supports Israels right both to defend itself and that Israel is providing advanced warning of military action in order for people to move themselves out of the way, and I think its absolutely right that happens. We dont know the detail of the Israeli plan, he added, stressing again the need to comply with international law. Addressing reports that some Jewish schools in London have closed to due to safety fears, Mr Shapps suggested there were broader but not specific threats. He added: So this is really to do with the security of the community, and the Jewish community itself taking decisions. The Government has stepped in with further money in order to work with the community. He added: People are very concerned, and its not surprising when you hear the language coming out of some of these organisations and their supporters. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Friday front pages are led by the UK sending a military package to support Israel in the wake of Hamas attack at the weekend. The Telegraph, Daily Mirror and the i report Britain is sending warships and aircraft to the Eastern Mediterranean next week and will be on standby to deliver practical support, as well as offer deterrence and assurance. The Guardian leads with the US promising more weapons for Israel, while the Financial Times says Washington has urged Israel to show restraint amid the rising threat of regional conflict breaking out. Israel has released images proving Hamas murdered babies in their attack, according to the Daily Express and The Times. The Independent leads with a plea from the families of British hostages captured by Hamas. The Daily Mail reports the PM has instructed police to get a grip on anti-Israel hate. The Sun asks why the FA is refusing to light up Wembley in honour of the victims of the Hamas attack. Elsewhere, Metro reports billionaire ex-Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has plead guilty to a 400 million fraud. And bedbugs feature on the front of the Daily Star. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Bedbugs could be lurking in the dark crevices of furniture as well as mattresses, an expert has warned amid fears that an apparent outbreak of the insects in Paris could spread to the UK. Despite their name, bedbugs can also be found in cabinets, sofas, seats, skirting boards and other wooden fixtures. Professor Mary Cameron, a medical entomologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Daily Star: They come into the bed to bite you when its dark, but then they scurry away into cracks and crevices within the bedroom. So you wouldnt find them so much in the bed, youd probably find them inside bedside cabinets, in cracks and crevices, or behind the headboard or in wardrobes, because they like to be in dark places during the day. So, after youve got up, its unlikely that youll see them in your bed unless youve got a really bad infestation, and youll be aware of it then because youll have lots of bites. The academic warned that people with bedbug infestations will likely need professional help, adding: It could be that they have to dismantle furniture, go behind skirting boards, and theyll have better equipment to be able to reach the bedbugs that are hiding. A wave of panic was sparked in Paris and other French cities when people started posting videos on social media of bedbugs on public transport seats and other places. Dylan Rubens, 33, a London-born teacher living in the artist quarter of Montmartre, Paris, spoke of his nightmare after finding bedbugs in the seams of his bed and bedroom curtains. He told The Independent: I wake up in the middle of the night and turn my phone torch on, expecting to see them in bed with me. Bed is usually a comfortable, relaxing safe space. Now I just feel itchy and paranoid. He added that his landlord had refused to pay for bug control services as they were spread throughout the building, costing him nearly 1,000 for three separate callouts. A wave of panic and disgust was sparked in Paris and other French cities when people started posting videos on social media of bedbugs on public transport Last week Eurostar stepped up cleaning on its trains after the blood-sucking insects were spotted on trains. There have also been reported sightings on the London Underground, with mayor Sadiq Khan saying Transport for London was taking steps to prevent the insects from spreading across the city. Bedbugs feed on blood by biting people, creating wounds that can be itchy but do not usually cause other health problems. Over the years they have become increasingly resistant to insecticide and are notoriously difficult to get rid of. Pest control firms in London recently said they had been inundated with calls about the critters. Tony King, owner of Pied Piper Pest Control, said they had been found in offices and cars, as well as homes. Weve been inundated with calls about bedbugs weve been flat out for at least the last eight or nine months with them, he said. He added that there was a bedbug epidemic in west London, with flats in Victorian houses being a particular source of cases. Mr King said he believed the increase was down to international travel opening up following the pandemic. He added that another problem was that a lot of people have got bedbugs and are not reporting them. David Cain, founder of Bed Bugs Limited, said there had been exponential growth in bedbug cases over the last 20 years and that they are now out of control. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Drug overdoses nearly doubled at a privately run prison where inmates said it was easy to get hold of illegal substances, The Independent can reveal. HMP Forest Bank, a category B jail in Salford, recorded 149 overdoses between January and December last year up from 76 over the same period in 2021, new figures show. This was almost twice as high as the jail that saw the second-highest number of incidents, HMP Holme House in Stockton-on-Tees, where 80 overdoses were logged. It comes as Rishi Sunak is facing pressure over the growing crisis in prisons, with some crippled by understaffing and overcrowding. This month, it emerged ministers are considering releasing inmates early in a scramble for ways to avoid running out of prison spaces. Labour said drugs were rife in jails, making it more difficult for inmates to turn their lives around and avoid reoffending upon release. Campaigners claimed very little is currently done for inmate rehabilitation. Forest Bank is run by Sodexo, the prison and justice management company that says it aims to change lives by operating safe, decent and secure prisons. HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) has, in the past two years, published damning reports about the jail, highlighting areas of key concern including narcotics. Its 2022 report found that 40 per cent of prisoners there said it was easy to obtain illicit drugs, which was higher than at similar jails (26 per cent) but lower than when it had been inspected in the previous year (61 per cent). Illicit items such as mobile phones and drugs had fuelled debt and associated violence, the report added. Sian Williams, CEO of Switchback, a London-based prison rehabilitation charity, said: It should not take something as serious as this to draw attention to the current state of the prison system in Britain. UK prisons currently do very little for rehabilitation leading to reoffending rates of prison leavers at almost 50 per cent. People must take notice of the chronic staff shortages and overcrowding and the impact that is having on the safety of everyone. There are currently 88,225 people in prison and each person is owed immediate support to live life differently, this conversation needs to remain an urgent one. HMI Prisons, an independent body that reports on the state of jails and the treatment of prisoners across England and Wales, said in its 2023 report that steps had been taken to address Forest Banks drug problem but illegal substances remained easily available. Incidents linked to drugs and other illicit items remained a significant problem at the jail, where violence levels were among the highest when compared to similar prisons. Drugs remain a huge problem across the estate, with testing targets missed despite an increase in facilities and costs ballooning by tens of millions. Last month The Independent revealed that, between June 2022 and June this year, 41,308 random drug tests were carried out 12,830 short of the governments target of 54,138. Testing was down 30 per cent compared with 2019, official figures show. Woodhill high-security prison in Milton Keynes was recently put into special measures after inspectors declared it unsafe, with 38 per cent of prisoners testing positive for drugs. The Ministry of Justice overdose figures were published in response to a parliamentary question tabled by the Labour Party. Sodexo, which runs Forest Bank, said the company was committed to providing a safe environment to those who live and work in the prison. It has emerged that ministers are considering letting inmates out early to avoid overcrowding (Getty) A spokesperson said: We fully acknowledge that some areas require improvement, however we have increased levels of management for self-harm incidents (including drug overdoses) with a comprehensive improvement programme to assess and support prisoner safety. Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary and Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, said: Under the Tories, prisons have spiralled out of control with some prisons rates of drug overdoses skyrocketing. With drug use rife, theres a significant risk that prisoners come out of jail with a higher potential to re-offend than when they went in. Its time the Conservatives focused on keeping the public safe. Labour is the party of law and order. In government, we will get on and deliver the modern prison places we need to ensure that dangerous criminals are locked up and rehabilitated, and the public is protected. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: We have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs in prison and are helping the highest-ever proportion of offenders overcome their addiction through our new drug-free living units. At the same time we are hiring specialists who will be supplying life-saving medication to treat those who overdose on opiates, and our 100m investment in tough security measures including X-ray body scanners is stopping the smuggling of illicit drugs behind bars. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A newly-released map from the government reveals how much green belt land each region of England has after Keir Starmer promised to review planning regulations and build 1.5 million homes over five years if Labour wins the next election. The Labour leader said his party would focus developments on brownfield sites first but warned he would get tough on his own nimby MPs who try to block housebuilding in their constituencies. Mr Starmer said in his conference speech this week that Labour would build a generation of new towns which would involve construction on some disused land on the green belt - such as car parks and wasteland - which he referred to as the grey belt. Green belt land generally refers to areas of the countryside that are protected against urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open. The House of Commons Library says it is for each local authority to define and maintain green belt land in their areas. Some 12.6 per cent (1,638,420 hectares) of the land area of England is green belt, according to the most recent figures available from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities. South East England has the largest area of land designated green belt at 305,280 (16 per cent), followed by the West Midlands with 264,510 (20.3 per cent) Meanwhile, South West England and the East Midlands have the lowest amount on 107,970 (4.5 per cent and 77,410 (4.9 per cent) respectively . Where are green belt areas? (DLHC) How many hectares of green belt does each region have? View more The amount of this land increased by 0.1 per cent over the past year, the DLHC said, as some local authorities added to their green belt or removed some of it. Green belt land wraps around 16 of Englands towns and cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, with some critics arguing that it favours wealthy people living in countryside towns while preventing the expansion of much-needed housing stock. It is a highly contentious issue. Some commentators argue that the protections afforded by the green belt are too weak, and inappropriate development can encroach on the green belt, while others argue that the protections are too strong, and get in the way of building sufficient housing and so limit economic growth. Think tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute and the Institute of Economic Affairs have argued that the release of at least some green belt land could help solve the housing crisis. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has also criticised the Green Belt system for being an obstacle to house building. The Centre for Cities has suggested releasing Green Belt land within a short distance of train stations that serve major cities for development. Meanwhile agents Savills have suggested that losses in green belt land in one area could be offset by the designation of land as green belt elsewhere. A 2010 report by Natural England and CPRE (formerly the Campaign to Protect Rural England) concluded that green belt policy continued to be highly effective but called for more ambition to protect land. Starmer delivers speech in Liverpool, where he vowed to build 1.5 million homes in five years if Labour wins the next election (Getty Images) Labour has said it will review the rules on green belt restrictions as a way to allow more houses to be built, with Sir Keir Starmer describing "dreary" green belt land such as disused car parks as "grey belt". He wants to build 1.5 million homes in the first five years of Labour taking office and build entirely new towns, as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were after the Second World War. DLUHC said every year around 10 local authorities make changes to the size of their green belt for various reasons. This year, North Hertfordshire, which is jointly run by Labour and Co-operative and the Liberal Democrats, grew its green belt by 24 per cent, with nine other local authorities decreasing theirs slightly, to give a net change of a 0.1% increase. After London, the region with the largest proportion of its land as green belt is the West Midlands, followed by the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and the South East. Net changes in green belt land area show it to have decreased between 2013 and 2021, when it started to show a net increase. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The number of people jailed in England and Wales has hit an all-time high, as ministers consider releasing inmates early in a scramble for ways to avoid running out of prison spaces. There are just 557 spaces left across the entire prison estate, with that number thought to be significantly lower in mens jails, which also includes spots in Category D open prisons, for which most prisoners are not eligible. The male prison population has grown by 192 in a week to hit 88,604, Ministry of Justice figures published on Friday show. It grew by 211 the previous week, when there were reported to be just 150 spaces remaining. The Prison Governors Association told The Independent on Thursday that it was inevitable that prisons would run out of space, as judges were reportedly ordered to delay sentencing criminals to avoid overwhelming the system. After meeting with criminal justice representatives on Thursday, justice secretary Alex Chalk is expected to announce measures to address the crisis next week, with the prison population now surpassing a previous peak of 88,179 in December 2011. The government is reported to be considering multiple short-term solutions, including telling judges they should avoid issuing prison sentences of less than 12 months, in favour of community sentences for offences such as shoplifting, public disorder and drink-driving. Prison recalls which last only a maximum of two weeks could also be scrapped for people who served less than 12 months in jail, while prisoners serving sentences of up to seven years could be released three months early. It comes after The Times reported on Wednesday that Lord Justice Edis, the senior presiding judge in England and Wales, had ordered/strongly encouraged crown court judges to delay the sentencing of criminals on bail because prisons are nearly full. We cannot afford the level of imprisonment weve got, one expert warns (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Suspects accused of the most serious crimes and remanded in custody are to be held in magistrates' court cells, according to a crown court judge involved in the meeting. Lord Ediss office told The Independent it could not comment on internal meetings. Our concern is that any use of magistrates courts cells in this way could have a knock-on effect on magistrates business, Mark Beattie, chair of the Magistrates Association, told The Independent. It could create a higher backlog of cases in magistrates courts, meaning longer delays in justice for victims, witnesses and defendants. The government needs to devise a longer-term solution that delivers adequate prison capacity for those being sentenced. The average length of prison sentences increased by a third in the decade to 2019 as governments sought to appear tough on crime, while recent efforts to bolster police numbers and chaos in the court system have seen the backlog of trials hit an all-time peak of more than 65,000. Consequently, there are more suspects than ever awaiting trial behind bars, some trapped for more than five years, while the backlog of rape cases involving bailed defendants has also hit a new high to reach more than double the average between 2014 and 2019, The Independent revealed last week. Overcrowding has led to prisoners being kept in harrowing conditions, with some doubled up in cells and kept locked inside for 23 hours a day, forced to choose between exercising, showering or calling loved ones, with little access to rehabilitation programmes. The governments promise of six new prisons is not expected to materialise until 2030, reports suggest (Getty Images) Asked about reports of measures the government is considering, Carl Davies of the Prison Governors Association said: In terms of an immediate short-term intervention, anything which frees up space in prison we would see as a positive outcome, and clearly any scheme which targets low-risk offenders to divert them away from custody or release them would be something we would support. While it is difficult to assess how many spaces such measures could free up, given that any decisions on sparing criminals jail or releasing prisoners from custody would still be subject to risk assessments, its likely to make an impact in areas of the prison estate where theres most challenge, Mr Davies said. Warning that without measures to reduce the demand on capacity, any space freed up by early releases will merely erode again, he added: Its a fine balance, in terms of the perception of what the public want and the reality of what the public can afford. At this moment in time we cannot afford the level of imprisonment weve got. The Ministry of Justice said: Following the pandemic and barristers strike, the criminal justice system has seen a significant spike in the prison population, with 6,000 more prisoners on remand than before the pandemic. While we are carrying out the biggest prison-building programme since the Victoria era, and have taken decisive action to expand capacity further by doubling up cells in the short-term, the prison estate remains under pressure. Mr Chalks programme of reform will ensure that we can continue to strengthen public protection by locking up the most dangerous criminals, a spokesperson added. Promises in 2016 of 10,000 new prison places by 2020 failed to materialise, while the current pledge to deliver 20,000 places in six new prisons by the mid-2020s has seen some 5,500 spaces created, but is now reportedly not expected to hit the target until 2030. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A mother said she was terrified her 12 year-old daughter would die when she was put into an induced coma after vaping ravaged her lungs. Sarah Griffin was getting ready for bed one evening when she started coughing, but at first her family thought it was a symptom of her asthma. The girl tried to ease her symptoms throughout the night with her inhaler and nebuliser but still felt unwell. The 12-year-olds family were worried she wouldnt pull through (NICHS) In the morning her mother Mary Griffin left to take her other two children to school and Sarah seemed to settle. But later in the day, her daughter called her in a panic as she couldnt breathe properly. Have you been affected by this story? Contact lydia.patrick@independent.co.uk Sarahs father rushed her to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, where she was taken to the resuscitation area. A nurse checked her vitals and found her oxygen levels were extremely low. Sarah was just in a blind panic, she was terrified, Ms Griffin said. She was on oxygen and was linked up to all sorts of machines. There were medical staff all around her assessing her and they said she needed to go to ICU as she was deteriorating very quickly. Sarah spent four and a half hours in intensive care before she was put into an induced coma. The doctor showed Ms Griffin an X-Ray of Sarahs lungs showing one had been seriously injured and she had an infection. Due to the injury, the other lung was working overtime and making her asthma worse. Mary Griffin and her daughter Sarah, who was full of life before she was left fighting for her life in intensive care (NICHS) There were tubes, wires, and machines everywhere- it was heart-breaking to see her like that, Ms Griffin said. As her mum I just felt so helpless- it was a nightmare come true. Sarah has an older brother and two younger siblings and trying to explain to them what was happening was awful. They were asking if she was going to die, and I was saying, Of course not, but in my mind I was terrified that was a real possibility. I had to try and keep it together for them, but I was out of my mind with worry. The anguished mother explained how medical staff worked around the clock to ease Sarahs symptoms. After three days medical staff were able to take Sarah out of the coma and remove the ventilator. The doctors explained to Sarah if she hadnt damaged her lungs by vaping, she would have been in a better position to fight the infection. Ms Griffin hopes to warn others about the dangers of vaping (NICHS) Sarah continues to suffer from lethargy and will be classed as a high-risk patient for the rest of her life whereas before her asthma was under control, her mother explained. She has been through such a trauma, Ms Griffin said. She still has a long road ahead of her, but we are just so grateful to have her back home with us. The family has shared their story as part of Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Strokes new campaign to raise awareness of their concern about young vapers. Fidelma Carter, head of public health at NICHS (Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke), said: . The biggest misunderstanding about vapes is that they are harmless compared to cigarettes. This is not true, and this message needs to change to prevent more young people from taking up and getting addicted to vaping because they think they are risk free. The long-term health implications are unknown - just as they once were with tobacco. We have launched our vaping awareness campaign in response to the misunderstandings around the potential health risks associated with vaping and the huge increase in the number of teenagers using vapes. For further information and support about vaping visit, https://nichs.org.uk/vaping Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The cause of a huge blaze at Londons Luton Airport that damaged up to 1,500 cars and sparked travel chaos has been revealed. More than 100 firefighters battled through the night to extinguish the car park inferno, which left tens of thousands of passengers facing cancelled or diverted flights. Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service revealed on Wednesday morning the cause of the blaze was a diesel car. We dont believe it was an electric vehicle, Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said. Its believed to be diesel-powered, at this stage all subject to verification. And then that fire has quickly and rapidly spread. Up to 1,500 vehicles may have been damaged by the fire, which broke out on the third floor of the newly-built Terminal 2 car park at around 9pm on Tuesday. The car park partially collapsed as a result of the fire. Firefighters battled through the night to bring the car park fire under control (PA) Speaking to reporters at the scene, Mr Hopkinson said: On arrival my officers were faced with a severe and rapidly spreading fire involving a large number of vehicles that ultimately spread to multiple floors and involved a partial collapse of the car park. The major incident was stood down after the fire was brought under control on Wednesday morning. Flights resumed on Wednesday afternoon as the delayed 1pm Ryanair flight to Cork finally took off at 3:30pm - 18 hours after the last plane left on Tuesday evening. AA technical expert Greg Carter said the most common cause of car fires is an electrical fault with the 12-volt battery system. He added that diesel is much less flammable than petrol and in a car it takes intense pressure or sustained flame to ignite diesel. There were no reports of injuries to members of the public, but five people - four firefighters and an airline official - were treated in hospital. There is no suggestion the blaze happened intentionally. Aftermath of the blaze which damaged up to 1,500 cars (PA Wire) Between 40,000 and 50,000 passengers are thought to have been affected by 273 suspended, cancelled or diverted flights. A Polish family on holiday in London told how they slept on the floor at Luton Airport as a result of the fire. Gregorz Szmit, 46, said their flight to Gdansk should have departed at 9.50pm on Tuesday and is now scheduled to leave at 7.30pm on Wednesday. Mr Szmit, speaking from the terminal building where he is waiting with his wife and their two sons, aged seven and 15, said: We were on holiday for five days to visit London British Museum, Trafalgar Square. This is difficult, I must say. This is our first journey to England, to London. Its been an adventure. Airport hotels nearby Luton have reportedly all been fully booked, as passengers remain uncertain of their travel plans. No room at the (Holiday) Inn or any other hotels in the Luton area (Independent) The fire service posted on Twitter/X on Wednesday morning: The fire service have now scaled back at Luton Airport and this is no longer a major incident. A number of agencies have been released from the scene and we continue to work with colleagues from the airport and police. They added that the fire service would continue to be on the scene for the rest of the day after extinguishing the fire. Mr Hopskinson also revealed to reporters at the scene that there were no sprinklers in the car park. He said: We are already talking to the airport about ensuring that any future, and the existing, car parks have sprinklers fitted because this building is not sprinkler protected. Sprinklers may have made a positive impact on this incident. (REUTERS) People with cars affected have been advised to refer to the Luton Airport website for further information. Mr Hopkinson told reporters that a ramp is being installed into the unaffected car park because the normal exit route is not safe to take vehicles out. He went on: Weve currently got four fire appliances and a couple of other specialist crews but we are very much focused on getting a handover and getting this airport open as quickly as we can. There is a substantial number that are not damaged and our focus as well is can we remove those vehicles safely without causing any danger to the responders. A senior fire officer told The Independent that the fire inside the car park was so intense that the whole structure may need to be demolished. Theyll probably fly a drone around to assess the damage, they said. But once steel gets above 600 degrees [C] it become brittle. It was a lot more than 600 degrees in there. Passengers wait at Luton Airport after flights cancelled until Wednesday afternoon (Simon Calder) While the airport reopened at 3pm on Wednesday, airlines have issed statements warning their customers of further disruption. An EasyJet spokesperson said: While the airport has now partially reopened there are restrictions in place which means that like other airlines we are operating a significantly reduced flying programme for the remainder of the day so some flights are unable to operate as planned. Meanwhile, Ryanair say that affected passenfers will be advised via email, Push and SMS as soon as possible but regret to advise passengers of possible delays or cancellations on flights to/from Luton. Wizz Air similarly told customers that they would be provided updates on their flight via email and SMS and apologised for the situation that was beyond our control. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf called for an end to deaths in Gaza and for the international community to step up, amid orders for more than one million Palestinians to evacuate. Mr Yousaf condemned reports from the United Nations that 1.1 million Palestinians were ordered to vacate northern Gaza within 24 hours, by the Israeli military. The region subject to the order includes Gazas biggest hospital, which Human Rights Watch has said is dealing with more than 6,000 casualties, and two major refugee camps. The UN described the military order as devastating. There can be no justification for the death of innocent men, women & children Humza Yousaf Mr Yousafs in-laws are trapped in Gaza, and his wife Nadia El-Nakla has spoken of her torment at the prospect of her relatives living in a refugee camp with no food or water. Mr Yousaf said there was no justification for the death of innocent men, women and children. Posting on Twitter, formerly known as X, Mr Yousaf said: UN has said the order to move 1.1m people in 24 hours will lead to devastating humanitarian consequences. The international community must step up and demand an end to collective punishment. Enough. There can be no justification for the death of innocent men, women & children. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} First Minister Humza Yousaf has sought to comfort the family of a Scot who died in the Hamas attacks on Israel on Saturday. Mr Yousaf attended a service of solidarity at Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue in East Renfrewshire on Thursday, which was attended by Bernard Cowans mother. Pictures show Mr Yousaf and Mr Cowans mother embracing during the service. Speaking to the more than 500-strong crowd, the First Minister said: Your grief is my grief. According to the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, Mr Yousaf whose in-laws are currently in Gaza said: I stand in solidarity with Scotlands Jewish community, who have lost members of their community in the senseless and horrific attacks we witnessed last Saturday in southern Israel. I want to send my condolences to the victims and the families of all those affected by this desperate situation. At a time of great sorrow and sadness, I want you to be in no doubt whatsoever that I, and the Government I lead, stand with you and with all communities who are mourning the loss of innocent life. Representatives from across Scotlands Jewish community led prayers and spoke at the service, which was attended by other parliamentarians as well as civic leaders. East Renfrewshire SNP MP Kirsten Oswald said: Our local area and our whole country is enriched in so many and varied ways because of our Jewish communities. But that same community is now in shock. Hurting and heartsore, and worried about family in Israel, about friends, and about what comes next as innocent lives are lost to the awful terror and violence. We are with you, we share in your worry and your sorrow, and we are here to support you. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} First Minister Humza Yousaf said the SNP has to give people a reason to vote for independence and pointing out UK Government failures was not really enough to shift numbers. On Friday, Mr Yousaf took part in a bumper round of broadcast interviews ahead of the SNPs party conference in Aberdeen which gets under way on Sunday. In an interview with the BBCs Chris Mason, Mr Yousaf said he wanted to talk about why independence was relevant. Mr Yousaf said: We can point out Westminsters failings because there are many failings. Scotland was dragged out of the EU against its will, a chaotic, Conservative government. But thats not enough to really shift the numbers. The point is that youve also got to give people a reason to vote for independence. And the challenge with the SNP, I think, looking and reflecting truthfully, and where weve been where we are sometimes concentrating too much on process. I want to talk about why independence is relevant to people. The SNP leader also revealed he knew the party were expected to lose the key Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election last week. In another interview with STV, Mr Yousaf said his party was prepared for a difficult night. He said there were very difficult contextual factors which led to the partys defeat to Labours Michael Shanks. Labour won the seat with 17,845 votes to the SNPs 8,399 with a majority of 9,446 votes following the by-election. Margaret Ferrier won the seat for the SNP in the 2019 general election, but had the party whip removed after she breached Covid rules the following year, travelling from London to Scotland by train after testing positive for the virus. That behaviour resulted in her being suspended from the House of Commons, sparking the recall petition which led to the by-election. Mr Yousaf said the people of East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow will be deeply let down after MP Dr Lisa Cameron defected from the SNP to the Conservatives over allegations of bullying and toxic behaviour. The First Minister said Dr Cameron should do the honourable thing and stand down. That led to a question from Mr Mason, challenging Mr Yousafs leadership capabilities. I think that some of those images, particularly in the early days of that police investigation, are going to be difficult to for people to get out of their minds Humza Yousaf Mr Yousaf said: Nobody wants to be on the other end of a by election defeat that goes without saying Im not going to pretend otherwise. I think by anybodys objective measure the last six months have been some of the most difficult six months the party has faced in its modern history. I accept fully my responsibility as leader of the SNP. But notwithstanding all those difficulties, and there have been many, the party in virtually every poll continues to lead, continues to be ahead. He told STV News he was very much in control of the party. Mr Yousaf said the ongoing police investigation into the SNPs finances was damaging and added: I think that some of those images, particularly in the early days of that police investigation, are going to be difficult to for people to get out of their minds. The conference will debate the next steps toward independence. He said the nub of the issue was that the party had to give people a reason to vote for independence. (They are) not going to be convinced by just pointing out the failings of Westminster, but giving people a reason to vote for independence. And that is what Im absolutely committed to do. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The UK Government has failed to organise repatriation flights from Israel due to problems obtaining insurance, an aviation source told the PA news agency. Emergency flights to the UK have been arranged by the US and Australian authorities. A UK-organised flight was initially planned to arrive at Gatwick Airport on Friday, but that was cancelled amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. An attempt to arrange a flight landing at the West Sussex airport at 5.40pm on Friday also failed. PA understands one of the reasons for the lack of flights is Titan Airways, the contracted airline, having difficulties arranging insurance. The airline was approached for comment. A spokeswoman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: This is a fluid situation and we are currently working to ensure the flight can proceed as soon as possible. Several other flights from Israel due to land in the UK on Friday are going ahead. These include scheduled services to Heathrow and Luton airports by Israeli airline El Al, and a repatriation flight to Heathrow for Australian nationals organised by the countrys government and operated by Qantas. Three flights from the southern Israeli city of Eilat operated by Czech airline Smartwings landed at Stansted Airport on Thursday, chartered by advocacy organisation Tzedek Association on behalf of the US government, carrying mainly US citizens. Several airlines have suspended their flights between Israel and the UK, such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and Wizz Air. When the FCDO announced on Thursday it would organise flights, it said the first one would operate that day and they will be available to British nationals, including dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK. Each ticket will cost 300, which reflects the costs of operating the flight, according to the FCDO. The children and other dependants of British diplomats will also be given seats as we have a duty of care to our staff, it added. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Israel is engaging in collective punishment and does not have the right to breach international law in its response in Gaza, Irish Premier Leo Varadkar has said. The Taoiseach also called for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to reach Palestinians. The war, which was ignited by a wide-ranging Hamas attack into Israel, has already claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides. Israel has cut off food, water and electricity to Gaza in response to the attack on Saturday and has carried out airstrikes in the region. An Israeli military spokesman said on Thursday that they are preparing for a ground offensive in Gaza, but that one has not yet been ordered. Israel has the right to defend itself, but Israel doesn't have the right to do wrong Taoiseach Leo Varadkar International humanitarian law says the collective punishment of a group of persons for a crime committed by an individual is forbidden. Mr Varadkar told RTE: Israel has the right to defend itself, but Israel doesnt have the right to do wrong. Israel is a country that is surrounded by enemies, brutal savage groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, countries like Iran, often supported by Islamic fundamentalists and antisemites around the world. So Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves, but they dont have the right to breach international humanitarian law. And Im really concerned about what Im seeing happening in Gaza at the moment. To me, it amounts to collective punishment. Cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies, thats not the way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself. Israels strike on Gaza has levelled entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 1,400 people, more than 60% of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry. More than 340,000 have been displaced, or 15% of Gazas population. The Taoiseach said that Israel is breaching humanitarian law through its punishment of Palestinian civilians and that Ireland will endeavour to see the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to reach Gaza. I believe by targeting civilians and by cutting off civilian infrastructure that is a breach of international humanitarian law and I think its very important for us as Ireland to make sure that that voice is brought to the table at European Union level, he said. So yes, Hamas should release all of the hostages immediately. Israeli citizens and dual citizens alike. Israel is entirely justified in going after Hamas in Gaza and elsewhere, but operations that clearly affect civilians disproportionately are wrong, cutting off electricity, cutting off water. Thats not acceptable. And one thing we definitely need to see happen now, and we will do anything we can through the UN to achieve this, is the opening of the humanitarian corridor between Egypt and Gaza. Speaking in Belfast on Thursday Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said Irelands political history and experience of peacebuilding can have an influence in the international discussion on the current crisis in the region. In terms of the Middle East and Ireland and our historical experience of colonisation, partition, war and conflict, and then peacebuilding, I think we need to really leverage all of that experience in good faith to the very, very best of our ability and I think that we can have an influence, she said. I dont want to overstate it, but equally I wouldnt understate the value of an Irish voice. And were encouraging everybody right across political life north and south, and for particularly those in government in Dublin to really grasp that opportunity. She added: We need immediate ceasefires. We need dialogue. We need a process of peacebuilding. We need the application of international law across the board. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A woman who was due to fly on a British Airways flight that turned around after nearly reaching Tel Aviv has told of the very difficult situation for people stuck in Israel. The woman, in her 60s who did not want to be named, landed at Stansted Airport at 7.40pm on a Smartwings flight from the southern Israeli city of Eilat. Three flights operated by the same airline landed at the airport on Thursday evening, chartered by advocacy organisation Tzedek Association and travel agents Feldan Travel, bringing mainly British and US citizens to London. The woman told the PA news agency: We were meant to come with British Airways yesterday. It turned back and we were left in the airport. No solution. We had to buy new tickets. A UK resident, she was in Tel Aviv on holiday and said she drove five hours to get to Eilat. It was a very difficult situation. A lot of people are stuck there. There is no way of getting out, she told PA. We expected England to provide some flights to get people back, but theres nothing going. She said she paid a lot of money to secure seats on the Smartwings flight. Flight BA165 returned to Heathrow after nearly reaching Tel Aviv on Wednesday. It came as the airline suspended flights to and from Israel due to safety concerns. Other carriers suspended services to and from Tel Aviv after the Hamas attacks on Saturday, including easyJet and Virgin Atlantic. Deborah Green, who lives in London, was in Jerusalem on holiday before she took the Smartwings flight to Stansted Airport. Sirens woke her up this morning, she told PA. She said: It was frightening. The first time I heard the noise it was quarter past eight in the morning. Representatives of the Tzedek Association and Feldan Travel were present at international arrivals and held signs bearing the two companies names, assisting those coming off the flights from Israel. They had organised buses to Heathrow Airport for transferring American citizens. The first Government-organised flight to help British nationals leave Israel was expected to leave Tel Aviv on Thursday, according to the Foreign Office, with further flights planned in the coming days subject to the security situation. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A total of 24 police fines are set to be issued for the notorious jingle and mingle Covid Christmas party held by Shaun Baileys London mayoral campaign staff. In the latest step in the Partygate scandal, the Metropolitan Police also said they were continuing their investigation into a pandemic-era event in parliament attended by top Tory Sir Bernard Jenkin. Police dramatically reopened their investigation into the jingle party after new video evidence emerged earlier this year. At the time Rishi Sunak faced fresh calls to block Mr Baileys peerage handed to the failed mayoral candidate by Boris Johnson in his resignation honours. He has now taken his seat in the House of Lords. Lord Bailey, as he is now, has previously apologised "unreservedly" for the event organised by his campaign team, and described it as a "serious error of judgment". Both Lord Bailey, and Tory aide Ben Mallett - who later became an OBE in Mr Johnson's honours list, were at the gathering at Matthew Parker Street on December 14, 2020, while strict rules were in force. A video published by the Mirror earlier this year showed staff appearing to dance, drink and joke about Covid restrictions at the party. The Pogues song Fairytale of New York can be heard playing in the background. The BBC also published an invitation, which revealed that the event was formally called "jingle and mingle". The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "Having assessed that new evidence, the Met has made 24 referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for breaches of Covid-19 regulations." At the time of the party London was under Tier 2 restrictions which banned indoor socialising between people from different households. On the day the party was held, concern about rising cases led to the announcement that London would move to even stricter Tier 3 restrictions on December 16, just two days later. A Conservative Party spokesman said the gathering was "unauthorised" and that formal disciplinary action was taken against four Conservative Party HQ staff who were seconded to the Bailey campaign. A second investigation into a gathering in Parliament on December 8 2020, said to have been arranged by Commons Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing, continues. That event was cited by Boris Johnson in a scathing statement accusing Sir Bernard of "monstrous hypocrisy" for allegedly attending the event before sitting on the cross-party panel which found the former prime minister had lied to MPs over Partygate. Anneliese Dodds MP, Labours Party Chair, responding to the Metropolitan Police making 24 referrals for fines for breaches of Covid regulations at a jingle and mingle party organised by Shaun Baileys London mayoral campaign, said: While the British people made huge sacrifices to save lives during the pandemic, weve seen countless examples of conservatives thinking the rules simply dont apply to them. Despite this, Rishi Sunak still saw fit to allow Shaun Bailey to enter the House of Lords.This clearly demonstrates his promise of professionalism, integrity and accountability is nothing more than a hollow joke. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} As party conference season comes to a close, Independent readers have been discussing how the proposals set forth by the Tories and Labour have changed the currrent political landscape. We asked you what you thought of party conferences. Were you more impressed by Rishi Sunaks promise to ban smoking for future generations or Sir Keir Starmers calm reaction to being glitterbombed by a protester? And do these events even make a difference to the general electorate? Starmer vowed to heal Britain after 13 years of Conservative rule - which he told the Labour Party conference in Liverpool has ruined the country. And last week, not one but two former Tory prime ministers attacked the plans the Prime Minister unveiled in Manchester, ditching the northern leg of HS2 and banning young people from ever being able to buy cigarettes. The events of the last two weeks have sparked debate among our registered community. Independent readers were largely impressed by Starmers Labour party but not everyone agreed, with others saying they felt totally apathetic to both parties following the conferences. Heres what our readers had to say: Roll on next year! I am 75 years old, and cannot remember a worse UK Government than this one, roll on next year! MickB Blairite boom and bust Nothing new from the Labour Party wanting another 13 years of Blairite boom and bust policy which ended BUST. Then having to have 13 years of austerity to try and get the country to have less debt than GDP. If Labour win the next election the working people of this country are the people who will be worst off. bmw A very sorry choice Conference seems to be more about members positioning themselves within their party than in offering any positive solutions on issues that matter to voters. The only effect on my voting has been the realisation that I will be driven more by what I do not want than what I would like to support as a solution. Which, ultimately, is a very sorry choice to have. Freedom Divided parties do NOT win elections I am biased, I am a Labour voter, and certainly it seems that Labour are on a united front, and Starmer has created stability in his party. Compare this with the Tories, Rishi Sunak leads a very divided party, and divided parties do NOT win elections. Just to add, the Tories have moved far right, and British people do NOT vote for the extremes. Christopher1959 Hope at last! To my mind, the conferences have widened the gap between the parties as to which would be better forming a government. The Conservative conference highlighted all their problems: sowing division, lurching further right, Sunak making promises in his closing speech which were overturned the very next day. Starmer, Reeves and Rayner all came over better than they usually do, with specific policies properly explained and mostly costed. Starmer in particular is just starting to find his mojo! I didnt think he had one, but hes now coming over as a stable choice for next PM. Hope at last! AnotherJK Neither party started strong For me, neither party started strong. Im transgender, and both leaders have had a dig. However, in an electorial battle, the lack of anti-trans rhetoric from Labour, and the absolute hatred from the Tories; Yeah, not a single Tory will ever get a vote ever again, in this household, for as long as my partner and I live. DahnyaHD If you think things are bad now, just wait I feel completely and utterly disenfranchised. I cannot vote for the Conservatives after what they have done to this country but I also cannot vote for Starmer who is untrustworthy and changes like the wind. I also feel totally alienated from his fellow cohorts - Lammy, Thornbury, Raynor - its just appalling. Is there no other party that represents my view? Why do we always lurch from the same two hopeless prospects? Starmer will bankrupt this country. If you think things are bad now, just wait for what is around the corner. Cwtych 13 years of the rich elite Having been born in the mid-50s I was 9 when Harold Wilsons Labour won the 1964 election. My Dad used to point at him on TV and say That chap could say black was white and people would believe him. History hasnt give Wilson his full due, but to me he is the giant of post-war British politics, as he kept Britain out of Americas Vietnam nightmare. Tony Blair unfortunately failed to learn that invaluable lesson, and tarnished the legacy of New Labours otherwise remarkably successful 13 years in office where they put right a lot of what the Tories had trashed during the Thatcher and Major years - or at least rowed us back towards sanity and a better society. Gordon Brown should never have become prime minister and had Blair sought a fourth term I think he would have had enough in the tank to have seen off Cameron. That the Tories with the treacherous support of the Lib Dems were able to turn the tide in 2010 will go down in British history as a very black day for our nation, because had Clegg and his Orange Book fanatics not betrayed the millions who voted Lib Dem precisely to stop the Tories, then austerity and Brexit would not have happened and we would not have had the utter disaster of Johnson and Truss. As it is we have had 13 years of the rich elite in this country screwing ordinary people and pushing many of us to the edge of or even into poverty. At last weeks Tory party conference Sunak had nothing to offer people who have seen their living standards trashed, and gave no signal to the 7.2 million of us on NHS waiting lists that he even understands the scale of the health calamity that 13 years of Tory disaster capitalism has created. Housing was not even mentioned. [In Starmer] you heard from the next Prime Minister and you heard HOPE. itiswhatitisbutitcouldbedifferent A clear choice I live in a Tory-Labour marginal constituency that has changed hands since 2006 in the last few elections. I voted Tory in the last election and previously I have been Lib Dem voter. I have to say I was impressed by Labour including Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer - he was upbeat and while light on full on policy, it was clear what they were going to do responsibly. His speech was all I needed. To me it is now a clear choice between a party which was out for itself, caused a mess and has run out of ideas (this is how the Tory conference speeches made me feel) and a party that wants to heal, build and put country before its own interests. I believe I can trust them to do what is right. Phantomnerd Some of the questions and answers have been edited for this article. You can read the full discussion in the comments section of the original article. The conversation isnt over - theres still time to have your say. If you want to share your opinion then add it in the comments of this story. All you have to do is sign up, submit your question and register your details - then you can then take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking log in on the top right-hand corner of the screen. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The government's own watchdog warned three years ago that Britain's prisons would run out of space by 2023 as it accused the Treasury of failing to provide the vital cash needed to tackle the issue. The National Audit Office raised the alarm in a report published in February 2020 while Rishi Sunak was chancellor saying that without intervention demand for prison places was on course to exceed supply sometime between October 2022 and June 2023. The report pointed the finger at the Treasury for failing to provide enough funding to expand the prison estate, and said a need for more places was being driven by the government's own policy of imposing longer prison sentences. The stark warnings come as the number of people jailed in England and Wales has hit an all-time high with just 557 places left and as ministers consider releasing inmates early and delay sentencing for rapists and burglars in a scramble to avoid running out of space. Campaigners and prison officers said the NAO reports showed that the government had refused to listen to repeated warnings of a looming crisis. The Prison Governors Association (PGA) this week told The Independent spaces were going to run out without a shadow of a doubt and that an early release scheme to free up space was now "inevitable". It comes after reports that Lord Justice Edis, the most senior presiding judge in England and Wales, had ordered the sentencing of convicted criminals on bail to be delayed from Monday. The NAO report, published in February 2020 while ministers focused on Brexit and the early stages of Covid-19 pandemic, warned: "The forecasts are highly uncertain but suggest that, without intervention beyond new places under construction, demand for prison places could exceed supply between October 2022 and June 2023." The respected watchdog, which scrutinises government spending for public services, said the Treasury had allocated investment for prisons "well below the level needed" to meet demand for places, and that cash available was directed to addressing immediate safety issues such as fire safety, water hygiene and asbestos. But the government had also made matters worse by repeatedly pausing and restarting different policy initiatives to expand prison capacity, the auditor said including proposing and then withdrawing plans to use private finance to fund expansion. "The funding model for new prisons changed four times between October 2016 and December 2018, which reduced public capital funding and delayed the programme," the report says. "The continued uncertainty around how new prisons should be funded impacts on HMPPSs ability to plan and start construction." But wider government criminal justice policy is also driving the crisis. The NAO report said "plans to increase the minimum sentence length for the most serious offences... will likely place further pressure on prison capacity", and also said that a government policy of recruiting 20,000 more police officers is expected to increase demand for prison cells. "The National Audit Office are on a long list of individuals giving warnings to this Government. It is a crisis of their own making yet no one takes responsibility," Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association (POA) told The Independent. "The POA have been warning about policy decisions for many years. Sadly they have fallen on deaf ears. Between 2010 and the present day, prison closures have lost 10,000 places, with only 11,000 coming on stream with the new building program which is delayed and not on target." Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the government should aim to reduce the prison population which is now at record levels. Without intervention beyond new places under construction, demand for prison places could exceed supply between October 2022 and June 2023 National Audit Office, February 2020 Just today, the number of people in prison in England and Wales has hit the highest number ever recorded at 88,225," he said. "It is well beyond time for urgent intervention. Rather than carrying on with ill-thought-out plans to increase the prison population by more than a fifth in the next four years, the government must act to reduce these numbers. Prisons create conflict, thwart human potential, put a strain on police and hospitals and cost a fortune. Instead of helping people to move on from crime, too often they do the opposite. "The sensible way to protect the public is to ease pressure on a system that has been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long. Reducing the prison population would save lives, protect staff and help more people to move on from crime. An earlier NAO report into the issue, published in 2013, said that "reducing prisoner numbers, where possible, still represents the best way to save money in prisons in the medium and long term", noting that "every 1,000 places in the prison system cost, on average, 28 million a year". Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said the prison population crisis has been "a long time in the making" and that more focus on rehabilitation was needed. "We see a very high rate of reoffending, with a churn of men and women caught up in a cycle of offending that prison does nothing to break. Until we tackle the lack of meaningful purposeful activity in custody, this situation will not change," he said. Rishi Sunak was chancellor when the report was issued in 2019 (PA Wire) Labours Shadow Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood said the fiasco was "yet another Tory failure of their own making" and that the prison estate was "in crisis because they have failed to deliver the prison places they have been promising, despite endless warnings that failing to do so would have serious consequences." "The government have continuously moved the goalposts on the delivery of prison places to the point where the public will be rightly concerned about the early release of dangerous criminals. People deserve a government that ensures safety and security in their communities. But former justice secretary Robert Buckland told The Independent: "We worked hard on getting our prison places predictions right and pushed this issue ahead of the last spending review. "Rishi and I worked to increase investment in prison building from 2019 but the current increase in remand prisoner numbers has more than offset a decline in the number of convicted prisoners in other words, the court backlog mainly caused by covid has made the situation more difficult." A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government would be setting out a reform programme "in the coming days", with Justice Minister Alex Chalk set to give a statement in the Commons on Monday. We are categorical that the most serious offenders should be sent to prison and that anyone deemed a risk to public safety is remanded in custody while awaiting trial. Reports to the contrary are false," they said. This government has done more than ever before to protect the public and keep sex offenders locked up for longer, ending automatic halfway release for rapists and serious violent offenders and sending rapists to prison for three years longer than in 2010." The government blamed the pandemic and barristers' strike for "a significant spike" in the prison population and said it was "carrying out the biggest prison-building programme since the Victoria era". The spokesperson added that the government had "taken decisive action to expand capacity further by doubling up cells in the short-term, the prison estate remains under pressure" and said the Lord Chancellor would be "setting out a programme of reform in the coming days". Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rishi Sunaks popularity has crashed to a record low since the Conservative Party conference, a damning new poll shows. Just one in five voters now believe Mr Sunak would make the best prime minister, down from a quarter before the Tory get-together, according to the new YouGov poll. And, in a blow to the Tories electoral hopes, it means the figure has reached the lowest point since Mr Sunak entered Downing Street last year. Sir Keir Starmers popularity has also fallen, with 32 per cent of the public saying he would make the best prime minister, compared with 34 per cent earlier this month. The survey, conducted for The Times, showed a significant uptick in the number of not sure voters, with 43 per cent of the population undecided between the two party leaders. Despite Sir Keirs personal support slipping, the poll, conducted after the Labour leaders own conference speech which was stormed by a protester who showered him in glitter, showed a rise in support for the party. It showed 28 per cent of voters thought Sir Keir had a clear plan for the country, up six points in a week. Just 19 per cent believed Mr Sunak did, down by two points in the same period. The poll gave Labours overall poll lead over the Tories a two-point jump. Of all voters, 47 per cent said they would vote Labour if a general election was held tomorrow, compared with 24 per cent who said they would back the Conservatives. Another 47 per cent of those polled said Labour would make a significant change in government almost double the number who said the same about Mr Sunak. This month in Manchester, Mr Sunak told the Conservative faithful: It is time for a change and we are it. He has now scrapped a handful of his partys own policies, including controversially the northern leg of HS2. He insisted that when it came to scrapping HS2, the facts have changed and the cost had more than doubled, meaning he had to act. Labours national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden said the Tories had let Britain down for too long, adding: They cannot be the change from their own failures. YouGovs latest poll shows the Tories attempts at becoming the party of change have yet to convince the electorate. And it comes after months of polls showing the Conservatives significantly behind Labour, with the current gap at 17 points. In his own big address, Sir Keir made a direct appeal to Conservative voters to join Labour, as he promised to lead a mission government in the national interest and end the chaos of the Tory era. The Labour leader rolled up his sleeves for his crucial conference speech pledging to repair a crumbling Britain with a host of new towns and a new approach to economic growth, led by a renewed party. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Humza Yousaf has warned that Israel is going too far with its retaliatory strikes on Gaza, adding that collective punishment cannot be justified. The first minister of Scotland said innocent men, women, children and babies have nothing to do with Hamas but are paying an extraordinary price for the atrocious attacks on Israel. Tel Aviv has issued an evacuation order to Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip, with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) poised to initiate a ground assault. The UN has warned the evacuation cannot be achieved without devastating humanitarian consequences. Israel has also cut off food, water and electricity to Gaza in response to the attack on Saturday and has carried out numerous airstrikes in the region. It comes a week after a Hamas attack saw militants parachute into Israel and gun down hundreds of innocent victims in a horrifying display of indiscriminate violence. In an interview ahead of his partys annual conference, Mr Yousaf said collective punishment is to be condemned, regardless of who the victim is. The SNP leader was asked whether he agreed with Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, who said Israel is engaging in collective punishment and does not have the right to breach international law in its response in Gaza. Mr Yousaf told the BBC: I agree with the Taoiseach wholeheartedly. Nobody has said that Israel does not have the right to protect itself from terror. All of us have said that, myself included, but collective punishment cannot be justified. They are going too far, collective punishment cannot be justified. It is innocent men, women, children, babies, with nothing to do with Hamas, who are paying an extraordinary price for those atrocious attacks, that they have nothing to do with. And, asked whether a potential ground invasion of Gaza by Israel would be justified, Mr Yousaf said: Innocent men, women and children cannot be simply thought of as collateral damage. The ends cannot simply justify the means. Collective punishment is not justified. In fact, it is to be condemned, regardless of where it takes place, and regardless of who is the victim of that collective punishment. His comments come as his mother-in-law Elizabeth El-Nakla is trapped in Gaza, having travelled from her home in Scotland last week to visit family with her husband Maged. In an emotional video from the strip on Friday morning, she said: Everybody from Gaza is moving towards where we are. One million people, no food, no water and still theyre bombing them as theyre leaving. Where are you going to put them? But my thought is all these people in the hospital cannot be evacuated. Where is humanity? Wheres peoples hearts in the world, to let this happen in this day and age? In a post alongside the video, Mr Yousaf said: This is Elizabeth El-Nakla. She is my mother-in-law. A retired nurse from Dundee, Scotland. She, like the vast majority of people in Gaza, has nothing to do with Hamas. She has been told to leave Gaza but, like the rest of the population, is trapped with nowhere to go. Mr Yousaf also told Sky News that Rishi Sunak has not spoken to him about the crisis, despite his mother-in-law being trapped in Gaza. He said he wrote to James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, about the situation with his mother-in-law and was angry and disappointed to receive no reply: He was in Israel and could have picked up the phone to me and made assurances about getting two UK citizens out. Mr Yousaf said he feels powerless and helpless and that his wife Nadia is in total distress. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said Israel has every right to defend itself from Hamas attacks but stressed that civilian safety must be paramount in our minds. Mr Sunak also said the UK was doing everything we can to ensure the security of British citizens after the Defence Secretary said it seemed very likely that there are British hostages in Gaza. Speaking to the media after talks with allies in Sweden, Mr Sunak highlighted how he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a conversation late on Thursday that caution was needed to protect civilians during its operation against Hamas militants that massacred hundreds of Israelis on Saturday. Palestinians have begun a mass exodus from northern Gaza after Israels military told them to evacuate ahead of an expected ground invasion. With around a million people in the affected area, the United Nations has warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous. But the Foreign Office urged Britons in Gaza to follow Israels directive, if they are able to, but recognise this will be be challenging for some people. The Prime Minister told broadcasters at the Joint Expeditionary Force summit in Gotland, Sweden: Of course we should always and we are always having concerns of civilians paramount in our minds. It is something Ive discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu myself and underlined with what the secretary of state from the United States (Antony Blinken) and the president (Joe Biden) have said, that of course Israel should take every possible precaution to protect civilians as they exercise their rightful ability to defend themselves against attacks like this. Mr Blinken, during a visit to Israel this week, said it matters how Israel chooses to defend itself and pressed for civilians not to be harmed. US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin, during a press conference in Tel Aviv on Friday, said: Terrorists like Hamas deliberately target civilians but democracies dont. This is a time for resolve, and not revenge. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7, with Israel placing the 25-mile Gaza Strip under siege and subjecting it to a torrent of retaliatory air strikes. Hamas said Israels heavy bombardment killed 13 hostages, including foreigners, held by the group. We are increasing our military teams across the region and making sure that we are doing everything we can to ensure the security of British citizens Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told ITVs Good Morning Britain he would treat Hamass claim with caution but deep concern. Three Britons are confirmed to have lost their lives during the weekends assault on Israel but reports have suggested at least 17 could be among the casualties. The Prime Minister said: We are working very closely with the Israeli authorities and in contact with families to provide all the possible support that we can. We are increasing our military teams across the region and making sure that we are doing everything we can to ensure the security of British citizens. He said the Royal Navy ships he has sent to the eastern Mediterranean part of a package of military support for Israel announced before his trip to Sweden would be able to provide humanitarian assistance to those caught up in the conflict. Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels Lyme Bay and Argus have been deployed to the region, along with Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft and a company of Royal Marines. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has not ruled out Britain sending further assistance, saying London will provide absolutely everything they need in efforts to come to Israels defence in their hour of need. During his round of broadcast interviews, Cabinet minister Mr Shapps refused to criticise the siege on Gaza which is blocking water, food, medicines and electricity from reaching one of the most populated areas in the world. Tel Aviv has said its complete barricade of Gaza would remain in place until some 150 hostages are freed, with Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant vowing to topple Hamas and wipe out the groups military capabilities. Mr Shapps said Israels practise of giving notice ahead of its missile strikes was in stark contrast to Hamas. He told BBC Breakfast: I think Israel finds itself in a very difficult situation, and to be clear: Israel needs to act within international law just like any other nation But Israel will also obviously need to deal with these Hamas terrorists. Israel is giving due warning, but they are going after those terrorists, and we absolutely respect Israels right to do that. Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme later, he said Hamas fighters were hiding themselves within the Palestinian population in Gaza and using them as human shields. Mr Shapps was repeatedly asked to explicitly say if the UK supports the evacuation order that the UN says Tel Aviv has issued. Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UKs chief executive, said it was extremely worrying that Mr Shapps was seemingly unwilling to urge allies in Israel to reconsider this ultimatum. He said: The horrific mass killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas does not absolve the Israeli authorities of their obligations to respect international humanitarian law and to properly protect civilians in their military actions, and all UK politicians should be absolutely clear on this vital principle. The fallout from flare-up of violence in the Middle East has been felt in Britain, with a four-fold rise in antisemitic incidents, according to the Community Security Trust, and a tripling of anti-Muslim cases being recorded by the group Tell Mama UK. Mr Sunak has condemned the disgusting rise in antisemitism in recent days and said intimidating behaviour and inciting violence or hatred will be met with the full force of the law. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the Government is working closely with a small number of Jewish schools, which have temporarily shut due to safety fears, to ensure they can re-open. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rishi Sunak will discuss the dangerous conflict in Israel and Gaza, as well as the war in Ukraine, when he meets northern European allies in Sweden. The Prime Minister is on the Baltic island of Gotland for a UK-led defence grouping, amid the backdrop of the escalating situation in the Middle East. Ahead of the Joint Expeditionary Force summit he met Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson aboard the HMS Diamond, where Mr Sunak stayed the night. He served breakfast to and met with Navy crew members early on Friday. The Prime Minister said leaders would use the summit to talk about how we can work together to strengthen our security. Welcome aboard our frigate, it is great to have you here, Mr Sunak told his counterpart. It is a symbol of the co-operation, I think, between our two countries that we are able to meet here today. The gathering in Gotland comes after the attack by Hamas over the weekend pushed Israel and Gaza to the top of the global agenda. Ahead of his arrival in Sweden, the Prime Minister confirmed the UK would send Royal Navy vessels and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel. Mr Sunak said the deployment would support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation. The 10-strong Joint Expeditionary Force grouping includes Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Iceland. In a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Mr Sunak briefly spoke about the experience aboard. The first time a British prime minister has done it in 50 years, slept overnight the last time it happened was half a century ago, he said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Terrorism must not prevail in Ukraine or Israel, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told a summit of northern European nations in Sweden. It comes as Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a virtual address to a UK-led defence grouping meeting, called for collective efforts to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin as the war drags into another winter. The Prime Minister was on the Baltic island of Gotland on Friday for a gathering of the 10-strong Joint Expeditionary Force, where the war in Ukraine and the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza topped the agenda. The invasion of Ukraine has focused minds in northern Europe about the threat posed by Mr Putin, with a fresh emphasis placed on security co-operation in the region. Mr Sunak, who spent Thursday night aboard a Royal Navy frigate in Gotland, began his address to fellow leaders with a pledge to support both Ukraine and Israel. I think its important for us to say that were all outraged by the terrorist attacks that have happened in Israel. As you will all agree that we will stand with Israel at this moment. Ive offered Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu my full support. Terrorism will not, must not, prevail, in Ukraine, in Europe, in anywhere else. Mr Zelensky joined proceedings virtually, as leaders stressed their continued backing for Kyiv. Now is the time for collective efforts. It does not mean that capabilities of one nation are too weak, Mr Zelensky said. It means that the task we face is too big. We need reliable geo-political stability in Europe and more broadly in the whole Euro-Atlantic space. So we need new collective forums of collaboration and strengthening of existing ones. Now before winter comes we should all focus on hybrid terrorist threats from Russia. We predict that this winter Russia will try to repeat its terror tactics. Five female and five male leaders gathered on the Baltic island, as Mr Sunak held a series of meetings with his Swedish, Norwegian and Danish counterparts. Mr Sunak met Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson aboard HMS Diamond ahead of the formal gathering, something the British leader described as a symbol of the co-operation between the two countries. The two men signed a new strategic partnership agreement. Mr Sunak described the Joint Expeditionary Force as the first line of defence, as he praised progress on defence co-operation. Weve done more in the last 18 months than weve done in almost a decade before, he said. I think that speaks to the energy which we put into this gathering but also the urgency that the situation demands. The gathering came amid concerns about the possible sabotage of an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. Downing Street said Mr Sunak, in his meeting with Norwegian leader Jonas Gahr Store, discussed the vital need to reinforce security around subsea infrastructure. The Government said that more than 20,000 British troops would be deployed across northern Europe next year, amid stepped-up in security in the region. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rishi Sunak became the first prime minister in decades to stay overnight on a Royal Navy vessel, as he travelled to Sweden for a security summit. Mr Sunak got a taste of Navy life, as he spent a night aboard the HMS Diamond ahead of the Joint Expeditionary Force summit on the Swedish island of Gotland. The Prime Minister was up early to serve breakfast to sailors, dishing out hash browns and tomatoes to the ships company. The last prime minister to spend the night aboard such a vessel, according to Navy records, was Labours Harold Wilson. As he helped serve up a cooked breakfast, Mr Sunak joked about having been woken up so early alongside the crew. He also sat down for a chat with some of HMS Diamonds personnel over breakfast. You have had a very busy few weeks of it, the Prime Minister told them as he served breakfast. He told the crew he had respect and admiration for them and their work. In a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Mr Sunak spoke briefly about the experience aboard. The first time a British prime minister has done it in 50 years, slept overnight the last time it happened was half a century ago, he said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Police have made referrals for 24 fines over a lockdown-busting party at Tory headquarters during the coronavirus pandemic. The fixed-penalty notices related to a jingle and mingle event in December 2020 at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) for activists on behalf of Shaun Baileys unsuccessful effort to be London mayor. Lord Bailey, who received a peerage in Boris Johnsons resignation honours, has previously apologised unreservedly for the event organised by his campaign team, and said it was a serious error of judgment. Both Lord Bailey and Tory aide Ben Mallett who became an OBE in Mr Johnsons honours list attended the gathering at Matthew Parker Street on December 14, 2020 when Covid restrictions were in force. The investigation into the party was reopened in July this year after a video clip published by the Mirror showed staff appearing to dance, drink and joke about Covid restrictions. The BBC also published an invitation, revealing the event was called jingle and mingle. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: Having assessed that new evidence, the Met has made 24 referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for breaches of Covid-19 regulations. Lord Bailey has been contacted for comment. At the time of the event London was under Tier-2 restrictions which banned indoor socialising between people from different households. But on the day the party was held, concern about rising cases led to the announcement that London would move to even stricter Tier 3 restrictions on December 16. A Conservative Party spokesman said the gathering was unauthorised. Senior CCHQ staff became aware of an unauthorised social gathering in the basement of Matthew Parker Street organised by the Bailey campaign on the evening of 14 December 2020, the spokesman said. Formal disciplinary action was taken against the four CCHQ staff who were seconded to the Bailey campaign. The Met added that a second investigation into a gathering in Parliament on December 8 2020 continues. The December 8 gathering, said to have been arranged by Commons Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing, was cited by Mr Johnson in a scathing statement accusing Sir Bernard Jenkin of monstrous hypocrisy for allegedly attending the event before sitting on the cross-party panel which found the former prime minister had lied to MPs with his partygate denials. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The SNPs president has described the defection of one of the partys MPs to the Conservatives as an odd tantrum. Lisa Cameron announced on Thursday she would cross the floor, blaming a toxic culture in the SNPs Westminster group. Dr Cameron said she had required counselling after standing up for the young staffer harassed by MP Patrick Grady, claiming she was shunned by colleagues. Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Friday, SNP president Mike Russell said the move was bizarre. He said: What the SNP needs to do is focus on the big issues in Scotland, not what seems to be a rather odd tantrum from somebody who was going to lose their nomination. Dr Cameron was facing a selection battle in her East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow seat from SNP staffer Grant Costello, who was supported by both Scottish Government minister Christina McKelvie and current and former East Kilbride MSPs Collette Stevenson and Linda Fabiani. The outcome of the selection was due to be announced on Thursday, hours after Dr Cameron revealed she would leave the party. Ms Russell continued: It was absolutely clear the constituency party had lost faith in her, and I think that kind of ego drive politics is deeply unattractive. The defection was downplayed by First Minister Humza Yousaf on Thursday, who told the PA news agency it was the least surprising news he had heard since taking the top job earlier this year as he said Dr Cameron probably never believed in Scottish independence. Both the First Minister and Mr Russell said Dr Cameron should step down and force a by-election in the seat. Mr Russell also rejected claims there was a toxic culture in the partys Westminster group, saying: I dont agree with those claims. I think these are unsubstantiated claims Mike Russell, on allegations of a toxic culture within the SNP I think these are claims but I think these are unsubstantiated claims. He went on to say he had no idea if Dr Cameron sought counselling as a result of her treatment at the hands of the Westminster group, adding: Im sorry that is the case, but I dont believe certainly from what Ive heard that the sole reason for that was something to do with the Westminster SNP group. I have to say, I have the greatest sympathy for anybody in those circumstances, but their claim as to how they arose that claim does have to be, regrettably, examined and I do not believe there is a toxic culture in our Westminster group. Appearing on the same programme, Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy hit out at Mr Russells comments. He said: I listened to Mike Russell this morning on your programme, dismissing the concerns that had been raised by Lisa Cameron in the most high-handed of ways, dismissing the fact that there is a toxic culture within the SNP, despite the fact that I think everyone can see that laid bare. Asked if it was bizarre Dr Cameron chose to leave the leading pro-independence party for the leading pro-union party, Mr Hoy said it was not, and that he was delighted she had crossed the floor. Asked if Dr Cameron still supports independence, Mr Hoy said: To join the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, you have to recognise that you believe in the four constituent parts of the UK, moving and working together. Later, senior SNP MP Stewart McDonald was asked about Dr Cameron in an interview with the Scotsmans Steamie podcast, and he said he also does not recognise her charges against the party. Lisa, for some time, has been on defection watch Im going back pre-Covid, he said. Defection watch to the Tories, it was an openly joked about secret, and not just in the SNP. I think its really down to the fact that she was going to get horsed in her selection. Mr McDonald claimed Dr Camerons de-selection would have come sooner had the process not been truncated because the last two elections were called quickly. Lisas probably just one step closer to her dream of a seat in the House of Lords, Mr McDonald added. Mr Hoy then responded: Its telling that a senior SNP MP would rather sneer and smear Lisa Cameron than address the toxic culture within the Westminster group which she and other erstwhile colleagues have repeatedly highlighted. Stewart McDonalds bitter remarks only underline how wise Lisa was to leave the SNP for the Conservative Party. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Rishi Sunak will join northern European leaders for a summit in Sweden on Friday, with the gathering overshadowed by the dangerous conflict in Israel and Gaza. The meeting of the UK-led defence grouping, on the Baltic island of Gotland, had been expected to see leaders focus on the threat from Russia as the war in Ukraine heads into another winter. However, the attack by Hamas over the weekend has pushed the region to the top of the global agenda, with the Middle Eastern conflict now set to be discussed at the Joint Expeditionary Force meeting alongside Kyivs fight against Russia. Ahead of his arrival in Sweden, the Prime Minister confirmed the UK would send Royal Navy vessels and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel. Mr Sunak said the deployment would support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation. The Prime Minister is expected to meet with his northern European counterparts during the brief Gotland gathering. The 10-strong Joint Expeditionary Force grouping includes Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Iceland. The trip will also see the Prime Minister visit British warship HMS Diamond, which is on patrol in the area. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Italys highest court overturned a slander conviction against Amanda Knox, the American jailed and later acquitted of the 2007 murder of her British roommate, and ordered a new trial. Ms Knox, now 36, spent nearly four years in an Italian prison after being wrongfully convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher while they were studying abroad in Perugia. She was sentenced to three years already served in 2011 for falsely implicating Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba in Ms Kerchers murder. But on Friday, the Court of Cassation in Rome accepted her appeal in a ruling, overturning the slander conviction and ordering a new trial at the court of appeal in Florence, the AFP reported. Though I was exonerated for murder, I remained wrongly convicted of slander, she wrote, announcing the verdict on X, formerly Twitter. Now, sixteen years later, she began, noting a new judicial instrument provided by a recent reform, I am no longer a convicted person. And I will fight with my lawyers to prove my innocence once and for all. Ms Knox said this ruling has given me the opportunity to seek my full acquittal from this wrongful accusation of slander. Amanda Knox (Getty Images) She then mentioned the bar owner Patrick Lumumba, who she said was her friend at the time. Ms Knox had previously pointed the finger at Mr Lumumba during police questioning in which she claimed she was yelled at, slapped and threatened, Barrons reported citing AFP. Her claims prompted a separate charge in Italy of slandering police, of which she was cleared in 2016. In 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Ms Knox had not been provided with adequate legal representation or a professional interpreter during her interrogation, saying her treatment "compromised the fairness of the proceedings as a whole". That court decision was taken into account during Fridays ruling, Ms Knox said. We are both victims of the violation of my human rights during my interrogation, without which I was helpless against the coercive pressure of the police, she wrote. Amanda Knox was convicted of slandering Patrick Lumumba (AP) The outcome of that interrogation derailed the investigation into Meredith Kerchers murder, and led to the wrongful imprisonment of three innocent people. Patrick Lumumba suffered ten days of wrongful imprisonment, and Raffaele and I nearly four years. One day in prison as an innocent person is one day too many, she added. Mr Lumumba spent more than a week in jail after being implicated by Ms Knox, before being cleared of any involvement in the crime. Ms Knox spent nearly four years in an Italian prison after being wrongfully convicted of murdering fellow exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007. On 1 November 2007, Ms Kercher was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in the apartment they shared. Rudy Guede was convicted of the sexual assault and murder of Ms Kercher in 2008. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison which was later cut down to 16 years. He was released from prison in November 2021, the BBC reported. Ms Knox and her Italian boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, were separately convicted of Ms Kerchers murder in 2009 and spent nearly four years in an Italian prison before their convictions were overturned. Their final acquittal came in March 2015. Ms Knox married Christopher Robinson in 2020 and the couple had their first baby in 2021. In August of this year, Ms Knox posted a photo of her baby bump on Instagram announcing they were expecting a second baby. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Minnesota woman who protested Israeli military action in Gaza is among the 27 Americans killed in the attack by Hamas on Israel over the weekend, Cindy Flash, 67, died alongside her husband, Igal Flash, 66, as Hamas terrorists invaded their home in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz close to the Gaza border. The couples daughter, Keren Flash, 34, told CNN her parents were murdered in a safe room inside their home after Hamas militants were able to break in. The 34-year-old shared the last messages her mother sent in a neighborhood group chat on Saturday evening when she pleaded for help, saying they managed to break into the safe room. That was the last time anyone heard from them, their daughter said. Ms Flash did not know her parents whereabouts for days after Saturdays attack and only learnt of their deaths on Thursday. She said the only comfort she took from the tragedy is that they apparently died instantly so at least it was quick and relatively painless. Ms Flash said her father was born in Israel and was the son of Holocaust survivors, while her mother, who she described as all heart and soul, had protested Israeli military action in Gaza. Cindy Flash, 67, was killed alongside her husband, Igal Flash, 66 (CNN) Whenever there was a military operation, (she) would always protest, she said. She was there protesting all the time ... because you dont treat human beings like that no matter what their religious belief is and what their ethnicity is. They were some of the best people that I have ever known, Ms Flash said of her parents. They were good people. They cared about other people. They fought for other peoples rights and other peoples voices. They were just a good balance of each other and really taught me what a loving and strong relationship should look like and they were just my inspiration for everything, she added. Hamas stormed into Israel early on Saturday morning, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens of captives across the Gaza border in a devastating terror attack that caught the countrys security forces by surprise. More than 1,300 Israelis were killed in the assault, with thousands more believed to be injured and the number of individuals taken hostage by Hamas currently unclear. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory airstrikes by Israeli forces since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of war on Saturday and promised mighty vengeance. On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the complete siege of Gaza, saying authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel. And on Friday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ordered all Gaza civilians to leave the area and head southward a command that the United Nations said is impossible to carry out. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Watch live as President Joe Biden announces $7 billion in federal funding to boost clean-hydrogen production to improve air quality in America amid the climate crisis. President Biden will also discuss economic policy, infrastructure, energy and climate change in his speech in Philadelphia. Regions will receive funds from the $7 billion investment made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Clean Hydrogen Hub for the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, is set to receive up to $750 million in the program. West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania will receive up to $925 million, while Washington, Oregon and Montana and the Midwest Hydrogen Hub of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan are eligible for up to $1 billion in federal funding. The new programme is expected to bring investment in manufacturing and create thousands of new jobs in the US. According to the Biden administration, the hubs are expected to produce more than three million metric tons of clean hydrogen annually and help the US produce 50 million metric tons of clean hydrogen fuel by 2050. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The son of Israeli-American parents who died as they helped save his life during attacks by militant group Hamas in Israel has spoken out after their deaths. Deborah Matias, 50, and her husband, Shlomi, were among the more than 1,300 people killed in Israel over the weekend. Their 16-year-old son, Rotem, witnessed their death after Hamas terrorists broke into the familys home on Saturday. The teenagers mother died after she threw her body on top of her son to protect him as the Hamas militants shot at the family, her father, Ilan Troen, told Bostons WBZ-TV. Rotem was shot in the abdomen during the attack but survived, hiding for more than 12 hours after he was shot. In an interview on Thursday, the 16-year-old told CNN he plans to keep the bullet in honour of his parents. I wanted to just keep it as a memory to never forget them and remember that even though it was the hardest and lowest point in my life, I found some hope that maybe I could live and share the memories, and how I saw my parents, with other people. It took several days for the teen to recover from his injury. Im able to walk now, he said. A few days ago, I couldnt even stand. The bullet in my stomach has been taken out via surgery, and Im feeling much, much better. Rotem was interviewed alongside his two sisters, Shakked and Shir, and grandfather, Ilan Troen, a professor emeritus at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Recounting the day of the attack, Mr Troen recalled his final phone call with his daughter. Brandeis University professor Ilan Troen (centre), with daughter Deborah Shahar Troen Matias and her husband, Shlomi Matias (Sourced) We were on the phone with Deborah as she was killed, he told CNN. We were on the phone the entire day with our grandson, Rotem, as he lay first under her body, and then found a place to escape. The brunt of the shot was borne by his mother, he added. The terrorists who came, they had explosives and blew up the front door to their house and then blew out the front door to their so-called safe room. Rotem and his sisters were reunited 14 hours after the attack. I was so worried, and I was so scared, Shakked said. No one should ever have to go through that ever. Speaking about her parents, Shir told CNN: They were very, very brave. They were good people, and they didnt deserve anything this horrible. None of the people in Israel, none of the foreign citizens who were here or taken deserve any of this. Deborah Matias met her husband at the Rimon School of Music in Tel Aviv. They wanted to us to be happy, to be whimsical, Rotem added. They wanted us to be joyful. They wanted us to be in peace. They didnt want us to be at a situation like this, and they wanted us to live, more than anything. They wont die there, he added. They wont die. They will live on in memories and in stories. Hamas stormed into Israel early on Saturday morning, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens of captives across the Gaza border in a devastating terror attack that caught the countrys security forces by surprise. More than 1,300 Israelis were killed in the assault, with thousands more believed to be injured and the number of individuals taken hostage by Hamas currently unclear. At least 27 Americans are among the dead, the White House confirmed. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes by Israeli forces since Prime Minister Netanyahu declared a state of war on Saturday and promised mighty vengeance. On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the complete siege of Gaza as authorities cut off electricity and blocked the entry of food and fuel. And on Friday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ordered all Gaza civilians to leave the area and head southward a command that the United Nations said is impossible to carry out. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} It began with a letter. On 7 October, the same day Hamas launched a surprise cross-border attack on Israel, a group of student organisations at Harvard University released a statement on social media arguing that Israels apartheid regime created the conditions leading to and was entirely responsible for the war, which has now killed over 2,600 people in Israel and Gaza, including numerous civilians. Todays events did not occur in a vacuum, the statement read. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. The statement also called on Harvard to disinvest its considerable endowment from any companies tied to Israeli settlements in the West Bank deemed illegal by large portions of the international community. A week on from the Hamas attack on Israel Harvard is not a normal university. It has produced eight former US presidents, four current Supreme Court justices, and countless other influential leaders in government and the business world. Its policies on subjects like affirmative action often serve as stand-ins for the rest of US academia. As Harvard goes, so goes America. So, when the student groups letter provoked a range of responses and numerous criticisms, it quickly turned into a national political and cultural debate at the highest level, with various sides accusing each other of dangerous tactics, bad faith debate, and breaches of intellectual freedom and free speech. According to those involved in academic conversations and campus activism around the Israel-Palestine conflict and occupation, this toxic environment is not a rare occurence, but rather a regular, troubling feature of their world. The backlash to the letter was swift. Influential Harvard alums like US Senator Ted Cruz and former Harvard president and Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers quickly weighed in online. The silence from Harvards leadership, so far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported student groups statement blaming Israel solely, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel, Mr Summers wrote on X. To be clear nothing is wrong with criticizing Israeli policy past, present or future, he added. I have been sharply critical of[Israeli] PM [Benjamin] Netanyahu. But that is very different from lack of clarity regarding terrorism. A group of 17 student organisations, including Harvard Hillel and Harvard Chabad, as well as roughly 500 faculty and staff, responded with letters of their own, The Harvard Crimson reports. Nearly 160 Harvard faculty, in their letter, said the student signees of the original statement can be seen as nothing less than condoning the mass murder of civilians based only on their nationality. The events of this week are not complicated, the faculty response reads. Sometimes there is such a thing as evil, and it is incumbent upon educators and leaders to call it out, as they have with school shootings and terrorist attacks. But the controversy quickly escalated past an exchange of statements and letters to something more charged. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman wrote on social media that fellow executives had been asking him to release the names of the individual students who signed onto the original letter so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members. If, in fact, their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known, he continued. One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts. Other executives, like the CEOs of Sweetgreen and MeUndies, voiced their support for the effort, with Jonathan Shokrian of MeUndies comparing the ideas in the original letter to a cancer. By Wednesday, a truck appeared near the Harvard campus, circling the university and displaying photos of Harvard students and organisations allegedly linked to the original statement. As tensions on campus rose, suddenly there was a backlash to the backlash, with groups and figures with a variety of different perspectives expressing a feeling that things had gone too far. As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, Harvards president Claudine Gay wrote in a statement released on Tuesday. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever ones individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region. We will all be well served in such a difficult moment by rhetoric that aims to illuminate and not inflame, she added. And I appeal to all of us in this community of learning to keep this in mind as our conversations continue. Student Sanaa M Kahloon of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee told The Crimson the groups overall message had been misinterpreted. To restate what should be obvious: the PSC staunchly opposes violence against civilians Palestinian, Israeli, or other, Ms Kahloon said. On social media, the committee said it had been flooded with racist hate speech and death threats, forcing the group to postpone a planned vigil intended to mourn all innocent lives lost. Meanwhile, some of those who condemned the original student letter also took issue with the tactics of its critics. Harvard Hillel strongly condemns any attempts to threaten and intimidate co-signatories of the Palestine Solidarity Committees statement, including the bus on campus displaying the names and faces of students affiliated with the groups who have signed it, the organization said in an online statement. We will continue to reject the PSCs statement in the strongest terms and demand accountability for those who signed it, the statement continued. But under no circumstances should that accountability extend to public intimidation of individuals. Mr Summers, the former Harvard president, also expressed his concern. I yield to no one in my revulsion at the statement apparently made on behalf of 30 plus @Harvard student groups, he wrote on X on Wednesday. But please everybody take a deep breath. Many in these groups never saw the statement before it went out. In some case those approving did not understand exactly what they were approving. Probably some were naive and foolish. This is not a time where it is constructive to vilify individuals and I am sorry that is happening. Harvard legal scholar Laurence Tribe, speaking with CNN, compared the doxxing attempts to McCarthyism, the Cold War-era hunt for supposed Communists at US institutions that led to numerous abuses of the First Amendment. Harvard wasnt the only campus where the ongoing war created tensions. At the University of Indiana, police reportedly had to step in between dueling demonstrations about the war on Monday, where exchanges ranged from peaceful coversations between different groups to one group of protesters calling a Palestinian student organisation advocating for peace and non-violence terrorists. At California State University Long Beach, a rally in support of Palestine provoked condemnation from the school administration. A flyer for the event appeared to show the silhouette of a Hamas fighter flying a paraglider, a seeming reference to the surprise attack on Israeli civilians carried out over the weekend, the Long Beach Post reports. We reject any glorification of war or celebration of death, and we acknowledge the pain caused by speech that does, Chief Communications Officer Jeffery Cook said in a statement to the paper, calling the event deeply offensive in light of the loss of life and unspeakable violence during this conflict. The event was not advocating any sort of terrorism or any hostility toward a certain population, one of the speakers at the event said, the paper reports. We condemn all forms of anti-semitism and Jew hatred, the speaker continued. It pains me that we have to emphasize the fact that we are not anti-Semitic, we are not Jew-hating. We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are rightfully fighting back against the fascist Zionist state, another speaker told the outlet. When oppressed people struggle for self-determination, liberation and return against fascist occupation, why are we called terrorists? The explosive atmosphere around campus conversations about the situation in Israel-Palestine is nothing new. Academics researching the conflict and criticising Israel allege they have been unfairly lumped in with antisemites or hounded by outside advocacy groups, while Jewish student groups and alumni have allegedly suffered harassment because of their identity. Harassment of Jewish students is rising in the US, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which reported a 41 per cent increase in antisemitic incidents on campuses in 2022, a climb faster than general hate incidents on campus, per the group. Acts of vandalism on campus included the desecration of mezuzot (small ritual items that some Jews affix to the doorframe of their homes) in residence halls, as well as antisemitic messages such as Jews did 9/11, Kanye was right, Hitler and F*** Israel in academic and residential halls, according to the ADL report. In addition to the 219 incidents that took place on college campuses, 25 incidents occurred at Hillels, the ADL said elsewhere in its research. Hillels are centers of campus Jewish life Hillel-related antisemitic incidents add to an environment of fear for Jewish students on campus. Palestine Legal, a group which provides legal support to members of the Palestine solidarity movement, said in a recent letter about challenges to an upcoming conference on Zionism at UC Santa Cruz that it had logged over 2,200 incidents since 2014 of suppression of Palestinian rights advocacy, many involving harassment and censorship attempts by university administrations and right-wing organizations aimed at intimidating Palestinians and their supporters into silence and inaction. Beyond just relating to certain events or groups on campus, even respected academics of Israel-Palestine affairs have been subjected to heated public campaigns related to their scholarship. A Barnard alumna living in a West Bank settlement helped fuel a long-running, ultimately unsucessful public campaign against the tenure petition of Nadia Abu El-Haj, an American anthropologist with a Palestinian father whose research has suggested that as Israeli archaeologists searched for an ancient Jewish presence to help build the case for a Jewish state They sometimes used bulldozers, destroying remains of other cultures, including those of Arabs. At issue, according to observers of the debate, is where to draw the line between spirited, constitutionally protected and culturally vital campus debate, and speech and activism that crosses over into the dangerous advocacy of hate violence. An instructive example can be found in the 2023 Palestine Writes Literature Festival, which took place in September on the campus of another prestigious Ivy League university, the University of Pennsylvania. The event, which was not sponsored by the university itself, featured over 100 speakers and artists from Palestine and its larger diaspora, dedicated, according to its organisers, to the belief that art challenges repression and creates bonds between Palestine and the rest of the world. The festival, according to its creators, is the only North American literature festival dedicated to celebrating and promoting cultural productions of Palestinian writers and artists. The festival attracted controversy for inviting figures like professor Marc Lamont Hill, who was removed from CNN in 2018 after making remarks calling for an end to what he said was Israels ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and supporting a free Palestine from the river to the sea. Others took issue with presenters using the academic frame of settler-colonialism to discuss Zionism and Israeli policy, and the festivals screening of a 2021 film called Farha, which dramatises incidents of the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe in Arabic), the name Palestinians give to the exodus and expulsion of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians from their homes during the wars surrounding the creation of the modern state of Israel. The university disavowed the event, but supported its right to be held on campus. While the Festival will feature more than 100 speakers, many have raised deep concerns about several speakers who have a documented and troubling history of engaging in antisemitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people, university leaders wrote in a statement. We unequivocally and emphatically condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values. As a university, we also fiercely support the free exchange of ideas as central to our educational mission. This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values. Some did not share this perspective on the event. Marc Rowan, a Penn alum, businessman, and chairman of the board of advisers of the universitys famed Wharton business school, wrote about the festival in a letter to the student paper urging alumni to cease donations until university leadership resigned. Numerous speakers repeated various blood libels against Jews, whom they referred to as European settlers despite their 3,000-year presence in Israel, he wrote. (A community of Jewish people existed in the land thats now the state of Israel before modern statehood, and large proportions of Europeans, many of them fleeing persecution, settled in the territory between the end of the 19th century and the mid-1900s.) Imagine in the wake of George Floyd, a group of professors getting together and deciding that this would be a good night to hold a white nationalist rally. My guess is the university would have found its voice, he told CNBCs Squawk Box on Thursday. Others argue that equating arts and scholarship critical of Israel with hate, violence, and antisemitism is itself an ironic and violent historical erasure. Whats on display here, above all, is the culture of denial that has been characteristic of American Zionismespecially its more liberal formulationsfor decades, Saree Makdisi, a professor of English at UCLA and author of Tolerance is a Wasteland: Palestine and the Culture of Denial, wrote in The Nation. The mainstream institutions of contemporary American Zionism have no way to reconcile themselves with the history and material circumstances of Zionism as it has actually been put into practice in Palestine from the early 20th century to the present day. If its not clear by now, there are far more than just two sides to the debate surrounding the Israel-Palestine crisis. Perhaps the one thing that unites this constellation of opinions is a sense that the conversation on campus surrounding the reality of the crisis is broken, just like the broken world it seeks to address. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The US is scrambling evacuation flights to get American citizens out of Israel as the war with Hamas continues to escalate. The State Department is arranging charter flights starting from Friday for US citizens and their immediate family members who have been unable to book commercial flights and are seeking to leave Israel. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced the plans in a press conference on Thursday, saying that evacuees will be flown from Israel to Europe. From Europe, Americans will be expected to make their own onward travel arrangements. Mr Kirby said the Biden administration is still working through some of the details of how many flights are needed and how many will be arranged. Were exploring other options, whether its possible to help Americans leave by land and sea, he said. It is also currently unclear if the charter flights will be free of charge. Any American citizens seeking to leave Israel are urged to complete an intake form on the State Department website. President Joe Biden had faced calls from both Democrats and Republicans to launch charter flights and potential military flights to evacuate Americans. A group of lawmakers sent a letter urging the president to act to help constituents overseas who are now in fear for their lives. As the number of casualties continues to rise, our constituents who remain in Israel fear for their lives, they said. We ask that you consider charter flights and military options for evacuation, simultaneously. Antony Blinken embraces music festival terror attack survivor during visit to Israeli donation centre (US Pool) The situation for Americans seeking to leave was made more complicated this week when several US commercial airlines stopped service to Tel Aviv in the wake of the violence this week. American Airlines announced it was cancelling all flights to and from Tel Aviv through to December, United Airlines cancelled flights indefinitely and Delta Air Lines axed flights at least until the end of the month. Mr Kirby said that the Biden administration does not have hard figures on how many Americans are currently in Israel and how many of those would like to leave. However, at least 27 American citizens have been killed, while 14 are believed to have been kidnapped since the violence began. In what marked a surprise attack, Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel on Saturday morning, killing, kidnapping and injuring civilians. The Israeli military has said that more than 1,300 people were killed in the attacks. An unknown number of people have also been kidnapped and are being held hostage back in Gaza, with their desperate family members begging for them to come home safely. Israel has responded to the Hamas attacks by pummeling Gaza with retaliatory air strikes which have killed at least 1,500 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Israel also ordered a complete siege of Gaza, cutting off supplies of electricity, water, food and fuel and sparking fears of an escalating humanitarian crisis. Neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip have suffered from Israeli airstrikes (REUTERS) For Americans in Gaza, Mr Kirby said on Thursday that the US has no physical means of getting that travel out at this moment in time. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Tel Aviv on Thursday to meet his Israeli counterparts and pledge the USs commitment to support the allied nation amid the ongoing violence. During the visit, the USs top diplomat reinforced Mr Bidens stance that the US is firmly standing with Israel, saying that the administration will work quickly and swiftly with Congress to support Tel Aviv as its needs evolve. I came to Israel bearing a simple message. The US stands with Israel and with its people today, tomorrow, every day, he said. During his visit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office posted distressing photos of some of the infant victims killed in the Hamas attack on social media and said that they had shared them with the US secretary of state. The graphic images showed the bodies of what appeared to be three babies. Two of them were burned beyond recognition; the third image was blurred but showed blood-stained clothes on the infant. In a solemn moment at a press conference on Thursday, Mr Blinken told reporters that what he had seen defies comprehension and is simply depravity in the worst imaginable way. We did see photos, videos that the Israeli government shared with us. Some I think have actually already been seen in public media. Others were new to me and I think new to our team, he said. Its hard to find the right words. Its beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and, god forbid, experience. He added: Images are worth a thousand words, these images may be worth a million. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is travelling to Israel to meet with Mr Netanyahou and other Israeli leaders on Friday Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Israeli-American family who came under attack by Hamas militants on Saturday texted relatives to say they made it to their shelters safely but then sent harrowing messages of their final moments as they were slaughtered in their home. Theyre here. Theyre burning us. Were suffocating, Johnny Siman Tov texted his sister Ranae Butler, who lives in Israel, The Times of Israel reported. Tov, along with his wife Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov, 35, and their three children 6-year-old twin girls Shahar and Arbel and 4-year-old son Omer as well as his mother, Carol Siman Tov, 70, were all killed in the Hamas attack on Saturday. The family of six were at their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on the Gaza border when a barrage of Hamas rockets hit. They then fled to safe rooms and texted friends and family that they were secure. Hi guys, we got into the shelter in our house, we are all going OK, Tamar texted a loved one. But an hour later the texts had stopped. Hamas militants had broken into their home and gunned them down in their safe room. Tovs mother, Carol, was shot to death in her own safe room. The Siman-Tov family were massacred by Hamas (Facebook) Our hearts are shattered, a family friend, Yishai Lacob, posted on Facebook. An entire family was killed by evil murderers who shot the children and parents simply because they were Jewish. And this is just one story, among so many. Its unbearable. Johnny Tov was an operations manager and wheat farmer on the kibbutz, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. His wife, Tamar, grew up in Jerusalem and received her masters in management and public policy at Ben-Gurion University. She was a community leader who was running to become head of the Eshkol Regional Council. She also served as an advisor to the Ministry of the Interior on regional issues and was the former director of the Bikurim Youth Village for Excellence in Art and Music, a boarding school for at-risk youth. Love Sukkot! Tamar wrote on Facebook on Thursday, just two days before they were killed. I enjoy the campaigning and am moved by the support and sympathy of the people I meet. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Jewish community leaders in Washington held a pro-Israel rally near the White House on Friday, 13 Octover. Protestors marched after Hamas militants invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip. President Joe Biden has offered strong support to Israelis as the conflict with Hamas continues. The United States stands with Israel, Mr Biden said after the conflict began. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel yesterday to ease tensions as the situation escalates in the region. He held a joint press conference with Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani earlier today. We continue to discuss with Israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. We recognise that many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives, Mr Blinken said. It comes as Israeli armed forces prepare for a ground assault of the region. UN officials have warned the movement of an estimated 1.1 million Palestinians from northern Gaza to the south would spark a humanitarian crisis. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Idaho town was evacuated after a huge gas line explosion caused rumbles to be felt across the area. The Canyon County Sheriffs Office ordered the evacuation of anyone within a four-mile radius of Purple Sage Road and Duff Lane in Middleton, Idaho due to a gas line explosion that occurred near the intersection. Officials urged locals to contact anyone you might know in that general area and help get them evacuated as a safety precaution following the accident on Thursday morning. Authorities later reported that the gas had been turned off. The evacuation notice has been lifted. Anyone within a 4-mile radius is being asked to shelter in place at this time, the sheriffs office wrote. A worker in an excavator dug through a 22-inch Williams pipeline, natural gas transmission line, causing the explosion, the battalion chief said. The excavator operator suffered minor injuries and has been treated at a local hospital, he added. Following the explosion, locals reported hearing rumbles nearby, sheriffs office spokesperson Joe Decker told the Associated Press. The explosion was felt and the gas flow could be felt about a mile away. It was a pretty substantial explosion just due to the pressure in that line, Middleton Star Fire District Battalion Chief David Jones said during a briefing. It was a pretty substantial explosion just due to the pressure in that line, Mr Jones added. However, he clarified that there shouldnt be an interruption in local gas service to the 10,000 residents of Middleton. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Members of the New York Police Department (NYPD) have been ordered to report in uniform on Friday, following calls for global protests by an ex-Hamas chief. The department has cancelled all time-off for officers on the day, in response to the potential threats, according to an internal message obtained by ABC News and other US outlets. All uniformed members of the service are to perform duty in the uniform of the day - effective immediately and until further notice, all uniformed members of the service, in every rank, will perform duty in the uniform of the day and be prepared for deployment, ABC reported. The action comes in response to a statement from Khaled Meshaal, who served as chief of Hamas from 2004 to 2017, in which he called on the Islamic world to stage the protests. [We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday, Meshaal said in a recorded statement sent to Reuters. A statement from the NYPD, shared with The Independent, read: The NYPDs Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau deploys a wide array of resources to protect the city based on events unfolding here and around the world. This includes high-visibility resources like the Critical Response Command and Counterterrorism officers, as well as our Intelligence Division personnel. Given the situation unfolding in Israel, we have surged resources to sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution and to ensure that all New Yorkers stay safe. It comes as the violent conflict between Hamas and Israel reached its sixth day, with more than 1,000 casualties reported on both sides. Protests have been staged around the world in major cities including London and New York since the outbreak. On Monday, protesters from both sides of the conflict rallied at the Israeli consulate in New York, forcing police intervention. Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner of the NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division said Fridays protests were being referred to by some groups online as a global day of rage. "We're trying to make sure that violence doesn't manifest on the streets of New York City," she said, per ABC. "There's the part that you see, which involves a lot of officers, some of our counterterrorism officers, our Critical Response Command folks who are high visibility patrols, heavy weapons armed and trained responding to locations throughout the city, schools, houses of worship, sensitive locations. Pro-Palestine protests in New York (The Independent) "And then there's the intelligence side, which is the part that you don't see-the online monitoring for threats and making sure that we can anticipate whether there's any reflection back to the city based on the overseas events." Earlier this week, NYC mayor Eric Adams condemned pro-Hamas protesters gathered in Times Square after one was reportedly seen brandishing a swastika, decribing them as disgusting. On Monday he said: Throughout the day, Ive been monitoring the protest that started in Times Square and that moved through our streets to outside the Israeli Consulate Generals Office in New York. At a moment when innocent people are being slaughtered and children kidnapped in Israel, it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism. I reject this. New York City rejects this. Do not use our streets to spread your hate, he added. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A driver fatally shot after ramming his car into the Chinese consulate in San Francisco has been identified as 31-year-old Zhanyuan Yang. Yang rammed a blue sedan into the visa office on Geary Boulevard shortly after 3pm on Monday. The driver was killed when police then opened fire on the vehicle. A witness said he was bleeding from the head as he exited the vehicle yelling about the CCP, an abbreviation for the Chinese Communist Party. Yang later died at the hospital. The city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the driver on Thursday, adding that his family had been notified. It provided no additional information. The Chinese consulate's visa office reopened on Thursday after authorities publicly identified the driver. Yang was reportedly waving a knife in close proximity to officers just moments before he was shot by the police, according to local media. Investigators say they have recovered a crossbow from the scene and an unnamed White House source told the Associated Press that it is believed the driver was acting with malign intent. The licence plate of the car Yang crashed into the visa office was registered under a different name, authorities said. Police on Monday said they did not know the motive behind smashing the car into the consulate, which is in a residential neighbourhood next to a major street. Yang was described as a "very reserved" person by his roommate. He had a cache of replica firearms at his Inner Sunset home along with a book about political assassinations, The San Francisco Standard reported. He reportedly had five handguns in the room as well as a "pile of assault weapons and a knife in one corner". Files in Yang's room indicated that he was from Shandong Province, according to the Standard, which reported that postcards on the wall suggest he had been living in the apartment since 2016. A large drone was also found in his room. His roommate, who refused to be identified, said Yang had been acting "oddly in recent months". She added: "If he became radicalised, it was recent." Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A Stanford University lecturer singled out students based on their backgrounds while discussing the Israel-Hamas war, according to students. The prestigious California school announced on Wednesday that it had received reports that a non-faculty instructor allegedly addressed the Middle East conflict in a manner that called out individual students in class based on their backgrounds and identities. The university said the instructor is no longer teaching while the incident is being investigated. A school spokesperson did not provide comment on the incident beyond Wednesdays announcement. Nourya Cohen and Andrei Mandelshtam, co-presidents of Stanfords Israeli Student Association, told the San Francisco Chronicle that a lecturer called out individual students in class based on their backgrounds and identities. The pair reportedly interviewed some students enrolled in a course called College 101, and those students wanted to remain anonymous, given the tension surrounding the conflict on college campuses and the world over. Apparently, the lecturer taught two unplanned lessons on Tuesday with a total of 18 students. According to one anonymous student who spoke to the duo, one lesson the instructor led focused on colonialism. The instructor allegedly blamed the ongoing war on Zionists, the outlet reported, and said that Hamas attack was an act of resistance. He then asked Jewish students to raise their hands, before separating those students from their belongings in an effort to reenact what Jews were doing to Palestinians, the outlet said, based on Ms Cohens account. He asked how many Jews died in the Holocaust, Ms Cohen added. When students replied that six million had died in the Holocaust, he said, Yes. Only six million, she said. In addition, students told the co-presidents that the instructor asked whether students knew who former King Leopold of Belgium was. No one reacted. Thats when the lecturer said the former ruler who colonised Congo in the late 1800s had killed 12 million Africans. Then, according to the pair of student leaders, the instructor informed College 101 students that more people died from colonisation than from the Holocaust. The lecturer then added that colonisation was what has happened to Palestinians. The instructor reportedly then asked students to say where their ancestors were from and then marked each one as either coloniser or colonised, depending on their answers. One student said they had ancestors from Israel, prompting the lecturer to say: Oh, definitely a coloniser. Ms Cohen reflected on hearing fellow students stories: I feel absolutely dehumanised that someone in charge of students and developing minds could possibly try and justify the massacre of my people, she said. Its like Im reliving the justification of Nazis 80 years ago on todays college campus. In a statement, the college wrote: We have heard many expressions of concern regarding student safety. We have heard from Jewish students, faculty, and staff concerned about rising antisemitism. We have heard from Palestinian students who have received threatening emails and phone calls. We want to make clear that Stanford stands unequivocally against hatred on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, and other categories. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The billionaire CEO of a New York private equity firm has demanded that University of Pennsylvania leaders quit in a row over alleged anti-semitism. In an unpublished op-ed written for UPenns student newspaper and obtained by Insider, Marc Rowan demanded that the schools president, Elizabeth Magill, and the chairman of its board of trustees, Scott Bok, both step down. Mr Rowan, who runs Apollo Global Management, called for the ousters after his alma mater hosted the Palestine Writes Literary Festival last month. The event, which was not sponsored by the university, featured over 100 speakers and artists from Palestine and its diaspora dedicated, according to its organisers, to the belief that art challenges repression and creates bonds between Palestine and the rest of the world. The festival attracted controversy for inviting figures like professor Marc Lamont Hill, who was removed from CNN in 2018 after making remarks calling for an end to what he said was Israels ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and supporting a free Palestine from the river to the sea. Others took issue with presenters using the academic frame of settler-colonialism to discuss Zionism and Israeli policy. Organisers of the festival have denied it embraced antisemitism, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. Following the event, more than 4,000 people, including Mr Rowan, signed an open letter to Ms Magill, saying that platforming of outright antisemitism without denunciation from the university is unacceptable. At the time, the university disavowed the event, but supported its right to be held on campus, saying in a statement that we unequivocally and emphatically condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values. As a university, we also fiercely support the free exchange of ideas as central to our educational mission, the statement continued. This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values. But in the wake of Hamas recent attack on Israel, which saw more than 1,200 Israelis killed by Hamas terrorists, Mr Rowan argued that the universitys response was not enough and urged fellow UPenn alumni to close their checkbooks until the institutions leadership resigned. Join me and many others who love UPenn by sending UPenn $1 in place of your normal, discretionary contribution so that no one misses the point, he wrote. President Magills allowing of UPenns imprimatur to be associated with this conference, and her failure to condemn this hate-filled call for ethnic cleansing, normalized and legitimized violence that ranged from the targeting of Jewish students and spaces here at UPenn to the horrific attacks in Israel, he added. He also claimed that following the open letter, the university was working to purge all Trustees with dissenting points of view by explicitly and aggressively demanding those who signed the open letter resign. Apollo CEO Mark Rowan (Reuters) Mr Bok denied Mr Rowans claims, telling Insider it was out of line for Mr Rowan to denounce the board and universitys stance on the festival. Once a leadership team has done appropriate consultation and reached a decision, it is extraordinarily unusual in a corporate, university or nonprofit context for a board member to publicly oppose that decision, let alone solicit others to join their dissenting view, he said in his statement. We did make known to two Trustees pursuing that unusual step that they could consider voluntarily resigning, thereby freeing them from all the constraints involved in serving on a board. Those individuals chose not to resign, and they remain welcome as members of Penns board The dispute follows a similar dispute at Harvard University after a group of 33 student organisations, led by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, released a statement on social media on Saturday arguing that Israels apartheid regime created the impetus for the war. The letter prompted furious backlash, with Harvard professors and alumni calling on the universitys leadership to condemn the letter as well as Hamas, the Gaza-based organisation behind the 7 October attacks. We see sickening parallels between Harvard leaderships inaction against Harvards antisemitism and the failure by UPenns leadership to take a stand against hate, Mr Rowan wrote in his op-ed. Harvards president, Claudine Gay, issued a statement three days after the letter was published condemning the Gaza attacks and distancing the universitys leadership from the letter. As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, she wrote. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever ones individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region. Let me also state, on this matter as on others, that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group not even 30 student groups speaks for Harvard University or its leadership, she added. Billionaire Bill Ackman also called for the names of all Harvard students who signed the letter to be made public. Mr Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, he did not want to inadvertently hire students who were part of the organizations. Other executives, such as the CEOs of Sweetgreen and MeUndies, voiced their support for the effort, with Jonathan Shokrian of MeUndies comparing the ideas in the original letter to a cancer. But by Wednesday, Mr Ackmans call came under fire after a truck appeared near the Harvard campus, circling the university and displaying photos of Harvard students and organisations allegedly linked to the original statement. Meanwhile, the universitys Hillel a center for Jewish students said it strongly condemns any attempts to threaten and intimidate co-signatories of the Palestine Solidarity Committees statement. More than 1,300 Israelis and 1,500 Palestinians have been killed since fighting broke out on Saturday after Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens captive after they broke through the Gaza border. At least 27 American citizens are among the dead, the White House said on Thursday. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The first State Department charter flight ferrying Americans away from the war in Israel landed on Friday in Athens, Greece, a White House official told Reuters. Earlier in the day, the National Security Councils John Kirby confirmed the flight had left for a safe destination in Europe. More flights between Tel Aviv and Athens are scheduled through 19 October, a government source told the wire service. More than 400 Americans signed up for the initial flight out of Israel. "I would add that were also exploring other options to expand the capacity of doing this, including exploring whether its possible to help Americans leave by land and by sea," Mr Kirby said during a briefing on Thursday. As of Thursday, 27 Americans are confirmed by the State Department have died in Israel since the outbreak of the war, and 14 remain unaccounted for, some of whom have likely been kidnapped by Hamas. An estimated 500,000 American citizens live in Israel, including over 200,000 dual US-Israeli citizens. Meanwhile, there are an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 US-Palestinian dual citizens, 10,000 of whom live permanently in Palestinian territories, according to unofficial estimates in Middle East media sources. In a meeting with American Jewish leaders at the White House this week, President Joe Biden said bringing back at-risk Americans is a top priority. We want to make it real clear. Were working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts, Mr Biden said, adding, Theres a lot were doing, a lot were doing. I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home. During a State Department briefing this week, spokesman Matthew Miller said the US would seek to aid its citizens regardless of whether they were living in Israel or the Palestinian territories. It ultimately doesnt matter to us, he said. American citizens are American citizens. The flights, however, are not free. According to an NBC report, the State Department is quoted as saying, You will be asked to sign an agreement to repay the U.S. government prior to departure. In addition, the statement said, You should be prepared to arrange your own lodging and onward travel ... to your final destination. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A teacher stabbed to death at a secondary school in France stepped forward to protect others, said Emmanuel Macron, who described it as a terror attack. The French president said the language teacher, named by a colleague as Dominque Bernard, had without doubt saved many lives. The attack happened at City School Gambetta-Carnot in the town of Arras in the north of the country on Friday at around 11am. Two other people were injured. A former pupil of the school, aged in his 20s, has reportedly been arrested (AFP/Getty Images) French anti-terror prosecutors have taken over the investigation. Visiting the school, Macron told reporters the attack was the result of barbaric Islamist terrorism. He added: The teacher who was killed had come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives. He also said that police had thwarted an attempted attack in another French region - but did not provide any more detail. The suspect being held by police over the school attack is a man in his 20s of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by the French security services over suspected radicalization, local authorities have said. Emmanuel Macron, followed by Pas-de-Calais Prefect Jacques Billant visit the Gambetta high school in Arras (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The French intelligence services told The Associated Press the man had been closely watched since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that found no wrongdoing. A police officer, who was one of the first on the scene, told the news agency that the attacker, a former pupil at the school, shouted: Allahu Akbar - God is great in Arabic. Police said two other men, a second teacher and a security guard, were in critical condition. The attack came amid heightened tensions around the world over Hamas weekend attack on southern Israel and Israels military response. (Reuters) A philosophy teacher who witnessed the attack told AFP he barricaded himself inside the school until police arrived. He said: He attacked canteen staff, I wanted to go down to intervene, he turned to me, chased me and asked me if I was a history and geography teacher. We barricaded ourselves, then the police arrived and immobilized him. A PE teacher told newsoutlet BFMTV he thought the attack was an exercise. He said: The students are shocked, you can see it in their eyes. I can see very clearly who the victim was. Its shocking to hear that siren and know its for real. One pupil told outlet La Voix du Nord: We were leaving class to go to the canteen when we saw the guy with two knives attacking the teacher, who had blood on him. He tried to calm him down and protect us. Pupils are said to still be confined to their classrooms (Reuters) French police announced the situation was under control around an hour after the attack too place (Reuters) He told us to leave, but we didnt really understand, so we ran and others went back upstairs. Macron travelled to Arras along with the interior and education ministers. On his visit, he stopped for a moment before the blanket-covered body of the teacher, which was in the parking area in front of the school. Hundreds of police were deployed around the school and nearby neighbourhoods, including heavily armed units, and barricaded a wide perimeter around the site. Parents said pupils were still confined to the locked-down school more than three hours after the attack. Meanwhile, political leaders have taken to social media to share their shock and sadness, as The National Assembly in Paris suspended its session in solidarity with the victims. Yael Braun-Pivet, president of the countrys National Assembly, said: Horror has just struck a high school in Arras. My thoughts are with the victim, the injured, their families. I give my full support to the entire teaching community and to the students. Thank you to the law enforcement and emergency services mobilized. Jean-Michel Blanquer, former minister for education, said: The assassination of a professor strikes us down once again. Everything is connected. Our inflexibility in the face of the Islamist hydra is the only way. Any complicity, even intellectual, with terrorism is unbearable. The attack has also led to ministers calling for a tightening of security at schools. Gabriel Attal, minister of education, said: A knife attack occurred this morning in Arras, causing several victims. I ask you to take without delay all the necessary measures to strengthen the security of all schools and establishments. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car. We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the Reuters news agency said in a statement. The agency added that Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon that was providing a live signal. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Qatars Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded. Frances international news agency, Agence France-Presse, said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in a statement condemned Israel's shelling that struck the journalists during its aggression on southern Lebanon. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called the deaths another example of the daily dangers journalists face in covering conflict throughout the world and said the world body hopes for an investigation into what happened. Journalists need to be protected and allowed to do their work, he said at a briefing at U.N. headquarters. Later Friday, dozens of Lebanon-based journalists and rights activists gathered outside the National Museum in Beirut to grieve over Abdallah's death and the injury of the journalists. We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issams family and colleagues, Reuters said. Our deepest condolences go out to those affected, and our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time. The shelling occurred during an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border between Israeli troops and members of Lebanons militant Hezbollah group. The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel. Journalists from around the world have been coming to Lebanon out of concern that war might break out between Hezbollah and Israel. - Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report from the United Nations. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} French police are investigating the suspected poisoning of a Russian state TV journalist who denounced Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine live on air and later fell suddenly ill. Marina Ovsyannikova, who escaped Russia after her on-air protest and settled in France, reported feeling suddenly ill as she left her Paris apartment and was hospitalised after she called emergency services. She said she suspected she was poisoned, the Paris prosecutors office said, adding that they were examining her apartment and an investigation was underway. Ovsyannikova, who worked for Russian state televisions Channel One before the war began, drew international headlines in March 2022 when she appeared on screen in the background of a live broadcast by another news anchor and flashed a sign that said: "Stop the war, dont believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here." She was fined 30,000 roubles (460) for her protest but continued her opposition to the war. During a subsequent solo protest in Moscow, she held up a poster which read: Putin is a murderer, his soldiers are fascists. She was then arrested and put under house arrest in August before she fled along with her daughter in the dark of the night. Dissenting Russian Channel One employee entering Ostankino on-air TV studio during Russia's most-watched evening news broadcast, holding up a poster which reads as "No War" on 15 March 2022 (AFP/Getty) Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which assisted Ovsyannikova in her efforts to escape a lengthy trial in Moscow and potentially a prison sentence, helped her settle in Paris. Christophe Deloire, director general of RSF, said he met Ovsyannikova after her malaise outside her Paris apartment. Deloire, writing on X, said the possibility Ovsyannikova had been poisoned had not been ruled out, though she was feeling better since the incident. We have opened an investigation, a spokesperson for the Paris tribunal prosecutors office said by telephone, he said. She said she had a malaise. All we have for the moment is what she said. RSF said its team has been at her side" since she sought medical attention, though they have not disclosed any further details regarding the incident. Earlier this month, a Moscow court sentenced Ovsyannikova in absentia to eight and a half years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian military. Recommended Her sentencing was the latest example of Russias crackdown on dissenting voices in the country, which has intensified since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine around 20 months ago. Russia has called its attack on Ukraine a special military operation and banned organisations or the media from referring to it as a war or invasion. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Russian president Vladimir Putin is visiting Kyrgyzstan for his first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him over war crimes in Ukraine. Mr Putin arrived in the central Asian nation on Thursday for a two-day state visit for bilateral meetings and a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the founding of Russias Kant military airbase outside Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital. The Kremlin chief has rarely taken trips abroad since he launched what he called a special military operation in Ukraine in early 2022 and is not known to have stepped out of Russia since the ICC warrant was issued. The ICC issued a warrant in March on charges of overseeing the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. Russia, which does not recognise the ICCs jurisdiction, has rejected the warrant as illegal and politically motivated. But its issuing has complicated Mr Putins plans for international travel, seeing him miss a key summit of the Brics group of developing nations in South Africa which is an ICC member. Mr Putin is due to travel to China next week for the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. Neither Kyrgyzstan nor China are members of the ICC, which was established to prosecute war crimes. During his visit to Bishkek, Mr Putin promised to continue to deliver modern weapons to its military base in Kyrgyzstan. Chair of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Zhaparov walking with Russia's President Vladimir Putin upon his arrival at the Manas International Airport in Bishkek (CABINET OF MINISTERS OF KYRGYZST) For my part, I would like to offer assurances that the Russian leadership will continue to pay close attention to the issues of providing the air base with advanced types of weapons, modern technology and equipment, said Mr Putin. "This military outpost significantly contributes to boosting Kyrgyzstans defensive power and ensuring security and stability in the whole region of Central Asia," he added. The leader highlighted double-digit growth in Russia and Kyrgyz trade, which analysts suggest is due to violation of Western sanctions by Russian businesses. He reiterated Russias importance as a strong trade partner for Kyrgyzstan. Our country is the main supplier of oil products to Kyrgyzstan, we fully supply Kyrgyz consumers with gasoline (petrol) and diesel, Mr Putin told a briefing. Russia is one of the leading trade partners of Kyrgyzstan. Our trade turnover grew 37 per cent last year to a record of nearly $3.5bn. In the first half of this year it grew a further 17.9 per cent, he added. The Russian president is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings including with Kyrgyz president Sadyr Japarov and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, and conclude with his attendance at a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of former Soviet nations. Moscows relationships with other nations in a region it has historically considered its sphere of influence have faced challenges due to Western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the situation in Ukraine. Last week, the central bank of Kyrgyzstan called upon domestic banks to enhance their monitoring and enforcement measures to ensure better adherence to Western sanctions targeting Moscow. It comes after the US imposed sanctions on four Kyrgyz companies in July for re-exporting electronics components and other technology to Russia. Additional reporting by agencies For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The Ukrainian military continues to hold its ground in the face of Russias relentless assault on the eastern city of Avdiivka, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as the battle intensified for a third day. Russia has moved a large armoured column of three battalions, including some 2,000 troops, dozens of armoured vehicles and jets into the northern flank of the Avdiivka front for what has been described as the biggest military offensive in months. The Ukrainian forces said they had repelled more than 20 attacks by the Russian army in Avdiivka and the surrounding regions in the past 24 hours, in what was described as a blow to Moscows attempts to use the offensive to show that the tide of the war was turning in its favour. Mr Zelensky said: Avdiivka. We are holding our ground. It is Ukrainian courage and unity that will determine how this war will end. We must all remember this. Municipal officials said that the Russian attacks were relentless and that the enemy was attacking from all sides. Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the citys military administration, told Ukrainian television: The enemy does not stop storming, they come from all directions. Ukrainian Special Operations forces said Kyivs troops had foiled the plans of the crazed enemy, repelled all attacks and held their positions. Avdiivka holds significant strategic importance for Russia, serving as the crucial gateway to Donetsk, the primary communication hub within the occupied territories. To gain a foothold in occupied Donbas, the Kremlin aims to shift the front line away from Donetsk. Smoke rises from an area in the direction of Avdiivka, as seen from Donetsk, on 11 October (Reuters) In 2022, Russian forces initiated an offensive against Avdiivka, attempting to encircle the city deeply from both sides. This offensive was halted and the region has become a symbol of resistance, holding out against Russian troops ever since. On average, there are 50-60 instances of intense shelling with artillery and rockets targeting the town, said Mr Barabash. As for military positions, they get hit at least 500-600 times a day. Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraines southern group of forces, said Russia saw Avdiivka as an opportunity to win a significant victory and turn the tide of fighting. Today the capture or encirclement of Avdiivka is probably the most it can achieve at this stage, he said. Geolocated footage of the area showed that Russia had advanced in some villages southwest and northwest of Avdiivka this week, according to the Institute for the Study of War, an American non-profit research group and think tank. Around 64 clashes have been reported in the last 24 hours, involving 4 missile attacks, 65 airstrikes, and around 54 attacks using multiple-launch rocket systems on Ukrainian troops and various settlements, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an update on Facebook. In the latest overnight attacks, Russia intensified strikes on Danube River ports in the southern Odesa region, which has become Kyivs main route for food exports since July, when Moscow abandoned a deal allowing shipments via the Black Sea. A military spokesperson said Russia had hit a grain storage facility in the Odesa region, and that some grain had been damaged, but he did not say how much. It comes amid fears that Moscow will intensify attacks on power infrastructure to freeze Ukrainians as winter sets in, in a repeat of events last winter. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a joint press conference with Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Friday, 13 October. Mr Blinken landed in Israel on Thursday, 12 October, where he was welcomed by Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen. The Secretary of State is also scheduled to meet with Palestinian officials during his visit to the region, which comes as Israeli armed forces continue to amass near the border with Gaza to prepare for a ground invasion. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) issued their evacuation notice at midnight and ordered Palestinians to evacuate Gaza. The IDF has claimed areas near Gaza City had been used for Hamas military operations. Hamas urged citizens to remain at home and stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war. Mr Blinken confirmed 1,300 Israelis have died so far in the conflict. The Gaza health ministry has said 1,799 Palestinians have been killed in strikes by the IDF. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Gazas heathcare system is collapsing and overflowing hospitals are just days away from completely running out of supplies amid the most ferocious Israeli bombardment ever recorded, Palestinian officials have warned. Intensive care units (ICUs) across the tiny enclave are beyond capacity, forcing doctors to switch off life-support machines for patients deemed hopeless cases. They are doing this to make way for the unprecedented influx of newly wounded, Gazas deputy health minister has said. In our religion and ethics, we shouldnt do this, but we have no choice, Dr Yusuf Abu al-Reesh added. Israel imposed a total siege on the tiny enclave after militants belonging to Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, launched a surprise deadly attack on Saturday, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens of people, including Britons, hostage. Rights groups have warned that the decision to impose a siege on the enclave, which is home to more than 2 million people, constitutes collective punishment and is a violation of international law. However, Israels energy minister, Israel Katz, doubled down on Thursday, saying that nothing would be allowed into Gaza until the hostages were released. The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it was ramping up its heaviest bombardment of the strip. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in the onslaught, half of them women and children. More than 6,600 have been injured. The combination is creating a humanitarian catastrophe, United Nations officials have warned. As the wounded poured in, Gazas health ministry officials said that hospitals, including al-Shifa, the largest in the enclave, had just days left of supplies. Some of the wounded at al-Shifa hospital (Gaza Health Ministry) Stocks of vital medicines for emergency departments, such as fluids, bandages and surgical instruments, are said to be running out. Water is in such short supply that doctors at al-Shifa have resorted to using an old well. We expanded the hospital by 50 per cent, but even that is full, and we are treating people under a tent in the street, said deputy health minister Dr Abu al-Reesh from the medical complex in the heart of Gaza City, with desperation in his voice. He shared photos of children, drenched in blood, being treated four to a stretcher on the floor. There are no places in the ICU. So for the first time, we have to switch off ICU machines for cases which the doctors believe are hopeless, to make space for those who might have a chance of surviving, he told The Independent. We are collapsing. The United Nations Palestinian refugee aid agency, UNRWA, is meanwhile frantically negotiating with countries around the world to secure a humanitarian corridor. The UN is currently sheltering 220,000 displaced people in 98 of its schools, but their water supply will run out in a few days. Terrified families in Gaza told The Independent on Thursday that they had received leaflets dropped from Israeli aircraft telling them to evacuate, but they didn't know where to go. The airstrikes are so heavy they feel like heart attacks, said 21-year-old Sara, a student who was sheltering with five different displaced families. Houses and buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza City (Reuters) And the war, which has already claimed a total of at least 2,700 lives, is expected to escalate. Tamara al-Rifae, a UNRWA spokesperson, said that with Israeli doubling down on its siege, All eyes are now on the passage through Rafah to Egypt. That is the only way for aid convoys and personnel to go in, she continued. Our highest priority is to find a way for humanitarian personnel and supplies to safely enter Gaza. This is a call for humanitarian access. But Egypts foreign ministry said on Thursday that airstrikes have prevented Rafah from operating. Egypt has tried unsuccessfully to convince Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through the crossing. Gaza was already short on supplies before the latest conflict erupted, as it has been subject to a 16-year siege imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas seized control of the strip. Israel has mobilised 360,000 reservists and appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza, with its government under intense public pressure to topple Hamas, which has ruled the territory since 2007 and remained firmly in control through four previous wars. Defence officials said on Thursday that they would keep bombing Gaza until Hamas is wiped from the earth. The air force said it had dropped more than 6,000 bombs on Gaza to date. The Israeli military said that more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, had been killed in Israel, a staggering toll on a scale unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Fears are growing over the safety of dozens of hostages being held in Gaza after attacks by Hamas over the weekend. Israels troops are battling to clear out Hamas gunmen more than two days after they carried out the deadly rampage that has left hundreds of people dead. Hostages, including members of the Israeli Defence Forces as well as civilians, some of whom were taken from a nearby music festival on Saturday, are currently being held in the heavily-militarised Gaza area. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, said it was an unprecedented [moment] in our history that we have so many Israeli nationals in the hands of a terrorist organisation. Below we look at everything we know about the hostage situation. What has happened? On Saturday, members of the al Qassam brigades crossed into Israel via land, sea and air, flooding into nearby civilian towns and engaging in violent clashes with the IDF. In a post on Telegram, a Brigades spokesperson said they had captured dozens of (Israeli) officers and soldiers in the first day of fighting. We bring good news to our (Palestinian) prisoners and our people that the al Qassam Brigades have dozens of captured (Israeli) officers and soldiers in their hands, the groups spokesman Abu Obaida said. They have been secured in safe places and resistance tunnels. Noa Argamani was filmed being seized from the festival on a motorbike (Telegram) Avinatan Or was filmed as he was kidnapped by Hamas alongside girlfeind Ms Argamani (Sourced) IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari later confirmed Hamas fighters had taken hostages from the border community of Beeri and the town of Okafim, 20 miles east of Gaza. He described these as the main focal points of the unfolding crisis. Local Channel 12 also reported that infiltrators had taken hostages in Netiv HaAsara. A second Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad, said it was also holding more than 30 captives. The hostages are not only soldiers. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, the militarys international spokesperson reported later in the weekend that civilians, children and grandmothers were among those being held captive. An unknown number of civilians who had been attending a music festival near Kibbutz Reim, close to the Gaza border, are also believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas. One video shows a woman attending the festival being hoisted onto the back of a motorcycle and driven away by Hamas fighters. Other footage geolocated to inside Gaza showed a barefoot woman being pulled from the trunk of a jeep by a gunman. Her face is bleeding and her wrists appear to be tied behind her back. What does Hamas want and where are the hostages now? Understanding where those hostages have been taken is difficult. Miles of underground tunnels built by Hamas run beneath the enclave, many of which are unmapped. Other hostages might be kept overground with other fighters. They will not be immediately distinguishable from the Palestinian civilians and Hamas fighters around them. This difficulty is one of the main issues facing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu when considering a possible military invasion. The risk of killing Israeli civilians remains incredibly high. What Hamas intentions are for the hostages is also unclear, though it is likely they have been taken to deter an Israeli invasion of the enclave. 26-year-old Briton Jake Marlowe is among those believed to have been taken (Jake Marlowe/Facebook) Who has been taken? There is no definitive list of who has been taken hostage by Hamas. The Israeli forces are being careful not to reveal exactly how many they believe to have been taken. An IDF spokesperson Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said last night: I can only say that we are talking about many many Israelis Women, children, infants, elderly and even disabled people. However, families have shared their concerns for missing loved ones who could either be held captive or killed following the attacks. Among those who have yet to be found is 26-year-old Briton Jake Marlowe, who had been providing security at the music festival near the enclave. Kim Damti, an Irish-Israeli woman, was last in contact with family on Saturday morning (Sourced) Another Briton, photographer Dan Darlington who was visiting from his home in Berlin, Germany, is also missing. Irish-Israeli citizen Kim Damti, 22, is another young woman among those who have yet to be found. Her mother last spoke to her at 6.30am local time on Saturday. She was last seen at a party in southern Israel the night before. Ms Damtis brother instructed his sister to take shelter but the family has not heard from her since. Shani Louk, a German tatto artist, was captured by Hamas (Sourced) The woman seen being taken away from the music festival on the back of a motorbike has been identified as Noa Argamani. Her boyfriend Avinatan Or was also filmed being apprehended and being made to walk with his hands behind his back. A German-Israeli national, Shani Louk, has been identified as another hostage. A video showed her unconscious at the festival being displayed by armed militants shouting Allahu Akbar. Mexicos foreign minister Alicia Barcena said on Sunday she believed two of their nationals, a man and a woman, had been taken hostage. At least three Brazilian nationals are also missing, according to Brazilian authorities. On Sunday evening, Israelis whose family members are either missing or have been taken hostage held a joint news conference. For many, they only found out their friends and relatives had been taken when they saw videos posted by Hamas on social media and through WhatsApp groups. One father and husband, Yoni Asher, said he found out about his family being kidnapped when he saw a video of a gunman seizing his wife and two small daughters. My two little girls, theyre only babies. Theyre not even five-years-old and three-years-old, Mr Asher said. Another father, Uri David, said he had been on the phone with his two daughters, Tair and Odaya, before they were suddenly cut off. I heard shooting, shouting in Arabic, I told them to lie on the ground and hold hands, Mr David said. I am asking for the whole world to see what I am going through. We have to bring the children home and as fast as possible. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The father of an Israeli-American woman killed by Hamas militants found his daughters body with the help of a tracking feature on her phone and Apple Watch. Eyal Waldman founder of a multinational supplier of computer network products said his 24-year-old daughter, Danielle Waldman, was attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel when the militants launched a devastating terror attack on the event. At least 260 people were killed and scores were taken hostage by the militants, who turned the desert rave party into a massacre. Mr Waldman initially hoped that his California-born daughter would be one of those taken hostage before finding out on Wednesday that Danielle was among those killed by Hamas. "Three hours after I landed [in Israel], I went down south and was able to find the car that they were in," Mr Waldman told i24NEWS on Thursday. "We found the car and we found some belongings and we knew this is the car Danielle was in because of an emergency call we had received from her cellphone that has a feature of a crash call, he said. The founder of IT multinational Mellanox, Mr Waldman said his daughter went to the festival with her boyfriend, Noam Shai, to celebrate life and love. "She was the happiest kid ever, everybody really loved her," the emotional father said. Shai was a "real man" who grew up in Isreal and the couple met in the army, Mr Waldman said, adding they planned to spend their lives together. he site of a music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) "I have seen exactly how she was murdered from two directions by at least three to five people that had attacked it, the father told CNN, explaining the scene from the desert. "From the shells that we have found, there were at least three guns that were shooting at the car." He said the last time he spoke with Danielle she mentioned how the couple were planning to get married soon, but now they will be buried together. The duo had moved into a new apartment about a month ago with a dog they share. They had only been there for a few weeks, now we will need to see what to do with all their belongings, he told the broadcaster. Israeli jets have pounded Gaza City for days in retaliation against the weekend attack by Hamas militants who rampaged through towns and villages, killing more than 1,200 people. The death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza rose to 1,537, with 6,612 people wounded, the Gaza-based health ministry said on Thursday. Of those killed, 500 were under the age of 18, the ministry said. Israel, meanwhile, has ordered roughly 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate the northern regions of the Gaza Strip with immediate effect in what the UN has warned will have devastating humanitarian consequences. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Israel is laying siege to Gaza after a deadly attack by Hamas left hundreds of people dead. The country is drawing on its huge military capabilities to hit back at the terrorists and say they have already killed around 1,500 militants following Saturdays incursion. We are going to go on the offense and attack the Hamas terrorist group and any other group that is in Gaza, Israeli Brigadier General Dan Goldfus said. We will have to change the reality from within Gaza to prevent this from happening again. An Israeli tank drives toward the southern border with the Gaza Strip (Getty Images) The surprise Hamas attack is by far the deadliest by militants in Israeli history, with Goldfus telling reporters on Tuesday the death toll had topped 1,000. In response, the military has mobilised 300,000 reservists, with speculation a ground invasion of Gaza is imminent. Below we look at the significant resources Israel can call on in its war on Hamas. How big is the Israeli military? Israeli soldiers scan an area while sirens sound as rockets from Gaza are launched towards Israel (REUTERS) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is the national military. It has three branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and the Israeli Navy. Fixed-term military service has been compulsory in the country since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. All citizens over 18 years of age, regardless of gender or ethnicity, are required to serve for at least 24 to 32 months. There are a few exceptions, such as religious women, married individuals, and those with disabilities. There are currently 173,000 active soldiers in the Israeli army, including 8,000 commanders. Soldiers and a civilian take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets (AP) The military has also called up 300,000 reservists to prepare for its largest ever mobilisation, with special flights being organised to bring reservists from abroad to join its efforts. Israel is also drawing on its special forces from the Sayeret Matkal unit to fight against Hamas. It is believed that they will be aiming to neutralise high-ranking fighters within the terrorist organisation and rescue Israelis who have been taken hostage. In 2021, the Israeli military spend was $24.34 billion. What weapons does the Israeli army have? Soldiers with Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) near Israels border with Lebanon (REUTERS) Israeli forces have already used 600 planes and 300 rocket launchers to strike the Gaza Strip. The ground troops are also drawing from Israels arsenal of 300 military tanks, with a further 2,000 available for use. Israels Merkava tank is similar to the German Leopard 2 battle tank that has been widely used in Ukraine. The tank has a thick front armour plate to provide maximum protection for its crew and is armed with a 120mm main gun. On Monday the Israeli Air Force said it had dropped around 2,000 munitions and more than 1,000 tonnes of bombs on Gaza aimed at over 10,000 targets in less than 24 hours. The air force is known for its Kfir fighter jets and also has a number of F-35 Lightning II jets obtained from the USA. The IDF is believed to have maintained a nuclear weapons capability since 1967, with an estimated 90 warheads according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NFI), although Israel does not officially confirm this. Fire and smoke rise from an explosion on a Palestinian apartment tower following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City (AP) What is the Iron Dome? The Iron Dome is an Israeli mobile air defence system and Israel is the only country in the world operating such a system on a national level. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells whose trajectory would take them to a populated area. The missile defense system is one of Israels most important tools and has saved many civilian lives since it became operational in 2011. The IDF said the system had a 95.6% success rate during a missile raid fired by Islamic Jihad in May. There are 10 Iron Dome batteries across Israel and each one can carry 11 kilograms of explosives. Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip (REUTERS) The USA contributed to the construction and maintenance of the Iron Dome, spending $1.6 billion on the system from 2011 to 2021. Each missile costs around $40,000, so intercepting thousands of incoming Hamas rockets can become costly. The IDF says the Iron Dome is a purely defensive system and has no attacking capabilities. Israel has now asked the US to assist in restocking the defence system after suffering large missile barrages during Hamas attacks. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Israeli order giving more than 1 million Palestinians just 24 hours to evacuate to southern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion has pushed its people into the abyss with the enclave as a whole swiftly becoming a hellhole, the UN has said. Thousands have been forced to flee their homes but have nowhere to turn, while Israels military said troops had conducted localised raids inside Gaza. Ahmed, a young man in the north of Gaza, said families were fleeing south in a panic after the order was released a message they received on their phones. People are panicked moving from one area to another. They dont know where to go, he said, adding that he had lost contact with his father and brothers in the confusion. He asked for his full name and exact location not to be released for his safety. I can see them holding their belongings and fleeing since last night. I asked them where they are going; they told me We dont know to UN schools [where people have been sheltering], relatives home, anywhere in the south. Last weekend, militants from the ruling Hamas party stormed across the border into Israel from Gaza, killing more than 1,300 people and taking dozens of hostages in an act of terror. Israel has retaliated with a near-constant bombardment of Gaza, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of buildings. On Friday evening, Hamas said that 70 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in strikes while trying to head south. Palestinian families flee following the Israeli armys warning to leave their homes (AFP) Israel denies targeting civilians. It has defended the evacuation order. We are controlling our attacks in order to provide them a safe way [out], IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said earlier in the day. But it is a war zone, he added. Areas in the south, including Khan Younis and Rafah, have been pounded by Israeli aircraft in recent days. Ahmed, in Gaza, said that he had heard of a family who were targeted in a strike and injured while moving to the south. Many have been killed and injured while driving south, its not even safe to evacuate, he added. UN officials warned that the movement of an estimated 1.1 million people from the northern part of Gaza to the south half the population of the Strip was impossible and would spark a bone-chilling humanitarian crisis. They have strongly appealed to Israel to rescind the order. The call from the Israeli forces to move more than 1 million civilians living in northern Gaza within 24 hours is horrendous. This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into the abyss, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said shortly after the order was given. The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse, the statement added. Israeli army armoured personnel carriers along the border with the Gaza Strip (AFP) Messages from Hamas urged residents to stay put to hold on to your homes and land. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, vowed in televised remarks late on Friday to eradicate Hamas and said that the counteroffensive in Gaza is just the beginning. He added that Israel was striking at its enemies with unprecedented might. The expected ground invasion will lead to a surge in casualties, with more than 1,900 people having already been killed in Gaza since airstrikes began, with more than 6,000 injured. The death toll includes 614 children and 370 women, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. UNRWA also said it would not evacuate its schools, where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma. The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has been in constant contact with Israeli authorities, urging them to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. The entire territory faces a water crisis. There is no electricity. Our UN staff and our partners are working around the clock to support people in Gaza, he said. Gazas Health Ministry has said the evacuation will only add to the death toll, telling The Independent it has no means of evacuating the wounded to the south, as all hospitals across the strip are full, and the most critical cases will die en route. Dozens of buildings have been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes (Getty) Gazas deputy health minister Yusuf Abu al-Reesh told The Independent an evacuation of the wounded in the north was completely impossible. There are no extra beds in any hospitals anywhere for people to be transferred to. Also most of the cases of the injured are unstable they will die en route, Dr Abu al-Reesh said from Gazas largest hospital, al-Shifa, which is at 150 per cent capacity. All the hospitals everywhere in Gaza, even after they have been expanded, are full of patients. When asked by The Independent about medical facilities, as an evacuation of the wounded would be near impossible, Rear Adm Hagari said. We will do our best not to hit a hospital. Some in north Gaza have said they will not evacuate. Haytham Harara told The Independent the whole of Gaza City was ordered to evacuate, but he and his family are resolved to stay. I wont leave my land, he said. Haytham Harara said he and his family will not leave their land (Haytham Harara) No place in Gaza is safe now. Bombing is everywhere around us. We hear nothing except for the sound of warplanes, massive bombings, and the sirens of ambulances. It is like we are waiting until our turn comes. The Palestinians have been suffering one of the most cruel occupations of all time. Why can we not hear the world calling to us? In the wake of the Hamas attack Israel also announced a total siege of the 42km-long (26 miles) enclave, cutting off water, electricity, food and fuel in a move rights groups have said amounts to collective punishment and a violation of international law. The World Health Organisation has since warned that the healthcare system is at breaking point as Palestinian medics said they had just a few days left of supplies. Supplies were already low and half the essential medicine list was missing before the recent escalation: Gaza has been subjected to a 16-year blockade by Israel since Hamas siezed control in 2007. Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank. Demonstrators supporting Gaza fought gun battles with Israeli security forces. Palestinian officials said 11 people were shot dead. Palestinians have said they fear the violence will continue. Women and children evacuate Gaza City following an Israeli warning of increased military operations (EPA) The world needs to understand that this started long before this weekend, said Hassan, 45, outside of Damascus Gate next to the Old City. What has happened is the result of a blockade on Gaza, of decades of occupation. This is the reason for the violence. It is a global shame. There have also been fears of hostilities spreading to new fronts, including Israels northern border with Lebanon, where clashes this week have already been the deadliest since 2006. An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured. We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the Reuters news agency said in a statement. The agency added that Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon that was providing a live signal. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Al Jazeera said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, were also among the wounded. Agence France-Presse said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Israel has been accused of using white phosphorus munitions in Gaza and Lebanon, putting civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries. Human Rights Watch on Thursday claimed it had verified videos taken on Tuesday and Wednesday showing multiple uses of artillery-fired white phosphorus in Israels military operations. The non-governmental organisation described the weapon as capable of causing multiple organ failure and burning people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone. It added: Even relatively minor burns are often fatal. Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes (AFP via Getty Images) Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, said: Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering. White phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians. Accusing Israel of using white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza this week, the group alleged the country is violating the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life. Asked for comment on the allegations by Reuters, Israel's military said it was "currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza." It did not provide comment on the rights watchdog's allegations of their use in Lebanon. In 2009, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initially denied accusations of using white phosphorus shells during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza, which drew war crimes allegations from various rights groups. However, the IDF later said it was using the munitions in accordance with international law. It added that claims of indiscriminate use were "baseless". Israel has been bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas rampage in southern Israeli towns that killed at least 1,300 people this week. At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. Israel has also traded barbs with Lebanon's Hezbollah group. ISW provided links to two videos posted on social media, claiming they show "155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles being used, apparently as smokescreens, marking, or signaling". Both show scenes near the Israel-Lebanon border, it said. The group did not provide links to videos showing their alleged use in Gaza. Palestinian TV channels have broadcast video in recent days showing thin plumes of white smoke lining the sky over Gaza that they say was caused by such munitions. Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City onThursday (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The rights group's accounts have not been independently verified. Israel's military in 2013 said it was phasing out white phosphorus smokescreen munitions. However, it did not at the time say whether it would also review the use of weaponised white phosphorus, which is designed to incinerate enemy positions. White phosphorus munitions can legally be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings. Because it has legal uses, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions, but it can cause serious burns and start fires. An Israeli artillery unit fires towards Gaza along the border in southern Israel on Wednesday (EPA) White phosphorus is considered an incendiary weapon under Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons. The protocol prohibits using incendiary weapons against military targets located among civilians, although Israel has not signed it and is not bound by it. The Independent has approached the IDF for comment. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Sitting in a cramped room with peeling walls, Amir Badawi spoke of deep dread about the fate of his family in Gaza his own future equally uncertain in the face of an impending Israeli ground assault. He is among those from the territory working in Israel who had fled to the West Bank after facing retribution for the massacre carried out by Hamas in their assault across the border. Amir and his companions say they arrived in Ramallah after being detained and beaten up by Israeli police. Other Gaza workers say they were rounded up by the security forces and dumped in the West Bank, or are asking for help to escape from Israeli settlers threatening to hold them hostage in revenge for captives taken to Gaza by Hamas. Amir was in a room with half a dozen other workers in a dingy hotel near Ramallah while Palestinian authorities tried to organise relief. He had been working at a construction site near Tel Aviv until a few days ago when the situation became fraught. My wife and children in Gaza felt something bad may happen to me. That may sound funny, my family in Gaza worrying about me with all that is going on. The police arrested us and beat us. I may have ended up in prison if I had stayed where I was, but now I am so worried about my family, I cant sleep thinking about them, the 48-year-old told The Independent. The demand by the Israeli government that more than one million people in Gaza immediately evacuate to the south of the small strip of land before a ground offensive begins has heightened fears about what horrors could lie ahead. My family are moving from our home in Gaza City to the south after the warning. They have no choice; we have had relations injured. I wish I was there to try and protect them. Anything can happen now; they are going to send troops and tanks. Therell be many, many killed. Amir was a beneficiary of the Israeli government issuing 18,580 work permits to people in Gaza after a seeming calming of tensions with Hamas. Around 21,000 workers from Gaza have jobs in Israel. With unemployment in the territory running at more than 50 per cent, and jobs in Israel paying multiple times more, this proved a huge boon to the besieged community. Drone footage shows IDF strike Gaza 'military headquarters and senior officials' houses' In Israel, the deal over the workers was viewed as signs by some that the militant Islamist movement may have started to turn away from violent confrontation in favour of political pragmatism. That proved to be shatteringly wrong. I did not think my family in Gaza would be in this position I did not think Id be in this position. Just a little time ago I was in a job earning good money to send home. Now everything has changed. Hamas military leadership boasted after the lethal attack that it was part of an elaborate and successful deception to lull the Israelis into a sense of false security while the raid was being planned. The Islamist group had never, they said, given up the quest for Palestinian nationhood through armed struggle. Mustafa, who did not want his full name revealed, said he and fellow workers in the city of Safad were arrested and taken to a checkpoint in Jalama and bundled out to Palestinian security forces. They said our work permit was no longer valid. It was clear that they did this to us because were from Gaza, theres no other reason. Hundreds of workers from Gaza are now in the Palestinian National Authority-run West Bank. They are not sure that they can ever go back to work in Israel and, at the same time, they cannot join their families in Gaza which is now under an Israeli siege. The Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions says some workers from Gaza are trapped in areas surrounded by hostile Israeli settlers and feel they are being targeted. Shaher Saad, the secretary general of the organisation, said: They are scared. Extremist settlers are calling for these workers to be taken hostage. But we cant do anything unfortunately because there are armed settlers around them. Laila Ghannam, governor of Ramallah and al-Bireh, said: We have no choice but to help these people who had come to us. We have to provide them with the necessities they need. We are trying to work out how to resolve this situation for their future. Amir sees nothing but a dark future: The suffering is going to get really bad for our people he said. I am praying that my family are not harmed, that is all I can do. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Before Ben Shimoni ran back towards danger as Hamas militants launched a terror attack at the Supernova Festival, four women whose lives he had just saved begged him to seek shelter, his cousin Keren Shimoni previously told The Independent. Shimoni, 31, was among more than 3,500 attendees at the all-night rave near Kibbutz Reim, nearly three miles from the Gaza border, when the violence broke out. As the arid dust of the Negev desert turned red with blood and dead bodies piled on the side of the road, Shimoni indiscriminately welcomed frantic strangers inside his car hoping to save them, witnesses told his family. He had a carload full of strangers he was hoping to get out of harms way the last time he was seen amid the chaos in the early morning hours of Saturday. Five days later, his family received the news they had been fearing Shimoni was among the hundreds killed by Hamas after the US-designated terror group parachuted into the festival, shooting and taking hostages. Unfortunately, Bens body was found, Keren told The Independent in a message on Thursday. He was killed. My family and I are heartbroken. Fighting has escalated in the last few days, with Israel sending retaliatory attacks into Gaza and Hamas threatening to execute hostages. The Israeli government reported that at least 1,300 Israelis have been killed, while the Health Ministry in Gaza said that the death toll in Palestine has surpassed 1,400. Keren previously told The Independent that Shimoni was on the phone with his girlfriend during a final call before she heard loud noises in the background and the call cut off. Keren said that while her family was shocked by the situation, they were not surprised Shimoni had risked his life to save others. Ben would go do what he feels is right, regardless of the risk to himself, Keren said on Wednesday, before learning the devastating news of her cousins death. Thats within his character. Days before his death was confirmed, Shimonis car the same he used to pick up Keren from the airport whenever she visited Israel and the same he used to transport festival goers to safety had been found smashed on the side of the road. Members of the Shimoni family in Israel are not only grappling with their loss, Keren added, but now have to navigate grief as they fear for their own safety. The rest of my family is accounted for. Not safe, she said. Now, even as they are trying to mourn and grieve my deceased cousin, they are still constantly interrupted by sirens and running for safety to their bomb shelters. Unfortunately, nobody is safe. An Israeli rescue service told the BBC that its paramedics removed more than 260 bodies from the site of the festival in the Negev desert, while hundreds remain missing. Israeli police and security forces assist a journalist taking cover during an alert for a rocket attack in Israels southern city of Sderot near the border with Gaza on 12 October 2023 (AFP via Getty Images) The Israeli government has ordered a complete siege of Gaza following Hamas attack over the weekend. The US State Department said that at least 27 Americans have died in the conflict and President Biden confirmed reports of American hostages. Israel officials have said that at least between 100 and 150 hostages were taken by Hamas. Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres said he was in communication with leaders in the Middle East and called for the immediate release of all hostages. Meanwhile, Israel has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to the countrys border with Gaza to make sure Hamas wont have any military capabilities in the future. Palestinians inspect the rubble of buildings hit by an Israeli airstrike at Al Shati Refugee Camp (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered early this week to cut off food, electricity and fuel to the Palestinian enclave. Retaliatory attacks launched into Gaza by Israel have destroyed apartments in residential areas and health facilities and have left more than 200,000 people displaced, according to Reuters. On Thursday, the chief of staff for Israels military, Herzi Halevi, admitted that the military had failed to protect civilians around the Gaza Strip from Hamas attack. The IDF is responsible for the security of the country and its citizens, and on Saturday morning in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, we did not, Halevi said. We will learn, we will investigate, but now is the time for war. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The modern state of Israel was founded in May 1948 in the aftermath of the Holocaust and Second World War but the conflict that has raged between Israelis and Palestinians since can be traced back much further. Historians and commentators offer differing opinions as to when this chapter of history begins. In her series Al Nakba (2008) on Al Jazeera, documentary maker Rawan Damen begins her story with Napoleon Bonaparte, who proposed a Jewish homeland in Palestine as long ago as 1799 in the wake of the siege of Acre during his war against the Ottoman Empire. Pre-1900 The French commander was ultimately defeated in that conquest but his attempt to establish a European stronghold in the Middle East was revived by the British 41 years on, when foreign secretary Lord Palmerston wrote to his ambassador in Istanbul, urging him to press the Sultan to open up Palestine to Jewish immigrants as a means of countering the considerable influence of Egyptian governor Mohammed Ali. While there were only around 3,000 Jews living in Palestine at that time, wealthy benefactors such as French aristocrat Baron Edmond de Rothschild began to sponsor others from Europe to join them and establish settlements, the most notable being Rishon Le Zion, founded in 1882. Austrian writer Nathan Birnbaum coined the term Zionism in 1885 as Jews, particularly from eastern Europe, continued to arrive in Palestine. Austro-Hungarian journalist Dr Theodor Herzls book The Jewish State appeared a decade later, envisioning the establishment of such an entity with the coming of the 20th century. According to Al Nakba, two rabbis were sent by Herzls friend Max Nordau to Palestine to investigate the feasibility of the prospect and reported back: The bride is beautiful but she is married to another man, although the authenticity of this exchange is contested. Birnbaum, Herzl and Nordau organised the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897 to discuss their dream of an independent Jewish nation and plans to lobby European powers for its realisation. By 1907, Britain was considering the need for a buffer state in the Middle East to bolster its dominance. British Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, a biochemist, would arrive in Jerusalem at this time to establish a company engaged in buying up land near Jaffa. Within three years, about 10,000 dunums, an old land measurement equivalent to acres, had been acquired in the Marj Bin Amer region of northern Palestine, forcing out 60,000 local farmers to accommodate Jewish arrivals from Europe and Yemen. As a Jewish militia, Hashomer, was established to protect the growing number of settlements, Palestinian pharmacist Najib Nassar set up a newspaper, Al-Karmel, to warn against what he considered to be a colonising force. The First World War 1914 - 1918 The outbreak of the First World War prompted a Britain distrustful of Mohammedans to intensify its interest in developing an allied presence in Palestine, not least to strengthen its grasp on the Suez Canal. In January 1915, Liberal Party politician Herbert Samuel drafted his secret memo The Future of Palestine, which was circulated among the Cabinet and in which he backed annexation and the country gradually becoming an autonomous Jewish state under the protectorship of the British Empire. Samuels recommendations were discussed privately by diplomats Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot the following year, architects of the Sykes-Picot Agreement that demarcated British and French spheres of influence in the event of the collapse of Ottoman rule. Austro-Hungarian journalist Dr Theodor Herzl who wrote The Jewish State advocating a nation in Palestine (Getty) The Balfour Declaration 1917 The British governments Balfour Declaration followed on 9 November 1917, formally declaring support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine in a letter between David Lloyd Georges foreign secretary Arthur Balfour and Jewish community leader Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, effectively assuming ownership over a land that many would argue it had no legal right to give away. Rothschild, Samuel, Sykes and Weizmann addressed a celebratory meeting in London a month later before, on 11 December 1917, General Edmund Allenby captured the holy city of Jerusalem. Following the Kaisers defeat and the Great Wars end, US president Woodrow Wilson commissioned a report into the non-Turkish regions of the fallen Ottoman Empire conducted by academic Dr Henry King and orientalist Charles Crane, who found that the almost 90 per cent non-Jewish population of Palestine were emphatically against the Zionist project. The authors warned of the intensity of feeling and argued that Jewish immigration should be limited in the greater interests of peace but were roundly ignored by the international community, their conclusions suppressed until 1922. At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, lieutenant-colonel TE Lawrence (much-mythologised as Lawrence of Arabia) mediated the signing of an agreement between Weizmann, now leader of the Zionist delegation, and his Arab counterpart Prince Faisal bin Hussein, agreeing in principle the founding of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an independent Arab nation in the Middle East. In 1922, the League of Nations recognised the British Mandate to rule Palestine under the jurisdiction of Samuel, now high commissioner, who was instrumental in enacting at least 100 legal initiatives to establish a Jewish presence, including recognising Hebrew as an official language and permitting a separate Jewish educational system and Jewish army. The Hebrew University and Histadrut, a labour union, were in place by 1925. As the decade progressed, mass protests began to erupt opposing Jewish immigration as the Palestinian movement tried in vain to counter and resist what its members considered a usurpation backed by the military and diplomatic muscle of imperial Britain. Black flags were raised by Palestinians when Balfour visited Jerusalem and almost 250 Jews and Arabs were killed and many more wounded in August 1929 at the Wailing Wall in a tragedy that became known as the Buraq Revolt. Three Muslim men were put to death by Samuels successor, Sir John Chancellor, for their part in the unrest, an act of brutality intended as a deterrent. Foreign secretary Arthur Balfour, right, formally declared British support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people (Getty) But the protests continued, reaching fever pitch in 1933, as more Jewish immigrants arrived to make a home for themselves, the influx accelerating from 4,000 in 1931 to 62,000 in 1935. That same year, Muslim revolutionary leader Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam was shot dead by British soldiers in the hills above Jenin. In 1936, the intensity of opposition to British colonial rule imposing the Balfour Declaration on a people who deplored it resulted in a six-month-long general strike, an impressive feat of organisation that nevertheless resulted in a backlash in which Palestinian homes were destroyed. The Second World War 1939 - 1945 The wider world would once more be plunged into war in 1939 in the fightback against Adolf Hitlers Nazi Germany, whose Third Reich would ultimately be found responsible for executing six million Jews in extermination camps, and concentration camps. Not long after the US entrance into the conflict, American-Zionist relations would be cemented with a 1942 conference at the Biltmore Hotel in New York. This occurred against a backdrop of several years activity by an armed Zionist paramilitary force known as Irgun, that had been attacking local Arab groups in Palestine. Irgun would become notorious for the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on 22 July 1946, in which 91 people died, and the Deir Yassin Massacre on 9 April 1948, carried out in collaboration with another organisation, Lehi (or the Stern Gang), in which 107 were killed. That summer, Lehi would assassinate Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat dispatched by the United Nations to mediate the dispute. Following the Allied victories in Europe and the Pacific in 1945, world powers turned their attention towards ending the violence in Palestine. UN Partition Plan (or two-state solution) 1947 A two-state solution to the disputed territory almost came into being in 1947, when the UN General Assembly volunteered Resolution 181, which proposed carving a new state from Palestine west of the River Jordan: one housing Jews, the other Arabs. The resolution was adopted after a vote, allegedly as a result of diplomatic pressure from the US, but rejected by the Palestinians, who argued that Jewish residents owned no more than 5.5 per cent of the land at the time and so had no right to receive 56 per cent, in addition to the accompanying international legitimacy. Jewish jubilation met with Arab hostility and a civil war duly erupted. The first Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion officially proclaims the state of Israel in Tel Aviv in 1948 (AFP/Getty) The Arab-Israeli War and Nakba 1948 The state of Israel was nevertheless founded under prime minister David Ben-Gurion on 14 May 1948 with the end of the British Mandate, winning immediate recognition from the US and Soviet Union but prompting the outbreak of the bloody Arab-Israeli War, which saw 3,000 resistance fighters rise up against the new nation and forced 700,000 Palestinian people to flee the fighting, seeking refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza, often without citizenship being granted. The displacement of the Palestinian people on that date is still marked every year on Nakba Day, named for an Arabic word for catastrophe and on which Palestinians give speeches, hold rallies and brandish the keys to the homes they were forced to leave behind and still hope to return to. In December of 1948, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 194, recognising that Palestinian people who want to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbours should be given the right to do so as soon as possible. Israel though rejected the notion as a threat to the exclusively Jewish nature of the new state. A year later, the chamber would establish the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to further support those displaced. In the interim between those two events, Israel had signed armistice agreements with its neighbours in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Six-Day War 1967 Jordan assumed administrative control of the West Bank in 1950 and Egypt would hold Gaza, an arrangement that would last until the Six-Day War of 1967, when Israeli forces conquered those territories. Prior to that, the violence continued sporadically. Notable massacres took place in the villages of Qalqilya, Kufr Qasim and Khan Yunis in 1956 and in as-Samu in 1966. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation was founded in Cairo in 1964, dedicated to fighting for the liberation of Palestine through armed revolution rather than dwelling on rights issues, a stance the PLO would not abandon until 1993 and which would see it labelled a terrorist organisation by both Israel and the US. It would be recognised as the sole representative of the Palestinian people by the Arab League in 1974. Israels military advance on the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and Egyptian Sinai in 1967 sparked fresh bloodshed and saw the UN Security Council pass Resolution 242 ordering it to withdraw from territories it considered occupied. The council was ignored. Following the Yom Kippur War, the Security Council would pass another resolution, 338, calling for a ceasefire and again demanding Israel retreat from its 1967 incursions. Again, Israel refused. On 30 March 1976, Israeli land confiscations were met with uprisings, strikes and further violent reprisals in towns from the Sea of Galilee to the Negev, a date commemorated by Palestinians ever after as Land Day. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was befriended by Donald Trump (AP) An apparent breakthrough for peace in the Middle East occurred on 17 September 1978 when Israeli PM Menachem Begin met Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to sign the Camp David Accords at the Maryland retreat of president Jimmy Carter. One of the framework agreements clinched harmonious relations between their two nations and won the signatories the Nobel Peace Prize but the other, concerning the future of the disputed territories Palestine, would be condemned by the UN for being agreed without a Palestinian delegations involvement. The First Intifada and Oslo Accords 1987 - 1993 Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 while the first Intifada in Palestinian territories would erupt protesting occupation at the decades end. However, further incremental steps towards peace did occur when the PLO accepted UN Resolutions 242 and 338, formally recognising the state of Israel. Talks stalled again in 1991 and 1992, with no resolution in sight. Then, in summer 1993, the Oslo I Accord was signed by Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, providing for the creation of a Palestinian interim self-government, the Palestinian National Authority, and the withdrawal of Israeli Defence Forces from zones still widely considered occupied. A second agreement, Oslo II, followed in 1995 and granted Palestinian autonomy in certain parts of the West Bank and Gaza but, again, did not offer statehood. The Second Intifada and Gaza wars 2002 - 2021 An uneasy truce held until a second Intifada saw Israel reoccupy West Bank cities in 2002, a destabilising event that would be worsened by the death of Arafat in 2004, a great blow to the Palestinian cause. Since that time, violence has returned, with Israel declaring war on Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and launching repeated assaults on Hamas in Gaza, including Operation Cast Lead (2008), Operation Pillar of Defence (2012) and Operation Protective Edge (2014). Further violence blew up on Nakba Day in both 2017 and 2018, the latter severe enough to merit a UN war crimes investigation. The election of Donald Trump as US president further shook up the situation, with the former reality television star befriending Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as a gesture of recognition that the city is its capital before designating the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, in defiance of the broad international consensus that the region was illegally annexed. Mr Trump also cut US funding to the UNRWA and absurdly tasked his Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with developing a plan to bring peace to the Middle East, something the junior property developer was confident he could achieve without bias having read no fewer than 25 books on the subject. The tensions have subsequently erupted again, after Hamas sent fighters across the border and fired thousands of rockets at Israel in what it said was a new operation on Saturday. Israel has responded by saying the country is "at war" and fired at targets in Gaza in response. For the latest updates, follow the Independents live coverage For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Israel has been accused of wanting to conduct ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza after an unprecedented evacuation order was issued to Palestinians in the north of the strip. Dr Mustafa Barghouit, from the West Bank political party Palestinian National Initiative, said the country was waging a war of annihilation against a whole civilian population, destroying homes, hospitals and schools. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is poised to initiate a ground assault a week after a Hamas terrorist attack saw militants parachute into Israel and gun down hundreds of innocent victims in a horrifying display of indiscriminate violence. The UN says the evacuation cannot be achieved without devastating humanitiarian consquences. Dr Barghouit told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that it was impossible for the 1.1m residents to flee south because the roads were damaged, adding: They cant do anything but die in front of these actions fo Isreal, they cannot move. He was speaking after the IDF sent the evacuation order on Friday morning, warning people living north of the strip, including in Gaza City, to move south for your own safety. Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes (AFP via Getty Images) The military instruction came as Israel seemingly prepared a ground offensive almost a week after Hamas surprise assault. The order has led to panic among civilians and aid workers already struggling under bombardments. Hamas has responded by telling people to stay put, describing the Israeli orders has fake propaganda. Dr Barghouit said: I dont know about Hamas, but I know something; that Israel is trying to ethnically cleanse Gaza Strip. Neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip have suffered from Israeli airstrikes (REUTERS) Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble in the aftermath of Israeli strikes (REUTERS) They want to start with the northern part of Gaza in preparation for a ground invasion and then they want, and this is what the Israeli spokesperson said, and this what Netanyahu called for; eviction of all people of Gaza, 2.3m people to Egypt. They want to conduct ethnic cleansing , at this moment they are conducting a war of annihilation against a whole civilian population. He added: How can the world accept this savagely attack on a civilian population? Its totally unacceptable and no-one should tolerate it . This is a war of annihilation on the people of Gaza. Following the evacuation order on Friday morning, the United Nations said it was impossible for Palestinians to move to the south of Gaza in the next 24 hours. Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said: The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman of the lDF, said the evacuations were a humanitarian step to minimise civilian casualties. The Hamas terrorist organisation waged a war against the state of Israel and Gaza City is an area where military operations are taking place, he said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Jewish parents say sending children to school is not worth the risk as several schools have closed amid a rise in antisemitic incidents since the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas militants. It comes after a former head of Hamas called for protests across the Muslim world on Friday in support of Palestinians, sparking fears from Jewish schools in the UK which have already increased security since Saturdays attacks. Torah Vodaas Primary School in Edgware, and Menorah High School in Neasden all told parents on Thursday that they would not reopen until Monday. A third school is also reportedly closing on Friday, according to Sky News. A mum at the Jewish Free School (JFS) in northwest London said that although her childrens school wasnt closed, half of parents werent sending their children in. She told The Independent: Its awful to have to keep your kids at home for fear of what terrorists would want, but its not worth the risk. I feel sick when theyre at school praying I dont get a text that theres been an incident. I drop them there and back because I wont let them on public transport. This is the worst most people have seen in their lifetime. Parents are not sleeping. Its gut-wrenching. In a letter to parents, Rabbi Feldman, of Torah Vodaas, said while there was "no specific threat to our school" it had taken the decision to close. Esther Pearlman, headteacher of Menorah High School for Girls told parents in a letter seen by the BBC: Please be aware that this difficult decision has been reached because the [sic] of the risk of violence on the streets. The police are concerned that as the girls are not in school, they will venture outdoors and have asked us to advise you that it is incumbent on you as parents that your children remain indoors. Parents say half of children are not attending some schools out of fear (Getty) Earlier this week, schools advised students to disguise their uniforms due to fear of retaliatory attacks. Several schools said they had carried out drills, where pupils practice sheltering in safe areas or reinforced rooms in the event of a threat, The Guardian reported. One concerned parent from London wrote on X, formerly Twitter,: Tomorrow, my four-year-old daughter will have an active shooter drill training at her school, because its a Jewish school. The Community Security Trust (CST), a Jewish charity security group, said such security measures have existed for many years to deal with the longstanding threat of terrorism that Jewish communities face in many countries. Pro-Palestinian graffiti was sprayed on a railway bridge in Golders Green, north London, an area with a prominent Jewish population (PA Wire) Antisemitic incidents in the UK have increased by more than 300 per cent since Hamas attack on Israel, according to the CST. The Met Police said on Friday that it had seen a massive increase in antisemitic hate crimes in the past two weeks, with 105 incidents and 75 offences. That was up from just 14 incidents and 12 offences during the same period in 2022. Following this mornings news that schools were choosing to close, one mum wrote on X: This morning sending my son into his Jewish school was like nothing Ive experienced before. The place was surrounded by police. Police car opposite, police outside the gates, up and down the road, and school was fairly empty with not many parents fearful. However, other parents, schools and officials dont believe closing is the right thing to do. Another dad at JFS, Shneor Crombie, 39, said: They are letting the terrorists win, even without doing anything. Just with the threats they are winning. If Jewish people are not safe here, no one is. Jewish parent Shneor Crombie says schools should not close (Supplied) Kids need to go to school, and they need to be safe at school, the father-of-three said. It could be a day but maybe it will be a week or weeks so what are we going to do every time that they publish threats? Will we just stop our lives? We need to manage risk, of course, we need to manage risk - but we dont need to surrender to terror threats. This is achieving that [Hamas] are looking to achieve. John Dalziel, headteacher at King David High School in Manchester said the school has never been safer. He told The Independent: I understand that some children and parents are anxious, but school is a safe place to be. Its probably never been safer thanks to the fantastic response weve had from Greater Manchester police and volunteers. We have a fantastic community spirit in school and here the students can be away from the 24-hour media feed. We are proud to be open. CST echoed his sentiments, saying Jewish life should continue and schools should remain open as normal. Schools and the CST have been working with police to provide extra security outside of schools in response to the increasing threats. Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who is leading Londons response to the conflict, said that no specific threat had been made towards schools. According to Mr Taylor, 300 dedicated school officers were working alongside community leaders and headteachers, and a frontline commander had held a meeting with 2,000 parents to address their concerns. He added that they were closely engaging with the three north London schools to offer support, but that the decision to close remained with the schools. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Israel is at war after Hamas militants broke through the border from Gaza to inflict the deadliest attack the country has suffered in half a century. The surprise and highly sophisticated incursion, a major failure of much-vaunted Israeli intelligence, has claimed the lives of more than 700 civilians and soldiers living close to the Gaza border, with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) still seeking to root out militants embedded in Israeli settlements two days later. In retaliation, Israel has launched relentless air strikes on Gaza and its tightly-packed civilian population among whom Israel says Hamas militants are hiding and has declared a complete siege of the enclave by cutting off supplies of electricity, food and fuel. The unprecedented attack has raised fears of the conflict spilling over, with all eyes on Hamass allies in Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and their backers in Iran, while the United States is sending military assistance to Israel. The incursion unfolded without warning at 6:30am on Saturday, nearly 50 years to the day since the outset of the brutal Yom Kippur war, with Hamas launching thousands of rockets into Israel and sending warning sirens blaring as far afield as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Announcing the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif said the group had targeted enemy positions, airports, and military fortifications with more than 5,000 missiles and shells. Footage released by Hamas suggests they used drones to blow up border observation posts and weapons systems, with one militant filmed flying into Israel on a motorised paraglide, in a possible ode to the night of the gliders incursion during the run-up to the first Intifada uprising in 1987. Minutes later, Hamas used explosives and other means to breach the border fence, with fighters pouring through in at least four locations on foot, in vehicles and on motorbikes reportedly near the northern Erez border crossing, Kerem Shalom in the south, and Nahal Oz and Beeri in the east. View more Multiple military outposts some lying several kilometres from the frontier were stormed, with soldiers reportedly killed and taken captive. Also directly in the path of the militants were thousands of partygoers attending the Supernova psytrance festival, a rave held in the Negev desert, not far from the Reim millitary base, which houses the IDFs Gaza Division and was among the three outposts targeted, alongside bases at Erez and Zikim. Revellers first saw the barrage of rockets fly overhead before militants armed with assault rifles and grenades, gunning down revellers as they tried to flee on foot and in cars, and taking at least one hostage back to Gaza on the back of a motorbike. Israeli rescuers say at least 260 bodies have been recovered from the site of the festival, with aerial footage showing the burnt-out remains of cars apparently abandoned as people attempted to escape. One woman said she had survived by playing dead in a car after the driver trying to help her escape was shot, while another told the BBC she had hidden under a tree for three hours while gunmen roamed the area shooting all in their sight. View more Elsewhere, militants rampaged through settlements near the border, opening fire as terrified Israeli residents hid in safe rooms commonly installed in their homes. The Independent was told of one family in the neighbourhood of Nirim forced to hide for nine hours with a 10-day old baby. Bodies were pictured lying in the streets in Sderot, and at the height of the incursion on Saturday the IDF said it was fighting to dislodge militants from 22 locations, which it later reduced to eight. By Sunday morning, Hamas said its fighters were still engaged in the towns of Sderot, Yad Mordechai, Kfar Azza, Beeri, Yatid, Kissufim and Ofakim, the latter of which sits some 15 miles from the border. Footage broadcast that afternoon showed a gun battle breaking out on the Route 4 highway between Ashdod and Gaza, as terrified motorists ducked for cover. By Sunday, Israel had announced the deaths of 600 people, with 100 taken hostage. Moments after the incursion began on Saturday, Israel said it was responding with hundreds of air strikes on Gaza, as news footage showed missiles raining down on high-rise buildings in the background of reporters live broadcasts. By Sunday, Israeli strikes had targeted old Gaza City, Khan Younis, and the southern city of Rafah, killing hundreds and injuring thousands. One man told the Associated Press that 19 members of his family including his wife were killed when an airstrike hit their home in Rafah. View more As well as housing blocks, Israeli air strikes have now so far hit a hospital, a mosque and the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp. Accusing Hamas militants of deliberately hiding among civilians, Mr Netanyahu on Saturday gave the trapped residents of the 2.3 million-strong enclave just 24 hours to evacuate, despite them being unable to do so due to Israeli and Eygyptian border controls. As the onslaught continued on Monday, Palestines health ministry said that 560 people in Gaza had been killed and some 2,900 wounded, as fears grew of a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured. Issam Abdallah was killed on Friday while working in southern Lebanon, as part of a Reuters crew providing a live video signal. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of the videographer and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car. Issam Abdallah was killed on Friday after an Israeli shell hit while he was working in southern Lebanon (Reuters) We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the Reuters news agency said in a statement. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Qatars Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded. We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issams family and colleagues, Reuters said. Our deepest condolences go out to those affected, and our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time. Issam was described as the best, funniest and smartest by his colleagues (Reuters) The shelling occurred during an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border between Israeli troops and members of Lebanons militant Hezbollah group. Heartbroken colleagues paid tribute to Issam online. Mai Shams El-Din, a fellow Reuters journalist, posted: Issam was the best, the funniest and the smartest. Im in utter shock. Journalism is not a crime and targeting journalists and witnesses of history is hideous. RIP brother! Nadine Awadalla, also a Reuters journalist, wrote: I feel sick. There are no words. We were texting the other day. Issam was one of the kindest and funniest people Ive ever worked with. He was always all in, poured his heart into his work. Saying rest in peace feels hollow, but I hope he does rest in peace and power. The Independents chief international correspondent Bel Trew described the news as horrific. In a tweet, she added: They were wearing press jackets, clearly identified as journalists. No fighting around them. They were at a live position doing their job. The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel. Journalists from around the world have been coming to Lebanon out of concern that war might break out between Hezbollah and Israel. Additional reporting by agencies For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Oh my God. Its another attack. Oh my God. The sound of an Israeli air strike overhead was followed by a choking silence. The tremors in Motee Masbahs voice momentarily settled as the Israeli plane continued to fly over him in Gaza. This air strike did not kill him, but he is fearing the worst. No one would believe what is going on unless they live in the Gaza Strip, the father-of-four told The Independent. Even now as Im talking to you, any place could be hit. What I am seeing is abysmal. Entire neighbourhoods have been entirely and completely wiped off the map. Its not just about targeting particular houses or constructions. Motee Masbhah said he has no idea how he will survive the upcoming hours, let alone days (Supplied) The promise of Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to unleash mighty vengeance for the Hamas attack that will be remembered for decades to come is felt foremost by the civilians in Gaza. According to officials at least 1,417 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and at least 6,268 injured since Israel bombarded the besieged strip with relentless strikes after Hamas unprecedented attack on Saturday. At least 1,300 Israelis have been killed and at least 3,300 have been wounded since the violence began. Hundreds of thousands of IDF troops have now amassed at multiple points on the border of the enclave as the army is poised for a ground invasion. Israel has issued an unprecedented order for 1.1m Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north by 10pm on Friday, with the UN warning the demand is impossible and could have "devastating humanitarian consequences". The whole strip of Gaza, with its 2.3 million residents, is being attacked with ceaseless Israeli airstrikes (AFP via Getty Images) This is an open-air prison and denying Gaza of any access to the basic needs throws the entire region into darkness, Motee said. But the worry for food and water comes second to the fear of the air strikes shattering Gaza. Motee said he has located himself in a different area in Gaza to his wife and four children to increase the chance of the familys survival. We shouldnt all die together when a target hits, he said. Let one of us stay alive. The activist is constantly trying to contact his family to ensure they are alive, but with restricted internet and a lack of electricity, any communication is a miracle. All batteries are dying. We are running out of fuel. I dont know how we are going to survive. The open-air prison of Gaza has been denied any food, water or fuel from Tel Aviv (AFP via Getty Images) There is no real shelter in Gaza, though nearly 175,000 displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in UNRWA schools. Najla Shawa, a humanitarian worker in Gaza with her family, said: The schools that people take refuge in are not shelters. They are just normal schools with no reinforcement and no specific conditions for protection. Residents of Gaza are facing a total blackout as their phone batteries are dying with limited resources to recharge (AFP via Getty Images) Trapped in demolished Rafah, southern Gaza, Dima Mohamed Abu Asaker is hiding in her home with her family of seven as each hour brings more terror. Each person has a bag of essentials packed in case they have to run. Dima Mohamed Abu Asaker with her nephews who cannot endure the sounds of the bombs (Supplied) We hear the bombs come down but we dont know where the sound is coming from, so we just pray were not next, the 20-year-old student said. We are not terrified about the resources running out, just about the bombs that are raining down every day and every second, she said. I am scared for my people, for my nephews. They are just babies, they cannot endure these sounds. Dima said her family is so scared right now as Rafah is being obliterated by air strikes and missiles (Supplied) In the small window they get internet, they scour social media to make sure their friends and loved ones are alive. The photos we see in these few hours break our hearts, we see the martyrs, the blood everywhere. The images of the dead stay with you even when the internet goes, she said. Before the violence began, Dima was studying software engineering at university - a life she now mourns. Two software engineering students from my uni were killed. I swear to God, if I can go back to university, I wont complain about homework or long hours. I used to get such high marks. I want people to know we are worthy of life. We have dreams, we have ambitions. We deserve to live. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Palestinian group Hamas has launched its largest-ever attack on Israel, with militants launching thousands of rockets and storming through the Gaza border in an unprecedented assault. In the deadliest assault Israel has suffered in generations, hundreds of soldiers and civilians living in settlements close to the border have been killed or abducted, after Hamas blew up observation posts and other fortifications and broke out of beseiged Gaza on motorbikes, speedboats and paragliders. Two days after the shock incursion, Israel is still engaged in gunfights with Hamas fighters lodged within eight locations on its territory, with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to root out every last militant and fire on all those hiding in Gaza one of the worlds most densely-populated regions. With Israel reporting at least 260 fatalities at a trance music festival in the Negev desert raided by Hamas militants armed with assault rifles and grenades, the groups actions have been widely condemned internationally, with the United States sending military assistance. Here, The Independent takes a brief look at the groups history and aims: What is Hamas? The Hamas movement was founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, shortly after the first of the intifada uprisings by Palestinians against Israel. An acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement, which also means zeal in Arabic, Hamas was created on the three pillars of religion, charity and the fight against Israel also establishing a military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, named after the militant Syrian preacher first active in the 1920s. A plume of smoke rises in the sky of Gaza City during an Israeli airstrike on the third day since Hamas launched its attack on Israel (AFP via Getty Images) Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since winning the most recent elections in 2006, held a year after Israels withdrawal from the enclave, since which time its borders and airspace have been strictly controlled by Israel and Egypt. While much of Gazas young population was born under Hamas rule, some older Palestinians who voted them in many in frustation with corruption in the rival Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) have expressed regret over years of fatal repression from Israel partly stoked by Hamas militance. What are Hamass aims? Unlike the PLO, which has been the internationally recognised Palestinian leadership since its acceptance of Israels right to exist peacefully in 1993 led to the Oslo Accords, Hamas does not recognise the state of Israel. Instead, Hamas advocates for a Palestinian state stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River based on its historical borders. However, since 2017, Hamas has said it accepts a Palestinian state shaped around the borders of 1967, which existed prior to the war in which Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip after it was invaded in a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria, echoed nearly 50 years to the day later by Saturdays incursion. A Palestinian demonstrator throws rocks towards Israeli soldiers during clashes in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Sunday (AFP via Getty Images) What has Hamas said about the new attack? Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas military wing, has said the assault named Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was in response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, the Israeli occupation, and a series of recent provocations including at Al-Aqsa mosque which have brought tensions to fever pitch. Weve decided to say enough is enough, said Mr Deif, announcing the launch of the attack on Saturday, adding: This is the day of the greatest battle end the last occupation on earth. Ismail Haniyeh, the exiled political leader of Hamas, said on Saturday that the group was engaged in these historic moments in a heroic operation to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Ismail Haniyeh said the incursion was a heroic operation as hundreds of Israeli civilians were killed (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) He claimed the assault would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem, adding: This was the morning of defeat and humiliation upon our enemy, its soldiers and its settlers. What happened reveals the greatness of our preparation. What happened today reveals the weakness of the enemy. How is Hamas received internationally? Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by the United Kingdom, the European Union, Egypt, United States, Canada and Japan. However it has long been provided with funding and weapons by Iran, and has the support of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which on Sunday exchanged rocket and artillery fire with Israel amid fears the conflict could spread. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} As the Israeli army mounted its response to the massacre of hundreds of civilians by Hamas this weekend, it sent tanks and troops not only to the scene of the atrocities, but to its northern border with Lebanon. It was a recognition, borne from experience, that an all-out offensive against Gaza is unlikely to be contained there. To Israels north lies a much more formidable foe, and ally of Hamas, the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah. Recent skirmishes on the border have heightened the possibility that Hezbollah could enter the fray and widen the conflict beyond Israels borders. The group is significantly better equipped than Hamas, with an arsenal of tens of thousands of sophisticated rockets, according to Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute and expert on Iran-backed militias. Israel says the Hamas attack involved about 1,500 commandos entering Israel: Israel has assessed that Hezbollah has a 45,000-strong regular army, he told The Independent. Hamas fired about 3,300 missiles and drones so far: Hezbollah has around 150,000 munitions ready to fire. The entry of Hezbollah into the conflict would mark a dramatic escalation in an already devastating war between Israel and Hamas, which has seen the death of more than 1,000 Israelis and 800 Palestinians as of Tuesday. Such an eventuality would ensure a regional war that would almost certainly cause massive civilian casualties in Lebanon and Israel, and potentially draw in other Iranian-backed groups throughout the region. At stake is the balance of power in a regional proxy war between rivals Israel and Iran. The Islamic Republic has spent years building a network of allied militant groups opposed to Israel, which it collectively calls the resistance. Those groups Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthi rebels in Yemen and various Shia militant groups in Iraq and Syria have been furnished with military training, financial support, missiles, and the ability to make their own missiles. The consequences of that alliance were demonstrated in 2006, when Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war that led to the deaths of 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers. In that confrontation, which was sparked when Hezbollah fighters attacked an Israeli army convoy patrolling the border, killing three soldiers and taking two hostages, Israel pummelled civilian infrastructure across Lebanon, including in the capital, Beirut. Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israel, killing dozens of civilians. The 2006 war ended with a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in August of that year. In the aftermath, despite suffering significantly more casualties, Hezbollah claimed a strategic victory because it maintained its ability to continue firing rockets. Since then, Israel claims Hezbollah has drastically increased its stockpile of missiles, most of them unguided , which could wreak havoc across Israel. The group also gained valuable battlefield experience by sending thousands of its fighters to join Syrian government forces in that countrys civil war. (AFP via Getty Images) Anticipating that Hezbollah may be preparing for such a move, the US, Israels most staunch ally, sent an aircraft carrier strike force to the Eastern Mediterranean in what a defence official described as a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region who were weighing joining the conflict, the Wall Street Journal reported. Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, US president Joe Biden appeared to reinforce that signal. Although he did not mention Hezbollah by name, he issued a warning to any country, any organisation, anyone thinking of taking advantage of this situation. The question that now lingers over the residents of Lebanon and Israel is what precisely would initiate Hezbollahs entry into the conflict? The answer depends on a complex cat-and-mouse game played out with missiles and artillery in the restless border region. Despite intermittent skirmishes, both sides have gone to great lengths to avoid another widespread outbreak of hostilities in the intervening years. Firas Maksad, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC, told The Independent that an unwritten understanding has developed between the two sides, which determines which actions are permissible without sparking an escalation. In terms of the delicate rules of engagement between Israel and Hezbollah, I think its important to remember that the two parties have had a 40-year history of confronting each other across both sides of that border, which has also lent itself to a better understanding of each others intentions and objectives, he said. The big question here, in the coming days, is whether there is going to be room for misunderstanding and miscalculation. Tensions are definitely very high, Maksad added. And will Hezbollah flat out come to the rescue of Hamas, should Benjamin Netanyahu make good on his threat to commence a total ground invasion of Gaza? Maksad asked. My educated guess is that itll be very difficult for Hezbollah and Iran, their regional sponsor, to sit idly by and watch the Palestinian leg of the Iranian axis be dismantled. These established rules of engagement between Hezbollah and Israel have been tested in recent days. On Sunday, Hezbollah fired at three Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms area. Monday was the deadliest day on the Israel-Lebanese border since the 2006 war. Fighters from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which has a presence in Lebanon, attempted to infiltrate Israel, resulting in the death of two of its members and the killing of an Israeli officer. Hezbollah fired at two more Israel military posts near the border, and the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanons south also said a number of rockets were launched near the Lebanese city of Tyre. Hezbollah said three of its fighters were killed in Israeli shelling that came in response. An Israeli army Merkava tank blocks one of the entrances to the northern Israeli kibbutz of Misgav Am near the border with Lebanon on 10 October 2023 (AFP via Getty Images) Hezbollah maintains tight control of the border region with Israel, making it almost impossible that the actions taken by Palestinian groups in Lebanon were carried out without its approval. As Israel stepped up its bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday, another barrage of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, and Hezbollah fired a guided missile at an Israeli military vehicle. Hezbollahs aim, according to Maksad, is to dissuade Israel from carrying out a full ground invasion of Gaza. I think we can expect more of that in the coming days, he said. I think [Hezbollah] will use third parties like Palestinian militant groups on Lebanese land to have them claim these operations, but with the understanding that theyre operating with Hezbollahs approval. They will find creative ways to try and harass and deter Israel from an all out operation, Maksad said. But this delicate game of deterrence carries with it risks of an explosion. Should Israel invade Gaza, as it has promised, and Hezbollah enters the war from the north, the US may also be dragged in. The messaging is that Israel, together with the United States, might retaliate not only against Hezbollah, but also against their ally, the Syrian regime in Damascus. The message is we are going to exact revenge from Irans Palestinian arm, and should Iran and Hezbollah try to come to the rescue, we will also then destroy your Syrian arm, Maksad said. Were seeing a game of attempted mutual deterrence. Its dangerous because while both sides are arguably trying to deter each other and dont want to see a full-scale regional conflict, that kind of posturing might lead to that regional conflict that all sides dont want to see. As Israeli forces continued to count the dead from the brutal killings by Hamas on Tuesday, it intensified its bombing of Gaza, reducing a large part of Gaza Citys Rimal neighborhood to rubble overnight. Israel has imposed a strict blockade of the territory by air, land and sea for 16 years, a measure that the UN has described as collective punishment of its 2.3 million inhabitants, and which has caused a completely collapsed economy, devastated infrastructure and a barely functioning social service system. Knights, meanwhile, believes the massacre of hundreds of civilians by Hamas may alter the previously set rules of engagement. Both sides are fairly careful and have well-understood parameters that have been exercised and tested hundreds of times in real life, he said. But one aspect has changed: Israels risk acceptance and emotional state. This could lead to over-reaction and escalation. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Law enforcement agencies across the world are preparing for a series of demonstrations in support of the Palestinian cause. The protests are planned for the next few days and police across the UK, Australia and New York City are among those entering a state of heightened readiness. Members of the New York Police Department (NYPD) have been ordered to report in uniform on Friday, following calls for global protests by an ex-Hamas chief. The department has cancelled all time off for officers on the day in response to the potential threats, according to an internal message obtained by ABC News and other US outlets. All uniformed members of the service are to perform duty in the uniform of the day - effective immediately and until further notice, all uniformed members of the service, in every rank, will perform duty in the uniform of the day and be prepared for deployment, the memo was quoted as saying. The action comes in response to a statement from Khaled Meshaal, who served as chief of Hamas from 2004 to 2017, in which he called on the Islamic world to lead the global protests. [We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday, Meshaal said in a recorded statement sent to Reuters. In London, pro-Palestinian groups have organised a rally on Saturday and police will be on standby for any potential flashpoints. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are some of the organisers of the demonstrations in London. The organisers called for a national March for Palestine starting from 12pm in London, as we march in solidarity with Palestine and to demand Israel end its occupation of Palestinian land and apartheid rule over the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, in light of escalating tensions within the country following Hamas violent actions in Israel, the Australian authorities are contemplating the use of special stop-and-search powers for the first time in nearly 20 years. These measures would be directed at people participating in a pro-Palestinian rally scheduled for Sunday. The New South Wales state police, in a statement issued on Friday, said that they used legal counsel before announcing these powers, which have remained inactive in the country since the race-related riots of 2005. Reports said that these special powers, if implemented, would empower the police to conduct searches and demand identification from those attending the pro-Palestinian demonstration in Sydney, without any cause. If they fail to do so it is an offence, these are extraordinary powers, acting commissioner Dave Hudson told a news conference. Police anticipate a turnout of over 400 participants at the upcoming protest scheduled to take place in Sydneys Hyde Park, local media reported. The organisers of the event, Palestine Action Group Sydney, said they will go ahead with the rally on Sunday despite calls from politicians all across the political spectrum to cancel the event. On Thursday, France banned a pro-Palestinian protest, citing concerns that such gatherings were likely to cause disruptions to public order. In the capital city of Paris, police dispersed a rally on Thursday, after an order from Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin urged police to ban all pro-Palestine demonstrations, citing the need to maintain public order. Similarly, Germany banned a pro-Palestinian group after they posted images on Instagram that showed activists distributing sweets in celebration of Hamas attacks. On Thursday, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said that anyone who glorifies Hamas, uses its symbols, condones murder, calls for criminal acts or burns Israeli flags could be prosecuted in Germany. He vowed zero tolerance of antisemitism and said action would be taken against offenders. These means expressly include bans on associations and activities. The Federal Ministry of the Interior will issue a ban on Hamas activities in Germany, he said. Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyTech email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The EU has launched an investigation into Elon Musks X formerly known as Twitter over its alleged spreading of disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech over the recent Hamas attack on Israel. It will be the first inquiry conducted in relation to the European Unions recently implemented tech regulations and will also scrutinise the procedures at X for managing complaints. Earlier, X announced that it removed numerous accounts associated with Hamas from its platform. In a statement on Thursday, the EU said that the European Commission services sent to X a formal request for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA). This request follows indications received by the Commission services of the alleged spreading of illegal content and disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech. The request addresses compliance with other provisions of the DSA as well. The EUs industry chief Thierry Breton clashed online with Mr Musk after telling him in a letter that violent and terrorist content had not been taken down from X despite warnings. Mr Breton refrained from giving more specific details about the disinformation mentioned in the letter. However, he noted that instances of fake and manipulated images and facts were widely documented on the social media platform. Mr Musk hit back on X saying: Our policy is that everything is open and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports. Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that the public can see them. TikTok and Meta have also received warnings from the European Union for their alleged failures in addressing disinformation on their social media platforms. The EU is requesting that X provide information related to its investigation by 18 October. Mr Breton had initially written that Mr Musk should respond within 24 hours. Mr Breton also reminded Mr Musk that the DSA sets very precise obligations regarding content moderation, and that X needs to be very transparent and clear on what content is permitted under your terms and consistently and diligently enforce your own policies. He added that he expects X to be in contact with the relevant law enforcement authorities and Europol, and ensure that you respond promptly to their requests. I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed, Mr Breton wrote. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, announced on Thursday that the platform had taken action to remove hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and had also initiated steps to either remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content since the attack that occurred on Saturday. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice After Hamas attacks in southern Israel swiftly escalated and culminated in war, concerns over the safety of travel to Israel and countries in the surrounding region haven risen. Jordan, a popular winter sun destination for tourists, shares its northern border with both Israel and Syria, and travellers with trips booked may be questioning the wisdom of holidaying there amid the conflict. Heres the latest travel advice for Jordan, plus all the key questions and answers. What does the Foreign Office say? On Tuesday the Foreign Office (FCDO) strengthened its stance on travel to Jordan updating its guidance to read: The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to within 3km of Jordans border with Syria. Crossings from Jordan to Israel may also be closed at short notice as a result of the conflict in southern Israel close to the border with Gaza. The Foreign Office says the situation in Syria is fragile and security threats in the form of instability or terrorist activity could arise with little or no notice, advising against all travel to the country. What do the Jordan authorities say? The Jordan Tourism Board said in a statement: In light of the recent developments in Gaza, we want to emphasise that Jordan continues to be a safe and welcoming destination for tourists from around the world. Our commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all visitors remains unwavering. We want to reassure everyone that Jordans borders are open to tourists, and we are eager to share our extraordinary experiences with the world. We understand that tensions around the world can raise concerns, but we believe in the power of travel to foster understanding and build bridges between nations. As always, the Jordan Tourism Board is here to assist and support tourists in making the most of their visit. Jordans deputy Prime Minister and minister of foreign affairs, Ayman Al-Safadi, stressed the need to stop the dangerous escalation in Gaza and its surroundings and highlighted the ongoing Jordanian effort to launch immediate international action to stop the escalation, the necessity of protecting civilians and respecting international humanitarian laws. Al-Safadi said that the need to protect civilians, whose killings are condemned by international laws, fuelled Jordanian efforts to stop the escalation and end the war on Gaza, in order to avoid their repercussions on the entire region. Are Jordan flights continuing? Yes. Queen Alia International Airport, south of Amman remains operational as does King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba, Jordans southernmost point. The main airlines that fly from the UK to Jordan include British Airways, easyJet, Tui, Royal Jordanian and Wizz Air out of London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London Luton. In 2021, Jordan and Israel reached a historic agreement to open up the Jordan-Israel air corridor and allow flights that previously flew around Israel to cross over into each countrys airspace, cutting flight times from the west. An international aviation group, OpsGroup warns: Lessons learned regarding civil operations in conflict zones over the last nine years since MH17 need to be applied. The risk of a passenger aircraft becoming a casualty of this war is high. What if I have booked a package holiday to Jordan? Travellers who have booked package holidays to Jordans new no go zone as advised by the FCDO can cancel without penalty for a full refund, although the main tourist spots are a fair distance from here anyway. Outside of the 3km radius between Jordans northern border and Syria, the conditions for cancelling your trip will be dependent on your holiday provider, so its best to contact them if youre looking to postpone. There is no obligation for companies to refund you if you want to cancel and you will not be able to claim on travel insurance due to safety concerns unless FCDO advice changes. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice A savvy British man who went on a three-day holiday abroad for less than 100 has shared how he made the trip happen. Callum Ryan, 22, managed to get a return flight with Ryanair on 27 September from London Stanstead to the city of Santander in northern Spain for 54. Once hed arrived, a bus from the airport to the city centre set him back 1.87, and accommodation for his three-day trip cost 30. To round off his spending, he paid 13.50 for parking while on the break with a friend. In total, Callum spent 99.37 just under his 100 target for the getaway. Mr Ryan, a social media content creator from Milton Keynes, said: I was surprised that we found somewhere so cheap. We decided to book the trip the day before and to get a full holiday for less than 100 last minute. I thought it would be impossible. It was a fun and enjoyable trip. The best thing for me was meeting the locals. It was out of season, and we mainly chilled with the locals we have made friends for life. Small spender: Mr Ryan on his flight to Spain (Callum Ryan / SWNS) open image in gallery To save cash, Mr Ryan and his friend stayed in a twin room in a hostel. The city has a number of cheap places to stay, including Habitaciones Casa Santander Playa and Good morning RH Santander, where The Independent was able to find October stays for between 10 and 15 per person, per night. Mr Ryans 100 total bill doesnt include spending money of around 150, but he managed to keep costs down there by spending time at the beach and sightseeing. Its not his first time trying to save cash when travelling. In March, he flew to Ibiza for a beer for just 10 less than the 15 box of lager he saw in the supermarket, and which inspired the trip. He has previously flown to Dubai for 64. This latest thrifty travel feat comes after a group of mums spent around 150 each on a whirlwind 18-hour spa trip to Milan and were home in time for the school run. The evacuation of Gazas hospitals is essentially a death sentence for unstable patients, Gazas deputy health minister Yusuf Abu al-Reesh has warned. Mr al-Reesh said it is impossible to move injured patients to southern hospitals. This comes as Israel gave Palestinians 24 hours to leave the north ahead of an expected ground offensive in retaliation for an attack by Hamas terrorists on 7 October. Mr al-Reesh told The Independent: No one can imagine what is going on on the ground. It is a very horrible thing. The evacuation of the hospital is impossible. There are no extra beds in the other hospitals... Even if there were other beds they will die because they are too unstable to be transported. Posters of Israelis who have been kidnapped by Hamas have been stuck to a wall outside BBC Broadcasting House in London. Israeli journalist Elad Simchayoff shared footage of a group of people attaching multiple posters to the wall, in response to a row over the broadcasters refusal to describe Hamas militants as terrorists. The [BBC] refuse to call Hamas terrorists. Now, they have a constant reminder to the consequences of Hamas terror attack right by their front entrance, Mr Simchayoff wrote, captioning the footage on social media website X. His video has been viewed over 200,000 times since it was posted on Thursday evening (12 October). Israels Defense Forces have released footage showing its elite Shayetet 13 unit retaking the Sufa outpost near the Gaza security fence. The IDF said over 60 Hamas militants had been killed, and 26 caught. They said 250 hostages were rescued after they recaptured the outpost. Officials in Gaza say the Strip is on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity and critical supplies, with the IDF preparing for a ground offensive. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military bombardment on Gaza, which comes after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented land, sea and air assault on southern Israel. Former BBC producer John Mair said the BBC is 100 percent right not to call Hamas militants terrorists as he clashed with TalkTV presenter Peter Cardwell. Mr Mair said: The BBC is 100 percent right on this. Lets not bash the BBC on this. The BBC is there to report impartially. Its also got people on the ground and if the BBC calls Hamas terrorists, a reporter could be beheaded as a result. Mr Cardwell responded: I completely disagree with everything you have said. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, met with the Palestinian Authority president on Friday 13 October. Mr Blinkens meeting with Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian capital Amman comes after his brief visit to Israel. It is the first face-to-face encounter since the current crisis began between the US and the leader of the Palestinian Authority. Mr Abbas, 87, has been leader of the Palestinian Authority for the past 18 years. His initial four-year term has been extended because of a failure to hold elections in the territory. The Palestinian Authority partially governs the West Bank, but is a bitter political rival to Hamas, which controls Gaza. A Lidl worker who planned a mass shooting can be seen telling police it was just a fantasy when he was interviewed by officers. Reed Wischhusen, 32, had a macabre interest in the Dunblane gunman Thomas Hamilton and Raoul Moat and US mass killers, and had built firearms and explosives to carry out a hitman-style attack on his former school. In the attack he would deliberately target 10 people, as well as shoot dead teachers and attack Avon and Somerset Police headquarters. Wischhusensplans were only stopped when uniformed officers visited the home he shared with his father in Somerset in November last year, having received a tip-off about weapons. During the search, Wischhusen attempted to shoot himself, before running downstairs with the gun to confront armed officers. Fearing they were going to be killed, the defendant was shot twice by officers. He will be sentenced for his crimes on 15 December. Rishi Sunak served breakfast alongside crew aboard a Royal Navy frigate in Sweden on Friday morning (13 October). He became the first prime minister in decades to stay overnight on a Royal Navy vessel, as he travelled to Europe for a security summit. Mr Sunak got a taste of Navy life on the HMS Diamond, waking up early to dish out food to sailors in the morning. He was heard offering up tomatoes and hash browns to the ships company and also joked that he slept in the premium cabin on Thursday night. The prime minister is in Sweden for the Joint Expeditionary Summit. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} In Robert F Kennedy Jrs warped reality, the forces of evil are never far from the door. Yet even he seemed blindsided by how quickly Fox News turned on him after he announced he would run as an independent candidate for the 2024 presidency. Who is the liberal now and who is the conservative? Who is the left and who is the right? asked Kennedy outside Philadelphias Independence Hall on Monday to a crowd of 1,0000 supporters. Suddenly it was Fox News asking him just that. Barely 24 hours after Kennedy had declared his independence from the party of his revered uncle and father, Sean Hannity turned the screws in a primetime ambush . Robert F Kennedy Jr announces presidential run as an independent Everybody is now trying to analyse, you know, whether theres a three-way race with you, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, declared Hannity. You know, who would you more likely draw from? So I hope you dont mind, but I did a little research on you. Hannity then confronted Kennedy with a litany of past statements that were designed to impress upon millions of viewers how unpalatable many of his views were. In the months before Kennedys switch, Hannity had been one of Kennedys biggest boosters when he was a potential agent of chaos in the Democratic primary, and seen as someone who could destabilise Joe Bidens reelection chances. In July, Hannity hosted Kennedy in an hour-long town hall replete with soft ball questions about government censorship and US military adventurism. Many of his fellow Democrats and others in the media mob, make no mistake, they are right now furious with RFK Jr, Hannity said in happier times. This week things were different. Kennedy seemed wholly unprepared for Hannity to read him back his own past descriptions of the NRA as a terrorist organisation, aversion to fossil fuels and support for Bernie Sanders were recited back to him. You have a litany of talking points from statements Ive made over 40 years, Kennedy stammered. Some of them are stale. Some of them I never said. But, you know, what is your question? Why is the Democratic Party why Im not running for the Democratic Party? Presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy, Jr. speaks during a campaign event at Independence Mall, on 9 October (AP) Foxs useful idiot had now become a threat to Trump, and he needed to be taken down. Poll after poll has shown Kennedy having a low net favourability among Democrats. Conversely, Republicans came to embrace Kennedy as exactly the kind of anti-Biden Democrat they could get behind. Theres a long list of Kennedys bats*** crazy statements that would be disqualifying for any presidential candidate in normal times, and he has a dark, well-documented history of drug addiction and marital infidelity , more of which will come to light the longer his campaign goes on. Plus, his anti-vax statements helped create a measles crisis in Samoa in 2019, where dozens of children died. But that wasnt what Hannity chose to mention, and not what his supporters seem to care about anyway. I attended two recent Kennedy rallies his last as a Democrat, in New Jersey, and his first as an independent, in Philly. At both events, supporters I spoke to pointed to his past work as an environmental lawyer cleaning up New Yorks Hudson River and taking on Monsanto, and his bravery in trying to disrupt the two party system. A portrait of Robert F Kennedy hangs from a wall at his New Jersey campaign launch in Elizabeth on Thursday 28 September (Bevan Hurley) Dont be fooled by all of the tinfoil stuff that swirls around Bobby, one supporter told me . Bobby understands how to run a government and how to pull the levers in Washington to try to make some change. During those events, Kennedy instead focused on long-winded stories of American decline, and a rigged system that swindled, cheated and belittled ordinary voters. Kennedy frequently floods the zone in lawyerly tones with facts, data and studies that tend to bamboozle audiences and interviewers. He presents basic solutions to complex problems with a zealous certainty and seems acutely aware of his base, saving harsher criticisms for Biden than President Trump. In a post-truth world, with high apathy and hostility towards the two frontrunners, there was a growing sense of discomfort among strategists from both parties that Kennedy could syphon off enough votes to spoil one of their chances. But the elephants in the GOP and its media partners have begun to stomp all over his campaign. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The House Republican conference experienced just its latest faceplant on Thursday evening when House Majority Leader Steve Scalise withdrew his nomination for speaker of the House. The announcement was not entirely surprising. The House GOP conference is still incredibly split following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy. Plenty of conservatives who supported Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) and others had objections that they just otherwise couldnt articulate, a sign of how much just simply opposing anything leadership supports has become a feature of being a rank-and-file House Republican. At this point, no Republican has a clear path to reaching the required 217 votes to get the gavel in the House. Ever since January, media reports have popped up about a handful of swing-district Republicans teaming up with Democrats to vote on a consensus speaker. But these stories are always as plausible as the idea of a contested presidential nomination at a party convention; they are catnip for political junkies but almost never come to fruition. But while the temptation for schadenfreude may be strong, the GOPs inability to find a speaker has real-life consequences. It comes as Congress is unable to address multiple crises on the domestic and international front and seriously risks jeopardizing the United States standing. Perhaps the biggest challenge the United States faces is how to respond to the recent attack by Hamas in Israel, both in how to support Israel after the attacks that led to the deaths of hundreds, the taking of hostages and the killing of children, as well as how to ensure that Israel follows international law. Many Republicans seem to know that the speakers crisis makes it hard to support Israel, which is a core tenet of conservative ideology given how many conservative Christians support Israel as part of end-times theology and their general belief in a hawkish foreign policy. The world is looking at us right now in this basement room of how we're going to move forward, Rep Mark Alford of Missouri said. If Republicans had a speaker right now, they likely would be attempting to pressure President Joe Biden to give greater support to Israel, despite the fact the president has thrown his support robustly behind the country. Indeed, when your reporter tried asking the former speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday about what message this sends given that the Middle East is on fire, he tried to blame Mr Biden. We have continuity of government here, I think it says more that it takes the president too long to come out and talk, Mr McCarthy said. During his speakership, Mr McCarthy traveled to Israel and invited President Isaac Herzog to give a joint address to Congress. Republicans would ideally like to criticise those Democrats who boycotted the speech earlier this year in protest of Israels record on human rights. But the speakers crisis makes it hard to do so. But the holdouts dont seem that flustered. Rep Andy Ogles (R-TN), who opposed Mr Scalise said Israel could handle its own issues. Israel does not need our resources, he told The Independent on Thursday. They're well equipped to take care of their own business. I think what quite frankly, we need to stop meddling in their foreign policy and let them do what they have to do which is wipe out Hamas. Similarly, Reps Chip Roy and Troy Nehls of Texas both said that the House included aid to Israel in the defence spending bill it passed before the coup against Mr McCarthy and that the Senate should take it up. But that bill was always a non-starter given the conservative riders. Speaking of which, the House still needs to pass spending bills. Remember, the whole reason the House is in this mess is because a handful of Republicans revolted when Mr McCarthy passed a continuing resolution to keep the government open for 48 days. Its been 13 days since that stopgap bill passed and instead of passing those bills, the House is fighting about a speaker, and given that Republicans prefer to pass individual spending bills instead of one major omnibus spending bill, that makes appropriations take much longer. And this is to say nothing of the fact that they would eventually need to negotiate with the Democrat-controlled Senate in conference to create compromise bills, which would inevitably infuriate conservatives and likely lead to another mutiny not unlike what just happened or the government might just shut down right before the holidays. There are few options that the House has at this point. Currently, Rep Patrick McHenry (R-NC) serves as speaker pro tempore, but it is unclear what exact authority he has and whether he can actually pass legislation. Most Republicans have vetoed the idea of empowering the pro tempore position, arguing the best avenue is to simply pick a speaker. That may sound ideal, but given that no Republican can get to 217 votes, it seems daft to close that possibility. Irish cold storage logistics firm VF Coldstores has entered into an agreement to be acquired by UK firm Constellation Cold Logistics. Constellation, which employs over 700 people and describes itself as Europes leading independent cold storage and logistics provider, said the transaction will allow the company to enter the Irish market. The deal is a significant development for VF, which faced potential insolvency less than three years ago. Founded in 1988, VF is based in Dublin and employs over two dozen people. As well as pallet storage, the firm operates in a variety of other logistics areas, including transport services and import and export services. The statement from Constellation said VF has enjoyed significant growth recently and has become an integral link in the supply chains of leading Irish producers in the meat and packaged foods sectors. In 2020, Kerrygold owner Ornua and meat group Kepak sued VF for 11m following the collapse of the racking facility at the storage firms premises in 2018. That incident allegedly damaged almost 3,400 units of frozen butter owned by Ornua. Ornua sued VF on behalf of the co-ops insurance firm for almost 7.9m, while Kepak claimed to have suffered losses of 3.1m after its products were also allegedly damaged. In December 2020 an interim examiner was appointed to the logistics business due to the potential 11m liability. The High Court was told that the company had a reasonable prospect of survival despite the financial claims being made against it. In February 2021 the firm then reached a settlement with Ornua and Kepak over the dispute. Financial details of the agreement were not published. Vincent Flanagan, the managing director of VF, said he was very pleased that the business was being acquired by Constellation. Having a partner that fully understands the European market dynamics will put VF in a stronger position to support the growth of our customers' supply chains in Ireland, the UK and other European countries, he said. Carlos Rodriguez, the CEO of Constellation, said the addition of VF to the company opens up strategic opportunities in Ireland and strengthens Constellation's geographical position. VF's strong relationships with Irish producers and its strategic location near the city centre and the port of Dublin strongly position the company for future growth, he said. Ireland is one of the largest net exporters of food products in Europe and this transaction will allow us to continue to grow with existing VF customers, new clients, and numerous Irish companies. Revenues at the Irish division climbed 21pc to 72.8m Profits at the Irish cement-making operation of UK group Breedon soared to 21.5m last year despite a surge in energy prices. The huge profits, made as revenues at the Irish division climbed 21pc to 72.8m, also came despite warnings from the sector about the planned government concrete levy and how it would impact the cost of housing construction. The profit compared with a 14.5m profit in 2021. The Irish cement subsidiary also paid a 9.2m dividend to its UK parent last year. Stock market-listed Breedon Plc, with a 1.1bn (1.3bn) market capitalisation, operates two cement manufacturing facilities one in the UK and one in Ireland. The Irish operation in Kinnegad, Co Westmeath , opened in 2002 and is billed by the company as one of the most advanced in Europe. It sells product to the Irish market and also to the UK. Newly-filed accounts for Breedon Cement Ireland confirm the stellar performance in 2022, which came even as energy costs climbed. Breedon has previously noted that it has a hedging policy that helped to partially insulate it from the worst effects of input cost volatility during 2022. Those hedges were also expected to benefit the group in 2023. Releasing its full-year 2022 results earlier this year, Breedon pointed out that the Irish Governments 165bn national development plan (NDP) presents a significant opportunity for the group. The NDP is particularly focused on supporting the largest public housing programme in the States history and a large proportion of the spend is targeted directly at infrastructure investment in roads and transport, it noted. The group said that residential housing construction is expected to be buoyant in Ireland. The Housing for All plan targets an average annual completion rate of 33,000 homes with other sources estimating the requirement to be as high as 62,000 per annum, it told investors. Last year, the Government announced that a 5pc concrete levy on pouring concrete and concrete blocks to help cover the cost of remediating homes where defective concrete products were used. It came into effect last month. The Irish Concrete Federation claimed during the summer that the levy would add a total of 300m to the overall cost of the Housing for All plan. Analysis undertaken for the lobby group said that the levy would add just under 1,300 to the cost of building a three-bed house. Last month, Finance Minister Michael McGrath amended the levy legislation to exclude pouring concrete used in pre-cast products from the tax. While Breedon had previously released aggregate figures for the performance of its Irish operation across the island in 2022, newly-filed accounts here give a breakdown of the performance of individual units in the Republic. Breedon, which acquired the Lagan Group in 2018, also owns Lagan Asphalt. Revenue at the road surfacing contractor edged higher to 101m last year from 96.7m. Its operating profit rose to 7.6m from 5.6m. Breedon also owns Ireland-based Breedon Brick, which trades as Kingscourt Brick. That company made a 2m profit last year on turnover of 10.1m. The figures compared with 1.8m and 9m respectively in the previous year. Irish medical technology firm HealthBeacon only has enough cash to trade until the end of October and urgently needs fresh finance, it has warned investors. News of its dire financial situation saw its shares plunge more than 55pc on Dublins Euronext on Friday, to just over 8 cents. HealthBeacon floated on the stock market in late 2021, raising 25m, with its shares then quoted at just under 6.00. It had a market capitalisation of close to 100m. HealthBeacon has developed a digital health platform aimed at improving patient support and ensuring they adhere to home injection regimes. But the company now faces an uncertain future. It announced earlier this month that it only had about 500,000 of cash left on its books, and that the money was sufficient to let it continue trading until the middle or end of November. It was also engaged in funding talks. Since the announcement on 5 October 2023, the company has explored various financing options to improve its short term working capital position as well as longer term funding requirements including discussions with key stakeholders and other providers of capital, and explored the potential sale of its business divisions, a statement from the company said on Friday. But it warned that no alternative financing options have yet been secured and that its continuing to pursue possibilities. Whilst the company has looked to extend its cash runway and has been carefully managing its working capital, the short term working capital position has deteriorated, it cautioned. Last month, the company told investors that it had a gross funding requirement of about 11m over the next 18 to 24 months. The board now believes the company only has sufficient cash to continue to trade until the last week of October 2023, it said on Friday. The board now believes the company is in a highly constrained financial position and requires additional financing urgently in order to continue as a going concern. The company continues to explore all options to raise finance and otherwise to maximise the interests of creditors and other stakeholders. The company had warned investors last month that because of the scale and complexity of implementations for its technology across key channels has seen the deployments take nine months longer than previously anticipated. That would delay revenue streams and forced the firm to take steps to manage its cash burn. It also announced last month that co-founder and CEO Jim Joyce was stepping down from his role. Alphabets Google has vowed to fight the European Unions threat to break up its ad business, setting the scene for an antitrust battle that could eventually rival its ongoing clash with the US Justice Department and state attorneys general. Mike Skinner on why he doesnt care if critics call his film a vanity project, releasing his first album in over a decade and why his success was just down to luck Mike Skinner is a disembodied head floating on a tropical Zoom background placed there by his 11-year-old son. I dont know how to change it, he says, barely making an effort to stifle the yawns that arrive in quick succession, one after the other. Last night was a late one, out recording Later... with Jools Holland, and he admits he could do with a day off, rubbing a hand over his close-cropped hair. I quite like it, though, he says in his distinctive voice, noting the palm tree and soft lap of waves against the sandy beach. I think Ill just leave it. Skinner, aka The Streets, is used to adapting. Over the years, the Birmingham-born musician has gone from pioneering UK garage and hip-hop artist (rather shockingly, it is 21 years since his groundbreaking debut album Original Pirate Material was released) to a darling of the charts, thanks to hits like Dry Your Eyes and Blinded by the Lights. Then there was a period of self-imposed reclusiveness, following what was supposed to be the final Streets album in 2011, when he DJed lots but didnt make his own music. Now, the 44-year-olds latest guise is budding movie mogul. His new project The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light is a self-financed drama/thriller film that he wrote, directed and edited. He also composed the soundtrack, which is being released as the sixth Streets studio album, and which also acts as a narrative device for the film. It has taken Skinner a decade to complete the project, which went right down to the wire: a recent Instagram post detailed the third all-nighter he had pulled to get the final edit into his managers hands in time for its premiere. I dont know whats going on right now, he said, with the haunted look of a man who has seen things. Im traumatised. I have made a movie that very nearly killed me...And I cant stop smiling. The film is hard to get a handle on. It is about a broke DJ (played by Skinner) with an improbably wealthy girlfriend, who becomes embroiled in a murky nightclub underworld where a man has died under suspicious circumstances. Although there are several music-based set-pieces that work well, attesting to Skinners previous work as director of music videos for UK acts such as electronic duo Formation and grime artist Grim Sickers, it arguably may have made a stronger film without him in the lead role. Another journalist who has seen it recently noted how his acting was low key and unemotional (he admitted to them that he couldnt give a shit about his performance by that point.) The film has been screened with Skinner in attendance for Q&As at various cinemas in the UKs Everyman chain over the last month, but he has no idea how to gauge the reaction. I actually found Michael Flatleys Blackbird quite traumatising. But Ive got a massive amount of respect for anyone who makes a film When you invite your fans down to see the thing youve been working on for 10 years, I dont think youre gonna know if the thing is any good, really because those are your fans. He shrugs. It has been really nice, and its been a lot more surprising than I expected. But in terms of whether people really like it? I dont think I really care, if that makes sense. Normally with music and stuff, you are sort of thinking Is this any good? But for me, the achievement is just doing the film. Just finishing it, yknow? I ask him whether he has seen Michael Flatleys Blackbird, another high-profile film by a first-time feature director noted for other pursuits. Oh my god. I actually found that quite traumatising, he says, grimacing, before catching himself. But I have to say, Ive got a massive amount of respect for anyone who makes a film. And if you mess up one bit of a film, then all of its messed up. Thats the thing thats quite mad. I feel like [when writing a song], theres the song and theres the recording and if you get both of those things right, then youve got a good song. But with the film, even the sound mix can make or break it. And then obviously, thats without even talking about the acting. You can have a scene thats a good scene, but if you put the music in the wrong place it suddenly feels like a comedy rather than a drama. So no, he reiterates, Ive got a massive amount of respect for anybody whos made a film. Playing devils advocate, I suggest that there are some people who may see the film as a vanity project. Isnt there a thin line between vanity and passion? I think passion is really what drives everything, he shrugs. But no, it doesnt matter whether anyone thinks [the film is] a vanity project. It doesnt matter. And I dont actually think it probably was for Michael Flatley, either I think he wanted to do that. I think it comes down to whether the audience is willing to accept what youre doing or not. And I think in this country or on this group of islands I dont think were really into people who try and do more than one thing at a time. So yes, Im sure some people will think its a vanity project, but I think well, I know that these things take time. The overarching idea for the project came first, he says, then the realisation that the voiceover could be the music, which led him in the film noir direction. He loves film-makers like Wes Anderson, he says, while the work of Brian De Palma, who directed Scarface and Blow Out, was a big influence on this project. Jacques Tourneurs 1947 film noir Out of the Past is another favourite. I love twists; those 90s film twists, like The Usual Suspects and Se7en, and all of those 90s thrillers, he says. And the idea that it could be about a DJ was sort of amazing, because it works; theres lots of crazy stories in nightclubs, and theres lots of things that can go wrong. And also, whenever you write about something you know really well, I think it feels like you know what youre talking about and that makes the stories better. Skinner is adamant that this is not necessarily a new direction for him, but rather a tying-together of every element of his work. Ive been directing, Ive been DJing, obviously Ive written songs so actually, in a way its coming back to something, rather than moving away from something, noting that his second album A Grand Dont Come for Free was originally written as a film. Dry Your Eyes was part of A Grand Dont Come for Free, which is also a story from beginning to end, he says. With The Streets, I think I was probably always trying to do something new with every album. Sometimes that worked really well, and sometimes it just sounded like I was trying to do something new for the sake of it. Whereas with this film, I really wasnt trying to do anything new with the music; I was trying to make a film and the music was there to service that. There is the album a vibrant, enjoyable affair to discuss too, of course, although it sounds like even Skinner feels that the music is secondary to the visual aspect of this project. Its hard to tell whether there would have been another Streets album if it had not gone hand-in-hand with the film. Mike Skinner on stage in 2003. Photo by Brian Rasic/Getty When I stopped doing The Streets [in 2011], I really did feel like I wouldnt go back, he says. But actually, Ive absolutely loved doing The Streets for this film, because in a way, there is a higher purpose. I think its meant that I havent been only focused on the music and I think the musics better for it, for it being a part of something bigger. So no, Im definitely not over the music. I think all I was saying was maybe the musics over with me but I dont care. Before the interview, I had been asked by his label to focus on the album and film, because perhaps understandably Mike doesnt like it when journalists focus on Original Pirate Material. That time of his life may prove more difficult to shirk than he would like, but in any case it sounds like Mike Skinner, the one-time musical voice of a generation, is ready to move into his next era. I think that I was just incredibly lucky, really, he says of his success as a musician. Incredibly lucky. One of my biggest idols is Thomas Bangalter from Daft Punk. I remember after he did that Stardust record, Music Sounds Better With You, he did an interview and said Yeah, it was luck. And the interviewer said What do you mean? and he said We were just really lucky: put that with that, put that on that, and it became an absolutely monster hit. And I remember thinking that was really humble of them but actually, its true. He shrugs again, stifling yet another yawn as the waves on his Zoom background continue to placidly lap at the shoreline. But yknow, Ive worked really hard and I can honestly say that everything well, pretty much most of it is the way that it was supposed to be. I havent cheated on anything. Its easy, I think, to get to a point where you just sort of give people what they want; I think thats quite common. But I dont think Ive ever done that. The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light is out now. The Streets play Dublins 3Olympia Theatre on October 23 and 24 Also reviewed this week: The Miracle Club and The Burial Agnes O'Casey is superb as Maud in Lies We Tell Though not considered in the first rank of Irish writers, Sheridan Le Fanu was an important innovator in the genre of gothic horror. Lies We Tell (16, 89mins) James Joyce read him closely, paying tribute in Finnegans Wake, and Elizabeth Bowen admired his prose style. He wrote numerous ghost stories and chillers, but Uncle Silas is probably his best remembered work: its heroine, Maud Ruthyn, must reckon with the schemes of her dissolute uncle after inheriting her fathers vast estate. Acting on the advice of his publisher, Le Fanu decided to set Uncle Silas in Derbyshire in order to make it more attractive to the lucrative British market, but Elizabeth Bowen, who was not fooled, called it an Irish story in an English setting. This adaptation by Lisa Mulcahy and Elisabeth Gooch restores the tale to what is arguably its natural environs. Great liberties have been taken in terms of the original text: some of them work, others dont, but Agnes OCasey is superb in a demanding central role. She is Maud, a gloomy and sometimes ferocious young Anglo-Irish lady, who dresses herself in voluminous black dresses to indicate she is in mourning. Her father has recently died (in the book, we got to know him), leaving her heir to his handsome county house, Knowl, and considerable fortune. But a strange instruction in her fathers will dictates that until Maud reaches her maturity, she must live under the guardianship of her Uncle Silas (David Wilmot), a taciturn man whose unsavoury reputation precedes him. No sooner is her father in the earth than Silas descends on Knowl like a hound of hell to empty the wine cellar and swagger about the place like the lord of the manor. David Wilmot is the ghastly Uncle Silas. Photo: Breakout Pictures He brings with him an obnoxious retinue: his son Edward (Chris Walley), a churlish boor who behaves like something out of the Brontes; his wild and barely educated daughter Emily (Holly Sturton); and a snide French governess (Grainne Keenan). Maud is initially fascinated by her uncle, who is not unintelligent, and by the shadow of criminality that clings to him: many years ago, a man to whom he owed a substantial gambling debt was discovered in a locked room at Knowl with his throat cut and though Silas was cleared of any wrongdoing, the world remains suspicious. Maud enjoys verbal jousts with him, but eventually realises his ghastly plan he intends to force her to marry the brutish Edward, so that he, Silas, can seize her estate. Filmed on what one imagines was a very tight budget, Lies We Tell has whittled away the storytelling flourishes of Le Fanus original novel to create something more overtly grotesque and sinister. The books ambivalence around the character of Silas is largely absent and Wilmot plays him as a man cheerfully resigned to his own unpleasantness. He has a moustache, but manfully resists the urge to twirl it in all other respects, this Silas is the archetypal Victorian villain. But OCaseys portrayal of Maud as an embattled woman who refuses to become a victim gives her interactions with Silas real bite. As soon as he gets to Knowl, in an act of clumsy symbolism, Silas installs himself at Mauds fathers desk and grabs control of the estates finances. Sitting behind it, he glowers at Maud and tries to bend her to his will and bully her into marrying his son, whom even he despises. That she refuses in spite of numerous threats and a shocking scene of sexual violence almost seems to impress Silas, and before the film is done, it will be suggested that Maud and her uncle have more in common than she might like to think. Lies We Tell is all about that barbed chess game of a relationship: in its shadow, surrounding characters are given little room to breathe and it would have been nice for instance for Walley to have been given something more than this yellow pack Heathcliff to play with. The films ending is a little rushed and not entirely coherent, but in the main, Mulcahy nicely sustains the gothic tension, particularly during an excruciatingly awkward series of mournful candlelit dinners. Rating: Three stars The Miracle Club features an excellent cast. Photo: Jonathan Hession /Lionsgate The Miracle Club (12A, 91mins) If Thaddeus OSullivans good-natured period drama has the look and feel of a film made in the early 2000s, its not a coincidence. The Miracle Club has been in celluloid limbo for two decades, but Maggie Smith was committed from the start and leads the line with a typically salty performance. She is Lily Fox, a 1960s working class Dublin woman still mourning the loss of her son to the sea many years before. When Lilys best friend Mrs Ahearn dies, her estranged daughter Chrissie Ahearn (Laura Linney) returns from America for the funeral. A talent contest organised by the parish priest (Mark OHalloran) boasts a prize of tickets to Lourdes, and when Lilys neighbour Eileen Dunne (Kathy Bates) wins them, a group of the women end up going. There are tensions between Eileen and Chrissie, and between Chrissie and Lily, who bears a longstanding grudge, and all have reasons to hope for a miracle in the Pyrenees. Lushly scored, The Miracle Club is gently humorous, mildly sentimental, but, thanks to its excellent cast, contains moments of real dramatic tension, and Agnes OCasey is excellent as a vulnerable young mother. Rating: Three stars Jamie Foxx as Willie E. Gary in The Burial. Photo: Skip Bolen/Amazon The Burial (Prime Video, 126mins) A band-standing legal drama of the kind Hollywood used to knock out by the dozen in the 1990s, The Burial is set in that decade and based on a true story, but doesnt let that get in the way of the fun. When Mississippi funeral director Jeremiah OKeefe (Tommy Lee Jones) encounters financial difficulties, he decides to sell part of his business to a Canadian multinational called the Loewen Group. Before long, Jeremiah realises that the deal is being stalled by Loewen to drive his business into the ground so they can buy it for a song. Incensed, he decides to sue. Enter Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx), a fast-talking Florida lawyer who wears gold Rolex watches, has his own jet and constantly refers to himself in the third person. Flashy he might be, but Willie is a damned fine lawyer, with a folksy way of winning over juries, and when he takes a shine to Jeremiah, a difficult case becomes personal. Its easy to take an actor like Foxx for granted and forget how exceptionally good he is when given a chance. Hes tremendous here, by turns hilarious and touching, and works well with a quiet and underplaying Jones. The Burial is broad drama for sure, but very enjoyable. Rating: Four stars Peter Hynes: Irish dairy is in danger of falling behind our competitors A trip to New York underlined how we are global leaders in dairy production but our policy and planning permission are holding us back 'Rice is responsible for 10pc of global methane production but livestock farmers get all the blame' Peter Hynes Fri 13 Oct 2023 at 06:00 I was in Manhattan last week for a Climate Smart Livestock event being run as part of NYC Climate Week the biggest climate week in the world. Concern: Glyphosate, the key ingredient in the popular weedkiller Roundup, was dubbed in March 2015 as probably carcinogenic to humans by the World Health Organisations International Agency for Research on Cancer European Union governments failed on Friday to give a decisive opinion on a proposal to extend by 10 years EU approval for the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Bayer AG's Roundup weedkiller. A "qualified majority" of 15 countries representing at least 65% of the bloc's population had been required either to support or to block the proposal. The European Commission said in a statement there was no qualified majority either way in a vote by a committee of the EU's 27 members. EU governments will try again in the first half of November when another failure to produce a clear opinion would leave the decision with the European Commission. A decision is needed by December 14 as the current approval expires the following day. IFA National Grain Chairman Kieran McEvoy said the failure to reach a qualified majority vote on the renewal of glyphosate is very concerning for EU agriculture. Access to glyphosate products is critical for the continued, future transition of Irish agriculture to a more sustainable model. Increased utilisation of cover crops; greater use of multi species swards; and reduced tillage establishment methods are simply not possible without glyphosate herbicides, he said. IFA will be meeting with officials from the Pesticide Registration and Control Division of DAFM next week to discuss the full implications of todays outcome, McEvoy said. The previous time glyphosate's licence came up for re-approval, the EU gave it a five-year extension after EU countries twice failed to support a 10-year period. The World Health Organization's cancer research agency concluded in 2015 that glyphosate was probably carcinogenic to humans, but other agencies around the world, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Chemicals Agency, have classified glyphosate as non-carcinogenic. Bayer has said decades of studies have shown it is safe and the chemical has been widely used by farmers, or to clear weeds from railway lines for decades. The company said on Friday that a clear majority of EU countries had voted in favour of the proposal and that it was hopeful sufficient additional countries would support it in the next step of the approval process. France was among a number of countries that abstained. French farm minister Marc Fesneau said it was not opposed to glyphosate per se, but opposed the Commission's proposal, wanting instead to limit use of glyphosate to instances where there was no viable alternative. Bloomberg The well-known entertainer accused of performing sex acts with an underage girl has given evidence that she told him she was 18 by text before they first got together for lunch after meeting at a music festival. Irish entrepreneur Illann Power fined for contempt by judge in Florida case Co Carlow businessman, who filed for bankruptcy in June 2022 with debts of over $1m, was told his excuses were not credible Illann Power is due to go on trial at Dublin District Court in mid-October Shane Phelan Fri 13 Oct 2023 at 03:30 Embattled Irish entrepreneur Illann Power has been fined by a judge in the US for a second time for contempt after failing to produce documents sought by his bankruptcy trustee. A secondary school teacher accused of indecently assaulting a male student 40 years ago told gardai the boy fantasised about her and had a crush on her, her trial has heard. Jacintha McSherry O'Connor (63) told gardai nothing untoward happened between her and the boy, whom she said she thought of as a little brother, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday. Modern morals: Our friend is a terrible godfather to our daughter. Can I change my mind and ask my brother to be godparent instead? A mother and her two children have been living in a Dublin City Council flat that is unfit for human habitation, a judge has ruled. Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain heard in the Circuit Civil Court Friday that Sinead Moran had been forced to throw out clothes that were covered in black mould in her bedroom wardrobe as well as having to dump her bed mattress because of her damp and unventilated flat. Ms Moran told her barrister Peter Maguire, who appeared with Thomas Loomes Solicitors, that the Oliver Bond House complex in Dublin 8 where she lives was also rat infested. Forensic engineer Lloyd Semple, of David Semple and Associates, told the court in a special report on behalf of Ms Moran that he had found a large hole big enough to facilitate the entry of vermin just above the skirting board in the sitting room wall. He told the court the black mould and damp was being caused by the lack of ventilation throughout the flat. Ms Moran several times a year had to wash down the black mould and repaint the areas, but the mould kept coming back. There were other necessary repairs that should be seen to. Judge Ni Chulachain said she accepted that Ms Morans flat was unfit for human habitation and directed the local authority to carry out a detailed inspection within the next three weeks and prepare a schedule of repairs and refurbishments. She said the renovation work had to be carried out quickly as the weather was turning as winter approached. Judge Ni Chulachain said that on several occasions in the past Ms Moran had failed to facilitate agreed inspections by council staff, but she accepted this was due to the ill health of her father and that her mind had been elsewhere. Council inspectors will have to be allowed onto the premises to carry out their work and I direct that they are, she said. The judge told Mr Maguire that she would not assess damages due to Ms Moran at this stage and said that in any event arrears of almost 4,000, which Ms Moran conceded was due to Dublin City Council would have to be allowed under a counter claim by the local authority. She adjourned the assessment of damages until mid-November when the court should be brought up to date on a renovation schedule. Dublin influencer and podcast host Charleen Murphy was assaulted at a hotel. A Dublin man has admitted assaulting a woman in a city centre hotel earlier this year. Craig OBrien (28) of Thomond Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Charleen Murphy at the Grafton Capital Hotel, Dublin 2, on February 10, 2023. At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today, Judge Orla Crowe set a sentence date of November 24, 2023, when full facts will be heard. She remanded OBrien in continuing custody until that date. Lisa Dempsey BL, prosecuting, told the court that CCTV will be played at the hearing. A victim impact statement was ordered and the hearing is estimated to last half an hour. Large numbers of Irish holidaymakers who returned after visiting resorts in Spain have been struck with a potentially severe stomach bug. The infections are understood to have come to the notice of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) weeks ago, but it has now issued a warning to holidaymakers following questions from the Irish Independent. Cases of the bug cryptosporidiosis were diagnosed in people who returned here from resorts in Spain, particularly in Salou in Catalonia. The HPSC said the weekly breakdown of cases of cryptosporidiosis published yesterday showed 37 confirmed lab cases were associated with travel to Salou in Catalonia. A further 14 people were ill with non-lab confirmed cases of the bug bringing the total number ill from the outbreak to 51. There have been 656 cases this year so far. It is expected the real number of cases is higher as holidaymakers would have passed it on to others who would have been diagnosed on the basis of symptoms rather than a test. The watchdog said: There has been a widespread increase in cryptosporidiosis in Europe in August and September that is most likely because of the extreme weather in European, and especially Mediterranean, countries over the summer. The HPSC has been closely monitoring the number of cryptosporidiosis notifications. At the end of August 2023, an increasing number of cases began to be reported in Ireland. An incident team was established in early September to investigate the cause and rule out an outbreak with a controllable source in Ireland. During this investigation, a number of cases originating in Salou were identified, and communications began with public health colleagues in Spain, and European Centre for Disease Control to determine the potential source of infection. If travelling to an area affected by the outbreak, the advice is to wash your hands frequently before eating and drinking; before and after preparing food, particularly raw meat; after visiting food markets; and after hand contact with items in public areas. Holidaymakers should also check to see if the tap water is treated and smell it for the bleachy odour of chlorine. Ask your accommodation manager if they consider their tap water safe. If unsure, avoid drinking tap water where possible. Bahays owners: Im scared to leave my full-time job. The first couple of years we made good money, but this year has been a different story The couple behind Filipino food truck Bahay talk about learning from the phenomenal talent of Castillos father, backing out of buying a restaurant earlier this year and why the food-truck boom is well and truly over Alex O'Neill and Richie Castillo at Mae in Ballsbridge. Picture: Steve Humphreys Katy McGuinness Fri 13 Oct 2023 at 03:30 Not all interviews get off to as tasty a start as this one. News The V-Grip log holder: You know when youre half-awake, half-asleep in the morning? This idea just came to me How a young couple transformed the gate lodge to Ashfield Lodge Estate in Cavan into a unique and cosy home The second bedroom is the baby's room Lisa and Colm Smith with their son Colm Og outside the gate lodge in Cootehill. Photo: Bryan Meade The Clements Gate Lodge Asking price: 210,000 Agent: Larmer (047) 74333 If you like a grand entrance, a historic gate lodge in Cootehill has recently been renovated by a young couple from Cavan to make an unusual house. It was once home to the gatekeepers of the Ashfield Lodge Estate, the former seat of the Clements family. The sandstone in it was shipped especially from France by its builder Henry Theophilus Clements, who spent his childhood there. The gatekeepers job was to vet arrivals and guests and to provide security for the big house. Estate owners were often competitive about how grand their little gate lodges looked and often employed the best architects to give them the most distinguished look possible. The entrance hall The two-storey, dormer gate lodge was built in 1882 and designed by the renowned architect Sir Thomas Drew, who was also responsible for Liverpool Cathedral. It was in fact one of a number of gate lodges serving the estate. Ashfield Lodge, the Georgian big house that it once served, was demolished in the 1950s. The Clements also built Aras an Uachtarain in 1751, selling it to the Viceroys who oversaw British rule in Ireland in 1782. Nathaniel Clements received 25,000 for the sale. In 1783, Nathaniel an MP for Leitrim was appointed paymaster and receiver general of Ireland. He bought Ashfield Lodge Estate in 1764 from the Ashe family. The v-shaped window seat His son, Henry John Clements (1781-1843), who was also an MP for Leitrim, and for Cavan, inherited it and the estate later passed to his son Henry Theophilus (1820-1904), who built the gate lodge. Henry Theophilus was a soldier whod spent most of his childhood in France. He was also the nephew of, and inherited the estates of, the so called wicked Third Earl of Leitrim, William Sydney Clements, an Anglo-Irish landlord, notorious for maltreatment of his tenants. By the mid-1870s, Henry already owned an impressive 3,908 acres in Cavan, 752 acres in Leitrim and 174 acres in Waterford. Then in 1878, following the assassination of the Third Earl of Leitrim in Donegal, he inherited his estates at Lough Rynn in Leitrim and Rosshill in Galway, making him one of the wealthiest men in the country. The hand-carved sandstone crest of the Clements family. Photo: Bryan Meade A hand-carved sandstone crest of the Clements family is built into one of the outside walls of the gate lodge. All of the sandstone on the outside of the gate lodge was shipped from France when it was first built, says Lisa Smith, a primary school teacher and the wife of Colm Smith, who together bought the house four years ago. Colm, who just finished an MSC in facial prosthetics and rehabilitation at the Kings College London, grew up in Cootehill and has long admired its structure. Colm didnt even discuss buying it with me, says Lisa. As soon he heard it was on the market, he immediately said: Well take it! The master bedroom It was different to any building Id ever seen, says Colm. Even though its not hugely spacious, I always knew it was a good investment because its so unique and weve come to really love it. The structure of the house had not been altered, but it was in need of renovation when they bought it. The previous owner had added a new slate roof eight years ago, says Lisa. The original windows were made with leading, but had been replaced with double glazing, and the front door was also new. The bathroom has been newly tiled They restored the old chimney stack to one side of the house and added insulation and oil-fired central heating. They also added a Henley stove in the sitting room. The house is very cosy now in the winter, says Lisa. The gate lodge has limestone, sandstone, brick and earthenware tiles, and is an unusual shape. It has a cat-slide roof, descending over the former open porch at the front corner, which is now covered in. Inside, a long, narrow hallway leads to a room in the middle, which is also the stairwell, but big enough to fit a dining table and chairs. Theres a V-shaped window seat here. Off this room is a galley kitchen with wooden units and a utility room. The bathroom is on the first floor and has been newly tiled in white and patterned beige, and fitted with a modern shower. The couple repainted the interior walls. In the sitting room, they used a dark green moss-coloured paint and added a plush red carpet in an attempt to recreate a Victorian effect. Here, the original coving on the 12ft-high ceiling is intact and theres a hanging light-fitting made of deer antlers. Theres real deer antlers, from a deer shot locally, mounted above the door. There are two double bedrooms, one upstairs with white walls, grey and silver furnishings, a grey carpet and fitted wardrobes with repurposed stable doors. The second bedroom is the baby's room The other is downstairs and here, the floor is semi-solid wood and the walls are a neutral beige. Its a childs bedroom and fits a cot. The arrival of six-month-old Colm Og has prompted them to up sticks in search of more room. The reason were not putting an extension on it is because we want to preserve the old architecture, says Colm. It would be such a shame to ruin it. The house, sitting on 0.81 of an acre and 3km outside Cootehill town, has a modern garage with electric doors built by the previous owner . Theres a large chestnut tree and another copper beach tree, which houses red squirrels, beside it, says Colm. Theres a forest behind the house too, with lovely walks , and you can see where the old estate used to be and why they chose that site. The exterior of the property "Its full of wildlife and very peaceful. Its one of those areas where everyone helps each other out. They plan to stay in the area, but will miss the gate lodge. But I said to Lisa the other day, its nice to leave somewhere with great memories, says Colm. We hope someone else will create new happy memories in it and preserve it for future generations. Larmer Estate Agents seek 210,000. Home Truths: Were witnessing the slow death of the Irish rental market The Government must entice mom and pop landlords back or therell be no rental market in 20 years The Budget has been labelled 'The Landlord Budget' but the tax incentives are really just half-measures. Photo: Getty Images Mark Keenan Fri 13 Oct 2023 at 03:30 The Sinn Fein oppositions labelling of Budget 2024 as The Landlords Budget thanks to the new landlord tax relief is somewhat ironic. An Israeli artillery soldier covers his ears as a shell is fired towards Gaza yesterday. Photo: Getty Last Saturday, Israel experienced the single bloodiest day in its turbulent 75-year history as a state. Hamass merciless wave of carnage stunned the world. To date, at least 1,200 Israelis have been killed since the group struck, while around 1,000 Palestinians have died since the Israeli government began bombarding the Gaza Strip. Hospitals are hopelessly over-stretched in Gaza, while the fate of more than 100 hostages taken by militants remains unclear. A ground invasion of Gaza appears imminent. Israeli authorities will assert their right to root out the hardline Islamist group. The burgeoning crisis has naturally sparked fears of a wider conflagration. The concern in Israel is that another front could open in the north, with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah joining the fray. President Joe Biden has declared that the United States stands with Israel. He aptly described the Hamas attack as pure unadulterated evil. In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell accused the Israeli government of breaking international law by imposing a total blockade of Gaza. He also said an overwhelming majority of EU foreign ministers supported continuing aid payments for the Palestinian Authority. Mr Borrell heavily condemned the Hamas atrocities, but also said Israels response had to be in line with international humanitarian law. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has described the Hamas attacks as an ancient evil. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar endorsed Israels right to defend itself, but said it had to be done in a proportionate way. Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik condemned some of Israels actions, saying over a million children are now being subjected to collective punishment in Gaza without any way of escape. Her fears are well founded. In one hospital, a plastic surgeon told how wards were inundated with children suffering from burns and shrapnel wounds. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the people of Gaza should leave now. But these same people are asking where they are to go. Neither militants nor governments can take civilian lives indiscriminately, and any appetite for vengeance without justice needs to be checked. Terrorists thrive by perpetuating cycles of violence. They know that collective punishment, for the acts of a few, can only compound grievances. Their malign intent is to spark provocative, destabilising reactions, which can only play into their hands. Nothing would serve them better than to see one set of outrages set off another, causing a chain reaction of horror. Israels right to defend its borders is clear. However, we have witnessed how leaving complex questions of basic rights unaddressed creates a space the gunmen will exploit. An inescapable truth of the Middle East conflict is if the taking of life and overwhelming force were the answers, peace would have been secured a century ago. An explosion in a residential tower during Israeli raids in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: Getty The descent into darkness, six days after the unspeakable acts carried out by Hamas, accelerates in Gaza. Voices once cautious in urging restraint grow more urgent. Yet whose heart could not have been touched by the shattering words of Irish father Thomas Hand on hearing of his daughter Emilys death aged eight amid the cold-blooded rampage. They just said, We found Emily, she is dead, and I went, Yes, yes, because that was the best news of the possibilities that I knew. His words speak to the hellscape created by the terrorists. Those responsible must be tried for their atrocities. They violated every tenet of humanity. But Israel in its backlash against last Saturdays barbarity must not risk compounding such wrongs by triggering a wider and even more ruinous war. US president Joe Biden has held four conversations with Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The US stands by Israel, but it must follow the rules of war, he said. As Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said repeated, you cannot collectively punish an entire people for the actions of a few. The UN has warned that hospitals in Gaza could soon become morgues. They are completely overwhelmed with people seeking sanctuary from the incessant air raids. Hamas must release all hostages it holds, but Israel must also realise that cutting off water, food and power to a population under bombardment is unsustainable. Two things must be done immediately. First, set up safe havens for civilians to prevent mass carnage; second, establish humanitarian corridors to let medicine and vital supplies through. But Israel has insisted nothing would be allowed into Gaza until all captives were released. The innocent are trapped in a terrible stalemate. Through its siege, Israel holds the entire people of Gaza to account while Hamas also holds them to ransom through not releasing the hostages. For more than 17 years, Gaza has been blockaded. Trust has utterly broken down, and with neither diplomatic nor political initiatives, within or without, to address fundamental humanitarian or civil rights abuses, catastrophe looms larger than ever. There is no shortage of malign regional actors ready to exploit the tragic situation. The further fanning of hostilities may unleash even worse unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. History shows peace cannot be kept by force, only through dialogue and recognition of rights. Holocaust survivor and revolutionary psychiatrist Viktor Frankl said: Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness. We are perilously close to the tipping point of a global disaster. Difficult though it may be, it is time to identify that space and use it before it is too late. Thousands of heavily armed Israeli troops are primed to cut a devastating swathe through the Gaza Strip, which has a population of just over two million. These inhabitants have nowhere to flee to while their homes and everything around them faces the prospect of being flattened. So, what will happen after this is over? Will the worlds governments insist on a two-state solution and move against Israel economically and politically to ensure its compliance with international law and UN resolutions? Will the US drop the pretence of being an honest broker in the conflict and come out and publicly back Palestinian self-determination? If anything can emerge from this nightmare, surely the time for action has arrived as never before. Derek Ross, Templeogue, Dublin 6 Area of conflict has been sorely failed by Middle East and global powers The indiscriminate attacks by Hamas on southern Israel were savage. They do nothing to help the Palestinian cause and will probably be a colossal setback in finding a peaceful, sustainable political solution, two-state or otherwise, to this festering conflict. We are seeing the consequences of a complete failure of international statecraft. Since 2007, the land, air and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip has piled hardship on the civilian population and left hard-line fanaticism and faux religiosity to its own devices to fill the resulting political void. As Israel now responds, international law must be respected it is imperative that the human horrors witnessed to date are not further compounded, potentially igniting an unprecedented humanitarian crisis or a wider regional conflagration. It must be borne in mind that the Gaza Strip is tiny. Indeed, the smallest county in Ireland, Louth, has an area of 826 square kilometres, making it nearly 2.5 times bigger that the Gaza Strip. Louths population is 139,000, which is 17 times less than that of the Gaza Strip. One can only hope that some sense of reason and humanitarianism will prevail in this sorry mess. Dr Bernard Guinan, Claremorris, Co Mayo Surely Egypt should play a role in the Israel-Palestine crisis, given its history Egypt controlled Gaza from 1949 to 1967 and Israel took control after the 1967 war. When a war erupts, there are always refugees, and they often flee to a nearby country in the first instance. As Gaza has a border with Egypt, I wonder why that border is not open to refugees, especially as the Gazan refugees are generally fellow Arabs and Muslims? Why is Gaza not connected to the Egyptian electricity grid and natural gas pipeline instead of depending on Israel? Could it be that the Egyptians see Hamas as a threatening terrorist organisation and dont want Palestinian refugees from Gaza? I agree with various calls that any response to the Hamas massacre from Israel should be proportionate and lawful. The problem is: what exactly would that involve militarily in an urban environment? Would it be the case of the hostages being returned immediately and would it satisfy Israelis shocked by the murderous incursion? J Flynn, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16 Appeasement by trade did not work in the case of Putin or Hamas terrorists Hamass unprovoked attack on Israel and Vladimir Putins unprovoked invasion of Ukraine have similarities and lessons for the West. Putin deceived the West into thinking that if it increased trade with an autocracy, it somehow would encourage that autocracy to moderate and even improve its behaviour. In Germany, this policy is called Wandel durch Handel or change through trade, and many Western countries have a similar foreign policy of appeasing autocratic regimes. This appeasement is aided by left-wing useful idiots in Europe and America who constantly blame the West for being provocative and colonialist and say it is the West that should make concessions to despotic regimes to reduce tensions. Putins reward for years of economic trade and concessions was the invasion of Ukraine, an invasion that many delusional lefties still blame on the West for provoking Russia. Hamas deceived Israel into thinking trade would improve its behaviour. In return for not firing any rockets at Israel for two years, Israel issued thousands of work permits and allowed some exports. Hamass response was the mass-acre of over 1,200 Israelis, a terrorist act that many delusional lefties blame Israel for provoking. Jason Fitzharris, Swords, Co Dublin Horrifying images of the children maimed by this war simply beggar belief I cant get out of my head the shocking images on the RTE Six One News on Wednesday of three children bloodied, wounded and crying on trolleys as a result of this sickening Israel-Palestine conflict. I have no answers. I can only pray that this madness will stop. Brian McDevitt, Glenties, Co Donegal A dark history of violence and colonialism is still playing out in Holy Land The people of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank Jews, Muslims and Christians are of the same ethnic group. The manufacture of new religions from reformed and revised Judaism Christianity and Islam, for example has led to historical religious conversion and subsequent internecine strife. When you add the ghastly effect of colonialism, we can see the mendaciousness that has been cultivated for centuries is still playing out. The Jewish people of Israel were the first group, albeit following a horrific murderous pogrom in Europe, to take matters into their own hands and form a unique independent state. The Muslim population have been misled by the British and French, the Arab League, woeful leadership under Yasser Arafat and an unproductive, pointless retrograde policy of violent attack to a new point where they depend on Hamas and Hezbollah merchants of death sponsored by Iran to further their right to a homeland, just like Israel. Israel has learnt its lesson and will not be lectured to by European quislings. The noble Palestinian Muslims have a just cause in mind. To date, their sponsors do not. Eugene Tannam, Firhouse, Dublin 24 Fermoy teenager set to have her work exhibited at St Peters this December Helium Arts artisit Chelsea Canavan (centre) with Participants Henrietta Longstaff, Galway, Tiernan Sheehan, Limerick, Ruth Cotter, Cork and Sophie Neville, Cork with their exhibition pieces for the Helium Arts Youth Showcase 2023, which is a multi-location exhibition series showcasing artworks created by young people living with lifelong physical conditions, with events taking place in Cork, Limerick, Galway and online this November and December. Photograph by Eamon Ward Ruth Cotter, Cork and Sophie Neville, Cork with their exhibition pieces for the Helium Arts Youth Showcase 2023, which is a multi-location exhibition series showcasing artworks created by young people living with lifelong physical conditions, with events taking place in Cork, Limerick, Galway and online this November and December. Photograph by Eamon Ward A Fermoy teenager living with a disability will have her art shown at an upcoming exhibition that will be held at St. Peters in Cork City from the Thursday, December 7 to Friday, December 22. Ruth Cotter, 14, will have her works shown at the Helium Arts Youth Showcase, an exhibition run by the national arts and health charity, Helium Arts. The Fermoy teen lives with bifida hydrocephalus and scoliosis and will have her art showcased alongside other works created by young people living with lifelong physical conditions from Cork and other parts of Ireland. Ruth says she is excited to be part of the exhibition, which will explore expression as identity through artworks that will include doodle drawings, smaller individual works and postcards. The creative teenager has been a participant in a programme of Saturday meet-ups and art camps organised by Helium Arts throughout 2023, which she says has been a great experience. Helium Arts has been an amazing space for me, Ruth says. I get to be social with other teenagers with similar experiences and interests to me while being in a creative space. I am excited to have our showcase so that others can see our work, she adds. The youths set to exhibit their work will be supported by professional artist, Monica Flynn, ahead of the show in December. Announcing the exhibition, CEO of Helium Arts, Helene Hugel, says she is looking forward to what will be unveiled in the exhibition by its participants, who often experience more challenges in life due to their lifelong conditions. In Ireland, 13 per cent (136,000) of children live with the challenges of a lifelong health condition. 18,000 of these children are considered as severely hampered in their everyday lives, Ms Hugel says. Research shows that young people living with health conditions face loneliness, stress, anxiety, and can feel defined by their condition, she explains. They experience stigma associated with their condition, social isolation and loneliness and fewer quality friendships. December's Youth Showcase marks a lovely occasion to applaud the accomplishments, creativity and brilliant ideas of the teenagers who actively participate in our art workshops and camps throughout the year, in collaboration with our team of professional artists, including at our Cork hub. The showcase at St Peters, Main Street, Centre, Cork, will be of free of charge to the public. More information about the show can be found at www.helium.ie. Section 39 workers plan to strike on Tuesday A councillor has claimed the planned strike by workers in community and voluntary sector organisations, funded by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and other State agencies would be a devastating blow to service users and families. Speaking at last Mondays full council meeting, Fianna Fail councillor Ian Doyle asked for the local authority to send a letter to the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and the Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe seeking a breakthrough before the planned strike action begins on Tuesday, October 17. I would like to express my concern and would ask that this council would write to both the Minister for Health and to the Minister for Public Expenditure with regards to the pending strike of Section 39 workers in the voluntary or in the HSE sector. They are looking for pay parity with their counterparts, the Section 38 workers, he said. Cllr Doyle said a resolution is needed to the impasse as soon as possible. People who use Section 39 workers find it impossible to hold and retain staff as they are not on pay parity. It has actually become unworkable. This (strike) is going to have a huge devastating blow to the service users which are the heart of our community but also their families in Cork County and in North Cork. This has been going on since 2010 and I would urge all sides to find a resolution. We need a resolution to this as soon as possible, he added. Labour Party councillor Cathal Rasmussen said all avenues need to be explored. Cobh Hospital is one of those areas that are at risk during the strike. I know a lot of the patients and the families are very concerned. I am hoping something is happening in the background. We have to hope that both sides will come together. We have to explore all avenues. We need something sorted, he said. It was subsequently agreed that Cork County Council would send a letter to both Minister Donnelly and Minister Donohoe seeking an end to the current stalemate. Indefinite strike action is scheduled to commence on Tuesday, October 17. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) confirmed the action will involve thousands of health and community workers in a variety of grades and in multiple locations, bringing services to a halt. The organisations that will be impacted include Enable Ireland, the Irish Wheelchair Association and Family Resource Centres. It was recently announced that Cork has been named the second friendliest city in Europe by the readers of popular travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller. Cork folk certainly would agree, indeed some may wonder why it didnt appear in first spot! More importantly, the Leesiders are happy that it finished ahead of Dublin! We took to the streets of Cork to find out from locals why they think the Rebel county ranked so high. Conde Nast Traveller had asked its readers to decide on their favourite countries, cities, hotels and resorts around the globe, in its annual Readers Choice Awards survey. The magazine unveiled the results of its 2023 survey, taken by over 240,000 of its readers including its list of the friendliest cities in Europe, where readers felt most welcome. Although Cork might be the Republic of Ireland's second-largest city, the port town is even more friendly than the capital, according to our readers. This place has a big personality, an exciting culinary scene, plenty of coffee shops, galleries, museums, and an iconic food market, Conde Nast Traveller stated. In the friendliest cities in Europe, Cork came in second place The friendliest cities in Europe, according to the 2023 Conde Nast Traveller survey, are: Siena, Italy Cork Dublin Helsinki, Finland Belgrade, Serbia Malaga, Spain San Sebastian, Spain Dubrovnik, Croatia Bucharest, Romania Ljubljana, Slovenia Teresa Dingivan, sister of Tina Satchwell, whose body was found in a house in Youghal this week, holding a photo of Tina and their mother.. An older sibling of Tina Satchwell has said that her sister can now rest in peace' after her remains were positively identified having been found at a property in Youghal, Co Cork on Wednesday evening. Teresa Dingivan posted on Facebook that the youngest of her four sisters was now with her late mother. "RIP to my beautiful sister Tina. You can rest now luv we found you I luv and miss you. You are now with mum. Fly high my beautiful girl." In a second post Ms Dingivan asked Tina to give her mother "a big hug." Tina hailed from a family of eight and was born in Fermoy, Co Cork. Teresa Dingivan previously told the Irish Examiner that Tina was "adored" by her parents. Read more Tina Satchwells sister pays tribute as gardai continue to question man on suspicion of murder "She (Tina) was the youngest out of five girls, there were three boys too. We were a close family. She as loved, happy, a lovely younger girl." Ms Dinigivan said that Tina loved clothes and jewellery. She had good memories of Tina who was "kind and considerate" as well as being funny, bubbly and independent. Meanwhile, in 2021 Ms Dingivan spoke to the Irish Mirror newspaper. She expressed the belief that someone had a hand in the disappearance of her sister. She (Tina) wouldnt just disappear off the face of the earth. Ms Dingivan, who lives in the UK, said that Tina was always in Fermoy visiting family. She used to go and visit my niece. They had a lot in common. "She used to go and visit my brother, my sister. She used to go swimming there or for a walk in the park. Ms Dingivan also said in the interview that there were no problems or signs of distress when family members last saw Tina. She was happy. She wasnt distressed. Nothing. The Dullea family from Keelnameela (Ballineen \ Enniskean) are finalists in the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023. The Coleman family from Carrigeen (Crookstown) are finalists in the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023. The Kingston family from Dunmanway are finalists in the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023. The Collins family from Carhoovauler (Clonakilty) are finalists in the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023. The OLeary family from Upper Cloghroe are finalists in the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023. The O'Riordan family from Ballynoe (Conna) are finalists in the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023. Six Cork families are among 14 farms who have reached the finals of the 2023 National Dairy Council (NDC) and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards the Oscars of the dairy world. While the Cork nominations represent almost half of the finalists its perhaps no surprise after the CSO last week confirmed the south west (Cork and Kerry) was the largest milk producing region in the country. In 2022, the south west produced 31% of all the milk in the republic, valued at 1.6 billion. The Coleman family from Carrigeen (Crookstown), the Collins family from Carhoovauler (Clonakilty) almost neighbours the Dullea family from Keelnameela (Ballineen \ Enniskean) the Kingston family from Dunmanway, the OLeary family from Upper Cloghroe, and the O'Riordan family from Ballynoe (Conna) have all been shortlisted for the award, dubbed the Oscars of the Dairy World. Representing seven counties and 14 dairy co-ops nationwide, the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards recognise and celebrate the highest standards of dairy production with a focus on milk quality, animal welfare, and sustainable farming practices. The OLeary family from Upper Cloghroe are finalists in the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023. The prestigious awards, now in their twelfth year, honour farming families who work hard every day to produce top quality dairy using sustainable production methods. In recent years, additional criteria have been added to acknowledge dairy farmers who prioritise animal welfare, sustainability, and hygiene on their farms. As Irelands largest dairy exporter and proud owner of Kerrygold, we at Ornua see first-hand how much Irish dairy is valued and appreciated by consumers worldwide, said the interim chief executive, Ornua, Donal Buggy. Irelands global reputation as a leading producer of quality dairy products would not be achievable without the passion, commitment and expertise of Irish farming families who produce the best quality milk in the world. We are pleased to continue to shine a light on the immense qualities of Irelands family dairy farming system that underpins that global reputation, through the annual NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards. Following nomination from their respective co-operative, each farming family participated in an intensive judging process examining a broad range of criteria, including environmental management, animal health and welfare, farm infrastructure and hygiene, soil and grassland management and technical performance, among other core indicators. Its more important than ever to highlight and celebrate the incredible hard work, commitment and energy that is demonstrated 24/7 by Irelands 17,500 dairy food producers. The finalists for this competition demonstrate the highest standards of sustainable dairy production, said the CEO of the National Dairy Council, Zoe Kavanagh. Dairy farming has been going on in Ireland for over 4,000 years, its a part of our national identity. Our grass-fed family farming system is ideally suited to the Irish climate and delivers world class produce. The Dullea family from Keelnameela (Ballineen \ Enniskean) are finalists in the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023. The farmers who have been shortlisted this year represent the highest standards as food producers delivering an exceptional product that is enjoyed at home and revered by consumers all over the world. In recognising the strengths of Irelands family dairy farming system, the NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards also represent a celebration of the very best of Irish food production, which quality and sustainably produced dairy is very much at the heart of. The judging panel for this years awards included Karina Pierce, Professor of Dairy Production in University College Dublin School of Agriculture and Food Science; Dr Patrick Wall is Professor of Public Health at University College Dublin; and Dr David Gleeson of Teagasc. Widely considered one of Irelands leading culinary destinations, the award-winning Ballymaloe House, will host this years special awards ceremony next month, where the overall winner of the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards will be announced. The full list of finalists is: Bergin Farm, Centenary Thurles Brennan Farm, Lakeland Dairies Clarke Farm, Arrabawn Coleman Farm, Barryroe Collins Farm, Lisavaird Dower Farm, Tirlan Dullea Farm, Bandon Co-op Gordon Farm, Aurivo Co-op Kingston Farm, Drinagh Lonergan Farm, Tipperary Co-op MacNamara Farm, Kerry Agri-Business Mason Farm, Lee Strand OLeary Farm, Dairygold O'Riordan, North Cork Creameries Freddie having the craic with granddad as another generation comes of age on the land the family has been farming since the early 1900s. Niall Mason, son Freddie, mom Karen, dad John and wife Deirdre on the familys lush grasslands in Ballinduganig near Farmers Bridge above Tralee. The Lee Strand suppliers are now in the running for the countrys most prestigious dairy title the National Dairy Council award among just a handful of other nominees from across the country. Their grass grows lush on the rolling eastern flanks of Sliabh Mis above Tralee, and the resulting milk their cows provide is as rich as youll taste anywhere. In recognition of their protein-rich produce they were announced as the overall Lee Strand Milk Quality Award winners for 2022. And now the Masons, of Ballinduganig near Farmers Bridge, find themselves in the running, representing Lee Strand, for the top award in whats described as the Oscars of the Irish dairy industry the National Dairy Council Award. The operation is now run by fourth-generation farmer Niall Mason and his wife Deirdre, with two-year-old son Freddie already showing plenty of enthusiasm for farming life. Niall and Deirdre took full ownership of the farm, which has been in the family since the early 1900s, from Nialls parents John and Karen in 2022. This followed five years of a hugely successful partnership between both generations operating the farm, with John and Karen remaining actively engaged in the running of the whole show to this day. Nialls forward-thinking approach is characterised by his relentless pursuit of innovation on the farm, driven by a belief that standing still is never an option, the shortlist judges from the Dairy Council stated, adding: He actively participates in local discussion groups and is always eager to embrace new techniques that will enhance the farms sustainability. Niall places a strong emphasis on the importance of caring for the land with the same dedication as their cows, prioritising practices such as grass measurement and low fertiliser usage. The Masons farm management decisions are guided by data, facts and statistics, instilling confidence that they are consistently guiding the farm toward a greener, sustainable future. They are among just 14 farming families from seven counties in the running for the coveted title. The awards, now in their twelfth year, honour farming families who work hard every day to produce top quality dairy using sustainable production methods. Following nomination from their respective co-operative, each farming family participated in an intensive judging process examining a broad range of criteria including environmental management, animal health and welfare, farm infrastructure and hygiene, soil and grassland management and technical performance, among other core indicators. The winner will be announced in a gala ceremony at Ballymaloe House next month. More than 90 Kerry Co-Op representatives from Kerry, Limerick, and Clare travelled to Strasbourg in recent days, and the visit included a tour of European Parliament buildings, where so many important decisions affecting farmers lives take place. The group had the chance to observe a plenary session and later had a productive discussion with Kilcummin native and Ireland South MEP Sean Kelly. During the discussion, the Co-Op reps and Mr Kelly discussed recent developments in farming and climate policy in the EU and at national level. On behalf of Kerry Co-op I want to express our gratitude to Sean Kelly MEP for meeting us on Monday evening, said Co-Op board chair Denis Carroll. We built our tour around this event, and we are very grateful for all of the work that was put in to organising it. Seans professionalism ensured we had a very successful and very well coordinated visit to the Parliament. We also want to acknowledge how well briefed Sean was on the various issues we raised with him and the directness of his answers. As Kerry farmers and advisors with Kerry co-op, we felt it was important to visit the European Parliament because important decisions are made here in Strasbourg which affect our lifes on a daily basis, board member John OConnor added. The session with MEP Kelly featured discussion on trade agreements, such as the EUs potential agreement with Mercosur; and environmental policies, such as the Carbon Removal Certification Framework. MEP Kelly called on farmers to familiarise themselves with the European agenda and make their voices heard at all times of the year, not just in the run-up to important agricultural votes. He also insisted that farmers importance is now recognised more strongly in Europe than ever before. Listowel Food Fair 2023 is calling on all artisanal food producers in the region to contest its many prestigious categories Launching the Listowel Food Fair 2023 this week were Patrice O'Callaghan, Asya O'Callaghan Listowel Arms Hotel, Listowel Food Fair Chairman Jimmy Deenihan, Dave Mulvihill Listowel Arms Hotel and Lizzy Lyons Listowel Food Fair ambassador, with local children, Ellie Mai McMahon, Savstida Harikrishana, Elza Mortimer and Mia Nolan. Photo by Domnick Walsh One of Irelands longest running food festivals, the Listowel Food Fair, now in its 28th year of celebrating culinary excellence will once again take place from November, Thursday 9 until Monday, November 13, next in the North Kerry culinary and literary town of Listowel. The Listowel Food Fair is delighted to announce the eagerly anticipated 2023 Best Emerging Artisan Food Competition in association with the Kerry Local Enterprise Office. It's a competition that supports the finest emerging artisan food producers across the country and is a celebration of the rich and diverse culinary talent found in the Irish food sector today. Speaking at the launch of the competition, Chairman of the Listowel Food Fair Jimmy Deenihan said: "As part of the festivals commitment to support and promote emerging talent, the Listowel Food Fair is delighted to present the 2023 Best Emerging Artisan Food Competition, a well established and long standing feature of the festival that highlights the exceptional talent and dedication of our artisan food producers, who bring innovation and flavour to Irish food. "This competition aims to recognise and support up-and-coming artisan food producers across the country, fostering innovation and excellence. Speaking about the initiative, Listowel Food Fair committee member and Project Co-ordinator for the 2023 Best Emerging Artisan Food Competition Lisa OFlaherty said: "Listowel Food Fair has always been a special occasion, but this year, we've pulled out all the stops to make it truly extraordinary. We're extending a warm invitation to artisan food producers from all corners of Ireland to join us in this celebration of flavours and culinary craftsmanship. It's not just an event; it's a platform for talented artisans to showcase their creations. Register for the 2023 Best Emerging Artisan Food Competition, share your passion, and be part of the 2023 Listowel Food Fair - an experience you won't want to miss!" The 2023 Listowel Food Fair is supported by Kerry Group, Bord Bia, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Teagasc, Failte Ireland, Kerry Local Enterprise Office, Kerry County Council, Garveys Supervalu and Eno Wines. COMPETITION DETAILS The competition features five distinct categories, providing a platform for artisan food producers to showcase their exceptional creations. The categories are as follows: Baking & Baked Goods Beverages Alcoholic & Non-Alcoholic Dairy Cultured milk, Cream products, Ice Cream, and Cheese Condiments Jams, Chutneys, Sauces, and Food Ingredients Free-from and Health products ELIGIBILITY To be eligible, entrants must ensure that their food products are not mass-produced and have been in production for two years or less. REGISTRATION Registration for the competition is entirely free and can be completed by filling out the online form available on the Listowel Food Fair website www.listowelfoodfair.ie KEY COMPETITION DETAILS Entry Deadline: Friday, November 3rd, 2023 Judging Date: Tuesday, November 7th, 2023 Venue: Listowel Arms Hotel, The Square, Listowel, Co. Kerry, V31V962 The overall winner of the Best Emerging Artisan Food Competition will receive a grand prize of 1000, while category winners will be awarded 200 each. All entrants are required to deliver their submissions to the Listowel Arms Hotel by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, November 7th, 2023. For further information, competition guidelines, and online registration, please visit the Listowel Food Fair website at www.listowelfoodfair.ie O Riada's at 25 Parliament Street, Kilkenny, is right in the centre of the Marble City, with a guide price of 400,000. One of Kilkennys most characteristic pubs is on the market for sale by private treaty. O Riada's at 25 Parliament Street, Kilkenny, is right in the centre of the Marble City, with a guide price of 400,000. The property is described as 218sqm restaurant, bar, hotel, and is available to buy immediately. We at Property Partners Buggy are delighted to bring to the market O Riada's Public House, said a spokesperson. A traditional Irish Pub in the heart of Kilkenny City. Accommodation includes a cellar in the basement for storing stock, the pub area, small smoking area to the rear and side access from Abbey Street. "A three-bed residence is laid out over the second and third floor. This public house continues to trade successfully and has done so profitably over many years. Bettystown artist Louise Gardiner is one of the artists who took part in Creative Spark's residency programme whose work will be on display in The Basement Gallery The annual exhibition by Creative Spark Dundalk showcasing the work from their Artist-in-Residence Programme is always one of the highlights of the visual arts calendar in Dundalk. This years exhibition, entitled Imbas, featuring the work by artists for the year 2022/23 opens in The Basement Gallery at An Tain Arts Centre on Thursday October 12 at 7pm. This eagerly anticipated exhibition brings together an extraordinary collection of new works that have been created during the Residency Programme, featuring an impressive range of media such as printmaking, sign writing, photography, and various other traditional methods. The artists participating in this exhibition include Louise Gardiner from Co. Meath, Clara McSweeney hailing from Co. Cork, Laura Rafferty representing Co. Down, Niamh Clarke also from Co. Down, Yulia Gasio Ukraine Born, based in California and Scarlett Rebecca based in Wales. The title of the exhibition Imbas comes from an old Irish word, it meaning inspired or inspiration and is often used to refer to creative, poetic and performed wisdom. It comes from the phrase Imbas Forosnai a gift of visionary ability or illuminated inspiration practiced by the gifted poets, writers and artists of ancient Ireland. The Creative Spark Residency Programme is supported by Create Louth and the Arts Council of Ireland and was established to support artists through offering studio space, research time, resources and creative opportunities they may not otherwise have in their own studio or practice. To date the residency programme has supported 45 artists over nine years. This is our 9th year to collaborate with Creative Spark, Paul Hayes Director of An Tain Arts Centre said. Their residency exhibition has become one of the pillars of our annual visual arts programme and we are delighted to be able to host such a diverse range of artists. We are very much looking forward to welcoming them to our space and for our audience to enjoy the variety of high quality work. The exhibition will also feature a number of artworks from members of the Creative Spark Print Studio. The opening launch will take place on Thursday October 12 at 7pm in the Basement Gallery of An Tain Arts Centre. The exhibition will run until November 11. The Basement Gallery is open Tuesday Saturday 10am 4pm. Booking is not required. A 23-year-old man who thumped a train driver and assaulted two other members of Irish Rail staff at Clarke Station after he tried to board a train without a ticket, has been jailed. Tobilobao Ogedengbe, Mourne View Hall, Dublin Road, Dundalk, in September pleaded guilty to assaulting the driver causing him harm and to assaulting two of his male colleagues on August 14 last. He also admitted being intoxicated in public and using or engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour or words. Separately, he pleaded guilty to a charge of assault at Marshes Shopping Centre on July 14 and to refusing to provide his name and address to a garda at Castle Road on July 30. The last day Judge McKiernan said she wanted to hear from the train driver about how the incident impacted him. On the adjourned date, Mr Ogedengbe appeared via video link. The driver told the court that the defendant said he had a knife and threatened that he would stab us adding that he was a trained fighter. The man said he suffered cuts to the inside and outside of his mouth. He was relieved of his duties that day in Drogheda and went home. He missed work the next day. He had a sore mouth for a couple of days. There were 17 previous convictions against the accused, including for trespass, theft and handling stolen property. Solicitor Maurice Regan said his clients offending began at the end of 2022 when he went off his medication for depression. A psychiatric report was available. Mr Ogedengbe had ager issues. He had no support in Ireland where he had been studying Computer Programming locally but that had fallen by the wayside. His father was in Nigeria and his mother in Dubai. Mr Regan continued that the defendant has been in custody since August 15. Bail had been refused in the district court. He didnt apply for High Court bail. In custody he has re-engaged with services and begun taking his medication again. He apologised for what occurred. Judge McKiernan remarked these assaults were very serious matters and couldnt be tolerated. The train driver was carrying out his daily work. The assault on July 14 was also a serious matter, the judge continued, and for that Mr Ogedengbe was sentenced to two months imprisonment. For the Section 3 assault at the train station, a consecutive six-month term was imposed, with the last two months suspended on the defendant entering a 12-month probation supervision bond. The sentences were backdated to August 15. The other charges were taken into consideration. The court directed that he receive treatment and medical attention in custody. Bail in the event of an appeal was set at a personal bond of 300, with 1,000 cash lodged Blanca Alwla, Laura Molloy, Susan Daily and Rachel McNamara were at the charity pub quiz in the Golden Anchor, Castleton in aid of Ahare River Biodiversity Group on Friday evening. Pic: Jim Campbell Pictured at the charity pub quiz in the Golden Anchor, Castleton in aid of Ahare River Biodiversity Group on Friday evening were back row Aileen Shannon, Lee Shannon, Kevin O'Loughlin, Helena O'Loughlin. Front- Philip Brady and Ann Brady. Pic: Jim Campbell Pierre Richard and Donal Power enjoyed the charity pub quiz in the Golden Anchor, Castleton in aid of Ahare River Biodiversity Group on Friday evening. Pic: Jim Campbell Sarah Glenwick and Fiona Kelly were pictured at the charity pub quiz in the Golden Anchor, Castleton in aid of Ahare River Biodiversity Group on Friday evening. Pic: Jim Campbell Pictured at the charity pub quiz in the Golden Anchor, Castleton in aid of Ahare River Biodiversity Group on Friday evening were Niamh Lee, Lorna Kinsella, Aidan Lee, Emma O'Shaughnessy and David Moylan. Pic: Jim Campbell Louise Skerritt, Ellie Skerritt and Niamh walsh enjoyed the charity pub quiz in the Golden Anchor, Castleton in aid of Ahare River Biodiversity Group on Friday evening. Pic: Jim Campbell Ahare River Biodiversity Group hosted a charity pub quiz on Friday, October 6 and raised 1,400 for nature and biodiversity projects in the local area. The quiz took place in the Golden Anchor and Shay Byrne from Rising Time on RTE 1 presented it. The crew from Rising Time also came and had a table. "People were fantastic, there was a great atmosphere. Shays a bundle of fun so there was great slagging and the feedback from people was that they had a blast. There was an auction as well and raffle tickets. said Cathy Lee of the Ahare River Biodiversity Group. On the same night, the Ahare River Biodiversity Group also learned that theyd received a highly commended award in the Supervalu Tidy Towns competition. "We do what we do because we love nature and we want to work on improving things but getting the award just gives you a lift. Theyve also been shortlisted for a National Heritage Award. Last year, they won the National Heritage Award for Wexford and presented the award to the local school. Were only custodians of our environment. 50% of our rivers and streams in Ireland are in trouble and our groundwater is now being affected. What future are our children going to have if we dont get our act together and move forward. said Cathy. Based in Castletown, the group was established in 2019 to enhance biodiversity in their locality and protect the Ahare river. The Group has carried out many projects since then and regularly work with local schools on different biodiversity projects. Theyve recently done a series of workshops in Castletown National School and Tara Hill National School. In August, they celebrated National Heritage Week with a three day event. There was a family fun day as well as presentations by Donal Sheehan from the dairy farming community, Ecologist Faith Wilson and her report on the Ahare River and Professor Ken Whelan discussed the salmon and sea trout in the local river. The event was widely attended, attracting a range of participants keen to get involved with social farming and included a large group of Transition Year students who travelled from Good Counsel College in New Ross, Co. Wexford with their teacher Kieran Barron. Social Farming is about providing opportunities and activities on ordinary family farms as a form of social support. People come to a social farm, usually one day per week, and get to be part of whatever is happening on the farm on that day. Social Farming Ireland National Coordinator Helen Doherty noted: Our social farms are both ordinary and extraordinary places. They provide such huge variety and choice for people regardless of their interests or capacities. People can get involved in every kind of activity, from caring for animals to walking the land to growing food from seed to harvest to maintenance activities like scraping the yard or power washing to cooking in the farm kitchen. According to Helen, there are now 140 social farms operating all over the country and interest in and support for social farming continues to grow. Key to the development of Social Farming has been ongoing support and funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine which has enabled the development of the Social Farming Network, Social Farming Ireland. Violet spoke on the day about the many kind of activities which people enjoy on her farm and of how she has witnessed people grow and flourish in this special environment. She also spoke in depth about the value and benefits that it has bought to her individually. Her experiences supporting her participants and their fresh and thought-provoking reactions have made her look at both her life and the farm with fresh eyes. Violet was also joined on the open day by another valuable member of the Social Farming network, Fergal Byrne who has a social farm in Kildare and who spoke very passionately about his experience as a social farmer to date. After an informative talk during which many valuable questions were answered Violet then brought everyone on a very enjoyable farm walk, including a visit to the poly tunnel where the heavenly smell of the fresh herbs greeted everyone on entering. This was then followed by a leisurely walk down to the sheep fields to meet the 78 strong flock. The event was enjoyed by all but in particular by Seamus, one of the attendees, who happened to be celebrating his 21st birthday that day. A cake and candles were bought out in his honour and everyone sang Happy Birthday, much to his delight. . One of the billboards on the Rosslare road, which Cllr Codd says is a "kick in the teeth" for Wexford farmers. As someone who has regularly defended farmers and said that they are being made scapegoats for the current environmental crisis in which we find ourselves, Aontu councillor Jim Codd was infuriated by billboards he discovered while driving the roads of his Rosslare District recently. While driving the main N25 Rosslare Road near Tagoat, Cllr Codd was appalled to find large billboards promoting veganism, which state animal agriculture is the largest contributor (38.4%) to Irelands GHG emissions. Its time to stop eating animals. It's safe to say that Cllr Codd was unimpressed by the message put forward. "There are two signs on the Rosslare road promoting veganism, he told the October meeting of Wexford County Council. In a year when corn is rotting in the ground, this is a real kick in the teeth to our farmers. "Id like to know who is financing these billboards and I really wonder if posters advertising Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann 2024 or our tourism offerings would not be a far better use of this space. "I find it really worrying that a group can so openly attack businesses within our communities. The billboards Cllr Codd references were paid for by Go Vegan World CLG, an international animal rights and advocacy organisation founded on the notion that everyone has the fundamental right not to be owned, bred, used harmed or killed, regardless of species. Go Vegan World describes itself as existing to educate the public on animal rights, to promote veganism, to dispel the myths that sustain animal exploitation, and to dismantle the legal property status of other animals". Previously, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) demanded that those behind Go Vegan World disclose the parties responsible for funding their multi-million-euro advertising campaign, stating its belief that the pro-vegan campaign was being funded by those with substantial commercial interests in non-meat products. Regardless, Cllr Codd was keen to voice his distaste for the advertising campaign on behalf of the farmers in his electoral district. Doing the honours Minister Patrick ODonovan said those criticising the pace of developments at Rosslare Europort need to take a long hard look at themselves 12/10/2023 Patrick OaDonovan, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today at Rosslare to mark the commencement of works on the new Europort Terminal 7 Building and enabling works. Photo; Mary Browne Free to use 12/10/2023 Patrick OaDonovan, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today at Rosslare, Co.Wexford to mark the commencement of works on the new Europort Terminal 7 Building and enabling works. From left; Minister Patrick OaDonovan, Garry Harrahil OPW, Ciaran OaConnor state architect and Linda Slattery from Revenue. Photo; Mary Browne 12/10/2023 Patrick OaDonovan, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today at Rosslare to mark the commencement of works on the new Europort Terminal 7 Building and enabling works. Photo; Mary Browne 12/10/2023 Patrick OaDonovan, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today at Rosslare, Co.Wexford to mark the commencement of works on the new Europort Terminal 7 Building and enabling works. Photo; Mary Browne Free to use 12/10/2023 Patrick OaDonovan, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today at Rosslare, Co.Wexford to mark the commencement of works on the new Europort Terminal 7 Building and enabling works. From left; Liam Kenny MD John Paul Construction, Minister Patrick OaDonovan, Ciaran OaConnor state architect and Garry Harrahil OPW. Photo; Mary Browne Suits, boots and hard-hats were the order of the day on Thursday in Rosslare Europort as Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Patrick ODonovan arrived to turn the sod on a 170 million project which is set to utterly transform Rosslare Europort. The hum of heavy machinery was evident all over the port as major groundworks get underway for the Terminal 7 project, which will provide permanent Brexit infrastructure at Rosslare Europort in compliance with EU customs legislation. Following photographs outside, representatives from the OPW, contractors, engineers, consultants and representatives from Revenue and Customs and An Garda Siochana were invited inside the terminal building, where they were able to pore over a scale model of what the port will look like in 18 to 24 months when the T7 project is complete. The development consists of some 29 separate buildings, the biggest of which will be a customs animal inspection area. It also includes new facilities for Garda Siochana immigration officers, Revenue and Customs, agriculture and marine, the HSE, a new home for the revenue fixed scanner, freight check and examination areas and a host of new administration areas and facilities for staff. Grabbing a coffee having performed the ceremonial turning of the sod, Minister ODonovan said described the work under way in Rosslare as being among the biggest projects in the country. "Off the top of my head I cant think of any other civil contract to the value of 170 million thats taking place anywhere in the country outside of Dublin, he said. Theres nothing of this magnitude happening anywhere else in the country. This is a massive investment in Co Wexford. It will transform Rosslare Europort and its a serious vote of confidence from the government and the EU." 12/10/2023 Patrick ODonovan, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today at Rosslare to mark the commencement of works on the new Europort Terminal 7 Building and enabling works. Photo; Mary Browne Simply put, theres a huge amount of work for contractors JP Construction and a whole host of sub-contractors to do, but the Minister is hopeful that everything will be delivered on time and on budget. "18 to 24 months is the most likely timeframe, he said. We want to get it done as soon as possible, but you can see the scale of this is enormous. Its just short of 30 acres of actual construction site and theres a huge crew (up to 300 people) working down there. "One of the good things from a Wexford point of view is theres a lot of local contractors have been able to get in on the job were doing here. In his speech, Minister ODonovan drew a few chuckles from the room as he offered thank-yous. The first people we can thank is the British public, he smiled. Were it not for Brexit, we wouldnt have had the temporary facilities we have up the road and we certainly wouldnt be looking at such an enormous investment here in Rosslare Europort. "Regardless of the UKs position in the future and the Windsor Protocol and all that type of thing, this investment in its scale is so massive that it will transform this port forever. Minister ODonovan pointed towards a potential shift in the market away from Dublin Port, noting that Rosslare Europort is ideally positioned to capitalise. The government is very much committed to this port and its advancement as a major hub of connectivity not just to the UK, but to the rest of Europe, he said. I know there are constraints in Dublin. They are very obvious and best of luck to them, but there are other ports around the country that can take up the slack. While critics have suggested that the development of Rosslare Europort is moving too slow and that the government was not proactive enough in anticipating the demand that would arise from Brexit, their point of view doesnt hold much stock with the Minister. "Some people on a fine day will always tell you that theres rain in the forecast, he said. This is an enormous investment by the government into Rosslare. Is it reactive? Well if the UK didnt leave the European Union, we probably wouldnt be having this conversation. If my aunts name was John, shed be my uncle. "I dont deal in whataboutery and Im certainly not interested in people that have nothing good to say about investments of this nature and who look for negative commentary so that they can get a line in your paper or a quote on South East Radio. They have nothing to offer. Im focused on infrastructural development and a positive outcome with the Office of Public Works and our colleagues. "Public representatives who just want to run down significant investments like this need to take a long hard look at themselves. Free to use 12/10/2023 Patrick OaDonovan, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today at Rosslare, Co.Wexford to mark the commencement of works on the new Europort Terminal 7 Building and enabling works. Photo; Mary Browne The bulk of the 170 million project being launched by the Minister focuses on installing state of the art customs facilities within the curtilage of Rosslare Europort. It leaves one obvious question what will happen to the current temporary customs site in Kilrane, which has cost millions since it was hastily put in place in the immediate aftermath of Brexit? "Its a fabulous facility, Minister ODonovan said. Ive been in and out of it a number of times before we ever had agreement about this site. It wont go to waste. Theres a lot of government departments that need space. Theres a lot of government agencies and public bodies that need space. Once its vacated, with the government, we will examine the best possible options. Well commence the process as soon as possible, so that when it is vacated, somebody will be in a position to move into it. In terms of Rosslare Europort, Chief Executive of Iarnrod Eireann (port authority for Rosslare Europort) Jim Meade said that the Terminal 7 project is just the very beginning. "Rosslare Europort has grown exponentially in recent times, but were not even half way there yet, he said. We have huge plans to develop the port as the Offshore Renewable Energy Hub for the country and I think therell be more shipping routes to come, because they want to come. For his part, Director General of Customs Gerry Harrahill is excited to see state of the art facilities installed in Rosslare. He noted that, pre-Brexit, Rosslare saw an annual figure of around 7 million for drug seizures. In the first nine months of 2023, the figure was already at 24 million. "These new facilities are really important in terms of facilitating legitimate trade passing through and disrupting illegitimate trade. I look forward to coming back here in 18 to 24 months time to attend the official opening of these state of the art facilities. Cathaoirleach of the Rosslare Municipal District Cllr Jim Moore couldnt help but smile as he took in the scale model of what the new Europort layout would look like. He was the only person in attendance who was involved in the last substantial capital development some 30 years ago for the dredging and reclamation of land, some 55 acres on which the current 170m project will now be built. "Back in the day, I was a contractor on the site and I think at the time the cost was around 14 million, he smiles. The project also provided new linkspans, fishermans wall and the safe. Weve come a long way since then. Wicklow passengers travelling on the Connolly to Rosslare train line are often left standing in the space between carriages. Wicklow passengers travelling on the Connolly to Rosslare train line are often left standing in the space between carriages. Arklow councillors Peir Leonard and Pat Fitzgerald have aired their disgust at the daily reports of overcrowding on the Rosslare line train from Connolly station, that leaves crowds of young and old passengers standing in the space between carriages. Long-standing issues with the lack of capacity and infrequency of services on the Rosslare line which stops in Bray, Greystones, Kilcoole, Wicklow town, Rathdrum and Arklow have been a source of much consternation for Wicklow commuters and local representatives alike. Having been inundated with representations from disgruntled local residents, Cllr Leonard broached their concerns at the Arklow Municipal District meeting, saying: I noticed on the minutes that Cllr Fitzgerald had brought up the issue of the carriages on Irish Rail at the previous meeting. Were we to write to them? If not, Id like to propose that we do. I have had a lot of representations, and my own daughter gets that train in the morning and shes left standing on it every morning. Ive had three more representations this week from people standing on the train due to lack of carriages it's a third-world situation. So, Id like to propose that we write to Irish Rail to see if there is any chance that we can improve the situation. There was one night that there were 25 people standing on the train, all the way from Dublin to Arklow, Cllr Fitzgerald added. They get on at Connolly, or the following stop, and theyre standing all the way to Arklow or Wexford. Its disgusting that so many people pay their money and dont get a seat. Then theres the other issue of there being so many people on board that some people don't want to give up their seats to elderly people. Those people have to stand there for the whole journey. There are no plans to increase the trains from Rosslare to Arklow and on to Dublin and thats frightening to be quite honest. The cold weather and the rain are coming, and the bus service doesnt suit a lot of people so its a desperate situation for people in the future. Wicklow passengers travelling on the Connolly to Rosslare train line are often left standing in the space between carriages. Responding to Cllr Leonards request, District Manager Leonora Earls concluded the discussion, saying: Just to say, the Transportation SPC has written a letter in relation to the All-Ireland Rail Review, and have raised the issue of the Dublin to Wexford service, in particular the impacts on Wicklow commuters. I also recently met with Jim Meade, who is the Chief Executive of Irish Rail, and expressed our disappointment to him. So, I think were using every avenue we can to raise the issue. Emer O'Neill, Ciara Kelly, Marlena Murphy and Laura Whitmore at the Wicklow Stories Film Festival in the Whale Theatre, Greystones. Photos: Mick Kelly. Brays Laura Whitmore and Emer ONeill were among the stars to join local filmmakers at the second Wicklow Stories Film Festival, which was launched at the Whale Theatre on Saturday, October 7 by Wicklow County Council Cathaoirleach Aoife Flynn Kennedy, who also attended the 8pm screening. Among the films selected for the festival were Valeria Patarushinas Skedaddle, Locked In by Brian O Riordan, Luke O'Reillys Wait for Me, To The Waters and The Wild by Laura Connolly, Kate Dunne and Pearse Stokes; Zeff Lawlesss BINGO! and The Wrong God by Conor Dowling. Brian O'Riordan and Alex Konieczka. Outside of the official selection, three other films were given a special place at the festival, including Journey to Pride by Dave Thomas a documentary about how the first pride parade in Wicklow came to be and Laura Whitmores moving Sadhbh, which made its Irish screen debut. Rise at the Cove showcased the impact in the community the social enterprise cafe has and what it means to have a space like this in Greystones. Conor Brown, Gavin Murphy and Phil Thompson, who operate the cafe, also attended the festival, highlighting what collective community effort can do to change lives. Sean Reilly, Conor Brown and Tiglin CEO Phil Thompson. Remarkable filmmakers from all over the county and beyond were invited to share their projects. The experimental dance film To the Waters and the Wild was a delightful journey through incredible Wicklow landscapes, while the Ukrainian refugee film Skedaddle pulled on the heartstrings with its simple yet powerful storyline. BINGO! and Wait for Me brought laughter to the occasion, while Locked In and The Wrong God left the audience reeling with their impact. One of the highlights of the evening was the showing of Laura Whitmores heartbreaking drama Sadhbh. Laura flew over from London especially for the festival and spoke in a very candid and honest way about the writing process behind the scenes. Sadhbh is a film about motherhood and deeply human emotions, which she portrayed brilliantly as the main character, Claire. Interviewed by Ciara Kelly, Laura spoke about her career highlights, next steps and the importance of storytelling, echoing the sentiment that the Wicklow Stories Film Festival was built around: Wicklow people are great storytellers and deserve a homegrown platform. The six selected films were given locally sourced, sustainably made trophies, created by Ecoset, a Greystones company that is tackling the plastic problem, one high quality cup at a time. The festival organised by Marlena Murphy, Ronika Merl and Dave Thomas was sponsored by Rise at the Cove with support from the Greystones Town Team and the Whale Theatre. While, a special mention was also given to on the evening to Bray Cuncillor Erika Doyle, who brought support and and guidance to the BIFE film studies students, and festival host Ross McParland, from the Whale Theatre. Submissions for next year will open soon on the website wicklowstoriesfilmfestival.com Wicklow Municipal District Councillor Gail Dunne has been elected the new President of the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG), becoming the first Wicklow representative to earn the honour. Speaking following his election, Cllr. Dunne said he was honoured and privileged to accept the office of President of the AILG and to represent the needs of the 949 elected councillors at government level over the next year. The AILG is a national representative body for the 949 elected city and county councillors across Ireland and their member local authorities. It is a networking, policy development and training resource for the elected members of Irelands 31 county and city councils. Joining Councillor Dunne at the helm is Waterford City and County Councillor Jason Murphy, who was voted Vice President at AILGs Annual General Meeting in Limerick earlier this month. Cllr Dunne confirmed that a key priority during his presidential term would be to deliver supports to councillors in advance of next years local elections, as well as continuing to champion the interests of councillors and strengthen their voice in helping to shape local government policy and legislation. In addressing delegates at the AGM, Cllr Dunne said there was no denying the importance of the work which the organisation continues to carry out. As elected councillors, we are at the heart of local government, he said. We ensure that we do our best on behalf of every community in Ireland by providing a strong voice for local citizens and promoting the welfare and good government of the people of Ireland. "As a national representative voice of local government in Ireland, AILG will continue to protect, support and champion local democracy and the vital role of elected councillors within our local government system. Speaking afterwards, he added: Its a great honour to be selected as the first person from County Wicklow to hold the Presidency of the AILG. I have to thank the Vickers and Dunne families for all their support and everyone else who has shared kind words. Now Im looking forward to getting started. Some of Cllr Dunnes fellow councillors also congratulated him on his appointment at a Wicklow County Councils meeting called to vote on the local property tax. Cllr Joe Behan said: History was made last Wednesday when one of our own was elected President of the AILG, Cllr Gail Dunne, a member of the Wicklow Municipal District. It was a fantastic achievement by him personally. I think it is also very good for us here in Wicklow County Council and the people of County Wicklow that we have somebody who will advocate for the rights of councillors, but also the people that we represent. I just want to congratulate Gail and wish him every success in the coming year. Cllr Paul OBrien said: I have known Gail longer than I have been in this chamber. I know we will be well represented, not just here in Wicklow but every councillor in the country, be it party or non-party because, in fairness to Gail, he treats everyone equally and I know he will have all the support of us in here as well. Cllr Vincent Blake commented: Can I just join with the other members in congratulating Gail. Its a great honour for him. There are only five Presidents in the five years it runs, one for each year. Well done Gail. Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday held talks in Kyrgyzstan , a Central Asian nation with strong ties to Moscow, during what was his first foreign trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March. The Kremlin chief has rarely travelled abroad since he sent troops into Ukraine in early 2022 and is not known to have left Russia since the ICC issued a warrant for him, accusing him of overseeing the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. Captain Tom Moores daughter has admitted keeping 800,000 (925,000) from three books the late British army veteran had written, despite the prologue of one of them suggesting the money would go to charity. Actor and writer Paterson Joseph performs excerpts from his novel The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho in St Margarets Church, Westminster (Lucy North/PA) A pioneer for the black vote in Britain has been described as a seminal part of history as Westminster Abbey announced a new memorial will be unveiled in his honour. In the 18th century, composer and campaigner Charles Ignatius Sancho is believed to have become the first man of African descent to vote in an election in the UK after he came to the country via a slave ship in 1729. The EU has launched an investigation into Elon Musks X formerly known as Twitter over its alleged spreading of disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech over the recent Hamas attack on Israel. A journalist's car burns after it was hit by Israeli shelling in the Alma al-Shaab border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing one and leaving six others injured. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) Thousands of Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday from the path of an expected Israeli ground assault, while Israel pounded the area with more air strikes and said it would keep two roads open to let people escape. Israel said yesterday there would be no pause in its siege of the Gaza Strip for aid or evacuations until all its hostages were freed, as Washington urged it to protect civilians and the Red Cross warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave. Abdul Mateen once described himself as a grounded man who doesnt like to flaunt his familys wealth. A cursory glance at the young prince of Bruneis Instagram profile, however, shows a world filled with opulence polo, yachts, exotic pets, and private jets. With the royal family of Brunei recently announcing the wedding of the 32-year-old prince to his long-time girlfriend Anisha Rosnah in January 2024, the spotlight is on one of Asias most eligible bachelors and his entrepreneur fiancee. Meet the firm behind our content. Visit their website to see how their services can help your business succeed. Image Credit: wikipedia.org London: Microsoft has successfully finalized its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, marking a significant move in the video game industry, Bloomberg reported. This acquisition elevates Microsoft to the third position worldwide, just behind Tencent Holdings and Sony Group. Overcoming regulatory hurdles, Microsoft adjusted the merger agreement to satisfy UK authorities. The US Federal Trade Commission, while unable to block the deal in court, continues its legal efforts through administrative channels, the report said. The UKs Competition and Markets Authority greenlit the deal with the condition of a restructuring plan, addressing concerns about competition in cloud-streamed gaming, it said. Microsoft now looks to leverage this acquisition, especially in the mobile games sector, although delays have put them at a further disadvantage in this highly competitive market. According to the report, Microsofts gaming chief Phil Spencer will be facing several challenges as the deal provides Spencer the basis for a plan to bolster the companys mobile games business, which is behind the other players in the the over-saturated sector. The universally popular Candy Crush and its spinoffs are among Activisions top titles. Sony, the maker of PlayStation consoles, strongly opposed the deal, with its video games head, Jim Ryan, airing concerns that Microsoft might offer competitors an inferior version of its popular Call of Duty game, the Bloomberg report said. In July, Microsoft and Sony agreed to a 10-year arrangement to keep future Call of Duty releases available on PlayStation consoles. Ryan announced his retirement from Sony in late September. UK regulators had previously rejected the deal, citing potential consequences like higher prices, reduced choices, and diminished innovation for gamers. The new agreement ensures that Microsoft cannot restrict access to Activision's crucial content on its own cloud gaming service or withhold these games from competitors, according to the regulator. Established in 1979, Activision is the powerhouse behind some of the world's most beloved gaming franchises, including Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Crash Bandicoot. Call of Duty alone has amassed over 425 million units in sales and generated over $30 billion in revenue prior to its most recent installment released last year. Mumbai: Tata Motors Limited (TML) is divesting a 9.9 percent stake in its IPO-bound subsidiary, Tata Technologies (TTL), for Rs 1613.7 crore as part of its strategy to reduce debt. TTL has been valued at around Rs 16,300 crore or approximately $2 billion. This transaction aligns with TML's debt reduction plan and is anticipated to be finalized in the next two weeks, subject to standard closing procedures. As of June 2023, Tata Motors' net automotive debt stood at Rs 41,700 crore. Analysts predict TML's net debt will decrease to Rs 23,000 crore by the end of fiscal year 2025. TPG Rise Climate is the primary investor in this transaction. TPG, which has previously invested in Tata Motors' electric vehicle venture, will acquire a 9 percent stake in Tata Technologies, while the Ratan Tata Endowment Fund (RTEF) will acquire the remaining 0.9 percent. TPG Rise Climate had previously invested $1 billion in Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited and serves as a strategic partner in TML's electric passenger mobility business in India. Tata Motors will receive Rs 1,467 crore as consideration for selling its stake to TPG, while RTEF will contribute Rs 146.7 crore. The transaction is scheduled to be completed by October 27, 2023, as stated in a notification to the stock exchanges. TTL reported a revenue of Rs 4,418 crore, a 25 percent increase, while post-tax profit surged by 63 percent to Rs 708 crore. An IPO for TTL is anticipated soon, during which Tata Motors, Alpha TC Holdings, and Tata Capital Growth Fund I are expected to divest 23.6 percent of the company's paid-up share capital. TTL is a global engineering services firm providing product development and digital solutions to international original equipment manufacturers. It specializes in the automotive industry and extends its expertise to clients in related sectors like aerospace, transportation, and heavy machinery construction. TPG Rise Climate operates as the dedicated climate investment division within TPG's $18 billion global impact investing platform. The fund concentrates on five climate sub-sectors: energy transition, green mobility, sustainable fuels, sustainable molecules, and carbon solutions. Representational image (Courtesy: Pixabay) New Delhi: India's imports from Russia in the April-September period of this fiscal year surged by approximately 67 percent to USD 30.42 billion. This increase was primarily driven by higher shipments of crude oil and fertilizers, marking Russia as India's second-largest import source in the first half of this fiscal year. This rise is significant, considering that Russia's share in India's import basket was less than 1 percent before the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. The surge in imports from Russia, particularly in oil, is attributed to discounted prices due to Western sanctions against Russian oil after the Ukraine invasion. On the other hand, imports from China decreased to USD 50.47 billion from USD 52.42 billion in the same period last year. Similarly, imports from the US fell to USD 21.39 billion from USD 25.79 billion. Imports from the UAE also contracted from USD 27.8 billion to USD 20.7 billion. During this period, imports also declined from several other countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Indonesia, Singapore, and Korea. Meanwhile, India's exports to seven of its top 10 destinations saw negative growth rates during this period, with positive growth recorded in exports to the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands. In September, India's merchandise exports fell by 2.6 percent to USD 34.47 billion, while the merchandise trade deficit narrowed to USD 19.37 billion. Photo Courtesy: PIB New Delhi: State-owned company REC, formerly known as Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with National Informatics Centre Services Inc. (NICSI), This MoU will benefit the RECs ecosystem by facilitating the exploration of the latest technology in evolving areas like IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics, Blockchain, Cyber Security, etc. The MoU was signed by REC Sr.GM & HoD (IT) Pankaj Gupta and NICSI MD Dr. Vinay Thakur. REC Ltd is an NBFC focusing on power sector financing and development across India. Established in 1969, REC Limited has completed over fifty years in the area of its operations. It provides financial assistance throughout the complete power sector value chain; for various types of projects including generation, transmission, distribution and renewable energy. RECs funding illuminates every fourth bulb in India. J-20 flight at the 2022 Changchun Air Show Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons The Myth of J20 One of the biggest enigmas of the border war between India and China in 1962 was the question of why India did not use its air power to engage the Chinese army in the Himalayan frontier. Had the combat air arm of the Indian Air Force been used, the outcome of the border war could have been different. This was not only because those days the Chinese Air Force was in a nascent stage, but also because of the inherent technical difficulties faced by the Chinese Air Force in operating from the high-altitude plateau of Tibet. Days have changed; both the Chinese Air Force and the Indian Air Force have grown exponentially in between, but the inherent difficulty of the Chinese Air Force of operating in Tibet remains. Here, the Indian air force has an inherent advantage over the Chinese which cannot be glossed over by the powerful propaganda machine of Beijing. The Line of Actual Control where any possible confrontation between the armed forces of the two nations may take place in future is far off from the airfields of mainland China. To run a war effort, the Chinese air force will have to operate from airfields in the high-altitude plateau of Tibet. Here they will face the technological disadvantage of not being able to take off with a full payload. Chinese combat aircraft taking off from airfields in Tibet will neither be fully armed nor will their fuel tanks be full. India, on the other hand, has a string of airfields at near sea-level altitudes close to the LAC all along, in Assam, north Bengal and the western parts of the country. The IAF's first C-295 MW aircraft landed in Vadodara last month. Photo Courtesy: IAF X page Here top-of-the-line fighter planes Rafale, Sukhoi MKI and MIG 29 have been deployed. These aircraft face no problem of taking off with a full payload of weapons and fuel and will have an inherent superiority over the Chinese aircraft. Campaign managers of Beijing are labouring much with the J 20 fighter that has been developed by China, claiming it is technologically superior to any aircraft in the Indian arsenal; that the J 20 has been deployed in the Western Theatre Command of the Peoples Liberation Army of China which oversees the Sino Indian border and the induction of this alleged fifth generation fighter aircraft will provide the necessary air superiority over the Indian air force in the Tibet frontier in case of hostilities. Quoting Chinese experts, Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, wrote in July 2020 that Rafale is only a third plus generation fighter jet and does not stand much of a chance against a stealth fourth generation one like J 20. To begin with, the Chinese experts as quoted in the Global Times report themselves had admitted that J 20 is not a fifth-generation fighter aircraft at all, it is a fourth-generation one. Stealth fighters that do not leave any signature on the enemy radars are, incidentally, fifth-generation aircraft. There are only three fifth-generation aircraft in the world today, the American F-35 and F-22 and the Russian Su-57. Former Chief of the Air Staff of India Air Chief Marshal B. S. Dhanoa has further exploded the myth of the technological superiority of the J 20 over Rafale. J 20 has canards while genuine fifth-generation aircraft dont have them, he has pointed out. Canards are small forward wings of an aircraft mounted on the fuselage located forward of the main wing. These improve aircraft control and lift, but leave a signature on the radar. Besides, unlike a fifth-generation aircraft, J 20 cannot attain the super cruise speed exceeding Mach 1, the Air Chief Marshal has pointed out. Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retired) of the Indian Air Force, too, has been quoted in The EurAsian Times on January 16, 2021 questioning the abilities of Chinese fighter aircraft like J-20. While China downplays the quality of Rafale, we have reasons to question the stealth capability of J 20 in view of the crudely shaped, radar signals reflecting canard controls. J 20 uses older Russian engines, poorly designed to conceal both radar and infrared signature. The Air Marshal has also raised questions on the reliability of J 20 engines. The planned Chinese engine WS-15 is still well behind schedule. It is unknown when the WS-15 will actually be ready. The Rafale engines are time tested, better in terms of reliability, longevity and maintainability. There are also questions on the electronic warfare suite of J-20, which in the case of Rafale is a comprehensive package covering the entire spectrum of threats. The EW suite is the ability of an aircraft to use electromagnetic spectrum waves to intercept and disrupt enemy electronic systems or protect its own assets using the same. The Chinese air force has already deployed the J 20 in the Tibet sector in the fond hope that this fighter jet will help China attain parity in air power with India along the Line of Actual Control, but that is not the reality. On September 22, 2022, air force spokesperson of China Senior Colonel Shen Jinke said J20 had been deployed across all the five theatre commands of the Chinese armed forces, including the western one which faced India. We have certain advantages. We will operate fighters that would be carrying full payloads taking off from Punjab whereas the Chinese fighters will have to operate from the oxygen-depleted Tibetan plateau, a senior official of the Indian military establishment has been quoted in the magazine The Week. IAF technicians working to prepare aircraft for Ex-Bright Star 23. Photo Courtesy: IAF X page Aircraft cannot utilize their full capacity and efficiency when operating from oxygen-depleted terrain like the 4,000-metre-high Tibetan plateau. Campaign managers of the Communist Party of China seem to have lost the sense of proportion while eulogizing the qualities of the J 20, even going to the extent of comparing it with F-35 and F-22 of the U.S. --- capable of challenging the best the U.S. has to offer- -- and also the Su 57 of Russia. An analyst from the Beijing-based Yuan Wang Military Science and Technology Think Tank has, however, spilled the beans. The American XA 100 engine that powers the F-35 remains at least 10 years ahead of the WS-15 that powers J 20. China has so far just matched the American engines in some areas, but not in overall performance. It is also not meaningful to emphasize one area because military confrontation is about a competition of systems and a contest of joint operational capabilities, the analyst has noted. The J 20 suffers from significant drawbacks, it has been pointed out. The engine systems that power the jets remain the most controversial aspect of the aircraft. The Chinese army had initially used Russian engines for J 20 but switched to domestic production when these were underperforming. It was still unclear if the domestic production of the engines was on schedule and how efficiently they were working. The biggest drawback of the J-20 is that it has not yet been tested in battle; the aircraft has not yet been engaged in any kind of warfare activities that may showcase its ability to fight or conduct any mission. The French aircraft Rafale which India has acquired as an answer to J 20 has proven capabilities in Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Rafale has the ability to supercruise and its radar signature is comparable to the best in the world. Rather than the fighter aircraft of China, the more important threat to Indian aircraft in Tibet is the large number of surface-to-air missiles deployed on the plateau, analysts have said. In the open plateau of Tibet without any cover of vegetation, however, these missile systems can be sitting ducks for the SCALP air-to-ground missiles and Meteor beyond visual range missiles in possession of the Indian Rafale, experts have argued. IAF technicians working to prepare aircraft for Ex-Bright Star 23. Photo Courtesy: IAF X page The combat assets of the Indian Air Force deployed in air bases that overlook the China border include Rafale, and Su-30 MKI. Mig-29, Mirage 2000 and Jaguar. The S-400 air defence system has also been deployed to take on enemy aircraft and missiles from a distance of 400 km. A recent addition to the lethal strike force deployed by India on the China border is the predator drone MQ-9B which will add significantly to the capability of the Indian army to keep surveillance on the Line of Actual Control at high altitudes and also to make precision strikes when necessary. In fact, the Indian army has already inducted drones in large numbers and set up airstrips to launch them. These unarmed aerial vehicles have added significantly to the capacity of the Indian army to maintain surveillance on the China border and prevent surreptitious intrusions by the Chinese army across the LAC.\ (Images Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons and IAF X page) First flight carrying 212 stranded Indians from war-torn Israel arrives in New Delhi as part of Operation Ajay. Photo Courtesy: Arindam Bagchi X page The first flight carrying 212 Indian people, who were stranded in Israel, arrived in New Delhi on Friday. The evacuation is taking place after the Indian government announced Operation Ajay, a measure to bring back Indians from war-torn Israel. Welcome to the homeland! 1st #OperationAjay flight carrying 212 citizens touches down in New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/FOQK2tvPrR Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 13, 2023 Following the arrival of the stranded Indians, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted: "Welcome to the homeland!" He said: "1st #OperationAjay flight carrying 212 citizens touches down in New Delhi.' External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is monitoring the operation, earlier wrote on X: "#OperationAjay gets underway." #OperationAjay gets underway. 212 citizens onboard the flight are enroute New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/fGSAYiXbBA Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 12, 2023 "212 citizens onboard the flight are enroute New Delhi," he had posted. Hamas-run health ministry has claimed Israel's overnight airstrikes have left 51 people dead and 281 hurt. Also Read: Operation Ajay's first flight to bring back 230 Indians from Israel, Jaishankar monitors evacuation mission As per a report by BBC News, 1,300 people in Israel have been killed in the attack by militant organisation Hamas. In a retaliatory air strike by Israel, more than 1,300 people have been killed in Gaza. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay Vijayanagar/UNI: A 20-year-old man was arrested on Thursday night by local police for allegedly posting a provocative slogan on WhatsApp in support of Palestine. The arrest comes in the wake of an ongoing war between Israel and Palestine, following killings of Israeli civilians by Hamas on October 7. The accused has been identified as Alam Basha, a 20-year-old man from Hospet district, and posted Palestine Zindabad on WhatsApp. The photo of the man who was arrested for uploading the questionable slogans was shared on social media platforms by some users with knowledge of the case and local media reports. A case has been filed against Basha under sections 108 and 151 of the CrPC, according to police. Israel said it lost over 1,000 civilians and that several of its people were held hostage by Hamas terrorists. In retaliation, Israel has bombed the city of Gaza and over 2,000 people have reportedly died in the constant bombardment by Israeli forces. The war rages on with Israel promising to "wipe out" Hamas. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also arrived in Israel for his October 11-13 in the strife-hit country to hold discussions on the issue. Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from X video New Delhi/IBNS: "Conflicts and confrontation benefit none," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a veiled urge to the world to maintain peace and harmony amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. Speaking at the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit, Modi said, "In the 21st century, unity in diversity is a huge strength for India. This helps us to fight all challenges and solve all problems." "The world is fighting the danger caused by conflict and confrontation. Conflicts and confrontation benefit none. A divided world can't solve the challenges posed to humanity. This is the time of peace, brotherhood and harmony. This is the time for development for all." Modi's message comes days after militant organisation Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli towns killing over 2,800 people. Israel on Thursday continued its airstrikes on various areas of Gaza in response to the large-scale surprise attack launched by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday. The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip and West Bank has touched 1,569, while 7,212 others were wounded, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry. The ministry said in a statement that the number of fatalities in Gaza has reached 1,537, including 500 children and 276 women. Meanwhile, the first flight carrying 212 Indian people, who were stranded in Israel, arrived in New Delhi on Friday. The evacuation is taking place after the Indian government announced Operation Ajay, a measure to bring back Indians from war-torn Israel. First flight carrying 212 stranded Indians from war-torn Israel arrives in New Delhi as part of Operation Ajay. Photo Courtesy: Arindam Bagchi X page Two Indian students, who were evacuated from war-hit Israel, have appreciated the Indian government for launching 'Operation Ajay'. The initiative was taken by the Indian government to evacuate stranded Indians from Israel. Vishesh, who returned from Tel Aviv, told ANI: "I am very happy, and its been really scary here. Now we are going home. See you in India. Thanks a lot, Indian government for evacuating us. Praising the PM Narendra Modi-led government for the initiative, Harsh, a masters student in electrical engineering at Tel Aviv University, told the Indian news agency, We are happy that the Modi government is providing us with support through Operation Ajay. My parents were worried due to the situation, but they will be happy to see me home now. Also Read: Operation Ajay: First flight with 212 stranded Indians arrives in India from war-hit Israel The first flight carrying 212 Indian people, who were stranded in Israel, arrived in New Delhi on Friday. Following the arrival of the stranded Indians, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted: "Welcome to the homeland!" Welcome to the homeland! 1st #OperationAjay flight carrying 212 citizens touches down in New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/FOQK2tvPrR Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 13, 2023 He said: "1st #OperationAjay flight carrying 212 citizens touches down in New Delhi.' As per a report by BBC News, 1,300 people in Israel have been killed in the attack by militant organisation Hamas. Hamas-run health ministry has claimed Israel's overnight airstrikes have left 51 people dead and 281 hurt. Photo Courtesy: twitter.com/BVFF_Guwahati Guwahati: The organisers of the eighth edition of the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival (BVFF) have invited entries of films from across India for its competitive and non-competitive categories. Filmmakers from all across India can send in their submissions by October 31, 2023, for the 8th Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival (BVFF), to be hosted in Guwahati this December, a press release said. The film festival will be hosted by Tattva Creations. In its eighth edition, the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival has introduced categories for film entries in the Competition section including feature film and documentary in addition to the short films section. The festival will also showcase films and cinematic works in the non-competition category. Missed the deadline? No worries! We believe in second chances. The final call for entries is open until October 31st. Don't miss your moment, submit your entries now! #SubmissionsOpen #FinalCall #IndianCinema #LateDeadline #FestivalCountdown pic.twitter.com/eo7VD6COFW BVFF_Guwahati (@BVFF_Guwahati) October 12, 2023 The aim of this move is to broaden the platform for budding talent and showcase some of the best works in meaningful and creative cinema, said the press release. "BVFF showcases the captivating blend of natural beauty, diverse cultures, and boundless talent in the North East of India," the organisers said. Over the years, BVFF has attracted nearly 200,000 film enthusiasts, with an average of 20,000 visitors per festival during its previous editions. Speaking on the upcoming edition, Tanushree Hazarika, Festival Director of Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival says, Its been a wonderful journey to organise 7 successful editions of BVFF and we are delighted to be prepping up for the 8th edition in December 2023. We are bringing the festival back in a grander way keeping in line with our vision of being the cradle of meaningful cinema. Hosted in Guwahati, the gateway to Northeast India, BVFF aims to be a platform to bring together filmmakers and film talent across India. The festival line-up includes an array of special screenings, including premiere screenings, international showcases, and family-friendly children's film screenings. According to the organisers, BVFF is more than just films; it's a haven for creativity and networking. Attendees can look forward to workshops, quizzes, and panel discussions, prime opportunities to connect and network with renowned cinematic stars. Speaking about the festival earlier, actor Boman Irani had said that he wished to attend the festival again. Such a wonderful audience, so responsive to the smallest detail. I wish I could come again and again to attend BVFF, Irani had said, commenting on the 2018 edition of the festival. BVFF has also gained the praise of acclaimed filmmaker Imtiaz Ali. The efforts that you take on to select the films and get the right filmmakers, thereby giving them a great opportunity and the platform to showcase their work. And that is why for seven years BVFF has been running successfully, the popular filmmaker had said in 2019. Other noted film persons including Farhan Akhtar (2014), Prakash Jha (2016), Rajkumar Hirani (2015), Gauri Shinde (2017), Nicholas Kharkongor (2019), Reema Kagti (2016), Shakun Batra (2018), Paoli Dam (2019), Sobhita Dhulipala (2019), Shiladitya Bora (2019), among many others, participated in the festival in the past and had shared great feedback, encouraging the organizers and everyone associated with the home-grown film festival. Image Credit: Image tweeted by Benjamin Netanayu of his meeting with Antony Blinken The office of the Israeli prime minister Thursday shared horrifying photos of dead babies on social media saying that they were among the pictures shown by Benjamin Netanyahu to visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Netanyahu's office claimed the photos were of babies murdered and burnt by Hamas. Here are some of the photos Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Warning: These are horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters. Hamas is inhuman. Hamas is ISIS, the prime minister's office posted on X, formerly Twitter. The timing of the post is significant as it comes amid a controversy over Israel's claims of Hamas beheading babies. US President Joe Biden had said on Wednesday that the attacks by Hamas were "sheer evil" and claimed to have seen photos of the group's operatives beheading babies. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed on Thursday that the United States will always be by Israels side as he arrived in Tel Aviv in a show of support amid the escalating war with Hamas. "The message that I bring to Israel is this: You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself but as long as America exists, you will never ever have to, we will always be there by your side," Blinken said at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are currently holding an additional expanded meeting with the participation of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Unity Chairman MK Benny Gantz and MK Gadi Eisenkot. pic.twitter.com/Fej0kPAicy Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 12, 2023 Israel has "the right, indeed an obligation to defend itself and to ensure that this will never happen again," the secretary reiterated. The US is supplying ammunition and interceptors to replenish Israels Iron Dome, alongside other defense materials. The first shipments of US military support have already arrived in Israel, and more is on the way, Blinken said. The US also continues to work closely with Israel to secure the release of people taken hostage by Hamas, he stressed. The US is pursuing intensive diplomacy throughout the region to prevent the conflict from spreading, Blinken said. Photo Caption: Israeli soldiers take cover during an alert for a rocket attack in Israel's southern city of Sderot near the border with Gaza on Oct. 12, 2023. Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/UNI The Israel Defense Forces on Friday warned civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate the region as it seems it will intensify attacks on terrorist targets in the Gaza City region. According to reports, the IDF is planning to launch a ground invasion in response to Hamass deadly onslaught against southern communities. An IDF spokesperson told CNN the military is preparing to strike Hamas and prevent them from ever being able to attack us again. The order came as morning broke on the seventh day of the Israel-Gaza war, with the military pressing its widespread air offensive and a total siege on the Strip, which according to international aid organizations has left it on the edge of a humanitarian disaster, reported The Times of Israel. The Hamas group reportedly bombarded the southern city of Ashkelon with rockets earlier in the day. The group claimed it launched over 150 rockets toward the city. Though Iron Dome interceptors destroyed many of the incoming projectiles, several got through. One rocket slammed into a home and another smashed into cars on a street, reported The Times of Israel. No casualty has been reported so far. According to the IDF, Hamas militants are using underground tunnels in the city to hide. Israel is believed to be preparing for a ground incursion on the Gaza Strip, according to media reports and analysis. Also Read: What is Hamas in the context of Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel Since this round of attacks between Hamas and Israel began on Saturday, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. So far, more than 1,500 Palestinians and more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, Xinhua reported. Image: UN News/Ziad Taleb Gaza is on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity and critical supplies, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday. No aid can come in from the outside for the 2.3 million residents of the sealed-off enclave, and some 220,000 displaced people are sheltering in schools run by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA. Stocks depleting fast Humanitarians are continuing to support Gazas population as best they can. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that together with UNRWA it delivered fresh bread from bakeries still able to operate and food to over 175,000 displaced people across 88 shelters on Wednesday, with plans to reach over 800,000 people across Palestine. The humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) reported that mass displacement has been continuing, increasing by 30 per cent in just the previous 24 hours, said UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York. This brings the cumulative figure to more than 338,000, "of whom over two thirds are taking shelter in schools run by UNRWA", the UN Relief and Works Agency, he added. Nearly 218,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) are sheltering in 92 of their schools. More than 2,500 units of housing have been destroyed or severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable, while nearly 23,000 others have sustained moderate to minor damage. At least 88 education facilities have been struck, including 18 UNRWA schools, two of which were used as emergency shelters for displaced people, as well as 70 Palestinian Authority schools. "This means that for the sixth consecutive day, more than 600,000 children have had no access to education in a safe place in Gaza", said the Spokesperson. Meanwhile, WFP stressed that its food assistance stocks were running out and called for urgent aid access. More humanitarians killed UNRWA further announced on Thursday that 12 of its personnel have been killed since 7 October in the Gaza Strip. The UN agency wrote on social platform X, we mourn this loss and are grieving with our colleagues and the families, reiterating that UN staff and civilians must be protected at all times. The UN health agency WHO, warned late on Thursday that hospitals in Gaza are "at a breaking point." Hospitals have just a few hours of electricity each day and are being forced to ration depleting fuel reserves to sustain just "the most critical functions" in overcrowded treatment areas. Acute shortages of medial supplies are compounding the crisis, limiting the response capacity, WHO added. Rights experts call for hostages release UN-appointed independent rights experts on Thursday added their voice to calls for Hamas to release people taken hostage during its attack on Israel while also calling for the targeting of civilians in the Palestinian enclave to stop. The experts, who include Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, called for urgent accountability for the horrific crimes committed by Hamas. 'No justification' The rights experts also condemned Israels indiscriminate attacks against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and a further tightening of the unlawful blockade against the enclave. There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces. This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime, the experts said. The rights experts warned of a severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave and of the inescapable risk of starvation faced by its population, adding that intentional starvation is a crime against humanity. According to media reports on Thursday, the current conflict, which is expected to escalate further, has claimed at least 2,400 lives. More than 100 Israelis and foreign nationals, including children and older persons, are being held hostage in Gaza. Water crisis A water crisis is worsening across Gaza and in UNRWA emergency shelters "due to damaged infrastructure, lack of electricity needed to operate pumps and desalination plants, as well as limited supply of water in the local market", Mr. Dujarric said. "Water supplies cannot be replenished due to the total blockade on the Strip by the Israelis authorities. Fuel cannot be brought in, and Israeli water suppliers can no longer deliver water in Gaza." The UN's sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA said late on Thursday that it is "deeply concerned" for the safety and wellbeing of women and girls who have been caught up in the violence in Gaza. Gaza is home to 50,000 pregnant women, who are currently unable to access essential health services. Some 5,500 of these women are due to give birth in the coming month. Dozens of births a day imminent That is equal to 166 births per day, taking place with inadequate access to healthcare or even clean water, the agency said. "UNFPA is prepositioning supplies to be ready to deliver if siege conditions are lifted. We have provided medicines essential for safe delivery to the health authorities in Gaza and we are providing dignity kits to UNRWA shelters." One agency staff member based inside Gaza and continuing to provide services, spoke for many UN workers caught up in the violence along with hundreds of thousands of civilians, noting that "my only goal is to breathe. To stay alive." At least 15 worshippers were killed in a blast inside the Imam Zaman Mosque at Pul-i-Khumri city in Afghanistan's Baghlan province on Friday. "Afghanistans Shia and Hazara population has been targeted once more inside a place of worship," a source told IBNS. According to reports, the blast occurred during Friday prayers. At least 15 worshippers were killed in an explosion inside Imam Zaman mosque in Pule Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan. Afghanistans Shia and Hazara population targeted once more inside a place of worship. #Afghanistan #terrorism pic.twitter.com/u8z80RnCHt India Blooms (@indiablooms) October 13, 2023 Baghlan Information and Culture Department Director Mustafa Hashemi said 17 people were injured in the blast. Hashemi told Tolo News that some of the injured people were transferred to Kunduz hospital for treatment. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay Demanding the prime minister and the federal energy minister to take measures for raising the productivity of power companies instead of their proposed privatisation, Pakistan's electricity workers recently observed 'demand day' across the nation. The initiative was observed under the aegis of the All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union. At a meeting held at Bakhtiar Labour Hall, the workers demanded the prime minister and the federal energy minister take measures for raising the productivity of power companies instead of their proposed privatisation, reported Dawn News. They also demanded that all vacant posts should be filled up to ensure electricity workers do not need to work extra on weekends. They urged the government to resolve the issues of Balochistan workers amicably. The meeting was addressed by union secretary general Khurshid Ahmad, Haji Younas, Osama Tariq, Rana Shakoor, Muzaffar Mateen and others, the Pakistani newspaper reported. In a concerning revelation, the official page of the Stockton Gurdwara in California, a well-known location associated with the Khalistani extremist movement, posted an invitation on June 27th for an event related to Paramjit Singh Nijjar and the symbol of Khanda. What makes this event particularly alarming is that it featured the logos of two proscribed terrorist groups, the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), alongside the names of Nijjar and Khanda. Avtar Singh Khanda was himself a known operative of the Khalistan Liberation Force. The Stockton Gurdwara also made headlines last year when it became the site of a tragic shootout. In this unfortunate incident, three individuals were injured. The use of these logos as affiliations for the event raises serious questions and eyebrows alike. It is important to note that both the KCF and KTF have been designated as terrorist organizations by several countries such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and India, due to their involvement in violent activities aimed at promoting the extremist Khalistan agenda. The use of these terror group logos in association with an event organized by a Gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, is not only shocking but also deeply troubling. Gurdwaras are meant to be places of spiritual solace and community, promoting values of peace, unity, and harmony. Associating with organizations that have resorted to violence undermines the very principles that Sikhism and Gurdwaras stand for. Gurdwaras in the United States, like many other religious institutions, typically enjoy tax-exempt status due to their designation as religious organizations. This status is grounded in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects the free exercise of religion. Consequently, religious organizations, including Gurdwaras, have the right to own property and are exempt from paying taxes on it, just as churches, mosques, and synagogues are. This tax exemption is essential to the financial sustainability of these religious institutions, allowing them to allocate resources toward serving their communities and fulfilling their religious missions. However, it is crucial to note that enjoying tax benefits for religious activities does not imply endorsement or support for any form of terrorism or violent ideologies. Any institution, religious or otherwise, must adhere to the laws and regulations of the country, including those related to promoting violence or supporting banned and proscribed terrorist organizations. If there are concerns or evidence of such activities occurring within a religious institution like a Gurdwara, it is a matter for law enforcement and relevant authorities to investigate and address. It is incumbent upon religious organizations to uphold the values of peace, tolerance, and community service that are fundamental to their faiths and to disavow any extremist or violent ideologies that may contradict these principles. This incident has understandably raised concerns within the Sikh community in California and beyond. The Sikh community has, for generations, contributed positively to the societies in which they reside, promoting values of equality, justice, and compassion. Such affiliations with proscribed terrorist groups run counter to these values and threaten to tarnish the reputation of the entire community. It is essential for the authorities to investigate this matter thoroughly and take appropriate actions if any unlawful activities are found to be associated with the Stockton Gurdwara or any individuals involved in organizing the event. Furthermore, it is crucial for the Sikh community to distance itself from any elements that promote violence and extremism, ensuring that the principles of peace and justice continue to be at the forefront of their endeavors. (Photo and text courtesy: Khalsavox.com) The flood stricken city of Volos and the islands of the Sporades, Skopelos and Skiathos, were visited on Thursday 12/10, by the Deputy Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy, Ioannis Pappas. During his presence in the capital of Magnesia, a meeting took place at the Central Port Authority of Volos under Mr. Pappa during which service issues were raised. The meeting was attended by the Commander of the 4th Regional Coast Guard Command Chief Captain L.S. Niki Dandoulakis, the Harbor Master of Volos , Vice-Captain Vassiliki Konstantas and officials of the Volos Port AuthorityExpressing gratitude The Deputy Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy expressed the gratitude of the political leadership of the Ministry to the women and men of the Hellenic Coast Guard for their great assistance in the disasters caused by the severe weather front Daniel in Thessaly, while he praised the zeal and professionalism of his executives Central Port Authority of Volos, which freed more than 250 of our fellow citizens from the beaches of Pelion. Afterwards, the Deputy Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy went to Skopelos and Skiathos, where he met and talked with residents, about the issues of the island but also about the upcoming regional elections, while he visited the islands Port Authorities, Health Centers and Police Departments. Specifically, a meeting was held in the hall of the Skopelos Municipal Council in which the Mayor of the island, Stamatis Perissis, as well as members of the local community participated. At the Skiathos Town Hall, Mr. Pappas had a meeting which was attended by the President of the Municipal Council of the island, Matoula Papadoulia, the appointed Regional Councilor of Sporades, Sakis Zlatoudis, as well as residents and businessmen of the island. With desperate efforts and many times under conditions of panic, terror and horror caused by the war, Israelis are looking for shelter in short term rentals in Greece. They are mainly looking for temporary shelter for their families women and children , away from their homeland, away from the war zone. Greeceand Cyprus , the friendly countries After all, the Israelis feel that Greece is one of the nearby and at the same time friendly countries. They feel the same about Cyprus. It is no coincidence that in recent years more and more Israelis have chosen Greece for their holidays. The Israelis had even climbed into the top 5 of customers for the domestic tourism industry, along with the Americans. It is indicative that in 2022 a historical record of arrivals from Israel to Greece was recorded, reaching 722,549 visitors In fact, in Thessaloniki, 11% of overnight stays are from Israelis. So for many of them it is a country they know. However, this time are not coming to experience the Greek summer but are forced to leave their country one by one due to the war Real estate in Greece According to market players speaking to OT, Israelis coming to Greece are looking to find some property through short-term rental as they do not know how long they will need to stay to be safe from the war. They even prefer these properties over hotels as it is a solution for accommodation at a lower cost. At the same time real estate sales contracts with Israelis that were to proceed in the coming days are canceled one after the other or put on hold until further notice Airbnb haven Mr. Giorgos Kanellopoulos, a member of the Board of Directors of STAMA (an association of short-term rental companies) told OT: It is a fact that since last week we have had cancellations from Israelis who had long booked some of our properties for their holidays and apparently as they are in the midst of war they cannot come. On the other hand, at the same time, there is an increased demand for Airbnb-style properties from people looking for refuge in Athens, away from the war. Most of them are looking, as Mr. Kannelopoulos tells us, for a property in the center of Athens. Still other Israelis were found by the war on vacation in another country and are using Athens as a stopover and staying in some property (airbnb) until they see what will happen. Mr. Kanellopoulos mentions a typical case of a couple who were in Italy when the first attack by Hamas took place. They found refuge in Athens by renting an apartment through a short-term lease until they see what they will do. The president of the European Union of Real Estate Agents, Kosmas Theodoridis, conveys the same picture. Just a while ago I received another call from my Israeli client asking me if an area in Athens where he found a short-term rental house is safe for him to send his wife and children to Cancelled contracts The Israelis have been flooding the Greek real estate for a long time, buying one property after another as Greece has low attractive prices compared to Israel but there is also the incentive of the Golden Visa as a result they show until a few days ago (before the war) strong interest in purchasing real estate in the center of Athens but also in the Southern Suburbs. As the president of the European Union of Real Estate Agents, Kosmas Theodoridis reports, in recent days contracts for the purchase of real estate have been canceled one after the other: For example, I had a very large contract canceled for a property that would have been bought by an Israeli investor, but as he informed me, he was just recruited. Some have already been drafted and some are waiting, but even if someone is not drafted and is safe away from the war, it is difficult for someone to proceed with an investment during wartime explains Mr. Theodoridis. Cruise ships traveling in the Eastern Mediterranean seem to be diverted to Greek and Turkish destinations, in order to keep a safe distance from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is escalating. Israel-bound cruise ships divert to Greece due to war - The Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Ifeanyi Ubah, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Young Progressives Party (YPP). According to a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during a brief plenary session on Thursday, Ubah said his defection was due to irreconcilable differences in the YPP. The letter further explained that Ubahs decision is in the interest of his constituents. The Senator said he joined the APC due to the exemplary leadership shown by President Bola Tinubu since he became the countrys leader. READ MORE: Ifeanyi Ubah Vows To End Monday Sit-At-Home In Anambra He said President Tinubu is a politician who understands pains and how to console people, adding that he has the capacity to lead the country on the path of progress and development. He said: I want to be sincere. It has always been difficult for the Igbo people to cue into the national party because of our sentiments and emotions. But, since our president has emerged, and I put that challenge to each Igbo man today in Nigeria, about 70 to 80 per cent of them drive their wealth from the legacy that the president has left in Lagos. Our president is a politician who understands pains and how to console people. He has that capacity. It is also important for me to tell our people about the appointment of Dave Umahi as the minister of works for the very first time, irrespective of our very low turnout of votes for him. Our president is rewarding those who didnt vote for him. For that, it will be very difficult for any man with a conscience not to look at the direction of the central party. I consulted widely. I dont see anyone who will come against my coming into the APC. Speaking further, Ubah promised to deliver Anambra to the ruling APC, adding that he has made his complaints about the South East known to the President. He added:It is not all about talking. It is about doing. I believe in action and I am going to deliver. I have made my complaints to Mr President in front of the Senate President and Mr President has graciously given me his words that he will support me. A bill seeking to raise the retirement age of members of the armed forces, has passed second reading at the House of Representatives. Gaza Gbefwi, a lawmaker from Nasarawa State and seven other lawmakers sponsored, the bill which proposes to raise the retirement age of members of the armed forces from 60 to 65 and from 35 to 40 years in service. The bill also seeks to amend section 18 of the Arm Forces Act 2004 as well as insert a new subsection 4 to section 30. The proposed legislation will make it mandatory for service chiefs; army staff, air staff, and naval staff, to be appointed from among the respective services, while the Chief of Defence staff can be picked from any of the armed forces. Information Nigeria understands that generals are often forced to retire if their juniors are appointed as service chiefs. READ ALSO: Too Much Jealousy, Envy Amongst Igbos Yul Edochie To ensure that they still render their services to the nation, the bill will make it mandatory for military officers compulsorily retired following the appointment of their subordinates as service chiefs to be engaged by the chief of defence staff as senior technical consultants for the training of officers in defence college, armed forces staff college or any related institution. During a debate on the bill on Thursday, Gbefwi said: The objective of the bill is to ensure that serving military officers learn from the wealth of experience of senior military officers compulsorily retired as a result of the appointment of their juniors as chief of defence staff or service chiefs. It also aims to provide for 40 years of service or 65 years of age, whichever comes first, as the new retirement age for members of the armed forces. The bill, however, excludes those who are retired as a result of a disciplinary measures or on health grounds. A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged some supporters of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. The court, in different suits, discharged about seven of Kanus supporters and also awarded fines amounting to N130 million to security operatives as damages. According to Kanus counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/475/2021, Justice M.O. Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja discharged Maria Ezediaro of all frivolous criminal allegations/charge brought against her before the court. Ejiofor, in a statement, said, She was arrested on February 26, 2021, when she visited the State CID, Owerri, Imo State Command to give food and medication to her friend who was detained there, and was subsequently transferred to the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team detention facility in Abattoir, Abuja, where she was subjected to all forms of inhuman treatment, severe torture and degradation. However, following the refusal of the police to release her or charge her to court, we filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit on her behalf before the Federal High Court Abuja. Still on our application, she was granted bail by the court on April 21, 2022, and consequently released to us upon perfection of the bail conditions. READ ALSO: Bill To Raise Retirement Age Of Military Personnel To 65 Passes Second Reading On October 10, 2023, following our application and submissions before the court, the Federal High Court, Abuja, per Hon. Justice M.O. Olajuwon, struck out the four counts of terrorism filed against Mrs Maria Ezediaro and consequently discharged her. According to him, Justice V.S. Gaba of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja discharged the Pastor of the Holy Trinity Sabbath Church, Orlu Imo State, Cletus Nwachukwu Egole; his wife, Ifeyinwa Egole, a prophet of Jewish Faith, Michael Uba, Ugochukwu Samuel; and Raphael Idang. He said, The court also granted them N100m compensatory damages against the police. Narrating the circumstances around their arrest, Ejiofor noted that they were arrested and subsequently paraded by the Imo State Command of the Nigeria Police on March 21, 2021, and later transferred to the IGP Intelligence Response Team detention facility in Abattoir, Abuja. Justice Z.B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court in Abuja also ordered the release of Ngozichukwu Ada-Dav and awarded N30m compensatory damages in her favour. Ada-Dav was arrested in June 2021 by a team of fully-armed operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and, after that, taken to the IGP/IRT located in Ikeja GRA, where she was detained in unlawful custody till July 3, 2021, when she was transferred to the Garki Command of the Nigeria Police, notoriously known as the Abattoir, he added. Dele Momodu, chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has weighed in on the uproar generated by the release of President Bola Ahmed Tinubus academic record by the Chicago State University (CSU). According to him, lawyers like Femi Fani-Kayode, former Minister of Aviation were mute because the case is indefensible. Recall that Tinubu is being accused by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of forging his CSU certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Director of Strategic Communications of the PDPs defunct campaign council further criticised those asking him to support Tinubu because they are friends but said he could not align with forgery. The Publisher of the Ovation Magazine said: Stop surrounding yourself with sycophants who dont know anything. There are more intelligent people in Nigeria who will advise you. Go and find them. They are there. Nobody can justify forgery, nobody! Lawyers know that anyway so Im sure that people like Fani-Kayode , know. They cant justify it, thats why they are all keeping quiet now. READ ALSO: South-East Will Appeal For Nnamdi Kanus Release Ifeanyi Ubah He submitted that the President needs to apologise and it is left for Nigerians to accept or not. Why cant you just apologise and move on? Like I said, it doesnt mean people will accept that apology. At least start from somewhere, you are insulting us. And you are allowing these boys who are just coming to collect peanuts to insult everybody on social media? I will defend a man who has the courage to apologise, Momodu added. Atiku has invested his resources in his belief and principles and has moved on. He has fulfilled all righteousness. Anyone with common sense will just apologize. To be insulting Nigerians on top of it is the height of shameless. I will defend a man who has the courage to apologize. Ive not been an apostle of Tinubus style of politics. There are things my body cannot take. Some people can be voluntary slaves but he knows me, Im not one of them, he said during a Facebook Live session. Controversial Nigerian transgender, Idris Okuneye Olanrewaju, popularly known as Bobrisky, has revealed that he would love to become a mother. Bobrisky, who was biologically born male, stated this while dismissing the thought from the general public about him not having a womb. Taking to social media to express his thoughts on Thursday evening, Bobrisky said he believes in miracles. READ ALSO: Why I Decided To Be A Woman Bobrisky Reveals He accompanied the post on his Instagram page with the caption, Im too pretty not to carry my own child. I keep believing everyday I wake up that Im gonna get pregnant one day. Im not believing that sh*t people say you dont have a womb you cant be pregnant lies. Miracles can happen cos d way my boyfriend kn*ck me damn i would have had like 12 kids. Recall that Bobrisky in a post on Tuesday revealed that he opted to transform his gender after realizing that he would do better as a woman. The management of Kwara State Polytechnic, has distanced itself from Adama Joseph and Oreoluwa Davies, who were paraded by the operatives of Nigeria Police for killing a club owner, Adeniyi Ojo, in a hotel located in Ilorin in Kwara State, the states capital. The institution made it known in a statement titled: Re: How we killed club owner in hotel Female Student, released by the institutions Public Relations Officer, Halimat Garba on Thursday. The statement read:The Management wishes to disclaim this discrediting and malicious news about the institution, stating that the suspects being paraded in Abuja by the force PRO, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, are students of Kwara State Polytechnic. The Polytechnic management wishes to state categorically that its students are good ambassadors of the Polytechnic, the state, and Nigeria at large and will never indulge in such acts. READ MORE: How We Killed Kwara Socialite Who Wanted Threesome Kwara Poly Students Confess The institution further stated that the claim that the suspects are students in the polytechnic is untrue, baseless, and a figment of their imagination, noting that the claim was intended to drag the name of the ever-peaceful institution into the mud. The operatives of Kogi State Police have arrested the stepmother of the 11-year-old boy buried alive on Wednesday by the womans 17-year-old son. Police spokesman in Kogi, SP Williams Ovye-Aya said in Lokoja that the woman was arrested on Thursday as soon as she returned from the church. Passers-by rescued the 11-year-old on Wednesday after he had been buried by his stepbrother in a bush at Silo community in Zango Daji, Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi. The 11-year-old boy was alleged to have stolen N10,000 belonging to his stepmother who instructed her son to punish the suspect before heading to church. In meting punishment to the 11-year-old, the 17-year-old took his stepbrother into the bush where he buried him alive, throwing the entire Kogi into bewilderment. Police immediately arrested the 17-year-old, saying Our officers and men were able to arrest the stepmother on Thursday after a tip-off. She is now in our custody. She has made a statement to the police on the sad incident. We shall transfer the mother and son to the Criminal Investigation Department for further interrogation of reasons behind such cruelty among family members. It is unfortunate that the father or breadwinner of the family was said to have travelled. We are waiting for him to return to give us his statement. Once the investigation is concluded, we shall arraign mother and son, Ovye-Aya said. READ MORE: 17-Year-Old Caught Burying Younger Brother Alive In Kogi Meanwhile, the Kogi government has vowed to prosecute the 17-year-old boy and the mother. Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Fatima Buba made the vow on Thursday in Lokoja when she spoke with newsmen over the incident. Buba described the incident as very wicked and saddening and assured that the ministry was in constant liaison with the police for the immediate prosecution of the mother and son. While the ministry is liaising with the police for their prosecution, necessary arrangements have been made to put the 11-year-old boy in an orphanage home. Our findings indicate that the boy is regularly maltreated by his stepmother and stepbrother. As a government, we will ensure that justice is served on all the perpetrators of evil acts in Kogi, she said. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday approved emergency repairs on 260 roads across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). David Umahi, Minister of Works, who disclosed this in a chat with newsmen after a meeting with the President at the presidential villa, Abuja, also noted that about N217 billion will be required for the intervention including upgrades. According to the Minister, Tinubu also approved the resurfacing of the 3rd Mainland Bridge, construction of Lekki deep seaport road, re-construction of two collapsed bridges in Enugu and reconstruction of two locations on the Onitsha-Owerri Road. Other roads approved for construction include the upgrading of the ongoing Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia road, dualization of the Lafia by-pass. His words: Ive always commended Mr President for his deep interest in reinstating most of our roads in the country. Everyday we get a lot of concerns from the public on the very deplorable situation of our roads, but there is no paper I brought in respect of that that Mr President has not approved. Just yesterday he approved over 260 road interventions across the 36 states and the FCT. Youll recall that last week he approved a lot of emergency roads and bridges repairs; we have three bridges that collapsed on the Southwest roads, he approved for reconstruction immediately. We have the Shendam- Lafia that collapsed, we also have the approval for its repairs. READ ALSO: Woman Pours Hot Cooking Oil On Her Husband In Rivers (Photos) We have about 17 points along the East-West Road that have been destroyed by flood, Mr President has approved and released money for the immediate repairs. Of course, the Third Mainland Bridges resurfacing and repairs of some noticeable deflections have to be done under the deck on top of the water with equipment, he has also approved that. Two bridges that collapsed in Enugu, approved by Mr President; the two locations on the Onitsha-Owerri Road, Mr President approved the reconstruction; Lokoja-Abuja Road, Mr President approved the reconstruction. I can name them, apart from the 260 emergency repairs all over the country that are worth about N217 billion, so Im quite glad. This afternoon again, Mr President approved upgrading the Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia Road; of course, its ongoing, but its a PPP with the Chinese, and were paying 15%. Also, the construction of the Lafia Bypass Dualisation from Makurdi, through Oturkpo, through Oboloafor, down to 9th Mile, is a major one, but Mr President has approved it. The China EXIMBank is also financing this Lafia-Keffi Road is also financed by Chinese EXIMBank. Then the of 7th AXA Road, Lekki Deep Seaport (access), in Lagos. You know the Lagos State government is building the deep seaport, meaning that all the cargoes that cannot berth at the existing ports in Lagos can now come to that location, and thats where the Dangote Refinery is located. I saw thousands and thousands of well-established companies that are already installing their equipment there. Its to be a huge free trade zone. So Mr President has approved that I should go ahead and sign the MoU and that it should be programmed for priority in our business with the Chinese. The works minister further revealed that President Tinubu has approved the reconstitution of the Board of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), with the aim of speeding up road maintenance nationwide. Let me also announce that Mr President approved the reconstitution of the FERMA Board, and this is very good for us, this is so that work can now get a bit more serious with FERMA in terms of very prompt maintenance of the roads, he added. A moving speech. Music that felt cleansing and cathartic. A composer who, at least for this listener, is unmatched for his ability to change the chemistry of the brain. Its been a grim, unsettling week, filled with the kind of news that has tested our sense of humanity, and its impossible to know now how the particular pieces of Thursday nights Philadelphia Orchestra concert might have hit in another time. But the orchestra has an uncanny way of planning programs months in advance that, by the time they reach the stage, somehow speak to larger events. Even without the speeches before the downbeat in Verizon Hall, the concerts three works held up a mirror to the moment. In two brief addresses to the audience, orchestra music and artistic director Yannick Nezet-Seguin and orchestra-Kimmel chief Matias Tarnopolsky created a context that was crystal clear. Advertisement We are heartbroken at the brutal terrorist attacks against Israel and the ensuing loss of innocent lives in Israel and in Gaza. We express our sincere condolences to the members of our musical family, staff, community, and the victims who have been affected by these horrific acts, said Tarnopolsky, standing on stage alongside the conductor. He went on to talk about the orchestras own connection a 2018 tour of Israel when it formed powerful bonds with audiences. We stand today with the people of Israel, he said. In one of the most meaningful moments of that tour, Tarnopolsky continued, Yannick and musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra led a performance at the Oasis of Peace, bringing together Jews and Arabs in musical harmony without borders. Nezet-Seguin then spoke about how these recent tragic events can elicit an array of deeply personal emotions sadness, anger, loneliness, whatever you might be feeling at this moment, and that he hoped the music would provide a space for reflection, comfort, or connection with those around you tonight and everywhere in the world. The orchestra has often stepped up to react to events well beyond the concert hall. It was founded in 1900 after musicians organized concerts benefiting families of those killed in the Spanish-American War. It has regularly held relief concerts for various causes, and provided Philadelphia with balm just days after 9 / 11 in a Mann Center concert led by Wolfgang Sawallisch. What was surprising about Thursdays concert was that the repertoire dovetailed (again, unwittingly) with the emotion of the moment, and was perhaps even transformed by it. Directly after the speeches, Nezet-Seguin led Luciano Berios Four Original Versions of Luigi Boccherinis The Night Retreat of Madrid, which arrived like joy coming over the horizon. The piece, a series of variations on a noble but gentle tune (in various versions), plays out like a parade first heard dimly in the distance. It passes before you and then moves on. There are moments of levity, like the Rossini-esque solos so elegantly realized by oboist Philippe Tondre, and little glints of dissonance. But thanks to the expansive view of Nezet-Seguin, it was that middle section that really swelled with emotion. Loud and proud, it was a climax of nearly unbearable bliss. The great accomplishment of Terra, the bassoon concerto by Brazilian American composer Clarice Assad receiving its world premiere, was its ability to move across numerous stylistic borders to create a world unto itself. Played with soul and virtuosity by bassoon soloist Daniel Matsukawa, the piece was easy on the ears and packed with some gripping emotional storylines. You also had to admire the delicate, sensitive textures Assad used to ensure that the solo bassoon wasnt a lone voice swallowed up by the crowd. If there was an emotional Rorschach test in the program it was Rachmaninoffs Symphony No. 1, which encompasses a universe of ideas. The brass in the last movement sounded particularly martial at a moment like this, but, for the most part, the piece is the kind of dreamy escape to a deeper, more free-associating part of the brain many look for and find in the concert hall. The orchestras program is repeated Saturday at 8 p.m. in Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce Streets, but with Rachmaninoffs Symphony No. 2 instead of No. 1. Tickets are $10-$181. philorch.org, 215-893-1999 Police investigate a triple shooting at 60th and Walnut Streets on July 4, 2021, where Sircarr Johnson Jr., 23, and Salahaldin Mahmoud, 21, were killed in a shooting. Read more A 22-year-old mans role in a gang feud that left at least 53 people shot in less than a year ended Thursday when he pleaded guilty to nearly a dozen crimes, including murder. Jalen Skip Mickens, dressed in a red jumpsuit, stared straight ahead as he pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including two counts of third-degree murder, related to his part in three shootings in one night in 2021 that left two young men dead, five injured, and a community in mourning. Prosecutors say that on the evening of July 4, 2021, Mickens and three others part of a street group called 02da4 drove through West Philadelphia on the hunt for members of a rival gang called 524. Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Palmer said Anthony Pistol P Lacey-Woodson was with Mickens that night. He has also been charged with multiple counts of murder, conspiracy, and related crimes. His case remains ongoing, Palmer said, and hes indicated hell take the case to trial. 103 shots fired into a barbeque The feud originated, Palmer said, when Lacey-Woodsons uncle, Frank Tooley Smith, was fatally shot in December 2020. The group blamed 524 for his death, and in the 11 months that followed, the rivalry resulted in dozens of shootings. In total, 53 people were shot as part of the groups back and forth, Palmer said, and 16 were killed. More than half of those shot, Palmer said, were bystanders and not members of the groups. Among the innocent who died were Sircarr Johnson Jr., 23, and Salahaldin Mahmoud, 21 both killed, Palmer said, when Mickens, Lacey-Woodson, and two others fired 103 shots into a barbeque Johnson was hosting at his store on 60th and Sansom Streets on July 4, 2021. A 16-year-old girl was also shot multiple times but survived, and another young woman was cut by glass and shrapnel. The shooters, Palmer said, were aiming for a 524 member who was at the gathering, and fired indiscriminately into the crowd. Johnson died in his fathers arms. The intended target wasnt struck. Johnson and Mahmoud, he said, had no affiliation with the gangs. Advertisement Their deaths shattered the lives of their loved ones and the greater West Philadelphia community. He took care of all of us, Johnsons aunt, Leah Ross, said of her nephew outside the courthouse. Before Mickens and Lacey-Woodson shot up the barbeque, they targeted two houses nearby, Palmer said. First, just after 8 p.m., they drove to the 1600 block of South 54th Street, and shot two young men multiple times. Two hours later, around 10:35 p.m. they shot a 16-year-old at 60th and Walton Streets, he said. Theyre still out here As Common Pleas Court Judge Scott OKeefe read each charge aloud, and Mickens said guilty over and over, Johnsons mother, Pamela Owensby, shook her head, but kept her eyes fixed on her sons killer. Johnsons grandmother, Juanita Johnson, dropped her chin to her chest and sobbed. Owensby said Mickens admission of guilt was a small win, but shes trying not to get her hopes up, as Lacey-Woodsons case remains open. Mahmouds mother, Lennora Mahmoud, said she cant stop thinking about how the two other shooters police say were with them that night havent been identified. Theyre still out here, she said. Cachella Ford said her 16-year-old son who was injured on Walton Street is still processing the emotional trauma of that night. But hes back in school, working, and trying to move his life forward, she said. Everyday I pray for our God to touch the minds of our youth, she said. Palmer, part of the DAs Gun Violence Task Force to crack down on violent street groups, said the investigation that resulted in Mickens arrest spanned 18 months and relied heavily on ballistics evidence, text messages, and social media postings. Theres no time period ... where we will forget about these incidents, where we will stop investigating these incidents, he said. The good people of Philadelphia in these neighborhoods have lived too long under this. ... We wont allow this to happen and well make sure the people that are doing it are brought to justice. Mickens is set to be sentenced in January. Everybodys losing, theres no winning, Ross, Johnsons aunt, said. He left two kids without a father ... but youre sad because hes a young man, too. He had a whole life to live, she said. Theres so many layers to this. Goong phao, whole grilled freshwater river prawns with nam pla waan, neem, fried shallots, garlic and peanuts, served with jasmine rice at Kalaya in Philadelphia, Pa. on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Inquirer restaurant critic, Craig LaBan, puts this dish as one of the best for 2023. Read more Its not easy finding the best brunch spots to impress out-of-towners or tracking down the latest food trends, but someones gotta do it. Luckily, The Inquirers food team takes on this burden wholeheartedly and dishes out a Dining Guide each year to report on their culinary adventures throughout the Philly region. The dining guide has always been a good opportunity to break from our weekly focus on whats new to take in the big picture, writes The Inquirers restaurant critic, Craig LaBan. The 2023 Dining Guide sings the praises of decades-old Philly restaurants that are overdue for a spotlight and welcomes a new fleet of chefs and restauranters beginning their dreams in this East Coast powerhouse of flavor. To dig deeper into their findings, LaBan and The Inquirers food & dining reporter, Mike Klein, sat down to answer Reddits burning questions and give their best takes on this years food scene. Read The Inquirers 2023 Dining Guide online or buy it in print for the coffee table. To stay updated on the latest food and dining news in the city, sign up for the Lets Eat, Philly! newsletter. Do you ever wear disguises to the restaurants youre reviewing? How do you pay? In Craigs case, how hard do you try to stay low profile? For Mike, does recognizing you help or hurt? Mike Klein: When the bill comes, I just whip out my Inquirer Amex a very nice thing to have. Im sure being recognized helps the experience (especially when Im not-so-secretly photographing the food on the table), but remember: I am not a critic. Im just trying to report on and chronicle as much of a VERY broad scene as possible. I like to say that my job is like standing at Niagara Falls with a cup. Craig LaBan: I used to wear disguises when the occasion demanded it. For the most part, disguises dont work. Fake beards dont adhere long enough to last through a tasting menu, and its worse to be found-out in a bad disguise, which can draw a lot more attention than one ever intended. Advertisement I prefer to go low-key. I never make reservations in my own name, if I make them at all (often my guests will do this), so the visits are at least always unannounced even if Im eventually recognized at a table. Staff must respond spontaneously, and the quality of the food and service is pretty hard to fake even if Im well aware some kitchens make multiple versions of a dish before sending one out to my table. Also, it should be noted: The Inquirer always pays for my meals. I accept no free food unlike pretty much every Instagram/TikTok influencer out there. The Inquirer still invests big in our food coverage because the integrity of our process, I believe, still sets us apart. Best bite of food youve had all year? Only one bite, Im serious! Mike Klein: Its not new, or chichi, but the Baller Classic from Middle Child. What a perfect turkey hoagie, with the chopped-up pickles, raw onion, arugula and enough mayo to lube a small SUV. Craig LaBan: You know its pretty much impossible for me to name a single best bite, right? That said, you really need to look no farther than the cover and inside page of this years dining guide to get my answer: the coal-grilled river prawns for the goong phao platter at Kalaya is my dish of the year. These are as big as mini-lobsters but sweeter, stripped tableside of their tail meat and tossed into jasmine rice with fried shallots, garlic, peanuts, neem bitter greens and nam pla waan Thai seafood sauce (sour, spicy, herbal, funky), along with all the creamy orange molten fat pooling in the head. Its got 10 different flavors and textures going on, and has taken a dish I that ate alongside chef Nok at an open-air restaurant in Thailand, and actually improved it. Spectacular. This is more than a great dish. Its a personal history served in all its flavorful glory on a platter, with no compromises, for Philadelphians to taste. What are your favorite spots in the Fairmount/Brewerytown area? Mike Klein: I really enjoy La Calaca Feliz (20th & Fairmount) and the new Buena Vista (17th & Green). For whatever reason, Fairmount has not experienced much new-restaurant activity recently, though I spoke with Rabbi Hirshi Sputz of Chabad of Fairmount. He and his wife, Shevy Sputz, are converting the former Rembrandts on Aspen Street once the largest restaurant in the area into a school, synagogue, and community center, as well as Stephens Restaurant. The light menu will include the line of kosher baked goods from Shevys Babka Paradise, now offered Thursdays at Fairmount Farmers Market. Stephens opening is targeted for January. Craig LaBan: In Brewerytown, gotta love Spot Burger. And Im due for a revisit for a Rodeo or Ponderosa. But Im also really looking forward to the new Babys Kusina and Market, set to bring some Filipino flavors there soon, too. Curious to try Ottos Taproom, but have yet to get there. One often overlooked neighborhood favorite in Fairmount is Zorbas Tavern, which serves good renditions of traditional Greek fare perhaps the last saganaki flamed tableside in Philly? Also, dont miss the lamb shank in avgolemono sauce. Some foodie friends from NYC will be in town for brunch. Where can I take them to unquestionably establish Phillys cred? Mike Klein: I mean, if you want to blow them away with atmosphere, you got JG Skyhigh and a view from the 60th floor. We have so many great hometown bruncheries. Im a fan of Cafe La Maude in Northern Liberties. Craig LaBan: For brunch? Try one of the favorites from my Top 10 list in El Chingon! This is such a beautiful, updated rendition of Mexican South Philly and all the baking is done in house, from the cemitas to the conchas. But theres also knock-out chilaquiles, and a hearty Taco Placero breakfast platter. Get the Marzapano cappuccino infused with crumbled Mexican peanut candies. On a totally different tortilla wavelength, Im now craving the Texas-style breakfast tacos wrapped in fresh made flour tortillas at Taco Heart, also in South Philly. Or you can do a French AF brunch with foie gras French onion soup at Forsythia, kale-Comte crepes and matsutake omelettes. Han Dynasty chef/owner Han Chiang with vegetable lo mein at a Wells Fargo Center menu tasting. Read more Han Dynasty, one of Philadelphias homegrown Chinese restaurant success stories, is joining the food lineup at the Wells Fargo Center this season. Also on board are Sals meatballs (a classic menu item from Marc Vetri), walking tacos, and what is arguably the blingiest sandwich ever offered by concessionaire Aramark: chopped beef rib topped with truffle cheese sauce, caramelized onions, A.1. demi sauce, and 24k gold. (Is blingiest even a word?) Han Chiang, who with his mother, Lung Lung, opened his first restaurant in 2007 in an Exton shopping center, said Aramark approached him over the summer to see if hed be interested in a partnership and sharing recipes. It was a no-brainer, said Chiang, a major Sixers fan. The Han Dynasty empire now includes restaurants in Old City, University City, Manayunk, and Cherry Hill, as well as several in New York City. Advertisement READ MORE: All about Han Chiang of Han Dynasty Han Dynasty whose fans delight in running the words Han Dynasty together to call it Handynasty will occupy the Launch Test Kitchen at Section 107, whose lineup will feature items from local restaurants. Han Dynastys Wells Fargo menu will include some of its most popular items: vegetable lo mein, chicken lo mein, chicken dumplings, vegetable dumplings, fried rice, and Chiangs spin on General Tsos chicken, known as General Hans chicken. Alas, no dan dan noodles. The Wells Fargo Center and Aramark beefed up the food options last year as part of an arena renovation that included new stands by Vetri and chef Jose Garces and the Adrian restaurant conceived by Stephen Starr. As for that gold-topped sandwich known as the 24stK its smoked beef rib, carved off the bone and topped with truffle cheese sauce, caramelized onions, A.1. demi sauce, and 24k gold (its water-soluble), served on a Liscio Bakery roll. Anthony Campagna, senior executive chef at the center, said corporate had asked him and his team to develop something over the top for the stands to create buzz. They riffed on the short-rib sandwich offered at Adrian, morphing it into a beef rib thats smoked for 12 hours. A limited supply 24 at the home opener will be available at Section 117 for $28.49. Also new at the center: Procession of Philadelphia police vehicles with body of fallen officer in hearse leaves Police Headquarters early Friday morning. The officer was shot and killed and another wounded at Philadelphia International Airport. Read more One Philadelphia police officer was killed and a second was injured when they were both shot as they approached several men who appeared to be breaking into a vehicle in a parking garage at Philadelphia International Airport late Thursday night, police said. The officers were off-duty but about to start their work shift at the airport, said Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford. The double shooting was reported just after 11 p.m. in the Terminal D parking garage, Stanford said at a news briefing. Advertisement Suspects in the shooting are still at large. A 50-year-old officer with 22 years on the force was shot several times in the upper torso, Stanford said. The officer, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center at 11:34 p.m. Stanford said he was married with one child. The officers family members were at the hospital and heartbroken, devastated, he said. The second officer, who is 60 years old, was wounded in the arm. He was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, Stanford said. Please wrap your arms and prayers around their families and our department, Stanford posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, early Friday morning. We will continue our search for those responsible and wont stop until all are in custody! A short time before Stanfords briefing outside Penn Presbyterian, police said one or more of the shooters had fled from the shooting scene at the airport in a black 2022 Dodge Durango, which was later determined to be stolen with a license plate of PLUSTAX. Shortly after the shooting, a black Dodge Durango dropped off an 18-year-old man at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia with two gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead. Stanford said they had not yet confirmed that the vehicle and deceased man were involved in the shooting of the officers. One of the officers was in full uniform and the second was in partial uniform, Stanford said. The interim commissioner noted that three officers were shot just last week in the citys Rhawnhurst section. A gun belonging to one of the off-duty officers may have been taken from the shooting scene, police said earlier. Airport officials posted an advisory on social media announcing that Terminal D and the Terminal D parking garage were closed due to the police investigation. Just after 12:30 a.m., the airport announced that the terminal had been reopened, but the parking garage remained closed. Afghan women gathered during a welcome gathering dinner at the Reading Terminal Market in November 2021. Read more Who are the citys most diligent supporters for including newly arrived immigrants and refugees into the fabric of the city? The Office of Immigrant Affairs (OIA) wants you to nominate them for its forthcoming 2023 Welcoming Awards celebration. The Welcoming Awards is a way to celebrate those champions of immigrant inclusion, said Amy Eusebio, OIAs executive director. The award is a testament to people or groups who are every day doing the work. The award is a testament to people or groups who are every day doing the work. Amy Eusebio Currently, about 15% of Philadelphia city residents are immigrants, and Mayor Jim Kenney has maintained throughout his years in office that immigrants are essential to the citys cultural diversity and economic growth. In February, Philadelphia became a certified Welcoming City, a formal designation from Welcoming America that indicates the city is intentional in its commitment to immigrants calling Philadelphia home. It was a rigorous, multiyear process but Philadelphia ultimately earned 92 out of a possible 100 points. The average score among Certified Welcoming cities is 55 points. Advertisement READ MORE: Philadelphia is now officially a Certified Welcoming city. Heres what it means for immigrant communities. Eusebio said creating the Welcoming Awards last year came on the heels of that designation process. There will be awards in five different categories: Education Excellence, Public Safety Partnership, Arts & Culture Appreciation, Economic Empowerment, and Health & Wellness Achievement. Eusebio said in each category there will be two winners one community member and one city government winner. We also want to champion different departments [in the city] who listened to immigrant leaders around their needs and worked together to find solutions. Eusebio said that the awards ceremony also helps counter anti-immigrant sentiment that espouses that immigrants are taking resources from citizens. That couldnt be further from the truth, said Eusebio. Last years inaugural winners included Lindsay Southworth, of the Free Library of Philadelphias Language and Learning Center, Barbara Wilson of Team Jamaica Bickle, the Philadelphia Caribbean Festival, and the Mayors Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs. Wilson came to Philadelphia from Jamaica 50 years ago, while in her early 20s, after her mother sent for her. I came reluctantly. I was already established [in Jamaica] and working with barristers. And while she admitted that there are areas that need improvement, she said that overall as a city we arent bad at all. READ MORE: This organization supports Caribbean athletes at the Penn Relays But time to submit nominations is running out. Information is available online, and nominations must be received by 5 p.m. Monday. Winners will be feted at the 2023 Welcome Awards Ceremony to be held on Nov. 15. Palestinian Americans and supporters march down Sixth Street near Independence Hall Thursday protesting media coverage of the fighting between Israel and Hamas. At right are Philadelphia police surrounding supporters of Israel at the northwest corner of Market and North Sixth Streets. Read more More than 200 supporters of Palestine rallied in Center City, closing down Market Street Thursday, to criticize news coverage of the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas, following the militant groups surprise assault at the countrys southern border on Saturday. The attack perpetrated primarily on unsuspecting civilians, many of them in their homes, some at a music festival left more than 1,000 Israelis dead and scores taken hostage, in what is considered the deadliest day in the countrys history. U.S. officials on Thursday said 27 Americans were among the dead and 14 were missing. Israels leadership has, in turn, pledged to eliminate Hamas, launching a full-scale bombardment of the Gaza Strip, home to over 2 million Palestinians. The war has spawned several demonstrations around the region. On Sunday, around 220 people participated in what organizers from the Philly Palestine Coalition called an emergency solidarity rally in Center City. The following day, more than 1,000 people gathered at a Jewish community center in Wynnewood to mourn Israeli victims of the assault. Next week, more than two dozen Jewish organizations have planned a Philadelphia march in support of Israel for Monday, starting at City Hall at 4 p.m. and continuing to Independence Hall, for a rally with songs, messages and prayers of unity. Advertisement At Thursdays demonstration, protesters, and a contingent of counterprotesters waving Israeli flags, gathered near Independence Hall around 1 p.m., chanting Free Palestine and waving Palestinian flags. The groups march began at the offices of public radio station WHYY, and ended outside of the building where The Inquirer has its newsroom at Sixth and Market Streets. There, organizers called on the media to amplify news of deaths of Palestinians as a result of Israels retaliatory bombing campaign and historic conflicts in the region. More than 1,500 people have been killed as a result of Israeli bombing, Palestinian authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced. Meanwhile, Israel continues a complete siege of the territory until its hostages are returned, blockading food, water, electricity, and medical supplies. READ MORE: Residents of Philly region grieve for loved ones in Israel and Gaza as war intensifies Theres a lot of pervasive bias in Western media, not just what is happening now, but what has been happening for 75 years, said Nada Abuasi, an organizer with the Philadelphia Palestinian Solidarity Coalition, which includes pro-Palestine organizations from local colleges and social justice groups. Rachel M., a French Palestinian living in Philadelphia who asked that her last name be omitted for security concerns, said she was angry and horrified that Israels bombing campaign has left so many dead in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas effectively retains control. Palestinians lives matter, they are not subhuman, she said. Indigo Jordan, a 23-year-old from Philadelphia, said pro-Palestinian supporters had been looking for an outlet to express themselves since Saturday, and that he was excited about Thursdays turnout. Law enforcement officials from multiple agencies were present during Thursdays rally, which remained peaceful. Standing on the outer edges of the protest Thursday was Joel Sweet, a 60-year-old Philadelphian who silently held up a wooden stick bearing both the flags of Israel and the United States. Sweet recalled living in Israel during the early 1980s at a kibbutz located not far from the site of Hamas initial assault, where militants killed over 200 civilians attending a music festival early Saturday morning. I believe in Palestinian rights, Sweet said, mentioning that hed like to see Egypt help Palestinians safely flee the Gaza Strip. I also believe Israel has a right to eliminate Hamas. Protesters suggested their own vision of a resolution: They called for Israels blockade of Gaza for more than a decade to be lifted immediately, and for the return of Palestinian-claimed land, among other demands. A Philadelphia police officer was killed in a shooting just after 11 p.m. Thursday. Another officer was shot but is in stable condition. The officers were off-duty but about to start their work shift at the airport, said Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford. In this image from video obtained by the Associated Press, Noa Argamani is seized by members of the Hamas militant group on Oct. 7. The writing in Arabic at left in the video posted on social media features a laughing emoji and reads, Our guys have done their duty. Read more One of the more troubling aspects of the reaction by some Americans to Hamas terrorism in Israel are videos of young people parading through the streets of New York, San Francisco, and other cities chanting resistance is justified and globalize the intifada. This response isnt just anti-Israel, its antisemitic. This is not merely an expression of a political view about the complex Arab-Israeli conflict. For example, Chicagos Black Lives Matter chapter proudly promoted the image of a Hamas terrorist paratrooper on social media, accompanied by a message that they stand with Palestine. In the moment, the BLM chapter was celebrating terrorism committed against Jews. The same is true of white supremacist organizations that have supported Hamas barbarism. Come on guys, its time to dance! Get those Jews! cheered one of those bigots. Advertisement College campuses have seen a goodly share of antisemitism even though episodes of bias at universities may be more informed by politics than Jew-hatred. A coalition of 35 Harvard University student groups signed a letter that declared, [Israels] apartheid regime is the only one to blame. These sorts of statements purposefully avoid mention of terrorism, and instead assign all guilt to Israel. Despite the gruesome video evidence to the contrary, these statements perpetuate Hamas narrative, namely, that Israels military response to the terrorist attacks are massacres committed by the Zionist forces against our people in cold blood. No reasonable person, we submit, can adopt that position. Social media, horrifyingly, testifies to the brutality of the violence perpetrated by Hamas any claims otherwise draw on the same impulses as Holocaust trivialization. Sometimes, reactions are more insensitive than antisemitic, driven by a deeply held political sentiment. We fear, however, that insensitivity enflames bona fide antisemitism. Take, for instance, the recent statement by Trinity College president Joanne Berger-Sweeney, with the subject line Conflict in the Middle East emailed to the college community and alumni. Her letter makes no mention of Hamas or terrorism by name, and therefore cant censure it. Instead, Berger-Sweeney wrote, [W]e especially grieve the loss of life and the destruction of families and homes as the violence persists. Her statement equates the actions of a nation forced to respond to the mass murder of its citizens with a terrorist organization that seeks the genocide of the Jewish people. The mass murder of Jews on Oct. 7 was not merely another chapter in a cycle of violence across the Middle East. The mass murder of Jews on Oct. 7 was not merely another chapter in a cycle of violence across the Middle East. The recent terrorist campaign doesnt warrant immediate politicized examination. Such responses arent just tepid, theyre callous, arrested by the perceived political context of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Its sometimes very hard to reverse course and check politics at the door but it does happen. Consider the about-face of the Association for Jewish Studies, a learned society of Jews and non-Jews who teach and write about Jewish subjects. In its initial statement, the AJS expressed deep sorrow for the loss of life and destruction caused by the horrific violence in Israel over the weekend. Members were quick to protest the omission of those who caused the loss of life. A day later, the AJS executive committee thought better of it, admitting to its members that the earlier iteration was inadequate and issuing a new statement that unequivocally condemn[ed] Hamas for killing and kidnapping hundreds in Israel, targeting civilians, and perpetrating horrific atrocities. Likewise, Harvard president Claudine Gay took some time, to the chagrin of some, before she denounced Hamas. Then after that, amid pressure from alumni, reissued a statement that rebuked Harvards student leaders for piling the blame on Israel rather than Hamas. (A handful of Harvard student groups also withdrew their support of the statement blaming Israel in response to the backlash.) Happily, the prevailing position of heads of state has separated politics from terrorism. The best example is President Joe Biden, someone whose politics are not in concert with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet Bidens position was unequivocal: Hamas attack was an act of sheer evil. The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and others, no matter the preexisting political context, expressed categorical condemnation of the terrorists. The situation isnt over. As a historian and a political scientist, we recognize that there will be a time, later on, to assess the historical antecedents of current events and the political impact on the future of the Middle East. Now, however, with tears and prayers, we mourn the thousands of deaths brought about by Hamas terrorism and hope for peace in short order. Zev Eleff is president of Gratz College and Ayal Feinberg is director of the colleges Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights. The college, in Melrose Park, is the oldest independent Jewish college in North America. My friend in central Israel was sobbing on the phone as she spoke. A psychotherapist who has volunteered to counsel survivors of the Hamas attack, she is helping two young women who escaped from the music festival where 260 Israelis were slaughtered. Their two boyfriends threw themselves out of the shelter where they were hiding in order to save the women, and they were shot dead, she recounted through her tears. The terrorists left because they didnt realize the women were still hidden. One of them was texting on her phone with her dad for seven hours while the terrorists were shooting outside, and she had made her goodbyes. Many Israelis are attending funerals this week for the 1,200 dead. At my friends former workplace, several people lost relatives, and her brother-in-law knows a whole family that was wiped out. In her hometown, a funeral was held Friday for a beautiful 23-year-old woman who was murdered at the music festival. Its everywhere, she told me. The numbers are staggering. Its like the Holocaust. Advertisement READ MORE: As Israel strikes back against Hamas, questions linger about the long road ahead | Trudy Rubin Yet my friend reflected what Ive heard from many ordinary Israelis and from security experts. I feel caught between two waves of tragedy, she told me. I am waiting for a futile invasion. I know it will lead to a disaster. Specifically, she fears that a ground invasion by the 300,000 Israeli troops massed on Gazas border could draw them into a death trap prepared by Hamas. Based on past Israeli history in Gaza and in south Lebanon, those fears are very legitimate unless Israel demonstrates far better leadership than what the Netanyahu government showed this past week. And unless it has an exit strategy for getting out of Gaza after an invasion if it decides to send its soldiers in. The emotional pressure to destroy Hamas is running high at the moment and calls for revenge even higher. Thats not surprising in a country of 9.7 million people, around 73% of whom are Jews. Almost everyone is only one or two degrees away from one of the dead, wounded, or missing. Moreover, as anger mounts against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his governments shocking intelligence and security collapse not only failing to anticipate or prevent the Hamas attack, but being unable to rescue besieged towns and kibbutzim around Gaza for many, many hours his war rhetoric keeps getting more inflamed (at this writing, no one except the education minister has yet apologized for the governments dereliction of duty, and many families of kidnap victims have heard no word from officials). So rather than face up to its negligence, the governments temptation is to overpromise revenge. We will wipe this thing called Hamas, ISIS-Gaza, off the face of the Earth, Netanyahu has declared. That may be a desirable goal, but Israels own history shows how difficult it is to eradicate a terrorist group from a crowded, overbuilt area such as Gaza. Troops will have to move house to house between several-story buildings, alleyways are booby-trapped, and militants can fire from hidden tunnels and traps, and also have drones. Israel tried ground incursions before in 2009 and 2014 and pulled out after having done major damage to Hamas sites (and causing severe casualties to civilians). But Hamas leaders survived and maintained power. READ MORE: Israeli government strategy enabled Hamas horrors and must change to defeat them | Trudy Rubin One must not forget that Israel also sent troops into Lebanon in 1982, expecting to stay 48 hours and dislodge PLO fighters. I wont forget the day in late 1982, when I arrived in the city of Tyre to see a blown-up building in which 75 Israeli soldiers had been killed. Israel got stuck in southern Lebanon for many years, trying to keep down Hezbollah fighters until it pulled out in 2000. They are still entrenched and now possess 150,000 Iranian-supplied rockets and missiles. Trying to remove terrorists from urban sanctuaries is one of the most difficult, if not impossible, military tactics. It inevitably causes enormous casualties among civilians caught in the cross fire and among the invading forces (especially if the militants are ready to become martyrs.) I saw this myself in Mosul in 2016, where Iraqi commandos had to blow up, flatten, and destroy the entire old city, where ISIS was entrenched, and still took 50% casualties doing so. Gaza, with 2.2 million people and built-up cities where Hamas lives among civilians, would make Mosul look like a picnic. The objective of eliminating Hamas is not attainable, said strategic policy analyst and Israel Policy Forum fellow Nimrod Novik, because it is an ideology, not just a movement. The implication is you need to go door-to-door. It would take months and have an incredible cost in lives probably including the lives of all Israeli hostages. It makes no sense. Yet, if the government does want to risk a ground war, it is essential that it first designs an exit strategy for the troops and a plan for who would rule Gaza if the Hamas government could be overthrown. Israel can go in and reoccupy Gaza, but what would it achieve? asked Ori Nir, vice president of Americans for Peace Now and a former West Bank correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. That is not a viable option. You still need someone to run the strip. Otherwise, Israel might get stuck with a military reoccupation, which would guarantee the reemergence of Hamas or a successor, as well as a constant guerilla war that would tie innumerable Israeli soldiers down. All this is not to say that the objective of destroying Hamas is not sought-after. But it is to say that a rushed invasion could lead to a further deluge of casualties not only of Israeli troops but of thousands of Gazan civilians without achieving that goal. One can only hope that the addition of two former Israeli army chiefs of staff Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, both members of opposition parties to a wartime unity government will provide wiser military strategists and slow the rush to invasion, all while devising a more feasible military (and diplomatic) plan for the short and long term. However, its not clear if Netanyahu will listen to their advice. Clearly, there are no good options for taking out Hamas. But it would be catastrophic if Israel plunged into a second disaster following the calamity last week. Before he was fired, it fell to Malik Boyd to respond to media inquiries when Philadelphia Register of Wills Tracey Gordon was accused of ousting employees for not funding her reelection campaign. Now Boyd is the fourth former employee suing Gordon and her office, saying his refusal to donate to her campaign was part of the reason he was fired after she lost the May Democratic primary. Gordon has less than three months left in office. A bill to taxpayers for her alleged actions could soon come due as well. Gordon insisted that employees of the office support her reelection candidacy publicly, vote for her candidacy, contribute monetarily to her reelection campaign, and not remain noncommittal or uninvolved in the reelection process, Boyd claimed in a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court last month before the city Law Department sought to move it to federal court. Advertisement Boyd also claimed Gordon frequently ordered him to perform personal tasks unrelated to his job and attempted to coerce him into making false statements in response to questions from media outlets. His multiple formal complaints to the offices human resources department only prompted more abuse from Gordon, he said. Gordon did not respond to Clout. A spokesperson for the city Law Department, which has contested some of the claims, declined to comment. Three other lawsuits against Gordon, pending in federal court, are scheduled for settlement conferences next week. Nicholas Barone, a former clerk, took action in January in Common Pleas Court before moving his lawsuit to federal court in July. Barone said he had a good record and had been promoted, but that came undone after Gordon asked employees to give $150 to her campaign. Barones suit said Gordon asked his supervisor, Thomas Campion, why the clerk did not contribute, even after she said $75 would be enough. He was fired in January. Mark Wilson, another former clerk, sued Gordon in May, making similar claims. That lawsuit included a sworn affidavit from Campion, who supervised Wilson and Barone and said they were well liked and worked very hard. Wilson was fired in April. Campion, who was fired last year, sued Gordon on July 27, accusing her creating immense pressure forcing employees to donate to her campaign and screaming at him when he did not contribute. Gordon was narrowly defeated in Mays four-candidate primary by John Sabatina Sr., an estate attorney and Northeast Philly ward leader. Building Trades tussle in 10th District Clout hears the City Council 10th District race in Northeast Philly between 11-term incumbent Republican Brian J. ONeill and Democratic challenger Gary Masino is causing friction for Philadelphias Building & Construction Trades Council. Members of Local 19 of the Sheet Metal Workers union beefed at the councils monthly meeting last week with Wayne Miller, who heads Local 692 of the Sprinkler Fitters union. Masino leads the Sheet Metal Workers. Miller, who also serves a president for the council, and his union are backing ONeill. Clout sources say Masinos union called for Miller to resign as president, something immediately nixed by Ryan Boyer, business manager for the council and leader of the Laborers District Council. Ten of the 29 unions in the council maxed out their contributions to Masinos campaign at $12,600 in December and again this year. Millers union maxed out to ONeill last month. He denied anything happened at the meeting but also told Clout If something happened I wouldnt tell you anyway. Masino said he was not in the room during the dispute, since the council is backing his campaign with super PAC spending and he is not allowed to coordinate on that. Boyer didnt want to talk details but described the dustup to Clout as a minor disagreement while emphasizing that the council mostly backs Masino over ONeill. A bipartisan call to head off No Labels. Former Gov. Ed Rendell was among a bipartisan group of elected and former elected officials who this week called on the group No Labels to drop plans for a third-party candidate for president, warning that such an effort would only hurt President Joe Biden and help former President Donald Trump. Rendell, in a conference call with media outlets for Citizens To Save Our Republic, said Trump forfeited his right to be president when he stoked his base ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Greg Schneiders, the groups pollster, said a voter survey in June in the five swing-states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin consistently showed a close two-way race between Biden and Trump that would tip toward Trump in a three-way race. In Pennsylvania, Biden and Trump held 50% each in a two-way race but a No Labels candidate would take nearly 20% of the vote, with more coming from Biden than Trump, he said. Dick Gephardt, a former U.S. House leader from Missouri, founded the group as a political action committee in July and said they are not challenging anyones right to run for president. But right now 2023, 2024 we believe the stakes are so high for the country to be able to retain our democracy that all Americans of all beliefs and parties need to come together to make sure that Donald Trump does not get back into the White House, Gephardt said. Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics. ? La presidenta Dina Boluarte fue recibida con honores militares a su llegada a Berlin, donde se reunira con el presidente federal de Alemania, Frank-Walter Steinmeier y empresarios de ese pais. ???????? pic.twitter.com/OzPDtVfmnJ We feel fortunate that Steve and Declan are joining us on our journey and entrust us to help them continue into the next phase of building their business, said Envest CEO Greg Mullins. We are also happy to see London and other insurance markets actively looking to support MGAs as they continue to build market share. With a broker network placing $1.3 billion into the market, our focus on agency acquisitions is to bring our customers new products and services to market in niche areas that deliver value for them and insurance partners. Additionally, the analysis reveals that about 9% of communities in 2023 fall under the category of low-incident communities, having encountered only a single war-related incident. Furthermore, the data highlights the concentration of hostilities on specific Ukrainian communities, with 9% having endured intense shelling, and 6% being communities situated away from the frontline, yet targeted by Russian attacks. Notably, Ukraine has reclaimed 101 once-occupied communities from Russia since the invasion commenced. Samfiru Tumarkin LLP is assisting an increasing number of Allstate employees in Ontario, who believe theyre caught in a sweeping layoff and restructuring wave at the company, said Lior Samfiru, co-founding partner at Samfiru Tumarkin. Our team is carefully reviewing their severance offers before they are signed back to ensure that every crucial factor is addressed, including the consideration of enhanced compensation due to challenging economic conditions. Ken has a wealth of experience and a distinguished career in the insurance industry, and we are confident his expertise, innovative thinking, and commitment to our core values make him the perfect candidate to lead Wynward into its next phase of success, Hanson said. In his new role, Tomlinson will be responsible for Mercers global health, wealth and career practices. In the near term, he will also retain his current responsibilities as CEO of Marsh McLennan US and Canada and president of Mercer US and Canada. He will report to Ferland. The fact that Slide is picking up 86,000 policyholders is great news for those who were getting dumped by Farmers, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in a press release shared with Insurance Business. It also demonstrates that carriers are finding more opportunities, in Floridas insurance environment, after the reforms we enacted. ? La presidenta Dina Boluarte participo en el evento Dia de America Latina, donde el Peru fue el invitado de honor. Asistieron empresarios alemanes que buscan conocer mas sobre las oportunidades de inversion que ofrece nuestro pais.???????? pic.twitter.com/MWkIeEQSVF MIA Appoints McEvoy as Associate Commissioner of Operations and Sexton as Director, Legislative and Regulatory Policy Maryland Insurance Commissioner Kathleen A. Birrane appointed Sean J. McEvoy as associate commissioner of operations and promoted Jamie Sexton to serve as director of legislative and regulatory policy for the Maryland Insurance Administration. McEvoy comes to the Maryland Insurance Administration with over 30 years of experience. Most recently, he served as assistant commissioner of policy and consumer services for the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation. He also served as director of small business resources and as a finance specialist at the Maryland Department of Commerce. Sexton joined the Maryland Insurance Administration in September 2022 as director of health insurance regulatory affairs and national partnerships. Previously, she was director of state policy at the Immune Deficiency Foundation, legislative director for Maryland Senator Mary Washington and an associate in the Attorney Generals Consumer Protection Division. Plymouth Rock Appoints Malaret Vice President of Claims Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp., headquartered in Boston, Mass., appointed Max Malaret as vice president of claims in its independent agency auto group. Malaret comes to Plymouth Rock with more than 16 years of insurance industry experience, most recently as vice president of claims process for auto physical damage, subrogation and salvage with Liberty Mutual in Boston. Topics Maryland A media entrepreneur is trying to connect young people disturbed by the impact of social media on mental health with older power players to fight for change in how tech companies do business. The newly-formed Sustainable Media Center is intent on stopping companies from using algorithms to push damaging information to vulnerable youths, dark things like suicide methods. Venture capitalist and trustee Bradley Tusk has seen it personally; he believes his daughter`s eating disorder was made worse by what she saw online. It`s a long way from initial hopes that the internet would connect the world for more positive uses, said founder Steven Rosenbaum, former producer of MTV News: Unfiltered, several documentaries and ex-leader of the NYC Media Lab. When you find that what you helped build is causing more harm than good, there`s no way you can get up in the morning and not do anything about it, Rosenbaum said. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in May called for immediate action to protect young people, noting that social media use is near universal but its impact on mental health is not fully understood. The Sustainable Media Center is not alone in this effort. The organization Fairplay lobbies to stop tactics that manipulate children into spending too much time online. Waituntil8th.org urges parents to not give children smartphones until they reach the eighth grade, and to keep them off social media until they`re at least 16. New York Bills Seek to Protect Kids From Social Medias Mental Health Harms Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, said there`s room for Sustainable Media Center`s approach, particularly in empowering more young people to share their own experiences. From my perspective, the more the merrier, Golin said. We are going up against one of the most powerful and well-resourced industries in the world. Besides Tusk, prominent Sustainable Media Center backers include veteran media executive and YES network founder Leo Hindery Jr.; Roger McNamee, investor and author of Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe; Eric Gertler, executive chairman of U.S. News and World Report; and David Hornik, a Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist. Rosenbaum has also gotten young people with large online followings involved, such as Emma Lembke, founder of Log Off, an organization founded by teenagers to address social media use; Zamaan Qureshi, co-chairman of Design it For Us, another activist group in social media; and Aidan Kohn-Murphy, founder of the progressive activists Gen-Z For Change. In the past month, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, held a Zoom roundtable for young activists and expressed support for their goals. If had a child and they were 14, 15, I would do everything I could to keep them off of these platforms, Booker said at the session. We would all probably say thats worse than cigarette smoking. Tusk, in an interview, said that he`s involved with the Sustainable Media Center in part because he wants to mobilize young people in support of another cause he supports, voting by mobile phone. He said he hoped the group could take some dramatic action to give the social media issue greater visibility. The Sustainable Media Center is working with Columbia University to do a comprehensive review of research on the issue, Rosenbaum said. He wants to convene a summit of Gen Z leaders to plan strategy. The organization has an initial operating budget of $1.5 million, although only a quarter of that has been collected or pledged, he said. Like Golin, Tusk said he recognizes it`s an uphill battle for organizers. I don`t think that anybody would put the odds in our favor, Tusk said. But I do know, that if we don`t try, it`s only going to get worse. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Agencies Changes in the availability of medical services during the pandemic was one of the drivers of Delaware workers compensation claims costs in 2020 and 2021. A new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found that total costs per claim with more than seven days of lost time in Delaware decreased in 2020 and then increased in 2021, based on claims evaluated as of March 2022. The study found that changes in the availability of medical services and economic conditions were the main factors behind the 2020 and 2021 findings. Reforms enacted in 2014 also had an effect on medical claims, which WCRI reported on previously. Delaware Law Cut Workers Compensation Medical Claim Costs by 33%: WCRI In the early months of the pandemic, medical facilities were closed and hospitals stopped performing elective surgeries and surgical procedures. In addition, some workers with injuries may have avoided medical treatment due to stay-at-home orders and fear of contracting COVID-19 in a health care setting. Labor shortages, especially in the health care sector, may have hampered access to needed medical care in some areas, explained Ramona Tanabe, WCRI president and chief executive officer. This trend tracks with what WCRI has seen in other states. At the same time, indemnity benefits per claim increased in Delaware during 2020-2021 at a faster rate that in prior years due to growth in wages of workers with injuries and increases in duration of temporary disability, according to the report. There was a shift in percentage of indemnity benefit claims from lower wage to higher wage workers, likely reflecting the uneven impact of the pandemic on different types of jobs, WCRI said. The study, Trends in the Delaware Workers Compensation System, 20162021, authored by Evelina Radeva, is the third annual report examining the Delaware workers compensation benefit delivery system. The analysis covers total claim costs, medical payments, indemnity benefits, disability duration, benefit delivery expenses, and other metrics. It analyzes how these metrics of system performance have changed over time from 2016 to 2021 (at various claim maturities) with payments made through March 2022. Among the studys key findings: Changes in the components of total costs per claim in 20202021 may reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; these changes followed a long-term decrease in total costs per claim. Medical payments per claim decreased in 2020 and then increased in 2021, reflecting utilization changes during the pandemic; prices for professional services have been fairly stable since 2017. Wages of workers with injuries and duration of temporary disability increased in 2020 and 2021 following small changes in prior years. The data used for this report exclude COVID-19 claims, for which the nature or cause of injury was COVID-19. WCRI is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Related: Topics Workers' Compensation COVID-19 In the wake of a shooting that left five people injured during homecoming festivities, Morgan State University leaders announced Tuesday they plan to build a wall around most of the northeast Baltimore campus and station security personnel at entrances and exits. The wall would extend existing barriers by about 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) to encircle 90% of campus and effectively eliminate unfettered access, university President David Wilson said during a campus town hall. Were doing this, let me be clear, not to keep out our neighbors and our community writ large; we are doing it to keep out the bad actors, Wilson told an auditorium filled with students, faculty and staff of the historically Black university. After the shooting the night of Oct. 3 following a coronation ceremony for this years Mister and Miss Morgan State, university leaders canceled classes and homecoming activities for the remainder of the week. Theyre now grappling with how to keep students safe as gun violence becomes an ever-growing threat in American schools. During Tuesdays town hall, Wilson and others faced a litany of questions from students and staff demanding to know what more could have been done to prevent the shooting. Students were walking from an auditorium to the campus student center, where a coronation ball was scheduled to start, when the gunfire erupted. The campus was placed on lockdown and students were told to shelter in place because police initially thought there was an active shooter threat. No arrests have been made, but Baltimore police have released surveillance images of persons of interest and asked the public for help identifying them. Police said they believe the violence stemmed from a dispute and involved two shooters. They said the five victims, including four Morgan State students, likely were not intended targets. All the victims were released from local hospitals last week. University officials said significant security upgrades were underway before the shooting, but theyre now moving forward with more urgency. In addition to the wall, other potential upgrades include installing more metal detectors in campus buildings, exploring weapons detection technology, increasing police patrols and building additional security guard booths. Wilson said the anticipated total cost is more than $22 million. Previous Morgan State homecoming celebrations have also been subject to violence. In October 2022, a young man was shot during what officials called an unsanctioned homecoming after-party on campus, and the year before, a freshman was arrested and charged with shooting his classmate over homecoming weekend. The university, which has about 9,000 students, was founded in 1867 with an initial mission of training men for ministry, according to its website. It moved to its current site in northeast Baltimore in 1917 and was purchased by the state of Maryland in 1939 as it aimed to provide more opportunities for Black citizens. Wilson began his presentation Tuesday with reminders of the universitys mission and core values. He said he spoke with the injured students earlier that day and one of them had a message for the university community: Today may look grim but tomorrow is bright. Wilson also promised to reschedule the homecoming ball that was thwarted by gunfire. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Education Universities Maryland If people really looked for history at the New York City building where the Triangle Shirtwaist factory once existed, they could find it. There are plaques pointing out that it was the site of a horrific fire in 1911 that became a catalyst in the American labor movement`s fight for workplace safety protections. But for some, a few words on a wall aren`t nearly enough to honor the fire`s 146 victims. So after years of effort, the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition this week dedicated a new memorial that has no chance of being overlooked. A giant steel ribbon with the names of those who died in the disaster, predominantly women and girls, has been installed running horizontally from one corner of the building. Underneath it, a reflective panel shows the stenciled names as well as quotes from people who were there, describing the mayhem. In the coming weeks, a vertical steel column will be added to the corner to span almost the entire height of the building, a reference to how high up the victims were stuck. Its the story of desperate immigrant women, mostly Jewish and Italian, who were trapped by a door that was locked because there were no workplace safety rules that said it couldnt be. Some jumped to their deaths from the windows to avoid the flames. What they will see is a memorial that tries to build into the object itself the history of the fire, a history of working women, a history of Italians and Jews, a history of tragedy, but then also a history of change, said Mary Anne Trasciatti, a Hofstra University professor and president of the coalition. Frantic Workers The victims were close to the end of their working day on March 25, 1911, when a fire started on the eighth floor of the clothing factory, which took up the top floors of a building now owned by New York University. Frantic workers tried to get out as the flames spread to the ninth and 10th floors, some scrambling to get into an elevator, others heading for the roof. But others who tried to get past a door to escape found it locked, trapping them inside. At a trial of the factorys owners afterward, some said the door had been kept locked on purpose, over theft concerns. Firefighters responded quickly. But their ladders were too short to get to the topmost floors. Horrified witnesses in the crowd watched as workers leapt from the windows. Among those bystanders was the late Frances Perkins, already an anti-poverty advocate trying to change workplace conditions, and who became even more dedicated after what she saw that day. It really started her in her push for we have to treat workers better,' said Ileen DeVault, professor of labor history at Cornell University. Some of her words recollecting the day are part of the memorial, running along the reflective panel. Every one of them was killed, everybody who jumped was killed. Perkins would be part of a state commission that put a series of safety rules in place in New York that were emulated elsewhere, and later became an integral part of President Franklin Roosevelts cabinet as his secretary of labor. She pushed for policies like minimum wage, workers compensation, and old age pensions. One of the names on the memorial will be that of Rosie Weiner, who died in the blaze, but whose sister and fellow factory worker, Katie Weiner, made it out alive. Later, Weiner would recount how she grabbed an elevator cable to make her escape. Today, her great-niece, Suzanne Pred Bass, is on the board of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition. Growing up, Bass knew her great-aunt had lived through the fire, but it wasnt until years later that she heard about Rosie. Bass mother remembered accompanying her mother as a small child to the pier where the victims` bodies were taken after the fire. She never forgot that, she was 4 years old and I can only imagine how how scary and awful, Bass said. Memorial Designers Memorial designers Richard Joon Yoo and Uri Wegman wanted to find a way for modern-day people to connect with the fire and its legacy, they said. The public was invited a few years ago to contribute pieces of fabric that were joined together in a 300-foot (91-meter) Collective Ribbon. That ribbons design was then etched onto the memorial steel that rises up toward the top of the building. It was important to make that connection between past and present because issues of labor, workplace protections, and how workers are treated are still far from settled in the country and the world, Yoo and Wegman said. Everything that it talks about with women workers, immigration, labor, its these touch points that just keep on flaring up over and over and over again, Yoo said, pointing out that industrial disasters, at garment factories and elsewhere, still happen around the globe. The two came up with the design for the memorial about a decade ago. It is coming to fruition, with a capital budget of about $3 million, during a year of labor activism in some U.S. industries, with strikes by auto workers, hospital staff, film and television writers and screen actors. It just shows that the Triangle Shirtwaist fire still has lessons to impart, Bass said. We forget a tragedy like this at our own peril, she said. We have the same issues, immigrant issues, safe working condition issues, abuse of women in the workplace issues. Its not like any of these issues are all fixed. Top Photo: A metal overhang section of the Triangle Shirtwaist Memorial, engraved with names, wraps the first story of New York Universitys biology building, Tuesday Oct. 10, 2023, in New York. The building is the site where 146 people, mostly immigrant girls and women, were killed in a 1911 clothing factory fire. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New York Commercial Lines Business Insurance Manufacturing Israels parliamentary finance committee approved a plan to provide a state guarantee of $6 billion to cover insurance against war risks to Israeli airlines, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. The guarantee framework will grant Israeli airlines insurance policies against war risks, thereby ensuring the continuity of air operations in Israel. Due to the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas last weekend, the insurance companies insuring flag carrier El Al Airlines, Israir and Arkia have said that the terms of their policies indicated that in time of war, within seven days of notification, the insurers are entitled to cancel insurance policies. Editors note: Jennifer Rubin, senior underwriting executive of Liberty Specialty Markets, discusses insurance coverage for war and terrorism with Insurance Journals Andrea Wells at the 2023 WSIA conference. Several videos of the conversation : Jennifer Rubin, senior underwriting executive of Liberty Specialty Markets, discusses insurance coverage for war and terrorism with Insurance Journals Andrea Wells at the 2023 WSIA conference. Several videos of the conversation can be viewed on Insurance Journal TV As a result, the Finance Ministry sought state guarantees that needed to be approved by lawmakers. While many global airlines have canceled flights to Tel Aviv, Israels three carriers are still flying, even adding flights to bring back Israelis who are stranded many of whom are returning as reserves in the military. (Reporting by Steven Scheer and Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Susan Fenton) Photograph: Israeli soldiers work on a tank near the Israeli Gaza border, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Related: Topics Aviation Power grid operators around the Baltic Sea are beefing up protection of subsea cables and other critical infrastructure after the suspected sabotage on a gas link between Finland and Estonia last weekend. Government officials in Lithuania ordered more naval patrols in its territorial waters to protect a power cable with Sweden and the nations liquefied natural gas terminal. In Finland, the network manager tightened interaction with other relevant bodies that protect the nation. Further afield, Norwegian police also ramped up security around some energy facilities. Power cables criss-crossing the Baltic seabed are vital to keep Europes 1.3 trillion power market humming. They connect the markets of Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, as well as Poland and Germany. Most of them were built in the past couple of decades and are made of copper or aluminum, and cased in thick plastic or steel. Finland Says Damage to Gas Pipeline, Telecoms Cable Likely Result of Deliberate Act While the cables help to protect consumers against price spikes by allowing power to flow from cheaper to more expensive regions, the vulnerability of Europes energy system was highlighted about a year ago with explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines. Since then, grid operators have worked to strengthen their infrastructure and ensure that systems overall are more robust. The latest incident was recorded early on Sunday, when a gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland was shut down after a leak. Finnish investigators say it was most likely ruptured by a deliberate act of force rather than an explosion, and NATO has pledged to respond on behalf of its newest member if the damage proves to be intentional. In response to the incident in Finland, Litgrid has increased vigilance at the facilities of strategic importance, Lithuanias electricity transmission system operator said in an email. Finlands grid operator said it has tightened the interaction with the authorities. At the same time, its not always possible to safeguard underwater infrastructure that spans hundreds of kilometers of distance. Swedens Svenska Kraftnat AB has been working since last years Nord Stream attacks on boosting the speed of its repairs amid risks of further incidents. The actions in Finland only works to highlight this. After Nord Stream, we have specifically focused on how to be able to carry out repairs as quickly as possible on the subsea cables, Chief Security Officer Erik Nordman said in an interview. Its infrastructure thats very difficult to protect, they cover large areas in international waters. Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys agrees, and on Wednesday called for a focus on further increases in measures to boost the defence of such sub-sea infrastructure, especially in open waters. We are constantly receiving information about Russian ships, supposedly scientific vessels, roaming around the energy infrastructure both in the Baltic Sea and in the North Sea, Kreivys said after a meeting dedicated to the security of strategic facilities. Both NATO and EU member states are following this, watching. But as the latest incident has shown, it is not always possible to prevent those incidents. Copyright 2023 Bloomberg. Insurance defense attorneys last week urged the Texas Supreme Court to uphold the plain language of a law passed in 2017 that they say precludes recovery of attorney fees in cases where the insurer pays the full amount of an appraisal. The high court heard oral arguments about a certified question from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that asked for an interpretation of Chapter 542A. Homeowner Mario Rodriguez is demanding attorney fees from Safeco Insurance Co. of Indiana even though the insurer invoked an appraisal and paid him more than he initially demanded. Safeco and attorneys who filed amicus briefs argued that the law clearly bars attorney fees for claimants if the insurer pays the full amount of an appraisal award. Rodriguezs attorney, Melissa Waden Wray with Daly & Black, said her client had to hire her to file a lawsuit only because Safeco first denied his claim and then paid only a fraction of what the repairs actually cost. This is not about generating more attorney fees, its about making Mr. Rodriguez whole, Wray told the high court. At the time they finally paid the appraisal award three years after the tornado, Mr. Rodriguez had incurred $30,000 in attorney fees, $4,500 in appraisal costs and $3,500 in expert fees. Rodriguez sued Safeco after the carrier paid only $1,295.55 for his damage claim. He demanded an additional $29,500, but Safeco did not respond. Safeco invoked the policys appraisal provision after Rodriguez sued. The appraisal panel determined the replacement cost value of the damage was $36,514.52. Safeco paid $32,447.43, which was the amount of the award after taking into account the policy limits and subtracting the deductible and the prior payment. Safeco also paid an additional $9,458.40, claiming that amount would cover any conceivable interest owed under the TPPCA. Wray argued that Rodriguez is still entitled to attorney fees because of the unreasonable delay. She argued in briefings that if insurers cannot be found liable for paying attorney fees when they pay appraised amounts, they will delay payment as long as possible, make lowball settlement offers and invoke appraisal only after the property owner sues. Safecos attorney, Mark D. Tillman with Tillman Batchelor, warned that if justices find attorney fees are allowed even when appraised amounts are paid, plaintiffs attorneys will sign up hundreds of cases, dump them into appraisal and do no work because they know that they will still be paid even if insurers pay the appraised amount. Tillman said Chapter 542 clearly states that the payment of an appraisal award precludes any award of attorney fees. He said the court should not be swayed by hypothetical scenarios. Justices Jeff Boyd, Brett Busby and Evan A. Young made comments that indicated sympathy for Wrays arguments. Boyd interjected after Tillman said Rodriguez has no right to attorney fees after his insurer paid the full amount of the appraisal plus interest. But you made them sue you before you paid, Boyd said. You made them sue even before you ordered an appraisal. Boyd said later, however, that hes also concerned that plaintiffs attorneys may file unnecessary lawsuits knowing they will be paid in some cases even if appraised amounts are paid. The justices gave no indication about how they would answer the 5th Circuits certified question after oral arguments concluded on Oct. 4. Topics Texas CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) A storm system that moved across parts of Florida early Thursday left a path of damage to cars, houses and businesses, authorities said. The storms moved north into Citrus County, where officials canceled public school classes for the day. The west side of Citrus County has experienced significant damage from an unconfirmed tornado(s) which hit the area overnight, school officials said in a Facebook post shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday. Photos posted by the sheriff`s office showed debris on roads, local flooding and damage to mobile homes. Dunedin, in Pinellas County, also was hit, with heavy damage to homes and businesses, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Some tornado watches remained in effect Thursday morning across parts of central and north Florida. Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Florida Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday declined to rehear a medical malpractice case that has made it easier for insurers and health care providers to challenge a plaintiffs expert. In University of Florida Board of Trustees vs. Laurie Carmody, the court in July changed the rules of appellate procedure, allowing mid-trial appeals on an expert witness qualifications, when a court denies a motion to dismiss. Carmody, a patient at the University of Floridas Shands Teaching Hospital who said she was injured during spinal surgery in 2016, had asked the high court to rehear the case. The justices all declined to reconsider. One, Justice Jorge Labarga, concurred, with a caveat: While I agree that rehearing on the merits is not warranted, I do adhere to my concurring-in-result, dissenting-in-part opinion, where I dissented to the majoritys unilateral decision to amend Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130, Labarga noted. The July rule change was seen as a win for medical malpractice insurers, hospitals and doctors. The rule change was an outcome of Floridas Medical Malpractice Act. The Florida Legislature in 2016 modified the statute to help limit some lawsuits and damages. It added a requirement that a plaintiffs expert witness must be a physician in the same specialty, with at least three years of experience. A witness who is a general practitioner must have at least five years experience. The law requires a notice of malpractice claim to be accompanied by a supporting affidavit from the expert. Carmodys expert was experienced in internal medicine, cardiology and hospital admissions, but not necessarily in spinal surgery. The university filed a motion to dismiss the suit, arguing that the witness was not qualified to opine on the surgery. The trial court refused the motion and allowed the trial to proceed. The university appealed, but Floridas 1st District Court of Appeal in 2021 found that court rules did not allow it to decide on the issue, although two other state appeals courts had decided differently. UF and Shands asked the high court to step in and clarify. The Supreme Court did that, allowing the interlocutory appeals. The court found that the district court of appeals did not have the authority to rule on the expert qualification question. At the same time, in a separate order, the court changed the rules to allow those types of appeals. Before the ruling, a defendant in many medical cases had to wait until the end of a trial to appeal a motion to dismiss a suit based on the plaintiff experts qualifications. After the rules change, the defense can now call a time out and move for an interlocutory appeal when a lower court denies a motion to dismiss. Labarga, in his July dissent, had argued that the rules change was monumental and should go through a court committee and proper deliberations. Topics Florida ??| Comunicado de Prensa N 008-2023: Sobre el arribo a Tel Aviv del avion presidencial para la evacuacion de nuestros connacionales.https://t.co/TQZC18nSEq pic.twitter.com/uefVFRyF1q Source: Streetwise Reports October 13, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) This company investing in and incubating companies at the forefront of drug policy reform has started trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange. One writer says buying stock is a chance to be a part of a "movement." Safe Supply Streaming Co. Ltd (SPLY:CSE), a company investing in and incubating companies at the forefront of drug policy reform, has started trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "SPLY." The company said it would invest across the safe supply ecosystem, including a recent focus on the applications of coca leaves, to generate short-term revenues for Safe Supply while investee companies grow. "The burgeoning safe supply ecosystem is more than just a business; it's a movement," said Safe Supply Chief Executive Officer Bill Panagiotakopoulos. "A global shift is underway where governments, policymakers, and societies are making the decision to accept and embrace all drugs, whether through de-scheduling, rescheduling, or legalization because existing policies simply haven't worked." SPLY closed at CA$0.215 per share on its first day, October 3, and was CA$0.23 on Wednesday morning. In January, British Columbia temporarily removed criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and opioids as part of a three-year pilot program. Health Canada, the agency in charge of the cannabis industry, has begun granting "dealer's licenses" to legally possess, produce, sell, and distribute cocaine and psilocybin for scientific and medical purposes but not for the general public. In Portugal, overdose deaths have plunged by 80% since it launched a decriminalization program there more than 20 years ago. The percentage of drug users diagnosed with new HIV infections fell from 52% in 2000 to 7% in 2015, according to Filter, which reports on drug policy news. Problematic drug use and drug-related incarceration have both gone down in the European country, while more people have entered treatment, according to the report. The Catalyst: Source of New Medicines Safe Supply emerged from a reverse merger with Origin Therapeutics Holdings Inc., which traded on the CSE under the symbol "ORIG" until January 31. The company said its leadership team is made up of pioneers from the cannabis and psychedelics industries. "Schedule 1-3 compounds such as cannabis, psychedelics, and others have been a source of many new medicines for approval, and this trend will continue as other drugs are de-scheduled," the company said in its investor presentation. According to the World Health Organization, drug use caused about 600,000 deaths in 2019, with close to 80% of them related to opioids and about 25% caused by opioid overdose. About 125,000 people died of an opioid overdose in 2019. Some governments are re-evaluating their approach and shifting toward decriminalization, including Portugal, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Germany. "Far from a simple act of leniency, this strategic move is a considered response," noted Bill McNarland for The Dales Report. "Notably in North America, regions like British Columbia in Canada and Oregon in the U.S. have embraced this evolving stance, emphasizing the provision of safe, verified, and tested substances for users. The overarching aim is multi-pronged: to minimize harm, dismantle the illicit drug trade, and cultivate an educated community of drug consumers." Co. Looking at Many Opportunities Safe Supply said its foundational investments include CannaLabs and Safe Supply Licensing Co. CannaLabs is licensed by Health Canada and will be conducting cutting-edge research on MDMA, cocaine, DMT, ketamine, and other psychoactive compounds, the company said. It can also conduct analytics and testing for any compounds manufactured in Canada or imported to support safe supply programs. Safe Supply Licensing is in the late-stage application process for a dealers' license pursuant to import and test controlled substances, Safe Supply said. The company said it plans to execute on many opportunities over the next six to 12 months. "The leadership team has developed a proprietary pipeline of early-stage companies that have strong management teams and well-designed business strategies that will play a pivotal role in the burgeoning safe supply ecosystem," Safe Supply said in its investor presentation. 'A Larger Narrative' Sometimes called "safer supply," the movement refers to providing prescribed or regulated medications as a safer alternative to illegal drugs, which puts users at a higher risk of overdosing. "These services are intended to reach people at risk of overdose for whom currently available care options have been ineffective or inappropriate," according to the Canadian government's website. Drugs of known quality, composition, and potency are safer than unregulated sources, according to a study published this year in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs by Matthew Bonn, Adamm Palayew, Natasha Touesnard, Thomas D. Brothers, and Claire Bodkin. "Existing approaches, such as treatment and opioid agonist therapy, have failed to make an impact on this crisis, justifying the need for additional interventions related to the unregulated drug supply," the researchers said. "Safe supply is an approach to reduce risk of accidental drug toxicity deaths and other harms from reliance on the unregulated drug supply." The implications of Safe Supply's listing are far-reaching, according to McNarland with The Dales Report.[OWNERSHIP_CHART-10903] "Here's a company addressing a global crisis, both in terms of health and the associated illicit trade, head-on," he wrote. "For potential investors, Safe Supply is more than just stocks and dividends. It's a chance to be part of a larger narrative, a movement toward a safer, more informed world concerning drug consumption." Ownership and Share Structure Nearly 4% of the company is held by strategic investors, according to Reuters. The rest is retail. Top shareholders include Jonathan Goldman with 1.68%, CEO Vasilios Panagiotakopoulos with 1.25%, Alexander Somjen with 0.28%, Kelvin Wah Chin Lee with 0.21%, and Michael Galego with 0.19%. It has a market cap of CA$16.85 million with about 70 million shares outstanding. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.37 and CA$0.06. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Get Great Trading Ideas and News Alerts Guest posts and sponsored content - Got $100? That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More Source: McAlinden Research October 13, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) McAlinden Research Partners reviews current news and movements in Isreal in light of the attack by Hamas, and shares two charts for the Aerospace and Defense ETF. Following a sudden and wide-reaching incursion into Israeli territory on Saturday, targeting civilians and military personnel, Israel's government declared war on the paramilitary organization Hamas - the first such declaration by Tel Aviv in 50 years. Hamas, which is the de facto governing authority in the Palestinian exclave known as the Gaza Strip, situated on Egypt's northeastern border and adjacent to Israel's southwestern territories, began "Operation al-Aqsa Flood" by launching as many as 5,000 missiles into Israel in the course of just 20 minutes. This mass of projectiles overwhelmed Israel's world-renowned Iron Dome air defense system, allowing about 650 to hit targets on the ground. Simultaneously, militants acting as Hamas's mobile infantry began dismantling Israeli border defenses and infiltrating Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) installations. Rocket fire out of Gaza continued into Monday. Though Hamas has no regular military structure and lacks large amounts of traditional military equipment, they were able to launch a full land, sea, and air attack on multiple Israeli cities, as makeshift paratroopers deployed into Israeli proper and naval operations took place with the use of motorboats on Israel's western shores. As many as 22 locations reported strikes on Israelis and infantry clashes with the IDF as the conflict zone reached as far east as the city of Ofakim and as far north as Ashkelon, more than 20km and 8km from Gaza, respectively. Visually-confirmed losses indicate several Israeli Merkava tanks were destroyed or damaged in the fighting with the use of artillery and small drone copters - a very common tactic in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. Despite a wide area of attack, OSINT mapping shows only a small number of Israeli settlements may have been formally occupied by Hamas forces on Saturday and Sunday, including the Kibbitzum of Mefasim, Kisufim, Ein Hashlosha, and Mefalsim. On Monday morning, the IDF claimed it had regained "full control" of villages that were overrun by Hamas, but this has yet to be confirmed. Thousands have been killed by Hamas's incursion, and hundreds more were abducted and moved to Gaza as hostages. The detaining of these hostages within the densely populated network of 25 municipalities complicates Israel's imminent counteroffensive against Hamas militants, hindering Tel Aviv's ability to strike the strip indiscriminately. Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks a devastating and terminal confrontation with Hamas, stating, "We will turn all the places in which Hamas is based . . . all the places Hamas is hiding in, acting from into rubble," this becomes a difficult prospect with the lives of many Israeli hostages, as well as foreign nationals also taken prisoner, now hanging in the balance. Gaza is also home to millions of civilians, being one of the most densely populated areas on earth, but it is hard to tell how much consideration will be given to this fact, as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has "ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed," indicating a blockade of Gaza will begin immediately. "We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly," he stated. Air strikes from Saturday to Monday have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the strip. Israel's standing army is already comprised of 200,000 troops, but the country is now mobilizing a further 300,000 reservists the largest mobilization in Israel's history. Israel must also balance the potential provocation of Palestinian-allied Muslim nations throughout the Middle East. Israel is already entrenched in an informal conflict with Syria, launching airstrikes against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) as recently as last week. A ground invasion of Gaza risks Israel entering a two-front war with Lebanon-based paramilitary organization Hezbollah, which has up to 100,000 fighters and is threatening action against Israel if they are to begin a ground invasion of Gaza. Hezbollah and the IDF have already begun exchanging fire on Israel's northern border in the past 24 hours. The Wall Street Journal has reported that, not only did Hezbollah help Hamas plan Operation al-Aqsa Flood, but Iran had a hand in it as well. That could be a major flashpoint in this developing conflict. If Iran is involved, this is not a re-hashing of a longstanding Israeli-Palestinian dispute but an international incident that will likely attract the attention of the United States. U.S. Central Command announced yesterday that the Navy would move the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, along with other ships in its Carrier Strike Group, to the Eastern Mediterranean. Those ships will support U.S. fighter jets, including F-35s and F-15s, that will patrol the region in a peacekeeping capacity. The U.S. is closely allied with Israel, an international rival of Iran, which is subject to heavy sanctions from America and its allies. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has conducted operations in countries surrounding Israel many times over the last decade, and while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has thus far denied evidence of Iranian involvement in Hamas's recent attack on Israel, Tehran is a known international sponsor of Hezbollah and other militant groups like the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Iran maintains that they had nothing to do with Operation al-Aqsa Flood. The country occupies a critical geographic and economic chokepoint on the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping route for 20% - 30% of global oil supplies. Already elevated crude futures spiked at the week's open, with international benchmark Brent jumping back above $87.50 on Monday morning. Though it has been confrontational in the past, Tehran has shifted its diplomatic strategy in recent months, shoring up relations with other Muslim nations in the Middle East. Key among those improving relationships has been Saudi Arabia, which put an end to a seven-year diplomatic freeze and proxy conflict with Iran, brokered by China in March. As part of the newly formed agreement with Riyadh, Iran agreed to halt their covert weapons shipments to the Houthis. Saudi Arabia also sought to normalize relations with Israel recently and was closing in on a deal to formally recognize the country for the first time. If Saudi Arabia agreed to recognize Israel, it could lead other Arab states to do so. Those prospects were likely torpedoed (at least temporarily) by Hamas's attack, as Saudi Arabia appeared to blame Israel's government for Hamas's violence, with the Kingdom recalling its "repeated warnings of the dangers of the explosion of the situation as a result of the continued occupation, and deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations against its sanctities." It's likely that the timing of Operation al-Aqsa Flood was predicated on cutting any formation of an Israeli-Saudi normalization, as Hamas partially relies on an anti-Israel Islamic front abroad to bolster its legitimacy. Charts More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. 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That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More Toronto, Ontario - October 13, 2023 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Allied Gold Corporation (TSX: AAUC) (the "Company") will release its third quarter 2023 operational and financial results after the market closes on Thursday, November 9, 2023, Eastern Standard Time ("EST"). The Company will then host a conference call and webcast to review the results on Friday, November 10, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. EST. Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call Toll-free dial-in number (Canada/US): 1-800-898-3989 Local dial-in number: 416-406-0743 Toll Free (UK): 00-80042228835 Participant passcode: 3255687# Webcast: https://alliedgold.com/investors/presentations/ Conference Call Replay Toll-free dial-in number (Canada/US): 1-800-408-3053 Local dial-in number: 905-694-9451 Passcode: 4272767# The conference call replay will be available from 12:00 p.m. EST on November 10, 2023, until 11:59 p.m. EST on December 10, 2023. About Allied Gold Corporation Allied Gold is a Canadian-based gold producer with a significant growth profile and mineral endowment which operates a portfolio of three producing assets and development projects located in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Ethiopia and Egypt. Led by a team of mining executives with operational and development experience and proven success in creating value, Allied Gold aspires to become a mid-tier next generation gold producer in Africa and ultimately a leading senior global gold producer. For further information, please contact: Allied Gold Corporation Bay Adelaide Centre - North Tower 40 Temperance St., Suite 3200 Toronto, Ontario M5H 0B4 Canada Email: investor@alliedgold.com More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Get Great Trading Ideas and News Alerts Guest posts and sponsored content - Got $100? That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More Source: Mike Niehuser October 13, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The firm pours first gold, and with it, shifts to producer status from explorer-developer, noted a ROTH Capital Markets report. Lion One Metals Ltd. (LIO:TSX.V; LOMLF:OTCQX; LLO:ASX) achieved the major milestone of pouring its first gold at its Tuvatu project on Fiji and did so on October 10, Fiji Day, when the island celebrates its independence, reported ROTH MKM analyst Mike Niehuser in an October 11 research note. "We believe that this should place Tuvatu among the highest-grade, gold-producing mines in the world," Niehuser wrote. The first gold pour came after Lion One's early completion of the Tuvatu mine construction, the analyst noted. The British Columbia-headquartered company started commissioning the mine in September. 169% Return Potential The new Canadian producer offers investors a substantial return of 169%. This is reflected in the difference between ROTH's price target on the company, of CA$2.50 per share, and the company's current price, of about CA$0.93 per share. Lion One remains a Buy. Focused on Zone 2 At Tuvatu, the miner expects to produce about 300 tons per day (300 tpd) initially, then increase to 500 tpd in mid-2024, Niehuser reported. The mine's prospects look good, wrote Niehuser. "As the Tuvatu deposit has high gold grades, we anticipate that the operation should have high margins and generate significant cash flow," the analyst added. Through 2024, Lion One plans to mine the URW1, URA1, and Murau lode systems, all located in Zone 2. URW1 and URA1 are subparallel and near vertical. URA1 has a strike length of about 100 meters (100m) and a vertical extent of about 120m. URW1 contains multiple lodes, including URW1a and URW1b, also near vertical. Both their strike length and vertical extent are about 300m. Murau comprises a series of stacked, generally flat-lying lodes having a roughly 110m strike length, a 55m vertical extent, and a 100m downdip extension. Now in Progress Lion One is in the process of grade control drilling and mining, reported Niehuser. Recent results of this drilling included: 19.78 g/t gold over 6m from 114m (hole TGC-0071) 18.08 g/t gold over 2.6m from 90m (hole TGC-0073) 45.89 g/t gold over 0.9m from 23.4m (hole TGC-0080) 14.83 g/t gold over 6m from 90.9m (hole TGC-0055) More Exploration Upside Potential Niehuser highlighted that further exploration is warranted of the Tuvatu deposit at depth and of other targets in the Navilawa caldera. Given that Tuvatu is an orogenic deposit within an alkaline gold system, it could grow into a multimillion-ounce gold resource, and its veins could extend in depth more than 1 kilometer. ROTH believes the area could host three or four more Tuvatu-like prospects, the analyst added. "We believe that the Tuvatu gold deposit in Fiji has the potential to replicate the neighboring world-class Vatukoula gold mine," wrote Niehuser, noting that the Fiji project was operated for 85 years and the resource there was 11,000,000 ounces. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Get Great Trading Ideas and News Alerts Guest posts and sponsored content - Got $100? That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More Driven by rapid technological advancements, AI has the potential to revolutionise industries and ways of working, promising increased efficiency, productivity and economic growth. Nevertheless, as AI, automation and other digital technologies continue to transform industries, an urgent need has emerged for upskilling initiatives to ensure Irelands workforce remains competitive and adaptable in an evolving market. Without proactive measures, Irish workers risk falling behind. This is according to new IMI research, echoing the urgent concerns raised by the OECD Skills Strategy Report released earlier this year. Technological change can help drive productivity and overcome skills shortages, said the OECD report. However, it also means that many people will need to develop skills for new jobs or upgrade their skills for existing ones. While Ireland has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, with a relatively high level of skills performance contributing to high levels of innovation, the concern is that many adults wont have the skills to succeed in a rapidly changing world and future economy where certain skills may become obsolete. Significant investment in skills development is required, particularly in terms of developing management capabilities, the adoption of high-performance work practices, and investing in future-orientated skills that are less susceptible to automation and disruption (e.g. critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, digital literacy, social and emotional intelligence). But to ensure the growth and competitiveness of organisations across Ireland, it is essential to provide adequate support for upskilling and reskilling initiatives. By empowering employees with the right skills, businesses can enhance their productivity, foster innovation, and address prevailing skills gaps. Upskilling can also empower workers to navigate the evolving job market and ensure a smoother transition into new roles. Lifelong learning is not only crucial for individual career advancement but also for the overall economic development of the nation. Continuous learning enables workers to adapt to evolving job requirements, stay ahead of technological disruptions, and unlock new opportunities. It fosters a culture of innovation, resilience and adaptability, which are vital attributes in an ever-changing world of work. As far back as 2017, McKinsey was predicting that at least 375 million workers (14% of the global workforce) may need to switch occupational categories by 2030, as digitisation, automation and advances in AI disrupt the world of work. A 2018 McKinsey report deemed investing in training and upskilling to be an urgent priority, with the magnitude of the challenge compared to the large shift from agricultural work to manufacturing that occurred in early 20th century Europe and North America. However, those earlier workforce transformations took place over many decades, allowing older workers to retire and new workforce entrants to transition to growing industries. But the speed of change today is faster, meaning there will be a need to retrain and redeploy tens of millions of mid-career, middle-aged workers. As McKinsey noted over five years ago: Growing awareness of the scale of the task ahead has yet to translate into action. With only 14% of the Irish workforce engaged in education and training, and the EU average for lifelong learning at a dismal 11%, that knowing/doing paradox has yet to be overcome, though hopefully the IMI research, along with this years OECD Skills Strategy Report, acts as an overdue wake-up call to the urgency of increased lifelong learning and upskilling investment. Peer learning But even if this recognition turns into action, there are still challenges to be overcome. For example, delivery of learning content is key, and despite the rise of non-traditional remote and digital-first learning, face-to-face learning and peer learning is seen as increasingly vital by business leaders and organisations: it facilitates relationship building, networking, creates a shared learning experience, and allows participants to engage in real-time discussions and receive immediate feedback from faculty and peers. In a recent IMI focus group, ICT leaders echoed a significant skills and knowledge transfer loss in their organisations due to remote working, with new hires and recent graduates not developing as fast as previous cohorts due to a lack of learning by osmosis. Developing emotional intelligence, trust, empathy, creating a sense of ownership and belonging, and going from being an individual contributor to a people manager with the requisite communication skills were all echoed as skills challenges made more complicated by remote conditions, and which requires a learning provider that facilitates face-to-face peer learning. These skills are also required to benefit from an AI future, and the challenge of developing those skills in leaders is what has led IMI to create its AI for Senior Leaders short programme (along with its long-standing Professional Diploma in Digital Leadership). Not for everyone However, although the need to upskill an educated but aging workforce is urgent, traditionally white-collar workers with third-level degrees are historically not those most affected by automation and technological changes. Although they may need to switch roles or upskill, they have opportunities other socio-economic groups do not have. While employers must prioritise investment in upskilling and lifelong learning initiatives for their workforce, there must also be collaboration between governments, educational institutions and other organisations to create access for those most affected by automation-related job loss. As economist Daron Acemoglu recently noted to the Financial Times: Technological progress is the most important driver of human flourishing but we tend to forget the process is not automatic. Namely, technology can create growth but not necessarily for everyone at least not immediately and without intervention and collaboration. Rather than a means to replace people, Acemoglu notes technology should be used to increase productivity by giving people better tools, better information and better organisation. Upskilling is vital: empowering and increasing the capabilities of a hugely diverse group of workers, many of whom have been either left behind or will be left behind in the future by decades of technology-driven worker displacement. Only through meeting these challenges, and collaboration between all stakeholders, can technological advances in automation and artificial intelligence reach their full potential to benefit humanity: freeing up people from repetitive or dangerous tasks so they can take up more sophisticated and intellectually stimulating tasks, leading to increased productivity, higher worker wages and better bottom-line business returns. Elon Musks X faces further intense scrutiny in the European Union after regulators demanded answers over concerns about illegal and even terrorist content on the social media platform. The European Commission late Thursday said it sent X a formal request for information under its strict new digital content management rules following indications about the potential terrorist and violent content. X, formerly known as Twitter, received a one-week ultimatum until October 18th to respond to regulators questions about the activation and functioning of its crisis-response protocol, and will have to respond to other questions by October 31st, the commission said in a news release. This formal request for information is a step to fully understand what measures @X is taking to ensure online safety, commission Vice President Vera Jourova wrote in a post on X. The move comes after the EUs internal market commissioner Thierry Breton set a 24-hour deadline for X owner Musk to respond to allegations that the platform was ignoring notices of illegal content in relation to the Israel-Hamas conflict. In the letter to X earlier this week, which Breton posted on the social platform, he reminded Musk that he has an obligation to take very precise content moderation measures under the EUs Digital Services Act. X faces possible fines if it provides the commission with incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in response, according to the news release. Xs spokespeople didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment. John Kirby, the spokesman for the US National Security Council, told reporters Thursday he was grateful that X removed some disinformation related to the attack on Israel. ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok on Thursday was added to a growing list of leading social media players, along with Meta Platforms Inc., that Breton has been warning to take prompt action to stop the spread of disinformation. Social media companies are required under the new law to hire more content moderators and use risk mitigation methods to decrease the spread of harmful content. Companies that fail to comply could face fines as high as 6% annual revenue or even be banned from the bloc if they repeatedly break the rules. I am just back from a 10-day break in Austria, the bulk of which was spent visiting friends in the stunning Wachau Valley. We also spent time in Vienna which is indeed as beautiful as you have heard. This was my first visit to Austria and was a family holiday rather than a wine trip so I spent my time consuming wine rather than visiting producers. There have been several trips for journalists and bloggers to Austria, but for some reason, I have never made the list. Our friends live in the village of Furth just across the river from Krems which is an hour West of Vienna. The village is literally surrounded by vineyards with the River Danube just metres away and I hadnt realised quite how gorgeous the landscape was in this part of Austria the photos do not do it justice. We are not the most active of families but our friends convinced us we should join them on a bicycle ride through the vineyards which turned out to be the highlight of our holiday. We cycled around 50 km, and it was remarkably easy thanks to the extensive cycle paths all along the river and through the vines. The Wachau was given UNESCO World Heritage status in 2000 and is the portion of the Danube Valley between the towns of Melk and Krems in Niederosterich (the Province north of Vienna). Kremstal is right next to it and Kamptal is just to the north. I did visit the Domane Wachau Co-Op on the cycle but otherwise, my visits were to heuriger, pop-up restaurants attached to wineries serving simple tasty food. Heuriger are open all year round but wineries take turns to ensure everyone stays busy. My favourite was Weingut David Harm where we had air-dried wild boar and venison and excellent local cheeses and pickles all washed down with Davids wines which are not yet available here but will be soon. At this time of year there is lots of Sturm to try the half-fermented wine from the recent vintage which is cloudy, leesy and a little sweet I love it. In conclusion, Austria is warmly recommended as a holiday destination for wine (and beer) lovers. Wines Under 20 Aldi Specially Selected Riesling, Niederosterreich, Austria - 9.99 Aldi Specially Selected Riesling, Niederosterreich, Austria - 9.99 Stockist: Aldi This is one of Aldis seasonal specials and arrived in store in mid-September. It should still be around in the larger Aldi stores. Dried lime aromas with a touch of petrichor (rain on a warm day), rounded citrus-focused flavours on the palate with a zesty freshness, floral notes come through on the mid-palate, and with a bone-dry finish. Wellanschitz Blaufrankisch 2021, Burgenland, Austria - 17.00 Wellanschitz Blaufrankisch 2021, Burgenland, Austria - 17.00 Stockist: Wines Direct Mullingar and Athlone; www.winesdirect.ie From a family-owned producer based in the foothills of Odenburg mountains near the Hungarian border. Ive recommended their Blaufrankisch before which I slightly prefer but this Zweigelt is reduced from 19. Bright red fruit aromas with spice notes, juicy and supple with balancing freshness and a touch of nutmeg and allspice. Serve cool for best effect. Brandl Zobing Organic Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal, Austria - 17.00 Brandl Zobing Organic Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal, Austria - 17.00 Stockist: Wines Direct Mullingar and Athlone; www.winesdirect.ie This is also on special and reduced from 19 on the Wines Direct site. The Kamptal is north of the Danube to the West of Vienna and tends to focus on white varieties. This has crisp apple drop and white pepper aromas, and an elegant stony freshness with a lingering saline and citrus-driven finish. Wines Over 20 Pittnauer St. Laurent, Burgenland, Austria - 27.00 Pittnauer St. Laurent, Burgenland, Austria - 27.00 Stockists: 1601; D6 Wines; Lilith; Redmonds; Green Man; Independents. Biodynamic and low sulphur, imported by WineMason.ie who have an extensive Austrian range. I drank this last week in the excellent Kutschker 44 wine bar in Vienna and adored its bitter cherry aromas and its ripe lively pomegranate and cranberry fruit flavours. It also has a leafy bitter fruit edge making it a perfect food wine. Domane Wachau Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Terrassen, Austria - 21.95 Domane Wachau Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Terrassen, Austria - 21.95 Stockists: Matsons: 1601; Next Door Clonakilty; No. 21 Midleton; 64 Wines; Jus de Vine; Sweeneys; theallotment.ie I stopped into the Domane Wachau Co-Op on a cycle ride through the stunning landscape of the Wachau. The co-op has 200 members and quality is high. Aromas of white pepper and ripe apples, pear, apple and tropical fruits with a saline spicy and characterful dry finish. Domane Wachau Riesling Federspiel Terrassen, Austria - 21.95 Domane Wachau Riesling Federspiel Terrassen, Austria - 21.95 Stockists: JJ ODriscolls; Matsons: 1601; Next Door Clonakilty; Fine Wines Group; Barnhill Stores; Clontarf Wines The terraced slopes of the Wachau suit Riesling just as well as Gruner Veltliner. Ripe green apple aromas with a touch of pineapple. Round and supple on the palate with green apple fruits transitioning to baked apple flavours and with zingy crisp acidity on the finish. Beer of the Week Rascals Hazy in Love IPA, 5% ABV, 330ml - 3.30 Rascals Hazy in Love IPA, 5% ABV, 330ml - 3.30 Stockists: Bradleys; Matsons; Wine Centre; Baggot St. Wines; Molloys; CraftBeerDelivered.com. I havent mentioned Rascals in a while, I love their bright fruity IPAs and sense of fun. Their beers are always best enjoyed with a wood-fired pizza from their brewhouse restaurant in Inchicore. This IPA is hopped with Citra, Mosaic and Ekuanot and they have added wheat and oats to add haze and texture. Pouring a hazy pale gold, this has aromas of creamy peaches and apricot. Stone fruits and pear hit first followed by tangerine and orange zest on the mid palate and lingering pithy, bitter orange flavours on the finish to make it properly refreshing. Perfect for a warm Indian Summer day or evening. Set in 1967, The Miracle Club (12A) opens with Chrissie Ahearn (Laura Linney) returning to Dublin from Boston for her mothers funeral, where she gets a frosty reception from her mothers friend Lily (Maggie Smith) and her old pal Eileen (Kathy Bates). All Chrissie wants to do is pay her respects and leave, but God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform, etc, and soon Chrissie finds herself on a bus with Lily, Eileen and Dolly Hennessy (Agnes OCasey, who is having quite a week), heading for Lourdes and the miracles they hope to find there. Cynics might scoff at blind faith and the possibility of miraculous cures, but to a certain extent thats the point of Thaddeus OSullivans film: Lily, Eileen and Dolly might be heavily invested in the idea of Lourdes as a place where miracles are said to happen, but theyre also no-nonsense women who dont suffer fools or foolishness gladly (the notable exception, perhaps, being Eileens feckless husband Frank (Stephen Rea), whose idea of Hell is being left on his own to mind their children). Eileen (Kathy Bates) stars in The Miracle Club. As the story proceeds, and we discover the reason why a rift occurred between Eileen and Chrissie, the script reveals itself to be rather predictable and occasionally clumsy in its characterisations, although its hard to quibble with the way it puts its faith in human nature. Laura Linney is in superb form as the quiet centre of the drama that swirls about her, and she gets terrific support from Maggie Smith (whose Dublin accent is well-nigh impeccable), Kathy Bates and Agnes OCasey, who holds her own amidst all the grand dames. The chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland has said it is disgusting that not all Irish politicians have condemned the Hamas attacks on Israelis. Maurice Cohen said Jewish people in Ireland are traumatised following the attacks by Hamas last Saturday, many of whom have family and friends in Israel. Some 2,500 lives on both sides have been lost in the conflict since the surprise Hamas attacks. Mr Cohen said he can only hope that western governments realise who they are dealing with adding that different solutions must be examined to get back on a track of peace and reconciliation. Maurice Cohen, chairperson of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland. I think it is appalling to the Jewish community in Ireland the way that some of our politicians refuse to recognise the situation and are basically backing Hamas terrorists, he said. In the Oireachtas or the Dail, some people just dont get it, he said. Although saying the bulk of Irish politicians have condemned the Hamas attacks, he said it is disgusting that not all have. Mr Cohen said it is impossible and too complex to know how the ongoing conflict will play out. Neither the Jews nor the Israelis have anything whatsoever against the Palestinian people. Their war is with the terrorists and consequently, peace cant move forward while the leadership of the Palestinians is a terrorist organization and thats something that Europe and America have to cope with, he said. Mr Cohen said Jewish communities outside of Israel, including those in Ireland, are concerned about their own safety, describing it as a dreadful situation. Meanwhile, Palestinian communities in Ireland have also been left reeling after recent events in Gaza where electricity and supplies have been cut off. Among them is Ashjan AlBarqi who left Gaza a year ago to live and work in Dublin and has not been able to visit since. My Mom and brother are still there right now and all my extended family is there, she said. The 28-year-old said she has so many feelings at the moment, scared for her familys well-being with whom contact has been complicated in recent days. Ms AlBarqis family are among the 2.3 million people in Gaza who have been impacted by Israels decision to cut off electricity and supplies. Power supply On Wednesday, Gazas only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators. Israeli energy minister Israel Katz said on social media: Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single tap will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home. Ms AlBarqi said: I was able to contact them [initially], then I lost contact because they cut off the electricity and the internet and everything." She was able to make a call to her family on Thursday for the first time in days but the signal was poor. Theyre fine for now, but everyone else they know there is not, everyone has lost someone, theyve left their houses, she said adding that she has not been able to contact her family since. The Israeli military has said it will operate with significant force in Gaza in the coming days and is calling on civilians to evacuate. I keep thinking the worst scenarios, she said. Its not just my family, Im trying to reach out to friends I have there, she said before adding: Theyre saying they have no water, no food and of course no electricity or internet. Theyre being bombed 24 hours. Padraig Hoare Environment Correspondent The number of radars to observe Irelands notoriously changeable weather will treble over the next decade, with Met Eireann saying it will allow more accurate and precise forecasting. Shannon Airports new radar system is the first to go live in the overhaul of the countrys weather prediction tools, coming on stream as data show that Ireland has become wetter than ever before. Met Eireann claimed that the new system in Shannon will lead to more accurate rainfall information to the weather forecasters and the rainfall radar maps on met.ie and on its app. The forecaster said the Shannon unveiling is the first step in its plan to upgrade and expand the national weather radar network over the next 10 years. During this period, the number of radars will triple, from two to six, covering key areas across the country to ensure optimal coverage and forecasting accuracy, it added. Records now show that climate change has led to Ireland becoming wetter and warmer since 1991. While the average overall temperature has risen by 0.7C in from 1991 to 2020 compared to the 30 years before that, it has also led to far more rainfall. The annual average rainfall of 1,288mm for 1991-2020 is an increase of around 7% in the 30 years before that, with the west and north particularly getting caught in showers. Met Eireann head of the observations division Sarah Gallagher said the weather radar at Shannon Airport is vitally important as most of Irelands weather comes from the Atlantic. Shannon is a fantastic location for the first detection and analysis of these rainfall events. This radar will increase the accuracy of our forecasts and of the rainfall radar service for the benefit of all. Our team is already analysing the radars new data with a view to further enhancing our service with new features next year. This state-of-art upgrade was complex and involved significant background work examining the hardware, technologies to be used, civil works at an airport infrastructure and adapting our systems to accommodate this new information and data. It is the first step of a longer-term project to expand the national weather radar network beyond Shannon and Dublin, she added. Were already researching sites for four additional radars to optimise rainfall detection and coverage capabilities across the country, Ms Gallagher said. According to Met Eireann, weather radars provide a steady stream of near real-time information on a continuous basis, and are used to provide information on the location of precipitation within a radius of around 240km. Irish Defence Forces personnel serving with Unifil, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, have had to take shelter in the south of the country amid "sporadic" exchanges of fire across the Lebanon-Israel border. The Irish soldiers are responsible for manning an area in south Lebanon known as the Blue Line, which separates it from Israel. A Defence Forces spokesperson said there had been exchanges of fire between the Israeli defence forces (IDF) and non-state actors (NSA) in south Lebanon over the last 48 hours, which meant Irish Unifil troops were subject to "Groundhog" measures and had to take shelter in protected positions. "The Irish troops of the 122nd Infantry Battalion in Unifil went into GROUNDHOG today at ~1430hrs (GMT) and continue to monitor the situation from protected positions," the spokesperson said. All 342 Irish soldiers serving with Unifil are accounted for and safe, the spokesperson confirmed. Once safe to do so, they will continue to conduct planned framework operations. The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Hamas militants launched attacks in southern Israel last weekend. On Friday, an Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes along the border, killing a videographer and leaving six other journalists injured. Meanwhile, the 116 Irish troops serving with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) along the "Purple Line" between the Golan Heights and Syria have suspended all non-essential activities and are maintaining "a high degree of vigilance and continue to monitor the situation." The situation in this area "remains calm", the Defence Forces spokesperson said. Similarly, the 13 Defence Forces members serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, are all accounted for and are monitoring the situation in the region. In recent days, fears have grown that, as Israel's conflict with Hamas deepens, other regional actors may be drawn in the fighting. On Friday, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said the group would not be swayed by calls for it to stay on the sidelines of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Hezbollah, meaning Party of God, is an Iran-backed Shia armed and political group formed in 1982 to fight Israels occupation of southern Lebanon. At present, it has a strong military and political presence in Lebanon, a country without a functioning government or president at present. "The behind-the-scenes calls with us by great powers, Arab countries, envoys of the United Nations, directly and indirectly telling us not to interfere will have no effect," Qassem told supporters at a rally in Beirut on Friday. "Hezbollah knows its duties perfectly well. We are prepared and ready, fully ready." The president of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has said that raising the age limit of garda recruits to 50 wont solve the issues faced by the force. On Friday, Justice Minister Helen McEntee acknowledged that raising the age limit from 35 to 50 will come with challenges and everybody will still have to do fitness test. The garda fitness test is going to be adapted to reflect the age change. The minister also said the current garda retirement age of 60 should be higher. I want to change it, and Im in discussions with the Minister for Public Expenditure, she said on Morning Ireland. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris presenting Garda ID to the new gardai at Friday's passing out parade in Templemore. Picture: Brendan Gleeson We havent reached a conclusion, but that is where I hope to get it. She also accepted that it will take time to train new gardai. Ms McEntee also acknowledged that the population in Ireland is growing and that the country needs to see that the garda workforce grows with it. Nothing is off the table to support the gardai and the work they are doing. Its my job to support them in every way that we can. GRA president Brendan OConnor said extending the age limit could see more people with specific life skills joining the force. However, he was not convinced that people in their 40s with children and mortgages would be enticed into joining the force at entry level. Currently, garda recruits in Templemore training college earn 184 per week over a 30-week training programme. Tuesdays budget saw that increase to 305 per week. However the average starting wage for gardai is 34,000. The increase in the age limit for joining the gardai comes following a Labour Court ruling in February that said the cut-off applying at 35 years is discriminatory. The court had ordered An Garda Siochana to pay 12,700 to two men who had taken a case where they alleged discrimination. Garda Alan Campbell with his parents, John and Mary Campbell, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, and Justice Minister Helen McEntee at Friday's passing out parade in Templemore. Picture: Brendan Gleeson Mr OConnor said: Apart from the challenges of the job, telling someone, youre joining a national organisation, you could be sent anywhere in the country most people in their 30s and 40s might have a mortgage, might have a family and other considerations that could make it less appealing to them. But there will be certain people perhaps police officers, Irish people who serve on other police forces maybe itll be attractive to them but youre starting at the bottom of the pay scale too so theres lots of challenges for the individual and for the organisation. I think its good that we open it up to anyone who has the skill sets that can contribute to the force, but it is certainly not in any way going to be a solution to the recruitment and retention crisis. Mr OConnor said the GRA would prefer to see emphasis on making the job more pleasant and enjoyable and hold onto the people we have. On Friday, 126 garda recruits graduated from Templemore college in a ceremony attended by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee. Kind and loving, bubbly and affectionate, Tina Satchwells disappearance has devastated her loved ones and perplexed the public. Her bright blonde hair and love of fashion, clothes, and jewellery made her a noticeable figure in Youghal and at the car boot sale scene around counties Cork and Waterford which she enthusiastically frequented. Devoted to her dogs Ruby and Heidi, Ms Satchwell was rarely seen without them. She was an animal-lover, nurturing and empathetic to creatures smaller than her and needed her protection, those who knew her said. Six-and-a-half years after Ms Satchwell, then 45, vanished from her home in east Cork, human remains were found at that same premises, underneath the floor in the Youghal townhouse. Those remains have been removed to Cork University Hospital where they will undergo examination and DNA analysis. Fermoy native Ms Satchwell grew up in a large family on a quiet street in the north Cork town. She was lovely, well looked after, polite. We were a close family. She was loved, happy, free-going, a lovely young girl, her sister, Teresa Dingivan previously told the Irish Examiner. We lived on a quiet street and wed all play on the street with our friends. She was always with us. Shed sit on the step with us and play. My parents adored her. She was the youngest girl out of five girls, there were three boys too. Ms Satchwell moved to England when she was 16 and lived with Ms Dingivan and their mum. We used to go for dinner, go shopping. Ive never known a girl who loved clothes and jewelery as much as Tina. She was there when I had my firstborn. She brought her this little bunny outfit, it was so cute. Ill always remember it. I have good memories of her. We always supported each other. Tina was funny and bubbly and independent. She was kind and considerate. She was a really good sister and adored her family. It was in England in the months after her arrival that Ms Satchwell, still a teenager, met her husband, lorry driver Richard Satchwell, whose family lived a few doors down from her new UK home. Mr Satchwell is the last known person to see his wife alive. He said that he brought her tea and toast that morning and she asked him to go to nearby Dungarvan for some shopping. He said that he gave her a peck and said hed be back in two hours. When he returned, he said she was not there. Her mobile phone was left in the house, as were her beloved dogs, Ruby and Heidi. She had no passport. Identification, including her birth certificate, was also found at the house. Mr Satchwell reported her missing four days later. He said that he assumed she had gone to visit family in Fermoy so delayed raising the alarm. Mr Satchwell repeatedly denied that he had anything to do with his wifes disappearance. Following her disappearance, he frequently appeared in the media appealing for her to come home. He denied ever hurting his wife, telling TV3: I have never once in nearly 30 years of being together laid a finger on her. The most Ive ever done to her is have a tight cuddle, loving the bones off her. He said that he initially believed that his wife had been suffering from anxiety in the months before her disappearance but did not want to take antidepressant medication. But he said that shes too much in love with herself to ever take her own life. The case has intrigued, perplexed and distressed the public. Year after year, Ms Satchwells distraught family appealed for information that could help gardai piece together what happened to their loved one and close the case that opened when she was first reported missing in March 2017. It has now circled right back to where the case began where Ms Satchwell was last reportedly seen in her home in Youghal. An Irish celebrity has told the jury in his trial for the defilement of a child under the age of 17 over a decade ago that he took the complainant's number at a festival as she was nice. The man (40), who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of engaging in sexual acts with a child under the age of 17 at locations in Dublin on dates between August and December 2010. Under cross-examination on Friday from Eilis Brennan SC, prosecuting, the man said he did not pass his phone to a security guard at the Oxegen festival for the complainant to put her number into, but agreed he did give his phone to the woman. He said she had beckoned to him, they chatted, then I gave her my number, and I took hers. When asked his motive for getting her number, the man replied: I guess it was at a festival. She waved and made eye contact. We had a little chat. It was a prominently over-18s festival. She was nice, and I took her number. Ms Brennan asked: Is it fair to say you fancied her? The man shrugged and said: Reasonable. He also denied they kissed at the festival. He said the complainant touched base with him a few weeks later but couldn't recall when. He insisted she told him by text that she was 18, but can't recall the texts exactly or when specifically this subject was discussed. He denied that the complainant told him she was 16 soon after they met at Oxegen. He repeated his evidence that she told him she was 18. He said they texted very infrequently and that the nature of their contact between July 2010 and January 2011 was minimal. Lunch The man told Ms Brennan that he met the complainant a few weeks after the Oxegen festival for lunch but could not recall who organised their meeting. He said she told him she was 18 and doing her Leaving Certificate during this encounter. When asked by Ms Brennan: Was it a date? How did you perceive the nature of the relationship?. He replied: Hadnt categorised it. He said the complainant suggested they meet for lunch in late January 2011, during which he says he discovered she was 17. Ms Brennan asked: Did you see it as a date? and he replied: I hadnt categorized it. She then asked the man why he was shocked and surprised when the complainant told him she was 17 if there had been minimal interaction between them. She lied about her age. There is a difference between saying you are 18 and revealing that is not the case. When asked by Ms Brennan if he was cross, the man said he was shocked. Workplace visit Prosecuting counsel then noted the man said he took the woman to his workplace once following the lunch in January 2011, but on your account, you've found out she's lied about her age, but you still bring her. Ms Brennan put it to the man that the complainant could only have described his workplace and the stairwell in detail as she was in the fire escape. The man said he never went into the stairway while working at that office. Ms Brennan put the woman's evidence that she and the man would discuss the first alleged incident in the stairwell afterwards. He denied that the conversation had taken place. Phone evidence He pointed out he had provided eight phones and their pin numbers to gardai, which included messages from a later time period when he had a physical relationship with the complainant, and there were no messages of an overtly sexual nature. Ms Brennan replied there is nothing wrong that you did engage in a sexual relationship later after the time period in which the alleged offences occurred. Every single phone that I gave to gardai with my password, he said, adding "there was never ever any kind of sexual explicit talk between us. Ms Brennan told the man that the woman's evidence was this occurred during a phone conversation, and she was asserting sexual text messages even when engaged in a sexual relationship. The man stated: The conversation didn't happen. The jury heard technical evidence that the complainant's telephone number was saved on the man's phone on July 11, 2010, the date of the Oxegen festival. Analysis identified the complainant's phone number on four of the phones seized at the man's house and that it was listed under the name of 'John' on two of these phones. The court heard that a factory reset was carried out on an iPhone 3 in March 2013, but this can be done for a variety of reasons and is not sinister. Hotels Earlier, in direct evidence, the man said he met with friends on December 26, 2011, while home for Christmas. He said he booked a room in a Dublin hotel as he may get intoxicated and sloppy and instead of traipsing in and waking up my parents. He said there was no one in the room with him. The jury also heard evidence of separate text exchanges between the man and the complainant and between the man and several of his friends on December 26, 2011. The man agreed with his counsel that he booked a hotel room in June 2012, adding that he and the complainant had stayed over that night. He said it was possible that they went for drinks, but that was the only time we were in a hotel room". He agreed that he met the complainant at a music festival in Spain in July 2012. He also told defence counsel that he had been in the complainant's home after this date. The man also said he met the woman at a music festival in Cork in 2019 and accepted that they remained in contact by social media until December 2020. Denial The Irish celebrity also told his trial on Friday morning that the complainant never went to his home. The man told defence counsel, Morgan Shelley Bl, that he met the woman on July 14, 2010, at an Eminem concert during the Oxegen music festival. He said the complainant noticed him, then beckoned him over as, I think she recognised me. He said they had a brief chat, then he put his number in her phone. He claimed he noticed she was holding a plastic cup which contained alcohol at the 17+ festival. He claimed their first meeting after the festival was for lunch and that she had told him by text before this that she was 18. The man said he was at work on December 14, 2010. He said he went out for drinks with a colleague afterwards, then took a taxi home around midnight. When asked by Mr Shelley, the man said he doesn't recall arranging tickets for the complainant for the Deadmaus concert on December 14, 2010, but that it's not impossible. He said she was not at his house on that date or on any other occasion. She was not in that house to the best of my recollection ever, he said. Age The man said the complainant contacted him in late January 2011, suggesting they meet up. He said he believed they met on January 24, 2011. He said she told him it had recently been her birthday. I said '19 is a no-mans land age, neither here or there'. She said 'I'm not 19, Im 17'. That was a little bit of a surprise or shock. I said, 'You told me you were 18'. She said, 'No I was sweet 16'. It was what it was, it was a bit of a shock. He said he'd gotten braces in the days before the lunch occurred. I got them back on to get the pearly whites. She slagged me and said I 'looked goofy and younger with the braces'. He said they went to his workplace after the meal. He denied using the fire escape stairs and said it did not happen that he and the woman were in the stairwell together. He said there was no sexual interaction between him and the complainant on this date. He also denied any sexual interaction between himself and the complainant before this date. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has previously heard that the complainant initially told the man she was 18 when they first met. In her evidence, she said she told him she was 16 in before they engaged in sexual activity. It is the State's case that the man put his penis in the complainant's mouth on three occasions, once in his workplace and twice in his home. The complainant was 16 at the time, while the man was then 27. He has denied any wrongdoing. The trial continues. A Waterford family whose brothers remains lay in Dublin City Morgue for 27 days before being released to them say want answers on why it took so long for his body to be released. The body of Jamie Weldon, originally from Butlerstown in Waterford, was found in his Iveagh Trust apartment on Upper Kevin Street in Dublin on August 19 on what would have been his 57th birthday. His six siblings only discovered, after making a welfare check request on August 25, that remains believed to be that of their brother were in the Dublin City Morgue. However, because he had been dead for some time before his body was discovered on August 19, the family was told that the body was unviewable and a DNA match was necessary to prove his identity. His sister Fiona says their brother Michael gave a DNA sample at Kevin Street garda station on August 29, but they were told its time slot for matching was not until September 4 six days later. The family was eventually notified on September 15 that the body could be released to them for a funeral. Jamie Weldon was laid to rest on September 18 in his native Waterford. Jamies last interaction with anyone was online on July 28, and it is believed he died by suicide in early August. The brothers and sisters of Jamie Weldon: Billy, Monica, Frances, Fiona, and Sean. Picture: Patrick Browne Fiona says their other brother, 46-year-old Patrick, drowned in the River Liffey while visiting Ireland from his home in Australia. She added: He had his passport on him so they were able to find us within three hours from when they found him. But Jamie was actually in the apartment that was in his name, with his PPS number, and we werent contacted at all, and he was actually in the morgue six days before we even found out he was there. She also says a note had been left by Jamie, in his own writing, and signed by him. She points out that within a short time after the family had sought a welfare check on August 25, gardai were able to quickly establish that Jamie's details matched that of a body in Dublin City Morgue. She explained: It was 11.38pm when we contacted about a welfare check because we had a family meeting. It was about 12.05am on the 26th when the gardai came to tell us. They were able to tell us that so quickly, and he had been in the morgue for nearly a week. However, the family had to wait until August 28 to contact the morgue because it was closed for the weekend. Then, they discovered that a DNA match would be required before Jamies body would be released to the family. Fiona says: Why did the DNA have to stay until September 4 to be processed? Is there nothing that can be sped up there six days of a wait seems ridiculous. There must be a quicker way. The family has been told that an inquest will take place but is not likely to be held until at least 18 months' time. Fiona says: We want to make sure it doesnt happen to anyone else. Garda response In response, a garda spokesman confirmed that gardai were alerted to the discovery of a body at a residence on Kevin Street, Dublin 8 shortly before 5pm on Saturday 19th August 2023. He said that the body was taken to the City Morgue at Whitehall for a post mortem examination which has since taken place. He added that gardai are now preparing a file for the Coroner. Gardai say officers at Kevin Street station carried out extensive inquiries to identify a next-of-kin subsequent to the discovery of the body, including checking against missing person records, which eventually resulted in the potential identification of the deceased. The spokesman said that identification subsequently needed to be confirmed by DNA analysis. He added: In general terms, each case is different and the circumstances of the discovery of the body may not always make it possible for an immediate and direct identification of the deceased, particularly in cases where the remains have not been discovered for a period of time and where limited personal information is available at the scene. A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said: "The Department extends its deepest condolences to Mr Weldons family on their bereavement but cannot comment on individual cases." Richard Satchwell is due in court on Saturday morning, charged in connection with the murder of his wife Tina who disappeared almost seven years ago. Mr Satchwell (57) was charged tonight at Cobh garda station and is due before a special sitting of Cashel district court at 10.30am. Ms Satchwell, a Fermoy native, disappeared in March 2017 from their home in Grattan St in Youghal. Tinas older sister Teresa Dingivan earlier paid tribute to her in a poignant Facebook post. She said: Rip to my beautiful sister Tina u can rest now luv we found you I luv and miss you You are now with mum fly high my beautiful angel. In another post, she added: You will always be with me. A vigil in memory of Tina will be held in a park where she regularly walked her dogs in her hometown of Fermoy at 6pm on Monday evening. Ms Satchwell's remains were found at the couple's house on Wednesday night. Detectives were able to identify her using her dental records after the remains were brought to Cork City Morgue on Thursday. Richard Satchwell has been in garda custody since Thursday when he was re-arrested. A hearse removes the remains found at the scene in Youghal, Co Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins He had been questioned on Tuesday and throughout Wednesday, after being arrested on Tuesday evening when he returned home from work. He was released without charge on Wednesday evening. However, he was rearrested at a bus stop across from the Walter Raleigh Hotel in Youghal on Friday as it emerged that gardai had found skeletal remains at the house they have been searching since Tuesday at nearby Grattan St. Gardai also carried out a search of a site between Youghal and Killeagh, according to Superintendent Adrian Gamble, who is leading the investigation. A preliminary post-mortem examination was conducted on the remains at the Youghal property on Friday before they were removed to Cork City Morgue for a full autopsy. Local priest Fr William Bermingham performed the last rites before the remains were removed by hearse to Cork City Morgue. Dental records have now established that the remains are those of Ms Satchwell. Samples from the remains and from relatives of the missing woman were tested for a DNA match by Forensic Science Ireland. Supt Adrian Gamble speaks to the media outside Midleton Garda Station. Picture: Eddie O'Hare At a press conference at Midleton Garda Station on Friday, Supt Adrian Gamble confirmed that the remains were found at the property on Wednesday evening. "The family of Tina Satchwell continues to be updated on the progress of this investigation by an appointed family liaison officer and my thoughts and the thoughts of the investigation team continue to be with them at this difficult time," he said. The assistant state pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster, attended the scene in Youghal on Friday, before the remains were removed for a full autopsy. A forensic anthropologist, Dr Laureen Murphy, also visited the property on Friday. Gardai remain at the scene in Youghal, continuing a painstaking search of the property. Flowers left at the scene on Grattan St in Youghal, Co Cork, where skeletal remains were found. Picture: Larry Cummins The house remains cordoned off. In recent days, gardai with chainsaws, jackhammers, shovels, pickaxes, and other digging tools entered the property to begin the search. Digging machinery was brought in. The house had been searched previously, after Ms Satchwell disappeared, while sea searches off Youghal were also conducted in a bid to locate her in the early months after she went missing. More than 400 lines of inquiry have been pursued by investigating gardai over the last six and a half years, with more than 170 witness statements taken. Izz Cafe, a popular Palestinian restaurant in Cork City, has decided to temporarily stop operating as concerns grow for their families based in the Middle-East as the war between Israel and Palestine rages on. In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, the restaurant said its staff are "exhausted mentally given the current situation". "Our staff many of whom are Palestinian and Gazan cannot operate when so worried about the status of our families and friends," the cafe said. The business said it will re-evaluate the decision to temporarily close in a few days. Earlier this week, Izz Cafe announced it will close the in-house service for diners for around two weeks as it completes a renovation project. Izzeddeen and Eman Akarajeh, farmers market traders, opened the business pre-covid in 2019. The conflict began after Israelis woke last Saturday to the wail of sirens as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired thousands of rockets from Gaza and armed militants broke down the hi-tech barriers surrounding the strip to enter Israel, shooting and taking hostages. Militants in boats also tried to enter Israel by sea. It was a staggering and unprecedented offensive by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that Israel was at war and that Palestinians would pay a heavy price. Militants infiltrated Jewish communities near the border with Gaza, killing and seizing civilians and soldiers. On Friday, Israels military directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, within 24 hours, a UN spokesman said. The order, delivered to the UN, comes as Israel presses an offensive against Hamas militants. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the order impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences. This could signal an impending ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such an appeal. Hamas assault on Saturday and smaller attacks since havekilled more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. additional reporting from The Guardian and Press Association Staff in a Cork nursing home set to close this month say they are extremely frustrated with a lack of communication from the company. Residents are being moved out of the Aperee Living Belgooly nursing home, following the regulator Hiqa issuing a notice of registration cancellation. Chef Emer Coughlan has worked there for nine years, starting when it was family-owned and remaining when Aperee Living took over. Everyone is disappointed that this is what its coming to, she said. We were all shocked, absolutely blind-sided [on hearing it would close]. Up to Friday, staff had not received details around end-of-contract or paperwork needed to apply for welfare despite repeated requests. Aperee has appointed a human resources company which Ms Coughlan said head office has told them with be coming down on Monday to liaise with staff about redundancy payments. That is brilliant. I suppose because of their slowness in coming forward with a plan people are still a bit sceptical but were hopeful. She added: We are getting more information from the newspapers, from RTE News regarding this group of nursing homes, but as individuals working for them, we are not being told anything. Revelations in Hiqa reports published last month relating to financial concerns have been distressing for the 30 staff. We all feel very hurt over the reports of bad management or care for residents, over what Hiqa has been saying, she said. We are upset, and we are ashamed to say we are working with this company. Senator Tim Lombard visited on Thursday, and said 13 residents remained. Staff are very frustrated with the lack of communication between themselves and the management, he said, noting salaries were paid on Friday instead of Thursday as usual. They have huge issues about redundancy and how it is going to work. Some of them have been there over 20 years. He described workers as dedicated, saying: "One employee told me she is buying paper and everything else herself for the office there, because she cant get an actual budget from them." The home set on 14 acres is a beautiful, tranquil place, he said. It has an extension that cost 6m in 2019, he said. There are issues with the older part of the house definitely, regarding fire compliance but the new part is as new as you are ever going to get. Sources familiar with the sector indicated a buyer would have to be found if it is to re-open, and the HSE is unlikely to run it as a public home. Aperee Living Belgooly has until October 25 to appeal the cancellation. Hiqa said up to Friday they had not been notified of this. The HSE in Cork are re-homing residents, and a spokeswoman said they are trying to meet personal preferences as far as possible. Ireland "cannot accept the collective punishment of an entire population", Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said, as he called for Israel to rescind its order for 1.1 million people to evacuate north Gaza. Speaking in Cork, the Foreign Affairs Minister said that "it simply isn't feasible that a million people can move out of a city in 24 hours" and that "two wrongs don't make a right", referring to Israel's retaliation to Hamas' attacks. The area in question encompasses all of Gaza City and the Jabalya and Beach Camp refugee areas, as well as Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia towns. Altogether, around 1.1 million people live in the area, which is one of the most densely populated in the region. Israel is primed for a mass offensive and has lined up hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Mr Martin said: "That call by Israel should be rescinded and should be pulled back because I think everybody knows it's not something that can be achieved at all. I think it puts enormous trauma on the ordinary civilians and Gazans. Two wrongs don't make a right. "There's an obligation to protect civilians in Gaza, to protect children and families and so forth, and people who have nothing to do with Hamas. There are challenges, I would accept that Israel has the legitimate right to deal with Hamas because Hamas has waged war on Israel and its civilians. But it cannot be in the context of an attack on the civilian population of Gaza. "Our value system is one that does not in any way support any collective punishment of an entire population. That is not acceptable from our perspective," he said. Mr Martin, who was at at event to mark one of the largest libraries in the world, Japans National Diet Library, agreeing to give University College Cork (UCC) access to its contents, said that Ireland has "been very clear that Israel has a right to self-defence, but it must be within international law". "There are obligations on the Geneva Convention and it simply isn't feasible that a million people can move out of the city in 24 hours," he said. Mr Martin said that he is not worried about the EU fracturing over its collective response to the crisis, insisting that the EU Neighbourhood Commissioner, Hungarian Oliver Varhelyi, was not speaking for most foreign affairs ministers at EU level. Mr Varhelhi set off a firestorm of criticism when he tweeted that the European Commission would review 691m in aid to the Palestinian Authority, as well as suspending all payments immediately. Mr Martin said: "I must say at European Foreign Affairs Council level during the week, there was very unity of purpose in respect of maintaining development assistance to the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority, and also humanitarian assistance. I think Europe will unite on this. There was also very strong consensus on the application of international law in terms of any response by Israel in Gaza. "I must say, I was heartened by the debate we had in the Foreign Affairs Council. There was concern also articulated by Commissioner Varhelhi's tweet the previous day when he seemed to indicate unilaterally that there would be a suspension of aid and that he initiated a review of assistance. There was a lot of criticism of that, Ireland certainly has no truck with that, Ireland doesn't accept that, and takes a much different view altogether." The vast majority of foreign affairs ministers are of a similar view, he added. Mikhail Ivanovich Ulyanov is not the type of man you would associate with an internet movement. A greyish bureaucrat with a 1980s moustache, Ulyanov serves as Russias permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna after a long and uneventful diplomatic career. That was until an army of cartoon Shiba Inu dogs came for him on X (formerly known as Twitter). After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, in a conflict that started with its military occupation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and parts of the Donbas region on the mainland in 2014, Ulyanov had been full-throated on Twitter in support of the war. He regularly lambasted Ukraines leadership and called for no mercy for the Ukrainian population! This brought him to the attention of the Shiba Inus. Mikhail Ulyanov's call for no mercy for the Ukrainian population brought him to the attention of the Shiba Inus. Picture: Alex Halada/AFP/Getty They poured into his comments and replies in droves, mocking him, making memes about him, and pulling apart his justifications for apparently supporting genocide. Ulyanovs frustrated reply became legend. You pronounced this nonsense, not me, Ulyanov said, before disappearing from the platform. The cartoon dogs, or, as they branded themselves, the North Atlantic Fella Organization, or NAFO, had gained their first slogan and hounded a senior Russian diplomat from social media. And many of Shiba Inus tweeting at him were Irish. NAFO emerged from a diverse group of people on X who supported Ukraine, and who had spent much of their time on the platform attempting to counter Russian propaganda with shitposting, or making memes that mocked and disrupted the work of Russian propagandists. This began at the start of the war in February 2022, and in the coming months, these online activists increasingly combined their efforts. The group began to coalesce into something more cohesive in May 2022 when Polish artist Kamil Dyszewski started creating modified Shiba Inu dogs, grafting their heads onto a tracksuit figure with hands in pockets, and a wide stance, for members of NAFO, who are known as fellas. Polish artist Kamil Dyszewski started creating modified Shiba Inu dogs for members of NAFO. Picture: United24 He chose the dog as it was a pervasive, accessible image online, and because it was so dumb, it was funny. Soon he was creating custom designs of fellas in exchange for donations to the Georgian Legion, a unit of the Ukrainian army composed primarily of volunteers from Georgia. The army of Shiba Inus began to increase exponentially, with ever-more unusual takes on the original template. There were fellas with highland kilts and traditional Irish clothing, punk motifs, and medieval wenches, mods and rockers, military uniforms, and much more. NAFO is such a diverse conglomerate of people, from different walks of life, that it is impossible to describe. From clerks, activists, veterans, and active duty soldiers, to academics, medical practitioners, scientists, and politicians; weve got it all, Dyszewski said. Unlike other synthetic, government-bankrolled movements, NAFO can act in countless ways to support the troops on the ground and counter whatever any pro-Russian basket cases have to say online. Irish activist Justin Moorhead is one of this motley crew. The 41-year-old from Louth had no history of activism before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia began, aside from conversations with his friends and acquaintances in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment. While every member of NAFO is motivated to support Ukraine, the reasons for their support are often diverse. Moorehead, for one, saw parallels between Ukrainian and Irish history. When we sought independence from British rule, the Irish usually received help from our allies on the continent. We often came close to victory but as our allies usually didnt commit fully, the Irish/allies nearly always lost, Moorhead said. Ukraine must ensure it forces its allies to commit fully and it will win. I think Ukraine is doing this, but more must be done. Unlike our treaties with the UK, which were real and positive steps forward, Russia only negotiates a settlement to buy time so it can rebuild militarily. Moorhead believes its not just up to nation states and NGOs to stand with Ukraine; in the democratised information sphere created by social media, individuals can play their part too. The tactics used by NAFO to fight for Ukraine on this front are many-fold, ranging from the aforementioned sharing of memes to declaring article 5". This is when hundreds of them will report accounts en masse for breaking the sites terms of service by glorifying or supporting genocide, something pro-Russian accounts have become infamous for. For NAFO this serves an important purpose as suppressing disinformation about the war helps ensure that Ukrainian voices can be heard accurately on a global platform. In a war characterised by the extreme brutality of Russian soldiers, including murder, the rape and castration of Ukrainian POWs, and the abduction of children, shitposting can do a lot to raise morale. During the Russian summer campaign, every fella was affected by watching the brutal artillery strikes. We understood what was happening on the frontlines. We understood the suffering that Ukraine endured. But in the midst of all this mental suffering, NAFO was pounding vatniks and we were all laughing, Moorhead said. Then in September, Ukraine went on the counteroffensive in the east and gained a sudden breakthrough. The shitposting took on a whole new dimension. It was joy and relief. And NAFO rubbed it in the faces of the vatniks. The term vatnik is commonly used by Ukrainians and their supporters to describe the slavishly pro-Putin, pro-Russian supporters of the invasion. This applies to Russians as well as their international supporters, who in the vast majority of cases come from the political far-left or far-right. The Venn diagram of Russias supporters, anti-establishment conspiracy theorists, and the politically extreme is frequently a circle. NAFOs members also have a shared dislike for Russian apologists is intense, but it also sometimes extends to those Russians who claim theyre against Putins regime. The collective organised a conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July this year, the NAFO Summit, which was even attended by officials from Baltic state governments and NGOs. Controversy erupted when one attendee was spotted with an inflatable shark, apparently a reference to a Russian tourist who had recently been attacked and killed by one in Egypt. Supporters of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny took to X to voice their outrage. Fellas piled in in response, swamping the Russian activists social media pages with memes and comments about how silent the Russian opposition had been regarding their countrys war crimes in Ukraine, their refusal to condemn the Russian army, and their tacit support of the annexation of Crimea, as well as pointing out Navalnys own history of making racist comments. There is no love lost between the groups. NAFOs membership is always keen to point out that the Russians have committed numerous war crimes almost unopposed for decades, In Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, and now Ukraine. They say Russias so-called opposition, like Navalny, and Western governments have been silent on Russian army atrocities for too long. An image from a NAFO tweet declaring the movement's friendship with Nato. Picture: @Bravokilo6464 They believe that in the defence of freedom, no meme or joke is too harsh, and point to their work on exposing Russias war crimes. NAFO was instrumental in spreading visual proof of the Bucha massacre and other incidents in Ukraine, and even when the current war is over, they plan to still hold Russia to account. We helped make sure that for the first time in many years, the Russians had to fold their propaganda circus and accept defeat right after the Bucha massacre. Up until that point Russians, killed, maimed, and brutalised civilians across the globe. They did so with no opposition because their propaganda machine always managed to shift the blame, said Dyszewski, when asked what made him proud of helping to launch NAFO. But thousands of angry cartoon dogs have put an end to that, and exposed Russia for what it is a travelling circus of marauders, killers, and war criminals. The ultimate goal is to support Ukraine in its struggle for freedom. I can only hope that NAFO will continue to do so until the very last millimetre of not just Ukrainian land is free, but all the other countries that have suffered under its rule. Until that day, the Shiba Inus will continue their work, and Russian diplomats will be hesitant to log on to X. Andrew Sweeney is a freelance journalist YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS. A Russian humanitarian mission has delivered 6 tons of humanitarian aid to Armenia, the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Yerevan said in a press release. Specialists from Russia will deliver the humanitarian goods to the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh. The humanitarian goods include personal hygiene products, household chemicals and food. As each election draws near, it is normal for a small number of TDs to announce that they will retire from politics. Generally, these TDs are older and are approaching or have passed the retirement age. A few more retire due to ill health, challenging political fortunes or to pursue other interests. The numbers vary over time but 20 TDs retired in 2016 and 18 in 2020. The big exception was 2011 when 36 TDs retired from politics. Facing huge public hostility, many Fianna Fail TDs did not seek re-election and the exodus of TDs was younger than usual. The next election is likely to take place between 12 and 18 months from now but already a growing number of TDs have announced that they plan to leave politics. Most have had long and distinguished careers. Richard Bruton and Charlie Flanagan of Fine Gael, and Brendan Howlin from the Labour Party, are among the most notable figures to announce they are leaving the political arena. All three have served as TDs for many decades, were ministers in multiple governments and are considered to be serious and significant figures in their parties. Retirement announcements have been spread across the political spectrum and Brid Smith of People Before Profit has also announced that she will be leaving politics. At least 10 more TDs are in the retirement speculation zone on age grounds. It is important to say that there is no requirement for TDs to retire at 65 What is more interesting about the current list of confirmed retirements is the growing number of mid-career TDs departing the stage. Sean Sherlock (Labour), Brendan Griffin, Joe McHugh, John Paul Phelan (all Fine Gael), and Denis Naughten (Independent) have all announced that they will not contest the next election. These TDs have well-established careers and substantial local support bases. It is very probable that they would all have been re-elected. Brendan Griffin. Picture: Julien Behal/PA Wire Mr Sherlock would have faced the most significant challenge with the redrawing of the election boundaries. A substantial part of his support base in Mallow was moved into the Cork North Central constituency. But Cork North Central was allocated an extra seat and there is currently no Labour TD in the constituency. He certainly had a fighting chance there. So why are these TDs leaving what are supposed to be high-powered, well-paid, and attractive careers? There is a small amount of research that has looked at the careers of politicians in the European Parliament and in other countries. The main reasons highlighted by this work on why politicians move out of politics are geographic distance from parliament, limited ability to influence public policy and poor career promotion opportunities. It is interesting that all three points apply to the five mid-career TDs that have already announced that they will not continue their political careers. Brendan Griffin has, by some way, the longest distance to travel to the Dail at over 300km but Mr Phelan whose constituency is the closest is still more than 130km from Dublin. Long travelling times increase the burden on politicians, especially in Ireland, where TDs are often expected to be at important events in their constituencies when the Dail is sitting. All five have had junior or senior ministerial postings and all are unlikely to secure these postings again, given the likely size of their parties after the next election, and in the case of Mr Naughten the fact that as an independent it was very unusual that he made it to cabinet in the first place. Independent TD Denis Naughten. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins While there have been some important improvements in the way the Dail does its business with pre-legislative scrutiny and better committee structures, it is still the case that being a minister is the best way to influence policy. More generally, there is an important debate about the quality of life for politicians. Several recent cases have highlighted the vicious abuse politicians face, often daily. Politicians have been attacked, harassed and abused online. Women are especially targeted online. Government politicians face the greatest hostility but politicians of all political hues have been targeted. Regular stories about the pay, pensions and expenses of politicians often ignore the fact that many are highly educated and left well-paying jobs to go into politics. And for the vast majority, expenses are high because voters insist that politicians have constituency offices, and travel to, and from their constituencies. These are the legitimate costs of being a hard-working politician but somehow the headlines never mention this. The gender quota law requires that 40% of political party candidates are women in the next election. All the male retirements will help parties as vacancies arise and women can take their place on the ballot. But already, the anecdotal evidence from all the main parties is that it is proving very hard to tempt new candidates into politics for the upcoming local elections in June 2024. High workloads, excessive abuse and average remuneration mean that politics has become a very unattractive job. Dr Theresa Reidy is a political scientist at University College Cork and she is co-editor of Politics in the Republic of Ireland. Israels military has told some one million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north, according to the United Nations. It is an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group. The UN has warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous. Hamas, which staged a brutal attack on Israel this week, dismissed the order as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes, adding to the widespread panic. The evacuation order, which includes Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, sparked confusion among civilians and aid workers already running from Israeli air strikes and contending with a total siege and a territory-wide power blackout. Israel is seeking to punish Hamas like never before (AP) Palestinians would only be able to flee south within Gaza as Israel has completely sealed off the territory, a narrow strip of land about 25 miles long. Hamas said Israels heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip killed 13 hostages, including foreigners, held by the group. The groups military wing said the 13 were killed in various locations over the past 24 hours. Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the southern Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis (AP) It did not give the nationality of the foreigners, and there has been no confirmation over the claims from Israel. The Israeli military had said it would operate with significant force in Gaza in the coming days and is calling on civilians to evacuate. Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israeli forces will make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. He added: Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours. Suffering in Gaza has risen dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine, while the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The mortuary at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is set to visit on Friday, a day after American secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7. A woman with a Palestinian flag painted on her face, cries during a protest against Israeli air strikes on Gaza in Madrid (AP) Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, said: This is chaos, no-one understands what to do. She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, claimed there was no way more than one million people could be safely moved within the timeframe specified, saying: Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youre going to live. She added: What will happen to our patients? We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals. The flurry of directives was taken as signalling an expected Israeli ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a decision. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no decision has been made. The UN said the broad evacuation warning it received for all of Gazas north also applies to all UN staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in UN schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock air strikes on Saturday. The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Another UN official said that the UN is seeking clarity from Israeli officials at the most senior political level. A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Hamas unprecedented assault last Saturday and smaller attacks since have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. Palestinians evacuate wounded people after an Israeli air strike in Rafah refugee camp (AP) As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including children in their own homes and young people at a music festival. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. The number of people forced from their homes by Israels air strikes soared by 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the UN said on Thursday. On Thursday, the Israeli military pulverised the Gaza Strip with air strikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said its complete siege of the territory would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during their grisly weekend incursion. The White House said on Friday that North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine. Speculation about a possible North Korean plan to refill Russias munition stores drained in its protracted war with Ukraine flared last month, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military sites. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US believes Kim is seeking sophisticated Russian weapons technologies in return for the munitions to boost North Koreas nuclear programme. The White House released images that it said show the containers were loaded onto a Russian-flagged ship before being moved by train to southwestern Russia. The containers were shipped between September 7 and October 1 between Najin, North Korea, and Dunay, Russia, according to the White House. Russian President Vladimir Putinand North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome in September (Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP/AP) The US has accused North Korea of previously providing ammunition, artillery shells and rockets to Russia. Mr Kim last month, after he had met Mr Putin, called for an exponential increase in production of nuclear weapons and for his country to play a larger role in a coalition of nations confronting the US in a new Cold War, North Korean state media said. The Korean Central News Agency said Mr Kim made the comments during a two-day session of the countrys rubber-stamp parliament, which amended the constitution to include his policy of expanding the countrys nuclear weapons programme. In Russia, Mr Kim deepened comradely fellowship and friendly ties with Mr Putin, North Korean state media reported. During Mr Kims six-day trip to Russia, his longest foreign travel as leader, the two countries said they discussed boosting their defence ties but did not disclose any specific steps. Foreign experts speculate the two countries, both locked in confrontations with the West, were pushing to reach arms transfer deals in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. New Zealanders began voting on Saturday in a general election, with opinion polls indicating they favour a conservative change after six years of a liberal government led for most of that time by Jacinda Ardern. Ms Ardern unexpectedly stepped down in January, saying she no longer had enough in the tank to do the job justice. She won the last election with a landslide, but her popularity waned as people tired of Covid-19 restrictions and inflation threatened the economy. Her departure left Chris Hipkins, 45, to take over as prime minister. He had previously served as education minister and led the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Polling indicates his conservative rival, former businessman Christopher Luxon, remains in the best position to become the nations next prime minister when voting closes Saturday night. National Party leader Christopher Luxon waves a flag in front of supporters and a campaign bus in Rotorua, New Zealand (New Zealand Herald via AP/PA) Under New Zealands proportional voting system, Mr Luxon, 53, and his National Party will likely need to form an alliance with other parties to command a majority. Mr Luxon will need support from the libertarian ACT Party and possibly also from the New Zealand First party led by Winston Peters, 78, a veteran political maverick who this year has found support among disaffected voters including some conspiracy theorists. Mr Hipkins has said he will not strike a deal with Mr Peters and that a three-party alliance to put Mr Luxon in power would be a coalition of chaos. Mr Luxon has promised tax cuts for middle-income earners and a crackdown on crime. Mr Hipkins has promised free dental care for people younger than 30 and the removal of sales taxes on fruit and vegetables. Also at stake in the election is the governments relationship with indigenous Maori. Mr Luxon has promised to axe the Maori Health Authority, which he says creates two separate health systems. Mr Hipkins says he is proud of such co-governance efforts and has accused Mr Luxon of condoning racism. Within days of taking the reins in January, Mr Hipkins found himself dealing with a crisis after New Zealand was hit by deadly floods and then a cyclone. He quickly jettisoned some of Ms Arderns more contentious policies and promised a back to basics approach focused on tackling the spiralling cost of living. Polling numbers for Mr Hipkins and his Labour Party began trending upwards in the last days before the election from a low ebb. Mr Luxon hugged supporters in Auckland on his final campaign stop as they chanted his slogan to get New Zealand back on track. Earlier in the week, Mr Luxon, who served as chief executive of both Unilever Canada and Air New Zealand, told a crowd in Wellington that he would crack down on gangs. Ive gotta tell you, crime is out of control in this country, Mr Luxon said. And we are going to restore law and order, and we are going to restore personal responsibility. Jacinda Ardern stepped down as prime minister in January (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Mr Luxon also got cheers when he promised to fix the capitals gridlocked traffic with a new tunnel project. Mr Luxon is relatively new to politics but held his own against the more experienced Mr Hipkins during televised debates, according to political observers. But Mr Luxon also made some gaffes, such as when he was asked in a 1News debate how much he spent each week on food. Im personally shopping every Sunday, down in Wellington. Probably about sixty bucks, Mr Luxon said in a response that was ridiculed on social media as showing him as out of touch with the spiralling cost of groceries. While most votes will be counted by Saturday night, it could take days or even weeks of negotiations between political parties before the next government is finalised. Donald Trumps top corporate deputies considered adding a presidential premium to his properties during his White House years, which would have padded his net worth by nearly 145 million dollars (120 million), an executive at the former presidents company has told a court. Trump Organisation assistant vice president Patrick Birney told Mr Trumps New York civil fraud trial that they ended up scrapping the idea, but state lawyers contend that merely going through the exercise underscores how Mr Trump and his underlings were intent on finding ways to improve his bottom line. Former US president Mr Trump is expected to return to court for the trial next week when fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen is scheduled to take the witness stand. Mr Birney said Trump executives considered tacking 25% on to Mr Trumps Trump Tower apartments value as a premium for presidential personal residence in 2017, his first year in office. They considered doing the same for Mr Trumps winter and summer homes at Mar-a-Lago and his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, Mr Birney said. Trump Tower in New York (Alamy/PA) A presidential summer residence premium at the same rate would have added 18.9 million dollars (15.6 million) to the Bedminster golf clubs price tag on Mr Trumps annual financial statements, Mr Birney said, increasing its listed value to about 145 million dollars. At one point Trump executives considered adding a 35% ex-president premium to certain assets. Mr Birney was testifying at the end of the second week of a non-jury trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James fraud lawsuit and will return on Monday. He is the third Trump Organisation executive to give evidence, following longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and senior vice president and controller Jeffrey McConney. Both of them are defendants in the case and have since retired. In a pretrial decision last month, a judge ruled that Mr Trump and his company committed years of fraud by exaggerating the value of Mr Trumps assets and net worth on his financial statements. Those documents were given to banks, insurers and others to make deals and secure financing. As punishment, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered that a court-appointed receiver take control of some Trump companies, putting the future of Trump Tower and other properties in doubt, but an appeals court paused that from taking effect. The trial concerns related allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. Ms James, a Democrat, is seeking 250 million dollars (206 million) in penalties and wants Mr Trump and other defendants banned from doing business in New York. An aerial view of Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida (Steve Helber/AP/PA) Mr Birney indicated Trump executives started pondering a potential presidential premium as they sought ways to recoup a loss in value incurred from correcting the size of Mr Trumps 10,996 square foot Manhattan penthouse, which had been wrongly valued for years at nearly three times that square footage. That fix was made in Trumps 2017 financial statement, after Forbes magazine published an article revealing the true size of the Trump Tower apartment. At the same time, the Trump Organisation was going through what Mr McConney previously dubbed a financial clean up, scrubbing some pay practices and financial arrangements in the wake of Mr Trumps election. Was applying a presidential premium to a series of assets something you would have done on your own? state lawyer Eric Haren asked. No, Mr Birney responded. Who directed you? the lawyer asked. I dont really remember, but probably Allen Weisselberg, Mr Birney said. Mr Birney, who took on a central role in preparing Mr Trumps financial statements beginning in 2017, previously testified that Weisselberg, referring to Mr Trumps net worth, told him Donald likes to see it go up. He testified that one of their discussions happened in a Trump Tower bathroom. Weisselberg was not asked about the presidential premium when he gave evidence on Tuesday and Wednesday, nor in a deposition he gave in May in the case. But he and Mr McConney did acknowledge adding other types of premiums to Mr Trumps property values. Mr McConney told the trial last week that, years before Mr Trump became president, he added 20 million dollars to the value of Mr Trumps penthouse partly because of his celebrity. Mr Birney said the presidential premium prices they calculated were removed from consideration in October 2017 and were never included in any of his financial statements. State lawyers argue that Mr Trump and his lieutenants weighed and used a variety of methods to boost his net worth on his annual statements of financial condition, but did not disclose them to people relying on the documents for an accurate picture of his wealth and holdings. Mr Trump, who has pegged his net worth in excess of six billion dollars (4.9 billion) in recent years, has estimated that his brand alone is worth maybe 10 billion dollars. In his April deposition for the case, he called it my most valuable asset and attributed his political success to the ubiquity of his name and persona. But Mr Trump insisted he never accounted for his brand in his financial statements, testifying in April: If I wanted to create a statement that was high, I would have put the brand on. Mr Trump denies any wrongdoing. Myanmars junta is preparing on Sunday to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the signing of the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) ahead of the first anniversary of the ANang Pa massacre in Kachin State and after Mondays attack on a Kachin displacement camp. At least 29 people, including 13 children, were killed and 57 injured at Mung Lai Hkyet village in Waingmaw Township on Monday night. The site is about 3km north of Laiza, where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has its headquarters. The armed group is fighting the junta. The attack was denounced domestically and internationally, including by the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) and United Nations. The junta denied involvement and blamed an explosion at an ammonium nitrate store at a KIA training camp near the village. The KIA said explosives would never be stored near civilians. The Irrawaddy spoke to KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu about Myanmars crisis. Is there any more information about Mondays attack? The death toll has not increased. Most of the injured have been discharged from hospital with about 20 remaining. Do you know how the attack was carried out? Our investigation team found big and abnormal bomb fragments. We dont know how big their drones were. A normal drone couldnt carry such large shells. There might have been a group of drones or a larger, unmanned aerial vehicle carrying strange and powerful shells. What shell fragments were found? The investigation team collected pieces. We are trying to identify them. There was a vehicle workshop at the site so they have struggled to separate tools from bomb fragments. The junta blamed an explosion at a KIA ammonium nitrate store. Thats just propaganda. We would never store arms and ammunition near a displacement camp. The junta lies repeatedly. What assistance do the displaced people need? There were over 100 homes in the camp. We asked how we could help reconstruct their shelters but they said they were too afraid to live there. They are traumatized and have lost relatives. We plan to set up a new camp elsewhere. The junta celebrating the NCAs eighth anniversary on Sunday. Have you been invited and does the regime have any plan for more peace talks? The Kachin Independence Organizations [KIO] central committee was invited to the event. I do not know what the committee decided but the military calls for peace while still attacking us. The juntas airstrike on the outdoor concert at ANang Pa in Hpakant Township was on October 23 last year. Do you think the Mung Lai Hkyet attack was timed to coincide with the anniversary? The military always targets us every October because the KIO was established in that month. It tends to test new weapons against us. It wants to scare civilians in our territory to weaken our support or make them demand we abandon the revolution. The military targets civilians, launches airstrikes, shells schools, monasteries and churches and burns down villages across the country. This week it targeted our civilians to divide us. Some groups say the 2021 coup makes the NCA void. The KIO did not sign it but was it its position on the 2015 agreement? The calls for talks are an attempt by the generals to get out of this crisis. The NCA is like a broken bridge. There is no way to pass. The junta is trying to restore the NCA to divide the armed groups so it can target the NUG. The term peace-building is just a tactic in the civil war. BANGKOKThe first flight of Thai evacuees fleeing the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas landed in Bangkok on Thursday, with several recounting harrowing escapes as they were reunited with tearful family members. Worried families gathered at the airport hours before the arrival of a flight carrying 41 Thais, including 15 evacuees, who were flown out with assistance from their countrys diplomats. Around 30,000 Thais work in Israel, mostly in the agriculture sector, according to Bangkoks Labor Ministry. Two returning workers were in wheelchairs, their faces tired after the long journey home. I thought to myself I wouldnt survive. They shot continuously like in a film, Katchakorn Pudtason told reporters at the airport. The fighting was so intense that my employer let us take shelter at his home, he added. He told me the situation was easing and when I tried to escape I heard the gunshots behind me and I realized that I was shot in the knee. Hamas fighters on Saturday crossed the Israeli border in vehicles, by air and sea, and killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They also seized dozens of Israeli, dual national and foreign hostages, whom Hamas is threatening to kill. Israel has retaliated by declaring a war to destroy Hamas capability, relentlessly pounding the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 Palestinians have died in Gaza as Israel has leveled entire city blocks and destroyed thousands of buildings. The number of Thais killed in the conflict has risen to 21, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said Thursday. Fears are mounting over the fate of 16 others who have been taken hostage by Hamas, the Foreign Ministry said. I have lost 10 of my colleagues, said Kittipong Chaikow from northeastern Nong Bua Lam Phu. I am so happy to be back in Thailand, he told reporters. Dad is here, said another Thai evacuee while hugging and reassuring his daughter. Family reunion Yanisa Thaweekaew, whose son Supipat Kongkaew has worked on an Israeli avocado farm since last year, said she hadnt slept in days. My son is everything to me. I was worried. He is the only son I have, she told AFP. I cried every day knowing that he lived in the red zone. Many of those being repatriated are farm workers from Thailands poor northeast who had gone to Israel in search of vastly higher wages. The mother and wife of Somma Sae-jaa Thai man who moved to Israel two years ago to work in agriculturewere anxiously awaiting his safe return home after he was shot in the leg. I couldnt sleep last night, I was so excited and worried, his wife Nantawan Sae-lee, 30, told AFP. We dont have much money so he went to Israel. He is a really good man. More than 5,000 Thais are trying to return to the kingdom with diplomats exploring potential sea and overland evacuation options. Further Thai repatriation flights are due to leave Israel on Sunday and Wednesday next week. Sawiang Paelin, 69, from Nong Khai, said her son was able to support his entire family by working abroad but was grateful that he was returning. No amount of money is more important than a persons life, she said. Cambodias former leader, Hun Sen, and Japans special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar, Yohei Sasakawa, have agreed to visit Myanmar soon to broker peace for a country ravaged by conflict since the 2021 coup. The ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), which is chaired by Hun Sen, announced the joint peace mission after the pair met at CCP headquarters in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. The CCP statement did not mention when they would fly to Naypyitaw. The peace mission was announced shortly before the juntas celebrations to mark the 8th anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with some ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). The timing prompted speculation that Hun Sen and Sasakawa will join Sundays ceremony, despite widespread criticism that the ceasefire accord was wrecked by the coup. The CPP statement said Yohei Sasakawa spoke highly of Hun Sens efforts and goodwill regarding the Myanmar issue. The two sides discussed Hun Sens efforts and determination to improve the situation in Myanmar, the Khmer Times reported. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military takeover sparked nationwide armed resistance against the junta. More than two years on, the regime has failed to achieve control over large areas of the country after several ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) joined the fight. In response, the military regime has killed more than 4,100 people while launching air and artillery strikes on civilians in resistance areas. Hun Sen visited Myanmar last year when Cambodia was chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member. He and Prak Sokhonn, Cambodias Special Envoy for Myanmar, met with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing several times but failed to make a breakthrough for peace. The junta has ignored ASEANs Five-Point Consensus for peace, including an immediate cessation of violence. Sasakawa, who is also chairman of the philanthropic Nippon Foundation, was also involved in Myanmars peace process before the coup, as a witness to the NCAs signing in 2015. He is known to enjoy good relations with junta boss Min Aung Hlaing. In March 2022, he brokered a meeting in Thailand with leaders of several Myanmar EAOs as the regime attempted to revive the peace process, but the effort yielded no tangible results. Several powerful EAOs, including some original signatories of the NCA, said the agreement was invalidated by the coup while the regimes attempt to revive the peace process was fake. However, Hun Sen and Sasawakas close relations with Min Aung Hlaing suggest the pair will be feted as special guests when the regime celebrates the NCAs 8th anniversary in Naypyitaw on Sunday. The junta chief recently boasted of inviting heads of state to the ceremony, saying he had written to some and phoned others depending on his personal ties with them. Some had promised to attend while others would send high-level representatives, he said. The juntas military likely used one of its largest aerial-delivered bombs during Monday nights attack at Mung Lai Hkyet Village in Kachin State, according to an investigation by Amnesty International (AI). At least 29 people, including 13 children, died at Mung Lai Hkyet Village in Waingmaw Township on Monday night, while 57 were wounded in the attack, according to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). It said regime troops bombarded the village located about two miles north of Laiza Townthe headquarters of the KIA. Amnesty Internationals weapons expert analyzed photos and videos of the aftermath of the attack, which show evidence of a single massive blast that flattened dozens of nearby buildings including a church, preschool and many homes and started fires, the rights group said in a statement released on Friday. It also confirmed reports that the first blast was followed by others, citing survivors of the attack. The size of the crater and the damage from the first bomb is consistent with the largest aerial-delivered bombs known to be in the inventory of the Myanmar military, AI said. The juntas military almost certainly used an unguided bomb, which is completely inappropriate for use in the vicinity of civilians, it added. This murderous assault by the Myanmar military is further proof of their complete disregard for civilian life, said Matthew Wells, director of AIs Crisis Response Program. The world must wake up to the horror unfolding daily in Myanmar, he added. The junta denied responsibility for the attack, saying on Wednesday that a KIA warehouse containing more than 100 tons of ammonium nitrate and weapons exploded. AIs report said the bomb fell on a large open field near a road with regular vehicle traffic that was unlikely to be an ammonium nitrate storage area. The Myanmar military has an extensive history of carrying out indiscriminate attacks similar to Mondays, including on other camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the KIA would never put a gunpowder warehouse near civilians. The [KIA] investigation team found pieces of bombs, and they are examining them, he said. Mung Lai Hkyet sheltered more than 600 IDPs before it was obliterated. Survivors have been taking refuge in four shelters near the office of Woichyai IDP camp since the attack. They are in great need of humanitarian assistance, a local aid group said. In October last year, junta aircraft bombed an outdoor concert at ANang Pa Village in Kachin States Hpakant Township, killing at least 75 people. The concert was being held to mark the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the KIAs political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization. Amnesty International is again calling for the UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar and to refer Monday nights attack to the International Criminal Court so that those responsible can be brought to justice. Myanmars regime says it is building a national database to monitor citizens and identify its opponents. The regimes media said it formed a committee to build a database last year headed by deputy junta chief Soe Win. The committee will establish an electronic identification system that cannot be influenced by foreign organizations and governments. At a meeting on October 6, Soe Win said the database will boost national security, the rule of law and peace. Brigadier General Myat Min Oo, the juntas information and technology department chief, attended the meeting, according to the junta reports. Following the 2021 coup, the regime distributed photos and information to airports, border crossings and police stations about civil servants who refused to work under military rule and artists, journalists and politicians who opposed the regime. Pro-junta Telegram channels and other online sites published the addresses and photos of dissidents and junta critics, calling for their arrest. Ma Wai Phyo Myint, Myanmars head of Access Now, a global advocacy group for digital rights, said: The national database has immigration data. The regime can match the information on household registration certificates, citizenship IDs and passports. This makes it easy for the regime to identify a person, their address, family and networks. It requires people to register their SIM cards to reveal their contacts from the telecoms operator. If an activist is arrested, all their contacts can also be seized, she added. The junta traces our digital footprints. And it has been building a database to find out all the information about individuals in a few seconds. This digital coup is taking shape and we must work to prevent the regime from getting the technology to make it happen. More than 1,300 people have been arrested since the coup for online comments, Data for Myanmar reported on October 8. Myanmar was named as having the second-worst environment for internet freedom after China, according to the Freedom on the Net report published by Freedom House on October 4. The regime is seeking Chinese and Indian help to implement an electronic identification system, which the junta claims has details for 52 million citizens and more than 13 million households. The regime is collecting biometric data and will issue a unique ID when the process is complete, the media reported. The juntas Ministry of Immigration and Population is implementing the electronic identification system. Immigration minister Myint Kyaing recently flew to Delhi and Beijing to study his allies technology. In India he observed Aadhaar, the worlds largest biometric ID system, and explored the potential for cooperation with Myanmars new database. He was in China last month to meet Xu Ganglu, the deputy National Immigration Administration minister, to discuss cooperation between the immigration agencies. He also visited Beijings Hisign Technology company, which describes itself as one of the most comprehensive and technologically advanced enterprises in Chinas multi-biometric industry. Investing apps help anyone access the stock market to make trades. Alpaca, a San Mateo-based startup, offers stock and crypto brokerage trading services via API that enables investing fintech companies and others to embed this functionality into their apps. Today, the startup announced it has secured $15 million in the form of a convertible note from Japanese financial firm SBI Group. The strategic investment, which brings the Y Combinator-backed startup's total raised to $120 million since its inception in 2015, will allow Alpaca to speed up its expansion in Asia, CEO of Alpaca Yoshi Yokokawa told TechCrunch. The startup's B2B2C model serves more than 5 million end-users via more than 100 corporation partners in 30 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand and India, Yokokawa said, adding that nearly 20% of its clients are based in Asia, primarily Southeast Asia. Alpaca currently has two clients in Japan -- SBI and Woodstock-- but expects a few more users from Japan after the strategic investment from SBI, which has more than $2.6 billion in assets under management in venture capital and private equity investment. "SBI Group has the biggest network amongst financial institutions in Japan and has been expanding to Southeast Asia recently," Yokokawa said. Thailand-based digital bank Dime and Singaporean investment app Syfe use Alpaca's brokerage platform to offer U.S. stock trading services to their end users, Yokokawa noted. On top of that, the outfit recently received a broker-dealer license from Japan's Financial Services Agency. The permit allows Alpaca to offer U.S. stock trading services to enterprises' end users in Japan. Alpaca plans to launch new products and services for the U.S. business, such as options, bonds, mutual bonds and individual retirement account accounts, Yokokawa said. Since its $50 million Series B in 2021, the company's revenue has increased by 17 times, and the number of investing apps on its platform has grown 15 times to around 150, Yokokawa said. He declined to provide the baseline of the revenue, which the company generates via a variety of methods, including transactions from trading fees, foreign exchange fees, SaaS recurring and more. The number of staff was reduced to 150 from 175 people last year to operate the company efficiently, Yokokawa told TechCrunch. Story continues When asked about its crypto API that Alpaca launched in October 2021, two months after its Series B round, its crypto business still does not produce significant revenue. Still, the company expects the crypto API would grow as the crypto market recovers, the CEO said. Alpaca's crypto API enables businesses and developers to trade crypto and stocks and build apps that offer crypto and stock investing services in one API. Alpaca has built a community for developers. The CEO said tens of thousands of monthly active developers can try out Alpaca's product for free, writing sample code to interact with its brokerage platform via API. Its previous backers include Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Unbound, Elefund, Positive Sum and Y Combinator. Note: The company corrected the figure of revenue increase and the growth in the number of investment apps on its platform for miscalculation in the seventh paragraph. Sayadaw U Ottamathara is well known for his meditation centers and recognized for helping the elderly, the impoverished, and people in need of housing or medical attention. These are the hallmarks that made him famous and highly praised. But then, he had a sudden fall from grace. The fall came after his meeting with U Tin Oo, an elder statesman of the National League for Democracy, where he said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should step aside from politics, and that would bring peace to the country. Condemnation was immediate and widespread. It sparked a fury against the monk that is likely to be a key part of his legacy. When you said that, everything is over. No matter how you try to explain, it is very difficult. Because of what you said the majority of followers consider you no longer a monk. Sayadaw Ashin Sarana, in conversation with U Ottamathara, August 2023 U Ottamatharas position on government is Buddhist-centric. He says that Buddhism in Myanmar is in serious peril and preserving this religious tradition and culture must be the countrys top priority. In his view, having government leaders who understand and promote Buddhism is imperative if this religious tradition is to be preserved. And those who make Buddhism central to their leadership will win. U Ottamathara says the military is not justified in taking over, that is clear. He went on to say its against Buddhist teachings: I am a monk I will not take what is not given to me. That is the rule for the monks and also the rule for the Buddhist. Paradoxically, he firmly asserts the military is beneficial for Buddhism. [The] military is maintaining Buddhism. They want Myanmar to be developed as a Buddhist country. [The] military takeoverreligion and culture is the reason why. This is a familiar military and Buddhist nationalist refrain and it has been used repeatedly for decades. The generals position themselves as Myanmars spiritual guardians of Buddhism because, they say, it is being threatened by Islam and other religions. Nationalist monks support the military by their public presence with the generals and their silence on the militarys atrocities. The military is a demonic force that uses Buddhism for political purposes to build power.U Mani Sara, a monk imprisoned after attending anti-military rallies. The New York Times, 2021 Monks are on both sides of the political spectrum; many support the military, and many are against it. Monks have consistently been alongside protesters and have been hunted, jailed, humiliated and killed for following their Buddhist teachings. Monks were also some of the most ardent backers of the militarys attempts at ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims. The military has controlled the country for generations and, according to U Ottamathara, they cannot be ignored. Its inconceivable to him that the militarys concerns would not be part of any path towards peace. U Ottamatharas empathy for the military and displeasure with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is clear. There is an underlying disdain when he talks about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her Western influence. For Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, she grew up in the West; [she] is Buddhist, but she may not understand Buddhist culture very well. She may not emphasize traditional Buddhism. Religious nationalism is evident in the attention he gives to the Wests influence. When she became leader [her ideas were] based on the West, not on the East. If they take help from the West there will be [an] overwhelming of Christians. It used to happen like this. U Ottamathara believes the Wests influence precludes her from a leadership role where strengthening Buddhism is Myanmars most important issue. He acknowledges that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been a force for good: he credits her for the countrys economic growth, admits that she increased personal freedom, the free press thrived, and education improved. He also recognizes her National League for Democracy received an overwhelming majority of votes in the 2020 election. But apparently her accomplishments and overwhelming support by the people are not enough for her to lead the country. Instead, since she is well known and respected, leaving politics and becoming a peacemaker is the best for everyone. But not addressed is why she cant both lead the country and bring peace to Myanmar. In U Ottamatharas self-appointed role as negotiator, he is not shy about saying he is the only one capable of bridging the political gap between the military and the opposition. In U Ottamatharas teachings (The Complete Thabarwa, June 2018), he expressed similar beliefs: We are different but we have the same understanding. This is why we can work together; we will not fight together. Having the same right understanding or right view is the most important. Although that sounds like a good teaching, it is unrealistic for Myanmar today. The militarys and the oppositions same right understanding is diametrically opposed. Burmese groups demonstrated against U Ottamathara when he visited the San Francisco Bay Area in July, 2023. They expressed their outrage loud and clear. Signs read: Down with Ottama Tharya Supporter of Dictator Killer Min Aung Hlaing! Get Out! Get Out!! Ottama Tharya! Right Hand of Killer Min Aung Hlaing STOP Killing our People!! STOP killing our children! GET OUT, Criminal Fake Monk!!! Asked about his understanding of the protesters anger, U Ottamathara believes: They see from the side of the West, the Westerner. In the West, in a developed country, the government and the people emphasize human rights. Everyone is equal. But not in the East; [there is a] different view. During a contentious phone call with one of the protesters, he expressed interest in meeting with their groups leaders. The group declined the meeting unless he publicly denounced Min Aung Hlaing. The protester asked if he cares about the Burmese people. The reply was of course, and Min Aung Hlaing is one of the people. There are many monks who vehemently disagree with U Ottamatharas approach. As a scholar from Buddha University put it: If he truly has better wishes for the country and if he is actually following the code of conducts and the rules and regulations of Buddhist monks, he should preach [to] the military.Sayadaw Min Thonnya U Ottamathara started his attempts at brokering peace over two years ago, not long after, as he describes it, the great political change. To date, no progress is evident in his mediation strategies. Ottamathara readily says the militarys killings are wrong. That is a mild rebuke of a military that is responsible for killing over 4,100 people and has no intention of stopping their carnage. Because of this, rather than bridging political gaps, he formed a wedge between himself and the wider Burmese communities in Myanmar and around the world. Gary Rocchio is a freelance photojournalist. Three of Myanmars armed groups say they will not hold talks with the regime until violence against civilians ends. The Karen National Union (KNU), Chin National Front (CNF) and All Burma Students Democratic Front, which all signed the 2015 National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), said they will snub Sundays ceremony in Naypyitaw to mark eight years since the deal was agreed. The three organizations, who are fighting the regime alongside resistance groups, said the 2021 coup destroyed the basic principles and objectives of the NCA and nullified the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. A joint statement said the juntas repeated attacks on civilians violated international humanitarian law. This reinforces our position that the NCA is no longer valid and demonstrates that the military has abandoned peaceful means to resolve problems, it said. In establishing a federal democratic union and sustainable peace, the three groups said they had laid out common objects and positions, including toppling the regime and ending military involvement in politics. They agreed to reform and reorganize the military fully under civilian control, draft a new constitution based on federalism and democracy and seek justice for the victims of the conflict. The revolutionary groups said talks would not be held without the regime ending violence against civilians and accepting the common objectives. We demand a system change, not a change within the regime. Changing one military regime to another or even an authoritarian civilian regime is not acceptable, said the armed groups. A new constitution and electoral system will create future governments based on a nation-unity model with a transitional authority agreed by all stakeholders, the statement said. It called on the public, the other NCA signatories and the international community to boycott the regimes activities. Since the 2021 coup, the KNU has provided military training to several thousand anti-regime activists who have joined resistance groups. It is fighting with its allies in Karen and Mon states, Bago and Tanintharyi regions and the capital, Naypyitaw. The CNFs armed allies are fighting the regime along with the Chinland Defense Forces in Chin State and neighboring Sagaing and Magwe regions. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing is planning to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in Naypyitaw on Sunday, even though some of the signatories have been fighting the Myanmar military since the 2021 coup, saying the accord is no longer valid. To his embarrassment, three signatoriesthe Karen National Union, Chin National Front and All Burma Students Democratic Frontsaid on Thursday that any attempt by the regime to base the peace process on the NCA would just deepen the countrys crisis and prolong armed conflict as the military takeover violated the peace agreements principles and aims. What is the NCA and who signed it? The NCA was signed on Oct. 15, 2015 between the Myanmar military, the nominally civilian government of President Thein Sein and eight ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). They are: Quitting the NCA Since the 2021 takeover, the KNU, CNF and ABSDF have denounced the coup and resumed fighting the military, saying the NCA was rendered void by the putsch. They have been joined in fighting the regime by non-signatories including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP). All are not only fighting against the regime, but also arming and providing military training for anti-regime forces known as Peoples Defense Forces. Who is still engaging with the regimes peace talks? Faced with growing pressure and diplomatic isolation, Min Aung Hlaing invited EAOs, including non-signatories, to peace talks in April 2022 in an attempt to revive the NCA. The KNU, CNF and ABSDF rejected the invitation, saying the talks were not genuine efforts at seeking peace. The remaining signatories joined the talks. Three NCA non-signatoriesthe United Wa State Army (UWSA), National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) and Shan State Progress Party (SSPP)also joined the talks. Despite the KNUs rejection of the NCA, former KNU chairman Saw Mutu Say Poe, who led the KNU when it signed the NCA in 2015, recently met with Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw for what the regime described as peace talks. The KNU has distanced itself from the meeting and reaffirmed its commitment to Myanmars revolution. Observers said those EAOs that have agreed to participate in peace talks with the regime all have their own reasons for doing so. Most need to avoid conflict with the Myanmar military either to protect or promote their interests, while a few are small in size and poorly armed. RCSS leader Yawd Serk even said the PDFs would become armed robbers if not properly controlled by the NUG. Min Aung Hlaing has conferred honorary Wunna Kyawhtin titles on the leaders of the seven NCA signatories that are still engaging in peace talks with his regime. Some were conferred posthumously. At least 15 Myanmar junta forces as well as five resistance fighters and two civilians were killed in the last four days as Peoples Defense Force groups (PDFs) continued to attack regime targets in Magwe, Sagaing and Bago regions. The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Four resistance fighters killed in junta raid in Magwe Four resistance fighters from Tartary Revolution Force (TRF) were killed while defending their camp from a junta raid in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Tuesday, the group said. The remaining resistance members including female comrades escaped the raid. The resistance group Young Force said it also lost three drones when the junta deployed anti-drone jammers. The drones were lost while the group was trying to drop bombs on regime forces in order to help the trapped resistance fighters. Regime forces bombed in Magwe Six regime forces were seriously injured in Yesagyo Town, Magwe Region on Tuesday when Yesagyo PDF used a cluster of 12 land mines to ambush a military unit of 30 troops leaving Yesagyo Police Station, the PDF group said. Regime forces were bombed near the entrance of the town. After being bombed, the junta troops used civilian vehicles to evacuate the injured soldiers. The PDF group urged people to stay away from regime forces, police stations and militia camps. Police station raided in Sagaing At least seven regime forces were killed in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday evening when combined resistance groups attempted to occupy a police station housing 40 regime forces in Hla Taw Village, said Zero Guerrilla Force, which coordinated the attack. However, due to malfunctions in their heavy weapons caused by the heavy rain, the combined groups were unable to occupy the station. A resistance fighter was also killed in the shootout. After the resistance raid, the regime forces burned down houses nearby. On that night, Buffalo Soldiers Freedom Force (BSFF) and other PDF groups used land mines and firearms to ambush three military vehicles of reinforcements from a military base in Shwebo town while it was traveling to the Hla Taw police station during the raid by resistance groups. The next day, the resistance groups again used mines to ambush the three vehicles on the Shwebo-Mandalay Road while the vehicles were returning from the police station with injured soldiers. Two regime forces were killed and some injured in the two days of land mine attacks, said BSFF. Military unit ambushed in Sagaing Royal Tiger Guerrilla Force said it and five other resistance groups repeatedly ambushed a military unit of 100 troops traveling to Khin-U from Ye-U Township in Sagaing Region on Tuesday, killing at least three regime forces. After sustaining casualties, the junta troops killed two civilians near Kantharyar Village in Khin-U, the resistance groups said. Police station bombed again by resistance drones in Sagaing Many regime forces are believed to have been killed or injured in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday night when six resistance groups used two drones to drop six bombs on regime targets at Kyauk Yit Police Station, said Civilian Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM), which coordinated the attack. Regime bases bombed in Sagaings Budalin Ba Thau Kyawal Column claimed to have killed two regime forces and injured three others as it and three other resistance groups jointly used makeshift remote-controlled drones to drop bombs on regime forces stationed at the township General Administrative Department office, fire station and police station in the town of Budalin, Sagaing Region on Monday. Pro-junta militia leader killed in Bago Resistance group Paungde PDF Battalion 3601 said its members shot dead pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia leader Soe Aung in Thegon Town, Bago Region on Thursday morning. The victim was recruiting militia members for the regime, the group said. The World Language Department at Moravia High School will host its fourth annual Hispanic Heritage Festival from 8:10 to 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, in front of the school, 68 S. Main St., Moravia. Festivities will include art, music, karaoke, dancing, a photo booth, tacos by Phat Kat Foods, student country and wax museum presentations and the student travel agency. Spanish teacher Bethany Nelson Mendoza, who helps organize the festival, told The Citizen at last year's that since beginning it has expanded to involve the community. "Not everyone takes Spanish in our high school, right? We wanted to give our students the opportunity to inform their peers and their younger students about what they were learning in class," she said. For more information, visit moraviaschool.org. 'Recognized and celebrated': Students learn at Hispanic heritage month event in Moravia MORAVIA Students were able to go to over 20 Spanish-speaking countries Friday, all without leaving the grounds of Moravia High School. Friday, Oct 13th, 2023 (8:21 am) - Score 1,968 Broadband ISP Zzoomm has reported that take-up of their multi-gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in one of their first locations to go live during early 2020, the Oxfordshire (England) town of Henley-on-Thames, has now hit 1 in 3 premises (roughly 33%) and growing. The operator, which is being fuelled by an equity investment of 100m from Oaktree Capital (here) and a 100m debt facility via an international banking consortium (here), has based on the last update a few months ago so far covered 150,000 UK premises (Ready for Service) across 29 locations (an extra 50,000 since February 2023) and theyre also home to over 12,000 customers (up from 3,700 in 2022). NOTE: Zzoomm has largely focused their rollout on smaller towns in parts Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Herefordshire, North Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire, West Yorkshire and Cheshire. As part of that, Henley-on-Thames was the providers very first build and the local project aimed to cover 6,800 premises in the town. The network in the town first began to go live at the start of 2020 and the build itself was completed by the end of December 2020, which means that homes and businesses have had around three years to adapt. In that sense its good to see Zzoomm achieving a decent take-up of around 1 in 3 premises (they havent given an exact figure), although on the flip side Henley-on-Thames is somewhat of a rarity in todays market as the operator doesnt appear to have any significant gigabit-capable rivals in the local market. Clearly pulling customers away from Openreachs more established, albeit far slower, ADSL2+ and FTTC (VDSL2) based services sold via hundreds of ISPs is still a tough job. Matthew Hare, Zzoomms CEO, said: The construction of our Full Fibre network in Henley-on-Thames was a watershed moment for local homes and businesses, because the old copper network in the area really held residents back. For the first time, homes and businesses in Henley had a choice of network. And what a choice: our Full Fibre infrastructure that is totally fit for the future that blows you away. Were delighted to have welcomed one third of all the homes and businesses as customers to Zzoomm in Henley, our very first Zzoomming town. The news follows shortly after the same provider announced that theyd achieved a strong take-up rate of 20% in the towns of Sandhurst and Crowthorne, which occurred only 7 months after finishing the build. Customers who take the residential service typically pay from 29.95 per month (currently discounted to 19.95) for an unlimited 150Mbps (symmetric speed) package on a 12-month term with an included router, which goes up to just 64.95 (currently discounted to 54.95) if you want their top 2Gbps tier. Meanwhile, Zzoomms original aspiration, which saw them aiming to reach 1 million premises across 85 UK towns with their full fibre network by the end of 2025, still looks to be in some doubt after the operator appeared to slow their build and cut jobs during the spring (here). 1371138342::cfb49c8e-2422-11e5-99a3-d7f5c6e8b241 A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. A bill to establish the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area has been introduced in the House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney sponsored the legislation that would designate a 14-county area, including Cayuga, as a national heritage area. The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Reps. Nick Langworthy and Joe Morelle, both of whom represent counties in the Finger Lakes region. "Spanning from Cayuga County to Livingston County, the Finger Lakes region boasts a wealth of cultural heritage and natural beauty, making it a fitting candidate for designation as a national heritage area," Tenney, R-Canandaigua, said. "Securing this designation for the Finger Lakes will promote economic growth through tourism all while ensuring that the region's rich history and stories are preserved for future generations to come." The bill is part of a years-long process to designate the Finger Lakes region as a national heritage area. In 2015, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand introduced a bill that would require the National Park Service to study making the Finger Lakes region a national heritage area. It was included in a natural resources bill that was signed into law in 2019. The study was released in July and found the region meets the criteria for national heritage area status. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., visited Seneca County in August and announced she would introduce a bill to establish the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area. "This designation would help protect and conserve the region's cultural, historic and natural resources and it would help boost tourism while bringing more funding in support for heritage, conservation and economic development," Gillibrand said. A national heritage area is not a unit of the National Park Service. The agency describes national heritage areas as "places where historic, cultural and natural resources combine to form cohesive, nationally important landscapes." There are 62 national heritage areas in the U.S., including four in New York Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, Maurice D. Hinchey Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area and Niagara Falls. European Union leader Charles Michel has warned in The AP Interview that the Israel-Hamas war could create a surge in refugees heading for Europe, raising the risk of spurring on anti-migrant forces, deepening divisions and inflaming tensions between supporters of Israel and the Palestinians After federal prosecutors filed new charges against Republican U.S. Rep. George Santos, other members of the New York GOP delegation have introduced a resolution to expel the Long Island congressman from the House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, a Long Island Republican, is leading the effort to remove Santos from the House. He announced on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he would be introducing the resolution along with other New York Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams. "George Santos' many deceptions coupled with the ever-expanding legal case against him further strengthen my long-held belief that he is unfit to serve in Congress," D'Esposito said in a statement. The indictment against Santos includes allegations that he stole the identities of campaign donors and used their credit card information to make fraudulent charges. He is already facing charges related to allegations that he received unemployment benefits while having a job and for making false statements to the House of Representatives. The criminal charges are in addition to lies Santos has told about his background, from details about his family to where he was educated. Santos denies any wrongdoing and has said he will not agree to a plea deal. Regarding his political future, he says he will run for reelection in 2024. When the charges against Santos first emerged this year, House Republican leaders resisted calls to expel the GOP congressman. Democrats attempted to bring an expulsion resolution to the floor, but the Republican majority voted to refer it to the House Ethics Committee. Although their leadership took a different stance, several New York Republicans including Williams called for Santos to resign. On X, Williams recalled telling CNN's Anderson Cooper that "we would see George Santos in front of a judge in handcuffs." "That prediction and belief is becoming more clear every day," he added. "It's time for Santos to go." If there is a floor vote to expel Santos, it would likely pass. A simple majority is needed to remove a member from office. Between Democrats and the number of New York Republicans supporting the resolution, there are enough votes to oust the embattled congressman. Only five members of the House of Representatives have been expelled since its formation in 1789. The last member of Congress to be expelled was U.S. Rep. James Traficant, who was convicted of bribery and other financial crimes, in 2002. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On October 11, Geely Holding and DRB-HICOM Group inked a primary cooperation framework agreement for the development of the Automotive High-Tech Valley (AHTV) in Tanjong Malim, Malaysia. Signing ceremony; photo credit: Geely Holding This collaboration aims to support the growth of the AHTV's new energy innovation industry and promote the transformation and upgrading of Malaysia's automotive industry towards greater intelligence and sustainability. In a global automotive landscape witnessing a surge in electrification and smart technologies, Malaysia is vigorously promoting the transformation and upgrading of its automotive industry, focusing on technological innovation and enhancing synergy within the industry supply chain. The AHTV serves as a center for innovative new energy vehicles in Malaysia. Geely Holding, working alongside DRB-HICOM, will contribute to the development of the AHTV by focusing on automotive R&D, manufacturing, testing, and component manufacturing, bolstering talent development across the entire industrial chain. The goal is to establish the AHTV as a hub for new energy and technology research and manufacturing in the ASEAN region. As part of the AHTV initiative, Geely Holding's aerospace subsidiary, Geespace and Malaysia's telecommunications company, Altel, have signed a framework cooperation agreement to jointly advance high-tech research and system applications, accelerating the implementation of solutions in smart ports and other areas. In 2017, Geely Holding acquired a stake in Proton Cars, a subsidiary of DRB-HICOM in Malaysia, taking charge of Proton's comprehensive management and providing continuous support in products, technology, talent, and management, contributing to enhancing Proton's local innovation and component system development capabilities. With the collective efforts of the Sino-Malaysian team, Proton's sales have grown for four consecutive years, from 64,744 units in 2018 to 141,432 units in 2022, marking a 118% increase in sales and transforming losses into profits. By the end of 2022, Proton's revenue tripled, securing the second-highest sales and market share in the Malaysian market for four consecutive years, and ranking first in overseas exports. The brand's competitiveness has significantly improved, placing it on a path of stable and rapid development. Beijing (Gasgoo)- DiDi Autonomous Driving, the autonomous driving technology arm of Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi, on October 12 announced a significant investment from GAC Group. DiDi's autonomous vehicle in Guangzhou; photo credit: DiDi GAC Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiary GAC Capital and Guangzhou Development District Investment Group, will jointly establish a special fund with equal contributions, investing up to $149 million in DiDi Autonomous Driving. DiDi Autonomous Driving is committed to intensifying its investment in technological R&D, expediting product applications, fostering open collaborations in the industry chain, and constructing an open and sustainable industrial ecosystem. This initiative is aimed at accelerating the large-scale and commercial use of autonomous driving technology. CTO of DiDi Chuxing and CEO of DiDi Autonomous Driving, Zhang Bo, expressed his enthusiasm about the strategic collaboration with GAC Group, highlighting the latters leadership in the automotive industry and prominence in the new energy vehicle sector. He acknowledged GAC Group's substantial expertise across the entire industry chain, emphasizing the potential for enhancing DiDi Autonomous Driving's capability to create an open and sustainable shared mobility network. This network aims to provide users with safe, convenient, and cost-effective autonomous mobility services. Yu Jun, Vice President of GAC Group and Chairman of GAC Capital, emphasized GAC Group's pioneering role in the development of Chinas automobile industry's "New Four Modernizations" strategy. The automakers dedication to both independent R&D and cooperative ventures place it at the forefront of the industry in smart manufacturing and autonomous driving. Acknowledging DiDi's leadership, particularly in autonomous driving technology and scenario data systems, GAC Group expressed full confidence in DiDi Autonomous Driving's future development. Reddit 22 Email 340 Shares By Juan Cole Reprint edn. As part of my original posting, I mirrored a map of modern Palestinian history that has the virtue of showing graphically what has happened to the Palestinians politically and territorially in the past century. Andrew Sullivan then mirrored the map from my site, which set off a lot of thunder and noise among anti-Palestinian writers like Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic, but shed very little light. (PS, the map as a hard copy mapcard is available from Sabeel.) The map is useful and accurate. It begins by showing the British Mandate of Palestine as of the mid-1920s. The British conquered the Ottoman districts that came to be the Mandate during World War I (the Ottoman sultan threw in with Austria and Germany against Britain, France and Russia, mainly out of fear of Russia). But because of the rise of the League of Nations and the influence of President Woodrow Wilsons ideas about self-determination, Britain and France could not decently simply make their new, previously Ottoman territories into mere colonies. The League of Nations awarded them Mandates. Britain got Palestine, France got Syria (which it made into Syria and Lebanon), Britain got Iraq. The League of Nations Covenant spelled out what a Class A Mandate (i.e. territory that had been Ottoman) was: Article 22. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory [i.e., a Western power] until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. That is, the purpose of the later British Mandate of Palestine, of the French Mandate of Syria, of the British Mandate of Iraq, was to render administrative advice and assistance to these peoples in preparation for their becoming independent states, an achievement that they were recognized as not far from attaining. The Covenant was written before the actual Mandates were established, but Palestine was a Class A Mandate and so the language of the Covenant was applicable to it. The territory that formed the British Mandate of Iraq was the same territory that became independent Iraq, and the same could have been expected of the British Mandate of Palestine. (Even class B Mandates like Togo have become nation-states, but the poor Palestinians are just stateless prisoners in colonial cantons). The first map thus shows what the League of Nations imagined would become the state of Palestine. The economist published an odd assertion that the Negev Desert was empty and should not have been shown in the first map. But it wasnt and isnt empty; Palestinian Bedouin live there, and they and the desert were recognized by the League of Nations as belonging to the Mandate of Palestine, a state-in-training. The Mandate of Palestine also had a charge to allow for the establishment of a homeland in Palestine for Jews (because of the 1917 Balfour Declaration), but nobody among League of Nations officialdom at that time imagined it would be a whole and competing territorial state. There was no prospect of more than a few tens of thousands of Jews settling in Palestine, as of the mid-1920s. (They are shown in white on the first map, refuting those who mysteriously complained that the maps alternated between showing sovereignty and showing population). As late as the 1939 British White Paper, British officials imagined that the Mandate would emerge as an independent Palestinian state within 10 years. In 1851, there had been 327,000 Palestinians (yes, the word Filistin was current then) and other non-Jews, and only 13,000 Jews. In 1925, after decades of determined Jewish immigration, there were a little over 100,000 Jews, and there were 765,000 mostly Palestinian non-Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. For historical demography of this area, see Justin McCarthys painstaking calculations; it is not true, as sometimes is claimed, that we cannot know anything about population figures in this region. See also his journal article, reprinted at this site. The Palestinian population grew because of rapid population growth, not in-migration, which was minor. The common allegation that Jerusalem had a Jewish majority at some point in the 19th century is meaningless. Jerusalem was a small town in 1851, and many pious or indigent elderly Jews from Eastern Europe and elsewhere retired there because of charities that would support them. In 1851, Jews were only about 4% of the population of the territory that became the British Mandate of Palestine some 70 years later. And, there had been few adherents of Judaism, just a few thousand, from the time most Jews in Palestine adopted Christianity and Islam in the first millennium CE all the way until the 20th century. In the British Mandate of Palestine, the district of Jerusalem was largely Palestinian. The rise of the Nazis in the 1930s impelled massive Jewish emigration to Palestine, so by 1940 there were over 400,000 Jews there amid over a million Palestinians. The second map shows the United Nations partition plan of 1947, which awarded Jews (who only then owned about 6% of Palestinian land) a substantial state alongside a much reduced Palestine. Although apologists for the Zionist movement say that the Zionists accepted this partition plan and the Arabs rejected it, that is not entirely true. Zionist leader David Ben Gurion noted in his diary when Israel was established that when the US had been formed, no document set out its territorial extent, implying that the same was true of Israel. We know that Ben Gurion was an Israeli expansionist who fully intended to annex more land to Israel, and by 1956 he attempted to add the Sinai and would have liked southern Lebanon. So the Zionist acceptance of the UN partition plan did not mean very much beyond a happiness that their initial starting point was much better than their actual land ownership had given them any right to expect. The third map shows the status quo after the Israeli-Palestinian civil war of 1947-1948. It is not true that the entire Arab League attacked the Jewish community in Palestine or later Israel on behalf of the Palestinians. As Avi Shlaim has shown, Jordan had made an understanding with the Zionist leadership that it would grab the West Bank, and its troops did not mount a campaign in the territory awarded to Israel by the UN. Egypt grabbed Gaza and then tried to grab the Negev Desert, with a few thousand badly trained and equipped troops, but was defeated by the nascent Israeli army. Few other Arab states sent any significant number of troops. The total number of troops on the Arab side actually on the ground was about equal to those of the Zionist forces, and the Zionists had more esprit de corps and better weaponry. [The nascent Israeli military deliberately pursued a policy of ethnically cleansing non-combatant Palestinians from Israeli-held territory, expelling about 720,000 of them in 1947-48, then locking them outside, bereft of their homes and farms and penniless. ] The final map shows the situation today, which springs from the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank in 1967 and then the decision of the Israelis to colonize the West Bank intensively (a process that is illegal in the law of war concerning occupied populations). There is nothing inaccurate about the maps at all, historically. Goldberg maintained that the Palestinians original sin was rejecting the 1947 UN partition plan. But since Ben Gurion and other expansionists went on to grab more territory later in history, it is not clear that the Palestinians could have avoided being occupied even if they had given away willingly so much of their country in 1947. The first original sin was the contradictory and feckless pledge by the British to sponsor Jewish immigration into their Mandate in Palestine, which they wickedly and fantastically promised would never inconvenience the Palestinians in any way. It was the same kind of original sin as the French policy of sponsoring a million colons in French Algeria, or the French attempt to create a Christian-dominated Lebanon where the Christians would be privileged by French policy. The second original sin was the refusal of the United States to allow Jews to immigrate in the 1930s and early 1940s, which forced them to go to Palestine to escape the monstrous, mass-murdering Nazis. The map attracted so much ire and controversy not because it is inaccurate but because it clearly shows what has been done to the Palestinians, which the League of Nations had recognized as not far from achieving statehood in its Covenant. Their statehood and their territory has been taken from them, and they have been left stateless, without citizenship and therefore without basic civil and human rights. The map makes it easy to see this process. The map had to be stigmatized and made taboo. But even if that marginalization of an image could be accomplished, the squalid reality of Palestinian statelessness would remain, and the children of Gaza would still be being malnourished by the deliberate Israeli policy of blockading civilians. The map just points to a powerful reality; banishing the map does not change that reality. Goldberg, according to Spencer Ackerman, says that he will stop replying to Andrew Sullivan, for which Ackerman is grateful, since, he implies, Goldberg is a propagandistic hack who loves to promote wars on flimsy pretenses. Matthew Yglesias also has some fun at Goldbergs expense. [Otherwise, like most other major US institutions, our press is corrupt on this issue.] People like Goldberg never tell us what they expect to happen to the Palestinians in the near and medium future. They dont seem to understand that the status quo is untenable. They are like militant ostriches, hiding their heads in the sand while lashing out with their hind talons at anyone who stares clear-eyed at the problem, characterizing us as bigots. As if that old calumny has any purchase for anyone who knows something serious about the actual views of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu or Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, more bigoted persons than whom would be difficult to find. Indeed, some of Israels current problems [2010] with Brazil come out of Liebermans visit there last summer; I was in Rio then and remember the distaste with which the multi-cultural, multi-racial Brazilians viewed Lieberman, whom some openly called a racist. Reddit Email 92 Shares By Maha Nassar, University of Arizona | (The Conversation) The focus on conflict in the Middle East has again returned to the Gaza Strip, with Israels defense minister ordering a complete siege of the Palestinian enclave. The military operation, which involves extensive bombing of residences, follows a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, by Hamas militants who infiltrated Israel from Gaza and killed more than 900 Israelis. In reprisal airstrikes, the Israel military has killed over 800 Gazans. And that figure could escalate in the coming days. Meanwhile, an order to cut off all food, electricity and water to Gaza will only worsen the plight of residents in what has been called the worlds largest open-air prison. But how did Gaza become one of the most densely populated parts of the planet? And why is it the home to militant Palestinian action now? As a scholar of Palestinian history, I believe understanding the answers to those questions provides crucial historical context to the current violence. A brief history of Gaza The Gaza Strip is a narrow piece of land on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Roughly twice the size of Washington, D.C., it is wedged between Israel to its north and east and Egypt to its south. An ancient trade and sea port, Gaza has long been part of the geographic region known as Palestine. By the early 20th century, it was mainly inhabited by Muslim and Christian Arabs who lived under Ottoman rule. When Britain took control of Palestine following World War I, intellectuals in Gaza joined the emergent Palestinian national movement. During the 1948 war that established the state of Israel, the Israeli military bombed 29 villages in southern Palestine, leading tens of thousands of villagers to flee to the Gaza Strip, under the control of the Egyptian army that were deployed after Israel declared independence. Most of them and their descendants remain there today. Photo of Gaza by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash. File, Aug. 2023. Following the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the Gaza Strip came under Israeli military occupation. The occupation has resulted in systematic human rights violations, according to rights group Amnesty International, including forcing people off their land, destroying homes and crushing even nonviolent forms of political dissent. Palestinians staged two major uprisings, in 1987-1991 and in 2000-2005, hoping to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state. Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist militant group centered in Gaza, was founded in 1988 to fight against the Israeli occupation. Hamas and other militant groups launched repeated attacks on Israeli targets in Gaza, leading to Israels unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. In 2006, Palestinian legislative elections were held. Hamas beat its secular rival, Fatah, which had been widely accused of corruption. Elections havent been held in Gaza since 2006, but polling from March 2023 found that 45% of Gazans would back Hamas should there be a vote, ahead of Fatah at 32%. After a brief conflict between Hamas and Fatah militants in May 2007, Hamas took complete control of the Gaza Strip. Since then, Gaza has been under the administrative control of Hamas, even though it is still considered to be under Israeli occupation by the United Nations, the U.S. State Department and other international bodies. Who are the Palestinians of Gaza? The more than 2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are part of the 14 million-strong global Palestinian community. About one third of Gazas inhabitants trace their familys roots to land inside the Gaza Strip. The remaining two-thirds are refugees from the 1948 war and their descendants, many of whom hail from towns and villages surrounding Gaza. The Palestinians of Gaza trend young: nearly half the population is under 18. The enclave is also very poor, with a poverty rate that stands at 53%. Despite this grim economic picture, education levels are quite high. Over 95% of Gazan children ages 6-12 are in school. The majority of Palestinian students in Gaza graduate from high school, and 57% of students at the prestigious Islamic University of Gaza are female. But because of the circumstances of their surroundings, young Palestinians in Gaza find it difficult to live fulfilling lives. For graduates between the ages of 19 and 29, the unemployment rate stands at 70%. And a World Bank survey earlier this year found 71% of Gazans show signs of depression and high levels of PTSD. There are several factors that contribute to these conditions. A major factor is the crippling, 16-year blockade that Israel and Egypt with U.S. support have imposed on Gaza. Years of blockade Shortly after the 2006 elections, the Bush administration tried to force Hamas from power and bring in a rival leader from the Fatah party who was considered friendlier to Israel and the U.S. Hamas preempted the coup and took full control of Gaza in May 2007. In response, Israel and Egypt with U.S. and European support closed the border crossings into and out of the Gaza Strip and imposed a land, air and sea blockade. The blockade, which is still in effect, limits the import of food, fuel and construction material; limits how far Gazas fishermen can go out to sea; bans almost all exports; and imposes strict limitations on the movement of people into and out of Gaza. In 2023, Israel has allowed only around 50,000 people a month to exit Gaza, according to U.N. figures. The years of closure have devastated the lives of Palestinians in Gaza. Inhabitants there dont have enough water for drinking and sanitation. They face electricity cuts that run 12 to 18 hours each day. Without adequate water and electricity, Gazas fragile health care system is on the brink of collapse, according to the medical rights group Medical Aid for Palestine. These restrictions hit the young and the weak of Gaza particularly hard. Israel routinely denies sick patients the permits they need to receive medical care outside of Gaza. Bright students with scholarships to study abroad often find that they are unable to leave. U.N. experts say this blockade is illegal under international law. They argue that the blockade amounts to a collective punishment of the Palestinians of Gaza, a violation of the Hague Convention and the Geneva Conventions that form the backbone of international law. No end to the suffering Israel says that the blockade on Gaza is necessary to secure the safety of its population and will be lifted when Hamas renounces violence, recognizes Israel and abides by previous agreements. But Hamas has consistently rejected this ultimatum. Instead, militant fighters stepped up the firing of homemade rockets and mortars into populated areas surrounding the Gaza Strip in 2008, seeking to pressure Israel to lift the blockade. They have sporadically attacked Israel in this way in the years since. Israel has launched four major military assaults on Gaza in 2008-09, 2012, 2014 and 2021 in efforts to destroy Hamas military capabilities. Those wars killed 4,000 Palestinians, more than half of whom were civilians, along with 106 people in Israel. During that time, the U.N. estimates that there has been more than $5 billion worth of damage to Gazas homes, agriculture, industry, electricity and water infrastructure. Each of those wars ended in a fragile cease-fire but no real resolution to the conflict. Israel seeks to deter Hamas from launching rockets. Hamas and other militant groups say that even when they have upheld previous cease-fires, Israel has continued to attack Palestinians and has refused to lift the blockade. Hamas has offered a long-term truce in exchange for Israel ending the blockade on Gaza. Israel has refused to accept the offer, sticking to its position that Hamas must first end violence and recognize Israel. In the months leading up to the latest escalation, conditions in Gaza have deteriorated even further. The International Monetary Fund reported in September that Gazas economic outlook remains dire. Conditions became more dire when Israel announced on Sept. 5, 2023, that it was halting all exports from a key Gaza border crossing. Without an end in sight to the suffering caused by the blockade, it appears that Hamas has decided to upend the status quo in a surprise attack on Israelis, including civilians. Israels reprisal airstrikes and its imposition of a complete siege on the strip have heaped even further suffering on ordinary Gazans. It is a tragic reminder that civilians bear the brunt of this conflict. Maha Nassar, Associate Professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, University of Arizona This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Reddit Email 20 Shares ( Tomdispatch.com) Various versions of the aphorism War is Gods way of teaching Americans geography have been making the rounds ever since the rise of U.S. imperialism in the late 1800s. The quip (which, despite legend, appears not to be attributable to Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, or any other famous person) has proven all too accurate when the war in question directly involves American troops. When, however, non-U.S. combatants and civilians suffer and die from conflicts relatively unrelated to Washingtons strategic interests, our media outlets tend to avert their eyes, aid agencies get stingy, and Americans learn no geography whatsoever. Oh, and given this countrys power and position on this planet, millions suffer the consequences of that neglect. Terror Days in Khartoum Lets start with Sudan. A civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Force (RSF) is now dragging into its seventh month with no end in sight. Since the conflict erupted, Washington has issued only a few token calls for the fighting there to end, while providing insufficient aid to desperate millions of Sudanese. The assistance that did go out has proven microscopic compared to the vast quantities of humanitarian, economic, and military aid our government has poured into similarly war-torn Ukraine. In the first five months of brutal fighting in Sudan, 5,000 civilian deaths and injuries to at least 12,000 more were reported and those were both considered significant underestimates. Meanwhile, more than a million people have fled that country, while a staggering 7.1 million have been displaced in their own land. According to the International Office of Migration, that represents the highest [number] of any internally displaced population in the world, including Syria, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Human Rights Watch reports that over 20 million people, 42% of Sudans population, face acute food insecurity and 6 million are just a step away from famine. Try to take that in for a moment and wonder, while youre at it, why youve heard so desperately little (or nothing at all!) about such an immense human tragedy. Worse yet, the Sudanese people are hardly the only ones being treated shabbily by Uncle Sam and other governments of the rich North while suffering deadly deprivation. Sudan is, in fact, at the center of a region stretching from the Middle East deep into Africa in which countries suffering some of the worlds worst humanitarian emergencies are largely being ignored by the Global North. Given the near vacuum of news on the Sudan conflict in our media, we contacted Hadeel Mohamed, an educator we know who fled Sudan for neighboring Egypt, but is still in frequent contact with her neighbors who stayed behind in the capital city, Khartoum. We asked her for an update on what people still living there were telling her they were enduring after six months of unending civil war. Every house in their neighborhood, shes heard, has been looted by combatants. In the process, her friends and neighbors say that theyve experienced terror days when their houses were being invaded or even re-invaded to see if theres anything left. When it starts to get dark outside, she told us, thats scariest, because you never know whos going to come in and attack. If female household members are there, what grim fates are they likely to suffer? And she adds, If you have males in the house, are they going to be abducted and whats going to happen to them? We asked whether atrocities were being committed by both the Sudanese Army and the RSF? Yeah, both sides, she responded. Listen, Im not validating any side, but when youre in war, you really dont know whos coming at you or whos a threat to you. So, everyone is seen as a threat. And that, she adds, leads the combatants to act violently toward the civilians whove stayed behind. Food is especially scarce in Khartoum, because travel in and out of the city is so dangerous for the usual suppliers and, as Hadeel points out, Most of the stores have been looted, but in certain areas, some bread and other food is available for a few hours per day per week. Theres no fixed schedule, though. Worse yet, wherever theres active fighting, electricity and water supplies are normally cut off. Some people can have electricity for weeks, while others will not have it for weeks. Some engineers have bravely remained in Khartoum trying to keep power and water supplies flowing, but its often a hopeless task. People are on such unstable ground, Hadeel concludes. They really dont know when their next food supplies are going to come in or when theyre going to be able to refill their water. They have to watch for opportunities to slip outside in relative safety to find something to keep them and their neighbors going. And what exactly has been Washingtons response to this ongoing horror? Well, the State Department issued a toothless admonishment that the army and RSF must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, including obligations related to the protection of civilians. And that was about it, other than ineffective sanctions applied to the leader of the RSF. Meanwhile, international efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting have collapsed, and humanitarian aid efforts have been hopelessly bogged down. Anyway, who has time for Sudan when arming and backing the Ukrainians has the attention of everyone who matters in the United States? Severe, Extreme, or Catastrophic Conditions Mind you, that paucity of interest is anything but unique to the crisis in Sudan. For example, U.N. World Food Program (WFP) Director Cindy McCain recently told ABCs This Week that there isnt enough food-assistance money for desperate Afghanistan, filled with starving people, to even get through October. In addition, the WFP has had to cut food aid to other countries in desperate need, including Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Jordan, Palestine, South Sudan, Somalia, and Syria. As for explaining that shortfall, McCain was blunt, blaming the rush of rich nations of the Global North to support Ukraine which, she says, has sucked the oxygen out of the room. Typically, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that its famine-prevention program for war-ravaged Yemen is now receiving just 30% of the funds it needs, putting millions of Yemenis at risk. OCHA points to the peril facing Fatima, a 60-year-old woman living in the village of Al-Juranah. The program supplies her family with wheat, peas, and oil, but delivery is sporadic, a reality about which Fatima is all too matter-of-fact. We receive a sack of wheat, she says, and sometimes we get only half a sack. They also give us roasted peas and oil. If this support stops, we will starve to death. And sadly enough, that support is now anything but guaranteed. Two years after a ceasefire in that brutal civil war fed by Saudi Arabia (with U.S. support), a conflict that received only the scantiest media coverage in this country, more than half of Yemenis 17 million people are food insecure. U.N. forecasters predict that without massive intervention, a quarter of those people will experience acute food insecurity by years end, with three-quarters of them reaching crisis levels of hunger. Such massive intervention is decidedly not in the cards, however, and the continuing neglect is having horrific consequences. National Public Radios Fatma Tanis did, in fact, report on this from a Yemeni hospital in August: We head next to the intensive care unit for newborns, often born with complications because of malnutrition. As we enter, a nurse pulls a sheet over a baby who just died. The parents arent here. Often, families use all their resources to bring their child to the hospital but cant afford to return again. So the hospital has to take care of burials too, without them. The people of Syria are similarly striving to recover from the civil war that erupted in 2011 and was finally put on hold with a 2020 ceasefire, but only after a full decade of ferocious warfare and terrible suffering. Like the Sudanese and Yemenis, they remain largely unnoticed and uncovered these days in the American media. In addition to extreme water shortages, a catastrophic 55% of Syrians are officially in the crisis phase of acute food insecurity. In late 2022, OCHA reported that severe, extreme, or catastrophic conditions were affecting 69% yes, you read that right! of the countrys population. Furthermore, Basic services and other critical infrastructure are on the brink of collapse Over 58 percent of households interviewed reported accessing only between three to eight hours of electricity per day, while almost seven million people only had access to their primary water source between two and seven days per month in June. Is the world paying attention? In one respect, Syria is more fortunate than Sudan or Yemen, enjoying its very own annual conference of donor nations. At this Junes conference, hosted by the European Union, donors pledged an increase in total aid, but the amount still fell $800 million short of what the U.N. was seeking for that country. Worse yet, just before the conference kicked off, the World Food Program announced that it would cut food aid to almost half of Syrias 5.5 million current recipients just when theyre most in need. The Democratic Republic of Congo, another country in deep distress, finds itself in the global spotlight, but not for the suffering its people are experiencing. Its huge deposits of cobalt, copper, and other mineral elements essential to future renewable-energy economies have finally brought it some attention. However, the Global North, transfixed by those priceless minerals, has remained remarkably blind to the wave of human misery now sweeping the Congo. Last month, Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, just back from a trip there, told Democracy Now, Its the worst hunger catastrophe on Earth. Nowhere else in the world is there more than 25 million people experiencing violence, hunger, disease, neglect. And nowhere in the world is there such a small international response to help, to aid, to end all of this suffering. As in Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, hunger and war have gone hand-in-hand in the Congo. Today, Egelend said, an almost unbelievable 150 or so armed groups vie for power in the cobalt-rich eastern part of the country. In the early 2000s, cobalt was valued for its role in mobile phones and laptops. The stakes are far higher now, with vastly larger quantities required to produce the lithium-ion batteries essential to the development of sprawling new power grids and a vast global fleet of electric vehicles. Collateral damage radiating from the Congos ongoing violence includes a hunger crisis, an epidemic of sexual assault by combatants on tens of thousands of civilian women, and so much more. The U.N. sought $2.3 billion in humanitarian assistance for the Congo in 2023. It has, however, only received a measly one-third of that sum, enough to help just one of every 18 people now in desperate need. On Democracy Now!, Egeland put his finger on the terrible calculations of global economics and diplomacy: Congo is not ignored by those who want to extract the riches of that place. It is ignored by the rest of the world As humanity, were really, really failing Congo now, because its not Ukraine, its not the Middle East. As a refugee from Sudan, Hadeel Mohamed worries every day about these kinds of terrible calculations being made in the North. As she puts it, This war has really opened our eyes to a lot of things. Although we saw the news of whats happening in Yemen and Syria, and all these countries where wars erupted, we never really understood the depth of it. A worry of ours is that whats happening to Syrian refugees is going to happen to Sudanese refugees where your prospects are not going to mean anything where youre limited in your work transactions, youre limited in your educational abilities. Because organizations like the U.N. and the International Red Cross were activated quite late in Sudan, she points out, some who fled the country, especially youth, started forming groups to help people cross borders to get out, to find jobs, and to raise funds for food and water aid for those still in Sudan. Hadeel herself is involved in such efforts. But progress is a bit slow, because were still trying to rebuild our own lives in parallel. If the war is not contained in Khartoum, she adds, the chances of it spreading are very high and weve seen a lot of spreading recently, whether its in Port Sudan or Madani or surrounding cities. Violence has been raging for months in the Darfur region of western Sudan as well. The conflict could also be significantly prolonged by the desire of both sides to control northeastern Sudans vast gold deposits, which play a role analogous to that of cobalt in the Congo. With no relief in sight, says Hadeel, the people of Khartoum, understand that lacking true humanitarian aid, you really come back to more of community-based aid. With our limited resources, with our limited abilities, we still find people rising up to take care of each other. Nevertheless, for refugees, there are only two possible outcomes here: either you go back and fight for your country and potentially die or you go on living and establishing yourself outside of Sudan. Meanwhile, on the Outskirts of Democracy Tyranny, civil war, systemic breakdown it cant happen here, right? Or can it? We privileged folk in the United States may still think we live in a democracy, but so many of us dont. In truth, the 140 million poor and low-wage folks, Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous, along with about one-third of White people, live on the outskirts of our democracy. Like the people of Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, they dream of being in a country where theres equality and justice, and where democracy, while not complete, is at least not dying. The United States never was, and by the looks of it, now has little chance of becoming a truly pluralistic, multiracial democratic system. If we were, wed be spending every free hour raising hell to make sure the possibility of democracy doesnt die in next years election. The media are replete with dystopian scenarios of its end and the rise of Trumpistan. Were scared shirtless about that, too, and its a gut punch to realize that, if we had a truly functioning democracy, thered be no way it could be toppled by a single guy like Donald Trump. Ask a Sudanese or a Syrian or an Egyptian or an Afghan what its like to live under autocracy. Then ask marginalized Americans what its like to live on the outskirts of democracy. For the latter, democracy is like Sudans gold and the Congos cobalt. There may be a lot of it, but very few get any. Copyright 2023 Priti Gulati Cox and Stan Cox Tomdispatch.com A prominent French Holocaust denier, who fled the country after being convicted under anti-Nazi laws, can be extradited back to France, a Scottish court ruled on Thursday. Vincent Reynouard, 54, has been fighting extradition from custody since police arrested him in Fife, east-central Scotland, in November last year. He had reportedly been living in the fishing town of Anstruther, just north of the Scottish capital Edinburgh, under a false name. He is wanted by French authorities over alleged offences relating to online videos some of which contain statements denying that the Holocaust happened. The alleged offences include "public trivialisation of a war crime" and "public challenge to the existence of crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War". Ruling on his extradition at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, judge Christopher Dickson said that statements in the videos are "beyond the pale of what is tolerable in our society" and "grossly offensive". He ruled that the alleged offences constitute an offence under Scots law as they would amount to a breach of the Communications Act, and that there was therefore no bar to extradition. "In such circumstances I order the respondent to be extradited to France," he said in a written ruling. Holocaust denial has been a criminal offence in France since 1990, and Reynouard has been convicted on numerous occasions. As a student in 1991, he was convicted for distributing revisionist literature. In 2001, he was suspended as a school maths teacher for printing and distributing Holocaust-denying pamphlets and setting homework involving counting concentration camp victims. In 2007, while working as a chemical engineer, Reynouard was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 10,000 euros for Holocaust denial after writing a pamphlet claiming the death of six million Jews during World War II was "impossible". He was handed a four-month prison sentence in France in November 2020 and a further six-month term in January 2021 concerning a series of anti-Semitic posts on social media. In August 2020, a memorial in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, the site of the worst Nazi atrocity in France, was defaced with slogans including the words "Reynouard is right". He had questioned the massacre in several videos posted online. * China remains a hot spot for global investment, noted representatives of multinationals and industry insiders at the fourth Qingdao Multinationals Summit. * The enormous market potential, mushrooming emerging industries, abundant industrial clusters, and high-quality talent pool have endowed China with strong economic resilience. * Amid the rising protectionism and anti-globalization wave, China's commitment to further opening up has sent out a positive signal for global investors. JINAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- China remains a hot spot for global investment, where the market offers sustained fresh opportunities and growth points, noted representatives of multinationals and industry insiders at the fourth Qingdao Multinationals Summit held in the coastal city of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. Themed "Multinationals and China," a major objective of this year's summit is to promote economic exchanges between Chinese and international enterprises and encourage multinationals to invest in advanced manufacturing, modern service, high-tech, and green industries in China. Covering topics including greater efforts to utilize foreign investment, new trends in industrial investment layout, and international cooperation in the digital economy, the three-day summit, which closed on Thursday, has drawn top-level managers from 416 multinationals. INVESTMENT PARADISE The enormous market potential, mushrooming emerging industries, abundant industrial clusters, and high-quality talent pool have endowed China with strong economic resilience, which injects persistent confidence for foreign companies to keep investing in China, noted participants at the summit. "China is one of the largest industrial and consumer markets around the world. An enterprise of a certain size cannot further expand leaving the Chinese market," said Sean Yan, head of marketing in northeast China of Konecranes, a Finnish company specializing in the manufacture and service of crane and lifting equipment. Konecranes has recently decided to put its North-East Asia headquarters in Shanghai. "All that we are making further progress in, such as organizational structure, personnel, products, and research and development, are to better meet the needs of the Chinese market," said Yan. In line with the ultra-large market, China's manufacturing industry is quite complete, and its position in the global industrial and supply chains is constantly improving, bringing new growth points to the development of multinational enterprises. China is far more than a big manufacturer and consumer; it is also a major innovator. Its pillar industries are gradually shifting from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, such as automobiles, materials, and electronic components, according to Tetsuro Homma, representative director and executive vice president of Panasonic Holdings Corporation. Having entered the Chinese market for 45 years, Panasonic, the Japan-based multinational, now has about 50,000 employees in China, and the sales volume in the Chinese market takes up a 27-percent share of its global total. The company boasts an R&D fleet of almost 10,000 researchers in China, and its investment keeps mounting. SHARED OPPORTUNITIES This is the fourth time for the German industrial automation company Festo to attend the Qingdao summit. Li Feng, COO of Festo BR GCN & general manager of Festo Production Ltd., noted that China's determination to advance higher-level opening up and share development dividends has reaffirmed Festo's further localization drive in the Chinese market. "During Festo's 30 years in China, the stable and safe business environment has laid the foundation for our development. The strong support of relevant policies and the intellectual property protection for multinationals is also an important factor in multinational companies' global layout," Li added. During the summit, an event incorporating a series of promotions and briefings structured around the themes of attracting foreign investment and supporting the long-term stable development of foreign-funded firms was also launched. "China's investment agencies are pragmatic and service-oriented. They are able to actively respond to various challenges and are ready to help enterprises solve any problems. This adds to many multinationals' willingness to tap deeper into the Chinese market," said Andy Liew, general manager of nVent Enclosure APAC, a leading designer and manufacturer of electrical enclosures. LONG-TERM CONFIDENCE The World Investment Report 2023, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, shows that in the past two years, although global cross-border direct investment has shown signs of recovery, the growth momentum is clearly insufficient and still faces a lot of uncertainty. Amid the rising protectionism and anti-globalization wave, China's commitment to further opening up has sent out a positive signal for global investors. A report, "Multinationals in China: Certainty in the Uncertain Global Investment Environment," published at the summit by the Ministry of Commerce, shows that measures to optimize the foreign investment environment China implemented in 2022 have proved effective. From 2020 to 2022, China's FDI inflow grew at an average annual rate of 12.5 percent, and the country saw over 40,000 foreign-funded enterprises newly established each year. "It's impressive to see how much the world appreciates China's development," said John R Adler, CEO of ZAP Surgical Systems, Inc., a leading innovator in the field of surgical robotics. "We all feel we need to be here because this is a great opportunity for us." "We believe the mutual respect, partnership, and collaboration between our two nations have never been stronger," noted Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, downstream president of Saudi Aramco, a world-leading energy company. He added that the company inked contracts worth up to 8 billion U.S. dollars with its Chinese partners this year to expand its presence in the world's second-largest economy. "I believe we are only in the early chapters of a much bigger story. Because while the present day is promising, the future is even brighter," said Qahtani. (Video reporters: Feng Yuanyuan and Li Xiaobo; video editors: Yang Zhixiang, Li Qin, Luo Hui, Liu Ruoshi and Ma Ruxuan) Beijing (Gasgoo)- On October 12, Baidu hosted a media preview for the upcoming "Baidu World 2023" and revealed the latest developments in Baidu Apollo's smart cockpit technology, which is based on the ERNIE large model. Photo credit: Baidu Baidu Apollo has created a dedicated large model technology base for automotive cockpits, enhancing the effectiveness of large models within the vehicle cabin based on the ERNIE large model. This refinement offers a more human-like intelligent interaction, including improved in-cabin comprehension, multi-modal understanding, active interaction capabilities, dynamic responses, and optimized response times, all tailored to meet users' demands for intelligent cockpits. In order to expedite the implementation of AI-powered cockpits, Baidu Apollo has also restructured the technical path for automotive intelligent cockpits. This shift primarily focuses on developing native AI applications centered on large models, combining them deeply with localized vehicle platforms. Baidu Apollo streamlines the development process of intelligent cockpit AI native applications, making it more efficient and cost-effective for automakers to implement these features. It allows automakers to develop their brand-specific models and application scenarios, with Baidu Apollo providing reference templates for quality in-vehicle native applications and a wide range of commonly used plug-ins for the cockpit environment. Currently, vehicles integrated with Baidu Apollo's AI cockpit powered by the large model are in production and available in models like the Ji Yue 01, the Cadillac LYRIQ, the Buick E5, the Geely Galaxy L7 and L6, with more models from Geely Galaxy and Haval set to follow suit. Among these, the Ji Yue 01, utilizing the voice interaction based on localized large model, takes lead in areas like millisecond-level responsiveness, always-on interaction, multi-channel simultaneous interaction, and natural language understanding, positioning it at the forefront of the industry in terms of production models. Myanmar's military used a large unguided aerial-delivered bomb in a deadly attack on a camp housing displaced people in the country's north, Amnesty International said Friday. The ruling junta has been accused of carrying out multiple bloody attacks on civilians as it struggles to crush resistance to its 2021 coup. The latest incident on Monday night saw 29 bodies and 56 wounded pulled from the debris at a camp near the northern town of Laiza, on the border with China, according to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) ethnic rebel group. An Amnesty International weapons expert analysed photos and videos of the aftermath of the attack that "show evidence of a single massive blast that flattened dozens of nearby buildings -- including a church, preschool and many homes -- and started fires". "The size of the crater and observed damage is consistent with the largest aerial-delivered bombs known to be in the inventory of the Myanmar military," the rights group said. "Amnesty International believes the Myanmar military almost certainly used an unguided bomb, which is an inaccurate weapon completely inappropriate for use in the vicinity of civilians." The statement said the incident "may amount to a war crime". "The blast wave caused catastrophic overpressure and fragmentation injuries to the victims, including fatal wounds to heads, lacerations that exposed organs, and the removal and pulverisation of limbs," the rights group said. The junta had said bombs belonging to rebels in the area caused the explosion without giving evidence. But Amnesty International said the military's "explanation is at odds with consistent witness accounts, which noted the explosion served as the start of a coordinated attack". "The bomb fell on a large open field with regular vehicle traffic, unlikely to be an ammonium nitrate storage area," the rights group added. The KIA controls large parts of the Christian-majority Kachin state and has clashed with Myanmar's military for decades. The region has seen intense fighting since the coup, and the junta accuses the rebels of training People's Defence Forces that have sprung up in resistance. The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "alarmed" by the incident and that "those responsible must be held to account". Against the backdrop of horrendous images from Israeli towns attacked by Palestinian military organisation Hamas and the declaration of war by Israel on residents of the Gaza Strip, the slow-moving investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories has hardly been mentioned. By contrast with the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 when multiple countries referred the matter immediately to the ICC office of the prosecutor, no states have called on the ICC prosecutor to now step up his work on Palestine and provide accountability for alleged crimes. When the Palestinian Authority lobbied to become a member of the court after Israeli incursions in 2008 and 2009, it became part of a multi-pronged strategy of lawfare and state-building. The aim was to pressure Israel in international fora, provide an alternative mechanism to the bogged down peace process, assert Palestinian sovereignty and potentially provide redress for some of the victims of Israeli occupation and brutal military interventions in Palestinian territories of West Bank and Gaza. Since that time, the ICCs engagement with repeated violations of international human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories has limped along, culminating in an investigation apparently on the back burner, showing no concrete results. A chorus of voices continues to contrast the international communitys emphasis on accountability for international crimes committed in Ukraine with those of Palestine. The rumblings of critics have become louder after the indictment of Vladimir Putin. They essentially asked: Why such mobilisation and unusual capacity to complete an investigation when it targets a political adversary of Western powerful states and main contributors to the ICC, and such a lack of courage and resources on the situation in Palestine? Now the prosecutor faces multiple calls from the NGO and human rights communities for his offices full engagement. Prosecutors passing the buck It was the ICCs second prosecutor Fatou Bensouda (2012-2021) who declared in 2019 that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. The court officially opened the investigation into the situation in Palestine in 2021. Her predecessor Luis Moreno Ocampo had explained his hands were tied until Palestine became a recognized state at the UN. But after the state of Palestine became a full member of the court in 2015, its officials began to submit reams of evidence. Bensouda added the situation to her preliminary examinations. She continued to warn all parties after opening her investigation into Palestine, while admitting that the situation was "politically fraught" and surrounded by rhetoric and misinformation. During every flare up and incursion since the ICC became involved, war crimes have been alleged and calls for the court to investigate have been consistent. But Bensouda had also kicked her own investigation into the long grass by asking ICC judges to first rule on the precise parameters of the courts authority. The judges February 2021 ruling confirmed jurisdiction over the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem since June 2014. It came as the courts third prosecutor Karim Khan was preparing to take office. Khan established the first prosecution team to start assessing the evidence. But with no public pronouncements, no details of which specific crimes the court might address, observers have become increasingly critical of the ICC investigation. The unknown scope of investigations There were many instances of alleged serious crimes since 2014, and the current war in Gaza involves thousands of victims and individual incidents. But the Office of the Prosecutor refuses to be drawn on what it may investigate. I can't tell you what our lines of inquiry are in any of our situations. It's not just about Palestine. We don't really share openly what we're looking at for good reason. Not only do we not want to take away the security and the protection that we provide for witnesses in particular areas, but we certainly don't want to tip anyone off as to what we're looking at a particular time. I can say that the court has very clearly said that the ICC has jurisdiction over the West Bank. But as to the lines in the inquiry, I'm sorry we never share those in relation to any of our situations, Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Khan (no relation to Karim Khan) told Justice Info in August. Some elements, however, can be discerned based on previous statements by the Prosecutors Office. To support Bensoudas request on geographical determination to the judges, her Office outlined the range of crimes it would investigate during the Israeli operation against Gaza in 2014. On the basis of the available information, there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes were committed in the context of the 2014 hostilities in Gaza, it said. The Prosecution was careful to point to both Israeli and Hamas alleged crimes stating that there is a reasonable basis to believe that members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) committed the war crimes of intentionally launching disproportionate attacks and that there is a reasonable basis to believe that members of Hamas and Palestinian armed groups committed the war crimes. In the current conflict alleged war crimes committed by all sides would be likely to come into focus, including actions by Hamas fighters in killing civilians and taking civilian hostages, and indiscriminate bombing by Israeli forces or, potentially, the cutting of power and food supplies to the Gaza Strip. Although there will be multiple challenges, including finding specific evidence to clearly prove which individuals and especially which individual commanders can be held to account, as the ICC is usually called to focus on the most responsible. Victims of the Hamas attack in the Israeli town of Sderot are covered with a sheet on 7 October 2023. Oren Ziv / AFP The challenge of admissibility Recent developments in trials in European countries of former Syrian fighters have shown how social media evidence can be used to build cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity, beyond membership of organisations defined as terrorist. Another major challenge to ICC investigations is the assessment of whether there are local efforts to sanction individuals and hold them to account for their actions, since the Court can theoretically only claim jurisdiction when domestic justice systems didnt or couldnt act. In 2019 the Office of the Prosecutor assessed that in the case of Hamas potential cases concerning crimes allegedly committed by members of Hamas and PAGs [Palestinian armed groups] would currently be admissible, but for the IDF, monitoring of proceedings before Israeli courts would be needed. The Office notes that due to limited accessible information in relation to proceedings that have been undertaken and the existence of pending proceedings in relation to other allegations, the Offices admissibility assessment in terms of the scope and genuineness of relevant domestic proceedings remains ongoing, wrote the ICC Prosecutor. Yuval Shany, professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, points out that the military authorities have been much more transparent in actually putting out their information concerning legal proceedings, investigations and the military attorney general has published update reports about investigations. But the long-term political backdrop in Israel is of challenges to judicial independence which would potentially affect an ICC assessment of the genuine nature of accountability for IDF commanders. One of the most documented situations in history In addition, Bensoudas office had concluded to a reasonable basis to believe that in the context of Israels occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, members of the Israeli authorities have committed war crimes such as the transfer of Israeli civilians into the West Bank since 13 June 2014. This is the context, human rights campaigners argue, for the systematic violence and the killings - the Israeli occupation and the building of settlements in the West Bank. The situation in Palestine in general, especially settlements, is perhaps one of the most documented in modern history, says Ahmed Abofoul from Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq. The admissibility test is already determined and there is no need to collect hard evidence. It can be proven without having access to the territory, he continues. Satellite imagery can show the grand lines and where Israel transfers its population. The current actions have been preceded by increasing bouts of violence especially in the West Bank. Omar Shakir from Human Rights Watch, an American NGO, describes unprecedented numbers with a spike in killings of Palestinians in the West Bank, when looking back over the last 18 months. He points out that 2022 saw more killings of Palestinians in the West Bank than in any year since the U.N. began systematically reporting data on fatalities. Even before the Hamas actions and Israeli counter-attack, 2023 was on pace to exceed that. Trying to explain delays So why is the ICC taking so long? Abofoul suggests that perhaps the Office of the Prosecutor is looking to do a mapping of all crimes and perhaps try to target some crimes that underline the different violations that are being committed which might be an argument why it's taking long. But, he says, to be honest, it's not really convincing. From a practical perspective it is instructive to look at the ICC budget allocation to the Palestine investigation. It went up to nearly 1 million Euro a year under Karim Khans prosecutorship, which is at the lower end of allocated resources, especially for such a large and complex and continuing situation. There are requests for increased staffing, witness protection, some outreach and some activity by the courts Trust Fund for Victims, but no indications of a significant increase in proposed budget documents. Theres no sense that there will be development in the Palestine investigation, says Abofoul. The UN Human Rights Councils special rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese believes the investigation is understaffed and under-resourced and apparently stuck. She joined with fellow special rapporteurs earlier this year expressing their concern for the state of the investigation and calling for more resources to be dedicated to it. They also presented again what they described as solid evidence of allegations of human rights violations that may have been committed intentionally and systematically. Nazhat Khan, however, says that while her Office has received has an enormous amount of information and of very, very committed and dedicated reports, that we live in the world of evidence. We have received a response to our concerns, Albanese told Justice Info, but it is not a response that indicates or suggests availability for a dialogue. She continued: If I compare what's happening to the situation in Palestine at the ICC now with how it appeared with the previous prosecutors, I see that the communities, the groups who have made the submissions feel that loss. Not communicating, not gaining a sense of progress from the Office of the Prosecutor sends the message that the situation does not warrant attention. This is degrading for the victims who have no other recourse to justice and accountability, but it is also rewarding for the architect and executioner of all of this. Lack of access? For his part Karim Khan has complained, while speaking at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, about what he sees as the complete disconnect between the reality and the polemics in the critiques of his offices approach to the investigation in Palestine. When I inherited the office, he says, there wasn't even a team for Palestine. I've got to try to manage the resources we've got effectively, and Palestine and Israel have not been forgotten. One of the issues potentially making it more difficult for the court to act is lack of access. No representatives of the court have officially engaged on the ground with either Israeli or Palestinian authorities. Nazhat Khan says it is a priority for the office: Discussions with local authorities, local judiciaries, members of the bar, NGOs and civil society are so valuable and I hope that the prosecutor is able to visit. We will leave no stone unturned to enable that process. Abofoul, however, argues that the ICC Prosecutor has access to all the evidence he needs. Certain crimes in Palestine don't even need access to the territory. And that's why this excuse, if I can put it this way, becomes not really convincing. Choi Hyun Wook is facing repercussions after he was spotted smoking on the streets in Seoul. After the backlash from netizens, the "Twinkling Watermelon" star gets penalized for illegally disposing of a cigarette butt. Choi Hyun Wook Fined for Violating Waste Management Act In a report obtained by a news portal, a civil suit was filed at the Gangnam District Office against the up-and-coming actor for the illegal disposal of cigarette butts, tissue, and more. This incident was caught on camera after a video of Choi Hyun Wook went viral. Due to this, the 21-year-old actor was fined 50,000 won, or around $37.22 USD, for violating the Waste Management Act. READ MORE: Choi Hyun Wook's Apology Letter Receives Mixed Reaction for THIS Reason Per the report, a representative from the Gangnam District Office says that the video was sufficient evidence to confirm that the actor violated the law. "He violated Article 8 Paragraph 1 of the Waste Management Act, and the payment of a fine was processed," the representative cited. Amid the issue, Choi Hyun Wook's agency, Gold Medalist, responded to the update and confirmed that the actor has completed the payment for the fine. "After confirming the footage, we looked up the fine procedures, and the fine payment has been completed," the statement reads. Moreover, the label also apologized on behalf of the actor for "causing concern" due to his behavior. Choi Hyun Wook's Cigarette Issue Highlights In the said video, Choi Hyun Wook was seen puffing a cigarette while holding the hands of the girl next to him. However, netizens were more concerned about him smoking outside the designated area. In addition, he was also spotted illegally disposing of the cigarette butt on the ground. Following the backlash, the actor released a handwritten apology addressing the issue regarding the cigarette incident. As obtained by a media outlet, Choi Hyun Wook personally addressed the controversy and apologized for his behavior, which caused disappointment, especially among fans. "Despite the need to be responsible at all times, I have disappointed many people with my reckless actions," he added. Moreover, the actor also took the opportunity to say sorry to his colleagues, the team, and drama officials that he worked with and promised to reflect on his actions. "I will humbly accept the criticism and advice that you have given me, and I will reflect on myself and work hard to show a more mature side of myself in the future," he wrote. The 21-year-old actor is best known for his roles in "Racket Boys" as Na Woo Chan and Moon Ji Woong in "Twenty-Five Twenty-One." He also headlined the series "Weak Hero Class 1" and appeared in "D.P." season 2 as the rookie soldier Shin Ah Wi. Currently, he stars as Ha Yi Chan in the youth fantasy K-drama "Twinkling Watermelon" with Seol In Ah, Ryeoun, and more. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 'Twinkling Watermelon' Enjoys Steady Ratings In Third Week of Broadcast For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article Written by Geca Wills Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On October 12, Chinese new energy vehicle maker NETA Auto and BNP Paribas, the prominent French bank, sealed a deal in Shanghai by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU), forming strategic collaboration in the field of automotive finance, according to a post on NETA Auto's WeChat account. Photo credit: NETA Auto The MoU outlines the various areas of cooperation, encompassing personal finance, auto insurance, and an array of services. Fang Yunzhou, founder and chairman of NETA Auto, underscored the company's unwavering commitment to making high-quality smart electric vehicles accessible on a global scale. Through this profound partnership with BNP Paribas, NETA Auto intends to further solidify and enhance its strengths in overseas market expansion and financial service innovation. Since venturing into the overseas market in 2022, NETA Auto has made its presence felt in regions spanning from the ASEAN countries to South America and the Middle East. With nearly 350,000 global users, this collaboration marks a promising beginning for NETA Auto's European market expansion. Leveraging the extensive global network and expertise accumulated over time, the BNP Paribas is poised to support NETA Auto's steady growth in Europe, bringing the company even closer to its worldwide customer base. BNP Paribas is a leading European international financial institution and a globally significant banking entity, boasting a substantial market presence and business scale in personal finance, auto insurance services, and more. Ford says it's at the limit on how much it can spend to get new contract with striking autoworkers FILE - The Mona Lisa by Leornado da Vinci is pictured at the Louvre museum Wednesday, June 7, 2023 in Paris. Using X-rays to peer into the chemical structure of a tiny speck of the celebrated work of art, scientists have gained new insight into the techniques that Leonardo da Vinci used to paint his groundbreaking portrait of the woman with the exquisitely enigmatic smile. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, Pool, File) Palestinians evacuate wounded after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. A Canadian woman says she is expecting some members of her family in the Gaza Strip will die in the next few hours after Israel's military told about one million Palestinians to evacuate northern parts of the city ahead of an expected ground invasion.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP /Hatem Ali The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, April 13, 2018. RCMP in Saskatchewan say an alert has been issued for a First Nation after reports of two men in the community with a firearm. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On October 12, ZEEKR, the premium electric vehicle brand under Geely Auto Group announced it has forged a comprehensive European partnership with BNP Paribas and Arval. This strategic alliance aims to provide ZEEKR users with an array of financial solutions that encompass every aspect of their mobility needs, backed by comprehensive leasing and insurance services. Arval, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, has rapidly evolved since its inception and now stands as one of the top five car rental companies in Luxembourg and Belgium. This collaboration signifies the convergence of ZEEKR's innovative positioning in the electric vehicle market, BNP Paribas' expertise in loans and leasing, and Arval's all-encompassing service leasing experience, said ZEEKR. It's designed to cater to the specific requirements of the European market in a more localized and customer-centric manner. ZEEKR 001; photo credit: ZEEKR According ZEEKR, the latest collaboration spans multiple European countries and regions, commencing in the Netherlands and Sweden in September of this year, with plans to expand into Germany and several other markets by 2024. It's a strategic move designed to accelerate ZEEKR's foothold in the European electric vehicle market. As of October 10, ZEEKR has partnered with seven financial institutions within China, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Bank of Shanghai, GENIUS AFC, and Wisdom Puhua Leasing. These collaborations cover all cities in the country, offering four different types of financial products, including equal monthly installments, extended loan terms, and zero down-payment mortgage, catering to diverse financial transaction needs in both online and offline scenarios. Moreover, the first batch of ZEEKR 001 vehicles for the European market has already arrived its destination, with deliveries scheduled to commence later this year. A new report by Action Aid International has recommended that African governments coordinate for a resolution to debt crises. This, according to economic experts, should be based on radical renegotiations with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The report titled Fifty Years of Failure: the IMF, Debt, and Austerity in Africa based on new research from Uganda and nine other African countries, shows that 8 out of 10 countries are in debt distress and have been advised to cut or freeze public sector wage bills. Gilbert Musinguzi, the Quality Assurance Manager at the Uganda Debt Network, underscores the need for better reforms to address poor policies imposed on African countries by the IMF and World Bank. When government is asking for a loan, it gives a clear feasibility study and indicates how prepared they are. They also indicate how they are able to contribute the matching fund but when time comes, you find that government does not have the matching fund. But now, you are reaching almost the end of the debt period before implementing the project and end up defaulting, Musinguzi said. By the end of June 2023, Uganda owed lenders a whopping Shs88.9 trillion, which is almost twice the Shs52.7 trillion budget for the financial year 2023/2024 Cabinet has approved a request to bail out businessman Patrick Bitature in a process that has involved the purchase of Electromax power plant in Tororo. The International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration in London, ordered Ugandan businessman Bitature, his wife Carol Nzaro, and four of their companies to pay South African lender, Vantage Mezzanine Fund, $66m US Dollars. Bitature proposed to government to have his Electromax power plant taken over in a deal to bail him out, a request that later attracted an audit process by the Auditor General. Yesterday, the Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija without revealing much details confirmed that government had indeed signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bitature. Yes, we have done a Memorandum of Understanding with Bitature, Kasaija said before ending the phone interview. Inside sources have revealed to KFM that the deal was brokered by the State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite who neither confirms nor denies being part of the deal. By Omukooki Ronald Ssenvuma Ugandans have been asked to use Ugandas cultural diversity to promote the countrys development. The appeal has been made by the Information Communication Technology (ICT) and National Guidance Minister, Dr Chris Baryomunsi while speaking as the chief guest at the Nation Media Group (NMG) Cultural Wear Day celebration at Namuwongo, Kampala. Baryomunsi says NMG employs people from different parts of the country and such a celebration is an important step towards promoting their cultures at the workplace. The message from us in the government is that let us use this diversity to define strength for the country. Where we come from is what shapes us to be where we are. Coming from different cultural settings should not be something to cause disunity or hatred but rather, we should build on that strength to promote the interests of the country, Baryomunsi said on Friday. Dr. Baryomunsi has also thanked the Nation Media Group for organizing the wonderful Cultural Day, asking other corporate companies to emulate the same. Kyambogo Universitys Department of Environmental Sciences has embarked on a campaign meant to raise awareness among the local communities about proper waste management. Working in partnership with other environmentalists, the department today participated in a general clean-up exercise at Ggaba Landing Site in Kampala. Todays activities saw a number of environmental activists participate in activities such as plastic waste collection, general cleaning, and distribution of proper waste disposal material. Bruno Muhwezi, a Co-founder of Bricks Environment and Climate Hub Initiative, a non-profit youth-driven organization that promotes environmental sustainability and innovations, tells KFM that the campaign targets community transformation as well as improvement of the livelihoods of the local people. According to a recent study by Water Aid, solid waste is one of the greatest challenges facing urban authorities today with the amount of waste generated exceeding their capacity both technical and financial to collect and dispose of. The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in conjunction with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and police has today started implementing the Presidents directive of removing wetland encroachers. Recently, President Museveni ordered land encroachers to leave wetlands before government forcefully evicts them, saying they are the reason for the unreliable rainfall which also affects irrigation schemes. They have started in areas of Bulenga and over 200 people have been evicted so far. The KCCA Deputy spokesperson, William Lubuulwa told the media during the evicting process that floods in Kampala and other parts of the country are caused by people who settle in wetlands He has warned all people who turned a deaf ear to remain utilizing wetlands that will be forcefully removed. Meanwhile, people who have been removed from wetlands at Bulenga have condemned NEMA and KCCA for removing them without a clear notice as well as allocating them to other places. By Peter Sserugo The Norwegian Embassy in Kampala and the Consulate General in Guangzhou, China, are to be closed, the European countrys Foreign Affairs ministry has said. Norway is currently undertaking structural reforms of the Foreign Service. As part of the reform process, changes are being made in the diplomatic presence abroad. Concentrating and consolidating is expected to better serve Norwegian national interests, and to increase the effectiveness of Norways international engagement.This means that Norway is scaling up its presence in some locations. The consequence is that painful drawdowns must be made in other places, reads part of the statement on the embassys website. The Friday statement announcing the closure comes days after five Norwegian missions in different parts of the world were closed in July this year. Closing of the embassy in Kampala is based solely on overall administrative assessments related to the need for reallocation of the foreign services resources, the statement adds..Read more 1 of 1 How is Income Tax Calculated ? khaskhabar.com : , 13 2023 11:56 AM Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On October 12, Shenzhen BAK Power Battery Co., Ltd. ("BAK Battery") unveiled its inaugural semi-solid-state lithium battery product series, which has successfully passed rigorous testing, demonstrating its resistance to leakage during short circuits and ignition when pierced by a needle. The company said the newly launched batteries are poised for application in explosion-proof mobile communication devices, marking a significant stride in battery technology. Solid-state batteries are categorized into semi-solid, quasi-solid, and fully solid types, boasting extensive prospects in fields such as mobile devices, wearables, electric vehicles, and have emerged as a hotbed of innovation within the new energy vehicle industry. Photo credit: BAK Battery BAK Battery said it has made continuous investments and breakthroughs in the field of solid-state batteries. "After evaluating various primary and auxiliary materials globally, BAK started to build its own resource pool, leveraging R&D expertise in high-nickel cathodes, high-silicon anodes, and electrolyte additives to establish a material matching system with energy densities ranging from 290 to 360 Wh/kg," said Liu Zhibo, Vice President of BAK Battery. He added that the company has successfully developed electrolytes suitable for semi-solid-state batteries and an in-situ solidification technology. Furthermore, with the success of the mixing and coating of the cathode and anode with solid-state electrolytes, the ion transport and the interface between the cathode and anode have been effectively optimized. These batteries have passed the 3m short circuit without leakage test and the 3mm needle puncture without ignition test, guaranteeing the safety performance of the batteries. Built on these cutting-edge technological advancements, BAK Battery has initiated collaborations with internationally renowned suppliers of explosion-proof mobile communication devices. Subsequently, the solid-state battery innovations will be integrated into products for industries such as mining and military communication, creating outstanding "explosion-proof application batteries" as part of their safety solutions. Liu Zhibo expressed confidence in the development of the solid-state battery business, stating, "As BAK's semi-solid-state batteries continue to evolve, the application scenarios will expand to encompass various fields, including professional and consumer-level drones, two-wheelers, electric vehicles, energy storage, and more. Our planned production capacity is set to exceed 12 GWh." Assaulting a garda outside a Kilkenny pub has resulted in a four month prison sentence for a man who appeared before the local district court. Nevin Kelly, Dunbell Big, Bennettsbridge, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and using threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour following an incident on December 23 last. The court heard that gardai were called to a John Street pub at approximately 2am on December 23, where a man was acting aggressively. When they arrived Mr Kelly was being restrained by door staff. He was being put out of the premises. Gardai attempted to arrest Mr Kelly under the Public Order Act and he kicked out, kicking one of the gardai on the leg. The garda was sore but the injury did not prevent him continuing to work on, that night. Mr Kelly was arrested and taken to Kilkenny Garda Station. The defendant had 40 previous convictions, the court was told. Solicitor Chris Hogan said his client has a challenging relationship with drink and had asked him to apologise on his behalf to the garda. Mr Kelly had brought the sum of 300 to court to offer as compensation, the solicitor said. On the night in question Mr Kelly was socialising with his brother and drank too much, Mr Hogan said. He had also been on medication. There was an incident in the pub, where Mr Kelly spilled another persons drink, and he had been asked to leave. His brother was still inside and Mr Kelly tried to get back in to him. It was then he was restrained by the door staff. Mr Hogan said his client was kicking out while being restrained and accepted this continued when the gardai arrived. He shouldnt have done it. Mr Hogan said his client has obtained employment in the construction industry and is engaging with the mental health services. Judge Geraldine Carthy convicted Mr Kelly on both charges. She noted the matter had originally been listed for hearing on the day. She said the detail of the events made for very stark reading. Gardai were coming to the assistance of an individual who was out of control, she observed. Mr Kelly has a very challenging relationship with alcohol and the gardai got the brunt of that, she said. On the assault charge Mr Kelly was sentenced to four months imprisonment. The public order offence was taken into consideration. Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal. The last dedicated tourist hostel in Kilkenny has closed, and is now mooted to become a residence for international protection applicants. The popular Kilkenny Tourist Hostel on Parliament Street has hosted visitors to the city for many years. Now a notice on the hostels website says it has permanently closed as of October 1, 2023. Irish and international visitors to the Medieval Mile praised the budget accommodation with recent reviews praising the location, the friendly staff and lovely atmosphere. From a tourism perspective the loss of the hostel, with over 60 beds, in the city is regrettable. However, its now on the cards that the 300 year old Georgian town house will be repurposed as an accommodation centre for international protection applicants (asylum seekers). Such a process is managed by IPAS (the international protection accommodation service). The local authority, which was given a role in the location of accommodation for arrivals from Ukraine, has no role in the accommodation of international protection applicants. However, if the building is to be used by IPAS a notice will have to be filed with Kilkenny County Council as part of planning and development regulations. The change of use does not require a planning application. As part of the process the building will need to have a fire certificate and comply with other requirements. A Kilkenny People query to The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which oversees IPAS, had not yet received a reply. The Susie Long Hospice Fund (SLHF) has announced a new five-year agreement with St Lukes General Hospital Kilkenny to improve end-of-life care for all patients including those receiving palliative care at the local hospital. A new family room and an education bursary for staff are some of the new measures being funded by the local charity on the 16th anniversary of Susie Longs death. Ms Long died of bowel cancer aged 42 on October 12, 2007, leaving behind her son Fergus, daughter Aine and husband Conor Mac Liam. A voluntary committee chaired by the late Susie Longs husband, Conor Mac Liam, announced details of the new agreement on the 16th anniversary of Ms Long's death. The measures announced include: The building and reconfiguration of a new family room to provide comfort to relatives of end-of-life patients in St Lukes. The purchase of three state-of-the-art Murphy beds, six Buddy chairs and room enhancements in the 72-bed Ormond wing of the hospital so that relatives can be by the bedsides of their loved ones. An education fund to cover European Certification in Palliative Care for six staff members of St Lukes General Hospital and one postgraduate diploma in palliative care every year. Provision of complementary therapies for end-of-life patients. The SLHF began with a mission to provide the highest possible quality end-of-life care for patients and their families through the establishment of a 12-bed hospice in Kilkenny. Since the charitys inception, there was a huge emphasis on the need for privacy and dignity for all patients during end-of-life care. This need has been fulfilled as all new hospital rooms in St Lukes are single occupancy and have transformed the experience of end-of-life care patients and their families. Commenting on the announcement, Conor Mac Liam said the hospice was due for completion by 2013 according to HSE plans but was shelved due to a lack of HSE funding. "We have campaigned tirelessly to provide a better service for the people of Carlow and Kilkenny and their families. I am very proud of the new measures agreed, in particular, the education bursary which will have a long-lasting impact on palliative care services in the south-east." Mr Mac Liam stated that the SLHF is also exploring how they can help children with life limiting conditions in the South-East who need palliative care. "If we can make life easier for families that are already going through the most difficult time of their lives, that is what we will do. Our family knows the importance of having these extra supports as we had to travel 140km to be with Susie in her final moments," he remarked. "Were working closely with the End Of Life Care Coordinator, Margaret Ryan, at St Lukes General Hospital to ensure we constantly build on the hospice friendly hospital movement and alleviate the suffering of families who want to spend precious time with loved ones." St Lukes General Hospital General Manager, Niamh Lacey, thanked the Trustees of the Susie Long Hospice Fund for their work, adding: "Together, we will ensure the best end of life care, from advocacy and education, the importance of dying well and allowing our patients to die with dignity and the support of family members. As a Hospice Friendly Hospital, the support we have received from the Susie Long Hospice Fund will greatly enhance the end-of-life care experienced by patients and their families, she concluded." Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On Oct. 12, IM Motors, the premium electric vehicle brand co-backed by SAIC Motor, Zhangjiang High-Tech, and Alibaba Group, officially put its third production model, the IM LS6, onto the market. Coming with four trim levels, the new model features a guidance price range of 229,900 yuan to 291,900 yuan. In addition, the company offers an exclusive promotional price upon the model's market launch, ranging from 214,900 yuan to 276,900 yuan. This includes a 12,000-yuan cash discount and a deduction of 5,000 yuan from the vehicle's total cost based on a 2,000-yuan deposit. These equity prices are available for users who place their orders before November 12, 2023, and complete their payments within the year. Photo credit: IM Motors What's more, the model is now available for delivery upon its market launch, and the mass deliveries will begin at the end of this month. Simultaneously, as the new cars roll out, IM Motor plans to introduce a GPT large model to enhance the quality of intelligent voice interactions. IM Motors also revealed that its fourth production model will be a sedan, which is set to be launched in the first half of 2024. Photo credit: IM Motors The LS6 shares the same mid-to-large SUV category as the LS7, with slightly smaller dimensions. The new model is built on a novel 800V high-voltage platform, with a maximum operation voltage of 875V. It offers the capability to replenish up to 500 kilometers of driving range in just 15 minutes. Photo credit: IM Motors Additionally, the LS6 is equipped with a full-sized digital cockpit display, POPO cloud-feel seats, intelligent driving assistance features like City NOA, one-touch AI chauffeur, and a 20-speaker audio system (as standard features across all trims), among others. IM Motors aims to commence City NOA public testing for the LS6 by the end of 2023, with gradual rollout before the 2024 Chinese New Year holiday. In mid-2024, the City NOA will entera map-free era. According to the plan, within 2024, the City NOA will achieve a commuting mode, covering the 100 key cities nationwide. The automaker emphasizes that the LS6 lineup boasts the capacity for highway and city NOA. Looking at the vehicle's design, the LS6 maintains IM Motors' iconic design language, featuring highly recognizable L-style headlamps on either side, complemented by bumper vents for added visual appeal. The LS6 offers a selection of seven body colors, including three basic options and four Master Art Car color. From a side view, the LS6 adopts a coupe-style SUV design with a minimal drag coefficient of 0.237Cd. It measures 4,904mm long, 1,988mm wide, 1,669mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,950mm. Depending on the trim level, it will provide 20-inch or 21-inch wheels. The rear of the vehicle is striking as well, featuring an upturned ducktail design. The taillights are equally eye-catching. Photo credit: IM Motors Inside the cabin, the LS6 continues the family design language and introduces what the official calls the full-picture digital cockpit. The operating system is developed based on native Linux and offers features like panoramic blind-spot vision enhancement, rain-night mode, and the GPT large model. Moreover, the LS6 offers a choice between a full-spoke or half-spoke steering wheel. Photo credit: IM Motors In terms of intelligent driving assistance, the LS6 enables high-speed NOA (highway autopilot) in 26 cities of 12 provinces right from the delivery. This service is planned to cover the entire country within the year and will expand to offer the City NOA functionality in the future. As for interior space, the LS6 offers 32 liters of cargo space in the front trunk and up to 1,571 liters in the rear trunk when extended from the standard 596L. There's also a hidden 69-liter storage compartment in the lower part of the rear trunk. In terms of power, the LS6 comes in both a single-motor rear-wheel drive and a dual-motor all-wheel drive version. The single-motor variant produces a maximum power of 250 kW, with a peak torque of 450 Nm. The dual-motor all-wheel drive model has a combined power of 579 kW and peak torque of 800 Nm. The quasi-500V version achieves 0-100 km/h acceleration in 5.9 seconds with a range of 680 km and 560 km. The quasi-900V version operates at a maximum working voltage of 875V, with a range of 702 km and 760 km, offering a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 3.48 seconds. Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Azimut Exploration (TSXV:AZM) is combining data collection with regular mineral exploration to generate drill targets in Quebec. Azimut uses AZtechMine, a proprietary methodology for big data analytics.? President and CEO Jean-Marc Lulin spoke to Kitco mid-September at the Precious Metals Summit 2023 in Beaver Creek, Colorado. The company has the largest mineral exploration portfolio in Quebec and Lulin believes the province has lithium potential on the scale of the James Bay region. Interview edited for clarity.? Kitco Mining: What does Azimut do? Lulin: Initial work is to do large-scale data processing, this is providing us the opportunity to recognize excellent targets in Quebec, to develop partnerships with good companies, and then move also by ourselves on 100%-owned properties. Kitco Mining: Is there a focus on lithium? Lulin: Lithium is an exciting new development at the scale of Quebec. What is really interesting is the recognition of a major potential for lithium at the scale of the James Bay region. Saying that, we already have several large properties that we assessed in the perspective of their lithium potential, and we have acquired large exploration blocks specifically for lithium. Now we are moving ahead with good partners like Rio Tinto, SOQUEM on major exploration programs. Kitco Mining: Tell me about the financing you recently announced. Lulin: We announced yesterday an $8 million private placement. It's a bought deal with Paradigm. We are very happy for this financing; this will provide us the right amount of money to accelerate our programs. Kitco Mining: How big has the lithium rush been in Quebec? Lulin: There is no record for such high activity level, many players. It means that certainly several significant lithium discoveries will be made within the next two years. What I can tell you, we're convinced to be one of the key winners of this true lithium rush. Kitco Mining: Lastly, your plans over the next 12 months. Lulin: We're trying to advance as quickly as possible to the drill stage for several lithium projects. We will start drilling within one or two weeks on the Galinee project, which is bordering a discovery made by Winsome Resources. We will advance this Galinee project as soon as possible. We will deliver in a few weeks our maiden resource estimate for the gold discovery we announced in January 2020, it's on the Elmer project. This this will be a significant milestone for Azimut. Kitco Mining's coverage of the Precious Metals Summit 2023 was sponsored by Newcore Gold.? Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Growing chaos in the Middle Easter continues to fuel safe-haven demand for gold as a 2% rally into the weekend also puts pressure on bears in the marketplace. Late Thursday, the Israeli government warned more than 1 million people in Northern Gaza to evacuate the area as its war with Hamas escalates. There are also growing rumors that Israel is preparing for a major land assault on Gaza; however, no plans have been confirmed. At the same time, The U.S. has announced tightened sanctions against Russian crude exports, pushing oil prices up 4% Friday. Analysts have said that with so much geopolitical uncertainty and volatility, investors want to hold some insurance and protection through the weekend. These Friday rallies were common in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. New bullish momentum has pushed gold prices back through $1,900 an ounce. December gold futures last traded at $1,922.50 an ounce, up 2% on the day. Analysts note that gold is trading near resistance at its 50-day moving average, which comes in at $1,924.60 an ounce. "If you don't know what is going to happen during the weekend, you want to hold something that offers you some protection," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. "We are seeing shorts being covered and investors scrambling to get back into gold." Although Hansen is bullish on gold, he also warned investors to use some caution at these elevated levels. He added that this could also be a short-term short squeeze as ETF investors are still reluctant to buy gold. "The ETF market is still seeing modest outflows for this week. We really need institutional investors to take an interest in gold again to see a sustainable move in gold," he said. "There is still a major resistance level at $1,950 that the market still has to clear." Darin Newsom, senior market analyst at Barchart.com, said that he is nervously bullish on gold in the near term. "On a move like this, from a shorter-term perspective, gold can very quickly become oversold," he said. "However, I want to cautiously ride the price higher." Newsom added that one of the reasons why he is cautious is because, in this environment, he would want to be long gold, bonds and the U.S. dollar. He pointed out that in the long-term, you can't be long all three assets. "Right now, though, geopolitical uncertainty is the wildcard," he said. "We know what the Fed's game plan is. It has already been laid out, so the spotlight has shifted to geopolitical uncertainty, which will be good for gold. We will see more instability through 2024 as we move closer to the U.S. elections, so gold looks like a pretty good long-term play right now." Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures, is also urging investors to use caution at current levels. He added that the 2% rally could create an attractive selling opportunity for investors who have been frustrated with the lackluster performance through most of the year. "A move to $1,926 would create a neutral environment for gold and you would need to see prices push back above $1,960 to put it back into a bullish uptrend," he said. Oct 12 (Reuters) - The conflict in the Middle East will have "ripple effects that extend far beyond the region", JPMorgan Chase's (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon warned in an internal memo to employees seen by Reuters. The deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli history on Saturday has led to a dramatic escalation of violence in the region. The Israeli death toll has risen to more than 1,300, according to public broadcaster Kan, while Gaza authorities said more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed. The attack could prompt "an increase in antisemitism and Islamophobia around the globe", Dimon said, adding that the bank was working closely with the U.S. and international government agencies to guarantee the safety of its employees. Reuters reported earlier this week that JPMorgan told its more than 200 employees in Israel to work from home. The bank is making an initial contribution of $1 million towards relief efforts and will be matching employees' donations, according to the memo. Separately, credit card giant American Express (AXP.N) committed $1.5 million in donations to Israel and said it would match employees' contributions to all eligible non-profit organizations. Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - It was a busy week of testimony in the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) as Caroline Ellison the former Alameda Research CEO and SBFs one-time romantic partner took the stand as the prosecutions star witness. There was no shortage of notable revelations from Ellison, who said that she had grown increasingly terrified that the truth about FTX would come out in the lead-up to its collapse, and once that happened, she felt an overwhelming feeling of relief. Early on in her testimony, which began on Tuesday, she laid the blame for what happened at the feet of SBF, saying he set up the systems leading to Alameda taking roughly $14 billion from the exchange. Alameda took several billions of dollars from FTX customers and used it for investments, said Ellison. I sent balance sheets that made Alameda look less risky than it was. Delving into the charges related to the misuse of customer funds, Ellison said that SBF had directed her and other employees to transfer billions of dollars to Alameda Research, FTXs sister hedge fund that was also created by SBF. Ellison, who previously pleaded guilty to helping SBF take billions in FTX customer assets, said she felt indescribably bad about the harm done to FTX customers and employees, and is looking to clear the air with her testimony so she can move on with her life. In mid-June 2022, following the market downturn in May, multiple lenders, including crypto lender Genesis Capital, were recalling loans made to Alameda as they sought to shore up their books and prevent bankruptcy. Genesis, in particular, was looking to recall $500 million worth of loans. According to Ellison, Genesis could recall all loans to Alameda if it became aware of Alamedas true financial status, and this would also damage its reputation. I didnt want Genesis to know that, she stated about Alamedas multibillion-dollar liability toward FTX. Ellison said that on June 28, 2022, Bankman-Fried instructed her to create alternative balance sheets to present to Genesis as they had requested detailed documentation related to Alamedas books. She said she crafted seven different balance sheets for SBF to choose from, and he ultimately selected one that showed the firm had $10.3 billion in total liabilities, whereas the actual amount was approximately $15 billion at the time. This put Ellison in a constant state of dread, as she knew that billions of dollars in loans were being recalled, and those loans could only be repaid using FTX customer funds. When asked why she continued to participate in the scheme, she said, Sam told me to. Ellison said SBFs plan to resolve the matter included raising capital from Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Court evidence showed that she made a list of things Sam is freaking out about months before the exchange collapsed. The list included raising capital from the MBS, borrowing more capital from BlockFi which had already lent Alameda over $660 million as well as getting regulators to crack down on Binance, which would allow SBF to expand FTXs market share, she said. By October 2022, Alamedas internal balance sheet showed liabilities of $15.6 billion, while numbers presented publicly indicated liabilities of just under $8 billion. Despite SBFs attempts at financial maneuvering, in the end, FTX only had $4 billion to cover $12 billion in customer holdings. As for why SBF thought these actions were justifiable, Ellison said that he viewed himself as a utilitarian who thought the only rule that mattered was doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. "He didn't think rules like 'don't lie' or 'don't steal' fit into that framework," she said. She said this mindset rubbed off on her over time and made it easier to take actions at SBFs direction that she knew were wrong. Ellison spent more than ten hours testifying, covering a wide range of topics, from SBFs obsession with Binance to a $150 million dollar bribe paid to Chinese authorities in order to get confiscated FTX funds released. Two years prior to the FTX bankruptcy, $1 billion worth of Alameda Researchs digital assets on the OKX and Huobi crypto exchanges were frozen by Chinese law enforcement as part of a money laundering investigation. After attempts to contact Chinese lawyers to unfreeze the funds were unsuccessful, Ellison said FTX and Alameda staff created accounts on OKY and Huobi using the ID of a Thai prostitute in an attempt to negotiate the return of the funds. When that didnt work, Ellison said Bankman-Fried paid a $150 million bribe to unfreeze the funds, at which point they were immediately released. The bribe was recorded as the thing in future Alameda balance sheets, she said. In response to this part of her testimony, presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan reminded the jurors that Bankman-Frieds alleged bribery of Chinese officials is not within the scope of the ongoing FTX trial, as those charges will be litigated at a second trial scheduled for March 11, 2024. Ellison also detailed Bankman-Frieds efforts to craft his public image, saying that he believed his long, unkempt hair played a significant role in shaping his public image. She noted that the well-known story of SBF driving a Toyota Corolla despite being a multi-billionaire was a carefully crafted marketing strategy. While he was in fact driving the Corolla at one point, she said this was only after he had switched from an unnamed luxury car, with SBF saying it would be better for his image. Following Ellisons testimony, the jury was presented with a recording of a meeting she held with Alameda staffers on Nov. 9, 2022, just days before the exchange would file for bankruptcy. The meeting was the first time Ellison revealed the situation between Alameda and FTX to her colleagues. According to a report from Cointelegraph, Ellison admitted that Alameda had made several illiquid investments using the borrowed funds and was now facing a shortfall in FTXs balance sheet as Alamedas loan positions were being called in. Most of Alamedas loans got called in in order to meet those loan recalls, she said in the meeting. We ended up borrowing a bunch of funds on FTX, which led to FTX having a shortfall in user funds. And so with the, once there started being like FUD about this and users started withdrawing funds. When asked about how FTX intended to pay back its customers, Ellison said they were planning to do a fundraising campaign to fill the gap. Basically, FTX is trying to raise in order to do this [compensate users], but yeah, after the crash, no one wanted to invest, she said. I dont know, obviously, in retrospect, the plan of waiting around for several months and like for the market environment to get better and then raise. When she was asked by a staffer at the meeting whose idea it was to use FTX customer money to repay Alamedas loan losses, Ellison said, Um, Sam, I guess. In response to another staffer's question regarding Alamedas backdoor access to FTX and how long the firm had been using FTX customers funds to bridge holes in its balance sheet, Ellison responded, FTX basically always allowed Alameda to borrow user funds, as far as I know. (Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are sharply higher in early U.S. trading Friday, on more robust safe-haven demand as it appears Israel is set to invade Gaza, which would have bigger and unknown implications. December gold was last up $24.80 at $1,907.60 and December silver was up $0.451 at $22.40. Asian and European stocks were mostly lower overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed to weaker openings when the New York day session begins. Risk aversion has up-ticked late this week after Israel ordered the 24-hour evacuation of over 1 million residents of Gaza. It's likely that Israel will soon begin its highly anticipated ground invasion of Gaza. Middle East watchers say that a ground war in Gaza highly raises the stakes that Hezbollah and Iran will get more involved in the conflict, which also implies the U.S. may, too. In other overnight news, China got some more downbeat economic data Friday. China's September exports were down 6.2%, year-on-year, while its imports were also down 6.2%. China's consumer price index in September was unchanged, year-on-year and compares with a rise of 0.2% in the August report. Meantime, reports said the U.S. is cracking down on oil tankers smuggling Russian oil and selling it above the West's sanctioned price. If the crackdown on sanction-rule-breaking oil tankers continues, that would reduce the supply of crude oil on the world market. The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index near steady. Nymex crude oil prices are sharply higher and trading around $86.25 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year note yield is presently fetching 4.621%. U.S. economic data due for release Friday includes import and export prices and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey. Technically, the gold futures bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, bulls have momentum and recent price action begins to suggest a market bottom is in place. Prices are still in a four-month-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls' next upside price objective is to produce a close in December futures above solid resistance at $1,950.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the October low of $1,823.50. First resistance is seen at $1,913.60 and then at $1,922.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,881.50 and then at Wednesday's low of $1,871.70. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0 The silver bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are still in a downtrend on the daily bar chart. However, the bulls have gained momentum this week to begin to suggest a market bottom is in place. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing December futures prices above solid technical resistance at $23.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the October low of $20.85. First resistance is seen at $22.555 and then at $23.00. Next support is seen at $22.00 and then at this week's low of $21.705. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0. Tony Khan is the subject of controversy after staying mum following an anti-Semitic angle on AEW Dynamite. Credit: Ringside News All Elite Wrestling hasnt had a good month of October. Last week, its flagship show Dynamite, drew its lowest viewership in five months. A week later, they posted low viewership again after going head-to-head with WWE NXT, getting beat handily by the competition. But the special Tuesday Dynamite episode drew a lot of attention for reasons that had nothing to do with pro wrestling. During the show, AEW wrestler Juice Robinson, whos feuding with Maxwell Jacob Friedman, better known as MJF, the AEW World Champion, flashed a roll of quarters. The roll read, in black ink, FRIEDMAN, in reference to the wrestler hes feuding with. While Robinson had been using the roll of quarters as part of his character and part of a bit, doing this at this time drew a lot of pushback. And for mighty good reason. The Hamas terrorist attack launched in Israel has caused a great deal of pain and strife around the world. Its an incredibly sensitive subject, and being antagonistic towards MJF, who is Jewish, in this sort of way, felt like something that should have never gotten off the cutting room floor. But in spite of the controversy, Tony Khan is yet to make a public statement even though hes commented on just about everything else around the wrestling world. In case you havent heard, Khan has spent a great deal of time online this week. AEWs founder has always spent a great deal of time online, but this week brought something else out of him. He posted in the direction of both Paul Triple H Levesque and Shawn Michaels, responded to fans, and even appeared to take a shot at former WWE head Vince McMahon. Yes. Vince has allegedly used his power and influence to shoot a lot of shots. https://t.co/8E9vHeS3rF Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) October 12, 2023 However, if you scroll through the AEW founders feed, youll see no mention of the controversial angle involving Robinson and MJF. Theres no apology or even an acknowledgment. Thus far, the only person to speak publicly about the incident was MJF, who offered a passionate defense. But it turns out that Khan is fully aware of whats going on despite the lack of public postings. Earlier Thursday, Travis Akers, a Duval County school board candidate residing in Jacksonville, Florida, the home of AEW, made a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Akers brought attention to the antisemitic angle by quote-tweeting a post made by TMZ on Wednesday night. Akers claimed that he watched the show, and then after the angle happened, he changed the channel. It was tasteless and a horrible decision by Tony Khan to pursue an angle woven with anti-Semitism, Akers posted. We were watching @AEW when this happened live last night. It was tasteless and a horrible decision by @TonyKhan to pursue an angle woven with anti-Semitism. We changed the channel. AEW lost me as a fan with this one, which sucks because I really enjoyed their product. https://t.co/qUO5OqRh9D Travis Akers (@travisakers) October 12, 2023 On Thursday afternoon, Akers made a since-deleted post, revealing that Khan sent him Twitter DMs about his criticism of the controversial angle. UPDATE: Akers again shared Khans DMs on Friday morning in a new public post. This is how Tony Khan responded to my critique of using an anti-Semitic storyline. Instead of addressing a legitimate concern, he says its not doing much good. Thousands of fans have expressed disappointment about the poorly-timed angle. This is not how you respond to them. pic.twitter.com/gJW7kL3WMv Travis Akers (@travisakers) October 13, 2023 Awful Announcing confirmed with Akers that the conversation took place. Yes, Tony reached out via DM, Akers told AA. However, we are having an on-going conversation now regarding the angle and my concerns about the anti-Semitic content. Akers also told AA that hes an AEW fan who loves the weekly programming. But I believe the angle was poorly timed and a misjudged decision, he said. Akers opinion lined up with many who criticized the insensitive angle at the time. It wouldnt be acceptable at any point, but within the confines of the world right now today, its tasteless. AEWs had quality control issues in the past, but this took the companys issues to a new level. The larger world around us sometimes comes calling. When the phone rings, you need to pick it up. While MJF delivered his passionate defense, Khan has been notably conspicuous by his silence. Everything in AEW goes through him, or at least should. So why has the AEW founder spent more time this week talking about a ratings streak for John Cena and The Undertaker than a real controversy that he is ultimately responsible for? Why is he leaving MJF alone to publicly defend what the company puts on television while he debates it through Twitter DMs? A few weeks ago at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam, an antisemitic sign was made in MJFs direction. If this goes by without anything being addressed, and the incident went mainstream, then what does that say? You cant let the potential blow-up of these situations exacerbate out of control. Not with sensitive subjects like these. They have the potential, at any moment, to go haywire. Thats why, generally speaking, these subjects arent covered at length. And especially not in the world of professional wrestling, which as a whole has been a tactless industry over the years. Tony Khan didnt address the elephant in the room this week publicly and that ultimately sells his wrestlers and his company short. Its been reported that others in AEW want Khan to put the phone down and turn away from social media, which might be the best result for everyone. Get all the essential market news and expert opinions in one place with our daily newsletter. Receive a comprehensive recap of the day's top stories directly to your inbox. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR), one of the leading global producers of titanium minerals and zircon, reported Thursday that its heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) production in Q3 2023 was 414,600 tonnes, a 7% decrease compared to Q3 2022, driven by lower ore grades. The company said that ilmenite production of 291,200 tonnes in Q3 2023 was 4% lower compared to Q3 2022 due to lower HMC processed, while primary zircon production of 14,100 tonnes was 18% lower compared to Q3 2022 due to lower HMC processed and a build of intermediate stockpiles. Kenmare added that total shipments of finished products of 163,400 tonnes in Q3 2023 were 43% lower compared to Q3 2022 as two large ilmenite shipments completed after quarter-end and will be recorded as Q4 2023 shipments. The company said it remains on track to achieve its revised 2023 production guidance. Commenting on the market, Kenmare said that weaker global economic activity led to lower average prices achieved for ilmenite in Q3 2023, although demand remains strong for Kenmares high quality products. According to Kenmare, contracted zircon prices remained largely stable although reduced global construction activity is impacting ceramics demand, with zircon spot prices coming under increasing pressure. Kenmare Resources is one of the world's largest producers of mineral sands products. Kenmare operates the Moma titanium minerals mine in Mozambique. Moma's production accounts for approximately 7% of global titanium feedstocks and the company supplies to customers operating in more than 15 countries. Amazingly the New Zealand Government is still not listing hamas as a terrorist entity, despite their slaughter of maybe 1,300 civilians including babies, children and women. They hide between the fiction that there is a difference between Hamas and its military wing. Sign this petition to call on the Government after the election to designate Hamas as a terrorist entity, as they have already done for the American Proud Boys! The eu, US, UK, canada, Australia and japan all have designated Hamas as a terrorist entity. The New Zealand Government's refusal to do so makes us stand out like a sore thumb. It is the least we can do I response to the greatest slaughter of jewish people since the Holocaust. Feel free to share the petition link with your networks. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. The Pac-12 hopes to expand after the imminent losses of USC, UCLA and now, Colorado. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports The overpayment scandal that cost two Pac-12 executives their jobs was more costly than initially reported. In a court declaration, Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff said the exact amount overpaid by Comcast to the conference was $72 million. Former CFO Brent Willman and Pac-12 Networks president Mark Shuken were let go this January. At the time, it was reported that a distributor (later revealed to be Comcast) had overpaid the Pac-12 over $50 million over several years and that Willman and Shuken were aware of the overpayments but didnt inform the Pac-12 Board of Directors or the Pac-12s external auditors. Per the Mercury News, Kliavkoff said the Pac-12 will (have) distributed more than $72 million less than previously budgeted to our member institutions. The Pac-12 has already begun withholding and reducing the $72 million, which should be completed by the end of the fiscal year. However, that process has reportedly wiped out the conferences emergency fund. In other words, the liability should be off the books if Washington State and Oregon State attempt to rebuild the conference next summer, after the other 10 schools depart for their new conferences. In order to offset the reduction in revenue, the Pac-12 trimmed its expenses and tapped its emergency reserve fund. Multiple sources said the emergency reserves a potential asset for the Cougars and Beavers if they attempt to rebuild are fully exhausted. Theres nothing left, one source said. The Pac-12 became aware of the overpayments in 2017 during an audit, which was never published or finalized. The conference couldnt firm the audit because it didnt have access to Comcasts subscriber information. The Pac-12 was made aware of the error in late 2017, following an audit, but never alerted Comcast. The media giant discovered the overpayments years later, in the summer of 2022, following an internal audit. Shukens declaration to the court indicated the Pac-12s audit was conducted by Media Audits International, which did not finalize or even publish its audit findings. The audit was left with Pac-12 to further investigate, or to devote resources to complete. The audit showed Comcast was overpaying the Pac-12 Networks by $5 million annually, but the conference had no way to confirm the findings because it lacked access to Comcasts proprietary subscriber data. Due to Comcasts own ability to determine proper payment and its own sophisticated infrastructure and internal controls, Willman, the former CFO, said in his court declaration, this raised extreme skepticism within Pac-12 about the audit findings. Shuken also pointed the finger at Comcast for not sharing subscriber data. Additionally, he claimed he told former commissioner Larry Scott about the audits results and Scott said they should be ignored. In fact, one of the reasons the Pac-12 overpayment allegedly occurred in the first place was because Comcast maintains its subscriber data strictly confidential, even from programmers like Pac-12. The contracts between Pac-12 and Comcast generally provide a rate per subscriber and distribution tiers based on the geographic location of each subscriber but only Comcast has information on subscriber counts and location. Because Comcast has complete insight into its subscriber obligations, Larry Scott and other individuals at Pac-12 assumed that Comcast regularly monitors the payments it is making. Shuken said he shared the findings with Scott immediately following that summary from Budill but Scott responded that the audit findings were preposterous and that we should ignore them and not move forward with any further investigation or review. Therefore, at his direction, there was no further conversation on this topic, as Mr. Scott chose to close the matter. A firm hired by the Pac-12 in 2022 found that claim not credible. On the matter of whether Scott knew about the overpayments and hid them from Comcast, Kliavkoff stated: While Plaintiffs alleged they verbally reported the Comcast overpayment issue to Scott, Cooley did not find that claim to be credible. Just think: the Pac-12s schools were disappointed with distributions from the Pac-12 Network over the years (which were lower than even the conferences worst-case projections), and they were still getting overpaid! While this overpayment scandal is clearly a huge deal and embarrassing for both the Pac-12 and Comcast, it surely would be viewed differently if the Pac-12 wasnt collapsing into itself like a dying star. [Mercury News] Mexicans are celebrating Day of the Dead, an intangible tradition borne down from pre-Hispanic cultures that is also a celebration for all the senses. The festivity smells of cempasuchil flowers and copal incense. It has a sweet taste. Sounds and colors abound on the tombs and altars honoring the departed. Day of the Dead is one of Mexicos great visual spectacles and a celebration of cultural syncretism. Its fundamental purpose is to remember those who have died so their souls dont disappear forever. Read moreThe Day of the Dead in Mexico is a celebration for the 5 senses Alaska Permanent Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IJJ Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,128 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $549,000. Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Professional Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF in the second quarter worth $267,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF by 7.4% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 17,865 shares of the companys stock worth $1,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF during the first quarter worth $460,000. Foundation Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF by 7.7% in the first quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,832 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petra Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF in the second quarter valued at about $230,000. Get iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF alerts: iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF Stock Down 0.8 % NYSEARCA IJJ traded down $0.76 on Friday, reaching $97.73. The company had a trading volume of 63,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,747. The stocks 50 day moving average is $104.14 and its 200-day moving average is $103.79. The stock has a market cap of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.17. iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF has a 52 week low of $91.99 and a 52 week high of $116.78. iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF Company Profile iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF, formerly iShares S&P MidCap 400 Value Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Value Index (the Index). The Value Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization value sector of the United States equity market and consists of those stocks in the S&P MidCap 400 Index exhibiting the strongest value characteristics. Read More Receive News & Ratings for iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBDO Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 37,500 shares, an increase of 209.9% from the September 15th total of 12,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 24,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Banco Bradesco Trading Down 3.5 % Shares of Banco Bradesco stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $2.49. The companys stock had a trading volume of 12,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,955. The stock has a market cap of $26.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Banco Bradesco has a 52 week low of $2.12 and a 52 week high of $3.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.71. Get Banco Bradesco alerts: Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBDO Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The bank reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter. Banco Bradesco had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 7.80%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter. Banco Bradesco Cuts Dividend Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Bradesco The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.0035 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 3rd. Banco Bradescos dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.00%. Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBDO. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Banco Bradesco in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Banco Bradesco in the third quarter worth $36,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Bradesco in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. KCS Wealth Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Bradesco in the 1st quarter valued at about $158,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. increased its position in Banco Bradesco by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 154,750 shares of the banks stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 31,066 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.01% of the companys stock. Banco Bradesco Company Profile (Get Free Report) Banco Bradesco SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, corporates, and businesses in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Banking and Insurance. It provides current, savings, click, and salary accounts; real estate credit, vehicle financing, payroll loans, mortgage loans, microcredit, leasing, and personal and installment credit; debit and business cards; financial and security services; consortium products; auto, personal accident, dental, travel, and life insurance; investment products; pension products; real estate and vehicle auctions; cash management, and foreign trade and exchange services; capitalization bonds; and internet banking services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Banco Bradesco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Bradesco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. China Shenhua Energy Company Limited (OTCMKTS:CSUAY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,800 shares, a drop of 72.8% from the September 15th total of 10,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 30,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days. China Shenhua Energy Price Performance OTCMKTS:CSUAY traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $12.80. 9,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,007. China Shenhua Energy has a 52-week low of $10.45 and a 52-week high of $14.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 2.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.51. Get China Shenhua Energy alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of China Shenhua Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Sunday, August 27th. China Shenhua Energy Company Profile (Get Free Report) China Shenhua Energy Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and sale of coal and power; railway, port, and shipping transportation; and coal-to-olefins businesses in the People's Republic of China and internationally. It operates through six segments: Coal, Power Generation, Railway, Port, Shipping, and Coal Chemical. See Also Receive News & Ratings for China Shenhua Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Shenhua Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. (OTCMKTS:DIFTY Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 100 shares, a decrease of 50.0% from the September 15th total of 200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.0 days. Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. Price Performance Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. stock traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $26.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,623. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.38. Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. has a 52 week low of $22.50 and a 52 week high of $28.85. Get Daito Trust Construction Co.Ltd. alerts: Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. Company Profile (Get Free Report) Recommended Stories 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. Receive News & Ratings for Daito Trust Construction Co.Ltd. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Daito Trust Construction Co.Ltd. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Deutsche Telekom AG (OTCMKTS:DTEGY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 23,800 shares, a decline of 78.4% from the September 15th total of 110,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 461,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days. Deutsche Telekom Stock Down 1.1 % DTEGY stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $21.60. The stock had a trading volume of 171,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,659. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.17. Deutsche Telekom has a 1-year low of $16.77 and a 1-year high of $25.55. Get Deutsche Telekom alerts: Deutsche Telekom (OTCMKTS:DTEGY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The utilities provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $29.63 billion for the quarter. Deutsche Telekom had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 17.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Deutsche Telekom will post 1.84 EPS for the current year. About Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through five segments: Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, and Group Development. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Deutsche Telekom Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Deutsche Telekom and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Korea and Saudi Arabia agreed Friday to boost bilateral cooperation on a wider range of industry fields, such as the auto, bio and gaming sectors, while pushing to implement their agreed-upon joint infrastructure and energy projects, Seoul's industry ministry said. The consensus was reached during a meeting of their Vision 2030 Committee in Seoul attended by Korea's Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu and the Middle Eastern nation's investment minister, Khalid Al-Falih, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two sides agreed to push for 17 new projects on bio, gaming, auto manufacturing and smart city development fields, among others, in addition to their 39 ongoing joint projects. The ministers also confirmed that the two nations are working to implement business deals and cooperation agreements that they signed in November last year as planned. During Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Korea last year, the governments and companies of the two nations signed 26 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on the Neom city project, chemicals, renewable energy and various other industries, which were worth a combined $30 billion. The MOUs include the agreement between the Aramco-owned major oil refiner S-Oil and a Korean construction firm for engineering, procurement and construction for the second phase of the Shaheen project that calls for building facilities at its plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan. The Saudi investment ministry also signed an MOU with Hyundai-Rotem Co. on the Neom railway project. "Newly launched projects are expected to help domestic companies find new business chances in the Saudi Arabian market," a ministry official said. "The government will extend support for them to prop up the overall exports to the Middle East." (Yonhap) Seoul remains cautious about war's impact on Busan's bid By Nam Hyun-woo The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine is casting uncertainties on Korea and Saudi Arabias respective efforts to host the World Expo 2030, just two months before the Bureau International des Exposition (BIE) votes to decide the host city. According to the BIE, the host country of World Expo 2030 will be selected at the 173rd General Assembly slated for Nov. 28 in Paris. Koreas Busan, Saudi Arabias Riyadh and Italys Rome are in the race for selection. BIE rules state that if there are more than two candidates, one candidate must gather two-thirds of all votes to be selected. If no country reaches two-thirds in the first round, the third-place candidate will be eliminated and the remaining candidates will advance to a second-round vote, the majority winner of which will be selected as the host. Multiple sources supporting Busans bid said Busan and Riyadh are neck and neck in the lead, with Rome trailing behind. They expect a second-round vote will be inevitable, and are pinning hopes in the second round on attracting BIE members who originally voted for Rome. Reportedly, the Korean government is carefully monitoring the Israel-Hamas wars impact on each countrys Expo bids, because the war is widely considered to be an attempt to disrupt fence-mending movements between Israel and Saudi Arabia on the arrangement of the United States. Saudi Arabia has long been making efforts to mediate a regional peace as one of the leading countries of the region, but the war triggered by a unexpected attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas has changed the situation, with the region's volatility again gaining an international focus. While Saudi Arabia has clearly stated that it stands by Palestine, Italy was one the first countries to join the U.S. and other Western countries to express its strong support for Israel. According to Reuters, in his recent phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Saudis will continue to stand by Palestinians and help them regain peace and stability. Korea, whose closest ally is the U.S., also condemned Hamas' attacks on Israel. Given this, votes at the BIE could be divided sharply between Western and Middle Eastern countries. Against that backdrop, the Korean government is of the view that the war has dented Saudi Arabias leadership in the region in a broad perspective, but at the same time it will likely lead Arab countries to unite as Saudi Arabia expressed its support for Palestine and vote for Riyadh. Due to this complexity, the Korean government and Busans bid committee are reportedly facing increased uncertainties in counting countries favorable to Busan, because it is unclear whether any non-Middle Eastern countries that previously supported Riyadh will change their minds to vote for Busan or Rome because of the war. Some government sources also said that Middle Eastern countries will likely vote for Riyadh regardless of the war, given their tendency to support a fellow Islamic nation. Given this, it is important to monitor whether this war will affect countries yet to decide on how to vote, or nations which voted for Rome in the first round. Amid this ever-more complicated scenario, Korea is making a last-ditch effort to gain international attention for Busans Expo bid. Koreas Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is on an eight-day trip to France, Denmark, Croatia and Greece, held the World Expo 2030 Busan Symposium in Paris, Sept. 9, and promoted Busan's intention to act as a platform for solving international problems through the Expo. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. This summer, the first of four dams on the Wests Klamath River was destroyed, unleashing a torrent of cold water that had been held back for a century. By the end of 2024, three more dams nea Read moreCommentary: American dams are being demolished. And nature is pushing that along Federal law gives illegals free hotels and travel, but charges Americans for flights out of Israel The State Department confirmed on Thursday that it was working to arrange charter flights for American citizens and their immediate family members. But if you are an American citizen, there's a catch. GLOBALink | China-Europe freight train ships exhibits for upcoming CIIE Pub Date:23-10-13 08:47 Source:Xinhua To prepare for the sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE), a China-Europe freight train, having set out from Duisburg, Germany, carried exhibits for the expo and arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Editor:Zheng Chen Related News AmazingAnhui | Chasing the Sun: exploring ... GLOBALink | Explore brand-new Made-in-Chin... Love for hanfu binds people together Hainan utilizes free trade to expand BRI Xem them (Construction) - On October 3, 2023, in Tokyo - Capital of Japan, Construction Newspaper of Vietnam, represented by Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung - Editor-in-Chief continued to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Daily Engineering and Construction News of Japan (DECN) with the witness of the MLIT and many businesses in Japan. ... Tin bai cuoi cung Khong con du lieu e load An aerial photo shows a highway in Fusong county, Jilin province, which is surrounded by undulating mountains and dense forests, which have been tinged with various colors in late autumn. [Photo by Zhao Zhiqiang/For chinadaily.com.cn] With late autumn's arrival, Northeast China welcomes its most beautiful season. Running along a highway in Fusong county, Jilin province, drivers and passengers can get a chance to enjoy a colorful autumn scenery. Located in the southeast of Jilin, Fusong is situated on the upper reaches of the Songhua River and the northwest of the Changbai Mountains. The county is surrounded by undulating mountains and dense forests, which have been tinged with various colors in late autumn. The dazzling yellow and red leaves mix with the green of the trees, transporting tourists into a fairytale world. An aeril photo shows a highway in Fusong county, Jilin province, which is surrounded by undulating mountains and dense forests, which have been tinged with various colors in late autumn. [Photo by Zhao Zhiqiang/For chinadaily.com.cn] An aerial photo shows a highway in Fusong county, Jilin province, which is surrounded by undulating mountains and dense forests, which have been tinged with various colors in late autumn. [Photo by Zhao Zhiqiang/For chinadaily.com.cn] An aerial photo shows a highway in Fusong county, Jilin province, which is surrounded by undulating mountains and dense forests, which have been tinged with various colors in late autumn. [Photo by Zhao Zhiqiang/For chinadaily.com.cn] New Delhi [India], October 13 (ANI): In a historic moment for India's G20 presidency, the joint declaration for the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) has been adopted with consensus to engage in parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue in relevant fora as a catalyst for promoting international peace. In view of the constructive discussions held during the 9th P20 and the experience gained at the previous P20s, the concluding part of this declaration mentions, that the members reaffirmed their commitment to continue "joint work to make an effective and meaningful parliamentary contribution to the G20 process, as appreciated by the G20 Leaders." Also Read | Mob Lynching in West Bengal: 17-Years-Old Boy Lynched in Tufanganj in Cooch Behar District. "We will continue to engage in parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue in relevant fora as a catalyst for promoting international peace, prosperity and harmony, including supporting the peaceful resolution of conflicts and disputes," the declaration states. In the declaration, the member dignitaries expressed commitment to further communicate this Joint Statement to their respective Heads of State and government and engage in the implementation of our shared commitments. Also Read | OnePlus Open To Launch on October 19: From Specifications to Camera and Price; Know Everything About OnePluss First Foldable Smartphone. "The P20 Presidency will communicate this Joint Statement to the G20 Presidency, and encourage its broad circulation to the G20 community," added the declaration. The participating dignitaries thanked the Parliament of India for hosting the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit and for its warm hospitality. They also congratulate India on the inauguration of the new building of its Parliament this year, befitting its ancient traditions of people's participation in governance and decision-making. "As we look forward to meeting again in 2024 under the G20 Presidency of Brazil, we convey our best wishes to the Parliament of Brazil for the Tenth P20 Summit," the declaration added. In the declaration, the dignitaries also lauded the 'Nari Shakti Vandan' Act passed by the Indian Parliament supporting women's reservations. The Act was recently passed in a Special Session of Parliament conducted last month. The joint declaration was adopted after day-long deliberations and speakers' bilateral meetings as India on Friday started the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) and Parliamentary Forum with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the event. The P20 Summit is being hosted by India under the broader framework of its G20 Presidency. The event is an international forum for debate and deliberations. Prime Minister Modi on Friday inaugurated the P20 Summit and addressed dignitaries, saying it is the "mahakumbh" of parliamentary practices of the world. The theme of the Summit is Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future, which draws inspiration from the ancient Indian philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World is one Family). The P20 Summit, which is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, will discuss four major issues affecting the whole world. Four Sessions are set for the discussion on these subjects including One Earth, One Family, One Futur' with Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) showcasing achievements and accelerating progress; One Earth Sustainable Energy Transition-Gateway to Green Future; One Family Mainstreaming Gender Equality- From Women's Development to Women Women-led development; and One Future Transformation in Peoples' Lives through Public Digital. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) India and Brazil are looking at an "aspirational" target of increasing the two-way trade by over three-fold to USD 50 billion by 2030, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Friday. He was in Brasilia from October 1 to 4 to discuss ways to promote trade between the two countries. He chaired the sixth meeting of the India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism (TMM). Also Read | Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2023: From Shivraj Singh Chouhan to Narottam Mishra, List of Key Candidates of BJP and Their Constituencies. At present, the bilateral trade stood at USD 15.2 billion. "We are looking at USD 30 billion in the next 3-4 years and by 2030, we are looking at an aspirational target of USD 50 billion. There is a huge potential for trade growth," he told reporters here. Also Read | What Is Hamas? What Does Hamas Want? Know All About Pro-Palestine Group That Rules Gaza Strip and Has Fought Several Rounds of War With Israel. He added that during his visit, the two sides also discussed market access issues as well as new areas of cooperation. Two working groups have been formed - market access issues and sectors of cooperation. "Biofuels and renewables are important sectors which we will be looking at...Ethanol and biofuel blending is another area of cooperation," he said. Brazil has advanced technologies available for ethanol mixing with petrol and diesel. "So that will help us in reducing our dependence on crude oil imports," he said. Further the two countries agreed to expand the existing preferential trade agreement between India and Mercosur, which is a trading bloc in Latin America, comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. "At present, there are 452 tariff lines (broad product categories) and now both the sides agreed that we should expand it to all the tariff lines where trade occurs," Barthwal said. Speaking at the media briefing, Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that the sixth round of talks for India-EU free trade agreement is scheduled to be held from October 16-20 in Brussels. On Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Rajesh Agrawal said that the sixth round will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from October 15-24. "In-depth text based negotiations will be held in Pillar-III (clean economy) and Pillar-IV (fair economy)," he said adding "most probably" talks on these two pillars will also be closed by October 25 and "we look forward to agreeing to a substantial closure in the ministerial meeting which is scheduled to be held on 13-14 November at San Francisco". IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 last year in Tokyo. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has joined all the pillars except the trade one. Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam are members of the bloc. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) On 12 October Guatemalas Presidentmet leaders from the indigenous groups such as 48 Cantones de Totonicapan, who since 2 October have been staging an indefinite nationwide strike over calls for discredited attorney generalto quit. End of preview - This article contains approximately 391 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options On 12 October Mexicos Presidentdefended the army over allegations that it was obstructing an investigation into Mexicos Dirty War (1964-1982). End of preview - This article contains approximately 400 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Iron Dome: Rafael Advanced Defense System (Google image) Without a global navy, China has to contend with the nightmare of a US-led blockade. Understandably, therefore, Beijing is striving to impose its version of the Monroe Doctrine on the South China Sea and beyond. This, however, unavoidably deepens and widens the existing geopolitical fault lines in the Pacific region. Consequently, the Taiwan Strait is looking more and more like the sum of all dire straits. In dire straits, to paraphrase Machiavelli, people can't help but start worrying about the calm before the storm. The storm might well be a nightmare come true. Taipei, indeed, has to be prepared for the worst. After all, history is full of tough stories, one of which tells us that, at the stroke of a pen, Britain signed away Czechoslovakia in the Munich Agreement of 1938. In theory at least, the US could do the same to Taiwan. It's little wonder that Taiwan spares no effort to cultivate an enduring friendship with the Czech Republic -- as a reminder of conscience to the free world. In the meantime, Taiwan openly keeps dozens of US military advisors while incessantly asking Washington to upgrade the island nation's defense system. Speaking of which, China's possible infiltration in the Taipei government may keep the US on its toes, so much so that Washington is dragging its feet over the Iron Dome for Taiwan's air defense. Quite frankly, the Iron Dome would not be adequate to fend off China's hyper-sonic missiles (if indeed they're the real deal). That being said, whoever lets hyper-sonic missiles fly to Taiwan could be boomeranged. It won't be a pretty sight at the end of the day. Sharing Taiwan's angst, Ukraine, having lost Crimea to Russia, is impressed by and interested in Israel's Iron Dome. Taiwan must be no less impressed or interested. As a matter of fact, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel are all constantly under threat, if not also under siege. Fortunately one of them happens to be a US arms dealer. Author: renqiulan 2021512 Argentinas Presidentand Chiles Presidentboth set off for China on 12 October. End of preview - This article contains approximately 375 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options The chaos and infighting within the Republican Party continue as the man that the majority of Republicans chose to be their House Speaker nominee, Steve Scalise, has now dropped out. This comes after he failed to secure enough votes to take the House Speakership, even with primary opponent Jim Jordan coming out to support him and telling holdouts to support Scalise instead. "I just shared with my colleagues that I'm withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee," the Louisiana Representative announced after coming out of a closed-door meeting at the Capitol, informing his Republican colleagues of his decision. However, Steve Scalise added that the Republican majority "still has to come together and is not there" to unite around one person to become the next House Speaker. "There are still some people that have their own agendas," he added. "And I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs." The House's future is now uncertain as House Republicans continue in their infighting despite having the majority. While many in the party are slamming one another, congressional business remains at a standstill and leaving the House of Representatives basically crippled. Steve Scalise has so far failed to overcome the entrenched divisions among House Republicans. While he does have the support of the majority, many in the House say he "doesn't represent institutional change, that he lacks a unifying vision for the conference, or that his battle with blood cancer would make it difficult for him to lead the chamber," according to The Guardian. House Republican Infighting Could Have Serious Ramifications With No House Speaker Nominee The position of House Speaker is important, and with no clear nominee from the Republican majority, it could spell some bad news not just for the country but the entire world. READ MORE: Donald Trump Fraud Trial: Ex-POTUS Knew He Was Faking the Size of His Properties as Court Documents Show As House Republicans continue their squabbling, this could mean serious consequences. As the Financial Times pointed out, without a House Speaker, US funding for Ukraine or support for Israel in its war with Hamas could not happen as the internal feud is truly crippling Congress. Without a House Speaker, the possibility of another government shutdown is once again looming. This could close down many of the government's functions and leave millions of federal workers furloughed. Matt Gaetz Getting Blamed for the Chaos Within the Republican Party This crisis began when Matt Gaetz moved to oust Kevin McCarthy, and the Florida congressman is now getting much criticism for the chaos he brought about. "He has very few friends in the caucus," said fellow Florida Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez. "He's about clicks. He's about how many cameras he can get shoved in his face and he's a historical figure because he caused [something] for the first time in history and all that. I think he gets off on that." As The Guardian pointed out, even Fox News is blaming Matt Gaetz over the chaos he reportedly caused. Fox News personalities have been attacking Gaetz as of late, and the coverage of him has been described as "highly negative." Even former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich has called Gaetz "treasonous" on Fox News. READ MORE: Trump Organization Convicted of 17 Felonies, Gets Maximum Punishment This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Chaos And Humiliation as Republican Holdouts Block Scalise's Speaker Bid: A Closer Look - Late Night with Seth Meyers Recent US migrant data from Immigration Customs Enforcement have shed light on a taxpayer-funded program called Release and Reporting Management that is designed to provide services for non-detained migrants in the country, The Blaze noted. As per ICE's US migrant data, there are approximately 5.7 million non-detained migrants currently residing in the United States. The RRM program aims to offer essential services, including medical care, food, clothing, housing, and various other benefits, to a substantial portion of the 5.7 million individuals on the non-detained docket. This program's implementation comes as ICE is tasked with monitoring nearly 6 million migrants across the country, a significant increase compared to the 2.4 million migrants under its purview before President Joe Biden's administration. It is important to note that ICE's estimate does not encompass migrants who are currently detained for processing at the border or those awaiting deportation. The program includes a range of "community services" that cover legal assistance, psychosocial services, therapeutic services, medical care, food and clothing banks, housing, public transportation information, parental information, education information, and repatriation and reintegration services. These services are tailored to individual participants' needs, ranging from basic referrals to intensive direct assistance. To implement the RRM program effectively, ICE is looking to partner with private companies offering robust monitoring technology, including features such as check-in phone calls with biometric voiceprint, smartphone biometric facial comparison, geolocation information, and the use of ankle monitors. Former ICE Director Tom Homan expressed concerns about the program, suggesting that it would likely cost taxpayers billions to provide migrants with "welfare" benefits. He characterized it as a push by open-border advocates to offer welfare benefits to millions of people, including legal assistance for illegal aliens at the taxpayer's expense. READ NEXT: Texas Border Wall Construction Gets Joe Biden Greenlight President Biden's Expansion of Migrants' Health Care Access President Joe Biden announced a significant policy change that allows hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US illegally as children to apply for Medicaid and access the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges in April. This change enables participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to access government-funded health insurance programs, AP reports. DACA, initiated during President Barack Obama's administration, aims to shield immigrants brought to the US illegally by their parents as children from deportation and grant them legal work status. This policy change has faced resistance from conservative leaders in states that have been hesitant to expand Medicaid and have been critical of the Biden administration's handling of migrants entering the country illegally. While the federal government provides funding and guidelines for Medicaid, the program is administered by individual states. The Biden administration intends to expand healthcare access for DACA program participants by the end of the month, a move that comes as the DACA program faces legal challenges and the number of eligible individuals is diminishing. ICE's Monitoring of US Migration Migrants admitted to the United States to pursue asylum claims are typically required to check in with ICE regularly at a local office in their area of residence, according to the New York Post. Some migrants wear ankle monitors, while others use a mobile app with facial recognition for check-ins. Each case manager was responsible for an average of 125 people in the monitoring scheme in 2021, according to ICE's US migrant data. ICE sent out a Request for Information form to US vendors in August to assess their interest in participating in the government-funded RRM program. While the Joe Biden administration is in the planning phase, the full rollout of RRM is expected to take place in fiscal year 2024 with a "Request for Proposal" sent to vendors. RRM is intended to replace its precursor, Alternatives to Detention, which was introduced in 2004. The new Biden initiative would require additional funding beyond the current allocation for ATD. The ATD program has approximately 194,632 migrants tracked via GPS or other technology in fiscal year 2023, leaving millions of migrants untracked across the country. The US Customs and Border Protection has encountered a record-breaking number of migrants during President Biden's tenure, with over 2.76 million encounters in fiscal year 2022. Additionally, the government has admitted to losing track of 177,000 migrants after their release into the US, according to a Department of Homeland Security report. READ MORE: LeBron James, Tom Brady Share Statements on Israel Hamas War This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Here's why nearly half a million migrants just got legal status in US - From CBS News Since Elon Musk took over Twitter and renamed it X, advertisers have slowly been leaving the company as constant policy changes and an increase in fake news have flooded the platform. Since he bought Twitter (now X) for $44 billion last year, Musk has instituted some very controversial moves, such as reinstating former US President Donald Trump and gutting Trust and Safety Teams. He also placed a paywall for the "Blue Checkmark" that made it easy to mask as legitimate sources and spread fake news. As Al Jazeera noted, the loss of the trust and safety teams was particularly a big hit to the platform's credibility as X has now been flooded with fake news regarding the Hamas attacks on Israel. The lack of fact-checking on the site has many experts concerned. X stopped displaying headlines for articles shared on the platform and this allowed more online disinformation on the Israel-Hamas war to surface. Since last week, the platform has only shown the lead image associated with the article and the website it leads to. To make things more confusing for readers, X has stopped labeling its ads. This makes it difficult to tell them apart from regular posts, thus making it harder for people to keep up with the news. This resulted in advertisers getting alienated from the platform and hurting revenues. "[The] erosion of trust, both from users and advertisers, coupled with the heightened risk of disinformation and misinformation, should cause worry for X's future prospects," Zachary Weiner, CEO of communications agency Emerging Insider told Al Jazeera. "The platform's business model, historically reliant on ad revenues and active user engagement, is under threat." EU Sent Elon Musk Warnings Regarding the Spread of Fake News on X The rise in the number of fake news on X has concerned even the EU as alleged disinformation about the Hamas attack on Israel has been increasing on the site. The EU warned that fake news and "repurposed old images" have been spreading throughout X. READ MORE: Elon Musk's SpaceX Sued by US DOJ -- Here's Why The warning letter came less than two months after the EU passed sweeping new laws regulating content on social media under the Digital Services Act. Should Musk not comply and fake news and misinformation continue to spread at X, he could face a fine of 6% of his revenues from the company. The EU could also blackout X entirely, according to The Guardian. Elon Musk Himself Spread Fake News Regarding Israel-Hamas War But Deleted That Tweet Musk himself has shown that he also falls for fake news and was recently forced to delete a tweet on X regarding some misinformation he helped spread. According to the New York Post, Musk wrote in a deleted post, "For following the war in real-time, @WarMonitors & @sentdefender are good." He added, "It is also worth following direct sources on the ground. Please add interesting options in replies below." However, the billionaire soon deleted that very tweet because, as it turned out, he was endorsing accounts that have a history of being "antisemitic" and "biased." Musk was bashed for the post, with X users pointing out that "@WarMonitors is a rancid hate account that puts the word 'Israel' in quotes and refers to Hamas terrorists as 'resistance' fighters." It is noted that the billionaire had been feuding with Jewish advocacy groups such as the Anti-Defamation League for allowing hate speech to proliferate on the site once known as Twitter. READ MORE: X: Hateful Tweets Are on the Rise, but Elon Musk Wants To Sue the Researchers Who Found Out This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: EU warns Elon Musk of 'penalties' for disinformation circulating on X amid Israel-Hamas war - ABC7 News Bay Area Florida experienced severe weather on Thursday, resulting in damage to homes, cars, and businesses, with at least one tornado making its impact felt, per CNN. The Clearwater Beach area bore the brunt of the severe weather, where an apparent tornado wreaked havoc on at least two homes after making landfall early Thursday morning. Fortunately, no injuries were reported, according to Clearwater police. However, images from the scene revealed streets strewn with debris and a home's gutter piercing a car's windshield. In a particularly fortunate turn of events, a 90-year-old woman who was asleep in her home when the storm struck remained unharmed despite a wall and the home's roof collapsing on her. Clearwater police and fire officials shared that she had awakened to the sound of shattering glass and wisely took cover under her bedcovers as the storm raged on. The damage extended to the nearby Dunedin coastal area, located north of Clearwater Beach, where officials from the town reported downed power lines and substantial structural damage. Social media posts from the city depicted buildings missing walls and roofs and business windows shattered. To assess the extent of the damage and confirm its tornado origin, the National Weather Service will conduct a survey in the affected areas. Another separate potential tornado event was reported approximately 65 miles north in Crystal River. Crystal River Mayor Joe Meek conveyed that this tornado caused damage to a significant number of businesses and homes within the city. Despite the extensive destruction, there were no major injuries or reports of fatalities, which Meek deemed remarkable given the condition of many affected residences. READ NEXT: Florida: Hurricane Idalia Update No Active Alerts From NWS, Palm Coast Residents Say Residents of a Palm Coast community are expressing deep concern after discovering that no active tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) when an EF-2 tornado tore through their neighborhood, per FOX 35. The aftermath of the early morning tornado primarily affected the Indian Trails neighborhood, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Startled residents in the area shared their feelings of being caught off guard by the sudden and violent storm. Jackie Buck recounted her experience to FOX 35's Hannah Mackenzie, describing how she heard the approaching tornado but received no official warning. She recounted, "I'm like, 'oh my god, it sounds like a tornado!' So, I jumped up... and as I jumped up to go to my room to seek shelter, the lights went out, and things were just coming." For Buck, this was not her first encounter with a tornado. She noted that a similar situation occurred five years ago in the same neighborhood, stating, "It was three houses from me... with an oak tree coming down then, and then it went over to the other areas, and a lot of damage was over there." Schools Remain Safe Following Florida Tornadoes Barrage In the aftermath of the Florida tornadoes that ravaged the west side of Citrus County and Crystal River overnight on Wednesday, Citrus County Schools have emerged largely unscathed, Citrus County Chronicle noted. Lindsay Blair, the district's spokeswoman, confirmed on Thursday afternoon that there was no structural damage to any school buildings, save for the need to clear debris from surrounding businesses. The sole educational institution directly impacted by the storm was Crystal River Primary School, which lost power. As of Thursday evening, Duke Energy successfully restored power to the school, granting the green light for it to reopen. For parents and students, it's business as usual on Friday, October 13, as all schools will be open. After-school programs and extra-curricular activities will also proceed according to their regular schedules. In a statement, Blair noted, "If your student is unable to attend school on Friday, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's school with any questions or concerns. We know this is a difficult time for many of our families. Please join us in keeping those impacted by the storm and the entire Crystal River community in your thoughts and prayers." To stay informed about any further updates, parents and students are encouraged to monitor the school district's Facebook page and messages from Lindsay Blair. READ MORE: Michigan Teen Faces Trial as an Adult This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: 'I Couldn't Believe What I Saw': Woman Records Clearwater, Florida Tornado As It Comes Ashore - From FOX Weather U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey was charged Thursday with conspiring for years to act as an agent of the Egyptian government while he held a powerful role in shaping U.S. foreign policy, putting the Democrat in deeper legal trouble as he continues to reject calls to resign. The superseding indictment, filed in Manhattan federal court, accuses Menendez of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register with the U.S. government if they act as an agent of a foreign principal. As a member of Congress, Menendez was prohibited from being an agent of a foreign government. The new charge comes weeks after Menendez and his wife were accused of accepting bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senators help and influence over foreign affairs. The new indictment says a conspiracy occurred from January 2018 to June 2022, alleging that Menendez promised to take and took a series of acts on behalf of Egypt, including on behalf of Egyptian military and intelligence officials. It said he conspired to do so with his wife, Nadine, and a business associate and fellow defendant, Wael Hana. Ariel Alvarez, an associate professor of political science and law at Montclair State University, told nj.com he believed Menendez is the first sitting member of Congress to be charged with acting as a foreign agent, at least in modern history. According to the indictment, Hana and Nadine Menendez also communicated requests and directives from Egyptian officials to Menendez. Hours after the lates charge was revealed, Menendez issued a statement, saying it flies in the face of my long record of standing up for human rights and democracy in Egypt and in challenging leaders of that country, including President (Fattah) El-Sisi on these issues. I have been, throughout my life, loyal to only one country the United States of America, the land my family chose to live in democracy and freedom, he added. Piling new charge upon new charge does not make the allegations true. ... I again ask people who know me and my record to give me the chance to present my defense and show my innocence. The superseding indictment brought fresh calls for Menendez to resign. And Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said in a statement that senators should vote to expel Menendez because we cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate. But a vote to expel was unlikely, especially since the case hasnt yet gone to trial. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has not called on Menendez to resign and had not commented on the new charges Thursday. The new charge against Menendez comes as more than 30 Senate Democrats including his home state colleague, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker have called on him to resign. Menendez has remained defiant, telling his colleagues in a closed-door luncheon two weeks ago that he will not leave the Senate. Menendez has not said whether he will run for reelection next year. At least one Democrat, New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, has already jumped into the primary, and the head of Senate Democrats campaign arm, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, has called on Menendez to resign, signaling that he may not receive campaign assistance traditionally available to incumbents. Kim on Thursday urged the Senate to expel Menendez. The indictment alleged that in May 2019, Menendez, his wife and Hana met with an Egyptian intelligence official in Menendezs Senate office in Washington. During the meeting, they discussed an American citizen who was seriously injured in a 2015 airstrike by the Egyptian military using a U.S.-made Apache helicopter, the indictment said. Some members of Congress objected to awarding certain military aid to Egypt over that episode and the perception by certain lawmakers that the Egyptian government was unwilling to fairly compensate the injured American, according to the indictment. Shortly after the meeting in Washington, the Egyptian official texted Hana that if Menendez helped resolve the matter, he will sit very comfortably. Hana replied, Orders, consider it done, the indictment said. Prosecutors noted that a search of Hanas cellphone had revealed thousands of text messages, many via an encrypted application, with Egyptian military and intelligence officials, pertaining to various topics, including Menendez, and including requests and directives for Hana to act upon. And they said for the first time that Nadine Menendez began at least in 2018, the same year she started dating the senator, to have meetings and direct communications with multiple Egyptian officials, at least some of whom she understood were intelligence officials, and received requests from them, and conveyed information and requests from them to Menendez. Attorney Danny Onorato, who represents Nadine Menendez, said in a statement that she denies all allegations in the superseding indictment, including the claim that she acted as an agent of any foreign government. We will fight all these charges, as appropriate, in court. In an email, Hanas attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, said the new allegation that Wael Hana was part of a plot concocted over dinner to enlist Senator Menendez as an agent of the Egyptian Government is as absurd as it is false. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the charges lodged against them last month. Hana pleaded not guilty last month to charges including conspiracy to commit bribery. After Hanas company was granted a lucrative monopoly by the Egyptian government to certify that all meat imported into that country met religious requirements, prosecutors said, Menendez urged U.S. agriculture officials to stop questioning the deal. Menendez was accused of trying to interfere in two criminal cases, pushing prosecutors to either drop an investigation or give leniency to friends of his associates. In return, prosecutors said, one businessman, Jose Uribe, bought Nadine Menendez a $60,000 luxury car. Uribe has pleaded not guilty. In both the old and new indictments, prosecutors said Menendez, after meeting with an Egyptian official, lobbied then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to increase American engagement in stalled negotiations involving Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to build a dam over the Nile River, a key foreign policy issue for Egypt. The indictments said that while Menendez was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he took several steps to secretly aid Egyptian officials. That included ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt. He relinquished the chairmanship of the committee after the earlier indictment against him was unsealed last month. He was also accused of passing along information about employees at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt and transmitting nonpublic information to Egyptian officials about military aid. Menendez, 69, has insisted that he did nothing unusual to assist Egypt and that prosecutors had misunderstood the work of a senator involved in foreign affairs. Authorities who searched Menendezs home last year said they found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars and over $480,000 in cash much of it hidden in closets, clothing and a safe. The Justice Department in recent years has stepped up its criminal enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law enacted in 1938 to unmask Nazi propaganda in the United States that requires people to disclose to the Justice Department when they advocate, lobby or perform public relations work in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government or political entity. According to the new indictment, Menendez himself made multiple requests from 2020 to 2022 for the U.S. to investigate a former member of Congress for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent, saying in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that it was imperative that the Justice Department ensure he is held to account. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Its interesting how totalitarians solidified power. Paramount was stripping youth from their families influence for indoctrination into mindless fanaticism driving the regimes cruel and destructive agendas. Demanded was blind obedience, unshakeable loyalty, unconditional conformity and absolute reliability, designed to develop future party operatives. Under the totalitarians, life was poor and personal freedoms stripped away. Hundreds of millions died. Ultimately economies were devastated. 1918: Komsomol (Communist League of Youth), in the Soviet Union, organized young people into spreading Communist teachings and prepared future members of the Communist Party. 1926: Hitler Youth, in Germany, trained and indoctrinated the nations youth into the myths of Aryan racial superiority and to view Jews as subhuman. 1968: Red Guard, in China, expanded Mao Zedongs political power and spread his program and communist ideology. They engaged in widespread destruction of Chinas ancient and cultural heritage. 2023: American Climate Corps, in U.S., to impose and spread Joe Bidens destructive global warming initiative, which is on track to make the people poorer, more miserable and the nation more vulnerable. On the climate issue, given the intense indoctrination of our youth, massive political momentum, and facilitation by a compliant press (that should instead be standing up for America), the nations collapse is virtually assured. And, it will not make the weather nicer. How sad that America is being supplanted by present-day China that earlier renounced Mao Zedongs red-guard tactics. China is advancing powerful energy policies that will assure its success. We Americans must rescue our youth. James M. Policelli Plainfield Township It seems that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans -- which handles cases emerging from such conservative bastions as Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi -- has been quite busy restricting the rights of women, abolishing LGBTQ protections and apparently being happy to rule to practically allow a person to buy a gun from a vending machine. As these cases pass to the current Supreme Court, which is now top-loaded with appointees from the twice-impeached, four-time indicted former president, the 5ths track record has been spotty. Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump made sure to fill Supreme Court vacancies with judges who follow a legal blueprint called originalists, meaning they interpret the U.S. Constitution as it was originally written. Interestingly, however, in a recent case submitted by Republican presidential candidate John Castro asking the Supreme Court to decide if the 14th Amendment, Section 3 pertains to Trump, the justices elected to punt. If ever there was a case for originalists to take on, that was it. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to read the 14th Amendment, Section 3 and think it was written explicitly for Trump. But, unless someone else gets another chance to argue this case, the Supreme Court is treating it like a hot potato. When we need them to restrict womens rights, or shatter financial protections, or abolish water protections, or make carrying a gun in a movie theater easier, they are all over things. But, when we need them to decide if a known insurrectionist tyrant should be allowed to run, again, for president, they appear to be M.I.A. Elections matter folks, vote wisely in November. James V. Gruber Washington The European Union has opened an investigation into Elon Musks X platform over concerns about the spread of illegal content and disinformation around the Israel-Hamas conflict. The European Commission has sent the social media giant a formal request for information under its new online safety rules, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force earlier this year. Social media platforms have seen a surge in misinformation, violent content and hate speech about the conflict between Israel and Hamas in recent days, with both the EU and the UK warning the largest platforms that they must do more to stop its spread. If the EU believes X, formerly known as Twitter, has breached the rules, it could open a formal investigation and if a breach is confirmed, X could face a substantial fine up to 6% of global turnover or have its service suspended. Under the DSA, X has been designated a very large online platform, meaning it is required to comply with the strictest set of rules under the DSA, meaning assessing and mitigating the risks linked to the spread of illegal, harmful and violent content. In a statement, the commission said: In this particular case, the commission services are investigating Xs compliance with the DSA, including with regard to its policies and practices regarding notices on illegal content, complaint handling, risk assessment and measures to mitigate the risks identified. The commission services are empowered to request further information to X in order to verify the correct implementation of the law. On Thursday, in response to initial concerns from the EU, X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said the site had removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and also taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of posts related to the conflict. In a letter to X from the commissions digital policy chief, Thierry Breton, the company was warned that violent and illegal content, as well as hate speech, was spreading on the platform, despite being reported by users. Earlier this week, Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan also convened a meeting of the UK leaders of the largest social media sites to urge them to do more to combat the rise of harmful content. Ms Donelan told Google, Meta, X, TikTok and Snapchat they must respond to an uptick on violent content, and that their actions would reveal the companies preparedness for the upcoming passage into law of the UKs own new internet rules the Online Safety Bill. RTE is an organisation in freefall. The events of the last year, and even this week, bear that out with fears it could be insolvent before next March without funding intervention. The Late Late Show has always been a microcosm of the broadcaster; for so long an indelible institution and a constant in an ever-changing social and media landscape. The Late Late is iconic despite all the criticism. If you asked someone to name ten of th emost uniquely Irish things, the Late Late would be one of them. The All-Ireland, Guinness, Tayto, the Rose of Tralee; there are some things that are just symbols of Irishness. The Late Late was creating watercooler moments before watercooler moments were a thing. It trended in workplaces, pubs and outside Mass long before Facebook or Twitter or X or whatever it's called these days were feeding us our topics of conversation. In the week Kevin Bakhurst was back before the Oireachtas and RTE appears still to be teetering on the brink of relative extinction. They're looking to Government, aka the taxpaper, to save them. It's Oliver Twist asking Mr Bumble for more gruel if Oliver was giving cheek at the same time of reaching out his bowl with that longing look on his face. RTE seems unrepentant for creating its own financial mess as it goes looking for handouts. The months of turmoil over the Ryan Tubridy payments scandal, the talk of barter accounts and apparent reckless spending of taxpayers money have soured public opinion and shown up the organisation as an utter failure, not just in corporate governance. Maybe somebody should tell the people in charge that's the atmosphere their freefalling through before they appear before the Oireachtas again, cap in hand. For a long time viewers have complained about the same old faces and show repeats while they fork out 160 on a TV licence. Oh, and let's not mention the RTE Player that doesn't work properly, or the effective partnership of RTE and the GAA to put so many games from our national sport behind a paywall. Dee Forbes long-called for a new, beefed up licence fee; more money for Champions League trips and Bruce Springsteen concerts for RTE bigwigs and their commercial chums; that's the public image and the attitude that has rightly surrounded the broadcaster this year. Now let's get back to the Late Late. Unfortunately for Patrick Kielty, the world's longest-running chat show is still a microcosm of RTE, but in its current creaking guise, that's far from a good thing. Kielty is a great broadcaster, personality and figurehead for the show, but he's got both hands tied behind his back, or so it seems. The first few weeks of his tenure as host have been tumultuous. Apparently a senior producer has left the show and there are various forces at play behind the scenes. The tensions and differing opinions on the direction of the show are all a bit cosmetic because so little has changed. How much control is Kielty being given in the production of a show that is still getting half a million viewers a week? It's a cliche at this stage but the idea that the sofa is filled each week via a round-up in the RTE canteen has never been more accurate. The country music special was a carbon copy of ones that have gone before. The same faces, same stories, tired old gags and cowboy hats. And that's coming from a fan of country music. I'm not going to take a chip off every guest that's appeared in the new series so far because that wouldn't be fair, but standing back and looking at the format, it's probably disimproved. They've brought in a bizarre version of a Graham Norton sofa whereby three different guests appear together for the first part of the show. One week saw Nina Carberry, Carl Frampton and Joe Wicks side by side. It would appear the only thing they have in common is physical exercise, one being an online trainer, the others a jockey and a boxer. The lack of chemistry made for an awkward bumbling opening to the show, and that's no reflection on those individuals at all. That format can work where guests interact and, for want of a better word, partake in a bit of 'banter'. That's not what's been happening on the Late Late. Guests are interviewed individually and just so happen to be sitting on the stage at the same time. Mary McAleese appeared alongside Tommy, Hector and Laurita Blewitt a few weeks ago and that was equally flat. All great guests, but why they fit together, I don't know. The choices for that group interview seem totally random. It's as if the show is scrambling for guests and then shoehorning them into this 'new' format. Joe Wicks seems to have been a complete afterthought and was invited on because he happened to be in Ireland that week - hardly inspiring criteria. I grew up watching the Late Late and it's had good weeks and bad weeks for years, but it's now unwatchable almost every week. I've watched the first few episodes of the Kielty era and wondered when it's going to show his personal stamp on it. Back in the day, his own chat show was daring and rambunctious, funny and impactful, all the things the Late Late is crying out for. One of these days I'm just going to stop watching. I'm a Man United fan and watching the Late Late is very much like watching them in recent years. They've been off the boil for a decade and yet there I am every week watching and raging at the telly willing things to change. I don't know anyone younger than me that watches the Late Late with any sort of regularity, bar the Toy Show. The whole show is stale and the change of presenter hasn't rejuvenated it. In the headline of this piece I say 'bring back Tubridy' and in a way I'm being facetious because the show wasn't fantastic with Tubs in the hotseat. In 15 years, he was able to put somewhat of a stamp on it and he earned a following for that. Patrick Kielty should be able to do the same and I believe he can, but he's hamstrung by the fact the organisation producing the show is falling down around him. ABOVE: Pictured at Kildare Village on Friday, September 29 were Maureen Bergin, Community and Business Relation Director at Kildare Village; Victor Biffi Rossano, Business Director at Kildare Village; Minister Neale, Richmond, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Minister Martin Heydon, TD for Kildare South and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. PHOTO BY: CONOR McCABE A delegation from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment led by Minister Neale Richmond, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, with responsibility for Business, Employment and Retail, visited Kildare Village on Friday, September 29, to discuss the opportunities for growth of the retail sector in Ireland. Minister Richmond was joined by local TD for Kildare South, Minister Martin Heydon. The visit involved a tour of Kildare Village where Business Director of Kildare Village, Victor Biffi Rosano, provided an overview of the fashion and lifestyle brands which have chosen to operate in Kildare Village, the Villages commitment to elevated hospitality and services, and the contribution of the Village to the local and national economy. Kildare Village, which is part of The Bicester Collection, directly employs 1,500 people, and is responsible for an additional 450 jobs. Over the past number of years, a large investment has been made into Kildare Village, with further ambitions for growth and expansion into the future. Kildare Village is also a long-standing champion of local talent and has provided a platform for Irish brands, designers, artists and musicians to be discovered by a national and international audience. Their ongoing partnership with Kildare based charity Barretstown has also seen vital funds raised to support children and families living with serious illness. Speaking on the visit, Business Director of Kildare Village, Victor Biffi Rosano said: We were delighted to host Minister Richmond, Minister Heydon and Department officials at Kildare Village to discuss the retail landscape here in Ireland, and where we, in Kildare Village, fit into it. It was a very fruitful session, where we had the opportunity to showcase what we do at Kildare Village, outline our significant local impact and share some of our international experience from other Villages within The Bicester Collection. Minister Richmond said: Kildare Village are a significant player in Irelands retail sector, attracting customers from across Ireland and abroad while employing 1,500 people here in Kildare. I want to ensure that retailers like Kildare Village can continue to grow and evolve, and I look forward to working with them into the future. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A CLARE man has pleaded guilty to sending lewd pictures of himself to three random females, including one from Limerick, and committing a solo sex act in public on the early-morning Galway to Limerick train service. At Ennis District Court, Sergeant Louis Moloney said that one of the injured parties who witnessed the man masturbating on the 6.15am Galway to Limerick service on February 20, this year videoed the incident and handed over the recording to gardai. Sgt Moloney said gardai boarded the train at Gort after a complaint was received regarding the indecent incident which occurred on the early-morning train service between Oranmore and Athenry. Sgt Moloney said that two people who witnessed the incident subsequently made statements to gardai. The offence on the train came only nine days before the 39-year-old defendant made his first appearance in court, on March 1, concerning the sending of lewd images of himself to females. In relation to the first offence, the man randomly selected a County Kerry womans phone number before sending her a lewd image of himself on October 16, 2020. Sgt Moloney said the woman made a complaint to gardai in Killarney that she received the image of her phone at 12.50am on October 16, 2020 from a man she didnt know. In another case, the man pleaded guilty to "intentionally engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature by sending an image of his erect penis via WhatsApp" to a female living in Limerick in such a manner to cause fear, distress or alarm to another person. That offence occurred on May 1, 2021. The man has also pleaded guilty to "intentionally engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature by sending an image of his erect penis via WhatsApp" to another woman who was living in Dublin on May 4, 2021 The charges are contrary to Section 45(3) of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017. Sgt Moloney said that when interviewed by gardai, the man made full admissions. Judge Alec Gabbett said that he required a Probation Report into the case. "I need to know what is going on here, he commented. Solicitor Stiofan Fitzpatrick, for the accused, said that he had a similar case previously where medication was required to deal with a clients compulsion. Mr Fitzpatrick said all of the incidents occurred when his client was highly intoxicated. He told the court his client sent the images to random individuals and the women who made complaints all live outside of County Clare. There was no sophistication here. His number was easily identifiable and traceable to him," he said. Judge Gabbett - who previously imposed reporting restrictions in the case to protect the identities of the women - remanded the man on continuing bail to next March for a Probation Report. As a condition of bail the man must not engage in social media communications with any females unknown to him and be of good behaviour. He must sign on weekly at his local garda station and he is not have any contact with the injured parties. Israel is engaging in collective punishment and does not have the right to breach international law in its response in Gaza, Irish Premier Leo Varadkar has said. The Taoiseach also called for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to reach Palestinians. The war, which was ignited by a wide-ranging Hamas attack into Israel, has already claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides. Israel has cut off food, water and electricity to Gaza in response to the attack on Saturday and has carried out airstrikes in the region. An Israeli military spokesman said on Thursday that they are preparing for a ground offensive in Gaza, but that one has not yet been ordered. International humanitarian law says the collective punishment of a group of persons for a crime committed by an individual is forbidden. Mr Varadkar told RTE: Israel has the right to defend itself, but Israel doesnt have the right to do wrong. Israel is a country that is surrounded by enemies, brutal savage groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, countries like Iran, often supported by Islamic fundamentalists and antisemites around the world. So Israel is under threat. They do have a right to defend themselves, but they dont have the right to breach international humanitarian law. And Im really concerned about what Im seeing happening in Gaza at the moment. To me, it amounts to collective punishment. Cutting off power, cutting off fuel supplies and water supplies, thats not the way a respectable democratic state should conduct itself. Israels strike on Gaza has levelled entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 1,400 people, more than 60% of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry. More than 340,000 have been displaced, or 15% of Gazas population. The Taoiseach said that Israel is breaching humanitarian law through its punishment of Palestinian civilians and that Ireland will endeavour to see the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid to reach Gaza. I believe by targeting civilians and by cutting off civilian infrastructure that is a breach of international humanitarian law and I think its very important for us as Ireland to make sure that that voice is brought to the table at European Union level, he said. So yes, Hamas should release all of the hostages immediately. Israeli citizens and dual citizens alike. Israel is entirely justified in going after Hamas in Gaza and elsewhere, but operations that clearly affect civilians disproportionately are wrong, cutting off electricity, cutting off water. Thats not acceptable. And one thing we definitely need to see happen now, and we will do anything we can through the UN to achieve this, is the opening of the humanitarian corridor between Egypt and Gaza. Speaking in Belfast on Thursday Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said Irelands political history and experience of peacebuilding can have an influence in the international discussion on the current crisis in the region. In terms of the Middle East and Ireland and our historical experience of colonisation, partition, war and conflict, and then peacebuilding, I think we need to really leverage all of that experience in good faith to the very, very best of our ability and I think that we can have an influence, she said. I dont want to overstate it, but equally I wouldnt understate the value of an Irish voice. And were encouraging everybody right across political life north and south, and for particularly those in government in Dublin to really grasp that opportunity. She added: We need immediate ceasefires. We need dialogue. We need a process of peacebuilding. We need the application of international law across the board. BancTrust & Co. Investment Bank Announces Multiple New Hires to Bolster London Global Markets Team London-based Emerging Markets Investment Bank Continues Expansion with Key Senior Global Markets Hires LONDON, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BancTrust & Co. Investment Bank (BancTrust), the London-based Emerging Markets boutique investment bank, is pleased to announce three new hires to its London Global Markets team. BancTrust & Co. Investment Bank Announces Multiple New Hires to Bolster London Global Markets Team George Niedringhaus - Global Head of Syndicate, Grigoriy Kozin - Head of Business Development Prime Services, and John Bloomer - Executive Director, recently joined the trading floor to focus on Global Emerging Markets. Prior to joining BancTrust, George was Global Head of Syndicate at VTB Capital (London) & previously held positions as Global Head of EM Syndicate at ABN AMRO Bank N.V. George has over 25 years of fixed income syndicate and capital markets experience as both producer and manager with specific experience in global emerging markets bonds, loans, currencies, and derivatives. Grigoriy was Head of Prime Services and Electronic Execution business at Sova Capital in London and, more recently, oversaw prime brokerage and securities financing business development at BCS Prime Brokerage. He has extensive experience in prime brokerage, custody and electronic execution business in multiple asset classes including equities, listed derivatives, and FX. Both will report to the Head of Global Markets and Executive Board Member, Dean Tyler. John will be joining BancTrust as Executive Director FI & Treasury under Nick Taylor, Global Head of FI Trading. John has over 20 years of experience working in financial markets, concentrating his efforts in trading & sales. His most recent position held was at British Arab Commercial Bank, trading FI credit portfolio's EM & IG, money markets, FX, and derivatives. CEO Carlos Fuenmayor commented, "I am excited to see such professionals of this calibre to join the team as we enhance our coverage and execution capabilities across the EM spectrum. During these challenging times institutional investors will continue to demand true local market expertise. The team's impressive experience in dealing in emerging markets will be key in delivering exceptional value to clients". "I am delighted to be joined by such an experienced group of professionals. We look forward to continuing to grow our EM platform by maintaining a hands-on presence throughout deal execution, delivering challenging deals despite volatile economic and industry conditions, and building & running a prime brokerage platform combining custody, prime financing, and electronic execution businesses" asserted Dean Tyler. About BancTrust & Co. BancTrust & Co. Investment Bank is a leading London-based global emerging markets investment bank that offers corporate and investment banking, securities dealing and financing, investment research products and services to a diversified client base mainly comprised of emerging and frontier markets-based corporations, financial institutions, governments, and dedicated global EM asset managers. For more information, please visit https://banctrust.com and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) at [twitter.com/BancTrustCo] SOURCE BancTrust & Co. Investment Bank 12 october 2023 at 17:01 News published onand distributed by: DAISO NEW STORE OPENING IN LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, CALIFORNIA LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif., Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiso, the renowned global retail chain offering a wide range of affordable and unique products, is thrilled to announce the grand opening at Foothill Promenade in La Canada Flintridge, California on October 21st. "We are thrilled to open our store at Foothill Promenade," said Jack Williams, Chief Retail Operations Officer for Daiso USA. "This achievement reflects the dedication and support of our customers who have embraced Daiso's unique concept and diverse product range. We are excited to provide an exceptional shopping experience to the vibrant La Canada Flintridge community and look forward to serving our customers with the utmost care and dedication." The new Daiso store at Foothill Promenade encompasses 5,812 square feet and promises to be a haven for shoppers seeking quality merchandise at affordable prices. With its extensive range of products spanning various categories, including Japanese inspired home decor, stationery, food, and more, Daiso has become synonymous with accessible and innovative offerings. John Clarke, Chief Development Officer for Daiso USA says, "California based Daiso customers have shown us through our online business and social media their desire for us to have more stores within the state, influencing our immediate growth strategy in this region. We currently operate 106 units in 7 states with more states opening in 2024". On both Saturday, October 21st and Sunday, October 22nd, the first 100 customers to shop at the Foothill Promenade location and make a minimum purchase of $30 will receive a free goodie bag and a plushie. These special offerings are Daiso's way of expressing gratitude to its loyal customers and welcoming new shoppers to the Daiso community. Daiso invites customers to join in the celebration. The Foothill Promenade Daiso is anchored by neighboring tenant Petco and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m to 9 p.m and Sunday from 10 a.m to 8 p.m. About Daiso: Daiso is a global retail chain founded in Japan, known for its vast array of unique and affordable products across various categories such as household goods, stationery, beauty, and more. Daiso entered the US market in 2005 and continues to expand its global footprint while maintaining its commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. The Daiso US headquarters is located in La Mirada, CA. SOURCE Daiso USA 12 october 2023 at 18:44 News published onand distributed by: Area third and fourth grade students participated in Progressive Ag Safety Day at the Gage County Fairgrounds on Thursday. About 172 students from Tri County, Southern, Diller-Odell, Lewiston and St. Josephs Parochial School attended. Approximately 19 FFA members from Tri County, Lewiston and Beatrice helped with leading the students to breakout activities. Beatrice Public Schools Ag Instructor Dave Barnard told the students he had one objective for them for the day. I want you to be an advocate for safety, he said. An advocate is a person who has a passion or belief and they promote it through word and deeds. Tonight when you go home, I want you to tell your family about what you learned today. Barnard told the story of a young neighbor boy that he knew when he was in college. They found Corwins three-wheeler by a holding pen where they dumped grain," he said. "He had crawled in for some reason and was sucked into the grain. He died. I have never forgotten about that and that is why Im involved in rural safety. He noted that there were breakouts throughout the day and some part of every presentation would pertain to students even if they did not live or visit a farm. Barnard said the high school students had an opportunity to be role models and practice life skills. Beatrice FFA member Alex Busboom said it was fun. Its fun and I like watching the students learn new things, he said. Tri County FFA member Sydney Brauer said she was glad to be involved. This is important because there are so many fatalities in agriculture, she said. This can help reduce that number. Progressive Ag is a foundation that provides funding for the safety day in addition to local sponsors. Barnard attends a training session each fall with Progressive Ag that allows him to coordinate the event. Sessions held throughout the day included: Beatrice Community Hospital beginning CPR Southeast Community College Ag Education animal safety Black Hills Energy call before you dig Diller Telephone internet safety State Fire Marshal fire safety Norris Public Power District electrical safety Gage County Extension healthy lifestyles Nebraska Game and Parks boating safety Aurora Cooperative grain handling safety Lewiston FFA Chapter ATV safety University of Nebraska Medical Center hearing safety SCC Instructor Crystal Fangmeier and two students from the Ag Leadership class helped teach safety around animals in in a morning session. Were teaching about safety around animals, she said. Just how to approach them and what to look for with animals that might be scared. Were talking about farm animals, but its true of their pets also. BE OPEN Art congratulates the winners of the Regional Art Competition in Southeast Asia LONDON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BE OPEN Art, an online art gallery set up by BE OPEN think tank, a humanitarian initiative founded by international businessperson and philanthropist Elena Baturina, is running a new competition for emerging artists, aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities ? BE OPEN Regional Art. Every month over July ? September 2023, works by 20 emerging artists from the countries of Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam were posted at the online gallery for the public to select the Regional Artist of the Month. In July, August and September the titles were given to Maziyah Yussof, a multidisciplinary artist from Brunei; Dabi Arnasa, an artist from Bali; and another artist from Bali with artistic name Awshitttttt, consecutively Based on the amount of votes by the public and BE OPEN's art community members, the August winner Awshitttttt has become the Artist of the Region for Southeast Asia. The artist will be offered a grant of 500 euro from BE OPEN. A self-taught artist born in 1996 has had a passion for drawing and illustration since he was a child. Awshitttttt is now a professional artist focusing on digital painting and large-scale public murals. Portrait paintings, illustrations, and urban art are his artistic fields of expertise. His trademark is incorporating the delicate and iconic daisy flower as a representation of peace, love, and positivity. The Founder of BE OPEN Elena Baturina also selected her favourite artist in the region - Chau le Thai Huyen, a digital painter from Vietnam, who describes her own style as "impulsive and like a naive child with constructing and harmonious colors and bold composition." On the 1st of October, the focus of the competition moved to Central Africa. The regional competition runs alongside the regular ongoing work of BE OPEN Art, whose experts every month select 20 new artists for the gallery, and the public names the Artist of the Month and Year. SOURCE BE OPEN Foundation 13 october 2023 at 05:10 News published onand distributed by: Granicus names winners of 13th annual Digital Government Awards Granicus' annual Digital Government Awards honor transformational achievements improving citizen engagement, service delivery and government efficiency WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ -- Granicus, the leading provider of government experience software services and solutions, announced the winners of its Digital Government Awards. Since 2010, Granicus has honored government entities and employees who have embraced modern technologies that drive awareness of community programs, improve citizen experiences, transform outdated processes and inspire civic action. "The Granicus Digital Government Awards demonstrate governments' commitment to digital transformation and service delivery to their constituents," said Gabriele "G" Masili, chief customer officer of Granicus. "This year we received a record number of nominations from governments of all levels across North America showcasing how they're making a difference in their communities. We are inspired by their efforts and honored to partner with them to innovate the processes, capabilities and services used by their customers every day." The 2023 awards span seven award categories: Changemaker, Community Engagement, Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Operational Efficiency, Trust & Transparency, and Website of the Year. The winning nominations include Burlington, Ont.; Edmonton, Alta.; New York State Higher Education Services Corporation; New York State Department of Labor; Ontario Energy Board; Oakville, Ont.; Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and Gainesville, Fla. Additional winning entries and runners-up can be viewed here and the honorees will be featured at Granicus' Digital Transformation Summit, October 25. About Granicus Granicus is the global leader in customer engagement and experience technologies and services for the public sector. Now powering almost 30 billion digital interactions globally each year and connecting over 500,000 government professionals with 300 million opt-in subscribers, Granicus is proud to serve as a critical strategic partner to governments as they work to deliver equitable and secure government experiences. With comprehensive cloud-based solutions for communications, digital services, government website design, meeting and agenda management software, and records management, Granicus empowers stronger relationships between government and constituents across the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. By simplifying interactions and communicating critical information, Granicus brings governments closer to the people they serve?driving meaningful change for communities around the globe. SOURCE Granicus 13 october 2023 at 08:00 News published onand distributed by: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Receives Key Endorsements from Black Political and Business Leaders Pro-Kennedy SuperPAC Mobilizing Black Voters Nationwide NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In the past two weeks, more than 40 Black business and political leaders from Washington, D.C. and New York attended events supporting Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for President. Dinners at Sfoglina in Washington, DC, and Sei Less in New York City were organized by American Values 2024 (AV24), the SuperPAC supporting Kennedy's presidential campaign. Of the guests, nine people have officially endorsed Kennedy for his presidential campaign. Crypto professional John Slade exclaimed, "My grandfather, John D. Slade, endorsed John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1960. My dad, Kenyatta Slade, endorsed Ted Kennedy in 1980, and here I am endorsing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in 2023." Among the dinner hosts was local business owner and AV24 leader Justin Faust, who was eager to know why attendees supported Kennedy. One endorsement came from lobbyist Joshua Lopez, who commented, "I am here supporting Kennedy 2024. I believe in democracy. I believe in free speech. I'm glad Mr. Kennedy is running. We need a competitive primary in the Democratic Party. We need people to compete for ideas that compete for votes. Kennedy 2024." Before each dinner commenced, attendees and representatives from AV24 discussed Kennedy's platform, including his tentative reparations plan and prison and police reform policies, key issues in which guests were interested. This point was exemplified by political analyst Clay D'Souza, who expressed, "The reason I'm supporting RFK, Jr. is that I do feel that the Democratic Party needs to have another alternative compared to Joe Biden, as we need more diverse options in this particular election coming up in 2024. I definitely favor RFK Jr.'s reparations plan, which I clearly see is absent from the Biden campaign as we speak." Other important issues to guests were health equity and medical freedom regarding people of color. Jo Saint George, Esq., a trailblazing attorney who represents clients in these areas, was very vocal about her endorsement of Kennedy, expressing: "I'm a 30-year attorney and Founder of the Women of Color for Kennedy 2024. I have been practicing law and, specifically, as a trial lawyer in healthcare. And for me, the most valuable aspect of Kennedy's campaign is his work in health care, specifically in medical freedom. I represent over 150 individuals in New York and around the country who've been fighting for their medical and religious liberties to choose what goes in their bodies. And Kennedy has fought for decades for that right. Not only that but also for environmental rights for African Americans, environmental equity and protections are critical for our community; health equity and being able to make the right choices for each family is the number one quintessential value in our community. Why? Because we are impacted disproportionately by chronic disease. And, so for me, as a lawyer who watched Mr. Kennedy for decades from afar, advocating for myself and the community at large on those two key issues is why I'm supporting him." A theme throughout the dinner in Washington, D.C., was that attendees wanted to have the right to make choices related to their bodies. Don Ross, Pastor of Liberty Mission Church, who also endorsed Kennedy, summarized the sentiments of the evening, "As a pastor, I care about people and their ability to be able to make choices because God, in his dealing with mankind, gives us choices all the time. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. gives us the right to choose what goes into our bodies. He gives us the right not to have harmful vaccines going into our bodies, which means a lot to me. And that resonates with me as a pastor because that's what Jesus came to do to give us the freedom of choice to keep our bodies healthy." The backing of these prominent Black leaders was just the beginning. Political consultant Alpheaus Marcus supports Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. because "I believe strongly that some of the things he is saying about in the urban community are essential talk in the presidential race. I think that we need to get behind him because it's a change. And he brings common sense to the table." Kennedy strives to uplift Black voices through actions and not just words. It is crucial that people of color, especially the Black vote, truly understand Kennedy's plan to effectuate racial healing, and their support truly underpins the campaign's core values of inclusivity, equality, and a vision for a more united, healed America. For more information about American Values 2024, please visit av24.org . About American Values 2024 American Values 2024 is a Super PAC dedicated to electing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to President of the United States. The SuperPAC was co-founded by Mark Gorton, CEO of Tower Research Capital, and Tony Lyons, President of Skyhorse Publishing. Learn more at AV24.org . Paid for by American Values 2024, ( 307 W. 36th St., 11th floor, New York, NY 10018 ) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. CONTACT: [email protected] 704-775-0487 SOURCE American Values 2024 13 october 2023 at 08:31 News published onand distributed by: Grammy Winning Songwriter J.Lauryn Mixes Dark Themes With Reggae Vibes In Her Newest Single & Music Video 'Bad to the Bone' The Independent Artist & Hawaii Native's First Solo Track in Five Years Synchronizes with Halloween Season and Filipino American History Month LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Grammy Award Winning 8x RIAA Platinum Selling Songwriter and Independent Artist, J.Lauryn , is taking a unique approach with her latest single, "Bad to the Bone," by blending elements of horror with reggae influences. The track, her first release in half a decade, marks a notable comeback and is available now for streaming on all platforms alongside the official music video on YouTube . 'Bad to the Bone' is the debut single from her forthcoming album, slated for a 2024 release. As a fully-independent artist, J.Lauryn has impressively taken on multiple roles in the creation of this project. Not only did she write and perform the song, but she also shares production credits with Sam Yun. Her talents extend beyond music as well; she orchestrated her look in the music video, handling hair, makeup, choreography, and wardrobe duties personally. With a special Friday the 13th release date, 'Bad to the Bone' and its corresponding music video is a timely celebration of the Halloween season. The new single is shrouded in a dark tone and features horror-themed lyrics that counts a chilling story of J.Lauryn as a mermaid vampire chasing her cold heart's desire. Her vocals and sound mixing in 'Bad to the Bone' experiments with a reggae style that pays tribute to the island music culture of her hometown, Kailua, Hawaii. This stylistic choice is further enriched by her admiration for reggae legend Bob Marley and her own deep connections to the genre, highlighted by her Grammy win for her contributions to Ziggy Marley's self-titled Best Reggae Album in 2017. In the single, J.Lauryn delves deeper into her reggae origins, intertwining them with her Filipino heritage?an especially poignant move as the song drops during Filipino American History Month. "It's empowering knowing I have the resources and ability to create and fund my music independently with my accomplishments as a professional songwriter, especially as a female AAPI in the industry," said J.Lauryn. "I'm dedicating this new music to my hometown of Hawaii and I'm excited to represent my culture and love for Island Music." J.Lauryn has worked with some of the biggest artists in pop music. Her prolific songwriting skills have landed her credits on chart-topping albums, notably contributing to hits such as Post Malone and Young Thug's 'Goodbyes' and BTS's '00:00 Zero O'Clock', both of which have soared to #1 on the Billboard 200 Charts. Her versatile talent in songwriting extends beyond these achievements, encompassing work for a diverse array of artists including BlackPink, Jackson Wang, (G) I-DLE, Pia Mia, Ty Dolla $ign, Tyla Yaweh, French Montana, and ONE OK ROCK. "J.Lauryn is a true visionary, artist, songwriter, & producer. Her latest single showcases her unique storytelling and is paired with musical elements that tap into her reggae roots. It's an honor to have co- produced with her," said Sam Yun, co-producer of 'Bad to the Bone.' About J.Lauryn: Grammy Award Winning 8x RIAA Platinum Selling Songwriter and Independent Artist, J.Lauryn is from the small town of Kailua, Hawaii. She moved to Los Angeles working as a professional backup dancer in 2007. It wasn't long before she began to shift her focus to writing and recording music. In 2015, J.Lauryn was asked to perform her original song "Criminal Love" off her EP "ViBeS & HiGhS", live on VH1's The Big Morning Buzz in Times Square, NYC. In 2017, J.Lauryn became a Grammy Winner for a co-write on Ziggy Marley's self titled album for the category, Best Reggae Album. In 2019, J.Lauryn co-wrote her first hit single, "Goodbyes", by Post Malone and Young Thug, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. "Goodbyes" was the first single for Post Malone in 2019 off his 3rd album Hollywood's Bleeding, which successfully became the highest selling album of 2019, went #1 on the Billboard 200 Charts, and was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2021 Grammys. At the beginning of 2020, J.Lauryn landed a placement on the highest pre-ordered album of all time, Map of The Soul 7, by the world's biggest boy band, BTS. The song "00:00 Zero O'clock" was co-written by J.Lauryn with over 4 Million albums pre-sold and went #1 on the Billboard 200 Charts.Since then, J has landed placements with Rose and Lisa from mega K-Pop band, BlackPink. In March 2021 Rose released her debut solo project which included the single, "GONE", co-written by J.Lauryn. In October 2021, J co-wrote the global single, "SG" by DJ Snake, Ozuna, Megan Thee Stallion, and Lisa of BlackPink. In 2022 J co-produced and co-wrote two new songs, "Waiting For Never" & "Hateful", off Post Malone's deluxe album, Twelve Carat Toothache. She also landed her previously written song, "00:00 Zero O'clock" on BTS's Greatest Hits Anthology Album, Proof, which went #1 on the Billboard 200 Charts. In May of 2023 J.Lauryn was featured as a songwriter on a Youtube Music Billboard in Times Square NYC. J.Lauryn's most recent accomplishments were writing for Global Superstar, Jackson Wang, on his remix of XG's "Left Right" which also featured Ciara, and co-wrote "Eyes Roll" & "Flip It" on (G)I-DLE's newest EP Heat that released in October 2023. Today J.Lauryn has earned over 2 Billion Streams on Spotify alone for her writing contributions. SOURCE J.Lauryn 13 october 2023 at 09:00 News published onand distributed by: UAE Calls for Global Consensus on AI Governance The UAE's AI minister on Wednesday urged countries to come to a consensus on AI governance sooner than it came to the Paris Agreement, which took years to take shape and come into force. His Excellency Omar Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy & Remote Work Applications, said at the Dubai Assembly for Generative AI that countries need a fresh approach to governing AI. "I think the current global discussion on AI governance is a non-starter. Instead of attempting to govern the technology, we can govern the use cases," he said. During the assembly ? which witnessed over 2000 attendees coming big tech companies and consultancies such as Microsoft, Deloitte, PwC, IBM ? Dubai Future Foundation launched the Dubai Generative AI Alliance, a new alliance of tech companies, to help Dubai accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies and build one of the world's most advanced and effective tech-enabled governments. Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of DFF, called on companies and innovators to join the alliance, which will focus on developing innovative technology pilots by leveraging AI, the metaverse and Web3. The Dubai government also launched ?Dubai AI', a generative AI-powered digital city concierge. The city-wide digital platform will offer comprehensive information and services, covering health, business, and education, to residents and visitors. It will transform government services, the assembly heard. The assembly also heard how the global banking sector could benefit by as much as USD 400 billion from the boom in generative AI. The global platform heard from experts from international tech corporations and consultancies. PwC said automation in the workplace is imminent, with generative AI likely to be able to execute everyday tasks, such as booking flights and generating reports autonomously, on a large scale within the next 18-20 months. Deloitte's leading digital expert said nuclear fusion, climate action and drug discovery will be some of the main beneficiaries of generative AI, while the industrial and pharmaceutical sectors are among those quickest to adapt to the emerging technology. Adel Al Redha, Emirates' Chief Operating Officer, said by November, the airline will "empower cabin crew to leverage [generative AI] through delivering training on complex models." Source: AETOSWire 13 october 2023 at 09:15 News published onand distributed by: Governments of Canada and Yukon Announce Joint Investment to Plant Fire-Resilient Trees as Part of Canada's 2 Billion Trees Program WHITEHORSE, YT, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - The governments of Canada and Yukon are working together to enhance tree cover and forest resilience. Diverse forests have many benefits: they capture the carbon in growing trees to reduce emissions and help in the fight against climate change; they enhance climate resilience to impacts like wildfires by planting the right tree species in the right places and restoring wildlife habitat; and they support human well-being by creating more green spaces for recreational activities and spaces for connecting with nature, better regulation of temperature in cities and reduced risk of wildland fire and floods. Today, Brendan Hanley, Member of Parliament for Yukon, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and the Honourable Richard Mostyn, Yukon's Minister of Community Services, announced a joint investment of more than $1.1 million under the 2 Billion Trees (2BT) program to plant 400,000 trees on public lands to support community resilience to climate impacts and natural disturbances. Under this agreement, Yukon will reforest public lands that will expand existing forested areas, and Yukon will also plant fire-resilient species to increase Yukon communities' ability to withstand natural disasters, such as wildfires. This summer, the Government of Yukon's Wildland Fire Management branch planted 90,000 aspen seedlings in areas of Whitehorse and Haines Junction with support from the 2 Billion Trees program. By replacing flammable conifers with fire-resistant deciduous trees in key locations, the Yukon is reducing wildfire risk for communities. The Government of Canada's 2 Billion Trees program is helping to clean the air, keep neighbourhoods cool in the summer, create jobs and fight climate change while protecting nature. By working together with provinces, territories, local communities and Indigenous Peoples, Canada continues to build a strong, healthy future for generations to come. Quotes "Trees are essential to our lives ? they capture carbon, improve air quality and support wildlife ? and they are important allies in our fight against climate change. That's why Canada has committed to planting two billion trees. We are pleased to be working with the Government of Yukon to collaborate by planting around 400,000 trees on public lands. This investment will expand forest cover, enhance resilience to wildfires and advance biodiversity restoration." The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources "This summer's wildfire season was unprecedented. It emphasized the importance of continued action to protect our environment and safeguard our communities. Today's $1.1-million joint investment, in collaboration with the Yukon Government, will help us plant 400,000 trees as part of Canada's 2 Billion Trees program. Not only will these deciduous trees act as a natural defence against wildfires, they will also enhance biodiversity, restore habitat and increase carbon sequestration in our territory." Dr. Brendan Hanley Member of Parliament for Yukon "The 2 Billion Trees program is an important partnership with the Government of Canada, helping the Yukon take action on climate adaptation. Planting fire-resistant aspen trees in Yukon communities reduces their wildfire risk. We are proud to partner with the Government of Canada, local First Nations and municipal governments to create wildfire-resilient Yukon communities." The Honourable Richard Mostyn Yukon's Minister of Community Services Quick Facts Last year, the Government of Canada and the Government of Yukon signed an Agreement in Principle (AiP) under the provinces and territories stream of the 2BT program. Under this agreement, Canada and Yukon are leveraging their shared commitment to delivering social, economic and environmental benefits for communities through tree planting. AiPs outline federal, provincial and territorial collaboration on planting two billion trees by defining the objectives of each tree-planting project as biodiversity enhancement, habitat restoration, carbon sequestration, permanency of forest cover and several monitoring activities post-planting. They are further supported by the signing of contribution agreements. Work on finalizing additional agreements with provinces and territories to plant more trees across Canada is well underway. Natural Resources Canada provided nearly $750,000 from the 2BT program and the Government of Yukon provided over $360,000 from the Department of Community Services Wildland Fire Management Prevention & Mitigation budget. Related Information Follow NRCan on LinkedIn SOURCE Natural Resources Canada 13 october 2023 at 13:00 News published onand distributed by: Canada reaches historic milestone on Indigenous-led land conservation in the Northwest Territories OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - Fighting the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution requires collective effort and systemic change in the ways we interact with nature and collaborate with each other. The Government of Canada is committed to working with Indigenous peoples, in true partnership that respects Indigenous leadership, science, and knowledge, to safeguard the ecosystems we all depend on while advancing reconciliation. This week, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, and the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, alongside Indigenous Governments in the Northwest Territories, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and private philanthropies, celebrated the signing of a framework agreement to support one of the largest Indigenous-led land conservation initiatives in the world. Once completed, this initiative, known as the Northwest Territories Project Finance for Permanence, or NWT PFP, could more than double the amount of conservation in the territory, contributing 2.5 percent or more toward meeting Canada's commitment to protect 30 percent of the country's land and inland water by 2030. This historic milestone in the NWT PFP process was achieved through unprecedented collaboration and builds on a shared vision for an inclusive and long-term approach to climate change mitigation, environmental stewardship, Indigenous rights, and collaborative governance. The framework agreement outlines the terms and expected outcomes of the initiative in the Northwest Territories, including activities within the scope of investments. Activities include support for establishing new protected and conserved areas identified by Indigenous Governments, as well as ongoing stewardship of existing areas. Guardians' programs, climate research, investments in conservation-based economic opportunities, and on-the-land, cultural and Indigenous language programs linked to conservation could also be funded. The NWT PFP will also help communities adapt to climate change by supporting climate monitoring and assessment activities, preparing for fire risks, and other climate-related impacts. Canada will continue to support Indigenous-led efforts to conserve nature and biodiversity, protect Indigenous cultures and ways of life, and build a healthy future for generations to come while making significant progress toward meeting Canada's conservation goals. Quotes "Canada's ambitious conservation goals can only be met in partnership with Indigenous peoples. This agreement is a testament to what can be achieved when we work together to realize a shared goal. By coupling Indigenous and Western science, we can fight the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, strengthen our relationships with Indigenous communities, and build a better future for everyone." ? The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada "This summer's historic wildfires have been eye-opening for us all. The devastating impacts confirm the critical importance of working together with Indigenous Knowledge Keepers to fight climate change and its disproportionate impacts on Indigenous and racialized communities. That is why Canada is proud to support one of the largest Indigenous-led land conservation initiatives in the world, which empowers First Nations, Inuit, and Metis in the North, as they lead efforts to protect the territory that they call home." ? The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations "This historic milestone marks another step in a long journey. Congratulations! The foundation of the PFP model is the critical role of Indigenous communities in stewarding nature. Slowing and reversing biodiversity loss is one huge benefit of the PFP, but it is about so much more than conservation. Reconciliation, economic development, creating long-term jobs, and a growing conservation economy: that's what the PFP enables." ? Michael McLeod, Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories Quick facts The Project Finance for Permanence is an innovative funding model based on partnerships that leverage government and private funding to support large-scale, long-term conservation efforts. In December 2022 , Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $800 million to support up to four Indigenous-led conservation initiatives. Together, these four initiatives could protect up to one million square kilometres, a significant contribution to Canada's conservation goals. , Prime Minister announced to support up to four Indigenous-led conservation initiatives. Together, these four initiatives could protect up to one million square kilometres, a significant contribution to conservation goals. Canada helped to achieve the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, whose key outcomes include a global target to conserve 30 percent of land and water by 2030, as well as recognizing and supporting the critical role of Indigenous communities in halting biodiversity loss. The PFP model is an innovative tool that implements both of these priorities. helped to achieve the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, whose key outcomes include a global target to conserve 30 percent of land and water by 2030, as well as recognizing and supporting the critical role of Indigenous communities in halting biodiversity loss. The PFP model is an innovative tool that implements both of these priorities. NWT PFP partners are working toward finalizing the agreement in December 2023 . . The Government of Canada has made an initial floor commitment of $100 million , with final contributions to be reflected in the closing agreement. Associated links Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page Environment and Climate Change Canada's Facebook page SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada 13 october 2023 at 13:30 News published onand distributed by: GT Medical Technologies, Inc.' GammaTile Therapy Awarded 2023 Most Promising New Product of the Year by The Phoenix: The Medical Device and Diagnostic Conference for Chief Executive Officers TEMPE, Ariz., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GT Medical Technologies, Inc. a medical device company dedicated to improving the lives of patients with brain tumors, today announced that its FDA-cleared GammaTile Therapy was awarded the 2023 Most Promising New Product of the Year by The Phoenix: The Medical Device and Diagnostic Conference for Chief Executive Officers. GammaTile Therapy was awarded the 2023 Most Promising New Product of the Year "We are honored to win this prestigious award from our industry peers," said GT Medical Technologies CEO Matthew Likens. "It's rewarding to be recognized by the Phoenix Conference as we all work together to help make the lives of our patients better." GammaTile Therapy is a Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) for patients with newly diagnosed malignant intracranial neoplasms and patients with recurrent intracranial neoplasms. GammaTile Therapy delivers immediate radiation that eradicates brain tumor cells before they can replicate post-surgery while helping to protect healthy brain tissue. GammaTiles are bioresorbable collagen embedded with radioactive seeds, Cesium 131. The award was announced at the 28th Annual Phoenix Conference on Thursday, October 12, 2023, in Half Moon Bay, Calif. GT Medical Technologies' GammaTile Therapy joins past winners for Most Promising New Product of the Year, including the Intracept System by Relievant, FlowTriever by Inari Medical, the Willow Pump by Willow and the Synthetic Cartilage Implant by Cartiva, The Phoenix Awards are presented for outstanding achievements in the medical device and diagnostic industry to individuals and companies selected by industry CEOs. The conference is an invitation-only gathering of executives from large and small healthcare companies to discuss critical issues regarding the medical device industry. Since GammaTile Therapy received FDA clearance in 2018 for recurrent brain tumors and in 2020 for newly diagnosed tumors, more than 1,000 patients have benefitted from its innovative design that targets any remaining cancer cells after a tumor is surgically removed. About GT Medical Technologies, Inc. Driven to raise the standard of care and improve the lives of patients with brain tumors, a team of brain tumor specialists formed GT Medical Technologies. FDA-cleared GammaTile Therapy is a Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) for patients undergoing brain tumor removal surgery of newly diagnosed malignant and recurrent brain tumors. This treatment eliminates the need for one to six weeks of daily external beam radiation therapy, allowing patients to go about their daily lives without the burden of additional trips to the hospital or clinic for ongoing treatment. Since its full market release in the United States in March 2020, GammaTile has been offered in more than 95 hospitals, with more centers being added each month. For more information, visit www.gtmedtech.com and follow @GammaTile on Twitter and LinkedIn. Media Contacts: Lori Kagan GT Medical Technologies [email protected] Dawn Fallon New Dawn Communications [email protected] SOURCE GT Medical Technologies 13 october 2023 at 14:44 News published onand distributed by: Government of Canada invests $900,000 to support the mental health of frontline workers Funding will support PTSD, trauma and the mental health of those most affected by COVID-19. VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - The COVID-19 pandemic has created many significant challenges for frontline and essential workers, who have put in long hours and experienced prolonged stress while working to keep Canadians safe and healthy. The Government of Canada recognizes that these experiences may have put many essential and occupational workers at a greater risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and is committed to supporting them both now, and throughout our post-pandemic recovery. Today, the Honourable Hedy Fry, on behalf of the Honourable Ya'ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, announced $900,000 in funding to the Dr. Peter Centre for a project supporting the mental health of frontline workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery. The Dr. Peter Centre is implementing a national trauma and violence-informed "train-the-trainer" mentorship project. This project aims to support frontline health and social service providers, including harm reduction workers and peer workers with lived experience of substance use, who are at risk of experiencing PTSD and trauma due to their work. Up to 50 organizations, and an estimated 100 service providers, from across the country will be reached through training, tailored resources, and community of practice sessions. The funding is part of a larger investment in Budget 2021 of $50 million to help those experiencing, or at risk for, PTSD and trauma due to the pandemic, including frontline and essential service providers. Quotes "Canada's frontline service providers have sacrificed so much to keep us healthy and safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and they deserve our support. Our government is proud to be supporting projects like the one developed by the Dr. Peter Centre, to support frontline workers so that they can care for their wellbeing and reduce burnout. To all frontline service providers ? we are grateful for your continued dedication and commitment to caring for our communities." The Honourable Ya'ara Saks Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and Associate Minister of Health "It takes a special kind of person to work the front lines of complex health care. The experience that surrounds the care we provide is as important and effective as the care itself. We called it 'evidence-based compassion'. This national project provides organizations and staff the tools they need to be healthy and resilient as they are the first responders in this health crisis." Scott Elliott CEO, Dr. Peter Centre Quick Facts Stressors from the pandemic may increase the number of Canadians experiencing symptoms of PTSD. Those who already have PTSD may experience more severe symptoms. In late 2020, the prevalence of screening positive for PTSD was higher among frontline workers (10%) than other Canadians (5%). (Statistics Canada, Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health, September to December 2020 ) ) Mental health promotion and mental illness prevention are critical components for wellbeing and can help reduce demands on the health care system. Community-based projects focussed on mental health promotion have the potential to improve health outcomes over the life course. PTSD symptoms may affect various aspects of daily life, making it hard for people to function in their day-to-day activities. The Wellness Together Canada portal provides free access to educational content, self-guided therapy, moderated peer-to-peer support, and one-to-one counselling with qualified health professionals. If you or a loved one is struggling, you can access the Wellness Together Canada portal, or call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 (adults) or 686868 (youth). Associated Links SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada 13 october 2023 at 14:52 News published onand distributed by: Barclays appoints Geoffrey Belsher as Chairman and Country Chief Executive Officer for Canada Barclays today announces the appointment of Geoffrey Belsher as Chairman and Country Chief Executive Officer for Canada, effective Monday 16 October and subject to regulatory approval. Mr. Belsher will be based in Toronto and report dually to Richard Haworth, CEO of the Americas and Cathal Deasy and Taylor Wright, Global Co-Heads of Investment Banking. As Chairman and Country CEO, he will be a local leader for Barclays in Canada, responsible for executing the country strategy in line with the bank's regional and global ambitions. With over 25 years of Investment Banking experience, Mr. Belsher brings to Barclays extensive client relationships that will strengthen the existing Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) platform in Canada and compliment the broader Americas franchise. "Barclays is proud to have served clients in Canada for close to a century and it continues to be a critical market for us as we execute on our ambitious growth plans in the Americas," said Richard Haworth, CEO of the Americas. "Geoffrey's focus, leadership experience, and deep expertise in the Canadian market makes him an ideal choice for this role, and I'm confident that our talented colleagues in Canada will benefit enormously from his guidance and counsel." Mr. Belsher has played a leadership role across the financial services industry in Canada for over three decades. He worked as Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Wholesale Banking for CIBC in Toronto from 2009 to 2015 where he also served on the Executive Committee of CIBC. Additionally, he served as President of the Canadian operations of Barclays Capital, and its predecessor Lehman Brothers Canada from 2006 to 2008, where he formed the Investment Banking offices in Toronto and Calgary. Barclays currently holds the largest market share of any non-Canadian bank and is consistently ranked in the top five overall. The regional team provides Investment Banking, Global Markets, and Global Research coverage for clients in Canada who want access to the global capital markets and in-country opportunities for international clients. Under Mr. Belsher's leadership, Barclays will aim to maintain a top five position across all products and services and look to disrupt into the top three, especially in areas like cross-border M&A, equity financing, and high-yield financing. "Barclays has a long and storied history in Canada," says Mr. Belsher. "I'm incredibly proud to join this team and look forward to this new opportunity at Barclays." About Barclays Barclays is a British universal bank. We are diversified by business, by different types of customer and client, and geography. Our businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by our service company which provides technology, operations, and functional services across the Group. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website home.barclays. About Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank is comprised of the Investment Banking, International Corporate Banking, Global Markets and Research businesses. It provides money managers, financial institutions, governments, supranational organisations and corporate clients with services and advice for their funding, financing, strategic and risk management needs. For further information about Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank, please visit our website www.cib.barclays. 13 october 2023 at 15:25 News published onand distributed by: If you went to the Yellowstone Art Museum on Thursday, you had to pay anywhere from $6 to $15 to get in. But if you go on Friday, dont even bother getting your wallet out. Starting on Oct. 13 and going for at least the next three years, admission at the YAM be free. No strings attached. Were really excited, obviously, said Jessica Kay Ruhle, the YAMs director. This is something that has been in the works at the museum for a long time. Weve been in conversation trying to figure out how to make this happen. Its happening because of an unlikely source: Walmart. Or more specifically, Alice Walton, daughter of the shopping giants founder Sam Walton. Per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Walton boasts a fortune of $68 billion, making her the 18th richest person at the world. Shes also behind the foundation Art Bridges, which is donating a $240,000 grant to the YAM so they can waive their admission fee for three years. The grant is part of the Art Bridges larger Access for All initiative which is funding 64 museums nationwide to the tune of $40 million overall. Included institutions that span 36 states and Puerto Rico. But the funding from Art Bridges doesnt kick in until 2024. A donation from Billings-based artists Jon Lodge and Jane Waggoner Deschner is bridging the three month gap between Friday and Jan. 1. Both artists have had many exhibitions at the museum over the years, and Deschners stirring installation Remember Me was one of the YAMs highlights from last year. The YAM averages about 12,000 visitors a year, and their revenue sources vary significantly over the course of the year, according to Ruhle. The grant from Art Bridges is covering revenue lost from admissions, but its also funding marketing expenses and turning the museums membership coordinator from a part-time position to a full-time one. The person who takes the job, which is hiring now, will be tasked with reaching folks who arent currently visiting the museum. We want them to know that this is something thats free and available, and theres no longer that economic barrier to visitation, Ruhle explained. With free admission no longer being a perk of becoming a museum member, Ruhle said that theyd be increasing member incentives. But she also noted that many members dont view admission as one of the driving forces behind their membership status. For example, theres always a big spike around summer camp time, since camps cost less for members. She suggested that there may be more discounts like that in store for people who keep their memberships going during the next three years. Anytime you change a fee structure its a good opportunity to take a look at the full picture, Ruhle noted That new membership coordinator whos responsible for the new audiences will also help us reimagine what those membership benefits look like. The real goal here is that new audience. In her first interview with the Gazette almost two years ago, Ruhle said she is really committed to relationships, and stated her desire to be really collaborative with artists, local organizations and any number of community partners. This move might be the museums biggest step yet towards achieving that goal, opening up relationships with people who typically just drive by. We really want to expand who's visiting our galleries and whos participating in our programs, Ruhle said. Ive seen how impactful they can be. Ive had the opportunity to be with teenagers and older adults and everyone in between in the galleries, and I know how much joy this can bring to people. I want that for everybody. The Missoula Art Museum currently doesnt charge for admission, and the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, which has been free since 1987, recently announced that they will begin charging an additions fee beginning in January. Before she took the reins at the YAM in early 2022, Ruhle had been the director of education at the Nashar Museum of Art at Duke University for years. As she was leaving, they began moving to a free model, similarly spurred on by a major donation. Its something thats been on my mind since I came to town, Ruhle reflected. There are many real and perceived barriers for art museums, and anytime you can remove one of those, its a step in the right direction. Canada invests over $48 million for new rental homes in Vancouver VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada has supported construction of 104 purpose-built rental homes for residents of Vancouver through $48.5 million in fully repayable low-interest loans through the Rental Construction Financing Initiative (RCFi). This announcement follows the Honourable Sean Fraser's, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, August 16 visit to Vancouver where he announced nearly $500 million for over 1110 units, including the project announced today. Wilkinson by Cressey is a 10-storey concrete building at 1715 Cook St in the Olympic Village neighbourhood. It offers 104 purpose-built rental units composed of a variety of housing types from studio to three-bedroom units. Wilkinson is LEED Gold certified and is connected to the False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility, which uses waste thermal energy captured from sewage to provide space heating and hot water to buildings in the area. Construction was completed in June 2021 and the project is fully leased. Funding for this project include: $48.5 million RCFi low-interest loan from the federal government through CMHC. RCFi low-interest loan from the federal government through CMHC. $2.1 million from the City of Vancouver through waived development cost levies. from the through waived development cost levies. $800,000 in cash equity from Cressey (Wilkinson) Development LLP contributed in cash equity from Cressey (Wilkinson) Development LLP contributed $3.2 million in land equity from Cressey Wilkinson Holdings Ltd. Quotes: "This project demonstrates the strong commitment and partnership between all levels of government and the housing sector. With strategic investments through the RCFi, we are providing more access to safe, sustainable housing while increasing the rental supply across the country, including markets like Vancouver, where it is much needed. This is one example of the National Housing Strategy ensuring every Canadian has a safe place to call home. ? The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities "New investments in projects like The Wilkinson, show the federal government is taking action, not only to increase the supply of new rental developments, but also to provide housing options to middle class families in Vancouver, that are closer to jobs, services, public transit and amenities. I am pleased to see our National Housing Strategy come to life through announcements such as today's." ? The Honourable Hedy Fry, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre, British Columbia "We are tackling the housing crisis head on. Waiving the development cost levy of $2.1 million, will help to put roofs over people's heads while investing in a more inclusive Vancouver," said Mayor Ken Sim. "We are addressing the housing challenges in our city with all-hands-on-deck approach because housing is not just a matter of shelter, it's about creating communities where everyone feels at home, and empowered to build a brighter future." ? Ken Sim, Mayor, City of Vancouver "Wilkinson was made possible because of good City of Vancouver policy, attractive financing from the Federal Government through CMHC and opportune timing. This project was conceived in 2015, started construction in 2019 and completed construction mid-2021. It took Cressey 7 years to deliver 104 units of market rental housing. We need many more projects like this if we are ever going to prevail over the housing crisis, but projects can't take 7 years! We have to stay focused on tearing down the obstacles and paving the way to many more rental projects if we are going to have meaningful success in the medium term." ? Hani Lammam, Executive Vice President, Cressey Development Group Quick facts: The Rental Construction Financing Initiative (RCFi ) provides fully repayable low-interest loans to encourage the construction of more purpose-built rental housing for middle income Canadians. It creates a positive impact to the housing system at minimal cost to taxpayers. RCFi is one of many programs and initiatives under the National Housing Strategy designed to help address housing needs across the housing continuum. RCFi complements other NHS initiatives that focus on funding affordable housing units for lower-income households. Through RCFi , the federal government is encouraging the construction of more than 71,000 rental units. A stable supply of purpose-built rental housing is essential for more people in Canada to have access to housing that meets their needs. provides fully repayable low-interest loans to encourage the construction of more purpose-built rental housing for middle income Canadians. It creates a positive impact to the housing system at minimal cost to taxpayers. Through Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, the Government of Canada has committed $3.9 billion to support infrastructure investments in British Columbia . Infrastructure Program, the Government of has committed to support infrastructure investments in . Of that amount, the Government of Canada has allocated $2.21 billion to TransLink for projects in Metro Vancouver. has allocated to TransLink for projects in Metro Vancouver. Since 2018, the Government of Canada has approved 17 TransLink projects under Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program with a total federal contribution of $1.63 billion , including $888.3 million for the Millennium Line Broadway Extension and $493.3 million for the Expo and Millennium Upgrade Program. has approved 17 TransLink projects under Investing in Infrastructure Program with a total federal contribution of , including for the Millennium Line Broadway Extension and for the Expo and Millennium Upgrade Program. In 2021, the Government of Canada announced up to $1.3 billion in federal funding toward the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension project, being built to accommodate projected population growth in Surrey and Langley . announced up to in federal funding toward the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension project, being built to accommodate projected population growth in and . Major public transit infrastructure projects like the Surrey Langley SkyTrain strengthen communities, make more Canadians' lives easier and more affordable, and are aligned with the Government of Canada's commitment of net-zero emissions by 2050. Related links: Visit Canada.ca/housing for the most requested Government of Canada housing information. housing information. CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that everyone in Canada has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook. has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook. To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, visit: www.placetocallhome.ca Check out the National Housing Strategy Housing Funding Initiatives Map to see affordable housing projects that have been developed across Canada . SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) 13 october 2023 at 17:00 News published onand distributed by: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks after a meeting with Moldova's President Maia Sandu, in Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, October 12, 2023. AUREL OBREJA / AP The presidents of the European Commission and Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola, will visit Israel on Friday in the wake of Hamas's bloody assault on Israeli communities. A statement from the commission said the senior Brussels officials would "express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks, and meet with Israeli leadership". Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 mainly civilian people and took about 150 hostages in a shock onslaught launched from the Palestinian territory of Gaza on Saturday. Israel has responded by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza for six days, claiming more than 1,400 Palestinian lives. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel on Thursday and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will arrive on Friday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Austin told journalists in Brussels on Thursday that the United States had no "early warnings or indications" that the Islamist group would launch its bloody assault. He also said Washington has not placed any conditions on the way Israel can use the weapons it provides. "This is a professional military, led by professional leadership, and we would hope and expect that they would do the right things in the prosecution of their campaign," he said. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Biden reaffirms unwavering solidarity with Israel, condemns Hamas's 'bloodthirstiness' The EU chief's program of visits has not been finalized. The European Union and its member states have expressed horror at Hamas's killings and endorsed Israel's right to defend itself within "the limits of international law". Some European officials have expressed concerns about Israel's new siege of Gaza. But von der Leyen and Metsola have been outspoken in their support for Israel, accusing Hamas of carrying out an anti-Semitic massacre of innocent civilians. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes The West and areas of the Global South divided over Palestine "October 7 is a day that will go down in global infamy," Metsola said on Wednesday at a Brussels tribute ceremony to the Israeli dead. "The world has witnessed Jews being murdered simply because they were Jewish. Again. In Israel," she said. Earlier, von der Leyen had told her commission colleagues: "These innocents were killed for one single reason. For being Jewish and living in the State of Israel. "It is an ancient evil, which reminds us of the darkest past and shocks all of us to the core," she said. British Israelis Noam Sagi (right) and Sharon Lifschitz, whose respective parents were taken hostage, attend a press conference in London, October 12, 2023. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP Shock and secrecy have marked the last few days, but the hostage crisis has been weighing on European governments anxious to secure their release, without turning it into a source of tension with Israel. On the evening of Thursday, October 12, in his televised address, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to "do everything possible" to rescue the French nationals kidnapped during the Hamas offensive. Seventeen French nationals are still "missing" and possibly "being held hostage," said the president, his tone grave. He also said, without giving further details, that negotiation channels had been set up by France to work towards their release. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes After Hamas attack on Israel, Macron calls on France to not give in to 'division' While Germany has asked Qatar to act as a mediator, Macron has so far confined himself to highlighting the coordination work being carried out with Israel to identify, on a case-by-case basis, the victims and missing persons, appearing to let Benjamin Netanyahu's government set the order of priorities for its response against Hamas. "France is doing everything in its power, with the Israeli authorities and our partners, in order to bring them home safely because France never abandons its children," the French President reassured on Thursday, despite the fact that hostage families had earlier asked him, from Tel Aviv, to intervene to save their loved ones probably being held in the Gaza Strip. The issue was raised later in the day during consultations held at the Elysee Palace with the various leaders of the parties represented in Parliament. "I trust (...) the French authorities to do everything possible to ensure that all the hostages are freed," commented Les Republicains (right) party president Eric Ciotti as he left the discussions. The anti-terrorist prosecutor's office also announced that it had opened an investigation into the French victims. Berlin hails Qatar's 'humanitarian efforts' In Germany, Olaf Scholz was also forced to discuss the hostages's fate on Thursday with the emir of Qatar, Tamim Ben Hamad Al-Thani, who was visiting Berlin. The chancellor praised the Emirate's "humanitarian efforts" to free those kidnapped by Hamas, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit reported after the meeting. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had said the previous day that Doha and other capitals in the region "must play an important role because they have channels of communication that we don't have" with Hamas. According to the latest reports, at least five German nationals are among the 150 or so hostages kidnapped by Hamas. You have 55% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on October 12, 2023. HATEM ALI / AP On Saturday, October 7, Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas surged out of the Gaza Strip and attacked Israel in multiple raids, overwhelming the country's border defenses and leaving over 1,200 dead. Israel has since massively mobilized forces in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, tracked down Hamas commandoes and massively bombed targets in Gaza which is now under a "complete siege." In light of the complex nature of unfolding events in Israel and Gaza, Gilles Paris, a former Le Monde Jerusalem and Washington correspondent, answered readers' questions. Re4Qube: Hello, can't the apparently unrestrained reaction of the Western democracies (unconditional support for Israel, whatever the nature of the response employed) induce detrimental effects in the medium term notably a deterioration in their diplomatic influence vis-a-vis the countries of the "Global South"? Gilles Paris: Your question refers to the map of international reactions we have published, inspired by the geopolitics website Le Grand Continent. As in the case of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a dividing line between a Western bloc, expanded to include Asian countries (South Korea, Japan) and South America (Argentina), and a "Global South" that considers the Western bloc's interpretation of events to be partial and biased. This double standard is often criticized: whether on the recent question of welcoming Ukrainian refugees in contrast to those from other war-torn countries, or on the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. But this double standard initially thrived on the non-implementation of UN resolutions concerning the fate of the Palestinians. After the shock of discovering their relative isolation over the subject of Ukraine, the West claimed it wanted to convince the Southern countries. The current war and the alignment of Western countries with Israel which is without much reserve, for the time being risks deepening this rift, however. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes The West and areas of the Global South divided over Palestine Corto: Why have Morocco, Egypt and other Arab countries given up their support and defense of projects that guarantee a future for the Palestinians as a people? The 2020 Abraham Accords marked a turning point in the history of Arab-Palestinian relations. Previously, the majority of Arab-Muslim countries had stuck to the position set out in 2002 by Saudi Arabia with the Arab Peace Initiative (proposed by former King Abdullah, then regent of the kingdom), which made the recognition of Israel for all these countries conditional on the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders (Gaza and the West Bank). This initiative gradually withered away, for several reasons: the division of the Palestinian side, both politically and geographically, from 2007 onward; mistrust of Iran's growing influence with certain Palestinian factions, including Hamas; and the rise to power, notably in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, of a new generation of leaders with no sentimental ties to the Palestinian cause, instead attracted by Israel's economic and technological successes. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes The impossible burying of the Palestinian question These countries, like the majority of Western countries after the failure of the peace process, subscribed to the thesis of a status quo, which allowed diplomacy to be dispensed with and for the inevitable demise of the Palestinian national movement. The final blow to the Arab Peace Initiative was to be delivered by King Abdullah's nephew, Mohammed bin Salman, with the normalization between Israel and the Saudi kingdom. For the time being, this has been postponed, but there's nothing to say that the momentum of the Abraham Accords won't pick up again when the inevitably precarious calm returns. It should be pointed out that the countries that have established relations with Israel have never actually been at war with the Jewish state, and that this step is therefore much easier to take than the peace agreements concluded with Egypt and Jordan. F.: Is there an economic interest for Middle Eastern countries to support Hamas/the Palestinian cause? Or is any potential support only justified solely on political/religious grounds? The economic and humanitarian aid provided by the United States, the European Union and even certain Arab countries is the price of their guilty conscience about the disappearance of the prospect of the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Aid which, in Gaza, translates into infrastructure that is regularly destroyed by Israeli operations is a striking allegorical summary of international impotence. All the experts who have studied the issue, as evidenced by the numerous World Bank reports, conclude that economic development depends on a political framework. That development aid can only fulfill its role if there are guarantees concerning the movement of goods and people. Yet Palestinian development has always been subordinate to Israeli security concerns. The development mentioned sometimes feeds, on the contrary, frustration and anger, which provide an obvious breeding ground for the most radical Palestinian organizations. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes The EU backtracks on announcement about suspending aid to Palestine Jen: In the past, France had a more balanced position, whereas today the French authorities seem unreservedly aligned with a pro-Israeli stance. What has changed? The joint communique published on Tuesday morning by five Western countries including France reflects an interpretation of the conflict that seems less comprehensive than traditional French positions. The only sentence about the Palestinians that does not refer to Hamas is: "All of us recognize the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, and support equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike." The "legitimate aspirations" are not named, any more than the obstacles to them largely Israeli colonization of the West Bank. As for the "equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians," they ignore the reality of a situation in which both live in diametrically opposed conditions. This communique has the appropriate words to describe the horror of the Hamas attack, but it does not open up any medium or long-term political perspectives. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Macron warns of rising tensions in France over Israel-Hamas war Un passant: Doesn't Hamas's initiative definitively bury the Palestinian cause, which will never recover from this attack? Wouldn't this be political suicide? The picture after October 7 is very bleak indeed. Hamas already considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Europeans alike has broken out of the ambiguity it has sometimes maintained by evoking a "long-term truce" with Israel, or even, as in 2017, temporary recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Read more Hamas, crossing the threshold of barbarity Fatah, the backbone of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority, is totally sclerotic and clearly incapable of reform. This context turns Palestinians away from existing political structures. Nevertheless, the issue of the status of the 5-6 million people living in Gaza and the West Bank will have to be addressed one day. Israel believed in the military-technological solution of imprisonment and the "lawnmower strategy." This refers to the icy expression used by the Israeli security services, who have explained that they regularly have to "mow the lawn," i.e. decapitate armed groups and destroy their infrastructure. The "Gaza model," whose failure is becoming ever more deadly for the two populations involved, is de facto the alternative solution to the absence of a state. Should Israel one day annex Zones B and C of the West Bank for settlement purposes (which refer to those areas defined during the Oslo Accords over which it retained total or partial control), this territory could then potentially see the emergence of additional little Gazas. Please enlighten me: What is Fatah's position, or level of involvement, in these events? What links does it have with Hamas and neighboring countries? Is it in a position to influence Hamas? Fatah, as I said earlier, is practically an empty shell. It can no longer mobilize Palestinian opinion by offering a credible political perspective. Historians will one day settle the question of responsibility for the failure of the peace process of which Fatah has its fair share but without the prospect of the creation of a Palestinian state to which the Israeli right and far right, currently in the majority, are opposed Fatah is doomed to obsolescence. In the 2022 student elections at Birzeit University, near Ramallah which are the political bellwether of the West Bank Hamas won, but it remains to be seen whether Fatah was targeted by votes of rejection because it is identified with impotence, nepotism and security collaboration with Israel which it is forced to do under pressure from the West. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes How Hamas became Israel's sworn enemy Baptiste: Isn't there a risk that public opinion in the Arab world will also turn against Egypt, which despite sharing a border with the Gaza Strip doesn't seem to be doing much or offering an escape route for civilians who have fallen victim to the bombings? Arab public opinion carries little weight in current developments, as we saw with the Abraham Accords. The latter have been used by non-democratic regimes to further their agenda (Sudan's rapprochement with the United States for Omar al-Bashir, Washington's recognition of the Moroccan status of Western Sahara for Rabat). It may be that Egypt, in coordination with the United States, will open the Rafah crossing as part of the ruthless blockade of Gaza, but it is hard to see how hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians will be able to find refuge there without finding themselves trapped in a humanitarian crisis to which Egypt could hardly respond. Of course, Cairo remains the irreplaceable mediator in all matters relating to Gaza, but it must be remembered that the current regime, which came to power in a coup, is viscerally hostile to political Islamism, and therefore to Hamas. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Rafah border crossing: A barrage of Israeli fire endangers Gaza's only gateway to Egypt Sol75: I know you don't have a crystal ball... But, supposing there could be, in the not-too-distant future, negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, who could be brought in to lead these negotiations, from the various sides involved? And who, from the outside, could put pressure on the leaders and/or negotiators? If rationality prevailed between Israelis and Palestinians, the latter could agree on a territorial division that would ensure peace and security for both people, stabilize the region and deprive Iran of a justification for posing as a concerned champion of the Palestinian cause. Past failures have shown the vanity of unevenly distributed pressure. Disarming internal resistance, both Israeli and Palestinian, would require huge international investment both Western and Arab with no guarantee of results. But the sum of past failures has led to the search for solutions that short-circuit the Palestinian question, such as the Abraham Accords, the results of which can be seen today. Paul Ji: In an editorial (the very first, I think), Le Monde described the economic and social policies of Hamas in Gaza since they took power 16 years ago as 'disastrous.' But why? In concrete terms, has Hamas taken any measures in this area or in that of civil liberties, or has it focused solely on military efforts? On a broader level, Hamas is sometimes described as a corrupt and mafia-like organization. What is meant by that? It's difficult to measure the degree of popularity of Hamas in Gaza, or the level of support for its actions. Since the particularly brutal ousting of Fatah in 2007 (which had just as brutally repressed Hamas in the years leading up to it), the movement reigns there without any measure of sharing or transparency, as one might imagine. For a long time, Hamas has benefited from its initial aura conferred by the establishment of charitable institutions. It's worth pointing out that the death and destruction that accompany every Israeli military intervention are always blamed on Israel and never on itself. The idea that these operations can turn the Palestinians of Gaza away from Hamas has never been borne out, even during the worst offensives. It is often difficult for Westerners to understand what decades of imprisonment and steadily worsening living conditions can produce. Whatever power is in place, this situation is totally unmanageable, given the weight of constraints. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice party (PiS), at a rally ahead of the legislative elections, in Przysucha, Poland, on October 9, 2023. MARCIN KUCEWICZ/AGENCJA WYBORCZA.PL VIA REUTERS The argument was honed even before the start of the campaign which is now raging for the Polish legislative elections scheduled for Sunday, October 15 at a political picnic held in front of cameras on July 8 in the town of Pultusk, not far from Warsaw. "Today, our gross domestic product [GDP] per capita is equivalent to 80% of the European Union average (...) And all because social benefits are very extensive in Poland," stated Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the national-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), which has been in power since 2015. "Did we think, a dozen years ago, that we would so quickly catch up to Western European countries in terms of per capita income?" he continued on July 30, at another picnic, this time in the western village of Polajewo. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes A Polish refinery highlights the government's contradictions on migration issues The data is real and tangible for Polish people: The country is constantly catching up to its neighbors. When it joined the European Union (EU) in 2004, Poland was one of the least wealthy member states. Its GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita was half the EU average. Only Lithuania and Latvia were the two countries with worse statistics of the 10 joining at the same time. Today, the country has surpassed the standards of living of Greece, Portugal, Slovakia and Hungary, and is now hot on Spain's heels. Poland is at the end of its "20 glorious years" since joining the EU and it's time for the national-conservatives of the PiS, who have been in power since 2015, to reap the rewards: GDP has risen 32% between 2015 and 2023, and unemployment halved to now reach 5%. "Poland has been catching up with Western Europe since its transition to a market economy. In 1990, our GDP per capita was equivalent to 30% of Germany's; today, we're approaching 70%, but this has been achieved in 30 years, not eight," pointed out economist Witold Orlowski, a professor at Warsaw's Vistula University. The important role of European funds "Other Central European countries have experienced the same phenomenon, and we would in any case, have arrived at the same result, more or less quickly, with a different government and different policies," explained Hanna Cichy, senior economist at Polityka Insight, an analysis center based in Warsaw. European funds have played a role. According to ING Bank, the 2024 Cohesion Fund will represent 2% of Polish GDP. "They have been very important for building infrastructure, without which the investments would probably not have taken place," said Witold Orlowski. A fact that the PiS has kept quiet about. You have 55% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. TRAVEL on buses across Limerick should be free for all third-level students. And services from rural parts of the county should be made more regular and reliable to encourage the next generation to consider public transport as their first choice. Thats the view of Fianna Fail councillor Bridie Collins, who lives in Adare and who has called for the local authority to lead the way in delivering the reforms needed. We as a local authority should be doing all we can to provide the infrastructure so public transport is easily accessible. It should be the first port of call for all students, be they living in Cappamore, Cappawhite, Kilmallock, Adare, or wherever they live, said Cllr Collins, who chairs the economic and planning committee. She believes in turn, communities across Limerick could become feeder towns to University of Limerick, with many students unable to live close by due to a shortage of housing. We are in a housing crisis, and this would make the outskirts - the Pallaskenrys, the Foyneses, the Newcastle Wests - feeder towns for the university, she explained. As a local authority we should be looking at providing the infrastructure to support the universities who have provided us with huge population growth, she added. The Fianna Fail councillor did acknowledge, however, that it is a tough challenge to change the mindset of people living rurally, many of whom consider using their car as the first and only option. If you knew within an hour, there will be a bus from wherever you are in Limerick that will bring you into the city - you might have to change buses at an outside location - these are things we should be looking at as a local authority. How do we put in the infrastructure to make sure the buses run on time? Do we need a park-and-ride on the edge of the city, asked Cllr Collins. While her own village of Adare has a daytime service of two buses an hour to the city on a corridor covering Newcastle West, other parts of the county are not so lucky. Kilmallock has nine return services a day - a vast improvement on recent times - the Askeaton service also enjoys a similar frequency. If we are moving towards sustainability and carbon neutrality by 2050, this cohort of students will be the employers and innovators going forward, we should get them used to using public transport, she concluded. IRISH Cement has formally switched away from its use of fossil fuels in favour of alternative substances in Limerick. The Limerick Leader / Limerick Live understands the firm in Mungret has now formally phased out the old way it used to generate the building material, and replaced it with items like used tyres and solid recovered waste. It comes two-and-a-half years after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted Irish Cement an operating licence. In 2018, An Bord Pleanala gave Irish Cement permission for the construction of the buildings it would use to store the new materials. Both the EPA and An Bord Pleanala decisions followed a long process, with much opposition to the plans in Limerick. Two oral hearings took place into the proposals, the first of which was in 2017. Joe Burke, researcher with Limerick Against Pollution (LAP), a community group which fought the Irish Cement plans, has now questioned if two of the stipulations which were placed on Irish Cement after it was given permission to build the storage units by An Bord Pleanala have come into effect. These are that a special community fund be established to support facilities and services which may be of benefit to the local area. This fund is to include an annual contribution per tonne of alternative fuels or raw materials used in the cement works. Separately, a liaison committee will be put in place to keep communication lines between the council, the community and Irish Cement. Mr Burke, who lives in Raheen said he had heard nothing about the fund or a committee. If that committee was set up, we could be having meetings and keeping the public informed, he said. Irish Cement declined to comment, while Limerick City and County Council did not return a comment at the time of going to print. A LIMERICK based lecturer has been appointed President of Women in Film and Television (WIFT) during a world summit in Finland. Dr Susan Liddy of Mary Immaculate College (MIC) has been inaugurated as the new President of WIFT International at the 2023 WIFTI World Summit held in Helsinki, Finland. A lecturer in the Media and Communications faculty in MIC in film, Dr Liddy research focuses on Irish film, gender equality within the industry and more. True progress is marked by the unwavering pursuit of equality, Dr Liddy said upon her appointment. Together, we work to break down barriers, amplify women's voices, diversify the industry and shape an inclusive future. I am committed to championing the cause of gender balance in our industry, one frame at a time. The WIFTI World Summit, a weekend-long celebration marking the 50th anniversary of WIFTI, brought together participants from six continents and 40-member associations to the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre and Hotel, Hanaholmen. Established in 1973 as Women in Film Los Angeles, the organisation was set up as a response to male dominance in the film industry. Fast forward 50 years and WIF LA were out in force in Helsinki to reflect on their history and the ongoing work for gender parity and cultural transformation. UNIVERSITY Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL) will host its annual remembrance service in person at The Church of the Holy Rosary, Ennis Road, Limerick, on Sunday, November 15 at 3pm. UMHL along with 100 other landmark buildings across the country will light up in blue and pink as part of a Global Wave of Light to mark Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day worldwide. The Irish element of the Global Wave of Light is organised by Feileacain, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland. Other Midwest landmark buildings lighting up this Sunday include Limerick City Hall; Askeaton Tourist Office; Bank of Ireland, Newcastle West; Clare County Council; Rock of Cashel; Cistercian College, Roscrea; and South Tipperary Maternity Hospital. The public can join this worldwide commemorative occasion by lighting a candle at 7pm on Sunday evening, and posting a photo to the Feileacain Wave of Light Facebook page using the hashtag #feileacainwaveoflight The Global Wave of Light, which marks the first day of Baby Loss Awareness Week, comes three weeks ahead of the maternity hospitals Remembrance Service on November 5. This annual event is organised by the Bereavement and Support team at UMHL, and will be led by Fr Des McAuliffe. This is a special annual occasion where we gather to remember those babies lost through ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death. Our staff will stand together with the bereaved in acknowledging the grief and sadness that the loss of a baby can bring, remembering those babies who have died in recent times and also those who died many years ago. Marie Hunt, CMS Bereavement & Loss said; We hope that the remembrance service will create a space for parents and families to remember their baby; a space to have compassion for themselves and each other; and a space for healing and hope. For those unable to attend in person, the service will be streamed live at 3pm on November 5 on the parish website HERE. Following the ceremony, there will be a cup of tea and time for people to chat to each other. For further information contact Rita OBrien or Marie Hunt, Bereavement Support Department, UMHL on 061-483196. ONE Limerick boy got a special visit from garadi this week. Gardai at Mayorstone garda station made a very special visit to Little Blue Hero, Lucas Postovan on Tuesday, October 10 to present him with his new honorary garda uniform. Little Blue Heroes Foundation was established in 2017 and is a not-for-profit registered charity voluntarily led by garda members, retired garda members and civic minded people from communities. The charity's vision is to support families of children with serious illnesses in Ireland while empowering the lives of children through positive community engagement. One of the services the charity provides is 'Honorary Gardai' which grant the wish of the children they support to become Honorary Gardai and provide Garda themed distraction toys and childrens events for their Little Blue Heroes. Lucas was surrounded by his family when he accepted his new uniform with pride and joined the force! Dima Postovan, father of Lucas Postovan, expressed his gratitude under the garda Facebook post said; Thank you very much to Eoin Kelly and Jonathan Scott, from our local garda station, for organising all this for our son Lucas. He was very excited about his new uniform and especially the blue lights and police siren. Lucas looks really awesome in blue. God bless you all. The Little Blue Heros said; Welcome Honorary Garda Lucas to the team and we are delighted you got to meet your garda buddies from the Garda Siochana - Cork, Kerry & Limerick - Southern Region. We cannot wait to see you out on the beat soon. A Billings man previously sentenced for his role in obstructing a homicide investigation is now accused of pistol-whipping a man. Jerral Lee Brady has been charged with two counts of assault with a weapon in Yellowstone County District Court. The 19-year-old was one of five people who faced criminal charges last year after a teenage boy was fatally shot in the Heights. Brady was on probation for one count of tampering with evidence in connection to the shooting when the assault charges were filed Friday. Earlier this month, deputies with the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office met with a man at Billings Clinic, court documents said. The 59-year-old allegedly told deputies an argument at his home in the West End between himself and Brady escalated to Brady pulling out a handgun and hitting the older man on the head. Brady then put on a set of brass knuckles and again hit the 59-year-old before leaving the property, according to charging documents. Deputies interviewing the victim noted he had bruises and lacerations covering his head, court documents said. Investigators also allegedly found blood on the property where the attack occurred. In September 2022, Yellowstone County prosecutors accused Brady of interfering with the investigation into the fatal shooting of Khoen Parker. Tensions between two groups of teenagers ended with the groups meeting in a parking lot near Castle Rock Park to fight in the early hours of Jan. 16, 2022. Among them were Brady and Parker. During the fight, another teen who came to the fight armed with a handgun fired a shot that hit Parker. Parker was driven to a local hospital, where he later died. In the months that followed, Brady and several others deceived investigators with the Billings Police Department by concealing information, destroying evidence or outright lies, according to court documents and testimony from police. The boy who shot Parker, whose initials are A.G., was sentenced in August to Montanas only long-term correctional facility for juveniles until he is 18. After that, he will be put on probation. Should he violate the terms of his probation, he faces a 20-year prison sentence. Because the boy was charged and sentenced as a juvenile, the Gazette will only identify him by his initials. Brady was initially charged with tampering with evidence, obstructing an officer and riot. The last two charges were dismissed at Bradys sentencing in March. He received a five-year sentencing to the Montana Department of Corrections, with all of his time suspended, according to court records. As part of his sentence, he was placed on probation with DOC. If the court determines that he violated the terms of his probation, he could ordered to four years and 360 days of incarceration. YCSO deputies arrested Brady on Thursday, and he is currently in custody at Yellowstone County Detention Facility. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance for the assault charges Monday. If convicted of assault with a weapon, Brady could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison. BPD investigated an annual average of about 800 aggravated assault cases from 2020 through 2022, according to department data. Aggravated assault investigations for BPD increased compared to the previous three years, which had an annual average of 450. Last year, there were 39 juveniles arrested under suspicion of assault with a weapon, up from 14 arrests for similar charges in 2021. NEW BESPOKE studios are being built in the University of Limerick (UL) for students who will be studying a brand new degree to learn in. Students who will be taking the new Immersive Software Engineering (ISE) degree will be using renovated studio spaces that will be able to accommodate 150 students at a time. 50% of students' time will be spent working within industry, with companies such as Amazon Web Services, Stripe and Analog Devices. Country Lead of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Ireland visited students and staff in Limerick, who will be taking the new software engineering degree, and opened one of the newly renovated studios as part of his visit. Neil Morris, Country Lead of AWS stressed the vital importance of industry collaborating with academia to solve complex societal challenges and meet skill sets needed for the future. Practical, applied learning is of vital importance in equipping todays students for the modern workplace - thats what really differentiates this course from the others, Mr Morris said. Nothing beats solving real-life challenges and AWS is very glad to have some of these students work alongside us as part of their fieldwork. These students are the industry leaders of the future and I am determined to continue championing their skills and supporting them in their journey as tech innovators. ISE exists to disrupt traditional computer science education and is an integrated Bachelor/Masters degree programme, where students learn by doing. ISE student Karl Gilmartin said of his experience: My first ISE residency at AWS, and it revolved around the principle of learn by doing. Beyond the technical realm, my AWS residency proved to be a multifaceted learning experience, encompassing not only technical skills but also vital abilities like problem-solving, effective communication, and leadership. One of the most enriching aspects of my time at AWS was the unwavering support of an inclusive and encouraging team, Karl concluded. A man aged in his 50s is to appear in court after being charged by police investigating the murder of missing woman Tina Satchwell. It comes after Irish police discovered skeletal remains buried beneath a home in Youghal, Co Cork, earlier this week. It is understood gardai are now satisfied the remains are those of Ms Satchwell. A man in his 50s was arrested following the discovery. Ms Satchwell, originally from Fermoy, was 45 when last seen alive and has been missing from her home in Youghal since March 2017. A major search operation began at a house and surrounding grounds in Youghal on Tuesday. The human remains were found late on Wednesday, according to the Irish police service An Garda Siochana. They were removed on Thursday and taken to Cork University Hospital where they were examined further, including for DNA analysis. Heavy machinery, including a digger, was used in the search of the Youghal home. A large screen has been erected around the building and grounds and people have laid flowers in memory of Ms Satchwell. As well as the search at the property in Youghal, gardai said a second search had been carried out at a location between Youghal and Killeagh in Co Cork. The man will appear before a special sitting of Cashel District Court at 10.30am on Saturday. Josh Stir knew he had been talking for a long time during a recent virtual company meeting. But he didnt expect a robot to call him out on it. Stir was presenting from his Fort Wayne, Ind., office about a new software feature that would allow his colleagues to automate tedious tasks, such as copying and pasting data. Then a notification popped up on his laptop telling him hed been talking nonstop for 30 minutes without letting anyone else say a word. It was like, monologue!" says Stir, 46 years old, who works for a tax services company as a senior software development manager. And I was like, yes, thats what Im here to do." Workers around the world are adopting artificial intelligence to streamline tasks ranging from email writing to product development. Now companies have begun using AI to root out another workplace inefficiency: meetings. Across the U.S., some workers are using tools that record, analyze and summarize what has been said, allowing them to skip gatherings entirely and skim the highlights. The AI also acts as a kind of virtual Miss Manners, reminding people to share the mic and to modulate their speaking pace, and advising them how to avoid verbal flubs. In Stirs case, his robot minder suggested he let his pitch rise and fall more to sound less monotone, something he says isnt the easiest task, given the technical material he covers. Its technology for corporate tax software," Stir says. No ones going to carry me out of the room on their shoulders." Joseph Zalkin, 65, a retired emergency medical services worker in Raleigh, N.C., says the idea of recording and analyzing meetings is Big Brother personified"and extremely helpful. Zalkin sits on multiple committees associated with a foundation and a local university, and on days when he is double-booked, he will send in an AI-powered notetaker to silently listen in, transcribe and recap what was said. The follow-up reports hit his inbox from 20 minutes to two hours later. To Zalkins amusement, the tools also offer punctilious summaries of small talk that a human notetaker might skip, including a recent discussion about an outpost of Buc-ees, the gas station and convenience store with a cult following, that opened nearby. The reports Zalkin receives for meetings he attends also note whether he arrived on time and the number of times he interrupted people. During one recent family meeting about investments, the answer was 14 timesmostly to interject over his brother, Zalkin says. Im sure it was important to move things along," he says. His brother Andrew, 69, says he didnt mind. We all seem to talk a lot," he says of the family, adding that he, too, is prone to interrupting. View Full Image Colin Dougherty recently found himself at a meeting room with no other humans. PHOTO: COLIN DOUGHERTY Virtual meeting hosts usually have to click accept" to let in the AI assistant, and with most tools, will display a notification for participants indicating that the meeting is being recorded. Still, some users say they have abandoned such technology after finding it too creepy. Its like having a conversation with someone at a coffee shop, and you look out the window and all you see are a pair of eyes looking at you," says Zack Schwartz, 33, the Chicago-based founder of a design firm who pulled the plug after experimenting with AI in meetings this spring. The tools present tricky social questions, such as the etiquette around sending AI assistants to meetings without personally attending. Theres a weird power dynamic there," says Jessica Malnik, a marketer in her 30s. Lately, when attending webinars in her field, Malnik says, she has noticed many more AI notetakers showing up. Each one occupies a faceless, darkened Brady Bunch square, which she says can create a weird feeling in a virtual room. And though users of such tools usually name them accordinglySo-and-Sos Notetaker," for examplethey sometimes give more humanlike names that camouflage their presence, she says. During one recent event, she saw a participant arrive right on the dot and remain without saying a word, even as others were chatting and saying hello. She recalls thinking: This is obviously a bot." The tools have spread enough that some workers say they regularly show up to meetings to find the only ones present are the AI notetakers programmed to log in as soon as the sessions beginwith all their accompanying humans running behind. I was like, this is super dystopian," says Colin Dougherty, 28, a marketing director at tech company Zenlytic, who recently found himself in one such situation. I just hung out there awkwardly, waiting." Virtual meetings are already subject to so many distractionsthe phone pinging, the dog barkingthat AI threatens to become one more, says Joseph Allen, who directs the Center for Meeting Effectiveness at the University of Utah. If meetings are constantly being recorded, he notes, it could detract from the ability to brainstorm freely. Brian Klochkoff, an executive vice president at advertising agency Dentsu, says AI-powered meeting tools are vital to his work. He uses Microsoft Teams,which offers real-time subtitles in different languages during virtual meetings. Klochkoff uses it to communicate with colleagues in Japan, eliminating the need for a translator. The tool also recently began incorporating AI capabilities that allow meeting attendees who arrive late to request summaries of what has occurred thus far, and to analyze what kind of mood different participants are in. During a recent interview with Klochkoff, that tool accurately rated this Wall Street Journal reporter as being in a curious and interested mood," though a mid-meeting request for a recap yielded inaccuracies, including reporting that the meeting had already concluded. Microsoft said it was taking a learn-it-all approach," testing the tool with customers and using that feedback to improve its models. Everything is a work-in-progress, says Matt Dworkin, a customer success director for a background check company in St. Petersburg, Fla. After recently using AI to analyze his speaking style, he was struck to see how frequently he peppered calls with the word absolutely," which during one half-hour meeting he used eight times. Its a verbal tic he tried for years to kickunsuccessfully. Dworkin created a list of substitutes he could use with clients, which with monitoring from AI, he says he has been mostly able to stick to. I try to mix in different affirmations, like, Certainly, or Yes, we can do that, or 100%, " he says. I dont want to sound too robotic." Write to Te-Ping Chen at Te-ping.Chen@wsj.com Tech layoffs still continue! Qualcomm Inc., the largest smartphone chip maker, has announced its plan to reduce its workforce by eliminating 1,258 positions in San Diego and Santa Clara, California to cope with lackluster demand for its main product. According to the California Employment Development Department, the company is believed to have a strong workforce with 50,000 employees. The data revealed that more than 750 of the employees being laid off are from Qualcomm's engineering ranks, including at levels from director down to technician. The rest of the cuts will come from a broad range of roles such as internal technical staff and accounting, Bloomberg reported. In the notifications, the company informed that the job reductions will begin around mid-December. The San Diego-based company is required to make the filings under California rules. Those obligations on announcements of job cuts dont apply to the companys other locations. Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala told analysts in August that Qualcomm would proactively implement additional cost actions", as per Bloomberg reports. We had previously communicated we would evaluate additional cost actions as the environment continues to evolve," he said on a conference call. Until we see sustained signs of improving fundamentals, our operating framework does not assume an immediate recovery." The company, which will report earnings next month, is on course to see revenue shrink by about 19% in the current fiscal year. While Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon is trying to drive Qualcomms products into new areas, the company still gets the bulk of its sales from the phone market. Demand for the devices, particularly in China, hasnt rebounded as quickly as some had projected. Qualcomm shares were little changed at $111.10 at 3:05 p.m. in New York. The stock had gained 1% this year through Wednesdays close, lagging behind a rally of almost 40% by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index. (With Bloomberg inputs) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. India's exports declined by 2.59 per cent to $34.47 billion in September against $35.4 billion in September 2022, according to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday. Overall imports to the country also declined by 15% YoY to $53.84 billion in September 2023 against September 2022. With this, its trade deficit stood at $19.37 billion in the month of September. Since, the beginning of the current financial year, exports contracted by 8.77 per cent to $ 211.4 billion. In the first half of the current financial year, India's imports declined by 12.23 per cent to $ 326.98 billion. Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said, "Negotiations for the India-UK FTA (free trade agreement) are going on and we are ironing out the differences." Despite an overall reduction in the export of merchandise goods, Sunil Barthwal highlighted that there was an increase of 1.86 per cent in September exports in case of petroleum, gems and jewellery exports. The rise in export of petroleum and jewellery is a healthy indication for India's economy. Despite a rise in exports of petroleum products in September there was a reduction in value terms because of falling crude prices. India's trade deficit stood at $24.16 billion in August this year. It further decreased to $19.37 billion in September. As per the data, electronic goods, iron ore, drugs and pharmaceuticals, ceramics, and oil meals emerged as the best performing commodities in terms of exports in the first half of FY24. On the other hand, gems and jewellery, organic and inorganic chemicals, engineering goods, and readymade garment of all textiles failed to impress its foreign consumers witnessing a decline in exports. China remained to be the top importer of merchandise to India. However, there has been a significant reduction in the number of merchandise imports from China to India. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Rajgor Castor Derivatives Ltd IPO opens for subscription on Tuesday, October 17, and closes on Friday, October 20. Rajgor Castor Derivatives IPO's price band is set in the range of 47 to 50. Investors can bid for a minimum of 3000 shares and in multiples thereof. Rajgor Castor Derivatives Ltd IPO has reserved not more than 50% of the shares in the public issue for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB), not less than 15% for Non Institutional Investors (NII), and not less than 35% of the offer is reserved for Retail Investors. "Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here! Brijeshkumar Vasantlal Rajgor, Vasantkumar Shankarlal Rajgor and Maheshkumar Shankarlal Rajgor are the company's promoters. Products based on castor oil are produced by Rajgor Castor Derivatives Limited for the Indian market. The company offers the following products: Grade F.S.G. (First Stage Refined Castor Oil): G.F.S. Castor oil is bleached to meet British Standard requirements. It is utilised in a variety of products, including paints, lubricants, medicines, cable insulators, sealants, inks, rubber, and textiles. It is also applied to food grains to protect them from insects and fungi, and it is used as a skin moisturiser, eyelash and hair grower, constipation reliever, and immune system booster. Also Read: WomenCart Limited IPO opens on Monday, issue price set at 86. Check GMP, review, other details Rajgor Castor Derivatives Ltd IPO detail Rajgor Castor Derivatives IPO consists of fresh issue of shares of up 44.48 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up 666,000 shares equity shares of face value of Rs10 each by a promoter and others. The total size of the IPO is 47.81 crore. Rajgor Castor Derivatives IPO raised 13.56 crore from anchor investors, as per reports. The offer proceeds from the new issue will be used for the following purposes: to cover public offering costs, general company purposes, and working capital requirements. The Rajgor Castor Derivatives IPO's book running lead manager is Beeline Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd, and the registrar is Link Intime India Private Ltd. Spread X Securities is the market maker for the Rajgor Castor Derivatives IPO. As per Red Herring Prospectus (RHP), the listed peers of the company NK Industries Ltd, and Jayant Agro-Organics Ltd. Between the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2022, Rajgor Castor Derivatives Limited saw a 948.26% growth in revenue and a 962.41% increase in profit after tax (PAT). Also Read: Plada Infotech share price debuts at 23% premium at 59 on NSE SME Rajgor Castor Derivatives Ltd IPO GMP today Rajgor Castor Derivatives Ltd IPO GMP or grey market premium is +10. This indicates Rajgor Castor Derivatives share price were trading at a premium of 10 in the grey market on Friday, according to investorgain.com. Considering the upper end of the IPO price band and the current premium in the grey market, the estimated listing price of Rajgor Castor Derivatives share price was indicated at 60 apiece, which is 20% higher than the IPO price of 50. 'Grey market premium' indicates investors' readiness to pay more than the issue price. Rajgor Castor Derivatives Ltd IPO Review Rajgor Castor Derivatives Ltd is in the business of castor oil related derivatives that has huge and growing demand. The company scaled up its operations post the pandemic and is poised for bright prospects ahead. Based on FY24 annualized earnings, the issue appears fully priced. Well-informed investors may park funds for long-term rewards," said Dilip Davda, the contributing editor at Chittorgarh. Also Read: Plaza Wires share price locked in 5% upper circuit, gains 56% in two sessions Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Shares of IRCON International, a PSU firm, jumped 7.2% to 143.75 apiece in early Friday trade after the company in an exchange filing on Thursday said it was awarded 'Navratna' status by the Department of Public Enterprises. This makes IRCON the 15th Navratna company among the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), as per the company's exchange filing. Furthermore, the Department of Public Enterprises also granted the 'Navratna' status to another PSU, RITES, making it the 16th Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) to receive this prestigious recognition. Following this development, shares of RITES also zoomed nearly 7% in Friday's early trade to 506.30 apiece. At 12:00 p.m., shares of IRCON International and RITES were trading with gains of 6.54% and 5.94%, respectively. Over the past year, the stocks of public sector undertakings (PSUs) have experienced a significant uptrend. This surge can be attributed to robust order books, strong earnings, and an increase in government capital allocation, as seen in the recent Union Budget. Notably, the S&P BSE PSU index has advanced by an impressive 40.69% in the past year, with 25 stocks yielding returns of over 90%. In this context, IRCON International has been a standout performer, delivering a stellar yearly return of 236.6%, securing the fifth position among the top gainers in the index. In addition, RITES has also displayed a strong performance, ranking 36th in the index with a yearly return of 44.3%, Trendlyne data showed. Meanwhile, earlier in April, RVNL was also awarded 'Navratna' status. The 'Navratna' companies are typically selected based on their financial performance, operational efficiency, and strategic importance to the Indian economy. These companies are given more freedom in making decisions related to investments, joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions. Other companies that hold the 'Navratna' status are Bharat Electronics, Shipping Corporation of India, Hindustan Aeronautics, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, Engineers India, NMDC, National Buildings Construction Corporation, ONGC Videsh, NLC India, Oil India, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, National Aluminium Company, and Container Corporation of India. Navratna companies can achieve Maharatna status by meeting specific performance benchmarks and fulfilling certain eligibility criteria. Earlier in September, IRCON International executed the contract agreement with Sri Lanka Railways, Ministry of Transport, for the work of procurement of the design, installation, testing, commissioning, and certifying of the signalling and telecommunication system from Maho Junction (including) to Anuradhapura (excluding) under the Indian Line of Credit at a total price of $14.89 million, equivalent to approximately 122 crore, according to company's regulatory filing. Domestic brokerage firm Antique Stock Broking has recently initiated coverage on the stock with a 'buy' rating and a target price of 176 per share, implying an upside of over 21.37% from the stock's latest closing price. On the other hand, RITES emerged as the lowest bidder in a tender floated by Bangladesh Railway, the company said in an exchange filing dated October 5. The order pertains to the procurement of 200 broad-gauge passenger carriages for the Bangladesh railway. The estimated value of the contract is over $111.3 million, or more than 900 crore. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The Casper Fire-EMS Department is asking City Council for help setting up a new program thatd allow qualifying establishments to conduct their own fire safety inspections. Many, but not all, public buildings in Wyoming must routinely be inspected by a fire agency to make sure theyre in compliance with fire safety regulations. In Casper, most of the inspections are conducted by the Fire-EMS Departments Community Risk Reduction Division which also specializes in things like investigations and public education with help from the agencys five fire engine crews. But right now, the fire department just doesnt have enough staff to perform all the inspections it needs to. The Community Risk Reduction Division currently only has four people, Deputy Chief Jack Moore wrote in a description of the proposed program shared with City Council. By comparison, the division had eight staff members in 2015. The combined efforts of the CRR Division and Engine companies are currently unable to keep up with the demand for fire inspections and the frequency at which they are required to be performed, Moore wrote, using an acronym for Community Risk Reduction. For that reason, the fire department has been looking into setting up a self-inspection program for a while. The hope is that it would free up time for the agency to focus on other important tasks, like responding to service calls. The program would only be open to places that have low to moderate safety risks, Moore told the City Council during a Tuesday work session. Think small retail stores, doctors offices or storage units. Those account for an estimated 60% of the roughly 3,000 establishments in Casper that need regular fire safety inspections, according to Moore. Self-inspections would be off the table for higher-risk organizations like schools, daycares and businesses that work with hazardous materials. What would the program look like in practice? First, approved establishments would be given specific instructions on how to conduct the inspections. Theyd be responsible for turning in completed inspection reports to the fire department online. The fire department would provide guidance on how to spot and correct any reported fire safety violations, as well as deadlines for making those changes. To keep participants accountable, the fire department would perform in-person audits of self-inspections every three years. But does it work? Other communities that have tried self-inspection programs have seen mixed results, Moore said. One of the hallmarks of the more successful programs was that they had the support of their municipality or their governing body in the form of an ordinance or some sort of legal grounding for that program, he told the council on Tuesday. To that end, the Fire-EMS Department is asking City Council to adopt specific guidelines for the proposed program into city code. The Council on Tuesday gave approval to city staff to put together a draft ordinance for councilors to consider at a future city council meeting. Inspections are far from the only area where the Fire-EMS Department is feeling a staff crunch. Its common for the department to get more service calls than on-duty staff can accommodate, Fire Chief Jacob Black told the Star-Tribune in June. Part of the issue is the size of the department; the departments ranks simply havent grown in step with the increased demand on its services. Turnover presents another problem. As of this summer, the department projected that more than two dozen fire personnel would be leaving in the next five years. To address some of the staffing concerns, the city of Casper funded six new fire fighter positions in its budget for the 2024 fiscal year. It expected to add six more positions in fiscal year 2025. The Council also recently approved a partnership between the city and the Banner Health-owned Wyoming Medical Center to make the hospitals ambulance service the default provider for local 911 medical transport. The city expected that arrangement to take some of the pressure off the department, too. Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in Wyoming, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Star-Tribune app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Godawari Power & Ispat (GODPI) has given stellar multibagger returns in the last 1 year, rising 129 percent in this period. The stock has also surged over 67 percent in 2023 so far. Despite such robust returns in recent times, brokerage house Equirus Securities sees a massive further upside in the stock. The stock has initiated coverage with a 'long' rating on the stock with a target price of 1,000, implying a 62 percent upside potential in the stock. "We value the stock at 6x 1-year forward EV/EBITDA, higher than the CY24E average of global peers. GODPI has traded at an average of 4.4x EV/EBITDA over the past 14 years; but given the net cash balance sheet vs elevated debt over FY10-FY20, we believe the valuation premium is justified. A tight seaborne market coupled with rising domestic demand for iron ore and a focus on high-grade pellets could strengthen fundamentals further. Initiate coverage with LONG and a Mar25 TP of 1,000," it said. In the 10 months of 2023 so far, the stock has given positive returns in 8 and negative in just 2. It lost over 1.5 percent in October so far, snapping gains after 7 straight months since March. Between March and September, the stock rallied over 85 percent. Apart from October, the stock was in the red only in Feb, down over 14 percent. Meanwhile, it rose over 7 percent in January. Earlier last month, the stock also hit its record high of 640.10 on September 4, 2023, following the bull run in the Indian markets. However, it consolidated a bit post hitting its peak. Currently trading at 618.60, the stock has shed a little over 3 percent from its peak, however, it more than doubled its investor wealth, soaring over 142 percent from its 52-week low of 255, hit on October 24, 2022. Investment Rationale Persistent, high net debt posed significant challenges over FY13-FY21: The brokerage also pointed out that the issue of persistent high net debt posed a massive and long-standing challenge for GODPI over FY13-FY21. This was due to the company's accumulated debt, a result of various factors such as capex, operational needs, and market conditions. In FY17, it faced a default on its debt obligations. In response to the default and escalating debt crisis, GODPI took a critical step of initiating a debt restructuring process in FY17, informed the brokerage. However, in response to the default, GODPI sought to restructure its debt facilities by (a) converting excess working capital into Working Capital Term Loan (WCTL), (b) funding interest on the term loan from 1 Jun16 to 28 Feb17 through Funding of Interest on Term Loan (FITL), and (c) extending the debt repayment period for 10-15 years, it mentioned. High iron ore prices: During 2019-2022, higher iron ore prices significantly boosted GODPIs financial performance, both in terms of revenues and profits. As an integrated steel manufacturer, the company benefited from an improved cost structure as its own iron ore production became more valuable. Also, higher selling prices for steel products shored up profit margins. However, one of the most noteworthy outcomes was GODPIs transition from a net debt to a net cash company over the course of these years, highlighted the brokerage. GODPI remains a low-cost iron ore producer: The brokerage also stated that GODPI maintains its status as a low-cost iron ore producer, primarily due to its unique advantage of operating mines under the old Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) regime. Under this regime, the company is exempt from paying any premiums on the iron ore it mines. Thus, it extracts iron ore at a significantly lower cost compared to many of its counterparts operating under the new MMDR regime, where premiums are levied on mineral production, informed Equirus. Multiple avenues for iron ore growth: With new capacities coming online and rising crude steel utilisation, the brokerage expects iron ore demand in India to remain strong and outpace steel demand. Given that India has an ambitious target of reaching 300mtpa of crude steel capacity by FY30E, domestic iron ore demand is also set to rise at a fast pace. Indias iron ore production stood at 255 mt in FY23E and should touch 500 mt by FY31E as the country eyes 255 mt of crude steel production by FY31E, it predicted. However, Equirus warned that Iron ore prices of over $120/t are unlikely to remain stable for an extended period due to pressure on Chinese steel margins. The combination of a sluggish property market, reduced land sales, and declining new property construction is expected to hurt the profitability of Chinese steel manufacturers, constraining the range of iron ore prices, it noted. Balance sheet to remain healthy: GODPIs current objectives include doubling its mining capacity to 6 mtpa and establishing a new 6 mtpa beneficiation plant at the Ari Dongri mine. Additionally, the company plans to raise its pellet capacity from 2.7mtpa in FY23 to 4.7mtpa by FY26E, said Equirus. Moreover, GODPI is setting up a new integrated steel plant with an estimated capex of 2500 crore, with an anticipated contribution from FY27E. Despite an ambitious capex plan of 3500 crore between FY24-FY27E, the brokerage expects the company to maintain a net cash position of 1200 crore by FY26E-end. Valuation and View Valuation premium vs global pure-play iron ore mining firms: When comparing valuation metrics, global pure-play iron ore mining firms are trading at 4.8x/4.2x CY23E/CY24E EV/EBITDA, while diversified mining companies at 6.0x/5.8x CY23E/CY24E EV/EBITDA. Our chosen multiple represents a 44 percent premium to global pure-play iron ore mining firms. Equirus believes this premium is justified due to GODPIs robust growth prospects in the domestic market. Applying global multiples would imply negative terminal growth for a de-leveraged company like GODPI, which it thinks is unwarranted in a growth-oriented market like India. The brokerage's analysis estimates the companys cash reserves by Mar25 at 700 crore, contributing 50/share to the target price. Integrated operations to provide further value: The brokerage also noted that its valuations do not factor in the integrated steel plant, scheduled for commissioning in FY27E. It anticipates that GODPI will achieve a superior EBITDA/t vs. peers such as Jindal Saw and Jindal Steel, thanks to the advantages of having captive iron ore resources. The brokerage's projection indicates an EBITDA of 10,000/t for integrated steel plant operations in FY27-28E. With a 90 percent utilization rate, this is expected to yield an EBITDA of 900 crore, potentially contributing an additional 400/share in FY28E, forecasted Equirus. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of MintGenie. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. United Breweries (UBBL) shares have underperformed this year after delivering positive returns in CY21 and CY22. The stock experienced a 6.33% decline in January and a subsequent 9.12% fall in February. Although the shares experienced a recovery in the following months, they remain down by 12% from their all-time high of 1,806 apiece. Despite the company's shares underperforming this year, domestic brokerage firm Nuvama Institutional Equities has remained optimistic about the firm's long-term prospects. It has a 'buy' rating on the stock with a target price of 1,935 apiece, indicating a 22.31 percent upside. The brokerage points out that the company has been dominating the beer market, with its share consistently above 50%. Many players have forayed into the beer market in recent years, piggybacking the launch of innovative drinks such as craft beer. United Breweries has coped well with the new entrants by launching its own set of craft beers and other innovative products in order to compete and retain its market share. The brand power of Kingfisher is very strong, while the innovation pipeline of Heineken is still under-leveraged. Given a new team along with growth opportunities in the beer category, it can be a space to watch out for, for more innovations, the brokerage underscored. Huge room for growth in India According to the brokerage, per capita of beer consumption in India (as per alcohol concentration) is about 4.8 litres a year. This figure is fivesix times higher in most markets in Asia and 2030 times higher in Western markets. The average beer consumption in India is extremely low in comparison with other global markets. The contribution of beer within alco-beverages (as per alcohol consumption by volume in CY21) in India is currently 41%, versus the world average of 63%. In countries such as Germany, China, the USA, Brazil, and Russia, this number is more than 75% each. Wine and beer are expected to gain a larger share of the Indian market, both through market expansion and by nibbling market share away from spirits, the brokerage stated. Regulations recalibration benefiting alco-beverages Beer (which contains 56% alcohol) gets taxed at the same rate as other spirits that have over 40% alcohol, implying less value for money for consumers. However, the brokerage said that the growing awareness, acceptance in society, and input from industry are leading to a recalibration of regulations to consider low-alcohol-content drinks as a separate entity from spirits. For instance, the Jammu & Kashmir administration (in October 2022) approved a proposal to authorise departmental stores to sell beer and other ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages in urban areas, Nuvama noted. New launches and innovation to remain competitive UBBL launched Heineken Silver in India in September 22. The product successfully entered the Indian market with disruptive launches in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Goa, which caught the attention of consumers, customers, and internal stakeholders. Margins to return from scrapping the barrel Key raw materials have begun to soften; with this, Nuvama expects the company's gross margins to improve gradually in FY24. It expects gross and EBITDA margins to expand to 48% and 16.5% by FY26 from 43% and 8.2% in FY23. With the margin profile improving, it anticipates RoE to jump to 23% by FY26E (versus 8.5% in FY23). Outlook and valuation The stock is currently trading at 47x PE on FY25E (historically, it has traded at valuations of 5060x). With better earnings visibility, a new leadership, increasing acceptance of beer, and favourable policies by a few state governments, the brokerage valued United Breweries at 50x LTM Q2FY26E, initiating a 'buy' rating on the stock. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The Nifty closed at 19794.0, down by 0.22%. Throughout the day, the Nifty reached a high of 19805.4 and a low of 19635.3. The Sensex traded between 66478.9 and 65895.41, closing 0.19% down at 66408.39, which was 125.65 points below the opening price. In comparison to the Nifty 50, the Midcap index performed better as the Nifty Midcap 50 closed 0.17% down. However, the Small cap stocks underperformed the Nifty 50, with the Nifty Small cap 100 ending at 12950.95, down by 56.9 points and 0.44% lower. The Nifty 50 has provided the following returns: - In the last 1 week: 0.52% - In the last 1 month: -1.57% - In the last 3 months: 1.76% - In the last 6 months: 10.81% - In the last 1 year: 16.11% The top gainers in the Nifty index were Tata Motors (up 4.73%), Indusind Bank (up 2.77%), HCL Technologies (up 2.63%), Tataconsumer (up 2.35%), and Nestle India (up 2.08%). On the other hand, the top losers in the Nifty index were Axis Bank (down 2.40%), Infosys (down 2.34%), Adani Enterprises (down 2.07%), State Bank Of India (down 1.69%), and Wipro (down 1.45%). The Bank Nifty ended at 44599.2, with an intraday high of 44563.05 and a low of 44203.7. The performance of the Bank Nifty in various time periods is as follows: - In the last 1 week: -0.13% - In the last 1 month: -3.5% - In the last 3 months: -0.81% - In the last 6 months: 5.15% - In the last 1 year: 14.7% Here is the list of top gainers and losers in different indices during the trading session on October 13, 2023: Sensex: - Top gainers: Tata Motors (up 4.76%), Indusind Bank (up 2.60%), HCL Technologies (up 2.55%), Nestle India (up 2.00%), and Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.62%). - Top losers: Axis Bank (down 2.33%), Infosys (down 2.24%), State Bank Of India (down 1.71%), Wipro (down 1.43%), and HDFC Bank (down 0.85%). Nifty: - Top gainers: Tata Motors (up 4.73%), Indusind Bank (up 2.77%), HCL Technologies (up 2.63%), Tataconsumer (up 2.35%), and Nestle India (up 2.08%). - Top losers: Axis Bank (down 2.40%), Infosys (down 2.34%), Adani Enterprises (down 2.07%), State Bank Of India (down 1.69%), and Wipro (down 1.45%). Nifty MidCap 50: - Top gainers: Container Corporation Of India, Polycab India, Lupin, REC, and Petronet LNG. - Top losers: Bandhan Bank, Mphasis, Biocon, Coforge, and Oberoi Realty. Nifty Small Cap 100: - Top gainers: M M T C, Alok Industries, UTI Asset Management Company, HFCL, and Sobha. - Top losers: Cyient, Intellect Design Arena, Indian Overseas Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance, and Tanla Platforms. BSE: - Top gainers: Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (up 6.80%), ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems India (up 5.80%), Eureka Forbes (up 5.74%), M M T C (up 5.66%), and RITES (up 5.44%). - Top losers: Infibeam Avenues (down 4.65%), Bandhan Bank (down 4.04%), Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation (down 3.77%), Linde India (down 3.20%), and Mphasis (down 3.18%). NSE: - Top gainers: Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (up 6.68%), M M T C (up 5.74%), RITES (up 5.30%), 360 One Wam (up 5.21%), and Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals (up 5.09%). - Top losers: Infibeam Avenues (down 4.57%), Bandhan Bank (down 4.10%), Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation (down 3.52%), Mphasis (down 3.24%), and Linde India (down 3.12%). Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. An unprecedented fraud committed during the registration of an app has come to the fore. One media report suggested that the bank accounts of a number of customers in a clear breach of rules were linked to the mobile numbers of strangers. In the light of this fraud, RBI has prevented Bank of Baroda from the onboarding of new customers on its app bob World. In some cases, these strangers withdrew money from the bank accounts of the gullible customers in an act of fraud carried out in collusion with the bank employees. The problem allegedly kicked off in March 2022 when the top management of the state lender started to pressurise regional branches for increasing the registration of bob World customers. The pressure was apparently so intense that the staff sometimes used their own mobile numbers to link the bank accounts of customers in order to increase the downloads of bob World. After having received the OTP on the mobile numbers of staff, the app registrations could be completed, and the number of downloads rose. In some cases, these mobile numbers belonged to the agents of the bank known as business correspondents (BCs) who operate in the remote areas. For downloads alone? There were instances wherein the registrations were done solely to increase the downloads. And once these downloads were completed, these accounts were deregistered soon after and the same numbers were used again for linking other customers accounts. An incident was reported where one nodal officer from the regional office when reported about this offered his as well as his wifes mobile number to link to the customers bank accounts. A media investigation has revealed that one recently-retired employee flagged these concerns by writing emails to the top management for putting relentless pressure on employees to increase the downloads. One such email reads: Activation of bob World is given so much pressure that almost a fraud-like situation is arising." View Full Image RBI isssued a press release on Oct 10 stating the action it took against the state lender after noticing the irregularities in onboarding of customers on its app. What is shocking is that this was not a one-off case but a common practice carried out in Bhopal zone, UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jharkhand, reported The Reporters Collective and Al Jazeera in this article. Some of these strangers who linked their mobile numbers illegally to the bank customers went on to withdraw the money from the customers bank accounts. And a total of 362 customers lost 22 lakh to these fraudsters, internal audit reports have revealed, this media report wrote. To avoid any of this fraud from happening to you, depositors are encouraged to follow these rules of thumb. Tips to keep your account safe and secure Linking mobile number You must ensure to link your mobile number to your bank account as well as to the net banking as soon as you open a bank account. Once your mobile number is linked to the bank account, a new number cannot be linked. Duly reflecting the balance Make sure you receive a message upon withdrawal on your mobile phone. Whether the transaction relates to ATM withdrawal or a fund transfer, the debit in the account should be duly reflected in the real time. Dont share the OTP The OTP you receive on your phone should never be shared with anyone. The RBI says that the password should not be shared even with the bank employees. Suspicious activity In case there is some suspicious activity, the matter should be immediately reported to the bank and to the cyber cops. It is the banks responsibility to recover the money that is transferred illegally on account of the banks fault. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The Delhi High Court on 13 October has asked lawyers appearing before the court to wear gowns from 1 November, Bar and Bench has reported citing the court. The Delhi High Court order stated, In supersession of this Court's notice No.667/G-11/Genl./DHC dated 06-03-2023, it is notified that the Advocates appearing before this Court are required to wear Gowns with effect from 01 November, 2023- (Wednesday), till further orders." Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. 2024 Lok Sabha Polls: Opposition alliance INDIA bloc on Thursday accused Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai of their social media platforms' alleged role in aiding communal hatred in the country. In the letters to Google and Facebook, INDIA demanded that the platforms maintain neutrality in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The letters came after the Washington Post newspaper flagged alleged bias of Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube towards the ruling BJP and the Narendra Modi dispensation. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge shared the letter on X (formerly Twitter) and said, Letter by INDIA parties to Facebook's Mr. Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) citing the exhaustive investigations by the Washington Post that Meta is culpable of abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India." "INDIA parties also write to Google's Mr. Sundar Pichai on an exhaustive investigation by the Washington Post that Alphabet and specifically YouTube is culpable of abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India," he said in another post while sharing the letter to Pichai. The opposition parties, in the letter, wrote, You may be aware of the recent exposes by the Washington Post newspaper about the role of WhatsApp and Facebook in aiding the communal hatred campaign of the ruling BJP." "In another article titled 'Under India's pressure, Facebook let propaganda and hate speech thrive', the Post has elucidated with evidence the blatant partisanship by Facebook India executives towards the ruling dispensation. This was well known to us in the Opposition for a long time and we have even raised it several times in the past," the INDIA bloc parties said. "It is very clear from these exhaustive investigations by the Washington Post that Meta is guilty of abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India. Further, we have data that shows algorithmic moderation and suppression of Opposition leaders' content on your platform while also promoting ruling party content," the letter read. "Such blatant partisanship and bias towards one political formation by a private foreign company is tantamount to interfering in India's democracy, one that we in the INDIA alliance will not take lightly," the letter further said. Following this, they demand that Meta's operations in India remain neutral. "In light of the upcoming national elections in 2024, it is our earnest and urgent plea to you to consider these facts seriously and ensure immediately that Meta's operations in India remain neutral and are not used wittingly or unwittingly to cause social unrest or distort India's much cherished democratic ideals," it added. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. To review the preparedness of the national capital to deal with air pollution in winters, centre held a high-level task force meeting on Friday. In the meeting, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, P K Mishra, reviewed the preparedness to deal with the issue of adverse air quality in the region in the winter season. During the meeting PK Mishra also discussed the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), its monitoring and measures to improve its enforcement. He underlined the importance of strict implementation of GRAP to prevent air pollution in the city. The meeting focused on the preparedeness of key stakeholders in the city's air pollution. Officials discussed about the measures taken to reduce the impact of different sources of air pollution like industrial pollution, vehicular pollution, dust from construction and demolition (C&D) activities, dust from roads, burning of municipal solid waste (MSW), biomass and miscellaneous waste, agricultural stubble burning and dispersed sources. City resorts to e-vehicled to control pollution The government is striving to replace old vehicles with e-vehicles in maximum departments and encouraging e-vehicle usages among people in Delhi. The Chairman Commission for Air Quakity Management, MM Kutty, informed that there has been increase in e-vehicles and currently, 4,12,393 e-vehicles are registered in the NCR. Moreoveor, industries in the NCR region are shifted to cleaner fuels and out of 240 industrial areas, as many as 211 have already been provided CNG connection. Similarly, out of 7,759 fuel-based industries, as many as 7,449 have shifted to PNG or approved fuels. In regard to construction and demolition waste management, the CAQM informed that five C&D waste processing facilities with capacity of 5,150 tonnes per day (TPD) are operational and one more facility with 1,000 TPD capacity is in the pipeline in Delhi. States like Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are also working to increase their C&D waste facility capacity. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to inaugurate the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in the national capital today, October 13, Friday. Notably, Canada is missing from the P20 and Parliamentary Forum program list. This came amid the ongoing tensions between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has asked Canada to withdraw the diplomats after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of Indian agents in the Nijjar killing. However, the claim has been vehemently rejected by India. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was an equivocal supporter of Khalistan. He was shot dead by two masked gunmen. He was designated as a terrorist in 2020. According to media reports, India asked Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats by October 10. PTI sources reported that the two nations are holding talks over India's demand to reduce the number of Canadian diplomatic staff in the country. India has demanded parity in mutual diplomatic presence. It is learned that Canada has rejected the argument. Speakers and heads of delegations of Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Spain, European Parliament, Italy, South Africa, Russia, Turkiye, Nigeria, Australia, Brazil, UAE, Singapore, Japan, Egypt, and Bangladesh will be present at the event. The summit is being hosted by the Parliament of India under the broader framework of India's G20 Presidency. The theme of the 9th P20 Summit is 'Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future.' Prime Minister's Office said that the event will be attended by Speakers of Parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries. The P20 Summit will focus on the following four subjects - Transformation in People's Lives through Public Digital Platforms; Women-led development; Accelerating SDGs; and Sustainable Energy Transition. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. While hearing the money laundering case against AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Friday, Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court gave a stern warning to the MP against giving a political speech" inside courtroom. During the hearing, Sanjay Singh had mentioned business tycoon Gautam Adani's name in the courtroom. As Gautam Adani's name emerged in the discussion, the court was quick to warn the AAP leader to not raise unrelated matter". The judge also said that if speeches were made, it would hear the case through video conferencing. The Rajya Sabha MP was produced before the court by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi liquor scam. At the end of the hearing, the Delhi court had sent Sanjay Singh to judicial custody till October 27. During the hearing, Singh had told the court that the ED didn't act on his complaint against Adani. "No unrelated matter. If you want to give a speech on Adani and Modi, I'll ask for production through video conferencing from now onwards," the judge said, reported ANI. The case was heard by Special Judge MK Nagpal on Friday. During the hearing, Sanjay Singh's lawyer also sought permission to take books authored by freedom fighters and social reformers with him. The court allowed the politician to carry books and medicines as per jail rules. During the interrogation, ED had asked non-serious and unrelated questions" from him, claimed Sanjay Singh, according to ANI. Before the court hearing, Sanjay Singh targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his relations with industrialist Gautam Adani. He also questioned the time when there will be a probe into Adani's scam. Modi ji is not India's but Adani's prime minister," he said. According to the Enforcement Directorate, Sanjay Singh played a key role in the implementation of then-existed Delhi excise policy. The liquor policy introduce by the AAP government in Delhi became a trouble for the Delhi CM after LG Anil Saxena ordered a CBI probe into allegations of corruption. The investigation agency has alleged that some elements of the government favoured liquor traders while granting licenses at the expense of the public exchequer for personal benefits. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Kerala rains: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert in three districts of Kerala as heavy rainfall battered several parts of the state on Thursday. These districts include Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta. The weather office also issued yellow alerts in Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki -- for Friday. An orange alert means very heavy rains from 6 cm to 20 cm of rain and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 to 11 cm. The IMD also predicted thunderstorm with light to moderate rainfall and gusty winds at one or two places in the Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur districts of Kerala during the day. Earlier, heavy rainfall resulted in flooding across several parts of the state. As a result, educational institutions in the affected areas, including Kottayam, Vaikom, and Changanassery taluks, had to be temporarily closed on October 3. To provide relief to those affected by the flooding, the district administration established 17 relief camps, offering shelter to approximately 246 individuals. The heavy downpour had earlier submerged hundreds of acres of paddy fields at Edathua, a tiny hamlet in the Kuttanad region in Alappuzha district. The Disaster Management Authority has urged people living in high ranges to maintain extra vigil in view of the incessant rains. Meanwhile, the weather forecasting agency has forecast that a fresh Western Disturbance is expected to bring rainfall in the Western Himalayan Region starting from the night of October 13 and the plains of Northwest India to receive rainfall from October 14. IMD expects Southwest Monsoon to withdraw during the next 2 days from some parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, parts of Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha, parts of Karnataka, and remaining parts of Telangana, Maharashtra and Central Arabia. (With PTI inputs) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Montana Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci was arrested Friday in Cascade County on two felony charges of witness tampering, after he allegedly refused to return a security deposit to a tenant at his rental property until she recanted her testimony in a separate disorderly conduct case against him. According to an affidavit filed by the Deputy Cascade County Attorney John C. Brothers, the tenant, identified only by her initials, had given witness testimony to investigators following a July 5 altercation in which Pinocci, 59, allegedly challenged the relative of a neighboring tenant to a fight. Two weeks later, she texted Pinocci, who was also her landlord, to ask if he wanted her to mow the neighboring lawn, according to the charges. The affidavit quotes a text response from Pinocci that stated in part, For us to continue a relationship, youre going to have to recant your testimony with the sheriffs department. Pinoccis text message allegedly goes on to dispute the woman's version of events, urging her to get your testimony corrected and will [sic] talk about working together in the future. Prosecutors filed the underlying disorderly conduct charge in July after Pinocci allegedly challenged one of his tenants to a fight over a dispute about that person's security deposit. The two "bumped chests" and Pinocci ultimately summoned law enforcement. Both of them were cited with disorderly conduct; Pinocci was arrested in September for failing to appear at a court hearing on that charge. Prosecutors say that in August, Pinocci told the woman who witnessed the July confrontation he wouldnt return a $5,400 safety deposit, citing property damages. In a separate conversation the following month, Pinocci told the woman and her roommate he would not discuss their deposit until (the woman) recanted her testimony to the sheriffs office. If convicted, Pinocci could face up to 10 years in prison and up to $50,000 in fines for each count of witness tampering. Pinocci could not immediately be reached Friday. One phone number found for the commissioner appeared to be disconnected and another indicated the owner of the account was unavailable. According to the inmate roster for the Cascade County Adult Detention Center, Pinocci was being held on a $2,500 bond. In a Friday press conference, Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said as of noon he was unsure whether Pinocci remained in custody or had posted bail. Pinocci has made a statement to investigators, Slaughter said during the press conference, but the sheriff did not elaborate. "This isnt a pleasant situation for anybody in our community when a person of trust is arrested in a matter like this," Slaughter said. "We try to be as consistent as we can be, with treating people the same as much as possible and maintain public trust as best we can. Obviously he'll have his day in court, these are allegations." Currently in his second term on the five-member PSC, Pinocci is a Republican from Sun River who represents District 1, which sprawls from Great Falls and part of Billings to the North and South Dakota borders. He was unopposed in his successful 2022 election to the seat. Previously he also served one term in the Montana House of Representatives. Commission President James Brown said in an interview Friday that he and the rest of the commission had been unaware of the charges until Slaughter's announcement. "Were very disappointed in these developments," Brown said. "Commissioner Pinocci's actions are bringing negative and unwarranted attention to the Public Service Commission and the good work it does on behalf of the citizens of the state of Montana. Of course under the presumption of law, every criminal defendant is presumed innocent, so the commission will wait to see what happens in terms of the criminal charges the outcome of those before determining what if any internal actions the commission may take in relation to Commissioner Pinocci." Brown declined to elaborate on what those actions might include. Montana law gives the governor the authority to suspend a PSC commissioner upon complaint made and good cause shown and can appoint temporarily some competent person to perform the duties of the suspended commissioner during the period of the suspension. The governor's office did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment. Pinocci has been considered a potential candidate for Montanas eastern congressional district since he filed a federal lawsuit against the Montana Department of Transportation earlier this year. In that filing, Pinocci accuses the state agency of First Amendment violations for its efforts to remove his campaign signs from a previous election cycle. Pinoccis supporters, according to the lawsuit, rejected the departments warnings to remove the signs because they "want to encourage him to run for higher office, such as the U.S. House of Representatives." Montana State News Bureau reporter Seaborn Larson contributed to this story. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) and said that the G20 presidency ensured festivities in India throughout the year. He cited an example of India's successful landing on the Moon. India landed on the Moon. India hosted the G20 Summit successfully. Today, we are hosting the P20 Summit. This Summit is also a medium to celebrate the power of the people of our country," the Prime Minister said. He said, P20 Summit is being organized in India, which is the mother of democracy and the world's biggest democracy too...Parliaments across the world are an important place for debate and deliberations..." It is a unique confluence of various parliamentary practices from around the world. The G20 presidency ensured festivities in India throughout the year. We have a legacy of thousands of years of debates, and deliberations; some of our over 5,000-year-old texts talked about such systems," he added. At the P20 Summit, PM Modi stated that a world full of conflicts and confrontation cannot benefit anyone. A divided world cannot give solutions to the challenges before us. This is a time for peace and brotherhood, a time to move together, a time to move forward together. This is the time for development and welfare of all." He lauded India's parliamentary practices that have evolved and strengthened with time. Speaking about terrorism, PM Modi said that India has been facing cross-border terrorism for many years now. Around 20 years ago, terrorists targeted our Parliament at the time when the session was on. The world is also realising how big a challenge terrorism is for the globe and that it is against humanity." The Prime Minister further said, "Parliaments in the world and their representatives have to think on how to work together in this fight against terrorism..." Consensus not being achieved on a definition of terrorism saddening; enemies of humanity taking advantage of this approach," he said. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The email from the Israel Defense Forces came Sunday, a day after Las Vegas native Ariel Sallys 28th birthday. Sally, a dual American-Israeli citizen who had previously served in the IDF as a sniper, was needed in Israel to fight Hamas. Everything Sally had to do to prepare ran through his head: tell his girlfriend; notify his boss; arrange for someone to watch his house and his rescue pitbull, Athena; connect with his commanding officer in Israel; procure the appropriate gear; and, perhaps most daunting, find a way to get from the neon lights of Sin City to a war zone in the Middle East. Immediately some stress kicked in: how am I going to handle the logistics?" Sally said Wednesday from Las Vegas, where he was still trying to coordinate travel and was about to hop on a call with his commander. I will do whats necessary to protect my other home." Israel has called up hundreds of thousands of reservists in its response to attacks by Hamas, which the U.S. and other countries deem a terrorist organization. Among them are many Israelis in the U.S.including dual-American citizens like Sally, who is an officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departmentand others with family in Israel. Military service is compulsory for eligible men and women in Israel at age 18, with soldiers assigned to reserve units after. Elan Carr, chief executive of the nonprofit Israeli-American Council, said he knows of Israeli-Americans who have received draft orders and of others who expect to get them soon and are returning to Israel on emergency flights. I will tell you that not onenot one of themregrets going," Carr said. Long Island, N.Y., native Mike Ripstein, 52, was vacationing in Miami with his daughter after a work trip to Anaheim, Calif., when he got his call up from the reserves on Saturday. The order to join the fight against Hamas came not long after his daughters friends began getting in touch to say they had fled when attackers swarmed a music festival late last week in Israel. Her boyfriend left her a Whatsapp voice message to say he loved her and let her know he had been shot in the back and leg. Ripstein, who has lived in Israel since 2000, and his daughter made their Sunday return flight back to Israel. She immediately went to see her boyfriends parents, not yet knowing that he hadnt survived. Ripstein went home to grab his go-bag, then met up with his tank unit. By Wednesday, he was in an unspecified location not far from Gaza. To get there, Ripstein said he had passed the site of the music festival where his daughters boyfriend faced off against attackers, according to a video she was shown and accounts she has heard from people who were there. It really looked like a post-apocalyptic scene," Ripstein said of the aftermath. You saw the cars that didnt manage to escape." Mitchell G. Bard, executive director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise in Chevy Chase, M.D. said he worries about what his 26-year-old son, a dual Israeli-American citizen who has lived in Israel for several years, is going to experience after being called up from the reserves shortly after Hamas attacked. My wife and I are on pins and needles, at anxiety level 11," Bard said Wednesday. You live in terror of getting a phone call." When they spoke to their son about being drafted back into service, Bard said he and his wife told him to take care of himself and his fellow soldiers. I dont think anybody comes out of war the same," Bard said. We only hope he comes out healthy, mentally and physically." Nancy Dubin, a cantor with Temple Beth Rishon in Wyckoff, N.J. on Sunday received a 20-second call from her 20-year-old son Ari, who started serving with the IDF in December. He was headed into the fray for the second time since Saturday, he said. Love you, be smart, stay safe," Dubin replied. She hasnt spoken to him since, though he checked in recently with a recording that was passed along via his commander and others until it reached Dubin. Dubin said she is proud of her son, but terrified for him. She also expressed anger at Hamas even as she said she empathizes with the everyday people in the Palestinian territories who just want to live their lives and want to do their laundry and make dinner." Reservist Shai Bernstein, a 40-year-old who works for an Israeli fintech startup, left for Israel on Sunday, according to his wife Naama Elefant-Bernstein, an Israeli doctor who has a fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center. The couple moved to the U.S. with their three children last year. Bernstein has been called up before, including once shortly after the couple began dating, and again when Elefant-Bernstein was pregnant with their first son. She said this time feels different. Unfortunately, I think its going to be a big war and also Ive never been so far away," she said. Elefant-Bernstein said she and her husband wrestled with whether the entire family should go back to Israel together, but they didnt want to put their children through what she knows her nieces and nephews are experiencing: hearing sirens, running to shelter and seeing their parents going to funerals. Bernsteins departure happened so quickly that the couple completely forgot about the date night walk around Manhattan followed by a drink they had planned for Mondaythat is until the babysitter they had booked texted Bernstein, who was already on base in Israel. He quickly messaged his wife: You owe me date night." Her response: You owe me date night." Write to Erin Ailworth at erin.ailworth@wsj.com View Full Image I Will Do Whats Necessary: Israeli Reservists Journey from U.S. to Fight Hamas View Full Image I Will Do Whats Necessary: Israeli Reservists Journey from U.S. to Fight Hamas Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Amid the Israel-Hamas war, Israel's military leader has asserted that the moment calls for warfare as the nation concentrates its tanks near the Gaza Strip in preparation for a forthcoming ground incursion aimed at eradicating the Palestinian militant organization, Hamas, which governs the region and was responsible for recent lethal incidents. Here are the top 10 updates. Also Read: Israel-Hamas War LIVE Updates: X removes hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts, says, 'no place' for terrorist organisations 1. In the early hours of Friday, the initial group of 212 Indians, including students, arrived in India from Israel on a chartered flight. This repatriation effort is part of Operation Ajay, initiated by India to facilitate the return of individuals who desire to come back home. The decision to launch this operation follows a series of bold attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend, which reignited tensions in the region. 2. The Israeli military conveyed to the United Nations that approximately 1.1 million Palestinians residing in Gaza should move to the southern part of the enclave within the next 24 hours, as reported by a UN spokesperson, Reuters reported. The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. Also Read: Israel-Hamas war: Here's the list of nations backing Palestinian Group Hamas 3. The social media platform X has undertaken the removal of numerous accounts associated with Hamas. X is committed to serving the public conversation, especially in critical moments like this and understands the importance of addressing any illegal content that may be disseminated through the platform. There is no place on X for terrorist organisations or violent extremists groups and we continue to remove such accounts in real-time, including proactive groups," said the social media platform's CEO, Linda Yaccarino. 4. Hamas, the governing militant faction in Gaza, has issued a call to Palestinians, urging them to stage protests on Friday against Israel's airstrikes on the enclave. They encouraged Palestinians to march toward East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and engage in confrontations with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. 5. Israel has been accused by Human Rights Watch of employing white phosphorus munitions during its military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon. Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced acts of violence targeting civilians. 6. To bolster regional stability and provide support to Israel, Britain is dispatching two Royal Navy vessels and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean. Also Read: Israel-Hamas war: Medical aid for Palestinians website under cyber attack, hindering donations for Gaza relief efforts 7. Hamas' weekend assault resulted in the loss of 1,300 lives and marked the most devastating attack on civilians in Israel's history. 8. The Israeli government faces significant public pressure to oust Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007. Israel has mobilized 360,000 army reservists and has issued warnings of an unprecedented retaliation in response to Hamas' extensive incursion over the weekend. Also Read: 'Babies murdered, burned by Hamas monsters': Israel shares photos amid war 9. According to the Israeli military, the casualties have surpassed 1,300 individuals, which includes 222 soldiersa death toll of considerable magnitude, reminiscent of the last time it was seen during the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria, which extended over several weeks, AP reported. 10. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt October 11-15, 2023, where he will meet with senior officials, according to an official release by the US Department of State. (With inputs from agencies) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the Medical aid for Palestinians has said that their website is under cyber attack which has hindered relief efforts for Gaza. It has also issued a warning that the website might fall offline shortly as a result of the disturbances. Taking to X (formerly Twitter) it wrote, Our website has been under cyber attack since this afternoon, in an apparent attempt to prevent people donating towards our medical relief efforts for #Gaza. As a result we are experiencing disruptions and the website may go offline." It further added, For those unable to donate on our site but wishing to support our work, please visit: https://justgiving.com/campaign/gaza-emergency2023 You can also donate via Facebook and Instagram. Thank you for your solidarity" Hamas has also made an urgent plea to international relief organisations to deliver essential medical and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, CNN report stated as reported by ANI. The region is facing risk of starvation and the imminent depletion of fuel resources as Israel has withheld critical supplies in response to Hamas' recent acts of violence. Earlier on Monday, Israeli authorities had also ordered a "complete siege" and an "immediate" cut to water supply to the Gaza Strip. Issuing a statement, Hamas urged "all relief, health, and charitable institutions in the Arab, Islamic, and international communities to swiftly provide necessary medical and humanitarian aid, as well as fuel, to save the lives of over two million Palestinian residents," as quoted by CNN. Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians escalated after Hamas fighters on Saturday fired more than 5,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip toward Israel. In retaliation, Israel has been bombarding Gaza and also ordered a "complete siege" and an "immediate" cut to water supply. Earlier on Thursday, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and said that the use of these weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury. However, on the allegations, it said that "it was currently aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorous in Gaza," as reported by Reuters. Following the heavy Israeli bombardments in retaliation for Hamas's attacks, a United Nations has said that more than 423,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip. As per UN humanitarian agency OCHA, as of Thursday, the number of displaced in Gaza rose by 84,444 people to reach 423,378. It said more than 270,000 people, two-thirds of the displaced have sought shelter in schools run by the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA while nearly 27,000 people had fled to schools run by the Palestinian Authority, while more than 153,000 people found shelter with relatives and neighbours and in other public facilities. OCHA added that the bombing campaign has destroyed 752 residential and non-residential buildings, 2,835 housing units, citing numbers from the Gaza Ministry of Public Works and Housing. Another nearly 1,800 housing units have been damaged beyond repair and rendered uninhabitable, it said. Further adding, it said, at least 90 educational facilities, including 20 UNRWA schools and 70 schools run by the Palestinian Authority have also been struck and damaged while one school is completely destroyed. (With inputs from Reuters, ANI) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, an Israeli employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was stabbed on the Beijing streets on Friday. The attack came in the wake of a clarion call by Hamas to all its supporters asking them to attack on Israelis and Jews. "An Israeli employee of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was attacked today," a foreign ministry statement said, adding that the attack did not take place at the embassy compound. "The employee is being treated at hospital and is in stable condition," a foreign ministry statement said in statement said. It also clarified that the attack did not take place at the embassy compound. "The motive for the assault is being looked into." The attack on Israeli embassy staff worker in China received sharp responses from the USA. After the news, US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said he was "shocked" by the attack, offering his "full support" to the Israeli embassy and community in China. "We are shocked by today's attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing," Burns said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, adding he had spoken with Israel's ambassador to China Irit Ben-Abba. A video of the attack was geolocated by news agency AFP on social media. The video showed the location of an area around a kilometre and a half from the embassy. In the video a man could be seen brandishing a knife repeatedly stabbing another man, with blood visible on the pavement. Later, the man with the blade can be seen leaving the site, weapon in hand. 'Day of Rage'" on Friday The attack on an Israeli has come at a time when Hamas militants gave a clarion call to attack Israelis and Jews across the globe. Warning about such actions on the day, Israeli foreign ministry website warned that Hamas had called on "all of its supporters around the world to hold a 'Day of Rage'" on Friday to "attack Israelis and Jews". Te ministry also warned of multiple protests in different countries on Friday. There are chances that these protests can turn violent. "It is reasonable to assume that there will be protest events in various countries that are liable to turn violent," the statement said. Days ago, Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages in their surprise attack on Saturday. In retaliation to the terror attack, Israel has been raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for six days, killing over 1,350 people. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. A teacher was killed and two others severely wounded on Friday after a knife attack in France. The incident took place on school premises in the town of Arras with police later detaining the attacker. Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron is set to visit the site of the attack. A police operation took place at the Gambetta high school in Arras. The perpetrator was arrested by the police," tweeted Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. According to the police, the attacker was of Chechen origin and featured on the national security register. ALSO READ: France Probes LVMH CEO Arnault Over Deal With Russian Businessman Local media reports indicate that the attacker may have been a former student who has since been arrested alongside his brother. An AFP update quoting police sources suggest that the perpetrator had shouted 'Allahu akbar'. However this is yet to be confirmed officially by the authorities. More to come Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. In response to the recent Hamas attacks on Israel, the social media platform X has undertaken the removal of numerous accounts associated with Hamas. "X is committed to serving the public conversation, especially in critical moments like this and understands the importance of addressing any illegal content that may be disseminated through the platform. There is no place on X for terrorist organisations or violent extremists groups and we continue to remove such accounts in real-time, including proactive groups," said the social media platform's CEO, Linda Yaccarino. Also Read: Israel-Hamas War LIVE Updates: X takes down hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts, says, 'no place' for terrorist entities As reported by ANI, X's rapid reaction can be attributed to a 24-hour ultimatum delivered by Thierry Breton, the European Union industry chief, to Elon Musk. In his message, Breton called upon Musk to address the propagation of disinformation on X and adhere to the recently established EU online content rules. Breton expressed apprehensions regarding the platform's purported involvement in disseminating unlawful content and misinformation within the European Union. Also Read: 'Babies murdered, burned by Hamas monsters': Israel shares photos amid war The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), recently put into effect, mandates that major online platforms such as X and Meta's Facebook (META.O) must adopt a more proactive stance in eliminating unlawful content and tackling challenges to public safety and democratic discourse, ANI reported. Yaccarino stressed that subsequent to the attack, X formed a leadership team to swiftly assess the situation. In a written communication directed to Breton, Yaccarino conveyed X's readiness to have more extensive interactions with the EU and its team, which could potentially involve arranging a meeting to tackle particular concerns. Also Read: Israel-Hamas War: Kremlin blames US policy failure for conflict, warns of regional escalation risk X indicated that it promptly addressed over 80 takedown requests from the EU as per the stipulated time frame. Furthermore, the platform confirmed that it had not received any notifications from Europol regarding the presence of illicit content on its platform, ANI reported. In a comparable action, Thierry Breton issued a caution to Meta on October 9, granting the company a 24-hour window to furnish details about the steps taken to counter the dissemination of disinformation through its platforms in the aftermath of the Israel attack. Significantly, following the Hamas attack on October 7, the reported death toll in Israel has surged to 1,300, and approximately 3,300 individuals have sustained injuries, with 28 classified as being in critical condition and 350 in serious condition. These figures were reported by The Times of Israel, citing Hebrew media reports. (With inputs from ANI) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Americans are uneasy as war returns to another part of the world, and Washington is slow to confront the growing danger. Priority No. 1 is an all-out national effort to expand U.S. weapons production, with a focus and urgency akin to the 1940s arsenal of democracy. President Biden hinted Tuesday that he may ask Congress for appropriations for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. That makes military and political sense. The U.S. is confronting an authoritarian axis that is increasingly working together. Iran, the ventriloquist for Hamas, is helping Vladimir Putin as he tries to subjugate Ukraine. Tehran is pouring drones into Russias war, and the Biden Administration has warned of deepening cooperation, including a new weapons plant in Russia. The two are allies in Syria. Mr. Putin is also dining out on his no limits" partnership with the Chinese Communist Party. The axis wants to set the rules of the world and topple the relative global stability the U.S. has enforced since World War II. Yet some in Congress want to separate Israel from Ukraine and force a false choice. Israel is facing existential threat. Any funding for Ukraine should be redirected to Israel immediately," GOP Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley tweeted this week. The Heritage Foundation is encouraging lawmakers to resist attempts to link emergency military support for Israel with additional funding for Ukraine." The implication is that the U.S. cant supply both at once. But the two conflicts are different enough that the U.S. has weapons that can help Ukraine and Israel. The Ukrainians are trying to break through entrenched defenses of concrete and mines, a different job than destroying Hamas in Gaza. The Israelis spend about 4.5% of their economy on a sophisticated military and have worked closely with the U.S. for decades. The urgent request is interceptors for Israels Iron Dome missile defense, which Ukraine doesnt use and Washington has started supplying. The U.S. Army has two Iron Dome batteries and the associated interceptors, which are less relevant to the advanced missile threat U.S. forces would face in a fight. They can be sent to Israel. Ukraines critics suggest the U.S. will struggle to supply both countries with 155mm artillery. But the U.S. is already ramping up 155mm production and Israel wont be consuming the enormous quantities of unguided shells needed in Ukraine. The urban fighting in Gaza will require precision bombs to reduce civilian casualties. That calls for the small diameter bomb that is air-delivered. SDB stocks are plentiful and some have already been sent to Israel. Israel may also need more JDAM kits, which offer directions to unguided bombs from the air. Ukraine has received an undisclosed number of JDAMs, but the numbers are surely low: The Ukrainian air force is old and small and has been boxed in by Russian air defenses. The U.S. produced roughly 30,000 JDAM units in 2019, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies notes. The Congressional Research Service says the kits have been exported to 26 countries. There are enough to share. Wars turn in unpredictable ways, and its true that the demand for weapons could stress the U.S. if Israel ends up in a larger regional war. Some weapons rely on common components like explosives or motors. Thats why the U.S. needs a generational effort to produce more ammo and expand its arsenal. The U.S. and its allies need everything from artillery to Patriot missile-defense interceptors to long-range weapons like the Naval Strike Missile for multiple theaters. Thousands of long-range antiship missiles are needed to deter China from striking Taiwan, no matter events in Gaza or Ukraine. Choosing between Ukraine and Israel would be a strategic mistake. Blocking Russias attempt to reconstitute its empire in Europe and defending Americas main ally in the Middle East are both in the U.S. national interest. Republicans are right to be frustrated with Mr. Bidens policy in Ukraine, but Kyivs detractors in Congress are in a political bind on a combined aid package because they badly misjudged the world moment. They want a separate vote on aid to Ukraine and Israel so they dont offend the isolationist sentiment on the right that they have ginned up. The fantasy that the U.S. can abandon Europe and the Middle East to focus on China imploded on Oct. 7. The threats to the U.S. and its allies are growing worldwide, and Congress has an obligation to rearm to meet them. SEOULChina appeared to have repatriated a large number of North Koreans this week, despite international pressure given the harsh punishment the returnees likely face back in the Kim Jong Un regime. Fleeing North Korea is punishable by hard labor, imprisonment in re-education camps or even execution. Earlier this week, civic and human-rights groups, citing contacts inside China, claimed roughly 500 to 600 imprisoned North Koreans were forcibly sent back to their home country. On Friday, South Koreas Unification Ministry said many North Koreans appeared to have been repatriated from three northeastern Chinese provinces but couldnt confirm how many. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, asked about the repatriation claims at a Thursday briefing, said there were no North Korean defectors in China, according to Reuters. He added that Beijing has always handled individuals who had illegally entered China according to international law and humanitarianism. North Korea had sealed off its borders over Covid-19 fears, blocking even its own citizens from returning. But the Kim regime officially reopened in August after having isolated itself for more than 3 years. That triggered concern from the U.S., South Korea, the United Nations and human-rights groups, which asked China to refrain from repatriating North Koreans. Roughly 10,000 North Koreans might be hiding in China, according to South Korean government estimates. Some 1,500 of them are believed to be imprisoned after getting caught by Chinese authorities, the U.N. says. Ties between Beijing and Pyongyang have blossomed in recent years, with the two Communist nations pledging deeper coordination and sharing their dissatisfaction with the U.S. and its allies. In the past, when the two countries relations were frayed, China sometimes deported North Koreans to third countries or turned a blind eye as escapees sought refuge elsewhere, according to Yang Moo-jin, a former South Korean Unification Ministry official. Currently China has no intention of prioritizing a North Korean defectors free will over the two countries border control laws," said Yang, who is now the president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. More than 8,000 North Koreans have been repatriated in the past, with 98% of the cases sent from China, according to the Seoul-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. In contrast, some 34,000 North Koreans have relocated to South Korea in recent decades. President Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have focused on pressuring North Korea on its human-rights violations, a shift from predecessors who kept quieter on the issues as diplomatic talks unfolded with the Kim regime. Both countries in the past year or so have named North Korean human-rights envoys, positions that had remained vacant since 2017. The U.S. envoy, Julie Turner, was confirmed by the Senate in July, though has yet to be sworn into office. Since taking power in 2011, Kim, the 39-year-old dictator, has cracked down harder than his father or grandfather did on those seeking to flee North Korea. He tightened border controls even before the pandemic and strengthened punishment for illegal border crossings. The number of escapees annually who have relocated to South Korea has dwindled to the dozens in recent years. Before the pandemic, the total typically hit 1,000 or more a year. Beijings increasing use of facial-recognition technology has suppressed the outflow of North Koreans, by making it extremely difficult for them to avoid being identified and repatriated, said Hanna Song, director of international cooperation at the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, during a U.S. congressional hearing in July. Chinas foremost request to the Kim regime has been returning North Koreans that Beijing considers to be criminals, ever since the two countries resumed some railway trade earlier this year, South Koreas spy agency told lawmakers in August. The Covid-19 border closures by both countries had meant the North Koreans couldnt be sent back as soon as they were caught, said Hwang Ji-hwan, a professor of international relations at the University of Seoul. Even if the Yoon administration has been emphasizing North Koreas human rights violations more, it wont change Chinas stance especially when Beijings relations with Washington and Seoul arent so good," Hwang said. The North Koreans suspected to have been sent back recently include children and were from several Chinese border cities, including Dandong and Tumen, said Peter Jung, the director of Justice for North Korea, the group that first publicized the repatriations early this week. Separately, Human Rights Watch, citing a South Korean underground missionary with contacts in China and North Korea, said more than 500 North Koreans who were mostly women had been forcibly returned this week. Around 120 North Koreans had been repatriated in August and September, according to the group. The forced repatriations will lead to torture and incarceration of North Koreans and those who came in close contact with Christianity or foreign culture and ideology are expected to be executed or sent to prison camps," said Jung, whose group is a nonprofit humanitarian organization. Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. The assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani nearly four years ago was a gamble by the Trump administration aimed at weakening the power that Tehran wields across the Middle East through a network of armed groups. Instead, the shock invasion last weekend of southern Israel by Hamas, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist group, has revealed Tehrans resurgent regional influence. Soleimani, who steered Irans military endeavors abroad, was killed in a January 2020 U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport. It was one of the most audacious elements of the U.S. and Israels multipronged strategy to deter Tehranwhich has repeatedly threatened to destroy Israeland degrade its ability to destabilize the region. Alongside efforts to slow Tehrans nuclear activities, the U.S. has imposed crippling economic sanctions in an effort to choke off Iranian proxies without getting drawn into significant military action. Israel, meanwhile, launched hundreds of airstrikes against Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its regional allies, giving priority to the disruption of arms transfers to Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon and Syria as well as Shiite militias in Iraq. Since 2017, Israel has struck Russian-supplied air-defense systems, drone bases operated by Iranian military advisers, and precision-guided missile systems bound for Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. Closer to home, Israel focused military attention on growing unrest in the occupied West Bank and used a mix of economic incentives and security measures in Gazaincluding the high-tech fence that was breached with bulldozers in Saturdays attacksto restrain Hamas militants there. The array of military and economic pressures has strangled Irans economy, which helped fuel domestic protests last year. And it appeared to succeed in hampering Tehrans hostile ambitionsuntil Saturday. The assault by Hamas militants, the worst in Israels 75-year history, revealed how little the group had actually been constrained. The risk of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran, which could draw in the U.S. and a host of Arab states, now appears higher than ever. The U.S. is dispatching two aircraft carrier strike groups to the area and offering Israel weaponry, including munitions, as well as planning and intelligence support. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has fired into Israel, and Iran-backed militants in Iraq and Yemen threatened to join the fight if the U.S. gets deeply involved. The blow against Israel ramps up pressure to strike the IRGC again and more decisively. But brinkmanship could end up serving Iranian interests. U.S. hesitancy to directly confront Iran over the assault and Israels unwillingness to openly challenge Iran on its own is a vindication for Tehrans strategy of proxy warfare, said Ali Alfoneh, a Danish-Iranian expert on the IRGC and a critic of the Islamic Republic. This enhances the prestige of the Quds Force and also makes it a more attractive partner for many of the partners and proxies that Iran has nurtured over the years," said Alfoneh, referring to the elite overseas branch of the IRGC which Soleimani ran. In the decade before his death, Soleimani successfully expanded Tehrans sphere of influence across the Arab world. He became the main architect of its foreign forays, propping up Hezbollah, training Shiite Muslim militias that fought against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and sending ballistic missiles to Yemens Houthis to attack Saudi Arabia. Soleimani first rose to notoriety arming Shiite militias that attacked U.S. troops after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. A public-relations campaign by the IRGC then turned him into one of Irans biggest celebrities, trailed by photographers whenever he visited the front lines. With a white beard and a head of hair to match, he posed for selfies with Iraqi and Syrian militiamen and spoke to them in proficient Arabic, becoming the subject of tribute videos on YouTube. U.S. officials said they were initially reluctant to kill Soleimani because they feared it could trigger a serious escalation and that he could be replaced by someone more radical. But after supporters of an Iran-backed Shiite militia attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and launched a rocket at a U.S. base in nearby Kirkuk in late December 2019, killing an American contractor, Washington said it learned that Soleimani was involved in planning more attacks and decided to strike. Hours after Soleimanis death, his deputy, Esmail Qaani, was appointed to the role. Qaani lacked his predecessors personal charisma and presided over growing divisions between Iraqi militias, whose top leader was killed alongside the Iranian commander. But the hopes of some U.S. officials that Soleimanis demise would deal a deathblow to Irans projection of power after years of what the Trump administration called a maximum pressure" campaign proved misguided. Qaani took a quieter, less visible role than his predecessor, but the network that Soleimani presided over remained in place. The militias in Irans network were driven more by their need for material support than any personal affinity to their patron, said Afshon Ostovar, an expert on Iran and Middle East security issues at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. Soon after Qaani took over, Iran began pursuing detente with Saudi Arabia, its regional rival. After two years of diplomacy, they struck a deal in March to restore diplomatic relations and have largely set aside their feud in Yemen. But at the same time, Qaani began marshaling Irans network of allies to unite their efforts and launch a fresh wave of attacks against Israel. Those efforts culminated in Saturdays brutal attack. Hamas demonstrated a new level of sophistication, breaching the separation barrier with Gaza to reach more than 20 miles inside Israel, infiltrating at least four military bases and waging close combat on Israeli territory for four days, all while raining down rockets on Tel Aviv. The operation has bolstered the standing of Hamas, which just a decade ago fell out with the IRGC over backing opposite sides in the Syrian civil war. Hamas eventually came back around because it needed material support and had nowhere else to turn, said Ostovar. For Tehran, which has battled the U.S. for influence across the Middle East for decades, the Hamas attack will likely reinforce its narrative that Israel, far from untouchable, is in decline and the so-called Islamic resistance championed by the Iranian regime is just beginning, said Ostovar. If youre in Iran and you already felt that way and then you see what happened this last week, how do you not feel emboldened?" he said. From the perspective of the regime, their approach is working. Theyre gaining ground." Write to Stephen Kalin at stephen.kalin@wsj.com POWELL Greater sage grouse lek attendance saw a 15% increase over 2022, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department reports. The appearance of more birds at leks, or breeding grounds, is thought to be due to the natural population cycles of sage grouse combined with good moisture that benefited habitat, the department said in a press release. Officials reported counting an average of 21.1 male sage grouse per active lek across this past spring. The news comes as the annual hunting season for the birds ended Sept. 30. Part of state management includes a conservative hunting season that undergoes thorough review annually and a process where the public can provide comments. Part of the study includes annual wing counts during hunting season, though it is voluntary. Three of the four sage grouse hunting areas remained closed this year, though Hunt Area 1, which is the largest area and includes the entire Big Horn Basin, remained open. While last winter was tough on much of Wyomings wildlife, it was not on sage grouse, the report said. Sage grouse have relatively high winter survival where habitat is not limiting. Sagebrush, which blooms in late summer or early fall and flowers right before the first hard frost, is the birds main food source and, even during tough winters, allows the bird to weather storms better than many wildlife species. During winter months sage grouse are able to fly to better habitats where sagebrush remains available. Wyoming invests significantly in efforts to study sage grouse populations and conserve sage grouse habitat, with local working groups contributing over $500,000 to this effort, the department said. The iconic western birds have disappeared from much of its former range, according to the National Audubon Society. Loss of habitat through clearing for farmland and overgrazing and energy development are cited as major causes for the species dropping from an estimated 16 million to about 300,000 in 11 western states. Invasive plants also threaten the birds habitat. The Department of the Interior announced in July rule changes to revise the Bureau of Land Managements oil and gas leasing regulations, which would ensure a balanced approach to development, provide a fair return to taxpayers and ensure that drilling does not conflict with protection of important wildlife habitat or cultural sites, said Laura Daniel-Davis, principal deputy assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management. The Interior Department has taken several steps over the last two years to ensure the federal oil and gas program provides a fair return to taxpayers, adequately accounts for environmental harms, and discourages speculation by oil and gas companies. This new proposed rule will help fully codify those goals and lead to more responsible leasing and development processes, she said. Despite the update, conservation groups say more should be done and the threat of an Endangered Species Act listing was hotly debated as populations fell in the past several years. Game and Fish claim sage grouse populations rise and fall cyclically, with studies indicating Wyoming populations cycle every seven to nine years. Cycles are believed to be influenced by weather and climate, which impacts the availability of food and cover in the sagebrush ecosystem. Wyoming sage grouse populations hit an all-time low in the early 1990s following an extended drought and loss of habitat, the department reported. Annual observations are carried out by Game and Fish, federal partners, consultants and volunteers. Birds are observed on the ground from a distance during their spring mating. The class begins with the following assignment: draw a four-panel comic strip about your day. In five minutes the pupilsamong them writers, artists, stay-at-home mothers, a graduate student and a cinema managerproduce lighthearted yet touching sketches about play dates, tedious chores and a quizzical chicken. By the end of the session, however, the drawings they submit express raw emotions: regret at failing to say goodbye to a loved one, feelings of inadequacy in motherhood and memories too painful to articulate in other ways. For four years Kaye Shaddock, an art therapist, has guided these informal workshops in a studio in Massachusetts or onlinetogether with Anna Moriarty Lev, a cartoonist whose subjects have included her mothers experience of breast cancer (see picture). Their aim is to demonstrate how comics can serve as a tool for reflection. Putting words and pictures down on paper clarifies things that, otherwise, Im alone with in my head," says one participant. Exactly when the therapeutic virtues of comic books were recognised is unclear. Justin Green, an American cartoonist, gave clinicians a nudge with Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary", a bawdy autobiographical account of growing up tortured by religious guilt and compulsive neurosis, published in 1972. Green, who died last month, was eventually diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd). (He is also credited with pioneering autobiographical comics and as an inspiration to Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus".) Anecdotally, comics have been used in treatments since the late 1980s. But in recent years they have increasingly caught the attention of doctors, therapists and even government agencies. In 2017 the nhs authorities in Manchester, England, funded the publishing of comic-type workbooks on panic attacks and insomnia. Americas agency for defence-technology innovation, darpa, has considered comic-design software as an emotional tool for veterans of the war in Afghanistan. Katharine Houpt, an art therapist in Chicago, explains that the drawing of comics gives people agency in their stories. The imagery and malleable conventionssuch as thought bubbles, perspective shifts and the personification of inanimate conceptscan help convey thorny ideas and experiences. Getting patients to draw a daily six-panel strip, and other such exercises, can reveal cognitive patterns and potential triggers for distress. Draughtsmen can dissociate themselves from their ailments by portraying them as separate characters. Take insomnia: Ms Shaddock encouraged a child to draw a comic about why she had trouble sleeping. The child conceived of Wornight", a monster that filled her head with worries at night. It shifted the problem away from her and put it onto something that was external," Ms Shaddock recounts. Engaging with comic-book characters can also prod patients to go easier on themselves. John Pollard, who researched the use of comics in psychotherapy as part of his training as a counsellor in Britain, notes that readers develop empathy with, say, superheroes as they endure and overcome trials. So why, patients can gently be asked, cant you experience that same level of compassion for yourself?" In a similar way, pathographies", usually autobiographical accounts of illnesses such as bipolar disorder or depression, can coax people to be kinder to themselves. In cases of trauma, such as sexual assault or post-traumatic stress disorder, drawing offers a sense of control when revisiting painful memories. The panel-by-panel format allows patients to regulate the pace at which they reconstruct the events in question. They can identify gaps in the story and present the episode and those involved from their perspective. Doctors can benefit from comics, too. A study of clinicians who read My Degeneration", Peter Dunlap-Shohls account of life with Parkinsons disease, found the graphic novel enhanced their empathy for sufferers. Crafting one can be a self-help tool for medical professionals as well as patients. After trying writing and painting as ways to deal with the stress of her work as an hiv/aids nurse in Chicago in the 1990s, M.K. Czerwiec turned to comics. This little combination of image and text in sequential fashion", she says, was really, really helpful for me." She published her drawings as a graphic novel in 2017, and now teaches medical students how to use art to cope with strains. Heal thyself The roles of comics are multiplying. They can simplify medical information, making arcane concepts more accessible to children and people with learning disabilities or language barriers. Examples include helping patients to grasp the notion of informed consent, understand how electronic health records work or negotiate handovers between carers. Government health agencies are harnessing the medium for public education. In 2020 Stark County, Ohio, commissioned Cara Bean, an artist, and the Centre for Cartoon Studies in Vermont to produce a comic to introduce pupils to mental health. Behind this burst of activity is a group of enthusiastic medical professionals and artists. Some have been fans of the medium since childhood; others, such as Ms Czerwiec, stumbled upon it as adults. In 2007 Ian Williams, a Welsh doctor-turned-artist, made a website to gather those interested in what he called graphic medicine". The name stuck. It is still a young field. Mr Williamswho in 2014 published The Bad Doctor", a semi-autobiographical graphic novel about a doctor with ocdrecalls being invited to speak at conferences as comic relief rather than a practitioner. But a growing body of evidence attests to the art forms uses, and new textbooks are codifying its applications. The idea of graphic medicine is getting into the medical mainstream now in a way which would have been unimaginable ten years ago," says Michael Green, who teaches the subject at Penn State University and guest-edits the digital-comics section of Annals of Internal Medicine, a respected journal. Comics are not for everyone, notes Mr Pollard, the researcher, and using them in therapy requires tact and expertise. But he can vouch for their potential from his personal experience. Reading them helped him overcome dyslexia. If I hadnt had any kind of contact with comics," he reflects, I have my doubts that I would have gone to university." If you are looking for a new semi-automatic washing machine for your home, you are in luck. Flipkart, one of the leading online shopping platforms in India, is offering some amazing deals on semi-automatic washing machines as part of its Flipkart big billion offer. You can find some of the best brands and models of semi-automatic washing machines on Flipkart's offer today and get them delivered to your doorstep with free installation and warranty. Semi-automatic washing machines are a great choice for those who want to save time, water, and energy while doing laundry. They have two separate tubs, one for washing and one for drying, which allow you to manually transfer the clothes from one to another. This gives you more control over the wash cycle and lets you use different types of detergents and water levels for different fabrics. Semi-automatic washing machines also consume less electricity and water than fully automatic ones, making them more eco-friendly and cost-effective. But with so many options available on Flipkart's big sale, how do you choose the best semi-automatic washing machine for your home? To help you out, we have curated a list of the top 7 semi-automatic washing machines on Flipkart offer today that you can buy with up to 40% off. We have also provided a brief summary, a list of specifications, and some pros and cons for each model to help you compare and decide. So, without further ado, let's explore the best deals on washing machines on Flipkart's big sale in 2023. Also Read: Top-rated washing machine brand in India: 10 picks of September 2023 Product List 1. Voltas Beko by A Tata Product 8 kg with Fast Dry, Double Waterfall, 5 Wing Pulsator, Buzzer Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine This semi-automatic washing machine from Voltas Beko, a joint venture between Tata and Beko, is a powerful and efficient device that can handle a large load of laundry with ease. It has an 8 kg capacity and features a fast dry function that reduces the drying time by 30%. It also has a double waterfall system that creates strong water currents to remove dirt and stains from the clothes. The 5-wing pulsator ensures gentle yet effective washing while the buzzer alerts you when the wash cycle is over. You can buy this semi-automatic washing machine on Flipkart's big sale today. Specifications of Voltas Beko by A Tata Product 8 kg - Capacity: 8 kg - Wash programs: Normal, Heavy, Gentle - Spin speed: 1400 RPM - Power consumption: 460 W - Dimensions: 79 cm x 43 cm x 93 cm - Weight: 24 kg - Warranty: 2 years on product and 5 years on motor Pros Cons Large capacity and fast drying feature Manual intervention is required for transferring clothes Double waterfall system for better cleaning No inbuilt heater or lint filter 2. LG 7 kg 5 Star with Wind Jet Dry, Collar Scrubber and Rust Free Plastic Base Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine LG is a trusted brand when it comes to home appliances, and this semi-automatic washing machine is no exception. It has a 7 kg capacity and a 5-star energy rating that makes it energy-efficient and eco-friendly. It also has a wind jet dry feature that uses air vents to dry the clothes faster and prevent mold formation. It also has a collar scrubber that helps you scrub the collars and cuffs of your shirts without damaging them. The rust-free plastic base ensures durability and stability, while the rat-away technology keeps rodents away from the machine.Flipkart offers today thissemi-automatic washing machine for home at a very low price. Check it out now! Specifications of LG 7 kg 5 Star with Wind Jet Dry - Capacity: 7 kg - Wash programs: Gentle, Normal, Strong - Spin speed: 1350 RPM - Power consumption: 360 W - Dimensions: 79 cm x 47 cm x 97 cm - Weight: 34 kg - Warranty: 2 years on product and motor Pros Cons Rust-free plastic base and rat-away technology Manual intervention is required for transferring clothes Wind jet dry and collar scrubber features No inbuilt heater or lint filter 3. SAMSUNG 7.5 kg 5 star, Air Turbo Drying Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Samsung is another popular brand that offers high-quality and reliable semi-automatic washing machines. This model has a 7.5 kg capacity and a 5-star energy rating that makes it energy-efficient and eco-friendly. It also has an air turbo drying feature that uses powerful air jets to dry the clothes faster and reduce moisture. It also has a center jet pulsator that creates water currents to wash the clothes thoroughly and prevent tangling. The lint filter traps the lint and fluff from the clothes and keeps them clean and fresh. The buzzer alerts you when the wash cycle is over. You can avail of this semi-automatic washing machine onFlipkart big billion offer. Specifications of SAMSUNG 7.5 kg 5 star, Air Turbo Drying Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine - Capacity: 7.5 kg - Wash programs: Normal, Intensive, Delicate - Spin speed: 1400 RPM - Power consumption: 350 W - Dimensions: 80 cm x 50 cm x 93 cm - Weight: 24 kg - Warranty: 2 years on product and motor Pros Cons Air turbo drying and center jet pulsator features Manual intervention required for transferring clothes Lint filter and buzzer for convenience No inbuilt heater or collar scrubber 4. Whirlpool 6 kg Magic Clean 5 Star Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Whirlpool is a well-known brand that offers innovative and user-friendly semi-automatic washing machines. This model has a 6 kg capacity and a 5-star energy rating that makes it energy-efficient and eco-friendly. It also has a magic clean feature that removes lint from the clothes automatically and prevents clogging of the drain pipe. It also has a smart scrub station that lets you scrub the clothes easily without bending or spilling water. The inbuilt memory function resumes the wash cycle from where it stopped in case of a power cut. The waterproof panel protects the machine from water splashes and shocks. You can grab this semi-automatic washing machine onFlipkart's big sale and enjoy a great discount. Specifications of Whirlpool 6 kg Magic Clean 5 Star - Capacity: 6 kg - Wash programs: Normal, Heavy, Delicate - Spin speed: 1400 RPM - Power consumption: 340 W - Dimensions: 74 cm x 43 cm x 90 cm - Weight: 21 kg - Warranty: 2 years on product and motor Pros Cons Magic clean and smart scrub station features Manual intervention required for transferring clothes Inbuilt memory function and waterproof panel No inbuilt heater or air turbo drying 5. ONIDA 7 kg Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Onida is a reputed brand that offers affordable and durable semi-automatic washing machines. This model has a 7 kg capacity and features a powerful motor that delivers high performance and efficiency. It also has a multi-pulsator system that creates strong water currents to wash the clothes effectively and gently. The anti-rust fibre body ensures longevity and stability, while the castor wheels make it easy to move the machine around. The buzzer alerts you when the wash cycle is over. Flipkart offers today this semi-automatic washing machine at a very low price. Buy now! Specifications of ONIDA 7 kg Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine - Capacity: 7 kg - Wash programs: Normal, Heavy, Gentle - Spin speed: 1350 RPM - Power consumption: 370 W - Dimensions: 76 cm x 44 cm x 89 cm - Weight: 22 kg - Warranty: 1 year on product and motor Pros Cons Powerful motor and multi pulsator system Manual intervention required for transferring clothes Anti-rust fibre body and castor wheels No inbuilt heater or lint filter 6. Haier 8.5 kg 5 Star Anti-Bacterial Vortex Pulsator Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Haier is a global brand that offers stylish and functional semi-automatic washing machines. This model has an 8.5 kg capacity and a 5-star energy rating which makes it energy-efficient and eco-friendly. It also has an anti-bacterial vortex pulsator that creates strong water currents to wash the clothes thoroughly and prevent bacteria growth. It also has a magic filter that traps the lint and fluff from the clothes and keeps them clean and fresh. The transparent lid allows you to monitor the wash cycle, while the soft fall technology prevents any damage to the lid. The castor wheels make it easy to move the machine around. Specifications of Haier 8.5 kg 5 Star Anti-Bacterial Vortex Pulsator Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine - Capacity: 8.5 kg - Wash programs: Normal, Heavy, Gentle, Delicate - Spin speed: 1300 RPM - Power consumption: 380 W - Dimensions: 80 cm x 48 cm x 95 cm - Weight: 26 kg - Warranty: 2 years on product and motor Pros Cons Anti-bacterial vortex pulsator and magic filter features Manual intervention required for transferring clothes Transparent lid and soft fall technology No inbuilt heater or buzzer 7. Thomson 9 kg 5 Star Aqua Magic Double Waterfall Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Thomson is a brand that offers premium and elegant semi-automatic washing machines. This model has a 9 kg capacity and a 5-star energy rating, which makes it energy-efficient and eco-friendly. It also has an aqua magic feature that recycles the water used in the wash cycle and saves up to 50% of water. It also has a double waterfall system that creates strong water currents to wash the clothes effectively and gently. The lint filter traps the lint and fluff from the clothes and keeps them clean and fresh. The LED display shows the status of the wash cycle while the buzzer alerts you when it is over. You can buy this semi-automatic washing machine on Flipkart sale today while enjoying an amazing discount rate. Specifications of Thomson 9 kg 5 Star Aqua Magic Double Waterfall Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine - Capacity: 9 kg - Wash programs: Normal, Heavy, Gentle, Delicate - Spin speed: 1400 RPM - Power consumption: 400 W - Dimensions: 82 cm x 48 cm x 97 cm - Weight: 28 kg - Warranty: 2 years on product and motor Pros Cons Aqua magic and double waterfall features Manual intervention required for transferring clothes Lint filter and LED display No inbuilt heater or collar scrubber Three best feature for consumers: Product Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3 Voltas Beko 8 kg Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Capacity: 8 kg Spin speed: 1400 RPM Warranty: 2 years on product and 5 years on motor LG 7 kg 5 Star Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Capacity: 7 kg Spin speed: 1350 RPM Warranty: 2 years on product and motor SAMSUNG 7.5 kg Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Capacity: 7.5 kg Spin speed: 1400 RPM Warranty: 2 years on product and motor Whirlpool 6 kg Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Capacity: 6 kg Spin speed: 1400 RPM Warranty: 2 years on product and motor ONIDA 7 kg Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Capacity: 7 kg Spin speed: 1350 RPM Warranty: 1 year on product and motor Haier 8.5 kg 5 Star Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Capacity: 8.5 kg Spin speed: 1300 RPM Warranty: 2 years on product and motor Thomson 9 kg 5 Star Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine Capacity: 9 kg Spin speed: 1400 RPM Warranty: 2 years on product and motor Best overall product The LG 7 kg 5 Star with Wind Jet Dry, Collar Scrubber and Rust Free Plastic Base Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine is a feature loaded product with all the necessary specifications. It has a 7 kg capacity and a 5-star energy rating that makes it energy-efficient and eco-friendly. It also has a wind jet dry feature that uses air vents to dry the clothes faster and prevent mold formation. It also has a collar scrubber that helps you scrub the collars and cuffs of your shirts without damaging them. The rust-free plastic base ensures durability and stability, while the rat-away technology keeps rodents away from the machine. Best value for money The Voltas Beko by A Tata Product 8 kg with Fast Dry, Double Waterfall, 5 Wing Pulsator, Buzzer Semi Automatic Top Load Washing Machine is the most affordable as well as feature loaded semi-automatic washing machine to purchase atFlipkart offer today. It has an 8 kg capacity and features a fast dry function that reduces the drying time by 30%. It also has a double waterfall system that creates strong water currents to remove dirt and stains from the clothes. The 5-wing pulsator ensures gentle yet effective washing while the buzzer alerts you when the wash cycle is over. How to find the best semi-automatic washing machine? Decide on your budget and capacity: Semi-automatic washing machines come in different price ranges and capacities, depending on the brand, features and performance. You should choose a model that suits your budget and can handle the amount of laundry you do regularly. Compare the features and specifications: Semi-automatic washing machines have different features and specifications that affect their washing quality and efficiency. You should compare the wash programs, spin speed, power consumption, dimensions, weight, and warranty of different models and choose the one that meets your needs and preferences. Read the reviews and ratings: You can also read the reviews and ratings of different semi-automatic washing machines on online shopping platforms like Flipkart. This will help you get an idea of the user experience, pros and cons, and customer service of different models and brands. Check the offers and discounts: You can also check the offers and discounts on semi-automatic washing machines on Flipkart offer today, big sale 2023, and save up to 40% on your purchase. You can also avail free installation, delivery, and warranty services from Flipkart. FAQs Question : What are the benefits of semi-automatic washing machines? Ans : Semi-automatic washing machines are a great choice for those who want to save time, water, and energy while doing laundry. They have two separate tubs, one for washing and one for drying, which allow you to manually transfer the clothes from one to another. This gives you more control over the wash cycle and lets you use different types of detergents and water levels for different fabrics. Semi-automatic washing machines also consume less electricity and water than fully automatic ones, making them more eco-friendly and cost-effective. Question : What are the features to look for in semi-automatic washing machines? Ans : Some of the features to look for in semi-automatic washing machines are: - Capacity: The capacity of the machine determines how much laundry you can wash at a time. You should choose a capacity that suits your family size and frequency of washing. - Wash programs: The wash programs are the different modes of washing that you can select according to the type and condition of your clothes. You should look for a machine that has wash programs for normal, heavy, gentle, and delicate fabrics. - Spin speed: The spin speed is the speed at which the machine spins the clothes to remove excess water. You should look for a machine that has a high spin speed to reduce the drying time and save energy. Question : Where can I buy semi-automatic washing machines online? Ans : You can buy semi-automatic washing machines online from various online shopping platforms like Flipkart. Flipkart offers some amazing deals on semi-automatic washing machines as part of its Flipkart big sale 2023. You can find some of the best brands and models of semi-automatic washing machines on Flipkart offer today and get them delivered to your doorstep with free installation and warranty. You can also compare the features, specifications, reviews, and ratings of different semi-automatic washing machines on Flipkart and choose the best one for your home. At Livemint, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Mint has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Some Jewish schools and community groups have suggested that parents delete X, TikTok, Instagram and other apps from their childrens phones, after horrifying images began circulating on social media this week. News organizations (including The Wall Street Journal) may also present scenes of violence, but typically provide warnings or censor graphic details. Its possibleeven on social mediato stay up to speed on the news but keep graphic content at bay. Heres how to find the right settings for adult users and for those under 18. None are foolproof, but they will give you more control. X (formerly Twitter) X has faced criticism for lax content policies leading to the proliferation of misidentified video footage, fabricated information and violent content during this conflict. The company said in a statement on Monday that it has removed newly created Hamas-affiliated accounts and has taken action against tens of thousands of posts for sharing graphic media, violent speech and hateful conduct. We know that its sometimes incredibly difficult to see certain content, especially in moments like the one unfolding," the statement reads. Still, the company says it believes seeing some sensitive content is in the publics interest to better understand what is happening in real time. You can get warnings for what X considers sensitive content" on its website and apps, but to access the control, you need to go to the desktop web version. Log into x.com from your computer, then click More > Settings and Support > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Content you see. Uncheck the box that says Display media that may contain sensitive content." When such content surfaces, it will appear obscured unless you decide to view it. TikTok TikTok uses warning labels and opt-in screens to prevent users from unexpectedly viewing graphic content that it considers to be of public interest (and therefore not removed). Users can go a step further by turning on Restricted Mode, which prevents content with realistic violence, firearms and other such imagery to show up. To enable it in the app, tap your profile, then tap the horizontal lines in the upper right. Tap Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Restricted Mode. Youll have to set a passcode, which you can use to turn it on and off. TikTok only shows content thats suitable for all audiences when Restricted Mode is turned on, so even videos with mild profanity and no other offending content may also be hidden. Instagram and Threads Users can adjust how much sensitive content they want suggested to them across Instagram. The control is set to Standard by default, and also applies to Metas Instagram-affiliated app Threads. In the Instagram app, highlight the profile tab and tap the three horizontal lines at the top right. Tap Settings and privacy > Suggested content > Sensitive content. Then tap Less. The setting only filters content you dont follow, such as photos and videos on the apps Explore page. Users may still see sensitive content if its posted by an account they follow. It also doesnt apply to posts that already have a visibility warning. These appear with blurred visuals when they surface, allowing users to decide if they want to view it. Facebook Facebooks News Feed preferences let you manage content including sensitive posts or information deemed false by fact-checkers. On iPhones and Android devices, tap the three horizontal lines on the screen to access the Menu. Tap the gear icon to access Settings and Privacy, then under Preferences, tap News Feed, then Reduce. By default, its set to Reduce," so youre less likely to see these kinds of posts, but you can tap Reduce more" so you may not see them at all. Users can also stop graphic videos from autoplaying by tapping Menu, then the gear icon in the top right. Under Preferences, tap Media, then select Never autoplay videos." Protecting kids If kids are honest about their ages when creating social-media accounts, most platforms have default settings that typically filter out graphic content for teens. (If minors pretend theyre older than 18 on their accounts, you should work with them to follow the above steps to ensure graphic content isnt slipping through.) There are parental controls and many other ways to protect kids on the major platforms: YouTube: Parents on either iOS or Android can give their child a supervised account for YouTube viewing. These accounts offer three content settingschannels approved for ages 9 and older, but no livestreams; channels deemed OK for kids 13 and up, including livestreams; and anything that isnt labeled 18+. Parents can also block specific channels on supervised accounts. For kids over 13 with standard YouTube accounts, parents should discuss turning on restricted mode, which helps filter undesirable content. TikTok: With their own TikTok accounts, parents can use the Family Pairing feature to restrict age-inappropriate content on their kids accounts. Parents can restrict their teens ability to search for content and enable Restricted Mode" in settings. This limits content that may not be appropriate for a general audience in their teens For You feed. Parents can also filter out videos with words or hashtags they dont want their kids to see. Instagram: Parents can set up supervised teen accountswith their teens permissionthrough Instagrams Family Center. While parents cant control the content their kids see, they can view the teens sensitive-content setting, and use that as a way to encourage them to adjust their settings (see above). Google: Googles SafeSearch helps filter out explicit images, text and links. There are three options: one that filters, one that blurs explicit images and one that shows all search results. To enable a filter for Google search on your kids devices, follow the instructions here. Julie Jargon contributed to this article. For more WSJ Technology analysis, reviews, advice and headlines, sign up for our weekly newsletter. Write to Cordilia James at cordilia.james@wsj.com View Full Image How to Block Graphic Social-Media Content From Your Phoneand Your Kids Phones Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Foreign investment continues to climb on island, with more projects planned The government of the island province of Hainan in South China has pledged to reinforce its role as a strategic trade hub and take advantage of the opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary. A major factor in Hainan's development has been it turning itself into a free trade port in order to attract foreign investment. From January to August, the number of newly established BRI member foreign-invested enterprises in Hainan increased by 24.1 percent year-on-year. Foreign investment access and preferential tax policies are what foreign investors care about, said Bater, vice-governor of Hainan. Hainan has the lowest number of items on its foreign investment negative list in China, with 27. It also has the lowest tax. In terms of corporate income tax, companies in industries encouraged by Hainan, including tourism, modern service and high-tech, enjoy a preferential corporate income tax rate of 15 percent. High-end talent pays income tax no higher than 15 percent of their gross income. Enterprises in Hainan also benefit from a preferential policy of the exemption of enterprise income tax on new overseas direct investment. "With the policy, Hainan supports enterprises to increase overseas investment in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and other Belt and Road partners, covering manufacturing, agriculture, education and other industries, to effectively enhance the links between domestic and international markets and resources," said Bater. Hainan's investment in countries involved in the BRI continues to increase. From January to August, Hainan added 49 overseas investment projects in those countries. The total foreign trade volume between Hainan and countries involved in the BRI reached 94.4 billion yuan ($12.9 billion), up 62.8 percent year-on-year. In the first eight months of this year, the figure was nearly 71.2 billion yuan, an annual increase of 23.3 percent. In recent years, countries involved in the BRI accounted for about 80 percent of the total number of Hainan provincial leaders' visits, which deepens bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, said Bater. Hainan has also made full use of the international exchange platform to deepen exchanges and cooperation with countries involved in the BRI. Hainan has held the Boao Forum for Asia, the China International Consumer Expo and the Hainan Island International Film Festival to build platforms for cooperative research, dialogue and exchange, and information sharing. "Over the past decade, Hainan has stepped up exchanges and cooperation with countries involved in the BRI in fields including economy, culture and education, and carried out a series of people-to-people projects," said Bater. The coconut planting demonstration park project signed between Hainan and Pohnpei, the Federated States of Micronesia was included in the outcome list of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2019. Since the implementation of the "China Hainan Cambodia Bright Operation" free ophthalmology clinic in July 2016, a total of 3,371 patients have been screened and 701 surgeries have been successfully performed. Bater said Hainan will strengthen cooperation with Belt and Road partners in various fields, especially Southeast Asian countries. It will strive to build itself into "two headquarters bases" to build a headquarters base for Chinese enterprises to go international and a headquarters base for foreign enterprises to enter China, an international shipping hub for the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, and a regional international aviation hub for the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Hainan is promoting the China-ASEAN (Hainan) cruise tourism connectivity demonstration project, and strives to open more tourism boutique routes connecting ASEAN countries and regions in the future, he said. WEST FARGO Church members whose trip to Israel was marred by an outbreak of war are making their way back home, feeling shaken but grateful, and in one case, apologetic. The first returnees of the group of 85 tourists from around the region arrived in the Fargo area in the early morning hours of Thursday. Among them were parishioners Jeremy and Tami Frie of Fargo and the Rev. Phil Ackerman of Holy Cross Catholic Church in West Fargo, whod led the large group from congregations around the area. On Saturday, Oct. 7, a large-scale, surprise attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas left thousands of tourists scrambling to find a way out. There's a lot of confusion at a time of crisis, Ackerman said. He told The Forum he wanted to acknowledge hard feelings among some people in the group, who wondered why a priest got to go back first. It appears that way and I can see why. Like we left and abandoned our flock, he said. While he said he felt guilty about being among those to leave first, the group flight bookings were out of his hands. The Fries lucked out with some quick work on their cellphones through travel apps. They were able to get on a flight out of Amman, Jordan. If we can secure some tickets, that will open up some tickets potentially for the rest of the group, Jeremy Frie said of their thought process at the time. Two groups of 12 and 15 people had flights out Thursday afternoon, and a group of 21 was leaving Friday morning, Ackerman said, which accounts for all of those traveling. A continuous prayer vigil, begun on Tuesday of this week, has been going on in a chapel at Holy Cross Church, with people taking shifts around the clock. That's going to continue until the last person arrives, Ackerman said. The groups tour leader, Jane Alatrash, did a fantastic job of getting everyone to safety, he said. She pledged to remain for two more days after everyone got home before booking her own flight back home to Michigan. 'Bucket list' The trip to Israel had been on Tami Fries bucket list. After a health scare last year, she heard about the planned trip from her hospital bed and decided she and her husband should go. Over the first six days into the trip, theyd seen many sights with meaningful experiences. But last Saturday, on the way to the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized, they began to notice something was amiss. A checkpoint was closed, and a palpable anxiety developed among their tour guides and bus drivers. Mind frames changed, for sure, Tami Frie said. As word of the attack spread, and war was declared between Israel and Hamas, the touring group was given the option of seeing some sights in Bethlehem, the safest spot in the area of turmoil. The group took in those sights Sunday within the limits of Bethlehem, and things seemed relatively quiet. But Monday, while exploring sights only a few miles away, the situation changed. They could hear, see and smell signs of war, including what may have been rocket fire or bombs far off in the distance and fighter jets on the move. The couple's daughter, Alexis Bachmeier, watched the developments anxiously from home while her parents assured her everything would be okay. Jeremy Frie said the tour guides figured they may have been as close as 45 miles from some of the violence. Though entirely out of his control, Ackerman said he felt remorse for bringing the group and them being put through any difficult experiences. I've exposed them to this and I feel really bad about it. What am I putting people through? he wondered. Taking safety for granted Local time Tuesday morning, at their hotel in Bethlehem, the tour leader abruptly told the group to pack their belongings and to board the buses. They learned they would be on their way to Jordan, and headed to a northernmost border crossing between it and Israel. People they encountered wished them luck and to stay safe. Tami Frie said well-wishers were grateful the tourists could leave, even though they themselves could not. Its hard to imagine not having the freedom to be able to get out when it's not safe, she said. At the border, the buses and tour guides were not able to cross, so Alatrash had arranged for another set of buses and tour guides in Jordan to take the group the rest of the way. They grabbed their suitcases, went across the physical border on foot, and waited several more hours for their new transportation to arrive to take them to the hotel in Amman. The Fries were able to get a meal but didnt get a hotel room. Instead, they hailed a taxi and went straight to the airport to catch their flight. Many hours later, they were back in Fargo, trying to figure out which day it was and sort out what had happened, running on pure adrenaline. Ackerman said looking back, the trip gave him great awareness of what people go through when there's unrest in a country. The experience reminds him that most people take their safety and where they live for granted; most of us dont understand what its like to live in a country torn apart by war. This is a way of life for people in Israel, Ackerman said. People cast their ballots during early voting at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta in October 2020. The Georgia State Election Board dismissed the years-long investigation into alleged misconduct by Fulton County election workers during the 2020 election. A police report says a woman with a knife stabbed a taxi driver as he drove down an interstate and then slashed an airline employee and a police lieutenant at the Atlanta airport before she was tackled by another officer Alexander Lara Delgado, 16, loved shoes and cars and spending time with his father in Mexico. He was gunned down near Nashville, Tennessee, after stopping at a gas station for a chocolate bar and Gatorade. This video is part of a CNN series of profiles of gun victims -- a daily reminder of some of the many young lives lost this year, and every year, in America. The judge in a lawsuit that could restrict mail-in voting in North Dakota is looking to determine whether a local election official has standing to bring the suit as an individual. U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor in September requested more information on whether Burleigh County Auditor Mark Splonskowski can file the lawsuit, which hinges on his status as a county official, without the support of Burleigh County. Splonskowski filed the suit in partnership with the Public Interest Legal Foundation against state Election Director Erika White in July, claiming harm from an alleged conflict between state and federal mail-in voting laws. The county has said it isn't putting any funds or employee time toward the case, which Splonskowski has repeatedly said is being brought in his capacity as an individual. Both Splonskowski and the state have provided Traynor with additional information as the judge seeks to determine Splonskowskis standing in the case. Splonskowski argues that he faces an impossibility in enforcing election law. The suit alleges a conflict between federal law, which assigns one day as Election Day, and state law, which allows for ballots to be counted up to 13 days after Election Day if they are postmarked by the day prior. It claims Splonskowski has to decide which law to follow, and is potentially opened up to criminal consequences based on that choice. Splonskowski is attempting to bring the suit as an individual, but Traynor said in a Sept. 15 filing that Splonskowski clearly contemplates the suit in his official capacity as Burleigh County auditor. The judge requested more information to ascertain if Splonskowski actually has the legal standing to file the suit, or if it should be dismissed because he doesnt have approval to bring the suit from the Burleigh County Commission. Splonskowski claimed in a Sept. 29 response that state law doesnt give Burleigh County the ability to pursue civil action in this case, as it can only bring actions for and on behalf of the county and in its name. This suit doesnt meet those parameters, and the ability to bring a suit doesnt exclusively belong to the board, he argues. Requiring Splonskowski to attain board permission would be an unconstitutional limitation on his legal rights, the filing argues, and the Burleigh County Commission has the power to oversee his role but the actual duties of the role are solely his responsibility. The state pushed back on Splonskowskis argument in an Oct. 6 filing that claims his attempt to establish standing combines two different capacities: his capacity as an individual and his capacity as an official. Splonskowskis claim is that he as an individual is harmed by injuries that stem from his capacity as an elected official, the state argues, and he has presented no evidence that the two capacities can be combined. Without combining the two, Splonskowskis standing collapses, as he as an individual is not responsible for the enforcement of voting laws, and the Office of the Burleigh County auditor itself is not subject to prosecution, the state claims. Instead, the state says, The only one interfering with (Splonskowskis) official duties is (Splonskowski) himself, through his avowed intent to violate state law. But Splonskowski argues the state didnt actually address the question raised by Traynor, which sought to determine whether County Commission approval was needed for the suit due to its reliance on his official role. In an Oct. 12 filing, he also argued the states stance would effectively prevent all elected official(s) facing criminal prosecution from challenging their prosecution. Traynor will now decide whether Splonskowski is able to bring the suit without the backing of Burleigh County. If the suit proceeds, the court will have to address questions about the alleged conflict between federal and state laws, which the state has argued is nonexistent. A Justice Department filing in September indicated support for that stance, arguing that counting and casting a ballot are different processes, and ballots that are mailed ahead of or on Election Day are cast according to North Dakota law, which means there is no conflict. People watch as the 2017 solar eclipse approaches totality from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. The only time its safe to view the sun without eye protection is during the totality of a total solar eclipse. President Biden to speak with families of Americans believed to be held hostage by Hamas Midlands man Darrell Lally is seeking financial assistance in order to become a priest. Darrell is an Irish seminarian of the Institute of Christ the King. I believe, he says, I have felt a call to the priesthood since my very early childhood years. I always pestered the priests in my parish about the priesthood, asking them when I could go to a seminary. He said that when he entered secondary school he received much opposition from his peers on the subject of becoming a priest, however I wanted more than ever to go to a seminary. Towards the end of school I became very interested in the chanting of the divine office and the beautiful traditional liturgical ceremonies of the Church and I found as a result the Institute of Christ the King in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Limerick. The first time that I went there was to attend a solemn High Mass, and I fell in love with the traditional Latin Mass. After he finished school he joined the Institute of Christ the King in October 2018 as a candidate by entering one of the institute's formation houses in Preston England where he learned the rhythm of apostolic life. He then spent a second year in Naples Italy, again as a candidate. In September 2020 he was accepted to the institute's seminary known as Gricigliano in Florence Italy. After completing my first academic year in spirituality I received the holy cassock from our prior general Monseigneur Gilles Wach and I was tonsured and made a cleric by his eminence Leo Ramond Cardinal Burke. I have since received three minor Orders of Porter, Lector and Exorcist and am preparing this year to receive the final minor Order of Acolyte before the major Orders to come, God willing. I love my studies very much and I have finished my studies of philosophy and now I am entering into four years of theology. My prayer life is also very active in the seminary especially through participation in the holy liturgy. In the seminary, along with prayer and sacred studies, manual work also plays an important role in our priestly and human formation. I was very glad to be able to put my artistic experience to good use, in restoring many things and areas in the seminary that were once highly decorated but have since deteriorated over the years, before the institute had occupied the building. This year I finished my second major project of restoring one of the common rooms which was once richly decorated. Unfortunately, unlike prayerful support, I do not have much financial assistance as my absence from my home country renders it difficult to find benefactors to support Irish vocations. The seminary costs are about 800 per month per seminarian. This tuition goes towards our studies, books, food, heating and other costs which concern the formation. Darrell has set up a GoFundMe page and so far has raised 5,000 of a 30,000 target. I ask you kindly to please support me if possible, he writes on the GoFundMe page. Ireland needs good priests and my wish is to be one for her and especially for our holy mother the Church. Many people in Birr think highly of Darrell and see him as a sincere man with a genuine vocation, who is also gifted artistically. On the popular Facebook page (Well Mush) Birr Memories Old and New Dickie Donnelly urges people to support Darrell. Dickie points out that There is more than Religion involved here. This is a Birr man following his dreams and beliefs for the good of all the world. Darrell is a lovely, kind young man, wrote another person on the page, who has a special faith. I'm delighted, wrote another, to see Darrell using his wonderful artistic talent in restoration work in the seminary. THE GARDA commissioner has defended plans to increase the age limit for new recruits from 35 to 50. Drew Harris made his comments at a graduation ceremony in Templemore this Friday morning. The maximum age for new garda recruits was 26 until 2004 when it was increased to 35. The proposed increase to 50 must be formally approved by the Cabinet before being implemented. Responding to reporters' questions Commissioner Harris says the decision was made following a Workplace Relations Commission finding, in 2020, that an upper age limit of 35 was not proportionate and was discriminatory. "In effect, we have taken notice of what the WRC has said and we have taken that very seriously and we have looked very closely at what the optimum age should be and we decided on 50," he said. He added that 50 was selected to ensure that An Garda Siochana gets a return on the investment it makes in training new recruits. "They will have to go through their training and their probation and we want, then, to get a return on that investment around being able to go out on patrol and conduct all their duties effectively and really work with the rest of us in terms of protecting the people of Ireland." When asked about the potential for older recruits to be sick and unable to work physically, he commented: "The application process and the training is rigorous and it isn't for the faint-hearted." After todays passing out ceremony for 126 new recruits, another class will enter the Garda Training College on Monday. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: October 13 2023 Victims Were Killed in Uniondale Park and at a McDonalds Drive-Thru in Hempstead. An 11-count indictment was unsealed in federal court in Central Islip charging Carlos Humberto Aquino-Hernandez, also known as Caprichoso and Flaco (Aquino-Hernandez), who is a member of the Coronados Locos Salvatruchas subgroup or clique of the MS-13, the violent transnational criminal organization La Mara Salvatruchas, and Gerson Hernandez, also known as Steven Jefferson, Jeffrey, Serio, Serioso and Necio, who is a member of the Hempstead Locos Salvatruchas clique of the MS-13, with multiple racketeering offenses in connection with two murders, a narcotics trafficking conspiracy, as well as with related charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, firearms offenses, and narcotics trafficking offenses. Hernandez was arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Lee G. Dunst at the federal courthouse in Central Islip and was ordered detained pending trial. On October 6, 2023, Aquino-Hernandez was ordered removed in custody from the District of Maryland and will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date. Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James Smith, Assistant Director-in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Patrick J. Ryder, Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) announced the indictment and charges. The defendants allegedly committed two murders in furtherance of the MS-13 enterprise with all the gangs hallmarks of senseless, brutal violence that endangers the entire community as evinced by unleashing gunfire outside a McDonalds in broad daylight near a mother walking with her child, stated United States Attorney Peace. The defendants fleeing to another state proved futile thanks to the outstanding efforts of law enforcement to hold them accountable now in a federal courtroom on Long Island. Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the members of the FBIs Long Island Gang Task Force, the NCPD, and the Nassau County District Attorneys Office; as well as to the members of the FBIs Baltimore Division and Cross Border Task Force, the Prince Georges County Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Montgomery County Division of the Maryland National Capital Park Police, and the United States Attorneys Office for the District of Maryland for their tremendous assistance and partnership in this case. The actions of Aquino-Hernandez and Hernandez remind us that gangs are responsible for a significant percentage of violent crime in many jurisdictions, putting innocent people at risk as they avenge their rivals. The violence caused by MS-13 has terrorized our communities for far too long, and the FBI is committed to dismantling this violent gang and putting an end their atrocities once and for all, stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Smith. The July 19, 2022 Murder of Walter Ochoa Walter Ochoa was targeted by MS-13 members who suspected him of being a member of a rival street gang. Ochoas murder was also committed in retaliation for the killing of an MS-13 member 11 days earlier which the MS-13 blamed on the 18th Street gang. On the evening of July 19, 2022, Ochoa was with another individual in Uniondale Park when they were approached by the defendants and a third MS-13 member, who were armed with a .45 caliber handgun and at least one knife. After they shot Ochoa to death and stabbed him in the neck and abdomen, the three MS-13 members fled the park. The September 14, 2022 Murder of Hector Valencia Gomez Surveillance footage from the McDonalds restaurant revealed that on the afternoon of September 14, 2022, Hernandez and an MS-13 associate were being chased by Gomez towards a dumpster next to the McDonalds drive-thru. Hernandez waved over Aquino-Hernandez who was armed with a 9-millimeter handgun. Aquino-Hernandez fired at Gomez, who was running in between cars lined up at the drive-thru. Gomez stumbled several steps before collapsing, after which point Aquino-Hernandez fired additional rounds at Gomez as he lay on the pavement. The MS-13 associate also struck Gomez in the arm with a large knife. The surveillance video also shows a mother and her small child, several feet away from the attack, running for cover during the shooting. Hernandez and Aquino-Hernandez were later arrested in Maryland where they had traveled to avoid apprehension for the murders. Finally, the defendants are charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana on Long Island, the proceeds of which were used to help finance the MS-13s criminal operations, including purchasing firearms, ammunition and other weapons, and sending money to MS-13 leadership in Central America. The indictment is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent transnational criminal organization. The MS-13s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States, comprised primarily of immigrants from Central America. With numerous branches, or cliques, the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders, and assaults. Since 2010 alone, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 65 murders in the Eastern District of New York, and it has convicted dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBIs Long Island Gang Task Force, comprising agents and officers of the FBI, the NCPD, the Suffolk County Police Department, the Nassau County Sheriffs Department, the Suffolk County Sheriffs Office, the Suffolk County Probation Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department, and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. If convicted, each defendant faces up to life in prison, or the possibility of the death penalty. The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. North Dakota lawmakers were already scrambling to fill a giant hole in state government operations left by a surprising state Supreme Court ruling that voided a major budget bill, and their job got even tougher this week when the court issued a new ruling rejecting a request to give officials more time to deal with the budget mess. Lawmakers might be back at the state Capitol as soon as the week of Oct. 23 for a three- to five-day session, Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue told The Associated Press on Friday. After the courts Sept. 28 decision put funding for parts of the state government in jeopardy, the justices on Thursday issued a subsequent opinion denying the Republican-controlled Legislatures requested delay of the courts decision. The court also rescinded a previous stay that a majority of the justices had apparently granted until Oct. 28. The upcoming session is likely to pull Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, who is running for president, off the campaign trail to focus on the legislation. The state's attorney general on Friday decried the court rescinding its stay. They reverse themselves from two weeks ago now it's going to be done the painful way with a lot of anxiety for state employees and people throughout the government, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley told the AP. Burgum has directed state agencies to mostly refrain from actions requiring budget expenditures from the bill until a resolution is reached. Lawmakers, who usually meet from January through April every two years, are now figuring out scheduling conflicts with crop harvests, scheduled surgeries, weddings and overseas vacations, Hogue said. Burgum in a statement expressed confidence in the Legislature resolving the situation before Nov. 1 "to avoid any interruptions to state government operations. He also told state agency leaders that he and Republican legislative majority leaders don't expect interruptions to state employees' pay or operations or impacts to previously approved pay raises. The Supreme Court invalidated the funding bill for the state Office of Management and Budget, which is usually the last one passed in the biennial session, and often used as a catchall or cleanup bill. The court ruled the bill was unconstitutionally enacted and is void because it goes against a provision limiting bills to just one subject. The Legislature afterward asked the court to clarify the date that the decision is effective, and for a delay on the ruling's effective date until Dec. 18, for time for the Legislature to meet. The Legislature could reconvene using the five days remaining from its constitutional limit of 80 days every two years to meet in session. Otherwise, Burgum could call a special session. No decision has been made as to a reconvened or special session, Hogue said. Funding in the voided bill totaled about $322 million for the state's 2023-25 budget cycle, according to Legislative Budget Analyst and Auditor Allen Knudson. Many transfers in the bill have already been made or committed, said Republican state Treasurer Thomas Beadle, whose office is documenting where all the money has gone if funds have to be reconciled or clawed back. Not everything in the final bill passed. Burgum in May vetoed some items, including major policy changes for the state's $9 billion oil tax savings. The Legislature may be able to include all of the voided bills provisions into 14 bills, Legislative Council Director John Bjornson said Friday. A top legislative panel is set to meet Tuesday to discuss session plans. The court ruled on the bill because of a lawsuit brought by the board that oversees the state's government retirement plans. The board argued it's unconstitutional for state lawmakers to sit on the board, and targeted a section of the bill that increased legislative membership from two to four. An all-Republican House-Senate panel negotiated the final version of the bill, which passed before 3 a.m. on a weekend, ending the session after four months. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: October 13 2023 Wilfredo Figueroa Pleaded Guilty in July to Shooting the Victim in the Face During a Robbery in Middle Island. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Wilfredo Figueroa, 29, of Ridge, was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty in July to Robbery and Criminal Possession of a Weapon for shooting a 27-year-old male in the face during a robbery. This defendants crimes of robbery and shooting a man in the face were serious and the extreme violence employed was gratuitous, said District Attorney Tierney. Todays prison sentence imposed will not only ensure that the defendant is held responsible for his crimes, but also ensures that our streets here in Suffolk County are safer. According to the investigation and the defendants admissions during his guilty plea allocution, during the early morning hours of June 22, 2022, Figueroa shot a 27-year-old male in the face while robbing him of his personal belongings. After the robbery, Figueroa immediately fled the scene and went back to his residence. The victim was transported to a local hospital, but due to the severity of his injuries, he was placed in a medically induced coma. Later that day, police pulled over Figueroa for a traffic violation, and found him in possession of two illegal loaded handguns and two high-capacity magazines. Additionally, law enforcement recovered items belonging to the 27-year-old victim inside Figueroas vehicle, including the victims identification, car keys, cellphone, and several credit cards. The defendant was then placed under arrest. After the victim awoke from his coma, a bullet fragment that was lodged in his neck was removed and given to the Suffolk County Police Department. The Suffolk County Medical Examiners Office conducted a ballistics report, which concluded that the bullet fragment recovered from the victims neck was fired from one of the loaded handguns recovered from Figueroas vehicle. On July 25, 2023, Figueroa pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable John B. Collins, to Robbery in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony. On October 10, 2023, Judge Collins sentenced Figueroa to 15 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. Figueroa was represented by Steve Politi, Esq. This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Patrick E. Fedun of the Major Crime Bureau, with investigative assistance from Suffolk County Police Detectives Brian Whitehead and Gregory Marino of the Sixth Precinct. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: October 13 2023 Richard Kessel Named NIFA Board Chair and Director. Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the appointment of Richard Kessel to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority. Governor Hochul also announced that with his appointment, Mr. Kessel will fill the role of Chair and Director for the board. Richard Kessel has the background and experience which makes him the best candidate to fill this vacancy on the NIFA Board, Governor Hochul said. I am proud to have him take on this responsibility and look forward to the good he will bring to the greater Nassau community in this position. We also thank outgoing Chairman and Director Adam Barsky for his service to New Yorkers and dedication to this role. The Nassau County Interim Finance Authority is a public benefit corporation created by the New York State Legislature in June 2000. NIFA has certain powers to monitor and oversee the County's finances. In addition, NIFA is empowered to issue bonds and notes for various County purposes, including the restructuring of a portion of the County's outstanding debt. NIFA is governed by a seven-member Board appointed by the Governor, including one member each appointed upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly and the State Comptroller, and four members appointed without recommendation. Two of the members appointed by the Governor and the members appointed upon the recommendation of the Senate Majority Leader, the Speaker and the Comptroller must be residents of Nassau County. Richard Kessel is an expert on energy and consumer issues with an extensive background in public service. Mr. Kessel previously served as the Nassau County Industrial Development Agencys Board Chair and as CEO of the New York Power Authority. Mr. Kessel graduated with a bachelors degree from New York University and a masters degree from Columbia University. Richard Kessel said, I thank Governor Hochul for appointing me to be Chair of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority. NIFA was formed over 20 years ago to monitor and oversee Nassau Countys finances and to ensure that the County is fiscally strong and has long term plans to have balanced budgets and stable finances to protect taxpayers and residents. I look forward to working with the Governor, her administration and members of the NIFA Board to move the county forward in a positive direction. Since the beginning of this month, the West African countries of Nigeria and Cameroon have been hit with a spate of suicide bombings. The majority of these bombings have involved women, an incredibly common tactic in the region. On May 3, three teenage girls reportedly attempted to infiltrate a military outpost in the city of Maiduguri, the capital of Nigerias Borno state. The three were subsequently spotted which resulted in each detonating themselves as Nigerian soldiers tried to stop them. No casualties were reported. Two days later, seven people were killed when two girls detonated near a grouping of people in the town of Konduga in Borno. One week later on May 13, two male suicide bombers detonated themselves after being stopped trying to enter Maiduguris university complex. One security official was killed and another wounded in the blast. Around the same time, a female attacker blew herself up at a nearby church, damaging the building. On May 16, the town of Konduga was again targeted by jihadists. Three females killed two people and wounded six others in Konduga. Yesterday, two more females targeted Nigerian soldiers close to a camp for internally displaced persons in Konduga. Two soldiers were injured in the blasts. In addition, the University of Maiduguri was again targeted today. Three male bombers again tried to enter the complex, but were stopped in the process by security personnel. When the three detonated their explosives, several people were injured, including security officials and members of a vigilante group. In Cameroons Far North Region, one person was killed today after two females detonated near simultaneously. Local officials have blamed Boko Haram for the attack. Boko Haram, which has effectively split into two main factions, has a long history of using females in suicide attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. While unified under the leadership of Abubakr Shekau and the name Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), the group continues to use women and girls in its attacks. After Shekau was removed from ISWAs leadership and created a splinter faction, it is thought that this faction is behind most assaults using females. However, ISWA under the leadership of Abu Musab al Barnawi may also use the tactic. Jihadist deployment of women and girls as suicide bombers has been a common maneuver in Nigeria for almost three years. The groups first known instance of using a female suicide bomber was on June 8, 2014, when a middle-aged woman on a motorcycle detonated near a Nigerian military barracks in Gombe, killing one policeman. In one of the deadliest attacks, on Nov. 27, 2014, two women killed 78 people and wounded scores more at a market in Maiduguri. Many of the women and girls used in these bombings are likely forced into committing the assaults after being kidnapped by the jihadists. Other women may be widows of killed fighters, like Russias Black Widows. The ages of the bombers have ranged from just seven-years-old to middle-aged. The use of women can make it easier for jihadist groups to conduct suicide attacks, as explosives may be easier to hide, and men are less likely to search women due to cultural sensitivities. In all of 2016, at least 30 females detonated suicide bombs according to data compiled by FDDs Long War Journal. At least 44 females have already been utilized by the jihadist groups in Nigeria and Cameroon in the first four and a half months of 2017 alone. Based on this, the numbers of females used in suicide bombings in West Africa is on pace to quadruple this year. (See FDDs Long War Journal report, Female suicide bomber attacks in West Africa on pace to quadruple in 2017.) In total, at least 169 females have been used in suicide bombings since June 2014 according to data compiled by FDDs Long War Journal. Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. In a joint statement released online, al-Qaedas branches in North Africa and West Africa, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), respectively, praised the massive Palestinian assault on Israel. At the same time, the two groups encourage further violence against Jews. Unlike the statement from Shabaab, the joint AQIM-JNIM statement is explicit about its praise for the Iranian-backed group of Hamas. We send this message of love to our brothers in Palestine generally, and Gaza particularly, especially from Jund al-Aqsa [referring to Palestinian militants more broadly] and the Izz al-Din Qassam Martyrs Brigade [Hamas], the statement begins. We congratulate your actions and urge you to continue, biting your teeth with patience on the path of jihad, the joint statement continues. They [the Palestinians] attacked the Jewswanting to lift the sword of humiliation from their necks. The two al-Qaeda branches encourage the Palestinian militants to complete what you began and seek help from God alone for it is He who guarantees victory. To note, AQIM did not confer specific commendations on Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), despite the specific call out to Hamas. Though Hamas is also Iranian-supported, PIJ is even more beholden to the Iranian regime and is closely allied to both Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria. Though al-Qaeda also benefits from Iranian support, particularly safe shelter inside Iranian territory, heaping praise on PIJ is seemingly a bridge too far for al-Qaedas global apparatus. In a similar manner to the statement released by al-Qaedas East African wing, however, AQIM and JNIM also state that Know, our dear brothers, that you can continue on this path. The tax that you are paying today is on behalf of the entire Islamic Ummah [worldwide Islamic community]. The two continue by saying that we in al-Qaeda are racing against time to obtain the ability to reach you to liberate Jerusalem. Our ranks are stacked together, loud and boastful. Interestingly, the joint statement also addresses Palestinians living in the West Bank, inciting further violence against Israel from that front. And to the lions of the West Bank, know that God is asking you about this crucial moment for the Palestinian cause, the statement reads. Hasten and seek forgiveness from your Lordand light a fire in the West Bank under the feet of the Jewsso rise up and fight the Jews and those who protect the Jews. Before ending the relatively short statement, the statement from al-Qaedas men encourages all Muslims around the world to stand behind the Palestinians and support them in the fight against Israel and Jews. It is only through this Islamic unity, according to AQIM and JNIM, that Jerusalem will be liberated. Previous statements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict This is not the first time that AQIM or JNIM has interjected themselves into the Israel-Palestine conflict. For instance, in 2019 JNIM carried out a suicide assault in the northern Malian town of Aguelhok in the name of al-Qaedas Jerusalem Will Not Be Judaized campaign. Shabaab also carried out a series of attacks under this campaign in both Kenya and Somalia. Speaking in 2019 after the Aguelhok raid, JNIM said that the assault was a clear response from the Mujahideen in the Islamic Maghreb, to demonstrate their rejection of and their standing in the face of the normalization campaigns with the criminal Jewish entity, and that they will spare no effort to foil the plots of America, France, and Israel to infiltrate Africa. As the attack targeted Chadian troops, JNIM framed the attack as a retaliation against then-Chadian President Idriss Deby meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. JNIM described Deby as the head of these corrupt tyrannical rulers, saying he raced to visit Israel, following in the footsteps of the perished [Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat, who had set the precedent decades before!! JNIMs 2019 statement claimed that Debys actions were a flagrant defiance of the sentiments of millions of Muslims in Chad, who have become stricken under poverty and hunger, despite the substantial wealth of their land!! And in 2017, the year of JNIMs founding, the group and AQIM publicly denounced then-US President Trumps musings on moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. JNIM specifically said the plans (which later came into fruition) were part of the humiliation that Palestinians suffer and that Palestinians should rise against the Zionists and the United States. AQIM, however, has a much longer history of invoking the conflict in its communiques and attacks. During the last flare-up in the conflict in May 2021, AQIMs emir, Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Annabi, released an audio message where he openly encouraged Palestinian militants to continue fighting Israel. A year earlier, AQIM criticized Trumps so-called deal of the century, or the peace plan proposed by Trump and his senior advisor Jared Kushner in early 2020. That statement bemoaned Palestinian leaders for pursuing nationalism instead of jihad and stated that the only true peace plan was the re-establishment of the Caliphate over Jerusalem. AQIMs threats against Jews and Israeli interests have not just been rhetorical, however. For example, it specifically targeted the then-open Israeli embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania in 2008. In a statement released through al-Jazeera, AQIM said at the time it was specifically targeting Israelis and demanded all Arab states to cease ties with Israel. To note, al-Qaeda has little to do with hostilities inside Israel or Palestine (despite nominal affiliations with small Gaza-based units such as Jaysh al-Ummah). However, the group and its various branches and allies around the world, often seek to capitalize on the collective anger among the wider Muslim world over the conflict for its own benefit. The various statements from al-Qaeda global branches show that while al-Qaeda has taken a hardline approach against the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is the Palestinian representative, it nevertheless celebrates Hamas recent mass killings of Jews. And though al-Qaeda is supportive of the current hostilities, this likely only extends to the fighting of Israel or the killing of Jews itself, and thus not an implicit doctrinal approval of any of the factions involved in the ongoing war. Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue to strike Hamas military targets across Gaza after the terror groups brutal assault on southern Israel, the IDF is now preparing for a ground offensive. This morning, the IDF issued an order for all Palestinian civilians to leave northern Gaza, a clear indication that Israel troops will soon enter. The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, the IDF announced in a press release. The Hamas terrorist organization waged a war against the State of Israel and Gaza City is an area where military operations take place. This evacuation is for your own safety, the press release continued. More than one million Palestinians are estimated to live in the area that the IDF recommended evacuation. It is unclear if Hamas will permit a mass evacuation. In its press release, the IDF stated that it would In the following days continue to operate significantly in Gaza City. The IDF called up 300,000 reservists after Hamas terror rampage in southern Israel that resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens and soldiers. More than 150 people are still missing, including foreigners, and are thought to have been captured and brought into Gaza. One of the stated goals of the Israeli government is the complete defeat of Hamas as an entity. To do so, the IDF must enter Gaza to root out Hamas. Airstrikes and targeted raids would not be sufficient to deal Hamas a decisive blow. Once the ground operation is complete, it is likely that the IDF will allow Palestinian civilians to return to their homes, but only after intensive screenings. Military-aged males will be especially scrutinized. The IDF had been preparing the battlefield in Gaza before ground forces enter a dense urban environment. Hamas is known to operate a maze of tunnels beneath Gaza, as well as numerous fortified positions, including bunkers, command centers and communications nodes. The Israeli Air Force launched more than 750 strikes on Hamas targets overnight, including underground Hamas terror tunnels, military compounds and posts, residences of senior terrorist operatives used as military command centers, weapons storage warehouses, comms rooms, and other key terror operatives, according to the IDF. A ground invasion of Gaza will likely be a bloody affair. Hamas and its allies launched an audacious and well executed attack that caught the Israeli military and its intelligence services off guard. The attack was plotted, organized and staged without detection. Hamas very likely has prepared for the possibility of an invasion, and given its recent innovations, will be well armed. Joe Truzman is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. (Alliance News) - Numis Corp PLC shares were suspended on Friday morning upon completion of its acquisition by Deutsche Bank AG, to create new investment brand Deutsche Numis. The London-based investment bank announced in late April that it had accepted Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank's GBP410 million or 350 pence per share cash takeover offer. Numis' AIM listing is set to be cancelled on Monday. Deutsche Bank shares were down 1.7% at EUR9.94 in Frankfurt. Deutsche Bank said the combined business will be known as Deutsche Numis, "a leading force in UK investment banking and the adviser of choice for UK listed companies". Numis's former Chair Luke Savage will remain on the Deutsche Numis board, while Alex Ham and Ross Mitchinson will continue to serve as co-chief executive officers. "Continuing to deliver for our people and our clients will be at the heart of Deutsche Numis," Mitchinson said, "and we are confident that the professionalism, high performance, and client service that has long underpinned both companies will only be further enhanced by this combination. "We look forward to continuing to build our position in UK investment banking, enhanced by the scale and strength of Deutsche Bank, including the ability to draw on a global industry capability and a broader array of financing solutions." By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Oldest international bank in the Philippines, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), continues to support the countrys steady recovery from the global pandemic by helping micro and small businesses to succeed. Bank officers led by its Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing Head Mai Sangalang recently visited women-led microentrepreneurs in the Bicol Region who are recipients of the Standard Chartered Foundation COVID-19 Recovery Program in partnership with leading microfinance institution Tulay sa Pag-Unlad, Inc. (TSPI). The microfinancing project launched last year has benefited more than 400 youth and women microentrepreneurs, giving them affordable funding to restore, diversify and expand their microbusinesses. Standard Chartered promotes economic inclusion and one of the most effective ways to do this is to support micro, small and medium enterprises which are the backbone of the Philippine economy, explained SCB Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing Mai Gacilo Sangalang (Shown here with dried fish trader and exporter Funny Azales from Calabanga, Camarines Sur). It is humbling to see the positive outcomes of the project and meet some of the young women entrepreneurs who turned adversity into opportunity during the pandemic. - Advertisement - Davao City, Philippines Grab Philippines, Southeast Asias leading superapp, announced today its strategic commitments to drive economic empowerment in Mindanao, furthering its mission to create sustainable opportunities and foster economic growth across the Philippines. Mindanao, known for its rich cultural heritage and natural resources, is poised to become a thriving hub of economic activity in the Philippines. Recognizing the brimming potential of this region, Grab Philippines is launching a comprehensive initiative aimed at empowering local communities, supporting micro-entrepreneurs, and stimulating economic development. Grab Philippines aims to leverage its advanced technology, extensive network of highly engaged users, and community-focused approach to unlock new possibilities for growth and prosperity. Key initiatives will be rolled out in collaboration with local partners, government agencies, and regulators. We believe that economic empowerment is the foundation for building vibrant and inclusive communities, said Grab Philippines Country Head Grace Vera Cruz. Through our initiatives, we are committed to creating opportunities, supporting local businesses, and fostering a thriving ecosystem that benefits everyone in Mindanao. Key pillars include: Partnering for Success: According to a research conducted by the Mindanao Development Authority, effective partnerships can lead to a 15% increase in job creation and a 20% boost in local businesses growth. Grab Philippines will forge strategic partnerships with local government units, community organizations, and industry associations to align efforts and create an enabling environment for economic empowerment. These collaborations will focus on areas such as skills development, access to financing, and market access for local entrepreneurs. Empowering MSMEs in Mindanao: Grab Philippines recognizes the significant impact of micro-entrepreneurs on economic development. According to a study conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Mindanao contribute over 60% to the regions total employment. Grab Philippines will provide targeted support to micro-entrepreneurs in Mindanao, enabling them to leverage Grabs platform to expand their businesses, access new markets, and improve their livelihoods. Through training programs via GrabMerchant Academy, Grab aims to equip micro-entrepreneurs with the tools and knowledge necessary to thrive in a digital economy. Fostering Innovation and Technology Adoption: Embracing the transformative power of technology, Grab Philippines will collaborate with local startups, technology incubators, and educational institutions. The Mindanao Economic Development Council reports that innovation-driven economies have the potential to increase labor productivity by up to 50%. By promoting innovation and digital adoption, Grab aims to enhance competitiveness and fuel Mindanaos economic progress. Through collaborations with key partners from both the public and private sector, Grab will support initiatives that drive technological advancements, enhance digital literacy, and promote entrepreneurship in the region. Enhancing Mobility: Recognizing the crucial role of transportation to the Philippines socioeconomic wellbeing, Grab Philippines is committed to improving mobility in Mindanao. A recent survey conducted by the Mindanao Development Authority highlights that 70% of residents face challenges in accessing safe and reliable transportation options. By expanding its ride-hailing services to key areas in Mindanao, partnering with local transport operators, and investing in sustainable transportation solutions, Grab aims to bridge this gap: facilitating economic activities and improving overall connectivity. Demonstrating its sincere commitment to alleviating transportation challenges faced by commuters in Mindanao, Grab has officially launched its flagship mobility service GrabCar in Davao City. As the leading superapp expands its fleet of driver-partners and meets the fast-rising demand for safe and accessible transportation, Grab holds a strong belief that it will help advance the key thrusts of the local government in livelihood creation, as well as MICE and tourism support. Grab Philippines, during the launch of GrabCar in Dusit Thani Davao, has also hinted at the future launch of GrabCar in other areas in Mindanao growing its portfolio of services across the region. Vera Cruz added, Grab Philippines is deeply invested in the long-term growth and success of Mindanao. Through our strategic commitments and initiatives, Grab is uniquely positioned to help unlock the immense potential of this region, create livelihood opportunities, and uplift communities. We are committed to driving economic empowerment, fostering sustainable growth, and making a positive impact on the lives of Mindanaoans. Grab Philippines invites partners, stakeholders, and community leaders to join hands in this transformative journey toward economic empowerment in Mindanao and together build a prosperous and inclusive future for all. In the 1730s a plague began in New England. And by the 1800s, it was responsible for almost a quarter of all deaths in the Northeast, according to the Smithsonian Magazine. While it was the cause of Mercy Brown and many of her family members, some began to believe she was actually a vampire asking her father to remove her heart and liver, burn them and feed the ashes to his dying son. This created the lore of one of one of the most popular New Englands vampire stories. Read more: Here are some of the most haunted places in Massachusetts But New England has many ghost, vampire and witch stories. New England legends has an app to help people find these spooky sites near them or to take a fun road trips. The app includes a map with information and a podcast about each haunted site. Jeff Belanger, author and paranormal investigator, hopes people use the map he helped create to go to some of these places and enjoy the podcast in the car while there. He talked a lot about vampires during the COVID-19 pandemic, he told MassLive in 2020. As they are often said to came around during times of plague. When medical science didnt have a good answer for you, when your religion didnt have a good answer for you, folklore always has an answer, he said. Its incredible the parallels that we can look at between then and now. But he has a lot of other spooky stories to share. In fact, scary stories that surround Halloween have nothing on Christmas. Halloween, he explained, is the time when the veil is thin between the living and the dead. Typically that just involves ghosts meddling in our affairs, he said. But Christmas monsters can kill you, Belanger said. Like you could die from the monsters and folklore that surround yule and Christmas, he said, talking of Krampus, Belsnickel and the Yule Lads. Dear Lord, stay inside. You are not safe at Christmas. In one podcast, Belanger talks about the Cobble Mountain Critter, a Bigfoot-type creature located in Blandford. Could this be the same Sasquatch thats been seen in the nearby Berkshires, or is it something weirder, the website states. In 1939, the North Adams Transcript newspaper published a photo of a possible ghost, who came home after the war battered and broken to learn that life had gone on without him. Belanger and Ray Auger hiked Mt. Greylock in search of the ghost known as Old Coot, said to once have been William Saunders. The pair talk about a sighting from as recently as 2018. Keep your eyes peeled, Ray, Belanger said in the podcast. But you dont have to believe in ghosts to be haunted by these stories either. And thats why people continue to talk about Lizzie Borden. Two people were murdered in that house. No one was ever convicted or punished for the crime, he said. We do not like people getting away with murder in our state, town, city, region, country, whatever. We dont like it. It haunts us. And we know it could happen again. Plus, theyre all the key to understanding our world, he said. Theyre a glimpse into who we were and who we are and who we will probably become, Belanger said. Because when you talk about ghosts, what youre really asking is, Is there life after death? And when you talk about aliens, what youre really saying is, Are we alone in the universe? And when you talk about Bigfoot, and lake monsters and things like that, youre really asking, Do we know every creature that walks the earth with us? These are the big ones. Those are the big questions humans have asked for thousands upon thousands of years. CHICOPEE Police responded to reported gunshots in the area of 50 West St. around 5:54 p.m. Wednesday. Responding officers located several shell castings on the ground upon arrival. However, no victims were found on the scene, police wrote Thursday on Facebook. After detectives completed their investigation, the street was reopened at 9:12 p.m. The police say the investigation is ongoing and will provide updates to the public when they become available. The Chicopee Police Department did not return a request for comment. The department told a local news outlet it believes the multi-car crash that took place on Page Boulevard Wednesday in Springfield is connected to the shooting on West Street, and they are investigating both incidents. Residents are advised to send any images or video related to the shooting to the departments detectives bureau. "He was the kind of guy who wanted to help out where he could in hope of leaving the world a little bit better than how he found it. I am honored to call Doug Larsen my brother, and I am honored to have been a part of his life." -- Rebecca Hoglund, sister of Doug Larsen, a Republican state senator from Mandan who died in a plane crash in Utah with his wife, Amy, and sons Christian and Everett. q q q The trees, like there used to be only yellow and now theyre like different colors. -- 9-year-old colorblind Bismarck resident Graham Ostendorf, trying out new glasses available at state parks that help colorblind people see the fall colors. q q q "We don't have anybody with boots on the ground in China." -- Deputy Attorney General Claire Ness, telling lawmakers it will be difficult to enforce a law aimed at preventing foreign adversaries from investing in North Dakota. q q q For our members and other older citizens, public transportation is a factor in their economic, physical, and mental health. People cant thrive if they cant get to work, appointments and social opportunities." -- AARP State Director Josh Askvig, after both the Bismarck and Mandan city commissions approved money to help shore up Bis-Man Transit's paratransit service. q q q "It has been my privilege to serve the citizens of North Dakota as part of the Bank of North Dakota team." -- Todd Steinwand, announcing that he will retire next year as president and CEO of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota, ending a four-decade career in the banking industry. q q q "Enhanced oil recovery potential (halts) the need to plug and abandon the multimillion-dollar investments in a well because it no longer produces under current technology. This will allow you to keep it ready for the future when the logistics, the technology, and the economics align for enhanced oil recovery." -- State Rep. Jeremy Olson, R-Arnegard, one of the sponsors of a bill that gave the state Department of Mineral Resources the authority to designate abandoned oil wells as potential locations for enhanced oil recovery. q q q I assume thats their goal. -- University of North Dakota political science professor Mark Jendrysik, speculating that a proposed ballot measure for congressional age limits in North Dakota could be an effort to create a test case to see if the U.S. Supreme Court would be willing to allow states to set congressional age limits on an individual basis. q q q We started off spring pretty wet again, making it back-to-back springs with high wetland counts. However, precipitation really dropped off this summer, bringing drought conditions to the northern tier of the state. Conditions within wetlands on the survey were variable, with many remaining wetlands having a mud margin as they are in the process of drying up. -- Mike Szymanski, migratory game bird management supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, after a fall wetland survey estimated the number of duck hunting wetlands holding water as being 29% below the long-term average. q q q They have made tremendous strides. -- Attorney General Drew Wrigley, on the North Dakota State Crime Lab catching up on testing a backlog of hundreds of sexual assault examination kits in one year. q q q We are very conscientious of trying to keep (the area) primitive and not make it into a full-fledged park where you see asphalt parking lots, playground equipment, and those types of things at this time. -- Cole Higlin, executive director of Mandan Parks and Recreation, which is pursuing a project to build a boat ramp between the Travis Hilfer Memorial Archery Range and the Missouri River Natural Area and Trailhead. q q q I will leave with a deep sense of pride in the work that has been accomplished and the positive impact made to public safety. -- Dave Krabbenhoft, who plans to retire as director of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at the end of the year, after nearly four decades of public service in the state. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst celebrated a $5 million dollar grant it hopes will lead to creation of an optical technology industry in the commonwealth. The grant, awarded to the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, aims to foster a manufacturing and design/testing facility on campus. SEBEWAING, MICH. -- Some Michigan duck hunters wound up with the story of a lifetime this week when a pink flamingo flew in for a landing among their decoys on Saginaw Bay. The sighting reportedly took place near Sebewaing River Campground, about 40 minutes northeast of Bay City. If confirmed by state birding record committees, it will mark the first time a wild American flamingo has ever been seen in Michigan. Details were still emerging Thursday as birding enthusiasts flocked to the area for the chance to see this mega rarity, spurred by photos of the strange scene a flamingo placidly sitting on the water, surrounded by Canada goose decoys that had been circulating on social media. As of early afternoon the flamingo had not been found since the initial report, but people were scouring the nearby shorelines in an attempt to relocate it. Michigan is the latest state to catch flamingo fever in a historic wave of rare sightings across the eastern U.S. in the past month, after Hurricane Idalia pushed up large flocks of the tropical birds from the Caribbean in late August. Since then, the iconic pink waders have been the subject of surprise sightings in 17 states. Theyve even been spotted by the dozens in Florida, where theyve been locally extinct for more than a century. Since late September, when a group of flamingos were found wading along a beach on the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan, Michigan birdwatchers have been on high alert for their states turn. According to Aaron Cummings, who co-owns the Sebewaing River Campground with his father, Matthew, the Saginaw Bay sighting took place in a marshy spot with approximately two to three feet of water, echoing the shallow, soggy habitat in which the birds have appeared in other states. If the bird is relocated, it is unclear if it would stick around so far from its natural home; most of the flamingos that have turned up elsewhere have moved on within a few days. Im not a flamingo expert, but it seems a little chilly for pink birds around here, Cummings said. You usually find them in peoples yards on stakes. Hopefully its got some thick feathers because its gonna get cold. For those enjoying leaf peeping, Massachusetts has the best fall foliage in New England on Oct. 14-15. Yankee Magazine advised people to travel to North Adams for all the beautiful, bright fall colors. They have had a mix of green trees and some color loss, but we feel that there is enough variation in local microclimates with mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes that some good color will be found there this weekend, the magazine wrote. Yankee Magazine is known for its fall weather predictions. Last weekend it told readers to go to Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, with the Granite State falling at the top of the list for fall foliage. For those planning their trips to North Adams, consider going on Mount Greylock or finding the famous hairpin turn. It also suggests hikes at the Savoy Mountain State Forest, starting the day at Brew Haha and exploring the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA). Mount Greylock State Reservation was named one of the best locations for fall foliage, according to Mixbook. The website named it the top Massachusetts location and fourth nationally out of 150 locations. Read more: Take these New England train trips for great views of fall foliage Other New England towns to explore this weekend are Tamworth, New Hampshire; Belgrade, Maine and Bennington, Vermont. This season has been particularly difficult to predict fall foliage, Yankee Magazine said. Usually at this point, a wave of beautiful colors is sweeping south, downhill, and towards the coast of New England, it read. This is not at all what we are seeing this year. With very few areas at peak last weekend, most zones were either past peak (muted and brown) or running late (still green or just beginning to turn). Read more: Pioneer Valley named the best in the country for fall foliage by Country Living Although the scenes are still beautiful, it warned, Western Massachusetts might not see a true peak this year. Massachusetts State Police said there are no specific or credible threats in Massachusetts as of Friday morning. However, they are remaining vigilant as there was a call for Hamas protests on Oct. 13. Were also aware of information on the internet about a Hamas call for action or demonstrations, Christopher A. Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told The New York Times on Thursday. And were working to confirm whether theres any validity to that information. We cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas, or other foreign terrorist organizations, could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks here on our own soil, he said. SPRINGFIELD When she was 11, a girl was plucked off a city sidewalk as she walked home from her bus stop by a man consumed by schizophrenia and a spiraling compulsion for rape. Miguel Rodriguez, then 24, was ultimately captured, charged with aggravated kidnapping and rape, tried and convicted. BOSTON A Springfield man pleaded guilty Friday in federal court for his role in a two-state organized theft crew which stole catalytic converters from over 470 vehicles, robbed jewelry stores and stole ATMs. Nicolas Davila, 25, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce; two counts of interstate transportation of stolen property; and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Police found cocaine at Davilas residence as part of the catalytic converter theft investigation. The visit to the top of the new lighthouse at Gillette Stadium is a good use of $5. The new landmark at the home of the New England Patriots and Revolution opened to the public earlier this month, offering fans a look to get a 360-degree view of the field and surrounding area in Foxborough. Following a recent practice, members of the MassLive Patriots beat took a trip to the top to check out the views. The verdict: Its pretty cool. Check out the view from the top of the Gillette Stadium lighthouse! We're at the top of the newly renovated lighthouse at the home of the Patriots Posted by New England Patriots on MassLive on Friday, October 13, 2023 Getting to the top of the tower is easy enough, you go to the plaza near the Pro Shop, walk in, pay the $5 admission and take an elevator to the top. Once youre up, you get access to the 360-degree views via a deck with sturdy glass barriers acting as railings. On a clear day, you can just make out the Boston skyline from the top of the Gillette Stadium lighthouse. (Nick O'Malley, MassLive) Of course, youre welcome to take photos of the views and of yourself. But there is a free service for keepsake photos. A staffer is present at the top of the lighthouse to instruct you how to input your email to receive a photo. Youre then instructed to stand on two spots for photos. The first spot gives takes a nice wide-angle shot of you and Gillette Stadium in the background. The second is a cool zoom-in from the stadium, resulting in a nifty clip of the cameras zooming in on you from a distance. (Theyll send both shots to the email you provided.) We went as autumn was starting to settle in, so we had some nice views of the fall foliage from above. Its also a bit blustery up there. Make sure to dress warm in the winter months, because the wind certainly picks up when youre that high. The Gillette Stadium lighthouse is open 12 months a year for fans to visit when there are no events occurring at the venue. Admission is $5 for adults (free for children 10 and under). Net proceeds from lighthouse admission are donated to a charitable fund. The lighthouse is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, its open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. However, the lighthouse will be closed to visitors on event days, such as Patriots games, Revolution matches and concerts. (You can see the full calendar of events on the Gillette Stadium website.) An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon, killing one and leaving six others injured. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of the dead journalist and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car. Qatars Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, were among the wounded. The Associated Press is not naming the other outlets whose journalists were killed or injured until they make public statements on the matter. The shelling occurred during an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border between Israeli troops and members of Lebanons militant Hezbollah group. The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel. Journalists from around the world have been coming to Lebanon out of concern that war might break out between Hezbollah and Israel. Robert Williams, a Black man from Detroit, was falsely arrested in January 2020 by the citys police for shoplifting several watches from Shinola, a watch store in Michigan, according to an administrative complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union. Shortly after being handcuffed in front of his wife and children, the police drove Williams to the citys detention center where he spent a little over a day in a crowded filthy cell, the complaint alleged. Police had believed that Williams was the suspect in the theft after they ran images from the stores surveillance camera through facial recognition software. Read More: Massachusetts Facial Recognition Commission issues recommendations on use of controversial technology However, the software they used resulted in a search that falsely identified Williams as the individual in the footage. This is a man that had been living his life the right way, but was subject to this disruption, Rahsaan D. Hall, the president and CEO of Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said during an appearance at the State House on Thursday. A civil rights attorney for nearly 20 years, Hall is one of three experts who briefed lawmakers on how the racial biases in facial recognition systems can harm Black Americans. Read More: Experts remain divided on facial recognition technology despite another wrongful arrest Hall said that the racial biases in facial recognition software are so prevalent that, we know the names of people who have been killed by the police, [but] we dont know the names of people whose lives have been upended and disrupted by law enforcement through the use of this faulty, unregulated, racially biased software. Across the country, several people have been falsely arrested based on errors within facial recognition software most of whom are Black Americans, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The source for many of the images that lead people to being misidentified are stored in criminal databases where Black and Brown people are disproportionately represented, according to Hall. And so if were looking for suspects in a particular case, theres a greater likelihood that black and brown people are going to populate the databases because of prior arrest records, he said. But, a Massachusetts bill that would centralize all facial recognition software at the state police department, could prevent more cases of false arrests in the commonwealth, the experts said. The Senate and House bills, which respectively were filed by Sen. Cindy Creem, D-Norfolk/Middlesex and Reps. Dave Rogers, D-Middlesex, and Orlando Ramos, D-Hampden, were based on the recommendations from the Special Commission to Evaluate Government Use of Facial Recognition Technology in the Commonwealth. The commission was developed in 2022 after former Gov. Charlie Baker revised facial recognition regulations in the states 2020 police reform bill. Since then the commission has been meeting regularly to research and improve on the amended regulations. Part of the commissions recommendations, which were sent to the Legislature early last year, include limiting police to use of facial recognition software only in serious criminal investigations with a warrant and preventing the use of the technology to track people throughout the day. Although the recommendations were passed by the House, they didnt reach the Senate in time before the end of the session killing the bills chances of being signed by then-Gov. Charlie Baker. Now, at the onset of the 2023 Legislative session, Backers of the bill are hoping to finish the job during this years legislative session and send the bill to Gov. Maura Healey. Only one entity in law enforcement in Massachusetts should be able to possess and use facial recognition, and thats the state police, Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said. Crockford, who also sits on the commission, said that the recommendations were unanimously supported even by police officers. Centralizing facial recognition data with the Massachusetts State Police reduces the chances of the technology being abused or misused by individual departments across the state, Crockford argued. Read More: Springfield Police at odds with state over officer misconduct data The police agreed with it because they understand that the use of these kinds of novel as Rahsaan said fallible, racially biased technologies can result in tremendous harm, not only to individuals who can be wrongfully arrested as a result of misuse of these technologies but also to police departments, she said. Part of the issue around the use of facial recognition software is peoples overtrust in the technology, according to Erik G. Learned-Miller, an artificial intelligence expert at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The accuracy rate of facial recognition software is dependent on the situation where it was used, Learned-Miller said. Software that is tested using photos in brightly lit settings is more likely to have high accuracy rates, but that same accuracy rate can significantly drop when tested using dim or grainy photos. Learned-Miller warned the crowd the be skeptical of vendors who try to oversimplify the accuracy of their facial recognition software. If youre my age, you grew up with calculators, and every time you put a math problem into a calculator, it gave you the correct answer. It was never wrong. And we were used to using computers for sort of these technical questions in which it was never wrong. But today it is different. Massachusetts is going to run out of places to shelter newly arriving immigrants and other families without housing very, very soon, leaving the one state in the country that has a legal obligation to shelter unhoused families in a position where there is not going to be literally any room at the inn, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll has said. Driscoll said Massachusetts has almost 7,500 families (close to 23,000 people) enrolled in the states emergency assistance shelter system. She said during a live interview on Thursday on El Mundos La Hora del Cafe that were really running out of capacity and renewed the administrations calls for the federal government to speed up the work authorization process for immigrants and to establish new congregate shelters. We have a lot of communities who have stepped up, but at some point were going to run out of rooms and I think thats very, very soon. Unfortunately, we just dont have the capacity, Driscoll added. Host Alberto Vasallo asked Driscoll if there was any chance that Massachusetts could eliminate its 1983 right-to-shelter law, which guarantees homeless families access to emergency shelter. It has attracted fresh attention from Republican lawmakers, including Senate candidate Representative Peter Durant, who want to change the law so it would apply only to legal US citizens. The lieutenant governor did not slam the door on Vasallos question, similar to the way Governor Maura Healey has softened her own rhetoric around keeping the law in place as is. I think that will be up to the Legislature because it is an existing law. And there are plenty of states who dont have a right to shelter law that are also getting inundated with individuals coming here. So I think well see going forward, Driscoll answered. Read More: Department of Homeland Security visits Boston to assess the migrant situation I think the bottom line is that were very close to being filled. So there is not going to be literally any room at the inn. And thats worrisome. We dont want families outside; its going to be very cold weather here. A lot of these folks who are coming have very young children, she continued. So were cognizant of the challenge. Were also, I think, trying to do everything we can. Its a humanitarian crisis, and were doing everything we can, but were going to need more help because were definitely at capacity. Asked in August if she considered lifting the right-to-shelter law even temporarily, Healey replied, No. I was never going to end, nor do I have the authority to end, right-to-shelter in the state. But she took a less decisive tone in September in response to a question about whether Massachusetts should rethink its status as the nations only right-to-shelter state. Well, obviously, that was a law that predates a lot of what has happened geopolitically and the forces that weve seen and the likes of what weve seen to date, Healey said Sept. 19. Thatll be up for discussion [and] debate by others for sure. A US Department of Homeland Security team was in Massachusetts this week for a two-day visit, prompted by the ongoing emergency shelter crisis, with Healeys team viewing it as an opportunity to show federal officials the strain that the shelter crisis is causing. A map released by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities shows the geographic distribution of migrants and homeless families staying in emergency assistance shelters, including many communities that are not housing any families. Last week, Housing Secretary Ed Augustus told business officials that Massachusetts had the largest number of families in shelters in the history of the states right-to-shelter law. It is an important responsibility that we have, he said. Its the kind of state that we want to be, that we dont allow pregnant moms and children to be left unsheltered. But that responsibility is very heavy when youre talking about the volume of folks that are coming through that safety net system. The situation gets more challenging, he said, because families cant move quickly through the shelter system and into permanent housing when there is a 1.6 percent vacancy rate, the lowest of the 50 states. In a healthy ecosystem, that rate should be in the 4 to 5 percent range. Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat so comically corrupt he had to hold a press event to explain why he had cash-stuffed clothing and gold bars lying around his house, was today charged as an undisclosed agent of the Egyptian government. The superseding indictment includes four new charges and appears to mark the first time a sitting member of Congress has ever been charged with conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent. The indictment alleges Menendez conspired with his wife, Nadine Menendez, and New Jersey businessman Wael Hana to have the senator act as an agent of Egypt. The indictment includes new photos of Menendez, his wife and Hana dining with Egyptian officials that prosecutors said were part of a "corrupt agreement" to provide the senator and his wife with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for official acts taken to benefit the Egyptians. WHO warns that the health system in the Gaza Strip is at a breaking point. Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade. Hospitals have only a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves and rely on generators to sustain the most critical functions. Even these functions will have to cease in a few days, when fuel stocks are due to run out. The impact would be devastating for the most vulnerable patients, including the injured who need lifesaving surgery, patients in intensive care units, and newborns depending on care in incubators. As injuries and fatalities continue to rise due to the ongoing air, land, and naval strikes on the Gaza Strip, acute shortages of medical supplies are compounding the crisis, limiting the response capacity of already overstretched hospitals to treat the sick and injured. The situation has also gravely disrupted the delivery of essential health services, including obstetric care, management of noncommunicable diseases such as cancer and heart diseases, and treatment of common infections, as all health facilities are forced to prioritize lifesaving emergency care. Access for emergency medical teams in the field is severely hampered by infrastructure damage. WHO has documented 34 attacks on health care in Gaza since last Saturday that have resulted in the death of 11 health workers on duty, 16 injuries, and damages to 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances. Without the immediate entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza especially health services, medical supplies, food, clean water, fuel, and non-food items humanitarian and health partners will be unable to respond to urgent needs of people who desperately need it. Each lost hour puts more lives at risk. WHO calls for an end to hostilities and the protection of health care and civilians against attacks. WHO also calls for the immediate opening of a humanitarian corridor to ensure unimpeded access for health and humanitarian supplies, as well as for personnel, and the evacuation of patients and the injured. WHO further reiterates its call for the respect and protection of health care. WHO is ready to immediately dispatch trauma and essential health supplies through its logistics hub in Dubai and working with partners to ensure that they can reach the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing. Urgent access through the crossing is essential so that WHO and other humanitarian agencies can act quickly to help save lives. WHO warns that the health system in the Gaza Strip is at a breaking point. Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade. Hospitals have only a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves and rely on generators to sustain the most critical functions. Even these functions will have to cease in a few days, when fuel stocks are due to run out. The impact would be devastating for the most vulnerable patients, including the injured who need lifesaving surgery, patients in intensive care units, and newborns depending on care in incubators. As injuries and fatalities continue to rise due to the ongoing air, land, and naval strikes on the Gaza Strip, acute shortages of medical supplies are compounding the crisis, limiting the response capacity of already overstretched hospitals to treat the sick and injured. The situation has also gravely disrupted the delivery of essential health services, including obstetric care, management of noncommunicable diseases such as cancer and heart diseases, and treatment of common infections, as all health facilities are forced to prioritize lifesaving emergency care. Access for emergency medical teams in the field is severely hampered by infrastructure damage. WHO has documented 34 attacks on health care in Gaza since last Saturday that have resulted in the death of 11 health workers on duty, 16 injuries, and damages to 19 health facilities and 20 ambulances. Without the immediate entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza especially health services, medical supplies, food, clean water, fuel, and non-food items humanitarian and health partners will be unable to respond to urgent needs of people who desperately need it. Each lost hour puts more lives at risk. WHO calls for an end to hostilities and the protection of health care and civilians against attacks. WHO also calls for the immediate opening of a humanitarian corridor to ensure unimpeded access for health and humanitarian supplies, as well as for personnel, and the evacuation of patients and the injured. WHO further reiterates its call for the respect and protection of health care. WHO is ready to immediately dispatch trauma and essential health supplies through its logistics hub in Dubai and working with partners to ensure that they can reach the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing. Urgent access through the crossing is essential so that WHO and other humanitarian agencies can act quickly to help save lives. For the majority of trout anglers, 2023 will be remembered for one thing only we have seen perhaps the poorest catch returns in the history of the State. While some of the bigger loughs, such as Mask and Corrib, have produced the goods occasionally, others have been consistently poor. Many who have spent decades afloat in search of the fish for which the wild fisheries of the west earned a worldwide reputation are troubled about the continued downward spiral of water quality and angling reward. Hardworking clubs and determined individuals have invested hugely in trying to maintain a population of fish that is not only viable, but that is also a credit to the country. Still the decline persists. Some consider part of the problem to be an entrenched way of thinking on the part of Inland Fisheries Ireland. We cannot take issue with the visible face of IFI. For the most part, those whose feet are on the ground are in it for the love of the job. Generous men and women, they are free with their knowledge and experience while glad of the privileged outdoor office they enjoy. The difficulty lies with legislation and ideas that are no longer fit for purpose. A catchphrase often bandied about is Manage the catchment (including the rivers and streams that feed the great lakes) and leave the fish alone. There is no question that this must be best practice. If our waterways were running clean and clear as they were even half a century ago, then fish stocks would be much healthier than they currently are. But I challenge you to find a clean stream. Why, for the most part, the tiny brooks and rivulets that constitute trout nurseries are excavated to ridiculous depths or else choked with weed and sediment. We face the unfortunate fact that for the majority of these small streams there is no way back. They are gone. Ruined. Destroyed. Those streams were the life of the lakes. Without them there can be no proper recruitment of juvenile trout. Trout hatcheries might provide a temporary solution, where juvenile fish are reared in a protected environment and used to stock the lakes artificially. There are difficulties even there, in that it becomes man who plays matchmaker rather than nature. The advantage of natural selection is then abandoned. Intensive production of any living creature also brings problems in the form of disease, although modern technology and medication can minimise the risk. All of this should be unnecessary. We could learn something from one of Scotlands premier trout fishing destinations, the Lake of Menteith. By Irish standards, Menteith, at 700 acres, is just a small body of water. By comparison, Lough Carra covers some 4,000 acres, Mask spans 22,000 and Corrib covers a vast 42,000 acres. But here is where it gets interesting. The comparatively diminutive Lake of Menteith attracts in the region of 15,000 anglers per year. One recent report had successful anglers boating up to 25 trout averaging over two pounds in weight in a single day. So what is it that makes such a small lake so popular? It is the quality of the fish within. This was originally a wild brown trout lake, as are the Great Lakes of the west of Ireland. However, various pressures led to a decision being made to stock the lake, not with indigenous brown trout, but with non-native non-fertile rainbow trout for people to catch. There is no doubting the success of this venture. The water is rich and provides plenty of insect and invertebrate food to support a dense population of trout. Extra fish are stocked through the season at a rate of about a thousand a week. A lot of these are captured and taken for the table not long after stocking, but many survive to grow large. The largest rainbow trout recorded from this venue weighed an impressive 21 pounds, while the average weight of fish caught in a recent competition was just shy of three pounds, with competing anglers boating an average of six fish each. Recent competitions on the beleaguered Lough Carra have yielded very little. The introduction of rainbow trout is also a reversible solution. If the decision were ever made to revert to a brown-trout-only fishery, it would be a simple matter to cease the stocking of the infertile rainbow trout. Within two or three years nobody would ever know they had been there at all. Could stocking our large wild trout fisheries with sterile rainbow trout provide a temporary lifeline until the powers that be finally get to work? The waters are rich, the potential enormous. The team at the Achill Experience Aquarium and Visitor Centre are embarking on an exciting fundraising campaign to deliver the fourth phase of development on site. This phase will see the addition of seven new tanks, doubling the aquarium experience, digitising exhibits, introducing sensory experiences and making it a more inclusive experience overall. It is expected that this next phase will double the volume of visitor numbers over the next three years. Recent reports have estimated that the Achill Experience has contributed 9 million to the local economy since its launch in 2016. Terence Dever, CEO of Comhlacht Forbartha Aitiuil Acla, being the organisation behind the Achill Experience has stated: This next phase of development is going to cost in the region of 500,000 and will create at least four additional jobs in the parish of Achill. Since 2016, the Achill Experience Aquarium and Visitor Centre has gone from strength to strength, and while primarily being a tourist attraction, everyone at the centre is proud of the fact that we work so closely with our surrounding community. The team at CFAA have already secured 100,000 from the POBAL Dormant Accounts under the Department of Rural and Community Development towards this new development and are actively fundraising to secure the balance. Potential donors are being sought to support this project and the next phase. The spacious interior of the Visitor Centre where lots of local materials are sold. As part of the Achill/Cleveland 20th anniversary celebrations, Terence Dever and Kenny Deery of CFAA will be in the US next week and will be actively promoting the project and seeking support from the diaspora. The Achill Experience is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. Members of the community who would like to get involved and support the project would be more than welcome to reach out to Terence Dever at 098 43292. It is expected these works will begin in early 2024 and will be complete by April 2024. GARDAI seized nine mobile phones during a search of the home of an Irish celebrity who is accused of engaging in sexual acts with a teenage girl, a court has heard. The 40-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of engaging in sexual acts with a child under the age of 17 at locations in Dublin on dates between August and December 2010. Giving evidence this Thursday, a garda witness told Eilis Brennan SC, prosecuting, that he was present during a search of the man's house on June 7, 2021. He said four Huawei phones and five iPhones were seized by gardai following the search. The man provided the PIN numbers for these nine phones to gardai. The witness agreed with Morgan Shelley BL, defending, that it was helpful that his client supplied the PIN numbers. An expert witness gave evidence that four of the nine phones seized during the search required specialist repairs before they could be examined by a garda technical officer. Of these four phones, data could only be extracted from three devices. The court heard data was extracted from eight of the nine phones seized at the man's house. Mr Shelley told the court that a hard drive, containing 600GB of data that had been extracted from the phones, was disclosed to the defence in September, with additional evidence provided to the defence this Thursday morning. A detective sergeant gave evidence that she became aware of the complainant's allegations against the man in March 2021. She said she was granted a warrant, in June 2021, to search the man's property. Mr Shelley put it to the witness that she didn't inform the judge (during the warrant application) of the nature of his client's work when she applied for a search warrant. The witness said she wouldnt ordinarily outline someones profession when applying for a search warrant and that it didn't have any relevance to what was being investigated. She confirmed that she did not provide information about the man's profession to the judge at the time. The detective sergeant told the court the man was alone in his apartment when she and four other members of An Garda Siochana executed the search warrant. The witness said she informed the man of the nature of the allegation against him and cautioned him. Another garda who was present during the search said the man told gardai that he had some old phones and showed them their locations. He also said the man enquired about the allegation and was informed about the allegations made by the complainant. The witness said the man replied, I know her. The court also heard that gardai took a DNA sample from the man on May 5, 2022, during a period of detention. It is the State's case that the man put his penis in the complainant's mouth on three occasions, once in his workplace and twice in his home. The complainant was 16 at the time, while the man was then 27. The alleged offences occurred on dates between August and December 2010. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that the complainant initially told the man she was 18. In her evidence, she said she had told him her actual age before they engaged in sexual activity. The trial continues. The SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) put together to both fund Trump's social media company has returned over $500 million in investor's money. Trump Media's inability to provide adequate financial disclosures made the investment impossible. Investors actively declined to invest in Trump's social media company. CEO Devin Nunes, who once lost a fight with a fictional cow, is attempting to cast this failure-to-launch as good news for Trump World. Nunes is not very convincing. Yahoo: Digital World raised the $1 billion PIPE last year but failed to complete the merger with TMTG by a September 2022 deadline, as U.S. financial regulators held up the deal over Digital World's disclosures to investors. That gave the PIPE investors the right to cancel their commitments. TMTG CEO Devin Nunes said in a press release that terminating the PIPE was "in the best interest of TMTG's equity holders and completing our merger with DWAC as soon as possible." A TMTG spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday that the PIPE's termination was "a key step toward completing our merger." She did not respond to a question on why terminating the PIPE ahead of the merger was positive for TMTG. CEOs of microblogging websites seem to have a hard time stepping out of the shadow of their bosses. When they do, they frequently sound like idiots. The Cochlear Implants Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 1.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.91% over the forecast period 2023-2030, as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. Market Overview: The Cochlear Implants Market involves the use of surgically implanted devices that provide a sense of sound to individuals with severe or profound hearing loss. These devices bypass damaged hair cells in the inner ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve, enabling patients to perceive sound. Cochlear implants have gained significant popularity in recent years due to their ability to improve hearing and speech perception in individuals with severe hearing loss or complete deafness. Additionally, cochlear implants have proven to be beneficial for children born with hearing impairments, enabling them to develop better speech and language skills. Ask Us to Get Your Sample Copy Of The Report https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/3563 Market Dynamics: The Cochlear Implants Market is driven by technological advancements in implantable devices and increasing prevalence of hearing loss worldwide. Technological advancements such as wireless connectivity, improved speech processing algorithms, and rechargeable batteries have enhanced the overall performance and user experience of cochlear implants. Additionally, the rising geriatric population and the increasing exposure to noise pollution are contributing to the growing prevalence of hearing loss, driving the demand for cochlear implants. Moreover, favorable reimbursement policies and government initiatives to raise awareness about hearing impairments are expected to further fuel market growth. However, the high cost of cochlear implants and limited awareness among patients in developing countries may hinder market growth to some extent. Overall, the cochlear implants market is expected to witness significant growth due to the increasing demand for improved hearing solutions and advancements in implantable devices. Market Driver 1: Increasing prevalence of hearing loss Hearing loss is a common health issue, affecting millions of people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 5% of the global population, or 466 million people, have disabling hearing loss. This number is expected to increase in the coming years due to various factors such as an aging population, exposure to loud noise, and an increase in chronic diseases like diabetes. The increasing prevalence of hearing loss has become a major driver for the cochlear implants market. Cochlear implants are surgically implanted devices that provide a sense of sound to individuals with severe to profound hearing loss. As the number of people with hearing loss continues to rise, the demand for cochlear implants is also expected to increase in order to improve their quality of life. Moreover, advancements in technology have led to the development of more advanced and sophisticated cochlear implants, which offer better hearing outcomes. This has further fueled the demand for cochlear implants among individuals with hearing loss, as they seek to regain their ability to hear and communicate effectively. % @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/buy-now/3563 Market Driver 2: Growing awareness and acceptance of cochlear implants In the past, the perception of hearing loss and the use of cochlear implants was largely negative. However, in recent years, there has been a significant shift in the attitude towards hearing loss and the acceptance of cochlear implants as a viable treatment option. Increased awareness campaigns, advocacy groups, and advancements in media and communication channels have played a crucial role in raising awareness about the benefits of cochlear implants. People with hearing loss are now more informed about the available treatment options, including cochlear implants, and are more likely to consider them as a solution to their hearing loss. Furthermore, the acceptance of cochlear implants by healthcare professionals, educational institutions, and society as a whole has also contributed to the growth of the market. Cochlear implants are now seen as a mainstream treatment option for individuals with severe to profound hearing loss, and are increasingly recommended by healthcare professionals as an effective solution. One of the major restraints for the cochlear implants market is the high cost associated with the devices. Cochlear implants are complex, technologically advanced devices that require surgical implantation and subsequent programming and rehabilitation. The cost of the implant itself, along with the surgical procedure, follow-up care, and rehabilitation, can be a significant financial burden for many individuals and their families. In addition, cochlear implants are often not covered by insurance or healthcare reimbursement policies, making them inaccessible for a large portion of the population. The high cost and lack of insurance coverage create a barrier to access for individuals with hearing loss, limiting the potential market size for cochlear implants. Market Restraint: While cochlear implants have proven to be an effective treatment option for many individuals with severe to profound hearing loss, they do come with certain limitations and risks. For example, not all individuals with hearing loss are suitable candidates for cochlear implants, as the devices rely on intact auditory nerve pathways. Additionally, some individuals may experience limited benefits in terms of sound quality or speech perception after receiving a cochlear implant. Furthermore, cochlear implant surgery carries inherent risks, including infection, damage to the facial nerve, and device failure. These risks, although rare, can deter some individuals from considering cochlear implants as a treatment option. Conclusion The cochlear implants market is driven by the increasing prevalence of hearing loss and the growing awareness and acceptance of cochlear implants as an effective treatment option. However, the high cost of cochlear implants and the limitations and risks associated with the devices act as restraints for the market. Despite these challenges, the cochlear implants market is expected to continue growing as advancements in technology and improvements in accessibility and affordability are made. Table of Contents with Major Points: Executive Summary Introduction Key Findings Recommendations Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Overview Definition of Cochlear Implants Market Market Dynamics Drivers Restraints Opportunities Trends and Developments Key Insights Key Emerging Trends Key Developments Mergers and Acquisition New Product Launches and Collaboration Partnership and Joint Venture Latest Technological Advancements Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis Qualitative Insights Impact of COVID-19 on Global Cochlear Implants Market Supply Chain Challenges Steps taken by Government/Companies to overcome this impact Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak Conclusion Appendix Data Sources Abbreviations Disclaimer TOC Continued! Why Choose Coherent Market Insights? Identified business opportunities Our market research report can be used to analyze potential markets and new products. It can give information about customer needs, preferences, and attitudes. Also, it compare products and services. A clear understanding of your customers A market report gives companys marketing department an in-depth picture about customers needs and wants. This knowledge can be used to improve products, prices, and advertising. Clear data-driven insights Our Market research encompasses a wide range of activities, from determining market size and segment to forecasting demand, and from identifying competitors to monitoring pricing. All of these are quantified and measurable which means that gives you a clear path for building unique decisions based on numbers. Ask For Discount Before Purchasing This Business Report : https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-discount/3563 Renub Research has recently published a report named Global Orthopaedic Implants Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity, and Forecast 2022-2028, providing a detailed industry analysis that consists of market share insights. Furthermore, the report studies competitors and regions and the recent Global Orthopaedic Implants Market growth. Expert Insights: Ask Analyst or Download Full Report with TOC & Figures: https://www.renub.com/orthopaedic-implants-market-p.php Global Orthopaedic Implants Market is anticipated to reach US$ 49.80 Billion by 2022. Orthopedic implants confer with medical devices which can be both inserted into the frame or attached to its surface with the cause of either substituting for absent body structures or supplying reinforcement to organs and tissues. These devices are generally constructed from steel, plastic, or a mix of both materials, with the objective of emulating the natural function of the bone or joint theyre changing. Orthopedic implants locate application in a large spectrum of medical techniques, encompassing joint replacements, spinal surgeries, and the mending of fractures. The increase of the orthopedic implants market share is predicted to be fuelled by using the growing incidence of orthopedic disorders and a surge in the number of surgical approaches. For instance, National Health Service in 2022, about 70,000 knee replacement surgeries are completed yearly. Additionally, the market is poised to amplify due to the developing aged populace, thats related to a better occurrence of arthritic conditions. Furthermore, an uptick in musculoskeletal disorders is predicted to make a contribution to market increase. According to Taylor & Francis in 2021, between 64% to 94% of dentists mentioned experiencing musculoskeletal disorders. This increase in musculoskeletal problems amongst dentists is projected to boost market growth. Furthermore, the orthopedic implants market has witnessed growth due to huge technological advancements and improvements, together with the adoption of robot-assisted surgical equipment, the increasing utilization of orthopedic implants, and the recognition of superior clinical gadgets for surgical procedures. These present day techniques have played a pivotal position in boosting the markets potentialities in the forecast period. Global Orthopaedic Implants Market is expected to expand at a 5.51% CAGR during the 2022-2028. The joint reconstruction phase exerts sizeable affect over the orthopedic implants industry Within the orthopedic implants enterprise, a dominant participant is discovered, frequently in the joint reconstruction segment. This phase specializes in the production and distribution of clinical gadgets like synthetic joints, which serve the cause of repairing or changing damaged or diseased joints which includes the hip, knee, shoulder, and elbow. The heightened demand for joint reconstruction implants may be attributed to the increasing prevalence of age-related joint conditions, consisting of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. The growing older demographic and on-going improvements in implant substances and design in addition bolster the market reliance in this phase, ensuing in advanced patient results. Moreover, the orthopedic implants industry accommodates additional segments like spinal implants, trauma implants, and dental implants, all of which contribute together to the overall increase and dynamics of the market. Application Global Orthopedic Implants Market has been covered from 6 viewpoints Joint Reconstruction Spinal Implants Trauma Implants Dental Implants Orthobiologics Others The Ceramics & Bioactive Glass and Polymers segments are prominently contributing to the growth of the orthopedic implants market The ceramics and bioactive glass segments, at the side of polymers, are pivotal members to the growth of the orthopedic implants industry. These segments specialize in the production and distribution of implant substances, encompassing ceramics, bioactive glass, and various polymers. These materials play a vital role in surgical interventions geared toward repairing and replacing bones, joints, and muscle tissues. Notably, the ceramics and bioactive glass phase is gaining prominence due to its tremendous characteristics, together with biocompatibility, robustness, and durability. Consequently, those materials are substantially applied in orthopedic implants, especially in procedures consisting of hip and knee replacements. The polymers phase is undergoing superb increase, ordinarily attributable to its flexibility and corrosion resistance, rendering it a desired alternative for implant substances. These polymers are generally hired in numerous applications which include spinal implants, joint replacements, and trauma implants. Both the ceramics and bioactive glass segments and the polymers section are actively fuelling the expansion of the orthopedic implants industry. This surge is attributed to advancements in cloth technology and the rising demand for orthopedic implants, particularly pushed via the growing old populace. Request a free sample copy of the report: https://www.renub.com/request-sample-page.php?gturl=orthopaedic-implants-market-p.php Material Global Orthopedic Implants Market has been covered from 5 viewpoints Ceramics & Bioactive Glasses biomaterials Polymers Biomaterials Calcium phosphate cements Metal biomaterials Composites Hospitals and surgical facilities dominate the bulk proportion in the Orthopedic Implants Market Hospitals and surgical facilities are the most important market percentage of orthopedic implants. They perform a substantial extent of orthopedic surgeries and techniques, leading to a heightened demand for orthopedic implants. As the superiority of musculoskeletal issues and accidents continues to rise, the demand for these implants is anticipated to develop, further consolidating the market presence of hospitals and surgery centers. Additionally, the adoption of advanced scientific technology which includes robotic-assisted surgical procedures has driven the demand for orthopedic implants in these healthcare facilities. End Users Global Orthopedic Implants Market has been covered from 3 viewpoints Hospitals & Surgery Centers Orthopedic Clinics Others The orthopedic implants market in North America has skilled enormous growth, pushed by excessive healthcare expenditure North America commands a substantial portion of the worldwide orthopedic implants market. This prominence can be attributed to several factors, such as a strong healthcare infrastructure, big adoption of superior medical devices, and a massive aged population facing musculoskeletal problems. Furthermore, the market in this place advantages from the growing incidence of orthopedic injuries and a growing demand for minimally invasive surgical techniques. Favorable government projects, giant investments of key industry players, and full-size healthcare cost have moreover facilitated the growth of the orthopedic implants market in North America. While North America is a dominant pressure in the market, other areas along with Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa additionally play exquisite roles in contributing to the global orthopedic implants market. Region Global Orthopedic Implants Market has been covered from 4 viewpoints North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of World Key Players Analysis: Leading the global orthopedic implants market are distinguished firms inclusive of Conmed Corporation, Medtronic percent, Stryker Corporation, NuVasive Inc, Smith & Nephew Inc, Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Integra Lifesciences Holdings, and Baxter. These corporations are distinguished by their sizeable market presence and vast range of orthopedic implants and related product. They also are mentioned for their sizable investments in studies and development tasks aimed at improving their product portfolios and taking part with healthcare establishments to address the necessities of each patients and healthcare experts. Additionally, those key players own distribution networks and strategic partnerships that enable them to extend their market reach and maintain their leadership positions within the global orthopedic implants market. Key Players Conmed Corporation Medtronic plc Stryker Corporation NuVasive Inc Smith & Nephew Inc Zimmer Biomet Holdings Integra Lifesciences Holdings Baxter Related Reports Cardiac Holter Monitor Market is projected to reach US$ 713.5 Million in 2030 Cardiac Arrhythmia Monitoring Device Market is projected to grow US$ 9.79 Billion by 2030 Hip Replacement Market will be around US$ 9 Billion by 2028 Hair Transplant Market is expected to reach US$ 53.17 Billion by 2028 About the Company: Renub Research is a Market Research and Information Analysis company with more than 14 years of experience in Research, Survey, and Consulting. Our research helps companies to take business decisions: on strategy, organization, operations, technology, mergers & acquisitions, etc. Till now we have published more than 7000 syndicated reports and worked on more than 500 custom research projects. Currently, we are supplying data to EMIS, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, etc. We support many blue-chip companies by providing them with findings and perspectives across a wide range of markets. Media Contact: Company Name: Renub Research Contact Person: Rajat Gupta, Marketing Manager Phone No: +1-478-202-3244 | +91-120-421-9822 (IND) Address: 225 Kristie Ln, Roswell, GA 30076 Email: info@renub.com Website: www.renub.com by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, October 13, 2023 Saks Off 5th has appointed Kim Miller chief marketing and analytics officer. The luxury off-price company, which was spun off from Saks Fifth Avenue a few years back, says Millers appointment is part of its ongoing investment in data, analytics, personalization and loyalty efforts. The ecommerce company, owned by HBC, created the position in June, with Sara Griffin, then senior vice president of marketing, moving into the role. Griffin left Saks Off 5th last month and is now chief marketing officer at the Shade Store. Miller previously served as chief executive officer of Boutique Brands, which invests in online boutique retailers focused on womens apparel. She was also CMO of Rakuten, a performance marketing and loyalty platform, and senior vice president of ecommerce for Charlotte Russe. advertisement advertisement While many retailers find themselves on wobbly footing as consumers scale back apparel spending, the off-price sector has been relatively bright, posting softer declines than other retailers. In Nordstroms most recent quarterly results, for example, sales fell 10.1% at the full-price Nordstrom banner but just 4.1% at Nordstrom Rack. Macys said its Backstage off-price locations outperformed Macys stores, which posted a 9.2% decline in sales. Nordstrom is adding 20 more Rack stores this year, while Macy's plans to add 10 backstage locations. Companies that are predominantly discounters are thriving. TJX, which owns TJMaxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, recently said its second-quarter sales and profits topped expectations, with sales climbing 8% to $12.8 billion and net income advancing 23% to $1 billion. Placer.ai reports that while visits to regular-price clothing stores declined in the first half of the year, below 2022 levels and retail as a whole, visits to the off-price segment skyrocketed. In June, off-price visits jumped 13.3% year over year. Rising costs have led many consumers to trade down or seek out affordable luxuries, while other consumers may be attracted to the 'treasure hunt' aspect of off-price shopping, the location analytics company says in a recent white paper. The slow return to office and the normalization of hybrid work may also be driving visits, as consumers refresh their office wardrobe with off-price pieces that will only be worn a couple of days a week." by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, October 13, 2023 New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday questioned the major social media platforms about their efforts to identify and remove posts linked to violence and terrorism. In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks in Israel, there have been reports of growing antisemitism and Islamophobia, including threats of violence against Jewish and Muslim people and institutions, she said in letters to Google, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Reddit, and Rumble. She added that her office is deeply concerned over reports that terrorist groups and sympathizers are disseminating calls for violence and other materials that may incite violence against Jewish and Muslim people and institutions. James wrote that her office wants to better understand how the companies are ensuring their platforms are not being used to incite violence and further terrorist activities, and asked recipients to explain how they are identifying, removing, and blocking the re-uploading of such content. advertisement advertisement The letter comes nearly one week after Hamas attacked Israel. During that time, social media platforms have been flooded with disinformation and propaganda about the war, including genuine and fake video footage depicting violent attacks. Much of that material appears to violate tech platforms' content moderation policies, but has nevertheless spread virally through X -- which recently ousted many employees who were devoted to policing posts -- and other services. Meta said Friday that it has created a special operations center to respond to war-related posts. Since the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel on Saturday, and Israels response in Gaza, expert teams from across our company have been working around the clock to monitor our platforms, the company stated. Meta also said Hamas is banned from the platform because it's designated by the government as a terrorist organization. We remove praise and substantive support of them when we become aware of it, while continuing to allow social and political discourse -- such as news reporting, human rights related issues, or academic, neutral and condemning discussion, the company said. James is asking the tech platforms to answer a host of questions related to their content policies -- including how the companies are addressing posts calling for violence against Jewish and Muslim people. She is requesting answers by October 20. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, October 13, 2023 A federal judge on Thursday said he will approve Google's $23 million settlement of a 13-year-old class-action lawsuit alleging that the company's search engine leaked consumers' personal information by transmitting their search queries to publishers. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, wrote in a docket entry that the deal was "fair, accurate and reasonable. The settlement resolves a battle dating to 2010, when search users sued Google for allegedly disclosing their queries to outside publishers. The users alleged that those queries sometimes included names and other identifying information. (Google no longer transmits search queries when people click on links in the search results.) The settlement agreement, announced in January, allows an estimated 200 million U.S. web users who conducted Google searches between October 25, 2006 and September 30, 2013 to put in a claim for a portion of the settlement fund. As of August, more than 2.5 million people made claims. They are expected to receive around $7 each, according to court papers. advertisement advertisement Google had argued earlier in the proceedings that the complaint should be dismissed on the grounds that the allegations, even if proven true, wouldn't show that the plaintiffs had been injured by the data leakage. Davila ruled in 2020 that the users could proceed with several claims, including that Google violated the federal wiretap law and that it broke its privacy promises. Google has denied any wrongdoing. Lawyers for Google and the users reached a tentative settlement in 2021, but continued to negotiate over the details through most of last year, according to court records. by Colin Kirkland , October 13, 2023 In response to the war between Hamas and Israel, Pavel Durov, the CEO of encrypted social messaging platform Telegram, has posted a defense of how his app is handling controversial content. Durov has announced that Telegram wont be taking down sensitive war-related coverage, citing the complexities of its effects on users lives and the needful spread of information. Every day, Telegram's moderators and AI tools remove millions of obviously harmful content from our public platform. However, tackling war-related coverage is seldom obvious, Durov wrote, leaving out what Telegram considers obviously harmful separate from war-related coverage. Earlier this week, Hamas used Telegram to warn civilians in Ashkelon to leave the area ahead of their missile strikes, Durov continued. Would shutting down their channel help save lives or would it endanger more lives? advertisement advertisement Durovs statement comes at a time when leading social platforms are being investigated by regulators over their handling of graphic content and misinformation circulating about the ongoing war. The European Union has issued recent warnings to X, Meta, and TikTok on the subject, with Thierry Breton, the blocs internal market commissioner, sending and posting letters to both X-owner Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about their handling of sensitive war-related content. After warning X, the EU sent Musk a formal request for additional information under the Digital Services Act about the spreading of illegal content and disinformation, specifically terrorist and violent content and hate speech. A day after the fighting in Israel began, Musk posted on his app that his followers should trust X more than mainstream media, recommending two accounts that have been flagged for spreading false news. Musk deleted the post after it was seen by millions. In his post, Durov attempted to set Telegram apart from these other social-media platforms. Unlike other apps that algorithmically promote shocking content to unsuspecting people, on Telegram, users receive only the content to which they specifically subscribed, he wrote. As such, it's unlikely that Telegram channels can be used to significantly amplify propaganda. Instead, they serve as a unique source of first-hand information for researchers, journalists, and fact-checkers. But Telegram has received widespread criticism for its hands-off approach to content moderation, with The New York Times writing this week that the app does virtually no content moderation. As Hamas attacks continued in the initial days of their war on Israel, those affiliated with the terrorist group posted graphic and unedited videos to Telegram. The platform even hosts a Hamas channel that posts grisly footage to over 100,000 subscribers, some of which has been reposted to X. While it would be easy for us to destroy this source of information, doing so risks exacerbating an already dire situation, Durov wrote in his statement, while noting that in the first days after the Hamas attack, hundreds of thousands of new users from Israel and Palestinian Territories signed up for Telegram. Advertisement Alarming HIV and TB Rates in Meghalaya Universal Health Coverage Experience from Meghalaya - (https://abdm.gov.in:8081/uploads/Meghalaya_Universal_Health_Coverage_NHA_Convening_59532b1113.pptx) Several government agencies and other partners united to organized this camp, where same day test and treat for a range of health conditions became a reality for almost a thousand people, along with health awareness , counselling, and continuum of care.This is the first of its kind health camp in Meghalaya where quick and state-of-the-art rapid molecular diagnosis became a reality in a field setting for various diseases using RT-PCR technology - as well as - linkage to treatment and care was facilitated under the relevant government-run programmes on the same day."It is for the first time in India that for a free comprehensive health camp, all the vertical healthcare programmes have converged together on a single point of access. Vaccination for children and adults, medical consultation, routine screening and highly-specific diagnostic tests for multiple diseases, linkage to treatment and care, medicines, counselling, and a wide range of other healthcare facilities are being provided together - and closer to the underserved communities," added Shiva Sriram, Vice President of Molbio Diagnostics (makers of WHO recommended Truenat).In addition to Truenat - a point-of-care, decentralized and multi-disease molecular testing platform, this health camp brought more diagnostic technologies closer to the people, such as, MobMon - a point-of-care, battery operated and handheld ECG machine of Kallows; an ultraportable, point-of-care and battery operated x-ray machine of Prognosys; Thermolytix - a point-of-care breast cancer screening tool of Niramai; among others.People who came to this camp were triaged at the registration counter itself by a team of doctors and nurses, followed by a second round of triaging. Free medical consultation was provided by a range of doctors of different specialities (such as, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, medicine, ENT, among others), along with screening and diagnostics for a range of health conditions, such as, Tuberculosis (TB) chikungunya , sexually transmitted diseases and HIV influenza , other respiratory diseases, scrub typhus, among others.To ensure continuum of care, all those diagnosed for a range of conditions listed above were linked to respective government programmes under the National Health Mission (NHM), such as those for TB, HIV, maternal and child health, among others. Medicines were provided on the site as well for some of the diseases listed above, along with counselling for nutrition, adolescent health, STDs, TB, HIV, malaria, cancers (breast and cervical), and other related issues.Meghalaya government's State AIDS Control Society had brought a special van to the camp, which is referred to as "Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) van". This van is equipped with dual testing kits for screening of HIV and Syphilis, as well as provides information about HIV prevention, counsels people to undergo testing, and links the positive people with treatment, care, and support system."It is for the first time that multiple sectors are coming together to organize a free comprehensive healthcare camp. From government agencies, research institutions, university, private sector, non-governmental organisations, financial institutions, among others, have joined hands to make multi-stakeholder collaboration a reality. This is extremely essential and should be adapted and replicated across the country to reach as many people as possible, and take healthcare closer to the patients," added Shiva Sriram.This versatile health camp demonstrates the importance of grounds-up synergistic inter-agency collaboration in bringing integrated healthcare closer to the most in need communities in Meghalaya. The partners included: North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Department of Health and Family Welfare, District Medical and Health Office, West Jaintia Hills district administration through the Thadlaskein Block Officer and Meghalaya State Rural Livelihoods Society -MSRLS , Community groups, International NGOs ( Rotary Club of Jowai, Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics- JHPIEGO, North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society - NESFAS), local NGOs (Grassroots - Shillong, Voluntary Health Association of Meghalaya - VHAM) and Molbio Diagnostics.Public education and awareness talk on various health issues including Intensified Mission Indhradhanush (IMI 5.0) children's immunization initiative, TB, HIV, and other issues were an ongoing feature all day long."The aim of this health camp was to promote early screening, detection and linkage to treatment and care for a range of diseases; and raise people's health literacy thereby improving health of the community. It was also to develop long term health seeking behavior of the population. Investing in free health camps helps accomplish an optimal level of healthcare with individuals, communities and all the institutions working together in coordination," said Dr. Darivianca E Laloo, General Manager of Molbio Diagnostics.According to Sankalp 2022 report of Indian Ministry of Health's National AIDS Control Organisation, Meghalaya state has double the HIV incidence (0.42%) in general population than that of the country (0.21%). Compared to 2010 rates, 2021 data shows that the number of annual new HIV infections has declined overall in India and so has AIDS-related mortality, but in Meghalaya, both have increased. Meghalaya has the 3rd highest HIV prevalence (0.58%) among pregnant women as well as the highest Syphilis seropositivity (0.77%) among pregnant women (national average is 0.10% syphilis seropositivity among pregnant women).4989 new TB patients were notified in Meghalaya in 2022 out of which 5% were of drug-resistant TB, and 71.4% had TB of the lungs. Over 92% of those diagnosed with TB were initiated on anti-TB treatment. Meghalaya had 84.8% TB treatment success rate in 2021.As per the India TB Report 2023, there are 55 Truenat molecular test machines deployed for TB testing in Meghalaya by 2022, which performed 29,086 tests in the same year. Of those who got tested for TB on Truenat, 1829 people were detected with TB disease, and 124 people had rifampicin-resistant TB. In 2022, 244 people were tested for extrapulmonary TB in Meghalaya on one of these Truenat molecular test machines, out of which 12 people were found to have active disease.Source: CNS The much-awaited teaser for Vicky Kaushals Sam Bahadur is finally out and It seems he has once more left a strong impression on the audience, as they are showing great appreciation for his portrayal of India's iconic Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in the teaser, depicting him perfectly. RSVP The teaser starts with Indian troops marching and a voiceover by Vicky that states, Ek soilder ki jaan se jyada keemti hoti hai uski izzat, uski vardi, aur ek soldier apni vardi ki izzat ke liye apni jaan bhi de sakta hai. This line proved Vickys calibre and why he was chosen for the role. The whole trailer is filled with moments of goosebumps, where we see glimpses of war, the extraordinary valour of our soldiers and Fatima Sana Shaikh as Indira Gandhi. RSVP You can watch the teaser here. Fans loved the teaser and said that they could not wait to see another legendary performance by Vicky Kaushal after Uri. One user reacted, Vickkkkyyyyyyyyyyy man you are the best. Rooting for this one!. Vickkkkyyyyyyyyyyy man you are the best. Rooting for this one! V thinking (@thinking_v) October 13, 2023 Another user reacted, He's just too good in such roles! Can't wait to watch Vicki on the big screen again this year. He's just too good in such roles ! Can't wait to watch Vicki on the big screen again this year !!#VickyKaushal #Sam AVNI (@AAR0507) October 13, 2023 One user commented, #VickyKaushal and Uniform lethal combination. #VickyKaushal and Uniform lethal combination SENSEX (@BETASHAREMARKET) October 13, 2023 Another commented, Meghna Gulzar never made a bad film. her films are solid. this one looks to be a winner. look wise vicky has nailed it. hopefully film will do justice to one of the most honorable man of india. Meghna Gulzar never made a bad film. her films are solid. this one looks to be a winner. look wise vicky has nailed it. hopefully film will do justice to one of the most honorable man of india. Avi Chan (@BNBavi) October 13, 2023 One user said, Very, very excited and hopeful! There's anyway no bad Vicky Kaushal performance. I really hope the movie does justice to the character and the story. Very, very excited and hopeful! There's anyway no bad Vicky kaushal performance. Really, hope the movie does justice to the character and the story. Aishwarya J (@_aishwarya__j) October 13, 2023 Another user said, For a second I literally forgot its Vicky Kaushal, even his voice seemed dubbed by real Sam Manekshaw that intensity Vicky carries. For a second I literally forgot its Vicky Kaushal, even his voice seemed dubbed by real Sam Manekshaw that intensity Vicky carries Gabru Singh (@Wazirebadshah) October 13, 2023 Undoubtedly! #VickyKaushal is bringing power and authenticity to the role of #SamBahadur! Can't wait to witness his stellar performance! pic.twitter.com/pKo5Op6oq3 Pagal Director (@pagaldirector) October 13, 2023 Undoubtedly! #VickyKaushal is bringing power and authenticity to the role of #SamBahadur! Can't wait to witness his stellar performance! pic.twitter.com/pKo5Op6oq3 Pagal Director (@pagaldirector) October 13, 2023 About Sam Bahadur Sam Bahadur is directed by Meghna Gulzaar, who has previously directed Raazi and Chhapaak. The film stars Vicky Kaushal, Sanya Malhotra, and Fatima Sana Shaikh in the lead roles and will release on December 1, clashing with Ranbirs Animal. Ramsey Khalid Ismael, an American streamer who goes by the name Johnny Somali, has become infamous for traveling to Japan, then threatening to kill Japanese people with atomic bombs, and making racist remarks. On his latest trip to Japan, police detained him for 28 days on suspicion of trespassing on a hotel construction site in Osaka, Japan (see video below). Today, Ismael and his partner were arrested once again for causing a disturbance in a Tokyo restaurant. From NHK: The 23-year-old suspect is believed to have been filming his action and streaming the footage online. The intruder was masked. But police identified him from the online footage as well as images captured by security cameras. Officers arrested him on Thursday in the city's Dotonbori area. The suspect is known to have repeatedly made mocking remarks about the atomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He also engaged in other offensive acts across Japan and broadcast these actions online. In the video below, you can see a large group of Japanese police officers arresting Ismael. He doesn't seem to take them seriously and shouts, "Call the embassy, Free Somalia, Joe Biden." According to YouTuber Atozi, Ismael could spend up to three years in prison on the trespassing charge alone. "Trespassing on another person's property," he said, "is punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 100,000. Trespassing includes illegally entering a residence, building, or ship." According to Asian Dawn: Japanese government will hold Johnny Somali for 28 days. In those 28 days, they will use sleep deprivation tactics and hours upon hours of interrogation to break his mind and force him to confess his crime (trespassing). Once he confesses (Japanese have a 99% conviction rate) they will sentence Johnny to 3 years in prison. Then, they will deport him back to America once he finishes his sentence. There is no early or good behavior parole in Japan. As Atozi says, "This man cooked himself." Like a frenzied game of Whac-A-Mole, as soon as House Speaker nominee Steve Scalise was slammed down, dropping out of the race yesterday afternoon, Jim Jordan popped up again, re-entering the race on Friday. Which in a normal world would not make any sense, given that Jordan has even less support than Scalise, as was shown in a 99113 vote earlier this week. But this is Gym Jordan proven expert in denialism we're talking about. And it's also MAGAland, where nothing has to add up. From NBC News: One of the challenges of reporting on China, for the media and intelligence agencies alike, is sifting through the constant river of mis- and disinformation stimulated by the habitual secrecy of the Chinese Communist Party and exacerbated by its most rabid enemies. The problem goes back to Maos time, when the country was basically closed to all but friendly visitors. Despite its 1972 rapprochement with the United States, the practice has continued under successive leaders, more recently by China-sponsored foreign vloggers who strive to present a positive view of the Peoples Republic, telling Chinas story well. Likewise, opponents of China never waste an opportunity to exaggerate Beijings problems, with some promoting conspiracy theories, a situation aggravated by the current leaderships push to hinder or make illegal the gathering of even the most mundane of business and academic data. Now comes a series of reports, repeating articles last week from the UK tabloid the Daily Mail, saying a Chinese submarine crashed in the Yellow Sea on Aug. 21 with the loss of all 55 aboard. Citing a secret UK report, it identified the vessel as a type 093, dubbed by NATO a Shang class submarine. Military authorities privately say its fake news. The Daily Mail, citing intelligence reports, did not name an exact location for the incident and noted that there was no independent confirmation available, but it said that 22 officers, 7 officer cadets, 9 petty officers, and 17 sailors died from an onboard accident, including the captain, who it identified as Col. Xue Yongpeng. It said the sub ran into an anchor-and-chain style trap used by the Chinese Navy to ensnare U.S. and its allies submersibles. Over a six hour period, the subs battery and air treatment systems failed, it said, causing the asphyxiation of all aboard. A second report from the tabloid on October 6 cited an unnamed dissident who claimed to have an update from the Central Military Commission. He claimed that the news of the subs fate had leaked to the British via an Apple Watch bugged by Britains MI6, and that this had led to an investigation by the Chinese side. Close observers cast doubt on the reports, largely ignored by mainstream U.S. media. For starters, the photos posted by the Daily Mail and Newsweek did not match their description of the vessel, according to Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the American Federation of Scientists. Rumors continue, Kristensen wrote on X (formerly Twitter) this time based on alleged UK intelligence reportthat China lost a nuclear-powered attack submarine in the South China Sea. Note that it involves (if it happened) [it was] a 093 attack sub, not the 094 missile sub seen in some of the pics. Referring to the anchor and chain trap, the military affairs author Iain Ballantyne commented that this story, including [the] cause of the submarine crew's alleged demise, [has been] around for a while and surfaces every now & then. Who knows? he added. The particulars explained here do not quite add up. Ballantyne cracked that the supposed trap [was] very 1900s, but in Oct. 2021, the USS Connecticut, a fast attack sub, may have blundered into one of the devices in the South China Sea. The Navy originally said it crashed on a sea mount. It later changed its story to describe it as an object. Another wave of critical remarks rolled in on social media, often from commentators whose real names were obscured behind aliases. The captain of the Chinese PLA Navy submarine '093-417' is understood to be among the deceased, as were 21 other officers," wrote someone whose Twitter handle, @benreuter_IMINT, suggested a familiarity with photographic intelligence. Never heard of 417, he went on. Confusing: 55 death(s)submarine sunk. Usually they have more than 55 crew. Yes, there are many odd and missing pieces in this rumor, Kristensen responded. The water was too shallow for the sub to actually sink, some said (even though the site of the catastrophe was never really confirmed, and submarines do traverse these waters). They also mocked the idea that a nuclear submarine would have a battery system, even though they do. Former New York Times investigative reporter Christopher Drew, coauthor of the monumental Blind Mans Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, told SpyTalk, It does seem improbable. You could have a problem like this with oxygen on a diesel sub, but it shouldn't be an issue on a nuclear sub. But as we saw with the Kursk and other Russian subs, new and old, crazy things can happen. News of the alleged loss flooded the anti-China Indian media and, of course, sites controlled by the anti-communist Chinese Falun Gong movement. Origin Story Others were quick to claim they had the story first. On Aug. 21, an anonymous Chinese anti-communist vlogger using the pseudonym Lu De posted the first video about the alleged incident, claiming that six hours ago, a type 09III nuclear-powered attack submarine of the CCP had an accident while performing a mission in the Taiwan Strait and that all submarine officers died. The host went on to describe publicly available specifications of the Shang-class boat, which he said was upgraded with foreign technology. On X/Twitter, Lu De and another Chinese anti-communist poster, Dr. Li-Meng Yan, an independent virologist who has hammered the Wuhan Labs alleged connections to the spread of Covid-19, claimed that the Daily Mail had verified our intelligence about the initial incident and the Apple watch, maintaining that it had been given to the Chinese officer by a paramour in England. They also changed the location of the crash from the Taiwan Strait, in their initial reporting in August, to the Yellow Sea. Lu De is reportedly connected to erstwhile Chinese billionaire and fugitive Guo Wengui (aka Miles Guo, Miles Kwok), a self-styled anti-Beijing whistleblower who is a close associate of rightwing conspiracies peddler and Donald Trump acolyte Steve Bannon. In 2017, China posted an Interpol notice for Guos detention on corruption allegations. The U.S. mainstream media generally ignored the submarine incident. Newsweek published a cautious story on Oct. 6 quoting Sam Tangredi, director of the U.S. Naval War College's Institute for Future Warfare Studies, as saying, "I don't know if the incident occurred. The Chinese Communist Party and People's Liberation Army Navy are not willing to admit mistakes." He noted also that Taiwan authorities have stated that they have no evidence that the incident did occur, and they would not have an incentive to hide it." Other analysts agreed. "This Daily Mail article is not credible," Drew Thompson, a former Defense Department official, told Newsweek. Beijing has denied the reports. Meanwhile, the Taiwan outlet Up Media took the subject in a slightly different direction, alleging that the accident was caused by an exploding torpedo. An Asia-based analyst who spoke to SpyTalk on condition of anonymity pointed out that the stories in Up Media were written by a correspondent previously based in Beijing with many contacts there, implying that the details may be mixed up and partly unreliable, but that there might actually have been a serious PRC naval accident of some sort south of Dalian. The Chinese-language Liuyuan Network news site also picked up this story on Sept. 10. An anonymous blogger asserted that the sub in question was based in Qingdao, on the Yellow Sea coast. It claimed that there was an explosionnot of a torpedo, but of a YJ-18 cruise missile. Liuyuans affiliation or backers could not be learned. It lists a Sugarland, Texas-based mobile phone number that does not answer. Meanwhile a Vietnamese journalist, Duan Dang, published some hazy photos of the area south of Dalian that he said came from the Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration and showed that the PLA Navy had created an exclusion zone there for what looked liketo hima rescue attempt. SpyTalk could confirm neither the photos nor the exclusion zone. Clicking on the alleged URLs for the Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration returned the message: ERROR: ACCESS DENIED. Nobody else reported evidence of Chinese ships rushing to the rescue. If it suffered a casualty as severe as that reported, it would likely generate a rapid response from a number of other Chinese naval vessels, both for security and search and rescue support, said a retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer who spoke to SpyTalk on condition of anonymity. The departure and other activities of those types of vessels would likely be observable by classified and open source intelligence. Thats not happened. Large nuclear submarines generally dont just disappear without multiple indicators, and its reported position would be reachable for rescue and salvage operations, especially in the waters of the Yellow Sea where depths are typically only 10-40 meters, this person added. There would be a number of Chinese naval ships responding to such an incident, and that much naval presence would be detectable, both in their absence from home ports, and their presence in the area of the reported accident. The retired officer also pointed out that open source providers have changed the calculus of keeping secrets in todays surveillance landscape. The availability of open source satellite imagery intelligence by providers like Maxar Technologies and other source reporting about increased activity in the area would be expectedas has been demonstrated throughout the Ukraine conflict. Indeed, it took only a week for ABC News and CNN, using imagery provided by Planet.com and Maxar, to show photos of the Russian ships leaving Sevastopol after attacks by Ukraine. With the media attention generated by the alleged Chinese sub incident, commercial satellite photos of a rescue effort should have surfaced by now. The weather in nearby coastal Weihai and Dalian during August and September was a mix of clear and cloudy days, which would have allowed such overhead observation. Missing Persons Theres been no sign of the alleged commander of the stricken sub, Col. Xue Yongpeng, who was lavishly profiled in the Chinese press in late 2021. That, too, is odd. In 2003, when the entire crew of 70 in an older underwater craft died off the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula in northeast China, CCTV 4 (Chinese Central Television) covered the story and featured Chinese leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao giving condolences to relatives of the dead, promising to modernize the PLA Navy. Analysts will be watching closely to see if the purported investigations of Chinas North Sea Fleet commander Wang Dazhong and other unnamed officers in People's Liberation Army Navy logistics materializeor whether they merely disappear from public view, a common occurrence under Xi Jinping. A report from RFA on Oct.9 added that a Taiwan official believes that Admiral Wang Dazhong was sacked over the alleged incident. Defense Minister and General Li Shangfu has not been seen for six weeks, which is to say, eight days after the alleged submarine incident. A combat veteran, Liu Zhenli, who was involved with border fights with Vietnamese troops in 1986, has emerged as his replacement, according to a Reuters report Thursday. There is much less tolerance for bad news now, compared to the period before Xi Jinpings rise, a Western former senior intelligence official told SpyTalk. Whether this PLA Navy submarine was lostor ever existedor another sub crashed elsewhere, the rumor mill highlights problems that continue to plague the Chinese military, including corruption issues that have resulted in the purge of senior officers in the PLA Rocket Force, and may extend to other commands. "If the story proves to be true, the former official added, it will, combined with what has been happening in the Strategic Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force, simply add to the perception that PLA reform has a long way to go amid persistent signs of high-level corruption. And it is highly embarrassing for Xi that his hand-picked proteges are the ones who have let him down." Most other sources consulted by SpyTalk on the 093 submarine reports have opted not to comment, even off the record, in part because reporting incidents involving Chinas military have the potential to further disrupt relations between China, the U.S. and its allies, and partly because critical intelligence sources and methods may have been used to check the veracity of the story. The U.S. Navy declined to comment on the allegednow evidently spuriousstories. As a matter of policy, we dont discuss intelligence assessments, a spokesperson said. This article by Matt Brazil first appeared on Spytalk.co JERUSALEM Israels military told some 1 million Palestinians on Friday to evacuate northern Gaza and head to the southern part of the besieged territory, an unprecedented order applying to almost half the population ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group. The U.N. warned that so many people fleeing en masse with just a 24-hour deadline would be calamitous. Hamas, which staged a shocking and brutal attack on Israel nearly a week ago and has fired thousands of rockets since, dismissed it as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes. The evacuation order, which includes Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, sparked widespread panic among civilians and aid workers already running from Israeli airstrikes and contending with a total siege and a territory-wide blackout. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youll make it, if youre going to live, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, as she broke into heaving sobs. The war has already claimed over 2,800 lives on both sides and sent tensions soaring across the region. Israel has traded fire in recent days with Lebanons Hezbollah militant group, sparking fears of an ever wider conflict, though that frontier is currently calm. Weekly Muslim prayers brought protests across the Middle East, and tensions ran high in Jerusalem's Old City. The Islamic endowment that manages a flashpoint holy site in the city, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, said Israeli authorities barred all Palestinian men under the age of 50 from entering. Israel has bombarded Gaza round-the-clock since a weekend attack in which Hamas fighters stormed into the countrys south and massacred hundreds, including children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Militants also snatched some 150 people and dragged them into Gaza. Hamas said Israels airstrikes killed 13 of the hostages in the past day. It said the dead included foreigners but did not give their nationalities. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied that, telling Al-Jazeera Arabic that we have our own information and do not believe the lies of Hamas. Israel said Thursday it would allow no supplies into Gaza until Hamas frees the hostages. The military urged civilians in Gazas north to move south an order that the U.N. said affects 1.1 million people. If carried out, that would mean the territorys entire population cramming into roughly the southern half of the strip, which is only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, even as Israeli strikes continued Friday to hammer neighborhoods across southern Gaza. Israel said it needed to target Hamas military infrastructure, much of which is buried deep underground. Another spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, said the military would take extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians and that residents would be allowed to return when the war is over. Hamas militants operate in civilian areas, where Israel has long accused them of using Palestinians as human shields. A mass evacuation of civilians, if carried out, would leave their fighters exposed as never before. The camouflage of the terrorists is the civil population, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Therefore, we need to separate them. So those who want to save their life, please go south. But U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it would be impossible to stage such an evacuation without devastating humanitarian consequences. He called on Israel to rescind any such orders, saying they could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Hamas, meanwhile, called on Palestinians to stay in their homes, saying Israel is trying to create confusion among citizens and harm the cohesion of our internal front. It urged Palestinians to ignore what it said was psychological warfare. Gazas Health Ministry said it was not possible to evacuate the many wounded from hospitals already struggling with high numbers of dead and injured and that hospital staff would not heed the warning. We cannot evacuate hospitals and leave the wounded and sick to die, spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, also said it would not evacuate its schools, where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma. Pressed by reporters on whether the army would protect hospitals, U.N. shelters and other civilian locations, Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, warned that its a war zone. He added: If Hamas prevents residents from evacuating, the responsibility lies with them. Clive Baldwin a senior legal adviser at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said ordering a million people in Gaza to evacuate, when theres no safe place to go, is not an effective warning." The roads are rubble, fuel is scarce, and the main hospital is in the evacuation zone, he said. "World leaders should speak up now before it is too late. The evacuation order was taken as a further signal of an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though no such decision has been announced. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. His government is under intense public pressure to topple the group rather than merely bottle it up in Gaza as it has for years. A visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, along with shipments of weapons, offered a powerful green light for Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation. Defense Secretary Austin, who met with Israeli leaders Friday, reiterated the United States ironclad support for Israel, saying military assistance would flow in at the speed of war. Still, a ground offensive in densely populated and impoverished Gaza would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Farsakh, of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said there was no way so many people could be safely moved especially those with ailments. What will happen to our patients? she asked. We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals. Beyond the immediate fear and logistical difficulties, the order has deep resonance in Gaza, where more than half of the Palestinians are the descendants of refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, when hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from what is now Israel. That exodus is deeply seared into their collective memory. Already, at least 423,000 people nearly one in five Gazans have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the U.N. said Thursday. Neighboring Egypt has meanwhile taken unprecedented measures to reinforce its border with Gaza and prevent any breaches, a senior Egyptian security official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. Egypt, which made peace with Israel decades ago and has long served as a regional mediator, is staunchly opposed to resettling Palestinians on its territory, both because of the costs involved and because it would undermine their quest for an independent state. The Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt, the only one not controlled by Israel, has been closed because of airstrikes. Hamas unprecedented assault last Saturday, and days of heavy rocket fire since, have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. ___ Shurafa reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip and Lederer from Chicago. Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss in Jerusalem, Samya Kullab in Baghdad, Samy Magdy in Cairo, and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report. Nearly a month after an F-35B Lightning II jet crashed in eastern South Carolina, the military has finished recovering the aircraft and cleaning up the area, according to officials. On Sept. 17, a pilot ejected from the jet after what he described as an "aircraft failure" in a 911 call to emergency authorities. The pilot descended roughly 2,000 feet after ejecting from the nearly $100 million aircraft, landing in a local resident's backyard, according to the call. The ejection was followed by a daylong search for the aircraft, prompting Joint Base Charleston to ask the public for help locating the jet. The crash also prompted a two-day aviation safety stand-down from the top Marine Corps officer, Gen. Eric Smith. Read Next: USS Lake Erie Commander Fired Due to Performance Issues, Navy Says Now, after weeks of cleanup in the warm early fall South Carolina weather, officials said that "recovery and environmental remediation operations" have been successfully concluded. "It is purposeful, sometimes tedious work," Sarah Murtagh, a Navy on-scene coordinator, said in a press release from the Navy Region Southeast on Wednesday. "I hope that the thorough job of removing contaminants we have done here underscores the Navy and Marine Corps commitment to ensuring the safety and environmental integrity of this beautiful area." The wreckage was discovered in Indiantown, South Carolina, where officials said they discovered a "debris field" more than 24 hours after the jet was initially reported missing. What was left of the aircraft was transported to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, though a spokesperson for the 2nd Marine Aviation Wing, to which the jet belonged to, declined to give an update on the status of the jet Friday, as an investigation is ongoing. The cleanup team, which included sailors and Marines, focused on environmental cleanup and "remediation of the land" in the wake of the crash. The Navy intends for the area to be clear of contaminants and viable for growth. "Soil sampling confirms the effectiveness of our cleanup efforts," Murtagh said. "While the natural vegetation may take some time to regrow, we mitigate the impacts by helping the land recover as quickly as feasible." The cleanup team removed damaged or affected crops, underbrush and trees, according to the press release. Representatives from the Navy will continue meeting with local residents to "discuss any emerging needs or concerns," officials said. "The patience and understanding of the local residents has played a crucial role in our success," Murtagh said. "On behalf of the entire team here, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the wonderful people of Williamsburg County." The Navy Region Southeast On-Scene Coordinator program is based out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. They started working to clear the field on Sept. 19. The F-35 belonged to Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 of Marine Aircraft Group 31, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. MAG-31, as the group is known, is based out of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, where the wreckage was transported to. After the jet went missing, open-source flight radar showed a state law enforcement helicopter, Civil Air Patrol Cessnas and a Navy Beechcraft UC-12M Huron scouring the area near Indiantown, two hours north of Joint Base Charleston. -- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on X @df_lawrence. Related: After Daylong Search, Likely F-35 Debris Found After Jet Went Missing in South Carolina SEOUL, South Korea North Korea lashed out Friday at the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in South Korea, calling it a provocation and again raising the specter of using nuclear weapons to defend itself. Emboldened by its advancing nuclear arsenal, North Korea has increasingly issued threats to use such weapons preemptively. But the North is still outgunned by U.S. and South Korean forces, and experts say it is unlikely to use its nukes first, though it will continue to upgrade those arms without returning to diplomacy for the time being. The Norths latest nuclear threat came a day after the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived at South Koreas southeastern port of Busan, following U.S.-South Korean-Japanese naval exercise in international waters earlier this week. South Korean defense officials said the carrier is to be docked at Busan for five days as part of an agreement to increase the temporary deployments of powerful U.S. military assets in response to the Norths growing nuclear program. On Friday, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency called the aircraft carriers arrival an undisguised military provocation" that proves a U.S. plan to attack North Korea is being realized. It threatened to respond in line with its escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes the preemptive use of nuclear weapons. The (North Korean) doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons already opened to public allows the execution of necessary action procedures in case a nuclear attack is launched against it or it is judged that the use of nuclear weapons against it is imminent, the KCNA dispatch said. North Koreas "most powerful and rapid first strike will be given to the extended deterrence means, used by the U.S. to hallucinate its followers, and the bases of evil in the Korean peninsula and its vicinity, KCNA added. North Korea has argued it was forced to develop nuclear weapons to cope with what it calls the U.S. and South Korean plots to invade. It has often responded furiously to the deployment of U.S. strategic assets such as aircraft carriers, long-range bombers and nuclear-powered submarines, as well as U.S. joint training exercises with South Korean forces. Many experts say North Korea heightens tensions with its rivals to provide a pretext for expanding its nuclear arsenal and then uses the arms as leverage to wrest greater outside concessions. Since last year, North Korea has conducted more than 100 missile tests in the name of responding to the expanded U.S.-South Korean military drills. Washington and Seoul say their drills are defensive in nature. Last year, North Korea adopted a law that stipulates a broad range of situations in which it can use nuclear weapons, including when it determines that its leadership faces imminent attack by hostile forces or when it needs to prevent an unspecified catastrophic crisis to its people and government. The U.S. and South Korean governments have repeatedly warned that any attempt by North Korea to use nuclear weapons would result in the end of the North's government led by Kim Jong Un. On Friday, North Korea also accused the U.S. of being behind what it calls a groundless and false rumor" that Hamas used North Korean weapons in its recent attack on Israel. Some media outlets including Radio Free Asia, a U.S. government-funded news service, earlier reported about Hamas suspected use of North Korean weapons such as F-7 high-explosive fragmentation rockets. What should not be overlooked is that the U.S. is resorting to its stereotyped smear campaign against (North Korea) to deliberately link the recent Middle East crisis to the latter, KCNA said in an article attributed to Ri Kwang Song, a commentator on international affairs of North Korea. Ri said the U.S. administration's reptile press bodies and quasi-experts are spreading the rumors but didn't name them. The Navy has fired the commanding officer of the USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser based in San Diego, the service announced in a statement late Thursday night. Capt. Danielle DeFant was relieved as commander of the Lake Erie by Rear Adm. Christopher Alexander, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, on Thursday "due to a loss of confidence in her ability to command," the statement said. DeFant has become at least the ninth Navy commander to be removed from command this year. Read Next: The 5 Top Concerns of Army Families - and What the Service Plans to Do About Them Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesman for the Naval Surface Force, told Military.com in an email Friday that DeFant's relief "was related to the performance of her duties as the commanding officer." When asked whether DeFant was under investigation, Abrahamson said that "the decision to relieve any commanding officer comes after a thorough review from leadership in the officer's chain of command." Abrahamson also confirmed that neither the ship's executive officer nor its top enlisted sailor was relieved alongside DeFant. The service's statement offered only the usual remark that the service expects its commanders "to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards." The Navy said that Capt. Brandon Burkett will assume the duties as commanding officer of the ship until permanent relief arrives, and Abrahamson said that the ousting will not affect Lake Erie's mission. The Lake Erie emerged from the shipyards in December 2022 after nearly two years of overhaul and upgrades to the 30-year-old ship. According to the ship's Facebook page, the crew has been working to get the Lake Erie mission ready since that time. In September, the ship reported landing a helicopter on its flight deck for the first time in three years. The Navy currently plans to decommission the Lake Erie in 2025. DeFant's official Navy biography says that she began her career in the service in 1991 as an enlisted sailor before commissioning in 1999. Since then, she served on destroyers, cruisers and a frigate before being selected as the executive officer of the destroyer USS Paul Hamilton in 2014. She later took over as commander of the Paul Hamilton and served in that role from March 2016 to December 2017. According to the Navy's statement, DeFant will now be reassigned to the office of the commander for the Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. -- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on X at @ktoropin. Related: Navy Fires Commander of Ballistic Missile Submarine over Loss of Confidence The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. Last Saturday's attack by Hamas out of Gaza has led many to wonder at the failure by the vaunted Israeli intelligence services to anticipate the violence. Successful strategic attacks do not just happen. They generally involve three key elements. All require months or years of preparation before conflict commences. The first is to lull the enemy into a false sense of security. There is truth in the old western movie cliche, "It's too quiet out there." Making the intended victim believe that his basic system of deterrence is working is generally critical for the surprise to be successful. In 1973, both Egypt and Syria toned down their harsh rhetoric against Israel in the months leading up to the Yom Kippur War. In 1941, the Japanese continued to negotiate with the Americans literally up to the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese Navy ceased most critical communications in the weeks leading up to the attack. What the Americans heard from Japanese naval radio stations were administrative communications indicating that most of the fleet was at home, when it was in fact sailing east in radio silence. In the months leading up to last week's attack, several Israeli commentators noted how quiet Hamas and Islamic Jihad had become, with the assumption that deterrence was working and that the two rivals were engaged in internal rivalry. A second rule is to let the enemy see what he wants to see. In the years leading up to the Yom Kippur War, the Egyptians and Syrians held regularly scheduled autumn exercises in which they massed forces along the Suez Canal and Golan Heights respectively, and then demobilized. When the exercises commenced in 1973, the Israelis thought they were seeing business as usual. Likewise, the Mongol attack on the Muslim Khwarazmian Empire in 1220 A.D. was wrapped in deception. Genghis Khan himself personally led what we would now call a diversionary force along the expected east-west avenue of approach, simulating a much larger force. Meanwhile, Subutai -- his most trusted general -- was moving through the Kyzylkum Desert to the north with the main striking force. When Subutai struck the strategic city of Bukhara from an unexpected direction, the result was a shattering surprise. In their Gaza-launched attack, the Palestinians followed this formula. Rather than try to import conventional heavy military equipment from Iran that the Israelis would have spotted immediately, Hamas used civilian equipment on hand. Bulldozers, pickup trucks and motorcycles are ubiquitous in the Gaza Strip, as are the motor launches used for the amphibious portion of the attack. Even the motorized hang gliders used in the assault would not be unexpected along Gaza's recreational beaches. A final essential element for strategic surprise is secrecy through compartmentalization at the strategic, operational and tactical levels of war. This is much easier to achieve in authoritarian regimes where the press is tightly controlled. For them, "need to know" really means need to know. In 1973, Egyptian and Syrian front-line soldiers believed that they were on a routine peacetime exercise until they were issued live ammunition. Although not an absolute requirement, it helps if the population of the attacking party has real or perceived grievances, and the targeted opponent is disunited. In 1940, the French were badly politically split over support of a Poland that had already been destroyed. Even the French Communists were divided among those who blindly followed the Soviet party line and those who were disillusioned that Stalin would join Hitler in carving up Poland. Likewise, prior to Pearl Harbor and 9/11, the United States was deeply divided. What Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and Osama bin Laden underestimated was how quickly the American people would come together in a quest for revenge and justice for what they regarded as a sucker punch. Hamas and Islamic Jihad struck Israel at a time of deep division over its judicial crisis. It remains to be seen if the events of Oct. 7 will unite or further divide Israel. It also helps if the attacker has clear strategic goals as part of its objective. The objective of the attackers in 1973 was to recapture some of the honor lost in the 1967 Six-Day War, and seize ground lost to the Israelis in that conflict. In the case of the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptians eventually accomplished both, while the Syrians achieved only the first. In attacking on 9/11, al-Qaida clearly hoped to become the major anti-western Jihadist group and bring down the U.S. economic system. The second proved to be a bridge too far, as did the hope of the Japanese to force a negotiated settlement with the U.S. post-Pearl Harbor. As Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto predicted, the surprise was fleeting. Hamas and Islamic Jihad clearly have the twin goals of refocusing world attention on the grievances of the Palestinians and forcing Israel to the bargaining table over the fate of its hostages. Strategic surprise is a high-risk gamble effort with a potentially high payoff, but when it goes wrong, it can go terribly wrong. Regarding the ongoing conflict, time will tell. -- Gary Anderson was the director of Marine Corps war gaming and was a senior executive of the Defense Adaptive Red Team project. He lectures on Red Teaming at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. An Australian man reportedly made a bomb threat 40 minutes into a Scoot flight from Singapore to Perth on Thursday, forcing the plane to make an immediate U-turn and head back to Changi airport. And two F-15SG fighter jets immediately showed up to escort the plane back, according to Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen via 9News.com.au. (See video below, posted by Media Warrior.) But passengers, who had no idea what was going on, were told they were returning because of "minor issues," according to AP News. It's not clear how the 30-year-old gentleman made the threat, or if there was actually a bomb on board. "Scoot is assisting the authorities with their investigations. As this is a security matter, we regret that we are unable to provide further details," an airline spokesperson said. The man was arrested for "criminal intimidation" after landing, and police are still investigating. With the Twins now eliminated from the postseason at the hands of the Astros, eyes are now turning toward the impending offseason. Veteran righty Sonny Gray has already expressed his desire to return to Minnesota next year, and outfielder Michael A. Taylor joined him in an interview with Darren Wolfson of SKOR North Radio and 5 Eyewitness News. In conversation with Wolfson, Taylor spoke of his hopes to return to the Twins next year as well as his appreciation of people throughout the organization and the clubs chemistry in the locker room, calling Minnesota a quality ballclub. Taylor, 32, is coming off one of the better seasons of his career. In addition to his typical strong defense in center field (+9 Outs Above Average, per Statcast) with a .220/.278/.442 slash line in 388 plate appearances. Though his on-base numbers certainly leave something to be desired, Taylors career-best 21 home runs propelled his over all numbers to around league average (96 wRC+). When taken with his quality defense and baserunning, it leaves Taylor as a solid everyday option in center field. Whether he ultimately signs with the Twins or elsewhere, Taylor figures to receive plenty of interest around the league. Of course, any potential reunion between Taylor and the Twins could hinge on whats in store for the clubs typical center fielder, Byron Buxton. The talented but oft-injured slugger was unable to play the field during the 2023 campaign, opening the door for Taylor to receive semi-regular playing time with Minnesota in center field while Buxton acted as the clubs DH. It was a difficult season for Buxton, as he slashed just .207/.294/.438 in 85 games as the clubs DH while battling an injured knee. A healthy Buxton figures to be of utmost importance to the Twins next season, though Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune relays that Buxton is not yet sure whether or not hell require another surgery on his ailing knee this offseason. The uncertainty surrounding Buxton could further incentivize the club to explore a reunion with Taylor, who the club acquired last offseason to help man center field in the event Buxton faced another injury-marred campaign. Fortunately, the Twins have more clarity regarding shortstop Carlos Correas path to health this offseason. Per Nightengale, Correa will be meeting with Twins medical staff to ensure a smooth recovery from his season-long battle with plantar fasciitis. While Correas foot will not require surgery, he is expected to undergo a procedure to correct the deviated septum in his nose. Correa previously underwent surgery to correct the issue back in 2018. In his second season with the Twins and on the heels of signing a six-year, $200MM deal with Minnesota this past offseason, Correa struggled somewhat at the plate. In 580 plate appearances, he slashed just .230/.312/.399 with a wRC+ of 96, though he did manage to offer his typical solid defense at shortstop. Surely, Minnesota is hoping that an offseason of rest can alleviate Correas issues with plantar fasciitis and put him in position to post a strong 2024 campaign more in line with his first season as a Twin, when he slashed an impressive .291/.366/.467 with a wRC+ of 140. While were three weeks into autumn, the end of Daylight Savings Time for 2023 is still more than three weeks away. 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. The amount of daily daylight each day will continue to decrease through the fall, which started on Sept. 23. The amount of daylight will continue to diminish 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. 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. Daylight Saving became widespread in the U.S. when the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was passed. Back then, Daylight Saving ran from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October and states were allowed to opt out. In 1986, Daylight Saving was changed to run from the first Sunday in April until the final Sunday in October. The most recent revision took effect in 2006 when Energy Policy Act of 2005 revised Daylight Saving from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November. 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. All of Indiana didnt begin observing Daylight Saving until 2006. 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. NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI A DNR conservation officer is being recognized for likely saving the life of a man following a motorcycle crash. CO Tim Barboza was one of three officers who received DNR Lifesaving Awards during a Michigan Natural Resources Commission meeting at Bay College in Escanaba on Thursday. Barboza, along with conservation officers Brandon Benedict and Jeff Ginn were also honored Thursday for their actions during an ice rescue in January. In May 2022, Barboza responded to a motorcycle vs. vehicle crash at East 1 Mile Road and North Sycamore Avenue in Newaygo Countys Lincoln Township. The motorcycle operator, Richard Wilson, 30, was lying on his back, with visible, life-threatening injuries. Barboza immediately applied a tourniquet to Wilsons injured leg which slowed the loss of blood, while continuing to assess and care for other injuries. Wilson was transported by Aero Med to the hospital, where, pre-surgery, doctors said his odds of surviving were less than 25%. Wilson was beat those odds in no small part due to Barbozas actions. It took a large team to save my life, but CO Barbozas quick action was instrumental to my survival, and myself, my wife and my three children are all so grateful, Wilson said. Wilson told the DNR earlier this year that he was walking with a prosthetic leg and preparing to return to work. The calm conversation Barboza had with Mr. Wilson while providing first aid was instrumental to keeping this family of five together, which the DNR is extremely grateful for and proud of Barboza, said Chief Dave Shaw, DNR Law Enforcement Division. GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MI An employee at physicians office in Northern Michigan is accused of spending $13,000 with another persons credit card. According to Michigan State Police in Traverse City, 37-year-old Katherine McEachran worked at the office in Traverse City when she committed the alleged credit card fraud. Police say she obtained the credit card information while the doctors were seeing patients. A MSP detective began investigating in August and found there were numerous fraudulent transactions on personal and company credit cards. McEachran turned herself in on Oct. 10. She was video arraigned in the 86th District Court in Grand Traverse County that same day on four counts of illegal use of financial transaction device without consent. A probable cause hearing is set for Oct. 20. In April, NPR made headlines when it left Twitter after its eccentric new owner, Elon Musk, labeled NPR as "state-affiliated media" and "government-funded media." Now, six months later, NPR has found that departing from Twitter has had a negligible effect on its overall traffic and audience reach. As reported in Nieman Reports, NPR saw only a 1% drop in traffic after quitting Twitter. According to an NPR memo provided to Nieman, Twitter wasn't helpful to NPR's traffic because "the platform's algorithm updates made it increasingly challenging to reach active users; you often saw a near-immediate drop-off in engagement after tweeting and users rarely left the platform." In life after Xitter, NPR has adapted by focusing more on other platforms like Meta's Instagram and its new Threads app. The news organization is taking a quality-over-quantity approach, looking to deeply engage followers rather than chase clicks. As Twitter continues to decline, NPR's example demonstrates that Musk either doesn't know how to run a social media platform, or is trying to destroy it. From Nieman Reports: ANN ARBOR, MI - A recent University of Michigan employee died in an Oct. 2 accident in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador, university officials confirmed. Debing Su, 36, died Oct. 2 on a biking and hiking trip near the Chimborazo Volcano in Ecuador, officials said. She fell at the canyon at the foot of the volcano, according to a GoFundMe seeking assistance for her family. Su worked as a public relations specialist at the university from 2013 until moving to Maryland with her husband in June, officials said. We are all heartbroken at Michigan News and throughout the university, said university spokeswoman Laura Lessnau. Su had a joint appointment as an international public relations specialist in Michigan News and the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies. She became the universitys Chinese voice, said Ann Lin, director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center. She was also one of the best-known and most beloved members of the University of Michigans Chinese and Chinese American community, Lin said. Faculty and researchers across the university, from the Medical School to UMMA, valued her optimism, her passion for justice, and her warmth and friendliness. Su was a kind, generous and energetic person with a positive mindset, said Vivienne Fu and Sherry Xiao in the GoFundMe seeking help getting Sus family in China to see her for the funeral. She could always lighten up your day with her contagious laughter and whimsical sense of humor, Fu and Xiao wrote in the GoFundMe. Her love for life and adventurous spirit were truly extraordinary. She is genuinely curious about the world, so travelling became one of her biggest hobbies. In her spare time, she was always on her way to the next destination. Su was born and raised in China, receiving her bachelors degree in English from Beijing Forestry University, according to her LinkedIn profile. She later earned a masters degree in mass communication from the University of Florida in 2012, her profile states. While working for University of Michigan, she earned her business degree from the Ross School of Business in 2021. Debing was more than a colleague to us, she was a friend, Lessnau said. She was funny, warm, thoughtful and always had great stories to tell of her adventures around the world. She made a big impact on all of us and was a valued member of our team at Michigan News. If you would like more reporting like this delivered free to your inbox, click here and signup for our weekly newsletter: Michigan Schools. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. Read more from The Ann Arbor News: Lennon & Elvis? Obama & JFK? See 10 famous people whove visited the University of Michigan Record $1.8B in research produced by University of Michigan in 2023 Take a virtual tour of the $11.5M renovated University of Michigan presidents home ANN ARBOR, MI -- A new restaurant is bringing a late-night burger option to Ann Arbor. Dearborn-based Prime Eatery recently opened a second location at 1721 Plymouth Road. selling milkshakes, burgers, wraps, bowls, chicken wings and sandwiches. The big thing I want to highlight is that were open late, said Prime Eaterys Odie Odetalla. The business will be open until midnight weekdays and until 3 a.m. weekends. The interior has a University of Michigan theme. The new business took over the former location of Exotic Cuisine and Bakeries, which closed at the end of September after spending more than 30 years in Ann Arbor. Jinan and Monib Elkhatib began that business in 1991 and it became known for offering French and Middle Eastern pastries, as well as cakes and other home-cooked family recipes. Odetalla took over the business in April and spent a few months trying to continue its operations. However, he said finances werent improving, which prompted his decision to convert the space into Prime Eatery. Tamara Briggs, daughter of the original owners of Exotic Cuisine and Bakeries, said shes thankful for all of the support the Ann Arbor community has given over the years to Exotic Bakeries. Im floored by the outpouring of support, love, and kindness, she said. The appreciation is unmatched. Briggs plans to continue to bring her family recipes to the Ann Arbor-area with a food truck and hopefully a brick-and-mortar location in the future. 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 FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Go! Ice Cream closing after a decade of serving sweet treats in Ypsilanti 2 Ann Arbor townies are sharing their love for the city with a new business Hes had season tickets for 50 years. Now this Wolverine football fan has a maize & blue barn YPSILANTI, MI - An Ypsilanti Community High School student is facing criminal charges after allegedly bringing a gun to school last week. Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit confirmed the 17-year-old male has been charged with two counts of receiving and concealing a stolen firearm and carrying a concealed weapon. The student was charged as a juvenile and has undergone a preliminary inquiry. He currently is lodged in a local detention center, Savit said. MLive/The Ann Arbor News does not typically name defendants charged as juveniles. Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office Spokesman Derrick Jackson said officers were called to the high school the afternoon of Oct. 6 after a teacher had discovered a student had a firearm. YCS Spokesperson Joe DiBenedetto said someone at the school reported to the teacher that they believed the student had a gun in their possession, leading to a search outside of the school building where a gun was discovered inside the students backpack. School staff had taken possession of the firearm before police arrived, Jackson said. It is unclear why the student brought the gun to school, Jackson said. DiBenedetto said the school initiated a shelter in place while the student was detained outside awaiting the arrival of police. The district confirmed the student has been suspended. Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter. READ MORE: Student in custody after being found with gun at Ypsilanti High School Hello, Ann Arbor: Historic house spends 4 years on the market; downtown Starbucks to close Fire at University of Michigan Hospital briefly stalls operations FLINT, MI Local charities are teaming up this weekend to donate winter apparel and other personal necessities to children and families in need. Catholic Charities of Shiawassee and Genesee Counties and the Knights of Columbus are hosting a Kids Coat Giveaway from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 14 at Center for Hope, 812 Root St. in Flint. Mary Stevenson, director of Catholic Charities Center for Hope, said the Knights of Columbus will be providing over 400 brand-new coats to children during the giveaway. Hats, gloves and other personal items will be available during this time as well. Stevenson said the giveaway is open to anyone in need. Upon arrival, participants will come and check in at the front entrance. Parents and guardians must bring their child or their childs birth certificate. After check-in, members of the Knights of Columbus will help visitors shop for clothing items. The Center for Hope Community Closet is open and available to those in need twice a month. Visitors can shop for clothing and household items from 1-3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center also distributes personal hygiene and needs items to those in the community every 30 days. Were seeing hundreds and hundreds of people every month, and so many of them are either single parent families or large families, Stevenson said. People who may be working but just not able to afford these things, especially for young children that grow so quickly. ... Every little bit that can help these kids is a service to the community. Kellie Pardi, marketing manager for Catholic Charities, said there is always a need in the community and the organization works to ease the day-to-day cost of living. People are feeling the pinch with their dollars these days, Pardi said. Anything that we can do so that they can make sure that they can put food on the table, and they can pay their bills we try to do that. Pardi said the organization does not take income into consideration when assisting those in the community. If somebody tells us that they need help, we take them on their word, Pardi said. Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter. Read more from The Flint Journal: 10 things to do in Flint, Genesee County this weekend (Oct. 13-15) Artists complete repainting of defaced murals in Buckham Alley Flint elementary students learn safety tips during Fire Prevention Week Just be kind: Davison-area woman turns 100, shares memories and wisdom (This story has been updated with additional information.) FLINT, MI The United Auto Workers wont immediately expand its strike against the Big Three automakers but vowed Friday, Oct. 13, to continue its push for a richer contract while taking a new, more unpredictable approach to walkouts. Were entering a new phase ... Were not waiting until Fridays anymore to announce additional workers joining the picket line, UAW President Shawn Fain said. We are at the point in this process where we are looking for one thing only a deal, a tentative agreement ... They know what needs to happen and they know how to get it done. Fain urged union members to join nearly 34,000 already-striking workers at 44 Ford, General Motors and Stellantis plants on Saturday, Oct. 14, and told the automakers to expect additional work stoppages unless they show a new sense of urgency in negotiations on a national contract. From this point forward, he said, the union will call for strikes at facilities when we need to and where we need to. The union showed the first sign of its new approach when 8,700 workers at Fords Kentucky Truck Plant walked off the job on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Fain said the change in strategy not limiting new strike targets to end-of-the-week announcements comes in response to the automakers having waited until Fridays to make substantial progress in bargaining. Fain said the strike at Ford came after the company thought they could sit back and not make further progress in bargaining ... They stopped being interested in reaching a fair deal now. Now theres only one rule, he said. Pony up. Representatives of Ford, GM and Stellantis did not immediately comment on Fains Friday remarks. A top Ford executive told reporters after the Kentucky walkout that the company has reached the limit of how much money it will spend to get a contract agreement with the UAW. GM barely averted a similar strike at its Arlington Assembly plant in Texas a week ago after the company agreed to include electric battery manufacturing under the national master agreement. Battery plants have been among the central issues in the negotiations a grey zone in the auto industry because theyre joint ventures with tech companies. The UAW wants to unionize battery factories to represent workers at Ford and Stellantis after reaching the break-through agreement with GM. The Kentucky Truck Plant makes Ford Super Duty pickups as well as the Ford Expedition and the Lincoln Navigator. GM builds profitable SUVs like Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and Cadillac Escalade and Escalade-V in Arlington. This weekend will mark one month of the strike that began at midnight Sept. 15. Its estimated the strike has cost $5.5 billion is losses so far. Across all three companies, in addition to 33,700 striking auto workers, an additional 4,800 employees have been laid off since the start of the strike. Were not messing around ... If they are not ready to move then were going to give them a push in a language they understand dollars and cents, Fain said. Wednesdays escalation of the strike came after UAW workers walked out of one assembly plant each at Ford, GM and Stellantis, setting up the first picket lines of the strike last month. One week later, the union expanded the strike to include 38 more parts warehouses and later, additional assembly plants. Thousands of workers at other Big Three plants and at suppliers to the companies have also been laid off because of the strikes. GM has laid off the most at 2,330 workers, then Ford at 1,865 and Stellantis at 640. The UAW and the automakers have continued to negotiate a replacement contract for the previous pact that expired Sept. 14. Union officials have said Fords general wage offer is up to 23% over four years with GM and Stellantis lagging behind that. Fain asked union members and supporters to join in supporting picketers on Saturday to encourage strikers who are on the front lines. The picket line is a sacred place, he said. Theres a lot of long, dark nights and there are some bright, joyful days ... We learn what it means to stick together during hard times. (Information from the Associated Press is included in this report.) More UAW Coverage UAW breaks from pattern, adds surprise Ford truck strike target UAW strike mounts $5.5B loss, nearly 5,000 layoffs across Big Three General Motors adds EV battery plants to UAW contract, avoids costly strike target FLINT, MI - Due to rainy weather conditions, the outdoor solar eclipse-viewing activities at Longway Planetarium originally planned for Saturday, Oct. 14 have been canceled. Skies Over Michigan scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday is also canceled, according to a Longway Planetarium news release. The following free indoor activities inspired by the partial solar eclipse - and in preparation for a rare near-total eclipse happening in Genesee County on April 8, 2024 - will still be offered for the community tomorrow, the news release said. Guests will still be able to view the solar eclipse inside the lobby of Longway Planetarium from about 11:45 a.m. to 2:23 p.m. as it is being live streamed from the West Coast. In the Flint area, about 34% of the sun will be eclipsed by the moon at the peak of the event at 1:03 p.m., although the clouds will obscure the view for Genesee County residents. Eclipse viewing glasses will still be available for $2 a pair at gift shops located inside Longway Planetarium and at Sloan Museum of Discovery across the street. For eclipse fans young and old who want to create their own eclipse viewers, Sloan Museum of Discovery will have supplies upon request inside the Discovery Lab makers space on Saturday, Oct. 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Lego Club will also be taking place in the Discovery Lab this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The solar eclipse eyeglasses and the make-and-take eclipse viewers can be used again April 8, 2024, when a near-total eclipse will take place in Flint with 97% of the sun getting obscured by the Moon. At the peak of the April 2024 eclipse, residents will witness darkness at 3:03 p.m. Longway Planetarium and Sloan Museum of Discovery will be announcing plans to celebrate this rare event at a later date. For more information, go to Longway.org, email to Longway@SloanLongway.org, or call the Longway Planetarium at 810-237-3400. Admission to Sloan Museum of Discovery is free to Genesee County residents and discounted at Longway Planetarium. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Tech firm Payload CMS has been awarded a $302,500 state grant as part of an expansion at its Grand Rapids headquarters. A news release from Gov. Gretchen Whitmers office says the company plans to expand a garage attached to its office at 624 Stocking Ave. NW. The expansion is expected to cost $875,000 and create 55 jobs. The news release provided by the governors office described the jobs as high paying but did not provide a median wage for the positions. Payload is the tip of the spear that is turning Grand Rapids into the tech hub of the Midwest and putting this regions technological prowess on the map globally, James Mikrut, CEO of Payload CMS, said in a statement. While the coasts are traditionally viewed as being more entrepreneurial in the tech space, weve built an amazing team from the ground up in Michigan, where we believe there is a strong pool of high-potential creatives who want to work on highly technical products, and were going to find them. The news release says Payload CMS has ten full-time employees, and that the firm helps businesses build and manage digital content. Payload CMS has investors ranging from Google to Grand Ventures, a Grand Rapids-based venture capital firm. The Right Place, a regional economic development group based in Grand Rapids, has offered staff time and resources in support of the project. Payload CMS is a rapidly growing company that could choose to expand into better-known high-tech ecosystems but remains committed to the City of Grand Rapids, Jennifer Wangler, vice president of technology at The Right Place, said in a statement. Its validating to hear that our regions commitment to being on the global technology stage is a big reason for Payloads decision to expand here. A news release from the governors office did not provide a timeline for the expansion, nor did it say over what period the jobs would be added. However, the release did not that Payload CMS chose to expand in Michigan over competiting locations in California, Florida, and New York because of its existing talent base and the strength of Grand Rapids as a leading location for tech companies to expand and grow. The $302,500 state grant awarded to the company was from the Michigan Economic Development Corporations Business Development Program. The grant is available for businesses that create new jobs and make investments in the state, the MEDCs website says. 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. More on MLive: Caribbean Bite brings tropical, mouthwatering flavors to downtown Grand Rapids This Grand Rapids bar serves own brand of champagne as part of inclusive bubbly experience 10 great places to get a mouthwatering burger in Grand Rapids GRAND RAPIDS, MI The John Ball Zoo is asking for the publics help in naming two adorable little red panda babies. The male and female cubs, who are just over 3 months old, were born to parents Wyatt and Wasabi at the John Ball Zoo this summer. Now, the zoo is giving people a chance to help select a name for the two babies while also benefiting the zoos wildlife preservation efforts. RELATED: Its a boy and a girl! John Ball Zoo red panda cubs healthy and growing People who donate $1 or more to the zoo will be able to vote on a name for the two cubs. The donations will go toward John Ball Zoos mission of preserving wildlife and wild places locally and around the world, according to a news release from the zoo. The contest will run Friday, Oct. 13, through Sunday, Nov. 19. Voting and donations will take place here. We are so excited to get our community involved in the naming of our red panda cubs, said Rhiannon Mulligan, education manager at John Ball Zoo, in a statement. These name options were carefully chosen alongside the Refugee Education Center to reflect the places and cultures where red pandas come from and to spread awareness of where we can continue having a positive impact on wildlife and wild places. The name options for the male cub include: Dawa (Da-wa, Bhutanese), meaning moon Kancha (Can-cha, Nepali), meaning youngest member of the family Karma (Car-ma, Bhutanese), meaning star The name options for the female cub include: Nima (Nee-ma, Bhutanese), meaning sun Kanchi (Can-chi, Nepali), meaning youngest member of the family Pema (Pee-ma, Bhutanese), meaning lotus flower The contest is a partnership with the Kentwood-based Refugee Education Center, which provides services for refugees and their families as they resettle in West Michigan. The group was founded in 2006 by a group of Somali Bantu refugees and has served over 4,500 refugees since its inception. RELATED: Kentwood afterschool program helps refugee students flourish after coming to a new country Bhutanese and Nepali refugees from the Refugee Education Center helped the zoo come up with the name options for the two red panda cubs, according to the release. Refugee Education Center is thrilled that the John Ball Zoo solicited potential names from our Bhutanese and Nepali refugee community who are from the Himalaya region where red pandas are originally found, Meg Derrer, executive director of the Refugee Education Center, said in a statement. We cant wait to find out what names are picked for these two adorable red panda cubs. John Ball Zoo will track votes from the community and announce the names of the cubs when the contest ends on Nov. 19. The two red panda cubs were born on July 11 at the zoo. They were the second litter of cubs from red panda couple Wasabi and Wyatt, whose first litter of three girls was born in June 2020. Those babies, Rose, Ruby and Willow, moved to a zoo in Tennessee as part of the Species Survival Plan. Wyatt came to John Ball Zoo in 2017 and was born at the Bronx Zoo. Wasabi joined Wyatt in 2019 and came from Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. The two red panda cubs are an important part of helping ensure red pandas continue to thrive, as the species global population has declined by 50% over the last two decades, according to the zoo. Expanding the population with the birth of red panda cubs is part of the Species Survival Plan through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, John Ball Zoos accrediting organization. Red pandas, native to the Eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUNC). There are less than 2,500 adult red pandas left in the wild, according to the IUCN. The species is threatened by habitat loss, deforestation and poaching. More on MLive: Residents of Lake Michigan beachfront community sue over short-term rental ban 2023 Grand Rapids Santa Parade is back on after volunteers step in to save event Michigans largest restaurant named one of the top 15 most legendary on Earth SOUTH HAVEN, MI -- The city of South Haven has approved a winery to join its social district downtown, where people can purchase alcohol from approved vendors and walk around within a designated area. The South Haven City Council approved last week a resolution recommending the Michigan Liquor Control Commission grant Gravity Vineyards and Winery a social district permit for its tasting room at 512 Phoenix St. Gravity Vineyards and Winery is a Baroda-based business. Its South Haven tasting room offers people a place to take a break to sip drinks between shopping, eating or going to the beach in South Haven, the company says. The winery lists reds, whites, fruit wine and ciders among its products. A permit from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) is required to participate in the district. The company said on Thursday it is still waiting on approval from the MLCC, and hoping that will happen in the coming weeks. The citys social district started Oct. 1 and is open every day from noon to 8 p.m. through May 15. Other participating businesses now serving drinks to go are: Kitchen 527 (527 Phoenix St.) Taste (402 Phoenix St.) New Holland Spirits (253 Center St.) Other businesses with liquor licenses are located within the area and can apply for approval to serve to-go drinks. The area includes portions of Phoenix Street, Eagle Street, Center Street and Williams Street. Alcoholic beverages must be in an approved container with a time/date stamped social district sticker and be consumed within the social district area. Visit the citys web site for more information. 6 1 / 6 South Haven social district opens downtown Brad Devereaux Want more Kalamazoo news? Our 3@3 newsletter rounds up Kalamazoos top stories every weekday at 3 p.m. Enter your email to get our free newsletter: Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter. Also on MLive: Forever missed: 2 children killed in house fire grieved by community Oshtemo Township trustee resigns, board quickly appoints replacement New $9.3M public safety station opens in Kalamazoo U.S. 131 closed for 6 hours due to suicidal subject Police negotiators talk man off ledge of 8-story downtown Kalamazoo building Tribe asks Michigan school district to stop using Chieftains logo KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo Public Schools is implementing four early release days this school year, but theyre different than the regular half days. Students will be dismissed one and a half hours prior to the usual dismissal time to allow for staff training, the district clarified at a Thursday, Oct. 12 board meeting. The first early release day will take place on Oct. 18. The additional six hours without students will be used for staff training and professional development. The school district also has some traditional half days throughout the year for these purposes. For the 2023-24 school year, Wednesday will mark the first day when students will be released 90 minutes early. Schools will be released at the following times: Edison Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School and Woodward Elementary School: 1:40 p.m. Remaining elementary schools will be released at 2:22 p.m. Hillside Middle School, Maple Street Middle School and Milwood Magnet School: 12:50 p.m. Linden Grove Middle School: 1:28 p.m. Kalamazoo Central and Loy Norrix High School: 12:50 p.m. Phoenix High School: 11:31 a.m. Kalamazoo Innovative Learning Program: 1:55 p.m. KPS Virtual: 1:55 p.m. The Communities in Schools program will still take place at Lincoln Elementary, Milwood Elementary, Spring Valley Elementary, Woods Lake Elementary, Edison Elementary, Prairie Ridge Elementary, El Sol Elementary, Washington Writers Academy, Hillside Middle School and Milwood Magnet School. Parents are instructed to contact their schools to see if other after school programs are taking place, an email to parents provided by KPS said. The other early release dates will be held on Dec. 13, Jan. 17 and March 13, according to KPS. More on MLive: Pick up unique fall-themed drinks at these three Downtown Kalamazoo coffee shops Parchment School District asks voters restore millage rate on November ballot See enrollment at Kalamazoo Countys largest school districts DETROIT (AP) The United Auto Workers union isn't adding any factories to those that are now on strike, but its president says more walkouts could begin at any moment. Until this week the union had been announcing additional factories on Fridays. But UAW President Shawn Fain told workers in a live video appearance that the companies started gaming the system, waiting until Fridays to make progress in bargaining. We will be calling out plants when we need to, where we need to, with little notice, Fain said on Friday morning. We're not sticking to one pattern or one system of giving these companies an extra hour or an extra day. They know what needs to happen and they know how to get it done. Fain said the union is still bargaining hard with General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis. But he criticized Ford, which said Thursday that it had reached the limit of how much money it will spend to settle the strike. I found a pathetic irony in that statement, Fain said, adding that it's workers who have reached their limits by not getting raises for a decade and giving up what he called retirement security. His statements came four weeks after the union began its walkouts against the Detroit automakers on Sept. 15. The strikes started with one assembly plant from each company. The union later added 38 parts warehouses at GM and Stellantis, and then one assembly factory each from Ford and GM. The UAW then made a surprise move on Wednesday, escalating the strikes by adding a huge Ford pickup truck and SUV plant in Kentucky. About 33,700 workers are on strike against the companies. Analysts say parts supply companies, especially smaller ones without a lot of cash reserves, will be squeezed as the strikes goes on. The head of Fords combustion engine vehicle unit said Thursday that the company had reached its limit for the amount of money it will spend to reach a deal with the union. Kumar Galhotra, president of the Ford Blue business unit, told reporters Thursday that the company stretched to get to the offer it now has on the table that includes a 23% pay raise over four years and other benefit increases. We have been very clear we are at the limit, he said on a conference call with reporters. We risk the ability to invest in the business and profitably grow. And profitable growth is in the best interest of everybody at Ford. The company has a set amount of money, but is willing to move dollars around in a way that might fit the unions needs, Galhotra said, adding that he still thinks its possible to reach a deal. But Fain told workers Friday that the union added the Kentucky plant after Ford presented an economic offer Wednesday with no more money than a proposal from two weeks ago. Ford thought they could wait until Friday morning and then just make a better offer. They stopped being interested in reaching a fair deal now and only became interested in gaming our system of announcing strike expansions on Friday, Fain said. They thought they figured out the so-called rules of the game. So we changed the rules. Fain added that the Kentucky truck plant strike is sending a very clear message to Ford as well as GM and Stellantis. Stellantis said Friday that it is working to narrow the gaps in negotiations with the union. We have made progress this week and look for collaboration from the UAW to reach an agreement as soon as possible to get everyone back to work, the company said. It said, however, that because of a walkout at an assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio, it was laying off 700 more workers at plants in Kokomo, Indiana. Stellantis said it now has laid off a total 1,340 workers during the strike. Detroits three automakers have laid off over 5,000 workers at factories that are not among the plants that have been hit by the strikes. The union began the strike by targeting a small number of plants from each company rather than have all 146,000 UAW members at the automakers go on strike at the same time. Last week, the union reported progress in the talks and decided not to add any more plants. This came after GM agreed to bring joint-venture electric vehicle battery factories into the national master contract, almost assuring that the plants will be unionized. Battery plants are a major point of contention in the negotiations. The UAW wants those plants to be unionized to assure jobs and top wages for workers who will be displaced by the industrys ongoing transition to electric vehicles. Galhotra said Ford is trying to figure out the complexities of pulling its joint venture battery factories into the national contract with the UAW. That would match GM and essentially assure the plants would be union. Fain told workers that despite the escalation, they are making progress in their quest to get large wage gains, restore cost of living adjustments, get defined benefit pension plans for all workers, end different pay scale tiers around the nation and win job security assurances with promises to build new vehicles in the U.S. AP Writer Wyatte Grantham-Philips contributed to this report from New York. BERRIEN COUNTY, MI Police identified Deangelo Porter, 39, as the victim of a house fire in Benton Harbor. He was in a second-floor bedroom Tuesday, Oct. 10, when the fire broke out at 725 McAlister St. PARK TOWNSHIP, MI A group of more than 100 short-term rental owners are fighting back against a ban on rentals with a lawsuit filed this month. Park Township Neighbors, a nonprofit representing the Lake Michigan community, are accusing the township of not properly amending the zoning ordinance in accordance with Michigan Zoning Enabling Act. The lawsuit is seeking to void the ban on short-term rentals that went into effect on Oct. 1. The beachfront community is five miles west of downtown Holland and is home to Holland State Park, which welcomes about 2 million visitors each year. Park Township Neighbors are in favor of regulation to manage short-term rentals so that they do not overtake housing stock in the area, co-founder Jackie Beck said. Allowing, regulating or banning short-term rentals has been an ongoing dispute for the last year. A key conflict is whether or not the townships ordinance ever allowed short-term rentals. The lawsuit argues rentals have been permissible for 50 years. Beck said many of the 107 rental owners who banded together through the nonprofit have owned their second property for generations and operated them as rentals. I was very shocked to hear suddenly, everyone telling [us] its been illegal since 1974. That really makes no sense to me, said Beck, who bought her home and a second rental property in 2021. The municipalitys zoning ordinances, written in 1974, did not explicitly list short-term rentals as an unauthorized use. The township attorneys perspective is because they werent listed as an authorized use, either, the short-term rentals in residential areas were illegal by default. Last fall planning commissioners drafted an ordinance that would issue a short-term rental cap and a lottery system, according to the Holland Sentinel. Consensus among the commissioners changed and in November 2022 a unanimous vote took place to cease operations for short-term rentals in residential zones. Rentals in commercial zones remain unaffected. A later motion declared a sunset date of Oct. 1, 2023, by which all existing short-term rentals had to stop operating or convert to long-term rentals. In June of 2023, the township adopted a regulatory ordinance. This amendment, the lawsuit alleges, was unlawful because it did not follow protocol for prior notice or public hearing. The lawsuit claims the townships motivation behind the June amendment was to cut out current short-term rental owners from being grandfathered in for any future amendments. The lawsuit claims the township took even more illegal actions to cover up the problem it created. Township Supervisor Jim Gerald said he is unable to comment now that there is ongoing litigation. More on MLive: Millions were spent on Michigan Airbnbs last year. See which county earned the most. 2 fall color routes for Lake Michigan, inland scenic drives as peak approaches Up North Community Foundation aims to build a better Holland community with new fund Climate havens like Michigan should start prep now for future migrants BAY CITY, MI Fans of Halloween season music and immersive theater experiences may want to consider a trip here for the next few weekends. The Delta College Planetarium will host The Monster Light Show each Saturday for the rest of October, beginning Oct. 14. Showtimes are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. LANSING, MI A whole lot of hydrogen is coming. Michigan was tapped by federal energy regulators to build a new clean hydrogen hub and develop regional supply chains for the fuel source. The goal is to create a market for fueling trucks and heavy-duty vehicles with clean hydrogen, which comes without any tailpipe emissions. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced $1 billion in federal funding for the project by Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, known as MachH2. She said it would bring thousands of jobs to Michigan. The project is expected to create more than 12,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs. Manufacturing is a fundamental part of the Midwest regions identity and economic prosperity. Todays announcement will allow us to stay true to this heritage while advancing innovation to remain globally competitive in the ongoing transition to clean energy, Whitmer said Friday in a statement. The project is to develop a new hydrogen production plant in Ypsilanti and expand a hydrogen production and refueling center in Flint. The facilities would produce hydrogen fuel for use in heavy-duty vehicles and manufacturing across several Midwestern states. Related: Michigan backs hydrogen fuel gigafactory with $10 grant Michigan state officials also will partner with MachH2 to build a hydrogen truck stop in the Detroit area to serve international heavy-duty traffic at the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The federal dollars from the U.S. Department of Energy come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that set aside $8 billion to create a set of clean hydrogen hubs across America. U.S. Congressmembers Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, and Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, both celebrated the news of the federal funding for the new hydrogen hub. Kildee said investing in hydrogen will help lower costs for the public and improve air quality. Dingell said the project will position Michigan as a national clean energy and technology leader. Hydrogen is produced by splitting water molecules with electricity; it is considered carbon-free only when that electricity doesnt come from a fossil fuel source. Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation tailpipe smog pollution is a major factor in the accelerating climate crisis. It amounted to 29% of all U.S. carbon emissions in 2021, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Experts argue that replacing diesel in the trucking sector could reduce as much as 1,300 kilotons per year of carbon-dioxide by 2035. That is the equivalent of removing 280,000 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles from the road for one year. Carbon emissions drive the greenhouse effect to cause global warming and the accelerating climate crisis. Rainfall is well underway for southern Michigan, and in some places winds are beginning to pick up, too. Wind speeds are expected to increase into tonight and Saturday, and this is going to cause unsafe waters for Lake Michigan. A gale warning will officially go into effect for the southern half of Lake Michigan at 5 p.m. today, and continue into Saturday until 8 p.m.. For now, a small craft advisory is in effect for Lake Michigan waters, until the gale warning takes effect. Areas impacted include the waters from St. Joseph all the way north to the Whitehall area. This includes the beach areas of South Haven, Holland, Grand Haven and Muskegon. For a gale warning to take effect, winds need to be 39 mph to 55 mph, and include either sustained, continuous winds, or frequent wind gusts of that speed. Wind speeds over the southern portion of Lake Michigan tonight and tomorrow are expected to be between 23 mph to 34 mph over the water, but are expected to gust up to 40 mph, which reaches the threshold for a gale warning. Wind gusts are going to be pretty frequent tomorrow and then die down by nightfall. Besides strong wind gusts, large waves are also going to be a hazard on the open water. With the winds pushing them, waves are expected to get up to 6-11 feet high tonight and tomorrow. The combination of rain, winds, and waves will lead to reduced visibility and rough waters for anyone out on the water, and could cause damage to boats or capsize them, especially smaller vessels. It would be best to avoid going out on the water. Lake Michigan isnt the only one with advisories out for poor conditions on the water. Small craft advisories extend from the Saginaw Bay down along the southwestern portion of Lake Huron and into western Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, with gale watches along Lake Huron and Erie. A clickable map of all of the National Weather Service alerts can be found here to stay informed of changing weather conditions. Nigerian reality TV star Tolanibaj has disclosed that she is attracted to men who support her business pursuits. Relationships should be a give-and-take affair, according to Bigbrother Nigeria star. Tolanibaj revealed during an interview on the Bahd and Boujee podcast that she cannot have an affair with a man who is far older than her. "If I am able to come to you with this proposal, hey I have this business idea, and what do you think about it, I will be turned on, Tolanibaj stated. Pressure group, 'Fixing The Country Movement' Convener Ernest Owusu Bempah has announced that the group will be picketing at the office of former President John Mahama on 16th November 2023 after a back and forth with the police regarding the date for the protest of the Airbus bribery scandal. Addressing a press conference in Accra, he said the Airbus saga is the biggest corruption case ever. "Indeed, payment of bribes were made and received and the beneficiary was GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 1. In fact, documents were falsified in making the payments to disguise the payment of bribes to GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 1. Paragraph 136 of the US Court documents actually described Government official I as having a reputation for bribe-taking," he said. Ernest Owusu Bempah underscored that if after the 16th November public manifestation, there is still no action, the group will continue to lead a citizens coalition to congregate and picket in front of the office of former President John Mahama, the US Embassy and the British High Commission until action is taken on the Airbus saga. "We do not doubt the competence of our investigative authorities to get to the bottom of this massive international corruption, but like most Ghanaians, we're growing skeptical of the lip service being paid to the Airbus corruption saga," he said. Reacting to the press statement released by the NDC Greater Accra Youth Organizer, Amos Blessing Amorse, Mr Ernest Owusu Bempah said, they are not cowards. He added that they will picket come November 16 at the office of former President John Mahama. "Let me conclude by pointing out that, since the day we served notice to engage in this public manifestation, we have received threats from various NDC quarters. Specifically, the NDC Greater Accra Youth Organizer, Amos Blessing Amorse has publicly declared a "fatwa" on our membership and even threatened to physically unleash thugs on us. "It is quite obvious that theres a distinct lack of perspective around here, and we will advise these NDC thugs to drop their convoluted theatrics and learn a thing or two from King Lear in the Shakespearean era, who died before he could reconcile himself to his loss. Truth is, were unperturbed and unfazed by any of the shenanigans flying around. We're ready for the actual action on November 16, 2023, bearing in mind that we have complied with the statutory requirement to give notice to the police, and indeed the subsequent arrangement with the police for protection paves the way for the protest to come off as planned," Bempah stressed. The Ministry of Communications and Digitalization partners with Huawei to bridge the digital divide and empower girls every year, driven by the unwavering commitment to ensure that every girl in Ghana has equal opportunities to thrive in the digital age. The partnership between the Ministry of Communications and Huawei is a strategic collaboration aimed at leveraging Huawei's expertise, resources and technology to empower girls by closing the digital divide and equipping them with valuable digital skills for a brighter future. The Seeds for the Future" is a renowned Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by Huawei that aims to cultivate local talent, disseminate knowledge, enhance awareness and interest in the ICT sector and promote the establishment of digital communities on a global scale. Since its inception in Thailand in 2008, the program has offered training opportunities to over 15,000 young individuals across 139 countries and it's worth noting, that in the past three years, there has been full female participation from Ghana, with a 100% rate. The program was inaugurated in 2015 by the late Former Vice President, H.E. Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur. From July 2015 to October 2022, a total of 220 Ghanaian tertiary students have reaped the benefits of this program. In the current year, it is expected that an additional 70 female university students will also have the opportunity to participate, consequently raising the total number of beneficiaries to 290. In 2021, Ghana introduced the All-Girls edition, dedicating the Seeds for the Future Program to the Ministry of Communications Girls in ICT initiative to help empower more women in STEM. The Seeds for the Future", offer valuable training in cutting-edge technologies; provide girls with access to high-quality, industry-relevant skills and knowledge which empower young girls to pursue careers in technology. This is a contribution from Huawei and the Ministry to contribute to the development of future female leaders in the tech industry. This aligns with broader gender equality goals and economic development objectives. Huawei's global reach and experience in diverse markets can bring insights and best practices from around the world, enriching the Ministry's efforts to bridge the digital divide in Ghana. This years Seeds for the Future Program beneficiaries were engaged in an 8-days intensive online training which introduced them to industry relevant courses, in areas of 5G, Cloud Computing, AI and Digital Power. Participants were also involved in a Career Guidance Session, an Entrepreneurship Tech Talk and a Tech4Good global competition designed to inspire them to explore the application of technology in crafting solutions for societal challenges. The Tech4Good competition will provide US100,000 Startup fund to top teams and offer them the opportunity to attend Startup Sprint in China for real-world business experience. Group presentations During their participation in the program this year, students were organized into groups and challenged to develop innovative solutions that harnessed cutting-edge technologies. Their creations not only demonstrated their ingenuity but also held the potential to address pressing societal issues. Among the standout solutions was CerviCare, a groundbreaking application that utilizes Machine Learning and Image recognition to detect and provide early recommendations for Cervical Cancer, a crucial advancement in the field of healthcare. SmartCans, another remarkable innovation, introduced a sustainable approach to waste management with solar-powered smart bins. These bins employed sensors and GPS technology to alert waste management services about the fill-status of garbage bins, optimizing waste collection processes. In the realm of public safety, the group introduced Flame, an app that combined various mechanisms for early fire detection and swift access to fire department services, promising to enhance fire safety measures in communities. For the visually impaired, Visioguard emerged as a beacon of hope. This smart cane promised improved mobility and independence by aiding visually impaired individuals in navigating their surroundings with ease. Additionally, the Mineguard system showcased how technology could be harnessed to monitor and provide aerial surveillance of mining activities, ensuring compliance with safety regulations and environmental standards. Amid this impressive array of innovations, Group K, known as Smart Meds, stood out as the overall best group, outshining teams not just in Ghana but also in Algeria. Their outstanding creation, SmartMed, embodies their commitment to inclusive healthcare. This multi-lingual and multi-device solution offers swift diagnoses and personalized care, catering to patients from diverse backgrounds. It leverages the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Block chain, and Interactive Voice Assistance (IVR) to provide high-quality healthcare services. The journey of these young Ghanaian innovators, fuelled by knowledge-sharing and ICT sector enthusiasm through Huawei's program, exemplifies how technology can be harnessed to address real-world challenges. Their achievements not only reflect their talent but also showcase the positive impact of corporate social responsibility in nurturing the future of technology and innovation. Honorary Awards In a remarkable celebration of innovation, knowledge and leadership, the Seeds of the Future event recently honoured a distinguished group of individuals for their outstanding contributions to the fields of communication, digitalization, information and education. These luminaries have not only made significant strides in their respective domains but have also been instrumental in shaping the future of technology and education in Ghana. Here are the esteemed honorees: Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (MP) - Minister for the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation: A visionary leader at the forefront of Ghana's digital transformation, Hon. Ursula Owusu- Ekuful unwavering commitment to advancing communication and digitalisation has been a driving force in bridging the digital divide and empowering communities. Her tireless efforts have paved the way for greater connectivity and access to information. Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah - Minister for the Ministry of Information: Renowned for his dedication to transparency and effective communication, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has played a pivotal role in ensuring that the public remains informed and engaged. His work in the Ministry of Information has fostered open dialogue and informed decision-making in the digital age. Hon. Ama Pomaa Boateng - Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation: As a key figure in the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, Hon. Pomaa Boateng has demonstrated exemplary leadership in driving Ghana's digital agenda. Her contributions have been instrumental in harnessing the potential of technology to enhance communication and digital services. Hon. John Ntim Fordjour - Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Education: Hon. John Ntim Fordjour's unwavering dedication to education has significantly impacted Ghana's educational landscape. His leadership in the Ministry of Education has focused on creating an inclusive and innovative learning environment, ensuring that students have access to quality education. Mr. Stallone Nyarko - Special Assistant to the Minister of the Ministry of Communication and Digitalization: Behind every successful endeavor, there are individuals who work diligently behind the scenes. Mr. Stallone Nyarko's role as a special assistant has been pivotal in supporting the Ministry of Communication and Digitalization's mission. His dedication and expertise have contributed to the success of numerous initiatives. Mentorship This year, HUAWEI introduced mentorship session which brought together mentors with diverse backgrounds as part of the activities to climax the seeds for the future event. They include Nana Afua, the founder of Shechanic; Miss Christiana Attram, Assistant Manager NCA, Engineering, Ms. Naa Korkoi Essah PR Manager(MoCD) and Ms Pricilla Hope, Project Manager (KACE). They shared their experience on how they started their journey, the challenges they encountered and how to integrate whatever career choice on to the stem field. They encouraged students to take up internship programs, online courses, open to lifelong learning and to always present themselves on the front. Participants were also encouraged to find mentors committed to their careers. By Naa Korkoi Essah, Head of Public Relations, Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday called for a "global coalition of democracies" to fight violent extremist groups in West Africa that have been spreading south from the Sahel toward Ghana and its neighbors. "The menace caused by terrorism is such that we must share the burden of the fight," said Afuko-Addo, in a Washington speech in which he contrasted Western aid for Ukraine with that given to West African democracies. "This is a time for a global coalition of democracies, a coalition of the willing, determined to banish the specter of terrorism and violent extremism." With Islamist militants controlling large swaths of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the United States and other Western partners have been looking to help Ghana and other coastal West African states strengthen their defenses. While Ghana has so far been spared direct violence attributed to jihadists, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast have all suffered attacks near their borders in recent years. But aid for West Africa has been lacking compared to assistance offered to Ukraine, Afuko-Addo argued, speaking at the US Institute for Peace, a government-chartered policy center. US aid to Ukraine since last year's Russian invasion has climbed to $73.6 billion, while the combined assistance from the European Union, United Kingdom and United States to the West African bloc ECOWAS has only amounted to $29.6 million over the same period, Afuko-Addo said. The president's call for more security assistance comes as the United States and France have pulled back security assistance in recent years from Mali and Burkina Faso, as extremist violence has spiraled and military juntas have taken over. A July coup in Niger spelled the defeat of another Western partner in the region. But Afuko-Addo said Western boots on the ground weren't necessary in Ghana or other coastal states. "Foreign troops do not have to be involved. West African troops can do the job," he said, praising existing cooperation and intelligence sharing among Gulf of Guinea and Sahel countries. The presence of French troops in Paris's former colonies in the Sahel had become controversial, with protesters blaming them for being unable to stem the rising violence. Having already left Burkina Faso and Mali, French troops started departing Niger on Tuesday. An official declaration by Washington that a coup had taken place in Niger has cut off $500 million in assistance to the country, though for now it is maintaining its force of about 1,000 troops there. As of earlier this year, Benin had reported more than 20 armed incursions since 2021, and Togo's president in April said that 100 civilians and 40 soldiers had been killed in jihadist attacks. But as coastal states look for outside aid, some critics of Western-led security assistance in Africa have warned that the Sahel's increasing instability has come in part because of an overly militarized response. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, a presidential candidate aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the media of being unfair to the ruling party. The flagbearer candidate lamented that the media has not done enough to trumpet the ruling party's achievements over the years. In an interview on Accra-based Starr FM on Thursday, October 12, the former Minister of Food and Agriculture hoped the media will provide more balanced reportages showcasing the achievements of the Akufo-Addo-led government. "The media has not been fair to the NPP government in particular. The media could do far better in propagating the successes of the NPP, he said. This comes at a time when the NPP is gearing up to break the 8. Dr. Afriyie Akoto will face off other aspirants including Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong and former MP Francis Addai Nimoh in the flagbearer race. The winner will become the NPP's presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections. Buffalo Manufacturing Works widens horizons Buffalo Manufacturing Works' mission is to help manufacturers innovate and improve their processes. That includes its $2.5 million investment in cold-spray technology, a type of additive manufacturing. And the center has devoted more space to its automation lab, allowing employers to explore how robotic technology might suit them. Buffalo Manufacturing Works, operated by the Ohio-based nonprofit EWI, has come a long way from the small, temporary location on Main Street where it debuted in 2015. Four years ago, the manufacturing center moved to the Northland complex and has filled its floor space with an array of high-tech equipment and technology. Adding cold-spray technology was a significant step for Buffalo Manufacturing Works, expanding the range of services available to the manufacturers the center works with, said Henry Cialone, EWI's CEO. "When we started looking at, where's the future of additive going, we had everything covered except cold spray," Cialone said. Now that's covered, too. It's the type of additive manufacturing technology not commonly available through a research center, so having it on site is a benefit to companies that connect with Buffalo Manufacturing Works, Cialone said. "It's terrific, because we can kind of do anything we need," he said. It's an investment that was long in the making, but was delayed by supply chain issues. Some of the equipment for the new systems came from as far away as Japan and Australia. Buffalo Manufacturing Works has three types of cold-spray systems on site, capable of handling different kinds of jobs, said Sam Bedard, EWI's cold spray research director. Bedard was recruited to Buffalo from Connecticut; he previously worked for VRC Metal Systems, a prominent name in the technology. Cold-spray technology is often associated with customers like the Department of Defense, to repair parts for submarines and aircraft. "This is usually looked at when there are certain repair procedures that don't have a high rate of success," Bedard said. "When you're repairing parts via welding where sometimes heat is an issue for certain kinds of materials, you get a very high scrap rate." The technology is also effective for developing new parts, providing for clean, dense deposits of materials in high-speed fashion. Cold-spray technology has been well received since Buffalo Manufacturing Works began offering it, Bedard said. "We've seen a ton of activity form all over the board - large customers, some government work, expensive parts that need high functionality," he said. Automation is another area of keen interest to manufacturers. Buffalo Manufacturing Works moved its automation lab out of a small room into a much larger, brighter space within its operations. The lab demonstrates tasks that can be performed by "cobots," short for collaborative robots, which work alongside employees. Buffalo Manufacturing Works doesn't sell cobots to companies, but helps companies identify technology that might suit their needs and then develops solutions for their workplaces. "Each of these [cobots] are set up for developing a different part of an application: how you hold you a part, how you feed a part, and how you inspect a part," said Matt Malloy, EWI's automation program manager. Cobots can handle mundane or repetitive tasks, like moving parts into and out of a machine, instead of tying down an employee with that work. "That person can usually can do something a little more meaningful: write new programs, talk to customers, train people," Malloy said. As small manufacturers continue to struggle to fill certain jobs, their interest in cobots has only grown, he said. "Four or five years ago, we were hearing a lot of people say, 'We think we want it, we're not quite ready,'" Malloy said. "Now they're saying, 'We missed our mark, we need to do it, we can't find people.'" The typical reasons companies choose to install robots including quality control and productivity remain, "but those aren't usually the first topic of discussion," he said. "Usually, it's 'We just can't find people and how do we make this work?'" Road trip The Business Council of New York State took a novel approach to marking Manufacturing Week: riding a bus. The statewide business group was scheduled to visit 10 manufacturers over the course of a week, including Mentholatum, in Orchard Park. The purpose of the trip was to raise awareness and showcase the impact each of the manufacturers make on their communities, said Heather Mulligan, the group's president and CEO. At each of the stops, the Business Council was joined by local and regional chamber staff, elected officials and Empire State Development representatives. Want to know more? Three stories to catch you up: THE LATEST What can Buffalo Sabres fans expect at the concession stand this season? The developer of a big Amherst apartment complex wants more than $2.1 million in tax breaks. The developer of a closed Buffalo nursing home says it needs tax breaks for the project to proceed. The owner of the Buffalo Grand Hotel is facing a big fine from Ontario securities regulators. A big apartment project on Transit Road is starting to open. The fallout from the UAW strike is spreading to GM's plant in Lockport. Robert E. Rich Jr. is the highest ranking local person on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans. Spectrum is offering set top boxes to turn 'dumb' TVs into smart ones for a price. It won't cost nearly as much to turn up the thermostat this winter. The state is making big changes to the struggling legal pot market. The new Niagara County hospital is on the verge of opening. An Oishei Children's Hospital nurse is accused of possessing child sex abuse images. The LaSalle Street Station redevelopment project now includes more land. Want to buy a college campus? There's one for sale in Buffalo Dunn Tire has a new owner. Developer Douglas Jemal wants to use tax payments for downtown improvements. A comic book store is closing its two Buffalo Niagara locations. A Town of Tonawanda manufacturer says its expansion could expand. The ECIDA is debating clawbacks for two companies that didn't meet job targets. ICYMI Four reads from Buffalo Next: 1. How Western New York colleges are adapting to a shrinking student population. 2. How Mighty Taco grew into a Buffalo food icon. 3. In 'tipping point,' Buffalo's tourism market emerges from Niagara Falls' shadow. 4. Kaleida wants to build a new hospital in Fredonia, but getting money for it has been difficult. The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435. French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed a new French death toll of 13 people in the "terrorist" Hamas attack on Israel on 6 October. The head of state also pledged to "do everything possible [...] to bring back" the hostages captured by the Palestinian group "safe and sound to their homes". Seventeen French nationals, including four children, have been reported missing since the attack. Call for unity He also called for unity in France and urged people to avoid domestic divisions created by international crises. "Let's not pursue at home ideological adventures by imitating or projecting," Macron said in the TV address Thursday. "Let's not add, through illusions or calculations, domestic divides to international divides...The shield of unity will protect us from hatred and excesses." Macron said the government had already acted to boost police protection of Jewish sites, including schools and synagogues. "This event is an earthquake for Israel, the Middle East and beyond," he said. "Those who confuse the Palestinian cause and the justification of terrorism are making a moral, political and strategic mistake." Dozens of hostages He also vowed that France would do everything to ensure the release of the dozens of hostages held by Hamas. "I want to say that we will do everything to ensure that these hostages, whatever their nationality, are released," he said in the address. I speak to the families tonight and I want to tell them that France is doing everything in its power, with the Israeli authorities and our partners, in order to bring them home safely because France never abandons its children, he said. In all around 150 people are believed to be held hostage by Hamas. Addressing Israel's ongoing response to the attack, he said that Israel had the right to defend itself "by eliminating terrorist groups, including Hamas, with targeted actions but preserving the civilian population", adding that the "only response to terrorism is one that is... strong but fair". Paris protest In Paris, meanwhile, French police used teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinian people. Thursday. This as President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict home. Macron's interior minister had earlier banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were "likely to generate disturbances to public order". (with AFP, Reuters) Niger's ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, who was overthrown by military leaders on July 26, faces his 80th day in detention on Friday together with his wife and son. Democratically elected to lead the West African nation, he remains adamant that he will not step down and has sought legal recourse in his plight. Despite ongoing calls for his release by numerous countries and organisations, Niger's new military regime is unrelenting. Detained for nearly three months Since the coup, Bazoum has been held prisoner in his residence inside the presidential palace, with his wife Haziza and son Salem. "His situation hasn't evolved," his Senegalese lawyer Mohamed Seydou Diagne said. According to members of his entourage questioned by AFP, he is still "held captive without electricity" and with just intermittent access to water. "He receives a supply of fresh food every two days and a visit regularly by his doctor," one of the sources said, adding that he is fine as is his wife and son. "He is still as firm. He will not resign," another of his allies said. In a column for the Washington Post at the beginning of August, Bazoum said he was being held hostage and described to Human Rights Watch the treatment of his family as "inhuman and cruel". Legal recourse On September 18, Bazoum filed a lawsuit with a court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to demand his release and the re-establishment of the constitutional order in Niger. "When you file a request, the opposing party has one month to respond. At the end of this period, the court of justice of ECOWAS sets a date for a hearing," Diagne told AFP. "There is a main request accompanied by an expedited request so that the court programmes a hearing within several weeks." A lawyers' collective mandated by one of Bazoum's daughters announced plans at the start of the month to file a legal complaint against the military regime in Niamey. But it has not yet been lodged, one of the lawyers said. International support The United Nations and Western allies of Niger such as France and the United States were swift to condemn the coup and have shown their support for Bazoum, demanding his release. A few days after his ousting, ECOWAS adopted the same position and threatened an armed intervention. That option is still officially on the table but has not so far been launched. France, an ally of Bazoum, began on October 9 to pull out its 1,400-strong military contingent which was in Niger as part of an anti-jihadist operation. France's ambassador to Niger Sylvain Itte also left the country at the end of last month. Both moves had been demanded by Niger's military leaders. "There remains the question of Bazoum's release and the restoration of civilian rule in Niger," a French diplomatic source said. "And so, there remains the need also for coordinated pressure with regional partners on the de facto authorities." Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone on Monday with Bazoum to reaffirm support for his return to power. The following day, Washington suspended its aid to Niger. Bazoum is the country's fifth president to be deposed in a coup since Niger gained independence from France in 1960. The first post-independence president, Hamani Diori who was overthrown in 1974, was imprisoned, then placed under house arrest for several years, before being freed in 1987. He left the country for Morocco. Major French unions representing workers in the transport, education and health sectors are striking Friday to protest austerity measures and demand increased wages and gender equality. France went through a major cross-union strike movement from January to May to fight the government's pension reform, albeit unsuccessfully. Friday's action will see primary school teachers and transport workers including those in civil aviation walk off the job. Significant flight disruptions are expected at airports across France as some air traffic controllers join the strike. Aviation authorities expect 40 percent of flights at Paris's Orly Airport to be cancelled, 20 percent in Marseille and 15 percent at the smaller Beavais Airport near Paris. Flight disruptions could extend into Saturday morning. Meanwhile disruption to regional and intercity rail transport is expected, with at least three railway unions urging staff to walk off the job. State-owned rail service provider SNCF anticipates high-speed TGV trains to operate mostly normally. The energy production sector will also be affected with workers at electricity company EDF on strike. Past industrial action at EDF has seen power cuts of several gigawatts from nuclear and hydro plants. 'Black Friday' for private doctors Coincidently private doctors have called a separate strike for Friday ahead of new price negotiations and the examination of a bill on the matter in the Senate. Dubbed Black Friday, the action is intended to send a "strong signal" to authorities, organisers said, adding the strike would be renewed. Medical consultations have been cancelled and emergency treatments transferred to public hospitals. The unions are hoping for a significant turnout to demonstrate that without private doctors, which represent about 10 percent of the workforce, France's healthcare system would be in trouble. (with newswires) President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on global leaders to put into full effect the provisions of Chapters Seven and Eight of the UN Charter and provide proportionate support to Africas fight against terrorism and violent extremism. According to President Akufo-Addo, despite the considerable economic difficulties confronting ECOWAS Member States, eleven (11) Member States of the fifteen (15) Member States of ECOWAS, the four (4) military-led States having been suspended, have made clear their willingness to take the fight to the terrorists, if they were sufficiently empowered. Comparisons, they say, are odious, but some cannot be ignored. The Russian war on Ukraine has elicited, according to my information, some US$73.6 billion in American support for Ukraine, US$138.8 billion from the European Union and its Institutions, and US$14.5 billion from the United Kingdom, he said. The President continued, On the other hand, the security assistance from the US, the EU and the UK to ECOWAS have, in total, in the same period, amounted to US$29.6 million. With the right amount of support to ECOWAS, he was certain that the terrorists can be chased out of West Africa and the Sahel too. Foreign troops would not have to be involved. West African troops can do the job. The Accra Initiative is a good example of indigenous self-help. President Akufo-Addo was speaking on Democracy and Security in West Africa, at the United States Institute of Peaces Programme on Governance and Peace, on Thursday, 12th October 2023, in Washington D.C., U.S.A, when he made this known. Explaining the emergence of terrorists in West Africa, the President noted that the terrorists, as we all know, were chased out of the Middle East and Afghanistan before taking refuge in Muammar Gaddafis Libya, from where they fled across the Sahara to find refuge in northern Mali after Gaddafis downfall. They have, since then, he intimated, spread their pernicious influence eastwards and southwards, with the coastal states of West Africa their ultimate destination. Citing rising levels of displacement of populations in many parts of the Sahel due to the insecurity engendered by the armed groups, President Akufo-Addo, who has been a 2-term Chairman of ECOWAS said, Africa has become the centre of attraction for terrorist groups which are multiplying in the region, following defeats suffered in other parts of the world. In the face of marked successes chalked, he stated that, the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing countries, has unfortunately, left many countries and regional bodies, particularly in the Sahel, in very dire economic situations. This has compounded the challenges we face in the mobilisation of resources to fight terrorists in our backyards. The focus on this and the challenge against democracy across the region, the President added, is because we have, virtually, run out of time to work together in the spirit of multilateralism, and added that, if we do not renew our commitments to build, keep and consolidate peace and democracy all over the world, we would have to brace ourselves to live in a new and more dangerous world today and in the future. -Classfmonline 13.10.2023 LISTEN The trial of the former Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Dr. Stephen Opuni, and businessman Seidu Agongo, along with Agricult Ghana Limited, will now be heard on a daily basis, as directed by an Accra High Court. Starting from Friday, October 13, 2023, until December 7, 2023, the new trial judge, Justice Aboagye Tandoh, emphasized that the parties involved must report to court every weekday for the proceedings. The accused individuals, Dr. Stephen Opuni and Seidu Agongo, along with Agricult Ghana Limited, face a total of 27 charges, including willfully causing financial loss to the state and contravention of the Public Procurement Act in the purchase of Lithovit liquid fertiliser between 2014 and 2016. Justice Aboagye Tandoh took over the case from the previous judge, Justice Kwasi A. Gyimah, and announced the adoption of proceedings without prior consultation with the defense or prosecution, a departure from the usual practice. The defense had filed a motion to stay proceedings and reconsider the adoption of previous proceedings, but the motion was dismissed by the judge. During the hearing, there was also a brief delay as the prosecution had failed to serve one of the defense counsels with the necessary documents. The court stood down briefly to rectify the situation and ensure all parties were properly served. -Classfmonline The continuous Akosombo Dam Spillage is of very high level,and in coming days , many more distant communities will be affected. So far, farm lands, towns, animals, buildings, businesses etc are of severe damages; People are still counting their losses and thinking of how to overcome this avoidable prompt and voluminous spillage if there were to be planned controlled spillages long enough before the pressure mounted on the Dam. Health is Wealth; and one major public health risks arising from this kind of flooding is " Cholera Outbreak"*. Per feedbacks from relatives, and residents of the affected communities, the water level keeps flooding the more since Volta River Authority says they must still spill more to save the Dam. As a health practitioner, I am not oblivious of the consequences of open latrines, dead animals, burial graves etc to the outbreak of diseases when exposed into water bodies; cholera, typhoid, malaria, etc will soon be recording high if care is not taken. Hunger might even force some residents who have no alternatives for survival to depend on their rotten foods in the fridges , dead animals and many more. It would have been wise, healthy and preventive for government to declare a state of emergency in the affected and potential areas yet to be affected by the flooding to canvass more supports from all State Institutions, especially the security services and health services to be deployed to help the situation, but ever since the flooding started, it is getting obvious that the government not doing much to save lives and protect properties* Emergency funds should by now be released by ministry of finance to carry out intensive saving activities . As an advocacy organisation, we are calling on government to take proactive steps to saving the situations. We shall remain citizens. Thank you. Bismark Kwabla Kpobi Exc. Dir.. BSK Health Advocacy Foundation, Snr. Registered Mental Nurse. A concerned Citizen . [email protected] Lead convener of the #FixTheCountry Movement, Oliver Barker Vormawor has expressed outrage at the severe flooding in the Volta region caused by the spillage from the Akosombo and Kpone Dams. In a tweet on Friday, October 13, Mr. Barker Vormawor stated that the yearly release of the water by the Volta River Authority (VRA) has continued to cause pain and loss to riverside communities. I am particularly appalled that these water spillages by VRA are being treated as some natural disaster rather than intentional manmade actions, he wrote. He added that thousands have lost homes, businesses and livelihoods due to the floods. Mr. Barker Vormawor, whose own grandparents lost property when the Kpong Dam was built decades ago, said the disregard for residents lives is unacceptable. VRA cannot continue to disrespect and disregard the lives of our people and take it as business as usual, he stated. The activist accused media and politicians of ignoring the culpability of VRA in the completely avoidable tragedy. He reiterated that the affected communities deserve justice for the losses caused by giving up their lands for the dams. "Our people deserve justice. From Akwamufie to Mepe and Gbenorkofe, through Amedeka and Asutsuare. We deserve justice," he wrote. Currently, over 500 households remain flooded in the Volta region with properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis destroyed. Meanwhile, VRA claims it is providing relief items to victims in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organization to victims. French police used teargas and water cannon to break up a banned pro-Palestinian protest in Paris on Thursday, as President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to remain united and refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict home. Some 3,000 demonstrators gathered at Place de la Republique in central Paris in support of Palestinians and against the Israeli government. Protesters waved the Palestinian flag and chanted Palestine will win, "Israel murderer" and "Macron accomplice". Macron has previously condemned the 7 October terror attack by Hamas and voiced solidarity with Israel. Thirteen French citizens are confirmed to have been killed in the Hamas attack and 17 more children and adults are missing. Macron's interior minister had earlier banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were "likely to generate disturbances to public order". But demonstrators in Paris on Thursday defended their right to protest. "We live in a country of civil law, a country where we have the right to take a stand and to demonstrate," said Charlotte Vautier, 29, an employee at a non-profit, adding it was "unfair" to forbid one side and authorise the other. 'No justification' for terrorism France is home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities. In a televised address on Thursday evening, Macron urged the French not to pursue at home ideological adventures by imitating or projecting. France's leader said the government had acted to boost police protection of Jewish sites, including schools and synagogues, and that there could be no justification for atrocities. "Those who confuse the Palestinian cause with the justification of terrorism are making a moral, political and strategic mistake," Macron said. Before he spoke, the far-left France Unbowed party (LFI) faced criticism for refusing to call the Hamas attack an act of terrorism, causing tension with the Socialist and Green parties that are part of the left-wing Nupes coalition set up by LFI. (with Reuters) Globally, the 10th of October is observed as World Mental Health Day. The theme for 2023 is MENTAL HEALTH IS A UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHT. Health can be defined as healthy state of well-being which should address the general condition of body and mind. The WHO has emphasized that the presence of major physical diseases affects the mental health of individuals as well as of entire families. Mental health is a basic human right for all people. Unfortunately, people with mental health needs around the world, particularly Africa, experience a wide range of human rights violations. Such persons are excluded from community life, discriminated against, and denied basic rights such as food and shelter. More than half of persons living with mental illness in most developing countries are homeless. Homelessness not only indicates a failure to guarantee access to safe, affordable, and adequate home for all, but it also violates as well a number of other human rights. It also violates the principle of human dignity enshrined in articles 1 and 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This years celebration coincides with the 12th anniversary of Mensah Mental Health Rehabilitation Project (MEMHREP) worldwide. The NGO operates in about four countries, namely Ghana, UK, Netherlands, and Sierra Leone, and is dedicated to addressing the plights of persons living with mental illness and other vulnerabilities. The organisation has over the years rescued hundreds of persons with mental illness sleeping on the streets of Ghana and beyond and given them employable skills after rehabilitation. It has also fed, clothed, and educated thousands of vulnerable people through its FEE module. The FEE (FEED, EDUCATE, and EMPLOY) programme is a social intervention module designed to reduce mental illness in a particular area where persons suffering from mild symptoms of mental illness could be located. Other modules of the NGO includes: Mental Health Education (MHE), Community Mental Health Support (CMHS), Mental Health Outreach (MHO), Complimentary Home Support (CHS) and the Agricultural programme. The primary goal of the NGO is to complete an ongoing ultra- modern rehabilitation centre in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The facility, upon completion, will provide quality mental health care for persons living with mental illness in Ghana and beyond. The organisation is therefore appealing to companies, religious bodies, governments, and individuals to come to their aid for the completion of this project. We believe your financial and moral support would put smiles on the faces of persons with mental illness and other vulnerabilities and make the world a better place for all. The rehabilitation centre, upon completion, will be able to house about 300-500 in-patients as well as 1,500 out-patients. The site will consist of the following: Resettlement centre containing workshops and apprenticeship centres that will provide skills training for recovered service users before integrated into their families and society. Conference centre, which will contain a chapel and mosque for prayers and spiritual upliftment of our service users. Doctors and nurses' bedroom flats, which will provide accommodation for resident staff. Day clinic ( Out-patient) comprising of a pharmacy, male and female wards, laboratory, administration office, consulting rooms, nurses bay, records, and injection rooms. Kitchen/ Dining halls for staff and service users, offices, and staff stations, including security posts. Waste treatment plants. Outdoor recreational facilities/ Parks Many thanks for your support. MEMHREP CONTACTS: CEO: 00233(0)244292513 (WhatsApp calls) Mr Adu Manager: 00233(0)535217456 (Mrs Mary) To support: MTN MOMO 0240838893 (MEMHREP) [email protected] Executives of Duapa Mothers Union, an NGO based in Kwame Danso of Sene West District has organized a days training for women aiming for leadership positions in the area. It was held on 12th October, 2023, covering women aspiring specifically for parliamentary positions, political appointments, District assembly membership, unit committee and other leadership positions that can be contended for. The program formed part of a 15-month project dubbed; Women Inclusion and Social Equity (WISE). It is funded by Star Ghana Foundation aims at increasing womens interest and their participation at all levels of governance in the Sene West District. Duapa Mothers Union convened the training following the level of disparities in the representation of women vis-a-vis the local governance structures in the District. The hardest hit are those with disabilities. The status quo according to the union does not promote fair society and so we believe that the District Chief Executive, Traditional leaders, Civil Society Groups and all the political party leaderships must initiate a WISE Action to bridge this gap. Philip Duah, Programmes Associate for Duapa Mothers Union said they have realized that social stigma and discrimination are not creating an inclusive society in the area specifically at Kwame Danso. Only men are making decisions for the area, meanwhile women are equally important. This is not only characterizing the local governance. It has affected the political and religious structures as well. He called on all stakeholders to make sure that women are pushed to occupy decision making positions in the district. Duapa Mothers Union has so far selected and groomed 20 women who are contesting for this years assembly and unit committee elections. Philip Duah indicated that the Union is going to make sure that a higher percentage of the women running for the positions win the contest. It is our hope that in the year coming year 2024, a woman will be the Presiding Member for Sene West District, he stated. A press statement issued on the sidelines of the event noted that out of the total of 20 elected Assembly members in the District, there was no woman. Below is a copy of the Press statement: WOMEN INCLUSION AND SOCIAL EQUITY (WISE) CALL FOR ACTION NOW We the members of the Duapa Mothers Union based in Kwame Danso in the Sene West District of Bono East Region, thereby make this WISE call for Women Inclusion and Social Equity in the governance process of the Sene West District. Duapa Mothers Union is a women focused group with a vision to seeing an inclusive society that enables all women and girls to enjoy their full potentials. With support from Star Ghana Foundation, the Association hopes to contribute to the development of all women and girls by representing and championing their interest; especially for women and girls with disabilities and mental health conditions. Our call is made as a result of disparity in representation of women especially women with disabilities in the local governance structures in the District. This situation does not promote a fair society and so we believe that, the District Chief Executive, traditional leaders, religious leaders, civil society groups and all the political party leaderships must initiate a WISE Action to bridge this gab. Duapa Mothers Union is devastated with the current situation in the Sene West District where Out of a total of 20 elected Assembly members currently in Sene West District, there is no Woman among them. Unfortunately, only 2 women were appointed out of 10 appointed government nominees. This means that, women represent 2/30 or 6.6% within the Sene West District Assembly. The sad of the matter is that, there is no woman with disability (0%) appointed or elected to serve in the General Assembly. Out of a total of 100 elected Unit Committee members within 20 electoral areas in the Sene West District, there is only 1 person being a woman, representing 1% and unfortunately there is no woman with disability. Only 25 women out of 208 people (rep. 12%) serving on Town Development committees are women. Unfortunately; none of them is a Woman with disability. This situation can be attributed to Existing myths and misconceptions associated with women ability to lead and disability which has generated self-stigmatization among more women in the district especially women with disabilities and mental health conditions. Community stigma is physically demonstrated by the use of derogatory language (negative words and phrases for women in politics especially women with disabilities and mental health conditions) to reference victims, with obvious disregard for their sentiments. In churches and other religious spaces, sermons project women as second class of people that cannot lead especially and disability as a curse or punishment. The stigma extends to dependents of women in politics and caregivers of women with disabilities and mental health conditions. By this press release, we are demanding the following: 1. Entreating all Community leaders to create a culture of support at community levels that provides equal opportunities for women to take actively part in the upcoming District Assembly elections. We encourage all communities to do away with negative words and phrases that discourage women to freely contest for positions of the choice. We are calling on families and men to support womens agenda and their passion to serve their communities irrespective of their conditions or disability. 2. We are calling on the Member of Parliament for Sene West, The District Chief Executive, political parties and all stakeholders to allocate more slots for women's appointments including women with disabilities as District Assembly members for the Sene West District. 3. We are encouraging women especially women with disabilities including women with mental health conditions to rise up, participate and change the social narratives surrounding women's participation in governance. Duapa believes that women including women with disabilities have the potential and disability is not inability. The Association believes that gender, physical and mental conditions should not be a challenge for women to enjoy their full potential. Thank you A family-owned apartment developer is hoping the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency will back its construction of 12 market-rate units in North Tonawanda with nearly $830,000 in tax breaks. Cityscape Property Management owned by cousins Joe Vecchio and Frank Cefalu has been building small apartment buildings in Western New York for more than 11 years, amassing a portfolio of more than 30 units in Buffalo, Kenmore, Tonawanda and Cheektowaga. Sign up for the Buffalo Next free newsletter The News' Buffalo Next team covers the changing Buffalo Niagara economy. Get the news in your inbox 5 days a week. Its currently constructing five buildings with a total of 17 apartments in North Tonawanda, near DeGraff Memorial Hospital, that should be completed by year-end. And it has plans for three more buildings in North Tonawanda with another dozen townhome-style units. We believe our properties have increased the value of surrounding properties, and since weve built on previously vacant land, parking lots and distressed properties, its been to the benefit of those around us, Vecchio said. The new units would be luxury market-rate rentals, according to the firms application, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and an attached garage. These luxury market-rate apartments are just what new tenants are looking for, the firm wrote. Under Niagara County IDA policy and prior state guidance, market-rate housing is considered a commercial activity if it promotes employment opportunities and prevents economic deterioration in the area served by the IDA, but the final determination is made by IDA board members. Specific considerations for eligibility include whether the projects face development obstacles or advance or address a larger community need. In this case, the company says the 1,300-square-foot apartments are needed in North Tonawanda, as part of solving what the state has called a once-in-a-generation housing crisis, noting that Gov. Kathy Hochuls three-year Housing Compact which never passed the state Legislature had called for 149 new units in that city. But Vecchio and Cefalu say the rental income it can collect on them $2,340 to $2,600 per month isnt enough to offset the rising labor, material, construction and financing costs. So its asking for $828,528 in tax breaks for the projects, which will cost $3.37 million to build. Without these incentives, the project will not be viable, the company wrote. We realize were saying market-rate apartments, so the natural assumption is that you have high rents and high revenues, Vecchio said. But, he added, theres still a limit to what we can rent for, regardless of all the amenities. He said this is the first time that the private company has asked for any government assistance, variances, zoning changes or any other benefits, but the climate has changed dramatically in the last 18 to 24 months. Were at the point where material costs and availability continue to be unpredictable, he said. Labor costs continue to rise, and financing costs are higher than theyve been in many years. Without the incentives before you today, the two projects will not be built. The numbers just do not work. The projects are in two locations. First, Cityscape is proposing to combine the lots at 1304 and 1310 Payne Ave., along with 325 Stenzil St., and then construct two buildings totaling eight units. The corner project, on 0.6 acres of vacant land, would feature five units in one building and three in the other. It would cost $2.24 million including $90,000 to acquire the property, $1.9 million for construction, $100,000 for furnishings and equipment, and $4,000 in professional fees. Funding would include a $1.57 million bank loan, plus $673,200 in developer equity, or 30% of the cost. The second site, at 83 Division St., would involve a single building with four units, on 0.2 acres. It would cost $1.12 million, including $45,000 to purchase the land, $925,000 to put up the building, $45,000 in fixtures, and $2,000 in fees. And it would be funded with a $785,400 bank loan and $336,600 in equity again, 30%. Between them, Cityscape is asking NCIDA for a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes on the properties that would save it $686,276, along with $124,600 in sales tax breaks and $17,672 in mortgage-recording tax relief. We like North Tonawanda, Cefalu said. We think its a great place. It has a lot of potential. People like living there, and we like being there, and we want to make it work there. Meanwhile, Mark Trammells MHT Holdings will get $574,938 in tax breaks for his $3.64 million renovation of Brookside Commons Apartments at 6127 N. Whitham Drive, which will keep the 15 units priced for the low-income residents who live there. The 16,098-square-foot building was constructed in 1969, and will get new windows, kitchen cabinets, baths, appliances, fixtures, landscaping and mechanicals. As a condition of approval, Trammell had to agree not to displace any current residents, unless they choose to move., in order to address concerns cited by multiple officials from the Town of Niagara at a public hearing. The project is part of a larger two-year acquisition and redevelopment effort that also includes the 60-unit Silver Lake Apartments on Buffalo Avenue in Niagara Falls, as well as four other apartment properties with 82 units in Erie County, in Kenmore and the Town of Tonawanda. Trammell is also seeking $5.9 million in tax-exempt bond financing from NCIDA for the Brookside and Silver Lake projects, but that will be taken up separately, later. Trammell still needs to complete the purchase of the properties and obtain any municipal site plan approvals prior to starting construction, expected in the first quarter of 2024. Marrakech, 10 October 2023 African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development have called for key reforms of the Bretton Woods Institutions at the 2023 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. The call for reforms was made during a meeting of the Africa High-level Working Group on the Global Financial Architecture on the margins of the Annual Meetings in Marrakech, Morocco. Coordinated by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the High-level Working Group comprises African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the African Union, the African Development Bank, Afreximbank, and the World Bank, and includes the participation of IMF staff and Executive Directors. The Group serves as a forum to develop reform proposals for the global financial architecture and strengthen the African voice on the global stage. Reform proposals for the IMF Amidst the polycrisis, Ministers underscored the urgency of increasing access to liquidity and bolstering the global financial safety net. Specifically, they stressed the importance of securing adequate loan and subsidy resources for the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) to ensure a minimum lending capacity of at least SDR 3 billion per year from 2025. It was noted that additional funding could be secured through three key avenues. Firstly, by increasing funding pledges from donor countries to the PRGT. Secondly, by permanently terminating the PRGT Administrative Cost Reimbursement. Thirdly, by selling parts of the IMFs gold reserves in the medium term. Ministers welcomed the IMF Executive Board decision from March 2023 to temporarily raise annual access limits for the General Resource Account (GRA) to 200 percent of quota and the cumulative access limit to 600 percent of quota. They called for making these increased access limits permanent and for aligning the PRGTs access limits with those of the GRA. Ministers also highlighted a pressing need for further resource mobilization for the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) to ensure that more countries can access IMF lending with extended maturities to build their long-term resilience. It was acknowledged that IMF surcharges, which represent an additional interest payment due on large outstanding GRA loans, are placing an unnecessary burden on countries. Ministers called for suspending/waiving IMF surcharges for two to three years and for reviewing to the IMF's surcharge policy. Furthermore, Ministers called for reforming the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) system. Ministers urged enabling the rechanneling of SDRs to Multilateral Development Banks, including the African Development Bank. Additionally, the SDR allocation formula should be reformed to consider not only IMF quotas but also countries' liquidity needs. There were also appeals to make SDR allocation decisions in a more rule-based, analytical manner to reduce the discretionary and political nature of the allocation process, including by clarifying the Unexpected Major Developments provision. Ministers also discussed the need to reform the G20 Common Framework to make it more effective, time-bound, and transparent. Proposals included a suspension of debt service for all countries entering Common Framework restructurings and an expansion of eligibility for the Framework to middle-income countries. Additionally, there were calls for making bolder use of the IMF Lending into Arrears policies to reduce the leverage of holdout creditors. Furthermore, a strong call was made for the inclusion of climate-resilient debt clauses in all new sovereign debt issuances, which would allow countries to pause debt service payments in the event of climate-related disasters. Finally, Ministers issued a resounding call to strengthen Africas voice and representation on the global stage. While welcoming a general IMF quota increase, they emphasized the further need to reform the IMFs quota formula to increase Africas quota share. Ministers also expressed support for the establishment of an additional chair to represent African countries at the IMF Executive Board to amplify the regions voice and representation. There was a consensus that given the enormous challenges facing Africa, the additional chair is needed for the IMFs timely and effective response. Reform proposals for the World Bank Ministers also discussed reform proposals for the World Bank building on the ongoing World Bank evolution process. They asked that a better funded and more effective World Bank dedicates adequate attention to the specific needs and priorities of African countries, including regional integration, infrastructure development, and structural transformation. Additionally, Ministers underscored the importance of scaling up both concessional and non-concessional financing from the World Bank to enable the institution to effectively fulfill its expanded vision and mission, while safeguarding the principle of additionality. To provide more financing through the International Development Association (IDA), Ministers advocated for increased donor pledges to the IDA20 Crisis Response Window Plus and emphasized the need for an ambitious replenishment for IDA 21, aligning with the objective to triple IDA by 2030. For the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), there were calls to continue with the implementation of balance sheet optimization measures while also seeking a capital increase. Ministers called for leveraging more effectively existing resources and transforming the World Banks approach to project delivery. This includes strengthening the crisis response including through rapid and greater access to the Crisis Response Window, enhanced contingent financing, collaboration with the insurance industry, and the creation of new market instruments. Additionally, it was stressed that conducting thorough cost-benefit analyses for projects with public good elements, especially those related to climate, is crucial. Furthermore, Ministers highlighted the importance of a One World Bank approach to cut transaction costs and duplication. The need for effective collaboration with other Multilateral Development Banks, such as the African Development Bank, was also underscored. There was a strong emphasis on the need for the World Bank to expand the use of guarantees to reduce borrowing costs for developing countries. One effective measure could be the development of joint guarantee products supported by all World Bank Group institutions. To crowd in the private sector de-risking techniques and blended finance vehicles could be used. Lastly, Ministers emphasized that vulnerabilities beyond a countrys income status should be considered to determine eligibility for concessional financing. 13.10.2023 LISTEN The former National Vice Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress, H.E. Alhaji Said Sinare writes an emotional open letter to commemorate his mother's 94th birthday. In the letter going viral on the internet, the NDC's Zongo president, H. E Alhaji Said Sinare described his mother as an angel and a pillar of the Sinare family. "As the pillar of the Sinare family, after our father joins our greatest Allah, your dedication to making our lives better has been second to none. "You have always been there for us, through thick and thin, and for that, we are eternally grateful," he stated. H.E Alhaji Said Sinare, the founder of the Zongos for the NDC prays that the 94th birthday of his mother should be used by his greatest Allah as a point of contact to reward former President H.E John Dramani Mahama and the NDC with a resounding political victory come 2024. "May you continue to enjoy good health, peace, and happiness now and always, and may Allah use your birthday as the point of contact for the 2024 victory of H.E John Dramana Mahama and the NDC," he noted. Read full statement below: OPEN LETTER FROM H. E ALHAJI SAID SINARE TO HIS MUM, HAJIA SOUAD EL ROUBY ON HER 94TH BIRTHDAY. Dear Mummy, Hajia Souad El Rouby On this special day, I respectfully extend my warmest congratulations to you on your 94th birthday. You are a remarkable woman who has touched the lives of so many people with your kindness, love, and compassion. Your invaluable guidance and unwavering support have been a constant source of strength for our family. As the pillar of the Sinare family, after our father joins our greatest Allah, your dedication to making our lives better has been second to none. You have always been there for us, through thick and thin, and for that, we are eternally grateful. Your selflessness and grace have left an indelible mark on our lives, and we can only hope to emulate the same qualities you possess. You are not only a mother, but a friend, confidant, and an inspiration to us all. We are blessed to have you in our lives, and on this momentous day, I pray that our greatest Allah blesses you with many more healthy and happy years. May you continue to enjoy good health, peace, and happiness now and always, and may Allah use your birthday as the point of contact for the 2024 victory of H.E John Dramana Mahama and the NDC. With all my love and regards, Thank you, Your Dearest Son, H.E Alhaji Said Sinare. 13.10.2023 LISTEN The flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has revealed that he is hurt by the departure of failed flagbearer aspirant Alan Kyerematen from the party. Alan Kyerematen, a former Minister for Trade and Industry announced his resignation from the NPP in September weeks after he withdrew from contesting the flagbearer election of the NPP. I wish to use this platform to announce that I am honourably resigning with immediate effect from the New Patriotic Party to contest for the high office of the President of the Republic of Ghana in the 2024 General Elections, as an Independent Presidential Candidate, Alan Kyerematen announced at a Conference. Speaking to Starr FM in an interview on Thursday, October 12, Dr. Owusu Akoto Afriyie described Alans exit as unfortunate. Arguing that politics is about numbers, the former Minister for Trade and Industry said the NPP needs Alan Kyerematen and every other member of the party to win the 2024 General Elections. We are in politics and politics is about numbers. It doesnt matter the stature of the person. It could be the youth organizer of MA Primary School Polling Station. If he turns his back on us I am equally hurt as any member. For me its unfortunate. We need every soul to break the 8 next year, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto said. Regardless of what has happened, the former Trade and Industry Minister is confident that the NPP can regroup to win the 2024 General Elections to stay in power. The European Commisson has launched a probe into X (formerly Twitter) the first under new EU tech rules over allegations the platform was spreading disinformation about the Hamas-Israel war. EU industry chief Thierry Breton announced the investigation on Thursday, having also reprimanded social media platforms TikTok and Meta this week for disinformation. All three platforms have seen a surge in false and misleading reports since Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October. X, TikTok and Meta are under pressure to remove illegal and harmful content from their platforms in compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force in the EU in November last year. The Act forces very large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security, and protect their services against manipulative techniques. "We have sent @X a formal request for information, a first step in our investigation to determine compliance with the DSA," Breton said in a posting on X on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday X CEO Linda Yaccarino said the platform had removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content since the attack, responding to a letter Breton sent X on Tuesday. Elon Musk, the owner of X, said in a post on Friday that the EU "still haven't provided any examples of disinformation". Researchers say a move by Musk to cut off free academic access to a data tool earlier this year is making it harder to track keywords and hashtags, forcing them to manually sift through content to trace disinformation. Since taking over Twitter, Musk has slashed the workforce to cut costs, including many who worked on content moderation, identifying and taking down coordinated propaganda campaigns and curating reliable content. (with Reuters) 13.10.2023 LISTEN A licensed Physician Assistant has admonished men to reconsider their beliefs regarding the practice of breast sucking. He emphasised that men who engage in this activity should instead focus on breast examination to check for any signs of lymph in their partners breast tissue. Mr Ernest K. Agyare, a candidate running for the position of president of the National Health Students Association, dispelled some common misconceptions related to breast cancer. He addressed these misconceptions during an interview on Accra 100.5 FM on Friday, October 13, 2023. The Physician Assistant clarified that there is no scientific evidence supporting the notion that men sucking a woman's breast can prevent breast cancer. Mr Agyare encouraged men who enjoy fondling or sucking their partner's breasts to use the opportunity to perform breast examinations simultaneously, as this is a more effective way to detect the presence of lymph or other abnormalities in the breast tissue. He emphasised that simply engaging in breast sucking does not have any impact on the early detection of breast cancer. -Classfmonline The High Commission of South Africa in Ghana has announced that South Africa will begin waiving visa requirements for ordinary Ghanaian passport holders, allowing visits of up to 90 days per year. In a media release dated October 13th, the High Commission stated: "The High Commission of the Republic of South Africa has the honor to inform the Republic of Ghana that both Governments agreed to implement the waiver for visa exemption for ordinary passport holders for a cumulative period of ninety (90) days per annum, with effect from 01 November 2023." The new visa waiver program aims to make travel between the two nations more accessible. Previously, Ghanaians had to obtain a visa before every trip to South Africa, which involved a lengthy application process. "Should the ninety (90) days be exhausted within the twelve (12) months period, ordinary holders are required to apply for a visa to enter the Republic of South Africa," cautioned the High Commission in the release. The announcement removes a key barrier and allows Ghanaians to more easily experience South Africa's tourism offerings or conduct business trips. Hatred for Addo Showboy has rendered actions of certain people beyond comprehension. Our values have all abandoned us to such a stage that vices that must ordinarily be frowned upon are celebrated as virtues. If that were not the case, will this country get to a stage where two old men would call on the President to resign because they claimed he has failed the nation. These fatigued old men are just out to cause mischief by their baseless allegations against the NPP government. Nyaho Tamakloe and Nunoo Mensah must reflect the wisdom of those who meet the standards of statesmen. Very bizarre things are happening as the norm in our society to the extent that a group of agitators would mass up in front of a major hospital like 37 Military Hospital to protest against the government and the same group serving notice to picket at the Jubilee House in December for 31 days. Very soon the media and civil society groups and academia would urge them on because absurdity has taken over the acts of some who must know better just because of their thirst for regime change. These enemies of the state lack credible messages to convince the electorate that they have better alternative policies to the governing NPP. We are in abnormal times, hence the alteration of time-tested rules of engagement. While the protestors disturbed patients on admission at the 37 Military Hospital, media houses like Joy News and TV3 gave them live coverage into the night. No ethics nor professionalism is a guide to our daily conduct. In Kumasi, TV stations have turned their studios into a court to determine mostly marital matters. And nobody is questioning the capacity of the host and panel members to engage in such matters. As usual, we are all, including the media regulator, looking on in helpless amazement. Today, to all those abusing media freedom, we advise them not to look far. Before they look for the British eminent jurist Lord Denning, they should become abreast of Chapter 12 of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution. Chapter 12 guarantees all the parameters for media freedom to thrive without any prior restraint. But in the discharge of our duties to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people of Ghana, we are warned of landmines on this professional journey. In Article 164, the Constitution says the provisions of Articles 162 and 163 of this Constitution are subject to laws that are reasonably required in the interest of national security, public order, public morality and for the purpose of protecting the regulations, rights and freedoms of other persons. That is why we encourage journalism pedagogy for persons such as A Plus and Bulldog before they demonstrate their arrogant militancy on national television. For some of the happenings on national radio and television, they have no room in journalism. May we ask whether the GJA Code of Ethics has any relevance to journalists in recent days? Blackmail and hate speech have nothing to do with freedom of expression. Lord Denning noted that freedom of the press is extolled as one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty. It is entrenched in the constitutions of the world. But is often misunderstood. I will first say what it does not mean. It does not mean the press is free to ruin a reputation or to break a confidence or to pollute the course of justice or to do anything unlawful. It means that there should be no censorship. No restraint should be placed on the press as to what they should publish. Not by a licensing system. Nor by executive direction. Nor by court injunction. It means the press should be free from what Blackstone calls previous restraint or what our friends in the United States, co-heirs with us of Blackstone, call prior restraint. The press is not restrained in advance from publishing whatever it thinks right to publish. It can publish whatever it chooses to publish. But it does so at its own risk. It can publish and be damned. Afterwards, after publication, if the press has done anything unlawful, they can be dealt with by the courts. If they should offend by interfering in the course of justice, they can be punished in proceedings for contempt of court. Those who are abusing the sensibilities of the people by accusing them wrongly better take a cue. The rights of media practitioners do not outweigh those of ordinary citizens. They should not abuse the public trust to lead in championing media freedom and free expression in the country. Source: Daily Guide Dr. Toni Aubynn, Board Chairman of ARP Apex Bank, has said that the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) has had a negative impact on the growth plans of Rural and Community Banks. According to him, the sector has incurred a loss of GHS1.10 billion as a result of the recently concluded DDEP. Dr. Aubynn noted that this decision has disrupted the growth trajectory of Rural and Community Banks (RCBs). He made these remarks during the opening of the five-day 22nd Annual Conference of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of RCBs in Ho. The conference is being held under the theme, Expanding the Frontiers of Business for Rural and Community Banks Post DDEP Role of CEOs. The Conference is being attended by more than 200 delegates. He challenged CEOs of RCBs to change their mindsets and make positives of the current DDEP initiatives and transform it to Domestic Deposit Expansion Programme as these RCBs hold the largest number of customers in the banking sector. He recognised the unique role that RCBs play in fostering economic development and financial inclusion. He noted that expanding the frontiers of business for RCB would require a multifaceted approach including embracing innovation and technology to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness into Digital banking solutions, mobile payment platforms, and online lending services to help bridge the gap as well as foster strategic partnerships and collaborations. He again called for investment in the development of human capital by nurturing a culture of continuous learning and professional growth to meet the evolving needs of their numerous customers. Expanding the frontiers of business for rural and community banks post Domestic Debt Exchange Programme is a collective endeavour that requires visionary leadership, innovation, collaboration, and a strong sense of social responsibility. As CEOs, we have the power to shape the future of our banks and make a lasting impact on the communities we serve. Let us seize this opportunity to drive positive change, empower individuals and businesses, and create a more inclusive and sustainable financial sector. Together, we can build a brighter future for rural communities and ensure that no one is left behind, Dr Aubynn added. Mr Alex Kwasi Awuah, Managing Director, ARB Apex Bank indicated that RCBs has risen to 147 and spread across 800 plus locations across all 16 regions, since the first set up at Agona Nyakrom in the Central Region in 1976, it has become leaders in micro, small, and medium financial delivery to entrepreneurs and businesses in the rural areas of the country. He expected the government to offer concessions during the introduction of major austerity programmes such as tax hikes and the recently concluded DDEP. He lamented the many presentations to government for a reduction in the applicable corporate income tax rate for the RCBs, which is now increased to 25 per cent from the eight per cent, remained unheeded. ]Mr Awuah called for the reduction of the corporate income tax rate from the current 25 per cent to 10 per cent, to facilitate speeding up of capital accumulation that would quickly restore the strong solvency position of the affected banks. He said ARB Apex Bank and the RCBs, which held GHC1.10 billion in government bonds under the DDEP after the restructuring, wiped up projected incomes, leading to significant losses due to impairment charges. He said it is critical for RCBs to engraft Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risk principles into its operations and financial reporting and has engaged a team of consultants from Deloitte and Touche Ghana Country office to begin the processes of guiding them to integrate ESGs. Professor Richard Bani, Volta/Oti Chapter, Association of Rural Banks in a welcome address announced that RCBs need to shore up their operating capital base adding that up to some GHC400 Million belonging to the banks including Volta and Oti regions remained locked up with Security and Exchange Commission and other regulated financial institutions. He said though there are two cases in court concerning the matter, discussions have taken a dip and prayed that the issue be brought to the front-burner to enable locked-up funds released to them to regenerate the economy of the rural people. He said since the emergence of the DDEP the Bank of Ghana had placed moratorium on RCBs to raise additional equity to meet their CSR. He said more credit means readiness to grant more funds to their customers and called for drastic measures towards releasing their locked-up funds to facilitate strategising to create better value for the banks and shareholders. GNA Joe Jackson 13.10.2023 LISTEN The Director of Business Operations at Dalex Finance, Mr. Joe Jackson has reacted to the jailing of the founder of defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien. Mr. Ato Essien was convicted of stealing over GHS90 million of Bank of Ghanas liquidity support to the now-defunct financial institution on Thursday, October 12, and sentenced to 15 years in prison in hard labour. Speaking to TV3 on the latest development, Mr. Joe Essien said he is filled with sadness. According to him, he wished the state could retrieve all the money from Ato Essien. I am filled with sadness, the sadness is on two levels. Number one is that, more than a conviction we really need to get our money back. The public purse was raided to resolve this issue and if there is an establishment that funds have been misused, we have to get the money back and so the conviction just shows that we havent still been able to the money back. For me that is sad, the Finance expert said. Mr. Joe Jackson continued, The second level of sadness is this; Capital Bank represented local indigenous ownership of our financial sector, nobody is going to grow this country or our financial sector for us, eventually Ghanaians have to own it so that we can do the best for the country and not to ship the money out or ship the money in depending on where you stand. Meanwhile, Mr. Jackson believes that jailing Ato Essien will send a good signal to the financial sector. He adds that it will also show to corporate Ghana that the legal systems are working and no one will get away with wrongdoings. The Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah has revealed that the state will still go after Mr. William Ato Essien to recover the remaining GHS53 million although he has been sentenced to jail. The former CEO of the defunct Capital Bank was convicted of stealing over GHS90 million of Bank of Ghanas liquidity support to the now-defunct financial institution on Thursday, October 12, and sentenced to 15 years in prison in hard labour. Speaking to Joy News, Alfred Tuah Yeboah said even after Ato Essien serves his jail term, he will not be free. The Deputy Attorney General said the state will continue to pursue the former CEO of Capital Bank to recover every penny. If he serves this sentence, the State will still pursue him and get the remaining amount and so it is not as if he is going to serve his sentence and then the amount will be forfeited. We are going to trace his encumbered properties and go after that in a civil action, Alfred Tuah Yeboah said. Mr. Ato Essien has been jailed after he failed to pay back GHS90 million through an arrangement he made with the court. He earlier paid GHS30 million upfront in December 2022 and was required to pay GHS20 million as the first installment of the outstanding GHS60 million by April 28, 2023. He was, however, only able to pay GHS5 million. In May, he was given until July 4, to liquidate his assets and pay the state GH55 million. The deadline elapsed without any payments made, forcing the state to submit a request to the court to seek a custodial sentence in line with the agreed terms. John E. Dziedzic was convicted in 1976 of kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint in Genesee County. Then in 1981 he was convicted of murdering a woman in Niawanda Park. According to the Batavia Daily News, he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a 21-year-old woman with a shotgun. On Monday, state police said, he was arrested following a complaint of suspicious activity at a Clarence motel. Investigators said that Dziedzic, now 71 and a registered Level 3 sex offender, approached two girls ages 14 and 16 at the Village Haven Inn on Main Street and offered them money, marijuana and candy if they would stay with him in his room, state police said in a news release Friday. Investigators said the victims did go into his living area. Dziedzic was arrested and taken to the state police barracks in Clarence. He was charged with felony counts of failing to provide a photo and failing to update his address to parole and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He was arraigned Tuesday in Clarence Town Court and returned Thursday for a felony hearing. He remains remanded to the Erie County Holding Center. The incident is under investigation by the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Buffalo Parole Office and the Erie County District Attorneys Office. After his arrest in the Clarence case, Dziedzic was arrested by Buffalo police on a warrant for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender. He was arraigned yesterday before City Court Judge Kevin J. Keane on one count of sex offender failing to update his address. Bail in that case was set at $1,000 cash, insurance bond or partially secured surety bond. Dziedzic was 25 when he raped the 16-year-old girl in Genesee County. According to the Daily News, he knocked on the door of a house and the girl, who was babysitting, answered the door. He claimed to have been in an accident and needed to use the phone. He pretended to make a call and then attacked the girl, forcing her to a cornfield where he raped her twice before fleeing. Troopers arrested him the next day in Alden, where he was from. He pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted rape and spent two years and three months in prison, Department of Records show. Then in 1980, he was arrested in the murder of Rose Piwowarski, 21. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and weapons charges, saying a co-defendant, Michael Zurenda, ordered the execution because he thought she would tell police about his drug-dealing operation, the Batavia paper said. Dziedzic was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. He was released on parole in 2020. Because of his prior violent rape conviction, he was placed on New York State Sex Offender registry as a Level 3 sex offender. Level 3 sex offenders are considered the most dangerous and remain on the registry for life. Dear Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, I pen these words with fervent hope and unwavering faith in your leadership potential. As a Presidential aspirant and a man who has demonstrated a commitment to the values of the New Patriotic Party, you, in your essence, are the religion of hope for the oppressed creatures, the heart of the heartless world, and the soul of the soulless people. Ghana, with its diverse regions, holds immense potential. I implore you to be the seamstress that stitches the North, East, and West to the South, East, and West. Make Ghana NEW with the North, East, and West and SEW Ghana with the South East, and West. Let us create a tapestry of unity and progress that transcends geographic boundaries, where every thread contributes to the strength of our nation. Invoke the spirit of the late Jerry John Rawlings, a man who, with all his complexities, exemplified the unwavering love for Ghana. Much like him, lead with an unswerving commitment to the welfare of every Ghanaian. Put our citizens on their toes, not through fear, but through inspiration. Stir within them a sense of duty and belonging, the very essence that Jerry Rawlings instilled in our hearts. Be the Trump of Ghana, not in terms of rhetoric, but in terms of determination. Embrace the vigor and audacity that will drive us forward. Have a presidential seat in the North, where you can witness firsthand the progress and development. Do not confine yourself to the four walls of an office; be a president of the people, for the people. Engage, empathize, and lead by example. Ghana needs a leader who understands that our strength lies in our diversity, a leader who is willing to cross boundaries and unite regions. It is my belief that you can be that leader, that unifying force that steers us towards a brighter future. In your hands, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong lies the power to reshape our nation. I beseech you to seize this opportunity to craft a new Ghana where every corner thrives and every citizen stands tall. Yours in the hope of a united and prosperous Ghana, 13.10.2023 LISTEN A very good friend of mine just sent me a video on WhatsApp in which an African American woman is advising people of African ancestry to stay out of the conflict between the Jews and the Arabs. The rationale for her injunction lies in the historical and ongoing reality of anti-Black racism exercised by both Jews and Muslims. Historically speaking, the Black female presenter is correct. Generally, neither Jews nor Muslims have been the greatest allies of Black people historically. Individually however there have been pristine examples of Jewish and Muslim allies who paid the ultimate price in the struggle to promote Black dignity. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, not withstanding the bad press he received, was a great friend of Sub-Saharan Africa. Jewish blood was shed during the Civil Rights era in an attempt to challenge the forces of Caucasian supremacy in the US. A monolithic view of a group of people will therefore hardly every tell the full story of the group and its relationship with anti-Black racism. Just as they were good Jews, Muslims, and Europeans who acted as our allies during the darkest period of Black oppression, the best among us should also strive to be the allies of the oppressed wherever oppression rears its ugly head. As a people who are still recovering from centuries of slavery, colonization, exploitation, and violent repression, people of African ancestry can both sympathize and empathize with the oppressed people of Palestine. Palestinians, like our African ancestors whose land was seized by force, have become victims of the Doctrine of Discovery formulated in Europe in 1493. The Doctrine of Discovery provided the legal framework for European explorers acting as agents of their sovereigns, to seize the land of non-Christian people. Simply put, if you were not a Christian, your land could be discovered and seized by Europeans. Vacant ancestral land in Africa and the New world was also declared to have been discovered by the Europeans. Ironically, the Catholic Church was the main instigator of the Doctrine of Discovery. The Papal Bull, Inter Caetera, issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, gave Spain exclusive rights to all lands discovered by Columbus. Central to the Doctrine of Discovery was the exaltation of the Christian religion and the overthrowing of barbarous nations. Another delicious irony connected to the Doctrine of Discovery is the embryo of the doctrine found in the Old Testament scriptures. After Moses went up the mountain and inhaled some of the burning bush, he came back down and told the Israelites that they were going into a land where they would meet people whom they would kill, and discover land, houses, and cities, that they would surreptitiously misappropriate. Clearly the modern nation of Israel is following the same script used by Moses as a blueprint for its inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people. The terms apartheid and the worlds largest mass prison have been used to describe the system of oppression being dished out to the Palestinians by the nation of Israel. The brutality, dislocations, and deaths that are a part of the daily experience of the Palestinian people suggest that a second conquest of Canaan is being attempted by modern day Jews. Just where should the global Black collective stand on the issue of Palestine as the nation of Israel with its Western allies prepares for a ground offensive that could obliterate the possibility of a two-state solution? Should we like President Biden be solidly in support of Israel notwithstanding its oppression of the Palestinian people or should our voices be heard at the UN and from Black capitals calling for the dismantling of the system of apartheid being practiced by the state of Israel and the restoration of land discovered or stolen from the Palestinian people? The nation of Israel is the last surviving openly racist and white supremacist nation internationally. European Jews with their Western allies have taken it upon themselves to carve out a nation in the Middle East that is ruled and financed by Caucasians. As in the case of South Africa under apartheid, the Jewish state is forced to rule by fear, intimidation, and violence. President Biden and the rest of the Caucasian world, by showing their unwavering support for the nation of Israel, are openly demonstrating their commitment to global Caucasian supremacy. Black democrats in the US should take note of this. Perhaps the greatest irony in the Palestinian saga is to be found in the reality that a group of people who garnered international sympathy because of an attempt at ethnic cleansing directed against them, have adopted very similar repressive methods in dealing with another group of people. After centuries of persecution, pogroms, dislocations, and a final solution that ended in genocide perpetrated by Christian Europeans as opposed to Middle Eastern Muslims, Jews ought to be the least likely people to turn around and use the same tactics against a people who very often were more merciful to them than their new found allies, the Christian Europeans. Lenrod Nzulu Baraka is the founder of Afro-Caribbean Spiritual Teaching Center and the author of The Rebirth of Black Civilization: Making Africa and the Caribbean Great Again. Implementers of the World Bank-funded GKMA Sanitation and Water Project have completed the construction of 38 out of 129 modern toilets across eight assemblies within Greater Kumasi. They were commissioned on Thursday 12th October 2023 by Hon Freda Akosua Prempeh, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources. Among the beneficiary schools and healthcare institutions are Ejisu Islamic Primay/JHS (11-seater sanitation facility), Bonwire SHS (15-seater sanitation facility), Ejisu Model School (15-seater sanitation facility), Fumesua M/A Primary and JHS (11-seater sanitation facility), Kwaso Health Center (5-seater sanitation facility), Bantama Presby Cluster of Schools (15-seater sanitation facility), Bantama Presby Cluster of Schools KG (5-seater), Nasariya Islamic School ( 9-seater sanitation facility), Asokore Mampong M/A JHS, A and B (11-seater sanitation facility), Sepe Timpom KG Block (11-seater sanitation facility), Sepe Timpom School JHS ( 11-seater sanitation facility), Appiadu RC Primary JHS (11-seater sanitation facility), Al-zariya Islamic School (11-seater sanitation facility), among others. Implementers of the project have since 2021 continued to pursue an agenda which is targeted at constructing a total of 129 modern toilets in about 90 selected schools and healthcare facilities in the eight assemblies so as to provide relief for about 200,000 school children, teachers, patients and other workers. Speaking at the commissioning, the Minster disclosed that the GAMA project alone has provided close to six hundred toilets between 2016 and 2023 and they are being used on a daily basis. She however called for the exercise of a maintenance culture so as to prolong the longevity of the facilities. We have gathered here to commission them officially not necessarily to tell the world about what we have done but to stress the need for the beneficiary schools and associated parents and children to appreciate the value of these toilets in the health and educational life of the children in particular and to solicit support from all to ensure that these toilets are well maintained. "It is one thing providing the beautiful facilities as we see here and another thing to maintain them so that the facilities will serve their designed lifespan. "There as so many schools in the country, where government and partners have provided decent toilet facilities before and yet just a few years or even months after, they are abandoned for the children to return to the bush and other unorthodox places to defecate. "We are here today to use these new toilet facilities as point of contact to declare that we have broken that spirit called Poor Maintenance Culture from our mentality, she said. She added, It will be sad on the part of government and quite discouraging on the part of the World Bank, to pay another visit to any of these new facilities in a couple of months or even years later only to see that once beautiful, gender and disability friendly, clean toilets with changing rooms for girls, tiled floors and walls and fitted with constant water supply and storage systems are not stinking and filthy, or locked up because of poor maintenance. The sector minister explained that should the toilets fail as a result of poor maintenance culture, Ghana will risk losing out on all the other components of the GKMA Project which include the provision of 30,000 household toilets, extension of piped water supply to 5,000 households, rehabilitation and expansion of the Asafo Sewerage System to connect more houses and capacity development of sanitation and water supply institutions. It is our belief that as government, we will all play our part so that the statement will be clear enough at the end of 2024 when the project is expected to end, that the government will not seat to make a justification for more support to scale up the project to other parts of the region and to other regions, he stated. Speaking on behalf of the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mr. Anful Kingsley thanked the World Bank for the generous support offered through the project. He said that such infrastructural support is what students need to become 21st-century learners. As a matter of fact, I have been in the field for so many years and this is the first time I have seen such a project, he remarked. He therefore called on Ghanaians to support the initiative. The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) joins the United Nations and the UNRWA agency in Gaza in warning of an impending catastrophe because of the savage Israeli heavy carpet bombardment of Gaza. The shutoff of all access to water, food, and electricity to 2.2 million Palestinians living under complete Israeli siege is a blatant violation of international law, is a war crime and is deeply troubling. Israels attack on health care facilities and killing of emergency aid crew members is condemnable in the strongest words. The cutoff of these essential basic needs is threatening millions of innocent lives especially those in dire need for health care including infants, children, women, and elderly. Cutting off water, food and power is an attempt at genocide. Peace loving people have been actively rallying against the savage and criminal Israeli attack against Palestinians in Gaza. As a result, threats began through certain social media posts or crank phone calls to intimidate and suppress their voices in support of Palestinians. AHRC salutes Dearborn Police Department and the law enforcement agencies for addressing a serious threat in a social media post that read Hey! Anyone in the Metro Detroit area want to go to Dearborn & hunt Palestinians? AHRC stresses on the importance of law enforcement agencies acting swiftly against any form or shape of threats. AHRC urges vigilance and asks anyone to report any suspicious acts to law enforcement. AHRC calls upon the Biden administration and the United Nations to compel Israel to agree on a cease-fire for the sake of the innocent civilians who are the ultimate victims of this war. The international community bears a moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to end this ongoing atrocity and genocide against Palestinian civilians and towns. AHRC urges all peace-loving people to continue to advocate for peace and justice in Palestine. Israels calling Palestinians human animals is blatant and shameless racism, added Hamad. Cutting off water, food and electricity on two million people is an attempt at mass murder and should not be allowed, concluded Hamad. The Office of the Attorney General has disclosed that lawyers of Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson have endorsed a request by a third party to pay off the monies lost in the controversial ambulance procurement case. The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency is currently standing a criminal trial for his involvement in the case. The Minority Leader together with two others is facing criminal charges of causing financial loss to the state in the ambulance deal. The three have been accused of criminal acts in the purchase of 50 faulty ambulances to the tune of 2.3 million Euros. In the case, Dr. Ato Forson has been accused of issuing letters of credit for the purchase of the ambulances without any authorization during his time as Deputy Finance Minister. Speaking to Citi News, Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah disclosed that a letter from a third party offering to pay the cost of the ambulances to see the case withdrawn has been endorsed by the lawyers of Dr. Ato Forson. I think last year someone who was not a party to that prosecution offered to make a refund and take the ambulance back and in lieu of that we withdraw the case. There was a second letter and we said we don't even know those of you who have written this letter. If you want those who are being prosecuted to take advantage of your proposal, they should rather come up with that proposal. The accused persons, some of them through their lawyers wrote that they actually endorse the letter written by the third party seeking to return the money. Mr. Forson's lawyers also wrote a letter seeking to say they were also siding with the third party who had offered to pay that money, Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah said. Meanwhile, the head of Legal Affairs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe has insisted that Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has not requested a plea bargain in the ongoing 2.3 million ambulance case. Speaking to City Prime News, he said, Let me say this with all the vehemence required, Cassiel Ato Forson has not applied either to the court or the Attorney General for a plea bargain. Any claim that he has put in a request for a plea bargain is completely false and a lie from the pit of hell. Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe 13.10.2023 LISTEN Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a founding Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has expressed deep concern over what he views as the abysmal performance of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana. He believes that the poor performance of the EC could have dire consequences for Ghana's democracy in the run-up to the 2024 general elections. Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe made these remarks during a press conference titled "The State of Ghana" two days ago. The press conference, held alongside other retired military capos, addressed a wide range of issues in the country, including politics, activism, the economy and security. Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe emphasized the urgent need to reconsider the processes and structure of the EC, with the aim of making it more politically neutral and operationally effective. He stated, The poor performance of the EC is a serious challenge to Ghanas democracy ahead of the 2024 general elections, that we have to think about seriously. To address these concerns, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe and Brigadier (retired) Nunoo Mensah proposed four ways to enhance the EC's performance in both the short and long term. They are as follows: The EC should be made more independent through an amendment of the Constitution, allowing EC members to be appointed by an independent body. The EC should enhance its accountability by publishing its activities and finances to promote transparency. The EC must establish a more effective system for handling complaints and grievances from various stakeholders in the electoral process. The EC should conduct regular audits to identify and address weaknesses within its operations and procedures. Controversies The EC has been a topic of discussion and debate in recent times, particularly during the limited voter registration exercise conducted across the country. There were disagreements between the EC and major opposition parties regarding the decentralization of the process. While political parties advocated for the exercise to be done at the electoral areas, the EC maintained its stance on using its district offices. 13.10.2023 LISTEN The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has reported the tragic death of a soldier, Lance Corporal (L/Cpl) Sapak Dickson, who allegedly took his own life while under investigation. In a press statement, GAF Director of Public Relations Brigadier General E Aggrey-Quashie said "The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) regrets to announce the death of a Soldier from the 48 Engineer Regiment, Lance Corporal (L/Cpl) Sapak Dickson, whose lifeless body was found hanging on an electrical cable, in the Unit's guard room." Preliminary investigations on the incident which occurred on Friday, October 13 at around 5:30am reveal the soldier had been placed in close custody on October 11 following reports of defrauding a Defence Civilian Staff. "Preliminary investigative report indicates that the Soldier who was under investigations for several cases of fraud was placed in close custody on Wednesday 11 October 2023 at about 19:30 hours on a report to the Regiment for defrauding a Defence Civilian Staff, the statement said. A joint team from the Ghana Military Police and CID are investigating the case, while the soldier's body is said to have been moved to the 37 Military Hospital mortuary. GAF concluded by expressing "deepest condolences to the bereaved family colleagues friends and loved ones of the deceased soldier." A Soldier from the 48 Engineer Regiment, Lance Corporal (L/Cpl) Sapak Dickson has committed suicide. This has been confirmed by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in a release issued on Friday, October 13. In the release, the Ghana Armed Forces said Lance Corporal Sapak Dickson had been under investigation for several cases of fraud before he took his own life. The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) regrets to announce the death of a Soldier from the 48 Engineer Regiment, Lance Corporal (L/Cpl) Sapak Dickson, whose lifeless body was found hanging on an electrical cable, in the Unit's guard room. The sad incident occurred on Friday 13 October 2023 at about 0530 hours. Preliminary investigative report indicates that the Soldier who was under investigations for several cases of fraud, was placed in close custody on Wednesday 11 October 2023 at about 1930 hours on a report to the Regiment for defrauding a Defence Civilian Staff, parts of the release from the Ghana Armed Forces said. After his body was found, a team from the Ghana Military Police and a CID personnel from Teshie Divisional Police Headquarters were dispatched to the scene for investigations. The body of the deceased soldier has since been conveyed to the 37 Military Hospital mortuary. In its release, the Ghana Armed Forces has extended its deepest condolences to the bereaved family, colleagues, friends, and loved ones of the deceased soldier. Edudzi Tamakloe, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Director of Legal Affairs, has refuted claims made by Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah that Cassiel Ato Forson, has asked for a plea bargain in the ongoing 2.3 million ambulance case against him. The Director of Legal Affairs of the NDC described the assertion as false and lies from the pit of hell. Mr. Tamakloe maintains that regardless of the obstacles, his client is prepared to demonstrate his innocence in court. In an interview with Citi News, he urged Ghanaians to reject such claims. Let me say this with all the vehemence required, Cassiel Ato Forson has not applied either to the court or the Attorney General for a plea bargain. Any claim that he has put in a request for a plea bargain is completely false and a lie from the pit of hell, Edudzi Tamakloe stated. He added, The third accused person, in the person of Richard Dzakpa, formally applied to the court for a plea bargain and the Office of the Attorney General reached out to us to know whether we are opposed or have any objection to Mr. Dzakpa entering into a plea bargain and we indicated out to them that there is no conspiracy charge and so everybody is on his own and so if Mr. Dzakpa wants a plea, we dont care. The Attorney Generals department has earlier indicated that lawyers of minority leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson initiated moves for a plea bargain. This revelation follows a challenge thrown at the Attorney Generals department, by lawyers of Dr. Ato Forson to put out any letter that suggests that their client has initiated any plea bargain talks. Dr. Ato Forson and two others are facing criminal charges of causing financial loss to the state in the faulty ambulance deal. The accused persons are accused of criminal acts in the purchase of 50 faulty ambulances to the tune of 2.3 million Euros. Dr. Ato Forson who was Deputy Finance Minister at the time of the purchase is specifically accused of issuing letters of credit for the purchase of the ambulances without any authorization. He has however denied this vehemently. The smears began the day Christian Ulate began representing jailed Guatemalan journalist Jose Ruben Zamora: tweets accusing the lawyer of being a leftist or questioning his legal credentials. He began to fear he was being surveilled. Ulate had taken over the case in August 2022 from two other lawyers, Romeo Montoya Garcia and Mario Castaneda, after the prosecutor in Zamoras case announced that they were under investigation. After less than three months of representing Zamora, Ulate left Guatemala for a trip to Honduras. The attacks, he said, stopped abruptly. Looking back, Ulate believes the harassment was part of a clear pattern. Other lawyers who would go on to represent Zamora there were 10 in total by the time of the journalists June conviction on money laundering charges widely considered to be retaliation for his work were harassed, investigated, or even jailed. Christian Ulate represented Jose Ruben Zamora. (Photo: The Lawyer) We knew that the system was against us, and that everything we, the legal team, did around the case was being closely scrutinized, Ulate told CPJ. Zamoras experience retaining legal counsel, while extreme, is hardly unique. CPJ has identified lawyers of journalists under threat in Iran, China, Belarus, Turkey, and Egypt, countries that are among the worlds worst jailers of journalists. To be sure, lawyers are not just targeted for representing journalists. Globally lawyers are increasingly criminalized or disciplined for taking on sensitive cases or speaking publicly on rule of law, human rights, and good governance issues, said Ginna Anderson, the associate director of the American Bar Association, which monitors global conditions for legal professionals. But lawyers and human rights advocates told CPJ that when a lawyer is harassed for representing a journalist, the threats can have chilling effects on the free flow of information. Inevitably, journalists unable to defend themselves against retaliatory charges are more likely to be jailed leaving citizens less likely to be informed of matters of public interest. A barometer of civil liberties Attacks on the legal profession like attacks on journalists can be a barometer of civil liberties in a country, legal experts told CPJ. Hong Kong, once viewed as a safe harbor for independent journalists, is one such example. The territory has seen multiple members of the press prosecuted under Beijings 2020 national security law, including media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, who faces life imprisonment. Lai, a British citizen, is represented by both U.K. and Hong Kong legal teams, which work independently of each other, and both have faced pressure. Caoilfhionn Gallagher, the head of the U.K. team, has spoken openly on X, formerly Twitter, about attacks on Lais U.K.-based lawyers, from smears in the Chinese state press to formal statements by Hong Kong authorities. Gallagher has faced death threats, attempts to access her bank and email accounts, and efforts to impersonate her online. That stuff is quite draining and attritional and designed to eat into your time. They want to make it too much hassle to continue the case, Gallagher told the Irish Times. The Hong Kong legal team representing Lai who has been convicted of fraud and is on trial for foreign collusion has also appeared to have come under pressure from authorities. After Lais U.K. lawyers angered Beijing by discussing Lais case with a British minister, the Hong Kong legal team issued a statement distancing itself from the U.K. lawyers. Jimmy Lai, center, walks out of court with his lawyers in Hong Kong on December 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Any appearance of working with foreigners could compromise not only Lais case but also the standing of his lawyers, said Doreen Weisenhaus, a media law expert at Northwestern University who previously taught at the University of Hong Kong. They have to appreciate the potential harm that they could face moving forward that they could become targeted as they try to vigorously represent Jimmy Lai, she told CPJ. CPJ reached out to Robertsons, the Hong Kong legal firm representing Lai, via the firms online portal and did not receive a reply. Moves to isolate and intimidate lawyers working on Lais case are part of a larger crackdown over the last decade, including Chinas 2015 roundup of 300 lawyers and civil society members. In many ways, China institutionalized wholesale campaigns of going after journalists, activists, and now lawyers, said Weisenhaus. Defending journalists who cover protests In Iran another country where the judiciary operates largely at the governments behest lawyers representing journalists have been targeted in the wake of the 2022 nationwide protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. Those protests saw the arrests of thousands of demonstrators and dozens of journalists, including Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who helped break the story of Aminis hospitalization. The two reporters are accused of spying for the United States; the two remain in custody while awaiting the verdict in their closed-door trials. Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, on October 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Middle East Images) Hamedi and Mohammadis lawyer, Mohammed Ali Kamfiroozi, who also represented human rights defenders, received warnings to dissuade him from continuing his work: phone calls from unlisted numbers, threats in the mail, ominous messages to his family, and an official letter from authorities telling him to stop his work, according to CPJs sources inside the country. Nevertheless, Kamfiroozi continued his work, publishing regular updates about his clients cases on X until he, too, was arrested on December 15, 2022 while inquiring at a courthouse about a client. Kamfiroozis last post on X before his arrest lamented the state of Irans judiciary: This level of disregard for explicit and obvious legal standards is regrettable. Kamfiroozi was released from Fashafouyeh prison after 25 days in detention and has not returned to his work as a lawyer, according to CPJs sources inside the country. A new legal team has since taken over the journalists cases. Since then, the crackdown on the legal profession has continued, with lawyers being summoned by the judiciary to sign a form stating they will not publicly release information about clients facing national security charges a common accusation facing journalists. Lawyers who fail to sign can be disbarred and arrested at the discretion of local judges. Lawyer Siarhej Zikratski stands at an office in Vilnius, Lithuania on May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis) Belarusian lawyers have also been muzzled in the wake of nationwide protests. After widespread demonstrations following the disputed August 2020 presidential election during which dozens of journalists were arrested Belarusian lawyers were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements preventing them from speaking publicly about many criminal cases. At least 56 lawyers representing human rights defenders or opposition leaders were disbarred or had their licenses revoked in the two years after the protests, and some were jailed, according to the International Bar Associations Human Rights Initiative, the American Bar Association, and the group Lawyers for Lawyers. Belarusian lawyer Siarhej Zikratski, whose clients included the now-shuttered independent news outlet Tut.by, imprisoned Belsat TV journalist Katsiaryna Andreyeva, and program director of Press Club Belarus Alla Sharko, was required to undergo a recertification exam which ultimately resulted in authorities revoking his license. He fled the country in May 2021 after he was disbarred and amid ongoing pressure from the government on his colleagues. Journalist Katsiaryna Andreyeva gestures inside a defendants cage in a court room in Minsk, Belarus, on Thursday, February 18, 2021. (AP Photo) In the months after he left, Tut.by was banned in Belarus and Andreyeva, who was nearing the end of a two-year imprisonment, was sentenced to another eight years on retaliatory charges. (Sharko was released in August 2021 after serving eight months.) They took away my beloved profession and my business, Zikratski wrote in a Facebook post announcing his emigration to Vilnius, Lithuania. I will continue to do everything I can to change the situation in Belarus. Unfortunately, I cannot do that from Minsk. Lawyers in exile can lose their livelihoods While exile is not an uncommon choice to escape state harassment, it comes at a cost: lawyers are unable to continue their work in their home countries. The bulk of the harassment against media and human rights lawyers, including criminal defense lawyers who represent journalists and other human rights defenders [occurs] in-country, said Anderson of the ABA. Increasingly this is forcing lawyers into exile where they face enormous challenges continuing to practice or participate in media rights advocacy. This was the case for Ethiopian human rights lawyer Tadele Gebremedhin, who faced intense harassment from local authorities after he began defending reporters covering the countrys civil conflict in the Tigray region that began in November 2020. Gebremedhin represented freelance journalists Amir Aman Kiyaro and Thomas Engida, Ethio Forum journalists Abebe Bayu and Yayesew Shimelis, Awramba Times managing editor Dawit Kebede, and at least a dozen others, including the staff of the independent now-defunct broadcaster Awlo Media Center, whose charges are related to their reporting on the Tigray region. People gather at the scene of an airstrike in Mekele, the capital of the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia on October 20, 2021. (AP Photo) Gebremedhin told CPJ that the harassment started in May 2021 with thinly veiled threats from government officials and anonymous calls telling him not to represent journalists because members of the media are terrorists. He strongly suspected that he was under physical and digital surveillance, and his bank account was blocked. In November 2021, he was detained by authorities and held for 66 days without charge before being released. That was my payment for working with the journalists, Gebremedhin said. He fled to the United States shortly after his release from police custody, and now works as a researcher at the University of Minnesota Law School Human Rights Center. Just a few of the dozens of reporters he defended are still working in journalism. While they are not behind bars, the damage done to civil society remains, Gebremedhin said. Lawyers arrested alongside journalists Sometimes, lawyers are arrested alongside the journalists they represent. In the runup to Turkeys May 2023 presidential elections, Turkish lawyer Resul Temur was taken into government custody in Diyarbakr province for his alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkish authorities consider a terrorist organization, along with several Kurdish journalists who were also his clients. Authorities took his work phone, computer, and all of his electronic devices, including his 9-year old daughters tablet, and all of the paper case files he had in his office, Temur told CPJ. He was released pending investigation, and fears hell soon be charged. Lawyers like me who are not deterred by judicial harassment will continue to be the targets of Turkish authorities, he said. Blogger and activist Alaa Abdelfattah speaks during a conference at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, on September 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) In Egypt, a country where numerous human rights defenders have been locked up, Mohamed el-Baker, the lawyer of prominent blogger and activist Alaa Abdelfattah, was arrested as he accompanied Abdelfattah to police questioning in September 2019. Authorities charged both with spreading false news and supporting a banned group, the Muslim Brotherhood. After serving nearly four years of his sentence and amid growing international pressure, el-Baker was granted a presidential pardon in July. However, it remains unclear if the lawyer will be allowed to return to work. Many of his clients, Abdelfattah among them, remain in prison. Retaliation leads to censorship The damage, from Egypt to Turkey to Guatemala and beyond, is great. When lawyers for reporters fear retaliation as much as the journalists do, it creates an environment of censorship that harms citizens ability to stay informed about what is happening in their countries. When journalists cant have access to lawyers, theyre kind of left on their own, Weisenhaus told CPJ. I think well still see courageous journalists who will continue to write about what they perceive as the wrongs in their country and their society. But those numbers could dwindle if theyre constantly being prosecuted and convicted. Additional research contributed by Danae Vilchez, Ozgur Ogret, and CPJs Middle East and North Africa program staff. A federal judge Friday declined a request from prosecutors for a gag order in the high-profile bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking case against a Cheektowaga strip club owner and retired DEA agent. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo also declined to reconsider a prior court order that has detained Peter Gerace Jr., the owner of Pharaohs Gentlemens Club, ahead of the his trial. Vilardo called a court-ordered gag order a last resort that he was not willing to impose, but he warned lawyers in the case he would consider it if he felt the lawyers began speaking out of line. This case is not going to be tried in the media, Vilardo said. I will issue a gag order if I have to. Prosecutors in June called the gag order necessary, saying that Steven M. Cohen, the lawyer for Gerace at the time, kept making comments to the local media in order to denigrate witnesses, potentially pollute the jury pool, and to otherwise try this case through the media, according to their motion. Geraces current defense lawyers, Mark Foti and Eric Soehnlein, said the governments motion was based upon comments made by Cohen and premised upon an assumption that Cohen would continue those remarks in the future. But Cohen is no longer an attorney in the case, so the issues raised by prosecutors are moot, they told Vilardo. Mr. Foti and I dont operate that way, Soehnlein told the judge at Fridays court proceeding. We are concerned by what goes on inside this courtroom and not by what happens outside it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi said Cohens departure from the case should not render the substance of a gag order moot when Soehnlein, a member of Geraces current defense team, served as co-counsel with Cohen when Cohen made prejudicial statements to the media. Also, the current counsel for both defendants, Gerace and Joseph Bongiovanni, have also made prejudicial public comments outside the courtroom, including to The Buffalo News, meriting a gag order, Tripi said. In a separate motion requesting the trial be moved from Buffalo to Rochester, prosecutors cited the intense spotlight of the Buffalo media. The judge will consider that motion later this month. Federal authorities have accused Gerace of bribing Bongiovanni, at the time a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and conspiring to engage in drug trafficking and human trafficking at Pharaohs. Geraces charges include maintaining Pharaohs as a drug-involved premises where vulnerable young women were exploited through their drug addictions and coerced into engaging in commercial sex acts with him, his friends and associates. Prosecutors have charged the now-retired Bongiovanni with accepting $250,000 in bribes from drug dealers whom he thought were associated with Italian organized crime and shielding them from arrest, as well as providing them with information about investigations and cooperating sources. Both have pleaded not guilty. Their joint trial is scheduled to begin in January. Gerace has not always been locked up since a grand jury returned an indictment in February 2021 charging him with the crimes. But Gerace was arrested and detained this past March after a grand jury found probable cause that he was responsible for threatening Facebook messages in 2019 to a potential witness against him. The messages were sent, while Gerace was in his home, on another persons phone and Facebook account. Prosecutors earlier this year said the Facebook threats exemplify Geraces ability to motivate and utilize others to tamper with witnesses. U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr., who presided over the case until June, ordered Gerace to remain in custody until the trial. But since Sinatras ruling, the witness who was allegedly tampered with has died. Former exotic dancer Crystal Quinn, 37, died Aug. 1 in the home of Simon P. Gogolack of what authorities suspect was a drug overdose. Gogolack, a previously convicted drug dealer, now faces two kidnapping and six witness tampering charges in addition to narcotics and firearms charges. Foti on Friday argued that Quinns death was a changed circumstance that warranted Vilardo reconsidering Geraces detention. Sinatras decision to put Gerace in custody earlier this year all relates to this witness, but because of her death, shes no longer a witness in the case that can be tampered with. Vilardo said he would not review Sinatras decision and rule whether he agreed with it or not, but simply look to see if there was a changed circumstance since Sinatras ruling that would warrant reconsidering Geraces detention. I dont think youve given me enough to change the courts mind, Vilardo told Foti in denying the defense team request. 14.10.2023 LISTEN A 35-year-old woman has been knocked dead by a saloon car which was reportedly been pursued by some officers of the Ghana Immigration Service at Sokoban-Krofrom in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region. The deceased only identified as Maame Akua is said to have died on the spot after she was knocked and dragged by the speeding vehicle with registration number DV-3447. The deceased is said to have been hit by the saloon car which veered off the road when she was on her way to fetch water for a mason working in the area. Another man (the mason) who is said to have sustained severe injuries following the accident has been rushed to hospital for medical care. Some residents in the area in an interview with this reporter said the sad incident occurred on Thursday, October 13, 2023 at about 5:00pm. They noted that, the saloon car which was on top speed lot control and veered off the road knocking the two victims in the process. The residents revealed that, upon rushing to the scene they discovered the saloon car was being pursued by some officers of the Ghana Immigration Service Police have since taken over investigations after taking the body of the deceased to a morgue for preservation. The Chief of Ejura Traditional Area Barima Osei Hwedie II has reacted to the alleged killing of a police officer by some suspected armed robbers at Ejura in the Ashanti Region. The renowned chief has expressed worry over the situation and has called for calm among residents and security officers at Ejura and its environs. Speaking to OTEC FM breakfast show on Friday October 13, 2023, Barima Osei Hwedie II however said he was shocked about one of the names that popped up in the alleged robbery incident Alhaji Wahab Suleiman. He said it came to him as a shock as the young man has defended Ejura residents on countless occasions He explained that he has known Suleiman for a long time and he can stick his neck out that the man is only a victim of circumstance. "I respect police hundred percent and so I will not on any day do or say anything against them, but this man in question is very Patriotic, decent and hardworking, he has been part of everything good for Ejura and its environs so i was shocked to hear his name as one of the suspects," he told the programme host Captain Koda. "While it is also possible for him to be involved in the incident, I urge the police to do thorough investigations and come out with the truth of this unfortunate incident," he added. Barimah Osei Hwedie II however commiserated with the family of the police officer. He expressed worry over the demise of their son and assured them that he would do everything possible to ensure the culprits were brought to book Background The Police, on 9th October 2023, arrested two suspects for preparing to commit robbery and opening fire on Police officers at Ejura in the Ashanti Region. The suspects, Alhaji Wahab Suleiman and Ibrahim Abubakari, together with one other accomplice currently on the run, according to the Police opened fire on their officers who were on an operation to quell a planned robbery attack on a mobile money vendor at Ejura. "Two of the officers sustained gunshot wounds in the process and were rushed to the hospital for medical attention. However, one of the officers, N 42250 General Sergeant Ahmed Kamal, unfortunately passed on. "Meanwhile, the two robbers who also sustained gunshot wounds and an accomplice have been arrested and are assisting with investigations. "Exhibits retrieved at the scene include two (2) SB shotguns, one (1) pump-action gun, six (6) live BB cartridges and one (1) used BBText you copy will automatically show here cartridge, the Police statement noted. The trial of a 23-year-old private security man charged with attempted murder, robbery and sexual assault, has begun at an Accra High Court. Pius Anundoabil Ayoma, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Ayoma, a cell escapee, who is currently on remand at the Nsawam Prisons, has been assigned a Legal Aid lawyer after failing to acquire the services of one. Ayoma escaped from the Manet Police Custody shortly after appearing before the High Court on March 1, 2023. He claimed a policeman assisted him to escape from the cells. He was picked up at Afienya. When the High Court resumed sitting, the prosecution led by Mrs Sefakor Batse, a Principal State Attorney, told the court that she was ready to address the jury, but counsel for the accused indicated otherwise. The trial judge Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, therefore, adjourned the matter to October 25 for the parties to address the jury. The prosecution's case was that the complainants were a couple, who resided together off the Spintex Road. Pius Anundoabil Ayoma, the accused person, also resided off the Spintex Road Accra and was a security man with a private Security Company. The prosecution said the accused person was assigned by the private security firm to work at the residence of the couple as a security guard till he was relieved of that post upon a complaint made by the couple to his (the accused person's) supervisor over petty stealing at their residence. The prosecution said on January 21, 2020, at about 7:30pm, the accused, who was no longer working at the residence of the couple, armed with a gun and a knife, went to the premises of the complainants wearing a mask and attacked the security man on duty. The prosecutor said the accused allegedly tied the security man on duty's legs and arms with a necktie and a rope after, which he hit him several times with the butt of the gun. The prosecution told the court that the accused person thereafter gained access to the main house with a duplicate key, which he already had. It said the accused person then entered the bedroom of the couple, removed his mask and saw the wife of the complainant, who was home alone. The prosecution said the accused person allegedly forcefully broke into their bathroom where she was freshening up to go to church. The prosecutor said the accused person ordered her to transfer some money from her phone to a mobile number, which investigations later revealed was registered in his name. He then took her to the room where he had tied their security guard and threatened to hit her with the gun just as he was hitting the security guard if she did not give him more money. The prosecution said the complainant's wife pleaded with him not to hit her because she was pregnant and did not want to lose her baby. He forcibly made her transfer about two thousand Ghana Cedis to the said phone number and even assaulted her. He asked her for more money which she said she did not have so he told her he would wait for her husband to return since he was aware they were well to do, the prosecution said. The prosecutor said the accused person then tied her up in the bathroom, ransacked the rooms and collected various items belonging to the couple. According to the prosecution, the accused person took away two iPhones, one Dell Laptop computer, one DSTV decoder, a 32 inches Samsung Television, a 55-inch Philip flat Screen Television, two travelling bags and assorted cloths. The prosecution said the accused person then ordered her to use her phone to order an Uber to come to the house and with the assistance of the Uber driver, he conveyed all the items into the vehicle. The accused did not leave. He waited for the other complainant (who is the husband) to return from work. At about 10:30 pm, he returned home and entered the house. It was only upon entering the house that he realised his house was under attack. He saw his wife tied on the toilet seat and in his attempt to set her free, he was attacked by the accused, who was hiding behind the bathroom door. The prosecution said he (the accused) tried hitting the husband (the complainant) with his gun, but he ran out with shouts for help. It said the accused chased the complainant (husband) outside and fired the gun, but he escaped unhurt. The accused, (who had earlier on come out unmasked to pack the stolen items into the Uber) jumped into the Uber vehicle, but now masked and ordered the driver at gun point to drive out of the house, towards Spintex road. The prosecution said on their way, the accused removed the mask and ordered the Uber driver to get a taxi for him. The driver obliged and stopped a taxi, and he moved the booty into the taxi and ordered the driver to drive towards Kasapreko direction. The prosecution said the police were informed and the accused was trailed to Kasapreko junction where he was spotted in the taxi with the stolen items. The police signaled the driver to stop, and he did, and the accused came out and pointed a gun at the police, the court heard. The prosecution said the accused managed to escape leaving the taxi together with the booty. The prosecutor said the taxi was sent to the Manet Police Station where a complaint was lodged. It said the complainants identified the stolen items in the taxi as theirs. The prosecution said investigations later revealed that the accused was hiding at Fumbisi in the Upper East Region where he was arrested. GNA President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has instructed for the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee to address the flooding that has affected parts of the Volta and Eastern Regions. The controlled spillage of Akosombo and Kpong Dams by the Volta River Authority (VRA) this week has resulted in the flooding of various communities and displaced hundreds of people. In a press release from the Ministry of Information on Friday, October 13, Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said President Akufo-Addo has instructed that an inter-ministerial committee should be set up to respond to Volta dam spillage devastation. On the instruction of the President of the Republic, an inter-ministerial team headed by the Chief of Staff has been set-up to coordinate government's response to the unfortunate flooding of some communities following spilling from the Volta dam, the release said. The committee is composed of the Minister for National Security, the Minister for the Interior, the Minister for Defence, the Minister for Energy, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Local Government, the Minister for Works and Housing, as well as the Minister of Minister for Roads and Highways. The others include the Minister for Sanitation, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, and the Minister for Information. The inter-ministerial committee will be chaired by the Chief of Staff, Madam Frema Opare, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has announced that Ghana has reached an agreement with South Africa on a visa waiver. In a release from the Ministry dated Friday, October 13, the Minister said effective November 1, travelers with ordinary passports may transit through, depart from, and stay in the territory of both countries for a cumulative period of up to ninety (90) days without recourse to work. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration wishes to inform the general public that the Republic of Ghana and the Republic of South Africa have entered into an Agreement on a visa waiver regime for holders of ordinary passport. The Agreement takes effect from 1st November 2023, the release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said. It added, Travellers may transit through, depart from, and stay in the territory of both countries for a cumulative period of up to ninety (90) days without recourse to work. The travelling public is thereby advised to take note of this development. Meanwhile, the South Africa High Commission in Ghana has also released a statement to confirm the agreement. The release similarly issued today said in the event that ordinary passport holders decide to stay beyond 90 days, they will be required to apply for an entry visa to enter the Republic of South Africa. The High Commission of the Republic of South Africa has the honor to inform the Republic of Ghana that both Governments agreed to implement the waiver for visa exemption for ordinary passport holders for a cumulative period of ninety (90) days per annum, with effect from 01 November 2023. Should the ninety (90) days be exhausted within the twelve (12) months period, ordinary passport holders are required to apply for a visa to enter the Republic of South Africa For more information, contact the South African High Commission, the release issued by the High Commission of South Africa said. Northstar Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Free Report) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,771 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLCs holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,099,413,455 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,196,788 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $3,151,497,000 after purchasing an additional 598,164 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $3,320,866,000 after buying an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 40.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,820,152 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $2,108,249,000 after buying an additional 6,003,997 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.70% of the companys stock. Get Abbott Laboratories alerts: Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance ABT traded down $2.74 during trading on Thursday, hitting $89.90. The stock had a trading volume of 4,308,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,898,239. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $115.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.98. The firm has a market cap of $156.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement Abbott Laboratories ( NYSE:ABT Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.50% and a net margin of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.4 EPS for the current year. The business 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 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess payout ratio is presently 69.62%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $112.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded Abbott Laboratories from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $120.47. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Abbott Laboratories Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total transaction of $5,688,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,775,316 shares in the company, valued at $770,759,948.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,829,785.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 6,775,316 shares of the companys stock, valued at $770,759,948.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock. 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ryanair Holdings plc (LON:RYA Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of GBX 14.41 ($0.18) and traded as high as GBX 14.47 ($0.18). Ryanair shares last traded at GBX 14.42 ($0.18), with a volume of 1,030,829 shares changing hands. Ryanair Price Performance The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 116.44, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The companys 50 day moving average price is GBX 14.41 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 14.41. The firm has a market capitalization of 163.33 million and a P/E ratio of -24.94. Ryanair Company Profile (Get Free Report) Ryanair Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled-passenger airline services in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Other European countries. It is also involved in the provision of various ancillary services, such as non-flight scheduled services and internet-related services; in-flight sale of beverages, food, and merchandise; and marketing accommodation and hotel services, car hire, and travel insurance through its Website and mobile app. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Ryanair Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ryanair and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Rye Patch Gold Corp. (CVE:RPM Get Free Report)s stock price passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$1.06 and traded as high as C$1.10. Rye Patch Gold shares last traded at C$1.06, with a volume of 58,513 shares traded. Rye Patch Gold Stock Down 0.9 % The businesss 50 day moving average is C$1.06 and its 200-day moving average is C$1.06. About Rye Patch Gold (Get Free Report) Rye Patch Gold Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Nevada, the United States. The company primarily explores for gold and silver deposits. It owns a 100% interest in the Florida Canyon Mine covering an area of approximately 71.4 square kilometers located in Nevda. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Rye Patch Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rye Patch Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited (OTCMKTS:BKCYF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,100 shares, a drop of 38.0% from the September 15th total of 5,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days. Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Price Performance BKCYF remained flat at C$2.92 on Friday. Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public has a 12 month low of C$2.11 and a 12 month high of C$3.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$3.40 and a 200 day moving average price of C$3.23. Get Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public alerts: About Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public (Get Free Report) Featured Articles Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of banking, financial, and insurance services. It offers current, demand, savings, time, notice, instant access, and fixed deposits; housing, student, vehicle, mortgage, consumer, business and business premises, term, and home or investment loans; and asset finance, factoring, trade facilities, European financial, project finance, shipping finance, and syndicated and corporate lending services, as well as hire purchase services for car and equipment. Receive News & Ratings for Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank of the Philippine Islands (OTCMKTS:BPHLY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 300 shares, an increase of 50.0% from the September 15th total of 200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Bank of the Philippine Islands Stock Performance OTCMKTS BPHLY remained flat at C$39.45 on Friday. 84 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 908. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$39.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$38.70. Bank of the Philippine Islands has a 1 year low of C$27.51 and a 1 year high of C$43.52. Get Bank of the Philippine Islands alerts: About Bank of the Philippine Islands (Get Free Report) See Also Bank of the Philippine Islands, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services to retail and corporate clients in the Philippines. It operates through Consumer Banking, Corporate Banking, and Investment Banking segments. The Consumer Banking segment offers deposit taking and servicing; and consumer lending, such as home mortgages, auto loans, and credit card finance, as well as remittance services to individual and retail markets. Receive News & Ratings for Bank of the Philippine Islands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of the Philippine Islands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The menu of dining options available in Buffalo is about to get a little deeper, thanks to the new West Side Bazaar. Malaysian, Egyptian and Congolese restaurants will add to Buffalos round-the-world dining atlas when the new Bazaar opens for business Oct. 31 at 1432 Niagara St. Those options will be joined by Korean, Italian, sushi and ramen, Vietnamese and a Burmese place with Rakhine specialties. A few blocks away, Downtown Bazaar, 617 Main St., will still be the place for Ethiopian, Filipino, South Sudanese and Pattaya Street Foods Burmese and bubble tea lineup. Both are operated by Westminster Economic Development (WEDI). The new Niagara Street location replaces the Bazaars previous home at 25 Grant St., which closed 13 months ago due to an accidental morning fire from an electrical short in a point-of-sale machine the same month construction of the new space began. Operators say patrons should expect a rocky start as the new site gets off the ground, as all new operations have to get their sea legs. Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Among the menu highlights: Egyptian Bites: Shawarma, kunafa, falafel, shish tawook, hawawshi, koshary, mahshi. Williams Kitchen Korean Comfort Food: Bulgogi, vegan and regular bibimbap, soy-garlic chicken wings, chicken katsu, chicken or Spam kimchi-bokkeumbap, pork kimchi jjigae with rice cake, soondubu in vegan, chicken, beef. Ramree Corp. (Burmese): Tea leaf, mango and ginger salads, chicken coconut curry noodle soup, catfish noodle soup and Burmese curries, but also Rakhine specialties like Rakhine moti, a fish noodle soup that carries a chile kick, and nan gyi thoat, a Burmese curry pasta salad with thick noodles, chicken and the traditional Burmese double-tap: hardboiled egg and crunchy noodles. Millions Tin (sushi and ramen): Hundreds of sushi pieces and rolls in the usual categories, ramen noodle soup, edamame and more. Orso Nero Pizza (Italian): Calamari, truffle fries, meatballs with crostini, cheese tortellini and pizzas: vodka, quatro formaggi, tomato, cheese and pepperoni and custom builds. Malkia and Co. (Congolese and African): African-style braised chicken, braised pork chops and ribs, whole fish with cassava bread, cassava, red or white beans African style. Bamboo Ridge (Vietnamese ): pho, banh canh soup, vermicelli noodle salads with choice of protein and sour garlic dressing, cashew fried rice, bun thit nuong, grilled pork on rice or noodles. Other food vendors will include Manchester Place Baking Co., a Turkish cafe, Citygate Market, a bubble tea and smoothie bar. Plus Honey Bees Driving School. Read it and Eat, a food-centric bookstore, will have room there for its curated food and book subscription service, along with mental health counselors Elisabeth Burn and Danielle Prester. WEDI Executive Director Carolynn Welch knows how West Side Bazaar cooks can broaden a persons understanding of what is possible in Buffalo. Welch grew up in a meat-and-potato family. The first time she ate at West Side Bazaar was in 2017, as a customer, before joining WEDI. That Thai green coconut curry made Welch look at her hometown differently. You can see what your new neighbors are bringing to the table, she said. Were a business incubator at heart, but weve really turned into a cultural hotspot. Although its not our mission, its such an important piece of the work we do. Come eat our food, help somebody grow their business and watch our community change for the better. BlackRock Emerging Europe plc (LON:BEEP Get Free Report)s share price crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 318.50 ($3.90) and traded as low as GBX 318.50 ($3.90). BlackRock Emerging Europe shares last traded at GBX 318.50 ($3.90), with a volume of 1,038 shares traded. BlackRock Emerging Europe Price Performance The businesss 50 day moving average is GBX 318.50 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 318.50. About BlackRock Emerging Europe (Get Free Report) BlackRock Emerging Europe plc, formerly Eastern European Trust PLC, is a United Kingdom-based investment trust company. The Company conducts its business as an investment trust and its principal activity is portfolio investment. The Companys objective is to achieve long-term capital growth, principally by investing in companies that do business primarily in Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia and Turkey. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Emerging Europe Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock Emerging Europe and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Boliden AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:BDNNY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,900 shares, a decrease of 37.3% from the September 15th total of 14,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 36,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days. Analyst Ratings Changes BDNNY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Boliden AB (publ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley raised Boliden AB (publ) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. Barclays raised Boliden AB (publ) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Citigroup raised shares of Boliden AB (publ) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Boliden AB (publ) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $368.75. Get Boliden AB (publ) alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on BDNNY Boliden AB (publ) Stock Down 0.9 % Shares of OTCMKTS:BDNNY traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.85. 8,104 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,581. Boliden AB has a fifty-two week low of $51.15 and a fifty-two week high of $92.60. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $54.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.11. Boliden AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:BDNNY Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter. Boliden AB (publ) Company Profile (Get Free Report) Boliden AB (publ) engages in the exploring, extracting, and processing of base metals and precious metals in Sweden, other Nordic region, Germany, the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, North America, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Business Area Mines and Business Area Smelters. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Boliden AB (publ) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boliden AB (publ) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Boxhill Technologies PLC (LON:BOX Get Free Report) crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of GBX 0.06 ($0.00) and traded as low as GBX 0.06 ($0.00). Boxhill Technologies shares last traded at GBX 0.06 ($0.00), with a volume of 510,219 shares changing hands. Boxhill Technologies Stock Up 10.0 % The companys fifty day moving average price is GBX 0.06 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 0.05. Boxhill Technologies Company Profile (Get Free Report) Boxhill Technologies Plc, through its subsidiaries, provides lottery administration and payment processing products and services in the United Kingdom. It provides lottery management services, including financial reconciliation and management, draw management, player communication, and prize provision services for society lotteries. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Boxhill Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boxhill Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR Free Report) (TSE:QSR) by 40.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 336,725 shares of the restaurant operators stock after selling 230,267 shares during the quarter. Restaurant Brands International comprises about 1.2% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.s holdings in Restaurant Brands International were worth $26,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,834,488 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $576,178,000 after purchasing an additional 312,782 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in Restaurant Brands International by 35.7% in the first quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,797,200 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $389,182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524,652 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,189,969 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $348,391,000 after purchasing an additional 191,299 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Restaurant Brands International by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,004,118 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $268,811,000 after purchasing an additional 213,138 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Restaurant Brands International by 4.6% during the first quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,534,633 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $170,056,000 after buying an additional 112,101 shares in the last quarter. Get Restaurant Brands International alerts: Restaurant Brands International Stock Down 0.9 % QSR stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $62.35. 356,782 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,265,883. The company has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80. Restaurant Brands International Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.41 and a twelve month high of $78.30. Restaurant Brands International Dividend Announcement Restaurant Brands International ( NYSE:QSR Get Free Report ) (TSE:QSR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.09. Restaurant Brands International had a return on equity of 34.44% and a net margin of 15.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Restaurant Brands International Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 20th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 19th. Restaurant Brands Internationals dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Restaurant Brands International from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Restaurant Brands International from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Restaurant Brands International from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Restaurant Brands International from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Restaurant Brands International currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $79.58. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Restaurant Brands International Restaurant Brands International Profile (Free Report) Restaurant Brands International Inc operates as a quick-service restaurant company in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Tim Hortons (TH), Burger King (BK), Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (PLK), and Firehouse Subs (FHS). The company owns and franchises TH chain of donut/coffee/tea restaurants that offer blend coffee, tea, and espresso-based hot and cold specialty drinks; and fresh baked goods, including donuts, Timbits, bagels, muffins, cookies and pastries, grilled paninis, classic sandwiches, wraps, soups, and other food products. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding QSR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR Free Report) (TSE:QSR). Receive News & Ratings for Restaurant Brands International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Restaurant Brands International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX Free Report) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 552,378 shares of the shipping service providers stock after selling 4,321 shares during the period. FedEx accounts for approximately 2.6% of Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NYs holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NYs holdings in FedEx were worth $136,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FDX. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 97,178.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 209,510,584 shares of the shipping service providers stock valued at $51,937,674,000 after buying an additional 209,295,211 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $388,787,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx in the 1st quarter valued at $314,712,000. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP increased its holdings in FedEx by 64,686.3% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 1,377,356 shares of the shipping service providers stock worth $314,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375,230 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in FedEx by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,412,956 shares of the shipping service providers stock worth $591,124,000 after purchasing an additional 559,607 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.61% of the companys stock. Get FedEx alerts: Insider Activity at FedEx In other FedEx news, VP Jennifer L. Johnson sold 13,348 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.25, for a total transaction of $3,447,121.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,428 shares of the companys stock, valued at $885,281. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other FedEx news, EVP Michael C. Lenz sold 5,745 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.88, for a total transaction of $1,504,500.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,478 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,886,538.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Jennifer L. Johnson sold 13,348 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.25, for a total value of $3,447,121.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,428 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $885,281. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. FedEx Price Performance NYSE FDX traded down $8.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $243.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,359,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,992,749. FedEx Co. has a 52-week low of $149.64 and a 52-week high of $270.95. The company has a market cap of $61.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. FedEx (NYSE:FDX Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.84. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.14% and a net margin of 4.71%. The firm had revenue of $21.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.44 EPS. FedExs quarterly revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 18.14 EPS for the current fiscal year. FedEx Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, September 11th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 8th. FedExs payout ratio is currently 30.73%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FDX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on FedEx from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, September 21st. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a report on Thursday, September 21st. HSBC initiated coverage on FedEx in a report on Friday, September 29th. They issued a buy rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on FedEx in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on FedEx from $228.00 to $251.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given 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 target price of $277.84. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on FedEx FedEx Profile (Free Report) FedEx Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of transportation, e-commerce, business services, and business solutions. It operates through the following segments: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Services, and Corporate, Other and Eliminations. The FedEx Express segment offers transportation and delivery services. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FDX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for FedEx Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for FedEx and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Glatfelter Co. (NYSE:GLT Get Free Report) major shareholder Carlson Capital L. P acquired 236,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.80 per share, with a total value of $424,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 7,026,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,646,800. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a companys stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC. Glatfelter Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:GLT traded down $0.15 on Thursday, hitting $1.66. 343,256 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,173. Glatfelter Co. has a 1-year low of $1.64 and a 1-year high of $4.87. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $2.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.55 million, a P/E ratio of -0.55 and a beta of 1.72. Get Glatfelter alerts: Glatfelter (NYSE:GLT Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Glatfelter had a negative return on equity of 12.23% and a negative net margin of 9.07%. The business had revenue of $357.01 million for the quarter. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Analysts Set New Price Targets Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Glatfelter by 115.7% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 915,038 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $2,763,000 after buying an additional 490,875 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Glatfelter by 1.6% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 334,474 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,010,000 after buying an additional 5,312 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in Glatfelter in the second quarter valued at $37,000. CastleKnight Management LP increased its holdings in Glatfelter by 56.4% in the second quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 591,067 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,785,000 after buying an additional 213,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wisconsin Investment Board increased its holdings in Glatfelter by 17.9% in the second quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 170,800 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 25,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.27% of the companys stock. Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Glatfelter in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a sell rating for the company. View Our Latest Report on GLT Glatfelter Company Profile (Get Free Report) Glatfelter Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered materials worldwide. It operates through three segments: Composite Fibers, Airlaid Materials, and Spunlace. The Composite Fibers segment offers food and beverage filtration materials for single-serve coffee and tea products; wallcover base materials for wallpaper manufacturers; metallized products that are used in labels, packaging liners, gift wraps, and other consumer product applications; composite laminates consisting of decorative laminates for use in furniture, household and commercial flooring, and other applications; and specialty engineered products, which are used in electrical energy storage, home, hygiene, and other engineered fiber-based applications. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Glatfelter Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Glatfelter and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited (OTCMKTS:CRHKY Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 400 shares, a decrease of 89.5% from the September 15th total of 3,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 25,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.0 days. China Resources Beer Stock Up 1.2 % OTCMKTS:CRHKY traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $11.24. The stock had a trading volume of 5,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,307. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $11.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.06. China Resources Beer has a 1-year low of $9.35 and a 1-year high of $16.64. Get China Resources Beer alerts: China Resources Beer Cuts Dividend The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 30th will be given a $0.0693 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 29th. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of China Resources Beer from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on China Resources Beer About China Resources Beer (Get Free Report) China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited, an investment holding company, manufactures, distributes, and sells beer products in Mainland China. The company offers its products under the Nong Li, Li, Lowen Fruit Beer, and Snow Draft Pure Malt Beer, Snow Xiao Pi Qi brands. The company was formerly known as China Resources Enterprise, Limited and changed its name to China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited in October 2015. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for China Resources Beer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Resources Beer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cosmos Group Holdings Inc. (OTCMKTS:COSG Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 100 shares, a drop of 97.0% from the September 15th total of 3,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 85,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.0 days. Cosmos Group Stock Performance Cosmos Group stock remained flat at $0.01 on Thursday. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 82,527. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $0.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $0.01. Cosmos Group has a fifty-two week low of $0.00 and a fifty-two week high of $0.13. Get Cosmos Group alerts: Cosmos Group (OTCMKTS:COSG Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 21st. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.54 million for the quarter. Cosmos Group had a negative net margin of 238.83% and a negative return on equity of 565.60%. About Cosmos Group Cosmos Group Holdings Inc offers financial and money lending services in Hong Kong and internationally. It also operates online platform for the sale and distribution of arts and collectibles. In addition, the company offers unsecured personal loans and mortgage loans to private individuals. Cosmos Group Holdings Inc is headquartered in Singapore. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Cosmos Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cosmos Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust (NYSE:ETX Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 20,600 shares, a growth of 202.9% from the September 15th total of 6,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 32,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days. Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust Stock Performance ETX stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $16.64. The stock had a trading volume of 27,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,308. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.56. Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust has a 1-year low of $16.52 and a 1-year high of $19.99. Get Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust alerts: Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust Cuts Dividend The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.058 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 20th. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust Company Profile Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust by 78.0% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 153,560 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 67,292 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 89,908 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 46,371 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust during the first quarter worth about $786,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust by 46.2% during the second quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 65,008 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 20,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust by 53.3% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,677 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 19,008 shares in the last quarter. (Get Free Report) Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Eaton Vance Management. It invests in the fixed income markets. The fund invest in stocks of companies operating across the diversified sectors. It was previously known as Eaton Vance Municipal Income Term Trust. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund (NYSE:ETB Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,700 shares, an increase of 217.5% from the September 15th total of 4,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 65,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.2 days. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETB. Cornerstone Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund during the second quarter worth about $2,013,000. Shaker Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund during the first quarter worth about $1,721,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund by 73.0% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 278,987 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,875,000 after purchasing an additional 117,753 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund by 75.7% during the first quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 132,213 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 56,945 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund by 5.1% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 722,641 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $10,861,000 after purchasing an additional 35,188 shares during the period. Get Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund alerts: Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund Stock Up 0.2 % ETB stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $12.72. 48,127 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 66,150. Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund has a twelve month low of $12.27 and a twelve month high of $16.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.20. Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund Cuts Dividend About Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.093 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 20th. (Get Free Report) Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Eaton Vance Management. It is co-managed by Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. University at Buffalo President Satish Tripathi used his annual State of the University Address to announce a $40 million gift to its engineering school from alumnus Russell Agrusa, who graduated from UB in 1976 and went on to launch a multibillion-dollar automation software company. The donation will help UB construct a new engineering school building and support engineering research and education, Tripathi said. The new academic building will be named Russell L. Agrusa Hall. A new engineering hub has been in UBs plans for years, and in early 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the $102 million project and pledged $68 million in state funding to help build it. UB needs to raise the other $34 million, and half of Agrusas gift $20 million will be used for that purpose. The building remains in the design phase, but Tripathi called the donation a monumental advance regarding this project. Agrusas other $20 million gift will help support UBs quest to ramp up its spending on research, much of it coming out of its School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the growth of its engineering programs, which have seen a dramatic increase in enrollment to match increasing demand for STEM professionals across the state and nation, Tripathi said. Agrusa, who retired as president and CEO of Iconics in 2020, has served on the UB engineering schools advisory council since 2003. After earning his bachelors degree in electrical engineering at UB, he studied computer science at Boston University and started his career at Westinghouse Electric Corp. He founded Iconics in 1986 and grew it into a Microsoft partner company that counts 70% of Fortune 1,000 companies as its customers. Agrusa said he met his late wife, Paula, when they were both students at UB and she helped him build his software firm as its chief financial officer. She always wanted to give back to their alma mater, and he continued to do so after her death in 2016. In 2021, he funded the creation of a pocket park, Paulas Plaza, near the UB School of Management. Agrusa said he wants to help transform lives through rapidly growing engineering fields like computer science and AI. I would not be where I am today without UB, he said. Tripathi also announced that Agrusas gift pushed UB over the $1 billion goal for its Boldly Buffalo fundraising campaign. UB launched the campaign in 2018 to raise $650 million for improvements and growth in its facilities, faculty, research and student experiences. After reaching that goal in 2021, Tripathi extended the campaign and set the new goal at $1 billion. He said the campaign isnt over and will continue through next spring. Tripathi saved the fundraising announcements for the latter part of his speech at Slee Halls Lippes Concert Hall. His address also listed a number of other UB goals that it met in the past year or is on track to hit, as well as goals for the future. Two big ones were launching a hiring initiative to increase and diversify its faculty which brought 154 new faculty members to campus this fall and increasing its sponsored research expenditures by 16% this year, to $232 million. UB kicked off 2023 with a huge federal grant, $20 million from the National Science Foundation to create a national AI Institute at UB to develop artificial intelligence solutions that assist children with disabilities starting with a project to use AI to identify and diagnose speech and language challenges in young children. UB also invested in bolstering its Blackstone LaunchPad student entrepreneurial program that has helped launch dozens of startups in the Buffalo area and provided support to over 300, he said. The LaunchPad, recently rebranded as the UB Startup and Innovation Colaboratory The CoLab went from one employee to five and from 800 square feet to 2,800 square feet of office space in UBs Student Union, greatly increasing its ability to reach more students and offer more entrepreneurial skill-building experiences. Tripathi also noted that UB was confronted with two significant issues this year free speech and affirmative action. The spring semester saw student protests seeking to cancel a speech by conservative commentator Michael Knowles after he opined that transgenderism should be eradicated from our society. In June, the Supreme Court declared consideration of race in college applications to be unconstitutional, which many institutions saw as a move against diversity and inclusion. To the principle of free speech: Let me underscore how critical it is to uphold this constitutional right, not only in the abstract, nor when it is convenient to do so, but also when the speech in question offends our sensibilities, Tripathi said. Heckling, shouting down our opponents, suppression, censorship these have no place in higher education, he added. But opposing ideas we reject with robust arguments grounded in truth, reason and justice? This is what higher education prepares us to do. He said UB continues to foster diversity and inclusion by creating a welcoming environment for all and offering opportunities for students and faculty from all backgrounds to connect, bond and succeed. First Republic Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO Free Report) by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 385,586 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 75,896 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific comprises approximately 1.0% of First Republic Investment Management Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. First Republic Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $201,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 681,679 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $392,899,000 after buying an additional 24,376 shares in the last quarter. American Trust increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.2% during the first quarter. American Trust now owns 6,743 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the second quarter worth $1,074,000. Alta Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.1% during the second quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 88,286 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $46,064,000 after purchasing an additional 4,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 11.2% during the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 724,844 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $417,779,000 after buying an additional 72,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the companys stock. Get Thermo Fisher Scientific alerts: Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.7 % TMO stock traded down $3.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $479.22. The companys stock had a trading volume of 993,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,479,667. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52-week low of $470.61 and a 52-week high of $609.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $523.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $534.81. Analysts Set New Price Targets Thermo Fisher Scientific ( NYSE:TMO Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical research company reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.43 by ($0.28). Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 18.59%. The business had revenue of $10.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.51 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 22.37 EPS for the current year. TMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $585.00 in a research note on Friday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $670.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. They set an outperform rating and a $603.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $595.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $627.13. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Thermo Fisher Scientific Insider Activity In other news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.60, for a total value of $880,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 135,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,512,698. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 14,100 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $7,755,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,066,150. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 1,600 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.60, for a total transaction of $880,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 135,330 shares in the company, valued at $74,512,698. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,700 shares of company stock worth $15,799,270. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile (Free Report) Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the United States and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, clinical next-generation sequencing, bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TMO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:FEN Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share on Tuesday, October 31st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 20th. First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund has decreased its dividend by an average of 19.7% annually over the last three years. Get First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund alerts: First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund Price Performance First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $13.18. 42,540 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,520. First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund has a fifty-two week low of $12.03 and a fifty-two week high of $15.64. Institutional Trading of First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund About First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,277 shares of the companys stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund in the 1st quarter worth approximately $194,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund in the 1st quarter worth approximately $193,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund by 153.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in shares of First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund in the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. (Get Free Report) First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by First Trust Advisors L.P. It is co-managed by Energy Income Partners, LLC. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating in the energy sector, including companies in the business of transporting, processing, storing, distributing, or marketing natural gas, natural gas liquids (including propane), crude oil, refined petroleum products, coal or electricity, or exploring, developing, managing or producing such commodities or products, or in supplying energy-related products and services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:FND Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 3,012 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 148% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,215 put options. Analyst Ratings Changes FND has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded Floor & Decor from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $122.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Floor & Decor in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Floor & Decor in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Floor & Decor from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Floor & Decor in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Floor & Decor currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $100.94. Get Floor & Decor alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Floor & Decor Insider Activity at Floor & Decor Hedge Funds Weigh In On Floor & Decor In other Floor & Decor news, CEO Thomas V. Taylor sold 18,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $2,145,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,891 shares in the company, valued at $20,457,465. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . In other news, CEO Thomas V. Taylor sold 18,656 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total transaction of $2,145,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,891 shares in the company, valued at $20,457,465. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink . Also, EVP Steven Alan Denny sold 6,381 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.59, for a total transaction of $661,007.79. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,419 shares in the company, valued at $1,286,484.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Floor & Decor by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 655 shares of the companys stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Floor & Decor by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Floor & Decor by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,259 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,393,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Floor & Decor by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 2,580 shares of the companys stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Floor & Decor by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,946 shares of the companys stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Floor & Decor Stock Down 0.6 % Floor & Decor stock traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.47. 1,130,632 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,368,113. The companys fifty day moving average price is $95.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.82. The company has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Floor & Decor has a fifty-two week low of $63.51 and a fifty-two week high of $116.03. Floor & Decor (NYSE:FND Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.66. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Floor & Decor had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 6.55%. Floor & Decors revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Floor & Decor will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year. Floor & Decor Company Profile (Get Free Report) Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-channel specialty retailer and commercial flooring distributor in Georgia. The company offers tile, wood, laminate, vinyl, and natural stone flooring products, as well as decorative accessories, wall tiles, and installation materials and tools. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Floor & Decor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Floor & Decor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lennar (NYSE:LEN Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report issued on Thursday. LEN has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, September 18th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Lennar from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Citigroup reissued a buy rating and set a $139.00 target price on shares of Lennar in a research note on Tuesday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lennar from $143.00 to $132.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennar has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $134.06. Get Lennar alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on LEN Lennar Stock Down 5.1 % Lennar stock traded down $5.81 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $108.46. 2,135,229 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,223,415. Lennar has a 1 year low of $69.90 and a 1 year high of $133.24. The firm has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 6.66 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $116.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.02. Lennar (NYSE:LEN Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, September 15th. The construction company reported $3.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $8.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.49 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 11.66% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The companys revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lennar will post 13.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Activity In other news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.48, for a total transaction of $1,264,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,386 shares in the company, valued at $17,882,501.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Lennar news, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.48, for a total value of $1,264,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 141,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,882,501.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amy Banse acquired 820 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $123.06 per share, for a total transaction of $100,909.20. Following the purchase, the director now owns 8,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,385.78. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 2,469 shares of company stock worth $301,842 over the last 90 days. 9.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Lennar by 10.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 12,184 shares of the construction companys stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in Lennar by 6.8% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,499 shares of the construction companys stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Lennar by 172.1% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 14,925 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 9,440 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter worth $1,711,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 1st quarter worth $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.87% of the companys stock. Lennar Company Profile (Get Free Report) Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company's homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Lennar Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lennar and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC cut its holdings in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN Free Report) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,836 shares of the basic materials companys stock after selling 262 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 3.0% of McCollum Christoferson Group LLCs holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. McCollum Christoferson Group LLCs holdings in Linde were worth $10,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the second quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 86,448 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $32,943,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Linde by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,068 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $6,123,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,279,000. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Linde by 167.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC now owns 4,005 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire bought a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. 80.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Linde alerts: Insider Activity In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.53, for a total transaction of $4,825,440.52. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 27,161 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,498,541.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total transaction of $482,599.35. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,149 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,158,796.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.53, for a total transaction of $4,825,440.52. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,498,541.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,424 shares of company stock valued at $20,853,396. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $450.00 to $445.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $440.00 to $463.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $448.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Linde from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $407.65. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on LIN Linde Trading Up 0.1 % Shares of NYSE LIN traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $378.01. The companys stock had a trading volume of 779,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,305. The stock has a market cap of $184.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Linde plc has a one year low of $274.97 and a one year high of $393.67. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $380.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $372.23. Linde (NYSE:LIN Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.70 billion. Linde had a net margin of 17.20% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Linde Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th were paid a $1.275 dividend. This represents a $5.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 1st. Lindes dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.50%. Linde Profile (Free Report) Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LIN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Linde plc (NYSE:LIN Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Linde Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Linde and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tufton Capital Management cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA Free Report) by 33.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 550 shares of the credit services providers stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Managements holdings in Mastercard were worth $216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Bornite Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $21,442,000. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 6,007 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 1,541 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Mastercard by 30.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 272,358 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $97,335,000 after purchasing an additional 63,040 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,168,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth $12,926,000. 74.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Mastercard alerts: Mastercard Stock Down 1.1 % NYSE MA traded down $4.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $395.69. The companys stock had a trading volume of 982,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,634,643. 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 company has a market capitalization of $372.82 billion, a PE ratio of 37.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $402.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $387.73. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $287.84 and a 52 week high of $418.60. Mastercard Dividend Announcement Mastercard ( NYSE:MA Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.05. Mastercard had a net margin of 43.37% and a return on equity of 178.10%. The company had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. Mastercards quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.14 EPS for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 9th. Investors of record on Monday, October 9th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercards dividend payout ratio is 21.37%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $496.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $438.00 to $442.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Mastercard from $440.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho reissued a buy rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $449.52. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Mastercard Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 10,838 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.38, for a total value of $4,274,290.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,166,426.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Timothy H. Murphy sold 7,419 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.28, for a total value of $2,947,420.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,007 shares of the companys stock, valued at $15,496,700.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 10,838 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.38, for a total value of $4,274,290.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,707 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,166,426.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 418,446 shares of company stock valued at $166,076,098 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Mastercard Company Profile (Free Report) Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Mastercard Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mastercard and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Oakworth Capital Inc. lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT Free Report) by 13.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 144,131 shares of the retailers stock after selling 22,292 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 1.9% of Oakworth Capital Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Oakworth Capital Inc.s holdings in Walmart were worth $22,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the second quarter worth $362,000. Lion Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the retailers stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the second quarter valued at about $667,000. First Personal Financial Services grew its position in Walmart by 0.3% in the second quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 48,111 shares of the retailers stock valued at $7,562,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Walmart by 0.4% during the second quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 100,618 shares of the retailers stock worth $15,815,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.18% of the companys stock. Get Walmart alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.24, for a total value of $696,675.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 277,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,247,700.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.24, for a total transaction of $696,675.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 277,868 shares of the companys stock, valued at $44,247,700.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.58, for a total value of $1,549,202.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,480,924 shares of the companys stock, valued at $236,325,851.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,166 shares of company stock valued at $5,011,557. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Walmart from $174.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Raymond James increased their target price on Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Walmart from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $177.22. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Walmart Walmart Stock Up 0.5 % WMT stock traded up $0.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $159.67. 3,110,601 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,887,281. The firms 50 day moving average is $160.60 and its 200 day moving average is $155.31. The firm has a market cap of $429.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.05 and a twelve month high of $165.85. Walmart (NYSE:WMT Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $161.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.47% and a net margin of 2.23%. Walmarts revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current year. About Walmart (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. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Walmart Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Walmart and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sampo Oyj (OTCMKTS:SAXPY Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,100 shares, a drop of 98.6% from the September 15th total of 79,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 109,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.0 days. Sampo Oyj Stock Performance Shares of OTCMKTS SAXPY traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $21.49. 71,201 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,270. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $21.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.75. Sampo Oyj has a twelve month low of $20.52 and a twelve month high of $26.75. Get Sampo Oyj alerts: Sampo Oyj (OTCMKTS:SAXPY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter. Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Sampo Oyj in a report on Thursday, July 20th. They set a buy rating for the company. View Our Latest Research Report on SAXPY About Sampo Oyj (Get Free Report) Sampo Oyj, through its subsidiaries, provides life and non-life insurance products and services in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Baltic countries. It operates through If, Topdanmark, Hastings, Mandatum, and Holding segments. The company offers household, homeowner, motor, accident, travel, boat, forest, livestock, property, casualty, liability, car, van, bike, and cargo insurance. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Sampo Oyj Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sampo Oyj and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 11,761 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 103% compared to the average daily volume of 5,788 call options. Analyst Ratings Changes STNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Scorpio Tankers from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the company from $60.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $69.43. Get Scorpio Tankers alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on STNG Scorpio Tankers Stock Up 4.4 % Shares of NYSE STNG traded up $2.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $56.61. 1,269,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,274,708. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.40. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $51.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Scorpio Tankers has a twelve month low of $40.34 and a twelve month high of $64.20. Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shipping company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.03. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 50.44% and a return on equity of 35.38%. The firm had revenue of $327.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $332.31 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Scorpio Tankers will post 9.23 EPS for the current fiscal year. Scorpio Tankers Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Scorpio Tankerss payout ratio is 6.97%. Institutional Trading of Scorpio Tankers Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 1,037.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 523 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Scorpio Tankers by 1,985.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 21,950.0% in the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 882 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 964 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.82% of the companys stock. About Scorpio Tankers (Get Free Report) Scorpio Tankers Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the seaborne transportation of refined petroleum products in the shipping markets worldwide. As of March 23, 2023, its fleet consisted of 113 owned, finance leased, or bareboat chartered-in tankers, including 39 LR2, 60 MR, and 14 Handymax with a weighted average age of approximately 7.2 years. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Scorpio Tankers Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Scorpio Tankers and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Christian Dior SE (OTCMKTS:CHDRY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 100 shares, a decline of 75.0% from the September 15th total of 400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Christian Dior Trading Down 1.7 % OTCMKTS:CHDRY traded down $3.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $175.00. 161 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 122. Christian Dior has a one year low of $140.04 and a one year high of $243.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.28. Get Christian Dior alerts: About Christian Dior (Get Free Report) Featured Articles Christian Dior SE, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and retail of fashion and leather goods, wines and spirits, perfumes and cosmetics, and watches and jewelry worldwide. The company offers its fashion and leather goods under the Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Celine, Loewe, Givenchy, Kenzo, Berluti, Pucci, Loro Piana, Rimowa, and Off-White brand names; and wines and spirits under the Hennessy, Moet & Chandon, Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, Chateau d'Yquem, Belvedere, Glenmorangie, Newton Vineyards, Bodega Numanthia, Chateau d'Esclans, Armand de Brignac, and Joseph Phelps brands. Receive News & Ratings for Christian Dior Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Christian Dior and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. NEW YORK (AP) U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey was charged Thursday with conspiring for years to act as an agent of the Egyptian government while he held a powerful role in shaping U.S. foreign policy, putting the Democrat in deeper legal trouble as he continues to reject calls to resign. The superseding indictment in Manhattan federal court accuses Menendez of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register with the U.S. government if they act as an agent of a foreign principal. As a member of Congress, Menendez was prohibited from being an agent of a foreign government. The new charge comes weeks after Menendez and his wife were accused of accepting bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator's help and influence over foreign affairs. The new indictment says a conspiracy occurred from January 2018 to June 2022, alleging that Menendez promised to take and took a series of acts on behalf of Egypt, including on behalf of Egyptian military and intelligence officials. It said he conspired to do so with his wife, Nadine, and a business associate and fellow defendant, Wael Hana. According to the indictment, Hana and Nadine Menendez also communicated requests and directives from Egyptian officials to Menendez. Hours after the latest charge was revealed, Menendez issued a statement, saying it "flies in the face of my long record of standing up for human rights and democracy in Egypt and in challenging leaders of that country, including President (Fattah) El-Sisi on these issues. I have been, throughout my life, loyal to only one country the United States of America, the land my family chose to live in democracy and freedom, he added. Piling new charge upon new charge does not make the allegations true. ... I again ask people who know me and my record to give me the chance to present my defense and show my innocence. The new charge brought fresh calls for Menendez to resign. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said in a statement that senators should vote to expel Menendez because we cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate. But a vote to expel was unlikely before trial. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has not called on Menendez to resign and has not commented on the new charge. The charge comes as more than 30 Senate Democrats including his home state colleague, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker have called on him to resign. Menendez has remained defiant, telling colleagues in a closed-door luncheon two weeks ago that he will not leave the Senate. Menendez has not said whether he will run for reelection next year. At least one Democrat, New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, has already jumped into the primary, and the head of Senate Democrats campaign arm, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, has called on Menendez to resign, signaling that he may not receive campaign assistance traditionally available to incumbents. Kim on Thursday urged the Senate to expel Menendez. The indictment alleged that in May 2019, Menendez, his wife and Hana met with an Egyptian intelligence official in Menendezs Senate office in Washington. During the meeting, they discussed an American citizen who was seriously injured in a 2015 airstrike by the Egyptian military using a U.S.-made Apache helicopter, the indictment said. Some members of Congress objected to awarding certain military aid to Egypt over that episode and the perception by certain lawmakers that the Egyptian government was unwilling to fairly compensate the injured American, according to the indictment. Shortly after the meeting in Washington, the Egyptian official texted Hana that if Menendez helped resolve the matter, he will sit very comfortably. Hana replied, Orders, consider it done, the indictment said. Prosecutors noted that a search of Hana's cellphone had "revealed thousands of text messages, many via an encrypted application, with Egyptian military and intelligence officials, pertaining to various topics, including Menendez, and including requests and directives for Hana to act upon. And they said for the first time that Nadine Menendez began at least in 2018, the same year she started dating the senator, to have meetings and direct communications with multiple Egyptian officials, at least some of whom she understood were intelligence officials, and received requests from them, and conveyed information and requests from them to Menendez. Attorney Danny Onorato, who represents Nadine Menendez, said in a statement that she denies all allegations in the superseding indictment, including the claim that she acted as an agent of any foreign government. We will fight all these charges, as appropriate, in court. In an email, Hanas attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, said the new allegation that Wael Hana was part of a plot concocted over dinner to enlist Senator Menendez as an agent of the Egyptian Government is as absurd as it is false. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the charges lodged against them last month. Hana pleaded not guilty last month to charges including conspiracy to commit bribery. After Hanas company was granted a lucrative monopoly by the Egyptian government to certify that all meat imported into that country met religious requirements, prosecutors said, Menendez urged U.S. agriculture officials to stop questioning the deal. Menendez was accused of trying to interfere in two criminal cases, pushing prosecutors to either drop an investigation or give leniency to friends of his associates. In return, prosecutors said, one businessman, Jose Uribe, bought Nadine Menendez a $60,000 luxury car. Uribe has pleaded not guilty. In both the old and new indictments, prosecutors said Menendez, after meeting with an Egyptian official, lobbied then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to increase American engagement in stalled negotiations involving Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to build a dam over the Nile River, a key foreign policy issue for Egypt. The indictments said that while Menendez was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he took several steps to secretly aid Egyptian officials. That included ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt. He relinquished the chairmanship of the committee after the earlier indictment against him was unsealed last month. He was also accused of passing along information about employees at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt and transmitting nonpublic information to Egyptian officials about military aid. Menendez, 69, has insisted that he did nothing unusual to assist Egypt and that prosecutors had misunderstood the work of a senator involved in foreign affairs. Authorities who searched Menendezs home last year said they found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars and over $480,000 in cash much of it hidden in closets, clothing and a safe. The Justice Department in recent years has stepped up its criminal enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law enacted in 1938 to unmask Nazi propaganda in the United States that requires people to disclose to the Justice Department when they advocate, lobby or perform public relations work in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government or political entity. According to the new indictment, Menendez himself made multiple requests from 2020 to 2022 for the U.S. to investigate a former member of Congress for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent, saying in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that it was imperative that the Justice Department ensure he is held to account. Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston, Michael Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, and Eric Tucker and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this story. Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE:EVT Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 28,600 shares, a growth of 214.3% from the September 15th total of 9,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 101,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days. Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:EVT traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $20.52. 198,041 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 104,304. Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund has a 52-week low of $20.41 and a 52-week high of $25.21. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $22.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.32. Get Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund alerts: Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund Increases Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.149 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 20th. This is an increase from Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Funds previous monthly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $1.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.71%. Insider Activity Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund In related news, Portfolio Manager Derek Digregorio bought 2,859 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.00 per share, for a total transaction of $65,757.00. Following the acquisition, the portfolio manager now owns 2,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,757. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aspire Private Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund during the 1st quarter worth approximately $23,514,400,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund by 498.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund by 106.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,000. About Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (Get Free Report) Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Eaton Vance Management. The fund invests in public equity markets across the globe. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across the diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in dividend paying value stocks of companies that qualify for favorable federal income tax treatment. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Roots Co. (OTCMKTS:RROTF Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 300 shares, a decrease of 70.0% from the September 15th total of 1,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Roots Stock Performance OTCMKTS:RROTF remained flat at $1.98 on Thursday. Roots has a 52-week low of $1.98 and a 52-week high of $3.47. The companys fifty day moving average is $1.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.16. Get Roots alerts: About Roots (Get Free Report) Further Reading Roots Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, markets, and sells apparel, leather goods, footwear, and accessories under the Roots brand in Canada and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Direct-To-Consumer, and Partners and Other. The Direct-to-Consumer segment sells products through the company's corporate retail stores and ecommerce. Receive News & Ratings for Roots Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Roots and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Stellar AfricaGold Inc. (CVE:SPX Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as C$0.01 and last traded at C$0.01, with a volume of 185130 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$0.02. Stellar AfricaGold Price Performance The stock has a market cap of C$1.12 million, a PE ratio of -0.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 201.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$0.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$0.03. Stellar AfricaGold Company Profile (Get Free Report) Stellar AfricaGold Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of mineral properties in West Africa and Canada. The company primarily explores for gold deposits. It holds interest in the Lullwitz-Kaepelli gold property located in Lacoste and De Sales township in the Charlevoix Area of Quebec; the Birimian Geology, Priko, and Zenoula permits situated in Cote d'Ivoire; the Tichka Est gold project located in the Atlas region of Morocco; and the Namarana gold project situated in region of Koulikoro. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Stellar AfricaGold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stellar AfricaGold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Invesco High Income Trust II (NYSE:VLT Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,451 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $202,000. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. owned about 0.11% of Invesco High Income Trust II at the end of the most recent quarter. Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Invesco High Income Trust II by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 8,010 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Invesco High Income Trust II by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,064 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Invesco High Income Trust II by 6.3% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,409 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its position in Invesco High Income Trust II by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 17,713 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Invesco High Income Trust II by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,287 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares in the last quarter. 16.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Invesco High Income Trust II alerts: Invesco High Income Trust II Trading Down 0.9 % Shares of NYSE:VLT traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.68. 17,746 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,382. Invesco High Income Trust II has a 12 month low of $9.45 and a 12 month high of $11.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.35. Invesco High Income Trust II Dividend Announcement About Invesco High Income Trust II The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 16th will be issued a $0.0964 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.95%. (Free Report) Invesco High Income Trust II is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Invesco Ltd. The fund is co-managed by Invesco Advisers, Inc, INVESCO Asset Management (Japan) Limited, INVESCO Asset Management Deutschland GmbH, INVESCO Asset Management Limited, Invesco Hong Kong Limited, INVESCO Senior Secured Management, Inc, and Invesco Canada Ltd. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VLT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Invesco High Income Trust II (NYSE:VLT Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Invesco High Income Trust II Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco High Income Trust II and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tufton Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,942 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,407 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Managements holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $4,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 75.0% in the first quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 350 shares of the companys stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 127.0% in the first quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 370 shares of the companys stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 79.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.2 % Shares of PM traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $92.01. 1,226,036 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,235,393. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.44 and a 52 week high of $105.62. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $94.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.63. The firm has a market cap of $142.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.71. Philip Morris International Increases Dividend Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 127.84% and a net margin of 11.63%. The companys revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. Analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 27th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Philip Morris Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 26th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.65%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio is currently 100.58%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades PM has been the topic of several recent research reports. 22nd Century Group reiterated a reiterates rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research note on Tuesday, June 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Citigroup raised shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $113.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $109.42. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on PM Philip Morris International Profile (Free Report) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Northeast Investment Management cut its holdings in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP Free Report) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 212,036 shares of the railroad operators stock after selling 5,059 shares during the period. Union Pacific comprises about 2.4% of Northeast Investment Managements holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Northeast Investment Managements holdings in Union Pacific were worth $43,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in Union Pacific by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 4,388 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,933,582 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $389,153,000 after acquiring an additional 21,361 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 12,535 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $2,565,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA increased its stake in shares of Union Pacific by 282.1% during the 1st quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 5,350 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 3,950 shares during the last quarter. 77.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Union Pacific alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, EVP Kenyatta G. Rocker sold 8,700 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.43, for a total transaction of $1,935,141.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,061 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,355,628.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kenyatta G. Rocker sold 8,700 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.43, for a total transaction of $1,935,141.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,061 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,355,628.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jennifer L. Hamann sold 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.83, for a total value of $222,830.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,378 shares in the company, valued at $22,144,399.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Union Pacific from $171.00 to $168.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Union Pacific from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Union Pacific from $200.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Union Pacific from $254.00 to $236.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Union Pacific from $285.00 to $275.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Twelve 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 companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $233.62. View Our Latest Report on UNP Union Pacific Stock Performance Shares of UNP stock traded up $0.70 on Friday, hitting $208.69. 790,601 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,859,653. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $127.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.12. Union Pacific Co. has a 1-year low of $183.69 and a 1-year high of $240.48. The companys fifty day moving average is $215.89 and its 200 day moving average is $207.62. Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.75 by ($0.18). Union Pacific had a net margin of 27.18% and a return on equity of 55.03%. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Union Pacific Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 30th. Union Pacifics dividend payout ratio is presently 47.45%. About Union Pacific (Free Report) Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, and other agricultural users; petroleum, and liquid petroleum gases; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Union Pacific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Union Pacific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV Free Report) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 183,481 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock after acquiring an additional 5,048 shares during the quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc.s holdings in Telefonica Brasil were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VIV. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 65.4% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 13,523,067 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $123,466,000 after acquiring an additional 5,346,959 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Telefonica Brasil by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,036,878 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $45,699,000 after acquiring an additional 2,859,674 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Telefonica Brasil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,372,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 622.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,749,843 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock worth $19,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,339 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in Telefonica Brasil by 965.4% in the 1st quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,724,046 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock worth $13,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,232 shares during the period. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Telefonica Brasil alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts have weighed in on VIV shares. StockNews.com downgraded Telefonica Brasil from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Itau BBA Securities restated an outperform rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Friday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Telefonica Brasil in a research note on Tuesday, September 19th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Citigroup upgraded Telefonica Brasil from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Telefonica Brasil from $10.00 to $11.40 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Telefonica Brasil currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $11.13. Telefonica Brasil Trading Up 1.3 % NYSE VIV traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $9.07. 671,564 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,632,859. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.56. Telefonica Brasil S.A. has a 52-week low of $6.49 and a 52-week high of $9.31. Telefonica Brasil (NYSE:VIV Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. Telefonica Brasil had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 6.54%. Research analysts forecast that Telefonica Brasil S.A. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year. Telefonica Brasil Cuts Dividend The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 1st were paid a dividend of $0.0273 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 1st. Telefonica Brasils dividend payout ratio is currently 47.17%. Telefonica Brasil Profile (Free Report) Telefonica Brasil SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mobile telecommunications company in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G, as well as mobile value-added and wireless roaming services. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VIV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Telefonica Brasil S.A. (NYSE:VIV Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Telefonica Brasil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Telefonica Brasil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Amitabh Tiwari Is a former corporate and investment banker-turned political strategist and commentator. Twitter: @politicalbaaba. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication Gali Nagaraja is a senior journalist, formerly associated with The Hindu, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times for over three decades. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. News / Local by Staff reporter The ongoing Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project, currently at an 80 percent completion stage, encompasses the reshaping of the Plunge Pool and refurbishments of the Spillway. This comprehensive endeavor is anticipated to extend the dam's lifespan by 60 years.Progress on this US$294.2 million project is advancing well toward its conclusion, with the Zambezi River Authority and the primary funding partner, the European Union (EU), expressing optimism about its commissioning in 2025.The Kariba Dam, constructed in the 1950s and commissioned in 1960, is responsible for regulating water levels in Lake Kariba. The dam wall faced a significant threat due to increased swirling and the identification of scouring and preferential erosion along a weak fault zone near the dam's foundations. The rehabilitation work was imperative to avert the potential loss of life for at least 500,000 people and to prevent over three million individuals from becoming economically incapacitated in the event of a dam wall collapse.Notably, the Kariba Dam generates approximately 2,000 megawatts of clean electricity, benefiting both Zimbabwe and Zambia. This hydropower source also supports livelihoods through fishing and tourism.During a recent visit to inspect the rehabilitation works, an EU delegation, including EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jobst von Kirchmann, EU Ambassador to Zambia and Comesa Karolina Stasiak, Zimbabwe's Energy and Power Development Minister Edgar Moyo, and ZRA board co-chairperson Dr. Gloria Magombo, emphasized the significant impact of this project. Dr. Magombo, also serving as Zimbabwe Energy Ministry's permanent secretary, co-chairs the board alongside her Zambian counterpart.Dr. Magombo stated that the rehabilitation works would extend the dam's lifespan by 60 years, ensuring uninterrupted power generation. The EU is providing substantial funding for this project.Zambezi River Authority's director of projects and dam management services, Eng Sithembinkosi Mhlanga, explained that the rehabilitation work on the plunge pool involved reinforcing the bedrock with concrete. This operation entailed excavating the rock surrounding the pool's walls, which had been eroded by spilling water.Ambassador von Kirchmann emphasized the commitment of EU institutions and EU Member States to mobilizing financial resources for sustainable and high-quality projects in Africa. He regarded the rehabilitation of the Kariba Dam as a flagship initiative of the Global Gateway Initiatives, emphasizing that sustainable development transcends borders.Ambassador Karolina Stasiak underscored the project's importance in securing access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy, acknowledging that unforeseen challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic, have extended the project's timeline. Europe is dedicated to providing financial support to Zimbabwe and Zambia.Minister Moyo praised the significant efforts made and urged contractors to expedite the project's completion. He stressed the importance of delivering high-quality work on schedule to ensure value for money for both governments and corporate partners.Additionally, Minister Moyo mentioned the commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals on Clean Energy (SDG No. 7) and the construction of additional dams along the shared section of the Zambezi River, common to Zimbabwe and Zambia. He invited cooperating partners to consider further collaboration on projects such as Batoka Gorge and Devils Gorge hydro-electric schemes.The rehabilitation project involves Razel Bec (a French company) and GE Hydro France, with Freyssinet International as the contractor. Funding is provided in the form of grants and loans from the African Development Bank, the European Union, the Government of Sweden, and the World Bank, made available to Zambia and Zimbabwe. Harsh Kumar is Correspondent at Moneycontrol based in Delhi. Harsh covers BFSI sector. You can reach him at Harsh.kumar@nw18.com you are here: Jinit Parmar is a correspondent based out of Mumbai covering banks, banking trends and more, tweets @jinitparmar10 #banks #bankingtrends #RBI Daily and weekly insights bundled and sent to your inbox to keep you ahead in the race. Exclusive access to live webinars from market experts on trading and investment strategies Have a Global edge with access to content from world renowned experts and journalist Access to 230+ exclusive stories per month from our editorial and Experts Limited Period offer on Moneycontrol PRO. Subscribe to PRO and get up to Access the exclusive stories, weekly investment ideas and daily technical calls in an Ad free experience In today's edition of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: IT sectors refusal to take risks affects jobs, whats firing up the IPO mark... Moneycontrol Pro Panorama | Fed skips again, but are rate hikes behind it? Indian IT majors have been significant employers of engineers from campuses across the country, but 2023 may be different. With companies seeing net headcount reductions even as attrition comes down and they look to increase utilisation, companies are taking different approaches. Infosys Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy told mediapersons, after the company announced its numbers for Q2FY24, that it does not have plans to go to campuses to hire as yet, and will evaluate hiring plans each quarter. This comes at... USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Pallavi Singhal is a Correspondent at Moneycontrol.com covering commerce, agriculture and education. With a total experience of four years, she has reported on varied subjects covering crime, courts, civic affairs, health & politics. Human interest and feature stories have always piqued her interest. News / Local by Staff reporter The final report on Zimbabwe's August elections by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has upheld its preliminary findings that the polls did not meet accepted regional and international standards. The report identified various issues related to Zimbabwe's legal framework, the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), postal voting by state security agencies, media, the diaspora vote, and the involvement of a shadowy organization called Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ). The report also pointed out concerns about the judiciary and the inconsistent application of laws by the police, which had an impact on the election.This final report, signed by the SADC Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, reiterated the preliminary findings made by Nevers Mumba, the head of SADC's Election Observer Mission (EOM). However, SADC's position does not automatically lead to fresh elections in Zimbabwe, as the reports serve mainly for recommendation purposes.The report emphasized concerns over the delimitation exercise conducted by ZEC in 2022, with stakeholders claiming that the process did not meet constitutional requirements and raised questions about its accuracy. It also highlighted issues related to increased nomination fees, which were deemed restrictive and potentially excluded less affluent community members from participating in the elections, including female presidential candidates.SADC's findings are in line with reports from other international and local observer missions, which also concluded that the election did not fully represent the will of Zimbabweans. President Emmerson Mnangagwa's legitimacy is being questioned, particularly by the opposition led by Nelson Chamisa, who received 44% of the vote, according to ZEC.Of SADC's 16 Heads of State, only those from Mozambique, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo attended Mnangagwa's inauguration, which has raised concerns about his international legitimacy, according to the opposition. Preeti Kulkarni is a financial journalist with over 13 years of experience. Based in Mumbai, she covers the personal finance beat for Moneycontrol. She focusses primarily on insurance, banking, taxation and financial planning News / Local by Staff reporter Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has penned a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, requesting the reinstatement of the recalled members of the National Assembly and Senate. He contends that the decision to recall them was based on what he describes as a "fraudulent letter."Dated October 11, 2023, the letter was addressed to Mudenda and also forwarded to Senate President Mable Chinomona. In his communication, Chamisa characterizes his request as a "correction and reversal of recalls made erroneously and mistakenly." He implores the Speaker's intervention to reinstate these legislators to Parliament.Previously, 15 opposition MPs and 17 councillors were recalled following a letter from one Sengezo Tshabangu, who claims to be the interim secretary-general of the CCC. Tshabangu's letter to Mudenda and the Local Government Minister, Winston Chitando, asserted that these individuals were no longer members of the CCC.Chamisa, however, disputes Tshabangu's authority, branding him an "impostor" allegedly acting on behalf of the ruling Zanu-PF party, which aims to secure a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.A portion of Chamisa's letter submitted to the Speaker on Thursday reads: "This letter serves to inform you that on October 11, 2023, in Harare, leaders and representatives of the citizen movement, the CCC, convened from all districts and provinces to discuss various issues impacting the movement and the nation.""Of relevant interest, is the issue of our Members of Parliament who were recalled on account of fraudulent misrepresentation. It was observed that, none of the recalled Members of Parliament have ceased to be members of our movement and that the movement has not terminated their membership, let alone recalled anybody."Pursuant to this, a resolution was made to correct the mistake and remedy the error by asking your good offices to act accordingly. I have therefore been mandated to write to you to state and advice the following 1. That the decision to recall CCC Members of Parliament announced on the 10 October 2023 was made on the basis of misinformation and misrepresentation to office.2. That the decision was made following the instructions of a fraudulent letter individual without the authorly of the CCC.3. That we kindly request a review and reversal of the decision to recall CCC Members Parliament announced on the 10th of October 2023.4. That the Speaker reverses this decision by informing all other institutions to whom the erroneous decision was communicated.5. That the affected members be allowed back in Parliament to continue with the mandate given to them by the electorate in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe."Added Chamisa: "Lastly, Hon Speaker, we do take note that on the numerous occasions we write to you, we never receive a response. Witten responses from public bodies like Parliament would be valuable not least because they show courtesy and promote good practice, but more importantly, written communication enables the citizens to fully promote accountability and responsibility and therefore the protection of fundamental rights by enabling the pursuance of effective remedies."Meanwhile, Tshabangu on Thursday ordered elected members to report for duty or risk more recalls despite Chamisa ordering his members to disengage from Parliament and councils. Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US politics and policy. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Namrata Hasija is a Research Fellow with the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy and her primary area of interest is Chinese foreign policy and India-Taiwan relations. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. News / National by Staff Reporter Old Mutual Zimbabwe, a leading financial services provider, has joined hands with New Faces New Voices for a training event aimed at empowering women in various areas, including entrepreneurship and financial literacy.The event is scheduled to take place on today, 12 October 2023, at St John's Anglican Church in Mutare.The training program will run under the flagship financial education programme On The Money which seeks to equip individuals with essential skills and knowledge to excel in entrepreneurship and improve their financial literacy. By focusing on these key areas, the initiative aims to empower women to become self-reliant, financially independent, and successful contributors to their communities and the economy at large.In light of this collaboration, Lillian Mbayiwa, Old Mutual's Head of Group Marketing, Public Affairs, and Sustainability, expressed her enthusiasm for the event. She encouraged the women of Mutare to actively participate in the program, highlighting Old Mutual's commitment to inclusion and diversity."Ladies of Mutare, we extend a warm invitation to join us at this empowering training event. As Old Mutual we remain steadfast in our commitment to create inclusive spaces where women can thrive, regardless of societal expectations or gender orientation. We firmly believe in cultivating diversity, not just as a talking point, but through tangible initiatives that foster a truly inclusive environment," said Mbayiwa.This partnership is not the first between Old Mutual and New Faces New Voices. In the past, they have successfully collaborated to train women in areas such asfinancial literacy, leadership, and investments. Old Mutual's interest to increase women visibility through fostering access to finance and financial services, strengthening the skills and capacity of Zimbabwean women propelled the training of 8 088 women in the country to date."The partnership signifies our commitment to women's empowerment and the promotion of gender equality. By providing training opportunities and fostering an environment that supports women in their professional and business endeavors, we believe we are indeed actively working towards creating a more inclusive and equitable society," added Mbayiwa.All women in Mutare are encouraged to attend this empowering training event, where they will have the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals, develop valuable skills, and connect with a supportive network of like-minded individuals. Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the European Union and France. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Daily and weekly insights bundled and sent to your inbox to keep you ahead in the race. Exclusive access to live webinars from market experts on trading and investment strategies Have a Global edge with access to content from world renowned experts and journalist Access to 230+ exclusive stories per month from our editorial and Experts Limited Period offer on Moneycontrol PRO. Subscribe to PRO and get up to Access the exclusive stories, weekly investment ideas and daily technical calls in an Ad free experience In today's edition of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: IT sectors refusal to take risks affects jobs, whats firing up the IPO mark... Moneycontrol Pro Panorama | Fed skips again, but are rate hikes behind it? Given the current bonhomie between India and Israel, it is often not known that diplomatic ties between the two nations were formally established only some 30 years ago, in 1992. Today, Israel and India have a record of strong business collaboration, particularly in the field of start-ups. For instance, on May 5 2023, India and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on industrial research and development cooperation, fortifying their ties through collaborations in several domains, including innovation, start-ups, and... USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Daily and weekly insights bundled and sent to your inbox to keep you ahead in the race. Exclusive access to live webinars from market experts on trading and investment strategies Have a Global edge with access to content from world renowned experts and journalist Access to 230+ exclusive stories per month from our editorial and Experts Limited Period offer on Moneycontrol PRO. Subscribe to PRO and get up to Access the exclusive stories, weekly investment ideas and daily technical calls in an Ad free experience In today's edition of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: IT sectors refusal to take risks affects jobs, whats firing up the IPO mark... Moneycontrol Pro Panorama | Fed skips again, but are rate hikes behind it? All four parties involved in the month-long auto strike in the US -- GM, Ford, Stellantis and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, thousands of whose members have walked out of their jobs -- are reacting in fear. Their insecurity stems from the slow but sure transition of the auto market from vehicles based on internal combustion engines (ICE) to those powered by electric batteries. The auto workers are demanding a hefty 40 percent hike in salaries but their willingness... USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Nivedita Jayaram Pawar is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist, who writes on food, art, design, travel and lifestyle. News / National by Staff reporter FORMER Victoria Falls City mayor Somveli Dlamini has been sentenced to 36 months in jail for defrauding the local authority of $US15 000.Dlamini (53) had pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.Hwange regional magistrate Mr Mark Dzira on Thursday remanded him in custody to today for sentencing, after finding him guilty.The magistrate said Dlamini abused duty and trust bestowed on him as a public officer.The former mayor will serve an effective 30 months after the magistrate suspended six months for five years on condition of good behaviour.Prior to the bail, Dlamini (53), had been denied bail by a Hwange magistrate as the court argued that there was no guarantee that if released, he would not interfere with evidence.Through his lawyer Mr Givemore Mvhiringi of Mvhiringi and Associates, Dlamini had appealed to the High Court, and Justice Maxwell Takuva admitted him on bail with some reporting conditions.Dlamini, who was a councillor for Ward 9 in Victoria Falls, was arrested by a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) crack team on charges of fraud involving a commercial stand valued at over US$90 000.Prosecutors said he misrepresented to Victoria Falls City Council when he purported to be Valentine Munyaradzi Maseko so that he could benefit from a stand despite having benefited before.According to the council resolution, an applicant must not have benefited before from allocation, purchase or lost stands through repossession.This is in line with the Government directive that a home seeker benefits once in any land scheme.To circumvent the system, Dlamini misrepresented and purported to be Valentine Nyoni from whom he bought the stand.This happened on 15 August 2022 when in his capacity as mayor unlawfully and intentionally made a misrepresentation and purported to be Valentine Munyaradzi Maseko from whom he had in 2003 purchased Stand Number 1139 under the Wood Road Housing Scheme. The court was told that Dlamini was supposed to pay a deposit of US$25 000. He paid US$10 000 and the balance was supposed to be paid within five days.After failing to raise the balance, Dlamini paid ZW$7, 5 million through a bank transfer.Zacc, which was in the city investigating suspicions of corruption, picked the anomaly leading to Dlamini's arrest.The local authority was prejudiced of US$15 000 and a potential prejudice of US$66 462. By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters on Friday that her plan for an "equi-proportional" increase in International Monetary Fund quota-based lending resources was "pretty likely to get done" despite concerns raised by China. Yellen was speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings. "There's a desire to see the IMF well-resourced with larger quota resources and less reliance on borrowing arrangements," Yellen said. Under the U.S.-backed plan, IMF member countries would each contribute towards an increase in quotas in proportion to their current shareholdings to boost the Fund's lending power. Decisions on how to shift the IMF's shareholding formula would be left to a later date. China and other large, fast-growing emerging markets, including Brazil and India, have been clamoring for more shares and influence at the crisis lender, but would have to wait under the current plan. Yellen said she discussed the quota matter on Friday with People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng. "I think they feel, based on Chinas size and role in the global economy, they should have a larger quota share," Yellen said. "We've made the point that we can't support an ad-hoc realignment of quota shares, that we believe the formula needs to be revised." The U.S. contribution towards the quota increase would require approval by the U.S. Congress, where anti-China sentiment is running high, and the Treasury plan would sidestep a difficult political fight. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday backed the U.S. plan as an "immediate, temporary solution" to the need to add quickly to boost IMF funding. "The equi-proportional quota seems to be the less contentious way of addressing it," Sitharaman told an Atlantic Council event in Marrakech. "I from my side did openly say yes." Story continues The money-now, shares later plan has been gaining support among IMF shareholders this week, but IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has called for a deadline to adjust its shareholding structure to give more weight to large emerging market economies. British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt told reporters that while he had confidence the U.S. plan would succeed, shareholdings need to be adjusted to ensure the IMF's credibility. (Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Jonathan Oatis) Faizal Khan is an independent journalist who writes on art. October 13, 2023 / 10:33 PM IST -- The Indian Air Force on Friday evacuated 409 tourists and local people from flash flood-affected areas in North Sikkim, officials said. -- They said that 18 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and two army personnel were among the evacuees. Over the past six days, a total of 4353 people, including tourists, have been rescued by the authorities from places such as Lachen, Lachung, Chhaten,and Pegong. -- Around 3,000 tourists, including foreigners, got stranded in North Sikkim for nearly a week after a cloudburst over Lhonak glacial lake on October 3 led to a massive flash flood in Teesta River, causing devastation downstream in four districts - Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong, and Namchi. -- Meanwhile, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) said the toll due to the flash flood remained unchanged at 37, including 10 army men, when 78 people were still missing. In July, Burkina Faso military ruler Capt Ibrahim Traore asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help set up a nuclear power plant in Burkina Faso Burkina Faso's military leaders have signed a deal with Russia to build a nuclear power plant to increase electricity supplies. It is the junta's latest move to align itself with Russia after falling out with most of its Western partners. The junta has turned to Russia for economic and military support since it seized power last year. Burkina Faso is one of the least electrified countries globally, with only 21% of people connected to power. The new deal with Russia is a culmination of talks the Burkinabe military ruler, Capt Ibrahim Traore, had with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July during the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow. Capt Traore requested President Putin's support in setting up a nuclear power plant in Burkina Faso, which he said would help meet the country's energy demands and those of neighbouring countries. "We have a critical need for energy, this is an important point for me because we need, if possible, to build a nuclear power station in Burkina Faso to produce electricity," he was quoted as saying at the time. "Our position is rather strategic because we are in the heart of West Africa and we have an energy deficit in the sub-region." The deal is part of Burkina Faso's target to achieve 95% electricity access for urban areas and 50% for rural areas by 2030. Burkina Faso gets most of its electricity from biofuels like charcoal and wood while oil products account for one-third of the total energy supply, according to the International Energy Agency. According to the US development agency USAid, Burkina Faso also has one of the highest electricity costs in Africa. South Africa is currently the only African state that produces nuclear power commercially, but increasingly more nations on the continent are moving in the same direction. Russia is helping Egypt to build a nuclear power plant at cost of $30bn (24bn) following a deal signed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and President Putin in 2017. Story continues Russia also signed a deal to build power plants in Nigeria in the same year, but the project is yet to begin. Kenya has also announced plans to build its first nuclear power plant by 2027, but it is still to decide on its international partner. In September this year, Rwanda announced that it had opted for Canadian-German company Dual Fluid Energy to build a nuclear reactor by 2028. The Rwandan government said the reactor will be instrumental to meet the central African country's energy demands and "build resilience" as a result of climate change. Although access to energy has increased in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, it still remains low, with more than 50% of the region's population still lacking access to electricity, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). (Bloomberg) -- The Republican leaders of two national security committees called for dramatic action to overcome the standoff in the election of a US House speaker, which has left the chamber paralyzed and unable to address aid to Israel or conduct any other business. Most Read from Bloomberg Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers and Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul acknowledged Thursday that their party is unable to get 217 votes to elect a speaker solely on the backs of Republican support. Republicans can afford to lose only four votes if Democrats remain united behind Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Rogers suggested Republicans might have to cut a deal with Democrats and called on Jeffries to spell out what concessions he would require to help the GOP elect a speaker. They put us in this ditch along with eight traitors, the Alabama Republican said, referring to hardline GOP dissidents who toppled Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week. Were still the majority party, were willing to work with them, but they gotta tell us what they need. McCaul later said the House might need to grant legislative powers to Patrick McHenry, the speaker pro tem, so the chamber can act on a national security package for Israel. Doing so would almost certainly require some Democratic support. I dont think were gonna have any other option, McCaul said in an interview with Bloomberg Televisions Balance of Power, given the urgency to pass an aid package for Israel. I dont think thats the ideal scenario, he added, but said no one in his conference seems capable of reaching 217 votes. Their comments address the deep divisions within the GOP ranks that have immobilized the party for more than a week since McCarthys Oct. 3 ouster. Story continues Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who on Wednesday clinched the Republican speaker nomination in a narrow secret ballot vote against Jim Jordan of Ohio, remains far short of the vote tally he needs to win an election on the floor, and his holdouts show no signs of budging. Read More: Trump, McCarthy Cast Doubt on Scalises Struggling Speaker Bid Jeffries indicated that Democrats were willing to work with Republicans, but he did not specify what his party would demand in return. An earlier power-sharing proposal was rejected by McCarthy before his historic ouster. The House of Representatives has been broken by chaos, dysfunction and extremism, Jeffries said. The only way out is to enter into an enlightened bipartisan coalition of the willing in order to get things back on track. Unusual Arrangements Rogers said Scalise is in the same situation McCarthy was in when it took 15 ballots to elect him in January and that many in his party would never get behind Jordan, a conservative firebrand. The leadership vacuum, he said, leaves Republicans without a clear path forward that endangers national security and risks imperiling Israel in its war with Hamas. To limit ourselves to just getting 217 out of our conference I think is not a wise path forward, Rogers said. Still No House Speaker? What This Means for US: QuickTake McCaul is among a growing group of Republicans amplifying calls to expand McHenrys temporary authority to allow him to preside over legislative business. Another Republican, David Joyce of Ohio, told reporters hes contacted Democrats about expanding McHenrys authority for a limited period of time perhaps 30 or 60 days and that Democrats have been amenable to that approach to act on issues like Israel. Representative Steve Womack of Arkansas supports that idea. The only other option, he said, is for Democrats to enable election of a Republican speaker nominee by voting present, lowering the threshold needed for victory. Jeffries has offered discussions on a bipartisan path forward. But Rogers said Democrats should make a specific offer that could provide a basis for opening negotiations. They havent offered jack, Rogers said. --With assistance from Billy House, Laura Litvan, Erik Wasson, Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The United States is reportedly putting special operations forces on alert and moving major military assets in response to the Israel-Hamas war; however, both the Biden administration and experts this week played down the possibility that America could put boots on the ground in Gaza. Inserting American troops into the fight between Israel and Hamas would introduce new risk into an already volatile situation as Jerusalem weighs a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip. Its a situation the American public and U.S. military has little appetite for, but one that President Biden should be prepared for nonetheless, experts say. I have a hard time actually seeing the U.S. insert ground forces, said Jon Alterman, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Middle East Program. I could imagine some circumstances in which you might want to use air assets especially to send a deterrent signal, but I dont think anybody has much interest in jumping into this, he added. As of Thursday, at least 27 Americans have been killed in the Hamas attacks on Israel that began over the weekend. Another 14 U.S. citizens remain unaccounted for, according to the White House. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters there are a very small number of Americans believed to be held as hostage by Hamas. Right now, we think the number that we know, or we believe are held hostage, is very small, very small, like less than a handful. But that could change over time, Kirby told reporters Wednesday. Thousands of U.S. citizens live in Israel a country that also counts Americans as one of its largest tourist groups. But many individuals seeking to flee the country due to fighting have found it difficult to leave given that several major airlines have suspended service in and out of the country. The instability and violence has prompted the Biden administration to surge weapons and equipment to the Israel Defense Forces, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish the countrys Iron Dome air defense system. In addition, Washington has moved a U.S. carrier fleet to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, with talks of sending a second fleet, and repositioned fighter jets to the region. Story continues But the White House claims those are all efforts done as a deterrent to keep potentially malignant actors at bay from entering the conflict, with the U.S. not contemplating putting troops on the ground despite the U.S. hostages, Bidens deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Thursday on MSNBCs Morning Joe. How do you actually find these people, and then once you do find them, if you do find them, how do you actually locate them, either negotiate their release or try operationally to remove them? Finer asked. But what I can say is at this point, we are not contemplating U.S. boots on the ground involved in that mission. The same day, a senior Defense official told reporters that the Pentagon has no intention of putting U.S. forces on the ground at this time. Instead, the U.S. is helping Israeli officials with intelligence and planning for any potential operations to rescue hostages, Defense officials said this week. As of now, the only U.S. forces in Israel are a U.S. military security cooperation team at the U.S. Embassy and American special operations forces who have been in the country for years working to deepen military cooperation with Israel, the senior Defense official said. In addition, Washington has sent federal hostage recovery experts to Israel to share intelligence and help coordinate rescue efforts, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Still, the United States has not ruled out a special operations mission to rescue kidnapped Americans an effort that would require close coordination with Israeli forces. On Tuesday, The Messenger reported that the U.S. had placed special operations forces on alert in a nearby European country, though it didnt specify which unit the forces came from. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill on that report. Military Times reported Wednesday that the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Marine Corpss expeditionary unit capable of special operations, had left early from a scheduled exercise with Kuwait as a result of a emerging events. They are now near Bahrain, according to the outlet. Asked about the movement Thursday, the senior Defense official said the Pentagon is constantly moving our marine and naval assets around the theater based on what the requirements are but wouldnt offer further details. Robert OBrien, a former national security adviser in the Trump administration, said Wednesday that rescue efforts within Gaza would be incredibly complicated but the administration should be prepared to carry out such efforts if the opportunity arises. Weve probably never faced something this complicated in terms of a hostage rescue, OBrien said on CNN. Im not suggesting that theres the ability to launch a rescue at this time, [but] we need to be opportunistic. We need to be prepared if an opportunity arises. The hostage situation also comes amid concerns that the conflict could encourage adversaries, particularly Iran and its proxy forces, to attack U.S. troops in the region. Several thousand American forces are based in Iraq and Syria to keep Islamic State militants from resurging in the region. Defense officials have not said what additional measures, if any, have been taken to protect those troops amid the heightened security threats. Im not going to get into hypotheticals, the senior Defense official said, adding that the U.S. military is able to expeditiously deploy dynamic capabilities across the globe to support the defensive needs of our allies and partners. An Israeli ground invasion into Gaza would mark a major escalation of the war, along with ratcheting up tensions across the region. Its a complicated role for the United States [as it] has its own responsibilities in terms of the need to make sure that Americans are safe, James Steinberg, the dean of John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and former deputy secretary of State, said Wednesday. But its also true that the administration is already trying to think about how do we get beyond this? How do we put an end to the danger of escalation of violence? he added. Steinberg suggested that Washington could try to use connections it has in the region such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others to engage all of whom have a stake in not seeing the situation escalate. Biden said Wednesday his administration is working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, though he declined to detail such efforts. Folks, theres a lot were doing a lot were doing. I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home, he said at a roundtable with Jewish community leaders. But the idea that Im going to stand here before you and tell you what Im doing is bizarre. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Steve Kueny has broken a Guinness World Record after traveling for 11 hours along the Missouri River in his pumpkin vessel KRCG 13/YouTube Steve Kueny completes 11-hour trip on Missouri River while paddling a pumpkin On Monday, autumn adventurer Steve Kueny of Lebanon, Missouri, potentially set a new Guinness World Record after an 11-hour, 38-mile journey on the Missouri River while manning a 1,208-lb. pumpkin boat. According to USA Today, Kueny traveled from Kansas City, starting at 7:30 a.m., before wrapping up at 6:18 p.m. in Napoleon. It takes a lot of planning and also a lot of flying by the seat of your pants, Kueny told local network KCTV. Im just a guy with a pumpkin and a whimsical sense of adventure out to have fun. And if the numbers pan out, the traveler would become the new record holder for longest journey by pumpkin boat, which was previously set by Duane Hansen after paddling over 37 miles in 2022, the Guinness World Records show. Related: Man Celebrates 60th Birthday by Floating Down River in 846-Lb. Pumpkin to Attempt World Record As USA Today noted, Kueny was joined by numerous Paddle KC Padding Club boats to make sure "were doing something very silly very safely" and to help him keep track of his pace along the river. In footage shared by KRCG, Kueny can be seen sitting inside the center of the pumpkin named Huckle Berry with a paddle in hand, as he wore an American flag vest and a camouflage bucket hat and kept pushing forward before giving cameras a thumbs up. Planning for the pumpkin paddling began in February. Now, Kueny must submit all his evidence from witnesses to GPS tracking to time stamps to Guinness World Records for verification. According to the organization's website, Guinness has a Records Management Team which confirms if an attempt was a success or not. The verification process determines if evidence "is sufficient enough to demonstrate that you have achieved the record title in question." Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. A spokesperson for Guinness World Records confirmed to PEOPLE on Friday that it received an application for the recent "longest journey by pumpkin boat (paddling)" attempt, and that it is awaiting evidence to review. The review process could take up to 12-15 weeks of submission, the organization said. Story continues If Kueny gets all his paperwork in, Guinness will then be tasked in determining if he beat out Hansen's current record, which is a 37.5-mile paddle on the Missouri River in a 846-pound pumpkin. "After meeting a previous record holder at a giant pumpkin seminar I decided that I wanted to try to break the record," Hansen told Guinness at the time. Before Hansen, Rick Swenson held the record for his 2018 journey of 25.5 miles. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, said the GOP White House hopefuls comments about Israel and criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week are not helpful. Instead, Trump should discuss his efforts to help Israel during this four years in office, Graham said. I would encourage President Trump to talk about what he did as president to help the Israeli government and people and criticizing Bibi now is not helpful, Graham said to reporters Friday, using the Israeli prime ministers nickname. There clearly was an intelligence failure, but we need to be behind Israel without equivocation. Graham pointed to Trump recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, declaring Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state and the signing of the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations among Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. South Carolinas senior U.S. senator is backing Trumps 2024 bid for the GOP nomination for president and has was a close ally during Trumps one term in office. Grahams comments, which he gave standing next to a group of Baptist preachers outside of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce office, on the war between Israel and Hamas come after former President Trump said at a rally Wednesday that Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that is speculated to join the fighting, is very smart and made comments criticizing Netanyahu. Trump said Netanyahu had pulled out of an operation that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Trump said Israel intended to participate in the raid but then decided to let the U.S. carry it out alone. Trump this week also said Israel and Netanyahu were unprepared for the attack from Hamas. Hamas last week attacked Israel, leading to thousands of deaths of Israelis and Palestinians between that surprise attack and the ensuing Israeli strikes on Gaza. Israel is amassing troops along the Gaza Strip preparing for an invasion in an effort to eliminate Hamas. Israel has warned people in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south. Story continues Hamas took hostages during its attack, including Americans. The U.S. has moved Navy ships in the Mediterranean closer to Israel as a show of force. Graham said if the war escalates with Hezbollah involvement, the death of hostages or if American soldiers are attacked in Syria and Iraq, the U.S. should go after Iran, which has ties to Hamas. If this war escalates, then we should destroy the ability of the Iranians to finance terrorism in the future, Graham said. Theyre an oil-based economy. Without oil revenue, they stopped being the largest state sponsor of terrorism. However, Americans may not have an appetite for another conflict after leaving the 20-year war in Afghanistan. I think to those who believe getting out of places make you safer, how much more do I have to do to convince you getting out of Afghanistan led to Russia invading Ukraine. I believe that, Graham said. I believe that the weakness we have shown toward Iran led to this. I believe giving billions of dollars to get American hostages out of Iran made Hamas think hey, maybe we should do that too. The desire to not engage evil seldom works out well. Iran is evil. I dont want a war with Iran. But I am tired of Iran financing terrorism all over the globe, Graham added. The Associated Press contributed to this article. Gazans bombarded by Israel have no hope and no escape The Guam Bar Association Office is seen Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, in Hagatna. The results of a Guam Bar election approving new bylaws have been halted due to a petition filed in the Supreme Court of Guam. David Castro/The Guam Daily Post turkey wings covered in gravy - Mr Make It Happen/YouTube When most people think of a turkey dinner, they imagine the whole bird prepped and stuffed for a Thanksgiving or Sunday dinner. But as with a chicken, you can cook individual parts of a turkey as well. In particular, turkey wings are a delicacy, especially in some parts of the country. In Louisiana, turkey wings are steeped in Creole culture, with a local favorite being a spicy stuffed variety. So, what exactly are stuffed wings? While you may be thinking of dressing typical of holidays, that mixture is probably best served inside a whole turkey. Instead, stuffed turkey wings are filled with a vegetable mixture of carrots, garlic, peppers, celery, and onions. This gives the turkey meat a spicy flavor that raises the heat in a way that is indicative of many Louisiana dishes. Within the state, onions, celery, and peppers are particularly popular due to their flavor-boosting qualities, so it only makes sense that the mixture would factor into these Creole-stuffed turkey wigs. It makes sense that stuffed turkey wings are popular in Louisiana because the state is their birthplace. Specifically, you can trace this recipe back to Lafayette, Louisiana, where one business owner helped make a name for herself during the 1960s. Read more: 15 Tricks For Making The Most Crispy Chicken Thighs Ever History Of Stuffed Turkey Wings turkey wings - Cooking With Tammy/YouTube Ask some of the locals in Lafayette where the best place to get stuffed turkey wings is, and they might direct you to Laura's II. The restaurant is a local favorite serving fried catfish, ribs, and yes, stuffed turkey wings. The recipe was created by Laura Williams Broussard, who began serving food out of her personal kitchen in 1968. As the popularity of her cooking grew, Broussard opened a restaurant in the town. Broussard's granddaughter Madonna followed her in the family business, opening up Laura's II in 2000. She began serving many of her grandmother's recipes including stuffed turkey wings. Originally, stuffed turkey wings were just a weekday special, but acclaim for the dish made the restaurant add it to the regular menu. In fact, the dish proves to be so popular that there's often a backorder. Laura's II struggles to keep up with the demand for the menu item. In fact, customers will often call ahead to make an order for the dish for the next day. According to local accounts, the turkey legs typically sell out around noon as a result. Story continues Laura Broussard's recipe appears to be the origin of the dish in America, but stuffed poultry wings have been around for longer. Stuffed chicken wings are popular in Asian culture, for instance, but they don't have the same spices as the Creole-based dish. Tips For Cooking Turkey Wings turkey wing in plate - Fired1991/Getty Images While stuffed turkey wings are popular in Louisiana, the dish doesn't seem to have made the jump to mass appeal outside the state. That's more likely due to its relative obscurity than anything else. If you don't live in the Lafayette area, your best bet for trying the dish is to cook it yourself. Preparing the turkey wings shouldn't be an overly complicated process, as long as you follow these tips. For one, consider brining turkey wings in a water, vinegar, and salt solution. This will make your wings more tender and flavorful, as the vinegar and salt will help soften the meat. When slicing open the turkey wings, be careful too not cut too deeply. Ideally, you'll want to form a pocket or cavity that you can stuff with your vegetable mixture. The other thing you should consider is searing the wings before placing them in a slow cooker. By searing the skin, you'll give your turkey wings a nice crunch that should go well with its seasoning. Additionally, searing helps pack in the flavors and juices. Finally, be sure not to cook your turkey wings too long. You want them to fall off the bone, but you don't want them mushy. Consider swapping things up for Thanksgiving or your next meal and try this spicy Louisiana staple for yourself. Read the original article on Daily Meal. Kenya Cabinet approved sending police to lead peace mission in Haiti but parliament must sign off Kenya Cabinet approved sending police to lead peace mission in Haiti but parliament must sign off View Photo NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) Kenyas Cabinet on Friday approved the deployment of 1,000 police to lead a multinational peacekeeping mission to Haiti to combat gang violence. The countrys parliament must now sign off on the resolution. From Jan. 1 until Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to the most recent U.N. statistics. Kenyas high court on Monday barred the deployment, approved by the U.N. Security Council earlier this month, for two weeks until a challenge to the deployment filed by a local politician is heard on Oct. 24. On Thursday, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki appeared before a national assembly committee on the deployment and said parliaments approval should be sought before any troops are sent. The minister was accompanied by the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome, who confirmed that training had started for the first group of officers to be sent to Haiti. The Kenya-led peacekeeping force was approved by a United Nations Security Council resolution on Oct. 2. The mission would be funded by voluntary contributions, with the U.S. pledging up to $200 million. The deployment has been controversial in Kenya, with opposition leader Raila Odinga last week criticizing the countrys involvement saying Kenya had its own security challenges. Kenya has yet to confirm a deployment date for the 1,000 officers it planned to send to Haiti. President William Ruto said on Oct .3 that the Kenya-led force would not fail the people of Haiti. By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press Russian authorities detain lawyers for Alexei Navalny as pressure mounts on political prisoners View Photo TALLINN, Estonia (AP) Russian authorities on Friday detained three lawyers representing imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny after searching their homes, his allies said, a step that comes amid increasing pressure on the Kremlins critics. The move was an attempt to completely isolate Navalny, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said on social media. Navalny, 47, has been behind bars since January 2021, serving a 19-year prison sentence but has been able to get messages out regularly and keep up with the news. The raids targeting Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser are part of a criminal case on charges of participating in an extremist group, Zhdanov said. All three were detained after the search, apparently as suspects in the case, Navalnys team said on Telegram. All three later in the day appeared in court and were ordered to pre-trial detention pending investigation and trial. Independent Russian media also reported a raid at a law firm that employs another of Navalnys lawyers, Olga Mikhailova. According to reports, she is currently not in Russia. Navalny, currently in Penal Colony No. 6 in the Vladimir region east of Moscow, is due to be transferred to a special security penal colony, a facility with the highest security level in the Russian penitentiary system, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh told The Associated Press. If he wont have access to lawyers, he will end up in complete isolation, the kind no one can really even imagine, she said. If his lawyers end up in jail, Navalny will be deprived not only of legal representation but also of his only connection to the world outside of prison, Yarmysh said: Letters go through poorly and are being censored, she said. With Navalny being held in a special punitive facility in the colony, he is not allowed any phone calls and hardly any visits from anyone but his lawyers, she said, and now it means he will be deprived of this, as well. For many political prisoners in Russia, regular visits from lawyers especially in remote regions are a lifeline that allows them to keep their loved ones informed about their well-being, as well as report and push back against abuse by prison officials. Navalny is President Vladimir Putins fiercest foe, campaigning against official corruption and organizing major anti-Kremlin protests. He 2021 arrest came upon his return to Moscow from Germany where he recuperated from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. He has since been handed three prison terms, most recently on the charges of extremism, and spent months in isolation facilities in the prison over various minor infractions prison officials accused him of. Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation and a vast network of regional offices were outlawed that same year as extremist groups, a step that exposed anyone involved with them to prosecution. Navalny has previously rejected all the charges against him as politically motivated and accused the Kremlin of seeking to keep him behind bars for life. Kobzev was due in court Friday, along with Navalny, for a hearing on two lawsuits the opposition leader had filed against the penal colony where hes being held. Navalny said at the hearing, which was later adjourned until November, that the case against his lawyers is indicative of the state of rule of law in Russia. Just like in Soviet times, not only political activists are being prosecuted and turned into political prisoners, but their lawyers, too, he said. Increasing isolation is something other political prisoners are facing, as well. Last month, imprisoned opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza was transferred to a penal colony in Siberia and placed in a tiny punishment cell, his lawyers said. Kara-Murza, 42, was convicted of treason for publicly denouncing Russias war in Ukraine and sentenced to 25 years in prison earlier this year. His social media posts are regularly updated with messages from behind bars, and his columns frequently appear in Western media. But in a penal colony in the Siberian city of Omsk, Kara-Murza is alone in a small cell, where theres only a wash basin, a latrine, a chair and a table, and a bed that is strapped to the wall for the entire day, his lawyer Maria Eismont wrote in a Facebook post last week. He is allowed to have only soap, toilet paper, a toothbrush and toothpaste, slippers, one book. Letters, a pen, paper and case files are given to him for only an hour and a half a day. Theres an hour-long walk in the prison yard, where he walks alone as well. The rest of the time he can sit on an uncomfortable chair or pace the cell, Eismont wrote. Alexei Gorinov, a former member of a Moscow municipal council, is serving his sentence in similar conditions. Gorinov, 62, was convicted of spreading false information about the army in July 2022 over antiwar remarks made at a council session and sentenced to seven years in prison. Hes been in a punishment cell repeatedly since early September in IK-2, a penal colony in the Vladimir region east of Moscow. Last week, Gorinov was transferred to a pre-trial detention center in Vladimir after a new criminal probe was launched against him on charges of condoning terrorism, according to his Telegram page. The post didnt clarify the accusations against Gorinov. In the detention center, he was once again placed in an unheated punishment cell, and he will stay there until Oct. 25, the post said. Andrei Pivovarov, another imprisoned high-profile opposition figure, has been in isolation since January. Pivovarov, 42, was sentenced to four years in prison on the charges of engaging with an undesirable organization - a label slapped on the pro-democracy group he headed, Open Russia, shortly before his arrest. Pivovarov is serving his sentence at IK-7 in the Karelia region of northern Russia and is being held in a restricted housing unit in a single cell, his wife Tatyana Usmanova told AP. She has only seen him once since his arrest in May 2021: they were married in July 2023 and allowed a three-day visit. Pivovarov is not allowed to have phone calls and only gets about two hours a day for writing letters, which go through prison censors to get mailed, so if not for the lawyers visiting him regularly, Usmanova says she would have really long gaps between those letters during which I wouldnt at all know whether hes OK or not OK, healthy or not healthy, alive or not. Jailed artist and musician Sasha Skochilenko, meanwhile, faces a different kind of pressure. Arrested in April 2022 on charges of spreading false information about the army after replacing supermarket price tags with antiwar slogans to protest the invasion, Skochilenko is on trial, with almost daily court hearings that often prevent her from getting meals. At a hearing last month, the judge called an ambulance to the courthouse after Skochilenko fell ill, telling the court it was her second day without any food. The 33-year-old suffers from several health problems, including a congenital heart defect, bipolar disorder and celiac disease, requiring a gluten-free diet. At another hearing earlier this week Skochilenko burst into tears after the judge rejected a request for a break so that she could eat or at least use the bathroom, her partner Sofya Subbotina recalled in an interview with AP. Shes great, shes been holding up really well these past year and a half. But lately its been really hard on her, Subbotina said. A psychiatrist visited her (in jail) Right now shes suffering from a depressive episode of moderate severity. Whats happening in court is abuse, and we cant change it, lawyers cant change it. By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press French authorities link a school stabbing that killed a teacher to Islamic extremism View Photo ARRAS, France (AP) A man of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by French security services over suspected Islamic radicalization stabbed a teacher to death at his former high school and wounded three other people Friday in northern France, authorities said. France raised its threat alert to its highest level, and the attack was being investigated by anti-terrorism prosecutors amid soaring global tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas. It also happened almost three years after another teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded by a radicalized Chechen near a Paris area school. The suspected attacker had been under surveillance since the summer on suspicion of Islamic radicalization, French intelligence services told The Associated Press. He was detained Thursday for questioning based on the monitoring of his phone calls in recent days, but investigators found no sign that he was preparing an attack, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. There was a race against the clock. But there was no threat, no weapon, no indication. We did our our job seriously, Darmanin said on TF1 television. French intelligence suggested a link between the war in the Middle East and the suspects decision to attack, the minister said. The suspect, identified by prosecutors as Mohamed M., was reportedly refusing to speak to investigators. Several others also were in custody Friday, national counterterrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said. Police said the suspects younger brother was among those held for questioning. President Emmanuel Macron said France had been hit once again by the barbarity of Islamist terrorism. Nearly three years to the day after the assassination of Samuel Paty, terrorism has hit a school again and in a context that were all aware of, Macron said at the site of the attack in Arras, a city 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Paris. A colleague and a fellow teacher identified the dead educator as Dominique Bernard, a French language teacher at the Gambetta-Carnot school, which enrolls students ages 11-18. The victim stepped in and probably saved many lives but two of the wounded another teacher and a security guard were fighting for theirs, according to Macron. Authorities said the third person wounded worked as a cleaner at the school. The prosecutor said the alleged assailant was a former student there and repeatedly shouted Allahu akbar, or God is great in Arabic during the attack. Police officer Sliman Hamzi was one of the first on the scene. Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer, rushed to the school and saw a male victim lying on the ground outside the school and the attacker being taken away. He said the victim had his throat slit. Im extremely shocked by what I saw, the officer said. It was a horrible thing to see this poor man who was killed on the job by a lunatic. The National Police force identified the suspect in the attack as a Russian national of Chechen origin who was born in 2003. The French intelligence services told the AP he had been closely watched since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that found no wrongdoing. Fridays attack had echoes of Patys slaying on Oct 16, 2020 also a Friday by an 18-year-old who had become radicalized. Like the suspect in Fridays stabbings, the earlier attacker had a Chechen background; police shot and killed him. Martin Doussau, a philosophy teacher at Gambetta-Carnot, said the assailant was armed with two knives and appeared to be hunting specifically for a history teacher. Paty taught history and geography. I was chased by the attacker, who asked me if I teach history, said Doussau, who recounted how he barricaded himself behind a door until police used a stun gun to subdue the attacker. When he turned around and asked me if I am a history teacher, I immediately thought of Samuel Paty. The school went into lockdown, and some children were held inside classrooms for hours while distraught parents gathered outside. My husband was in tears. There were a lot of people crying, a lot in a state of panic, said Celine Bourgeois, whose 15-year-old son, Louis, was inside. Prosecutors said they were considering charges of terror-related murder and attempted murder against the suspect. Macron visited the school, stopping for a moment before the blanket-covered body of the teacher, which was in the parking lot in front of the school, then met with students. He said police thwarted an attempted attack in another region of France after the teachers fatal stabbing. He did not provide details, but the Interior Ministry said he was referring to a man armed with a knife arrested coming out of a prayer hall in the Yvelines region west of Paris. The mans motives werent immediately clear, police said. School attacks are rare in France, and the government asked authorities to heighten vigilance at all schools across the country. The government also increased its threat alert to its highest level Friday, allowing for larger police and military deployments to protect the country. Darmanin said there was no specific threat that prompted the move, but cited calls by extremists to attack amid the Mideast war. He said authorities have detained 12 people near schools or places of worship since the Hamas attack on Israel last Saturday, some of whom were armed and were preparing to attack. France has heightened security at hundreds of Jewish sites around the country this week. The suspects telephone conversations in recent days gave no indication of an impending attack, leading intelligence officers to conclude that the assailant decided suddenly on Friday to act, intelligence services told the AP. The suspects father was expelled from France in 2018 for radicalism, the interior minister said. An older brother is serving a 5-year prison term for terror offences. He was convicted this year of involvement in a plot for an armed attack around the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris that was thwarted by the intelligence services. Other members of the radical Islamist group were also jailed for up to 15 years. He was the groups only Chechen. The older brother also was a former pupil at the high school targeted Friday, according to legal records from his trial earlier this year on terror-related charges. Investigation records show that during a school class in 2016 about freedom of expression, the older brother defended a terror attack in 2015 that killed 12 cartoonists at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Fridays attack came amid heightened tensions around the world over Hamas attack on southern Israel and Israels blistering military response, which have killed hundreds of civilians on both sides. Darmanin on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts. France is estimated to have the worlds third-largest Jewish population after Israel and the U.S., as well as the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. A moment of silence was held at the opening of a France-Netherlands soccer match Friday night to honor victims of the Israel-Hamas fighting and the slain teacher. Macron said the school in Arras would reopen as soon as Saturday morning, and he urged the people of France to stay united. The choice has been made not to give in to terror, he said. We must not let anything divide us, and we must remember that schools and the transmission of knowledge are at the heart of this fight against ignorance. ___ Leicester reported from Paris and Petrequin from Brussels. Angela Charlton in Paris, Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Lyon and Michel Spingler in Arras, France, contributed. By JOHN LEICESTER, JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and SAM PETREQUIN Associated Press Sonora, CAThe Tuolumne County Fire Department is joining forces with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week (FPW) for over a century. Together, they aim to raise awareness about this years FPW campaign, Cooking safety starts with YOU. Pay attention to fire prevention. This campaigns focus is on educating the public about simple yet crucial steps they can take while cooking to ensure safety. According to the NFPA, cooking is the primary cause of home fires and fire-related injuries in the United States. Specifically, unattended cooking is the leading contributor to cooking fires and related fatalities. Lorraine Carli, Vice President of Outreach and Advocacy at NFPA, noted, Year after year, cooking remains the leading cause of home fires by far, accounting for half (49 percent) of all U.S. home fires. These statistics underscore the need for continued efforts to educate the public on safe cooking practices. The Tuolumne County Fire Department provides essential safety tips to minimize cooking-related fire risks. These tips include closely monitoring cooking activities, setting timers as reminders, positioning pot handles towards the stoves rear, and keeping a lid on hand to smother grease fires. Additionally, creating a kid- and pet-free zone of at least 3 feet around cooking areas is recommended. To further bolster fire safety awareness, the Tuolumne County Fire Department will host an open house in support of this years FPW campaign at TCFD Station 56 Mono Vista on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The stations address is 16925 Mono Vista Road, Sonora. This event offers an opportunity for the community to learn more about fire prevention and safety practices. US Department Of Homeland Security View Photo San Francisco, CA Many US law enforcement agencies, including across California, are on high alert today after a call for a global Day of Rage by a former Hamas leader to support terrorist attacks on Israel. Officials stress that there have been no credible threats to public safety at this time, but police departments in larger municipalities will be ramping up enforcement around Jewish places of worship and schools. Police Departments from Los Angeles, to San Francisco, to Fresno, have put out statements that they will be increasing patrols in those areas, and encouraging anyone who sees something suspicious to call law enforcement. Similar statements have been made by agencies like the New York Police Department. Hamas attacks on Israel have killed over 1,300 people over the past week. Khaled Mashal, a former Hamas leader, has called for a global day of jihad (today) sparking the public safety concerns, nationwide. Click here to find the latest on the Israel-Hamas war in our Associated Press coverage. Palestinians flee northern Gaza after Israel orders 1 million to evacuate as ground attack looms View Photo JERUSALEM (AP) Palestinians fled in a mass exodus Friday from northern Gaza after Israels military told some 1 million people to evacuate to the southern part of the besieged territory ahead of an expected ground invasion in retaliation for the surprise attack by the ruling Hamas militant group. The U.N. warned that evacuating almost half of crowded Gazas population would be calamitous, and it urged Israel to reverse the unprecedented directive. As airstrikes hammered the territory throughout the day, families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City. Hamas media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people. The Israeli military said its troops conducted temporary raids into Gaza to battle militants and hunted for traces of some 150 people abducted in Hamass assault on Israel nearly a week ago. In urging the evacuation, Israels military said it planned to target underground Hamas hideouts around Gaza City. But Palestinians and some Egyptian officials fear that Israel ultimately hopes to push Gazas people out through the southern border with Egypt. Hamas told people to ignore the evacuation order, and families in Gaza faced what they saw as a no-win decision to leave or stay, with no safe ground anywhere. Hospital staff said they couldnt abandon patients. Unrelenting Israeli strikes over the past week have leveled large swaths of neighborhoods, magnifying the suffering of Gaza, which has also been sealed off from food, water and medical supplies, and under a virtual total power blackout. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youll make it, if youre going to live, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, as she broke into heaving sobs. In the nearly week-old war, the Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that roughly 1,900 people have been killed in the territory more than half of them under the age of 18, or women. The Hamas assault last Saturday killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said. ISRAELI TROOPS MAKE FORAY INTO GAZA Israels raid was the first word of troops entering Gaza since Israel launched its round-the-clock bombardment in retaliation for Hamas massacre of hundreds of civilians in southern Israel. A military spokesman said Israeli ground troops left after conducting the raids. The troop movements did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion. The evacuation order was taken as a further signal of an expected Israeli ground offensive, although no such decision has been announced. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border. An assault into densely populated and impoverished Gaza would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. We will destroy Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Friday night in a speech, adding, This is only the beginning. Hamas said Israels airstrikes killed 13 of the hostages in the past day. It said the dead included foreigners but did not give their nationalities. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied the claim. In Israel, the public remained in shock over the Hamas rampage and frightened by continual rocket fire out of Gaza. The public is overwhelmingly in favor of the military offensive, and Israeli TV stations have set up special broadcasts with slogans like together we will win and strong together. Their reports focus heavily on the aftermath of the Hamas attack and stories of heroism and national unity, and they make scant mention of the unfolding crisis in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported 16 Palestinians killed Friday, bringing the total of Palestinians killed there since Hamas rampage to 51. The U.N. says attacks by Israeli settlers have surged there since the Hamas assault. ISRAEL URGES MASS EVACUATION OF GAZA CIVILIANS The U.N. said the Israeli militarys call for civilians to move south affects 1.1 million people. If carried out, that would mean the territorys entire population would have to cram into the southern half of the 40-kilometer (25-mile) strip. An Israeli spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, said the military would take extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians and that residents would be allowed to return when the war is over. Israel has long accused Hamas of using Palestinians as human shields. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel wanted to separate Hamas militants from the civilian population. So those who want to save their life, please go south, he said at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it would be impossible to stage such an evacuation without devastating humanitarian consequences. He called on Israel to rescind any such orders. PALESTINIANS IN GAZA GRAPPLE WITH WHERE TO GO Hamas media office said airstrikes hit cars in three locations as they headed south from Gaza City, killing 70 people. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike. Two witnesses reported a strike on fleeing cars near the town of Deir el-Balah, south of the evacuation zone and in the area Israel told people to flee to. Fayza Hamoudi said she and her family were driving from their home in the north when the strike hit some distance ahead on the road and two vehicles burst into flames. A witness from another car on the road gave a similar account. Why should we trust that theyre trying to keep us safe? Hamoudi said, her voice choking. They are sick. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the strike. Hamas called the evacuation order psychological warfare aimed at breaking Palestinian solidarity and urged people to stay. But there was no sign of it preventing the flight. Gaza City resident Khaled Abu Sultan at first didnt believe the evacuation order was real, and now isnt sure whether to move his family to the south. We dont know if there are safe areas there, he said. We dont know anything. Many feared they would not be able to return or would be gradually displaced to Egypts Sinai Peninsula. More than half of the Palestinians in Gaza are the descendants of refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, when hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from what is now Israel. For many, the mass evacuation order dredged up fears of a second expulsion. Already, at least 423,000 people nearly 1 in 5 Gazans have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the U.N. said Thursday. Where is the sense of security in Gaza? Is this what Hamas is offering us? said one resident, Tarek Mraish, standing by an avenue as vehicles flowed by. What has Hamas done to us? It brought us catastrophe, he said, using the same Arabic word nakba used for the 1948 displacement. The U.N. estimated that tens of thousands had fled homes in the north by Friday night. HOSPITALS STRUGGLE WITH PATIENTS Gazas Health Ministry said it was impossible to safely transport the many wounded from hospitals, which are already struggling with high numbers of dead and injured. We cannot evacuate hospitals and leave the wounded and sick to die, spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said. Farsakh, of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said some medics refused to abandon patients and instead called colleagues to say goodbye. We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals, she said. Al Awda Hospital was struggling to evacuate dozens of patients and staff after the military contacted it and told it to do so by Friday night, said the aid group Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, which supports the facility. The military extended the deadline to Saturday morning, it said. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said it would not evacuate its schools, where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma. The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse, said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWAs commissioner general. Pressed by reporters on whether the army would protect hospitals, U.N. shelters and other civilian locations, Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, said the military would keep civilians safe as much as we can. But he warned: Its a war zone. ___ Shurafa reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip, and Lederer from Chicago. Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss in Jerusalem, Samya Kullab in Baghdad, Samy Magdy in Cairo, and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report. By ISABEL DeBRE, EDITH M. LEDERER and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press In Beirut, Irans foreign minister warns war could spread if Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues View Photo BEIRUT (AP) Irans foreign minister warned Friday that if Israels attacks on the Gaza Strip dont stop immediately, the violence could spread to other parts of the Middle East. Hossein Amirabdollahian is on a tour that took him to Baghdad before Beirut, and later in the day he went to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Iran heads the so-called axis of resistance that includes powerful militant groups in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq. Amirabdollahian spoke to reporters in Beirut after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, during which the two officials called for an end to Israels attacks on Gaza. He also met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the speaker of parliament. There have been concerns that the war could spread to Lebanons border where Hezbollah fighters have been on alert following Hamas attack on southern Israel on Saturday that left hundreds of people dead. On Thursday, Israels military struck two of Syrias main international airports, in Damascus and Aleppo, putting them out of service. Flights were diverted to an airport in the coastal province of Latakia. The strikes came after shells were fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Sporadic acts of violence along the Lebanon-Israel border over the past days left three Hezbollah fighters dead on Monday. Israels military said one Israeli soldier was killed in an anti-tank missile attack on Wednesday. U.S. President Joe Biden has warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict, sending American warships to the region and vowing full support for Israel. What is funny is that at a time when America is calling on parties for self restraint, it is allowing the criminals in the fake Zionist entity to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza, Amirabdollahian said. He warned that if these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity dont stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility. He did not elaborate but it was an apparent hint that Iran-backed groups could join the war. Senior Hamas official Ali Barakeh told The Associated Press this week in Beirut that allies like Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah will join the battle if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation. Amirabdollahian said: America cannot send weapons and bombs to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza and at the same time calls on all sides for self-restraint. Amirabdollahian called on the foreign ministers and the leader of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a grouping of 57 countries with important Muslim populations, to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. After meeting Mikati, Amirabdollahian said the aim of his visit to Beirut is to preserve security in Lebanon amid regional tensions. What is important for us is security in Lebanon and how to preserve calm, Amirabdollahian said. He added that what Hamas did over the weekend was in response to the policies of Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press Tens of thousands protest after Muslim prayers across Mideast over Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Tens of thousands protest after Muslim prayers across Mideast over Israeli airstrikes on Gaza View Photo JERUSALEM (AP) Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Friday across the Middle East in support of the Palestinians and against the intensifying Israeli bombardment of Gaza, underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion. From the typically sedate streets of downtown Amman in Jordan, to Yemens war-scarred capital of Sanaa, crowds of Muslim worshippers poured into the streets after weekly Friday prayers, angered by devastating Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that began after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel last Saturday. At the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalems Old City, Israeli police were permitting only certain older men, women and children to enter the sprawling hilltop compound for prayers, trying to limit the potential for violence. Only 5,000 worshippers made it into the site, the Islamic endowment that manages the mosque said. On a typical Friday, some 50,000 perform the prayers. An Associated Press reporter watched police allow just a Palestinian teenage girl and her mother into the compound out of 20 worshippers who tried to get in, some of them even over the age of 50. Young Palestinian men who were refused entry gathered at the steps near Lions Gate, eyes downcast, until police shouted at them and shepherded them outside the Old City ramparts altogether. We cant live, we cant breathe, they are killing everything that is good within us, said Ahmad Barbour, a 57-year-old cleaner, red-faced and seething after police blocked him from entering for prayers. Everything that is forbidden to us is allowed to them, he added, referring to the Israelis. The mosque sits in a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and conflicting claims over it have spilled into violence before. Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest site in Islam and stands in a spot known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. Hundreds of young Palestinian worshippers who had been turned away from the Old City threw down small prayer rugs on the street in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz and prayed in the open. When some of the men started shouting, Israeli police charged into the crowd with batons and fired rounds of tear gas at the worshippers, wounding at least six people, said the Palestinian Red Crescent. Thousands demonstrated in Amman in neighboring Jordan, some crying out: We are going to Jerusalem as millions of martyrs! What do they want from Palestine? Do they expect them to leave? asked protester Omar Abu-Sundos. For what remains of Palestine to leave? They wont leave. In Beirut, thousands of supporters of Lebanons Hezbollah militant group waved Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, chanting slogans in support of Gaza and calling for death to Israel. The Iranian-backed militant group in neighboring Lebanon has launched sporadic attacks since the Hamas assault, but largely stayed on the sidelines of the war. However, Hezbollahs deputy secretary-general warned that it would be on the lookout for the United States and British naval vessels heading to the Mediterranean Sea. U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, have repeatedly warned Iran and the regional militias Tehran backs to stay out of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Your battleships do not interest us, nor do your statements frighten us, Naim Kassim said at a rally in a southern suburb of Beirut. When the time is right to take action, we will do so. In Baghdad, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square the protest hub of Iraqs capital for rallies called by the influential Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr. We, as Iraqis, know the pain of having an occupier on our land, said protester Alaa al-Arabyia, referring to the U.S. occupation of Iraq following its 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Palestinian women have husbands, loved ones and sons fighting the occupation. We stand with them in their struggle. Across Iran, a supporter of Hamas and Israels regional archenemy, demonstrators also streamed into the streets after prayers. In Tehran, they burned Israeli and American flags, chanting: Death to Israel, Death to America, Israel will be doomed, and Palestine will be the conqueror. The Palestinian people are fed up, now your idea is to destroy Gaza, the houses of the people, Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi said in a speech in the countrys southern Fars province. The people of the world and Palestine will cause trouble for you. In the Syrian capital of Damascus, protesters including Palestinians from the Yarmouk refugee camp formed after the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation also rallied. I tell the people not to leave their homes otherwise they will be like our grandparents who left Palestine and came to Syria but never returned, Ahmad Saeed, a 23-year-old Palestinian living in Syria, said, referring to the 1948 war. In Yemens Sanaa, held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels still at war with a Saudi-led coalition, demonstrators crowded the streets waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. The rebels slogan long has been: God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse of the Jews; victory to Islam. We are ready to participate actively and send hundreds of thousands of mujahedeen .to defend Palestine, the Palestinian people and the holy sites, the Houthi government said in a statement Friday. After Friday prayers, Egyptian demonstrators ringed the historic Al-Azhar Mosque in downtown Cairo, the Sunni Muslim worlds foremost religious institution, chanting that Israel remained their enemy generation after generation. They repeated the traditionally nationalistic slogan, We give our souls and blood to Al-Aqsa. In Pakistans capital of Islamabad, some worshippers trampled on American and Israeli flags. International media and international courts turn a blind eye to the injustices with the Palestinians. But they only notice the actions that the Palestinians take to defend themselves, said Faheem Ahmed, a worshipper in Karachi. They call it terrorism. ___ Associated Press writers Abdulrahman Zeyad in Baghdad; Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria; and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report. By ISABEL DEBRE and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press Judge scolds prosecutors as she delays hearing for co-defendant in Trump classified documents case View Photo FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) A judge on Thursday scolded federal prosecutors in the classified documents case against Donald Trump as she postponed a hearing to determine if the lawyer for one of the former presidents co-defendants had a conflict of interest. U.S District Judge Aileen Cannon admonished prosecutors for wasting the courts time, telling them they had presented arguments during Thursdays hearing that had not been properly raised in earlier court filings. She said she would continue the hearing at a later date for Walt Nauta, a Trump valet charged with conspiring with Trump to conceal classified documents from investigators. Special counsel Jack Smiths team had asked for hearings to ensure that Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira were aware of potential conflicts because their lawyers have represented other key figures in the case. Both men were charged alongside Trump with obstructing government efforts to recover classified documents hoarded at Mar-a-Lago, the former presidents Florida estate. Prosecutors have said in court filings that the multiple representations could create a conflict by causing a lawyer to betray the confidences of a current or former client, or to pull punches, during cross-examination. In Nautas case, his attorney, Stanley Woodward, has represented at least seven other witnesses in the probe, prosecutors say, including a Mar-a-Lago information technology worker the Justice Department says was asked to delete the surveillance video. That individual retracted prior false testimony after switching lawyers, struck a cooperation deal and provided information that incriminated Trump and helped produce a new indictment in July against the former president, Nauta and De Oliveira, prosecutors have said. During Thursdays hearing, prosecutor David Harbach, a member of Smiths team, said that worker would be called as a government witness and questioned and also cross-examined about his change in testimony. He said it would be a conflict for Woodward, who as the workers former lawyer would presumably be privy to the confidences of his one-time client, to be permitted to cross-examine his client a point Cannon said had not been previously argued. Woodward has denied any conflict and said prosecutors have no way of knowing what he knows or doesnt know about what his client communicated to him. At a hearing earlier in the day, De Oliveira said under questioning from Cannon that he understood the concerns arising from his lawyers former representation of three government witnesses. Nonetheless, he wanted to keep his attorney, John Irving. Cannon ruled that he could. Irving told the judge he did not foresee a conflict, saying there was nothing the witnesses who are now represented by a new lawyer could reveal that is not already known by the government or that would be problematic for De Oliveira. De Oliveira is accused of lying to investigators when he claimed falsely, prosecutors say he hadnt even seen boxes moved into Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House. Prosecutors say he also conspired with Trump and Nauta to try to delete surveillance footage from the property to prevent it from being turned over to the grand jury. De Oliveira has pleaded not guilty. The criminal case is one of four Trump faces. Hes also charged in state and federal cases with scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and is accused in New York of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to a porn actor. ___ Tucker reported from Washington. By TERRY SPENCER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press Retention AI Predictive Model Partnership Dramatically Raises CUNY Graduation Rate Seeking to improve graduation rates at City University of New York (CUNY), a three-way partnership between Google, DataKind, and CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice (JJCCJ) built a predictive AI tool that resulted in a dramatic graduation rate increase from 54% to 86% in just two years. The AI tool will now be extended to six more CUNY schools to help improve their rates as well. With the support of a grant in 2021 from Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, nonprofit data science organization DataKind and JJCCJ built the AI predictive model based on data from thousands of students identified as most likely to drop out. Many of these were not traditional students, but faced challenges such as being first-generation, working while studying, or struggling to raise families while going to school. The model looked at 75 risk indicators, such as grade variations and attendance patterns, to generate a risk score for each student. Those students numbered around 200 out of roughly 750 students assigned to each adviser. With that score, advisers were able to focus their attention and resources, such as one-to-one support, on those students at greatest risk of not completing their degrees. Following the success of the project, Dean Dara Byrne summarized four takeaways other institutions can use in building or incorporating AI to solve problems: Co-create a solution: This builds transparency, collaboration, and mutual trust to help integrate the use of AI successfully. Start small: The project began with one college in order to "get the model right," Byrne said, and "to bring the right historical data to the table and to keep a laser focus on results, while closely monitoring for risks like bias in the model." Use AI as an aid: It can help advisers, but cannot replace them when it comes to giving personal support and helping students make good decisions. Seek help: Organizations and companies like DataKind and Google can help strapped institutions fund and develop AI models and support sharing what was learned for the benefit of other institutions who want to help their students succeed. "This project has fundamentally reshaped how I think about building a culture of belonging informed by data, and powered by community," Byrne said. Visit this page to read Byrne's full blog post. To view a video for more specific information, go to this YouTube page. Learn more about DataKind's work to help empower communities in the U.S., and visit Google.org to read about its philanthropy programs. Colorado judge strikes down Trumps attempt to toss a lawsuit seeking to bar him from the ballot Colorado judge strikes down Trumps attempt to toss a lawsuit seeking to bar him from the ballot View Photo DENVER (AP) A Colorado judge has rejected an attempt by former President Donald Trump to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to keep him off the state ballot, ruling that his objections on free-speech grounds did not apply. Trumps attorneys argued that a Colorado law protecting people from being sued over exercising their free speech rights shielded him from the lawsuit, but Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace said that law doesnt apply in this case. The law also conflicted with a state requirement to get the question about Trumps eligibility resolved quickly before a Jan. 5 deadline for presidential candidates names to certified for the Colorado primary, Wallace wrote. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claims in its lawsuit that putting Trump on the ballot in Colorado would violate a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars people who have engaged in insurrection against the Constitution from holding office. The groups chief counsel, Donald K. Sherman, welcomed Wallaces decision, which was made late Wednesday. He called it a well-reasoned and very detailed order in a statement Thursday. A Denver-based attorney for Trump, Geoffrey Blue, didnt immediately return a phone message Thursday seeking comment. The Colorado case is one of several involving Trump that stand to test the Civil War-era constitutional amendment, which has never been ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with lawsuits filed in Minnesota and Michigan, it has a good chance of reaching the nations high court. The lawsuits also involve one of Trumps arguments in criminal cases filed against him in Washington, D.C., and Georgia for his attempt to overturn his 2020 loss that he is being penalized for engaging in free speech to disagree with the validity of the vote tally. The Colorado case will focus in part on the meaning of insurrection under the 14th Amendment, whether it applies only to waging war on the U.S. or can apply to Trumps goading of a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to halt the certification of President Joe Bidens win. Trumps attorneys dispute that it applies to his attempt to undo the election results. They also assert that the 14th Amendment requires an act of Congress to be enforced and that it doesnt apply to Trump, anyway. Trump swore a presidential oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, but the text of the 14th Amendment says it applies to those who have sworn oaths to support the Constitution, Blue pointed out the sematic difference in an Oct. 6 filing in the case. Both oaths put a weighty burden on the oath-taker, but those who wrote the amendment were aware of the difference, Blue argued. The framers of the 14th Amendment never intended for it to apply to the President, he wrote. The trial to determine Trumps eligibility for the Colorado ballot is scheduled to start Oct. 30. ___ Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming. By MEAD GRUVER and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press Live updates | Day 7 of the latest Israel-Hamas war View Photo Israels military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate Friday ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning it received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically, with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Israel on Friday, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7. Heres whats happening on Day 7 of the latest Israel-Hamas war: SOUTH KOREAN AND OTHER ASIAN NATIONALS EVACUATE FROM ISRAEL SEOUL, South Korea A South Korean military plane evacuating 220 South Korean and other Asian nationals from Israel has departed Tel Aviv and was expected to land in South Korea later Saturday, Seouls Foreign Ministry said. The people transported on the KC-330 military transport plane included 163 South Koreans, 51 Japanese nationals and six Singaporean nationals, the ministry said. South Korea had also sent a civilian plane earlier this week to evacuate 192 South Korean nationals. About 470 South Koreans remain in Israel, most of them long-term residents who have chosen to stay. No South Korean casualties have so far been reported from the violence in Israel and Gaza. 16 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN WEST BANK, HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS The Palestinian Health Ministry reported 16 Palestinians killed Friday in the occupied West Bank, bringing to 51 the total number of West Bank Palestinians killed since Hamas waged its brutal assault on Israel last Saturday. The United Nations says attacks by Israeli settlers have surged there since the Hamas assault. RELATIVES OF ABDUCTED ISRAELIS PLEAD FOR WORLDS HELP UNITED NATIONS Relatives of Israelis abducted during Hamas militants attack last weekend pleaded at the U.N. on Friday for the worlds help getting their loved ones home. Speaking by video from Israel, Yoni Asher told diplomats at an Israel-organized event that he hasnt slept or eaten since his wife and two small daughters vanished Saturday while visiting his mother-in-law in the countrys south. His wife called to tell him that they were locked in a safe room after people came into the house and she heard gunshots, Asher said. He said he later saw a video of his wife and daughters, who are under 5 and 3, being loaded into a vehicle, and he tracked his wifes phone to Gaza. I dont know if I got any more tears left, he said. Im exhausted, and I just want to approach whoever can hear me in the international community. Please bring back my baby girls. Hamas fighters took 150 hostages during Saturdays surprise assault. Alana Zeitchik said a half-dozen of her cousins were snatched from a kibbutz. They were known to be alive as of Friday morning, she said. We dont want more bombs or rockets or blood or tears, said Zeitchik, who lives in New York. We want our family back immediately. And we want peace. BIDEN SAYS ADDRESSING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA IS A PRIORITY WASHINGTON President Joe Biden said Friday that its a priority of his administration to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Speaking at an event in Philadelphia to promote a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel in the U.S., Biden paused to note the deteriorating situation for Palestinians as Israel continues to bombard the strip in retaliation for last weekends attacks on Israel. Biden said hes directed his team to work with the governments in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations and the United Nations to surge humanitarian relief to those impacted by the war. We cant lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do Hamas, Biden said. And theyre suffering as a result as well. Biden again lashed out at Hamas, saying the militant group in control of Gaza makes the terrorist group Al-Qaida look pure. UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS UNITED NATIONS The U.N. Security Council still hasnt found a collective voice on the Israel-Hamas war after meeting behind closed doors Friday for the second time in five days. Russia is proposing a humanitarian cease-fire, which could be a tough sell as Israel is expected to undertake a ground offensive against the Hamas militants who rule Gaza and launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel last weekend. Russias draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, also condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism. Israel isnt on the 15-member council. There was no immediate public response to the Russian draft from the veto-wielding United States, whose defense chief assured Israel on Friday that we have your back. Other council members are assessing the draft, and its not clear when it might get a vote. SYRIA CALLS ON WORLD TO STOP ISRAELS CRIMES AGAINST PALESTINIANS DAMASCUS, Syria Syrias president on Friday called on countries of the world to stand together to stop the crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people. Bashar Assad made his comments during a meeting in Damascus with Irans foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, who is on a regional tour that has taken him to Baghdad and Beirut. Assad said the reason behind the latest wave of violence is that the Palestinian people have been prevented by Israel and Western countries from setting up their own state. Assad said Syria stands by the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Amirabdollahian later told reporters that Israel should stop the war crimes it is committing before its too late. Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since the militant group Hamas launched a bloody incursion into the countrys south on Saturday, killing hundreds. NETANYAHU VOWS TO DESTROY HAMAS, SAYS GAZA OFFENSIVE IN EARLY STAGES JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu delivered the threat in a nationally televised address late Friday. Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented cross-border attack last Saturday, killing over 1,300 people in a brutal rampage. Early Friday, Israel ordered half of Gazas population to evacuate their homes. This is just the beginning, Netanyahu said. We will end this war stronger than ever. We will destroy Hamas, he added, saying Israel has widespread international support for the operation. UN AGENCY SHIFTS OPERATIONS BUT SOME STAYING IN THE NORTH UNITED NATIONS The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has shifted its Gaza center of operations and some staffers to the territorys south, but many of the world bodys 13,000 Gaza workers have chosen to remain in the north to continue helping people there, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday. The world body earlier warned of devastating humanitarian consequences after the Israeli military told the entire population of northern Gaza to leave. Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other U.N. officials have been working the phones to try to get humanitarian aid into the sealed-off territory and to ensure that civilians are protected. Asked what it would take for aid to start flowing, the spokesperson said, what we need is the green light from the Israelis. PRO-PALESTINIAN STUDENTS BRIEFLY CLASH WITH POLICE AT RALLY IN ROME ROME A few hundred pro-Palestinian students clashed briefly with police in Rome on Friday as they tried to detour from a rally route that had been approved by authorities. Helmeted police, using shields and batons, pushed back the surging students near Sapienza University when the protesters, many waving or clutching Palestinian flags, tried to head toward a rally being held by right-wing students, Italian news outlets reported. A rally in Milan with some participants holding a giant, rainbow-colored peace flag, and others carrying Palestinian flags went forward without any issues. 70 PEOPLE KILLED IN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE ON CONVOYS FLEEING GAZA CITY, HAMAS PRESS OFFICE SAYS GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Hamas officials say 70 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on convoys fleeing Gaza City. Hamas media office says the cars were struck in three places as they headed south from Gaza City. It was not immediately clear who the target of the airstrikes was, or whether militants were among the passengers. The army ordered residents to evacuate the city early Friday ahead of an expected ground invasion. ISRAELI MILITARY LAUNCHES DRONE AT HEZBOLLAH TARGETS JERUSALEM The Israeli military has announced that an Israeli drone is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. ISRAELI SHELLING ALONG LEBANON BORDER KILLS 1 JOURNALIST, WOUNDS 6 ALMA Al-SHAAB, Lebanon An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing one and wounding six. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of the dead journalist and the six who were wounded. Some of them were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. One nearby car was charred. Al-Jazeera identified two of its employees among the wounded. The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel. ISRAEL MILITARY SAYS IT HAS CARRIED OUT SMALL RAIDS INTO GAZA STRIP JERUSALEM The Israeli military says for the first time that ground troops have been operating inside the Gaza Strip. In a statement Friday, the army said troops had entered Gaza to battle militants, destroy weapons and search for evidence about the missing hostages held by Hamas. The announcement did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion of Gaza. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border since last Saturdays deadly incursion by Hamas militants. WHITE HOUSE MEETS VIRTUALLY WITH FAMILIES OF MISSING AMERICANS WASHINGTON The White House hosted a virtual conversation on Friday with family members of 14 Americans who are unaccounted for after the Hamas attacks on Israel. President Joe Biden addressed the families. Other participants included Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser; Roger Carstens, hostage affairs special envoy; John Bass, undersecretary of state; and Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East. EGYPT CALLS ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO STOP THE EVACUATION IN GAZA CAIRO The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned the Israeli armys decision to tell about 1 million people in Gaza to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory. The move constitutes a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, and will expose the lives of more than a million Palestinian citizens and their families to the dangers of remaining in the open without shelter, the ministry said in a statement. The evacuation order comes ahead of an expected ground invasion, hiking fears of a massive influx of refugees across the heavily fortified border into its territory. Egypt called on the United Nations Security Council, which is scheduled to meet Friday, to stop the evacuation. PALESTINIAN ENVOY SAYS EVACUATION ORDER COULD COMPARE TO DISPLACEMENT OF HUNDREDS IN 1948 UNITED NATIONS The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations says his peoples mass exit from northern Gaza under Israeli military orders may compare to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians amid the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation an event that Palestinians call the nakba, or catastrophe. Ambassador Riyad Mansour called the current flight potentially a second nakba as he spoke to reporters at U.N. headquarters Friday before a meeting of Arab countries ambassadors. The Israeli military told people to leave northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion against the Hamas militants who launched an assault on southern Israel last weekend. While the evacuation order involves the northern part of the territory, Mansour said there is no place in Gaza that is safe. He called for a cease-fire to allow food, medicine and water into the territory. ___ Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb and Bassem Mroue contributed to this report. By The Associated Press Florine Mark, former owner of Weight Watchers franchises in Michigan and Canada, dies at 90 Florine Mark, former owner of Weight Watchers franchises in Michigan and Canada, dies at 90 View Photo DETROIT (AP) Florine Mark, a Michigan business icon and former owner of Weight Watchers franchises in Michigan and Ontario, Canada, has died. She was 90. Mark died Friday morning, said Kelly Woerner, a staff member with Ira Kaufman Chapel in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. She said additional details were not immediately available and that Marks relatives were meeting with chapel representatives. Mark, who was born in Detroit, established the Michigan Weight Watchers franchise in 1966, having been inspired by the 50-pound (23-kilogram) weight loss she experienced after seeking help at a Weight Watchers chapter in New York. She eventually expanded to more than a dozen other states and also opened franchises in Canada and Mexico, according to the Detroit Historical Society. Florine was a fearless trailblazer and devoted friend, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Friday in a statement. An incredibly savvy and successful businesswoman, she was just as committed to giving back, working with the Childrens Hospital of Michigan, Detroit Institution for Children, Women of Tomorrow and other organizations. She was an icon and a leader who could encourage, empower, motivate, and inspire individuals to achieve their goals and be their best selves, Whitmer continued. I am grateful to have known Florine, and I know her memory will serve as an example for Michiganders to follow. My love goes to Florines family. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow called Mark a leader in so many amazing ways in business, in Detroit, in the Jewish community, as a role model for women and as the matriarch of a close and loving family. In 2003, Weight Watchers International acquired all but the Michigan and Ontario, Canada, franchises. Mark later sold The WW Group franchise, of which she was president and CEO, and one in Ontario, Canada, to Weight Watchers International. Mark had served on the Womens Leadership Board at Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government and was chair for the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, according to the Detroit Historical Society. In the Detroit area, Marks Ask Florine and Remarkable Women broadcast television and radio segments were popular. Mark, a longtime supporter of Israel, told WXYZ-TV on Wednesday that she was worried about her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who live in Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Im terribly scared, Mark told the station. Im frightened for the Israeli people, Im frightened for my children and my grandchildren, Im frightened for the Palestinians. I dont want war I want peace. MERIDEN Edison Middle School announced two Thursday performances of Hecho en Puelto Rico (the L is intentional), a free one-man comedy and history show written and performed by Angel Vazquez. Vazquez said the inspiration behind the show came from when he used to work as the cultural director for a Puerto Rican university. He realized many of the students he interacted with on a daily basis didnt know their own history. He explained that many Puerto Ricans are unaware of their own history and look for heroes outside of their heritage. In response, he developed a show that lists a number of Puerto Rican heroes and tells the audience about his accomplishments through comedy and history. We were all students at one point. We know that there are teachers that maybe dont have the best style to spur on their students, he previously told the Record-Journal. As an actor, playwright, director and composer, why not use a livelier teaching tool? He added he has performed the show 156 times at a number of different venues. He explained that although his show is a one-man comedy, its different from stand-up because he embodies a character that goes through a narrative arc. Because of this, the show doesnt change much, except to keep up with current events. Hes performed the show at venues including the Esperanza Arts Center and the Lincoln Center in New York. Vazquez also performed Hecho en Puelto Rico (the L is intentional) in April at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain. State Rep. Hilda Santiago, D-Meriden, attended the sold-out performance. Even though she is Puerto Rican and has a degree in history, she said that she learned about Puerto Rican history from Vazquez and connected him with Meriden Public Schools. She thought the play would be well-suited for Meridens large Puerto Rican and Latino population. [The show] is historical, it's funny, but he makes it a point to make sure that kids learn that this is part of your history and you should be proud to be a Puerto Rican, she said. For kids to see this role model of Puerto Rican leaders and astronauts and ballplayers. You have to keep that aspect alive because it gives them an incentive to say, look, if they can do it, I can do it. The first performance is scheduled for Meriden students, said Director of Equity and Instruction of Meriden Public Schools Lysette Torres. She explained that while there are students taking an elective class in Black and Latino Studies, the show is a good way for other students to learn more about Puerto Rican history. We have our middle-school bilingual students also attending as well as other students at the high school so that they can hear the history, especially if they don't get the opportunity to take that course or they're not taking it yet because they're still in middle school, she said. The second performance at 6 p.m is for families of Meriden Public School students. Torres added that the link was sent out to parents via ParentSquare and that available seats are running out fast. lguzman@record-journal.com Twitter: @lguzm_n Latino Communities Reporter Lau Guzman is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Support RFA reporters at the Record-Journal through a donation at https://bit.ly/3Pdb0re, To learn more about RFA, visit www.reportforamerica.org. NEW HAVEN A Meriden man was sentenced on Friday to five years in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release for trafficking fentanyl. According to court documents and statements made in court, from June to August 2021, law enforcement made multiple controlled purchases of fentanyl from Gerardo Nunez-Irizarry, 45, also known as Indio. In November 2021, Nunez-Irizarry agreed to sell a 50-gram quantity of fentanyl. On Nov. 18, 2021, investigators stopped Nunez-Irizarrys car in Meriden as he drove to an arranged location to complete a transaction and seized approximately 50 grams of fentanyl. Nunez-Irizarry was arrested on related state charges at that time. On Jan. 5, 2023, Nunez-Irizarry pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Nunez-Irizarry, who was released on $100,000 bond, is required to report to prison on Nov. 17. The matter was investigated by the DEAs New Haven Task Force, which includes participants from the DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Waterbury, East Haven, Branford, West Haven, Ansonia, Meriden, Naugatuck and Shelton police departments. The investigation has been supported by the Meriden Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Services Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force, which includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service-Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden, and Town of Groton police departments.. The crisis within the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has intensified as interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu threatened to recall more legislators and councillors who comply with opposition party leader Nelson Chamisas directive to disengage from Parliament and local authorities. Chamisa had recently announced that his party would temporarily disengage from council and parliamentary business in protest against the recall of 15 MPs and 17 councillors by Tshabangu, whom he described as an impostor and a proxy for Zanu PF. Parliament had already implemented the recalls based on Tshabangus letter. Chamisa issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Zanu PF-led government, demanding that they address what he deemed illegal recalls. If the government failed to respond within the given time frame, Chamisa threatened to completely withdraw his party from Parliament and local government. In response, Tshabangu warned in another letter that he would not hesitate to recall any legislator who boycotted parliamentary business. He specifically instructed members of the Senate to continue attending all parliamentary programs and activities without fail. Tshabangu emphasized that non-compliance would lead to immediate recalls and redeployment from Parliament or local authorities. He further stated that he would require medical reports from those who failed to attend Parliament or council business due to health reasons. Meanwhile, top CCC officials, led by organizing secretary Amos Chibaya, delivered the partys resolution on disengagement to Parliament. Tshabangu defended the recalls of the 15 legislators from the Matabeleland region, claiming they were products of a rigged internal electoral process. He stated that the recalls were necessary to stand up for justice and truth, as those MPs were elected through a fraudulent and corrupt internal electoral process. However, Chamisa accused Tshabangu of collaborating with Zanu PF to undermine the choices of opposition supporters. Tshabangus spokesperson, Khaliphani Phugeni, dismissed these claims as groundless, asserting that accusations were often made to discredit genuine grievances. Chamisa revealed that his party had engaged the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Zanu PF for a round-table discussion to resolve the political controversies arising from the disputed election results of August 23 and 24. He confirmed that his partys elected officials would continue to disengage from government and local authorities until all the recalled members were reinstated. As the crisis in the CCC deepened, Zanu PF accused Chamisa of pursuing secret talks with President Emmerson Mnangagwa without the knowledge of other party members. Zanu PF national spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa claimed that Chamisa had sent emissaries to Mnangagwa to initiate these talks, but the President rejected them, insisting on proper dialogue involving Chamisas fellow party members such as Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube. The CCC remains embroiled in a deepening crisis as Tshabangu threatens further recalls, Chamisa demands the reinstatement of recalled members, and allegations of secret talks between Chamisa and Mnangagwa emerge. The situation is tense and ongoing, with both sides engaged in a battle for political control. Breaking News via Email AV Gear ClearOne BMA Audio Solutions Installed Across College of New Jersey Campus Sparked by the need for remote learning solutions in the face of the pandemic, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in 2020 began installing ClearOne audio systems in small and large classrooms and conference rooms campuswide. The Office of Media and Technology Support Services (MTSS) looked at several options to deliver classroom and lecture hall audio, according to a release. Funding was made available for annual rollouts of new conferencing technology across campus. "We quickly recognized the need to develop hybrid learning environments that support the ongoing success of our staff and students," said MTSS Director Jon Bannan. "The most critical need we identified was that any solution must be dead simple to operate, or otherwise risk introducing interruptions and frustration into educators' daily schedules." The college opted to have ClearOne install its Collaborate Versa Lite CT system in small and medium spaces, which uses beamforming drop-ceiling microphones to provide simplified AV peripherals and a computer connection through the Versa USB Hub. The system has echo cancellation and adaptive steering, which switches between several directional beams based on the location of a meeting participant or host. The installation also includes camera systems with automatic tracking of a moving speaker. This gives educators more flexibility to teach remote learners. "In the competitive college landscape, staying ahead of technology trends is vital to achieve enrollment goals and provide all students equitable access regardless of individual situations or external disruptions," said Bannan. ClearOne later installed BMA 360 ceiling microphones with a Converge Pro 2 DSP mixer in larger classrooms, with tracking cameras. This system has up to 12 additional lavalier or other microphones for multiple speakers. Conference rooms also received new installations, the college president's being the first, to solve challenging acoustic problems. The installed BMA CT Voice Lift system in that room addressed such challenges. "Their efforts to standardize the campus' technology are already paying dividends for staff and guests," said Jason DiCampello, ClearOne regional sales director, who worked directly with Bannan. "The need for reliable, high-quality audio and video solutions in education is only going to grow, and we look forward to continuing to work with TCNJ to provide long-lasting solutions that support staff and help the college meet its goals." Founded in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, The College of New Jersey has seven schools and is one of the less than 10% of higher educational institutions nationally to have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. Visit The College of New Jersey's About page to learn more. ClearOne offers home office and commercial solutions. Its self-paced product overview page provides more information on audio conferencing, visual collaboration, and AV networking. Zimbabweans faced repression and declined to engage with observers due to fear of victimization during the August 23 and 24 elections, according to the final report of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Electoral Observation Mission (EOM). The report, submitted to the government, confirmed the preliminary findings that the elections did not meet local, regional, and international electoral standards. Nelson Chamisa, leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party, denounced the elections as a gigantic fraud and refused to accept President Emmerson Mnangagwas victory. The opposition party is now calling for a fresh election supervised by SADC to address the current political impasse. While the SEOM recommended that aggrieved parties seek domestic legal remedies to address election concerns, it acknowledged that some aspects of the elections did not meet the requirements of Zimbabwes Constitution, the Electoral Act, and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021). The report also raised concerns about the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), with allegations of close links between some ZEC officials and Zanu PF leaders. The SEOM recommended that any ZEC commissioners found to have such affiliations should be disqualified from recruitment, as it could violate electoral laws and SADC principles. CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi praised the SEOM for highlighting key concerns raised by opposition parties. Chamisa has written to SADC, urging them to facilitate dialogue between himself and President Mnangagwa to address the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe. The CCC is exploring various options, including challenging Zanu PFs actions, citizen activism, and diplomatic efforts, in addition to disengagement, to augment SADCs initiatives. Overall, the SADC EOMs final report revealed the challenges faced during the elections and the oppositions rejection of the results. The report emphasized the need for legal remedies and reforms to address electoral shortcomings and called for dialogue to alleviate the crisis in Zimbabwe. Breaking News via Email A MAN from Mabutweni suburb in Bulawayo ran away with a condom still stuck on his manhood after he was busted trying to rape a nine-year-old girl who was also his church mate in a bushy area. Lizwelihle Moyo Mpofu (22) appeared before Western Commonage Court magistrate Linear Khumalo facing an attempted rape charge. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. He was, however, convicted after a full trial and sentenced to serve 30 months behind bars. Six months were suspended on condition that he does not commit any offence of a sexual nature. In arriving at the sentence the magistrate noted that the victim was a nine-year old girl and the offender kidnapped her from church and took her to a bushy area. She noted that a degree of violence was used as he tore her underwear and a medical report indicated that she suffered minor wounds on her private parts. A court heard that while Mpofu was attending a night church service he sweet-talked the minor girl to accompany him to a nearby bush area under the pretext that he wanted to pray for her. While they were on their way the minor girl sensed danger and requested to return but Mpofu forcibly grabbed her and headed to the bushy area. It is reported that when Mpofu was about to abuse the girl she screamed for help thereby attracting the attention of her parents and some congregants who rushed to the scene and busted Mpofu trying to rape her. Upon seeing that he had been busted Mpofu sped off with a condom still on his manhood. He also left his sandals at the crime scene. The crowd reported the incident to the police leading to his arrest. Breaking News via Email The only way for Palestinian children to sleep in peace is for Israeli children to sleep in peace. The only way for Israeli children to sleep in peace is for Palestinian children to sleep in peace. War will never achieve this. When the former Guerrilla fighter Gustavo Petro came to office in June 2022, becoming the countrys first left-wing president since Colombia won independence in 1819, it was clear he would have to tread very carefully in his relations with Washington, especially given all the US military bases on Colombian soil. Today, sixteen months after his election, Petro faces his first major diplomatic standoff, not only with Washington but also Tel Aviv all the result of his refusal, so far, to condemn Hamas ruthless attack against Israeli citizens on Sunday. Instead, Petro, a voracious poster on X/Twitter, wrote the following on the social media platform: War has broken out again between Israel and Palestinian Gaza. In my speech at the United Nations I showed how world power treated the Russian occupation of Ukraine in one way and the Israeli occupation of Palestine in another, very different way From a very young age I studied the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and I know of the immense injustice that the Palestinian people have suffered since 1948. Just as I know about the immense injustice that the Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Nazis in Europe since 1933. If I had lived in Germany in 33 I would have fought on the side of the Jews and if I had lived in Palestine in 1948 I would have fought on the Palestinian side. Now the neo-Nazis want the destruction of the Palestinian people, freedom and culture. Now we democrats and progressives want peace to prevail and the Israeli and Palestinian people to be free. Unfortunate Messages Petro has also likened Gaza to Auschwitz as well as to the Warsaw Ghetto, which was destroyed by the German military after an uprising by Jews confined there. None of this, of course, has gone down well with the Israeli or US governments or for that matter, opposition parties and much of the legacy media at home. They are very unfortunate messages, said Israels Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lior Haiat. They demonstrate a lack of knowledge, not to say ignorance, and an enormous lack of respect. After the atrocities that we have seen from this barbaric attack, making the comparison that the president of Colombia made, I am sorry to say, but it is a comparison that has no basis. In an interview with the Colombian newspaper SEMANA, Israels ambassador in Bogota, Gali Dagan, called on the Colombian Government to raise its voice forcefully against terrorism. It is very difficult to find the common denominator between these two cases [of Ukraine and Palestine]. We hope that a country friendly to Israel will strongly and clearly condemn the terrorist attack against innocent civilians in the State of Israel. Shortly after the attack on Saturday, Colombias Foreign Ministry did release a statement strongly condemning terrorism and attacks against the civilian population. But by the next day, the statement had been replaced by one that no longer mentioned the word terrorism or referred to Hamas by name. Among the dozens of messages Petro has published or shared on Twitter/X since Sunday was a photo montage of some of the Palestinian children who have perished under Israeli occupation, alongside the following text (translated by yours truly): The only way for Palestinian children to sleep in peace is for Israeli children to sleep in peace. The only way for Israeli children to sleep in peace is for Palestinian children to sleep in peace. War will never achieve this, it can only be achieved by a peace agreement that respects international legality and the right of the two peoples to exist free. These are photos of Palestinian children murdered by the illegal occupation of their land. La unica manera para que los ninos palestinos duerman en paz es que los ninos israelies duerman en paz. La unica manera para que los ninos israelies duerman en paz es que duerman en paz los ninos palestinos. Eso no lo lograra jamas la guerra, solo lo logra un acuerdo de paz que pic.twitter.com/8ZeDHj6oLi Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 8, 2023 To give the message maximum exposure, Petro has pinned it right at the top of his twitter profile. He also posted this graph showing the glaring disparity between Palestinian and Israeli deaths over the past 15 years of conflict: Since then Petro has maintained a running commentary on developments in Israel and Gaza, repeatedly calling for peace negotiations. On Monday, he responded to Israels Defence Minister Yoav Galants call for a total siege and blockade of Gaza and his description of Palestinians as human animals by warning: This is what the Nazis said about the Jews. Democratic peoples cannot allow Nazism to re-establish itself in international politics. Israelis and Palestinians are human beings subject to international law. This hate speech if it continues will only bring a holocaust. On Thursday, Petros remarks finally elicited an official response from the US government on Thursday. We strongly condemn President Petros statements and call on him to condemn Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, for its barbaric murder of Israeli men, women and children, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt of the office of the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism (SEAS) said on Twitter/X. This is probably no idle warning. After all, Colombia has been Washingtons most important client state and forward operating base in South America since at least the 90s. In 2010, Bolivias then-President Evo Morales called Colombia an Israel in South America. Colombias military has close ties not just with the US, largely as a result of Washingtons funding of Plan Colombia, but also Israel, which trains Colombian soldiers and furnishes them with weapons and security tech. In 2017, Colombia became one of NATOs global partners, and the Alliances first Latin American partner. Five years later, it was designated by the Biden Administration as one of the USs 18 Major Non-Nato Allies (MNNAs). The five original MNNAs, established in 1987, were Australia, Egypt, Japan, South Korea and Israel. Colombia also has seven formal US military bases on its soil and allegedly dozens of so-called quasi-bases which differ from formal bases in no other way than that they lack a formal lease agreement for use of facilities scattered around the country, particularly in areas rich in mineral resources and/or close to Colombias border with Venezuela, according to Schools of America Watch. As if that were not enough of a threat, the US is also amassing troops in neighbouring Ecuador and Peru. Mixed Messages Colombia is not the only Latin American country to have (so far) refused to condemn Hamas actions. Cuba, which has not had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1973, the year of the Yom Kippur War, called the current conflict a consequence of 75 years of permanent violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and Israels aggressive and expansionist policies. The government of Bolivia expressed deep concern about violent events in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestine while Venezuelas government called for genuine negotiations between Israel and Palestine without expressly condemning the attacks. Most other countries in the region, including Mexico and Brazil, did condemn the attacks, though few, with the notable exception of Nayib Bukeles government in El Salvador, have expressed support for Israels unbridled retaliation. Some refused to mention the word terrorism or Hamas by name. As with the war in Ukraine, most countries seem to want to maintain some degree of neutrality on the issue. Mexicos Foreign Ministry, for example, said it unequivocally condemns the unacceptable attacks against the people of Israel on October 7 by Hamas and other Palestinian organizations in Gaza No cause justifies the use of terrorism Mexico recognizes Israels right to legitimate self-defensewhich must be governed by the conditions established in international lawwhile condemning the use of force, regardless of which side uses it, especially when the targets are civilians, in clear violation of international humanitarian law. The statement condemn both Hamas and the use of terrorism in general, but it also condemns the use of force in general, regardless of which side uses it, especially when the targets are civilians, and that was enough to draw Israels ire. The Israeli Embassy in Mexico expressed its dissatisfaction with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors statements in relation to the events in Israel and deeply regretted that the Government of Mexico has not adopted a more energetic and determined position in the face of this situation. It also noted that maintaining a neutral position rather than taking sides ultimately means endorsing and supporting terrorism. In other words, despite unequivocally condemning the attacks and acts of terrorism in general, the Mexico government did not go far enough. In response, AMLO said the following: The Israeli ambassador in Mexico says that she does not agree with our position, she has every right to say so, to express it, because we are free, we respect the Government of Israel and much more so the people of Israel, but we do not want war. We do not want violence. We are pacifists and we dont want any human being of any nationality to lose their life, whether Israeli or Palestinian. We want the most important human right to be guaranteed, which is the right to life. Brazils government was slightly more forceful in its condemnation and even projected the Israeli flag on the dome of the countrys National Congress in solidarity with the victims. The country is currently UN Security Council President and is leading efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to the conflict, so far to little avail. There is no justification for resorting to violence, especially against civilians, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The Brazilian Government urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid escalating the situation. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva expressed his rejection of terrorism in any of its forms and called for a two-state solution. But like Mexico, Brazils Foreign Ministry did not use the word terrorism or refer to Hamas by name in its statement, to the consternation of the Israeli Embassy. One of the things we said to the Foreign Minister is that there is no more serious example of terrorism, said the Israeli ambassador. It is the personification of terrorism. And the lack of this word in the Ministrys statement is I cant speak against the government, but it betrays a lack, at least, of sensitivity. The US presumably feels the same and will be doing everything it can to bring LatAm countries into line. In its joint declaration with the governments of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, the Biden Administration told the world: We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. But will the world listen? After all, the US and the EU do not have the strategic influence or soft power they once had, having squandered much of it on the costly wars they have waged and the brutal sanctions they have liberally imposed. For the past 20 months, the US and its NATO allies have been desperately trying to persuade Latin American countries to endorse their sanctions against Russia as well as furnish Ukraine with Russian-made weapons, to no avail. At a recent summit in Brussels between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Latin American leaders rebuffed EU requests for Zelensky to attend as well as include in the final summit declaration a paragraph condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine. It was a PR disaster for Brussels. In his closing statement at the Summit of the Peoples, a parallel event taking place in Brussels, Petro pilloried the EUs obsession with the war in Ukraine, which he described as a far-removed issue for Latin America and the Caribbean: The EU has basically focused on a topic that was of fundamental interest to itself, but which is far-removed for us: the war in Ukraine. [It wanted] to point to the construction of a block in the world, Latin America and the European Union, coalescing around Zelensky and support for a political, economic and military strategy, obviously. That was its priority. Now the priority of the collective West is to coalesce support around blanket condemnation of Hamas hideous war crime while giving carte blanche to Israel to commit a far larger one one that has so far entailed cutting off all basic services and supplies to Gaza and levelling large parts of the enclave, resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of others. The next move in Israels grotesque game plan, it seems, is to corral around 1.1 million people into the southern half of the enclave in preparation for what is likely to be a substantial ground offensive with devastating humanitarian consequences, says the UN. And the ostensible liberal democracies of the West are fully on board while many are in the process of outlawing pro-Palestinian demonstrations. A quick look at the map below shows just how out of synch the collective West is with Latin America and for that matter, the rest of the world on the Israel-Palestine question, and indeed has been for years. As of December 31 2019, every country in Latin America except Panama, Mexico and a few island states had recognised Palestine as a sovereign state. The same goes for 138 of the worlds 193 countries representing over three-quarters of the global population. Among the G20, nine countries had recognized Palestine as a state by the end of 2019. Seven of them are BRICS members, new and old (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey), the other two being Turkey and Indonesia. Ten G20 countries had not recognised Palestine (and still dont). Six of them are NATO members (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Three of them are major non-NATO allies (Australia, South Korea and Japan). The other is Mexico. But even that changed in June this year when Mexicos AMLO government quietly reclassified the Palestinian Authoritys diplomatic mission in Mexico from special delegation to embassy, despite huge pressure from the US State Department. Human Rights Watch on Thursday said it has confirmed reports that Israeli military forces unleashed white phosphorus munitions during artillery attacks on targets in Lebanon and Gaza this week, including over a heavily populated civilian area of the besieged Palestinian stripan apparent war crime. HRW said it has interviewed witnesses and verified video footage shot in Lebanon and Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border. The HRW announcement came as Israeli forces continue to bombard Gaza from air, land, and sea in an assault that has killed more than 1,500 Palestinians, including at least 500 children, in retaliation for Hamas surprise infiltration of Israel and killing of over 1,300 Israeli soldiers and civilians. BREAKING: Israel has used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, putting civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries. White phosphorus causes excruciating burns and can set homes afire. Its use in populated areas is unlawful.https://t.co/TbCVA5Qynp pic.twitter.com/4UKANHTwI2 Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 12, 2023 As HRW explained Thursday: Upon contact, white phosphorus can burn people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone as it is highly soluble in fat and therefore in human flesh. White phosphorus fragments can exacerbate wounds even after treatment and can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure. Already dressed wounds can reignite when dressings are removed and the wounds are reexposed to oxygen. Even relatively minor burns are often fatal. For survivors, extensive scarring tightens muscle tissue and creates physical disabilities. WP burns as hot as 1,500F. Water does not extinguish it. Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering, HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said in a statement. White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians. The israeli regime is using internationally-prohibited white phosphorus to bomb Gazas Sea Port & cause maximum suffering @OnlinePalEng pic.twitter.com/GuLkWbp52T Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) October 11, 2023 To avoid civilian harm, Israel should stop using white phosphorus in populated areas, Fakih added. Parties to the conflict should be doing everything they can to spare civilians from further suffering. HRW previously accused Israel of war crimes for using WP munitions in densely populated areasincluding over a United Nations schoolduring the 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead invasion of Gaza. In response to a 2013 petition to Israels High Court of Justice filed by human rights groups including HRW, the Israel Defense Forces said it would no longer use WP in populated areas, with very narrow exceptions that it would not disclose. Israel used white phosphorus, an illegal chemical weapon, against Palestinians in Gaza, @HRW confirms. White phosphorus causes severe burns upon contact with skinburns on just 10% of your body can be deadly. Israels use of it on civilians is a blatant war crime. IMEU (@theIMEU) October 12, 2023 Other countries militaries also use WP, most notably the United States, which fired the incendiary rounds during the 2004 battle for Fallujah and elsewhere in the so-called War on Terror. In 2016, Saudi Arabia was condemned for allegedly firing U.S.-supplied WP munitions against Houthi rebels in Yemen. WP and other incendiary weapons have also been used by Syrian government and Russian forces fighting Islamic State and other militants during the Syrian civil war. Turkey has also been accused of firing WP rounds at Kurdish civilians in Syria. For readers who started reading immediately, I made a very few edits. Two wars to cover. Thats a lot!lambert. Walkers in the Cityand Everywhere JSTOR The Enshittification of Amazon Continues The Big Picture. Doctorows enshittification lifecycle propagates. Audit failure is not down to any one firm: the whole audit system is designed to fail to suit the interests of big business and their auditors Funding the Future Climate A strategy of concealment Beyond Nuclear International China? India Syraqistan Dear Old Blighty New Not-So-Cold War The Caribbean The United Nations Pushes Haiti Under the Bus Black Agenda Report. Congratulations to the stalwart BAR on their site redesign. Republican Funhouse Republicans eye expanding McHenrys powers amid leadership fallout The Hill. Ah, a permanent temporary speaker, and indeed why not? Digital Watch Boeing Zeitgeist Watch Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fashion Healthcare Like gold: Patients cite reasons for nonprescription antibiotic use Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy Imperial Collapse Watch Disney Goes All In on Sports Betting WSJ Class Warfare Antidote du jour (via): I was looking for (topically appropriate) hawks, and found this hawk moth. See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. By Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His latest book is The Destiny of Civilization. Originally published in the Investigacion Economica (Economic Research), produced by UNAM (Autonomous National University of Mexico) This years annual IMF/World Bank meetings in Morocco are the most explicitly confrontational yet by US/NATO diplomacy toward China and its fellow BRICS+ allies. It is not really rivalry, because US neoliberal financial policy is so different from the aims that the BRICS+ countries have been developing at their own recent international meetings. At issue is not only what countries will be the major beneficiaries of future IMF and World Bank loan operations, but whether the world will back US unipolar dominance or start to move explicitly toward a multipolar philosophy of mutual support to increase living standards and prosperity instead of imposing anti-labor austerity in an attempt to maintain a trade and investment system that is now widely seen to be dysfunctional and financially predatory US demands to use these two organizations as arms of its New Cold War policy. At issue is an increase in the US drive to increase quotas of IMF and World Bank member countries. Quotas reflect voting power, with 85% of the votes required to enact a policy. A 15% veto is able to block any policy change. And ever since the inception of these two organizations in 1944-45, the United States has insisted in having veto power in any organization it joins, so that no foreign countries will ever be in a position to dictate its policy while enabling it to block any policy that it deems benefiting other nations more than itself. Its 17.4% quota (and 16.5% of the vote) gives it veto power in the IMF. It was inevitable that the original distribution of quotas has not kept pace with the shifts in international financial power since 1945. Rising economies have asked for a larger quota and hence voice in settling IMF and World Bank policy. But each round of quota increases has seen US strategists insist that any increase in overall quotas must not reduce its own quota to less than the 15% enabling it to maintain its unique veto power. No other country remotely approaches U.S. power. US strategists were glad to let Japan obtain the second largest quota, now 6.47 percent. That reflects not only its great industrial takeoff in the 1970s and 80s, but US confidence that Japan will be like a second US vote. (That is why it tried to add Japan to the UN Security Council. The Soviet delegate vetoed this, citing Japans role as a US political satellite.) China is in third place, with 6.40%, closely followed by the weakening economies of Germany and Britain, thoroughly reliant on US gentleness as it imposes tightening US-centered dependency on their economies. What makes this issue so pressing this year is the emergence of BRICS+ countries and the collective alternative that they are in the process of juxtaposing as they move to de-dollarize their economies so as to protect themselves from the threat that US diplomats will impose sanctions, confiscate their official monetary reserves (as they have done with those of Iran, Venezuela and Russia) in punishment for their seeking national self-sufficiency instead of reliance on US suppliers and creditors. For countries seeking a multipolar world order instead of US-centered unipolar economy, the widely used term dedollarization has evolved rapidly to mean much more than simply using other currencies to settle their trade and investment transactions. A fundamentally different philosophy of international finance, creditor/debtor relationships and national self-sufficiency to protect themselves from trade sanctions and other US-sponsored economic warfare. For many decades, countries sought to avoid running into debt to the IMF in fear of being subjected to its anti-labor austerity policies imposed in the junk-economics belief that any volume of foreign debt service could be squeezed out by reducing labors wages by a sufficient degree. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her US neoliberal gang at Marrakesh have thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to giving China a stronger voice that is, quota in the IMF. The Financial Times published the most explicit statement of their position on October 12 in an article by former US Treasury official Edwin Truman. Like it or not, he points out, any deal must satisfy the US Treasury. Its primary concern is that while ideally each members quota would increase by at least one-third, the combined size of these selected increases must not threaten the US voting share, or Washington will block the compromise.[1] Furthermore, Mr. Truman explains, the planned increase should not apply to the emerging market and developing countries. They are debtors and hence would support policies that help debtor countries recover instead of fall into deepening dependency on international bondholders and new US dollar loans from US/NATO creditors and the IMF. The problem is that Under the current formula, the quotas of [the strongest] 25 IMF members should be at least 50 per cent larger than their current ones, led by China. But in addition to threatening to reduce the US voting share to close to 15 per cent, it would give China increasing influence. The US has made clear that it will not support an increase in any members quota share unless that country respects the rules and norms of the IMF, which in the US view China does not. To remove this obstacle, China should agree not to accept the selective increase in its quota to which it would otherwise be entitled, and the US should support the compromise. If it does not submit quietly, he threatens, is for the IMF meeting to end in another stalemate. By that word he means a refusal by China and other countries to acquiesce in U.S. Cold War strategists hijacking even more Asian and Global South resources to support their international diplomacy. In one sense, I wonder what all this kerfuffle really is about. Who really cares what the IMFs articles of agreement stipulate and what its staff recommends? We are no longer in a rule of law, but in a rules-based order, with US officials setting the rules on an ad hoc basis. This already had made a travesty of IMF rules and procedures. The IMFs recent loans to Ukraine have raised its borrowing to seven times its quota. The IMF no longer feels obligated to follow its articles of agreement, and quite openly acts as an agent of the US State Department and military to finance the US/NATO war Russia and China (and really, of course, against Germany and Western Europe). In addition to IMF loans to Ukraine violating its stated limits to member-country borrowing, it is lending to a country at war, also forbidden. And third, it violates the No more Argentinas rule that it is not supposed to make a loan to a country without some calculation that the country will be able to repay the loan. Does anyone believe that Ukraine can repay except perhaps by selling its agricultural land to Monsanto, Cargill and other US agribusiness companies. In view of the fact that US strategists at the IMF and World Bank are bound to continue to weaponize their loans to promote a US-centered neoliberalism, I have a modest proposal for China. I know that it does not want to use the present state of international tension to emphasize its willingness to break. So perhaps it should indeed give the US precisely what it wants and even more! It can indeed go on record as suggesting that it be given a quota reflecting its economy equality with the United States. That certainly would seem to be warranted by being designated Americas Number One long-term adversary. But if the US refuses, then I would like to see China simply withdraw its IMF and World Bank subscription altogether. Walk away. Why should China help subsidize international organizations whose policies are adverse to those of China and its fellow BRICS+ allies? The World Bank is always headed by a US diplomat, usually from the military, and hopes to finance the US/NATO backed alternative to Chinas Belt and Road initiative. And the IMFs neoliberal stabilization policies are anti-labor and hence most amenable to US client oligarchies, not the reforms that BRICS+ countries are seeking to put in place. If Chinese and fellow BRICS+ dedollarization is indeed a broad system-wide effort to replace the US unipolar predatory asymmetry with a more positive-sum philosophy of mutual gain, why not take this opportunity to accept the US challenge that has just thrown down the gauntlet to China? That would avoid a stalemate. It would make clear the philosophical distinctions that have led the world economy to todays crossroads. In diplomatic terms, lets call it an agreement to disagree. _______ [1] Edwin Truman, Another impasse on IMF quotas is not acceptable, Financial Times, October 12, 2023. Under a sunny blue sky at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, people of various ages, nationalities and backgrounds recently gathered to support diversity at the NATO Run for All. Organised by three NATO staff resource groups that advocate for a more inclusive work environment for racial minorities, LGBTQ+ staff and working parents, the Run for All was an inspirational race dedicated to promoting diversity and fostering unity, embodying the values at the heart of the Alliance. The event featured different race categories including an 8 km individual run, a relay for teams of four and a fun run for children accommodating runners of all fitness levels. Clapping and cheering, spectators encouraged runners along the route, which passed beneath the Allied flags in front of NATO HQ. Admiral Rob Bauer, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, joined fellow NATO officials in the race, as part of a relay team called Easier said than Run. Opening the event, Admiral Bauer noted that, Run for All is a trailblazing initiative that helps celebrate our differences and recognise the beautiful mosaic that is NATO, as well as reinforce the ties between our nations, our people and within our community. Every day at this HQ, 31 (soon 32) nations work to turn our differences into our greatest strength ultimately, choosing to put the we above the me. This event is a powerful statement about our common commitment to diversity and inclusion. Meaningful change will take time. But the good thing is: we dont have to do it alone. The fact that so many people showed up today proves that. More than 150 people participated in the event. As runners crossed the finish line, they were not just celebrating their personal achievements but also the collective strength of a united NATO. The run reinforced the idea that diversity is a source of unity and strength for the Alliance. Diversity brings an additional richness of perspectives, explained one runner. It not only makes NATO a more enjoyable place to work, but as an institution it also allows us to make better policy. Another runner echoed the same point, reflecting on the scale of NATOs impact on its diverse citizens and societies: When were dealing with issues where the security of one billion people is at stake, we need as many diverse perspectives as possible so that we can make good decisions. Throughout the event, attendees were asked to share their personal pledges to support diversity, emphasising that it is everyones responsibility to build a more inclusive environment together. Written on posters, some of the messages included: Diversity makes NATO stronger. Inclusion makes NATO a community. I pledge to contribute to a world where we all feel free to be who we are without prejudice and discrimination. INCLUDE EVERYONE The NATO Run for All was organised by NATOs three Staff Resource Groups: Elevate Diversity, Proud@NATO and Working Parents. The three groups decided to host the event together to demonstrate the value of collective action across the NATO community. By participating side by side, we break down barriers, challenge stereotypes and foster a culture of inclusivity, they explained. By signing up for the run, participants demonstrated their commitment to diversity and celebrated the wide range of people that make up this multinational and multicultural Alliance. As one runner put it at the finish line: Diversity is more than just accepting everyones differences its welcoming those differences and recognising their value for everyone. Artificial Intelligence EAB Adds New AI Features to CRM Software Navigate Education advisory company EAB has announced the addition of its own created AI features to Navigate, its customer relationship management (CRM) software, to become available in 2024 after being tested by a cohort of educational institutions. The new features are designed to automate routine tasks to help students get information and to help advisers and other student support staff be more efficient and effective. The new features include: A conversational AI knowledge bot, developed by EAB, to answer common student questions and get instructions, sent to their smartphones; A new campaign content creator within Navigate to help advisers write more effective communications to students about necessary actions such as scheduling classes or completing graduation tasks to stay on track; and An easier way for administrators to generate reports such as student retention rates and success milestones. EAB said it developed its own AI-powered knowledge bot, different from a traditional chatbot that must be trained to recognize certain specific questions. Navigate's bot learns on its own, the company said in a release, "to interpret variations on student questions and deliver more accurate answers and links to relevant resources." "We've spent years researching and developing AI that would enable advisers to spend less time on administrative tasks such as composing routine e-mails to the hundreds of students assigned to them, so they can spend more one-on-one time advising students who will really benefit from that individual attention," said Scott Schirmeierl, president of EAB Technology. Learn more about what Navigate does here. NATO will launch its long-planned annual nuclear exercise Steadfast Noon on Monday (16 October 2023) with up to 60 aircraft taking part in training flights over southern Europe. A U.S. Air Force F-16 with the 510th Fighter Squadron, 31st fighter Wing, takes off from an airbase in Northern Italy on 13 October 2023 The exercise is a routine training activity that has been conducted annually for over a decade. The manoeuvres will involve 13 Allied countries and a mix of aircraft types, including advanced fighter jets and U.S. B-52 bombers that will fly in from the United States. Conventional jets and surveillance and refuelling aircraft also take part. A different NATO Ally hosts Steadfast Noon each year. Training flights will take place over Italy, Croatia and the Mediterranean Sea. Our exercise will help to ensure the credibility, effectiveness and security of our nuclear deterrent, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. It sends a clear message that NATO will protect and defend all Allies. The exercise involves fighter aircraft capable of carrying nuclear warheads, but does not involve any live bombs. The exercise is not linked to current world events and the bulk of the training is held at least 1,000 kilometres from Russias borders. NATOs Strategic Concept makes clear that the fundamental purpose of NATOs nuclear capability is to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression. It stresses that as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance. The exercise will run until 26 October. Big Pharma FASCISM is rising Politics is a funny thing. For most of the 20th century and even still into the 21st century, the Right has focused on banning medicinal plants (i.e., cannabis) and promoting only pharmaceutical drugs as "medicine." The Left, at least 10 or 20 years ago, was more into the earth and the freedom to use it as one sees fit. Then came the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "pandemic," which brought about a big switch. Suddenly, the Left was all about forcing everyone to mask up and get "vaccinated" by Big Pharma and the government because of a scary-sounding "virus," while the Right pushed for freedom of medical choice. We know the two major political parties in this country represent the two wings of the same bird, and often use chaos and strategically divisive issue placement to divide the nation and wreak as much havoc as they can in the process their unified motto is "divide and conquer," after all. Somehow, the Left morphed into promoting the same type of Big Pharma fascism that its members previously decried. And suddenly, the Right became all about medical freedom, at least as it pertains to Fauci Flu shots. What ended up happening is that primarily "blue" states like California have really ramped up trying to force people to take drugs in the form of COVID shots in order to keep everyone "safe." The Right, meanwhile, is mostly trying to maintain the right to not get jabbed for COVID and now many of them are saying the same thing about vaccines in general, arguing that they should always be a matter of choice. (Related: Many of the "official" groups we are told to trust about matters related to public health who pushed for COVID jab mandates are funded by Pfizer.) Only support politicians on either side who truly support health and medical freedom The sad truth in today's political climate is that both sides hold valid positions on certain issues, even while both sides also hold invalid positions on certain other issues. Neither side fully promotes freedom and liberty in the way the founders intended, which is why many Americans are disillusioned and no longer vote. On the issue of COVID injections, though, the Right is officially on the right side of the argument. Republican politicians almost uniformly reject the idea of a COVID jab mandate or any other COVID-related mandate, for that matter. And the Left is still getting duped into believing that they are on the right side of the issue by supporting a forced, communist-style system where vaccine jabs are required in order to live. Where Republicans still go wrong, though, is in supporting the privatization of medicine to the point that large multi-national corporations like Pfizer are able to call all the shots and dispense their wares without any liability, making the drug industry the only industry that is unfairly protected in such a way. If Republicans really want to put their money where their mouth is, the party as a whole would adopt a true medical freedom platform where the individual is allowed to choose or not choose whatever he or she wants to take or use for health, just so long as nobody else is directly hurt by it, as with any other real crime. Democrats would also do well to remember their roots, which include the recognition that Big Pharma and Big Business in general is bad for individual autonomy. It promotes the very fascism that they loudly protest against without realizing that they are walking contradictions whenever they advocate for more jab mandates in the name of "public health." If we let it, Big Pharma will take over the entire world and enslave everyone under pharmakeia which has basically already happened, if you really think about it. Learn more at BadMedicine.news. Sources for this article include: Brownstone.org NaturalNews.com Hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will be almost impossible to rescue, warns counterterrorism expert Hostages snatched by Hamas in Israel could be hidden deep in secret tunnels in Gaza, moved across the border into Egypt, or even buried alive. This is according to author and counterterrorism expert Samuel Katz, who spent years observing elite special forces units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Katz warned that the fate of the dozens, possibly hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza is a "nightmare scenario" for Israel. (Related: An absolutely massive Israeli ground invasion of Gaza appears to be imminent.) Katz noted that the IDF and Israeli intelligence agencies are possibly looking at multiple locations all over Gaza where captives could be held. He described the situation as unique and unprecedented as hostage situations go. "We are in uncharted territories, this is unprecedented," he said. "Large-scale hostage rescues have usually involved one location they've involved aircraft trains, tubular assaults that would enable one entry, one exit or multiple points that the rescuers could breach." As Katz pointed out, this is not the case with the current situation. He warned that hostages could be hidden in tunnels near the border with Israel or they could have been moved to safety closer to the Egyptian border. "You can have hostages that have been buried alive," he added. "The barbarism that was displayed by the attack provides no envelope into how these poor individuals might be treated and where they might be situated." Gaza ground offensive to save hostages could lead to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians Hamas has admitted to holding some 150 civilian hostages, and has even threatened to execute some of them should Israel escalate the conflict by launching a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip that analysts warn could lead to mass atrocities and ethnic cleansing on a scale not seen in the region in over 70 years. "Talk of 'another Nakba' is on the rise in Israel," warned Yousef Munayyer, a dual citizen of Israel and the United States of Palestinian descent, referring to the 948 atrocity that led to over 700,000 Palestinians fleeing from present-day Israeli territory. "Most of Gaza's residents today are in the territory because of the Nakba and continue to be denied repatriation to their ancestral homes in present-day Israel and the West Bank," wrote Munayyer for Foreign Policy. "Now, Israeli politicians are calling to ethnically cleanse Palestinians again." Katz warned that the Israeli response to Hamas' attacks on Israeli territory has been "remarkable" so far, given the amount of manpower Hamas and its allies were able to summon to invade Israel and the surprising ease with which it was able to take hostages. But he added that "going into Gaza is going to be a much more difficult situation." Hamas has demanded freedom for all 5,200 political prisoners the group says are currently held in Israeli jails in exchange for the captives. It has also warned that it will kill a hostage every time Israel conducts air strikes on civilian targets in Gaza without warning. Israel has historically been willing to make big concessions to win freedom for hostages, almost all of them over soldiers or their remains. In 2011, Hamas released IDF Staff Sgt. Gilad Schalit in exchange for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. But right now it is unclear whether Israel would be willing to negotiate, as more than 1,200 Israelis so far have been killed in the current conflict. Gershon Baskin, who helped negotiate Schalit's release, noted that nobody in Israel "has the appetite to give Hamas any kind of prize." Watch this episode of the "Health Ranger Report" as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, laments how more and more people are calling for the genocide of all Palestinians in Gaza for the actions of the few Hamas terrorists. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Natural News issues statement on Hamas terror attack on Israel, bombings of Gaza, ethnic cleansing vs. humanitarian principles. U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs urges Israel to "refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks" in now-deleted tweet. At least 260 bodies recovered from Israeli music festival attacked by Hamas terrorists. Netanyahu promises to turn Gaza into "rubble" following Hamas attack they will pay "unprecedented price." Jewish community in Sydney urged to stay home while Hamas supporters celebrate the murder of innocent civilians and burn Israeli flags. Sources include: The-Sun.com ForeignPolicy.com APNews.com Brighteon.com Increasing number of male human trafficking victims in the U.S. sparks concern Experts in the U.S. are worried about the increasing number of young male victims of human trafficking in the country Human trafficking of boys has grown significantly, and is now almost identical to the percentage of girls being trafficked. The Department of State's 2023 Trafficking in Persons report revealed that while girls account for 18 percent of trafficking victims, boys now account for 17 percent. Trafficking vs. human smuggling When Elijah Muhammad was 12, his parents, who were members of an unnamed cult located in Kansas City, Kansas, received a call from one of the executive representatives of the group. They told his parents that Elijah and his brother must start their "pilgrimage into manhood" because of "the will of God." Unfortunately, young Muhammad's parents agreed and they let their two sons travel 600 miles to Kansas City in the back of an 18-wheeler semitruck. After arriving in the city, Muhammad started his "pilgrimage" by working a daily shift from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m. washing dishes in a restaurant owned by the cult his parents belonged to. In his limited hours of rest, Muhammad lived in a small apartment with other boys and men. When he showed up late to work one time, he was "hit in the mouth with a Yellow [Pages] phonebook." He would experience acts of violence frequently as a victim of labor trafficking. Labor trafficking is a very underreported issue in the United States. It's even more prevalent than sex trafficking. To differentiate, trafficking is exploitation-based while human smuggling is transport-based. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), human smuggling refers to the act of bringing people into the U.S. involving "deliberate evasion of immigration laws, as well as the unlawful transportation and harboring of noncitizens already in the United States." Meanwhile, smuggling can lead to trafficking, and often does. Sue Aboul-hosn, the Florida Department of Children and Families' regional human trafficking prevention coordinator, said at least 71 percent of trafficked victims were forced into labor, 20 percent were exploited for commercial sex while nine percent experienced both sex and labor trafficking. Aboul-hosn added that 91 percent of trafficking investigations involved sex trafficking, at least five percent of investigations were labor-related, and four percent involved both sex and labor. Human and labor trafficking The National Institute of Justice reports that confirming the exact numbers for human trafficking is impossible because of the "covert and criminal nature" of the practice. The Global Slavery Index, published by the International Labor Organization (ILO), is considered the most accurate. In the ILO's latest report, it estimated that 49.6 million people are being trafficked globally. At least 27.6 million are in forced labor and 22 million are in forced marriages. Women and girls make up a majority of those in forced marriages. (Related: Donna Brandenburg: Northern border also hosts indescribable human trafficking Brighteon.TV.) The U.S. doesn't aggregate human trafficking numbers at the national level, "making the true number of cases reported difficult to ascertain," but the Global Slavery Index estimates suggest that on any given day, 1.1 million people are being trafficked in America. The Human Trafficking Hotline reports that the primary venues for labor trafficking in the U.S. are: Domestic work Agriculture and farm work Construction Restaurant and food service Illicit activity (e.g., forcing someone to smuggle drugs or commit other criminal activity) The organization also revealed that even though many reported trafficking cases include U.S. citizens, such as Muhammad, over 50 percent of reported trafficking cases (1,086 out of 1,741) involve foreign nationals. The Department of State's 2023 trafficking report showed that while women and girls account for about 60 percent of identified victims of human trafficking, the percentage of boys has "more than quintupled between 2004 and 2020." HHS fails victims In 2014, a teenager from Guatemala called his uncle in Florida to ask for help. The boy said he was being kept against his will and forced to work at an egg farm called Trillium Farms in Ohio. His traffickers warned the boy that they would shoot his father if he didn't "pay back his debt." His uncle agreed to help and contacted the sheriff in Collier City, Florida. The resulting investigation conducted by federal prosecutors into Trillium Farms revealed that traffickers had detained about 45 people. At least 10 of them were victims of trafficking, including eight minors. Four people pleaded guilty to participating in a human trafficking scheme. One man, Pablo Duran Ramirez, admitted that he knew some of the workers were unaccompanied minors who were threatened or coerced. On June 19, 2020, Ramirez was sentenced to 37 months in prison, and ordered to pay a $67,232 fine. Shockingly, Trillium Farms wasn't charged in the case. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) transfers unaccompanied children to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), an office under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In fiscal year 2022, the DHS directed 128,904 unaccompanied children to the ORR. The HHS reports that at least 72 percent of all children referred were older than 14 and that 64 percent were boys. In fiscal 2022, the children were mostly from: Guatemala (47 percent) Honduras (29 percent) El Salvador (13 percent) Other countries (11 percent) On Oct. 4, the HHS reported that it currently has 10,818 unaccompanied children in its care. The agency added that the average length of time an unaccompanied child remains in ORR's care is 24 days, but that it "is working to further reduce the length of care in ways that do not jeopardize the safety or welfare of the children." Read more stories about child trafficking at Trafficking.news. Watch this video to learn more about human trafficking. This video is from the MAKEN SENSE channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Specials ops troops stunned by Biden admin probe into drug, human trafficking after arrests. Truck driver hailed as a hero for rescuing more than a dozen children from human trafficking. Operation Underground Railroad seeks to rescue children from human trafficking, as depicted in Sound of Freedom. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com ICE.gov NIJ.OJP.gov Brighteon.com Israel BANS Gazas self-rule following Hamas attack The semi-autonomous region within Israel's borders known as the Gaza Strip will no longer be allowed to operate of its own accord following the Hamas attacks that were reported over the weekend. Israel has decided to blockade Gaza entirely and never again allow it to self-rule. From now on, Israel says it is fully in charge of the Gaza Strip whether people like it or not. "I have ordered a complete siege to the Gaza Strip," announced Defense Minister Yoav Gallant following an assessment meeting at the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) Southern Command center. "There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly." According to Israeli chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari, Israel has already regained full control over all town on the Gaza border. In the communities that were attacked by Hamas militants over the weekend, there is little to no more fighting taking place. "It is possible there are still terrorists in the area," Hagari did admit, adding that the clashes between the IDF and Hamas fighters have been "isolated." (Related: One of the worst places to live and be during COVID was Israel, which forced the jabs on Israelis using deception.) Israel now bombing Gaza with "widespread" airstrikes All along the border fence at entry points into Gaza, Israel has placed tanks and drones. Of the 24 border communities that exist along the fence, 15 are said to have been fully evacuated so far. The IDF meanwhile says it is carrying out "widespread" airstrikes against various Hamas positions located across Gaza. The melee began on Saturday, the last official day of the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot, when a Palestinian resistance group reportedly launched a "surprise" attack on multiple locations along the Gaza border. Several Israeli military installations were somehow overrun by Hamas militants, allowing easy entry into Israel's interior where they attacked multiple settlements and launched more than 1,000 rockets. According to Israeli officials, more than 700 people were killed and another 2,200 wounded in the conflict. In addition to the airstrikes, Israel is also planning a ground operation against Gaza, largely considered to be a Palestinian enclave. Israel officially declared war on Sunday following the attacks, invoking Article 40 of its Basic Law. The problem, reaction, solution, nature of all this has led many to speculate that this is just another false flag terror attack designed to expand the borders of Israel militarily rather than as an act of God. "You are the animals out there," wrote one angry commenter against Israel. "You locked five million people into that strip of land." "Spitting on Christians sure is a long way from saying, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,' and breaking your curse of punishment," wrote another, referring to passages in the Bible that show Israel was driven out of the land by God Himself way back when. Another quoted a Telegram post from Channel 12 suggesting that Israel has threatened Egypt if it dares try to provide supplies to the Gaza Strip now that all resources have been shut off. "Israel in a message to Egypt: If you bring supplies into Gaza, we will bomb the trucks," the post states. Another called this "a third Holocaust happening in front of our eyes by globalist bankers." "What does it say about humanity if we need to wait for the return of Christ or the Mahdi to do the right thing while our children in Palestine are starved, burned to the bone, sold for organs and slaughtered like sheep?" asked another. Things are really heating up in the Middle East. Learn more at Chaos.news. Sources for this article include: RT.com NaturalNews.com Israeli government, opposition unite to form an emergency war cabinet as Gaza ground offensive preparations continue The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached out to members of the opposition to form an emergency unity war cabinet amid ongoing hostilities between the Israeli state and Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Almost all political parties in Israel represented in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, have spoken, expressing their full backing of the Israel Defense Forces and in support of the current conservative government of Netanyahu. (Related: Netanyahu promises to turn Gaza into "rubble" following Hamas attack they will pay "unprecedented price.") Among the opposition parties, Yesh Atid, National Unity, Yisraeil Beitenu and Labor issued a joint statement calling on the international community to condemn the acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas. "In days like these there is no opposition and no coalition in Israel," said the leaders of the four parties. They added that they "are united in the face of terrorism" and are determined to strike back with "a strong and determined fist" as they call on their allies abroad to support their retribution against Hamas and all the other Palestinian militant groups that cooperate with it. "It is necessary to mobilize the international community against terrorism," the statement continued. "We call on the citizens Obey the directives of the Home Front Command, take care of yourselves and together we will overcome terrorism." Netanyahu negotiating with opposition leaders to form united cabinet Negotiations between Netanyahu's conservative coalition and opposition parties are still ongoing. For now, the only opposition party to have agreed to a unity war cabinet with Netanyahu is the center-leaning National Unity party of senior opposition figure Benny Gantz, a retired IDF general who previously served as minister of defense from 2020 to 2022. "Our partnership is not political, it is a shared fate," said Gantz in a televised address alongside his erstwhile opponent Netanyahu. "At this time we are all the soldiers of Israel." In the same address, Netanyahu said the people of Israel as well as its political leaders were united. "We have put aside all difference because the fate of our state is on the line," he said. As part of the negotiations, five members of the National Unity party including Gantz will be added to the unity war cabinet as ministers whose specific portfolios will be determined in the coming days. Two other National Unity members will join the Defense Ministry as observers for the duration of the conflict. Gantz and Netanyahu have also agreed to not advance any legislation in the Knesset or government resolutions during the conflict that are not related to managing the war. Other opposition parties are still considering Netanyahu's offer. Chief opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid of the liberal-leaning Yesh Atid party has stated his desire to unite with Netanyahu's Likud party but noted that it would be impossible to manage the war with "the extreme and dysfunctional composition of the current cabinet." Lapid has called on Netanyahu to remove the 13 members of the far-right and extremist Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties from the government in order to bring in the 24 members of Lapid's Yesh Atid. "I'm willing to put aside our differences and form an emergency, narrow, professional government with [Netanyahu] to manage the difficult and complex operation ahead of us," said Lapid. Among Lapid's concerns are that extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom have made policy proposals and incendiary comments in support of ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Watch this Oct. 11 episode of "Brighteon Broadcast News" as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, discusses how Israel is planning to commit an ethnic cleansing operation against the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Natural News issues statement on Hamas terror attack on Israel, bombings of Gaza, ethnic cleansing vs. humanitarian principles. WSJ says Iran helped Hamas plot attack on Israel "over several weeks;" Israel eager to start BOMBING Iran. An absolutely massive Israeli ground invasion of Gaza appears to be imminent. Henry Gruver: "When Israel sends troops into Gaza, it will be a sign the Middle East war has started." Sources include: Reuters.com TimesOfIsrael.com 1 TimesOfIsrael.com 2 TimesOfIsrael.com 3 Brighteon.com Will Israel soon turn Damascus into a pile of rubble? As soon as Israel sends troops into Gaza, a chain of events will begin which nobody is going to be able to control. I believe that one of those events will be Hezbollah entering the conflict from the north. As I discussed yesterday , there is no way that Hezbollah is just going to sit there and watch Hamas get systematically wiped out by the IDF. Hezbollah is already mobilizing their forces and making preparations to join the fight. But if that happens, Israel is going to hit back extremely hard. In fact, there are reports that Israel has already warned Hezbollah that if it enters the war the Israelis will destroy Damascus (Article republished from TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com) Ynet News : IDF will destroy Damascus, target Syrian President Assad if Hezbollah joins war; US warships will support Israel in war. Message relayed via France Unfortunately, this threat has not caused Hezbollah to back down. In fact, Fox News is reporting that the Israelis are now actively fighting a secondary front along Israels northern border with Hezbollah in Lebanon Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Wednesday that the Israeli army shelled the Lebanese border town of Duhaira and the surrounding area where the missile attack came from. He also said Israel was actively fighting a secondary front along Israels northern border with Hezbollah in Lebanon, in addition to the counteroffensive the IDF is launching in the Gaza Strip. We have deployed tens of thousands of additional units along the northern border, Conricus said, including infantry, special forces, armored forces, artillery, air forces, and additional assets including intelligence and logistics. Hezbollah has not formally entered the war yet. But I think that will likely happen very quickly once Israel invades Gaza. So could Israel actually turn Damascus into a pile or rubble? Well, just consider what the IDF is already doing to Gaza. We are being told that Gaza was hit by an astounding 250 airstrikes in a single hour Pictures show neighbourhoods in Gaza almost destroyed after Israel launched 250 airstrikes in just one hour. It comes after an Israeli defense official promise the strip will become a tent city with every building to be demolished. The IDF is not messing around. One Israeli military official admitted that they are attacking on an unprecedented scale, and nobody can really argue with that fact Brig. Gen. Omer Tishler, the Israel Air Forces chief of staff, says fighter jets are striking the Gaza Strip on an unprecedented scale. We are attacking the Gaza Strip on an unprecedented scale, because what happened here is something that has never happened before. There is an enemy here firing rockets, raiding a civilian population, Tishler says in a call with reporters. We are never going back to that, he says. So far, a whopping 2,687 targets inside Gaza have been hit The Israel Defense Forces has carried out strikes against 2,687 targets across the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to fresh military data. According to the data, 1,329 of the targets are multi-story buildings containing Hamas assets, including war rooms where the terror group manages the fighting against Israel. One of those targets was the Islamic University of Gaza. We are being told that it was a central training center, and now it has been completely destroyed The Israel Defense Forces says it has bombed the Islamic University of Gaza, which serves as a central training center for Hamas engineers. The military says fighter jets targeted the campus, located in Gaza City. According to the IDF, the university was an important center of political and military power for Hamas and a training institution for the development and production of weapons. IDF says it has bombed the Islamic University of Gaza, "which serves as a central training center for Hamas engineers." pic.twitter.com/cKu7jEzsNq Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 11, 2023 In the past, Israel was always so careful to avoid collateral damage when it would conduct attacks in Gaza. But now Israels defense minister is making it clear that there will be no holding back Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, said all restraints on fighters have been released and promised an intensification of fighting. Hamas wanted a change and it will get one. What was in Gaza will no longer be, he said. We started the offensive from the air, later on we will also come from the ground. Weve been controlling the area since Day Two and we are on the offensive. It will only intensify. Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors we will eliminate him at the height of our power and without compromise. If the IDF were to apply the same treatment to Damascus, it would draw Syria into the war. Once Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria have all entered the war, it is probably just a matter of time before Iran joins the conflict too. And once Iran enters the war, there is no telling how far things could escalate. Already, one member of the Knesset named Revital Gotliv has been calling for the use of nuclear weapons Jericho Missile! Jericho Missile! Strategic alert. before considering the introduction of forces. Doomsday weapon! This is my opinion. May God preserve all our strength, Gotliv wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday, according to a translation. Another post says: I urge you to do everything and use Doomsday weapons fearlessly against our enemies, adding that Israel must use everything in its arsenal. On Tuesday, she continued with her calls of urgency. Only an explosion that shakes the Middle East will restore this countrys dignity, strength and security! Gotliv posted. Its time to kiss doomsday. Shooting powerful missiles without limit. Not flattening a neighbourhood. Crushing and flattening Gaza. without mercy! without mercy! Everyone knows that Israel has nukes, and let us hope that they will not be used any time soon. But we should all be able to understand why she is so furious. At one location that Hamas attacked in southern Israel, knives were found left in some of the children There is evidence in Kibbutz Beeri that children were slain in front of their parents, Maj. Doron Spielman says. Knives were found left in some of the children. Bodies are still being taken out of the kibbutz, which Spielman says will be remembered as a symbol of Hamass massacre, like Auschwitz is the symbol of the Holocaust. Some 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered by the terror group, including over 100 at Beeri alone. When Hamas decided to rape women, murder children and kidnap the elderly, they awakened the full fury of the Jewish people. And when Israel sends troops into Gaza, the Great Middle East War will be unleashed. In my most recent book, I wrote about an endless barrage of missiles being fired at Israel. I believe that is about to become a reality. There is going to be so much death and destruction in the days ahead, and there will be many more cities that will be transformed into piles of rubble before this is all over. Read more at: TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com Florida Sen. Marco Rubio appears to call for OPEN GENOCIDE against all Palestinian women, men and children they have to be eradicated Propagandist and political war hawk Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has a plan for dealing with Hamas following the weekend "surprise" attack on Israel: When asked by CNN's Jake Tapper if there is any way to stop Hamas "without causing massive casualties against the innocent people" in Gaza, Rubio told him no and proceeded to suggest mass genocide as the solution. "I don't think there's any way Israel can be expected to coexist or find some diplomatic off-ramp with these savages," Rubio replied, using the same dehumanizing language against the Palestinians as did Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, who hatefully referred to the Palestinians this week as "human animals." "These are people, as you've been reporting and others have seen, that deliberately targeted teenage girls, women, and children, and the elderly ... Just horrifying things," Rubio proceeded to blab, relying on questionable media reports and claims to justify his genocidal position. "And I don't think we know the full extent of it yet. I mean, there's more to come in the days and weeks ahead. You can't coexist. They have to be eradicated." (Related: Rubio also claims that the Wuhan coronavirus [COVID-19] "escaped" from China due to "a serious biosafety incident.") Palestinians are people, too Like many who "support Israel" often do, Rubio made no clear distinction between Hamas and the millions of non-Hamas Palestinians who far outnumber Hamas and just so happen to live among them. By doing this, the pro-Israel crowd likewise opens up the door to mass genocide, failing to realize that there are actual human beings just like them who live in the Gaza Strip after they were forcefully stuffed inside the "open-air concentration camp," as many refer to it, by invading forces back in the early-to-mid-1900s. For thousands of years before that, the Palestinian people lived in what is now considered Israel after the original Israel that lived there during Old Testament times was driven out of the land by God Himself for their disobedience. Now that Israel has returned with a vengeance, it wants what it considers as "its land" back from Palestinians who are now mostly confined to just that tiny sliver of land known as the Gaza Strip, which former president Hosni Murabak of Egypt says has been in the crosshairs of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for many years for annexation. What makes all this even more concerning is the fact that former Israeli soldiers, former Rep. Ron Paul, and others have come out in the past to state that Hamas was created by Israel itself with the help of the U.S., of course back in the 1970s to intentionally destabilize Palestinian territories as a pretext for later dubbing them all as "terrorists" in order to commit mass genocide against them. "This is going to be incredibly painful," Rubio did admit about his genocidal plan for the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. "It's going to be completely difficult. And it's going to be horrifying, the price to pay." Netanyahu made similar statements as Rubio earlier in the week when he and other far-right leaders promised to completely "change the Middle East" because of the Hamas attack. "Just watch: we will all now be told that we have to keep donating to Israel, along with Ukraine, when we would rather just keep the money to feed our families," one of our own commenters wrote about all the begging-for-money component of these developments in the Middle East. "I don't even believe this Israel really is God's chosen people. And even if they are, God can supply all the manna these people need." The far-right-wing neoconservatives and other "supporters of Israel" seem to have no problem with the mass genocide of Palestinians that Netanyahu is proposing. You can keep up with the latest news at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: NewRepublic.com Newstarget.com Dr. McCullough warns: Getting jabbed multiple times with mRNA COVID vaccines could promote turbo cancer During a recent online symposium organized by the World Council for Health, renowned internist and cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough warned about the latest research confirming that Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "vaccines" are, in fact, linked to a newfound phenomenon known as "turbo cancer." Dr. McCullough unpacked a prominent theory bearing much credibility that cancer is only allowed to form inside a human body when certain "multiple different processes" are impacted, even if a "single source of exposure" is responsible for triggering these multiple different processes. The single source of exposure that Dr. McCullough was referring to is, of course, Fauci Flu shots. Citing the "Multi-Hit Hypothesis of Carcinogenesis" proposed by Sutherland and J.C. Bailar in 1984, Dr. McCullough argued that mRNA injections in particular trigger multiple different changes throughout the body that promote cancer formation and spread. Dr. McCullough also cited a pre-print paper asserting that the S2 segment of the spike protein produced by the mRNA covid injections "is likely to inhibit tumor suppressor systems." In his view, this cancer-promoting effect of the shots "hit number one." (Related: Sadly, even those of us who did not get injected for COVID directly may have still been "vaccinated" indirectly by fully injected people who unknowingly "shed" the poison on us in passing.) Were COVID "vaccines" purposely designed to trigger "turbo cancers?" Research out of China also shows that the mRNA component of the injections "impair[s] the natural DNA repair mechanisms of the human body." This would qualify as another of the multiple different processes through which COVID shots cause cancer to form and spread. In other words, the S2 component of the shots inhibits tumor suppression while the mRNA component stops the body from repairing corrupted DNA, the latter of which Dr. McCullough described as "hit number two." A potential third source of cancer promotion from COVID shots is the apparent "contamination" of the vials with Simian Virus 40, or SV40. This and other contaminants act as "promoters and enhancers" of cancer, as well as other poisons like E. coli. The purported reason why E. coli is even used at all is to help Big Pharma mass produce "large quantities of messenger RNA," Dr. McCullough further explained. As for SV40, another paper published in the journal Clinical Microbiology Reviews explains that the toxin is a "known oncogenic DNA virus which induces primary brain and bone cancers, malignant mesothelioma and lymphomas in laboratory animals." The overall purpose of the symposium at which Dr. McCullough spoke was to address the implications of the recently discovered plasmid DNA in COVID jabs. As retired Thai-German microbiologist Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi warned, plasmid DNA causes genetic mutations that once again are linked to cancer formation. Plasmid DNA is also toxic simply because it is a foreign type of DNA that the body does not recognize, which thus causes it to attack itself with auto-immunity. Dr. Bhakdi warns that this plasmid DNA leads to "long-term inflammation and organ damage throughout the body." "We knew this was coming," one of our own commenters wrote, explaining what he or she is doing to combat the issue of COVID jab shedding. "The government and media tried to denounce as something conspiracy theorists do, research. Since the start of the jab nonsense, I have been foraging dandelions and pine and growing artemisia (the prime herb used in ivermectin). "We have been drinking pine needle tea daily for a few years now. This has been shown to help prevent the spikes from binding to your T-cell receptors via the shikimic acid, d-limonene, quercetin, vitamin C and antioxidants that pine contains. We double up or sometimes triple up if we've been around shedders." The full carnage of Operation Warp Speed is still yet to come. Learn more at Genocide.news. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com Cloudfront.net [PDF] NaturalNews.com NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov Dr. Lee Merritt compares FEMA emergency broadcast alert test to COVID injections: We dont know whats in it Brighteon.TV The Medical Rebel Dr. Lee Merritt and James Grundvig discussed the emergency broadcast alert test by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during the Oct. 4 episode of the Brighteon.TV program "Merritt Medical Hour." Merritt said the American people survived the emergency broadcast signal put out by FEMA last Oct. 4. Had it not pushed on that day, the signal would be activated a week later on Oct. 11. The Brighteon.TV host compared it to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) injections. (Related: FEMA and FCC to conduct nationwide emergency alert test to ensure viability of alert systems during upcoming emergencies engineered by the government itself) "We don't know what it is. To be honest, this is like the [COVID] vaccine we don't know what's in it," she told Grundvig. "We're suspicious, just like we're suspicious of Pfizer. Now, we're suspicious of FEMA." The former Navy physician and surgeon recounted how she and her husband stashed all of their gadgets in Mylar bags and turned everything off in their home. While they didn't hear anything at 2:22 p.m. Eastern time (ET) or 2:32 p.m. ET, something went off in one of the Mylar bags between 2:42 p.m. and 2:44 p.m. ET of that day. She later discovered that one of the Mylar bags was defective after her husband's Apple watch still received the signal. Meanwhile, Grundvig shared how he unplugged all his computers and router, and turned off both the local area network and house alarm. He then stored all his devices inside a microwave oven, which he described as a perfect example of a Faraday cage. Grundvig, who hosts "Unrestricted Truths" on American Media Periscope, then went outside with his son who had an old iPhone. After turning on the iPhone, he heard time three bursts which came within a five second interval each on 2:22 p.m. ET. Grundvig then remarked that Americans still need to watch what is going to happen after the emergency alert system was sent. "If nothing happens, then OK, it's just a test," Grundvig said. "But we don't know that yet." FEMA emergency broadcast alert test both a trial run and a threat assessment According to Merritt, the FEMA emergency broadcast alert test could have been a trial run, as the three blasts announced by the agency indeed happened. She also considers it a threat assessment against a credible event that could possibly happen. "For me, the risk of not taking [this alert] seriously is probably more than just not listening to this," the "Merritt Medical Hour" host remarked. "You know, I'm trying to think of a downside of turning everything off. Now I did learn from this experience, you got to check your bags." Grundvig also shared that Russia also launched a similar emergency alert test on the same day as FEMA's signal. The emergency alert was heard throughout Russia, across 11 time zones. In response to this, Merritt recounted the sudden emergency tests of the broadcast system during the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960s involving one single blast. The "Unrestricted Truth" host ultimately told the Medical Rebel that Americans need to be vigilant, as it is all they can do for now. Visit Preparedness.news for more stories about emergency alerts like the one FEMA activated. Watch the Oct. 4 episode of the "Merritt Medical Hour" below. The "Merritt Medical Hour" airs every Wednesday at 7-8 p.m. and Saturday at 2-3 p.m. on Brighteon.TV. More related stories: James Grundvig of AMP News calls FedCoin garbage, says the Feds CBDC is nowhere near ready. Dr. Lee Merritt and Kate Dalley discuss the FAKERIES happening in America Brighteon.TV. FEMA distributed nonsense emergency brochures to native Alaskans. Sources include: Brighteon.com FEMA.gov Myra Adams shares wild PLOT TWISTS that could upend 2024 presidential election As the 2024 presidential election approaches, political instability has already marked its backdrop. The ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House speaker and the gag order against former President Donald Trump during his civil fraud trial serve as examples of this. But for Republican campaign staffer Myra Adams, these are just the tip of the iceberg. In an Oct. 6 op-ed for The Hill, Adams enumerated several potential game-changing scenarios that could dramatically alter the course of the election campaign and even the election itself. She mentioned that either one of the two nominated candidates from the major parties could face health issues, legal troubles, scandals, or even impeachment convictions potentially leading to their withdrawal from the race. She cited two instances in the 1960s where unforeseen tragedies altered the course of presidential elections. The 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy led to the rise of his successor President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was vice president at the time, to a landslide victory in the 1964 presidential election. Four years later, Johnson's withdrawal paved the way for President Richard Nixon to become president until his 1974 resignation due to the Watergate scandal. Adams also mentioned that an attack on par with 9/11 could impact the election, alongside any attacks by domestic terrorists either in response to Trump's incarceration or renomination. An international incident or escalation of an existing conflict that could require a U.S. military response could also play a role in the upcoming election. Moreover, the GOP staffer also brought up the possibility of a prolonged and crippling cyberattack on critical infrastructure. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create convincing "deepfakes" as the election nears could sow confusion among voters, she added. Adams' prediction came true with RFK Jr.'s independent presidential run Adams also predicted that a third-party candidate entering the race and gaining substantial support perhaps more than 20 percent could introduce a new dynamic into the usual two-candidate race. The prospect isn't impossible, as shown by various surveys. One poll from Gallup found that 63 percent of American adults believe the U.S. already needs a third major political party due to the unsatisfying and poor performance of both the GOP and the Democratic Party. A separate poll by Monmouth University found that 52 percent of Republican respondents are "not at all enthusiastic" about Trump being the GOP nominee for 2024. Fifty-three percent of Democratic respondents in the Monmouth poll share the same sentiment about incumbent President Joe Biden. This prediction by Adams came to fruition when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) declared that he would run as an independent presidential candidate. He made the declaration during an Oct. 9 event in Philadelphia, following his repeated rebuke of the Democratic Party for rigging the primaries in favor of Biden. (Related: RFK Jr. to continue his presidential run as an INDEPENDENT candidate after ditching rigged DNC.) "I'm here to declare myself an independent candidate for president of the United States," RFK Jr. boldly proclaimed before a crowd of enthusiastic supporters. Prior to his announcement, the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy had sat down with the chair of the Libertarian Party sparking rumors of a potential third-party run. However, the talks with the Libertarian Party did not progress. Follow VoteFraud.news for more news about American elections being stolen. Watch Ivan Raiklin warn of a cover-up when the 2024 election is stolen on the Brighteon.TV program "Connecting The Dots." This video is from the BrighteonTV channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Democrats criminalize political dissent to preempt potential 2024 election challengers. Ivan Raiklin: Expect another COVER-UP to happen when 2024 election is stolen Brighteon.TV. Matrixxx Grooove: Americans doing everything to ensure Trumps 2024 White House return Brighteon.TV. Not getting a fair shot: RFK Jr. to announce plan to run as INDEPENDENT, stresses DNC is RIGGING the primaries. Sources include: TheHill.com Gallup.com TheGuardian.com Brighteon.com Surge in VIOLENT CRIMES disrupting lives and businesses in Washington, D.C. The spike in violent crimes this 2023 continues to worry residents of the District of Columbia. At the same time, law enforcement struggles to stop the bloodshed while several cities in the country are seeing double-digit declines in homicides. In Washington Highlands, a known violent neighborhood in the nations capital, facilitators recently discussed to a group of children the things they should do when gunfire erupts. Facilitators explained that these somber lessons carry "added urgency," especially when there is an increase in shootings. One incident left an 18-year-old dead near the center in September. In gentrified Shaw, where many trendy restaurants can be spotted in areas with condos listed for more than $1 million, unusually high levels of gun violence have made longtime residents feeling tense. According to police data, the district has seen 216 homicides in 2023, 38 percent more than at this point in 2022. The number is more than any full year from 2004 to 2020. Meanwhile, killings are down in 2023 in big cities from coast to coast: It was down by 24 percent in Los Angeles It was down by 19 percent in Houston It was down by 18 percent in Philadelphia It was down by 12 percent in Chicago It was down by 11 percent in New York City Lindsey Appiah, D.C.'s deputy mayor for public safety, said "Public safety has been and continues to be the No. 1 concern for district residents." She added that other types of crime also drive fear. In the area, robberies have gone up by 70 percent and car thefts have more than doubled. (Related: Businesses that endorsed BLM now closing their stores in San Francisco as rampant violence and crime overwhelms.) To help assuage fears, district officials have added more visible police patrols and enforced the juvenile curfew. Back in July, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation making it easier to detain criminal suspects pretrial. According to Appiah, violent crime declined after the law took effect, and the jail population increased by at least 25 percent. On Oct. 2, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was carjacked in the city. He is the second member of Congress to experience a violent crime in D.C. in 2023. Earlier in March, House Republicans blocked an overhaul of D.C.s outdated criminal code, claiming that the Democratic-led districts new code was "soft on crime." According to local officials, the lawmakers misrepresented the code overhaul. Law enforcement can't pinpoint a single reason for the increase in violent crimes Law enforcement officials insist that there is no single reason to explain D.C.'s alarming violent crime increase. They also said factors such as the steady flow of illegal guns, a diminished police force, and the lingering effects of COVID-19 pandemic disruptions are issues not unique to Washington. Officials also said homicides in D.C. fell 10 percent in 2022, a steeper drop than those in other big cities. However, in the district, most crimes committed by adults are prosecuted by an appointed U.S. attorney, not an elected district attorney. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves has been criticized for declining to charge at the time of arrest a whopping 67 percent of offenses that would have been tried in D.C. Superior Court, the typical venue for non-federal crimes, during fiscal year 2022. Graves, who has been in office since 2021, claimed that the rate is driven by several factors that are out of his control, such as the D.C. crime lab's lack of accreditation. He added that his staffs charging rate was higher for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, but his office hasn't released figures. Fatal shootings have skyrocketed in 2023 in Washington Highlands, a low-income neighborhood. City figures revealed that 15 people have been killed by gunfire in 2023, up from eight at this time last year. Assistant Police Chief Carlos Heraud said the violence in that part of Southeast D.C., near the Maryland line, is potentially due to tension between rival "crews." According to Appiah, the police department has boosted patrols in Southeast. Holly Scott, 52, is a Washington Highlands resident who now leaves earlier for her public transit commute to an overnight job as a case manager. Scott added that she is anxious about being on neighborhood streets late at night. To protect herself, she carries her licensed gun "because it happens that randomly." City officials explained that an increase in violent crime in parts of the city generally not used to it has broadened the public's anxiety. Thomas Abt, a criminologist and the founding director of the Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction at the University of Maryland, explained that violence typically concentrated in poorer areas can "spill over." In 2023, 21 people have been killed in Ward 1, covering a part of Shaw and other neighborhoods, up from 14 all last year, revealed police data. Four homicides have occurred in the area where Shaw Main Streets works, with six others reported around the nearby U Street nightlife corridor. Several incidents occurred due to disputes inside clubs, reported Ward 1 Council Member Brianne Nadeau. However, city officials blame crew-related violence. Just past T Street, a fatal shooting occurred outside a nearby takeout one afternoon in June, reported the police. The owners of Right Proper Brewing said they will move the brewpub when their lease ends unless there is a drastic improvement in condition. Common problems in the area include public drug use. Their landlord, Steven Cassell, said people "dont want to come hang out in Shaw anymore, period." Cassell, whose company developed the residential, retail and office complex, added that this results in "a ton of investment thats going down the tubes." Visit Violence.news for more stories about the violent crimes in the federal capital. Watch this report to learn more about irresponsible governance in Washington.. This video is from the Worldview Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: More retailers shutting down, leaving crime-ridden Democrat-run cities as they plunge into chaos and violence. Nordstrom to leave downtown San Francisco after 35 years due to citys deteriorating conditions of high violence and crime. Community activists demand VIOLENCE in Chicago be treated as public health emergency. Sources include: WSJ.com 1 WSJ.com 2 Brighteon.com MIGRANT INVASION: Biden administration has let in over 4 MILLION ILLEGALS since January 2021 Within 26 months, the administration of President Joe Biden let roughly four million illegal immigrants into the United States This is according to a recent report released by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA), which showed that "at least 2,148,738 illegal aliens" were released into the U.S. from January 2021 to March 2023. (Related: Every state is now a border state: Alabama deploys 275 National Guardsmen to southern border to deter illegals.) The release of more than 2.1 million illegals was also accompanied by "an additional 205,473 aliens" who were released into American communities "through illegal categorical parole programs." Furthermore, estimates by Customs and Border Protection and other border agencies note that, since Jan. 20, 2021, more than 1.7 million illegal aliens known as "gotaways" were able to evade capture by authorities and escaped into the American interior, "with untold numbers of unknown 'gotaways' avoiding detection during that period," read the report by Jordan and McClintock. This adds up to more than four million illegal immigrants let into the U.S. by March a number that has undoubtedly increased dramatically since then due to the recent surge in migrants coming through the border. Estimates suggest that, since March, as much as another one million illegal immigrants have made their way through America's border. This number also does not include the more than three million legal migrants and temporary workers who were admitted into the U.S. during the same period. 99% of migrants who reach the border are allowed in Of the more than 2.1 million illegal aliens released into the U.S. by Biden and his Department of Homeland Security, the Republican-led study asserts that only a very small fraction of them were properly vetted to test their claims of asylum. "A mere six percent of illegal aliens released into the United States were even screened for fear of prosecution [in their home countries] for purposes of asylum," wrote Jordan and McClintock. Furthermore, only 5,993 illegal immigrants who were tapped for deportation were able to actually meet with an immigration judge and then deported from the United States. Jordan and McClintock note that this data contradicts Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' claims that the southwest border is closed and that illegal immigrants are "quickly" removed. "Instead, with more than 99 percent of illegal aliens staying inside the United States after being released by the Biden administration, there is virtually no enforcement of our immigration laws," read the report. The report further noted that the "unprecedented border crisis" is making border officials overwhelmed and unable to fully complete their duties, leaving some Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers with no choice but to "abandon arrests and removal of aliens, including criminal aliens, to process the illegal aliens who have arrived at the southwest border." "There is virtually no enforcement of our immigration laws," concludes the report, which slams the Biden administration and Mayorkas for making America "less safe." Watch this report from Fox News showing how communities near the southern border of the U.S. are begging for the Biden administration for more help. This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Trump was right all along: Biden waives dozens of federal laws to expedite construction of border wall in Texas as Dems panic over illegal immigration. Costa Rica declares STATE OF EMERGENCY over thousands of illegal migrants transiting through country heading to America. CONFIRMED: Mexican cartels are now INSIDE the U.S. forming gangs and SNIPER NESTS to take out Americans. SANCTUARY OVERLOAD: Texas sends more buses full of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS to Democrat-controlled sanctuary cities. INVASION ALERT: Over 8K illegals crossed into Texas city with less than 30K population in just 4 days. Sources include: Breitbart.com NYPost.com Politico.com Brighteon.com Biden claimed he saw confirmed pictures of Hamas beheading children turns out it was a COMPLETE LIE The pretender-in-chief has lied once again , this time about the events that allegedly took place in Israel over the weekend at the hands of Hamas. In a statement, Joe Biden, also known as "the big guy," claimed that he personally saw photos supporting Israeli claims that Hamas had beheaded infant children during its kibbutz massacres. Biden specifically stated that he saw "confirmed pictures," meaning they were real without a doubt, of the beheaded children, who are said to be among the more than 1,000 victims who died in the melee. The White House later issued a follow-up statement to basically say that Biden lied to America and the world about what he saw. "It matters that Americans see what's happening," Biden mumbled during a roundtable with Jewish community leaders at the White House this week. "I've been doing this [for] a long time. I never really thought that I would see ... have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children." White House national security aides later followed up these bizarre statements by Biden with statements of their own that there has not been any access to any alleged photos of the events Biden described. (Related: Did you know that Israel and the U.S. created Hamas back in the 1970s to counteract Yasser Arafat?) White House confirms: nobody has seen any beheading photos, nor have any of Israel's claims about the Hamas attack actually been verified According to National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Kirby, who attended the roundtable along with Biden and other White House officials, he has not personally seen any of these alleged beheading photos, and is simply trusting what Biden says about their existence. The White House itself later officially walked back Biden's statements, telling The Washington Post that neither Biden nor any other U.S. officials have seen any photos, nor have they independently verified any of the official reports coming out of Israel. In other words, pretty much everything the world has been told thus far in this latest shock and awe campaign, or what some are describing as "Israel's 9/11," has yet been confirmed with actual evidence to be true. It turns out that Biden's statements about "confirmed photos" were also a game of telephone in that he was simply regurgitating what he was told by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson Tal Heinrich about the matter. Where the idea of these "child beheading" photos first originated were in claims made by Israeli Maj. Gen. Itai Veruv to CNN about babies and toddlers having supposedly been found butchered in Kfar Aza kibbutz, a small community near Israel's border with Gaza. "They cut heads off the people," Veruv said to CNN, which of course immediately ran with the story as fact. "They kill babies in front of the parents, and then kill the parents; they kill parents and we found babies in between the dogs and the family they killed before him." Since Veruv made these statements, there has been even more confusion among media sources as to whether he was talking about the babies that were allegedly decapitated, or whether this was another alleged incident that occurred at the hands of Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed on X that certain select members of the international media were allowed to personally tour the Kfar Aza site where Veruv claimed a "massacre" of women, children, toddlers and the elderly basically all the pull-on-your-heartstrings demographics in one fell swoop is said to have occurred. "They killed them and cut some of their heads; it's a dreadful thing to see," further claimed Davidi Ben Zion, deputy commander of the Unit 71 that led the recovery effort in Kfar Aza. More news about the escalating situation in the Middle East can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: TheEpochTimes.com NaturalNews.com Since the rollout of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, medical experts warned the public against vaccinating pregnant and breastfeeding mothers due to concerns about potential side effects and limited data on vaccine safety for these groups. A group of 66 doctors, scientists, and clinical practitioners, including obstetricians and gynecologists from the U.K., have published an open letter expressing their reservations about vaccinating pregnant women. They assert that the advice recommending COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women lacks vital data from ethically conducted research. In their open letter, the group highlighted their deep concern about deviations from established medical ethics and called for the protection of vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and their infants. "This advice is that: COVID-19 vaccines are not only safe but strongly recommended for pregnant women. Such advice is not grounded in robust data based on ethically conducted research and anyone who is medically and academically trained should take serious issue with this," the group wrote in the letter. But despite the warnings, the CDC still recommended these vaccines to pregnant women that resulted in the deaths of some breastfed babies. (Related: Globalist technocrats targeting infants with lab-made breast milk.) Dr. William Makis, a Canadian physician specializing in radiology, oncology, immunology and a prolific author of peer-reviewed medical articles, presented two cases to support his claims on the potential link between breastfeeding and infant fatalities following maternal vaccination. The first case involved a 36-year-old mother from New Mexico, who reported the tragic death of her eight-week-old baby in July 2021. Her baby developed a high fever approximately two weeks after she received her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Doctors initially treated the infant with IV antibiotics for a suspected bacterial infection. After the antibiotic treatment, the baby exhibited unusual symptoms, including a swollen eyelid, rashes and frequent vomiting. He was subsequently diagnosed with an "atypical Kawasaki disease" and passed away due to clots in his inflamed arteries. In the second case, a five-month-old infant died on March 20, 2021, just three days after the mother received her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Immediately after vaccination, the baby developed a rash, became inconsolable, refused to eat and had a fever. Blood tests revealed elevated liver enzymes and the baby was hospitalized but continued to deteriorate, ultimately receiving a diagnosis of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP), a rare condition characterized by the formation of blood clots in small vessels. Health Ranger Report: Geopolitics expert Martin Armstrong reveals U.S. involvement in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas President Joe Biden has recently warned Iran to not be involved in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict as Israeli leaders formed an emergency war cabinet to present a united front. He even dispatched top diplomat Antony Blinken to the Middle East to signify his " enduring support for Israel " and prevent a wider war from erupting. But does the Biden regime really want to stop the war, or did the U.S. president actually coordinate the war? This was a concern brought up by Mike Adams, Brighteon.com and Natural News founder, during a recent episode of the "Health Ranger Report." Adams' guest was geopolitics analyst Martin Armstrong, who believes the U.S. influenced Israel to allow this 9/11-style attack by the terror group Hamas. "I think it definitely was coordinated. Did the U.S. tell them to do it? That's hard to say and could be speculation, but they're clearly deeply involved in this," he declared. Armstrong also pointed out that at the moment, some Americans were now taken as hostages in Gaza, the ground zero of all the massacre and horrifying attacks. This requires Biden to escalate the conflict. Speaking to a roundtable of Jewish community leaders in Washington, the president said his deployment of military ships and aircraft closer to Israel should be seen as a signal to Iran, which backs Islamist groups Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah. (Related: Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah ready to "join the battle" in Gaza, warns Hamas leader.) The geopolitical expert also emphasized that this chaos is not just political but also motivated by a deep-seated problem of religion, in particular the Sunni-Shia divide pertaining to the two largest branches of Islam. The primary ideological difference between the two relates to questions of religious authority and the leadership of all Muslims following the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Those who followed the Prophet's closest companion became known as Sunnis, and those who followed the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law became known as Shiites. The Sunnis focus on following the Prophet's example, whereas the Shiites focus on the lineage of the Prophet's family through a series of imams. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, and most of its natives are adherents of the majority Sunni branch. Meanwhile, 64 percent of Iran's population belong to the Shia branch of Islam. "And Iran would love nothing more than to wipe out basically Saudi Arabia. So, you have a religious problem there," Armstrong explained. Meanwhile, Israeli jets have pounded the Gaza Strip for days in retribution for a weekend attack by Palestinian Hamas militants who breached the border fence enclosing Gaza. The terror group rampaged through towns and villages, killing about 1,200 people and injuring over 2,700. They are also taking scores of hostages, the Israeli military said. The democratic system of government that the U.S. claims to practice is not happening Amid the U.S.'s involvement and possible "massive influence" in the staging of the current Palestine-Israel conflict that the Iran-backed Hamas started over the weekend, the Biden administration is claiming that America is just practicing its democracy. But for Armstrong, the government we have today is basically "what we call Republican," which does not pertain to the political party. There is actually no democracy. He explained that the American people are not even consulted about major government decisions. "They say we live in a democracy, that's absolute nonsense. Do we get to vote if is it okay to go to war against Russia? Should we raise your taxes? We're not asked that question," he said emphasizing that the Biden regime does whatever they want to do. "And they stand up and can basically say whatever they want to just to get elected." They do not even represent the people, especially the lawmakers. He further elaborated that there is no way an elected lawmaker can just stand up on the floor of the House and make a proposal any time. "All proposals have to go through committees and if you don't play nice, you're not getting on a committee. It's just simply so rigged there. We are nowhere close to a democracy, whatsoever," he lamented. Meanwhile, he predicted that the end of the whole "violent" fiasco in the Middle East would be by 2032. Adams inquired: "So, people all over the Western world are going to find themselves living under fascist totalitarian dictatorships?" The financial analyst agreed citing the World Economic Forum's Klaus Schwab's eight points which included the "end of democracy by 2030." Because of the globalist influence, "democracy became evil populism and people were too stupid to know what they really voted for." However, he is hopeful that all that is happening now could finally urge people to get off their couches, stop watching the TV, and say "Enough is enough." WWIII.news contains updates on the escalating Palestine-Israel war. Watch the full conversation between the Health Ranger Mike Adams and Martin Armstrong on the "Health Ranger Report" below. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. Sources for this article include: Rappler.com Brighteon.com Israeli Rabbi to Christians: You shouldnt be worshiping one Jew, you should be worshiping all of us Israeli Rabbi Chaim Richman, the former director of the Temple Institute, told Christians on his podcast addressing Israel's war with Gaza on Monday that they "shouldn't be worshipping one Jew" -- Jesus Christ -- but instead should be worshipping "all of us" Jews because "we're dying for your sins right now." (Article by Chris Menahan republished from InformationLiberation.com) "You shouldn't be worshipping one Jew, you should be worshipping all of us." This grotesque supremacy is expressed by Rabbi Chaim Richman, a former director of the Temple Institute - one of the extreme Jewish groups whose mission is to build the third temple. Groups like this pic.twitter.com/FtUxgN2Uxc Keith Woods (@KeithWoodsYT) October 10, 2023 "I just want to say this to our Christian friends ... just to call it as it is and say it straight out, you guys are worshiping one Jew, that's a mistake, you should be worshipping every single one of us because we all die for your sins every single day," Richman said, blaspheming Christ. "And that's exactly what's going on here. We're all God's first born and we're dying for your sins right now, because the Jewish people in the land of Israel are the bulwark against the Orcs, okay? The orcs are coming not to a theater near you but to your home!" "This grotesque supremacy is expressed by Rabbi Chaim Richman, a former director of the Temple Institute - one of the extreme Jewish groups whose mission is to build the third temple," Keith Woods noted on Twitter/X. "Groups like this are responsible for rising tensions in the holy land, where they have forced Muslim and Christian worshippers out of their holy sites. Supremacists like this have the support of the Israeli government." In the days before the war broke out, video after video was going viral of Jews in Israel spitting on Christians and attacking them in the streets for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Netanyahu's top police official, National Security Minister Ben Gvir, defended their vile acts as "not criminal." Israelis spit at Christian pilgrims at Jerusalems Lion Gate. pic.twitter.com/fQPguCLwjx Censored Men (@CensoredMen) October 3, 2023 "You daughter of a b*tch!" "You're going to get hurt!" Shocking video going viral on social media shows a large group of Jewish children cursing and assaulting two Christian female missionaries in Israel with their parents' full support. pic.twitter.com/3pVVn7EouX Chris Menahan ?? (@infolibnews) September 12, 2023 "Ben Gvir had previously defended the act of spitting on Christians as 'an ancient Jewish custom,' " the MiddleEastEye noted. Itamar Ben Gvir praises israelis spitting at Christians in Jerusalem as an old Jewish tradition .. dear! dear! dear! seriously? | via @OnlinePalEng pic.twitter.com/DEeCokR2X5 Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) October 4, 2023 Prominent settler activist says spitting on Christians 'ancient Jewish custom' https://t.co/KRQI1zYlkW Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 3, 2023 Ancient Roman statues were toppled and destroyed just last week and a statue of Jesus Christ was desecrated earlier this year by a Jewish supremacist who said, "We cannot worship stones of false gods in Jerusalem." Earlier this year, two influential members of Israel's Knesset introduced a bill to outlaw teaching the Gospel and sentence violators to prison. It was already illegal for Christians to proselytize Israeli minors but the new bill sought to "ban any and all efforts to tell people about Jesus." The bill was pulled after mass backlash from Christians in America but the sponsor of the bill merely said he wouldn't move forward with it "at this stage." While the notion that Israel is an ally of Christians is comical, the idea that we should "worship" them is downright heretical. Read more at: InformationLiberation.com In 2007, George Soros called for America and Israel to open the door to Hamas Sixteen years ago, one of the world's most well-known villains, George Soros, penned a bizarre op-ed calling on both the United States and Israel to "open the door" to Hamas Soros called out the then-Bush regime for "committing a blunder in the Middle East by supporting the Israeli government in its refusal to recognize a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas," claiming this blunder "precludes any progress towards a peace settlement at a time when such progress could help avert conflagration in the greater Middle East. Recognizing that Hamas was created by Israeli and U.S. intelligence services back in the 1970s for just this purpose, Soros and others intended for Hamas to be the driver in making Israel a more multi-cultural society that does not wall off the Palestinians and other groups from its society. (Related: Check out our earlier report about how Soros, Klaus Schwab, and Bill Gates represent an "unholy trinity" of dystopian evil in the world.) Even within Israel and the U.S., there is division about whether Israel should be multicultural with Palestinians or strictly Jewish Soros' op-ed was published at a time when Fatah and Hamas were engaged in a bloody conflict that had begun in 2006. This led to the infamous Battle of Gaza in 2007 that resulted in a complete Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip and the dissolution of the unity government that had been established by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Putting two and two together, the governments of Israel and the U.S. appear to have established Hamas back in the 1970s for the explicit purpose of radicalizing the Gaza Strip. Now that the operation is complete with Hamas attacking Israel over the weekend in the biggest bloodbath, we are told, since the Holocaust, the melee is functioning as a pretext for Israel to wage full-scale war against its neighbors in what is fast-becoming World War III. Soros is behind some of the funding for groups like Al-Shabaka, which reportedly celebrated the recent Hamas attack. Between 2017 and 2021 alone, Soros funded Al-Shabaka with $550,000. In a statement, Al-Shabaka said that "breaching" the "boundaries" of Israel's borders in this way "expands the Palestinian imaginary for possibilities of both resistance and collective freedom." Historian Victor Davis Hanson says that ever since Hamas was "elected" to run Gaza using a "one election, one time" formula, "it has bragged nonstop that its agenda was to erase Israel off the face of the earth." Toronto Sun editor emeritus Lorrie Goldstein also claims that Hamas "doesn't want peace; it wants Israel," adding that Hamas "never wanted peace with what it calls 'the Zionist entity.'" The founding charter for Hamas, which was officially established in 1988, states that it is futile to even try to negotiate with Israel about becoming multicultural because the Jewish state itself will not allow it. "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it," the charter stipulates. In other words, the explicit goal of Hamas is to eradicate Israel as it currently exists. In his 2007 op-ed, Soros attacked both Israel and the U.S. as they were respectively being run at that time for refusing to do business with the Palestinian government because its coalition included Hamas. "Both Israel and the U.S. seem frozen in their unwillingness to negotiate with a Palestinian Authority that includes Hamas," Soros wrote. "The sticking-point is Hamas's unwillingness to recognize the existence of Israel, but that could be made a condition for an eventual settlement rather than a precondition for negotiations. The latest news about the escalating conflict in the Middle East can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: NewsBusters.org NaturalNews.com 1 NaturalNews.com 2 Student groups call for the targeting of Israeli CIVILIANS in pro-Palestine Day of Resistance protests Now that the stage has been set for full-scale war in the Middle East with the recent provocation of Israel by Hamas, many pro-Palestinian groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) are planning protests against what they say is an Israeli occupation of Palestine. SJP announced a "National Day of Resistance" on Thursday called "Protest for Palestine" that calls for mobilization in support of the Palestinian resistance. In case you missed it, the most far-right of pro-Israel groups and individuals, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, are now calling for the complete eradication of everyone living in the Gaza Strip, which is home to about 2.1 million Palestinians, a few thousand of which are Christians. SJP unveiled a "toolkit" distributed among its members that calls for "dismantling Zionism," a religious system whereby those who identify as Jews believe they should be able to recreate their own nation of Israel atop what is widely considered to be the Holy Land. Because pro-Palestinian groups like SJP believe that these Jewish "settlers" do not even belong there, having been eradicated by God Himself from the land for thousands of years before Israel as a political nation was reestablished in 1948, they are calling for all Israelis, including civilians, to be forced back out of the land. (Related: The Wall Street Journal wants us all to believe that Iran is behind the recent Hamas attack, all so Israel can have justification to wage full-scale regional war against its neighboring enemies.) Whichever "side" you're on, just remember that there are real human beings on both sides who just want to live in peace Just like the pro-Israel crowd is doing by refusing to differentiate between members of the Hamas terrorist group and the rest of the innocent Palestinian people who have no affiliation with it, SJP in its toolkit does not distinguish between an Israeli "settler" living in disputed territories such as the West Bank, and Israelis living in the rest of the land called Israel, which SJP calls a "violent settler state." A poster for the SJP Day of Resistance depicts a paraglider descending on a mass of people, which seems to imply that the group supports the Hamas tactic of dropping in on a parachute and committing violent acts of terrorism. According to the same SJP toolkit, Hamas terrorism is "natural and justified" as a response to Israeli policy. "This action of resistance shatters the illusion of Israel as an impenetrable, indestructible entity," SJP maintains. "Settlers are already fleeing the land, their 'dedication' to the settler colony is easily broken." According to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), SJP is not a "grassroots" student organization like it claims to be. It is "a terror-affiliated anti-Semitic network that currently operates with autonomy and impunity at colleges and universities across the United States," JCPA claims. "Principal backers of SJP include founders, financial patrons and ideological supporters who have been connected to Islamist terror organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)." As is often the case in war, the escalating Israeli-Palestinian one being no exception, the same people fund both sides as part of an ulterior divide-and-conquer tactic. There really is a conflict here, but just remember that those funding the "support Israel" side could also be funding the "resist Israel" side to maximize the conflict for sinister, self-serving reasons at our collective expense. "Remember that God said to pray for the peace of Jerusalem ... no mention of Israel," one of our own commenters wrote. "One day the innocent will be watching as all murderers and liars are cast forever into the lake of fire," wrote another. The latest news about the ever-degrading state of affairs in the Middle East can be found at Prophecy.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com The Rocky Mountains are on winter alert as a powerful coast-to-coast storm sweeps the country, according to a central US weather forecast. Central US Weather Overview A powerful coast-to-coast storm system, following heavy rain and a rare tornado near Vancouver, Washington, is advancing across the central US on Thursday. The severe weather risk now shifts to the Plains as the system moves east. Showers and thunderstorms are expected, some possibly severe, from the central Plains to the Midwest on Thursday and Friday. The SPC has issued a Tornado Watch for parts of northern Kansas and central Nebraska until 7 PM CDT due to the severe weather threat. Supercell Thunderstorms, Rare Tornado The SPC predicts the development of scattered strong to severe thunderstorms in central Nebraska and northern Kansas on Thursday, including supercell thunderstorms with a tornado and large hail potential. On Wednesday, a rare EF-0 tornado briefly touched down in La Center, Washington, causing minimal damage. Washington usually experiences only about three tornadoes annually. The primary severe weather risk on Thursday lies in the central Plains, with the SPC designating it as a level 2 out of 5 on the thunderstorm risk scale. Cities like Omaha and Lincoln in Nebraska are within this threat zone. On Friday, the threat shifts eastward, with parts of the Midwest, including Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and St. Louis, falling under a level 1 out of 5 on the thunderstorm risk scale. Hailstones, Flash Floods Late-day ignition of thunderstorms may yield tornadoes and large hailstones, warned Meteorologist Britta Merwin. Meteorologist Jane Minar highlighted the risk of hail, likening it to ping-pong balls hitting windows. Flash flooding is also a concern as the storm moves east on Thursday and Friday. The central Plains, parts of the Midwest, including southeastern South Dakota, northeastern Nebraska, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa, face the highest flash flood threat. Several inches of rain are expected through the weekend, particularly in the northern Plains and Great Lakes region. Southern South Dakota, Iowa, southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and Chicago may see 3 to 5 inches of rainfall, posing potential hazards. Winter Alerts in the Rocky Mountains There are other effects of the storm besides rain and bad weather. The Rocky Mountains' higher elevations are also experiencing severe snowfall, and many winter weather alerts are in effect. The elevation of Salt Lake City, according to Merwin, is about 4,500 feet; about 5,200 feet is Denver. Moving up the slope, at 7,000 feet, snow will be visible, and the mountain passes in Colorado and Utah are above 7,000 feet. Those are rain locations, according to Merwin, who also said that it is all in the elevation. Also Read: 3C Rise in Temperature From Human-Induced Climate Change Will Make Central US Uninhabitable Powerful Coast-to-Coast Storm The storm moving from the Ohio Valley across the Great Lakes on Saturday will bring rain to the Northeast and New England. Earlier in the week, heavy rain and strong winds threatened to disrupt weekend plans in these regions. Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen initially predicted a complete washout from New England to the mid-Atlantic coast. However, the outlook has improved. While the storm is expected to strengthen as it leaves the Great Lakes, it might not result in a total washout. Heavy rain is likely in parts of Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia area, and into Washington DC. The storm is also tracking a bit farther south and moving faster than initially anticipated. This means that the heaviest rain is likely to be confined to the Jersey Shore and south of Long Island in New York on Sunday. Fortunately, the storm's trajectory is also expected to clear out more quickly. Some rain is possible on Saturday night through Sunday, primarily from the Massachusetts Turnpike southward. Sunday should bring clearing skies and somewhat cooler conditions, offering a better day for the affected regions. Related Article: Typhoon Bolaven Forecast: Violent Typhoon's Rapid Intensity Can Impact US Weather Soon Government officials in North Carolina advise the public against eating raw snails because they may be deadly and carry rat lungworm parasites. Parasitic, Deadly Snails in North Carolina This particular aquatic snail, which is classified as parasitic and lethal, was just discovered in North Carolina. The Wildlife Resources Commission of North Carolina (NCWRC) said on Monday that in September, it discovered several breeding deadly Apple snails near the Lumber River in Lumberton. The state has never before seen concentrations of Apple snails like these. A worried person took pictures of what appeared to be Apple snail eggs, which informed authorities first. A North Carolina Wildlife Commission biologist quickly began gathering samples and sent them to The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, which confirmed receiving them. Raw and Undercooked Dangers These deadly and invasive South American Apple snails can spread severe infections to people and threaten a variety of aquatic plants. Although technically harmless on their own, apple snails can be deadly when infected with parasites like rat lungworm. They only seriously endanger people when they are eaten raw or undercooked, though. Additionally, the poison in their eggs might result in eye and skin rashes. Plant species are particularly at risk from apple snails. They are grazers and quickly eat plants, ruining aquatic animals' food sources and homes. In the United States, apple snails are nothing new. Hawaii, Florida, and Louisiana are just a few of the states with established populations. The public is encouraged to report sightings of Apple snails, drowning or crushing its eggs. Apple Snails and Their Bright Pink Eggs The bright pink eggs that Apple snails lay are the simplest method to recognize them. In her lifetime, a female can produce thousands of eggs. She produces enormous clusters of up to 700 eggs every five to fourteen days, on average. These bright pink eggs are frequently discovered floating on the water's surface or fastened to trees, vegetation, logs, and buildings that are above the water. Apple snail adults grow into large sizes of 2 to 4-inch-wide aquatic snails that are deadly and often parasitic. They can stretch up to 6 inches wide and long. The dark bands on the shells of these golden-brown snails are also an identifiable feature, although they appear in a variety of colors, the majority are golden or yellow-brown. Also Read: New Snail Species Resemble Margarita Drink Color, Found in Florida's home of Citrus Margaritas Carriers of Parasitic Rat Lungworm The aquatic apple snail, the first recorded population of the South American species in the state, was discovered along the Lumber River near Lumberton, according to a report from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission on October 2. The snail has been seen eating amphibian eggs, and its grazing habits can harm the flora that other native species rely on. The snails may also pose health dangers to people since they may be carriers of rat lungworm, which can be lethal if consumed raw or undercooked. Boaters are advised to thoroughly dry all equipment and never move fish, plants, or other organisms from one body of water to another to prevent the spread of species like the apple snail. They are also reminded to clean equipment of aquatic plants, animals, and mud. In addition, draining water from boats, live wells, bait buckets, and other equipment, is also another way to stop the spread of the deadly snails. Related Article: Invasive Apple Snails Lay Thousands of Egg Masses in Man-Made Louisiana Canal Puppies were used by wildlife authorities as live bait to lure and trap wandering black panthers in Malaysia, according to reports in recent days. The move went viral on social media and has since then drawn various criticism from the public and other organizations, including animal rights groups. Amid the backlash, the country's wildlife department reportedly defended its action, with the Malaysian wildlife officials clarifying that no puppies were harmed during the process. In the field of Zoology, bait is a term used to describe food with the sole purpose of attracting animals to capture them. Conventional methods are used both in marine and terrestrial ecosystems; as seen during fishing in freshwater and oceanic habitats, as well as trapping land predators in the wild. However, live animal baits have also been used in the past, with worms, amphibians, and fish being the most common. Black Panther Puppy Bait The issue about Malaysia's black panther puppy bait started in September 2023 when villagers complained to the country's Wildlife and National Parks Department, locally known as Perhilitan, regarding a black panther attacking a dog in the area. As a response, the wildlife department carried out an operation that involved the use of puppies as live bait to capture the big cat in the town of Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. According to local sources, Perhilitan Director-General Abdul Kadir Abu Hassan revealed that no live puppies were harmed during the operation and stress all standard operating procedures were followed. In fact, the Malaysian wildlife government agency initially used live goats serving as baits to capture wild tigers and panthers. However, the said method did not merit any success, Abu Hassan added. Also Read: Puppies Can Understand Human Cues from Very Young Age Live Animal Bait Due to previous failures to capture the predatory wild cats, Perhilitan reportedly resorted to using other live animal baits like puppies, wherein their barks and scents successfully attracted a black panther. It was on September 18 when the wildlife officials reported that the panther frequented the Kuala Pilah's Kampung Ulu Beting area. The operation was made possible after the department used three puppies in a span of more than a week led to the capturing of the big cat, whose presence also reportedly shocked several residents in the area, especially in front of their homes. Despite the success of the black panther puppy bait operation, animal rights organization Persatuan Haiwan Terbiar Malaysia (SAFM) raised concern about the department's use of live puppies as bait. SAFM suggested it would be more "humane" and "ethical" if the wildlife authorities just used raw meat from livestock like chickens, cows, goats, or turkeys. Furthermore, the organization also urged Malaysia's Veterinary Service Department to launch an investigation into the matter, according to local sources. Following the dog bait incident, it is still unclear if such a method was the first time used in the country. Related Article: 30 Dead Dogs Found at Ohio Animal Rescue; Most Puppies Under Poor Health Conditions A 10-year survey has shown that over 3,000 orangutans are illegally killed in Borneo every year, some in retaliation. 3000 Orangutans Less Every Year Illegal killings of Borneo's orangutans persist despite conservation efforts, with new research revealing that direct killings occurred in 30% of surveyed villages in Indonesia's Kalimantan region. This alarming trend continues, even though these acts are taboo and illegal. Interviews with over 400 villagers indicated a grim situation, underscoring a decade-old study estimating 2,000 to 3,000 orangutans killed annually. These critically endangered primates numbers are fewer than 100,000 in the wild, with females giving birth only once every six to eight years. Borneo, divided among Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, where most of the island lies, faces a crisis in orangutan survival. Illegal Killings Out of Fear and Retaliation In 2020 and 2021, staff from a community development organization conducted interviews with villagers, inquiring about orangutan killings. They sought to understand when the most recent killing had occurred. Emily Massingham, a researcher from the University of Queensland, who spearheaded the study, found that the reasons behind direct killings were multifaceted and socially intricate. Surprisingly, their survey indicated ongoing killing, with a significant portion having transpired within the past five years. Massingham was taken aback to discover that 30% of the villages had evidence of such killings in the last five to ten years. Orangutans fall victim to various triggers, such as fear, crop intrusion, or the pet trade, where mothers are killed for capturing and selling their babies. Additionally, they are hunted for their meat and body parts. The encroachment of human settlements due to habitat clearing, particularly for palm oil production, exacerbates the problem, bringing these endangered creatures into closer contact with humans. Effect of Conservation Projects: None The recent study also revealed that the proximity of a village to a conservation project did not influence the likelihood of reported orangutan killings. The researchers aimed to determine whether the presence of nearby projects might deter such killings or impact people's attitudes. Killing orangutans, given their slow reproductive rate and long lifespan, can significantly harm their populations. To assess social norms, villagers were asked to speculate on the actions others might take in hypothetical scenarios. Surprisingly, only 40% of respondents provided a legally sound response, which was to leave the animal undisturbed. A prior study disclosed a $1 billion investment in orangutan protection efforts from 2000 to 2019 in Borneo and the Indonesian island of Sarawak, their sole habitats. Massingham and her team suggested that conservation projects should collaborate with communities to develop strategies addressing the issue of direct killings, which may be overlooked or downplayed. While significant funding supports orangutan conservation, insufficient attention is given to these subsistence-based communities, resulting in a delicate balance. Also Read: Endangered Whooping Cranes Killed in Oklahoma Results in Confiscated Shotguns, $68000 Fines Expected But Sad Results Dr. Anne Russon, an orangutan expert at York University in Toronto, finds the research disturbing yet entirely credible, emphasizing that direct killing remains a significant threat. Prof. Andrew Marshall of the University of Michigan, who has studied Borneo's orangutans for 27 years, was saddened but not surprised by the findings. He explained that studying hunting of legally protected, endangered species is challenging because people often hesitate to report killings out of fear of authorities or negative perceptions from outsiders. Consequently, the paper's results likely underestimate the true extent of the threat to orangutans. Unfortunately, there's little evidence of improved prospects for the species, and without effective conservation interventions, orangutans may face extinction within the lifetimes of people today. Related Article: 4000 Pangolins Died for Scales Worth $1.4M Seized in Thailand, Supposed to be Sold in China Scientists have been puzzled by the origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs), powerful flashes of radio waves that reach Earth from distant galaxies. A new study suggested that some of these bursts may be caused by violent tremors on the surface of neutron stars, the remnants of massive stars that exploded in supernovas. What are fast radio bursts and why are they mysterious? Fast radio bursts are brief but intense pulses of radio waves that last only a few milliseconds. They were first detected in 2007, and since then, hundreds of them have been observed by radio telescopes around the world. Some FRBs repeat while others seem to occur only once. They come from extragalactic sources, meaning they travel across billions of light-years to reach us. The origin and nature of FRBs are still unknown, despite many theories and observations. Some scientists think they are related to solar flares, or eruptions of plasma from the surface of stars. Others think they are linked to magnetars, a type of neutron star with extremely strong magnetic fields. Magnetars can produce powerful bursts of gamma rays and X-rays, as well as radio waves. However, not all FRBs can be explained by magnetars. Some FRBs have different patterns and properties that do not match those of known magnetars. For example, some FRBs have a low dispersion measure, which means they have not traveled through much intergalactic gas or dust. This suggested that they come from relatively nearby sources, within our galaxy or its vicinity. Also Read: Starquakes: Astronomers Detect 'Earthquakes' in Stars For the First Time How could starquakes cause fast radio bursts? A team of researchers from the University of Tokyo has proposed a new explanation for some of these low-dispersion FRBs. They suggested that they are caused by starquakes or sudden shifts on the surface of neutron stars. Starquakes can happen when the crust of a neutron star cracks or slips due to stress from its rotation or magnetic field. This can release a large amount of energy in the form of gravitational waves, heat, and electromagnetic radiation. The researchers compared the energy distribution of repeating FRBs with that of earthquakes on Earth. They found that they have similar patterns, following a power-law distribution. This means that there are many small events and few large ones and that the frequency of events decreases as their size increases. This is also known as the Gutenberg-Richter law in seismology. The researchers also calculated the magnitude of starquakes that could produce FRBs within the observed energy range. They found that they would be comparable to earthquakes with magnitudes between 15 and 18 on the Richter scale. For comparison, the largest earthquake ever recorded on Earth had a magnitude of 9.5. The researchers concluded that starquakes could be a plausible source of some low-dispersion FRBs, especially those that repeat. They also suggested that studying FRBs could help us understand earthquakes better, and vice versa. "By studying another system which we believe also follows the Gutenberg-Richter law, we may learn more about how this law works and where it applies," said co-author Hiroyuki Narihara in a press release. "Additionally if we can find more FRBs associated with starquakes, we may learn more about the internal structure and magnetic fields of neutron stars." Related article: Evidence of 'Starquakes' on Neutron Star The latest weather forecast warned of severe weather conditions in the Midwest, Great Plains and Central US due to a powerful low pressure. Americans with planned travel are advised to monitor the weather this week, especially in the affected areas. Storms over Central KS and NE this afternoon will move eastward, eventually reaching NE Kansas and NW Missouri between 8-10pm. A few strong to severe storms are possible. Lower confidence in severe storms south of Hwy. 36. pic.twitter.com/hZKuhGHuZW NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) October 12, 2023 Due to the weather hazards, the main dangers this week are flooding rainfall, damaging winds, flooded roads and severe thunderstorms. Powerful Low Pressure: Where Is It Expected? According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the large low-pressure system will bring severe weather conditions in the Central US, Midwest, Rockies and Great Plains. The threat of thunderstorm conditions can be most likely in the late week, especially in the evening. Northwest Missouri, Northern Kansas, Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa are at risk of poor weather conditions. The latest forecast warned that the stormy conditions could reach the High Plains to the Atlantic Coast. Dry conditions in the North-Central US can also expect relief from drought. In the Western US, the NWN report showed that a temperature drop could be likely. However, residents should watch out for potential flooding rainfall. The snow could also unfold this late week in the Central High Plains. On Saturday, the rain is expected to spread also in the Northeast. The following areas are at risk of the severe weather outlook: Green Bay Chicago Buffalo Boston New York Washington Raleigh Minneapolis Detroit Pittsburgh Philadelphia New York City In New York City, the latest advisory showed that temperatures could reach lower to mid-60s with below-normal temperatures. A rainy outlook is expected this weekend. In a recent report, Southeastern US and Florida could experience thunderstorms and flooding this weekend. On Friday, portions of the Midwest can expect poor weather conditions. In the late week, the areas at risk are the following: Rapid City Bismarck Fargo Minneapolis Sioux Falls Green Bay Peoria Indianapolis Residents should watch out for slower commutes and other travel dangers. Motorists are advised to monitor the weather for potential flooded areas this weekend. In Chicago, people are warned of potential widespread rainfall on Friday. Localized flooding concerns could unload in the late week. The forecast showed that the highest precipitation could unfold in the North of I-80. Also Read: US Weather Forecast: Thunderstorms, Flooding Likely to Hit Southeast, Southern Alabama, Georgia Weather Safety: How Americans Should Keep Safe The poor weather outlook can cause travel dangers and severe flooding. The challenging weather outlook can put communities in flood-prone areas in the US at risk due to heavy precipitation. Here are essential reminders to keep safe from the weather this weekend and until early next week. Homeowners should closely monitor the weather forecasts for flooded road conditions and damaging winds. It is best to evacuate immediately when the floodwaters become severe. People with travel plans should stay home when the weather causes heavy rains. Homeowners can keep emergency supplies, including medicines, radio, food supplies and rain jackets. Related Article: Florida Weather Forecast: Isolated Tornadoes, Damaging Winds Likely in Late Week For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News. A Columbus man who was found guilty on Aug. 24 of election falsification in Colfax County District Court was sentenced on Wednesday, Oct. 11, to a $10,000 fine. Colfax County District Court Judge Christina M. Marroquin sentenced Larry L. Divis on Wednesday, opting not to sentence him to any prison time. Divis, of Columbus, had pleaded not guilty to the charge of election falsification and went through a two-day jury trial in late August. Divis was found guilty by the jury after 58 minutes of deliberation. According to officials at the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office, two of Divis relatives his son, Jason Divis, and his daughter-in-law, Carina Divis were also accused of election falsification. According to a press release, Carina Divis was sentenced to one year of probation following a one-day bench trial in July, during which she was found guilty. Jason Divis also received a one-year probation sentence after he plead no contest to the charge. This case stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Nebraska State Patrol into three individuals who registered to vote and did vote in Colfax County, Nebraska, while residing in Platte County, Nebraska, during the 2020 General Election, said Suzanne Gage, a spokesperson for the Attorney Generals Office. Larry L. Divis was accused of illegally registering to vote and voting in the Village of Richland in the 2020 general election despite really living in Columbus. He had registered to vote by mail in the May 2020 primary election using a home residence in Columbus. The two prosecutors for the state Nebraska Assistant Attorney Generals Zach Blackman and Mary Marcum told jurors that Divis was angry at the five members of the Richland Village Board. Those board members one of whom testified against Divis had approved in 2018 several changes to village nuisance property ordinances pertaining to piled up junk on local properties and a plan to tear down the historic, but dilapidated Richland Town Hall. State prosecutors presented a case over one and-a-half days of proceedings against Divis, who was charged with one count of election falsification, a Class IV felony, which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison, 12 months of post-release supervision and/or up to a $10,000 fine. Divis declined to comment on the verdict to the Telegram. Originally from Richland, Divis inherited a total of 10 parcels of land in the small village in 1999. Richland is east of Columbus, but located in a different county Colfax. In Richland, Divis owned a home that his now-deceased brother had resided in as well as several mechanic shops. He also owns a home in Columbus, which he said he purchased to house his 30-year girlfriend. Divis defense attorney, Jerod Trouba, told jurors that Divis was not guilty of the charge for the simple reason that Divis did actually live at property he legally owned in the Village of Richmond as of the date he registered to vote in Colfax County, on Oct. 19, 2020. During the trial, several residents and officials from the Village of Richland testified that Divis did not reside in the small village, while also claiming he was disgruntled over the changes to the junk ordinance. Election officials from both Platte and Colfax counties also testified about Divis two voter registrations in 2020. Divis took the stand during the trial, explaining to the jury that the Columbus home he had registered to vote from in the May 2020 primary election was his girlfriends residence and he had his business mail sent there. Divis repeatedly claimed he resided in a living quarters inside a workshop on the property he owned in Richland. By Online Desk Air India, SpiceJet to operate flights to Tel Aviv on Saturday Air India and SpiceJet will operate one flight each to Tel Aviv on Saturday to bring back Indians amid escalating tensions due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to officials. These chartered flights will be operated under Operation Ajay, which the government has launched to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back from Israel. READ FULL STORY HERE Tributes pouring in for journalist killed in Lebanon Tributes are pouring in for Issam Abdallah, a video journalist for the Reuters news agency who was killed on Friday in southern Lebanon, amid escalating violence along the countrys border with Israel, reports BBC. Abdallah, who was working near the Israel-Lebanon border, was killed in a cross fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. Six other journalists including from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera were wounded in the Israeli air strike. "The teams were filming missile fire coming from the direction of Israel when one struck Abdallah as he was sitting on a low stone wall near the rest of the group, Reuters reported citing injured journalist Maher Nazeh. Abdallah's funeral will be held later today in south-east Lebanon. Earlier today, Israel defence forces Spokesperson Richard Hecht said, the Israeli army was "deeply regretful for the incident." Israel, Egypt agree to let US citizens leave Gaza Saturday: US Egypt and Israel have agreed to let US citizens leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on Saturday as Israel carries out strikes against Hamas, a US official said. The two US partners agreed to keep the sole crossing from Gaza to Egypt open from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm (0900-1400 GMT), said a US official accompanying Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a regional tour. The official said that the United States did not yet have confirmation that the agreement was being implemented, "but the intention was to have it open." READ FULL STORY HERE Irans foreign minister calls on Israel to stop attack on Gaza Irans foreign minister on Saturday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, warning that the war might expand to other parts of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that would make Israel suffer a huge earthquake. Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Lebanons Hezbollah group has taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible. READ FULL STORY HERE Gaza death toll rises to 2,215 including 724 children: ministry Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's attack on southern Israel one week ago have killed at least 2,215 people, including 724 children, the Palestinian territory's Hamas-controlled health ministry said Saturday. Some 458 women were among those killed, the ministry said. It added that 8,714 people have also been wounded, after an earlier statement said at least 324 people were killed in the past 24 hours alone. Israel strikes kill at least 324 in Gaza in past 24 hours: ministry According to the health ministry in Gaza, more than 320 Palestinians, including women and children have been killed in the past 24 hours in the Israeli air strikes. The ministry also informed that 1000 others have been wounded in the air strikes. WHO plane with medical supplies for Gaza lands in Egypt In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, World Health Organization chief Tedros Aldhanom Ghebreyesus stated that an aircraft with medical supplies to support the urgent health needs in Gaza has landed in Egypt's Al Arish- close to the Rafah crossing. He added that the supplies are ready to be deployed to Gaza as soon as humanitarian access through the crossing is established. A plane with @WHO medical supplies to support the urgent health needs in Gaza has landed in Al Arish, #Egypt - close to the Rafah crossing. Were ready to deploy the supplies as soon as humanitarian access through the crossing is established. We continue our plea to Israel to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 14, 2023 More than 1,300 buildings destroyed in Gaza: UN More than 1,300 buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, the United Nations said Saturday, after nearly a week of fierce bombardment by Israeli forces. The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said "5,540 housing units" in those buildings were destroyed and nearly 3,750 more homes were so badly damaged they were uninhabitable. Gaza evacuation a war crime, says former Norwegian diplomat Egeland Jan Egeland, former Norwegian diplomat who has previously facilitated talks between the Palestine and Israel, told BBC radio 4 that Israel's evacuation order for Gaza is a forced one, and considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention. He also added that the scale of the crisis in gaza has not yet been fully grasped by the West. "The UK, US and EU have rightfully said we're with Israel in fighting terror," Egeland adds. " I hope they haven't given a green light to smash a million children," reported BBC quoting Egeland. IDF asks civilians to head south before 4 pm local time Israel military told the civilians from northern Gaza to head south by 4 pm local time (6.30 pm IST). In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Israel defence Force spokesman Avichay Adraee asked Gazans to use two specific routes to head south. The statement says people can use the two routes between 10 am and 4 pm local time (6.30 pm IST) without any harm. Civilians from gaza has been advised to move south from Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis, ahead of a potential ground offensive by the Israeli army. Israel strike kills senior Hamas military commander: army A senior military commander of Hamas who headed the Islamist group's aerial operations in Gaza City has been killed in Israeli air strikes, the military said Saturday. Murad Abu Murad was killed over the past day when fighter jets struck an operational centre of Hamas from where the group carried out its "aerial activity", the military said. There was no immediate confirmationfrom Hamas. Israel army recovers bodies of missing people from Gaza in ground raid Reports from media say Israel military recovered bodies of missing israelis during ground raid in Gaza. According to reports by Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, the Israel Defence Forces are bringing back the bodies to Israeli territory. Infantry and armoured units took part in the raid during which a Hamas cell which fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli territory was "taken out", the Jerusalem Post reported. International aid groups warn humanitarian crisis after Israel blocked entry of supplies More than a million people in the northern Gaza Strip have been ordered to evacuate to the south as the latest Israel-Hamas war entered its seventh day Friday and Israel appeared to be preparing a ground offensive. Hamas urged residents to stay put. The orders sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade of the Hamas-ruled area. International aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis after Israel prevented the entry of supplies from Egypt to Gazas 2.3 million people. Operation Ajay continues to bring citizens home In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, India had launched 'Operation Ajay' to facilitate the return of those Indians who wished to come back home. The first flight bringing 212 Indian nationals back from Israel successfully landed at Delhi Airport on Friday among which 21 (including 14 male students and two female students) were from Tamil Nadu. A second flight carrying 235 Indian citizens arrives in New Delhi #OperationAjay continues to bring citizens home. 2nd flight carrying 235 citizens arrives in New Delhi. MoS @RanjanRajkuma11 received the citizens at the airport. pic.twitter.com/W3ItmHgwf3 Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 14, 2023 Reuters journalist dead, AFP reporters among 6 wounded in south Lebanon A Reuters journalist was killed Friday and six others from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera were wounded while working in southern Lebanon, the three news organisations said. A group of journalists from different media outlets was near the village of Alma al-Shaab, close to the border with Israel, when they were caught up in cross-border shelling, one of the two wounded AFP correspondents said. A Lebanese security source had told AFP that initial Israeli shelling followed an infiltration attempt by a Palestinian faction from the Lebanese side of the border. AFP photographer Christina Assi and AFP video journalist Dylan Collins were working in the area. Both were taken to a hospital in Tyre for treatment. Two other Reuters reporters, "Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care," Reuters said, adding it was "urgently seeking more information". Al Jazeera said two of their reporters were among the wounded, blaming "Israeli bombing on their vehicle". They named them as Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhya. Palestinians flee northern Gaza after Israel orders 1 million to evacuate as ground attack looms Thousands of Palestinians fled to southern Gaza in search of refuge Friday after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas in retaliation for the deadliest attack in Israel's history. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youll make it, if youre going to live, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, as she broke into heaving sobs. The mass exodus comes after Israels military told over 1.1 million people to evacuate towards the southern part of the besieged territory, ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Many Palestinians in Gaza still struggled with indecision, not knowing whether to leave or stay. However, the Palestinian militant group Hamas urged residents to "remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the order would have "devastating humanitarian consequences." Nearly 1,800 Gazans again most of them civilians and including over 580 children have been killed in waves of missile strikes on the densely populated enclave, the health ministry said. At least 423,000 people nearly one in five Gazans have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the UN said on Thursday. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. The current conflict has already claimed thousands of lives on both sides. The immediate trigger was Hamas firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters --- through land, air and sea --- into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip during a major Jewish holiday (Simchat Torah) on October 7 in a deadly, surprise offensive branded "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood". Israel has been responding to Saturday's attack with a massive bombardment of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush and destroy Hamas. The conflict is expected to continue to escalate. Follow for latest developments Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Air India, SpiceJet to operate flights to Tel Aviv on Saturday Air India and SpiceJet will operate one flight each to Tel Aviv on Saturday to bring back Indians amid escalating tensions due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to officials. These chartered flights will be operated under Operation Ajay, which the government has launched to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back from Israel.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); READ FULL STORY HERE Tributes pouring in for journalist killed in Lebanon Tributes are pouring in for Issam Abdallah, a video journalist for the Reuters news agency who was killed on Friday in southern Lebanon, amid escalating violence along the countrys border with Israel, reports BBC. Abdallah, who was working near the Israel-Lebanon border, was killed in a cross fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. Six other journalists including from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera were wounded in the Israeli air strike. "The teams were filming missile fire coming from the direction of Israel when one struck Abdallah as he was sitting on a low stone wall near the rest of the group, Reuters reported citing injured journalist Maher Nazeh. Abdallah's funeral will be held later today in south-east Lebanon. Earlier today, Israel defence forces Spokesperson Richard Hecht said, the Israeli army was "deeply regretful for the incident." Israel, Egypt agree to let US citizens leave Gaza Saturday: US Egypt and Israel have agreed to let US citizens leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on Saturday as Israel carries out strikes against Hamas, a US official said. The two US partners agreed to keep the sole crossing from Gaza to Egypt open from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm (0900-1400 GMT), said a US official accompanying Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a regional tour. The official said that the United States did not yet have confirmation that the agreement was being implemented, "but the intention was to have it open." READ FULL STORY HERE Irans foreign minister calls on Israel to stop attack on Gaza Irans foreign minister on Saturday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, warning that the war might expand to other parts of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that would make Israel suffer a huge earthquake. Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Lebanons Hezbollah group has taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible. READ FULL STORY HERE Gaza death toll rises to 2,215 including 724 children: ministry Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's attack on southern Israel one week ago have killed at least 2,215 people, including 724 children, the Palestinian territory's Hamas-controlled health ministry said Saturday. Some 458 women were among those killed, the ministry said. It added that 8,714 people have also been wounded, after an earlier statement said at least 324 people were killed in the past 24 hours alone. Israel strikes kill at least 324 in Gaza in past 24 hours: ministry According to the health ministry in Gaza, more than 320 Palestinians, including women and children have been killed in the past 24 hours in the Israeli air strikes. The ministry also informed that 1000 others have been wounded in the air strikes. WHO plane with medical supplies for Gaza lands in Egypt In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, World Health Organization chief Tedros Aldhanom Ghebreyesus stated that an aircraft with medical supplies to support the urgent health needs in Gaza has landed in Egypt's Al Arish- close to the Rafah crossing. He added that the supplies are ready to be deployed to Gaza as soon as humanitarian access through the crossing is established. A plane with @WHO medical supplies to support the urgent health needs in Gaza has landed in Al Arish, #Egypt - close to the Rafah crossing. Were ready to deploy the supplies as soon as humanitarian access through the crossing is established. We continue our plea to Israel to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 14, 2023 More than 1,300 buildings destroyed in Gaza: UN More than 1,300 buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, the United Nations said Saturday, after nearly a week of fierce bombardment by Israeli forces. The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said "5,540 housing units" in those buildings were destroyed and nearly 3,750 more homes were so badly damaged they were uninhabitable. Gaza evacuation a war crime, says former Norwegian diplomat Egeland Jan Egeland, former Norwegian diplomat who has previously facilitated talks between the Palestine and Israel, told BBC radio 4 that Israel's evacuation order for Gaza is a forced one, and considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention. He also added that the scale of the crisis in gaza has not yet been fully grasped by the West. "The UK, US and EU have rightfully said we're with Israel in fighting terror," Egeland adds. " I hope they haven't given a green light to smash a million children," reported BBC quoting Egeland. IDF asks civilians to head south before 4 pm local time Israel military told the civilians from northern Gaza to head south by 4 pm local time (6.30 pm IST). In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Israel defence Force spokesman Avichay Adraee asked Gazans to use two specific routes to head south. The statement says people can use the two routes between 10 am and 4 pm local time (6.30 pm IST) without any harm. Civilians from gaza has been advised to move south from Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis, ahead of a potential ground offensive by the Israeli army. Israel strike kills senior Hamas military commander: army A senior military commander of Hamas who headed the Islamist group's aerial operations in Gaza City has been killed in Israeli air strikes, the military said Saturday. Murad Abu Murad was killed over the past day when fighter jets struck an operational centre of Hamas from where the group carried out its "aerial activity", the military said. There was no immediate confirmationfrom Hamas. Israel army recovers bodies of missing people from Gaza in ground raid Reports from media say Israel military recovered bodies of missing israelis during ground raid in Gaza. According to reports by Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, the Israel Defence Forces are bringing back the bodies to Israeli territory. Infantry and armoured units took part in the raid during which a Hamas cell which fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli territory was "taken out", the Jerusalem Post reported. International aid groups warn humanitarian crisis after Israel blocked entry of supplies More than a million people in the northern Gaza Strip have been ordered to evacuate to the south as the latest Israel-Hamas war entered its seventh day Friday and Israel appeared to be preparing a ground offensive. Hamas urged residents to stay put. The orders sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade of the Hamas-ruled area. International aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis after Israel prevented the entry of supplies from Egypt to Gazas 2.3 million people. Operation Ajay continues to bring citizens home In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, India had launched 'Operation Ajay' to facilitate the return of those Indians who wished to come back home. The first flight bringing 212 Indian nationals back from Israel successfully landed at Delhi Airport on Friday among which 21 (including 14 male students and two female students) were from Tamil Nadu. A second flight carrying 235 Indian citizens arrives in New Delhi #OperationAjay continues to bring citizens home. 2nd flight carrying 235 citizens arrives in New Delhi. MoS @RanjanRajkuma11 received the citizens at the airport. pic.twitter.com/W3ItmHgwf3 Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 14, 2023 Reuters journalist dead, AFP reporters among 6 wounded in south Lebanon A Reuters journalist was killed Friday and six others from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera were wounded while working in southern Lebanon, the three news organisations said. A group of journalists from different media outlets was near the village of Alma al-Shaab, close to the border with Israel, when they were caught up in cross-border shelling, one of the two wounded AFP correspondents said. A Lebanese security source had told AFP that initial Israeli shelling followed an infiltration attempt by a Palestinian faction from the Lebanese side of the border. AFP photographer Christina Assi and AFP video journalist Dylan Collins were working in the area. Both were taken to a hospital in Tyre for treatment. Two other Reuters reporters, "Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care," Reuters said, adding it was "urgently seeking more information". Al Jazeera said two of their reporters were among the wounded, blaming "Israeli bombing on their vehicle". They named them as Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhya. Palestinians flee northern Gaza after Israel orders 1 million to evacuate as ground attack looms Thousands of Palestinians fled to southern Gaza in search of refuge Friday after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas in retaliation for the deadliest attack in Israel's history. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youll make it, if youre going to live, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, as she broke into heaving sobs. The mass exodus comes after Israels military told over 1.1 million people to evacuate towards the southern part of the besieged territory, ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Many Palestinians in Gaza still struggled with indecision, not knowing whether to leave or stay. However, the Palestinian militant group Hamas urged residents to "remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the order would have "devastating humanitarian consequences." Nearly 1,800 Gazans again most of them civilians and including over 580 children have been killed in waves of missile strikes on the densely populated enclave, the health ministry said. At least 423,000 people nearly one in five Gazans have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the UN said on Thursday. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. The current conflict has already claimed thousands of lives on both sides. The immediate trigger was Hamas firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters --- through land, air and sea --- into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip during a major Jewish holiday (Simchat Torah) on October 7 in a deadly, surprise offensive branded "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood". Israel has been responding to Saturday's attack with a massive bombardment of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush and destroy Hamas. The conflict is expected to continue to escalate. Follow for latest developments Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Pronab Mondal By Express News Service KOLKATA: As West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday virtually inaugurated six prominent Durga Pujas in and around Kolkata, according to sources, state BJP leaders have requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to visit the state capital to inaugurate a puja. We requested the Union Home Minister to come and inaugurate Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja which is organised by Sajal Ghosh, who defected from the TMC to our party. The office of the Home minister gave us a green signal, said a senior BJP leader. This year, Mamata, for the first time, inaugurated Bengals biggest religious festival virtually from her Kalighat residence owing to knee injuries. I cannot go to you physically but mentally, I am there. Doctors prescribed me rest because of injuries to my knee. I need to follow the advice. I will meet all of you at the Durga Puja carnival on October 27. I convey my wishes to the people of Bengal on the occasion of Durga Puja, said Mamata while inaugurating pujas from her residence. The state government has announced a Durga Puja bonanza offering a grant of Rs 70,000, against last years grant of Rs 60,000, for each of Rs 40,000 odd puja committees across the state, which is going to cost Rs 280 crore. Mamata introduced a financial grant for Durga Puja organisers in 2018 with Rs 10,000 for each puja committee. Bengal had witnessed communal polarisation and pivoting the electoral fight on religious issues before the high-octane 2021 Assembly elections. BJP had carried out an aggressive campaign with Prime Narendra Narendra Modi, Shah and other heavyweights of the party holding rallies in the state and accusing the Mamatas government of not allowing Hindu religious festivals like Durga Puja and Kali Puja in Bengal. Modi had also inaugurated a Durga Puja in Kolkata in October 2020, virtually. What better time to blow the outreach bugle than the Durga Puja before the next years Lok Sabha polls? The TMC-led government is trying to use the religious event to secure its electoral dividend by offering more doles. We should not also miss the opportunity to reach out to the Hindu masses and consolidate them in our favour. Inviting Shah to inaugurate a puja is part of our plan, said another senior BJP leader. Invitation to pandal by TMC defector Senior West Bengal BJP leaders have requested the Union Home Minister to come and inaugurate Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja which is organised by Sajal Ghosh. Sajal Ghosh defected from the TMC to our party. The office of the Home minister gave us a green signal, said a senior BJP leader Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp KOLKATA: As West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday virtually inaugurated six prominent Durga Pujas in and around Kolkata, according to sources, state BJP leaders have requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to visit the state capital to inaugurate a puja. We requested the Union Home Minister to come and inaugurate Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja which is organised by Sajal Ghosh, who defected from the TMC to our party. The office of the Home minister gave us a green signal, said a senior BJP leader. This year, Mamata, for the first time, inaugurated Bengals biggest religious festival virtually from her Kalighat residence owing to knee injuries. I cannot go to you physically but mentally, I am there. Doctors prescribed me rest because of injuries to my knee. I need to follow the advice. I will meet all of you at the Durga Puja carnival on October 27. I convey my wishes to the people of Bengal on the occasion of Durga Puja, said Mamata while inaugurating pujas from her residence.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The state government has announced a Durga Puja bonanza offering a grant of Rs 70,000, against last years grant of Rs 60,000, for each of Rs 40,000 odd puja committees across the state, which is going to cost Rs 280 crore. Mamata introduced a financial grant for Durga Puja organisers in 2018 with Rs 10,000 for each puja committee. Bengal had witnessed communal polarisation and pivoting the electoral fight on religious issues before the high-octane 2021 Assembly elections. BJP had carried out an aggressive campaign with Prime Narendra Narendra Modi, Shah and other heavyweights of the party holding rallies in the state and accusing the Mamatas government of not allowing Hindu religious festivals like Durga Puja and Kali Puja in Bengal. Modi had also inaugurated a Durga Puja in Kolkata in October 2020, virtually. What better time to blow the outreach bugle than the Durga Puja before the next years Lok Sabha polls? The TMC-led government is trying to use the religious event to secure its electoral dividend by offering more doles. We should not also miss the opportunity to reach out to the Hindu masses and consolidate them in our favour. Inviting Shah to inaugurate a puja is part of our plan, said another senior BJP leader. Invitation to pandal by TMC defector Senior West Bengal BJP leaders have requested the Union Home Minister to come and inaugurate Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja which is organised by Sajal Ghosh. Sajal Ghosh defected from the TMC to our party. The office of the Home minister gave us a green signal, said a senior BJP leader Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Yeshi Seli By Express News Service NEW DELHI: India remains firm in its stance that Canada must maintain diplomatic parity, and its insisting on downsizing the number of Canadian diplomats in India. We are committed to ensuring parity in our diplomatic service as we have stated. We are in ongoing discussions with the Canadian authorities, said Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) during a press conference on Thursday. This indicates that no Canadian diplomat has left India yet. There were speculations that 41 Canadian diplomats were being relocated to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, but that turned out to be untrue. Canada is currently engaged in talks with India, aiming to find a solution that allows its diplomats to continue their presence in India. Canada has described its diplomatic engagement with India as private. Canadas Foreign Affairs Minister, Melanie Joly, made a statement in Ottawa, saying, Diplomacy is always more effective when conversations are kept private. In terms of upholding international conventions, we urge Canada to take their international obligations regarding the security of our diplomats and their premises more seriously, stated the MEA. India has not provided a specific timeline for when the Canadian diplomats should leave, so the MEA refrained from making any comments on this matter. Moreover, Indias External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar, had a meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Melanie Joly, in New York during the UNGA meeting. The EAM regularly meets individuals at various forums, so we cannot provide details on recent meetings, added Bagchi. This confirms reports that the two ministers did meet in New York. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been consistently raising the issue of the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in conversations with other world leaders, including British Prime Minister and the President of Jordan. We are unsure how these discussions with other leaders help address the core issue. The core issue revolves around the support Canada provides to terrorists and criminals, Bagchi said. Canada skips P20 Speakers meet in Delhi Raymonde Gagne, the Speaker of the Canadian Senate, has chosen not to attend the Presiding Officers Summit involving the Parliaments of G20 nations. Initially, Gagne had confirmed her attendance at the Parliament-20 (P20) meeting, which was presided over by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. However, parliamentary sources have attributed her absence to unpredictable scheduling changes. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had expressed his intention to address several issues during his informal discussions with the Canadian Senate Speaker. When questioned about her absence from the P20 Summit, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, stated, We invite all members for G20 events, in this case, P20. Participation is their decision. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: India remains firm in its stance that Canada must maintain diplomatic parity, and its insisting on downsizing the number of Canadian diplomats in India. We are committed to ensuring parity in our diplomatic service as we have stated. We are in ongoing discussions with the Canadian authorities, said Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) during a press conference on Thursday. This indicates that no Canadian diplomat has left India yet. There were speculations that 41 Canadian diplomats were being relocated to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, but that turned out to be untrue. Canada is currently engaged in talks with India, aiming to find a solution that allows its diplomats to continue their presence in India. Canada has described its diplomatic engagement with India as private. Canadas Foreign Affairs Minister, Melanie Joly, made a statement in Ottawa, saying, Diplomacy is always more effective when conversations are kept private. In terms of upholding international conventions, we urge Canada to take their international obligations regarding the security of our diplomats and their premises more seriously, stated the MEA. India has not provided a specific timeline for when the Canadian diplomats should leave, so the MEA refrained from making any comments on this matter.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Moreover, Indias External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar, had a meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Melanie Joly, in New York during the UNGA meeting. The EAM regularly meets individuals at various forums, so we cannot provide details on recent meetings, added Bagchi. This confirms reports that the two ministers did meet in New York. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been consistently raising the issue of the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in conversations with other world leaders, including British Prime Minister and the President of Jordan. We are unsure how these discussions with other leaders help address the core issue. The core issue revolves around the support Canada provides to terrorists and criminals, Bagchi said. Canada skips P20 Speakers meet in Delhi Raymonde Gagne, the Speaker of the Canadian Senate, has chosen not to attend the Presiding Officers Summit involving the Parliaments of G20 nations. Initially, Gagne had confirmed her attendance at the Parliament-20 (P20) meeting, which was presided over by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. However, parliamentary sources have attributed her absence to unpredictable scheduling changes. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had expressed his intention to address several issues during his informal discussions with the Canadian Senate Speaker. When questioned about her absence from the P20 Summit, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, stated, We invite all members for G20 events, in this case, P20. Participation is their decision. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NEW DELHI: The CBI has arrested from Pune a 22-year-old man suspected to be the mastermind behind the case of two missing Manipuri students who were believed to have been killed, officials said Friday. The CBI which had started an extensive operation to nab the culprits using informers and technical surveillance had come to know about the alleged involvement of Paolunmang who is believed to be the mastermind behind the incident that set into motion a fresh round of protests in the state. The special investigation team which was on the lookout for him came to know about his location at Pune in Maharashtra from where he was taken into custody. The team immediately flew him to Guwahati to be produced before a designated court which sent him to the CBI custody till October 16 where he will be questioned on the entire incident. The CBI is also looking for mortal remains of the two students to confirm if they have been actually killed after they went missing, they said. Phijam Hemanjit (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi, a girl aged 17 years, had gone missing on July 6. Photos purportedly showing their bodies surfaced on September 25, leading to violent protests, mainly by students. "The government will support the CBI in its investigation and all those involved in the killing of the two youths will be arrested," Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said. The CBI had arrested two men, Paominlun Haokip and Smalsawm Haokip, and two women, Lhingneichong Baitekuki and Tinneilhing Henthang, on October 1. Based on the complaints of the victims' parents, the two cases related to the missing students were earlier registered with the Imphal Police and Lamphel Police on July 8 and July 19, respectively. ALSO READ | Manipur govt calls for restraint after photos showing bodies of two missing students surface The CBI had taken over investigation into these two cases on August 23. After the photos went viral on September 25, CBI Director Praveen Sood dispatched a special team, led by the agency's Special Director Ajay Bhatnagar, which reached Manipur on September 27 to monitor and help the probe. More than 180 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured in ethnic clashes that broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute a little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The CBI has arrested from Pune a 22-year-old man suspected to be the mastermind behind the case of two missing Manipuri students who were believed to have been killed, officials said Friday. The CBI which had started an extensive operation to nab the culprits using informers and technical surveillance had come to know about the alleged involvement of Paolunmang who is believed to be the mastermind behind the incident that set into motion a fresh round of protests in the state. The special investigation team which was on the lookout for him came to know about his location at Pune in Maharashtra from where he was taken into custody.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The team immediately flew him to Guwahati to be produced before a designated court which sent him to the CBI custody till October 16 where he will be questioned on the entire incident. The CBI is also looking for mortal remains of the two students to confirm if they have been actually killed after they went missing, they said. Phijam Hemanjit (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi, a girl aged 17 years, had gone missing on July 6. Photos purportedly showing their bodies surfaced on September 25, leading to violent protests, mainly by students. "The government will support the CBI in its investigation and all those involved in the killing of the two youths will be arrested," Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said. The CBI had arrested two men, Paominlun Haokip and Smalsawm Haokip, and two women, Lhingneichong Baitekuki and Tinneilhing Henthang, on October 1. Based on the complaints of the victims' parents, the two cases related to the missing students were earlier registered with the Imphal Police and Lamphel Police on July 8 and July 19, respectively. ALSO READ | Manipur govt calls for restraint after photos showing bodies of two missing students surface The CBI had taken over investigation into these two cases on August 23. After the photos went viral on September 25, CBI Director Praveen Sood dispatched a special team, led by the agency's Special Director Ajay Bhatnagar, which reached Manipur on September 27 to monitor and help the probe. More than 180 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured in ethnic clashes that broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute a little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: An umbrella body of mosques in India, All India Rabta-e-Masjid, has proposed to name the mosque to be built in Dhannipur village of Ayodhya district as Mohammed Bin Abdullah Masjid, after the Prophet. The decision was taken in the presence of around 1,000 clerics of various Muslim sects in Mumbai on Thursday, who gathered to finalise the design of the proposed mosque. As per the sources, the mosque will be built by Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust (IICFT) on land allotted to UP Sunni Central Waqf Board in Dhannipur village, 22-km away from Ram Janmabhoomi premises, in compliance with the Supreme Court order delivered in connection with the vexed issue of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid on November 9, 2019. The apex court's verdict settled the decades-long litigation paving the way for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Earlier, the design of the proposed mosque was contemporary and simple like other mosques usually built in India but later it was decided to build the mosque on the pattern of grand mosques of the Middle East and Arab countries with high minarets and big domes. The Dhannipur mosque will be named after Prophet Mohammed-Bin-Abdullah, and its design will be inspired by ancient Islamic architecture. Pune architect Imran Sheikh will oversee its construction, said Zufar Farooqui, chairman of the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board who attended the meeting in Mumbai. Farooqui added that the dimensions of the mosque would soon be shared, and hopefully, it would turn out to be one of the most beautiful mosques in the world. The best thing about the new design is its traditional looks, said the chairman. The mosque will be bigger in size than what was proposed in the previous design and it will be able to accommodate more than 5,000 Namazis at a time. We had prepared the blueprint to collect more than Rs 300 crore for the construction of the mosque. It is hoped that the drive to collect funds will be successful. We will start construction of the mosque as soon as funds are collected, he said. He also said that a 300-bed charitable cancer hospital would be established by Dr Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman, of Wockhardt Group, the pharma giant. The design of the proposed hospital, prepared by Professor SM Akhtar of Jamia Millia Islamia University, would remain the same and the museum, research centre and library would be dedicated to the freedom fighter of the 1857 revolt Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah Faizabadi, said Farooqui. Meanwhile, the maps of the proposed mosque and hospital are still with the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) as the IICFT has to pay Rs one crore as development charges to get the map released from the ADA. However, the UP government has given all necessary NOCs regarding the construction of the mosque and hospital. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp LUCKNOW: An umbrella body of mosques in India, All India Rabta-e-Masjid, has proposed to name the mosque to be built in Dhannipur village of Ayodhya district as Mohammed Bin Abdullah Masjid, after the Prophet. The decision was taken in the presence of around 1,000 clerics of various Muslim sects in Mumbai on Thursday, who gathered to finalise the design of the proposed mosque. As per the sources, the mosque will be built by Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust (IICFT) on land allotted to UP Sunni Central Waqf Board in Dhannipur village, 22-km away from Ram Janmabhoomi premises, in compliance with the Supreme Court order delivered in connection with the vexed issue of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid on November 9, 2019.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The apex court's verdict settled the decades-long litigation paving the way for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Earlier, the design of the proposed mosque was contemporary and simple like other mosques usually built in India but later it was decided to build the mosque on the pattern of grand mosques of the Middle East and Arab countries with high minarets and big domes. The Dhannipur mosque will be named after Prophet Mohammed-Bin-Abdullah, and its design will be inspired by ancient Islamic architecture. Pune architect Imran Sheikh will oversee its construction, said Zufar Farooqui, chairman of the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board who attended the meeting in Mumbai. Farooqui added that the dimensions of the mosque would soon be shared, and hopefully, it would turn out to be one of the most beautiful mosques in the world. The best thing about the new design is its traditional looks, said the chairman. The mosque will be bigger in size than what was proposed in the previous design and it will be able to accommodate more than 5,000 Namazis at a time. We had prepared the blueprint to collect more than Rs 300 crore for the construction of the mosque. It is hoped that the drive to collect funds will be successful. We will start construction of the mosque as soon as funds are collected, he said. He also said that a 300-bed charitable cancer hospital would be established by Dr Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman, of Wockhardt Group, the pharma giant. The design of the proposed hospital, prepared by Professor SM Akhtar of Jamia Millia Islamia University, would remain the same and the museum, research centre and library would be dedicated to the freedom fighter of the 1857 revolt Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah Faizabadi, said Farooqui. Meanwhile, the maps of the proposed mosque and hospital are still with the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) as the IICFT has to pay Rs one crore as development charges to get the map released from the ADA. However, the UP government has given all necessary NOCs regarding the construction of the mosque and hospital. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Jaison Wilson By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on pleas challenging the remission granted last year to all the 11 convicts in the gang-rape case of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 post-Godhra Gujarat riots, while asking the Centre and Gujarat government to place the original records on the remission. A group of pleas against the relief of convicts, which were earlier listed for a final hearing, appeared before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan. After hearing submissions by Bilkis Banos counsel and lawyers for the Centre, the Gujarat government and the PIL petitioner, the bench reserved the matter. Apart from the petition filed by Bilkis Bano contesting the remission granted to them by the Gujarat government, several other PILs including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma have challenged the relief. TMC MP Mahua Moitra also filed a PIL against the remission granted to the convicts and their premature release. Eleven people who were convicted and had been serving jail terms, were prematurely released on August 15, 2022, following a decision by the Gujarat government. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that it was only considering the correctness of the Gujarat governments decision to release the convicts early. Last month, the SC observed whether the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case had the privilege of being released on parole for several days and several times while considering the batch of pleas challenging their early release. Also in top court SC extends Nawab Maliks bail by 3 months The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the interim bail of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik by three months on medical grounds in a money laundering case.Before a bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Dipankar Dutta, Maliks counsel submitted that his client is still suffering from the chronic medical renal disease and his condition has not improved. On August 11, the SC granted him two months medical interim bail which expired this week. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on pleas challenging the remission granted last year to all the 11 convicts in the gang-rape case of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 post-Godhra Gujarat riots, while asking the Centre and Gujarat government to place the original records on the remission. A group of pleas against the relief of convicts, which were earlier listed for a final hearing, appeared before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan. After hearing submissions by Bilkis Banos counsel and lawyers for the Centre, the Gujarat government and the PIL petitioner, the bench reserved the matter. Apart from the petition filed by Bilkis Bano contesting the remission granted to them by the Gujarat government, several other PILs including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma have challenged the relief.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); TMC MP Mahua Moitra also filed a PIL against the remission granted to the convicts and their premature release. Eleven people who were convicted and had been serving jail terms, were prematurely released on August 15, 2022, following a decision by the Gujarat government. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that it was only considering the correctness of the Gujarat governments decision to release the convicts early. Last month, the SC observed whether the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case had the privilege of being released on parole for several days and several times while considering the batch of pleas challenging their early release. Also in top court SC extends Nawab Maliks bail by 3 months The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the interim bail of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik by three months on medical grounds in a money laundering case.Before a bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Dipankar Dutta, Maliks counsel submitted that his client is still suffering from the chronic medical renal disease and his condition has not improved. On August 11, the SC granted him two months medical interim bail which expired this week. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Dilip Singh Kshatriya By Express News Service AHMEDABAD: Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) buses, a public transport fleet, were used to ferry people to events attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel over a three-year period. However, data shows the government has failed to pay the GSRTCs rent of Rs 22.16 crore for that period. Besides, the number of buses used in government programmes is growing: it increased from 122 in 2020-21 to 31,211 in 2022-23. In response to a question raised by Jignesh Mevani, a Congress MLA from Vadgam, in the Gujarat Assembly on September 14, the transport department stated that a total of 34,868 buses were allocated for the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers events in the last three years, with 122 buses allocated in 2020-21 and 3,535 allocated in 2021-22. In 2022-23, 31,211 state transport buses were allocated. The state government informed the Assembly that in the year 2020-21, Rs 14.27 lakh were paid as rent for the buses, while in the year 2021-22, Rs 8.21 crore were paid as rent, but Rs 74.43 lakh remained unpaid as rent. In 2022-23, the government paid Rs 86.crore as rent for using the buses while Rs 21.41 crore remained unpaid. While responding in the Assembly to the question on overdue fares of the buses, the transport department said that proceedings for the recovery of dues are in progress with the departments concerned. More details emerged in a query posed by Gujarat Congress MLA Kanti Kharadi. He asked the transport department as to how many buses were rented to carry people to state government programmes over the last three years and how much rent was outstanding. In response, the transport department stated that 21,964 ST buses were assigned for government programmes in 2020-21, 6,898 in 2021-22, and 38,868 buses in 2022-23. The government said that in the year 2020-21, about Rs 26 crore were paid as ST bus fare and nearly 53 lakh remained unpaid in the year 2021-22. In 2022-23, nearly Rs 39 crore are yet to be paid. Kharadi told this newspaper that the government wasted peoples money on political programmes without paying the rent, which is cheating with people. State transport buses are meant for transporting rural people, not to gather crowds for government events. The rural transport is hit when the government hires ST buses on a big scale, said Kharadi. GSRTC operates within the state of Gujarat, India and neighboring states. It has a fleet of 8,703 buses. The accumulated losses of State PSUs in Gujarat stood at Rs 30,400 crore. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp AHMEDABAD: Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) buses, a public transport fleet, were used to ferry people to events attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel over a three-year period. However, data shows the government has failed to pay the GSRTCs rent of Rs 22.16 crore for that period. Besides, the number of buses used in government programmes is growing: it increased from 122 in 2020-21 to 31,211 in 2022-23. In response to a question raised by Jignesh Mevani, a Congress MLA from Vadgam, in the Gujarat Assembly on September 14, the transport department stated that a total of 34,868 buses were allocated for the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers events in the last three years, with 122 buses allocated in 2020-21 and 3,535 allocated in 2021-22. In 2022-23, 31,211 state transport buses were allocated.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The state government informed the Assembly that in the year 2020-21, Rs 14.27 lakh were paid as rent for the buses, while in the year 2021-22, Rs 8.21 crore were paid as rent, but Rs 74.43 lakh remained unpaid as rent. In 2022-23, the government paid Rs 86.crore as rent for using the buses while Rs 21.41 crore remained unpaid. While responding in the Assembly to the question on overdue fares of the buses, the transport department said that proceedings for the recovery of dues are in progress with the departments concerned. More details emerged in a query posed by Gujarat Congress MLA Kanti Kharadi. He asked the transport department as to how many buses were rented to carry people to state government programmes over the last three years and how much rent was outstanding. In response, the transport department stated that 21,964 ST buses were assigned for government programmes in 2020-21, 6,898 in 2021-22, and 38,868 buses in 2022-23. The government said that in the year 2020-21, about Rs 26 crore were paid as ST bus fare and nearly 53 lakh remained unpaid in the year 2021-22. In 2022-23, nearly Rs 39 crore are yet to be paid. Kharadi told this newspaper that the government wasted peoples money on political programmes without paying the rent, which is cheating with people. State transport buses are meant for transporting rural people, not to gather crowds for government events. The rural transport is hit when the government hires ST buses on a big scale, said Kharadi. GSRTC operates within the state of Gujarat, India and neighboring states. It has a fleet of 8,703 buses. The accumulated losses of State PSUs in Gujarat stood at Rs 30,400 crore. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp After a month of extended deliberation, a pivotal piece of the 30/64 connector project was voted into place on Oct. 10. An interlocal agreement, pledging support on the part of Platte County with Polk, Butler and Colfax counties and the City of Columbus, was approved 4-3. September's meeting ended with the Platte County Board of Supervisors tabling the vote for October, based on the short notice with which they were asked to vote. District 7 Representative Gene Trouba was the first person to suggest this notion at the September meeting because he wanted more time for him and the county attorney to read over the agreement. "The board had a weekend to look it over" Trouba said. "I asked the county attorney if she had looked at it; she had not. I'm not an attorney and I would rather have her look at it before we take a vote on it. I thought the prudent thing to do would be have a legal review." Trouba, District 1's John Harms, District 3's Kim Kwapnioski and District 6's Jerry Engdahl voted yes on the agreement. Trouba said that his main area of concern where the connector came into play was large traffic along Highway 81 as it intersects with Highway 30. Trouba had been looking at the connector concept before he ran for the board and wanted to investigate it further if elected. "When I was contemplating running for county supervisor, there were a few things I had on my agenda to look at," Trouba said. "This 30/64 connector was one of those items I wanted to look at, see why it hadn't gone through, what was taking so long in the process of putting it together and my concern was the traffic going through town." District 4 Representative Ron Pfeifer, one of the three nay votes, said that there was a reason the project had never gone further than discussion and some studies: it was cost-prohibitive. "We had a committee formed a couple of years ago, a couple people from the city, from roads and bridges, from the county, elected officials from Colfax, Butler and Polk," Pfeifer said. "We had a meeting and had a study done by Iteris. This study, in conclusion, determined there wouldn't be enough traffic to justify the cost of building this road and bridge." Pfeifer went on to say that the project carries a $56 million price tag, which he thinks is only going to go up as time goes on, due to the nature of the economy and the fact that the project will likely take 10 to 15 years to reach its final form. The 3,000-foot bridge that will span the Platte River in particular will end up being more costly, Pfeifer said. Another concern Pfeifer had was the estimated cost to the parties involved. Those living in Columbus would be paying both for Columbus and Platte County's parts of the project, 33.34% of the final cost each. If the cost does go up, Pfeifer said, Columbus taxpayers will end up paying even more, which he is against. He and District 2 Representative Jerry Micek have voiced similar concerns about funding over the past few meetings. "The length of this bridge is 3/4 of a mile. There's no way they can build a 3/4 mile bridge for $50 million, and that's the bridge with the paving of the roads included in that," Pfeifer said. "There's no way they can build that whole road in $56 million, or in 12 to 15 years when it's $150 million." Dennis Hirschbrunner of D & D Consulting, the firm that was brought in for several analyses on the project, said that the county and D & D will work with Northeast Nebraska Economic Development to get grants from the federal government, but in order to even start applying for those they had to approve the agreement. "That's the next step that needs to be done," Hirschbrunner said. "If we're fortunate enough to secure a grant or grants to cover the cost of the study, that will come back to all five entities and they'll have the opportunity to vote again to hopefully accept the grant." Hirschbrunner said that if things do head that direction, they are also hoping for some help from congressional delegation to accomplish this goal, as congressional staff will be knowledgeable on what kind of federal grants might be available. Pfeifer said that while they may be available, he's not convinced they will be able to completely or even significantly cover the costs of the project. "Even if we get grants, the way they work if the federal government is involved, they'll cover 80% of the cost and expect private industries or whoever to cover the rest," Pfeifer said. Pfeifer gave an example scenario assuming the project ends up costing $100 million. "We're looking at the county, the City of Columbus and the other entities covering the other 20%, and let's say 20% is $20 million. By the time it got built, there's no way Platte County taxpayers should be stuck to pay that kind of money for any road, especially this road," Pfeifer said. As the process goes on, through various engineering, economic impact and traffic studies, Hirschbrunner said the project will see several rounds of voting with cut-off points of a sort, where the involved parties could stop the project. Funding, he said, is projected to be returned several times over once the project is complete. "I think if you look at the traffic studies and the cost-benefit study, the project shows that this is both cost-saving and time-saving and (has) the potential for economic development the benefit is $30 to $50 for every dollar spent on the project in terms of economic development," Hirschbrunner said. From here, Hirschbrunner said, they will begin the grant-searching process, followed by an engineering study, then they would have to authorize advertising for bids and accept a bid before any construction can begin. "At this point, the county is under no obligation other than that (interlocal agreement) what the NENED does is assist counties and look for, identify and acquire grant funding to do various project. They're under no obligation other than to pursue grant money," Hirschbrunner said. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday joined French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu in Paris on Thursday for the 5th annual defence dialogue. The two sides discussed a wide range of topics from the assessment of regional situations to the ongoing military-to-military engagements with a focus on enhancing defence-industrial cooperation. The Ministry of Defence said, The ministers reviewed the ongoing defence projects and discussed ways to deepen the collaboration between the defence industries of both countries. They also discussed potential collaboration in niche domains such as space, cyber and Artificial Intelligence. Rajnath visited the Safran engine divisions R&D centre at Gennevilliers near Paris and witnessed the latest developments in aero-engine technology. He also met the CEOs of top French defence companies with a focus on their plans for collaboration with India. Rajnath highlighted the advantages of co-development and co-production in India, including the possibility of exports to third countries. He underlined the inherent advantages of the Indian market such as a large, skilled HR base, world-class infrastructure and a strong legal architecture. Following his arrival in Paris on Tuesday, he interacted with the Indian community. In the first leg of his tour to Italy, Rajnath held talks with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in Rome. An agreement on cooperation in the field of defence was signed after the talks to promote bilateral collaboration in varied defence domains, such as security and defence policy, R&D, education in the military field, maritime domain awareness, sharing of defence information and industrial cooperation, including co-development, co-production & setting up of joint ventures. He also met the CEOs and other top industry leaders of Italian defence companies in Rome. Talks on inherent advantages of the Indian market Rajnath Singh highlighted the advantages of co-development and co-production in India, including the possibility of exports to third countries. He underlined the inherent advantages of the Indian market such as a large, skilled HR base and world-class infrastructure. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday joined French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu in Paris on Thursday for the 5th annual defence dialogue. The two sides discussed a wide range of topics from the assessment of regional situations to the ongoing military-to-military engagements with a focus on enhancing defence-industrial cooperation. The Ministry of Defence said, The ministers reviewed the ongoing defence projects and discussed ways to deepen the collaboration between the defence industries of both countries. They also discussed potential collaboration in niche domains such as space, cyber and Artificial Intelligence. Rajnath visited the Safran engine divisions R&D centre at Gennevilliers near Paris and witnessed the latest developments in aero-engine technology. He also met the CEOs of top French defence companies with a focus on their plans for collaboration with India. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Rajnath highlighted the advantages of co-development and co-production in India, including the possibility of exports to third countries. He underlined the inherent advantages of the Indian market such as a large, skilled HR base, world-class infrastructure and a strong legal architecture. Following his arrival in Paris on Tuesday, he interacted with the Indian community. In the first leg of his tour to Italy, Rajnath held talks with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in Rome. An agreement on cooperation in the field of defence was signed after the talks to promote bilateral collaboration in varied defence domains, such as security and defence policy, R&D, education in the military field, maritime domain awareness, sharing of defence information and industrial cooperation, including co-development, co-production & setting up of joint ventures. He also met the CEOs and other top industry leaders of Italian defence companies in Rome. Talks on inherent advantages of the Indian market Rajnath Singh highlighted the advantages of co-development and co-production in India, including the possibility of exports to third countries. He underlined the inherent advantages of the Indian market such as a large, skilled HR base and world-class infrastructure. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Mukesh Ranjan By Express News Service RANCHI: In yet another jolt of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Jharkhand High Court on Friday rejected his petition challenging the summons issued against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a land scam case. Notably, ED has summoned Soren as many as five times, but he skipped every time citing one or another excuse. During the hearing held in a hybrid mode in the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen, senior advocates P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and advocate Piyush Chitresh presented their side on behalf of CM Soren, whereas ASG Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued on behalf of the ED. During the hearing in the High Court, the ED said that the CM had already violated the summons as he did not appear on any summons issued by it. In such a situation, there is no justification for him to challenge the summons; therefore, he cannot be given relief, said EDs counsel. Appearing on behalf of CM Soren, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that no case is registered against the CM. In such a situation, it is not appropriate for the ED to summon him. The ED countered that the applicant has challenged Sections 50 and 60 of the PMLA Act, which has been decided by the Supreme Court in the case of Vijay Madan Lal Chaudhary, under which, the agency has the right to issue summons and record statements. The High Court added that it cannot give any order in this matter. Incidentally, Soren moved to Jharkhand High Court after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his petition directing him to approach the Jharkhand High Court instead of coming directly to the apex court. ED is probing two major cases of money laundering in Jharkhand. The first case is related to illegal mining in Sahibganj in which the CM was questioned on November 17 last year. The second case is related to an alleged land scam in the state capital for which Soren has been issued summons twice by the ED. 13 people, including IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan and two businessmen, Amit Agarwal of Kolkata and Bishnu Agarwal, who owns shopping malls in Ranchi, have already been arrested in connection with the alleged land scam. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp RANCHI: In yet another jolt of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Jharkhand High Court on Friday rejected his petition challenging the summons issued against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a land scam case. Notably, ED has summoned Soren as many as five times, but he skipped every time citing one or another excuse. During the hearing held in a hybrid mode in the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen, senior advocates P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and advocate Piyush Chitresh presented their side on behalf of CM Soren, whereas ASG Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued on behalf of the ED.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); During the hearing in the High Court, the ED said that the CM had already violated the summons as he did not appear on any summons issued by it. In such a situation, there is no justification for him to challenge the summons; therefore, he cannot be given relief, said EDs counsel. Appearing on behalf of CM Soren, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that no case is registered against the CM. In such a situation, it is not appropriate for the ED to summon him. The ED countered that the applicant has challenged Sections 50 and 60 of the PMLA Act, which has been decided by the Supreme Court in the case of Vijay Madan Lal Chaudhary, under which, the agency has the right to issue summons and record statements. The High Court added that it cannot give any order in this matter. Incidentally, Soren moved to Jharkhand High Court after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his petition directing him to approach the Jharkhand High Court instead of coming directly to the apex court. ED is probing two major cases of money laundering in Jharkhand. The first case is related to illegal mining in Sahibganj in which the CM was questioned on November 17 last year. The second case is related to an alleged land scam in the state capital for which Soren has been issued summons twice by the ED. 13 people, including IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan and two businessmen, Amit Agarwal of Kolkata and Bishnu Agarwal, who owns shopping malls in Ranchi, have already been arrested in connection with the alleged land scam. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the pleas moved by NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha and the news portal's Human Resources (HR) head Amit Chakraborty challenging their arrest, remand, and an FIR slapped against anti-terror law UAPA allegedly connected to a Chinese funding case. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said, "considering the lack of facts and material particulars" in the plea, the court was of the opinion that Purkayastha is "not entitled to any relief." In his plea, Chakraborty had contended that he is a differently-abled person suffering from physical disability to the extent of 59% and being covered under the provisions of The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016. The high court, however, said it is of the view that "the fact that serious offences affecting the stability, integrity, sovereignty and national security have been alleged against the petitioner, this Court is not inclined to pass any favorable orders." The arrest of both Purkayastha and Chakraborty on October 3 was after the Delhi Police searched 30 locations connected with the online news portal and its journalists in a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) following allegations that it received money for pro-China propaganda. On the challenge to the remand as it was passed at 6:00 A.M, the court pointed out that the Special Judge records that the counsel had appeared for the accused persons and "even the remand application was also furnished to the counsel who was representing them. In the 51-page order, the high court asserted that there are no details "to be believed" in the petitioner's contention about the "zero representation" on his behalf, at the time of arrest or remand proceedings. The order further said, "the petition is completely silent as to what steps were taken by him or any of his family members to assail or raise objections against the arrest, or the order of remand till the present petition (before HC) was filed." The petitioners neither mentioned "illegal arrest" on the application seeking a copy of the FIR nor argued against it, the court noted. "This creates a doubt in the mind of this Court as to whether the version of the petitioner is true at all," it was noted. The petitoners had reiterated that the things mentioned in the FIR are false, saying "not a penny has come from China." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Delhi Police, submitted that the email exchanges between the petitioner and other entities indicate a deliberate attempt to show the State of Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as disputed territories. "So much so that the words used for Arunachal Pradesh in particular are Northern Border of India which according to learned SG is generally used as a Chinese propaganda," the order read. SG also submitted that the emails allegedly also contained a physical map of India to show certain portions as disputed territories. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the pleas moved by NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha and the news portal's Human Resources (HR) head Amit Chakraborty challenging their arrest, remand, and an FIR slapped against anti-terror law UAPA allegedly connected to a Chinese funding case. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said, "considering the lack of facts and material particulars" in the plea, the court was of the opinion that Purkayastha is "not entitled to any relief." In his plea, Chakraborty had contended that he is a differently-abled person suffering from physical disability to the extent of 59% and being covered under the provisions of The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016. The high court, however, said it is of the view that "the fact that serious offences affecting the stability, integrity, sovereignty and national security have been alleged against the petitioner, this Court is not inclined to pass any favorable orders." The arrest of both Purkayastha and Chakraborty on October 3 was after the Delhi Police searched 30 locations connected with the online news portal and its journalists in a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) following allegations that it received money for pro-China propaganda. On the challenge to the remand as it was passed at 6:00 A.M, the court pointed out that the Special Judge records that the counsel had appeared for the accused persons and "even the remand application was also furnished to the counsel who was representing them. In the 51-page order, the high court asserted that there are no details "to be believed" in the petitioner's contention about the "zero representation" on his behalf, at the time of arrest or remand proceedings. The order further said, "the petition is completely silent as to what steps were taken by him or any of his family members to assail or raise objections against the arrest, or the order of remand till the present petition (before HC) was filed." The petitioners neither mentioned "illegal arrest" on the application seeking a copy of the FIR nor argued against it, the court noted. "This creates a doubt in the mind of this Court as to whether the version of the petitioner is true at all," it was noted. The petitoners had reiterated that the things mentioned in the FIR are false, saying "not a penny has come from China." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Delhi Police, submitted that the email exchanges between the petitioner and other entities indicate a deliberate attempt to show the State of Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as disputed territories. "So much so that the words used for Arunachal Pradesh in particular are Northern Border of India which according to learned SG is generally used as a Chinese propaganda," the order read. SG also submitted that the emails allegedly also contained a physical map of India to show certain portions as disputed territories. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, the first flight bringing 212 Indian nationals back from Israel successfully landed at Delhi Airport on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. India had launched Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of those Indians who wish to come back home after a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend triggered fresh tensions in the region. Welcome to the homeland! 1st #OperationAjay flight carrying 212 citizens touches down in New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/FOQK2tvPrR October 13, 2023 "We are thankful to India... Most of the students were a little bit panicked. Suddenly we saw some notifications and links for every Indian citizen through the embassy of India which boosted our morale. We felt like the embassy of India was connected with us which was a kind of relief to us. And then we got all the arrangements," Shubham Kumar, a student in Israel, told news agency PTI. Earlier on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said around 18,000 Indians are currently residing in Israel while about a dozen odd people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza. "The external affairs minister took a preparatory meeting earlier in the day. We are in touch with our embassy in Tel Aviv, our representative office in Ramallah as well as with our missions in the neighbouring countries, particularly Jordan, Syria and Egypt," Bagchi said. "We are keeping a close watch on developments as well as what steps we need to take to assist the Indian citizens who are in Israel," he added. READ MORE | Israel-Hamas war: Displaced people's count shoots up from 3,000 to 35,000 in five days Asked about reports of one Indian caregiver from Kerala sustaining injuries in the attacks by Hamas, he said: "We are aware of that case. The person is in the hospital and improving." Bagchi said more chartered flights will be arranged to bring back the Indians. At the same time, he said it will depend on the number of people expressing a desire to return home. He said there was no report of any Indian casualty so far. Military officials said the Indian Air Force has kept its transport aircraft on standby for any possible deployment to bring back the Indians from Israel. The multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza since Saturday and the subsequent Israeli retaliation have left around 2,600 people dead. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks by Hamas. The sudden escalation in hostilities between Israel and Palestine has triggered global concerns. Leading powers like Germany, the US, France and the UK emphasised the importance of preventing the situation from further escalation. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Israel says no water or fuel to Gaza until hostages are freed Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, the first flight bringing 212 Indian nationals back from Israel successfully landed at Delhi Airport on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. India had launched Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of those Indians who wish to come back home after a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend triggered fresh tensions in the region. Welcome to the homeland! 1st #OperationAjay flight carrying 212 citizens touches down in New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/FOQK2tvPrRgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 13, 2023 "We are thankful to India... Most of the students were a little bit panicked. Suddenly we saw some notifications and links for every Indian citizen through the embassy of India which boosted our morale. We felt like the embassy of India was connected with us which was a kind of relief to us. And then we got all the arrangements," Shubham Kumar, a student in Israel, told news agency PTI. Earlier on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said around 18,000 Indians are currently residing in Israel while about a dozen odd people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza. "The external affairs minister took a preparatory meeting earlier in the day. We are in touch with our embassy in Tel Aviv, our representative office in Ramallah as well as with our missions in the neighbouring countries, particularly Jordan, Syria and Egypt," Bagchi said. "We are keeping a close watch on developments as well as what steps we need to take to assist the Indian citizens who are in Israel," he added. READ MORE | Israel-Hamas war: Displaced people's count shoots up from 3,000 to 35,000 in five days Asked about reports of one Indian caregiver from Kerala sustaining injuries in the attacks by Hamas, he said: "We are aware of that case. The person is in the hospital and improving." Bagchi said more chartered flights will be arranged to bring back the Indians. At the same time, he said it will depend on the number of people expressing a desire to return home. He said there was no report of any Indian casualty so far. Military officials said the Indian Air Force has kept its transport aircraft on standby for any possible deployment to bring back the Indians from Israel. The multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza since Saturday and the subsequent Israeli retaliation have left around 2,600 people dead. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks by Hamas. The sudden escalation in hostilities between Israel and Palestine has triggered global concerns. Leading powers like Germany, the US, France and the UK emphasised the importance of preventing the situation from further escalation. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Israel says no water or fuel to Gaza until hostages are freed Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Narendra Sethi By Express News Service DEHRADUN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that previous governments were afraid of developing border areas so that enemies could not take advantage of it and enter through those routes. Describing the argument of those governments as absurd, the Prime Minister said, Today, development is taking place at a fast pace in border areas todays new India is moving forward leaving behind the scared thinking of the previous governments. The PM addressed a public meeting in Pithoragarh on Thursday after laying the foundation stone for several development projects worth about Rs 4,200 crore in the areas of rural development, roads, power, irrigation, drinking water, horticulture, education, health and disaster management in Uttarakhand. It is a matter of pride for India that today our Tricolour is flying high everywhere. Our Chandrayaan has reached the Moon, where no one in the world has reached yet. India named Chandrayaan-3 mission on the moon as Shiv Shakti. Today, the world is seeing the strength of India. The PM said the decade belonged to Uttarakhand, adding, our government is working with full dedication for the progress and ease of living of the people of Uttarakhand. Modi also recalled his long association with Uttarakhand. The PM emphasised that the increasing connectivity of Uttarakhand would take the development of the state to new heights. He also mentioned the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project along with the Chardham mega project and the All Weather Road. On the recent strides made by India, the PM said the world is recognising the contribution of India and Indians. Earlier, the Prime Minister offered prayers at Parvati Kund. I prayed for the good health of every Indian and to strengthen the resolve of a developed Bharat, he said. I sought blessings so that all the aspirations of the people of Uttarakhand can be fulfilled. In his address, the Prime Minister said more than 13.5 crore Indians have come out of poverty in the last 5 years and credited the governments all-inclusive approach, where people living in remote places also get government benefits. The PM also mentioned the plan to provide drones to womens self-help groups, saying the drones will help in agriculture and even the transportation of produce. There was a time when a mood of despair gripped the nation. Everyone prayed and wondered when the country would be pulled out of the dark shadows of scams of thousands of crores of rupees. But now, when the world is surrounded by challenges Indias voice is getting stronger. Dont you feel good when India shows the world the way? the Prime Minister said. He said the change has not been brought about by Modi but by the people of India who gave him a chance for a second time to serve them. The entire credit for it goes to the 140 crore people of the country, Modi said. The PM said that when he shakes hands with dignitaries from around the world, he also looks into their eyes. When they look at me they do not see me but the 140 crore people of the country in me, he said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp DEHRADUN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that previous governments were afraid of developing border areas so that enemies could not take advantage of it and enter through those routes. Describing the argument of those governments as absurd, the Prime Minister said, Today, development is taking place at a fast pace in border areas todays new India is moving forward leaving behind the scared thinking of the previous governments. The PM addressed a public meeting in Pithoragarh on Thursday after laying the foundation stone for several development projects worth about Rs 4,200 crore in the areas of rural development, roads, power, irrigation, drinking water, horticulture, education, health and disaster management in Uttarakhand. It is a matter of pride for India that today our Tricolour is flying high everywhere. Our Chandrayaan has reached the Moon, where no one in the world has reached yet. India named Chandrayaan-3 mission on the moon as Shiv Shakti. Today, the world is seeing the strength of India. The PM said the decade belonged to Uttarakhand, adding, our government is working with full dedication for the progress and ease of living of the people of Uttarakhand. Modi also recalled his long association with Uttarakhand. The PM emphasised that the increasing connectivity of Uttarakhand would take the development of the state to new heights. He also mentioned the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project along with the Chardham mega project and the All Weather Road.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); On the recent strides made by India, the PM said the world is recognising the contribution of India and Indians. Earlier, the Prime Minister offered prayers at Parvati Kund. I prayed for the good health of every Indian and to strengthen the resolve of a developed Bharat, he said. I sought blessings so that all the aspirations of the people of Uttarakhand can be fulfilled. In his address, the Prime Minister said more than 13.5 crore Indians have come out of poverty in the last 5 years and credited the governments all-inclusive approach, where people living in remote places also get government benefits. The PM also mentioned the plan to provide drones to womens self-help groups, saying the drones will help in agriculture and even the transportation of produce. There was a time when a mood of despair gripped the nation. Everyone prayed and wondered when the country would be pulled out of the dark shadows of scams of thousands of crores of rupees. But now, when the world is surrounded by challenges Indias voice is getting stronger. Dont you feel good when India shows the world the way? the Prime Minister said. He said the change has not been brought about by Modi but by the people of India who gave him a chance for a second time to serve them. The entire credit for it goes to the 140 crore people of the country, Modi said. The PM said that when he shakes hands with dignitaries from around the world, he also looks into their eyes. When they look at me they do not see me but the 140 crore people of the country in me, he said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Anuraag Singh By Express News Service BHOPAL: Realising that her grandmother Indira Gandhi remains a revered figure among tribals (particularly the middle-aged and elderly population), Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra invoked the grandeur of the former prime minister in her second successive election rally within a week in election-bound Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. Addressing an election rally in Gond tribe-dominated Mandla district, just a week after her last rally in Bhil and Bhilala tribe-dominant Dhar district, she tried to strike a chord with the tribals (who constitute 21 per cent of the state population) by mentioning about her close facial resemblance with Indira Gandhi. While highlighting the tribal-centric initiatives of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Priyanka also announced a series of promises, including the Padho-Padhao scheme, which would entail free education from Classes I to XII along with monthly allowances/scholarships ranging between Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 (Rs 500 for classes I-XII, Rs 1,000 for classes IX and X and Rs 1,500 for classes XI and XII). While reiterating the existing 11 poll guarantees of her party for MP, including conducting caste census/survey, Priyanka promised to implement the Sixth Schedule in areas housing more than 50 per cent tribal population, filling up the SC/ST backlog posts in government departments and providing equal sum under the PM Awas Yojana in both rural and urban areas. She also promised Rs 4,000 per sack support price for tendu leaves pluckers. You all have revered my grandmother. I facially resemble her which is why youve come to see and hear me. You revered her for her truthfulness and commitment to your cause. She furthered your interest which is why you furthered her interest. It was she who gave you the right over forest (land, water and forest), said the Congress leader. She alleged tribal lands are being snatched under the BJP rule. When you protest, bullets are fired on you, Priyanka said. 21% tribals in state Tribals form 21% of MPs population. Priyanka addressed an election rally in Gond tribe-dominated Mandla district, only a week after her last rally in Bhil and Bhilala tribe-dominant Dhar district Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BHOPAL: Realising that her grandmother Indira Gandhi remains a revered figure among tribals (particularly the middle-aged and elderly population), Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra invoked the grandeur of the former prime minister in her second successive election rally within a week in election-bound Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. Addressing an election rally in Gond tribe-dominated Mandla district, just a week after her last rally in Bhil and Bhilala tribe-dominant Dhar district, she tried to strike a chord with the tribals (who constitute 21 per cent of the state population) by mentioning about her close facial resemblance with Indira Gandhi. While highlighting the tribal-centric initiatives of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Priyanka also announced a series of promises, including the Padho-Padhao scheme, which would entail free education from Classes I to XII along with monthly allowances/scholarships ranging between Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 (Rs 500 for classes I-XII, Rs 1,000 for classes IX and X and Rs 1,500 for classes XI and XII).googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); While reiterating the existing 11 poll guarantees of her party for MP, including conducting caste census/survey, Priyanka promised to implement the Sixth Schedule in areas housing more than 50 per cent tribal population, filling up the SC/ST backlog posts in government departments and providing equal sum under the PM Awas Yojana in both rural and urban areas. She also promised Rs 4,000 per sack support price for tendu leaves pluckers. You all have revered my grandmother. I facially resemble her which is why youve come to see and hear me. You revered her for her truthfulness and commitment to your cause. She furthered your interest which is why you furthered her interest. It was she who gave you the right over forest (land, water and forest), said the Congress leader. She alleged tribal lands are being snatched under the BJP rule. When you protest, bullets are fired on you, Priyanka said. 21% tribals in state Tribals form 21% of MPs population. Priyanka addressed an election rally in Gond tribe-dominated Mandla district, only a week after her last rally in Bhil and Bhilala tribe-dominant Dhar district Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By PTI ASANSOL: At least three people were killed and 10 others were feared trapped after a coal mine collapsed during illegal extraction in West Bengal's Paschim Bardhaman district, officials said on Friday. Police suspect that the incident took place when coal was being illegally extracted from Narayankuri colliery of the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) in Egra gram panchayat in Raniganj police station area, around 18 km from Asansol. The deceased were identified as Dinesh Ruidas (38), Sumir Bauri (17) and Surajit Sen (21), all residents of nearby areas, a police officer said, adding search operations for the remaining people are underway. "Around 25-30 people illegally entered the mine on Wednesday afternoon. The mine caved in an hour later. While some managed to come out of it, others got trapped inside," the officer told PTI. ECL has launched an investigation into the incident. A team led by Sitarampur Director General of Mines Safety Region 1 Irfan Ahmed Ansari visited the spot. "This is a legal mine but the incident took place when coal was being extracted illegally. Three people have died and several others are feared trapped," he said. Another ECL official said that some people had illegally entered a tunnel at the Narayankuri mine where entry of even company miners is prohibited as automatic 'high wall mining' is conducted. High wall mining is a generic term used for the mining of coal from the final high wall of an opencast mine. It is a hybrid method of opencast and underground method and is remotely operated from a cabin at the surface. Meanwhile, the incident triggered a political slugfest with opposition parties blaming the ruling dispensation for laxity, while the TMC questioned the role of ECL and CISF. Senior BJP leader and Asansol Dakshin MLA Agnimitra Paul reached the spot on Wednesday night and staged a dharna. She questioned the role of both ECL and police and allegedly entered into an altercation with the forces deployed at the spot. Later, she led BJP workers to stage a blockade on National Highway 19 (previously NH 2) at Raniganj. BJP activists again staged a dharna in front of Raniganj police station on Thursday demanding Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the next of kin of the three deceased. TMC MP Santanu Sen said, "The coal ministry is under the Centre. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is responsible for the security of coal mines. So, it is for the BJP to answer how illegal mining is taking place." The BJP, on the other hand, alleged that rampant illegal coal mining is happening in the Asansol area "under the patronage of the TMC". "It (illegal coal mining) is happening because of patronage of TMC leaders and a section of the administration," BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said. CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, meanwhile, alleged laxity by security agencies of both the state and the Centre. He said that despite the mine belonging to ECL, security was not tight enough to keep out trespassers. "Security agencies of neither the Centre nor the state are vigilant to check illegal coal mining in Raniganj coal belt and it is because of this, that the unfortunate incident took place," he told PTI. The CPI(M) leader alleged that people's lives were put in danger as security agencies were not keeping proper vigil. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp ASANSOL: At least three people were killed and 10 others were feared trapped after a coal mine collapsed during illegal extraction in West Bengal's Paschim Bardhaman district, officials said on Friday. Police suspect that the incident took place when coal was being illegally extracted from Narayankuri colliery of the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) in Egra gram panchayat in Raniganj police station area, around 18 km from Asansol. The deceased were identified as Dinesh Ruidas (38), Sumir Bauri (17) and Surajit Sen (21), all residents of nearby areas, a police officer said, adding search operations for the remaining people are underway.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Around 25-30 people illegally entered the mine on Wednesday afternoon. The mine caved in an hour later. While some managed to come out of it, others got trapped inside," the officer told PTI. ECL has launched an investigation into the incident. A team led by Sitarampur Director General of Mines Safety Region 1 Irfan Ahmed Ansari visited the spot. "This is a legal mine but the incident took place when coal was being extracted illegally. Three people have died and several others are feared trapped," he said. Another ECL official said that some people had illegally entered a tunnel at the Narayankuri mine where entry of even company miners is prohibited as automatic 'high wall mining' is conducted. High wall mining is a generic term used for the mining of coal from the final high wall of an opencast mine. It is a hybrid method of opencast and underground method and is remotely operated from a cabin at the surface. Meanwhile, the incident triggered a political slugfest with opposition parties blaming the ruling dispensation for laxity, while the TMC questioned the role of ECL and CISF. Senior BJP leader and Asansol Dakshin MLA Agnimitra Paul reached the spot on Wednesday night and staged a dharna. She questioned the role of both ECL and police and allegedly entered into an altercation with the forces deployed at the spot. Later, she led BJP workers to stage a blockade on National Highway 19 (previously NH 2) at Raniganj. BJP activists again staged a dharna in front of Raniganj police station on Thursday demanding Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the next of kin of the three deceased. TMC MP Santanu Sen said, "The coal ministry is under the Centre. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is responsible for the security of coal mines. So, it is for the BJP to answer how illegal mining is taking place." The BJP, on the other hand, alleged that rampant illegal coal mining is happening in the Asansol area "under the patronage of the TMC". "It (illegal coal mining) is happening because of patronage of TMC leaders and a section of the administration," BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said. CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, meanwhile, alleged laxity by security agencies of both the state and the Centre. He said that despite the mine belonging to ECL, security was not tight enough to keep out trespassers. "Security agencies of neither the Centre nor the state are vigilant to check illegal coal mining in Raniganj coal belt and it is because of this, that the unfortunate incident took place," he told PTI. The CPI(M) leader alleged that people's lives were put in danger as security agencies were not keeping proper vigil. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Express News Service NEW DELHI: With many varsities not providing even basic information about their institution on their websites, the UGC will direct them to not only give updates about the admission process and fee structure but also the student support services, internal complaint committee and anti-ragging helpline. Speaking with this paper, the University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof M Jagadesh Kumar said that they have found that the websites of several universities lack not only in providing the minimum information related to their university but also, at times, their websites are not functional and out of date. This causes a lot of inconveniences and uncertainty to the stakeholders, he said, adding, At this defining moment when we are celebrating the third year of National Education Policy 2020, it would be prudent to request the Universities to provide basic minimum information and updated content on their website. He said the directive would also help different stakeholders like prospective students, parents, research scholars, government officials, alumni and the public at large who desire to seek certain basic information from the websites of different universities. Kumar said the UGC would be sharing a checklist with all the varsities about the information that needs to be displayed on their official websites. These minimum mandatory disclosures would also include the varsity institutional development plan, annual reports, accreditation, details of officials with photographs, academic programmes, departments and fee refund policy. The varsity must also upload information about its research and development cell, publications, patents, foreign and industry collaborations and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). The varieties must also display details on student support services like hostel facilities, fellowships/scholarships, Academic Bank of Credits, Digi Locker NAD Portal and National Scholarship Portal. They will also need to upload on their websites information on e-Samadhaan, which monitors and resolves all grievances of students and staff members in varsities, student grievance redressal committee, details of ombudsperson, internal quality assurance cell, internal complaint committee and anti-ragging cell with helpline number and equal opportunity cell and socio-economically disadvantaged group cell (SEDG). The website will also need to upload information on alumni associations, alumni coordination cells, RTI details, circulars, notices, announcements, newsletters, news, pictures and even recent events and achievements. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp NEW DELHI: With many varsities not providing even basic information about their institution on their websites, the UGC will direct them to not only give updates about the admission process and fee structure but also the student support services, internal complaint committee and anti-ragging helpline. Speaking with this paper, the University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof M Jagadesh Kumar said that they have found that the websites of several universities lack not only in providing the minimum information related to their university but also, at times, their websites are not functional and out of date. This causes a lot of inconveniences and uncertainty to the stakeholders, he said, adding, At this defining moment when we are celebrating the third year of National Education Policy 2020, it would be prudent to request the Universities to provide basic minimum information and updated content on their website. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He said the directive would also help different stakeholders like prospective students, parents, research scholars, government officials, alumni and the public at large who desire to seek certain basic information from the websites of different universities. Kumar said the UGC would be sharing a checklist with all the varsities about the information that needs to be displayed on their official websites. These minimum mandatory disclosures would also include the varsity institutional development plan, annual reports, accreditation, details of officials with photographs, academic programmes, departments and fee refund policy. The varsity must also upload information about its research and development cell, publications, patents, foreign and industry collaborations and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). The varieties must also display details on student support services like hostel facilities, fellowships/scholarships, Academic Bank of Credits, Digi Locker NAD Portal and National Scholarship Portal. They will also need to upload on their websites information on e-Samadhaan, which monitors and resolves all grievances of students and staff members in varsities, student grievance redressal committee, details of ombudsperson, internal quality assurance cell, internal complaint committee and anti-ragging cell with helpline number and equal opportunity cell and socio-economically disadvantaged group cell (SEDG). The website will also need to upload information on alumni associations, alumni coordination cells, RTI details, circulars, notices, announcements, newsletters, news, pictures and even recent events and achievements. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Aishwarya Prabhakaran By Express News Service KOCHI: Kerala is trying to woo international airlines to launch direct services as the number of travellers to East Asian and Oceanic countries, including the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand, sees a quantum jump, thanks to students pursuing higher education abroad and the new phenomenon of globe-trotting Malayalis. According to an aviation-sector expert, there has been an over 30% year-on-year increase in post-pandemic passenger movement to these countries from India. To cater to the demand, a delegation from Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) is visiting these countries to convince airline companies of the opportunity that Kerala offers. In 2018, daily traffic to Australia from Kochi, via transit routes, was around 260 passengers. This has increased threefold, said a source with the airport. Some of the companies that are being lured include Lufthansa, Philippine Airlines, Qantas and Air New Zealand. After Canada, the UK, the US, and Ireland, students from India are now making their way to Australia, say tour operators. Passengers from Kerala depend on transit flights either from Bengaluru, Delhi or Singapore to reach their final destinations in Australia and New Zealand, said an official with Riya Travels, a Kochi-based travel agency There is huge demand for direct operations to Oceanic countries, especially New Zealand and Australia. The recently launched direct VietJet Air flight to Vietnam, operating four days a week, is fully booked and doing brisk business, he added. According to data with travel-technology company Sabre, over 40,000 tourists from Australia visited Kerala via transit routes in 2018. Presently, Kochi airport has connectivity to Singapore via Singapore Airlines, Malaysia via Malindo Air and AirAsia, Vietnam via VietJet Airlines, and Thailand via Thai AirAsia. Around 30% of passengers on these routes travel to Australia or New Zealand, say tour operators. Attempts are on to enhance direct connectivity to East Asian and Oceanic countries, and talks are ongoing with various airlines, said CIAL sources. However, nothing has been finalised yet, they added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp KOCHI: Kerala is trying to woo international airlines to launch direct services as the number of travellers to East Asian and Oceanic countries, including the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand, sees a quantum jump, thanks to students pursuing higher education abroad and the new phenomenon of globe-trotting Malayalis. According to an aviation-sector expert, there has been an over 30% year-on-year increase in post-pandemic passenger movement to these countries from India. To cater to the demand, a delegation from Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) is visiting these countries to convince airline companies of the opportunity that Kerala offers. In 2018, daily traffic to Australia from Kochi, via transit routes, was around 260 passengers. This has increased threefold, said a source with the airport.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Some of the companies that are being lured include Lufthansa, Philippine Airlines, Qantas and Air New Zealand. After Canada, the UK, the US, and Ireland, students from India are now making their way to Australia, say tour operators. Passengers from Kerala depend on transit flights either from Bengaluru, Delhi or Singapore to reach their final destinations in Australia and New Zealand, said an official with Riya Travels, a Kochi-based travel agency There is huge demand for direct operations to Oceanic countries, especially New Zealand and Australia. The recently launched direct VietJet Air flight to Vietnam, operating four days a week, is fully booked and doing brisk business, he added. According to data with travel-technology company Sabre, over 40,000 tourists from Australia visited Kerala via transit routes in 2018. Presently, Kochi airport has connectivity to Singapore via Singapore Airlines, Malaysia via Malindo Air and AirAsia, Vietnam via VietJet Airlines, and Thailand via Thai AirAsia. Around 30% of passengers on these routes travel to Australia or New Zealand, say tour operators. Attempts are on to enhance direct connectivity to East Asian and Oceanic countries, and talks are ongoing with various airlines, said CIAL sources. However, nothing has been finalised yet, they added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Bank of America and SAP Veterans to Lead Crypto Infrastructure Firm Taurus European Drive Source: AdobeStock / Grecaud Paul Swiss institutional crypto infrastructure firm Taurus SA has been expanding its presence in Europe with the opening of two new offices in the United Kingdom and France. In a Thursday blog post, the company said it has appointed former Bank of America executive Jurgen Hofbauer and SAP veteran Arnaud Fleischer to lead the new offices. We're pleased to announce that Taurus continues to expand in Europe with new offices in the U.K. and France. This marks an important milestone in our ambition to serve our digital asset technology clients globally. Read the full announcement here: https://t.co/eNXf3OCOgi pic.twitter.com/7D0nxju1X9 Taurus (@taurus_hq) October 12, 2023 While Europe has already been Taurus primary market, the move is intended to bring the firms services closer to its partners, capitalizing on the increasing institutional interest from banking and corporate clients, as noted in the companys statement. Jurgen Hofbauer brings over 15 years of experience in the traditional finance and fintech sectors to Taurus. He has held leadership positions at various fintech firms and spent a decade at Bank of America, most recently serving as its EMEA Head of Sales. Leading Taurus UK office and strategic partnerships globally is an exciting opportunity, said Hofbauer. The global financial landscape here is undergoing a remarkable transformation, with digital assets gaining prominence. We eagerly anticipate collaborating with regional stakeholders, global partners, and clients to drive innovation together. Arnaud Fleischer, with over 15 years of B2B sales experience, joins Taurus from his previous roles at Salsify, Alkemics, and SAP. In a statement, Fleischer emphasized the growing acceptance of digital assets in Europe and Taurus role in providing a premier platform for clients to engage in this space. Im looking forward to leading Taurus expansion in Europe and consolidating Taurus exceptional track record in the region, he said. Taurus Looks to Further Expand Across Europe In addition to the new London and Paris offices, Taurus has plans for further expansion across Europe, subject to regulatory approval. The company aims to establish a stronger presence in Switzerland with new premises in Zurich. Taurus boasts a market share of over 60% in Switzerland and has recently secured $65 million in a Series B funding round led by Credit Suisse. Deutsche Bank, Pictet Group, Cedar Mundi Ventures, and Arab Bank Switzerland also participated in the funding round. Last month, Deutsche Bank partnered with Taurus to offer digital asset custody and tokenization services to its clients. Taurus has also expanded its digital-asset custody and tokenization services to support both public and private blockchains. The renewed institutional demand in crypto comes following the application for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF by BlackRock, Valkyrie, and Fidelity Investments, among others. Although none has been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which continues to cite market manipulation fears. In Europe, the Markets in Crypto Asset ( MiCA ) regulation has been hailed over several quarters for reshaping rules and ensuring clarity for institutional investors to participate at all levels. Brahimi also highlighted that recent developments around the market point to a heightened demand by top institutions amid regulatory hurdles in many jurisdictions. By Express News Service KENDRAPARA: At least 35 workers from Kendrapara district have been reportedly held captive by their employer in Attapeu province of Laos.The matter came to light when the workers sent videos to their families narrating about their plight in the Southeast Asian country. The workers, who have been kept captive in a wood processing unit at Attapeu, alleged that they are being tortured physically and mentally by their employer. We had gone to Lao Peoples Democratic Republic six months back through a local labour contractor who assured us good jobs with handsome salaries. However, we were engaged in a plywood factory and forced to work for over 12 hours a day without any pay. We are given food once a day. The employer beats us if we demand more food, alleged one of the workers Saroj Kumar Palei of Jayanagar village in a video message. Another worker Malaya Behera of Katana village said, We were told that we would work eight hours in a day. However, we are being forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day. We contacted our agents in India through phone and told them about the torture. But they did not pay any heed. Similarly, Anjan Kumar Nayak of Koilipur claimed the owner of the plywood company has confiscated the workers passports in Laos. All the stranded workers appealed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to help them return to their villages. On Thursday, family members of the workers met officials of Labour department and requested them to take steps for their safe return. They said each of the youths had paid Rs 1.50 lakh for transportation expenses and the agent had promised them a salary of Rs 70,000 per month. Contacted, district labour officer (DLO) Ashok Murmu said, We have informed the higher authorities of the Labour department about the matter. Necessary steps will be taken to ensure safe return of the workers. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp KENDRAPARA: At least 35 workers from Kendrapara district have been reportedly held captive by their employer in Attapeu province of Laos.The matter came to light when the workers sent videos to their families narrating about their plight in the Southeast Asian country. The workers, who have been kept captive in a wood processing unit at Attapeu, alleged that they are being tortured physically and mentally by their employer. We had gone to Lao Peoples Democratic Republic six months back through a local labour contractor who assured us good jobs with handsome salaries. However, we were engaged in a plywood factory and forced to work for over 12 hours a day without any pay. We are given food once a day. The employer beats us if we demand more food, alleged one of the workers Saroj Kumar Palei of Jayanagar village in a video message. Another worker Malaya Behera of Katana village said, We were told that we would work eight hours in a day. However, we are being forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day. We contacted our agents in India through phone and told them about the torture. But they did not pay any heed.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Similarly, Anjan Kumar Nayak of Koilipur claimed the owner of the plywood company has confiscated the workers passports in Laos. All the stranded workers appealed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to help them return to their villages. On Thursday, family members of the workers met officials of Labour department and requested them to take steps for their safe return. They said each of the youths had paid Rs 1.50 lakh for transportation expenses and the agent had promised them a salary of Rs 70,000 per month. Contacted, district labour officer (DLO) Ashok Murmu said, We have informed the higher authorities of the Labour department about the matter. Necessary steps will be taken to ensure safe return of the workers. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Deepa Sinha By Online Desk Students and professors camping inside a university in southern Israel were among those struck by terror following the surprise attack carried out by Hamas on October 7. An associate professor with the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU), Dr Rathika, was among this group. "We had to shift to a shelter whenever we received a message and return when it was safer to stay on campus," she told over the phone to her husband Dr Ramesh, who is a professor at TNAU. She had gone to Israel, along with researchers from other parts of the country, for a two-month training program at Ben-Gurion University at Negev, about 100 km from the airport, in southern Israel. "She was scared during the first two days. Presently, she is okay though she feels panicky whenever friends in Tamil Nadu send her reports pertaining to her," Ramesh told The New Indian Express online. Rathika is eagerly awaiting to board the flight home from war-hit Israel. "I have been in touch with my wife through messages since Monday. She is fine and safe but is under stress. She wants to come home. I request the government and the Prime Minister to rescue her and bring her to India under Operation Ajay. My 14-year-old son is also eager to meet his mother." "She contacted the Indian Embassy seeking help to fly home. They assured her that her request was under process. We are waiting for their call. I hope she gets through this. I am expecting her back home within a day or two," he said. "The officials from the Indian Embassy have contacted her and asked her to stay safe and keep her mobile phone switched on so that it would help them to contact and inform her about her flight home," Ramesh said. "Presently, the students and professors are staying on campus, each in their respective rooms and they are feeling safe. It was not so during the first couple of days soon after the Hamas struck Israel. When they were not in the shelter, they were huddled close together on the campus during the first two days," he noted. They have food, drinking water and all the other facilities on the campus. However, the university is not functioning anymore. "Right now she is staying, 100 km away from the airport, at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev ( a public research university in Beersheba, Israel)," he added. ALSO READ | 'Operation Ajay': 21 people from Tamil Nadu, including 16 students, arrive from war-hit Israel Meanwhile, as the Israel-Hamas conflict entered the seventh day on Friday the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Friday warned civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes. The IDF is looking to intensify its attacks on terrorist targets in the Gaza City region and possibly launch a ground invasion in response to Hamas's deadly onslaught against southern communities the Times of Israel reported. The IDF said that it had carried out airstrikes against 750 targets belonging to Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip overnight. Israel is responding to the Hamas' attack on October 7 that has left over 1,300 Israelis dead. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Students and professors camping inside a university in southern Israel were among those struck by terror following the surprise attack carried out by Hamas on October 7. An associate professor with the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU), Dr Rathika, was among this group. "We had to shift to a shelter whenever we received a message and return when it was safer to stay on campus," she told over the phone to her husband Dr Ramesh, who is a professor at TNAU. She had gone to Israel, along with researchers from other parts of the country, for a two-month training program at Ben-Gurion University at Negev, about 100 km from the airport, in southern Israel.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "She was scared during the first two days. Presently, she is okay though she feels panicky whenever friends in Tamil Nadu send her reports pertaining to her," Ramesh told The New Indian Express online. Rathika is eagerly awaiting to board the flight home from war-hit Israel. "I have been in touch with my wife through messages since Monday. She is fine and safe but is under stress. She wants to come home. I request the government and the Prime Minister to rescue her and bring her to India under Operation Ajay. My 14-year-old son is also eager to meet his mother." "She contacted the Indian Embassy seeking help to fly home. They assured her that her request was under process. We are waiting for their call. I hope she gets through this. I am expecting her back home within a day or two," he said. "The officials from the Indian Embassy have contacted her and asked her to stay safe and keep her mobile phone switched on so that it would help them to contact and inform her about her flight home," Ramesh said. "Presently, the students and professors are staying on campus, each in their respective rooms and they are feeling safe. It was not so during the first couple of days soon after the Hamas struck Israel. When they were not in the shelter, they were huddled close together on the campus during the first two days," he noted. They have food, drinking water and all the other facilities on the campus. However, the university is not functioning anymore. "Right now she is staying, 100 km away from the airport, at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev ( a public research university in Beersheba, Israel)," he added. ALSO READ | 'Operation Ajay': 21 people from Tamil Nadu, including 16 students, arrive from war-hit Israel Meanwhile, as the Israel-Hamas conflict entered the seventh day on Friday the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Friday warned civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes. The IDF is looking to intensify its attacks on terrorist targets in the Gaza City region and possibly launch a ground invasion in response to Hamas's deadly onslaught against southern communities the Times of Israel reported. The IDF said that it had carried out airstrikes against 750 targets belonging to Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip overnight. Israel is responding to the Hamas' attack on October 7 that has left over 1,300 Israelis dead. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Jose K Joseph By Express News Service TIRUCHY: The international airport's winter schedule taking effect on October 29 brings with it hope for the city's travel sector. Among the new operations are an additional flight to Chennai, a daily flight to Mumbai and a flight to Vietnam for the period of the winter schedule which ends on March 30, 2024. Despite high expectations of a daily flight to Delhi, no such flight has yet been announced. Senior officials, however, said talks are on with various operators for it. At present, Tiruchy Airport operates four daily flights to Chennai, three to Bengaluru and one to Hyderabad. From October 29, the number of daily flights to Chennai will be increased to five, and IndiGo will start operations on the Tiruchy-Mumbai route after a gap of over two years from November 4. The flight will leave Tiruchy at 3.40 pm and reach Mumbai at 5.40 pm. Similarly, the airport currently operates flights to Kuwait, Singapore, Sharjah, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Doha, Muscat and Abu Dhabi. Starting November 4, Vietjet will commence operations between Tiruchy and Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. This flight will be available on every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Officials believe said the new services would increase footfall in the airport by at least 10%. "On average, 4,000 international passengers and 1,200 domestic passengers pass through Tiruchy airport every day. The new flights to Chennai, Mumbai, and Vietnam will lead to a 10% increase in passenger footfall in Tiruchy," a senior airport official said. Airline officials said that the push in footfall would also attract more operations to Tiruchy. "Tiruchy is the second largest airport in Tamil Nadu and there is a good response on most existing routes. Since Tiruchy-Mumbai is a potential route it will have 90% occupancy on most days. We are expecting good response to operations to Vietnam," an airline official said. Meanwhile, travel operators said that airport officials should hold talks with more airlines to increase operations. "We are glad to have operations to Mumbai and Vietnam. But, this is not enough and efforts must be taken to get operations to Delhi, Thailand and other destinations," said N Ramesh, a travel agent. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp TIRUCHY: The international airport's winter schedule taking effect on October 29 brings with it hope for the city's travel sector. Among the new operations are an additional flight to Chennai, a daily flight to Mumbai and a flight to Vietnam for the period of the winter schedule which ends on March 30, 2024. Despite high expectations of a daily flight to Delhi, no such flight has yet been announced. Senior officials, however, said talks are on with various operators for it. At present, Tiruchy Airport operates four daily flights to Chennai, three to Bengaluru and one to Hyderabad. From October 29, the number of daily flights to Chennai will be increased to five, and IndiGo will start operations on the Tiruchy-Mumbai route after a gap of over two years from November 4. The flight will leave Tiruchy at 3.40 pm and reach Mumbai at 5.40 pm.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Similarly, the airport currently operates flights to Kuwait, Singapore, Sharjah, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Doha, Muscat and Abu Dhabi. Starting November 4, Vietjet will commence operations between Tiruchy and Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. This flight will be available on every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Officials believe said the new services would increase footfall in the airport by at least 10%. "On average, 4,000 international passengers and 1,200 domestic passengers pass through Tiruchy airport every day. The new flights to Chennai, Mumbai, and Vietnam will lead to a 10% increase in passenger footfall in Tiruchy," a senior airport official said. Airline officials said that the push in footfall would also attract more operations to Tiruchy. "Tiruchy is the second largest airport in Tamil Nadu and there is a good response on most existing routes. Since Tiruchy-Mumbai is a potential route it will have 90% occupancy on most days. We are expecting good response to operations to Vietnam," an airline official said. Meanwhile, travel operators said that airport officials should hold talks with more airlines to increase operations. "We are glad to have operations to Mumbai and Vietnam. But, this is not enough and efforts must be taken to get operations to Delhi, Thailand and other destinations," said N Ramesh, a travel agent. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, is set to be part of the Diverse Epigenetic Epidemiology Partnership (DEEP), a five-year international project which has been sanctioned a fund of 2.5 million GBP (around Rs 25.35 crore) by the Medical Research Council (MRC), United Kingdom. The partnership aims to improve global health by studying the effects of genomic and environmental diversity on differences in disease risk observed across the global population, according to a press release. This is significant as many global communities, such as Indians and Africans, are often under-represented in health studies and the effects of genetic and environmental diversity on health within those communities are often missed. The study will also include researchers from the University of Bristol, UK, the MRC Unit and the Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Dr Giriraj R Chandak, the co-principal investigator, said, Since prior research is heavily biased towards relatively homogeneous European populations, I am very excited at the inclusion of Indian cohorts with longitudinal data on subjects making it possible to draw causal inferences, in association with the trans-ancestry cohorts. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp HYDERABAD: The CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, is set to be part of the Diverse Epigenetic Epidemiology Partnership (DEEP), a five-year international project which has been sanctioned a fund of 2.5 million GBP (around Rs 25.35 crore) by the Medical Research Council (MRC), United Kingdom. The partnership aims to improve global health by studying the effects of genomic and environmental diversity on differences in disease risk observed across the global population, according to a press release. This is significant as many global communities, such as Indians and Africans, are often under-represented in health studies and the effects of genetic and environmental diversity on health within those communities are often missed. The study will also include researchers from the University of Bristol, UK, the MRC Unit and the Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Dr Giriraj R Chandak, the co-principal investigator, said, Since prior research is heavily biased towards relatively homogeneous European populations, I am very excited at the inclusion of Indian cohorts with longitudinal data on subjects making it possible to draw causal inferences, in association with the trans-ancestry cohorts.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Khagesh Meena By Parliament recently introduced three bills to overhaul criminal laws with the aim of providing 'justice'. The bills are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023, which seek to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively. The government has said the introduction of the new criminal laws is to strengthen law and order while making existing laws relevant to the contemporary situation. But these progressive bills have overlooked one of the most contemporaneous changes expected of them, which is making sexual offences, especially rape, gender-neutral. The new bills have again abandoned male victims of sexual offences without any protection. Though the Statement of Objects and Reasons of BNS claims to make offences against women and children gender neutral, no such changes have been made in the sections of the respective bill. The sections relating to sexual offences are the same as the previous laws, which use gendered connotations such as woman as victim and man as perpetrator. Considering it is the first draft of the bill, making sexual offences gender-neutral is an opportunity to make a historic development towards gender equality. For the first time, a gender-neutral definition of rape was proposed in 2012 by the Justice Verma Committee, which recognized the possibility of sexual assault on men, as well as homosexual, transgender and transsexual rape suggesting requisite modifications in the definition of rape in the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2012, which was not included later. Similar recommendations have been made by various high courts to achieve the ends of justice. Addressing the same need, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha with the aim of achieving gender neutrality in sexual crimes. However, the bill failed at its initial stage. There are several reasons why this is the perfect time to make sexual offences gender-neutral. The Supreme Court in the Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India case, while decriminalizing consensual sex between two adults under Section 377 of IPC, also opened the door to decriminalization of non-consensual sexual acts between two adults (homosexual ones), as such acts do not fit in the traditional definition of rape. To transgender people, protection from non-consensual sexual acts was again given by the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which prescribes punishment but with lesser sentences, downplaying the graveness of crimes committed against transgender people. Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 was enacted with an objective -- welfare of transgender people but it is inherently discriminatory towards them. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 does not segregate different crimes of sexual nature into different categories, rather it provides a general term sexual abuse which encompasses all crimes of sexual nature. The use of the wider term sexual abuse puts all types of sexual crimes on equal footing such as gang rape to comparatively petty crimes like outraging modesty. Thus, it undermines the graveness of different crimes and its effect on the victims physical and mental well-being. The quantum of punishment is also considered to be discriminatory. The punishment prescribed under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 for sexual abuse (including rape) committed against a transgender person is six months, which may extend to two years with a fine, whereas in the IPC, the punishment for rape committed against a woman is ten years which may extend to life imprisonment and fine. This difference in punishment is in violation of basic constitutional principles and the fundamental right of equality, as it treats the bodily integrity of women on a higher pedestal than that of transgender people. Thus, incorporating gender neutral laws in new criminal law bills is a way to close this gap of gender inequality in punishing offences of similar nature committed against people of a different gender. Another reason for considering the inclusion of gender-neutral laws is the judicial progression towards the recognition of LBTQIA+ community rights. In the last decade, significant developments have taken place, starting from the recognition of the third gender in the National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India case in 2014 to the same-sex marriage case, which is currently ongoing. It is important to note that this positive move can only be taken by legislation as the Supreme Court has already refused to take such a step. In Criminal Justice Society of India vs Union of India &Ors., a plea to make the rape law gender-neutral was filed. The court accepted that the plea has merit but refused to interfere as it is the legislature's domain to make such changes. Lastly, making a gender-neutral definition of sexual offences will certainly inspire gender sensitization in society. It is generally claimed that the graveness of crimes of sexual nature committed against males is undermined due to social stigma attached which sometimes results in less reporting and treatment of such cases as trivial matters. Therefore, making gender-neutral laws will also lead to normalization of males being victims of sexual crimes. For penalizing any act, the focus should be on two elements of crimes, i.e., the mens rea (mental element) and actus reus (physical element) rather than the societal stereotype that has been attached to binary genders. In case of sexual offence, mens rea is the lack of consent and actus reus is physical touch or penetration (for rape), therefore the crux of sexual offence is lack of consent of the victim and physical touch by the accused, irrespective of the gender of the victim and accused. For making new laws, inspiration should be taken from the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, which has received applause for its gender-neutral protection. Read more web exclusives here (Khagesh Meena is a student at the National Law University, Jodhpur) Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Parliament recently introduced three bills to overhaul criminal laws with the aim of providing 'justice'. The bills are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023, which seek to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively. The government has said the introduction of the new criminal laws is to strengthen law and order while making existing laws relevant to the contemporary situation. But these progressive bills have overlooked one of the most contemporaneous changes expected of them, which is making sexual offences, especially rape, gender-neutral. The new bills have again abandoned male victims of sexual offences without any protection. Though the Statement of Objects and Reasons of BNS claims to make offences against women and children gender neutral, no such changes have been made in the sections of the respective bill. The sections relating to sexual offences are the same as the previous laws, which use gendered connotations such as woman as victim and man as perpetrator. Considering it is the first draft of the bill, making sexual offences gender-neutral is an opportunity to make a historic development towards gender equality. For the first time, a gender-neutral definition of rape was proposed in 2012 by the Justice Verma Committee, which recognized the possibility of sexual assault on men, as well as homosexual, transgender and transsexual rape suggesting requisite modifications in the definition of rape in the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2012, which was not included later. Similar recommendations have been made by various high courts to achieve the ends of justice. Addressing the same need, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha with the aim of achieving gender neutrality in sexual crimes. However, the bill failed at its initial stage.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); There are several reasons why this is the perfect time to make sexual offences gender-neutral. The Supreme Court in the Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India case, while decriminalizing consensual sex between two adults under Section 377 of IPC, also opened the door to decriminalization of non-consensual sexual acts between two adults (homosexual ones), as such acts do not fit in the traditional definition of rape. To transgender people, protection from non-consensual sexual acts was again given by the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which prescribes punishment but with lesser sentences, downplaying the graveness of crimes committed against transgender people. Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 was enacted with an objective -- welfare of transgender people but it is inherently discriminatory towards them. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 does not segregate different crimes of sexual nature into different categories, rather it provides a general term sexual abuse which encompasses all crimes of sexual nature. The use of the wider term sexual abuse puts all types of sexual crimes on equal footing such as gang rape to comparatively petty crimes like outraging modesty. Thus, it undermines the graveness of different crimes and its effect on the victims physical and mental well-being. The quantum of punishment is also considered to be discriminatory. The punishment prescribed under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 for sexual abuse (including rape) committed against a transgender person is six months, which may extend to two years with a fine, whereas in the IPC, the punishment for rape committed against a woman is ten years which may extend to life imprisonment and fine. This difference in punishment is in violation of basic constitutional principles and the fundamental right of equality, as it treats the bodily integrity of women on a higher pedestal than that of transgender people. Thus, incorporating gender neutral laws in new criminal law bills is a way to close this gap of gender inequality in punishing offences of similar nature committed against people of a different gender. Another reason for considering the inclusion of gender-neutral laws is the judicial progression towards the recognition of LBTQIA+ community rights. In the last decade, significant developments have taken place, starting from the recognition of the third gender in the National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India case in 2014 to the same-sex marriage case, which is currently ongoing. It is important to note that this positive move can only be taken by legislation as the Supreme Court has already refused to take such a step. In Criminal Justice Society of India vs Union of India &Ors., a plea to make the rape law gender-neutral was filed. The court accepted that the plea has merit but refused to interfere as it is the legislature's domain to make such changes. Lastly, making a gender-neutral definition of sexual offences will certainly inspire gender sensitization in society. It is generally claimed that the graveness of crimes of sexual nature committed against males is undermined due to social stigma attached which sometimes results in less reporting and treatment of such cases as trivial matters. Therefore, making gender-neutral laws will also lead to normalization of males being victims of sexual crimes. For penalizing any act, the focus should be on two elements of crimes, i.e., the mens rea (mental element) and actus reus (physical element) rather than the societal stereotype that has been attached to binary genders. In case of sexual offence, mens rea is the lack of consent and actus reus is physical touch or penetration (for rape), therefore the crux of sexual offence is lack of consent of the victim and physical touch by the accused, irrespective of the gender of the victim and accused. For making new laws, inspiration should be taken from the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, which has received applause for its gender-neutral protection. Read more web exclusives here (Khagesh Meena is a student at the National Law University, Jodhpur) Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Online Desk With war once again breaking out between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the Middle East, we relook at the historical circumstances that led to the establishment of the state of Israel in Palestine. The modern state of Israel came into existence through the repeated efforts of Zionists to counter the growing anti-semitism in Europe and the West and also to fulfil their long-cherished dream of a Jewish homeland. Britain played a major role in the formation of the modern state of Israel. In the 1880s itself, long before Israel came into being, Jewish people from Europe had started emigrating to Palestine to form agricultural colonies in the region, responding to rising anti-semitism. Later in the year 1917, during World War I, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration which made the British government committed to facilitating the formation of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. There were clear political gains for Britain behind committing to help the Zionist cause. It garnered large support from Jewish groups for the allied powers in the war. Having a pro-British population in Palestine also facilitated the colonial interests of Britain. However, the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent policies of the British 8, largely ignored the already existing indigenous population in Palestine. In response to rising Jewish emigration to Palestine and tensions between the Arabs and Jews, the British government proposed to divide Palestine into two states. When this was rejected by the Arabs, the British started restricting the immigration of Jews into Palestine in 1939. This was in the hope of getting Arab support against Germany and Italy in the Second World War. After the war, the Jews garnered considerable sympathy as the true extent of their losses and persecution under Hitler became visible. This forced Britain to find a solution for the plight of Jews, which led to the facilitation of further immigration into Palestine after 1945, despite resistance from the indigenous population. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted for the formation of a new state of Israel by dividing the British-ruled Palestine into two. However, the plan, and the emigration of more Jews into Palestine, faced strong resistance from the indigenous population. Despite this, the state of Israel was formed in 1948 through the violent military occupation of Palestine, resulting in the death of several civilians and leaving several hundreds of others homeless. Israel came into being on May 14, 1948, and was quickly recognised by the United States, the Soviet Union, and many other governments, fulfilling the Zionist dream of an internationally approved Jewish state. Israel however had to face strong resistance from five surrounding Arab states - Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, which invaded the newly formed state and waged war against the Israeli army. When the war ended in July 1949, Israel controlled one-fifth more territory than was planned in the original partition plan and refused to return to the original partition line. Meanwhile, Jordan occupied the West Bank, which was originally assigned to the Palestinian state by the UN. Subsequently, Palestinian populations were forced out by Israeli troops from areas such as the towns of Lod and Ramla near Tel Aviv airport. In all, more than 600,000 Arab refugees are estimated to have fled their homes as a part of the formation of Israel. The Israeli government refused to permit these refugees, who gathered under UN care in refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, southern Lebanon, and Syria, to return to their homes inside the newly formed Jewish nation, and many Palestinians and their descendants stay in these camps to this day. The newly formed state had to face several challenges including an effective strategy to hold off the resistance from Palestinians and massive Jewish immigration to settle the land in order to survive. It also faced multiple military attacks from its neighbouring countries over the next several decades. Over the years, Israel emerged as one of the most powerful and advanced military forces in the world. It continues to bring in Jews from different parts of the world to live in mostly illegally constructed settlements on occupied Palestinian territories. According to reports, more than 750,000 Israeli settlers live outside internationally recognised borders of the Israel state. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp With war once again breaking out between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the Middle East, we relook at the historical circumstances that led to the establishment of the state of Israel in Palestine. The modern state of Israel came into existence through the repeated efforts of Zionists to counter the growing anti-semitism in Europe and the West and also to fulfil their long-cherished dream of a Jewish homeland. Britain played a major role in the formation of the modern state of Israel. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In the 1880s itself, long before Israel came into being, Jewish people from Europe had started emigrating to Palestine to form agricultural colonies in the region, responding to rising anti-semitism. Later in the year 1917, during World War I, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration which made the British government committed to facilitating the formation of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. There were clear political gains for Britain behind committing to help the Zionist cause. It garnered large support from Jewish groups for the allied powers in the war. Having a pro-British population in Palestine also facilitated the colonial interests of Britain. However, the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent policies of the British 8, largely ignored the already existing indigenous population in Palestine. In response to rising Jewish emigration to Palestine and tensions between the Arabs and Jews, the British government proposed to divide Palestine into two states. When this was rejected by the Arabs, the British started restricting the immigration of Jews into Palestine in 1939. This was in the hope of getting Arab support against Germany and Italy in the Second World War. After the war, the Jews garnered considerable sympathy as the true extent of their losses and persecution under Hitler became visible. This forced Britain to find a solution for the plight of Jews, which led to the facilitation of further immigration into Palestine after 1945, despite resistance from the indigenous population. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted for the formation of a new state of Israel by dividing the British-ruled Palestine into two. However, the plan, and the emigration of more Jews into Palestine, faced strong resistance from the indigenous population. Despite this, the state of Israel was formed in 1948 through the violent military occupation of Palestine, resulting in the death of several civilians and leaving several hundreds of others homeless. Israel came into being on May 14, 1948, and was quickly recognised by the United States, the Soviet Union, and many other governments, fulfilling the Zionist dream of an internationally approved Jewish state. Israel however had to face strong resistance from five surrounding Arab states - Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, which invaded the newly formed state and waged war against the Israeli army. When the war ended in July 1949, Israel controlled one-fifth more territory than was planned in the original partition plan and refused to return to the original partition line. Meanwhile, Jordan occupied the West Bank, which was originally assigned to the Palestinian state by the UN. Subsequently, Palestinian populations were forced out by Israeli troops from areas such as the towns of Lod and Ramla near Tel Aviv airport. In all, more than 600,000 Arab refugees are estimated to have fled their homes as a part of the formation of Israel. The Israeli government refused to permit these refugees, who gathered under UN care in refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, southern Lebanon, and Syria, to return to their homes inside the newly formed Jewish nation, and many Palestinians and their descendants stay in these camps to this day. The newly formed state had to face several challenges including an effective strategy to hold off the resistance from Palestinians and massive Jewish immigration to settle the land in order to survive. It also faced multiple military attacks from its neighbouring countries over the next several decades. Over the years, Israel emerged as one of the most powerful and advanced military forces in the world. It continues to bring in Jews from different parts of the world to live in mostly illegally constructed settlements on occupied Palestinian territories. According to reports, more than 750,000 Israeli settlers live outside internationally recognised borders of the Israel state. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press TEL AVIV: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli leaders that "we have your back" as he reaffirmed US support in the first week of their war against the militant Hamas group. He voiced little public criticism of their stunning demand that some 1 million civilians evacuate northern Gaza. Austin, the second high-level US official sent by President Joe Biden to visit Israel in two days, was seeing firsthand some of the weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel after it was attacked. He stressed that "this is a time for resolve and not revenge, for purpose and not panic and for security and not surrender." The defence secretary's quick trip to Israel from Brussels, where he was attending a NATO defence ministers meeting, came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region. Blinken is continuing the frantic Mideast diplomacy, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict. Israel-Hamas war | CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES The Israeli military directed Gaza City residents to evacuate "for their own safety and protection," ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Gaza's Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to "remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel. Asked about the likelihood of civilian casualties in Gaza, Austin said Israel has the right to defend itself and added that he has worked with Israeli forces over the years, when he was in the military. "They are professional, they are disciplined and they are focused on the right things," he told reporters, after meeting for nearly two hours with Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. Gallant did not answer a question about whether his forces will give civilians just 24 hours to leave Gaza. But he said those who want to save their lives must "go south." ALSO READ | Amid Israel's ultimatum, Palestinian officials say hospital evacuations 'impossible' Before the press conference, Austin met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reassuring the prime, "As the president said, we have your back." He added, "We do stand with you, Mr Prime Minister." Defence officials travelling with Austin said he wants to underscore America's unwavering support for the people of Israel and commitment to making sure the country has what it needs to defend itself. A second shipment of arms was arriving Friday as well from the US, Gallant said. A senior defence official said the US has already given Israel small-diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome system and more will be delivered. Austin has spoken nearly daily with Gallant and has directed the rapid shift of US ships, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and the region. Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the US moved warships and aircraft to the region. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing Friday from Virginia, also heading to the region. Austin declined to say if the US is doing surveillance flights in the region, but the US is providing intelligence and other planning assistance to the Israelis, including advice on the hostage situation. Biden told CBS' "60 Minutes" that he would speak Friday to families of US hostages held by Hamas. "They have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what's happening. Deeply," Biden said. "We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behaviour. It's pure barbarism. And we're going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them." ALSO READ | Morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital is overflowing as Israeli attacks intensify A day after visiting Israel to offer the Biden administration's diplomatic support in person, Blinken was in Jordan on Friday and held talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II. They did not speak to reporters after the meeting. Blinken then went on to a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has a home in Amman, the Jordanian capital, before leaving for Qatar. Blinken discussed Hamas' Oct. 7 attack with the king and efforts to release all hostages the militants seized, as well as efforts to "prevent the conflict from widening," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. In his meeting with Abbas, Blinken stressed many of the same points and took care to express condolences for the loss of Palestinian civilian lives, Miller said. Blinken also "thanked President Abbas and his team for their work to further calm the situation for the benefit of Palestinians, Israelis, and the tens of thousands of Americans who also call the West Bank home," the spokesman said. The US top diplomat "underscored that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination and discussed ways to address the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza while Israel conducts legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism," Miller said. The monarch rules over a country with a large Palestinian population and has a vested interest in their status while Abbas runs the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank. ALSO READ | Thousands protest across Middle East in support of Palestinians According to a palace statement, Abdullah stressed the need to open humanitarian corridors for medical aid and relief in Gaza while protecting civilians and working to end the escalation of the conflict. He appealed against hindering the work of international agencies and warned against any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza and elsewhere or to cause their internal displacement. Earlier on Friday, Israel's military had told some 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north, according to the United Nations an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion by Israel against the ruling Hamas. The king also urged for the protection of innocent civilians on all sides, in line with shared human values, international law and international humanitarian law. In Doha, Qatar's capital, Blinken is to meet later Friday with Qatari officials who have close contacts with the Hamas leadership and have been exploring an exchange of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for the release of dozens of Israelis and foreigners taken hostage by Hamas during the militants' unprecedented incursion into southern Israel last weekend. Blinken will make a brief stop in Bahrain and end the day in Saudi Arabia, a key player in the Arab world that has been considering normalizing ties with Israel, a US-mediated process that is now on hold. He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp TEL AVIV: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli leaders that "we have your back" as he reaffirmed US support in the first week of their war against the militant Hamas group. He voiced little public criticism of their stunning demand that some 1 million civilians evacuate northern Gaza. Austin, the second high-level US official sent by President Joe Biden to visit Israel in two days, was seeing firsthand some of the weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel after it was attacked. He stressed that "this is a time for resolve and not revenge, for purpose and not panic and for security and not surrender." The defence secretary's quick trip to Israel from Brussels, where he was attending a NATO defence ministers meeting, came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region. Blinken is continuing the frantic Mideast diplomacy, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Israel-Hamas war | CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES The Israeli military directed Gaza City residents to evacuate "for their own safety and protection," ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Gaza's Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to "remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel. Asked about the likelihood of civilian casualties in Gaza, Austin said Israel has the right to defend itself and added that he has worked with Israeli forces over the years, when he was in the military. "They are professional, they are disciplined and they are focused on the right things," he told reporters, after meeting for nearly two hours with Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. Gallant did not answer a question about whether his forces will give civilians just 24 hours to leave Gaza. But he said those who want to save their lives must "go south." ALSO READ | Amid Israel's ultimatum, Palestinian officials say hospital evacuations 'impossible' Before the press conference, Austin met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reassuring the prime, "As the president said, we have your back." He added, "We do stand with you, Mr Prime Minister." Defence officials travelling with Austin said he wants to underscore America's unwavering support for the people of Israel and commitment to making sure the country has what it needs to defend itself. A second shipment of arms was arriving Friday as well from the US, Gallant said. A senior defence official said the US has already given Israel small-diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome system and more will be delivered. Austin has spoken nearly daily with Gallant and has directed the rapid shift of US ships, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and the region. Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the US moved warships and aircraft to the region. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing Friday from Virginia, also heading to the region. Austin declined to say if the US is doing surveillance flights in the region, but the US is providing intelligence and other planning assistance to the Israelis, including advice on the hostage situation. Biden told CBS' "60 Minutes" that he would speak Friday to families of US hostages held by Hamas. "They have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what's happening. Deeply," Biden said. "We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behaviour. It's pure barbarism. And we're going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them." ALSO READ | Morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital is overflowing as Israeli attacks intensify A day after visiting Israel to offer the Biden administration's diplomatic support in person, Blinken was in Jordan on Friday and held talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II. They did not speak to reporters after the meeting. Blinken then went on to a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has a home in Amman, the Jordanian capital, before leaving for Qatar. Blinken discussed Hamas' Oct. 7 attack with the king and efforts to release all hostages the militants seized, as well as efforts to "prevent the conflict from widening," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. In his meeting with Abbas, Blinken stressed many of the same points and took care to express condolences for the loss of Palestinian civilian lives, Miller said. Blinken also "thanked President Abbas and his team for their work to further calm the situation for the benefit of Palestinians, Israelis, and the tens of thousands of Americans who also call the West Bank home," the spokesman said. The US top diplomat "underscored that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination and discussed ways to address the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza while Israel conducts legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism," Miller said. The monarch rules over a country with a large Palestinian population and has a vested interest in their status while Abbas runs the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank. ALSO READ | Thousands protest across Middle East in support of Palestinians According to a palace statement, Abdullah stressed the need to open humanitarian corridors for medical aid and relief in Gaza while protecting civilians and working to end the escalation of the conflict. He appealed against hindering the work of international agencies and warned against any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza and elsewhere or to cause their internal displacement. Earlier on Friday, Israel's military had told some 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north, according to the United Nations an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion by Israel against the ruling Hamas. The king also urged for the protection of innocent civilians on all sides, in line with shared human values, international law and international humanitarian law. In Doha, Qatar's capital, Blinken is to meet later Friday with Qatari officials who have close contacts with the Hamas leadership and have been exploring an exchange of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for the release of dozens of Israelis and foreigners taken hostage by Hamas during the militants' unprecedented incursion into southern Israel last weekend. Blinken will make a brief stop in Bahrain and end the day in Saudi Arabia, a key player in the Arab world that has been considering normalizing ties with Israel, a US-mediated process that is now on hold. He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP GENEVA: Palestinian officials have told WHO that it would be impossible to move vulnerable hospital patients to the southern Gaza Strip, the UN health body said Friday. Israel has given Palestinians 24 hours to leave the northern Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive in retaliation against Hamas for the deadliest attack in Israeli history. The two major hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip had already exceeded their combined 760-bed capacity, "and the hospitals in the south of Gaza are overflowing", WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva. "There are severely ill people whose injuries mean their only chances of survival is being on life support, such as mechanical ventilators[...] So moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel," said Jasarevic CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT "With ongoing airstrikes, civilians have no safe place left to go. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed WHO that is impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients from the north of Gaza," the WHO spokesperson added. Jasarevic said the health system in the Gaza Strip was now at "breaking point", with six of the seven main hospitals in Gaza only partially functioning. "WHO joins the wider United Nations in appealing to Israel to immediately rescind orders for the evacuation within the next 24 hours of 1.1 million people living north of Wadi Gaza, and an end to hostilities and violence in the Gaza Strip, where unimaginable human suffering is unfolding," the spokesman said. ALSO READ | 'Woke up to sound of sirens': Indian evacuees from Israel recount horror Concern is rising over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the long-blockaded Palestinian enclave, where Israel has now imposed a total siege, cutting off water, food and energy supplies. "Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel, water, food and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade," said Jasarevic. The WHO said it stood ready to bring medical supplies into the Gaza Strip once it is able to do so. "We have our logistics hub in Dubai and we are ready to move as soon as we get a signal," Jasarevic said. ALSO READ | Morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital is overflowing as Israeli attacks intensify Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp GENEVA: Palestinian officials have told WHO that it would be impossible to move vulnerable hospital patients to the southern Gaza Strip, the UN health body said Friday. Israel has given Palestinians 24 hours to leave the northern Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive in retaliation against Hamas for the deadliest attack in Israeli history. The two major hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip had already exceeded their combined 760-bed capacity, "and the hospitals in the south of Gaza are overflowing", WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "There are severely ill people whose injuries mean their only chances of survival is being on life support, such as mechanical ventilators[...] So moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel," said Jasarevic CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT "With ongoing airstrikes, civilians have no safe place left to go. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed WHO that is impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients from the north of Gaza," the WHO spokesperson added. Jasarevic said the health system in the Gaza Strip was now at "breaking point", with six of the seven main hospitals in Gaza only partially functioning. "WHO joins the wider United Nations in appealing to Israel to immediately rescind orders for the evacuation within the next 24 hours of 1.1 million people living north of Wadi Gaza, and an end to hostilities and violence in the Gaza Strip, where unimaginable human suffering is unfolding," the spokesman said. ALSO READ | 'Woke up to sound of sirens': Indian evacuees from Israel recount horror Concern is rising over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the long-blockaded Palestinian enclave, where Israel has now imposed a total siege, cutting off water, food and energy supplies. "Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel, water, food and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade," said Jasarevic. The WHO said it stood ready to bring medical supplies into the Gaza Strip once it is able to do so. "We have our logistics hub in Dubai and we are ready to move as soon as we get a signal," Jasarevic said. ALSO READ | Morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital is overflowing as Israeli attacks intensify Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press JERUSALEM: The Israel military pulverized the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said Thursday its complete siege on the territory which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine would remain in place until Hamas militants freed some 150 hostages taken during a deadly weekend incursion. A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of US weapons, were a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas grisly weekend attack, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Since the grisly attack by Hamas militants, Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gazas 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces are preparing for a ground maneuver should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Hamas assault on Saturday killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday hit international airports in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and in the northern city of Aleppo, putting them out of service. The relentless barrage on Gaza 6,000 munitions dropped since the conflict began, the military said left Palestinians running through streets with what belongings they could carry, looking for a safe place. Strikes in the Jabaliya refugee camp Thursday afternoon collapsed two residential buildings with dozens belonging to several families sheltering inside, said a neighbor, Khalil Abu Yahia. Rescue workers were bringing out the dead, he and another neighbor said, but the toll was not immediately confirmed. The camp has seen non-stop bombardment for days. We cant flee because anywhere you go you are bombed. You need a miracle to survive here, Aby Yahia said. The number of people who fled their homes reached 340,000 people by Wednesday night roughly 15% of Gazas population. Most crowded into UN-run schools while others are staying with relatives or even strangers. Families were cutting down to one meal a day to conserve supplies, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al- Azhar University, who has 32 members of his family sheltering in his home. Water stopped coming to the building two days ago, and they were rationing whats left in the tank on the roof. Alaa Younis Abuel-Omrain has been staying in a UN school after a strike on her home killed eight members of her family -- her mother, aunt, a sister, a brother and his wife and their three children. She said food supplies were running out. Most bakeries stopped producing bread for lack of electricity. Even if there is food in some areas, we cant get to it because of strikes, she said. Many children will die from hunger. On Wednesday, Gazas only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators. Hospitals, overwhelmed by a constant stream of wounded and running out of supplies, have only a few days worth of fuel before their power cuts off, aid officials say. The cut-off has also caused dire water shortages for over 650,000 people, according to the UN Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues, said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Newborn incubators, kidney dialysis machines, X-rays, and more, are all dependent on power, he said. Ambulance crews carrying bodies from the rubble of demolished buildings to the morgue at Gazas biggest hospital, Shifa, found no space left. Dozens of bodies in body bags were lined up in the hospital parking lot. Fourteen health facilities have been damaged in strikes, health officials said Thursday. The situation is very critical, said Shifa hospital director Mohammad Abu Selmia. Weve never seen days in Gaza like what we see now. With Israel sealing off the territory, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah. Egypts Foreign Ministry said it has not officially closed Rafah but airstrikes have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to convince Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Netanyahu said Hamas atrocities included beheading soldiers and raping women, descriptions that could not immediately be independently confirmed. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. Four previous conflicts ended with the group still firmly in control of the territory it has ruled since 2007. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists, massed additional forces near Gaza and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities. A new war Cabinet, which includes a longtime opposition politician, was sworn in on Thursday to direct the fight. A high-ranking Hamas official, Saleh Al-Arouri, warned on Thursday that any Israeli invasion of Gaza will turn into a disaster for its army, saying the group was prepared to respond. Blinkens visit underscored American backing for Israels retaliation. You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to, Blinken said after meeting with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. We will always be there by your side. Blinken said he told Netanyahu its so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. Blinken is to meet Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority is confined to parts of the occupied West Bank, and Jordans King Abdullah II. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in a 1967 war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state, but there have been no peace talks in over a decade. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Israel says no water or fuel to Gaza until hostages are freed In Gaza, the Israeli military said overnight strikes targeted Hamas elite Nukhba forces, including command centers used by the fighters in Saturdays attack, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative that it said was used to store unspecified weapons. Other airstrikes killed commanders from two smaller militant groups, according to media linked to those organizations. Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership, Hecht, the military spokesman, said of Hamas. Not only the military leadership, but also the governmental leadership, all the way up to (top Hamas leader Yehia) Sinwar. Israel is employing a new tactic of leveling whole neighborhoods, rather than just individual buildings. Hecht said targeting decisions were based on intelligence and civilians were warned. Even with the warnings, Palestinians say some are unable to escape or have nowhere to go. The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on Thursday when Israeli settlers sprayed bullets at a funeral for three people killed in a settler rampage the day before. Footage showed Jewish settlers in their cars swerving into the funeral procession and cutting off the road before stopping and opening fire. The Health Ministry says more than two dozen Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and two in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem since Saturday, most when police fired on stone-throwing protesters. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JERUSALEM: The Israel military pulverized the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said Thursday its complete siege on the territory which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine would remain in place until Hamas militants freed some 150 hostages taken during a deadly weekend incursion. A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of US weapons, were a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas grisly weekend attack, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Since the grisly attack by Hamas militants, Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gazas 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces are preparing for a ground maneuver should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Hamas assault on Saturday killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday hit international airports in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and in the northern city of Aleppo, putting them out of service. The relentless barrage on Gaza 6,000 munitions dropped since the conflict began, the military said left Palestinians running through streets with what belongings they could carry, looking for a safe place. Strikes in the Jabaliya refugee camp Thursday afternoon collapsed two residential buildings with dozens belonging to several families sheltering inside, said a neighbor, Khalil Abu Yahia. Rescue workers were bringing out the dead, he and another neighbor said, but the toll was not immediately confirmed. The camp has seen non-stop bombardment for days. We cant flee because anywhere you go you are bombed. You need a miracle to survive here, Aby Yahia said. The number of people who fled their homes reached 340,000 people by Wednesday night roughly 15% of Gazas population. Most crowded into UN-run schools while others are staying with relatives or even strangers. Families were cutting down to one meal a day to conserve supplies, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al- Azhar University, who has 32 members of his family sheltering in his home. Water stopped coming to the building two days ago, and they were rationing whats left in the tank on the roof. Alaa Younis Abuel-Omrain has been staying in a UN school after a strike on her home killed eight members of her family -- her mother, aunt, a sister, a brother and his wife and their three children. She said food supplies were running out. Most bakeries stopped producing bread for lack of electricity. Even if there is food in some areas, we cant get to it because of strikes, she said. Many children will die from hunger. On Wednesday, Gazas only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators. Hospitals, overwhelmed by a constant stream of wounded and running out of supplies, have only a few days worth of fuel before their power cuts off, aid officials say. The cut-off has also caused dire water shortages for over 650,000 people, according to the UN Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues, said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Newborn incubators, kidney dialysis machines, X-rays, and more, are all dependent on power, he said. Ambulance crews carrying bodies from the rubble of demolished buildings to the morgue at Gazas biggest hospital, Shifa, found no space left. Dozens of bodies in body bags were lined up in the hospital parking lot. Fourteen health facilities have been damaged in strikes, health officials said Thursday. The situation is very critical, said Shifa hospital director Mohammad Abu Selmia. Weve never seen days in Gaza like what we see now. With Israel sealing off the territory, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah. Egypts Foreign Ministry said it has not officially closed Rafah but airstrikes have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to convince Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Netanyahu said Hamas atrocities included beheading soldiers and raping women, descriptions that could not immediately be independently confirmed. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. Four previous conflicts ended with the group still firmly in control of the territory it has ruled since 2007. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists, massed additional forces near Gaza and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities. A new war Cabinet, which includes a longtime opposition politician, was sworn in on Thursday to direct the fight. A high-ranking Hamas official, Saleh Al-Arouri, warned on Thursday that any Israeli invasion of Gaza will turn into a disaster for its army, saying the group was prepared to respond. Blinkens visit underscored American backing for Israels retaliation. You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to, Blinken said after meeting with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. We will always be there by your side. Blinken said he told Netanyahu its so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. Blinken is to meet Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority is confined to parts of the occupied West Bank, and Jordans King Abdullah II. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in a 1967 war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state, but there have been no peace talks in over a decade. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Israel says no water or fuel to Gaza until hostages are freed In Gaza, the Israeli military said overnight strikes targeted Hamas elite Nukhba forces, including command centers used by the fighters in Saturdays attack, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative that it said was used to store unspecified weapons. Other airstrikes killed commanders from two smaller militant groups, according to media linked to those organizations. Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership, Hecht, the military spokesman, said of Hamas. Not only the military leadership, but also the governmental leadership, all the way up to (top Hamas leader Yehia) Sinwar. Israel is employing a new tactic of leveling whole neighborhoods, rather than just individual buildings. Hecht said targeting decisions were based on intelligence and civilians were warned. Even with the warnings, Palestinians say some are unable to escape or have nowhere to go. The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on Thursday when Israeli settlers sprayed bullets at a funeral for three people killed in a settler rampage the day before. Footage showed Jewish settlers in their cars swerving into the funeral procession and cutting off the road before stopping and opening fire. The Health Ministry says more than two dozen Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and two in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem since Saturday, most when police fired on stone-throwing protesters. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP DOHA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Friday on Israel to limit Palestinian civilian deaths as he worked to set up safe areas in the Gaza Strip, seeking to keep calm in the Arab world following a major Hamas attack. After a solidarity visit to Tel Aviv, Blinken, on a six-nation tour of the Arab world, again defended Israel's right to respond but also stepped up the tone on protecting innocent Palestinians. "We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians," Blinken told a news conference in Qatar. "We recognise many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives," he said. ALSO READ: 'Where do we go?', Gazans ask after Israel's evacuation warning But he said that Israel was within its rights after the "unconscionable" attacks by Hamas. "What Israel is doing is not retaliation. What Israel is doing is defending the lives of its people," he said. "Any country, faced with what Israel has suffered, would likely do the same thing." Blinken praised Qatar, which has longstanding relations with Hamas, for showing "urgency" in efforts to persuade the militants to free an estimated 150 hostages. As anger swells around the Arab world, Blinken also discussed ways to protect civilians in Hamas-controlled Gaza where Israel called Friday on more than one million people to evacuate ahead of an expected ground invasion. The Israeli military confirmed Friday that ground forces had already made raids into Gaza over the past 24 hours. A US official said Israel agreed with Blinken in the talks in Tel Aviv on "the need to establish some safe areas where civilians could relocate, be safe from Israel's legitimate security operations". "The Israelis are committed to it," the US official told reporters on condition of anonymity on Blinken's plane. Hamas militants on October 7 shocked Israel by breaching its southern border and killing more than 1,300 people, including children, the elderly and revellers at a music festival. Even before an expected ground operation, Israel has killed at least 1,799 people in relentless strikes on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack, and has cut off food, water and electricity. In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that evacuating 1.1 million people would be "a tall order". US officials also appeared to backtrack on earlier efforts to let Gazans flee to adjacent Egypt, saying they did not see wide support and instead wanted safe areas within Gaza. Instead, the United States is working with both Egypt and Israel to let Americans and other foreign nationals leave through the Rafah border crossing, the US official said. Concerns from Jordan Blinken opened the day consulting in Amman with King Abdullah II as well as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. The Jordanian king, a longtime US partner, called for "humanitarian corridors" to bring relief into Gaza and de-escalate the situation, a statement from the royal court said. Abdullah, whose kingdom is home to two million Palestinian refugees, warned against another permanent displacement, this time from Gaza. "The crisis should not be spread to neighbouring countries and exacerbate the refugee issue," the king told Blinken. READ MORE: Israel-Hamas war: Thousands protest across Middle East in support of Palestinians Blinken later headed to Qatar, which has ties with both the United States and Hamas, whose primary foreign backer is Iran's clerical state. The top US diplomat will later head to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Saudi Arabia in the weeks before the attacks had spoken of progress in US-led diplomacy to normalise relations with Israel -- a landmark step for the conservative kingdom that is guardian of Islam's two holiest sites. Few expect the momentum to be maintained, with the Saudis joining Qatar in blaming Israeli policies towards the Palestinians for the flare-up in violence. Blinken also promised to work with the Palestinian Authority and praised Abbas for efforts to maintain calm in the West Bank over the past week. The nearly 88-year-old Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority enjoys small levels of autonomy in the West Bank, is a sworn foe of Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long sought to sideline the Palestinian Authority and Abbas, saying he is insufficiently committed to stopping violence, with the hard-right Israeli government rejecting the prospect of a two-state solution. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp DOHA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Friday on Israel to limit Palestinian civilian deaths as he worked to set up safe areas in the Gaza Strip, seeking to keep calm in the Arab world following a major Hamas attack. After a solidarity visit to Tel Aviv, Blinken, on a six-nation tour of the Arab world, again defended Israel's right to respond but also stepped up the tone on protecting innocent Palestinians. "We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians," Blinken told a news conference in Qatar.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "We recognise many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives," he said. ALSO READ: 'Where do we go?', Gazans ask after Israel's evacuation warning But he said that Israel was within its rights after the "unconscionable" attacks by Hamas. "What Israel is doing is not retaliation. What Israel is doing is defending the lives of its people," he said. "Any country, faced with what Israel has suffered, would likely do the same thing." Blinken praised Qatar, which has longstanding relations with Hamas, for showing "urgency" in efforts to persuade the militants to free an estimated 150 hostages. As anger swells around the Arab world, Blinken also discussed ways to protect civilians in Hamas-controlled Gaza where Israel called Friday on more than one million people to evacuate ahead of an expected ground invasion. The Israeli military confirmed Friday that ground forces had already made raids into Gaza over the past 24 hours. A US official said Israel agreed with Blinken in the talks in Tel Aviv on "the need to establish some safe areas where civilians could relocate, be safe from Israel's legitimate security operations". "The Israelis are committed to it," the US official told reporters on condition of anonymity on Blinken's plane. Hamas militants on October 7 shocked Israel by breaching its southern border and killing more than 1,300 people, including children, the elderly and revellers at a music festival. Even before an expected ground operation, Israel has killed at least 1,799 people in relentless strikes on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack, and has cut off food, water and electricity. In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that evacuating 1.1 million people would be "a tall order". US officials also appeared to backtrack on earlier efforts to let Gazans flee to adjacent Egypt, saying they did not see wide support and instead wanted safe areas within Gaza. Instead, the United States is working with both Egypt and Israel to let Americans and other foreign nationals leave through the Rafah border crossing, the US official said. Concerns from Jordan Blinken opened the day consulting in Amman with King Abdullah II as well as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. The Jordanian king, a longtime US partner, called for "humanitarian corridors" to bring relief into Gaza and de-escalate the situation, a statement from the royal court said. Abdullah, whose kingdom is home to two million Palestinian refugees, warned against another permanent displacement, this time from Gaza. "The crisis should not be spread to neighbouring countries and exacerbate the refugee issue," the king told Blinken. READ MORE: Israel-Hamas war: Thousands protest across Middle East in support of Palestinians Blinken later headed to Qatar, which has ties with both the United States and Hamas, whose primary foreign backer is Iran's clerical state. The top US diplomat will later head to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Saudi Arabia in the weeks before the attacks had spoken of progress in US-led diplomacy to normalise relations with Israel -- a landmark step for the conservative kingdom that is guardian of Islam's two holiest sites. Few expect the momentum to be maintained, with the Saudis joining Qatar in blaming Israeli policies towards the Palestinians for the flare-up in violence. Blinken also promised to work with the Palestinian Authority and praised Abbas for efforts to maintain calm in the West Bank over the past week. The nearly 88-year-old Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority enjoys small levels of autonomy in the West Bank, is a sworn foe of Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long sought to sideline the Palestinian Authority and Abbas, saying he is insufficiently committed to stopping violence, with the hard-right Israeli government rejecting the prospect of a two-state solution. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Despite Nay-Sayers, Digital Assets Industry is Here to Stay: The Bahamas Prime Minister Source: Pixabay Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis says that the island nation will continue to maintain its pioneering role in the digital asset space and stressed on the importance of innovation to adapt emerging trends in fintech and decentralized finance (DeFi) advancements. The pro-crypto leader emphasized that the digital asset industry is here to stay, despite criticizers who have raised concerns over the industrys viability. The Bahamas will continue to be a pioneer in the digital asset space, he said during his opening speech at the D3 Bahamas conference on Wednesday. Despite the nay-sayers, the digital assets industry is here to stay. Davis said that the Bahamas would develop an effective and stable regulatory framework which is important for the cryptocurrency industry. Amendments to Digital Assets Act The Bahamas is looking to amend its Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act in a move to consistently evolve its regime to meet the latest threats and risks as they emerge. The amendments will also place the nation among the best-regulated jurisdictions in the world, Davis added. The country is planning to bring in measures to clarify the regulation of stablecoins, introducing robust investor protection and framework for digital assets staking. We expect the amendments to be tabled in Parliament shortly and passed through both chambers by the end of the year. Davis also foresees that web3 and fintech will transform global financial systems in unprecedented ways. Furthermore, as there is a growing population of unbanked people, particularly in the Caribbean and Latin America, Prime Minister Davis underscored that the nations crypto adoption is not only about attracting investors, but also addressing domestic challenges. We see fintech and DeFi as opportunities to promote greater financial inclusion throughout our archipelago and across the region. The government is also mulling on crypto education, said Davis. The University of The Bahamas has entered into a licensing agreement with the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance to provide fintech academic program. The Bahamas launched the worlds first blockchain-based central bank digital currency (CBDC) the Sand Dollar in October 2020. The island nation has also been home to the beleaguered FTX exchange, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022. In April, Davis said that the country is open for business for legitimate digital-assets companies and that the Bahamas hasnt lost its zeal for being at the forefront of the digital-assets industry, despite FTXs failure and alleged fraud. By Associated Press BEIJING: An employee of the Israeli Embassy in Beijing was attacked on Friday and later hospitalized, the country's Foreign Ministry said. China did not immediately acknowledge the assault. It wasn't clear what sparked the incident, though it comes after Israel criticized Chinas statement following the unprecedented and deadly incursion by the militant group Hamas into southern Israel last Saturday. The attack sparked an ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. The Beijing assault did not happen on the embassy's grounds, an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said. The identity of the employee was not made public and no one claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred as Muslims across the world took to the streets in large protests after Friday prayers over Israels intense bombing campaign in Gaza. There was "no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organization Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza", the statement said. "The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society." Israel-Hamas war LIVE | 'Stay put' says Hamas, as Israel tells 1.1m Palestinians to flee Northern Gaza An earlier Chinese statement about the phone conversation said that Beijing condemns actions that harm innocent civilians and is "deeply concerned over the escalation of tensions and violence ... and saddened by the civilian casualties caused by the conflict." Asked about the Israeli statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated that China opposes acts harming citizens and violating international law. "China will continue to work unremittingly for de-escalation of the situation and the resumption of peace talks," he said. In Beijing, about half-a-dozen plainclothes police were stationed outside the Israeli Embassy in addition to the normal contingent of uniformed officers. Some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) away at the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing, plainclothes officers were also on hand and one was tightening wires on a fence. Since the war broke out, antisemitic remarks have surged on Chinese social media. Bombarded with hostile messages, the Israeli Embassy in Beijing is filtering comments on its Chinese social media account. The embassy selected a comment that said, "Support Israel! Destroy the terrorist organization!" -- the remarks got 5,700 likes. ALSO READ | After Israel's 24-hour ultimatum, Palestinian officials say hospital evacuations 'impossible' Chinese state media have blamed the United States for fanning tensions in the region. "The Chinese government has always propagated a narrative that places the blame squarely on Israel, a key U.S. ally, because this aligns with a key objective of (the ruling Communist Partys) propaganda: to undermine the US in the international community," said Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Freedom House. This time, it is no exception. While the United States remains Israel's top ally, China in recent months had tried to reach out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government as tensions had risen with Washington over Netanyahus planned overhaul of the countrys judiciary, which sparked months of protests. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were in the region Friday in support of Israel while President Joe Biden also has spoken out against the Hamas attack. America also has sent additional arms to Israel, deployed one aircraft carrier group and plans to send another to discourage a regional escalation as Israel prepares for a possible ground offensive in Gaza. The US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, tweeted on X that we are shocked by todays attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing and said the embassy had offered its full support to the Israeli Embassy and the Israeli community in China. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war a 'new cloud' over world economy: IMF US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing earlier this week, voiced dissatisfaction over the initial Chinese statement on the deadly Hamas incursion. Schumer later said he was gratified when a Foreign Ministry spokesperson later added that China is "deeply saddened by the civilian casualties and opposes and condemns acts that harm civilians". Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BEIJING: An employee of the Israeli Embassy in Beijing was attacked on Friday and later hospitalized, the country's Foreign Ministry said. China did not immediately acknowledge the assault. It wasn't clear what sparked the incident, though it comes after Israel criticized Chinas statement following the unprecedented and deadly incursion by the militant group Hamas into southern Israel last Saturday. The attack sparked an ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. The Beijing assault did not happen on the embassy's grounds, an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said. The identity of the employee was not made public and no one claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred as Muslims across the world took to the streets in large protests after Friday prayers over Israels intense bombing campaign in Gaza.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); There was "no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organization Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza", the statement said. "The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society." Israel-Hamas war LIVE | 'Stay put' says Hamas, as Israel tells 1.1m Palestinians to flee Northern Gaza An earlier Chinese statement about the phone conversation said that Beijing condemns actions that harm innocent civilians and is "deeply concerned over the escalation of tensions and violence ... and saddened by the civilian casualties caused by the conflict." Asked about the Israeli statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated that China opposes acts harming citizens and violating international law. "China will continue to work unremittingly for de-escalation of the situation and the resumption of peace talks," he said. In Beijing, about half-a-dozen plainclothes police were stationed outside the Israeli Embassy in addition to the normal contingent of uniformed officers. Some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) away at the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing, plainclothes officers were also on hand and one was tightening wires on a fence. Since the war broke out, antisemitic remarks have surged on Chinese social media. Bombarded with hostile messages, the Israeli Embassy in Beijing is filtering comments on its Chinese social media account. The embassy selected a comment that said, "Support Israel! Destroy the terrorist organization!" -- the remarks got 5,700 likes. ALSO READ | After Israel's 24-hour ultimatum, Palestinian officials say hospital evacuations 'impossible' Chinese state media have blamed the United States for fanning tensions in the region. "The Chinese government has always propagated a narrative that places the blame squarely on Israel, a key U.S. ally, because this aligns with a key objective of (the ruling Communist Partys) propaganda: to undermine the US in the international community," said Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Freedom House. This time, it is no exception. While the United States remains Israel's top ally, China in recent months had tried to reach out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government as tensions had risen with Washington over Netanyahus planned overhaul of the countrys judiciary, which sparked months of protests. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were in the region Friday in support of Israel while President Joe Biden also has spoken out against the Hamas attack. America also has sent additional arms to Israel, deployed one aircraft carrier group and plans to send another to discourage a regional escalation as Israel prepares for a possible ground offensive in Gaza. The US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, tweeted on X that we are shocked by todays attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing and said the embassy had offered its full support to the Israeli Embassy and the Israeli community in China. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war a 'new cloud' over world economy: IMF US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing earlier this week, voiced dissatisfaction over the initial Chinese statement on the deadly Hamas incursion. Schumer later said he was gratified when a Foreign Ministry spokesperson later added that China is "deeply saddened by the civilian casualties and opposes and condemns acts that harm civilians". Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press JERUSALEM: Gazas interior ministry on Thursday said that an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza has killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more. Eyad Bozum, the spokesperson of the interior ministry, told The Associated Press that a late afternoon airstrike hit the al-Shihab family house at the center of the Jabaliya camp. The al-Shihab house was packed with dozens of relatives at the time of the airstrike. Some family members had fled heavy bombing from other parts of the strip and taken refuge there. Bozum said the death toll was likely to rise from that airstrike, because civil defense workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble and counting the dead. The Israel military pulverized the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said Thursday its complete siege on the territory which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine would remain in place until Hamas militants freed some 150 hostages taken during a deadly weekend incursion. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Israel says no water or fuel to Gaza until hostages are freed A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of US weapons, were a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas grisly weekend attack, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gazas 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp JERUSALEM: Gazas interior ministry on Thursday said that an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza has killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more. Eyad Bozum, the spokesperson of the interior ministry, told The Associated Press that a late afternoon airstrike hit the al-Shihab family house at the center of the Jabaliya camp. The al-Shihab house was packed with dozens of relatives at the time of the airstrike. Some family members had fled heavy bombing from other parts of the strip and taken refuge there.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Bozum said the death toll was likely to rise from that airstrike, because civil defense workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble and counting the dead. The Israel military pulverized the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said Thursday its complete siege on the territory which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine would remain in place until Hamas militants freed some 150 hostages taken during a deadly weekend incursion. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Israel says no water or fuel to Gaza until hostages are freed A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of US weapons, were a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas grisly weekend attack, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gazas 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press RAMALLAH: In launching its bloody attack on Israel, Hamas has effectively sidelined the Palestinian Authority and stamped its authority across the whole of the occupied Palestinian territories, analysts said. On Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath day of rest, hundreds of Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip stormed across the Israeli border by land, air and sea, killing more than 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and seizing about 150 hostages under the cover of a deluge of rockets. Israel has retaliated with artillery and air strikes on Gaza, killing more than 1,400 people during six days of intense fighting and imposing a "complete siege" there. It has also massed tens of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza in what appears to be a preparation for a ground invasion. With its "Al-Aqsa Flood" campaign, Hamas has imposed itself "as the Palestinian interlocutor of reference, the one capable of dictating the political and military agenda", Xavier Guignard, a specialist on the Palestinian territories, told AFP. Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, has been designated a terrorist group by Western powers including the United States and European Union. The unprecedented operation was unlike anything "seen in the past year and a half in the occupied West Bank", said Guignard, of the Paris-based Noria Research centre. READ LIVE UPDATES FROM THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR HERE Lost legitimacy Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose PA controls parts of the West Bank but not Gaza, called Thursday for "an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people". In his first public remarks since Saturday's attack, he said the targeting of civilians by both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants "contravenes morals, religion and international law". But the authority's waning popularity in the West Bank and limited powers has relegated it to a largely observatory role. Formed due to the Oslo Accords in 1993, the PA was supposed to make way for an independent Palestinian state. But that has failed to materialise due to stymied negotiations with Israel and internal Palestinian divisions. After 30 years with no notable successes to its name, the authority has lost much of its legitimacy in the eyes of Palestinians -- whether in Gaza where it was ousted by Hamas in 2007 after the militants won elections or the West Bank where Abbas still rules despite his mandate expiring in 2009. In September, a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 62 percent of Palestinians considered the PA to have become "a burden on the Palestinian people". Meanwhile, 58 percent of them expressed support for "a return to confrontations and armed intifada", or uprising, following the first and second intifadas of the 1980s-90s and the 2000s. "The authority can continue to operate as a 'Potemkin village' without having any role," said Guignard, referring to the authorities' limited power against Israel as an occupying force. "Fundamentally, the political project it embodies is the security cooperation with Israel and control of the Palestinian population for the benefit of Israel." READ MORE | Palestinians rush to buy food and struggle under strikes as Israel readies possible ground operation 'Can only ask for help' The decision to cooperate with Israel has been heavily criticised by Palestinians, and helped fuel support for Hamas. Hugh Lovatt, an analyst from the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the latest attack marks a "wholly new strategic direction by Hamas as it looks to re-assert itself at the vanguard of Palestinian resistance". "Hamas appears to have now fully committed itself to open-ended confrontation, renouncing its previous governance role over Gaza and modus vivendi with Israel," he added. On Tuesday night, demonstrators at a rally in support of Gaza waved green Hamas flags in the centre of PA-controlled Ramallah, with dozens of people shouting their support for the Islamist group. The "entire Ramallah is Hamas," they chanted, before launching into slogans in praise of Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, Gaza's leaders of Hamas and its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. And fighting has not been limited to the Gaza area or with Hamas. In the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967 and now checkered with settlements and checkpoints, clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers since Saturday have killed at least 31 Palestinians and injured 130, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which brings together all Palestinian movements except Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said they were "in contact with leaders around the world to stop the war" and "allow the entry of food and medicine into Gaza". But Palestinian political analyst Jihad Harb pointed out that the PA "does not control Gaza or Hamas fighters, and it does not even have influence over Israel, so the only role it can play at this stage is to ask for help for Gaza." Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp RAMALLAH: In launching its bloody attack on Israel, Hamas has effectively sidelined the Palestinian Authority and stamped its authority across the whole of the occupied Palestinian territories, analysts said. On Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath day of rest, hundreds of Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip stormed across the Israeli border by land, air and sea, killing more than 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and seizing about 150 hostages under the cover of a deluge of rockets. Israel has retaliated with artillery and air strikes on Gaza, killing more than 1,400 people during six days of intense fighting and imposing a "complete siege" there. It has also massed tens of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza in what appears to be a preparation for a ground invasion.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); With its "Al-Aqsa Flood" campaign, Hamas has imposed itself "as the Palestinian interlocutor of reference, the one capable of dictating the political and military agenda", Xavier Guignard, a specialist on the Palestinian territories, told AFP. Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, has been designated a terrorist group by Western powers including the United States and European Union. The unprecedented operation was unlike anything "seen in the past year and a half in the occupied West Bank", said Guignard, of the Paris-based Noria Research centre. READ LIVE UPDATES FROM THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR HERE Lost legitimacy Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose PA controls parts of the West Bank but not Gaza, called Thursday for "an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people". In his first public remarks since Saturday's attack, he said the targeting of civilians by both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants "contravenes morals, religion and international law". But the authority's waning popularity in the West Bank and limited powers has relegated it to a largely observatory role. Formed due to the Oslo Accords in 1993, the PA was supposed to make way for an independent Palestinian state. But that has failed to materialise due to stymied negotiations with Israel and internal Palestinian divisions. After 30 years with no notable successes to its name, the authority has lost much of its legitimacy in the eyes of Palestinians -- whether in Gaza where it was ousted by Hamas in 2007 after the militants won elections or the West Bank where Abbas still rules despite his mandate expiring in 2009. In September, a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 62 percent of Palestinians considered the PA to have become "a burden on the Palestinian people". Meanwhile, 58 percent of them expressed support for "a return to confrontations and armed intifada", or uprising, following the first and second intifadas of the 1980s-90s and the 2000s. "The authority can continue to operate as a 'Potemkin village' without having any role," said Guignard, referring to the authorities' limited power against Israel as an occupying force. "Fundamentally, the political project it embodies is the security cooperation with Israel and control of the Palestinian population for the benefit of Israel." READ MORE | Palestinians rush to buy food and struggle under strikes as Israel readies possible ground operation 'Can only ask for help' The decision to cooperate with Israel has been heavily criticised by Palestinians, and helped fuel support for Hamas. Hugh Lovatt, an analyst from the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the latest attack marks a "wholly new strategic direction by Hamas as it looks to re-assert itself at the vanguard of Palestinian resistance". "Hamas appears to have now fully committed itself to open-ended confrontation, renouncing its previous governance role over Gaza and modus vivendi with Israel," he added. On Tuesday night, demonstrators at a rally in support of Gaza waved green Hamas flags in the centre of PA-controlled Ramallah, with dozens of people shouting their support for the Islamist group. The "entire Ramallah is Hamas," they chanted, before launching into slogans in praise of Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, Gaza's leaders of Hamas and its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. And fighting has not been limited to the Gaza area or with Hamas. In the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967 and now checkered with settlements and checkpoints, clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers since Saturday have killed at least 31 Palestinians and injured 130, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which brings together all Palestinian movements except Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said they were "in contact with leaders around the world to stop the war" and "allow the entry of food and medicine into Gaza". But Palestinian political analyst Jihad Harb pointed out that the PA "does not control Gaza or Hamas fighters, and it does not even have influence over Israel, so the only role it can play at this stage is to ask for help for Gaza." Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP GAZA CITY: Hamas on Friday rejected an Israeli order for 1.1 million residents to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground incursion into the overcrowded Palestinian territory. "Our Palestinian people reject the threat of the occupation (Israeli) leaders and its call for them to leave their homes and flee from them to the south or Egypt," the Islamist militant group said in a statement. "We are steadfast on our land and in our homes and our cities. There will be no displacement," it said. The United Nations said an order by Israel to flee within 24 hours risked a "calamitous situation". Israeli strikes on the coastal enclave have killed more than 1,530 people since Saturday, in retaliation for Hamas militants killing around 1,200 people in attacks in Israel. Egypt's Rafah crossing is the only route out of Gaza not controlled by Israel and has been bombed on several occasions this week. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt remains committed to ensuring the delivery of aid to Gaza, but urged Palestinians to "remain on their land" in a speech Thursday. READ LIVE UPDATES FROM THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR HERE Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp GAZA CITY: Hamas on Friday rejected an Israeli order for 1.1 million residents to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground incursion into the overcrowded Palestinian territory. "Our Palestinian people reject the threat of the occupation (Israeli) leaders and its call for them to leave their homes and flee from them to the south or Egypt," the Islamist militant group said in a statement. "We are steadfast on our land and in our homes and our cities. There will be no displacement," it said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The United Nations said an order by Israel to flee within 24 hours risked a "calamitous situation". Israeli strikes on the coastal enclave have killed more than 1,530 people since Saturday, in retaliation for Hamas militants killing around 1,200 people in attacks in Israel. Egypt's Rafah crossing is the only route out of Gaza not controlled by Israel and has been bombed on several occasions this week. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt remains committed to ensuring the delivery of aid to Gaza, but urged Palestinians to "remain on their land" in a speech Thursday. READ LIVE UPDATES FROM THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR HERE Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Online Desk The number of displaced people in Gaza has shot up from 3,000 before the recent violence to nearly 350,000 within less than a week. There were around 3,000 displaced people in Gaza before the recent violence. That rose to 40,000 within the first day and has since multiplied eight times to nearly 350,000. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) say they expect displacements - people forced to leave their homes - to increase further over the coming days. Two-thirds of those who've left their homes - 218,597 of the 338,934 total - are being sheltered in 92 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to Sky News. The British news channel quoted Mahmoud Shalabi, a Palestinian living in north Gaza, and a senior programme manager for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), as saying that those shelters are ill-equipped. The UN say they have already reached capacity and are now having to shelter people at their health centres instead, it added. This leaves people to flee to the homes of friends or families instead if they can. Many have fled towards Gaza City, upon the advice of the Israeli government and because it's usually the safest place to be. Shalabi says that's not the case this time. "It was recorded that 200 raids were fired towards the centre of Gaza City, which was considered as the safest part of Gaza for a very long time. "The roads there are no longer usable, so it's impossible to go there," he was quoted as saying by Sky News. Juliette Touma, director of communications for the UNRWA, told Sky News of the difficulties facing aid agencies trying to help people. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Israel says no water or fuel to Gaza until hostages are freed "This is unprecedented. The losses are huge. The destruction, including to UN buildings and facilities, is significant." Fourteen UN buildings have been damaged, including a headquarters building which sustained collateral damage as a result of heavy airstrikes on buildings nearby, Sky News quoted her as saying. "We have a lot of staff members sadly losing family members, or relatives, or friends. A lot of loss. A lot of pain. And people are just fearful; of what the coming hours will bring, of what tomorrow will bring," she said. "Since we spoke with Touma, the UN has announced the deaths of 11 of its staffers in Gaza," the report added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp The number of displaced people in Gaza has shot up from 3,000 before the recent violence to nearly 350,000 within less than a week. There were around 3,000 displaced people in Gaza before the recent violence. That rose to 40,000 within the first day and has since multiplied eight times to nearly 350,000. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) say they expect displacements - people forced to leave their homes - to increase further over the coming days.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Two-thirds of those who've left their homes - 218,597 of the 338,934 total - are being sheltered in 92 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to Sky News. The British news channel quoted Mahmoud Shalabi, a Palestinian living in north Gaza, and a senior programme manager for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), as saying that those shelters are ill-equipped. The UN say they have already reached capacity and are now having to shelter people at their health centres instead, it added. This leaves people to flee to the homes of friends or families instead if they can. Many have fled towards Gaza City, upon the advice of the Israeli government and because it's usually the safest place to be. Shalabi says that's not the case this time. "It was recorded that 200 raids were fired towards the centre of Gaza City, which was considered as the safest part of Gaza for a very long time. "The roads there are no longer usable, so it's impossible to go there," he was quoted as saying by Sky News. Juliette Touma, director of communications for the UNRWA, told Sky News of the difficulties facing aid agencies trying to help people. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Israel says no water or fuel to Gaza until hostages are freed "This is unprecedented. The losses are huge. The destruction, including to UN buildings and facilities, is significant." Fourteen UN buildings have been damaged, including a headquarters building which sustained collateral damage as a result of heavy airstrikes on buildings nearby, Sky News quoted her as saying. "We have a lot of staff members sadly losing family members, or relatives, or friends. A lot of loss. A lot of pain. And people are just fearful; of what the coming hours will bring, of what tomorrow will bring," she said. "Since we spoke with Touma, the UN has announced the deaths of 11 of its staffers in Gaza," the report added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP BAGHDAD: Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of several Middle East capitals Friday in support of Palestinians amid Israeli air strikes on Gaza in reprisal for a surprise Hamas attack. "No to the occupation! No to America!" chanted demonstrators gathered in central Baghdad after Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr called for a protest "in support of Gaza" and against Israel, an AFP journalist reported. "This rally is aimed at condemning what is happening in occupied Palestine, the bloodletting and the violation of rights," said Abu Kayan, an organiser of the protest. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT The besieged Gaza Strip has been under heavy Israeli bombardment since Saturday when Hamas militants stormed Israel's southern border on Saturday and killed more than 1,300 people. The Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,530 people in the Gaza Strip, which has already been under a land, sea and air blockade for more than 15 years. Anti-Israel protests were also held in Iran on Friday. In the capital Tehran, demonstrators waved Iranian, Palestinian, and Lebanese Hezbollah flags and held banners reading "Down with America" and "Down with Israel", an AFP journalist said. Similar gatherings took place in other cities across Iran, where American and Israeli flags were burned. Iran, a country with a predominantly Shiite Muslim but non-Arab population, financially and militarily supports Hamas. Israel is their mutual sworn enemy. ALSO READ | Iran says US must 'control' Israel to avert regional war In Jordan, which has long had a peace treaty with neighbouring Israel, more than 10,000 people gathered in central Amman, near the Grand Husseini Mosque, after a call for protests from the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, and several leftist and youth groups. In the Gulf state of Bahrain, hundreds of worshippers chanted "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America!" ahead of Friday prayers at Diraz mosque. Hundreds of people then joined a protest march, some of them waving Palestinian flags and others stamping on Israeli and US emblems that were laid on the ground. In the Saudi capital Riyadh, where protests are prohibited, an AFP journalist witnessed police cuffing a worshipper who interrupted Friday prayers by shouting at the imam: "Speak about Palestine! Gaza is under bombs!." In France, where President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on Israel to deal a "strong" but "just" response to the Hamas attack, the government issued a ban on "pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they are likely to generate disturbances to public order." Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp BAGHDAD: Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of several Middle East capitals Friday in support of Palestinians amid Israeli air strikes on Gaza in reprisal for a surprise Hamas attack. "No to the occupation! No to America!" chanted demonstrators gathered in central Baghdad after Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr called for a protest "in support of Gaza" and against Israel, an AFP journalist reported. "This rally is aimed at condemning what is happening in occupied Palestine, the bloodletting and the violation of rights," said Abu Kayan, an organiser of the protest.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT The besieged Gaza Strip has been under heavy Israeli bombardment since Saturday when Hamas militants stormed Israel's southern border on Saturday and killed more than 1,300 people. The Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,530 people in the Gaza Strip, which has already been under a land, sea and air blockade for more than 15 years. Anti-Israel protests were also held in Iran on Friday. In the capital Tehran, demonstrators waved Iranian, Palestinian, and Lebanese Hezbollah flags and held banners reading "Down with America" and "Down with Israel", an AFP journalist said. Similar gatherings took place in other cities across Iran, where American and Israeli flags were burned. Iran, a country with a predominantly Shiite Muslim but non-Arab population, financially and militarily supports Hamas. Israel is their mutual sworn enemy. ALSO READ | Iran says US must 'control' Israel to avert regional war In Jordan, which has long had a peace treaty with neighbouring Israel, more than 10,000 people gathered in central Amman, near the Grand Husseini Mosque, after a call for protests from the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, and several leftist and youth groups. In the Gulf state of Bahrain, hundreds of worshippers chanted "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America!" ahead of Friday prayers at Diraz mosque. Hundreds of people then joined a protest march, some of them waving Palestinian flags and others stamping on Israeli and US emblems that were laid on the ground. In the Saudi capital Riyadh, where protests are prohibited, an AFP journalist witnessed police cuffing a worshipper who interrupted Friday prayers by shouting at the imam: "Speak about Palestine! Gaza is under bombs!." In France, where President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on Israel to deal a "strong" but "just" response to the Hamas attack, the government issued a ban on "pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they are likely to generate disturbances to public order." Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp The Conversation By Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group that mounted a deadly surprise attack on Israel that has killed at last count at least 1,200 Israelis, has captured what are estimated to be 150 hostages. Brought back to Gaza, those hostages include children, members of the military and the elderly. Most are civilians captured from the towns bordering Gaza. President Joe Biden revealed on Oct. 10, 2023, that some are Americans. Hamas has said that every time Israel strikes a Gaza home without warning, a hostage will be killed, and that execution would be recorded and the recording played for the public. The Conversation asked James Forest, a University of Massachusetts Lowell expert on international security, to help readers understand the dynamics of this hostage crisis. Taking hostages looks like a planned part of Hamas' operation but why? Terrorist groups have historically taken hostages to gain leverage in negotiating for policy concessions, financial ransoms or the release of imprisoned comrades, and generally to influence the decisions and behaviour of the targeted government. In this instance, Hamas has stated that its goal is about forcing Israel to release imprisoned Palestinians. Its threat to kill hostages in retaliation for unannounced attacks against Gaza is another example of attempted coercion of Israeli leaders. Hamas also has a vulnerability that many other terrorist groups have not had namely, a physical territory of its own that can be targeted. Holding hostages in unknown locations throughout this territory is an attempt to prevent Israel from launching military strikes that could inadvertently kill Israeli citizens. And taking hostages could also be intended to generate morale among Hamas supporters domestically and internationally by showcasing the groups abilities to frighten and harm a more powerful adversary. Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian, center, from Kfar Azza kibbutz into the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. (Photo | AP) Similar to the hostage-taking at the 1972 Munich Olympics by the Palestinian group Black September, another likely objective here is to draw international attention to the desperation of people living in blockaded, impoverished Gaza. However, attention doesnt necessarily lead to sympathy. Taking innocents hostage, especially children and the elderly, is condemned worldwide, and it will be hard to find sympathy for the perpetrators of such crimes even when theyre claiming to free their land from occupation. Further, when citizens of other countries such as the US are among the hostages, Hamas will likely find this to have been a counterproductive decision because it could invite retaliation from multiple countries. Two other strategic considerations behind this act would be provocation and spoiling. Hamas is likely drawing on a classic strategy in which the terrorists try to provoke the targeted government into an overly heavy-handed response. Hamas likely wants to enrage Israel to the point that Israel begins lashing out against Palestinians with escalating brutality. This, in turn, would support the so-called spoiler strategy, by disrupting current efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Arab nations. What choices do the Israelis have for responding? Democratic governments face many challenges in responding to terrorist groups taking their citizens hostage. Israel cannot be seen to underreact, yet neither should it overreact. Among the different counterterrorism strategies they could pursue, repression including collective punishment, an approach frequently used by Israel in the past would seek to deter Hamas from conducting further terrorist attacks, and also to raise the level of hardship among Palestinians in Gaza to a point that they rise up against Hamas. Examples of repression in response to terrorism include prohibiting free speech or public gatherings, arresting political activists without probable cause, arbitrary searches and destruction of homes, and deportations. A July 2020 United Nations report noted: While Israels justification for imposing the closure on Gaza was to contain Hamas and ensure Israels security, the actual impact of the closure has been the destruction of Gazas economy, causing immeasurable suffering to its two million inhabitants. To date, repression has not produced the results sought by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces grave decisions on hostages taken during the surprise Hamas attack. (Photo | AFP) Another strategy, referred to by scholars as decapitation, involves the capturing or killing of a terrorist groups leaders. Three important challenges come with this approach, the most important of which is locating the groups leaders when they are being sheltered within a territory with so many tunnels as Gaza has and among Hamas supporters. Second, if Israel is able to capture Hamas leaders, there may not be much political will on either side of this conflict to negotiate a prisoner-hostage swap, at least not while the daily carnage fuels their desire for vengeance. Third, if top commanders of Hamas are killed, there is always a chance they could be replaced with new leaders who are more brutal than the previous ones. Finally, another option available to Israel is negotiation. In years past, government leaders have arranged for the release of Israeli hostages, including soldiers, in return for the release of imprisoned Palestinians. However, negotiation almost never takes place in the midst of an active military confrontation. Instead, the historical pattern suggests any potential negotiations would wait until some time after the guns and rockets have gone quiet. Hamas leaders believe a fundamental source of their perceived legitimacy is based on their ability and willingness to violently confront Israel. So the underlying challenge is that there is no hope of negotiating a lasting peace with a group that does not see peaceful coexistence as being in its best interest. How would a hostage in this situation be treated? Do we know based on previous hostage-taking? Its hard to say for sure. I think it will vary according to a mix of contextual factors, like who the hostage is and who is holding them hostage. It is likely that Hamas leaders have given orders to their units that hostages are not to be harmed, and they are to be moved around and held in various locations in hopes of deterring Israeli military strikes. However, disciplined adherence to such commands is not always the case among terrorist groups especially in the midst of an active military confrontation. That said, most violent groups recognize that if their hostages are killed, they will lose whatever bargaining chips they had hoped to gain. A captured Israeli civilian, center, is moved by Palestinians from the Kfar Azza kibbutz into the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. (Photo | AP) Is there a role for intermediaries? If so, who might they be? Finding an intermediary who is trusted by all parties will be exceedingly difficult, as trust is hard to come by in this region. And whether its a country with influence like the US or an international organization, its likely that an opportunity for intermediaries to help arrange the return of hostages will only emerge after the active shooting, rocket attacks and air strikes have subsided. How might the taking of these hostages affect the conduct of the war, on both sides? Israeli forces are surely being told to try to avoid actions that could harm the hostages. Throughout this conflict, assistance from the US and other intelligence agencies will likely help Israel locate targets to attack and hostages to rescue. Some hostages could be found and reunited with their families. Hamas will likely use the hostage drama to generate lasting media attention. The groups leaders may feel that a building destroyed by a bomb will generate some photos and headlines for perhaps a few days, but posting online photos and videos each week of Israelis being held captive would garner the spotlight for Hamas much longer. In the end, both sides must tread carefully. James Forest Professor and Director of Security Studies, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass Lowell This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group that mounted a deadly surprise attack on Israel that has killed at last count at least 1,200 Israelis, has captured what are estimated to be 150 hostages. Brought back to Gaza, those hostages include children, members of the military and the elderly. Most are civilians captured from the towns bordering Gaza. President Joe Biden revealed on Oct. 10, 2023, that some are Americans. Hamas has said that every time Israel strikes a Gaza home without warning, a hostage will be killed, and that execution would be recorded and the recording played for the public. The Conversation asked James Forest, a University of Massachusetts Lowell expert on international security, to help readers understand the dynamics of this hostage crisis. Taking hostages looks like a planned part of Hamas' operation but why?googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Terrorist groups have historically taken hostages to gain leverage in negotiating for policy concessions, financial ransoms or the release of imprisoned comrades, and generally to influence the decisions and behaviour of the targeted government. In this instance, Hamas has stated that its goal is about forcing Israel to release imprisoned Palestinians. Its threat to kill hostages in retaliation for unannounced attacks against Gaza is another example of attempted coercion of Israeli leaders. Hamas also has a vulnerability that many other terrorist groups have not had namely, a physical territory of its own that can be targeted. Holding hostages in unknown locations throughout this territory is an attempt to prevent Israel from launching military strikes that could inadvertently kill Israeli citizens. And taking hostages could also be intended to generate morale among Hamas supporters domestically and internationally by showcasing the groups abilities to frighten and harm a more powerful adversary. Palestinians transport a captured Israeli civilian, center, from Kfar Azza kibbutz into the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. (Photo | AP) Similar to the hostage-taking at the 1972 Munich Olympics by the Palestinian group Black September, another likely objective here is to draw international attention to the desperation of people living in blockaded, impoverished Gaza. However, attention doesnt necessarily lead to sympathy. Taking innocents hostage, especially children and the elderly, is condemned worldwide, and it will be hard to find sympathy for the perpetrators of such crimes even when theyre claiming to free their land from occupation. Further, when citizens of other countries such as the US are among the hostages, Hamas will likely find this to have been a counterproductive decision because it could invite retaliation from multiple countries. Two other strategic considerations behind this act would be provocation and spoiling. Hamas is likely drawing on a classic strategy in which the terrorists try to provoke the targeted government into an overly heavy-handed response. Hamas likely wants to enrage Israel to the point that Israel begins lashing out against Palestinians with escalating brutality. This, in turn, would support the so-called spoiler strategy, by disrupting current efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Arab nations. What choices do the Israelis have for responding? Democratic governments face many challenges in responding to terrorist groups taking their citizens hostage. Israel cannot be seen to underreact, yet neither should it overreact. Among the different counterterrorism strategies they could pursue, repression including collective punishment, an approach frequently used by Israel in the past would seek to deter Hamas from conducting further terrorist attacks, and also to raise the level of hardship among Palestinians in Gaza to a point that they rise up against Hamas. Examples of repression in response to terrorism include prohibiting free speech or public gatherings, arresting political activists without probable cause, arbitrary searches and destruction of homes, and deportations. A July 2020 United Nations report noted: While Israels justification for imposing the closure on Gaza was to contain Hamas and ensure Israels security, the actual impact of the closure has been the destruction of Gazas economy, causing immeasurable suffering to its two million inhabitants. To date, repression has not produced the results sought by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces grave decisions on hostages taken during the surprise Hamas attack. (Photo | AFP) Another strategy, referred to by scholars as decapitation, involves the capturing or killing of a terrorist groups leaders. Three important challenges come with this approach, the most important of which is locating the groups leaders when they are being sheltered within a territory with so many tunnels as Gaza has and among Hamas supporters. Second, if Israel is able to capture Hamas leaders, there may not be much political will on either side of this conflict to negotiate a prisoner-hostage swap, at least not while the daily carnage fuels their desire for vengeance. Third, if top commanders of Hamas are killed, there is always a chance they could be replaced with new leaders who are more brutal than the previous ones. Finally, another option available to Israel is negotiation. In years past, government leaders have arranged for the release of Israeli hostages, including soldiers, in return for the release of imprisoned Palestinians. However, negotiation almost never takes place in the midst of an active military confrontation. Instead, the historical pattern suggests any potential negotiations would wait until some time after the guns and rockets have gone quiet. Hamas leaders believe a fundamental source of their perceived legitimacy is based on their ability and willingness to violently confront Israel. So the underlying challenge is that there is no hope of negotiating a lasting peace with a group that does not see peaceful coexistence as being in its best interest. How would a hostage in this situation be treated? Do we know based on previous hostage-taking? Its hard to say for sure. I think it will vary according to a mix of contextual factors, like who the hostage is and who is holding them hostage. It is likely that Hamas leaders have given orders to their units that hostages are not to be harmed, and they are to be moved around and held in various locations in hopes of deterring Israeli military strikes. However, disciplined adherence to such commands is not always the case among terrorist groups especially in the midst of an active military confrontation. That said, most violent groups recognize that if their hostages are killed, they will lose whatever bargaining chips they had hoped to gain. A captured Israeli civilian, center, is moved by Palestinians from the Kfar Azza kibbutz into the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. (Photo | AP) Is there a role for intermediaries? If so, who might they be? Finding an intermediary who is trusted by all parties will be exceedingly difficult, as trust is hard to come by in this region. And whether its a country with influence like the US or an international organization, its likely that an opportunity for intermediaries to help arrange the return of hostages will only emerge after the active shooting, rocket attacks and air strikes have subsided. How might the taking of these hostages affect the conduct of the war, on both sides? Israeli forces are surely being told to try to avoid actions that could harm the hostages. Throughout this conflict, assistance from the US and other intelligence agencies will likely help Israel locate targets to attack and hostages to rescue. Some hostages could be found and reunited with their families. Hamas will likely use the hostage drama to generate lasting media attention. The groups leaders may feel that a building destroyed by a bomb will generate some photos and headlines for perhaps a few days, but posting online photos and videos each week of Israelis being held captive would garner the spotlight for Hamas much longer. In the end, both sides must tread carefully. James Forest Professor and Director of Security Studies, School of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass Lowell This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that the expected ground offensive by Israeli forces will cause unacceptable civilian casualties, and that his country is ready to help mediate. "It is difficult to use heavy equipment in residential areas. It will have serious consequences for all parties," Putin tells the CIS summit in Bishkek. "The use of heavy machinery in residential areas is a complex matter fraught with grave consequences," Putin said in televised remarks, "most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable." Russia has been carrying out what Moscow calls a military operation in Ukraine since February 2022, during which thousands of civilians are estimated to have died after strikes hit numerous residential areas across the country. "The most important thing now is to stop the bloodshed," Putin said, adding his country was "ready to coordinate with all constructive partners." On October 7, hundreds of Hamas gunmen broke through the militarised border barrier around the Gaza Strip into Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 150 Israeli, foreign and dual-national hostages. Israel has retaliated by hitting targets in Gaza with thousands of munitions, in strikes claiming more than 1,530 lives -- 500 of them children, according to the health ministry in Gaza. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Palestinians begin mass exodus from North Gaza as Israel's ground attack looms Russia has so far carefully denounced violence from both sides and focused on blaming the US for the conflict. "The fact that a large-scale tragedy happened there was the result of a failed US policy," Putin said Friday. At the start of his time at Russia's helm, first as prime minister and then president, Putin oversaw the second war in Chechnya, which began in 1999 after Islamist militants from Chechnya staged a raid in Russia's region of Dagestan. The 10-year war killed thousands of civilians. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that the expected ground offensive by Israeli forces will cause unacceptable civilian casualties, and that his country is ready to help mediate. "It is difficult to use heavy equipment in residential areas. It will have serious consequences for all parties," Putin tells the CIS summit in Bishkek. "The use of heavy machinery in residential areas is a complex matter fraught with grave consequences," Putin said in televised remarks, "most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable." Russia has been carrying out what Moscow calls a military operation in Ukraine since February 2022, during which thousands of civilians are estimated to have died after strikes hit numerous residential areas across the country.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The most important thing now is to stop the bloodshed," Putin said, adding his country was "ready to coordinate with all constructive partners." On October 7, hundreds of Hamas gunmen broke through the militarised border barrier around the Gaza Strip into Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 150 Israeli, foreign and dual-national hostages. Israel has retaliated by hitting targets in Gaza with thousands of munitions, in strikes claiming more than 1,530 lives -- 500 of them children, according to the health ministry in Gaza. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war LIVE | Palestinians begin mass exodus from North Gaza as Israel's ground attack looms Russia has so far carefully denounced violence from both sides and focused on blaming the US for the conflict. "The fact that a large-scale tragedy happened there was the result of a failed US policy," Putin said Friday. At the start of his time at Russia's helm, first as prime minister and then president, Putin oversaw the second war in Chechnya, which began in 1999 after Islamist militants from Chechnya staged a raid in Russia's region of Dagestan. The 10-year war killed thousands of civilians. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp By Associated Press AMMAN: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday began a tour of six Arab capitals to build pressure on Hamas while Israel readies a massive offensive on the Gaza Strip following the militants' attacks. The top US diplomat spent a morning in Amman huddled with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a longtime US partner, and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. He will head later Friday to Qatar and then Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, before heading in the coming days to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, officials said. Blinken spent Thursday in Tel Aviv where he promised unwavering solidarity to US ally Israel after the surprise October 7 offensive by Hamas, who killed over 1,300 people and took about 150 more hostage. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT The United States has publicly blessed reprisals by Israel, which on Friday called for the immediate relocation of 1.1 million people in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which is already under an Israeli blockade. Israel has killed more than 1,500 people in strikes in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack and has cut off food, water and electricity. Qatar has longstanding ties with Hamas and has been seen as an intermediary in freeing the hostages. "We'll continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages," Blinken said Thursday in Tel Aviv. "We'll also discuss how we can continue to make real our affirmative vision for a region that's more peaceful, more prosperous, more secure, more integrated. "In fact, that is the choice, and the choice in some ways has been made even more stark by the actions of Hamas." ALSO READ | Thousands protest across Middle East in support of Palestinians Saudi Arabia in the weeks before the attacks had spoken of progress in US-led diplomacy to normalise relations with Israel -- a landmark step for the conservative kingdom that is guardian of Islam's two holiest sites. Few expect the momentum to be maintained, with the Saudis joining Qatar in blaming Israeli policies towards the Palestinians for the flare-up in violence. US officials are working with Egypt -- which also borders Gaza and was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel -- on a plan for a safety corridor from Gaza. Blinken said he spoke to Israel "about possibilities for safe passage for civilians who want to leave or get out of the way in Gaza." Working with Abbas The nearly 88-year-old Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority enjoys small levels of autonomy in the West Bank, is a sworn foe of Hamas, whose control of the Gaza Strip has led to a 17-year Israeli blockade. Blinken entered his private residence in Amman and shook hands next to a painting that depicted the veteran Palestinian leader superimposed in front of Islam's holy Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. ALSO READ | Israel has no good options for dealing with Hamas hostage-taking in Gaza The United States under President Joe Biden and other Democrats has largely been supportive of the Palestinian Authority, seeing it as the best option for long-term peace with Israel. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long sought to sideline the Palestinian Authority and Abbas, saying he is insufficiently committed to stopping violence, with the hard-right Israeli government rejecting the prospect of a two-state solution. Abbas made his first public remarks on the conflict on Thursday after meeting King Abdullah. Abbas called for "an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people" and rejected "practices related to killing civilians or abusing them on both sides". Blinken earlier spoke to Abbas by telephone about the attacks, urging him to condemn the violence and maintain stability in the West Bank. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp AMMAN: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday began a tour of six Arab capitals to build pressure on Hamas while Israel readies a massive offensive on the Gaza Strip following the militants' attacks. The top US diplomat spent a morning in Amman huddled with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a longtime US partner, and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. He will head later Friday to Qatar and then Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, before heading in the coming days to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, officials said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Blinken spent Thursday in Tel Aviv where he promised unwavering solidarity to US ally Israel after the surprise October 7 offensive by Hamas, who killed over 1,300 people and took about 150 more hostage. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT The United States has publicly blessed reprisals by Israel, which on Friday called for the immediate relocation of 1.1 million people in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which is already under an Israeli blockade. Israel has killed more than 1,500 people in strikes in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack and has cut off food, water and electricity. Qatar has longstanding ties with Hamas and has been seen as an intermediary in freeing the hostages. "We'll continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages," Blinken said Thursday in Tel Aviv. "We'll also discuss how we can continue to make real our affirmative vision for a region that's more peaceful, more prosperous, more secure, more integrated. "In fact, that is the choice, and the choice in some ways has been made even more stark by the actions of Hamas." ALSO READ | Thousands protest across Middle East in support of Palestinians Saudi Arabia in the weeks before the attacks had spoken of progress in US-led diplomacy to normalise relations with Israel -- a landmark step for the conservative kingdom that is guardian of Islam's two holiest sites. Few expect the momentum to be maintained, with the Saudis joining Qatar in blaming Israeli policies towards the Palestinians for the flare-up in violence. US officials are working with Egypt -- which also borders Gaza and was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel -- on a plan for a safety corridor from Gaza. Blinken said he spoke to Israel "about possibilities for safe passage for civilians who want to leave or get out of the way in Gaza." Working with Abbas The nearly 88-year-old Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority enjoys small levels of autonomy in the West Bank, is a sworn foe of Hamas, whose control of the Gaza Strip has led to a 17-year Israeli blockade. Blinken entered his private residence in Amman and shook hands next to a painting that depicted the veteran Palestinian leader superimposed in front of Islam's holy Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. ALSO READ | Israel has no good options for dealing with Hamas hostage-taking in Gaza The United States under President Joe Biden and other Democrats has largely been supportive of the Palestinian Authority, seeing it as the best option for long-term peace with Israel. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long sought to sideline the Palestinian Authority and Abbas, saying he is insufficiently committed to stopping violence, with the hard-right Israeli government rejecting the prospect of a two-state solution. Abbas made his first public remarks on the conflict on Thursday after meeting King Abdullah. Abbas called for "an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people" and rejected "practices related to killing civilians or abusing them on both sides". Blinken earlier spoke to Abbas by telephone about the attacks, urging him to condemn the violence and maintain stability in the West Bank. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp For Eric Storms and Kathleen Calvert, its been a long time coming. After about eight years of renovations, the husband and wife duo hope the opening of their downtown Carlisle distillery is only months away. If all goes according to plan, Moon Bird Distilling at 133 S. Hanover St. will officially open in June, serving spirits, brandy products and flatbreads. However, its been a long journey to get the formerly condemned space restaurant-ready, one that involved much work with Carlisles Historical and Architectural Review Board. Purpose The Review Board exists to review applications for sign or building permits to complete work in Carlisles historic district, which encompasses several blocks surrounding the Square, the borough said. The board, which is composed of seven council-appointed members that serve staggered four-year terms, makes recommendations to the council and provides advice and suggestions to property owners. Jared Woolston, the boroughs director of sustainable community and economic planning and the boards staff support said construction can include large-scale projects like roof work down to minor maintenance and repairs. All the activities that would affect the exterior of a building thats visible from the street goes through this sort of discretionary review, he said. Other Review Board work could include reviewing the historic districts limits, developing a system of historic landmark identification and preservation, designation of historical places worthy of preservation and the promotion of public interest in preservation, the borough said. As the community and business development manager and communications manager for the Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment Authorities, Rebecca Yearick has had her share of interaction with Carlisles review board, as well as similar groups in the county. Other local municipalities like Shippensburg, Mechanicsburg and Upper Allen Township also have Historical and Architectural Review Boards. Yearick said these boards work with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and receive ground rules of operation from the state, but each local entity has its own flavor when it comes to what they want to accomplish. Each one I would say has its own sort of personality and maybe their own local, I dont want to call it a mission, but their own local sense of ... how they want to be perceived, she said. With the majority of her experience connected to either Carlisle or Mechanicsburg, Yearick typically helps business through the process of receiving approval for exterior projects, such as signage or storefront changes. Process To complete work on a building thats visible from the street in the Carlisle Historic District, Woolston said property owners need to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from the borough council. Residents and businesses in need of a certificate can submit an application available on the boroughs website along with a $50 fee. Borough staff review the application along with additional photos and other materials that can be included to help define the intended scope of the project. Applicants go in front of the HARB and sort of explain their project if it needs any more explaining beyond whats in the application, Woolston said. The HARB considers if it meets the guidelines and if it ought to get a certificate of appropriateness, and they provide their recommendation to borough council and then [the] council acts on that recommendation. He said the council has the authority to approve or deny applications for certificates, and residents who are denied can revise and resubmit their applications. Considering the process relies on both the board and the borough councils monthly meetings, he said the whole process from submitting an application to receiving a certificate, if its approved, can take about a month. Multiple renovations can be included in the same application. Yearick said typically when she tells someone theyll have to go before the review board, they make a face. Its a reaction she attributes to a situation involving the board and a Carlisle door that received a lot of attention from the press before she joined redevelopment authorities. A 2007 Sentinel article tells of an incident in which the board demanded a Carlisle business owner remove a door after it had been installed. While it took place several years ago, Yearick said the story remains in circulation in the community. Its sort of crystallized in some peoples minds, what they perceive to be this disconnect between the HARB and the applicants, she said. Rather than approaching a potential renovation from the mindset of the board versus applicant, Yearick said the the board and property owners in the boroughs historical district share a common appreciation of the buildings history. Woolston said for the board, it comes down to a balance between ensuring that buildings are well maintained while also preventing them from losing their historical integrity. What happens over time if you sort of remove those nice finishes and dont replace them in kind or try to preserve what makes that building special is that you start to devalue that area or to lose the brand, he said. I think the historic district within Carlisle is part of the brand. Woolston encourages applicants to connect with borough staff for assistance in navigating the review board process. Storms described HARBs process as pretty straightforward, made easier by providing detailed information about intended changes. It was our intention to retain the historical aesthetic and presentation of the building, he said. So with that, since our intention and their expectations were consistent, it was a good process. Its a good relationship. Progress Yearick said board-approved renovations dont necessarily mean making buildings look the same. Take Hook & Flask Still Works at 137 N. Hanover St., for example. That storefront is a very nice storefront, Yearick said. [Its] very interesting, very welcoming, very inviting, but it doesnt look like whatever was there in 1880. She said the spaces old storefront was pretty generic and not very appealing to visitors, while the new front features a welcoming atmosphere with pull up doors that allow for an indoor-outdoor dining experience. You can have old properties, old buildings, very traditional and period-inspired storefronts and then right next to it something thats very different, Yearick said. And they can coexist peacefully. Caprice Properties, a commercial real estate agency that owns several Carlisle buildings, has made a number of updates to such spaces under HARB. One13 Social and Boundless Beauty along High Street and the former Edward Jones building on North Hanover Street are all spaces owned by Caprice Properties. Managing Director Becky Richeson said the agency also owns the building that houses Molly Pitcher on High Street, a space that doesnt have a historic-looking storefront. [HARB is] really open to moving the town forward at the same time as keeping a high standard, she said. Richeson said even small, subtle changes can make a big difference to a space. As Pitt Street Station prepares to open at the former Alibis along Pitt Street, new doors there will allow more light to enter the building compared to their solid predecessors, she said. I think HARB is ... very nice and easy to work with, Richeson said. I think they really do want to support the community. Photos: 2023 Harvest of the Arts Festival New Delhi, October 12 A head of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P-20), Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Thursday held bilateral talks with Bangladesh Parliament speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and discussed the "deepening" relationship between India and Bangladesh. Taking to 'X' (formerly Twitter), Birla wrote, "Delighted to meet Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Dr. Shirin S. Chaudhury. Emphasised that Bangladesh and India should further increase cooperation b/w Parliaments. Expressed satisfaction at increasing connectivity across road, rail, air, waterways and digital sectors". Lok Sabha speaker Birla and Bangladesh parliament speaker Chaudhary emphasized that there should be a further increase in the training and capacity building between two parliaments. Moreover, they noted that the connectivity across road, rail, air, inland waterways and coastal shipping, and digital sectors, between India and Bangladesh, is continuously increasing. The Lok Sabha speaker said that Bangladesh is India's largest trade partner in South Asia and that India is willing to work with Bangladesh to strengthen the bilateral relationship. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh parliament speaker praised the P-20 event, and also appreciated the strengthening relationship between the two countries. Further, Chaudhary also hailed India's 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', which provides for 33% of reservation for women in the Lok Sabha as well as the state legislative assemblies. She also congratulated the Lok Sabha speaker for the new parliament building, which was inaugurated by Prime Minisrer Narendra Modi this year. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha speaker Birla also held bilateral talks with United Arab Emirates (UAE) Parliament speaker Saqr Ghobash and expressed happiness over the increasing mutual cooperation. They noted that the Prime Ministers of both the countries took the bilateral relations to "new heights". It is worth mentioning that the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P-20) will be held from October 13-14 in the national capital. The two-day summit will be held at the newly constructed India International Convention and Expo Center (IICC), Yashobhoomi, Dwarka, New Delhi. Earlier today, the pre-summit of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) focussed on 'Lifestyle for Environment', bringing a parliamentary perspective to meet the challenges and solutions towards addressing the issue. The pre-summit Parliamentary Forum on LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) is also held to deliberate upon initiatives towards "a greener and sustainable future in harmony with nature". In his welcome remarks, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that climate change and environment is the common issues across the world and that is why the issue is part of the discussion in the pre-summit day of the P20 Summit. "In present scenario, climate change and environment is such a subject that is connected to the common destiny of the entire world. That is why the subject is at the centre of the P-20 conference. We are also discussing this subject in the pre-summit today," said Birla a day ahead of the formal inauguration of the P20 Summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) on Friday. The summit is being hosted by the Parliament of India under the broader framework of India's G20 Presidency. In line with the theme of India's G20 Presidency, the theme of the 9th P20 Summit is "Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future." The event will be attended by Speakers of Parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries. The Pan-African Parliament will take part in the P20 Summit for the first time after the African Union became a member of G20 at the New Delhi G20 Leaders' Summit on September 9-10 this year. The thematic sessions during this P20 Summit will focus on the following four subjects - Transformation in People's Lives through Public Digital Platforms; Women-led development; Accelerating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and Sustainable Energy Transition. Amitabh Kant, Sherpa of India's G20 Presidency, represented the introduction of the pre-summit Parliamentary Forum on LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) while Leena Nandan, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, showcased the presentation on LiFE by followed by a short film. Preceded by the Parliamentary Forum on LiFE (Lifestyle for Sustainable Development) on Thursday, the P20 Summit itself would have four high-level sessions. The four themes on which parliamentarians would deliberate are on Agenda 2030 for SDGs: Showcasing Achievements, Accelerating Progress; Sustainable Energy Transitions: Gateways to a Green Future; Mainstreaming Gender Equality: From Women's Empowerment to Women-Led Development; and Transformation in Peoples' Lives through Public Digital Platforms. With the theme "Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future," the Summit will also provide opportunities for fostering international cooperation, cultural exchanges and strengthening diplomatic ties among nations. The deliberations will culminate with the adoption of a Joint Statement, urging the G20 Governments to deliver solutions to major global challenges in ways that seek to ensure equity, inclusiveness, and peace. LS Speaker holds bilateral talks with Bangladesh counterpart ahead of G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! New Delhi, October 12 T he Central government has upgraded the security cover of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar from the 'Y' category to 'Z', official sources said on Thursday. The decision was taken by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs based on a threat analysis report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The MHA, following the IB report, has directed the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to take charge of his security which was so far being covered by the Delhi Police. Jaishankar, 68, is currently being provided round-the-clock security cover by an armed team of the Delhi Police under the 'Y' category. Now, the External Affairs Minister will be protected by the CRPF personnel under the larger 'Z' security cover that includes over a dozen armed commandos during movement and stay of the protectee round the clock in shifts across the country, the sources added. The CRPF is currently providing VIP security cover to 176-odd protectees comprising Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and 24 protectees who got the facility in the recent past on a temporary basis considering the upcoming elections. EAM Jaishankar's security upgraded from Y to Z category Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! As long as America exists, you will never have to defend yourself alone: Blinken vows support to Israel Tel Aviv, October 12 A ssuring Washington's support to Israel at a time when the country is fighting a war against Hamas, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that as long as America exists, Israel will never have to defend itself alone. In a joint presser with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, Blinken vowed his support to Tel Aviv and also lauded the bravery of Israeli citizens amid the ongoing conflict that has claimed the lives of over 1,300 Israelis. "The message that I bring to Israel is this -- you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side," The Times of Israel quoted Blinken as saying. "That's the message that President Joe Biden delivered to the prime minister from the moment that this crisis began," he added. Condemning the killings done by Hamas of civilians in Israel, Blinked further highlighted, "Babies slaughtered, bodies desecrated, young people burnt alive, women raped, parents executed in front of their children-- how are we even to understand this? To digest this? And yet, at the same time, we have been shocked by the depravity of Hamas. We have also been inspired by the bravery of Israeli citizens...The grandfather who drove over an hour to a kibbutz under siege armed only with a pistol and rescued his kids and grandkids...the mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his. Giving him life for a second time. The volunteer security teams on the kibbutzes who swiftly rallied to defend their friends and neighbours despite being heavily outnumbered." "The people of Israel have long and rightly prided themselves on their self-reliance, on their ability to defend themselves even when the odds are stacked against them," Blinken continued. Notably, the death toll in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports. The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said. Continuing further, Blinken said, "I come before you not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew. My grandfather fled pogroms in Russia. My stepfather survived the concentration camp, Auschwitz...So, I understand on a personal level harrowing echoes that the Hamas' massacres carry for Israeli Jews and indeed for Jews everywhere." "Tragically, the number of innocent lives claimed by Hamas' heinous attacks continue to rise. Among those, we now know that at least 25 American citizens were killed...," he added, according to The Times of Israel. In the same presser, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that Hamas should be crushed and that the group should be treated the same way as the Islamic State, or ISIS. He said Hamas should be "spit out from the community of nations," with countries facing sanctions if they harbour Hamas. "Hamas is ISIS and just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated. They should be spat out from the community of nations. No leader should meet them, no country should harbour them and those that do should be sanctioned" he said. PM Netanyahu in a joint presser with US State Secretary Antony Blinken, went on to emphasise that Hamas deliberately targets civilians and reaffirmed US President Joe Biden's characterization of Hamas as "sheer evil." Highlighting the brutal acts committed by Hamas, PM Netanyahu said, "Hamas has shown itself to be an enemy of civilisation. The massacring of young people at an outdoor music festival, the butchering of entire families, the murder of parents in front of their children and the murder of children in front of their parents, the burning of people alive, the beheadings, the kidnappings of a young boy." He said further, "Not only kidnap, molest the kidnapped and the sickening display of celebrating these horrors, the celebration and glorification of evil - President Biden was absolutely correct in calling this sheer evil." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv earlier today along with a team of officials, Israel-based i24 News English reported. His visit to Tel Aviv comes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas after the latter launched an attack on October 7. Speaking to reporters ahead of his departure from the US, Blinken said, "We are heading, as you know, to Israel, and I'm going with a very simple and clear message on behalf of the President of the United States and on behalf of the American people, and that is that the United States has Israel's back. We have the back of the Israeli people. We have their back today. We'll have it tomorrow. We will have it every day." He further said, "We're determined to make sure that Israel gets everything it needs to defend itself and provide for the security of its people. Already, significant military assistance requested by Israel is on the way. That's on top of everything that we've been doing for years, including with the memorandum of understanding that was negotiated by President Obama, to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself." As long as America exists, you will never have to defend yourself alone: Blinken vows support to Israel Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mumbai, Oct 12 S ingers Dev Negi and Priya Saraniya have released their own rendition of the classic 90s track Jo Haal Dil Ka from the film Sarfarosh, remaking the track with a modern touch while retaining the musicality of the original. A beautiful and heartfelt track, Jo Haal Dil Ka has an iconic melody which gets reinvigorated with a new contemporary twist while still keeping things familiar, mixing in a passionate romance with its ups and downs that cant be broken. This is done extremely well as the acoustic instrumentation compliments the voices of Dev and Priya who seamlessly blend their voices with one another, creating a vocal contrast which only accentuates the overall romantic mood. A powerful and booming production, the song is done in a typical pop sensibility with a loud booming bass, an acoustic guitar with simple melodies, and some elements of Bollywood pop, American pop merged with an electronic side. This passionate number has a glamour-filled music video which features the duo of actors Zain Imam and Reem Sameer Shaikh, whose on-screen chemistry has the angle of both sexual fervour, and genuine romantic love. Composed by Chirantan Bhatt and penned by Manoj Yadav, Jo Haal Dil Ka music video is directed by Feroz Khan, who knows how to bring the song with its themes on the screen, as the video is able to translate the lyrics with the musics melody and tonality with accurate picturisation. For those unfamiliar with the old 90s version, this version of Jo Haal Dil Ka will not only make the older generations hum the tune with a smile on their faces, but also grab the attention of the new Gen-Z kids who may get enticed to visit the old classic. Detailing his experience on working on the song, Zain Imam said: "Working on Jo Haal Dil Ka has been an incredible experience, especially being a part of one of the most iconic love songs we've grown up listening to. Dev Negi and Priya Saraiya's voices in the song are absolutely phenomenal." Reem Sameer Shaikh expressed her feelings about the song and said: " Jo Haal Dil Ka is a musical journey that transcends time. It's been a privilege to be part of this re-imagined classic, and I hope it touches the hearts of all who listen to it. Dev Negi, Priya Saraniya remake 'Jo Haal Dil Ka' blending old with new Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! For as long as America exists, Israel will never have to defend itself alone: Blinken Jerusalem, Oct 12 S peaking after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said that he is incredibly grateful to be back in Israel, "in this incredibly difficult moment, for this nation, but in fact for the entire world." Blinken told a personal story as a Jew. He tells of his grandfather fleeing pogroms in Russia, and of his stepfather surviving concentration camps in the Holocaust, The Times of Israel reported. "I understand on a personal level the harrowing echoes that Hamas's massacres carry for Israeli Jews, indeed for Jews everywhere," he added. "I also come before you as a husband and father of young children. It's impossible for me to look at the photos of families killed, such as the mother, father, and three small children murdered as they sheltered in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, and not think of my own children," he said. "This was just one of Hamas's countless acts of terror in a litany of brutality and inhumanity that, yes, brings to mind the worst of ISIS," Blinken added. "Babies slaughtered, bodies desecrated, young people burned alive, women raped, parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents." "How are we even to understand this, to digest this?" "And yet, at the same time that we've been shocked by the depravity of Hamas, we've also been inspired by the bravery of Israel's citizens. The grandfather who drove over an hour to a Kibbutz under siege armed only with a pistol and rescued his kids and grandkids," Blinken said. "The mother who died shielding her teenage son with her body, giving her life to save his. Giving him life for a second time. The volunteer security teams on the kibbutzes who swiftly rallied to defend their friends and neighbours despite being heavily outnumbered." He also notes the "remarkable solidarity" of the Israeli people, the long lines of people giving blood, the reservists who flew home from abroad, the people who opened their homes to fellow citizens displaced from the south, The Times of Israel reported. "The people of Israel have long and rightly prided themselves on their self-reliance, on their ability to defend themselves even when the odds are stacked against them," Blinken continues. "The message that I bring to Israel is this -- you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side," he says. "That's the message that President Biden delivered to the Prime Minister from the moment that this crisis began." Blinken welcomes the creation of the national emergency government, and the "unity and resolve that it reflects across Israel's society." "We are delivering on our word," says Blinken. "Supplying ammunition interceptors to replenish Israel's Iron Dome, along other defence materiel. The first shipments of US military support have already arrived in Israel, and more is on the way. As Israel's defence needs evolve, we will work with Congress to make sure that they are met. And I can tell you there is overwhelming, overwhelming bipartisan support in our Congress for Israel's security." Blinken repeats America's "crystal clear" warning against any and all other actors -- state or non-state -- thinking of taking advantage of the crisis to attack Israel: "Don't. The United States has Israel's back." The US has deployed the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean, and bolstered the presence of US fighter aircraft in the region and provided Israel with other support, he says. He affirms that the US is also working closely with Israel to secure the release of the hostages taken by Hamas, The Times of Israel reported. He also added that the US is continually engaging in "intensive diplomacy throughout the region to prevent the conflict from spreading". Blinken criticises world leaders in the past for equivocating when it comes to terrorist attacks against Israel. "There is no excuse, there is no justification for these atrocities," he stressed. "This is, this must be, a moment for moral clarity." The failure to unambiguously condemn terrorism, he says, puts at risk people in Israel and everywhere, he said, noting that people from 36 countries were killed or are missing from the Hamas attacks. "Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas -- no region has escaped Hamas' bloody reach. Anyone who wants peace and justice, must condemn Hamas's reign of terror." "We know Hamas doesn't represent the Palestinian people" or their legitimate aspirations. "We know Hamas rules repressively and dedicates the resources it has to terror tunnels and rockets We know Hamas does not stand for the future the Palestinians want for themselves and their children. Hamas has only one agenda -- to destroy Israel and to murder Jews," he says. "No country can or would tolerate the slaughter of its citizens, or simply return to the conditions that allowed it to take place. "Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens again." Blinken repeats the exhortation that democracies must take every precaution to avoid causing civilian casualties. "As the Prime Minister and I discussed, how Israel does this matters. We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by striving for different standards even when it is difficult, and holding ourselves to account when we fall short. Our humanity, the value that we place on human life and human dignity, that's what makes us who we are. And we count them among our greatest strengths. That is why it is so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. And that is why we mourn the loss of every innocent life -- civilians of every faith, every nationality, who have been killed." The death toll continues to rise, he said. And among those, "at least 25 American citizens were killed," Blinken said. Again invoking his own family's Holocaust experiences, Blinken concludes: "In this moment, where evil, hatred and madness have once more taken so many innocent lives, we must stand together, and resolve to confront what is worst among humanity with what is best. We must provide an alternative to the vision of violence and fear, nihilism and terror, presented by Hamas. That is what the US will do, standing with Israel, working together with its people and all those in this region who remain committed to the vision of a more peaceful, more integrated, more secure and more prosperous Middle East." For as long as America exists, Israel will never have to defend itself alone: Blinken Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! New Delhi, Oct 12 P arliamentary delegates from G20 and special invitee nations, who are here to participate in the upcoming P20 summit, on Thursday met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the P20 summit on Friday in the national capital. Milton Dick, Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives; Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh; Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council, UAE; and Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo, Acting President, Pan African Parliament called on Birla. The Lok Sabha Speaker expressed gratitude to Australia for supporting India's priorities and initiatives during G20 Summit. He also praised Australia for supporting India's initiative for the inclusion of African Union in G20. Birla also noted that recent visits by Prime Ministers of both countries have given a new dimension to bilateral relations between India and Australia and mutual cooperation has further deepened and infused new energy. He urged that both Parliaments should widen the scope of parliamentary cooperation. During his meeting with Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh, Birla emphasised that India and Bangladesh should further strengthen cooperation between the two Parliaments. Bangladesh is a special invitee to the P20 summit. He expressed satisfaction at increasing connectivity across road, rail, air, waterways and digital sectors between the two countries. In his meeting with Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council, UAE, Birla noted that initiatives like Global Biofuel Alliance' and 'India Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor have brought India and UAE closer. During his meeting with Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo, Acting President, Pan African Parliament, Birla congratulated him for inclusion of the African Union in G20. The leaders discussed several important issues and explored opportunities for further collaboration between the two Parliaments. Om Birla meets Parliamentary representatives of G20 nations ahead of P20 summit Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Tel Aviv, Oct 12 U S Secretary of State Antony Blinken held discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top officials of his government on arrival with strong assurances of US support to them in their war with the Hamas terrorists that has now entered the sixth day leaving 25 Americans dead alongside over a near 2,000 on either side A large part of the discussion between Israel leaders and Blinken was the Americans in Israel who remain unaccounted for and working to release those being held hostage by Hamas. Some 25 Americans have been reportedly killed in Israel since the start of the Hamas attacks as the death toll mounted to a near 2,000 on either side, media reports said. Blinken held a joint press meet with Netanyahu here as his overseas trip comes on the back of the Israel Defense Forces preparing for the next larger offensive against the militants in the war that has paralysed the Gaza Strip where 2 million Palestinians live, now without food, fuel or electricity as even hospitals were bombed. Israel Defence Forces claimed they had given sufficient warnings to the people in Gaza of the impending bombings but Hamas was using schools, colleges, hospitals, mosques with civilians as human shields to avoid any attacks, reports said. Blinken said his simple message was that the US has Israel's back. "We know Hamas doesn't represent the Palestinian people. We know Hamas didn't commit its heinous acts with the interest of Palestinians in mind. Hamas has one agenda: to destroy Israel and murder Jews," Blinken said. "Israel has the right to defend itself and ensure this never happens again." The Secretary of State is also scheduled to visit Jordan on Friday to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian authority, and King Abdullah the second of Jordan. New IDF video shows air strikes shattering structures across Gaza, buildings the army says are connected to terrorists, CNN reported. They are striking what they categorize as a terrorist target at sea. Hospitals are overflowing with the wounded and families in the region face an uncertain future. "There is nothing that we can do. Even the place that I am in right now is almost out of water, almost out of food," Afaf Najar, who is sheltering in Gaza, said. The US has made it clear Israel gets what it needs to defend itself and the first tranche of arms and ammunition have already arrived here. "My commitment to Israel security and the safety of Jewish people is unshakable. The US has Israel's back and we're going to be working on this all day and beyond," US President Joe Biden said earlier this week. Blinken meets Netanyahu, assures full support on finding missing Americans Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mumbai, Oct 12 T he RBI has slapped a Rs 5.39 crore fine on Paytm Payments Bank for not complying RBI guidelines related to know your customer (KYC) norms and not reporting incidents of cyber security breaches in time. The RBI said that a special scrutiny report and a comprehensive system audit report has revealed non-compliance with norms by Paytm Payments Bank on the following grounds: The bank failed to identify beneficial owner in respect of entities onboarded by it for providing payout services. It did not monitor payout transactions and carry out risk profiling of entities availing payout services. The bank breached the regulatory ceiling of end of the day balance in certain customer advance accounts availing payout services. Reporting a cyber security incident with delay Failure to implement device binding control measure related to 'SMS delivery receipt check', and Paytm Banks V-CIP infrastructure failed to prevent connections from IP addresses outside India. The RBI also said that the action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. pannu/dan RBI fines Paytm Payments Bank for breach of norms Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Cumberland County commissioners may lobby to have Annie Strite appointed to a statewide task force being formed to research ways to improve accessibility to mental health and substance use disorder services across Pennsylvania. As the county mental health director, Strite expressed cautious optimism Thursday over an executive order that Gov. Josh Shapiro signed on Wednesday. The order directed state agencies to work directly with local governments and community providers to form a Behavioral Health Council tasked with formulating a statewide action plan. Im thankful for the attention being given to the community mental health system, Strite said. The governor is paying attention. He seems to be very interested in making sure that theres an across-the-board effort to try to strengthen the resources that are available. Certainly, the proof will be down the road. Earlier this year, concern over a projected $2.5 million deficit in the county mental health services budget prompted a public information campaign aimed at educating residents about the challenges faced by service providers and care recipients. One goal of the town halls and public testimonials was to encourage county residents to lobby state lawmakers to change a formula that has resulted in flat funding over the past decade that has not kept up with rising personnel and operating costs. Cumberland County led the pack in bringing attention to the issue of state support of county-based mental health services, Commissioner Jean Foschi said Thursday. Our team put a good amount of work into moving this forward. Its important that we do not take a foot off the gas. Foschi was referring to how Strite helped to coordinate the campaign with the county communications office. She suggested that the commissioners work together to draft a letter to the state Department of Human Services recommending Strite to the council as a mental health services representative. You had a part in this and it was important, Foschi told Strite. We need to make sure that we have a seat at the table. We dont need to hog the seats, but we need a seat at that table. I appreciate that, Strite said. I would be interested in receiving your support. I would be interested in participating. Executive order Described by the Shapiro administration as the first-of-its kind, the council will develop and recommend to the governor a plan to address gaps in access, affordability or the delivery of services, with the goal of removing barriers to cooperation among state agencies, health care providers, payers and state and local government. The hope is that the effort could decrease the wait time for services for Pennsylvanians in need. With the mental health and substance use crises impacting every community in Pennsylvania, the councils work will center on new and care delivery models, workforce challenges, related social needs and inequities, and collaboration among the criminal justice system, public safety networks and public health organizations to treat the whole person, according to the Shapiro administration. This includes researching ways to better integrate services with a patients primary care provider by working with state and local agencies, commissions or organizations already engaged in the delivery of these services. Across Pennsylvania, Ive heard from students, parents, providers, and so many others who have told me about the growing challenges of dealing with mental health challenges and substance use disorders, which are so often intertwined, Shapiro said Wednesday. Its time we deliver the help so many Pennsylvanians are asking for. This council will be led by a seasoned expert, Dr. Christina Finello, who will spearhead the development of an action plan that will transform the health care delivery system to meet the real needs of Pennsylvanians. For the first time, our commonwealth will have a senior leader in the governors office whose full-time job is to focus on this specific work and reach across all levels of government to improve our mental health and recovery services. Charged with setting the agenda for behavioral health under the Shapiro administration, the council will have 33 members representing the provider community, advocacy groups, various levels of government and those experiencing mental health and substance abuse disorders. Members will include two representatives each from county mental health offices, county drug and alcohol services and area agencies on aging. One goal is to have representation split evenly between urban and rural counties. The creation of this council is so important, as it is critical for providers, counties and the people who use mental health and substance use services, Finello said. Co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders increase risks, including higher morbidity and mortality, greater treatment costs, homelessness, incarceration, and suicides. People need access to the right kind of treatment at the right time to meet their needs. The council will aim to ultimately create a more user-friendly and holistic approach for individuals with mental health and substance use disorder health care needs in the commonwealth. The executive order also creates an advisory committee that will share industry knowledge, expertise, reports, findings and feedback from the communities they serve with the council to assist members in their work to improve the delivery of services. New Delhi, October 12 E xternal Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar led the Indian delegation in the 23rd Council of Ministers (COM) meeting and the 25th Committee of Senior Officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held in Sri Lanka, said Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday. In an official press release, MEA said that in the meeting India assumed the role of the Vice Chair of IORA for the year 2023-25, followed by the Chairship in 2025-27. Prior to this meeting, the IORA Senior Officials reviewed the entire range of IORA's ongoing and future work and activities for 2022-27. The COM adopted the Colombo Communique and the 'IORA Vision 2030 and Beyond', among other IORA-related documents. During the visit to Sri Lanka, EAM Jaishankar called on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the President's Secretariat. During the meeting, both sides exchanged a letter and acceptance regarding Phase 4 of the flagship Indian Housing project for the construction of 10,000 houses in the plantation areas and the Infusion of additional funds in nine ongoing High Impact Community Development projects, said press release from MEA. Additionally, EAM also virtually inaugurated 126 houses in Badulla, Matale and Matara districts under phase-3 of the Indian Housing project, 48 houses in Matale and Puttalam districts under the Model Village Housing project, 64 houses in Hambantota and Jaffna districts under the Gram Shakthi projects and launched a joint logo was also launched commemorating 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries during the meeting with Sri Lankan President. The press release further stated, both the Leaders also signed a Joint Venture Shareholders' agreement between the National Dairy and Development Board (NDDB), the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation and the Cargills Group of Sri Lanka to strengthen the Sri Lankan dairy sector. EAM Jaishankar leads India's delegation to Council of Ministers meeting in Sri Lanka Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! New York, Oct 13 U S President Joe Biden would lose to Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis and narrowly edge past his predecessor Donald Trump if the 2024 election were to be held now, according to a new poll. Biden took a one point lead over Trump (49 per cent to 48 percent), while lagging behind Haley by four points (49 per cent to 45 per cent) and DeSantis by two points in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, the Fox News survey said. Released this week, the poll conducted between October 6-9, showed that the Indian-American former South Carolina Governor has made the greatest gains since September, having doubled her numbers with 10 per cent support. Haley also garnered the highest number of defections among Democrats (9 per cent support her), while Trump gets the least (5 per cent of Democrats back him). She has the momentum, she has the experience, and shes the only person whos consistently polled as beating Joe Biden in the general election, former Congressman Will Hurd, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, told Forbes. A CNN poll showed last month that Haley is the only Republican who can beat Biden in the 2024 presidential election. Haley stands as the only Republican candidate to hold a lead over Biden, with 49 percent to Bidens 43 per cent in a hypothetical match between the two, the CNN reported. The Fox News survey also showed that despite facing a bevy of legal challenges, former President Trump maintained his lead in the Republican presidential contest. The 77-year-old received 59 per cent support among Republican primary voters, and he has been above 50 per cent since March and hit a record 60 per cent in September. Just after her first Republican primary debate in late August, Haley had said that Trump would not be the partys nominee for the 2024 presidential elections. Haley claimed earlier this month that Trump sent her a birdcage, a couple of days after he had posted a social media message calling the her a birdbrain. Responding to Trump, along with a picture of the birdcage, Haley wrote on X: Love this. It means we are in 2nd and moving up fast. Bring it! At the second Republican debate, Haley slammed Trump over his policies on China, saying that while in being in office, he did not focus on issues like Asian nation's role in fentanyl being shipped into the US, placing a base in Cuba or sending spy balloons across the country. Indian-American Nikki Haley beats Biden by 4 points in new poll Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Lucknow, Oct 13 Tareekh par tareekh will no longer be allowed in Uttar Pradesh when it comes to the settlement of disputes in revenue matters. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed strong displeasure over delays in resolving revenue matters pertaining to the transfer of name, inheritance, family division, and measurement. The chief minister said that the trend of date after date in revenue matters cannot be accepted. He warned of action against revenue personnel like accountants, revenue inspectors and added that divisionalcommissioners and district magistrate too would be held accountable as per the requirement. His warning came in the wake of Deoria and Kaushambhi where property disputes led to bloodbath. The chief minister was addressing district officials through video conferencing on Thursday evening when he expressed displeasure over delay in resolving issues. Giving information about the applications received at Janata Darshan in recent days and releasing the performance report of the IGRS, the chief minister said that officers are deployed for the public and meeting the public and solving their problems should be their top priority. Officers/employees posted in the field who are not able to do this should leave the field posting immediately, he said. No more 'tareekh par tareekh' in revenue cases: Yogi Adityanath Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! London, Oct 13 T he UKs anti-trust watchdog on Friday cleared the restructured deal for Microsoft to buy gaming giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, after it concluded that the new deal would preserve competitive prices and better services. The UKs Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) accepted a restructured Microsofts proposal that addresses the CMAs concerns about Microsoft dominating the cloud gaming market. In August this year, Microsoft made a concession that would see Ubisoft, instead of Microsoft, buy Activisions cloud gaming rights. This new deal will put the cloud streaming rights (outside the EEA) for all of Activisions PC and console content produced over the next 15 years in the hands of a strong and independent competitor with ambitious plans to offer new ways of accessing that content, said the CMA in a statement. The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers. It will allow Ubisoft to offer Activisions content under any business model, including through multigame subscription services. It will also help to ensure that cloud gaming providers will be able to use non-Windows operating systems for Activision content, reducing costs and increasing efficiency, the UKs market regulator noted. We delivered a clear message to Microsoft that the deal would be blocked unless they comprehensively addressed our concerns and stuck to our guns on that, said Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA. With the sale of Activisions cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, weve made sure Microsoft cant have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market, Cardell added. In August, Microsoft submitted a restructured proposal to UKs anti-trust watchdog for approval of its acquisition of Activision. As part of the restructuring, Microsoft will transfer cloud gaming rights for current and new Activision Blizzard games to French video game publisher Ubisoft. The sale of Activisions cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft will prevent the distribution of important, popular content including games such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft from coming under the control of Microsoft in relation to cloud gaming, said the CMA. Cloud gaming is an important new way for gamers to access games and this deal could have seriously undermined its potential development. On that we, the European Commission and the US Federal Trade Commission are in full agreement, said Martin Coleman, Chair of the Independent Panel who reviewed the original Microsoft deal. UK clears Microsoft's new deal to buy gaming giant Activision for $68.7 bn Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mumbai, October 13 M aharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar on Friday expressed concerns over the declining law & order situation in the state of Maharashtra. He also slammed the Eknath Shinde Govt over the 'security of women' in the state. Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 13 (ANI): Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar on Friday expressed concerns over the declining law & order situation in the state of Maharashtra. He also slammed the Eknath Shinde Govt over the 'security of women' in the state. Addressing a Press Conference, Pawar claimed that there were 19,533 women reported "missing" from the state between January 1 and May 31 this year. "Law and order issues are going on in Maharashtra. An important city like Nagpur is spoken in a different way. After getting information about it, some things came to light. Our colleagues raised some questions even in the monsoon session. 19 thousand 553 women and girls went missing during the period of five months from January 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023, this includes 1453 girls under 18 years of age. After seeing this number, it is clear that the situation is very serious. It is expected that the state government and the Home Ministry will take serious note of this and devise a remedial plan," Pawar said in a statement. Earlier, NCP Working President Supriya Sule also slammed the Maharashtra Government over the safety and security of women in the state. "The central and Maharashtra governments have been a complete failure in terms of the safety and security of women," she said in an address to the media. In his address on Friday, Pawar also targeted the Maharashtra Government over the 'contractual hiring' of personnel in Mumbai police and said that the recruitment should be done on a permanent basis. "The state government has decided to make government recruitment on a contract basis. The delegation that met me raised some issues with me. The government has decided to recruit in the police force on a contract basis. Since this recruitment is only for 11 months, what next?", he asked. Sharad Pawar also said that "since the tenure of the contract system is 11 months, how will the responsibilities given be fulfilled? Therefore, he demanded that "the recruitment should be done on a permanent basis instead of a contract system". The NCP President also accused Maharashtra Legislative Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar of using 'delay tactics' on the petition of rebel MLAs."NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) have approached the Supreme Court to give directions to the Maharashtra Speaker to take a decision regarding the disqualification of some MLAs in a time-bound manner. SC can direct the Speaker to make a decision in time time-bound manner. We fear that delay tactics are being used in the matter," Pawar said. Sharad Pawar raises concern over security of women, contractual hiring in Maharashtra Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! New Delhi, October 13 S everal global leaders raised concerns over the issue of terrorism globally and affirmed that all the countries need to come together to fight this menace. The leader also applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks at the P20 Summit, where he emphasised the issue and recalled the terror incidents against India. Speaking to ANI, Russian Member of Parliament, Pyotr Tolstoy said, "It is a big problem for all the world. I think the parliaments of the world need to have a strong declaration against terrorism...It's very important for millions of millions of citizens". The Secretary General of Nigeria, Saleh Abubakar also voiced against terrorism, calling it a 'global issue' and said that all countries need to work for achieving peace. "The issue of terrorism is a global issue. It is something for which the whole world should come out and find a solution. The way he (PM Modi) is taking it with this motto --One Earth, One Family, One Future-- if all leaders come together and say that we are all one and we need to work together as a family, then all this will be stopped," Abubakar said. He added, "The world cannot move as a family unless there is peace...Everything is centred around peace, and that is what we all should work on...This is a great achievement (Women's Reservation Bill)." Earlier, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt had also applauded PM Modi's address and said it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure peace in the world. "World terrorism is a big challenge for us, all of us have to find a solution for it so that peace can be restored in the world...PM Modi has clearly said that it's the responsibility of all to ensure peace in the world...Our slogan that has been accepted by all countries at the international level was 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'...so, it's a family. If anybody in a family gets hurt, it's the responsibility of all to find a solution," he told ANI. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi, during his P20 address invoked the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament and said that India has been facing and battling cross-border terrorism for many years. Giving the keynote address, PM Modi said, "India has been facing cross-border terrorism for many years now. Terrorists have taken the lives of thousands of our people. Nearly 20 years ago, the old Parliament building, which is near the old one, came under attack by terrorists. You will be shocked to know that Parliament was in session at the time of the attack". "Whatever be the cause or motivations, terrorism is against humanity. We will have to fight terrorism. Also, it is disheartening to see that there is no consensus among countries on the language and definition of terrorism. Terrorists are taking advantage of this," he added. While the G20 member countries attended the event, Canada was conspicuous by its absence at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20). Earlier Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, at a press briefing, informed that apart from G20 countries, 10 other countries and international organizations will participate in the P20 Summit and so far, 50 Parliamentarians and 14 Secretary Generals, including 26 Presidents, 10 Vice Presidents, one Committee Chairman and the IPU President have confirmed their participation. Speakers and heads of delegation of Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Spain, European Parliament, Italy, South Africa, Russia, Turkiye, Nigeria, Australia, Brazil, UAE, Singapore, Japan, Egypt and Bangladesh were present at the event. P20 Summit: Global leaders voice concern over terrorism, applaud PM Modi's remarks Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Chennai, Oct 13 T amil actor and comedian Yogi Babu recently met with Tamil action star Vishal where he presented him an idol of Lord Murugan, for which Vishal conveyed his gratitude, calling Yogi Babu his "darling brother." As the Jailer actor will be working with the Thaamirabharani actor in their project, tentatively titled Vishal 34, Yogi Babu presented his co-star the gift. Taking to his X, formerly known as Twitter, the Kaanadante Maayavadanu alum posted a picture of himself with the comic veteran as he handed him the statue and wrote: Thank you darling brother @iYogiBabu for gifting me a wonderful statue of lord Murugan in Karaikudi during the shoot of our film #Vishal34. He added: While filming a shot when I was driving the car and in btw this him spotting a shop selling Murugar idols and immediately after buying it and gifting it to me is God sent. Love you darling. Thank you. God bless (sic). Vikas is a major devotee of Lord Murugan, also known as Kartikeya, and has frequently visited temples to pay his homage to the deity. The deity is revered in south Indian states. The 'Vishal 34' shooting is currently happening in Thoothukudi and some major action sequences for the film are set to be shot at the latest schedule. This film will mark Vishals third collaboration with the director Hari. While Vishal will be handling the lead role as the films action hero, Yogi Babu will have a major supporting role where much like it was in Jailer, hell be handling the comic parts of the film. There is no release date for the film yet and neither is there a title in development, but the film is said to be heavily action-oriented. On the work front, Vishal was most recently seen in the film Mark Antony and will next be seen in the film Thupparivaalan 2. Yogi Babu on the other hand was most recently seen in the blockbuster film Jailer, as well as Karumegangal Kalaigindrana, and Shot Boot Three. Vishal calls Yogi Babu 'darling brother' as he receives a statue of Lord Murugan Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mumbai, Oct 13 B ollywood's 'Greek God', Hrithik Roshan on Friday opted for a eco-friendly commute and took a metro ride as he headed to work, leaving his swanky car behind. In a heart-winning move, Hrithik joined the daily grind of the metro and blended in with the commuters. The actor who is an ardent social media user took to his Instagram account and shared a string of photos and videos of his metro ride. He can be seen wearing a navy blue half sleeved t-shirt, and a matching cap. The actor is flaunting his toned biceps. The photos show Hrithik taking selfies with fans, mostly females of all age groups. There is also a video of Hrithik standing in the corner, holding the handle. Another video shows school girls happily screaming after seeing their favourite actor. Hrithik captioned the post: "Took the metro to work today. Met some really sweet n kind folks. Sharing with you the love they gave me.The experience was spectacular. Beat the heat + the traffic. Saved my back for the action shoot I'm going for." The post is liked by Alia Bhatt and Ayushmann Khurrana. Hrithik's ladylove Saba Azad commented: "Love", with a smiley and red heart emoji. Actor Gajraj Rao dropped a fire emoticon in the comment section. After these pictures which took Instagram by a storm of love, fans can't stop pouring comments filled with admiration for the actor. They wrote: "Celebrity who believes to live a common man's life. Hat's off to you sir (sic)." "Life in a metro," wrote another. "Ur always kind." "Such a pyaaara human." "The sweetest post on Instagram today." "biceps," said another. On the work front, Hrithik has an aerial action drama Fighter. The movie also stars Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor. Hrithik Roshan takes metro ride for 'action shoot', clicks selfies with fans Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! PHILADELPHIA A Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed and a second officer was wounded when they confronted people breaking into a car at Philadelphia International Airport, police said. A person who was brought to a hospital privately and died there may have been involved in the Thursday night shooting but investigators haven't confirmed that, interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a late-night news conference. Stanford said the officers were arriving at work and were parked in the garage shortly after 11 p.m. when they saw several people breaking into a vehicle in the parking garage area. As the officers approached, the suspects opened fire, hitting one officer several times in the upper body and the other in the arm, Stanford said. One officer died shortly after 11:30 p.m. at a hospital. His name wasnt released, but he was 50 years old and had 22 years with the force, Stanford said. The officer was married and had one child. They are here at the hospital, as you can imagine, heartbroken, Stanford said. The other officer was 60 years old and has 20 years with the police department, Stanford said. Both were assigned to the airport unit. Police said suspects in the shooting fled in a stolen Dodger Durango, which was being sought, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The same model of car dropped off an 18-year-old man at the hospital. He had two gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead there, the paper said. That person was very similar to the suspect description, but investigators hadnt confirmed his involvement, Stanford said. The shooting took place in the garage for the airport's Terminal D, which was temporarily closed during the initial investigation but later reopened. Stanford noted that the shooting came only a week after three officers were shot and wounded while responding to a call. A numb, numb moment for us, to again encounter something like this, he said. We just had three officers shot last week. And then this tonight, so you can imagine what we feel. We can imagine what this department is going through. And quite frankly, how the city should be feeling. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said law enforcement staff across multiple agencies were working to identify those responsible, but said they lacked the ability to match crime scene ballistics to firearms through a database of gun sales, citing a lack of gun regulation. Pennsylvania state law prevents law enforcement and government agencies from having firearm registries. Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President Joseph Regan mourned the officer's death and said members were praying for the wounded officer. We lost a hero today." Regan said. Two local police unions Philadelphias Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 and Lodge 27 in Delaware County were offering a combined $30,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. That would be in addition to a $20,000 reward that the city has offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Speaking Friday at a news conference to announce the police unions' reward, Lodge 5 President John McNesby said the city's police force was under manned and said more officers were needed in the streets. He also was critical of the district attorney's office, saying that if violent offenders are not prosecuted that sends a message they can do what they want. Calling the two officers standouts and citing their years of service to the city, McNesby said the loss was a tough one for their colleagues and the department. I saw more tears last night than Ive ever seen in all my years here, McNesby said. , . , . . , .EPA/ARSHAD ARBAB Download Now The News-Gazette mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the News-Gazette on your mobile device just as it appears in print. Jo Church, 72, of Champaign, took top honors at the Retired and Senior Service Programs 51st annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon, held Thursday at the Holiday Inn in Champaign, for providing more than 2,500 hours of service in the past fiscal year. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours will become overcast in the afternoon. High 61F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy skies. Low 43F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Charlottesville is reimposing its curfew at Market Street Park. City Manager Sam Sanders Friday announcement that the park will resume its previous operating hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Oct. 21 means the homeless men and women who have been living in an encampment there for the past three weeks must find other shelter or risk being kicked out or cited for trespassing. Sanders lifted the curfew at the park after Charlottesville residents reported to City Council that police had mistreated at least two homeless men at the park. Since then, 35 tents have been erected there. Some of those living at the park today have said they have no intention of leaving. Darnell Burton, who said he was among a small group that discreetly resided at the park even before the curfew was lifted, vowed to fight back and keep his tent up. Burton told The Daily Progress on Friday afternoon that the city doesnt have the legal authority to exile the parks tenants. Show me in the Code of Virginia where you cant have tents when the park is open, he said. Were going to stay here. Thats in spite of the fact that the city has said its decision to reinstate the parks prior operating hours was made because additional overnight beds would be made available for the homeless. People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, or PACEM, announced Thursday it would be opening its overnight shelter operations early this year. The group has operated an emergency shelter during the coldest months of the year in Charlottesville since 2004. Our regular open was scheduled for Oct 28, Liz Yohn, PACEM operations manager, told The Daily Progress on Friday. Our season will now run Oct 21-Apr 12. PACEM has 50 beds between two sites, Yohn said, and provides those accommodations and other resources in partnership with the city, Charlottesville First United Methodist Church, the Salvation Army and Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness , or PATH, a federal, state and local partnership that provides outreach and assistance to adults with serious mental illness who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless. We meet folks where they are, PACEM board Chair Cliff Haury said in a Thursday statement, and we adapt to what they need. Right now, theyre in the park and need shelter thats something we already know how to address. The city said it will be reimposing the curfew at the park to coincide with PACEMs early opening on Oct. 21. The City of Charlottesville will resume operating hours in Market Street Park at 11:00 pm the same day, the city said in its Friday statement. The city added that there are also beds available at the Salvation Army shelter on Ridge Street. The Salvation Army told The Daily Progress on Friday it had four available beds at its shelter in the city. There are four here, Brenda Smith, Salvation Army shelter manager, said. One on the men and three on the women. Echoing Yohns remarks, Smith said her organization would be working closely with PACEM once it opens on Oct. 21. I will be obliging them with 16 additional people to house. Eight for the men, eight for the women, Smith said. They wont have a bed, but they will be in the lounge. Sanders said the city will continue to engage with groups that provide resources, including shelter, to the homeless population in Charlottesville as the park resumes normal hours and the men and women there move on. I have asked our staff to engage with various service providers to strategize ways we can support this process so that anyone in the park will receive the assistance that they need to ensure a smooth transition. This work has already begun and will continue through whatever period necessary, Sanders said in his Friday statement. The Daily Progress reached out to Ashley Marshall, deputy city manager, for clarity on what other service providers the city is working with but did not receive a response by press time. Sanders decided to lift the curfew at the park three weeks ago after residents reported to City Council that at least two homeless men at the park had been mistreated by the citys police one kicked and another arrested for trespassing and that officers were intentionally targeting the Black population at the park. After hearing what he called the disgusting and disturbing actions alleged of his officers, Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis launched an internal investigation that found those reports were groundless. It has been determined that the allegations that our officers have been targeting Black, unhoused individuals with violence, and that officers have only been asking Black, unhoused individuals to leave the park, are unfounded and simply did not occur, Kochis said at a Sept. 28 press conference. After reviewing bodycam footage, Kochis determined that a homeless man sleeping on the ground at the park after the 11 p.m. curfew the night of Sept. 16 had not been kicked; he described the contact made between an officers foot and the man a touch. Bodycam footage of the Sept. 12 arrest of Roscoe Boxley at the park shows the man sitting in a chair on one of the parks walkways, fully aware that he is about to violate the 11 p.m. curfew. We dont got nowhere to go. Nowhere at all. Everywhere weve been yall have ran us off, Boxley says to the officers. One officer asks if Boxley had tried finding a bed at the Salvation Army. Do you think Id be out here if I could get into Salvation Army? Boxley asks. Youre going to lock me up right now because I aint going nowhere, and the only way Im going somewhere is if you lock me up. Im going to be heard one way or another. At 11 p.m., Boxley stood from his chair and immediately put his hands behind his back, waiting to be arrested. The number of people in Charlottesville who have fallen into homelessness has grown by 25% since 2018, according to the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, which coordinates and leads collaborative efforts to address homelessness. At the Sept. 28 press conference, Kochis suggested that at the root of the homeless crisis in Charlottesville is not the police response to a park curfew but the resources available to those in need. Im just going to be frank. Im sorry, but Ive worked in two other jurisdictions, the city of Alexandria and the town of Warrenton, he said. Both had a 24-hour shelter with wraparound services, and Ive never been in a jurisdiction that hasnt had either. Directly across the street from Market Street Park sits the Haven, a homeless resource center in the former First Christian Church which has been in operation since 2010. But the Haven only provides shelter services during the daytime, and the city prohibits it from operating at night. Executive Director Anna Mendez told The Daily Progress that while the city has indicated a willingness to reconsider that decision, it is still in the very early stages of that conversation. It would be incredibly premature to put any type of timeline on it, Mendez said. The Haven announced it will be hosting a Housing First & Homelessness event Nov. 13. Have you grappled with the questions, Are there evidence-based solutions to homelessness? What are we doing locally to end homelessness, and what challenges do we face in implementing these efforts in our community? If so, join us Monday, an invitation to the event reads. Those interested in attending can register online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/housing-first-homelessness-in-charlottesville-tickets-727558877187?aff=oddtdtcreator. Daily Progress reporter Hawes Spencer contributed to this story. Minnesota man who shot officers told wife it was 'his day to die,' according to complaint A criminal complaint says the Minnesota man accused of shooting five law enforcement officers told his wife it was his day to die when he learned that drug task force officers were at his home Schumer says he's leading a bipartisan group of senators to Israel to show 'unwavering' US support Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is headed to Israel this weekend to discuss what resources the United States can provide for its war against Hamas What to know in the latest Israel-Hamas war More than a million people in northern Gaza have been ordered to evacuate to the south as Israel appeared to be preparing a ground offensive in the latest Israel-Hamas war The FISH (Food Insecurity and its Sequalae on Health) Study, led by Tiffany Wesley Ardoin, MD, FACP, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at LSU Health New Orleans' Baton Rouge Regional Campus, reports that a clinic-based community program improved food security scores, healthy eating behaviors, and depression scores in a vulnerable, food-insecure population in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The findings are published in the MDPI journal, Nutrients. The collaborative Geaux Get Healthy Clinical Program, created in 2020 and directed by LSU Health's Dr. Wesley Ardoin at a North Baton Rouge Our Lady of the Lake clinic where she practices, provides comprehensive education and access to resources while leveraging community partnerships and a clinical setting as an intervention to improve food insecurity. This program has been a long time in the making and is the result of collaboration between LSU Health New Orleans' Baton Rouge Regional Campus, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, local Baton Rouge government, large organizations such as American Heart Association and local community-based organizations. It is unique in that we don't just give food or money to people, but we provide education and access to resources to promote sustainable change." Dr. Wesley Ardoin, LSU Health The Geaux Get Healthy Clinical Program includes in-person, hands-on cooking classes, a nutrition class, and a grocery store tour using the American Heart Association Healthy for Life Curriculum. The curriculum was enhanced to be more health-literate and culturally relevant based on feedback from participants and team members. The classes included both group education and hands-on guidance with floating community volunteers. Participants are encouraged to bring one family member or friend for support. Educational topics include sodium and sugar restrictions in relation to hypertension and diabetes, portion control, food safety, chopping skills, eating seasonal produce, etc. The cooking and nutrition classes took place at the clinic, and the grocery store tour occurred within a Dollar General outfitted with fresh produce adjacent to the clinic. The FISH study is a prospective cohort that studies the effects of the Geaux Get Healthy Clinical Program. The design is a one-group, pre-post evaluation over two years. FISH eligibility included English-speaking Geaux Get Healthy Clinical Program participants aged 1865 years. All study participants were food insecure. They had all scored at least a 2 on the USDA U.S. Adult 6-question Screening Module to qualify for the program. A total of 57 research participants with food insecurity completed the program. Mean food security scores improved at the completion of program, and these scores further improved 6 months after enrollment. "This work is timely as the White House and the American Heart Association have both made big announcements within the last year on ways they want to address Food Insecurity in the United States," adds Dr. Wesley Ardoin. "Food Insecurity has a 14% prevalence in Louisiana and is directly related to many chronic medical conditions. We hope that this work can be a starting point for future research that can pave the way for programming that will promote healthy eating and improve health in Louisiana and beyond." Food insecurity is significantly associated with many health conditions and poor health outcomes. While it is directly linked to body fat, it is also associated with depression, anxiety, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension independent of the body mass index (BMI). One study found that households with significant food insecurity had a higher incidence of hypertension (36.1%) compared to those without food insecurity (19.7%). Food insecurity is also correlated with an increased risk of chronic health conditions such as coronary heart disease, hepatitis, stroke, cancer, asthma, COPD, and chronic kidney disease. The authors write, "Addressing food insecurity is complex due to the diverse range of factors contributing to its fluctuating nature, spanning from the production and distribution of food to individual challenges such as living in a food desert, financial constraints, or lack of knowledge and resources when purchasing and preparing nutritious meals. To date, there is no standardized design for programs addressing food insecurity." With the improvement in food insecurity and nutrition behaviors, the Geaux Get Healthy Clinical Program may serve as a model for other programs addressing food insecurity in the future. Other authors included Dr. Donald Mercante at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health, Elizabeth Perry at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, Chelsea Morgan at the American Heart Association, and Jared Hymowitz at HealthyBR, the Mayor's Healthy City Initiative for Baton Rouge. The FISH Study was funded by LSU Health New Orleans' Research Enhancement Program Clinical Research Grant, grant number 5498208018. The Geaux Get Healthy Clinical Program at Our Lady of the Lake received financial support from the Humana Foundation, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation through HealthyBR and by Healthy Blue Louisiana. Huntington's Disease is the most common neurodegenerative disorder controlled by a single gene and is characterized by motor and cognitive deficits and psychiatric symptoms. Currently, no treatments can stop or reverse the disease, but new research from Boston Children's Hospital suggests that there might be a way to protect the brain and prevent or slow cognitive decline. Research from the lab of Beth Stevens, PhD suggests that parts of the immune system complement proteins and microglia mediate the loss of specific synapses connecting the brain's cortex and striatum. The findings, recently published in Nature Medicine, could also shed light on other neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's Disease. In 2012, the Stevens lab was one of the first to show that microglia engulf and prune synapses during normal brain development, fine-tuning the brain's connections. The lab also showed that complement proteins tag synapses meant for elimination. Stevens and her team speculated that in diseases involving synapse loss, like Alzheimer's Disease, schizophrenia, and Huntington's Disease, this pruning process is abnormally reactivated. Huntington's Disease offered an ideal opportunity to test their theory, both because there is a single gene associated with the condition and because it has a very well-defined pathology with specific brain regions and even select synaptic connections between neurons being impacted at early stages of the disease. Using an animal model and postmortem brain samples from patients with Huntington's disease, Stevens and colleagues showed that complement proteins and microglia are activated very early in the illness -; before cognitive and motor symptoms emerge -; and that they target a specific vulnerable brain circuit in the pathway connecting the cortex and striatum. Corticostriatal circuits are known to be involved in movement and learning what actions lead to positive outcomes or "reward." The researchers saw increased levels of complement proteins, specifically around these synapses in the striatum. At the same time, inputs from neurons in other brain regions that connect to the same cells were relatively spared. When the team blocked the complement protein C1q in their animal model -; either with an antibody or by genetically deleting the complement receptor CR3 on microglia -; they prevented synapse loss. They also prevented cognitive defects around visual discrimination learning and cognitive flexibility. "Some cognitive deficits tend to develop much earlier than motor defects in Huntington's disease, and this occurs in humans, too," notes Dan Wilton, PhD, first author of the study. "The Huntington's Disease model we are studying does develop some slight motor defects that are also resolved with complement blocking strategies." Wilton and colleagues showed a mechanism of specificity, selective vulnerability, and what happens at the earliest stages of Huntington's Disease. The findings also suggest a possible biomarker: levels of innate immune molecules were elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Huntington's disease, even before the appearance of motor symptoms correlating with a known predictor of pathological severity and disease onset. We're excited by the idea that we could identify neuroimmune biomarkers to stratify people at the earliest stage and prioritize some for treatment. If you had clinical samples such as CSF, measuring these biomarkers could bring insight into what is happening in the brain." Beth Stevens, member of the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children's and affiliate with the Broad Institute and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Stevens thinks similar mechanisms and biomarkers may apply to other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia, which her lab is also exploring. But most immediately, Stevens' team hopes to unravel how the huntingtin mutation leads to complement activation. They know that specific expression of mutant huntingtin in both cortical and striatal neurons is required to initiate the synaptic elimination mechanism. Still, the factors leading to the selective targeting of corticostriatal inputs remain to be determined. "Huntington's is a nice model to tease this out," says Stevens. "That's a major future direction for our group. WASHINGTON Republican Steve Scalise has ended his bid to become House speaker after failing to secure the votes to win the gavel. Scalise told GOP colleagues at a closed-door meeting late Thursday of his decision. Next steps are uncertain as the House is essentially closed while Republicans try to elect a speaker after ousting Kevin McCarthy from the job. I just shared with my colleagues that Im withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee, Scalise said as he emerged from the closed-door meeting at the Capitol. Scalise, R-La., said the Republican majority still has to come together and is not there. He had been working furiously secure the votes after being nominated by a majority of his colleagues, but after hours of private meetings over two days and late into the evening at the Capitol it was clear lawmakers were not budging from their refusal to support him. There are still some people that have their own agendas, Scalise said. "And I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. Frustrations mounted as the crisis deepened and Republicans lost another day without a House speaker. Scalise was trying to peel off more than 100 votes, mostly from those who backed his chief rival, Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman favored by hard-liners, who announced he was no longer in the running and tossed his vote to Scalise. But many hard-liners taking their cues from Donald Trump have dug in for a prolonged fight to replace McCarthy after his historic ouster from the job. They argue that Majority Leader Scalise is no better choice, that he should be focusing on his health as he battles cancer and that he is not the leader they will support. No House votes were scheduled. Were going to get this done, Scalise had said after an earlier closed-door meeting at the Capitol. Scalise said he took every question thrown his way and pledged during the two-hour session to work through the issues raised. But there is no easy endgame in sight. Time is of the essence, McCarthy said when he arrived at the Capitol Thursday. Asked if it was still possible for Scalise to find enough support, McCarthy said, It's possible it's a big hill, though. The House is entering its second week without a speaker and is essentially unable to function, and the political pressure increasingly is on Republicans to reverse course, reassert majority control and govern in Congress. Action is needed to fund the government or face the threat of a federal shutdown in a month. Lawmakers also want Congress to deliver a strong statement of support for Israel in the war with Hamas, but a bipartisan resolution has been sidelined by the stalemate in the House. The White House is expected to soon ask for money for Israel, Ukraine and the backfill of the U.S. weapons stockpile. The situation is not fully different from the start of the year, when McCarthy faced a similar backlash from a different group of far-right holdouts who ultimately gave their votes to elect him speaker, then engineered his historic downfall. But the math this time is even more daunting. Scalise, who is seen by some colleagues as hero for having survived a 2017 shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice, won the closed-door Republican vote 113-99. But McCarthy, R-Calif., noted that Scalise, a longtime rival, had indicated he would have 150 votes behind closed doors, but missed that mark. Scalise would have needed 217 votes to reach a majority that likely would be needed in a floor battle with Democrats. The chamber is narrowly split 221-212, with two vacancies, meaning Scalise could lose just a few Republicans in the face of opposition from Democrats who will most certainly back their own leader, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Absences heading into the weekend could lower the majority threshold needed. Exasperated Democrats, who have been watching and waiting for the Republican majority to recover from McCarthys ouster, urged them to figure it out, warning the world is watching. The House Republicans need to end the GOP Civil War, now, Jeffries said. The House Democrats have continued to make clear that we are ready, willing and able to find a bipartisan path forward, he said, urging that the House reopen and change GOP-led rules that allowed a single lawmaker to put in motion the process to remove the speaker. As Congress sat idle, the Republicans spent a second day behind closed doors, arguing and airing grievances but failing to follow their own party rules and unite behind the nominee. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said the meetings had been marked by emotional objections to voting for Scalise. Its not for your personal grievances, but thats unfortunately what I keep seeing, he said. Some Republicans simply took their Chick-fil-A lunches to go. Jordan, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus who was backed by Trump in the speakers race, announced he did not plan to continue running for the leadership position. We need to come together and support Steve, Jordan, R-Ohio, told reporters before the closed session. It was the most vocal endorsement yet from Jordan, who had earlier offered to give his rival a nominating speech on the floor, and privately was telling lawmakers he would vote for Scalise and was encouraging his colleagues to do the same. But it was not enough to sway the holdouts. Handfuls of hard-liners announced they were sticking with Jordan, McCarthy or someone other than Scalise. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, reaffirmed his support for Trump as speaker; the position does not need to go to a member of Congress. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, repeatedly discussed Scalise's health during a radio interview that aired Thursday. Well, I like Steve. I like both of them very much. But the problem, you know, Steve is a man that is in serious trouble, from the standpoint of his cancer, Trump said on Fox News host Brian Kilmeades radio show. Scalise has been diagnosed with a form of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma and is being treated. I think its going to be very hard, maybe in either case, for somebody to get, Trump said. "And then you end up in one of these crazy stalemates. Its a very interesting situation. Otherwise, Trump was expected to take a hands-off approach to the internal GOP fight once Scalise, rather than his choice of Jordan, became the nominee, according to one person familiar with Trumps thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity. Many Republicans want to prevent the spectacle of a messy House floor fight like the grueling January brawl when McCarthy became speaker. But others said it was time for Republicans to get out from behind closed doors and vote. Stop dragging it out, said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on social media. If Kevin McCarthy had to go 15 rounds then the next Speaker should be able to do the same or more if they have to. Read more: A world-first clinical trial published in JAMA could provide an easy way to save tens of thousands of units of blood every year in Canada and much more worldwide. The trial, which involved more than 27,000 patients in 25 adult intensive care units (ICUs) across Canada, showed that taking less blood for lab tests using "small-volume" tubes reduced the need for almost one blood transfusion for every 10 patients. Most hospitals use standard tubes that automatically draw four to six milliliters (ml) of blood, but a typical laboratory test requires less than 0.5 ml of blood, meaning the rest (more than 90%) is wasted. Commercially available small-volume tubes have a weaker vacuum inside that automatically draws up to half as much blood. While the amount of blood drawn per tube is relatively small, ICU patients typically require multiple blood samples taken multiple times every day. This can add up to significant blood loss that contributes to anemia, or low red blood cells. ICU patients are unable to produce more red blood cells to correct for this blood loss and often require treatment with a blood transfusion." Dr. Deborah Siegal, senior author, scientist and hematologist at The Ottawa Hospital who led the trial, which was coordinated, sponsored and funded by the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) in Hamilton, a joint institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences "This trial showed that we can save one blood transfusion for every 10 ICU patients by simply switching to small-volume tubes for blood collection," said Dr. Siegal, who maintains appointments with McMaster University and PHRI, in addition to the University of Ottawa. "At a time when everyone is trying to find ways to make health care more sustainable, and preserve our supply of blood products, this study provides a simple solution that can be implemented without additional cost or negative effects. The patients in our study received over 36,000 blood transfusions. With small-volume tubes we may have saved about 1,500 units of blood." In Canada, the costs associated with blood transfusions ($450 per unit of blood, with additional costs to hospitals for testing, preparation, storage, etc.) are covered by the public health system. Blood donors are not paid, and blood conservation is a priority as shortages are common. The study also has important implications for patients, as low red blood cells (anemia) can leave patients feeling tired and weak and is associated with can lead to other complications and longer hospital stays. While blood transfusions can usually correct anemia, there can be rare side effects, such as difficulty breathing, allergic reactions and infections. The trial employed an innovative design that involved randomizing different ICUs to use either small-volume blood collection tubes or regular tubes for different periods of time, before switching to the other tubes. The researchers used electronic medical records to track how many blood transfusions were given to each patient, excluding patients who stayed for less than 48 hours in the ICU. While previous observational studies have supported the use of small-volume tubes, this is the first clinical trial to rigorously test them in the hospital setting. In addition to finding that the small-volume tubes reduced anemia and the need for blood transfusions, the trial also confirmed that the smaller volume of blood did not compromise laboratory testing. When the researchers excluded results from the height of the pandemic (five months of data), the trends were the same, but did not reach statistical significance. Debbie King barely gave it a second thought when she scraped her right shin climbing onto her friend's pontoon for a day of boating in the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 13. Even though her friend immediately dressed the slight cut, her shin was red and sore when King awoke the next day. It must be a sunburn, she thought. But three days later, the red and blistered area had grown. Her doctor took one look and sent King, 72, to the emergency room. Doctors at HCA Florida Citrus Hospital in Inverness, Florida, rushed King into surgery after recognizing the infection as Vibrio vulnificus, a potentially fatal bacterium that kills healthy tissue around a wound. While King lay on the operating table, the surgeon told her husband she would likely die if they didn't amputate. Just four days after the scrape, King lost her leg then spent four days in intensive care. "The flesh was gone; it was just bone," she said of her leg. Cases of V. vulnificus are rare. Between 150 and 200 are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention every year, with about 20% resulting in death. Most are in states along the Gulf of Mexico, but, in 2019, 7% were on the Pacific Coast. Florida averages about 37 cases and 10 deaths a year. But a rise in cases nationally and the spread of the disease to states farther north into coastal communities in states such as Connecticut, New York, and North Carolina have heightened concerns about the bacterium, which can result in amputations or extensive removal of tissue even in those who survive its infections. And warmer coastal waters caused by climate change, combined with a growing population of older adults, may result in infections doubling by 2060, a study in Scientific Reports warned earlier this year. "Vibrio distributions are driven in large part by temperature," said Tracy Mincer, an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University. "The warmer waters are, the more favorable it is for them." The eastern United States has seen an eightfold increase in infections over a 30-year period through 2018 as the geographic range of infections shifted north by about 30 miles a year, according to the study, which was cited in a CDC health advisory last month. The advisory was intended to make doctors more aware of the bacterium when treating infected wounds exposed to coastal waters. Infections can also arise from eating raw or undercooked seafood, particularly oysters, it warned. That can cause symptoms as common as diarrhea and as serious as bloodstream infections and severe blistered skin lesions. New York and Connecticut this summer issued health warnings about the risk of infection as well. It's not the first year either state has recorded cases. "There's very few cases but when they happen, they're devastating," said Paul A. Gulig, a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Florida College of Medicine. 'An accident of nature' Vibrio has more than 100 strains, including the bacterium that causes cholera, a disease that causes tens of thousands of deaths worldwide each year. The V. vulnificus strain likes warm brackish waters close to shorelines where the salinity is not as high as in the open sea. Unlike some other Vibrio strains, it has no mechanism to spread between humans. It's found in oysters because the mollusks feed by filtering water, meaning the bacterium can become concentrated in oyster flesh. It can enter humans who swim in salty or brackish waters through the slightest cut in the skin. Infections are treated with antibiotics and, if needed, surgery. "It's almost an accident of nature," Gulig said. "They have all these virulence factors that make them really destructive, but we're not a part of this bug's life cycle." Once inside the human body, the bacteria thrive. Scientists don't believe the bacteria eat flesh, despite how they're often described. Rather, enzymes and toxins secreted by the bacterium as it multiplies break down the human tissue in the area below the skin, causing necrosis, or death of tissue cells. The infection spreads like wildfire, Gulig said, making early detection critical. "If you take a pen and mark where the edge of the redness is and then look at that two or four hours later, the redness would have moved," Gulig said. "You can almost sit there and watch this spread." Researchers have conducted studies on the bacteria, but the small number of cases and deaths make it tough to secure funding, said Gulig. He said he switched his research focus to other areas because of the lack of money. But growing interest in the bacteria has prompted talk about new research at his university's Emerging Pathogens Institute. Examining the bacteria's genome sequence and comparing it with those of Vibrio strains that don't attack human flesh could yield insights into potential drugs to interfere with that process, Gulig said. Shock and loss Inside the operating room at HCA Florida Citrus, the only signs of King's infection were on her shin. The surgeon opened that area and began cutting away a bright red mush of dead flesh. Hoping to save as much of the leg as possible, the doctor first amputated below her knee. But the bacteria had spread farther than doctors had hoped. A second amputation, this time 5 inches above the knee, had to be performed. After surgery, King remained in critical care for four days with sepsis, a reaction to infection that can cause organs to fail. Her son was there when she awakened. He was the one who told her she had lost her leg, but she was too woozy from medication to take it in. It wasn't until she was transferred to a rehab hospital in nearby Brooksville run by Encompass Health that the loss sank in. A former radiation protection technician, King had always been self-reliant. The idea of needing a wheelchair, of being dependent on others it felt like she had lost part of her identity. One morning, she could just not stop crying. "It hit me like a ton of bricks," she said. Six different rehab staffers told her she needed to meet with the hospital's consulting psychologist. She thought she didn't need help, but she eventually gave in and met with Gerald Todoroff. In four sessions with King, he said, he worked to redirect her perception of what happened. Amputation is not who you are but what you will learn to deal with, he told her. Your life can be as full as you wish. "They were magic words that made me feel like a new person," King said. "They went through me like music." Physical therapy moved her forward, too. She learned how to stand longer on her remaining leg, to use her wheelchair, and to maneuver in and out of a car. Now, back in her Gulf Coast community of Homosassa, those skills have become routine. Her husband, Jim, a former oil company worker and carpenter, built an access ramp out of concrete and pressure-treated wood for their single-story home. But she is determined to walk with the aid of a prosthetic leg. It's the motivation for a one-hour regimen of physical therapy she does on her own every day in addition to twice-weekly sessions with a physical therapist. Recovery still feels like a journey but one marked by progress. She has nicknamed her "stump" Peg. She's now comfortable sharing before and after pictures of her leg. And she's made it her mission to talk about what happened so more people will learn about the danger. "This is the most horrific thing that can happen to anybody," she said. "But I'd sit back and think, 'God put you here for a reason you've got more things to do.'" What to Know About 'Flesh-Eating' Bacterium Vibrio vulnificus Infection Symptoms: Diarrhea, often accompanied by stomach cramping, nausea, vomiting, and fever. Wound infections cause redness, pain, swelling, warmth, discoloration, and discharge. They may spread to the rest of the body and cause fever. Bloodstream infections cause fever, chills, dangerously low blood pressure, and blistering skin lesions. To Protect Against Vibrio Infections: Stay out of saltwater or brackish water if you have a wound or a recent surgery, piercing, or tattoo. Cover wounds with a waterproof bandage if they could come into contact with seawater or raw or undercooked seafood and its juices. Wash wounds and cuts thoroughly with soap and water after contact with saltwater, brackish water, raw seafood, or its juices. Who Is Most at Risk: Anyone can get a wound infection. People with liver disease, cancer, or diabetes, and those over 40 or with weakened immune systems, are more likely to get an infection and have severe complications. Sources: This article was produced in partnership with the Tampa Bay Times. The negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement between India and the UK are at an advanced stage, and both sides are working to iron out differences on the remaining issues, a top government official said on Friday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that negotiations on tough issues are underway. These negotiations are in the advance stage. These are going on, and we are ironing out the differences. We should wait till these negotiations are over because the 13th round is going on, he told reporters here. These remarks assume significance as both sides are expected to conclude the talks this month and may sign the deal in the last week. A majority of the 26 chapters are closed and for the remaining issues, high-level engagements at various levels are ongoing. An official delegation from the UK is here for the negotiations. A team led by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal was in London recently to give an impetus to the talks. The UK team dealing with investment-related matters is already here, and the talks for the proposed bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with finance ministry officials are progressing at a faster pace. The investment treaty is being negotiated as a separate agreement between India and the UK. These investment treaties help in promoting and protecting investments in each others country. The main point of contention involved in this pact is about the mechanism for the settlement of disputes. The BITs help in promoting and protecting investments in each others countries. India has proposed to first utilise all local judicial remedies for settlement of disputes before initiating an international arbitration. To provide duty concessions in the automobile sector, several rounds of consultations have been held with the domestic players in India. According to an expert, UK-based automakers like JLR, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and Aston Martin cater to the luxury segment, while Indian manufacturers are mostly in the mass segment and are mainly dominated by small and mid-size passenger cars and two-wheelers. The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT, and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duties. On the other hand, the UK is seeking a significant cut in import duties on goods such as scotch whiskey, automobiles, lamb meat, chocolates and certain confectionary items. Britain is also looking for more opportunities for UK services in Indian markets in segments like telecommunications, legal and financial services (banking and insurance). Alcoholic beverage industry body Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) director-general Vinod Giri said that for Scotland Whiskey (bottled), India can consider reducing the import duties to 100 per cent immediately from 150 per cent and then 50 per cent in 10 years. Similarly, for bulk imports, the duties can be cut down to 100 per cent immediately and then 50 per cent in 10 years as the bulk imports are treated as intermediate goods in the domestic market. The Indian alcoholic beverage market is worth USD 52 billion. Replacing France, India became the top buyer of Scotch whisky by volume in 2022, according to the Scotch Whisky Association. The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to USD 20.36 billion in 2022-23 from USD 17.5 billion in 2021-22. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, October 13, said it has imposed monetary penalties on Bajaj Finance, RBL Bank, and Union Bank of India for non-compliance with its directions. The RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 8.50 lakh on Bajaj Finance, Rs 1 crore fine on Union Bank of India and Rs 64 lakh on RBL Bank, according to separate press releases by the central bank. The penalty has been imposed on Union Bank of India as bank non-compiled with certain directions and sanctioned a term loan to a Corporation in lieu of or to substitute budgetary resources envisaged for certain projects, without undertaking due diligence on the viability and bankability of the projects to ensure that revenue streams from the projects were sufficient to take care of the debt servicing obligations, and the repayment/ servicing of which was made out of budgetary resources, according to the release. RBL Bank has been fined for non-compliance with the RBIs directions, to the extent it failed to (i) obtain annual declaration in Form B from one of its major shareholders, within one month of the close of the three financial years ending on March 31, 2018, March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020, and (ii) furnish certificates to RBI regarding continuance of the fit and proper status of one of its major shareholders, by the end of September of the said three financial years, the RBI said. Bajaj Finance has been penalised for non-compliance with the RBI directions to the extent of not reporting and delay in reporting of certain frauds to RBI, the central bank said in the release. Even as three major IT companies in India TCS, Infosys and HCL Technologies recorded a net decline in their headcounts during the second quarter ended September 2023 (Q2 FY24), there is a mixed trend on their hiring plans going forward. While Infosys has no plans to visit campuses for hiring as yet, HCL Tech expects to close FY24 with about 10,000 fresher hires. TCS is as of now not clear if it will visit campuses or not. TCS Hiring Plans In an analysts call post Q2 results on October 11, TCS Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad said, Our strategy of proactively hiring bright freshers and investing in training them with the right skills is paying off now. With that talent coming on stream and with reduced attrition, we were able to recalibrate our gross additions, keeping it below the departures during the quarter, driving the productivity, and enhancing project outcomes. Though he did not explicitly say if the company visiting campuses for hiring or not, the company is calibrating its hiring plans. During the September 2023 quarter, TCS headcount fell by 6,333. Its total number of employees as of September 30 this year stood at Rs 608,985, compared with 6,15,318. Its IT services attrition on the last-twelveth-month stood at 14.9 per cent during the September 2023 quarter, which is lower than in previous quarters. Infosys Hiring Plans In a post-Q2 results conference, Infosys Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy said the company does not have plans to go to campuses to hire as yet and will evaluate hiring plans each quarter. The company hired about 50,000 freshers last year. With that slowing down over this year, utilisation had fallen into the 70s and therefore, now quarter on quarter youre seeing an improvement. We still have a significantly fresher bench. We are training them on new skills, he said. There is headroom to improve utilisation, which is currently at 81.8 per cent, he said. Infosys total employee strength declined to 3,28,764 as of September 2023 from 3,36,294 in the previous quarter, a decline of 7,530 in headcount. Infosys IT services attrition on a twelve-month basis declined further to 14.6 per cent. HCL Technologies Fresher Hiring Plans Talking to the media on October 12 after Q2 results, HCL Tech Chief People Officer Ramachandran Sundararajan said the company expects to hire about 5,000 freshers during October-March FY24, closing out the year with about 10,000 fresher hires. HCL hired about 5,200 freshers during April-September FY24. In terms of campus programmes and visits to campus, we continue the programme. Theres no change in the plan. As we speak, my colleagues are all active, visiting campuses, he said. HCL Technologies total headcount also declined during July-September 2023 and stood at 2.21 lakh at the end of the quarter. It is a decline of 2,299 employees from the previous quarter. HCL Tech also saw attrition ease to 14.2 per cent. Infosys, HCL, TCS Salary Hikes After deferring salary hikes by a quarter, Infosys and HCL Technologies have now decided to roll out salary hikes. While Infosys will go ahead with pay revision from October onwards, HCL is planning to do it from November 1. However, TCS rolled out hikes in Q1FY24 to employees and gave up to 12-15 per cent for top performers. TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech: Q2 Financial Results Kick-starting Q2 earnings season, TCS posted an 8.73 per cent growth in its net profit to Rs 11,342 crore for the September 2023 quarter. Its revenue during July-September 2023 rose 7.92 per cent to Rs 59,692 crore. Infosys has reported a 3.2 per cent rise in its Q2 net profit to Rs 6,212 crore. Its revenue during July-September 2023 increased 6.7 per cent to Rs 38,994 crore. HCL Tech posted a 9.83 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 3,832 crore for the quarter. Its revenue from operations during July-September 2023 increased 8.04 per cent to Rs 26,672 crore. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is set to close the online registration window for the CS Executive Entrance Test (CSEET) November 2023 exams soon. According to the schedule, the last date to register for ICSI CSEET 2023 is October 15. Interested candidates eligible to apply for ICSI CSEET November session 2023 can visit the official website of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India at icsi.edu before the registration window closes. Candidates should note that the ICSI CSEET November 2023 is set to take place on November 4. However, the admit card for the same will be issued on the official website of ICSI in due course of time. To be eligible to apply for the ICSI CSEET November 2023 examination, candidates must have passed or appeared in a Class 12 examination or equivalent. However, candidates can take direct admission in the CS Executive programme if they have completed graduation (UG) or postgraduation (PG) degrees with an aggregate of 50 per cent marks, have qualified for the final examination of the Institute Of Chartered Accountants Of India (ICAI) or the Institute Of Cost Accountants Of India (ICMAI), or have passed the foundation exam of ICSI. ICSI CSEET NOVEMBER 2023: HOW TO APPLY Candidates willing to apply can follow the simple below-mentioned steps and register for ICSI CSEET 2023 November session: Step 1: Go to the official website of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) at www.icsi.edu Step 2: Search for Latest @ICSIStudents available on the homepage Step 3: Then, click on CSEET November 2023 registration link Step 4: Register yourself by providing the asked information Step 5: Login and fill up with the application process Step 6: Upload the documents in the required size mentioned Step 7: Pay the prescribed fee and submit the form Step 8: Once done, download and print a hard copy of the same for future reference ICSI CSEET NOVEMBER 2023: DOCUMENTS REQUIRED It is important to note that while filling out the CSEET 2023 application form, candidates are required to upload soft copies of the below-mentioned documents: Recent photograph of the candidate Signature of the candidate Date Of Birth Certificate Admit Card/ Hall Ticket for 10+2 Exams (if appearing) 10+2 Pass Certificate/ Mark Sheet Category Certificate Government based ID proof (Adhar card/ pan card/driving license/ration card/passport/voter ID) ICSI CSEET NOVEMBER 2023: EXAM PATTERN Talking about the exam pattern, candidates should be aware that there will be a total of 35 questions in Business Communication, Legal Aptitude and Logical Reasoning, Economic and Business Environment and Current Affairs, and Quantitative Aptitude subjects. All the subjects will carry 50 marks. All set to lead a team of 12 faculty members from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras to Zanzibar, the island city in Tanzania in East Africa, to start the first batch of the first international campus here for any IIT, Prof Preeti Aghalayam feels this will give confidence to more women students. ALSO READ | Women A Minority at IITs, Prof Preeti Aghalayam Tells News18 as Shes Set to Lead Zanzibar Campus This may come as a step forward and give confidence to more women students to study math and science, which have largely been considered male-centric domains, says Aghalayam, in an exclusive interview to News18 from Chennai. Aghalayam and her team will take the flight to Zanzibar next week, ahead of the commencement of classes from October 24. There are many firsts here, says the professor, who has been appointed as the director-in-charge of IIT Zanzibar (a branch of IIT-Madras), the first woman ever to head an IIT since it was established in the country in 1951. While IITs have been the premier tech institutes in India, the number of women, both faculty and students, has been low on the campuses. There is a misguided, completely wrong perception that women cannot be as good as men, especially in math, which needs to be corrected. So, the messaging is very important, the Prof says. A chemical engineer, Aghalayam, also an alumnus from the institute, has been teaching here since 2010. She was also one of the 75 women recognised in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) by the Principal Scientific Advisors office. Being associated with the global management wing of the institute for long, she is leading the first offshore campus and the journey so far, she says has been overwhelming, as she has been receiving a completely unexpected response since her name was announced for the new role. The IIT-Zanzibar director tells News18 about the gender gap in various fields and how it can be plugged, the new admission criteria for entry into the overseas campus and why it is important for women to pursue their choice of studying maths, science and technology more assertively. Edited excerpts: Tanzania recently got its first woman president. Now, an IIT has appointed its first woman director to lead its first overseas campus here. Was this a conscious decision on part of the institute? For me, it was just the right person at the right place at the right time. I have been working in the office of global engagement at IIT-Madras for several years now and we have been thinking about strategies for internationalisation. Another question was do we need to internationalise while we are doing well at the top of the rankings here in India? Should we go forward with this? I have been a part of all these discussions and meeting colleagues from various campuses and visiting different places. I believe this new role as director-in-charge was a product of that. Also, I just tick a few boxes maybe in terms of passion for teaching, having a long career behind me in teaching, research and administration at IIT-Madras as well. I may sound biased, but its only true that IIT-M is one of the most agile institutions today. For instance, what we have done in online education in bringing it to every doorstep, our recent foray in medical sciences and technology, various reforms in curricula and the way we have specially curated programmes for international students. I think the leadership and the envisioning of IIT-M is so agile that it was an obvious next step that you would hear something like this from us. How do you see your new role as director of the first global IIT campus? I have been as a faculty in the IIT system for 21 years at this moment. I am a lifetime academic. My family is of academicians. So teaching, research and academics is a passion from my school days. I am grateful for this opportunity to lead this institution. I have a decade left in my academic career and it is gratifying to contribute in some way to Indian and global education. While there has been some improvement over the past decade in the number of women getting into IITs, they still are a minority on IIT campuses and those featuring in the top percentiles are even fewer. What do you think is the reason? The entry into IITs is in the hands of school students and their families. It depends on how they prepare them for the competitive exam. The mentoring starts at home, so a lot depends on parents as well on what disciplines students chose and why. Besides, it is a competitive exam being written by lakhs of students. Even a small difference in marks results in a large difference in ranks. At our end, we have a policy on class composition in undergraduate classes. Every undergraduate class has to have a minimum of 20% of women, which has helped increase the numbers and attract more women to the undergraduate system. In terms of our post-graduate and research programmes, we are doing well, we have a reasonably healthy percentage with 25-30% of the class being women. In terms of impactful research, a large number of women are on top. Is there a way to train more women into STEM? Training will surely help. We do reach out to a lot of government and rural schools where we encourage women students to come forward and study science and math and get better at it. Its not just in India, its a problem across the world that there is a misguided, completely wrong perception that women cannot be as good as men especially in math. You keep telling young people that and it worms into the mind. If you go into something when you are less confident, you may not do as well as when you are brimming with confidence. The messaging is very important. Women, if they really want to, can be just as good as anyone else. They should aspire for it, including seats in the IITs, if they so wish. Its not just in India, its a problem across the worldif women really want to, they can be just as good as anyone else. They should aspire for it, including seats in the IITsThe recent announcement of the economics Nobel to Claudia Goldin for her work on gender wage gap is a big step forward towards women being considered as equal and efficient at the workplace, and to aspire for equity and equality in every field. The move has set an example for all IITs and other institutions. Do you think it will motivate more women to pursue these disciplines? I certainly hope so. It was completely unexpected. After the institute announced my name, there was so much media attention on it. I hope the message it sends to young people is a positive one. This is not the only fact that young women and men have to look at. The recent announcement of the economics Nobel to Claudia Goldin for her work on gender wage gap is a big step forward towards women being considered as equal and efficient at the workplace, and to aspire for equity and equality in every field. How is the scenario at Zanzibar in terms of women applicants? We got a lot of women applicants, more than we usually do in our undergraduate programmes. I dont have the numbers right away, but even during the interviews and the final list, there is a very healthy percentage of women. ALSO READ | How Will IIT Madras Zanzibar Campus Enrol Students? Hint: It is Not via JEE What is the admission criteria for students entry into the overseas campus? Is it Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), the same as in India? No, the entrance test not JEE. The entry test here is called Zanzibar screening test, which was devised by IIT-Madras faculty. It was administered simultaneously across the world using our partners in various countries. We interviewed students who did well in the screening test. We interviewed very large number of students this year and we selected them based on their performance in the screening test and the interview. Its a quantitative criterion, which you may call a percentile, because we rank-ordered them and then interviewed the top X per cent and within that the Y per cent is what we made offers to. Also, in the application form, we asked details of their school performance, which were also taken into account. The test also included a little bit of their English language skills and analytical abilities. This criteria has been approved by our senate. But it has been suggested to us to bring in a few reforms, including other ways of having students enter. For example, if they have taken a similar exam like JEE, then not forcing them to take one more exam, because it is stressful for students to be writing all the exams. We will present it to our senate and seek their approval before making any changes. What is the student intake for the first batches? Student on-boarding is going on right now and we are just finalising the list. We have been talking continuously to our counterparts in Zanzibar. The numbers will be clearer once all students arrive. Those traveling internationally will reach the campus on October 22, while local students will come on October 23. Right now, the registration is going on and we will meet our target for a batch of 20 for the Masters programme, while 30-40 students for the undergraduate programme. For both Masters and the UG programmes, the discipline being offered is the same data science and artificial intelligence (AI). In the freebie war in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has promised a monthly dole for every school-going child in the state, which may cost nearly Rs 20,000 crore a year and put a big strain on the states education budget. There are expected to be nearly three crore children in the age group of 4-18 in the state as per current projections of the population, a top state government official told News18. Even if around two crores of them go to a school, they will be entitled to get an amount between Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 per month depending on which class they study in, as per the announcement by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday. It is not clear if the announcement will cover only the children going to government schools which is around one crore students or all students going to the government-aided and private schools too. If the case is the latter, it translates to an annual budget of over Rs 20,000 crore, as per rough calculations. Priyanka said every child studying in classes 1-8 will get Rs 500 per month, those in classes 8-10 will get Rs 1,000 a month and those studying in classes 11-12 will get Rs 1,500 monthly. The Congress in Madhya Pradesh has called it the worlds largest scholarship scheme under its Padho Aur Padhao Yojana. This came as a new promise after the Congress announced a monthly dole of Rs 1,500 per month for women in the state plus a gas cylinder at Rs 500 per month if it comes to power in Madhya Pradesh on December 3. This is now aimed at wooing families with a promise that both the women and school-going children in the state will get a monthly dole. Priyanka said education will also be free in schools in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP in the state scoffed at the scheme, saying the Congress never lived up to its promises and had not given an unemployment allowance to the youth in its term of 15 months that it had pledged in the last elections. BJP leaders pointed out that even in 2018, the Congress in its manifesto had promised free education and laptops and scooties for meritorious female students, but nothing was delivered. The BJP also described Priyankas rally on Thursday as a jhooth ki dukaan. In the freebie war in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP is giving Rs 1,250 per month to over 1.3 crore women in the state as part of the CM Ladli Behna Yojana and a gas cylinder at just Rs 450. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has also been successfully running the Ladli Yojana for the girl child for many years. Under this, nearly Rs 1.4 lakh is given to each girl child in instalments from her birth till she gets married. The conflict between Hamas and Israel will complete a week on Saturday as thousands of Israelis, Palestinians and foreigners have been killed since Hamas surprise attack from the Gaza Strip last week. Israel says Hamas gunmen have killed more than 1,200 people and wounded over 2,700 in Israeli cities, towns and kibbutz communities. Meanwhile, more than 1,530 Palestinians, including 500 children have been killed in Israeli strikes. While the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have backed Hamas from the north, the United States has deployed one aircraft carrier group to the region. The conflict is expected to escalate in the coming weeks as it would be the third major ground assault in Gaza since Israel left the seaside enclave in 2005. Here is all you need to know about the weapons owned by the warring groups: ISRAEL Israels military has long been supported by the US, with $3.3 billion in congressionally mandated annual funding, plus another $500 million toward missile defense technology. Israel is one of the best-armed nations in the wider Middle East. Its air force includes the advanced American F-35 fighter jet, missile defense batteries including the American-made Patriot, and the Iron Dome missile defense system. ALSO READ | How the Israeli Intelligence Failed to Intercept a Major Coordinated Attack by Hamas The Iron Dome is considered among the most advanced defence systems in the word and it uses radar to identify and destroy incoming threats in the air. The country also has armoured personnel carriers and tanks, and a fleet of drones and other technology available to support any street-to-street battles. Israel trains soldiers on such techniques at its Urban Warfare Training Center, known colloquially as Mini Gaza. Israel has around 170,000 troops on active duty and has called up some 360,000 reservists for the war, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Israel has also long maintained an undeclared nuclear weapons program. Human Rights Watch has also accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. HAMAS Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, do not have the billions of dollars in aid and advanced weaponry in comparison to Israel. But the surprise attack on Saturday included militants on paragliders and grenade-dropping drones. Hamas can also leverage guerrilla warfare tactics making its ground assault dangerous for Israeli troops. ALSO READ | What is Hamas, Who Backs it & Why It is Fighting Against Israel Now Hamas has 15,000 to 20,000 fighters, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. However, Israel claims the number is up to 30,000 fighters. The weapons used by Hamas include assault rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and anti-tank weapons, as well as longer-range sniper rifles, according to Associated Press. In the past, Hamas has employed boobytraps and suicide bombers. While Israel has a vast missile defense network, Hamas has created a vast supply of locally manufactured missiles with the aim of firing multiple salvos to break through. Since the weekend strike, Israeli military claimed over 5,000 missiles were fired toward the country since the war began. Israeli intelligence in 2021 estimated Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza, had some 30,000 missiles in their arsenal. Analysts say there are no signs, yet, that Hamas has developed guided missiles, which can more precisely strike at targets. HEZBOLLAH Hezbollah is the worlds most heavily armed non-state actor and described as a militia trained like an army and equipped like a state. The Shiite Muslim political party and militant group is based in Lebanon where it enjoys the status of being a state within a state. The Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah operates near Israels northern border. Since Hamas attack, there have been limited exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, but no wide-scale offensive. But the forces Hezbollah could bring remain a concern for Israel. ALSO READ | What is Hezbollah, How it is Linked to Hamas & Why It Has Joined Conflict Against Israel Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has claimed that the group has 100,000 fighters, though other estimates put its troop strength at less than half that. Hezbollah holds a vast arsenal mostly of small, man-portable and unguided surface-to-surface artillery rockets, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The US has estimated Hezbollah and other militant groups in Lebanon have some 150,000 missiles and rockets. Hezbollah also has been working on precision-guided missiles. Hezbollah has previously launched drones into Israel. Its forces also have assault rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, roadside bombs and other weaponry. THE UNITED STATES The US is providing some personnel and munitions to Israel. The US military has sent the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford and its battle group to the eastern Mediterranean to provide air support along with its surveillance aircraft and F-18 fighter jets. Meanwhile, the USS Dwight D Eisenhower carrier strike group will leave its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, and sail for the Mediterranean, potentially doubling the Navys Israel response. The US is also getting US defense companies to expedite weapons orders by Israel that were pending so far. The US military also maintains a vast network of bases across the wider Middle East. However, because of anger among Muslims in the region, the US will likely be asked not to fly any potential air missions out of those nations, forcing it to rely on carrier-based launches to provide any support. (With inputs from Associcated Press) Manipur is still simmering. More than 180 people have been killed since violence erupted in the northeastern state in May. A student organisation, All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM), organised a tribal solidarity march in the 10 hill districts of the state to protest the demand of non-tribal Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The rallies were peaceful in nature but during a march in Torbung area of Churachandpur district, an armed mob allegedly attacked people of the Meitei community leading to retaliatory attacks in the valley districts, which escalated the violence throughout the state, as per police. The Manipur chief ministers move to protect forest areas has been met with resistance from illegal immigrants and drug cartels. The Meiteis, who inhabit the valley, account for about a tenth of the states land area and claim they are facing problems in view of large scale illegal immigration by Myanmarese and Bangladeshis. They make up 53 per cent of the state population but the hill districts, which account for much of the states land, are inhabited mostly by tribals including the Nagas and Kukis. They are mainly Christians and are protected from encroachment by law. They make up 40 per cent of the population. Illegal settlers The state government had been concerned about the illegal settlers in forests, especially in Churachandpur district where the violence started in the first place. The government had applied a strict approach towards the illegal settlers with constant identity checks in the area for the last six months. As reported earlier, data accessed by News18 shows an exponential increase in the number of villages in the region. In 1969, there were 216 villages in the Churachanpur district, which increased to 544 in 2021. Similarly, in the Kangpokpi district, the number of villages increased from 171 in 1969 to 534 in 2021. In Imphal, however, the number of villages decreased from 181 to 180. Porous Myanmar border Manipur shares a nearly 400-km border with Myanmar, which has been witnessing many transborder infiltrations since the military junta carried out a coup in 2021. Also, tribal Kukis, which reside mostly in the hills, share ethnic lineage with Myanmars Chin tribe. According to a report submitted by the IGP (Intelligence, Narcotics and Affairs) to Manipurs home commissioner earlier this year, 2,480 illegal immigrants (refugees) from Myanmar were detected in the state, of which 1,147 were in Tengnoupal, 1,175 in Chandel, 154 in Churachandpur, and four in Kamjong. Chief minister N Biren Singh last month held a meeting with officials of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to discuss plans to erect fencing along a section of the India-Myanmar border. Free movement regime The CM earlier told reporters that his government had urged the union home ministry to cancel the free movement regime along the India-Myanmar border and complete its fencing. The free movement regime allows people residing close to both sides of the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km deep into each others territory without any documents. In a post on X, the CM said: Held a meeting with the officials of BRO and deliberated the plan to begin construction of an additional 70 km of border fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border. I was joined by Chief Secretary, DGP & officials from the Home Department. In view of the rise in illegal immigration and drugs smuggling from the neighbouring country, safeguarding our porous borders has become an urgent necessity, Singh added. Smart fencing The union home ministry this month announced plans to install an advanced smart fence system along a 100-kilometre section of the India-Myanmar border to supplement existing monitoring systems, according to its 2022-23 annual report. The report stated that in 2022, out of the 201 insurgency-related incidents registered in the entire Northeastern Region, as many as 137 incidents were registered in Manipur. Between April and December 2022, the Assam Rifles apprehended 128 Myanmar nationals, 330 civilians, and 140 dealers and drug peddlers at the Myanmar border, it added. The construction of fencing for a border length of 10.023 km at Moreh in Manipur has already been awarded to BRO. Work is in progress and 6.812 km of fencing has already been completed. The total construction is scheduled to be completed by 2023, the MHA report said. Less than 10% of Manipurs 400-km international border with Myanmar is fenced which leaves the region open for cross-border illegal activities. Due to the difficult topography of the region among other reasons, fencing the entire border is challenging. However, it is believed that fencing of areas where most illegal activities are carried out can be done easily. And analysts feel this can go a long way towards preventing the illegal influx of immigrants in the state and future violent flare-ups. Border infra boost India has been rapidly ramping up its border infrastructure in recent years. Home minister Shah mentioned recently that the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees establishment of the One Border, One Force approach has substantially facilitated Indias border guarding forces in evaluating geographical dynamics, political affiliations with neighbouring countries, and potential threats. Several initiatives are being rolled out in pursuit of Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of a secure border. Last year, the PM had asked all ministries to depute senior officers for at least a one-night stay near border villages for the ground assessment of challenges. A major border infrastructure revamp is underway across the Northern and Western borders with the creation and revamp of ditch-cum-bandhs, repair of damaged border fencing, upgrade of BSF morchas and installation of surveillance tech. (With agency inputs) Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Shenandoah Republican, on Wednesday expressed gratitude after University of Virginia President Jim Ryan released a statement in which he described Hamas' attacks on Israel as "atrocities." A number of Virginia politicians, including Gilbert, had urged Ryan to speak out on Tuesday after a UVa student group described the attacks as an "unprecedented feat for the 21st century" and supported the "the right of colonized people everywhere to resist the occupation of their land by whatever means they deem necessary." "There can be no justification for, and we must condemn, the actions of Hamas and the horrific violence that has taken place against civilians, including children," Ryan said in the statement, released Wednesday morning. Ryan added that the university has a "longstanding tradition of not just allowing free speech, but promoting civil discourse, even when ... we strongly disagree." He did not explicitly reference the Students for Justice in Palestine at UVa, the organization that made the initial remarks. In a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Gilbert thanked Ryan for the "moral clarity he demonstrated ... in his statement." On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Glenn Youngkin met with members of the Jewish community in Virginia Beach. Youngkin on Tuesday night condemned what he called the "barbaric and horrific terrorist acts" of Hamas and urged the U.S. to speed assistance to its ally Israel. "The United States only has one decision here, which is how much support can we get to Israel as fast as we can," Youngkin said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. "They are our brothers. We will stand with them and there can be no, no hesitancy in committing everything they need to defend themselves." Youngkin noted that on Monday he met with Jewish leaders in Northern Virginia's Loudoun County. "Not only were they grief-stricken, like all of us, but angry and they were filled with fear, as well. This is what terrorists do. This is what Hamas is a terrorist group and they must be met with force." Efforts to speed aid to Israel might be complicated by the holdup in U.S. House Republicans' effort to pick a new speaker of the House following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Republicans on Wednesday chose Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., as their nominee. A day after allowing a woman to terminate her 25-week-old pregnancy, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) authorities to put it on hold. The apex court also gave her 24 hours to reconsider her decision. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Hima Kohli on Monday allowed the woman to undergo abortion after she said she was suffering from lactational amenorrhea and depression due to which she is unwilling to continue with the pregnancy. However, another bench presided by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that AIIMS doctors were in a dilemma as they were of the view that the foetus is currently viable meaning it will show signs of life and has a strong chance of survival. The court on Friday called for a fresh report from AIIMS on whether the foetus is suffering from any substantial abnormality, Termination of pregnancies in the country is governed by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 (MTP Act), which has been amended in 2021 to make it more inclusive. The Landmark Case A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court on July 15, 2022, denied permission to a 25-year-old woman from Manipur who had sought permission to terminate her ongoing pregnancy through registered medical practitioners. According to the petitioner, she was carrying a single intrauterine pregnancy corresponding to a gestational age of twenty-two weeks. She became pregnant as a result of a consensual relationship but wished to terminate her pregnancy as her partner had refused to marry her. In her petition, she stated that she did not want to carry the pregnancy to term since she was wary of the social stigma and harassment pertaining to unmarried single parents, especially women. Moreover, the appellant submitted that in the absence of a source of livelihood, she was not mentally prepared to raise and nurture the child as an unmarried mother. The petitioner sought permission to terminate her pregnancy in terms of Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 19712 and Rule 3B(c) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules (as amended on 12 October 2021). The Delhi High Court rejected her plea while observing that Section 3(2)(b) of the MTP Act was inapplicable to the facts of the present case since the appellant, being an unmarried woman, whose pregnancy arose out of a consensual relationship, was not covered by any of the sub-clauses of Rule 3B of the MTP Rules. Under Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, termination of pregnancy is allowed till the 20th week and not more than that. What the Supreme Court Ruled The petitioner then appealed before the Supreme Court. Initially, as an interim measure, the apex court modified the order of the High Court and permitted the appellant to terminate her pregnancy. In the final judgement delivered on 29 September 2022, the Supreme Court led by Justice DY Chandrachud ruled that all women, irrespective of their marital status, are entitled to a safe and legal abortion up to 24 weeks of their pregnancy as the MTP Act recognizes the reproductive autonomy of every pregnant woman to choose medical intervention to terminate her pregnancy. The rights of reproductive autonomy, dignity and privacy under Article 21 give an unmarried woman the right of choice on whether or not to bear a child, on a similar footing of a married woman, the judgment said. It is important to note that the Supreme Court in its interim order dated 21 July 2022 noted that as per the MTP (Amendment) Act 2021, the phrase married woman was replaced by any woman and the word husband was replaced by partner. The apex court in its order stated, phrase married woman was replaced by any woman and the word husband was replaced by partner. But evidently, there is a gap in the law: while Section 3 travels beyond conventional relationships based on marriage. The judgment further stated. Rule 3B of the MTP Rules does not envisage a situation involving unmarried women, but recognizes other categories of women such as divorcees, widows, minors, disabled and mentally ill women and survivors of sexual assault or rape. There is no basis to deny unmarried women the right to medically terminate the pregnancy, when the same choice is available to other categories of women. Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act The preamble of the MTP Act states that it is an act to provide for the termination of certain pregnancies by registered medical practitioners. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act) which was amended in 2021 governs the circumstances under which abortions are legally permitted in India. The 2021 amendment extended the gestational limit from 20 to 24 weeks for certain categories of women. These are listed under Rule 3B of the MTP Rules. The categories include: Survivors of sexual assault or rape or incest Minors Change of marital status during the ongoing pregnancy (widowhood and divorce) Women with physical disabilities [major disability as per criteria laid down under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016)]. Mentally ill women including mental retardation. The foetal malformation that has a substantial risk of being incompatible with life or if the child is born it may suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities to be seriously handicapped. Women with pregnancy in humanitarian settings or disaster or emergency situations as may be declared by the Government. The Act provided for termination of pregnancy if it does not exceed twenty weeks and for a certain category of women if pregnancy exceeds twenty weeks but does not exceed twenty-four weeks. However, the Supreme Court judgment made the up to 24 weeks clause applicable to all women. The Act also directs that every State government or Union territory must constitute a Medical Board for the purpose of examining if the case is fit to be granted relief under the MTP Act. The Medical Board shall consist of (a) a Gynaecologist (b) a Paediatrician; (c) a Radiologist or Sonologist; and (d) such other number of members as may be notified in the Official Gazette by the State Government or Union territory, as the case may be. The Act also by rule makes it mandatory that the medical practitioner who assists the termination of the pregnancy shall not reveal the name and other particulars of the woman whose pregnancy has been terminated. Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday said Israel was using white phosphorus bombs during military operations in Lebanon and Gaza this week following a surprise attack by Hamas. The fighting between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and 1,400 lives in Gaza, in the deadliest attack since the countrys creation in 1948. The international organization said it verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11 showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border. Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said the use of white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering. Horrifying! Israel is allegedly using internationally banned white phosphorus in Gaza. These munitions are an indiscriminate incendiary weapon that ignites on contact with oxygen. In closed spaces, the toxic fumes can cause asphyxiation and permanent respiratory damage. pic.twitter.com/Tw9G8JqW8s Wajahat Kazmi (@KazmiWajahat) October 12, 2023 The HRW also said that the use of the chemical in densely populated areas of Gaza violates international humanitarian and urged for precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life. Israeli authorities have not confirmed whether they are using white phosphorus during the ongoing fighting. What is White Phosphorus? White phosphorus, which leave a signature white trail in the sky, is used either for marking, signalling, and obscuring, or as a weapon to set fires that burn people and objects. The chemical ignites when exposed to atmospheric oxygen and continues to burn until it is deprived of oxygen or exhausted. The chemical reaction also creates intense heat with temperature rising to 815 degrees Celsius. It has a significant incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire. Apart from targeting people, the chemical is used for creating smokescreens to hide troop movements, illuminate the battlefield or destroy buildings by fire. Why it is Concerning? The use of white phosphorus in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk, the Human Rights Watch said. We are devastated to confirm that 12 @UNRWA colleagues have been killed since 7 October in the #GazaStrip We mourn this loss and are grieving with our colleagues and the families.@UN staff and civilians must be protected at all times. pic.twitter.com/bGt9GUM0zp UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 12, 2023 The white phosphorus, upon coming in contact with humans, can burn them thermally and chemically, down to the bone as it is highly soluble in fat and therefore in human flesh, the agency said. The chemical fragments can worsen wounds even after treatment and can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure. The dressed wounds can also reignite when the dressings are removed and exposed to oxygen. In such cases, even minor burns can be fatal. For survivors, extensive scarring tightens muscle tissue and creates physical disabilities. International Law regarding white phosphorus Under international law, white phosphorus is banned for use near civilians but is permitted for creating a smokescreen. The chemical is not covered by the Convention on Chemical Weapons (CCW) which entered into force in 1997. Though, the attacks using air-delivered incendiary weapons in civilian areas are prohibited under Protocol III of the CCW, but the rule applies only to weapons that are primarily designed to set fires or cause burns, and therefore some nations believe it excludes certain multipurpose munitions including those containing white phosphorus. Phosphorus is not classified as a chemical weapon, its available to many of the worlds armies, said Olivier Lepick, a researcher with Frances Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), according to AFP. Israeli military has been using white phosphorus in Palestinian territories in previous conflicts in Gaza, including in the 2009 conflict, where the head of the UNs aid agency for Palestinians accused Israel of using white phosphorus in Gaza. In 2013, in response to a petition regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza, the Israeli military said it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas except in highly particular circumstances. Countries That Used Phosphorus Weapons The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has announced plans to install an advanced smart fence system along a 100-kilometer section of the India-Myanmar border to strengthen the existing surveillance system. The announcement comes at a time when unfenced border and unregulated migration from Myanmar have been blamed as factors responsible for the ethnic violence in Manipur, which has claimed more than 180 lives in the state since May violence. The plan for fencing was announced in the 2022-23 annual report of the MHA published last week, in which the government said that there were 201 insurgency-related incidents registered in all the northeast States and 137 such incidents in Manipur. Govts Plan for Indo-Myanmar Border? India shares a 1,643 km long border with Myanmar which passes through states including Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km), according to the MHA report. Out of the 1,643 km border with Myanmar, demarcation of 1,472 km has been completed. It also said that the construction of fencing for a border length of 10 km at Moreh, Manipur has been awarded to BRO and is under progress. The fencing in 6.8 km has already been completed, while the total construction is scheduled to be completed later this year. Union Home Minister Amit Shah in August said that an influx of Kuki migrants from Myanmar had created insecurities among Meiteis. According to Shah, the situation in Myanmar especially after the military coup got particularly challenging. A Free Movement Regime (FMR) exists between India and Myanmar. Under FMR, every member of the hill tribes, who is either a citizen of India or Myanmar and resident of any area within 16 km on either side of the Indo-Myanmar border can cross the border on the production of a border pass, which is issued by the competent authority and can stay up to two weeks per visit. What are Smart Fences? Smart fence is a part of the governments comprehensive integrated border management system (CIBMS) and works both as a surveillance tool and a warning system through sophisticated devices, including cameras, sensors, lasers and radar systems. The state-of-the-art sensors and CCTV cameras can pick up even the slightest movement and send alerts to the control centre. The smart-technology-aided fence involves a number of devices including sensors, networks, intelligence, data storage and command and control solutions to improve situational awareness. It also includes a laser-based intruder alarm system is deployed along with surveillance tech to plug vulnerable gaps along borders. During smart fencing sensors like thermal images, underground sensors, fibre optical sensors, radar and sonar are mounted on towers, poles and aerostats for round-the-clock surveillance and under extreme weather conditions. The ground surveillance radar of the smart fencing can scan 180 degrees of the border and detect vehicles at a range of 15 km and humans at a range of 5 km. Earlier, over 2,000 kilometres length of the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh border had been identified as being vulnerable or as being without fences which led to illegal migration and cattle smuggling. However, the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System project will improve the capability of BSF in detecting and checking cross-border crimes like illegal infiltration, smuggling of contraband, human trafficking and terrorism. How it Helps in Border Security? The project is a part of the Narendra Modi governments plan to completely seal Indias border with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The security forces can maintain the surveillance system through a monitor sitting inside their control rooms. The alarms go off as soon as there is any infiltration attempt. As of now, less than 10% of Manipurs 400-km international border with Myanmar is fenced which leaves the region open for cross-border illegal activities. Due to the difficult topography of the region among other reasons, fencing the entire border is challenging. Indias first smart fence pilot project was launched by then Home Minister Rajnath Singh along the India-Pakistan border in 2018. The home ministrys Rs 22 crore pilot project under CIBMS included two 6 km stretches of the border in Jammu in September 2018. It was also launched on the India-Bangladesh border in 2019. Jahangir Peer Dargah, located on the outskirts of Inmulnarva village in Kothuru Mandal, Rangareddy District, Telangana State, is a place of religious significance. In the 15th century, two revered sages, Syed Ghausuddin and Syed Purhannuddin, tried to incorporate the values of love and peace into the teachings of Islam. Syed Ghausuddin and Syed Purhannuddin worked tirelessly to engage with the people through their teachings, even in the face of political pressure and allegations of spreading misleading information in the Muslim religion. Their proficiency in the Yasa language facilitated their integration into the Telangana community. As per historical accounts, they openly voiced their disapproval of the turbulent era during Emperor Aurangzebs reign. Historical accounts reveal an incident where Aurangzeb visited this dargah during his journey. According to Islamic theology, dargahs are considered human constructs, and Islam acknowledges only Allah as God. But the argument persists that this experience at the Dargah left an indelible impression on certain military officers. For centuries, devoted individuals from various Muslim nations, including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Indonesia, have been making pilgrimages to this Dargah. Chief Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, numerous renowned celebrities, and film actors also pay their respects by offering chaddars at this sacred site. People of all religions and castes, irrespective of their background, visit this Dargah, fostering an atmosphere of inclusivity. Notably, coconuts are ceremonially broken here, a significant practice in Hinduism. Folklore has it that this Dargah area was once inhabited by indigenous communities. Some wanderers can be found at the Dargah at night, while stories suggest that lions used to roam the premises during the night. Each year, a three-day grand celebration is held at the Dargah during Makar Sankranti, drawing devotees not only from the local state but also from distant regions. Its a special place of prayer for Muslims working in Arab countries. Located 45 kilometres from Hyderabad, its easily reached via government bus services, with special bus services available not just from Hyderabad but also from other cities, particularly on Thursdays. Mysuru Dasara, considered unique and one of the most beautiful Dasara celebrations in the country, is led by the Wodeyar royal family. In the same city, another Dasara the Mahisha Dasara is celebrated just a week before the Mysuru Dasara celebrations. The Mahisha Dasara, organisers say, is marked to counter the false narrative that Mahisha was a rakshasa or demon. They claim that he was a benevolent king sent by Maurya emperor Ashoka to spread Buddhism in the region. This celebration has turned the mythological battle between Goddess Durga and Mahishasura into a present-day political conflict. As you climb the 1008 steps to the magnificent Chamundeshwari temple atop the Chamundi betta (hill) in Mysuru, Karnatakas cultural capital, youll notice a 10-foot-tall imposing statue of Mahishasura, holding a snake in one hand and a dagger in the other. It is this very statue that stands as a monument of conflict. For many Hindus, Mahishasura is a demon who represents the forces of evil. However, for Dalit groups and rationalists, Mahishasura is a hero who fought against upper caste oppression. Mahisha Dasara was first celebrated in 2015 during Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs first term. However, it was stopped when the BJP came to and remained in power until early this year. The issue has resurfaced in 2023, during Siddaramaiahs second term as Chief Minister, with the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti deciding to hold a Mahisha Dasara rally on October 13. The celebrations and procession were initially denied permission by Mysuru Commissioner of Police Ramesh Banoth, who cited concerns about peace and law and order in Mysuru. He also denied permissions for the Chamundi Chalo march, organised by Mysuru MP Prathap Simha, to counter the Mahisha Dasara celebrations. Late on Thursday night, permission was granted by Mysuru police with certain conditions, including renaming the event as Mahisha Utsava and banning idol processions, slogans, and firecrackers. Popular legend has it that the name Mysuru is derived from Mahishooru or Mahishasura, and the organisers of this Dasara argue that painting him as an asmara or demon was an upper caste conspiracy and, if he indeed was a demon, why would people name a place after him. MP Prathap Simha claimed that allowing Mahisha Dasara was against the sentiments of the majority of people and was unconstitutional. The Congress government distanced itself from the controversy, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah clarifying that Mahisha Dasara was not a government event. However, permission to hold Mahisha Dasara was granted based on an application by former Mysuru mayor Purushotham, who sought permission to shower petals on the statue of Mahishasura located atop Chamundi Hills. The essence of Dussehra/Dasara celebrations is the victory of good over evil. The nine nights of Navaratri depict the fierce battle between Mahishasura and Goddess Durga, culminating in Vijayadashami. According to writer and rationalist KS Bhagwan, the name Mysuru is derived from Mahisha Mandala, which became Mahisuru and was later anglicised to Mysuru by the British. Historical records in the Karnataka governments official Gazetteer, curated by historian Suryanatha U Kamath, suggest the earliest known mention of Mysore dates back to 862 AD. This reference is found in a copper plate inscription from Kadaluru in Mandya taluk, using the name Maysooru to refer to the location. Subsequently, inscriptions from the 11th and 12th centuries refer to the region as Maisunad or Maisurnad. Dalit groups and rationalists argue that the story of Mahishasura has been distorted in mythology and misrepresented in history. They point to the fact that there is no historical evidence to support the claim that Mahishasura was a demon. Celebrating Mahisha Dasara was their way of rallying to correct the misconception about him. It was an upper caste conspiracy to portray him as a demon king. He was benevolent and one who looked beyond the caste system, said Bhagwan. There are several scripts that say Mahisha was not a demon, and we want to showcase that. We have nothing against Mysuru Dasara. Mahisha Dasara was first conducted by Dalit activist Mantelingaiah in 1973, and this year marks the 50th year of celebrations, said former Mysuru mayor Purushotham. Sharad Navratri is a nine-day-long festival which carries importance for the Hindu community worldwide. This year, it will be celebrated from October 15 to 24. Several people celebrate this festival in their own unique ways. In Puducherry (Tamil Nadu), people celebrate this festival by worshipping Kolu dolls in their homes. These dolls feature the idols of Swami, Alwars, Nayanmars, Dasavathara, Mahabharata, Ramayana, and even traditional art. Locals decorate their houses and temples with these Kolu dolls. These are usually kept on a small wooden stair-like structure, which has a length of 5 steps to 21 steps. The sale of Kolu dolls witnessed a surge during the Navratri festival. After the festive season is over, devotees store these dolls and keep them safe in a locker. Sometimes, these toys also get damaged during these 9 days, as they are delicate in nature. They are thus handled with extreme care. Puducherry has come up with an amazing idea to avoid such hassles. They are selling Kolu dolls which are digitally produced on paper. These digital Kolu dolls are kept on 5-step to 18-step stairs and are available for sale. It is decorated in such a way that it does not clog too much space inside the house. The combo of the stairs and dolls are sold together. The instructions for setting up the digital Kolu dolls are given in the box. In Puducherry, these Kolu dolls are available in the price range of Rs 600 to 4,000. This is not the only district that has an upward sale of Kolu dolls during Navratri. The Velachery village in the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu also celebrates this festival by worshipping a special kind of Kolu doll. This village is also quite famous for these dolls. They make Kolu dolls with clay which are then sold in the market. One such store which is quite popular in the Velachery area is named Brindra Arts. The shop offers DIY handmade dolls like Lakshmi Doll, Wedding Doll Set, Baby Shower Set, Thanjavur Engagement Doll, Six Face Murugan Doll, Hanuman rescuing Sita dolls and many others. The police have arrested a couple and rescued three women involved in a sex racket in the Kashimira area of Maharashtras Thane city, an official said on Friday. Acting on a tip-off, the MBVV polices anti-human trafficking cell (AHTC) conducted a raid at the Hatkesh locality of Kashimira on Wednesday afternoon and caught a couple and three women, senior inspector Sameer Ahirrao said. The police had received information that the couple allegedly ran a sex racket under the pretext of organising dance shows. They would send photographs of women to customers on WhatsApp, he said. The accused allegedly took the women outside the state to Goa and Bengaluru in Karnataka, and also to Lonavala, Mumbai, Thane and Mira-Bhayander, the official said. The police arrested Ayan alias Mohammad Shahrukh Khan and his wife Jyoti alias Rehan Sultana and rescued three women, he said. An offence under section 370 (human trafficking) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Immoral Traffic Prevention (PITA) has been registered against the duo. A 23-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed multiple times by her ex-boyfriend in south Delhis Lado Sarai area on Thursday morning. Police caught the accused on the spot. The victim, police said, was avoiding the 27-year-old accused. The woman received about 13 stab injuries on her face, fingers and thighs, however doctors have said that she is currently out of danger and under treatment A purported video, which is making rounds on social media shows a woman inside a cab with blood all over her upper body. In the video, she can be heard pleading passersby for help. The driver of the cab who is said to have caught the accused with help from others can also be heard speaking, he said that he came for a pick up. Both the accused and the woman were together when they sat inside the car, however the 27-year-old later attacked the woman. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified by News18. Police received a PCR call from Lado Sarais Firni Road about a womans stabbing at 6:20 am. A police team then reached the spot where the victim a resident of Lado Sarai was found. Chandan Chowdhary, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) said that upon inquiry, it was revealed that the accused and the woman were in a relationship for the last two years. How Did The Attack Unfold? The accused talked to the woman around 8 am on Wednesday, when she told him that she was in office. According to her statement to the police, the victim used to leave her house around 6-6:30 am every day. As she had blocked her ex-boyfriends number, he came around her house to meet her in the early hours (5:30 am) of Thursday, police said. The DCP said that recently, the girl had been ignoring the accused, which is why he came to Lado Sarai in the morning to see her, however when she sat in the cab while talking to him, the accused attack her with a knife. He was caught by the cab driver, police said. The accused has said that he met with the woman about 10 days ago and for the last month there was a change in her behaviour towards him, police said. The accused tried to talk to the girl, but she refused and even slapped him four-five times. Later, they sat in the cab and started arguing again, after which in a fit of rage he stabbed her, police officials said. The accused had brought the knife along with him from home and had kept it in his pant pocket, they added. Story Before The Attack According to police, the two had met two-three years ago when they were working in the same office in Lajpat Nagar. A case under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC has been registered and the accused, identified as Gaurav Pal a resident of Ghaziabad in UP, working in a private company at Haryanas Gurugram has been apprehended, the police official said. The woman on October 10 had made a PCR call saying that she was being harassed by Pal. Later it was found that the matter was related to borrowed money, police said. She, however, did not want any action on that day, they said. Victims Mother Demands Strict Punishment for Accused According to the victims mother, the woman had an interview on Thursday and was leaving to go there when the incident took place. My daughter had an interview and she booked a cab for Lajpat Nagar at around 6.30 am. The accused was standing near our house and when she came out, he started chasing her. He told my daughter that he wants to talk to her, the mother said. She added that, She told him that she was getting late for office and did not want to talk to him but when my daughter sat inside the cab, he also entered the vehicle, locked the doors from inside and attacked her. The mother also said that he had been pestering her daughter for the last two years. He used to tell her that he wanted to marry her, but the victim was not ready for it. My daughter blocked him, but he used to call her from unknown numbers and also threaten her that if she does not marry him, then he will kill her. My daughter met him in the office where she used to work, she said. However, the woman did not love him and instead wanted to support her family, since her father was no more, the mother added. He asked her for a court marriage, but my daughter did not agree to it. I want the accused to get strict punishment for his act, she said. Previous Incident of Stabbing In May, a 16-year-old girl was stabbed over 20 times and bludgeoned to death by a youth in northwest Delhis Shahbad Dairy area. The 20-year-old accused, Sahil, was arrested from Uttar Pradeshs Bulandshahr. He and the victim were in a relationship but had a quarrel. The victim had gone shopping when she was accosted by the accused in the densely populated neighbourhood. (With inputs from PTI) The Mahadev Betting App scandal has blown the lid off the shark of online betting applications that are enticing people to bet money and get entangled in debts. A News18 investigation shows that with the help of some laptops, a few bank accounts, a website and a public who wants easy money, the racket is flourishing across the country with scores of victims. With international linkages stretching to Pakistan and the Middle-East, the racket is also being pushed through advertisements and paid endorsements, celebrities and social media influencers. Links with D-company, the crime syndicate founded and controlled by Dawood Ibrahim; money laundered through at least 500 hawala operators and around 70 shell companies to Middle Eastern countries, including Dubai; and a huge business net in Thailand these are the latest findings of the probe into Indias biggest online betting scam. The Mahadev online betting app racket is the new chit fund scam of India in terms of its all-encompassing magnitude. As the investigation net by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) widens, a host of influential and powerful people, including senior politicians, bureaucrats, celebrities, and businessmen, get entangled in it. It is exactly like what happened during the investigation of the Ponzi scheme scams, commonly known as the chit fund scam in India. However, There is only one difference between the Mahadev app and Ponzi schemes Unlike the chit fund scam that primarily cheated people of their life savings, the online betting app scam has been putting Indias sovereignty and national security at risk, say top ED officers. Links with D-company Ponzi schemes, including Sahara, Sharada, Rose Valley, and others, allegedly looted the depositors of their hard-earned money. Hundreds of them died by suicide. However, there was no national security angle. It was an old way of cheating people by promising them bigger returns and luring them into a debt trap. But as the probe into the Mahadev betting app progresses, the investigators have got their hands on a bunch of crucial data, evidence, and details that can blow the lid off a possible financial conspiracy against the country. With the details unfolding, it turns out that the promoters of the online betting app, apart from defrauding people, have been laundering money to Middle Eastern countries, including Dubai, operating from Pakistan, and spreading their business in Thailand all through a large racket of Hawala operators and over 70 shell companies. During the course of the investigation, the Enforcement Directorate also received Intelligence inputs about the promoters connections with the infamous D-company. The Directorate is verifying the information and working on the inputs, News18 has learnt. Mahadev: A Conglomerate of Fakes The Mahadev betting app, which was developed by four young individuals from Madhya Pradesh, slowly took over at least 10 such betting apps running across the country illegally. The other apps, that came under the Mahadev betting empire, include Lotus 365, ReddyAnna, and many others. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in an order issued in February, restricted at least 138 online betting apps with links to China and other problematic foreign locations. Betting apps like Lotus 365 are registered with foreign countries and not recognised by the Indian government. However, advertisements through social media and websites for these apps can still be found. On the landing page, the site of the respective apps flashes a WhatsApp number and a registration link for gamers and gamblers. These apps work like casinos but the only difference is the legal validation. Casinos are regulated, while these apps are completely illegal and they do not have any book of accounts, said a senior ED officer involved in the investigation process. The WhatsApp link leads the person interested in playing or betting to the Paytm or G Pay options. Once they pay, the money goes to the accounts of the panel members who control the app or website interface. After deducting a percentage as commission, the panel members send the money to the Hawala accounts or shell companies. Then, through a process, the money is laundered to offshore accounts. One Hawala operator handles around 200-300 clients, said another officer. While digging deep into the details, the ED has also stumbled upon certain proofs that connect the Reddy Anna app with some senior politicians and reveal sensitive connections with Hyderabad. We have found some sensitive details, which cannot be divulged at this point. We will file a detailed chargesheet this month, he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday cautioned that conflicts and confrontations being faced by the world today do not benefit anyone, saying the world has to move forward with a human-centric approach. Addressing the inaugural session of the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20) in New Delhi, he also said we have to remove obstacles in the way of global trust. Modi said this is the time for peace and brotherhood, and time to move forward together. His remarks came against the backdrop of a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend which triggered fresh tensions in the region. Referring to the attack on Parliament House some 20 years ago, the prime minister said India has been facing cross-border terrorism which has claimed thousands of innocent lives. He noted that the world was now realising how big a challenge terrorism is. Terrorism anywhere, in whatever manifestation, is against humanity, he said. The prime minister also said that the G20 presidency ensured festivities in India throughout the year and India landing on the moon added to the celebrations. (With inputs from PTI) Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has sent a letter to the states public universities, urging them to take additional security measures or have safety plans ahead of potential demonstrations that could occur on campuses this week. The warning comes following attacks on Israel from Hamas a militant organization that governs the Gaza strip of Palestine over the weekend. Israeli authorities on Tuesday were still assessing the extent of the damage inflicted by Hamas rockets and sporadic gun battles in Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes hammered Gaza, damaging hospitals, schools and infrastructure and displacing thousands. The long-rooted conflict in the area and recent spate of violence to Israelis and Palestinians has sparked statements from politicians, activists and students around the nation. Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Virginia released a statement that described Saturdays attacks from Hamas as an unprecedented feat for the 21st century, and said that resistance fighters in Gaza had broken through an illegal border fence and had taken occupation soldiers hostage. This prompted House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, and alumnus of the University of Virginia, to call on university president Jim Ryan to condemn the statement from the student organization. In response, Ryan condemned the violence in a statement and added that the university has a longstanding tradition of not just allowing free speech, but promoting civil discourse, even when ... we strongly disagree. While Miyares said his office stands behind free speech, his letter to universities expresses caution. I write to express deep concern for the rhetoric of some student groups that are sympathetic to Saturdays terrorist attacks in Israel, Miyares wrote. The right to freedom of speech does not include violent acts against persons or property, he added. Individuals who commit crimes as part of demonstrations are subject to arrest and prosecution. Similarly, students remain, of course, subject to student codes of conduct. EDITORS NOTE: This story was meant to run in Saturdays issue of The Daily Progress, but due to a design error did not make it into print. A man has been arrested for allegedly killing his father by slitting his throat after being fed up with his alcohol addiction in West Delhis Punjabi Bagh, police said on Friday. The incident came to light after the accused, Rinku Yadav, brought his fathers body to the cremation ground at Paschim Vihar. At the cremation ground, somebody noticed a cut mark on the neck and the forearm. It was brought to the notice of the priest who then asked Yadav about it but got no satisfactory reply, a police official said. The priest then informed the police. After sustained questioning, Rinku disclosed that he killed his father Satish Yadav since he was a habitual drinker and was causing trouble for the family, the police officer said. A case has been registered and the accused arrested, police said. India has raised a nationwide alert to secure Israeli nationals, including diplomats, staff, and tourists, in the country in view of the ongoing Israel-Palestine war. An alert has been issued and shared with all security establishments concerned and the police, asking to strengthen the security of a few listed places. Heavy deployment has also been ensured in places that see high footfall of Israeli nationals. On Friday, an Israel embassy staffer was attacked in Beijing, China. The incident has been confirmed by the Israeli foreign ministry, which said that the victim is in a stable condition and under treatment. On the other side, the Indian agencies have already sounded an alert regarding the security of Israeli nationals. It has been learnt that the alert also talks about Jewish festivals in October where security needs to be provided. Local police of the national capital and Mumbai have been asked to keep a strict round-the-clock vigil, as both the metropolitan cities have seen attacks in the past. In view of the latest development, it is requested to strengthen the security arrangement for Israeli missions, diplomats, officials, staff, business establishments, Chabad houses, Jewish community centres, a top government official quoting the letter told News18. Further, all the required law enforcement agencies have been asked to beef up security at various Israeli tourist sites, security of Israeli delegations, Kosher restaurants, museums, schools, resorts, and other key areas. Officials have been asked to deploy security personnel in adequate numbers along with other necessary arrangements. The staff have been given detailed SoP and asked to remain alert to avoid any untoward incidents. Sources said the alert has been sent to all states and is not restricted to metropolitan cities. The alert has also been sent to places where these nationals are residing in big numbers. Israel officials remain under threat and Delhi has seen terror incidents in the past against the community. Two years ago, a minor bomb exploded near the Israeli embassy in the national capital. The incident happened just after the Beating the Retreat ceremony ended in Lutyens Delhi. Before this incident, almost 11 years back, a diplomats wife was injured when a bomb was planted in her official car. She was on her way to pick up her children from school and suffered injuries due to the blast. Also, during the 26/11 attacks, terrorists targeted Nariman House in Mumbai which is designated as a Chabad house. A suspicious bag was found on the fourth floor of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) building on Friday however, it turned out to be a hoax call later. Soon after the call was received saying there was a bomb in a car, the Mumbai police along with the bomb squad reached the spot to monitor the situation. After the whole building was thoroughly searched, the MMRDA said it was a hoax call and nothing was found either in the bag or the parking area. The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to interfere with the arrest and subsequent police remand of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and portals human resources department head Amit Chakravarty in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA. Dismissing their plea challenging the police action, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said, The court does not find merit in both petitions. Purkayastha and Chakravarty were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3. They subsequently moved the high court challenging the arrest as well as the 7-day police custody and sought immediate release as an interim relief. On October 10, the trial court sent them to judicial custody for ten days. A case has been lodged against the two under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly receiving money to spread pro-China propaganda. According to the FIR, a large amount of funds to the news portal allegedly came from China to disrupt the sovereignty of India and cause disaffection against the country. It also alleged that Purkayastha conspired with a group Peoples Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. One in 10 Asian Americans (11%) in the United States are now stating Hinduism as their religion, according to a recent Pew Research Centre survey. Two-thirds of Indian Americans claim they are either Hindu or believe themselves to be close to Hinduism. The research report by Besheer Mohamed and Michael Rotolo quoted, About one in ten Asian Americans now identify Hinduism as their religion (11%), essentially the same as in 2012 (10%). An additional 6% of all Asian Americans say they feel close to Hinduism aside from religion, for reasons such as ancestry or culture. The survey states that about 48%, half of Asian-American adults who identify as Indian, say their current religion is Hinduism, which is about the same percentage (51%) as in 2012. The percentage of Asian American Hindus who state that all or most of their friends share the same religion as them is 40%, which is much higher than the percentage of Asian Americans in general at 30%. In addition, 6% of Asian Americans say they are attracted to Hinduism for heritage or culture. Nine out of 10 or 92% Asian American Hindu adults were born outside of the United States, the largest percentage of any Asian American religious community. In contrast, 35% Asian Americans who identify as non-religious, but believe they are close to Hinduism, are more likely to have been born in the United States; earlier the percentage rate was 8%. Asian American Hindus also ranked high in terms of socioeconomic level. Asian American Hindus had a family income of at least $150,000 in comparison to 32% of Asian Americans overall. Hindu Americans often have greater levels of education than any other Asian American religious group with a sizeable enough membership to be studied independently. Comparatively, 22% of all Asian American adults have a postgraduate degree, compared to about six out of 10, 61% adults. The US-based think tank found 79% Asian Americans are by far the most likely to claim they use an altar, shrine, or other religious symbol for worship in their home. Hindus who say their religion is very important to them constitute 89% of the population. The Pew Research Centre questioned 7,006 Asian American adults in a nationally representative, multilingual poll from July 5, 2022, to January 27, 2023. With a median age of 40, Hindu youth are one of the youngest Asian American groups in terms of demographics, with nearly three-quarters or 77% being under the age of 50. The first flight carrying 212 Indians stranded in Israel as part of rescue mission Operation Ajay landed at the Delhi airport in the early hours of Friday morning. The flight left from the Ben Gurion airport on Thursday evening. #WATCH | First flight carrying 212 Indian nationals from Israel, lands at Delhi airport; received by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar pic.twitter.com/uB71qIBmJy ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 The flights have been arranged to help people return from Israel after they were stuck there amid the Israel-Hamas conflict because Air India immediately suspended its flights on the day fighting began on October 7, and its commercial operation remains suspended till now. People familiar with the developments also told CNN-News18 that the first phase of flights will be operational till October 18, helping Indians who want to depart Israel return home. The returnees from Israel were greeted in the Indira Gandhi International Airport by Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, as seen in a video shared by news outlet ANI on social media site X. A father whose daughter is studying in Israel thanked the government for arranging her return. I have full confidence in my External Affairs Minister and PM Modi. My daughter is completing her Ph.D in Israel. She is strong and safe. She is returning with this first batch. We have been in touch. (When) things will (return to) normal and she will return to study again, a resident from Uttar Pradeshs Etah told CNN-News18. Union minister Chandrashekhar said that the government will not leave any Indian behind. Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister, is determined to protect them, bring them back home safely. We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the flight crew of this Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly and back home to their loved ones, he told the news outlet. There are around 18,000 Indians, including students, in Israel, the external affairs ministry said this week. The Israeli government has told Indian authorities that it will do its best to help authorities during Operation Ajay. There are around 18,000 Indian citizens in Israel, including 1,000 students whom we love very much. The Indian business community, whom we love and respect very much, contribute to our economy in a big way. The Israeli government is doing the utmost to assist the Indian Embassy in Operation Ajay, Kobbi Shoshani, consul general of Israel in Mumbai told news agency ANI. Most of the suspects behind the killing of a key aide of JeM terror group chief Masood Azhar and his two associates have been arrested, the police chief of Pakistans Punjab province said on Friday, days after the trio were shot dead at a mosque in Sialkot city. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror groups leader Shahid Latif, the mastermind of the 2016 attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, and his security guard Hashim Ali were shot dead by three gunmen while they were offering prayer in a mosque in Daska city of Punjab province, over 100 km from Lahore, on Wednesday early morning. Prayer leader and close associate of Latif, Maulana Ahad was also hit by bullets and was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to his wounds on Thursday. Without naming the country, the Inspector General Police (IGP) Punjab Dr Usman Anwar said a rogue nation and its hostile intelligence agency are involved in executing the terror attack in Pakistan. All three shooters involved in this case have been identified and arrested. Other arrests have been made in Sialkot, Lahore, Pakpattan, Kasur and other districts of Punjab, he said. This attack was planned outside Pakistan. A hostile intelligence agency sent a person to Pakistan. We have all the records about who is the person who came here, who he met, and even his geo-location. They came here between October 6 and October 9 and executed the plan on October 11. He further said that Pakistans security agencies worked jointly to identify facilitators, perpetrators, and executors of the attack and arrested most of them. They will soon be presented before the court with evidence, Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Hasan Iqbal said this was a targeted killing and an incident of terrorism. Latif, who was arrested in India in 1994 on terror charges, was then put on trial and eventually jailed. He completed his sentence in 2010 after which he was deported to Pakistan. Shahid Latif, 50, belonged to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and for many years he served as the administrator of Noori-e-Madina Masjid, Daska. Jaish-e-Mohammad has been blamed by India for multiple past attacks on its soil, including the Pathankot attack which left seven soldiers dead at a base in the north Indian town. With an aim to enhance connectivity in Ladakh near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India will build a new 55-km national highway between Changchenmo and Tsogtsalu. For this new road, the National Highway & Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) has sought proposals for a detailed project report (DPR). The request for proposal, issued this week, seeks a consultancy service to establish the technical, economic, and financial viability of the project and prepare detailed project reports for the single-lane national highway. Strategic significance Situated close to the India-China border near the southern edge of Aksai Chin, the Changchenmo region is strategically very important for India. Located in the north of Pangong Lake, the new road will help strengthen support for the Changchenmo sector. The new road will also be critical in terms of road linkages to Leh. Only Indian firms are allowed to participate in the bid and no international bidder is eligible as individually or as a member of a joint venture or as an associate, the document, seen by News18 reads. The selected firm will have a 10-month period for completion of the report. As part of the India-China Border Roads, the 55-km highway will have a 700-metre tunnel. The document also says that the NHIDCL will be the employer and executing agency for the consultancy services. Further, the standards of output required from the appointed consultants are of international level both in terms of quality and adherence to the agreed time schedule. The consultancy firm will solely be responsible for submission of quality work in the stipulated period, it said. The viability of the project will be established by taking into account a lot of things, including the requirements with regard to rehabilitation, upgrading, and improvement based on highway design, pavement design, and provision of service roads wherever necessary. It will also count the type of intersections, rehabilitation and widening of existing and/or construction of new bridges and structures, road safety features, quantities of various items of works, cost estimates, and economic analysis within the given time frame. The DPR would include detailed highway design, design of pavement and overlay with options for flexible or rigid pavements, design of bridges and cross drainage structures and grade-separated structures, the document reads. It will include the design of service roads, quantities of various items, detailed working drawings, detailed cost estimates, economic and financial viability analyses, environmental and social feasibility, and social and environmental action plans. The bid due date is November 28. Why is the location crucial? Changchenmo means great northern in Tibetan. Also known as Chang Chenmo, it is situated between the Karakoram range and Changchenmo range in Leh. The Changchenmo sector is near the patrolling point of the Indian Army. On the other end of the proposed road is Tsogtsalu, a camping ground and a pasture in the Changchemno Valley. Also situated in Leh, Tsogtsalu had been a halting point for Central Asia travellers since the time of the Britishers. Situated near the border in the north of Pangong Tso, Tsogtsalu also houses an Indian Army camp. The border outpost here has been established after Independence. After raising concerns over the raid-like inspections of micro and small pharma firms, RSS-affiliate Laghu Udyog Bharati (LUB) has been invited by the Union health minister for a detailed discussion next week, the bodys chief told News18. LUB, which is a registered national-level organisation working for the cause of micro, small and medium (MSME) enterprises, had requested an appointment with Mansukh Mandaviya in a letter written on October 5. In the letter, LBU had cautioned the government about the potential for medicine shortages in the coming months, attributing the concern to the atmosphere of apprehension generated by ongoing risk-based inspections and actions taken in the form of closures or production halts. We have been invited to meet the minister next week. The ministry has ensured that all our concerns related to health ministry will be discussed and sorted out, Ghan Shyam Ojha, all-India president of LBU, told News18. We have already asked the health minister via our last letter to ignore minor errors such as documentation errors which do not involve a threat to public health. The inspectors should take action only if there is a problem with medicines or public safety. We will discuss the same issue with the minister in the meeting. Jan Aushadhi should procure better-quality drugs While the ongoing raids have raised apprehension over the quality of drugs produced by MSMEs, LBU has advised the Union government to change the protocol of selecting tenders for buying medicines under PM Narendra Modis Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). LBU, in a letter to the health minister, advocated for a quality first approach. Quality is the most important thing but we have noticed that various state governments and Jan Aushadhi tenders procure the medicines on a Lowest One (L1) basis which means the cheapest price. In the cheapest price, the quality of products will be compromised, Ojha said, adding that LBU will discuss the issue with the minister. It should be purchased on base price and Q1 (Quality First basis) Ojha said the government should fix the minimum base price in the health sector to keep with the Q1 Policy. However, according to Ravi Dadhich, chief executive officer, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) the government arm that executes the scheme there is absolutely no relationship of price of purchasing medicines with the quality of medicines supplied. We ensure that all products follow a similar quality standard by anonymising the medicines and sending them to privately empanelled NABL accredited standard labs spread throughout the country. Ojha said the application of Schedule M is a critical issue. We are preparing a presentation for the meeting. It will contain details of all the issues that are a bone of contention. In August, the health ministry said drug manufacturers with an annual turnover of more than Rs 250 crore have to comply with the standards of Schedule M (which are equivalent to WHO-GMP certification) within six months and for companies with less than Rs 250 crore turnover, the timeline will be a year. However, in the letter, LBU has clarified that the industry needs a minimum three-year period to bring changes. It said that the draft rule of 2018 shall not be made applicable on a hue and cry basis. The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government on an appeal filed by gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court sentencing him to five-year imprisonment in a 23-year-old case related to the Gangster Act. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to the state government on the plea filed by Ansari. The high court reversed Ansaris acquittal in the case by a special Lucknow MP-MLA court in December 2020 on an appeal filed by the state government. The special court had acquitted Ansari, a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar constituency, stating that the prosecution could not prove the offence against him beyond reasonable doubt. The ruling BRS Party in Telangana has released the first list of in-charges for 54 Assembly constituencies who will work for the victory of the party candidates. BRS Working President KT Rama Rao who held a teleconference on Thursday with the in-charges gave directions to them on the activities to be followed for the success of the candidates, a press release issued Thursday night said. Rama Rao suggested to the in-charges that they should go to the people requesting them to vote highlighting the achievements of the BRS government and the development during the last 10 years. Health Minister T Harish Rao, who also participated in the teleconference, gave several suggestions to the party leaders. Harish Rao said the party will get a landslide victory in the upcoming elections and appealed to the in-charges to work extensively in this direction during these 45 days. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in August released a list of 105 candidates for the Assembly polls. The BRS President will release the partys manifesto for the November 30 Telangana Assembly elections on October 15 and address a public meeting at Husnabad in Siddipet district on the same day, marking the launch of his poll campaign. Chandrasekhar Rao will hold a meeting with the partys MLA candidates on October 15 at the BRS headquarters in Hyderabad and hand over the B-Forms (the form is proof that a particular candidate is put up by a political party in the election) to them, a release had earlier said. At a time when buying an expensive mobile phone or even a foreign trip has become commonplace, water remains a luxury even in 2023 for many living just 50km away from the countrys financial capital, Mumbai, that, too, in Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shindes stronghold, Thane. ALSO READ | Left High & Dry, These Villages on Outskirts of Mumbai are Dependent on Tankers for Daily Water Supply One of those living in the tribal village of Mharal near Ambernath town of Thane district is Shakuntala Bai Waghe, 55, for whom fetching water from a small stream under the hill has been a routine for the past 30 years. Every day, Waghe and other women from her village climb the hill at least three-four times a day to fetch water. While the task, with two or three buckets in hand, is anyway tough, it becomes dangerous during the monsoon, as the slope becomes slippery. Waghe has even sustained injuries during the trek. We have been living here for the past six generations. I came to this village before Indira Gandhi became the PM. My family has been here since the British era. But we have been deprived of all amenities. We have always been fetching water like this. Politicians come to ask for votes during the election and just make promises. After the elections, some officials came to our village and took some measurements, but later no one turned up," says Waghe. DAY STARTS AT 3 AM; IF STREAM DRIES UP, WOMEN WALK 1.5 HRS TO HILL IN NEIGHBOURING VILLAGE To evade the crowd", Waghe starts her day at 3 am. Whenever women gather at this stream in large numbers, everyone gets less water. Waiting for the next 30-45 minutes in scorching heat becomes unbearable till the time the water stream refills again," she says. Waghe is upset over the governments claims of installation of water taps in every household. She now faces health issues due to the trek, with her legs swelling up at night and lumps in her calves. Governments come and go, but water taps are never installed in our village. In neighbouring villages, too, there are no water taps. If this stream dries up, we have to walk 1.5 hours to fetch water from Ramabai Hill. We just get two-three buckets of water in one round. They also dont allow us to fetch water. Where should we go? Who will help us?" After filling water, Waghe enters the next phase of her struggle heading to the Ambernath town to find a job as a daily wage worker, sometimes at a construction site or in a paddy field. WATER TANKER REQUESTS GO UNHEARD As the stream dries up when the mercury soars, the villagers, almost every day, request the administration to send a water tanker to their village. The last time the village saw a tanker was in March. ALSO READ | Amid Maharashtras 60% Rain Shortage in August, Demand for Water Tankers Rise by Over 50x When News18 was at the spot, the villagers learned that a water tanker may be arriving. Everyone rushed to get their empty drums at the spot where the tanker was to arrive. Family members across age groups tried to get as many as empty drums as they could, given that a tanker was coming after seven months. Social activist Padmakar Ahire told News18, For the past many months, we have been following up with the local administration to send a tanker daily for these tribals, but we havent got any positive response. A few years ago, one common tank was installed at the village, saying the water pipeline would come till this tank and then every household will get a separate water line from this tank. None of it happened." GOVT PROMISES TO LOOK INTO THE ISSUE Dr Manisha Kayande, MLC and Shiv Sena (Shinde) spokesperson, said, I want to appreciate the efforts of Network18 and its team to highlight this issue. I will be speaking with the collector concerned and guardian minister to look into this issue and provide immediate help. Setting up the pipeline from ground to the hill wont be possible right away, but we will write to the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) and ask them to make permanent water arrangements. As the monsoon is almost over and there is an entire year before the next one, we will take up this issue with the authorities." An intense western disturbance, which will be the first of this season, is expected to bring widespread rain over Delhi, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Haryana as well as heavy showers or even snowfall in parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The IMD said the rainfall in northwest as well as parts of central India is expected over the next four days. The MeT said under the influence of the western disturbance, an induced cyclonic circulation is likely to form over central Pakistan and the neighborhood in the next 24 hours. This system is likely to intensify further with the possibility of a merger of a fresh western disturbance on October 15, the IMD said. The system will influence northwest and central India from Friday night to October 17. It is likely to receive moisture from the Arabian Sea. As a result, the intensity of rainfall and its distribution are quite likely to increase over northwest India during the same period, it said. Dry northwesterly winds from the Himalayas are likely to prevail over northwest India in lower tropospheric levels after the passage of the western disturbance. As a result, temperatures are likely to fall by two to four notches from October 17 over the region. (with PTI inputs) Mahalaya is a Hindu festival that marks the beginning of the Durga Puja festivities. It is celebrated on the seventh day of the lunar month of Ashwin, which usually falls in September or October. Mahalaya is a time for Hindus to remember and celebrate the goddess Durga, who is worshipped as the destroyer of evil and the protector of good. This year it falls today on October 14. On the day of Mahalaya, Hindus wake up early to listen to the Mahalaya broadcast on All India Radio. The broadcast features a recitation of the Chandi Path, a sacred Hindu text that tells the story of Durgas battle against the demon Mahishasura. The broadcast is also accompanied by traditional Bengali music and hymns. ALSO READ: Mahalaya 2023 LIVE: When and Where to Listen to Mahishasuramardini Recital LIVE? After listening to the Mahalaya broadcast, Hindus visit temples to worship Durga. They also perform special rituals and prayers at home. Mahalaya is a time for families to come together and celebrate their devotion to Durga. MAHALAYA WISHES AND GREETINGS Wishing you a very happy and blessed Mahalaya! May the goddess Durga bless you with good health, wealth, and prosperity. May the divine blessings of the goddess Durga shower on you and your family on this auspicious occasion of Mahalaya. Subho Mahalaya! May the goddess Durga fill your life with happiness, peace, and contentment. On this Mahalaya, may the goddess Durga remove all obstacles from your path of life and guide you towards success. Wishing you a joyous and auspicious Mahalaya! May the blessings of the goddess Durga be with you always. May the goddess Durga bless you with the strength to overcome all challenges in life. On this Mahalaya, may the goddess Durga fill your heart with love, compassion, and kindness. Wishing you a very happy and prosperous Mahalaya! May the goddess Durga fulfill all your wishes. May the goddess Durga protect you from all evil and harm. On this Mahalaya, may the goddess Durga bless you with good luck and fortune. Wishing you a joyous and auspicious Mahalaya! May the goddess Durga bring you happiness and peace. May the goddess Durga bless you with wisdom and knowledge. On this Mahalaya, may the goddess Durga guide you on the right path in life. Wishing you a very happy and blessed Mahalaya! May the goddess Durga fulfill all your dreams. May the goddess Durga protect you from all diseases and illness. On this Mahalaya, may the goddess Durga bless you with a long and healthy life. Wishing you a joyous and auspicious Mahalaya! May the goddess Durga bring you joy and prosperity. May the goddess Durga bless you with a loving family and good friends. On this Mahalaya, may the goddess Durga guide you to achieve your goals. Wishing you a very happy and blessed Mahalaya! May the goddess Durga fill your life with love, happiness, and peace. Mahalaya 2023 Quotes On this auspicious occasion of Mahalaya, may Maa Durga bless you with good health, wealth, and prosperity. May she protect you from all evils and guide you towards righteousness. May the divine presence of Maa Durga fill your life with love, strength, and blessings. May she help you overcome all obstacles and achieve your goals. As we welcome the goddess, may she bestow her grace upon us. May she bring peace, love, and happiness to our lives. Mahalaya is a time to celebrate the victory of good over evil. May Maa Durga help us to defeat all that is dark and negative in our lives. On this sacred day of Mahalaya, may we all be inspired by the strength and courage of Maa Durga. May we strive to be better people and make the world a better place. MAHALAYA 2023: In the vibrant tapestry of Indian culture, Mahalaya stands as a special thread, connecting the living with the departed. This auspicious festival is commemorated by the followers of Maa Durga a week prior to the global commencement of Durga Puja festivities. It signifies the initiation of Devi Paksha, or the goddesss era, and falls on the final day of Pitru Paksha, a 16-day lunar period during which Hindus pay respects to their ancestors or Pitras. Therefore, Mahalaya signifies the advent of Goddess Durga, and the festival devoted to her worship, Durga Puja commences. ALSO READ: Shubho Mahalaya 2023: Top 25 Wishes, Greetings, Messages, Images, and Quotes to Celebrate Goddess Durgas Arrival During Mahalaya, the older members of the family pay homage to their forebears by conducting Tarpan, a ceremony in which water is offered to the souls of their ancestors on the banks of the Ganga. The festival is marked by a specific date and time and carries profound cultural and spiritual significance, weaving tales of devotion, nostalgia, and the triumph of good over evil. Below mentioned are the date, time, cultural significance, and celebration of the festival. Mahalaya 2023: Date and Time Mahalaya typically falls on the last day of the dark fortnight of the lunar month of Bhadra (usually in September or October). This year, it will be observed on October 14. The date is determined based on lunar calculations, and it marks the beginning of the Devi Paksha, a special time dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga. ALSO READ: Navratri 2023: Shardiya Navratri Start and End Date, Colours, Muhurat, and Elephant to be Goddess Durgas Savari The day is governed by the lunar calendar, and its timing varies each year. On Mahalaya, Amavasya Tithi begins at 9:50 PM on October 13, 2023, and ends at 11:24 PM on October 14, 2023. According to Drik Panchang, Kutup Muhurat will last from 11:44 AM to 12:30 PM, Rohina Muhurat from 12:30 PM to 01:16 PM, and Aparahna Kaal from 1:16 PM to 3:35 PM. ALSO READ: Mahalaya 2023: When and Where to Listen to Mahishasuramardini? History and Significance Mahalaya 2023: Cultural Significance The Invoking of the GoddessMahalaya signifies the day when the Devi Mahatmya, a sacred text honoring the goddess, is chanted to invoke the presence of Goddess Durga. This is seen as a spiritual call to welcome the divine mother and seek her blessings and protection. Remembering the AncestorsMahalaya is also observed as a day for paying tribute to ones ancestors. Families perform a ritual called Tarpan where they offer water and prayers to the departed souls. It is believed that their blessings and guidance are vital for the upcoming festivities. The Unleashing of the Chandi PathThe Chandi Path, a recitation of verses from the Devi Mahatmya, takes place on Mahalaya. It narrates the tale of the fierce battle between Goddess Durga and the demon Mahishasura, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. This narrative sets the stage for the Durga Puja festival. Mahalaya 2023: Celebrations The celebration of Mahalaya is marked by various activities and rituals: BTS member Jimin made history earlier this year when his single Like Crazy bagged the number-one spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. He emerged to be the first South Korean solo artist to claim the flamboyant feat, rising through the ranks while knocking down Miley Cyruss Flower. Jimin did celebrate the milestone on Instagram but not many know he also got a congratulatory cake along with a number-one sash at the time. The photos from the celebration were kept hidden until they were discovered by ARMY on Jimins 28th birthday. It appears Jimin intended to keep the cake-cutting moment a private affair. The celebratory photos circulating on X feature the K-pop idol donning his number-one victory sash. He stands holding a delicious floral cake while striking a bright smile for the camera. A loyal fan of the artist shared the pictures online writing, Jimin got a cake to congratulate number-one on Hot100 and we only found out about it now. Take a look at it here: Jimin got a cake to congratulate #1 on HOT100 and we only found out about it now pic.twitter.com/I0ez3P1oIk hourly jikook (@kookminville) October 13, 2023 As soon as the photos surfaced online, ARMY began highlighting how Jimin likes to keep things private. A fan commented, Jimin is a really low-key kid. Jimin is a really low-key kid. Sandy Lin (@SandyLin88) October 13, 2023 Another wrote, Happiness looks good on him. Happiness looks good on him May R_ Busan Kings (@MayRuiz451) October 13, 2023 Jimin thanked his fans after achieving the massive milestone by sharing a screenshot of the top 10 songs on the Hot 100 chart. Love u all, the Like Crazy hitmaker captioned the post alongside a purple heart emoticon. Produced by PDogg and Ghstloop, Like Crazy was released in two languages, English and Korean. The vibe of the foot-tapping synth-pop track was all unrequited feelings chronicling the artists pitfalls amid the limelight and his fears of losing his real identity owing to stardom. View this post on Instagram A post shared by JIMIN (@j.m) In addition to this, Jimins debut solo album Face also features at the number-two position on the Billboard 200 albums chart. With artists including Pdogg, Ghstloop, Evan, BLVSH, and Supreme Boi taking the production lead, BTS leader RM was also credited for writing three songs on the album. Face consisted of six tracks in total including the single Set Me Free, Pt. 2. Bhojpuri actress Kanak Pandey recently visited Iskcon temple located in Juhu, Mumbai. The pictures of the actress from her recent temple visit are garnering huge traction on social media. In the photos, the actress can be seen wearing a white kurta which she paired up with a red salwar and layered up with an orange banarasi dupatta. The pictures from her visit are now making a huge buzz on the internet. In one of the pictures, the actress can be seen reading Bhagavad Gita. While in the other, she is seen striking a pose for the camera. Sharing the pictures, the actress wrote in the caption, Jai Shri Krishna Radhe Radhe. Several social media users have commented on the pictures. For the occasion, she opted for a minimal makeup look and tied-up hairstyle as she posed for the lens. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kanak A Pandey (@iamkanakpandey) Some time back, she visited the Krishna temple situated in Bhopal. During that visit, she was wearing a traditional pink colour suit. So far, several social media users have filled in the comment section. The actress wore a no-makeup look as she was all smiles for the lens. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kanak A Pandey (@iamkanakpandey) Kanak Pandey has worked alongside some of the most prominent stars. She has appeared in Saugandh alongside Dinesh Lal Nirahua and India versus Pakistan with Rakesh Mishra and Ritesh Pandey. In addition to her music videos, she often grabbed the headlines for her glamorous photoshoots. Hailing from Gopalganj, Bihar, she was raised in Gorakhpur, where she completed her education. Her childhood dream was to work in the film industry, and from an early age, she enrolled in an acting school in Gorakhpur. As she grew up, her dream became a reality, and she is steadily making her mark in the industry. The actress was last seen in the Bhojpuri film Nakli Nawab with Awdhesh Mishra. Soon Kanak will be next seen in an action drama Jug Jug Jiya Ho Lalanwa. The makers have not yet released the film. Parineeti Chopra recently got married to Raghav Chadha in a dreamy ceremony in Udaipur. Post which, the couple have moved to Delhi. While Parineeti had recently come to Mumbai, today she was seen, heading back from the city. While its not clear, if shes returning to Delhi, she briefly interacted with the paparazzi. In the video, shared by Viral Bhayani, Parineeti looked all things comfy and pretty in a white hoodie which she teamed with a pair of blue denims. She also opted for a pony tail and sported sindoor. Looking all things pretty, she donned one of her brightest smiles. As she walked across the terminal, one of the paps asked her to bring Raghav with her, next time. One of them even sent him regards saying, Jiju Ko Bolna Humne Yaad Kiya Hai. The Ishqzaade actress then broke into laughter. Have a look at the video : Photos and videos from their wedding are still going viral on social media. Recently, a new video has surfaced online from Parineetis welcome to Raghavs house in Delhi. The video begins with featuring Raghavs house decked up with white flowers as the newlyweds make their grand entrance amid fireworks and dhol. Parineeti looked radiant in a lime green salwar suit set and Raghav looked handsome in a brown kurta worn with a matching Nehru jacket. The couple were spotted in these outfits at the Delhi airport when they returned from Udaipur. Parineeti confessed that she was the one who said I love you first, but also maintained that she was the funny one in their relationship. While Raghav thought Parineeti had made the first move when they were dating, Parineeti thought otherwise. Amid the rituals and the celebrations, Raghav lovingly tells Parineeti, Now you are a Chadha. To this, Parineeti replied, The best family in the world. They are the best family in the world. They make me feel like a queen. Its been 5 years since Meghna Gulzar spy thriller hit, Raazi, featuring actress Alia Bhatt as an undercover Indian spy who led India to its victory in the 1971 war against Pakistan, released. It also starred Vicky Kaushal. As the filmmaker gears up for her next release with Vicky again at the helm of it, Alia Bhatt took to Instagram to lend her support. Raazi, to this day, holds a special place in many fans hearts. Taking to Instagram Stories, Alia wrote, adding a heart emoji, I remember the day @meghnagulzar told us the story of Sam on the sets of Raazi.. Vicky sat there.. a twinkle in his eye.. hoping to one day be Sam., And wow.. just wow! @vickykaushal09 cant wait to see this one. Vicky, sharing the post, replied, Can never forget that day. Thank you Alia. So sweet of you! Meanwhile, Sam Bahadur is all set to clash with Alias husband, actor Ranbir Kapoors Animal. Speaking of it at the teaser launch of the film, Vicky said its about him the industry normalised such clashes. I think that Friday, we are eventually gonna hand over our films to the audience. It will be the audiences day more than our day. Like Ronnie pointed out, in todays time, we, as an industry, should give the option of multiple films on the same day to the audience. Thats how we will flourish as an industry. We have those many weeks in a year, but as an industry, we cannot limit ourselves to making those many films in a year. We will have to make multiple films and we will have multiple releases on the same day. We have to build an atmosphere where multiple films can work on the same day. We have the strength in the audience, we have the strength at the exhibitor level, so, why not? I think we kind of also need to push the envelope now. Given todays scenario, the excitement that the the audiences have, I think, if they resonate with two films and both the films are good, both can work. So, I am as excited for Animal as anybody else. As long as it is great for the audience. We work for them, he said. Pamela Anderson has been a global icon ever since she appeared as CJ Parker in Baywatch. Her journey was always in the spotlight, for reasons like relationships, movie roles and even her glamorous persona has been a talking point. However, a recent change caught everyones attention when the 56-year-old actress sat on the front row for designers like Isabel Marant and Vivienne Westwood in Paris Fashion Week with her natural skin and freckles proudly on display. Recently, Scarlett Johansson applauded Pamela for defying conventional beauty customs and showing her natural look at the most prestigious fashion event. In an interview with Pop Sugar, Johansson speaking about Pamelas stand-out appearance, described her as, different and powerful. The Avengers star said, I think it is definitely different to see somebody thats in the public eye, a woman in the public eye, go to a fashion show or big event with no makeup on. Its just very different from what were used to. Its a powerful message for women to see that, whether they follow suit or whatever the effect is, in the zeitgeist. Its powerful for women to see other women rejecting standard beauty norms. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pamela Anderson (@pamelaanderson) During the same interview, Scarlett Johansson candidly shared her own experiences with skin concerns during her teenage years. She revealed her struggles with acne-prone skin, which sometimes destroyed her confidence, especially while growing up in the public eye. She recounted a specific incident during the filming of The Island when she was around 20 years old. The conversation on set [was] about lighting and hiding your bad skin. The conversation between the director the makeup artist and the cinematographer and the lighting person. I remember it was so, so mortifying, she said. Meanwhile, Pamela Andersons bold choice to go makeup-free at Paris Fashion Week didnt just fascinate her fans, it also left many Hollywood celebrities impressed. Apart from Scarlett Johansson, Jamie Lee Curtis also commended her. The Haloween star shared a series of images on Instagram showcasing Andersons natural appearance and called her look a natural beauty revolution. Sharing the pictures, Jamie wrote, THE NATURAL BEAUTY REVOLUTION HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN. Pamela Anderson in the middle of fashion week with so many pressures and postures, and and and, this woman showed up and claimed her seat at the table with nothing on her face. I am so impressed and floored by this act of courage and rebellion. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) In a recent interview with Elle, Pamela Anderson disclosed a deeply personal reason for her decision to stop wearing makeup. She explained that this choice was influenced by the untimely death of her makeup artist, Alexis Vogel, in 2019 due to breast cancer. The 2023 annular, "ring of fire" solar eclipse will occur Saturday morning. Places from Corvallis and Albany, OR to Elko, NV will be in the path of totality but you have to catch it fast, totality will only last for five minutes at most. Meteorologist Joe Martucci explains exactly what time your town will be in totality as well as the all important cloud cover forecast. The solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves directly in front of the sun's during the day, casting a shadow on the Earth. In an annular eclipse, the disk of the sun is still slightly larger than the disk of the moon in the sky. Therefore, a ring of yellow is seen around the moon, which are the edges of the sun. Khaybar, Khaybar Ya Yehud, jaysh Muhammad Sawf Yaud was a slogan coined by Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hasan Yasin (1937-2004) during the tumultuous days of the first Palestinian Intifada when he founded Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, cryptically known as Hamas, on December 14, 1987. The slogan means Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return. It is an obvious reference to the Battle of Khaybar between the early Muslims led by the Arabian Prophet and the Jews in 628 AD where the latter were defeated. Despite being a wheel-chair bound quadriplegic for decades, and nearly blind, the Sheikh was never found lacking in Islamist enthusiasm to wreak havoc on Israel. He was killed in an Israeli helicopter gunshot in 2004, the same year that Yasir Arafat passed away later, of natural causes. Yasir Arafat (1929-2004), the founder of Fatah, the largest constituent of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, was the tallest Palestinian leader of all time. In India, in the 1980s and 90s, Palestine was Arafat and Arafat was Palestine. He later became the President of the Palestinian Authority, a position now held by his protege, Mahmoud Abbas alias Abu Mazen. Yet, ironically, the legacy of Sheikh Ahmed Yasin has eclipsed the bequest of Yasir Arafat. If the statements by Mahmoud Abbas and Mustafa Barghouti (a Palestinian legislator popular on Indian television channels) on the recent massacre are a pointer, then Fatah has completely surrendered to the Islamist agenda of Hamas. Yasir Arafat, notwithstanding his Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994, was not remotely a peacenik. He remained an inveterate enemy of Israel until his last days. He instigated the second Palestinian Intifada (2000-2005), which officially ended only after his death. However, it must be understood why Hamas chose to disagree with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, at a time when the latter was synonymous with Palestine. The Hamas Covenant, 1988 makes it abundantly clear that Islam is its central inspiration. Article 8 leaves little to the imagination, Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran is the Constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes. Article 27 explains why Hamas differs from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). It says, Secularism completely contradicts religious ideology. Attitudes, conduct and decisions stem from ideologies. That is why, with all our appreciation for The Palestinian Liberation Organization and what it can develop into- and without belittling its role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, we are unable to exchange the present or future Islamic Palestine with the secular idea. The Islamic nature of Palestine is part of our religion and whoever takes his religion lightly is a loser. The day The Palestinian Liberation Organization adopts Islam as its way of life, we will become its soldiers, and the fuel for its fire that will burn the enemies. Hamas identifies itself as a wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949) of Egypt. The Covenant says, in quoting al-Banna, Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. However, if one pores over the seven points passed by the central committee of Al-Fatah (1969), one finds under Point 2-Al Fatah, the Palestine National Liberation Movement, is not struggling against the Jews as an ethnic and religious community. It is struggling against Israel as an expression of colonisation based on a theocratic, racist and expansionist system of Zionism and colonialism. Under Point 5, it identifies its object as the restoration of the independent, democratic state of Palestine, all whose citizens will enjoy equal rights irrespective of their religion (The Israel Arab Reader by Walter Lacquer, P.444). Al-Fatah was co-founded by Yasir Arafat, who called it a movement rather than an organisation, towards the end of the 1950s. From the very beginning, to quote historian S. Shamir Hassan, Al-Fatah emphasised on the military thrust of the movement, and the struggle carried out by its military arm. It proclaimed its foundation day on January 5, 1965, when it carried out its first military operation codenamed Al-Asifa or the Storm. Parrying the accusation that Al-Fatah enjoyed the support of conservative kingdoms like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Persian Gulf Principalities (UAE, Bahrain etc), Arafat said, I am using Saudi money to buy weapons from China (Al-Fatah A study of Ideological Evolution, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress Vol.61, Part -2 Millennium 2000-01, P.1136). However, it was not very successful in its military operations. Al-Fatah later joined the ranks of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, subsequently called Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), founded on May 28, 1964, by Ahmed Shukairy, the Chairman of the First Palestine Congress. The original Charter of Palestine Liberation Organization (1964) does not cite Islam as a source of inspiration. It does not refer to the word Muslim even once, though it refers to Jews twice. Its Article 15 speaks about safeguarding all Holy places, and the guarantee of freedom to worship and visit for all, without discrimination of race, colour, language and religion. It might still be argued that prior to June 1967, the West Bank and East Jerusalem were held by the Kingdom of Jordan, and Gaza by Egypt. Hence, which Palestine were the founders of Al-Fatah or the PLO trying to liberate? Naturally, by Palestine they meant sovereign territories of Israel. However, on the question of religion, the Fatah or the PLO claimed to be more progressive. Yasir Arafat in addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on November 13, 1974, as the Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation stated, Therefore, since its inception, our revolution was not motivated by racial or religious factors. Its target was never the Jew, as a person, but racist Zionism, and undisguised aggression. We are struggling that Jews, Christians and Muslims may live in equality, enjoying the same rights, and assuming the same duties, free from racial and religious discrimination (Palestine Lives, P.19). It is true that scholars like Bernard Lewis discovered a striking Islamic factor in the imagery and symbolism of Fatah. For example, the PLO brigades were named after great victories won by Muslims in battles against non-Muslims viz. Qadisiya, Ifttin and Ayn Jahut. This, however, is an inherent characteristic of Islam. As Islam, since the lifetime of the Prophet, had advanced by a series of battles, any Muslim country or organisation in search of classical names for military brigades or campaigns will reach out to the 7th century BC. II Hamas, on the other hand, made no secret of its Islamist agenda from the very beginning. It did not rule out cooperation with Al-Fatah, a part of the PLO, but on the condition the PLO exchanged secularism for Islamism. The trend of Islamism gained ground in the Middle East after the Iranian Revolution. Arafat knew he had to appease the revivalist constituency if he wished the initiative to pass out from his hand to Sheikh Ahmed Yasin. Hamas was not a party to the Oslo Accord, 1993 followed by the Gaza-Jericho Agreement, 1994 between the PLO and Israel. It has not recognised Israels inherent right to exist unlike Egypt, Jordan, PLO and UAE etc. Thus Hamas position on Israel is the same as espoused by Nasserite Egypt before the 1967 War Wipe out Israel from the face of the globe. Whereas the other Arab states, though not reconciled to the existence of Israel, consider discretion as a better part of valour, Hamas still feel it can re-enact the 7th century AD in the 21st century AD. Thus while Arafats followers are no longer a deadly threat to Israel, Sheikh Yasins followers will continue to be a bugbear for Israel. Interestingly, Hamas came out with a new Charter in 2017. It has tried to modernise the language as compared to the 1988 Covenant. It says that Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews, because they are Jewish, but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. It has tried to project that the Jewish problem, anti-Semitism, and persecution of Jews are fundamentally linked to European history and not to the history of Arabs and Muslims to their heritage. Hamas now wants to paper over the Battle of Khaybar (628 AD) against the Jews or the invasion of Banu Qurayza etc. It appears that the new Charter of Hamas is aimed at ending its international isolation, since 2007 when it forcibly occupied the Gaza Strip, after a factional war with Fatah. III Between August 15 and September 22, 2005, Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip and adjacent northern Samaria. Around 9,000 Israeli citizens living in 25 settlements in Gaza were evicted against their wishes by the Ariel Sharon government. Within a few months, Sharon suffered a brain stroke in January 2006 from which he never recovered. In the same month, there were the first and only elections held to date for the Palestinian Authority, in which Hamas (running under the name Change and Reform) secured 74 seats in a 132-seat unicameral legislature, leaving Fatah a poor second with 45 seats. Since President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas was from Fatah, it was thought that for the sake of concord, a Hamas-Fatah unity government would be formed. When the list of cabinet ministers was presented by Ismail Haniya on March 27, 2006, it only contained the names of Hamas representatives. The relationship between the two parties deteriorated sharply, leading to a civil war, which split the Palestinian Authority on regional lines. On June 14, 2007, Hamas conclusively established control over the Gaza Strip thus bringing the civil war to an end. Over the last 16 years, with no more elections, Hamas controls Gaza, whereas Fatah controls the West Bank. In the meanwhile, the Parliament building in Ramallah, West Bank has gone to the seeds. While it was hoped that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would open up a window of peace in the post-Arafat era, Gaza soon became a nursery of terrorism under Hamas fiefdom. It began with Hamas seizing an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, on June 26, 2006 an ordeal that ended five years later in 2011 when he was exchanged for 1,027 prisoners. Gaza, teeming with 2.3 million people, lives a decrepit existence under Hamas rule. How the current round of hostage problems ends remains to be seen. In the last decade and a half, Gaza has acted as a launching pad for several serious attacks on Israel like in 2009 and 2014 leading to major hostilities. The hostilities emanating from the West Bank have gone down over the decade and a half. Hamas recent attack, which involved the slaughter of civilians, including women and children, is the deadliest. Are we to seriously believe that Khaybar, Khaybar Ya Yehud, jaysh Muhammad Sawf Yaud is no longer in the minds of its perpetrators? Does the PLO members silence on the Islamist inspiration of Hamas betray their fears of alienating Palestinian Arabs? The writer is author of the book The Microphone Men: How Orators Created a Modern India (2019) and an independent researcher based in New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. The geopolitical consequences of the bloody clashes between Israel and Hamas risk to be serious. Already the Ukraine conflict has been very disruptive at the international level. This conflict which is pitting the US, NATO and the G7 against Russia continues, with China positioning itself on Russias side in view of its own confrontation with the US. India, as well as the Global South in general, is affected by this European conflict, with disruption in global supply chains, energy flows, and food and fertiliser shortages. On top of that, a new conflict in a highly volatile region has erupted which will affect India and the Global South as well. This region has already seen wars against terrorism by Western powers, be it in Iraq, Libya or Syria. Iran is treated as a terrorist state by the US. It is accused of supporting Houthi terrorists against Saudi Arabia and viewed as a prime backer of Hamas in Gaza as well as the Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is a vociferous supporter of the Palestinian cause and has assumed the leadership of the struggle against Israel. Turkey has had close links with Hamas. Qatar hosts Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas, and offers financial support to the organisation. A flare-up of conflict between Israel and Hamas can therefore create wider disruptions. The conflict provoked by brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians across the Gaza Strip, especially the unprecedented scale of the attacks, both in the audacious manner of execution and the number of casualties inflicted, has inevitably provoked a massive Israeli retaliation. The Israeli leadership has made it clear that Gaza will suffer retribution it has never seen before. The Israeli armed forces are pummeling the Gaza Strip militarily, buildings are being destroyed, and food, fuel and water supplies to the territory have been cut off. Civilian casualties in Gaza are mounting. The danger of the conflict widening is real. Hamas may have provoked this conflict and Israel may feel justified in avenging itself, but the collective punishment being inflicted on the Gaza population, the scenes of human misery on television and the social media, civilians, including children, getting killed, lack of medical supplies etc. risk to inflame public opinion in the Arab, indeed in the Islamic world, besides raising humanitarian concerns more broadly. This is not the first time that Hamas has provoked a conflict with Israel, knowing from past experience that Israel will respond with ferocity. The jihadi mindset is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for a larger purpose, however monstrous. Its strategy is to compel Israel to precisely do that with the goal of inflaming the Arab street when images of fellow Palestinian Arabs being bombarded and killed are diffused on TV screens worldwide, intensifying international political humanitarian concerns about Israels visible disproportionate use of force and by imposing suffering on others denting its image of a country whose people have historically suffered enormously. The Palestine cause has receded from the political landscape of the Arab world. Key Arab countries such as the UAE and Morocco have normalised relations with Israel, following the Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia has been engaging with Israel discreetly for some years. The normalisation of Saudi Arabia-Israel ties seems to have been on the anvil under US auspices, which if it had materialised would have marginalised the Palestinian cause even further. This may explain the timing of the Hamas offensive, the goal being to derail this process and deny a major political victory to the US and the moderate Arab states that were distancing themselves from the Palestinian question. The degree of political progress made in normalising Israels ties with the Gulf countries is reflected in the establishment of I2U2 that groups Israel, India, UAE and the US with a view to fostering mutually beneficial trade, economic and technological cooperation. On the margins of the G20 summit, the US, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France, Germany and the EU announced plans for creating an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Both these projects envisaged a peaceful Middle East, undisturbed by the unresolved Palestinian issue. With the latest developments, these projects will be put on hold. Saudi Arabia has put an end to negotiations with the US on normalising ties with Israel. Iran, while denying any role in instigating the Hamas attack, has fully backed it. That the Saudi Crown Prince and Sheikh Zayed of the UAE have thought it necessary to discuss the latest developments with Irans President Raisi suggests a re-centering of the Palestinian question in Middle East politics. It can be argued that the US possibly committed a strategic mistake in pushing the Abraham Accords in the belief that the Palestine question was no longer central to the politics of the Arab world, that it could be kept isolated from the political and economic dynamics especially in the Gulf countries in favour of economic growth, modernisation and religious moderation as survival strategies in a fast-changing global economic and technological developments. The US had got away by virtually abandoning the two-state solution in Palestine, ended all aid to the Palestine National Authority and did not deter Israel to expand its settlements in the West Bank and moved its Embassy to Jerusalem. In hindsight, it would seem it would have made sense to promote a final reconciliation between Israel and the Arab world, especially as key Gulf countries were receptive to this goal, by finding some equitable solution in Palestine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as is accepted by high-level political and other commentators in Israel, has been determined to prevent the emergence of any independent Palestinian state, to the point of backing Hamas against the Palestine National Authority on the West Bank to keep the Palestine movement divided. Israel politics itself is deeply split, with many extreme right wing elements determined to expand settlements in Israeli occupied West Bank, and indeed wanting to annex it. Netanyahu is dependent on these messianic elements in his coalition government, and, in the eyes of many in Israel, they are the ones who are responsible for creating a situation that has erupted today. The situation in West Asia has entered a dangerous and unpredictable phase. Hezbollah has not entered the fray yet, but it could potentially if Iran is threatened. The US is fully backing Israel. Its decision to move its aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean is premised on deterring a wider conflict. The US seems also to be counselling Israel to avoid massive civilian casualties in Gaza, as that would turn the Arab street against the US too. Russia has adopted a balanced position, cautioning against civilian casualties and advocating a two state solution, a line broadly followed by China. India, to begin with, has focused narrowly on the brutality of the terrorist attacks on Israel and expressed its solidarity with it, rather than on the broader political issue of a Palestinian homeland. This is in line with its position, and that of the UN, the G7, G20, the BRICS, the SCO, that no cause justifies the recourse to terrorism, and that there should be zero tolerance of terrorism by the international community. The Ministry of External Affairs has now issued a statement reiterating its established position on Palestine, namely, supporting the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, besides indirectly cautioning Israel to observe international humanitarian law. Kanwal Sibal is a former Indian Foreign Secretary. He was Indias Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. The horrific acts of terror in Israel have brought to the fore a stark contrast between the reactions of the government and the political Opposition. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi was forthright in taking a clear and unequivocal stance on the acts of terror committed in Israel, the principal Opposition Congress party chose to equivocate on the issue with a statement that was short of blaming Israel for having invited the acts of terror upon itself. It is a puzzle why the principal Opposition chose to issue a statement on the events in Israel that puts it at odds with both the official stance of the government and a broad spectrum of public opinion within the country. The statement, however, must not come as a surprise given the continued drift of the Congress party over the past two decades towards causes espoused by a motley group of far Left activists with global patronage. This drift that first began in the run-up to the 2004 general elections has now culminated in what can be best described as the NGO-isation of Indias grand old party. Recent political remarks by the prime minister during an election speech on how the Congress has outsourced itself to certain NGO activists are an indication of the same. The roots of the NGO-isation of the Congress can be traced to the latter years of the first NDA government, with the party finding a common cause with an assorted group of NGOs advocating for a rights-based agenda ranging from RTI and RTE to food security. Lying beneath the rights-based entitlement activism was however a far more sinister agenda that has since manifested in the Congress finding itself repeatedly on the wrong side of morality when it comes to taking an unequivocal stance on terrorism. From raising the false bogey of majoritarian terror in 2003 ahead of the then Madhya Pradesh state elections to blaming Hindu organisations for the 2008 26/11 attacks, assorted leaders of the Congress have scripted a playbook that has not only seen the party take up far Left causes, but also make common cause with them at the cost of national interest. Early signs of convergence of interests between the Congress and leftist NGO activists are visible from the 2003 election in Madhya Pradesh when NGO activists decided to openly cast their lot with the party extending unconditional support to the then Digvijay Singh-led campaign in MP. Smita Gupta, writing in Outlook in February 2022, detailed the broad spectrum of convergence between far Left politics, NGO activism and the principal Opposition. Interestingly, one of the protagonists mentioned in the Outlook article has recently been found on the wrong side of the law for running NewsClick, a website that has been found to be receiving funding from China-affiliated entities for advancing foreign propaganda. There should be little doubt that underlying the nexus of convergence between NGO activism and the political Opposition are multiple sources of foreign patronage, both overt and covert. Reflective of this patronage was a recent caricature shared by the BJPs social media wing on the role being played by billionaire George Soros to influence political outcomes in India. There is however a marked escalation between the degree of NGO-isation during the UPA era and the current avatar of the Congress party. While the National Advisory Council, chaired by Sonia Gandhi during the UPA years, was packed with Leftist NGO activists and the UPA regime ensured a series of rights-based entitlement legislative items were enacted into law, there was yet a nationalist streak within the Congress that championed the nuclear deal and stood up to Maoist terror. The current avatar of the Congress, however, seems to have completely ceded its agenda to the far Left NGO network of interests, with its pursuit of scorched earth politics in India while simultaneously undermining the Indian national interest through pronouncements inimical to the same. With its divisive rhetoric of a caste census, the Congress partys current drift not only threatens to cause irreparable damage to the social fabric of India but also carries the risk of derailing Indias economic growth story, reversing the growth momentum. It is paradoxical that the party that only recently claimed that Indias rise to be the worlds third-largest economy was inevitable is now actively pursuing an agenda to derail that rise. From the success of the G20 Summit to the confident manner in which India stood resolutely to defend its national interest, there is a clear path today towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. It is the time voters and the youth of India will realise this vision of a developed India and it is this Amrit Kaal Generation (Gen-AK) that has the highest stakes in the course India charts over the next two decades. It is thus imperative that the Amrit Kaal generation (Gen-AK) ask the question if their economic future ought to be jeopardised by the scorched earth politics being advanced by the principal opposition. It would also be pertinent to raise questions about the fitness of the current leadership, given the manner in which the agenda has been outsourced to a shadowy nexus of activists, some of whom are also recipients of foreign patronage. By failing to take a clear stance on issues of national interest while actively seeking to undermine it with a scorch the earth agenda, this NGO-ised avatar of the Congress party is sending the message to the Amrit Kaal generation that it does not share their dream and aspiration for a Viksit Bharat by 2047. Its time the Amrit Kaal generation give a resounding reply to the NGO-ised Congress leadership that this outsourced avatar of Indias grand old party with its myopic priorities is unfit to govern Bharat. The writer is the former CEO, Prasar Bharti. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Ever since Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, Indias domestic politics has seen contrasting voices between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress. The BJP was steadfast in its support for Israel, comparing the Hamas attack to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack while the Congress has been carefully silent on Hamas and extending solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Prime Minister Narendra Modis firm support to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu while calling a spade a spade made most draw the conclusion that his and BJPs stand on Israel is guided by domestic politics where the Congress is allegedly appeasing Muslims while the saffron party is taking a nationalistic stand. However, the truth is far more complex. The view of Modi himself a product of the RSS is guided by the ideology of MS Golwalkar who was popularly known as Guruji and was the second RSS chief as well as the views of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya the co-founder of Jan Sangh that later became the BJP as we know it today. Its thus an ideological standpoint for Narendra Modi than narrow political goals. RSS, SAVARKAR ON ISRAEL Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak of the RSS BJPs ideological mentor had a very radical view about Israel for pre-Independent India. For Jews of 1930, Golwalkar said: The reconstruction of the Hebrew Nation in Palestine is just an affirmation of the fact that Country, Race, Religion, Culture, and Language must exist unavoidably together to form a full Nation idea. Remember, this was said when Israel was not even founded. On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of Israel in accordance with the UN plan of partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. So for the RSS to have such a strong view in those times when only Jews shared their sentiments was bold, to put it mildly. Many argue he had a similar vision for India still British-occupied when he talked about the Jewish nation. Veer Savarkar, known to be the father of Hindutva as we know it today, had a much clearer understanding of Israel which is not just based on civilisation as argued by Golwalkar but more on the nation-state of Israel a modern outlook. He also found a common thread between Jews and India. While talking about India as a holy land, Savarkar had said: No people in the world can more justly claim to get recognised as a racial unit than the Hindus and perhaps the Jews. As BJP supporters flood X (formerly Twitter) with hashtags like India with Israel and the flag emojis of the two nations, deep down it has a lot to do with Savarkars view. Modis clarity of thought when he said people of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations has its roots in Golwalkars and Savarkars long-standing ideological vies. DEEN DAYAL UPADHYAYA ON ISRAEL Upadhyaya, an RSS member and co-founder of Jan Sangh, penned a book Integral Humanism which was drafted as a political programme and adopted in 1965 as the official doctrine of the Jan Sangh and later BJP. The BJP still considers it as its political doctrine. He wrote his views about Jews and Israel in that book as well. Israeli Jews lived for centuries with other peoples scattered far and wide, yet they did not get annihilated in the societies in which they lived, he wrote, stressing the invincibility of the Jewish race. He further wrote, When a group of persons lives with a goal, an ideal, a mission, and looks upon a particular piece of land as motherland, this group constitutes a nation. For the modern BJP, Israels Jews tick all these boxes. Former BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who during his tenure spearheaded the foreign policy aspect for the BJP, wrote in his book Hindutva Paradigm: In Deen Dayals opinion, [Dharma] formed the basis for Indias national identity. Madhav elaborated that Dharma here doesnt suggest religion but value system. And in that sense, Upadhyaya brought two ancient races Hindus as inhabitants of the Sindhu land and Jews together. Todays manifestation of unprecedented solidarity from Indians not only in India but across the globe for Israelis comes from Upadhyayas connect. In an interview, while appreciating the support of India and Modi, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon remarked that so many Indians volunteered to assist Israel that the latter could almost form another unit of the Israel Defence Force (IDF). A cursory look on social media would tell you that this barrage of generic support in India has come mostly from those who are supporters of the BJP. When Madhav deciphers Upadhyayas stand as Dharma in his own book, he isnt factually wrong. Late Israeli president Shimon Peres claims in his book No Room for Small Dreams that the Jewish people have lived by the guiding principle of tikkun olam the ambition to improve the whole world, not just ourselves. Tikkun Olam is to Israel what Dharma is to India. It shouldnt come as a surprise to anybody that if any political outfit in India resonates with Israels sentiments, its the BJP. No wonder, the first major Indian political figure to visit Israel was BJP leader LK Advani. He had brought several senior security officials from the Home Ministry with him on his June 2000 trip. Even Jaswant Singh, his counterpart in the Foreign Ministry, made a trip to Israel. During the time of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the two countries established a joint counter-terrorism commission. With Narendra Modi a two-term prime minister with the highest approval ratings at the helm, India and Israel have never been closer. PM Modi calling Netanyahu my friend Bibi shows the comfort in the relationship. If anyone should be credited for this comfort, it should be the ideological forefathers of the BJP. Indian cyber agency Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has issued a high-risk warning to Google Chrome users in India. According to CERT-In, multiple vulnerabilities have been found in Google ChromeOS LTS which could be exploited by a remote attacker to cause denial of service condition, elevation of privilege and remote code execution on the targeted system. These vulnerabilities exist in Google ChromeOS LTS due to Use after free in Extensions, Heap buffer overflow in vp8 encoding in Ibvpx, Out of bounds memory access in FedC, flaws in AMD platforms and issues in Linux Kernel, the cyber agency said. A remote attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending a specially crafted request on the targeted system. Complete List Of Google Chrome Vulnerabilities Reported By CERT-In CVE-2023-2163 CVE-2023-3777 CVE-2023-4015 CVE-2023-4208 CVE-2023-4366 CVE-2023-4622 CVE-2023-4761 CVE-2023-5187 CVE-2023-5217 CVE-2023-20593 CVE-2023-40283 The vulnerability CVE-2023-5217 is being exploited in the wild, the agency said. The agency warned that successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to cause denial of service condition, elevation of privilege and remote code execution on the targeted system. Users are advised to update their Chrome browser immediately. Google has already released the update and security fix containing patches and solutions for these security issues. This update contains multiple Security fixes, including: 1475798 High CVE-2023-5187 Use after free in Extensions, 1450784 Medium CVE-2023-4366 Use after free in Extensions, 1486441 High CVE-2023-5217 Heap buffer overflow in vp8 encoding in libvpx and 1476403 High CVE-2023-4761 Out of bounds memory access in FedCM, the US-based tech giant wrote in a blogpost. To update Google Chrome browser: Click on the three dots menu in the top left corner. Then Select Help. Next, you have to Click About Google Chrome. Now, Google Chrome will automatically check for and install updates. If your browser is up to date, you will see a message saying Google Chrome is up to date. Qualcomm is ready to battle in the PC segment with its new Snapdragon X series chipset. Apple has turned to its M-series silicone in the past few years, and the new Qualcomm chip seems directly aimed at this market. Qualcomm claims the new chipsets will be coming out in 2024 and it promises to be an inflection point for the PC industry." Qualcomm has bought a company that was formed by ex-Apple chip designers, which definitely adds some credibility to the companys cause. Snapdragon X chips will be based on Qualcomms Oryon CPU that promises to deliver next-level performance, as pointed out by Qualcomm. The new chip will bring on-device AI technology and 5G connectivity for PCs. Qualcomm will be hoping to match the craze for Apples M-series MacBooks that have completely replaced the Intel models in the past 3 years. Apple has moved into the second-gen Pro M-series silicone, with the third-gen chips expected early next year. The performance gains from each M-series chip has been drastic, even though most people feel the power is underutilised. Qualcomm has been in the PC business for years but it still doesnt have enough foothold to be confident about its chances with the Snapdragon X series. More importantly, the PCs with Snapdragon chips dont get a wide release, which limits the companys access and probable measures to grow in countries where PCs sell and an all-time connected PC will be a hit. Intel is also working behind the scenes to challenge in this space and we should probably see a more tangible product in the coming years. We are eager to see how Qualcomm works through the issues faced by its previous PC chips and pushes Snapdragon X as aggressively as its mobile chip business across the globe. According to reports, Paris is currently experiencing a widespread outbreak of bed bugs, causing significant distress for both locals and tourists. And it seems that the outbreak is spreading to the rest of the world. This issue came to light when a woman from the UK fell victim to these pests during her stay at a hotel in the UK. Over the past few weeks, Parisians and visitors have been sharing video clips and highlighting their encounters online, stating how these insects have become a serious threat to normalcy. Sharon Haslam, a 65-year-old British woman, recently recounted her harrowing experience to the media. She had booked a hotel in Blackpool, UK, to celebrate a birthday with her friend Marion Pearson, only to discover that it was infested with bed bugs. Sharon described their ordeal at the Calypso Hotel, explaining that they were forced to leave after fighting approximately 200 bug bites. The bites resulted in large, red welts on her face, causing her concern that they may leave lasting marks. The morning after their stay, both Sharon and her friend woke up covered in itchy rashes and noticed drops of blood on their bedding. Sharon even spotted a live bed bug crawling near them. They had booked their last-minute stay at the hotel for around Rs 17,000 in Indian currency for two nights. They were scheduled to join eight other friends for a birthday celebration on September 8. Sharon said that their room appeared clean upon arrival, showing no signs of a bed bug infestation. She told a media portal, When we woke up, my friend pulled her sheets back and noticed there was blood. We thought Where has that come from? Then we found mine also had specs of blood all over the sheets as well. It took us ten minutes to work it out. Speaking further, she added that they found blood droplets on the floor as well and when she found a live bed bug, she captured it and brought it to the reception. Atithi Devo Bhava is an age-old saying in Indian culture where visitors are honored and regarded as akin to deities when they come to someones home. Extending warm hospitality has been ingrained in us since childhood. However, a resident of Bengaluru recently expressed his concerns on the social media platform X, noting how he had noticed a lack of hospitality and manners among the Gen Z population in the city, despite these values being deeply rooted in our culture. His post, drawn from personal experiences, struck a chord with many fellow Indians on social media. The story began with Anshuman Sharma, a user on X, recounting instances where he wasnt offered even a simple snack or beverage when he visited people in Bengaluru. He wrote, In Bengaluru, it baffled me how most people never offered refreshments, be it a simple beverage or a snack. This felt particularly unusual, given my roots in Ahmedabad, a city where the warmth of hospitality runs deep in our blood. My parents, for instance, would never let a guest leave without ensuring theyve had something. He then compared this with his experiences in Delhi, where people wouldnt let him leave without sharing a meal. Also Read: The Meaning Of Atithi Devo Bhava: Nagaland Minister Tweets Against Littering On Roads This led him to reflect, One might be quick to attribute this to regional differences, suggesting its perhaps a North vs. South Indian cultural nuance. But thats not the case. He then realised that many of the people he met in Bengaluru were, in fact, migrants from North India in search of better opportunities. This led me to ponder: Could it be that millennials and Gen Z, particularly those distanced from their families, are too busy focusing just on their growth that they are inadvertently overlooking certain cultural etiquettes? he asked. Heres the Post: One striking contrast Ive observed between Delhi and Bengaluru, stemming from my interactions during my Fix Your Finance shoots, lies in the realm of hospitality.In Bengaluru, it baffled me how most people never offered refreshments, be it a simple beverage or a snack. pic.twitter.com/QpypDdFrQd Anshuman Sharma (@Anshuman_306) October 13, 2023 People soon began commenting on his post as one user stated, Noticed this too. More than cities, its a lifestyle thing. In fast moving cities, human Interactions have decreased a lot, People dont practice these too often to remember it suddenly. Also the times are changing and genz dont see someone same way as we used to see when had guest. Another user added, I think this is more likely with people who live alone, go out for most meals, and have friends who share the same lifestyles. When you live with family, its easier to pass down the traditions youre talking about since your grandparents & parents always did it, and you do it automatically. A third user concurred, saying, Millennials and Gen Z, particularly those distanced from their families, are too busy focusing just on their growth that they are inadvertently overlooking certain cultural etiquettes. Also Read: US Woman Emotional After Gujarat Man Returns Wallet She Forgot On Train In the end, most people agreed with Anshumans point. He subtly concluded, I hope Atithi Devo Bhava resonates with all of us Indians even after 100 years. In the bustling streets of Hyderabad, a city known for its rich history and vibrant culture, a heartening story unfolded that resonated far beyond its geographical boundaries. Its a tale of compassion, kindness, and the extraordinary bond between humans and animals, particularly stray dogs. One mans simple act of generosity turned heads and touched hearts online as he permitted a stray dog to recline on his luxurious supercar. Shared by an interior designer, named, Aamir Sharma, on his Instagram account, the video showcased the furry companion comfortably perched on top of his covered Ferrari. The feline can be seen happily wagging its tail as the man approaches. Soon after the dog climbed down to greet him with joy. Take a look at the video here: Accompanying the clip, the man wrote in the caption, My Ferrari cover makes a warm bed for the street dogs around. As a fervent supercar aficionado, Aamir Sharma boasts an impressive collection of expensive vehicles that neighbourhood dogs appear to have access to, according to a report by Money Control. In response to comments on the video, he disclosed that the dog featured in the video was a street dog that they had taken in when it was injured. Its a street dog that came to us with injuries and we just took care of it, the Hyderabad-based designer wrote. Further, in response to another comment on the same video, Aamir Sharma confirmed that neighbourhood dogs are welcomed inside his home and garage. As soon as the video surfaced on the internet, social media users swamped the comment section with red heart emoticons. Many showered love and praised the man while others showcased admiration towards the furry animal. Reacting to the post, a user wrote, Great to see your love for cars but also compassion and love towards indies. Rarely do I get to see such a perfect combo, I too am one of those few. Keep loving our indies/strays and support your nearest animal shelter working for them. Another commented, Aamir Sharma it is lovely to see how you treat these furry babies. You are not rich just by money but more importantly even richer by heart, an Instagram user wrote. According to local media reports, Aamir Sharmas remarkable car collection includes a McLaren 720S, Ferrari 488, Lamborghini Huracan, and Mercedes Benz G63 AMG. As the co-founder of Aamir and Hameeda Interior Designers (AANDH), he boasts an impressive client list that includes Akkineni Nagarjuna, Mahesh Babu, and Allu Arjun, as reported by Money Control. The mans actions spoke volumes about his character. He opted for empathy over ego, compassion over concern for his expensive vehicle. His act reminds us of the innate goodness within humanity and inspires us to follow his example, reaching out with compassion and kindness to those in need. It serves as a beautiful reminder that we can all make a difference, one small act of compassion at a time, and that kindness knows no boundaries. We havent even started yet, said former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in an exclusive interview with CNN-News18 on Friday, in the thick of fierce fighting between his countrys forces and Palestinian militant group Hamas. What exactly needs to be done is too early to say," said Olmert. Only aerial attacks for the time being against the headquarters of the Hamas organisations in different parts of Gaza, but the ground operation has not started yetWe need to make sure we do the right thing against the right target and avoid collateral damage." Nothing would prevent Israeli forces, Olmert said, from reaching out for leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organisations". Hamas is like ISIS, Taliban, and al-Qaeda, the former Israeli PM said. This is the DNA of HamasKilling innocent people and torturing them is the nature of this organisation," he told CNN-News18. As prime minister, I fought Hamas in a very aggressive manner." The Palestinians, unfortunately, are divided, Olmert said. Its incumbent upon us just as much as it is on them to try and reach out in order to establish a different framework of relations that leads towards peace, he said. In Gaza, we have to fight with Hamas. Because this is a terrorist organisation." The enemy doesnt want peace and compromise with Israel, said Olmert. They dont have any specific legitimate demand that can be responded to," he added. The purpose of the Islamist organisations Hezbollah and Hamas and the strategy of Iran are not completely clear, he said. Iran is trying to upset the balance in the Middle East, Olmert alleged. The reactions that I get from different parts of the Middle Eastkill them, destroy them, stop them, fight against themso there is a popular response in many of these countries," he said. They are moderatesThey never had any direct confrontation with the state of Israel." One of the reasons why Hamas is doing what it is doing now, Olmert said, is because it is afraid of the new alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia and the normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Striking Coffin Butte mechanics were joined by several union leaders, elected officials and concerned community members at a rally on Thursday, Sept. 12, in front of the Corvallis Republic Services office. Carrying placards, with an inflatable "Scabby the Rat" mascot standing guard, a small group came out in support of the seven heavy duty mechanics who have been striking since Sept. 11 at various locations around the Coffin Butte Landfill. The mechanics who operate and maintain machinery used in moving and compacting the landfill are protesting alleged unfair labor practices and unsafe work environment by Valley Landfills Inc. a subsidiary of the waste management company, Republic Services, which operates the Benton County-owned facility. Bargaining Since November 2022, the mechanics, who unanimously voted to join the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 701, have been in negotiations with the company to review their working conditions and wages. According to one mechanic, Troy Paul, the negotiations were productive until conversations shifted into economic benefits, including pensions, wages and health insurance, which remains the knottiest issue on the table. Jacob Stallings, attorney for Local 701, said last month that the company is rejecting the mechanics proposal which would allow them to access insurance provided by the union. The plan offers them and their families more benefits for less money, an obvious win-win, he said. So far, Valley Landfills has responded to the demands of the mechanics with union-busting behavior, including intimidation, retaliation and canceled bargaining sessions, Stallings said last month. "These workers have been demanding adequate and affordable health care, while being exposed to toxic chemical and dangerous machinery," Graham Trainor, Oregon chapter president of the AFL-CIO, said at the Thursday rally. "It is our duty as Oregon labor to stand strong, shoulder-to-shoulder with them in this fight for however long it takes," Trainor said. "Whether its a group of seven workers or 7,000, their fight matters." Response Republic Services, when contacted repeated its earlier statement to Mid-Valley Media, saying via email: "Republic Services is in contract negotiations with the union representing six maintenance technicians at our landfill in Benton County. "We respect the rights of our employees to engage in collective bargaining and look forward to reaching a fair and competitive contract that is beneficial for our employees, our customers, and our company." Questions about the tenuous health insurance negotiations went unanswered. Ed Eby, another mechanic who has been with the company for three years and on the maintenance unit for a year, said that so far, it has felt like the company wants to look the other way and ignore the mechanics. "Stuff were exposed to is just terrible, and then we take it home to our families who then get sick," said Lorne Nash, another mechanic who joined the company about a half-month before the strike began. Close Rob Perdue gives a quick interview about the rally regarding Republic Services and what comes next for the mechanics on strike. James Anderson speaks while the mechanics in question, listen from the audience outside of the Republic Service office building, 110 NE Walnut Blvd. in Corvallis. A rally for striking mechanics was held outside of the Republic Service office building, 110 NE Walnut Blvd. in Corvallis on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. The rally featured the seven mechanics who are striking for the right to access union health insurance, as well as fellow employees, community members and families. A group of the mechanics on strike, including Troy Paul, stand together holding signs in support of the workers union during a rally on Thursday. Several of the mechanics spoke about the conditions they and their peers are working in daily, including exposure to chemicals, drugs, and anything else that might get thrown away. Mechanics, fellow employees, and community members lined the sidewalk in front of Republic Services in support of workers unionizing for better health care. Graham Trainor, Oregon chapter president of the AFL-CIO, speaks at a rally for striking mechanics was held outside of the Republic Service office building, 110 NE Walnut Blvd. in Corvallis on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Mechanic Troy Paul stands at the podium and talks about his experience trying to get adequate health care. Mechanic Daniel Doehring stands with his hands draped over a sign that reads "STAND WITH WORKING PEOPLE" at a rally for striking mechanics, held outside of the Republic Service office building on Thursday, Oct. 12. A NOW HIRING sign stands outside of the Republic Services office building in Corvallis. An inflatable rat wielding a large banner highlighting the differences between the EPO900 United Healthcare Family Plan and I.U.O.E Family Healthcare Plan PHOTOS: Coffin Butte mechanics gain support for strike at landfill Rob Perdue gives a quick interview about the rally regarding Republic Services and what comes next for the mechanics on strike. James Anderson speaks while the mechanics in question, listen from the audience outside of the Republic Service office building, 110 NE Walnut Blvd. in Corvallis. A rally for striking mechanics was held outside of the Republic Service office building, 110 NE Walnut Blvd. in Corvallis on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. The rally featured the seven mechanics who are striking for the right to access union health insurance, as well as fellow employees, community members and families. A group of the mechanics on strike, including Troy Paul, stand together holding signs in support of the workers union during a rally on Thursday. Several of the mechanics spoke about the conditions they and their peers are working in daily, including exposure to chemicals, drugs, and anything else that might get thrown away. Mechanics, fellow employees, and community members lined the sidewalk in front of Republic Services in support of workers unionizing for better health care. Graham Trainor, Oregon chapter president of the AFL-CIO, speaks at a rally for striking mechanics was held outside of the Republic Service office building, 110 NE Walnut Blvd. in Corvallis on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Mechanic Troy Paul stands at the podium and talks about his experience trying to get adequate health care. Mechanic Daniel Doehring stands with his hands draped over a sign that reads "STAND WITH WORKING PEOPLE" at a rally for striking mechanics, held outside of the Republic Service office building on Thursday, Oct. 12. A NOW HIRING sign stands outside of the Republic Services office building in Corvallis. An inflatable rat wielding a large banner highlighting the differences between the EPO900 United Healthcare Family Plan and I.U.O.E Family Healthcare Plan "We dont have the compensation to be able to afford to go to the doctor and when we have to go, itll just cripple us," Nash said. He said he believes the pushback from the company stems from a lack of appreciation as well as a show of power. Without the backing of the union, Valley Landfills can exert control over the mechanics and keep them working in unsafe conditions, he added. "We all understand that there is risk involved with our job, but some of that risk can be mitigated. But they refuse to," Nash said. "Whether were breathing it in or laying down in it, were always exposed to something," said Logan Carter, who has been at the company for a year. The mechanics, who work 10-hour shifts, said that they were exposed to all kinds of contaminants one might imagine results from a dump. Without a decontamination facility, the mechanics work only with basic personal protective equipment. . Paul accused the company of valuing profits over people and being solely focused on attracting more trash to the landfill. "As long as the money is flowing in then they dont really care, and that needs to change," Paul said at the Thursday rally. Outside support Oregon House Speaker Dan Rayfield, who was at the rally, expressed his support for the striking mechanics. "It can feel alone being on the picket line," Rayfield, D-Corvallis, said during brief remarks. "As someone who lives in this community, we appreciate what you do for this community, and we appreciate what youre fighting for." Rayfield and a few colleagues have written to Republic Services in support of the mechanics demands. "Because having a fair contract is not an option and having safe workplace conditions especially in Oregon is not an option," Rayfield said. Other elected officials at the event included state Sens. James Manning, D-Eugene, and Deb Patterson, D-Salem. Representatives and leaders from local chapters of the AFL-CIO and United Auto Workers were also at the rally. "Its incredible to see the support that we have," Carter said about the turnout. "Labor has to support labor, thats what it's all about," Rob Perdue, UAW Local 492 president, said. "An injury to one is an injury to all." Perdue and Local 492 have been striking in Beaverton for 21 days after UAW President Shawn Fain asked the unit to join the ongoing auto worker strike against Detroit car makers Stellantis, Ford and GM. "Its kind of sad but it seems to be the norm over the last 20 or 30 years," Perdue said of the manner in which billion-dollar companies treat their workers. "Weve seen that companies have their investors and interests in mind more than their workers," Perdue said. Related stories: Hamas last week launched one of the deadliest attacks on Israel during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur that would leave more than 1,300 Israelis dead and thousands more injured. What is dubbed as a surprise attack, was reportedly practiced in a plain site a month ago without drawing the ire of the countrys highly regarded security and intelligence services. On September 12, a two-minute propaganda video was posted to social media by Hamas showing fighters dressed in black using explosives to blast through a replica of the border gate, sweep in on pickup trucks and then move building by building through a full-scale reconstruction of an Israeli town. This was similar to what they would do for real in the deadly attack last Saturday. Mock-ups and Live-Fire Exercise During the live-fire exercise dubbed Operation Strong Pillar, Hamas militants in body armor and combat fatigues were seen carrying out operations that included the destruction of mock-ups of the walls concrete towers and a communications antenna. While Israel was clearly caught flatfooted by Hamas ability to breach its Gaza defences, the group appears to have hidden its extensive preparations for the deadly assault in plain sight. There clearly were warnings and indications that should have been picked up, said Bradley Bowman, a former US Army officer who is now senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington research institute. Or maybe they were picked up, but they didnt spark necessary preparations to prevent these horrific terrorist acts from happening. The Associated Press reviewed and verified key details from dozens of videos Hamas released over the last year, primarily through the social media app Telegram. Using satellite imagery, the AP matched the location of the mocked-up town to a patch of desert outside Al-Mawasi, a Palestinian town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip. West Bank Misdirection The former US Army officer said there are indications that Hamas intentionally led Israeli officials to believe it was preparing to carry out raids in the West Bank, rather than Gaza. It was also potentially significant that the exercise has been held annually since 2020 in December, but was moved up by nearly four months this year to coincide with the anniversary of Israels 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. In a separate video posted to Telegram from last years Strong Pillar exercise on Dec. 28, Hamas fighters are shown storming what appears to be a mockup Israeli military base, complete with a full-size model of a tank with an Israeli flag flying from its turret. The gunmen move through the cinderblock buildings, seizing other men playing the roles of Israeli soldiers as hostages. Michael Milshtein, a retired Israeli colonel who previously led the military intelligence department overseeing the Palestinian territories, said he was aware of the Hamas videos, but he was still caught off guard by the ambition and scale of Saturdays attack. We knew about the drones, we knew about booby traps, we knew about cyberattacks and the marine forces The surprise was the coordination between all those systems, Milshtein said. External Help? Military experts told the AP the attack showed a level of sophistication not previously exhibited by Hamas, likely suggesting they had external help. I just was impressed with Hamass ability to use basics and fundamentals to be able to penetrate the wall, said retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Stephen Danner, a combat engineer trained to build and breach defenses. They seemed to be able to find those weak spots and penetrate quickly and then exploit that breach. Ali Barakeh, a Beirut-based senior Hamas official, acknowledged that over the years the group had received supplies, financial support, military expertise and training from its allies abroad. However, he insisted the recent operation to breach Israels border defenses was homegrown, with the exact date and time for the attack known only to a handful of commanders within Hamas. Details of the operation were kept so tight that some Hamas fighters who took part in the assault Saturday believed they were heading to just another drill, Barakeh said. (With agency inputs) Route 232, which is one of main highways connecting the towns of Sderot, Ashkelon and Reim, is now the new boundary between territory controlled by Israel and Hamas. Route 232 is also a stark reminder of the Hamas-led terrorist attack which has led to the loss of 1,200 lives in Israel, with numbers expected to rise. A report by the Times of Israel said the artery road once connecting communities throughout the western Negev, cutting through agricultural fields and desert river beds, while running parallel to the Gaza Strip, has now transformed into Road of Death. Kibbutz Reim lies off Road 232 and was witness to the broad daylight massacre of 260 festival goers who were butchered by Hamas. The Times of Israel in its report said that near Besor Stream dozens of cars were parked in rows, some of them still containing unretrievable charred bodies of young festival-goers who were shot and burned alive. They also reported that this area of Israel, which was rural in nature, showed signs of war and torture. They said that they spotted a white Toyota pick-up truck, similar to the ones seen in Islamic States propaganda videos, which Hamas terrorists brought, with a large, metal gas canister sitting in a metal box in the trucks bed. This was an unexploded homemade bomb which could have caused serious damage had it gone off. The terrorists also brought urine collection apparati to allow them to relieve themselves so that they did not have to leave hiding spots. They also bought backpacks, filled with changes of clothes and shoes, which indicates they were ready for a long assault. The car also had another horrifying item, the report said. There was a plastic bag filled with car and house keys sitting on the back seat which were likely to be displayed as proof as well as spoils of war to the senior commanders of Hamas. The road was also littered with bodies of terrorists. In front of an army checkpoint, there were two boots with dried, purple blood patches beside them, indicating the fate of the terrorists whose ambush plan had failed. In Kibbutz Beeri, signs of massacre lay bare. Israeli news media reports claim that at least 10% of the community were murdered. Yossi Landau, an aid worker associated with Zaka, an organisation which recovers the bodies of people who suffered unnatural deaths, told news agency AFP that he found a corpse of an Israeli woman in Sderot whose belly was ripped open and the baby was stabbed by Hamas terrorists. He also said that there were some bodies which were positioned in such a manner that it looked like they were sexually abused. Her stomach was ripped open, a baby was there, still connected with the cord, and stabbed. We saw some victims positioned that they were sexually abused, Yossi was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. Yossi, who has spent decades collecting corpses in Israel, told the news agency that he and his team reached a breaking point recovering the remains of people killed by Hamas terrorists in the countrys deadliest assault. He said he saw multiple civilians, including around 20 children, who had their hands tied behind their backs before being shot and torched. It should be noted that Sderot and Ashkelon, towns lying in Israels south bordering the Gaza Strip, were the first to be attacked on October 7 when the Hamas terrorist group launched a terrorist attack. Yossi says that he is now used to waking up to the sounds of sirens warning to shelter from incoming rocket fire. Hamas terrorists have killed an estimated 1,200 people in the last six days. The resident of Ashdod, a coastal city north of Gaza, recounted the horror he and his team witnessed while they were en route to the town worst impacted by Hamas terror attack on Israel. I saw cars turned over, I saw people on the street dead. A piece of road that shouldve taken 15 minutes, it took us 11 hours because we went and picked up everyone, put them in a bag, the man who has 33 years of experience volunteering for Zaka said. I felt that Im falling apart, not only me, but my whole crew, the volunteer said, recalling first seeing the dead pregnant woman. Yossi said he loaded dozens of corpses onto refrigerated trucks in the aftermath of the attacks. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which Israel has vowed to destroy after it launched a shock attack on Israel Saturday that killed more than 1,200 people, has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Here is what we know about the top leaders of the militant organisation which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has likened to the Islamic State group. Ismail Haniyeh, the politician The 60-year-old Haniyeh was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in 2017 to succeed Khaled Meshaal, but was already a known figure in 2006 when he became Palestinian prime minister following an upset victory by Hamas in that years parliamentary election. But ties with the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas were short-lived and in 2007, Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip after violently ousting the presidents loyalists. Considered a pragmatist, Haniyeh lives in voluntary exile, splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar. He has long campaigned for a reconciliation between the armed resistance against Israel and a political stance within Hamas, which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States. Haniyeh is said to maintain good relations with the heads of the various Palestinian factions, including rival ones. In his youth, the Hamas leader, who is known for his calm, was a member of the student branch of the Muslim Brotherhood at the Islamic University of Gaza. He joined Hamas in 1987 when the militant group was founded as the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, broke out against Israeli occupation, lasting until 1993. During that time Haniyeh was imprisoned by Israel several times, and then expelled to south Lebanon for six months. In footage broadcast by Hamas-linked media on Saturday, Haniyeh is seen watching images on television of the unfolding Hamas attack on Israel, before joining other Hamas leaders in a prayer to thank Allah for this victory. Mohammed Deif, the chief of staff The elusive Deif, who heads Hamass armed wing, the Ezzdine al-Qassam Brigades, is Israels public enemy number one and a man they tried to assassinate at least six times and on the US list of international terrorists since 2015. Considered by Hamas as the groups chief of staff, Deif is the one who announced in an audio message the start of the Hamas attack on Israel dubbed Al-Aqsa Flood. In the recording Deif is heard saying that the positions and fortifications of the enemy have been targeted by 5,000 rockets and shells during the first 20 minutes of the attack. Hamas which released the audio message also posted a picture of Deif in the shadow, as it usually does so that he could not be identified. Only a few, poor-quality photographs of Deif are known to exist, the most recent taken some 20 years ago. His hiding place is unknown, and he is reported to be a master of disguise who is able to blend seamlessly into the population. Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab al-Masri, was born in 1965 in Gazas Khan Yunis refugee camp. He has been involved with Hamas since the 1980s and took part in many of its operations, including the abduction of soldiers and suicide bombings. He was appointed head of Hamass military wing in 2002 after the death of his predecessor, Salah Shehade, in a raid. Two years earlier, at the start of the second intifada, Deif had escaped, or was freed, from a prison run by Yasser Arafats Palestinian Authority. Shortly after he was named Hamass military head, Israel launched its fifth bid to assassinate him in Gaza, in an attack that left him severely wounded, with unconfirmed reports suggesting he had been left paraplegic. The last time Israel tried to assasinate Deif was in 2014 when it launched an air strike on Gaza, killing his wife and one of the couples children. Deifs enemies have dubbed him the cat with nine lives while Palestinians consider him a living legend. Yahya Sinwar, the strongman of Gaza A former commander of the Hamas military wing, Sinwar, 61, was elected in 2017 as head of militant group in Gaza. He rose through the ranks of Hamas as a fierce advocate of armed struggle against Israel and is considered by the group as their defence minister. An aura of mystery surrounds the slightly-built, Hebrew speaker Sinwar, who knows Israel well, having spent 23 years in Israeli jails before his release in 2011 in a prisoner exchange involving French-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was held captive by Hamas. Like Deif he also is on the US list of wanted international terrorists. On Thursday, Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters the offensive on Gaza targets senior Hamas leaders including Sinwar. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday warned against a second Nakba catastrophe facing Palestinians after the Israeli army ordered more than one million people to evacuate north Gaza. Abbas completely rejects the displacement of our people from the Gaza Strip, because it will be tantamount to a second Nakba for our people, he said, according to a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The Nakba, or catastrophe, refers to some 7,60,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 war that coincided with Israels creation. Abbass Palestinian Authority is seated in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, and is split from the militant group Hamas which rules Gaza. AFP Will Lebanons heavily armed Hezbollah militia join the Israel-Hamas war? The answer could well determine the direction of a battle that is bound to reshape the Middle East. Hezbollah, which like Hamas is supported by Iran, has so far been on the fence about joining the fighting between Israel and the Gaza Strips Islamic militant rulers. For the past six days, Israel has besieged Gaza and hammered the enclave of 2.3 million Palestinians with hundreds of airstrikes in response to a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel. Israel, which has vowed to crush Hamas, is now preparing for a possible ground offensive. While the countrys political and military leaders weigh the next move, they are nervously watching Hezbollah on Israels northern border and have sent troop reinforcements to the area. Hezbollah, with an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles capable of hitting virtually anywhere in Israel, is viewed as a far more formidable foe than Hamas. Israel is anxious that opening a new front in the countrys north could change the tide of the war, with Hezbollahs military caliber far superior to that of Hamas. But the fighting could be equally devastating for Hezbollah and Lebanon. The possibility of a new front in Lebanon also brings back bitter memories of a vicious monthlong war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 that ended in a stalemate and a tense detente between the two sides. Lebanon is in the fourth year of a crippling economic crisis and is bitterly divided between Hezbollah and its allies and opponents, paralyzing the political system. Israel is especially worried about Hezbollahs precision-guided missiles, which are believed to be aimed at strategic targets like natural gas rigs and power stations. Hezbollah is also battle-hardened from years of fighting alongside President Bashar Assads troops in neighboring Syria. At the same time, Hamas and Hezbollah have grown closer as Hamas leaders have moved to Beirut in recent years. While Hezbollah has largely remained on the sidelines, people close to the group say an Israeli ground offensive could be a possible trigger for it to fully enter the conflict with devastating consequences. Qassim Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to the group, said Hezbollah will not allow Hamas destruction and wont leave Gaza alone to face a ground incursion. When the situation requires further escalation, then Hezbollah will do so, he told The Associated Press. An official with a Lebanese group familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Hezbollah fighters have been placed on full alert. Hezbollah and Israel have targeted military outposts and positions in brief rocket and shelling exchanges on the border since the outbreak of the Gaza war. Three Hezbollah fighters were killed Monday, while Israeli officials said one Israeli soldier was killed in an anti-tank missile attack two days later. Three Israeli soldiers were killed and five were wounded in a skirmish with Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants who crossed the southern Lebanese border into Israel. Hamas also claimed responsibility for firing several rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon. Anthony Elghossain, a senior analyst with the Washington-based New Lines Institute, said that while neither Israel nor Hezbollah appears to want to enter significant and sustained armed conflict, there is a risk of escalation even without a ground invasion of Gaza if either side makes a miscalculation and oversteps the usual rules of engagement. With an eye toward Hezbollah, U.S. President Joe Biden has warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict, sending American warships to the region and vowing full support for Israel. Hes backed up that warning with the deployment of our largest carrier group, the Gerald R. Ford, as well as again making sure that Israel has what it needs and that we also have appropriate assests in place, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday during a stop in Israel. While Hezbollah officials and legislators have threatened escalation, their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has remained silent since Hamas surprise weekend attack. The group in its public statements has said that they are continuing to monitor the situation. A spokesperson for Hezbollah did not respond to requests for comment. An Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, said in a video briefing posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the situation is relatively stable on the northern front. We are monitoring the situation so that it doesnt change, he said. We are deployed in significant numbers, strength and capabilities and we are very vigilant to any attempt by Hezbollah to escalate the situation. A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said international governments have urged Lebanese authorities to keep the crisis-hit country away from a new war. Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called Thursday on all Lebanese groups to exercise self-restraint and not to be pulled into Israels plans, an apparent message to Hezbollah. He said Lebanon condemns criminal acts committed by Israel saying that it is wiping out children and civilians and called on the international community to work on ending hostilities. Israeli leaders have repeatedly warned that they would unleash vast destruction in southern Lebanon if war breaks out with Lebanon. Israel in 2006 flattened large parts of villages, towns and cities in southern Lebanon and entire blocks in Beiruts southern suburbs. Following the war, Lebanon received an influx of international funding, including from wealthy Gulf countries, for reconstruction. However, as Hezbollah has gained power, Lebanons ties with Gulf monarchies have soured and the international community has grown frustrated with rampant corruption and mismanagement. On top of that, Lebanons government institutions are cash-strapped and dysfunctional. If war were to start now, we would be looking at a much slower and more complicated reconstruction, said Mona Fawaz, a professor of urban studies and planning at the American University of Beirut. As the war between Israel and Palestine-based terror group Hamas intensified and entered its seventh day, the Israeli Army on Friday asked some one million Palestinians to evacuate towards southern Gaza within 24 hours. The order came at a time when the possibility of a ground offensive by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Hamas groups looms. The Hamas militants, on the other hand, called on residents of the Gaza Strip not to leave their homes after Israels warning. Israel-Hamas War LIVE: Israel Army Drops Leaflets in Gaza, Asks Residents to Evacuate Immediately; Netanyahu Hails Strong US Stance This could turn out to be a pivotal moment in fighting between the Israeli military and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which on Saturday launched the bloodiest attack on the country since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Here are some key updates on the Israel-Palestine war: An Israeli couple was killed in their home during the weekends deadly Hamas attacks by land, air, and sea. Though Itay and Hadar Berdichevsky died while fighting to protect their home, they heroically managed to save their 10-month-old twin babies by hiding them in a hidden shelter. The young couple, both in their 30s, only had a few seconds to react when they heard the gunmen trying to smash down their front door, the Israeli mission to France revealed in a post on X. The parents bundled their babies into a hidden shelter moments before the Hamas stormed into their home. Itay and Hadar fought the intruders until the last moment before being killed during the assault on Israel, which has left more than 1,300 Israelis dead. Thankfully, the couples twins were saved by emergency services nearly 14 hours after their death. All our thoughts are with the loved ones of this broken family. Israel will honour their memory and do what is necessary to neutralise the terrorist threat and protect its citizens, the Israeli embassy wrote on X. Itai et Hadar Berdichevsky avaient 30 ans, deux enfants.Ils ont cache leurs jumeaux de 10 mois dans un abri pendant que les terroristes ont force lentree de leur maison a Kfar Gaza. Ils se sont battus jusquau dernier moment, avant de se faire massacrer par les terroristes pic.twitter.com/DDsAa3FEFA Ambassade dIsrael en France (@IsraelenFrance) October 10, 2023 The story of Itay and Hadar is only one of many stories emerging from Israel after Saturdays large-scale assault which has escalated tensions in the Middle East region. The Israeli military is reportedly prepared for a possible ground invasion in Gaza amid continuing airstrikes on the tiny coastal strip in retaliation for the unprecedented weekend attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas. A US official confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit on Friday, a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a deliberate show of support to its ally. Meanwhile, Gaza, which is currently under siege could face a shortage of food, fuel, and medicine. The densely populated territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. According to The Associated Press, the morgue at Gazas biggest hospital overflowed Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. Israel said that a complete siege would remain in place until Hamas freed 150 hostages taken during its incursion. Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the US to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point, which remained closed on both sides Thursday. (With agency inputs) A number of Jewish schools in London have informed parents that they will remain closed on Friday due to security fears amid the conflict in Israel after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled additional funding support targeted at enhanced protection for the countrys Jewish communities against antisemitic attacks. Menorah High School, Torah Vodaas Primary School and Ateres Beis Yaakov, all in the Barnet area of north London, sent letters to parents on Thursday and a fourth school is also believed to remain closed as they fear anti-Israel protests around the premises. The letter from Rabbi Feldman of Torah Vodaas said that while there was no specific threat to our school it was not a decision that has been taken lightly. CSTs advice to Jewish schools remains that Jewish life should continue and schools should remain open as normal, said a spokesperson for the charity Community Security Trust, which has recorded 139 antisemitic incidents in the last four days since the conflict in Israel escalated. All Jewish schools have security guards that are paid for by the government, which has today pledged a further GBP 3 million towards the cost of security guarding in addition to the measures that are already in place, the spokesperson said. The additional funds announced by Sunak on Thursday bring the total funding for the Jewish Community Protection Security grant to GBP 18 million for 2023-24. At moments like this, when the Jewish people are under attack in their homeland, Jewish people everywhere can feel less safe. That is why we must do everything in our power to protect Jewish people everywhere in our country. If anything is standing in the way of keeping the Jewish community safe, we will fix it. You have our complete backing, said Sunak, as he pledged that the UK would stand in solidarity with Israel. Soon after, the British Indian leader announced military support to Israel including deploying two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean in plans to reinforce regional stability and prevent escalation. A Royal Navy task group will be moved to the eastern Mediterranean next week as a contingency measure to support humanitarian efforts and maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft will begin flying in the region from Friday to track threats to regional stability such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups, Downing Street said. We must be unequivocal in making sure the types of horrific scenes we have seen this week will not be repeated. Alongside our allies, the deployment of our world-class military will support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation, said Sunak. In a call with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday evening, he confirmed that the UK had authorised the sending of a significant support package to the region, including Royal Air Force (RAF) surveillance aircraft, Royal Navy ships, three Merlin helicopters and a detachment of Royal Marines. He [Sunak] reiterated that the UK stands side by side with Israel in fighting terror and agreed that Hamas can never again be able to perpetrate atrocities against the Israeli people. Noting that Hamas has enmeshed itself in the civilian population in Gaza, the Prime Minister said it was important to take all possible measures to protect ordinary Palestinians and facilitate humanitarian aid, a Downing Street spokesperson said in a readout of the call. A suicide bomber blew himself up among worshippers attending Friday prayers at a Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan, killing at least seven people and wounding 15 others, a police spokesperson said. The attack happened in the city of Pol-e-Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province, police spokesman Sher Ahmad Borhani said in a statement. Security officials were working to determine how the attacker reached the area to strike at the Imam Zaman mosque. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but blame is likely to fall on the Islamic State group, which targeted Afghanistans minority Shiites in past large-scale attacks. The Taliban footage from the mosque showed debris strewn over a red-carpeted floor, scattered personal items and bodies covered with shrouds. The regional affiliate of IS, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the country after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. IS, which has operated in Afghanistan since 2014, is seen as the greatest security challenge facing the countrys Taliban rulers. Following their takeover, the Taliban launched a sweeping crackdown against the militant group. What kinds of flags should be flown at Albany City Hall? Flag displays at the government building were a hot topic around Pride month in June, and now there is more discussion over the citys flag policy after anti-abortion fliers made their way into Albany mailboxes requesting a pro-life flag be flown. Back in May, the City Council voted to fly the progress Pride flag for the month of June. The action prompted the adoption of a flag policy on June 14. But Councilor Marilyn Smith made a motion to rescind the flag policy at a Wednesday Oct. 11 City Council meeting. Not on the agenda, she raised the subject during the "business from the council" item. A Place to Sleep - episode 2: Albany, part II Last week we introduced Dusty Bryant, who police evicted from Albany's designated resting site for homeless individuals. This week, we check in to see what's happening with Dusty. I would like the council to reconsider the flag policy that we adopted on June 14," she said. "I dont believe its adequate. The policy mirrors one suggested by the League of Oregon Cities, a lobbying concern for municipalities at the state Capitol. It says only council members can make a request to fly a commemorative flag. Residents who want to propose a flag must go through a city councilor of their ward or the mayor. At the time, Smith said, it felt like a good compromise but now she sees the policy's shortcomings. Last month, anti-abortion advocates left postcards in Albany mailboxes and dialed up city councilors phones to request a flag flown for their cause. Blue and pink cards made their way into the mailboxes of Ward 3 residents, telling of an upcoming proclamation recognizing Respect for life month and an expected motion to fly the Pro-Life Flag. The message urged its recipients to call Councilors Ramycia McGhee and Smith, the Ward 3 representatives, to persuade them to vote for the motion. It listed their official City Hall numbers, not their personal lines. The proclamation never happened. Originally Mayor Alex Johnson II planned to sign it without reading it aloud. But after the cards went out, it became too politicized and Johnson pulled it from the agenda, he said. We have too much work to do to get involved in that, he said. He added that Councilor Matilda Novak, whom the cards identified as the councilor expected to make the motion, didn't know anything about it. When the postcards were mailed out, Smith received 39 calls from constituents. Twenty-seven of them identified themselves as pro-life, Smith said, while 12 wanted her to oppose the motion. Neither she nor McGhee knew about or consented to their photos being used on the cards, they said. Because it included her photo, accompanied by her phone number, some people thought McGhee mailed the cards, she said. It felt like harassment, she said. The policy wouldnt have allowed that flag to be flown because it doesn't allow religious or political flags, Smith acknowledged. But she feels there is room for interpretation. It bolstered my original stance," she said. Smith had originally voted against the Pride flag flying, although she did approve the resulting flag policy. Only government flags should be flown on government flag poles, she said in a phone interview. Thats exactly what she is proposing to the City Council, to only fly the American flag and the state flag and, if there is room for it, the prisoners of war flag. To Smith, such a policy seems safer and more equitable. Councilor Matilda Novak was in favor of the change. But not everyone agreed. I think we can figure out how to fly other flags and celebrate other things, Councilor Jackie Montague said. She said she was open to looking at the flag policy again, but she didn't want to limit the flag poles use to only the three flags mentioned. Montague added that she was not comfortable making a decision on the matter without Councilor Steph Newton present, originally proposed to fly the Pride flag back in May. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help (copy) Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Albany Democrat-Herald. Newton attended the meeting virtually but her laptop died before the flag policy discussion. McGhee also wanted to wait for Newton as well: I thought that all six of us were going to be here this evening, and all six of us were here initially. In the end, Smith withdrew her motion and said she would table the discussion for the next meeting when all city councilors were present. Related stories: In this veritable new age slaughter of the innocents", where babies are burnt alive and shot dead in their cradles by Hamas in the name of azaadi, liberation, freedom, anti-colonialism, and what not, there is one clear uncontestable fact Hamas kills Jews because they are Jews. To be even more precise, Hamas kills Jews living in a nation that Islamists believe has no right to exist. Just pick up a copy of the Hamas charter and acquaint yourself with Israelophobia". ALSO READ | The Hard Facts | ISIS-Style Murders by Hamas; Modi, West Support Israel; INDIA Bloc Wants Balanced Approach In the face of the raw visual evidence of the Hamass brutalisation of Israeli innocents, the western world is standing unflinchingly with Tel Aviv. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his resolve to unconditionally root out terror, lamenting that some were divided on pursuing this end. #WATCH | PM Modi at the ninth P20 Summit in Delhi, says India has been facing cross-border terrorism for many years now. Around 20 years ago, terrorists targeted our Parliament at the time when the session was on. The world is also realising how big a challenge terrorism is for pic.twitter.com/itDjZn3uQ8 ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 HARVARD TO HYDERABAD The Left blitzkrieg agitprop is busy shaming Israel from Hyderabad to Harvard. Among the accusations against Israel is that it is in occupation" of Gaza. But this isnt the case. In 1993, Israel recognized the sovereignty of the Palestinian authority over the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the fabled Oslo Accords. Yes, Israel could have done a lot more to uphold the spirit of the accords. But it is also true that the Palestinians didnt do themselves any favors by accusing their then leader Yasser Arafat of a sellout. This smear campaign rooted in a turf war cut the ground from under Arafats feet. The leader responded by walking away from the Accords. Israelis offered several more concessions since then, but the Palestinians chose Hamas over the olive branch. Those willing to accept the truth will note that even the most visible symbol of supposed racial segregation the so-called Apartheid wall" was birthed from necessity. Before the separation barrier came up along the West Bank, Israel was bled by almost weekly suicide attacks. ALSO READ | OPINION | The Ongoing Morally Jaundiced Woke Intifada Is Born Out Of Israelophobia. PERIOD. Palestinian antisemitism is not just political it is doctrinal. If this hadnt been the case, Palestinians would have condemned attacks on Israeli citizens by now. Worse, the Muslim world has enabled the genocidal Hamas by supporting and funding it. The question is then are many nations in the Middle-East complicit in the murder of innocent Israelis? Here are some hard facts. IS THE MUSLIM WORLD COMPLICIT? A chilling story of an Israeli-American family is making the rounds on the internet whose kibbutz came under attack from Palestinian outfit Hamas on Saturday. They lived in the Nir Oz kibbutz, near the Gaza Strip, where eighty people were killed in Saturdays attack. The family of six included Tamar Kedem Siman Tov; her husband, Yonatan (Johnny); her mother-in-law, Carol Simian Tov, 70; two 6-year-old daughters, Shahar and Arbel; and her son, Omer, aged 4. As the Hamas terrorists advanced, Tamar initially sent texts to friends in Australia saying they were safe. An hour later, Johnny Tov sent a harrowing text to his sister, Ranae Butler, according to the UKs Daily Mail, which read: Theyre here. Theyre burning us. Were suffocating. When you wake up to images like this, its difficult not to feel enraged at the senseless murder of innocents. Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov with her husband Johnny and their 6-year-old daughters Shachar and Arbel, and their 2-year-old son Omer, were gunned down on Saturday.Equally, the pic.twitter.com/WKUJTGPm5X Edward White (@Editorialz) October 10, 2023 Israeli media later reported that Hamas terrorists had entered the protected room and slain the entire family. Friends have been eulogising the family on Facebook. The story of the Israeli-American family is among the many horrifying tales coming out of Israel following Saturdays assault which has escalated into a full-fledged war. The Israeli military is reportedly prepared for a possible ground invasion in Gaza amid continuing airstrikes on the tiny coastal strip in retaliation for the unprecedented weekend attack. A US official confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit on Friday, a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a show of support to its ally. Meanwhile, Gaza, which is currently under siege could face a shortage of food, fuel, and medicine. The densely populated territorys only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. Warning that the health system in the Gaza Strip is at a breaking point, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for an end to the fighting and the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor for the currently besieged enclave. Iran has said the United States cannot renege on an agreement to transfer $6 billion in frozen funds through mediator Qatar in the wake of a large-scale Hamas attack on Israel which has escalated tensions in the region. Tehran, which has suspected links with Hamas, has come under scrutiny since the Palestinian outfit stormed across Israels southern border at the weekend, shooting people in their homes and on the streets in an onslaught that claimed more than 1,300 lives. However, Iran continues to deny a link to the Hamas attack. Israel has responded to the attack by pounding Hamas targets in the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing, according to Reuters, over 1,500 people in the Palestinian territory. The U.S. government knows that it can NOT renege on the agreement. The money rightfully belongs to the people of Iran, earmarked for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to facilitate the acquisition of all essential requisites for the Iranians. https://t.co/85h4W2Tspu Ali Karimi Magham (@AliKarimiMagham) October 12, 2023 The US government knows that it can NOT renege on the agreement, Ali Karimi Magham, spokesperson of Irans permanent mission to the United Nations, said late Thursday in a post on X. The money rightfully belongs to the people of Iran, earmarked for the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to facilitate the acquisition of all essential requisites for the Iranians, he added. The transfer of the frozen funds from South Korea to Europe and later to Qatar was part of a deal that saw the United States and Iran exchange five prisoners last month. Whats the US-Iran deal? On Thursday, the United States said that Iran would not gain access any time soon to $6 billion in Iranian funds parked in a Qatar bank. The question of Iranian access to the funds has been in the spotlight since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Saturday. Iran will not be able to access the funds for the foreseeable future, a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. During a press conference in Tel Aviv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Iran had neither accessed nor spent any of the $6 billion. We have strict oversight of the funds and we retain the right to freeze them, he added. The top US diplomat stressed that the country oversees any disbursement to ensure it is used only for humanitarian purposes. This statement was made after several US media outlets reported on Thursday that the United States and Qatar had agreed to stop Iran from accessing the money. Earlier on Tuesday, Irans Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Tehran was not involved in the Hamas attack on Israel. Irans UN mission said the US government was acutely aware that they cannot renege on the deal reached over the money, which was transferred to Qatar from an account in South Korea to make it accessible for Iranian humanitarian needs. Every single dime in Qatari bank The Iranian oil revenues had been frozen in Seoul after Washington, under former President Donald Trump, placed a total ban on Irans oil exports and sanctioned its banks in 2019. The money rightfully belongs to the people of Iran, earmarked for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to facilitate the acquisition of all essential and non-sanctioned requisites for the Iranians, said Irans mission to the United Nations in New York. Meanwhile, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby declined to speak about diplomatic conversations or speculate about future transactions. Kirby said the money was intended to be disbursed to approved vendors that we approved to go buy food, medicine and medical equipment, agricultural products, and ship it into Iran directly to the benefit of the Iranian people. Every single dime of that money is still sitting in the Qatari bank, he said. (With agency inputs) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that an expected Israel ground offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip would lead to unacceptable civilian casualties. The use of heavy machinery in residential areas is a complex matter fraught with grave consequences, Putin said in televised remarks, most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable. Russia has been carrying out what Moscow calls a military operation in Ukraine since February 2022, during which thousands of civilians are estimated to have died after strikes hit numerous residential areas across the country. The most important thing now is to stop the bloodshed, Putin said, adding his country was ready to coordinate with all constructive partners. On October 7, hundreds of Hamas gunmen broke through the militarised border barrier around the Gaza Strip into Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 150 Israeli, foreign and dual-national hostages. Israel has retaliated by hitting targets in Gaza with thousands of munitions, in strikes claiming more than 1,530 lives 500 of them children, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Russia has so far carefully denounced violence from both sides and focused on blaming the US for the conflict. The fact that a large-scale tragedy happened there was the result of a failed US policy, Putin said Friday. At the start of his time at Russias helm, first as prime minister and then president, Putin oversaw the second war in Chechnya, which began in 1999 after Islamist militants from Chechnya staged a raid in Russias region of Dagestan. The 10-year war killed thousands of civilians. A Philomath-based shoe company has resolved its trademark dispute with outdoors gear giant Columbia Sportswear Co. Barefoot Creations LLC, doing business as Softstar Shoes, found itself in a mismatched legal battle against Beaverton-based Columbia over its Omniflex shoe soles, which Softstar added to its line in 2020. Columbia said that branding undermines its own line of Omni-named products that dates back to 1991. Softstar hand-makes custom minimalist shoes designed for more natural walking and running experiences; having a sole that allows for natural foot function is an important part of that. In May, Columbia filed a federal lawsuit alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition, among other claims. Columbia had first offered to let Softstar drop the Omniflex name to resolve the issue. I'm happy to share that Columbia Sportswear and Softstar reached a settlement, Softstar owner Tricia Salcido said via email Tuesday, Oct. 10. The lawsuit is being dropped; no money is being exchanged. Salcido wasnt able to say more about the deal because of the terms of the settlement agreement. An attorney hired by Columbia to work on the lawsuit, Nika Aldrich of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, declined to give settlement details. The Omini prefix referred to the products flexibility to bend in all directions, which Salcido previously said was crucial in manufacturing Softstar's minimalist footwear. Court documents show the parties agreed to a consent judgment and permanent injunction Oct. 4. Under the settlement, Softstar is forbidden from using the Omniflex name, Omni by itself, and Omni followed by a descriptor in connection with footwear and apparel. The product has already been scrubbed from Softstars website. The decision cannot be appealed by either side, and each party was responsible for its own legal costs and attorney fees. Initially, Salcido had said she hoped for compensation to make the change logistically and financially easier, estimating it would take somewhere around $40,000 to $70,000 to get everything done. But an attorney for Columbia scoffed at even the low-end estimate, Salcido previously said. Even lowering the request to $7,000 failed to gain traction. In March, Columbia filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the term Omni-Flex. If approved, it would add to Columbias marks that includes Omni-Grip, Omni-Heat, Omni-Tech and several others. In September, Columbia announced it had won a hotly contested design infringement case against Poway, California-based Seirus Innovative Accessories Inc., according to a news release issued on behalf of Columbias attorneys. A federal appellate court ruling decided Columbias Omni-Heat product line was infringed upon by Seirus, setting a national precedent for future design patent infringement cases, the release states. The ruling gives greater value to design patents and protects design innovators like Columbia nationwide from infringement, the release states. Its a big win for design in outdoor wear and the broader design community. Stay up to date on mid-Willamette Valley news, wherever you go Easily access the latest Corvallis, Philomath and Benton County news in an app that lets you select the topics that matter most to you. Softstar started in 1984 in Texas, founded by a couple, Tim and Jeannie Oliver, who wanted minimalist shoes for their daughter. Unable to find a suitable pair, they learned to make their own. After two years of selling shoes to friends and neighbors, they introduced the Softstar brand at an art festival. In 1991, Softstar relocated to Oregon, and in 2005 it was bought by Salcido and Larkin Holavarri, who sold her interest in the company to Salcido in 2019. The company currently has 30 employees and recently earned certification as a B Corporation, a nod to its environmentally sustainable approach. Columbia is perhaps best known for its line for jackets, although it also produces a range of clothing, footwear and outdoor gear. The company has been publicly traded since 1998 and has acquired a number of other companies over the years. Related story: THE new Mutapa Investment Fund, an upgrade and new name of Zimbabwes Sovereign Wealth Fund, will be a game changer in the countrys quest to allow Zimbabweans to benefit from their natural resources including future generations, a round table meeting heard in Harare on Wednesday. Mr Walter Chimene, the chief executive officer of the Vision 2030 Squad, an empowerment organisation established to rally Zimbabweans in support of the Governments initiative of achieving an upper-middle income society by 2030, said the fund would allow Zimbabweans to think and exploit for their benefit, their God-given natural and human capital resources. The Fund implementation model will ensure that empowerment initiatives are activated so that resources can be unlocked, opportunities created while indigenous innovations will be turned into solutions, he said. In a Statutory Instrument gazetted last month, President Mnangagwa invoked his Presidential Powers to temporarily amend the Investment Laws to rename and upgrade the old Sovereign Wealth Fund and transfer the Government shares in 20 State-owned enterprises to the Mutapa Fund. The entities include major mines like Kuvimba Mining House, major power stations, the National Railways of Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe, NetOne and TelOne, Cottco and Zupco. The original Sovereign Wealth Fund, created in 2014, was designed to build up a portfolio of State-owned investments for the benefit of future generations. These could be in companies owned entirely by the State, or in joint ventures with outside or private shareholders. Mr Chimene said the leadership structure of the fund will ensure that Zimbabweans with trackable profiles are given the opportunity to lead and allow Brand Zimbabwe to adjust, adopt and evolve in line with other regional and global wealth creation funds. The ecosystem to be created around it will promote the upscaling of a knowledge-based economy which will inspire financial inclusion of the once neglected resource rich communities especially in rural areas, he said. The essence of the fund will allow Zimbabweans to take full control of their destiny in line with the Presidents philosophy that Nyika inovakwa ne vene vayo. Herald UPDATE Oct 13, 2023 7:55 AM CDT A Florida father accused of locking his adopted son in a makeshift room in his garage was convicted Thursday of child abuse charges. A jury, who heard the boy was locked in the 8-by-8-foot structure for up to 18 hours when he misbehaved, found 48-year-old Tim Ferriter of Jupiter guilty of aggravated child abuse, false imprisonment, and neglect of a child after a weeklong trial, per NBC News. Ferriter, whose lawyers said he was frustrated by his inability to control his son's disobedience, could face up to 40 years in state prison at sentencing. As the verdict was read, Ferriter's wife, Tracy, sitting behind her husband, appeared emotional then put her face in her palm, per WPTV. She's to face charges in a separate trial. A trial date has not been set. Feb 15, 2022 12:58 PM CST A disturbing case of alleged child abuse has emerged out of Florida, where a couple is accused of making their 14-year-old son spend most of his time in a locked 8-by-8 "office" in their garage. Timothy and Tracy Ferriter, both 46, of Jupiter face felony charges of aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment. Both were released on $50,000 bonds, reports WPBF. Their four childrenincluding the adopted 14-year-old who allegedly suffered the brunt of the abuseare in the custody of child services, per CBS12. NPR left Twitter back in Aprilwhen it was still called Twitter instead of Xand the media organization says its "Twexit" has only had a minimal effect on traffic to its website. According to a memo to staff seen by Neiman Reports , traffic fell by just 1% after NPR left Twitter, and only 2% of traffic had been coming from the social media site in the first place. While the main NPR account had almost 9 million followers, "algorithm updates made it increasingly challenging to reach active users; you often saw a near-immediate drop-off in engagement after tweeting and users rarely left the platform," the memo states. The August memo said NPR had seen an "expected small decline" after it stopped posting on Twitter on April 5, the Hill reports. The company announced its departure the week after Elon Musk labeled it "state-affiliated media," which was later softened to "government-funded media." "We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public's understanding of our editorial independence," spokesperson Isabel Lara said at the time. NPR has become one of the most-followed news accounts on rival social network Threads. In the memo to staffers, editor Danielle Nett said staff burnout had reduced, partly because the "audience on Threads is seemingly more welcoming to publishers than on platforms like Twitter and Reddit, where snark and contrarianism reign." Gabe Bullard at Neiman Reports writes that changes at X show "social media is less rewarding to publishers and less fun for users than it used to be." He says fear of missing out can make it hard to leave a platform like X. "But as a platform becomes less reliableeither editorially or technicallystaying becomes more fraught. And as NPR has demonstrated, you may not be giving up all that much if you walk away." (Read more Twitter stories.) Facing congressional pressure, the Biden administration has moved to ensure Iran can't use any of its $6 billion freed up in the deal that resulted in the release of five Americans last month. The money, which had been frozen by the US, was sent to accounts in Qatar, whose government now has agreed with the US to not let Iran touch it, the New York Times reports. Republicans and some Democrats had argued that the windfall, generated by past oil sales, could have freed up other Iranian money to help Hamas attack Israel on Saturday. US officials said they're investigating but so far have seen no evidence that Iran was directly involved in the assault. Iran, however, historically has supported Hamas. Gunfire awoke residents of the Nir Am kibbutz in southern Israel at 6:30am Saturday. A former special forces member who gave his name only as Adam jumped out of bed, the BBC reports, to lead the effort to fight off the Hamas attack. "I took my pistol, my clothes, my bulletproof vest and the other thing was cigarettes," he said. "We started to kill everyone who came to the fence." The gunbattle raged for hours. Some 1,300 people in Israel were killed in the attack, and another 150 were taken prisoner. None of them lost their lives in the Nir Am siege, though one young resident was slain in the Hamas attack on a nearby music festival. "I took the walkie-talkie and I said this line again and again: 'No-one will enter Nir Am, no-one will enter Nir Am,'" Adam said. Had the volunteers failed to stop the attack, he said, the terrorists would "run to the houses and kill the women and the kids." Instead, no one got in, and no one inside was hurt. Nir Am's 400 residents are staying in a hotel in Tel Aviv, unsure when or whether they'll return. "All of Israel has sent us clothes and food," Adam said. He's been praised as a hero, per the BBC, but he shares the credit with the other fighters "civilians who don't know how to fight but have got a lot of heart." A couple of them also have special forces training, but others work in IT, he said: "Regular men, but very, very special." (Read more Israel-Hamas war stories.) A Colombian serial killer who confessed to murdering more than 190 children during the 1990s died Thursday in a hospital, prison authorities said. He was 66. Luis Alfredo Garavito, nicknamed "the Beast," confessed to having murdered children between the ages of 8 and 16mostly from low-income familieswhom he kidnapped and abused by posing as a monk, a homeless person, or a street vendor. The National Penitentiary and Prison Institute said Garavito died in a hospital in Valledupar, in northern Colombia, where he remained imprisoned, the AP reports. The cause of death was not immediately revealed. Garavito was born in 1957 in the Colombian department of Quindio, and as an adult he traveled to 11 departments around the country where he abused and killed minors. The authorities began to follow his trail when they noticed similarities in the cases of disappearances of minors in Pereira, Armenia, and Tunja. Garavito was arrested in April 1999 on an attempted rape charge, but when an investigating judge asked him if he was the killer of 114 children whose bodies were found in 59 Colombian towns beginning in 1994, Garavito admitted the crimes and begged to be forgiven. Then he confessed to more murders, amounting to more than 190. That same year, Garavito apologized to the families of the victims in a court hearing: "I want to ask for forgiveness for everything I did and I am going to confess. Yes, I killed them and not only those, I killed others." In recent years, per the AP, Garavito's release from prison was considered imminent, after serving three-fifths of his sentence. In 2021, then-President Ivan Duque rejected the possibility of Garravito regaining his freedom and assured that during his government the killer would "stay in prison." (Read more serial killer stories.) Although New York City officials said there are "no new specific threats" to the city, all police officers have been told to be in uniform on Friday in the event of protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Concern began when a former Hamas leader called for protests Friday in the Muslim world and support from other nations in fighting Israel, Reuters reports. Google searches for "nyc threats friday" rose 3,300%, and "hamas nyc friday the 13th" was up 2,400% in New York by Thursday afternoon, per WNBC . Gov. Kathy Hochul said there are no intelligence reports about any threats to the state, but city police have increased patrols in some areas to reassure New Yorkers, officials said. The tension increased in the city on Thursday when hundreds of people met at Columbia University to hold pro-Israel and pro-Hamas demonstrations. The confrontations led the university to close campus, where an Israeli student was assaulted on Wednesday, per the New York Times. Demonstrations took place on other campuses in the city, as well. "I feel very dispirited," said a Columbia student watching a pro-Palestine demonstration. "I feel unsupported," said Caroline Smith, 23, who said 10 of her family members are in Israel. "I only feel support from my Jewish friends." Demonstrations have taken place in other countries, as well, and many arelike US citiesincreasing security at synagogues, cultural centers, and other gathering places. France's interior minister ordered local officials to prohibit pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the face of an increase in antisemitic acts since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday. President Emmanuel Macron urged the nation to not permit the war to cause tension in France, per the AP. '"Let us stay united," Macron said. (Read more Israel-Hamas war stories.) The vast majority of Jewish Israelis have decided who is at fault for the successful attack by Hamas: their government and prime minister. A poll released Thursday found that 86% of the 620 respondents from around the country agree that Israeli leaders failed, and 56% want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign when the war against Hamas ends. The Dialog Center poll, released on Thursday, also found that just over half of respondents expect Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to step down, the Jerusalem Post reports. The poll was conducted before the unity government was finalized. When Hamas militants breached the border between Gaza and Israel, they knew precisely where they were going and what they would likely encounter. The militants carried detailed maps of the Israeli towns and neighborhoods they raided, reports the Wall Street Journal . Other documents recovered at attack sites make clear the fighters not only set out to hit Israeli military locales but civilian areas where they could take hostages. "They knew exactly what the targets were going to be," Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer now at Tel Aviv University tells the Journal. "There is nothing close to this level of planning in any steps Hamas had done in the past." One chilling example is a document detailing the layout of a small community, or kibbutz, called Mefalsim and noting that about 1,000 "civilians" were present. The fighters were instructed that Israeli soldiers could arrive in "3-5 minutes" and that they should act quickly to take hostages. Mefalsim was indeed attacked, though a volunteer force fought back and prevented any deaths, unlike the carnage at other Israeli kibbutzes. Another map found in a slain militant's vest designated "places with crowds, synagogues, and kindergartens" in the town of Ofakim, said resident Almog Cohen, who fought against the militants. Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Friday continues to prepare for an expected ground invasion into Gaza, per CNN. Residents in northern Gaza were ordered by Israel to evacuate to the southan exodus of some 1.1 million peoplewhile Hamas told residents to stay put. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Israel on Friday to meet his Israeli counterpart, and he pledged that US military assistance "is already rapidly flowing" into the country, per the New York Times. (Read more Israel-Hamas war stories.) Since the Hamas attack on Israel, threats against some of the most progressive lawmakers have seen a "major uptick," according to the sources who spoke to Politico . Members of the House of Representatives' so-called "Squad" and other left-wing Democrats, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee, and Barbara Lee, received a security briefing Thursday from Capitol Police, the sources say. A Capitol Police spokesperson confirmed only that several briefings on the department's "increased security posture" were held Thursday. The department said it was "enhancing" security around Capitol Hill ahead of Hamas' threatened "day of action" Friday, but that there were no specific threats against Congress. Meanwhile, Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal called for lawmakers to support the "diverse viewpoints" of members, some of whom have been criticized or threatened with punishment for speaking out against the Israeli government. (Read more the squad stories.) The United Nations says Israel has told all civilians in the northern half of Gaza to evacuate to the southern half of the territory within 24 hours, an unprecedented order applying to around 1.1 million people ahead of an expected ground offensive. "Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the Israeli military said, per Reuters . The UN "considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, Dujarric said the UN has urged Israel to rescind the order, "avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation," the AP reports. Hamas described the order as "psychological warfare" and told residents to ignore it. The group also said 13 hostages, including foreigners, had been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the last 24 hours. The Israeli military said it needs to target Hamas infrastructure and residents will be allowed to return when the war is over. "The responsibility for what may happen to those who do not evacuate is on Hamas' head," said IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, per the Times of Israel. He declined to comment on claims hostages had been killed. The director of Gaza's largest hospital said it will not be evacuated, the New York Times reports. "Where will take them? We have nowhere to transport the patients to," said the director of Al Shifa Hospital, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salima. BBC correspondent Lyse Doucet says Israel is targeting Hamas' underground tunnels, which would mean destroying residential areas above ground, but residents fear that if they leave, they will never be allowed to return. "It's not even possible to move more than 1 million people in a day: roads are broken; bombs are falling; homes are destroyed; the elderly and the ill need help," she says. (Read more Israel-Hamas war stories.) The publicly listed shell company that raised $1 billion to merge with former President Trump's media company won't end up with any of it. Investors have canceled $467 million in funding, Digital World Acquisition Corp. said in a Thursday regulatory filing. DWAC CEO Eric Swider said in a statement that the remaining $533 million would be returned to investors, thereby ending the private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction. Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of Truth Social, is painting this as a good thing. In a press release, CEO Devin Nunes said it's "in the best interest of TMTG's equity holders and completing our merger with DWAC as soon as possible," per CBS News . But it's unclear how the move will benefit TMTG. Indeed, "the loss of funding for DWAC appears to be a step backward for the prospective merger," per CBS. Without the PIPE, TMTG is set to receive just $293 million in cash raised by the special-purpose acquisition company in its initial public offering in September 2021, rather than the much greater amount, per Reuters. Investors were able to backtrack on their commitments as the merger deadline has been pushed back repeatedly amid an investigation from US financial regulators. In July, DWAC agreed to pay $18 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle claims that it violated antifraud provisions related to its IPO, per the Financial Times. In an August amendment to the merger deal, DWAC requested the unwinding of the PIPE. In another change, Trump was handed new shares in DWAC "with more voting power," per Reuters. He controlled 90% of TMTG as of February 2021. "Despite how others may seek to characterize the PIPE commitment cancellations, we want our shareholders to understand that these cancellations are a positive development in our ability to consummate the business combination," reads Swider's statement, per CBS. He added TMTG has a "reduced need for capital" and a "commitment to growing a sustainable business model." DWAC or TMTG can move to terminate the merger next month if their boards find it won't benefit shareholders, per Reuters. (Read more Truth Social stories.) A man armed with a knife killed a teacher and wounded two others on Friday at a high school in northern France, an attack being investigated as potential terrorism. Antiterror prosecutors said they were leading the investigation into the attack at the Gambetta high school in the city of Arras, some 115 miles north of Paris, the AP reports. Sliman Hamzi, a police officer who was one of the first on the scene, said the suspected attacker, a former student at the school, shouted "Allahu Akbar""God is great" in Arabic. Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer who was passing in front of the high school and called in. He "was shouting 'someone is attacking with a knife,'" Hamzi said. Hamzi said he rushed to the school and saw the victim who died lying on the ground outside the school, and the attacker being taken away. "Colleagues arrived quickly but unfortunately couldn't save the victim," Hamzi said. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the suspected attacker had been arrested. President Emmanuel Macron was heading to the scene along with Darmanin and the education minister, and the government asked authorities to heighten vigilance at all schools across France. The motive was not immediately clear. It came amid heightened tensions around the world over Hamas' weekend attack on southern Israel and Israel's military response, which have killed hundreds of civilians on both sides. There have been calls in Muslim nations for mass protests after Friday prayers over Israel's intense bombing campaign in Gaza. On Thursday, Darmanin ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since the Hamas attack. (Read more France stories.) European common frogs often mate in what's called a "mating ball." In an attempt to reproduce, males seek out and cling to outnumbered females, even those already singled out by other males, in a potentially deadly struggle. As Science reports, females risk injury or drowning if unable to escape from the mass. "It was previously thought that females were unable to choose or defend themselves against this male coercion," explains Carolin Dittrich, an evolutionary and behavioral biologist at Berlin's Natural History Museum, per the Guardian . But research carried out by Dittrich and colleagues shows that's not in fact the case. In analyzing the breeding behaviors of common frogs, the team found females move their bodies, send out calls, and even play dead. In a lab setting, researchers observed male frogs clutching 54 different females. Of those females, 83% rotated their bodies, 48% emitted noises that mimicked the "release calls" of male frogs who are mistaken for females during mating, and 33% engaged in "tonic immobility," with stiffened limbs outstretched as if they were playing dead. Tonic immobility is usually thought of as a tactic to evade predators, so its appearance during mating was "surprising," Dittrich tells Science. But she notes at least some male frogs lost interest and swam away when confronted with the behavior. She adds tonic immobility among mating frogs was recorded in a 1758 book by the German artist and entomologist August Johann Rosel von Rosenhoff but "never mentioned again." Though the study involved groups of one male and two female frogs, meaning there was never a "mating ball" to break out of, "displaying of mate avoidance behavior resulted in the escape of 25 females," according to the study published Wednesday in Royal Society Open Science, per the Guardian. Though the rotating of the body can help a female escape from a male's clutches, researchers note it might instead be a means to test the strength and endurance of a potential mate. They add that tonic immobility might be a stress response exhibited by frogs inexperienced with reproduction. Female frogs who played dead tended to be younger and therefore smaller and also tended to rotate their bodies and mimic male release calls, according to the study. (Read more frogs stories.) UPDATE Oct 13, 2023 3:36 PM CDT After some late political drama, Republicans have chosen Rep. Jim Jordan as their new nominee to be House speaker. However, it remains very much up in the air whether Jordan, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, will be able to get enough votes in the full House to secure the gavel, reports the Hill. Jordan defeated late entrant Austin Scott of Georgia in the Friday afternoon GOP vote. Politico reports he won with 124 ballots, but he will need 217 to become speaker. All of this comes a day after Steve Scalise withdrew as "speaker designate," knowing he would not be able to reach the magic number of 217. No word yet on when Republicans might schedule a full House vote. Oct 13, 2023 12:47 PM CDT Ten days after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker from the House, the chamber's Republicans appear to still be a long way from choosing a replacementand they've rejected a proposal to avoid a potentially messy vote on the House floor. Politico reports that GOP lawmakers voted against a plan to require 217 members of the conference to agree on a nominee before there is a vote on the full House floor. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was nominated in a 113-99 vote on Wednesday, but he dropped out Thursday night after it became clear that he had no hope of getting 217 votes, the minimum needed to be elected speaker. The Army Maternity Uniform Pilot Program or Rent the Camo provides free maternity combat uniforms for eligible female Soldiers in the continental U.S. It is not currently available for Soldiers overseas. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB), the leading provider of Islamic digital banking services in the Kingdom of Bahrain, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) to provide Sharia-compliant commutation services starting October 2023. The signing ceremony recently took place at the SIO headquarters in the presence of Yaser Alsharifi, Chief Executive Officer of BisB, and Eman Al-Murbati, Chief Executive Officer of the Social Insurance Organization. In collaboration with the SIO, the Bank will be hosting an event focusing on its commutation finance services, set to take place today and tomorrow from 10 am to 6 pm at the Banks Financial Mall in Budaiya. The event will focus on offering facilitated, Sharia-compliant commutation solutions from under one roof. The initiative also aims to provide customers with convenient, streamlined services and to answer all their questions regarding the commutation offering. Yaser Alsharifi, Chief Executive Officer at BisB, said: We are pleased to be the first bank to partner with the Social Insurance Organization to launch commutation services for insured customers and pensioners. We are also delighted to be the first bank to organize this event with the SIO as we hope to better serve our citizens and offer exceptional, seamless services. Eman Al-Murbati, Chief Executive Officer of the SIO, expressed her pleasure to begin collaborating with Islamic banks to deliver Sharia-compliant services for retirees in line with the terms and conditions displayed in insurance laws and amendments. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Chairman of the Bahrain Chamber, Sameer Nass, and the Ambassador of Algeria to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Dr. Mahmoud Braham, met on Wednesday at the Chambers headquarters to discuss bilateral business relations between Bahrain and Algeria. During the discussion, specific sectors such as industry, mining, food processing, banking, and tourism were identified as areas with significant potential for collaboration. The importance of facilitating the exchange of business delegations and organising joint business events to strengthen relationships and promote mutual investments was emphasized. The meeting also highlighted Algerias new investment law, enacted in 2022, which offers promising opportunities for investors looking to access Algerias thriving market. The Chambers First Vice-Chairman Khalid Najibi, Bureau members Bassim Al Saie and Ahmed Al Saloom, board member Prof Waheeb Al Khaja, and Acting CEO Atef Al Khaja were present at the meeting. AFP | Baghdad The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of several Middle East capitals Friday in support of Palestinians amid Israeli air strikes on Gaza in reprisal for a surprise Hamas attack. "No to the occupation! No to America!" chanted demonstrators gathered in central Baghdad after Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr called for a protest "in support of Gaza" and against Israel, an AFP journalist reported. "This rally is aimed at condemning what is happening in occupied Palestine, the bloodletting and the violation of rights," said Abu Kayan, an organiser of the protest. The besieged Gaza Strip has been under heavy Israeli bombardment since Saturday when Hamas militants stormed Israel's southern border and killed more than 1,300 people. The Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,530 people in the Gaza Strip, which has already been under a land, sea and air blockade for more than 15 years. Anti-Israel protests were also held in Iran on Friday. In the capital Tehran, demonstrators waved Iranian, Palestinian, and Lebanese Hezbollah flags and held banners reading "Down with America" and "Down with Israel", an AFP journalist said. Similar gatherings took place in other cities across Iran, where American and Israeli flags were burned. Iran, a country with a predominantly Shiite Muslim but non-Arab population, financially and militarily supports Hamas. Israel is their mutual sworn enemy. In Jordan, which has long had a peace treaty with neighbouring Israel, more than 10,000 people gathered in central Amman, near the Grand Husseini Mosque, after a call for protests from the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, and several leftist and youth groups. In the Gulf state of Bahrain, hundreds of worshippers chanted "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America!" ahead of Friday prayers at Diraz mosque. Hundreds of people then joined a protest march, some of them waving Palestinian flags and others stamping on Israeli and US emblems that were laid on the ground. In the Saudi capital Riyadh, where protests are prohibited, an AFP journalist witnessed police cuffing a worshipper who interrupted Friday prayers by shouting at the imam: "Speak about Palestine! Gaza is under bombs!" In Lebanon, supporters of Iran-backed Hezbollah rallied in the southern suburbs of Beirut in support of the Palestinians. At the event, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said Hezbollah would be "fully prepared" to join its ally Hamas in the war against Israel when the time is right. In France, where President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on Israel to deal a "strong" but "just" response to the Hamas attack, the government issued a ban on "pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they are likely to generate disturbances to public order." The second-biggest smartphone brand in India is in the news after India's financial crimes agency arrested Andrew Kuang, a Chinese employee of smartphone maker Vivo. This isnt without precedent. Authorities raided Vivo's office last year, accusing it of illegal remittances from India to China. In addition, Reuters recently reported that Indian police had formally accused Vivo of helping transfer funds illegally to NewsClick, a news portal that is under investigation on charges of spreading Chinese propaganda. Vivo has denied any wrongdoing. The BBC Business website says that Tuesday's arrest happened under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Vivo has also been accused of customs evasion. There appears to be a growing belief among Indian policymakers that some Chinese companies have not been paying enough tax. Indeed, earlier this year, India's minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar told parliament that Chinese companies had evaded taxes to the tune of US$1.1billion. He claimed the government had managed to recover only about 18% of this amount. According to the BBC Business website, investigations have led to major Chinese firms such as Xaomi and Oppo India being accused of financial crimes. Both firms have denied the allegations. In the past 18 months, Indian authorities have also targeted Chinese mobile phone companies such as Xiaomi by freezing US$670 million of assets. However, these developments may have a wider context. An ongoing, and on one occasion in 2020, bloody border dispute may also have influenced Indian policy. After the 2020 skirmish, as we reported, India banned hundreds of Chinese apps, including TikTok. Paratus, a provider of ICT network solutions, fibre, and satellite connectivity, has launched what it calls two game-changing cross-border fibre links enhancing connectivity for Mozambique. Paratus says it now offers an alternative to the subsea cable norm by introducing resilience with two distinct fibre routes into South Africa. One of the fibre links traverses Swaziland. The other follows the Kamati Poort route. By adopting this dual-route approach, Paratus says it ensures unequalled stability and resilience. As the company explains, In the event of an unexpected cable outage, the second fibre link seamlessly takes over, allowing uninterrupted communications and data transmission. This failover mechanism guarantees businesses and individuals a safer and faster connection, eliminating the downtime and disruptions commonly associated with single-path connectivity solutions. The company sums up the benefits of the new links as: high capacity; resilience, thanks to dual routes; diversity, which eliminates single-point failure risks; and redundancy, as the failover mechanism ensures uninterrupted service. This news comes as Paratus celebrates its sixth anniversary as a telecommunications and connectivity solutions provider in Mozambique. Country Manager Rui Costa says: We have been connecting businesses and offering dynamic services for six years. We have expanded and opened offices in the north. And now we have established secure, fast and redundant cross-border links with the rest of the world from Mozambique. Paratus and its many local subsidiaries are having a busy 2023, with fibre deals, satcoms agreements and data centre plans announced or under way in a number of sub-Saharan African countries since the start of the year. Senator Ali Ndume and others have criticized Senate President, Godswill Akpabio for passing certain bills without properly informing members. In a video from Thursdays sitting, Senator representing Borno south district, Ali Ndume (APC), lamented the rate at which the Senate President passes bills without formal reading and members contributions. You are just passing bills without prior notification, including money bills, you just pass bills within 2 hours without anyones contribution. This is not good for Nigeria, he said. Also speaking, Senator Ogoshi Onawo, PDP, Nasarawa State decried the hasty passage of sensitive bills. He said: Sir, you are on the seat today, history is going to judge you that things like this are not good for this country. Akpabio in his response said: If the bills we are passing are good for the country, history will judge me right. I dont think we would come here to pass a bill thats not good for the interest of Nigerians. So, your point of order is noted. This is coming three weeks after rumours of impeachment process against Akpabio was denied by the Senate. Recall that Senator Ali Ndume, in June 2023, led the campaign to make Akpabio senate president. Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State has said that he inherited an empty treasury from his predecessor, Aminu Tambuwal. Aliyu said Tambuwal failed to hand over a single note to him. The governor spoke while receiving the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, on Thursday. Responding to a question on how he was able to execute 100 projects in his first 100 days in office, Aliyu said he had to make sacrifices upon assumption of office. Speaking through his deputy, Idris Gobir, the governor said: We inherited an empty treasury and nothing to show; not a single paper was handed over to us. We made a sacrifice to change the narrative of the state, and we have succeeded in changing it within the last 100 days. He described the relationship between the state government and the legislature as cordial, saying they were groomed by the current leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko. Aliyu thanked the leadership of the Green Chamber for sending a powerful delegation to condole the government and people of the state over the demise of their colleague and member, representing Isa-Sabon Birni Federal Constituency, Jelani Danbuga. He described the late lawmaker as patriotic and a complete gentleman. The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, on Friday, warned criminal elements allegedly selling forms in communities across the state to residents before becoming beneficiaries of palliatives and other interventions being provided by the government to desist from the act. He gave the warning in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Lawal Shehu. I categorically condemn this unwholesome act by the criminal elements in our midst and members of the public are hereby informed that there are no forms on sale under any guise for palliatives or social register. Kaduna State Governor is committed to ensuring that the palliatives get to the true beneficiaries, to achieve this feat. The governor set up the palliatives committee in July 2023 to come up with modalities for the distribution of these palliatives, the committee has since been lauded as highly inclusive comprising representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, other members of Organised Labour, religious and traditional leaders, Civil Society Organisations, Persons with Disabilities, Local Government Chairmen, Youth and Women Groups. Residents of Kaduna state are also encouraged to contact their respective local government councils for information on the processes to be captured in the Kaduna State Social Register. The Kaduna State Social Register is the database of poor and vulnerable households in the state, and this register is utilised to identify beneficiaries of targeted social protection programmes and other interventions from the government. He therefore, urged members of the public to be extremely vigilant and to report any suspicious activity or diversion of palliatives to the authorities closest to them as all offenders when apprehended will be prosecuted according to the law. A public affairs analyst, Sam Amadi, on Friday, described former President Muhammadu Buharis eight years as a disaster. The Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, said it would take a very long time for Nigerians to forget Buharis tenure. Amadi was reacting to the step taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on forex. Posting on X, Amadi wrote: Today the CBN rightly nullifies one of @MBuhari crazy monetary policies. It will take a very long time to forget Buharis disastrous 8 years. And to think that reasonable humans still bragging on twitter believed that Buhari should replace Jonathan and even be a councilor horrifies. The apex bank had lifted the foreign exchange restriction on 43 items. This restrictions were placed by Buharis administration. The items include: 1. Rice 2. Cement 3. Margarine 4. Palm kernel 5. Palm oil products 6. Vegetable oils 7. Meat and processed meat products 8. Vegetables and processed vegetable products 9. Poultry and processed poultry products 10. Tinned fish in sauce (Geisha)/sardine 11. Cold rolled steel sheets 12. Galvanized steel sheets 13. Roofing sheets 14. Wheelbarrows 15. Head pans 16. Metal boxes and containers 17. Enamelware 18. Steel drums 19. Steel pipes 20. Wire rods (deformed and not deformed) 21.Iron rods 22. Reinforcing bars 23. Wire mesh 24. Steel nails 25. Security and razor fencing and poles 26. Wood particle boards and panels 27. Wood fiberboards and panels 28. Plywood boards and panels 29. Wooden doors 30. Toothpicks 31. Glass and glassware 32. Kitchen utensils 33. Tableware 34. Tiles-vitrified and ceramic 35. Gas cylinders 36. Woven fabrics 37. Clothes 38. Plastic and rubber products 39. Polypropylene granules 40. Cellophane wrappers and bags 41. Soap and cosmetics 42. Tomatoes/tomato pastes 43. Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases. Portuguese captain, Cristiano Ronaldo may be punished for getting too cosy with a fan if he ever returns to Iran. According to Rouydad24, the Al-Nassr forward will face 99 lashes. The five-time Ballon dOr winner met up with his fan, artist Fatima while travelling to Iran for an Asian Champions League match against local team Persepolis in September. Ronaldo hugged and kissed the girl, which is considered a severe violation of Iranian law when outside of matrimony. However, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star has not yet been formally charged. Ronaldo is currently with the Portugal national team as they prepare to take on Slovakia and Bosnia & Herzegovina in EURO qualifiers on Friday and Monday, respectively. Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Thursday, attacked a Benue Links bus conveying passengers to Otukpo en route Naka road Gwer West LGA at Tyolaha village. One passenger was killed and several others were injured during the attack by the marauders. It was gathered that the latest attack is not the first time marauding herdsmen had carried out such gruesome attacks on passengers along the dilapidated road. Tyolaha village has been a hotspot for persistent attacks by suspected Fulani Herdsmen. The herdsmen who were almost 15 in number thwarted any resistance by their victims which caused them to disperse on an escape with ease. This incessant attacks have caused most residents to flee and farmers to relocate from the that part of the road while the remnants call on the government and security operatives for protection. Benue Police Public Relations Officer, Anekwe Catherine, who confirmed the incident to the newsmen said a bus belonging to Benue Links which was heading to Otukpo was attacked by unknown gunmen and three persons including women were wounded and one person died this morning. American actress and talk show host, Jada Pinkett Smith, said late rapper, Tupac Shakur, was her soulmate despite being married to actor Will Smith for 19 years. The mother of two, however, said she and 2Pac werent meant to be a couple, stressing that there was no romantic chemistry between them. She spoke in a recent interview with media personality, Christal Jordan. Pinkett said, Tupac was my soulmate If theres such a thing as past life, I definitely think Pac and I have travelled a few together. It just was impossible for us to take it beyond the friendship level. There was no chemistry between us. What we had was friendship love chemistry, trust me. I wish I can get people to understand the repelling nature. It was almost like God made us that way like, Yall gonna be a dynamic duo. Yall not going to be able to get together. Because that wasnt the purpose. Recall that Pinkett recently disclosed in a clip from her forthcoming NBC News primetime special with Hoda Kotb that she and her husband, Will Smith have been living separately since 2016. The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has charged religious leaders to lead appropriately by promoting discipline, love, and the fear of God among the faithful. She made the call in Abuja on Thursday in her welcome remark to the Women Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (WOWICAN). The women were led on the courtesy visit by the associations national chairperson, Mrs Victoria Ihesiulor. According to Mrs Tinubu, Christianity is a religion of love, meekness, and tolerance. Those virtues must be extended to everyone, regardless of their religion, faith, race, ethnicity, and social background. We must respect and love our neighbours as ourselves; we have missed a lot because we have brought a lot of politics into religion, she said. Mothers should, rather, prepare the children for the glory to come. As for us, we are going to lead according to the fear of God. I am a Nigerian, and I dont want to fly out of this nation. We must build it together, she added. Dele Momodu, celebrity journalist and campaign spokesman of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has lambasted those defending President Bola Tinubu over his certificate controversy. Recall that Tinubu is being accused of forging his Chicago State University certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Tinubu and Atikus camps have been at loggerheads over the matter since it has been in the public domain after a United States magistrate ordered CSU to release the certificate to Atiku. Speaking in a video, Momodu criticised those asking him to support Tinubu because they are friends but said he could not align with forgery. The Publisher of the Ovation Magazine said even lawyers know better that it is difficult to defend forgery, and that is why former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has not spoken in support of Tinubu. Stop surrounding yourself with sycophants who dont know anything. There are more intelligent people in Nigeria who will advise you. Go and find them. They are there, he said. Nobody can justify forgery, nobody! Lawyers know that anyway so Im sure that people like Fani-Kayde, know. They cant justify it, thats why they are all keeping quiet now. Momodu added that the president needs to apologise and it is left for Nigerians to accept or not. Why cant you just apologise and move on? Like I said, it doesnt mean people will accept that apology. At least start from somewhere, you are insulting us. And you are allowing these boys who are just coming to collect peanuts to insult everybody on social media? I will defend a man who has the courage to apologise, he added. Senator Ifeanyi Ubah says he decided to dump the Young Progressives Party (YPP) and defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) because he wants the South-East to align with the Central Government of President Bola Tinubu. Ubah said this when he visited the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, in company of Senate President, Godswill Akpabio at the partys National Secretariat in Abuja on Thursday. He appreciated the partys leadership for accepting him into its fold. Ubah commended President Tinubu for appointing Dave Umahi as the Minister of Works, in spite of the party recording low votes in the South-East in the 2023 presidential election. Our president is rewarding even those who didnt vote for him, for that it will be very difficult for any man with a conscience not to look at the direction of the centre party. I dont see anyone who will oppose my coming into the APC, he said. Ubah added that he consulted widely with his political family and critical stakeholders in the South-East before defecting to the APC. It is not all about talking, it is about doing, I believe in action, Mr President just take it from me; I am going to deliver. I have made my complaints to President Tinubu in front of the Senate President and he has graciously given me his words that he will support me. I want to be sincere; it has always been difficult for the Igbo people to key into the national party because of our sentiments and emotions. Our president is a politician who understands how it pains and how to console everybody. He has that capacity, he said. Ganduje, while receiving Ubah, said he was the biggest politician that had joined the party since he assumed office as the APC chairman. This is the biggest fish I have gotten, Ganduje said. He expressed optimism that with Ubahs defection, the party would soon take over the South-East in the coming elections. A 101-year-old woman was in critical condition on Friday after a fire swept through her apartment in Bergen County, authorities said. Police were called shortly after 8 a.m. to a fire at an apartment on Rennie Place in Lodi, according to the Bergen County Prosecutors Office. First-responders entered the home and found the unresponsive victim inside. The woman was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center with serious injuries, the prosecutors office said in a statement. The woman remained in critical condition on Friday afternoon. The prosecutors Major Crimes Unit and Lodi police are investigating the cause of the fire. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. A special education teacher at a New Jersey elementary school has been charged with sexually assaulting seven students, authorities said. Vincent Root, 58, of Philadelphia, has been placed on leave from his job at Chatsworth Elementary School in Woodland, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office said Friday. Root is also charged with seven counts of endangering the welfare of a child. All the victims are boys who are or were students at the school and were touched in classrooms, authorities alleged. Authorities declined to release additional information to protect the identity of the victims. Root appeared in court on Friday and will be conditionally released from the Burlington County jail later in the day, his attorney Bob Agre told NJ Advance Media. Root, who surrendered Thursday, is not permitted to return to school or have contact with the alleged victims while the charges are pending, Agre said. A pre-indictment hearing os scheduled for Nov. 15, the lawyer said. School officials shared a letter sent to the community with NJ Advance Media. Needless to say, we are deeply concerned about the allegations against Mr. Root and have fully cooperated with authorities in their investigation, Woodland superintendent Misty Weiss wrote in the letter. As soon as the school district was made aware of this matter, we reported it to the proper authorities and immediately contacted parents of the affected students. Please know that this staff member has been banned from contacting anyone affiliated with the School District and is currently banned from all School District grounds. Throughout the investigation by the authorities, we continued to communicate with the affected parents and offered support to any person who was impacted or affected by this news. We care deeply about the wellbeing of everyone in our school district community and have resources available to help you process this information if you have any concerns. Chatsworth Elementary School is the only school in the kindergarten-8th grade district. Hired as a public employee in 1997, Root is paid an annual salary of $83,210, according to state pension records. Root is one of four special education teachers at the school, which enrolls 100 students, according to state education data. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. A Philadelphia resident who pleaded guilty to strangling and stabbing a woman to death in a New Jersey motel room last year has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison. Alexander Rivera, 27, will have to serve at least 21 years before he is eligible for parole, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office said in announcing the sentence. Police were called to the Bel-Air Motor Lodge on Route 73 in Maple Shade at about 11:30 a.m. on May 11, 2022, after 36-year-old Michelle L. Johnston was found dead in room 410 by a motel employee, officials said. An autopsy performed by the county medical examiners office determined the cause of death to be strangulation and multiple stab wounds. A months-long investigation identified Rivera as the suspect. He was apprehended by U.S. marshals at a Philadelphia residence on Nov. 4, 2022. This was a fierce, unprovoked attack against an unsuspecting victim, Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw said. We join those who loved Michelle Johnston, including her two children, in mourning her tragic loss, and are grateful to everyone involved in this case who helped us bring justice for her death. Rivera and Johnston exchanged text messages for several hours before Rivera texted Im outside around 2:50 a.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause. Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the motel and surrounding area, which showed a subject entering the room, leaving about 25 minutes later and fleeing the area in a vehicle, charging documents said. Still images from the surveillance videos were shared with other law enforcement agencies, and a state parole officer said the man in the photos resembled Rivera, a convicted sex offender who had been avoiding parole supervision and could not be located, according to the affidavit. Rivera was released from prison in 2020 after serving time on child endangerment charges relating to child pornography distribution, court records show. Rivera admitted to the slaying of Johnston in July and pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence, prosecutors said. He was initially charged with murder and related weapons offenses. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com. Two men have been arrested on charges they impersonated police officers during multiple robberies and robbery attempts across two counties over 11 days, officials said. Shanndoah Gray, 48, of Lindenwold, and Michael Ficara, 39, of Mount Royal, were charged with multiple counts of second-degree robbery, impersonating a police officer and other offenses for incidents in Gloucester Township, Lindenwold, Winslow, Deptford Township, and Washington Township, according to a release from the Camden County Prosecutors Office. The first incident occurred on Sept. 19 around 9 p.m. when Gray and Ficara used a red sedan to pull over a person on Little Gloucester Road in Gloucester Township, authorities said. They approached the driver and identified themselves as police officers and then one of them grabbed the driver by the shirt and stole cash from him, authorities said. On Sept. 28, at approximately 4:45 a.m., Gray and Ficara tried to stop a car on Waterford Road and Route 73 in Winslow, authorities said. The driver pulled over and was approached by the pair who identified themselves as police officers and claimed the driver was a suspect in the robbery. The man told them he wasnt comfortable and requested a marked unit to be present which caused Gray and Ficara to flee the area, authorities said. Later that day, shortly after 9 p.m., they are accused of striking again when they attempted to stop an occupied parked car behind the Kohls Plaza in Washington Township, authorities said. They flashed their high beams at occupants in an attempt to stop them, yelled at them to turn off the car, and displayed a badge, but the victims drove away, authorities said. Video captured of the incident showed the vehicle was a red Ford Taurus and detectives later learned that Ficara owns a red Taurus, authorities said. Shortly thereafter, Gray and Ficara burglarized a nearby unoccupied car and stole a wallet with credit cards inside, police said. Later that night, at 10:46 p.m., Deptford Township Police responded to a report of two suspects approaching an occupied car at Almonesson Creek Park in Deptford, authorities said. Gray and Ficara identified themselves as police officers and attempted to question the driver, authorities said. The victim did not believe them, called 911, and drove out of the park. The final incident happened the next day at 9:44 p.m. on East Elm Avenue in Lindenwold. Two men were approached by a duo dressed like plain clothes officers wearing gold badges on neck chains, authorities said. The victims told police they were searched by the men and had money stolen, authorities said. When they confronted the fake cops afterward, one of the men dressed like a police officer displayed a small handgun, authorities said. The robbers then ran from the area and entered a red four-door sedan with a Pennsylvania license plate and an emergency light attached to its roof, police said. Detectives from the Washington Township Police Department obtained surveillance video of the thieves attempting to use a credit card stolen from the vehicle burglary at an area grocery store, officials said. They were later identified as Gray and Ficara. Gray was arrested in Lindenwold on Wednesday by the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force and Ficara is currently in custody in Salem County Jail on unrelated, unspecified charges, authorities said. Anyone with information or who may have been a victim of a similar incident is asked to contact Detective Ryan Durham the Camden County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at 856-225-5127 and the local police department. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Swift-mas came early. After six weeks of feverish anticipation for Taylor Swifts mammoth Eras Tour concert film, due for a Friday global release, the pop deity offered a surprise for fans, dropping the film in theaters a day early due to overwhelming demand. The silver screen extension of Swifts record-breaking Eras Tour which commandeered MetLife Stadium for three nights back in May instead landed in Jersey theaters Thursday night, drawing some Swifties willing to rearrange their schedules. A Jersey City substitute teacher was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting two students in May, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Fayez Yassa, 64, of Jersey City, was charged two counts of sexual assault by contact and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, both second-degree crimes. He was arrested at his residence and taken to the Hudson County jail pending his first court appearance. The crimes occurred at School 34 on Kennedy Boulevard, between Wade Street and Warner Ave, on May 15. Yassa has since been terminated from his position, Suarez said. Power, politics and pot. Wanda James, a dispensary owner and pioneering figure in the cannabis industry, opened NJ Cannabis Insiders all-day networking conference Thursday with a keynote speech that explored those three points. The conference drew about 200 eager insiders to an upscale venue in Newark, offering them the opportunity to mix, mingle and get an exclusive scoop on whats to come for New Jerseys budding legal weed market. There is nothing more exciting to me than to see all of these different faces around here, James said. All the different races and all of the women who have now been involved in cannabis I could not be more excited to see the explosion thats happening here in New Jersey. So congratulations, New Jersey, were real close, she added. If youre not in politics, youre not in cannabis, James told attendees, as she discussed how she and her husband made history in 2010 when they opened Simply Pure the first legally licensed Black-owned dispensary in the country. The Denver-based brand is set to make its debut in Ewing Township later this year under the name Simply Pure Trenton and ownership of Tahir Johnson, a Trenton-native. This was the first Black-owned social equity firm to be granted a retailer license by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. While James and close to 30 other industry leaders conducted information and networking sessions, attendees also browsed some 45 vendor tables hosted by a variety of cannabis businesses, resource centers, dispensaries and growers. The exhibit area also featured discovery areas for businesses owned by women and social equity-designated operators, sponsored by Holistic Solutions, the first Black-owned company to open a dispensary in New Jersey. Dozens of people, including Thomas Ginefra and Giordan Acuna, co-founders of Terp Taxi a social equity legal weed delivery service business planning to operate in Union and Essex Counties had the opportunity to make connections during a speed-networking session hosted by consulting firm Tenax Strategies. The pair, whos brand is applying for a state license to deliver product, said they attended the conference to establish relationships with cannabis retailers. We met a couple of retailers, exchanged some business cards and it was great because Terp Taxi you know, the foundation is not just serving customers, but also simultaneously serving the retailer, Ginefra said. A buzzing topic among aspiring cannabis business owners revolved around the challenges of securing municipal approval, a crucial step required before applying for an annual state license to open their dispensary. In fact, some have resorted to legal action, filing lawsuits against municipalities and alleging unfair practices at the local level. The states Cannabis Regulatory Commission Chairwoman, Dianna Houenou, addressed this issue and advised individuals seeking municipal approval to ensure their voices are heard on the legislative level and continue to advocate for the industry. Wesley White (left) and Diana Houenou, both of the NJCRC, speaks during the NJCI Fall Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Newark. October 12, 2023Amanda Brown| For NJ Advance Media Ingrain yourself into the community you want to be in, Ellie Siegel, CEO and founder of cannabis consulting firm Longview Strategic said during a session. Dont just show up to the council meetings when your application is up. Jersey Citys Council President Joyce Watterman, the first African American woman elected to this position, provided a perspective on this topic from her role as a member of a city planning board. She was joined by Plainfield City Mayor Adrian Mapp in a session moderated by municipal attorney Ron Mondello and called Talk to The Mayor and Council President: Insights on Municipal Approval. License applicants should take on the role of educating towns about legal weed and destigmatizing the plant if they want to persuade local officials who have chosen to opt out of allowing cannabis businesses in their community, Watterman said. Because the history of cannabis is so negative...we have to put time in educating people, Watterman said. If we start doing it, then other municipalities would change their mind because its just fear. Another hot topic touched on that could impact the future of the market in New Jersey was a recent recommendation made by the Department of Health and Human Service to change the legal status of cannabis to a less restrictive drug category from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. If the recommendation were to be approved, this could open doors for more research on cannabis that could and influence investors to get into the market, said Michael Correia, a D.C. lobbyist with the National Cannabis Industry Association, in a session called Local and Federal Policy: Whats Next for NJs Cannabis Marketplace. For insiders involved in every aspect of the journey toward becoming legal weed business owners, numerous state officials conducted sessions to offer information about available resources and upcoming deadlines. The state Cannabis Regulatory Commission made sure to remind potential candidates that they have began accepting social equity applications for wholesaler, distributor and delivery services licenses. Applications from diversely-owned businesses will open Dec. 27 and all other applicants will be able to apply March 27, officials said. Also, the states Economic Development Authority is planning to launch a new round of cannabis business grant funding tentatively in November, officials said. This $8 million seed equity grant program is available to conditional and annual New Jersey adult-use cannabis license holders. A total of 48 social equity applicants will receive $150,000 to support startup costs. Sometimes people get into this and then they realize that theyre out of money, said Genna Jones, program manager at the Economic Development Authority. The goal of seed equity is to help educate people, help get them started with their businesses and make sure that they have all the right resources. Tauhid Chappell, the newly appointed executive director of the NJBAC Cannabis Training Academy, announced a forthcoming program offering more than 60 online courses for those interested in obtaining an adult-use cannabis license. This free program will launch by April 2024 and aims to equip eligible students social equity, legacy, impact zone, diverse-owned or microbusiness applicants and legacy operators with insights from industry experts, he said. We want to empower yall with the instructors, the experts and mentors that were bringing to the table so that you know what youre getting yourself into to make the right business decisions, Chappell said. NJBACs Tauhid Chappell speaks at the NJCI Fall Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Newark. October 12, 2023Amanda Brown| For NJ Advance Media The event was capped off with an official afterparty in Newark, produced by education company Canademix, which not only celebrated cannabis culture but paid homage to Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring several New Jerseys Latino heavy hitters who made brief remarks. NJ Cannabis Insider is a weekly subscriber-based online trade newsletter and events group produced by NJ Advance Media, which also publishes NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated papers. Nyah Marshall may be reached at Nmarshall@njadvancemedia.com . Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Office of the Attorney General has released body cam footage in the death of a man who suffered a medical episode while in the custody of the New Jersey State Police. Daniel King, 30, of Millville, became unresponsive around 8 p.m. on July 8 while in custody at the State Polices Bridgeton Station in Upper Deerfield. He was being held at the facility after he was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11:37 p.m. the following day, according to an incident report. In body cam footage released on Thursday, King is seen throwing a punch at a state trooper before the trooper takes out his baton and uses it to get him on the ground. Before striking the officer, King is heard in the body cam video taunting him, saying that he plans to sue him and daring him to shoot at him. The Attorney General is investigating the death under state guidelines that call for a review of all deaths that occur during an encounter with members of law enforcement or while a person is in police custody. Trooper Mark Allonardo responded to a home in Fairfield about 7 p.m. on July 8, where he met with King, who had requested an escort to retrieve property from the residence, authorities said. King then became confrontational with the trooper and attempted to assault him. After King struck Allonardo, a struggle between the two occurred and King was eventually apprehended with help from two civilian bystanders and three backup state troopers Zachary Reichenbach, Nicolas Salamone and Arturo Sanchez, officials said. The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Kings cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, pending an investigation by the New Jersey Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com. A 38-year-old man from New Hampshire who traveled to New Jersey last year to sexually abuse a minor and recorded videos of the abuse on his cell phone has pleaded guilty, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Scott Wilkinson entered the guilty plea Friday in New Hampshire federal court on one count each of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material, officials said. Wilkinson traveled from New Hampshire to New Jersey in April 2022, where he engaged in sexual acts with a 12-year-old child, authorities said. He had been corresponding with the child online for approximately one year prior to traveling to New Jersey to meet the minor, officials said. A video that Wilkinson made of himself engaging in sexual acts with the child was found on his cell phone, as were other images and videos of child sexual abuse material, according to court documents. Wilkinson faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for the production of child pornography and could get another 20 years for possession if the court finds he had material of a child under the age of 12. Wilkinson also faces up o $250,000 in fines on each count. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com. So far the only declared candidate in New Jerseys 2025 race for governor, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop on Thursday unveiled his plans to revamp affordable housing in the state if hes elected including a vow to double production of it. The Democrat also promised to address the often-controversial topic with the first legislation he would introduce in his first 100 days in office. A previously convicted felon caught with drugs and a loaded gun in a secret compartment of his vehicle when he was stopped by police in Union County has been sentenced to 19 years in federal prison. Ricky Hubbard, 46, of Newark will also be subject to five years of supervised release after finishing his prison stint, the U.S. Attorneys Office for New Jersey said. Hubbard was arrested on Nov. 6, 2019 after a Union police saw him driving on Route 22 east while talking on his cell phone, pulled him over and noticed a smell of marijuana, according to court papers. In the vehicle, police found a water bottle containing a plastic zip lock bag filled with less than two grams of marijuana and 21 zip lock bags, according to court papers. Officers continued to search the Kia Sedona and noticed a natural void behind the center console, charging documents state. In the hidden area police found a plastic bag containing 241 wax paper folds of heroin and 116 multi-colored jugs of crack cocaine. Later, investigators found a loaded 9mm handgun further down the center console and in the loose paneling around the radio, they uncovered more crack cocaine and heroin. A federal jury in March convicted Hubbard of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. In March 2002, Hubbard was convicted of selling drugs on school property and sentenced to five years in state prison, according to court documents. Then in October 2009 he was convicted of robbery and weapons possession and sentenced to seven years. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. UPDATE: Storm to bring steady rain on Saturday, wind and coastal flooding threat on Sunday A cool, fall weekend is on tap for New Jersey with up to 2 inches of rain Saturday through early Sunday along with 30 mph wind gusts and minor coastal flooding along the Jersey Shore. Forecasters say the rain will move into New Jersey a bit later than expected on Saturday with light precipitation not developing in much of the state around midday. Expect that rain associated with this system will move in west to east mostly around the late morning to early afternoon time frame which is a slightly later start time than it was looking like a day or two ago, the National Weather Services Mount Holly office said in its morning forecast discussion. The rain should then become moderate to heavy at times by late afternoon. The heaviest of the weekend rain in New Jersey is expected to fall late Saturday afternoon and Saturday night.AccuWeather.com Forecasters are calling for winds to gust as high as 30 mph along the Jersey Shore late Saturday into Sunday, which will contribute to minor coastal flooding. Some flooding in areas with poor drainage is also possible. While most areas should wind up with 1 to 1.5 inches of rain, coastal areas of South Jersey might receive as much as 2 inches, the weather service said in forecasting what will be the sixth straight weekend of at least some rain in the state. The heaviest of the rain is likely to fall Saturday night before some clearing Sunday morning on what will be a mainly cloudy day. Some lingering showers remain possible through the day on Sunday, but no heavy precipitation is in the forecast. A period of heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms are possible over the northern Mid-Atlantic Saturday night before cool and blustery north to northwesterly winds rush into the region on Sunday, the National Weather Services said in a Friday national forecast discussion. Daytime highs on Saturday and Sunday are only likely to climb into the upper 50s except in coastal areas of Atlantic and Cape May counties, which should reach the low 60s. Nighttime lows will be in the 40s. Meanwhile, one more pleasant day is ahead on Friday with partly sunny skies and highs in the low to mid 60s. Conditions remain unsettled until the early part of next week with rain chances on Monday and Tuesday on a pair of mostly cloudy, cool days. Current weather radar Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. Is it time to overhaul New Orleans City Charter? Thats a question on which Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the City Council appear to agree, sort of. Both have suggested reviewing City Halls governmental blueprint but, as usual, they dont necessarily agree on how to go about it. The citys nearly 70-year-old charter establishes the offices and agencies of city government and outlines in broad strokes and occasional minute detail the extent and limits of their authority. The current charter was written in 1954, and voters have amended it several dozen times. Then-Mayor Marc Morials charter review commission, created in 1994, was the last to successfully suggest fundamental changes. Voters approved creation of an Ethics Review Board, the Office of Inspector General and various other reforms. Since then, as before, charter changes have come in a piecemeal fashion, typically in response to crises or scandals that triggered a demand for change. The results of a privately commissioned survey of New Orleans voters last May suggests why now might be just the time for another charter review. The survey, conducted by local pollster Ron Faucheux and underwritten by local business leader Jay Lapeyre, found deep and wide levels of voter dissatisfaction with the citys quality of life, safety, direction and management. For example, a whopping 73% of New Orleans voters said the city is off on the wrong track 66% of Black voters and 81% of white voters. Faucheux and Lapeyre recently shared the survey results with several writers and editors at The Times-Picayune and Gambit. Lapeyre noted that he paid for the survey in his individual capacity, not as a member of any business or reform group (he belongs to several). Crime was cited by an overwhelming majority among Black and white voters 81% overall as the top or second-most important issue facing New Orleans. Only 13% felt the city is a safe place to live. Voters also were asked to rate city management as excellent, good, only fair or poor. The first two choices are considered positive; the last two, negative. A whopping 90% gave city management a negative rating. Less than 1% rated city management excellent, whereas 49% gave it poor marks. Perhaps that explains why more than 60% of Black and white, old and young voters feel the basic structure of city government needs to change. An even larger super-majority more than 80% across race and age lines answered yes when asked if the City Council should do a professional study to determine whether the structure of city government should be changed with the goal of improving management and delivery of public services. Along those lines, 61% said New Orleans needs a professional city manager to run daily operations of city government with virtually equal levels of support across all demographics and 70% said the council, not the mayor, should appoint the city manager. Right now almost any alternative looks like an improvement, but city manager governance comes in many forms. Voters support for that concept in the May survey may change if they take a closer look at specific, potential changes in that direction if any arise. At a minimum, the survey results suggest a number of starting points for any discussion of potential charter changes. Interestingly, the council is the only public entity that voters rated positively 46% had a favorable opinion, while 34% answered unfavorable. That suggests voters would be less suspicious of recommendations made by a council-appointed charter review commission than those coming from a mayor-appointed panel. Total Petrochemical USA, foreground, sits just inside the city limits of St. Gabriel and Carville La., in Iberville Parish, photographed Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. According to the company fact sheet, it's the largest polystyrene facility in the world. The state's hydrogen initiative seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from petrochemical plants. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate Houses line the property where Greenfield Louisiana purchased land to build an export grain facility in Wallace, La., on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. On Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, a state judge blocked St. John the Baptist Parish officials from considering a resolution that would restore zoning allowing the terminal to be built on the site. A 1990 ordinance allowing the zoning change was declared void earlier in the month. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate) A billboard paid for by a St. Tammany Parish library supporter was removed Wednesday following complaints made to the owner. Laura Dinapolis, who had paid for six months, said that she is disappointed that the message was silenced. Charlie Pisciotta, 74, a New Orleans buggy driver, keeps his face warm on a cold November day while waiting with his mule for customers in front of Jackson Square in New Orleans this week. He has been driving buggies for 15 years with Royal Carriages. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) South West is urging parents of pre-schoolers to get them booked in with their GP for the nasal spray that protects them against flu. Flu can be a very unpleasant illness in children causing fever, extreme tiredness, aching muscles and joints, stuffy nose, dry cough, and sore throat. Most children are well enough to go back to nursery or school a week after getting sick with flu but for some it can be life-threatening. Children aged between six months and two years with a long-term health condition that makes them at higher risk from flu are also eligible. This includes any child that has ever been admitted overnight to hospital for a lung infection, as well as many children with long term conditions like diabetes. Primary and secondary school students are also eligible for the nasal spray vaccine at school make sure you sign the consent form. A vaccination session will be held at schools during the autumn term and the immunisation team will contact you via the school. For two and three-year-olds, you should receive an invitation for your child to have it at their GP surgery. Parents can also contact them directly to book an appointment. Here are five reasons why your children under five should have the flu vaccine: Protect your child Children under the age of 5 years have the highest rate of hospital admissions due to flu. There were 6000 hospital admissions for flu in under 5s last winter. Vaccination cuts the risk of being hospitalised due to flu by around two-thirds. Having the nasal spray or vaccine will also help protect your child against complications such as pneumonia, and painful ear infections. Protect you, your family, and friends We all know how quickly pre-schoolers can spread their germs! Vaccinating your child will help reduce the chance of others in your family, who could be at greater risk from flu, such as grandparents or those with long term health conditions, getting flu from your child. No injection needed The nasal spray is painless and easy to have. It contains viruses that have been weakened to prevent them from causing flu but will help your child to build up immunity. This means your child will be better able to fight off flu. The vaccine is absorbed really quickly in the nose, so even if your child sneezes immediately after having had the spray, theres no need to worry that it hasnt worked. Its better than having flu The nasal spray helps protect against flu, has been given to millions of children in the UK and worldwide and has an excellent safety record. In the last few years, the protection that children get from vaccination has been consistently higher than for adults. The vaccine is updated each year to match the strain of the flu virus. For this reason, we recommend that your child is vaccinated against flu again this year, even if vaccinated last year. Avoid costs and time off work Juggling a sick child and work is never fun. Vaccinating your pre-schooler isn't just about safeguarding their health; it's also a smart decision for parents. If your child gets flu, you may have to take time off work or arrange alternative childcare. But when your child stays protected from preventable diseases, it means fewer missed workdays for you. The nasal spray vaccine is free on the NHS. Professor Dominic Mellon, Deputy Regional Director for UKHSA South West added: Flu can be more than just an unpleasant illness in children for some an infection is life-threatening, including kids who are normally very active and healthy. Flu vaccines give vital protection not just keeping kids well, but also out of hospital. Each winter thousands of children require treatment in hospital for flu or its complications. Many of these episodes could be prevented by a simple nasal spray. On top of helping to keep your child healthy, the flu vaccine also helps stop the spread of flu in the community helping to protect those who are more vulnerable and the elderly such as grandparents. When you get the electronic or paper consent form from the NHS school immunisation team, please make sure you return it, so your child doesnt miss their nasal spray vaccination session. If you have a pre-schooler who was aged 2 or 3 on the 31st of August, you should make an appointment to get their nasal spray vaccination at your GP practice. For further information about the flu vaccine, please visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/flu-influenza-vaccine/ Little did Adrian Gamble know when he set up a small packaging firm 40 years ago today (October 13, 2023), that it would become one of the UKs leading corrugated businesses. Although Atlas Packaging was recently acquired by Smurfit Kappa, the firm retains its own identity and its hard earned position of being highly regarded within the industry. General manager Jason Sharman, who has been with Atlas since 1992, said: Its a great achievement as Atlas has really punched above its weight over the past 40 years. But weve done that by being innovative, nimble, honest and straight forward with our customers. When I joined the business it was like joining a family and it still has that feel today. When Adrian created the company he had a vision as to where it would go and yes, weve had our ups and downs along the way, but to eventually be acquired by one of the worlds largest packaging companies shows just how far the business has come since it started from a small lock up on the edge of town. Over the past four decades, Atlas Packaging grew from a local start up in Barnstaple into a nationally recognised leader in packaging design and manufacturing. The company has continuously evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of its clients while remaining dedicated to environmental sustainability and community engagement. Jason added: We are thrilled to celebrate 40 years of delivering innovative packaging solutions. This milestone is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our team, the trust of our clients, and our commitment to creating sustainable packaging that helps our clients reduce their environmental footprint and offering support to local charities and good causes. Atlas Packaging has always been at the forefront of sustainability and environmental responsibility. It has a reputation for its innovative use of materials and design to create packaging solutions that minimise waste and environmental impact. As part of an ongoing commitment to sustainability, the company has implemented initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint, such as Solar PV and biomass heating as well as producing 100 per cent recyclable and plastic free packaging. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the business recently held a staff party and invited former members of the Atlas team to come and raise a glass. It was a time to look back at the old photos and look ahead as to where the team will take Atlas in the next 40 years. BONIFAY, Florida The identity of man who was shot and killed after police said he attacked a Holmes County Sheriffs deputy during a traffic stop has been released. According to the Holmes County Sheriffs Office, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at around 2:30 p.m., a deputy initiated a traffic stop on Highway 79 in Bonifay. Upon making contact with the driver, the deputy found the driver could not produce a drivers license and the deputy escorted the individual to his patrol vehicle to verify his identity. During this interaction, the driver, later identified as Thomas Bradley Evans, 58, of Daleville, began getting nervous when the deputy asked if he had any drugs or weapons in his possession. Officials said Evans and the deputy then got into a physical confrontation in which Evans retrieved a weapon and pointed it directly in the deputys face. Fearing for his life, the deputy managed to fire his own weapon, striking and killing Evans. The deputy was unharmed in the incident and will remain on administrative leave until the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the 14th Judicial Circuit Office of the State Attorney complete their investigations. The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind and, if Im being honest, I may be getting a little long in the tooth for whirlwinds. I enjoy travel a great deal, but there are some challenges to it, and between jaunts I tend to forget how confusing some of the simplest things can be. Money, of course, is a constant source of consternation for most people, usually because of the delicate balance between expenses and income. One recent Sunday, we were on a train bound for Prague from Budapest, and spent a few hours sitting across from a fellow whod grown up in Bratislava, lived a while in the United States and Canada, and now works in Cuba. I made a passing remark about needing some local currency upon our arrival in Prague. Why? the fellow asked. Just use a card and tell them to run it as local currency. Youll get a better conversion rate. I get that. But I am greatly uncomfortable without a little scratch in my pocket. And while I had, stashed in various places and pockets among my belongings, a good bit of cash in various currencies Indian rupees, euros, dollars, Hungarian forints, Cambodian riels, Thai baht, a few rubles, and Hong Kong dollars I didnt have any Czech crowns. I learned a long time ago that when you dont have the right money, youre essentially destitute. Years ago, I was in Hong Kong, on the island side, and I needed to be across the harbor to meet some folks on the Kowloon side. I hustled down to the ferry pier as the Star Meridian vessel was pulling in, and had just enough time to get a ticket and board before it pulled out for the cross-harbor journey. A one-way ticket was about $2.50 HK about 33 cents US. I had only a $500 HK note, and slid it through the glass. The Chinese man on the other side began to chitter away angrily and pushed the note back through, waving me off. Times were different then, 30-odd years ago. A trip abroad meant careful planning of monetary logistics. Youd have to purchase travelers checks and then find somewhere to cash them once you got where you were going. In some of the more inhospitable places, thered be a good bit of paperwork involved, and often required some sort of intermediary who surely made the transaction confusing enough that theyd get a good piece off the top. These days, its a good idea to have some local currency, and we usually keep some euros on hand for travel to Europe. We arrived for a layover in Paris at Charles De Gaulle airport, where we went through border control to enter the European Union. I mistakenly thought the euro would do, money-wise, and it did in the airport, where I bought a couple of croissants, some LaDuree macarons and a couple of Cokes sans sucre. But by the time we landed in Budapest, I had a nagging feeling that Id need some local money, so I found an ATM and got a small amount in Hungarian forints. Several days later in Prague, I spent a good while in front of another ATM trying to decipher the exchange rate and determine what I might need. I selected an amount of Czech crowns and followed the directions. Fortunately, the ATM showed me a last-ditch Are you sure? page that explained that the amount of local currency I had selected, along with the transaction fee, would result in the deduction of almost eight thousand dollars from my account. I cancelled the transaction and tried again, this time selecting about 1 percent of what Id originally chosen. It was $80 US, and I still have roughly half of it. Many years ago, when credit cards were just becoming a mainstream sort of thing, I remember riding in the car with my father, and he was waxing philosophic about his predictions on the future of currency. In the future, he hypothesized, cash would be obsolete. Everybody would have a card and would use that to exchange for goods and services. I thought he was crazy, like the time he wrapped a boiled egg in a wad of raw Jimmy Dean sausage and dropped the whole thing in to deep fry. It was nasty, but I later learned its an actual thing called Scotch egg. Turns out he was mostly right about the money, too. Back in the comfort of home, the back of my passport wallet is crammed with various foreign currency, and I dont even want to try to calculate how much money it represents. It would appear I spent next to nothing over a couple of weeks of blasting all over the globe. Then I check my various card accounts and find hotel charges, restaurant charges, Uber charges in the U.S., Bolt charges in Hungary and Czech Republic, charges for paprika, charges for the train, and so on none of which required the exchange of cash. Everything was charged in the local currency, and appears later on the balance sheets as good ol US green. My father did miss the mark on one count, though. Many of these charges didnt require a card at all, just a wave of my watch near a merchants similar device. My father would be astonished. And hed wonder why he didnt think of that. PORTER TOWNSHIP Police say a 42-year-old Crown Point woman on her way to pick up a student at Boone Grove High School Thursday was around three times the legal limit for drinking and driving when she crashed into a ditch outside the school. "I then spoke with Lisa (Batchelder), who appeared extremely emotional and stated she almost died," a responding Porter County police officer wrote in his report. Batchelder initially denied drinking alcohol before driving, but then admitted to consuming a couple glasses of wine, police said. Batchelder was taken to the Porter County Jail and faces several counts of operating while intoxicated, including one of endangering others, records show. Police said they were called to the school at 500 W. Ind. 2 around 7:15 p.m. Thursday and arrived to find the white Ford Escape facing southbound in the grassy area in front of the building. Batchelder reportedly told police she was on her way to pick up a student from practice at the school when she attempted to turn south from County Road 250 South on to Ind. 2. She was unable to navigate the turn and drove off the road into a ditch, nearly striking a concrete culvert, police said. After recognizing signs that Batchelder was intoxicated, police said they tested her for drinking and found her to have the high blood-alcohol concentration. "Lisa was more concerned with attempting to get a ride home," police said of the testing procedure. She was taken to jail instead and the Indiana Department of Child Services was contacted and said a recommendation would be made for an assessment. VALPARAISO A delay has been granted in the trial of a now-18-year-old Shorewood Forest resident accused of shooting and killing an 18-year-old man a year ago, according to court officials. Defense attorney Ken Elwood said he asked to postpone the Nov. 13 trial for Dakota Martinez-Kestle in order to have more time to locate a witness in the case. The delay was granted by Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary DeBoer over the objections of prosecutors, the court said. Martinez-Kestle, who allegedly shot and killed Andrew Lenahan on Oct. 14, 2022 when she was 17, was waived from juvenile to adult court. She faces felony counts of reckless homicide and battery with a deadly weapon, records show. Police say she shot and killed Lenahan at a gathering in a pole barn in the 600 block of West County Road 100 North in Union Township. Driver who hit tree, splitting car in half had been drinking alcohol, Region police say Police said the driver, who is from New Carlisle, told them he could not feel anything and was taken to an area hospital and then transferred to a trauma center in South Bend with a fracture to his upper spine. After three partygoers spent time showing off their handguns while gathered around a bar stocked with various types of alcohol, Martinez-Kestle picked up one of the weapons, according to a charging document. "She did not say anything as she pulled the slide back and chambered a live round," the document reads. "Dakota stepped in front of Andrew and pointed the firearm at his head and pulled the trigger. "The gun fired and struck Andrew, who immediately fell to the ground. Dakota became hysterical and passed out from the shock." Driver 3 times legal limit crashes outside Region high school while picking up student, police say "I then spoke with Lisa (Batchelder), who appeared extremely emotional and stated she almost died," a responding Porter County police officer wrote in his report. Martinez-Kestle then fled on foot with another girl. Lenahan had moved to the Region in July 2022 to pursue a career in pipefitting and welding, according to his mother, Tabitha Lenahan. Elwood has referred to the shooting as "a tragic accident, not a reckless act." Police said the driver, who is from New Carlisle, told them he could not feel anything and was taken to an area hospital and then transferred to a trauma center in South Bend with a fracture to his upper spine. INDIANAPOLIS Judges from around the state were recognized in September for their commitment to continuing their education and for their years of service at an annual judicial conference, according to a press release from the Indiana Judicial Branch. Five judicial officials from Lake County and one from LaPorte County were recognized: Magistrate Robert Boling, Referee Timothy Haraminac, Judge Samuel Cappas, Judge Marissa McDermott, Magistrate Kathleen Belzeski and Magistrate John Link. The pgrams are facilitated through the Office of Court Services, according to the release. Boling, Haraminac and Link received certificates for the Indiana Judicial College, a 120 hour program that enhances legal knowledge and improves personal and professional development, according to the release. Cappas and McDermott completed the Indiana Graduate Program for Judges, which is a "limited attendance educational experience" for trial and appellate judges with coursework designed to deepen their knowledge through an "intensive learning experience." Belzeski was honored for 24 years of service. Trial judges are typically elected to a six-year terms, so judges who receive this honor have likely been elected more than four times, the release said. HAMMOND The Hammond Police Department welcomed four new furry friends Friday. Four German shepherds graduated from a six week training program, which certifies the dogs to go to crime scenes and detect things such as bombs, narcotics and missing people. Four Hammond police officers also graduated from their own six-week training program, which teaches them how to manage the dogs. An officer from the Lake Station Police Department stood with the Hammond Police K-9 handlers, as he also recently graduated from handler training. The officer, Eric Jezierski, said his dog was not out with the others because the dog had recently hurt his back. Though the pups can aid in finding missing people, dogs cannot detect human remains, said Bob Anderson, the owner of K-9 International College in West Palm Beach Florida. They can detect missing people by picking up their scent from an article of their clothing, he added. Anderson said once a dog is trained in narcotic detection, the dog can't switch to bomb or person detection. These four K-9s, named Rocky, Atom, Captain and Grizz, will serve as dual-purpose narcotic dogs. Rockys handler is Officer Xavier Reillo, Atoms handler is Officer Edgar Huerta, Captains handler is Officer Zach Retske and Grizzs handler is Officer Jeramey Sandilla. The dogs will work on patrol with their respective handlers and search buildings and cars for possible narcotics. Retske knew he wanted to become a K-9 handler because he was inspired by his father, he said. Retske said his dad was a police officer and K-9 handler, so he grew up with K-9s around the house and wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps. Reillo said he's always known he wanted to be a K-9 handler because "you get to take your best friend to work." He said the training for prospective K-9 handlers is different every week. Eventually, the handlers and dogs will start running short tracks around the training facility. He described how the training is primarily about forming a good bond with their dog. While Rocky might look intimidating, Reillo said the German Shephard is like a big baby. He said when they go home at night, Rocky loves to cuddle beside him on the couch. Rocky will also steal french fries from him anytime they go through a drive through, Reillo said with a chuckle. Prospective handlers don't get to pick which dog they manage, they are assigned to them. The dogs also come with their names. Officers don't name them. Reillo said he got lucky with his assignment, because "we have the same personality." CROWN POINT Parents who also are students attending the medical career training programs at the University of Saint Francis soon will have more child care options and perhaps one fewer roadblock to earning their degree. The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded a grant totaling $65,700 to the Crown Point university to connect students with local, high-quality child care in the hope of improving student recruitment, retention and graduation rates. Lance Richey, University of Saint Francis interim president, said the federal Child Care Access Means Parents in School program grant will be a "huge benefit" to USF Crown Point students working to complete their education while managing their child care needs. "We continue to seek ways to put our students in the best possible position for success. This assistance in child care for our students who are parents is greatly appreciated," Richey said. U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, who helps shape federal spending as the congressman for Lake, Porter and northwest LaPorte counties, applauded USF's efforts to expand child care access and make essential job training programs more accessible to more Region residents. "I am grateful to the leaders of the University of Saint Francis for their efforts to successfully obtain this federal resource to assist students who are parents," Mrvan said. "I look forward to continuing to work to ensure that all individuals throughout Northwest Indiana have opportunities to thrive and succeed in their educational pursuits." Last year, Mrvan secured another $225,000 in federal funds to equip a nursing simulation lab and ultrasound lab in the new health professionals training facility at USF. USF Crown Point is a regional campus of the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, a Catholic institution sponsored by the Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration in Mishawaka. Northwest Indiana 2023 early voting sites, hours Lake County Government Center, 2293 N. Main St., Crown Point Judge Lorenzo Arredondo Justice Center, 3711 Main St., East Chicago Gary Public Library, 220 W. 5th Ave., Gary Lake County Courthouse, 232 Russell St., Hammond Hobart Police and Community Center, 705 E. 4th St., Hobart Lowell Town Hall, 501 E. Main St., Lowell Munster Town Hall, 1005 Ridge Rd., Munster Schererville Town Hall, 10 E. Joliet St., Schererville St. John Township Assessor's Office, 9157 Wicker Ave., St. John Wicker Park Social Center, 8554 Indianapolis Blvd., Highland Winfield Government Center, 10645 Randolph St., Winfield Porter County Administration Building, 155 Indiana Ave., Valparaiso North Porter County Government Complex, 3560 Willowcreek Road, Portage Valparaiso Fire Training Center, 355 Evans Ave., Valparaiso Chesterton Town Hall, 790 Broadway, Chesterton State Street Community Church, 209 State St., LaPorte LaPorte County Office Complex, 302 W. 8th St., Michigan City Indiana, Illinois and Michigan are landing $1 billion in funding for a Midwest Hydrogen Hub that could safeguard the future of local industry in a world that aims to eliminate carbon emissions. The U.S. Department of Energy announced it would fund the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, or MachH2, hub, intended to create many sources of hydrogen production, including at the BP Whiting Refinery. The hydrogen could then be used at local steel mills to cut down on carbon emissions. Todays announcement marks the very beginning of a new era in steel production," said Cleveland-Cliffs Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves. "With Clean Hydrogen in our backyard, Cliffs hydrogen-ready blast furnaces and Direct Reduction plant will be first in the world to replace CO2 with a new byproduct that does not contribute to global warming: this new byproduct will be H20." "Furthermore," Goncalves said, "Cliffs willingness and ability to offtake a significant portion of the entire production of the hub eliminates the chicken-and-egg dilemma associated with clean hydrogen development and, in doing so, makes hydrogen viable for other industries, including the automotive sector. Cleveland-Cliffs appreciates the efforts of Congressman Frank Mrvan and U.S. Senator Todd Young in advocating for this major clean energy investment. The MachH2 hub is expected to create 13,600 jobs, including 12,100 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs. It's expected to generate hydrogen for steelmaking, refining, sustainable aviation fuel, glass production, power generation and heavy-duty transportation. BP officials have said the hub could bring more jobs to the BP Whiting Refinery, which would make hydrogen to help steel mills and other local industries get to zero emissions by 2050 in keeping with global goals to combat climate change. We are thrilled that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded this grant to the MachH2 coalition, said Tomeka McLeod, BP vice presidentU.S. Hydrogen and CCS. Our proposed Midwest hydrogen hub can help decarbonize Americas industrial heartland while enhancing Indianas economy, creating jobs and attracting new businesses and investments to the state. Governor Holcomb and the Indiana state legislature thankfully had the foresight last year to create a policy framework that allows us to seize this historic opportunity, and we are excited to do our part in making the Midwest hydrogen hub a reality. Purdue University Northwest, which has worked closely with industry on similar projects, also said it will play a prominent role in the hydrogen hub, which will use green energy-powered electrolysis technology to separate hydrogen and oxygen in water, resulting in clean hydrogen. We at PNW are extremely proud to be part of this ground-breaking initiative that will improve the quality of life for communities throughout Northwest Indiana, the Midwest, and the country. This will also provide economic opportunities through new applications of technology that will create jobs and industrial innovations, said Purdue Northwest Chancellor Thomas Keon. The longtime efforts by CIVS, led by Dr. Chenn Zhou, to support decarbonization while improving steelmaking and other industrial processes, will continue to accelerate through the research led by Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation faculty and students. Zhou, the NIPSCO Distinguished Professor of Engineering Simulation at PNW and the founding director of CIVS, will be involved in both the research and the workforce development in the regional initiative to produce clean hydrogen. We are truly grateful to the many partners in MachH2 for making the vision to develop a Midwest Hydrogen Hub a reality, Zhou said. Our CIVS faculty and student researchers are excited to work with our industrial and research associates and community organizations to develop technology that will result in significant economic benefits for our regional communities and beyond. This project is projected to create thousands of jobs, improve air quality and advance regional and national sustainability goals. This furthers the wide-ranging impact of CIVS in developing innovative solutions for industry. The Department of Energy expects the hydrogen hubs will reduce an estimated 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions or roughly the same as 5.5 million gas-powered cars. This is a historic day for MachH2 and the entire Midwest, said Dorothy Davidson, CEO of MachH2. Our hub and the region bring an unparalleled supply of clean energy, significant regional hydrogen demand, heavy industry, and an ideal location at the crossroads of America all of which was recognized by the DOEs selection of MachH2. Our hub will scale the production and delivery of abundant, reliable, and increasingly affordable clean hydrogen to support our national climate goals in the coming decade, all while creating jobs and lifting up underrepresented communities that have been overburdened by pollution. The regional coalition behind MachH2 consists of more than 70 public and private entities. It includes BP, NiSource, ArcelorMittal, Purdue University Northwest, the state of Indiana, the state of Illinois, the Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago State University, ComEd, the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, Governors State University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, Nicor Gas, Northwestern University, Missouri University of Science and Technology and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Together, they landed a share of the $65 billion the Department of Energy is investing in clean energy as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. Todays announcement is a win for Indiana and the entire Midwest," U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, said. "This investment in Indianas hydrogen ecosystem will mean more opportunities for our Hoosier workforce and higher education system. This is exciting news and another example of how Hoosiers are leading the way in innovation, and I congratulate the entire MachH2 team. The administration awarded $7 billion to seven different hydrogen hubs across the country to jumpstart more hydrogen production that would help many hard-to-decarbonize industries go green. It's expected to spur more than $40 billion in private sector investment and create tens of thousands of new jobs across the country. The administration estimates at least 40% of the benefits of the investment will flow to "disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution." We are ecstatic that Indiana is a beneficiary of this monumental investment, Gov. Eric Holcomb said. This funding has the potential to support the unprecedented economic investment proposed by BP that will cement Indianas pole position in the new energy economy. This grant could propel forward this project as a critical piece of this new hydrogen ecosystem." The steel industry is especially pinning its decarbonization hopes on hydrogen as an alternative to the coke that's traditionally been burned in blast furnaces to make the iron that's turned into steel. Cleveland-Cliffs is building a pipeline to Blast Furnace No. 7 in East Chicago. Purdue University Northwest's Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation is studying how to use hydrogen in reheating furnaces at steel mills. Given the historical generations of Northwest Indianas incredible workforce and members of organized labor, manufacturing prowess and ability to collaborate, we have known the inherent value of this application since day one and its impact to create intergenerational jobs opportunities for our workforce," U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, said. "We would not have achieved this success without the dedicated initiative of Governor Holcomb, Senator Young, all the members of our Indiana Congressional delegation, and all of the industry partners. Let us continue to move forward with all urgency to build upon this historic achievement to grow our economy with new clean-energy jobs. Hydrogen is being touted as a substitute for fossil fuels like coal, coke and natural gas as it does not emit carbon. Unlocking the full potential of hydrogen a versatile fuel that can be made from almost any energy resource in virtually every part of the countryis crucial to achieving President Bidens goal of American industry powered by American clean energy, ensuring less volatility and more affordable clean energy options for American families and businesses, said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. With this historic investment, the Biden-Harris Administration is laying the foundation for a new, American-led industry that will propel the global clean energy transition while creating high quality jobs and delivering healthier communities in every pocket of the nation. Like the other hydrogen hubs that won federal funding, MachH2 is a regional bid that includes Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and institutions from other Midwestern states like Wisconsin and Missouri. The separate Indiana-led Midwest Hydrogen Corridor Consortium joined up earlier this year with the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen to collectively create a stronger bid. I couldnt be prouder that once again, Illinois and the Midwest will be leading the way in equity-conscious clean energy development through the construction of a major hydrogen production and distribution hub, said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. When I signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in 2019, it was with this sort of collaborative, economically sound manufacturing and expansion in mind, and we are seeing the results of those efforts play out every day. Were grateful that the Biden administration has recognized our regional strength in workforce, education, and innovation, and look forward to working with MachH2 and our neighboring states to continue this project. Chris Chyung, the executive director of Indiana Conservation Voters, said it was important that the funds be administered judiciously to reduce industrial pollution as much as possible. President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law could be a game-changer for Hoosiers, but now comes the hard part: implementing programs like hydrogen hubs to ensure emissions reductions, create high-road jobs, and benefit disadvantaged communities," he said. MachH2 and its supporting entities must engage with stakeholders across Indiana in order to create the cleanest, most economical, and smartest options in the production and use of hydrogen, such as for supporting our steel economy. Indiana Conservation Voters and our partners look forward to bridging divides between industry, workers, and the environment now that MachH2 has been awarded federal funding. The largest federal research grant in the history of Purdue University Northwest will help Region steel mills have a future as the world works to phase out carbon emissions. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded nearly $10 million to the Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation at Purdue University Northwest in Hammond for a project that will help steelmakers cut back on greenhouse gas emissions and make progress toward a goal of net zero by 2050. CIVS plans to research a hydrogen-fired continuous reheating furnace operation that could be adopted across the steel industry. The project has the potential to "change the steel industry forever." We thank the Department of Energy, our project partners and PNW leadership for supporting this important project, which is expected to make positive impacts to our region and nation, said Chenn Zhou, NIPSCO distinguished professor of engineering simulation at PNW and founding director of CIVS, in a news release. Our CIVS faculty and student researchers are excited to begin, and are looking forward to collaborating with our industrial and research partners to develop and demonstrate the technology to improve the U.S. steel industrys global competitiveness and reduce carbon emissions. Zhou's collaborations with the private sector have greatly benefited the local steel industry and Calumet Region economy, said Mark Lopez, a senior advisor to U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan. "It's a good day in Northwest Indiana," Lopez said. "To suggest that she's a gem would be an understatement. She's a gem not just for Northwest Indiana but for the nation. Her work has borne great fruit for the Region." CIVS makes virtual reality simulations of steel mills and other facilities, plugging in real-world data from companies in order to streamline or improve upon manufacturing processes. Its simulations allow for the deployment of new technology without huge capital expenses, lengthy trials or worries about reliability, as they troubleshoot operational issues upfront through sophisticated computer modeling that factors in countless variables. The research facility helps make companies more efficient, use less energy and be more environmentally friendly. It lets them improve operations with confidence and without trial and error in sectors like steel where reliability and volume are key. Blast furnaces for instance typically burn around the clock because it's too costly and time-consuming to shut them down and start them back up for anything other than a major maintenance project like a reline of the refractory brick. On its latest venture, CIVS is partnering with Argonne National Laboratory, Cleveland-Cliffs, Gerdau, Linde, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Steel Manufacturing Simulation and Visualization Consortium on the project. It's being funded through a federal initiative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. I am grateful for the continued leadership of Purdue Northwests invaluable Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation and this outstanding partnership with the Department of Energy, said Mrvan in the university's news release. Let us continue to build on this momentum to show how Northwest Indiana is the example of how we can create at the same time both a greener future and more economic opportunities. CIVS is looking to help heavy industry decarbonize by developing how a reheating furnace could operate with a mix of hydrogen and natural gas. It will use its virtual reality simulations and visualization technology to come up with a new working model for the reheating furnaces, which heat steel blooms, billets or slabs in steel rolling mills. Traditionally, the U.S. industrial sector is one of the most difficult to decarbonize across our economy, said DOE Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Jeff Marootian. This project will demonstrate how we can curb those emissions with clean hydrogen, potentially changing the U.S. steel industry forever. Avi Shultz, director of the U.S. Department of Energys Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, said it was crucial to decarbonize the steel industry as it's one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. "It's critically important we get to zero emissions. This is a pivotal moment nationally. The steel industry will be the backbone of the green economy with electric vehicles, wind turbines, buildings and transportation infrastructure," he said. "The Department of Energy believes it must be American-made steel. But iron and steel production accounts for 7% of carbon emissions and that's just not sustainable." The Department of Energy is investing $135 million into more than 40 projects across the United States. The CIVS research project could be applied to the more than 80 steel reheating furnaces across the United States, including in Northwest Indiana. An important part of PNWs role in Northwest Indiana is to partner on impactful research that will improve the quality of life for its neighboring communities, PNW Chancellor Thomas Keon said. This project will contribute to the significant nationwide effort to develop clean energy solutions for major industrial sectors. To be recognized among other leading universities and research centers is a testament to the outcomes provided by PNWs faculty and the CIVS team. Purdue Northwest will do a life cycle analysis that will determine the benefits of hydrogen and create an integrated virtual reheating furnace that will lay out pathways to obtaining no carbon emissions. Reheating furnaces in hot strip mills currently burn natural gas, generating an estimated 200 kg of carbon dioxide per ton of steel. The project for a hydrogen-fired reheat furnace will be of vital interest to the entire steelmaking industry, said Ronald Ashburn, executive director of the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, in a press release. CIVS has landed more than $37 million in grants over the years. It's worked with more than 180 partners, including many of the Region's largest companies, on more than 420 projects since 2009. It's saved steelmakers an estimated $40 million a year after coming up with ways to optimize the steelmaking process to save energy. CIVS also previously landed a $7 million Department of Energy Group to create an Integrated Virtual Blast Furnace that is being used to figure out how to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency. CIVS delivers extraordinary outcomes for industry partners through its significant technological tools and impactful research, said PNW Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Kenneth C. Holford. The CIVS team repeatedly demonstrates how partnering with high-quality resources at a metropolitan university can move key industrial sectors forward for long-lasting results in terms of their production and the surrounding environment. Its history shows industry partners keep returning to consult with the knowledgeable team members for expertise in optimizing their operations. Vietnam-China relations have reached their highest level ever in many fields of cooperation and more opportunities to develop the ties await, said Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo. "After 15 years of establishing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, relations between Vietnam and China are stable and well-developed," Bo said during a press conference in Hanoi on Friday. "I think cooperation between the two countries has reached the highest level in history." According to Bo, the political trust between the leaders of the two Parties clearly demonstrates his point. He said the two countries constant strengthening and deepening of their relationship has been steadfastly and enthusiastically supported by both sides on important political agendas. The two countries have also increased high-level meetings, of which the visit of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong to China last year after the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was apparent proof. "General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was the first foreign leader that China invited and officially welcomed immediately after the 20th Congress. This was a visit of historical significance," Bo said. Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo at a press conference in Hanoi on Oct. 13, 2023. Photo by Chinese Embassy in Vietnam During the visit, the two sides issued a 13-point joint statement, including strategic contents that guide the continued comprehensive development of relations between the two countries in the coming time. Since the beginning of this year, leaders of the two sides have continued to maintain regular exchanges and contacts, Bo said. President Vo Van Thuong will lead a Vietnamese delegation to China to attend the Belt and Road Forum from Oct. 17-20 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. In addition to improving political trust, Vietnam and China have also strengthened investment, economic and trade cooperation, which Bo said has been important for the development of each country. China maintains its position as Vietnam's largest trading partner and Vietnam is also China's largest trading partner in ASEAN. Vietnam is China's fourth-largest trading partner by single country, after the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. In 2022, Vietnam-China import and export turnover reached $175.56 billion, an increase of 5.47%. In the first nine months of 2023, Vietnam's total import-export turnover with China reached $122 billion. This year, Chinas investment in Vietnam reached nearly $2.1 billion thanks to 478 projects, making it Vietnams second largest FDI investor after Singapore. Last year, China ranked third. China has been leading the number of tourists to Vietnam for many years, of which in 2019 the number reached more than 5.8 million, accounting for one-third of the total international visitors to Vietnam. After the Covid-19 pandemic, travel between people of the two countries has been recovering rapidly. Since the beginning of the year, the number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam has exceeded one million. Bo assessed that the development potential in this field is still very large because the number of opportunities for travel and meetings between people of the two countries has increased after Covid-19 was put under control. Ambassador Bo said that another highlight of the Vietnam-China relationship is the constant coordination, exchange and cooperation in regional and international issues. According to Bo, Vietnam and China are two socialist countries and two developing economies that share important interests in international issues within the framework of the United Nations and multilateral economic regimes. "China respects and supports Vietnam in continuing to promote its important and constructive role in regional and international issues," the Chinese ambassador said. Bo also said that the relationship between the two countries does indeed face a number of challenges as well. These challenges come mainly from other regions, as the world is experiencing many changes, including new conflicts and wars, for example, the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. He said that amid these conflicts, all countries want peace to develop and cooperate together. Therefore, the stable situation in Asia-Pacific can help the region become a main engine for world economic growth. "This is a very important opportunity. Emerging economies in the region, including China and Vietnam, now wield increasing influence and stronger voices," Bo added. He said that overall, Vietnam-China relations "have more opportunities than challenges" because the foundation of their friendship has been and is currently increasingly solidified as the trust between the leaders of both sides brings development opportunities to the two nations. "The modernization path of the two countries can definitely become an example for developing countries," Bo said. "China is ready to walk firm with Vietnam, strengthen mutual support and move forward." A New Chicago man convicted last year of three counts of child molesting is not entitled to a new trial merely because the jury saw him wearing jail clothing when it viewed a video recording of a pretrial hearing, the Indiana Court of Appeals said Thursday. William B. Barclay, 78, was sentenced in January to 77 years in prison after being found guilty of molesting a 4-year-old girl in June 2020 while she was attending a party at a Crown Point home, and for repeatedly molesting another girl when she was between ages 4 and 7, according to court records. Barclay argued in his appeal that the jury viewing him in jail clothing violated his right to due process under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because courts consistently have held that compelling a defendant to wear jail clothing at trial may affect the jury's required presumption of innocence. The Indiana Court of Appeals, however, distinguished Barclay's case from that precedent. It noted Barclay only was seen in jail clothing for 38 minutes while the pretrial hearing video played at Barclay's request on one day of his four-day jury trial. The court also observed that Barclay was not compelled to wear jail clothing during the pretrial hearing, and there's no record of Barclay objecting to wearing jail clothing during the hearing. "Barclay has failed in his burden of establishing that the state compelled his wearing of jail attire at the videotaped hearing," the appeals court said. Even if Barclay had proved compulsion, the three-judge appellate panel said any error was cured by Lake Superior Judge Salvador Vasquez instructing the jury not to consider Barclay's jail clothing both generally and during its deliberations on Barclay's guilt. In any case, records show the jury already knew before viewing the video that Barclay was jailed prior to trial because it heard three recorded phone calls Barclay made while jailed admitting to sexual activity with the children but blaming them for initiating it. "The evidence against Barclay was overwhelming and further cements our view that any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt," the appeals court said. "We affirm the trial courts judgment." Barclay still can ask the Indiana Supreme Court to consider reviewing his case. Otherwise, he's almost certain to die in prison as his earliest possible release date, assuming good behavior, is in January 2081 when Barclay will be 135 years old, according to the Department of Correction. Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Tara Smith Javier Verdin-Gonzalez Jerrell Peterson Iris Rivera De Luna Paul King Kenneth McCeader Fred Myers Paige Perry Jordan Ivy Paola Gonzalez Kimberly Harris Roy Hunt Jr. Zion Ellis Josiah Flowers Malik Cook-Bey Marlon Davis Gabriel Bastida Aguilera Alexander Alvarez Aalayah Wright Christine Waddell Daniel Toms Kevin Williams Jr. Dayshann Smith Daniel Swets John Tacuri-Cuji Erin Sexton Saleh Mugalli Derrick Musgrave Joel Montejano Keadrick Morris Jose Mendoza Fred Montejano Desmond Davis Derrick Glade Mariah Gonzalez Djuan Chism Sean Bush John White Jr. Allen Willis Joseph Szilagyi Michelle Velez Jhoan Villomizar Jeffery Stodola Erica Stone Janet Hertzfeldt Stephan Hintz Devonte Lewis Deja Miller Steven Einikis Gabriel Garcia Fraire Marco Aguirre Jeremy Brown Donta Davis Joseph Rodriguez William Rogers Marylou Rohrbacher Jahmal Perkins Helen Reynolds Jamilla Moore Aaron Novak Nicholas Drugan Matthew Juknius Tyron Kennedy Mirlan Kojobaev John Mayes Noel Castro Michael Bryant Jr. Anthony Bennett Everybody who writes draws sustenance and fuel from earliest memories, and the things that changed you or touched you or thrilled you in your childhood. I was read the Greek myths by my visionary parents, and when I could read on my own, I continued to read them. The figures of the gods and heroes were more vivid to me than the other little children on the block in Long Island. It wasnt as though I was drawing on something acquired late in life to give my work some kind of varnish of learning. These were my bedtime stories. And certain stories particularly resonated with me, especially Persephone, and Ive been writing about her on and off for 50 years. And I think I was as much caught up in a struggle with my mother, as ambitious girls often are. I think that particular myth gave a new aspect to those struggles. I dont mean it was useful in my daily life. When I wrote, instead of complaining about my mother, I could complain about Demeter. Some have compared your work to Sylvia Plath and described your verses as confessional and intimate. To what extent have you drawn on your own experience in your work, and to what extent are you exploring universal human themes? You always draw on your own experience because its the material of your life, starting with your childhood. But I look for archetypal experience, and I assume that my struggles and joys are not unique. They feel unique as you experience them, but Im not interested in making the spotlight fall on myself and my particular life, but instead on the struggles and joys of humans, who are born and then forced to exit. I think I write about mortality because it was a terrible shock to me to discover in childhood that you dont get this forever. Youve experimented with different poetic forms in the course of your career, though your voice has remained distinct. Has that been a deliberate, conscious effort to push yourself by trying different forms? Yes, all the time. Youre writing to be an adventurer. I want to be taken somewhere I know nothing about. I want to be a stranger to a territory. One of the few good things to say about old age is that you have a new experience. Diminishment is not everybodys most anticipated joy, but there is news in this situation. And that, for a poet or writer, is invaluable. I think you have always to be surprised and to be, in a way, a beginner again, otherwise I would bore myself to tears. And there have been times when I have, when Ive thought, you know, you wrote that poem. Its a very nice poem, but you already wrote it. She began taking poetry workshops around that time, and attended Sarah Lawrence College and later Columbia University, where she studied with the poet Stanley Kunitz. She supported herself by working as a secretary so that she could write on the side. In 1968, she published her first collection, Firstborn. While her debut was well received by critics, she wrestled with writers block afterward and took a teaching position at Goddard College in Vermont. Working with students inspired her to start writing again, and she went on to publish a dozen volumes of poetry. In much of her work, Gluck draws inspiration from mythological figures. In her 1996 collection, Meadowlands, she weaves together the figures of Odysseus and Penelope from Homers Odyssey with the story of the dissolution of a modern-day marriage. In her 2006 collection, Averno, she used the myth of Persephone as a lens to mother-daughter relationships, suffering, aging and death. Glucks verses often reflect her preoccupation with dark themes isolation, betrayal, fractured family and marital relationships, death. But her spare, distilled language, and her frequent recourse to familiar mythological figures, gives her poetry a universal and timeless feel, said the critic and writer Daniel Mendelsohn, the editor at large for The New York Review of Books. When you read her poems about these difficult things, you feel cleansed rather than depressed, he said. This is one of the purest poetic sensibilities in world literature right now. Its a kind of absolute poetry, poetry with no gimmicks, no pandering to fads or trends. It has the quality of something standing almost as outside of time. Getting from the northern German city of Kiel to the South Pacific is a schlep no matter what. By commercial air, it takes about two days and several connecting flights. But Gianluca Grimalda, an Italian social scientist, opted to make the trip much, much longer when he set out from Kiel to Papua New Guinea on a research trip earlier this year. To journey the 14,038 miles, he took five trains, nine buses, two ferries, two taxis, one shared car, one police convoy and, when there were no other options, two flights. Dr. Grimalda did this out of concern for the climate, wanting to generate as few planet-heating emissions as possible, even though the whole trip took 35 days. But he said his plan to journey back to Kiel much the same way cost him his job. On Wednesday, Dr. Grimalda said he was being fired from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank, after refusing to take transcontinental flights back from Papua New Guinea. Over a year ago, The New York Times put out a call for teenagers who, with their parents permission, would let a reporter write about them. Of the hundreds who responded, three girls from three states Addi, Anna and London became the subjects. They kept diaries, sent text messages and recorded voice memos about their days. Perhaps most important, they let a Times reporter, Jessica Bennett, see what was on their phones the videos they watched, as well as the direct messages and texts they exchanged. The result is a vivid, multimedia look at what its like to be 13 today, at a time of dire headlines about what social media is doing to teenage brains. One piece of advice from the series: Instead of banning teenagers from social media, try talking about it with them. Teenagers want adults to listen to them, and to create an open environment for discussing both the benefits and the drawbacks of life online. Thats where we come in. If youre new to The Learning Network, were a free resource to help people teach and learn with the news. Every school day, we post a discussion forum about something in The Times, and teenagers around the world contribute their thoughts. For this one, however, were inviting comments from teenagers and adults alike. Anyone who is 13 or older is invited to contribute to what we hope will be an interesting and lively intergenerational conversation about these issues. Lesson Overview Featured Article: Being 13 by Jessica Bennett Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents Kids Are Using Social Media More Than Ever, Study Finds Does Your Child Have an Unhealthy Relationship to Social Media? Heres How to Tell. How to Wean a Teen Off Social Media Social Media Use Is Linked to Brain Changes in Teens, Research Finds These are just a few recent headlines from New York Times articles that warn about the potential dangers of social media for young people. But what is it really like to be a teenage girl with a phone? What happens when apps and smartphones collide with puberty, self-consciousness, angst, sexuality and eighth-grade geometry? Those are the questions that the Times writer Jessica Bennett set out to answer. To do so, she followed three girls from three states: Addi, Anna and London. She collected diaries, text messages and voice memos about their days to present an intimate and powerful portrait of what life is like for teenage girls in the era of social media. In this lesson, students will explore this media-rich interactive and the effects of digital life on adolescents. They will consider how the issues it raises resonate in their own lives. Then they are invited to use our related forum, 13 Conversation Starters Inspired by Being 13, to go deeper via discussion with parents, teachers, friends and relatives. Finally, they will look at a range of recommendations for building healthy phone and social media habits, try out some of them and reflect on what happens as a result. Now, the governor has accused some hospitals which she did not identify of purposefully resisting government directives to reopen psychiatric beds. Ms. Hochul said she thought this was happening because hospital administrators believed that psychiatric care did not generate as much revenue as other lines of service did. Heres whats at stake: peoples lives, she said, adding that restoring hospital beds would allow more homeless people with severe mental illness to get treatment, and would leave other people feeling safer. At issue are the number of hospital beds available for short-term psychiatric hospitalizations for people in the midst of a psychotic episode. At present, a shortage of beds in New York City means that psychiatrists often have difficulty finding a psychiatric ward with space to admit new patients. The result, hospital psychiatrists say, is that many people who have had a psychotic episode end up being discharged after a few days in a crowded emergency room, without the benefit of inpatient hospitalization for two or so weeks during which a new medication or dosage might be tried. Finding the right antipsychotic drug to treat someones schizophrenia, for example, can be a slow process with a fair amount of trial-and-error. Though the shortage of psychiatric beds in New York City is decades in the making, it has grown especially acute in recent years. Many hospitals closed psychiatric wards early in the pandemic to make room for a crushing surge of Covid patients during the first wave of illness in the spring of 2020. But in the intervening three years, only some of those units have been brought back online. A week after a fatal car crash involving the soon-to-be wife of Senator Robert Menendez, a prosecutors office in New Jersey filed an official account of the incident that contained apparent factual errors quickly noted by relatives of the pedestrian who was killed. But the seven-page report, which concluded that the driver, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, should not be charged, was never corrected raising new questions about whether the incident was handled properly by the authorities. Investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutors office incorrectly described key elements of how the December 2018 crash in Bogota, N.J., took place. They bolstered the conclusion that she was not at fault, writing that the pedestrian, Richard Koop, stepped into a busy thoroughfare going south from behind a parked car, which may have obstructed his view, as well as that of the driver of the Mercedes-Benz. It is my opinion that the driver of the Mercedes-Benz could not avoid the collision with the pedestrian attempting to cross the roadway, the lead investigator, Dennis DeAngelis, wrote on Dec. 20, according to a copy of the report obtained by The New York Times through a public records request. Throughout this horrible week, my mind has repeatedly flashed back to Dec. 23, 2000. That was the day the Palestinians were offered a path to having their own nation on roughly 95 percent of the land in the West Bank and 100 percent of the land in the Gaza Strip. Under that outline, Israel would also swap some of its own land to compensate the Palestinians in exchange for maintaining 80 percent of its settler presence in the West Bank. The Palestinians would control, in President Bill Clintons formulation, Arab areas of East Jerusalem. And on the most sensitive religious sites, there would have been divided sovereignty or jurisdiction, with Palestinians controlling the Haram al-Sharif (including the Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques) and Israel controlling the Western Wall and the holy space of which it is a part. There would also be a return of many refugees into the new Palestinian state (without the right of return to Israel itself). There were a million complexities and many errors made by the Israeli, Palestinian and American sides along the way. But this offer pointed the way to the sort of fair solution negotiators had been struggling their way toward for years. It is hard to see this kind of option ever being on the table again. And the Palestinians let it slip away. This memory comes hauntingly back because the misery that Palestinians and Israelis are now enduring did not have to happen. They could have reached some kind of moderately effective arrangement, which would have given the two nations a chance to pursue their own destinies. Depending on where you fall on the scale from extremely superstitious to not at all, Friday may be the most frightful day of your year. Its the 13th. Its Friday the 13th. Its Friday the 13th in October, the spookiest month of all. The superstition that the date is unlucky is widespread in Western culture. It has inspired a horror movie franchise, a novel and even a treatise from Stephen King. Building developers and hoteliers have been known to avoid labeling the 13th floor as such, some airlines dont have a Row 13, and couples have avoided marrying on a Friday if it falls on the 13th. But rest assured: There isnt any reason to be spooked. Blame it on Loki. While the exact roots are murky, historians say there are several theories as to why fear of this specific date took hold in parts of Europe and North America. The No. 13 has long been linked to ill fortune in mythology and religion. In one Norse tale, a dinner party of 12 gods derails when Loki, the god of mischief, shows up uninvited. The number also represents betrayal at the biblical Last Supper that Jesus shares with his disciples, with Judas Iscariot joining as the 13th guest. Scoot, Jetstar and Singapore Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at Singapore's Changi Airport, Singapore January 18, 2021. Photo by Reuters A flight operated by budget carrier Scoot was escorted back to Singapore by fighter jets due to a bomb threat on Thursday, the airline said in a statement. Scoot flight TR16 to Perth departed Singapore at 4:11 p.m. (0811 GMT). But about one hour into the flight, "a precautionary decision was made to turn the aircraft back to Singapore due to a bomb threat," Scoot, the budget arm of Singapore Airlines, said in the statement. "The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was activated to escort the aircraft back to Changi Airport. Emergency services were also activated," the airline added. Scoot said the flight landed safely about two hours after takeoff, and security checks were carried out. The airline said it was assisting authorities with investigations but said it was unable to provide additional details as "this is a security matter." A Colorado jury split its decision in the 2019 death of a young, unarmed Black man, convicting one police officer but acquitting the other on Thursday afternoon, in a case that drew national attention after the murder of George Floyd. A mostly white jury of seven men and five women deliberated for just over two days following the three-week trial against Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt, for the death of Elijah McClain. But jurors found only Mr. Roedema, 41, guilty of criminally negligent homicide and assault. Both officers who were tried together had been charged with both crimes, as well as manslaughter. Mr. Roedema will be sentenced on Jan. 5. First responders, including the police and paramedics, had placed Mr. McClain, 23, in a chokehold during a confrontation in Aurora, Colo., and injected him with a powerful sedative. He died in the hospital several days later. Three police officers and two paramedics were charged in his death, and are being tried in three separate trials. The joint trial of Mr. Roedema and Mr. Rosenblatt was the first. An Oklahoma judge who exchanged 500 text messages with her bailiff during a murder trial mocking the physical appearance of lawyers, jurors and witnesses and deriding prosecutors should be removed from the bench, the states top judge said. In a court filing on Tuesday, M. John Kane IV, the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, recommended the removal of Traci Soderstrom, who was elected as district judge in Lincoln County in November and took the bench in January. Judge Soderstrom, 50, was presiding over a murder trial that began on June 7 when she put her personal cellphone in her lap, out of the view of others in the courtroom, and texted continuously back and forth with the bailiff, according to Chief Justice Kanes petition. Judge Soderstrom and the bailiff called murder trial witnesses liars, admired the looks of a police officer who was testifying, disparaged the local defense bar, expressed bias in favor of the defendant and displayed gross partiality against the state, Chief Justice Kane wrote. Not long ago, Donald J. Trump occupied enormous psychological space in Israel and among American Jews: His face draped skyscrapers alongside Benjamin Netanyahus during Israeli elections, and his politics drove a wedge between the Democratic Party and the Jews who have long called it their political home. But it is President Bidens face that now beams from a billboard over the main highway through Tel Aviv, and Mr. Trumps criticism of Israels leaders that has left even Israeli conservatives stunned. The president is suddenly finding warm embraces for his response to the worst terrorist attack in the Jewish States history in the most unlikely places. This will sound surprising, but by and large, the president has shown tremendous support, unwavering support, for Israel at a critical time, said Matt Brooks, the longtime head of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group with close institutional ties to the G.O.P. and to some of its biggest donors. Can we quibble on aspects of policy differences, over Irans complicity, for instance? Sure. But by and large, the American people and the international community have seen a president who has stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel. Inside a convenience store in Littleton, N.H., Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida was confronted on Thursday with both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was just one interaction on one day in a long campaign. But it could well be a preview of how the divisive issue could play out in the presidential election. Mr. DeSantis, standing next to a row of coffee dispensers inside Simons Market, began his campaign stop by telling a group of voters that he had just issued an executive order to help bring stranded Americans home from Israel. Laurie Anan, an undecided voter who said she had visited Israel in August, broke in to thank Mr. DeSantis, saying that the images of the bloody attacks by Hamas over the weekend were devastating. Former President Donald J. Trump drew scorn from both sides of the political aisle on Thursday for remarks that he made one day earlier criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and referring to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, as very smart. During a speech to his supporters in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday, he weighed in on the Hamas attacks on Israel, the worst experienced by Americas closest Middle East ally in half a century. Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group, has clashed with Israeli forces in the days after Hamas fighters from Gaza attacked border areas in southern Israel, intensifying concerns that the country could be drawn into a conflict on a second front. You know, Hezbollah is very smart, Mr. Trump said. Theyre all very smart. He took swipes at Mr. Netanyahu on the Brian Kilmeade Show, a Fox News Radio show, broadcast on Thursday, arguing that intelligence lapses by Israel had left it vulnerable to the sweeping attack, kidnappings and slaughter of civilians leading to the war. The principal of a public high school in Louisiana who cited religion as justification for punishing a student after a video of her dancing circulated on social media has apologized and asked for a leave for the rest of the school year. The principal of Walker High School, Jason St. Pierre, prompted an outcry after he stripped Kaylee Timonet, 17, of her position as president of the schools student government association and rescinded a scholarship endorsement. The punishment was in response to a video of her dancing behind another student at an off-campus party after Homecoming. Ms. Timonet said in a video interview on the website Unfiltered with Kiran that she was dancing behind a friend, hyping her up. She said that the principal, Mr. St. Pierre, and the assistant principal called her into their office on Tuesday and told her that she was stripped of her student government post. She said she started crying hysterically. The humanitarian crisis deepened in the blockaded Gaza territory on Thursday, with a United Nations official warning of disaster as hospitals ran short on fuel for generators and corridors were crammed with wounded bodies. Fearful residents flooded U.N.-run schools seeking shelter from explosions as Israeli troops moved toward the border for a possible ground invasion to dismantle Hamas. Six days of Israeli bombardment, following brutal surprise attacks by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, have forced more than 300,000 Palestinians from their homes, with no immediate sign that emergency relief would be allowed in. Satellite imagery of residential areas shows dozens of flattened buildings, and video has shown the devastation wrought by an airstrike on a refugee camp. Officials in Israel, the United States and other nations continued to seek ways to free about 150 hostages believed to have been taken by Hamas, while the White House announced that charter flights would be sent to evacuate Americans trying to escape the conflict. Several European airlines and governments have also organized evacuation flights, and Britain said it would send a Royal Navy task group to help with humanitarian relief efforts as well as surveillance aircraft to track security threats to Israel. Israel continued to pummel the 140-square-mile Gaza Strip on Thursday with airstrikes of a magnitude and intensity not seen in its past assaults. The Gazan Health Ministry said that 1,537 Palestinians had been killed and 6,612 others injured since Saturday. Six days of Israeli airstrikes have left more than 300,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip homeless, with two million residents facing critical shortages of food, water and fuel, while Israeli troops prepared on Thursday for a possible ground invasion after Hamass deadly weekend assault. Retaliating for the bloodiest attack on Israel in 50 years, Israel is pummeling Gaza with a ferocity not seen in past conflicts and has cut off vital supplies to the coastal territory. Health officials in Gaza, home to two million people, said the Israeli bombardment had killed more than 1,500 people and injured over 6,600 others. Israels military says that it is hitting places used by Hamas, which controls Gaza, including mosques, houses and other outwardly civilian locations. Gazans say the airstrikes are doing indiscriminate damage to civilians and civilian sites, and independent observers have confirmed that schools and ambulances have been destroyed. The retaliatory strikes began after Hamas terrorists broke through the border fence with Israel on Saturday morning and attacked towns, kibbutzim and a military base, killing more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, wounding about 3,000 others and kidnapping about 150 hostages, the Israeli government said. Pinned Searching for survivors and bodies in a building after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Thursday in Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip. Six days of Israeli airstrikes have left more than 300,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip homeless, with two million residents facing critical shortages of food, water and fuel, while Israeli troops prepared on Thursday for a possible ground invasion after Hamass deadly weekend assault. Retaliating for the bloodiest attack on Israel in 50 years, Israel is pummeling Gaza with a ferocity not seen in past conflicts and has cut off vital supplies to the coastal territory. Health officials in Gaza, home to two million people, said the Israeli bombardment had killed more than 1,500 people and injured over 6,600 others. Israels military says that it is hitting places used by Hamas, which controls Gaza, including mosques, houses and other outwardly civilian locations. Gazans say the airstrikes are doing indiscriminate damage to civilians and civilian sites, and independent observers have confirmed that schools and ambulances have been destroyed. The retaliatory strikes began after Hamas terrorists broke through the border fence with Israel on Saturday morning and attacked towns, kibbutzim and a military base, killing more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, wounding about 3,000 others and kidnapping about 150 hostages, the Israeli government said. Gazas only power plant stopped generating electricity on Wednesday for lack of fuel, shutting down everything from lights to refrigerators, and much of the region lacks running water. Hospitals are overwhelmed with wounded patients and running out of vital supplies; fuel for generators and vehicles is dwindling rapidly; food and water are growing scarce; and it is not clear when humanitarian aid might be allowed in. We are facing a huge disaster, Adnan Abu Hasna, an official with the United Nations agency that aids Palestinian refugees, said by phone from Gaza. He described conditions as absolutely horrible. Image Israeli soldiers patrolling on Thursday at the area of the music festival that was overrun by Hamas gunmen. Credit... Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times With the United States stepping up its weapons shipments to Israel, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a military base in Tel Aviv to reinforce support for Israel as long as America exists. I come before you not only as the U.S. secretary of state, but also as a Jew, said Mr. Blinken, whose stepfather, Samuel Pisar, survived Nazi concentration camps. I understand on a personal level the harrowing echoes that Hamass massacres carry for Israeli Jews and for Jews everywhere. He added, This is, this must be, a moment for moral clarity. But Mr. Blinken also suggested the need for caution in Israels retaliation. Its important to take every possible precaution to prevent harming civilians, he said. Mr. Netanyahu has said that Hamas shot children in the head, burned people alive, raped women and decapitated soldiers. In a videoconference call to NATO headquarters, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of Israel showed a video of the Hamas attacks that Jens Stoltenberg, NATOs secretary general, called horrific. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III later added, We are appalled by the emerging scope of the atrocities committed by the terrorists of Hamas. The White House said 27 U.S. citizens were killed in the Hamas attack, and the State Department said there were 500 to 600 Americans living or visiting in Gaza whose safety it was trying to guarantee. Image A stroller abandoned near an intersection in Sderot, a city in southern Israel that was attacked on Saturday by at least two pickups carrying armed men and a mounted machine gun. Credit... Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times In a televised speech, the Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida said the group had achieved more than it had hoped for in its attack, which he said involved a 3,000-person battalion and a 1,500-person backup force. He confirmed reports that Hamas had successfully duped Israeli intelligence into believing that it did not want a major conflict. We are telling the enemy, if you dare enter Gaza, we will destroy your army, he said. Israel has called up 360,000 reservists and is building up a large force on the border with Gaza as well as a smaller one near the northern border with Lebanon amid widespread speculation that it will invade the Hamas-held territory, which it last did in 2014. The military is preparing multiple operational contingency plans for what it expects will be a protracted war, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, told reporters. Were waiting to see what our political leadership decides about a potential ground war. This has not been decided yet. He said Israeli warplanes were concentrating on striking targets belonging to an elite Hamas unit known as the Nukhba, which is believed to have led the attack on Israel. We plan to get every one of those people, he said. Though Israeli forces retook all of the area overrun by the incursion within a few days, Hamas fighters were still trying to enter Israel, including by sea, Colonel Hecht said, adding that two were captured and five were killed on Wednesday. In Gaza, 338,000 people have been displaced, the United Nations said, with most of them taking shelter in U.N. schools. Egypt, which with Israel has enforced a blockade of Gaza for 16 years, has refused to allow people fleeing the bombardment to enter its territory. U.S. officials said the Biden administration was talking with Israel and Egypt about safe passage for civilians to leave and relief supplies to enter. Israeli warplanes have bombed 88 educational facilities in Gaza, including 18 U.N. schools, two of which were being used to shelter civilians, said Stephane Dujarric, a U.N. spokesman. Image Mourners during the funeral of multiple members of the al-Bushaiti family, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in Khan Younes. Credit... Yousef Masoud for The New York Times Several medical and emergency workers have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since Saturday, including four Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance drivers and paramedics who were killed on Wednesday, the group said. Israels siege of Gaza, cutting off water, food and medical supplies, is not acceptable, Fabrizio Carboni, the Middle East director of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said at a news briefing. He added, We need a safe humanitarian space. A steady stream of broken and lifeless bodies was flowing into Gazas largest medical center, Al Shifa Hospital. Ambulances, yellow cabs and private vehicles screeched to a halt at the entrance to deliver the wounded. Adults arrived carrying injured children or pushing people on stretchers or wheelchairs. Inside, bloodied patients sat or lay on the tile floor, waiting for treatment. Outside, bodies wrapped in white cloth lined the sidewalk waiting to be identified or collected by loved ones. Many of the limestone villas and high-rise buildings surrounding the hospital in its affluent Gaza City neighborhood of Al Rimal have been reduced to rubble in the bombing. The Israeli military says the neighborhood is a financial hub for Hamas. Image Injured people arriving at a hospital after Israeli warplanes bombed the Al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City, on Thursday. Credit... Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times Hamas is backed by Iran, which is eager to derail efforts to normalize relations between its two regional archenemies, Saudi Arabia and Israel. U.S. officials say that, so far, they have seen no evidence of Iranian involvement in the Hamas attack. But on Thursday, the United States and Qatar agreed to refreeze $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue, preventing Tehran from spending it. The Biden administration agreed in August to release the money for Iran to spend on humanitarian needs in exchange for the release of Americans held prisoner in Iran. The Hamas attack on Saturday came as a shocking setback for Israel, with its powerful military and renowned intelligence services. The security apparatus failed to anticipate the incursion, failed to see that its border defenses could be defeated easily and failed at first to grasp the breadth of the assault and coordinate a response. People pleading for help waited hours for police officers or troops to arrive. While Israelis have largely shown solidarity in the aftermath, Israeli politicians have begun to face a backlash. On Wednesday, Idit Silman, a member of Mr. Netanyahus right-wing Likud party who serves as environmental minister, faced a heckling crowd while she visited injured people at a hospital. You are responsible! Go home, yelled one person, according to video published by Ynet, a popular Israeli news site. Transportation Minister Miri Regev was chased to her car and cursed at Thursday when she tried to visit the injured at a hospital, and security guards restrained a young man who hurled objects at her car. She has been widely criticized for not arranging emergency transportation for troops called to duty on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, when most public transportation shuts down. Nir Barkat, the economy minister, also confronted a displeased crowd at a hospital, when he met with the wounded in Tel Aviv, according to video shared on social media. In an interview with Channel 14 in Israel, a man named Shirel Chogeg grew increasingly irate as he described wounds his sister sustained when Hamas gunmen overran the Kfar Azza kibbutz and set fire to her familys safe room. Image The Kfar Azza kibbutz after an attack by Hamas gunmen. Credit... Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times This terrible nightmare is registered on the names of all the Knesset members and on the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, these reckless people who dont even take responsibility, he said. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military chief of staff, acknowledged on Thursday that the military had not lived up to its responsibilities. We will learn; we will investigate, he said, But now is the time for war. Edward Wong reported from Tel Aviv, and Hiba Yazbek from Jerusalem. Reporting was contributed by Samar Abu Elouf from Gaza City; Steven Erlanger , Raja Abdulrahim , Aaron Boxerman and Myra Noveck from Jerusalem; Nicholas Casey from Madrid; Victoria Kim from Seoul; Farnaz Fassihi and Nadav Gavrielov from New York; Lara Jakes from Brussels; Monika Pronczuk from London; and Ben Hubbard from Beirut, Lebanon. European Union regulators on Thursday opened an inquiry into X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, over the prevalence of gory videos and images, terrorism content and other illicit material it is carrying related to the Israel-Hamas war. E.U. authorities formally requested information from X, once known as Twitter, the first step in what could become a wider investigation of the company. Regulators are examining whether X violated a new European law, the Digital Services Act, which requires large social media companies to stop the spread of illegal content, disinformation and other harmful material. Under the law, companies can be penalized up to 6 percent of their global revenues. The war has intensified a simmering dispute between Mr. Musk, who believes in less content moderation on X and has reduced the size of teams that performed those roles, and regulators in the European Union, where free speech protections are more limited than they are in the United States. The #DSA is here to protect both freedom of expression & our democracies including in times of crisis, Thierry Breton, the European commissioner behind the law, said on X. Minh Chau in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City learns how to use her eyes and smiles appropriately on September 30, 2023. Photo courtesy of Minh Chau After spending about VND2 million ($81.68) on an etiquette course, Minh Chau has transformed herself from an ineffective businessperson to a confident and outstanding go-getter. The 26-year-old girl from Ho Chi Minh City said her former employer thought her timid and introverted behavior made her inadequate, and borderline incompetent, for her job role. She was unable to make deals with customers during meetings because she was inarticulate and failed to make eye contact. "I decided to sign up for etiquette and demeanor courses to improve myself because I wanted to become the human resources and operations manager at my company," Chau said. According to Chau, the courses taught her how to walk, stand and sit, which were all things that she previously thought were simple. However, shed been unable to perform the simple tasks in ways that were professionally effective. She was also surprised to learn that there were also many different levels and effects of smiling in different ways. These types of classes are very popular in many parts of the world. In Europe, young people tend to learn etiquette at the dinner table, while in Asia, typically China, Hong Kong and Singapore, young ladies learn how to present themselves as cultured modern women. According to a VnExpress survey, in the past month, content on Vietnamese social media with the keyword "etiquette learning" has attracted nearly 400,000 views and likes. There are more than 50 centers offering etiquette classes in Vietnam, with each course lasting from 2-21 days. The lowest tuition fee is around VND2 million and the highest can reach as high as several hundred million VND. The classes are mainly located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Students have their standing and walking posture corrected in a etiquette class in Ho Chi Minh City, on September 30, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nga Nguyen Quynh Trang, founder of the A Dong Style Academy in HCMC, said that about five years ago, very few people knew about such classes. Some people thought the classes were only for rich people. But with social media, people have become more aware of the benefits such courses can have for people of any class or social strata. The number of students registering to learn various etiquette styles has thus increased sharply, most especially in the months since the middle of this year. On average, each month, Trang's academy enrolls about 200 students, most of whom are around 18-27 years old. This number doubled last years figures. Students in the class learn about presenting different physical appearances, body movements, and postures for different occasions. Grace and elegance will be expressed in different styles through smiles, eyes, manners, walking and talking to meet the needs of each particular situation. Many people also attend the classes to become more polite and courteous. Communication etiquette instructor To Quynh Mai, 35 from Hanoi, said there are more than 100 people enrolled at her center every month, an increase of nearly 50% compared to last year. Tuition fees range from VND2-8 million. Mais training program includes three components: 7% is content that equips students with knowledge about communication etiquette in Vietnam as well as how to talk to friends from other countries around the world, 38% is voice training to ensure students use the correct tone of voice to communicate properly, and 55% is body language, related to walking, hand posture and facial movements. "Students must practice and maintain these lessons for 21 days for it to become a habit," Mai said. Instructor Nguyen Quynh Trang (R) instructs a student how to eat and behave at the dining table in September 2023. Photo courtesy of Nguyen Quynh Trang As a third-year student majoring in International Economics at the University of Commerce, Ta Thi Phuong spent VND2 million on a two-day course learning how to socialize and behave at the dinner table because she often has to work with, and frequently dine with, foreign experts. "I have to know when to turn up the volume and speak clearly, when to be soft, or how to observe the other person's eyes and gestures to read their intention," Phuong said. Cultural researcher and Associate Professor Dr. Pham Ngoc Trung, former dean of the Faculty of Culture and Development, Academy of Journalism and Communication, said that this is an encouraging sign that cultivating knowledge and training on communication and etiquette are becoming more popular ways to help young people create value for themselves in society. According to experts, the classes can provide an environment for young people to gain a deeper awareness and understanding of the ways individuals in societies can work together for mutual benefit. To prepare to meet her boyfriend's family, Thanh Thuy, 23, in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, spent VND3 million on a class on etiquette during a Vietnamese family meal. "At home, my parents taught me about etiquette, but not as formally as when I went to this class. I have found myself becoming much more sophisticated and confident," she added. Gareth Reynolds and Jake Johnson went from acquaintances to friends at a dive bar in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. As they celebrated after performing in an improv show, Johnson, an actor best known for his role in the sitcom New Girl, turned to Reynolds, a comedian and a host of the comedy-history podcast The Dollop, and for no particular reason asked: What do you think? Should we pour these beers on our own heads? Without missing a beat, Reynolds held his beer over his head, and Johnson did the same. Then, Johnson said, we smiled at each other, and doused ourselves with beer. It cemented their friendship. Gareth and I both deeply believe in the bit, Johnson said. So it made sense that when Johnson and Reynolds, who wrote for Arrested Development, began to work together on an advice podcast, it was not in-depth interviews, bantering or even earnest counsel that appealed to them. Thats a standard complement for a series of this type, and aside from the protagonists fourth-wall-breaking, Annika is a typical British cop show, in the categories of regional and serio-comic. It boasts lovely Scottish scenery, with side trips to places like Edinburgh and the Hebrides, and spends a lot of its time on or near the water. Its a dead-body-of-the-week show with a sense of humor that is perched comfortably between dark and twee; it could be a more literate, more serious cousin of Midsomer Murders or Monk. The homicide cases mostly have the eccentric origins that this subgenre calls for a tech billionaire drowned in his basement aquarium; a body pulled out of the North Sea encased in a block of ice and their solutions can seem almost beside the point, an impression that grows stronger in the new season. The forensics sessions and computer searches and sudden flashes of deduction have a cookie-cutter familiarity; the most invigorating aspect of the police work is the shows fetish for slapstick foot chases, which commence about twice an episode. A little perfunctoriness in the mysteries can be excused, though, given the overall pleasure to be had from Walkers performance. Annika tends to her team more or less ably, but her work suffers from the strain she puts on herself by making a hash of her personal life. She is buoyant and fun-loving beneath a heavy mantle of fierce Nordic repression, and Walkers mastery of stumbles, stammers and brief, piercing embarrassment keeps us on the characters side. Walker has a natural genius for establishing rapport with an audience, demonstrated in domestic melodramas like The Split and Last Tango in Halifax and in a succession of crime dramas. The best of those was the wonderful cold-case series Unforgotten, which she led for four seasons until her character was killed off in an arbitrary and dramatically unsatisfying fashion. Unforgotten returned for a fifth season last month (also on Masterpiece) with a new detective played by Sinead Keenan, and it was still very good taken as a whole, its superior in writing (by Chris Lang) and direction (by Andy Wilson) to Annika. But without Walker, it doesnt speak to us in quite the same way. An award ceremony that was set to honor a novel by a Palestinian author at the Frankfurt Book Fair next week was canceled on Friday due to the war in Israel, according to Litprom, the German literary association that organizes the prize. The novel, by Adania Shibli, is titled Minor Detail in English and tells the true story of the 1949 rape and murder of a Palestinian Bedouin girl by Israeli soldiers, according to its German publisher, Berenberg Verlag. A German-language version translated from the original Arabic was published in 2022, and a previous English translation was nominated for a National Book Award in 2020 and the International Booker Prize in 2021. The ceremony was intended to celebrate the novel for winning the 2023 LiBeraturpreis, a German literature prize awarded annually to an author from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Arab world and presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair, one of the global publishing industrys largest gatherings. Khaled Khalifa, a Syrian author whose sprawling novels made him an authoritative chronicler of his countrys decades of war and political upheaval and found readers around the world, died on Sept. 30 in his home in Damascus. He was 59. His American publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, confirmed the death. Friends said the cause was cardiac arrest. Mr. Khalifa was widely regarded as one of the most important writers in contemporary Arabic literature. But his reach extended beyond the Arab world. His novels have been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Chinese. In 2013, the American University in Cairo Press awarded him the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature (named after the Egyptian Nobel laureate in literature), one of the Arab worlds highest literary honors. And in 2019 he was a finalist for the National Book Awards for his novel Death Is Hard Work. The National Book Foundation has tapped a new host for its 74th award ceremony next month: the actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton. Burton is stepping in to replace the actress Drew Barrymore, who was scheduled to host but was dropped by the foundation after she decided to bring back her daytime talk show during the strike by television writers, and was widely criticized. Although Barrymore reversed course and postponed her show, the foundation was still left scrambling for a new host for its awards, which are scheduled to take place on Nov. 15 at a black-tie dinner at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. With Burton, who is known for his roles in Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation, the foundation has brought in a seasoned and familiar host. Burton hosted the National Book Awards in 2019 and is a beloved figure in the book world for his promotion of childhood literacy. He hosted the PBS series Reading Rainbow for more than 20 years, and has kept up the tradition with his podcast, LeVar Burton Reads, in which he performs pieces of short fiction. Louise Gluck, an American poet whose searing, deeply personal work, often filtered through themes of classical mythology, religion and the natural world, won her practically every honor available, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and, in 2020, the Nobel Prize for Literature, died on Friday at her home in Cambridge, Mass. She was 80. Her death was confirmed by Jonathan Galassi, her editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Richard Deming, a friend and former colleague of hers in the English department at Yale, said the cause was cancer. Ms. Gluck (pronounced glick) was widely considered to be among the countrys greatest living poets, long before she won the Nobel. She began publishing in the 1960s and received some acclaim in the 70s, but she cemented her reputation in the 80s and early 90s with a string of books, including Triumph of Achilles (1985), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award; Ararat (1990); and The Wild Iris (1992), which won the Pulitzer Prize. Israel tells northern Gaza to evacuate Israels military has informed the U.N. that the entire population of northern Gaza should relocate to the southern half of the territory within 24 hours, a spokesman said, adding that such a movement involving over one million people would lead to devastating humanitarian consequences. It came as Israels military said that its troops were preparing for the next stage of the war. The country has called up 360,000 reservists, and Israel has warned that, after the massacre of its citizens by Hamas on Saturday, the rules have changed. Every Hamas member is marked by death, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. In Gaza, the humanitarian crisis deepened after six days of Israeli bombardment of the crowded, blockaded territory in retaliation for the brutal incursion by Hamas, the Palestinian militant organization that controls the enclave. U.N. officials have warned that people in the territory are experiencing horrible suffering as they face a huge disaster. Toll: More than 1,200 Israelis and 1,500 Palestinians have been killed, officials said, and more than 300,000 Palestinians have been forced from their homes. There was a palpable sense of crisis in the Gaza Strip today. Thousands of residents raced to flee their homes in the hours after Israeli officials called for more than a million civilians to evacuate south in just 24 hours, ahead of a potential ground invasion. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel took the unusual step of delivering a televised address on the Jewish Sabbath to say that the campaign against Hamas, which over the weekend carried out the worst terrorist attack in the country in 50 years, is just beginning. The Health Ministry in Gaza said that airstrikes had killed at least 70 Palestinians who had been trying to flee the northern part of the territory, and the U.N. warned that Israels evacuation order would lead to devastating consequences. The organization said that its priority was negotiating with Israel to allow the opening of a humanitarian channel for deliveries of essential aid, including water. The U.S. is also trying to broker safe passage out of Gaza and into Egypt for American citizens and other foreigners. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to at least seven Middle Eastern countries in four days to shore up support for Israel and to persuade Arab countries to limit their criticism. In the latest sign of growing frustration among professionals, doctors employed by a large nonprofit health care system in Minnesota and Wisconsin have voted to unionize. The doctors, roughly 400 primary and urgent-care providers across more than 50 clinics operated by the Allina Health System, appear to be the largest group of unionized private-sector physicians in the United States. More than 150 nurse practitioners and physician assistants at the clinics were also eligible to vote and will be members of the union, which will be represented by a local of the Service Employees International Union. The result was 325 to 200, with 24 other ballots challenged, according to a tally sheet from the National Labor Relations Board, which conducted the vote. In a statement, Allina said, While we are disappointed in the decision by some of our providers to be represented by a union, we remain committed to our ongoing work to create a culture where all employees feel supported and valued. Four weeks after starting limited strikes against three large automakers, the United Automobile Workers is shifting to a more aggressive strategy, suggesting that work stoppages could spread to more plants and possibly go on for some time. In an online video, the unions president, Shawn Fain, said on Friday that he would no longer wait to announce expansions of the strikes on Friday, as he had been doing. Further actions could come at any time. Were not messing around, Mr. Fain said. The companies are now on notice. If theyre not willing to move, we are going to give them a push. The union began its strikes on Sept. 15 when workers walked out of three plants, owned by General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, which makes Chrysler, Jeep and Ram vehicles. It has since expanded the strike in stages, in a bid to increase the pressure on the companies. Printed TikTok logos are seen in this illustration taken February 15, 2022. Photo by Reuters/Dado Ruvic TikTok has not done enough to curb defamatory or misleading content in Malaysia, the communications minister said on Thursday, adding that the short video application had also failed to comply with several, unspecified local laws. In a social media message posted after meeting TikTok representatives, Minister Fahmi Fadzil said TikTok also had to address issues related to content distribution and advertising purchases following complaints. He said TikTok had assured him it would cooperate with the government and that its shortcomings were due to not having a representative in Malaysia at present. Fahmi did not give any further details in the post. A spokesperson for TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the meeting or the minister's remarks. TikTok, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, has recently come under scrutiny in Southeast Asia, where Indonesia's government last week halted transactions on its platform following a ban on e-commerce trade on social media and as Vietnam probes the app for "toxic" content. Malaysia has increased scrutiny of online content in recent months as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's administration vowed to curb what it deems provocative posts that touch on race, religion and royalty. Earlier this year, the Malaysian government said it would take legal action against Facebook parent company Meta for violating the Communications and Multimedia Act, but dropped the plan after meetings with the company. Often the problem lies in the details. Hamas killed dozens of Israelis, including children, in an attack in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz near Gaza. A French television correspondents unverified report that 40 babies were beheaded in the attack went viral on social media as if it were fact. The report remains unconfirmed. It even seeped into a statement by President Biden that he had seen photographs of that particular horror, prompting the White House to walk back his remarks a bit, saying the information had come from news accounts. Hamas has adroitly exploited social media to promote its cause the way Al Qaeda and the Islamic State once did. It used the Telegram app, which is largely unfiltered, as a conduit to push celebratory and graphic images of its incursion from Gaza into broader circulation on social networks that have barred terrorist organizations. Increasingly, our digitized lives have become an information battleground, with every side in any conflict vying to offer its version. Old images have been recycled to make a new point. At the same time, actual images have been disputed as fakes, including a bloody photograph that Donald J. Trump Jr., the former presidents son, shared on X. Reliable news organizations used to function as curators, verifying information and contextualizing it, and they still do. Nevertheless, some have sought to question their reliability as gatekeepers, most prominently Elon Musk, the owner of X. The day after the fighting in Israel erupted, Mr. Musk shared a post on X encouraging his followers to trust the platform more than mainstream media, recommending two accounts that have been notorious for spreading false claims. (Mr. Musk later deleted the post but not before it had been seen millions of times.) Mass evacuations, airstrikes, ground fighting and extensive power outages have made reporting on the war in Gaza and Israel enormously dangerous. At least 11 journalists nine Palestinian, one Lebanese and one Israeli have been confirmed dead this week, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. At least one Israeli journalist has been reported missing, and many others have been injured. The committee is investigating additional reports of the journalists killed, wounded and missing in or near Gaza. On Friday, a Reuters videographer was killed and at least six other journalists were injured amid shelling in Lebanon, according to the committee. Sherif Mansour, coordinator for the Middle East at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said journalists in Gaza were trying to get information out while also scrambling to evacuate and protect their families. Many have lost their houses and offices, and some are working in a hospital because its the only place where they can get electricity and internet. They are the most vulnerable, but they are also the most needed right now, Mr. Mansour said. They are our eyes on whats happening. Colette Rossant, a native of Paris whose childhood in Cairo before and during World War II gave her a global view of cuisine that eventually helped fuel a prominent career in New York as a cookbook author, food critic and food memoirist, died on Thursday at her home in Normandy, France. She was 91. The cause was breast cancer, her daughter Juliette Rossant said. Ms. Rossant, whom the writer Calvin Trillin once called the cook of my dreams, made her mark in the mid-1970s when she helped broaden the palate of American food connoisseurs, then dominated by traditional haute French cuisine, by fusing Western cuisine with that of Asia and the Middle East. Although she was an influential voice in food for decades, she was a late bloomer. After moving to New York City in 1955, when she was 23, she spent nearly two decades teaching French at private high schools there, as well as at Hofstra University on Long Island. Her career in the kitchen and behind the typewriter began in 1972, when she was 40 and started an after-school cooking class with Juliette, who was then 12, and some of her classmates at her townhouse in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Two years later, she adapted those playful lessons into a public television childrens show called Zee Cooking School. In 1975, she spun off these cooking tips into Cooking With Colette, her first of seven cookbooks. For holidays, family events or Sunday dinners, Haitians clean the dried mushrooms thoroughly (or separate the woody stem from the cap, which has the most flavor). They soak and boil them in chicken broth to extract their meaty flavor, then cook rice in that stock and add lima beans. The mushrooms turn the rice a dark brown or black thus the Haitian Creole name diri djondjon, or black mushroom rice, that some call the dish. Some people also add blue crabs, shrimp or lobster. Its like gold, Alain Lemaire, a Haitian chef in Miami, said of the mushroom. When his mother visits from Haiti, she brings about five pounds with her. He vacuum-seals the mushrooms and leaves them in the refrigerator for four months or more. This year, djon-djon has been less plentiful than usual, because some cities in Haiti received less precipitation than normal in the rainy seasons (March to June and August to December). Prices have spiked, and Haitians living in the United States have contributed to an increase in demand. In a pinch, some cooks use djon-djon bouillon cubes to make the rice. Its such a prized food that there are people who buy large amounts and send them to the United States and Canada to sell in the stores that serve the diaspora, said Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes, an educator in Vineyard Haven, on Marthas Vineyard, in Massachusetts. The mushrooms grow in the yard of her home near Petion-Ville, Haiti. Two years ago, Marc Robert Jeanniton started a business on Etsy to import and sell the mushrooms online. His mother, Monique Saint-Louis Jeanniton, is from Cotes-de-Fer, a city in the countryside southwest of Port-au-Prince where many of the mushrooms are grown. She buys djon-djon from farmers in the area. The Food and Drug Administration has ordered R.J. Reynolds to stop selling its popular Vuse Alto menthol e-cigarettes, a decision Reynolds immediately said it would challenge in court. On Thursday, the agency denied applications by Reynolds to keep its top-selling menthol products permanently on the market, saying that the company did not meet the federal standards that require the e-cigarettes to provide more of a health benefit than a risk. In the case of the Vuse vapes, the F.D.A. said the risks of attracting young people to the popular menthol and flavored products outweighed the potential for helping traditional smokers quit. The decision does not apply to the companys tobacco-flavored products. Some public health experts have viewed the federal agencys most recent rejections of menthol e-cigarettes as an indication that the agency is more strictly limiting menthol products. The F.D.A. is expected, perhaps by the end of this year, to move toward outlawing all menthol cigarettes, including Newports, a top seller for Reynolds with $7.5 billion in annual sales, according to Goldman Sachs research. British American Tobacco, the parent company of R.J. Reynolds, said in a statement that the F.D.A.s latest ruling flies in the face of proven science. The company said it would fight the decision in court, which could allow Reynolds to keep the disputed Vuse products on the market indefinitely. Kaiser Permanente reached a tentative deal with more than 75,000 of its health care workers Friday morning, a week after a three-day walkout that disrupted appointments and services at many hospitals and clinics. The labor dispute was the latest in a series between health care systems and their employees, many of whom cite exhaustion, burnout and frustration with severe staffing shortages that have persisted long past the worst of the pandemics crushing workload. The proposed four-year contract would include significant wage increases, setting a new minimum of $25 an hour in California, about $5 an hour above the new raise approved for fast food workers and almost $10 an hour above the states basic minimum. (Separately on Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that would gradually raise wages to $25 an hour over the next several years for many of the states health care workers.) The unions said the proposed wage hikes at Kaiser facilities were essential to attracting enough workers to provide adequate staffing. The agreement would raise Kaisers hourly rate to $23 in other states and would stagger a 21 percent increase in wages over four years in all locations. It also includes what the union described as important protections against Kaisers ability to outsource jobs. Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. At 7:40 on a humid Friday night in early October, Jesse Green, wearing a plaid suit coat and carrying a green laptop bag, arrived at the James Earl Jones Theater in Manhattan. The show he was there to see, Gutenberg! The Musical!, was starting in 20 minutes, but he was in no rush to enter the theater. As the chief theater critic for The New York Times, he knows Broadway performances usually begin about eight minutes late. Good evening, Green said as he approached a press representative for the show. He retrieved a white envelope with two tickets tucked inside, one for Green and the other for his husband, Andrew Mirer. It was the second press performance of Gutenberg!, a two-man comedy about aspiring musical theater writers who decide to write a show about Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, without knowing much about him. The show reunites Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad, who co-starred as hapless missionaries in The Book of Mormon in 2011. Gutenberg! was one of more than 100 shows that Green, who reviews almost every new Broadway production and many Off Broadway shows and regional productions, would see this year. He had attended a performance of Merrily We Roll Along, the starry new revival of the 1981 Stephen Sondheim musical, the previous night. Megalomaniac Rent or buy on major platforms. Martha (Eline Schumacher, magnetic) endures repeated sexual assaults by a worker at the factory where shes a night janitor. She carries her trauma home to the weird Gothic mansion where she communes with a circle of creeps, including her overprotective serial-killer brother, Felix (Benjamin Ramon), sinister long-limbed creatures that lurk in the hallways and uncanny mirror images of herself. Then theres the young woman that Felix brought home to be a kitty, as Martha calls her. Ill stop there because to say more would give away too much of this depraved films sadistic surprises. Karim Ouelhaj wrote and directed this film, which is loosely inspired by several unsolved murders of women around the Belgian city of Mons in the 1990s source material that Ouelhaj unflinchingly mines to examine generational wounds and mental illness. The cinematographer Francois Schmitt makes the horrors look Grand Guignol gorgeous; it looks like a Dior commercial but with stomach-churning violence swapped in for chic pantsuits, a welcome throwback to the movies of the New French Extremity. This film deservedly won the Jury Prize at last years Fantasia Film Festival, where the judges called it an astonishing, brutal piece of art. I agree, and its one of my favorite horror movies of 2023. A Republican councilwoman from Brooklyn was arrested on Friday and charged with criminal possession of a firearm after images posted on social media showed her carrying a gun in her waistband at a pro-Palestinian rally at Brooklyn College the previous day. The councilwoman, Inna Vernikov, who represents southern Brooklyn neighborhoods including Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay, turned herself in at the 70th Precinct with her lawyer shortly before 3 a.m., according to a police spokeswoman. Ms. Vernikov, 39, who has a license to carry a gun, surrendered her weapon a Smith & Wesson 9-millimeter pistol and her permit, police officials said. She was observing a pro-Palestine protest when she was seen with the butt end of a firearm protruding from the front portion of her pants, the police spokeswoman said. New York issues permits to carry concealed firearms only; openly carrying a firearm is not allowed. A state law passed last year prohibits people from carrying guns in sensitive locations, a category that includes protests and rallies. Man, its a knife in your heart, Mr. Elgammal said, while listing what he could have done with the money he pays for the permit: a down payment for a home, tuition for his children, a lease on a new restaurant. What can you do? There is no choice. New York has one of the largest fleets of mobile food vendors in the country, powered by waves of mostly immigrant entrepreneurs seeking a toehold in the citys economy. But the bottleneck in the permit process has left many operating outside the law and vulnerable to exploitative schemes, even as the city has increased policing of vendors. City officials have promised to improve the licensing system but have been slow to do so. Only 14 new permits have been issued through mid-September, more than a year after the city was required to jump-start the frozen application process, according to a city progress report reviewed by The New York Times. The latest numbers of new vendor permits and other details about the market were included in a city report prepared in response to questions from Brad Lander, the city comptroller. The Times obtained the communication through a Freedom of Information Law request. There are about 5,100 mobile food vending permits in circulation, in a city of 8.7 million people, because of a cap imposed in the 1980s, spurred by concerns about street safety and complaints from storefront owners. The saying To kill two birds with one stone means to achieve two outcomes with a single action. That saying comes to mind at news that the United States has sent over one million rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukrainian armed forces. First, the seizure itself means the Iranian regimes original nefarious aim for its smuggled ammunition was thwarted. Second, Iran has been sending drones to help Russia kill Ukrainians; now Iranian munitions can help defend Ukrainians from Russia. The United States announced the transfer of the ammunition cache to Ukraine in early October. In a written statement, the Justice Department noted that the cache was seized in December 2022 by U.S. Central Command naval forces from a flagless vessel in the Arabian Sea en route from Iran and destined for Yemen, where sanctioned groups, including Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, directly support the Houthis, in violation of Security Council Resolution 2216. The U.S. obtained ownership of the munitions in July 2023 through the Justice Departments civil forfeiture claims against the IRGC. With this weapons transfer, the Justice Departments forfeiture actions against one authoritarian regime are now directly supporting the Ukrainian peoples fight against another authoritarian regime, said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. The United States has been clear that it will do all that is necessary to help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield and protect its people from Russias brutal invasion. On October 11, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new package of military aid, providing $200 million worth of arms authorized under previously directed drawdowns for Ukraine. Russia started this war and could end it at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks, declared Secretary Blinken in a written statement. Until it does, the United States and the coalition we have built of more than 50 nations will continue to stand with Ukraine and work with Congress to advance our national security interests by helping Ukraine secure its future a future which its people rebuild and live safely in a resilient and thriving democracy. He is merely making infusions for vodka, as he has for years, to add some taste to a distilled beverage that some consider flavorless. My entire repertoire, he said, is lemon, lime, tangerine, pepper, ginger, horseradish and dill. As a pianist, Graffman was a child prodigy who had made his New York recital debut at age 10. As a young man, he played Tchaikovsky at the Hollywood Bowl and survived a tour that took him by some freakishly alliterative coincidence, as he once put it from Baden-Baden (in Germany) to Bora-Bora (in the Leeward Islands). Short, pleasant, comfortably stooped and bespectacled, he lacks the craggy grandeur of a Rubinstein or even the gawky magnetism of Cliburn, the critic John Rockwell wrote in The New York Times when Graffman was 44. All he does is play the piano very well. But his performing career was interrupted in the 1970s when his right hand was impaired by a neurological disorder. He went on to play pieces written for the left hand. He published a memoir, I Really Should Be Practicing, when he was 53. From when he was 58 to when he was 78, he was the artistic director or president of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where his students included stars like Lang Lang and Yuja Wang. Apparently he taught them about more than playing the piano, I wrote several years ago after spending an afternoon sampling his vodka infusions. He mentioned one former student who would stop by from time to time. The door opens, he said. She doesnt say, I havent seen you for a while. She says, Tangerine. He did not name the tangerine enthusiast then, but when I called him this week to talk about the party and repeated that anecdote, he said, That was Yuja. Jewish New Yorkers from across the political spectrum gathered outside the United Nations this week in the wake of the terror attacks in Israel. Credit... Jeenah Moon for The New York Times Louisa Solomon, a rabbinical student from Queens, was among those in the crowd. Ms. Solomon, 41, had brought her children, Rosie, 6, and Reuben, 4, along to teach them the kind of Judaism that I want to lead and be a part of where we oppose genocide and support a better future. I want to listen to what folks on the ground are asking for, and what weve heard is that people are asking for a cease-fire, she added. The protesters left Mr. Schumers residence just before 8 p.m. and moved to Flatbush Avenue, where they blocked traffic around Grand Army Plaza, one of the citys busiest traffic loops. The daytime rally unfolded amid the routine business of New York: pedicabs weaving, tourists navigating the crowds, people shopping for sneakers. But social media posts had spread false information about a terrorist attack supposedly planned to take place in Times Square at the same time as Fridays protest. Cable news segments and tabloid coverage had warned about a Global Day of Jihad. A thrum of worry seemed to power endless doom scrolling. The public unease led some companies to advise employees to consider working from home on Friday. An increased number of police patrols monitored synagogues and mosques for any sign of trouble, Mayor Eric Adams said. Some families kept children home from school. U.S. officials estimated that 500 to 600 American citizens were in Gaza. For now, there is nothing to do but wait and hope and pray. Ms. Beseiso and her family, who are in Gaza visiting relatives, tried to flee on Tuesday, she said, but the Israeli military bombed the Rafah crossing to Egypt while they were there, shuttering it. The family was told to return to Gaza for safety, and Ms. Beseiso sheltered in a building with her 87-year-old mother-in-law. Image Lena Beseiso and her family had been visiting Gaza and now are unable to escape after a border crossing to Egypt was bombed. Credit... via Lena Beseiso On Tuesday and Wednesday, there were nonstop airstrikes and bombs around the building, causing the windows in their apartment to shatter and their front door to break open because of the pressure of the bombs, she said. She said she had reached out multiple times to U.S. authorities and the U.S. Embassy in Israel but that she had not received a clear answer about what was being done to help them. Sometimes I have the hope and faith that I will make it out alive, she said on Thursday. But then once the darkness hits, and the airstrikes get heavier, she said, she starts to wonder, is it our turn tonight? On Friday, she said her family had moved south after the directive from the Israel Defense Forces. Weve been welcomed in a home by these humble people whom Ive never met before, Ms. Beseiso said. Leaving behind the house where my children grew up, laughed, played, while we were relocating from the north to the south was one of the hardest things Ive seen other than this ugly war. It took only a few hours for the death of Ryan Carson, stabbed before dawn in a random assault as he waited for a bus in Brooklyn, to become an indictment of his politics so vitriolic that it threatened to overwhelm the grief. In the view of his online adversaries, Mr. Carson, a 31-year-old progressive activist, died at the hands of his own misbegotten ideology brainwashed into believing he could help the poor and wayward. The morally vacant critics on what we used to know as Twitter were not alone in attacking him and the girlfriend who witnessed his murder. Writing in The American Conservative and attempting to claim a place on the frontiers of decency, Declan Leary offered that he would not celebrate Mr. Carsons death, as others were doing. Still, he expressed the belief that Mr. Carson carried partial blame not just for what happened to him but also for the death of countless others killed by the chaos he defended. If living in a world fractured by rage, reproval and misunderstanding seems dangerous, so does dying in one. Reduced to a leftist caricature (drawn largely from Mr. Carsons posts on Twitter after the death of George Floyd), the realities of Mr. Carsons life were obscured. He had not, in fact, devoted himself to antifa or abolition of the police but rather to quiet policy changes around solid waste. Friends and colleagues described him as a practical organizer with small-bore passions and big vision, an avid and fearless door-knocker, someone who could talk to anyone rich housewives on Long Island, sanitation workers, legislators. He was a born persuader, a guy who would comfortably jump on a table and command a room, his charisma enabled, as one friend put it, by a voice like a foghorn. For more than a decade, Mr. Carson had been working for the New York Public Interest Research Group, a 50-year-old nonpartisan organization committed to issues around environmental and consumer protection, government accountability and others that do not typically ignite extremist outrage. Most recently he had been rallying support in Albany for an expansion of the states 1982 bottle law that would allow for wine and liquor bottles to be recycled, while also raising the deposit from five cents to 10 on those already included in the legislation, to better incentivize returns. Blair Horner, NYPIRGs executive director, told me Mr. Carsons other great pursuit was extended producer responsibility, the unsexy effort to get manufacturers to reduce extraneous packaging. For far too long, too many Americans considered the border to be someone elses problem someone in Texas, maybe, or Arizona or California. People who didnt live near the border might have condemned harsh tactics used there or offered their communities as sanctuaries for those who managed to slip across it. But for the most part, the challenges of the border remained at the border. Out of sight, out of mind. That changed this year with the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants in Northern cities, which is forcing even the most big-hearted places to grapple with what happens when too many migrants and asylum seekers show up on their doorstep overnight, a problem border communities know all too well. Chicago has housed migrants in abandoned schools, police stations and airports, sparking protests and at least one lawsuit. Portland, Maine, briefly commandeered a convention center. Massachusetts is putting up more than 6,000 families in emergency shelters and hotels, at an estimated cost of $45 million per month. About half are migrants. Now a major reassessment is underway of what these cities can reasonably be expected to provide to people who have just crossed the border in search of safety and a better life and whether efforts to house and support them will encourage more to come. In a recent survey by Siena College Research Institute, 82 percent of New Yorkers called the arrival of so many migrants a serious problem, with 58 percent saying its time to slow the flow. New York is starting to think and act like a Southern border state now. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas must be pleased. This is exactly what he hoped for when he started sending busloads of migrants into so-called sanctuary cities in the North last year. Bringing the border to Biden, is what he called it. Im no fan of Mr. Abbott. But his tactic is working. Mr. Friedmans most famous work is the 1963 book A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, which analyzed the Great Depression as a monetary crisis, not a crisis of demand a pathbreaking finding that is still widely accepted half a century later, and has almost certainly helped to prevent a second crisis of that magnitude. Mr. Friedman wrote the book with Anna Jacobson Schwartz, an economist at the National Bureau of Economic Research, but her contribution has often been downplayed. She was not mentioned in Mr. Friedmans Nobel announcement, which presented the book as if he alone had written it. And she was awarded a doctorate from Columbia only after the book was published and in the wake of heavy pressure from Mr. Friedman because male faculty members doubted that her contribution to the work was meaningful. The reality is that over a period of 12 years, Ms. Schwartz did the research and assembled the data that underlay their analysis. Moreover, her research was the backbone of Mr. Friedmans monetary economics more generally: His influential forays into stabilization policy, for example, also rested on the empirical bedrock of Ms. Schwartzs work. Many economists at the time considered such historical research old-fashioned, even retrograde or irrelevant to a field becoming increasingly theoretical and mathematical. But Ms. Schwartz, by force of circumstance an outsider, was willing to defy the conventional wisdom. Another example of the contribution of women to Mr. Friedmans work is his 1957 book, A Theory of the Consumption Function, one of his most important publications in technical economics. It introduced the idea, which is widely accepted in economics today, of permanent income that peoples spending is influenced by the income they expect over a lifetime, not just at the current moment. Consumption economics, the study of buying and selling, was at the time something of a backwater in the field, a female topic that women economists were often encouraged to study. But thanks to his wife, Rose, a trained economist who did not complete her Ph.D., Mr. Friedman had close ties to several women economists in this field. In a later reminiscence, Mr. Friedman explained that hed been inspired to write the 1957 book after a series of fireside conversations at our summer cottage in New Hampshire with my wife and two of our friends, Dorothy S. Brady and Margaret Reid. All three, he noted, were at the time working on consumption. Mr. Friedmans insight about permanent income grew out of Ms. Brady and Ms. Reids work on farm families, whose spending could vary wildly from year to year. He generalized their finding, and in so doing revolutionized how economists think about consumption. Although he often cited his collaborators, even calling the book in essential respects a joint product, it bore his name alone. Once again, thanks to his scholarly friendships with women, Mr. Friedman was attuned to phenomena that other male economists had neglected. We urgently need a way out of this disastrous dead end before more lives are lost. There are several key priorities to focus on right now in order to pull the world back from this abyss. The United Nations and our partners need rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access now throughout Gaza. Humanitarian aid including fuel, food and water must be allowed to enter. All hostages in Gaza must be released. Civilians must not be used as human shields. International humanitarian law including the Geneva Conventions must be respected and upheld. Civilians on both sides must be protected at all times. Hospitals, schools, clinics and United Nations premises must never be targeted. I mourn my colleagues in Gaza who have already lost their lives in the last week. And still, United Nations personnel are working nonstop to support the people of Gaza. We will continue to do so. I have been in constant contact with leaders in the region. It is clear that the ongoing upheaval in the Middle East is polarizing communities around the world, widening divides, and spreading and amplifying hate. If truth is the first casualty of war, reason is not far behind. I am horrified to hear the language of genocide entering the public discourse. People are losing sight of each others humanity. Brutality and violence cannot be allowed to obscure a fundamental truth: We are all the product of our lived realities and collective history. The Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset put it this way: Yo soy yo y mi circunstancia I am myself and my circumstances. And sometimes, those circumstances are unbearable. I am fighting the feeling that there are few paths left to try. Last week, as war broke out in my home, I was in Armenia, spending hours talking to people whose own lives have been wrecked by war. In September, thousands of people from Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijan, were driven out by Azerbaijans lightning military assault. In a crumbling, Soviet-era kindergarten hastily repurposed as a shelter, people told me about their overwhelming sense of loss. One man just kept repeating, Homeless, homeless, homeless. War is all around us. Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Sudan, Israel: These arent just names, these are peoples lives. Some places, like Nagorno-Karabakh, in the far corners of the South Caucasus, are tragically easy for the world to forget, until they explode. Others, like Israel and Palestine, are always on the worlds mind, and they also explode. Hamass savage attack was a shock but not a surprise. We have all watched peacemaking fail here, as it often does. This isnt just a crisis for grass-roots peace activists, its a grand failure on a global stage. Lately the whole notion of solving conflicts, containing violence through international rules and institutions, the international system itself, appears wholly inadequate to the task of protecting people and preventing wars. One could be forgiven for asking, what international system? The global institutions so painstakingly built over decades seem to be no match at all for the things that really run the world: money, oil, arms, interests. The Armenians feel betrayed by the international community for its near-complete inaction in the face of Azerbaijans punishing, nine-month blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh since December, which left 120,000 people mostly civilians lacking enough food, medicine or fuel. The United Nations sent its first mission to the enclave in 30 years only after most Armenians had been driven out by the violence. Azerbaijan, too, was frustrated for nearly 30 years by the impotence of international law as seven additional areas of its sovereign territory conquered by Armenia during the 1990s war over Nagorno-Karabakh remained under control of Armenians. Israel has scoffed at international law for decades by expanding settlements, annexing territory conquered in war, and suffocating the civilian population in Gaza through a 16-year blockade, with few repercussions. Countries that dont like international courts including the United States largely ignore them. Vladimir Putin will probably avoid prosecution for his invasion of Ukraine. Hamas certainly had no concern for international prosecution or for the fate of the liberal rules-based world order when it slaughtered over 1,300 Israelis. Much of the world will view Israels unfolding and brutal retaliation so far, more than 400 Palestinian children have been killed, according to the Palestinian health ministry as justified. To the Editor: Re What More Must the Children of Gaza Suffer?, by Fadi Abu Shammalah (Opinion guest essay, Oct. 13): My heart goes out, and I cry over the suffering of Palestinian children in Gaza. They have done nothing to deserve war after war after war. However, to ignore Hamass responsibility for contributing to that suffering is to miss the whole picture. Hamas rules Gaza, and it has chosen to buy missiles and weapons with funds that were meant to build a better society for Gazan civilians. Last weekends attack was designed by Hamas to prompt a heavy response by Israel and stir up the pot, probably to kill a Saudi-Israeli peace deal, even if it meant sacrificing Palestinian civilians in the process. We can lay the blame for the Gazan children who have been killed in recent days at the feet of both the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas. Aaron Steinberg White Plains, N.Y. To the Editor: Thank you for publishing Opinion guest essays from Rachel Goldberg (I Hope Someone Somewhere Is Being Kind to My Boy, nytimes.com, Oct. 12) and Fadi Abu Shammalah. These essays, for the most part, demonstrate the dire disconnect between Israelis and Palestinians for decades. I came to Israel bearing a simple message, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken: The United States stands with Israel and with its people today, tomorrow, every day. Following Hamas deadly attack on Israel, he also said this must be a moment for moral clarity. Too often in the past, leaders have equivocated in the face of terrorist attacks against Israel and its people. Thats why weve been adamant with all countries in the wake of these attacks: There is no excuse, there is no justification for these atrocities, he said. Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Secretary Blinken said, Anyone who wants peace and justice must condemn Hamass reign of terror. He added, No country can or would tolerate the slaughter of its citizens or simply return to the conditions that allowed it to take place: Israel has the right indeed, the obligation to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens again. Secretary Blinken also met with the families of American citizens that Hamas has killed or taken hostage. Were doing everything we can to secure the release of the hostages, working closely with our Israeli partners. I brought with me to Israel our Deputy Special Representative for Hostage Affairs Steve Gillen, who joined my meetings with the families and will stay on the ground here to support the efforts to free their loved ones, he said. Across each of his engagements, Secretary Blinken continued pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages. At the same time, the United States continues to pursue a more peaceful and prosperous vision for the region, said Secretary Blinken: Weve been engaged in trying to support and advance the possibility of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and other countries that do not yet have normalized relations with Israel. Secretary Blinken noted that Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran oppose such normalization. The United States, said Secretary Blinken, is standing with all those who reject terror to help find the glimmers of light, even in this moment of deep darkness, and to make clear as that as long as theres a United States, Israel will never be alone. For 56 years Israel has been subjecting Palestinians to oppressive military rule. In my book Love Israel, Support Palestine, I wrote: Israeli society has to ask itself very important questions about where and why the blood of its sons and daughters was spilled. A Messianic religious minority has dragged us into a muddy swamp, and we are following them as if it were the piper from Hamelin. When I wrote these words last year, I didnt realize how deep in the mud we were, and how much more blood could be shed in so little time. I am now going to defend my country against enemies who want to kill my people. Our enemies are the deadly terrorist organizations that are being controlled by Islamic extremists. Palestinians arent the enemy. The millions of Palestinians who live right here next to us, between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan, are not our enemy. Just like the majority of Israelis want to live a calm, peaceful and dignified life, so do Palestinians. Israelis and Palestinians alike have been in the grip of a religious minority for decades. On both sides, the intractable positions of a small group have dragged us into violence. It doesnt matter who is more cruel or more ruthless. The ideologies of both have fueled this conflict, leading to the deaths of too many innocent civilians. As a major in the reserves, it is important to me to make it clear that in this already unstoppable new war, we cannot allow the massacre of innocent Israelis to result in the massacre of innocent Palestinians. Israel must remember that there are more than two million people living in the Gaza Strip. The vast majority of them are innocent. Israel must do everything in its power to avoid killing innocent people and to focus on destroying the militant army of Hamas. This war, like others before it, will end sooner or later. I am not sure I will come back from it alive, but I do know that a minute after the war is over, both Israelis and Palestinians will have to reckon with the leaders who led them to this moment. We must wake up and not let the extremists rule. Palestinians and Israelis must denounce the extremists who are driven by religious fanaticism. The Israelis will have to oust National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and their far-right circle from power, and the Palestinians will have to oust the leadership of Hamas. To the Editor: The International Crisis Group rejects the allegations against our staff made by Bret Stephens in The Peril of Seeking Access With Despots (column, Oct. 4). The piece draws from recent media coverage about a supposed Iranian plot to distort U.S. policy. Citing internal Iranian government emails from 2014, two outlets Semafor and Iran International contend that Tehran set up a network of Western analysts, the Iran Experts Initiative (or I.E.I.), to influence policy during talks that led to the 2015 nuclear deal. Ali Vaez, a Crisis Group staff member, attended some I.E.I. meetings, as did Dina Esfandiary, who later joined our staff. Crisis Group was not involved in establishing or running the I.E.I., but we take issue with attacks on our staff. The I.E.I. was no cabal of Iranian proxies, but a loose network of Western analysts who met a few times a year with Iranian officials. Crisis Group paid for Ali to attend the meetings. Mr. Stephens acknowledges that the email trawl offers no smoking-gun evidence of a spy ring, that the I.E.I. members purpose was consistent with U.S. policy, and that Iranian officials, in their internal communications, may have been exaggerating the extent to which I.E.I. was a tool in their hands. A lecturer in one class that day asked Jewish students to raise their hands, then took one of the Jewish students belongings and told him to stand apart from everyone else, saying that was what the Israelis did to the Palestinians, a student who was in the class told me. In a later section, another student in the class told me, he turned to an Israeli student and asked how many Jews died in the Holocaust. When that student said six million, the teacher replied, many more millions died in colonization, which is what he said Israel was doing to the Palestinians. He then asked all of the students to say where they were from and depending on the answer, he told them whether they were colonized or colonizer. When a student said, Israeli, he called the student a colonizer. (The lecturer did not respond to an email request for comment.) That evening, only hours after Chabad, the Stanford Israel Association and the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi held a vigil for those lost in the attacks, chalk messages were scrawled on the sidewalks where they had stood: No peace on stolen land. Long live the intifada. From the river to the sea. Resistance to occupation is legal, collective punishment is not. Those messages remained, untouched, throughout the following day. On Wednesday evening, Students for Justice in Palestine convened a Palestine Teach-In with over 200 students. A number of students spoke about legitimate Palestinian grievances and tragedies. But in a recording of the event that I listened to, the biggest applause line was for a woman who said her family was in Gaza. You ask us, do we condemn Hamas? she said, and cursed. Stop asking all these questions, she went on. Im so proud of my resistance. Stanfords administration had given students little reason to think twice before defending mass murder. On Monday, Richard Saller, Stanfords interim president, and Jenny Martinez, its provost, issued a brief statement on the Middle East conflict noting they were deeply saddened and horrified by the death and human suffering. The university also issued a statement saying the pro-Hamas banners were fine but would need to be relocated to another part of campus. These removals are based on the location of the banners, not the content or viewpoint expressed, the university made clear. Stanford is correct to stand up for free speech. But Stanford should have taken a stand more quickly and forcefully against terrorism, particularly against Jews, given a history of antisemitic incidents on campus. Most recently, in 2019, antisemitic cartoons were posted on campus. When Nancy Chen and Patrick Sheridan McFawn first met in September 2008, neither one was thinking much about romance. They were at trade talks between the United States and China, in Yorba Linda, Calif. Ms. Chen was a student journalist at the University of Southern California, and she had asked Mr. McFawn, a recent graduate of U.S.C. who was helping to recruit student volunteers for the event, for a press pass. Ms. Chen and Mr. McFawn met and exchanged business cards. We were all very professional, Ms. Chen, now 35, said, though I obviously thought he was very cute. Afterward, the two became friends on Facebook, where they stayed in touch. Mr. McFawn was working as a financial analyst at Arch Bay Capital in Irvine, Calif., and Ms. Chen was with KABC-TV in Los Angeles, where she interned and worked as a freelance web producer while in college. They would sometimes run into each other. When he saw the KABC news van, he would send her a note. Ms. Chen laughed recalling this, saying she wasnt in every news van thats in Southern California. It was an excuse to send a message, Mr. McFawn, 38, admitted. In her senior year of college, she had returned from a semester abroad in Beijing, and Mr. McFawn reached out and suggested they meet up sometime. In February 2010, they met at a wine bar in Los Angeles, where they caught up casually. For their first official date, in April 2010, they went out to dinner in Los Angeles. Dear Tripped Up, On Aug. 6, my wife, my two children and I arrived at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal to board the MSC Meraviglia for a weeklong cruise that included a stop in the Bahamas. I am a scientist in the United States on a work visa and awaiting my green card, so I followed my lawyers instructions and presented my Chinese passport and my combo card an American document that grants immigrants in my situation permission both to work in the United States and to travel abroad. But MSC Cruises refused to let me board, saying the card did not guarantee I would be readmitted to the country when the boat returned to Brooklyn. I soon met two other would-be travelers in the same, er, boat: Fadia, a 79-year-old Egyptian grandmother set to board with 19 relatives and friends, and Nargis, a Bangladeshi woman ready to cruise with her husband. After hours of pleading our case, even getting Fadias immigration lawyer to speak to staff by phone, we were all sent home. MSC refunded me about $500 in fees and taxes, but Im still owed about $2,300 for the cruise fare for my family of four. Nargis and her husband have also not been reimbursed, nor have Fadia and her son (who stayed behind with her while the rest of the group sailed). Can you help? Heng, New Haven, Conn. Dear Heng, I dont need to tell you how complex immigration law is, but lets get everyone else up to speed on how it affects cruise travel. Before ships allow you to board, they must verify that all passengers have sufficient documentation to re-enter the country at the end of the cruise. If the cruise company screws up, they face steep penalties from the federal Customs and Border Protection agency. (The same rules hold for airlines.) Thats why they often err on the side of caution, with the stress in this case on err. MSC Cruises said it will refund all three families and provide each a credit toward a future cruise. In a statement, Field Sutton, the director of communications for the American division of MSC Cruises, wrote: Several guests who were booked to sail on MSC Meraviglias Aug. 6 departure from New York City were unable to board the ship due to a misunderstanding over the documents they provided for international travel. We are very sorry for the inconvenience. It appears that in all three cases, the terminal staff was flummoxed by that combo card, a document the size of a drivers license that the United States provided you and some other immigrants in anticipation of green cards, for which the application process can take years. When a company with Chinese origins broke ground last year on a crypto-mining operation in Cheyenne, Wyo., a team at Microsoft that assesses national security threats sounded the alarm. Not only was the site next door to a Microsoft data center that supported the Pentagon it was about a mile away from an Air Force base that controlled nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles. The location could allow the Chinese to pursue full-spectrum intelligence collection operations, the Microsoft team wrote in an August 2022 report to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a federal body that monitors threats posed by overseas investors. Microsofts warning did not go unheeded. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, U.S. government officials told The New York Times last week that they had been tracking the Wyoming operation for months. One official said that measures had been taken to mitigate potential intelligence collection but declined to elaborate. In addition, the mining company said it responded to queries from the federal investment committee. For Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter, Natalie, the voyage to Israel that began in September was abundant with meaning, a trip to celebrate the Jewish holidays and the 85th birthday of Judiths mother at a kibbutz in the south of the country. But then, Israel was so fundamental to their lives and family both mother and daughter have deep ties there, while making their home in the Chicago suburbs that the visit was more an evocation of things familiar than a landmark exploration of something new. That celebration was transformed a week ago into an unimaginably dark and violent nightmare. When Hamas terrorists invaded Israel in a surprise assault, they swept into the kibbutz where Judith and Natalie were staying, less than a mile from the Gaza border. According to relatives, Natalie and Judith attempted to hide in a shelter, but they disappeared in the chaos and are believed to have been taken hostage by attackers. Family members in Israel were told on Friday that the pair were in Gaza, but that it was not known whether they were dead or alive. The Philadelphia police said on Friday that they were looking for as many as three people who were involved in a shooting on Thursday night that killed one officer and wounded another at a parking garage at Philadelphia International Airport. The officers, Richard Mendez, 50, and Raul Ortiz, 60, who had both served in the Philadelphia Police Department for more than 20 years, were arriving to work at the airport around 11 p.m. when they heard the sound of glass breaking, the police said. Both officers confronted three or four suspects who were breaking into a vehicle and became involved in some type of struggle, the citys interim police commissioner, John M. Stanford Jr., told reporters on Friday afternoon. Officer Mendez was shot several times and Officer Ortiz was shot once in the arm. An 18-year-old who was described by the police as a suspect was also shot. Antony J. Blinken is in the middle of his most intense trip as the top American diplomat, traveling to at least seven countries across the Middle East in four days to shore up support for Israel as it wages war against Hamas. During a whirlwind tour, at times guarded by security officers wearing body armor, the secretary of state broadcast several U.S. messages at once. He made clear that the United States fully supports Israels counterattack in response to Hamass cross-border incursion, which killed more than 1,300 people. He sought to persuade Arab countries to limit their criticism no easy task as devastating Israeli strikes have killed about 1,900 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Mr. Blinken and his top aides also spoke with their hosts about efforts to free hostages Hamas was holding in Gaza, including what U.S. officials say may be some American citizens abducted from Israel on Saturday. And he tried to ensure that the conflict did not widen to draw in other enemies of Israel, such as Iran or the Lebanon-based militia Hezbollah. A pair of classified C.I.A. intelligence reports issued in the days ahead of a major Hamas attack on Israel warned about a potential escalation in violence but did not predict the complex, multipronged attack that Hamas gunmen launched against Israel, according to U.S. officials. The first of the intelligence reports, dated Sept. 28, described the possibility that Hamas would launch rockets into Israel over a period of several days. The second report, dated Oct. 5, built on the first but was more analytical. The Oct. 5 report appeared in a daily C.I.A. summary of intelligence that is distributed widely to policymakers and lawmakers, the officials said. But intelligence officials did not brief either of the reports to President Biden or senior White House officials. Nor did the C.I.A. highlight the reports to White House policymakers as being of particular significance, officials said. Several U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, described the reports as routine, and similar to other intelligence reports about the possibility of Palestinian violence that were written throughout the year. As of October, Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois are charging new electricity supply prices, and customers should know what they are to avoid bad deals peddled by alternative electricity suppliers, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said Thursday in a statewide consumer warning. The non-summer prices, through May 2024, are listed on PlugInIllinois.org, the electric choice website maintained by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Ameren Illinois: 8.107 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for up to 800 kWh of usage. Every kWh beyond that is 7.094 per kWh. (This is Ameren's supply price + a transmission charge + a supply cost adjustment.) ComEd: 6.872 per kWh. (This is ComEd's supply price + a transmission charge.) ComEd and Ameren bill customers to deliver electricity to homes, but those customers have the right to choose either their utility or an alternative company to supply the actual electricity. The utility supply rates above are called the "price to compare" the rate customers should compare to alternative supplier offers pitched to them. "People should beware of bad deals offered by alternative electricity suppliers door-to-door, over the phone and via mail," CUB Director of Communications Jim Chilsen said. "We have seen painfully high prices peddled by suppliers-this is a buyer-beware market. The safest and most reliable way to save money on your electric bills is through energy efficiency." Since 2015, Illinois consumers have lost more than $1.6 billion to alternative electricity suppliers, according to CUB's review of reports from the ICC's Office of Retail Market Development. Just this fall, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office sued Residents Energy LLC for alleged "deceptive and unfair tactics" that tripled the energy costs of some customers. And the ICC recently ordered Switch Energy, a supplier no longer doing business in Illinois, to pay about $2.16 million in total penalties for wide-ranging violations of ICC rules and state law. "The Company has demonstrated a behavior of prioritizing sales over critical consumer protection measures," the ICC said in its final order. A review of alternative supplier prices listed on PlugInIllinois.org in October found many charging higher rates than the utilities, with the worst prices 10 cents per kWh on up. At a recent utility bill clinic in Alton, CUB staffers saw customers paying alternative supplier prices of 14 cents per kWh, 16 cents per kWh and 20 cents per kWh. CUB's Outreach Director recently saw a ComEd customer paying an alternative supplier 10.99 cents per kWh. These prices were all significantly higher than the utility supply rates, raising concerns among CUB staffers. Knowing the "price to compare" helps consumers avoid bad deals and make informed decisions about their power bills. Visit CUB's Electric page to find fact sheets about making the best choices in the electricity market. Other tips: Read your bills. Look at the "Supply" section of your ComEd or Ameren bill. If another company is listed there, check what supply rate you're paying and how it compares with your utility's supply price. Look at the "Supply" section of your ComEd or Ameren bill. If another company is listed there, check what supply rate you're paying and how it compares with your utility's supply price. Be wary about showing your bill to just anybody. If somebody comes to your door and says they want to look at your electricity bill, don't hand it over or give out your account number, unless you are absolutely sure you want to sign up. A sales rep who sees your bill can get your account number and sign you up for a deal without your permission-a scam called "slamming." If somebody comes to your door and says they want to look at your electricity bill, don't hand it over or give out your account number, unless you are absolutely sure you want to sign up. A sales rep who sees your bill can get your account number and sign you up for a deal without your permission-a scam called "slamming." Make sure the alternative supplier offer is not an introductory rate. And if it is, find out when it ends and what the new rate will be. And if it is, find out when it ends and what the new rate will be. Scan the fine print for hidden monthly fees. Also, if it's a low fixed rate, check the fine print to see if the company allows itself to change the rate during certain market conditions. Also, if it's a low fixed rate, check the fine print to see if the company allows itself to change the rate during certain market conditions. If you want to sign up, watch your bill carefully. Be prepared to get out of the offer if you notice it causes your bills to go up-you should be able to get out with no penalty, thanks to reforms the Illinois Attorney General's office, CUB and other consumer advocates fought for in 2019. Be prepared to get out of the offer if you notice it causes your bills to go up-you should be able to get out with no penalty, thanks to reforms the Attorney General's office, CUB and other consumer advocates fought for in 2019. If you're on a "municipal aggregation" plan (also called a community power deal), confirm the price, how it compares with the utility's supply rate, and for how long the contract is. It's possible your community has negotiated a reasonable rate, but don't assume that. Verify. If you want, you should be able to get out of a community power deal without paying a penalty. ( Note: Many communities may offer their residents green, or renewable energy-based, plans , which may have a higher price than the utility supply rate. Reasonably priced municipal aggregation green plans can be a legitimate option for interested consumers.) It's possible your community has negotiated a reasonable rate, but don't assume that. Verify. If you want, you should be able to get out of a community power deal without paying a penalty. ( Many communities may offer their residents , which may have a higher price than the utility supply rate. Reasonably priced municipal aggregation green plans can be a legitimate option for interested consumers.) Consider other options. You don't have to choose an alternative supplier. There is a whole menu of options (energy efficiency programs offered by your utility, Illinois' Community Solar program, for example) that can help you save money and reduce your carbon footprint. CitizensUtilityBoard.org has details on those options. Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog group. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CUB's award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org. I think its a very difficult math equation for him to overcome, said Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida. He deserves the opportunity to try to see if he can get that math better. The math is not good for him right now. After Mr. Jordan won the nomination, Republicans held another vote to gauge how many in their ranks were willing to vote for him on the floor. The results were discouraging; 152 said they would, while 55 said they would oppose him. It underscored the deep divisions among Republicans and how far they have strayed from congressional tradition, which normally dictates that once an internal party contest ends, members rally behind the victor. Mr. Jordans nomination and the swift repudiation of him by some of his colleagues came a little over a week after a faction of his supporters forced out Mr. McCarthy and then refused to back the partys initial chosen successor for the post, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who abruptly withdrew on Thursday. Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a supporter of Mr. Jordan, said the delay in taking Mr. Jordans election to the House floor would ultimately benefit the Ohio Republican. He said it would give the Ohio Republicans detractors time to go home to their districts and hear from base voters who are loyal to Mr. Trump and would urge support for Mr. Jordan. Nikki Haley on Friday knocked two of her Republican presidential rivals, Donald J. Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy, over their recent comments on Israel, underscoring the deepening divide within the party around the America First anti-interventionist stance that Mr. Trump made a core part of his first campaign. Mr. Trump, Ms. Haley suggested, lacks moral clarity and has not left the baggage and negativity of the past behind, an apparent reference to Mr. Trumps still-simmering animosity toward Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over events that include his congratulating President Biden on winning the 2020 election. Mr. Ramaswamy, meanwhile, sounds more like a liberal Democrat than a Republican, Ms. Haley said. To go and criticize the head of a country who just saw massive bloodshed no, thats not what we need in a president, Ms. Haley said of Mr. Trump, the former president and current Republican front-runner, in a news conference in Concord, N.H., after filing to get on the states primary ballot. Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and United Nations ambassador under Mr. Trump who has been running on her foreign policy experience, said the next president of the United States needed to be someone who knows the difference between good and evil, who knows the difference between right and wrong. North Korea shipped more than 1,000 containers of arms to Russia in recent weeks for use in the war in Ukraine, U.S. officials said on Friday, the latest example of Moscow scouring the world to replenish its depleted stores of weapons from some of the most isolated outlaw nations. American intelligence agencies tracked the shipment of military equipment and munitions as it made its way from North Korea on a Russian-flagged ship to a Russian port and from there by rail to an ammunition depot not far from Ukraine, officials said. We condemn the D.P.R.K. for providing Russia with this military equipment, which will be used to attack Ukrainian cities, kill Ukrainian civilians and further Russias illegitimate war, said John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, using the initials for North Koreas formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Mr. Kirby gave no details about the nature of the munitions but said the White House was especially concerned that Russia would repay North Korea by providing it more sophisticated weapons and technology it otherwise would not have available under international sanctions. American intelligence agencies have concluded that North Korea has requested fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment and other materials and advanced technologies. The Supreme Court said on Friday that it would hear a second challenge to a foundational precedent on the power of executive agencies. The new case is almost identical to one the court agreed to hear in May, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, No. 22-451. The courts usual practice when asked to hear a follow-on case concerning the same issues is to hold the new case until the earlier one is resolved and then return it to the lower courts for reconsideration in light of the ruling in the first one. The courts unusual decision to grant review in the new case was almost surely because Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson had recused herself from the earlier case, having served on the panel that heard it when she was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The new case comes from the First Circuit, in Boston, and so does not require Justice Jacksons recusal. Sitting on the banks of the Fitzroy River in remote Western Australia, watching a plume of smoke swirling into the air from a distant wildfire, the Aboriginal elder lamented how his parents generation had worked for sugar, flour and tea, not wages, and how his community now relies heavily on welfare after employment programs were withdrawn by the government. But, weve got something coming, Hector Angus Hobbs, 67, a member of the Walmajarri tribe, said earlier this week. Were going to win. His optimism proved misplaced on Saturday, when the nation voted no on a referendum that would have given Indigenous Australians a voice in Parliament in the form of an advisory body. The proposal, polls showed, was broadly supported by the countrys Indigenous people, who make up less than 4 percent of the nations population. Many of them saw it as a sign of Australia taking a step to do right by them after centuries of abuse and neglect. Mr. Hobbs and many of his neighbors in the town of Fitzroy Crossing believed it would help with everything from solving everyday issues like repairs for houses, to moving the needle on weighty aspirations like reparations. A suicide attack by the Islamic State at a Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan killed at least 17 people on Friday, according to hospital officials and eyewitnesses, in a bloody reminder of the insecurity that remains in the country and has spread to Pakistan two years after the end of the U.S.-led war. The attack occurred around 1:30 p.m., just as hundreds had gathered at the mosque for Friday prayers in Pul-i-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan Province, a coal-rich and mountainous stretch of northern Afghanistan. The blast hit the Imam Zaman Mosque, the largest Shiite mosque in the city, and witnesses and Taliban officials said they believe the assault was carried out by a single suicide attacker. The explosion occurred in the midst of a crowd of worshipers, said Mustafa Hashemi, the director of the provinces department for information and culture. The thieves who broke into a Glaswegian museum in 1989 kept the heist fairly simple. Sometime during the night, according to reports in Scottish media at the time, they used a ladder to climb through an upstairs window of a museum. They made off with china dolls, a precious jug and an oil painting. The painting, Children Wading, by the Scottish artist Robert Gemmell Hutchison, remained missing for more than three decades until it showed up at an auction house in England last year. The stolen artwork has now been returned to Glasgow, the citys museums charity said this week. The discovery came after the painting came to auctioneers last year in North Yorkshire, England, as part of an estate sale, said James Ratcliffe, the director for recoveries at Art Loss Register, an organization that tracks lost, stolen and looted art, antiques and collectibles. The group helps auction houses and others in the art market cross reference items coming up for sale with a database of some 700,000 missing pieces. We spotted it in our databases as registered as stolen, said Mr. Ratcliffe, adding that after the discovery, the auction house withdrew it from sale. In the ancient city of Exeter, three women were hanged for practicing witchcraft in the late 17th century, the last of such executions in England. Now, merely a short walk from where the hangings occurred, the University of Exeter will offer a postgraduate degree in magic and occult science, which the school says is the first of its kind at a British university. Prof. Emily Selove, the head of the new program and an associate professor in medieval Arabic literature, said the idea for the degree, which will be offered starting in September 2024, came out of the recent surge in interest in the history of witchcraft and a desire to create a space where research on magic could be studied across academic fields. Coursework will include the study of Western dragons in lore, literature and art; archaeology theory; the depiction of women in the Middle Ages; the practice of deception and illusion; and the philosophy of psychedelics. Through the lenses of Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, lecturers will explore how magic has influenced society and science. Christina Oakley Harrington, a retired academic of medieval history and the founder of Treadwells, a London bookstore specializing in literature on magic and spiritualism, said that many witches she knew were talking about the degree program, announced last week, and were thinking about enrolling. The French government raised its terrorist threat alert to the highest level on Friday after a knife-wielding man killed a teacher and injured three other people at a school in northern France in what officials described as an Islamist terror attack, deeply disturbing the country. The attack put President Emmanuel Macrons government under intense pressure as officials acknowledged that the main suspect in the attack and several of his family members had been identified by intelligence services as radicalized or had been convicted on terrorism charges. The suspect was even taken in for questioning the day before the assault, officials said, but was let go after it was determined that he did not pose an immediate threat. The stabbing took place at the Gambetta-Carnot public school in Arras, a town of about 42,000, roughly 25 miles southwest of Lille, near the Belgian border. A van crowded with 22 migrants plus the driver crashed after a high-speed police chase on a highway near Germanys southern border Friday, killing seven people and injuring 16 others. Among the dead was a six-year-old child. The migrants in the van all carried either Turkish or Syrian papers, according to police. German immigration authorities say an increasing number of migrants are attempting to enter the country, often smuggled across the border in vans and trucks. Bavarian officials said that since March, they have noticed more transports of 10 or more migrants. The federal police, responsible for borders, documented 138 cases of human smuggling in Bavaria in the month of August alone. Immigration has become a contentious issue in Germany: In a recent poll, 44 percent of respondents called it their principal worry. And populist politicians, touting an anti-refugee line, made major gains in two state elections earlier this month and are polling at record highs. The autobahn where the crash occurred is locally known as a trafficking route. But a majority of migrants trying to enter Germany do so by crossing the countrys eastern border. Swiss Geo Energy is proud to announce the successful completion of the geophysical campaign for the project GeoCogen Eclepens, which concluded on October 6. These field operations mobilised significant resources and technical expertise to gather essential data for the project's success aimed at producing electricity and geothermal heat. Campaign key figures: A volume of 500 km 3 , which corresponds to the three-dimensional image of the subsurface acquired during the campaign (equivalent to over five times the volume of Lake Geneva). which corresponds to the three-dimensional image of the subsurface acquired during the campaign (equivalent to over five times the volume of Lake Geneva). Approximately 100 Terabytes of recorded data, which demonstrates the precision of the upcoming underground image. which demonstrates the precision of the upcoming underground image. 104 km surface covered . . 32 involved municipalities in the Jura-Nord, Morges, and Gros-de-Vaud districts, in the Jura-Nord, Morges, and Gros-de-Vaud districts, 70 deployed professionals in the field, ensuring smooth operations. in the field, ensuring smooth operations. 11 nights of actual work, minimising disturbances for residents. of actual work, minimising disturbances for residents. 4 vibrating trucks generated acoustic waves. generated acoustic waves. Over 13 000 vibrated points . . Over 21 000 installed geophones in the region to record waves reflected by different geological layers. "We are delighted with the progress of operations during this geophysical campaign and the preliminary results. The next step, which will last about a year, will involve analysing the collected data to create a detailed three-dimensional map of the area's geology. This will help us confirm the geothermal potential of the region. We want to thank the canton of Vaud, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, the local authorities, agricultural landowners, and residents for their cooperation and understanding throughout this geophysical campaign," states Eric Leoutre, Chief Operating Officer at Swiss Geo Energy. "We are currently retrieving the geophones. Please remember not to touch or move them to preserve their integrity and recorded data." About Swiss Geo Energy: Swiss Geo Energy SA specialises in the exploration, storage, and valorisation of renewable underground resources in Switzerland and Europe. Swiss Geo Energy is a subsidiary of Ad Terra Energy, a Swiss consulting company specialising in geosciences and engineering. Contact presse : Geoffroy Cazenave Communications Manager press@swissgeoenergy.com +41 26 558 48 98 The commission, he said, has been portrayed by some people youve talked to as a way for the British government to draw a big veil of secrecy over what happened, adding: The opposite is actually the case. We want as much information in the public domain as is compatible with our overriding obligations to keep people safe and secure. One of the new laws high-profile critics is Ian Jeffers, the Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, a government post established in 2005 and based in Belfast. If you look at solutions that have worked, like the Good Friday Agreement the 1998 accord which ended the Troubles that was negotiated by the political parties of Northern Ireland, all parties in the United Kingdom, the United States and the Republic of Ireland, he said. This bill is a solution imposed by one government party, and a bill by one party will not deliver reconciliation. An obvious alternative, say the bills detractors, would have been for the British government to improve and speed up the court system. When it works, as the Ballymurphy case shows, it can have a life-changing impact. And there are many outstanding questions about how the new commission will function. How will investigations unfold? Will perpetrators flock to the commission for immunity? Or will the commission find that it cant actually compel anyone to testify, no matter what it has to offer? Mr. McClenaghan is braced for answers he wont like. In 2011, he and other relatives of victims of the McGurks bombing unveiled a replica of the facade of the bar on the ground where it once stood. It is a monument and a place for prayer, as well as a reminder that in Northern Ireland peace is a process, not a settled state. Russian authorities on Friday detained three lawyers representing the jailed opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny in what his supporters said was a government-led attempt to continue to isolate him and further limit his ability to influence the countrys political life. In a series of statements, Mr. Navalnys team members said that the lawyers, Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Aleksei Liptser, were being investigated on suspicion of belonging to an extremist group and that their homes had been searched before the men were detained. Speaking during a court hearing on Friday, Mr. Navalny, 47, who had been sentenced by Russian courts to 19 years in prison overall on charges of fraud, embezzlement, contempt of court, and extremism, said that the fact that his lawyers were being investigated characterizes well the state of justice in Russia. As during the Soviet times, they persecute not only political activists and turn them into political prisoners, but also their lawyers, said Mr. Navalny, a fervent critic of President Vladimir V. Putin, according to a recording posted by his team on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. It was impossible to miss: a large green, yellow and blue off-road vehicle parked in a prime spot in the exhibition hall at the Labour Partys annual conference. The car belonged to Ineos, one of the worlds largest chemical companies, and its outsize presence, among dozens of businesses and organizations, marked the companys first time attending the gathering. Andrew Gardner, who runs Ineoss huge refinery complex in Grangemouth, Scotland, was standing by the vehicle on Tuesday afternoon, grabbing time with passing Labour lawmakers to discuss the companys goals. He had never attended a Labour conference before, and skipped the governing Conservative Partys the previous week, but said he had come to this one, in the northern English city of Liverpool, because Labour was expected to form the next government. His colleague Richard Longden, Ineoss head of communications, chimed in, describing a vibe here of a party thats changed, and one thats looking forward to the future. And business needs to be speaking to them and needs to be seen. Which is exactly why were here, Mr. Gardner added. In Britain, the Conservative Party has traditionally been seen as the party of business and the guardians of free enterprise. Now, under the centrist leadership of Keir Starmer, Labour is taking over that mantle. As the party inches closer to power, with a general election expected next year, it is engaged in a mutually beneficial love-in with the corporate sector. Russian and Ukrainian forces were locked in fierce fighting around the eastern frontline town of Avdiivka for a fourth straight day on Friday, in one of Moscows biggest military offensives in months. Ukraines top military command said that it had repelled more than 20 attacks over the past day around the town, a linchpin of regional defenses whose capture by Russia would ease the way to the nearby, larger cities of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka. Local officials described round-the-clock fighting and residential buildings that had been reduced to rubble by shelling, with heavy bombardments and the deployment of large numbers of troops and tanks by Russian forces. It was a hot night in Avdiivka, Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the towns military administration, told Ukrainian television. The assaults do not stop, day or night. The family of Awad Darawsheh spent five agonizing days waiting for news. Mr. Darawsheh, a paramedic in his 20s, had been working at a music festival in southern Israel when Palestinian gunmen stormed in, firing at fleeing attendees and dragging others away as hostages. On Thursday night, his family received word: Mr. Darawsheh had been shot dead during the attack, said Ashraf Ayoub, who oversaw him in the United Hatzalah emergency medical services organization. Mr. Darawsheh joined a grim list: He was one of more than 100 killed in what appears to have been one of the worst massacres of the sweeping surprise attack launched by Hamas on Saturday. And his death underscores how the terror did not spare Israels Arab citizens. About two million of Israels citizens are Arab. Many identify as Palestinian or share close family ties with those in the West Bank and Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Iraq on Friday. Imams leading prayers in Lebanon denounced the state of Israel. And in the island nation of Bahrain, videos shared by activists showed protesters walking on Israeli and American flags. Israels siege and bombardment of Gaza which came in response to an operation by Palestinian attackers that killed more than 1,300 people in Israel has ignited anger in the Middle East. Across the region, many people do not view Israel as the victim of an unprovoked terrorist attack as many American officials have described it but rather as a colonial-style occupier, buttressed by the United States, that continually violates the rights of the Palestinians. They were subjected to various types of injustice, and now they are being subjected to starvation, siege and killing, said Ali Hassan, 60, who participated in demonstrations in Bahrain on Friday. Every free person, every Muslim human being, and every honorable person stands with the Palestinians and with Gaza. As for the so-called Israel, he added, They are usurping occupiers. At least 1,799 Gaza Palestinians have been killed since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Friday. Panic and chaos gripped the northern Gaza Strip Friday as thousands of people fled south in vehicles piled high with blankets and mattresses along two main roads after the Israeli military ordered a mass evacuation of half of the besieged coastal strip. But rather than finding safety from a feared ground invasion, at least 70 people were killed along the way when Israeli airstrikes hit some of the vehicles fleeing south, according to the Gazan authorities. Some Gaza residents said they feared this could be the start of another permanent mass displacement like the one in 1948, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled their homes in present-day Israel during the war surrounding the nations establishment. But it was too soon to tell. As Im packing my things, Im wondering: Is this really another nakba? said Dr. Arwa el-Rayes, a 56-year-old doctor, speaking in the last moments before she left her childhood home in Gaza City in the north. The nakba, which means catastrophe, is how Palestinians refer to the 1948 displacement. Follow live news updates on the Israel-Hamas war. Last weekends attack on Israel by Hamas has brought renewed scrutiny of the armed Palestinian groups longstanding relationship with Iran, and questions about whether the Gaza-based group could have pulled off such a sophisticated and devastating operation on its own. Iran has a long history of training and arming proxy militia groups in the region, from Gaza to Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. It supports Hamas militarily and has helped it design and produce a domestic missile and rocket system to match the capabilities and material available in Gaza an impoverished, densely populated coastal strip that has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt for the past 16 years. And over the past year, there have been signs that Iran and its proxies were preparing to take a more aggressive approach toward Israel. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, who is in charge of supervising Irans network of proxy militias as head of the countrys paramilitary Quds Force, repeatedly traveled to Lebanon for covert sessions with leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, a Shiite Lebanese militia that Iran also supports. Israel called for the evacuation of more than a million citizens from the northern Gaza Strip and concentrated more armed forces around the enclave on Friday, signaling that it may be preparing to escalate the war with Hamas. The United Nations and international aid and rights groups called Israels directive unworkable or unlawful, and urged it to rescind the evacuation. A U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement that the evacuation could not be conducted without devastating humanitarian consequences, and could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. The Israeli military did not back away from the evacuation plan on Friday but softened its stance, suggesting there was no deadline, after initially saying that people should leave northern Gaza within 24 hours. We understand it will take time, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, told reporters. In Gaza, already cut off from vital supplies, many people fled with what they could carry, not knowing what conditions awaited them in the south or how long they would be gone. But many others remained, out of necessity, fear or defiance. Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and conducted a deadly, large-scale incursion into Israel last weekend, has urged people to stay put, calling the Israeli directive psychological warfare. Days after Palestinian gunmen from Gaza launched brazen attacks on southern Israel, killing more than 1,300 people in the broadest assault on the country in decades, the conflict is threatening to ripple across the Middle East. In the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli military pummels the blockaded territory with airstrikes and demands that more than a million of its residents move south, Palestinians are hunkering down in fear. On Israels northern border, the army is clashing with a militant group in Lebanon. In Iraq and Yemen, armed groups have issued threats against Israel and the United States, its main ally. On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes hit the two main airports in neighboring Syria. As Israels army prepares for a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the inferno flaring out from Gaza is turning into a potential nightmare for the entire region, threatening to destabilize not just Israel and the Palestinian territories, but also Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. American officials have doubled down on their support for Israel, with President Biden defending Israels right to respond. On Oct. 3, a gang of eight Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker in a political coup, creating chaos. Reps. Matt Gaetz, Nancy Mace, Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, Matt Rosendale, Bob Good, Tim Burchett and Ken Buck united with 208 Democrats to topple McCarthy without a plan, a replacement, or even a policy goal in mind. Four percent of the Republican House conference trumped the 96% who supported McCarthy. This gang demonstrates the degraded state of the Republican Party in this era of rage. Chaos, the hallmark of Trumps presidency, has now spread to House Republicans. Members in safe seats, like Gaetz, can fuel their own fundraising and careers by claiming to fight for a variety of causes without doing the hard work to accomplish what they claim to be fighting for. Gaetz is a narcissistic nihilist with designs on running for Florida governor. He has no loyalty to the GOP. Driven by spite against McCarthy, Gaetz is the subject of a House ethics probe involving allegations of sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and misuse of campaign funds (all disputed). The gangs stunt shows no evidence they understand the reality of divided government. That requires House GOP unity to have any leverage against a Democratic Senate and president. Even then there has to be compromise. Its basic civics and should be obvious, but too many Republicans apparently come to Washington with an intent to shut things down and count their social media followers rather than govern. On Sept. 30, McCarthy chose the only option to avoid a pointless government shutdown by passing a bipartisan funding bill through Nov. 17. McCarthy worked until the day before the shutdown deadline to pass a 45-day funding bill that included spending reductions, money for border security, and a commission on the growing federal debt. It wouldnt have passed the Senate, but it would have given the House leverage in conference. Instead, the GOPs rejectionists defeated everything. The real winners with the motion to vacate were House Democrats. They were given new opportunities going into the 2024 election by making Republicans appear to be dysfunctional losers, involved in a circular firing squad amongst themselves. A recent Gallup survey shows voters tend to agree with the GOP on issues but dislike the party. Americansespecially swing voters Republicans need to hold the Housewill see McCarthys removal as evidence Republicans dont have their act together and are dominated by extreme MAGA Republicans. Meanwhile, the House is frozen. Without a speaker, the House cannot conduct business. It cant take action, even for emergencies. Nevada GOP Rep. Mark Amodei worries the delay makes passage of legislation harder, including his Nevada state lands bill (H.R.3173). Majority Leader Steve Scalise and hard-right Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan are candidates for the next speaker, with McCarthy willing to return. GOP divisions and confusion reign. Hardline House Republicans, and Trump, urge government shutdowns as a tactic in budget fights. They ignore history. Shutdowns never have changed policy, and Republicans always get blamed. Surveys showed Republicans took blame for the 21-day shutdown of 1995-96 under Bill Clinton (for demanding spending cuts before they relented) and the 16-day shutdown in 2013 under Barack Obama (for trying and failing to defund Obamacare). Trump spurred a 35-day shutdown from December 2018 to January 2019the longest in modern historyto demand funding for a border wall. As pressure mounted and Democrats held firm, Trump backed down, reopening the government without having secured any concessions. Another shutdown looms ahead on Nov. 17. New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler spoke about his fellow Republicans whove provoked the current chaos: This is stupidity, Lawler said. Its a clown show, he added, the inevitable result of running lunatics for Congress. House Republicans are aboard a Ship of Fools. A cameraman for the Reuters news service, Issam Abdallah, was killed and six other journalists, from Reuters, Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse, were injured on Friday night amid escalating clashes on Lebanons southern border with Israel. Prime Minister Najib Mikati of Lebanon blamed Mr. Abdallahs death on Israel, whose military said it was investigating. Mr. Abdallahs death inside Lebanon was the first time that a journalist has been killed in the past week along the increasingly volatile border, an area that has seen fighting in recent days between Israeli forces and Iranian-backed militant groups, the most powerful of which is Hezbollah. In a statement, Reuters confirmed Mr. Abdallahs death and said two other Reuters journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, had been injured and were seeking medical care. The news service said it was gathering more information and working with authorities in the region but did not provide additional details. Cities across the United States took extra security precautions on Friday after Hamas called for a day of protest around the world, rhetoric that raised tensions in Jewish and Muslim communities. Top U.S. counterterrorism officials and law enforcement officials in many cities said there were no credible threats related to the Israel-Gaza war. But authorities still increased security around religious institutions and other public places. In New York City, which has been on edge in the week since the attacks in Israel began, police officials reassured residents and increased patrols around synagogues and mosques and deployed more uniformed officers at large gatherings and cultural sites. There was a noticeable increase in police presence, whether at transit hubs like Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal or synagogues and other Jewish sites. Jewish day schools were on high alert on Friday, with some canceling classes. Case 1:23-cr-00257-TSC Document 60 Filed 09/25/23 Page 9 of 25 because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content." Police Dep't of City of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U.S. 92, 95 (1972).5 The prosecution may not like President's Trump's entirely valid criticisms, but neither it nor this Court are the filter for what the public may hear. Rather, "[t]he very purpose of the First Amendment is to foreclose public authority from assuming a guardianship of the public mind . . . In this field every person must be his own watchman for truth, because the forefathers did not trust any government to separate the true from the false for us." Meyer v. Grant, 486 U.S. 414, 41920 (1988) (citations and internal quotations omitted); Consol. Edison Co. of New York v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n of New York, 447 U.S. 530, 53738 (1980) (If the marketplace of ideas is to remain free and open, governments must not be allowed to choose which issues are worth discussing or debating. . . . To allow a government the choice of permissible subjects for public debate would be to allow that government control over the search for political truth." (citations and internal quotations omitted)). If the prosecution wishes to avoid criticism for abusing its power, the solution is simple: stop abusing its power. The Constitution allows no alternative.6 5 No one can doubt that substantial segments of the U.S. public harbor deep suspicions regarding the prosecution's motives in this case. President Trump has a constitutional right to speak on this subject, both as a political candidate and as a citizen of this country. 6 Enforcing "confidence in the judicial system through censorship is repugnant to the First Amendment in every respect; however, even if it were a "compelling government interest," the prosecution utterly fails to establish that any confidence has been lost due to President Trump's comments, or that censoring him would do anything to restore or preserve such confidence. It cites no statistics, provides no affidavits, and does not even explain how many people have seen President Trump's comments. To satisfy strict scrutiny, harm must not be speculative or assumed, but rather demonstrated through compelling evidence. Landmark Commc'ns, Inc., 435 U.S. at 844. Likewise, the prosecution does not, and cannot, explain how the Proposed Gag Order is the least restrictive method of achieving its purported goal of preserving public confidence. 9 Bob Menendez Embattled New Jersey Senator Bob "Gold Bar" Menendez is a big fan of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. FARA, though, is going to bite him. In May 2020, Menendez wrote a letter to the Justice Dept. urging an investigation of a former Congressman for failing to register under FARA. The Act is clear that acting directly or indirectly in any capacity on behalf of a foreign principal triggers the requirement to register under FARA, he wrote. Correct. In a 2022 follow-up to attorney general Merrick Garland, Menendez wrote that if a former member of Congress carried out work that requires him to register under FARA, it is imperative that the Justice Dept. ensure he is held to account. Well done. The Justice Dept. now has a golden opportunity to hold Menendez to account. Federal prosecutors released a superseding indictment on Oct. 12, alleging that Menendez and his wife, Nadine, conspired to have him serve as an agent of Egypt. Senators and Members of Congress arent required to file under FARA because they arent expected to be on the payroll of foreign entities. Bob and Nadine are alleged to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for his influence as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It would be sweet justice if the new FARA charge is added to the pile of the Senators legal headaches. No terrorists, here. The BBC has defended its policy of not using the word terrorists" in reporting on the slaughter of more than 1,000 civilians in southern Israel on Oct. 7. The Beeb described the Hamas killers as militants. Here is the official policy: "Our reporting of possible acts of terror should be timely and responsible, bearing in mind our requirement for due accuracy and impartiality. Terrorism is a difficult and emotive subject with significant political overtones and care is required in the use of language that carries value judgements. We should not use the term terrorist without attribution. The BBC believes the word terrorist can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding. Its role is to provide a full narrative of what has happened so the audience can made its own decision about the consequences of the event. While the BBC shuns the word terrorist, the use of attacker, insurgent, kidnapper and gunman is okay. The BBC is splitting hairs. The Israeli government was invisible in the days following the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas, said reporters at The Economist on a webinar conducted Oct. 12. There were no high-profile visits to hospitals, or consoling the greiving. That's because members of prime ministers Benjamin Netanyahus right-wing government didnt want to experience close-up the rage of Israels citizens over the military and intelligence failure that allowed the assault. Anton LaGuardia, diplomatic correspondent, said there will soon be a large day of reckoning for Netanyahu. Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent, said Netanyahu is a master of the divide and rule form of government. He creates schisms between Israels right and left wing, and between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. And then he plays each side against the other. Netanyahu refuses to negotiate with the more moderate Palestinian Authority over the future of West Bank. But prior to Oct. 7, Netanyahu treated Hamas as the legitimate government of Gaza and cut deals with it, including prisoner swaps, said Carlstrom. LaGuardia and Carlstrom agree that Netanyahu is a shrewd political operative and a survivor as Israels longest-serving prime minister. Though Bibi suffered a big blow on Oct. 7, you can never count him out, said Carlstrom. TWO students from Offaly have been awarded prestigious All Ireland Scholarships which will cover the full duration of their undergraduate studies. The 2022 Leaving Certificate students; Niall Mahon, Colaiste Naomh Cormac, and Patrick Raine, Colaiste Choilm, were honoured at the All Ireland Scholarships Award Ceremony 2023 in University Concert Hall, University of Limerick, recently. In attendance at the ceremony was Guest of Honour and Limerick Senior Hurling Team Manager John Kiely, Minister for Further and Higher Education Niall Collins TD and Deputy Secretary, Skills and Education Group, Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland, Moira Doherty as well as the family, friends and school principals of the scholarship recipients. Commenting on the scheme, Scholarship Sponsor J.P. McManus said: 1,348 successful graduates have emerged with primary degrees and are now either embarking on further studies or, in the case of the majority, pursuing successful careers. This figure demonstrates that the key objective to provide financial support to many gifted young students so they may succeed during their third-level education has worked. Niall Mahon from Colaiste Naomh Cormac being presented with his award by J.P. McManus. Patrick Raine, Colaiste Choilm Tullamore, receiving his award from J.P. McManus. Their drive and determination is admirable, and they should be very proud. The All Ireland Scholarships were established in 2008 by J.P. McManus and this year marks its 15th anniversary. The third level educational scholarship is awarded to 125 of the highest achieving students per year, with a minimum of two students from each of the 32 counties. The recipients must meet certain criteria. They must be attending a non-fee-paying school, and be in receipt of a third level education maintenance grant from Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) or of an Education Maintenance Allowance in Northern Ireland. The scholarship offers full academic financial support for the duration of the students' third level studies. To date, 1,674 scholarships have been awarded across the island of Ireland, of which 1,348 winners have already graduated from university and have embarked on successful careers. The most popular courses chosen by the 2022 cohort of scholarship recipients include science, engineering, pharmacy, finance and medicine. Fears have been raised that lorries and buses will no longer be able to turn in Rhode village after footpaths were widened there this week. Several people have shown footage on social media of lorries and buses having difficulty making turns in the village centre, at the crossroads, with many questioning the planning of the new footpaths, and their width in particular. Road diversions are currently in place in the village as the works are carried out this week. A spokesperson for Offaly Co Council outlined that the construction work is ongoing but once completed the crossroads in Rhode will be a raised table junction, i.e. no kerbs. "The steep ramps currently in place are only a temporary measure. All our Active Travel Works are undertaken in line with appropriate industry guidelines," the spokesperson said. They added that the works will provide a safer environment for pedestrians and vulnerable road users within Rhode village. The completed works will also slow vehicles down with the village and traffic passing through Rhode village, the spokesperson outlined. The improvements will also remove unregulated unsafe parking entirely from the crossroads and near pedestrian crossings to improve sight lines. The spokesperson said the HGVs will have to wait until junctions are clear to continue, crossing the centreline is allowed but only when the path is clear. However, the works have raised concerns about the works undertaken in the village. One person commented on social media: "Its an accident waiting to happen and needs an urgent review. The workers told the engineer that the road wouldnt be wide enough and they were told to carry on! Absolutely ridiculous! It needs sorting now". Local resident Tierna Hannon contacted Offaly News and said: "All residents are very angry with the latest 'road improvements'. It's actually quite comical due to the crazy scenes being witnessed on a daily basis and beggers belief as to how it was allowed. "The county council are missing the point completely in our complaints and insist they are following road width guidelines and the plans etc. The issue is not that road works are causing disruption, it's that the works are a disaster, dangerous and now we literally have nowhere to park in Rhode village. "Its a four way junction that lorry and bus driver are having nothing but hardship turning on now. Even cars are struggling to turn when another car is at the top of the junction as there is barely enough room for two cars to swing past each other after navigating around the wide path. Roads have been made extremely narrow by massive footpaths with bollards so the majority of our street parking is gone. "Lorries and buses are finding it extremely difficult to turn and are mounting the paths and have already hit some of the bollards, they are holding up traffic as they need cars to reverse so that they can reverse up and attempt to turn numerous times. Traffic lights won't even fix this problem. One of our main concerns is what happens if someone is standing on the corner here - it's an accident waiting to happen. Local business have lost their parking spaces and are losing business. Our only options are to park in the two pubs private carparks which is not fair on them. Rhode is not accessible anymore," Ms Hannon said. Footage of the difficulties being encountered by lorries at the crossroads in the village was posted by Adele Kiearns. Another comment on social media said: "Honest to God, you wouldn't see it in a Killinaskuly sketch!" IT IS Autumn and, in our forests, and across our mountains, tensions are rising as the rutting or deer breeding season gets under way, the time of the year when male deer are driven by an urge to reproduce. From late September until early November the clash of antlers will be heard as males show off their virility to potential mates and, like gladiators entering an arena, they parade around showing off their armoury of antlers. While the rut is an amazing experience to witness it is also a time when there is an increased incident of road traffic accidents involving deer as male deer go in search of females and younger males are ousted by dominant males forcing deer to cross public roads and motorways. The Irish Deer Commission are calling on motorists to be vigilant at dawn and dusk, when deer are most active, particularly in high risk areas such as woodlands and mountains. What should drivers do in high risk areas? Reduce speed where they see a warning sign and stay alert. Prepare to stop, never swerve as you could hit another obstacle or oncoming vehicle. When you see a deer "dip your headlights" as the full beam may cause the deer to freeze. If a deer has crossed in front of your vehicle, be aware that others may follow. Do not approach an injured deer. If you are involved in a road traffic accident involving a deer or come across a deer that has been involved in a road traffic accident, immediately contact the local Gardai. The Irish Deer Commission operate a humane deer dispatch scheme with 135 trained volunteers assisting agencies and charities who deal with an increasing number of deer vehicle collisions nationally. There has been widespread anger in Northern Ireland and Ireland following a social media post by Israel's Defense Forces referencing Bloody Sunday. Members of the Bloody Sunday March Committee said they are "staggered beyond belief" at at a post on X from the Israeli Defense Forces claiming that events in Israel are "their Bloody Sunday." The comment comes in the wake of attacks by terror group, Hamas, in Israel at the weekend, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 Israelis with thousands more injured. Spokesperson Kate Nash said there is no comparison between the events in Palestine and what occurred in Derry on January 30, 1972. Ms Nash said: "This is beyond outrageous - To have the memory of our innocent dead sullied by the apartheid forces of the Israeli State will cause deep hurt and anger in Derry. "The IDF commit Bloody Sunday type massacres every day of the week in Occupied Palestine. Just like in Derry their killers operate with impunity and Palestinians receive no justice. "223 unarmed Palestinian were massacred at the Gaza border fence by the IDF in 2018/19. "Shot by Israeli snipers, war criminals who were following in the bloody tradition of the murderous Parachute Regiment in the Bogside. "After these state killings, Israel did not become the pariah state that it should have, instead the so called international community actually increased military aid to the IDF killers. "The UK Government do not even offer the weakest of condemnation of the Israeli State. "It's clear from the Legacy Bill imposed on us and from their statement of ' unequivocal support ' for Israel that there truly is no British justice. "We send our solidarity to those who fight for justice and freedom for the Palestinians living under illegal occupation." Not once in his 10-minute statement Tuesday condemning Hamass horrific attack on Israel did President Biden mention Iranthe regime ultimately responsible for last weekends brutal murder of some 1,200 people in Israel, including at least 22 Americans. Worse, he delivered no warning to Iran that the regime would pay a severe price if its terrorist proxy, Hamas, harmed a single American among those it has taken hostage. This was a dereliction of duty. Lets be clear: Hamas would not be able to operate without the support of the Iranian regime. Iran funds its terrorist operatives, arms them, trains them. Without that Iranian support, Hamas would never have been able to carry out an attack of this scope and sophistication. Iran works through proxies such as Hamas precisely so it can blur responsibility for attacks such as this. And the Biden administration appears more than willing to cooperate with that ruse to avoid having to acknowledge the catastrophic failure of its Iran policy and impose consequences on Tehran for the American blood on its hands. When Donald Trump was president, he did not let Iran get away with hiding behind proxies. His administration drew a clear red line with Irans leaders, warning that if they or their stand-ins killed a single American, the United States would draw no distinction between Iran and the terrorists it sponsors; we would respond militarily against Iran. For a time, Iran danced around Trumps red line, careful not to cross it by taking American lives. It was blamed for attacks on Japanese and Norwegian oil tankers but did not attack American ones. It shot down an unmanned U.S. drone, while avoiding a manned American P-8 aircraft that was reportedly flying in the area (which Trump called a very wise decision). In each case, Trump showed restraint, tightening sanctions, approving a cyberstrike against Irans military computer systems and designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organizationall while warning Tehran that his restraint had limits. Then Iran apparently miscalculated. Its proxy militia in Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah, was blamed for rocket attack on a military base in Iraq that killed a U.S. military contractor and injured four U.S. service members. Believing his red line had been crossed, Trump struck back: He hit Kataib Hezbollah targets in Iraq and Syria. And after supporters of the militia set fire to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, he launched a strike that took out both the militia leader and Irans terrorist mastermind, Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps elite Quds Force. And Trump warned Tehran that if it retaliated against Americans, Iran itself WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. Iran backed down. Trumps actions not only deterred Iranian aggression; they opened the door for peace in the region. In the wake of the Soleimani strike, Trump brokered peace accords between Israel and not one, not two, not three, but four Arab nationsthe first such agreements in more than a quarter-century. Now an Iranian proxy has crossed that red line againand Iran knows that, unlike Trump, Biden is more afraid of escalation than Iran is. Biden inherited a strong deterrence posture in the Middle East and squandered itbegging Iran to rejoin the Obama nuclear deal, easing enforcement of oil sanctions resulting in tens of billions of dollars in Irans coffers, and releasing five Iranian prisoners plus effectively paying Tehran a $6 billion ransom for five American hostages. In the wake of this weekends Iranian-sponsored violence, it is time for Biden to recognize the folly of this approach and restore deterrence with Iran. The first step would be to publicly declare that the red line Trump drew remains in force and that we will hold the Iranians responsible for any harm that comes to American hostages now held by Hamas. If a single American hostage is killed, Soleimanis successor, Quds Force commander Ismail Qaani, should meet the same fate as Soleimani. According to the Wall Street Journal, Qaani is the official leading the effort to wrangle Irans foreign proxies under a unified command, including Hamas. The message to Iran should be: Every time you or your proxies kill an American, a Quds Force commander will meet his maker. Biden should also reverse his policy of appeasement and fully enforce the crippling sanctions Trump imposed on Tehran. The president should further isolate the regime by banning all airlines (such as Air France and Lufthansa) that serve Tehran from landing in the United States. And if it is true, as the administration insists, that the $6 billion ransom Biden approved for Irans American hostages has not yet been distributed, then those assets should be restricted again. Sometimes it falls to presidents to enforce red lines set by their predecessors. After Trump took office, he twice enforced President Barack Obamas red line against Syrias use of chemical weapons, striking the Assad regime when it used a toxic nerve agent on innocent men, women and children. Now its Bidens turn to enforce a red line set by his predecessor. Iran has already gotten away with the murder of 22 Americans. We cannot allow even one more to be killed with impunity. "When we remove the patients eye patches after surgery, they express their gratitude by placing their hands together, a moment that brings me the greatest joy," said Ding Zhixiang, leader of a Chinese medical team specializing in cataract treatment in Prey Veng province in Cambodia. The Cataract Blindness Elimination Project, which started in 2018, aims to provide free surgeries for cataract patients in countries along the Belt and Road. The medical teams are from different Chinese provinces. Currently, the medical team is carrying out approximately 45 days of medical assistance for local cataract patients. It consists of eight members, all from the Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical College. Cambodia and Laos are both in tropical regions with intense sunlight, making them high-incidence areas for cataracts. As of Thursday, the medical team has successfully performed a total of 234 cataract sight-restoring surgeries, with significant improvements in the postoperative visual acuity of patients. Recently, an 87-year-old patient in Cambodia, whose vision was limited to light perception, sought help from the medical team.. "At first, the patient hesitated about whether to undergo surgery due to fear of pain. After patiently explaining the process to her, we dispelled her concerns," said team member Qiu Meiyuan, emphasizing the importance of communication with patients before surgery. "After the surgery, I can see, I can see my grandson! Thank you, Chinese doctors!" the patient exclaimed. The medical team not only performed cataract sight-restoring surgeries for local patients but also provided training to local doctors, elevating overall medical standards in the region. As of now, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has performed over 10,000 free cataract sight-restoring surgeries for patients in Cambodia and Laos. Additionally, it has trained and educated local eye care medical personnel, symbolizing a lasting impact on local healthcare infrastructure. Bengaluru Income Tax Raid: Crores Of Rupees Seized From Contractor's Flat Bengaluru oi-Madhuri Adnal In a late-evening operation, Income Tax (IT) department in Bengaluru began search and seizure operations against several prominent contractors in Karnataka. IT raids were also conducted at two more locations in RT Nagar, where a substantial sum of currency notes was discovered concealed beneath the sofa of a residence in the Atmananda Colony in Hebbal. The raids targeted at least five contractors, including R. Ambikapathy, president of the BBMP Contractors' Association and vice-president of the Karnataka Contractors' Association. According to reports, IT sleuths recovered a huge cache of money from a flat associated with Ambikapathy. The money was stashed in over 23 cardboard boxes and kept under a bed in a flat where Ambikapathy did not stay. Peak Bengaluru Moment: Folk Rock Band Swarathma Sings AI-Generated Song At Cypher 2023 Speculations were rife that the recovery was to the tune of over Rs 40 crores, but IT sleuths remained tight-lipped and there was no independent confirmation of the same. Presently, authorities are diligently investigating the ownership of the substantial sum discovered within the flat, as well as determining who possesses the flat in which the cash was originally hidden. The IT officials, who are keeping the details confidential, continue to press forward with their inquiry. It must be noted that Ambikapathy had previously made allegations against the BJP government, asserting a 40 percent commission rate. He levelled serious accusations against certain political figures, claiming that 40 percent had to be paid for work within the state and 50 percent in BBMP. His allegations led to a defamation case filed by BJP MLA N Munirathna, who was accused of commission. In this case, Ambikapati was arrested by Vayyalikaval station police but was later released on bail. Power Cut In Bengaluru Till October 15: Check Affected Areas Notably, Ambikapathy's wife, Ashwathamma, is the elder sister of former Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy and previously served as the corporator of Kaval Bairasandra ward in 2001. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2023, 11:12 [IST] Pudhumai Penn Scheme A Gateway To Progress Girl Students From Poor Families Chennai oi-Oneindia English Desk One of the popular schemes of the Dravidian model government is the Pudhumai Penn scheme, a classic scheme introduced to imply the significance of education. CM Stalin introduced the scheme to reduce the burden of education of girl children from poverty ridden families. In the past one year alone, the scheme was beneficial to thousands of girls in providing opportunities for higher education. Karthiga from Tiruvannamalai, one of the beneficiaries of the scheme is residing in Chennai and pursuing the discipline of Nursing. Her family is not financially sound to support her higher education. CM Stalin's Pudhumai Penn scheme resolved her dilemma about pursuing higher education considering the expenses. Karthiga fulfilled the eligibility criteria, requiring the applicant to have completed 6th to 12th in government school. Under the scheme, Karthiga received Rs.1000 as scholarship for higher education. "With the money received under the Pudhumai Penn scheme, I was able to pursue higher studies. My sincere thanks to CM Stalin for introducing a scheme which helps especially girl children from poverty-ridden families to achieve their dreams", said Karthiga. Another beneficiary of the scheme said, "Opportunities for higher education come a lot but joining the college and finishing it is a tedious process owing to a lot of expenses. Fortunately, financial assistance under CM Stalin's Pudhumai Penn scheme has helped a lot in covering my travel expenses which was a heavy burden to me." Saathiya Dabasam from Islam background is a beneficiary of the scheme and is studying nursing discipline in Kilpauk Government Medical College. Her father is a driver and mother, a homemaker. The couple has three daughters and all of them studied in government school. One of them is Saathiya Dabasam who joined the nursing course through an opportunity given by the government. "CM Stalin's Pudhumai Penn scheme rectified the difficult situation of my family and covered the expenses of my higher education. Since the government aid covers my expenses, my father can take care of my younger sister's education expenses in the future", said the beneficiary from Islam background. Another beneficiary of the scheme is Rajarajeshwari, whose family belongs to below poverty line. Her family situation forced her to work part-time and study at the same time. "Rs. 1000 given by the government is useful for purchasing my books and notebooks etc. It gives me immense joy that my financial problems are finally over", said Rajarajeshwari. One more beneficiary of the scheme Chitra is studying in 3rd year and handling the education expenses using a scholarship provided under the Pudhumai Penn scheme. After her father's demise, Chitra's mother did domestic work to support the family. "With the money given under the scheme, I have saved Rs.5000", said Chitra proudly. Another beneficiary is Kaviya from Viluppuram who is pursuing nursing course in Chennai. Kaviya has 3 sisters and their family is one of the families that got seriously affected during the Corona period. According to Kaviya, the money came when their family was in a very difficult situation and it helped her to pursue her studies despite her family's bad financial situation. Finally a student from Tindivanam said that her travel from Tindivanam to Chennai for studying was not affordable to her family. Owing to the situation of the family, she decided to drop her studies but the Pudhumai Penn scheme came at the right time and saved her studies. She said that she is buying even her clothes for college with the money given by the government. All the stories are heart-warming and show the difference made by the Pudhumai Penn scheme. CM Stalin has sublimated all the sorrows and burdens of many families through the scheme. The Dravidian model government once again gave importance to education, after all education is the key to everything. Pudhumai Penn scheme will stand tall in the times to come. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2023, 17:00 [IST] Awakening To Sirens: Indian Returnees From Israel Share Their Frightening Experiences In Shelters Amid War Wit India oi-PTI Traumatized by what they had experienced in the last few days, the first batch of over 200 Indians were glad to be home from Israel on Friday with the sound of air raid sirens, rocket fire and screams still ringing loud in their ears. Israel witnessed an unprecedented attack by Hamas in its southern parts on Saturday morning. The war has till now claimed over 2,800 lives on both sides. "We woke up to sounds of air raid sirens. We stay in central Israel and I don't know what shape this conflict will take," said Shashwat Singh soon after landing at Delhi airport along with his wife. The post-doctoral researcher in agriculture, who has been staying in Israel since 2019, said the sound of those sirens and the nightmarish experience of the past few days still haunt him. The step to bring back Indians is a "praiseworthy step", Singh said soon after the flight landed. "We hope peace will be restored and we will return to work... The Indian government got in touch with us via email. We are thankful to Prime Minister Modi and the Indian Embassy in Israel." Another flight carrying 200 Indian passengers from Tel Aviv are expected to arrive here on Saturday, sources said. India launched Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back home as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend triggered fresh tension in the region. Many students who returned home recalled the fateful night of Saturday and how they had to rush to shelters multiple times in the wake of rocket attacks by Hamas. Suparno Ghosh, a West Bengal native and a first-year PhD student of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev at Beersheba in Israel, was also among the group of Indians who reached Delhi on the special flight. "We could not know what happened. On Saturday, some rockets were launched. But, we were safe in shelters... the good thing is that the Israeli government has made shelters everywhere, so we were safe," he said. Several women students also recounted the grim situation they faced when the attacks happened. "It was a panic situation. We are not citizens there, we are just students. So, for us whenever the sirens go on, it's a panic situation for us," Jaipur native Mini Sharma told PTI. Asked when she received the information about the rescue flight, she replied, "Just a day before." "We packed our bags yesterday morning after receiving a message from the Indian Embassy. They were very helpful. We were able to get in touch with them round the clock," Sharma said. Deepak, another student, said, "We heard sirens on Saturday. We could also hear the sound of the attack. Israeli authorities were instructing us (to take safety measures). I am happy to return home but at the same time sad that our friends are there (in Israel)." The whole process to being us back was very smooth, the student told reporters. Duti Banerjee, another West Bengal native who was also among the first batch of Indians evacuated from Israel, said the situation in Israel was "pretty messy and unsettled". "Normal life has been paused. People are scared and angry. Even when I was leaving, I heard sirens and had to go to a shelter," she said. Soni, another student, thanked the governments of India and Israel for "taking such good care of us". "I booked two flights as I was not sure when would the Indian government evacuate us. But, I am glad to be back... many Indians still in Israel," she said. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said around 18,000 Indians are currently residing in Israel while about a dozen people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza. Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar welcomed the passengers at the Delhi airport as they streamed into the lounge area from the tarmac side. He greeted them with folded hands and also shook hands with many of them saying, "Welcome home". "I was pleased and honoured today to welcome 212 students who came back from Israel who collectively were very grateful for the smooth and efficient and highly responsive way the government of India came to their rescue." "For me, it is a matter of pride that I got an opportunity to welcome, on behalf of our Prime Minister and the government, our students who have returned from Israel and to thank the aircrew. They were all unanimously thanking Prime Minister Modi," the minister said. Operation Ajay is consistent with the prime minister's motto of not leaving an Indian behind who finds himself or herself in harm's way. The Government of India will work very hard to make sure that every Indian who needs to come back, return to their families safely, Chandrasekhar added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2023, 22:37 [IST] External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed grave situation in Middle East with Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan E India -Krishna Kripa External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Friday, October 13th, to discuss the grave situation arising out of the unprecedented attacks on Israeli cities by Hamas militants over the weekend. This phone conversation came two days after Jaishankar discussed the crisis with Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Attacks and Retaliation The unprecedented and multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza since Saturday and the subsequent Israeli retaliation have left around 2,800 people dead. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks by Hamas. The sudden escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hamas has triggered global concerns. International Response Leading powers like Germany, the US, France, and the UK emphasized the importance of preventing the situation from further escalation. India, on Thursday, described the strikes by Hamas on Israeli cities as terror attacks but at the same time reaffirmed its long-standing position advocating negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent, and viable state of Palestine living side-by-side at peace with Israel. India's Condemnation of Terrorism External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that there is a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law and there is also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Bagchi was asked about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza in view of Israel's counter-attacks following Hamas's unprecedented strikes and US President Joe Biden's message to Tel Aviv to operate by the rules of war. India's Support for Israel On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that the people of India stand firmly with his country in this difficult hour, expressing strong and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The situation in the Middle East remains tense, and the international community is calling for a de-escalation of violence. India has condemned the attacks by Hamas and expressed its support for Israel. The world is watching closely to see how the situation will unfold in the coming days. Caught On Cam: Man Kills Brother By Running Over Tractor; People Record The Video Tutor and Fiance Arrested for Murder of 17-Year-Old Student in Kanpur 15-Year Long Wait For Justice: Vishwanathan Murder Case To Be Heard On October 18 India oi-PTI A city court Friday reserved its judgment in the 2008 murder of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan for October 18. Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey directed all the accused to be present in the court when he delivers the verdict. The court had on October 6 noted that arguments by the defence and the prosecution were complete, and posted the matter for today for additional arguments or clarifications. Soumya Vishwanathan was shot dead on September 30, 2008 while returning home from work in her car around 3:30 AM. Police had claimed robbery was the motive behind her killing. Five people- Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi- were arrested for killing her and are in custody since March 2009. Police had invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused. Indian Techie Couple, Kids Found Dead In New Jersey, US Police Suspect Murder Malik and two others -- Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla -- were earlier convicted in the 2009 killing of IT executive Jigisha Ghosh. Recovery of the weapon used in Jigisha Ghosh's killing had led to the cracking of the murder case of Vishwanathan, police said. The trial court had awarded death penalty to Kapoor and Shukla and life term to Malik in the Jigisha Ghosh murder case in 2017. The next year, however, the high court had commuted the death sentence of Kapoor and Shukla to life imprisonment and upheld the life term of Malik in the Jigisha murder case. Governor invites CM for meeting on VCs appointment India -Krishna Kripa Kolkata: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inviting her to the Raj Bhavan for a meeting on the appointments of vice-chancellors at different universities in the state, a senior official said. Bose's letter to Banerjee came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court staying the emoluments of the newly appointed interim vice-chancellors of state-run universities in West Bengal and asking the governor to sit with the chief minister over a cup of coffee to resolve the deadlock over the appointment of VCs. Governor's Letter to CM The governor has written a letter inviting the CM to Raj Bhavan for a meeting on the appointments of VCs at different universities in the state, the official told PTI. The governor's office is expecting a reply from the CMO soon, he said. The top court had on October 6 said there is a need for reconciliation between the governor and the chief minister in the interest of educational institutions and the future careers of lakhs of students. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta said the stay on emoluments to interim VCs appointed in August will continue till the pendency of the state government's petition against the governor's action of appointing interim vice-chancellors. Supreme Court's Intervention The apex court was hearing an appeal of the West Bengal government against the June 28 order of the Calcutta High Court which stated there was no illegality in the orders issued by the governor appointing interim VCs in 11 state-run universities. On September 27, the top court had sought names of eminent personalities including scientists, technocrats, administrators, educationists, and jurists for setting up a search committee for short-listing and appointing VCs in state-run universities. Search Committee to be Set Up Taking note of the running feud between the state and the office of the governor on the issue, the top court had decided on September 15 that it would set up a search committee to pick VCs. Earlier, the high court had held that the chancellor has the power to appoint VCs as laid down in relevant enactments. The relations between Raj Bhavan and the West Bengal government nosedived when the governor started appointing interim VCs of 11 state universities after the term of full-time VCs of 31 universities expired in April-May this year. As the state government accused Bose of bypassing it by taking the decision, Raj Bhavan maintained that every step was taken as per the law in the interest of students to ensure there was no deadlock in the functioning of the universities. The meeting between the governor and the chief minister is expected to take place soon, and it is hoped that a resolution to the ongoing deadlock over the appointment of VCs in state-run universities will be found. Haryana Mayors Get Power to Suspend Group C and D Employees India -Krishna Kripa In a significant move towards decentralizing power to local city governments, the Haryana government has granted mayors of municipal corporations the authority to suspend Group C and D employees, including junior engineers. The decision was announced by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar during a meeting with mayors and senior deputy mayors of municipal corporations in Chandigarh on October 12. Raising Administrative Sanction Limit In addition to the enhanced suspension powers, the chief minister also announced an increase in the administrative sanction limit for mayors from Rs 2.50 crore to Rs 10 crore. This move will provide mayors with greater financial autonomy and enable them to undertake more significant development projects in their respective cities. Empowering Local Governments Speaking at the meeting, Khattar emphasized the importance of empowering local governments to ensure effective and efficient governance. He highlighted the significant steps taken by his government over the past nine years to decentralize power, particularly through the empowerment of Panchayati Raj institutions. Decentralization of Power Khattar stated that previous regimes concentrated power, but his government has adopted a different approach by decentralizing it. He believes that this approach will lead to better decision-making and improved public services at the local level. Electric Air-Conditioned City Bus Services During the meeting, Navdeep Singh Virk, Principal Secretary of the Transport Department, presented a plan to introduce electric air-conditioned city bus services in seven municipal corporations, including Rewari. To support this initiative, a new bus terminal with a charging station will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 115 crore. The operation of these buses will be outsourced, and the recruitment process will be handled accordingly. The enhanced powers granted to mayors in Haryana, along with the increase in administrative sanction limits and the introduction of electric city bus services, represent significant steps towards modernizing and improving urban governance in the state. These measures are expected to enhance the efficiency of local governments, improve public services, and promote sustainable urban development. Aviation rules for flights from UAE to US relaxed, laptops can now be carried Fact Check: The government of India is not giving free laptops to students in India Indian Government Reverses Decision to Restrict Laptop Imports; What It Means For You? India oi-Stuti Tripathi The Indian government has backtracked on its earlier plans to impose restrictions on laptop imports, following a strong industry backlash. Trade Secretary Sunil Barthwal stated, "India will not impose restrictions on laptop imports," as reported by Reuters. The government's intention is now to closely monitor imposters rather than impose restrictions. The initial licensing plan, introduced on August 3, aimed to ensure that only "trusted hardware and systems" entered the Indian market but faced delays of three months due to strong objections from manufacturers. This reversal will have an impact on major laptop companies like Apple, Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, and others. While discussions between the Indian government and the affected industry are ongoing, it's important to note that this isn't a complete reversal of the previous protocol. A new order will be announced by the end of the month, according to Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Govt. of India. Further details regarding this order are yet to be disclosed. The earlier rules, initially set to take effect on November 1, 2023, would have required import licenses for electronic items such as tablets and laptops from outside the country. However, these guidelines have now been shelved, and a new order is expected to replace them. As per a report in Business Today, the aim of these initial regulations was to address security concerns, promote local manufacturing, and limit laptop imports from China. Under the previous announcement, only companies with valid licenses were permitted to import restricted items, while activities such as research and development (R&D), product benchmarking, development evaluation, repair, testing, and re-export were exempted. This decision provides temporary relief for companies that opposed the move, allowing them to continue their operations without the previously proposed restrictions. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2023, 21:12 [IST] Karnataka HC Allows State Govt to Appoint 13,352 Teachers for Classes 6 to 8 India -Krishna Kripa The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday allowed the state government to appoint 13,352 teachers for class 6 to 8 whose names were announced in a list on March 8, 2023. However, among these, candidates who were selected based on the orders of a single-judge bench on January 30, 2023 will be deferred till their challenge to the selection process is decided by the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal KSAT, it said. Background of the Case The process to appoint 15,000 teachers began with a notification by the Deputy Director of Public Instructions DDPI in February 2022. The authorities have announced the provisional 1:1 list on November 18, 2022. Hundreds of Other Backward Caste OBC married female candidates had approached the single judge stating that they had been marked as General Merit candidates because they had provided the income and caste certificates of their fathers instead of their husbands. The state insisted the rules permitted only certificates of the husbands of married women candidates to be considered. The single judge had, however, ordered that the income and caste certificates of the husbands of these candidates should be considered. The candidates who did not find themselves in the new list of13,352 selected candidates filed appeals before the Division Bench. High Court's Decision The Division Bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice MGS Kamal, however, in their judgement on Thursday, said that the single-judge bench did not have the jurisdiction to hear the petitions in the first place. The authorities have now prepared the list based on the single-judge order. However, considering the imminent requirement of the Graduate Primary School Teachers and large vacancies across the state and in the interest of the students of 6 to 8 standards who are left high and dry for want ofteachers, we are of the considered view that the respondent-state be permitted to proceed with appointing teachers from 13,352 selected candidates as per the list dated 08.03.2023, the bench said. But the appointment of the candidates who have not submitted the caste-cum-income certificate in the form prescribed in the notification and which is not in terms of Government Order and who are included in the list in view of the order passed by a learned Single Judge should be deferred until the outcome of the result of the challenge, it said. Implications of the Decision The single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna had set aside the earlier list published on November 18, 2022. In the new list published on March 8, 2023, 451 candidates who were selected earlier were left out.As regards to these candidates, the division bench said that it is clarified that if, in the event, the eligibility of such candidates who have not furnished the caste-cum-income certificate in the prescribed form is held to be invalid, such posts may be filled from amongst the candidates who have been excluded on merits and the candidates who have submitted certificates in the prescribed form. The High Court of Karnataka's decision to allow the state government to appoint 13,352 teachers for class 6 to 8 is a significant development in the ongoing legal battle over the selection process. The court's decision to defer the appointment of candidates who were selected based on the orders of a single-judge bench is likely to have implications for the future of the selection process. The decision also highlights the importance of following proper procedures and ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly in the selection process. Lt Governor Approves Appointment of Special Public Prosecutors for Trials in POCSO Cases India -Krishna Kripa In a significant development, Lt Governor VK Saxena has approved the appointment of four special public prosecutors for trials in POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) cases. This decision comes two weeks after he recalled the file from the Delhi government over alleged delays, according to officials at Raj Niwas. The Delhi government had been accused by Saxena of trying to appoint public prosecutors while sidestepping the AAP dispensation. An official from Raj Niwas stated that the government has accepted that Lt Governors' opinion is essential for appointing special public prosecutors to conduct trials under the POCSO Act. These trials have been delayed for over nine months across various special courts in Delhi. He added that since January, files were circulating between ministers and chief ministers before being recalled by L-G on September 22, invoking Rule 19(5) of Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR). L-G Recalls Files Amidst Delays The official further explained how two weeks after L-G V K Saxena invoked Provisions of Rule 19(5), the Delhi government finally sent him files regarding appointment of SPPs in CBI POCSO cases which they had been holding onto for more than nine months. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal previously held a stance that Lt Governor does not possess authority to sanction approval for special public prosecutors in these cases. Delhi Government Responds On receiving communication from L-G Secretariat requisitioning these files, Delhi's home minister sought an opinion from their law department. They suggested swift processing to obtain L-G's opinion so as to issue notifications regarding appointments under Section 32 of POCSO Act promptly. Chief Minister Kejriwal endorsed this on October 6th, submitting the proposal for issuance of notification to L-G. This move was taken after Saxena expressed serious concerns over Delhi government's delay. Union Ministry Involvement Saxena had referred this matter to Union Ministry of Home Affairs on September 22nd for necessary appointments and notifications under Section 248 of CrPC. The CBI requested in December 2022 for a notification regarding appointment of senior public prosecutors under Section 32 of POCSO Act, sending a reminder in March this year. The official emphasized that these cases are sensitive and legally require completion within one year from cognizance date. He warned that delays could adversely affect investigations and potentially benefit criminals. Controversy Surrounding Appointments Delhi government sources alleged that attempts were made by Lt Governor and officials to bypass the administration while appointing special public prosecutors. They claimed files were sent directly to Union Home Ministry instead of state ministers. Since the right to appoint such prosecutors lies with state governments, their appointments were refused by Union Home Ministry leading to further delays. Cases Registered Under POCSO Act The CBI has also reported registering more than 20 cases involving allegations related to circulation, storing, and viewing child sexual exploitation materials across various social media platforms. In conclusion, while the approval from Lt Governor VK Saxena brings some relief in terms of moving forward with trials under POCSO act, it is clear that there exists an administrative tussle between different levels of governance which needs addressing swiftly so as not to impede justice being served promptly in such sensitive matters. Khanh Hoa mainly exported seafood to Japan. (Photo: congthuong.vn) Japan is an important partner and a potential market for import-export businesses in Khanh Hoa. This is also one of the largest export turnover markets in Asia for the province. According to data from the provincial Department of Statistics, export turnover of Khanh Hoa enterprises to Japan is forecast to reach 152.05 million USD in 2023, accounting for 9.68% of the provinces total export turnover, ranked first in Asia. The structure of import-export goods between Khanh Hoa and Japan is not competitive but complementary, Ms. Cuc said. Specifically, Khanh Hoa mainly imported from Japan machinery and equipment, raw materials and accessories for production and consumer goods. Meanwhile, products exported to Japan were seafood products (accounting for over 72%), followed by agricultural products, ready-made garments, wood and wood products, and bamboo and rattan products. With more than 40 export seafood processing facilities, Khanh Hoa enterprises processed seafood products have gradually met the tastes and needs of Japanese consumers, Cuc said. In the first 9 months of 2023, Khanh Hoas export turnover was estimated at 1.1 billion USD. Of which, seafood products reached 454.5 million USD./. Mizoram CM Zoramthanga Claims "Wave" in Favour of Ruling MNF as Assembly Polls Draw Nearer M India -Krishna Kripa Aizawl, Oct 13: Mizoram chief minister and Mizo National Front (MNF) president Zoramthanga on Friday claimed that a "wave" in favour of the ruling party is growing as assembly polls draw nearer. Zoramthanga Addresses MNF's Campaign Kickoff Programme The chief minister was addressing the MNF's campaign kickoff programme in south Mizoram's Lunglei town. Addressing party workers, Zoramthanga said the MNF is confident of retaining power as the party's influence is steadily increasing over the past few months and a wave was discernible in its favour. MNF Stands for Unity of All Zo Ethnic Tribes The MNF president said that his party stands for the unity of all Zo ethnic tribes irrespective of their domicile and works for their well-being. He said that MNF government has objected the Centres directive to deport refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Mizoram's Financial Condition On the state's financial condition, Zoramthanga, who also holds the finance portfolio, said that the state has been greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of which development projects could not be expedited as planned. He said that Mizoram also did not receive its share of taxes and grants from the Centre and its own tax collections were lower due to the pandemic. Development Projects Not Halted Despite these financial constraints and other hurdles, development projects were not halted, he said. The chief minister also said that the state also currently hosts over 50,000 refugees and internally displaced people from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur. Zoramthanga's statement comes as the state prepares for assembly elections, which are due later this year. The MNF has been in power in Mizoram since 2018, and will be hoping to secure a second term in office. Operation Ajay: 212 Indians Arrive In Delhi From War-Torn Israel India oi-Prakash KL As many as 212 Indian nationals from war-torn Israel arrived at the Delhi airport on Friday. The Indian government, under 'Operation Ajay', airlifted the first batch of Indians who were stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war. After landing in Delhi, an Indian national who returned from Israel said, "This is the first time that we are facing this situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as possible so that we can go back to work as earliest as possible..." IAF Keeps C-130J Super Hercules, C-17 Globemaster On Standby For Operation Ajay In Israel Recommended Video Operation Ajay | Bringing Indians Back Home Safely from War-hit Israel | Oneindia News Another person thanked the Indian Embassy and said, "They supported us. We registered on the portal and the process was very easy. The operation is excellent. We are very happy to come back to India..." Another Indian national said, "We were in touch with the Indian Government since the second day when all of this started. They were active on WhatsApp groups and in contact with us. They were cooperating with us, providing all the information." Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar welcomed them at the airport with folded hands. He then interacted with them. #WATCH | Delhi: An Indian national who returned from Israel says, "This is the first time that we are facing this situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as https://t.co/XPUDlnv3Lf pic.twitter.com/Fu10lZ7DHc ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 Talking about the Modi government's commitment to the safety of Indians stuck in Israel, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them, bring them back home safely. We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the flight crew of this Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly and back home to their loved ones..." Indian Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla said that the Indian Embassy in Israel is working to ensure the well-being of Indian nationals. "As I said yesterday, the Embassy of India in Tel Aviv has been working continuously to ensure the safety and welfare of all our Indian citizens in Israel. Yesterday, the external affairs minister announced Operation Ajay to help those Indians who wish to return to India. And today, under Operation Ajay, the first flight is going back to India," he said. He added, "It's going to have almost 200 Indian citizens - students, caregivers, and business professionals, and we are trying to ensure that we have a similar flight in the coming days. We will have, one flight tomorrow...I would like to reach out to my fellow Indian citizens here and urge them to remain calm and stay safe by following the local safety advisories and I want to tell them that we're always there with them. We are standing with them." Israel PM Netanyahu Shares Pics Of Babies Killed In War Allegedly Killed By Hamas Hamas launched the operation Al-Aqsa Storm' by firing thousands of rockets into Israel on Saturday. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air. 'Operation Ajay' was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday. The Indian embassy in Israel is providing assistance to Indian companies and has set up a helpline for Indian citizens in need of assistance. P. Chidambaram: Hamas Terrorist Attack Caused Israel-Gaza War India -Krishna Kripa Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Thursday said it cannot be denied that the terrorist attack by Hamas was the cause of the Israel-Gaza war and asserted that the immediate task at hand was to stop the violence and his party had issued a statement and adopted a resolution in that context. Need to stop the violence In a post on Twitter, Chidambaram said the Israel-Gaza war threatens to escalate and cause more deaths on both sides. It cannot be denied that the terrorist attack by Hamas was the cause of this war. Hamas has earned the world's condemnation, he said. The former Union minister said that the massive retaliation by Israel against Gaza has intensified the violence. Apart from soldiers, hundreds of civilians including women and children have been killed, he noted. Violence does not solve anything and it certainly will not solve the decades-old enmity between Israel and the de facto rulers of Gaza, he said. The immediate task at hand is to stop the violence. It is in the context of stopping the violence and the killings that the Congress issued a statement and adopted a resolution, Chidambaram said. The world must unite and do everything possible to stop the violence in the Middle East, he stressed. Congress support for Palastine His remarks came after the Congress on Tuesday had asserted there are no differences in the party on the CWC resolution that had a paragraph on the conflict and reminded the BJP of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee favouring the cause of the Palestinian people, after the ruling party slammed it for not referring to the terror attack on Israel in its resolution. In the last paragraph of the party's working committee resolution, the Congress had said: Finally, the CWC expresses its dismay and anguish on the war that has broken out in the Middle East where over a thousand people have been killed in the last two days. The CWC reiterates its long-standing support for the rights of the Palestinian people to land, self-government and to live with dignity and respect. The CWC calls for an immediate cease-fire and for negotiations to begin on all outstanding issues, including the imperative issues that have given rise to the present conflict. World must come together Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had on Sunday said his party has always believed that the legitimate aspirations of the people of Palestine must be fulfilled through dialogue while ensuring the national security interests of the Israelis. The Indian National Congress condemns the brutal attacks on the people of Israel, he had said on Twitter. Ramesh had also said his party has always believed that the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a life of self-respect, equality and dignity must be fulfilled only through a process of dialogue and negotiations while ensuring the legitimate national security interests of the Israeli people. Violence of any type never provides a solution and must stop, the Congress leader had said. The multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas from Gaza since Saturday and the subsequent Israeli retaliation have left around 2,600 people dead. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks by Hamas. The sudden escalation in hostilities between Israel and Palestine has triggered global concerns. Leading powers like Germany, the US, France and the UK emphasised the importance of preventing the situation from further escalation. Solar Eclipse, 14th October: When And Where To Watch The 'Ring Of Fire'| Know More India oi-Stuti Tripathi This month, skywatchers are in for a celestial treat as a remarkable Annular Solar Eclipse, often referred to as the "Ring of Fire," is set to grace the skies on Saturday, 14th October. Coincidentally, this date aligns with Mahalaya, marking the commencement of Debi Paksha and is widely celebrated by devotees of Maa Durga in anticipation of Durga Puja. While this event will be visible across the Americas, Indian observers won't have the opportunity to witness it in person. However, there are alternative ways to experience the magic of the Annular Solar Eclipse. When and Where to Witness the Annular Solar Eclipse on 14th October: The Annular Solar Eclipse, or "Ring of Fire," occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. However, when the Moon is at its farthest point from Earth and at the right distance, it appears too small to entirely cover the Sun, resulting in a ring-like appearance from Earth's perspective. This unique event is expected to take place on 14th October, 2023. Mitzi Adams, Assistant Chief of the Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, described the experience: "It is like nothing you've ever experienced before. It's sort of like somebody puts a bowl on top of Earth right above where you're standing. In the middle of the day, it gets darker, but you can still see light around the rim." While the Annular Solar Eclipse won't be visible in India, it will be an awe-inspiring sight for those in the Western Hemisphere. The eclipse will be visible along a narrow path that stretches from Oregon to Texas in the USA, crossing over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, parts of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil. Additionally, a Partial Solar Eclipse will be visible from Alaska to Argentina. How to Safely Observe the Annular Solar Eclipse Or The Ring Of Fire It's crucial to remember that observing an Annular Solar Eclipse with the naked eye is never safe. Specialized eye protection designed for solar viewing should always be used. Attempting to view the eclipse with a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a purpose-built solar filter can lead to severe eye injury. The start of the Partial Solar Eclipse will be visible at 8:06 am PT, with the period of Annularity, when the "Ring of Fire" is seen, lasting for approximately five minutes. The maximum coverage will occur at 9:18 am PT. To find out when the Solar Eclipse will be visible in your area and what you can expect to see, you can visit the Great American Eclipse website and TimeandDate.com. Additionally, you can watch the eclipse live on NASA's livestream at 11:30 am ET (9:00 pm IST) on Eclipse Day. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2023, 21:53 [IST] NHRC Chairperson Stresses Importance of Violence-Free Elections India -Krishna Kripa In an event marking the 30th anniversary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), retired Justice Arun Kumar Mishra, NHRC chairperson, emphasized on October 12 that violence hampers free and fair elections. He insisted on the State's responsibility to ensure a peaceful electoral environment so that citizens can fully exercise their fundamental democratic rights. Mishra highlighted in his address that our Constitution guarantees various fundamental rights reflecting principles of life with equality, justice, freedom, and dignity - these are at the core of human rights. The NHRC is there to support those who lack this support. "Our Constitution aims for justice for all," he said. "Equality cannot be achieved without an independent and impartial judiciary." He further stressed how Article 50 of India's constitution ensures separation of power which contributes towards this goal. The Right to Vote Mishra pointed out that human rights include the right to vote and participate in elections to elect a government. However, violence significantly impacts free and fair elections. Therefore, it is crucial for the state to guarantee violence-free elections so citizens can enjoy their basic democratic rights. Concerns About Media Debates Mishra also expressed concern over declining standards in media debates. He emphasized everyone's responsibility in ensuring a positive influence on younger generations rather than promoting uncivil dialogue. Fighting Corruption "Corruption compromises human dignity," warned Mishra during his speech. According to him, corruption destroys souls and is unacceptable within any civilized society; therefore we must unite against it as it impedes development. National Education Policy (NEP) Discussing NEP, Mishra stated its intent was addressing several troubling aspects of our old system. However, he also stressed the need to reconsider the burden placed on school children and those preparing for competitive exams. He highlighted concerns over increasing student suicides and depression due to an overly mechanical and burdensome education system. Gender Equality & Trafficking Mishra asserted that defining and implementing gender equality are now more important than ever. Regarding trafficking, he said trafficked women and girls often lack access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, anti-poverty programs, or socio-economic welfare schemes leading to exploitation. Their children bear the brunt of these issues too. LGBTQIA+ Rights & Violent Extremism Mishra underscored the importance of recognizing LGBTQIA+'s rights along with understanding their challenges. He warned against violent extremism as it threatens human rights, international peace, security, and sustainable development. Therefore it is crucial to boost international collaboration in this area. In conclusion Mishra stated "In an ever-changing world, enduring value of human rights remains a guiding light reminding us about shared responsibility in creating a just inclusive society for all." The NHRC was established on October 12th 1993 under Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA) , amended by Protection of Human Rights Amendment Act 2006. Since its inception NHRC has resolved more than 22 lakh cases recommending payment worth Rs 230 crore as monetary relief to victims of human right violations according to officials. Diwali Resolution Introduced in US House of Representatives International -Sathish Raman Washington, Oct 13: Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Thursday announced his plans to introduce a Diwali resolution in the US House of Representatives to recognize the festival of lights. Diwali Celebrated by Millions of Americans "For Sikhs, Jains, and Hindus across the world and here in the United States, Diwali is a festival for gratitude as well as a celebration of the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil, Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. Each year, Diwali is celebrated by millions of Americans of Indian descent, as well as hundreds of millions more people across the world. This year, the festival will be celebrated on Sunday, November 12. Diwali Resolution Recognizes Religious Diversity "I am proud to announce that I am reintroducing a bipartisan resolution to recognize the enormous religious, cultural, and historical significance of Diwali, he said. "I hope my colleagues from both parties will join me in this effort and in wishing a safe and happy Diwali to all the families that will be gathering with their loved ones to light lamps and to pray for good health and peace, Krishnamoorthi said. He also released a draft of the proposed Diwali resolution, which recognizes and appreciates the religious diversity in India and the United States, and acknowledges and supports the relationship of collaboration and respect between the two countries. The resolution, if passed, would be a significant recognition of the growing importance of Diwali in the United States and the contributions of Indian-Americans to the country. Gaza's Blockade Amid Israel-Palestine War With Orders To Evacuate 1.1 Million, Rejected By Hamas International oi-Stuti Tripathi In response to the Israeli order to evacuate 1.1 million civilians sourth from Northern Gaza in 24 hours, Hamas has vehemently rejected the evacuation demand, asserting their commitment to remaining on their land and in their homes. They have stated, "There will be no displacement." Hamas also said, "Our people reject the threat of the occupation (by Israeli) leaders and (the) call to flee to the south or Egypt,...We are steadfast on our land and in our homes and our cities." Their resistance is largely due to the immense challenge of relocating such a vast population within a short timeframe during an ongoing conflict. The United Nations has expressed its concerns, emphasizing that forcing the displacement of over a million people, especially under these circumstances, could result in "devastating consequences." The UN added, "... impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," The logistics and safety of moving men, women, children, and vulnerable individuals amid Israeli bombardments are significant challenges. ABOUT THE GAZA STRIP: Gaza's geographical isolation compounds the predicament. The region, measuring only 41 kilometers in length and six to 12 kilometers in width, is surrounded by closed borders. Israel controls the land borders to the north and east, while the Egyptian border to the south remains sealed. The Mediterranean Sea to the west is also inaccessible. Gaza's airspace is under Israeli control, and the local airport was destroyed in 2022. This isolation leaves Gaza heavily reliant on Israel for essential resources, including food, fuel, medicines, and drinking water, along with support from international aid agencies. WHAT ABOUT ISRAEL'S DEMANDS? Israel's demand for a substantial evacuation poses considerable challenges, given the limited entry and exit points for Gazans. The primary access points, the Erez Crossing in the north (controlled by Israel) and the Rafah Crossing (controlled by Egypt), have been closed to those seeking to escape the conflict. Kerem Shalom, another crossing controlled by Israel, is typically used for transporting goods. WHAT ARE THE EVACUATION OPTIONS? Evacuation options for Gazans are severely constrained. Israel has ruled out opening Gazan airspace or allowing access via land or sea routes, and the Israeli military maintains control over the border crossings, effectively confining the population. The establishment of humanitarian corridors to facilitate civilian evacuations is the only potential option, but Israel has shown no willingness to permit this on its side. Egypt, as the remaining possibility for establishing such corridors, has thus far rejected this approach. This stance has raised questions about the commitment to Palestinian rights and land, as Egypt has historically imposed restrictions on Gazans' access to its territory, making it a challenging option for escaping the conflict. As the Israel-Hamas conflict escalates, the situation in Gaza remains precarious. Israeli ground operations are expected to follow a week of relentless aerial strikes, resulting in a high number of casualties. Tanks and armored vehicles massing at the Gaza border signal an intensification of the conflict, prompting concerns about the safety and well-being of civilians caught in the crossfire. The global community closely monitors the situation with mounting concern, underscoring the urgent need for diplomatic efforts to alleviate human suffering in Gaza and find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2023, 19:58 [IST] Israel-Hamas Conflict Enters 7th Day: Key Takeaways From The War International pti-PTI The Israeli military pulverised the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes and kept blocking deliveries of food, water, fuel, and electricity Thursday ahead of a possible ground invasion as Palestinians tried to stock up on supplies. Israel said that nothing would be allowed into Gaza until the release of around 150 hostages taken captive by Hamas during an unprecedented surprise attack Saturday into Israel that also left hundreds killed. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed American support for Israel on Thursday in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. International aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis after Israel prevented entry of supplies from Egypt to Gaza's 2.3 million people. Some key takeaways from the war: WHAT IS THE SITUATION IN GAZA? The Israeli military is retaliating for the Hamas attack with near-constant airstrikes, forcing 4,23,000 people to flee their homes, according to the UN Most have crowded into UN schools. Others have sought the shrinking number of safe neighbourhoods. Gaza is only 40 kilometres (25 miles) long, wedged among Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. While Israel has insisted that it is giving advance notice of its strikes, it is employing a new tactic of levelling whole swaths of neighbourhoods, rather than just individual buildings. Palestinians were in near-total darkness overnight after the only power station ran out of fuel and shut down. Israel PM Netanyahu Shares Pics Of Babies Killed In War Allegedly Killed By Hamas Hospitals' supplies of medicine and fuel for emergency generators are also expected to run out within days. The morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital overflowed on Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them on the sixth day of Israel's heavy aerial bombardment. With scores of Palestinians killed each day, medics in the besieged enclave said they have run out of places to put remains pulled from the latest strikes or recovered from the ruins of demolished buildings. The morgue at Gaza City's Shifa hospital can only handle some 30 bodies at a time, and workers had to stack corpses three high outside the walk-in cooler and put dozens more, side by side, in the parking lot. Some were placed in a tent, and others were sprawled on the cement, under the sun. Internet connectivity in Gaza City has been below 20 per cent since Tuesday, according to analyst Doug Madory of the network monitoring firm Kentik Inc., whose data shows outages began on Saturday morning. Madory said an internet provider in Gaza told him that Israeli air strikes had cut fiber optic cables. WILL ISRAEL LAUNCH A GROUND ASSAULT? The Israeli military says it is preparing for a possible ground operation in Gaza but that political leadership has not yet decided on one. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told reporters on Thursday that forces are preparing for a ground maneuver if decided. The military has invested tremendous resources for such a scenario, even building a training base in its southern desert meant to replicate Gaza's urban landscape. A ground offensive would send a strong message, and forces operating inside Gaza might have a better chance of killing top Hamas leaders and rescuing hostages. Kerala Pilgrims Return From Trouble-Hit Israel, Laud Indian Embassy For Timely Intervention Such an assault all but guarantees far higher casualties on both sides. And it would involve street-by-street battles with Hamas militants who've had years to prepare tunnels and traps. Israel's government is under intense pressure from the public to topple Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. Israel has called up 3,60,000 army reservists and has threatened an unprecedented response to Hamas' wide-ranging incursion over the weekend. The Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, have been killed in Israel a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT THE WAR WILL SPREAD? Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Thursday that if Israel's bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on other fronts, an apparent reference to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel is nervously watching Hezbollah on Israel's northern border and has sent troop reinforcements to the area. Qassim Qassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah, said the group will not allow Hamas' destruction and won't leave Gaza alone to face a ground incursion. When the situation requires further escalation, then Hezbollah will do so, he told The Associated Press. An official with a Lebanese group familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Hezbollah fighters have been placed on full alert. Hezbollah sent a drone over Israel on Thursday, according to an official with a Lebanese group familiar with the situation along the Lebanon-Israel border. The drone was shot down over Israel, the official said, without elaborating further. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment to the news media. An Israeli military spokesman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday afternoon that an air-defense missile was fired in northern Israel but it turned out there was no target in the air. With an eye toward Hezbollah, US President Joe Biden has warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict. Israel-Palestine War Enters 6th Day: Top 10 Developments Israel is anxious that opening a new front could change the tide of the war, with Hezbollah's military calibre far superior to that of Hamas. But the fighting could be equally devastating for Hezbollah and Lebanon. Hezbollah and Israel were engaged in a vicious monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate and a tense detente between the two sides. Lebanon is in the fourth year of a crippling economic crisis and is bitterly divided between Hezbollah and its allies and opponents, paralyzing the political system. Meanwhile, in Syria on Thursday, state media reported that Israeli airstrikes hit the international airports of the capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo, damaging their runways and putting them out of service. WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE FROM THE U.S. AND OTHER NATIONS? US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to. ... We will always be there by your side. Britain's government says it is deploying two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean within days to show support for Israel, offer deterrence and assurance and support humanitarian efforts. The government said Thursday that U.K. Royal Air Force surveillance planes will also begin patrols on Friday to help track threats to regional security, such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups. Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir slammed Israel's outrageous acts of cruelty in cutting off food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip and said Malaysia will provide an emergency fund to help Palestinians. Egypt has engaged with intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point. However, it pushed back against proposals to establish escape corridors out of Gaza, saying an exodus of Palestinians from the enclave would have grave consequences on the Palestinian cause. WHAT IS THE STATUS OF FOREIGN CITIZENS IN ISRAEL? Dozens of citizens of other countries were killed or abducted in Saturday's attack, who were in Israel for reasons ranging from raves to agricultural work. The number of US citizens confirmed to have been killed in the latest Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 25, Blinken said on Thursday during his visit in Tel Aviv with Netanyahu. The State Department has said at least 17 more Americans remain unaccounted for and China, Brazil, Estonia, France and Turkey have all reported citizens dead or missing. WHAT PROMPTED HAMAS' ATTACK ON ISRAEL? Hamas, which seeks Israel's destruction, says it is defending Palestinians' right to freedom and self-determination. But the devastation following Hamas' surprise attack on Saturday has sharpened questions about its strategy and objectives. Hamas officials have said they planned for all possibilities, including a punishing Israeli escalation. Desperation has grown among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose under unending Israeli control and increasing settlements in the West Bank, the blockade in Gaza and what they see as the world's apathy. In addition to citing long-simmering tensions, Hamas officials cite a long-running dispute over the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Competing claims over the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, have spilled into violence before, including a bloody 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in 2021. US AND QATAR AGREE NO ACTING ON IRANIAN FUNDS REQUEST The US and Qatar have agreed not to act on any Iranian request to access USD 6 billion in funds that were transferred from South Korea after a blanket waiver by President Joe Biden's administration meant to clear the way for the release of five Americans held by Iran, a US official said on Thursday. The move stops short of freezing the funds. Under the terms of the agreement, the funds must be requested by Iran and can go only for humanitarian purposes. The Americans were released last month. The official was not authorised to speak publicly about the agreement and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The funding has been a concern as questions mount about Iran's influence or role in the Hamas attack on Israel. Iran is Hamas' principal financial and military sponsor, though the White House says it has not uncovered information that Iran was directly involved in the operation. Family of Delhi cop who died after being stabbed by a thief to get Rs 1 crore compensation Israeli Diplomat Stabbed In China, Condition Stable International oi-Prakash KL In a suspected terrorist attack, an Israeli diplomat in China was stabbed on Friday, according to The Times Of Israel. The victim worked at Israel's embassy in Beijing and he was not close to the embassy when he was attacked. The diplomat was rushed to a hospital and his condition is said to be stable. The Israel Foreign Ministry in a statement said, "The employee was transferred to hospital and he is in a stable condition," the statement said, without giving additional details. It added that Israeli officials were still trying to assess the "background" of what happened in the assault. Israel-Hamas Conflict Enters 7th Day: Key Takeaways From The War Beijing did not immediately acknowledge the assault. It wasn't immediately clear what sparked the attack, though it comes after Israel had criticised China for its statement that followed Hamas' unprecedented attack last Saturday that sparked the ongoing war between the militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel. Recommended Video Israeli diplomat reportedly attacked in China, hospitalised: Israeli Foreign Ministry |Oneindia News Israelis and Jews across the globe have been advised to be on alert Friday as Hamas called for a "day of rage" on Friday. In an operation coined 'the Al-Aqsa Storm,' Hamas, whose formal name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel on Saturday. The conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip has entered the seventh day on Friday. Which Nation Can Mediate In Hamas-Israel Conflict? Meanwhile, Israel's military told some 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza on Friday to evacuate the north, according to the United Nations, an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group. The UN warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous, and Hamas, which staged a shocking and brutal attack on Israel this week, dismissed it as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes, adding to widespread panic, according to a PTI report. Raja Krishnamoorthi Receives Dalip Singh Saund Award for Political Leadership International -Sathish Raman Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has been conferred with the Dalip Singh Saund Award for political leadership in recognition of his "exemplary commitment to advancing the interests of Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities in Congress." The Political Leadership Award was presented to Krishnamoorthi by the Asian American Unity Coalition (AAUC) at an event recently. Saund was the first Sikh, Indian-American to be elected to the Congress. Krishnamoorthi's Statement "I am grateful to the Asian-American Unity Coalition for this honor and for its continued leadership in bringing together Asian-Americans of all backgrounds to build a more inclusive nation," Krishnamoorthi said in a statement on Thursday. "As we work to expand the promise of the American Dream to every American community, I am honored to join my colleagues in carrying on the example of Congressman Saund," he said. About AAUC The AAUC, which is a coalition that encompasses dozens of nonprofit organizations and lifetime members, embodies the rich tapestry of Asian-American and Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities, including Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, and Polynesian Americans, among others. With its mission to advocate for and uplift these diverse communities, the AAUC stands as a unifying force dedicated to addressing the unique needs and challenges faced by AANHPI individuals and organizations across the United States, the media release said. Krishnamoorthi's win is a testament to his dedication and commitment to serving the Asian-American community. His work has made a real difference in the lives of many people, and he is an inspiration to us all. A man holds a girl in his arms and evacuates from a building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 12, 2023. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) GAZA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The 35-year-old Farid Abdul Halim Mousleh thought that escaping the fierce bombardment on his town of Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza, would spare his family from the ongoing Israeli air strikes on the coastal enclave that have lasted for six days. However, it seems that no place is safe in the Gaza Strip anymore as his new home in the heart of the Gaza City was also subjected to Israeli shelling, injuring him and his father and killing two of his elderly relatives. Struggling to come to terms with the sudden and devastating losses in grief, the man, with his head all bandaged and eyes swollen from injuries, told Xinhua that "we did not expect such a tragedy." Mousleh recalled that his family was getting ready to sleep when the Israeli attack began. Then he rushed out of the building to Jalaa Street in the heart of Gaza City with his parents, his wife, four children and some elderly relatives. This photo taken on Oct. 10, 2023 shows destroyed buildings following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) The next morning, after a strong airstrike hit the place again where they had sought refuge, he woke up in a hospital bed. Mousleh is one of the thousands of Palestinians who had to flee their homes in the border town of Beit Hanoun with Israel and other neighborhoods and camps in Gaza due to the continuous and intense Israeli bombardment for the past six days. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched since Saturday thousands of rockets at Israeli cities, while hundreds of its militants infiltrated the Israeli towns adjacent to Gaza, killing and wounding Israelis. Israel, in response, launched intense and unprecedented attacks on the Gaza Strip, causing widespread destruction and sometimes wiping out entire neighborhoods. Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on Oct. 12, 2023. Israel on Thursday continued its airstrikes on various areas of the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Now, the Shifa Medical Complex, a main medical center in Gaza, is overcrowded with casualties from Israeli shelling, including dozens of entire families. The injured have spread out on the hospital's grounds, with some sleeping on mats or blankets, and children without shoes cling to their mothers when they hear the sound of explosions. Facing the ever-worsening situation, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila warned of the collapse of the overwhelmed healthcare system in the Gaza Strip due to a severe shortage of medical supplies. Alkaila said in a press release that the large number of casualties exceeds the capacity of Gaza's hospitals, calling on international organizations and the Red Cross to immediately intervene and provide medical aid. The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip and West Bank has totaled 1,448, while 6,868 others were wounded, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry on Thursday night. Meanwhile, Israel's public broadcaster Kan said the Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300. Children injured in an Israeli airstrike are treated at a hospital in Gaza City, on Oct. 9, 2023. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Israel cut off its power supply to the Gaza Strip and ordered a complete siege on the Palestinian enclave, home to over 2.2 million people. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Thursday that at least 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the escalation on Saturday. "The water crisis is looming in UNRWA shelters and throughout Gaza due to the lack of electricity needed to operate pumps and water desalination plants and the limited water supply in the local market," added the UN agency. Editor: WXL Which Nation Can Mediate In Hamas-Israel Conflict? International dwnews-DW News After a brutal terror attack on Israeli territory by the militant Hamas group last weekend, which left over 1,200 people dead there, conflict in the region appears to be escalating. This week the Israeli air force says it has dropped 6,000 bombs on the Gaza Strip which, at just over 40 kilometers long, is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Due to the massive airstrikes, there are now over 1,500 people dead in Gaza. In its attempts to free around 100 hostages being held by Hamas inside Gaza, Israel has also imposed a siege on the around 2.2 million inhabitants of Gaza, an area it has controlled entry to since 2007. On the Israeli-Lebanese border, the militant Hezbollah group has fired rockets into Israel in support of Hamas. In other parts of Israel, extremist settlers have killed Palestinian civilians. Region must lead negotiations "There are clear fears across the Middle East that the region will become mired in a broader war," Sanam Vakil, director of the UK-based think tank Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa program, wrote in a briefing this week. A war that could draw in Palestinians elsewhere in Israel, neighboring Jordan and Egypt, Lebanon and even Iran, Vakil suggested. "Gulf Arab countries also fear their domestic security will be affected by cascading violence," she added. Israel-Hamas Conflict Enters 7th Day: Key Takeaways From The War At the same time, there have been some attempts by the international community to arbitrate. Various countries have stated they want to help facilitate the return of the hostages to Israel, to provide a humanitarian corridor for Palestinian civilians under attack and to negotiate an eventual ceasefire. The United States, European nations, Russia and China have all said they would be keen to help. However, Vakil argued, it is Middle Eastern countries that must take the lead. "The part played by the US, China and other international actors may well still be significant. But [regional] countries should lead," she noted. In fact, they must. In March, in what was seen as a diplomatic coup by many, China brought avowed enemies Saudi Arabia and Iran closer together. And the Chinese say they would be ready to assist here too. However to do so, they have already conceded they'll need to work with Egypt. The US is also an integral partner in any talks because of that country's close ties to Israel but in order to contact Hamas, it too must rely on others. We know that #Qatar has access here to #Hamas, that we certainly dont have, the Israelis dont have, and to a degree that Qatar can play a useful role here were going to encourage that obviously. Theyve got a way to have dialogue and conversations"https://t.co/jdwEoBRXBq Dr Andreas Krieg (@andreas_krieg) October 11, 2023 Unwilling Egypt Israel's neighbor Egypt is intimately involved because it presides over the only other border crossing, apart from Israel's, that Gazans can use to leave their blockaded territory. This week, Egypt's authoritarian leader, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, emphasized the need to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Egyptian foreign ministry noted that their Gaza border crossing, Rafah, was open again, having been bombed by Israel earlier in the week. The World Health Organization, the United Nations and the Red Cross have all said they are standing by to assist should a corridor for humanitarian aid be established. One thing Egypt does not want coming through the Rafah crossing is people. Palestinian civilians previously fled into Egypt in 2008, when Israel first imposed a blockade on Gaza. Israel PM Netanyahu Shares Pics Of Babies Killed In War Allegedly Killed By Hamas "Egypt was keen to open the Rafah crossing to provide humanitarian aid, food and medicine, but instability and the expansion of the conflict leads to more hardship and more refugees," the country's foreign minister noted earlier this week. This attitude is in line with the country's historical position on the conflict, which says Palestinians and Israelis must work things out for themselves, and that Palestinians should not be forced into displacement and giving up their homes. Additionally, Egypt's el-Sisi sees Hamas as a security risk he considers the group close to one of his main domestic, political rivals, the Muslim Brotherhood group while other nearby countries like Qatar have fostered closer ties to Hamas. All that might still change, however, if the situation deteriorates further and thousands of desperate Gazans try to cross the Egyptian border. Hospitals in Gaza say they are about to run out of fuel and will be unable to continue operating. Israeli bombing has leveled whole neighborhoods and almost half a million locals have been displaced. The Israeli army has announced that it wants 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to move south that is, towards the Rafah border crossing and Egypt. Should things get even worse, Egypt may be forced to accept more Palestinian refugees, the independent Egyptian publication, Mada Masr, reported. Given pressure from the heavy domestic issues facing Egypt an escalating debt crisis and presidential elections any second sources say there is concern that Cairos negotiating position would be weak if Israel, backed by the US, was to propose a major resettlement of pic.twitter.com/iIAS5q42Qc Mada Masr (@MadaMasr) October 11, 2023 Jordan as a humanitarian observer Jordan also borders Israel and has a long history as an interlocutor in this area. Since 1994, as part of a Jordan-Israel peace deal, the Jordanian royal family have been the guardians of some of the most sacred Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem. However Jordan does not have much of a relationship with Hamas, analysts acknowledge. Earlier this week, at the opening of a new session of Jordan's parliament, the country's King Abdullah II said there could be no peace in the Middle East without "the basis of the two-state solution." A two-state solution would mean that Israel and Palestine become two separate, neighboring countries. Despite the fact that many politicians refer to this as a potential solution, most experts concede a two-state solution has not been viable for years now. But Jordan has a good relationship with the US and the Jordanian king said he would be speaking to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he visits this week. The king has also called other EU and Arab leaders. Jordan was one of the first to dispatch a plane filled with aid to Egypt, for Gaza, and, this week, donated $4.3 million (4 million) to UN efforts in Gaza. Qatar leading on hostage negotiations Qatar has some of the region's closest ties to Hamas. The militant Islamist organization maintains an office in the small, oil-and-gas-rich Gulf state and some senior Hamas officials live in Doha. The organization maintains a degree of separation between its political bureau, which sets policy, and its military operatives. Since 2020, the group's political boss, Ismail Haniyeh, a Gaza native, has been living between Qatar and Turkey, being no longer able to travel freely through the Egyptian border crossing. Just under a week after the terrorist attack on Israel, news agency Reuters reported that Qatar was trying to help negotiate both a ceasefire and an exchange of Hamas-held hostages for 36 Palestinian women and children from Israel's prisons. Qatar has previously mediated between Hamas and Israel and has also helped host talks between Iran, one of Hamas' primary supporters, and the US. A source told Reuters that the US was also involved in the current talks and that these were progressing positively. An Israeli source denied this, however, saying no negotiations were happening. Turkey's Hamas ties Turkey, a NATO member, has often come out in support of the Palestinian cause. It too hosts Hamas offices and has invited senior Palestinian leaders to Istanbul for talks in the recent past. Unlike its military allies in Europe and the US, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization. This week, Turkey has also offered to help mediate between Hamas and Israel. Turkish-Israeli relations only recently improved, resulting in so-called normalization in 2022. They had been tense since 2010, when Israeli special forces killed 10 Turkish members of a flotilla bringing aid to Gaza illegally (according to Israel) via the sea. Friendlier relations have not stopped Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from condemning Israel's retaliatory bombing of Gaza as "a massacre" though. Erdogan has also criticized the US for moving warships into the area. Source: DW Mysuru Dasara vs Mahisha Dasara: Section 144 CrPC Imposed Till 6 AM Tomorrow Mysore oi-Madhuri Adnal Mysuru Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth has issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC, effective from midnight today (October 13) till 6 am on October 14, in the limits of the Police Commissionerate including Chamundi Hills and excluding the interiors of Town Hall. This order comes after the organisers of both Mahisha Dasara and Chamundi Betta Chalo programmes refused to comply with the City Police Commissioner's denial of permission to conduct the events on Friday i.e October 13. During the prohibitory period, no processions, protests, rallies, bike rallies, raising of slogans for and against, celebrating by bursting fire crackers, assembly of five and more persons in a group, public meetings, use of sound systems, banners, and distribution of pamphlets, and procession of idols are allowed. Any organisation or public that violates the prohibitory order and attempts to organise any meeting, take out procession, stage protest and rally, or any such gatherings will be considered as unlawful and suitable legal action will be initiated against them. However, this order is not applicable to any marriage functions, funeral, school, college, and exam-goers. Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway: Police On High Alert After Series Of Robberies The Police Commissioner issued these prohibitory orders in response to a report from the Deputy Director of the State Intelligence Wing, Mysuru district, indicating the potential gathering of 6,554 people from Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, and Mandya districts for Mahisha Dasara celebrations in the city. Additionally, the ACP of the Krishnaraja Sub-Division submitted a report recommending the issuance of the ban orders by the Police Commissioner. With the Dasara festival's inauguration scheduled for October 15, the city is expected to host a significant number of visitors from various parts of the country and even from different states. Given this, if peace and law and order in the city are threatened, and public property is at risk during the Mahisha Dasara celebration, it may disrupt the smooth conduct of all Dasara programs. Considering these factors, the DCP (Law and Order) recommended the promulgation of prohibitory orders on Chamundi Hill and the area around the Mahishasura statue under Section 144 CrPC, from midnight on October 12 until 6 am on October 14. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2023, 16:49 [IST] Happy Navratri 2023 Wishes: Share Greetings, Quotes, Whatsapp Status, Images And Status With Your Loved Ones New Delhi oi-Madhuri Adnal Navratri, a Hindu festival dedicated to Goddess Durga, is celebrated with great enthusiasm across the country over ten days and nine nights, hence its name. This year, Navratri commenced on September 26 and will culminate on October 5 with Dussehra. Throughout this festival, devotees fast, offer prayers, and recite sacred scriptures. Pandals are erected, and cultural festivities abound. On the final day of Vijayadashami or Dussehra, an effigy of Ravan is set ablaze with fireworks, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. Here are some Navratri 2023 wishes, greetings, messages, and images to share with your loved ones during this auspicious festival: 9 days of prayers, 9 nights of joy, Navratri is here, my friend. May Goddess Durga bless you for your prayers! Memories of performing our prayers together, Memories of Navratri celebrations gone by, Moments that will stay with me forever. The nine nights of Navratri are a time for joy, celebration, and love. May they fill your life with harmony and good fortune. Feast and have fun The dandiya raas has begun Maa is blessing us through A very Happy Navratri to you... May Durga Ma's blessings always guide you, bestowing good health and wisdom. Happy Navratri! I pray that this sacred festival ushers in an era of peace and prosperity in your life. Navratri is a time for self-reflection and personal growth. May this auspicious festival bring you prosperity, happiness, and growth. May the goddess shower you with her divine grace. Happy Navratri! May the divine strength of the Gods help you choose good over evil and right over wrong during this sacred festival. Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy Navratri! May this festival be the harbinger of joy and prosperity. As the holy occasion of Navratri is here and the atmosphere is filled with the spirit of mirth and love, here's hoping this festival will be great for you! For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2023, 20:00 [IST] Russia didn't orchestrate this conflict but it could take advantage of it, says the BBC's Russia editor. Recent posters put up by Khalistani groups in Canada that feature the EAM S Jaishankar's image alongside that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and call for their assassination. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is leading the charge against Iran receiving $6 billion of its unfrozen assets, told Fox the money should go to Israel to rebuild after the Hamas attacks. On the campaign trail in New Hampshire, a prospective voter asked the Florida governor, who has issued statements of staunch support for Israel, about civilian casualties in Gaza. The European Commission announced the launch of an investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, over rampant disinformation on the social media platform following the Hamas attack on Israel. Thierry Breton cautions tech executives about the flood of misinformation on their platforms related to the Israel-Hamas war. He warns of severe financial penalties if the falsehoods go unchecked. euronews (in English) 12 Oct 2023 Hostile nations, such as Iran, or groups like Hezbollah might attempt to take advantage of the armed conflict between Hamas and.. BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- When the seedlings of a "magic grass" were first introduced to Papua New Guinea over two decades ago, people there were skeptical about its ability to help them. Over the years, however, this particular breed of grass from China, recommended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, has proven to be a seed of hope in this Pacific country, helping lift over 30,000 local people out of poverty. The grass, now widely known as Juncao, which literally means "mushroom" and "grass," can be used, as its name suggests, to grow edible mushrooms. It can also be used as livestock feed or as a green barrier to stop desertification. Benefits derived from Juncao technology not only contribute to poverty eradication, but also clean energy and other targets listed in the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The real power of this grass to positively impact world development may have remained hidden had it not been for the proactive promotion made by Chinese officials including Xi himself. Back in the mid-1980s, when Xi worked in east China's Fujian Province, he spent considerable time on rural development and poverty alleviation. At that time, the mushroom business was lucrative in Fujian's rural areas. However, the felling of trees, used as fungi substrate for large-scale mushroom growing, posed a potential threat to the future of the industry and even the local environment and economy. A potential solution, Xi discovered at that time, could lie in research efforts that were then underway in Fujian concerning a group of wild grasses. It turned out that Juncao technology, replacing timber with Juncao for mushroom growing, significantly lowered farming costs, reduced annual tree clearing, and hence provided an economical and environment-friendly path for poverty alleviation. Thanks to Xi's support, Juncao science laboratory was built, and the development of Juncao varieties was able to proceed. Lin Zhanxi, the inventor of Juncao technology, said he was very grateful and extremely thankful to Xi for his support of agricultural science and technology. The application of this "magic grass" ended up not being confined to China. Papua New Guinea was among the first overseas destinations to apply Juncao technology. In 2000, Xi, then governor of Fujian, assisted with the launch of a pilot project to help improve the livelihood of people in Papua New Guinea. To enable Juncao to benefit more people, Chinese scientists simplified and localized Juncao technology, allowing the "magic grass" to take root in far-flung and exotic fields across this Pacific country in just a few years. In 2018, the annual yield of the grass in Papua New Guinea set a record of 853 tonnes per hectare, with the resulting mushrooms gracing the tables of an increasing number of households. Juncao technology involves mixing various low-cost materials such as Juncao powder, lime powder, rice or cotton husks and water and is applicable in a small space. For many underdeveloped countries, it is an affordable, accessible, and environmentally sound way to generate opportunities. Later in his political career, Xi, as a state leader, continued to promote Juncao in the South Pacific region, and also in Africa and South America. In Fiji, Juncao has become a household name and is known as "the grass of happiness from China," after multiple phases of the Juncao project there witnessed sound success. In March this year, a regional Juncao technology demonstration center opened in Fiji. So far, a total of 270 Juncao training programs have been organized by China both home and abroad, cultivating over 10,000 people who are now qualified to popularize Juncao technology in as many as 18 languages. From the island of Fiji to landlocked Rwanda, from the jungles of Brazil to the desert in Jordan, Juncao has now taken root in over 100 countries around the globe. Juncao has become the "grass of prosperity" in a variety of underdeveloped countries. James Marape, prime minister of Papua New Guinea, said the Juncao project is a gift from China to the whole world. Editor: ZAD South Africa is very different from Israel and Palestine, but perhaps its lessons can still help. Jerusalem/New York/Tel Aviv: Israel's military on Friday called for all civilians of Gaza City, more than 1 million people, to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion. "Now is a time for war," Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday as Israeli warplanes continued pounding Gaza in retaliation for the weekend attacks by Hamas militants that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. The Israeli military said it would operate "significantly" in Gaza City in the coming days and civilians would only be able to return when another announcement was made. "Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the military said in a statement. "Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians." A Hamas official said the Gaza relocation warning was "fake propaganda" and urged citizens not to fall for it. The United Nations said it considered it impossible for such a movement of people to take place "without devastating humanitarian consequences." Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan described the UN's response to Israel's early warning to the residents of Gaza as "shameful". Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas militant group which led the attacks on Saturday. The Israeli military said in a statement on Friday that it struck 750 military targets in northern Gaza overnight, including what it said were Hamas tunnels, military compounds, residences of senior operatives and weapons storage warehouses. An Israeli tank fires near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun However, a ground invasion of Gaza poses a serious risk with Hamas holding scores of hostages kidnapped in the assault. The Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people, is under siege by Israel, which has pounded Hamas targets in the enclave and killed more than 1,500 Palestinians in retaliatory attacks since the weekend incursions. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said fuel powering emergency generators at hospitals in Gaza could run out within hours and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned food and fresh water were running dangerously low. "The human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent, and I implore the sides to reduce the suffering of civilians," ICRC regional director Fabrizio Carboni said. The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) said it had relocated its central operations centre and international staff to Gaza's south. 'Riddled with bullets' Seeking to build support for its response, Israel's government showed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defence ministers graphic images of children and civilians they said Hamas had killed in a weekend rampage in Israel. Blinken said they showed a baby "riddled with bullets," soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. "It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way," he said. "It's really beyond anything that we can comprehend." Like others across the globe, Blinken urged Israel to show restraint, but he also reiterated America's support, saying: "We will always be there by your side." On Friday he was due to meet Jordan's King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as part of a Middle East tour aimed at stopping spillover from the war. Blinken also planned to visit key US allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates - some with influence on Hamas, an Islamist group backed by Iran. Smoke billows following Israeli strikes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza, October 13, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Mohammed Salem Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, said lessons would be drawn from the security failures around Gaza that enabled the attack. "We will learn, and investigate, but now is the time for war," he said. The US military is placing no conditions on its security assistance to Israel, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, adding Washington expected Israel's military to "do the right things" in prosecuting its war against Hamas. Austin was due in Israel on Friday and planned to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas called on Palestinians to rise up on Friday in protest at Israel's bombardment of the enclave, urging Palestinians to march to East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and clash with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Israel's parliament approved Netanyahu's emergency unity government late on Thursday, including a number of centrist opposition lawmakers, to display the country's united determination to fight Hamas. Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying the use of such weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury. Israel's military said it was "currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza." North Korea denied on Friday its weapons were used by Hamas in the attack against Israel, saying the claim made in some media reports was a bid by Washington to divert the blame for the conflict from itself to a third country. Safety concerns prompt security measures The US State Department will begin offering charter flights to Europe to help Americans leave Israel if they want to start Friday, the White House said. Japan has arranged for a charter flight to depart Tel Aviv on Saturday for its citizens wishing to leave Israel, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters on Friday. The conflict spurred some civil unrest in Europe, with police in Paris using tear gas and water cannons to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinian people. Some Jewish schools in Amsterdam and London were set to close temporarily due to safety concerns. US law enforcement officials in New York and Los Angeles said they had a stepped-up police presence for Friday, especially around synagogues and Jewish community centres, but some officials sought to play down the threat. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, an Arab advocacy group, said on Thursday that FBI agents had visited mosques in different states and individual US residents with Palestinian roots, calling it a "troubling trend."In Jerusalem, scores of Israelis gathered at the Mount Herzl military cemetery on Thursday to bury their dead. "When you didn't take my call, I knew you were fighting with all your power. When I realised you were missing, I could not imagine this is how it would end," one mourner said. In Gaza's main southern city Khan Younis, where cemeteries were already full, dead were being buried in empty lots, like the Samour family, killed on Wednesday night in a strike that hit their house. Palestinian rescue worker Ibrahim Hamdan drove from one bomb site to another as his team tried to pull survivors from houses destroyed by the Israeli air strikes. "This war is harsh beyond imagining," said Hamdan, who has worked through repeated wars since becoming a rescuer in 2007. "They knock down high-rise buildings on top of their residents." Gazans, mainly descendants of refugees who fled or were expelled from homes in Israel at its founding in 1948, have suffered economic collapse and repeated Israeli bombardment under a blockade since Hamas seized power there 16 years ago. Palestinian anger has mounted in recent months, with Israel carrying out the deadliest crackdown for years in the West Bank and its right-wing government talking of seizing more land. A peace process meant to create a Palestinian state collapsed a decade ago, which Palestinian leaders say left the population with no hope, strengthening extremists. Everyone must get out to the streets Friday on every country on earth to stop genocide and reclaim internationa law and human rights International law and international system are ending to serve special interests. Some people said it was ended long ago. But what is happening now is truly spectacular. 4000 tons of bombs dropped on 2.3 million people while denying them medicines, food, water, electricity and fuels. By the internationa law on paper this is a war rime and crime against humanity and is a violation of the International Convention on Genocide. This is what is supported by the US, Egland and France. Everyone must get out to the streets Friday on every country on earth to stop killing for profits Israel is one of the biggest arms exporters and its elites profit handsomely from this industry (companies like Elbit). The colossal military failure Israel suffered from the breakout of the imprisoned people of Gaza out of the largest open air prison.. Succeeding in overcomng this is bad for business, a publuc relations disaster. That is why the Zionist lobby went crazy and managed to even get the US to send an aircraft carrier and the French government to issue directives prohibiting speech against Israeli apartheid or support the colonized people in their legitimate struggles for freedom. Everyone must get out to the streets Friday on every country on earth to challenge the lies and the distortions Some people are still focused on the symptom and asked for data/sources relating to Hamas action in their breaking out of the Ghetto/concentration camp of Gaza (2.3 million people most of them refugees). Even though I really think the conversation should be steered elsewhere (like why do we still have refugees in Ghettos 75 years after ethnic cleansing and not allowed to return home), here goes: Here is a video that shows Israeli forces firing at Hamas militants with Israeli party goers caught in cross fire so it is not true that shooting at party goers was a slaughter of unarmed civilians as told to us by the Israeli media for that particular incident. Grayzone investigates origin of the dubious 40 babies killed by hamas, some beheaded also see intercept.com US President Biden said he saw pictures of atrocities including beheadings. When challenged to reveal the pictures, White House spokesman said we had no such things and we do not have independent verification beyond what the known liar Netanyahu told them (even 90% of Israelis distrust Netanyahu in latest survey). Hamas vehemently denied that its fighters targeted civilians in this incursion. See also Click Here and Click Here Everyone must get out to the streets Friday on every country on earth to stop the dehumanization and attempts to demonize people. In South Africa they tried to demonize the struggle against apartheid by picking and choosing certain actions of one or two of the factions in that struggle. They imposed apartheid but it never reached this level of destruction and dehumanization. You cannot use real or imagined Hamas atrocities to dehumanize 15 million Palestinian yearning for freedom. Occupiers/oppressors do not have a right to "self-defense" and International law says oppressed people have a right to resist by the methods they choose. Israeli racist colonial settlers try to peddle oppression by playing on emotions and to justify the ongoing genocide in Gaza where some 500 children where murdered so far in six days and whole neighborhoods flattened and half a million left their neighborhoods being bombed. Israeli leaders proudlty explain this as collective punishment against a whole population. Even here in Bethlehem (largely Christian area) and other ghettos left in the West Bank we are denied freedom of movement, freedom of education etc.. No matter how you/I think of Hamas, apartheid Israel killed literally 100 times more people (99% civilian) than Hamas. Everyone must get out to the streets Friday on every country on earth to say we can and must stop genocide now. The Zionists now (egged on by Western support) are engaged in literal genocide (denying food, water, electricity and carper bvombing Gaza like never before). Zionism aimed to create a Jewish state in a land that was 97% not Jewish. The native people of Palestine were to be ethnically cleansed. 8 million of us are thus refugees or displaced people. Demonizing us was done before. Massacres were committed before (over 120,000 killed). But carpet bombing and denying food, water and medicines on such large scale has never been done before. Its aim is nothing less than genocide. Everyone must get out to the streets Friday on every country on earth to insist on truth, independent investigations, and implementation of international law Palestinians have always called for independent investigation. In fact all human rights organizations described Israel as an apartheid state. We also called for international protection and implementing all relevant UN resolutions especially the one calling for refugees to return home. Everyone must get out to the streets Friday on every country on earth A global uprising is needed now---The future of humanity is at stake. Mazin Qumsiyeh in besieged Bethlehem ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018) Map of Israel and the Occupied Territories. It's a small country. Notice how tiny Gaza is. (Image by larrywkoester) Details DMCA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I offer some thoughts of my own on this rapidly developing tragedy, I am presenting a lengthy quotation from a New York Times OpEd. Realizing that it is likely that what the author has to say here will be overtaken by events fairly quickly, on this date, 10-12-23, I would like to share some of what I regard as excellent thinking on the subject of, as the author (R. David Harden, a former USAID mission director) put it, "Israel Could be Walking into a Trap in Gaza:" "Hamas knew that the attack on Saturday would give Mr. Netanyahu little choice but to retaliate with a ground invasion, and it knows that the Israel Defense Forces' technology and military superiority would offer little advantage on the crowded streets of Gaza City; in Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp; or through Hamas's labyrinth of underground tunnels. Gaza, 140 square miles with a population of more than two million, is one of the most densely populated places on earth. "It appears [that] Hamas wants to draw Israeli soldiers into a quagmire, as Hezbollah did in Southern Lebanon from 1985 to 2000. After years of fighting, Israel suffered a humiliating and chaotic withdrawal, leaving an empowered and threatening Hezbollah on its northern border. . . "If Israel invades Gaza, Hamas may have the public support to challenge the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and potentially assume leadership as the sole representative [of all] of the Palestinian people. . . . "Despite its grotesque atrocities against civilians, Hamas may have already reset the political realignment in the Middle East by disrupting prospective diplomatic talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia. But if Gaza were now to escalate into a protracted ground war, Hamas could also undermine the Abraham Accords, which established agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and break the trend of increasing Arab-Israeli normalization. The Palestinian Authority was unable to block the Abraham Accords, but Hamas could still unwind them. . . . "To avoid the Gaza trap, Israel needs Arab allies on the ground and in the region. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan have all regarded Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Muslim Brotherhood as a collective strategic threat. To gain the support of the key regional leaders, Israel will have to offer major security concessions and intelligence in the event of a wider war with Iran and set a meaningful and clear political horizon for a post-Abbas, post-Hamas Palestinian state." That's a tall order for Israel, especially with its far-rightist, post-"Oslo Accords," government (which Accords for all intents and purposes became a literal dead letter with the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin). How Did The-State-of-Israel come to be? In brief, it was the Product of European Political Anti-Semitism In the late 19th century, the majority of the world's Jews lived in Europe. "Anti-Semitism" had been a feature of European society since at least the time of St Augustine (5th century C.E.). From that time until the late 19th century anti-Semitism in Europe generally had a religious cast, "The Jews Killed Christ," as it was put into Catholic doctrine by Augustine in the 5th century C.E. But in the late 1870's in Austria and Germany was developed a political version of anti-Semitism, that is a version which could be used in electoral campaigns (and beyond them in non-electoral periods, for political purposes). This was spread into other countries, e.g., the Dreyfus Affair (1890's France) and the publication in Czarist Russia of the so-called "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" in 1906. (As it happened, my father Prof. Harold J. Jonas, did the research for the first book that proved that the "Protocols" were a forgery, produced by the Czarist Secret Policy. The book was published in 1942 under the name of a gentile, for political reasons: "An Appraisal of the PROTOCOLS OF ZION," New York: Columbia University Press.) Political antisemitism developed fairly quickly in phases in Europe, leading up to the enactment of the "Nuremberg Laws" in Germany in 1935, which among other things, deprived German Jews of their German citizenship. And so, where could German Jews in particular (and Jews from other European countries who might want to escape the expansion of anti-Semitism that seemed to be coming over the horizon) go? Well, not too many other places, as it turned out. In 1938, a major conference, initially organized by Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on "what to do with the German Jews who wanted to get out," was held at Evian, France. Adolf Hitler helpfully said: "I can only hope and expect that the other world, which has such deep sympathy for these criminals [Jews], will at least be generous enough to convert this sympathy into practical aid. We, on our part, are ready to put all these criminals at the disposal of these countries, for all I care, even on luxury ships." (Note that at the beginning of the current crisis the Israeli Minister of Defense, in referring to the Gazan fighters, said: "We are fighting human animals.") Two of the 40 or so countries which were at the Conference took Jewish emigres, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rico. The United States, riven in the 1930s by open anti-Semitism (see, e.g., Henry Ford, a pen-pal of Hitler, and Father Charles Coughlin), itself took very few (and they had to have special qualifications; e.g., many composers for 1930s Hollywood films were Jews). U.S. policy, despite FDR's sympathy with the plight of the European Jews ,was characterized by the famous turn-around of the "luxury ship" (see Hitler, above) St. Louis in 1939. Of course, the overwhelming tragedy of the Holocaust vastly reduced the number of European Jews who were looking for a safe homeland after World War II. But the number of them was significant, while the number of places that would accept them, including the United States --- under the Immigration Act of 1924 --- was limited. "Zionism," that is the ideology that encouraged European Jews to move to the Jews' "Biblical homeland," "Zion," had been created by Theodor Herzl and colleagues, beginning the 1890s, precisely in order to provide Jews with a place to escape from European anti-Semitism. Jewish immigration to what after World War I became the "Palestine Mandate" (under the United Kingdom) was begun in earnest after that War. (Last spring, I published a column on the consequences of that early movement, which in one word can be entitled "Expulsionism." It echoes down to his very day, and plays a role in the current Crisis.) But then, after World War II, the number of other countries in the world, especially ones where European Jews would feel comfortable living and that would accept them, was limited. Eventually, after overcoming British resistance, emigration to what had been Palestine (and with the intervention of the United Nation became the State of Israel), began in earnest. This is not the place or the space to describe what the Jewish immigrants did with and to the Arab-Muslim-Palestinians. Among certain others, that has been described in detail by the now-exiled Israeli author, Ilan Pappe: " The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine , Oxford (Eng.): One World, 2006." (As a contributor to the issue of what would happen to Palestinians after the creation of The State of Israel, it should be noted that both before and after World War II agricultural lands that were worked by Palestinian Arabs were bought from their Arab owners by Jews, with no provisions made by either side for the agricultural workers who were left behind.) But the bottom line is that, in the beginning (if I may use that term), every Arab-Israeli crisis that has occurred since that time, and in historical terms there have been many of them, can be traced back to the creation of Political Anti-Semitism in 18th century Europe, which resulted in the expulsion-from-Europe/immigration-to-Israel by many European Jews. (Other Jewish groups who came later include the Sephardim, the non-European Jews, mainly in the 1950s and 60s; the Russian Jews, mainly in the 1970s; and in this century, U.S. Jews, often Orthodox and politically right-wing.) It is these immigrations, and what Israeli, Palestinian-Arab, and Arab governments did and did not do over time to deal with the realities, that has led right down to the current Crisis-of-Gaza. Now for a Change of Subject: Some Commentaries Here, for you to consider, is a correspondence I had with a (very) long-time friend: My friend : "Horror beyond belief! I'm going to have nightmares tonight after watching the film from Israel. Equally horrific is that there are Nazis marching proudly in NYC, Chicago and Florida." Myself (much wordier than he is, although in other contexts over the years he has been very wordy too[!]): "What Hamas has done is horrific, its terrorism on civilians was done in a particularly brutal fashion (killing babies ?!?), and of course I totally condemn it. There is no justification for it, even though, as I have said on a number of occasions, in Gaza, Israel is surrounding the world's largest concentration camp. Nevertheless, that is no excuse for any demonstrations/statements in this country supporting the Hamas terrorists (those statements symbolized by images of hang-gliders). It is one thing to advocate for a long-range settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian problem, another to support terrorism. "Further, as for your statement: 'Dear Arie: Our hearts are quaking and breaking over your encounter with the devil in the clothes of Hamas. Peace--for which we all yearn --is so far from fruition. Those Hamas bastards must be obliterated before a just peace can be achieved. We are appalled by the pro-Hamas protests in the streets of New York and Chicago, once Jewish enclaves. Please stay safe and allow a little of your vaunted humor to shine through this period of darkness. Yours in solidarity.' [I responded] I am fully in agreement with your statement." "But [this is I writing further] among the larger questions on the table at this time are: what did Hamas expect to accomplish by this terrorist rampage? What does Israel expect to accomplish by its wholesale destruction of the civilian infrastructure of one of the most crowded places in the Earth, and by the 'blockade?' [Israel is completely closing off and suffocating the Gaza Strip. No fuel. No water. No food. No Internet. Nowhere to escape. The healthcare system is on the verge of total collapse and the power on the verge of total blackout under constant bombings. (USPCR.org, 10/12/23)] What is a reasonable long-term solution to the 'Gaza Problem' even though neither Hamas nor the current Israeli-Right government would agree to it? Who knows? "As for the U.S. Nazis, in my 1996 futuristic novel (which happens to tell a fictional history from then up to just about now --- hint, the Republicans of the 90's and their successors, "The American Christian Nation Party" are the villains) --- 'The 15% Solution: How the Republican Religious Right Took Control of the U.S. 1981-2022,' that is what the Republicans of the day became (and today's Republicans seem to be following the script that I laid out in the book)." And for now, a final comment of mine on the current situation : The major problem with the two-state solution, which all reasonable people concerned with the situation in Israel/Palestine support, and which was supposed to be produced by "Oslo," is that two major actors do not want anything to do with it. They are, of course, the Israeli Right (which effectively ended it long ago with the Rabin assassination) and the revanchist-only Palestinians/Arabs, represented at the present time most notably by Hamas. That is quite a nut to crack. [Obviously, to be continued.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Post script: To be noted, the PLO/Hamas conflict that runs in parallel with the Israel/Palestinian conflict, represents the much wider, and longer-lasting, conflict between the Sunni (Saudi Arabia/Egypt) Muslim states and the Shitte ones, led by Iran. (Article changed on Oct 12, 2023 at 10:53 PM EDT) (Article changed on Oct 13, 2023 at 11:20 AM EDT) The Blazer Focused podcast, hosted by The Oregonian/OregonLives Aaron Fentress with Craig Birnbach, react to the Portland Trail Blazers first two preseason games. Rookie Scoot Henderson looked solid. Shaedon Sharpe, not so much. Deandre Ayton was up and down. Is this team simply too young and unbalanced to compete? Topics (full episode) - Trail Blazers regulars demonstrate struggles in win over the New Zealand Breakers and during Thursdays loss to the Phoenix Suns. - Henderson has looked good while Sharpe doesnt appear ready to take off this season. - Ayton didnt impress in his first game against the Suns and Jusuf Nurkic. Reason for concern? - Roster issues already becoming glaring. - Comcast raises rates for Blazers fans. Yikes. - Much more. -- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook) MORE BLAZERS COVERAGE Large-scale clean energy projects from northeastern Oregon to Pennsylvania to California have been selected for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, a key component of President Joe Bidens agenda to slow climate change. His goal is to establish seven regional hydrogen hubs to help replace fossil fuels such as coal and oil with cleaner-burning hydrogen as an energy source for vehicles, manufacturing and generating electricity. The Pacific Northwest hub, based in eastern Washington, will extend to Oregon and Montana and will use hydropower and other renewable resources to produce clean hydrogen. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the $1 billion hub great news for the Pacific Northwest, adding that it will create thousands of jobs and make sure that Washington plays a leading role in growing the green hydrogen economy. Biden is expected to make the official announcement during an economic-themed visit to Philadelphia on Friday. The White House calls clean hydrogen essential to achieving the presidents vision of a strong clean energy economy and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 2050. As a clean fuel, hydrogen complements the role played by other clean energy sources, like wind and solar, to help the U.S. reduce emissions in energy-intensive sectors of the economy: steel and cement production, heavy-duty transportation, and shipping, the White House said in a statement. The seven hubs, which include projects in 16 states, will spur more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, the White House said, including many high-paying union jobs. There were 23 finalists for the hydrogen fuel program. The projects selected are based in California, Washington, Minnesota, Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Illinois. All but the California and Texas hubs include projects in multiple states. Pennsylvania has projects in two separate hubs. The infrastructure law Biden signed in 2021 included billions of dollars to develop so-called clean hydrogen, a technology that industry and clean-energy advocates have long pushed as a way to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions produced by fossil fuels. Some environmentalists call hydrogen a false solution because it frequently relies on natural gas or other fossil fuels as feedstocks. Energy companies say fossil fuels can serve as feedstocks if the projects capture the carbon dioxide produced and keep it out of the atmosphere, a technology that has yet to be produced at commercial scale. States and businesses have been competing for federal dollars in the new Energy Department program, which will create regional networks of hydrogen producers, consumers and infrastructure. The intent is to accelerate the availability and use of the colorless, odorless gas that already powers some vehicles and trains. Among those selected were the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, based in West Virginia, and the Philadelphia-based Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub. Pennsylvania, a battleground state of the highest importance to the Democratic president in next years election, is in line to benefit from both projects. Biden has made Philadelphia a regular stop for both official and campaign events, and partners in the proposed Philadelphia-area hub have labor unions that are key Biden supporters. The West Virginia-based hub includes major Pittsburgh-based natural gas companies that are active in the regions prolific Marcellus Shale reservoir, including the parent company of the operator of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia. Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who muscled approval of the $6.6 billion pipeline through Congress in an unusual agreement with the White House this year, hailed the Appalachian hub. This means West Virginia will be the new epicenter of hydrogen in the United States of America, he said of the hub, which will receive up to $925 million in federal spending. West Virginia will be on the leading edge of building out the new hydrogen market while bringing good-paying jobs and new economic opportunity to the state. The Appalachian hub will extend to Ohio and includes a $1.6 billion facility under construction in northern Pennsylvania that is working to produce near-zero emissions hydrogen from natural gas. This is a big, big deal for ... Appalachia in particular, because these facilities are all based in areas where coal was king, said Perry Babb, president of KeyState, an owner and developer of the Pennsylvania site. Partners in the Appalachian hub say it could produce hydrogen from methane using heat, steam and pressure while capturing the carbon dioxide it would generate. The Mid-Atlantic hub, which includes New Jersey and Delaware, will receive $750 million and will make hydrogen through electrolysis splitting water molecules using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, as well as nuclear power. The two largest projects are in California and Texas and will each receive up to $1.2 billon. The Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems in California will produce hydrogen from renewable energy and biomass. The project is intended to provide a blueprint for decarbonizing public transportation, heavy duty trucking and port operations key emissions drivers in the state and major sources of air pollution. The Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub will be centered in Houston, long the energy capital of the U.S., and plans large-scale hydrogen production from both natural gas and renewables. The Minnesota-based Heartland hub, which includes projects in North and South Dakota, will receive $925 million as it seeks to decarbonize fertilizer used in agriculture and advance use of clean hydrogen in electric generation and for cold climate space heating. It also plans to offer equity ownership to tribal communities and local farmers. The Midwest hub in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan will receive up to $1 billion and will use hydrogen in steel and glass production, power generation, heavy-duty transportation and sustainable aviation fuel. The hub plans to use renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear energy. Nearly every state had joined at least one proposed hub, and many have been working together, hoping to reap the economic development and thousands of jobs they would bring. Big fossil fuel companies, renewable energy developers and researchers in university and government labs are involved, too. Environmental groups are skeptical, arguing that while hydrogen is a clean-burning source of power, it takes a great deal of energy to produce. When its made with electricity from coal or natural gas, it has a bigger carbon footprint than simply burning the source fuel. Hydrogen is another bait-and-switch from an administration that continues to break its promises to aggressively tackle climate change and help communities achieve a just, equitable transition to renewable energy, said Silas Grant, a campaigner with the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity. OAKLAND, Calif. Unions representing 75,000 health care workers have reached a tentative agreement with industry giant Kaiser Permanente following a strike over wages and staffing levels, the parties announced Friday. Details of the agreement were not immediately released, but both sides said a full announcement was forthcoming. The three-day strike last week involving 75,000 workers in Oregon and other states officially ended last Saturday and workers returned to their jobs in Kaisers hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans. More than 4,000 Kaiser employees in Oregon and southwest Washington joined the walkout. The frontline healthcare workers of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are excited to have reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente as of this morning, the coalition posted Friday morning. We are thankful for the instrumental support of Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su. Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, California, confirmed the deal in a social media post. Bargaining sessions had been scheduled for this week, the unions said. President Joe Biden applauded the tentative deal in a statement Friday, echoing his support for the health care unions. The president last month joined picketing United Auto Workers in Michigan on the 12th day of their strike against major carmakers, becoming the first known sitting president in U.S. history to join an active picket line. We owe a tremendous debt to health care workers and the hard-working men and women who make their work possible, Biden said Friday in a statement. Health care workers and support staff kept our hospitals and our nation going during the dark months of the pandemic. They had our backs during one of our nations toughest times. We must continue to have theirs. The Kaiser strike for three days in California where most of Kaisers facilities are located as well as in Colorado, Oregon and Washington was a last resort after the health systems executives ignored the short-staffing crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, union officials said. The coalition had given the company notice that another strike from Nov. 1 to Nov. 8 was possible and the Oct. 31 expiration of a contract covering the Seattle area would enable another 3,000 workers to join picket lines. Their goal was to bring the problems to the publics consciousness for support, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. Some 180 workers from facilities in Virginia and Washington, D.C., also picketed but only on Wednesday. The strikers include licensed vocational nurses, home health aides and ultrasound sonographers, as well as technicians in the radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments. No health care worker wants to go on strike, Caroline Lucas, the coalitions executive director, said Thursday. I hope that the last few days have helped escalate this issue. The company warned the work stoppage could cause delays in people getting appointments and scheduling non-urgent procedures. Unions representing Kaiser workers in August asked for a $25 hourly minimum wage, as well as increases of 7% each year in the first two years and 6.25% each year in the two years afterward. Kaiser, which turned a $2.1 billion profit for the quarter, said in a statement last week that it proposed minimum hourly wages between $21 and $23 depending on the location. The company said it also completed hiring 10,000 more people, adding to the 51,000 workers the hospital system has brought on board since 2022. Union members say understaffing is boosting the hospital systems profits but hurting patients, and executives have been bargaining in bad faith during negotiations. The workers last contract was negotiated in 2019, before the pandemic. A 46-year-old Portland financier suspected of fatally shooting a man and injuring another in a road rage encounter in downtown Portland pleaded not guilty Thursday in Multnomah County Circuit Court to second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon. Ryan Martin was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest Wednesday afternoon. Sam Gomez was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery after a bullet traveled through his leg and lodged in the femur of his other leg, according to a probable cause affidavit. A 30-year-old Hillsboro man who Washington County authorities say fired a gun at a deputy this week had been booked and released from custody five times since 2022, including after he was charged with plying a 12-year-old girl with fentanyl and raping her, court records show. James L. Tijerina was arrested Tuesday after firing a gun from a 2016 Kia Sorento as he and two others led a Washington County deputy on a high-speed chase in Gaston, according to police and court records. A man died and a woman is in a local hospital with serious injuries after their cars crashed head-on Thursday morning in Clackamas, officials said. Ilya Ilech Bosovik, 24, of Clackamas and 81-year-old Carol Marie Day Bordeaux of Oregon City collided in their cars on Southeast Jennifer Street near Evelyn Street shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday. The car Bosovik was driving, a Kia Spectra, matched the description of a car that minutes earlier had run over the feet of a child and then raced off, the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office said. Police said the child, who had been waiting for a school bus, was pulled back from the cars path at the last moment by an older sibling. The injured child was treated at the scene. Detectives believe Bosovik may have been under the influence of intoxicants, according to the sheriffs office. Bosovik died at an area hospital, where he was taken after the crash. Bosovik had convictions for driving with a suspended or revoked license and had faced charges including possession of a stolen vehicle, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and theft by receiving. The investigations of the Thursday crashes continue, and the sheriffs office asks anyone who might have relevant information to call its tip line at 503-723-4949 or use the email form at Clackamas.us/sheriff/tip. -- The Oregonian/OregonLive; dperry@oregonian.com Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine In this article, written exclusively for Global Insight, Ukraines Prosecutor General describes the systemic and widespread practice of the Russian occupiers unlawfully detaining Ukrainian civilians in torturous conditions, and elaborates on the implications for international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Since the beginning of its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has engaged in the business of unlawfully detaining thousands of Ukrainian civilians and the numbers are growing rapidly. In the first wave, Russian units scoured the land with lists of activists, pro-Ukrainian community leaders and military veterans. Later, they came for the teachers, the doctors and any others who refused to collaborate with the occupiers. Today, Ukrainians in the occupied territories may get abducted and incarcerated merely for wearing blue and yellow colours or speaking Ukrainian. As many have vanished without a trace, it is notoriously difficult to estimate the exact number of unlawfully detained Ukrainian citizens. In a June 2023 report, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented 864 individual cases 763 men, 94 women and seven boys of arbitrary detention perpetrated by the Russian Federation between 24 February 2022 and 23 May 2023. Naturally, the actual number is many times more. Ukraines government has been able to identify over 1,000 who are facing charges. According to Gulagu.net, a Russian human rights group, at least 4,000 Ukrainian civilians are held in Russia and at least as many scattered around the occupied territories. In all, the full numbers are unknown but according to various assessments, there could be tens of thousands held captive by the occupiers. According to data from former captives, the Ukrainian Media Initiative for Human Rights and Gulagu.net, the detainees are held in at least 40 detention facilities in Belarus and Russia, and 63 makeshift and formal ones in occupied Ukrainian territory. The recent UN report counted a total of 37 facilities in Belarus and Russia and 125 in occupied Ukraine. Unsurprisingly, Russia has no intention of making the conditions for detainees anything close to humane. The prisons often rather cold makeshift dungeons are routinely overcrowded, lacking adequate food, water, medical care, sanitation and heating. Moreover, actors of the Russian Federation frequently submit detained Ukrainian men and women to barbaric torture and abuse. In its report, the UN expressed grave concerns about widespread practices of torture or ill-treatment by Russian armed forces, law enforcement and penitentiary authorities. According to the OHCHR, those acts included punching and cutting detainees, putting sharp objects under fingernails, hitting with batons and rifle butts, strangling, waterboarding, electrocution, stress positions for long periods, exposure to cold temperatures or to a hot box, deprivation of water and food, and mock executions or threats. Further, the OHCHR documented 36 cases of sexual violence against 25 men and 11 women perpetrated in the context of arbitrary detention, including rape, threats of rape against victims and their loved ones, electrocution to genitals or nipples, beating to genitals and forced stripping and nudity. Putins henchmen arent satisfied with pretend killings. The UN shed light on the summary execution of 77 civilians (72 men and five women) while they were arbitrarily detained, and the death of one more male detainee as a result of torture, inhumane detention conditions and denial of medical care. Again, the actual numbers are, tragically, much higher. And the detentions dont only torment the detained. Detainees were often held incommunicado and cut off from the outside world. The uncertainty about the whereabouts and fate of their loved ones gravely increases the suffering of their families, who in their despair relentlessly search for any piece of information on the disappeared. It is no overstatement to say that Russia is cutting a swathe of devastation across the international legal order. The disregard that Putin and his accomplices are showing for human lives and human rights, their lack of compassion or even a hint of morals, is even after nearly a decade of war still staggering. The unfathomably atrocious behaviour of the Russian occupiers violates the bedrock principles of international human rights and international humanitarian law. Human rights protected Arbitrary deprivation of liberty is prohibited both in the framework of international humanitarian law as well as international human rights law. The right to personal freedom and protection from arbitrary detention is guaranteed by Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which both Ukraine and Russia have signed and ratified, emphasises the same right to liberty and security of any person. Article 10 of the UDHR recognises the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. Article 14 of the ICCPR expands upon this right, ensuring fair trial guarantees, including the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Article 17 of the ICCPR safeguards detainees' right to communicate with the outside world and maintain contact with their family members. Additionally, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners further elaborate on these rights, prescribing the humane treatment of detainees. Russia abducting Ukrainian civilians, often holding them incommunicado for months without charges or even the resemblance of a judicial process is a clear violation of these provisions. Moreover, notwithstanding that the Russian Federation has not acceded to the relevant convention, the secretive incarcerations often amount to enforced disappearance, a crime so heinous and unanimously condemned by the international community it has attained the status of universally accepted customary international law. Article 2 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance defines enforced disappearance as the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law. There can be no doubt that this description fits the actions of those acting on Putins authority. The same obviously holds true for the inhumane treatment and torture the detainees suffer at the hands of the occupiers. Article 5 of the UDHR protects individuals from torture and cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment. Articles 7 and 10 of the ICCPR echo this protection, emphasising the prohibition of torture and mandating the respect for the inherent dignity of persons deprived of their liberty. Articles 2 and 16 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment reinforce this absolute prohibition of torture. Accordingly, no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. Indeed, the prohibition of torture is considered ius cogens, a peremptory norm of international law, which represents one of the most fundamental and universally accepted principles in the realm of human rights. Ius cogens, Latin for compelling law, refers to norms and principles that are so fundamental, essential and universally recognised that they hold a unique and supreme status. They typically address the most serious and heinous violations of human rights and impose obligations on all states, regardless of whether they are parties to specific treaties. In addition to human rights violations, Russias systemic abduction, incarceration and torture of Ukrainian civilians is an egregious violation of the laws and customs of war, particularly of the Geneva Conventions. Common Article 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relates to the protection of civilian persons in time of war, as well as Additional Protocol I which requires that all civilians be treated humanely. Arbitrary deprivation of liberty violates this requirement. Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention demands that civilians, whether detained or not, be treated humanely with respect for their dignity at all times. They may not be arbitrarily separated from their families. Under international humanitarian law, there is an important distinction between detention and the internment of civilians. During an armed conflict, civilians may only be interned as an exceptional measure and if imperative security reasons so demand, that is, if they pose a threat to the occupying power. Internment is distinct from detention in that it may not be used as a punishment. Interned civilians must be housed in facilities that ensure their wellbeing and protection from the elements, and they must be provided adequate food, clothing and medical care. They must be protected against acts of violence, intimidation and insult, and their safety and dignity must be respected throughout their internment. Within the week following the internment, each internee must be able to inform family members, as well as the Central Tracing Agency of the Red Cross, of their internment. Moreover, internees should have an opportunity to challenge their internment and review it regularly by an appropriate court or administrative board. All these guarantees are explicitly prescribed by Articles 4143 and 78116 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 75 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions. Even if Russia claimed that some of its arbitrary incarcerations of Ukrainians were internments, the gruesome conditions and treatment at the hands of the Russian jailers, and the lack of fundamental procedural safeguards constitute unlawful confinement and egregious violations of international humanitarian law. Finally, the actions of the troops committing those atrocious acts, and of their superiors and commanders who ordered them or knew but did not interfere, entail individual criminal responsibility and constitute war crimes according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. These include unlawful confinement (Article 8(2)(a)(vii)); torture or inhuman treatment (Article 8(2)(a)(ii)); wilful killing (Article 8(2)(a)(i)); the taking of hostages (Article 8(2)(a)(viii)); wilfully depriving civilians of the rights of fair and regular trial (Article 8(2)(a)(vi)); and the list goes on. Nevertheless, it seems Putins thirst for human suffering is growing ever worse. In May, Putin signed a decree allowing people to be sent from territories with martial law, including occupied Ukraine, to those without meaning Russia. This makes it easier to deport Ukrainians deep into the Russian territory indefinitely. Moreover, a January 2023 document from the Russian government contains plans to create 25 new prison colonies and six other detention centres in occupied Ukraine by 2026. In the face of all the staggering horrors and hardship, the Ukrainian government is of course not sitting idle. In cooperation with international partners, the Prosecutor Generals Office is setting up a mechanism that will serve to identify, locate and facilitate the liberation and return of unlawfully detained Ukrainian citizens. This facility will of course also strive to bring the perpetrators to justice and end impunity for those most horrific crimes. The Ukrainian Prosecutor Generals office is seeking international support and partnership to create a mechanism to address the issue of civil detainees. Over the past four years, hundreds of gray whales have washed up dead on the beaches of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, most of them skinny and malnourished and scientists have been trying to figure out whats causing the majestic animals to die en masse for so many years. Now, researchers from Oregon State University have an answer. The die-offs, according to a study published this week in the journal Science, follow changing conditions in the Arctic Ocean namely, declines in sea ice cover that lead to a dearth of the crustaceans that gray whales love to eat. And when the ice periodically returns, it restricts the animals access to feeding grounds, so the whales have even less to eat, the researchers found. While Arctic conditions vary naturally year to year, climate change has magnified the changes in recent years, said the studys lead author, Joshua Stewart, an ecologist and assistant professor with Oregon States Marine Mammal Institute. When the whales have both little food available and not much access to their feeding areas in the same year, thats when we get these big impacts and die-offs, he said. And the reason this mortality event is lingering and is more severe than before is likely to be climate-related. UNUSUAL MORTALITY Whales were once populous on Earth but humans hunted them to near extinction through commercial whaling. Today, despite conservation efforts, only a few whale species are on their way to recovery and most populations remain small which makes them difficult to study and challenging to draw conclusions about their biology, ecology and population dynamics, Stewart said. Gray whales are a notable exception, often held up as an icon of human conservation measures. While also hunted to very low numbers, they made a stunning recovery after gaining protection from the International Whaling Commission in 1947. They were removed from the Endangered Species Act in the mid-90s. Part of why the gray whales recovered so spectacularly from near-extinction is because, unlike many other large whales, they spend most of their time migrating close to shore, Stewart said. Their migration path takes them 12,000 miles along the Pacific Coast, from Baja California, Mexico, to the Arctic one of the longest mammalian migrations a journey they make twice each year. Being close to shore, theyre less exposed to modern human-made threats that plague other whale populations, including getting tangled up in fishing gear or being hit by large ships. But theyre vulnerable to human-caused climate change. Shortly after gray whales were considered recovered, they suddenly started dying in large numbers, leading federal agencies in 1999 to declare an Unusual Mortality Event. Within a few years, the population recovered and scientists never found the root cause of the die-off. In 2016, the population was estimated to be nearly 27,000 gray whales one of the highest estimates since federal officials started counting in 1967. Then, starting in 2019, gray whales again began dying en masse and scientists launched investigations into the deaths. Over the past five years, 688 stranded gray whales have been recorded in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, according to NOAA Fisheries, also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service. Scientists say thats just a fraction of the total number of dead whales because most sink to the seafloor. Scientists estimate the gray whale population has since declined by almost half, to about 14,500 whales as of last winter. The issue vaulted into local consciousness earlier this year when several whales both gray and sperm whales washed ashore in Oregon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tracks whale beachings, including in Oregon and Southwest Washington, and the agency has counted 233 of them along those coasts since 1989. That die-off continues, Stewart said, though its finally showing signs of waning. It has lasted about twice as long as the previous die-off and has led to twice as large of a decline in the gray whale population, he said, a fact thats likely attributed to climate change. UNCERTAIN FUTURE According to the new study, climate change in the Arctic has caused a chain reaction thats hurting whales. Warming temperatures have led to melting ice cover. That has meant less algae, which grows on the underside of sea ice and which feeds the benthic amphipods that whales eat. Less algae means fewer amphipods that whales need to survive. And while less sea ice also potentially allows whales to access their feeding areas for longer, thats only useful up to a point, Stewart said. It doesnt matter how many days they have access to feeding areas if their food is in short supply, he said. Conversely, when the ice returns, the whales cant access most of their feeding grounds and what they can access has few amphipods to speak of. The studys findings, Stewart said, are significant not just for gray whales but also for other whale species that are starting to recover, including the humpback whale which might see similar patterns of die-offs as its environments are regularly reshaped by warming temperatures. Whales, in turn, could be a bellwether for other species. The study shows us that climate impacts are going to be affecting species of all shapes and sizes and distributions, even the biggest ones that can move long distances and live for a long time, Stewart said. They dont get to escape these impacts just because theyre big and mobile. The future of the gray whale remains uncertain, Stewart said, largely depending on conditions in the Arctic, which are quickly deteriorating, with Arctic sea ice declining, ocean acidification making Arctic waters unlivable for many creatures and erosion degrading coastal habitats. Still, hes cautiously optimistic, partly because gray whales have survived through hundreds of thousands of years of dramatic environmental change, including ice ages and periods of global warming, he said. Theyre resilient. They have the ability to adapt to changes in their environment and have been able to scrape by and recover, so I hope that theyll be able to do that moving forward as well, he said. Even so, climate-caused changes mean the Arctic likely wont be able to support as many gray whales as it has in the recent past, Stewart said. And thats tragic, he said, not just because whales are valuable for tourism, beneficial for coastal economies and play a significant role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere. (A whale can sequester 33 tons of carbon dioxide on average, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund.) These are magnificent, huge, long-lived animals that are just extraordinary to have around, he said. Its amazing to share the planet with them. Gosia Wozniacka; gwozniacka@oregonian.com; @gosiawozniacka Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe/ Sign up to get positive Black news stories, words of affirmation and weekly curated playlists delivered to your inbox twice a week: Enter your email to subscribe to Black Joy. Dispersed along the southern Atlantic coastline, the kin of enslaved Africans are preserving a powerful lineage. Its a mission the Gullah Geechee people hold with pride. Their ancestors, stolen from West African tribes, were forced to labor on the indigo, rice and cotton plantations in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. But the methods they used to conserve their African traditions have enriched American life. The hand-clapping, foot-stomping ring shouts that filled the praise houses of the enslaved echo in todays Gospel hits. Shrimp and grits and other Southern staples are seasoned with Gullah Geechees influence. Textile arts, like basket weaving and quilting, that produced necessary tools and clothing for the enslaved are revered in museums across the globe. Corey Alston has made a career out of honoring his roots in Mount Pleasant, S.C. His family-run business, All Things Gullah, exposes people to the tastes, smells, music and arts of his heritage. Im a 100 percent cultural man, Alston said. My heritage is not a second job or a backburner career. Everything we do is preserving, protecting and keeping the culture alive. Alston is most known for his passion as a fifth-generation sweetgrass basket weaver. During the 17th century, the enslaved cultivated the pliable, long-bladed sweetgrass that sprouts along the coastline to make fanner baskets for rice production. That craftsmanship has evolved into a treasured artform passed down from parents to their children. Alstons baskets, which range from small bowls to elaborate pieces named Papa and Big Momma are displayed in multiple galleries and private collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Acres of Ancestrys traveling art exhibit. Alston calls the sweetgrass baskets American artifacts exemplifying the creativity and resiliency of the Gullah Geechee people. A part of the joy is to be able to say that my ancestors were forced to make these tools to do these enslaved jobs. Now, were making these same tools and were reaping the benefits from people who want to collect these historic pieces of art, Alston said. Talk about a flip. Thats a flip. The beginning of Alstons basket weaving journey is part dedication to his community and part love story. Shortly after graduating high school, Alston met a young lady named Karen Habersham who he clicked with personally and culturally they grew up in the same Gullah Geechee town. Habersham was part of a family of four generations of women nurturing each others basket weaving skills, and Alston was welcomed into the circle to learn a thing or two about the artform. Alston remained a dedicated student of the craft even after he married Karen in 2002. He credits his wife and his in-laws for the skills that led to the success of his career today. I would not be Corey Sweetgrass Basket Weaver if it wasnt for Karen Habersham, Alston said. Becoming a full-time artisan for the culture came with some risks. After marrying his wife and having his first daughter, Alston was providing for his young family by working at an oil company. When the business sold in 2005, Alston was offered a position at another location about four hours away from Mt. Pleasant in Charlotte, N.C. Alston was satisfied with the security of a $20-an-hour pay, 401k plan and medical benefits. But his mother-in-law persuaded him to reconsider. He was Gullah Geechee after all and he was getting better at his artistry. Why venture far off from his roots? She suggested Alston spend a day at the Charleston City Market, where the Habersham family has owned a business since the 1970s. Alston took his mother-in-laws advice by helping his sister-in-law, Carlene Habersham, at the market. There he discovered his love of connecting with people and getting to know their stories. The experience was so influential, he marched to his job the same week to tell his supervisors he wasnt moving anywhere. Instead, he was going to take the companys severance package so he could align himself to his true purpose: preserving his heritage. They thought Id lost my mind, Alston said. But I dont think that was my true potential. I know thats what God really wanted me to do because hes blessed me so much in this cultural career that Im in. The same year, the matriarchs of Karens family gave Alston their blessing to run the family business along with his sister-in-law. This is fitting considering the evolution of sweetgrass basket weaving. Alston said the first weavers were African men who made baskets for their village. But that role changed during enslavement as enslaved men were forced to do harsh manual labor such as plowing the land and making bricks. Enslaved women kept the artform alive both culturally and economically. Mothers passed down their heirlooms of knowledge to their daughters, which is a tradition that is held to this day. Gullah Geechee women in Mount Pleasant seized an opportunity following the 1929 opening of the Grace Memorial Bridge, which connected the town to Charleston. Basket weavers such as Lottie Winee " Moultrie Swinton and Lydia Spann Graddick set up chairs to sell show baskets to those traveling along U.S. Highway 17. Their efforts would be the beginnings of a roadside marketplace now called Sweetgrass Basket Makers Highway, where Gullah Geechee families make and sell relics of their history from wooden stands. So we want to give all the credit to women for teaching this skill from mother to daughter for so many generations because if it wasnt for the ladies, then [basket weaving] wouldnt be what it is today, Alston said. Which is why Alston continues to honor Black women in this work. Alstons 16 and 21-year-old daughters have been weaving baskets since they were about seven years old, which is the tradition in the Gullah Geechee culture. Alstons oldest daughter harvests sweetgrass alongside her dad. He makes sure to display baskets crafted by the hands of his mother-in-law, his wife and his wifes aunts. We use the term forefathers, but we never say our foremothers, Alston said. So, I give all the respect to the foremothers who have kept this skill alive because you know, I would not be who I am. If it wasnt for ladies. Ukraine could receive further supplies of Switchblade 600 suicide drones, which could boost Kyiv's defense capabilities, Charlie Dean, vice president of global business development and marketing at defense contractor AeroVironment, said, Newsweek reported on Thursday. The Switchblade 600 is "tremendously important to the defense of Ukraine," Dean told Newsweek. The Ukrainian military currently has a larger number of smaller Switchblade 300 drones, compared to the larger Switchblade 600 model drone, but "that will soon change," he said. The United States provided Ukraine with a "very large number" of Switchblade 300s, Dean said, adding that "they were quickly used on the battlefield for their intended purpose." "The 600s are also being used in Ukraine, and those quantities are adding up quickly in the country," he said. "The 300s continue to outnumber the 600s presently, but that will soon change." The United States has provided several types of drones to Ukraine as part of military assistance, including Switchblade and Phoenix Ghost loitering munitions. Switchblades, also used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, appeared in footage coming out of Ukraine, but the Pentagon did not disclose exactly how many were sent. In response to a request from Newsweek, the Pentagon said it could not provide any additional details about "the specific quantities or types of weapons, systems and equipment provided to our Ukrainian partners" beyond publicly available information. The U.S. Defense Department "will continue to support Ukraine with the means to defend itself in the near term and deter against further aggression," spokesperson Jeff Jurgensen said in a statement. Log on if you are already subscribed or Subscribe... Banjul, Gambia (PANA)- Some 180 civil society organizations from across Africa and around the world co-signed an open letter urging the Government of The Gambia to stand firm in its commitment to protecting women and girls by upholding the law prohibiting female genital mutilation (FGM) Marrakech, Morocco (PANA - The world is fraught with profound forces and rapid changes as nations face declining progress in the fight against poverty, an existential climate crisis, food insecurity, fragility, a fledgling pandemic recovery, and are feeling the effects of conflicts beyond the front Photo: (Photo : Myron Edwards on Unsplash) In a disconcerting event that has gripped Keene, Texas, a 13-year-old boy has been handed a conviction related to the shooting death of a 32-year-old Sonic Drive-In employee, Matthew Davis. This incident serves as a painful reminder of the pressing concerns surrounding gun violence, particularly in Texas. The Backstory: A Confrontation Turns Deadly On October 5th, after a series of hearings, a jury delivered its verdict, deeming the boy engaged in delinquent conduct. In layman's terms, this juvenile court phraseology is tantamount to a guilty verdict in an adult court system. The conviction stems from a deeply unsettling episode in May, when the parking lot of the Sonic Drive-In became the backdrop for a horrifying act of violence. Detailed reports from the Johnson County sheriff's and county attorney's offices have been instrumental in painting a clearer picture of the events of that fateful day. While the juvenile's identity remains shielded, owing to legal protocols surrounding minors, certain aspects of the case have been shared with the public. It has been disclosed that, during an altercation between Davis and the boy's uncle, Angel Gomez, outside the Sonic establishment, the boy took drastic measures. He procured an AR-style rifle from his uncle's vehicle and fired multiple shots at Davis. The catalyst for this violent response appears to have been Gomez's "disorderly conduct", which initially prompted Davis to approach him. What began as a verbal altercation swiftly escalated into physical violence, culminating in the fatal shooting. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, both the boy and Gomez made a hasty attempt to escape the crime scene. Gomez, in an unexpected turn of events, chose to return and was promptly arrested on the grounds of a murder warrant. Meanwhile, a thorough search led to the boy's capture in a town close by. Read Also: Suspect of Shooting Incident Involving 6-Year-Old Girl, Parents, Neighbor Now Under Police Custody: 'Turned Himself In' Upcoming Sentencing and Potential Repercussions But the judicial ramifications don't end with the boy's conviction. Gomez, after his arrest for the alleged murder, found himself facing an indictment on separate charges. These pertain to tampering with or creating counterfeit physical evidence. The intricacies of these charges or Gomez's exact involvement in them are still shrouded in mystery. His attorney's silence on the matter has only fueled further speculation. Amy Pardo, representing the county attorney's office, has shed some light on the upcoming legal procedures. The boy is slated to be sentenced this Thursday. Depending on the court's discretion, he could be handed anything from a probationary period to a substantial 40-year prison term. The exact nature of the sentence the prosecution is pushing for remains undisclosed. It's crucial to contextualize this incident within the broader framework of gun violence debates in Texas. Soon after two mass shootings rocked the state, this Sonic Drive-In episode took place. These successive incidents have led to intensified demands for a comprehensive review and overhaul of gun control measures. As Keene and the broader Texas community try to come to terms with the horrifying reality of a minor's involvement in such a grievous act, pertinent questions arise. Reflection is necessary in light of the ease with which firearms are available, the significant influence that adult role models have on young people's behavior, and the broad societal implications. While this particular legal saga is nearing its end, the overarching discussions on gun violence and its profound impact on communities, especially in Texas, show no signs of abating. Related Article: Mass Shooting at Texas Outlet Mall Leaves Three Children Dead Photo: (Photo : Manny Becerra on Unsplash) Ohioans started casting their votes this week on two major ballot initiatives, one of which would guarantee abortion rights in the state constitution. The two measures presented to voters are Issue 1, which, if approved, would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, and Issue 2, a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana. Ballots began being accepted on Wednesday and will continue to be collected until Election Day on Nov. 7. Issue 1: Guaranteeing Abortion Rights Issue 1's proposed amendment, if adopted, would define an "individual's right to one's reproductive medical treatment, not limited to abortion." This move would offer legal shields to individuals seeking abortions and other reproductive treatments, like contraception and fertility treatment. Meanwhile, the passage of Issue 2 would elevate Ohio to the 24th state to permit recreational cannabis use. Adults aged 21 and above would be allowed to purchase and possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana flower and 15 grams of extract. This decision comes at a pivotal moment for Ohio. In August, voters firmly opposed a GOP-backed initiative that aimed to raise the bar for future amendments to the state constitution. Such a change could have posed a significant challenge to the abortion amendment's approval. The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in 2022 to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling has led to a ripple effect across states. The court's decision to revert abortion access to state jurisdiction has seen some states restrict access, while others have expanded it based on voters' decisions. A separate issue is the ongoing debate over Ohio's six-week abortion ban. The Ohio Supreme Court began deliberating on this topic on Sept. 27, following its suspension by a lower court. The outcome of Issue 1 could render this debate moot if Ohioans vote to constitutionally protect abortion rights. Read Also: Justice for Anti-abortion Group as Suspect Arrested for Firebombing; DNA Evidence Proves Key Controversy Over Amendment Language Campaigns for both sides of the abortion debate have intensified in recent weeks, with grassroots efforts like door-knocking, canvassing, and rallies taking center stage. "Issue 1 just goes too far," cautioned Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican. Meanwhile, Ohio Democrats celebrated their grassroots efforts, boasting nearly 100,000 doors knocked and over 100,000 calls made since their August special election victory. The financial stakes in this race have also been high. Recent data from AdImpact highlighted that around $12.3 million has been channeled into advertising concerning the abortion ballot measure, with opponents of the amendment outspending its supporters by approximately $1.6 million. A controversial point in this campaign was the decision by the Republican-controlled Ohio Ballot Board to use the term "unborn child" in the amendment's language. This move was met with criticism, with proponents of the amendment accusing the board of attempting to mislead and confuse voters. Both sides continue to make passionate arguments. While proponents emphasize a woman's right to make personal medical decisions, opponents argue that the proposal extends beyond just protecting Roe v. Wade rights and could jeopardize other rights and freedoms in the state. With both abortion rights and marijuana legalization on the line, the outcomes of Issues 1 and 2 could significantly reshape the social and legal landscape of Ohio. Related Article: Women Across Latin America Unite in Massive March for Abortion Rights Photo: (Photo : Screenshot Image From @USBornNRaised on X) An unexpected demonstration caught the attention of attendees at the recent school board meeting in the Higley Unified School District. An Arizona father, Ira Latham, articulated his reservations about the new dress code in a manner that few would forget. Arizona Father's Visual Statement Among the parents voicing their concerns at the Higley Unified School District meeting on Sept. 20, Ira Latham's protest was undeniably the most dramatic. Instead of merely voicing his apprehensions about the proposed new dress code, Latham chose a more direct method of expression. Shedding his conventional attire, he revealed a black crop top accompanied by short jean shorts. His unconventional attire was a stark contrast to the formal setting of the school board meeting, drawing a range of reactions from the attendees. Central Concerns Regarding the New Dress Code The new dress code's perceived ambiguity became the primary point of contention for many parents, including Latham. The underlying concern was that such a dress code might not foster a safe and distraction-free learning environment. Furthermore, many believed that it would add to the teachers' burden, forcing them to discern what is deemed acceptable or not due to the policy's vagueness. In Latham's view, and shared by many others, the school district should be directing its efforts towards preparing students for the professional world. To him, the suggested new dress code seemed more suited for leisure settings than an academic institution. The essence of his argument was that if such attire was deemed inappropriate for a school board meeting, then it should be viewed with the same lens in a classroom setting. Other parents echoed Latham's concerns, although their methods of expression were less dramatic. Some parents raised concerns about potential bullying as a consequence of the liberal dress code. Others emphasized the importance of a clear and dignified dress code. A recurring sentiment was that self-expression, while important, should not compromise the essence of a focused educational atmosphere. Read Also: Lack of LGBTQ-Inclusive Sex Education Pushes Queer Students To Seek Answers Online Outcome Amidst Varied Opinions The Arizona father's emphatic protest, combined with the numerous voices of concern, set the stage for a crucial decision. Yet, the school board, seemingly unfazed, passed the new dress code with a 3-2 vote. This updated policy necessitates that students' attire cover their private parts and undergarments adequately. However, allowances have been made for the incidental visibility of undergarment straps and waistbands. With the Higley Unified School District's new dress code now approved, there's palpable anticipation surrounding its implementation. Stakeholders, including parents and educators, are keenly observing to determine if it promotes a conducive learning environment or results in unforeseen challenges. As the news of the Arizona father's bold protest during the school board meeting spreads, the community remains divided on the issue. While the Higley Unified School District has made its stance clear with the adoption of the new dress code, time will reveal the true implications of this decision on the educational landscape of the district. Related Article: Navigating Difficult Conversations: How to Guide Your Child Through War Content on Social Media The G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors declared full financial support for Ukraine, as well as a commitment to keep Russia's assets frozen until it compensates for the damage to Ukraine as a result of an "illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression," the European Council website reported on Thursday evening. "Russia's sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine," the report notes. It is also noted that the Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force to account for Russias sovereign assets immobilized and held in REPO member jurisdictions has estimated the value of such assets at approximately $280 billion. "We reiterate our unwavering resolve to impose and enforce sanctions and other economic measures to further undermine Russia's capacity to wage its illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression. We remain committed to countering any attempts to evade and undermine our sanction measures," the report notes. "We will continue to strengthen coordination in monitoring cross-border transactions between Russia and other countries, take further action directed at the Russian financial sector as necessary, and closely monitor the effectiveness of the price caps on Russian crude oil and petroleum products to ensure the measure delivers on its objectives, and take any necessary and appropriate enforcement actions required," the report notes. In addition, the ministers noted unwavering support for Ukraine as long as it is needed. "We remain strongly committed to supporting Ukraines urgent short-term financing needs... Building on the successful completion of the first review of the IMF program for Ukraine, and looking ahead to the second review, we will continue our joint efforts to help address Ukraine's 2024 financing needs," the report notes. At the same time, the ministers focused on continuing the implementation of structural reforms by Ukraine and further fulfilling the requirements of the IMF program. "We will continue to support Ukraine's repair of its critical infrastructure, recovery and reconstruction," the report notes. The statement noted that countries would explore how any emergency revenues owned by private enterprises, received directly from immobilized Russian sovereign assets, can be used to support Ukraine and its recovery and reconstruction in accordance with applicable laws. This service is a courtesy for our print subscribers to give them access to our online edition at no additional cost. If you haven't registered on the new site, you must do it now before you do anything else. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. We spent the night in Adana, a very old city that is mentioned not only in Homer but in the famous ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. Ive never before been to Tarsus, so Ive been looking forward to today. The city is located on the mouth of a river that empties into the Mediterranean. Anciently, that river was called the Cydnus, but is now known as the Berdan. Tarsus is also located at the southern end of the Cilician Gates (the only major pass through the Taurus Mountains) and it has an excellent harbor at Rhegma. Thus, it sits at the junction of land and sea routes that connected the Cilician plain (known today as Cukurova), central Anatolia, and the Mediterranean Seaparticularly the Levant, which may explain why the parents of the Apostle Paul settled there. Perhaps because of its siting near a river mouth, Tarsus was surrounded by exceptionally rich and fertile soul, which was a major source of its prosperity between the fifth century BC and the Arab invasions in the seventh century AD. Its a very old place. Signs of settlement have been found that date all the way back to the Neolithic period, the New Stone Age. The first historical record of Tarsus is its rebuilding by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (who reigned 705/704-681 BC). Thereafter, periods of Achaemenid and Seleucid control alternated with periods of autonomous self-rule. In 67 BC, Tarsus was absorbed into the new Roman province of Cilicia. A university was established that became famous for its flourishing school of Greek philosophy. The traditional tomb of the biblical Daniel is located here, as is, it seems, the genuine tomb of the extremely important Abbasid Muslim caliph al-Mamun (reigned AD 786-833). Most famously, perhaps, Saul of Tarsusthe future Apostle Paulwas born and raised here, though he also spent substantial time being educated in Jerusalem, which made him literally and culturally bilingual and, thus, an extraordinarily effective messenger in taking Christianity to the Gentiles: I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, he said, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city (Acts 21:39). Less well known is the connection of Tarsus with the Roman politician and general Marcus Antoniusbetter known in English as Mark Antonyand Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (Cleopatra [Famous in Her Father] the Father-Loving Goddess). Yes, of course: The Cleopatra. Antony, who had been a strong supporter of his relative Julius Caesar, first met Cleopatra when she was young, while he was campaigning in Egypt in 55 BC. Then he met her again in 48 BC, when Julius Caesar had backed her as queen of Egypt over the claims of her half-sister Arsinoe. Famously, Caesar and Cleopatra had an affair, which resulted in a son, Caesarion, who was born in BC 47. She and her son lived in Rome as Caesars guests until BC 44, when he was assassinated. At that point, she and Caesarion returned to Egypt, where she named the boy as her co-ruler. Also after that famous assassination, Antony joined forces with Lepidus, another of Caesars generals, and Octavian, Caesars great-nephew and adopted son. They formed a three-man dictatorship that is known to historians as the Second Triumvirate. The Triumvirs proceeded to defeat Caesars killers, the so-called Liberatores, at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, and then they divided the government of the Roman Republicit was still nominally a republicbetween themselves. Antony was assigned Romes eastern provinces, which included the client kingdom of Egypt, ruled at the time by . . .Cleopatra. In October of 41 BC, Antony requested that Cleopatra, Romes chief eastern vassal, meet him at Tarsus in Cilicia. She arrived in Tarsus aboard a magnificent ship, and invited Antony to a grand banquet to solidify their alliance. This was extremely important to him: She was the most powerful of Romes eastern vassals, and her support was indispensable to Romes planned military invasion of the Parthian Empire, which had been entrusted to him. At Cleopatras request, Antony ordered the execution of her half-sister Arsinoe, who had been granted sanctuary at the great temple of Artemis in Ephesus. But the visit went beyond normal diplomacy and power politics. Antony and Cleopatra spent the winter of 41 BC together in Alexandria, where she bore him twins, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II, in 40 BC. Relations among the triumvirs, though, were becoming more and more strained, and civil war between Antony and Octavian very nearly broke out in 40 BC. It was averted partly because Antony married Octavians sister, Octavia. Despite the marriage, though, Antony carried on with his love affair with Cleopatra, which didnt exactly help his relationship with Octavian. A third child, Ptolemy Philadelphus, was born to Antony and Cleopatra in 36 BC, the same year that Lepidus was purged from the three-man dictatorship. Finally, civil war broke out in 31 BC between Antony and Octavian as the Roman Senate, directed by Octavian, denounced Antony as a traitor and declared war against Cleopatra. Later that same year, Antonys forces were defeated by Octavians at the Battle of Actium. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt where, after another defeat at the Battle of Alexandria, they committed suicide. Upon Antonys death, Octavian had become the undisputed master of Rome. In BC 27, he was granted the title of Augustus. He would also be known as Caesar, because of his relationship to his great uncle and adoptive father, Julius Caesar. He was the first Roman emperor. The Roman Republic was dead. We had lunch in Tarsus after visiting Cleopatras Gate, by which, according to tradition, the Egyptian queen entered the city in order to meet with Mark Antony, and after paying our respects to the traditional well of St. Paul from which he may or may not ever have drawn or tasted water, but which is, as it happens, likely old enough to have served the purpose. From Tarsus, we drove on, through multiple tunnels and a landscape very reminiscent of Utah, to the fabled district of Cappadocia. Here, were spending a couple of nights in a cave hotel. Posted from Urgup, Cappadocia, Turkiye This morning, we went first to the Hagia Sophia ( )also called, depending upon the language, Ayasufya and Santa Sophia and Sancta Sapientia and the Church of Holy Wisdom (or Divine Wisdom). Sophia isnt the name of a female saint; it is the Greek equivalent of English wisdom. After its completion in AD 537, Hagia Sophia was the largest Christian church in the world for roughly a thousand yearsonly being supplanted in that rank in the early sixteenth century by Spains Cathedral of Seville, which was in turn beaten out by St. Peters Basilica in Rome (or Vatican City) shortly thereafter. It is said that, when the Emperor Justinian I (the Great) entered the building for its dedication, he thought of the ancient temple of Jerusalem and remarked Solomon, I have triumphed! Im in awe of the rich history not only of Istanbul but of Hagia Sophia specifically, and of the fact that Hagia Sophia has stood basically intact for nearly a millennium and a half in an area that is extremely active, seismically speaking. The Anatolian transform fault system has been ranked as perhaps the most active in the world; it separates the Eurasian plate from the Anatolian plate in northern Turkey. But when we walk into the great church today, we are walking into the same building that Justinian saw. The present Hagia Sophia is the most recent of three church buildings to be erected, successively, on the site. Its immediate predecessor was destroyed during the dramatic Nika Revolt of AD 532. The prolific St. John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople, preached in one of the two earlier buildings. (Chrysostom means golden mouthed in Greek; it is a tribute to his legendary eloquence.). For a few decades after 1204, as a result of the disgraceful Latin conquest of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, it became a Roman Catholic cathedral. (The Eastern and Western churches had mutually excommunicated each other by this point, and there was no love lost between them.) After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque. (Hence the four large minarets that are now attached to it.) In 1935, as part of the modernizing and secularizing reforms of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it became a museum. In 2020, as part of the Islamizing measures enacted by the current Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it became a mosque yet again. I was relieved, although we were not allowed to climb to the higher floors, that the paintings and mosaics were somewhat less concealed than I had expected and feared. Next, we visited the Istanbul Archeological Museum, which is said to be Turkiyes largest museum. (This was my first time at the Museum.) Its collection includes more than a million artifacts, including one of the three serpent heads from the serpent column at the Hippodrome, but that portion of the Museum was apparently closed. At least, I didnt see it. Nor did I see the famous Treaty of Kadesh, which is located there. Still, the Museum is a wonderful place, very clearly and elegantly displaying what we could see of its treasures. Its collection of classical sarcophagi is amazingly good; they look new. And its treatment of Troy is fascinating, including an aerial recreation that shows that citys famed and fateful history from earliest times. Our last stop was to the Spice Bazaar or Spice Market, which was built in the 1660s. In Turkish, it is known as the Egyptian Bazaar (Msr Carss), because it was built with revenues from the Ottoman province or eyalet of Egypt. It is one of the most colorful bazaars in Istanbul, offering innumerable souvenirs, spices, dried nuts, and more. It was in the Spice Market, years ago, that I first understood why, after his arrival in Narnia, Edmund would betray his siblings, Peter and Susan and Lucy, to the White Witch in exchange for Turkish delight. When I first read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I couldnt understand his betrayal. But now I definitely do. I was disappointed that we were unable to visit the Great Palace Mosaic Museum, as we had originally thought to do. (It closed last month, for something or other.) It is an actual part of the Great Palace complexthe (Mega Palation) of Byzantine Constantinople. (It was also called the [Hieron Palation], or Sacred Palace.) It was first laid out in the southeastern end of the peninsula by the emperor Constantine in the area that is now called Old Istanbul, the former ancient Constantinople proper. The Great Palace served as the residence of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine emperors until 1081, and was the center of imperial administration for nearly seven hundred years. Only a few remnants and fragments of its foundations have survived into the present day. The site of the Great Palace Mosaic Museum is one of the few extensively excavated sections of the ancient palace, and its mosaic floor is one of the best surviving examples of the art of Late Antiquity. Even more, I was enormously disappointed that we could not take our people to the relatively tiny Chora Church, which has been one of my favorite places in the city since my first visit, particularly for its remarkable Christian frescoes and mosaics. It is located in the Edirnekap neighborhood of Istanbul, very near the place that, as I mentioned in a previous entry here, some of us visited on the first day of our arrival, where the Ottomans first breached the massive land walls of Constantinople on 29 May 1453. But the original Chora was built in the early fourth century as part of a monastery complex that was outside the city walls of Constantinople. Those walls had been erected by Constantine the Great to the south of the Golden Horn as part of the original founding of the city. Hence, its name: Literally translated, the churchs full title was The Church of the Holy Saviour in the Country or The Church of the Holy Redeemer in the Fields ( , he Ekklesia tou Hagiou Soteros en tei Chorai). However, when Theodosius II built his famously formidable land walls in AD 413414, the church became incorporated within the citys defences. Even so, though, it retained the name Chora. The situation is rather like that of Londons St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the forerunner of which was located in the farmlands and fields beyond Londons city wall. The current neoclassical church dates to the early eighteenth century and sits at the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square, which is surrounded by the City of Westminster, London. Another comparison might be made to Romes Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura (the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls), which was founded by Constantine the Great (!) over the likely burial place of the Apostle Paul. Its name derives from the fact that it lies outside the citys third-century Aurelian Walls, but it is now very much a part of the city of Rome. In its current form, the Chora dates mostly from the eleventh century, though it was substantially rebuilt in the fourteenth century, which is also the period of its great mosaics and frescoes. By far my favorite of those is the fresco of The Resurrection, which appears above. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and probably after about 1500, the Chora was transformed into the Kariye Camii (or Kariye Mosque, the word Kariye deriving from the Greek Chora). It remained a mosque until the Turkish government declared it a museum in 1945. In 2020, though, it was again declared to be a mosque under the Islamizing government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sigh. It is now closed indefinitely for restoration. Have I mentioned before that this is an astonishing city? In its heyday during the Byzantine period, Constantinople was absolutely enraptured with theological debates. At least, so it was according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, who famously described it thus in his Oratio de deitate Filii et Spiriti Sancti, (= Oration on the deity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit) which is printed in Patrologia Graeca 46, where the passage is on col. 557, section B: Everywhere, in the public squares, at crossroads, on the streets and lanes, people would stop you and discourse at random about the Trinity. If you asked something of a moneychanger, he would begin discussing the question of the Begotten and the Unbegotten. If you questioned a baker about the price of bread, he would answer that the Father is greater and the Son is subordinate to Him. If you went to take a bath, the Anomoean bath attendant would tell you that in his opinion the Son simply comes from nothing. From the Spice Market, our bus picked us up and took us to the Istanbul Airport, where we caught a flight down to the southern Turkish city of Adana. It is my first time here. Im excited. Posted from Adana, Turkiye Including St. Augustine on the Visible Catholic Church; St. Irenaeus on Church Infallibility; Biblical Data Regarding Infallibility & Indefectibility; Peter & the Keys; Jesus Prayer for St. Peter [see book and purchase information] *** Jason Engwer is a prolific Protestant anti-Catholic apologist and webmaster of the site, Tribalblogue. (where I have long since been banned). We used to dialogue, from 2000 to 2010. His words will be in blue. ***** When considering issues about the church and its authority and infallibility, keep the following in mind: * The conclusion that God should give us an infallible church needs to be demonstrated, not just assumed on the basis of personal preference or allegedly unacceptable consequences of not having an infallible church, for example. How many modern advocates of church infallibility would have governed the world as God did prior to early church history, sometimes working through patriarchs or judges, other times working through prophets or small remnants, commanding Israel to be divided into two kingdoms, allowing the religious leaders at the time of the Messiah to be so wrong about the Messianic prophecies and how they responded to the Messiah, etc.? Philosophical presuppositions play a major role in modern arguments about church infallibility, and unjustified assumptions are often made about what God supposedly should do. If He didnt govern the world as you think He should in earlier history, why think Hes following your standards now? * Fair enough. Ive written about this general issue several times and in many ways. One Bible passage in particular is highly relevant: * * The Jerusalem Council also highly suggests a hierarchical and infallible Church. See my many articles on that, on my Church web page . The following three 1000-page articles offer a good summary of all of my arguments in that regard: * * * * Another biblical argument I would make is the constant emphasis (especially from St. Paul) on the truth and against any concept of relativizing or minimizing it. Its common sense and straightforward logic to hold that Paul considered this truth (whatever it was, which can be argued, too) to be unassailable and infallible, and synonymous with apostolic tradition. Here is a compilation of Paul mentioning truth: Romans 2:8 (RSV) but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 1 Corinthians 2:13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 4:2 We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with Gods word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 11:10 . . . the truth of Christ is in me . . . 2 Corinthians 13:8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. Galatians 5:7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, (cf. 6:14) Colossians 1:5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel 2 Thessalonians 2:10-13 and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15 if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. 1 Timothy 4:3 . . . those who believe and know the truth. 2 Timothy 1:13-14 Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me . . . guard the truth which has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. 2 Timothy 2:18 who have swerved from the truth by holding that the resurrection is past already. . . . 2 Timothy 2:25 . . . God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, 2 Timothy 3:7-8 who will listen to anybody and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith; 2 Timothy 4:4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of Gods elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness, (cf. 1:14) The concept of an infallible church can be defined in many ways. An argument for Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy in particular as the infallible church, for example, would require argumentation that leads to the specific organization in question. As I noted in my 2008 article that originated my exchange with Dave Armstrong, if Protestants are going to be asked to defend a specific canon of scripture, then those who argue for an infallible church should be expected to defend something comparably specific. What weve gotten from Dave instead, as Ive documented, is a vague appeal to apple seeds or mustard seeds to justify the oak tree of Roman Catholicism. The same sort of reasoning by which he derives prayers to the dead from Revelation 5:8 or his Catholic notion of apostolic succession from Papias is what leads him to his conclusions about church infallibility. I have done this in many hundreds of articles on my Church, Papacy, Bible & Tradition, Church Fathers, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Development of Doctrine web pages. The statement here is so broad that I cant possibly reply to it. I can only appeal to several hundred articles related to the issue. Once Jason gets more specific, we can discuss it with a particular focus and specificity. But he hasnt replied to me since 2010, while I have continued to reply to him in many articles since 2020. If church infallibility is going to be defined as church perpetuity, meaning that the church wont cease to exist, then many Protestants can be said to believe in the infallibility of the church in that sense. There are characteristics that an entity must have in order to be the church. Saying that there will always be an entity with those characteristics isnt the same as saying that the church is sure to be correct on every issue or that it has Divine guidance in the specific manner claimed by a group like Roman Catholicism. Biblical and patristic passages on the perpetuity of the church are often cited in support of church infallibility, but such a concept of infallibility can be so broad as to include many Protestant views of the church. As I documented in my series on apostolic succession earlier this year, men like Irenaeus and Tertullian believed that a core set of doctrines defined Christian orthodoxy, doctrines such as monotheism and the resurrection. They didnt include concepts like the veneration of images and the assumption of Mary. If somebody believes that there will always be a church that maintains such core doctrines, and that the church is infallible in the sense that it will always maintain those doctrines (otherwise it wouldnt be the church), then such a concept of church infallibility isnt equivalent to what a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox wants us to accept. Here Jason is talking about the concept of indefectibility, which I have written about many times as well. See the section, The Indefectibility of the Church on my Church web page, and Papal Infallibility, Supremacy, and Indefectibility on my Papacy web page. Many Protestant denominations have obviously defected from passed-down Christian orthodoxy (hence, they have defected), since they have adopted theological liberalism and rejected many traditional Catholic doctrines and moral teachings. For example, virtually every Protestant denomination accepts contraception, whereas none did so before 1930, and Luther and Calvin both thought it was murder. Most have endorsed divorce. All of the mainline denominations have endorsed legal abortion, and are now rapidly normalizing homosexual acts and so-called marriages. And that is just the moral issues. When we get to doctrine, many traditional Protestant doctrines (and many held in common with Catholics) have been rejected as well. But Catholicism is what it has always been, and whatever has developed, has maintained the same essence from the beginning (development of doctrine is not evolution). We have to allow for the possibility that an early source, such as a church father, was mistaken or even inconsistent in his reasoning on the subject. For example, the patristic scholar J.N.D. Kelly noted that Augustine had a concept of a visible church and a concept of an invisible church, and Kelly concluded that Augustine was inconsistent in defining the two and never fully reconciled the two concepts (Early Christian Doctrines [New York: Continuum, 2003], pp. 416-417). . . . As J.N.D. Kelly notes (Early Christian Doctrines [New York: Continuum, 2003], p. 412), Augustines dispute with the Donatists over their appeal to Cyprian represents three different ecclesiologies. Not only did Augustine and the Donatists define the church differently, but so did Cyprian. He partially agreed and partially disagreed with both sides of the dispute, which is why both Augustine and the Donatists appealed to him. Catholics do not believe in patristic infallibility. Individual Church fathers could be and were in fact wrong on any number of topics, as later determined by orthodoxy, as defined by the Catholic magisterium. When they reach a consensus on an issue, their words are highly authoritative and relevant. The Catholic Church decides which doctrines era true or false, through its ecumenical councils and popes. But given denominationalism, Protestants disagree on hundreds of issues and have no way to resolve these conflicts. As for St. Augustine and the visible / invisible Church, its a complex discussion (not given to brief summary), but nothing that Kelly describes about him in this regard contradicts Catholic teaching (or, I would argue, is even internal consistency in Augustine). We, too, believe in an elect group of those who will be saved in the end (see mentions of that in the Catechism). In the final analysis, its clear that Augustine thoroughly disagrees with Protestant ecclesiology. Kelly himself referred to Augustines solution which was that this invisible fellowship of love is only to be found in the historical Catholic Church (p. 416 in my HarperSanFrancisco 1978 edition). Kelly also wrote the following about Augustines ecclesiology and rule of faith (I provide Kellys full view of Augustines view of Church authority, whereas Jason alludes to one snippet with no direct citations): According to him, the Church is the realm of Christ, His mystical body and His bride, the mother of Christians [Ep 34:3; Serm 22:9]. There is no salvation apart from it; . . . It goes without saying that Augustine identifies the Church with the universal Catholic Church of his day, with its hierarchy and sacraments, and with its centre at Rome . . . (Kelly, 412-413) The three letters [Epistles 175-177] relating to Pelagianism which the African church sent to Innocent I in 416, and of which Augustine was the draughtsman, suggested that he attributed to the Pope a pastoral and teaching authority extending over the whole Church, and found a basis for it in Scripture. (Ibid., 419) According to Augustine [De doct. christ. 3,2], its [Scriptures] doubtful or ambiguous passages need to be cleared up by the rule of faith; it was, moreover, the authority of the Church alone which in his eyes [C. ep. Manich. 6: cf. De doct. christ. 2,12; c. Faust Manich, 22, 79] guaranteed its veracity. (Ibid., 47) For Augustine the authority of plenary councils was most healthy, [Ep. 54, 1] (Ibid., 48) Protestant Church historian Philip Schaff adds that Augustine: adopted Cyprians doctrine of the church, and completed it in the conflict with Donatism by transferring the predicates of unity, holiness, universality, exclusiveness and maternity, directly to the actual church of the time, which, with a firm episcopal organization, an unbroken succession, and the Apostles Creed, triumphantly withstood the eighty or the hundred opposing sects in the heretical catalogue of the day, and had its visible centre in Rome. (History of the Christian Church, vol. 3, Chapter X, section 180, The Influence of Augustine upon Posterity and his Relation to Catholicism and Protestantism, 1019-1020) As I noted earlier with regard to Irenaeus, its understandable why he would have thought highly of the Roman church and other churches in his day. The churches had been largely faithful to apostolic teaching to that point in time, and they had been especially faithful on the core doctrines Irenaeus was emphasizing in his disputes with the Gnostics and other heretics. But, as I documented, people writing shortly after Irenaeus (Tertullian, Hippolytus, etc.) began noting some significant problems with some of the churches Irenaeus had referred to, including the Roman church in particular, even on matters they considered foundational to Christianity. If somebody is anticipating the churchs future status partly or entirely on the basis of its past status, but we know from later church history that its status significantly changed over time, then we have to take that later history into account. If somebody like Irenaeus hasnt experienced the Arian lapse, the rise of the veneration of images, or some other widespread contradiction of his theology that would occur in future generations, then his judgment might be distorted by what he had experienced. Maybe his judgment wasnt distorted, and maybe he was allowing for the possibility of such widespread errors in the future (or would accept those later beliefs as corrections of his own beliefs), but we have to consider the possibility that he made a misjudgment based on his own experience. We cant just assume, without evidence, that every church father who commented on a subject related to church authority or infallibility agreed on the subject and was passing down what had always been believed. We have to allow for the possibility of diversity of belief and the possibility that other factors influenced what these sources believed, as historians do when considering the history of other ideas as well. Just as we today can reach some false conclusions based on personal experience, the popular ideas of the culture of our age, or some other factor, so could the church fathers and other people who lived in earlier times. Here, Jason plays his notorious, habitual death by a thousand qualifications / cuts and what I have called the coulda woulda shoulda card. In a nutshell, or bottom line, he argues that St. Irenaeus did not hold to a position of Catholic indefectibility, or else that if he did, we cant know for sure, or know that he wouldnt have changed his mind (because he lived prior to the Arian crisis, etc.). Its Jasons way of rationalizing when a Church father clearly differs with his Protestant ecclesiology. He starts questioning him up and down and being hyper-skeptical. Well, in my Chapter One of my book, Catholic Church Fathers: Patristic and Scholarly Proofs(Nov. 2007 / rev. Aug. 2013), entitled The Bible, the Church, Tradition, and Apostolic Succession, I devote 21 pages to St. Irenaeus views in this respect. J. N. D. Kelly described St. Irenaeus view: Indeed, the Churchs bishops are on his view Spirit-endowed men who have been vouchsafed an infallible charism of truth (charisma veritatis certum [Ib. 4, 26, 2; cf. 4, 26, 5] ) (p. 37) This is literally a statement of infallibility and indefectibility (both quite contrary to the Protestant rule of faith, sola Scriptura). Lets look up the exact citations: Wherefore it is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in the Church those who, as I have shown, possess the succession from the apostles; those who, together with the succession of the episcopate, have received the certain gift of truth [charisma veritatis certum], according to the good pleasure of the Father. But [it is also incumbent] to hold in suspicion others who depart from the primitive succession, and assemble themselves together in any place whatsoever, [looking upon them] either as heretics of perverse minds, or as schismatics puffed up and self-pleasing, or again as hypocrites, acting thus for the sake of lucre and vainglory. For all these have fallen from the truth. (IV, 26, 2; my bolding and italics) Such presbyters does the Church nourish, of whom also the prophet says: I will give your rulers in peace, and your bishops in righteousness. Isaiah 60:17 Of whom also did the Lord declare, Who then shall be a faithful steward (actor), good and wise, whom the Lord sets over His household, to give them their meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He comes, shall find so doing. Matthew 24:45-46 Paul then, teaching us where one may find such, says, God has placed in the Church, first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers. 1 Corinthians 12:28 Where, therefore, the gifts of the Lord have been placed, there it behooves us to learn the truth, [namely,] from those who possess that succession of the Church which is from the apostles, and among whom exists that which is sound and blameless in conduct, as well as that which is unadulterated and incorrupt in speech. For these also preserve this faith of ours in one God who created all things; and they increase that love [which we have] for the Son of God, who accomplished such marvellous dispensations for our sake: and they expound the Scriptures to us without danger, neither blaspheming God, nor dishonouring the patriarchs, nor despising the prophets.(IV, 26, 5; my bolding and italics) We know that different patristic sources defined the church in significantly different ways, as Ive documented in some of my earlier responses to Dave. The papacy, a foundational ecclesiological issue that separates Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy and other groups to this day, is an example. Robert Lee Williams writes: Irenaeus, in attacking Gnostic claims to spiritual, but not episcopal, authority, assumed the orthodoxy of bishops in Rome (Haer. 3.3.3). In the Refutation (9.12.15), however, the author [often thought to be Hippolytus] was confronted with [the Roman bishop] Callistuss claim to episcopal authority without doctrinal orthodoxy. Appraising this situation, he declares that Callistus only supposed that he had episcopal authority. In fact, he was an imposter and knave with his strange opinions. The decade preceding the writing of the Chronicle [of Julius Africanus] found presbyter-bishops in significant debate over acceptable beliefs for both faith and life.' (Bishop Lists [Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2005], p. 175) Anglican scholar Leighton Pullan (1865-1940) wrote about the conflict between Pope St. Callistus I and St. Hippolytus: When Pope Callistus, A.D. 218, offered to grant absolution to those who repented of adultery or fornication, he was bitterly criticised by Hippolytus and Tertulian. The Montanists, in particular, regarded absolution for such sins as a shameless condescension to human weakness. Callistus and his supporters appealed with great fitness to the action of St. Paul at Corinth, to Christs forgiveness of the adulteress, and to the parable of the prodigal son. Callistus had no intention of condoning sin, or even of granting absolution twice to the Christian who had fallen into such gross sins. (Early Christian Doctrine, New York: Edwin S. Gorham / Church Missions House, 3rd edition, 1905, p. 81) Hippolytus was simply wrong, and Pope Callistus was right. Hippolytus, Tertullian, and others had fallen into the error of legalistic rigorism, which was contrary to the biblical teaching on related mercy and forgiveness and absolution, as Pullan rightly points out. As I noted above, individual Church fathers can be wrong about many things. The current task is to determine what the correct teaching according to biblical guidelines ought to be, which would apply both to patristic times and our own era (being timeless moral issues). People can always be found, who disagree with it. Forgiveness of a repentant sinner is, I submit, a no-brainer, and something where most Protestants and Catholics can and ought to agree. Church infallibility is considered an issue of major importance to Protestants because groups like Catholicism and Orthodoxy are so different than Protestantism. If a Protestant were to accept the infallibility claims of Catholicism, for example, then he would have to make many changes in faith and practice. Exactly! Thats why many refuse to even study Catholicism due to this fear that it may be right, which would require changes in their beliefs and practices. This was one of my own biggest objections to Catholicism. I thought the claim was patently absurd. Its much easier to simply follow the truth where one believes that it leads (we converts to Catholicism did that, in good conscience), and to not live in fear and avoidance. As I contended above, Church infallibility is a biblical teaching, before we even get to the Church fathers and the legitimate task of determining where the one true Church resides. Any denomination that spurns infallibility is already highly suspect on biblical grounds. But what if we were to conclude that theres an infallible church like the church referred to by Irenaeus and Tertullian, for instance? Then the only feasible choices are Catholicism and Orthodoxy: not any form of Protestantism. What if the church is to always be correct on core doctrines like monotheism and the resurrection, but can err on other matters? Thats one of the games that Protestantism plays: this notion of primary and secondary doctrines, which is also unbiblical. See: 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. The Volta River Authority (VRA), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), has offered support to communities affected by the ongoing spilling of water from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams through the presentation of relief items. In keeping with the VRAs commitment to alleviate the plight of communities, whilst monitoring the spill situation that has affected some communities in the lower Volta Basin, the Authority decided to provide essential relief items. The items are to help mitigate the difficulties being faced by the communities that have been impacted adversely as a result of the intensified spill rate. The presentation of the relief items took place on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at a ceremony that was attended by the Municipal/District Chief Executives of the Central Tongu, North Tongu, Keta and Anlo Districts at Adidome in the Volta Region. The items, which included mattresses, blankets, various food items, clothes and toiletries, were presented by Ing. Ken Arthur, the Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Services of the VRA. The Director General of NADMO, Mr. Eric Nana Agyemang Prempeh, received the items on behalf of the affected communities. The VRA commenced the controlled spillage on September 15, 2023, due to a consistent rise in the inflow pattern and water level of the Akosombo reservoir. In line with its emergency preparedness plan and standard operating procedures, the authority notified its stakeholders, including the downstream communities. The Authority wishes to reiterate that it will continue to work with NADMO and other stakeholders to monitor the situation and provide regular updates to the general public accordingly. Source: Peacefmonline 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 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner at the Afro-Expo event held in Houston, Texas on September 13 and 14, 2023 lauded Caveman Watches, a leading watch manufacturing brand in Africa based in Ghana, for their exceptional craftsmanship and bespoke designs. The event, aimed at fostering collaboration and partnerships between African and US businesses, provided a platform to promote economic growth relationships and share expertise. Mayor Turner delivered a compelling keynote address underlining the significance of fostering economic growth and forging stronger ties between Africa and the USA. Following the event, the Mayor expressed his appreciation for Caveman Watches in a video, showcasing a specially designed watch tailored for him. The Mayor's endorsement underscored the remarkable quality of the watch, garnering admiration wherever he wore it and highlighting the brand's excellence in the world of horology. This followed after the Ghanaian Brand had gathered so much international demand and took steps to penetrate the USA market. This endorsement from the Houston Mayor has already catapulted Caveman as a major player in the global luxury watch industry and we should be looking out for more to come. About Caveman Watches Caveman Watches has garnered international acclaim as the first Ghanaian-made watch brand to be featured in the esteemed New York Times. Helmed by multi-award-winning entrepreneur Anthony Mensah Dzamefe, stands proudly as Africa's foremost emerging luxury brand. It has earned the endorsement of influential figures and celebrities across the continent and around the world. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video It appears the legal tussle between the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and former Minister for Sanitation, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, will take longer than expected. This is because the OSP has petitioned the Chief Justice, Gertrude Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo to ask the presiding Judge, Edward Twum to recuse himself from the case. The OSP had seized a substantial sums of monies from Cecilia Dapaah's residence during a search operation related to a case involving the alleged stealing of millions of Ghanaian cedis and valuable items by seven individuals, including her former househelp. During court's session on Thursday October 12, 2023, Justice Edward Twum disclosed the petition, stating, "I have received a letter that the OSP has written to the Chief Justice, asking that I recuse myself from the case. We should take a date to await the decision of the Chief Justice on the petition." In response, Cecilia Dapaah's lawyer, Victoria Barth, expressed dissatisfaction with the delay, arguing that the OSP should have provided prior notice of such a significant move. She raised concerns about the timing and the potential motives behind the petition, noting that it appeared to be an attempt to hinder the morning's hearing. It is regrettable that this petition should come so late in the day when no prior indication or complaint has been made regarding your lordship capacity, competence, or integrity in dealing with this matter. "We see it without prejudice to the merit of this petition as a deliberate ploy to frustrate this mornings hearing and a desperate attempt to avoid his own ill-fitted application. Nevertheless, the inevitable cannot be avoided, and there shall be a day of reckoning," Victoria Barth stated in court. Furthermore, the court was unable to address another case in which the OSP had charged Cecilia Dapaah for refusing to comply with a directive to declare her assets and money. Justice Edward Twum has rescheduled the proceedings to October 18, 2023, with the hope that the Chief Justice will have made a decision on the OSP's petition by that date. Source: Philipa Atanga/Court Reporter/Despite Media 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 Russian Air Force Long Range Aviation (LRA) aircraft have not carried out strikes on Ukraine since September 21, 2023, for 21 days, it is likely that the LRA has almost exhausted its reserves of combat-ready AS-23 (X-101) missile ammunition after winter campaign, according to a report by the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published on the social network X (formerly Twitter). "This time, it is likely that Russian LRA are preserving existing stocks of AS-23 missiles as well as using this pause to increase useable stocks in anticipation of further heavy strikes against Ukraine over the winter," the report notes. It is noted that recently, Russia has focused its airstrikes against grain-related facilities across the south of Ukraine, using Shahed one-way-attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAVs.) This included strikes against Ukrainian Danube River ports, which likely required a high level of accuracy due to the target's proximity to the Romanian border. "It is likely that Russia used Shahed OWA UAVs on these targets because of their better accuracy over other types of air-launched missiles," the report notes. The High Court in Accra will on December 4, 2023 decide whether or not En Huang, also known as Aisha Huang is guilty of illegal mining charges against her. Justice Mrs Lydia Osei-Marfo set the date after both the prosecution and the defence counsel notified the court about exchanging their final legal arguments (addresses). Not guilty Aisha Huang, has been accused of being in the thick of affairs of illegal mining (galamsey), especially in the Ashanti Region. She was deported from Ghana in 2018, after the Attorney-General decided to discontinue her trial in which she was accused of engaging in small-scale mining without licence. However, she was said to have sneaked back into Ghana to allegedly engage in the same activities for which she was deported. The A-G, Godfred Yeboah Dame, then decided to prosecute her for the alleged crimes before her deportation and new ones committed since her re-entry into Ghana. It is the case of the prosecution that Aisha had an illegal mining concession at Bepotenten in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region and also operated a mining support services company. Source: graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has warned of serious consequences if the Electoral Commission does not up its game ahead of the 2024 General Elections. According to the founding Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), there is the need to also rethink processes and structure of the EC in order to make it more politically neutral and operationally effective. The poor performance of the EC is a serious challenge to Ghanas democracy ahead of the 2024 general elections, that we have to think about seriously, he submitted at a press conference dubbed The State of Ghana on October 11. The presser held alongside Brigadier (rtd) Nunoo Mensah addressed a myriad of issues in the country relative to politics, activism, the economy and security. The duo gave four recommendations to help improve the ECs performance in the short to long-term. They were: 1. EC should be made more independent with the amending of the Constitution to allow EC members be appointed by independent body 2. EC should be more accountable by publishing its activities and finances 3. EC must establish more effective system of handling complaints and grievances 4. EC should conduct regular audits to identify and address weaknesses The EC recently engaged in a heated back and forth with the main opposition during the limited voter registration exercise across the country. Whiles the parties wanted more decentralization of the process, the EC stuck with its plans of using district offices with the promise to decentralize further next year. 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 Charles Owusu, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has disclosed a divine ordainment about Ghanas presidential politics. According to Owusu, a member of the Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah's Glorious Word Miracle Church International, Kennedy Agyapong, an NPP flagbearer hopeful will emerge as the next president of Ghana after the 2024 elections. Appearing on the October 11 edition of The Seat show on Net2 TV, he described Agyapong as the next president in waiting. He is the one God has prepared, he has been ordained already by God, when God calls you and prepares you spiritually, it will manifest at all costs in the physical. He stressed that Agyapong had suddenly been catapulted into the presidential limelight from a position of zero ambition only months back. Because he is of God, he has changed how politics is in Ghana, especially within the NPP and that is a perfect sign that it is of God and so far as that is the case, it will surely manifest. Agyapong will contest for the flagbearership slot of the NPP along with three other contenders including Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and Francis Addai-Nimoh. The NPP has slated November 4, 2023, to elect a successor to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as leader of the party. 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 There were nearly 700,000 cases of check fraud reported to the federal government in 2022. Thats up from 350,000 in 2021, according to the U.S. Treasurys Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. While many of these cases involve checks that are stolen in the mail, regular, plain old forgery isnt a lost practice. Its surprising that check fraud is on the rise despite the prevalence of digital payments. But whats even more astounding is that a customer could tell his bank about a fraudulent check, shut down the compromised account at that bank, get a police report and see the alleged perpetrator indicted on more than half a dozen charges including fraud, theft by deception and forgery, yet the bank wont return the money. It happened to Barbara Grahams partner of 28 years. Grahams partner, 72, has cognitive impairment, so NJ Advance Media has agreed not to reveal his name. He doesnt drive, and he needs reminders to eat and to take his medication, Grahams daughter Christen Graham said, calling him otherwise healthy and jovial. In July 2022, Barbara, 78, went to visit her daughter, who lives in Maine. They arranged for a family friend to care for Barbaras partner at their Hillsborough home. During the trip, the stand-in caretaker sent selfies of them having a good time together, eating out and going to get haircuts, Christen Graham said. After Mom returned home, while balancing the checkbook during the first week of August, we found that this caretaker wrote himself a check for $8,400 from (her partners) checkbook, plus used his credit card to buy sunglasses and other items at the mall, Christen Graham said. We couldnt believe it. We were all shocked and betrayed and upset. Barbara Graham (center) says her long-time partner was the victim of check fraud. She poses in a 2022 photo with her daughters Susan Graham-Rent (left) and Christen Graham (right), during a trip to Maine when she said a family friend forged a check. (Courtesy Christen Graham) Worried because the caretaker had access to the household computer, the family went online and changed passwords. They called their bank and retirement accounts, credit cards and more. There were no other wrongful charges, but they closed accounts and opened new ones, just in case. And they filed a police report. In January 2023, the caregiver, who is not being named by NJ Advance Media at the victims familys request, was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of fraud, theft by deception, forgery and credit card theft, among other charges, the Somerset County Prosecutors Office said. As part of the victim impact statement submitted by the family, they said they were still in shock and they felt betrayed. But they did not ask for restitution. My family had to spend many hours changing bank account numbers, investment numbers, passwords, it said. The defendant should be made accountable for his actions, I do not expect him to pay me back what he took. We do not want his wife and children to suffer the consequences of his actions. In June, the caretaker entered into a Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) program, which means the charges will be dismissed in 23 months as long as he follows the conditions of the agreement, according to a letter from the prosecutors office to the family. Basically, the caretaker will be off the hook as long as he doesnt break the law and remains on good behavior. The family was about to write off the bad experience, but then they received a message from the prosecutors office that made them believe Wells Fargo had recovered the money from the caretaker. When they called back, the prosecutors office said any money dispute was between the family and the bank, Graham said. So the family asked Wells Fargo about the money. It wasnt clear to the family whether the bank had recovered the funds they couldnt get a clear answer, they said but the bank denied the fraud claim. They say thats because he failed to file the right paperwork and the window to make a claim is now closed, Graham said. She said she made several calls to Wells Fargo in September, and each time, the representative promised shed get a call back from an investigator, but she said she never got a call. They asked Bamboozled for help. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS While we asked Wells Fargo to review the case, we reviewed the law. You generally have 30 days from the date on your bank statement to report fraud, including an unauthorized signature on a check, to your bank, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a federal agency that regulates national banks. It said generally, the bank will ask you to complete an affidavit stating that you did not authorize the check and ask you to file a police report. Banks are generally required to reimburse customers for forged checks, it said. Generally, a bank is liable for accepting a check that has been forged, altered, or improperly endorsed. The bank may not be liable if the customers failure to exercise ordinary care substantially contributed to an alteration or forgery, it said. If your actionsthe way the check or checkbook was handled, issued, completed, or made payablecontributed to the making of the forgery, you may be at least partially liable, it said. However, even if you were negligent, the bank may still be required to reimburse you if you can show that the bank failed to exercise ordinary care in handling the check. Wells Fargo, though, is still denying the claim because of the timing. Spokeswoman Elise Corbett first clarified that the bank never recovered any money related to the forged check. We inform all our customers that they must initiate and authorize a timely claim for any fraudulent transactions on their account, she said. When the customers family contacted us about the fraud incident in August 2022, the bank placed a hold on the account, and informed the customer to file a claim disputing any transactions at that time. A year later, in August 2023, a claim was filed, outside the established timeframe for filing a fraud claim, she said, noting that the bank was never involved in any law enforcement or legal actions about the incident. Indeed, the official fraud claim was not officially filed within the established timeframe. But the same month the family discovered the forgery, they told Wells Fargo about the incident, they spent time physically in the bank to close the account and reopen a new one, they gave a copy of the police report to the bank and they let the bank know about the criminal case, the family said. We asked Wells, given the specific circumstances in this case, if it would make an exception. No, the bank said, essentially because the customer didnt follow the rules. That response is from a bank thats faced a litany of investigations and billions of dollars in government fines, many of which have to do with betraying consumer trust, including the opening of millions of unauthorized accounts, charging unwarranted junk fees and illegal overdraft fees, wrongly handling auto loan and mortgage payments, and more. The family said its filing complaints with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Its just so hurtful and shameful that somebody who is knowingly cognitively impaired can be exploited by an institution like this, Graham said. There was so much complexity to the reporting process that it took four family members to try to decipher what to do next. I really think Wells Fargo took advantage of that. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KPMueller. An armored Brinks truck driver was shot on Thursday afternoon during a robbery outside of a Philadephia Bank of America, according to reports. The incident occurred in the driveway of the bank branch, located along the 1900 block of South Christopher Columbus Boulevard, at around 2:30 p.m. It was previously reported by police that the driver was shot once in the head, but that was later clarified that the 24-year-old victim was actually shot in the chest. The incident occurred when the Brinks truck driver pulled up to make a delivery to the banks ATM. When the driver got out of the car, a gold-colored sedan backed up in front of the truck, blocking the driver from leaving, Philly Voice said. Out hopped two suspects from the sedan, armed with at least one gun between them. From there, a struggle with the driver ensued, and shots were fired at the driver that struck him in the chest. During the struggle, the suspects gun fell apart so they took the truck drivers gun. They also were able to steal a bag of an undisclosed amount of money and got away, 6ABC reported. The truck driver was wearing a ballistic vest, but the bullet missed the vest, and he was shot in a part of his chest just to the side of the vest. The driver was transported to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and is in critical condition, Philly Voice reported. Right now, authorities believe there was a third suspect who was driving the sedan, which was last spotted on Snyder Avenue, the outlet said. So far, no arrests have been made. Pennsylvania authorities are accusing an Ohio man of keeping two women and a teenage girl in an Allegheny County motel for several months and forcing them to work as prostitutes. Donte LaShawen Cole, 38, of Euclid, Ohio, has been charged with eight counts of human trafficking, six counts of involuntary servitude, two counts each of operating a corrupt organization and dealing in the proceeds of illegal activity and a count of criminal use of a communications facility, according to TribLive. The case began back in May when agents with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and Homeland Security Investigations started surveilling a room at the Rodeway Inn and Suites in Monroeville, WTAE said. When the agents knocked on the door, they spoke with a 20-year-old woman, a 21-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl who all said they worked as prostitutes for Cole. The two women told authorities that they had been recruited by the teen and that they were expected by Cole to earn $600-$700 a day. The women would send Cole nude images of themselves, which he would then use to make advertisements on websites that were placed in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, and elsewhere, Triblive said. One of the women also told police that Cole said that if they tried to leave, there will be consequences. On Oct. 5, authorities tracked the teenage girl to a hotel outside of Cleveland. After identifying Cole as a suspect, she was eventually taken to a hospital and reunited with her father, WTAE said. A male was found dead inside a vehicle on Interstate 95 in Delaware County on Oct. 7, according to Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers. Troopers responded to I-95 near mile marker 1.6 in Upper Chichester Township at 1:22 a.m. after receiving reports of a shooting on the highway. The victim and a passenger in the car suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers. The report did not provide an update on the passengers condition. Anyone who witnessed the shooting is asked to call state police at 484-840-1000 or Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS. READ MORE: Best fall foliage in Pa. can be found in these counties this week: state report James Franklin on Hunter Nourzads impact at Penn State: Hes been awesome WILLIAMSPORT The states top prescriber of opioids in 2015 and 2016 has lost another appeal of his conviction and 15-year prison sentence. The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the petition of Dr. Raymond J. Kraynak that sought a rehearing by the panel that in July upheld his conviction or a hearing by the full court. This is the third time the Mount Carmel resident dubbed the pill mill doctor has lost a bid to withdraw the guilty plea he entered in 2021 in U.S. Middle District Court. By Tim Balk, New York Daily News (TNS) NEW YORK New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, facing growing criticism from homeless advocates, suggested Thursday that a suspension of New York Citys right to shelter could help curtail waves of migrants streaming into the city, expanding on her administrations case for the controversial step. Hochul, a moderate Democrat, said the citys unique right-to-shelter rule which has guaranteed beds for arrivals in the city should not be seen as an open invitation to 8 billion people who live on this planet. That is not sustainable, the governor said at a Midtown news conference focused on her efforts to increase mental health resources for the homeless. Hochul, who highlighted a $1 billion investment in the state budget for mental health services, asserted that she has done more to help the homeless than any governor has done in the history of the state. Do not read into my comments that were throwing out the right to shelter, added Hochul. She has walked a tightrope on the rule voicing support for the concept, but not across the state, and not in the city during the migrant crisis. The governors remarks came one day after the state filed a two-page letter in Manhattan Supreme Court supporting Mayor Eric Adams efforts to pause the citys right-to-shelter mandate. As the governor addressed reporters on Thursday, religious leaders gathered less than a mile away at St. Bartholomews Church and called on Hochul and Adams to reverse course. Everyone deserves a warm, safe place to rest their head, declared Rev. Adriene Thorne of the Riverside Church. The right to shelter law is not just a legal requirement. Its a reflection of the values of compassion and dignity that our great city and faith traditions hold dear. One day earlier, dozens of advocates held a rally outside Hochuls office, chanting and holding signs as they pushed for the preservation of the right to shelter. Assemblywoman Marcela Mitaynes, a Democrat who attended Hochuls Thursday news conference and the Wednesday rally, rejected the notion that weakening right-to-shelter protections would dissuade migrants from coming to the city. Immigrants have always been an integral part of what makes New York City special, and I dont think thats going to change, Mitaynes, who immigrated to the U.S. from Peru as a child, said in an interview. Since spring 2022, more than 122,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the city, and about half remain in the over-stretched shelter system, according to government tallies. Many of the migrants fled political and economic upheaval in Central and South America. The population of the city shelter system doubled in a single year. The states Wednesday filing did not explicitly make the argument that pausing the right to shelter would reduce the flow of migrants. But it said the mandate has placed unforeseen operational constraints on the city as it works to manage this challenge. The Legal Aid Society, which is fighting in court to preserve the right to shelter, said in its own filing Wednesday that the citys push is radical and extraordinary. Legal Aid predicted a right-to-shelter suspension would endanger the homeless and create sprawling encampments. In 1981, the city and state signed a landmark consent decree requiring the city to provide shelter to the homeless, after a Manhattan Supreme Court justice found a right to shelter in the state Constitution. The city returned to court in May and asked for the right-to-shelter pause. Last week, the city submitted a filing offering new details on its request, seeking to exclude a broad spectrum of single adults from the mandates protections. Dave Giffen, who directs the Coalition for the Homeless, a court-appointed monitor over right to shelter, said by phone that the state has failed to offer sufficient support to the city during the crisis. He urged the governor to provide more resources to the city, and to force resistant upstate communities to welcome migrants. Hearing her crow about all shes done to solve homelessness is not sitting well, he said. 2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. More: Biden administration action allows work on border wall to resume in South Texas Chicago keeping hundreds of migrants at airports while waiting on shelters, tents The much-hyped and rare ring-of-fire solar eclipse will be visible on Saturday, Oct. 14, to millions of people in the United States. Pennsylvania residents could have seen a crescent-shaped partial eclipse but it looks like the weather will cast a cloud over that possibility. The National Weather Service in State College says there is a 100% chance of rain on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. The weather service is calling for a high temperature of around 50 degrees and said we could receive up to 1 inch of rain. That 100% probability of rain extends into the evening on Saturday. While people in Pa. were never going to be able to see the full eclipse, we could have at least seen a partial eclipse - weather permitting. The weather is not expected to permit. The ring-of-fire solar eclipse, called an annular eclipse, is caused when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. The moon does not totally block out the sun so viewers see just a skinny ring of the sun around the moon - creating the ring of fire effect. People in eight states from Oregon to Texas will be able to see the full eclipse. In Pennsylvania, we could have seen just a partial eclipse. The eclipse will start just after 9 a.m. in Oregon in the Pacific Time Zone, which is just after noon here. It will be over by 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. According to the Associated Press, From Oregon, the eclipse will head downward across Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas, encompassing slivers of Idaho, California, Arizona and Colorado, before exiting into the Gulf of Mexico at Corpus Christi. It will take less than an hour for the flaming halo to traverse the U.S. From there, the ring of fire will cross Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and, finally, Brazil before its grand finale over the Atlantic. If you already purchased eclipse glasses, hang on to them. (They were on sale on Amazon for Prime Day this week and may still be available). A total solar eclipse is coming on April 8, 2024. It will hit parts of 13 U.S. states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Cities in its path include Dallas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Indianapolis; Cleveland and Buffalo, New York. A solar eclipse should never be looked at directly without proper protection. You can watch the Oct. 14 event online. If you want to watch from home, NASA will host live coverage beginning at 11:30 a.m. on NASA Television, the agencys website, and the NASA app. NASA also will stream the broadcast live on its Facebook, X, and YouTube social media accounts. NASAs coverage will be hosted from broadcast locations along the path of annularity in Kerrville, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. NASAs coverage will include live views of the eclipse from multiple locations, interviews with scientists and other experts, as well as a live Q&A segment. Anyone can submit questions by using #askNASA. The eclipse broadcast also will feature live views of sounding rockets launching from White Sands, New Mexico, carrying scientific instruments to study the eclipses effects on the atmosphere, NASA said. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ukrainian Navy attacked the Buyan cruise missile carrier and the ship Pavel Derzhavin with naval drones with experimental weapons, a source in the SBU told Interfax-Ukraine. "Today's attack on the Buyan missile carrier and the day before yesterday's explosion of the Derzhavin were the work of the Security Service together with the Ukrainian Navy," the agency's interlocutor said, adding that both vessels were hit by Sea Maliuk (baby) drones with experimental weapons . "After the first explosion, Russian minesweepers and divers were unable to detect our know-how. Yesterday, the Alrosa submarine was lucky, which so far managed to escape from our developments. The Buyan cruise missile carrier could not repeat the Alrosa's feat, that's why it was hit today in a Sevastopol raid with the experimental weapons of the Sea Maliuk," the source said, referring to one of the organizers of the special operation. The U.S. State Department said its pursuing charter flights to rescue American citizens stuck in Israel during the countrys deadly war with Hamas, which has now claimed thousands of lives. I am glad and relieved that the State Department is heeding our calls to pursue chartered flights for Americans seeking to leave Israel and Gaza, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District, said in a statement. This action will undoubtedly save lives and I urge the department to help ensure all Americans in the region are supported without delay. We must prioritize civilian safety and prevent further loss of Israeli, Palestinian and American lives. Wednesdays announcement from the State Department comes after nearly 150 members of Congress including Pressley and Democratic Massachusetts Reps. James McGovern, Lori Trahan and Jake Auchincloss signed a letter urging the agency to pursue chartered flights for Americans seeking to leave Israel. At this harrowing moment in Israels history, it is more important than ever that every American who is looking to return home has the opportunity to do so, the lawmakers wrote. As the fighting between Israel and and the Islamic terrorist group Hamas entered its sixth day, at least 2,600 people have died on both sides. The war has taken the lives of at least 22 Americans, with 17 being unaccounted for, White House officials said Wednesday. A number of those missing Americans are being held hostage by Hamas, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said. However, he also said that theres a possibility that that number will increase as more information becomes available. Kirby reassured American families affected by the war in Israel that the U.S. is doing, everything we can particularly for those who dont know where a loved one is to find out where they are and to get them home with you where they belong. However, the State Departments efforts to rescue Americans from the deadly war between Israel and Hamas might be harder than expected. Most major U.S. airlines have halted flights in and out of Israel due to the extreme danger of the ongoing war. Although there are still some commercial airlines that are still flying in and out of Israel with safe ground routes, these options may not be feasible or affordable for some Americans, Kirby said. An anonymous former senior State Department official told Politico that since people arent required to tell the State Department about their travel plans, they dont have a proper estimate on how many American citizens are looking to return home. So when people say, Why dont you know where all these people are? Well, they didnt tell us, the official told Politico Wednesday in an interview. Usually in crisis, situations the first action item for the State Department to do is to open up lines of communication with loved ones and in this case the Israeli government, the former official said. Currently, the State Department said that it is in communication with U.S. citizens seeking to return home. The Department is encouraging those Americans to book flights that are available with stops to other countries, before landing in the U.S. In order to meet the high demand for flights, we are also exploring other contract options by air, land, and sea to nearby countries, the Department said. By JOHN LEICESTER, SAMUEL PETREQUIN and JEFFREY SCHAEFFER, Associated Press ARRAS, France (AP) A man of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by the French security services over suspected radicalization stabbed a teacher to death at his former high school and critically wounded two other people in northern France on Friday, authorities said. The attack was being investigated as potential terrorism amid soaring global tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas. It also happened almost three years after another teacher, Samuel Paty. was beheaded by a radicalized Chechen near a Paris area school. French anti-terror prosecutors were leading the investigation into the stabbings at the Gambetta-Carnot school, which enrolls students ages 11-18 and is located in the city of Arras, some 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Paris. A colleague and a fellow teacher identified the dead educator as Dominique Bernard, a French language teacher at the school. President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the school hours after the attack, said the victim stepped in and probably saved many lives. Macron also said that police thwarted an attempted attack in another French region after the teachers fatal stabbing. The president did not provide details, but police said a man armed with a knife was arrested coming out of a prayer hall in the Yvelines region west of Paris. The mans motives werent immediately clear, police said. French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the Gambetta high school in Arras, northeastern France, Friday Oct. 13, 2023. A man of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by the French security services stabbed a teacher to death at his former high school and critically wounded two other people in northern France on Friday, authorities said. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)AP The suspected assailant in Arras was arrested. The National Police force identified him as a Russian national of Chechen origin who was born in 2003. The French intelligence services told The Associated Press the man had been closely watched since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that found no wrongdoing. Sliman Hamzi, a police officer who was one of the first on the scene said the suspected attacker, a former student at the school, shouted Allahu akbar, or God is great in Arabic. Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer, rushed to the school and saw a male victim lying on the ground outside the school and the attacker being taken away. Colleagues arrived quickly but unfortunately couldnt save the victim, Hamzi said. He said the victim had his throat slit. Im extremely shocked by what I saw, the officer said. It was a horrible thing to see this poor man who was killed on the job by a lunatic. Police said two other men, a second teacher and a security guard, were in critical condition. Macron traveled to Arras along with the interior and education ministers. Macron stopped for a moment before the blanket-covered body of the teacher, which was in the parking lot in front of the school. A puddle of blood was visible as forensic experts worked around the body. Macron then went to see students from the school in an adjacent building. School attacks are rare in France, and the government asked authorities to heighten vigilance at all schools across the country. Julie Duhamel, an official with the Unsa teachers union in the Pas-de-Calais region that includes Arras, told Franceinfo that teachers had noted the suspects radicalization a few years ago. The suspected assailants telephone conversations in recent days gave no indication of an impending attack, leading intelligence officers to conclude that the assailant decided suddenly on Friday to act, intelligence services told the AP. The suspects brother was arrested in the summer of 2019 by the DGSI -- Frances counter-terrorism intelligence service -- on suspicion of being involved in planning of attack that was thwarted and is in jail, French intelligence said. Police said another brother was taken into custody for questioning on Friday. Hundreds of police deployed around the school and nearby neighborhoods, including heavily armed units, and barricaded a wide perimeter around the school after the attack. Fridays attack had echoes of Patys slaying on Oct 16, 2020 also a Friday by an 18-year-old who had become radicalized. Like the suspect in Fridays stabbings, the attacker had a Chechen background. Martin Doussau, a philosophy teacher at Gambetta-Carnot, said the assailant was armed with two knives and appeared to be hunting specifically for a history teacher. Paty taught history and geography. I was chased by the attacker, who ... asked me if I teach history. (He said), Are you a history teacher, are you a history teacher? said Doussau, who recounted how he barricaded himself behind a door until police used a stun gun to subdue the attacker. When he turned around and asked me if I am a history teacher, I immediately thought of Samuel Paty, Doussau told reporters. Prosecutors said they were considering charges of terror-related murder and attempted murder against the suspect. The attack came amid heightened tensions around the world over Hamas attack on southern Israel and Israels blistering military response, which have killed hundreds of civilians on both sides. France is estimated to have the worlds third-largest Jewish population after Israel and the U.S., as well as the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since last Saturdays attack by Hamas militants and the Israeli militarys subsequent bombardment and siege of Gaza. Frances National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, held a minute of silence for the victims at the opening of its Friday session. Macron said the school in Arras would reopen as soon as Saturday morning. The choice has been made not to give in to terror, he said. We must not let anything divide us, and we must remember that schools and the transmission of knowledge are at the heart of this fight against ignorance. A Blair County man and former priest is facing more than 30 charges following a months-long child porn investigation, according to reports. Anthony Petracca Jr., 67, was placed on leave by the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown following allegations of misconduct in 2017. Then, cybertips were reported to the Office of the Attorney General during the summer of 2022. During the investigation, agents used search warrants with multiple tech companies, including Google and Verizon, to trace the origin of where the photos were viewed and/or uploaded. Nine of the pictures featured children under the age of 10, WTAJ reported. With his cell phone, Petracca uploaded and/or viewed multiple photos through the Verizon cloud, police said, which was connected to both an email and a number that traced back to his home address. Make no mistake that possession of child pornography is an insidious form of child abuse that exploits and harms the children involved. The defendant is accused of contributing to that exploitation and mistreatment of children, Attorney General Michelle Henry said to WJAC. These are serious charges and we will do everything in our power to protect children and hold those who take advantage of them accountable for their crimes. Petracca hasnt served as a priest or has been in contact with children since 2017. Currently, Petracca faces 31 felony charges of child pornography and a felony charge of criminal use of a communications facility. Housed in Blair County Prison, his bail is set for $25,000 with a preliminary hearing for Oct. 19, both WTAJ and WJAC reported. Want a say in the news? Email Claudia at todayinpa@pennlive.com to have your thoughts on the stories covered here or on PennLive heard during Listening to Listeners, an original Today in Pa. segment that occurs every other Friday. You can listen to the latest episode of Today in Pa at this link, or on any of your favorite apps including Alexa, Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher. Episodes are available every weekday on PennLive. Feel free to subscribe, follow or rate Today in Pa. as you see fit! Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | October 13, 2023 Editors note: Welcome to the world of Paranormal PA, a PennLive series that delves into Pennsylvania-grown stories of spirits (like the ghost of a murdered girl whose cries can be heard in one of Penn States libraries); cryptids (the squonk); oddities and legends (Pennsylvanias very own witch trials); and the unexplained (was this thing that flew over Kecksburg a meteor or a UFO?). Sign up here to get our Paranormal PA newsletter delivered to your inbox. Businesses and consumers alike in Pittsburgh are preparing themselves for the ban on plastic bags thatll go into effect tomorrow. Open enrollment for Medicare is also coming up. One school wants to let its business students invest in real estate projects. Plus, this is one of the U.S.s best spots for Halloween. Those are the stories we cover in the latest episode of Today in Pa., a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Claudia Dimuro. Today in Pa. is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories pertaining to Pennsylvania that lets you know, indeed, whats happening today in Pa. Todays episode refers to the following articles: If you enjoy Today in Pa., consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Amazon. Reviews help others find the show and, besides, wed like to know what you think about the program, too. As sponsored by Renewal by Anderson of Central PA. Penn State Health Childrens Hospital in Hershey holds a Halloween party in the hospitals Tree House Cafe for patients and their families this week. Spirit of Children, the charitable foundation of the Spirit Halloween stores, provided Trick-or-Treat costumes, and crafts, like colored plastic pumpkins and masks, and entertained the children with other crafts and adults in costumes. Spirit of Children has raised more than $921,000 since 2010 for Penn State Health Childrens Hospital. In 2023, Spirit of Children hopes to raise $18 million in support of 159 pediatric hospitals across North America. Donations made to Spirit of Children stay within local communities, with all funds supporting Child Life programs. MILTON - It has been 37 years since Corey James Edkin disappeared from his mothers home in Union County, but the investigation into what happened to the 2-year-old remains active. District Attorney D. Peter Johnson when asked Friday if he thought Edkin was still alive said he could not comment because of the grand jury investigation. State police at Milton said they could not comment on the case, either. Johnson, who is retiring after 28 years as Union Countys chief prosecutor, said not seeing the case solved has been frustrating. The only arrest came last month when Henry Gust Bush, 54, of Mifflinburg, was charged with obstructing the investigation by lying to state police on Nov. 7, 2020. Authorities will not say if the arrest represented a significant break in the case. The arrest came three years after state police issued a news release saying they were confident the case would be solved and those who perpetrated this tragedy would be brought to justice. Since then they would say only that the investigation remains active. Edkin was last seen about 12:10 a.m. Oct. 13, 1986, in the New Columbia home his mother, then Debbie Wise (now Mowery), was sharing with Alberta Sones (now Robinson). Mowery told police her son was asleep in her bed on the second floor when she went to a convenience store in Milton to pick up pizza but he was gone when she returned 30 minutes later. He was wearing gray pajama pants and short-sleeved white pajama shirt with the image of a beaver on the front, his mother claimed. In the home at the time were Mowerys 4-year-old daughter, Reynolds, and her 2-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. Reynolds told police in 1986 she was awake while Mowery was gone and did not hear anything. Investigators previously said they have concluded the toddler neither walked away from the house, nor was he abducted by an unknown individual. The presentment of a statewide grand jury that recommended Bush be charged states there was a birthday party at the house just hours before the toddler disappeared. The following is taken from the presentment: Bush in 1986 admitted staying with Mowery and her children the night before Edkin disappeared and said he washed and waxed her car the next day. Mowery told investigators she drove him home following the birthday party but not that he returned that evening and watched television with Mowery and Reynolds. Discovered Oct. 14, 1986, in a smoldering burn barrel fire in Mowerys back yard were torn childrens shorts, childs pajama bottoms with cuts in the legs and a jersey, all partially burned. Bush, then 18, claimed it was a shirt he had given to Mowery as a rag after getting grease on it while working on her car. He later told the grand jury he had used it to wipe gasoline off a lawnmower he had overfilled. Bush appeared twice before that grand jury and his testimony differed, the presentment states. He acknowledged Mowery, Reynolds and he did not have their stories straight on who was where and at what time the day before Edkin disappeared. Edkins disappearance resulted in a massive manhunt by law enforcement, rescue personnel, search dogs, aircraft and volunteers. Officials went door-to-door in New Columbia and searched the nearby Susquehanna River. Edkin remains in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database. His picture on milk cartons generated hotline tips from across the country. A Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers posting in 2020 said it is believed a family member was involved in the disappearance and there was a $10,000 reward for information that solves the case. In July, Edkins grandmother, Myrle E. Miller, was sentenced in Lewisburg to life in prison after a jury found she had poisoned her husband in 2018 after depleting his life savings. She is appealing the conviction. By Larry Feinberg and Rob Gleason School boards in 466 out of Pennsylvanias 500 school districts have passed board resolutions calling for common-sense reforms to the states 26-year-old charter school law, such as those included in House Bill 1422. Thats several thousand locally elected, volunteer school directors Republicans and Democrats responsible for levying taxes on their neighbors in order to fund public education. In July, the state House of Representatives, in a bipartisan vote which saw 20 GOP members join with Democrats, agreed with those school directors and voted for HB 1422, which makes comprehensive and long overdue reforms to the way cyber charter schools are funded and governed. Most importantly, HB 1422 establishes a statewide tuition rate of $8,000 per non-special education student and a tiered tuition rate for special education students that more accurately reflects the lower cost of providing a virtual education and that provides resources based on a students special education needs. The cyber charter community has come out strong against HB 1422 alleging that the reduction in tuition rates will close schools and eliminate school choice. However, thats simply not true and based on a desperate desire to hang on to the status quo in which cyber charter schools are benefiting by hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in profit. Think thats an exaggeration? In the annual audit for the 2021-22 school year, the states largest cyber charter school reported total revenues of $397.5 million, while only incurring $275 million in expenses, for a profit of $122.5 million. Statewide, the reforms included in HB 1422 could save school districts and taxpayers more than $400 million. Thats serious money to the public school districts that pay those bills and the taxpayers who have taken the brunt of the local property tax increases required to pay them. Like any large, profitable business, the cyber charter community is looking to protect its profits. Since its introduction, HB 1422 has been the subject of numerous attacks that paint the bill in a false light. But what the attacks fail to mention is that the bill contains a number of provisions that will help cyber charters make and save money. Under the bill: Cyber charters will be able to sell their courses and programs to other schools. School districts will be required to transport special education students who choose to attend a cyber charter school. Other public schools will be required to provide space for cyber charter school students to take state tests. Intermediate units will be required to provide services and supports to cyber charter school students who need them. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. This is not a school choice issue. This is simply about the most efficient and effective way to use limited resources to provide public education. When you sit on a school board like we do and you see how much money is going to cyber charter schools, you start to take issue with those ubiquitous (and expensive) ads that say cyber charter schools are free when you know that youre going to have to raise taxes on your friends and neighbors or cut programs and services to kids in your school district to pay those costs. We hope youll join us in supporting HB 1422 and calling on the state Senate to act on the bill and get it to Gov. Shapiros desk. Lawrence Feinberg is the director of the Keystone Center for Charter Change. Robert Gleason was chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party from 2006-2017. He is president of the Westmont Hilltop School Board in Cambria County. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) recognized Russia as a dictatorship and called on all Council of Europe states not to recognize the legitimacy of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the expiration of his current term, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. "I applaud today's strong PACE resolution recognizing Russia as a dictatorship. Over 20 years of unconstitutional one-man rule leads to crimes inside and outside the country. I welcome the call on COE states to recognize Putin as illegitimate after the end of his current term," he said on X. As MP Oleksiy Honcharenko reported from the PACE session hall, the Assembly called on "all countries to execute the arrest warrant for Putin issued by the ICC and arrest him." "They also called on all countries, after his presidential term expires in March next year, to consider him illegitimate and stop all contacts with him," he wrote on the Telegram channel. URCS distributes more than 246,000 food packages to residents of Kherson, Kharkiv regions this year The Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) this year has donated more than 246,000 food packages from the World Food Program to residents of Kherson and Kharkiv regions. For the nine months of 2023, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society donated more than 246,000 food packages from the World Food Program to Kherson and Kharkiv regions, the URCS reported on Facebook. A grocery set weighing more than 13 kg includes food products such as pasta, cereals, sugar, canned food, and edible oil. Distributing food packages to residents of regions being constantly under Russian shelling is one of the important tasks of URCS volunteers. The Ukrainian Red Cross Society and the World Food Program have been implementing a joint project to provide food packages in Kherson region and Chuhuyiv district of Kharkiv region since February 2023. Poker Vlogger 'Rampages' Doug Polk's Stack in Entertaining Heads-Up Match October 12, 2023 Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S. The stakes were relatively low for the competitors, but Doug Polk and Ethan "Rampage" Yau played a heads-up match live-streamed at The Lodge Poker Card Club, with the latter pro dominating the match. On Thursday, the two high-profile poker players battled for nearly six hours at the Texas card room co-owned by Polk for some $10/$20 stakes no-limit hold'em. Early on, the match was competitive and both players traded the chip lead multiple times. But it became a one-sided affair a few hours into the session. Dominating the G.O.A.T. Ethan \"Rampage\" Yau Rampage doesn't have much heads-up experience, but the poker vlogger wanted to test his skills against one of the best heads-up no-limit hold'em players ever. He did more than just compete. Both players showed up with $2,000, but those stacks would drastically increase throughout the session. In the early stages, the popular poker players traded jabs. Polk jammed all in for $690 on the river with queen-high and was snap-called by a straight, forcing the Upswing Poker founder to rebuy. Shortly after, on a board of 376109, Rampage bet out $140 on a bluff with QJ, but his opponent raised to $400 with K8 for a straight. That wasn't the end of the hand, however, as Yau went for a three-bet raise to $2,000. The bluff didn't get through on this occasion, and Polk moved into the lead for the session. But Rampage's aggression would lead to numerous bluffs getting through over the entire match and also getting paid off on his monster hands. And he hit more than his fair share of monsters. Take, for example, a hand in which the poker vlogger caught a set of jacks on the turn to crack Polk's flopped pair of aces. He also picked up pocket kings against ace-king to win a sizable pot, among many other big hands. In one of the biggest pots of the night, with the board showing 38297 and $2,600 in the pot, Rampage moved all in for $3,000 with a set of deuces and was able to extract maximum value when the card room's co-owner called it off with 95. But it wasn't just good fortune that went Yau's way as he also found a number of well-timed bluffs and was able to avoid paying Polk off on most of his monster hands. At the end of the session, Rampage booked a $15,540 profit against the heads-up poker legend. Polk, however, will have an opportunity to get that money back in a much higher stakes ring game at The Lodge on Saturday night (live-streamed on YouTube). Sharelines @rampagepoker crushed @DougPolkVids in a heads-up poker match. After nearly ten hours of play, the second of four starting flights has reached a conclusion for Day 1b of the $1,100 buy-in Eureka Main Event, part of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus at the luxurious Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. Carl Shaw of the United Kingdom ended the night with the chip lead, bagging 703,000 to end the night. He is most closely followed by Eros Calderone of Italy (604,000). Azizjon Rakhimov of Uzbekistan (521,000) and Steve O'Dwyer of Ireland (487,000). Steve O'Dwyer Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Carl Shaw United Kingdom 703,000 117 2 Eros Calderone Italy 604,000 101 3 Azizjon Rakhimov Uzbekistan 521,000 87 4 Steve O'Dwyer Ireland 487,000 81 5 Stanislav Tishkevich Israel 428,000 71 6 Andreas Christoforou Cyprus 365,000 61 7 Jorg Schneegass Germany 338,000 56 8 Ankit Ahuja India 334,000 56 9 Nils Pudel Germany 328,000 55 10 Roman Gadzhiev Russia 289,000 48 Day 1b Action Day 1b of the main event attracted a total field of 366 entrants, 55 of whom bagged a stack for Day 2 and subsequently made the money. There was no shortage of big names playing in today's evening flight, with Ankit Ahuja (334,000) and Jessica Teusl (22,000) being among the notables to advance to Day 2, while notables who fell short of making the money included PokerStars Team Pros Alejandro Lococo, Lasse Jagd Lauritsen and Benjamin Spragg as well as Ren Lin, Leon Sturm, Antoine Labat and Olga Iermolcheva. Benjamin Spragg The action in today's flight was fast-paced from the get-go, with several coolers happening in the early levels. Nihat Karyagdi chipped up early after cracking his opponent's flopped set with a turned flush while Nicolay Langfeldt made a full house to best his opponent's trip-aces. Both players were able to ride the momentum from these early wins to end up bagging chips for Day 2. Nicolay Langfeldt Shaw began emerging as one of the main chip leaders of the day as early as Level 6, and never looked back from there. He sent player after player to the rail and for most of the night it seemed he could do no wrong. Sometimes he would get the money in bad, sometimes he would get it in good, but he almost always came out on top by the river. He began to really pick up steam towards the later stages of the night, including a hand where he rivered a full house against the flopped two-pair of Alex Peffly to further extend his lead over the rest of the field. Aren Bezhanyan had a strong start to the day but ultimately found himself short-stacked near the bubble. He would end up shoving with queen-jack offsuit only for Nemanja Lukovic to call with king-ten offsuit. Bezhanyan failed to improve and would be eliminated on the stone bubble while the 55 remaining players bagged their chips having made the money and advanecd to Day 2. There are still two more flights to play in the Eureka Main Event before the Day 1a and Day 1b survivors return for Day 2 on October 14. Day 1c and 1d will take place on Oct. 13 and will follow similar structures as the previous two flights. Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site here in North Cyprus to provide updates throughout the remaining tournament and the rest of the inaugural EPT Cyprus stop. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Donald Trump is busy trying to stay out of jail, while President Bidens presidential campaign is organizing Wisconsin and Arizona. The Washington Post reported: President Bidens reelection effort will launch a pilot test of its 2024 organizing strategy in Wisconsin and Arizona next month, hiring about two dozen staffers and opening a Milwaukee office with a new focus on digital and in-person outreach that aims to directly leverage the personal relationships of volunteers. . This relational organizing has become a growing part of Democratic campaigns for several cycles, outperforming traditional door-knocking and call sheet lists that volunteers have long used to contact strangers during campaigns. But the scale of what the Biden campaign, in concert with the national party, is planning for next year has not been attempted before. Research has shown that voter contact when it comes from someone who has a personal relationship with the voter is more effective than traditional campaign outreach. Democrats have used personal outreach since at least Obamas 2012 reelection campaign. The difference is that the media and social media landscape has become cluttered with more information and often disinformation, which is why voter contact from a trusted source is so effective. No one has ever tried this tactic on a large scale before, but the fact that the Biden campaign is organizing volunteers in critical swing states while Trump is trying to organize his calendar to squeeze all of his criminal court appearances illustrates how Democrats could have a big advantage in 2024. The 2024 election is likely to be close, and the party that is better organized on the ground is likely to be victorious. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The pro-Trump, conspiracy-laden Epoch Times is now the 4th-most subscribed to newspaper in America according to a new NBC report. It claims the January 6th terrorist attack and climate change are both hoaxes. While most news sites are struggling to keep the doors open, The Epoch Times revenue grew 685% in two years to $122 million. Funded through aggressive online and real-world marketing campaigns and big-money conservative donors, The Epoch Times now boasts to be the countrys fourth-largest newspaper by subscriber count. (Unlike most major newspapers, The Epoch Times isnt audited by the two major independent collectors of circulation data.) The nonprofit has amassed a fortune, growing its revenue by a staggering 685% in two years, to $122 million in 2021, according to the groups most recent tax records, a new report from NBCs Brandy Zadrozny says. The Epoch Times achieved this by riding the wave of Trumps election lies and supporting his 2020 campaign. The Epoch Times directed millions of dollars in advertising toward supporting President Donald Trumps campaign and published dozens of articles parroting his lies about the election resulting in huge growth to its audience and its coffers, according to the report. By 2019, it had gone mostly digital and was spending millions of dollars on creating a network of Facebook pages and groups and running aggressive pro-Trump ad campaigns. This swing to parroting Trumps election lies included refusing to acknowledge who won the election for months, becoming known as a repeat offender of election lies, including the Dominion voting machines lies, which opened the coffers of a conservative Christian organization, libertarians, anti-vaxxers, evangelical Christian organizations and more. After being banned from advertising on Facebook after being busted by an NBC News report for posing as Americans and using fake accounts, they spent millions advertising on YouTube, where they publish tons of videos including the misnamed, Facts Matter. Screengrab of Epoch Times Facts Matter YouTube platform: While they didnt respond to NBCs request for comment, in the past they have denied reports of their conservative mission and penchant for misinformation, though NBC points out, Epoch Times representatives also an deny affiliation with Falun Gong, despite the two groups clear financial and organizational ties: The Epoch Times board members and most staff are Falun Gong practitioners. The nonprofits behind The Epoch Times and Friends of Falun Gong, the movements advocacy organization, share executives and provide grants and services to each other, according to tax filings. And the newspaper, along with a digital production company and the heavily advertised dance troupe Shen Yun, make up a nonprofit network that the leader of the religious movement calls our media.' The Epoch Times has been marching toward this goal since they instituted two changes in 2016, according to a 2020 New York Times piece by Kevin Roose: First, it embraced President Trump Around the same time, The Epoch Times bet big on another powerful American institution: Facebook. The publication and its affiliates employed a novel strategy that involved creating dozens of Facebook pages, filling them with feel-good videos and viral clickbait, and using them to sell subscriptions and drive traffic back to its partisan news coverage. In an April 2017 email to the staff obtained by The New York Times, the papers leadership envisioned that the Facebook strategy could help turn The Epoch Times into the worlds largest and most authoritative media. It could also introduce millions of people to the teachings of Falun Gong, fulfilling the groups mission of saving sentient beings. Saving sentient beings via right-wing lies and propaganda that elevate an authoritarian incited of terrorism seems oddly familiar it echoes the claims of Elon Musk, who also amplifies right wing lies and allowed terrorists to fill Twitter/X with lies during and after the Hamas attack on Israel. Musk likes to claim hes saving humanity by lining his own pockets and his ardent followers eat it up, so conditioned to worship billionaires and anyone who makes money by taking advantage of other people. Heres an all-too familiar kicker: As a nonprofit, The Epoch Times is exempt from most federal taxes. Its mission, according to tax filings, is independent journalism, outside of political interests and the pursuit of profit, for the public benefit and to be truly responsible to society. Yep. Right wing grift and we are funding it, thanks to absurd IRS rules that have long benefited right wing lies passing themselves off as non-profits. While there are plenty of left-wing grifts out there, this game has been going on for a long time on the Right. Theyve perfected it, perhaps because they also attract huge donations from right wing donors. All of the current disinformation thats flooding the zone and destroying global democracy comes to us via unaccountable tech giants aka, social media. Things are so precarious out there for news that Zuckerberg wants to dampen news on Threads and definitely does not want it to be the next Twitter. Twitter and Faceboook, and prior to that Reddit, were all used as organic grassroots organizing places to get real time information, before they were taken over by well funded right-wing propaganda, and in the case of Reddit, downplayed news and decentralized. There is no easy answer to how to handle this issue, but one thing is clear: What were doing right now isnt working. The EU doesnt tolerate disinformation floods. They know exactly where it can lead. But here in the U.S., we are still run by the naive belief that all forms of free speech must be tolerated even when they are destroying democracy and inciting terrorism. We are unable to discuss the very real limits of free speech due to being run by the loudest squeaky wheels, whose juvenile tantrums of unfairness harken back to Junior High Atlas Shrugged types who didnt know what they didnt know and were all the more unbearable for it. Its unfortunate, but we have a Congress that refuses to deal with the problem of social media on both sides of the aisle, because it means taking on tech giants. CW: spoilers and discussions of sexual assault, homophobia, poverty When I think about Euphoria, I think about glittery eye make up and how badly I want to be Zendaya. When I think about Riverdale, I think about Madelaine Petsch's perfect red lipstick and KJ Apa's abs. And though these are "high school dramas," I don't expect them to actually represent the high school experience. And even when they tackle real issues that real teens face, I don't look at them and see real life. Grand Army is different. The first scene sets up exactly what will follow: deftly danced chaos. The camera spins from girls in the locker room singing, girls around the mirror making Instagram videos, and a girl unflinchingly pulling a condom out of a friend in a bathroom stall. Though the show hones its focus, it never loses the artful chaos of that opening scene the shifting focus, the intimately juxtaposed displays of teen carefulness and carelessness all in one place. Grand Army, a new Netflix Original based on Slut: The Play (2013) by Katie Cappiello, follows five teens attending the titular public high school in New York City: Joey (Odessa A'zion), an outspoken feminist who is sexually assaulted in the middle of the series; Dom (Odley Jean), a self-described queen of side-hustles trying to balance the advent of her first relationship with supporting her family; Jay (Maliq Johnson), a talented musician who is impacted by the racism of the school district; Sid (Amir Bageria), a teen struggling with the competing desires of fitting in at school and standing out in his Harvard application essay; and Leila (Amalia Yoo), a freshman struggling with reconciling her Chinese ethnicity and her adopted Jewish parents while trying to fit in. Throughout the nine-episode season, the lives of these teens are constantly shifting across an array of challenges and traumas. Grand Army doesn't shy away from any topic: institutionalized racism, poverty, sexual assault. However, many early reviews called the series bloated, straining under the weight of its admittedly heavy storylines. But here's what they were missing and what Grand Army understands about high school that other shows don't: Life doesn't stop so you can process it. High school is a relentless, unglamorous mixture of both trauma and tenderness, all happening all at once. The characters in Grand Army are never not carrying their emotional burdens, but they're so much more than them, too. What makes Grand Army different from shows like Riverdale, Euphoria, and even 13 Reasons Why is the trust that it gives its audience. Though its protagonists might not see all the nuanced factors at play in their actions, the writers do. As a social issue drama, it doesn't give the characters all the answers or leave them spiraling in the mess of their own bad decision-making. In Grand Army, the world is unfair and hard, but the show trusts its characters to make it out okay. Grand Army Girl - Netflix YouTube.com Real Representation Grand Army starts with a bomb threat then promptly moves on. The act of terrorism serves as a catalyst to unearth the underlying issues of over-policing in public schools, racism, and the urgency of being a teenagerthinking everything has to matter, especially you. Most of the social and personal issues arise as part of life in the city, or unfold as they only could in New York. There's an element of self-destruction inherent in adolescence. Yet, most high school dramas overplay the spirals of poor decision-making and meet them with either shallow or melodramatic consequences (I had to stop watching Riverdale in the episode Archie chooses to go to jail like, what?). Instead, Grand Army finds its footing on a middle path, on which the lives of its characters are impacted by personal and external decisions. Jay, for example, finds his careless act on "Bomb Day" leading to the prolonged suspension of his best friend due to the exaggerated consequences of zero-tolerence policies and systemic racism. His own carefree nature is curbed by the reality of how the system treats Black boys, shifting his priorities in light of a world that doesn't try to understand him. The nuance of the situation is not fully understood by Jay either, but he spends the show trying to unravel and understand it. This is also true of Dom, who wants to be a therapist but cannot afford therapy herself, as she confesses to a group of affluent teens she meets on one of her many "side hustles." Her story is full of roadblocks that she tries to navigate, predictably stumbling and self-destructing. But the focus is always outward. Grand Army is emphatically tackling larger societal problems through the lens of its characters, rather than portraying them as individual, isolated problems. Shows like Euphoria and 13 Reasons Why claim to do the same, but they don't do so broadly enough. All claims that Grand Army isn't nuanced enough are missing the point. Grand Army tackles the scope of teen trauma and how it's relentless and often compounded for vulnerable groups. What's overwhelming about Grand Armywhat makes it representativeis the focus on marginalized identity. This is not about chiseled white boys making things harder on themselves; it's about wrestling with how the world treats women, queer people, immigrants, and Black people, even as young kids teeming with hope and potential. Not a Glamorization of Trauma The most commendable thing about Grand Army is how it doesn't minimize trauma, but it also doesn't glamorize it. Whether it's the dubious morals of Euphoria characters and their toxic but super hot relationships reminiscent of its blueprint, Skins it's a show about teens that comes with a disclaimer for young audiences. While Grand Army isn't fun-for-the-whole-family by any means, it feels as though it's speaking to its demographic, not about them while they're in the same room. While fun to watch, it's too easy to take bad advice from shows like Euphoria or Riverdale, which can be okay but not every show needs to be didactic. In contrast, Grand Army doesn't let its characters off so easily without feeling like a lecture. This is especially hard when portraying the issues of marginalized characters. It is easy for a show to become "trauma p-rn," to reduce its marginalized characters to only their pain. This out is not available here. With all the characters belonging to one or more underrepresented communities, the show has no choice but to make them nuanced and complex. Leila is one of the most complex characters in the show mostly because she's awful. While the audience can empathize with some of her internal conflict, her laughable selfishness becomes her defining character trait. Grand Army doesn't let marginalized identity be a stand-in for personality. Yes, the characters are shaped by their backgrounds, but they are not only that. They are allowed to be sometimes good, sometimes valid, and sometimes really not. This complex portrayal feels so timely now, when community belonging or allyship can become a person's brand in insidious ways. The group of boys who begin as Joey's friends, who she calls her "woke boys" when they stand with her during her protest against the dress code, saying to each other, "Dude, you don't have to explain to me what misogyny is," end up being some of the worst characters in the show. There's an agency in this, an actionable truth: Teenagers have an admirable elasticity and resilience when it comes to healing, yes, but they also have the power and agency to do the harm and commit the violence, rather than being helpless to it or only enacting shallow drama some more than others. Everyone is more than they appear, Grand Army says. And sometimes they're not what they appear at all. Grand Army - Kids Dressing Up - Netflix YouTube.com Not an Oversexualization of Teens, Either Here's what not to expect: wide angle outfit shots or slow motion close ups of locker room abs. In fact, I was seven episodes deep when I realized I barely knew what the character's bodies looked like at least not in the way I was used to on teen TV. There's an element of high school dramas that's aspirational. You wish you could look like the characters, so maybe you try in small ways, but you know most likely you will not pull up to the first period looking like an Instagram model. At least not most of us, and not in high school. Grand Army plays the camera close to the face, reserving its full body shots for when they matter. This directorial precision allows the story to be at the forefront: You see what the story needs you to see, not what will make for Instagram trends or a make-up Emmy. When Joey walks down the halls in a semi-sheer "Free The Nipple" tank top to stares and wolf whistles, this isn't a gratuitous aesthetic display; it's a nuanced commentary on how her attempt to desexualize the body makes her the subject of more sexualization and speculation, even from the people who claim to "get it." It's also a stunning juxtaposition with a later scene, wherein a similar shot shows Joey met with the same stares and speculation, yet this time after her sexual assault, now clad in oversized clothing and holding her head down. The frequent facial-close ups serve to emphasize the emotions in the show. The emotional power of the show is carried by the heartwrenching acting of the mostly new-comer cast. How many times did I get chills at Jay's watering eyes, Dom's hesitant vulnerability, Joey's defeated gaze? The intentional camera work allows the acting to be the focus, not the actors. Grand Army doesn't rely on sensational aesthetic pleasures. Everything is a vehicle to the story, not a future Instagram promo or a flashy reel of stills. This is not to say the aesthetic choices aren't smart and indicative of each character. When so much of the show is about perception and bodily trauma, the details are smart and specific. From Leila's Brandy Melville cardigan she's the type to Joey's scribbled-on converse, the wardrobe may not be a theater of Instagram-model outfits, but it's still intentional. Every other detail is equally attended to. From the actually good college essay upon which Sid's storyline hinges (with a demographic for whom the college process is a recent wound or an upcoming horror, the usual dubious Netflix college timelines are super distracting) to the scenes of characters Zillowing the apartment they're going to a party at, so much is bubbling under the surface. Here's why it works: You can tell the show trusts its audience to know what's underneath the surface action. It's a head nod, a wink, an acknowledgement of understanding. With a generation of activism and Instagram infographics, Grand Army understands that what Gen Z audiences want to see are their emotional realitiespeople who look like them experiencing the things they feel. The audience gets that the world is hard to live in, and the show gets it too. It's Not All Bad: Grand Army - Girls Dancing In Bathroom YouTube.com But it's not all trauma all the time. Though some episodes were heavier than others, it wasn't an untenable watching experience. I was never bogged down by its weight. This is a unique experience. Watching Riverdale usually makes me pause to take a breather from its saccharine sensuality and melodrama. Each episode of Euphoria can be overwhelmingly dark. But because of the shifting story lines, each of which share almost equal screen time, Grand Army achieves a refreshing balance. The moments of lightness don't feel gratuitous either. It's not a party for a party's sake, a romance for indulgence alone everything adds to the story without feeling contrived. From Dom's budding relationship with the disarmingly sweet John Ellis (inarguably the best character in the show) to the unexpected tenderness between her and Joey; to the misguided sweetness of Jay's efforts to help Owen; to Sid's relationship with his sister, Meera, I am as equally invested in the healing as I am the hurt. This is not a show of vicarious thrills. Maybe because it's an adaptation of a social-issue play, Grand Army is adamantly concerned with telling specific, representative stories. What makes shows like Riverdale and Euphoria work is that you get invested in the characters their gorgeousness, their carelessness, their drama and you'd watch them do even the most unrealistic things. What makes Grand Army work is its focus and specificity, the heartbreaking reality, tied together with tenderness and offering hope for the future, with a little time and a lot of work. With such a large scope, it is easy to understand the concerns around the show. But just like high school, sometimes you have the answers, sometimes you don't, and sometimes there isn't one. And so Grand Army offers a realistic, ultimately forgiving portrait of its flawed characters as they try to find that nuance for themselves. On Friday, October 13, the Russian military shelled Beryslav, Kherson region, head of Kherson regional military administration Oleksandr Prokudin said. "The invaders hit a car with people with a kamikaze drone. There were two local residents in the car. Due to numerous injuries, a 34-year-old woman died on the spot. Her 36-year-old husband was hospitalized in extremely serious condition," Prokudin wrote on his Telegram channel. In addition, as a result of a grenade being dropped from a drone, a 79-year-old woman was injured and was hospitalized in moderate condition. Birds in North America will no longer be named after people. The American Ornithological Society announced the move Wednesday. Next year, the organization will begin to rename around 80 species found in the U.S. and Canada. The organizations president says some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful. Rather than review each bird named after a person individually, all such birds will be renamed. Birds that will be renamed include those currently called Wilsons warbler and Wilsons snipe. Both are named after 19th century naturalist Alexander Wilson. Audubons shearwater, a seabird named for John James Audubon, also will get a new name. Read moreOrnithological society to rename dozens of birds and stop naming them after people Attorneys for North Augusta Department of Public Safety are asking that the false arrest case brought against it this summer be dismissed, arguing in part that the department is not legally answerable to the allegations made by an Aiken County woman on behalf of her special needs son. The motion for dismissal was filed Sept. 29 and is scheduled to be heard in court Nov. 8. Filed with that motion was a response from North Augusta Public Safety and one in which the department alleges the woman's son had assaulted the School Resource Officer she had named in her complaint. Attorneys for Sylvia Brannon had filed a complaint against both North Augusta Public Safety and Aiken County Public School District on Aug. 23 over an alleged 2021 incident of excessive force, false arrest and malicious prosecution by North Augusta School Resource Officer Jason Pearce toward Brannons minor son, identified in the complaint as J.F., while J.F. was at North Augusta High School In its response, North Augusta Public Safety asserts that even if all factual allegations made against it in Brannons complaint were determined to be true, it would not be enough for legal action. Brannon, according to the response, failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and so the case must be dismissed per South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. The department also claims legal immunity under the states Tort Claims Act. Read: NADPS response Attorneys for North Augusta Department of Public Safety on Sept. 29 filed a response denying all allegations that one of its school resources Beyond these defenses, the department denies all allegations made against it in Brannons complaint, acknowledging in its response only that Officer Jason Pearce was employed with the City of North Augusta as a member of its Public Safety Department and was assigned as a school resource officer at North Augusta High School at the time of the incident," which was Aug. 27, 2021. Freshman quarterback Henry Rivers connected with junior receiver Kevin Boone on a pair of touchdown passes from 99 and 21 yards out late in the fourth quarter and junior kicker Preston Short was true on a 25-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Berkeley Stags to a 24-21 victory over v Read moreStags stage furious rally WEST COLUMBIA Eleven candidates are taking on development, sustainable growth, and council transparency, among other issues, as the city of West Columbia's mayoral and council races heat up. Between Oct. 23 and Nov. 7, West Columbia voters will choose one of two mayoral candidates, including incumbent Tem Miles. In council Districts Four, Six and Eight, voters will choose between two candidates, with an incumbent and a challenger running in each one. In District Seven, voters will choose between two candidates in a special election after Councilwoman Erin Porter left her seat last June. Voters in District Two will have just one candidate, incumbent Trevor Bedell, on the ballot. As the election nears, the candidates hope to address major issues they see in the 18,000-resident Lexington County town, while distinguishing themselves from their opponents. Who are the City Council candidates? Melissa Sprouse Brown, a co-owner at Real Estate School of South Carolina who has lived in West Columbia for nearly 20 years, will take on Mayor Tem Miles in the race for West Columbia's leader. Miles, a litigation attorney in the city, moved to West Columbia in 2005 and served on council for six years before he was elected mayor in 2019. In District Four, current councilman Joseph Dickey will face off with Ronnie Lindler, who ran unsuccessfully four years ago. District Six incumbent Jimmy Brooks will run for another term, but he will be challenged by newcomer Madison Duncan. Lifelong West Columbia resident and current District Eight councilman David Moye will run for another term against another West Columbia native, Pete Fisher. Following former Councilwoman Erin Porter's departure in June, West Columbia's District Seven seat is up for grabs. Candidates Trisha Lekovich and Sarah Mattern will compete for the spot on the council. COLUMBIA Drip Coffee, the longtime coffee shop in the heart of Columbia's Five Points neighborhood, has been sold, owner Sean McCrossin confirmed to Free Times. The coffee shop, which McCrossin has run at 729 Saluda Ave., has been in the college nightlife district for over 12 years. A small, second location of the coffee shop was on Main Street until the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately led McCrossin to close that location. Akera Sellers, who owns Brickhouse Gourmet Coffee & Tea Co. in West Columbia, and his wife, Alexis, will take over ownership of the popular Five Points spot, McCrossin confirmed. The pair will continue to operate Brickhouse in West Columbia, which is slated for a move in the coming months. The move comes after McCrossin said he realized how exhausted he was following the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovering from the impact the pandemic had on locally-owned places like his took a toll. "I just kind of reached a certain point where I realized that I'm not serving myself, I'm not serving the people that I work with and ultimately, I'm not serving the community as a whole in this moment ... it's just time," McCrossin said. Drip, with its dark wooden booths across from a long bar, is known for its pour-over coffee and breakfast biscuits. It's close to the gelato shop Scoopy Doo which McCrossin also owns. Scoopy Doo is also being included in the sale. In June, when Free Times sat down with McCrossin for a meal, as his coffee shop neared its 12th birthday, he wasn't sure what the future held. He's spent around 15 years in Columbia. GEORGETOWN Santee Cooper was fined $99,000 by the state's environmental agency in August for violating emissions standards at its coal-fired plant in western Georgetown County. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control cited the state-owned utility over one of its boilers at the Winyah Generating Station exceeding the allowable limits of sulfur dioxide over a period of more than 130 days in 2021, according to a consent order released by the agency. Sulfur dioxide is a colorless, reactive gas produced when sulfur-containing fuels such as coal and oil are burned. It can cause breathing problems, harm trees and plants, and reduce visibility, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Fines vary significantly based on the gravity of the violations committed, DHEC officials said in a statement. The potential harm to public health and the environment is a key factor in determining civil penalties. The 1,260-megawatt plant near Georgetown is equipped with four coal-fired units, with the oldest in service since 1975. Two were to be taken offline this year, with the others expected to operate until the end of 2027. Santee Cooper officials said the 2021 violation stemmed from a software programming error, which left out a calculation that would normally flag rising emission levels. The Moncks Corner-based utility said it was required to track sulfur dioxide on a per-unit basis and the $99,000 fine has been paid. Santee Cooper takes any violation seriously and strives to achieve compliance at all times, Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore said. We are confident we have addressed the circumstances that led to the 2021 issue. We have created additional tests and controls to ensure compliance with the emissions rule, and we have received DHEC approval to use a different compliance strategy that compiles average station emissions. The utility has been fined multiple times by DHEC over the last 18 years in cases involving the Winyah Generating Station and other locations. GREENVILLE Greenville County Schools is hoping to improve performance at two struggling schools with an ambitious new pilot program aimed at attracting highly qualified teachers and rewarding academic improvement. The proposed initiative is designed to transform the faculty makeup at Lakeview Middle School and Alexander Elementary School through financial incentives. As part of what the district is calling the Elevate program, all certified staff at those two schools, from the principal down, will have the option to reapply for their current positions. If they choose not to apply or re-apply and are not selected, they will be moved to another role in the district in line with their contract. Sign up for updates! Get the latest Greenville news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Meanwhile, GCS will begin an open hiring process, seeking both internal and external candidates to apply for teaching positions at Lakeview and Alexander. To make the positions at the struggling schools more attractive, the district South Carolina's largest will offer a $5,000 bonus annually to the teachers who work at them, as well as up to $7,500 in performance-based incentives. GCS hopes driving teacher recruitment and rewarding progress will bolster performance at the two schools where grades and test scores have for years remained stubbornly low. Lakeview and Alexander are the district's two poorest performing schools. South Carolina recently released its annual school report cards, evaluations that assess schools based on factors including test score, teacher qualifications and student safety. Alexander Elementary received a 46 out of a possible score of 100. Lakeview Middle received a 33. The middle school has consistently struggled to make progress, and if scores do not improve, could be taken over by the state in 2025. Both Alexander and Lakeview are Title I schools, meaning at least 40 percent of their students come from low-income families. Jeff McCoy, the district's associate superintendent over academics, said the populations they serve present distinct obstacles, including higher transience rates and a larger percentage of students who speak English as a second language. Faculty recruitment and retention, likewise, has been a challenge. GREENVILLE An unconventional housing development in Greenville remains alive despite the citys attempts to prevent its completion which includes an ongoing lawsuit brought by the city. After one hour of public comment in the packed City Hall chambers Oct. 12, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved developer Matt McPheelys appeal of a city administrators decision denying his Rutherford Road project from moving forward. The Union Homes project would bring four homes to Rutherford Road near the North Main neighborhood. Each home would have six bedrooms and six bathrooms, with separate leases for each bedroom. Sign up for updates! Get the latest Greenville news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! In its vote, the BZA reversed the city zoning administrators conclusion that the homes would be used as group living, instead saying they would be used as household living. Under the zoning code, household living is when a dwelling unit is occupied by one or more people who share a living, kitchen and eating area. Board Members Stephanie Gates, Krish Patel and Seph Wunder voted to approve the appeal, with Mark Herro and Lauren Rounsville voting against. Board Chair Chris Price, who lives behind the Union Homes project, recused himself from the portion of the meeting concerning the appeal, and Board Member Kenneth Betsch was absent. Herro said he sees the projects as group living because of the number of people. I look at this as a group living situation rather than a household living situation only because you got five or six different tenants moving in and out," Herro said. "It seemed to me like it's just a group of people living under one roof using the home as their residence. But Gates said because the project meets the household living use category, it therefore couldnt meet the group living use category because of the way the code is written. The home at 12 Parkins Oak Court in Greenville is loaded with high-end features, from the 400-bottle double wine cooler off the dining room to the 600-square-foot pool house in the backyard. Transformed by a recent renovation, the 2016 build gleams with new paint, new fixtures and new applia Read moreGreenvilles resilient luxury market evident in $3.2 million Parkins Mill sale President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that regional security systems can strengthen security on the European continent. "Regional formats of cooperation give this very practice - the knowledge of being allies in one area or another, at one or another historical distance. It's day-to-day cooperation. These are also our coalitions, defense coalitions that help us stand against Russia," he said, speaking via video link at the Joint Expeditionary Force summit on Friday. It is a multilateral defense cooperation framework led by the United Kingdom and made up of ten countries: the Netherlands, Iceland, the UK, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Estonia. "The capabilities of large alliances grow on the basis of meaningful local cooperation. Currently, we are working on creating new formats of cooperation and strengthening the existing ones in our region. I have recently visited Bucharest, and at the meeting with President Iohannis we agreed that the relations between our states, Ukraine and Romania, deserve the level of strategic partnership," Zelenskyy said. According to him, "we all have to remember that joint security and development of the economy and infrastructure in the Black Sea region are some of the keys to the geopolitical stability of our entire Europe." "New security perspectives will also emerge due to the changes in the South Caucasus. This will add potential to our joint security in our part of Europe. Especially when our defense from Russian aggression opens new prospects for Georgia to restore its territorial integrity," Zelenskyy said. "We are at a critical juncture. Either terrorist Russia succeeds in breaking freedom and the zone of geopolitical instability in Europe's east will spread across the continent - or, thanks to our cooperation and common protection of freedom, Russia will lose in this confrontation," the president said. After its loss, he noted, "a historical chance for geopolitical stability along the entire line from Scandinavia through Minsk and Kyiv to the South Caucasus will be realized." Zelenskyy called "to focus on Russian hybrid terrorist threats. Last year, the Kremlin bet on energy infrastructure strikes to destroy the basis of modern life. We expect that Russia will try to replicate its terror tactics this winter, but only on a larger scale." "Air defense, namely the defense of our cities, energy infrastructure, and Black Sea export corridors, is key to winning the winter battle for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said. BEAUFORT County Treasurer Maria Walls alleges that county administrators acted illegally when they asserted authority over budget and personnel issues related to the elected treasurer's office, according to a lawsuit she filed. Walls, who has been treasurer since 2015, claims that the county administration altered her office's budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year without her consent before it was presented to the County Council for approval. The complaint, filed in the Beaufort County Court of Common Pleas, states that unknown employees of the county "replaced the treasurer's funding requests with arbitrary amounts" and presented a document to council as "being authored by the treasurer's office." According to her filing, the South Carolina's Home Rule Act states that a county administration's authority does not extend to any county personnel employed under the direction of an elected official. In Beaufort County, the county administrator is the sole employee responsible to the County Council. A broad range of departments fall under the administrator's control. However, there are five elected positions that do not report to the administrator: auditor, clerk of court, coroner, sheriff and treasurer. Those five departments operate outside of county administration. "We have autonomy over our budgets as long as we're not violating operational policy," Walls said. The suit, which names both Beaufort County and interim County Administrator John Robinson as defendants, asks the court to affirm the treasurer's authority to run the office at her discretion. Further, the suit requests that the court assert that any effort by county administration to exercise control over the department, its budget or its personnel is beyond the authority of the administrator. To date, the county has not responded to the lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 5. County officials did not respond to a request for comment on the case. In addition to the alleged manipulation of her budget figures, Walls also claims that the county administration refused to pay employees of the treasurer's office who were required to work during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Idalia; refused to accept the treasurer's office annual disaster plan; refused to compensate employees of the treasurer's office as directed by the treasurer; and refused to process promotions and pay increases for individual employees of the treasurer's office in July. Funds will support more than 60 feeding programs throughout November Read moreDuke Energy kicks off monthlong campaign providing nearly $400,000 to help fight hunger in South Carolina this holiday season NORTH CHARLESTON For the first time in 20 years, the Air Force is changing its deployment model and Joint Base Charleston is out front on how it will happen. As part of the changeover, Charleston is one of the first bases in the country to deploy airmen under a new system that, although subtle on its face, represents a step toward efficiency. Instead of plucking men and women from random bases across the country and expecting them to work together after theyve been deployed, the change, called the Air Force Force Generation Model, trains and deploys airmen from the same base, keeping the same group together leading up to and during deployment. The previous model was like taking random people from different teams and throwing them out on the court or field together and telling them to make it work, Capt. John Hudson, operations officer for the 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Joint Base Charleston, said. The system now allows the Charleston base to build a team throughout an entire season. Its also broken up into a four-phase cycle, deploying a steady influx of airmen every six months. The change comes from the Pentagon's 2018 National Defense Strategy which includes the recognition that China and Russia want to shape the world to be consistent with their authoritarian regimes, making them the long-term competition of the U.S. Were constantly trying to find ways that we can better present our forces because our enemies are always evolving as well, Hudson said. This is our way of presenting those forces in a more lethal, agile way. The first step toward making the Air Force more lethal began Oct. 9 at bases across the country and in South Carolina, as more than 700 airmen began deploying from Joint Base Charleston to Southwest Asia, though for security reasons officials did not identify the location. Some have left already Joint Base Charleston is the lead wing in this deployment, meaning it previously sent more than 250 people oversees, while the other 450 airmen came from bases across the country, a Joint Base Charleston spokesman said. Amid escalating violence abroad, about 200 people joined local, state and federal officials outside Charleston City Hall to deliver forceful messages of support for Israel. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Mayor John Tecklenburg were among those giving remarks Oct. 12. The rally was organized in response to an attack on Israeli civilians led by Hamas militants. Graham, who helped open the event, called for "the absolute destruction of Hamas as we know it," while advocating for increased military aid to Israel. "We will appropriate money and weapons..." The Upstate Republican said he plans to visit the region and "unequivocally support Israel." He added, that "Hamas is not every Palestinian, but Hamas must be destroyed just like the Third Reich was destroyed. ... Whatever it takes that no attacks come from the Gaza Strip." The crowd cheered on Graham. Many held Israeli and American flags. Some dotted the audience with handmade posters. A blue-and-white Israeli flag with the Star of David replaced the Stars and Stripes banner atop City Hall. Blue spotlights shone on the historic building on Broad Street. Most speakers cited the need for retribution against Hamas, who some described as "blood thirsty" and "barbaric," adding that it would be "way too kind to even call them animals." The overall sentiment expressed a call to action. Five days earlier, Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,200 people mostly civilians, including families, young adults and children and abducted some 150 more, according to Israeli officials. That includes at least 27 Americans killed, with another 14 U.S. residents among those missing, according to most-recent reports from the federal government. Anat Sultan-Dadon, the Atlanta-based consul general of Israel to the southeastern U.S., attended the rally. "As Israel faces this dark hour, we do so not only in pain but in pride," she said. "Winning this war is our only option." The surprise Hamas attack was met with a show of force and fortitude by the Israeli government. Its military has battered Gaza with airstrikes around the clock, and its leaders are preparing for a ground invasion of the small, highly concentrated area. Physically accessing services from the S.C. Commission for Blind in Charleston is now a little easier. Construction crews this week laid down several hundred feet of fresh sidewalk outside of a private medical park along Tobias Gadson Boulevard in West Ashley. In doing so, crews replaced a strip of dangerous, sandy and overgrown shoulder that a former commission employee, who is legally blind, struggled to traverse every day to work. The agency's mission is to provide resources, training and other services to South Carolinians with visual disabilities. And the sidewalk work demonstrated that the commission was following through on its word to address known access issues at its new office. The commission worked with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, which owns the road, to build the sidewalk at an estimated cost of less than $30,000, said Mark Gamble, spokesman for the commission. The action came in the wake of an Aug. 11 Post and Courier article that detailed a job discrimination complaint brought by former job counselor Amy Hatten. Hatten described her departure from the commission in March as a constructive firing that stemmed from the inaccessibility of the commission's new office. She alleged that management of the Charleston office retaliated against her for speaking out about access issues. The commission has not commented on Hatten's job discrimination complaint as it is a personnel matter with possible litigation, Gamble said previously. The commission shuttered its old offices on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard after a 2021 flood and moved into its new location in March. It went a through a yearlong search process to find its current home in West Ashley. The process languished due to safety concerns and a breakdown in lease negotiations, fueled by Charleston's hot real estate market. Matthew Daughtery, director of operations for the commission, told the newspaper this summer that the commission signed its Tobias Gadson lease knowing accessibility improvements were needed and were coming. The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication. FLORENCE The Commons at Magnolia will see a Michaels arts and craft store open by late January or early February. The store, located at 2853 David McLeod Blvd., will hire dozens of temporary, full-and part-time roles and hold a soft and grand opening for the community. It will join the 15 other locations in South Carolina, including stores in Columbia, Charleston and Sumter. Itll be the first location in Florence. The company opened a third-party online marketplace this year, now having their own alongside Target and Walmart. The marketplace will make more than 1 million items available to shoppers, according to a company press release. This quadrupled the company's online offerings, Heather Bennett, executive vice president of marketing and ecommerce at Michaels, said in a press release. The move is a part of the companys digital transformation that began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was at this time it introduced curbside pickup, ship from store and in-app purchases and saw ecommerce sales rise 350 percent. Updated: Oct. 16, 2023 FLORENCE Fred Hopkins, who killed two police officers and wounded five more in Florence in October 2018, has pleaded guilty. In a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death sentence, according to Hopkins' attorney Boyd Young. Hopkins, 79, pleaded guilty to killing two Florence law enforcement officers and injuring five others in an October 2018 shooting at a home in the Vintage Place subdivision. He was charged with two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Young said the plea agreement will avoid a costly and time consuming trial. I think as far as everybody getting closure, and being able to (be) done with the case, that was important, because at that point, even if he got a death sentence, it would drag on for years to come," he said. Young said he doesnt know what he will argue at the sentencing hearing, which he said should happen sometime next week. The change of plea occurred at an unpublicized hearing in Aiken County. The Florence Police Department declined to comment. Hopkins, a Vietnam veteran and disbarred attorney, opened fire on law enforcement officers in an apparent ambush as they arrived at his upscale suburban home to execute a search warrant and question his son, Seth, about allegations he sexually assaulted a minor. Hopkins waited with a pistol and two military-style rifles, according to authorities. As officers got out of their vehicles and approached the residence, gunfire erupted from the windows. Florence Police Department Sgt. Terrence Carraway, 52, died that day. Florence County Sheriffs Investigator Farrah Turner, 36, died on Oct. 22 after multiple surgeries. FLORENCE Jody and Bryan Ransom have a vision: hundreds of people gathered around a Thanksgiving table in the middle of Florence friends, families, neighbors and even strangers enjoying a meal together, striking up conversations and building community. The Ransoms are the driving force behind a Thanksgiving community meal dubbed One Table Florence. The idea, taken from a similar event in Aiken, is to bring together people from across the city for a day of gratitude. Jody Ransom described the goal of the event as bringing the community together to strengthen our bonds, and restoring a sense of gratitude to Thanksgiving. The event is set to be held this Thanksgiving Day in Timrod Park. It will be free to all, and all are encouraged to attend, the Ransoms said. The Ransoms, who recently moved to Florence, attended One Table Aiken when they lived in the city. When they knew they were leaving, Jody Ransom shadowed the organizers in hopes of bringing the concept to their new home. In August, the couple decided now was the time. Theyve been meeting with community organizations, local churches and elected officials to get the ball rolling. Without donations, the event would cost an estimated $30,000, Bryan Ransom said. He expects to need about 200 volunteers. However, various organizations have already committed volunteers, funding, tableware and help cooking, he said. The introduction of the event to Florence comes as One Table Aiken shuts down, at least temporarily. The events organizers told the Aiken Standard that inadequate facilities forced the meal to be canceled and said future iterations, if they occur, may have to be restructured. In past years, Aikens events have hosted more than a thousand people, and the Ransoms are shooting for a lofty goal in the first iteration in Florence: 2,500 attendees. Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that the readiness of the energy and utility infrastructure for the heating season is close to 100%. "About the heating season. The readiness of the energy and utility infrastructure is close to 100%. Some communities have already begun to turn on heat. In other settlements it will appear in the near future in accordance with weather conditions," Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Friday. The Prime Minister also once again emphasized that the heating season would be difficult, but the authorities are preparing for all challenges and all possible scenarios. FLORENCE An annular solar eclipse will cross North, Central and South America on Oct. 14. The eclipse will start at 9:13 a.m. in Oregon and end in Texas at 12:03 a.m., according to data from NASA. The moon will appear as a dark circle with a bright ring the sun shining around it for those in the direct path of the eclipse. Francis Marion Universitys Observatory in Florence and the Fort Moultrie Visitor Center on Sullivans Island will host eclipse viewing events. Around 40 to 48 percent of the sun will be obstructed by the moon in South Carolina. The observatory is located on the far south end of the Francis Marion University campus. FMUs Observatorys eclipse event is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 14. The eclipse will begin in Florence at 11:53 a.m. Maximum coverage when the sun is most covered by the moon will be at 1:20 p.m. The eclipse will end at 2:49 p.m. Florence will see about 40 percent coverage. A ranger guided walk will begin at 1 p.m. to view the eclipse at the Fort Moultrie Visitor Center. The eclipse will begin in the Charleston area at around 11:53 a.m. with maximum coverage at 1:22 p.m. The eclipse will end at 2:52 p.m. Adults will have to pay a $10 site fee at Fort Moultrie, kids 15-years-old and under get in free. The Fort Moultrie Visitor Center is located at 1214 Middle St., Sullivan's Island 29482. The Charleston area will see about 44 percent coverage. Annular solar eclipses happen when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. However, the moon appears smaller than the sun because it is at or near its farthest point from Earth. Because the moon appears smaller, it wont cover the entire sun but will instead have a bright ring around it. Viewers should use caution when watching an annular solar eclipse, according to NASAs website. Annular solar eclipses never have true totality where the moon has completely blocked the sun so sunlight is always visible. Viewers should use eye protection like eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers. COLUMBIA U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham called on Israel to initiate a prolonged occupation of the Gaza Strip as the country remains locked in conflict with Hamas. Following a meeting with local religious leaders in downtown Columbia on Oct. 13, Graham told reporters the only lasting solution to peace in the region is the utter destruction of the militant organization that controls the strip. Afterward, he favored a prolonged occupation of the region by a country that has long held control over the flow of goods and people in and out of the area via a blockade of the region's borders. "I look at this as World War Two," Graham, R-S.C., told reporters after his meeting with mostly Christian religious leaders. "If we had not destroyed Tokyo and Berlin, we would not have destroyed the regimes who for decades had taught their people to hate," he continued. "When you have radical populations, you have to go to the source of the problem: Hamas. You have to pull it out by the roots. Keep the land under control, and replace it with people you can do business with." Graham went on to compare what may be possible to the post-occupation development of both Germany and Japan in the last 80 years. "That's the model Israel will have to follow," he said. "The model of complete destruction of Hamas' organization (and) occupying the land until it's safe to leave." The comments come as the Israeli military is demanding that more than a million civilians still residing in Gaza move to the southern part of the region in what international observers believe could be a precursor to a large-scale invasion by Israeli Defense Forces. Such a move would be the largest such escalation in tensions between the two sides since 2014. If civilians die in that potential offensive, Graham said, the blood will be on Hamas' hands not Israel's. "I would like to find ways to protect the Palestinian population," said Graham. "I would like to find humanitarian corridors. I'd like to assist moving civilians out of the target areas. But Hamas is a player here. They're not gonna let the people move. They're gonna use their own people as human shields." GAFFNEY A new downtown attraction will use 3D video technology to retell the history of the Revolutionary War and the battles that were fought in Cherokee County and throughout the state. Carolina Rising: A Revolutionary Experience will be housed in a building formerly used by the Carnegie Free Library in downtown Gaffney. The two-story building will be repurposed for the new interactive museum. The $7 million project is funded partially through a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. Fundraising for the project began in 2011 with fourth grade students from Grassy Pond Elementary School. Revolutionary War history is a major draw for tourism in Gaffney, which is centrally located between the Cowpens National Battlefield and Kings Mountain State Park. The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail is also nearby, drawing visitors to the region. LeighAnn Moon, Gaffney director of marketing and tourism, said the new attraction is scheduled to open in summer 2025. "We have got the conceptual plan ready," Moon said. "There was an economic impact study done by Clemson University on what it will do for downtown. It will become a new destination for people." The building has been vacant since Cherokee County's administrative offices relocated in 2011. Built in 1914, the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. In 1937, the building was expanded to add more space on the back. The 2,500-square-foot space will include the Fair Forest Experience Room, telling the story of how the backwoods of Cherokee County helped shape the Revolutionary War experience leading up to the Southern Campaign. Moon said the experience for guests will be immersive, using virtual reality headsets. Short films will also be used to tell the stories of early settlers. The Living History Room will include artifacts and letters from Revolutionary War soldiers. Touchscreens will provide an interactive guide to the battles fought in South Carolina. And the Virtual Theater will place guests in the center of the Battle of Cowpens. Ukraine has already raised EUR 500 million for humanitarian demining from international partners, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said. "A conference on humanitarian mine action with the participation of more than 40 countries took place in Zagreb. The government's delegation presented our plans on the clearance of Russia's mine waste. We had a fruitful dialogue with our partners. Taking into account the preceding assistance packages, we have raised around EUR 500 million in donations for demining of Ukraine," he said at a meeting of the government on Friday. According to the prime minister, in particular, Switzerland donated EUR 100 million, Norway around EUR 20 million, Sweden EUR 12.5 million, Croatia EUR 5 million, Austria EUR 2 million, Spain and Slovenia EUR 1.5 million each. "Ukraine is grateful to everyone for their contribution joint efforts for the security of future generations. The money will be used to purchase examination and demining equipment as well as gear for bomb squads. Also, additional support will come in the form of equipment and expert assistance," Shmyhal said. I visited Israel in 2007 as the guest of a program sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Fern Oppenheim was the host of our small group. She opened every door we wanted to enter and a few we didnt even know existed. Fern has now written An Open Letter to Presidents of American Universities and Colleges That Are Too Numerous to Name. You know who shes talking about. She writes: This week we have been witness to the greatest atrocities and mass slaughter perpetrated against Jews since the Holocaust. Sickeningly, on many of your campuses, events are being held to support those who carried out this savagery and to blame the victims, innocent Israelis. As a child of a Holocaust survivor in whose memory I write, I have spent my life trying to understand how such a heinous crime against humanity could have happened. The short answer is that the groundwork needs to be carefully laid. There are clear-cut steps, outlined by Natan Sharansky and others, that turn regular people into anti-Semitic vessels of hate and rage. And, dear Presidents, your respective institutions have been complicit in accommodating this toxic process on your campuses for far too long. Specifically: 1) Demonization In your Middle East Studies curricula and in student groups and events, Israelis (i.e., Jews) are consistently portrayed in the most defamatory and vile terms. Entire courses are devoted to teaching that Israelis are colonizers, as if it is perfectly acceptable to position Jews as the only people in the world that are not indigenous to any place on earth. Israel is routinely accused of being an Apartheid state guilty of human rights abuses. While Israel is an imperfect democracy struggling with extraordinary threats on many fronts, it tries to protect the rights of all its citizens unlike its neighbors. It protects and provides access to holy sights to all religions. Arab Israelis sit in its Parliament. But the drumbeat of outrageous false accusations, many of them lodged by professors, go unchallenged by your administrations. 2) Double Standard For years there have been ongoing chants across your campuses of From the river to the sea, all of Palestine will be free. This is not a call for a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is a call to wipe Israel and the Israeli people off the map. Jewish students rightfully feel threatened. Would you allow students to openly call for the destruction of any other nation or homeland? Safe spaces are required for all identity groups but not for Jews. To cite another egregious example, a university recently hosted a Palestinian cultural event that featured Roger Waters, a vile anti-Semite who staged a concert this year dressed in a Nazi uniform. Would any university in 2023 host someone who performs in blackface? Thankfully, I think not, but Jewish sensitivities are not accorded the same consideration. 3) Dehumanization Once you have sufficiently demonized a people, it is easy to forget that they are human. The very first room that you enter in Yad Vashem, Israels Holocaust Museum, displays the newspaper articles that portrayed Jews as vermin and sub-human animals throughout Germany in the 1930s. So when the time came to implement the Final Solution, Germans no longer thought of Jews as fellow human beings and were therefore able to routinely slaughter them. Likewise, the foul ways that you have allowed Israelis/Jews to be portrayed on your campuses have brought us to the point where student groups feel justified in openly supporting Hamass depraved actions against innocent human beings. We are seeing videos of heart-wrenching atrocities. Israelis are crying for their missing and dead and decent reporters weep as they witness the untold human suffering. And you are hosting rallies in support of this carnage on your campuses? Shame on you for the moral depravity and ignorance that is festering under your watch. Deploying an AR-15 to gun down two FBI agents, riddling their dead bodies with bullets, and fleeing the scene, would be a clear act of domestic terrorism by todays standards. A group of congressional Democrats, joined by Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee Republican, want clemency for Leonard Peltier, who did all that, and more. In a letter to Joe Biden, the group claims that there were problems with the trial, and cites the claim of the United NationsWorking Group on Arbitrary Detention that Peltier continues to be detained because he is Native American. Heres how it went down. In 1975, Leonard Peltier was living on the Pine Ridge reservation and acting as an enforcer for the American Indian Movement (AIM), which in 1973 seized the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and held it for 71 days. On June 26, 1975, FBI agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler came to Pine Ridge looking for Jimmy Eagle, wanted on assault charges. Williams sent a radio report of rifle fire from behind a row of junked cars. The agents were armed only with revolvers and when Coler went to retrieve a rifle from the trunk, nine rounds blasted through the lid severely wounding the agent. Coler crawled into the car, soon riddled with bullets. Ron Williams was also hit, and raised a hand as he pleaded for his life. The shooter, later identified as Peltier, fired an AR-15 into Williams hand then shot him in the head. Peltier also shot Jack Coler in the head, and both men were shot after they were dead. In November, Leonard Peltier, James Eagle, Darrell Dean Butler, and Robert Robideau were indicted on two counts of first-degree murder. On the run, Peltier shot it out with Oregon policemen who stopped his motor home. Peltier fled to Canada but was extradited, At the 1977 trial in Fargo, North Dakota, a jury took 10 hours to convict Peltier on two counts of murder and sentenced him to two life terms in federal prison. The convicted murderer quickly became a hero to the left, which considered him a political prisoner. He isnt, and contrary to the UN, he isnt detained because he is a Native American. In late 2000, hundreds of FBI agents marched to the White House with banners reading Never Forget and a letter opposing clemency. Clinton pardoned Puerto Rican terrorists, but not Leonard Peltier. Presidents Bush and Obama also failed to grant him clemency. The FBI remains resolute against the commutation of Leonard Peltiers sentence. The convicted murderers fans doubtless timed their clemency request for Indigenous Peoples Day. At this writing, Biden has taken no action. The IDF has told Gazans to move to the south end of the Gaza Strip, in anticipation of Israeli troops entering from the north: Israel has told 1.1 million Palestinians living in northern Gaza to leave now ahead of its expected ground assault on Hamas. The military said on Friday morning it planned to operate significantly within Gaza City in the coming days. All citizens and UN staff have been told to move south beyond Wadi Gaza for your own safety. The Israeli military told Palestinians: You will only be able to return to Gaza when another announcement permitting it is made. Thousands of leaflets with those instructions have been dropped : Israels bombing has attacked military targets: A senior Hamas commander was killed after Israel struck over 750 targets in Gaza overnight, vowing to annihilate the terrorists who led Saturdays attack. The commander led Hamas special Nukhba military unit, which was said to be tasked with infiltrating Israel. Israeli strikes hit underground tunnels used by Hamas, as well as military compounds, residences of senior operatives and weapons storage warehouses. Dozens of fighter jets were involved in the strikes, which Israel said included 12 Hamas military assets each located in a multi-storey building. Inevitably, civilians have been injured and killed, although it is often hard to tell who is a civilian in a terrorist state like Gaza. Journalists are salivating at the thought of turning the public relations tide against Israel by featuring stories of alleged civilian casualties. One sensitive observer thinks that Israels plan to rid Gaza of Hamas is inherently too dangerous: The use of heavy machinery in residential areas is a complex matter fraught with grave consequences, [Vladimir] Putin said, most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable. They are acceptable to me. Hamas won the last election, in 2006, just as the Nazis did in Germany in 1932, although Hamas won a majority, which the Nazi Party didnt. So Gaza has been on a path to destruction for a while. If the Gazans and their political leaders wanted to avoid civilian casualties, they shouldnt have started the war. It is too late now, and whatever casualties occur from now on will be their fault. UPDATE: The United Nations is urging Israel to rescind its order to evacuate Gaza City: A U.N. spokesman in New York estimated that there are 1.1 million people in northern Gazaabout half of the strips total populationand urged Israel to rescind its announcement to avoid a calamitous situation. Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, told civilians to stay in their homes and not heed the Israeli militarys evacuation call. Because Hamas wants the largest possible number of civilians killed. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, warned that the evacuation demand would deepen the humanitarian crisis already unfolding in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis is 100% the fault of Hamas and the large majority of Gazans who have supported Hamas for years. They sowed the wind, and they are about to reap the whirlwind. To the extent that there are innocentsnon-Hamas supporterswho suffer, Israel has tried to prevent that suffering, while Hamas and the majority who support Hamas have deliberately brought it on. Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time. Winston Churchill Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. Inscription on the Liberty Bell Ammo Grrrll has a thought: JUST SAY NO TO TAXPAYER FINANCED GROCERY STORES FOR NEIGHBORHOODS THAT DROVE OUT THEIR CORPORATE GROCERY STORES! She writes: It is fitting that this column will run on a Friday the 13th because the very idea of it is not only surreal, but kind of terrifying. Oh, before we begin, I have a new definition of surreal: I actually saw that some of the hefty harridans on The View were chortling because one of the talking points delivered to them on that day was that, in addition to his 35,403 other crimes, allegedly Donald J. Trump had are you sitting down? LIED ABOUT HIS WEIGHT! And yelling pointlessly at my computer I suggested that somebody should collect all of their Drivers Licenses from their purses and wallets and then bring out some scale used for livestock and make every one of those horrible women weigh in. Then check their licenses. If the numbers are not in synch, they have lied about their weight and will be summarily fired. Not for being fat, which, thank God is not a crime but for being hypocrites. Ah, a girl can dreambut let us now return to our regularly scheduled column. Which is about Mayor Brandon Johnson, defender of thieves, lover of looters, and his modest proposal for what to do about grocery stores leaving Chicago. We have all heard the Lizzie Borden Defense that she killed her parents and then threw herself on the mercy of the Court because she was an orphan. That was thought humorous when I was a kid, though never prophetic. Well, hold Lizzies beer! Because the fact is that thieves, looters, and professional shoplifters have invaded grocery stores in certain neighborhoods, emptying shelves day after day after day after day. And that has made the owners of those stores reluctant to stay in the neighborhood! Nobody could have predicted THAT outcome, could he? And take a wild guess who the Bad Guys are in that scenario, according to Brain-Dead Brandon. If you guessed the looters and thieves, you would be wrong. No, no, no, racist. Its the greedy grasping grocers who are supposed just to sit there and take it when their inventories are cleared out without recompense. In much the same way that white people at mandatory Maoist Diversity Training and Racial Abuse Sessions are supposed just to sit there and take it and not walk out or talk back lest they be without employment forthwith. I wouldnt last five minutes. Which is one reason why for 30 years I was self-employed. Nope, those grocers should not have the right to pack up and get out. Because, without those stores, the residents of the neighborhoods that put them out of business will be forced to live in a say it with me now food desert. AwwwKarmas a mean mama sometimes, eh? Here is what Mr. Johnsons take is, take being the operative verb in his worldview: All Chicagoans DESERVE to live near convenient, affordable, healthy grocery options. You dont say? And exactly what document can you produce, Mr. Johnson, that guarantees that? Because I may have missed out on benefits that I DESERVED, Heaven forfend. Now, frankly, I prefer food desserts, but apparently I was in a food desert long before I moved to Arizona, an actual desert! Even long before Obama said that a neighborhood without arugula was a food desert. I thought arugula was some sort of social disease, and have had no reason to alter my opinion after tasting the vile weed (hat-tip: Newman on Seinfeld, although he was discussing broccoli). In my St. Paul suburb (Maplewood), I lived 12 miles from Byerlys, my grocery store of preference. TWELVE MILES!! Thats further than from my little hometown of Alexandria, Minnesota to ANOTHER little town called Osakis, which is 10 miles away! We lived about 8 miles from my second choice, the Kowalskis in either White Bear Lake or St. Paul. We lived just over two miles from Cub in St. Paul, which I considered the sand in the food desert. I did not work most days of my life from the age of 14 to bag my own groceries, thank you very much. If we needed a loaf of bread in a blizzard, we MIGHT go to Cub. But, we had no close neighborhood grocery store like the pro-crime mayor of Chicago is whining about. And not because we had shoplifted it out of existence. We just lived in a spread-out place called a suburb. See, the shoplifting in these food deserty neighborhoods was not a few kids taking candy bars or even the laughable notion that people were, like the starvelings in Les Miz, just taking some milk and bread for their babies. No. This was organized crime. Evidently when Walmart left, there had been 15,806 thefts that they KNEW about! Seven percent of the thieves had been arrested what percentage had been convicted and punished was not for us to know. At least in Los Angeles, we learned that professional thieves were stealing boatloads of merchandise from every retail outlet up to $950 worth at a pop, the California limit for legal theft to exchange for money or drugs. Nobody was stealing because he was hungry as even a cursory glance at the mountainous miscreants would make clear. While we can work up some sympathy for the handicapped elderly person who cannot now get to a nearby store, we return to the Lizzie Borden paradigm. Lets say just 5 percent actually shoplifted and looted. Its probably much higher, but Ill start with that. But I bet no polls, no evidence, just human nature observed that maybe another 20-30 percent were willing to buy at steep discount stolen steaks and liquor out of a van. Then that leaves the others who, almost to a person, voted to defund the cops, who embraced the false notion that we have an overincarceration of criminals of color, no bail, and the whole rest of the crime-lovers package. It turns out that in life, it is shocking to learn just how FEW things anybody actually deserves that he, she, or xe did not earn with hard work. Want to hear the hilarious solution that some of Mr. Johnsons co-thinkers have for what should happen when the grocers leave? If you said Crack down on crime. Station cops in every store and ARREST and IMPRISON thieves, again you are wrong. You dont seem to be grasping the concept of DESERVE. No, instead of five-finger discount or in most cases the Armload or Wheelbarrow Discount EVERYTHING should be free and paid for out of the taxpayers stash. One moral idiot defined the new concept as similar to a regular grocery store except it would be more like a library or Post Office. I must have failed to get the memo that stamps were now free in the Post Office. My neighbor the Paranoid Texan is always scolding me for not reading my HOA missives. But lets examine the notion of the stores being like a library. So people are just planning to borrow food for a couple of weeks and then return it? If not, then its not really LIKE a library at all, is it? I doubt the person suggesting this has ever BEEN to a library. Or read a book. Certainly not one on economics. No. Just no. PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 17:15:46 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 368 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized law firm, notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. ("Hawaiian Electric" or the "Company") (NYSE:HE) and certain of its officers.Class Definition:This lawsuit seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Hawaiian Electric securities between February 28, 2019 and August 16, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/he Case Details:The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Hawaiian Electric's wildfire prevention and safety protocols and procedures were inadequate to meet the challenges for which they were ostensibly designed; (2) accordingly, despite knowing the degree of risk that wildfires posed to Maui, the Company's inadequate safety protocols and procedures placed Maui at a heightened risk of devastating wildfires; and (3) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.What's Next?A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint, you can visit the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/he or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Law Clerk and Client Relations Manager, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 332-239-2660. If you suffered a loss in Hawaiian Electric you have until October 23, 2023 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.Why Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a nationally recognized firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide.Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.CONTACT:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLCPeretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson332-239-2660 | info@ bgandg.com SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz and Grossman, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 14:45:19 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 442 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized law firm, notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Comerica Incorporated ("Comerica " or the "Company") (NYSE:CMA) and certain of its officers.Class Definition:This lawsuit seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Comerica securities between February 9, 2021 and May 29, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/cma Case Details:The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose, among other things, that: (1) Comerica failed to provide meaningful oversight over the vendors to whom it contracted out day-to-day operations of the Direct Express program, a system through which it is contracted to provide federal benefits to millions of Americans without bank accounts; (2) as a result of violations in the day-to-day operations of Direct Express, including handling fraud disputes and allowing sensitive data to be handled out of a vendor's office in Pakistan, Comerica was not in compliance with the Federal Contract, and knew it was not in compliance; (3) Comerica knew and failed to disclose that it was in potential violation of Regulation E due to inadequate fraud prevention in the Direct Express program and responses to instance of fraud; and (4) as a result, Defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.What's Next?A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint, you can visit the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/cma or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Law Clerk and Client Relations Manager, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 332-239-2660. If you suffered a loss in Comerica you have until October 20, 2023, to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.Why Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a nationally recognized firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide.Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.Contact:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLCPeretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson332-239-2660 | info@ bgandg.com SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz and Grossman, LLC Germany hands over new aid package to Ukraine Germany handed over a new package of military assistance to Ukraine, which in particular, included all-terrain vehicles and drone detection systems, according to the German government website. Thus, the assistance package included four Bandvagn 206 (BV206) tracked all-terrain vehicles; some 82 satellite communication terminals; four border security vehicles; some 50 drone detection systems; two heavy duty 8x8 HX81 tractors and semi-trailers. In addition, some 100,000 first aid kits and some 27,477 backpacks were donated. PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 21:00:12 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 599 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Derayah Financial, a leading Saudi financial services company, and Al Ramz Corporation PJSC, a renowned financial institution headquartered in the UAE, announced an agreement strategic partnership includes various investment banking aspects.The announced strategic partnership aims to exchange knowledge and expertise under a new joint venture entity, aligning with CMA's vision to enhance the market and broaden investment offerings in the Saudi market. According to the agreement, both parties are committed to allocating the necessary investments and technical expertise to ensure the new company achieves its set objectives and helps it grow and attain a leading position in the sector.The strategic partnership represents a milestone as it will be pivotal in enhancing the parties' position in Saudi Arabia's financial markets, according to the CEO of Derayah, "it helps to introduce high levels of service to clients, and leveraging their combined strengths and expertise to shape the future of market making and liquidity provision".This partnership signifies a new era of cross-border financial collaboration, enhancing both companies' capacity to serve investors and contribute to the advancement of Saudi Arabia's thriving financial markets under "Vision 2030".Market making and liquidity provision play critical roles in the health and vibrancy of financial markets. Through this partnership, Derayah and Al Ramz bolsters such key market mechanisms, driving the growth and resilience of Saudi Arabia's financial sector while offering clients enhanced trading possibilities and a more seamless investment experience.The strategic partnership aligns with the vision of both sides, as it sets new standers in market making and liquidity provision through the combined experience and expertise of Derayah and Al Ramz, driving not only the growth of their institutions but also contributing positively to Saudi Arabia's thriving financial sector. This alliance underscores our unwavering commitment to our clients and stakeholders, according to the Group Managing Director of Al Ramz Corporation PJSC who stated that "the partnership aims to set new standards in market making and liquidity provision through the combined experience and expertise of Al Ramz and Derayah".The announcement marks the mobilization of establishing the joint venture, after obtaining the regulatory approvals, and the teams are ready to start tapping the Saudi market with a focus on market making and liquidity provision. Both Al Ramz and Derayah are committed to realizing the full potential of this partnership and contributing to the growth and development of the Saudi financial industry.Derayah Financial is a private joint stock company licensed by the Saudi Capital Markets Authority [CMA] and considered the largest unaffiliated financial broker based in Riyadh; it has achieved remarkable success since its launch in 2007. Derayah provides many services to its client base, including local, regional and international financial brokerage services, and it is considered the largest independent financial brokerage company in the Middle East and has the third largest market share in the Saudi market and the largest market share as a non-banking entity, in addition to the investment advice service and the investment funds supermarket service, in addition to managing financial assets and providing innovative investment solutions.Al Ramz Corporation PJSC founded in 1998, it is a UAE domiciled public joint stock company listed on the Dubai Financial Market and regulated by the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority and the Dubai Financial Services Authority. It provides a broad spectrum of services including asset management, corporate finance, brokerage, security margins, market making, liquidity providing, public offering management and financial research.Media ContactOrganization: Derayah FinancialContact Person: Maha AlRasheedWebsite: https://www.derayah.comEmail: Maha.alrasheed@derayah.comCity: RiyadhState: RiyadhCountry: Saudi ArabiaSOURCE: Derayah Financial PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 20:19:17 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 742 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Dr Naik, Survivors Course Director, understands that aspiring doctors and physicians are faced with a daunting challenge when preparing for the United States medical license examination. The difficulty level of the exam can be intimidating, leaving many students unsure of how to properly prepare. Fortunately, Dr. Naik of Survivors Course is here to guide students through this formidable task. With access to a wide range of high-quality resources and up-to-date information, Dr. Naik of Survivors Course offers a personalized learning experience to ensure that students have the right tools to achieve success. The course is designed to be student-oriented, providing essential practice materials and study plans that are tailor-made for each candidate. What sets Survivors Course apart from the competition is its commitment to regularly updating course lessons to reflect the most current changes and trends in the medical industry. Students are also supported by a community of professionals, making Survivors Course and Dr. Naik a trustworthy choice for anyone preparing to take the USMLE.Dr. Naik's Survivors Course offers a comprehensive solution that prepares students for a lifetime of success. With three programs to choose from, including Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3, students are well-equipped to handle the rigorous demands of the medical profession. The Step 1 program, specifically, is a six-week course that provides students with a solid foundation of knowledge to build on. Combined with six one-on-one tutoring sessions, the Step 1 program is designed to set students up for success. And for those looking to further their education, the benefits of the Step 2 and Step 3 courses cannot be overstated. The Step 2 program focuses on the practical application of medical knowledge, while Step 3 provides the ultimate test of proficiency with an 18-week program and 30 additional one-on-one tutoring sessions. With the Survivors Course by Dr. Vijay Naik, physicians are primed to thrive in their profession.Students preparing for the USMLE exams know how important it is to have the right study materials. 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It offers an in-depth understanding of various concepts, including pharmacology, infectious disease, hematology, oncology, and more. The book also covers biostatistics, nutrition, genetics, and public health. It provides a comprehensive understanding of patient management, equipping you with the knowledge and skills required to tackle every situation efficiently. The book is structured to help you navigate through the complexity of managing patients successfully. It also includes a section on test-taking skills to help you prepare for the MCCQE1 exam. All in all, the MCCQE1 book is an essential guide to becoming a successful physician, and it's provided by Dr. Naik's Survivors Course.As students approach the end of their medical exams, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and forgetful of important concepts. That's where Dr. Naik Survivor's Course comes in, offering a helpful Quick Reviews and Test Taking Skills guide for Step 1 and Step 2 exams. With a refined combination of essential clues and concepts, this book is designed to give students a massive boost in their last week of exam preparations. The guide offers a quick and easy review of all essential information, maximizing chances of success with high-end scores. Moreover, the guide also includes a chapter on skills for taking tests, designed to help students process exam questions efficiently and prevent running out of time on test day. With the Survivor's Course in hand, students can approach their exams with confidence and clarity.To learn more about Survivors Course by Dr. Vijay Naik Book Store visit: https://survivorscourses.com/ Media Contact: Dr Vijay NaikWebsite: https://survivorscourses.com/Phone Number: +1 (610) 7877020Email: registration@ survivorscourses.com SOURCE: Survivors Course PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 21:46:07 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 518 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/FMC Contact An Attorney Now: FMC@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895FMC Corporation (FMC) Investigation:The investigation focuses on the propriety of FMC's sales and inventory management practices, and on the sustainability of growth and financial results flowing from its patented diamide insect control products.On May 1, 2023, FMC announced its Q1 2023 financial results, said Q2 2023 revenue would be flat to the prior year quarter, and maintained FY 2023 revenue outlook of $6.08 to $6.22 billion.But, on July 10, 2023, FMC announced updated expectations for its Q2 and FY 2023 outlook. In particular, the company slashed its Q2 2023 revenue outlook by about 30%, reduced its FY 2023 revenue outlook by over 14%, and blamed the reduced guidance on reductions in channel inventory that adversely impacted the company's sales volumes in the quarter.Then, on Sept. 7, 2023, Blue Orca published a report alleging that "FMC has concealed from investors that it has suffered a recent string of defeats around the globe that have enabled competitors to now launch competing generics at prices up to 80% below the price of FMC's flagship insecticide product[]" and "[c]ontrary to the Company's claims, FMC's process patents do not protect its flagship product from generic competition." Blue Orca concluded that "without patent protection for its leading product in its key markets, and battling a flood of capable generics, we believe that FMC's revenues, margins and cash flows are set to collapse." Following these events, the price of FMC shares has sharply declined."We're focused on investors' losses and are investigating whether FMC may have misrepresented its sales and inventory management practices and the strength of certain patent protections," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in FMC and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, submit your losses now If you'd like more information and answers to frequently asked questions about the FMC investigation and our investigation, read more Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding FMC Corporation should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email FMC@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens BermanHagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact:Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 00:45:23 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 489 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Firm Encourages CLX Investors with Substantial Losses and Persons with Knowledge of When Cybersecurity Attack Occurred to Contact its AttorneysSAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2023 / Hagens Berman encourages The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now. The firm also urges persons with knowledge who may be able to assist the firm in its investigation to contact its attorneys.Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/CLXContact An Attorney Now: CLX@ hbsslaw.com844-916-0895 The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) Investigation:The investigation focuses on the propriety of Clorox's statements concerning financial and operational risks to its business posed by possible cybersecurity attacks.More specifically, on Aug. 14, 2023, Clorox disclosed that it identified unauthorized activity on some of its Information Technology ("IT") systems and that it began taking remediation steps.Then, on Sept. 18, 2023, Clorox disclosed that the cybersecurity attack caused wide disruptions of the company's operations and that "[d]ue to the order processing delays and elevated level of product outages, the Company now believes the impact will be material on Q1 financial results." Most recently, on Oct. 4, 2023, Clorox disclosed the cybersecurity attack's impact on preliminary Q1 2024 financial results. The company said that: (1) net sales are expected to decrease by 28% from the prior year quarter; (2) gross margins are expected to be down from the prior year quarter; and (3) diluted EPS is expected to be between a loss of $0.75 to a loss of $0.35.These reports have driven the price of Clorox shares significantly lower."We're looking to speak with investors, as well as persons with knowledge who may help us determine when management knew of the attack on Clorox's IT systems occurred," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in The Clorox Company and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding DLocal should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email CLX@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens BermanHagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact:Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 03:30:25 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 405 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2023 /Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 23, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE), if they purchased the Company's securities between February 28, 2019 and August 16, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Hawaiian Electric and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-he/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 23, 2023.About the LawsuitHawaiian Electric and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (i) the Company's wildfire prevention and safety protocols and procedures were inadequate to meet the challenges for which they were ostensibly designed; (ii) accordingly, despite knowing the degree of risk that wildfires posed to Maui, the Company's inadequate safety protocols and procedures placed Maui at a heightened risk of devastating wildfires; and (iii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.The case is Bhangal v. Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., et al., No. 23-cv-04332.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ CONTACTKahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partnerlewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 18:00:41 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 582 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 BETHESDA, MD / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / K2 Construction Consultants has been awarded a five-year, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling value of approximately $253 million by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) to deploy technology designed to detect and prevent nuclear and radiological material or devices from entering the United States. K2 partnered with Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) and Culmen International to win the Radiation Portal Monitor Program (RPMP) Deployment contract.The K2 team will deploy radiation portal monitors (RPM) across the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders and at international airports, seaports, and global postal facilities, in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)."We are excited to expand our support of DHS to the CWMD mission from our many Transportation Security Administration (TSA) programs installing security screening systems and technology," said Paul Krogh, chief executive officer of K2 Construction Consultants, Inc. "The team brings extraordinary capabilities and wide-ranging expertise for the development of threat reduction systems, integration of security screening technologies, as well as program and logistics management, procurement, and construction." "The critical importance of preventing nuclear and radiological material from entering the United States cannot be overstated," said Jon Moretta, president, Engineered Systems for Parsons. "Working closely with K2, Culmen and DHS, we look forward to deploying technologies to help ensure the continued protection of American citizens and success of the RPMP mission." The K2 team will perform site surveys and designs, equipment installation, configuration management, and commissioning."Culmen's capabilities and experience provides the Government with unique resources and expertise needed to fulfill the CWMD RPMP mission," said Dan Berkon, CEO of Culmen International. "Culmen is proud to be part of the K2 team enhancing U.S. and international security by implementing radiation portal monitoring solutions at critical sites." "We have assembled the strongest team in the industry to execute this important mission for CWMD," said Paul Krogh. "K2, Parsons and Culmen are ideally positioned because of our exceptional track records with DHS, TSA and CBP." About K2 Construction ConsultantsK2 Construction Consultants, Inc., is an industry leader in project management and controls, systems integration and the deployment and implementation of complex security solutions. For three decades, K2 has successfully supported a diverse range of domestic and international projects for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and large airports and transportation authorities. Please visit k2consulting.com and follow us on LinkedIn to learn about the solutions we offer.About ParsonsParsons (NYSE: PSN) is a leading disruptive technology provider in the national security and global infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cyber and intelligence, space and missile defense, transportation, environmental remediation, urban development, and critical infrastructure protection. Please visit Parsons.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn how we're making an impact.About Culmen InternationalEstablished in 2004, Culmen International is committed to enhancing international safety and security, strengthening homeland defense, and optimizing government operations. We provide technical and management expertise, develop innovative technology solutions, and deliver logistics, training, and language services worldwide. With experience in over 140 countries, Culmen supports our clients to accomplish critical missions in challenging environments. Learn more at www.culmen.com and follow us on LinkedIn.Media Contacts:Frank Caskin240.429.4682Fcaskin@k2consulting.com Bernadette Miller 980.253.9781 Bernadette.Miller@parsons.com Virginia Pewett703.224.7000Virginia.pewett@culmen.com Contact InformationFrank Caskin Communications Director caskin44@ yahoo.com 240-429-4682SOURCE: K2 Construction Consultants PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 12:22:18 Press Information Dhirtek Business Research and Consulting Private Limited +91 7580990088 email www.dhirtekbusinessresearch.com Published by Parmeet Singh 7580990088 e-mail https://www.dhirtekbusinessresearch.com/ # 982 Words +91 7580990088Parmeet Singh7580990088 The world of the laser illuminator market is a complex and ever-evolving landscape, shaped by consumer demands and technological advancements. In this report, we delve into the depths of this market to provide a profound and comprehensive analysis, catering to a diverse audience that includes manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and investors. Our primary goal is to empower industry stakeholders with invaluable insights to make informed decisions in a rapidly changing environment. We aim to illuminate the current status of the laser illuminator market while projecting its future trends.Scope and PurposeOur report is a comprehensive guide designed to equip industry stakeholders with actionable information. It covers various aspects of the laser illuminator market, including market dynamics, competition, growth avenues, challenges, and regional variations. This information goes beyond mere descriptions; it is intended to help stakeholders make critical decisions that can shape their strategies and endeavors in the market.Request for Sample Report:Promising Comprehensive AnalysisTo fulfill our promises, we commit to providing a comprehensive analysis that leaves no stone unturned. We pledge to unravel the factors propelling the market's growth, dissecting shifts in consumer preferences and technological breakthroughs that are driving the demand for laser illuminator products. Simultaneously, we acknowledge that challenges and obstacles are part of any industry landscape, and we vow to illuminate these hurdles, be it economic uncertainties or the intense competition that often characterizes such markets.Some of the major companies in the Laser Illuminator market are as follows: Ade Advanced Optics, Brolis Photonics Solutions, Electrooptic, FLIR Systems, Lanics, Laserluchs, LonTrend, Silent Sentinel, Torch Factory, USHIO America, Inc.Guiding the Path ForwardOur report extends an invitation to its readers to explore its contents and sets the stage for uncovering the competitive landscape. It introduces the major players in the laser illuminator market and their strategies, offering insights into what makes them thrive. This insight-rich analysis is meant to guide others on their path forward whether it's to navigate the competition more effectively or to find inspiration in successful strategies.Anticipation of InsightsRecognizing that the market is not monolithic but rather a composition of various segments, the report pledges to provide a nuanced understanding of these segments. It promises to detail their sizes, potential growth trajectories, and key trends. This targeted knowledge assists stakeholders in carving out specialized strategies and ensuring optimal resource allocation.Balancing Forces and Strategic ImplicationsBy elucidating both the driving forces and potential obstacles, the report paints a holistic picture of the market dynamics. It enables industry stakeholders to navigate the competitive landscape with a deeper understanding of the forces at play. Manufacturers can align their innovation efforts with consumer preferences and regulatory trends, thereby enhancing their market position. Investors and decision-makers can be better prepared to address economic uncertainties and supply chain vulnerabilities. Overall, this section equips readers with insights to make strategic decisions that account for both growth opportunities and challenges in the laser illuminator market.Exploring the Competitive LandscapeThe section dedicated to the competitive landscape of the laser illuminator market offers an intricate exploration of the market's key players, their strategies, and their impact on the industry. This segment aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the market's dynamics, the role of major companies, and the strategies they employ to thrive.Segment CharacteristicsThe report initiates the analysis by outlining the unique characteristics that define each segment. Whether these segments are categorized based on product types, customer demographics, use cases, or other distinguishing factors, the report provides a clear picture of how these segments are defined and differentiated.Market SizeUnderstanding the size of each market segment is crucial for gauging its significance within the overall market landscape. The report likely provides quantitative data to illustrate the market share and contribution of "Type" and "Application" segments to the entire laser illuminator market. This information helps stakeholders appreciate the relative importance of each segment.Growth PotentialBeyond current market size, the report delves into the growth potential of these segments. It explores factors such as emerging trends, consumer behaviors, technological advancements, and regulatory influences that could drive the future expansion of these segments. This forward-looking perspective aids stakeholders in identifying where the market's growth opportunities lie.Key TrendsThe analysis likely captures the key trends specific to each segment. Whether it's changing consumer preferences, evolving technology adoption, or shifting regulatory landscapes, the report provides insights into the forces shaping the behavior of "Type" and " Application." These trends inform stakeholders about the directions these segments might take in the coming years.Strategic InsightsThe segment analysis extends beyond descriptive data to offer strategic insights. By understanding the characteristics, potential, and trends of "Type" and "Application," industry participants can make informed decisions. Manufacturers can tailor their product development strategies to meet the demands of these segments, and marketers can create targeted campaigns to reach specific customer groups.Market Segmentation:Type: Visible Light Laser Illumination, Infrared Laser IlluminationApplication: Safety Guard, Military Reconnaissance, Field Search and Rescue, Scientific Research Investigation, OtherExploring Regional DynamicsThe section dedicated to the regional analysis of the laser illuminator market provides a comprehensive exploration of how the market fares across different geographical areas. This analysis recognizes that markets are not homogenous and that regional variations can significantly impact market dynamics. The report delves into the intricacies of each region North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa to provide stakeholders with valuable insights.Closing ThoughtsIn essence, the conclusion encapsulates the report's journey. It emphasizes the report's role as a strategic tool, a navigator, and a decision-making companion in the complex world of the laser illuminator market. This report is more than just a document; it is a valuable resource that empowers industry stakeholders to thrive in a dynamic and ever-evolving market environment. PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 14:01:22 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 361 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / In response to the unprecedented terrorist attacks and the resulting humanitarian crisis, Lee Maschler, the founder of Trillium, today announced a commitment to donate to four charitable organizations dedicated to providing humanitarian relief in support of the ongoing crisis.Consistent with Trillium's past philanthropic efforts, Maschler will personally donate $250,000 while an additional $250,000 will be available to match donations from employees, traders, and friends of Trillium. In doing so, they expect to raise $750,000.In an email to the company, Maschler addressed the impact of the devastating terrorist attacks and pledged support to the people of Israel. Maschler told his team, "We stand together in empathy, compassion, and unity. We hope for a peaceful resolution and extend our thoughts and prayers to all those affected. Together, we will continue to foster a culture of respect, understanding, and inclusion within our company." We encourage everyone to join Lee Maschler and Trillium in their effort to provide resources for the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Donations can be made directly to the following four charities at the links below. Please email a copy of your donation receipt to Trilliumcares@ trlm.com and Trillium will send the matched amount directly to the organization.OrganizationCharity DescriptionDirect Pledge(Before Match)Magen David AdomA paramedic and Red Cross service that is a leader in mass-casualty response and EMS technology$100,000Yachar LChayalYashar LaChayal brings soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces what they need when they need it$50,000Save a Child's HeartSoroka Medical Center offers around-the-clock life-saving services$50,000United HatzalahThe largest independent, fully volunteer emergency medical service organization committed to providing the fastest response to medical emergencies$50,000About Trillium:Trillium is a leading proprietary trading firm, active in U.S., Canadian, and OTC Equities, and committed to building long and lucrative trading careers. By funding all trading with the firm's capital and investing more in training and technology than any competing firm, Trillium is the place where traders can reach their highest potential. Trillium is headquartered in New York City, with additional trading floors in Chicago and Miami. To learn more about Trillium, visit www.trlm.com Contact InformationTrillium Marketing marketing@ trlm.com SOURCE: Trillium PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 19:17:56 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 739 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Baker Tilly:The inaugural year of our firm's scholarship opens new doors for five ambitious, talented students.The Baker Tilly Foundation created the Now for Tomorrow Scholarship in honor of our firm's 90th anniversary, expressing our core value of Stewardship and looking to the future of our profession. The scholarship supports the foundation's key pillar of education and helps advance equity in the professional services sector by supporting students of color with a three-year scholarship of up to $30,000 per student.In addition to ongoing development, mentoring and networking opportunities, scholars will be able to complete an internship with our firm, with the potential to join Baker Tilly full time. They can also serve as Baker Tilly ambassadors amongst their campus peers.Meet our first class of scholarsHamida SanfordOriginally from Philadelphia, Hamida Sanford is a junior studying accounting within the Fox School of Business at Temple University. Hamida plans to graduate in 2024 and receive her CPA license in 2025.Hamida serves on the Fox School of Business Dean's Student Advisory Council to help plan alumni panels and days of service."I'm extremely grateful for this scholarship! It has helped lessen the financial burden of school and allows me to focus on my studies and ultimately, become a CPA," Hamida said.Maya MooreMaya Moore is from Allentown, Pennsylvania and is a sophomore majoring in business management in the Robert H Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland (College Park). She plans to double minor in Spanish and sustainability. She anticipates graduating in 2025 and is passionate about diversity and inclusion initiatives.Maya volunteers as co-chair of the Women's Empowerment Institute at Maryland Smith, works as a mentor for incoming freshman, and serves as director of events for the National Association of Black Accountants. She is also a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society."Last year, my family suffered from financial issues due to the pandemic - nevertheless, they decided to gather their funds and help me pay the cost of my tuition," Maya said. "With the Now for Tomorrow Scholarship, I can reduce some of the burden of paying for my education from my family." Niaz MousaviNiaz Mousavi is from Brookfield, Wisconsin and studying accounting at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Lubar College of Business. She anticipates graduating in 2024.On top of her studies, Niaz also works 30 hours a week and plans to join several clubs this semester."The Now for Tomorrow Scholarship means so much to me, as it helps me financially and takes a huge weight off my shoulders and my family's shoulders as well," Niaz said.Maddy RodriguezA Champaign, Illinois resident, Maddy Rodriguez is an accounting major at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Gies College of Business. She will graduate in 2024.Maddy serves as vice president of the Eastern European Illini student organization and professional development chair in the Prospanica UIUC, and participates in the Society of Women in Business, Accounting Club, UNICEF at UIUC, and American Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) UIUC. She also works as a research assistant for the Gies Business Research Lab and a business administration professor."This scholarship does so much for me," Maddy said. "Instead of feeling like I have to get more scholarships and more jobs, I can take a step back and prioritize my academic performance." Jose MondragonJose Mondragon is majoring in accounting at the University of Texas at Dallas. He's highly involved with UT-Dallas's chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America and helps organize service events and professional development opportunities. He's also been accepted into UT-Dallas's Professional Program in Accounting (PPA), which provides students the opportunity to obtain a Master's in Accounting in one year after successful completion of their Bachelor's in Accounting, making them CPA eligible.For Jose, the Now for Tomorrow Scholarship eased the financial stress associated with college, helping him focus on learning."As a first-generation college student, I had no blueprint for how the college process works or how to pay for things," Jose said. "The scholarship took that burden away so I can spend more time focusing on studying and completing an internship this summer." View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Baker Tilly on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Baker TillyWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/baker-tillyEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Baker Tilly PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 15:45:32 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1007 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Shift4 Payments, Inc. ("Shift4" or the "Company") (NYSE:FOUR) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and docketed under 23-cv-03206, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Shift4 securities between November 10, 2021 and April 18, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Shift4 securities during the Class Period, you have until October 19, 2023 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.[Click here for information about joining the class action]Shift4 provides software and payment processing solutions in the United States. The Company provides, among other products and services, integrated and mobile point-of-sale ("POS") solutions.In Shift4's third quarter of 2022, the Company completed its so-called "mass strategic buyout program" as part of a purported strategic initiative to insource its sales distribution network.According to Shift4, because the Company is not a "member bank" as defined in certain payment network rules, the Company is not eligible for primary membership in certain payment networks and is therefore unable to directly access them. Accordingly, Shift4's payment networks require the Company to be sponsored by a member bank as a service provider, which the Company has accomplished through a sponsorship agreement with its sponsor bank. To cover overdraft obligations at the sponsor bank, prior to December 2022, Shift4 had funds deposited in a sponsor bank merchant settlement account to facilitate gross card transaction deposits for those customers the Company bills on a monthly, as opposed to a daily, basis.The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Shift4 had inadequate disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting; (ii) as a result, Shift4 failed to properly account for customer acquisition costs, thereby artificially inflating its net cash provided by operating activities; (iii) accordingly, Shift4 would likely be forced to restate one or more of its previously issued financial statements; (iv) Shift4 employed accounting maneuvers in connection with, among other things, its mass strategic buyout program and sponsor bank merchant settlement account, that were designed to present an inaccurate picture of, inter alia, the Company's performance, its underlying business quality, and its earnings power; (v) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to negatively impact Shift4's reputation and business; and (vi) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.On October 21, 2022, Shift4 disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the Company's third quarter 2021, full year 2021, first quarter 2022, and second quarter 2022 financial statements should no longer be relied upon and would need to be restated because of a material weakness in the Company's financial controls, which had caused it to incorrectly treat "customer acquisition costs" as cash used in investing activities rather than cash used in operating activities in its Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. As a result, Shift4 was forced to negatively revise its net cash provided by operating activities to $3 million (down from its originally reported $29.2 million), $30.8 million (down from its originally reported $37.1 million), and $70.8 million (down from its originally reported $85 million) for the year ended December 31, 2021, the three months ended March 31, 2022, and the six months ended June 30, 2022, respectively.On this news, Shift4's stock price fell $1.21 per share, or 2.67%, to close at $44.16 per share on October 24, 2022.On April 19, 2023, Blue Orca Capital published a report addressing Shift4 (the "Blue Orca Report"). The Blue Orca Report alleged, among other things, that "Shift4 [is], in reality, a roll-up of low-tech POS systems and payment processors which is substantially less profitable, generates far less cash, and is materially more levered than investors are led to believe." The Blue Orca Report further alleged that in 2022, "Shift4 engaged in a string of highly questionable and hyper-aggressive accounting maneuvers seemingly designed to keep the stock afloat, from cash flow manipulation to inexplicable distributor acquisitions that enabled it to capitalize a major component of COGS [cost of goods sold]." For example, the Blue Orca Report alleged, inter alia, that Shift4's "buyout of 50% of its independent distributors"-i.e., in connection with its mass strategic buyout program-"and Q4 2022 cash account withdrawal" from its sponsor bank merchant settlement account "together inflated operating cash flow by 61%."On this news, Shift4's stock price fell $5.95 per share, or 8.68%, to close at $62.59 per share on April 19, 2023.Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a joint trip with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte to Odesa region, visited the marine terminal of Odesa commercial sea port and inspected the destruction caused by Russian shelling, according to the presidential website on Friday. As Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine, Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov said, during the work of the Black Sea Grain Initiative since August 1, 2022, over 1,000 ships delivered 32.9 million tonnes of agricultural products from Ukraine. In particular, 4 million tonnes to African countries, some 10.8 million tonnes to East Asia and 5.27 million tonnes to the Middle East. "We continue to feed the world. We constantly heard the Russian narrative that only a small percentage of our grain goes to the countries of Africa and Asia. Now we see the real picture," Zelenskyy said. After withdrawing from the grain deal on July 17, 2023, Russia carried out at least 17 massive attacks on port infrastructure facilities in Odesa region, as a result of which over 150 port and grain infrastructure facilities, six civilian ships have been destroyed or damaged; over 300,000 tonnes of grain have been destroyed, wounding at least 14 civilians. Zelenskyy and Rutte were told about temporary routes developed by Ukraine for civilian ships to Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Since August 10, some 21 vessels have already been loaded. Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksiy Neizhpapa briefed about the obstacles that Russia creates for shipping in the Black Sea, and the measures taken by the Ukrainian military to counteract this. "Ukraine adheres to its obligations to supply grain to African and other countries," he said. PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 03:30:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 424 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2023 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 19, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE: FOUR), if they purchased the Company's securities between November 10, 2021 and April 18, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Shift4 and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-four/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 19, 2023.About the LawsuitShift4 and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On April 19, 2023, Blue Orca Capital reported that "Shift4 [is], in reality, a roll-up of low-tech POS systems and payment processors which is substantially less profitable, generates far less cash, and is materially more levered than investors are led to believe," and that in 2022, the Company "engaged in a string of highly questionable and hyper-aggressive accounting maneuvers seemingly designed to keep the stock afloat, from cash flow manipulation to inexplicable distributor acquisitions that enabled it to capitalize a major component of COGS [cost of goods sold]."On this news, shares of Shift4 fell $5.95 per share, or 8.68%, to close at $62.59 per share on April 19, 2023.The case is O'Meara v. Shift4 Payments, Inc., et al., No. 23-cv-03206.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partnerlewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 17:36:24 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 349 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 HORSHAM, PA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Sofidel, a leading global provider of paper for hygienic and domestic use, today announced that its web application, Apper, is nominated for an ISSA Show Innovation Award. The web app is an innovative tool that gives users a better understanding of Papernet products and private-label solutions."Apper enables Distributor Sales Representatives (DSRs) and sales representatives to access product data sheets, product images, a cost-in-use calculator and a cross-reference tool at their fingertips," said Giorgia Giove, Marketing Manager, Sofidel America. "Apper is a digital application that eliminates the need to produce and distribute physical catalogs and communication materials, helping to reduce waste." Apper comes equipped with The Papernet Academy, which features tutorial videos that guide users, step-by-step, on how to properly install dispensers, like the HyTech Seas paper towel and toilet paper dispensers, winners of the 2022 ISSA Show Innovation Award."Papernet brand products are sustainable, and many are Forest Stewardship Council-certified. Several of the paper products also help end users with common restroom issues, like clogging and foul smells that lead to hefty maintenance fees," added Giove.To learn more about Apper, or to vote for it in the ISSA Show Innovation Award Program, visit https://issashowplanner.com/8_0/exhibitor/exhibitor-details.cfm?exhid=10928 . It will be featured at booth 1813 at the ISSA Show North America in Las Vegas, November 13-16.About The Sofidel Group The Sofidel Group, a privately held company, is a world leader in the manufacture of paper for hygienic and domestic use. Founded in 1966, the Group has subsidiaries in 13 countries - Italy, Spain, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Romania, and the USA - with more than 6,800 employees. A member of the UN Global Compact, the Sofidel Group considers sustainability a strategic imperative and is committed to promoting sustainable development. For more information, visit www.sofidel.com Media Contact:Brianna Fitzpatrick Mulberry Marketing Communications bfitzpatrick@ mulberrymc.com View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Sofidel on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: SofidelWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/sofidelEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Sofidel PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 17:30:21 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 555 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 In light of recent articles presented in the media naming 98 seafood companies, including Lund's Fisheries, Lund's Fisheries would like to issue a statement condemning IUU fishing as well as human right violations.CAPE MAY, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Lund's Fisheries takes allegations of this type seriously, which is why we engaged in numerous productive discussions with Ian Urbina and the staff of the Outlaw Ocean Project beginning in January 2023. In good faith, we conscientiously shared documentation, procedures, policies and industry knowledge surrounding domestic and international fishing, foreign processing and imports. We will continue to address Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, and forced labor allegations with industry members, NGOs, and our government to strengthen the seafood supply chain and provide consumers with the utmost confidence.Upon hearing questions and criticisms raised about Rongcheng Haibo, we initiated an internal investigation, and resolved not to renew existing contracts with Rongcheng Haibo until that work was complete. Although our investigation did not find any evidence of illegal activity or forced labor in the operations of Roncheng Haibo Seafood, we are maintaining our cessation of new business pending further investigation.Lund's Fisheries requires a Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) from all of our foreign suppliers. SMETA is the world's most widely used audit in assessing standards of labor, health and safety, environmental performance, and ethics. The SMETA audit is designed to help protect workers from unsafe conditions, overwork, discrimination, low pay, and forced labor. The SMETA process is what companies use to evaluate their suppliers, specifically when referring to forced labor risks. In addition, we also engage with each supplier, requiring that they sign a supplier declaration agreement, wherein they must agree to not employ forced labor. We analyze and evaluate all the documentation they provide to us, including their SMETA audit reports, annually, to verify the results.As a proud member of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership's Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable, Lund's Fisheries is committed to working towards sustainable fisheries and combatting IUU fishing and human rights violations globally.Lund's Fisheries is a family owned and operated, vertically integrated seafood harvester and processor which operates 19 fishing vessels on the East and West Coast of the United States and 5 seafood processing facilities in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California. Our US plants produce a variety of Marine Stewardship Council-certified whole and cleaned calamari products, sea scallops, and multiple species of finfish.Lund's Fisheries will celebrate our 70th anniversary next year. Our relationships with our customers, employees, consumers and partners are our first priority, and we take great pride in maintaining the integrity of what we do each day.About Lund's Fisheries Inc.Lund's Fisheries, Inc. is a third-generation, family-owned company and a primary producer of fresh and frozen seafood located in Cape May, N.J. Lund's purchases, produces and distributes nearly 75 million pounds of fresh and frozen fish annually. Its fresh and frozen domestic sales stretch nationwide while its frozen exports extend to markets around the world. Lund's Fisheries is committed to developing and managing systems and practices to fish within sustainable limits and track its products back to the harvest location to ensure they are sourced from fisheries that are well-managed, certified as sustainable or actively working towards implementing more responsible and sustainable harvesting practices.PRESS CONTACT:Bob VanasseStove Boat Communications(202) 333-2628bob@ stoveboat.com SOURCE: Lund's Fisheries Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2023-10-13 20:00:57 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 724 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / The Watchlist by The Market Herald has announced the release of a new interview with SLAM Exploration discussing their latest news.The Watchlist by The Market Herald provides investors with a quick snapshot of what they need to know about the company's latest press release through exclusive insights and interviews with company executives.SLAM Acquires New Lithium ProjectSLAM Exploration Ltd. (TSXV:SXL) has announced it has entered into an arm's length option agreement dated October 11, 2023, to acquire a 100% interest in the Ear Falls lithium project, located in the vicinity of a new lithium discovery by Beyond Lithium Inc. near Ear Falls in northwestern Ontario.For the full interview with CEO Michael Taylor and to learn more about SLAM's news, click here.Interviews for The Watchlist by The Market Herald are released daily. To learn more about the companies featured in The Watchlist or to explore our other interviews visit The Watchlist by The Market Herald.About The Market HeraldThe Market Herald Canada is the leading source of authoritative breaking stock market news for self-directed investors. Our team of Canadian markets reporters, editors and technologists covers the entire listed company universe in Canada. We cover over 3,985 businesses, their people, their investors, and their customers. We write the stories that move the Canadian capital markets.DISCLAIMER: Report Card Canada Media Ltd. ("Report Card") is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market Herald Limited, an Australian company ("Market Herald"). Report Card is not an advisory service, and does not offer, buy, sell, or provide any other rating, analysis or opinion on the securities we discuss. We are retained and compensated by the companies that we provide information on to assist them with making information available to the public. All information available on themarketherald.ca and/or this press release should be considered as commercial advertisement and not an endorsement, offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities. 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In such instances, Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees will use all reasonable efforts to avoid engaging in activities that would lead to conflicts of interest and Market Herald and/or its affiliates will use all reasonable efforts to comply with conflicts of interest disclosures and regulations to minimize any conflict. All the information on this document and/or the website - themarketherald.ca - is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. Report Card does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find on this document and/or website ( themarketherald.ca) is strictly at your own risk. Report Card will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website. From our website, you can visit other websites by following hyperlinks to such external sites. While we strive to provide only quality links to useful and ethical websites, we have no control over the content and nature of these sites. These links to other websites do not imply a recommendation for all the content found on these sites. Site owners and content may change without notice and may occur before we have the opportunity to remove a link which may have gone 'bad'. Please be also aware that when you leave our website, other sites may have different privacy policies and terms which are beyond our control. Please be sure to check the Privacy Policies of these sites as well as their "Terms of Service" before engaging in any business or uploading any information.CONTACT:The Market Heraldmarketing@ themarketherald.cathemarketherald.ca SOURCE: The Market Herald Security operatives have rescued 18 persons, who were on Wednesday abducted from their homes at Kanya in Danko Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State. Ahmed Idris, media aide to Governor Nasir Idris, said on Friday in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, that the council chairman, Hussani Aliyu-Bena, confirmed the rescue of the victims on Thursday. He quoted Mr Aliyu-Bena as saying that the victims were rescued at Karen Bena while their abductors were attempting to cross into Zamfara at about 5:30 p.m. This followed concerted efforts by the Dr Idris-led administration in protecting the lives and property of Kebbi citizens, he stated. Mr Idris stated that the council boss lauded the state government for the prompt release of funds to security agencies leading to the success recorded. Financial assistance from the state government will certainly boost the morale of security personnel to protect the lives and property of people of the state. In fact, many villagers have started returning to their homes and continued with their farming activities. Since four days ago the army and the Nigeria Air Force have neutralised many bandits in the area, Aliyu-Bena said in the statement issued by Idris. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerias electoral body, INEC, says it is prepared to conduct the upcoming Imo State governorship election in 4,720 polling units in the state. The number is 38 short of the total 4,758 polling units earlier marked by INEC for the 11 November governorship election in the state. The Supervising National Electoral Commissioner in Imo State, Ken Ukeagu, said the election would not be held in the 38 polling units because INEC recorded zero registered voters there. He said this at the presentation of the official voter register to political parties on Thursday in Owerri, the state capital. Mr Ukeagu said 17 political parties would field candidates at the election. The total number of registered voters for the election in Imo is 2,419,922 comprising 1,199,263 males and 1,220,659 females. INEC has cleared nine hurdles out of the 13 hurdles for clearing for the governorship elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa slated for the same day. The publication of the official register of voters is the 10th hurdle and that is what we did on Thursday. The three remaining issues are the publication of Notice of Poll, the declaration of the last day for campaigns by political parties and the conduct of the election itself, Mr Ukeagu said. He explained that the publication of the official register of voters for the governorship election was in compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act (2022). We are also making progress in critical areas of preparation for the election including the provision of sensitive and non-sensitive materials and the recruitment of ad-hoc staff. We are equally making progress in planning for the movement of personnel and materials for the election, he added. Mock accreditation Mr Ukeagu said INEC would organise mock accreditation in nine polling units spread across nine local government areas and registration areas in Imos three senatorial districts on Saturday using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS). The exercise will enable INEC to test run the functionality of the BVAS and accreditation process as part of preparation for the governorship election, he explained. Mr Ukeagu assured Imo people that INEC had concluded arrangements to conduct a free, fair, credible and inclusive governorship election. Political parties, candidates and their supporters are cautioned to shun violence, voter intimidation and any form of malpractice during the election, he charged. Earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Imo State, Sylvia Agu, a professor, said the publication of the official register of voters was a pivotal aspect of the election. As we proceed with the activities ahead of the elections, let us remember that democracy thrives when all stakeholders work together in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect, Mr Agu admonished. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos State, has fixed 11 December for the adoption of final written addresses in the trial of Marco Ramirez, an American businessman, charged with $1.2 million visa fraud. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Mr Ramirez alongside his companies USA NOW LLC, Eagle Ford Instalodge Group LP and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP for an alleged $1.2 million EB-5 visa scam. EB-5 visa is issued to immigrants who want to obtain permanent residency in the U.S. through their investments in the country. The prosecution alleged that the defendants obtained $1.2 million from his victims as a processing fee for their investments in his company under the Employment-Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) United States of America Investor Programme. The investments, he promised, would qualify the victims to be eligible for the issuance of a USA Green Card. The defendant, however, allegedly reneged on his promise, according to a statement by the EFCC giving highlights of Wednesdays proceedings when the court fixed the date for final arguments in the case. Arraignments EFCCs spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said in the statement released on Friday that Mr Ramirez was initially arraigned on 12 counts of fraud to which he pleaded not guilty. He was later re-arraigned by the EFCC, through its prosecutor, M.S. Owede, on 24 June 2022 on an amended 16 counts. Mr Ramirez, again, pleaded not guilty to the amended charges when they were read to him. Following his not-guilty plea, trial thereafter commenced. READ ALSO: After the prosecution closed its case, Mr Ramirez opened his defence denying all the charges of stealing and obtaining money under false pretence. On the close of defence, the judge, Mojisola Dada ordered parties to file and exchange their final written addresses. The judge, on Wednesday, adjourned till 11 December for the adoption of final written addresses. Part of the charges filed against the defendant are as follows: Count 13 of the amended charge reads: Marco Antonio Ramirez, USA NOW LLC, Eagle Ford Instalodge Group LP, and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, between 5th February 2013 and 18th April 2013 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonourably converted to your personal use the aggregate sum of $545,000 property of Godson Onyemaechi Echegile. Count 14 reads: Marco Antonio Ramirez, USA NOW LLC, and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, between 12th July 2012 and 7th November 2012 at Lagos, within the Count 14 reads: Marco Antonio Ramirez, USA NOW LLC, and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, between 12th July 2012 and 7th November 2012 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonourably converted to your personal use the aggregate sum of $314,800 property of Abubakar Umar Sadiq. Count 15 reads: Marco Antonio Ramirez, USA NOW LLC, and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, between 19th February 2013 and 18th April 2013 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonourably converted to your personal use the aggregate sum of $230,000 property of Abubakar Umar Sadiq. Count 16 reads: Marco Antonio Ramirez, USA NOW LLC, and Eagle Ford Instalodge Group LP , between 14th June 2013 and 26th September 2013 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonourably converted to your personal use the aggregate sum of $149,000 property of Olukayode Sodimu. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has confirmed the 3 October oil spill from its facilities at Peremabiri community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area (LGA) of Bayelsa. Michael Adande, the spokesperson for SPDC, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that a Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) to the incident site to unravel the cause and volume of oil discharged was underway. JIV is a statutory probe comprising representatives of the operator, host community and regulatory agencies that generate a report to show the cause, and extent of pollution after every spill is reported. A government-led Joint Investigation Team is currently on a Joint Investigation Visit to the site of the incident to determine the cause and the impact of the incident, Mr Adande said. Plea for clean-up Meanwhile, the people of Peremabiri have appealed to all tiers of government to prevail on the SPDC to immediately embark on a clean-up exercise at the oil spill site. NAN reports that the leak from the Diebu Creek Flow station, operated by SPDC in Peremabiri, discharged a yet-to-be-ascertained volume of crude oil to adjoining areas of the community and the Nun River. Alagoa Morris, Programme Manager, Environmental Right Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), in a reaction, said the oil leak had polluted the ecosystem. He said the resultant pollution from the oil spill has adversely affected the predominantly farming and fishing settlements along the banks of River Nun. Morris, who is also the Technical Adviser to the Bayelsa Governor on Environment, commended the peaceful disposition of the victims. READ ALSO: He urged the regulatory agencies to ensure that SPDC immediately carries out the required clean-up process to save the indigenes of the Peremabiri community from economic and health challenges. Yenimi Timipre, a farmer affected by the leakage, lamented that her fishing gear was rendered useless by crude stains. Also, the Deputy Woman Leader of Peremabiri Community, Favour Morgan, lamented that the spill has destroyed their fishing nets, traps, and crops and polluted the whole aquatic environment, and demanded succour. This oil spill has thrown the Peremabiri people into despair. We are into farming and fishing as our means of livelihood and the toxic oil from Shells oil field has damaged our livelihood sources. We are helpless and in dire need of intervention by way of relief and succour to farmers and fishermen, Mrs Morgan said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, says the federal government is granting 50 per cent subsidy to wheat farmers in the upcoming dry season farming to ensure massive production of the grain in the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Kyari spoke to journalists shortly after inspecting assorted seed wheat productions in Kano, the Kano State capital, on Friday. We are fully committed towards massive wheat production in the upcoming dry seasons farming for local and foreign export actions, he said. He explained that President Tinubus renewed agenda was aimed at making sure that Nigeria secured food production, starting from next month, with wheat farming taking toll in the dry season farming. The minister, who was in Kano and Jigawa State to supervise the seeds production, expressed satisfaction that the local production was the vital component of the farming. Jigawa State has shown a lot of interest in wheat farming by providing 40,000 hectares of land for wheat farming, closing on the 70,000 hectares set aside by the Federal Government to achieve this year, he said. The minister explained that the federal government was making efforts to have enough seeds that would cover the 70,000 hectares provided for wheat farming. The breeder and foundation seeds were checked before it became satisfied to phase out wheat importation before next years irrigation farming. This is because importation of the wheat is taking a lot of Nigerias foreign reserve. Mr Kyari noted that the Federal Government planned to secure the nations food production and be self-sufficient, adding that local production was one way that importation of seeds would completely be stopped. In the next 4 to 5 years with the programmes set out, Nigeria would completely stop importations of wheat seeds and be self-sufficient with the local production that would enhance food production and security. The minister was at the National Wheat Council Warehouses at Sharada, AA Albasu Grains Company and Alyumna Seeds Production Company. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org), on 13 October 2023, announced the conclusion of a negotiated settlement agreement with Unik Construction Engineering (Pty) Limited, thus putting an end to sanctions proceedings for a corrupt practice against Unik Construction Engineering (Pty) Limited. Pursuant to the negotiated settlement agreement, Unik Construction Engineering (Pty) Limited, registered in Botswana, will be under a conditional non-debarment for a period of 12 months, effective 11 October 2023. An investigation conducted by the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption of the African Development Bank Group established that Unik Construction Engineering (Pty) Limited engaged in a corrupt practice in the context of tenders for the Construction of Raw Water Pumping Main, Water Treatment Plant and Treated Rising Main and Construction of Treated Gravity Mains, Storage Reservoirs and Distribution Network, components of the Manzini Region Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Eswatini. A representative of the company made a corrupt offer to an official involved in the procurement process. The Manzini Region Water Supply and Sanitation Project is aimed at providing sustainable water supply and sanitation services. It is expected to meet the potable water requirements of Manzini and surrounding areas and reduce the risk of environmental pollution of the groundwater through the provision of appropriate sanitation services which will in turn improve the well-being of the inhabitants and spur economic growth in the Manzini Region. During the period of conditional non-debarment, Unik Construction Engineering (Pty) Limited will remain eligible to participate in Bank Group-financed activities; however, it will be required to enhance its anti-bribery and integrity compliance programme. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print As part of a working trip to Odesa region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte visited the hospital where Ukrainian defenders who were injured during battles with the enemy in Kherson region are being treated. According to the press service of the Ukrainian head of state, Zelenskyy and Rutte had a conversation with the Ukrainian defenders, who spoke about themselves, their injuries, their state of health and the progress of treatment. "Great respect for all of you. Thank you for protecting our state, for your heroism. I wish you a speedy recovery," Zelenskyy said. The president presented the military with the Order of Courage, of the third class, and the medal For Military Service to Ukraine. In addition, Zelenskyy and Rutte spoke with medical workers. The head of the Ukrainian state thanked the doctors for showing heroism and dedication, just like the soldiers whose lives they saved. "I have always believed and continue to believe that people are the most important thing. And then comes weapons. I believe that our weapons are our people. It is a great honor to congratulate you today, thank you for your daily difficult work and service to Ukraine and Ukrainians," Zelenskyy said. In turn, Rutte said he was amazed by the heroism of the Ukrainians, which he saw with his own eyes and emphasized that he always felt that Ukraine would win. "And after this visit, I am absolutely convinced of this. Thanks to what the Ukrainians are doing at the front, and the way you take care of your people. This is true humanity," the Prime Minister of the Netherlands said. Zelenskyy presented military doctors with the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the third degree, and Danylo Halytsky. The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Friday said President Bola Tinubu has approved the pulling out of FCT Administration from the Treasury Single Account (TSA). Mr Wike, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja, said the development would take Abuja capital city to where it was supposed to be. He lamented that FCT was littered with projects, adding that the projects were being awarded without the requisite financial backing. Mr Wike said that part of the problem was the inclusion of FCTA into the TSA. He, however, described it as a tool that unifies all government accounts in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for effective management of finances and cash position. This, according to him, is not necessary for FCT Administration because it is not a revenue collecting agency for the federal government. Take for example, so many projects were awarded in 2002, 2007, and 2010 and up to now they have not been completed. You can imagine a project that was awarded in 2002, this is 21 years. Imagine what they will cost now, Mr Wike said. The minister added that the utilisation of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was another problem, decrying that the FCTA IGR was spending funds as they came. This, he said, could not tangibly be of any benefit to the administration. So, I went to Tinubu and said, Mr President, if you want FCT to carry out development projects and infrastructure among others, then they must come out from TSA. What is the essence of TSA; blocking of leakages and the rest, FCTA is not a revenue collection agency for the federal government, so what are you blocking? If I need money for projects, I cannot go to the CBN and say give us money, CBN will not give us money. I can go to a commercial bank but how do we pay? I say the best bet is that we must pull out, he said. The minister explained that, if FCTA was out of TSA, it could approach a commercial bank, collect loan, and tie it to its IGR. He said, Assuming I want to collect N400 billion from the bank, I can say our IGR is about N20 billion a month, can you take N10 billion every month and in a year, we have paid N120 billion. That is the only way we can survive it and Mr President graciously agreed with us and approved that we should pull out from the Treasury Single Account. Mr Wike assured the residents of FCT that with this development, a myriad of projects would spring up from next year in FCT. He thanked Mr Tinubu for his foresight, adding, with this development, insecurity in the FCT will soon be a thing of the past. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has stated that synergy with the interior ministry is crucial to the development of solid minerals in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of the President Bola Tinubu administration. To this end, the two ministries intend to set up a joint task team around mining activities and security. Speaking while welcoming the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji- Ojo to his office, on Friday, Mr Alake lauded his counterpart on his giant strides in repositioning the interior ministry since his assumption of office, emphasising the need for collaboration to address the concerns of insecurity plaguing the mining sector. If we are to achieve our aim of developing solid minerals in the country, we have to address the challenges of insecurity, the menace of illegal miners and the activities of immigrants that are not properly documented but mining our resources and illegally carting away funds that should accrue to our nation. We can not achieve this without synergy with the interior ministry, the minister asserted. Buttressing the need to overhaul the security architecture to effectively secure mining sites and their value chain, Mr Alake restated the commitment of President Tinubu in that regard, urging Mr Ojo to join hands with him to make this a reality. Mr Alake informed his guest of his earlier engagement with the National Security Adviser (NSA) on the need for improved intelligence gathering as part of efforts to effectively protect mineral resources and assets of prospective investors. In his response, Mr Tunji-ojo commended his host for his efforts so far in laying a solid foundation for solid mineral development in the country. He assured Mr Alake of his commitment to partner with the ministry to address issues relating to insecurity and illegal mining by undocumented immigrants. Solid minerals have the potential to be Nigerias number one foreign exchange earner with the preponderance of minerals in commercially viable quantities across our nation. The quality of our gold, limestone amongst others is incomparable with others elsewhere. Therefore, we must come together to address the issues you have raised. The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is supposed to be the protector of solid minerals as it comes within its purview of protecting national assets but seems we have to go a step further to establish mine rangers that will be specifically empowered to secure mines and its assets So, going forward, I think we should set up a joint team comprising officials of the Interior and Solid Minerals Development Ministries to work out modalities for collaboration on immigration issues and ensuring proper security of the mining sector. We are ready to make solid minerals the highest revenue earner for the country in line with the Tinubu administration agenda of diversification of the economy, Mr Tunji-Ojo added. Mr Alake expressed gratitude to the interior minister for indicating interest in collaborating with his ministry, stating that with the partnership, solid minerals development is poised to rival crude oil in revenue generation for the country. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Publicity Secretary of the Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the Labour Party (LP), Abayomi Arabambi, has alleged that there is a discrepancy in the credentials submitted to the party by its presidential candidate in the 25 February election, Peter Obi. Mr Arabambi made the allegation on Wednesday during an interview on AIT. He was reacting to Mr Obis earlier press conference on the controversy surrounding President Bola Tinubus certificate released by the Chicago State University (CSU). Mr Arabambi claimed he was among the people who screened Mr Obi before the partys presidential primary. He said the name written on Mr Obis academic certificate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), was different from the name his NYSC certificate bears. I was part of the people who did the screening for him. In the form EC9, we gave him, he wrote that he attended the University of Nigeria Nsukka and he wrote that he finished his youth service but unfortunately, in the final submission of the form he only submitted his school certificate, he said. Mr Arabambi explained that something was fishy because the name Mr Obis school sent for mobilisation was not what was written on his NYSC certificate. On Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Obi challenged President Bola Tinubu to unveil his true identity to save the image of the country. At a press briefing in Abuja, the LP candidate said Nigerians deserved to know for a certainty the true identity of their leader and that this overrides whatever rights the president may have to his privacy. He further stated that the international community deserved to know the true identity of the president with whom they will engage in Nigeria. Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, explained that the Chicago State University saga certificate and the lingering identity question marks of the president have worsened the countrys less-than-glorious image internationally. Obis identity shrouded in mystery Mr Arabambi said he does not understand what the LP presidential candidate wants to achieve with his recent moves and utterances. This destination that he is going to, I dont know what he wants to achieve. We have before the Supreme Court his own petition and the pleadings are not there, you are now calling out someone to come and reveal his true identity. For us, we dont know the true identity of Peter Obi even in the Labour Party because everything was shrouded in secrecy at that time between him and Abure in Asaba, he said. You know we were rushing because we had just a day to do our presidential primary and that was why he was able to get away with it, but we have it on record that Obis name on his NYSC certificate and the one on his University of Nigeria, Nsukka certificate are different, the factional spokesperson said. Obis records in public space DG In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, LP Campaign Director General, Akin Osuntokun, said he does not have what to say about the allegations because all the details of Mr Obi are out there in the public for verifications. You know the kind of things they say. The man who is saying all these things has no consequence. They are just making a nuisance out of themselves. What do you want me to say to such people? he said. He wondered if the statement from Mr Arabambi made any sense. People who are not even in the party where did he screen Peter Obi? Where? When did Peter Obi join the Labour Party and where was he then? he said Background Last week, the CSU presented to Atikus legal with Mr Tinubus academic records following the ruling of a US court. Atiku, a former vice president of Nigeria, had approached the court requesting it to order the court to release the documents. CSU Registrar, Caleb Westberg, made a deposition at the court the following day, giving further details on the documents that were released to Mr Atikus team. In a subsequent press conference last Thursday, the legal team said it identified at least five discrepancies in the documents issued by the CSU. It said the documents were sufficient enough to overturn the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal at the Supreme Court. The team said it established that Mr Tinubu committed forgery, has dual citizenship, and presented an NYSC certificate that has a different name from the one he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the election. During the conference, Atiku also requested Mr Obi and the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, to join him in the fight. He vowed not to give up the fight against the president unless the Supreme Court ruled against him. The PDP has already sought the permission of the Supreme Court where he is appealing the judgement of the PEPC, to present the documents to it. Mr Obi has also approached the Supreme Court to appeal against the judgement of the PEPC. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by the Delta State governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) against Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The appeal by Kenneth Gbagi of the SDP is an offshoot of the petition he filed at the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to challenge Mr Oborevworis victory in the 18 March governorship election in the state. The appeal is not against the final decision of the tribunal. It was filed to challenge only a narrow issue of the tribunals refusal to accept certain evidence the petitioner had sought to tender against Mr Oborevwori. The tribunals decision on the legal point had been subsequently affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, prompting Mr Gbagi to further proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the concurrent decisions of the two lower courts. But a five-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Inyang Okoro, on Thursday, dismissed the appeal. The court dismissed the appeal after convincing Mr Gbagis legal team about the futility of continuing to pursue the case. After the appeal was called up for hearing, the Mr Okoro-led panel of the Supreme Court court fired questions at Mr Gbagis lead counsel, Niyi Akintola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), querying the basis for it. Key among the questions raised by the panel was whether the Supreme Court had the jurisdiction to entertain the appeal, after the statutory period of 180 days that the tribunal had to determine the substantive petition had elapsed. The period allowed for hearing of this matter has elapsed. If the trial court does not have the jurisdiction again, what it means is that this court cannot wear the shoe of the trial court because the 180 days is gone. As it stands, only the final judgement of the tribunal can be appealed. This matter has become academic, Vanguard newspaper quoted Mr Okoro as saying during the panels question-and-answer session with Mr Gbagis lawyer on Thursday. Mr Okoro, also responding to a plea by the appellants lawyer, said the court could not, in the circumstance of the case, invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under section 22 of the Supreme Court Act to entertain the appeal. Following the explanation offered by Mr Okoro, the appellants lawyer applied to withdraw the appeal. With no objection from lawyers to other parties in the case, the Supreme Court, accordingly, dismissed the appeal. Background Mr Gbagi had, after the tribunal concluded hearing on his petition, said he discovered new evidence to prove his petition. He made an application for the reopening of the hearing of his case on the date fixed for the adoption of final written addresses by the tribunal. But the three-member tribunal led by H. C. Ahuchaogu dismissed the application for being incompetent, belated, and strange as the document he sought to introduce was not pleaded in his petition. The tribunal subsequently gave its final judgement that Mr Gbagis petition in which he claimed to be the winner of the disputed election was unmeritorious. It also dismissed Mr Gbagis claim that Governor Oborevwori was not qualified to contest the election. But before the judgement, he appealed against the interlocutory ruling of the tribunal rejecting his request to file fresh evidence. He told the Cout of Appeal that the tribunal had flippantly rejected his fresh proof of evidence, including a government gazette, without considering the justice of the case. He said in his appeal that he disagreed with the decision of the tribunal because the document was not pleaded in the petition. Both the PDPs lawyer, Ekeme Ohwovoriole, a SAN, and Ayo Asala, also a SAN, who is Governor Oborevworis lawyer, had argued that the appeal lacked merit because the tribunal had been dissolved. The Court of Appeal in its judgement dismissed the appeal. The three-member panel of the court led by Muhammed Shuaibu held that the tribunal rightly rejected the evidence Mr Gbagi sought to tender after all the parties had closed their case. It also held that the SDP candidate failed to show how the gazette he sought to tender in evidence was relevant to his petition. The court held that Mr Gbagis application before the tribunal was an abuse of court process. Dissatisfied, Mr Gbagi further appealed to the Supreme Court which also dismissed his appeal on Thursday. By the Supreme Courts decision, Mr Gbagi only has the option of pursuing his substantive appeal against the final judgement of the tribunal. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Benedicta Daudu, a law professor who was caught cheating in an examination at the University of Jos (UNIJOS) and later suspended by the university, has failed to make the final list of recipients of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rank for 2023. The Legal Practitioners and Privileges Committee (LPPC), last month, shortlisted Ms Daudus name alongside 68 other lawyers for the prestigious SAN rank. Many Nigerians criticised the shortlist due to the appearance of Ms Daudus name on it. However, Ms Daudus name was missing from the list of 58 SAN designates who made the final list released on Thursday. It could not be ascertained if Ms Daudus failure to make the list had anything to do with her exam malpractice past. Announcing the final outcome of the selection process on Thursday, the LPPC chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, said in its statement that all four petitions it received concerning the unsuitability of shortlisted candidates were dismissed. The meeting further considered four (4) different petitions written against some of the applicants and determined that each of the petitions lacked merit and thus dismissed. However, the committee did not disclose whether Ms Daudu was one of the applicants whom the petitioners challenged their suitability. It did not also disclose the name of any person whose suitability was challenged in the petitions. The rank is reserved for Nigerian lawyers who have distinguished themselves in legal practice, either in the advocacy or academic lines. The integrity and reputation of the candidates are also part of the major considerations for the award. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported the final list of successful candidates for the award. Background PREMIUM TIMES had extensively reported on how authorities of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Plateau State, suspended Ms Daudu for one academic session after she was caught cheating in a postgraduate course examination in 2016. Ms Daudu, then an associate professor of law and head of the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law of the Faculty of Law at UNIJOS, was caught cheating while taking an examination for another Masters degree in Research and Public Policy in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the same university. The Department of Research and Public Policy of UNIJOS accused her of smuggling in prepared answers during the examination for the Global Context in Public Policy course. Sources said the matter was subsequently reported to the universitys examination committee but some students and faculty claimed there were attempts at cover-ups by the university authorities. Efforts by the university management to sanction Ms Daudu based on her position as a lecturer failed owing to a legal action she instituted against the varsity. However, the university in December 2016, suspended her while trying to properly investigate the issue. But it was later learnt that Ms Daudu and the UNIJOS management reached a settlement agreement, where she resigned her appointment and was paid off. She, from there, left for the Taraba State University, where she became a professor in 2019. The cheating scandal, after it was exposed by PREMIUM TIMES, earned her the sack from then President Muhammadu Buharis Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC). Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Some Air Peace passengers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, lost their cool on Friday morning and angrily demanded a refund of their airfare after their flight was delayed for several hours. The flight P47140 from Lagos to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, was initially scheduled to depart Lagos by 7 a.m. but was shifted to 10 a.m. Some of the passengers were informed quietly by Air Peace officials that the flight had been further shifted to 11 a.m., PREMIUM TIMES learnt. But at about 11:20 a.m., the Air Peace officials brought the now agitated passengers together and informed them that their flight would be delayed further because the aircraft they were supposed to travel in developed technical problems. Hey, stop that nonsense, refund our money to us, a male passenger shouted angrily at an unnamed female official of Air Peace who made the announcement. READ ALSO: What kind of ill-treatment is this? You brought us out to the airport since 7 a.m., and you have been keeping us here as if we dont have what to do with our time, the passenger said, as he continued to shout. Other passengers also shouted at the airline official who was struggling to explain what caused the delay. They demanded a refund of their airfare. One passenger complained that he had an important business meeting to attend virtually by 2 p.m. and that he would really love to be in Uyo by that time. The airline official pointed to Air Peace aircraft parked on the tarmac. Thats the aircraft that was to fly you people to Uyo, she said. Its grounded because of technical problem, the engineers are working on it. But we dont know when they will be through with it. She said that Air Peace was working on an alternative solution, to fly deploy to the Uyo route an aircraft that was flying into Lagos from Akure, Ondo State. So what time are we leaving here (Lagos), a passenger asked the airline official. I am sorry, I cant tell, she responded. They are boarding right now at Akure, so they should be in Lagos by 12:30p.m, she added. By 12:40 p.m., as at the time of filing this report, the expected aircraft was yet to land at the Lagos Airport. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Israels deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate rocket attacks, and cutting off water, power and fuel supply to Palestine, home to more than 2 million people, is a possible war crime, New York-based Human Rights Watch reported. The United Nations also reported that Israel has ordered the use of White phosphorus against Palestinians, a toxic substance that causes excruciating burns and can set homes ablaze. The use of white phosphorus in populated areas is unlawful, according to Human Rights Watch. Israels Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant announced, I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly. This order commands starvation of civilians as a method of warfare which is in violation of international humanitarian law and is a war crime, according to the International Criminal Court Statute, Article 8(2)(b)(xxv)). It may also satisfy the legal threshold for the crime against humanity of inhumane acts (7(1)(K)) and, depending on what happens from here, other crimes against humanity, such as those relating to killing (murder and extermination) (7(1)(a-b)). Also, Israels military on Friday called for the evacuation of Palestinians from the northern Gaza strip to southern Gaza, in a move the UN said would affect 1.1 million people and could result in a calamitous situation. The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City . . . from their homes, southwards, for their own safety and protection, and to move to the area south of . . . the River Gaza, as shown on the map, Associated Press quoted Israel Defense spokesperson Jonathan Conricus as saying. Earlier, the UN said that Israeli military liaison officers had briefed it on the plans, and said that the same order applied to its own staff in Gaza and to tens of thousands of displaced people sheltering in UN facilities, including schools, health centres and clinics. The UN has called on Israel to rescind the order. The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, warning that it could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Speaking on this order, Tom Dannenbaum, a foreign affairs analyst in the US said: The population of Gaza is a civilian population. Clearly, there are Hamas fighters in Gaza and, equally clearly, those individuals are combatants or direct participants in hostilities. They lack civilian protection. However, the presence of those persons does not change the civilian character of the population as a whole, given that the latter is overwhelmingly comprised of civilians, including about 1 million children (e.g. Protocol I, Article 50(3); ICTY Prosecutor v. Karadzic Trial Judgment 2016, paras. 474, 4610 n.5510 ). Moreover, civilians do not lose their protected civilian status by declining to leave their homes or their homeland, because such a declination does not amount to participating directly in hostilities (Protocol I article 51(3)). As such, any operation targeted at the population of Gaza as a whole is an operation targeted at a civilian population, regardless of whether warnings are provided, he said. Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise assault Saturday killing more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers. In response, Israel commenced non-stop aerial bombardment of Gaza. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. Gazas Ministry of Health said on Thursday that the enclaves health system had begun to collapse and that the death toll from Israels attacks was rising with over 1,500 Palestinians killed and 6,049 injured since the beginning of the military escalation. It released photos of what appeared to be gravely injured children being treated in crowded hospital conditions, including on the floor. UN Chief Antonio Guterres wrote on Twitter that Crucial life-saving supplies including fuel, food and water must be allowed into Gaza. We need rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access now. A visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of US weapons, offered a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Associated Press reports that Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gazas 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz was quoted as saying. In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), US Parliament member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: This is collective punishment and a violation of international law. We cannot starve nearly a million children to death over the horrific actions of Hamas, whose disregard for Israeli, Palestinian, and human life overall could not be more clear. We must draw a line. Use of White Phosphorus Israel has been reported to use white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, putting civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries. White phosphorus causes excruciating burns and can set homes afire. Its use in populated areas is unlawful, according to Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border, and interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza, the group said. The US and its allies have not condemned Israel for using White Phosphorus or starving the Gaza population and denying them basic rights but it repeatedly pledged its support for Israel following the Hamas attack. You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists, you will never have to, Mr Blinken said after meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a short video posted on X, Ms Ocasio-Cortez condemned the Bidens administration approach saying The United States responsibility is to human rights. That means supporting the safety of the Israeli people and preventing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Borno State Government has banned mining activities in the state to curb insecurity in the state. This comes days after the federal government, through the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, declared that state governments lacked the powers to ban mining activities in their domains. State ban on mining activities across the country is a really sore point. And it is a constitutional matter. I want to use this opportunity to get to the Nigerian public that no state, and I repeat, no state has the authority to interfere in mining operations, no state has the authority. It is a constitutional matter, Mr Alake said at the 2nd pre-press briefing on the 8th edition of the annual Nigeria Mining Week in Abuja on Wednesday. But barely two days after Mr Alake handed down the warning, the Borno State Government, through the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Usman Tar, issued a statement on Friday, banning mining activities in the state. Mr Tar, a professor, warned players in the mining sector to abide by the ban, warning that any violation will attract the wrath of the law. The state government is working on mapping and securing the mining sites with a view to ensuring law, order and safety of lives. Government is also working on a governance protocol for the mining sector in the state, he added. Mr Tar said that the state government would soon issue a code of conduct and standard operating procedures for the mining value chain to guide the sector. READ ALSO: State govts have no power to ban mining activities Minister Earlier in June, the Taraba State governor, Agbu Kefas, signed an executive order prohibiting illegal mining activities in the state. Mr Kefas, who signed the order during a meeting with traditional rulers at the state government house in Jalingo, said the order would address insecurity in the state. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Israeli embassy in South Africa came under fire from African National Congress (ANC) Deputy Secretary General Nomvula Mokonyane for its perceived arrogance and refusal to discuss the most recent crisis between Israel and Hamas militants, Mail & Guardian reports. While attending the Labour Party conference in the United Kingdom, Mokonyane, the leader of the ANCs international relations committee, criticised the Israeli government, pointing out the inconsistencies in the way the worlds superpowers have responded to the war. As part of Operation al-Aqsa Flood, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Saturday, 7 October, firing about 5,000 missiles into Israel. The ANC-led government has urged for a rapid truce and peace. The operation reportedly claimed the lives of at least 1,200 Israelis, including women, children, and non-Israelis. There were also scores of civilian kidnappings. Over a thousand people died as a result of Israels retaliatory attacks on Gaza, according to Palestinian officials cited by several media outlets. Reports state that among the deceased in the Gaza Strip are women, and children. According to Hamas, the purpose of the attack was to make the international community not forget about the Palestinian people and their predicament. Additionally, the strike occurs as Washington works to normalise relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The ANC made multiple attempts, according to Ms Mokonyane, to communicate with the Israeli administration in South Africa. She clarified that the ANC was not anti-Jewish despite its opposition to apartheid Israel. We are open to engage with the Israeli government and with everyone and anyone. Its just that we have an arrogant embassy and leadership of Israel in South Africa that never wants to engage with the African National Congress, that never wants to engage with civil society in South Africa to an extent where they will get the police to come and stop people from submitting a memorandum, she is reported to have said. Ms Mokonyane also criticised the medias uneven coverage of the war and the international community for their shortcomings. The ANC has come under fire for not denouncing the Hamas attack. While Ms Mokonyane did not condemn Hamas outright, she said that any loss of civilian life was a serious concern. She reiterated the ANCs assertion, arguing that the party wasnt to blame for not using the phrase condemned. Due to the growth of Israeli settlements into Palestinian territory, the ANC in the Western Cape proposed a resolution in 2017 that the national policy conference of the ANC opted to endorse, downgrading South Africas embassy in Israel. After that, the resolution would be brought before the elective conference for approval before it could be presented to the government. READ ALSO: Why Israeli govt frowns at evangelism in its territory Envoy The African Union (AU) and African presidents and foreign ministers are calling for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants. AU chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat released a statement on Sunday, 8 October urging the warring parties to return to the negotiating table. The chairperson urgently appeals to both parties to put an end to the military and to return, without preconditions, to the negotiating table to implement the principle of two states living side by side, he said. Meanwhile, a notification has been received by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) stating that two South Africans died in the ongoing conflict. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, and his political godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Friday, stood in as trustees for over 1,800 couples in a mass wedding that held simultaneously across the 44 local government areas of the state. The mass wedding took place at 44 centres in the 44 local government areas, with Messrs Yusuf and Kwankwaso symbolically appearing as trustees for all the couples at a segment of the ceremony conducted at the palace of Emir of Kano where 300 couples were joined at a go. The couples, who are mostly previously divorced, are members of the Kwankwasiyya a political movement founded by Mr Kwankwaso. They were selected by the states Hisbah board (moral police). Mr Kwankwaso stood as the brides trustee while the governor, Mr Yusuf stood the trustee for the grooms. The governor paid the uniform N50,000 bride price on behalf of each of the grooms. The governor had earlier earmarked over N800 million for the procurement of furniture, clothing materials, and food items, including bride price for the Hisbah board who organised the wedding. The head of the Hisbah, Aminu Daurawa, told journalists that each of the brides would receive a set of bed and bedding, including N20,000 as economic empowerment. The ceremony was attended by top figures of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) and religious leaders. The Emir of Kano was represented by Yusuf Nabahani, the Madakin Kano. The organisers announced that the festivities would continue on Saturday with walima (traditional feast) taking place at the Government House. The governor explained that the mass wedding initiative would strengthen the bonds between couples and underscore the commitment of the state government to support its citizens and celebrate the institution of marriage. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Kapital Banks assets as of October 1, 2023 have amounted to 8.5 bln. manats, while the volume of the Banks credit portfolio has reached 4 bln. manats. The total amount of client deposits in Kapital Bank as of October 1, 2023 have amounted to 6.5 billion manats. As of October 1, 2023, the total capital of Kapital Bank after tax deduction was 792 million manats, while the ordinary and preference shares was 265 million manats. Kapital Bank has ratings from such international rating agencies as Moodys and Standard & Poors. These ratings are among the highest in the banking sector of Azerbaijan. Kapital Bank, the country's first bank, is part of PASHA Holding. Kapital Bank has the largest service network in Azerbaijan with 117 branches and 31 departments all over the country. For more detailed information about the banks products and services, please refer to https://kapitalbank.az website, 196 Call Centre or the banks various social network pages. To apply for a consumer loan visit https://kbl.az/prgtk, for a Birbank installment card visit https://kbl.az/prcrc. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Abdulazeez Adediran, popularly called Jandor, has filed an appeal to challenge the judgement of the Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal which upheld the re-election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. He filed the appeal before the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal. Mr Adediran filed the suit together with his party, PDP. A copy of the appeal was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday. Mr Adediran said his appeal with 34 grounds of appeal filed on 13 October (today, Friday) was an expression of his dissatisfaction with the verdict of the tribunal. This comes about 18 days after the tribunal delivered the judgement affirming Mr Sanwo-Olus election on 25 September. He claimed that the judgement was characterised by miscarriage of justice, and prayed the Court of Appeal to set it aside. He said the tribunal erred in law and reached a wrong conclusion when it dismissed his petition challenging the qualification of Mr Sanwo-Olu for the 18 March governorship election. He said his petition was premised on the provision of Section 177(c) and 182(1)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution. By this action, I reaffirm my commitment to give a breath of fresh air in governance in Lagos State by ensuring that the provisions of the constitution and the electoral laws as regards the election of a truly qualified governor, is upheld, he said. Background The Lagos Governorship Election Tribunal had on 25 September dismissed Mr Adedirans petition as well as that of Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party challenging Mr Sanwolus election. The court upheld the return of Mr Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of the state. The tribunal held that the petition of Mr Adediran is dead on arrival and it deserves a befitting burial. Ruling on whether Mr Sanwo-Olu and his deputy Obafemi Hamzat were validly nominated by their party, the APC, to contest the election, the tribunal cited relevant provisions of the constitution and the Electoral Act and a plethora of decided cases to the effect that this was a pre-election issue that did not relate to the conduct of the polls being challenged. The judge noted that they are members of political parties and educated up to school certificate level. I affirmed the election of Sanwo-Olu Babajide Olushola as the duly elected governor of Lagos state, Nigeria, Mikhail Abdullahi, a member of the three-member panel presiding over the tribunal, said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The senator representing Nasarawa South, Mohammed Onawo, has criticised the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, for allegedly approving legislative bills without following due process. He accused the Senate president of not ensuring that two-thirds of the senators are present during debates on bills before they are passed. Mr Onawo, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the criticism when he raised a point of order against the amendment of the bill establishing the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) at the plenary on Wednesday. The amendment seeks to transfer the control and supervision of programmes under the NSIP from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to the Presidency. The bill, presented by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, emanated from the executive arm. Mr Onawo questioned Mr Akpabio for hurriedly approving sensitive bills. It takes the total of the senators seated but have we taken into consideration how many senators are seated and how many people have agreed that we say we are two-thirds. And apart from that, this point is very necessary because since we started this Senate, you said it is corrective Senate. We have been ambushed all the time that very sensitive bills are brought and are expected to be passed with the speed of light, which is not good for this country. Every senator here is supposed to be adequately informed; he does his research, comes to the floor and makes a positive contribution. But in a situation where even money bills are brought and we are expected to pass it within two hours, it doesnt make sense, it doesnt go well for this country. Sir, you are on the seat today; history will judge you that things like this are not good for this country, the senator said. Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, who also contributed to the point of order, explained that the two-third requirement to pass a bill is based on the number of senators present at the plenary and not the statutory number of senators 109. There are few instances like the amendment of the constitution, some parts require two-thirds. That means the senators before voting will be informed that there will be a vote on a certain matter and they need to be present so that two-thirds will be achieved. But any decision that comes up like this during the sitting of the senate, the two-third means those that are here. Responding to Mr Onawos comment, Mr Akpabio said if any bill hurriedly passed was in the interest of Nigerians, history would judge him right. If what we pass is good for the country, history will judge me right. If what we are passing with the speed of light is in the interest of Nigerians, history will judge me right. I dont think we would come here to pass a bill that will not be in the interest of Nigerians, So, your point of order is noted. PREMIUM TIMES reports that the 10th Senate has not passed any bill since its inauguration on 13 June. The upper chamber adjourned for a six-week annual recess on 17 August after the confirmation of 45 out of the 48 ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu. Mr Akpabio also announced the composition of 74 standing committees on that day. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE PRESIDENT TINUBU MOURNS EX-INTERIOR MINISTER, BELLO MAITAMA YUSUF President Bola Tinubu has expressed deep sadness over the passing of a former minister and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bello Maitama Yusuf. The President extends his deepest sympathy and condolences to Senator Yusufs family and friends, as well as the government and people of Jigawa State. A true believer in Nigerias unity and stability, Senator Maitama Yusuf contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of this country. In the public service, he was selfless. He was dedicated to effective service delivery in order to improve the lives of Nigerians. He served Nigeria meritoriously as the Honourable Minister in the Federal Ministries of Interior and Commerce before being elected into the Nigerian Senate by his people. Senator Yusuf was widely regarded as an advocate for good governance, transparency, and youth empowerment during his time in the Senate. Later in life, he was engaged in business, and he made success out of it. ALSO READ: Tinubu appoints two new presidential aides Nigerians will fondly remember and honour his memory, particularly for the courageous and pivotal role he played in countering attempts by anti-democratic forces to undermine the countrys democracy by seeking to extend the constitutional term limits of elected leaders, the President affirmed. President Tinubu prayed that Almighty Allah grant the soul of Sardaunan Dutse eternal rest and give succour to all those who grieve over this irreplaceable loss. Chief Ajuri Ngelale Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) October 13, 2023 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful All praise is due to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be upon Allahs Messenger, his Companions and whosoever follows his guidance. Dear brothers and sisters, fear Allah in your words and deeds, for: Whoever fears Allah, and keeps his duty to Him, He will provide him a way out (of every difficulty), and He will provide for him from sources he could never imagine. [Quran, 65: 2-3] Dear servants of Allah, the greatest blessing that Allah bestowed on mankind is His sending of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) with a pure religion that brings all good to mankind and protects them from all that is evil through its principles of justice, brotherhood, freedom and peace. Respected servants of Allah, the faith (Iman) that the Prophet established its pillars is the source of all good and felicity for those who follow its guidance. This faith (Iman) is the pure tree with ripe and everlasting fruits. Allah Almighty said: See you not how Allah set forth a parable? A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches (reach) to the sky. Giving its fruits at all times by the leave of its Lord [Quran,14: 24] Islam is the treasure of all good for mankind without which they will go astray and live in misery and loss. Allah the Most High said: By the time! Verily! Man is in loss, except those who believe and do righteous good deeds and recommend one another to the truth and recommend one another to patience. [Quran, 103: 1-3] The Islamic creed with which the Prophet Muhammad was sent is the bringer of all good and prosperity and the preventer of all evil and its causes. Whoever adheres to it will ever remain on the straight path. He will not be carried away by whims nor deceived by the beauties of this world. Allah the Most High said: Then whenever there comes to you guidance from Me and whoever follows My guidance, there shall be no fear on them, nor shall they grieve. [Quran, 2: 38] Respected brothers and sisters, know that only through true faith (Iman) can man know his appropriate place and march on the path marked for him with light and sure knowledge. He will follow only the right guidance and live his life in righteousness in line with his pure nature and clean conscience far from ugly deeds and behaviours. My beloved people, the impact of faith (Iman) is great in the mind and its fruits are wonderful. Apart from its purification of the heart and developing it, it is also an infinite living treasure. It gives man power, perseverance, firmness, peace of mind and hope in this world where there is unending war between truth and falsehood; good and evil, it gives absolute security, complete guidance and perfect light. Allah the Most High said: Those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah, Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest. [Quran, 13: 28] Whoever lives in the vastness of faith (Iman), holds fast to its strong rope and follows its illuminating light by living a life that will make him understand the infinite wisdom of Allah, His vast Mercy, His past laws and His Divine Power. That will then give him peace of mind, because he will know then that whatever good that comes his way has already been predestined for him and that whatever calamity that he suffers has also been predestined for him. He will have no doubt nor worries but march on with firm step towards his virtuous goals. The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: Observe the rights of Allah, He will protect you; observe His rights upon you, and you will find him before you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek assistance, seek it from Allah. Know that if the whole world gathered together to benefit you, they could not do so except by that which Allah has destined for you; and if they gathered together to harm you, they could not do so except by that which Allah has destined for you. The pens have been raised and the sheets have dried. (Which means everything has already been predestined by Allah). True faith gives man certainty, confidence and power to persevere. If he is in bliss, he will not be arrogant, but will rather praise his Lord and thank Him and if he is afflicted with calamity, he will not despair, but will rather have patience and be satisfied with his fate. This is because he exemplifies his faith with clarity and power of will, and derives his power of forbearance during hardship from it. Nothing will then be able to divert him from his faith and his seeking for the pleasure of his Lord. He will rather increase in purity, sincerity, truthfulness, patience and firmness. The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: The affair of a believer is wonderful; all his affairs are good for him and that is for none except the believer. When he gets a bliss he thanks Allah for that, and that is good for him and when a calamity befalls him, he is patient and that is also good for him. [Muslim] Dear brothers and sisters, the nation or society that is governed by the Islamic teachings and its life is controlled by the realities of faith (Iman) is a powerful nation or society in itself; a nation or society that has a natural immunity that enables it with permission of Allah to overcome all hardships and trials; and prevent its children from being affected by despair during calamities. It will rather be a nation or society that calamities and trials only increase it in good, reform and constructive life. It is actually a nation or society that has passed through all kinds of tribulations in its long history. If any other nation or society were to have a similar experience, it would have disappeared from the pages of history. Yes, it is a nation or society that has been promised a clear victory. Allah Almighty said: Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds that He will certainly grant them succession in the earth as He granted it to those before them and that He will grant them the authority to practise their religion, that which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. [Quran, 24: 55] Dear servants of Allah, abandoning the pleasant source of faith (Iman), its realities and light of Islam cause dangerous crises and problems, perpetual darkness and a life that is devoid of happiness or bliss. Allah the Most High said: But whoever turns away from My reminder, verily, for him is a life of hardship and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection. [Quran, 20: 124] The winds of evils that blow among mankind these days as well as wars, crisis insecurity and instability are all a result of keeping away from the divine path, true faith and the correct concept of freedom and equality. Allah Almighty said: And transgress not the limits. Truly Allah likes not the transgressors. [Quran, 2: 190] Therefore as long as the life is not based on the foundation laid by the Creator, as long as the wise men of the world do not fully recognise sources of evil and as long as the solution to the worlds problems is not based on comprehensive justice and common-sense, there will never be any visible end to wars, crises and insecurities, and the ship of this world will not find its way to the port of peace regardless of efforts exerted towards this goal. Respected brothers and sisters, some world communities are afflicted with some calamities. The frightening danger does not lie in these incidents but in the methods taken to face the problem and overcome it. Common sense should be used in tackling them and proper steps should be taken to avoid their reoccurrence. Investigation should be adequately made and conclusions should not be hastily drawn in order to avoid more severe consequences. Allah Almighty said: O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with a piece of news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance and afterwards you become regretful for what you have done. [Quran, 49: 6] The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: Deliberateness is from Allah, while haste is from Shaitan (Satan). Dear brothers and sisters, the Ummah nowadays are passing through difficult situations and they are surrounded by dangers that threaten their very existence. They are therefore looking towards better conditions. However, there is a fact that should be clear to everybody: this community of ours has a special nature that distinguishes it from other people; that is its belief which is based on total and complete submission to Allah, the Exalted. It is this very belief and action according to its injunctions in all spheres of ones life that can guarantee the much desired peace and security. Allah Almighty said: Truly, Allah defends those who believe. [Quran, 22: 38] Therefore, there is no way for this nation out of its present predicaments except by faithfully returning to Allah, adhering truly to the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and being sincere towards its religion inwardly and outwardly. There is no way out except by loving Allah and his Messenger with all the hearts and abiding by His law in governance and arbitration and in all matters of life. Allah Almighty said: It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any opinion in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error. [Quran, 33: 36] Now is the time for dead hearts to awake! Now is the time for the heedless to remember Allah and for the one deep in the sea of sin to cling to the ship of salvation! Allah the Most High said: Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by Allahs reminder and that which has been revealed of the truth, lest they become as those who received the Scripture (the Torah and Gospel) before and the term was prolonged for them and so their hearts were hardened? And many of them were rebellious, disobedient (to Allah). [Quran, 57: 16] O Allah! Have mercy on humanity and cure us of the hate and evil that are destroying us and dividing us through wars, ethno-religious crisis, armed banditry, terrorism, and other acts of violence and intolerance. O Allah! Have mercy on all of those who are suffering from starvation, hunger and poverty, relieve their difficulties and provide them with what they need, as You are the best of Providers! O our Lord, You are the most Merciful of all Who have mercy. Please have mercy on us, in all of our affairs in this life and the next. Our Creator, please have mercy on us and our family on the Day of Judgment, when Your Mercy will be most important. O Allah, have mercy on our brothers and sisters in Islam and our brothers and sisters in humanity. Our Merciful Creator, please strengthen the hearts of those who are innocent but serving time in prison wrongfully. Our Lord, have mercy on all who continue to suffer due to disasters of the past which others have forgotten. Have mercy on those who are in physical pain. O Merciful One, please have mercy on those who are still struggling to rebuild their lives in the war zones of the world. Give them strength and resilience. Our Creator, increase us in love for and mercy toward the poor, hungry, poverty-stricken and oppressed wherever they are. Our Sustainer, please have mercy on us and our family as we struggle to deal with our family problems. Please strengthen us and put love and mercy in our hearts for each other. O Merciful One! Please cure us of our sickness and grant us good health. Our Lord, You are the Provider, please have mercy on us and provide for us. O Allah, have mercy on everyone who is struggling and suffering financially. Relieve their suffering, help them pay off their debts, cover their expenses, and increase their Halal earning. Our Merciful Lord, relieve the suffering of the sick and grant us a cure for every disease. May Allah bring an end to the suffering and oppression against our brothers and sisters in Palestine and everywhere, ameen. All praises and thanks are due to Allah alone, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family, his Companions and his true and sincere followers. Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumuah Mosque and Late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okene Mosque, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com; or +2348038289761. This Jumuah Khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for delivery today Friday, Rabiul Awwal 28, 1445 AH (October 13, 2023). Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print When renewed hostilities broke out on 7 September, the first reaction of President Joe Biden was not how to bring the conflict, which is eight decades old, to an end, but how to further prolong it. He assured Israel of rock solid support and military supplies. An old man like him ought to have learnt the good lessons of one of his predecessors, President Bill Clinton, for whom the eruption of fresh conflicts between the two sides, meant that there was little or no time to resolve the conflict. The human slaughter going on in Israel and Palestine are horrendous. In the first five days of the conflict, over 2,500 human beings were slaughtered. That is 500 per day. The Israelis tried to find their feet, with many taking shelter in bunkers, while the Palestinians, whose food, fuel, water and electricity supplies have been cut off, had a huge supply of bombs from the skies. Such a time of mass suffering and sorrow calls for empathy and the demands of all to work for peace. Tragically, this is the time chosen by some political and religious leaders to take sides in the conflict and pour petrol in the raging fires. The Bible proclaims in Mathew 5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. It is a declaration that anybody who wants to be Christ-like must work for the peaceful resolution of conflicts, whenever they occur. The peacemaker is the one working to reconcile human beings with others and with God. It is an emphasis that He who we serve is The God of peace (Romans 15:33). While men like Pope Francis mourned the many killed and prayed for their families, and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) took a similar line for peace, men of God like Dr Enoch Adeboye, who leads the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) took sides, praying for one of the sides in the conflict to triumph. Adeboye, with a PhD in Mathematics, said he and his followers are praying for the victory of their Beloved Brothers in Israel. What gibberish is this? Who are his beloved brothers in Israel; the 73.6 per cent who are Jewish, the 18.1 per cent who are Muslims, the 1.9 per cent who are Christians or the 1.6 per cent who are Druze? Who told him that Israelites are Christians or that Israel is a Christian state? Adeboye prayed that: The Almighty God, the only one of Israel will give you absolute victory and give you permanent peace from now Can there be permanent peace anywhere? In all these, I am ashamed that Adeboye did not consider the Palestinians or rather, does not think they and their children are human beings. With thousands dying and many more injured, Adeboye said: We are praying we will get very, very good results very soon What good results can he be praying for? The annihilation of the Palestinians? Can the mass slaughter of human beings over land and politics bring good results? Adeboye needs to ask for forgiveness and pray for peace for all humans impacted by this unnecessary conflict, be they Israelis or Palestinians. One of the men stoking the fires is American Republican politician, David Bog, whose mainly false claims that Five times Palestinians rejected Israels olive branch time to rethink? have gone viral. He purports to be a researcher but his main book, Standing With Israel, has been found to be quite unreliable. He should also realise that as the General Overseer of the RCCG, his words carry weight, therefore he needs to weigh them before uttering them. These are times that call for statesmen who can work for a quick ceasefire, bring both sides to the table and fashion out a programme to end the 80-year conflict. Tragically, what we find mainly are leaders whose primary objectives are taking sides and stocking the fires. When renewed hostilities broke out on 7 September, the first reaction of President Joe Biden was not how to bring the conflict, which is eight decades old, to an end, but how to further prolong it. He assured Israel of rock solid support and military supplies. An old man like him ought to have learnt the good lessons of one of his predecessors, President Bill Clinton, for whom the eruption of fresh conflicts between the two sides, meant that there was little or no time to resolve the conflict. That was why he convened the 2000 Camp David Peace negotiations. One of the men stoking the fires is American Republican politician, David Bog, whose mainly false claims that Five times Palestinians rejected Israels olive branch time to rethink? have gone viral. He purports to be a researcher but his main book, Standing With Israel, has been found to be quite unreliable. In a review of the book in the Journal of Church and State, Nikolas K. Gvosdev wrote that the book: suffers from the fact that its author wants to make definitive statements on a variety of issues while ignoring inconvenient details. In the said video, Bog claims that Israel has offered the Palestinians a state of their own five times and that five times the Palestinians turned it down. He claims the first time was in 1936, when Arabs rebelled against the British colonialists who had seized the areas from the Ottoman Empire. If the areas were colonised by the British, and there was no Jewish state, how could the Jews have been in a position to offer the Palestinians a state of their own? It is not surprising that Iran supports Hamas. Can this be a justification for Britain, which created the problems in the Middle East, to support Israel? Children, women, the elderly are dying in this conflict; the immediate task of humanity is to stop the slaughter. The second instance, he claims, was in 1947, when the United Nations suggested a two-state solution. In other words, such an offer came either from the UN or the British colonial masters, and certainly not from Israel. Anyone conversant with the history of the Middle East knows that at that time, Jewish immigrants who came from Europe and were trying to set up a Jewish state, were involved in armed conflicts against their Palestinian neigbours and the British colonialists. One of the most infamous acts of this group was the 22 July, 1946 bombing of the King David Hotel, in which 91 died, including 25 Britons, 41 Arabs and 17 Jews. The bombing was by the Irgun terror group led by Menachem Begin, who became the Prime Minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983. At the time of the bombing, the hotels southern wing housed the headquarters of the British Colonial administration. The bombing was part of the attempt by the Jewish group to force the British out. So how could Israel have offered the Palestinians a state and how could the latter have declined the offer? He said that after the 1967 war, the Arab states ruled out negotiations with Israel. How is this tantamount to an offer and rejection of statehood by Palestinians. Bog claims the fourth time was the Camp David Accord. Anyone can google this. There was no agreement at Camp David, so there could have been neither an offer nor rejection of statehood. The only Bog claim that is correct is that in 2008, Israel offered the Palestinians statehood, but their leader Mahmoud Abass declined on the basis that he should be given the chance to study the map produced by Israel before accepting the offer. This to me was a sensible demand. It is not surprising that Iran supports Hamas. Can this be a justification for Britain, which created the problems in the Middle East, to support Israel? Children, women, the elderly are dying in this conflict; the immediate task of humanity is to stop the slaughter. Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Amidst the cacophony of narratives, historical grievances, and the intricate web of geopolitics, it is crucial to acknowledge a fundamental truth: both Israelis and Palestinians hold legitimate claims to the land, and both have endured profound suffering. However, the path to a sustainable peace solution remains elusive, hindered by a conspicuous lack of genuine commitment from either side. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most protracted and contentious conflicts in modern history, marked by deep-seated narratives and entrenched viewpoints. On one side, there are staunch supporters of Israel, who see the Jewish state as a bastion of democracy and a fulfillment of biblical prophecies. For them, any Palestinian resistance is seen as an affront to Gods will. On the other side, there are those who empathise with the suffering of the Palestinian people, framing Israel as an occupying force, an oppressor, and a violator of human rights. In a world that often seeks clear-cut heroes and villains, the reality is far more nuanced. By delving into the intricate historical backdrop of this conflict and peeling back the layers of narratives woven over time, we uncover a profound and multifaceted reality. It is within this complexity that we can discover the key to genuinely understanding and potentially unearthing the pathway to lasting solutions in the area, should we earnestly desire them. The roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict trace back thousands of years, with Jews asserting a deep historical connection to the land of Israel. By one historical account, the Jewish peoples loss of sovereignty and displacement from their homeland began with the Roman conquest in 70 CE and culminated with the brutal suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 136 CE. The Bar Kokhba revolt was a significant Jewish uprising against Roman rule that occurred in the early Second century CE and was led by a man named Simon bar Kokhba. It aimed to restore Jewish sovereignty in the region. The rebellion, which began in 132 CE, initially saw some success, as Jewish forces captured Jerusalem and other territories. However, the Romans, under the command of Emperor Hadrian, eventually managed to suppress the revolt in 136 CE. The aftermath of this revolt was devastating for the Jewish population. Widespread destruction, loss of life, and enslavement of Jews followed. This catastrophic outcome marked a turning point in Jewish history, with many Jewish communities scattered throughout various parts of the world, leading to the Jewish diaspora, which had a profound and lasting impact on Jewish identity and history. However, it is equally important to note that beyond the narrative of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, territorial Palestine boasts a rich and intricate history, with a multitude of ethnicities having inhabited the region for generations. Among these diverse ethnic groups are Arabs, Bedouins, Druze, Samaritans, Armenians, Assyrians, Assyrian Christians, Greek Orthodox Christians, and Copts. These are merely a few illustrations of the varied ethnic and religious communities that have resided in territorial Palestine for generations, collectively weaving the rich tapestry of cultures and histories that characterise the region. Fast forward to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Zionist movement emerged in Europe, advocating for the reestablishment of a Jewish homeland in their historic land. This movement, which gained momentum following the Holocaust, was bolstered by the Balfour Declaration in 1917, expressing support for a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. With the formal dissolution of the Ottoman Empire that had ruled the region after World War I, the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations, granted Britain the mandate to govern Palestine. During this period, Jewish immigration to the region increased, further contributing to the demographic complexity. Then, in 1947, the United Nations passed a resolution recommending the partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with international administration over Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by Jews but rejected by Arabs. For centuries, the land was home to Palestinian communities, their deep roots entwined with the regions rich history. However, the birth of the Jewish state in 1948 led to the immediate displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians, a humanitarian crisis of enormous magnitude. The crisis that followed that pivotal moment continues to shape the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict uptill this day. At the heart of the Arab states and Palestinian leaders rejection of the UN partition plan was a profound objection based on the demand for fairness. They perceived the plan as unduly favouring the Jewish state by allocating a significant portion of the territory to it. This allocation appeared disproportionate, given that the Jewish population was a minority in the region. It is also imperative to emphasise the profound historical context that precedes the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. For centuries, the land was home to Palestinian communities, their deep roots entwined with the regions rich history. However, the birth of the Jewish state in 1948 led to the immediate displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians, a humanitarian crisis of enormous magnitude. The crisis that followed that pivotal moment continues to shape the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict uptill this day. This glaring imbalance laid the groundwork for the Arab-Israeli War of 1947-1949, a turbulent period that further complicated the regional landscape and sowed the seeds of the enduring Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since 1948, the Arab-Israeli conflict has unfolded as a long and complex narrative, marked by territorial changes and ongoing tensions. Over the decades, Israel claimed additional territories through wars and occupations, further diminishing the land available for Palestinians. The Six-Day War in 1967 resulted in Israels control of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. These territories, initially intended for a future Palestinian state, became occupied lands under Israeli rule. The situation worsened as Israel established settlements in these occupied areas, leading to a gradual encroachment upon Palestinian territories. These settlements, considered illegal under international law, have been a source of ongoing conflict, often leading to protests, clashes, and tensions. Palestinians have found themselves living in fragmented territories, with restricted movement, economic hardship, and limited access to essential resources. Blockades and checkpoints have become part of the daily life, and Palestinian communities in the West Bank are surrounded by Israeli settlements and a separation barrier. In the Gaza Strip, Hamas, an organisation with both political and militant wings, took control in 2007, leading to an Israeli blockade. This blockade has severely restricted the flow of goods and people, contributing to dire living conditions in the densely populated area. The cycle of violence between Israel and Palestine appears never-ending. The best we can hope for is the occasional ceasefire, providing a brief respite within the continuous tumult. What we witness here is the ugliest facet of human nature, characterised by unquenchable greed and an insatiable thirst for power. This, my friends, is the stark and unvarnished truth. The Palestinian political landscape is divided between Fatah, a more moderate faction, and Hamas, which Israel and much of the international community label as a terrorist organisation. The Palestinian leaderships divisions have hindered efforts to present a unified front in negotiations with Israel. Hamass election in Gaza has complicated peace efforts, as their militant actions and calls for the destruction of Israel have been met with resistance from the Israeli government. This lack of unity within the Palestinian leadership has made it challenging to engage in meaningful negotiations. Amidst the cacophony of narratives, historical grievances, and the intricate web of geopolitics, it is crucial to acknowledge a fundamental truth: both Israelis and Palestinians hold legitimate claims to the land, and both have endured profound suffering. However, the path to a sustainable peace solution remains elusive, hindered by a conspicuous lack of genuine commitment from either side. Consider the stark contrast in leadership. Hamas leaders amass vast donations in the name of a war they acknowledge as unwinnable. Tragically, it is the everyday Palestinians who bear the brunt of Israeli retaliatory actions. Meanwhile, many of these so-called leaders and their families reside in opulent villas in Qatar and elsewhere, shielded from the harsh realities of e thIsraeli artillery. In parallel, certain Israeli leaders have pursued policies that only serve to further stoke tensions and obstruct the path to peace. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in particular, faced controversies and legal challenges during his earlier time in office. In a bid to shield himself from prosecution and bolster his political standing, he allied with extreme right-wing factions within Israeli politics. This alliance perceives any notion of compromise with the Palestinians as nothing short of a criminal act. Moreover, while some Arab nations, such as the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt, publicly advocate for the Palestinian cause, behind closed doors, they strike deals with Israel, driven by their own geopolitical interests and, often, a profound concern regarding Tehran. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict becomes just one piece of a much larger regional puzzle for them. As for the United States, it claims to be an impartial mediator in the peace process, yet the reality tells a different story. The influence of powerful Jewish lobbyists in Washington is undeniable, casting a shadow over the concept of impartiality. So where does this all leave us? The cycle of violence between Israel and Palestine appears never-ending. The best we can hope for is the occasional ceasefire, providing a brief respite within the continuous tumult. What we witness here is the ugliest facet of human nature, characterised by unquenchable greed and an insatiable thirst for power. This, my friends, is the stark and unvarnished truth. Osmund Agbo is the author of Black Grit, White Knuckles: The Philosophy of Black Renaissance. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Agro Preciso Ltd, one of Africas leading Agro-business and Precision Agriculture company, has announced Tombari Sibe as the chairman of its Board of Directors. Mr Sibe is a respected technology executive and business leader with over 20 years of experience. The announcement, according to a press release from the company secretary, Oluwagbenga Adeosun, was made recently by the CEO of the company, Nurudeen Lawal. Read the companys press release below: AGRO PRECISO LTD ANNOUNCES DR TOMBARI SIBE AS CHAIRMAN In a strategic move to reposition the company, bring in innovation, and deepen global handshakes, collaborations, and partnerships, the Board of Directors of Agro Preciso Ltd., after a rigorous and comprehensive nomination and selection process, is excited to announce the appointment of Dr. Robinson Tombari Sibe as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company. Dr. Sibe will bring to bear his incredible record in business and industry leadership, helping to reposition Agro Preciso as one of Africas leading Agro-business and Precision Agriculture company. Dr. Sibe is a respected technology executive and business leader with over 20 years of experience in delivering critical assignments in complex institutions, spanning different sectors, such as Technology, Environment, Financial services, and Education. His experience covers business leadership, engineering, digital transformation and technology deployments, cybersecurity, Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing, environmental management, among others. Dr. Sibe has a Ph.D. in Information Technology and a Master of Science degree in Digital Forensics, both from the University of the Cumberlands, USA. He also holds a Master of Engineering in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt and a bachelors degree in computer engineering from Rivers State University. Dr. Sibe is an Official Member of the Forbes Technology Council and a Fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers. He also holds many industry certifications. Announcing this, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Engr. Nurudeen Samuel Lawal noted that, right from the inception of Agro Preciso, Dr. Sibe has been playing a strategic role, operating quietly from the backend as Advisor to the Board, and we are excited that he has accepted to serve as our Chairman. Dr. Sibes long history of business and technological leadership, his impeccable track record as a technopreneur, his experience advising global clients, and his impressive footprints in several sectors will be critical to leading Agro Preciso to the next level as a leading continental player in the sector. Agro Preciso will leverage his experience in innovative leadership, technology disruption, global linkages, and unique business insights to reposition the company as Africas leading agro-business and technology company and, by extension, greater profit for shareholders and stakeholders of the company. Agro Preciso Ltd. is an Agro-business and technology company with head office at Suite 410, NAWA Complex, Abuja, Nigeria, and branches nationwide. For more information, visit our website at www.agrop.co or send us an email at info@agrop.co. Signed: Adeosun, Oluwagbenga Adetayo Esq Company Secretary Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The 2023 Annual meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which started on Monday 9 October continues in Marrakech, Morocco till Sunday, 15 October. The big annual global event entails meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The events attract key players in global finance and business such as central bankers, government functionaries, multilateral chief executives, civil society groups and other who discuss issues of global concern. This years gathering is living up to expectation with leaders in different sectors gracing the events. Africas richest man and the founder of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote is among the business big shots that are attending the event. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Lagos State Government has sealed off Mile 12 and Owode Onirin markets over indiscriminate waste disposal and parking. Tokunbo Wahab, the states commissioner for environment, made this known via his X handle. Mile 12 International Food Market is located at the Ikorodu end of Lagos State. It is the terminus of food brought from the northern part of the country and neighbouring countries. At the market, various perishables such as pepper, yam, onions and others are sold. Its the wholesalers preferred market for foodstuffs. The markets were sealed off for various environmental contraventions such as filthy environment, blocked and littered drainages, illegal and indiscriminate parking and abandonment of trucks on the major road. READ ALSO: As I instructed, enforcement operatives from LAWMA and KAI in a joint operation in the early hours of today (Friday, October 13) sealed up the Mile 12 International Market and Owode Onirin market along Ikorodu Road for indiscriminate dumping and burning of refuse, filthy environment, blocked and littered drainages, menace of illegal and indiscriminate parking and abandonment of trucks on the major road, thereby impeding the free flow of traffic, the commissioner posted. Owode Onirin on the other hand is a one-stop auto shop situated at Kosofe local government area along Ikorodu Road in Lagos. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Young Progressives Party (YPP) says it is exploring legal options toward challenging the defection of Ifeanyi Ubah to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Mr Ubah, the senator representing Anambra South, was until his defection on Thursday, the only YPP senator in the National Assembly. Egbeola Wale-Martins, the YPP National Publicity Secretary, said this when he addressed journalists on Friday in Abuja. He said the defection of Mr Ubah to the APC was not due to irreconcilable differences that had rendered the party dysfunctional. He noted that Mr Ubah shouldnt have left when he ought to be helping to consolidate the gains of the party at the 2023 general elections. The news making the rounds on the defection of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah to the All Progressives Congress (APC) is unfortunate, especially at a time when we should be consolidating on our gains in the just concluded general election. We ought to be building a formidable opposition to challenge the reckless ruling party responsible for the several woes currently being faced by Nigerians. READ ALSO: Ubah may have defected to the APC for a number of reasons but irreconcilable differences within the party is definitely not one of it. And there is no need for crying wolf where there is none, he said. The YPP official said that there was no need for people who left to try and de-market the party at the expense of millions of members and followers. Legal option We are aware of the legal implications of his action and are ready to explore all available options within the ambit of the law. After the National Working Committee would have met to decide on the way forward. More information on this matter will be made available to the public in the coming days, he said. Mr Wale-Martins said that it was pertinent to state that the leadership of the party had been consistent in supporting not just Ubah but all candidates who ran and won the election on the partys platform. He said that the partys leadership was willing to continue to provide necessary support to its members as long as they did not waver in keeping faith with the party. So we condemn the APC for its shameless penchant for scavenging political parties in an attempt to make Nigeria a one-party state, which is not healthy for the growth of democracy. The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led APC should concentrate more on solving the myriad of challenges confronting the nation rather than this desperate suffocation of opposition political parties, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The results of the first visit of the UN mission to Karabakh at the invitation of Azerbaijan on September 29 confirm the absence of cases of ill-treatment of the Armenian population of Karabakh, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov said during the hearing on the claim of Armenia against Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice, Trend reports. "This was the first UN mission in Karabakh in the last 30 years. Azerbaijan and the UN repeatedly tried to gain access to these territories during the years of their occupation in order to document the fact of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis in the early 1990s, but Armenia repeatedly refused cooperate," he explained. Mammadov said that during the first visit, the UN representatives met and talked with the local population, got acquainted with humanitarian assistance and the process of providing medical services. "They noted that there was no damage to civil and public infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and residential buildings, cultural and religious buildings. The second visit of the UN mission to Karabakh took place on October 9-10. Azerbaijan is currently waiting for the mission's reports to get first-hand information," Elnur Mammadov added. The Ondo State House of Assembly has suspended its impeachment proceedings against Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa following the refusal of the Chief Judge of the state, Olusegun Odusola, to set up a panel for the exercise. The house took the decision at its sitting in Akure on Thursday. It had earlier vowed to proceed with the process despite an order of the Federal High Court, citing sections of the constitution forbidding the interference of the courts in an impeachment process at a legislative house. The spokesperson of the assembly, Olatunji Oshati, said on Friday in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES that the lawmakers will comply with the order and halt further proceedings on the impeachment. This is to show that it is not about witch-hunting, it is about carrying out our oversight functions, Mr Oshati said. We have considered the letter which is everywhere in the public domain and we are halting the impeachment process until the order of the Federal High Court is vacated. It is not about being arrogant with power, it is about holding public officers accountable. It also shows that the process of impeachment transcends the monopoly of the legislature as we can see that the judiciary has stalled it. The House of Assembly had on 6 October directed the chief judge to set up a panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct brought against Mr Aiyedatiwa by nine lawmakers. CJ rejects directive Mr Odusola replied in the letter that he could not comply with the directive because of the order of the Federal High Court issued in Abuja. The court had granted the order at the request of the deputy governor that the impeachment proceedings be paused until the court has determined his case against the exercise. The chief judge in the letter to the Speaker of the Assembly, Oladiji Olamide, with ref no. CROD/1123/V.3/ dated October 6, 2023, cited Section 287 (3) of the Constitution as the reason why he cannot act on the letter from the House. READ ALSO: In the letter titled, Re: Letter Of Request To Set Up Investigation Panel Pursuant To Section 188 [5] Of The 1999 Constitution (As Amended), Mr Odusola said despite being mindful of section 188, here was restrained by the order of the Federal High Court in Abuja. Your letter reference NO: ODHA/98/253/406 of October 3, 2023 in respect of the above matter refers. I wish to inform you that on 28 September 2023, I was served with an Order of interim injunction granted by the Federal High Court, Abuja, Coram: Hon Justice Emeka Nwite in Suit No: FHC/AB/CS/1294/2023 dated September 26, 2023 in respect of this subject matter. Order 4 therein restrains the Chief Judge of Ondo State from constituting any seven-man panel at the instance of the 4th Defendant Respondent in respect of the complaint of the plaintiff among others, (Please find attached hereto a copy of the order). I am not unmindful of S. 188(10) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended which provides as follows: No proceedings or determination of the Panel or of the House of Assembly or any matter relating to such proceeding or determination shall be entertained or questioned in any court. Notwithstanding the above provision, a Court order is binding until set aside either by a Court of coordinate jurisdiction or by an appellate court. APC reconciliation committee Meanwhile, a peace committee set by the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, is expected to turn in its report on Friday. The committee was tasked with seeking grounds for reconciliation between Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and Mr Aiyedatiwa. A rift between the two is generally seen as the catalyst for the bid by the state lawmakers to remove the deputy governor from office. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Copyright 2023 - Todos los derechos reservados Xanamem is an oral, brain-penetrant tissue cortisol synthesis inhibitor that has shown promising safety and clinical activity in three placebo-controlled trials and has the potential to treat a variety of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases SYDNEY, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Actinogen Medical Limited (ASX: ACW) CEO Dr Steven Gourlay will conduct a series of meetings at the BIO Investor Forum, San Francisco on October 17-18, 2023. The following week, Dr Gourlay and CMO Dr Dana Hilt will participate in the 16th annual CTAD conference in Boston where they will present a scientific poster on October 25 and conduct a number of stakeholders meetings. Dr Gourlay and Dr Hilt will be discussing progress made with the Company's two ongoing Phase 2 trials: XanaCIDD Phase 2a trial in patients with cognitive impairment and major depressive disorder Enrolment continues in the XanaCIDD Phase 2a proof-of-concept trial in 160 patients with cognitive impairment associated with persistent Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Cognitive impairment is common in MDD and currently there are no anti-depressant drugs approved for its treatment, although some companies have reported trials to assess effects of their anti-depressants on cognition. Consequently, there is a high unmet need for novel and safe treatments for this indication. The trial is being conducted in Australia, the UK and the USA. It is treating patients with 10 mg of Xanamem or placebo once daily for six weeks as monotherapy or added to stable background anti-depressant therapy. The primary endpoint is an attention composite of three computerized cognitive tests measuring attention and working memory. Depression is assessed as a key secondary endpoint using the MADRS scale. The trial is expected to report results in the first half of 2024. XanaMIA Phase 2b trial in patients with mild-moderate Alzheimer's Disease (AD) On 26 September Actinogen announced that it had redesigned operational features of the XanaMIA Phase 2b clinical trial of Xanamem in patients with mild to moderate AD to reduce the cost and time to initial results. Key features of the revised XanaMIA Phase 2b trial: The trial will enrol patients with an elevated blood pTau biomarker (the same group shown to have a large Xanamem clinical effect in the previous Phase 2a biomarker trial) and keeps the same endpoints and 36week treatment length. The removal of the 5mg dose arm reduces patient numbers by one-third to 220 patients, who will receive either 10mg or placebo daily Enrolment of the first 100 patients will take place at Australian sites and initial efficacy and safety results from an administrative interim analysis will occur when approximately 100 patients reach 24 weeks of treatment, expected in the first half of 2025 Collectively, these changes reduce trial costs significantly and increase forecast receipts from Australian R&D tax incentive cash refunds by focusing on Australian R&D activities in the near term. Net forecast savings between now and June 2025 will be in the order of A$30 million compared to the original plan will be in the order of compared to the original plan The XanaMIA Phase 2b trial will finalize Australian clinical site start up activities as soon as possible, with site activation expected before the end of the year trial will finalize Australian clinical site start up activities as soon as possible, with site activation expected before the end of the year Final results are anticipated in the second half of 2025. Dr Steven Gourlay, Actinogen CEO and MD, commented: "Actinogen is at an important juncture in the world of drug development with its promising oral therapy Xanamem. While recent positive data on new amyloid antibody infusions give Alzheimer's patients hope, they do not halt disease progression, highlighting the continued and urgent need to find effective and safe non-amyloid therapies to arrest cognitive decline. "Our high quality randomized XanaMIA Phase 2b trial will be conducted in 220 patients with mild-moderate AD who are biomarker-positive and thus likely to have progressive disease. We will finalize Australian clinical site start up activities as soon as possible, with site activation expected before the end of the calendar year. "Our XanaCIDD Phase 2a trial assessing the effects of Xanamem on cognition and depression represents a novel and important approach towards treating patients with MDD with the hope that the therapy will be rapidly acting on cognition, as we have seen in two prior trials in cognitively normal people, and also have effects on depression itself." For further information: Dr. Steven Gourlay Michael Roberts CEO & Managing Director Investor Relations P: +61 2 8964 7401 M: +61 423 866 231 E. [email protected] E. [email protected] Announcement authorised by the Board of Directors of Actinogen Medical About Actinogen Medical Actinogen Medical (ACW) is an ASX-listed, biotechnology company developing a novel therapy for neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases associated with dysregulated brain cortisol. There is a strong association between cortisol and detrimental changes in the brain, affecting cognitive function, harm to brain cells and long-term cognitive health. Cognitive function means how a person understands, remembers and thinks clearly. Cognitive functions include memory, attention, reasoning, awareness and decision-making. Actinogen is currently developing its lead compound, Xanamem, as a promising new therapy for Alzheimer's Disease and Depression and hopes to study Fragile X Syndrome and other neurological and psychiatric diseases in the future. Reducing cortisol inside brain cells could have a positive impact in these and many other diseases. The cognitive dysfunction, behavioural abnormalities, and neuropsychological burden associated with these conditions is debilitating for patients, and there is a substantial unmet medical need for new and improved treatments. Current and Upcoming Clinical Trials The XanaCIDD Phase 2a depression trial is a double-blind, six-week proof-of-concept, placebo-controlled, parallel group design trial in 160 patients. Patients are evenly randomized to receive Xanamem 10 mg once daily or placebo, in some cases in addition to their existing antidepressant therapy, and effects on cognition and depression are assessed. The XanaMIA Phase 2b Alzheimer's disease trial is a double-blind, 36-week treatment, placebo-controlled, parallel group design trial in 220 patients with mild to moderate AD and progressive disease, determined by clinical criteria and confirmed by an elevated level of the pTau181 protein biomarker in blood. Patients receive Xanamem 10 mg or placebo, once daily, and effects on cognition, function and progression of Alzheimer's disease are assessed. Thus, Xanamem is being assessed in this trial for its potential effects as a both a cognitive enhancer and a disease course modifier. About Xanamem Xanamem's novel mechanism of action is to block the production of cortisol inside cells through the inhibition of the 11-HSD1 enzyme in the brain. Xanamem is designed to get into the brain after it is absorbed in the intestines upon swallowing. Chronically elevated cortisol is associated with cognitive decline in Alzheimer's Disease and excess cortisol is known to be toxic to brain cells. Cognitive impairment is also a feature in Depression and many other diseases. Cortisol itself is also associated with depressive symptoms and when targeted via other mechanisms has shown some promise in prior clinical trials. The Company has studied 11-HSD1 inhibition by Xanamem in more than 300 volunteers and patients, so far finding a statistically significant improvement in working memory and attention, compared with placebo, in healthy, older volunteers in two consecutive trials and clinically significant improvements in functional and cognitive ability in patients with biomarker-positive mild AD. Previously, high levels of target engagement in the brain with doses as low as 5 mg daily have been demonstrated in a human PET imaging study. A series of Phase 2 studies in multiple diseases is being conducted to further confirm and characterize Xanamem's therapeutic potential. Xanamem is an investigational product and is not approved for use outside of a clinical trial by the FDA or by any global regulatory authority. Xanamem is a trademark of Actinogen Medical. Disclaimer This announcement and attachments may contain certain "forward-looking statements" that are not historical facts; are based on subjective estimates, assumptions and qualifications; and relate to circumstances and events that have not taken place and may not take place. Such forward looking statements should be considered "at-risk statements" - not to be relied upon as they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors (such as significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties / contingencies and regulatory and clinical development risks, future outcomes and uncertainties) that may lead to actual results being materially different from any forward looking statement or the performance expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof. Actinogen Medical does not undertake any obligation to revise such statements to reflect events or any change in circumstances arising after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of or non-occurrence of any future events. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Actinogen Medical does not make any guarantee, representation or warranty as to the likelihood of achievement or reasonableness of any forward-looking statements and there can be no assurance or guarantee that any forward-looking statements will be realised. Xanamem is a registered trademark of Actinogen Medical Limited SOURCE Actinogen Medical Limited DUBLIN, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In light of recent announcements from Gov. Gavin Newsom to transform California's mental health system, including funding for new treatment beds and support, the need for accurate and comprehensive information in the mental health sector has never been clearer. Addressing this requirement is the latest research report "Mental Health Application: Technologies and Global Markets" available on ResearchAndMarkets.com, which offers detailed insights into the burgeoning mental health app industry and its relevance to today's socio-political climate. Governor Newsom's signature on transformative legislation, along with forthcoming ballot measures, signals a dynamic shift in the treatment and funding of mental health in California. As the state moves towards significant investments in mental health facilities and services, stakeholders, business entrepreneurs, and managers can benefit greatly from understanding the rapidly evolving market landscape of mental health applications. The report dives deep into the mental health app industries, covering initiatives, patents, and notable companies. Entrepreneurs looking to make a mark in the market can garner insights from the historical market revenue data presented from 2020 to 2022, alongside projections up to 2028. The compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) and actual market size are showcased, highlighting the potential business opportunities in this sector. For businesses aiming to tailor their services or products, the report classifies mental health apps into product types: self-help apps and disorder apps. Within self-help apps, categories range from meditation and mindfulness to journaling, providing a comprehensive understanding of what appeals to various demographics. Notably, the data tables, additional tables, and the analytical overview of global markets can serve as critical tools for strategists and decision-makers in formulating their plans. As businesses look to establish a presence in specific regions, the regional market analysis spanning North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW) can be invaluable. Given the sweeping changes in California's mental health policies and potential replication in other states or countries, regional analysis will be of paramount importance to international entrepreneurs. In addition to providing an overview, the report addresses the technology aspects and potential challenges in the mental health app sector. With insights into current technologies and their future impact, businesses can strategise to remain at the forefront of innovation. Moreover, understanding clinical trials and ESG trends can pave the way for future partnerships, collaborations, and ensuring regulatory compliance. For entrepreneurs focusing on mergers, acquisitions, and collaborations, the report offers a summary of industry activities from January 2020 through December 2022. This not only aids in identifying potential partners but also understanding the trends and trajectories of the industry. In conclusion, as California embarks on a significant transformation of its mental health system, businesses, entrepreneurs, and managers have an unprecedented opportunity to tap into this changing landscape. The "Mental Health Application: Technologies and Global Markets" report provides a foundational understanding of the sector, making it an essential tool for anyone looking to harness the potential of the mental health app industry in the coming years. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tp2s9u About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets Fezolinetant is an investigational nonhormonal treatment for vasomotor symptoms (VMS) associated with menopause More than half of women ages 40 to 64 worldwide experience VMS, with rates in Europe ranging from 56% to 97%1,2,3 TOKYO, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, "Astellas") today announced the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on October 12 adopted a positive opinion relating to the use of VEOZA (fezolinetant) 45 mg once daily for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) associated with menopause.4 VMS, also known as hot flashes and/or night sweats, are common symptoms of menopause.5,6 If approved by the European Commission (EC), fezolinetant will be a first-in-class, nonhormonal treatment option to reduce moderate to severe VMS associated with menopause. Fezolinetant works by blocking neurokinin B (NKB) binding on the kisspeptin/neurokinin B/dynorphin (KNDy) neuron, helping restore the balance in the brain's temperature control center (the hypothalamus) to reduce the number and intensity of hot flashes and night sweats. Marci English, Vice President, Head of BioPharma Development, Astellas "Today's positive CHMP opinion marks another significant milestone for both fezolinetant and women's health. We are excited to be another step closer to potentially providing a novel and important treatment option to individuals in Europe suffering from moderate to severe VMS associated with menopause." The positive CHMP opinion is based on the results from the BRIGHT SKY program, which included three Phase 3 clinical trials that collectively enrolled over 3,000 individuals across Europe, the U.S. and Canada. Results from the SKYLIGHT 1 and SKYLIGHT 2 pivotal trials characterize the efficacy and safety of fezolinetant for the treatment of moderate to severe VMS associated with menopause and were published in The Lancet and The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, respectively.7,8 Data from the SKYLIGHT 4 safety study further characterizes the long-term safety profile of fezolinetant and was published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.9 The positive opinion will now be reviewed by the EC, which has the authority to approve medicines for European Union member states, as well as Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Northern Ireland.10 The EC has 67 days from the CHMP opinion to issue a final decision. Additionally, the positive opinion allows the submission of a European Commission Decision Reliance Procedure marketing authorization application to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which has the authority to approve medicines for England, Wales and Scotland following the UK's transition from the European Union.11 A final MHRA decision is anticipated in the coming months. Astellas has already reflected the impact from this result in its financial forecast of the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. For more information, please see the press release "European Medicines Agency Accepts Astellas' Marketing Authorization Application for Fezolinetant" issued on September 29, 2022. About the BRIGHT SKY Phase 3 Program The BRIGHT SKY pivotal trials, SKYLIGHT 1 (NCT04003155) and SKYLIGHT 2 (NCT04003142), enrolled over 1,000 women with moderate to severe VMS. The trials are double-blinded, placebo-controlled for the first 12 weeks followed by a 40-week treatment extension period. Women were enrolled at over 180 sites within Europe, the U.S. and Canada. SKYLIGHT 4 (NCT04003389) is a 52-week double-blinded, placebo-controlled study designed to investigate the long-term safety of fezolinetant. For SKYLIGHT 4, over 1,800 women with VMS were enrolled at over 180 sites within Europe, the U.S. and Canada. About VMS Associated with Menopause VMS, characterized by hot flashes (also called hot flushes) and/or night sweats, are common symptoms of menopause.5,6 Worldwide, more than half of women 40 to 64 years of age experience VMS with rates in Europe ranging from 56% to 97%.1,2,3 The prevalence of moderate to severe VMS in postmenopausal women in Europe has been reported at 40%.12 VMS can have a disruptive impact on women's daily activities and overall quality of life.5 About Fezolinetant Fezolinetant is an investigational oral, nonhormonal medicine in clinical development for the treatment of moderate to severe VMS associated with menopause. VMS are also known as hot flashes or night sweats. Fezolinetant works by blocking neurokinin B (NKB) binding on the kisspeptin/neurokinin/dynorphin (KNDy) neuron, helping restore the balance in the brain's temperature control center (the hypothalamus) to reduce the number and intensity of hot flashes and night sweats.13,14,15 There is no guarantee the agent will receive regulatory approval in Europe or become commercially available for the uses being investigated. About Astellas Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are promoting the Focus Area Approach that is designed to identify opportunities for the continuous creation of new drugs to address diseases with high unmet medical needs by focusing on Biology and Modality. Furthermore, we are also looking beyond our foundational Rx focus to create Rx+ healthcare solutions that combine our expertise and knowledge with cutting-edge technology in different fields of external partners. Through these efforts, Astellas stands on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into VALUE for patients. For more information, please visit our website at https://www.astellas.com/en. Cautionary Notes In this press release, statements made with respect to current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Astellas. These statements are based on management's current assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in general economic conditions and in laws and regulations, relating to pharmaceutical markets, (ii) currency exchange rate fluctuations, (iii) delays in new product launches, (iv) the inability of Astellas to market existing and new products effectively, (v) the inability of Astellas to continue to effectively research and develop products accepted by customers in highly competitive markets, and (vi) infringements of Astellas' intellectual property rights by third parties. Information about pharmaceutical products (including products currently in development) which is included in this press release is not intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice. References 1 Makara-Studzinska MT, Krys-Noszczyk KM, Jakiel G. Epidemiology of the symptoms of menopause - an intercontinental review. Przegl Menopauzalny [Menopause Rev]. 2014;13:203-211. 2 Gold EB, Colvin A, Avis N, et al. Longitudinal analysis of the association between vasomotor symptoms and race/ethnicity across the menopausal transition: study of women's health across the nation. Am J Public Health. 2006;96:1226-1235. 3 Williams RE, Kalilani L, DiBenedetti DB, et al. Frequency and severity of vasomotor symptoms among peri- and postmenopausal women in the United States. Climacteric. 2008;11:32-43. 4 European Medicines Agency. Meeting highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). October 9-12, 2023. Available from: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/meeting-highlights-committee-medicinal-products-human-use-chmp-9-12-october-2023. Accessed October 13, 2023. 5 Utian WH. Psychosocial and socioeconomic burden of vasomotor symptoms in menopause: a comprehensive review. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2005;3:47. 6 Jones RE, Lopez KH, eds. Human Reproductive Biology. 4th ed. Waltham, MA: Elsevier, 2014:120. 7 Lederman S, Ottery F, Cano A et al. Fezolinetant for treatment of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause (SKYLIGHT 1): a phase 3 randomised controlled study. The Lancet. March 13, 2023. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00085-5. 8 Johnson K, Martin N, Nappi R et al. Efficacy and safety of fezolinetant in moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: A Phase 3 RCT. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2023;00:1-17. 9 Neal-Perry G, Cano A, Lederman S, et al. Safety of fezolinetant for vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: a randomized controlled trial. Obstetrics & Gynecology. March 9, 2023. doi:10.1097/AOG.0000000000005114. 10 European Medicines Agency. Authorizations of Medicines. Available from: https://www.ema.europa.eu/about-us/what-we-do/authorisation-medicines. Accessed October 13, 2023. 11 GOV.UK. European Commission Decision Reliance Procedure. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/european-commission-ec-decision-reliance-procedure. Accessed October 13, 2023. 12 Nappi RE, Kroll R, Siddiqui E, et al. Global cross-sectional survey of women with vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: prevalence and quality of life burden. Menopause. 2021;28:875-882. 13 Depypere H, Timmerman D, Donders G, et al. Treatment of menopausal vasomotor symptoms with fezolinetant, a neurokinin 3 receptor antagonist: a phase 2a trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2019;104:5893-5905. 14 Fraser GL, Lederman S, Waldbaum A, et al. A phase 2b, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, dose-ranging study of the neurokinin 3 receptor antagonist fezolinetant for vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause. Menopause. 2020;27:382-392. 15 Fraser GL, Hoveyda HR, Clarke IJ, et al. The NK3 receptor antagonist ESN364 interrupts pulsatile LH secretion and moderate levels of ovarian hormones throughout the menstrual cycle. Endocrinology. 2015;156:4214-4225. SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc. LONDON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BE OPEN Art, an online art gallery set up by BE OPEN think tank, a humanitarian initiative founded by international businessperson and philanthropist Elena Baturina, is running a new competition for emerging artists, aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities BE OPEN Regional Art. With the beginning of year 2023, BE OPEN expert community team started selecting those of the artists who best represent the artistic tradition of a certain region to feature in the BE OPEN Art gallery and offer them greater visibility. The fourth stage of the programme this year covers the countries of Central Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Republic - Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome & Principe. The stage will last three months, and the reginal winner will be named and awarded 500 euro at the end of the year. In the meantime, artworks by 20 emerging artists from the listed countries will be posted at the online gallery every month, and a public vote will select the Regional Artist of the Month. At the end of the stage, one of the monthly winners will become the Artist of the Region, based on the amount of votes by the public and the BE OPEN art community members. There have been three regional winners in the programme so far. The first stage of BE OPEN Regional Art was dedicated to the art of the Eastern Mediterranean. A selection of works formed an exhibition that was held in June 2023 in Nicosia, Cyprus. The second stage celebrated the artists of the Caribbean; the third was focused on Southeast Asia. The regional competition runs alongside the regular ongoing work of BE OPEN Art, whose experts every month select 20 new artists for the gallery, using online voting to name the Artist of the Month and the Artist of the Year. SOURCE BE OPEN Foundation BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The preliminary court hearing for the criminal case of Vagif Khachatryan, accused of committing genocide in Azerbaijan's Meshali village, Khojaly district, carried out by members of Armenian illegal armed groups, has taken place today at in the administrative building of the Yasamal District Court, Trend reports. The preliminary court hearing was chaired by the Baku Military Court's Judge Jamal Ramazanov. The hearing clarified the personal data of the accused and 59 victims in the case. Khachatryan was detained by the Azerbaijani State Security Service officers at the Lachin border checkpoint of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border on July 29, 2023. In December 1991, a criminal group, which included Khachatryan, killed 25, injured 14 and expelled 358 Azerbaijanis from their places of legal residence in the village of Meshali. In connection with the emergence of sufficient grounded suspicions, a decision was made to bring Khachatryan as an accused under Articles 103 (genocide) and 107 (deportation or forced resettlement of population) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. A preventive measure was chosen against him in the form of detention. DUBLIN, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Following President Joe Biden's groundbreaking announcement this summer granting borrowers a 12-month grace period after payments restart, the call for comprehensive financial wellness understanding has never been more evident. In light of this news, ResearchandMarkets.com has added the groundbreaking research report "Financial Wellness 2023" to its portfolio, specifically tailored for business entrepreneurs and managers. The recent proclamation by the Biden administration emphasises the crucial role of financial literacy in the modern economic landscape. As President of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, Betsy Mayotte, underscores the importance of researching the best possible payment methods, our report comes as a timely solution, addressing the glaring gap in the provision of financial wellness programmes by employers. The "Financial Wellness 2023" report delves deep into the changing dynamics of the contemporary workplace. While employers have been swift to adapt to the challenges posed by a constrained labour market, offering innovative health, insurance, PTO, family leave, and professional development benefits, there remains a significant void in addressing financial wellness. Beyond conventional retirement schemes, there's a noticeable absence of robust measures that target an employee's financial stability. For forward-thinking entrepreneurs and managers, our research highlights a golden opportunity amidst economic unpredictability. Providers possess the potential to bolster employee engagement and productivity by addressing financial wellness head-on. Yet, the onus lies in first deciphering what financial wellness truly encompasses. The report sheds light on potential benefits employers can incorporate into their benefit packages, such as student loan repayment schemes, earned wage access (EWA) programmes, lifestyle savings accounts, and comprehensive financial literacy training. The reluctance of employers to adopt these provisions stems from a lack of understanding of their demand. However, as the recent news about Biden's new income-driven repayment plan, the SAVE plan, illustrates, the time is ripe for a shift in perception and action. So, what does "Financial Wellness 2023" offer to entrepreneurs and managers? In-depth Analysis: Understand what constitutes financial wellness in today's volatile economic climate. Understand what constitutes financial wellness in today's volatile economic climate. ROI Metrics: Gauge the tangible return on investment linked to financial wellness programmes. Gauge the tangible return on investment linked to financial wellness programmes. Strategies for Adoption: Practical insights on how to propel employee utilisation of financial wellness schemes. Practical insights on how to propel employee utilisation of financial wellness schemes. Comprehensive Overview: A detailed look at the business advantages of supporting financial wellness, from enhanced employee loyalty to improved productivity. In an era where the Biden administration pushes for lenient loan terms and affordable repayment plans, the mandate for businesses to prioritise their employees' financial well-being is clear. The "Financial Wellness 2023" report serves as a beacon for businesses eager to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring their employees aren't merely surviving but thriving in these uncertain times. For those keen on ensuring their businesses are not only profitable but also nurturing environments that foster genuine care for employees' financial futures, the report is an indispensable tool. Equip yourself with the knowledge, strategies, and confidence to make financial wellness a cornerstone of your business model. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tkusvh About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets VANCOUVER, BC and TORONTO, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - BZAM Ltd. (the "Company" or "BZAM") (CSE: BZAM) (OTC: BZAMF), a leading Canadian cannabis producer, announced today that, further to its previously announced cost optimization initiatives, it has appointed MNP LLP as auditor of the Company effective October 10, 2023. Following the recommendation from its Audit Committee, the Company's board of directors requested and were also provided with KPMG LLP's resignation as the auditor of the Company effective October 10, 2023. "We have appreciated working with KPMG for the last five years," said Sean Bovingdon, CFO. "As we continue our commitment to cost control, we look forward to working with MNP moving forward, given its broad experience in the cannabis sector." In accordance with National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102"), the Company has filed a Notice of Change of Auditor, together with response letters from KPMG LLP and MNP LLP on SEDAR+ under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca. There were no "reportable events," as such term is defined in NI 51-102. About BZAM Ltd. BZAM Ltd. (CSE: BZAM) (USOTC: BZAMF) is a leading Canadian cannabis producer with a focus on branded consumer goods, innovation, quality, consistency, integrity and transparency. The BZAM family includes core brands BZAM, TGOD, ness, Highly Dutch Organic, TABLE TOP, and partner brands Dunn Cannabis, FRESH and Wyld. BZAM operates facilities in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, as well as a retail store in Regina, Saskatchewan. BZAM's common shares and certain warrants issued under the indentures dated June 12, 2020, October 23, 2020 and December 10, 2020 currently trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") under the symbol "BZAM", "BZAM.WR", "BZAM.WA", and "BZAM.WB" respectively. BZAM's common shares trade in the U.S. on the OTCQX under the symbol "BZAMF". For more information on BZAM Ltd., please visit www.bzam.com. Neither the CSE nor the CSE's Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of CSE) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE BZAM LTD. The leading Detroit HVAC company says improving a home's air quality can keep families safe from viral contaminants and other pollutants DETROIT, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- C & C Heating & Air Conditioning, a leading Detroit-area heating and cooling company with more than seven decades of experience, urges homeowners to celebrate National Indoor Air Quality Month by taking measures that ensure their home's air quality is healthy. C & C Heating & Air Conditioning provides homeowners with some tips to improve their home's breathable air for National Indoor Air Quality Month. "Michiganders experienced some very bad outdoor air this past summer when smoke from the Canadian wildfires invaded our environment, so we're familiar with how important air quality can be," said Dayna Hottle, general manager of C & C Heating & Air Conditioning. "But since the average person spends about 90% of their time indoors, it's even more critical that we ensure our indoor air quality remains healthy, especially as winter approaches and we close our homes up against the cold." Hottle said homeowners need a properly functioning HVAC system to manage air flow and reduce allergens and other pollutants such as mold and bacteria. She said there are also several other ways homeowners can work to improve their indoor air, including: Air purifiers. Because today's homes are better insulated than ever before, many airborne particles can stay trapped indoors. Air purifiers with HEPA filters trap thousands of contaminants. Homeowners can purchase single-room purifiers or have whole-house purifiers installed that work within their HVAC systems. They can also choose to install UV lamps that use germicidal lights to kill pollutants. Because today's homes are better insulated than ever before, many airborne particles can stay trapped indoors. Air purifiers with HEPA filters trap thousands of contaminants. Homeowners can purchase single-room purifiers or have whole-house purifiers installed that work within their HVAC systems. They can also choose to install UV lamps that use germicidal lights to kill pollutants. Regular cleaning . Making sure a home is vacuumed and dusted regularly keeps contaminants from staying in rugs and carpets. Homeowners should use vacuums with HEPA filters and regularly clean around HVAC and air vents for best results. . Making sure a home is vacuumed and dusted regularly keeps contaminants from staying in rugs and carpets. Homeowners should use vacuums with HEPA filters and regularly clean around HVAC and air vents for best results. Proper ventilation . Homeowners should always turn on vents in bathrooms during hot showers to lessen the buildup of humidity that fosters mold growth. Kitchen vents also rid homes of cooking gases that can create poor air quality. . Homeowners should always turn on vents in bathrooms during hot showers to lessen the buildup of humidity that fosters mold growth. Kitchen vents also rid homes of cooking gases that can create poor air quality. Reducing allergen sources . Regularly bathing pets, creating a smoke-free environment and choosing allergen-resistant fabrics that can be washed frequently reduces the number of pollutants in a home. . Regularly bathing pets, creating a smoke-free environment and choosing allergen-resistant fabrics that can be washed frequently reduces the number of pollutants in a home. Add houseplants . Indoor plants are a creative way to improve indoor air quality. Not only will their presence brighten a room, but they also produce oxygen, keeping a home's air fresh. . Indoor plants are a creative way to improve indoor air quality. Not only will their presence brighten a room, but they also produce oxygen, keeping a home's air fresh. Address leaks and moisture. Homeowners should keep an eye out for signs of leaks from their plumbing system or from their roof. If there are signs of water damage, then mold and mildew can grow, creating poor air quality. Leaks should be fixed as soon as possible to prevent fungal growth. "There are reports that COVID-19 is making a resurgence, and cold and flu season is nearly upon us," Hottle said. "Following these tips can help you keep your family safer from these viral contagions. The quality of your home's air is always important, but with winter on the horizon, preparing this month to keep your home's air fresh throughout the winter is an acute concern." For more information about C & C Heating & Air, visit https://candcheat.com/. About C & C Heating & Air Conditioning C & C Heating & Air Conditioning is a Detroit-area heating and cooling company with more than seven decades of expertise installing and servicing all makes and models of heating and cooling equipment. Their technicians are highly trained and qualified and undergo annual background checks, random drug testing, extensive technical and customer service training and are North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certified. Services include HVAC maintenance and repair, duct cleaning, whole-home air filtration systems, indoor air quality systems and comprehensive maintenance agreements. For more information, call C & C Heating & Air Conditioning at (586) 439-3319 or visit their website at https://candcheat.com/. MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Ripley Ripley PR 865-977-1973 [email protected] SOURCE C & C Heating & Air Conditioning Changes designed to better align leadership strengths to the needs of a rapidly expanding organization John A. Smith , Conversant founder and former CEO, assumes the title of chief security officer. Mark Grazman , former Conversant president, moves into chief executive officer position. Maria Chachas Mastakas , former Conversant chief of staff to Grazman, transitions to chief operating officer. CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Conversant Group, an innovative provider of "Secure First" infrastructure and cybersecurity services, today announced a senior leadership restructuring driven by Conversant Group's extraordinary growth. At founder John A. Smith's direction, this reorganization allows Smith to double down his focus and efforts on the vision of "Securitas Summa" (security above all else), which has led to dramatic growth, while bolstering operations and infrastructure to support that growth. As part of the restructuring, Mark Grazman has been named CEO. Grazman most recently served as Conversant's president as well as CEO of Fenix24, a Conversant Group company (or "battalion"); he will continue as CEO of Fenix24 in addition to his new leadership capacity. "We recognize that we are in a battle every day with cyber criminals who threaten jobs and even lives that is why we call ourselves the world's first civilian cybersecurity force," said Smith. "I am so excited to have more opportunity and time to tell the world and develop tactics and strategize on exactly how companies can protect themselves from these criminals. At the same time, our dedication to fighting threat actors has led to tremendous growth, and this change will better allow us to build the infrastructure and operational capacity to continue that growth. As a technical leader engaged in breach recovery for more than 10 years and security and infrastructure for more than 30, this change will allow me to focus more of my efforts on developing defensive strategies and tactics, which has been and is my true passion. This is the right time to transition the Conversant CEO role to Mark, who has demonstrated to me and our team that he is the right leader to continue and accelerate the organizational execution required to bring effective defensive strategies, which I have been and will continue to be at the center of, to more companies globally. I have great confidence in Maria as well, and together, they will provide the operational focus we require at this stage of growth." In addition to being founder, Smith assumes the role of CSO of Conversant Group and its three battalions. He founded Conversant Group in 2009, driving the company to its position as one of the top cybersecurity services providers in North America in multiple categories including assessments, remediation and restoration. The realignment is a direct response to rapid growth; it is designed to allow Smith to focus on the companies' defensive and offensive technological excellence and continued evangelism and education of the business community, while enabling the organization to tap into Grazman's leadership skills, including negotiating strong partnerships, expanding the business infrastructure, and leading increasingly global teams through the stages of rapid growth. Since Grazman joined Smith's leadership team as President in March 2021, the organization has grown its revenue and team by more than 300% and launched Fenix24 as the leading ransomware restoration incident response provider. Prior to joining Conversant Group, Grazman was CEO of email security company MessageControl (where he led the company through a successful exit to Mimecast) and senior vice president of CBZ, an NYSE-listed professional services firm. Grazman has helped launch and lead multiple venture capital funds, including Banque National de Paris' Emerging Markets Private Equity Division and the Israeli high-tech fund, Omega. Maria Chachas Mastakas, former chief of staff to the president, has been named COO of Conversant Group and its battalions to provide further leadership expertise on operational excellence. Prior to joining Conversant Group, Mastakas was COO for Cymulate, a security posture management platform, and chief revenue officer of Digital Shadows, a security threat intelligence company. She has also had extensive experience as a senior technology sales and operations executive, driving sales effectiveness and results. About Conversant Group Conversant Group is changing the IT services paradigm with our relentless focus on "Secure First" managed services, IT infrastructure and consulting. Conversant has been a thought leader for over 14 years helping over 500 customers and entire industries get answers to the security questions they may not even know to ask. We are the world's first civilian cybersecurity force, with three time-tested battalions: Fenix24 / Ransomware rapid response, remediation and recovery Athena7 / IT security assessments, strategy and planning Grypho5 / Ongoing, security-based management Learn more at ConversantGroup.com. Media Contact: Lindsay Smith [email protected] SOURCE Conversant Group DALLAS, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiso, the renowned global retail chain offering a wide range of affordable and unique products, is thrilled to announce the grand opening at Mockingbird Commons in Dallas, Texas on October 28th. "We are thrilled to open our store at Mockingbird Commons," said Jack Williams, Chief Retail Operations Officer for Daiso USA. "This achievement reflects the dedication and support of our customers who have embraced Daiso's unique concept and diverse product range. We are excited to provide an exceptional shopping experience to the vibrant Dallas community and look forward to serving our customers with the utmost care and dedication." The new Daiso store at Mockingbird Commons encompasses 5,582 square feet and promises to be a haven for shoppers seeking quality merchandise at affordable prices. With its extensive range of products spanning various categories, including Japanese inspired home decor, stationery, food, and more, Daiso has become synonymous with accessible and innovative offerings. John Clarke, Chief Development Officer for Daiso USA says, "Texas based Daiso customers have shown us through our online business and social media their desire for us to have more stores within the state, influencing our immediate growth strategy in this region. We currently operate 106 units in 7 states with more states opening in 2024". On both Saturday, October 28th and Sunday, October 29th, the first 100 customers to shop at the Mockingbird Commons location and make a minimum purchase of $30 will receive a free goodie bag and a plushie. These special offerings are Daiso's way of expressing gratitude to its loyal customers and welcoming new shoppers to the Daiso community. Daiso invites customers to join in the celebration. The Mockingbird Commons Daiso is anchored by neighboring tenant Tom Thumb and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m to 9 p.m and Sunday from 10 a.m to 8 p.m. About Daiso: Daiso is a global retail chain founded in Japan, known for its vast array of unique and affordable products across various categories such as household goods, stationery, beauty, and more. Daiso entered the US market in 2005 and continues to expand its global footprint while maintaining its commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. The Daiso US headquarters is located in La Mirada, CA. SOURCE Daiso USA Having previously secured EUR 15 Million in funding, Bobnet Group is looking to expand its retail automation solutions in the Middle East, as part of the company's global expansion DUBAI,UAE, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- European start-up Bobnet , backed by NCH Capital, announces upcoming series B of EUR 50 million funding round, to address current challenges faced by major retail chains and the technological evolution of the industry towards automation and improved logistics processes. Bobnet has already secured EUR 15 million in previous investments and is now seeking an additional EUR 50 million to expand its solutions to the Middle East, as part of the company's global expansion, as the region's retail industry is fast developing and embracing technological innovations. Leading innovator in retail technology solutions, Bobnet Group, is thrilled to make its latest regional expansion announcement at this year's GITEX Global in Dubai, where the company is set to showcase its cutting-edge retail innovation products and unveil its recent milestones. The company has developed a breakthrough digital Chain Management System aimed at streamlining operations in the retail sector, and this new investment will enable them to offer their solutions on a global scale. The Bobnet venture startup has been working since 2018 on a series of hardware and software automation solutions, developed to overcome problems of implementing and managing large retail chains. The company has succeeded in creating a chain of 120 automated selling food and grocery free checkout machines placed in a real- life use case market, whilst testing and optimizing its advanced hardware and software solutions, to create a fully functional management system of such retail chains. "The Bobnet Chain Management system is the first software on the market able to conduct by itself operations for retail chains with thousands and millions of sales and logistic units, which are able to communicate with a cloud based infrastructure through IoT means. Thus, with our technology, creating a live physical retail chain, which is scattered in space and still operates as a single body in a fully automated mode, is now possible by almost fully eliminating the need for human involvement in the process.", explains Victor Popusoi, Bobnet 's founder. To learn more about Bobnet Group hardware and software solutions for the retail industry firsthand, visit the company's booth at GITEX Technology Week in Dubai, located at H9-A16. The event will take place from the 16th to the 20th of October at Dubai Harbour. For inquiries regarding investment opportunities and partnership details, please contact: [email protected] + 40766 350 466 SOURCE Bobnet Group Tour Hosted by American Egg Board and Outward Farms; Provides Firsthand Egg-ucation Celebrating Decades-Long Collaboration with White House and America's Egg Farmers RAYMOND, Ohio, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- First Lady Jill Biden today celebrated America's egg farmers on World Egg Day by visiting and touring the facilities at Outward Farms, a family-owned egg farm in Raymond, Ohio, that produces USDA Certified Organic cage-free eggs. Dr. Biden learned firsthand from third-generation egg farmer Sandra Lausecker, founder and CEO of Outward Farms, about what it takes to produce eggs, get them to market and feed America's families. The tour was hosted by the American Egg Board with Outward Farms, and it celebrates U.S. egg farmers' decades-long support of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. During the 2023 partnership with the American Egg Board and the White House Easter Egg Roll, America's egg farmers donated more than 5.5 million eggs to food banks across the country in the weeks leading up to Easter and Passover. The donation was part of the "Fighting Hunger by the Dozens" egg drive. First Lady Jill Biden celebrated America's egg farmers on World Egg Day by touring the facilities at Outward Farms. Post this "This is a big day for egg farmers across the country. We are honored and absolutely thrilledon World Egg Dayto offer the First Lady of the United States a front-row seat to experience the amazing dedication that egg farmers, like the Lauseckers at Outward Farms, give in their daily work to annually produce the 100 billion wholesome, nutritious eggs that Americans count on and love," said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board. The tour offered the First Lady and guests an in-depth look at Outward Farms' operations from spending time with the hens and understanding what goes into keeping them strong and healthy, to learning about the stringent on-farm measures taken to ensure food safety, to seeing how eggs are washed and inspected before being delivered fresh to stores. Importantly, the tour also acquainted Dr. Biden and guests with the rigorous and comprehensive biosecurity protocols egg farms across the country have implemented to protect their flocks from avian diseases like highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu. "The opportunity to showcase our innovative approach to egg farming, sustainability efforts such as renewable energy and a unique manure management program, feature an overview of our future Education Center, and share the incredible work that U.S. egg farmers do each day to bring nutritious, high-quality eggs to Americans makes me very proud," said Lausecker. "We take the health and safety of our birds and disease prevention extremely seriously, and worked to ensure that this very special tour could be accomplished while maintaining the highest levels of biosecurity and disease prevention." The tour took place on World Egg Day 2023, an annual event when egg lovers worldwide recognize the remarkable nutritional, environmental and societal benefits of eggs, and celebrates the exceptional contribution eggs make in supporting people globally. The 2023 World Egg Day theme is "Eggs for a healthy future" and highlights the unmatched nutritional power of the incredible, invaluable egg and its potential to combat common nutrient deficiencies across the world. About the American Egg Board (AEB) Home of the Incredible Egg, the AEB supports America's egg farmers in its mission to increase demand for eggs and egg products through research, education, and promotion. The AEB is located in Chicago, Ill. For more, visit IncredibleEgg.org About Outward Farms Outward Farms is a third-generation, family-owned egg farm committed to honoring the history of responsible farming in new and intentional waysby designing a farm that connects customers and communities and ensures sustainable production practices with unmatched transparency. Learn more at www.outwardfarms.com . Photos available on request. Contact: Marc Dresner American Egg Board [email protected] SOURCE American Egg Board WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Diane Foley, founder and president of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation dedicated to press freedoms, representatives from the New York Times and the Voice of America and journalism educators formerly with Marquette and Northwestern will launch a new Journalist Safety Task Force at a National Press Club Headliners Newsmaker event on Monday, Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. in the Zenger Room. As war rages in the Gaza region and correspondents are working at risk in active war zones, this timely panel on reporting in conflict zones will address journalist safety training. Club President Eileen O'Reilly will make preliminary remarks and introduce the panelists. Speaking at the Newsmaker are: Ellen Shearer, Board Chair of the Foley Foundation and Emerita Professor, Medill School of Journalism Eric Phillips, Program Manager, Office of Language Programming at Voice of America Jason Reich, Vice President of Safety and Security at The New York Times Tom Durkin, Director of Journalist Education and Safety Training, Foley Foundation and Marquette Center for Peacemaking Diane Foley, Founder & President, Foley Foundation Moderating and leading the panel will be academics associated with Marquette University and Northwestern University where Jim Foley attended journalism schools. Foley was brutally murdered by ISIS on August 19, 2014, after 21 months in captivity. He had been covering the Syrian civil war for Global Post and Agence France Presse at the time of his capture. The Foley Foundation advocates for the safe return of all Americans held hostage and provides journalist safety education. The National Press Club is located on the 13th Floor of the National Press Building at 529 14th St., NW, Washington, D.C. PRESS CONTACT: Cecily Scott Martin for the National Press Club; [email protected]; (202) 662-7525 SOURCE National Press Club Health Care Heroes Demand Living Wages, Affordable Health Care DETROIT, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Detroit Medical Center (DMC) lab assistants and customer service representatives with Teamsters Local 283 will rally on October 13 to demand a fair contract. DMC Teamsters will be joined by elected officials, labor allies, and other Michigan Teamsters. Teamsters are demanding that DMC management negotiate in good faith and offer workers a living wage and affordable, quality health care. Over the last several months, negotiations between Local 283 and DMC have stalled, as DMC has repeatedly refused to offer workers more than pennies in wage increases. Workers have been working under an expired collective bargaining agreement since December 31, 2022. Teamsters voted to authorize a strike if an agreement is not reached. WHO: Detroit Medical Center workers, Teamsters leaders and members, labor allies, and elected officials, including: Fred Durhal III , Detroit City Council District 7 , Detroit City Council District 7 Mary Waters , Detroit City Council At-Large , Detroit City Council At-Large Coleman Young Jr. , Detroit City Council At-Large , Detroit City Council At-Large Dave Woodward , Chairman of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners , Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Kevin Moore , President of Teamsters Joint Council 43 , President of Teamsters Joint Council 43 Steve Hicks , President of Teamsters Local 283 WHEN: Friday, October 13, 12:30 p.m.- 2:00 p.m. ET WHERE: Harper University Hospital (on the corner of John R & Alexandrine Streets) 3990 John R St Detroit, MI 48201 Contact: Matt McQuaid, (202) 624-6877 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 283 BIJIE, China, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by Guizhou Daily: A bountiful harvest is finally here. This year, an apple orchard in Tiejiang Village, Hezhang County, Bijie City of Southwest China's Guizhou province, reached an annual output of 300,000kg and a gross income of 1.8 million yuan, marking a substantial income for the impoverished households in this once-backward Village. These products were mainly sold to local markets, with some sales in the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. Li Kaiyang, a technician dispatched to Tiejiang Village, at the apple orchard in Hezhang County, Bijie City. Tiejiang Village boasts stunning scenery with karst caves and mountains visible everywhere. It used to be the poorest mountainous area in Hezhang County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province, taking about a tedious four-hour long drive from Guiyang, the provincial capital city of Guizhou. The reborn of the orchard was not all plain sailing. The orchard covers an area of about 75.09 acres (455.8 mu) and was established at the end of December 2017 with a total investment of 7.9159 million yuan. Due to a sudden break of the main funding chain in 2021, the orchard was not well-managed then, and the planting was severely affected, as a result, the orchard was even abandoned once. To solve this problem, Tiejiang Village first introduced professional enterprises to manage the apple orchard, then requested the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the CPC Guizhou Province Committee to coordinate with the State Ethnic Affairs Commission to inject 800,000 yuan to the apple orchard in 2022. Not only investments but also technicians were sent to the orchard. Li Kaiyang, a technician dispatched to Tiejiang Village by the Agricultural and Rural Bureau of Hezhang County, checks the orchard every day. He said: "This year, the orchard adopted a fertigation system and top-grafting method. Plus, we gave extra tree care to the aging ones. As a result, the yield increased by about 30%." Now, round, full-blushed red, sweet, and juicy apples hang extremely well to the tree. They did more than planting at the apple orchard. The ecological cycle established by the local farmers through feeding ducks and geese with apples and returning the manure to the fields is a great example of being consistent with nature and achieving "one thing for multiple uses". This practice not only helps to improve soil organic matter but also reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Li Kaiyang said that in the coming year, he plans to develop its apple orchard by planting undergrowth crops such as gastrodia elata and konjac, as well as incorporating duck farming under the trees. While there are no current plans for other fruit varieties, the farm plans to improve its apple varieties next year by coordinating the development of early, middle, and late-maturing varieties. This will allow for staggered sales and increased product value, effectively revitalizing underutilized rural assets and driving rural economic development, he added. Industrial development is a key measure to consolidate and expand poverty alleviation results and effectively connect with rural revitalization. Tiejiang Village serves as a great example of how collaboration, innovation, and investment in agriculture and rural development can transform once backward areas into thriving communities. Li Hua, First Secretary of the Lianmeng Township in Tiejiang Village, introduced that to promote industries in the Tiejiang Village, the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the CPC Guizhou Province Committee has provided supports on human resources, technology, and market development for the apple orchard while developing ecological and circulatory agriculture. Since 2016, the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the CPC Guizhou Province Committee, and Guizhou Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese have dispatched personnel to work in the Tiejiang village to ensure 17 projects in Hezhang County run smoothly. These projects are mainly about campus infrastructure building, planting and breeding industries, road construction, and other aspects of rural development. An apple, a flower, a village clinic, a campus... On the land of Wumeng Mountain, the picture of rural revitalization drawn by the UFWD is unfolding... SOURCE Guizhou Daily BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The Azerbaijani Army launched a counter-offensive operation, later called the "Iron Fist", on September 27, 2020, in response to the large-scale provocation of the Armenian armed forces along the frontline, Trend reports. The erupted 44-day Second Karabakh War ended with the liberation of Azerbaijans territories from nearly 30-year Armenian occupation. Trend presents the chronicle of the 17th day of the Second Karabakh war: - President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to the Turkish Haber Turk TV channel. - First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva shared a post on her official Instagram page. - Armenian armed forces fired on the territories of Azerbaijans Goranboy, Tartar, Aghdam, and Aghjabadi districts. - A large number of Armenian manpower and equipment were destroyed. - Armenian armed forces fired at the villages of Aghdam district using artillery and missiles. - From September 27 to October 13, 2020, 42 Azerbaijani civilians were killed as a result of the shelling of settlements by the Armenian armed forces. - The Defense Ministry has released a video of the liberated settlement of Hadrut. Research Shows over 30% of American Women are Impacted by a Growing Public Health Crisis. AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Sunday, on October 15th, the National Summit on Period Poverty will convene at the LBJ Presidential Library on the University of Texas campus, bringing together leading researchers, policymakers, and advocates, focusing on women's empowerment and equity. At the Summit, attendees will hear from national experts about forthcoming research on Period Poverty, including a 1,000 person, nationally representative survey of American women that will be released concurrently. Period Poverty is a rarely-discussed public health crisis in the United States and our groundbreaking wayfinding survey reveals the significant impacts Period Poverty can have on mental health. The summit is organized by national non-profit Dignity Grows, a women-run organization that reduces Period Poverty through policy and research development as well distribution of free monthly menstrual and comprehensive hygiene essentials. Since its founding in 2019, Dignity Grows and its 60 national chapters spanning 27 states, have distributed over 5.6 million period products. Period Poverty is a growing public health crisis, impacting women of every background, in every American community. Post this "Period Poverty impacts people of every background, in every part of our country and it affects all aspects of an individual's life," said Jessica Zachs, Chair and CEO of Dignity Grows. "It's long past time for our society to stop stigmatizing basic health issues, and instead come together and give women and girls the basic dignity they deserve. We're convening the National Summit on Period Poverty to raise awareness and bring together a coalition of researchers and advocates focused on this issue, and it's part of Dignity Grows' long term strategy to develop solutions, deliver as many hygiene products as possible, and advocate for systemic change that empowers women and girls." Soledad O'Brien, Award Winning Journalist, Documentarian and Host of Matter of Fact, is keynoting the upcoming summit. She is one of the many journalists across the nation taking note of this epidemic that has largely gone unnoticed. Media executive Jennifer Joseph: "There are so many intractable crises facing our country, but Period Poverty shouldn't be one of them." Joseph, reflecting on the current efforts, "This month, like every month, millions of women and girls will experience the shame and stress of not having basic hygiene products. We know how to change that: education and access, for everyone. I'm inspired by the team at Dignity Grows and everyone who's fighting to end Period Poverty, and I'm proud to help raise awareness of this important issue." Speakers and moderators at the summit include: Keynote - Soledad O'Brien - Award Winning Journalist, Documentarian & Host of Matter of Fact Dr. Daphne Bazile Bon Secours Mollie Bowman - More Perfect Dean JR DeShazo - LBJ School of Public Affairs State Representative Donna Howard (TX District 48) Jason Jakubowski - Feeding America Mark Atwood Lawrence - LBJ Presidential Library Chastity Lord - Jeremiah Program Bee Moorhead - Texas Impact Pamela Benson Owens - Six Square Jeannie Infante Sager - Women's Philanthropy Institute Mark Updegrove - LBJ Foundation About Dignity Grows Founded in 2019, Dignity Grows facilitates a sophisticated national network of over 3,500 professionals, volunteers, and supporters. The Dignity Grows "Hope in a Bag" program ensures free monthly hygiene support for more than 50,000 women and girls each year. Dignity Grows chapters serve communities across 27 states and partner with over 400 frontline social service providers such as food pantries, homeless shelters, under-resourced school districts, and underserved health clinics. SOURCE Dignity Grows DUBLIN, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Low Cost Airlines Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global low cost airlines market reached a size of $189.1 billion in 2022, and it is anticipated to experience substantial growth in the coming years. Projections indicate that the market will reach $315.4 billion by 2028, exhibiting a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% during the period from 2023 to 2028. Low cost airlines, also known as budget airlines or no-frills carriers, offer affordable air travel options for short-haul flights with fewer amenities compared to conventional full-service airlines. These airlines have adopted several cost-efficient strategies, such as charging separately for services like food, beverages, early boarding, carry-on baggage, and car rental, to generate non-ticket revenues. They also operate single-type aircraft with minimal equipment to reduce weight, acquisition, and maintenance costs while increasing fuel efficiency. Additionally, low cost airlines often use less congested secondary airports to reduce airport fees, air traffic congestion, delays, and ground time between flights. Key Market Trends and Drivers: Rise in Domestic Travel and Tourism: The significant increase in domestic travel and tourism is a key factor driving market growth. Travelers are opting for low cost airlines to explore various domestic destinations affordably. Direct Booking and Ticketless Travel: Leading airline companies are offering tickets directly through telephone or internet bookings, eliminating the need for third-party agencies. This reduces transaction costs and services fees. The growing adoption of ticketless travel and increased internet penetration are also contributing to market growth. Point-to-Point Nonstop Flights: Low cost airlines operate point-to-point nonstop flights, reducing travel time and improving aircraft utilization. Business Travel: Business travelers are increasingly focused on minimizing travel time and costs, which is influencing the market positively. Discounted Fares: Market players are emphasizing offering discounted fares for early reservations while enhancing passenger connectivity. COVID-19 Impact: The decline in the number of commercial flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions negatively impacted the market. However, the market is expected to rebound as travel restrictions ease. Market Segmentation: The global low cost airlines market is segmented based on purpose, distribution channel, and destination. Purpose Segmentation: Leisure Travel VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) Business Travel Others Distribution Channel Segmentation: Online Travel Agency Others Destination Segmentation: Domestic International Regional Breakdown: North America United States Canada Asia-Pacific China Japan India South Korea Australia Indonesia Others Europe Germany France United Kingdom Italy Spain Russia Others Latin America Brazil Mexico Others Middle East and Africa Competitive Landscape: Key players in the global low cost airlines market include Air Arabia PJSC, Alaska Airlines Inc., Capital A Berhad (Tune Group Sdn Bhd), easyJet plc, Go Airlines (Wadia Group), IndiGo, Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd (Qantas Airways Limited), Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, Ryanair Holdings PLC, Southwest Airlines Co., SpiceJet Limited, Spirit Airlines Inc., and WestJet Airlines Ltd. Key Questions Answered: What was the size of the global low cost airlines market in 2022? What is the expected growth rate of the market from 2023 to 2028? How has COVID-19 impacted the market? What are the key drivers of market growth? What is the breakdown of the market based on travel purpose? What is the distribution channel breakdown in the market? What are the key regions for the global low cost airlines market? Who are the major players in the market? For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/sr3pnc About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets PUNE, India, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinium Global Research, a leading provider of market research, has recently released a comprehensive report on the Global Wireless Power Transmission Market. This report presents a detailed analysis of various segments and sub-segments within the global and regional wireless power transmission markets. It also sheds light on the impact of drivers, restraints, and macro indicators on both short-term and long-term market dynamics. The report provides a comprehensive outlook on trends, forecasts, and dollar values of the global wireless power transmission market. Significantly, the global wireless power transmission market, valued at USD 35.02 billion in 2022, is anticipated to soar to USD 186.76 billion by 2030, exhibiting an impressive CAGR of 20.39% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2030. To Know More Request a Sample of this Report: https://www.infiniumglobalresearch.com/market-reports/sample-request/669 Key Market Drivers: The wireless power transmission market is witnessing robust growth, primarily propelled by the surging demand for battery-powered devices and the necessity for efficient charging systems. Moreover, the emergence of innovative applications for wireless power transmission, such as solar-power satellites, is expected to further fuel global market expansion. Additionally, the continuous enhancement of power transmission system efficiency is creating favorable conditions for the market's growth in the near future. Notably, popular smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus, and Motorola Droid now feature wireless charging capabilities, contributing significantly to the broader adoption of inductive wireless power transmission in the smartphone market. In the automotive sector, companies such as Honda, Nissan, and Toyota Motors are increasingly focusing on electrically charged vehicles, opening up substantial opportunities for wireless power transmission solutions over the forecast period. However, challenges persist, including potential interference of microwaves with existing communication systems and the rising costs associated with wireless power technology, which are acting as hindrances to the market's growth. During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown measures led to the suspension of semiconductor and electronics production facilities, resulting in a shortage of available workforce worldwide. Travel bans and government-imposed facility closures kept workers away from factories, disrupting market growth. Additionally, the market faced issues related to raw material shortages and decreased demand during the pandemic, leading to constraints in its growth prospects within the forecast period. Regional Insights: North America : Currently, North America holds the largest share of the global wireless power transmission market. Mexico , in particular, is emerging as a thriving manufacturing hub, driven by cost-effectiveness and increasing demand in North American countries like the United States and Canada . : Currently, holds the largest share of the global wireless power transmission market. , in particular, is emerging as a thriving manufacturing hub, driven by cost-effectiveness and increasing demand in North American countries like and . Asia Pacific : It is expected that the Asia Pacific region will exert significant dominance and drive market expansion during the forecast period. The flourishing automobile sector in countries such as China and India are poised to fuel market growth in the coming years. Enquire Here Get Customization & Check the Discount for the Report @ https://www.infiniumglobalresearch.com/market-reports/customization/669 Segmentation: The report offers a detailed analysis of the wireless power transmission market, categorized into several key segments, including: Range : Near field and far field. : Near field and far field. Type : Microwave power transmission, inductive coupling power transmission, and resonance. : Microwave power transmission, inductive coupling power transmission, and resonance. End User Industries: Consumer electronics, healthcare, automotive, industrial, and others (drones, solar power satellite). Key Players: The report profiles prominent companies in the wireless power transmission market, including: Koninklijke Philips N.V. PowerbyProxi (acquired by Apple Inc.) SAMSUNG Texas Instruments Incorporated Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (acquired by Renesas) TDK CORPORATION Powermat WiTricity Corporation PLUGLESS POWER INC. Salcomp Plc. More Insights on this report, Speak to Our Analyst: https://www.infiniumglobalresearch.com/market-reports/enquiry/669 Table of Contents Chapter 1. Preface 1.1. Report Description 1.2. Research Methods 1.3. Research Approaches Chapter 2. Executive Summary 2.1. Wireless Power Transmission Market Highlights 2.2. Wireless Power Transmission Market Projection 2.3. Wireless Power Transmission Market Regional Highlights Chapter 3. Global Wireless Power Transmission Market Overview 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Market Dynamics 3.2.1. Drivers 3.2.2. Restraints 3.2.3. Opportunities 3.3. Porter`s Five Forces Analysis 3.4. IGR-Growth Matrix Analysis 3.4.1. IGR-Growth Matrix Analysis by Range 3.4.2. IGR-Growth Matrix Analysis by Type 3.4.3. IGR-Growth Matrix Analysis by End User Industries 3.4.4. IGR-Growth Matrix Analysis by Region 3.5. Value Chain Analysis of Wireless Power Transmission Market Chapter 4. Wireless Power Transmission Market Macro Indicator Analysis Chapter 5. Company Profiles and Competitive Landscape 5.1. Competitive Landscape in the Global Wireless Power Transmission Market 5.2. Companies Profiles 5.2.1. Koninklijke Philips N.V. 5.2.2. PowerbyProxi (acquired by Apple Inc.) 5.2.3. SAMSUNG 5.2.4. Texas Instruments Incorporated 5.2.5. Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (acquired by Renesas) 5.2.6. TDK CORPORATION 5.2.7. Powermat 5.2.8. WiTricity Corporation 5.2.9. PLUGLESS POWER INC. 5.2.10. Salcomp Plc Chapter 6. Global Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 6.1. Near Field 6.2. Far Field Chapter 7. Global Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 7.1. Microwave Power Transmission 7.2. Inductive Coupling Power Transmission and Resonance Chapter 8. Global Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 8.1. Consumer Electronics 8.2. Healthcare 8.3. Automotive 8.4. Industrial 8.5. Others (Drones, Solar Power Satellite) Chapter 9. Global Wireless Power Transmission Market by Region 2023-2030 9.1. North America 9.1.1. North America Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.1.2. North America Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.1.3. North America Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.1.4. North America Wireless Power Transmission Market by Country 9.1.4.1. The U.S. Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.1.4.1.1. The U.S. Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.1.4.1.2. The U.S. Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.1.4.1.3. The U.S. Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.1.4.2. Canada Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.1.4.2.1. Canada Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.1.4.2.2. Canada Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.1.4.2.3. Canada Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.1.4.3. Mexico Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.1.4.3.1. Mexico Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.1.4.3.2. Mexico Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.1.4.3.3. Mexico Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.2. Europe 9.2.1. Europe Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.2.2. Europe Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.2.3. Europe Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.2.4. Europe Wireless Power Transmission Market by Country 9.2.4.1. Germany Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.2.4.1.1. Germany Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.2.4.1.2. Germany Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.2.4.1.3. Germany Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.2.4.2. United Kingdom Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.2.4.2.1. United Kingdom Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.2.4.2.2. United Kingdom Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.2.4.2.3. United Kingdom Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.2.4.3. France Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.2.4.3.1. France Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.2.4.3.2. France Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.2.4.3.3. France Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.2.4.4. Italy Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.2.4.4.1. Italy Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.2.4.4.2. Italy Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.2.4.4.3. Italy Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.2.4.5. Rest of Europe Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.2.4.5.1. Rest of Europe Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.2.4.5.2. Rest of Europe Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.2.4.5.3. Rest of Europe Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.3. Asia Pacific 9.3.1. Asia Pacific Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.3.2. Asia Pacific Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.3.3. Asia Pacific Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.3.4. Asia Pacific Wireless Power Transmission Market by Country 9.3.4.1. China Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.3.4.1.1. China Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.3.4.1.2. China Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.3.4.1.3. China Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.3.4.2. Japan Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.3.4.2.1. Japan Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.3.4.2.2. Japan Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.3.4.2.3. Japan Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.3.4.3. India Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.3.4.3.1. India Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.3.4.3.2. India Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.3.4.3.3. India Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.3.4.4. South Korea Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.3.4.4.1. South Korea Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.3.4.4.2. South Korea Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.3.4.4.3. South Korea Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.3.4.5. Australia Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.3.4.5.1. Australia Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.3.4.5.2. Australia Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.3.4.5.3. Australia Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.3.4.6. Rest of Asia-Pacific Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.3.4.6.1. Rest of Asia-Pacific Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.3.4.6.2. Rest of Asia-Pacific Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.3.4.6.3. Rest of Asia-Pacific Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.4. RoW 9.4.1. RoW Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.4.2. RoW Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.4.3. RoW Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.4.4. RoW Wireless Power Transmission Market by Sub-region 9.4.4.1. Latin America Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.4.4.1.1. Latin America Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.4.4.1.2. Latin America Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.4.4.1.3. Latin America Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.4.4.2. Middle East Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.4.4.2.1. Middle East Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.4.4.2.2. Middle East Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.4.4.2.3. Middle East Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries 9.4.4.3. Africa Wireless Power Transmission Market 9.4.4.3.1. Africa Wireless Power Transmission Market by Range 9.4.4.3.2. Africa Wireless Power Transmission Market by Type 9.4.4.3.3. Africa Wireless Power Transmission Market by End User Industries Browse Complete Report @ https://www.infiniumglobalresearch.com/market-reports/global-wireless-power-transmission-market Reasons to Buy this Report: => Comprehensive analysis of global as well as regional markets of wireless power transmission. => Complete coverage of all the product types and application segments to analyze the trends, developments, and forecast of market size up to 2030. => Comprehensive analysis of the companies operating in this market. The company profile includes an analysis of the product portfolio, revenue, SWOT analysis, and the latest developments of the company. => Infinium Global Research- Growth Matrix presents an analysis of the product segments and geographies that market players should focus on to invest, consolidate, expand, and/or diversify. About Infinium Global Research: Infinium Global Research is a business consulting and market research firm; a group of experts that caters to fulfilling business and market research needs of leading companies in various industry verticals and business segments. The company also serves government bodies, institutes, and non-profit/non-government organizations to meet their knowledge and information needs. Through our information services and solutions, we assist our clients to improve their performance and assess the market conditions to achieve their organizational goals. Our team of experts and analysts are engaged in continuously monitoring and assessing the market conditions to provide knowledge support to our clients. To help our clients and to stay updated with the advances and inventions in technology, business processes, regulations, and the environment, Infinium often conducts regular meets with industry experts and opinion leaders. Our key opinion leaders are involved in monitoring and assessing the progress in the business environment, so as to offer the best opinion to our clients. Contact: Infinium Global Research 2nd Floor, Ganadish Empire, Rahatani Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Maharashtra 411027 Phone: +918999930634 Email: [email protected] Website: www.infiniumglobalresearch.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2244132/Infinium_Global_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Infinium Global Research Granicus' annual Digital Government Awards honor transformational achievements improving citizen engagement, service delivery and government efficiency WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Granicus, the leading provider of government experience software services and solutions, announced the winners of its Digital Government Awards. Since 2010, Granicus has honored government entities and employees who have embraced modern technologies that drive awareness of community programs, improve citizen experiences, transform outdated processes and inspire civic action. "The Granicus Digital Government Awards demonstrate governments' commitment to digital transformation and service delivery to their constituents," said Gabriele "G" Masili, chief customer officer of Granicus. "This year we received a record number of nominations from governments of all levels across North America showcasing how they're making a difference in their communities. We are inspired by their efforts and honored to partner with them to innovate the processes, capabilities and services used by their customers every day." The 2023 awards span seven award categories: Changemaker, Community Engagement, Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Operational Efficiency, Trust & Transparency, and Website of the Year. The winning nominations include Burlington, Ont.; Edmonton, Alta.; New York State Higher Education Services Corporation; New York State Department of Labor; Ontario Energy Board; Oakville, Ont.; Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and Gainesville, Fla. Additional winning entries and runners-up can be viewed here and the honorees will be featured at Granicus' Digital Transformation Summit, October 25. About Granicus Granicus is the global leader in customer engagement and experience technologies and services for the public sector. Now powering almost 30 billion digital interactions globally each year and connecting over 500,000 government professionals with 300 million opt-in subscribers, Granicus is proud to serve as a critical strategic partner to governments as they work to deliver equitable and secure government experiences. With comprehensive cloud-based solutions for communications, digital services, government website design, meeting and agenda management software, and records management, Granicus empowers stronger relationships between government and constituents across the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. By simplifying interactions and communicating critical information, Granicus brings governments closer to the people they servedriving meaningful change for communities around the globe. SOURCE Granicus Home sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and Lennar PENSACOLA, Fla., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Helping a Hero, a non-profit providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror, Bass Pro Shops and Lennar, one of the nation's leading homebuilders, today broke ground on a Lennar home for Corporal Corey Dingman USA (Ret.). Corporal Dingman and his family were greeted by special guests from Helping a Hero, including Founder, Meredith Iler, retired Marine Staff Sergeant Daniel Gilyeat, as well as Lennar Southeast Regional Vice President, Matt Devereaux and Lennar Associates. The new adapted home is part of Lennar's Saddle Ridge community located in the Beulah area of Pensacola, Florida. Helping A Hero, Bass Pro Shops and Lennar Break Ground on Home for Wounded Veteran, Corporal Corey Dingman, USA (Ret.), in Pensacola, FL. (Pictured L to R: Meredith Iler, Founder of Helping A Hero; Jeff Bergosh, Escambia County Commissioner for District 1; Matt Devereaux, Lennar Southeast Regional Vice President; Corporal Corey Dingman, USA (Ret.) and his wife, Michele Dingman; Derrick Watkins, General Manager of Bass Pro Shops Spanish Bay, Alabama.) Helping A Hero, Bass Pro Shops and Lennar Break Ground on Home for Wounded Veteran, Corporal Corey Dingman, USA (Ret.) in Pensacola, FL. Neighbors and representatives from Helping A Hero, Lennar and Bass Pro Shops came together in support, waving American flags and holding signs welcoming Corporal Corey Dingman USA (Ret.), and his wife, Michele Dingman to the community. (Pictured L to R: Corporal Corey Dingman, USA (Ret.) and SSGT Daniel Gilyeat, USMC (Ret), a future recipient of a Lennar home through Helping a Hero's 100 Homes Challenge .) The groundbreaking is part of Helping a Hero's 100 Homes Challenge, which was launched by Johnny Morris, Founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops. Lennar has joined the effort and committed to building 10 homes for Helping a Hero as part of the 100 Homes Challenge. Homes by Lennar are being built in Texas, Arizona, Florida and Colorado with more homes to be added. Lennar worked with Helping a Hero to build the new home a Trevi floorplan encompassing 1,943 square feet with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and spacious family gathering areas. Saddle Ridge is located in Beulah which is in close proximity to the NAS Naval Base. Corporal Corey Dingman knew at an early age he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfathers and join the military. He started visiting with Army recruiters at age 14 and in October 2005, he joined the Army. Corporal Dingman served in the Army for 7 years as a gunner and a sniper. During his second deployment, he was injured by an IED and was MEDIVACed to Landstuhl, Germany where he then was sent to recovery at the Warrior Transition Battalion for the next 9 months. During his 3 deployments and later service as a contractor in Afghanistan, he suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury with exacerbating injuries to his hearing, elbow, leg, right hip, and burns. After surviving all that he faced in the military, he was sitting at a red light when he was hit and sustained injuries including the loss of his leg. Through this adversity, Corporal Dingman made the decision to live and to help others. He and his wife, Michele, look forward to moving into their Lennar home which will have an open floorplan, wider doors and hallways, and provide the ability for Corporal Dingman to move more easily inside the home. As an amputee, it has been more difficult taking a shower and admitting that I can't wear my prosthetic for all of my waking hours. I am grateful to Lennar for designing a home that will provide the ability to do daily tasks like taking a shower safely and alone," said Corporal Dingman. "It is an honor to partner with Lennar and Bass Pro Shops to build this adapted home for Corporal Corey Dingman. During his two tours of duty in the Global War on Terror, he was a leader who always looked out for his fellow soldiers. Today, he still finds time to serve others even while he struggles himself to overcome the wounds of war both physical and unseen. This home is a new beginning for the Dingman family and we look forward to him finally having the opportunity to have wider doors, a roll in shower and other adapted safety features to help him when he is in his wheelchair," said Meredith Iler. "We are honored to have the opportunity to partner with such an outstanding organization as Helping A Hero and we're proud to build a comfortable home for such an extremely deserving American hero who sacrificed so much," said Devereaux. "We hope this home provides Corporal Dingman and his family a happy place to enjoy life and make family memories." About Helping a Hero: Texas-based Helping a Hero is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror. Our principal activity is to provide specially adapted homes for qualifying service members as well as engage the community to provide services and resources for our wounded heroes and their families. Home recipients include veterans whose permanent injuries from combat have left them paraplegics, quadriplegics, amputees, blind, with severe burns and other injuries. Helping A Hero provides additional support programs including marriage retreats, caregiver retreats, recreational activities, and emergency needs support. Helping a Hero Outdoors has expanded to serve our heroes through hunting and fishing outings. About the 100 Homes Challenge: Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops and noted conservationist, launched the 100 Homes Challenge and committed to fund 25 percent of the cost of the next 100 Helping a Hero homes. Helping a Hero invites the public to join Johnny Morris in the 100 Homes Challenge by making a donation, however large or small, to help to fund the other 75 percent of the cost of these homes. Helping A Hero is accepting applications from Post 9-11 wounded warriors needing a specially adapted home due to their combat injuries to become part of the 100 Homes Challenge. We also invite the public to Nominate a Hero. Both the home application and the Nominate a Hero form are available on our website at www.helpingahero.org. About Lennar Corporation Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builders of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title and closing services primarily for buyers of Lennar's homes and, through LMF Commercial, originates mortgage loans secured primarily by commercial real estate properties throughout the United States. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. LENX drives Lennar's technology, innovation and strategic investments. Media Contact: Danielle Tocco Vice President Communications Lennar Corporation [email protected] Direct Line: 949.789.1633 Mobile: 949-648-1823 SOURCE Lennar Corporation WESTWOOD, Mass., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Heritage Financial Services is proud to once again be recognized by Forbes as one of America's Top RIA Firms. Forbes/SHOOK Research received more than 42,600 nominations and Heritage Financial is thrilled to rank #81 out of 250 firms. "It is an honor to once again be recognized as a leader in the wealth management industry", says Sammy Azzouz, President & CEO. "This is the second year Forbes has published this prestigious list of firms committed to putting a client's best interest first. The fact that Heritage has not only been recognized, but also ranked in the top 100 both years, underscores our team's ongoing commitment to providing exceptional, comprehensive wealth management services to our clients." Forbes' America's Top RIA Firms 2023 awarded October 10, 2023 based on data as of March 31, 2023. The full list and award methodology can be found at https://www.forbes.com/lists/top-ria-firms/. About Heritage Financial Services Heritage Financial Services is an independent wealth management firm focused on providing personalized financial advice and experienced investment management to affluent families nationwide. The firm manages approximately $2.4 billion in assets. For more information about Heritage Financial Services, please visit www.heritagefinancial.net. Media Contact: [email protected] Phone: 781-619-1349 www.heritagefinancial.net SOURCE Heritage Financial Services DUBLIN, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Strategic Profile of Hyundai" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This strategic profile offers an overview of the Hyundai Motor Group in South Korea, with a focus on the passenger vehicle market. The study expands the company's automotive business segment and includes Hyundai Motor Group's business snapshots, such as annual revenue, operating profit, and net profit, mainly contributed by Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. It explores the company structure, including the ownership of the major shareholders of Hyundai Motor Group's subsidiaries and provides the top 6 highlights for 2022, in addition to sales strategies, manufacturing strategies, product portfolio, and technologies strategies. Hyundai Motor Group has continued to grow, with total sales increasing from 6.7 million units in 2021 to 6.8 million units in 2022, a YoY increase of 2.7%. It ranks third in the global automotive market, with a sales market share of 8.4%.To strengthen the vertical value chain, Hyundai Motor Group adopts a complex management hierarchy organization supported by Hyundai Mobis, the world's leading parts manufacturer, and strategic partnerships for battery plants with SK On and LG Energy Solution. The contribution of Hyundai Motor Group to fuel cell electric vehicles has transformed the automotive industry and has made it an important pioneer of the global automotive electrification trend which has disrupted the market for traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Growth Opportunity Universe Global Powertrain Transition Vertical Value Chain Unique Value through Different Sub-brands Connected Vehicles and Autonomous Driving A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes Genesis Hyundai Mobis Hyundai Motor Group Kia LG Energy Solution SK On Key Topics Covered: 1. Strategic Imperatives Why is it Increasingly Difficult to Grow? The Strategic Imperative The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Automotive Industry Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine 2. Growth Opportunity Analysis Scope of Analysis Primary Questions This Study Will Answer Growth Drivers Growth Restraints 3. Overview Company Overview Company Structure Subsidiary Ownership Structure Major Highlights in 2022 SWOT Analysis 4. Sales Strategies Product Sales Outlook Product Sales Outlook by Brands Sales in Leading Countries Electric Vehicle Sales 5. Manufacturing Strategies Global Production Network Supply Chain Strategy Strategic Partnerships Case Study - Hyundai's Partnership Strategy in Thailand 6. Product Portfolio Strategic Development Roadmap, 1967 R&D Facilities and Research Areas Research and Development Recent R&D Focus Product Development Roadmap Primary Collaborations 7. Technology Strategies Development Roadmap of Hyundai Motor Group's Platform Development Roadmap of Hyundai Motor Group's Connected Vehicle Development Roadmap of Hyundai Motor Group's Autonomous Driving For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mdq62k About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- First Lady Jill Biden hosted a delegation of Italian American leaders Thursday evening at the White House to highlight a bellwether of cultural progress that has taken shape within the community. Dr. Biden, the nation's first-ever Italian American First Lady, met with Basil M. Russo president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) and his peers to recognize the sacrifices and celebrate the contributions Italian Americans have made to our country. Dr. Jill Biden hosted the delegation of leaders who are reshaping the scope and vision of the Italian American culture. Post this In honor of Italian American Heritage Month, First Lady Jill Biden hosts a reception at the White House to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Italian Americans across the United States (Oct. 12, 2023). "Our heritage is much more than our hospitality and food, isn't it? It's the Sicilians who were dragged from their cells and killed in New Orleans by an angry mob, it's 'Italians Need Not Apply,' it's people like my dad who was never quite accepted by my mom's family because he was Italian. It's a history of those who led movements, who wrote our laws and penned our poetry; of men and women who were courageous, even when they were most afraid," the First Lady said in her address to the delegation. The historic meeting comes in the wake of a growing and influential slate of initiatives spearheaded by COPOMIAO, including the launch of a visionary film platform with Hollywood's The Russo Brothers in 2024, the creation of a nationwide young leaders fellowship, cementing strategic and commercial ties with Italian and Vatican leaders overseas, and the grass roots preservation of Italian American history. "When I was appointed president of COPOMIAO in 2020, Italian American leadership was fragmented and ready for a new direction," said Russo. "In three years, we have united hundreds of Italian American organizations, collectively amassed over a million social media followers, partnered with Hollywood leaders, appeared on Capitol Hill and collaborated with Italian dignitaries. All our efforts have culminated into this watershed meeting with the First Lady, which is the first-ever delegation to be invited to the White House in celebration of Italian American Heritage Month." Russo and his colleagues began their collaboration with the Biden administration last year, by working to develop the 2022 and 2023 Columbus Day Presidential Proclamations. ABOUT COPOMIAO Formed in 1975 and based in NYC, The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) is a collective of the most influential, cultural, educational, fraternal and anti-defamation groups in the nation. https://copomiao.org SOURCE The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations The global industrial robotics market is experiencing growth due to several factors, such as high requirements for automation, high labor costs and a dearth of skilled human workforce, an increase in investments in R&D activities, and the availability of affordable and energy-efficient robots. NEW CASTLE, Del., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Industrial Robotics Market by Type (Articulated, Cartesian, SCARA, Cylindrical, Others), End User Industry (Automotive, Electrical and Electronics, Chemical Rubber and Plastics, Manufacturing, Food, and Beverages, Others), Function (Soldering and Welding, Materials handling, Assembling and Disassembling, Painting and Dispensing, Milling, Cutting, and Processing, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032." According to the report, the Industrial robotics industry generated $38.0 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to generate $163.0 billion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 12.6% from 2023 to 2032. Industrial robotics is a sector that deals with the development, manufacture, and implementation of automated systems and robotic solutions in a variety of industries. These advanced robots are designed to perform a variety of tasks with remarkable accuracy, velocity, and productivity, and are employed in a variety of industrial settings to replace or assist human workers. These robots are employed to improve productivity, reduce safety, and streamline processes in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, automotive, electronics, logistics, and healthcare. Download PDF Sample of this Report @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/214 Prime Determinants of Growth: The global industrial robotics market is experiencing growth due to several factors, such as high requirements for automation, high labor costs and a dearth of skilled human workforce, an increase in investments in R&D activities, and the availability of affordable and energy-efficient robots. However, the high initial investment and installation costs and the threat of job displacement may restrain the market growth to some extent. Moreover, the increase in application areas and the evolving robotics and AI industry bring new opportunities for market growt. Report Coverage & Details: Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Historic Year 2020 Market Size in 2020 $38.0 Billion Market Size in 2032 $163.0 Billion CAGR 12.6 % No. of Pages in Report 298 Segments Covered Type, End user Industry, Function, and Region Drivers High requirement for automation High labor costs and a dearth of skilled human workforce Increase in investments in R&D activities Availability of affordable and energy-efficient robots Opportunities Increase in application areas Evolving robotics and AI industry Restraints High initial investment and installation costs The threat of job displacement COVID-19 Scenario: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the global industrial robotics market, owing to the temporary closure of manufacturing firms during the lockdown. Not only the production but also the sale of industrial robots was hampered due to the closure of automotive, electrical, electronics, and other industries across the world, especially in the initial period of the pandemic. However, the pandemic has recovered, and the market is growing steadily. Buy This Research Report @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/81961517a8144b36bd615b67a8469cfe The articulated segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period- Based on type, the articulated segment held the highest market share in 2020, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global industrial robotics market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. On the other hand, the cylindrical segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 13.8% from 2023 to 2032. Owing to the high demand for cylindrical robots for pick and place, packaging, assembling-dissembling, and other applications in the warehouse and industrial sector is expected to drive the market. The electrical and electronics segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period- Based on end user industry, the electrical and electronics segment held the highest market share in 2020, accounting for around one-third of the global industrial robotics market, and is estimated to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. This is attributed to the increasing demand for articulated and other robots for miniature work in the electronics and electrical industry. However, the food and beverages segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 13.6% from 2023 to 2032. The rising population is expected to drive the demand for industrial robots in the food and beverages sector. The materials handling segment to rule the roost by 2032- Based on function, the materials handling segment accounted for the largest share in 2020, contributing to more than two-fifths of the global industrial robotics market revenue, and is expected to rule the roost by 2032. On the other hand, the painting and dispensing segment is expected to portray the largest CAGR of 14.4% from 2023 to 2032. Growth in automotive, food and beverage, chemical and other industries is increasing demand for industrial robots. Growth in the industrial sector will eventually have a positive impact on the Industrial robotics market. Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2032- Based on region, Asia-Pacific held the highest market share in 2020, accounting for nearly three-fifths of the global industrial robotics market revenue, and is expected to maintain its dominance by 2032. Leading countries like, Japan, India, and Korea are at the forefront of robotics adoption, especially in electronics, and machinery industries. However, the LAMEA region would exhibit the fastest CAGR of 13.8% during the forecast period. Make A Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/214 Leading Market Players: - ABB Ltd. (ABB Robotics) Daihen Corporation Denso Corporation (Denso Robotics) Fanuc Corporation Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Kuka Robotics Corporation Mitsubishi, Electric Corporation NachiFujikoshi Corporation (Nachi Robotic Systems) Panasonic Corporation Seiko Epson Corporation Universal Robots A/S Yaskawa Electric Corporation. The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global industrial robotics market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, investments, and acquisitions to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario. Trending Reports in Robotics Market: Global service robotics market is projected to reach $153.7 billion by 2030 Warehouse Robotics Market is projected to reach $15,792.0 million by 2030 Robotics Market is expected to reach $149,866.4 million by 2030 Adaptive robotics market is expected to reach $ 55,097.0 million by 2030 Construction Robotics Market registering a CAGR of 23.3% from 2020 to 2027. Robotic Gripper Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2030 Wearable Robotic Exoskeleton Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 Industrial Robotic Motors Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2030 About Allied Market Research: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact Us: United States 1209 Orange Street, Corporation Trust Center, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware 19801 USA. Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 Fax: +1-800-792-5285 [email protected] Follow Us on | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Within the framework of joint cooperation between Azerbaijan Embassy in Israel and Azerbaijan Airlines, 72 Azerbaijani and Israeli citizens of Azerbaijani origin were sent to Baku by direct flight over Makhachkala and Dubai on October 12-13, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Israel said, Trend reports. The flight was carried out amid the ongoing military hostilities between Israel and Hamas military group. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on the morning of October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared a state of readiness for war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists. The Israeli Army's operation against Hamas goes by the codename "Swords of Iron". ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is thrilled to announce that two of our premiere child safety programs are now available in Spanish! The release includes "Into the Cloud," NCMEC's animated series on internet safety, as well as "Take it Down," a free service that can help kids remove nude, partially nude or sexually explicit images or videos of themselves that may be online. The translation of these two platforms into Spanish will enable wider engagement within Spanish-speaking communities, encouraging more families and educators to engage in open conversations about online safety. Developed as part of NCMEC's NetSmartz program , Into the Cloud is an innovative online safety resource designed to educate children, families and educators through a captivating animated series. Since the premiere in 2019, two full seasons of Into the Cloud have been released, focused on providing viewers with the knowledge to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly. Each episode of Into the Cloud uses real-life data from NCMEC's CyberTipline reports, conveying this information through an entertaining and age-appropriate manner. Families and educators are also able to access interactive activities and resources focusing on online safety. Spanish-speaking families and educators can look forward to: Comprehensive content: Cyberbullying, online privacy, social media and more. Interactive learning: Engaging activities and videos. Educator resources: Supplemental materials, lesson plans and discussion guides. Parental guidance: Tips, advice and resources. Customizable workshops: Organize workshops and presentations for schools, community centers and other organizations. Watch Season 1 and 2 of Into the Cloud in Spanish now: https://www.missingkids.org/netsmartz/es/videos?utm_source=netsmartz_list_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=itc_spanish Additionally, NCMEC's world-renowned platform, Take it Down, has been translated to Spanish and 11 additional languages, with more on the way. Take It Down is a proactive way for children to have their sexually explicit images removed from certain online sites. It works by assigning a unique digital fingerprint, called a hash value, to specific images or videos. When tech platforms sign up to participate, they are provided these hash values so they can detect and remove the imagery on their public or unencrypted sites and apps. This all happens without the image or video ever leaving a device or anyone viewing it. Since Take it Down's launch in December 2022, children have asked for NCMEC's help in removing more than 67,000 images and videos from the internet. NCMEC is hopeful that implementing its availability in other languages will help more children globally. Thank you for your support in ensuring that every child deserves a safe childhood. For more information on our mission, visit: https://www.missingkids.org/home Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1768233/NCMEC_Heart_Logo__002_Logo.jpg SOURCE National Center for Missing & Exploited Children The 4-year tentative agreement increases wages, expands job training, and improves performance sharing plan; now goes to employees for ratification OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- October 13, 2023 Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions are pleased to jointly announce that in the early hours of October 13, 2023, we reached a tentative agreement for a renewed National Agreement, bringing the nearly seven months of contract negotiations to conclusion. The Coalition and Kaiser Permanente wish to thank Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su for her instrumental involvement in bringing negotiations to a close. The tentative agreement now goes to the more than 85,000 Kaiser Permanente employees who are represented by Coalition unions for ratification. The ratification process will begin October 18. Once ratified, the agreement will have an effective date of October 1, 2023. The new 4-year agreement will offer Coalition-represented employees competitive wages, excellent benefits, generous retirement income plans, and valuable job training opportunities that support their economic well-being, advance our shared mission, and keep Kaiser Permanente a best place to work and receive care. The tentative agreement: Establishes new minimum wages over three years for Coalition-represented employees, that will reach $25 /hour in California and $23 /hour in other states where Kaiser Permanente operates /hour in and /hour in other states where Kaiser Permanente operates Provides guaranteed across-the-board wage increases totaling 21% over four years Enhances employees' Performance Sharing Plan with minimum payout opportunities and a substantial maximum payout opportunity Increases investments in professional development and job training, and includes other initiatives to help address the staffing crisis in health care Further details of the agreement will be made available later. The Coalition unions have withdrawn their notices for a November strike. EDITOR'S NOTE: AN ONLINE MEDIA BRIEFING WITH U.S. ACTING SECRETARY OF LABOR JULIE SU, COALITION REPRESENTATIVES, AND KAISER PERMANENTE EXECUTIVES IS TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023, NOON PT / 3PM ET. DETAILS WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY. About the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions unites more than 85,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California, Colorado, Oregon, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington. About Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.7 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health. For more information visit about.kp.org Media Contacts: Kaiser Permanente: Hilary Costa, [email protected] (510) 406-6654 Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions: [email protected] (617) 281-8384 SOURCE Kaiser Permanente; Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kantor & Kantor, LLP, continues to build an exceptional team of superbly talented and diverse lawyers across their practice areas to carry the firm forward. Building from within the law firm, the strengths that Tim Rozelle brings are a part of the core competitive advantages needed to bring the type of client experiences we are known for. Kantor & Kantor promotes associate to partner Post this Timothy J. Rozelle, partner Tim joined the firm as an associate attorney in 2014 after graduating from the University of California, Davis School of Law, and working at the California Department of Insurance. There, he was a part of the Department's efforts to enforce insurers' compliance with California's mental health parity laws requiring insurers to provide coverage for applied behavioral analysis (ABA) treatment for adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. With significant professional experience in the field of health benefits, Tim has represented many clients who have been wrongfully denied cancer treatment, surgical, mental/behavioral health, and prescription drug benefits by insurance carriers. He also focused a large amount of his practice on assisting individuals who had been denied proton beam radiation therapy (PBT) treatment for cancer. In 2019, Tim started the Proton Therapy Law Coalition, a group specifically formed to bring providers, patient advocates, patients, and attorneys together to challenge PBT denials wherever they may arise across the country. The Coalition currently includes more than 100 members who have undertaken nationwide efforts to combat insurance companies' denials of PBT. The efforts of the Coalition have led to legal victories in the courts for consumers seeking proton therapy indicating that the tide might be turning on these denials. Tim's current practice has shifted into a new focus around insurers' bad faith conduct in denying long-term care and disability insurance claims. Long-term care insurance carriers in particular engage in conduct that takes advantage of the elderly and places immense strain on the elderly insured's family members when insurers decide not to pay for their covered home health care benefits. Lisa Kantor said, "I am thrilled that Tim Rozelle has been promoted to partner at Kantor & Kantor. Tim's skill, hard work, dedication to our clients, and tireless leadership in all things IT-related made this a very easy decision.". "More than in any other professional environment I have been in, here at Kantor & Kantor I feel most like I can be myself. I can work towards a higher cause and purpose in the service of our clients and do so with other like-minded people. This firm has been able to provide the rare combination of allowing me to work towards a fulfilling (as opposed to empty and dead corporate legal job) legal career while working with other lawyers whose values and character I can truly admire and respect. And for that I am very grateful," said Mr. Rozelle. You can reach Mr. Rozelle via email at [email protected] or call our Northridge, California main office at (818) 886-2525. About Kantor & Kantor LLP: Kantor & Kantor LLP is a highly respected law firm that focuses exclusively on representing plaintiffs in denials of life, health, disability, long-term care insurance, and retirement benefit claims. With a team of dedicated ERISA and Insurance Bad Faith attorneys, the firm has earned a reputation for providing compassionate, results-oriented legal representation to individuals fighting for their insurance and retirement benefits. Media Contact: Julie Fisher Marketing Director 818-886-2525 [email protected] SOURCE KANTOR & KANTOR, LLP CARLSBAD, Calif., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Balfour Senior Living, based in Louisville, Colorado and Kisco Senior Living based in Carlsbad, California, announced today their transaction wherein Balfour becomes an affiliate of Kisco. Andy Kohlberg, the CEO and Founder of Kisco and Michael Schonbrun, the CEO and Founder of Balfour along with Co-Founder and General Counsel Susan Juroe, broke the news in a joint statement today. Since their founding 30 years ago, the two luxury senior housing companies have followed parallel paths, focusing on meeting the needs of discerning seniors. Privately held, featuring a rental continuum of care, typically including independent living, assisted living and memory care in highly desirable residential neighborhoods, the combination of the two companies will be geographically complimentary. Balfour has historically focused on Colorado where it operates nine communities with a recent market expansion bringing it to Ann Arbor, Michigan and with new projects coming into Washington, D.C., and Boston. Kisco manages 25 communities, primarily in California and North Carolina with other operating properties in Utah, Hawaii, Florida, and Virginia and a new building nearing completion in Gaithersburg, Maryland. After the transaction, the two companies will have a combined 35 communities with over 5,000 apartments. Andy Kohlberg will serve as the CEO of the companies with Michael Schonbrun serving as a strategic advisor for the Balfour Communities. The companies will continue to operate under their distinct brands ensuring continuity for residents and staff alike. Discussions about a possible transaction have occurred over the past several years. "We are excited to complete this effort which will bring new capabilities, resources, and greater geographic coverage," said Kohlberg. Balfour's Schonbrun and Juroe expressed enthusiasm for the deal, saying, "The two companies share a demonstrated commitment to outstanding design, superior life enrichment programs, high end dining and a dedicated service-oriented staff. It's a synergistic combination." Schonbrun continued, "We could not be more proud of the company we have built, and which we believe will only continue to thrive under Andy and his team's astute leadership." The dedication of both firms to excellence is reflected in their high ratings in the recent standings in the recent U.S. News and World Report rankings for senior housing communities. To ensure a seamless transition, the Balfour management team will continue to operate out of their Louisville, Colorado office while Kisco will remain based in their Carlsbad, California office. CS Capital Advisors served as financial advisor to Balfour for the transaction. SOURCE Kisco Senior Living SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lincoln Avenue Communities (LAC), a mission-driven acquirer and developer of affordable housing, joins the City of San Antonio to break ground on Leon Creek Flats, a new affordable housing development supported by the City's 2022 Affordable Housing Bond. During a ceremony with San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, City Councilmember Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia and other local leaders, LAC celebrates its development partnership with the San Antonio Housing Trust to provide 308 affordable homes for San Antonio families. Leon Creek Flats will bring hundreds of new units of affordable housing to South-Central Texas. Additional photos and renderings available upon request. "Housing affordability has remained a key initiative for our city that started with the formation of the Housing Task Force," said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. "Communities like the one celebrated today represent the collective efforts to produce housing affordability for San Antonio renters." Leon Creek Flats is Lincoln Avenue's first ground-up affordable housing development in Texas. More than $2.5 million in housing funding is supporting the development, which will create 261 homes for families earning at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) and 47 homes are deeply affordable for families earning at or below 30 percent AMI. "By increasing affordable housing options and prioritizing families who need deeper affordability, we are creating thriving communities," said District 4 Councilmember Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia. "It's an honor to celebrate opportunities for current and future residents of District 4." On-site services for the project will include after-school education, which will be free of charge for residents for a minimum of 15 hours per week. "LAC is committed to building high-quality affordable homes in communities where residents are burdened by high housing costs," said Blake Hopkins, LAC Vice President and Regional Project Partner. "This development will bring hundreds of affordable homes to San Antonio and help address the region's affordable housing crisis." "Housing affordability options are needed throughout our city. Ensuring that there are quality and accessible homes with supportive services for families in San Antonio is our department's priority," said Veronica Garcia, Director of the Neighborhood and Housing Services Department. The development is made possible by a soft loan from the City of San Antonio's 2022-2023 Housing Bond Program, along with other financing. Following remarks, LAC and City leaders formally broke ground on a section of the property to mark the beginning of construction, which will be complete in 2025. About LAC: Lincoln Avenue Communities (LAC) is one of the nation's fastest-growing developers, investors, and operators of affordable and workforce housing, providing high-quality, sustainable homes for lower- and moderate-income individuals, seniors, and families nationwide. A subsidiary of Lincoln Avenue Capital, LAC is a mission-driven organization with a presence in 26 states and a portfolio of 120 properties comprising 22,000+ units. City of San Antonio - Vibrant & Thriving San Antonio is a vibrant city with a thriving economy, deep cultural heritage and communities that are compassionate, inclusive and proudly diverse. It is the seventh largest city in the United States and one of the strongest fiscally managed cities in the country, nurturing entrepreneurship, encouraging investment and funding infrastructure. The City fosters partnership and growth opportunities in aerospace, bioscience, cybersecurity, green technologies, healthcare, and information technology. San Antonio's famed Riverwalk and Alamo are the top tourist attractions in Texas, and its historic missions are a designated World Heritage Site the first and only in Texas. Proudly called Military City, USA, San Antonio is home to one of the largest populations of active duty military and veterans, as well as mission-critical commands, including military medicine, cybersecurity, pilot training and basic training. For more information, visit SanAntonio.gov and follow @COSAGov on social. SOURCE Lincoln Avenue Communities VAN NUYS, Calif., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As the third quarter of 2023 draws to a close, LoanMart is pleased to share key industry data regarding the most popular makes and models for car title loans across the country. Many different vehicles can be used to secure title loans, but some vehicles have been consistently favored among American consumers, and it comes as no surprise that these high-demand vehicles make it to the top of LoanMart's list of newly serviced loans. The list of the top 15 most popular vehicles is as follows: Ford F-150 Toyota Camry Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Honda Accord Toyota Corolla Ford Fusion Nissan Altima Honda Civic Honda CR-V Chevrolet Malibu Ford Escape Ram 1500 Jeep Wrangler GMC Sierra 1500 Chevrolet Tahoe The Ford F-150 is not only the best-selling truck in America for the past four decades, but it also ranked #1 in terms of most funded loans against a vehicle serviced by LoanMart during the first, second, and third quarters of 2023. Out of more than 500 different vehicle models used to secure a loan, this popular truck so far has accounted for more than 3% of loans this quarter, with an average loan amount of $6,082. Another popular American truck, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, is tied for second on this list with the Toyota Camry at 2.8% of total funded loans in all three quarters of 2023. From Q1 to Q3 of 2023, LoanMart saw a 36% growth in newly serviced loan volume for these 15 popular vehicle makes and models. About LoanMart Although LoanMart's headquarters is based in California, our mission is to provide unparalleled customer service to individuals across the nation. From humble beginnings in Sherman Oaks, California, to success in providing convenient title loans and informational resources to consumers throughout the U.S., LoanMart is proud to offer financial support to qualified Americans from various credit backgrounds who own all different kinds of vehicles. Learn more about car title loans serviced by LoanMart online today by visiting www.800loanmart.com . Contact Information: [email protected] SOURCE LoanMart NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The mining chemicals market size is expected to grow by USD 3.95 billion from 2022 to 2027. In addition, the growth momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 6.42% during the forecast period, according to Technavio. Increasing mineral demand is notably driving the mining chemicals market. However, factors such as declining ore grades may impede market growth. The market is segmented by Application (Explosives and drilling, Mineral processing, Water treatment, and Others), Product (Iron, Phosphate, Copper, Gold ore, and Zinc and others), and Geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa). We provide a detailed analysis of 20 companies operating in the mining chemicals market including AECI Ltd, Akzo Nobel NV, Arkema Group, Ashland Inc., BASF SE, Betachem Pty Ltd, Chevron Corp., Clariant International Ltd., Dow Chemical Co., Draslovka Holding a.s., Kemira Oyj, Kimleigh Chemicals SA Pty Ltd, Nowata, Orica Ltd., Qingdao Ruchang Mining Industry Co. Ltd, Quaker Chemical Corp., Sasol Ltd., Solenis LLC, Solvay SA, and The SNF Group. This report provides a full list of key companies, their strategies, and latest developments. Buy Now for detailed company information Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Mining Chemicals Market 2023-2027 Mining Chemicals Market 2023-2027: Company Analysis AECI Ltd - The company offers mining chemicals that are used in the froth flotation and tailings treatment sectors of the mining industry. The report offers an up-to-date analysis of the market, and to know the exact growth variance and the Y-O-Y growth rate, Request a Sample Report. Mining Chemicals Market 2023-2027: Segmentation Application By application, the market is segmented into Explosives and drilling, Mineral processing, Water treatment, and Others. However, the explosives and drilling segment is significant during the forecast period. Explosives break up rock as efficiently as possible during the blast. They are made from mining chemicals, which can modify the explosive's properties to achieve the desired detonation characteristics. The characteristics include velocity, energy release, and shockwave propagation. is significant during the forecast period. Explosives break up rock as efficiently as possible during the blast. They are made from mining chemicals, which can modify the explosive's properties to achieve the desired detonation characteristics. The characteristics include velocity, energy release, and shockwave propagation. Other segments in the report include Products (Iron, Phosphate, Copper, Gold ore, Zinc, and others). Geography APAC will contribute 44% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The region is rich in mineral resources and thus, is a major player in global mining. Furthermore, factors like the need to effectively extract and process these resources impart the demand for mining chemicals, whereas, for the specialized version of this, the demand arises by the implementation of new mining projects, modernization of existing installations, and investments in efficient mining technologies. will contribute to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The region is rich in mineral resources and thus, is a major player in global mining. Furthermore, factors like the need to effectively extract and process these resources impart the demand for mining chemicals, whereas, for the specialized version of this, the demand arises by the implementation of new mining projects, modernization of existing installations, and investments in efficient mining technologies. Other regions in the report include Europe, North America , South America , and Middle East and Africa . Learn about the contribution of each segment summarized in concise infographics and thorough descriptions. View Free PDF Sample Report Mining Chemicals Market 2023-2027: Key Highlights Historic Market Size 2017-2021 CAGR of the market during 2023-2027 Detailed information on factors that will assist mining chemicals market growth during the next five years Estimation of the mining chemicals market size and its contribution to the parent market Forecasts on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the mining chemicals market Analysis of the competitive landscape and detailed information on companies Comprehensive details of factors that will impede the growth of mining chemicals market companies Related Reports: The mining automation market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 1,612.56 million. The manganese mining market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.21% between 2022 and 2027 with the market size forecast to increase by USD 9.38 billion. Mining Chemicals Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.42% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 3.95 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 6.12 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 44% Key countries US, China, Australia, Germany, and France Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled AECI Ltd, Akzo Nobel NV, Arkema Group, Ashland Inc., BASF SE, Betachem Pty Ltd, Chevron Corp., Clariant International Ltd., Dow Chemical Co., Draslovka Holding a.s., Kemira Oyj, Kimleigh Chemicals SA Pty Ltd, Nowata, Orica Ltd., Qingdao Ruchang Mining Industry Co. Ltd , Quaker Chemical Corp., Sasol Ltd., Solenis LLC, Solvay SA, and The SNF Group Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. ToC: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Historic Market Sizes Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by Application Market Segmentation by Product Market Segmentation by Geography Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, & Trends Company Landscape Company Analysis Appendix About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com SOURCE Technavio Mission First has accessed more than $15 million in grants in support of affordable housing from four Federal Home Loan Banks PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1999, Mission First Housing Group ("Mission First") was awarded its first Affordable Housing Program ("AHP") grant from a Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLBank") receiving a $465,000 grant from FHLBank Atlanta to help build 78 affordable apartments in the Fox Chase neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia. In the nearly 25 years since, Mission First has established additional partnerships with FHLBanks of New York, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, working with the cooperative wholesale banks' member financial institutions to successfully apply for more than $15 million in AHP grants that have been put to work creating and preserving safe, sustainable and affordable homes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. Today, ahead of Mission First's "Welcome Home 2023" annual fundraiser event, leaders of these four FHLBanks joined with Mission First to tour the Parkside Preservation and New Market West developments to see the positive impact this partnership has had on residents and the Philadelphia community, and to congratulate the organization on passing the $15 million funding milestone. "Our decades long partnership with the FHLBanks has resulted in providing homes for thousands of people in need throughout our Mid-Atlantic portfolio," said Thomas Queenan, Chief Executive Officer for Mission First Housing Group. "I was pleased to showcase our most recent projects in West Philadelphia this morning to the FHLBanks and their stakeholders, and provide a glimpse of how valuable our partnership with the FHLBanks is to our residents." "Mission First is a prime example of the direct and long-term impact the FHLBanks are able to have through our commitment to housing and community development," said Winthrop Watson, president and CEO of FHLBank Pittsburgh. "Since its implementation in 1990, AHP has grown to become a large and reliable source of grant funds for affordable housing. Each FHLBank funds its AHP directly from earnings and housing developers across the country have access to AHP in all economic cycles. We see that clearly in our partnership with Mission First, a relationship which spans four decades, crosses four FHLBank districts, and has leveraged more than $15 million in grants to provide nearly 1,700 affordable homes that allow our neighbors and communities to thrive." Every year, as mandated by Congress when it created the AHP in 1989, each FHLBank commits at least 10% of its private net income to fund its AHP grants. In total, the 11 FHLBanks have awarded more than $7.6 billion in AHP funds since the first grants were distributed in 1990. AHP provides grants for the acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of affordable housing to offer households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income a place to call home. FHLBank members, working in partnership with community-based housing sponsors or developers, compete for AHP grants by submitting applications for specific projects. AHP-funded projects represent a wide range of strategies and solutions, from historic preservation and adaptive reuse to new construction and rehabilitation. Where AHP projects are developed, local economies also get a boost, as these projects create jobs, increase construction and consumer spending, and generate new tax revenues. AHP grants are awarded annually through a competitive application process to FHLBank members working in partnership with housing developers and community organizations. "The FHLBanks' Affordable Housing Program stands as a reminder that our ability to execute on our foundational liquidity mission delivers more than funding to our nation's local lenders and stability to our financial system: we provide real, tangible support for vital housing initiatives across each FHLBank district, and beyond," said Jose R. Gonzalez, president and CEO of FHLBank New York. "In meeting our mission to deliver liquidity to America's local lenders, we position ourselves to make an even greater impact each year with our AHP and other initiatives through our partnerships with dedicated organizations such as Mission First." "While the AHP is the FHLBank System's flagship grant program, each FHLBank offers a wide range of programs and products to support housing and community development that are tailored to its specific region," said Teresa Bryce Bazemore, president and CEO of FHLBank San Francisco. "In all of these initiatives, it is the participation of each FHLBank's members, who are active and involved local lenders committed to growing and strengthening the communities they serve, that drive the success of our efforts. These regional and local lenders develop and build strong relationships within these communities, working in partnership with local housing organizations to directly address local housing needs and we are proud to provide a whole host of other community investment products and programs in addition to AHP grants." "Reliability is central to the value proposition that the Federal Home Loan Banks offer," said Kirk Malmberg, president and CEO of FHLBank Atlanta. "Our members know that they can rely on their FHLBank to be there with funding in a variety of economic environments, whether in times of stress like we saw in March 2023 or for everyday funding needs during calm periods. And for more than 30 years, our housing partners have benefited from millions of dollars in grants available across the nation each year through the Affordable Housing Program, as well as additional support through the individual products and programs each FHLBank offers in its region. Through our reliability, we help foster stability for our members, for the financial markets, and in the communities our cooperatives have proudly served for more than nine decades." The FHLBank System is comprised of 11 regional banks that are privately capitalized and cooperatively owned by their members, which include approximately 6,600 of America's banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions. This regional structure enables each FHLBank to focus on the distinct needs of the communities its members serve. While only financial institutions may belong to an FHLBank, people everywhere benefit from them: each year, the FHLBanks provide access to billions of dollars in low-cost funding to America's local lenders, expanding consumer access to credit. By executing on their foundational liquidity mission and providing members with a reliable source of funding in all market environments, the FHLBanks play a key stabilizing role in the U.S. financial system. The FHLBanks are critical during times of crisis, stable during calm markets, and dependable during all economic cycles. Mission First Housing Group Mission First Housing Group develops and manages affordable, equitable, safe, sustainable homes that support residents and strengthen communities. Mission First currently provides affordable housing and services to more than 5,500 people in nearly 4,000 apartments across the Mid-Atlantic region, serving populations in need, such as veterans, survivors of domestic violence, seniors and the disabled. Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta FHLBank Atlanta offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to help member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank's membersits shareholders and customers-are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, community development financial institutions, and insurance companies located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 11 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Since 1990, the FHLBanks have awarded approximately $7.6 billion in Affordable Housing Program funds, assisting more than one million households. Federal Home Loan Bank of New York The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is a Congressionally chartered, wholesale Bank. It is part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, a national wholesale banking network of 11 regional, stockholder-owned banks. As of June 30, 2023, the FHLBNY serves 335 financial institutions in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The mission of the FHLBNY is to provide members with reliable liquidity in support of housing and local community development. Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh FHLBank Pittsburgh provides reliable funding and liquidity to its member financial institutions, which include commercial and savings banks, community development financial institutions, credit unions and insurance companies in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. FHLBank products and resources help support community lending, housing and economic development. As one of 11 Federal Home Loan Banks established by Congress, FHLBank has been an integral and reliable part of the financial system since 1932. Learn more by visiting www.fhlb-pgh.com. Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco FHLBank San Francisco is a member-driven cooperative helping local lenders in Arizona, California, and Nevada build strong communities, create opportunity, and change lives for the better. The tools and resources we provide to our member financial institutions propel homeownership, finance quality affordable housing, drive economic vitality, and revitalize whole neighborhoods. Together with our members and other partners, we are making the communities we serve more vibrant, equitable, and resilient. CONTACT: Brian Finnegan Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (212) 441-6877 [email protected] SOURCE Federal Home Loan Bank of New York Kentucky entrepreneur and Morris Industries Founder joins top CEOs to discuss leadership and faith in their journeys to success LYNCHBURG, Va., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty University today welcomed Nate Morris, Morris Industries Chairman and CEO, as a featured speaker at its CEO Summit 2023: Networking the Nations, where he discussed his success building a billion-dollar business. The annual event convenes prominent figures, top CEOs, and faith leaders from across the world. This year's summit features keynote addresses from former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison, former U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Linda McMahon, and Coca-Cola Consolidated Chairman and CEO J. Frank Harrison III. Morris joined other leading CEOs for a discussion titled, "A View from the Top: CEO Faith in Practice," moderated by Dr. Dave Brat, Vice-Provost for Engagement and Public Relations at Liberty University, and America First Policy Institute Senior Policy Advisor Stacey Schieffelin. "I am honored to be at Liberty University with over 500 CEOs for this year's summit," Morris said of the three-day event. "I am determined that between the business community taking part in this summit, the faith leaders from across the world, and the bright young students we have here with us todaywe can accomplish anything." Morris challenged the attendees to take his favorite piece of advice for entrepreneurs everywhere, "The one thing you can control is your mindset as an entrepreneur. My mother always told me that if you're thinking, you may as well be thinking big. It is one of the few things that are free." He credits this to much of his success in his career. Morris has had a remarkable journey building businesses, including a billion-dollar publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, that has earned him recognition as the first Kentuckian on Fortune Magazine's 40 Under 40 list. He also became the youngest inductee ever into the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Morris serves as the Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics in addition to various board positions. About Morris Industries Morris Industries is a Kentucky-based conglomerate that is reimagining the industrial economy. Morris Industries works to identify disruptive and innovative companies with unrealized growth potential, whose current ownership desires an exit strategy, requires capital, or needs an experienced management team to continue its growth. Morris Industries was founded on the belief that market-driven innovation can support conservation goals, drive profit, and equip businesses to solve society's biggest challenges. Contact: Catherine Brady, [email protected], (859) 399-3683 SOURCE Morris Industries NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, October 6th the Newark School of Fashion & Design (NSFD) held a special ceremony to honor the promotion of its inaugural class of students to the Junior level. These students were recognized for their exceptional commitment and accomplishment of 20 fashion credits and were presented with emblazoned black lab coats to signify their transition to upperclassmen. It was a momentous occasion for all involved. During the ceremony, Principal Pitts of Newark Fashion & Design highlighted the incredible journey the school has been on since its inaugural year in 2020. The event celebrated the students' academic achievements and commitment to furthering their education in the fashion industry. It's worth noting that all the students in the junior class have managed to complete the challenging requirement of earning 20 fashion credits. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of both the students and faculty. At NSFD, first- and second-year students proudly don white lab coats, while the distinguished junior class now wears black coats. These lab coats have come to symbolize not only a mark of distinction, but also serve as a rite of passage for the exceptionally talented students of the Newark School of Fashion & Design. Superintendent Roger Leon emphasized, "We are dedicated to creating an environment in our schools where students can confidently express their unique creativity and make meaningful contributions. Newark School of Fashion & Design remains steadfast in its mission, partnerships, and integral role within our community." Board President Hasani Council shared, "Our goal is to educate and inspire Newark students to explore their academic and creative potential, to envision and realize their dreams." Powered by the Parsons School of Fashion, the Newark School of Fashion & Design places a strong emphasis on partnerships to enrich student experiences. Through these dynamic collaborations, students gain access to hands-on learning opportunities, including internships at the Blueprint Denim Wash House in Jersey City, participation in the transformative "Look Good, Feel Good" program, and immersive experiences at the Misa Hylton Fashion Academy. Students also have the privilege of customizing sneakers with the innovative Dirty Soles footwear group. At the end of the ceremony, Principal Pitts expressed gratitude and acknowledged the unwavering support that has helped the school succeed over the past three years. She encouraged all students to seize every opportunity that comes their way and instilled the belief that determination and dedication can help them achieve any goal they set their minds to. For media inquiries, please contact: Nancy J. Deering, Acting Communications Director [email protected] About Newark Public Schools The Newark Public Schools is the largest school district in New Jersey and dates back to 1676. The District currently enrolls over 39,000 students in 63 schools. After more than two decades of state operation and upon return to local control in 2018, the District has opened 9 new schools under Superintendent Leon's leadership with an additional portfolio of new options to be announced in the coming months and years. The Newark Board of Education serves as a beacon of educational excellence, dedicated to nurturing the potential of every student. With a commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and fostering a love for learning, the District continues to shape future generations and make a positive impact within the community. SOURCE Newark Board of Education BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. One immutable rule has been in force since 1988 with mathematical precision: if you undertake to defend the Armenian "desires", you have to operate exclusively with fakes. To be more precise, megafakes. The Armenian side cannot provide arguments in favor of its wishes and propagandistic guidelines and is forced to resort to falsifications. This time, Professor Pierre d'Argent, representing Armenia at the hearing on Armenia's appeal against Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice, fell into this trap. This character in a robe managed to state literally the following: "The day after the aggression, [Ilham] Aliyev declared that Azerbaijan had restored its territorial integrity. At the same time, the Armenian population was leaving the region, and Aliyev soon announced a program of great return. This is a racist program that proposes to replace Armenians with Azerbaijanis." It becomes necessary to instruct the professor on the alphabet. Aggression is an attack by one country on the territory of another. That is what his client Armenia did for 30 years until its troops were driven back home. Therefore, neither the 44-day second Karabakh war nor the localized anti-terrorist activities in Karabakh can be considered aggression. Well, the following megafakes flow like cornucopias; further, there are unscrupulous and primitive lies that do not require even minimal legal knowledge to exposeit is enough to follow the news. The "Great Return" program was approved in 2022, not 2023. And it concerns the return of almost a million Azerbaijanis to their native homes, not Armenian homes, as they were expelled from their homes during the Armenian aggression of the early nineties. These are mostly residents of the regions surrounding the former NKAO, where there was no visible Armenian population before the conflict. During the entire 30 years of occupation, Armenia tried to organize illegal settlements in these areas, but there were not enough people willing to move. Even among ethnic Armenians from Syria and Iraq. People understood perfectly well that they were going to a foreign land, from which they would sooner or later be kicked out. As a result, Armenia followed the path of looting and pillaging. Now Azerbaijan has to rebuild a territory equal in area to Lebanon, where everything has been destroyed - houses, roads, communications, etc.Professor Pierre d'Argent calls this an attempt to "replace Armenians with Azerbaijanis"? Anti-terrorist activities in Karabakh started a year after the start of the "Great Return" program. And the professor hired by Armenia says that this program was proclaimed only in September 2023. It was a mistake. As for the anti-terrorist activities in Karabakh, both before, during, and after the start of the events, Azerbaijan emphasized that it considered the Armenians of Karabakh to be its citizens, that they would be granted all rights, and that Azerbaijan was not at war with the civilian population. While Azerbaijan's armed forces were "working" on military targets, the civilian population was urged to stay in their homes, stay away from military facilities, and not take up arms. Finally, the UN mission that visited the region for the first time in 30 years recorded neither pressure on local Armenians nor damage to civilian infrastructure. So what are the claims of "ethnic cleansing" based on? And all this the aforementioned professor, excuse me, says not on another Armenian radio show, not in a private conversation, but at a court session. An international court. Where the situation implies much more responsibility for his words. But since 1988, experience has shown that it does not seem to be possible to defend Armenia without putting on a hat with bells. In recent months and years, former NATO Secretary General [Anders] Rasmussen, former international court prosecutor Ocampo, U.S. presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and now the professor have been disgraced in this area. That's their choice, though. Who's next, gentlemen? Fuad Akhundov, political scientist LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The NoHo CineFest film festival concluded its 10th Annual event, showcasing a diverse array of thought-provoking and inspiring films from around the world. The festival, which took place from September 28th October 1st, brought together filmmakers, industry professionals, and film enthusiasts for an unforgettable celebration of cinematic art. North Hollywood CineFest Notable highlights of the festival included the presentation of awards to exceptional films and filmmakers. Best Picture was presented to Scarlet Winter by Munjal Yagnik, which stood out for its gripping murder mystery with memorable performances and production value. Claire Pruett received the Best Actress in a Feature award for her outstanding performance in Polecat and Leo Llenas took home the prize for Best Actor in a Feature for his role in Proof Sheet. The Best Series award went to edgy comedy Imposter by Veronica Maccari and Michael Greenspan grabbed Best Director of a Short for his trippy airplane thriller Seat 23B. Other highlights were Humanitarian Awards given to Maick Mutej and Evelyne Keomian for being the subjects of two different short documentaries (Finding Ubuntu and Fear Not respectively). Maick Mutej is a human rights activist who helps thousands of refugees in Malawi while in the midst of his own crisis. Evelyne Keomian is the founder of the Karat School Project in the Ivory Coast, which helps girls get education and empowers the next generation of leaders. Their stories were masterfully told by Annette King of Splicer Films, who also took home the award for Best Documentary Short for Finding Ubuntu. NoHo CineFest would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to the Los Angeles Film School, BD Guidance, Slated, LOOK Cinemas and Residence Inn by Marriott for their sponsorship, making this year's event such a tremendous success. For more information, including press inquiries and high-resolution images, please contact: Gustavo Sampaio Festival Director NoHo CineFest 305-205-3888 [email protected] www.nohocinefest.com About NoHo CineFest: NoHo CineFest is a film festival dedicated to promoting and celebrating the art of cinema in Los Angeles. Through our 10 years of hosting this event, we have been committed to providing a platform for emerging and established filmmakers to showcase their work and engage with a passionate and diverse audience. SOURCE North Hollywood CineFest The downturn in global demand for commodities and raw materials is stabilizing, but we're yet to see any signs of improvement Europe is by far the globe's biggest weak spot, as plummeting demand in major economies such as Germany and France raises recession risks By contrast, excess capacity across North American supply chains increases by the smallest margin since April, hinting at soft landing Asian suppliers report an uplift in spare capacity due to deteriorating economic conditions after a relatively resilient year-to-date CLARK, N.J., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index a leading indicator tracking demand conditions, shortages, transportation costs, inventories and backlogs based on a monthly survey of 27,000 businesses fell from -0.18 in August to -0.35 in September, with a sharper increase in excess capacity across the world's supply chains. Interpretating the data: Index > 0, supply chain capacity is being stretched. The further above 0, the more stretched supply chains are. Index < 0, supply chain capacity is being underutilized. The further below 0, the more underutilized supply chains are. GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index Notably, Europe was the principal driver of September's sharper rise in idle vendor capacity, with suppliers to the continent registering one of the highest levels of spare capacity since the global financial crisis between 2008 and 2009 amid considerable weakness in demand, thereby signalling elevated recession risks. In stark contrast, excess supplier capacity within North America rose by its smallest margin since April, signalling increased odds of a soft landing for the U.S. economy. Although demand remains under pressure, the decline is slowing, and some companies are reporting price increases from their vendors. Asian suppliers, after displaying relatively greater resilience in the year-to-date, reported greater spare capacity for the first time since July, reflecting a slump in purchasing activity. This suggests manufacturers in the region are preparing for lower production schedules. Commenting on the September data, Jagadish Turimella, chief operating officer and co-founder, GEP, explained: "We're now into our sixth consecutive month of notable excess supplier capacity globally, but the good news is it's not getting substantially worse, except in Europe, where recession seems likely. By contrast, we expect U.S. suppliers and businesses to be steady for the rest of the year, unless the labor disputes in health care and the auto sector spread, or there is a price spike in oil, its derivates or agricultural commodities." SEPTEMBER 2023 KEY FINDINGS DEMAND: While the downturn in demand for raw materials, commodities and components appears to be stabilizing, the pace of decline is showing no real signs of slowing as purchasing activity fell again at a similar rate to those seen in the summer months. While the downturn in demand for raw materials, commodities and components appears to be stabilizing, the pace of decline is showing no real signs of slowing as purchasing activity fell again at a similar rate to those seen in the summer months. INVENTORIES : Global businesses continue to shy away from stockpiling, indicating a generally pessimistic outlook for demand. : Global businesses continue to shy away from stockpiling, indicating a generally pessimistic outlook for demand. MATERIAL SHORTAGES: Supply shortages have ended, with reports of item scarcity now in line with historically normal levels. Supply shortages have ended, with reports of item scarcity now in line with historically normal levels. LABOR SHORTAGES: Labor shortages remain generally unproblematic for global businesses. Some of the issues manufacturers in Europe and North America experienced with respect to staff availability in August receded in September. Labor shortages remain generally unproblematic for global businesses. Some of the issues manufacturers in and experienced with respect to staff availability in August receded in September. TRANSPORTATION: Global transportation costs fell in September following August's renewed rise, albeit only slightly. REGIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN VOLATILITY NORTH AMERICA : Index rose to -0.30, from -0.55, its highest since April, hinting at greater odds of a soft landing for the U.S. economy. EUROPE : Sharp fall in the index to -1.01, from -0.50, putting it at levels seen during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Europe was the principal driver of excess supplier capacity globally in September. U.K.: Suppliers to the U.K. continue to see substantial rises in spare capacity. Index fell to -0.98 from -0.92. ASIA : Index drops to -0.20, from 0.06, highlighting deteriorating economic conditions in the East after a relatively resilient year-to-date. For more information, visit www.gep.com/volatility Note: Full historical data dating back to January 2005 is available for subscription. Please contact [email protected]. The next release of the GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index will be 8 a.m. ET, November 14, 2023. ABOUT THE GEP GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN VOLATILITY INDEX The GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index is produced by S&P Global and GEP. It is derived from S&P Global's PMI surveys, sent to companies in over 40 countries, totaling around 27,000 companies. The headline figure is a weighted sum of six sub-indices derived from PMI data, PMI Comments Trackers and PMI Commodity Price & Supply Indicators compiled by S&P Global. A value above 0 indicates that supply chain capacity is being stretched and supply chain volatility is increasing. The further above 0, the greater the extent to which capacity is being stretched. A value below 0 indicates that supply chain capacity is being underutilized, reducing supply chain volatility. The further below 0, the greater the extent to which capacity is being underutilized. A Supply Chain Volatility Index is also published at a regional level for Europe, Asia, North America and the U.K. For more information about the methodology, click here. About GEP GEP delivers AI-powered procurement and supply chain solutions that help global enterprises become more agile and resilient, operate more efficiently and effectively, gain competitive advantage, boost profitability and increase shareholder value. Fresh thinking, innovative products, unrivaled domain expertise, smart, passionate people this is how GEP SOFTWARE, GEP STRATEGY and GEP MANAGED SERVICES together deliver procurement and supply chain solutions of unprecedented scale, power and effectiveness. Our customers are the world's best companies, including more than 550 Fortune 500 and Global 2000 industry leaders who rely on GEP to meet ambitious strategic, financial and operational goals. A leader in multiple Gartner Magic Quadrants, GEP's cloud-native software and digital business platforms consistently win awards and recognition from industry analysts, research firms and media outlets, including Gartner, Forrester, IDC, ISG, and Spend Matters. GEP is also regularly ranked a top procurement and supply chain consulting and strategy firm, and a leading managed services provider by ALM, Everest Group, NelsonHall, IDC, ISG and HFS, among others. Headquartered in Clark, New Jersey, GEP has offices and operations centers across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. To learn more, visit www.gep.com. About S&P Global S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) S&P Global provides essential intelligence. We enable governments, businesses and individuals with the right data, expertise and connected technology so that they can make decisions with conviction. From helping our customers assess new investments to guiding them through ESG and energy transition across supply chains, we unlock new opportunities, solve challenges and accelerate progress for the world. We are widely sought after by many of the world's leading organizations to provide credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive markets. With every one of our offerings, we help the world's leading organizations plan for tomorrow, today. Disclaimer The intellectual property rights to the data provided herein are owned by or licensed to S&P Global and/or its affiliates. Any unauthorised use, including but not limited to copying, distributing, transmitting or otherwise of any data appearing is not permitted without S&P Global's prior consent. 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Such party, its affiliates and suppliers ("Content Providers") do not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, timeliness or availability of any Content and are not responsible for any errors or omissions (negligent or otherwise), regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such Content. In no event shall Content Providers be liable for any damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including lost income or lost profit and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of the Content. Media Contacts Derek Creevey Director, Public Relations GEP Phone: +1 732-382-6565 Email: [email protected] Joe Hayes Principal Economist S&P Global Market Intelligence T: +44-1344-328-099 [email protected] SOURCE GEP NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The ophthalmology devices market is expected to grow by USD 19.93 billion from 2022 to 2027. In addition, the momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 4.65% during the forecast period, according to Technavio Research. The market is segmented by product (vision care, ophthalmology surgical devices, and ophthalmology diagnostic devices), end-user (hospitals and eye clinics, academic and research laboratories, and others ), and geography (North America, Europe, Asia, and the Rest of World (ROW)). To gain access to more company profiles available with Technavio, buy the report! Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Ophthalmology Devices Market 2023-2027 North America is estimated to contribute 41% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. Increased number of product approvals and increasing use of technologically advanced optical equipment are some of the reasons for growth in this region. Furthermore, leading pharmaceutical companies like Alcon, Bausch & Hood, and Hoya are concentrating on their expansion into emerging markets through acquisitions, establishing new research and development centers and manufacturing facilities, setting up partnerships with manufacturers or distributors as well as enhancing the range of products offered. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth in the region during the forecast period. Company Profile: Alcon Inc., Lumenis Be Ltd., Bausch Health Companies Inc., Carl Zeiss AG, Danaher Corp., EssilorLuxottica, HOYA CORP., Johnson and Johnson, NIDEK Co. Ltd., The Cooper Companies Inc., LUMIBIRD SA, EyeQue Corp., Glaukos Corp., Digital Diagnostics Inc., IRIDEX Corp., TOPCON CORP., Metall Zug AG, LENSAR Inc., STAAR Surgical Co., and Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG Alcon Inc. - The company offers ophthalmology devices such as the AcrySof series of intraocular lenses and Infiniti surgical equipment for cataract surgery. This report offers an up-to-date analysis of the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Read FREE PDF Sample Report Ophthalmology Devices Market: Segmentation Analysis The market share growth by the vision care segment will be significant during the forecast period. The products of visual care include spectacle lenses, contact lenses, and other related products such as frames or solutions for the treatment of spectacles. Spectacle lenses, which are used to enhance refractive errors, are the most common type of spectacles. Learn about the contribution of each segment summarized in concise infographics and thorough descriptions. View a FREE PDF Sample Report "Besides analyzing the current market scenario, our report examines historic data from 2017 to 2021"- Technavio Ophthalmology Devices Market: Market Dynamics Key Drivers Increasing prevalence of ophthalmic diseases Technological advances in ophthalmology devices Rising number of initiatives to increase awareness and customer training The increasing prevalence of ophthalmic diseases is a key factor driving the market growth. Most refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism; Cataracts; glaucoma; retinal diseases such as vitreoretinal traction, AMD, retinal detachment, and diabetic retinopathy; and dry eyes increased significantly. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 2.2 billion people worldwide suffer from close or distant vision loss as of October 2021. An aging population, which constitutes the main risk factor for visual impairment, is another reason. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Identify key trends, drivers, and challenges in the market. Download FREE sample to gain access to this information. Related Reports: The spinal fusion devices market size is estimated to grow by USD 2,562.41 million at a CAGR of 4.91% between 2022 and 2027. The external nasal dilator market size is estimated to grow/decline by USD 245.44 million at a CAGR of 7.22% between 2022 and 2027. Table of Contents Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Historic Market Sizes Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by Product Market Segmentation by End-user Market Segmentation by Geography Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, & Trends Company Landscape Company Analysis Appendix About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contacts Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com SOURCE Technavio From Checking and Replacing Filters to Scheduling a Professional Inspection and More, These Tips Can Help Ensure HVAC Units Will Be Ready for Cooler Temperatures MOORESVILLE, N.C., Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brian Pysz, co-owner of the HVAC repair company Peace Heating and Air Conditioning, is pleased to announce that he has just posted a new blog to the company's website that covers a timely topic: HVAC fall maintenance tips. To read the blog, which is titled "Top HVAC Maintenance Tips for Mooresville and Surrounding Areas This Fall" in its entirety, please check out https://peaceheatingandairconditioning.com/2023/09/20/top-hvac-maintenance-tips-for-mooresville-and-surrounding-areas-this-fall/ . The changing leaves on the trees throughout the Mooresville, North Carolina region not only signal the start of fall and cooler temperaturesthey also serve as a reminder to perform some proactive HVAC maintenance. Popular Google search terms that Peace Heating And Air Conditioning come up for include the following: Affordable hvac maintenance near me Residential hvac maintenance near me Best hvac maintenance near me HVAC service near me As the blog notes, there are definite benefits to seasonal HVAC maintenance. For example, the HVAC will be prepared to handle the colder months, and because it is running more efficiently, it can also help people save on their energy bills. Another reason to service the HVAC now is to avoid unexpected breakdowns. "Nothing is worse than a heating system failing on a freezing winter night. Fall maintenance acts as a preventative measure, ensuring that potential issues are identified and addressed before they escalate," the blog notes. To get the HVAC ready for cooler weather, the blog suggests the following tips: Check and replace filters. This often-overlooked step can dramatically impact system performance. Ensure filters are clean, and replace them if necessary. Schedule a professional inspection. The team at Peace Heating offers comprehensive inspections, ensuring that every component of the HVAC system is in top shape. Clear outdoor units. Fall brings with it fallen leaves and other debris. Make sure they're cleared from around the units to prevent blockages and maintain efficiency. "At Peace Heating and Air Conditioning, we are happy to help our valued customers get their HVACs ready for cooler weather," Pysz notes. About Peace Heating and Air Conditioning: At Peace Heating And Air Conditioning, they are proud to be the local heating and AC & Heat Service experts, and they have the tools and expertise to install, repair and maintain all the climate control systems people need to breathe easily. Their highly qualified technicians provide only the best service, and they always work with each family's needs and long-term comfort in mind. For more information, please visit https://peaceheatingandairconditioning.com/ . Peace Heating And Air Conditioning 131 Overhill Dr #110, Mooresville, NC 28117 (704) 746-9723 SOURCE Peace Heating and Air Conditioning Company Pursuing an Ownership Transition to Certain of Its Lenders That Provides for a Potential Sale of the Business to a Third-Party Buyer Commences Voluntary Chapter 11 Proceedings to Facilitate Sale Process Continues to Operate Normally and Provide High-Quality Stone Fruit to Customers and Consumers FRESNO, Calif., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prima Wawona, the industry's largest producer of stone fruit, today announced that it is transitioning ownership of the Company and recapitalizing the business. In connection with an agreement reached amongst the Company's Lenders, Prima Wawona is proceeding with a transaction that will involve either the conversion of existing lender debt into equity ownership of the business or allow for a sale transaction to a third-party buyer. The ownership transition is expected to allow for the continued operation and long-term sustainability of the business. To facilitate the sale process, the Company has initiated voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings. The Company commences the Chapter 11 case with the backing of its lenders, who entered into a Lender Support Agreement ("LSA") among themselves. The Company will ultimately proceed with the highest and best offer via a court-supervised auction process. Prima Wawona remains dedicated to delivering consistent and superior-quality stone fruits to its customers and consumers. The Company recently completed a successful harvest season and intends to continue providing its customers across the country with the highest quality fruit. John Boken, Prima Wawona's Chief Executive Officer, said, "Over the last several years, Prima Wawona has grown tremendously. We recently completed the 2023 harvest season, during which our team grew, packed and delivered more fruit across more acres than ever before. At the same time, the business has faced significant headwinds, including increased costs and weather-related impacts, that have combined to make our existing capital structure unsustainable. Over the course of this year, we proactively evaluated options intended to enable us to build on our leading market position, our efficient and sustainable farming practices, and our history as an employer of choice." "We are pleased that our lenders have reached an agreement and fully support this ownership transition that charts a path forward to strengthen Prima Wawona and position the business for long-term success. The court-supervised process allows for the possibility that a qualified third-party buyer will emerge as the owner of the business as an alternative to our lenders. The entire Prima Wawona organization is focused on working through this process as quickly as possible." Mr. Boken concluded, "As we move forward, we are committed to our industry-leading farming practices and continuing to provide the high-quality stone fruit for which Prima Wawona is known. We thank our customers and partners for their ongoing support, and we look forward to continuing to serve them. We are grateful to the entire Prima Wawona team for their hard work and dedication at this important time in the history of our Company." Additional Information About the Chapter 11 Process The Company today initiated voluntary Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to pursue one or more potential sale transactions, or, in the alternative, an equitization transaction that would transition ownership to the Company's prepetition lenders through a debt-to-equity conversion. The Company's prepetition lenders have retained ACM Management Company, LLC, an experienced operator in the Company's industry, to advise them as to a potential ownership transition. In connection with these Chapter 11 cases, the prepetition lenders have consented to the use of cash collateral to support the ordinary course operations of the business and to fund the administration of the sale process and these Chapter 11 cases. The Company has filed a number of customary motions seeking court approval to continue to support its operations during the court-supervised process, including the continued payment of employee wages and benefits without interruption. Prima Wawona intends to pay vendors in full under normal terms for goods and services provided on or after the filing date. With the support of its lenders, the Company intends to move through Chapter 11 expediently to consummate a sale transaction or an equitization transaction with its lenders. Additional information is available at http://www.PW-Process.com/. Court filings and other information related to the proceedings are available on a separate website administered by the Company's claims agent, Stretto, at https://cases.stretto.com/primawawona, by calling Stretto toll-free at (888) 405-4599 or (949) 385-6774 for calls originating outside of the U.S., or by sending an email to [email protected]. Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP are serving as the Company's legal counsel. Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. is serving as the Company's investment banker. AP Services, LLC is serving as its interim management and restructuring advisor. About Prima Wawona Family Farming Legacies bringing together over a century and a half of expertise and passion from two of the stone fruit industry's leading family farms, Prima Wawona is committed to advancing strong retail partnerships and supporting the success of our supply chain partners, workforce and communities. For more information, visit www.prima.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram. Contacts: Aaron Palash / Rose Temple Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher +1 212-355-4449 SOURCE Prima Wawona Route Service Representatives Demand Respect from Employer TUCKER, Ga., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Route service representatives at Quest Diagnostics in Tucker have voted to join Teamsters Local 728. "These workers overcame an aggressive anti-union campaign at Quest and successfully voted to organize their facility," said Matt Higdon, President of Local 728 in Atlanta. "We could not be more excited to welcome these members to the Teamsters and we look forward to getting them their very first Teamster contract." "Health care workers like those at Quest Diagnostics make companies successful, while also providing critical care to their communities," said Jason Lopes, Teamsters Health Care Director. "These workers deserve a union contract that honors that important nature of their work. We look forward to capitalizing on the organizing momentum we've seen here in Georgia and helping more health care heroes secure Teamster representation." These 52 workers serve as ambassadors for Quest Diagnostics and provide essential service work, such as transporting and sorting specimens and assisting with patient results. "I voted yes to join the Teamsters union to demand that our employer treat us with dignity and respect in the workplace," said Boris Dickens, route service representative at Quest Diagnostics in Tucker. Proudly serving the Atlanta community for more than 70 years, Local 728 fights for hardworking families. For more information, go to teamsterslocal728.org. Contact: Matt McQuaid, (202) 624-6877 [email protected] SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters TORONTO, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Building on the initial $250,000 CAD donation made yesterday, RBC today announced an additional donation of $1 million USD to United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York, American Friends of Magen David Adom and Save the Children. The donation includes contributions from the RBC Foundation USA (funded by RBC Capital Markets and RBC Wealth Management), Royal Bank of Canada and City National Bank. The donation will provide added humanitarian and relief support, including emergency medical services, care for children in shelters, relocation support, trauma counselling and other activities as needs arise. Those wanting to help support relief efforts are encouraged to donate online at ujafedny.org, afmda.org, savethechildren.org, jewishtoronto.com and redcross.ca. RBC branches across Canada will also be accepting donations to the Canadian Red Cross. About RBC Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 97,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our more than 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com. We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact. SOURCE RBC Owner-operators who help move the mission will be able to offset their fuel costs thanks to Relay's contribution ATLANTA, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Relay Payments , the fintech company modernizing payments for the logistics and trucking industries, is proud to support Wreaths Across America for the second consecutive year. The company is donating $5,000 worth of diesel fuel to offset costs for owner-operators participating in the organization's Honor Fleet, comprised of hundreds of professional drivers and carriers who volunteer their time and trucks to deliver wreaths to honor our nation's fallen heroes. Relay is also contributing an additional $20,000 in fuel discounts for the organization's thank-you gift bags for Honor Fleet drivers. Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron offers a message of support for Wreaths Across America. "We are forever grateful to our country's veterans and their families who have given the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom," said Relay co-founder and CEO Ryan Droege. "It's an honor and a privilege to support drivers of the Honor Fleet as they contribute their own time and equipment to distribute wreaths across the country." In 2022, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers placed more than 2.7 million veterans' wreaths on the headstones of service members at 3,702 participating locations. This was accomplished with the support of more than 5,000 sponsorship groups, corporate contributions, and in-kind donations from the transportation industry. This year's wreath-laying ceremonies will be the organization's largest effort to date, thanks to the generosity of companies like Relay and those who participate in the Honor Fleet. "This year, our transportation partners will assist us in delivering close to three million sponsored veterans' wreaths to be placed on the headstones of our fallen heroes all over the country on December 16," said Courtney George, Manager of Transportation and Industry Relations, Wreaths Across America. "We're grateful to Relay for their support of our Honor Fleet drivers, who are giving back in recognition of the sacrifice our veterans make everyday." Wreaths Across America encourages local residents to greet the drivers with signs and flags as veterans' wreaths are being delivered, as it is a chance to thank the professional drivers and the Gold Star Families, military, first responders, and local volunteers supporting the mission. For more information or to sponsor a wreath, please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org . For more information about Relay, visit www.relaypayments.com . About Relay Payments Relay Payments is building a modern digital payment network to revolutionize the trucking and logistics industries. Trusted by more than 300,000 drivers, 90,000 carriers and 1,500 truckstops nationwide, Relay has brought efficiency and automation to an industry historically reliant on cash, checks and cards. Relay has joined forces with industry leaders like Pilot Company, AMBEST, J.B. Hunt, Schneider, Coyote Logistics, Lineage Logistics, and others to provide secure, reliable over-the-road transactions. Founded in 2019, the Atlanta-based fintech includes more than 150 team members and has won awards for product innovation, customer service, and organizational culture. For more information about Relay, visit relaypayments.com . Media Contact: Hela Sheth 678-938-1318 [email protected] SOURCE Relay Payments BOSTON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Champagne tops the list of the ten most popular wines in the US, according to a recent analysis of Google search data by Audley Travel. Moscato comes in at second, followed by Pinot Noir. The same research uncovered a 15% increase in searches for "vineyard tours," compared to 2022, indicating Americans' desire to explore the regions where these wines are produced. "Champagne is popular because it's like happiness in a bottle," says Audley's France specialist Samantha Sutherland. "A glass evokes the bubbly joy of special occasions like weddings and New Year's Eve. Even the sound of that popping cork makes me smile. "I think one of the things driving the desire for more vineyard tours is a desire for a more authentic experience of wine. America's love of wine is on the rise and with it comes a desire to connect to the people and the land behind the bottle." When it comes to exploring the Champagne region, Samantha says you can take a day trip from Paris. "Many people want to spend some time in the big, well-known vineyards, like Veuve Clicquot and Dom Perignon. But to really get a feel and taste of the region's signature sparkling wine, I suggest a private tour instead. A driver and guide can take you to some of the Champagne area's smaller producers. Moscato was the second-most searched for wine the Italian word for Muscat Blanc, one of the oldest wines in the world. The most-common version of Moscato is Moscato d'Asti, grown in the Piedmont section of Italy, known for its light body and fruity-sweet notes of peaches and orange blossoms. Coming in at number three, Pinot Noir is found in many European vineyards as well as other wine regions around the world like those in California, Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa. And of course, Argentina and Chile are both known for wines, too. Top ten most popular wines in the US: 1. Champagne 2. Moscato 3. Pinot Noir 4. Cabernet Sauvignon (tie) 4. Pinot Grigio (tie) 5. Chardonnay 6. Sauvignon Blanc 7. Chianti 8. Malbec 9. Sherry SOURCE Audley Travel WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Following is a statement from Eileen O'Reilly, president of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute on the death of a Reuters videographer and the wounding of six other journalists from an artillery shell fired by Israeli forces into Southern Lebanon. "Our hearts go out to the family and colleagues of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah who was killed today while covering the war between Israel and Hamas. Reuters also said two of their other journalists: Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh were among the injured. "Al-Jazeera reported that two of its journalists: Elie Brakhya and Carmen Joukhadar, were also wounded in the incident. There were also two journalists from AFP who were injured in the incident: photographer Christina Assi and videographer Dylan Collins. The wounded were rushed to hospital in Tyre. Their condition is not known at this time. Mr. Abdallah was the ninth journalist killed since the Hamas attack on Israel last Saturday. We now also know of the first Israeli journalist killed in the war. She was Ayelet Arnin, 22, a news editor for Kan News who was among those attending the music festival when she was murdered by Hamas. She is the 10th known journalist killed in the war, now six days on. Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. With 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization, the Club is a leading voice for press freedom worldwide. The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes a more participatory democracy through a free and independent press. NPCJI is the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club. Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 for National Press Club SOURCE National Press Club BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. The friendly and brotherly relations between Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan are developing successfully, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a limited format, Trend reports. The agreements reached during reciprocal visits of the heads of state are being implemented. Azerbaijan has started implementing investment projects in Kyrgyzstan. The Azerbaijan-Kyrgyzstan Investment Fund has been established to deepen our cooperation, the head of state noted. The President of Azerbaijan congratulated the leadership of Kyrgyzstan on the successes achieved in the way of the socio-economic development of the country. Pro-Kennedy SuperPAC Mobilizing Black Voters Nationwide NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In the past two weeks, more than 40 Black business and political leaders from Washington, D.C. and New York attended events supporting Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for President. Dinners at Sfoglina in Washington, DC, and Sei Less in New York City were organized by American Values 2024 (AV24), the SuperPAC supporting Kennedy's presidential campaign. Of the guests, nine people have officially endorsed Kennedy for his presidential campaign. American Values 2024's Dion Powell and Justin Faust Actor TravQue attends NY America Values 2024 Dinner Crypto professional John Slade exclaimed, "My grandfather, John D. Slade, endorsed John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1960. My dad, Kenyatta Slade, endorsed Ted Kennedy in 1980, and here I am endorsing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in 2023." Among the dinner hosts was local business owner and AV24 leader Justin Faust, who was eager to know why attendees supported Kennedy. One endorsement came from lobbyist Joshua Lopez, who commented, "I am here supporting Kennedy 2024. I believe in democracy. I believe in free speech. I'm glad Mr. Kennedy is running. We need a competitive primary in the Democratic Party. We need people to compete for ideas that compete for votes. Kennedy 2024." Before each dinner commenced, attendees and representatives from AV24 discussed Kennedy's platform, including his tentative reparations plan and prison and police reform policies, key issues in which guests were interested. This point was exemplified by political analyst Clay D'Souza, who expressed, "The reason I'm supporting RFK, Jr. is that I do feel that the Democratic Party needs to have another alternative compared to Joe Biden, as we need more diverse options in this particular election coming up in 2024. I definitely favor RFK Jr.'s reparations plan, which I clearly see is absent from the Biden campaign as we speak." Other important issues to guests were health equity and medical freedom regarding people of color. Jo Saint George, Esq., a trailblazing attorney who represents clients in these areas, was very vocal about her endorsement of Kennedy, expressing: "I'm a 30-year attorney and Founder of the Women of Color for Kennedy 2024. I have been practicing law and, specifically, as a trial lawyer in healthcare. And for me, the most valuable aspect of Kennedy's campaign is his work in health care, specifically in medical freedom. I represent over 150 individuals in New York and around the country who've been fighting for their medical and religious liberties to choose what goes in their bodies. And Kennedy has fought for decades for that right. Not only that but also for environmental rights for African Americans, environmental equity and protections are critical for our community; health equity and being able to make the right choices for each family is the number one quintessential value in our community. Why? Because we are impacted disproportionately by chronic disease. And, so for me, as a lawyer who watched Mr. Kennedy for decades from afar, advocating for myself and the community at large on those two key issues is why I'm supporting him." A theme throughout the dinner in Washington, D.C., was that attendees wanted to have the right to make choices related to their bodies. Don Ross, Pastor of Liberty Mission Church, who also endorsed Kennedy, summarized the sentiments of the evening, "As a pastor, I care about people and their ability to be able to make choices because God, in his dealing with mankind, gives us choices all the time. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. gives us the right to choose what goes into our bodies. He gives us the right not to have harmful vaccines going into our bodies, which means a lot to me. And that resonates with me as a pastor because that's what Jesus came to do to give us the freedom of choice to keep our bodies healthy." The backing of these prominent Black leaders was just the beginning. Political consultant Alpheaus Marcus supports Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. because "I believe strongly that some of the things he is saying about in the urban community are essential talk in the presidential race. I think that we need to get behind him because it's a change. And he brings common sense to the table." Kennedy strives to uplift Black voices through actions and not just words. It is crucial that people of color, especially the Black vote, truly understand Kennedy's plan to effectuate racial healing, and their support truly underpins the campaign's core values of inclusivity, equality, and a vision for a more united, healed America. For more information about American Values 2024, please visit av24.org . About American Values 2024 American Values 2024 is a Super PAC dedicated to electing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to President of the United States. The SuperPAC was co-founded by Mark Gorton, CEO of Tower Research Capital, and Tony Lyons, President of Skyhorse Publishing. Learn more at AV24.org . Paid for by American Values 2024, ( 307 W. 36th St., 11th floor, New York, NY 10018 ) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. CONTACT: [email protected] 704-775-0487 SOURCE American Values 2024 MIAMI, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) has scheduled a conference call for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, October 26, 2023, to discuss the company's third quarter 2023 financial results. The call will be simultaneously webcast on the company's investor relations website, www.rclinvestor.com. A replay of the webcast will remain available at the same website for 30 days following the call. About Royal Caribbean Group Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) is one of the leading cruise companies in the world with a global fleet of 64 ships traveling to more than 1,000 destinations around the world. Royal Caribbean Group is the owner and operator of three award-winning cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises, and it is also a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Together, the brands have an additional 10 ships on order as of September 30, 2023. Learn more at www.royalcaribbeangroup.com or www.rclinvestor.com. SOURCE Royal Caribbean Group Victoria Burke Drafted Legislation to Protect Survivors from Defamation Lawsuits SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Scott+Scott attorney and Southwestern Law School professor Victoria Burke has had her bill AB933 signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in the state of California. This law, initially drafted and proposed by Victoria, is intended to strengthen legal protection for survivors of sexual assault and after a lot of effort, the San Diego-based attorney watched her bill officially become law on October 10, 2023. Victoria has been living with the trauma of being drugged and assaulted since 2019. Prior to her assault, she was unaware of the many defamation lawsuits being used to silence survivors in the backlash from the #MeToo movement. But when a defamation lawyer cautioned her to be careful when speaking about her own experience, she felt compelled to change the law to protect herself and fellow survivors. "Being wealthy or famous didn't protect Taylor Swift or the Cosby victims from retaliatory lawsuits, so what hope did average survivors have?" said Burke. "I wrote this bill so that all survivors of assault retain their right to speak their truth without fear of retribution. I am humbled by the support my grassroots efforts to bring change to a broken system have received and I am excited about the potential to bring that change to survivors across the country." As an attorney and law professor with experience drafting legislation on behalf of the ABA, Victoria was uniquely qualified to bring about positive change in the law. She spent a year researching case law, statutes, and examples of survivors whose alleged assailants attempted to silence them via defamation litigation. In 2022, she sent her draft bill to every member of the California legislature, Victoria solicited numerous advocacy groups to provide feedback on the bill including ACLU, RAINN, NWLC, ERA, UltraViolet, the Joyful Heart Foundation, and the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, among others. When Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego), showed support and offered to co-author the bill, Burke worked closely with them to see it through. "Far too often, perpetrators of sexual misconduct, abuse, assault, and harassment use the court system to punish survivors for speaking out about their abuse. This further victimizes those who bravely choose to come forward," said Assemblymember Ward. "The Protecting Survivors from Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits Act will protect them from being silenced and lift up the voices of survivors so they can freely share their experiences without fear of retaliation." Burke's goal is to spread this bill across the country, one state at a time. She already has a sponsor in her home state of Illinois, where the Bill (HB2836) will be introduced in the next legislative session under its original title "The Right to Speak Your Truth Act." She is currently in conversation with state representatives in New York and Colorado to sponsor the bill in their respective states. Victoria joined Scott+Scott in 2016 and is a part of the firm's national plaintiffs' class action practice, representing corporate clients and classes of individuals seeking recoveries in state and federal courts. "We are incredibly proud of the work that Victoria is doing," said David Scott, managing partner at Scott+Scott. "She is the epitome of the kind of lawyer we want in our firm; smart, compassionate and unstoppable." About Victoria Burke Victoria Burke is an attorney at Scott+Scott Attys San Diego office, specializing in intellectual property and class action litigation. She holds both CIPP/US and CIPP/E designations and is an Adjunct Associate Fashion Law Professor at Southwestern Law School. Victoria was named a Super Lawyers San Diego Rising Stars in 2017 and 2018, and in 2015 she was awarded the Recognition of Outstanding Leadership Contribution by the American Bar Association. She is currently an expert consultant on Privacy and Intellectual Property matters for the Expert Network Group, LLC., has served as a panelist for the Osgoode Fashion Law Society, and frequently authors law articles/ briefs for parties such as the Daily Journal, ABA, and Supreme Court. Originally from Chicago, IL, Prof. Burke received her B.A. from Arizona State University and Law Degree from Southwestern Law School and currently resides in California. About Scott+Scott Scott+Scott has significant experience in prosecuting major securities, antitrust, arbitration, data privacy, and consumer actions throughout the United States and Europe. The firm represents pension funds, corporations, foundations, businesses, individuals, and other entities worldwide with offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Connecticut, Virginia, Arizona, Ohio, Nebraska, Texas and California. For more information, visit www.scott-scott.com or call +1.800.404.7770 SOURCE Scott+Scott New data presented on novel orally bioavailable p300-selective degraders showing significant anti-tumor activity in preclinical models of androgen receptor (AR) positive prostate cancer SEOUL, South Korea and KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SK Biopharmaceuticals, a global biotech focused on the research, development and commercialization of treatments for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) and oncology, and its U.S. R&D subsidiary, Proteovant Therapeutics, presented data showing that selectively degrading the epigenetic protein p300, with minimal impact on its paralog CBP, results in suppression of androgen receptor signaling and inhibition of tumor growth in a mouse model of androgen receptor (AR) positive prostate cancer. Findings are being presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment (EORTC) International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics being held in Boston. The AACR-NCI-EORTC Conference attracts researchers from around the world to discuss innovations in drug development, target selection, the impact of new discoveries in cellular and molecular biology, and early clinical trials. Today's presentation is the second in a series of important meetings at which the Proteovant team is sharing research findings that show potential best- and first-in-class protein degraders. "Although strategies targeting androgen receptor in the treatment of prostate cancer have shown benefits for patients, the reality is that cancer cells ultimately find ways to bypass these therapies, resulting in disease progression," said Zhihua Sui, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Proteovant Therapeutics. "These data showcase a first-in-class opportunity for therapeutic intervention that suppresses AR signaling through an androgen-independent mechanism." "We are excited about what our Proteovant team is doing to find novel approaches to treat metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer," Donghoon Lee, President and CEO of SK Biopharmaceuticals and SK Life Science. "The presentation at the AACR-NCI-EORTC Conference further demonstrates the value of Proteovant's work to support our growing pipeline and how it is helping SK Biopharmaceuticals and SK Life Science deliver on our commitment to change the future of CNS and cancer care." AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Title: Discovery and characterization of a p300-selective degrader demonstrates potent anti-tumor activity in preclinical models of prostate cancer Discovery and characterization of a p300-selective degrader demonstrates potent anti-tumor activity in preclinical models of prostate cancer Presenter: Mike Russell, Ph.D. Director of Biology Mike Russell, Ph.D. Director of Biology Date/Time: Thursday, October 12, 12:30-4:00pm About Proteovant Therapeutics Proteovant Therapeutics exploits the ubiquitin-protease system (UPS) to discover and develop transformative medicines for the treatment of patients with life-altering diseases. Protein degradation harnesses the human body's innate cellular machinery by way of the UPS to identify and mark disease causing proteins for destruction. This promising approach provides the opportunity to target proteins of interest, many of which were previously considered undruggable. Proteovant integrates its AI enabled target ID platform, degrader drug hunting expertise, and MOPED molecular glue screening platform to advance novel protein degraders. As of August 11, 2023, Proteovant Therapeutics is part of SK Biopharmaceuticals. About SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. SK Biopharmaceuticals is a global biotech company focused on the research, development, and commercialization of treatments to help people living with central nervous system (CNS) disorders and change the future of cancer care. Together with its U.S. subsidiary, SK Life Science, Inc., SK Biopharmaceuticals has a pipeline of eight compounds in development. Both companies are part of SK Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Korea and one of TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies of 2023. For more information, please visit www.skbp.com/eng. SK Biopharmaceuticals' parent company SK Inc. continues to enhance its portfolio value by executing long-term investments with a number of competitive subsidiaries in various business areas, including pharmaceuticals and life science, energy and chemicals, information and telecommunication, and semiconductors. In addition, SK Inc. is focused on reinforcing its growth foundations through profitable and practical management based on financial stability, while raising its enterprise value by investing in new future growth businesses. For more information, please visit www.sk-inc.com/en. SK Biopharmaceuticals SK Life Science Investor Relations: Cho Hyoungrae Public Relations: H. Park Soohui Lim Dina Albanese [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd Berger will oversee the company's IT infrastructure and system integrations, and help the brand implement new technologies ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonny's BBQ , the mission-driven BBQ restaurant known for quality BBQ and spreading kindness in the communities they serve, today announced the hiring of Keith Berger as the Senior Director of IT. Berger brings with him a wealth of IT experience and proven leadership to the brand. In his role, Berger will spearhead the development and implementation of Sonny's BBQ's information technology strategy, provide expert and strategic counsel to the leadership team, and drive transformational change and innovation within the company. Keith Berger "We're excited to welcome Keith and leverage his knowledge and expertise to shape a new vision for technology that supports our people-first strategic priorities," said Billy Brewer, COO of Sonny's BBQ. "Keith has shown remarkable skill and knowledge in the field of information technology as well as operations, and his guidance will be instrumental in establishing our business as a trailblazer of innovation within the restaurant industry." Berger's career path has built expertise in large-scale enterprise information technology. For 25 years, he worked at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts within the IT department, supporting and developing a wide variety of business solutions. Some of his most notable Disney accomplishments include the grand opening of Disney Hong Kong and joining Disney's Next Generation Concept team to roll out the transformative $1.5 billion Magic Band guest experience project. After a brief period with SeaWorld Corporate, he moved to Mexico to work for Grupo Vidanta leading technical development of Five Diamond Hotels, Theme Parks, Cruise Line, Restaurants, Nightclubs and Dayclubs. Later, Berger moved back to the United States and joined Bluegreen Vacations as AVP of Business Solutions, driving system wide architectural standards, system support and further development in all business units. Technology Solutions Crafted for People Experience As the Senior Director of IT, Berger aims to seek holistic customer experience (CX) technology solutions that Sonny's BBQ franchisees require to competitively serve guests in the increasingly digital restaurant landscape. "As a native Floridian, I've been a fan of Sonny's BBQ my entire life. I'm thrilled to be working for a mission-driven organization during this pivotal shift towards more digital offerings and solutions," said Berger. "The role of technology in the restaurant industry is more important than ever. I'm lucky to be at a company that is able to balance the ongoing technological innovation with their commitment to maintaining a people-first culture and guest experience." Among his priorities, Berger will oversee the company's IT infrastructure and system integrations, while implementing and managing robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive information. For more, visit SonnysBBQ.com or follow them on Facebook , Instagram , X and YouTube . Franchise opportunities can be found at https://franchise.sonnysbbq.com/. About Sonny's BBQ With nearly 100 locations spanning the southeast, Sonny's BBQ is one of the largest barbecue restaurant brands in the country. Its signature pulled pork, sweet tea, and unique appetizers have afforded the restaurant the title of "Best Barbecue Chain in America" by The Daily Meal. Floyd "Sonny" Tillman and his wife, Lucille, founded Sonny's BBQ in 1968 in Gainesville, Fla. in hopes of creating a local BBQ joint for their community to enjoy. 55 years later, Sonny's BBQ continues to do just that under the direction of CEO Jamie Yarmuth and local pitmasters spreading the spirit of BBQ in each of their communities through the Q the Kindness and Random Acts of BBQ initiatives. The brand gives back more than $1.2 million annually across the eight states it serves, and reaches tens of thousands of community members with its generosity. Sonny's BBQ is a leader in the hospitality industry with its commitment to creating unique consumer experiences, ability and willingness to utilize cutting-edge technology, and network of successful franchisee relationships. For information and to find the Sonny's BBQ location closest to you, please visit www.SonnysBBQ.com . Media Contact: Shepard Rogers [email protected] SOURCE Sonny's BBQ CEO Liza Landsman also announces more than $40 million in new financing led by T. Rowe Price with notable participants including Union Square Ventures NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of a record-breaking year for Stash , today the fintech announced the renowned CFO and advisor Amy Butte as its first-ever independent audit chair. The company also announces the infusion of $40 million led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc., with a mix of strategic and existing investors including Goodwater Capital and Union Square Ventures. Bolstered by new leaders and a new round of financing, Stash enters its next phase of growth with profitability in sight. "The addition of Amy, who is amongst the most accomplished leaders in the financial services space, plus a new round of financing from marquee investors, are clear indicators of the strength of Stash's business. It also signals our widely ambitious future," says CEO Liza Landsman. "We will move even faster to scale while committing to increasing levels of rigor and transparencyall in service of supporting our millions of customers. Profitability, and the flexibility it provides, is within reach." Independent audit chair Amy Butte is one of the country's preeminent leaders in financial services, with a proven track record of taking companies public as director, advisor, and CFO, including the historic IPO of the New York Stock Exchange. Her current board slate includes Bain Capital Specialty Finance and DigitalOcean, following seven years on the board of BNP Paribas USA and six years on the Fidelity Strategic Advisers Funds Boards. As both founder and strategic advisor, she's long focused on engaging and educating the next generation of investors. "Stash uniquely combines financial services and tech to create real value for its customers, in all the right ways," says independent audit chair Amy Butte. "With its scale and differentiated business model, the possibilities for Stash are vast and extremely exciting. I'm thrilled to join Liza and the rest of the board to help ready the organization for the future." Stash's simple, automatic tools and timely advice change the lives of Americans for the better: More than half of customers, who average $58K in household income, set aside hundreds of dollars in their first year with Stash, and one in five put away over $1,000 in the first six months alone1. In August, the company announced Chien-Liang Chou from Dave and Salesforce as Chief Technology Officer. About Stash: Stash is an investing app dedicated to empowering people to invest and build better lives. Stash's plansstarting at just $3 a monthunlock access to a suite of simple, automated solutions designed to help people find security and peace of mind through investing. In the past year, the pioneering fintech company surpassed $100M in annual revenue, and counts 2M active subscribers who have set aside nearly $3B thanks to regular, automatic deposits of $33 on average2. Stashers are 15% more financially literate than the average American3, and rely on Stash for timely education, expert advice, and clear next steps to help them grow their money and achieve lifelong goals. This content is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this content should be construed as Investment, Tax, or Legal advice. 1Based on data from customer deposits created from 2020-2022. Withdrawals are not considered. 2This calculation is the average transfer amount via Auto Stash as of August 2022. This calculation includes transfers completed through Auto Stash for taxable brokerage accounts, custodial accounts, and IRAs. This calculation does not take withdrawals into consideration. 3Based on surveys conducted online within the United States by Stash in August 2023. The 2023 surveys were completed by 999 non-Stashers and 2,004 Stash customers. "Financial literacy" is determined and defined by the percent of correct answers to a series of financial questions by respondents, on average SOURCE Stash SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 1, Shenzhen Longsys Electronics Co., Ltd.(301308.SZ) (hereinafter referred to as "Longsys") acquired a 70% equity stake in Powertech Technology (Suzhou) Limited. The transaction has been officially completed and will be included in the consolidated statements of Longsys from now on. Powertech Technology (Suzhou) Limited has been rebranded as Longforce (Suzhou) Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Longforce"), and will be directly controlled by Longsys Electronics (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., a new wholly-owned subsidiary of Longsys. Powertech Technology Inc. (PTI) and its affiliated companies remain dedicated to providing unwavering support, as per the service agreement signed, to ensure the continued operation of Longforce. Longforce, formerly known as Spansion, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of PTI in 2009. Its main services cover chip packaging, testing, and SMT, and its main products include flash memory chips, memory chips, and logic chips. With the successful conclusion of this transaction, Longforce is now prepared to operate autonomously and committed to servicing its existing clientele in the packaging and testing sphere. Notably, Longforce is embarking on a journey of increased investment in R&D and packaging & testing processes, active introduction of state-of-the-art packaging testing equipment and top talents from the industry, and continuous improvement of packaging and testing capabilities to establish a high-end packaging testing hub. Longforce is dedicated to providing top-tier services to clients across various sectors, such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, smart vehicles, smartphones, and wearables. In addition, this acquisition stands as a pivotal move by Longsys to fortify its manufacturing footprint. It envisions substantial enhancements to its storage chip packaging and testing capabilities, optimized capacity utilization, perfection of its industrial chain layout, and strengthened business collaboration with storage wafer foundries. This multifaceted approach extends to enhancing product quality, ensuring rapid response to customer needs, tailoring product specifications to meet market demands, and maintaining a steady production capacity. Collectively, these initiatives will significantly bolster the company's market presence, core competitiveness, and ultimately elevate long-term profitability, aligning seamlessly with the company's overarching strategy in the realm of semiconductor storage brands. It's worth highlighting that the company has consistently underscored the importance of a global presence for its storage business. Active implementation of a domestic-international dual circulation has been at the heart of its operations. Since the cross-border acquisition of Lexar in 2017 and global operational success, the company has continually explored ways to enhance international operation capabilities, create a flexible supply chain, develop a robust business system, and more. Leveraging its proximity to local customers, proprietary technologies, comprehensive storage product offerings, and local manufacturing advantages, its commitment in delivering premium services to its esteemed global clientele remains steadfast. This year, the company has made groundbreaking achievements with self-developed main control chips. When combined with its advanced packaging and testing capabilities, these breakthroughs will empower its core storage products comprehensively, effectively enhance product quality, performance, and security across all product lines, and further solidify its core competitiveness within the storage sector. SOURCE Longsys Electronics GREENSBORO, N.C., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tanger Outlets (NYSE: SKT), a leading operator of upscale open-air outlet centers, announced today that its Board of Directors approved a 6.1% increase in the dividend on its common shares from $0.98 to $1.04 per share on an annualized basis. Simultaneously, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.26 per share, payable on November 15, 2023 to common shareholders of record on October 31, 2023. About Tanger Outlets Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (NYSE: SKT), a leading operator of upscale open-air outlet centers, fully or partially owns and/or manages a portfolio of 37 centers, including one center under development. Tanger's operating centers, which comprise approximately 14 million square feet, are located in 20 states and in Canada and are leased to over 2,700 stores operated by more than 600 different brand name companies. Tanger has more than 42 years of experience in the outlet industry and has been a publicly traded REIT since 1993. For more information on Tanger, call 1-800-4TANGER or visit tanger.com. Investor Contact Doug McDonald SVP, Finance and Capital Markets T: (336) 856-6066 [email protected] SOURCE TANGER OUTLETS As disasters increase in frequency and intensity, annual pledge helps ensure capacity to respond immediately NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Red Cross recognizes the CMA CGM Foundation, headquartered in Marseille, France, for its pledge of $1,000,000 to the Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP). By making a proactive donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief and providing logistics services free of charge, the CMA CGM Foundation helps ensure the organization is prepared to meet the needs of people affected by disasters big and small across the U.S. Through its pledge, the CMA CGM Foundation will provide financial and logistical support to the American Red Cross. The Red Cross responds to more than 60,000 disasters across the country every year mobilizing a team every eight minutes on average providing relief, comfort and hope to people during what can be the worst days of their lives. As large disasters like wildfires, tornados and hurricanes increase in frequency and intensity, donations from ADGP members continue to fuel Red Cross readiness and build response capacity in times of crisis. ADGP members pledge financial and in-kind donations in advance of disasters to power the Red Cross with strong infrastructure, trained volunteers, innovative technology, and critical resources necessary to provide relief and support when needed. These donations enable the Red Cross to respond to disasters at a moment's notice offering a safe place to sleep, a hot meal, emotional support, and resources to aid in recovery while also helping prepare people and communities for future disasters. Through its pledge, the CMA CGM Foundation will provide financial and logistical support to the Red Cross. CMA CGM Group has created a special task force to be on standby to respond to emergency requests from the Red Cross. This task force will place all CMA CGM Group assets at the disposal of the Red Cross, including ships, trucks and warehouses, to facilitate relief efforts in the event of a disaster. "ADGP members like the CMA CGM Foundation are vital to our lifesaving mission, enabling us to respond with essential food, shelter and comfort at a moment's notice," said Gail McGovern, president, and CEO of the American Red Cross. "Disasters can strike anytime and anywhere, and the generosity of forward-thinking partners like the CMA CGM Foundation helps us to prepare communities nationwide for emergencies and ensures we stand ready to care for those in need when the unthinkable happens." Tanya Saade Zeenny, President of the CMA CGM Foundation, said, "Since launching its Containers of Hope program in 2012, the CMA CGM Foundation has played a key role in facilitating the transport of humanitarian supplies. The Foundation is now committed to supporting the Red Cross in its disaster relief efforts in the United States. We will mobilize the expertise and assets of the entire CMA CGM Group, including our flagship U.S. service American President Lines and CEVA Logistics, to transport Red Cross emergency supplies as close as possible to where they will be needed." Donations from ADGP members also support basic needs for families affected by home fires which comprise the bulk of Red Cross response efforts and help ensure the Red Cross can continue educating people nationwide about disaster preparedness so they can cope with crises in their communities when the unthinkable happens. About the CMA CGM Foundation Established in 2005, the CMA CGM Foundation is chaired by Tanya Saade Zeenny. It is committed to working for "Education for All", has supported since its inception close to 400 projects, which have benefited tens of thousands of children. With its focus on humanitarian and societal challenges facing many countries, it has also run the Containers of Hope operation since 2012. Thanks to this massive transport operation, major humanitarian organizations are able to ship equipment for humanitarian relief at no cost via the CMA CGM Group's lines. Learn more at https://cmacgm-group.com/en/foundation About the American Red Cross The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members, and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross. SOURCE American Red Cross DALLAS, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty, the finest luxury brokerage in Dallas, Fort Worth and all of North Texas, is thrilled to offer Old Roanoke Ranch, a ruggedly beautiful recreational paradise offering peaceful seclusion yet remarkable convenience to all that the growing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex offers. This private getaway, represented by expert agents Jessica Smith and Tyler Thomas, is ideal as a personal retreat, equestrian haven or future estate. The impossible offering: The surprisingly peaceful Texas ranch in the middle of America's most booming metropolitan area Post this The impossible offering: The surprisingly peaceful Old Roanoke Ranch just minutes from Dallas and Fort Worth Americas most exciting and booming metropolitan area & is represented by Jessica Smith and Tyler Thomas of Briggs Freeman Sothebys International Realty for $2,949,000. Located in Roanoke, Texas, just 25 minutes north of Fort Worth and 35 minutes northwest of Dallas, Old Roanoke Ranch is comprised of 31+/- acres of varied pastureland and wooded areas on the northwest side of popular Lake Grapevine, abutting more than 2,400 acres of U.S. Corps of Engineers land. It is the largest residential parcel available for sale in Tarrant and Denton counties within a 12-mile radius of DFW International Airport and is just minutes from the private runway at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport. The shops, restaurants and activities of Flower Mound and Southlake are 20 minutes or less from the ranch. Old Roanoke Ranch offers many amenities and pleasures, including a residential compound. The three-bedroom main home is perfect as a full-time residence or weekend retreat, with its open-concept design for entertaining, gourmet kitchen and primary suite with French doors. Enjoy peacefulness on the wraparound porch the perfect place to take in the beautiful land while sipping on a morning cup of coffee or watching the sun go down. The other structure in the compound offers a six-car garage with a one-bedroom apartment above it, complete with kitchen, full bath and living space. Some of the best views are from the apartment: One can look out over the barn, equestrian paddock and tree-lined pastures. Arrayed around the home are a plethora of cottonwood trees, a chicken coop and the barn, featuring 10 stalls, two tack rooms, a hay-storage area and an arena that can be used for horses or livestock. The on-property ponds and nearby Lake Grapevine are the crown jewels of this ranch, which is also minutes to Denton Creek. The property is supplied with water from the Paluxy aquifer and supports a healthy population of deer, doves, ducks, turkeys and hogs. 3501 Haynes Road in Roanoke, Texas, is represented by Jessica Smith and Tyler Thomas of Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty for $2,949,000. Explore it at briggsfreeman.com. SOURCE Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. Last year, the volume of trade between Azerbaijan and the CIS countries grew by almost 30 percent. This year's growth will constitute more than 20 percent, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a limited format, Trend reports. Azerbaijan is a reliable partner for many CIS countries in the field of transit and transportation. Many CIS countries are actively using Azerbaijan's transit opportunities in the East-West and North-South transport corridors. The ongoing and future projects to expand the capacity of these two transport corridors will serve to strengthen the transport security of our countries and increase our trade, the head of state noted. FREDERICK, Md., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, James Oberman is acknowledged as a Top Pinnacle Professional for his contributions to the field of Otolaryngology. James P. Oberman, M.D Dr. Oberman began his educational journey at Boston College where he excelled as a student earning the designation of summa cum laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Sigma Nu. After graduation, he attended Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA in 1996 where he earned a medical degree. The doctor continued his education at Quantic University obtaining an Executive Master's in Business Administration (EMBA) degree in 2022. In addition to his professional medical career, Dr. Oberman is also a leader in the military, completing training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute (NUMI) in Groton, CT and the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, FL in 1997. The medical officer had numerous operational tours for the US Navy including Submarine Squadrons SIX; EIGHT in Norfolk, VA; and Senior Diving. He was a medical officer for He explained that he completed a Pediatrics Internship/General Surgery Internship and Otolaryngology residence training at Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA. He also completed two tours as a staff Otolaryngologist in Okinawa, Japan, and Jacksonville, FL. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group TWO in Little Creek, VA. He also served as the Tidewater Regional Diving Casualty and Clinical Hyperbaric Expert Consultant; covered for the SUBLANT Senior Medical Officer; established a SCUBA training program for submarines on the waterfront; was deployed on the USS Narwhal submarine receiving his submarine medical officer qualification; and performed underwater explosive surveillance during OPSAIL 2000 in NYC Harbor during the summer of 2000. Also a recognized leader in the medical field, the doctor has chaired numerous hospital committees and served a two-year term as the President of the Medical Staff from 2010-2012 at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, FL as well as serving as their Communication in Healthcare Course Director. Board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Oberman was an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences from 2011-2017 and was selected by the USN Surgeon General to be the US Navy Otorhinolaryngology Specialty Leader who is responsible for all decisions affecting the 100 ENT surgeons across the globe. He earned the rank of Captain and received a scholarship grant in September 2013 from the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO/HNSF) recognizing him as a "young physician leader." He was recognized by Jacksonville Magazine as "Best of Otolaryngology in 2011;" was Region Otolaryngology Product Line leader from 2015-2016; and was clinical faculty at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital from 2014-2017. The doctor is a national faculty member for the Institute for Healthcare Excellence (IHE) and recently collaborated with national healthcare leaders generating a white paper targeting physician burnout and provider resiliency. Excelling in both the military and private sector, Dr. Oberman was named National Capital Region Medical Directorate's Inaugural Clinical Quality Officer and subsequently authored the five-year quality action plan for the National Capital Region which included piloting a communication in healthcare curriculum. The doctor notes that the success of the program ultimately led to market-wide expansion in 2016 and he continued to serve as the Clinical Champion and Course Director for the program. Touted as a highlight in his career, this program is cited often as an innovation/best practice throughout the entire Military Health System. Dr. Oberman's illustrious career includes many accolades and prestigious positions, including his role on the staff of the USN Medical Corps Chief's Office as the Medical Corps Career Planner serving as the principal mentor and advisor to over 3,700 Navy Medical Corps Officers of which he was hand-selected by the Navy Admiral in 2015. Serving in this capacity for two years, his responsibilities included providing counsel on all aspects of professional development and career progression; focusing on talent management; and serving as a staunch advocate for USN physicians. The doctor retired from the US Navy in 2017 and joined the Becker ENT practice, an affiliate of the University of Pennsylvania System in Princeton, NJ. He was appointed as the inaugural Medical Director for the Patient Experience at the Princeton Health System Campus of the University of Pennsylvania. He explained that he transitioned closer to family in 2018 and joined the Frederick Health Medical Group where he was instrumental in establishing their inaugural Otolaryngology department. He is co-owner of the Frederick Breathe Free ENT Center, an affiliate of the National Breathe Free Sinus and ENT Centers; operates as the only surgeon, supervising three Physician Assistants and a staff of 16 personnel; and is credentialed at Holy Cross Germantown Hospital in Germantown, MD. When reflecting on his accomplishments, the doctor considers being honored by ZocDoc as a TOPDOC for 2022 and 2023 based upon the top 1% national google patient satisfaction surveys as a highlight of his career as well as being recognized as the USN-wide "Undersea Medical Officer-of-the-Year for 1999." Dr. Oberman is married to Margaret (Meg) Ann Perusse Oberman, MD, MPH, FACP of Litchfield, CT. They currently reside in Poolesville, MD and have three children Connell (age 23), Aidan (age 21), and Bridget (age 17). Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] SOURCE The Inner Circle TOKYO, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tokyo Station Hotel, conveniently located 30 seconds' walk from Tokyo Station and in the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building, which is an important cultural property, will start selling an accommodation package that comes with its original suitcases and mini trunks, produced in collaboration with Globe-Trotter, Britain's luxury luggage brand, from November 1 (Wednesday), 2023. Hotel's exterior / original suitcases and mini trunks https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M101751/202309250106/_prw_PI1fl_bo8T4JqW.jpg The hotel's original products that can be bought only in Japan -- featuring a "red and natural leather" body color inspired by the red bricks of the Tokyo Station building where the hotel is located, and a fashionable fabric design with a hand painting-style pattern on the lining. The number of suitcases will be limited to 40, and only 20 mini trunks, both of which are very rare, will be offered. Due to the limited availability, the accommodation package precedes the hotel's online sales. (*Online sales start on December 1 with domestic shipping only.) The travel-themed accommodation package ensures their stay in their room gorgeously with a suitcase & a mini trunk, welcome sweets and British sparkling wine selected by the hotel's sommelier. On a hotel tour, the staff will invite guests into the world of heritage that has been passed down for more than 100 years. Moreover, guests have graceful experiences that are only possible in the hotel including an award-winning breakfast buffet. Everyone who has booked the accommodation package will have the privilege of receiving an original card case. The card case, the design of which looks exactly like that of the suitcase, can be used alternatively as a jewelry case or an accessory pouch. Accommodation package (incl. service charge and taxes): Period from December 6 (Wednesday), 2023 to March 31 (Sunday), 2024 at Suite categories priced at 570,000 yen onward for two guests per room and night. *The accommodation package includes one suitcase and one mini trunk. Details of original suitcase and mini trunk https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M101751/202309250106/_prw_PI2fl_KCX217jE.jpg Reservations/inquiries: https://www.tokyostationhotel.jp/event/globetrotter_collaboration2023.html *The reservation page will not be disclosed until the start of sales. About GLOBE-TROTTER and The Tokyo Station Hotel: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/attach/202309250106-O1-mSI7L2ly.pdf SOURCE The Tokyo Station Hotel The fundraiser to support Israeli hospitals raised $50,000 in the first few hours and will run through Monday, Oct. 16. LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tieks, a Los Angeles-based shoemaker, launched on Tuesday a week-long virtual fundraiser featuring several of its most exclusive ballet flats to raise funds for hospitals in Israel that have been overwhelmed following the horrific attacks by Hamas in early October. The fundraiser, " Tieks for Israel ," raised more than $50,000 from some 600 participants within the first few hours of going live. "As a proud Jew and Israeli, the recent attacks by Hamas hit close to home," said Kfir Gavrieli, CEO and founder of Tieks . "I am honored to see the Tieks community stepping up and showing solidarity with Israel in such a meaningful way. Through the proceeds, we will be able to help support the overwhelmed Israeli hospitals and healthcare workers treating the victims of Hamas' barbaric attacks targeting innocent men, women, and children. I hope that other brands will follow suit and show their support for Israelis, who are mourning after this horrific mass murder the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust." Tieks for Israel features eight of the brands' most unique and collectible flats, including the Magick, Midnight Blue, Sapphire Croc, Tiek Blue Classic, Black Ostrich, Tyrian, Seafield Check, and Arabian Night styles. These limited-edition Tieks, some of which are the first of their kind, are typically only released on rare occasions like Black Friday and routinely sell out within hours, making the fundraiser an exclusive opportunity to win some of Tieks' most coveted styles. The fundraiser will run through Monday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. PDT., and all proceeds will be donated to hospitals in Israel. Tieks organized a similar virtual auction last year to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees following Russia's invasion. The #TieksForUkraine auction sold a collection of rare Tieks flats and raised nearly $90,000 to support World Central Kitchen's work helping war-affected Ukrainians. Thanks to #TieksForUkraine, World Central Kitchen was able to provide tens of thousands of meals to individuals in Ukraine and all eight border crossings - from Poland to Hungary. To participate in the Tieks for Israel fundraiser, visit https://tieks.com/tieksforisrael . About Tieks : Stylish, comfortable, durable, and foldable, Tieks are the most versatile flats in the world. Tieks is committed to women's empowerment and, through the Gavrieli Foundation, has become the largest individual lender in the world on Kiva, sending over $10,000,000 to women entrepreneurs living in poverty around the world. Learn more here: https://tieks.com/ SOURCE Tieks by Gavrieli According to a New Blog on the Two Fingers Automotive Website, this Important Task Should Be Done Every Week MOORESVILLE, N.C., Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shawn Goodrich, Owner and Founder of Two Fingers Automotive, strongly believes that all car owners should be proactive with their automotive care. As often as he can, he enjoys sharing tips and advice that may help people avoid a costly automotive repair bill. For instance, Goodrich recently posted an in-depth and helpful blog on the Two Fingers Automotive website that addresses an important maintenance topic: when and why to check coolant levels in an automobile. To read the blog in its entirety, please check out https://2fingersautomotive.com/auto-services-blog/two-fingers-automotive-monthly-maintenance-tips-when-and-why-to-check-your-coolant-levels-in-your-automobile/ . As the blog explains, the coolant, or "antifreeze," in a vehicle's engine helps it to regulate temperature and resist corrosion. "Many people only think about their coolant levels when the 'Check Coolant Level' indicator light on their dash illuminates. However, people who consistently ignore their coolant are likely to find themselves stuck with a bad dayand an unnecessary repair bill very soon because coolant is a critical element in keeping your vehicle running smoothly," the blog notes. As for when to check a car's coolant levels, this should be done at least once a weekideally when the engine is cold and prior to driving. In general, later-model vehicles have a coolant reservoir off to the side of the engine. The reservoir is made out of clear plastic, so it is easy to see the level and condition of the coolant at a glance. "Your coolant will most likely be a thick, bright green color resembling Mountain Dew or a bright cherry red but could also be bright blue or yellow," the blog notes, adding that if the coolant looks dark, sludgy, rusty, or dirty, this could indicate a leak in the head gasket or a damaged or cracked coolant hose, which allows coolant to leak out of the vehicle. If the reservoir is low or empty, it should immediately be topped off. The vehicle owner should then check the reservoir and under the vehicle at regular intervals throughout the next several days. If coolant is pooling under the vehicle, the car should be brought in for service immediately. "By checking your coolant levels regularly and diligently, you can save yourself a lot of headaches and unnecessary wasted time and money," the blog notes. "If you find yourself needing repairs after a major coolant leak or poor coolant maintenance, or for any other reason, you need to bring your vehicle to your Mooresville professional auto shop, Two Fingers Automotive." About Two Fingers Automotive: At Two Fingers Automotive, they offer a wide variety of automotive services, including inspections, diagnostics, repairs, and maintenance for all makes and models of cars and light trucks in Mooresville, North Carolina. For more information, please visit https://2fingersautomotive.com/ . Two Fingers Automotive 465 S. Broad St Mooresville, NC 28115 (704) 230-4678 SOURCE Two Fingers Automotive NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA, colloquially known as the "Unification Church," is appalled at the Japanese government's consideration to dissolve our sister church in Japan. Organizations anywhere in the world must operate in accordance with the laws of that country. Likewise, the legally incorporated Family Federation in Japan must operate according to Japanese law, and we wish to be examined and judged fairly. Article 20 in the Japanese constitution guarantees freedom of religion. According to the Freedom House analysis , Japan scores highly for the freedom of individuals in Japan to practice and express their religious faith or nonbelief in public and private. If the Japanese government dissolves the Family Federation in Japan, they are going directly against their own laws. Freedom of religion is a human right to dignity that should be protected in every nation. What is happening to members of the Family Federation in Japan is clearly religious discrimination. The Japanese government already has a history of violating its own laws of protecting citizens' human rights, as seen in the case of Toru Gotto , who was imprisoned by his family and tortured because of his religious beliefs. Nearly 40 years ago, the United Kingdom similarly pursued legal action against the "Unification Church" to seek the removal of our religious charitable status. However, the British government withdrew its court case and even awarded damages to the Church after conceding that biased testimony alone was unreliable as evidence. Religion Sociologist Eileen Barker, who after conducting her own multi-year embedded study of the Unification Church concluded that our practices posed no harm to society. Our hope is that the Japanese government will heed this as a cautionary tale of relying solely on biased testimony. We are a global movement dedicated to healthy, happy families as the basis of world peace. The actions of Japan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, accusing the Family Federation in Japan of inspiring the senseless murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is inconceivable. The following statement is from the Rev. Demian Dunkley, President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA and Chairman of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification North America: "Personally, I am surprised by the stance of public opinion in Japan against our members. My wife and children are Japanese citizens. I have worked with countless Japanese people throughout the years and have always been impressed by their extraordinary kindness and strong ethics. I worry about the impact on my family. Will my children receive persecution the next time we visit their grandparents, Oba-san and Oji-san, in Japan? I implore the Japanese people to look at the impact this is having on real people, their own people. These Japanese citizens are married and instill values in their families that Japanese culture is known for, such as filial piety, respect for elders, and the mindset of public service for the sake of others. Countless Japanese members of the Unification Church moved to every continent to serve local villages, towns, cities, communities, and churches. I have not met any other group from Japan that has had as much of a positive impact around the world. We will do everything in our power to support our Japanese brothers and sisters in this time of crisis, including continuing to bring this issue before the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom." Family Fed USA Sungmi Holdhus 212-997-0057 [email protected] SOURCE Family Federation for World Peace and Unification HOUSTON, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Houston Law Center commemorates the remarkable achievements of its Hispanic and African American law graduates and faculty with the unveiling of three new displays. The installations serve to honor the contributions of individuals who have broken barriers and enriched the legal community. Honorees for the Royce and Carol West African American Law Heritage Wall of Honor and the Ezequiel Reyna Jr. and Livia Reyna Hispanic Law Heritage Wall of Honor along University of Houston College of Education Professor Emerita Dr. Augustina Reyes gather at the University of Houston Law Center for the unveiling ceremony. The Michael A. Olivas and Augustina H. Reyes portrait, the Royce and Carol West African American Law Heritage Wall of Honor, and the Ezequiel Reyna Jr. and Livia Reyna Hispanic Law Heritage Wall of Honor were debuted at a recent ceremony with the honorees and their friends and family at the John M. O'Quinn Law Building. University of Houston Law Center Dean Leonard M. Baynes expressed his pride in this significant milestone, saying, "Today, we honor the vision, brilliance, and tenacity of those who have blazed trails and shattered barriers. Their contributions have not only enriched the tapestry of our legal community but have also paved the way for a more inclusive and just legal system." Michael A. Olivas and Augustina H. Reyes Portrait The late UH Law Center William B. Bates Chair Emeritus and Professor of Law Michael A. Olivas committed his life to advancing civil rights and immigrant justice. The portrait of Olivas and his wife Dr. Augustina H. Reyes, professor emerita at the UH College of Education, is dedicated in honor of the couple who gave their time and talents to the university community as well as the local, regional and national community of scholars, academics, and lawyers. The portrait, created by the award-winning artist Luis Alvarez Roure, is displayed on the 5th Floor of the Law Building in the Olivas-Reyes Reading Room. University of Houston Law Center Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson spoke about her late colleague and the dedication of the portrait. "We are honored to have the artist with us tonight. This was a labor of love to make this happen. Thank you to the Hispanic Bar Association, Mexican American Bar Association, and many others for making this a possibility," said Thompson. Reyes spoke on her husband's prolific scholarly publications including his most recent book "Perchance to DREAM: A Legal and Political History of the DREAM Act and DACA" as "the first comprehensive history of the DREAM Act," available in paperback in June 2024. Royce and Carol West African American Law Heritage Wall of Honor State Sen. Royce West (J.D. '79) and his wife Carol West dedicated the heritage wall to recognize the achievements and contributions of UH Law Center African American alumni and faculty. "To whom much is given much is required. What we do, we do because it is the right thing to do," Carol West said. "To help others accomplish their dreams. We want everyone to know that yes it is possible. Keep believing; keep dreaming." Royce West echoed this sentiment, saying, "It is so important that we who have been given so much give back. The reality is we owe this law school. But for what this law school has afforded us, we would not have the quality of life that we have." The Royce and Carol West African American Law Heritage Wall of Honor is located on the 2nd floor of the Law Building. Ezequiel Reyna Jr. and Livia Reyna Hispanic Law Heritage Wall of Honor Ezequiel Reyna Jr. (J.D. '80) and Livia Reyna (M.Ed. '79) designated their heritage wall to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions of Hispanic alumni and faculty at the University of Houston Law Center. "It is an honor to be here," said Ezequiel Reyna Jr. "For you to understand how monumental it is for someone like myself, you need to know who I am and where I came from." Reyna Jr., who grew up as one of eight children, shared the challenges he faced during his educational journey, including overcoming language barriers in his early years. Despite these obstacles, Reyna Jr. not only completed college but also earned his J.D. from UH Law Center in 1980. Expressing his gratitude to Dean Baynes, Reyna Jr. said, "You kept the vision and the courage to be inclusive. I commend you, sir." The Ezequiel Reyna Jr. and Livia Reyna Hispanic Law Heritage Wall of Honor is located on the 2nd floor of the Law Building. Baynes concluded the ceremony by emphasizing the importance of unity. "As we remember the Olivas-Reyes Reading Room and heritage walls that we have seen tonight, let us reflect on the strides we have made and the journey that still lies ahead. Together, we commit ourselves to fostering an environment where every aspiring legal mind, regardless of background, can find their rightful place," said Baynes. Watch a video of the heritage wall displays. University of Houston Law Center media contacts: Carrie Anna Criado, UH Law Center Assistant Dean of Communications and Marketing, 713-743-2184, [email protected]; Bonnie Buffaloe, Communications Manager, 713-743-9137, [email protected]. About the University of Houston Law Center The University of Houston Law Center (UHLC) is a dynamic, top-tier law school located in the nation's 4th largest city. UHLC's Health Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Part-time programs rank in the U.S. News Top 10. It awards Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees, through its academic branch, the College of Law. The Law Center is more than just a law school. It is a powerful hub of intellectual activity with more than 15 centers and institutes which fuel its educational mission and national reputation. UHLC is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. About the University of Houston The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for excellence in undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city and one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse regions in the country, UH is a federally designated Hispanic- and Asian-American-Serving institution with enrollment of more than 47,000 students. SOURCE University of Houston Law Center CHICAGO, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Usage Based Insurance Market is projected to grow from an estimated USD 30.6 billion in 2023 to reach USD 80.7 billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 21.4% during the forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The usage-based insurance market is estimated to be fueled by growing EV and ICE vehicle sales equipped with embedded telematic systems. These connected cars are equipped with multiple sensors that can gather data on driver behavior, mileage, speed, and braking patterns, making it easier for usage-based insurance companies to devise the premiums. Also, factors such as lower premiums and more personalized coverage are further expected to drive the market for usage-based insurance. Cutting-edge technologies such as AI, data science, and blockchain have been leveraged to lower insurance premiums compared to regular automotive insurance, which is also expected to drive the market. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=154621760 Browse in-depth TOC on "Usage Based Insurance Market". 178 Tables 56 Figures 346 - Pages Usage Based Insurance Market Scope: Report Coverage Details Market Size USD 80.7 billion by 2028 Growth Rate 21.4% of CAGR Largest Market North America Market Dynamics Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities & Challenges Forecast Period 2023-2028 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By package type, by vehicle type, by vehicle age, by device offering, by electric vehicle, by technology, and by region Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Developing automotive usage-based insurance ecosystem Key Market Drivers Increasing adoption of telematics and connected cars Light Duty Vehicle (LDV) dominates the market by vehicle Type during the forecast period. The scope defines Light duty vehicles as light commercial Vehicles (LCVs) and passenger cars. LDVs have more adoption of usage-based insurance as compared to HDVs. Connected passenger cars are more than connected commercial vehicles. Nowadays, most passenger cars are equipped with devices such as OBD-II embedded telematics systems or can be integrated with smartphones. This can gather all the information regarding driving habits and set the UBI plans. Furthermore, passenger cars are widely used from daily commutes to occasional leisure trips. With the growing demand for ride-sharing and Mobility-as-a-Service, the need for UBI becomes more intrinsic. The UBI service providers are developing new applications and services for connected cars, which can be used in parking and ride-sharing services. Also, the top key players are offering new UBI products and plan for light-duty vehicles, which are into ride-sharing, rental cars, personal use, and autonomous vehicles such as Drivewise, Drive Safe and Save, RightTrack, Snapshot, SmartRide, SafePilot, etc. Thus, the LDVs are expected to witness a substantial UBI penetration over the forecast period. BEVs are the fastest-growing segment in the usage-based insurance market. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are equipped with various sensors that generate data about vehicle usage, such as speed, mileage, braking patterns, and battery usage. Insurers can use this data to develop more sophisticated UBI programs that reward drivers for safe and efficient driving. BEVs are more predictable than gasoline-powered vehicles regarding their performance and maintenance needs. This makes it easier for insurers to price UBI premiums for BEVs. The BEVs help insurers attract and retain customers by offering UBI programs, especially to the younger drivers who are more likely to be interested in new technologies and personalized insurance products. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2022, SUVs and more oversized vehicles will dominate the available EV models. These vehicles contribute 60% of the total BEVs available in Europe, the US, and China. Also, according to Mark Lines, 6 million new BEVs and PHEVs were sold in the first two-quarters of global sales. Hence, these increased sales of BEVs in the US and Europe are driving the usage-based insurance Industry. The premiums for BEVs are also competitive compared to ICE vehicles, where automakers like Tesla (US) offer their own UBI program called "Safety Score," which rewards Tesla drivers for safe driving habits, such as avoiding hard braking and accelerating. Tesla also uses vehicle data to give drivers insights into their driving behavior. Hence, these new initiatives by BEV manufacturers also drive the UBI market. North America holds the largest market share for the usage-based insurance market. North America has a high adoption rate of telematics, devices that collect data about vehicle usage. This data is essential for UBI programs, as it allows insurers to price premiums based on individual driving behavior. In addition, North American consumers are more aware of usage-based insurance, and the UBI acceptance is more in the NA region. Also, the North American insurance industry is quite competitive, where insurers seek innovative ways to attract and retain customers. UBI allows insurers to differentiate themselves and offer more tailored and competitive products. The North American region holds a significant market share for the growing popularity of MaaS, driving demand for UBI programs. MaaS providers offer various transportation services, such as car sharing and ride-hailing. These services typically use telematics to track vehicle usage, which makes them ideal for UBI programs. OEMs and insurers are increasingly collaborating to offer UBI programs to their customers. For instance, GM and Progressive have partnered since 2015 and continue to provide a UBI program called "SmartDrive" to date. This program rewards GM drivers for safe driving habits, such as avoiding hard braking and speeding. North America has UBI's top key players: Allstate Insurance Company, Farmers Insurance, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, etc. Inquire Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=154621760 Key Market Players: The usage-based insurance companies in North America, are UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A (Italy), Progressive Casualty Insurance Company (US), Allstate Insurance Company (US), State Farm Automobile Mutual Insurance Company (US), and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (US). Recent Developments: In June 2023 , UnipolSai introduced BeRebel, a new car insurance policy based on the pay-per-use model. BeRebel is the first of its kind in Italy and Europe . It is a monthly, kilometer-based, fully digital car policy. It has a fixed monthly cost of about USD 10.69 , which includes 200 km of travel, and an additional kilometer driven will be charged at a cost of about 2 cents /km. The Unused kilometers can be carried over to the following month. This policy is based on telematics data, which tracks the kilometers driven and the driving style. , UnipolSai introduced BeRebel, a new car insurance policy based on the pay-per-use model. BeRebel is the first of its kind in and . It is a monthly, kilometer-based, fully digital car policy. It has a fixed monthly cost of about , which includes 200 km of travel, and an additional kilometer driven will be charged at a cost of about /km. The Unused kilometers can be carried over to the following month. This policy is based on telematics data, which tracks the kilometers driven and the driving style. In February 2022 , State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company launched a usage-based insurance (UBI) program that uses data from a vehicle's telematics system to track driving behavior and mileage. Drivers who exhibit safe driving habits and drive fewer miles can earn discounts on their insurance premiums. In this service, the agent provides a small device that plugs into the vehicle's diagnostic port where the device will collect data from the vehicle's telematics system and send it to State Farm. , State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company launched a usage-based insurance (UBI) program that uses data from a vehicle's telematics system to track driving behavior and mileage. Drivers who exhibit safe driving habits and drive fewer miles can earn discounts on their insurance premiums. In this service, the agent provides a small device that plugs into the vehicle's diagnostic port where the device will collect data from the vehicle's telematics system and send it to State Farm. Progressive Corporation and Protective Insurance Corporation announced in February 2021 had signed a legally binding agreement in which Progressive agreed to buy all of Protective Insurance Corporation's outstanding Class A and Class B ordinary shares. had signed a legally binding agreement in which Progressive agreed to buy all of Protective Insurance Corporation's outstanding Class A and Class B ordinary shares. In July 2021 , Unipol's Linear Assicurazioni and Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) launched Italy's first try-before-you-buy auto insurance program. The program, called "Drive Smart, Pay Less," allows drivers to test drive a car insurance policy for 14 days before they commit to buying it. The program uses CMT's DriveWell telematics platform to track the driver's behavior. The platform measures speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering to assess the driver's risk profile. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=154621760 Browse Adjacent Market: Automotive and Transportation Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Automotive Telematics Market - Global Forecast to 2027 Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market - Global Forecast to 2026 Connected Car Market - Global Forecast to 2026 Artificial Intelligence in Transportation Market - Global Forecast to 2030 About MarketsandMarkets: MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report. MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. 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Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/usage-based-insurance-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/usage-based-insurance.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended approval of the macrocyclic, high-relaxivity Vueway (Gadopiclenol) in adults and pediatric patients older than 2 years of age. MILAN, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bracco Imaging S.p.A., an innovative world leader delivering end-to-end products and solutions through a comprehensive portfolio inclusive of precision diagnostic imaging modalities, today received notification that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of Vueway (Gadopiclenol) solution for injection for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for use in adult and pediatric patients aged 2 years and older with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the CNS (brain, spine, and surrounding tissues) and several body organs (liver, kidney, pancreas, breast, lung, prostate, and musculoskeletal system). The European Commission is expected to issue its decision by the end of 2023. Vueway (Gadopiclenol), is a new macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA), very stable and with the highest relaxivity among all the other GBCAs on the market today1, so that its approved dose is exactly half of that approved for other macrocyclic GBCAs for similar indications2. It was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) in September 2022. "The high relaxivity of Vueway has shown to allow an improvement of its risk-benefit profile by reducing exposure without compromising imaging performance," said Alberto Spinazzi, MD, Chief Medical and Regulatory Officer at Bracco Imaging. "Vueway will provide healthcare professionals with an important new option for their patients, as well as for the environment. We eagerly anticipate its arrival to the European market." The CHMP opinion is based on the results from two prospective, large-scale, randomized, double-blind, crossover clinical studies, PICTURE and PROMISE, conducted in more than 500 adult patients undergoing contrast-enhanced MRI and aimed at comparing the safety and efficacy of 0.05 mmol/kg Gadopiclenol compared with 0.1 mmol/kg Gadobutrol3,4. The PICTURE trial demonstrated comparable diagnostic efficacy at half dose in MRI of the central nervous system5, the PROMISE trial in MRI of the head and neck, chest, breast, liver, pancreas, pelvis organs, and the musculoskeletal system6. Gadopiclenol offers a two-to-three-fold higher relaxivity than available GBCAs1 for use with any MRI scanner, regardless of field strength. The contrast agent's macrocyclic structure also confers high stability7. The end result is adequate diagnostic efficacy at a Vueway dose which is lower than those approved for other macrocyclic GBCAs in clinical use2, while minimizing the risk of gadolinium retention in brain and body tissues, and possibly reducing release of gadolinium in the environment7. About gadolinium-based contrast agents Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures to help enhance the visibility of certain tissues. Gadolinium is a rare earth metal that has unique magnetic properties that make it useful for MRI imaging. About gadopiclenol Gadopiclenol, initially invented by Guerbet with subsequent contribution of Bracco IP, is a new macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) with high relaxivity. The efficacy and safety of gadopiclenol have been evaluated in MRI of the Central Nervous System, head and neck, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and musculoskeletal system (For US reference, refer to the approved USPI). Details on Phase III clinical trials are available on www.ClinicalTrials.gov: Efficacy and Safety of Gadopiclenol for Central Nervous System (CNS) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov Efficacy and Safety of Gadopiclenol for Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov About the PICTURE trial1 The PICTURE trial included 256 patients with known or highly suspected CNS lesion(s). All primary and secondary endpoints of the study were achieved. All blinded readers' evaluations indicated the superiority of the combined unenhanced/contrast-enhanced MRI with 0.05 mmol/kg gadopiclenol over unenhanced MRI alone for all lesion visualisation criteria (p<0.0001). For all three blinded readers, non-inferiority of 0.05 mmol/kg gadopiclenol to 0.1 mmol/kg gadobutrol (Gadavist) was demonstrated for all lesion visualisation criteria (p<0.0001). Results also indicated superior percent of contrast enhancement for all readers (p<0.0001), superior contrast-to-noise ratio for two out of three readers (p<0.01), and superior lesion-to-background contrast ratio with gadopiclenol for all readers (p<0.0001). In correlation with the greater contrast enhancement, the diagnostic quality of the images obtained with 0.05 mmol/kg gadopiclenol were in majority preferred over that provided by 0.1 mmol/kg gadobutrol by all three blinded readers (p<0.001). About the PROMISE trial2 The PROMISE trial included 273 adult patients suspected of having an enhancing abnormality in one of three different body regions (head/neck, breast/thorax/abdomen/pelvis, or musculoskeletal). Off-site blinded readers with expertise in the respective body regions rated border delineation, internal morphology, and visual contrast enhancement. All primary and secondary endpoints of the study were achieved. For all blinded readers, 0.05 mmol/kg gadopiclenol was non-inferior to 0.1 mmol/kg gadobutrol for all visualisation parameters and all readers (P<.001), and superior to unenhanced images (P<.001). Two of three readers yielded higher percentage enhancement for gadopiclenol (P<.001). Lesion-to-background ratio did not differ. For most participants (75%83%), readers reported no preference between 0.05 mmol/kg gadopiclenol and 0.1 mmol/kg gadobutrol images. About Bracco Imaging Bracco Imaging S.p.A. ("Bracco Imaging"), part of the Bracco Group, is an innovative world leader delivering end-to-end products and solutions through its comprehensive portfolio across diagnostic imaging modalities. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Bracco Imaging's purpose is to improve people's lives by shaping the future of prevention and precision diagnostic imaging. The Bracco Imaging portfolio includes products and solutions for all key diagnostic imaging modalities: X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS), and Nuclear Medicine through radioactive tracers and novel PET imaging agents. Bracco Imaging has approximately 3,700 employees and operates in more than 100 markets globally. Bracco Imaging has a well-skilled and innovative Research and Development (R&D) organization with an efficient process-oriented approach and track record in the diagnostic imaging industry. R&D activities are located in four centers based in Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Bracco Group global revenues were 1.7 billion Euros in 2020. To learn more about Bracco Imaging, visit www.bracco.com. THE BRACCO IMAGING AND GUERBET COLLABORATION Bracco Imaging and Guerbet in December 2021 entered a worldwide collaboration on Gadopiclenol manufacturing and research and development activities. Gadopiclenol will be commercialized independently under separate brands. Both Guerbet and Bracco Imaging each own valuable intellectual property on Gadopiclenol. Furthermore, after an agreed transition period when Guerbet manufactures Gadopiclenol for both Guerbet and Bracco, both companies will manufacture the Gadopiclenol active ingredient and finished product. The strategic collaboration is expected to accelerate access to Gadopiclenol and deliver innovation, as well as better care to patients and caregivers alike. Bracco Imaging Micaela Colamasi PR Manager [email protected] +39 348 2314362 1 Robic C, Port M, Rousseaux O, et al. Physicochemical and Pharmacokinetic Profiles of Gadopiclenol: A New Macrocyclic Gadolinium ChelateWith High T1 Relaxivity. Invest Radiol 2019; 54: 475-484. 2 https://www.hpra.ie/img/uploaded/swedocuments/Licence_PA0686-003002_15052023150215.pdf https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/14787/smpc https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/2876/smpc https://www.lakemedelsverket.se/sv/sok-lakemedelsfakta/lakemedel?id=20211118000026 https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/349/smpc#gref 3 https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03986138?intr=gadopiclenol&rank=8 4 https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03996447?intr=gadopiclenol&rank=9 5 Loevner LA, Kolumban B, Hutoczki G, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Gadopiclenol for Contrast-Enhanced MRI of the Central Nervous System: The PICTURE Randomized Clinical Trial. Invest Radiol. 2023; 58:307-313 6 Kuhl C, Csoszi T, Piskorski W, Miszalski T, Lee JM, Otto PM. Efficacy and Safety of Half-Dose Gadopiclenol versus Full-Dose Gadobutrol for Contrast-enhanced Body MRI. Radiology 2023; 308: e222612 7 Runge VM and Heverhagen, JT. Advocating the Development of Next-Generation High-Relaxivity Gadolinium Chelates for Clinical Magnetic Resonance. Invest Radiol. 2018 Jul;53(7):381-389 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1707756/4337845/Bracco_Diagnostics_Logo_Logo.jpg W Sydney is Ahead of the Curve with its Vibrant Design and Alluring Venues Creating a New Hub on the Harbour SYDNEY, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- W Hotels , part of Marriott Bonvoy's global portfolio of over 30 brands, today announces the highly anticipated opening of W Sydney . Located in a dramatic curved structure rising over Darling Harbour, W Sydney is set to become a coveted destination for travelers and Sydneysiders alike, bringing new energy and a modern take on luxury to the city and harbour waterfront. W Sydney "W Sydney marks our W Hotels brand's triumphant return to Sydney, a long-awaited addition to our robust portfolio in Australia, following our recent debuts in Melbourne and Brisbane," said George Fleck, Vice President and Global Brand Leader of W Hotels. "W Sydney will cultivate a new cultural and social hub in the vibrant Darling Harbour precinct. It is the perfect canvas for a non-conformist approach to the luxury hospitality landscape with W's bold and energetic 'Whatever/Whenever' service ethos, dynamic design, and immersive programming as we celebrate Sydney through a new lens." A BEACON OF BOLD DESIGN Located within The Ribbon and designed by acclaimed Australian architectural firm, Hassell, W Sydney rises above the roadways to hug Darling Harbour. Its exceptional interiors are designed by London-based Bowler James Brindley, who conceived W Sydney through the authenticity of the city's history, spirit, and lore; from the marine-inspired rooms and suites to the distinctive restaurant and bars. At the heart of the hotel's design story is 'the larrikin,' a quintessentially Australian character whose strong spirit informs and inspires the hotel's luxe yet unconventional interiors. From the moment guests step past the W sign, inspired by the Australian flower Waratah, they are on a design-led journey. The copper-clad entry pays homage to subterranean Sydney and its disused railway tunnels, and an illuminated vertical promenade sweeps guests up into Living Room, a vivid blue space that reinvents the conventions of a traditional lobby by turning it into a social hub. Embracing a 'Future Noir' theme, Living Room is punctuated by an electric blue circular bar and nest-like seating that reference the Australian Bowerbird, a larrikin of the bird world. W Sydney's 588 guestrooms, including 162 exceptional suites, draw inspiration from the hotel's harbourside location and nearby beaches, exuding marine-chic in their nautical white and navy-blue palette and undulating walls that echo the sails of yachts in the marina below. Bathrooms are rendered in deep oceanic blue and walk-in wardrobes feature a burst of graphic, inflorescent red and pink Waratah flowers for a playful touch. CUISINE SCENE Across all its spaces, W Sydney channels the boundless energy of the Harbour City and its culture of inclusivity with a tuned-in, curious attitude, amplified through always-on programming. Electrifying the city's culinary and nightlife scenes, W Sydney brings four new dining and bar venues across three exciting levels. BTWN embraces its unique setting adjacent to the flyover, drawing on its urban surroundings and weaving the iconography of night food markets into its spaces. Leading the culinary adventures at BTWN is Head Chef Chris Dodd, an alumnus of Aria and Blue Door, whose menus hero the produce of New South Wales. Just as other restaurants in town are winding down, BTWN comes alive with 2AM: dessertbar, a late-night hotspot created in collaboration with Singaporean dessert guru Janice Wong. Living Room's menus embrace the hotel's location on the edge of Asiatown with a focus on Sake and Soju, as well as Asian small bites. 29/30 is a two-level bar with uninterrupted harbour views, the perfect place to celebrate Sydney. A beacon at the apex of Darling Harbour, the WET Deck (pool) level bar evokes an underwater world with coral-inspired lighting and is a great spot for casual tapas and cocktails. Meanwhile, Level 30 above takes things up a notch with elevated cocktails, a menu of vintage Champagnes by the glass, and the above-sea-level decor of a superyacht. UP AND AWAY Switching the mood, AWAY Spa is an oasis of concrete calm designed to leave guests feeling rested and recharged in an idiosyncratic but nevertheless deeply restorative space. The five treatment rooms and connecting spaces are gently enclosed by the meditative, geometric art of Bradley Eastman (aka Beastman). In addition to unique circular pods for beauty treatments, the spa features a bar for those who like to socialize while they decompress. The hotel's FIT Gym is complete with Technogym equipment, whereas WET Deck is a place to chill poolside with stellar views of Darling Harbour. The 30-metre open-air infinity pool showcases a giant jellyfish motif crafted from vivid glass mosaic tiles, a further nod to the hotel's joyful eccentricity. BUSINESS IS PLEASURE Whilst W Sydney is destined to be Sydney's newest playground, it also means business. Located just steps from Sydney's International Convention Centre, the hotel features 1300-square-meters of exceptional event space across eight versatile rooms. Set on level five, W Sydney's 592-square-meter pillarless Great Room features floor-to-ceiling windows that afford extraordinary views of the city. The design connects to the lively Darling Harbour setting, with light fittings and a graphic carpet that explode in a creative tribute to Sydney's famous fireworks. "W Sydney reimagines luxury for a new era, creating a vibrant new scene for Sydneysiders and visitors to the city," says Craig Seaward, General Manager of W Sydney. "It's a complete departure from the city's traditional hotels and this unique W spirit is something you feel at every touchpoint, from our eclectic venues to the cool blue rooms and high energy programming. I can't think of a better location for our new W hotel than Sydney's amazing harbour. We can't wait to welcome guests again and again." For more information and to book, please visit wsydney.com or follow on Instagram and Facebook . About W Hotels Born from the bold, 24/7 culture of New York City, W Hotels has redefined hospitality for over two decades, breaking the norms of traditional luxury wherever the iconic W sign lands. With more than 60 hotels around the globe, the detail-driven design, iconic Whatever/Whenever service and buzzing, signature Living Rooms create an experience that is often imitated but never matched. Dynamic and invigorating, the brand celebrates each travelers' desire to uncover the destination through a lens that is distinctly W. For more information on W Hotels, visit whotels.com/theangle or follow us on Twitter , Instagram and Facebook . W Hotels is proud to participate in Marriott Bonvoy, the global travel program from Marriott International. The program offers members an extraordinary portfolio of global brands, exclusive experiences on Marriott Bonvoy Moments and unparalleled benefits including complimentary nights and Elite status recognition. To enroll for free or for more information about the program, visit MarriottBonvoy.marriott.com . About Marriott Bonvoy Marriott Bonvoy's extraordinary portfolio offers renowned hospitality in the most memorable destinations in the world, with over 30 brands that are tailored to every type of journey. From The Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis to W Hotels and more, Marriott Bonvoy has more luxury offerings than any other travel program. Members can earn points for stays at hotels and resorts, including all-inclusive resorts and premium home rentals, and through everyday purchases with co-branded credit cards. Members can redeem their points for experiences including future stays, Marriott Bonvoy Moments, or through partners for luxurious products from Marriott Bonvoy Boutiques. To enroll for free or for more information about Marriott Bonvoy, visit marriottbonvoy.com . SOURCE Marriott International Inc. SHIJIAZHUANG, China, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria disclosed that the innovative patented traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Shensong Yangxin Capsules, developed and produced by Yiling Pharmaceutical, has been granted registration in Nigeria under the category of "Herbal and Natural Medicines". Shensong Yangxin Capsules can significantly alleviate clinical symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue, insomnia, and dreaminess. In August of this year, at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, a top-tier international academic conference in the field of cardiovascular medicine, the latest study results from Prof. He Huang's team at Wuhan University People's Hospital in China were disclosed. The results showed that the addition of Shensong Yangxin Capsules to standard of care could reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation recurrence within one year by about 40%, significantly improve patients' health-related Quality of life (QoL) scores and demonstrate excellent safety. This study provides a brand new treatment strategy for the prognosis of atrial fibrillation patients after radiofrequency ablation. A number of evidence-based medical studies have confirmed that Shensong Yangxin Capsules can effectively treat fast arrhythmia such as premature beats and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation; increase the slow heart rate to treat slow arrhythmia; and effectively treat complex arrhythmia such as heart failure with premature beats and sinus bradycardia with premature ventricular beats, filling the gap of drugs for both tachyarrhythmia and bradycardia at home and abroad. The "Construction of Traditional Chinese Medicine Collateral Theory and Its Guidance on Preventing and Treating Microvascular Lesions" project, which includes important studies related to Shensong Yangxin Capsules, was awarded the sole First Prize for National Science and Technology Progress in the field of life sciences in 2019. As of now, Yiling Pharmaceutical has received approval for six innovative patented traditional Chinese medicines to enter Nigeria, including Lianhua Qingwen Capsules, Tongxinluo Capsules, Qili Qiangxin Capsules, Bazi Bushen Capsules, Lianhua Qingke Tablets, and Shensong Yangxin Capsules. SOURCE Yiling Pharma BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. The humanitarian sphere is one of the main spheres in our Commonwealth. Azerbaijan is making a great contribution to the development of our cooperation in this sphere, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a limited format, Trend reports. The head of state thanked his colleagues for supporting Azerbaijan's candidacy to host the third CIS Games in 2025. Accelerated International Collaborations and partnerships propel the company towards high-quality, sustainable development CHANGSHA, China, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. ("Zoomlion"; 1157.HK), a global frontrunner in high-end equipment manufacturer, is accelerating its localization in overseas markets and strengthening cooperation with global partners to boost its international business development. In a bid to further foster seamless collaborations, Zoomlion's chairman and CEO, Zhan Chunxin, recently visited Zoomlion subsidiaries in Indonesia and the Gulf region of the Middle East, as well as CIFA in Italy, M-TEC, RABE and Wilbert in Germany. Zoomlion's Chairman and CEO, Zhan Chunxin, Zhan Chunxin, celebrated the company's 31st anniversary with m-tec staff in Germany Zoomlion is thriving in the overseas market in 2022, Zoomlion's total revenue in overseas markets amounted to 9.992 billion yuan (US$ 1.37 billion), marking a 72.6% annual growth. This momentum continued into 2023, with a 115% year-on-year revenue rise in the first half. Mergers and acquisitions are a key strategy for Zoomlion in overseas markets. By strengthening coordination with foreign subsidiaries, Zoomlion has promoted win-win cooperation. The company has expanded international development by upgrading overseas manufacturing bases. Founded in 1928, CIFA is a leading global concrete machinery manufacturer. Zoomlion acquired CIFA in 2008, integrating resources to achieve results in concrete technology and production. Following Zoomlion's integral layout, CIFA expanded into areas including construction hoisting machinery, industrial vehicles, aerial working platforms, and more. This significantly improved CIFA's competitiveness in global markets. Zoomlion is transforming its overseas model, combining global perspectives with local strategies. The company now has 30 operational hubs worldwide. Since being established in 2007, its UAE subsidiary has become a central platform overseeing the Middle East for administration, warehousing, parts, service and logistics. Its pivotal role is evident, with 2023 first-half sales in UAE and Saudi Arabia surging over 200% year-over-year. Zoomlion is also supporting the sustainable development of the agricultural industry in Southeast Asia. In September, the company partnered with the Lao Ministry of Agriculture to enhance technological collaboration, set machinery standards in Laos, and teamed up with PT Java Seed Indonesia to establish an advanced agricultural machinery facility in Indonesia. On September 28, as Zoomlion celebrated its 31st anniversary, Chairman Zhan paid a visit to M-TEC in Germany, and highlighted the group's three-decade journey of innovative and international progress. "Zoomlion's steady, high-quality journey toward innovation, openness and global growth is a testament to our entire team's dedication," said Zhan. "As we advance the strategic global layout and build up the three major industry sectors of construction machinery, agriculture machinery and intelligent agriculture, and new construction materials, our goal is for overseas business to represent over 50% of total operations. As always, we remain committed to supporting our international subsidiaries," added Zhan. SOURCE Zoomlion If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Bishkek, Oct 13 : Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Bishkek during Putin's official visit to the Central Asian country. Further strengthening military cooperation was discussed by the two sides and a law ratifying the agreement on the creation of a Joint Regional Air Defence System was signed on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the president's press service, the agreement will ensure more reliable protection of the airspace of both countries, enhance security and protect national interests. A five-hectare plot of land near Kant Air Base will be provided by Kyrgyzstan for the creation of the joint air defence system, it said. Kant Air Base is located near Bishkek and became operational in accordance with a bilateral agreement between Russia and Kyrgyzstan in October 2003. Earlier in the day, the two leaders during the meeting highlighted the cooperation in the trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, as well as in the fields of energy, agriculture, interregional cooperation and the development of green economy. Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Kant Air Base and the 30th anniversary of Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, Japarov emphasized that they are symbols of friendship between the two countries. "The Kyrgyz side highly values the Kyrgyz-Russian strategic partnership and allied relations," he said. The Russian president thanked Japarov for the warm welcome and hospitality, and highly appreciated the work done by Kyrgyzstan within the framework of its chairmanship in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The two leaders also had a wide-ranging and in-depth exchange of views on important issues of common concern. Beirut, Oct 13 : Four Patriot missiles were reportedly launched from Israeli territory, with three of them exploding in the airspace of southern Lebanon and the fourth falling in one of the plains in the area, Lebanese military sources have said. The three missiles exploded in Marjeyoun and Khiam, while the fourth fell in Al-Mari town in south Lebanon, the sources told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity. No injuries were reported. The sources said they monitored the launching of these missiles from an Iron Dome platform on the southwestern side of the occupied Syrian Golan, noting that no rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Israel. Sirens sounded in all the Israeli settlements adjacent to the Lebanese border for several minutes, followed by an intense flight of Israeli warplanes along the borderline and over the Lebanese areas of Arqoub and Marjeyoun for about two hours. According to the Israel Defense Forces, the launching of the Patriot missiles in northern Israel was a false alarm. "An investigation shows that there was no hostile aircraft, and it is a false interception," the IDF was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying. The situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border escalated after the firing by Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah on Sunday morning of tens of missiles toward Israeli military sites in support of the Hamas' attack on Saturday, prompting heavy artillery from the Israeli forces, which targeted several areas in southeast Lebanon. Meanwhile, Chief of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) Aroldo Lazaro Saenz said UNIFIL is working on preventing escalation between Lebanon and Israel. "Our main goal is to help avoid confrontations between Lebanon and Israel, and any event that brings conflict closer is a concern," he said. New Delhi, Oct 13 : India has ranked 111th out of the 125 countries on the 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI), slipping four places since last year. However, the government has rejected the report calling it "flawed" and "erroneous". "With a score of 28.7 in the 2023 Global Hunger Index, India has a level of hunger that is serious," said the global report released on Thursday by Concern Worldwide and Welt Hunger Hilfe, Non-Government Organisations from Ireland and Germany respectively. In 2022, India ranked 107 out of the 125 countries. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, in a statement, refuted the claims and said that the index "continues to be a flawed measure of aHungera and does not reflect Indiaas true position". The GHI report ranked Pakistan at 102, Bangladesh at 81, Nepal at 69 and Sri Lanka at 60. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa were the regions with the highest hunger levels. "The index is an erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues. Three out of the four indicators used for calculation of the index are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population," the ministry said. "The fourth and most important indicator aProportion of Undernourished (PoU) populationa is based on an opinion poll conducted on a very small sample size of 3,000," it added. Meanwhile, the report also counted India with the worldas highest child wasting rate of 18.7 per cent, indicating acute undernutrition. The rate of undernourishment in India stood at 16.6 per cent and under-five mortality at 3.1 per cent. The report also said that the prevalence of anaemia in women aged between 15 and 24 years stood at 58.1 per cent "Two other indicators, namely, Stunting and Wasting are outcomes of complex interactions of various other factors like sanitation, genetics, environment and utilisation of food intake apart from hunger which is taken as the causative/outcome factor for stunting and wasting in the GHI," the ministry said. It noted that there is hardly any evidence that the fourth indicator, namely, child mortality is an outcome of hunger. The ministry said that since April 2023, the measurement data of children under five years uploaded on the Poshan Tracker has consistently increased - from 6.34 crore in April 2023 to 7.24 crore in September 2023. "The percentage of child wasting, as seen on the Poshan Tracker, has been consistently below 7.2 per cent, month-on-month, as compared to the value of 18.7 per cent used for child wasting in the Global Hunger Index 2023," the ministry said in the statement. Beirut, Oct 13 : Four Patriot missiles were reportedly launched from Israeli territory, with three of them exploding in the airspace of southern Lebanon and the fourth falling in one of the plains in the area. The three missiles exploded in Marjeyoun and Khiam, while the fourth fell in Al-Mari town in south Lebanon, Lebanese military sources on Thursday told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity. No injuries were reported. The sources said they monitored the launching of these missiles from an Iron Dome platform on the southwestern side of the occupied Syrian Golan, noting that no rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Israel. Sirens sounded in all the Israeli settlements adjacent to the Lebanese border for several minutes, followed by an intense flight of Israeli warplanes along the borderline and over the Lebanese areas of Arqoub and Marjeyoun for about two hours. According to the Israel Defense Forces, the launching of the Patriot missiles in northern Israel was a false alarm. "An investigation shows that there was no hostile aircraft, and it is a false interception," the IDF was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying. The situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border escalated after the firing by Lebanon-based armed group Hezbollah on Sunday morning of tens of missiles toward Israeli military sites in support of the Hamas' attack on Saturday, prompting heavy artillery from the Israeli forces, which targeted several areas in southeast Lebanon. Meanwhile, Chief of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) Aroldo Lazaro Saenz said UNIFIL is working on preventing escalation between Lebanon and Israel. "Our main goal is to help avoid confrontations between Lebanon and Israel, and any event that brings conflict closer is a concern," he said. Mathura, Oct 13 : The Government Railway Police (GRP) has rescued a 2-year-old child abducted from Mathura railway junction in Uttar Pradesh after a 10-month ordeal. Five people, including two women, who are part of an interstate beggar gang, have been arrested. On January 7, 2023, the child was lifted from Gate 1 while sleeping with her mother, a ragpicker. On the basis of the complaint filed by the mother, an FIR was registered against unknown persons under IPC sections 363 (kidnapping) and 363A (kidnapping or maiming a minor for purposes of begging). Despite an extensive search involving over 300 CCTV cameras in the police station and nearby areas, no footage of the incident was found. The police had to rely solely on a passport-sized photograph of the child to aid their search, which extended to six neighbouring states, said senior sub-inspector Kulveer Singh. A breakthrough came during a checking drive at Bhuteshwar temple near Shri Krishna Janmasthan temple on Wednesday, when a GRP team saw a group of men and women stepping out of a train and hurriedly going to the exit, one of them carrying a child. The GRP detained the group, and they could not provide details about the child. During interrogation, they confessed that the child was the one kidnapped 10 months ago. The child's identity was confirmed based on body markings provided by her mother. DSP Vijay Kumar said, "The child is safe and has been reunited with her mother. The arrested individuals revealed they had kidnapped six children previously. They targeted children aged 1 to 3 years." He added, "The gang forced the kidnapped children into begging, and as they grew older, the children were sold. Two children were recently sold to a woman in Delhi. We are locating other children kidnapped by this gang and their associates. Details have been shared with Delhi police for investigation." Lucknow, Oct 13 : Continuing in its attempt to connect with the minorities, the BJP in Uttar Pradesh has started the 'Sufi Samvad Maha Abhiyaan' under which its leaders interact with clerics and caretakers of mosques and mausoleums. Uttar Pradesh (UP) BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary, who attended the 'Sufi Samvad' initiative at the party office on Thursday, said that the party has been connecting with all, unmindful of caste or community and ensuring that the poorest of the poor are benefitted. "The idea is to ensure that government programmes and policies reach all and thus we have now started this initiative through which we would also connect with clerics and others, as under the BJP's rule, policies are tailored to cater to each section of society," he said. The BJP's minority wing chief Jamal Siddiqui said there were about 10,000 small and big mausoleums in the state. To connect with the decision-makers of these places, the party had appointed an incharge and five co-incharges for the Sufi campaign in all districts. "All these places have caretakers. No government in the past ever approached them to learn about their issues or ever created awareness about government policies among them. We have decided to do that. Since these people or the clerics, whom also we would approach, are among the community's faith keepers, we do not intend to get them enlisted with the party. That is because such people are beyond parties and politics. Rather, we aim to explain to them how BJP governments have undertaken a series of measures for all sections of society," Siddiqui said. He added that many mausoleums are visited by people of all religions and walks of life and thus awareness among the caretakers of these places would help create wider outreach. Sufism implies introspection and those considered 'Sufis' experience spiritual proximity or oneness with God through this. London, Oct 13 : The European Commission has formally opened an investigation into Elon Musk-owned X, over an alleged spreading of illegal content and disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech in the wake of an ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The Commission said late on Thursday that it has sent a formal request for information to X under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Following its designation as "Very Large Online Platform", X is required to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the DSA since late August, including the assessment and mitigation of risks related to the dissemination of illegal content, disinformation, gender-based violence, and any negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights, rights of the child, public security and mental well-being. "In this particular case, the Commission services are investigating X's compliance with the DSA, including with regard to its policies and practices regarding notices on illegal content, complaint handling, risk assessment and measures to mitigate the risks identified," said the Commission. X needs to provide the requested information to the Commission services by October 18 for questions related to the activation and functioning of the platform's crisis response protocol, and by October 31 on the rest. "Based on the assessment of X replies, the Commission will assess next steps. This could entail the formal opening of proceedings pursuant to Article 66 of the DSA," the Commission said. "In case of failure to reply by X, the Commission may decide to request the information by decision. In this case, failure to reply by the deadline could lead to the imposition of period penalties," it added. Earlier this week, EU commissioner Thierry Breton warned Musk, saying that his X platform "is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU" after the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel. In a letter addressed to Musk, Breton said that following the "terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel", they have indications that "your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU". X CEO Linda Yaccarino on Thursday said that the microblogging platform has removed hundreds of "Hamas-linked accounts" and "taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content" since the attack on Israel. --IANS na/ksk Washington, Oct 13 : The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a settlement with bankrupt crypto company Voyager that will permanently ban it from handling consumers' assets. The Commission said late on Thursday it is also filing a lawsuit against its former CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, for falsely claiming that customers' accounts were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and were "safe", even as the company was approaching an eventual bankruptcy. The complaint also named Stephen Ehrlich's wife, Francine Ehrlich, as a relief defendant. "Consumers reported over $1.4 billion in losses to cryptocurrency scams in the last year, and the FTC continues to crack down on those who lie to consumers about these risky assets," said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "This action reminds companies and individuals: don't play fast and loose with claims about FDIC insurance," he added. Voyager used promises that consumers' deposits would be "safe" to entice them to hand over their funds. When the company failed, consumers lost access to significant assets they had saved, including ongoing salary deposits, college tuition funds, and down payments for homes, according to the complaint. The consumers were locked out of their cash accounts for more than a month and lost more than $1 billion in crypto assets. The proposed settlement with Voyager and its affiliates will permanently ban the companies from offering, marketing, or promoting any product or service that could be used to deposit, exchange, invest, or withdraw any assets. The companies also agreed to a judgment of $1.65 billion, which will be suspended to permit Voyager to return its remaining assets to consumers in the bankruptcy proceedings. Stephen Ehrlich has not agreed to a settlement and the FTC's case against him will proceed in federal court, said the Commission. In a parallel action, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission separately charged Ehrlich with fraud and registration failures. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, issued a statement in connection with the death and injury of civilians as a result of the explosion of an anti-tank mine in the village of Ashagi Veyselli, Fuzuli district, the Ombudsman's office told Trend. "Today, in the village of Ashagi Veysalli, Fuzuli district, a civilian was killed and another was wounded as a result of an anti-tank mine explosion. Unfortunately, for almost three years since the end of the second Karabakh war, which ended with the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from occupation, the number of dead or wounded in the explosion of mines on these lands has exceeded 330 people, among whom civilians predominate, said Aliyeva. She noted that Armenia still hasn't provided Azerbaijan with accurate maps of minefields, thus the lives of ordinary people remain in danger. "It also delays the process of restoring Azerbaijani lands and returning residents to their native lands. Taking all this into account, I call on international organizations and the world community, for the sake of protecting people's lives and health, to show a categorical position regarding such a serious problem that Azerbaijan is exposed to," the statement said. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that government schools in the national Capital will hold mega Parent-Teacher Meetings (PTMs) on October 13 and 14, and requested all parents to participate. Arvind Kejriwal asked the parents to go to the schools of their children and interact with the teachers about the progress of the students and how they could do even better in the future. In a post on X, the AAP's national convenor said, "Parents play a big role in the success of their children. Today is Parents' Day in all the schools of Delhi Government and the MCD." Kejriwal added, "Today and tomorrow Mega-PTMs are being organised in all the schools of Delhi government and the MCD. I request parents that like always, come to the school with your children today, talk to the teachers about the progress of the children and openly discuss how we can do better in the future." "We have travelled this far together and will work together like this in the future too," he added. The Department of Education (DoE), too, in a circular emphasised the significance of the partnership between parents and teachers in a student's overall development, underscoring the essential role of PTMs. "The PTM provides a vital platform for parents and teachers to interact and contribute to the academic growth of students," the DoE stated in its circular. The two-day Mega PTMs offer parents and guardians the flexibility to attend on either day, thereby ensuring maximum participation. United Nations, Oct 13 : The Israeli military has informed the UN that it wants approximately 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza, which is about half of the population of the Hamas-controlled enclave, to evacuate to southern Gaza in the next 24 hours, a spokesman for the world body said. According toStephane Dujarricthe spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the military told the UN just before midnight on Thursday that "the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours", CNN reported. "This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people. The same order applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities -- including schools, health centres and clinics," the world body said in a statement. "The UN considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.The UN strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation." Slamming the UN's response to the order, Gilad Erdan, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, said it was just an early warning to the residents of Gaza aimed to "minimise harm to those not involved" in its military operation against Hamas, reports CNN. "For many years, the UN has turned a blind eye to the arming of Hamas and its use of the civilian population and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip as a hiding place for its weapons and murder," he said. "Now, instead of standing by Israel, whose citizens were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists... it preaches to Israel... It is better for the UN to focus now on returning the hostages, condemning Hamas, and supporting Israel's right to defend itself," the envoy added. This development comes ahead of an emergency meeting called on Friday by the UN Security Council in the wake of the raging conflict that erupted after the Hamas launched its surprise large-scale assault on southern Israel on October 7. In retaliation, Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip with airstrikes. According to the Israeli military, there have been more that 6,000 airstrikes on the Hamas-controlled enclave in the last six days. The Jewish nation has amassed more than 300,000 reservists along its southern border with Gaza but it is yet to confirm if it was launching a ground offensive. New Delhi, Oct 13 : On behalf of the Indian community in Canada, a non-profit group has urged the Justin Trudeau government to take swift action against pro-Khalistan hardliner Gurpatwant Singh Pannun for threatening Indian diplomats and consulates in G7 nations. Pannun, legal counsel of outlawed Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and a designated terrorist in India, issued fresh threats this week after Indians turned up in huge numbers for a rally at Mel Lastman Square in Toronto on Monday, condemning the Hamas attacks on Israel. In an email to Canadian Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc on Thursday, the Hindu Forum Canada (HFC) said Pannun's statement "endorses hatred and violence against Hindus". "Such statements must not be tolerated. We implore the government of Canada to take immediate action, as we are deeply concerned about the safety of our community. This kind of hateful video and speech is exacerbating hatred and violence," HFC said. The forum further urged LeBlanc to investigate and charge Pannun in connection with hate crimes in Canada. "We strongly urge you to consider barring his (Pannun) entry to Canada if he is not a Canadian citizen. If he is indeed a Canadian citizen, we implore that he be investigated and charged in connection with hate crimes," HFC said. In a viral video message on X, Pannun called the Representative Office of India in Palestine as a "terror house" and threatened envoy Renu Yadav. "On October 21st, from G7 Nations, from Canada to Australia, Sikhs for Justice is going to shut down terror houses of India in Vancouver, Washington DC, London, Frankfurt, and Milan. The People of Palestine, shut down the Indian terror house in Ramallah and remove Renu Yadav. "Like Palestine, the only peaceful solution to conflict between Sikhs and India is (to) let the peoplea decide their future through a referendum on the question of Khalistan," he added. Parallel to the call for October 21 rallies, the SFJ also launched an email campaign through which members can send a pre-drafted email to the G7 governments. Last month, Pannun had threatened Indo-Canadian Hindus to leave the country and return to India. --IANS mi/ksk New York, Oct 13 : A 50-year-old Indian-American man from Bakersfield, California, has pleaded guilty to stealing $163,750 in Covid-19 relief money, the US Attorney for Eastern District of California announced. According to court documents, Jaswinder Bhangoo applied for over $250,000 in Covid-19 relief loans from the US Small Business Administration between May 2020 and November 2021. In the applications, he falsely represented that he owned multiple businesses with several employees and substantial revenues. He also represented that he had not been convicted of a felony in the previous five years when, in fact, he had been convicted of insurance fraud. Based on Bhangooas false representations, some of his loan applications were approved, and he received approximately $163,750 in federal funds to which he was not entitled. He is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Ana de Alba on February 20, 2024. and faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The probe was part of a California Covid-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force operation, one of five interagency teams established by the US Department of Justice. The California Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources in the Eastern and Central Districts of California and focuses on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organisations and transnational actors. The strike forces use prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Seoul, Oct 13 : Pyongyang on Friday dismissed speculation that the Hamas militant group used North Korean weapons for its unprecedented attack on Israel as "groundless". Ri Kwang-song, a North Korean commentator on international affairs, said the US is resorting to its stereotyped smear campaign against the reclusive regime to deliberately link the recent Middle East crisis to Pyongyang, reports Yonhap News Agency. "The US administration's reptile press bodies and quasi-experts are spreading a groundless and false rumor that 'north Korea's weapons' seemed tobe used for the attack on Israel," Ri said in an article carried by North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency. The denial came after Radio Free Asia, a Washington-based media outlet, earlier reported on the suspected use of North Korean weapons by Hamas fighters, citing a video featuring one of the fighters holding what resembles an F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher manufactured in the North. In the past, suspicions had been raised that North Korea provided weapons to Hamas. But it remains unclear whether the North directly supplied the F-7 rocket launchers to the militant group, or whether they were provided through transactions involving other countries. Earlier this week, North Korea condemned Israel for the escalating conflict with Hamas, claiming that it is the "consequence of Israel's ceaseless criminal actions" against the people of Palestine. Dakshina Kannada : , Oct 13 (IANS) Amid strict warning by Siddaramaiah government and setting up of a special wing, a case of moral policing was reported from the communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada district, said police on Friday. The incident took place near Peruvayi in Bantwal taluk near Mangaluru city on Thursday. The local group had questioned two Muslim boys who were standing with a Hindu girl at the bus stop. The local youth had observed the group and grew suspicious about the movements of the boys. They had come from Kuddupadavu in a bus and were waiting to go to Uppala in Kasaragod in Kerala, police said. The locals questioned them and took their videos. Though the boys claimed that they were students and they knew each other, the police were informed. The jurisdictional Vitla police took them to the station and released them after initial inquiry.The boys told police that they were residents of Perla in Kasaragod district. Meanwhile, the video of the boys went viral on social media. The police were investigating the case. Mumbai, Oct 13 : In a significant bid aimed at transparency, the Maharashtra government will implement a digital display board of road toll collections at major toll-posts and install CCTVs to eye delays and disruptions owing to the toll tax collection process, here on Friday. The decision, among others, were announced by PWD Minister Dadaji D. Bhuse and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray this morning. Raj Thackeray, who has revived the 9-year-old anti-road toll tax agitation, called on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence on October 12 and submitted a memorandum on his demands on the issue while Minister Bhuse visited the MNS leader's home on Friday to discuss and hammer out a solution. "Within two weeks, CCTVs shall be installed at all the toll booths at the five Mumbai Entry Points (MEPs) and a control room will be set up in Mantralaya to monitor them," said Raj Thackeray. The digital display will indicate how much toll the contractor has collected as per the tender and how much is left balance to enable the people know the correct financials of the concerned tool-booth, he said. The government will also ensure that no vehicle is required to halt for more than four minutes at the toll-posts and those outside the 'yellow line' (indicating a traffic jam) will be allowed to pass without paying the road toll tax, the MNS will construct public conveniences near some of the toll booths, and keep a watch over the goings-on. The MNS has also demanded a closure of 29 old toll-booths belonging to the PWD Department and 15 of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to which Bhuse said the government will consider and take a decision on it shortly. The MNS had carried out major protests at various toll-booths in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Nashik and other places after Raj Thackeray warned of 'burning the toll-posts' if small/light vehicles were forced to pay the road toll tax, rattling the government. Patna, Oct 13 : A 14-year-old boy, who was kidnapped for ransom, was found dead in Bihar's Bettiah city on Friday, police said. The victim, Aashish Kumar, was the son of a prominent jeweller, Nagnarayan Shah, resident of Rani Rampurva locality under Kumarbagh police station in the city. According to the police, the family received a call on Wednesday demanding a Rs 20 lakh ransom. The boy's body was found at a pond located behind a steel plant. Aashish, a student of class 9, had gone to school on Wednesday morning, but did not return home. During preliminary investigation it was found that some students spotted him jumping from the wall of the Kumarbagh high school. Besides demanding the ransom, the callers are also threatened the family with dire consequence if they approached the police. Despite that, the family lodged a complaint and police officers has detained some of the students of his school for questioning. The body was recovered by district SP Amarkesh D and other senior officers. No arrests have been made yet. New York, Oct 13 : US President Joe Biden would lose to Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis and narrowly edge past his predecessor Donald Trump if the 2024 election were to be held now, according to a new poll. Biden took a one point lead over Trump (49 per cent to 48 percent), while lagging behind Haley by four points (49 per cent to 45 per cent) and DeSantis by two points in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, the Fox News survey said. Released this week, the poll conducted between October 6-9, showed that the Indian-American former South Carolina Governor has made the greatest gains since September, having doubled her numbers with 10 per cent support. Haley also garnered the highest number of defections among Democrats (9 per cent support her), while Trump gets the least (5 per cent of Democrats back him). "She has the momentum, she has the experience, and she's the only person who's consistently polled as beating Joe Biden in the general election," former Congressman Will Hurd, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, told Forbes. A CNN poll showed last month that Haley is the only Republican who can beat Biden in the 2024 presidential election. "Haley stands as the only Republican candidate to hold a lead over Biden, with 49 percent to Biden's 43 per cent in a hypothetical match between the two," the CNN reported. The Fox News survey also showed that despite facing a bevy of legal challenges, former President Trump maintained his lead in the Republican presidential contest. The 77-year-old received 59 per cent support among Republican primary voters, and he has been above 50 per cent since March and hit a record 60 per cent in September. Just after her first Republican primary debate in late August, Haley had said that Trump would not be the party's nominee for the 2024 presidential elections. Haley claimed earlier this month that Trump sent her a birdcage, a couple of days after he had posted a social media message calling the her a "birdbrain". Responding to Trump, along with a picture of the birdcage, Haley wrote on X: "Love this. It means we are in 2nd and moving up fast. Bring it!" At the second Republican debate, Haley slammed Trump over his policies on China, saying that while in being in office, he did not focus on issues like Asian nation's role in fentanyl being shipped into the US, placing a base in Cuba or sending spy balloons across the country. --IANS mi/ksk Will implement women's reservation bill, extend it to OBC too if voted to power in 2024: Kharge. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Oct 13 : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday chaired the Central Election Committee meeting to discuss the candidates for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls next month. Kharge chaired the meeting of the CEC, which was also attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Ambika Soni, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath and several others. A party leader said that most of the candidates will be finalised during the meeting of the CEC at the party headquarters. The 230-member Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on November 17 while the 119-member Telangana Assembly will hold elections on November 30. Counting of votes will take place on December 3. The CEC had met to discuss candidates for the MP Assembly last week and over 140 seats were discussed. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The First Cultural Forum of the Turkic World on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev, organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, started today in Shusha, the Ministry of Culture said, Trend reports. The participants and guests of the forum visited the Creative Center in Shusha and got acquainted with the "Heydar Aliyev and Karabakh" exhibition. The exhibition presented unique photos, documents and videos reflecting the merits of the great leader Heydar Aliyev in the field of social, economic, political and cultural development in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. The exhibition also presented photos related to the visits of the national leader to Karabakh, meetings held here, and various events. The forum participants visited the Saatli Mosque. The guests were introduced to the history of the mosque. In addition, the mosque, located in the Saatli quarter of the city of Shusha, was registered by the country as an architectural monument of national significance. The Saatli Mosque was erected in 1883 according to the project of the architect Karbalayi Safikhan Karabaqhi- the author of several monumental religious and civil structures in Karabakh, including the Ashaghi and Yukhari Govhar Agha mosques in Shusha, the Juma Mosque in Aghdam and the Imamzadeh Mausoleum in Barda. The Saatli Mosque was looted and its minaret destroyed after the occupation of the city of Shusha by Armenia on May 8, 1992. Restoration work were carried out in the mosque after the liberation of the city by the Azerbaijani army. President Ilham Aliyev also visited the Saatli Mosque during his visit to Shusha on January 14, 2021. The head of state presented the mosque with the Noble Quran brought from Mecca," the ministry said. London, Oct 13 : Mental health problems and mental disorders are common in the working population and 15 per cent of adults of working age experience mental health disorders -- with depression, anxiety and substance abuse being the most common, according to a significant paper on the workplace as a major determinant of health published in The Lancet. Workers with mental health disorders are at increased risk of sickness absence, unemployment, permanent exit from employment, and lower lifetime income, which, in turn, can exacerbate mental disorders. Mental disorders incur substantial costs for workers, employers and the whole of society. Carried by Ireland-based University College Cork (UCC) researchers for the Lancet series on work and health, the paper that came out on Thursday illustrates that major progress in population health can be made by an increased focus on improving people's work environments. "Workplaces have huge potential to influence mental health by promoting the positive aspects of work and providing safe, non-discriminatory support for those showing signs of mental health problems," said Birgit Greiner from UCC School of Public Health. Greiner and Professor Ella Arensman co-authored the article with academics from universities in Europe, Japan and Australia. The report outlined recommendations for decision-makers to support healthy and safe work for diverse populations. "Governments need to ensure that the workplace is an integral part of their mental health strategies. Policymakers at local, national and international levels need to regulate and control working environments -- evidence suggests an increased risk of mental health problems and mental disorders in adverse conditions," says the paper. Policymakers should also develop and improve policy on mentally healthy work, with a particular focus on the work environments of low-wage or marginalised workers. They need to develop guidance on how to create and maintain mentally healthy work at all levels of an organisation which includes promoting training programmes. "Governments should improve support and workplace conditions to enable individuals with mental health problems and disorders to be part of the workforce," the study stressed. "Organisations now need to take a second step and augment these programmes with proactive initiatives to improve work organisations and working conditions. This is not just a moral imperative but necessary for employers to meet legal and ethical mandates on psychologically safe work environments," said professor Arensman. Hamas tells Gaza residents not to leave their homes after Israel asks to evacuate. Image Source: IANS News Gaza/Jerusalem, Oct 13 : Shortly after Israel issued an order for the people in north Gaza to evacuate "southwards", the Hamas on Friday urged residents not to leave their homes and ignore the directive. "The occupation is attempting to spread and circulate false propaganda through various means, aiming to create confusion among citizens and undermine the stability of our internal front," CNN quoted the Palestinian militant group as saying in a statement, referring to Israel. It also claimed that employees of "international institutions" remained at their posts and were not evacuating. Earlier on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called on all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate "southwards" as it continues to bombard the Hamas-controlled enclave in response to the brutal October 7 assault on the Jewish nation by the militant group. "The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza," CNN quoted an official statement issued by the Forces as saying. Wadi Gaza, known for its coastal wetlands and biodiversity, is a river valley located around the centre of the Gaza Strip, snaking across its entire width and ending in the Mediterranean Sea. "You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made." The IDF went on to say that the Hamas militants are hiding inside tunnels underneath the ciy and inside buildings populated with civilians. It urged civilians to evacuate the city "for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields", the BBC reported. "In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians," it added. Late Thursday night, the UN warned that an Israeli military order to evacuate the entire 1.1 million population of northern Gaza to the south was "impossible" without causing major humanitarian consequences. The UN has strongly appealed for the order to be rescinded, saying that it could lead to a "calamitous situation". Amaravati, Oct 13 : The family of former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu is deeply worried about his health in Rajahmundry Central Jail where he has been lodged for over a month after being arrested by the CID in the skill development scam case. Naidu's wife Nara Bhuvaneswari and daughter-in-law N Brahmani said on Friday that he has lost five kgs and additional weight loss could adversely impact his kidneys. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo is said to be suffering from dehydration and skin allergy. Bhuvaneswari said she was deeply concerned for her husband's well-being, as the government of Andhra Pradesh had failed to provide him with the medical care he urgently needs. "He has already lost 5 kg weight, and any further weight loss could have severe consequences for his kidneys. The overhead water tanks are unsanitary and pose a serious health risk. These dire circumstances create a clear and immediate threat to my husband's life," she posted on X. Brahmani posted on X that Naidu is currently detained in inadequate and unsanitary prison conditions that pose a considerable risk to his health. "Urgent medical attention is required, as medical professionals have raised concerns about his well-being. Timely medical care is not being provided. He has lost 5 kg, and additional weight loss could adversely impact his kidneys. We're deeply worried about him," wrote Brahmani. Naidu, 73, is said to be suffering from dehydration and skin allergy due to heat and lack of adequate facilities in the prison. The jail authorities on Thursday called dermatologists for his check-up after he complained of skin problems. They prescribed some medicines. The jail authorities released a bulletin saying all vital parameters of Naidu were normal and there was no need for any concern. Naidu's son and TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh had complained to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday that his father's life was under threat in jail. Lokesh, who met Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday night, alleged that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was targeting them due to political vendetta to target them. Gandhinagar, Oct 13 : Gujarat state government has announced changes in the Class 10 and 12 state board exams from academic session 2023-24. This followed a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and attended by Education Minister Kuber Dindor among other senior officials. Aligning with the National Education Policy 2020, the Gujarat Board's adjustments revolve around question types. Objective questions will witness a 10 per cent hike, shifting from the previous 20 per cent to 30 per cent. In contrast, the weightage for descriptive questions is set to decrease from 30 per cent to 20 per cent, officials shared on Friday. For Class 12 science students, the 50 per cent multiple-choice questions remain unchanged. However, a notable alteration emerges in the remaining half of the paper, which comprises descriptive questions. The new structure will provide students with broader choices within the question paper instead of confined internal options. Additionally, the state introduced enhanced opportunities for Class 12 science students affiliated with the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) to ameliorate their scores. These students can now opt for one or more supplementary exams during June-July, with their best scores being acknowledged. Changes are also afoot for Class 10 students, who are now eligible to sit for supplementary exams in three subjects, a rise from the earlier limit of two subjects. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Australia-based software firm Atlassian Corporation on Friday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the video messaging platform Loom for approximately $975 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of Atlassian's fiscal year 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approval. Founded in 2016, Loom helps users communicate through instantly shareable videos. According to the company, asynchronous (async) video has been at the forefront of this movement with Loom's business users recording almost 5 million videos per month. "Async video is the next evolution of team collaboration, and teaming up with Loom helps distributed teams communicate in deeply human ways," Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian, said in a statement. Atlassian has deep expertise in how teams work. It's already the go-to place for over 260,000 customers who plan, track and get work done, and the addition of Loom will further elevate the collaboration experience for teams. Soon, engineers will be able to visually log issues in Jira, leaders can use videos to connect with employees at scale, sales teams can send tailored video updates to clients and HR teams can onboard new employees with personalised welcome videos, the company said. "Loom's vision is to empower everyone at work to communicate more effectively wherever they are, and by joining Atlassian, we can accelerate their mission to unleash the potential of every team," said Joe Thomas, co-founder and CEO of Loom. Furthermore, by integrating Atlassian's and Loom's investments in AI, customers will be able to seamlessly transition between video, video transcripts, summaries, documents, and the workflows developed from them. For Loom customers, the acquisition will bring the benefit of Atlassian's platform and portfolio of products, allowing users to plug async video directly into key workflows in Jira and systems of record in Confluence. When Rahul can go to Manipur, why PM can't, asks Tejashwi after disturbing video from state goes viral. Image Source: IANS News Patna, Oct 13 : A couple of days after the North East Express derailment in Bihar claimed four lives, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying 'Modi hai to Mumkin Hai (everything is possible in Modi's rule).' Upon returning from Kerala this morning, Yadav expressed his grief over the loss of lives in the tragedy which occurred near Raghunathpur. "We launched a rescue operation soon after the accident. The officials rushed to the passengers' aid and admitted them to the hospitals. Our government also ensured that the affected passengers reach their desired destinations. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar personally monitored the rescue operation." "We do not believe in doing negative politics. After the massive train accident in Odisha, a number of loopholes surfaced in public domain but those would be suppressed by the ruling BJP at the Centre. Under Modi's regime, nothing is impossible "Modiji hain to mumkin hai," Yadav taunted. The Kamakhya (Guwahati)-bound North East Express train running at the speed of 128 kmph had derailed near Raghunathpur railway station in Biharas Buxar district on October 11. While four people lost their lives, 30 others suffered injuries in the mishap. Patna, Oct 13 : In a shocking case, the family members of a woman chopped off the private parts of her boyfriend in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, police said on Friday. The victim is currently admitted to a private hospital in Barria locality and is battling for his life. The accused are on the run. The family of the victim alleged that the man was fraudulently called by his girlfriend who said that her father had suffered a major heart attack and needed help to take him to hospital. When the victim went to the woman's house, her family members overpowered him and cut his private part on Thursday evening. "My son went to the gym around 4 p.m. on Thursday. He received a call from his girlfriend and he went to her house located at Saraiyaganj. The woman lied, and at her home her family members attacked him. They chopped off the private part of my son," said the victim's father. The victim was having an affair with the woman for the last few years and her family members had threatened him with dire consequences to stay away from her. "The accused also snatched his gold chain, gold ring and mobile phone," he said. "We have registered an FIR in this matter following a written complaint lodged by the victim's father. The investigation is currently underway. We are making efforts to arrest the accused. The incident occurred on Thursday evening," the SHO of the town police station Muzaffarpur told IANS. Hyderabad, Oct 13 : A group of women students staging a protest to express solidarity with Palestinians here on Friday, were detained by police. Raising slogans denouncing Israel for its bombardment of Gaza, they gathered at B. R. Ambedkar statue near Tank Bund in the heart of the city. They were carrying a placard reading "Long live Palestine". The police detained the protestors who were raising slogans "down down Israel". The police personnel were seen taking away the protestors in a police vehicle. A police officer said there was no permission for the protest. This was the first protest in Hyderabad since the latest conflict between Israel and Palestine began last week. Activists have condemned the police action. "The shrinking spaces for protests in Telangana is a indication of police authoritarianism in Telangana," wrote Srinivas Kodali on 'X' (formerly Twitter). News Delhi, Oct 13 : The Supreme Court on Friday while hearing the petition filed by a married woman to terminate her 26-week pregnancy directed the AIIMS medical board to file a fresh report on the health of the foetus and whether there was any impact of the medicines prescribed to the woman for treatment of post-partum psychosis on the health of the foetus. A bench comprising CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices J.B. Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra heard the matter for the second day after another bench had delivered a split verdict on Wednesday. The bench directed the medical board to submit a report on whether there was any substantial abnormality as per subsection (2)(b) of section 3 of the MTP Act. The bench also asked the medical board to examine if there was any evidence to suggest that the continuance of pregnancy full-term would be jeopardised by drugs prescribed for the treatment of post-partum psychosis. The CJI further asked the board to find if there is any alternate medication available to protect the foetus if the woman is suffering from post-partum psychosis and needs treatment for the same. The court will again take up the matter for hearing on Monday after the AIIMS medical report is submitted. The Counsel appearing for the woman had submitted before the court that the petitioner has had two c-sections deliveries and is suffering from post-partum psychosis from the delivery. He further drew the court's attention to the difference between post-partum depression and post-partum psychosis. Saying that the woman in question cannot go one day without the medications which are harmful to the unborn child. He further submitted that the woman suffers hallucinations and has attempted suicide due to her ailments. The counsel also told the court that there is a risk of infanticide also from post-partum psychosis. And it was because of this reason that her other two children were under her mother-in-law's care. He further submitted that her doctor would not have given her those heavy depression medicines if she or the doctor knew about the pregnancy. ASG Bhati appearing for the Centre in her submission said that under the current law, the opinion of the medical board is given primacy and in the petitioner's case the board has denied termination citing the viability of the feotus. The bench after hearing both sides went through the petitioner's prescription. The CJI then pointed out that all the prescriptions were silent on the nature of the ailment and this casted doubts on the legitimacy of the prescriptions. It was then that the court decided that a fresh medical opinion was needed. The court on Thursday gave the petitioner 24 hours to rethink her decision and directed the ASG and the petitioner's counsel to talk to the petitioner and try to make her understand and come back on Friday. While hearing the petitioner's counsel, the CJI on Thursday stated that undoubtedly, the autonomy of women trumps, but the right of the unborn child should also be balanced out. "What do you want us to tell the doctors to do? To close the foetal heart? AIIMS wants the court to issue that direction," the CJI asked the petitioner's counsel on Thursday. The counsel appearing for women replied, "Not at all". The CJI further asked, "So you want the child to be born alive now? If the child is born alive right now, then the child will be born with physical and mental deformities. If you wait for a few weeks it'll be a normal child in all probability." "Who is appearing for the unborn child? You're for the mother, Ms Bhati for the government...How do you balance the rights of the unborn child? It's a living viable foetus," the CJI asked. Justice Pardiwala told the petitioner's counsel that it was important to understand the foetus would survive better in the womb. Earlier on October 9, a special bench of the apex court had granted permission to terminate the pregnancy. Later, ASG Bhati made an oral mention before the CJI against the October 9 order by the special bench allowing the termination. The Centre sought a recall of the order after the doctors opined that there was a viable chance of the foetus being born alive. Taking note of the submission, the CJI on Tuesday asked AIIMS to defer the procedure and directed the Center to file an application for recalling the order. On Wednesday, the apex court bench headed by Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B.V. Nagarathna delivered a split verdict in this case. The case was referred to the larger bench due to disagreement. "My judicial conscience does not allow me to let it (termination) continue, whereas my sister judge says it should be. We will refer it to a larger bench," Justice Kohli said while presiding over the hearing on Wednesday. Justice Nagarathna while emphasising that the petitioner's decision must be respected, she stated in her order, "I respectfully disagree. The mentioning was done without pleadings being filed. The petitioner has stated all throughout that she does not wish to carry out her pregnancy. This is not a question where the viability of the foetus has to be considered, but the interest and wishes of the petitioner who has reiterated her mental condition and ailments. Her decision must be respected." Lucknow, Oct 13 : The Lucknow Mahotsav, the festival that celebrated the state capital's art and culture, will finally return after a gap of five years. The cultural extravaganza will be organised at its old venue -- the Kanshi Ram Smriti Upvan in Ashiana from November 25 to December 5, said the official spokesman. The 10-day event will be a kaleidoscope of performances by local/ international and Bollywood artistes, food stalls, mushairas, kavi sammelans, Yuva Mahotsav and other competitions, apart from handicraft exhibitions. This year, boating would be the new attraction at the Mahotsav. Mukesh Meshram, principal secretary, tourism, said, "If everything goes as per plan, the department of tourism will fund the Mahotsav and the district administration will organise it from November 25 to December 5 at the Kanshi Ram Smriti Upvan in Ashiana." According to officials of the tourism department, the other major attractions would be Braj, Awadhi and Bundeli folk songs. Mahotsav tickets would be priced at Rs 20 each, while the entry of children would be free. Local/Mughlai cuisine, ekka-tonga race, vintage car rally, kabaddi, kite-flying, wrestling, drama competitions along with Lucknow's traditional crafts like chikankari, zardozi and silver foil work would also be an attraction for visitors, said officials. Tourism department officials said the target is to set up 1,000 stalls of various products from across Uttar Pradesh, besides stalls of handicrafts and artisans from various parts of the country. A special enclosure of 'One District One Product' is also planned. The Lucknow Mahotsav was first cancelled in 2019 in view of the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya and it was then pushed to January 2020 but was then called off due to the upcoming Defence Expo event being held in February. Later the event could not be held due to the pandemic. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The Armenian Prime Minister, by not coming to Bishkek for the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States, has shown himself an absolutely politically blind infant, Maxim Shevchenko, a well-known Russian political analyst, TV host and public figure, told Trend. "Armenia is making a choice, following Pashinyan, in favor of the Western global liberal club led by the US and France. Pashinyan is a liberal. He does not understand how the world has changed. He thinks in the old ways. By not coming to Bishkek, he actually declared disdain for China, Russia, Azerbaijan, Central Asian countries, that is, for the vast space of Eurasia," the political analyst said. According to Shevchenko, Pashinyan thus assumes that Armenia can be cut out of this space. "I am afraid that Armenians are making a big mistake by believing that the West will help them. Pashinyan is showing himself as an absolutely politically blind infant. He believes his patrons so much that he links the fate of the Armenian people with France and the United States, and this is just a monstrous mistake," he added. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan refused to take part in the CIS summit in Bishkek. Thus, in a phone conversation with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, he said that he would not be able to participate in the event. New Delhi, October 13 : The Supreme Court on Friday said that it will list in due course the curative petition filed by the Maharashtra government against the 2021 apex court judgment striking down the Maratha reservation. "Curative petition will get listed," a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud assured senior advocate Maninder Singh, who mentioned the matter for directions seeking urgent listing. In April this year, a five-judge bench had declined to entertain the review plea moved by the state government seeking a relook at the judgment. The Supreme Court in its May 2021 judgment had struck down the Maharashtra Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018 providing a 12 to 13 per cent quota for Maratha community. It had declared that states do not have the power to prepare lists for socially and educationally backward classes and ruled that the President had the sole power to identify a community as backward. Earlier, the apex court had dismissed a plea by the Central government seeking reconsideration of the May 5, 2021 judgment. --IANS pds/ksk Hyderabad, Oct 13 : Amid the Income Tax (I-T) raids in Karnataka which reportedly found Rs 42 crore cash, Telangana's ruling party BRS on Friday alleged that the Congress was trying to pump in money into Telangana Assembly elections. Minister for finance T. Harish Rao alleged that the Congress had planned to pump in Rs 1,500 crore by collecting commission from builders and gold merchants in Bengaluru. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader said that the Congress wants to influence the voters in Telangana with the illegal money from Karnataka. He said earlier when the BJP was in power in Karnataka, it used to collect commission of 40 per cent from contractors but after Congress came to power the commission has gone up to 50 per cent. Harish Rao was reacting to the reports of I-T raids in Bengaluru. The I-T officials reportedly found Rs 42 crore cash from the house of a contractor. Earlier, BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao had alleged on September 30 that the Congress government in Karnataka was levying 'political election tax' on Bengaluru builders to fund the party in Telangana. He had stated that Karnataka's newly elected Congress government started levying a "political election tax" of Rs 500 per square foot to Bengaluru builders to fund Telangana Congress. He had told a public meeting that Congress was getting money from Karnataka and Chhattisgarh and spending in Telangana to woo voters. Elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly are scheduled to be held on November 30. Leaders of the Congress party have exuded confidence that the party will repeat its Karnataka performance in Telangana to storm to power. New Delhi, October 13 : While advocating peace and well-being, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that a world full of conflict and confrontation is in no one's interest. "A divided world cannot provide solutions to the major challenges facing humanity. This is the time of peace and brotherhood, a time to move together. This is a time for growth and well-being of all. We have to overcome the global trust crisis and move forward with human-centric thinking. We have to look at the world in the spirit of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future'," he said while inaugurating the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' summit, also known as P20 summit. He also highlighted the cross-border terrorism being faced by India for decades, which has led to the killing of thousands of innocent people. Modi recalled the terrorist attack on Parliament about 20 years ago when it was in session and the terrorists were prepared to take the MPs hostage and eliminate them. "India has reached here today after dealing with many such terrorist incidents", he said, adding that the world is also realising the huge challenge of terrorism in the world. "No matter where terrorism occurs, for whatever reason, in whatever form, it is against humanity," he added. The Prime Minister stressed on the need to be uncompromising when dealing with such a situation and also drew attention to the global aspect where no consensus regarding the definition of terrorism is achieved. Modi underlined how the International Convention on combating terrorism is waiting for a consensus in the UN even today and stressed that the enemies of humanity are taking advantage of this attitude of the world as he urged Parliaments and representatives around the world to come up with ways of working together in this fight against terrorism. Meanwhile Canadian Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagne has skipped the event, even though Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had last week confirmed the country's participation in the P20 summit. When External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was asked about the matter at a regular media briefing, he only said the Canadian speaker "could not attend". Even as the opposition has repeatedly cast doubts over reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Prime Minister said that their use since the last 25 years has brought transparency and efficiency to the election process, as election results come within hours of the start of counting. He informed that 1 billion people will participate in the general election next year and invited the delegates to witness the elections. Underlining the importance of wider participation in global decision-making, the prime minister said that it was behind the proposal to include the African Union in G20 which was accepted by all the members. He expressed happiness over the Pan African participation in the forum of P20. The P20 summit is taking place in a land, which is not only known as the mother of democracy but is also the largest democracy in the world, he informed the gathering. The Prime Minister underlined the importance of debates and deliberations as he mentioned accurate examples of such debates from history. The P20 summit is a unique confluence of various Parliamentary practices from around the world, he said. "India not only conducts the world's largest elections, but people's participation in it is also continuously increasing. India has connected the election process with modern technology. " He underlined that there can be no better medium than public participation to deal with the world's challenges. "I have always believed that governments are formed by majority, but the country is run by consensus. Our parliaments and this P20 forum can also strengthen this sentiment," Modi said, while expressing confidence that the efforts to improve this world through debate and deliberations will definitely be successful. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Duarte Pacheco were also present on the occasion along with other dignitaries representing Parliaments of G20 and special invitee nations. Lucknow, Oct 13 : 'Tareekh par tareekh' will no longer be allowed in Uttar Pradesh when it comes to the settlement of disputes in revenue matters. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed strong displeasure over delays in resolving revenue matters pertaining to the transfer of name, inheritance, family division, and measurement. The chief minister said that the trend of 'date after date' in revenue matters cannot be accepted. He warned of action against revenue personnel like accountants, revenue inspectors and added that divisionalcommissioners and district magistrate too would be held accountable as per the requirement. His warning came in the wake of Deoria and Kaushambhi where property disputes led to bloodbath. The chief minister was addressing district officials through video conferencing on Thursday evening when he expressed displeasure over delay in resolving issues. Giving information about the applications received at Janata Darshan in recent days and releasing the performance report of the IGRS, the chief minister said that officers are deployed for the public and meeting the public and solving their problems should be their top priority. "Officers/employees posted in the field who are not able to do this should leave the field posting immediately," he said. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Alzheimer's disease, a relentless and devastating neurodegenerative condition, has long been one of the most challenging puzzles in the realm of medical science. As our aging population grows, so does the urgency to find a cure or more effective treatments for this enigmatic disease. The battle for memory is ongoing, and Alzheimer's research is at the forefront of this crucial fight. The burden of Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease, named after the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer, who first described it in 1906, is characterised by progressive memory loss, cognitive decline, and behavioural changes. It is the most common cause of dementia among older adults and currently has no cure. According to the World Health Organization, over 50 million people worldwide live with dementia, and approximately 60-70 per cent of those cases are due to Alzheimer's disease. The estimated dementia prevalence for adults ages 60+ in India is 7.4 per cent, with significant age and education gradients, sex and urban/rural differences, and cross-state variation. The burden of Alzheimer's extends beyond the individuals diagnosed, it affects families, caregivers, and society as a whole. As the population ages, the number of people affected is expected to soar, making the need for effective Alzheimer's research even more pressing. Unraveling the complexities Understanding Alzheimer's disease is akin to solving a complex jigsaw puzzle with countless missing pieces. Researchers have made significant strides in unraveling the mysteries of the disease, but many aspects remain elusive. Alzheimer's is characterised by the accumulation of abnormal protein aggregates in the brain, including beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles. These anomalies disrupt communication between brain cells, leading to cell death and cognitive decline. Numerous theories about the origins of Alzheimer's have been proposed, including genetic factors, inflammation, and lifestyle choices. However, it's increasingly clear that a combination of these factors likely contributes to an individual's risk. The promise of early detection One of the most exciting areas of Alzheimer's research is early detection. Identifying the disease in its early stages allows for interventions that may slow its progression. Biomarker research, including the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid and neuroimaging techniques, is shedding light on the changes that occur in the brain long before symptoms appear. These advances bring hope that, in the future, Alzheimer's may be detected and treated much earlier, potentially altering the course of the disease. The role of technology Technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), is playing a pivotal role in Alzheimer's research. Machine learning algorithms can analyse vast datasets, such as brain scans and genetic information, to identify patterns and correlations that human researchers might miss. These AI-driven insights are accelerating our understanding of the disease and aiding in the development of targeted therapies. A collaborative effort Alzheimer's research is a global endeavour, involving scientists, clinicians, and organisations worldwide. Governments and philanthropic entities are also investing heavily in Alzheimer's research, recognising the social and economic impact of the disease. Collaborative initiatives, data sharing, and open science principles are fostering progress and bringing us closer to the day when Alzheimer's is no longer an insurmountable challenge. In conclusion, the battle for memory is an ongoing struggle, but Alzheimer's research is making remarkable headway. While a cure remains elusive, the field is advancing our understanding of the disease, offering hope for early detection and more effective treatments. With continued global collaboration, innovation, and investment, we can shape a future where Alzheimer's disease is no longer a sentence to memory loss and suffering. (Dr Ravindra Srivastava, Director Neurosurgery, Primus Super Speciality Hospital) (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in) Gaza, Oct 13 : The Al-Qassam Brigades, military wing of the Hamas militant group, on Friday said that Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in the past 24 hours have killed 13 hostages. Without mentioning the nationalities of the victims, the armed wing said that "13 prisoners, including foreigners" were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, the BBC reported. According to Israli authorities, Hamas militants are holding as many as 150 people hostage in Gaza following the October 7 surprise attack. The hostages include senior Israeli army officers, as well as foreign nationals. The militant group had threatened to kill the hostages if Israel continued to bomb the Gaza Strip without warning. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The first batch of stranded Indians who returned home on Friday from Israel amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas, are eager to narrate their ordeal. Saurav (30), an Indian student pursuing post-doctoral in chemical engineeringfrom Technion in northern Israel, found himself stuck in central Israel when the Hamas attack started on October 7. "The main affected areas were southern and central Israel. Unfortunately, I was present in central Israel," he told IANS. "I took shelter in a shelter room when the sirens started. Every building in Israel already has shelter rooms and are easily accessible. Anyone can reach these within a minute," he added. "Later, after Israel's retaliatory action, I returned to northern Israel," he said. Saurav, who was evacuated under 'Operation Ajay' along with several other Indians, told IANS that the Israeli government was swift in facilitating evacuation and providing shelter to the students after the Hamas attack. The first flight bringing Indians took off from Ben Gurion International Airport in the outskirts of Tel Aviv on Thursday night. "We all were very scared. But, we received specific instructions from the Indian embassy. "We received Google forms via mail from the Indian embassy and were informed that the Ministry of External Affairs would run a chartered flight from Tel Aviv to Delhi." Praising the Centre, Sourav told IANS that he knew that the Indian government would make evacuation efforts, but didn't expect such a swift action. As the Israel-Hamas war intensifies and the death count nears 3,000, the Indian government has started the evacuation process under 'Operation Ajay'. "Launching Operation Ajay to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to return. Special charter flights and other arrangements are being put in place. Fully committed to the safety and well-being of our nationals abroad," External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar posted on X on Thursday. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed pleas by NewsClick founder-editor Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty challenging their arrest in a UAPA case, saying that it does not find any merits. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the order after having it reserved on Monday, and said that he is not inclined to pass any favourable orders. "... while considering the lack of facts and material particulars in the present petition, this Court is of the considered opinion that the present petitioner is not entitled to any relief as sought in the present petition," the judge said. The court said that serious offences affecting the stability, integrity, sovereignty and national security have been alleged against the petitioner. The judge then dismissed the petition. The Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Purkayastha and Chakravarty on October 3, and the next day, they were sent to a seven-day police custody by a city court. The petitioners then moved the High Court challenging not just their arrest but seeking quashing of the FIR in the matter. The High Court reserved the order, and on the other hand, Delhi's Patiala House Courts on Tuesday sent them to a 10-day judicial custody on expiry of their police remand. Before the High Court, senior advocate for Purkayastha, Kapil Sibal, had argued that "all facts are false and not a penny came from China". Sibal said that no grounds for arrest have been supplied to them, and that only the arrest memo is the document which has been produced. The senior advocate made various claims against their arrest saying that the remand order was passed by the trial court in the absence of their lawyers, when the remand order was passed at 6 a.m., Purkayasthaas lawyer received it through WhatsApp only at 7 a.m. It was argued that the arrests made were in violation of the Supreme Courtas recent judgement, which had made it compulsory for the police to supply "written" grounds of arrest to the accused at the time of being arrested. Appearing virtually for the Delhi Police, S.G. Mehta said the case involves serious offences. He further argued that one of the email exchanges between the accused individuals and somebody sitting in China shows that they will prepare a map and not show Arunachal Pradesh as part of India. The claim was then denied by Sibal. Sticking to his argument, Mehta said that the arrest was legal as per the textual requirement of the UAPA since the accused persons were informed about the grounds of arrest. He went on to say that since the police remand is coming to an end, the accused can be sent to judicial custody, post which they can apply for regular bail. After hearing the matter at length, the judge had reserved the order. The Special Cell had registered an FIR in connection with the case on August 17 under different sections of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code against NewsClick. In August, a New York Times investigation had accused NewsClick of being an organisation funded by a network linked with US millionaire Neville Roy Singham, to allegedly promote Chinese propaganda. Four arrested for beating man to death in Delhi. Image Source: IANS News Haveri : , Oct 13 (IANS) Karnataka police have arrested a dentist for allegedly raping a nurse who was working with him in the same district, police said on Friday. According to police, the 24-year-old nurse had joined the dental hospital and was a colleague of the accused Dr Vijay Kumar. In the complaint, the woman maintained that they fell in love and got into a relationship. She alleged that the accused had impregnated her thrice on the pretext of marriage, but backtracked on his promise later. The woman had approached the police then. Meanwhile, the accused had attempted for a compromise by offering Rs 1 lakh compensation. However, the victim challenged him that she is ready for medical tests and the accused should be arrested. The incident took place in the limits of Ranebennur police station and the police have also registered a case of honey trap against the woman based on a complaint by the doctor. The police then arrested the accused and are investigating the cases against the two. New Delhi : Security Arrangements near Nizamuddin for the G20 Summit. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Delhi Police have heightened security measures in the national capital in response to the intelligence reports suggesting the potential for disruptions amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. "We have bolstered our presence at key locations and are maintaining constant vigilance to prevent any untoward incidents," said a senior police official. Furthermore, the police have stationed their personnel around Jewish establishments in the city. In the Central district's Jama Masjid area, a flag march was conducted by the police to ensure public safety. Meanwhile, at least 212 Indian citizens arrived in the national capital from the first flight under 'Operation Ajay'. The first flight under the 'Operation Ajay' arrived in the national capital around 6 a.m. and they were greeted by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar at the airport. The Minister also interacted with the students who returned from Tel Aviv to Delhi. The special flight with 212 Indians had left from Tel Aviv on Thursday for Delhi. Addressing a flurry of questions on the Israel-Hamas conflict, which escalated last week after the Hamas group launched rocket attacks on Tel Aviv, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the government's prime focus was to bring back 18,000 Indians stuck there. "Our focus is to bring back Indians who want to come out of Israel. There are 18,000 Indians there, including students," he said, informing that the government has launched 'Operation Ajay' to bring back Indian citizens from war-torn Israel. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. An official reception has been organized in honor of the heads of state participating in a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Bishkek, Trend reports. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the event. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Congress after the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting on Friday said the party will announce the first list of candidates on October 15, on the first day of Navratri. The CEC meeting was chaired by the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, senior party leaders Ambika Soni, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and many others. Madhya Pradesh unit chief and former chief minister Kamal Nath, state incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala and several other senior leaders were also present in the meeting. The meeting of the CEC for the state lasted for over two hours. After the meeting, Kamal Nath said: "We have held discussions for 60 seats. We will hold a meeting again of the screening committee and the CEC and then finalise the list." He said: "We will announce our list (of candidates) after 'shradh'. We are moving ahead accordingly so that we could release our list (of candidates) on October 15. More the discussion it will be much better as number of new things come up." Meanwhile Surjewala said: "We will release our first list on first day of Navratri." Kharge also took to X (formerly Twitter) and said: "In Madhya Pradesh, youth, women, Dalits, tribals and backward classes are going to get justice in a few days. There will be a complete stop to the BJP's injustice, atrocities and corrupt misgovernance of the last 18 years." "This time the public will not allow the formation of an undemocratic BJP government in Madhya Pradesh through the back door. This time the traitors will get a befitting reply. Congress party is moving towards full majority. Today an important meeting of the Central Election Committee was held regarding Madhya Pradesh," Kharge added. The 230 member Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on November 17. Counting of votes will take place on December 3. The CEC had last week met to discuss candidates for MP assembly elections and over 140 assembly seats were discussed. Bengaluru, Oct 13 : Large and Medium Industries Minister M.B. Patil said on Friday that the Karnataka government, which aims to develop the state as the manufacturing hub, has recently taken many measures to enhance offering to German companies. Speaking as a chief guest at the VDMA Mechanical Engineering Summit- 2023 Patil remarked that Karnataka and Germany have fostered a strong industrial collaboration, particularly in the fields of manufacturing and technology. "German companies have been performing here contributing to enhance the state's industrial capabilities. They are playing a key role in the growth of automotive, and infrastructure projects in Karnataka, including the development of smart cities and digital solutions," he explained. The minister said that Karnataka and Germany have had a strong relationship in the areas of trade and FDI. "Over 1600 German companies operating in India have employed around 3,00,000 people. At least 600 plus German Joint Ventures are represented in the Indian marketplace and Karnataka is home to nearly 200 German companies," he added. He said that the growth-oriented industrial policy, sector-specific policies, ease of doing business and relaxed labour laws will further strengthen the longstanding bilateral bond. Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany Achim Burkart, Rajesh Nath, MD VDMA India, Kari Haeusgen, President VDMA Germany, Dr Selvakumar principal Secretary to Industry department and others were also present. Microsoft turns to UK after win in US over $68.7 bn Activision Blizzard acquisition. Image Source: IANS News London, Oct 13 : The UK's anti-trust watchdog on Friday cleared the restructured deal for Microsoft to buy gaming giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, after it concluded that the new deal would preserve competitive prices and better services. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) accepted a restructured Microsoft's proposal that addresses the CMA's concerns about Microsoft dominating the cloud gaming market. In August this year, Microsoft made a concession that would see Ubisoft, instead of Microsoft, buy Activision's cloud gaming rights. "This new deal will put the cloud streaming rights (outside the EEA) for all of Activision's PC and console content produced over the next 15 years in the hands of a strong and independent competitor with ambitious plans to offer new ways of accessing that content," said the CMA in a statement. The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers. It will allow Ubisoft to offer Activision's content under any business model, including through multigame subscription services. It will also help to ensure that cloud gaming providers will be able to use non-Windows operating systems for Activision content, reducing costs and increasing efficiency, the UK's market regulator noted. "We delivered a clear message to Microsoft that the deal would be blocked unless they comprehensively addressed our concerns and stuck to our guns on that," said Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA. With the sale of Activision's cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, "we've made sure Microsoft can't have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market," Cardell added. In August, Microsoft submitted a restructured proposal to UK's anti-trust watchdog for approval of its acquisition of Activision. As part of the restructuring, Microsoft will transfer cloud gaming rights for current and new Activision Blizzard games to French video game publisher Ubisoft. The sale of Activision's cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft will prevent the distribution of important, popular content including games such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft from coming under the control of Microsoft in relation to cloud gaming, said the CMA. "Cloud gaming is an important new way for gamers to access games and this deal could have seriously undermined its potential development. On that we, the European Commission and the US Federal Trade Commission are in full agreement," said Martin Coleman, Chair of the Independent Panel who reviewed the original Microsoft deal. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Delhi Police has arrested two men from Barmer, Rajasthan for robbing mobile trader of Rs 35 lakhs, an official said. He said that the accused spent Rs three lakhs on folk dancers in Jaisalmer. The accused were identified as Dilip Kumar (31) and Rajnish a.k.a Manish (37). Police said that, on October 5, a complainant named Chaman Dewas, who is a mobile trader in Karol Bagh, Delhi, reported an incident at the Karol Bagh Police Station in Delhi. The complainant alleged that one of his employees, Dilip, had been working in his office for the past four months. On October 3, Dilip absconded after stealing Rs 35 lakh in cash from the office. "Following the theft, he turned off his mobile phone, and despite the complainant's efforts to locate him, Dilip could not be found," the Deputy Commissioner of Police (central) Sanjay Kumar Sain said. "The accused and his family members were put under technical surveillance. Although Dilip's mobile phone was switched off, it emerged that a new mobile number from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, had been in contact with the accused wife," said the DCP. The call details of this new mobile number were obtained, and the current location of Dilip was determined. Since the accused was approximately 900 kilometres away from Delhi, the local police in District Barmer, Rajasthan, were contacted, and information about the accused was shared. "Meanwhile, based on the shared information, the accused was apprehended and arrested by Dhorimanna police station in District Barmer. A sum of Rs 10 lakh in cash was recovered from his possession," said the DCP. On October 6, a team from Karol Bagh Police Station went to Rajasthan, and accused Dilip was interrogated and arrested in the case. "During the interrogation, Dilip disclosed that he had been working in a mobile screen trading office owned by Chaman Dewas in Karol Bagh for the last four months," said the DCP. On October 3, he noticed a huge accumulation of cash, Rs 35 lakh, in the office's almirah, which made him greedy, and he stole Rs 35 lakh from his owner's office. "Following the theft, Dilip hired a taxi from Karol Bagh to Jaipur. On the way, he purchased an iPhone 15 Pro for himself and a Samsung phone valued at Rs 40,000 for the taxi driver. He also obtained a new SIM card and contacted his wife. He visited various places, including Jaipur, Pali, and Jaisalmer, where he spent approximately Rs four lakh on expenses such as food, beer, dance, hotels, and taxi services. Furthermore, he revealed that the taxi driver withdrew Rs 20 lakh from his bag," said the DCP. During further investigation, the details of the taxi driver were collected, and another team was tasked with tracing the taxi driver in Delhi. "The taxi driver, Rajnish, was apprehended and interrogated. He admitted to seeing the bag of accused Dilip, which contained a significant amount of cash. Consequently, he bought three beers for Dilip and got him intoxicated. During this time, he stole Rs 20 lakh from Dilip's bag. Based on his information, a sum of Rs 17.5 lakh in cash and his taxi, an Innova, were recovered and seized," said the DCP. San Francisco, Oct 13 : Chip-maker Qualcomm has announced plans to eliminate nearly 1,258 jobs in two of its offices in the state of California in the US, the media reported. According to a recent filing with the California Employment Development Department, the company informed it will be laying off about 1,064 workers from San Diego and 194 from Santa Clara, reports CNBC. The job cuts will take effect around December 13 at both the offices, the report added. This latest job reduction is likely to account for nearly 2.5 per cent of its workforce. According to the company's most recent annual financial statement, it employed over 51,000 people (as of September 2022). "However, neither location will have any facility closures," the filing mentioned. In August, Qualcomm's shares fell after it provided a gloomy outlook for its fiscal Q4, warning of an ongoing slump in smartphone sales and "likely job cuts". In a US securities filing as it announced results for its fiscal third quarter ended June 25, the company said "while we are in the process of developing our plans, we currently expect these actions to consist largely of workforce reductions, and in connection with any such actions we would expect to incur significant additional restructuring charge". In the earnings call, President and CEO Cristiano Amon said they were taking a conservative view of the market and "will be proactively taking additional cost actions to ensure Qualcomm is well positioned to deliver maximum value for stockholders in an uncertain environment". Meanwhile, Qualcomm denied it was going to shut down its research and development facility in Shanghai, China. The company, however, said "it does plan to downsize given uncertainties about the economy and demand," the media had reported. --IANS shs/na/prw Kolkata, Oct 13 : The Calcutta High Court on Friday issued a contempt of court rule (notice) against West Bengal State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha in a case related to the panchayat elections held in July. Observing that the SEC can be held responsible for contempt of court, a division bench of chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhttacharya, issued the rule asking Sinha to be personally present at the court during the next hearing on November 24 and give his clarifications to the court in the matter. Veterans feel that this is an unprecedented development since there had been no past instance of similar rule issued against any SEC in the past. The rule was issued in a case filed by the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari accusing the state election commission of reluctance in controlling irregularities in rural civic body polls in the state. In his petition, Adhikari alleged that despite the Calcutta High Courtas clear observation that only the state election commission is responsible for any event of violence over the rural civic body polls, there had not been initiative on part of the commission in following the instruction of the court true to its spirit. The LoP also argued that the state election commissioner is answerable in the matter. Till the filing of the report, there was no reaction from either the state election commissioner or from the ruling Trinamool Congress. However, the state leadership of BJP has welcomed the development. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday staged protest against the arrest of party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh demanding his release in connection with the now scrapped new excise policy. Hundreds of AAP workers assembled outside its party headquarters and then they marched towards the BJP headquarters. The AAP workers raised slogans like aSanjay Singh ko riha karoa and also carried placards demanding for the party MPs release. The party workers also demanded for the release of former deputy chief minister and party leader Manish Sisodia in connection with the case. However, the Delhi Police detained the AAP workers after they tried to cross the barricades placed near the BJP headquarters. The Delhi Police took them away to the police station. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Singh on October 4 in connection with the alleged liquor scam case following day long searches at his residence. The ED had arrested Sisodia in March this year, days after the CBI arrested him in connection with the same case. The AAP and the BJP has been trading barbs with each other following the arrest of two senior leaders. The AAP has denied any corruption in the alleged liquor policy case with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying that the agencies have been unable to find a single penny of corruption from its party leaders and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to diminish his party. The BJP on the other hand has been accusing the AAP of indulging in corruption and alleged that Kejriwal is the kingpin of the liquor policy scam. Lucknow, Oct 13 : Muslims on Friday offered prayers for the well-being of Palestinians in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in various mosques of Uttar Pradesh. Clerics had given a call for prayers after the Friday prayers. Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali, Imam of Eidgah, said that they appealed to the international community to ensure that human rights violation was stopped and peace was restored in the area. Meanwhile, a heavy deployment of police forces was made at all prominent mosques to prevent any untoward incident London, Oct 13 : Almost half (42 per cent) of patients with skin disease experience sleep disturbances, according to a major study that analysed over 50,000 adults across 20 countries to assess the impact of skin diseases. The findings, presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress 2023 in Berlin, Germany, showed that the sleep disturbances were found to have broader implications on patients' quality of life. Nearly half (49 per cent) of patients with skin disease reported reduced productivity at work, in contrast with just one in five (19 per cent) participants without a skin disease. The main symptoms that impacted the sleep of patients with skin disease were itching (60 per cent) and burning sensations or tingling (17 per cent). In addition, patients more frequently experienced a feeling of fatigue as soon as they woke up (81 per centvs. 64 per centin the non-skin disease population), periods of drowsiness during the day (83 per centvs. 71 per cent), tingling sensations in the eyes (58 per centvs. 42 per cent ) and repeated yawning (72 per centvs. 58 per cent ) than those who did not have a skin disease. "Our study is the first to uncover the profound impact of sleep disturbances on the physical functioning of patients with skin disease, and these findings underscore the critical need for early detection and effective management of sleep disturbances," said lead author Dr. Charles Taieb, who heads the company EMMA Clinic,in Paris, France. "Moving forward, health care providers should be encouraged to integrate sleep disturbance questions into the examinations of patients with skin conditions to foster a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of skin diseases," added Dr. Bruno Halioua, a dermatologist practising in Paris. More than half of Canadians want Ottawa to decrease tensions with Delhi over Nijjar's killing. Image Source: IANS News Toronto, Oct 13 : A little over 50 per cent of Canadians want their country to decrease tensions with India over Khalistani hardliner Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing, and engage in diplomatic talks, according to a poll. A Nanos Research poll commissioned by CTV News revealed that a substantial 57 per cent of Canadians would prefer the country decrease tensions and engage in diplomatic talks about the murder, which occurred outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18. The relations between the two nations soured after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of playing a role in Nijjar's killing last month, leading to expulsion of diplomats and New Delhi calling the charges "absurd". About one in four respondents said they want Canada to further investigate the accusations, and one in 10 (11 per cent) said they want Canada to "be patient" and do nothing for now. Residents in Quebec province were more likely to say they want Canada to engage in tension-reducing measures (65 per cent) than in British Columbia, where 50.3 per cent chose diplomatic talks. Three quarters of Canadians said they believe (47 per cent), or somewhat believe (27 per cent), Trudeauas statement that he obtained intelligence that implicates India in Nijjar's killing. Nearly one in five said they do not (10 per cent) or somewhat do not believe (eight per cent) Prime Minister Trudeau, said the survey, which sampled 1,058 Canadians. Seventy-nine per cent of respondents above 55 years of age were more likely to believe or somewhat believe Prime Minister Trudeauas statement than younger Canadians (69 per cent) between 18-34 years age group. A Financial Times report said that Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly held a secret meeting with Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar in Washington last month to solve the diplomatic row. Joly on Wednesday said diplomacy is always better when conversations remain private, underscoring that she will continue to take the same approach when it comes to India. Nijjar, chief of banned terror organisation Khalistan Tiger Force, was wanted in India for links to terrorist activities and spearheading the Khalistan referendum vote in Canada. He was designated as a terrorist in 2020. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The EU expects that the engagement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be firmed up during the meeting in Brussels scheduled for October-end, Toivo Klaar, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, said, Trend reports. Back from Baku and Yerevan where I discussed next steps towards comprehensive normalisation. Important for Azerbaijan and Armenia to stay committed to a positive and agreed agenda, he wrote on his page on X. Earlier, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, announced that Brussels has invited leaders of both Azerbaijan and Armenia to participate in a trilateral meeting before the end of the month. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Day 2 of Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI, acknowledged the importance of a sustainable future and showcased those designers who contribute towards a greener fashion through their work of art. The show's runway was ornamented with a diverse range of sustainable styles from leading fashion designers. Here are some of the highlights from the designers who presented during the day: Amita Gupta Sustainable brought the beauty of urban reforestation with diverse collections The beauty of the Amita Gupta Sustainable brand has always been its deep affection for nature and its care for the environment. Keeping in mind the inspiration, "The Age of Urban Reforestation" the brand was focused and unveiled sustainable fashion that not only projected the latest trends and styles but was committed to the environment at Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI. Swatti Kapoor unveiled "Sahaara" collection Swatti Kapoor's "Sahaara" collection inspired by the vast expanse of the largest, hot desert in the world situated on the African continent, had a marked bohemian appeal. The design directions and inspirations aimed at the global nomad were taken from the glorious desert rose or adenium obesum for the intricate motifs that created the wooden block printing. With the expanse of the grand Sahaara stretching through countries like Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Mali, and Morocco, the collection obviously reflected the beauty and grandeur of those regions. Keeping the focus on sustainability, the line ensured that the fabrics matched the vision of the designer. Kaveri unveiled an ethereal "The Romance of the Rose" collection When a collection is called "The Romance of the Rose" - An Affair to Remember, it will undoubtedly be an ethereal look at fashion for the coming season. The collection had the finest hand-crafted finesse that Kaveri is known for, as the sculpted linen along with luxurious silk was turned into a feminine line of ensembles embossed with the imprints of the beautiful rose. Using the blank, linen canvas as the base, the Kaveri brand wove its creative magic on each garment, as the colours moved languidly from pretty pastels to warm hues that will appeal to fashion aficionados. Playing with colours that matched the ethereal quality of the collection, Kaveri chose light and dark sage, natural blush, and then added mauve and off-white. The fine linen and silk ensembles were splashed with beautiful surface techniques to add a delicate aura to the sculpted, resplendent fabrics that offered wearable art. Swati Vijayivargie brought her collection 'Gulaal' inspired by the splendour of the Pink City Swati Vijayivargie's "Gulaal" was inspired by the pink hues of Jaipur architecture and the shimmer of Jaisalmer, the Golden City. The lovely Parul Gulati, star of several Punjabi films walked down the runway to open the show, in a colourful, panelled lehenga, choli and dupatta trio all heavily embellished with ornate work. Colours of India were visible as fuchsia moved in coordination with orange, while the marigold tones danced with shades of blue. The red, vermilion, emerald, gulaabi, turquoise, and purple hues mirrored the gorgeous colours of the country and completed the "Gulaal" story. Fabrics that brought the collection to life, were the luxurious silks, Mashru, cotton silk, silk organza, and Chanderi. The designing skills of Swati were evident in the layered silhouettes and the free-flowing images of the ensembles. There were hints of nostalgia and amazing creativity, as the collection offered a variety of timeless garments that will move effortlessly through varying festive occasions. There was also a great amalgamation of colours, styles, and patterns that will delight buyers of luxurious, well-crafted apparel. Payal Pratap brought a modern adaptation of craft on sustainable fashion day "The Soft Parade" collection by Payal Pratap on Sustainable Fashion Day was an ode to the glorious and abundant craft of Kutch with contemporary accents. The fabric base was a melange of handloom linen, woven stripes, and chambray weaves, while the luxe silks, Chanderies as well and Bandhani prints on silk complemented the presentation. Keeping the inspiration intact, the myriad stitches inspired by ancient Kedias were reworked into detailed asymmetric patterns that featured some geometry as well as floral motifs and a dollop of shine. Payal also extensively explored the intricate beauty of patchwork in modern and abstract motifs of nature. It was a great festival of craft as the collection brought together the old with the new of Bandhani, applique, multiple hand-stitched techniques along with abstract rose motifs that were juxtaposed to create a carpet of patterns. Adding more excitement to the embellishments, Payal created designs of bird chintz, flowers, and Tree of Life patterns. The colours of Kutch brought to life the apparel, as a tinge of red was merged with varying shades of blue, neutral ivories, and blacks to form a palette of multicolour hues. The silhouettes were characteristic of Gujarat and appeared in perfect unison on the runway. Asymmetric wrap skirts, swirling long and short kedia-inspired jackets, relaxed dresses, and comfy lungi pants created a fashionable tapestry for the line. Ensuring that the collection offered a comprehensive fashion look that moved from head-to-toe wardrobe solutions from day to night, Payal designed handmade footwear, which featured Bandhani brogue patterns, while the semi-precious stone jewellery gave the ensembles the added glitter. 11.11/eleven eleven celebrated 15 years of sustainable fashion at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI Designers Mia Morikawa and Shani Himanshu, the driving forces behind the '11.11/eleven eleven' pret label from the parent company CellDSGN Pvt Ltd celebrated 15 years of presenting India's indigenous crafts and practices at Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI. Spring Summer 2024 collection is an ode to handspun textiles, the handspun yarn is a realisation of time, where every millimeter of yarn records every second of time as a memory. The beauty of the handspun yarn lies in its low twist breathability and its irregularity which is imparted by human hands, and in how it becomes second skin to the body. The Ka-Sha label unveiled a balanced line of different elements at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI The brand 'Ka-sha's' inspiration was a connection that brought the coming together of different elements to create an absolute synergy of fashion. The brand founded by Karishma Shahani Khan in 2012 unveiled the "Milan" collection, which was inspired by Khalil Gibran's work. The inspiration is based on the lines from Khalil Gibran's "Poem on Marriage" - "You were born together and together you shall be forevermore. But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you." Referencing these words, the collection "Milan" enquired into the foundations built on individuality, through different elements that come together to play their part in total synergy, thereby creating an effect greater than the sum of its parts. (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in) Paris, Oct 13 : A teacher was killed and two other people were seriously injured following a knife attack at a school in France on Friday, authorities said. According to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, the attack occurred at the Gambetta high school in the northern city of Arras, the BBC reports. The authorities said that the perpetrator has been arrested. More details are awaited. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Moving ahead in its probe into the killing of two students in Manipur and other cases related to violence in the northeastern state, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested another suspect from Maharashtra's Pune. According to CBI sources, the suspect Pao Lin Mang was arrested from Pune on October 12 and he was produced before a court which sent him to the agency's custody till October 16. He is accused of being involved in the killing of the two students who had gone missing on July 6. The CBI had earlier arrested four persons in connection with the case on October 1. The arrested accused were identified as Paominlun Haokip, S.Malsawm Haokip, Lhingneichong Baitekuki and Tinneilhing Henthang. The CBI had registered two said cases on August 23 on the request of the Manipur government and took over the investigation of these cases earlier registered by state police on thecomplaints of the parents of minor victims dated July 8 at Imphal Police Station and another dated July 19 at Lamphel Police Station in Manipur. Manipur witnessed massive studentsa agitations last week to protest the killing of 17-year-old girl student Hijam Linthoingambi and 20-year-old Phijam Hemjit, who hailed from Bishnupur district and had gone missing on July 6 during the height of ethnic violence. Their photographs were circulated on different social media platforms on September 25. Mumbai, Oct 13 : In a significant move for transparency, the Maharashtra government will implement a digital display board of road toll collections at major toll-posts and install CCTVs to eye delays and disruptions owing to the toll tax collection process, here on Friday, even as the Opposition Congress attacked the measures. The decision, among several others, were announced by PWD Minister Dadaji D. Bhuse and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray this morning. Raj Thackeray, who has revived the 9-year-old anti-road toll tax agitation, called on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence on Oct. 12 and submitted a memorandum on his demands on the issue while Minister Bhuse visited the MNS leader's home today to discuss and hammer out a solution. Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe slammed the state government on this and said that such crucial decisions should be announced in the cabinet and not in somebody's home, terming them as 'illegal', 'extra-constitutional', and reeks of a 'parallel government' run from outside. "Within two weeks, CCTVs shall be installed by the government and the MNS at all the toll booths at the five Mumbai Entry Points (MEPs) and a control room will be set up in Mantralaya to monitor them," said Raj Thackeray. The digital display will indicate how much toll the contractor has collected as per the tender and how much is left balance to enable the people know the correct financials of the concerned tool-booth, he said. Londhe sharply questioned why "a political party be allowed to install CCTVs at toll-booths and interfere in the government's work", alleging it is proof that there is corruption in the toll collection process. The government will also ensure that no vehicle is required to halt for more than 4 minutes at the toll-posts and those outside the 'yellow line' (indicating a traffic jam) will be allowed to pass without paying the road toll tax, the MNS will construct public conveniences near some of the toll booths, and keep a watch over the goings-on. The MNS has also demanded a closure of 29 old toll-booths belonging to the PWD Department and 15 of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to which Bhuse said the government will consider and take a decision on it shortly. The other demands included a probe by the Comptroller & Auditor General on the Bandra Worli Sea Link and the Mumbai Pune Expressway, special passes for those living in the vicinity of the toll-booths, no toll if the road conditions are bad, etc. The MNS had carried out major protests at various toll-booths in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Nashik and other places after Raj Thackeray warned of 'burning the toll-posts' if small/light vehicles were forced to pay the road toll tax, rattling the government though the masses responded favourably. Kolkata, Oct 13 : With Indians fleeing conflict-hit Israel in large numbers, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced the opening of a help desk at Banga Bhavan in New Delhi for residents of Bengal. Similar help desks have been set up by the Mamata government at the Delhi and Kolkata airports. The chief minister also announced that the state government would bear the expenses of those residents who have already reached New Delhi from Israel. "Indians/Bengalis are leaving battle-torn Israel and I have asked my Chief Secretary and Delhi Resident Commissioner to extend all possible government assistance, free of cost, to our distressed returnees. "As many as 53 Bengal-origin returnees have already reached Delhi and the Bengal government is arranging their train tickets back to the state at its own cost. Free transit accommodation at Banga Bhavan at Delhi and free local transport will be arranged by us. Apart from this, 247 control rooms have been opened at Delhi and Kolkata, and help desks have been set up at Delhi and Kolkata airports," the Chief Minister Banerjee said in a message that she posted on X on Friday. Three Hindu temple break-ins in Canada in Oct, suspect on the run. Image Source: IANS News Toronto, Oct 13 : The Canadian Police have said they were searching for a suspect, after three Hindu temples were broken into in the province of Ontario beginning this month. All the break-ins occurred over the span of a few hours early October 8 morning in Pickering and Ajax cities, the Durham Police said in a statement. The suspect, observed walking with a limp in surveillance footage, is five feet nine inches tall, weighing approximately 200 lbs, according to the police. He is seen wearing a blue surgical mask, black jacket with tightly zipped hood, green 'camo' cargo pants, and green running shoes. Police said that on October 8, at approximately 12:45 a.m., officers responded to reports of a break-and-enter in progress at a religious temple in the area of Bayly Street and Krosno Boulevard in Pickering. A male was seen on security surveillance making entry into the temple and taking a large quantity of cash from the donation boxes. He fled the area prior to police arrival. A short time later, at approximately 1:30 a.m., the cops responded to reports of a break-and-enter in progress at another temple in Pickering in the area of Brock Road and Dersan Street. A resident of the temple reported that a male had broken through a window and attempted to steal a safe which contained donated cash. The male was unsuccessful and fled prior to police arrival. Surveillance footage was reviewed and the male was confirmed to be the same suspect who had committed the earlier break-and-enter. Later, at around 2:50 a.m., the same man broke into a religious temple in the area of Westney Road South and Bayly Street West in Ajax. He stole a large quantity of cash from a donation box. At least two temples from the Greater Toronto Area were targeted last month --the Chintpurni Temple in Brampton on September 9 and the Rameshwar Mandir in Caledon, on September 18. In a statement posted on Facebook on September 22, the Rameshwar Mandir said: "An ongoing investigation by the police is under way to apprehend those responsible for this breach of security. We are cooperating fully with the authorities in their efforts to resolve this matter swiftly". "We would like to assure the public that we take this incident very seriously andwill continue to prioritise the safety and well-being of our visitors, devotees and the security of our premises," the statement read. Last year, close to half-a-dozen Hindu temples in the Greater Toronto Area were reportedly robbed in a span of ten days. Hyderabad, Oct 13 : In a jolt to the Congress party in Telangana ahead of next month's Assembly elections, senior leader and former TPCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah resigned from the party on Friday, alleging injustice to backward classes within the party. Ponnala, who had served as a state minister in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, turned emotional while announcing his resignation before the media. He said he was snapping his 40-year long association with the party as he was unable to bear the insult and ridicule he and other BC leaders were being subjected to in the party. The senior leader sent his resignation to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, citing an unjust environment in the party. He stated that individualism seems to have taken precedence and newcomers are being unfairly elevated to power. Ponnala alleged that when a group of 50 BC leaders from Telangana visited Delhi to request priority for BCs in allotment of tickets, they were denied a meeting with AICC leaders. He said even he was denied appointment for 10 days to meet AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal. He also wrote that in 2014, he was unfairly blamed for the party's defeat in Telangana despite the party's nationwide setback. "Even in the 2018 elections, there was no significant progress, yet no corrective actions were taken. On the contrary additional positions were given," reads the letter. After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, Ponnala was appointed first state president of the party in Telangana. Hailing from Munnur Kapu BC community, Ponnala hails from Jangaon district. He had worked as a minister under five chief ministers in united Andhra Pradesh. He held the irrigation portfolio in the cabinet headed by Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. He remained a minister under YSR's successor Rosaiah and held the information technology portfolio in the government of Kiran Kumar Reddy. An MS from Oklahoma University, Ponnala worked in the US from 1969 to 1978. On his return, he joined the Congress party. He was first elected to Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Jangaon in 1989. He was later elected for three consecutive terms from the same constituency. Ponnala, however, lost the election in 2014 and in 2018. He resigned after it became clear that the party may not give him a ticket this time. He is likely to join the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). He hinted this in his resignation letter by praising BRS for making even small BC leaders MPs and MLCs. Aizawl, Oct 13 : The Election Commission on Friday issued the statutory notification for the November 7 elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly. Election officials said that with the issuance of the notification, filing of nominations by the candidates had begun from Friday. The last date of filing nominations is October 20 and scrutiny of papers would take place the next day. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 23. All the political parties in Mizoram are demanding that the poll panel change the date of counting of votes. The counting date has been fixed for December 3, which is a Sunday and a day of prayers for Christians. The Election Commission, however, is yet to decide on the issue. Meanwhile, Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Madhup Vyas, accompanied by senior officials, held an online meeting with all 11 District Election Officers (Deputy Commissioners) on poll preparedness. Additional Chief Electoral Officer H Lianzela told IANS that though all the political parties have sent their representations to the Election Commission requesting to change the counting date, no feedback has been received in this regard as yet. Christians form around 87 per cent of Mizoram's population (according to the 2011 Census). All the political parties, including the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), Congress, BJP, Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) and People's Conference (PC), have urged the poll panel to change the date of vote counting as Sunday is a sacred day for Christians, and the entire day is devoted to church services across the state. The conglomerate of major churches in the state, Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), has also written to the Election Commission requesting it to change the date of counting. "Sundays are sacred for Christians and worship services are held in all towns and villages on that day," the MKHC's letter read. The MNF, Congress, BJP, ZPM and PC in their separate letters on Monday had urged the EC to respect the sentiments of the Mizo people as they demanded rescheduling of the counting date to any day between Monday and Friday. The MNF, led by Chief Minister Zoramthanga, has already announced candidates on all 40 seats, with the 79-year-old political Zoramthanga seeking re-election from his existing constituency Aizawl East-I for the record seventh time. The electoral dark horse in Mizoram, ZPM has also announced names of 40 candidates, while the Congress and the BJP also said they had decided to field candidates in all the seats on their own. They said they would soon announce the names of their nominees. Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 13 : The Department of Industries and Commerce (DIC) on Thursday signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K) for the conduct of a comprehensive study on diversification and optimisation of revenue from plantations in Kerala as part of various plans envisaged in the wake of formation of the Plantation Directorate under the DIC. The MoU in this regard was inked in the presence of Minister for Law, Industries and Coir P. Rajeeve by Plantations Special Officer and Director, DIC, S Harikishore and IIMK Mentor Professor Anandakuttan, here on Thursday. The Minister said the agreement with IIM-K was part of a set of upfront initiatives underway to enhance revenue from plantations and build aKerala Plantationa as a global brand for marketing and for value-addition of a wide range of plantation crops. He further pointed out that the government was also looking into the possibility of raising the land ceiling on plantations when they are used for taking up activities on industrial lines by following due legal procedures to enhance revenue from them. Other initiatives underway include promotion of cultivation of commercially-viable fruits and supplementary crops, value-addition of produce, introduction of new technology and machinery and leveraging plantations for a range of farm-related activities based on due procedures. IIM-K Director Prof Debashis Chatterjee said IIM-Kas approach will be based on authentic research, sustainable systems and comprehensive revamp in the diversification of plantation sector, which is critical in the stateas economy and commerce. Earlier, the government had sanctioned funds for conduct of a comprehensive study on the diversification and revamp of the plantation sector by taking on board a competent agency. Following this, tenders were invited and an expert technical committee appointed by the government selected IIM-K after evaluating its bid. a"IANS sg/rad BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. In accordance with the instruction of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the return of former internally displaced persons to the restored city of Fuzuli continue, Trend reports. Another group of citizens was sent from the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in the Garadagh district of Baku on September 13. At this stage, another 22 families (62 people) moved to the city of Fuzuli. The resettled families will settle in the houses where they once lived in Fuzuli, which were restored or rebuilt on the basis of instructions from the head of state after the end of the Armenian occupation. Fuzuli residents thanked President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva for their comprehensive care, expressed gratitude to the valiant Azerbaijani Army, which liberated the lands from occupation. Thus, until today, a permanent settlement in the city of Fuzuli has been provided for 230 families - 811 people. Bengaluru, Oct 13 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K Shivakumar on Friday said that the IT raids across the country are being conducted with political motive. Speaking to reporters on series of IT raids in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said that no IT raid will take place without a political motive. "Not only in our state, but the IT raids are being conducted with a political motive in other states as well," he said. When asked about the allegation made by former deputy chief minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan that money is sent for the assembly elections of five states from Bengaluru, Shivakumar said that he would not like to comment on the remarks made by the passersby. The Deputy Chief Minister said that he does not have knowledge about money being collected allegedly from contractors after clearing their dues is seized from Ambikapathy by IT sleuths in Bengaluru. He said that the contractors need not be concerned about pending bills. "We will give them justice. Kempanna, the President of State Contractor's Association, should not be worried. As per his request, 60 to 70 per cent of payments of works have been cleared before the probe in this regard was completed," he stated. Kempanna who had alleged that 40 per cent commission charges against the previous BJP government had pleaded that the situation of contractors become worse than the farmers who are committing suicide due to drought in the state due to pending of bills. Kochi, Oct 13 : Five Keralites, who were part of the first batch to be evacuated from strife-torn Israel under 'Operation Ajay', returned to their homes here on Friday. While their journey from Israel to Delhi was free of cost, those flying to the various Kerala airports had to buy tickets. In the first flight that landed in Delhi, there were seven people from Kerala, five of whom landed in Kochi. A woman hailing from Palakkad had only good words to speak about the Indian Embassy officials. "They were very prompt in their response and were always available to give us the full moral support," she said. A female PhD student hailing from Malappuram said that if not for her parents' anxiety, she would have stayed back. "Last Saturday, we got to know that rockets had been fired into our area. But then things were normal and our University also functioned normally. In Israel incidents like this happen and when there is an alarm, we all take shelter in the bunkers. I returned for my parents," said the research scholar. The news being aired is about the action taking place in and around the Gaza strip and at the Lebanese border, said a man, who works in Israel and is eagerly waiting for things to cool down there as he wants to return. "Apart from these two places, by and large life in other parts of Israel has not been affected," he added. According to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, there are around 7,000 people from Kerala in the strife-torn nation. A good number of them are female nurses and students besides others who are employed there. Gaza, Oct 13 : The area of the Gaza Strip where Israel has ordered an evacuation within 24 hours covers around a third of the territory - north of a seasonal watercourse known as Wadi Gaza, which cuts through a narrow band of mainly agricultural land, the media reported. The order includes the whole of Gaza City and two major refugee camps, Jabalya and Beach Camp. It also includes the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, which are both adjacent to the main Erez crossing point at the northern end of the Strip, the BBC reported. Taken together, this represents one of the most densely populated parts of the Gaza Strip. At least 1.1 million people live in the affected area. Gaza City has a population of around 600,000. Beach Camp is home to around 90,000 people and Jabalya, the largest camp in the Gaza Strip, has 116,000, the BBC reported. There are at least six hospitals in the area, along with around two dozen primary care clinics. Any mass movement of civilians will inevitably prove chaotic and extremely hazardous. There is only one main north-south road, along which everyone will be expected to move, the BBC reported. Fuel is in very short supply, streets in Gaza City and elsewhere are already full of rubble, and thereas no sign yet that Israeli air strikes have stopped to allow an evacuation to start. London, Oct 13 : The Jordanian riot police on Friday forcibly dispersed hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to reach a border zone with the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Daily Mail reported. Thousands held anti-Israel demonstrations across the country. Jordan was worried a regional widening of violence arising from the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could have repercussions for itself given that a large percentage of its population are Palestinians, Daily Mail reported. Jordan lost the West Bank including East Jerusalem to Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinian territory was seeing a rise in violence between Palestinians and the Israeli military and settlers even before the Gaza conflict erupted. Witnesses today said police fired tear gas to halt about 500 demonstrators who had reached a highway security checkpoint outside the capital Amman, Daily Mail reported. The highway leads to a main border crossing into the West Bank. The interior ministry had issued a ban against holding anti-Israel marches in the sensitive border area, but said other licensed protests would be allowed. The outpouring of Arab anger against Israel over its siege and bombardment of Gaza retaliating for a devastating cross-border Hamas attack also fuelled a large rally on Friday in downtown Amman, Daily Mail reported. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Supreme Court on Friday asked Andhra Pradesh to "stay its hand" in arresting Telugu Desam Party supremo and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in connection with the alleged FiberNet scam case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi issued notice and sought response of the state government on Naiduas plea filed against an decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court refusing to grant him anticipatory bail. The bench listed the matter for further hearing on October 17 and orally asked the investigative agency to not arrest TDP chief in the meantime. On Monday, a bench of Justice Suresh Reddy of the High Court had dismissed Naiduas three pleas seeking anticipatory bail in different cases. In the FiberNet scam, he has been accused of playing a "key role" and pressuring officials to favour a particular company in awarding the FiberNet contract. Naidu remains in judicial custody in the alleged multi-crore skill development scam case in which the CID had arrested him last month. He is currently lodged in the Rajahmundry Central Jail. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by the West Bengal government against a Calcutta High Court order that granted protection to relatives of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's relatives. A bench of Justices B.R Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra heard the special leave petition filed by the West Bengal government. In June, the HC order made it clear that Section 160 of the CrPC cannot be misused to take coercive steps against persons not connected with the alleged offence. Section 160 of the CrPC empowers the police to require the attendance of witnesses. The HC order directed the state police to give Sutapa Adhikari, Krishnendu Adhikari, and other relatives or acquaintances of Suvendu Adhikari a 72-hour notice before summoning them for questioning. Following the order, the West Bengal Police have to serve a written show-cause notice before accusing any of them in the case. Also, after serving the notice, the police cannot arrest them for a period of 10 days. Adhikari's relatives had approached the high court against the police probe over alleged irregularities in Contai Municipality contract works. They alleged that they were being targeted by the police and state government for being related to the West Bengal leader of the opposition and BJP. Imphal, Oct 13 : The Manipur Human Rights Commission (MHRC) recommended the state government to expedite all the investigations being carried out in connection with ethnic violence that broke out since May 3 and to recover the looted thousands of arms and ammunition from the police armouries during the riot. Besides the Manipur police, the Manipur government has handed over many cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Government should also take up necessary action to expedite the process of identification and deportation of illegal immigrants who entered the territory of India without any valid documents, the MHRC recommendations said. The MHRC headed by its Chairperson Justice Utpalendu Bikas Saha (retd) visited many districts of Manipur including Kakching, Tengnoupal, Bishnupur, Kamjong, Imphal East and Imphal West and met the thousands of displaced people sheltered in the relief camps in these districts. Commission sources said that the MHRC Chairperson after talking with the distressed and violence affected people learnt their miseries, basic requirements, difficulties and opinions. Justice Saha during his visit to the troubled districts also discussed the prevailing situations with various non-government organisations of both Meitei and Kuki communities. On the basis of the information, scarcities of the relief camp inmates, difficulties suggestions, grievances acquired during the visit of the MHRC team, the rights panel made nine points recommendations to Manipur Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi. The MHRC suggested that the government should provide Rs 50,000 to those students who sustained severe injuries, as announced by the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, if not done yet. Regarding the quantum of compensation for other injured persons, how much compensation is going to be paid, the commission may be informed as they are also entitled compensation according to their injury, it said. The rights panel also suggested the Health Department make arrangements for a 'staff nurse' to visit the relief camps on a daily basis and to provide essential medicines to the displaced people including those medicines as and when the consulting doctor prescribes. Noting the efforts of the government in recovering arms and ammunition which were looted during the ethnic violence from police armouries and Churachandpur Gun House, the MHRC further reiterated that the government should take up further necessary action to recover arms and ammunition from any unauthorised person including extremists as such arms may be used for extortion and other illegal activities, which would lead to violation of human rights. The government of Manipur in consultation with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs shall take up necessary action against the militant groups belonging to both communities to prevent any untoward incidents including their illegal activities and extortions in order to ensure that human rights of the citizens are protected. Peace in Manipur cannot be restored, unless security and human rights of the peoples are provided in the true sense, the MHRC recommendations said. It said: "Government should also take up necessary action to dismantle all the illegal bunkers and other unauthorised barricades being built and erected, if any, by any unauthorised persons." Kolkata, Oct 13 : A minor has been lynched in Tufanganj in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, who was admitted in a rehabilitation center. The victim has been identified as Saifur Ali (17). He was admitted in the rehabilitation center as he was addicted to drugs. On Friday, the center authorities called up his family members and informed them about the critical condition of the deceased and hence being taken to a local hospital. On reaching the hospital, the family members were informed that Ali has been lynched. The family members accused that there were severe injuries and burn marks all over the body of the victim. They alleged that the injuries indicated that it was a clear case of lynching. As the news surfaced the local people protested. The angry mob rushed to the rehabilitation center and ransacked the place. A huge police contingent has been deployed there to bring the situation under control. Till the time this report was filed there was no reaction from the authorities of the rehabilitation center. The family members have named some persons associated with the center as responsible for the mishap. The cops are trying to track them. Tension is still prevailing in the area. San Francisco, Oct 13 : After warning X owner Elon Musk and Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, European Commissioner Thierry Breton has now warned Chinese short-video-making app TikTok about "disinformation" spreading on the platform after Hamas' attack on Israel. In a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Breton urged him to "urgently step up" efforts, and spell out "within the next 24 hours" how it is complying with European law. He said that the European Commission have "indications that TikTok is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU", following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel. "I therefore invite you to urgently step up your efforts and ensure your systems are effective. Given the urgency, I also expect you to be in contact with the relevant law enforcement authorities and Europol, and ensure that you respond promptly to their requests," Breton noted. The letter also mentioned that TikTok needed to be mindful of its popularity with young people. "TikTok has a particular obligation to protect children and teenagers from violent content and terrorist propaganda as well as death challenges and potentially life-threatening content," Breton posted on X on Thursday. Earlier, the EU commissioner warned Musk and Zuckerberg, saying that their social media platforms are being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU. In a letter to Zuckerberg, Breton urged Meta to remove illegal terrorist content and hate speech amid the ongoing war in Israel. In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said the company has created a "special operations centre with experts, including fluent in Hebrew and Arabic speakers" after the Hamas attacks on Israel. Responding to the EU's request, X CEO Linda Yaccarino earlier this week said that the microblogging platform removed hundreds of "Hamas-linked accounts" and "taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content" since the attack on Israel. Meanwhile, the European Commission has formally opened an investigation into Musk-owned X, over an alleged spreading of illegal content and disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech in the wake of an ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The Commission said late on Thursday that it has sent a formal request for information to X under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Chennai, Oct 13 : Tamil actor and comedian Yogi Babu recently met with Tamil action star Vishal where he presented him an idol of Lord Murugan, for which Vishal conveyed his gratitude, calling Yogi Babu his "darling brother." As the 'Jailer' actor will be working with the 'Thaamirabharani' actor in their project, tentatively titled 'Vishal 34', Yogi Babu presented his co-star the gift. Taking to his X, formerly known as Twitter, the 'Kaanadante Maayavadanu' alum posted a picture of himself with the comic veteran as he handed him the statue and wrote: "Thank you darling brother @iYogiBabu for gifting me a wonderful statue of lord Murugan in Karaikudi during the shoot of our film #'Vishal34'." He added: "While filming a shot when I was driving the car and in btw this him spotting a shop selling Murugar idols and immediately after buying it and gifting it to me is God sent. Love you darling. Thank you. God bless (sic)." Vikas is a major devotee of Lord Murugan, also known as Kartikeya, and has frequently visited temples to pay his homage to the deity. The deity is revered in south Indian states. The 'Vishal 34' shooting is currently happening in Thoothukudi and some major action sequences for the film are set to be shot at the latest schedule. This film will mark Vishal's third collaboration with the director Hari. While Vishal will be handling the lead role as the film's action hero, Yogi Babu will have a major supporting role where much like it was in 'Jailer', he'll be handling the comic parts of the film. There is no release date for the film yet and neither is there a title in development, but the film is said to be heavily action-oriented. On the work front, Vishal was most recently seen in the film 'Mark Antony' and will next be seen in the film 'Thupparivaalan 2'. Yogi Babu on the other hand was most recently seen in the blockbuster film 'Jailer', as well as 'Karumegangal Kalaigindrana', and 'Shot Boot Three'. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. A Republic-wide knowledge contest will be held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku on October 18, Trend reports. The IX Republic-wide Knowledge Contest "Heydar Aliyev and History of Azerbaijan" will be organized by the Heydar Aliyev Center with support of the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan. The project, which has already become a tradition, is aimed at studying and propagandizing the history of Azerbaijan, as well as the life, activity and heritage of national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev, whose 100th anniversary is celebrated this year. Participants will test their knowledge on topics "Childhood and youth of Heydar Aliyev", "Heydar Aliyev and years of Azerbaijan's independence", "Heydar Aliyev and Karabakh truths", "Triumphal march of Azerbaijani Army in the second Karabakh war" and other topics. At the stage of preparation for the competitions, the teams took part in trainings organized at the Heydar Aliyev Center, familiarized themselves with archive materials kept at the Heydar Aliyev Museum. Each higher education institution will be represented by a 6-member team at the contest. Based on the jury's assessment, the teams ranked I, II and III will be awarded. Mumbai, Oct 13 : Bollywood's 'Greek God', Hrithik Roshan on Friday opted for a eco-friendly commute and took a metro ride as he headed to work, leaving his swanky car behind. In a heart-winning move, Hrithik joined the daily grind of the metro and blended in with the commuters. The actor who is an ardent social media user took to his Instagram account and shared a string of photos and videos of his metro ride. He can be seen wearing a navy blue half sleeved t-shirt, and a matching cap. The actor is flaunting his toned biceps. The photos show Hrithik taking selfies with fans, mostly females of all age groups. There is also a video of Hrithik standing in the corner, holding the handle. Another video shows school girls happily screaming after seeing their favourite actor. Hrithik captioned the post: "Took the metro to work today. Met some really sweet n kind folks. Sharing with you the love they gave me.The experience was spectacular. Beat the heat + the traffic. Saved my back for the action shoot I'm going for." The post is liked by Alia Bhatt and Ayushmann Khurrana. Hrithik's ladylove Saba Azad commented: "Love", with a smiley and red heart emoji. Actor Gajraj Rao dropped a fire emoticon in the comment section. After these pictures which took Instagram by a storm of love, fans can't stop pouring comments filled with admiration for the actor. They wrote: "Celebrity who believes to live a common man's life. Hat's off to you sir (sic)." "Life in a metro," wrote another. "Ur always kind." "Such a pyaaara human." "The sweetest post on Instagram today." "biceps," said another. On the work front, Hrithik has an aerial action drama aFightera. The movie also stars Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor. Rampur : , Oct 13 (IANS) A court in Rampur on Friday sentenced 24 people -- most of them security personnel -- to 10 years in jail for supplying arms and ammunition to terrorists and Maoists in connection with a case registered in 2010. Most of the convicts were officials of the Uttar Pradesh Police, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) or the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). One of the accused died during the trial that lasted over a decade. Rampur Additional District Government Counsel (Criminal), Pratap Singh Maurya, said: "Today in the cartridge case, a court in Rampur sentenced 24 convicts to 10 years of jail term and Rs 10,000 fine each. All the convicts were taken into custody on Thursday after the court found them guilty." Elaborating about the case, Maurya said: "The incident happened in 2010 when the Special Task Force (STF) Superintendent in Lucknow had some inputs that some arms and ammunition were being supplied to Maoists and terrorists from Rampur through a person in Allahabad. A team was formed and on April 29, 2010, a team came to Rampur and arrested three persons -- Yashodhanand, Vinod Paswan and Vinesh Kumar. "Ammunition in 12 sacks and some parts of arms were found. An FIR was lodged and they were sent to judicial custody. On identification by Yashodhanand, another person named Nathiram Saini was arrested from Moradabad." An official said that a/ total of 25 people were accused in the case and were arrested during the probe. "Yashodhanand had provided a diary with the names of the accused and details of bank accounts. The same 25 people were named in the chargesheet too. Out of the 25, one died during the trial," said Maurya. All accused were found guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 413 (habitually dealing in stolen property) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). "Some accused were PAC officials, some CRPF, some UP police officials and some civilians," he added. New Delhi, Oct 13 : A staff member of the Israeli embassy in Beijing was attacked on Friday and has been hospitalised. The embassy employee was attacked early afternoon (China time) in Beijing "not too far" from the Israeli embassy premises and is in hospital, a senior Israeli official at the Beijing embassy told IANS, without providing details. The Israeli embassy in Beijing is located close to the Indian embassy in a high-security area of the city due to the presence of diplomatic missions. The identity of the Israeli embassy employee was not made public and the reason behind the reported stabbing remained unclear at the time of filing this report. The attack happened on the day when Muslims across the Middle East, after their Friday prayers, are protesting Israel's airstrikes on and expected ground offensive in Gaza. Israel had criticized China for not condemning the Hamas attacks on Israel last Saturday when hundreds of Israelis were killed on a single day and at least 150 people, including children and the elderly, were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip that is ruled by the Palestine militant outfit, whom Israel describes as terrorists, as does the US. Following the Hamas attacks, China released a statement calling for a "two-state solution" to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and more recently expressed concern about the mounting civilian casualties. China has also called for an immediate cease fire. Three Chinese nationals were killed, two were missing and several wounded after the weekend Hamas attacks. Israel has asked more than 1 million civilians in Gaza, half of the population there, to evacuate from the enclave's north before it launches its ground offensive to clear Hamas operations there. The Israeli death toll from the Hamas attacks was more than 1,300, and the Palestinian death toll from Israel's retaliatory strikes was upwards of 1,500, as of Friday early evening (India time). The Israel-Hamas war is expected to continue for weeks at least. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Mangaldeep, ITC's agarbatti brand, has launched a new video on the occasion of World Sight Day, commemorating the contribution of its 150+ visually impaired ITC Mangaldeep 'Sixth Sense' fragrance testers in the creation of unique and superior fragrance varieties of its products. ITC Mangaldeep has set up the flagship aSixth Sensea panels in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, to provide employment opportunities to visually challenged people by tapping into their keen olfactory abilities to improve it product offerings. Mangaldeep has made them a part of the fragrance evaluation process at the product testing stage, while supporting them with livelihood opportunities as well as empowering them with a sense of dignity and pride for being able to make an impact. It has recruited 150 plus aSixth Sensea panelists with assistance from self-help groups and NGOs and are given extensive training after they are onboarded. The heartwarming video shows a visually impaired individual walking through the by lanes leading to his house and describing the surroundings around him by inhaling the aroma generated by households and shops selling food items and flowers. He then introduces himself and says that although he does not have the power of vision, he has superior olfactory abilities which has helped in earning a livelihood being an ITC Mangaldeep aSixth Sensea panellist and leading a dignified life. The video leaves a lasting impression and makes us realise how lucky are those human beings who can enjoy the worldas surroundings with their eyes. The video also highlights the resilient nature of visually impaired individuals and how they manage to tackle the numerous curveballs thrown by life with a genial smile. The members of Mangaldeep aSixth Sensea panel have been able to capture minute variations in fragrance strengths and are bringing in high value-addition in olfactive matching of fragrances, a crucial process which involves matching a fragrance to a benchmark. This panel has played significant roles in the creation of unique and superior fragrance varieties of Sandal, Rose, Lavender and Marigold. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Supreme Court on Friday asked Andhra Pradesh to "stay its hand" in arresting TDP supremo and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in connection with the alleged Fibernet scam case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi issued notice and sought response of the state government on Naiduas plea filed against an decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court refusing to grant him anticipatory bail. The bench listed the matter for further hearing on October 17 and orally asked the investigative agency to not arrest TDP chief in the meantime. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Naidu, apprehended that former CM is very likely to be arrested on Monday before the apex court could take up the special leave petition seeking anticipatory bail in this case for further hearing on Tuesday. At this, the top court asked senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, who appeared for state government, to hold the arrest of the petitioner till the next date of listing. Rohtagi assured that he will seek deferment of proceedings coming before the trial court till Wednesday. Earlier on Monday, a bench of Justice Suresh Reddy of the High Court had dismissed Naiduas three pleas seeking anticipatory bail in different cases. He has been accused of playing a "key role" and pressuring officials to favour a particular company in awarding the FiberNet contract in Anadhra Pradesh. Naidu remains in judicial custody in the alleged multi-crore skill development scam case in which the CID had arrested him last month. He is currently lodged in the Rajahmundry Central Jail. --IANS puneet/vd Washington, Oct 13 : The much awaited first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule aims to launch in mid-April next year, according to a new update by NASA. Starliner's Crew Flight Test, or CFT, mission has been repeatedly delayed -- from December 2022 to February 2023, then to March, then to April, and then to July. In June, the company shared that the flight was delayed over parachute and wiring safety issues. Boeing and NASA officials in August confirmed that those problems could not be resolved in time for a launch this fall. "The first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft, named NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), is planned for no earlier than mid-April," read the mission update by NASA. The update listed no reason for the delay. The CFT aimed to send NASA astronauts and test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on a demonstration flight to prove the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system. In addition, the target date for the first operational flight of the Boeing spaceship has also been delayed, to early 2025 from summer 2024, the officials added in the update. Boeing had signed a contract with NASA's Commercial Crew Programme to fly operational missions to and from the space station with Starliner in 2014. However, it has faced a series of setbacks. Its debut uncrewed orbital flight mission in 2019 did not go exactly as planned, requiring it to make another try before putting astronauts on board for the crewed flight test. The capsule, however, made a successful repeat of that mission in 2022. The flammable tape issue and the parachute soft links issue were both present on that flight, but the mission was a success, NASA officials said. Starliner aims to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, spend approximately eight days docked to the space station, and return to Earth with a parachute and airbag-assisted ground landing in the desert of the western US. Beirut, Oct 13 : As Israel's northern border remains tense, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has visited neighbouring Lebanon and met with the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, media reports said. He warned that what he called "ongoing war crimes" against Palestinians in Gaza would "undoubtedly trigger a collective response from the resistance axis." There are real fears a new front could open up in the war if Hezbollah decides to get involved and attack Israel in support of its Palestinian allies, BBC reported. Hezbollah's deputy leader said they were "fully prepared" to join Hamas in the war against Israel - telling a rally in the suburbs of Beirut they will intervene "when the time comes". Like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah has been designated a terror organisation by the UK, US and other countries. It's a powerful player in Lebanon both militarily and politically and is close to Iran, BBC reported. The area of the Gaza Strip where Israel has ordered an evacuation within 24 hours covers around a third of the territory - north of a seasonal watercourse known as Wadi Gaza, which cuts through a narrow band of mainly agricultural land, BBC reported. At least 1.1 million people live in the affected area. Gaza City has a population of around 600,000. Beach Camp is home to around 90,000 people and Jabalya, the largest camp in the Gaza Strip, has 116,000, BBC reported. Shimla, Oct 13 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena on Friday underlined the need to preserve agriculture heritage and to learn lessons from experiences in the field from across the globe. He was speaking after inaugurating the 20th edition of the International Congress of Agricultural Museums (CIMA), organised by the International Association of Agricultural Museums (AIMA) and being held for the first time in Asia, which started at Shoolini University in Solan. He said the state had emerged as a shining star in the realm of development and education. He emphasised that Himachal Pradesh stands as a unique example among Indian states, having transformed itself within a single generation. The state has achieved a commendable 100 percent enrolment in education, ensured widespread electricity access, and developed an extensive network of roads, all within a remarkably short time, he said. Saxena said the state excels in both horticulture and agriculture, with its traditional 'Himachal Dham' featuring an array of pulses and rice, reflecting its rich cultural heritage. The apple industry, a cornerstone of the state's economy, has great potential for growth, requiring a technological infusion to bolster crop yields. He called upon individuals with strong domain knowledge to proactively contribute to the preservation of agriculture, stating that this conference would leave an indelible mark. Agriculture and Horticulture Secretary C. Paulrasu underlined the rich ancient traditions pertaining to agriculture and horticulture in the state and expressed the hope that the week-long conference would come out with ideas to help farmers and horticulturists. Shoolini University Chancellor P.K. Khosla said India has come a long way from severe shortage of food grains to a country not only self-sufficient but also a food grains exporting country. Vice Chancellor Atul Khosla said museums spark inspiration, and inspiration leads to positive changes. "Preserving our heritage is crucial. Innovation is not limited to urban areas and farmers also drive innovation." AIMA President Claus Kropp, who attended the inaugural session online, said agriculture is a living tradition, embodying the knowledge of rural India and also bridging the gap between consumers and farmers. Prof Rajeshwer S. Chandel, Vice-Chancellor of Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF) Nauni, highlighted the contribution of Himachal Pradesh in the field of horticulture and said the deliberations would benefit the farmers and agriculturists. Over 70 delegates from different parts of the country and abroad are participating in the week-long event. The prestigious global event will continue at Shoolini University till Sunday and will then move to Punjab Agriculture University in Ludhiana. Guwahati, Oct 13 : The Mizoram and Cachar frontiers of Border Security Force (BSF) and Assam Police carried out a joint operation and seized a huge quantity of drugs valued at Rs 70 crores coming from Mizoram, officials said on Friday. At least 2,60,000 Yaba tablets were reportedly found during this operation in the Katakhal area of Cachar district on Thursday night, but the accused drug dealers managed to flee, BSF officials said. They said that the drugs were stored in 26 packages in hidden chambers. Numal Mahatta, the Superintendent of Police in Cachar, said that the car came from Champhai area of Mizoram, which is close to the international boundary between India and Myanmar. He said that the global market value of seized narcotic substances must be around Rs 70 crores. A BSF official said that they had prior input about the movement of the narcotic substances through Cachar district. Mahatta said, aTwo people were peddling the narcotics but they were able to escape by taking advantage of the darkness. They jumped into a river nearby, but we are continuing our hunt. We are hopeful that they'll be taken into custody soon. The police said that the Yaba Tablet shipment may have originated in Myanmar, and the smugglers may have used local resources to get via Mizoram. A top Assam police official said that the masterminds in drug supply activities typically involve local youths to transport these substances, and these people usually get arrested. Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lauded the police and BSF for the successful operation. New Delhi, Oct 13 : With Navratri just around the corner, it's the perfect time to explore stories of strength, resilience, and female empowerment. In line with the festival's spirit, here's a list of six must-binge web series and audio series featuring powerful female protagonists, that not only entertain but also empower, embodying the essence of Navratri. From gripping crime dramas to heartwarming tales of ambition and self-discovery, these narratives resonate with the festival's ethos. Immerse yourself in the journeys of remarkable women and celebrate their strength as you mark Navratri with these must-watch series that inspire and captivate. 'Delhi Crime Season 1 and 2' 'Delhi Crime' season one delves into the harrowing events of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape in Delhi and places a strong female protagonist, DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, at its heart. Shefali Shah brilliantly portrays a character embodying calm, composure, and unwavering rationality, challenging stereotypes in a male-dominated profession. Addressed as 'Madam-Sir' by a fellow female officer, DCP Vartika Chaturvedi shatters gender barriers. The second season takes viewers on a new crime saga, further showcasing her exceptional skills in solving complex cases in the heart of Delhi. This series is a powerful and essential watch on this Navratri. It is streaming on Netflix. 'Aarya Season 1 and 2' 'Aarya' features a compelling narrative with a powerful female lead, Aarya Sareen, portrayed by Sushmita Sen. Set in the world of organised crime, Aarya transforms from a loving wife and mother into a confident decision-maker after her husband's mysterious death, uncovering his illegal activities. Sushmita Sen's performance anchors Aarya's character as a symbol of strength and determination. The series follows Aarya's journey for justice and the protection of her children, making it a perfect fit for Navratri's celebration of empowerment. It is streaming on Disney+Hotstar. 'Four More Shots Please Season 3' 'Four More Shots Please' season three follows four inseparable friends on a journey of emotional farewells, baggage, and complex relationships. It highlights a strong female protagonist in Damini, Akanksha, Siddhi, and Umang. As they seek closure and navigate their tumultuous lives, their stories resonate with the challenges and aspirations of modern women. The workplace encounter between Damini and Akanksha adds poignant nuances to the narrative. Siddhi's inner turmoil leads to a fiery reunion, unravelling the intricate layers of their friendship. Stream this engaging series on Prime Video for a fresh perspective on friendship, love, and self-discovery during Navratri. 'Aranyak' Raveena Tandon shines as Kasturi Dogra, a local police officer thrust into a high-profile investigation amidst the mystique of the Himalayas. Her character epitomises strength, independence, and relatable vulnerability. In this gripping series, she navigates a spectrum of emotions. As the show gears up for its second season, anticipate more mysteries in the enchanting Himalayan backdrop, illuminated by Raveena Tandon's exceptional performance. It is available on Netflix. 'Girls Hostel 2' The series portrays daily life in a typical girls' hostel, addressing common issues like water shortages and cramped rooms. Strong female protagonists, including Jo (Srishti Shrivastava), Zahira (Parul Gulati), Richa (Ahsaas Channa), and Mili (Simran Natekar), take centre stage as they stage a daring protest, thrusting their world into the realm of politics. But the political drama doesn't end there. As the hostel gears up for presidential elections, a fierce rivalry erupts, transforming the premises into a battleground of ambition and power struggles. It is a delightful, humorous, and empowering series that celebrates the strength and resilience of young women as they navigate the complexities of college life. It is streaming on SonyLIV. 'Love After Rebirth' 'Love After Rebirth', an audio series follows Aryaa Sinha, a resilient Army officer betrayed and brutally murdered. Through reincarnation, she seeks justice and her son's protection, aided by her devoted husband, Dr Sivaay Maheshwari. The series is a thrilling journey where love, redemption, and vengeance intertwine. Will it lead to reconciliation or a heart-wrenching climax? It is streaming on Pocket FM. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. A mine incident has occurred in the uncleared territory of Azerbaijan's Ashaghi Veysalli village, Fuzuli district, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) said, Trend reports. Commenting on the incident, the agency noted that the explosion of an anti-tank mine killed truck driver Famil Abilov (born in 1987), and injured another driver Namaz Bayramov (born in 2000). ANAMA once again urged citizens to act responsibly, avoid entering areas they are not familiar with and follow the required rules. A total of 317 people became victims of mine terror in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from Armenian occupation [in the 2020 second Karabakh war] between November 10, 2020, and September 19, 2023. Of them, 63 people (civilian: 50; military: 13) were killed and 253 (civilian: 102; military: 152) were injured. Mumbai, Oct 13 : Terming it as the "failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi", the Maharashtra Congress on Friday slammed the Centre and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as India fell another four places on the World Hunger Index. State unit Congress General Secretary Sachin Sawant said that now India has dropped below neighbours like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in terms of the number of people facing hunger and starvation. "During the Modi rule, only his friends have prospered while the poor are getting poorer. India's rank on WHI was 63 (2013) but under the BJP rule dropped to 101 (2021), 107 (2022) and 111 (2023). This is a clear sign of the failure of the government," said Sawant. Elaborating, he alleged that PM Modi can buy an aircraft worth Rs 8,000 crore and spend Rs 4,000 crore on the G-20 conference or Rs 21,000 crore on the Delhi convention centre, while millions of Indians go to sleep hungry daily. "When foreigners visit India, the Modi government hides the country's poverty by putting up curtains. Those who talk about the prices of tomato and petrol in Pakistan never discuss hunger and starvation prevalent in India. The fact that Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh rank higher on WHI is a shame," Sawant said. He said the Centre has declined in all areas, and after the fall in GDP, the Indian Rupee and other sectors, now the country has plummeted even on the WHI rankings owing to false promises to the people. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order passed by the Allahabad High Court ordering a CBI probe into the staff recruitment process of Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council). A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol passed an interim stay in the matter and issued notice returnable within a period of four weeks on the plea filed by the Legislative Council. The bench was apprised by senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, who appeared for the Legislative Council, that the petitioners approached the High Court after they were declared unsuccessful in competitive exams. Rohtagi said that recruitment was strictly made in accordance with the rules framed under Article 187 of the Constitution. In its impugned order passed on September 18, a division bench of Justices Om Prakash Shukla and A.R. Masoodi of the High Court had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a preliminary enquiry within a period of six weeks and ordered for registration of a suo moto PIL in the matter of "recruitment of staff in Vidhan Parishad Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, Secretariat, UP". The high court said that the decision taken by the secretariat to empanel an external agency by-passing the rule of Selection Committee for conducting the recruitment process was "shocking". Prior to the 2019 amendment, the UP Legislative Council Secretariat (Recruitment and Condition of Service) Rules provided for UP Public Service Commission as the recruitment agency. Earlier in April, a single bench of the High Court had dismissed the plea which sought to challenge the process of recruitment of staff in the Secretariat of Vidhan Parishad. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The University of Delhi has invited applications from candidates to its Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), the administration informed on Friday. The registrar of Delhi University said that as envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020, ITEP is a four-year degree programme exemplifying the process of developing a multidisciplinary approach to Teacher Education in higher education. The programme is of four-year duration with credits distributed across eight semesters of study. It is a dual-major bachelor's degree programme, with one major in education and the other in a disciplinary/interdisciplinary branch of knowledge, the registrar added. According to the Delhi University administration, this year, the programme is being offered in two premier women colleges, Mata Sundari College, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College. The colleges are further offering stage-specific specialisations in BA BEd (Middle) and BA BEd (Secondary). Women candidates who are interested in taking admission in ITEP must have appeared in the National Common Entrance Test (NCET) 2023 conducted by NTA, the Delhi University administration added. The registrar said that for applying to the University, the candidate must register themselves at http://itep.uod.ac.in using her NCET 2023 Application Number. Last date for registration is October 20. New Delhi, Oct 13 : A Delhi court on Friday extended ED custody of four accused individuals, including the Managing Director of Lava International, by three days in connection with a money laundering case related to Chinese smartphone-maker Vivo. Hari Om Rai, the MD of Lava International, Chinese national Guangwen Kyang aka Andrew Kuang, Rajan Malik, and chartered accountant Nitin Garg were produced before Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala of Patiala House Courts on expiry of three-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand. The ED sought their 10-day remand, however, the judge granted only three more days till October 16. The court noted that the custody of the accused persons has been sought due to their non-cooperation and evasive attitude and deliberate attempts to evade/mislead the probe. "It is also contended that custodial interrogation is required in the interest of investigation to find out the deep-rooted conspiracy for commission of offence under PMLA," it said. However, counsel for the accused, told the court that they have been called various times to join the investigation and they have always cooperated. The probe agency had arrested the four persons on October 10. A source had earlier told IANS that the arrests were made after the financial probe agency carried out searches at the premises of the four accused on Monday and recovered cash to the tune of Rs 10 lakh. The ED action came more than a year after it carried out searches at 48 locations across the country belonging to Vivo Mobiles India Private Ltd and its 23 associated companies such as Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL), and claimed that it has busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies. According to the ED, Vivo Mobiles India Pvt Ltd was incorporated on August 1, 2014 as a subsidiary of Multi Accord Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company, and was registered at ROC Delhi. GPICPL was registered on December 3, 2014 at ROC Shimla, with registered addresses of Solan, Himachal Pradesh, and Gandhinagar, Jammu. The PMLA investigation by ED was initiated by registering a money laundering case on February 3, 2022 on the basis of an FIR registered at the Kalkaji police station in the national capital by Delhi Police against GPICPL, its director, shareholders and certifying professionals etc., on the basis of a complaint filed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. --IANS spr/vd Kochi, Oct 13 : The Kerala High Court has allowed a man accused of committing offences punishable under IPC's Section 498 A (cruelty to woman by husband or relatives) to leave for Australia to pursue higher studies, despite the fact that the police had not filed the final report in the case. The court pointed out that the person has cooperated with the investigation and hence he need not be deprived of his right to go abroad for studies merely because the final report of the investigation has not been filed. "It is evident that, since the date of the surrender, he has been cooperating with the investigation and interrogation of the petitioner is already over. Apparently, no recovery is also to be affected. Therefore, I am of the view that, merely because the police have not submitted the final report, he need not be deprived of his right to go abroad to pursue his studies," read the order of the Court. Incidentally this relief came when the High Court had earlier granted the man anticipatory bail in the same case, but asked him to appear before the investigating officer every Saturday till the final report is filed besides he was not allowed to leave the country without getting permission from the jurisdictional court. Later the man approached a lower court asking permission to go to Australia to pursue his master's degree at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, but it was turned down, forcing him to move the High Court. The High Court, after looking into the case and the way he has been cooperating with the investigation, granted him permission to go abroad on condition he will execute a bond, and a submission that he will return as and when required. He was also asked to give his contact address while in Australia. --IANS sg/vd Mumbai, Oct 13 : Yogrishi Swami Ramdev is set to grace the stage of 'India's Got Talent' season 10, and will be seen teaching contestant Anuska Chatterjee a few yoga asanas. The talent reality show is raising the bar with its spectacular display of talent across various genres. The contestants have innovated and elevated their acts to impress the judges and the entire nation, and Sundayas episode will see them bring in the festive season in the aNavratri Speciala. As part of the celebration, Swami Ramdev will be gracing the sets of the show to make this a joyous occasion. Furthermore, the contestants, along with the judges, will seek blessings from aDurga Maaa and perform agarbaa, making for a delightful evening filled with music, cheer, and phenomenal acts that will leave you awestruck. With her unparalleled talent and extraordinary contortionist skills, Anushka Chatterjee from Kolkata leaves everyone mesmerised with her performance to the popular song 'Silsila Ye Chaahat Ka' . With her expressive dance moves and fluid transitions, she portrays the lighting of a diya, signifying its birth and the difficulties it faces while spreading light and hope around it. Left in awe with Anuskaas flexibility, Swami Ramdev said: "Anuska's body, mind, and soul are illuminated with the eternal flame of life, radiating its brilliance everywhere. In her form, we can see the power and wisdom of nature along with the supreme divine power that dwells in everything." "It's a complete expression of life that we witness here: full expression, perfect equilibrium, complete rejuvenation, complete divine transformation, and, ultimately, a connection with divinity. The integrated yoga practice through integrated dance is truly extraordinary," he added. Judge Kirron Kher further compliments Anuska, saying, aWhat a marvel! It's as if God has sent Anuska as a one-piece creation. You put in so much hard work, and you perform so well. Your act was truly wonderful and very moving. You embodied the eternal flame, the diya that people light continuously in their temples, and at their homes." "Everyone keeps this eternal flame burning, and the performance you gave on it was outstanding. Your greatest beauty is that you express so many emotions perfectly on your face, even while performing the most challenging acts," she added. Anuska expresses her passion for yoga and her wish to learn a few yoga asanas from Swami Ramdev. Making Anuskaas wish come true, Swami Ramdev joins Anuska on stage to teach her a few asanas. 'Indiaas Got Talent' airs on Sony. Nawazuddin on junior artiste days: 'I know the fear of not knowing what your next meal would be like'. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, Oct 13 : Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is known for 'Gangs of Wasseypur', 'Talaash', 'Sacred Games' and Raman Raghav 2.0', has started shooting for his next project titled, 'Section 108'. The teaser of the film has been released recently, and features Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the role of a lawyer. The actor shared a video from the sets on his social media. He wrote, "And the story beginsa #section108". The video shows him getting off his vanity van all set to dive into the charged moment of action and sketch up a compelling performance. Of late, Nawaz has been on a roll with an array of releases like aTiku Weds Sherua, aAfwaaha, and aHaddia. In addition to working in Hindi cinema, the actor is ready to make waves in the Telugu industry with his debut film, aSaindhava. The Pan India film will feature him in a grey-shaded character and will be released in cinemas worldwide on January 13, 2024. On the work front, Nawazuddin has an interesting lineup of films which includes films like aSaindhava, aNoorani Chehraa and aAdbhuta. Washington, Oct 13 : NASA has successfully launched the Psyche mission, which aims to explore an asteroid rich in gold, diamond and platinum, on Friday. The Psyche spacecraft lifted off atop a Falcon Heavy rocket on October 13 at 10:19 AM EDT (7.49 PM IST) from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. "We have liftoff! NASA's Psyche spacecraft, along with the agency's DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications) technology demonstration," NASA said in a blogpost. "Liftoff of Falcon Heavy!" SpaceX posted on X, formerly Twitter. Falcon Heavy's two side boosters came back to Earth for a landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is next door to KSC, about 8.25 minutes after liftoff. It was the fourth launch and landing for each booster, SpaceX said in a mission description. This was the first interplanetary mission for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, and is also the Falcon Heavy's first science mission for NASA's Launch Services Programme, based at Kennedy. The spacecraft will travel on a journey of nearly six years and about 3.6 billion kilometres to the asteroid by the same name orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter to study its composition. This will be the first time NASA has explored a world made not of rock and ice, but with large amounts of metal, as the mission seeks to understand a previously unexplored building block of planet formation: iron cores. NASA will have the first optical communications demonstration from distances farther than the Moon, through DSOC, which will operate during the first two years of the roughly six-year journey to Psyche. Along with DSOC, other instruments carried on the Psyche spacecraft include two multispectral imagers, two magnetometers, and a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer. The spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid Psyche in 2029, after about six years of a solar electric-powered cruise. It will spend 26 months in orbit around the asteroid Psyche, mapping and studying Psyche's properties. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Chairperson of the NCLAT to conduct an enquiry into the working of a bench of the appellate tribunal which allegedly defied an order of the apex court. A bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, said that the report prepared by the Chairperson of the NCLAT will specifically verify as to whether the order passed by the Supreme Court was drawn to the attention of the two-member bench of the appellate tribunal. It said that it is passing the order in "extraordinary circumstances" where the two-member bench of the NCLAT proceeded to pronounce the judgment despite the clear mandate of the order passed by the Supreme Court asking the appellate tribunal to declare "its judgment in the pending appeal after it is duly apprised of the fact that the result of the Annual General Meeting has been declared". Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and N.K. Kaul apprised the top court that the bench consisting of Rakesh Kumar and Dr Alok Srivastava of the NCLAT proceeded to deliver the order despite request made by the petitioner before the appellate tribunal to not deliver the judgment until the report of the scrutiniser is made available. "If what is stated is correct, this will clearly constitute the defiance of the order of this Court by the NCLAT," said the Supreme Court, noting that its order was uploaded at 1.55 pm while the scrutiniser's report was stated to be uploaded at 2.40 pm. It ordered that the enquiry report will be placed by NCLAT Chairperson before 5 pm on October 16 and posted the matter for further hearing on October 17. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Friday called for strict implementation of the actions listed in the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and directed officials from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to ensure reduction in paddy stubble burning. P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister said this while chairing a meeting of the high-level task force on air pollution in Delhi-NCR. He also reviewed various measures being undertaken to prevent and abate air pollution in Delhi-NCR. Mishra emphasised on the need to shift to cleaner fuels and e-vehicles, and also called for developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the region. In an effort to ensure reduction of the paddy stubble burning across Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the principal secretary to the PM instructed close monitoring of the issue by the chief secretaries of the three states. He advised the in-situ management of paddy stubble through Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines, and use of bio-decomposers. Mishra also advised Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) to improve the technology. Elaborating on ex-situ management of paddy stubble, he advised working on developing economic use of paddy straw. Mishra also stressed on developing adequate storage facilities for baled straw along with infrastructure for baling, briquetting and pelleting for effective ex-situ utilisation of paddy straw. Further, strict adherence to the stipulated targets for co-firing of biomass, with focus on paddy straw, in the thermal power plants biomass was also discussed. During the discussion, Mishra emphasised on a multi-pronged approach comprising several measures, such as procurement of biomass pellets, adopting the benchmark price issued by the power ministry, expanding gas infrastructure and supply in the entire NCR region by March 2024, and ensuring expeditious supply of biomass on demand. Further, there should be intensified drives to replace overaged vehicles, vehicles which are visibly polluting because of overloading and other reasons, and stricter implementation of actions envisaged in the GRAP by all concerned, he suggested. The meeting was attended by all major stakeholders namely secretaries to the Central government in the ministries of environment, agriculture, power, petroleum, road transport & highways, housing and urban affairs, animal husbandry & dairying, besides the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining areas, chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi, Central Pollution Control Board and the respective state pollution control boards. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. A conceptual project of Zilanli village of the Gubadli district has been prepared, which will be restored, the Restoration, Construction and Management Service No. 1 in East Zangezur Economic District told Trend. The project has been prepared in accordance with the "I State Program of the Great Return to the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation". The village is located 20 kilometers from the district center of Azerbaijan's Gubadli on the territory where the Hakari and Bargushad rivers merge, next to the village of Aghali in Zangilan district. The total designed area of the village is 180 hectares. At the initial stage, it is planned to build 159 houses and settle 772 people here. In general, the houses built will be two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom. It is envisaged that in the future 2,520 people (630 families) will settle in the village. According to the project, Azerbaijan's Kurdmahmudlu and Selali villages, located in the rural administrative-territorial district of Zilanli, are also included in this settlement. New Delhi, Oct 13 : India is all set to rev up the pulse rates of Indian motorsport fans yet again with the launch of the country's first-ever drifting competition. The JK Tyre Drift Challenge will take place at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) on October 16 and shake up the Indian motor-racing status quo, with the introduction of yet another emerging motorsport discipline which has gained global momentum. Drifting is a motorsport discipline that rewards skill, precision and car control over outright speed. It involves drivers sliding their cars and using oversteer to go sideways through a corner. The sight of the cars, balancing on a knife-edge, sliding around a corner, wheels smoking, is a spectacle to behold which has made Drifting extremely popular with fans, especially the younger generation. It is also the fastest-growing sub-discipline of motorsport across the world. aThe introduction of the Drift Challenge marks a significant moment in Indian motorsport history. Drifting has been happening in India in silos; however, with this competition with the help of FMSCI, we will formalize norms of drifting in India and try to match it on par with global standards soon. We have always been forerunners in the Indian motorsports arena, and with this competition, we continue to pursue our aim to develop the motorsports scene here with the introduction of diverse disciplines. This challenge will not only provide a platform for the countryas talented drivers to shine but also delight motorsport enthusiasts who are hungry for a new thrill," said, Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre. The JK Tyre Drift Challenge will feature a grid of 25 powerful rear-wheel drive cars piloted by some of the countryas most skilled & talented drivers. It will unfold over a series of events on specially-designed track layouts that will test the limits of driver and machine. They will be judged by an international three-member panel of drifting experts comprising Alistair Woodham from India who was ex-member of Drift Commission of FIA, Cristiani Nanami Lazaro from Brazil and Tanakorn Lertyaovarit from Thailand. The judging criteria will center on four main aspects: line, angle, style, and speed. Judges normally brief the drivers about the ideal line through a corner and drivers that stick as precisely to it as possible are scored higher. Similarly, the angle at which a driver drifts the car also counts towards their score. A shallow angle earns a lower score. A more acute angle is scored higher considering it requires more skill as the driver has to carry more speed through the drift so as not to lose momentum. Asfar as style is concerned, the more precise the drift the higher the score awarded. If a driver has to make too many corrections on the steering wheel as theyare going through the corner, theyall pick up a lower score. Which brings us to speed - the really skilled drivers are able to carry a lot of speed around the corners. The more speed they carry into the drift, the more difficult it is for them to be fluid, precise, hit the right angles and stick to the ideal line. Thus, if a driver is able to tick all of the other scoring boxes, all while carrying a lot of speed through the corners, they get more points. In addition to the Drift Challenge, the BIC will also host the JK Tyre Formula Imperial and Indian Karting Race. Organised by the Imperial Society of Innovation Engineers (ISIEINDIA), the event is an Industry-Academia initiative that offers a platform to the engineering students of India to design and develop sustainable mobility solutions. Over 2,000 students from across the country are expected to take part, demonstrating their innovation in the areas of vehicle aerodynamics, battery and powertrain design, brakes, and suspension technologies. They will be put to the test over various rounds between October 12 and 16, culminating in a 12-lap endurance finale at the BIC which will decide the winners. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 57.75 Crore belonging to various individuals, as proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 as part of investigation into the Karuvannur Service Co-op Bank fraud case. According to official statement, the attached assets include 117 immovable properties consisting of land and buildings in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, movable properties including 11 vehicles, fixed deposits and credit balances in 92 bank accounts of individuals found actively involved in the offence of money laundering. ED had initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Kerala Police under Section 420 of IPC. Kerala Police (Crime Branch) has registered more than 16 FIRs in Thrissur District in 2021 regarding the fraud in Karuvannur Service Co-Operative Bank. "ED investigation revealed that the loans were illegally sanctioned and disbursed to these persons and their benamis from the Karuvannur Service Co-Operative Bank Ltd in cash without any sufficient collaterals as part of a systematic conspiracy hatched and perpetuated by the Secretary and Committee members of Bank in connivance with the then Bank Manager," the statement read. "ED investigation has so far revealed that bogus loans were sanctioned by bank on the same property multiple times without the knowledge of members of Society. Investigation has also revealed that benami loans were sanctioned to non members against inflated property valuations in the names of other members and such loan funds were syphoned off and laundered by the accused beneficiaries," it said. The Karuvannur Service Co-Operative Bank was under the scrutiny of the Registrar of Co-Operative Societies in Thiruvananthapuram. "The Registrar of Cooperative Societies, in their audit, found diversion of funds of more than Rs. 150 Crores in the above manner.Earlier on August 10, and 22, 2023 and September 18, 2023, ED conducted searches at 20 locations including said Bank in Irinjalakuda, Thrissur and also conducted 5 surveys in related other cooperative banks to unearth the proceeds of crime and the evidences of laundering," read the statement. Earlier on September 4, and 26, four individuals namely, Sathish Kumar, Kiran P P, Aravindakshan and C.K. Jils were arrested under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002, who were beneficiaries of the illegally sanctioned loans. ED had also attached properties worth Rs. 30 Crore including a resort in Thekkady, Kerala from one Bijoy who had also received illegal loans from bank and invested in the resort. Total properties worth Rs. 87.75 Crore are attached by ED so far. New Delhi, Oct 13 : A two-day Eastern Air Command (EAC) Commanders' conference has been held at Air Force Station in Assam's Tezpur town. Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Air Staff, attended the annual Eastern Air Command (EAC) Commanders' conference. The Indian Air Force (IAF) reviewed its operational preparedness, weapon systems and assets at Eastern Air Command.VR Chaudhari reviewed the operational preparedness of the Command and expressed satisfaction on its major achievements. In his address, the Chief of the Air Staff emphasised the importance of maintaining a high operational preparedness and ensuring the operational readiness of all platforms, weapon systems and assets. According to the IAF, Chaudhari stressed the need for the root-cause analysis of all accidents and incidents, to improve maintenance practices to boost mission effectiveness, and to focus on physical and cyber security at all times. He urged all commanders to continue their efforts towards providing a safe operational flying environment. The Chief of the Air Staff was received by Air Marshal SP Dharkar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, EAC and was introduced to all commanders and senior officials. The Eastern Air Command (EAC) Commanders' conference was held on October 12 and 13 at Air Force Station, Tezpur. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking an order for the administration of a fresh oath to Justice D.K. Upadhyay as the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. The petitioner submitted before the court that Chief Justice Upadhyay did not use aIa while taking oath. A bench, comprising CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, J.B. Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra slammed the petitioner for wasting the top court's time with such a frivolous petition and imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner for bringing such a petition to the court. The petition also said that the Governors and CMs of all states and UT should be invited to the oath-taking ceremony as the CM of Goa and the Lt Governor of Daman and Diu were not invited to the ceremony. "You are challenging the oath because the Governor said 'I' but the CJ didn't use the word 'I' while taking the oath? There is a limit to frivolity before the Supreme Court," the CJI said. "We have to sit down and read these matters and burn the midnight oil! This is quite serious. We are imposing 1 lakh Rs as anticipatory costs in the matter. You deposit it and then we will hear you," the CJI remarked orally. Noting that the PIL was a frivolous attempt to get some publicity for petitioners, the CJI stated that such PILs take the time of the court and deflect it from taking up important matters. The court imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner. Patna, Oct 13 : There was a huge scare at the Patna Junction railway station on Friday after an unidentified person called the station manager about a bomb being planted at one of the platforms. The station manager immediately swung into action and alerted GRP and RPF officials at the railway station. The GRP officials initiated the search operation in and outside of the station premises by taking the help of sniffer dogs. The bomb squad was also called in case of any kind of explosive was detected. "I received a phone call and the caller informed me that a bomb was planted at the Patna Junction. I immediately alerted GRP and RPF. The search operation is currently underway," said Raju Kumar, station manager of Patna Junction. The GRP and RPF was checking all luggage and bags of passengers with sniffer dogs and explosive detectors. A similar threat call was received in Patna Junction on December 20, 2022 warning of an explosion at platform number 2 but was ultimately found to be a hoax call. Lahore, Oct 13 : Slain Maulana Shahid Latif's security guard Zulfiqar Ali on Wednesday said that six unidentified people came to Noori-i-Madina Masjid in Mandike Guraya Chowk on motorbikes and three of them joined the prayers, as per reports. He said that some gunshots were heard and within seconds the assailants fled the scene, adding that the gunmen had shot at him too but he remained unhurt. According to the police, prayer leader Maulana Ahad, Maulana Muhammad Latif, and his security guard Hashim Ali were seriously injured in the firing, Dawn reported. Police had said Maulana Latif died on the spot due to a head injury while Maulana Ahad and the security guard were immediately shifted to the Daska Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in critical condition. The guard succumbed to bullet wounds while Maulana Ahad was shifted to a hospital in Gujranwala where he also expired, Dawn reported. Eyewitnesses Qamar Abbas and Salim Warik, also offering prayers, said that the age-group of the suspects was between 20 and 25 years. Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Hasan Iqbal said that this could be a targeted killing and an incident of terrorism, adding that the police investigation teams have obtained all the evidence and statements of local people from the spot. To a question, the DPO had confirmed Muhammad Shahid Latif had been an activist of the banned Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Dawn reported. Shahid Latif, one of India's most wanted terrorists and also a key conspirator in the 2016 Pathankot terror attack case was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Pakistan's Sialkot. Latif was shot dead inside a mosque. The police are yet to identify the assailants and identify the attackers. According to Indian agencies, he had guided the four terrorists to carry out an attack at the Pathankot airbase in 2016. Interestingly, he was released by the Indian government in 2010 along with 24 other terrorists. Mumbai, Oct 13 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said it has imposed monetary penalties on Union Bank of India and RBL Bank for the violation of norms. The RBI has imposed a Rs 1 crore penalty on the Union Bank of India as it did not comply with certain directions and sanctioned a term loan to a corporation in lieu of or to substitute budgetary resources envisaged for certain projects, without undertaking due diligence on the viability and bankability of the projects to ensure that revenue streams from the projects were sufficient to take care of the debt servicing obligations, the statement explained. RBL Bank was fined Rs 64 lakh because it failed to obtain an annual declaration in Form B from one of its major shareholders, within one month of the close of the three financial years ending on March 31, 2018, March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020, and furnish certificates to RBI regarding continuance of the 'fit and proper' status of one of its major shareholders, by the end of September of the said three financial years, the press statement said. "This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers," RBI added. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The recent Middle Eastern crisis, fuel prices, and fragmentation of global supply chains remain major concerns for emerging markets, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday. Addressing a press conference in Morocco's Marrakesh, Sitharaman, giving details of deliberations during the second session of the second day of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G20 FMCBG meeting, said that discussions on global economy and crypto assets were held in the meeting. The meeting adopted the G20 roadmap on Crypto assets, its implementation going forward and provided their guidance regarding the swift and coordinated implementation of the roadmap to achieve a comprehensive policy response for Crypto assets. The ministers and governors also exchanged views on the global economic outlook and the possible policy approaches that could be adopted, individually and collectively to address the challenges. Brazil's Economy Minister Fernando Haddad provided an overview of the key priorities of the G20 Brazilian presidency in 2024. Under the G20 FinanceTrack, he said that the Brazilian presidency will have key focus on addressing global risks, deepening reforms of international financial institutions, international taxation, and other issues. Haddad shared that Brazil's G20 presidency's theme will be "Building a fair world and a sustainable planet". Sitharaman concluded the G20 FMCBG with commitment of India's support to the Brazilian presidency in achieving a strong today and a stronger tomorrow for the world and all our people. Earlier at the outset, Sitharaman expressed gratitude to the government of Morocco and the Moroccan people for their extraordinary hospitality extended to G20 countries under very difficult circumstances and expressed solidarity with Morocco for quick recovery. She also thanked Indonesian Finance Minister and Central Bank Governor for providing continued guidance and enabling India to steer work of the Finance Track. --IANS ans/vd Hyderabad, Oct 13 : Silent protests to show solidarity with Palestinians and special supplications during Friday prayers were held in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana. A group of students from English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) staged a protest at Ambedkar statue in central Hyderabad. Police detained the protestors who were raising slogans denouncing Israel for attacking Gaza. The protestors were carrying placards carrying slogans like 'Long live Palestine', 'Gaza will never die', 'Boycott Zionist Israel', 'From river to the sea Palestine will be free'. Police detained the protestors saying there is no permission for the protest. The city also witnessed silent gatherings by the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) to show solidarity with the Palestinians. The gatherings were held in Toli Chowki, Seven Tombs, Yousufguda, Borabanda, Khilwat, Santoshnagar and Rajendranagar areas. SIO workers also held a silent gathering at Osmania University. They were carrying placards. 'Zionism is genocide', 'Hand off Al-Aqsa' and 'Occupation is the crime, not resistance to it' read some of the placards. SIO Hyderabad unit said in a statement that it stands firmly in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance in their struggle for liberation and dignified life. "We condemn the flagrant mockery of international laws, countless killings and repeated desecration of Al-Aqsa by the apartheid Israel state, which are the causes of the current escalation in the region," it said. The SIO urged the international community to hold Israel accountable for the enormous crimes it has been committing against the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, there were special dua (supplications) during Friday prayers at mosques to pray for Palestinians. In response to a call given by Muslim organizations for observing Friday as 'Youm-e-dua', imams during their sermons and after namaz prayed for the people of Gaza and for Al-Aqsa mosque. Supplications were held at the historic Mecca Masjid, Shahi Masjid and hundreds of mosques in Hyderabad and other towns in Telangana. An Israeli flag was trampled by the worshippers at a mosque in Saeedabad area. The flag was laid on ground outside the entrance of the mosque and people coming out after prayers were trampling it. Police had made tight security arrangements near Mecca Masjid. Large number of police personnel and Rapid Action Force were deployed to maintain law and order. Tel Aviv, Oct 13 US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said there is no "direct evidence" linking Iran to attack on Israel by Hamas, even though they are known to have a close relationship. He said that Iran has not accessed even a single dollar of the $6.1 billion of oil revenue unfreezed by the US through Qatar to Iran. Blinken said Iran has had a long standing relationship with the Palestinian militant group (training and supplying arms), this is one of the reasons that the U.S has levied sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies over 400 times since President Joe Biden assumed office, Blinken told NBC's Nightly News. "Hamas wouldn't be Hamas without the support over many, many years from Iran," he said adding, "And we know it. We see that." However, he was cautious in his statement as he clarified that the U.S did not lay its hands yet on any proof implicating Tehran in the Hamas' weekend offensive as the Jewish New Year celebs were coming to an end. "When it comes to this specific attack, at this moment, we don't have direct evidence that Iran was involved in the attack, either in planning it or carrying it out," Blinken said. Republicans have criticised the Biden's democratic government of being lax towards Iran, in following up a prisoner exchange deal that saw five imprisoned Americans released against five Iranians and the U.S in exchange for the release of about $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets from oil sales. These attacks are coming either from people who are misinformed or spreading misinformation, Blinken said. The money in question was allowed to flow from a bank account in South Korea from the sale of Iranian oil, noting that the Trump administration established the mechanism and Iranians were already allowed to spend that money on humanitarian purposes. Iran had been unable to access those funds for technical reasons, and the Biden administration simply allowed transferring the money to another account in Qatar. Under the latest agreement, Tehran could only spend the money on humanitarian goods under the supervision of the U.S. Treasury Department, U.S media reports said. The U.S and Qatar have reportedly agreed to prohibit Iran from accessing the money in the wake of the Israel Hamas war and Iran's suspected involvement. So far, the Iranians hadn't used any funds in the account in question. "Not a dollar of this money has been spent to date, and we retained the right to freeze that account," Blinken said. The U.S Secretary of State had travelled to Israel on Thursday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top government officials on a special mission to help Israel secure the safe release of hostages held by the Hamas that included an unknown number of Americans and locating the missing 25 Americans on Israeli soil. Blinken had expressed the U.S.'s commitment to support Israel. "You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to," Blinken said. "We will always be there by your side." IANS ashok/dan BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The Council of heads of CIS member-states customs services has adopted a number of decisions, Trend reports. According to the State Tax Service of Azerbaijan, the 77th meeting of the Council of Heads of Customs Services of CIS member states was held in Dushanbe (Tajikistan). Delegations of customs services of Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan took part in the event. Azerbaijan was represented at the meeting by a delegation headed by the Chairman of the State Customs Committee, Lieutenant General of Customs Service Shahin Bagirov. Within the framework of the meeting, relevant decisions were made regarding the approaches to importation of goods divided into parts by individuals, the practice of using navigation seals to track shipments, and the display of information on the gross weight of goods in the customs declaration. In addition, the event approved the Work Plan of the Council of Heads of Customs Services of the CIS Member States for 2024. Also, the order of affixing seals and stamps of customs authorities on transport and commercial documents, training of personnel under the programs of higher education and additional professional education, agreement on the Center of expertise and research for customs purposes, as well as draft memorandums on simplification of the procedure of registration of documents for transit transportation of goods were discussed. The next 78th meeting was decided to be held in the first half of 2024 in Uzbekistan. New Delhi, Oct 13, : A Delhi court on Friday reserved judgement in TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan's 2008 murder case for pronouncement on October 18. Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey, who presided over the case, gave the time for additional arguments or clarifications since both the defence and prosecution completed their arguments last week. The court also directed all the accused to be present in court when the judgment is pronounced. Vishwanathan tragically lost her life on September 30, 2008, when she was shot dead on Nelson Mandela Marg while returning home from work in her car. Five individuals - Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Kumar, and Ajay Sethi - were arrested in connection with the murder and have been in custody since March 2009. The police had attributed the motive for her killing to robbery, and had invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused. Malik, along with two others - Kapoor and Shukla - had previously been convicted in the 2009 killing of IT executive Jigisha Ghosh. In Ghosh's murder, the trial court sentenced Kapoor and Shukla to death and awarded a life term to Malik. Subsequently, in the following year, the high court commuted the death sentences of Kapoor and Shukla to life imprisonment while upholding Malik's life term in the Ghosh's murder case. Beirut, Oct 13 : Iran's foreign minister warned Friday that if Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip don't stop immediately, the violence could spread to other parts of the Middle East, media reported. Hossein Amirabdollahian is on a tour that took him to Baghdad before Beirut, and later in the day he is scheduled to travel to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Iran sponsors powerful militant groups in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and groups within the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, The New Arab reported. Amirabdollahian spoke to reporters in Beirut after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, during which the two officials called for an end to Israel's attacks on Gaza. He also met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the speaker of the Parliament. There have been concerns that the war could spread to Lebanon's border where Hezbollah fighters have been on alert following Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Saturday that left hundreds of people dead, The New Arab reported. On Thursday, Israel's military struck two of Syria's main international airports, in Damascus and Aleppo, putting them out of service. Flights were diverted to an airport in the coastal province of Latakia. The strikes came after shells were fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Sporadic acts of violence along the Lebanon-Israel border over the past days left three Hezbollah fighters dead on Monday. Israel's military said one Israeli soldier was killed in an anti-tank missile attack on Wednesday, The New Arab reported. "What is funny is that at a time when America is calling on parties for self restraint, it is allowing the criminals in the fake Zionist entity to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza," Amirabdollahian said. He warned that "if these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity don't stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility." He did not elaborate but it was an apparent hint that Iran-backed groups could join the war, The New Arab reported. san/pgh New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday said that it arrested Rajendra Narayan Panigrahi, a Port Health Officer of the Port Health Organisation, in Odisha's Paradip involved in a graft case of Rs 54,000 and during searches recovered Rs 17 lakh and $20,558, an official said. A CBI spokesperson here said that the agency arrested Panigrahi for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 54,000 from the complainant. He added that a case was registered on complaint against Panigrahi on the allegations of demanding bribe for the issuance of Port Health Medical Clearance for the crew members working in the complainant's company. The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused while demanding and accepting the bribe of Rs 54,000, he said. The agency also carried out searches at Panigrahi's premises at Paradip, Cuttack and Balasore (Odisha), which resulted in recovery of cash worth Rs 17 lakh and $20,558 as well as incriminating documents, including those pertaining to five properties at various places in Odisha and Hyderabad. The accused will be produced before the Court of Special Judge, Bhubaneswar. Istanbul, Oct 13 : The Israeli military's announcement, which requires Palestinians residing in the northern part of Gaza to relocate to the southern region within 24 hours, is in no way acceptable, said Turkey's foreign ministry, media reported. "Forcing the 2.5 million people of Gaza, who have been subjected to indiscriminate bombing for days, collectively deprived of electricity, water, and food, to migrate in a highly restricted area, is not only a clear violation of international law but also has no place in humanity," the ministry said in a statement on Friday, TRT World reported. "We expect Israel to immediately rectify this grave mistake and to cease its merciless and indiscriminate actions against the civilian population in Gaza," the statement added, TRT World reported. The conflict began last Saturday when Hamas initiated Operation Al Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air. Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlersa growing violence against Palestinians. The Israeli military then launched a bombardment on Gaza. Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to the besieged Palestinian enclave, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling blockade since 2007, TRT World reported. Iranas foreign minister warned Friday that if Israelas attacks on the Gaza Strip don't stop immediately, the violence could spread to other parts of the Middle East, media reported. Hossein Amirabdollahian is on a tour that took him to Baghdad before Beirut, and later in the day he is scheduled to travel to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Iran sponsors powerful militant groups in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and groups within the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, The New Arab reported. Aizawl, Oct 13 : Ahead of November 7 Mizoram Assembly elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would campaign for the party in the state for three days from October 16, party leaders said on Friday. AICC Media Coordinator and in-charge for Mizoram Mathew Anthony said that Gandhi would be in Mizoram from October 16 and on the first day, would interact and walking along with the people from the Chandmari junction to the Treasury Bhawan in Aizawl. Before returning to Delhi on October 18, he would attend a number of organisational and campaign related events. The Congress was voted out of power in 2018 by the Mizo National Front (MNF). State Congress chief Lalsawta recently said that the party would field candidates in all the 40 Assembly seats and the Central Election Committee would soon announce the names of the candidates. The Congress has recently formed aMizoram Secular Alliancea (MSA) with two local parties --- Peopleas Conference (PC) and Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP). Lalsawta said that the MSA was formed to unitedly fight against the BJP. The Congress leader, referring to the resolution adopted by the MSA, urged the other political parties to join the alliance for the survival of the Mizos and their religion. "It is alleged that ever since the saffron party and its allies came to power at the Centre in 2014, there have been concerted efforts to demolish the minority communities, especially the tribals, and to usher in a Hindu kingdom by a series of legislations, to which the Mizoram Secular Alliance does not want to remain a silent spectator. "India has become one of the top countries where Christians are not safe," the MSA resolution said. In the current Assembly, the Congress has five members while the PC and the ZNP don't have any representation. New Delhi, Oct 13 : A number of senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP leaders from Punjab met the Congress General Secy K.C. Venugopal on Friday to express their desire to join the party and were inducted. Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said: "They have come back to the party today. There are seven leaders - four from BJP and three from SAD." He said that the perception of Congress is growing day in and day out in Punjab, and also said that many important leaders of the AAP will also come back to Congress. Besides Bajwa, Congress state unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was also present at the party headquarters. New Delhi, Oct 13 : The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response to a petition to divest the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of its control over the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT). The bench comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra gave two weeks' time to the Centre to respond to the plea. The apex court was hearing petitions filed by the AFT Bar Association in Chandigarh that challenged the transfer of judicial member Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary from Chandigarh to the Kolkata bench of the tribunal. While the bench refused to interfere with the plea against the transfer, it decided to consider the plea against the MoD's control over the AFT. The petitioner's counsel submitted that as the Ministry itself is a major litigant before the AFT, giving it administrative control over the Tribunal shows conflict of interest. The Armed Forces Tribunals Act 2007, led to the formation of AFT. These Tribunals were established for the adjudication or trial of disputes and complaints with respect to the commission, appointments, enrolments and conditions of service in respect of persons subject to the Army Act, 1950, The Navy Act, 1957 and the Air Force Act, 1950. These Tribunals can further provide for appeals arising out of orders, findings or sentences of courts-martial held under the said Acts and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Judicial Members are retired High Court Judges and Administrative Members are retired Members of the Armed Forces who have held the rank of Major General or equivalent or above for a period of three years or more. New Delhi, Oct 13 : Here is a list of some important cases which Supreme Court heard on Friday: Stern warning to Maharashtra Speaker The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker for the delay in hearing and deciding the disqualification petitions filed by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction). It orally asked the Speaker to take a decision before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. N. Chandrababu Naidu The Supreme Court on Friday asked Andhra Pradesh to "stay its hand" in arresting TDP supremo and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in connection with the alleged Fibernet scam case. It issued notice and orally asked the investigative agency to not arrest TDP chief in the meantime. SC order enquiry against NCLAT members The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Chairperson of the NCLAT to conduct an enquiry into the working of a bench of the appellate tribunal which allegedly defied an order of the apex court. It ordered that the enquiry report will be placed by NCLAT Chairperson before 5 pm on October 16. Plea seeks ban on live surgery broadcast The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Union government, the National Medical Commission (NMC) and others on a plea seeking ban on live surgery broadcast. CBI probe stayed by SC The Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order passed by the Allahabad High Court ordering a CBI probe into the staff recruitment process of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. No relief to Delhi PWD officials The Supreme Court on Friday refused to quash the show-cause notice served by the vigilance department to six PWD officers over the alleged violations of rules in renovation work undertaken at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's official residence and asked these officials to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). Curative plea for Maratha reservation The Supreme Court on Friday said that it will list in due course the curative petition filed by the Maharashtra government against the 2021 apex court judgment striking down the Maratha reservation. SC notice on Mukhtar Ansari's plea The Supreme Court on Friday sought response of the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea filed by gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari against his conviction in a 23-year-old case lodged under the Gangster Act. In September last year, the Allahabad High Court had sentenced him to five-year imprisonment with a fine of Rs 50,000. 'Frivolous' PIL against CJ of Bombay HC The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL seeking a direction for the administration of a fresh oath to Justice D.K. Upadhyay as the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. It slammed the petitioner for wasting the top court's time with frivolous plea and imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner. Jyotiraditya Scindia's election to Rajya Sabha The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea challenging the election of Union Civil Aviation and Steel Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh in 2020. It was contended that Scindia had suppressed the facts by not disclosing the FIR in his nomination form which amounts to fraud and corrupt practice and his election be declared as null and void. Protection continued to Suvendu Adhikari's relatives The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by the West Bengal government against a Calcutta High Court order that granted protection to relatives of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's relatives. New Delhi, Oct 13 : At least 70 seats out of Telangana's total 119 were discussed during the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday, party leaders said. Kharge chaired the meeting of the CEC at the party headquarters, which was also attended by party MPs Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretary, Organisation, K.C. Venugopal, Telanagana Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy, Screening Committee Chairman K. Muralidharan, state incharge Manikrao Thakre and many others. The senior leaders discussed the candidates for at least three hours. Briefing the media later, Muralidharan said: "Today we have discussed 70 out of 119 seats and more discussion is required to finalise all the seats." He said that the Congress will soon announce the list of all candidates at one time. The Congress is gearing for coming to power in the southern state in the upcoming assembly elections by defeating the ruling BRS. The party will kick off a yatra in the state on October 18 and Rahul Gandhi will be joining it for three consecutive days till October 20. The polling for 119 member Telangana Assembly is scheduled on November 30, and counting of votes will take place on December 3. Bhubaneshwar, Oct 14 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed the state administration to ensure safe return of 35 Odia workers reported to be held captive in Laos. "As per the direction of the Chief Minister, the Labour Commissioner has taken up the issue with the Indian Embassy at Laos. The Embassy authorities have informed that they are in touch with the labourers and all necessary steps will be taken for their safe return to India," a press release issued by the Chief Ministeras office said. The workers from Kendrapara district have reportedly been held captive at a plywood factory in Attapeu province of the southeastern Asian country. The issue came to the fore after the stranded workers sent videos to their families narrating their ordeal. The workers alleged that they are being subjected to physical and mental torture by the owner who has also forcefully taken away their passports of the victims and allegedly not paid their salaries for the last two months. The workers were forced to work at the plywood factory for long hours against the promised 8-hour shift in a day. They had gone to Laos through a local contractor six months back. The employer is allegedly providing food to the workers once in a day and also physically abusing them if they demand more. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. An exhibition of table grape varieties by the Israeli Grapa Varieties Ltd. company took place in Azerbaijan, Trend reports. According to the Center for Agrarian Research, the exhibition of grapevine products was organized by the Shamakhi Center for Grape Sapling Cultivation. Farmers and representatives of grape-related companies participated in the event. Various table grape varieties produced by Grapa Varieties Ltd. were showcased at the event, and grape products were available for tasting. Detailed information on early, mid-season, and late-ripening grape varieties, as well as the company's activities in the Russian market, was provided to the agrarians at the event. The Shamakhi Center for Grape Sapling Cultivation focuses on ensuring the sustainability of the country's grapevine farms under various climatic conditions, providing planting material for grapevines resistant to phylloxera, and introducing new grape varieties. Grapa Varieties is a leading global company that specializes in breeding and licensing timeless table grape varieties. Man held for killing woman, pouring acid on face to hide identity in Delhi. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Oct 13 : A Delhi court has sent two people arrested for the murder of a taxi driver, who was dragged for around 200 metre by a group of robbers who looted his car here, to five-day police custody. The accused -- Mehraj Salmani (33) and Asif (24), both residents of Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, were produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate Animesh Bhaskar Mani Tripathi of the Patiala House Court. The police sought the duo's remand for seven days on the grounds that they need to recreate the scene of crime and for the proper investigation of the case. "Visits have to be made to Meerut and other places of Delhi to prepare the pointing out memo and recovery of case property," the court was told. The judge was told that the thorough investigation and collection of the evidences in the present case is yet to be done. "... to recover the case property i.e. belonging of the deceased," the court was told. Forty-three-year-old taxi driver was killed after he was dragged for around 200 metre by a group of robbers who looted his car in southwest Delhi. The accused were arrested from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. The deceased identified as Bijendra, a resident of Faridabad, was found dead near the service road of National Highway-8 in Delhi late on Tuesday. A purported video capturing the incident circulated widely on social media, showing a man being pulled under a car. In the video, the man could be seen trapped between the rear and front wheels on the right side of the vehicle. "A case under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code was registered and a probe was initiated," an official had said. During the initial questioning, the duo had revealed that they boarded the taxi as passengers and after some time threatened and pushed the taxi driver out of the car with the intent to rob the vehicle. Tel Aviv, Oct 14 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said there is no "direct evidence" linking Iran to last Saturday's attack on Israel by Hamas, even though they are known to have a close relationship. Also, Iran has not accessed even a single dollar of the $6.1 billion of oil revenue un-freezed by the US through Qatar to Iran. Blinken said Iran has had a long standingrelationship with the Palestinian militant group (training and supplying arms), this is one of the reasons that the US has levied sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies over 400 times since President Joe Biden assumed office, Blinken told NBC's "Nightly News". "Hamas wouldn't be Hamas without the support over many, many years from Iran," he said adding: "And so, we know that. We see that. However, he was cautious in his statement as he clarified that the US did not lay its hands yet on any proof implicating Tehran in the Hamas' weekend offensive as the Jewish New Year celebs were coming to an end." "When it comes to this specific attack, at this moment, we donat have direct evidence that Iran was involved in the attack, either in planning it or carrying it out," Blinken said. "But that could change." Republicans have criticised the Biden's Democratic government of being lax towards Iran, in following up a prisoner exchange deal that saw five imprisoned Americans released against five Iranians and the US in exchange for the release of about $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets from oil sales. These attacks are coming either from people who are misinformed or spreading misinformation, Blinken said. The money in question was allowed to flow from a bank account in South Korea from the sale of Iranian oil, noting that the Trump administration established the mechanism and Iranians were already allowed to spend that money on humanitarian purposes. Iran had been unable to access those funds for technical reasons, and the Biden administration simply allowed transferring the money to another account in Qatar. Under the latest agreement, Tehran could only spend the money on humanitarian goods under the supervision of the US Treasury Department, US media reports said. The US and Qatar have reportedly agreed to prohibit Iran from accessing the money in the wake of the Israel Hamas war and Iranas suspected involvement. So far, the Iranians hadnat used any funds in the account in question. "Not a dollar of this money has been spent to date, and we retained the right to freeze that account," Blinken said. The US Secretary of State had travelled to Israel on Thursday and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top government officials on a special mission to help Israel secure the safe release of hostages held by the Hamas that included an unknown number of Americans and locating the missing 25 Americans on Israeli soil. Blinken had expressed the US' commitment to support Israel. "You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself -- but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to," Blinken said. "We will always be there by your side." New Delhi, Oct 14 : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday had an interaction with Josh Lipsky of Atlantic Council wherein she spoke about India's economic outlook and the country's goals as G20 president, following the 4th G20 finance ministers and Central banks governors (FMCBG) meeting held on October 12-13 and IMF-World Bank meetings in Marrakech, Morocco. The Finance Minister expressed happiness over the fact that under India's presidency, G20 has given the world a glimmer of hope, especially at a time when one thinks that multilateral institutions can't take any decisions and deliver. "During our G20 presidency, a sense of wanting to deliver was on our minds. So it's not just to the credit of the Indian G20 Presidency but the members who felt that this was the best opportunity to come out, showing the world that we can take decisions," the Finance Minister said. Speaking about payments infrastructure for emerging economies, Sitharaman said that for countries, particularly those in Africa and some of the island countries in the Pacific, there's a serious problem of not having enough dollars to pay for what they essentially need and we have seen this lasting for more than a desirable time. "So, in those circumstances, we have said that they can pay in their local currencies, provided that India and those countries establish some kind of equation. Equally, we are talking to countries to develop digital payment systems compatible with one another for efficient and real-time transfer," she said during the interaction. Technology is being readily adopted by Indian citizens of different backgrounds because of the use of regional languages. Many services do not require smartphones, they can be used on feature phones as well, the finance minister added. "This use of technology isn't confined to payments. We even issued vaccine certificates on phones. Anyone travelling abroad had it on their phones. It showed when they took the vaccine, when is the next date due and where can they take it," she informed. Imphal, Oct 14 : Ten like-minded parties' bloc in Manipur led by the Congress, held a rally and submitted a memorandum to the state Governor Anusuiya Uikey, and claimed that the Central and state governments have "chosen the path of non-intervention to the crisis of clash between the ethnic groups". The leaders of 10 parties led by former three-time Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh (2002-2017) met the Governor and told her that despite the present crisis in Manipur now stretching over five months, no meaningful peace talks with the concerned stakeholders is in sight. "The Central and state governments are trying to sideline the main reasons behind the crisis by taking shelter under the theory of conspiracy by outside militant organisations with an intent to attack India. Finding a solution by correctly analysing the causes behind the crisis requires no emphasis. It is high time for the Central and state authorities to engage in a peace process to bring normalcy to the state," the 10-party memorandum to the Governor said. They added that because of the failure of the state and Central machineries to manage the serious crisis of law and order in the state, local civil societies are trying to fill the gap of missing governance by resorting to various forms of agitations and pronouncements. Of late, the state government imposed various prohibitory measures to prevent the citizens from exercising their fundamental rights like freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and constructive criticism of the government, the parties said. Noting that the relief package announced by the state and Central governments is inadequate in terms of coverage and quantum, the parties said that while the families which suffered losses with the death of their family members, injuries, burning of houses and businesses, are the most deserving, there are many like drivers of trucks, buses, school vans, taxis, business owners, daily wage earners, who also need relief and rehabilitation. The memorandum of the 10 parties said that mortal remains of two students, Hijam Linthoingambi and Phijam Hemant Singh, are yet to be recovered and handed over to their families. Similarly, several mortal remains of many killed due to the violence are lying in the mortuaries at the two medical colleges in Imphal and Churachandpur district hospital. It is the wish and desire of family members of the deceased to perform the last rites according to their faith, the leaders said, and urged the Governor to arrange for handing over of mortal remains to the affected families at the earliest. The 10 parties, which also include the Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, CPI-M, CPI, Forward Bloc, RSP, Shiv Sena-UBT, Janata Dal-United and Nationalist Congress Party, have demanded that the government should talk to all stakeholders for an amicable settlement of the crisis and bring ever-lasting peace and harmony in Manipur. Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy addresses a press conference at party office, in Bengaluru on Nov 13, 2019. . Image Source: IANS News Bengaluru, Oct 14 : Former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has questioned the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state over the seizure of Rs 42 crore in cash at a flat here. The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader claimed that the cash was collected from contractors as "commission" immediately after the release of Rs 650 crore pending dues to them. He also claimed that the seized money was headed to poll-bound Telangana. "Immediately after the announcement of assembly elections in five states, the money gets staked up in boxes in the state. That too, under the cot. How is this sinful money collected? These questions need answers," Kumaraswamy said. "The Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has released Rs 650 crore pending dues for select contractors. Soon after the release of this amount, Rs 42 crore in cash was seized by the IT department. This proves that the money was collected as the commission. How much percentage was taken? Who is the person behind all this?" Kumaraswamy questioned. The JD-S leader further said the cash kept in 23 boxes was headed towards the poll-bound state of Telangana. "CM Siddaramaiah should tell what kind of probe he will initiate into the incident? Do you want an investigation by the CBI, ED, sitting judge or retired judge? CM Siddaramaiah should answer." BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The 18th annual technical conference of the Association of Tax Authorities of Islamic Countries (ATAIC) on "Taxation of Digital Economy" was held in Turkiye's Istanbul, Trend reports. According to the State Tax Service, Azerbaijan, which participated in the event as an observer country, was represented by a delegation headed by the head of the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy Orkhan Nazarli. Within the framework of the event, sessions were held on the formation of the environment of digitalization of the economy, the main features of the digital economy, and issues of taxation regulation. The sessions addressed the creation of normative acts to regulate the digital environment in the economy, the challenges for tax systems in the context of a constant increase in the share of the digital economy in economic activity. The activity of the joint working group established between the State Tax Service of Azerbaijan and the Tax Service Department of Turkiye and possibilities of strengthening relations between the tax authorities were also discussed. In the framework of the visit, the head of the Tax Service of Azerbaijan also met with the General Executive Director of the Tax Administration of Malaysia Datuk Dr. Mohd Nizom Sairi. The sides exchanged views on ATAIC activities, administrative experience related to tax policy in Islamic countries, as well as opportunities to expand bilateral ties, including mutual cooperation between tax authorities. Julie Shimada, childrens book buyer at Marias Bookshop in Durango, Colo., may have hit upon the secret ingredient that makes the Mountains & Plains Independent Associations FallCon such a lively and productive gathering of indie booksellers, year after year: the Childrens Author and Illustrator Breakfast that traditionally marks the official start of the show. A childrens breakfast is always the best way to kick off a show, Shimada said. It sets the tone: hope for the future, as well as memories of the wonderment and safety you felt when you read books as a child. Mountains & Plains does this every time and it works. This years breakfast served up a hearty menu of seven speakers: author W. Bruce Cameron (Zeus: Water Rescue, Tor/Starscape, out now); author Michael Datcher and illustrator Frank Morrison (Harlem at Four, Random House Studio, out now); author Carl Hiaasen (Wrecker, Knopf, out now); author-illustrator Kazu Kibuishi (Waverider: A Graphic Novel, Graphix, Feb. 2024); author-illustrator Violet Lemay (Alithia Ramirez Was an Artist, Michael Sampson Books, Oct.); and Andrea Wang (Summer at Squee, Kokila, Mar. 2024). Most of the speakers focused on the real-life inspirations for their books. For Cameron, the inspiration for Zeus, the water rescue dog in his middle-grade novel, was his dog Tucker, whom he claimed once spoke English to him. Zeus: Water Rescue is the first volume in a new series, Dogs with a Purpose. Recalling the appreciation of booksellers in the region for his earlier novel, A Dogs Purpose, Cameron noted, my mission is the same as yours: were here to save the children of this world. Theyll put down their phones for a puppy. He praised booksellers for their work with librarians, noting that when he goes to schools, all the children are holding my book. It really takes the efforts of you, the booksellers, to get these books to kids. If an adult puts a book into a childs hands, Cameron insisted, and they feel its wonder, youve got them forever. He concluded by thanking booksellers once again, telling them that they are the ones who make their [childrens] success possibleits not me, its you. Next, Datcher, who is best known for his adult nonfiction, including Raising Fences: A Black Mans Love Story, and Animating Black and Brown Liberation, introduced himself by declaring, I really love people who love books. Datcher recalled that when he was an undergraduate at the University of California-Berkeley, his life was transformed when he took a poetry class, as it made him want to pursue poetry as a career. Harlem at Four, a picture book written as poems and divided into two parts, is about a girl named Harlem, followed by a history of the New York City neighborhood. The book was, he explained, inspired by his young daughter, as well as by Philip A. Payton Jr. (18761917), nicknamed the Father of Harlem. Payton was a real estate entrepreneur in Harlem who rented his properties to newcomers during the Great Migration. This is the story of a man with an incredible mission to help his people, Datcher said. I wrote this book as a gift to my daughter and presented it to her as a surprise. After being introduced by Datcher, Morrison explained how his own children often inspired his art, and that they were models for some of the illustrations in Harlem at Four. I got a book about a dad and his daughter, he said of the project. I had to illustrate this book. I can celebrate dads and their kids. Not only that, Morrison said, illustrating a book about Harlem gave him plenty of excuses to visit the neighborhood and have an opportunity for all these adventures. The next speaker, Hiaasen, who lives in Florida and writes bestselling adult and childrens fiction, didnt hesitate to inject politics into the conversation, speculating that everyone on that mornings slate of speakers is going to be on Governor DeSantiss list of books banned in the Sunshine States school districts. Hiaasen urged booksellers to keep up the great work of putting books in childrens hands. He noted that he has been canceled by school districts in Georgia, North Carolina, and in his home state due to content in his books that school districts in those states considered disturbing for children, such as mention of a 1921 lynching in one book and a pro vax message in another. So thats where we are, he said. Mentioning that he won a 2003 Newbery Honor for his first childrens book, Hoot, Hiaasen admitted that hed written it for his own children, and remembers thinking that if they liked it, he didnt care if anyone else read it. Concluding his remarks, Hiaasen said that this is a really important fight against book bans and author cancelations, and that booksellers and librarians should persist. These waves come and go, he said. Just keep up the good work. The next speaker, Kibuishi, introduced himself by explaining that after listening to the other presenters, he was going to talk about his grandfather, a Japanese American man born in New York City who was drafted during World War II. He ended up being an interpreter for the U.S. military. Authors and illustrators, Kibuishi said, find ourselves as stewards, and he considers himself an interpreter for his readers just as his grandfather was for the military. My job istheres some young reader in the middle of a fightand I parachute myself into the situation, he said. I give them a place where they want to go. My job is to give people a little bit of relief. Explaining that he did not even know what a graphic novel was when he first started creating what became his debut graphic novel, Kibuishi said that he just liked to draw. He admitted that he just wants to create books that children would remember, like The Lord of the Rings. Kibuishi said that Waverider is the ninth and final volume in the Amulet series, which debuted in 2008. Waverider, which he created during the pandemic, is about forgiveness: forgiving families, forgiving neighbors, Kibuishi said. Im tired of outrage. Its the last book in the series, so I tried to make it suitably epic. Describing herself as a lifelong artist, Violet Lemay explained that she produces illustrated books both as a creative outlet and as a means of processing bad things that are going on in my life and in the world. She recalled a project she had initiated after a mass shooting in Switzerland when she lived there, called Lets Be Friends, in which she reproduced the faces of the victims. Her intention, she said, was to emphasize that despite our differences, we have a lot in common. Alithia Ramirez Was an Artist, she noted, was inspired by another tragedy: the mass shooting of 19 schoolchildren and two adults in Uvalde, Tex., in 2022. Lemay said that she reproduced the faces of the victims and posted her portraits on social media. I really struggled whether or not to do it, she said, disclosing that she was concerned that she would be accused of exploiting the tragedy. But such worries proved groundless after the father of one of the victims, Alithia Ramirez, reached out to her to tell her that he supported the project. Lemay already had been drawn to Ramirez because the father had disclosed in an interview that the girl had been a talented artist who loved to draw. After virtual exchanges with Ramirezs parents, Lemay met with them to discuss Lemays proposal to write a picture book about Ramirez, and her mother sent Lemay photos of Ramirezs artwork. Much of the art contained in this book was actually created by Ramirez, who is credited for her contributions, although Lemay is officially the author and illustrator. Lemay is donating all royalties received to a charity created by Ramirezs parents, the Alithia Haven Ramirez Memorial Summer Seminar Scholarship fund. A website was also launched to promote the book, the memorial fund, and children creating art, called AliciasArtAngels.com. Alithias mother wanted to encourage other young artists, Lemay said. The last speaker, Andrea Wang, introduced herself by noting, I have the honor of making a lot of people cry in public spaces, as many of her readers have informed her that her tales have reduced them to tears. Wang told MPIBA booksellers that shed written Summer at Squee during the pandemic, because there were no summer camps and I wanted to go to summer camp. Wang recalled her childhood in Ohio, where she was the only Asian American in her class and in her grade. It was only after moving to Boston when she was 13 that she met other children her age who looked like her. After she became a mother herself, she wanted her children to know of their heritage at a young age, so she sent them to a Chinese heritage camp in Massachusetts beginning at age six. Her children loved it, and so did shein fact, she became a volunteer there. Camp was a safe space where they didnt have to explain themselves, she said, recalling that the demographics of the camp eventually changed and there were a lot more girls there who had been adopted from China. Wang wondered what transracial adoptees felt at being at such a camp? She wrote Camp Squee for middle grade readers as an exploration of Chinese American identity, told from the point of view of transracial adoptees. What if, Wang speculated, the very things that made Chinese American children feel connected to their heritage, to their community, made adoptees feel uncomfortable or unsafe? Despite some intense scenes in Camp Squee, Wang concluded, ultimately it is a fun summer camp story, but with added layers, with characters who are figuring out what it means to be Chinese American. Mountains & Plains shifted into high gear after the Childrens Author & Illustrator Breakfast, with a day of networking and rep presentations, the trade show in the exhibit hall, and a day of education. Read all of our coverage here. Next years MPIBA FallCon will be held in Denver, October 69. With more than 21,000 members representing published and aspiring creators, the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators eagerly awaits market forecasts. Author and consultant Deborah Halverson, a former Harcourt Childrens Books editor who shares writing advice at DearEditor.com, regularly updates information on trends and imprints in SCBWIs member benefit publication, The Essential Guide to Publishing for Children. On September 28, after an introduction from SCBWI executive director Sarah Baker, Halverson gave a virtual workshop on the State of the Childrens Publishing Market. Citing Circana and PWs reporting, as well as her interviews with editors and agents, Halverson suggested how SCBWIs audience of writers and artists should direct their energies. She sees potential in authentic connections to diverse identities. The agents and editors I talked to are all saying that representation remains of high interest, in terms of characters, subjects, and authorship. Public enthusiasm for bookstores and reading, innovative bookselling spaces including pop-ups and hybrid events, and a dynamic playing field involving Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org, also leave her optimistic for the future of creative work. Although sales in the childrens market are down, along with print book sales in general, Halverson doesnt see this as cause for alarm. She agrees with NPD Books industry analyst Kristen McLeans assessment that 2023 will be a year of transition for publishing after the rollercoaster seasons of 20202022. Halverson acknowledged that trade frontlist is down compared to backlist, which she attributed to BookToks influence (despite promotional efforts, you cant manufacture virality) as well as the impact of algorithmic searches. Algorithms tend to fish up the well-known, established books, usually because there is a track record for backlist titles. Affordability and convenience may be pushing this trend too, since trade paperbacks are cheaper, downloadable audio is not seeing any slowdown, and ebooks are increasing in popularity. These realities have led to conversations (but no action yet) on trade paper originals for YA and middle grade titles, Halverson said, and the trickiest part for us is that the royalties for the creator tend to be lower. Fresh Takes on the Familiar Halverson addressed promising directions across picture books, middle grade, chapter books, and YA. Despite lofty price points on picture books, her sources say picture book prospects are stable. Amazing picture books are being published, and Im hearing strong editor and agent interest in signing up new ones, Halverson said. It remains a competitive category for acquisitions. Despite this, submission responses from editors are taking longer due to staff restructures, imprints closing, and the increased costs of production supplies. In response, Halverson recommends creators take cues from sites like Manuscript Wish List and submit strategically. Picture book writers can be incredibly prolific. Ask yourself on every project, Is this one really my best? This is doubly important because agents are making sure they dont swamp any one particular editor and taking extra time to work with clients on revisions. As for hot topics, mindfulness books like My Heart by Corinna Luyken are appreciated by young readers, but editors are saying its getting harder to break them out in the crowd, Halverson explained. Quieter observational pieces are having a harder time, and Im told there are a lot of grandparent books in the pipeline. That means its vital to find a fresh take on familiar topics, Halverson said, something extra that makes it more than just a fun read. She detects an appetite for funny, character-based picture books like Mr. S by Monica Arnaldoin which young students wonder whether the sandwich on their teachers desk is, in fact, their teacherand 100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Lian Cho, a silly romp that works in math skills as readers count down from 100 dragons to only one. Nonfiction authors need not be discouraged either, because nonfiction picture books continue to resonate with agents and editors in their submissions and in the marketplace. Halverson named the 2023 titles Spark, Shine, Glow! What a Light Show by Lola Schaefer, illustrated by James Yang, Whats Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon? by Rachel Ignotofsky, and What a Map Can Do by Gabrielle Balkan, illustrated by Alberto Lot. She gave two cautions: Im hearing that there is a move away from wanting books that focus on a cultures food, she said, and picture book biography is a very saturated space. Evergreen Issues and Genre Blending In the middle grade category, agents and editors are still craving those mainstays of fantasy and adventure, Halverson said, but they also want humor and contemporary realism that digs into the social and physical changes of that time of life. Theres also increasing cultural, gender, and neurodiversity representation in characters, content, and creators. Graphic narratives like K. ONeills fantasy The Moth Keeper, Akim Alius memoir Dreamer, and Dan Santats memoir A First Time for Everything are making waves, although graphic narratives can be a hard sell because they are so time-consuming to produce. Above all, Halverson said, nailing the very distinct middle grade voice and sensibility is key. Halverson recommended Code Red by Joy McCullough, a middle grade read about menstrual equity, for its evergreen growing-up issues, and later pointed to McCulloughs YA novel-in-verse Enter the Bodyabout Shakespeares doomed heroinesas another title to watch. Middle graders love age-appropriate scares, she said, naming such horror lite titles as Brian Thomas Schmidt and Henry Herzs The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie. And for hard topics gently handled, she nodded to Aniana Del Mar Jumps In by Jasminne Mendez and Ruptured by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz. For all these great books, its true we have some cold, hard data that middle grade is down, she said. Yet the market is wide open for us to tell our stories in as many ways as we can think of. The breadth and depth of middle grade really does excite me, even when Im looking at numbers like that. Maybe we will be going to more middle grade paperback originals. But print middle grade is not going away. Its not going to be all digital. Similarly, in the deliciously varied category of chapter books, acquisition can be a tight squeeze for authors pitching a series. A series requires a significant publisher commitment, Halverson reminded the audience. Most of the ones that reach contracts offer something that publishers can highlight as a standout angle or hook, like Rick Stromoskis Schnozzer & Tatertoes, Kirby Larson and Shinji Fujiokas Shermy & Shake, and Jarviss Bear and Bird. Moving on to YA, Halverson said that standout angles and manuscripts that shine in craft were essential. In the YA space, she notices books with easily promoted hooks, high concepts, or some genre blending, and as an example she pointed to PWs reporting on romantasy as an area of growth right now. Macmillans Remixed Classics books, including Teach the Torches to Burn: A Romeo & Juliet Remix by Caleb Roehrig and My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron, serve as effective combos of hook, concept, and spin. So do Krystal Marquiss Black historical romance The Davenports, Vincent Tirados fantasy-horror set in the 1970s Bronx, Burn Down Rise Up, and Aisha Saeeds magical realist tale Forty Words for Love, which Halverson said ticks off the literary storytelling box too. Thrillers and mysteries have legsTyler Schwankes Breaking In is a contemporary heist with film noir throwback flavorand graphic narratives attract readers. Halverson highlighted Rey Terciero and Bre Indigos graphic novel about a queer Latino youth, Northranger; Wendy Xus science fiction graphic novel The Infinity Particle; and journalist Don Browns 83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary, which helps readers comprehend the war in Ukraine. Halverson conveyed that YA is a strong bet for SCBWI creators. The category gets a boost from big blockbuster moments or influences, but when it settles down in the year after the bump, it tends to stay pretty solid, she said. Its not a category that drops in interest. So in the long run, its essentially a good space. Despite a few caveatsindustry downturns, pandemic readjustments, and the threat of book bansHalverson concluded on an encouraging note. My mantra is perseverance, she said, and inevitable disruptions are to be met with imagination. To me, it all sounds like opportunity. Premium online access is only available tosubscribers. If you have an active subscription and need to set up or change your password, please click here New to PW? To set up immediate access, click here. NOTE: If you had a previous PW subscription, click here to reactivate your immediate access. PW site license members have access to PWs subscriber-only website content. If working at an office location and you are not "logged in", simply close and relaunch your preferred browser. For off-site access, click here. To find out more about PWs site license subscription options, please email Mike Popalardo at: mike@nextstepsmarketing.com. Property details: Welcome to the "Yosemite Gold" Mining Claim, a remarkable opportunity for families seeking an adventurous and enriching experience amidst the breathtaking beauty of the Yosemite National Park. BLM# CA106324203 Nestled in the heart of nature's wonderland, this prestigious gold mining claim offers an idyllic setting for both experienced prospectors and those new to the world of gold mining. 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Harmon Drive City: Las Vegas State/Province: Nevada Type: Attractions Number of Bathrooms: 0.5 Zip/Postal Code: 89109 Location: 891**, Las Vegas, Nevada You will be redirected to eBay Nearby 89109 Shayda, the debut feature by Tehran-born, Australia-based Noora Niasari, tells a deeply moving story based on the director's own childhood experience of fleeing domestic violence with her mother in a foreign country. ADVERTISEMENT The film, which screened in competition this week at the Busan International Film Festival, won the audience award at its Sundance premiere in January and has made the rounds of fests including Locarno and Melbourne. And while Shayda is a personal story set within the Iran diasporic community in Australia, it has resonated with viewers around the world to a degree that has surprised the director, Niasari told UPI in an interview in Busan. "I didn't want to make a film that was just for an Australian audience," Niasari said. "The biggest reward for me has been sharing the film with [global] audiences because of how deeply people have connected with the film, in all different contexts." Title character Shayda (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) is an Iranian woman living in Australia who has escaped to a women's shelter with her 6-year-old daughter Mona, played with remarkable emotional range by first-time actress Selina Zahednia. Shayda is seeking a divorce from her abusive husband, Hossein (Osamah Sami), a medical student who intends to bring the family back to Iran after his graduation. Niasari herself spent eight months in a shelter with her mother in 1995, and the film is "emotionally autobiographical" about the experience, the director said. She approached her mother with the idea of the project six years ago and asked her to record her experiences in a memoir. The director's own memories of the time are "quite fractured," she said, a blend of confusion and fear tinged with flashes of happiness. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "It was a very stressful time, but it was also lovely to be embraced by the social workers and the other women and children," Niasari said. "It was the first time that we felt really safe and held by a community." In a pitch-perfect performance by Ebrahimi, who was awarded Best Actress at Cannes in 2022 for Holy Spider, Shayda herself also manages to find joy and resilience in the midst of displacement -- whether going out clubbing with some of the younger moms at the shelter or giving herself a new haircut with a pair of kitchen scissors. "It was really about that balance of light and dark, because I didn't want the film to be steeped in victimhood," Niasari said. "Even in the darkest times, you still have those moments of joy, and you need them to survive." The film is set during the lead-up to Norwuz, Persian New Year, which Shayda is determined to celebrate with Mona despite the mounting dangers of being found by her estranged husband amid the diasporic community. (And despite the fact that the holiday of springtime renewal takes place as fall is arriving in Australia's Southern Hemisphere.) "It's about Shayda reclaiming her cultural identity," Niasari said. "She's able to celebrate Persian New Year and pass on these beautiful traditions to her daughter. That's an act of defiance in itself -- she's taking the beauty and the light in a way that serves her." While the film is illuminated with these sparks of hope, Shayda also moves with the beats of a suspense thriller. In every scene that Shayda lets her guard down, there is a mounting sense of dread that Hossein -- whom we do not meet for a long time -- will appear. The film also leaves space, for a while at least, to question whether Shayda is even making the right decision. "For women after an escape, life is moving on but there is always this undercurrent of fear," Niasari said. "And society has a tendency to tell women that all it's in your head, or it's paranoia. I wanted to put the audience in that position as well." One of the film's earliest champions was two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett, who executive produced Shayda with her company Dirty Films. Niasari said that the partnership with Blanchett has helped raise the worldwide profile of the film, which opened in theaters in Australia earlier this month and is the country's official entry to the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars. And everywhere it has traveled, from Sundance to South Korea, Shayda has made a connection with viewers, many of whom have approached the director to share their own experiences of domestic violence. "I wanted to make something from a female point of view with all of the layers and sensitivities that go with that -- something that's more hopeful and gives women strength," Niasari said. "I didn't expect it to have such a profound impact with audiences." Subscription to paid content Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card. GOLD PLATED HISTORY Coming up for auction at Rock Island Auction Companys December Premier Auction in Bedford, Texas, this is a piece of history we can all enjoy even if we cant afford it. The auction will be held between Friday, December 8th and Sunday December 10th and will coincide with the centenary of Villas assassination in 1923. Here is what Rock Island Auction House has to say for the pistols history: The Colt, which belonged to the legendary Mexican bandit turned revolutionary general, features gold plating, factory engraving, eye-catching, carved pearl grips and is factory documented. With two inscriptions to Villa, the gold Colt is expected to have a pre-auction value of $650,000 $950,000. Pancho Villa's life was marked by a decade-long revolutionary fight that played a pivotal role in the history of Mexico and the American Southwest. Villa's actions led to the downfalls of Mexican Presidents Porfirio Diaz and Victoriano Huerta. While he is celebrated as a folk hero who championed the common people against the rich and powerful, Villa's methods left a trail of violence on both sides of the border, attracting international attention and retribution from both American and Mexican forces. Felix A. Sommerfeld, an agent for both the German government and multiple Mexican leaders, is said to have purchased firearms and ammunition and shipped them to Villa's brother in El Paso. Documentation shows that Villa received support from Germany during the Mexican Revolution to keep the United States out of World War I. As a result, there has been continued speculation about the Colt's acquisition and whether it was a potential gift to Villa from the German government. While mystery surrounds Villa's Colt, this piece of history is everything fine arms collectors dream of. Throughout our history, Rock Island Auction Company has been able to offer fine arms collectors world-class firearms tied to historical figures like Theodore Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton, Napoleon, Ulysses S. Grant, and more, Kevin Hogan President of Rock Island Auction Company said. We are especially proud to be able to offer an exceptional historic firearm with ties to Texas and the American Southwest in celebration of our 30th year in business and the opening of a new location in Bedford, Texas. Villa's Colt is only one of the many highlights for what promises to be the auction event of the year for the fine arms collecting space. Rock Island's expansion and new venue in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex will extend the same excellent service and award-winning catalogs for which the company is known. With a new, state-of-the-art Preview Hall and world-class auction hall both housed in the luxurious facility, the Bedford location is sure to appeal to all gun collectors. For additional information on Rock Island Auction Company and other highlights of the December event, visit: www.rockislandauction.com. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The meeting with Turkish Dedeman Holding and "Dogru Holding" companies discussed investment opportunities in Azerbaijan and the potential for collaboration with local small and medium-sized businesses, Trend reports. The Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBDA) of Azerbaijan's Economy Minister said that the SMBDA Chairman Orkhan Mammadov met with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the "Dogru Holding" Bulent Dogru, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Dedeman Holding" Rifat Sukru, and the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of "Dedeman Turizm" Banu Dedeman. The meeting involved the exchange of ideas related to business and investment in Azerbaijan, cooperation with local small and medium-sized businesses, and business opportunities in the service sector. The event also pointed out that the famous Turkish 'Dedeman Hotel' brand will be soon launched in Baku. During the 12th Meeting of Ministers of Economy/Trade of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and the 14th Working Group Meeting on Economic Cooperation in Istanbul (September 14, 2023), member states of OTS agreed to increase mutual investments. 'Dedeman Hotels' is one of the most famous hotel chains in Turkiye. The first 'Dedeman' Ankara Hotel was built in Ankara in 1966. Today, the chain includes 19 hotels in Turkiye, five in Bulgaria, Syria, Uzbekistan and Cyprus. Porterville, CA (93257) Today Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High around 80F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Mainly clear early, then a few clouds later on. Low 49F. Winds light and variable. Her first years in the United States came with a debilitating amount of Islamophobia. My family's last name, "Mohamed," became a red flag and a target for discrimination. "Go back to your country" became a familiar phrase upon entering grocery stores, going to parks, being anywhere really. Most surprising was that these hateful sentiments were not by conservatives or ultra-right nationalists but by average Americans, hurt and overtaken by a hunger for vengeance. Exports contracted by 2.6 per cent to $34.47 billion in September even as the country's merchandise trade deficit narrows to $19.37 billion during the month under review, according to the government data released on Friday. Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters Easing commodity prices helped in cutting down the country's import bill by 15 per cent to $53.84 billion in September, the 10th consecutive month of decline. During April-September this fiscal, exports contracted by 8.77 per cent to $211.4 billion. Imports during the six-month period fell by 12.23 per cent to $326.98 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $115.58 billion. Briefing media on the trade data, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the September figures are reflecting that "green shoots" are visible at exports front despite global challenges. He expressed hope that in the remaining six-months, the country's outbound shipments would register positive growth. The contraction which was there in double digits during April, May, June and July, is now in single digits, he said, adding, "there is an optimism which we will see in the coming months" also. The weekly exports trend during the current month is showing a positive movement, he added. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has forecasted that the global trade will grow only by 0.8 per cent in 2023. Despite this, Barthwal said that India's exports are doing "well" and in fact entering new markets also like Turkey for office equipment; and Finland, Malta and Philippines for drug formulations. When asked about the reasons for dip in imports, he said the country's import substitution policy is working well and global commodity prices including crude oil have also come down. The government has revised its August exports figure to $38.45 billion from $34.48 billion, while imports numbers were updated to $60.1 billion from $58.64 billion. Due to this revision, the exports in August recorded a growth of 3.88 per cent. According to the data released by the government on September 15, it had showed a decline of 6.86 per cent. When asked about this high upward revision of about $4 billion in August, the secretary said sometimes the shipments go out but those numbers do not get recorded for some reasons, and; sometimes customs withholds some consignments for scrutiny, so that data also not get released. Further in September, exports of 12 out of the 30 key sectors exhibited positive growth and that included iron ore; cotton yarn/fabrics; meat, dairy and poultry products; pharma; engineering; and marine products. Sectors which recorded negative growth included petroleum products, textiles, electronic goods, chemicals, gems and jewellery, leather, tea and coffee. At imports front, 20 out of 30 key sectors exhibited negative growth in September and that included silver; fertilisers; transport equipment; coal, coke; vegetable oil; pearls, precious and semi-precious stones; crude oil; chemicals; and machine tools. Oil imports in September dropped by 20.32 per cent to $14 billion. During the first half of this fiscal, the imports declined by 22.81 per cent to $82.3 billion. On the other hand, gold imports in September rose by 7 per cent to $4.11 billion. During the first half of this fiscal, the imports grew by 9.8 per cent to $22.2 billion. Further as per the data, services exports in September are estimated at $29.37 billion compared to $29.2 billion a year ago. Imports stood at $14.91 billion against $16.27 billion. The estimated value of services exported in April-September 2023 was $164.89 billion compared to $156 billion in April-September 2022. A court in New Delhi on Friday extended by three days the ED custody of four people arrested in a money laundering case against Chinese smart phone maker Vivo, including the managing director of Lava International mobile company and a Chinese national. Photograph: Courtesy, Vivo Cellular The four accused were produced before Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala on completion of their three-day ED custody. On Friday, the agency moved four separate applications seeking extension of their custody by 10 days but the court granted it only three more days for custodial interrogation of the accused. "I am of the considered opinion that the ED is able to make out the case for grant of further custody remand. "However, it is clarified that the ED is duty bound to explain that the custody period is properly utilised for the purposes of investigation," ASJ Jangala said. "The accused persons namely Hari Om Rai, Nitin Garg, Rajan Malik and Guangwen Kuang alias Andrew are accordingly further remanded to ED custody till October 16," the judge added. The court directed that the interrogation be conducted at a place having CCTV coverage and the footage be preserved. "Accused persons shall be medically examined once in every 48 hours during the above periodthe accused persons shall also be permitted to meet their advocates for half an hour daily between 6pm to 7pm during the said period of their ED custody in a manner that the ED officials are not able to hear their conversations," the court said. Noting that the public prosecutor had submitted on Tuesday that Hari Om Rai has not taken food despite it being served in custody, the court said Rai wanted to have an audience with higher officers of the ED. This request was, however, strongly opposed by the prosecutor who said it was prohibited under the PMLA. The court then said, "The officers of ED are public servants subservient to the Constitution of India, hence bound to hear the grievance of any person, including the accused." It said there was no such prohibition under the PMLA. "Accordingly, the investigating officer is directed to produce the accused Hari Om Rai before the joint director/special director of ED to give him a personal hearing for redressal of his grievance relating to the ED," the court said. During the proceedings, the prosecution sought extension of their custody so they could be interrogated further. It said they had to be confronted with 13 witnesses and digital data from multiple devices had to be extracted. The defence counsel opposed the agency's plea, claiming the ED was engaging in "flagrant violation of procedures". The four accused were taken arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency had raided the company and individuals linked to it in July last year, claiming to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies. The ED had then alleged that a whopping Rs 62,476 crore was "illegally" transferred by Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India. Israel needs to come terms with the new reality that they are no longer invincible or the dominant power in the West Asian region, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar. IMAGE: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leave after making statements to the media inside The Kirya, which houses the Israeli defence ministry in Tel Aviv, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via Reuters United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken's press conference (external link) on Thursday, October 12, 2023, concluding his visit to Israel conveyed three things. One, the Biden administration will be seen as backing Israel to the hilt by way of meeting its security needs, but Washington will not be drawn into the forthcoming Gaza operations except to arrange exit routes in the south for hapless civilians fleeing the conflict zone. Two, Washington's top priority at the moment is on engaging with the regional States (external link) who wield influence with Hamas to negotiate the hostage issue. Fourteen US citizens in Israel remain unaccounted for. (White House confirmed that the death toll in the fighting now includes at least 27 Americans.) Three, the US will coordinate with the regional States to prevent any escalation in the situation to widen the conflict on the part of Hezbollah. Although the US cannot and will not stop Israeli leadership on its tracks apropos the imminent Gaza operation, it remains unconvinced. Blinken was non-committal about any direct US military involvement, and the chances are slim as things stand. Most important, even as Blinken could hear the war drums, he also cast his eye on a future for Israel (and the region) where it will be at peace with itself, would integrate into the region and concentrate on creating economic prosperity -- metaphorically put, beating its swords into plowshares in a Biblical Messianic intent. That is to say, despite the massive show of force off the waters of Israel, with the deployment of two aircraft carriers along with destroyers and other naval assets and fighter jets off the waters of Israel, the Biden administration is profoundly uneasy about any escalation of the conflict into a wider war. If the US senses that this is a catastrophe that Israel allowed to happen, that remains a strictly private thought. IMAGE: US Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaks next to US Congressman Josh Gottheimer during a bipartisan vigil for Israel by members of the US House of Representatives outside the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters Even as Blinken was heading for Tel Aviv, US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul told reporters in Washington on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, following a closed-door intelligence briefing that 'We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen. I don't want to get too much into classified, but a warning was given. I think the question was at what level.' Shortly after McCaul spoke to reporters in Washington, an anonymous Egyptian official confirmed to the Times of Israel that Cairo's agents did warn their Israeli counterparts about a planned Hamas attack, but that this warning may not have made it to Netanyahu's office. These disclosures would embarrass the Israeli government, as Saturday's surprise attack can be viewed as a catastrophic failure for Israel's intelligence services. In a brutally frank statement on Thursday, General Herzi Halevi the chief of general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, admitted, 'The IDF is responsible for the security of our nation and its citizens, and we failed to do so on Saturday morning. We will look into it, we will investigate, but now it is time for war.' This failure will impact the decision-making in Tel Aviv. General Halevi described Hamas as 'animals' and 'merciless terrorists who have committed unimaginable acts' against men, women and children. He said that the IDF 'understands the magnitude of this time, and the magnitude of the mission that lays on our shoulders.' 'Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, decided on this horrible attack, and therefore he and the entire system under him are dead men, the general added, vowing to 'attack them and dismantle them and their organisation' and that 'Gaza will not look the same' afterward. IMAGE: Israeli soldiers in a tank hold an Israeli flag near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Make no mistake, the Israeli objective will be to use overwhelming force with its most advanced weapons, including powerful bunker-busting bombs, to inflict crippling losses on Hamas formations so that the movement cannot wage an armed struggle for many years. A ground operation is to be expected any day. It is improbable that Blinken would have even tried to dissuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from going ahead with a brutal operation. He told the media that the US would rather leave it to Israel to do what needed to be done. Meanwhile, the US deployment will not only aim to enhance surveillance, intercept communications, and prevent Hamas from acquiring more weapons, but also act as deterrent. That said, the US cannot afford to watch passively. Washington has no choice but to limit the expected fighting in the coming days and weeks in Gaza to ensure that it does not spread to other areas. Thus, the US force projection specifically serves as a deterrent to Hezbollah, which possesses a vast armoury of 150,000 missiles that can be launched at major cities in Israel, potentially leading to a broader war not only in Gaza but also in Lebanon, drawing others into the conflict. Israel knocked out of service the airports in Damascus and Aleppo in Syria in missile strikes (external link) simultaneously on Thursday, presumably to prevent reinforcements reaching Lebanon. Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was due to travel to Syria and Lebanon in the weekend. Through the past four decades, the US and Iran have made a fine art of communicating with each other in dangerous times to set ground rules to avoid confrontation. This time around too, it is happening. Certainly, the speech by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday on the conflict situation, which was translated into Hebrew by the Iranians and disseminated in an unprecedented move, conveyed a subtle message in three parts to both Israel and the US, signalling essentially that Tehran does not intend to get involved in the conflict. In turn, the US has signalled (external link) that it has intelligence showing that key Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attacks on Israel. Equally, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's phone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday -- their first-ever conversation which Tehran initiated -- harped on efforts to 'halt the ongoing escalation'. IMAGE: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Lior Gelbaum, left, 24, a dual US-Israeli citizen, and her boyfriend Klil Valiano as he visits a donation centre for victims of the Hamas attacks from Gaza in Tel Aviv, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via Reuters The 'known unknown' scenario Yet, the big question is, how far the Biden administration would be confident about the success of any Israeli military incursion into Gaza. During the press conference in Tel Aviv, Blinken underscored in a subtle way the importance of 'lessons' learnt from past experiences. The point is, Israel will be involved in urban warfare in a densely populated area with a population of 2.1 million people. Gaza has an average of 5,500 people per square kilometre, and there is bound to be heavy civilian casualties caused by Israel's advanced American weaponry, which would lead to an international outcry, including in Europe, and lead to condemnation of not only Israel but the US as well. However, Israel is in defiant mood and Netanyahu needs at least some of the operation's goals achieved before agreeing to a ceasefire. More importantly, Israel needs an exit strategy, if past experiences in Lebanon and Gaza gave any lessons. Colin Powell's Pottery Barn rule comes into play: 'You break it, you own it.' An extended occupation of Gaza will be an extremely dangerous outcome fraught with great risks, given the deep economic, religious, and social roots that Hamas enjoys. Suffice to say, the Israeli military will be hard pressed to show 'success' and head for the exit door. Besides, if other Palestinian groups and organisations in the West Bank make decisions that advance Hamas's strategic goals, all bets are off, as Israeli military will face a two-front war. In fact, the conditions for a third intifada do exist in the West Bank. And in such a scenario, the advantage goes to Hamas, which would position itself as potentially the appropriate and perhaps the sole alternative after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is now 87 years old. IMAGE: A girl records video of flyers in Times Square, New York City, October 12, 2023 of Israeli people reported missing in the Hamas attack. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters Again, in a worst case scenario, it cannot be ruled out that the Arab Israeli population may draw inspiration from Hamas, and if their violent eruption in 2021 is anything to go by, the long-term viability of the State of Israel will be put to test. Suffice to say, the best solution lies in a paradigm shift in the Israeli statecraft away from its primacy on coercion and brutal force. Blinken's remarks suggested that the US hopes that when the dust settles down, with the helping hand of friendly Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Jordan, a turnaround to calm the situation and reach a ceasefire might be possible. Of course, the longer that takes, the greater the strain it will put on the US-Israeli ties and the harder it will become for the Biden administration to maintain an equilibrium in what is already a troubled relationship with Netanyahu. Fundamentally, Israel needs to come terms with the new reality that they are no longer invincible or the dominant power in the West Asian region. The PM is seen as slipping up in confidence levels as aired by his 'exposure' of the BRS on a crucial issue as alliance negotiations, which is not done under normal circumstances, observes N Sathiya Moorthy. IMAGE: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Prime Minister Narendra D Modi waves to BJP supporters at a public meeting in Nizamabad, Telangana, October 4, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Targeting ruling the Bharat Rashtriya Samithi in Telangana where assembly elections are due next month, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi came down heavily on the 'dynastic politics' of BRS Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's family. For critics of 'dynasty politics' in Indian democracy, the PM could not have been more forthright when he disclosed that the BJP had rejected an alliance offer from the BRS only because of its inherent opposition to dynasty politics. So far, so good, yes. But it is only good in Telangana, or the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham-ruled Tamil Nadu or Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra, not to leave out the Congress rival at the national level, which the BJP seems bent upon resurrecting... For the contradictions in the BJP's approach to dynasty politics is showing, in not faraway UP or West Bengal but closer to Telangana, in Karnataka. Only days before Modi attacked Rao and family in Telangana, his BJP party struck an alliance for next year's parliamentary poll in Karnataka. The BJP and the Janata Dal-Secular are now once again partners in the state. And Modi wants not only Karnataka voters, but also those across the country to believe that the JD-S is not a dynastic party and it never ever was, either. By comparison, the BRS has seen only two generations in politics. The JD-S has already seen three. After founder H D Deve Gowda and his one-time chief minister son H D Kumaraswamy, the latter's son Nikhil Gowda also contested elections only to lose. Another of Deve Gowda's sons, H D Revanna, was/is also in JD-S politics, but not a match for Kumarawamy. Modi did not slip up there alone, granting that the voter believes that there is no dynasty politics in the BJP. Yes, Modi, to be fair, does not have children, nor has he brought in a brother or a nephew or a niece in their place. But there are others at top echelons whose children are also in politics. No, not all of them are defectors from the past, to argue that 'dynasty politics' is not in the Rashtriya Swamyamsevak Sangh's blood. There are others who have done precisely what Modi despises, but has done nothing about it in the last close to a decade of being at the top of the party and government. But there is a greater flaw in Modi's expose vis a vis the ruling family in Telangana. It is about his claim that the BRS had sought alliance with the BJP, but he had declined it. As was to be expected, the BRS promptly denied Modi's claim, whatever the truth. But the fact that Modi, of all leaders in the ruling party at the Centre, should make such a claim -- taking that it is true -- has the potential to put off prospective allies, here and elsewhere. That is if the BJP is now or later looking for allies, pre-poll or post-poll, be it for the Lok Sabha polls for any of the many assembly elections, queuing up before and after. Alliance negotiations are held behind the scenes and in strictest confidence. The BJP's L K Advani and Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram broke the ice on Uttar Pradesh at a wedding in distant Chennai, far away from the glare of the capital's more active media. The alliance between the two parties followed, for BSP's Mayawati to become chief minister in the mid-nineties. On the reverse, the BJP and the NCP in Maharashtra used to be in constant negotiations in the pre-Modi era, for forming a coalition government, at the expense of the former's long-time Shiv Sena ally. Like the Congress before it at the Centre, the BJP needed parliamentary allies for support to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The alliance did not take off for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the NCP's Sharad Pawar had forgotten that his cadres were all tuned and trained in the Congress mould and had fought all along against the BJP and Shiv Sena, bottom up. It meant that the cadres quietly but effectively forced Pawar to strike a post-poll alliance with the Congress, dumping the behind-the-scene negotiations with the BJP. That was in the past, the last such attempt being made in 2004. Even post-poll, the BJP and the NCP talked ministerial berths between polling and counting, while Sonia Gandhi's Aam Aadmi call won the voters. The rest is history, and all references, if at all any, to the BJP-NCP talks were buried in history. No player, then or now, including those in the breakaway party under incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, has spoken about the past. Very few in the present BJP set-up may have known about it, or may even remember it. Or, those from the old school BJP might have decided to stay silence, if at all they knew. IMAGE: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao addresses the BRS's first election public meeting in Medak, August 23, 2023. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo Does it mean that the BJP leadership is slipping? Or, lacking in confidence as the Modi leadership had injected the party with since 2012 or thereabouts. The party won two successive Lok Sabha polls and a host of assembly elections from 2014 to the present on the Modi brand and none else. The party's dependence on the Modi image and leadership is even more now than in 2014. Thus, the BJP and even the larger Sangh Parivar continues to want Modi more than Modi needs them. So, if Modi is seen as slipping up in confidence levels as aired by his 'exposure' of the BRS on a crucial issue as alliance negotiations, which is not done under normal circumstances. Likewise, the Opposition AIADMK's open break-up with the BJP in Dravidian Tamil Nadu is seen as yet another pointer. True, the AIADMK cadre did not have an appetite for an alliance with the BJP either for the Lok Sabha polls of 2019 or the assembly elections two years later in 2021. It owed purely to the electoral equations centred on the minorities, and their apprehensions were proved right. Yet, no one really expected AIADMK leader and former chief minister Edppadi K Palaniswami to snap BJP ties, that too months ahead of the LS polls, whatever the immediate reasons. To some even in the BJP, both in the state and outside, for EPS to walk out of the alliance, that too only weeks after Modi had him seated next to him at the National Democratic Alliance leaders' meeting in Delhi, speaks volumes, going beyond the fears of the 'raids raj' that EPS has shaken away, as if it's only a speck of dust on his shirt. IMAGE: Modi along with J P Nadda, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and others during the BJP central election C=committee meeting at the party's headquarters in New Delhi, October 1, 2023. Photograph: Ayush Sharma/ANI Photo The question now is if the BJP-ruled Centre would go ahead with Modi's pet theme of 'One Nation, One Vote', or revive the long-standing call for A uniform civil code, especially before the Lok Sabha polls. In particular, the Centre's hurried initiative for getting the Women's Reservations Bill passed into law raises more questions than answers. The women's quota law is unlike any of Modi's many political initiatives. It is not going to be implemented until before the Lok Sabha polls of 2029, given the census and delimitation issues. Every national discourse on the women's quota, if and when the BJP flags it as a positive gain of and for the party, will raise other questions on the inexplicable delay in national census, originally due in 2021. Yes, Covid did interfere, but subsequent delays, attributable to next year's Lok Sabha poll, are untenable. The census could still have continued with a parliamentary law to protect next year's Lok Sabha poll, minus the new figures, minus delimitation. If one were to go by sketchy media, or social media, claims, and the larger seating space for MPs in the new Parliament complex, the possibility of more members could well be in the offing -- and justifiably so. The same cannot be said about the anticipation that the census and delimitation delays owe more to with the enforcement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens, about which again there is no clarity in the Opposition as there is none seemingly on the government side, either. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst & political commentator. 'Israelis not only harassed Palestine Muslims, but also Christians.' 'Palestinians have been telling Israel that this will blow up the situation, but they would not listen to us.' IMAGE: A 'Stand with Palestine' protest in Dublin, Ireland. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters On October 7, 2023, the day Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza killing more than 1,000 Israeli citizens and capturing over 100 of them, Israel intensified its war against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. What will be the consequences of this brutal conflict? Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to Palestinian political observer Dr Maher Awawedh. who is based in Ramallah in the the West Bank. How could Hamas carry out such an operation? There is no answer to this at this moment. One thing is for sure though, Israel became very arrogant and started selling their intelligence and technology warfare to different countries of the world believing that they will never commit mistakes in (internal security). They have been controlling Gaza for the last 17 years by blockading the entire population of Palestine living over there. Israel controlled Gaza's electricity, education, medicine and travel was not possible without its prior consent. They did the same thing in the West Bank area where they allowed Jewish settlers to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque (Islam's third holiest shrine). Israelis not only harassed Palestine Muslims, but also Christians who were going to their churches peacefully. Palestinians have been telling Israel that this will blow up the whole situation, but they would not listen to us. And now, Palestinians could not take it anymore in Gaza and they broke their open air prison in Gaza to enter Israel and attacked them in Israeli illegal settlements. Israel had invested two billion shekels in building those walls to protect themselves, which Palestinians broke on October 7. We saw the Israeli army collapsing and they ran away from their bases. Even the Israeli air force was forced to take away their airplanes on trucks and run away. But the world's sympathy is with Israel as the Hamas killed civilians and children. Palestinians didn't kill women and children in Israel. They told them they are Muslims and they will not kill women and children. We have seen Palestinians capturing female Israeli soldiers who were treated well. From day one Palestinians are saying they are okay with a prisoner swap with Israel. Israel has put more than 420 Palestinian prisoners in detention for 17 years for no reason. This interview would not have happened with you now if Israel had agreed to all the peace negotiations that were signed by them. Israel did not implement a single peace settlement with Palestine. I have seen videos on social media of Hamas attackers stripping Israeli women and some of them spitting on the dead body of one Israeli woman. I didn't see this particular video. I saw Israeli civilians being captured who were settled in Palestinian territory. And by the International Court of Justice rule the illegal settlement on our land is a war crime. They are criminals occupying our territory. Having said that, I am not justifying the video which you said you have seen on social media. At the same time, Israel is doing same to the bodies of Palestinians. Last week, there was a video where you can see Israeli soldier slapping a Palestinian woman and dragging her. This happens every day to Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. And the root cause of this trouble is Israeli occupation. If you recall, India got Independence in 1947 and around the same time (May 14, 1948) Israel came and occupied our Palestine land. Since you mentioned India I would like to remind you that Prime Minister Narendra D Modi called the Hamas action a terror attack. Such strong words against Palestinians were never used by any Indian prime minister before. This is internal Indian politics. At the same time, I will not say his statement was right because I do not know it was a BJP statement or an Indian government statement. We never heard the Indian PM speaking about the Palestinian citizens of Gaza living in prison for the last 17 years. Each Palestinian living in Gaza is deprived of his daily maximum calorie intake because of Israeli occupation. He never spoke about such issues. Prime Minister Modi never spoke when 1,178 Palestinians were killed in this round of violence. Videos circulating on social media in India claim that 400 Israeli children were killed by Hamas. How can Prime Minister Modi sympathise with Hamas or the Palestinian cause then? This is the exact number of Palestinian children killed by Israelis. Not only this, no world leader spoke a word when Israel is openly telling Palestinians staying in Gaza that they need to move out to Egypt. This is ethnic cleansing and neither Prime Minister Modi nor any world leader spoke against this ethnic cleansing. Palestinians want freedom, the same freedom which Mahatma Gandhi fought for. We need our State to be free. But you cannot deny the fact that the sympathy of the world has shifted to Israel and even a country like India, which was very pro-Palestine, has shifted loyalties to Israel? As a political analyst I understand how the internal politics of India works. You have a different government ruling India unlike the Congress party which was ruling India in the past. During Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi relations with Palestine were different. Yes, Prime Minister Modi did visit Palestine and I attended his meeting too and I realise it is his internal politics of the country (that makes him support Israel). Israel is stealing our resources, killing our people and bombing us. They bombed Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and even on the borders of Egypt in the last 48 hours. Israel has bombed four countries in 48 hours and no one considers it as a crime. Is it not a crime? No one can deny this fact. The Western media lied about Iraq (chemical weapons) and bombed the country to bits. And now, they want to make the world believe that Palestinians are criminals, but that is not a fact because we are Israeli prisoners who broke down the prison. 'IDF (the Israeli Defence Forces) soldiers, be it a girl or a boy, they may look very cute, but you cannot mess with them.' 'People are serving their country at 95 years of age. That's the greatest example of patriotism.' IMAGE: People mourn at the graveside of Eden Guez, who was killed as she attended a music festival that was attacked by Hamas gunmen from Gaza that left at least 260 people dead, at her funeral in Ashkelon in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters "Israel was so sure with their technologies that this place (where the music festival was organised) was left without any security forces," independent defence journalist Nibedita Sen tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com. Sen, who hails from Kolkata, spent almost three years in Israel between 2020 and 2023 and returned to India only in May. The first rocket attack in Rehovot that the Iron Dome couldn't intercept... I went to Israel in 2020 and I came back in early May 2023. I lived in Rehovot, central Israel. That's supposed to be the place where people used to think that nobody is ever going to attack. But after leaving Israel in early May, there was this first rocket attack in Rehovot, where I lived, a rocket was launched and it fell just 500 metres away from my house. That was on May 11, 2023. Nobody ever thought that people (Hamas) can come and attack places like Rehovot in central Israel. But this was the first one (the rocket attack in Rehovot on May 11, 2023) which the Iron Dome (Israel's missile interception programme that shields the country from missile attacks by hostile neighbours) could not intercept. And then there was the attack by Hamas on October 7 that happened. My friends and my neighbours who stay in Rehovot told me that they were horrified as the window panes trembled. During such attacks all those who stay in Israel are asked to check the red alert on their phones. Rockets interceptions were very normal for us. Every now and then while having evening tea we looked out of the balcony and got to witness one rocket or the other getting intercepted. As long as it was at a distance it looked like the Ramayana's bow arrow games that we watched on TV. The difference was only when it happened right on top of our head. IMAGE:Israeli soldiers walk through the remains of a residential area of Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters We used to sit outside, have tea, look up, and we used to see one rocket getting intercepted. This was very common over there. I had my own contacts from defence reporting. There were some soldiers who were my friends; there were some nuclear scientists who were my friends. They all used to talk. I would get this kind of information like, for example, at 12 noon I would come to know that at 8 pm, there will be firing or there will be some kind of rockets coming from so and so place in Gaza, Lebanon, etc. Everybody is like, sending rockets in Israel. At night my expression would be like WOW instead of getting scared. Surveillance failure... IMAGE: An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lie on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters As a reporter without a border I have sources from different countries. I have been travelling to Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Gaza, Lebanon borders with common people in Israel. And these were all military-trained people. As they said they have full faith in their technologies, but this was the first glitch that happened. Yes. It happened at the unmanned border. There were no security forces. Israel was so sure with their technologies that this place (where the music festival was organised) was left without any security forces. Protocols that Israelis follow... IMAGE: A man takes cover while sirens sound as rockets from Gaza are launched towards Israel, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters We usually have a shelter room in every building. Depending on the location from where rockets enter the Israeli skies, a time is given to us to run. In Rehovot it was 52 seconds. High alert areas like the borders (closer to hostile neighbours) usually get 20 to 30 seconds to respond to after the alert. I worked in Ashdod (a port town in Israel) and there the time (to respond after a warning alert is sounded) is lesser than that in Rehovot. IMAGE: People take shelter in a building stairway as sirens sound as rockets from Gaza are launched towards Israel, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters We always have red alert app that sends us signal that we need to run for life. Our phones are ought to be fully charged. We keep a bag ready with important documents, chargers, money, water and dry food. Imagine if this were the preparedness for us migrants, then how much more fit and prepared are they (ordinary Israelis) for the war. What Israelis feel now... IMAGE: An Israeli soldier stands in position at the entrance to Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Nobody in Israel is scared (after the Hamas attack) to be honest. They are the bravest race I have seen so far. A batch of youngsters joined the war yesterday (October 11, four days after the Hamas attack) with smiling faces. Their eyes poured out only love for their country, not an iota of fear. I think that's their X factor. I'm constantly in touch with people because I have been working over there as a defence reporter. Safety is their first preference. Always. IDF (the Israeli Defence Forces) soldiers, be it a girl or a boy, they may look very cute, but you cannot mess with them. People are serving their country at 95 years of age. That's the greatest example of patriotism. They have licensed guns with them for protection. And they have the right to use it whenever there's national security involved. Every single Israeli -- be it an Indian Jew or a South African or Ukranian Jew -- everyone has gone through rigorous training. They value their land first. And their language Hebrew second. They are more than prepared. 'Everyone I know has somebody kidnapped or murdered by the terrorists.' IMAGE: A building in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 7, 2023 is ablaze following Hamas rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Itai Ron/Reuters 27-year-old Tal Hazi was on his honeymoon in Thailand when he heard about the horrible Hamas attack on Israel. When the attack happened, his friends were close to the Gaza border attending the Nova music festival. Tal wanted to return immediately when his homeland is under attack, but flights to Tel Aviv got cancelled. A software engineer, Tal earlier served in the Israeli navy for four years. He will rejoin the navy the moment he is back in his country. "Though my closest friends escaped the terrorists, some friends of my friends were kidnapped. Some got brutally murdered," Tal Hazi tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier. IMAGE: Tal Hazi with his wife Shir. Photograph: Kind courtesy Tal Hazi You were far away from your country and people when the Hamas attack happened. When did you hear the news? I got married last month and we were in Thailand on our honeymoon. It was not on TV or the Internet that we first got the news. It was my friends who told me we were under attack. They sent me videos of wounded people running for safety. The news came on television much later. IMAGE: Palestinians react as an Israeli military vehicle burns after it was hit by Hamas gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel, October 7, 2023. Photograph: Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa/Reuters Was your family affected by the attack? No. The attack happened on the south of Israel, near the Gaza border. My family lives in Tel Aviv, quite far from where the attack happened. So, they were not affected. But a lot of my closest friends were attending the music festival which was happening close to the border. When I came to know where the attack happened, I messaged my friends enquiring about their whereabouts. For a very long time, there was no response from them. We were very worried about their safety. Though my closest friends escaped the terrorists, some friends of my friends were kidnapped. Some got brutally murdered. IMAGE: A man takes shelter in Mevaseret Zion, Israel, October 7, 2023 as a siren sounds and rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Were you able to talk to your friends who escaped? How terrifying was it for them? They were so shaken that they just couldn't speak for a few hours. Soon after the attack, people tried to escape in their cars, but were stopped by the terrorists who were in Israeli police uniform. Then they shot at the passengers indiscriminately. Our friends left the car and ran away from the area to the nearest kibbutz (Jewish communal settlements). In no time, the terrorists reached the kibbutz too. What happened after that was just horrifying. They burnt the houses with people inside. They barged into some houses, dragged the people out and cut them to pieces. They killed babies, they raped women. They then kidnapped whoever they saw. From there, they went to the army base and killed the soldiers who were sleeping. They killed almost all the women soldiers too. Those who survived were taken as hostages to Gaza. When I heard these stories from them and saw the videos of the mutilated bodies with blood splattered everywhere, I just wanted to go back home immediately. Ours is a small country, and we know almost everyone living in our area including the soldiers. Everyone I know has somebody kidnapped or murdered by the terrorists. My friends hid somewhere for almost eight hours before the army reached there to rescue them. In fact, they sent messages with their location to our friends, and that was how they were able to get help from the police and the army. The attack happened in as many as 15 locations in the border area. IMAGE: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a statement to the media inside The Kirya, which houses the Israeli defence ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 12, 2023, after a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/Reuters The Netanyahu government failed to protect the people, there was a huge intelligence failure. Are you and your friends angry with the government? Definitely, the government and the army failed in their job. They are responsible for this attack. The soldiers slept on their shift. Having said that, now our job is to win the war, and not talk about past mistakes. I would have been there by now had our flight to Tel Aviv not been cancelled. We came to Greece from Thailand so that I could be closer to my country. Luckily, I will be back in Tel Aviv tomorrow (Friday, October 13). IMAGE: Tal Hazi in uniform. Photograph: Kind courtesy Tal Hazi Are you going to join the navy then? Yes. As you know, every citizen of Israel has to serve in the army, air force or navy for four years. I was in the navy for four years as a commanding officer leading many soldiers. My wife also was in the navy. It was there that we met and fell in love. IMAGE: Tal and the soldiers serving under him. Photograph: Kind courtesy Tal Hazi When there is a war, they ask us to join back to serve the country. Once you are a soldier, you are always a soldier. They asked me also to join, first as a reserve. As the situation unfolds, if they need me, I will be in the navy to win the war for my country. My wife hasn't got a call yet. If she gets a call, she also will join. In fact, they do not have to call us to fight, all of us consider it our duty to fight for our country. We consider ourselves as brothers and sisters. Look at the number of volunteers helping the wounded and affected. IMAGE: A view of the debris in Ashkelon, Israel October 7, 2023 in the aftermath of the Hamas rocket barrages launched from Gaza. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters Is this the worst terrorist attack that has happened in your memory? Many compare this to 9/11. I would compare this attack to the Holocaust. I have heard stories of the Holocaust from old people; stories of how the houses of Jews were burnt, stories of how people were butchered including babies. I was told they didn't even spare pet dogs. In the Holocaust, millions of innocent people were killed just because they were Jews. The world promised that it would never happen again. But it happened on the 7th of October. What has happened to our grandmothers, sisters, brothers and small children is unbelievable. The terrorists killed everybody, even babies and old people. This is the worst that has happened in my memory. This is the worst that has happened in my parents' memory too. How much has this attack affected you as a person? Personally, we just got married and we were on our honeymoon. Ever since we heard the news of the attack, we don't feel happy. We are totally shattered seeing the images of the attack. But I am sure we will win the war and stop Hamas forever. We don't want any war. We only want to feel safe in our country, our only country. Like our former prime minister Golda Meir said, there will be peace in this region only when they love their children more than they hate us. Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com The Congress is going to vacate its 'war room' located at Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, according to the party sources. IMAGE: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge along with CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party leaders Rahul Gandh and others at the party's Central Election Committee meeting at AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. Photograph: ANI Photo The 'war room' has been running since 2008, and all the important party meetings were held there. This bungalow is allotted in the name of former Bengal President of the Congress Party and former Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Bhattacharya. Pradeep Bhattacharya's Rajya Sabha tenure ended on August 18, this year; hence, he was given notice to vacate the bungalow by the Housing Committee of Rajya Sabha. Meanwhile, Pradeep Bhattacharya also wrote a letter to the Housing Committee to ask for an extension of the bungalow, but till now he has not received any reply to the letter, according to sources. No other Congress Rajya Sabha MP has come forward in whose name the party should get the bungalow allotted; hence, the Congress is now going to vacate the bungalow and build its 'war room' at a new place. Before Pradeep Bhattacharya, this bungalow was allotted to actress Rekha, and before that, this bungalow was allotted in the name of an MP from South India, but all the MPs in whose names this bungalow was allotted, including Singhvi, did not live in it. The bungalow was only used for party work. According to sources, this bungalow has now been allotted to an independent Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, Kartikeya Sharma. Although no decision has been taken yet regarding where Congress will make its 'war room', the party's new office is being built in Feroze Shah Kotla; hence, it is being speculated that the party can shift the 'war room' to this office in the month of November. The joint intergovernmental commission of Georgia-Hungary, led by Irakli Gharibashvili, convened a session during which ten documents were signed, including the "Joint Declaration between Georgia and Hungary." The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, signed the document on behalf of Georgia, while the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, signed it for Hungary.Additionally, a cooperation protocol was signed between the Ministries of Education and Science of Georgia, Culture and Innovation of Hungary, and Internal Affairs of Hungary, focused on education, science, and family cooperation.The document was signed by Georgia's Minister of Education and Science, Giorgi Amilakhvari, and on the Hungarian side by Sandor Pinter, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Hungary, and Janos Csak, the Minister of Culture and Innovation of Hungary.The President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili signed the Defense Code, as announced by the Chief Advisor to the President on Strategic Planning, Davit Tevzadze. He noted that the President made this decision despite the code's flaws."Today, the President of Georgia signed the Defense Code of Georgia. Despite its shortcomings, it addresses an issue of great importance to our society: from now on, conscripts will serve only in the Defense Forces. This change aligns with the core principles of military service and the interests of our nation. It marks the end of a long-standing, detrimental practice that compelled young people to undergo compulsory service in various agencies, primarily in public positions. This practice significantly contributed to a negative perception of the military among them," said Tevzadze.Tevzadze suggests that further work is required to address the concerns related to the military service obligations of the clergy. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. A Polish exhibition house has been opened in Azerbaijan's Baku, Trend reports. According to the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBIA) of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Economy, the Polish Exhibition House, which has started work in Baku, will contribute to the increase of trade between Azerbaijan and Poland and development of business cooperation. Various Polish goods are exhibited at the center. Polish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Rafal Poborski, KOBIA Board of Directors Chairman Orkhan Mammadov and businessmen attended the event dedicated to the opening of the Polish Exhibition House. In his speech at the event, the chairman of KOBIA noted that the development of relations between the two countries creates a favorable opportunity to expand cooperation between business circles, especially in the field of small and medium business. The Polish Exhibition House will also have a positive impact on the development of business cooperation between Azerbaijan and Poland, increase trade turnover, provide businessmen and consumers with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Polish products. KOBIA supports the creation of platforms that promote the establishment and development of relations between different countries and Azerbaijani SMEs. Rattled by a series of demonstrations outside the state party headquarters in Kolkata, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party president Sukanta Majumdar Friday issued a stern warning saying that disciplinary actions will be taken against dissenting party members. IMAGE: West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar. Photograph: ANI Photo Majumdar said that the BJP is known for its discipline and asked dissatisfied members to communicate with the party leaders or express their concerns through proper channels. "We will not tolerate indiscipline. We will take stern action," he asserted while criticising the protests and defacement of posters by BJP members outside the state party office in Kolkata on Thursday. Such a behaviour only benefits the opposition, Majumdar added. BJP parliamentarian and Majumdar's predecessor, Dilip Ghosh advocated for a more measured approach to address the concerns of the disgruntled members. Ghosh, who had a successful stint as Bengal BJP president, said, "We need to have a more delicate approach in dealing with such issues. The party workers are our assets. There should be a thorough examination of the reasons behind the protests." On Thursday hundreds of BJP workers gathered outside the party's headquarters in Kolkata, protested against the current situation in the party organisation and accused its leaders of favouring newcomers over long-time members. Protesters carrying party flags and chanting slogans against the state BJP leaders, including Majumdar and state general secretary (organisation) Amitabha Chakraborty, expressed frustration over the perceived sidelining of loyal party veterans in favour of newer entrants. These new comers, they claimed, earlier owed allegiance to other parties and have secured prominent positions in the saffron party's state and district units. Manoj Das, a BJP protestor said, "I have been associated with the party for the last 20 years when no one dared to or even thought of being associated with it. But now those who have joined BJP from other parties in the last few years are holding important positions in the districts and local units. This is unacceptable." The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) seized the opportunity to criticise its arch-enemy. The internal protests are indicative of turmoil in the opposition party, it said. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh remarked, "The BJP aspires to attain power in West Bengal but the reality is that it struggles to manage internal conflicts." Over the past year BJP has been grappling with internal strife and protests, primarily stemming from the organisational changes implemented in various parts of the state. In September union minister Subhas Sarkar was confined in a party office in the Bankura district, his constituency, as angry party members accused him of sidelining long-standing members. The BJP leadership has pledged to address these concerns and mitigate discord within the party. The Congress registered a landslide victory in 2018 Chhattisgarh assembly elections because of the strong anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party that had ruled the state for 15 years between 2003 and 2018. The Congress currently holds 71 seats in the 90-member state assembly and is aiming to win 75 seats in the upcoming elections riding on the Bhupesh Baghel-led government's pro-farmers, pro-tribals and pro-poor schemes. The ruling party is also eyeing to cash in on CM Baghel's popularity as he has a significant hold over the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and rural voters. Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh. STRENGTHS Implementation of several welfare schemes, including Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay and Godhan Nyay Yojana, catering to farmers and rural population, unemployment allowance and procurement of millets and various forest produce at support price. CM Baghel has developed his image as a son of the soil, enhancing his popularity in the native population. He has a significant hold over the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and rural voters. In the last five years, the party has strengthened its organisational set-up till the booth level. Around 3 lakh youths associated with the Rajiv Yuva Mitan Club scheme could help the party in mobilising voters in its favour. This scheme is aimed at connecting young people of the state with creative works, developing leadership skills and making them aware of their social responsibilities. The Congress won bypolls held to five assembly seats in Chhattisgarh after 2018, consolidating its position in the state. WEAKNESSES There is factionalism and infighting in the grand old party's state unit. In the last five years, CM Baghel's bete noire in the party T S Singh Deo raised a banner of revolt multiple times. Finally, the party had to placate him by appointing him as the deputy chief minister earlier this year. Another leader Mohan Markam, a former state Congress president, was also not on good terms with Baghel. But he was inducted into the state cabinet a few months back. Despite all this, the internal bickering is far from over. The government is facing allegations of corruption in coal transportation, liquor sale, District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund utilisation and Public Service Commission recruitment in the state. Some incidents of communal violence and clashes over religious conversion occurred in the state during the present regime, giving an opportunity to the opposition BJP to build a narrative against the Congress of being anti-Hindu. OPPORTUNITIES The BJP has failed to mount an effective attack on the Congress in the last nearly five years. Leadership issue in the BJP: After the 2018 assembly polls, the BJP has changed its state chief thrice and also changed its leader of opposition in the state assembly last year. The saffron party has also virtually sidelined Raman Singh, whose last tenure as CM between 2013 and 2018 was rocked by alleged civil supplies scam and chit fund scam. The Congress has been continuously targeting the BJP, claiming its central leadership does not have faith in the party's frontline leaders in the state. Weak BJP district units that failed to counter Congress' narrative against the BJP-led Centre at the local level. THREATS Unfulfilled promises, including liquor ban and regularisation of contractual employees, may attract the wrath of people in various constituencies. The 'Modi factor' that gives the BJP an edge over rival parties. Entry of the Aam Aadmi Party and Sarwa Adivasi Samaj (an umbrella body of tribal organisations) into the elections may damage the vote bank of the Congress. Of the 68 Congress MLAs who were elected in 2018, a total of 35 were first timers and most of them are now facing opposition from the public over their performance. At least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others have been injured amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, CNN reported citing the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza. At least 36 people have died and more than 650 have been injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the ministry in Ramallah added. United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said more than 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict, CNN reported. According to the UN, Israeli airstrikes have hit at least 88 educational facilities, including 18 UN schools and 70 Palestinian Authority schools. Caution: Graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised. IMAGE: A woman mourns Danielle, 25, and Noam, 26, an Israeli couple who were killed as they attended a music festival, as they are buried next to each other during their funeral in Kiryat Tivon, Israel, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Shir Torem/Reuters IMAGE: People wheel Danielle and Noam's bodies before their funeral. Photograph: Shir Torem/Reuters IMAGE: Family and friends mourn Danielle and Noam during their funeral. Photograph: Shir Torem/Reuters IMAGE: People light candles to show solidarity with Israel and remember the victims of the horrific Hamas attack at Dizengoff square in Tel Aviv, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Janis Laizans/Reuters IMAGE: Mourners react during the funeral of a 16-year-old Palestinian who was killed in clashes with Israeli forces near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank October 12, 2023. Photograph: Mussa Qawasma/Reuters IMAGE: People prepare to dig graves to bury bodies of Palestinians from the Samour family, who were killed in Israeli strikes on their house on a land near to their home as the residents struggle to find spaces in cemeteries in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters IMAGE: Mourners at the funerals of the Samour family. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters IMAGE: Mourners at the funeral of four Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli settlers, near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters IMAGE: Emergency personnel transport a body following reports of gunfire directed at the Shalem police station near the Old City of Jerusalem, October 12, 2023. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com The Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Friday said it had a 'strong moral and constitutional case' and urged Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to take a decision on the disqualification pleas of MLAs at the earliest. IMAGE: Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar with Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde. Photograph: ANI Photo The Shiv Sena split into the Uddhav Thackeray and Shinde factions last year, after which the former filed petitions with the Speaker seeking disqualification of several MLAs belonging to the chief minister's camp. 'While we understand the process and the time required to take this decision. We have a strong moral and constitutional case, backed by the will of the legislative party, parliamentary party, workers and voters of the Shiv Sena,' the Shinde-led group said in a statement. 'Our politics is deeply committed to the values and principles of our late founder Hindu Hriday Samrat Shri Balasaheb Thackeray. Uddhav Thackeray misled us and compromised on our core value system,' it added. The statement said Uddhav Thackeray deceived the people of Maharashtra by not honouring their mandate post the 2019 Assembly polls, a reference to the break up of the several decade old Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, which led to the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The Shinde group's statement said the Election Commission of India allotted it the name 'Shiv Sena' and 'bow and arrow', in the process recognising it as the original party founded by Bal Thackeray. The decision of the Election Commission was on a 'test on majority' as the MLAs supporting the Eknath Shinde group had got nearly 76 per cent of the votes polled for the 55 winning Shiv Sena candidates in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, while the Uddhav Thackeray faction got only 23.5 per cent of votes, it added. In addition, the affidavits of workers and office bearers outweighed those with the Uddhav Thackeray faction, the statement added. The statement claimed the ECI had, in scathing observations, called the (undivided) party constitution 'undemocratic'. 'We have full faith in the Supreme Court, which has granted us relief and justice in the past,' the statement from the Shinde camp said. Incidentally, the Supreme Court on Friday came down hard on the Speaker for the delay in deciding the plea for disqualification of Shinde and several MLAs. 'Somebody has to advise the Speaker that he cannot defeat the orders of the Supreme Court,' a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to apprise the court about the timeline for deciding the issue. On September 18, the top court had directed the Maharashtra assembly speaker to spell out the timeline for adjudication of the disqualification petitions against Shinde and other MLAs. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena ()UBT) has been consistently claiming Narwekar was delaying in arriving at a decision on the disqualification pleas. Seven journalists were incarcerated in India in 2021 and 2022, the highest in three decades. There has been a marked uptick in imprisonments and killings of journalists after 2012 compared to the years before. The Committee to Protect Journalists database has recorded data from 1992 onwards. Between 1992 and 2001, 17 journalists in India were murdered and two imprisoned. There were four arrests and 16 killings in the decade ending 2011. Since 2012, about 30 journalists have lost their lives and 33 have found themselves behind bars. Seven journalists were incarcerated in 2021 and 2022, the highest in three decades. In fact, there has been a rising global trend of attacks against journalists. About 3,000 journalists have been imprisoned and over 550 killed between 2012 and 2022. However, a few major countries account for over 50 per cent of all journalist incarcerations in the world. As many as 1,092 journalists have been imprisoned in China between 1992 and 2022. As many as 891 have been imprisoned in Turkey, followed by 487 in Eritrea, 414 in Iran and 316 in Myanmar in the same period. India's rank on the Press Freedom Index, which ranks 180 countries on its media freedoms, has slipped from 80 in 2002 to 150 in 2022. India was ranked 161 in the 2023 iteration of the freedom index. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested from Pune a 22-year-old man suspected to be the mastermind behind the case of two missing Manipuri students who were believed to have been killed, officials said Friday. IMAGE: Students of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) stage a protest over the death of two students, Hijam Linthoingambi and Phijam Hemamjit Singh and demanding peace in violence-hit Manipur, in Imphal on September 28, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo The CBI which had started an extensive operation to nab the culprits using informers and technical surveillance had come to know about the alleged involvement of Paolunmang who is believed to be the mastermind behind the incident that set into motion a fresh round of protests in the state. The special investigation team which was on the lookout for him came to know about his location in Pune in Maharashtra from where he was taken into custody. The team immediately flew him to Guwahati to be produced before a designated court which sent him to the CBI custody till October 16 where he will be questioned on the entire incident. The CBI is also looking for mortal remains of the two students to confirm if they have been actually killed after they went missing, they said. Phijam Hemanjit (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi, a girl aged 17 years, had gone missing on July 6. Photos purportedly showing their bodies surfaced on September 25, leading to violent protests, mainly by students. "The government will support the CBI in its investigation and all those involved in the killing of the two youths will be arrested," Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said. The CBI had arrested two men, Paominlun Haokip and Smalsawm Haokip, and two women, Lhingneichong Baitekuki and Tinneilhing Henthang, on October 1. Based on the complaints of the victims' parents, the two cases related to the missing students were earlier registered with the Imphal Police and Lamphel Police on July 8 and July 19, respectively. The CBI had taken over investigation into these two cases on August 23. After the photos went viral on September 25, CBI Director Praveen Sood dispatched a special team, led by the agency's Special Director Ajay Bhatnagar, which reached Manipur on September 27 to monitor and help the probe. More than 180 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured in ethnic clashes that broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute a little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. A school teacher was killed and two students were left injured after a stabbing incident in northern France, The Washington Post reported on Friday. IMAGE: French President Emmanuel Macron, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and officials arrive at the site after a teacher was killed and several people injured in a knife attack at the Lycee Gambetta-Carnot high school in Arras, northern France, on October 13, 2023. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters The incident happened at a high school in Arras, France and the suspect was arrested at the scene. The Washington Post reported citing witnesses that the attacker shouted 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) during the attack. Notably, the terror group Hamas had declared this Friday as the 'Global Day of Rage'. This comes as Israel and Hamas are engaged in an intense battle after the latter launched a surprise attack on the former on October 7, launching a barrage of rockets into Israel, leading it to an even stronger counter-offensive. Reacting over the incident, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the stabbing happened in Arras, a city in northern France. 'A police operation took place at the Gambetta High School in Arras. The perpetrator was arrested by the police,' he posted on X (formerly Twitter). After the incident, President Emmanuel Macron was en route to the school and France's anti-terrorism prosecution office said it was opening an investigation, The Washington Post reported. The attacker was allegedly a man of Chechen origin and was known to the security services for his involvement with radical Islam, The Washington Post reported citing Europe 1, a radio station. It further reported citing French media reports that the attacker was a former student at the school. Further details are awaited in the case. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned that fighting against Israel might open on 'other fronts' if Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza, Iranian state-owned news network Press TV reported. IMAGE: Palestinians flee their houses heading toward the southern part of Gaza Strip after Israel's call for more than 1 million civilians in northern Gaza to move south within 24 hours, amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza City on October 13, 2023. Photograph: Ahmed Zakot/Reuters Upon his arrival in Beirut on Thursday, the Iranian minister said, "Some European officials asked me if there were any chances that new fronts might open up against the Zionist regime?" "I told them as far as the Zionists keep up their war crimes, there exists every prospect that other resistance movements [may enter the war]," he added, according to Press TV report. Amir-Abdollahian said, "We are in Beirut to announce with a loud voice that, along with [other] Muslim countries and governments, we do not brook the Zionist regime's crimes against the people of Gaza," Press TV reported. The Iranian minister termed Israel's displacement of thousands of Palestinians as part of warfare and its concomitant enforcement of an all-seige on Gaza. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian further said, "Continuation of these war crimes will be followed by other reactions on other axes, for which the Zionist regime and its supporters would be responsible." The Iranian minister has on Thursday embarked on a visit to Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. Before his departure, Amirabdollahian addressed reporters in Tehran, stating that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is the primary source of crises in West Asia, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported. In Beirut, the minister said the continuation of 'crimes against Palestinians' will receive a response from 'the rest of the Axis' and Israel will be responsible for the consequences, Al Jazeera reported. His statement comes as Israel has launched its counter-offensive on Hamas following its attack on October 7. At least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, CNN reported citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. At least 36 people have died and more than 650 have been injured in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that more than 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, CNN reported. He further said that nearly 218,000 of those are sheltering in 92 schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency. Meanwhile, Israeli defence forces armed with tanks are positioning themselves on the country's southern border with Gaza after the Israeli military on Friday called for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City. The Israeli Defence Forces has asked civilians to relocate from their homes and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza for their own safety. The IDF stated that citizens should return only when advised to do so. It also asked citizens to not approach the area on the security fence with Israel. In a statement shared on X, IDF stated, "The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, as shown on the map. The Hamas terrorist organization waged a war against the State of Israel and Gaza City is an area where military operations take place. This evacuation is for your own safety." 'Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields,' the military said. 'Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians,' it said. Most of the suspects behind the killing of a key aide of Jaish e Mohammed terror group chief Masood Azhar and his two associates have been arrested, the police chief of Pakistan's Punjab province said on Friday, days after the trio were shot dead at a mosque in Sialkot city. The JeM terror group's leader Shahid Latif, mastermind of the 2016 attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, and his security guard Hashim Ali were shot dead by three gunmen while they were offering prayer in a mosque in Daska city of Punjab province, over 100 km from Lahore, on Wednesday early morning. Prayer leader and close associate of Latif, Maulana Ahad was also hit by bullets and was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to his wounds on Thursday. Without naming the country, the inspector general of police (IGP) Punjab Dr Usman Anwar said a "rogue nation and its hostile intelligence agency are involved in executing the terror attack in Pakistan." "All three shooters involved in this case have been identified and arrested. Other arrests have been made in Sialkot, Lahore, Pakpattan, Kasur and other districts of Punjab," he said. This attack was planned outside Pakistan. A hostile intelligence agency sent a person to Pakistan. We have all the records about who is the person who came here, who he met, and even his geo-location. They came here between October 6 and October 9 and executed the plan on October 11. He further said that Pakistan's security agencies worked jointly to identify "facilitators, perpetrators, and executors" of the attack and arrested most of them. They will soon be presented before the court with evidence. Sialkot district police officer (DPO) Muhammad Hasan Iqbal said this was a "targeted killing" and an "incident of terrorism". Latif, who was arrested in India in 1994 on terror charges, was then put on trial and eventually jailed. He completed his sentence in 2010 after which he was deported to Pakistan. Shahid Latif, 50, belonged to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and for many years he served as the administrator of Noori-e-Madina Masjid, Daska. The Jaish-e-Mohammed has been blamed by India for multiple past attacks on its soil, including the Pathankot attack which left seven soldiers dead at a base in the north Indian town. Traumatised by what they had experienced in the last few days, the first batch of over 200 Indians were glad to be home from Israel on Friday with the sound of air raid sirens, rocket fire and screams still ringing loud in their ears. IMAGE: Indians, including students, arrived in New Delhi from Israel onboard a chartered flight in the early hours of Friday. Photographs: @MEAIndia/X Israel witnessed an unprecedented attack by Hamas in its southern parts on Saturday morning. The war has till now claimed over 2,800 lives on both sides. "We woke up to sounds of air raid sirens. We stay in central Israel and I don't know what shape this conflict will take," said Shashwat Singh soon after landing at Delhi airport along with his wife. The post-doctoral researcher in agriculture, who has been staying in Israel since 2019, said the sound of those sirens and the nightmarish experience of the past few days still haunt him. The step to bring back Indians is a 'praiseworthy step', Singh said soon after the flight landed. "We hope peace will be restored and we will return to work... The Indian government got in touch with us via email. We are thankful to Prime Minister Modi and the Indian Embassy in Israel." Another flight carrying 200 Indian passengers from Tel Aviv are expected to arrive in New Delhi on Saturday, sources said. India launched Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back home as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend triggered fresh tension in the region. Many students who returned home recalled the fateful night of Saturday and how they had to rush to shelters multiple times in the wake of rocket attacks by Hamas. Suparno Ghosh, a West Bengal native and a first-year PhD student of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev at Beersheba in Israel, was also among the group of Indians who reached Delhi on the special flight. WATCH: Stranded Indians recount ordeal after the unprecedented attacks launched by Hamas on Israel "We could not know what happened. On Saturday, some rockets were launched. But, we were safe in shelters... the good thing is that the Israeli government has made shelters everywhere, so we were safe," he said. Several women students also recounted the grim situation they faced when the attacks happened. "It was a panic situation. We are not citizens there, we are just students. So, for us whenever the sirens go on, it's a panic situation for us," Jaipur native Mini Sharma told PTI. Asked when she received the information about the rescue flight, she replied, "Just a day before." "We packed our bags yesterday morning after receiving a message from the Indian Embassy. They were very helpful. We were able to get in touch with them round the clock," Sharma said. Deepak, another student, said, "We heard sirens on Saturday. We could also hear the sound of the attack. Israeli authorities were instructing us (to take safety measures). I am happy to return home but at the same time sad that our friends are there (in Israel)." The whole process to being us back was very smooth, the student told reporters. Duti Banerjee, another West Bengal native who was also among the first batch of Indians evacuated from Israel, said the situation in Israel was 'pretty messy and unsettled'. "Normal life has been paused. People are scared and angry. Even when I was leaving, I heard sirens and had to go to a shelter," she said. Soni, another student, thanked the governments of India and Israel for 'taking such good care of us'. "I booked two flights as I was not sure when would the Indian government evacuate us. But, I am glad to be back... many Indians still in Israel," she said. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said around 18,000 Indians are currently residing in Israel while about a dozen people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza. Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar welcomed the passengers at the Delhi airport as they streamed into the lounge area from the tarmac side. He greeted them with folded hands and also shook hands with many of them saying, "Welcome home". "I was pleased and honoured today to welcome 212 students who came back from Israel who collectively were very grateful for the smooth and efficient and highly responsive way the government of India came to their rescue." "For me, it is a matter of pride that I got an opportunity to welcome, on behalf of our Prime Minister and the government, our students who have returned from Israel and to thank the aircrew. They were all unanimously thanking Prime Minister Modi," the minister said. Operation Ajay is consistent with the prime minister's motto of not leaving an Indian behind who finds himself or herself in harm's way. The Government of India will work very hard to make sure that every Indian who needs to come back, return to their families safely, Chandrasekhar added. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The Ministry of International and Foreign Economic Relations of Russian Sverdlovsk Region, in cooperation with Russia's Trade Representation in Azerbaijan, conducted a video conference with businessmen from the Sverdlovsk region, Trend reports. The online event was attended by Russia's Trade Representative in Azerbaijan Ruslan Mirsayapov, Acting Minister of International and Foreign Economic Relations of the Sverdlovsk Region Oleg Alexandrin, as well as the heads of organizations from the region representing the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Alexandrin shared the plans of the delegation from Sverdlovsk to visit the "Medinex" International Medical Innovations Exhibition, which will take place on November 2 through 4 in Baku. Mirsayapov informed the participants about the certification and procurement procedures, the promotion of products and services in the Azerbaijani market, and the opportunities for establishing production in Azerbaijan. The data from the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan show that, Russia ranked third in terms of trade turnover with Azerbaijan from January through August 2023, amounting to $2.78 billion (26.82 percent increase over the year). The Andhra Pradesh police on Friday told the Supreme Court they will not arrest Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the FiberNet case till October 18 due to the pendency his petition related to the Skill Development Corporation scam in the apex court. IMAGE: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu leaves for Vijayawada after being arrested by the CID in connection to the alleged corruption charges, in Nandyal on September 9, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Andhra Pradesh government, told a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi that the state will seek adjournment in the matter from the trial court where Naidu is to be produced on October 16. The special Anti-Corruption Bureau court in Vijayawada issued a production warrant on October 12 and asked the state police to present Naidu before it on October 16. The bench issued notice to the state government on the fresh plea by Naidu in which the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister has challenged the October 9 order of the high court which had rejected his anticipatory bail application in the FiberNet case. Naidu has said in his petition he apprehended his arrest after production in the trial court on October 16. The FiberNet case relates to alleged tender manipulation in allotting a work order under Phase-1 of the AP FiberNet Project involving Rs 330 crore to a favoured company. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh police has alleged irregularities in the project right from awarding the tender to completion of the work, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer. During the hearing on Friday, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Naidu, said after implicating the former chief minister in one case (Skill Development scam case), the state government has named him in different FIRs. "Once they arrested him in one case, they started roping him in other cases so that he wouldn't come out of jail. In the FibreNet case, the FIR was registered in 2021 but nothing happened after that. Now, on September 19, they added him in the FIR and moved an application before the trial court," Luthra said. Luthra said on the application of the state police, the trial court issued a production warrant asking the TDP chief to be presented before it on October 16, and Naidu now fears he may be arrested. Justice Trivedi asked Luthra whether this case also involved Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Section 17A was introduced by an amendment with effect from July 26, 2018 and the provision stipulates a mandatory requirement for a police officer to seek prior approval from the competent authority for conducting any enquiry or inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act). Luthra replied the FibreNet case also involves the larger question of applicability of section 17A. "In this case, three people have already got anticipatory bails and three are on regular bails, while others have not been arrested. Now, these being the facts of the case, where does the question arise for taking him (Naidu) into custody," he said. Justice Bose said since there is an overlap of section 17A in the FibreNet case and the Skill Development Corporation scam case, the court will issue notice to the state government and will take up both the matters on October 17. Luthra said if the court does not protect him or keep the production warrant in abeyance and the police arrest him on October 16, Naidu's anticipatory bail plea would becomes infructuous. Rohatgi objected to the submission and asked since the trial court has summoned Naidu, how can the production order be kept in abeyance. The bench told Rohatgi, "We are not passing any order on the anticipatory bail plea for now and are only issuing notice. Till Tuesday, you have to hold your hands and not arrest him. You tell the trial court, you are not arresting him till Tuesday." Rohatgi, after taking instructions, said the Andhra Pradesh police will not arrest Naidu till October 18 and seek adjournment before the trial court on October 16. Naidu, 73, was arrested on September 9 for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation when he was the chief minister in 2015, causing a purported loss of Rs 371 crore to the state exchequer. He is under judicial remand in the Rajamahendravaram central prison. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy. High near 55F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies. Low near 35F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. In this 2010 photo provided by Anne Slonaker, Honoree Fleming stands for a photograph. Fleming, a retired dean and professor of education at Vermont State University, in Castleton, Vt., was found shot to death on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, on the Delaware & Hudson Rail Trail about a mile south of the Castleton campus of the university. The shooting happened during the school's week-long fall break. (Anne Slonaker via AP) BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Energy Minister of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov held a series of bilateral meetings in Moscow within the framework of "Russian Energy Week", Trend reports. According to the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry, Minister Parviz Shahbazov met with Mohammad Ali, acting Minister of Energy and Petroleum of Pakistan. The meeting discussed the role of energy cooperation in the development of relations based on friendship, brotherhood and partnership. In this regard, the importance of the contract signed with SOCAR Trading Company for the supply of liquefied natural gas was emphasized and new prospects for cooperation were discussed. In addition, proposals of Azerbaijani companies to participate in oil and gas and renewable energy projects were assessed at the meeting with Minister of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan Daler Juma. Daler Juma noted that Tajikistan is interested in establishing broad energy cooperation with Azerbaijan. Parviz Shahbazov visited the Russian Federation at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. It is planned that the Energy Minister will take part in discussions and hold bilateral meetings within the framework of the session "Managing the global oil and gas market in turbulent times". The VI International Forum "Russian Energy Week" will last until October 13, 2023. Buddhist monks perform a ceremony to mark Pchum Ben, Cambodias festival of the dead, in Kampong Tralach district in central Kampong Chhnang province, October 2023. A celebration marking the end of Buddhist Lent wont be very cheerful for some Cambodian monks who say they have received few food offerings amid a sluggish economy. Traditionally, people prepare food for the monks and offer them alms, believing that their kind deeds are a way of paying their respects to their deceased ancestors. But this year, the monks in Kampong Tralach district in central Kampong Chhnang province say they have not received any offerings from residents during the 15-day Pchum Ben festival marking the end of Vassa, Buddhist Lent. Apparently, ordinary people are struggling economically, and some have left the area for better-paying jobs in neighboring Thailand. We are facing difficulties in supporting the monks. We have 13 monks, but we don't have money to support them, said Neang Eth, abbot of Samrong Raingsy. Many villages stand nearly empty. Two pagodas in particular Wat Samrong Raingsy, or Wat Chas, in Ta Ches commune, Kampong Talach district and Wat Sovannkiri Potikaram or Phnom Teap, in Cheung Kreav commune, Rolea Bier district are unusually quiet. Earlier this week, the pagodas 13 monks held a ceremony, but only 10 local residents attended it. The pagoda is not holding any events between Oct. 12 and 14, so the monks wont have any food or money. Neang Eth said he fears that people will lose their enthusiasm for the traditional religious festival because of their economic woes. The five monks who inhabit the Sovannkiri Potikaram Pagoda are also feeling the pain. Only a few locals have come to the pagoda, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the nearest village, for this years event, said Abbot Moul Sai. Monks at the pagoda have not received enough food since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Cambodia in 2020. They have enough on most days only to eat lunch, but there are other times when they go without meals for days, he said. We asked for food from houses, but the villagers said they could not schedule times to come to the pagoda, Moul Sai said. Sar Leang, provincial department head for Cambodia's Ministry of Cult and Religious Affairs, said his office has no solution to solve food shortages in the pagodas but will visit the monks to study the situation. Koet Saray, president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association and a former Buddhist monk, said food shortages for monks are occurring everywhere in the country because not many people are visiting them during the religious festival. Monks are relying on people to offer food and clothes, so when people dont even have the money to spend in their daily lives, how can they give food to the monks? he asked. Meanwhile, monks in Kampong Chhnang province have urged officials to support the villagers and reduce poverty so they will have the budget to participate in traditional religious ceremonies. Translated by Yun Samean for RFA Khmer. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. Employers promised to arrange documentation for some workers, but others remained in custody wondering their fate. Thai authorities arrested about 1,000 construction workers in the central province of Ayutthaya, at least 400 of whom are undocumented Cambodians, for working illegally, Radio Free Asia has learned. Sources told RFA that some of the workers were released after their employers promised to arrange legal documents for them. Hundreds were still waiting for their release as of Wednesday evening, said Leung Sophon, a labor relations and human rights project officer at the Phnom Penh-based Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, or CENTRAL. They hope that their employers can arrange work permits for them as well. All the workers have different bosses, Leung Sophon told RFA Khmer. Some have been assured by their employers that they will be able to return to work, as they have promised the Thai police that they would provide them with legal documents or visas, but most of them did not have valid papers at the time of their arrest. He said that some of the detained workers would need to spend the night at the police station and would have to wait until Thursday to see if their employers would come and help them or not. Many of the Cambodian workers entered Thailand without passports, Leung Sophon said, adding that besides the Cambodians, authorities also arrested workers from Vietnam and Myanmar. Chanra, who was among the arrested Cambodian workers, told RFA that Thai authorities might deport her. I already got my ticket and Thai authorities are sending us to another place, she said. I do not know exactly where to go, but I heard that Thai Police will send us back to Cambodia, but I do not know yet. I received food just now. RFA attempted to contact the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok, the spokesperson and the director of the Thai immigration police but received no response. Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. The man was protesting his expulsion from a training school for being too short. Keo Sovannrith tried to file a complaint with local police in Phnom Penhs Daun Penh district on Wednesday after being beaten two days earlier by what he says were local authorities in civilian clothes. A Cambodian man who was expelled from a state-run school because he was too short has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Interior over the beating he received from security guards during a protest earlier this week. Keo Sovannrith, 20, was demonstrating alone at the Ministry of Education on Monday when local authorities in civilian uniforms pulled him into a car and beat him. He told Radio Free Asia that he tried to file a complaint with local police in Phnom Penhs Daun Penh district on Wednesday, but they refused to accept it. The same security guards who roughed him up earlier this week then took his phone, he said. He filed the complaint with the Interior Ministry on Thursday. He said he will follow up with ministry officials after the annual Pchum Ben festival, which ends on Monday. I urged the ministry to speed up a solution on the matter, he told RFA. It seems the district guards have more power than police and other authorities. Keo Sovannrith was admitted to the National Institute of Physical Education last November despite standing 162 centimeters (5 foot 4 inches) tall, under the 165 centimeter (5 foot 5 inch) minimum requirement for applicants. He was removed from enrollment with no explanation in December, along with 11 other prospective students. In July and August, Keo Sovannrith and several others protested several times in front of the ministry to demand readmission to the teacher training program. They said the institutes enrollment requirements were too opaque and randomly applied. Police surrounded and beat them on Aug. 21. Video of the incident was widely viewed on Facebook. Soeung Sengkaruna, a spokesman for the rights group Adhoc, said that the Daun Penh security guards arent police officers and dont have the authority to confiscate peoples belongings. Only the judicial police with the courts order can arrest people, he said. The ministry should look into the issue to avoid any criticism from people and the international community who are watching over the law enforcement of Cambodia. Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. The report comes in the wake of recent allegations over Chinas forced repatriation of North Koreans. South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo raised his opposition to the forced repatriation of North Koreans when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China last month, Yonhap News Agency reported on Friday, citing South Koreas ambassador to China Chung Jae-ho. In response to a question from lawmaker Park Hong-keun during a parliament hearing on Oct. 13, as to whether Han mentioned [the issue of repatriation] to Xi, Chung said he believed Han did. Chung was with the prime minister, who attended the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, when he met Xi in Hangzhou. Radio Free Asia was not able to independently confirm Chungs comment. When asked what was Xis exact response, Chung indicated that the Chinese presidents position mirrored Beijings existing stance, that they would deal with illegal entrants in accordance with domestic law, international law, and humanitarian principles, according to the Yonhap report. The reported exchange between the leaders comes in the wake of recent media reports alleging that China forcibly repatriated over 500 North Koreans following the Hangzhou Asian Games. According to sources working to rescue North Koreans in China, the majority of these individuals were civilians and religious figures. They were apprehended while trying to make their way from China to South Korea. These repatriations reportedly occurred in several areas, including Tumen, Hunchun, Changbai, Dandong, and Nanping. On Friday, South Korea's Unification Ministry also voiced its concern, stating: It appears to be true that many North Korean residents in three northeastern Chinese provinces have been repatriated. The ministry spokesperson emphasized that North Korean escapees abroad should not be forcibly returned under any circumstances. But Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated during a regular briefing that China adheres to a principle that combines domestic and international law, as well as humanitarian considerations, when dealing with North Koreans who enter China illegally for economic reasons. Ambassador Chung also mentioned that he has been in touch with Chinese authorities to confirm the repatriation of North Koreans, but he has yet to receive any official notification or explanation. Since North Korea lifted its border restrictions in August, after over three years of COVID lockdowns, there have been increasing concerns about the potential human rights violations and severe penalties that defectors might face upon return. Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N.s special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, estimates that more than 2,000 North Korean defectors are currently detained in China. Edited by Elaine Chan Locals say they were forced to evacuate overnight. Water being released from Se Taw Gyi dam in Madaya township, Mandalay region on Oct. 12, 2023 after heavy rains. Updated Oct. 13, 2023, at 2:10 p.m. ET More than 30,000 residents were forced to leave their homes and belongings behind in central Myanmars Mandalay region after their villages were unexpectedly flooded, locals and relief workers said Friday. While parts of Madaya township, just north of Mandalay city, face yearly flooding from the nearby Ayeyarwady River, residents told Radio Free Asia that this years quickly rising water levels came as a surprise. After continuous rain that began on Tuesday, local officials released excess water from Se Taw Gyi dam without alerting residents. The villages that are flooded every year are now facing severe flooding from both the river and the dam. Even the villages where water does not normally reach are flooded now, said a relief worker from Myanmar Rescue Madaya who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. We are helping from village to village and anti-regime defense forces are also helping. But relief is weak. Residents evacuated on Thursday night into Friday morning, a local of Tha Pyay Chaung village told RFA. Locals and relief workers estimated that a total of 30,000 people had to move. There are many villages that are flooded. Villages that were not normally flooded [before] are flooded now. In the past, they [officials] used to inform the people by letter when they were about to release water from the dam, said the local. People are facing trouble now because they were not informed. The water went up to five feet (1.5 meters) in the house last night and we had to leave behind our belongings that we could not take. The affected villages also include Inn Ta Khar, Waw Su, Wun Su, Oke Taik, Oke Set, Pan Kan Su and Ah Htet Taung Kaing villages. The resident said victims livestock are also being relocated to higher ground. In flooded rural areas where antivenom can be scarce, he added that displaced victims were particularly concerned about being bitten by poisonous snakes common in the countrys dry zone. RFA called Thein Htay, Mandalay regions economic minister and junta council spokesman, seeking comment on flooding in Madaya township, but he did not respond on Friday. Madaya township faced similar flooding in 2017 from Se Taw Gyi dam. Floods from heavy rain have also been affecting areas of Bago division, northern Shan and Mon states due to rising water levels in rivers since the second week of October. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Taejun Kang. Updated to clarify sourcing on the number of villagers forced to evacuate. Corrects that villagers evacuated on Thursday night and Friday morning. Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe for free, click here. I'm Frud Bezhan, regional desk editor for Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead. The Key Issue Several powerful earthquakes and aftershocks have killed at least 2,400 people and injured thousands more in western Afghanistan, with hundreds of others still missing. Entire villages have been flattened in the past week in the western province of Herat, in the deadliest temblors to hit Afghanistan in around 25 years. At least 17,000 people have been affected by the earthquakes on October 7 and October 11, according to the United Nations. Many have lost their homes and been forced to sleep out in the open. Another earthquake was reported on October 13 in the neighboring province of Badghis. There were no immediate reports of casualties and damage. The UN children's agency UNICEF said that 90 percent of those killed in the earthquakes in Herat were children and women. Many men in Zindah Jan district, the epicenter of the first and deadliest tremor, work in neighboring Iran and send remittances to their families. Foreign aid agencies said they have sent supplies to the region, including food, medical kits, and tents. But some survivors said they have yet to receive any assistance and have been forced to fend for themselves. "We have no shelter and no food, Juma Gul, a resident of Zindah Jan, told RFE/RLs Radio Azadi. We have nothing left." Local charities and volunteers have accused the Taliban of preventing them from independently collecting and distributing aid to survivors of the earthquakes. Why It's Important: The earthquakes have exacerbated the devastating humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the worlds largest. An estimated 15 million people -- out of a population of around 40 million -- are going hungry. Another 6 million are on the verge of starvation, according to the UN. The World Food Program (WFP) has called the recent earthquakes a disaster on top of a disaster. The UN body said it could only afford to support 3 million people due to a massive shortfall in international funding. Aid agencies have appealed for more funds to deal with the fallout from the deadly earthquakes. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in an October 12 statement called for immediate international support. What's Next: Many survivors, having lost their homes and possessions, fear the harsh winter months ahead. The nights are getting very cold, Mohammad Aref, a resident of Zindah Jan, told Radio Azadi. If it continues like this, we will not be able to live in a tent. We need proper shelter. Abdul Razzaq, a medical worker in Herat, told Radio Azadi that hunger and disease are spreading in communities affected by the earthquakes. "People have stomach problems, pneumonia, and sore throats. Some people live in tents. Others dont even have tents. What To Keep An Eye On The Pakistani authorities have demolished two makeshift settlements housing mostly Afghan refugees and migrants outside the capital, Islamabad. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) said the illegal settlements located on government land were bulldozed on October 11. The settlements were believed to be decades old and consisted of dozens of houses and farms. Why It's Important: The demolition of the settlements comes as Islamabad intensifies its crackdown on the estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghan migrants living in the South Asian country. Pakistans Interior Ministry announced on October 3 that illegal migrants living without legal status in Pakistan had until November 1 to leave voluntarily or face deportation. The announcement has triggered an increase in police abuse against Afghans, including harassment, assault, and arbitrary detention, according to Human Rights Watch. In an October 12 statement, the human rights group urged Pakistan to drop its threat to deport Afghans, saying many were at grave risk of being returned to persecution and other abuse in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org. Until next time, Frud Bezhan If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe for free here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday. Thousands of Afghans continue to flood back into the country from Pakistan as they seek to avoid deportation following a deadline from Islamabad for undocumented migrants to leave, a move the United Nations warned could lead to "severe" human rights violations. As of November 2, officials said more than 165,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan in the month since the government ordered some 1.7 million migrants -- more than 1 million of whom are Afghan nationals who fled following the August 2021 seizure of power in Kabul by Taliban militants -- to leave or face arrest and deportation. The majority have rushed to the border in recent days as the November 1 deadline approached and police began to open dozens of centers to detain arrested Afghans before expelling them. On the other side of the border, Taliban officials have also opened temporary transit camps to assist those returning. More than 100 people were detained in one police operation in the city of Karachi on November 2, while police rounded up 425 Afghans in Quetta, the city closest to the Chaman border crossing. WATCH: Afghan refugees in Pakistan, many having traveled for days, crossed into Afghanistan as a November 1 deadline to leave the country took effect. Islamabad has vowed to deport an estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans living in Pakistan if they don't leave voluntarily. Islamabad has said the deportations are to protect its "welfare and security" in Pakistan after a sharp rise in attacks, which the government blames on militants operating from Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration has dismissed Pakistans accusations against Afghan migrants and has asked all countries hosting Afghan refugees to give them more time to prepare for repatriation. The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad has said the move will further damage relations between the neighboring countries. Pakistan has brushed off calls to reconsider its decision from the UN, rights groups, and Western governments, who have urged it to incorporate into its plan a way to identify and protect Afghans facing the risk of persecution at home from the ruling militants. At the country's busiest border crossing at Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, officials worked into the early hours of November 1 to clear a line of 28,000 people that stretched for 7 kilometers, AFP reported. Just over 129,000 have fled from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial Interior Ministry said, while a total of 38,100 have crossed through Chaman in Balochistan Province, border officials there told AFP. Authorities on the Afghan side of the border have set up a center several kilometers from a border crossing, as well as camps for families with nowhere to go. WATCH: In Karachi, Afghan men and boys on November 1 were put on buses and taken to a temporary detention center. Pakistan is home to more than 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, about 1.7 million of them undocumented, Islamabad says, although many have lived in Pakistan for their entire lives. About 600,000 Afghans have crossed into neighboring Pakistan since the Taliban seized power and imposed its harsh interpretation of Islamic law, joining a large number there since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Some Afghans who have been ordered to leave have never been to Afghanistan and wonder how they can start a new life there. Pakistan's move to remove undocumented foreigners is seen as part of an anti-immigrant crackdown that has been criticized by human rights groups. The Pakistan People's Party, National Democratic Movement, and other politicians and human rights activists appealed for a stop to the forced deportation of undocumented foreigners in the Supreme Court on November 1. On October 31, the chair of the nongovernmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Hina Jilani, wrote to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) warning that Islamabad's move to expel Afghans could "trigger a humanitarian crisis." Human Rights Watch slammed Islamabad's deadline, saying it has resulted in significant threats against and abuse of Afghans living in the country. Since returning to power, the hard-line Islamist Taliban has banned women and teenage girls from education in Afghanistan. It has also banned them from employment in most sectors and discouraged them from leaving their homes. With reporting by AFP and Reuters As a critical decision on Georgia's EU candidacy looms, the country's No. 1 European ally visited Tbilisi in a show of last-minute support. What's unclear is whether the support of that ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, is going to help bolster Georgia's EU chances or sabotage them. The Hungarian leader's two-day visit to Georgia on October 11 and 12 was the latest step in the rapidly developing partnership between the two countries, and in particular between Orban and his Georgian counterpart, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili. The two have bonded as Gharibashvili and the ruling Georgian Dream party have taken a sharp turn toward social conservatism in recent years, promoting an identity for Georgia that Orban had already championed for Hungary: a Europeanness that foregrounds not liberalism and democracy but Christianity and "traditional values." Georgia and Hungary are "united by commitment to traditional and eternal values, which have played a decisive role in preserving our history, culture, [and] identity," Gharibashvili said during a joint appearance with Orban on this visit. At an official dinner, Orban expanded on that theme, declaring it "miraculous" that Georgia and Hungary have both maintained unique identities for centuries in often-unfriendly surroundings. That miracle, he said, "providesa political basis for the relationship between the two countries." Partnership Agreement The political relationship has indeed been burgeoning: The two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement last year, and, this spring, Gharibashvili was a keynote speaker at the Budapest edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a decades-old gathering of right-wing Americans that Orban has lately taken international. At the same time, Gharibashvili and Georgian Dream have been following Hungary's political example. As Orban has done in Hungary, the Georgian leadership has sought to strengthen ruling-party control of nominally independent bodies like the judiciary and state cultural institutions. Georgian Dream has also followed Orban's lead in adopting a Kyiv-skeptic stance on the Russian war in Ukraine. A notorious "foreign agent" law that the government failed to push through this spring was based less on the Russian model that it was most often compared to than on a similar Hungarian law, Western diplomats in Tbilisi, speaking on background, have said. It all adds up to what Thomas de Waal, a scholar at Carnegie Europe, recently called "the Orbanizing of Georgia." With their increasingly illiberal approach at home and transactional foreign policy with their Western partners, Georgia and Hungary are taking a similar path as Azerbaijan and Turkey, de Waal said. "Orban and [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, both recent victors in elections, also show Georgian Dream a successful strategy for defeating an opposition alliance," de Waal wrote. "The chief weapon is polarization. You tell voters you are the bastion of stability and decency, mortally threatened by an opposition linked to degenerate globalist forces." Hungary, though, is already in the EU and can challenge the EU's principles from the inside. Georgia is doing the same, while also trying to persuade the rest of the bloc's members to admit it. Western diplomats in Tbilisi privately say the EU has already had enough trouble with Hungary in the bloc -- Budapest has repeatedly used its veto power to thwart initiatives supported by the rest of the bloc -- and so are wary of admitting another potentially difficult member. Quid Pro Quo Georgia applied for EU candidate status shortly after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, along with Ukraine and Moldova. While those two latter countries were awarded candidate status in June 2022, Georgia was instead given an EU "perspective" and a list of reforms it should implement. Those include reducing political polarization and bolstering the independence of the judicial system -- areas in which critics have singled out Hungary for backsliding in a similar fashion. Orban has repeatedly criticized the EU's decision to advance Georgia's candidacy less quickly than those of Ukraine and Moldova. "What happened was very unfair toward your country, and it must be corrected as soon as possible," he said in Tbilisi. Many in Georgia's political opposition and anti-government civil society groups argue that the government's efforts to fulfill the EU's demands since that decision leave much to be desired. They point to the government's spotty implementation of the reforms, as well its foreign policy moves -- such as mixed signals on the Russia-Ukraine war and the proposed foreign agent law -- that they say have called into question the country's once ironclad devotion to a Euro-Atlantic orientation. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, is slated to report on Georgia's progress by the end of October in its annual enlargement report, which will also assess Moldova's and Ukraine's bids to join the bloc. Then in December, the EU's 27 member states will vote on whether to advance Georgia's application. There are indications that Orban is seeking to wield his veto power for Georgia's benefit. Citing sources in Brussels, RFE/RL's Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak has reported that it is possible that Hungary "will push for Tbilisi's candidate status as quid pro quo for agreeing to give Ukraine the green light to start EU accession talks. Budapest has used its veto extensively in recent months on various political issues, often related to Ukraine -- so don't rule out that this could happen again." That RFE/RL report was widely discussed in Tbilisi's political circles and evoked mixed reactions among pro-EU Georgians. "This strategy, to blackmail the EU through Hungary, will backfire at some point," said Kornely Kakachia, the head of the Tbilisi-based think tank Georgian Institute of Politics. "This will alienate Georgia from core Europe, Western Europe, and this is not in the best interest of Georgia," he told RFE/RL. Orban's interest in Georgia's EU aspirations appears to be linked to his desire to strengthen the illiberal forces within the bloc, analyst Volodymyr Posviatenko wrote in a recent blog post for the Rondeli Foundation, a Tbilisi-based think tank. Similar motivations have inspired Orban's advocacy for expanding the EU into the Balkans, he argued. The Hungarian leader hopes to "use Georgia as a bargaining chip to blackmail the EU and increase Hungary's leverage over the decision-making process," Posviatenko wrote. "Moreover, the promotion of illiberal Georgia's accelerated accession process correlates with Orban's goal of creating a group of illiberal states within the EU." Orban alluded to this strategy in his comments in Tbilisi: "Protecting Christian traditions is a precondition for Europe's competitiveness, and we will welcome if the countries grounded in this legacy decide to draw closer to the EU," he said at an appearance with Gharibashvili. While the two current leaders have lately built a strong personal relationship, Orban's interest in Georgia in fact dates to the previous regime of President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is now Georgian Dream's enemy No. 1. Four days before 2012 parliamentary elections, Orban appeared with Saakashvili at a campaign rally supporting the then-ruling United National Movement, the party which the former Georgian president founded. Tbilisi think-tank head Kakachia noted that this was in a period when Saakashvili had become more authoritarian, and the Georgian Dream coalition that ultimately won those elections was seen as a democratizing force. When Georgian Dream took power, some senior figures from the Saakashvili administration found exile in Hungary, including former Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili and Erekle Kodua, a former senior security official. That fact was not lost on some during Orban's most recent visit. "I appeal to the prime minister (Gharibashvili) and ask him: Did he speak with his friend Orban about extraditing to Georgia former members of the United National Movement regime, former officials, criminals, odious figures such as Adeishvili and Kodua?" asked Anna Buchkuri, a member of parliament from the For Georgia party, which is not aligned with either the current or former ruling parties. "You know that Orban's government offered them asylum." Economics, too, have drawn Georgia and Hungary together. The two are linked in an ambitious project that would construct an electricity cable under the Black Sea to transmit power from Azerbaijan via Georgia and Romania to Hungary. The EU has endorsed the project as a means of weaning Europe off Russian energy; European Council President Ursula von der Leyen said during a signing ceremony that it would "bring the European Union closer to our partners in the South Caucasus region." While, according to Kakachia, this amounts to strengthening an "authoritarian axis," the EU's involvement "legitimizes this axis." "Everyone is benefiting from this," he said. Nico Lange, a fluent speaker of Russian and Ukrainian, is a German politician from the center-right Christian Democratic Union and a senior fellow at the Munich Security Conference. Previously serving in the German armed forces, including stints in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, Lange was the chief of staff for the German defense minister from 2019-2022. He spoke to RFE/RL's Georgian Service about the Palestinian militant group Hamas's asymmetrical warfare against Israel and how the new pressure on U.S. ammunition stocks could affect Ukraine's defense against Russia. RFE/RL: The situation in Israel is described as a new theater of war. Not sure about new, but if it's indeed a theater, what's the play that's being staged? Who are the actors? The director? The protagonists and antagonists? Nico Lange: There are many elements that are quite surprising as to what happened in Israel last weekend. The Israelis will have to clarify some of that, because the size of the operation looks like it took long to prepare. And to be overrun by this in that way -- and taking such a long time for a response -- that, at least to me, is very surprising when it comes to the Israel Defense Forces. The Tavberidze Interviews Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vazha Tavberidze of RFE/RL's Georgian Service has been interviewing diplomats, military experts, and academics who hold a wide spectrum of opinions about the war's course, causes, and effects. To read all of his interviews, click here. There are some elements we know from other conflicts that seem to point to the future of warfare, [which] are a problem everywhere: slow, low-flying objects and drones being a problem for air defenses [and] small-unit tactics, [where] dispersed small units using unconventional instruments of warfare [against] conventional armies. That is something that we are observing, and Hamas is using this for its terror attack. But, for example, we have seen that Ukraine has successfully been using small-unit tactics against the Russian Armed Forces. We see some elements of the future of warfare, [and there] have to be lessons for us. Apart from that, when it comes to the security response and to the support of the United States, those things are connected. But when it comes to the wars itself, I do not see a connection between Ukraine defending itself against Russia, Azerbaijan attacking Armenia, or Hamas attacking Israel. The connection is that the United States and its partners have to support Israel and Ukraine now at the same time. And it will lead to a resource management issue. From my point of view, this is the most important connection at the moment. Because there is no priority: We have to do both. RFE/RL: How was this attack possible in the first place? Many have pointed fingers at the foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, even though it was Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency, that was also responsible. What are we dealing with? Lange: It is, for sure, extremely difficult to protect yourself against terrorism. We have seen before that it's difficult to prevent terrorist attacks. But still, the level of this, the scale of the preparation [over] a long time, communications that must have happened between the Hamas leadership and Iran. To me, it's surprising that it was not on the radarof Israeli [intelligence]. And I'm sure that Israeli society will discuss this after the war is over. I mean, now is not the time. It points to these new elements of warfare I talked about. It's increasingly the case that barriers or structures of protection are not working the way they were intended to. Because there are, for example, new drones or new kinds of cheap and accessible equipment that you can use to destroy [or] overcome expensive barriers. It started in Ukraine to have commercially cheap drones and drop [explosives] from those cheap drones. And now we have seen the same technique applied to Israeli watchtowers. So, there are some new developments that make the defense more complicated. RFE/RL: As long as you put a barrier, there will always be somebody who will try to get over it. Lange: Yeah, you can never feel secure if you build a barrier. Maybe the Israelis felt too secure about defense and the border barriers. RFE/RL: Is it too early to talk about winners and losers? Lange: The history of warfare shows that if a smaller force has initial success by generating an element of surprise, then over time the true balance of power will show. If that law of military warfare applies here, then I will say that Hamas might have brought destruction upon itself by this initial success they had. RFE/RL: What about the external actors? Who wins and who loses? Lange: It's very difficult to tell if, for example, [Lebanese political party and militant group] Hizballah will join in and make Israel's life extremely complicated with a war on two fronts. Surely Iran will try to mobilize its proxies. Because that is what we are seeing: It's Iran and the proxies of Iran attacking Israel. But it seems other parts of the Arab world are not interested in joining. That's why Iran is also not fighting openly, but using Hamas and Hizballah. But it's [too] early [to say]. RFE/RL: Regarding the impact this might have on the Ukraine war, you've told me it's going to be a battle on two fronts for the United States when it comes to military assistance. Do you see Europe stepping up in this regard, providing a helping hand to the United States, if Washington now has to divide its attention between Kyiv and Tel Aviv? Lange: When it comes to the concrete resources that the United States at the moment is supplying to Israel and what it is supplying to Ukraine, [they] are different things mainly. So there is no immediate problem. But the longer this goes on, there will be conflicts when it comes to air defense and air-defense ammunition, because that is what both Israel and Ukraine need very much. The United States took artillery ammunition from stocks from Israel to supply to Ukraine. At the moment, the Israel Defense Forces don't need it. But if the conflict should be broadened in the [region], they might also need the artillery ammunition, and then there is this conflict of resources. So [regarding] air defense, air-defense ammunition, [and] artillery ammunition, the Europeans must now increase the industrial capabilities in these areas to be prepared for a possible conflict of resources. RFE/RL: 'Must' is a peculiar word. Will they? Lange: Yes, I know. I understand your question, because the reality is that [for the Ukraine war] they did not scale up industrial production in the amount that would be needed. I'm worried -- and I will also continue to argue for it -- because European countries should not try to return to the normal order of business. It's [only] days after the terror against Israel began. I would expect European leaders [to be] sitting together right now to discuss how Europe can step up. This will not solve itself. Unfortunately, this includes my country, Germany. Industrialists in Europe are ultraslow in scaling up industrial production. They started, but they have to become much faster, especially in air-defense and artillery ammunition. That's really critically important. RFE/RL: Speaking of Germany, how is the policy of Zeitenwende going? (Zeitenwende refers to the so-called turning point in German foreign policy after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a large increase in military spending, which was a break from Germany's previously cautious defense policy.) Lange: There was a lot of hope in the beginning because of the speech by Chancellor Scholz [to the Bundestag on February 27, 2022]. Everyone who was interested in the matter really thought, OK, now they have understood; finally, Germany is getting on track. Unfortunately, what we have observed is, in some areas, Germany is doing better now. And Germany has to also get credit for that -- for example, [the country's] military assistance to Ukraine is much better than its reputation. But in other areas, unfortunately, Germany has a habit of falling back into old patterns of behavior. That is, of course, not a Zeitenwende -- that's the opposite of Zeitenwende. And you start wondering, what is supposed to happen until Germany really changes its security [and] defense policy? We have a major war in Europe. We have an attack on Israel. What is needed to really push Germany to do what is necessary? Germany reacted to pressure, so the pressure has to be kept up, that's part of the truth: internationally, [from] the public, but also from the expert field. But we are not where we should be when it comes to Zeitenwende. RFE/RL: The very fact that there needs to be constant international pressure for Germany to do the right thing also speaks volumes, doesn't it? Lange: That's unfortunately true. In the end, it doesn't matter why you do the right thing; it's important that you do it. But I would like to see my country not only reacting to things, but making proposals itself and asking others to be part of proposals. We have seen this a little bit with the European Sky Shield [Initiative], where Germany proposed this [European air-defense system] and other countries are joining in. If a powerful, big, centrally located country in Europe makes a proposal, at least everybody's looking into it. Germany has a good chance if it brings something to the table that others will [come aboard]. But, unfortunately, Germany is in bureaucratic reactive mode most of the time. That is not enough. RFE/RL: Is there a price in Germany itself for not delivering on Zeitenwende? If Scholz comes short on his promise, yes, sure, your international partners, the Americans, the Brits, will criticize you, but what would be the mood in Germany? Would there be domestic consequences for the government? Lange: I can give you a provocative answer. If the idea was, "Oh, let's go slow, let's not do too much, because there will be resistance, there will be populism. And then there will be bad election results for the governing parties." Guess what? We had federal elections in federal states [just recently]. Despite going slow and despite all of this argumentation, there are bad results for the governing parties and there is [also a] rise of populism. So, maybe this whole theory is wrong, and it's better to just show leadership and to proceed with things instead of being hesitant and slow. RFE/RL: One way to show leadership would probably be to provide Taurus air-launched cruise missiles to Ukraine. And Chancellor Scholz seems to be very reluctant to do that. Why? Lange: It's from a military perspective that I'm looking at things. It's not understandable to me. The initial mistake was that Germany was not delivering [Swedish-German] Taurus [missiles] immediately, when Britain and France decided to deliver [their] Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG [cruise missiles]. Because of that, it became a single-issue question and widely debated and much more complicated than necessary. There is [also] this paradigm of escalation that seems to motivate the White House and the [German] chancellor's office very often to think about things [for a long time]. The Ukrainians have shown that there is no further escalation if you attack Crimea or the Crimea Bridge or do other things. But still, that seems to be a paradigm that is in the heads of decision-makers always worried about escalation. I'm afraid they are making escalation even more likely, because the Kremlin will perceive this as a sign of weakness. The nature of this war now, from my point of view, is that Russia cannot achieve anything militarily anymore. They have not achieved their military goals. So, from a Russian point of viewthe achievements might be political: splitting the West, exploiting weaknesses, hoping for elections to turn the other way. And we have to understand that Russia is now conducting a military war but aiming for political goals. RFE/RL: I wanted to ask you about this long-war strategy that Putin seems to have settled into: the idea that, in the end, he'll out-suffer the entire West; the West will blink first, break first. I don't know if you are a betting man or not, but who would you bet on in this situation? The West or Russia? Who will out-suffer whom? Lange: It's not about suffering. That's the Russian perspective, but the capabilities of democracies are far higher than the capabilities of Russia. The question is: What does it need for us to unlock the capabilities we have? How bad does it have to get? There's the false idea in the heads of policymakers that somehow, if you support a little bit, this will lead to a stalemate and then there will be negotiations. This is a total misjudgment of Putin's intentions. Because he will immediately, if such a moment comes, try to have further demands and go further on the attack. I have no doubts that the democratic countries will prevail in this. But I would argue that they should unlock the capabilities much faster and not wait for [miracles]. Our slowness produces dead Ukrainians and devastates Ukraine as a country. If you look at the material side of this, Germany spent 300 billion euros ($318 billion) on social [payments] to dampen the effect of [increased] energy prices. Weapons for Ukraine [have so far cost] 3 billion euros. If we unlock our capabilities, then we could do much more and help more decisively. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. On October 13, 1942, a barge containing prisoners en route to a Soviet labor camp in the remote Arctic city of Norilsk took on water along the Yenisei River. Different accounts suggest it was the result of the inmates desperately trying to escape or that it struck rocks. The Soviet secret police, the NKVD, officially declared that 26 detainees perished, but historians and eyewitnesses have maintained that the actual death toll may have been much higher. Those On The Top Bunks Survived Traversing the Yenisei River late in 1942 was plagued with delays. The water level had been low, increasing the possibility that ships would become stuck in the fifth-longest river system in the world -- the largest to flow into the Arctic Ocean. Transportation in the winter season also presented another challenge as the waterways would regularly freeze, trapping unprepared ships and their goods as they traveled north to the camps in the Arctic Circle. Officials at the Norilsk labor camp demanded the cargo be delivered no matter the risk. The camps, or gulags, played a crucial role in the Soviet economy by supplying valuable metals, particularly nickel, that were needed for the war effort. Prisoners in these camps endured the harsh Arctic conditions of Norilsk's tundra, extracting minerals. Many prisoners did not survive their sentence, and the mortality rate at the camps was high. At the end of September 1942, barge No. 46 departed from Krasnoyarsk with a cargo of roughly 1,500 inmates and metal pipes for the Norilsk mining camps. It was going to be pulled by the steamboat Ivan Papanin, also called the Red Plowman. Upon its arrival in Yeniseisk, a more powerful vessel, the Klim Voroshilov, would take over. Two more wooden barges, which the rivermen called "carskie" due to their use in traveling up the Cara Sea to Norilsk, were also to join up with the ill-fated No. 46. No. 46 was the type of barge popularly called a "slat." There was no place to wash onboard, so an unpleasant odor emanated from the crew and prisoners, who slept in three-story bunks in the hold of the ship. During the voyage, the inmates were given rations, a loaf of bread and a piece of salted fish per day. The NKVD -- a feared agency used by Stalin to enforce internal security -- had positioned its guards atop the ship, who enforced the law with rifles and machine guns. Nikolai Zalipukhin, a prisoner, said the guards would regularly pull out the pumps that removed the hold water in order to throw out prisoners' rations. He added that not everyone was able to get food to eat. With the barge at full capacity, it eventually ran aground near Krasnoyarsk. Fortunately, there were no sharp stones under the shallow water, and the barge was able to plow ahead as it scraped against the stony riverbed. After 70 kilometers, the boats were warned of a large ship coming toward them along the narrow river. The captain of the caravan decided to drop anchor in order to allow the oncoming steamer to pass by. Zalipukhin recalls the song Valenki, performed by Lydia Ruslanova, was being played as the Spartak passed by. During the night, the prisoners became alarmed as the water kept rising. Panic ensued, with prisoners scrambling to climb the ladder to the exit, which was closed off by metal bars. The NKVD personnel who were alerted to the pleas of the prisoners did not unlock the hold; they were terrified of allowing prisoners the chance to escape. The ones who could not swim quickly drowned. Those who occupied the upper tiers of the bunks survived, as they had enough air to wait out the panic. Many died struggling to make their way to the exit along the stairs as the prisoners trampled each other and pulled each other down, trying to get higher and closer to the deck. Zalipukhin managed to survive by standing above a prisoner named Petro as he desperately clung to the top of the stairs, where there was still air. During the struggle, Petro lost his grip and was pulled underwater by the crowd below him. As the prisoners continued their struggle below, the ship's captain was able to push the barge to the shore, a few kilometers from Predivinsk. After some time, NKVD officers opened the bars to the hold as the surviving prisoners threw themselves onto the deck. Most were bloodied and naked, having had their clothes pulled off during the crush in the hold. To avoid freezing, they went into food tents on the deck and ate bread and fish, which the guards did not interfere with. Later, the surviving prisoners were forced to retrieve the dead from the hold. Zalipukhin caught sight of the lifeless Petro. Prisoners At The Camps Prisoners were transported by train from various parts of the country to Krasnoyarsk and from Krasnoyarsk to Norilsk. The transit prison was located on Republic Street in the city center. During World War II, more than 7,000 prisoners died from disease and dystrophy at the Norilsk labor camp. Nevertheless, in the 1930s and '40s, Norilsk, unlike the Kolyma camps, was not an extermination camp, says the head of the Krasnoyarsk Memorial, Aleksei Babiy. It was believed that it was easier to survive at Norilsk since the Soviet government needed skilled labor for the construction and subsequent operation of the metallurgical plant. Zavinyagin (head of Norilsk from 1938 to 1941) was not originally a security officer. He was a metallurgist. When he was sent to Norilsk, they told him, "There was an idea to shoot you, but then they thought that it was better to see if you could handle this (camp). If so, you'll live." As Zavinyagin was not a security officer, he approached the process more methodically. "For example, he transferred prisoner engineers and chemists from general work to camp administration so that they could be more useful. The conditions there were milder than in other camps," Babiy said. During the war, mortality at camps such as Norilsk increased sharply, but it was still low compared to other camps in the gulag system. The road to Norilsk also posed risks for the prisoners. The authorities tried by various means to deliver workers to the Arctic Circle in order to speed up the production of nickel that was needed -- especially for the production of tanks. The first prisoners destined for the construction of the future plants were brought along the northern sea route from the European part of Russia in the mid-1930s. When war broke out between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, the route along the Cara Sea became too dangerous as German submarines and cruisers regularly attacked the shipping vessels. Under such conditions, the burden of providing Norilsk with fresh bodies was now focused on the Yenisei River. Over the years, the route changed. First Soviet engineers tried to reroute rivers such as the Ob, but they became convinced it was impossible to use the Ob-Yenesie Canal built under the tsar. River workers had mastered the route from Krasnoyarsk to Norilsk in 1932, and a year later transportation began for the construction of the camp and plant. Later, the ships went along the Yenisei to Dudinka, from where the prisoners traveled to Norilsk. The prisoners also had to endure walking roughly 90 kilometers in Arctic conditions to get to the camp. In 1938, the authorities built a narrow-gauge railway from Dudinka to Norilsk. To transport goods, they used wooden barges built on a rope in the village of Predivinsk. This settlement, about 100 kilometers from Krasnoyarsk, was founded in the early 1930s by exiles and special settlers who were sent to the Yenisei to build ships. The Yenisei route became so important for the Norilsk plant that after the war, the enterprise was given the Dudinsky port and part of the river fleet. Downplaying The Numbers Information regarding what happened varies, as do beliefs about what caused the catastrophe. Newspaper articles discussed two scenarios: an escape attempt and a crash on the rapids. The barge slid to the right on the Podjeminskie stones near Predivinsk, according to the original account. There was a red buoy in this location, designating a hazardous region. The barge rushed past the buoy and ran aground. After a hole was made in the wooden ship, water started to flood the hold with inmates. According to another version, a group of prisoners deliberately cut a hole in the hull to escape. They did not take into account that there were metal pipes on the deck; the barge sank lower than usual, so the escape hole was below the water line, and water poured through it into the hold. "They brought a variety of people to the camps in Norilsk, 40 percent of whom were political prisoners, about the same number were domestic prisoners -- those who were tried for domestic crimes, and about 20 percent -- professional criminals. The plan -- to cut out a window in the side, escape, and then swim to the shore in October-- seems desperate," said Babiy. "Over the years, this event became a legend. For example, the idea that the NKVD specifically loaded martyred prisoners onto barges and then drowned them in the Yenisei. But what's the point?" Babiy added. The offensive began at dawn on October 10: At least three Russian battalions -- between 2,000 and 3,000 men -- moved with tanks and armored infantry vehicles, backed by an artillery fusillade pummeling Ukrainian positions. Northwest of the city of Avdiyivka, home to a massive coke factory in the heart of the Donbas, the Russian units pushed southwest into the village of Berdychi and locked horns with units from Ukraine's 53rd Motorized Brigade. Other Russian units pressured Ukrainian lines to the south, trying to advance with small columns of armored vehicles. The Russian goal, Ukrainian military officials and Western observers said, appears to be this: Encircle Ukrainian positions, create a "cauldron" to trap the units, and break Ukraine's hold on Avdiyivka, where Kyiv's forces have been able to pressure Russian lines to the east. It's shaping up to be the biggest single offensive by Russia in months, possibly since the launch of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. And it comes at a precarious time for Ukraine's forces, which are four months into their own big counteroffensive, pressing Russian lines at three locations in southern and eastern Ukraine. That counteroffensive is grinding forward slowly. Ukrainian forces are holding their positions "in difficult fighting" near Avdiyivka, said Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, in an October 13 post to Telegram. "It's practically comparable to the first day [of the invasion], February 24, when they marched en masse, but this only on a separate small section of the front," Serhiy Tsekhotskiy, an officer of the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. As many as three Russian battalions were involved in the offensive near Avdiyivka, the Ukrainian military's general staff said on October 10. "The battles, both gunbattles and artillery duels, are fierce and really nonstop," said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the Avdiyivka city military administration. "Day and night, the occupiers are crawling like cockroaches, a lot." Videos recorded by Ukrainian-operated drones showed columns of Russian vehicles moving along roads north the city on October 10. Open-source researchers said Russia may have lost up to three dozen vehicles in the initial assault. The claim could not be independently confirmed. "The strategic purpose of this settlement is absolutely obvious: Avdiyivka is the gateway to Donetsk," Taras Berezovets, a spokesman for Ukraine's 1st Separate Special Purpose Brigade, told Current Time. The outskirts of Donetsk, the Russian-held administrative capital of the region of the same name, are about 10 kilometers south of Avdiyivka. For its part, Russia has said little officially about the offensive. The Defense Ministry's regular updates include tallies of weapons fired and claims of Ukrainian losses but no mention of a major offensive. But a host of Russian military bloggers and war reporters, many of whom have links to security agencies or military units, have documented the Russian effort. In a post on October 11, Rybar, a closely watched Telegram channel affiliated with a former Russian Defense Ministry press officer, claimed Russian troops seized a slag heap near the Avdiyivka Coke and Chemical Factory. The factory is a sprawling industrial complex that was Ukraine's largest coke factory before the invasion. Later reports said Russian troops had lost the position to Ukrainian counterattack. The facility, which supplied coke to metal smelters and heating plants around the country, is dormant now. Denis Pushilin, the longtime head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, told the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that Russian units were gaining ground north and south of Avdiyivka, "but it's too early to talk about a full-scale withdrawal." The Donetsk People's Republic is the name used by Moscow and anti-Kyiv forces to describe the Russian-controlled part of the Donetsk region. "Generally speaking, it is not going as fast as we would like, but it is going," Boris Rozhin, a Russian blogger who writes under the name ColonelCassad, said in a post to Telegram. Avdiyivka, which was briefly held by Moscow-backed separatists after the initial war against Kyiv broke out in 2014, was home to an estimated 32,000 people prior to the 2022 invasion. Russian Reserves Regardless of whether it succeeds, experts said, the Russian effort comes at a precarious moment, posing a challenge for Ukrainian forces. After thwarting Russia's initial invasion effort to seize Kyiv, Ukraine scored surprising victories in late 2022, pushing Russian troops out of the northeastern Kharkiv region and recapturing parts of the southern Kherson region on the west bank of the Dnieper River. WATCH: Living among ruins on the front lines of Russia's war on Ukraine, residents of Avdiyivka do more than hang on -- a few rebuild a semblance of normal life. Ukraine's biggest counteroffensive effort was launched in early June. Despite a major influx of Western armor and weaponry, however, the effort has moved forward at a snail's pace as troops run into formidable Russian defenses known as the Surovikin Line -- named for the Russian general who oversaw their construction last year. The southern Zaporizhzhya region, south of the town of Orikhiv, has been the main focus of the three-pronged effort. Ukrainian units have switched tactics away from highly coordinated "combined arms tactics" and are now focusing on small-scale, dismounted platoon advances on foot, in sequence with artillery barrages. With the onset of fall and with winter on the way, the weather is already changing, and rains and mud will hinder movement for both Ukrainian and Russian vehicles and make trench warfare miserable for both sides. In televised comments on October 13, Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, complained the counteroffensive was "off schedule" due to delays from Western allies supplying weaponry. "It's just that our partners were still afraid to admit that they needed to provide everything that Ukraine needed as quickly as possible," he said. "We are six to nine months behind schedule." Also ominous for Ukraine is the fact that Russia was able to mount even a small-scale offensive given the estimated size of its losses. U.S. officials have estimated Russian dead to be at least 120,000, with another 170,000 to 180,000 troops wounded, according to The New York Times. The same officials put Ukrainian losses at 70,000 killed and as many as 120,000 wounded. Ukrainian and Western experts watching Russian troop levels have speculated that Russia would be unable to meet personnel demands and rotate units without another large-scale mobilization. Without that, experts predicted it would be hard to mount a concentrated assault against Ukrainian positions. Still, there are hints of exhaustion among Russian units. Relatives of frontline soldiers have complained about units not being rotated out and replaced with rested soldiers. Aleksandr Khodakovsky, a commander of Russian-backed forces in the Donetsk region who is known for frank accounts of battlefield conditions, called for Russian commanders to "freeze" the front lines for now. "I believe that taking a break, temporarily replacing those mobilized on the front line with contract soldiers in order to allow the thinned and tired units to return to normal, and then begin a deliberate final phase -- that's acceptable," he said in a post to Telegram. With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Current Time A Ukrainian Central Election Commission (TsVK) member has been working outside of Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has found, with evidence pointing to the U.S. state of Florida. Yuriy Buhlak tendered his resignation after Schemes published a report on its investigation in August, according to documents submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines parliament, but he remains in the job. In March 2022, as invading Russian forces pushed toward Kyiv, the TsVK switched to a remote-work schedule and held meetings by videoconference. In a telephone interview with Schemes shortly before the investigative units report was published on August 10, Buhlak cited those developments to justify his own remote work from outside of Ukraine. "The organization where I work has a very unique feature -- it was one of the first in the country to decide that it can work online," Buhlak said. Whether in a provincial Ukrainian city or abroad , he said, "[W]hat difference does it make for an official if he has the right to work remotely?" The TsVK's decision to go remote did not specifically authorize international locations for work. Under Article 30.4 of Ukraine's Central Election Commission law, "removal to a permanent place of residence outside of Ukraine provides grounds for parliament to dismiss a TsVK member before his term ends. Buhlak, 57, is a former parliament deputy from ex-President Petro Poroshenkos party and former chief counsel for Poroshenkos candy company, Roshen. He flew from Kyiv to Istanbul on February 12, 2022, 12 days before Russias full-scale invasion, according to officials with access to information about Ukrainian border crossings. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information publicly. Two days after Buhlaks flight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to all representatives of the state, including parliament deputies, to return home to help withstand the threat posed by tens of thousands of troops amassed at the countrys borders. For weeks, the United States had been publicly warning that Russia could invade Ukraine at any moment. Buhlak told Schemes he believed that the appeal did not apply to him. I am not an oligarch and I am not a [parliament] deputy, he said. At the time, he had a scheduled vacation until March 9, 2022, Schemes learned through a public-information request, but he never returned to Ukraine. He implied that this was for personal reasons , but did not elaborate. Buhlak also asserted that his location did not prevent him from executing his duties as a TsVK member. "I worked, I work, and I will work for my state, he said. There have been no violations [of the law] on my part or on the part of my organization. Everything that happened, everything was on legal grounds. Ukraines elections are suspended under martial law, but the CEC has continued to draft legislation, monitor political parties compliance with electoral law, oversee the voter registry, and attempt to safeguard voter data from Russian-occupied regions, said Olha Aivazovska, board chair at Opora, a Kyiv-based civil-rights group that monitors elections, among other things. Buhlaks exact role in this work is unclear, but he has taken part in online TsVK meetings while outside of Ukraine. He last attended a virtual TsVK meeting in February. On March 9, 2023, however, the TsVK ended its authorization of remote work. That same day, Buhlak went on paternity leave, which under Ukrainian law can potentially last until a child is three years old. While on leave, he remained in his position but did not receive a salary. As of August, despite the law forbidding TsVK members to reside abroad, he had received a total of 1.5 million hryvnyas ($41,000) from the state budget in wages and stipends for the birth of a child and for health improvement. Reached by phone several days after the Schemes report was published, Buhlak did not respond to a question about whether he had submitted his resignation. However, documents provided on October 12, in response to a request for information from the parliamentary Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, include what appears to be a handwritten resignation letter from Buhlak, dated August 11. Parliament received the letter on August 25. Buhlak has refused to disclose his location to Schemes. Social Media Clues Social media posts by his wife, Tetyana Rtyshcheva, indicate that, as of August, that location may have been Hollywood, Florida, a city on the Atlantic coast between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Developers tout Hollywood, a cruise-line hub, as an affordable alternative to Miami, with a laid back, Key West vibe. Rtyshchevas LinkedIn profile, deleted after the publication of the Schemes report on August 10, identified Hollywood, Florida as her place of residence. At the time, both Buhlak and his wife were members of the Russian-language Telegram channel Barakholka Miami, or Flea Market Miami, an online market for Miami-area residents. Rtyshcheva was also a member of the Facebook group Zhivyom v Maiami, govorim po-ruski -- We live in Miami, we speak Russian and posted a photo of a bassinet for sale on the site on January 22, 2023. Using Google Earth, Schemes identified the building seen through the window in the photos background to The Wave, as a 551-condominium building in Hollywood with beachfront access. Schemes has not found incontrovertible evidence that the couple lived at The Wave. Neither of their names appeared in a list of the complexs registered property owners, a publicly available county record. Residences in the facility, though, can be rented for prices ranging from a few to several thousand dollars per month. Records suggest Buhlak is not without private means to finance such costs: In his latest financial disclosure, from 2018, he ranked as a millionaire, with nearly $1.2 million in combined cash holdings of U.S. dollars, euros, and hryvnyas. He also owned residences in Kyiv and its outskirts, nearly 50 hectares of land near Kyiv, two Land Rover SUVs, and several gold and titanium watches. If Buhlak is in the United States, however, the legal grounds for his prolonged stay are less clear. A baby born in the United States does not give the parents the automatic right to stay in the country. Under the U.S. United for Ukraine program, Ukrainian war refugees with a financial sponsor can stay in the United States for two years from their date of entry if they had lived in Ukraine through February 11, 2022, and were displaced by the invasion. Buhlak left Ukraine one day after that date, but before Russias full-scale invasion on February 24. 'Many Questions' TsVK Chairman Oleh Didenko, when initially asked about Buhlaks work abroad by Schemes in August, said that there may be many questions about Buhlaks conduct, but that he could not do much because TsVK members are selected by parliament and are not his direct subordinates. I don't hire them and I don't fire them, Didenko said. It's probably not right for me to comment on the actions of my colleagues." Under Article 30 of the Central Election Commission Law, a TsVK petition for a members dismissal must first go to the president , who has 30 days to decide whether or not to ask parliament to vote on the persons removal from office. As of October 13, Buhlaks resignation letter was being considered by the Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development, and Urban Development. Committee member Vitaliy Bezhin told Schemes he believes that the letter is currently "legally void" because Buhlak should have sent it to the president, not parliament. He said the committee will most likely redirect the letter to Zelenskiys office next week "to ensure that the legal procedure is followed." Didenko said that, in order for permanent residence abroad to be considered grounds for termination of a TsVK members authority, it must be officially confirmed by the relevant authorities -- in particular, this must be recorded by the State Migration Service and the State Border Service, by stamping the departure marks in the passport." Didenko contended that he did not have the authority to independently initiate an official effort to seek this confirmation after the Schemes report was published in August. In August, after the Schemes report was published, the party that nominated Buhlak to the TsVK in 2019, Poroshenkos European Solidarity, pledged to introduce a parliamentary resolution for Buhlaks dismissal. But the legislatures website contains no record of such a resolution. The leader of Zelenskiys dominant Servant of the People party, parliament deputy Olena Shulyak, posted on Facebook on August 11 that the parliamentary Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, which she chairs, would summon Didenko to answer questions about Buhlaks status. Didenko told Schemes that two such meetings have already been canceled but that he did not know why. Bezhin said he had explained that it was due to a lack of a quorum of Rada deputies. Written by Elizabeth Owen based on reporting by Serhiy Andrushko and Kyrylo Ovsyaniy of Schemes Ukraine has accused Russian forces of using phosphorus during their current assault on Avdiyivka in the eastern region of Donetsk, where heavy fighting has been reported over the past three days as Moscow attempts to break through the town located just north of Donetsk city. "Avdiyivka. Our land, a Ukrainian city. The Russians threw a lot of manpower in this direction. They use phosphorus, along with their cannon fodder [troops]," Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential administration, said on Telegram. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here. It was not immediately clear whether Yermak was referring to white phosphorus munitions, which are not banned under international law but whose use is strictly regulated as the chemical can cause deep burns. The treatment of wounds caused by white phosphorus is very difficult in battlefield conditions. The assault on Avdiyivka, seen as the largest Russian attack in the east since the start of Ukraine's counteroffensive several months ago, has reportedly involved some 2,000 troops, numerous armored vehicles, and air support. In a message on Telegram, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy commended the defenders of Avdiyivka, where Ukrainian forces repelled 20 attacks in 24 hours, according to the General Staff on October 13. "I am grateful to every soldier, every unit for their resilience," Zelenskiy wrote. Ukrainian forces fought a total of 64 close-quarter battles as they continued their incremental advance in the Bakhmut area of Donetsk and in the southern direction of Melitopol, the military said. A total of 68 combat clashes took place at the front on October 13, the General Staff said in its evening assessment. Enemy attacks and shelling were reported in the areas near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian forces also successfully repelled about 10 enemy attacks in the Maryinka area of the Donetsk region. The General Staff also reported the downing of a Russian fighter jet and an Orlan-10 drone. There was no comment from the Russian Defense Ministry. One person died and up to 24 were injured in a Russian attack on the city of Pokrovsk early on October 13, the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office said. The Interior Ministry said nine employees of the Department of Social Protection of the Population and two female visitors were among the injured. Government buildings, two medical facilities, and two apartment buildings were destroyed, the ministry added. Pokrovsk is located in the western part of the Donetsk region several kilometers from the front line. Russia has also stepped up its shelling of Kherson, striking the southern Ukrainian region 100 times in 24 hours, killing civilians and causing widespread damage, a regional official said on October 13. Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian forces used artillery, mortars, Grad missiles, tanks, and drones to pound the region and its capital, Kherson city, which was shelled 49 times. "Two people were killed and six more were wounded, one of them a child," Prokudin said, adding that education facilities, houses, apartment blocks, a medical institution, and an industrial platform in Kherson's Beryslav district were destroyed in the strikes. A Russian drone later on October 13 struck a car in Beryslav, wounding a man and killing his wife, Prokudin said. Kherson, which was partially liberated by Ukrainian troops one year ago, has been constantly targeted by Russian shelling from across the Dnieper River. With reporting by Reuters and AFP 2 The towers of the Vuhledar coal mine seen during the drive to the besieged town. Driving in the gloom before sunrise minimizes the risk of being targeted by Russian kamikaze drones. Bomb-dropping quadcopters are also used on these eastern roads to target military equipment and sometimes even cars. We know you're busy and probably don't have the time to read all of our coverage each and every day. That's why we've put together The Week's Best. Here are some of the highlights produced in English by RFE/RL's vast team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. The husband of jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has told RFE/RL the award is actually for the protest movement that swept the country in 2022. Speaking in Paris on October 6, Taghi Rahmani said: "Narges has received the prize as a symbol and as one of the activists of this movement. By Ray Furlong and RFE/RL's Radio Farda In the wake of the death of Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, a purportedly private military group called Redut has widely been tipped as Wagners potential successor as Russias key mercenary force. A new RFE/RL investigation reveals that Redut is, in reality, a secretive network operated by Russian military intelligence. By Schemes and Systema BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 12. The Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems will establish a framework for the licensing and regulation of electronic money and payment firms, Chief Specialist of the Payment Systems and Settlements Department of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) Khayaleddin Taghiyev told Trend in an exclusive interview. Taghiyev claims that it will establish a legal foundation for banks, local branches of foreign banks, national postal operators, as well as new payment service providers such payment institutions and e-money institutions, to offer payment services. "E-money's release and use will be subject to specific legal restrictions and other measures. Financial inclusion will increase and play a vital role in bringing different retail payments into cashless circulation with the creation of a legal framework for the usage of e-money and mobile wallets. Payment services will be used in a way that is more effective and secure, and statutory protection for users of those services will be improved," he said. Taghiyev also mentioned that there will be defined information rules for the provision of payment services, execution and refusal to execute payment orders, the procedure for dealing with unauthorized or improperly executed payment transactions, as well as the rights and obligations of payment service providers and users on payment instruments and the extent of their responsibility. The open banking tenets will serve as the foundation for third-party providers' operations, according to Taghiev. "There will be regulation of cutting-edge payment service providers like Fintex, which offers account information and payment transaction intermediary services. To safeguard electronic payments and client payment information, security standards such improved customer authentication will be developed. As a result, the danger of fraud in electronic banking and online payments would decrease, and user data privacy will be protected," he emphasized. He claims that establishing a network of payment agents who perform payment services for banks, payment organizations, and e-money institutions will have a legal foundation. "On the basis of a contract, agents in the field of payment services are either businesses with legal status or independent contractors. This will enable agents to offer payment services in isolated rural locations that are not serviced by bank offices. For the development of payment system operators, a legal framework for licensing, regulating, and controlling their operations will be developed. At the same time, a more competitive framework will be used to create the nation's payment system market. There will be requirements for establishing payment system operators and settlement agents," he added. Taghiyev asserts that the passage of the law "On Payment Services and Payment Systems" will have a significant impact on the growth of the digital payments ecosystem in Azerbaijan, but this area is unregulated and the law as a whole makes no mention of digital currencies, including the Central Bank's digital currency. "It is worth noting that most central banks and think tanks in the world are currently conducting basic research to assess the feasibility of implementing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Thus, in order to define a conceptual approach in this direction in our country, the CBA took advantage of relevant technical assistance opportunities," he said. Additionally mentioned by Taghiyev were the goals of the technical assistance that led to the establishment of the CBDC, the CBDC's design elements, the legal and regulatory environment, the policy implications (money policy, financial stability, and financial inclusion), and the infrastructure of existing digital payment systems. The Central Bank closely monitors research and pilot projects carried out in other nations as a continuation of the work done in this area, and their experiences are evaluated. According to the law "On Payment Services and Payment Systems", foreign payment service providers and payment system operators will be able to work in Azerbaijan in two forms, said Taghiyev. "First of all, they can carry out their activities in Azerbaijan by opening a local branch and obtaining a license. Secondly, by concluding an agreement with payment service providers operating in Azerbaijan and opening an account, these organizations will be able to provide payment services in Azerbaijan," he said. Taghiyev noted that a total of 38.4 million transactions worth 1.1 billion manat ($647.1 million) were made through Apple Pay, and 20.5 million transactions worth 420 million manat ($247.1 million) were made through Google Pay from January through August 2023. According to Taghiyev, interest in payments made using mobile devices in Azerbaijan has increased significantly in a short period of time. "In recent years, the high growth rates of non-cash payments in the country, especially contactless transactions, indicate the growing interest of the country's population in non-cash payments and innovative payment solutions. Therefore, the number of payment cards in circulation increased by 20.2 percent (to 15.7 million) compared to the same period last year, and the volume of non-cash payments doubled as of September 1, 2023 (to 28.8 billion manat, or $16.9 billion), said Taghiyev. Compared to the corresponding period last year, the share of non-cash circulation in internal card payments increased by 12.4 percentage points (to 53.7 percent). The volume of payments made through POS terminals increased by 75.8 percent year-on-year and reached 6.1 billion manat ($3.6 billion)," he said. Taghiyev also said that compared to the same period last year, the number of contactless payment cards increased by 26.8 percent (11.7 million), the number of domestic contactless payments exceeded the indicator of the same period in 2022 by 2.3 times, and the volume increased by 93.2 percent. The Law "On Payment Services and Payment Systems" was adopted by Milli Majlis (Parliament) on July 14 and signed by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on August 9. Bangladeshi Nationals BSF intercepts a group of 11 Bangladeshi citizens attempting to illegally cross into Pakistan from the Attari border AMRITSAR: In a vigilant operation, the Border Security Force (BSF) apprehended a group of 11 Bangladeshi nationals attempting to illegally cross into Pakistan through the Attari border. The group, which included three women and three children, devised a plan to scale the high wall of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) situated on the Attari border. These individuals sought to remain inconspicuous, hiding near the ICP while awaiting the opportune moment to cross. Additionally, they received support from a person residing in a nearby border village. The group, lacking both adequate funds and necessary travel documents, harbored aspirations to visit Pakistan. Advertisement Their journey commenced when they arrived in Amritsar on a Wednesday and made their way to the Attari border with the intent of witnessing the retreat ceremony. While at the border, they encountered an individual offering assistance at a cost of Rs 25,000 per person. Trusting the offer, they provided the money, and the individual concealed them in bunkers near the defense line around 8 pm. Around 12:30 pm, under the cover of darkness, the group emerged from the bunkers and proceeded towards the ICP near Rorawala village. Here, they attempted to climb an 11-foot high wall, leading to distress, especially for a pregnant woman who sadly miscarried during the climb. Upon successfully crossing the wall, they sought refuge within the ICP. However, the BSF, acting swiftly, apprehended all of them. Notably, The BSF is treating this incident as a case of human trafficking, and a thorough investigation is underway to unveil the networks and individuals involved in this illegal operation. Advertisement BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan and UBS Asset Management have discussed prospects for further cooperation, CBA Governor Taleh Kazimov wrote on X (Twitter), Trend reports. "During the 2023 Annual Meetings of the WB/IMF we had an opportunity to meet with Ms. Suni Harford, President of UBS Asset Management and discussed the current status of our cooperation and future development perspectives," he said. Azerbaijan's Central Bank Governor Taleh Kazimov held a number of meetings on the margins of the annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Morocco. Raj Kumar Verka Raj Kumar Verka expressed disillusionment with the BJP's approach AMRITSAR: In a surprising turn of events, former Punjab Minister Raj Kumar Verka has decided to return to the Congress party, marking his departure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after a brief association. This move is significant as he is the first leader to retrace his steps back to the Congress after a defeat in the 2022 assembly elections led him to switch his allegiance to the BJP. During a press conference, Raj Kumar Verka announced his resignation from the BJP and expressed his intention to rejoin the Congress in the presence of senior party leaders in Delhi. He cited his realization that the BJP was not the right fit for Punjab and the nation, emphasizing that the country's safety lies in the hands of the Congress. He also expressed disillusionment with the BJP's approach, mentioning that the Congress is a party that embraces inclusivity. Advertisement Verka acknowledged his prior allegiance to the Congress, where he had served in various significant roles for 22 years. His departure from the party had come as a surprise to many, and his return has similarly caught the attention of political circles. "I am going back to my home. I had made a mistake, and I felt that the BJP was not the right choice for the country and Punjab. The country can remain safe only in the hands of the Congress. BJP is not a party that takes everyone along," Verka stated during the press conference. He added that he would be rejoining the Congress in Delhi and expected other leaders to correct their course and join the Congress as well. This Return to the Congress is seen as a potential trend, with other disillusioned BJP leaders like former Punjab ministers Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Sundar Sham Arora, Jeet Mahinder Sidhu, Amrik Singh Samrala, Rinwa, and Joshan possibly following suit and rejoining Congress. Partap Singh Bajwa has also arrived in Delhi to facilitate their inclusion in the Congress. China's exports declined less than expected in September, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday. Exports registered a decrease of 6.2 percent in September compared to the previous year. This was slower than the expected decline of 7.6 percent and the 8.8 percent fall seen in August. At the same time, imports also decreased 6.2 percent annually, slower than the 7.3 percent fall in August. Imports were forecast to drop 6.0 percent. Consequently, the trade surplus rose to $77.7 billion from $68.4 billion in August. The expected level was $70.0 billion. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Swiss drug maker Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG (SPHDF.OB) announced Friday that European Commission's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use or CHMP adopted a positive opinion in favor of approval of AGAMREE (vamorolone) to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy or DMD patients aged 4 years and older. The European Commission's decision on marketing authorization is expected within approximately two months of the positive CHMP opinion, in late 2023. Subject to approval, AGAMREE will be the first drug fully approved by the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of patients with DMD, the company noted. Santhera expects for a first commercial launch in Germany in Q1-2024, subject to approval by the EC. Santhera noted that the CHMP, in its recommendation for approval, acknowledged the positive benefit-risk profile of AGAMREE in this patient population. It includes certain safety benefits of AGAMREE compared to standard of care corticosteroids in the treatment of DMD. The clinical evidence for the efficacy and safety of AGAMREE in the regulatory submission was derived from the positive pivotal VISION-DMD study and three open-label studies. The studies were carried out by Santhera's partner ReveraGen and 32 academic clinical trial centers in 11 countries. In the pivotal VISION-DMD study, boys treated with vamorolone on average maintained growth similar to those treated with placebo, whilst those treated with prednisone on average experienced growth stunting. Patients who switched from prednisone to vamorolone after 24-weeks were, on average, able to resume growing in height over the remainder of the study. Santhera said it will continue to collect data to further characterize the long-term effectiveness and safety differentiation of vamorolone. In the U.S., FDA established the target Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date for its regulatory decision on the vamorolone NDA as October 26, 2023. Subject to approval, Santhera's licensing partner Catalyst Pharmaceuticals plans to launch vamorolone in the U.S. in Q1-2024. For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Oil prices jumped around 4 percent in European trade on Friday amid supply concerns and heightened geopolitical risks in Israel and Gaza. Brent crude futures jumped 3.7 percent to $89.16 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 3.9 percent at $86.14. Supply concerns resurfaced after the U.S. tightened sanctions against Russian crude exports. The U.S. Treasury Department said that it has imposed its first set of sanctions on two companies that shipped Russian oil in violation of a multinational price cap of $60 a barrel. Russia is the world's second-largest oil producer and it is feared that the new sanctions could tighten global supply. The oil market is also grappling with rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East after Israel's military today called for all civilians of Gaza City, more than 1 million people, to relocate south within 24 hours. The Israeli military said it would operate "significantly" in Gaza City in the coming days and civilians would only be able to return when another announcement was made. "Now is a time for war," Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said ahead of an expected ground invasion. Meanwhile, Iran said opening a "new front" against Israel would depend on Israel's actions in Gaza. "Officials of some countries contact us and ask about the possibility of a new front (against Israel) being opened in the region," said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. "We tell them that our clear answer regarding future possibilities is that everything depends on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said, according to a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis SunOpta Inc. (STKL,SOY.TO), a plant and fruit-based food and beverages producer, announced Friday its preliminary third-quarter results, expecting higher revenues. The company also maintained its fiscal 2023 outlook. Further, the company announced the sale of certain frozen fruit assets to Quebec, Canada-based Nature's Touch for $141 million, as well as the appointment of Greg Gaba as Chief Financial Officer, effective October 13. Gaba, who has been with the Company for over six years, most recently served as Deputy CFO. He succeeds Scott Huckins, who resigns as CFO and General Manager of Fruit-Based Foods and Beverages to pursue another opportunity at a publicly traded company. Regarding its trading, the company said it expects total revenue from continuing operations to be around $152 million, an increase of around 6 percent from last year. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations is expected to be around $18.5 million to $19 million. SunOpta added that its sale of frozen fruit assets included the primary assets of the frozen fruit , including facilities located in Edwardsville, Kansas and Jacona, Mexico, along with a significant quantity of frozen fruit inventory. The deal, which represents the Company's exit from the frozen fruit business, was closed on October 12. The transaction is significantly accretive to margins, the firm said. The transaction price includes $20 million of seller promissory notes due in three years. The standalone frozen fruit business generated approximately $263 million of revenue and approximately $15 million of adjusted EBITDA over the twelve-month period ended July 1. The company expects to use the net cash proceeds to pay down debt and other liabilities. Joe Ennen, Chief Executive Officer of SunOpta, said, "The divestiture of our frozen fruit business is a major milestone in our portfolio optimization efforts and our multi-year transformation to becoming a leading manufacturer of value-add products in plant-based and healthy snack categories." In the transaction, Evercore served as financial advisor to SunOpta. Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance Inc. in Canada served as financial advisor to Nature's Touch. In pre-market activity on the NYSE, SunOpta shares were trading at $532.00, up 1.23 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $7 billion to launch seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) across the nation to accelerate the domestic market for low-cost, clean hydrogen. The announcement is part of the third installment of the Investing in America tour, during which President Biden will travel to Philadelphia to announce the historic investment in manufacturing and jobs. The seven H2Hubs will kickstart a national network of clean hydrogen producers, consumers, and connective infrastructure while supporting the production, storage, delivery, and end-use of clean hydrogen. The Department of Energy estimates that the H2Hubs are expected to collectively produce three million metric tons of hydrogen annually. This is nearly a third of the 2030 U.S. production target, lowering emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors that represent 30 percent of total U.S. carbon emissions. Together, they will also reduce 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from end-uses each year. This is equivalent to combined annual emissions of 5.5 million gasoline-powered cars, and expected to create and retain tens of thousands of good-paying jobs across the country while supporting healthier communities. Selected projects for negotiation include Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) - West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania; California Hydrogen Hub; Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub, Texas; Heartland Hydrogen Hub - Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota; Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub - Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey; Midwest Hydrogen Hub - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan; and Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub - Washington, Oregon, Montana. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Hyundai i20 facelift variants are Era, Magna, Sportz, Asta and Asta (O), priced in the range of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 11.16 lakh Hyundai has introduced the 2023 i20 facelift with cosmetic touch-ups and a new range of equipment. Safety has also been improved with 26 standard features. The Bluelink connectivity platform now offers 60+ functions. New Hyundai i20 facelift will continue to rival the likes of Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Tata Altroz and Toyota Glanza. Lets examine variant-wise features of i20 facelift to understand which one offers the best value for money. Hyundai i20 facelift base variant Era Although the entry-level Era is affordably priced, it is still slightly more expensive than rivals. For example, Baleno Sigma petrol variant is priced at Rs 6.61 lakh. Similarly, Tata Altroz range starts at Rs 6.60 lakh. Glanza base variant costs Rs 6.81 lakh. i20 facelift Era variant still seems relevant, owing to its comprehensive range of safety features. It includes 6-airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability control, hill start assist control, rear parking sensors, central locking, seat belt pretensioner, seatbelt reminder, 3-point seatbelts and speed sensing auto door lock. Other features are pretty basic such as halogen headlamps, body-coloured door handles, 14-inch steel wheels, pole roof antenna, TFT multi-information display, manual AC, manually adjustable ORVMs, USB C-Type charger at front, map lamps and front power outlet. All variants of i20 facelift get a sole 1.2-litre petrol motor. It makes 83 PS with 5-speed manual and 88 PS with the iVT gearbox. Torque output is 114.7 Nm. Base Era variant gets only 5-speed manual. Hyundai has discontinued the 1.0-liter turbo unit for i20 facelift. However, it can make a comeback with the N Line facelift. Take a look at the top of the line variant of new Hyundai i20 in the video below by CarDirector channel. Hyundai i20 facelift mid-spec variants key highlights By paying around 70k more for i20 Magna variant, a lot more equipment can be accessed. It has automatic headlamps, headlight escort function, DRLs near air curtains, shark fin antenna and foldable key. Inside, theres an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth controls, voice recognition, electrically adjustable ORVMs, rear AC vents and power windows. Safety has been improved with tyre pressure monitoring system (Highline). i20 Magna is available with only manual transmission. Moving up, Hyundai i20 Sportz variant gets both manual and automatic transmission. Prices are Rs 8.33 lakh and Rs 9.38 lakh, respectively. i20 Sportz appears to have an optimal balance of affordability and equipment range. However, it does not get a sunroof. Key features on offer include Z-shaped LED tail lamps, 16-inch dual-tone steel wheel, auto climate control with digital display, height-adjustable driver seat, electric folding ORVMs with auto fold and cooled glove box. Safety kit includes a rear camera, driver rear view monitor and emergency stop signal. If i20 Sportz had sunroof, it could have been the best value for money variant. Hyundai i20 facelift top-spec variants key features Top-spec i20 variants are focused more on style and creature comforts. i20 Asta is available at a starting price of Rs 9.29 lakh. It is being offered with only manual transmission. Some key highlights include puddle lamps, welcome function, smart key, LED headlights, LED DRLs, 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, blue ambient lighting, leather wrapped interiors, Bose Premium 7-speaker sound system and electric sunroof. Top-spec Asto (O) manual and automatic variants are priced at Rs 9.98 lakh and Rs 11.01 lakh, respectively. The dual-tone version will cost Rs 11.16 lakh. Some serious upgrades are available with Asta (O) such as 10.25-inch touchscreen with navigation, Bluelink connectivity suite with dedicated buttons, height adjustable seat belts for driver and front passenger, rear seat adjustable headrests, ambient sounds of nature and voice-enabled smart electric sunroof. Maruti PV sales were boosted by increased demand for the Grand Vitara, Jimny, XL6 and Fronx while Baleno sales fell YoY and MoM Maruti Suzuki India Limited has registered sales of 1,50,812 units in September 2023 reporting a YoY growth of 2 percent over 1,48,380 units sold in September 2022. However, MoM sales dipped 3 percent when compared to 1,56,114 units sold in August 2023. Maruti Baleno hatchback not only topped company sales charts but was also the best-selling car in India in the past month despite a YoY and MoM decline. Sales stood at 18,417 units, down 5 percent from 19,369 units sold in September 2022. MoM sales also fell marginally by 1 percent when compared to 18,516 units sold in August 2023. Detailed Breakup of Maruti Suzuki Sales in September 2023 At No. 2 was WagonR which has also seen a YoY de-growth to 16,250 units in September 2023 down 19 percent as against 20,078 units sold in September 2022. MoM sales improved by 4 percent from 15,578 units sold in August 2023. Also posting a YoY decline in sales was Maruti Brezza with 15,001 units sold last month, down 3 percent from 15,445 units sold in September 2022. MoM sales went up by 3 percent from 14,572 units sold in August 2023. It was the Swift hatchback that posted a 23 percent YoY growth in sales to 14,703 units in September 2023. This was as compared to 11,988 units sold in September 2022. MoM sales however dipped by 21 percent from 18,653 units sold in August 2023. The new gen Maruti Swift is in the making and is likely to come in with larger dimensions, based on an advanced version of the Heartect platform. Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and DZire have each seen 45 percent increase in sales on a YoY basis. DZire sales rose to 13,880 units from 9,601 units sold in September 2022 while MoM sales were up 4 percent from 13,293 units sold in August 2023. Ertiga sales grew to 13,528 units from 9,299 units in September 2022 while MoM sales were higher by 10 percent over 12,315 units sold in August 2023. Maruti Grand Vitara at No. 2 in Compact SUV Sales Maruti Grand Vitara has seen outstanding demand in September 2023. Sales stood at 11,736 units from 4,769 units sold in September 2022. MoM sales however, remained flat with a marginal 1 percent decline over 11,818 units sold in August 2023. The Grand Vitara was the No. 2 highest selling compact SUV in India last month with the Hyundai Creta taking a No.1 spot. The relatively new Maruti Fronx, the sub 4 meter crossover SUV that made its debut earlier this year, added 11,455 units to total company sales in September 2023. This was a 6 percent MoM decline over 12,164 units sold in August 2023. In August 2023, the Fronx was the 9th best-selling car attracting buyers thanks to it being a spacious car in an affordable price range. Maruti Suzuki Eeco van sales dipped YoY and MoM by 12 percent and 6 percent respectively to 11,147 units. There had been 12,697 units and 11,859 units sold in September 2022 and August 2023 respectively. Maruti Alto sales also fell YoY and MoM to 7,791 units. This was a massive 69 percent YoY decline over 24,844 units sold in September 2022. MoM sales fell by 19 percent as against 9,603 units sold in August 2023. Increased demand was seen for the XL6, sales of which grew by 47 percent YoY and 8 percent MoM to 4,511 units while it was the new Jimny 5 door that saw sales of 2,651 units last month. This was a 13 percent MoM decline from 3,104 units sold in August 2023. Maruti Suzuki has commenced exports of the new Jimny 5-door version to markets of Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Lower down the list was the Celerio (3,246 units), S-Presso (2,560 units), Ignis (2,056 units), Ciaz (1,491 units) and the new Invicto MPV (389 units). BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Azerbaijan's state budget has been compensated with 31.4 million manat ($18.47 million) in damages, Trend reports. The data of the State Tax Service of Azerbaijan shows that 452 criminal cases of tax evasion were initiated by the Main Department for Preliminary Investigation of Tax Crimes of the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan from January through September 2023. Taking into account the rest of the cases of the last year, the preliminary investigation of 119 criminal cases was completed, of which 68 were terminated, 51 were sent to court with charges against 62 persons, and a preventive measure in the form of detention was chosen against six accused persons. Due to taxpayers' payment of taxes during the preliminary investigation, relevant decisions were taken in 29 out of 68 criminal cases, the investigation of which was completed in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Taking into account the payments of previous years on the mentioned criminal cases, 16.4 million manat ($9.6 million) were paid to the state budget. In addition, as a result of preventive measures taken in connection with the materials received from tax authorities constituting a criminal offense on tax debts, 4.6 million manat ($2.7 million) was paid to the state budget. About 31.3 million manat ($18.41 million) have been reimbursed to the budget from January through September 2023. About 252 tax control measures were carried out in 125 taxpayers operating in different spheres, including import of products, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing of products, and public catering, and 210 violations were revealed in 99 taxpayers from January through September 2023. As a result of operational measures of tax control, financial sanctions amounting to 1.6 million manat ($941,176) were applied. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Increasing cooperation between Slovenia and Kazakhstan in green energy can play a crucial role in achieving energy transition, a source at the government of the Republic of Slovenia told Trend. "Increased economic cooperation in the field of green energy can play a crucial role in achieving a swift and cost-effective energy transition. In this respect, we should promote closer business relations through opportunities offered by green technologies, particularly in the field of renewables and energy efficiency," the government official said. As the source noted, Slovenian side sees opportunities for strengthening economic cooperation with Kazakhstan in a number of fields. "Economic cooperation can be strengthened in the field of pharmaceutical industry (traditional), information and telecommunication technologies, green technologies, energy efficiency, environmental technology (including water management), engineering and infrastructure, beekeeping and spa tourism (long-term)," said the official. In accordance with the data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, in 2022, trade in goods between the two countries increased by 34 percent to 85.3 million euros. Slovenian exports amounted to 78.9 million euros (+55 percent; pharmaceutical products traditionally prevails), imports amounted to 6.4 million euros (-50 percent). The positive trend continues in 2023. In six months 2023, trade in goods increased by 171 percent to 96.5 million euros. Slovenian exports amounted to 91.9 million euros (+81 percent), and imports amounted to 4.6 million euros (+54 percent). The exchange of services between Slovenia and Kazakhstan reached 12.1 million euros in 2022 (+8 percent). Kazakhstans foreign trade turnover in 2022 increased to $134.4 billion and exceeded the pre-pandemic level. The trade surplus was $34.3 billion. By the end of 2022, there are 130 renewable energy facilities operating in Kazakhstan with an installed capacity of 2,400 MW (46 WPPs 958 MW; 44 SPPs 1148 MW; 37 HPPs 280 MW; 3 BioPPs 1.77 MW). At the end of 2022, the volume of renewable energy production amounted to 5.11 billion kWh (wind farm - 2.4 billion kWh; solar power plant - 1.76 billion kWh; hydroelectric power station - 934 million kWh;) or 4.53 percent of the total volume of electrical energy production. In 2023, this figure will reach 5 percent. Last year, 12 renewable energy facilities were commissioned with a total capacity of 385 MW with a total investment of 180 billion tenge (about $374 million). In 2023, 15 facilities with a total capacity of 276 MW will be commissioned. Racquel Vasquez is the new mayor of Lemon Grove, replacing Mary Sessom, who led the city of about 25,000 for the past 20 years. Vasquez, 47, is San Diego Countys first female African-American mayor. She started as a Planning Commissioner in Lemon Grove in 2007 and was elected to the City Council in 2012. In last months election, she beat fellow City Councilman George Gastil and medical credentialing specialist Teresa Rosiak. Advertisement Vasquez is originally from Los Angeles and attended Cal State Northridge. She moved to Lemon Grove in 2001. She has been married for 23 years and has two children. A public information officer for the city of San Diego for nearly 17 years, she took time to answer some questions from the Union-Tribune. Q. What are some of your goals and your hopes for the future of Lemon Grove? A. My vision is to make Lemon Grove a thriving, safe and business-friendly city, offering arts, culture and recreational opportunities for everyone to enjoy, which is what I heard from residents and business owners. I will protect community services, eliminate government waste, support economic growth and neighborhood improvements for the city. Q. You are San Diego Countys first elected female African-American mayor. What does that mean to you? A. I am grateful to everyone who supported my campaign for mayor of Lemon Grove and the residents who voted for me in this election. It will be an honor to serve as a role model for future leaders. Q. Who are some of your biggest influences? A. Women take a particularly notable and honorable role in our society, and there is no description broad or deep enough to describe the details of their daily contributions. Women are mothers, doctors, educators, scientists, celebrities, sisters, human rights activists and politicians. My mother, Lottie Rose, is my biggest influence and my inspiration. She is courageous, resilient, smart, honest, beautiful and my best friend. I feel fortunate to have her in my life. Q. What is Lemon Grove doing well that you want to see continue? A. Lemon Grove strives to balance the publics interests, city operational needs along with its resources. As a result, we have maintained operating efficiency and developed plans to improve our streets, infrastructure and overall quality of life. Q. What does Lemon Grove need to do better? A. For the past decade, residents have endured drastic cuts to community services as well as park and recreation programs. We have unfunded infrastructure needs from aging buildings, roads and street lights to long-deferred maintenance projects. If we want to see better improvements, we need to make a significant investment in the upkeep of our city. While Lemon Groves economy is improving, there is more we can do to expand economic development and job growth within the city. As mayor, I will prioritize economic development in our city so we can generate the revenue we need to keep up with the expense of running our city. I will foster a proactive approach to business expansion, attraction and retention efforts, and serve as an advocate for federal, state and local grant funding opportunities. ECNS) -- This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. William, a Russian student at Beijing Language and Culture University, said that many of his friends now aspire to come to China for studies, as China has become increasingly open. Having lived in China for 14 years, he said unprecedented changes have occurred in the country over the past decade, making it immensely prosperous. But it doesn't mean China sees itself as the master of the Earth. China underscores the idea of working hand in hand and moving forward together. The Earth belongs to everyone, and all countries must collaborate to solve problems and create a shared future, he said. William chose Chinese language as his major after high school, as he believes China has tremendous potential in future development. I find my life particularly convenient and comfortable here in China, he said. He mentioned that over the past 10 years, the relationship between China and Russia has been getting increasingly better. In March this year, President of Russia Putin published an article in the People's Daily, stating that the relationship between Russia and China has reached the highest level in history, he added. William is particularly interested in Chinese culture, and has a strong passion for the traditional Chinese martial art of Tai Chi. Tai Chi, which embodies the philosophy of traditional Chinese culture, teaches people to overcome the strong with the weak and adapt to changing circumstances. William shows a piece of his writing (Photo:China News Service/Xie Longfei) In addition, he also enjoys writing in seal script. William showed a piece of his writing that says "The deeper the water pond, the more it can accommodate fish playing within; the more lush the tree, the more it can attract a variety of birds". He explained that if a place is well-suited for a certain type of person or animal, they will naturally be drawn there. This is similar to a country. As it develops to a certain level, it naturally attracts many talents, he said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. CIS markets are traditionally a priority for Kazakhstan, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at a meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Trend reports. Tokayev urged the participants of the meeting to continue active cooperation in the CIS format to overcome emerging challenges, search for new areas to strengthen productive cooperation. "The key task is to develop close trade and economic ties. According to the results of last year, the CIS countries account for more than a quarter of Kazakhstan's foreign trade turnover. This positive trend continues this year. Kazakhstan's trade turnover increased by 4.5 percent in seven months and amounted to $20.5 billion. We need to make full use of the available opportunities to further strengthen trade ties," the president of Kazakhstan said. He said special attention should be paid to removing trade barriers, creating favorable tariff conditions and simplifying administrative procedures. Meetings of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in narrow and expanded structures were held in the capital of Kyrgyzstan today. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. NovaWind, a subsidiary of Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy corporation, is planning to construct a 100-megawatt wind power plant in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan, Trend reports. This project was formalized through an agreement signed between NovaWind and the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund at the 10th Kyrgyz-Russian Interregional Conference in Jalal-Abad. The construction of this wind power plant is viewed as one of the solutions to Kyrgyzstan's electricity shortage, and Rosatom believes it will significantly contribute to the country's energy needs. NovaWind is one of the major Russian investors in the wind energy sector, with a project portfolio totaling 1.7 gigawatts, of which one gigawatt is already operational. According to the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Akylbek Japarov, documents and contracts worth more than $3.5 billion are expected to be signed following the 10th Kyrgyz-Russian Interregional Conference. This conference gathers representatives from these countries to discuss cooperation and project financing in the trade, tourism, and retail sectors. The conference program includes visits to industrial facilities, the inauguration of the Friendship Park of Russia and Kyrgyzstan, exhibitions, and business sessions. NASA's Parker Solar Probe, tasked with studying the Sun, achieved a milestone during its 17th close encounter with the Sun on September 27, in which it approached within 4.51 million miles of the solar surface at a historic speed, setting a new distance record. The probe is now sending back data related to solar winds' properties, structure, and behavior from this latest mission. Fastest Human-Made Object The Parker Solar Probe flew at a record-breaking speed of 394,736 mph near the Sun, making it the fastest human-made object in history. Michael Buckley, from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, shared on NASA's blog that the spacecraft was in good condition during the encounter, with all systems functioning as expected. Since the Parker probe's launch in 2018, a team of around twelve physicists, engineers, and support personnel at Johns Hopkins has overseen the NASA mission, including the spacecraft's initial design and construction, which had a budget of $1.5 billion. The high-speed probe has been continuously transmitting status data to mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, starting from October 1. The probe's recent speed achievement was made possible by a gravity-assist flyby from Venus, which is positioned roughly 67,237,910 miles from the Sun. Parker completed its sixth Venus Flyby on August 21, covering over 67 million miles in just slightly more than a month. In April 2021, the Parker Solar Probe encountered extreme temperatures of 2370F and radiation levels 500 times stronger than what Earth experiences during its inaugural journey through the Sun's upper atmosphere. Given the Sun's lack of a solid surface, the corona, a region rich in magnetic activity, takes center stage, and the probe's close examination of it offers valuable insights into understanding solar eruptions that can disrupt life on our planet. Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, hailed the eighth solar flyby of the Parker Solar Probe as a remarkable milestone in solar science. This achievement not only deepens the understanding of the Sun's development and its impact on the Solar System but also enhances the knowledge of stars throughout the universe. READ ALSO: NASA Parker Solar Probe Finally Solves Mystery Of Sun's Upper Corona Parker Solar Probe's Last Seven Missions The Parker Solar Probe continues its journey closer to the Sun, venturing into a region where scientists had long expected the intense solar heat to eradicate all dust particles. There's even a possibility that the probe's imaging team may have already observed this phenomenon for the first time. In the upcoming orbits, the spacecraft will approach near enough to confirm this observation through direct electric field measurements. Despite the extreme conditions it faces, the spacecraft is projected to endure until its planned disintegration. Ultimately, it will approach the Sun so closely that it will disintegrate, merging with the solar wind itself, a conclusion that space plasma physicist David Malaspina describes as having a certain poetic quality. Having accomplished its 17th solar encounter, the Parker Solar Probe has seven more orbits scheduled for the examination of the Sun, extending its mission until the conclusion of 2024. Following these final flybys, the probe's last mission will involve a gradual descent into the Sun's atmosphere, collecting data on solar winds until it vaporizes in the intense heat, culminating in a fitting ending to its remarkable journey. RELATED ARTICLE: NASA Parker Solar Probe Becomes the First To Fly Through Coronal Mass Ejection From Sun, Allowing the Closest CME Observations Ever Seen Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon discussed issues related to the delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik state border, Trend reports. The discussion took place within the frame of the Council of Heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) meeting in Bishkek. The leaders of both countries also addressed current matters concerning Kyrgyz-Tajik bilateral cooperation. They exchanged views on regional and international agendas and the upcoming CIS summit. Both heads of state emphasized the importance of maintaining regular political dialogue to strengthen neighborly relations between the two countries, expressing readiness for open and comprehensive discussions on all aspects of bilateral cooperation. On October 2, 2023, in Kyrgyz Batken city, a joint meeting of the government delegations of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik State border was held. Following the meeting, a protocol was signed, the details of which were not disclosed. As a result of negotiations from October 3 to October 8, 2023, the topographic working groups of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan agreed on 43.32 km section of the Kyrgyz-Tajik state border. The parties will continue their work at the next meeting, which will take place in Tajikistan. The leaders of the CIS countries have arrived in Bishkek to participate in the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS, both in a narrow and expanded format, on October 13. As a result of the meeting, the signing of several documents is planned. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. The CIS presidency will be taken over by Russia as of January 1, 2024, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov said during the meeting of CIS heads of state in an enlarged format in Bishkek, Trend reports. He stressed that within the framework of its presidency, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan has set the task of contributing to improving the effectiveness of the organization, deepening integration processes in the Commonwealth, and active involvement of the member states in the process of decision-making and implementation. "We were able to conclude an agreement on free trade in establishment, activity, and investment services in June of this year at the CIS Heads of State Council in Sochi thanks to our collaborative efforts to address critical issues in the economic area. I want to express my gratitude to the parties, professionals, and executive committee for their efforts in this direction. I think this deal is crucial, and we are glad that it was reached during our term as president. I truly appreciate your backing of our efforts and involvement in the activities of the Kyrgyz Presidency," Zhaparov added. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. Tajikistan will take over the CIS presidency in 2025, CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev said in a press statement following a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Bishkek, Trend reports. "Ahead of us is the prospect of Tajikistan taking over the chairmanship next year. It was decided today that Tajikistan will co-chair next year, with the prospect of assuming the chairmanship in 2025. This shows the continuity in the activities of the Commonwealth of Independent States," he said. Lebedev added that Bishkek will host a meeting of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly on November 1617, and a meeting of the CIS Economic Council, also chaired by the Kyrgyz Republic, is scheduled for December 8. British American Tobacco has appointed a chief people officer to its management board, as it hopes to improve the culture and collaboration within the tobacco company. Cora Koppe-Stahrenberg, formerly head of HR at Germany-listed healthcare giant Fresenius Medical Care, will join the company in this new role on 1 November. Koppe-Stahrenberg has also held senior HR positions at Marsh & McLennan Companies, Emirates Investment Authority, and General Electric. "I am delighted to welcome Cora to the management board," said chief executive Tadeu Marroco. "This is a significant management team enhancing appointment for BAT. Culture and collaboration are at the heart of my leadership agenda, Cora shares these values and will play a key role in the group's transformation to build A Better Tomorrow. "I have no doubt that Cora will bring a fresh perspective having worked internationally in multiple sectors outside our industry and will bring new insights and capability to our management team." Shares in British American Tobacco came under pressure on Friday, after US authorities cracked down on some of its flavoured vapes. The US Food and Drug Administration issued marketing denial orders to RJ Reynolds Vapor Company, which is owned by BAT, for six flavoured e-cigarette products sold under the Vuse Alto brand. The orders means the company may no longer market or distribute any of the products - three of which are menthol flavoured and three mixed-berry - in the US. The regulator said having reviewed the evidence supplied by RJ Reynolds in its premarket tobacco production applications (PMTAs), it did not believe that either the menthol and berry-flavoured vapes provided enough benefit to smokers to outweigh the "known risks" to youth. Matthew Farrelly, director of the FDAs Centre for Tobacco Products Office of Science, said: "If an application contained sufficient evidence to meet the necessary public health standard, including a non-tobacco flavoured product, wed authorise the product. But such evidence was lacking in this case." As at 1030 BST, BATs London-listed shares were down 3% at 2,455.3p. In a statement, BAT said: "RJ Reynolds Vapor intends to challenge denials, and will seek a stay of enforcement of menthol denial immediately." Companies may submit new PMTAs for products that are subject to marketing denial orders. Vuse is the most commonly sold e-cigarette brand in the US, the FDA noted. Vuse Alto makes up the majority of BATs vape volumes in the country, where menthol flavours are particularly popular. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Vaping and e-cigarettes - so-called next generation products - were the industrys and BATs answer to increasingly tight restrictions on the sale of cigarettes. "If regulators start clamping down hard in these new areas too, it will raise questions about the sustainability of the business in the decades to come." BAT, which owns Lucky Strike and Rothmans, acquired American rival RJ Reynolds in 2017 in a $49bn deal. The U.S. DFC) reveals comprehensive investments across various sectors in India, promoting economic growth, sustainability, and bilateral cooperation. The US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has unveiled a comprehensive list of investments, each serving a distinct purpose in advancing various sectors in India. These investments underscore its commitment to fostering clean energy, technology innovation, healthcare access, food security, financial inclusion, and environmental sustainability in the country. Diverse Investments in Sustainable Development Renewable Energy: With the global focus on sustainable development and the need to combat climate change, renewable energy is a key investment area. DFC is supporting several projects in India aimed at expanding renewable energy capacity. This includes funding for solar and wind energy projects and technologies that enhance energy efficiency. Technology Startups: India is renowned for its IT sector, and DFC recognizes the potential for further growth in this area. The organization is providing support to Indian tech companies and startups, helping them expand their operations, create jobs, and contribute to technological innovation. The financial support targets early-stage, innovative tech companies in India, enabling them to thrive, innovate, and contribute to the country's technological advancement. Healthcare: Healthcare infrastructure and services in India are receiving a significant boost from DFC's investments. It is facilitating funding for the expansion of healthcare facilities, the development of telemedicine platforms, and the procurement of medical equipment. These investments are crucial in improving access to quality healthcare for millions of Indians. Healthcare access, particularly critical diabetes treatments, is also on the DFC's agenda. This expansion is expected to enhance the availability and affordability of vital diabetes treatments within India and on a global scale. Agriculture and Food Security: DFC is backing projects that aim to improve agricultural practices, enhance food security, and increase the income of smallholder farmers. These investments assist in ensuring a sustainable and resilient food supply chain. DFC funding will facilitate the construction of grain silos, a move that will modernize food storage practices in India, consequently bolstering local food security measures. Climate: In response to the critical global issue of climate finance, the DFC has taken a proactive step by extending a generous 10 million dollar loan to Clime Finance Private Limited. These funds are earmarked for onward lending to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) actively engaged in India's climate adaptation and mitigation endeavors. This initiative wholeheartedly supports India's commitment to combat climate change and marks a significant positive stride in addressing this pressing concern. Infrastructure Development: The DFC is actively participating in developing infrastructure in India, including transportation, water resources, and urban development. These projects are pivotal in improving connectivity, reducing logistical challenges, and promoting urban development while creating jobs and economic opportunities. Education and Skills Development: Investing in education and skills development is an investment in the future. DFC's funding in this sector is directed toward initiatives that enhance access to quality education and training programs, ultimately contributing to a more skilled and employable workforce. Creating Opportunities and Jobs: DFC's investments in India are about capital infusion job creation. As these projects come to fruition, they are expected to generate employment opportunities for millions of Indians. DFC is helping India build a more prosperous and inclusive society by fostering economic growth and development. Financial Inclusion: The DFC is pivotal in promoting financial inclusion through its investments in India. These efforts aim to expand access to financial services, including banking and credit, for underserved populations, particularly in rural areas. The financial support facilitates the expansion of Pahal's microfinance portfolio, primarily targeting women in rural and semi-urban areas of India. Such an initiative aims to empower these women economically and improve their living standards. The transition to electric vehicles (EVs): It is a global imperative, and the DFC is contributing to this shift in India with a 10 million dollar loan to Upgrid Electrilease Private Limited (BatterySmart). The company manages a battery-swapping network for two-wheelers and electric rickshaws, facilitating the transition to electric mobility. Science and Technology: The DFC's 8.9 million dollar loan to Science for Society Techno Services Private Ltd. aims to expand clean energy solutions and farm-gate food processing. This initiative seeks to reduce food waste and carbon emissions while increasing income for rural women, addressing crucial issues related to food security and gender empowerment. Bilateral Cooperation: The DFC's investments in India testify to the strong and growing partnership between the United States and India. As two of the world's largest democracies, these nations share common values and interests. The economic cooperation demonstrated by DFC's investments deepens this relationship, benefiting both nations and their citizens. The U.S. DFC's full slate of investments in India marks a significant milestone in the economic relationship between the two nations. These investments underscore the commitment of the United States to support India's economic development and strengthen the bilateral partnership. This multifaceted approach reflects a broader commitment to fostering economic growth, job creation, and sustainable development while maintaining the ties between the United States and India. As the projects materialize, they are poised to positively impact the lives of millions of Indians and further enhance the economic collaboration between these two nations. The United States commends India's decision to lower tariffs on agricultural goods, marking a favorable progression in their trade relationship. The recent decision by the Indian government to lower tariffs on various American agricultural products has been welcomed by the United States. The tariff reductions cover items such as frozen turkey, frozen duck, fresh blueberries, cranberries, and their processed forms. The US officials view these changes as a means to expand economic opportunities for American agricultural producers and facilitate the export of ore US products to the Indian market. This development comes after India recently removed retaliatory tariffs on various U.S. products such as apples, chickpeas, lentils, almonds, and walnuts, which took effect earlier this summer. The trade relations between the United States and India have experienced their fair share of challenges. Tariffs, in particular, have been a contentious issue, often leading to trade tensions and disputes. However, Indias recent decision to reduce tariffs on agricultural products sends a positive signal, fostering optimism about the potential for improved economic collaboration between these two economic giants. The United States' welcoming stance on this development underscores the importance of India as a trading partner. India boasts a vast and diverse agricultural sector, making it a significant source of various food products, raw materials, and other agricultural goods. With the reduction of tariffs, American businesses find it more attractive to export their agricultural products to the Indian market. Furthermore, this decision comes at a pivotal time, considering the global challenges the agricultural sector faces. Through the facilitation of agricultural product trade, these two countries safeguard their own food security and make meaningful contributions to worldwide initiatives aimed at combating climate change and advocating sustainable farming methods. The notable aspect of this tariff reduction is its potential impact on farmers in both countries. In the United States, where agriculture plays a vital role in the economy, the increased access to the Indian market could offer new opportunities for American farmers. Exports to India could provide a much-needed boost to the agricultural sector, which often faces fluctuations in commodity prices and trade challenges. On the flip side, Indian farmers benefit from this development. Reduced tariffs on American agricultural products potentially lead to increased availability of high-quality goods at competitive prices. This, in turn, benefits Indian consumers and potentially improves the livelihoods of Indian farmers by exposing them to advanced agricultural practices and technology. The U.S. government's positive response to India's tariff reduction underscores the broader goal of fostering robust economic relations between the two nations. Strengthened economic ties have a cascading effect, leading to increased cooperation in various other sectors, including technology, energy, and healthcare. From a strategic perspective, enhancing trade relations between the United States and India counterbalances the growing influence of other global powers, notably China. With India's rapidly growing economy and its expanding middle class, the Indian market represents a significant opportunity for American businesses. It contributes to reducing dependency on a single market, which is a prudent strategy in an ever-changing global economic landscape. Furthermore, the tariff reduction on agricultural products serves as a model for resolving other trade issues that have strained relations between the two nations. By finding common ground and mutually beneficial solutions in one sector, both countries can build trust and cooperation that may extend to other trade areas. The United States' warm reception of India's decision to reduce tariffs on agricultural products signals a positive turn in their trade relations. This development has the potential to benefit both nations economically, improve the livelihoods of farmers, and enhance cooperation in various sectors. It carries broader strategic implications in terms of countering global powers and promoting mutually beneficial trade practices. As both nations look to the future, this move serves as a positive step toward fostering a stronger, more collaborative economic partnership between the United States and India. Former Saturday Night Live star and current Hollywood A-lister Pete Davidson is ready for his glorious return to Studio 8H. The long-running NBC variety sketch show posted pics and videos of the born-and-raised Staten Islander on set to its social media, including a first look of the comedian at the first read-through and promos for the upcoming show. In the photo of the read-through when the host unites with cast members and writers to go through proposed sketches Davidson is seen seated and smiling in front of a microphone, while decked in a black New York Yankees hat and navy blue sweatshirt. In one promo video, Davidson wearing a New York Mets jacket is joined by rapper Ice Spice, this weeks musical guest, and longtime SNL cast member Kenan Thompson. The trio joke about Davidson sharing a car with his mom, and Thompson making a deal with the devil (who he thought was like a Times Square Elmo or something.). In another promo, Saturday Night Live stars Chloe Fineman and Bowen Yang are standing on the set of the show, and confront a potato chip bag-toting Davidson, who tells the pair hes living in the studio while his apartment is under construction. Its all very silly, and very Pete Davidson. Davidson was initially slated to host the May 6 episode of SNL to hawk his Peacock show, Bupkis, until an industrywide writers strike put the break on shows. The strike which began in early May and lasted until Sept. 27 ended Season 48 of SNL three episodes shy of its usual 21-episode arc. Davidson learned he earned the coveted role of Season 49 premiere host via text from Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels. He was like, Theres a rumor going around that youre the host for the premiere, Davidson told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. And he goes, I guess its true, because I started it. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. As the death toll continues to rise in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, a group of Staten Island students and community activists rallied Thursday in support of a free Palestine. The rally, which was held on the College of Staten Island (CSI) campus and endorsed by the colleges Muslim Students Association, drew a crowd of roughly 100 supporters, who decried decades of Israeli occupation of what they deem Palestinian land. Were here protesting the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the siege and blockade on Gaza for almost 17 years now, said co-organizer Nerdeen, who asked to be identified solely by her first name due to fear of backlash or retaliation. Since 2007, Israel and Egypt have imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza, severely limiting the flow of resources in a move some human rights groups have denounced as a collective punishment on the civilian population in response to the actions of the militant group. This amounts to the Palestinians in Gaza living in an open-air prison,' Nerdeen said. They have very little access to resources, like clean water and power, and this isnt because theyre poor or its a humanitarian crisis. This is happening because of the occupation. A rally was held on the CSI campus with students protesting the Israeli war on Gaza on Oct. 12, 2023. (Steve White for the Staten Island Advance) Steve White Supporters voiced frustration with the national medias coverage of the decades-long conflict, claiming networks selectively highlight violence against Israelis while ignoring the thousands of Palestinian deaths that have accrued. Everything that we have been seeing on the news on what Palestine or Hamas has been doing to Israel is exactly what Palestinians have been facing for decades, said Abdullah Akl, co-organizer and member of Students for Justice in Palestine and Within Our Lifetime. What weve been seeing on the news is this idea that the events that have been taking place over the last few days are random events when the reality is its due to decades-long illegal occupation on Palestinian land, Akl added. Abdullah Akl, one of the organizers of the rally, is shown at CSI.(Steve White for the Staten Island Advance) Steve White Akl took aim at local elected officials, who have banded together in support of Israel, for ignoring the cries of the Palestinian-Americans they represent. The important thing is that these elected officials have to recognize that as representatives they must respond to their constituency and Palestinians make up a huge part of that, with thousands of Palestinians living on Staten Island, Akl said. The second thing is they cant be putting a target on one community by giving a one-sided story by going out in the news and saying they support Israel while completely forgetting to talk about Palestine, he added. Representatives from CSI emphasized sentiments previously expressed by the City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Felix V. Matos Rodriguez condemning the recent Hamas attacks on Israel: The College of Staten Island echoes the thoughts in CUNY Chancellor Felix V. Matos Rodriguezs statement to the CUNY community. We are committed to providing a safe learning and working environment for all our students, faculty, and staff, especially during these challenging times. Our campus implemented additional safety measures today to ensure a secure campus. In higher education, we respect the right to free speech, even when we vehemently disagree with the viewpoints presented. Any message inciting violence against any members of our community is unacceptable. As noted by the chancellor, We decry those who justify and even celebrate acts of terrorism as a means of furthering a political struggle. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Try Hard Fitness survived the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now facing a new challenge: a barricaded section of street near its location at 600 Midland Ave. The NYPD barricade, on Midland between Baden Place and Father Capodanno Boulevard, limits vehicular access around the former Island Shores senior facility, which is now a migrant shelter that has been the scene of protests. Try Hard Fitness owner Rachel Norman said that the barricade and the resulting detour have eaten into her business. Its stopping and doing a whole bunch of detours for people who need to go to businesses or home, she said. So does it really make sense? What is the point of it? They should just take it down. Vehicles on Father Capodanno are detoured onto Lincoln Avenue while vehicles on Midland headed toward Father Capodanno must turn left at Baden Place. Right now, I can walk past the barricade, Norman said. I can protest. So having a car pass, it would make no difference. That barricade really is nonsense. Norman said that the NYPD should have a barricade only on Father Capodanno, where the shelter is located. Why all these detours, for what? she said. I do have clients who have to find a way around. Buses for a time were also detoured, which affected Normans business as well. NYPD barricade at Midland Avenue and Baden Place, near former Island Shore senior facility which is now a migrant shelter. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Norman said that clients of hers who come to the gym via bus from their jobs in Manhattan had difficulty with the cordoned-off section of Midland Avenue. Those clients that I would have coming from the city, theres a detour, she said. Now they can no longer come at five oclock. But Im already scheduled for someone else at six oclock. She said, Who wants to deal with a barricade, deal with a detour, when they can easily go to another small-business fitness center thats a few blocks away? They dont want to bother. She said that one Try Hard Fitness client, who has spina bifida, was faced with a longer walk from the bus stop to the gym because of the detour, necessitating changes in scheduling. She said that the client used to come twice a week but has only come once in the last month. Ive lost hundreds [of dollars] already, just from that one client, Norman said. It is hurting me. When asked this week, the MTA told the Advance that buses are no longer experiencing detours on Midland Avenue although there had been detours previously. Norman said the autumn is when business is supposed to pick up at the fitness center, with clients returning from summer vacation and looking forward to the holiday season. This is supposed to be a busy time, said Norman, adding that shed expected to take on 10 new members this season. There have been only two so far. Unfortunately, business is not expanding, she said. And unfortunately whats going on doesnt help that as well. Try Hard caters to all walks of life, including those with special needs, seniors, athletes and those with illnesses like spina bifida and cerebral palsy. The gym is dedicated to the memory of Normans father, Richard Norman, who grew up at the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin at Mount Loretto in Pleasant Plains. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam and later died of Agent Orange-related cancer. Try Hard Fitness gym is dedicated to Richard D. Norman, father of owner Rachel Norman. The elder Norman served two tours in Vietnam and died of Agent Orange-related cancer. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Norman has been in business at different locations for nine years. She will mark her one-year anniversary at her current spot on Midland Avenue next month. Even though she has raised prices, Norman said that the recent losses have made it more difficult to repay the $100,000 disaster loan that she took out in order to keep her doors open during the pandemic. Norman said that while she doesnt object to the migrants being helped, she thinks that small businesses that suffered through the pandemic, veterans, seniors and others should also get a helping hand from the government. She said that small business loans given during the pandemic that have yet to be repaid should be forgiven. Lets help our people, Norman said. Lets help our New Yorkers, lets help our Americans. Lets give them the same money and the same support that were giving to migrants. MORE STATEN ISLAND STORIES FROM TOM WROBLESKI Is this the most dangerous, overgrown bus stop on Staten Island? History-making NY lottery mystery as winning $12M ticket goes unclaimed on Staten Island in 1992 Roadside memorial to motorcyclist who died in crash a sad and moving sight in this Staten Island neighborhood STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD has increased security for the publics safety amid concerns for whats being called a Day of Resistance, posted across social media. The NYPD statement, posted on Twitter, states: There are no specific, credible threats to New York City. We are aware of the concern that postings circulating online have caused, and we have increased our uniform deployments at large gatherings and cultural sites to ensure public safety out of an abundance of caution. This statement comes after online posts declared Friday, Oct. 13 a day of resistance, otherwise being called global day of rage in support off the Palestinians in Gaza, according to Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner with the NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division. At a press conference, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul stated that the safety of New Yorkers is the top priority and concern at the moment. Hochul said there is currently no intelligence showing any active threats in New York -- that is the entire state of New York. But in the moment fraught like this, we will continue to exercise elevated vigilance and impose measures to deteriorate any potential violence, said Hochul. Weve all watched in horror and anguish, some of our own residents affected deeply. Reports of Hamas day of action tomorrow calls for us together to address the concerns of New Yorkers, as you receive this information. Hochul also noted that immediately after the initial attacks in Israel on Saturday, NYPD and other local authorities across the state upped patrols at cultural institutions that can be deemed as vulnerable, as (they) monitor any potential threats. Hochul also stated that New York state has fully activated its divisions of Homeland Security, police, counterterrorism units, and resources of the National Guard as Friday approaches. MTA and Port Authority, according to Hochul, have also tightened security. Hate crime divisions across the state have been deployed to be on the lookout for any incidents against individuals or groups who are of Jewish or Palestinian descent, Hochul said. Adams said in the press conference that he and city officials have been working together with faith leaders inside the Jewish and Muslim communities. The entire world is horrified by the attacks, Adams said, noting that there are no specific threats, but with large-scale protests, we must remain vigilant. New York City is the most diverse city in the world, and protecting our residents is the most sacred responsibility we have,' he said. Adams said deployment of police will be both visible and not visible, and that heightened security will be seen not just near synagogues, but near mosques as well. We dont want anyone with an extremist mindset to attack any religious institution or organization, said Adams. Weiner told New Yorkers that while it is easy from far away to instill fear, we are not going to fall for that as a city, as a department, and will work through this. Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella sent a statement regarding the potential protests Friday: We have been in communication with the NYPD throughout the day regarding the potential protests scheduled tomorrow, and have been assured that schools, houses of worship and sensitive locations will all be receiving special attention. New Yorkers are urged: If you see something, say something. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, October 13. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) expressed interest to cooperate with Turkmenistan on projects related to decarbonization and 'green energy', Trend reports. The Governor of JBIC Hayashi Nobumitsu spoke on the matter with Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Japan Atadurdy Bayramov. During the meeting, the sides discussed in detail the issues of bilateral cooperation and actively explored the prospects for its further development. The key topics of discussion were a detailed study of investment projects in Turkmenistan, including projects in the field of energy and infrastructure. Development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Japan in the field of green energy is an important initiative of both countries. Turkmenistan, with significant potential for solar and wind energy production, and Japan, seeking to diversify energy supply sources, cooperate in the development and implementation of environmentally friendly technologies. Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Go to form Billionaire mining magnates, Andrew Twiggy and Nicola Forrest, are bringing back the outback swagger to George Street with the opening of a flagship store for the famous Australian bushies outfitter R.M. Williams. It is part of the ongoing revamp of George Street that was once the main thoroughfare in the city connecting the harbour side to the trains at Central. Now that it has been given over to people and the light rail, tenants are keen to once again, call the street home. Renders of the new R.M.Williams store at 345 George Street, Sydney The brand, owned by the Nicola and Andrew Forrest investment group, Tattarang, will take up residence in a newly fitted 460 square metre store and will offer all the experiences now demanded by the modern shopper, such as specialist boot fitting services, brand activations and other events. It will be an anchor site in the ISPT-owned tower at 345 George Street, a small swagger down the road from its previous location near the King Street corner and will sit in the new upmarket fashion enclave that also houses Cartier and Louis Vuitton. Rolex by Swiss Concept is taking over the former Sneaker boy store at 388 George Street, next to Cartier. Australian punk band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers have just released their first album and are gearing up to support rock legends Foo Fighters on their upcoming Australian tour. But theyre already learning not to care what people think. And that includes each other. Their debut album, I Love You, is the culmination of eight years together as a band and even longer as friends. While they started playing music at 15, while in high school in Canberra, this record is the first time the punk rock band has written songs collaboratively. Were at this point where I know everyone so well, and weve been together for so long and touring together for so long that I was like, theyre not gonna think my ideas are shit and even if they do then I dont really care, says Scarlett McKahey, Teen Jesus guitarist. Scarlett McKahey, Neve van Boxsel, Anna Ryan and Jaida Stephenson from Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Ive pissed myself in front of you guys before, its not gonna be that embarrassing if you dont like one of my melodies. Advertisement RecipesCookbook extracts Adam Liaw makes cabbage taste amazing with these family-friendly fritters Columnist and TV host Adam Liaw shares four easy, everyday recipes from his new cookbook 7 Days of Dinner. Adam Liaw October 13, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share This recipe appears in the most popular recipes of October 2024 collection. See all stories . Photo: Steve Brown No-mix potato salad I made this salad one Christmas years ago only because we didnt have a bowl large enough to toss everything together. It was a revelation. Keeping the dressing separate from the mustard cream allowed each element of the salad to have its own character. INGREDIENTS 1.5 kg new potatoes 1 tsp salt, plus extra to season cup (60m) olive oil 100g speck, in a block, cut into lardons 4 spring onions (scallions), sliced tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 red onion, cut into thin rings 3 dill pickles, sliced 2 tbsp baby capers, drained cup finely shredded dill 2 tbsp finely shredded parsley Advertisement Mustard cream cup (185g) sour cream cup (185g) mayonnaise 2 tbsp Dijon mustard black pepper, to season METHOD Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water and place over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until tender (a small sharp knife inserted into a potato should be able to go in and come out easily). Drain and allow to cool slightly, then cut into halves or quarters, depending on how large your potatoes are. To make the mustard cream, mix the ingredients together and season well with plenty of black pepper. In a small non-reactive frypan, heat half the olive oil and fry the speck until crisp. Add the spring onion and cook for about 1 minute until softened. Add the remaining olive oil and the apple-cider vinegar. Remove from the heat. Spoon the mustard cream onto a serving plate, add half the potatoes, then scatter with the red onion, sliced dill pickles and capers. Add remaining potatoes, then pour over the dressing. Scatter with the dill and parsley to serve. Tip: Keep the potatoes and the dressing slightly warm when you pour the dressing over, as it will help the vinegar to soak into the potatoes. The salad can cool down or be chilled after that, but combining them when theyre still slightly warm is quite important. Advertisement Serves 8 Photo: Steve Brown Cabbage and cheese fritters I originally wrote this recipe as mini okonomiyaki (the Osaka-style fritters smothered in a thick barbecue-like sauce), but they are really delicious served just with a little sour cream and chives. INGREDIENTS Advertisement medium white cabbage, cut into large pieces (about 800g in total) 1 brown onion, grated cup (35g) self-raising flour 1 egg 1 cup (150g) grated cheese tsp salt, plus extra to season 2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 tbsp finely chopped chives, to serve freshly ground black pepper, to serve cup (125g) sour cream, to serve lemon wedges, to serve METHOD Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the cabbage and cook on high for about 3 minutes, until softened. Drain well, squeeze out excess moisture and finely chop. Combine with the onion, flour, egg, cheese and salt and mix to a thick batter. Heat a large frypan over medium heat and add a little of the oil. Spoon about cup (125ml) of the mixture into the shape of a small patty and fry for about 4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Serve scattered with chives, a little extra salt and freshly ground black pepper, with the sour cream and lemon wedges on the side. Tip: For the okonomiyaki version, replace the sour cream and lemon wedges with Otafuku sauce (available from Asian grocers and some major supermarkets) and Japanese mayonnaise. Serves 4 Advertisement Photo: Steve Brown Beef nachos with guacamole Ballpark. Trashcan. Tex-Mex. There are so many different kinds of nachos today, but the original only dates back to 1940, in the Mexican city of Piedras Negras, just west of the Texan border. They were named for Ignacio Anaya, the maitre d of the restaurant that created them, and the rest is history. INGREDIENTS 2 cups (500ml) vegetable oil, for deep-frying 20 corn tortillas, cut into triangles salt and black pepper, to season Advertisement Meat sauce 1 tbsp olive oil 1 brown onion, diced 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 1 kg minced beef 1 tbsp smoked paprika 1 tbsp ground cumin 2 tsp dried oregano tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp soy sauce 400g tinned diced tomatoes cup (60g) sliced jalapenos, to serve sour cream, to serve Guacamole, to serve Tabasco, or hot sauce, to serve lime wedges, to serve Cheese sauce 340ml evaporated milk 2 cups (300g) shredded cheese Fresh salsa Advertisement 3 roma tomatoes brown onion, finely diced 6 coriander sprigs, roughly chopped juice of lime salt, to season METHOD Heat the vegetable oil to around 180C in a medium saucepan or wok. Fry the tortilla pieces in batches until golden brown. Season with a little salt and set aside. To make the meat sauce, heat a large frypan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes, then add the beef and fry until browned. Add the paprika, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, salt and pepper and fry for about 1 minute until fragrant. Add the soy sauce and tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat. To make the cheese sauce, pour the evaporated milk into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure it doesnt burn on the bottom, and add the cheese, stirring for about 1-2 minutes until the cheese melts and creates a smooth, thick sauce. To make the salsa, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss together. Place the corn chips on a serving platter and spoon over the meat mixture. Pour over the cheese sauce, scatter with the salsa, and top with dollops of sour cream and guacamole. Scatter with the jalapenos and serve with Tabasco and lime wedges. Tip: Use store-bought corn chips to save a step. Serves 6-8 Advertisement Photo: Steve Brown Salmagundi A salmagundi is a mixed-platter dish that dates back to 17th-century Britain. This here is less of a recipe and more of a permission: your Sunday roast can absolutely be a pre-roasted chicken from the supermarket, lovingly assembled into an eclectic platter, all tied together with a simple vinaigrette. INGREDIENTS 300g new potatoes 6 eggs 150g green beans, stalks removed bunch broccolini, trimmed bunch asparagus, trimmed pre-roasted chicken 150g sliced smoked salmon 80g mixed salad leaves 1 Lebanese cucumber 1 cup (approx. 200g) mixed cherry tomatoes 60g sharp cheddar salt, to season Savoury herb vinaigrette (see below), to serve Japanese mayonnaise, to serve Advertisement METHOD Add the potatoes to a large pot and cover with water. Place over medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender (a small sharp knife inserted into a potato should be able to go in and come out easily). Remove from the water and set aside, leaving the water in the pot. Carefully lower the eggs into the water, then bring the water to boil. Let the eggs cook for 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of iced water to cool, then peel. Place the beans, broccolini and asparagus in a heatproof tray or bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for about 1-2 minutes, then remove the asparagus and beans and let the broccolini sit for 1-2 minutes longer, checking for doneness. Drain, then trim the broccolini if you like. Season with a bit of salt and drizzle with olive oil. Slice the potatoes into rounds and the eggs in half. Joint the chicken. Take a large platter and arrange all the ingredients in separate piles. Dress with the savoury herb vinaigrette and serve with a bit of mayonnaise on the side. Tip: As you can probably tell, there are no fixed ingredients for this. Just take whatever you have and build it into a plate. The potatoes and eggs are a personal favourite of mine, but its the dressing that really ties everything together. Serves 6 Savoury herb vinaigrette Advertisement Combine cup (125ml) olive oil with cup (60ml) red-wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard, a good pinch of sugar, and 1 tablespoon each finely chopped parsley, dill and chives or other herbs, to taste. Salt, to season. Photo: This is an edited extract from 7 Days of Dinner by Adam Liaw, Hardie Grant Books, RRP $45. Photography: Steve Brown. Buy now Appears in these collections The 20 most popular recipes of October (starring your new go-to spud salad) The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox. Sign up Advertisement Eating outGood Food Guide 2024 The Regional Restaurant of the Year finalists are... Regional wine bars are becoming homes away from home, only with better food and drinks. In fact, some are in line for the Regional Restaurant of the Year award. Bianca Hrovat October 13, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share Bar Heather in Byron Bay is a restaurant with a wine bar slant. Danielle Smith Neighbourhood wine bars are pouring into regional towns across NSW. The past year has seen an increase in the variety and quality of regional wine bars, stretching from the newly opened Bar Superette in Merimbula on the Sapphire Coast to vinyl-spinning Hey Rosey in the Central Tablelands city of Orange. Smarter than a cafe, and more casual than most restaurants, yet with food good enough to earn them a hat in the Good Food Guide, wine bars serve as so-called third places to meet friends outside home and work. And the finalists for the SMH Good Food Guide New Restaurant of the Year are... Advertisement Two such regional venues, Bar Heather in Byron Bay and Flotilla in Newcastle (set to open an adjacent wine bar next month), have been recognised as finalists in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guides Regional Restaurant of the Year award. Newcastle restaurant Flotilla will open an adjoining wine bar next month. Supplied Hospitality workers returning to their home towns are leading the movement. An estimated 86,000 people left Sydney during the first two years of the pandemic population reshuffle. After COVID, a lot of people started moving to Newcastle for a calmer life, and with that influx came these creative ideas and people who had worked in high-end hospitality, says Flotilla co-owner Eduardo Molina. Hey Rosey owners Leigh Oliver and Verity Abrams were ahead of the curve. They operated Melbournes Cure Bar & Eatery for five years before moving to Orange in early 2020 chasing cheaper rent, less competition and a more relaxed lifestyle. Advertisement Hey Rosey is a cosy wine bar in Orange. Supplied Oliver, who grew up in the area, says the towns strong agricultural foundation has allowed its hospitality scene to flourish and evolve. Ryde Pennefather spent time in Sydney and Thirroul before returning to his hometown of Merimbula four years ago. He helped open Valentina, another Regional Restaurant of the Year finalist, before leaving to open Bar Superette in September. He says the food and beverage offering in Merimbula is incomparable to how it was three or four years ago. There was nowhere to go, but now we have lots of really good options like Dulcies, Valentina and a new cafe called Sunnys Kiosk, Pennefather says. In larger centres, such as Byron Bay and Newcastle, a growing population means a greater demand for more niche offerings, such as natural wine. Advertisement The warm interior of the newly opened Bar Superette in Merimbula. Supplied Theres a younger generation of consumers here now and, being so close to the Hunter Valley, they want that wine bar experience, Molina says. Theyre coming out on weeknights, theyve got a bit of disposable income, and it just feels like the city is coming alive. An influx of orders from the Northern Rivers encouraged Lo-Fi wine importers James Audas and Tom Sheer to open Luna Wine Store in February 2020. Three years later, after strong community support, the pair opened Bar Heather across the street. With more than 700 bottles of wine and a strong menu showcasing Northern Rivers produce, theres nothing really comparable, says Sheer. Advertisement The line-up of wines at Flotilla. David Griffen Were proud to be able to bring in all these special wines from around the world and make them available in Byron, where a lot of them previously werent, he says. But its important in a regional town to cater to many different tastes and price points. If youre not careful, you can alienate your clientele. Pennefather says a casual approach is key. In a small town, a wine bar can play that role of meeting place: people can wander in, have a meal at the bar, and catch up with friends over a drink, he says. Theyre like the pubs of yesteryear. Advertisement Regional Restaurant of the Year finalists Bar Heather chef Ollie Wong-Hee explains the menu to a new staff member. Danielle Smith Bar Heather, Byron Bay Mood-lit and timber-heavy, Bar Heather opened in late 2022. Ollie Wong-Hee leads the tiny kitchen and cooks some of the most engaging, original food in the state. Run, dont walk; fly, dont drive. And dont miss the flaky, spring onion-laced bread. Shop G09, 139 Jonson Lane, Byron Bay, barheather.com Advertisement The Bistro Livi team of Ewen Crawford with sisters Nikky (centre) and Danni Wilson. Supplied Bistro Livi, Murwillumbah This is the kind of moody, European-influenced bistro you might expect to find in Melbourne. Its Murwillumbahs best and buzziest bistro in a charmingly detailed dining room fronting the lively local arts precinct. Tuck into Cantabrian anchovies with celtuce, creamy whipped mullet roe with baby radishes, and the benchmark chocolate mousse cake; its all good. Shop 1A, 1-3 Brisbane Street, Murwillumbah, bistrolivi.com A spread of snacks at Flotilla. Supplied Advertisement Flotilla, Newcastle This might be the closest Newcastle gets to fine dining although were talking fine dining 2023 style. That means zero pomp, so you have a romping good time. The five-course set menu changes monthly and there are always exciting and tasty things to try. With a bar opening next door and new focus in the kitchen, Flotillas future looks brighter than ever. 9 Albert Street, Wickham, theflotilla.com.au Pipit co-owners Ben Devlin and Yen Trinh. Sabine Bannard Pipit, Pottsville Advertisement When the paperbark flowers, the mullet runs. If that sounds like ancient Bundjalung peoples wisdom, it is. But it also shows the depth of sensitivity to local conditions that marks chef Ben Devlin, and results in a dish of mullet pickled in paperbark flower vinegar and smoked with more paperbark. Dining at Pipit is a walk on the wild side of the Northern Rivers, and the degustation is peppered with exotic fruits, garums, wild-shot venison and macadamia miso. Shop 4/8 Coronation Avenue, Pottsville, pipitrestaurant.com The view from Valentina, Merimbula. Supplied Valentina, Merimbula Among other inalienable truths, such as oysters need chablis, is that cocktails go better with confectionery. Here, an Old Fashioned riff made with dark rum is served with house-made macadamia praline for a splendid blend of strong and sweet. Its a delightful opener for a restaurant that nary puts a foot wrong. Full-length windows overlook blue water and oyster beds, but its whats inside that counts (another truth). Advertisement Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, October 13. Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan discussed deepening cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Trend reports. The matter was discussed by President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov and President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov during his visit to Bishkek to participate in the regular meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States. During the meeting, the sides discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation, including trade and economic cooperation, cooperation in the energy sector, as well as the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State. Sadyr Zhaparov noted that Kyrgyzstan attaches great importance to expansion and qualitative development of trade and economic ties, considering Turkmenistan as a significant economic partner. He stated that over the past two years the trade turnover has grown significantly, contacts between representatives of the business community have intensified, as a result of which trade and economic cooperation have been developing dynamically. Furthermore, President of Kyrgyzstan indicated the interest of the Kyrgyz side in further strengthening and increasing cooperation with Turkmenistan, implementation of new promising projects in the field of trade, investment and logistics to unlock this potential. In this context, the role of the Intergovernmental Kyrgyz-Turkmen commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and humanitarian cooperation was outlined. In turn, Serdar Berdimuhamedov expressed confidence that the decisions made, and the documents signed during the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State will contribute to the expansion and deepening of effective cooperation between the CIS countries. Emphasizing that Kyrgyzstan is a brotherly nation for Turkmenistan, he conveyed a willingness to sustain productive collaboration with Kyrgyzstan in all domains of shared concern, encompassing the trade and economic realm. Berdimuhamedov expressed contentment with the growing level of bilateral trade between the two countries, underscoring the necessity to uphold this momentum and explore fresh avenues for its continued expansion. Meanwhile, the development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan continues to strengthen, focusing on strengthening economic, political and cultural ties. Both countries actively cooperate in trade, energy and transport, which contributes to strengthening regional stability and prosperity. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. The owner of a new raw seafood bar at Bondi Beach says the popularity of deep-fried fish and greasy chips is on the wane as beachgoers flock to healthier food options. Is the great Australian tradition of fish and chips and a trip to the beach under threat? Antonio Muollo certainly thinks so, and on Thursday, October 19, hell open GetSashimi at Bondi Beach to capitalise on what he sees as a cultural food shift. The popularity of fish and chip shops has been declining, Muollo says. The younger generation want healthier food. Chefs cut seafood to order at GetSashimi. Vicki Lauren The entrepreneurial 24-year-old, who had his first taste in the industry as a nine-year-old keeping the ice topped up in his fathers shop at the Sydney Fish Market, is gambling on that shift, with eight metres of premium raw sashimi on display at GetSashimi. Muollo claims it is Sydneys first dedicated sashimi bar. Walk the length of Campbell Parade, and theres plenty of evidence Muollo is working on more than a hunch. Fishbowl is a neighbour, and theres no shortage of sushi spots on the strip. An industry report on fish and chip shops in Australia by Ibis World pointed to a 1.2 per cent average annual decline in the industry between 2017 and 2022. Like many of you, the news of the week has weighed heavily on me. I suspect the coming weeks will feel much the same. Theres really not a lot I can say to capture the horror and scale of the stomach-churning weekend attack by terrorist group Hamas on Israel. Officials say more than 1200 Israelis were killed and 3400 wounded. Images and footage of people being shot in their cars or on suburban streets, massacred at a music festival or dragged from their loved ones and taken across the border to Gaza as hostages have filled me, and Herald readers, with a mix of despair and anger, and anxiety for what comes next. An Israeli soldier walks outside the Sderot police station that was overrun by Hamas militants on Saturday. Credit: AP The long conflict between Israel and Palestine is fraught terrain for the media. Regardless of how much thought and care we put into our coverage, we rarely please everyone and its naive to think we could, given the incredibly complex history and nature of the dispute. My approach on the weekend, and in the days since, has been to focus on first principles. And as I said in our editorial on Monday, there is absolutely no justification for slaughtering hundreds of civilians in a street or at a music festival. None. Two of Sydneys biggest councils argue that extra stations need to be built on the $25 billion Metro West rail line to connect suburbs and help solve a housing crisis, describing a focus on 20-minute travel times for trains between the CBD and Parramatta as massively out of date. Parramatta and City of Sydney councils say sticking with existing plans for just nine stations along the 24-kilometre line between the Sydney CBD and Westmead will be a missed opportunity. A renewed push is on to build a new station at Camellia, near Parramatta. Credit: Rhett Wyman Appearing before a parliamentary committee hearing into the mega project, Parramatta City Council chief executive Gail Connolly said she was concerned the government was looking at boosting housing supply by centring on bubbles around stations along the line. We should be looking at the entire corridor from Sydney Olympic Park through to Parramatta, she said. 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 As a 75-year-old white Australian grandmother, I am concerned for the Australia in which future generations will grow up (Dads experience taught him to listen, October 13). During most of my life, I was ignorant of the painful history of our Indigenous people, as I was taught to believe our nation began at the time of English settlement just over 200 years ago. It is only in the past two decades, especially after a month spent volunteering in a remote NT town, that I came face to face with the truth about our history and the current plight of our First People. I am pleased that this true history is now being taught in schools and displayed on film and in books. However, I am distraught at the likelihood that the upcoming referendum to formally recognise our Indigenous people and give them an ongoing say in matters affecting their wellbeing, is likely to fail. If it does, it will be because we as a nation were not mature enough to put aside the deliberate politicisation of the issue and the shameful fearmongering and misinformation generated by some No advocates. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to right some of the wrongs done to our First Peoples. My sincere hope is that people will vote Yes. Judith Ohana, Randwick Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: Campaigning for the Yes vote at railway stations, shopping centres and at pre poll has been an illuminating experience. I was berated by an immigrant for enjoying and benefitting from all the good things that my Australian-born ancestors have brought to this land and now wanting to give it all to the First Nations people no mention of what has been taken from them. I was told by a biker that I would lose access to my favourite picnic spot and my backyard and have to ask permission to access beaches and rivers. I was shouted at by a woman that I would be sent back to where I came from (thatd be Western Sydney). Various No campaigners glibly informed me that they have indeed read all 24 pages of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and that the PM only bothered to read the first page. Add to all this, of course, the various conspiracy theories. It can get a bit wearying at times, but we have been buoyed by the overwhelming number of voters passing by our booth who are giving us the thumbs up and thank us for our efforts. For our nation, I hope that sentiment transfers to the majority of the population. Bob Edgar, Westmead I will be spending Saturday as a co-ordinator at the voting booth in Dromedary, a small hamlet a few kilometres north of Hobart. It has been an honour to be part of the thousands-strong army of volunteers for the Yes campaign. I have had conversations with hundreds of Tasmanians about the issues, the message being on fairness, inclusion and love. The No pamphlets with promises of threatened land takeover, changes in Australia Day and more, sit on my kitchen counter. They remind me each day of the tactics of the other side. We remain positive and hopeful because that is our message. We will stay on message after the votes are counted and keep working to improve the lives of our First Nations people. That is who we are. Jane Tolman, Sandy Bay (Tas) Your correspondent (Letters, October 13) says there should have been two questions on the referendum ballot paper: one on recognition and one on the Voice. But that is not what First Nations people asked for. They specifically asked for recognition via a constitutionally enshrined Voice. No ifs, no buts. To split the questions would simply be yet another example of the rest of us not listening to First Nations people, and instead deciding they need something different to what was requested. That is exactly the problem the Voice is intended to solve. Brendan Jones, Annandale Advertisement Yes, they campaigned terribly well indeed As a very old advertising man, I have watched with horrified admiration the No campaign unfold. I think this is the most effective political advertising campaign since the Its Time slogan helped make Gough Whitlam PM 50 years ago. First, the campaign architects worked out which demographic to target, choosing the over 50s, small business owners, tradies, non-professionals, people without tertiary degrees and dedicated Coalition voters. Then, they designed a three-pronged campaign: fear (especially fear of change); ignorance (if you dont know, Vote No); and, the hidden elephant in the room, prejudice (Indigenous people are better off as a result of colonisation). Regrettably, from my perspective a Yes voter this brilliant campaign will probably result in the referendum failing. However, it does demonstrate the power of advertising to influence the individual voter, not always with a beneficial result. Andrew Caro, Greenwich The slogan If you dont know, vote No is a cynical attempt to enlist apathy and ignorance. The electoral law only requires eligible citizens to have their intention to vote registered, and to be given a ballot paper. Whether we then cast a valid vote or not is up to us. To pretend that mental laziness makes a No vote obligatory and legitimate is an abuse of democracy. If you dont know, dont cast a vote that negates the genuine convictions of others. David Salter, Hunters Hill Rocking the vote. Credit: Matt Golding How have we, as a nation, come to this point where a modest request from our First Nations people to be heard and included in our Constitution has deteriorated into an at-times unhinged, vitriolic attack? Is fearmongering to be the weapon of choice for the Coalition and their media enablers from now on? Has respectful, reasoned debate died in our country forever? I am still hopeful for a successful Yes result, but I am heartsick for the pain this divisive campaign has caused. Vicki Whyte, Valentine Jacinta Price is right: this referendum is about division. But its not racial division. Its about dividing Australia into those who want to maintain a colonial legacy and those who want to see Australia embrace a positive way forward that accepts its history and wants a more equal place for its First Peoples by recognising them in the founding document. Jane Gye, Cowan Whatever the outcome of the referendum, how disappointing it is to think that a large swathe of us could be persuaded to support Peter Duttons opposition to the Voice. Dutton is the politician who turned his back on the apology, spent his time as minister denigrating asylum seekers, denying settlement to the Murugappan family from Biloela, and claimed that Melburnians were afraid to go out at night because of the threat of Somali gangs. How can so many believe this mans claim that to deny Indigenous Australians a Voice is the right thing to do? I thought Australians were better than this. Ray Morgan, Maroubra Advertisement At early voting stations, the handouts being distributed are very different. The Yes flyers tell you what Yes means and how it will work. It contains a small replica of the ballot paper. The No handout only says: Vote No to the Voice of Division. It contains an edited version of the ballot with the actual question missing. No information on what No means, no alternative to the Yes arguments, only a loud No. The Yes campaign talks about the future, the Noes about keeping things as they are. We have an important choice to make on Referendum Day, and we need as much information as possible to make an informed decision. Chris Moe, Bensville The time has come The PM is right to prepare for all referendum outcomes, unfortunately (PM war-games all outcomes ahead of Saturday night Voice speech, October 13). Ive just spent 10 weeks in Europe. Returning to this unseemly brawl about the Voice saddens me because it should be obvious to say Yes to giving our Indigenous people their Voice. The European view of Australias recent track record in looking after all people is very dim. We need to show that humanity has a place in the Australian psyche. Barry Laing, Castle Cove This is an opportunity to vote for hope. To support and respect the dignity and wisdom of the many Indigenous elders who have been working for change for decades. If you believe that it wont change anything, then it wont matter if you vote Yes, but if you miss an opportunity that change might happen by voting No, then nothing is going to change for a very long time. I will vote Yes because it is an alternative to despair and a vote for positive change. Kath Wilkinson, Smiths Lake A Yes vote is an extremely rare opportunity for the Australian public to be part of a constructive but modest step forward in tackling the many ongoing issues affecting our Indigenous peoples. The truth is a fresh approach is long overdue, Australians have an invitation to initiate a much-needed rethink for our First Peoples in supporting a Yes vote. Supporting self-determination and shining a light on specific decisions has to be a positive. Constitutional recognition is a healing process in itself. I will be offering my humble Yes vote. David Goldstein, Balgowlah The word is out. Credit: Matt Golding After 235 years of white ear-plug decision-making, lets finally listen to the more than 80 per cent of Indigenous people who are asking for a Voice. Lets listen to the humble request within the Uluru Statement from the Heart for this enshrined Voice. Listen to facts; it is only an advisory body. Listen to the cries of history, the hope of the future and listen to your conscience. David Whitcombe, Maroubra Advertisement The Australian Republic Movement may as well shut up shop and go home as, according to constitutional expert Professor Anne Twomey of the University of Sydney, this will be the last referendum were likely to see, as history shows bipartisan support is needed for any referendum to succeed. What hope is there of that ever happening, with the misinformation, disinformation and fearmongering from the likes of Dutton and co, and fanned by social media? May as well get used to the idea of King William as our head of state. What a sad thought. Jonathan Crosby, Dubbo Have we not evolved beyond senseless barbarity? I am 67 and I have watched the endless Israeli/Palestinian debacle all my life (Dead man: Israel vows to erase Hamas, kill top leader, October 13). A complete failure of the UN. Surely, such tit-for-tat killing is not who we are as human beings. Not now. Globally weve never been more literate. Weve never had so much access to information. Weve never had such wealth to allow all humans to live in peace, to be educated and to enjoy good health. We have bigger challenges as climate change reduces all of our capacity to survive on this planet. Please bring these people together in their common humanitarian interest urgently before more mayhem spreads. There must be a woman leader somewhere who can negotiate a peaceful, healthy and educationally optimistic future for all of these people both sides of the border - either by creating two autonomous states or one with proportional representation. Helping to lift each other out of poverty and entrapment is surely the road to peace and preparation for the real challenges ahead. Sue Doran, Coogee Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit: The events in the Middle East are almost too terrible to comprehend. How human beings can carry out such senseless slaughter in the name of religion is unbelievable, but it is sadly all too common in our troubled world. Probably the saddest and truest associated fact is that this sacrifice of innocent people will be totally pointless. Nothing will change, irrespective of the Israeli partial destruction of Gaza. The many-headed Medusa of the vindictive branches of Islam will survive to fight another day. Israel will continue to attract more settlers, and reject the two-state solution, through justifiable fear. Hamas, or similar, will be back. Their leaders will have already left Gaza. As always, the poor, helpless and innocent will be left to carry the can. Martin Burton, Bayview Conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on for decades and unless there is some unforeseen development it will continue indefinitely. Both sides claim to be in the right while committing dreadful acts against the other. The only way there could be any chance of ending the hostilities would be to have the UN take control of Palestine and totally remove Israels administration. Once order has been established, there might be a chance to establish a two-state solution. Without action from an outside authority, there is no chance of peace in the region. Lindsay Foyle, Stanmore Everyone has a right to live. No people have a right to commit genocide against another people. Nobody has a right to steal anothers property. There can be no exceptions based on a religious promise in an ancient holy book or a bizarre racial theory. Morally, it is never the case that might is right. Reasonable Palestinians and Israelis would acknowledge these things. Unless these reasonable people on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli stoush stand up and take control, the conflict cycle and the deaths will continue indefinitely. Geoff Black, Caves Beach Advertisement Palestinian lives matter What about Australian Palestinians, premier (Pro-Palestine protesters to defy police warnings, October 13)? For years, Palestinians have been repressed by Israel, their territory continually encroached upon, their rights taken from them, and their treatment inhumane, and thereby, they have been forced to live in abject poverty. So while I in no way approve of the behaviour of Hamas, I can understand that it has come from years of anger and frustration. You represent as the government leader all residents of NSW. You have a responsibility to not further the oppression of Palestinians by favouring only our Israeli population. In particular, it is not OK to use taxpayer money to light up the Opera House in Israeli colours and symbols. Yes, OK to voice your condemnation of Hamas atrocities, but these were not committed by Australian Palestinians. Your one-sided stance only furthers racism in Australia. We are a multicultural country, and racism is not OK. I write this as a Caucasian Australian, who I hope practices tolerance of all my fellow human beings who populate this great country. Megan Temple, Marrickville The cynical appeal to free speech by pro-Palestinian demonstrators is designed to distract from and drown out any other narrative, in the present case the barbarity of Hamas terrorists, lest there be any recognition or sympathy for what Israel has had to confront throughout its existence. Judy Maynard, Rose Bay Greg Barns makes valid points about protests and freedom of speech in the context of Mondays pro-Palestinian march to the Opera House (Minns bid to block protest could be costly for free speech, October 13). However, its not just a minority of gatecrashers who were inciting racial hatred and violence. Clearly, from TV coverage, large parts of that march were repeatedly yelling a Hamas catchcry calling for the destruction of Israel. Ron Grunstein, Glebe Premier, next time there is an international conflict, instead of placing a flag on the Opera House, place a symbol of peace, such as a dove. As a spokesperson for Combatants for Peace says, if you take a side, youre part of the problem. Amalina Wallace, Erskineville Destroy Hamas It is heartbreaking to see the mounting deaths and injuries in Gaza and Israel (Israeli ground assault in Gaza risky for both sides , October 13). As long as Hamas openly proclaims to want to drive the Jews out of Israel, there can be no solution. The answer is obvious: Hamas must be destroyed. John Temple, Vaucluse Advertisement 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 Nachshon Amir was an Israeli Defence Forces officer who for years manned checkpoints in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and burst into Palestinian homes during the night to frighten people. On Sunday he will help organise Melbournes Free Palestine rally. I did horrible things, I went into the houses of people in the middle of the night just to humiliate them, he says through tears in Melbourne. Nachshon Amir. Credit: Simon Schluter He is part of a loose and somewhat unlikely coalition socialists, Christians, Muslims, Indigenous activists, Jews and Arabs, all walking together on Sunday in Melbourne to support a free Palestine. The 56-year-old moved to Australia with his family in 2009 and slowly his worldview unravelled. Now he is helping organise Melbournes Free Palestine rally, following the Hamas attacks in Israel and the Israeli governments reprisals in Gaza. At least 1200 Jewish citizens were killed and 3200 injured after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack by air, land and sea last Saturday, according to Israeli authorities. In response, Israel launched a series of air strikes and ordered a complete siege of Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, by cutting off water, food and fuel. Gaza authorities have said more than 1400 Palestinians, mainly civilians including children, have been killed and more than 6000 wounded as the result of Israeli air strikes. I was raised a Zionist, Amir says. What you learn when you grow up there is that, This is our country, this is our land and there are Arabs here who hate us and we have to defend ourselves. Advertisement He is aware uncomfortably that voices like his may garner more attention than Palestinians, but says he is trying to reach other Jewish Australians. Even if 2 per cent of people hear me and then research and move their positions then Ive done my job. Muayad Ali will be there too. The 50-year-old Dandenong father of three came to Australia in 2008 on a humanitarian visa. His parents had lived in the Palestinian city of Haifa until the United Nations designated it part of the Jewish state in 1947. His parents fled their homeland following the Tantura massacre in May 1948, and Ali was born in Iraq as a refugee. Muayad Ali, a Palestinian-Australian who lives in Dandenong. Credit: Jason South This week has been devastating for Ali and his family, who live in Melbournes outer south-east, and the Palestinian community. One of his secondary school-aged daughters was brought to tears after another student accused her of being a terrorist. At his restaurant in Dandenong, Ali said an Israeli former customer came into the restaurant and asked: Are you happy now [because] of killing Israelis? Advertisement That was very provoking and very bad to see that, Ali says. Were not killing people; we dont want to see violence. Ali will be at Sundays protest rally, which starts at the State Library in the CBD at noon. As will Adel Salman, the Victorian president of the Islamic Council. He has friends in Gaza and knows families whose loved ones have perished in the bombings. Salman wants Australias leaders to recognise how Palestinians are suffering, as well as Israelis. Political leaders are coming out and just recognising the humanity of one people and completely disregarding the humanity of the other people, said Salman, who is a long-time supporter of Palestine. Joining these men is Australian-born lawyer Jasmine Pilbrow, who spent two years working as a human rights field worker in the West Bank. Pilbrow says the pro-Palestinian movement has grown dramatically in Melbourne. Since she returned home in 2018, it has gone from a small, but passionate group to an increasingly diverse mix of people including Palestinians, Middle Eastern families, Jewish people, university students and activists, and many religious communities, including Christians and Muslims. These protests are so important, says Pilbrow, who wants the Australian government to take a stronger stance supporting Palestinians. Too often the voices of Palestinians are drowned out by all the major news outlets. It is unjust. Advertisement Protests and rallies are commonplace during wars to allow a space for an outpouring of solidarity, grief and anger, but by their nature can be unpredictable and volatile. A small group of protesters chanting antisemitic slogans became the defining media focus of a pro-Palestinian rally in front of the Sydney Opera House on Monday night despite attempts by organisers to distance themselves from the ugliness. The controversy sparked a hardline response from the NSW government, which is attempting to restrict another rally on Sunday, while federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for the deportation of pro-Palestinian protesters who chanted antisemitic slogans to be deported if they were in Australia on temporary visas. Palestinian supporters gathered outside the State Library in Melbourne for a Freedom For Palestine rally on Tuesday. Credit: The Age A day later in Melbourne, a protester was spotted at a rally on Tuesday carrying a photo of Lebanese militant group Hezbollahs leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The organisers of the Melbourne rallies spoken to by this masthead all said they did not condone the conduct, or any support of Hamas or Hezbollah. A small number of people did something not acceptable; theyve tried to hijack our rally and make it look really, really ugly, says Ali, who said it was unfair to hold organisers responsible for the views and actions of a minority. Advertisement We cannot control every single [protester]. Hezbollah is not representing the Palestinian struggle. We are committed to peaceful protests, a peaceful solution for politics. We dont believe in violence. But Amir acknowledges there are cohorts of Palestinian supporters who will not condemn Hamas. While he was appalled by Hamas actions last week, and does not support them, he says he does not deny the right of the Palestinians to uprise, even violently. Even international law recognises oppressed people under occupation to resist violence, said the former IDF combatant, who commanded up to 60 soldiers at a time. Loading For many in the pro-Palestinian camp, violence is the inevitable result of decades of military occupation of Palestinian territories and the 16-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, where more than 2 million people live in poverty. An emotional Amir says they cannot get out without permission from Israel. He described how his armed units would routinely arbitrarily stop and harass Palestinians in the street, in their homes or at checkpoints. Israel controls their electricity it is only on at certain times of the day. Ninety per cent of the tap water is undrinkable. Its a huge prison. They dont have a port, they dont have an airport. They are just in there and they are horribly poor. Advertisement Ive journeyed 1497 kilometres across three nations to cast my vote in Australias 2023 referendum, seeing as Im working in Europe, away from my hometown of Perth. Its my civic duty, I declared confidently to my uncle in South London, even after learning that a train strike would add an extra two hours to my journey to the Australian embassy. Ready to vote, and hoping the rain holds off until I get inside the building. I want to be part of a decision that could change Australia. Or rather, a decision I hope will change Australia. The federal government has been urged to trigger its powers under national laws to push state governments to dramatically reduce feral horses in Australias high country, in a split Senate report endorsed by Labor senators. The majority of the Senate environment committee also called for the Albanese government to boost state funding for the management of the fragile alpine environment. Ecologists say horse herds must be quickly reduced to prevent the extinction of threatened native species. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Significantly, the report called on the NSW government to remove its self-imposed ban on aerial shooting in a bid to reduce the swiftly growing horse population, citing experts who argue that the use of helicopters in culling programmes is needed to achieve wide-scale results. It also called on the federal government to take a leadership role to help the NSW, Victorian and ACT governments co-operate on improving the degraded ecosystems of the Australian Alps. High-profile ABC journalist and board member Laura Tingle has blown open a debate about the public broadcasters approach to the Voice referendum, arguing an obsession with balance has degraded coverage of the debate. Tingle, the chief political correspondent for flagship current affairs program 7.30, was asked by an audience member at a book launch on Thursday night why the ABC devoted so much airtime to the No campaign and its arguments. In the interests of trying to be balanced ... weve ended up not doing a good job of covering the referendum debate, Laura Tingle said. Credit: James Brickwood Tingle observed the pursuit of strict balance was difficult when outlandish claims were made and subjects were not willing to be scrutinised. At the ABC, we have to fill in a form every time we do a story about the referendum that says here are the people weve spoken to, here are the number of minutes the Yes case has got, here are the number of minutes the No case has got, she said, a reference to the internal ABC Voice Tracker. Few generations of Australians have experienced the personal privilege of changing our country for the better. Most of our big decisions are left to politicians, but on Saturday we have the chance of our lifetime. The referendum on a proposed Indigenous Voice to parliament, if passed, will afford Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a say in their own future. For 122 years the nation has denied them from meaningful participation in political decisions that specifically affect their lives. The time for change is today. Anthony Albanese campaigning for the Voice at Uluru earlier this week, flanked by Labor MP Marion Scrymgour, ultra-marathon runner and former Liberal MP Pat Farmer and NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles. Credit: Bill Blair The referendum represents a real opportunity for Australia, and we should seize the moment. We have nothing to be afraid of. Regrettably, this chance for a better future has been obscured by the depths plumbed as partisan politics and poor campaigning swamped good intentions. We all remember Cathy Freeman in the Millennium year. First, in the opening ceremony, standing in a pool of water like a space-age Rhinemaiden from a Barrie Kosky production of Das Rheingold, she lit the fiery caldera that rose into the sky. Then, in the 400m final, dressed in that green amphibian wetsuit, she strode to victory with her graceful, languorous strides. Sweet dancer. After the race, Freeman said she had been born to win Olympic gold. Tyche, the goddess of fortune, smiled at her sense of destiny and gave victory to us all. Cathy Freeman at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. Credit: Getty But as magnificent as her achievement was, it was not as sublime as when I first heard Gurrumul Yunupingu sing, or when I first saw 16-year-old David Gulpilil dance in Nicholas Roegs Walkabout, or when I saw the paintings of Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Rover Thomas for the first time. Sport can be life-enhancing, but it can never be transcendent as well only culture and the arts can be that. As Paul Klee wrote: The purpose of art is not to show the visible, but to make visible, and Indigenous culture makes visible a landscape steeped in meaning and memory in ways we non-Indigenes find both strange and beautiful. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, October 13. Turkmenistan has studied the possibilities of developing comprehensive cooperation with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Trend reports. These possibilities were explored during the participation of the Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the CIS member States, which took place on October 12 in Bishkek. During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers discussed issues of mutual interest and priority issues on the agenda of cooperation within the CIS. Furthermore, a number of documents were also approved at the meeting for subsequent submission to the CIS heads of state for signature. Meanwhile, the development of Turkmenistan's cooperation with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continues to gain importance in the region. The country is actively strengthening economic, political and cultural ties with other CIS members by participating in various initiatives, such as joint projects in the fields of energy, transport and trade. After years of hostility, China had cut all ministerial contact with the previous government of Scott Morrison and restricted the ability of embassy officials to speak with their Chinese counterparts. But a new government and a substantial shift in tone from Labor meant Chinese officials were suddenly picking up the phone again. Chinese President Xi Jinping with Honduran President Xiomara Castro in June. Albanese is due to visit Beijing later this year. Credit: AFP The discussions could begin by going down the list of $20 billion in trade sanctions, but the cases of Cheng case and fellow detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun were also raised. The more Chengs case was mentioned, not just by each level of government but also by business leaders and the media, the more it became clear her detention was an impediment to improving China and Australias relationship. Cheng was detained as diplomatic relations with Australia fell to their lowest ebb in 2022 over human rights and national security disputes. Loading But after three years the hostility with Australia had become counterproductive for Beijing because it pushed up prices of imports, restricted markets for Chinese investors and had not achieved any real policy concessions from the Australian government. It also made the optics of Albaneses upcoming visit to Beijing, an important propaganda opportunity for the Chinese government on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, much more difficult. The Australian government leveraged that public unease while keeping the communication channels open with their Chinese counterparts by insisting Albanese planned to visit Beijing this year. Rather than trying to get both Cheng and Yang out at once, they split their public remarks about the two cases, recognising that Cheng faced lesser charges while Yangs background with links to the Chinese government and public criticism made his case more complicated. By September there was suddenly a flurry of activity. Wong had led the campaign, but the grunt work was done by Australias ambassador to China Graham Fletcher and Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Jan Adams. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Jakarta. Credit: Twitter The days leading up to and after Albaneses meeting with Premier Li Qiang at the East Asia Forum in Jakarta on September 7 showed the first real signs that Chengs release might be within reach. The Chinese Foreign Ministry made no mention of Chengs case being discussed, but it was a focus for Albanese, who emerged to declare that he had not only raised Chengs case but also that of the detained Yang and other Australians who are still stuck in China facing the death penalty. We had a frank and constructive discussion, Albanese said. The timing and Xis no-show at the G20 in Delhi was helpful. Two days later he sat next to Li again at the G20 leaders dinner. On the menu, there were foxtail millet leaf crisps with a yoghurt sphere. The dish was called a breath of fresh air by the Indian hosts. That was an opportunity in a less formal way to be able to have discussions, Albanese said. Dialogue is always a good idea, even with people who you have disagreements with. Australian journalist Cheng Lei, seen here on air on Chinese English-language news channel CGTN, has returned to Australia after a long period of detention in China. Credit: CGTN In meeting after meeting the Australian negotiators impressed upon the Chinese that Australians wanted to see Cheng reunited with her young kids. The framing turned Cheng from one of hundreds of foreigners languishing anonymously in Chinese jails into a mother and a symbol of the broader relationship. But the biggest hurdle was how to get the University of Queensland graduate out of jail without China losing face. The Chinese legal system can never be wrong. The courts are controlled by the government, so they have to justify a way to both find someone guilty and set them free at the same time. Loading In Chengs case that led to more than a year of sentencing extension requests by the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate and ultimately to the lowest possible jail time for her alleged crimes of sharing state secrets, two years and 11 months. The sentencing was timed exactly so that she could be released and then immediately deported. Cheng was sentenced for violating a confidentiality clause signed with her employer and illegally providing the state secrets she mastered at work to an overseas agency. Cheng had spent the eight years before she was suddenly detained working for Chinese state TV network CGTN. In public, she was a picture of Chinese state media restraint. In private, she was increasingly critical of Chinas handling of COVID-19. The horrors of realising how this tragedy is made by man are very uneasy to swallow, she posted on Facebook in February 2020. But the actual claims against her remain shrouded in secrecy. Neither Cheng, her family, nor the Department of Foreign Affairs have commented on her sentencing. Former foreign minister Marise Payne was also formerly involved in the negotiations to bring Cheng Lei home. Credit: James Brickwood Within the government, the negotiations around Chengs release were treated as if they were part of the National Security Committee. Thats the way that national security, diplomacy and intelligence should operate. Not as a political game, said Albanese. These are serious issues. People with knowledge of the negotiations, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, said it was likely that there would be restrictions placed on how much Cheng could say publicly because it might impact future negotiations. The judicial processes were completed in China, and we are just very pleased to have Cheng Lei home, Albanese said on Thursday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks with Professor Sean Turnell at Parliament House last November. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Cheng is now the fourth imprisoned Australian to be brought home in the past year. Economist Sean Turnell arrived back in November after being detained for two years in Myanmar. In May, 88-year-old doctor Ken Elliott was released by al-Qaeda after spending seven years in captivity. And in July, Chau Van Kham, a pro-democracy activist and retired baker from south-western Sydney was released from a Vietnamese jail after four years in captivity over what supporters maintained were trumped-up terrorism charges. I first visited Israel in 1977, the same year the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made his historic visit to Jerusalem to offer Israel his hand in peace. It was a breathtaking moment in global history one that would cost Sadat his life and it suddenly transformed the Egyptian leader from Israels arch enemy to peacemaker. In an impassioned plea to the Knesset (Israels parliament) and, by extension, to Jews around the world, Sadat extended an olive branch that would result in the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty two years later. He also warned his hosts not to forget the Palestinian people. Illustration: Simon Letch. Credit: The Palestinian problem is the core and essence of the conflict, he said, and ... so long as it continues to be unresolved, the conflict will continue to aggravate, reaching new dimensions ... there can be no peace without the Palestinians. It is a grave error of unpredictable consequences to overlook or brush this aside. That is a very dangerous passage to quote at this terrible moment. Dangerous because it could be read by some as an apologia for the heinous acts we have witnessed in Israel in recent days. It is not. In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas terror attacks, divisions in regional perceptions have clearly emerged. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain criticised Hamas, mourned the loss of life on both sides and encouraged support for dialogue. Saudi Arabia highlighted the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, but also encouraged de-escalation and the protection of civilian life. Qatar, Kuwait and Oman criticised Israel for violations of international law and Palestinian rights. Egypt, which has already experienced instability on its border with Gaza, has expressed support for a just peace and a Palestinian state. Marcus Schneider, who heads the German-based Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung regional project for peace and security in the Middle East, says in the worst-case scenario, Israel faces a war on several fronts. But he cast some doubts on the idea the Hamas attack was in close coordination with Iran. The need for secrecy to maintain the element of surprise argues against that, said Schneider. Hamas has always acted independently, and despite the current support from Tehran, there have been and are many ups and downs in relations between the Islamic Republic and the Palestinian terrorist organisation, he said, adding that any coordinated planning would likely have included a simultaneous strike by Hezbollah on the northern front. Israeli tanks head towards the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel. Credit: AP Hezbollah, however, is highly armed but, in the view of many observers, not yet ready for the big war when taking into account the wounds caused by its operations in Syria. However, the possible entry into the war by the Lebanese militia is currently the very central element that would turn a territorially limited Gaza conflict into a regional conflagration. Schneider said Israel is prepared for a two-front war and has rapidly moved troops and equipment to the Galilee. There have already been artillery exchanges across the Israel-Lebanon frontier, although both sides appear so far to be attempting to contain the hostilities. While Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah may not yet have made a final decision, Schneider said, once the ground offensive in Gaza begins the pressure to provide Islamist solidarity to the brethren in Palestine will increase exponentially. Loading Schneider said that should the de facto destruction of Hamas as a military and political factor become apparent, this could once again influence the calculations in Lebanon. The Israel Defence Forces said on Thursday they had dropped 6000 bombs on more than 3600 targets in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. Syrian state television also reported that Israel had struck the countrys two main airports, in the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo. The attacks were not immediately confirmed by the Israeli military. Israel rarely acknowledges or discusses attacks it conducts in Syria. But it has carried out hundreds of strikes inside government-controlled regions in recent years, often targeting installations it says are tied to Irans Revolutionary Guards and allied militia groups. Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the conflict by phone with President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, in what Riyadh depicted as an effort to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading. It was the first such contact between the Middle Easts Sunni and Shia heavyweights for years. Prince Mohammed, whose call with Raisi came after recent efforts to normalise relations with Israel, said the kingdom was reaching out to all international and regional sides to end the current escalation, according to the Saudi state news agency. Raisi said Iran and Saudi Arabia, as two key players [in the region], should defend the Muslim and oppressed nation of Palestine at this critical time, according to a readout by Tehran. Blinken will travel to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar in the coming days to press those countries to help contain the conflict and use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages. Tensions are also rising in the occupied West Bank, where authorities say about 30 Palestinians have been killed in recent days. Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Councils Middle East Programs, said if war broke out with Hezbollah, Israel would have to commit a sizeable number of ground forces for an incursion deep into Lebanon at the inevitable cost of high combat casualties. He said with the unprecedented and deadly Hamas assault on southern Israel and Israels punishing response on Gaza, the Arab-Israeli conflict has entered uncharted, unpredictable, and extremely dangerous waters. Waging major air and ground offensives in Gaza and Lebanon simultaneously would be a tough call for the Israeli government, especially as it would not be confined to just Lebanon and Israel, Blanford said. Loading A war with Hezbollah would turn regional with the Syria front opening up and the possibility of attacks from Iraq, Yemen, and even Iran. Paul Salem, the chief executive of the Middle East Institute, said the US and other powers should work to avoid a widening of the conflict and try to bring this latest round of Gaza-Israeli fighting to a close. He said when Israel ends its operations in Gaza, Hamas would likely still be standing, and that Israel and Hamas will have to enter into negotiations to deal with a large-scale prisoner exchange and agree on new security arrangements along the Israel-Gaza border. In the meantime, thousands more will die, and hundreds of thousands of civilians will be caught in the crossfire and require intense humanitarian assistance, Salem said. After the mourning and stock-taking, there needs to be a serious push to resume peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians, and this time with the participation of Arab countries that also want to see a more peaceful Middle East with a just resolution of the Israel-Palestine issue. Both the United States and Britain have announced they are sending warships and aircraft to help Israel in a major show of support following the Hamas terror attacks. Blinken says the move, which Hezbollah sees as a threat to join in retaliation if it opens a second front, was the US making its intent very clear to deter anyone contemplating any further aggression against Israel. On Thursday, he added: The US has Israels back. Wellington: A rambunctious and acrimonious final leaders debate set the stage for the final day of campaigning in the New Zealand election. On Thursday night, Labour leader and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins brought the fight to Opposition Leader Chris Luxon in a televised debate seen by an estimated 1 million New Zealanders. And mirroring the dynamic in the final week of the campaign, Hipkins was judged the winner by most analysts and pundits with his in-your-face display. NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Opposition Leader Chris Luxon on Thursday night. Credit: Screenshot/Twitter Hipkins said Luxons moral compass was gone over Nationals tax policy, reminded him of prior comments that New Zealand had become negative, wet and whiny, and continually interjected. CAY HILL:--- The Board of Algemeen Pensioenfonds Sint Maarten is delighted to announce that Oscar Williams has been appointed as the new Director of the Fund. His candidature for the position of Director was most welcomed and marks a strategic step in the furthering of APS professionalization. Williams joined APS in 2012 when the Fund was still in the beginning phase of its operations was promoted to Manager Pensions in 2015 and became Adjunct-Director in 2019. Before joining APS, Williams had already acquired ample experience and expertise in the pension and actuarial sector by a pension fund in the Netherlands for over ten years. Williams has an actuarial background and throughout his career, he expanded his knowledge in the areas of Business Continuity Management, IT and financial risk management, and pension reforms and conversions. It is a true honor and pleasure for me to serve APS and its participants as Director of the Fund. Since I joined APS shortly after its inception, I witnessed how we grew and developed professionally as a young pension fund, and I am proud of the organizations performance and accomplishments over the years. In my new position of Director, I am excited and ready to lead the Fund into the future, keeping the strategic goals aligned, and serving the participants and other stakeholders of APS, Williams commented. Chairperson of the APS Board Nathalie Tackling said that "William's application for the position of Director was met with great enthusiasm, largely owing to his steadfast commitment and broad experience at the Fund. His appointment signifies a pivotal moment in our ongoing efforts to ensure APS's future readiness, operational agility, and effective management." With the appointment of Oscar Williams as Director of APS, the position of Adjunct-Director became vacant. Persons interested in applying for this function can find more information in the coming period via apsxm.org or APS social channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Public meeting on October 13, 2023. The Public meeting, which started on June 22, 2023, with a continuation and adjournment on September 1, 2023, will be reconvened on Friday, 12.30 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs, Ms. Silveria E. Jacobs, will be in attendance. The agenda point is: 1. Update on all matters related to TELEM (IS/169/2022-2023 dated November 7, 2022, and IS/869/2022-2023 dated June 19, 2023) Agenda point 1 was requested by MP G.S. Heyliger-Marten, MP M.D. Gumbs and MP S.L. Duncan. The meeting will continue with the Minister of General Affairs providing answers to the questions posed by Members of Parliament in the second round at agenda point one (1). Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and www.youtube.com/c/SintMaartenParliament BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, at the invitation of President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, has embarked on a working visit to Bishkek, Trend reports. Mirziyoyev will take part in the next meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The next meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States will be held on October 13, 2023 in Bishkek. The event will be chaired by Kyrgyzstan. The heads of state will exchange views on interaction within the CIS and make a decision on the chairmanship of the Commonwealth in 2024. AFP: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made comments yesterday on the recent situation in the Middle East. He said that the Palestinian question is at the core of the Middle East issue and the crux is that justice has eluded the Palestinians for too long. Can you elaborate on that? Wang Wenbin: On October 12, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi talked with Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, chief advisor of the Presidency of Brazil, on the phone with a focus on sharing views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Director Wang Yi noted that China is deeply saddened by the rising tension between Palestine and Israel and the huge civilian casualties. He said China opposes acts that harm civilians and condemns violations of international law. China calls on all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate the situation on the ground as soon as possible and prevent further expansion of the conflict. The top priority is to ensure the safety of civilians, and open corridors for aid so as to avoid a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Director Wang Yi pointed out that the Palestinian question is at the core of the Middle East issue. He said the crux of the issue is that justice has eluded the Palestinians for too long. The current conflict showed again in an extremely brutal way that solution to the Palestinian question lies in resuming genuine peace talks as soon as possible and realizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. China calls for an international peace conference with greater authority and impact as soon as possible to galvanize a more broad-based international consensus with the two-state solution serving as its basis and formulate a timetable and roadmap to that end. The UN has the responsibility and obligation to play its due role on the Palestinian question. China supports the Security Council in holding an emergency meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, agrees that the meeting should focus on humanitarian concerns, demand a ceasefire, an end to violence and the protection of civilians, form a binding international consensus and take concrete next-steps. China will stay in contact and coordinate and cooperate closely with Brazil and relevant parties in this regard. Amorim said that the key to resolving the conflict is to resume peace talks, and Brazil is ready to closely coordinate with China to work jointly to ease the situation. I need to stress that China has no selfish interests on the Palestinian question and always stands on the side of peace, equity and justice. Over the past few days, Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun has had phone conversations with officials of the foreign ministries of Egypt, Palestine, Israel and Saudi Arabia to communicate Chinas position on the current situation and actively promote peace talks. China will continue to work with regional countries and the international community to promote ceasefire and cessation of violence, avert a large-scale humanitarian crisis, and play a constructive role in realizing a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question. Reuters: Reuters reported the US government is considering stepping up chip export control on China. One of the new policies will restrict Chinese companies access to US artificial intelligence chips via overseas units. Whats the ministrys comment? Wang Wenbin: China opposes US politicizing, instrumentalizing and weaponizing trade and tech issues. The global semiconductor industrial and supply chains are shaped by the laws of market dynamics and the choices of businesses. Arbitrarily placing curbs or forcibly seeking decoupling to serve political agenda violates the principles of market economy and fair competition, undermines the international economic and trading order, disrupts and destabilizes global industrial and supply chains and will eventually hurt the interests of the whole world. We will closely follow the developments and firmly safeguard our legitimate rights and interests. Anadolu Agency: Yesterday, US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns in a speech said they were disappointed by Chinas response to recent Israel-Palestine conflict, not condemning Hamas directly and stressing the need for two-state solution. How does China see this expectation exampled by the US to condemn just one side of the conflict? And meanwhile Israel is about to launch all-out offensive to already blockaded enclave and launch airstrikes that kill civilians in Gaza. How does China see this pressure and expectation to unilaterally condemn one side? And by the way these countries are not condemning civilian harm to the other side. Wang Wenbin: On the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as I just said, China has always been on the side of equity and justice. We oppose acts that harm civilians and violate international law. We are committed to promoting peace talks and achieving a ceasefire and will continue to work for deescalation and resumption of peace talks. CCTV: The 54th session of the Human Rights Council adopted with consensus a draft resolution on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities submitted by China and some other countries. Could you offer more information on this? Wang Wenbin: On October 12, the 54th session of the Human Rights Council adopted with consensus a draft resolution on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities submitted by China, Bolivia, Egypt, Pakistan and South Africa. The draft resolution, co-sponsored by 80 countries in total, stresses that it is essential to scale up international cooperation and promote economic, social and cultural rights through capacity-building. It requests the High Commissioner to establish a knowledge hub on economic, social and cultural rights. Various sides have extended their congratulations and thanks to China for the role it has played. Developing countries have commended the resolution as a strong response to the international communitys call for greater emphasis on and input into economic, social and cultural rights and for an equitable and inclusive international order, which will help advance the cause of promoting and protecting human rights. China has been elected member of the Human Rights Council for the 2024-2026 term. We will continue to uphold the common values of humanity and true multilateralism, actively participate in the work of the Council, advocate for the protection and promotion of human rights through security, development and cooperation, and contribute more to the sound development of the international human rights cause. Global Times: The Institute of New Structural Economics of Peking University recently released a report of a study on the effectiveness of Chinas sovereign financing in Africa, which studies the impact of Chinas loans on various aspects of Africas development. How does China evaluate the outcome of its sovereign financing in Africa? Wang Wenbin: We noted relevant reports. This document, after a quantitative study on the outcome of Chinas sovereign financing in Africa based on statistics and specific cases, found that Chinas financing has produced a significant positive effect on supporting economic growth, improving infrastructure, increasing foreign exchange earning through export, attracting FDI, increasing school enrollment rate and driving employment in African countries. The study proves once again that Chinas financing has played a positive role in helping Africa build up capacity for self-driven and sustainable growth and improve peoples wellbing. China stands ready to continue to carry out financing cooperation with Africa in light of its needs, and meanwhile, we call on the international community to step up support for Africa and jointly contribute to Africas development. Yomiuri Shimbun: I have a question about the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At the IMF annual meeting currently held in Morocco, the method of increasing the IMF capital is being discussed. The US is trying to reach an agreement that each country will increase capital without changing the shareholder structure. Voting rights in the IMF are determined according to the amount of investment. Will the Chinese government agree to a capital increase without changing the shareholding structure? Wang Wenbin: China believes that the IMFs quota reform needs to achieve increase in quota resources and quota share redistribution in line with its nature as a quota-based institution and better reflect the comparative standing of member states in the global economy to raise the representation and say of emerging markets and developing countries. Anadolu Agency: Recently China called Egypt for joint efforts to urge parties in Israel-Palestine conflict to cease fire and provide humanitarian help. And also we learned that you also reached out to the Israeli side as well, as we understood from the Israeli statement. Can you give an update about Chinas recent diplomatic efforts about the situation? Wang Wenbin: Ive just talked to you about the phone call between Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, chief advisor of the Presidency of Brazil on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Over the past few days, Special Envoy Zhai Jun has been having phone conversations with foreign ministry officials of Middle East countries, including Palestine, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to talk about the current tensions between Palestine and Israel. He called for efforts to cool down the situation, avoid conflicts expansion, protect civilians and prevent a humanitarian disaster due to the escalation. Special Envoy Zhai Jun stressed during the phone calls that to end the cycle of conflict between Palestine and Israel, the key is to return to the two-state solution as the basis, restore peace talks, establish an independent State of Palestine, and realize the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel. The international community needs to step up to that responsibility and create conditions for the resumption of the peace process. China will continue to maintain close communication and coordination with relevant parties, and make active efforts to promote deescalation, ease the humanitarian crisis and bring relevant parties to the table for peace talks as soon as possible. Shenzhen TV: It was reported that terrorists of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in Syria was involved in the recent terrorist drone attack on a military academy in Homs, Syria, causing heavy casualties. What is your comment? Wang Wenbin: China firmly opposes all forms of violent terrorist acts. We condemn the terrorist attack, mourn for the victims and offer our sympathies to the wounded and the families who have lost loved ones. The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a UN listed terrorist organization. In recent years, a large number of ETIM elements have fled to war-ridden areas and connived with other terrorist forces to carry out violent terrorist activities, which pose serious danger to the security and stability of relevant countries and regions. Combating ETIM is an important part of the global counter-terrorism efforts. China stands ready to step up communication and coordination with Syria and other relevant countries and make joint efforts to combat the terrorist force ETIM so as to safeguard the peace and security of relevant regions and the world. Xinhua News Agency: A senior UN official, while visiting the DRC recently, commended the excellent conduct of Chinas peacekeeping force, its support to the people in the DRC and contribution to the countrys peace process. This year marks the 75th anniversary of UN peacekeeping. How do you see Chinas contribution to UN peacekeeping operations? Wang Wenbin: Since China first sent military observers to the UN Truce Supervision Organization in 1990, China has sent over 50,000 peacekeepers to participate in UN peacekeeping operations (UNPKOs) in more than 20 countries and regions. From eliminating mines and explosive hazards to ceasefire monitoring, from force protection to emergency rescue, Chinese peacekeeping soldiers have shown bravery, competence and absolute commitment to their mission of safeguarding security and stability even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice whether in wars, epidemics or disasters. The Chinese peacekeepers not only brought hope for peace but also sow seeds of development. Their heroic deeds and selfless devotion has won wide recognition from the locals and the international community. In Lebanon, Chinese peacekeeping medical units have constantly provided free diagnosis and medicine and humanitarian medical assistance to local people. In Sudan, Chinese Blue Helmets dug wells on the fringe of the desert in Darfur to supply clean drinking water for the people there. In South Sudan, Chinese military peacekeepers taught local people agricultural technologies and gave away tools and seeds. In the DRC, Chinese peacekeepers ran a twinning project in SOS Childrens Village Bukavu to offer help, and children in the village called the female members their Chinese mothers. Wherever the Chinese peacekeepers are deployed, the blue color of their helmets and the red color of Chinas national flag shine brightly on each otheran impressive symbol of peace for the locals. Chinas participation in UNPKOs in the past 30-plus years has been an extraordinary journey. China is now the largest troop contributor to peacekeeping operations among the five permanent members of the Security Council and the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping assessments and hailed as a key factor and force in peacekeeping operations. China will continue to be an active participant in UNPKOs and make greater contribution to world peace and development with concrete actions. Bloomberg: Has any decision been made on whether or not President Xi Jinping will be attending APEC in San Francisco next month and meet President Biden? Wang Wenbin: About Chinas participation in the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, we will release information in due course. Please check back for updates. Anadolu Agency: Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant made these remarks about their operations in Gaza: No electricity, no food, no water, no gas. Its all closed. We are fighting human animals and are acting accordingly. What does China think about this dehumanizing rhetoric which clearly indicates atrocity and war crime against the civilian population? Wang Wenbin: I just shared Chinas position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. China opposes acts that harm civilians and condemns violations of international law. China calls on all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate the situation on the ground as soon as possible and prevent further spread of the conflict. The top priority is to ensure the safety of civilians, open corridors for aid and avoid a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Global Times: Israel has formed a wartime cabinet, asking 1.1 million residents in northern Gaza to evacuate to the southern part in 24 hours. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly calls on Israel to withdraw the evacuation order and all sides to avoid further escalation and spread of the situation. Whats Chinas comment? Wang Wenbin: We noted the remarks of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Were deeply saddened by the heavy civilian casualties inflicted by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and is deeply concerned over the possible expansion of the conflict. China opposes moves that harm civilians and violate international law. China supports the UN in playing an important role in avoiding further escalation and spread of the situation and upholding international humanitarian law. We call on the international community to work together to avoid further expansion of the conflict and serious humanitarian disaster. China will make its utmost effort for this. Anadolu Agency: Its reported that Israel had used white phosphorus bombs in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, putting civilians at risk of serious harm and long-term injuries. Using that kind of ammunition in populated areas is unlawful. What is Chinas comment? Wang Wenbin: China noted the reports. We oppose acts that violate international law and harm civilians and call on relevant parties to exercise restraint, deescalate the situation on the ground as soon as possible, and prevent the fighting from further spreading. AFP: Russian state media reported that President Putin will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing. Can you confirm this? Wang Wenbin: Weve answered relevant questions before, which you may refer to. China Daily: On October 10, the first section of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, a flagship Belt and Road project in Bangladesh, was officially launched. This is yet another important outcome of the hardware connectivity under Belt and Road cooperation. What is your comment on this? Wang Wenbin: Infrastructure connectivity is a priority area of Belt and Road cooperation. The Padma Bridge Rail Link Project in Bangladesh is one of its signature projects. The official launch of its first section is a dream-come-true moment for Bangladeshi people who hoped one day they could ride a train across the Padma River. The launch of the section is expected to directly benefit 80 million people and drive up Bangladeshs economic growth by 1.5 percentage points. Over the past decade, under the BRI connectivity framework comprising six corridors, six routes, and multiple countries and ports, a four-dimensional network of land, sea, air and cyber connectivity has taken shape. Infrastructure projects have helped participating countries realize their dream for shared prosperity. East Africa now has its first trans-boundary electrified railthe Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway; the Budapest-Belgrade Railway has slashed travel time between Hungary and Serbia; the China-Laos Railway turned land-locked Laos into a land-linked country, which added over 100,000 jobs indirectly for the country and could raise Laos aggregate income by 21 percent; the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway is the fastest in Southeast Asia and has created 51,000 local jobs; and the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway accounts for 2 percent of Kenyas economic growth. Over the past decade, BRI infrastructure cooperation has served as a new platform for international trade and investment and injected fresh impetus into the global economy. A World Bank report shows that thanks to BRI infrastructure projects, trade costs for the world would decline by 1.8 percent, trade is estimated to grow by between 2.8 and 9.7 percent for corridor economies and between 1.7 and 6.2 percent for the world, and global real income is expected to increase by 0.7 to 2.9 percent. Data from remote sensing satellites show that more and more places along the six economic corridors are lit up at night over the past decade. Along the China-Indochina Peninsula economic corridor, nighttime light grew by 5.57 percent, far exceeding the global average increase of 1.3 percent. The BRI is proposed by China for the benefit of the whole world. Hailed as a road to happiness and a belt of development, the BRI brings smile and hope to people around the globe as the number of partners grows. For countless people, connectivity has brought them life-changing benefits and a future full of hope. As the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation approaches, we look forward to taking this opportunity to take stock of the fruitful decade-long BRI cooperation and chart the course for the next decade of high-quality cooperation together with the participants. Bloomberg: Chuck Schumer came to China last week. Hes just the latest in the recent slew of US top officials and politicians coming to China. Next month, the US has been invited to Chinas defense forum. Can you assess the state of US-China relations? Do you see a gradual improvement in relations between China and the US? Wang Wenbin: In viewing and handling our relations with the US, we have always observed the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation proposed by President Xi Jinping. We hope the US will work in the same direction with China to bring bilateral relations back to the track of healthy and stable growth. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, October 13. The portfolio of joint investment projects with the state member of the Commonwealth of Independent States exceeds $25 billion, he President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev during a speech at a meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State, Trend reports. The president proposed to develop a set of additional measures to stimulate mutual investment and promote projects within the framework of the CIS Industrial Policy Council. According to Mirziyoyev, the additional steps in the development of CIS would include such measures as the organization of technoparks, in accordance with the recently adopted Concept for the Development of Industrial Cooperation. At the same time, it is important to consider the issues of financial support, insurance coverage, and off-take purchases, he said. Meetings of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in narrow and expanded structures were held in the capital of Kyrgyzstan today. Businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA. Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldnt work. Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money. Beneath her knife-edge life, Fox acquires a casually worn wisdom which now, as a mostly sober mother in her thirties, gives her the determination to give her own kid the New York life denied her. For all its harsh brutality, her story is strangely magical, life-affirming even, her resolve often astonishing, particularly for those of us blessed and cursed with her sometimes uncertain capacity to grasp the value of the life handed us but determined to make the best of it regardless. I think I just accidentally landed on my book of the year. Hear all about the latest buzz around Frieze London from event director Eva Langret, and then were joined by Evening Standard arts correspondent Robert Dex to discuss London Creates and the capitals place on the global creative scene. Its a psychologically probing production too. Rigoletto goes shockingly beyond the call of duty as the Dukes jester in gleefully encouraging his philandering except where his daughter is concerned, of course. In some productions its suggested that the Duke for once, if only briefly, genuinely falls in love with Gilda. Here its clear that Gilda is only special for the Duke in that he has not yet conquered her. As soon as he has, hes on to the next one. Its a reading that suited Stefan Pops Duke, sounding below par and disengaged, all too well. That was probably the last time Madonna attempted to be respectable. Yeah, she could have aged gracefully and become a grand dame, the expensive blonde, JK Rowling-alike of the pop world. But no, as she moved into her 50s and 60s she returned to her early attitude of trying very hard to provoke. You cant really do that through sexy clothes these days, (although that doesnt stop her trying), but shes certainly done it with her face and body, fighting the natural signs of ageing by amping up the cosmetic procedures, creating a kind of Snap Chat filtered version of Madonna. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Armenia doesn't always act like a partner within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at the narrow meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council, Trend reports. "The main goal of establishing the CIS was to prevent the severing of ties following the collapse of the Soviet Union. First, Georgia abandoned our union, Ukraine is de-facto not part of it, and there are big questions on Moldova," he noted. Lukashenko emphasized that observers cannot remain indifferent to this process and added that the CIS could otherwise be "torn apart." On October 13, a meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council has been held in Bishkek. Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of Armenia, declined to attend the CIS summit in Bishkek. Pashinyan informed Sadyr Zhaparov, the president of Kyrgyzstan, over the phone that he would be unable to attend the ceremony. Ararat Mirzoyan, the foreign minister of Armenia, had already declined to attend the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Bishkek. The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Armenia is in attendance to represent the country. She added: In coming to that view they have not lost sight of the fact that if he is not dialysed Jordan is likely to die of end-stage renal failure within 12 months. They have also kept Jordan at the centre of their thinking. It really is everything from that real, basic antisemitic language to some thoroughly offensive behaviour that we saw on Monday evening, where Jewish individuals were confronted by members of a protest group, effectively playing up the issues in Israel and laughing about the number of deaths of Jewish citizens in Israel. When drug dealers possess a machine pistol, it is highly likely it is not just competitors who are at risk it is often entirely innocent members of the public who are killed and injured, although there is no evidence in this case that it was fired. They are charged with plotting to gather information that would be useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state between August 30 2020 and February 8 2023. The court heard their trial is likely to be held next year on a date to be fixed, and is expected to last more than six weeks. We have issued an image of the woman we want to identify if you recognise this person, or have any information about this incident, then please get in contact immediately. Ive been asking pharmacies across the country and many of them have said there is a shortage. This is a very common medicine but we have seen high demand following media coverage of bed bug outbreaks in France. Speaking about a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister at Downing Street yesterday morning, Donna Jones told LBC: It was about the preparations for this weekend. There is a pro-Palestine protest planned in central London which the Met are expecting over 10,000 people to attend on Saturday, so it was the Met providing reassurance to the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary... it was also the Home Secretary and Prime Minister reiterating their strength of feeling around the fact people using flags or wearing particular items of clothing or masks indicating support of Hamas is in fact an offence under terrorism law. The tribunal heard that the PC took a 999 call from a young woman who was hiding behind some bins after being chased by two armed men in May 2020, but that he did not escalate the call so officers could be sent to assist. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fighter jets struck 750 Hamas military facilities, including underground tunnels, military formations and posts, residences used as military command centers, weapon depots, communication rooms, and eliminated a number of high-ranking officials, IDF said, Trend reports. It was noted that Israeli warplanes bombed many Hamas military facilities in the Gaza Strip, including 12 military facilities located in a multi-story building used for military and armed attacks. According to the information, Israeli soldiers killed three militants specializing in mortar fire in the Hamas military command center in Gaza. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on the morning of October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared a state of readiness for war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists. The Israeli Army's operation against Hamas goes by the codename "Swords of Iron". The mayor claimed this could "result in the Euston terminus being cancelled by stealth", and that the Government should, at the very least, "commit to step in as the funder of last resort". Theyre also working on schemes to look at different parts of Oxford Street. Im afraid - its just the reality - theyre not in favour of the full street being pedestrianised. I still try and use ones charm to persuade them that's the right thing to do. The funding will be given to the Community Security Trust (CST) after the group, which acts on the behalf of British Jews on matters of policing and racism, said it had recorded a 400% spike in antisemitic incidents in the UK since Hamas attack on Israel at the weekend. Every time we repair it and rebuild it and so on and it gets targeted again or hit again so its quite concerning and quite depressing. Among the first to comment on the post was former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wrote: My heart breaks for the people of Israel and for all the innocent civilians in Gaza who are also paying the price of Hamas appalling acts of terror. Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme about the reported evacuation order, Mr Shapps said: I think its very important that Israel does provide information about its intentions, because as you rightly say it is the case that we want to enable Hamas to be removed from the scene, but to do so in a manner that does not affect Palestinian populations as far as is possible. It really is everything from that real, basic antisemitic language to some thoroughly offensive behaviour that we saw on Monday evening, where Jewish individuals were confronted by members of a protest group, effectively playing up the issues in Israel and laughing about the number of deaths of Jewish citizens in Israel Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor According to the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, Mr Yousaf whose in-laws are currently in Gaza said: I stand in solidarity with Scotlands Jewish community, who have lost members of their community in the senseless and horrific attacks we witnessed last Saturday in southern Israel. When the FCDO announced on Thursday it would organise flights, it said the first one would operate that day and they will be available to British nationals, including dual nationals, and dependants if travelling with a British national normally resident in the UK. He added: Whilst people have the right to protest, they do not have the right to incite violence, they do not have the right to incite hatred and they do not have the right to commit criminal offences and we will robustly police that situation. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called on the residents of Gaza to go to the south of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said, Trend reports. "The Israel Defense Forces calls on all civilians in Gaza to go to the south for their own safety. You will be able to return to the city after receiving appropriate instructions," the army said. Hamas militants are reportedly hiding in tunnels and inside buildings under houses where civilians live. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on the morning of October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared a state of readiness for war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists. The Israeli Army's operation against Hamas goes by the codename "Swords of Iron". That call by Israel should be rescinded and should be pulled back because I think everybody knows its not something that can be achieved at all and I think it puts enormous trauma on the ordinary civilians and Gazans. Israeli shelling along the Lebanon border on Friday killed one journalist and injured six others and the Israeli military has said that ground troops have been operating inside the Gaza Strip. It means that the task we face is too big. We need reliable geo-political stability in Europe and more broadly in the whole Euro-Atlantic space. So we need new collective forums of collaboration and strengthening of existing ones. She said: When I say, With one look, Ill be me on that stage what you get, what you see, what you feel, what you hear, its all of me and thats how it changed my life, because for the first time I finally get to give that to people and share that with people and show that to people and connect that way with people. Delays are apparently in store for defendants guilty of some of the most heinous offences, such as rape, to keep down prison populations, therefore anyone on bail is either released into the community or is being kept in cells in magistrates courts. Guests of the brunch can also access exclusive recipes for each punchy dish on the menu and recreate them using Dolmio Intensify at home. They are available in 400g jar size for 2.49 at Sainsburys. Asda, Tesco, Ocado and Morrisons stores. Greek Cypriot entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is the owner and founder of easyJet. He has an elder brother, Polys, and a younger sister, Clelia, both of whom have a large stake in the company. He founded the low-cost airline in 1995 when he was 27 years old. He comes from a wealthy background, and his father financed his early deals after his son studied for a Masters. The owner claimed vomiting was a big problem prior to the fees being implemented, adding: It was really tough cleaning. People were scared with COVID. And this was happening a lot. My workers dont want to do that. It got better. Now customers know they have to pay. They understand. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has arrived in Israel, Trend reports. He is expected to hold a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and members of the Israeli military cabinet to discuss further actions and Israel's needs. Meanwhile, US State Secretary Antony Blinken also visited Israel on October 12. "Were determined to make sure that Israel gets everything it needs to defend itself, and provide for the security of its people. Already, significant military assistance requested by Israel is on the way. Thats on top of everything that weve been doing for years, including with the memorandum of understanding that was negotiated by President Obama, to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself," Blinken said. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on the morning of October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared a state of readiness for war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists. The Israeli Army's operation against Hamas goes by the codename "Swords of Iron". He was wearing a balaclava, which his family has said protected him from chronic chills due to his anaemia. He was wearing headphones and had initially ignored officers calls for him to stop walking. The French government has reported 24 arrests for more than 100 antisemitic acts in France since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday, including verbal abuse, people caught with knives near Jewish schools and synagogues and a drone equipped with a camera spotted over a Jewish cultural center. More than 2,000 cases of antisemitic speech have been reported to an online watchdog force. He added that a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels had been shown videos and photographs of babies beheaded by the Palestinian terrorists. I think Israel finds itself in a very difficult situation, and to be clear: Israel needs to act within international law just like any other nation but Israel will also obviously need to deal with these Hamas terrorists. Mr Bowman, a former US Army officer who is now the senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, believes Israel may have been misled by Hamas. She added: This is the defining moment of our life. We are going to spend the rest of our lives dealing with this atrocity. We have yet to really comprehend what took place. Now, we are still in this event and we are not up to date. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, of the Metropolitan Police, told a press briefing on Friday: Its not unusual for London to host protests of that size almost every week we are hosting very large protests and I have got a very experienced command team working on this one because of all of the sensitivities and the context in which this protest is taking place. The protest organiser, the Palestine Action Group Sydney, have said the rally will go ahead without police authorisation, and it defended the right to demonstrate after calls from various politicians for the event to be cancelled. Both the UK and US have issued their support for Israel with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken saying at a joint press conference: You may be strong enough, on your own, to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists, you will never ever have to. We will always be there by your side." Speaking on Wednesday, the Queen said: As the proud President of WOW, I know that girls have always been at the heart of everything that you do. I am sure that this festival will equip young people across the United Kingdom with resilience, confidence and self-belief and that you will have lots of fun along the way! Rudolph then quit in 1989 to become a Christian minister, but eventually rejoined. His death came after an Illinois judge refused to dismiss his lawsuit against Ronald over trademark rights to the bands name in August. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola are heading to Israel, the European Commission said, Trend reports. The main purpose of the visit is to express solidarity with Israel and familiarize themselves with the situation in the region. Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola will hold a series of meetings with the leadership of Israel. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on the morning of October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air. The attacks by Hamas militants killed more than 1,300 and injured nearly 3,300 Israelis. The IDF declared a state of readiness for war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists. The Israeli Army's operation against Hamas goes by the codename "Swords of Iron". Since the invasion last year, the Russian government has made it illegal to refer to the war as an invasion. State media have been instructed to refer to the war as a special military operation. Yet in August, bosses at Amazon Studios said they while they were shocked and disappointed at his criticism of the royal, they ultimately made the decision to continue filming the third season following the controversy as the series is so much bigger than Clarkson. It said the firm only found out about the hack about five minutes before it was announced by the American owner, meaning it was unable to cope with an influx of customer concerns and complaints. Social media platforms have seen a surge in misinformation, violent content and hate speech about the conflict between Israel and Hamas in recent days, with both the EU and the UK warning the largest platforms that they must do more to stop its spread. A 21-year-old undergraduate student at the University of Nebraska has won $40,000 (32.8K) for being the first to read a word from one of the ancient Herculaneum scrolls as part of the Vesuvius Challenge a competition with $1,000,000 (821K) in rewards for those who can use contemporary technology to decipher the words of these scrolls. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister, has visited Israel, Trend reports. She was accompanied by her Israeli colleague Eli Cohen. "I visited today the city of Netivot together with the German Foreign Minister. She expressed support for Israel and its right to defend itself," Minister Cohen wrote on his page on X. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on the morning of October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared a state of readiness for war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists. The Israeli Army's operation against Hamas goes by the codename "Swords of Iron". 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Israeli infantry units and tanks have entered the Gaza Strip to conduct local raids, the Israeli Army said, Trend reports. "This step is not the beginning of an Israeli ground operation in Gaza Strip," the statement noted. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air. Israel declared a state of war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists. The European Commission on Friday announced having approved an up to EUR24 million Romanian scheme (RON 118.6 million) to support investments in sea and inland ports in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine. In a press statement released on Friday, the European Commission says that the scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, adopted by the European Commission on March 9, 2023 to support measures in sectors which are key to accelerate the green transition and reduce fuel dependencies. The new framework amends and prolongs in part the Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted on March 23, 2022 to enable the EU member states to support the economy in the context of the current geopolitical crisis, already amended on July 20, 2022 and on October 28, 2022. Romania notified to the European Commission under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, an up to EUR 24 million (RON 118.6 million) scheme to support private port operators in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine.Under the scheme, the aid will consist of limited amounts of aid in the form of direct grants. The measure, partially funded through the cohesion funds, will support private port operators in order to enhance the functioning of the Ukraine-EU Solidarity Lanes.The aim of the measure is to overcome the shortcomings of the capacity of the ports' superstructure, among others for the procurement of equipment for short-distance transport of freight and the extension of storage capacities for temporary storage. It will also facilitate grains transport and transit via Romanian ports that need urgent support to handle the increased traffic flows of goods.The commission found that the Romanian scheme is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework. In particular, the aid will not exceed EUR 2 million per beneficiary, and it will be granted no later than December 31, 2023.It concluded that the Romanian scheme is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State, in line with Article 107(3)(b) TFEU and the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework. On this basis, the Commission approved the aid measure under EU State aid rules. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminita Odobescu, received on Friday, on a courtesy visit, the representatives of four specialized UN agencies and funds in Romania - Anna Riatti, representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Caroline Francoise Clarinval, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Pablo Zapata, representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Mircea Mocanu, representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). During the discussions, Minister Odobescu reaffirmed Romania's commitment to support UN principles, the international order based on rules and effective multilateralism. She expressed her appreciation for the activity of the four UN agencies in Romania in carrying out actions with an important social and humanitarian impact, in relevant fields for the Romanian state and at the global level: public health, protection of children, refugees, migration management, the Foreign Ministry (MAE) informs in a release to AGERPRES. According to the quoted source, Luminita Odobescu reiterated "the active role assumed by Romania within the UN as an actor involved in strengthening international security and countering the negative impact of the consequences of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine", agerpres reports. In this context, Romania's involvement, together with UN specialized agencies and funds, in managing the humanitarian situation and ensuring food security for the most vulnerable categories of populations, at the global level, was evoked. The Romanian official reaffirmed the continuation of multidimensional support for Ukraine as long as it will be necessary and presented the main assistance measures granted by the Romanian authorities to the Ukrainian refugees, as well as for the facilitation of grain transit from Ukraine.The UN has been present in Romania since 1970, when the United Nations Information Center was established in Bucharest.The initiative to create "UN Houses" in the member states in which various agencies, programs and funds of the UN system are represented belonged to former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in the early 2000s. The "UN House" in Bucharest was inaugurated in 2003. Currently, it houses a number of representatives of the specialized agencies, funds and programs of the UN system: the United Nations Children's Fund - UNICEF; World Health Organization - WHO; United Nations Refugee Agency - UNHCR; International Organization for Migration - IOM.The World Food Program within the UN, which carries out activities for the benefit of Ukrainian refugees, has been present in Romania since 2022. The Romanian Naval Forces, with the naval dredger 30 Sublieutenant Alexandru Axente and staff officers, participate, between October 13 and 22, in the Breeze 23 multinational exercise, organized by the Bulgarian Naval Forces, in the Port of Varna, in the territorial waters of Bulgaria and in the international waters of the Black Sea. According to a press release sent on Friday, naval and air capabilities from Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and Turkey, participate in the exercise, in order to develop multinational relations among the partner states, agerpres reports. "The multinational exercise organized by the Bulgarian Naval Forces has the main objective of increasing the level of tactical interoperability, by applying operational procedures for crisis situations and for combating security threats. At the same time, Breeze 23 includes training sequences adapted to the current geostrategic challenges, for which foresees the immediate reaction of a regional multinational force in all combat environments," the release states. Through the participation of Romanian military sailors in the Breeze 23 multinational exercise, the Romanian Naval Forces significantly contribute to the strengthening of the defense capacity of NATO's eastern flank and to the improvement of security in the Black Sea region, the cited source says. The Romanian Army completed supplementing the contingent participating in the NATO - KFOR operation in Kosovo with the company from the strategic reserve at the disposal of SACEUR, with a staff of approximately 130 troops, the Ministry of National Defense (MApN) reported on Friday. Through the addition completed on Friday, approximately 210 Romanian troops are carrying out missions in Kosovo, in the NATO - KFOR operation, agerpres reports. The decision to increase the Romanian forces was taken as a result of the authorization by the North-Atlantic Council of supplementing the forces for the management of the current situation in the Western Balkans, and the Romanian subunit, at company level, is part of the strategic reserve at the disposal of SACEUR within the operation NATO KFOR from Kosovo, states the quoted source. Romania assumed, as a NATO ally and a member state of the European Union, the commitment to contribute with forces and military means to the effort to maintain a stable security environment in the Western Balkans region.At the moment, our country has more than 480 servicemen deployed in the operation theatres in the Western Balkans, of whom approximately 270 are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, our country being one of the most important contributors with troops to the EUFOR ALTHEA operation in this country. Three MQ-9 Reaper unmanned reconnaissance aerial vehicles from the Royal Netherlands Army will arrive to Romania next year and will operate for a period of six to 12 months from the 71st Air Base in Campia Turzii. They will be used at Campia Turzii by about 40 Dutch specialists, says a National Defence Ministry (MApN) press release. "This decision, made as a first by the Netherlands, aims to strengthen the defence of NATO's eastern flank, and the aircraft will have the mission to collect, for preventive purposes, data and information to monitor the situation along the eastern border of the Alliance territory," the MApN said.The deployment of the three aircraft is part of the "political and military efforts undertaken at the allied and national level in support of the strengthening of the collective defence posture in the Black Sea region, materialised in a substantial increase in the allied presence on the eastern flank, including in Romania," the source said.Substantial contributions of allied troops on the national territory "demonstrate, once again, allied unity and cohesion and prove the credibility of the deterrence and defence posture," the MApN underlines, recalling that Romania has, in turn, a substantial contribution of troops and capabilities in NATO and EU missions and operations Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) informed on Friday that so far two people with dual Israeli-Romanian citizenship residing in Israel have been confirmed dead after the outbreak of the deadly conflict in the area. According to a MAE press release, it is about a person whose death was announced by the Israeli authorities on October 9, who held Israeli-Romanian citizenship and resided in Israel, and a person declared missing by family on Thursday whose death was confirmed by the Israeli authorities on Friday. MAE sends its condolences to the families of the two victims and expresses deep regret for all the victims of the attacks. It also reiterates its firm condemnation of terror in all its forms of manifestation.The Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Consulate General of Romania in Haifa have been in constant contact with the Israeli authorities to verify the information regarding the Romanian citizens BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Russia has developed a roadmap for the creation of a gas hub and presented it to Turkiye, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with RT Arabi, Trend reports. "Currently, this project is under discussion, the roadmap has been developed and presented to Turkish partners. They are considering this issue. As soon as the roadmap is signed, the actions will be implemented according to the plan," he said. In October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the initiative to lay additional gas pipelines from the Russian Federation to Turkiye along the bottom of the Black Sea, as well as to create a gas hub. In the world of audiobooks, a great narrator can make a good book better. Sometimes, a great narrator can even make a disappointing book bearable. Thats the case for John Grishams latest. What you remember about The Firm, Grishams 1991 bestseller, and its 1993 movie adaptation may be the same thing I remember Mitch and Abby McDeere (Tom Cruise and Jeanne Tripplehorn in Sidney Pollacks film) running for their lives after he ratted out his mob-infested Memphis law firm. What happened then? I had not once wondered, but Grisham clearly had. Thirty-odd years later, the popular and prolific author offers up The Exchange: After the Firm (Random House Audio, 9 hours), which picks up with Mitch and Abby in 2005 and embroils them in a desperate quest to raise $100 million to ransom a young lawyer kidnapped in Libya. That sounds more exciting than The Exchange turns out to be. This is an extremely talky book, driven by exposition rather than action. Even the climax is more of a shrug than a bang. Fortunately, the audiobook offers a huge advantage. It is narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, who is never less than pitch perfect, whether called on to voice a Southern lawyer or a Libyan diplomat. Here, he even manages to convey the tension of a law partners meeting and the mundanity of the McDeeres home life. (Theres plenty of both.) Because The Exchange is so description-heavy, even an attack of food poisoning is an action highlight. This is 2005, remember, and Gaddafi is still in power in Libya. Mitchs law firm is suing to collect the $600 million owed to its clients over construction of a bridge in the desert a bridge with no water in sight. (This really happened. You could look it up.) After a young associate who happens to be the daughter of a dying Italian partner in the firm is abducted on a visit to the bridge, all stops are pulled out to ransom her. Abby is roped in. Mitch flies all over the world. On and off planes. In and out of countries. The Exchange can produce jet lag requiring a long nap. Super fans of The Firm may be engaged enough to find things to nitpick in The Exchange, which seems to revise some of Mitchs history and cant quite sell the idea that, 15 years after being disbarred, hes a star partner at the worlds largest law firm. The rest of us, though, arent likely to care too much. Ballerini, one of the leading voices in audiobooks, also narrates another recent favorite, Isabelle Allendes The Wind Knows My Name (Random House Audio, 8 hours). This is a story of immigrants, from 1938 to the present, and the beautiful, heartwarming and heartbreaking tales converge in an entirely satisfying way. Only the jarring insertion of a young girls voice detracts from the flow. Jessie Mueller, a Tony-winning actor, takes us by the hand and leads us through The Invisible Hour, by Alice Hoffman (Simon & Schuster Audio, 7 hours and 44 minutes). The fable has two, very different halves. In the first, pregnant teen Ivy runs away, falls in with a restrictive, patriarchal cult and raises her daughter, Mia, to believe theres no escape. But a grown-up Mia does get away, and (via Hoffmans trademark magical realism) saves herself, with help from her favorite book, The Scarlet Letter. The second half finds Mia getting very, very deeply into that book. Dont want to spoil anything, but youll learn much more about Nathaniel Hawthorne than you expect. Above all, though, The Invisible Hour makes a passionate and timely case for the importance of books and their built-in magic. Julia Whelan, one of the top female narrators, returns in February with Kristin Hannahs forthcoming The Women. But dont miss Whelans reading of Rebecca Makkais I Have Some Questions for You (Penguin Audio, 14 hours). Whelan so perfectly embodies Bodie Kane, who returns to her old prep school to teach a course and winds up trying to solve a long-ago crime, that when some streaming network adapts the bestseller, Whelan (one of the stars of TVs Once and Again) should play the lead. But beyond old favorites, discovering new voices when starting an audiobook is always a delight. Jessica Regan, Stephen Hogan and Sara Lynam team up to narrate the creepy, absorbing and, yes, funny and sweet Strange Sally Diamond, by Liz Nugent (Simon & Schuster Audio, 10 hours). The Irish accents are beautiful even when the story is darkest. In a village in Ireland, middle-aged Sally cant remember her early history; she just knows she has always been odd. But the death of her father and her too-literal interpretation of his wishes pushes her far out of her comfort zone and to the brink of a new life. Block out plenty of time for this one, because once I started listening, I didnt want to stop. Finally, my favorite new voice belongs to Bahni Turpin, who is not new to audiobooks, just to me. Turpin narrates the delightful Glory Be, by Danielle Arcineaux (OrangeSky Audio, 8 hours and 47 minutes), the first in an intended series featuring Louisiana church lady (and sometimes bookie) Glory Broussard. Glory is a character, but shes also a sharp cookie who realizes the police have dismissed the death of her friend Amity, a nun, as suicide. Joined by her lawyer-daughter, Glory sets out to prove Sister Amity was murdered. Turpin brings Glory fully to life and made me laugh out loud in the first five minutes. Her other, extensive narrative work is impressive, including Colson Whiteheads The Underground Railroad, issued as a tie-in to the television adaptation, and as part of a full cast of The Other Black Girl. But heres hoping she saves time to do many future Glory Broussard mysteries. 40 new books coming this fall offer choices for everyone Variety of titles feeds our freedom to read as fall books start hitting the shelves. Gail Pennington is a former longtime television critic for the Post-Dispatch. JEFFERSON CITY State transportation officials are asking for $76 million in federal funding to expand passenger rail service in Missouri. In documents submitted earlier this month to Gov. Mike Parson, the Missouri Department of Transportation wants the Republican governor to include the financial request in his January budget proposal as a way to add another daily round-trip option on Amtrak's Missouri River Runner between St. Louis and Kansas City. Currently, Amtrak offers two round trips on the 285-mile stretch linking Missouri's largest metropolitan areas. The money also would add new Amtrak service in Missouri between Kansas City and Springfield, and Kansas City and St. Joseph. The plan also calls for extending the existing Chicago-Quincy, Illinois, service to Hannibal. "All four of these concepts have been identified by communities across the state for years and are currently identified as unfunded needs," said MoDOT spokeswoman Linda Horn. The possible expansion in Missouri is part of a nationwide effort by President Joe Biden to get more people out of cars and into trains as part of a job-creating bid to rebuild infrastructure. In addition to new routes, Amtrak would bring intercity rail service to new communities, including Nashville, Tennessee; Columbus, Ohio; and Phoenix. Some money sought by MoDOT would be used to hire a consultant to begin preliminary studies of potential future lines. "This is very preliminary and just a request for funds to study an unfunded need," Horn said. In an October 2022 letter to the Federal Railroad Administration, Paul Nissenbaum, associate administrator for MoDOT's railroad section, said adding a third daily trip between St. Louis and Kansas City would "provide increased connectivity" to the state's big cities. The River Runner makes eight stops in between its two runs, including in Kirkwood, Washington, Hermann and Jefferson City. Adding a stop in Hannibal "would provide passenger rail service to a tourism-dependent region of the state." And, he wrote, bringing a line to Springfield would provide rail service to Missouri's third-largest metro area. "The region of (southwest) Missouri is not serviced by passenger rail," Nissenbaum wrote. "The closest Amtrak station currently is more than 100 miles away." In addition, MoDOT said it is interested in partnering with Minnesota and Iowa in a potential north-south corridor linking Kansas City with Des Moines and Minneapolis. The push comes as state lawmakers haven't always been supportive of passenger rail service on the River Runner line. In 2021, Amtrak one of the daily trips between St. Louis and Kansas City was cut in response to a lack of funding from the state. Ridership on the line was affected by the pandemic and, in 2019, by flooding on the Missouri River. Typically, an estimated 170,000 people ride the route, but service cuts and COVID-19 restrictions reduced that number to about 86,000 in 2020 and another 77,200 in 2021. Kurt Erickson 573-556-6181 kerickson@post-dispatch.com ST. LOUIS James O. Broadhead was an influential Unionist during the Civil War. Alonzo Slayback was a Confederate officer who rode in the last major rebel raid in Missouri. After the war, they became law partners downtown and enjoyed social prominence. Broadhead was the first president of the American Bar Association. Slayback was a founder of the Veiled Prophet pageant. His daughter, Suzanne, was the first belle, or queen. Slayback belonged to the Elks. So did John Cockerill, managing editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Brotherly love couldnt bind them. Broadhead ran for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in 1882 with the backing of St. Louis social elite. The Post-Dispatch furiously opposed his candidacy, claiming he sold out the people by representing the city in a gas-utility case and then becoming the gas companys lawyer. Broadhead also represented robber-baron Jay Gould, who had railroad interests in St. Louis. In the 19th Century, newspaper rhetoric and personal honor were highly charged things. The Post-Dispatch mocked Broadhead as Weakhead and accused him of vacillation, duplicity (and) selfishness. On Oct. 12, 1882, Slayback spoke at the 18th Ward Democratic meeting in John Howards saloon, 405 Garrison Avenue, and called the Post-Dispatch a black-mailing sheet where no gentleman would work. Cockerill fished from his files an old letter to the editor that called Slayback a coward and derided his Confederate service. Cockerill ran it in the Oct. 13 edition. Slayback saw the paper and was outraged. He grabbed fellow lawyer William Clopton and marched two blocks to the Post-Dispatch at 515 Market Street. They burst into the managing editors office as Cockerill was chatting with the newspapers business manager and composing-room foreman. Cockerills pistol was on his desk. Stories differ on the ensuing exchange, but Cockerill fired. Slayback fell dead on the floor. Cockerill went home to wash up and surrendered to police. Officers had to rush to the newspaper to defend it from an angry mob gathering on Market. The next day, the Post-Dispatch called the homicide an Unfortunate Affair and said Slayback had a pistol. The St. Louis Republican, which backed Broadhead, called Slayback an unarmed victim of Post-Dispatch venom. At the coroners inquest, Post-Dispatch employees identified a .44-caliber revolver with some rust as Slaybacks weapon. Cockerill and his witnesses said he fired in self-defense. When the coroner asked Clopton if Slayback was armed, he testified, No, sir, he had no pistol. Slaybacks friends scorned the weapon as a low-quality piece far beneath his standards. Cockerill wasnt charged, but left the Post-Dispatch after it lost 1,300 subscribers. The newspapers owner, Joseph Pulitzer, soon bought the New York World, where Cockerill became an editor. Broadhead served one term in Congress. Read more stories from Tim O'Neil's Look Back series. UNIVERSITY CITY Linden Muellers home here bears at least two kinds of scars from the record rainfall that struck the area more than a year ago: The bottoms of her walls are still missing after water filled her basement and bubbled up through the floorboards, soaking the plaster. And her flood insurance payments have more than doubled, from $900 to $2,100 a year, a figure she worries will keep rising. I have no idea what the upper bound of my insurance payments will be, Mueller said. As the country wrestles with heavier rains and more frequent flooding, insurance providers from private companies to the Federal Emergency Management Agency are getting aggressive. Private carriers are dumping homeowners, like Mueller, after floods and forcing them to take out policies with FEMAs federally backed National Flood Insurance Program. At the same time, FEMA is jacking up its prices, hoping to more accurately reflect flood danger and replacement costs in the premiums it charges. In the St. Louis area, that means National Flood Insurance prices are rising for roughly 70% of policyholders, according to projections provided by FEMA to the National Resources Defense Council. Some customers will see premiums jump by a few dollars this year. For others, costs are projected to more than quadruple, over time. The new premiums hit all policyholders by April. But the biggest increases wont strike at once. The National Flood Insurance Program caps most yearly hikes at 18%. Still, over the next few years, FEMA projects rates will rise for single-family homes, and sometimes dramatically: In much of St. Louis and some inner suburbs, the bump will be 40% or less, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of FEMA data. In parts of St. Charles, costs will rise 164%, on average. And for a few policyholders in Calhoun County, Illinois, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, prices are expected to soar 428% higher. Its just nuts, Dave Bissell, the president and owner of Insurance Advisors of St. Louis, said about the recent increases. The rates are a whole lot higher than they used to be. Moreover, policyholders have said they dont know how much their rates are projected to climb. And its unclear how well insurance companies spell that out, if at all. FEMA officials said the full-risk rate must be disclosed, and is listed in policy declarations. Its not, however, in FEMAs 10-page list of information that must be shared with customers. A $3,000 boost hits Washington, Mo. Fifty years ago, the Federal Emergency Management Agency built the National Flood Insurance Program to subsidize insurance that the free market wouldnt provide. Later, Congress required flood insurance for homeowners with homes in the flood plain and federally backed mortgages. Now, FEMA has 4.7 million National Flood Insurance Program policies of all types in force, a number that has shrunk slightly by less than 1% since last September. The decline has been larger in the bistate area, though. The number of policies in force in Missouri dropped 3.2% to 16,499, while Illinois dropped 2.6% to 33,083. Still, only a relatively small percentage of people have flood insurance at all. FEMA reported that most of last years flash flood victims around the St. Louis area were uninsured for flooding. For decades, FEMAs approach to setting premiums was pretty simple, hinging largely on whether a home was in a flood plain, without much nuance to consider the degree of risk or the cost to repair or replace the home. It was basically, Are you in or are you out? said Anna Weber, a flood policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Over time, as the National Flood Insurance Program paid out so much to flood victims and collected so little in premiums, its debt began to pile up to more than $20 billion last year and questions and criticisms grew louder. So FEMA began to consider the actual risk of flooding in different areas and the actual cost of repairing homes. Earlier this year, the agency rolled out a new full risk pricing model, dubbed Risk Rating 2.0. It uses more precise information about properties to calculate rates, Weber said. Thats a good thing. We expect that the rate that we pay for insurance reflects the risk that we face, she said. The problem is that it becomes very expensive. For about half of the region, annual premiums will rise by $120 or less, the NRDC said. But there are marked examples of extreme spikes to come: Annual premiums for 25 policyholders in the 63090 ZIP code, around the Missouri River town of Washington, will rise four-fold on average to $4,294 from $1,082 last year, according the Post-Dispatch analysis. Around Imperial, which borders the Mississippi River in Jefferson County, 73 policyholders will see rates jump to $4,395 from $990 last year. And the 61 policyholders in the 62269 ZIP code, around OFallon, Illinois, will see premiums double, to $1,397 from $687. So, for some, rates will just keep rising, 18% at a time, until they reach their new, risk-adjusted premium. Mueller, the U. City homeowner, worries that includes her. Before last summer, Mueller said she assumed her level of flood risk was low. She had private insurance which is uncommon and private carriers are selective about whom they insure. I thought, Even they think my risk is lower, or lower than average, she said. Then last years flood hit, damage to her home crested six figures, and her private carrier dropped her. Her new FEMA policy already costs more than twice what she was paying before, and she doesnt know what it will reach in the future, despite multiple calls to her insurance company, and to FEMA. Mueller says that puts residents like her in a lurch. She has to decide now how much to spend on repairs, but doesnt know if shell be able to afford insurance costs in the future. We just have to wait and see which isnt easy when youre trying to decide how much to invest in your home, she said. How to raise a house Some area residents are upset by the new premiums. Its not their fault, they say, for the increase in flooding. Chuck Williamson, a longtime resident of South Shore, a St. Charles County community that hugs the Mississippi, says that even though FEMAs changes to insurance pricing aim to reflect an improved recognition of flood risks, the government simultaneously fails to crack down on things that exacerbate that risk. He blamed levees that line the Mississippi for worsening flood impacts downstream. Theyre raising the levees and pushing the water further on us, said Williamson. It isnt our fault. We shouldnt be getting flooded. Some people in high-risk flood plains have been able to dodge insurance increases, or even see sizable decreases but at the steep cost of major home improvement projects. For instance, Kerry Allen, who lives along the Mississippi in the northern reaches of St. Charles County, has raised his home 9 feet since floodwaters swamped his property in 2019. He says many flood victims face a stark choice: Its either tear it down, or relocate. He chose another path. Raising his home has cost him $330,000 and counting, helped in part by a federal Small Business Administration loan, but has at least slashed his flood insurance costs down to about $400 a year, after starting at $800 when he moved in, in the 1990s, and climbing as high as $2,800 annually. In Portage Des Sioux, a town of 300 sandwiched in between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, high flood insurance prices are just the cost of living, said Mark Warner, who owns and operates Warners Portage Repair Service and has served as the riverside towns mayor since the 1990s. Flood insurance and levee taxes are our two biggest headaches, living in the flood plain, Warner said. Its just a cost of living out here. From South Shore to Portage Des Sioux, plenty say they are steadfast in their desire to stay put, even as flood risks and insurance costs escalate. They point to their homes quiet surroundings, with amenities and attachments that cannot be easily replicated or replaced, if at all. You wanna live by the river, youre gonna have to pay, said Kelly Wall, from his porch in Portage Des Sioux. I chose to live here. I know what to expect. We like it out here, added Williamson, in South Shore. This is where you wanna live. You dont wanna give this up. Aisha Sultan Columnist and features writer Follow Aisha Sultan 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 When a war unfolds on our screens, every single person regardless of how far or removed from the physical conflict, becomes a potential recruit. Armies of bots, trolls and paid propagandists take over social media, flooding it with disinformation designed to manipulate our emotions and shape public opinion. The internet is also a battlefield. For people who have family and friends in the war zones, social media is a critical tool to keep up with what may be happening to their loved ones. Even those of us with no immediate personal connections to the region spend some time online. So, escaping a barrage of violent, heart-wrenching, stomach-turning imagery and commentary is nearly impossible. Earlier in the week, BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh shared on X, the site formerly called Twitter: Ive been fact-checking on Twitter for years, and theres always plenty of misinformation during major events. But the deluge of false posts in the last two days, many boosted via Twitter Blue, is something else. Neither fact checkers nor Community Notes can keep up with this. The spread of disinformation false or misleading information that is intentionally spread with the purpose of deceiving or manipulating others affects all of us. Its designed to provoke intense feelings of anger and disgust, hijacking our more rational brain. When we are in this state, whether the information is true or not, we are much more susceptible to dehumanizing those we believe are committing or supporting such acts. Also, seeing content that confirms what we already believe to be true and validates our biases feels affirming. We all want to be on the side of righteousness, justice and the good. In the fog and chaos of war, discerning what has actually happened can take time. Misinformation, which refers to false reports unintentionally spread, is also common, which is understandable. And even credible and legitimate news sources, which try to vet and verify information, can make mistakes. The specific details about what happened and is unfolding since these events are fueling some confusion: On Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel killing more than 1,200 people in assaults on kibbutzim, a music festival and border towns. At least 150 civilians, including many children, and soldiers were taken hostage. Israel has declared war on Hamas, beginning a major military operation and complete siege of Gaza, where more than 1,500 people have died so far. Israel has cut off all food, water, fuel and electricity to more than 2 million people in the Gaza strip. One of the most graphic and horrifying stories that has circulated widely is that Hamas fighters beheaded 40 babies in Israel. President Joe Biden referenced this while addressing Jewish community leaders. A spokesman later clarified that neither U.S. officials nor the president have confirmed such reports independently nor seen any photographic evidence of it. Bidens comments were based on claims from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus spokesman and media reports in Israel. The reports are still unconfirmed, but the claims have had 44 million impressions on Twitter. Murdering innocent children is an atrocity and war crime regardless of the horrific details. But verifying the accuracy is critical. If stories of brutal and barbaric acts, for which there is no independent verification, are propagated, it is used as a tool to convince people that others are less than human and deserve to be treated as such. Furthermore, if it turns out that stories about brutality are unfounded or untrue, it gives ammunition to those whose goal is to minimize or obscure war crimes. It leads well-intentioned people to wonder about the accuracy of other vetted reports. This is one of dozens of examples of conflicting reports, some of which have been debunked and others that are true. NBC News reported that researchers uncovered a network of 67 accounts on Twitter/X social platform that are coordinating a campaign of false, inflammatory content related to the ongoing war. Old videos, fake photos, even video game footage and fabricated documents have flooded our social media feeds. Boom Factcheck, an independent fact-checking organization based in India, found that much of the hate and disinformation is coming from accounts in India that have purchased the blue verification check on X/Twitter. The symbol noting verification no longer means a source is verified or who they claim to be. If billion-dollar social media companies refuse to invest in monitoring disinformation, how are ordinary news consumers supposed to do it? I start by asking myself a series of questions: Am I checking in on the news with credible sources from a diversity of viewpoints, across the political spectrum? Who else has confirmed this information? What types of sources are sharing this information? Have I checked through my own Google search multiple places to try to find evidence of this claim? It takes some extra work, but I do not want to contribute to fanning the flames of a raging fire. Its a way of holding on to our own humanity. ST. LOUIS An anonymous hacker group says it has published data it stole from a regional transportation agency here. It was not immediately clear what data was published or whether it included sensitive personal information. The hackers earlier this week demanded a ransom be paid or they would release stolen information from the regional transportation system Metro Transit, including passports, Social Security numbers and tax information. Taulby Roach, the CEO and president of Bi-State Development, which operates Metro Transit, said Thursday the agency did not pay the ransom but did not release more details about the demand. A union that represents many of Metro Transits 1,800 employees said no employees have reported instances of identity theft or other malicious activity stemming from the hack. Roach said no customer data was stolen, and any impacted employees will be notified. Employees were told of the data breach earlier this week and offered free credit monitoring through TransUnion, a credit reporting agency. We are unaware of any instances where sensitive employee information has been used maliciously, Roach said in a statement. However, we encouraged employees to register as soon as possible for the free credit monitoring services and heightened vigilance by our employees for suspicious links or suspicious credit activity. Brett Callow, an analyst with the New Zealand-based cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, shared a screenshot with the Post-Dispatch that showed files containing what the hackers claimed late Wednesday was stolen Metro data. Callow said its impossible to know exactly whats in the files without downloading and viewing them, which he said he wouldnt do because he sees it as an invasion of privacy. The screenshot was published on an unregulated part of the internet called the dark web, which hackers often use to publish ransom threats and cybersecurity researchers track to study ransomware activity. It appeared to show the publication of 10 files, each 500 megabytes, and a tracker noting the download link had been viewed more than 700 times. The cyberattack began on Oct. 2, and phone and computer services for Metros paratransit service, Call-A-Ride, were still disrupted as late as last week. The attack type is known as ransomware because criminals hack a system, encrypt data from it, lock out the owner and then demand a ransom in order to unlock the system and delete the stolen data. The same hacking group hit several other public agencies over the past year, including the City of Oakland and the San Bernardino Sheriffs Office in California, and government agencies in the United Kingdom and Germany, security analysts say. The San Bernardino Sheriffs Office paid the group a $1.1 million ransom. Both Callow and Allan Liska, a Washington, D.C.-based ransomware researcher, said it is better if ransomware victims dont pay to deter future attacks. ST. LOUIS A man who was previously charged with snatching and assaulting one St. Louis Hills boy and attempting to grab another was indicted Thursday in connection with a third case. Osmani Haji Gul, 34, is now facing three counts of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy, two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of sexual misconduct involving a child. Gul was first charged in July with grabbing a 6-year-old boy who was riding his bike and sexually assaulting him behind a dumpster. He was also charged in a previous assault where he put a 12-year-old child in a headlock July 16 at Francis Park, but the child was able to escape. Now, prosecutors say Gul committed another assault in the fall of 2022 when he rubbed his body on a boy younger than 12. Charges do not provide any other details about the incident, including where it occurred. Gul is being held in the St. Louis jail without bond. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. The next hearing in the case is set for Oct. 19. JEFFERSON CITY Although a group that sued Missouri over local COVID-19 regulations dismissed its case last week, Attorney General Andrew Bailey believes the fight against mask mandates and restaurant closures during a deadly pandemic isnt over. In a filing this week, Gov. Mike Parsons Republican appointee to the office argued that a Missouri Supreme Court ruling in the case did not restore power to counties to impose health orders. Rather, a top Bailey deputy wrote, the high courts August decision was limited and does not erase a 2021 decision by a Cole County judge that stripped counties of their ability to combat the spread of a respiratory disease that killed over 20,000 Missourians. There is no indication in the Supreme Courts opinion that would apply to the merits of the judgment, revive regulations judicially declared as unconstitutional, and return Missouri to its state of affairs two years ago, the filing said. The move is meant to seal Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Greens decision in state regulations, even though the St. Louis County business owners voluntarily dismissed their case last week after the Supreme Court sent the matter back to Greens courtroom in Jefferson City, saying St. Louis and Jackson counties should have been able to appeal the lower court ruling. It also keeps the issue of mask mandates and business closures alive for the political newcomer as he runs for the office. Baileys predecessor, U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, used a series of lawsuits challenging mask mandates as a significant part of his campaign messaging in the 2022 election cycle. Yet, in May, Schmitts tactics were rebuked by a Jackson County judge, who ruled that Schmitt had no legal authority as attorney general to force school districts to end their pandemic safety procedures. One of the litigants in the case was restaurant owner Ben Brown, who rode the notoriety of fighting against local health regulations to a seat in the state Senate. The Republican is from Washington. In its August decision, the Supreme Court did not elaborate on which parts of Greens ruling should be locked into law and which parts were primed for further debate. The circuit courts judgment and its post-judgment order denying intervention are vacated, and the case is remanded, the high court said. The court added that Green was supposed to allow the counties to intervene and enter an amended judgment. But, before Green could act, the group that originally sued voluntarily dismissed its suit, saying the backers were running out of money and that the county was wasting taxpayer dollars pursuing the reinstatement of its powers. Unlike St. Louis County, plaintiffs do not have other peoples money to throw away by continuing to fight this issue against an uncontrolled government, the filing signed by St. Louis attorney Kimberley Mathis said. This expensive litigation is therefore neither necessary nor worthwhile at this time. In the latest filing, Baileys office said the counties should not interpret the dismissal of the case as a victory that restored their powers. The merits of this courts judgment still stand. The counties should operate accordingly, the brief said. On Friday, a spokesman for St. Louis County issued a statement repeating what officials said when the business owners dismissed their case. We agree that the case should be dismissed and the judgment vacated. This allows our Department of Public Health to do what it is charged with doing protecting the health of St. Louis County residents, Doug Moore said. ST. LOUIS The state auditor launched an investigation into the city jail Thursday, citing concerns about mismanagement, inadequate inmate nutrition and medical care, and interference with the civilian jail oversight board. The state auditor has asked St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones for the jails food vendor invoices, facility and operational policies, and health insurance contracts by Oct. 24, plus correspondence with the citys Detention Facilities Oversight Board. The investigation was triggered by a request from state Sen. Steve Roberts, who said he received whistleblower complaints alleging inmate abuse. Tensions between the mayor and community leaders have grown recently, after three incarcerated people died within a six-week period. The jail has a current population of roughly 700 people. We have a serious problem in St. Louis if the mayors administration is obstructing the oversight efforts of the Detention Facilities Oversight Board she herself championed and supported, said state Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick in a statement. Jones office has said the city has complied with recommendations and made improvements following state audits over the past two years. Its imperative that we address these deplorable jail conditions, which have caused preventative deaths, unsafe conditions and eroded the publics trust, said Roberts in a text message Thursday. I am encouraged by the swift action taken by our state auditor and his dedicated team. With the mayors continued shortcomings, our city cant afford to wait any longer. Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush asked the jails commissioner for the agencys medical policies by Nov 3. City aldermen and jail board members have called for Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah to be fired. Fitzpatrick has also asked the civilian boards president, the Rev. Darryl Gray, for policies, meeting minutes and correspondence from city officials regarding the jail board. Included in that would likely be a Sept. 8 letter from St. Louis police Chief Robert Tracy saying the boards activities and inquiries about the August death of inmate Terrence Smith would interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation. The oversight board was created to investigate complaints of misconduct and certain incidents occurring in the citys detention facilities and investigate patterns of misconduct and systemic problems. Jones administration initially cleared the way for the civilian jail board, including the scope of its jurisdiction and lawsuits from police unions. But members have complained that city leaders are obstructing their work. Fitzpatrick said the board should have full access to do its job. The boards vice chair, Janis Mensah, was dragged and arrested after they sat in the jails lobby requesting information about Smiths death. Im glad that more authorities are getting involved, Mensah said Thursday. At least one former jail employee has made complaints about the agency. The former fiscal operations support manager, Opeoluwa Oke, said that during his six weeks employed at the jail, he noticed irregularities with the handling of contracts, the quality of food and that inmates were being sprayed excessively with mace. He said he sent anonymous reports to city offices, hoping to reach jail board members. He said he believes that triggered his firing weeks later. Im not surprised at all. Thats why I wrote the board in the first place. I dont know what theyre doing in there, said Oke on Thursday. JEFFERSON CITY A state representative from St. Charles has joined the growing list of Missouri Republicans vying for secretary of state in 2024. State Rep. Adam Schwadron, first elected to the House in 2020 from a competitive district and reelected last year, announced his bid Thursday. He joins state Sen. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg and Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller in the race. Everywhere I look, I see our elections, our values and our businesses under attack, Schwadron told the Post-Dispatch on Friday. To me, elections are the bedrock of our republic. Without them, our state and our nation flounders, he said, pointing to the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has ruled since 2007 after winning elections in 2006. No elections have since been held. They havent had elections, and theyve devolved into chaos, Schwadron said. As a Jew, as a father with two daughters, I want them to have a future they can believe in, and Im running to restore trust and faith in our elections. Unfortunately, on both sides of the aisle there just is not enough trust in our elections process, he said. The 1998 graduate of Ladue Horton Watkins High School said he grew up in unincorporated St. Louis County outside of Creve Coeur. He and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to St. Charles in 2007. Schwadron owns and operates the Clean Carpet Company and said he was mothballing operations while he runs statewide. He formally announced his campaign Thursday on NewsTalkSTL, a conservative radio station that broadcasts on several frequencies. On the 2020 presidential election, Schwadron acknowledged President Joe Biden won, but raised questions with the way mail-in ballots were handled. I believe he won the election, Schwadron said of Biden. My question comes on the rules that were implemented before the election that allowed for some of the mail-in ballots to go in, in I believe it was Pennsylvania. In addition to Hoskins and Schoeller, Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, could also jump into the race. I have a very conservative voting record, Schwadron said. While thats important in a Republican primary, as secretary of state, you also have to be able to work with other people. He added, You mention my name with people, there isnt a shudder that immediately comes up, because Ive maintained my voting record even in a 50/50 district. Schwadron said he supported the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, which would outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing and employment. That measure has failed to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Legislature. He said it was an issue of personal liberty, and I support personal liberties. He said he did support this years legislation restricting hormone therapies and puberty blockers for minors. There is a personal liberty issue, he said. But there is also the protection issue. For me, part of the role of the state and government is to ensure that we are protecting innocent people. Offering a preview of potential jabs to come in the primary, Schwadron touted his opposition to legislation sponsored by Hoskins to offer tax credits to produce films in Missouri, calling it the Hollywood tax credit. Studies out there have shown that they actually do not bring the intended benefits, he said. It is a conservative position to not support corporate tax credits. BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, October 13. An international organization for the Russian language is being established, Trend reports. The decision was made at today's meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Bishkek. The document on the establishment of this organization was signed during the event. Such an initiative was proposed by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. In addition, a document on the establishment of the status of observer and partner of the CIS was signed. ST. LOUIS An 800-mile-long, multistate power line would save Missouri residents and companies billions of dollars in electricity costs, regulators said Thursday as they, at long last, approved the project. The Grain Belt Express transmission line, which would stretch from Kansas to Indiana, was approved in a 4-to-1 vote by energy regulators with the Missouri Public Service Commission. Missouri was the last state approval needed for the project. Right now, there are companies that are wanting this electricity, said Commissioner Glen Kolkmeyer. The economic impact that this line can do is huge. Invenergy, the lines Chicago-based developer, is still awaiting approval from an ongoing federal review but aims to start construction on the project in early 2025. Regulators and operators alike said the project would bring low-cost renewable energy from western Kansas to states along its route. Public Service Commission Chairman Scott Rupp said there was compelling evidence that the project would lower energy costs in the state by about 6.1% from 2027 to 2066, resulting in more than $17.6 billion in savings for Missouri residents. The Grain Belt would also make the electric grid more reliable and more resilient, commissioners said, by enhancing the ability to move power from region to region. The project will improve the interconnectivity to multiple regions, helping guard against price spikes and outages such as those experienced (during) Winter Storm Uri and Elliot, said Rupp. The Public Service Commission had already approved the line once, in 2019. Commissioners said then, too, that the project was firmly in the public interest of Missourians. But Missouri lawmakers repeatedly attempted to block the line, which opponents called a violation of property rights. Many of the more than 500 landowners along the route, then, opposed the project, saying it was a land grab from a private company that would offer little public value. The state House of Representatives even moved, unsuccessfully, to block the use of eminent domain for above-ground utility projects like the Grain Belt. Last summer, though, the project was redesigned in a way that essentially sweetened the deal for Missouri by promising to deliver five times as much electricity to the state as originally proposed. Invenergy was receptive to the widespread desire to see more power delivered locally, said Patrick Whitty, a senior vice president of transmission public affairs for the company. Thats something that we think is a really important part of the decision today, he said. Though lawmaker opposition to the project has faltered, Public Service Commission officials said they are sensitive to the fact that landowner concerns have persisted along its path. And although commissioners said that the lines expected benefits outweighed potential impacts to land, property values or landscape aesthetics, they also sought to ensure that its approval contained strong safeguards for affected landowners. The project, for instance, will need to uphold a range of conditions from advance notice to compensation or face penalties such as fines that would go toward funding public schools. Some state commissioners hailed those conditions as an effective compromise that had helped secure their support for the project. Moreover, some said that Invenergys conduct toward landowners once construction finally begins will carry massive implications, extending into the future. This can be a situation in which Grain Belt garners good will amongst landowners, said Commissioner Maida Coleman. Or they can provide the groundwork for future opposition. The burden, I think, is on Grain Belt, as I know that landowners, legislators and the media will be watching closely, as will all of us. JERUSALEM Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Friday across the Middle East in support of the Palestinians and against the intensifying Israeli bombardment of Gaza, underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion. From the typically sedate streets of downtown Amman in Jordan, to Yemen's war-scarred capital of Sanaa, crowds of Muslim worshippers poured into the streets after weekly Friday prayers, angered by devastating Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that began after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel last Saturday. At the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, Israeli police were permitting only certain older men, women and children to enter the sprawling hilltop compound for prayers, trying to limit the potential for violence. Only 5,000 worshippers made it into the site, the Islamic endowment that manages the mosque said. On a typical Friday, some 50,000 perform the prayers. An Associated Press reporter watched police allow just a Palestinian teenage girl and her mother into the compound out of 20 worshippers who tried to get in, some of them even over the age of 50. Young Palestinian men who were refused entry gathered at the steps near Lions Gate, eyes downcast, until police shouted at them and shepherded them outside the Old City ramparts altogether. We cant live, we cant breathe, they are killing everything that is good within us, said Ahmad Barbour, a 57-year-old cleaner, red-faced and seething after police blocked him from entering for prayers. Everything that is forbidden to us is allowed to them, he added, referring to the Israelis. The mosque sits in a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and conflicting claims over it have spilled into violence before. Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest site in Islam and stands in a spot known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. Hundreds of young Palestinian worshippers who had been turned away from the Old City threw down small prayer rugs on the street in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz and prayed in the open. When some of the men started shouting, Israeli police charged into the crowd with batons and fired rounds of tear gas at the worshippers, wounding at least six people, said the Palestinian Red Crescent. Thousands demonstrated in Amman in neighboring Jordan, some crying out: We are going to Jerusalem as millions of martyrs! What do they want from Palestine? Do they expect them to leave? asked protester Omar Abu-Sundos. "For what remains of Palestine to leave? They wont leave. In Beirut, thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group waved Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, chanting slogans in support of Gaza and calling for death to Israel. The Iranian-backed militant group in neighboring Lebanon has launched sporadic attacks since the Hamas assault, but largely stayed on the sidelines of the war. However, Hezbollahs deputy secretary-general warned that it would be on the lookout for the United States and British naval vessels heading to the Mediterranean Sea. U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, have repeatedly warned Iran and the regional militias Tehran backs to stay out of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Your battleships do not interest us, nor do your statements frighten us, Naim Kassim said at a rally in a southern suburb of Beirut. When the time is right to take action, we will do so. In Baghdad, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square the protest hub of Iraq's capital for rallies called by the influential Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr. We, as Iraqis, know the pain of having an occupier on our land, said protester Alaa al-Arabyia, referring to the U.S. occupation of Iraq following its 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Palestinian women have husbands, loved ones and sons fighting the occupation. We stand with them in their struggle. Across Iran, a supporter of Hamas and Israel's regional archenemy, demonstrators also streamed into the streets after prayers. In Tehran, they burned Israeli and American flags, chanting: Death to Israel, Death to America, Israel will be doomed," and "Palestine will be the conqueror. The Palestinian people are fed up, now your idea is to destroy Gaza, the houses of the people," Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi said in a speech in the country's southern Fars province. The people of the world and Palestine will cause trouble for you. In the Syrian capital of Damascus, protesters including Palestinians from the Yarmouk refugee camp formed after the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation also rallied. I tell the people not to leave their homes otherwise they will be like our grandparents who left Palestine and came to Syria but never returned, Ahmad Saeed, a 23-year-old Palestinian living in Syria, said, referring to the 1948 war. In Yemen's Sanaa, held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels still at war with a Saudi-led coalition, demonstrators crowded the streets waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. The rebels' slogan long has been: God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse of the Jews; victory to Islam. We are ready to participate actively and send hundreds of thousands of mujahedeen ... to defend Palestine, the Palestinian people and the holy sites, the Houthi government said in a statement Friday. A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts: ___ BBC did not report that Ukraine is sending arms to Hamas, a video was fabricated CLAIM: A video shows a BBC News report confirming Ukraine provided weapons to Hamas. THE FACTS: The widely shared video clip is fabricated, officials with the BBC and Bellingcat, an investigative news website that is cited in the video as the source, confirm. Social media users are sharing the bogus video to claim there's a direct link between the wars playing out in Ukraine and the Middle East. The clip purports to show a BBC News story about a recent report from Bellingcat on Ukraine providing arms to Hamas, the Palestinian group that launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel this past weekend. "Bellingcat: Ukrainian military offensive failure and HAMAS attack linked," reads the text over the video, which has more than 2,500 comments and 110,000 views on the messaging service Telegram. "The Palestinians purchased firearms, ammunition, drones and other weapons." The clip, which was also shared on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, includes the BBC's distinctive block-text logo in white along with a montage of photos and videos of soldiers, military vehicles and destroyed structures set to dramatic music. But neither the BBC nor Bellingcat has reported any evidence to support the notion that Ukraine funneled arms to Hamas. "We've reached no such conclusions or made any such claims," Bellingcat wrote Tuesday in a post on X that included screengrabs of the fake report. "We'd like to stress that this is a fabrication and should be treated accordingly." Eliot Higgins, the Amsterdam-based organization's founder, noted in a separate post on X that the claims have been amplified by Russian social media users. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a New York University professor briefly shown near the end of the video, also disputed the clip's suggestion that he's said the U.S. might leave NATO if the arms claims prove true. "Entirely fake. Never said that," the distinguished professor of risk engineering wrote in an email Wednesday. Spokespersons for the BBC didn't respond to emails seeking comment Wednesday, but no such reporting can be found on the outlet's website or social media accounts, and a reporter with the organization has confirmed it's not real. "The video is 100% fake. Neither BBC News nor Bellingcat have reported that," wrote Shayan Sardarizadeh, a reporter with BBC Verify, the organization's fact checking unit, in a post on X Tuesday. Ukrainian officials have similarly dismissed the notion that its country's arms have somehow found their way to Hamas, whose incursion into Israel Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced this week. The country's military intelligence agency, in a Monday post on its official Facebook page, accused Russia of plotting a disinformation campaign around these claims. Experts say there is also no evidence of Hamas making any claims about receiving arms from Ukraine, nor would it make sense for Kyiv to provide them. "I see no reason Ukraine would do this," said Michael O'Hanlon, director of foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "Starting with the fact that Kiev is in the business of obtaining weapons and not giving them away." Associated Press writers Philip Marcelo in New York and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv contributed this report. ___ The US isn't planning to order young men to enlist in the military, despite claims made online CLAIM: The U.S. military is planning to reinstitute the draft. THE FACTS: Two articles discussing such a move are being misrepresented, and Defense officials confirm the armed forces have made no such recommendation to Congress or the president, which are the entities empowered to authorize a draft. With America's allies in Europe and the Middle East embroiled in conflicts with no end in sight, social media users are sharing a headline from a Sept. 25 article from the Mises Institute, a libertarian group in Alabama, that reads: "The US Military Is Laying the Groundwork to Reinstitute the Draft." Other posts include passages from an essay in Parameters, a quarterly journal published by the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The essay, entitled "A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force," highlights military lessons from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. It's also cited in the Mises Institute article. "Biden Set To Bring Back The DRAFT.. For War With Russia Or China," wrote one Facebook user who shared a video that included screenshots of the Parameters essay. But there's no plans to bring back mandatory conscription in the U.S., military officials confirmed this week. Nicole Schwegman, a DOD spokesperson, dismissed the claims as false. She noted in a phone interview that only Congress and the president have the ability to call for a draft and the military has not recommended elected officials even consider it. She also pointed to the disclaimer at the bottom of the Parameters essay that makes it clear the defense department doesn't exercise any editorial control over the publication. The disclaimer also states that articles represent the opinions of their authors and "not necessarily those of the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the US Army War College, or any other agency of the US government." Robert Kenny, a deputy associate director at the Selective Service System, which maintains information about U.S. residents who potentially qualify for the draft, confirmed the Virginia-based agency hasn't had any discussions regarding reinstituting conscription and isn't aware of any legislative proposals in Congress to reinstate the draft. He said one of the agency's top priorities remains ensuring all men ages 18-25 years-old are aware of the federal requirement to register for the Selective Service in the event the president and Congress enact a draft. John Nagl, a professor at the U.S. Army War College who co-authored the Parameters essay, said the piece doesn't even recommend the resumption of the draft. It states the U.S. Army faces recruiting shortfalls and a shrinking reserve corps, meaning it likely could not sustain the rate of casualties seen in the conflict in Ukraine at its current troop levels. "The implication is that the 1970s concept of an all-volunteer force has outlived its shelf life and does not align with the current operating environment," Nagl and the other authors write in the essay. "Large-scale combat operations troop requirements may well require a reconceptualization of the 1970s and 1980s volunteer force and a move toward partial conscription." Zack Yost, who authored the Mises Institute piece, stressed his item does not say that the military is reinstituting the draft, rather that the U.S. military in the "context of this piece in the War College journal is laying the groundwork to do so." The U.S. drafted soldiers to fight in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Active conscription ended in 1973, during the waning days of the Vietnam War, after which the country moved to an all-volunteer military. Philip Marcelo. ___ No, an 'air vaccine' tied to Bill Gates was not approved for use on non-consenting people CLAIM: Bill Gates obtained approval for an "air vaccine" that will be administered without people's approval. AP'S ASSESSMENT: A website known for spreading misinformation is misrepresenting a Yale University study that tested an inhalable COVID vaccine on mice; it was not tested on humans, nor funded by Gates. Posts spreading on social media platforms in both English and Spanish in recent days falsely suggest the government has given a green light for the billionaire and philanthropist to vaccinate unwitting citizens from the sky. Many posts on Facebook and Instagram shared screenshots of a headline reading "Bill Gates mRNA 'Air Vaccine' Approved for Use Against Non-Consenting Humans," alongside an image of people wearing protective equipment in a helicopter. The headline comes from The People's Voice, a site that has routinely spread misinformation. Its post links to a research article published in the journal Science Translational Medicine in August, but The People's Voice wildly misrepresents what the journal says. The outlet did not immediately return a request for comment. The article, by scientists at Yale University, is about their research into using an inhalable polymer to deliver mRNA, the technology in many COVID-19 vaccines. The research was performed on mice, not humans, one of the authors told the AP. It involved a vaccine being delivered nasally, not sprayed from the air, as the helicopter photo suggests. What's more, Gates had nothing to do with it. "This basic science study found that mRNA molecules delivered intranasally to the lungs of research animals can be used to effectively vaccinate against the COVID virus," Mark Saltzman, a professor at the Yale University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said in an email. Saltzman confirmed that Gates did not fund the research, pointing to the list of funding sources that can be seen in the article, which does not mention him. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation confirmed to the AP that the claim is false. The FDA must approve vaccines for use by the public in the U.S., and this intranasal vaccine is not one of the COVID-19 shots with approval or emergency use authorization. A spokesperson for the agency added that its regulations require "informed consent" for any clinical research on humans, which would be impossible in the scenario described in the false headline. The Chinese city of Shanghai did begin administering an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine in October 2022, which is delivered via a mist sucked in through the mouth, the AP reported. At the time, it appeared to be a world first. Associated Press writer Leon Ramirez in Mexico City contributed this report. ___ Photos: Scenes from the Israel-Hamas war ALMA Al-SHAAB, Lebanon An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon on Friday, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car. We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the Reuters news agency said in a statement. The agency added that Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon that was providing a live signal. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Qatars Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded. Frances international news agency, Agence France-Presse, said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in a statement condemned Israel's shelling that struck the journalists during its aggression on southern Lebanon. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called the deaths another example of the daily dangers journalists face in covering conflict throughout the world and said the world body hopes for an investigation into what happened. Journalists need to be protected and allowed to do their work, he said at a briefing at U.N. headquarters. Later Friday, dozens of Lebanon-based journalists and rights activists gathered outside the National Museum in Beirut to grieve over Abdallah's death and the injury of the journalists. We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issams family and colleagues, Reuters said. Our deepest condolences go out to those affected, and our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time. The shelling occurred during an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border between Israeli troops and members of Lebanons militant Hezbollah group. The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing sporadic acts of violence since Saturdays attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel. Journalists from around the world have been coming to Lebanon out of concern that war might break out between Hezbollah and Israel. Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report from the United Nations. Missouri achieved a dubious new status recently: It broke the top three in the list of U.S. states that have most egregiously moved to ban books from school libraries. Thats according to a recent report by the nonprofit Pen America, which charts the nations troubling slide toward reactionary right-wing crackdowns on books including controversial social commentary, serious political criticism and even classic literature. Its only the latest indication that once-moderate Missouri is now among the red states leading some of the most disturbing lurches toward intolerance and anti-democracy fervor in the country. In fact, the only two states with worse records than Missouri right now in terms of school library censorship are, respectively, Florida and Texas. Enough said. More than 40% of the bans occurred in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis infamous Dont say gay crusade against any mention of LGBTQ issues in school curriculum is having its intended effect. Texas was second with 625 bans, followed by Missouri with 333. Missouri in 2022 passed a law threatening a year in prison to any educator who provides, assigns, supplies, distributes, loans, or coerces acceptance of or the approval of the providing of explicit sexual material. It contains exceptions for teaching issues like art history and sex education but what teacher wants to personally test how some zealous local prosecutor will decide to interpret those boundaries? Like virtually all the school curriculum crackdowns so in vogue around the country right now, the Missouri law was based not on any particular instances of pornography showing up in classrooms but rather on the atmosphere of right-wing extremism so pervasive in red states today. The Pen America study noted that fully 88% of the book-ban cases it recorded happened in states that voted Republican in the 2020 presidential election. That extremism has been evident in Missouri in other ways in the past few years. Former state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, now Missouris junior U.S. senator, made a crusade out of villainizing school districts over race-based curriculum, using litigation and threats of litigation to cow school boards and administrators into silence. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft this year unilaterally imposed new rules requiring public libraries to adhere to vague obscenity standards or lose their state funding. And Missouri state Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, who is fighting Ashcroft for next years GOP gubernatorial nomination, recently vowed to pile books he deems pornographic or woke on the front lawn of the governors mansion and burn them with a flamethrower. In this political climate, its no wonder school districts are yanking books from shelves at the first sign of controversy. As the Missouri Independent noted recently, in the Wentzville School District alone, school librarians temporarily removed almost 200 books, including works by Mark Twain and William Shakespeare and even a graphic novel depicting Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address. How do campaigns against supposed obscenity morph into banning Shakespeare? Because thats the natural outcome once book-banning hysteria begins: It spreads like, well, fire. We have no illusions that Missouris right-wing political leaders will view Missouris national ranking for intolerance as anything other than a cultural victory. Performative intolerance is, after all, their whole project. The question is whether Missouri voters will continue to reward their ideological antics with votes. EQS-Ad-hoc: MBH Corporation Plc / Key word(s): Miscellaneous MBH CORPORATION PLC ANNOUNCES BOARD AND LEADERSHIP TEAM CHANGES, AND INTENTION TO SELL FOUR GROUP COMPANIES TO FURTHER SUPPORT GROUP GROWTH PLANS AND LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES 13-Oct-2023 / 08:55 GMT/BST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. London, 13 October 2023 MBH Corporation plc (MBH), a diversified investment holding company, announced today a number of key changes to its board and leadership team and, subject to regulatory approvals, will sell four existing Group companies: Acacia Training, Academy 1 Group, Logistica Holdings & Samuel Hobson. The changes, which are applicable as of 13 October 2023 relate to the Board and Leadership team structure as follows: The following Board members (namely Kevin Hanbury, Callum Laing, Lisa Maynard-Atem, Kevin Potter, Melissa Shea, Vicky Smith and Victoria Sylvester ) will resign as of today. ) will resign as of today. Paul Seabridge will become Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer. Paul is currently head of the MBH Leisure vertical and Principal of several MBH Group companies within the Leisure vertical - and will replace Callum Laing , Non-Executive Chair and Victoria Sylvester , Chief Executive Officer, who are stepping down from their roles. At the age of 21, Paul had already started, bought and sold a business and he has been a successful entrepreneur throughout his 23-year career to date, with expertise in over 100 mergers and acquisitions in 11 different countries across multiple industries. Due to his extensive career in M&A, Paul has been involved in many joint ventures and special purpose vehicles related to his previous endeavours. In 2020, Paul started the MBH Leisure vertical with the acquisition of Robinsons Caravans and has gone on to grow the vertical through the successfully integrated acquisitions of White Arches, Golden Castle Caravans and Lincoln Leisure Vehicles. will become Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer. Paul is currently head of the MBH Leisure vertical and Principal of several MBH Group companies within the Leisure vertical - and will replace , Non-Executive Chair and , Chief Executive Officer, who are stepping down from their roles. At the age of 21, Paul had already started, bought and sold a business and he has been a successful entrepreneur throughout his 23-year career to date, with expertise in over 100 mergers and acquisitions in 11 different countries across multiple industries. Due to his extensive career in M&A, Paul has been involved in many joint ventures and special purpose vehicles related to his previous endeavours. In 2020, Paul started the MBH Leisure vertical with the acquisition of Robinsons Caravans and has gone on to grow the vertical through the successfully integrated acquisitions of White Arches, Golden Castle Caravans and Lincoln Leisure Vehicles. Mo Miah joins the MBH Board and leadership team as Executive Director. Mo is currently the Group Chief Financial Officer of the Falcon Recreation Group and Chief Financial Officer of the MBH Leisure Vertical, bringing considerable experience and expertise to MBH. Mo is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and started his career working at BDO Stoy Hayward, spending 7 years within audit and accountancy firms before moving into industry. In 2020 Mo joined Robinsons Caravans Ltd as CFO, progressing to become CFO of the MBH Leisure vertical, successfully overseeing several acquisitions during this time. joins the MBH Board and leadership team as Executive Director. Mo is currently the Group Chief Financial Officer of the Falcon Recreation Group and Chief Financial Officer of the MBH Leisure Vertical, bringing considerable experience and expertise to MBH. Mo is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and started his career working at BDO Stoy Hayward, spending 7 years within audit and accountancy firms before moving into industry. In 2020 Mo joined Robinsons Caravans Ltd as CFO, progressing to become CFO of the MBH Leisure vertical, successfully overseeing several acquisitions during this time. Susan Kwok , MBH Chief Financial Officer, will step down from her role at the end of October, however will remain part of the MBH Finance Team until the end of the year. A replacement will be announced week commencing 16 October, subject to completing KYC. This replacement will also join the MBH Leadership team. , MBH Chief Financial Officer, will step down from her role at the end of October, however will remain part of the MBH Finance Team until the end of the year. A replacement will be announced week commencing 16 October, subject to completing KYC. This replacement will also join the MBH Leadership team. Stan Patey has agreed to remain on the MBH Board until a new independent non-executive director is appointed. This is expected to occur week commencing 16 October and is subject to completing KYC. The existing MBH Board has also confirmed its intention to sell four MBH Group companies: Acacia Training, Academy 1 Group, Logistica Holdings & Samuel Hobson subject to regulatory approval. Acacia Training, Academy 1 Group and Logistica Holdings are currently part of the MBH Education vertical, with Samuel Hobson the founding member of the Groups Health vertical. Acacia Training was one of the founding companies within MBH, with all companies playing an important role in the Groups development over the past few years. Paul Seabridge holds 434,644 shares directly. Indirectly 786,819 shares are held by Falcon Recreation Group Ltd, to which Paul Seabridge is a controlling shareholder which represents 20.4%. Mo Miah holds 23,604 indirect ordinary shares in the Company, which represents 0.39% interest in the securities of the Company. Director: Paul Seabridge Current Directorships AARON BRIDGE VENTURES LIMITED AQUILA FOOD GROUP HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED AYIA MANAGEMENT LIMITED BROXTONS EA LTD FALCON RECREATION GROUP LIMITED GOLDEN-CASTLE CARAVANS LIMITED HODDESDON DISTRIBUTION LIMITED HODDESDON TRANSPORT SERVICES LIMITED J&P VENTURES LLP JWD CAPITAL 2 LIMITED JWD CAPITAL PARTNERS PLC LINCOLN LEISURE VEHICLES LIMITED MILBRIDGE CONSTRUCTION LIMITED MILLENNIUM DOUGH COMPANY LIMITED OPULENTIA CAPITAL HOLDINGS LTD OPULENTIA CAPITAL LTD OPULENTIA CAPITAL REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS LTD OPULENTIA HOLDCO 2 LIMITED OPULENTIA SPV 10 LTD OPULENTIA SPV 13 LTD OPULENTIA SPV 4 LIMITED OPULENTIA SPV 5 LTD OPULENTIA SPV 6 LTD OPULENTIA SPV 8 LTD OPULENTIA SPV 9 LIMITED OPULENTIA SPV HOLDCO 15 LTD OPULENTIA SPV HOLDCO 16 LTD OPULENTIA SPV HOLDCO 17 LTD OPULENTIA SPV HOLDCO 18 LTD OPULENTIA SPV HOLDCO 19 LTD OPULENTIA SPV HOLDCO 21 LTD P.N. SHARPE LIMITED PREMIUM MOTORHOMES LIMITED PS ACCOUNT SERVICES LIMITED ROBINSONS CARAVANS HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED ROBINSONS CARAVANS LIMITED ROBINSONS CARAVANS PARTNERSHIP LLP SEABRIDGE GROUP SERVICES LIMITED SEABSTRACH 2 LLP STRACHAN INVESTMENTS HOLDCO1 LIMITED SWITCH INTERNATIONAL TRAILERS (U.K.) LIMITED THE FIRE SAFETY COMPANY HOLDINGS LTD TWT LOGISTICS LIMITED UK SALADS LIMITED WHITE ARCHES CARAVANS (RUSHDEN) LIMITED WHITE ARCHES CARAVANS LIMITED Past Directorships in last 5 years 3Ks ENGINEERING LTD 3Ks ENGINEERING COMPANY LTD A1 ACE TRANSPORT SERVICES LTD C&B CONSTRUCTION PTY LTD CASCADE TAXI TRADING LTD CLAY HOLDINGS SPV LTD COALVILLE GLASS & GLAZING CO. LIMITED COALVILLE GLAZING HOLDCO LTD. COALVILLE WINDOW CO. LIMITED COETUS LEISURE HOLDCO LIMITED CONSORTIA VENTURES LTD CRUNCH DMC LTD CYNTA LIMITED CYNTA LTD DRAGON ENGINEERING SERVICES LTD ENZO GLOBAL LTD FARRELL ESTATE AGENCIES LTD GJKLMPP LLP I J RECRUIT LTD INGLIS JANE LTD J&P CAPITAL 3 LTD J&P CAPITAL 4 LTD J&P CAPITAL LTD J&P VENTURES MANAGEMENT SERVICES LTD J&P VENTURES TOPCO LTD JGP CAPITAL LLP JWD CAPITAL 3 LTD JWD CAPITAL 4 LTD JWD CAPITAL 5 LTD KK850 LTD KLEINSMAN 2 LTD KLEINSMAN 3 LTD KLEINSMAN GLOBAL LLC KLEINSMAN MR LTD KLEINSMAN RE LTD LEARNING LINKS SERVICES LTD LEARNING LINKS SERVICES LTD LOGISTICA TRAINING LTD MOSAIC ISLAND LTD NJT MARKETING SERVICES LTD NORTH YORKSHIRE TAXI COMPANY LTD OPULENTIA CAPITAL REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS LTD OPULENTIA LTD OPULENTIA MADRID OFFICE LTD OPULENTIA PARTNERS LLP OPULENTIA SPV HOLDCO 17 LTD OPULENTIA SPV HOLDCO 20 LTD PBL TRADING 2 LTD PBL TRADING LTD PENNAX PLC PROGRESS RECRUITMENT PARTNERS LLP PROGRESS RECRUITMENT SOLUTIONS LTD Director: Mo Miah Current Directorships WHITE ARCHES CARAVANS LTD PN SHARPE LTD WHITE ARCHES CARAVANS (RUSHDEN) LTD ROBINSONS CARAVANS PARTNERSHIP LLP LINCOLN LEISURE VEHICLES LTD GOLDEN CASTLE CARAVANS LTD PREMIUM MOTORHOMES LTD FALCON RECREATION GROUP LTD ROBINSONS CARAVANS LTD ROBINSONS CARAVANS HOLDING COMPANY LTD Paul Seabridge and Mo Miah: 1. Do not have any unspent convictions in relation to indictable offences; 2. Have not been a director of a company which has been placed in receivership, insolvent liquidation, administration, been subject to a voluntary arrangement or any composition or arrangement with its creditors generally or any class of its creditors whilst he was a director of that company or within the 12 months after he ceased to be a director of that company; 3. Have not been a partner in any partnership which has been placed in insolvent liquidation, administration or been the subject of a partnership voluntary arrangement whilst he was a partner in that partnership or within the 12 months after he ceased to be a partner in that partnership; 4. Have not been the owner of any assets or a partner in any partnership which has been placed in receivership whilst he was a partner in that partnership or within the 12 months after he ceased to be a partner in that partnership; 5. Have not been publicly criticised by any statutory or regulatory authority (including recognised professional bodies); or 6. Have not been disqualified by a court from acting as a director of any company or from acting in the management or conduct of the affairs of a company. For IR and media enquiries: MBH Corporation Charlotte Fordham charlotte.fordham@mbhcorporation.com +44 (0) 770 396 3953 Corporate Adviser First Sentinel Corporate Finance Limited Brian Stockbridge brian@first-sentinel.com +44 (0) 7858 888 007 End of Inside Information Information and Explanation of the Issuer to this announcement: Paul Seabridge commented: I am extremely excited and motivated to be able to lead MBH as it takes its next steps of development and growth globally. There are numerous new opportunities that we are already working on and we have a very healthy pipeline of new companies that are committed to becoming part of the MBH Corporation over the coming months. As I take on the role of Chair and Chief Executive Officer at MBH, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Vikki Sylvester and team for their leadership of MBH. Vikki and I will continue to partner closely until the end of Quarter 1 next year as we transition to the new team. Victoria Sylvester commented: Paul Seabridge is a dynamic, values-driven business leader who has a diverse background of experiences and an excellent track record of buying and developing business from diverse sectors. He has exceptional strategic & tactical capabilities, proven operational effectiveness, and strong experience in markets at different stages of development. I am confident that Paul and his new team are well positioned to deliver long-term growth and value for all stakeholders. I am personally very proud of what we have built at MBH over the past few years and want to thank the outgoing leadership team and Board for their unwavering commitment and support. About MBH Corporation MBH Corporation plc is a diversified investment holding company, listed on the Frankfurt and Dusseldorf Stock Exchanges (M8H:GR) and the Aquis Exchange (M8H) in London. The company acquires small to medium enterprises across multiple geographies and sectors that are well established, profitable and looking to scale. By leveraging the Agglomeration strategy, MBH Corporation plc is able to create substantial shareholder value through the consistent and accretive acquisition of excellent companies. mbhcorporation.com 13-Oct-2023 GMT/BST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.eqs-news.com October 17 AEPAC Briefing Will Address the Pressing Crisis in Ethiopia and Its Ramifications for America and the World WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / The American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC) will host a Congressional briefing to address the pressing crisis in Ethiopia and its far-reaching implications. AEPAC Logo Eagle with Ethiopian tricolor. The briefing will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 12 p.m. (ET) in Room 2045 of the Rayburn House Office Building and live-streamed on social media and Facebook. The briefing will address several aspects of the current crisis in Ethiopia. The briefing will feature a coalition of experts and advocates, including: Meaza Mohammed: Recipient of the 2023 International Woman of Courage Award Richard Ghazal: Executive Director of In Defense of Christians Mesfin Tegenu: Chair of the American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee Members of the press are invited to attend the American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 12 p.m. (ET) in Room 2045 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Inquiries may be directed to Christopher Drumm at: [email protected]. ### Contact Information: Christopher Drumm Consultant [email protected] 2153707874 SOURCE: AEPAC View source version on accesswire.com: BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Humanitarian aid has been sent from Turkiye to Gaza on the instructions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trend reports. The humanitarian aid will be delivered to Gaza via Egypt. The aid was sent to the civilian population of Gaza, currently suffering due to Israel-Hamas military group confrontation. A combined attack was carried out on Israel on the morning of October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air. The IDF declared a state of readiness for war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists. The Israeli Army's operation against Hamas goes by the codename "Swords of Iron". NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / CNH Industrial: Bennamann, a British-based clean energy company and its partner New Holland Agriculture (a brand of CNH Industrial) was recently visited at the John Lewis Partnership's Leckford Estate by Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) minister Lord Richard Benyon. At the visit, they highlighted how clean energy technology developed in Britain is capturing methane produced by the partnership's own cattle - and turning it into tractor fuel. The capturing of methane has over 80 times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years of its lifetime, making it essential to keep at lower levels. Farming has long been a perpetrator of the diffusion of methane, making the high-tech innovation developed by Bennamann and CNH revolutionary as it recycles this harmful chemical for further sustainable use. The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) announced its intention in 2019 to reduce its operational greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 at the latest, showcasing the business' strong commitment to reducing the impact of its farming operations as part of this. "The fuel can also be converted into electricity for powering their farms, charging electric vehicles and or powering dairy equipment. This partnership demonstrates bold leadership by one of the UK's most iconic retailers of how we can get to net zero, showcasing agriculture as the solution and not the problem," David Rapkins, Business Director of New Holland UK, Ireland, Nordics and Baltics added "Not only are we looking to help farmers meet the 2027 deadline to cover lagoons, we are also finding a financial benefit by turning their waste into a commodity." This sits as part of CNH's wider move to regenerative farming and their ambition to make Leckford a center of excellence for regenerative farming practices to innovate, learn and share to help others adopt practices that help nature's recovery and mitigate the impacts of climate change. CNH is proud to be partnered with Bennamann in pursuit of sustainable excellence and a bright future for farmers across the globe. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from CNH Industrial on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: CNH Industrial Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cnh-industrial Email: [email protected] SOURCE: CNH Industrial View source version on accesswire.com: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Derayah Financial, a leading Saudi financial services company, and Al Ramz Corporation PJSC, a renowned financial institution headquartered in the UAE, announced an agreement strategic partnership includes various investment banking aspects. The announced strategic partnership aims to exchange knowledge and expertise under a new joint venture entity, aligning with CMA's vision to enhance the market and broaden investment offerings in the Saudi market. According to the agreement, both parties are committed to allocating the necessary investments and technical expertise to ensure the new company achieves its set objectives and helps it grow and attain a leading position in the sector. The strategic partnership represents a milestone as it will be pivotal in enhancing the parties' position in Saudi Arabia's financial markets, according to the CEO of Derayah, "it helps to introduce high levels of service to clients, and leveraging their combined strengths and expertise to shape the future of market making and liquidity provision". This partnership signifies a new era of cross-border financial collaboration, enhancing both companies' capacity to serve investors and contribute to the advancement of Saudi Arabia's thriving financial markets under "Vision 2030". Market making and liquidity provision play critical roles in the health and vibrancy of financial markets. Through this partnership, Derayah and Al Ramz bolsters such key market mechanisms, driving the growth and resilience of Saudi Arabia's financial sector while offering clients enhanced trading possibilities and a more seamless investment experience. The strategic partnership aligns with the vision of both sides, as it sets new standers in market making and liquidity provision through the combined experience and expertise of Derayah and Al Ramz, driving not only the growth of their institutions but also contributing positively to Saudi Arabia's thriving financial sector. This alliance underscores our unwavering commitment to our clients and stakeholders, according to the Group Managing Director of Al Ramz Corporation PJSC who stated that "the partnership aims to set new standards in market making and liquidity provision through the combined experience and expertise of Al Ramz and Derayah". The announcement marks the mobilization of establishing the joint venture, after obtaining the regulatory approvals, and the teams are ready to start tapping the Saudi market with a focus on market making and liquidity provision. Both Al Ramz and Derayah are committed to realizing the full potential of this partnership and contributing to the growth and development of the Saudi financial industry. Derayah Financial is a private joint stock company licensed by the Saudi Capital Markets Authority [CMA] and considered the largest unaffiliated financial broker based in Riyadh; it has achieved remarkable success since its launch in 2007. Derayah provides many services to its client base, including local, regional and international financial brokerage services, and it is considered the largest independent financial brokerage company in the Middle East and has the third largest market share in the Saudi market and the largest market share as a non-banking entity, in addition to the investment advice service and the investment funds supermarket service, in addition to managing financial assets and providing innovative investment solutions. Al Ramz Corporation PJSC founded in 1998, it is a UAE domiciled public joint stock company listed on the Dubai Financial Market and regulated by the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority and the Dubai Financial Services Authority. It provides a broad spectrum of services including asset management, corporate finance, brokerage, security margins, market making, liquidity providing, public offering management and financial research. Media Contact Organization: Derayah Financial Contact Person: Maha AlRasheed Website: https://www.derayah.com Email: [email protected] City: Riyadh State: Riyadh Country: Saudi Arabia SOURCE: Derayah Financial View source version on accesswire.com: Former Montana Secretary of State 'Pay It Forward' Optimism, International 'Peace Through Strength' at Odds With Current GOP BILLINGS, MT / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Former Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton has dropped out of the 2024 Presidential race. The Republican former naval officer and businessman was the first Republican to announce his candidacy in November 2022, with a "Pay it Forward" campaign slogan aimed at balanced budgets, better U.S. education systems, and support for American institutions. Stapleton visited Ukraine earlier this year, expressing American support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion, and called for reduced American rhetoric against the United States' large trading partners, China and Mexico. Stapleton promised he would submit an Immigration and Border Security bill to Congress in his first 100 days as President and create military and trade agreements facilitating 200 years of peaceful trade and prosperity between China and the United States. "China is our economic rival, not our enemy," said Stapleton. Corey Stapleton is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who served as Montana Secretary of State from 2017 to 2021, certifying the 2020 Presidential election. This year he made several campaign visits to New Hampshire and Iowa, attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and recently spoke at The American Democracy Summit in Los Angeles and World Affairs council in New Hampshire. "I wasn't able to break through," Stapleton said. Contact Information: Lorna Kuney Communications [email protected] (406)442-6633 SOURCE: Corey Stapleton for President View source version on accesswire.com: Winning Hotels and Recipients were honored at the 2023 Historic Hotels Annual Awards Ceremony and Gala on October 12, 2023, at The Wigwam (1929) in Litchfield Park, Arizona (United States of America). WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Historic Hotels of America is pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 Historic Hotels of America Annual Awards of Excellence. Historic Hotels of America is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing, celebrating, and promoting the finest historic hotels in the United States of America. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012403926/en/ Grand Hotel (1887) Mackinac Island, Michigan. Credit: Historic Hotels of America and Grand Hotel. Recipients were honored at the 2023 Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence Ceremony and Gala at The Wigwam (1929) in Litchfield Park, Arizona, in front of an audience of more than 200 industry leaders, owners, general managers, senior management, and representatives of the worlds finest historic hotels. The Wigwam, originally opened to guests in 1929 by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, is an award-winning Arizona resort that offers an unparalleled experience, combining over a century of hospitality, Southwestern charm, casual luxury, and rich history. Seventeen Historic Hotels of America Annual Awards of Excellence were given in multiple categories, ranging from Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotelier of the Year to Historic Hotels of America Hotel Historian of the Year, from Historic Hotels of America Best Historic Resort to Historic Hotels of America Lifetime Achievement Award, and others. Winners were selected from nominations by historic hotels, preservation supporters, prior award recipients, community leaders, and leadership from Historic Hotels of America. As an official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Hotels of America provides the recognition to travelers, civic leaders, and the global cultural, heritage, and historic travel market that member hotels are among the finest historic hotels from across the United States of America. The Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence Program recognizes the pinnacle of this distinct group in a range of categories. From more than 350 nominations received, the awards committee evaluated and, after careful consideration, selected the following 2023 Historic Hotels of America Awards of Excellence winners: Historic Hotels of America New Member of the Year This award is presented to a new member hotel that best demonstrates immediate engagement, activation, and passionate support of Historic Hotels of America. Winner: JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District (1912) Savannah, Georgia Historic Hotels of America Best Social Media of a Historic Hotel This award is presented to a hotel that actively engages consumers by sharing the best of its history through social media, including Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram with interesting historical facts and stories. Winner: 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa (1886) Eureka Springs, Arkansas Historic Hotels of America Sustainability Champion This award is presented to a hotel that best implements and practices innovative green initiatives and programs, demonstrating historic preservation is the ultimate green. Winner: Mohonk Mountain House (1869) New Paltz, New York Historic Hotels of America Best Small Historic Inn/Hotel (Under 75 Guestrooms) This award is presented to a hotel under 75 guestrooms that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service. Winner: Hassayampa Inn (1927) Prescott, Arizona Historic Hotels of America Best Historic Hotel (76-200 Guestrooms) This award is presented to a hotel with 76-200 guestrooms that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service. Winner: Skytop Lodge (1928) Skytop, Pennsylvania Historic Hotels of America Best Historic Hotel (201-400 Guestrooms) This award is presented to a hotel with 201-400 guestrooms that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service. Winner: The Edgewater (1948) Madison, Wisconsin Historic Hotels of America Best Historic Hotel (Over 400 Guestrooms) This award is presented to a hotel over 400 guestrooms that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service. Winner: Hilton Chicago (1927) Chicago, Illinois Historic Hotels of America Best City Center Historic Hotel This award is presented to a hotel located in a city center that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service. Winner: Martinique New York on Broadway, Curio Collection by Hilton (1898) New York, New York Historic Hotels of America Best Historic Resort This award is presented to a historic resort that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service. Winner: Grand Hotel (1887) Mackinac Island, Michigan Historic Hotels of America Best Historic Restaurant This award is presented to a restaurant that is part of a historic hotel that offers the finest cuisine, historic atmosphere, and exceptional customer service. Winner: The Savoy at 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City (1888) Kansas City, Missouri Historic Hotels of America Ambassador of the Year (25+ Years of Service) This award is presented to an individual who has dedicated their career to a historic hotel for at least 25 years, has been an exemplary ambassador and steward of the history and stories of a historic hotel, and has shown exemplary hospitality and service to the hotel and its guests. Winner: Elmer Smith at The Wigwam (1929) Litchfield Park, Arizona Historic Hotels of America Hotel Historian of the Year This award is presented to a hotel historian who best demonstrates a passion for preserving, displaying, and interpreting the history of their hotel, a true ambassador of the past. Winner: Ed Pulsifer at La Fonda on the Plaza (1922) Santa Fe, New Mexico Historic Hotels of America Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year This award is presented to a multi-generational family ownership entity or management company that has served as an exemplary role model in the operation of the historic hotels entrusted to its stewardship, demonstrated a long-term legacy of commitment to historic preservation, and been an active champion for Historic Hotels of America. Winner: The Eustis and Fitzpatrick Families at The Red Lion Inn (1773) Stockbridge, Massachusetts Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotelier of the Year This award is presented to the recipient demonstrating the highest contribution to furthering the celebration of history at historic hotels as well as leadership and innovation. Winner: Amy Finsilver at XV Beacon (1903) Boston, Massachusetts Historic Hotels of America Lifetime Achievement Award This award is presented to individuals whose lifelong passion has resulted in the preservation and celebration of the history and stories of a legendary historic hotel. Winner: Frank and Gina Day, Hotel Boulderado (1909) Boulder, Colorado Historic Hotels of America Steward of History and Historic Preservation Award This award is presented to hospitality leaders whose passion and dedication to the historic preservation of a legendary hotel will ensure that future generations of travelers can experience its history. Winner: Jane Forbes Clark and The Clark Family at The Otesaga Hotel (1909) Cooperstown, New York Historic Hotels of America Historian of the Year This award is presented to an individual who is making a unique contribution to the research and preservation of history and whose work has encouraged a wide discussion, greater understanding, and increased enthusiasm for American History. Winner: Major General Mari K. Eder (U.S. Army, Retired) It is an honor to congratulate all of the 2023 Historic Hotels of America Annual Awards of Excellence winners, said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Vice President, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. The winners are the finest historic hotels and hoteliers from across the United States. The historic hotels nominated include small historic inns, boutique hotels, lifestyle hotels, and resorts. They represent small towns to large cities to UNESCO World Heritage destinations. We applaud the dedication and passion of the thousands of individuals working at these iconic and legendary hotels that keep the stories alive from the past and make staying or celebrating special occasions at these historic hotels memorable experiences. The hotels on this list represent the very best spirit of perseverance and preservation of historic hotels. Through the many chapters these buildings have seen, it is the care of their staff, owners, and operators and the support of travelers that allow these stories to continue. To be nominated for the Historic Hotels of America Annual Awards of Excellence, the hotel must be a member of Historic Hotels of America, demonstrate how the hotel increased the recognition and celebration of the hotels history, heritage, historic preservation, and its membership, as well as how the hotel (through its ownership, leadership, and employees) contributes significantly as an industry leader in the designated award category. Historic Hotels of Americas sister collection, Historic Hotels Worldwide, also announced its collections winners of the Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence this week. See the news about those nominees here. About Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels of America is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing, celebrating, and promoting the finest historic hotels in the United States of America. The National Trust for Historic Preservation was chartered by U.S. Congress in 1949 and is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is leading the movement to save places where our history happened. To be nominated and selected for membership in this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and recognized as having historical significance. Of the more than 300 historic hotels inducted into Historic Hotels of America from 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, all historic hotels faithfully preserve their sense of authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity. For more information, please visit HistoricHotels.org and sign up to receive future news, highlights, and advance notice of special offers from Historic Hotels of America. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012403926/en/ MEDIA CONTACT: Katherine Orr Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels Worldwide Director, Marketing Strategy and Communications Tel: +1-202-772-8337 [email protected] Source: Historic Hotels of America These primary data of the ADvantage study were presented today at EADV Congress A total of 18 lebrikizumab abstracts were disclosed at EADV, including new data on the depth of response at Week 52 and long-term clinically meaningful response Lebrikizumab also demonstrated improvements in absolute response in the skin over 16 weeks in patients with moderate-to-severe AD in the ADvocate 1and2 Phase 3 trials BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Almirall S.A. (BME:ALM), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on medical dermatology, today announced the presentation of new data on lebrikizumab through 18 abstracts, including two oral presentations at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress held in Berlin from October 11th to 14th. Among the new data presented, lebrikizumab showed clinical improvements in combination with topical corticosteroids (TCS) in adult and adolescent patients with moderate-to-severe AD not adequately controlled with cyclosporine or for whom cyclosporine was not medically advisable, who were assessed over 16 weeks in the Phase 3 ADvantage study (NCT05149313). The safety was consistent with the known safety profile of lebrikizumab.1 Further data presented at the congress showed sustained depth of response in patients that participated in the Phase 3 monotherapy Advocate 1 and 2 studies treated with lebrikizumab over 52 weeks. Deep responses, defined as total skin clearance (Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA), Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI)100) and itch relief (NRS 0,1), were achieved in 20 and 31 percent of patients by Week 16 respectively and were maintained or increased through Week 52.2 Lebrikizumab also provided long-term clinically meaningful responses in patients, offering a multi-dimensional benefit that help achieve disease control. In a post-hoc analysis of the ADvocate 1 and 2 studies, 84 percent of patients who had responded to lebrikizumab at Week 16 achieved a clinically meaningful response in at least one domain of the disease (mild signs, symptoms or quality of life impact) after 52 weeks, and more than 57 percent achieved response across the three domains.3 This represents a status of minimal residual disease. Improvements in absolute skin response over 16 weeks for patients with moderate-to-severe AD treated with lebrikizumab or placebo were also shared. A post-hoc analysis of the ADvocate1 and ADvocate2 trials showed that, overall, a significantly higher proportion of patients treated with lebrikizumab achieved EASI 7 (mild) and EASI 1 (clear/almost clear) at Week 16 compared to placebo. This analysis also demonstrated that, regardless of baseline severity, over 50 percent of patients treated with lebrikizumab 250 mg every other week on monotherapy for 16 weeks achieved an EASI score indicating mild AD and approximately 20 percent achieved an EASI score indicating clear or almost clear skin.4 Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a debilitating chronic skin condition that can be challenging to manage. Cyclosporine A is the only classical systemic treatment approved in Europe for AD, but its safety may limit long-term use, or it may be contraindicated for some patients, said Prof. Dr. Ricard B. Warren, Professor of Dermatology and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist at the University of Manchester and Northern Care Aliance NHS Foundation Trust; principal investigator of the ADvantage trial. Although there are an increasing number of treatment options available to ease symptoms and improve outcomes of AD, unfortunately there are few that offer long-term disease control with a favorable safety profile. The results of this trial reinforce our confidence that lebrikizumab is a promising potential new treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe AD, including those not adequately controlled or ineligible for treatment with cyclosporine A. The new lebrikizumab data set presented at the EADV congress provides further evidence of its efficacy and safety profile. Its anticipated addition to the moderate-to-severe AD treatment arsenal is promising news for both healthcare professionals and patients, including those who do not respond adequately to cyclosporine. Our teams are diligently working to increase our level of knowledge and expand the body of evidence, thereby reinforcing the profile of this potential first-line treatment, stated Karl Ziegelbauer, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Almirall. Almirall received a positive CHMP opinion in September, recommending marketing authorization for lebrikizumab for the treatment of adult and adolescent patients (12 years and older with a body weight of at least 40 kg) with moderate-to-severe AD who are candidates for systemic therapy. The CHMP opinion is based on three pivotal Phase 3 studies including ADvocate 1 and ADvocate 2, evaluating lebrikizumab as monotherapy, and ADhere, assessing lebrikizumab in combination with TCS, in adult and adolescent patients with moderate-to-severe AD. Almirall has licensed the rights to develop and commercialize lebrikizumab for the treatment of dermatology indications, including AD, in Europe. Eli Lilly and Company has exclusive rights for the development and commercialization of the product in the United States and the rest of the world, not including Europe. Almirall expects regulatory decisions for lebrikizumab in moderate-to-severe AD in additional European markets, including the United Kingdom and Switzerland in 2024. More information about the Phase 3 studies: ADvocate 1: EudraCT Number 2019-002932-10; NCT04146363; ADvocate 2: EudraCT Number 2019-002933-12; NCT04178967; ADhere: EudraCT Number 2019-004300-34; NCT04250337 About lebrikizumab and Clinical Development Program Lebrikizumab is an investigational, monoclonal antibody that binds IL-13 with high affinity to specifically prevent the formation of the IL-13R1/IL-4R heterodimer complex and subsequent signaling, thereby inhibiting the biological effects of IL-13.5,6,7 The cytokine IL-13 is key in AD, driving the type-2 inflammatory loop in the skin, leading to skin barrier dysfunction, itch, skin thickening and infection.8,9,10,11,12 The lebrikizumab Phase 3 program consists of five key global studies evaluating over 1,300 patients, including two monotherapy studies (ADvocate 1 and 2), a combination study with topical corticosteroids (ADhere), as well as long-term extension (ADjoin) and adolescent open label (ADore) studies. About Almirall Almirall is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on medical dermatology. We collaborate with scientists and healthcare professionals to address patients' needs through science to improve their lives. Our Noble Purpose is at the core of our work: "Transform the patients' world by helping them realize their hopes and dreams for a healthy life". We invest in differentiated and ground-breaking medical dermatology products to bring our innovative solutions to patients in need. The company, founded in 1944 and headquartered in Barcelona, is publicly traded on the Spanish Stock Exchange (ticker: ALM). Throughout its 79-year history, Almirall has focused intensely on patients' needs. Almirall has a direct presence in 21 countries and strategic agreements in over 70, with about 1,800 employees. Total revenue in 2022 was 878.5MM. For more information, please visit www.almirall.com. Legal warning This document includes only summary information and is not intended to be exhaustive. The facts, figures and opinions contained in this document, in addition to the historical ones, are "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on the information currently available and the best estimates and assumptions that the company considers reasonable. These statements involve risks and uncertainties beyond the control of the company. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from those declared by such forward-looking statements. The company expressly waives any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, goals or estimates contained in this document to reflect any changes in the assumptions, events or circumstances on which such forward-looking statements are based, unless required by the applicable law. ________________________________ 1 Warren RB, et al. Efficacy and safety of lebrikizumab in combination with topical corticosteroids in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis not adequately controlled or non-eligible for cyclosporine: a placebo-controlled, randomized Phase 3. 2 Simpson E, et al. Raising the bar of efficacy in atopic dermatitis: depth of response in patients treated with lebrikizumab over 52 weeks Presented at the 32 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress, 11 14 October 2023, Berlin, Germany. Abstract 3117. 3 Vestergaard C, et al. Lebrikizumab provides long-term clinically meaningful responses in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis Presented at the 32 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress, 11 14 October 2023, Berlin, Germany. Abstract 3399. 4 Fernandez-Penas P, et al. Absolute EASI improvements over 16 weeks in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis treated with lebrikizumab or placebo Presented at the 32 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress, 11 14 October 2023, Berlin, Germany. Abstract 6004. 5 Okragly A, et al. Binding, Neutralization and Internalization of the Interleukin-13 Antibody, Lebrikizumab. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2023;13(7):1535-1547. doi:10.1007/s13555-023-00947-7. 6 Ultsch M, et al. Structural basis of signaling blockade by anti-IL-13 antibody Lebrikizumab. J Mol Biol. 2013;425(8):1330-1339. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2013.01.024. 7 Simpson EL, et al. Efficacy and safety of lebrikizumab (an anti-IL-13 monoclonal antibody) in adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis inadequately controlled by topical corticosteroids: A randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial (TREBLE). J Am Acad Dermatol. 2018;78(5):863-871.e11. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2018.01.017. 8 Bieber T. Interleukin-13: Targeting an underestimated cytokine in atopic dermatitis. Allergy. 2020;75(1):5462. doi:10.1111/all.13954. 9 Tsoi LC, et al. Atopic Dermatitis Is an IL-13-Dominant Disease with Greater Molecular Heterogeneity Compared to Psoriasis. J Invest Dermatol. 2019;139(7):1480-1489. doi:10.1016/j.jid.2018.12.018. 10 Napolitano M, et al. The hidden sentinel of the skin: An overview on the role of interleukin-13 in atopic dermatitis. Frontiers in medicine vol. 10 1165098. 18 Apr. 2023, doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.1165098. 11 Bernardo D, et al. Lebrikizumab for the Treatment of Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis. Am J Clin Dermatol 24, 753764 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40257-023-00793-5. 12 Goncalves F, et al. Selective IL-13 inhibitors for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. Drugs in context vol. 10 2021-1-7. 30 Mar. 2021, doi:10.7573/dic.2021-1-7. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013802708/en/ Media Almirall Tinkle Laura Blazquez [email protected] (+34) 600 430 581 Investors Relations Almirall Pablo Divasson del Fraile [email protected] (+34) 93 291 3087 Corporate Communications Almirall Mar Ramirez mar.rami[email protected] (+34) 659 614 173 Source: Almirall S.A. NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Demy-Coltons BioFuture concluded this week after bringing together hundreds of life sciences, diagnostics, pharmaceutical, health delivery and digital health pioneers including more than 80 speakers, 150 forward-thinking investors and 50 journalists. Participants assembled in New York to weigh in on what lies ahead in healthcare and bioscience. BioFutures Big Think Plenary Sessions, panel discussions, and workshops explored the many factors that will shape and transform the future of health including, among many others, the role of AI, the future of Alzheimers disease interventions, consequences of the U.S. IRA healthcare legislation and how we can shift healthcare systems towards well-care from sick-care. Fresh insights were shared by the more than 80 contributing speakers including: Michael Dowling, President & CEO, Northwell Health Andy Plump, MD, PhD, President of R&D, Takeda Vincent Beltrani, PhD, Enterprise Customer Engineer: Healthcare, Life sciences and Quantum AI, Google Seema Kumar, CEO, Cure Nouhad Husseini, Senior Vice President, Business Development & Corporate Strategy, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Erik Elenko, PhD, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer, PureTech Rick Bright, PhD, Former Senior Vice President, The Rockefeller Foundation Mani Mohindru, PhD, CEO & Director, Novasenta Jonathan Behr, PhD, Partner, Dementia Discovery Fund Dennis Purcell, Founder, Aisling Capital And members of the media, including Max Bayer (Fierce Biotech), Hilary Brueck (Insider), Julianna LeMieux, PhD (GEN) and Sony Salzman (ABC News) Supported by industry leaders such as Google, Regeneron, JP Morgan, Thermo Fisher, Sofinnova, HSBC, Cure, and Takeda, BioFuture also featured presentations by dozens of public, private and seed-stage innovation companies and facilitated more than 2,300 one-to-one meeting requests. Sara Jane Demy, Founder and CEO of Demy-Colton, said, We've always believed in the transformative power of collaboration and industry-wide synergies. This years BioFuture brought people together in new and fresh ways, and the energy, discourse and wealth of insights shared are already helping to catalyze the next decade of innovation to transform patients lives. I want to thank all of our speakers, moderators, sponsors and participants who helped to make this years event so highly productive. As part of the Virtual component of BioFuture, Demy-Colton is providing all registrants with on-demand access to company presentations, audio recordings of all panels, and other content through January 31, 2024. Those interested in accessing program content can log into the partnering platform, HelloPartnering, with their registration information. For more information, please visit www.biofuture.com or follow us on Twitter at @DemyColton. About Demy-Colton Demy-Colton is a leading life sciences and digital health events organization, at the forefront of building networks between innovative life sciences companies and industry stakeholders. Its unique events facilitate networking on a global scale, including Biotech Showcase, BioFuture, Biotech CEO Summit Europe, Biotech CEO Summit in La Jolla, and Demy-Colton Virtual Salons. These events build networking communities that transcend geographical boundaries and establish ongoing, high-value relationships among the industrys top decision-makers, investors and thought leaders, where investment, learning, and thoughtful conversations thrive. For more information, visit demy-colton.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013298564/en/ Media Contact: Katie Morris [email protected] Source: Demy-Colton At the Liquid Live event in Dubai, the Company gears up for launch of Alluzience in next wave of countries and presents exciting pipeline update ZUG, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Galderma, the emerging pure-play dermatology category leader, today hosts the first edition of its Liquid Live event in Dubai as a chance to discuss with clinicians the future of innovation in the field of neuromodulation as well as showcasing the latest neuromodulators from its aesthetics portfolio. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013777100/en/ Copyrights - Sylvain Granjon To mark the progress in treatment optimization and showcase its commitment to further driving innovation, Galderma has organized the first ever Liquid Live event. This premium experience will convene over one hundred of Europes leading aesthetics practitioners to immerse themselves in the future of the neuromodulator field. The Liquid Live event will include presentations from renowned experts on key data, the latest market trends and changes in patient needs, and sharing insights to advance the future of neuromodulation in aesthetics together. A year on from the launch of Alluzience, the first and only liquid ready-to-use neuromodulator in Europe with rapid onset and effects lasting for up to six months, Galderma is now getting ready to launch the product in 13 new countries1. Indicated for use in adult patients as a treatment to temporarily improve the appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines, this launch opened a new era of innovation in neuromodulation. As a ready-to-use liquid formulation, it has the potential to improve safety and dosing accuracy compared to existing neuromodulators that require reconstitution, enabling more precision and higher patient satisfaction. Galderma is the leading innovator in neuromodulators and we are delighted to launch the Liquid Live event as an opportunity to convene leading experts in this field. Alluzience has a unique profile and its launch in 13 new countries is another exciting step in our journey of driving differentiated innovation and expanding our portfolio. Galderma has a strong track record as an innovator in neuromodulation having launched the first liquid neuromodulator, as well as the first neuromodulator with a six-month duration of action, and is committed to further innovation. Liquid Live offers the ideal platform for us to come together as we prepare to launch this unique product more broadly and explore the many possibilities for the future of neuromodulation together. GERRY MUHLE HEAD OF GLOBAL PRODUCT STRATEGY GALDERMA Galderma is well-positioned to continue to build its category-leading pipeline in injectable aesthetics, with proven in-house R&D capabilities in medical aesthetics. This includes successfully developing RelabotulinumtoxinA internally as well as the worlds largest hyaluronic acid filler range, Restylane. Along with Sculptra, the first and original injectable poly-L-lactic acid collagen stimulator, Galdermas offering in neuromodulators and fillers is the broadest, unparalleled injectable aesthetics portfolio. About Alluzience Alluzience (abobotulinumtoxinA solution) is the first ready-to-use BoNT-A liquid neuromodulator formulation to be introduced in Europe. Alluzience is indicated for the temporary improvement in the appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines seen at maximum frown in adult patients under 65 years, when the severity of these lines has an important psychological impact on the patient. It should only be administered by a physician with appropriate qualifications and expertise in this treatment using the required equipment. Dosing and treatment intervals depend on assessment of the individual patients response. The treatment interval should be no more frequent than every three months. For more information, please see the Summary of Product Characteristics2. Alluzience is a product under license from Ipsen. Alluzience is a registered trademark of Ipsen. Galderma has an exclusive license from Ipsen to develop, promote and distribute Alluzience in the approved indication in Europe. About Galderma Galderma is the emerging pure-play dermatology category leader, present in approximately 90 countries. We deliver an innovative, science-based portfolio of premium flagship brands and services that span the full spectrum of the fast-growing dermatology market though Injectable Aesthetics, Dermatological Skincare and Therapeutic Dermatology. Since our foundation in 1981, we have dedicated our focus and passion to the human bodys largest organ the skin meeting individual consumer and patient needs with superior outcomes in partnership with healthcare professionals. Because we understand that the skin we are in shapes our lives, we are advancing dermatology for every skin story. Galdermas portfolio of flagship brands includes Restylane, Dysport, Azzalure, Alluzience and Sculptra in Injectable Aesthetics; Soolantra, Epiduo, Differin, Aklief, Epsolay, Twyneo, Oracea, Metvix, Benzac and Loceryl in Therapeutic Dermatology; and Cetaphil and Alastin Skincare in Dermatological Skincare. For more information: www.galderma.com. ---------------- 1 Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia 2 Alluzience Summary of Product Characteristics, 2023 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013777100/en/ For further information: Christian Marcoux, M.Sc. Chief Communications Officer [email protected] +41 76 315 26 50 Sebastien Cros Corporate Communications Director [email protected] +41 79 529 59 85 Emil Ivanov Head of Strategy, Investor Relations, and ESG [email protected] +41 21 642 78 12 Jessica Cohen Investor Relations and Strategy Director [email protected] +41 21 642 76 43 Source: Galderma 25th Anniversary sweatshirt box set NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GU, the Japanese apparel retailer with the brand theme TOKYO TO SOHO, announces the launch of a new collection celebrating the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game. Items will be available at the GU store in Soho, New York starting Friday, October 27th. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013919774/en/ GU, the Japanese apparel retailer with the brand theme TOKYO TO SOHO, announces the launch of a new collection celebrating the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game. Items will be available at the GU store in Soho, New York starting Friday, October 27th. (Photo: Business Wire) The collection includes fashion items that incorporate designs reminiscent of street culture, with plenty of motifs that fans will instantly recognize and enjoy, such as the Millennium Puzzle, Kuriboh, and Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon. A special novelty item commemorating this collection is also being offered as a giveaway to enjoy along with the collection items. Collection Overview Sales period: From October 27th, 2023 (Friday) Store availability: GU store in Soho, New York No. of products: Total 13 items Price range: $3.90 - $39.90 Giveaway of a special card with an original design Customers who purchase $50 (including tax) or more of items including Yu-Gi-Oh! Collection will receive a specially designed Kuriboh card with the GU logo as a gift. At stores, cards will be distributed on a first-come basis, while supplies last. *Total distribution quantity: 300 cards A limited number of 25th anniversary sweatshirt box set GU will also sell a limited number of 25th anniversary sweatshirt box sets containing all five types of sweatshirt hoodies and pullovers in this collection. The set in a box with an original design is a must-have for Yu-Gi-Oh! fans. The box includes a specially designed Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon card with the GU logo. *Total quantity: 30 boxes **Limited to one per customer 2020 Studio Dice / SHUEISHA, TV TOKYO, KONAMI About GU The brand name GU is derived from the Japanese word jiyu, which means free and unconfined. The company was established in 2006 in Japan as a sister brand of UNIQLO and part of the Fast Retailing Group, and today has around 450 locations mainly in Japan, with a select number of stores throughout Asia. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013919774/en/ For media queries, please contact: Yoko Shimada, Dawn Abotsi - GU PR Team [email protected] Tel. (631)578-2449 Source: G.U. CO., LTD. MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IFALPA, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations is the global voice of pilots. An international not-for-profit organization, IFALPA represents over 110,000 pilots in over 70 countries. The mission of the Federation is to promote the highest level of aviation safety worldwide and to be the global advocate of the piloting profession; providing representation, services, and support to both our members and the aviation industry. IFALPA is currently soliciting applications to fill the role of Managing Director, a full-time, in-person role, based in Montreal, Canada. Please share this posting widely throughout all appropriate networks. Details of the position and application process can be found on the Federations website: https://ifalpa.org/media/3993/managing-director-job-ad-2023.pdf 2023 The International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations. This publication is provided for information purposes only, in all cases pilots should follow their companys guidance and procedures. In the interest of flight safety, reproduction of this publication in whole or in part is encouraged. It may not be offered for sale or used commercially. All reprints must credit IFALPA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013432919/en/ More information: [email protected] Source: The International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) Pearson Pelletier Telecom, Skyline Engineering, and the Canadian division of Maicom LLC will rebrand under their parent company, Centerline. WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Centerline, a leading critical infrastructure and network solutions provider, announced today that three of its subsidiary brands Pearson Pelletier Telecom (PPT), Skyline Engineering (Skyline), and the Canadian division of Maicom LLC (Maicom) will unite under the name Centerline. The rebrand reflects Centerlines growing international presence. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231010311973/en/ (Graphic: Business Wire) After announcing our broader rebranding initiative in May 2023, we continued looking for opportunities to simplify our brand architecture, said Josh Delman, founder and CEO of Centerline. By bringing our Canadian teams under one umbrella, we will leverage Centerlines reputation for operational excellence while expanding our service offerings across North America. A portfolio company of Audax Private Equity (Audax), Centerline designs, builds, and maintains next-generation wireless, wireline networks, and critical infrastructure facilities. The company has grown from approximately 300 employees to more than 1,500 over the past three years, providing turnkey services to Fortune 500 clients, including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and American Tower. Centerline acquired Maicom in 2021, Skyline in 2022, and PPT in 2023. Based in Sainte-Catherine, Quebec, PPT is a wireless network and infrastructure services company that supports line and antenna projects for major Canadian telecom companies. Maicom designs, builds, and services networking facilities and data centers throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Services include construction management, DC power, AC power, HVAC, architectural, preventative maintenance, emergency response, and network cabling. Skyline is a telecom-focused engineering firm based in Mississauga, Ontario. For more information, visit Centerlines website at www.centerlinecommunications.com. About Centerline: A portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, Centerline designs, builds, and maintains next-generation wireless, wireline, and fiber networks, as well as critical infrastructure facilities. The companys wireless services include site acquisition, architecture and engineering (A&E), and tower construction, modifications, and maintenance. Wireline services include the design/build of critical network facilities and their supporting infrastructure (HVAC and generator) and electric vehicle charging stations. Centerlines technical services include fiber design/build, RF engineering and compliance, in-building networks, and small cell design/build. To learn more, visit www.centerlinecommunications.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231010311973/en/ Kasey Noe Branding & Communications 910-262-4955 [email protected] Source: Centerline BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) made a historical mistake in its recommendation and decision on Turkiye on October 12, 2023, Turkish Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports. In the draft resolution which will be put to a vote by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), member states of the Council of Europe and the European Union, despite the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), demanded sanctions against Turkish officials involved in the release of Osman Kavala, imprisoned in Turkiye. "Through this initiative, PACE is using legal proceedings for political purposes and trying to close the channels of dialog. This contradicts the democratic values that form the basis of PACE," said the ministry. "This carelessness of PACE will be remembered with shame in the future. Turkiye regrets that the PACE, being an advisory body of the Council of Europe, has strayed so far from its goals and values," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNWH2) and HyVelocity Hub (Gulf Coast region) were selected by the US Department of Energy to develop two regional hydrogen hubs. As an industry leader in the development of large-scale infrastructure projects and hydrogen technology, Mitsubishi Power is paving the way for a cleaner energy future in the U.S. with its involvement in hydrogen hub development LAKE MARY, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Mitsubishi Power Americas has achieved another significant milestone in the companys contributions to the development of world-class hydrogen hubs in the U.S. In response to the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) request for cross sector hydrogen-based decarbonization solutions, Mitsubishi Power is a sub-recipient in two hydrogen hubs that have been selected to begin award negotiations with the U.S. DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. Last year, the DOE opened applications for a $7 billion program to create regional clean hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs) across the country, which, according to the DOE will form a critical arm of America's future clean energy economy. As part of a larger $8 billion hydrogen hub program funded through President Bidens Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the DOE says the H2Hubs will be a central driver in helping communities across the country benefit from clean energy investments, good-paying jobs, and improved energy security all while supporting the global goal of a net-zero carbon economy by 2050. As part of the DOEs program, the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNWH2) and the HyVelocity Hub in the Gulf Coast region were in the initial 33 out of 79 proposals nationwide that were encouraged to proceed with the full application, from which seven would advance. Both have now been selected for negotiations with the potential to continue the development and implementation of utility-scale clean hydrogen production and deployment in their respective regions. The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNWH2) aims to validate the DOEs vision of a national clean hydrogen network by serving as a vehicle for funding multiple projects that accelerate the transition to clean hydrogen energy production and use. The PNWH2 Hub concept envisions creating a dynamic Pacific Northwest network of clean, renewable hydrogen suppliers and end-users to decarbonize some of the hardest-to-abate sectors, such as heavy-duty transportation, aviation, maritime, agriculture, and industrial operations. The HyVelocity Hub plans to rapidly scale clean hydrogen supply and demand along the U.S. Gulf Coast in Texas and Southwest Louisiana, and help deliver affordable, reliable, and abundant clean energy and well-paying jobs to local communities. The Gulf Coast is well situated for a clean hydrogen hub as it contains the worlds largest concentration of existing hydrogen production assets, customers, and energy infrastructure, with a network of 48 hydrogen production plants and over 1,000 miles of dedicated hydrogen pipelines. The selection of these two hydrogen hub projects for award negotiations with the DOE is indicative of how the hydrogen economy is quickly developing and garnering support from both the public and private sectors, said Mike Ducker, Mitsubishi Power Americas senior vice president of hydrogen infrastructure. With our reputation for excellence through the execution of the ACES Delta Hub, Mitsubishi Power is a major player in the development of hydrogen infrastructure projects and we stand ready to support these and other projects for a cleaner, carbon-free future. About Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. (Mitsubishi Power) headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida, employs more than 2,700 power generation, energy storage, and digital solutions experts and professionals. Our employees are focused on empowering customers to affordably and reliably combat climate change while also advancing human prosperity throughout North, Central, and South America. Mitsubishi Powers power generation solutions include gas, steam, and aero-derivative turbines; power trains and power islands; geothermal systems; PV solar project development; environmental controls; and services. Energy storage solutions include green hydrogen, battery energy storage systems, and services. Mitsubishi Power also offers intelligent solutions that use artificial intelligence to enable autonomous operation of power plants. Mitsubishi Power is a power solutions brand of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI). Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, MHI is one of the worlds leading heavy machinery manufacturers with engineering and manufacturing businesses spanning energy, infrastructure, transport, aerospace, and defense. For more information, visit the Mitsubishi Power Americas website and follow us on LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013572303/en/ Christa Reichhardt Mitsubishi Power +1 407-484-5599 [email protected] Source: Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- nVent Electric plc (NYSE: NVT) (nVent), a global leader in electrical connection and protection solutions, will report third quarter 2023 financial results on Friday, October 27, 2023. The company will also hold a conference call with analysts and investors at 9:00 a.m. ET. The financial results will be posted on the companys website at http://investors.nvent.com. The company will issue an alert over a news wire when the earnings materials are publicly available, including a link to those documents. Conference Call and Webcast Details The call can be accessed via webcast at http://investors.nvent.com or by dialing 1-833-630-1071 or 1-412-317-1832. Once available, a replay of the conference call will be accessible through November 10, 2023, by dialing 1-877-344-7529 or 1-412-317-0088, along with the access code 6819843. Related presentation materials will be posted to http://investors.nvent.com prior to the conference call. About nVent nVent is a leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions. We believe our inventive electrical solutions enable safer systems and ensure a more secure world. We design, manufacture, market, install and service high performance products and solutions that connect and protect some of the world's most sensitive equipment, buildings and critical processes. We offer a comprehensive range of enclosures, electrical connections and fastening and thermal management solutions across industry-leading brands that are recognized globally for quality, reliability and innovation. Our principal office is in London and our management office in the United States is in Minneapolis. Our robust portfolio of leading electrical product brands dates back more than 100 years and includes nVent CADDY, ERICO, HOFFMAN, RAYCHEM, SCHROFF and TRACER. nVent, CADDY, ERICO, HOFFMAN, RAYCHEM, SCHROFF and TRACER are trademarks owned or licensed by nVent Services GmbH or its affiliates. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231011464459/en/ Investor Contact Tony Riter Vice President, Investor Relations nVent 763.204.7750 [email protected] Media Contact Stacey Wempen Director, External Communications nVent 763.204.7857 [email protected] Source: nVent Thursday, September 14th at 11:00 am. CHRISTIANA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Satellite Shelters, Inc. officially celebrated the Grand Opening of their Nashville Branch at 5605 Miller Ln. Christiana, TN 37037 on Thursday, September 14 at 11:00 am. The Nashville location has been in operation since 2018. This facility will continue to help the staff serve all of Tennessee, Northern Alabama, Southern Kentucky, and Eastern Mississippi. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013770855/en/ Satellite Shelters, Inc. - Nashville Open House Event (Photo: Business Wire) Satellite Shelters is an industry leader in mobile and modular buildings, offering high-quality products to multiple industries including Construction, Oil and Gas, Energy, Health Care, Education, and Government. Their buildings and service abilities can be tailored to the unique needs of each customer. At Satellite Shelters, we choose to provide a customer service program second to none. Your safety and satisfaction are always our top priorities. We offer additional products and services to make your buildings more comfortable. Collectively our Nashville team will go the extra mile to ensure our customers are satisfied with our services and products. We want to make sure that our customers remember us, not only for the quality offices we provide, but for the wonderful experience you had with us! -Everhette Glenn, Branch Manager To learn more about Satellite Shelters, Nashville, contact (615) 338-5875. About Satellite Shelters: Satellite Shelters, Inc. is a family-owned private business entity supplying mobile offices, permanent and relocatable modular buildings, and storage containers. Satellite has 18 locations across the nation that specialize in purchased, rented, or leased buildings. Units come in a wide range of sizes and floor plans and are equipped with heating and air conditioning, electrical systems, and other comfort options depending on the needs of the customer. Satellite Shelters, Inc. also provides design/build services as a general contractor and can complete a wide variety of modular building projects including modular installation, design/build, and turnkey project services. For more information, visit https://www.satelliteco.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013770855/en/ Everhette Glenn, Branch Manager (615) 338-5875 [email protected] Media Contact: Craig Marson, Marketing Manager (763) 551-7308 [email protected] Source: Satellite Shelters, Inc. Wednesday, September 13th and 10:00 am. TABERNACLE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Satellite Shelters, Inc. officially celebrated the Grand Opening of their Philadelphia Branch at 1369 RT-206, Tabernacle, NJ 08088 on Wednesday, September 13th at 10:00 am. This facility will continue to help the staff serve areas of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013246941/en/ Satellite Shelters, Inc. - Philadelphia Grand Opening. (Photo: Business Wire) Satellite Shelters is an industry leader in mobile and modular buildings, offering high-quality products to multiple industries including Construction, Oil and Gas, Energy, Health Care, Education, and Government. Their buildings and service abilities can be tailored to the unique needs of each customer. Satellite Shelters is proud to be your local supplier for mobile offices right here in the Delaware Valley. What makes Satellite different? Simple, when you call, youll get a local contact and not someone in a distant call center. We also offer the newest fleet for both lease and purchase. Come give us a try to experience customer service second to none! -Dan Zielinski, Branch Manager To learn more about Satellite Shelters, Philadelphia, contact (215) 987-3646. About Satellite Shelters: Satellite Shelters, Inc. is a family-owned private business entity supplying mobile offices, permanent and relocatable modular buildings, and storage containers. Satellite has 18 locations across the nation that specialize in purchased, rented, or leased buildings. Units come in a wide range of sizes and floor plans and are equipped with heating and air conditioning, electrical systems, and other comfort options depending on the needs of the customer. Satellite Shelters, Inc. also provides design/build services as a general contractor and can complete a wide variety of modular building projects including modular installation, design/build, and turnkey project services. For more information, visit https://www.satelliteco.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013246941/en/ Dan Zielinski, Branch Manager (215) 987-3646 [email protected] Media Contact: Craig Marson, Marketing Manager (763) 551-7308 [email protected] Source: Satellite Shelters, Inc. LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News: This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012234351/en/ Adel Al-Saleh (Photo: Business Wire) SES, a leading provider of global content connectivity solutions, today announced that Adel Al-Saleh has been hired as the companys Chief Executive Officer, effective February 2024. Since January 2018, Al-Saleh has been CEO at T-Systems International GmbH, the integrated IT services provider and subsidiary of telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG (DT), and he has served as a member of the Board of Management at DT throughout this period. In his time at T-Systems, Al-Saleh led the transition from a classic information technology and outsourcing business to an integrated IT services and digital solutions provider while driving growth initiatives to optimise operations, improve efficiency, increase customer satisfaction, expand employee engagement and maximise profitability. Interim SES CEO Ruy Pinto, who served as SESs Chief Technology Officer from 2019 to 2023, will continue to lead SES through January 2024, after which Pinto will remain as a member of the executive team until June 2024 and then will assume the role of strategic advisor to the CEO. Milton Torres, who succeeded Pinto as CTO on an interim basis, will continue in that capacity going forward. Frank Esser, Chairman of the SES Board of Directors, said, We are delighted to welcome Adel Al-Saleh as our new CEO. Adel brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm from a range of dynamic, technology-based industries and has a track record of creating value by improving competitiveness and driving efficiency wherever he has been. This makes Adel the ideal person to lead SES into the next phase of our journey and deliver success. Esser continued, On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Ruy for his continuing leadership. Ruy stepped in at a critical time and has provided the kind of leadership to allow SES to perform at a high level on behalf of our customers. We look forward to SES continuing under his direction for the balance of this important year and benefitting from his experience and knowledge as we transition to Adel in 2024. Prior to his time with T-Systems, Al-Saleh led a number of organisations with a track record of achievement. He spent nearly 20 years with IBM in multiple senior leadership roles, culminating in 2006 as Vice President and General Manager, Sales and Industries, IBM Northeast Europe Integrated Operating Team, where he was responsible for IBM's sales across all industries and products. In 2007, Al-Saleh joined IMS Health as President, EMEA, and eventually was named as the companys President, United States. In 2011, KKR-owned Northgate Information Solutions (NIS) Group appointed Al-Saleh as CEO, where he led the transformation of the strategy, portfolio and operations of the NIS Group. I am excited and honoured to be joining SES. The business is well placed for the future with world-class customer solutions, differentiated capabilities and an industry-leading financial position. I am looking forward to working with a strong team of colleagues to drive SES forward and create value in an exciting and rapidly evolving market environment, Al-Saleh said. Al-Saleh is a citizen of the United States of America and the United Kingdom. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, and he received his Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University. Follow us on: X | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram Read our Blogs > Visit the Media Gallery > About SES SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the worlds only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the worlds leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SESs video network carries ~8,000 channels and has an unparalleled reach of 369 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012234351/en/ Suzanne Ong External Communications +352 710 725 500 [email protected] Richard Whiteing Investor Relations +352 710 725 261 [email protected] Source: SES S.A. Slide secures renewal rights to cover 86,000 customers previously served by Farmers Insurance TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Slide Insurance, the full-stack insurtech providing effective homeowners coverage for the Florida market, today announced it has acquired renewal rights for 86,000 Florida homeowners insurance policies from Farmers Insurance. The transaction does not include Farmers Insurance renters, auto, or umbrella policies. We remain bullish on Floridas insurance market and believe the market is ripe for an innovator like Slide, said Bruce Lucas, Founder and CEO of Slide. The recent reforms are working and the Florida insurance market is stabilizing. This transaction would not be possible without the efforts by CFO Patronis, who worked tirelessly to find a solution for all policyholders. CFO Patronis leadership gave us the confidence to offer every policyholder a guaranteed renewal. The transaction with Farmers will provide all policyholders a seamless transition and ongoing coverage. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said, The fact that Slide is picking up 86,000 policyholders is great news for those who were getting dumped by Farmers. It also demonstrates that carriers are finding more opportunities, in Floridas insurance environment, after the reforms we enacted. The coverage that Slide will provide will make policyholders lives easier and well continue working to attract more carriers to Florida. Farmers agents in Florida will be offered an appointment with Slide. Renewals issued by Slide will begin for February 2024 effective dates. As part of this transaction, Slide will bolster its big data advantage and market-leading focus on underwriting technology and predictive analytics. Following the acquisition of renewal rights to over 91,000 policies from UPC Insurance earlier this year, Slide has continued to emphasize building strong financial stability. In July, the company finalized its second $100 million catastrophe bond. In June, Slide secured $35 million in additional capital through a senior credit facility with Regions Bank. The company placed an oversubscribed reinsurance program protecting Slide to the 200-year return period in May. About Slide Slide is a full-stack homeowners insurtech that makes it easy for modern consumers to choose the right coverage for their unique needs and budgets. Slide's cutting-edge technology leverages artificial intelligence and big data to hyper-personalize, optimize, and streamline every part of the insurance process. Based in Tampa, FL, the company was founded by Bruce and Shannon Lucas, insurance insiders with a deep understanding of how technology can be applied to achieve better underwriting outcomes. Slide launched operations in February 2022 and has quickly grown to become the largest full-stack homeowners insurtech in the country by premium. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013500372/en/ Rachel Carr Chief Marketing Officer, Slide Insurance [email protected] Source: Slide Insurance PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News: In accordance with Article 5 of EU Regulation n 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation), detailed information is available on the website of Tikehau Capital (Paris: TKO): https://www.tikehaucapital.com/fr/shareholders/regulatory-information Disclosure of shares repurchases from 6 October to 12 October 2023 Name of the issuer Issuer Identity Code (LEI) Trading Day ISIN Aggregated volume per day (number of shares) Weighted average price per day Market (MIC Code) TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 06/10/2023 FR0013230612 1890 20.3684 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 09/10/2023 FR0013230612 826 20.3176 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 10/10/2023 FR0013230612 957 20.8282 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 11/10/2023 FR0013230612 2,000 20.6945 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 12/10/2023 FR0013230612 2,000 20.8248 XPAR TOTAL 7,673 20.6243 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013702250/en/ Tikehau Capital Source: Tikehau Capital tZERO ATS to add Investment Banking business lines to complement its market-leading secondary liquidity offerings on October 20 SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- tZERO Group Inc., a leader in technology solutions for capital markets, is pleased to announce that its broker dealer subsidiary, tZERO ATS, will add investment banking business lines to its existing platform. In parallel, tZERO ATS will change its name to tZERO Securities to better reflect the breadth of services it makes available to its customers. These changes add the business that was previously provided by tZERO Markets and optimize the workstreams for issuers and investors alike as the firm continues to gain market share in its primary issuance and secondary trading business units, as well as introduce greater operational efficiency. The change will become effective on October 20. The consolidation of services to one entity will result in a more cohesive platform for customers to seamlessly participate across business lines, said David Goone, CEO, tZERO Group. tZERO Securities brand reflects the broad scope of our offerings and our market-leading position. tZERO Securities will continue to operate its ATS secondary trading business and self-clearing operations in addition to its new Investment Banking and Private Placement business lines providing users with a single platform for all of their investing needs. tZERO Group, the parent company of tZERO Securities, will continue to operate its current activities as a holding company and leading provider of technology and tokenization services for the capital markets industry. About tZERO tZERO Group, Inc. (tZERO) and its broker-dealer subsidiaries provide an innovative liquidity platform for private companies and assets. We offer institutional-grade solutions for issuers looking to digitize their capital table through blockchain technology, and trade on a regulated alternative trading system. tZERO, through its broker-dealer subsidiaries, democratizes access to private assets by providing a simple, automated, and efficient trading venue to broker-dealers, institutions, and investors. For more information on tZERO, please visit https://www.tzero.com/. About tZERO ATS tZERO ATS, LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC. More information about tZERO ATS may be found at https://brokercheck.finra.org/. About tZERO Markets tZERO Markets, LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC. More information about tZERO Markets may be found at https://brokercheck.finra.org/. Investor Notice Investors should note that trading securities could involve substantial risks, including no guarantee of returns, costs associated with selling and purchasing, no assurance of liquidity, which could impact the price and ability to sell, and possible loss of principal invested. Further, an investment in single security could mean lack of diversification and, consequently, higher risk. No Offer, Solicitation, Investment Advice or Recommendations This release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation for any security, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advisory or other services by tZERO or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors or employees. No reference to any specific security constitutes a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold that security or any other security. Nothing in this release shall be considered a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any security, future, option or other financial instrument or to offer or provide any investment advice or service to any person in any jurisdiction. Nothing contained in this release constitutes investment advice or offers any opinion with respect to the suitability of any security, and the views expressed in this release should not be taken as advice to buy, sell or hold any security. In preparing the information contained in this release, we have not taken into account the investment needs, objectives, and financial circumstances of any particular investor. This information has no regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs of any specific recipient of this information and investments discussed may not be suitable for all investors. Any views expressed in this release by us were prepared based upon the information available to us at the time such views were written. Changed or additional information could cause such views to change. All information is subject to possible corrections. Information may quickly become unreliable for various reasons, including changes in market conditions or economic circumstances. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements. In addition, from time to time, tZERO, its subsidiaries, or its representatives may make forward-looking statements orally or in writing. These forward-looking statements are based on expectations and projections about future events, which is derived from currently available information. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, including financial performance and projections; growth in revenue and earnings; and business prospects and opportunities. You can identify forward-looking statements by those that are not historical in nature, particularly those that use terminology such as may, should, expects, anticipates, contemplates, estimates, believes, plans, projected, predicts, potential, or hopes or the negative of these or similar terms. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including, without limitation: the ability of tZERO and its subsidiaries to change the direction; tZEROs ability to keep pace with new technology and changing market needs; performance of individual transactions; regulatory developments and matters; and competition. These and other factors may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are only predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this release and other statements made from time to time by tZERO, its subsidiaries or their respective representatives, may not occur, and actual events and results may differ materially and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. tZERO, its subsidiaries, and its representatives are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this release and other statements made from time to time by tZERO, its subsidiaries or its representatives might not occur. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012613698/en/ tZERO Anastasiia Litvinova [email protected] Source: tZERO Group Inc. Governments must stop trying to govern AI as a whole and instead focus on regulating use cases, says UAEs AI minister. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The UAEs AI minister on Wednesday urged countries to come to a consensus on AI governance sooner than it came to the Paris Agreement, which took years to take shape and come into force. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013137762/en/ An installation of how AI views Museum of the Future (Photo: AETOSWire) His Excellency Omar Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy & Remote Work Applications, said at the Dubai Assembly for Generative AI that countries need a fresh approach to governing AI. I think the current global discussion on AI governance is a non-starter. Instead of attempting to govern the technology, we can govern the use cases, he said. During the assembly which witnessed over 2000 attendees coming big tech companies and consultancies such as Microsoft, Deloitte, PwC, IBM Dubai Future Foundation launched the Dubai Generative AI Alliance, a new alliance of tech companies, to help Dubai accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies and build one of the worlds most advanced and effective tech-enabled governments. Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of DFF, called on companies and innovators to join the alliance, which will focus on developing innovative technology pilots by leveraging AI, the metaverse and Web3. The Dubai government also launched Dubai AI, a generative AI-powered digital city concierge. The city-wide digital platform will offer comprehensive information and services, covering health, business, and education, to residents and visitors. It will transform government services, the assembly heard. The assembly also heard how the global banking sector could benefit by as much as USD 400 billion from the boom in generative AI. The global platform heard from experts from international tech corporations and consultancies. PwC said automation in the workplace is imminent, with generative AI likely to be able to execute everyday tasks, such as booking flights and generating reports autonomously, on a large scale within the next 18-20 months. Deloitte's leading digital expert said nuclear fusion, climate action and drug discovery will be some of the main beneficiaries of generative AI, while the industrial and pharmaceutical sectors are among those quickest to adapt to the emerging technology. Adel Al Redha, Emirates Chief Operating Officer, said by November, the airline will empower cabin crew to leverage [generative AI] through delivering training on complex models. Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013137762/en/ Sara Al Qarout [email protected] Source: Dubai Future Foundation Barclays (NYSE: BCS) today announces the appointment of Geoffrey Belsher as Chairman and Country Chief Executive Officer for Canada, effective Monday 16 October and subject to regulatory approval. Mr. Belsher will be based in Toronto and report dually to Richard Haworth, CEO of the Americas and Cathal Deasy and Taylor Wright, Global Co-Heads of Investment Banking. As Chairman and Country CEO, he will be a local leader for Barclays in Canada, responsible for executing the country strategy in line with the banks regional and global ambitions. With over 25 years of Investment Banking experience, Mr. Belsher brings to Barclays extensive client relationships that will strengthen the existing Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) platform in Canada and compliment the broader Americas franchise. Barclays is proud to have served clients in Canada for close to a century and it continues to be a critical market for us as we execute on our ambitious growth plans in the Americas, said Richard Haworth, CEO of the Americas. Geoffreys focus, leadership experience, and deep expertise in the Canadian market makes him an ideal choice for this role, and Im confident that our talented colleagues in Canada will benefit enormously from his guidance and counsel. Mr. Belsher has played a leadership role across the financial services industry in Canada for over three decades. He worked as Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Wholesale Banking for CIBC in Toronto from 2009 to 2015 where he also served on the Executive Committee of CIBC. Additionally, he served as President of the Canadian operations of Barclays Capital, and its predecessor Lehman Brothers Canada from 2006 to 2008, where he formed the Investment Banking offices in Toronto and Calgary. Barclays currently holds the largest market share of any non-Canadian bank and is consistently ranked in the top five overall. The regional team provides Investment Banking, Global Markets, and Global Research coverage for clients in Canada who want access to the global capital markets and in-country opportunities for international clients. Under Mr. Belshers leadership, Barclays will aim to maintain a top five position across all products and services and look to disrupt into the top three, especially in areas like cross-border M&A, equity financing, and high-yield financing. Barclays has a long and storied history in Canada, says Mr. Belsher. Im incredibly proud to join this team and look forward to this new opportunity at Barclays. BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 13. Robert Menendez, a senator from New Jersey and a well-known Armenian lobbyist in the US, has been charged once more for offering political "favors" by taking bribes. This claim comes on the heels of one made last month, The New York Times said, Trend reports. It was mentioned that Menendez is this time charged with serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while operating as an agent for Egypt. Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez (Arslanian), and a third defendant, Wael Hana, were charged by federal prosecutors for planning the senator's work for Egypt without notifying the Justice Ministry. The Menendez family received a New Jersey condo as part of a bribe, and the prosecution urged the judge to seize both the apartment and a Mercedes-Benz car. It was emphasized that the mentioned actions violated Menendez's oath of faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution before the Senate, which would increase pressure on him to resign. The indictment mentioned that he clearly violated the prohibition against government officials acting as agents of foreign forces. "This appears to be the first time in the United States that a sitting senator has been charged with misconduct under the Second World War Foreign Agents Registration Act," The New York Times said. It was emphasized that FBI officials and prosecutors, in charges filed last month against Robert Menendez, 69, his wife Nadine Menendez (Arslanian), 56, Wael Khan, and two other businessmen, alleged that the Menendez family created a scheme using the senator's reputation in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars, gold bars, and a Mercedes-Benz to boost U.S. aid and military sales to Egypt. According to the new indictment, Menendez, his wife, and Wael Hana met with Egyptian officials at various locations between 2018 and 2022 and arranged for the senator to act as an Egyptian agent in exchange for bribes. Earlier in May 2019, at a steak restaurant in Washington, D.C., Nadine Menendez (Arslanian) asked the question, "What else can my loved one do for you?" However, at a court hearing held last month, neither defendant pleaded guilty. It was noted that Robert Menendez's office released a statement on the matter. "All my life, I (a descendant of Cuban immigrants) have been loyal to only one country, the United States, which my family chose to live in democracy and freedom. Accusations made one after another do not make them true," Robert Menendez's office said. Following his initial indictment last month, Menendez resigned as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but he refused to retire from the Senate as demanded by the Democrats. Yesterday, some senators from New Jersey and Washington went a step further and demanded a vote to have him dismissed from the Senate. Using letters written on behalf of Egyptian government officials, Senator Menendez allegedly attempted to persuade other senators to provide $300 million in US aid. Robert Menendez wrote the letter on his wife's insistence and then sent it to her via personal email. Nadine sent it to Wael Hana, and the latter forwarded the letter to Egyptian officials. The indictment notes that Robert Menendez was fully aware of the requirements of the law on the registration of foreign agents. Thus, at one time, he asked the Justice Department to investigate whether the former Republican congressman from Florida had violated the law because of his ties to Venezuela. This is not the first corruption charge against Menendez. He was accused of receiving nearly $1 million in gifts, expensive trips, and political campaign donations from a wealthy eye doctor in 2015. Although the case went to trial back in 2017, the jury was never able to reach a final decision. Also, Senator Menendez, who is currently under investigation in the US for corrupt ties to the Armenian lobby, made a statement against Azerbaijan at a Senate hearing on September 13, 2023. General Dynamics NASSCO, a subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today it was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy for the maintenance, modernization and repair of USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) and USS James E. Williams (DDG 95). The contract for an initial $15.6 million includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $753.8 million . "NASSCO and our industry partners are looking forward to executing a pair of successful availabilities and are thankful the Navy has sole-sourced the contract to us to lead this effort," said Dave Baker , vice president of Repair for General Dynamics NASSCO. "Much like our recent success with the modernization on USS Pinckney, our repair team is ready to tackle another opportunity with our Navy partners and get these ships back to the fleet in a timely manner." Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American: PTN), a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class medicines based on molecules that modulate the activity of the melanocortin receptor system, today announced it received a notice from the staff of NYSE American LLC (the "Exchange") that Palatin was not in compliance with the Exchange's continued listing standards under Section 1003(a)(i) and (ii) of the NYSE American Company Guide. Section 1003(a)(i) requires a listed company to have stockholders' equity $2 million or more if the listed company has reported losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in two of its three most recent fiscal years, and Section 1003(a)(ii) requires a listed company to have stockholders' equity of $4 million or more if the listed company has reported losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in three of its four most recent fiscal years. Palatin is now subject to the procedures and requirements of Section 1009 of the NYSE American Company Guide. Palatin has until November 9, 2023 , to submit a plan (the "Plan") of actions it has taken or will take to regain compliance with the continued listing standards by April 10, 2025 . Palatin intends to timely deliver a Plan to the Exchange. If the Exchange accepts the Plan, Palatin will be able to continue its listing during the Plan period and will be subject to periodic reviews including quarterly monitoring for compliance with the Plan until it has regained compliance. Palatin is assessing and exploring multiple funding avenues and is committed to undertaking a transaction or transactions in the future to achieve compliance with the Exchange's requirements. Receipt of the notice from the Exchange has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of Palatin's common stock on the Exchange, and does not affect Palatin's business, operations or reporting requirements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Paid press release content from Evertise Financial. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam , October 13, 2023, Evertise AI PR, As the world marches towards a future where the lines between the physical and the digital are almost nonexistenta phenomenon now referred to as phygitalthe need to innovate for that future is essential. The seamless integration of digital technologies such as artificial/virtual reality and blockchain into our everyday experiences will undoubtedly bring about a radical shift in how we do things. Phygital Labs, at its core, embodies this shift in innovative spirit. Founded in 2023, by a group of young talents returning home from Silicon Valley, who have years of experience working at Google, Apple, Cisco. Its flagship product, Nomion, aims to encourage a new era in technology that will drive Vietnams digital economy forward. I have a strong belief that #phygital is the most promising trend in the next decades, especially in applying online-to-offline daily activities, said Nguyen. As the world is moving towards the digital space more and more, there is a demand for everyone and everything to co-exist in both worlds. Meaning to name everything in Esperanto, Nomion is an end-to-end solution that gives physical assets their digital identities. The Phygital revolution Through a simple radio frequency identification (RFID) scan, Nomion unlocks the digital counterpart of any physical product, facilitating ownership tracking and ensuring authenticity via blockchain technology. In essence, Nomion bridges the gap between the tangible and the digital, transforming everyday objects into gateways to the digital economy. When widely adopted, it will help improve how consumers interact with products, streamline processes and boost users confidence. Phygital will be the gate connecting the real world and the digital world, where the two worlds converge and exist in parallel, said Huy Nguyen, co-founder of Phygital Labs. This will be a completely new revenue stream, reshaping traditional standards and creating a potential digital economy. The story behind Nomions name adds an extra layer of depth. Esperanto, the language from which Nominion is derived, was created with the aim of fostering world peace during times of conflict in the late 19th century. Just as Esperanto sought to bridge linguistic divides, Nomion aspires to unite the physical and digital worlds, unlocking the potential of both. Burgeoning beyond borders Phygital Labs is not content with merely introducing Nomion to the market. The companys ambitious vision extends far beyond Vietnams borders. The company aims to increase awareness and expand its coverage throughout Vietnam. By 2025-2026, it plans to make its mark in the Southeast Asian region before setting its sights on a global presence. As a testament to its commitment, Phygital Labs has already inked significant partnerships. The company recently signed agreements with UNESCO Vietnam and Non Nuoc Stone Craft Village in Ngu Hanh Son, Da Nang, as well as several provinces for OCOP (One Commune One Product) products. These partnerships underscore the companys dedication to not only driving innovation but also promoting cultural heritage and economic development. Positioning our company at the forefront of this new market will allow us to be a leader in bridging the gap between reality and digital with our innovative solution, and introduce a new paradigm of digital economy to best benefit the world, said Nguyen. With its revolutionary phygital solutionNomion, Phygital Labs sets its sights on the future that awaits Vietnams digital economy and the global tech space. ### Media contact Name: Julie Pham Email: [email protected] Telegram: @JulPham Albuquerque, NM, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance (AREA) promoted the New Mexico bioscience industry, learned about the latest bioscience trends, and connected with companies interested in relocating or expanding their business in greater Albuquerque, at the Annual MedTech Conference, this week at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. The greater Albuquerque region has a growing number of biosicence assets and workforce clusters that make it a prime location for medical technology companies, said AREA President & CEO Danielle Casey. This conference gave us an opportunity to highlight assets driving that growth, to understand how to best support our local firms and to see how trends and technology are shaping site location and expansion decisions. Representatives from AREA hosted a booth at the conference with partners from the City of Albuquerque Economic Development Department, the New Mexico Biotechnology & Biomedical Association (NMBio), Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), and the University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences. Each partner highlighted different aspects of the bioscience industry, which is broadly defined as any science that deals with the biological aspects of living organisms, by showcasing their respective organizations. The greater Albuquerque region is developing a thriving biotechnology sector that can harness the skills and knowledge of its talented workforce, said NMBio Executive Director Greg Byrnes. The Albuquerque metro has established programs and incentives that welcome risk takers and pioneers and the businesses and consultants that will nurture these companies that are essential to growing New Mexicos economy. The region has seen consistent growth within the industry, thanks to high concentrations of technical occupations, key regional assets like national laboratories and top-tier research universities, and a statewide talent pipeline of STEM-based graduates that has seen steady growth over the past five years. The region boasts nearly four times the concentration of industrial engineering technicians and computer and information research scientists, compared to the national average, and also features the highest count of jobs, more than 15,000, for scientific research and development among comparable metropolitan areas with populations 500,000 to 1 million. The bioscience and life science industries in New Mexico have been experiencing steady growth, contributing significantly to the state's economy and the broader scientific research landscape, said UNM Health Sciences Director of Economic Development Ryan Cangiolosi. Participating in this conference has afforded us the opportunity to showcase our novel discoveries and the vibrant ecosystem of research institutions, biotechnology and bioscience companies, as well as collaborative efforts in economic development within New Mexico." These key concentrations of both workforce and industry assets have led to consistent growth for science and technology firms in the region. In March 2022, Curia, a leading contract research, development, and manufacturing organization, announced a more than $100 million expansion, and, in March 2023, BioFlyte, a bioaerosol surveillance firm which manufacturers fieldable biological threat collection, detection, and identification solutions, that recently launched a pilot program for its technology at the Pittsburgh International Airport, announced its move to a new 5,300 square-foot-facility in the Sandia Science and Technology Park. One of the many reasons Albuquerque has been so successful at bringing new companies to the region is the ease of accessibility with city and state decision-makers who can help streamline the process for businesses, said City of Albuquerque Economic Development Director Max Gruner. This not only helps to proactively address potential issues, but also allows us to connect companies with the resources they need to be successful in the long-term. In addition to industry assets and a diverse talent pool, the region is known for working collaboratively to support business expansions. This was especially evident for one recently announced project, a more than $1 billion expansion from Singapore-based Maxeon Solar Technologies, a solar panel manufacturer, that worked extensively with state and local officials, local economic development organizations and utilities to ensure questions were addressed quickly and proactively all within a 60-day timeframe. PNM is proud to partner with AREA in growing our New Mexico bioscience industry cluster, said PNM Economic Development Specialist Kristen Gamboa. Electricity is the lifeblood of medical technology, powering innovation that saves lives and improves healthcare. It enables the seamless operation of life-saving devices, diagnostic tools and cutting-edgemedical advancements. According to the MedTech website, the MedTech Conference brings the top executives and innovators from across the world (and the industry) together to explore critical topics, share visions for the future and build them, together. The event is set to draw an attendance of more then 3,500 attendees, 400 speakers, 200 exhibitors and 1,500 companies from 45 countries. For more information about AREAs participation in the conference, visit: abq.org/medtech For more information about the conference, visit: themedtechconference.com. Danielle Casey Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance 505-705-3785 [email protected] Source: Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance GLASTONBURY, Conn., Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Close to Home Sewing Center, the certified BERNINA dealer, is proud to announce its 10th Annual Sew-A-Thon, a yearly event in the Glastonbury community. The local shop has partnered with volunteers from the Middlesex Health and Hospice & Palliative for a volunteer event to offer comfort items like pillowcases and nightshirts to the hospice patients. Middlesex Health and Hospice & Palliative Care Program has built a beautiful space for end of life patients, shared owner Marilyn Gattinella, and were honored to be able to bring the community together to contribute handmade items to bring comfort and a sense of warmth. All are invited to volunteer, no sewing experience is required to participate. Fabrics will be precut and experienced instructors will guide volunteers how to operate sewing machines, iron, pin, and more. Additionally, lunch and snacks will be provided throughout the two-day volunteer event. Event Details:What: 10th Annual Sew-A-ThonWhere: Close to Home Sewing Centers Glastonbury location at 277 Hebron AveWhen: Friday, October 20th, 2023, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Saturday, October 21st, 2023, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PMCost: FreeFor further information, please contact Close to Home Sewing Center at 860-633-0721 or visit closetohomestores.com. ABOUT BERNINA BERNINA is the world's premier manufacturer of quality state-of-the-art sewing, quilting and embroidery machines, overlockers and embroidery software. Since being founded over 130 years ago, BERNINA has maintained a strong commitment to serving the creative community. This dedication threads through the Swiss precision found in every machine, the training and education available through our over 400 fully trained independent BERNINA Dealers and the endless tutorials and content shared on the BERNINA WeAllSew blog and social media channels. BERNINA products are designed for beginning to advanced sewists and priced to meet a variety of budgets, with new products being introduced every year. CONTACT: Samantha Shreve Lola Charles CommunicationsEMAIL: [email protected] 10th Annual Sew-A-Thon: Save the Date! Close to Home Sewing Center, the certified BERNINA dealer, is proud to announce its 10th Annual Sew-A-Thon, a yearly event in the Glastonbury community. Source: BERNINA of America CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Helium Evolution Incorporated (TSXV: HEVI) ("HEVI" or the "Company"), a Canadian-based helium exploration company focused on developing assets in southern Saskatchewan, is pleased to announce that its farm-in partner, North American Helium Inc. (NAH), has served the Company notice of its intention to drill a joint well on the lands NAH earned pursuant to the farm-out agreement (the Amended Farmout Agreement) announced on October 21, 2022. The joint well is expected to spud before the end of November 2023, and will be located at 9-18-3-8W3M (Joint Well #2). Joint Well #2 is the second confirmed joint well and is in addition to the eight previously announced wells to be drilled by NAH on HEVI lands. HEVI has confirmed that it will participate in the drilling of Joint Well #2 at its 20% working interest, which is estimated to cost the Company approximately $0.4 million net. Funding of the Companys share of Joint Well #2 is supported by HEVIs strong working capital position which totaled $8.8 million at June 30, 2023. Stay Connected to Helium Evolution Shareholders and other parties interested in learning more about the Helium Evolution opportunity are encouraged to visit the Companys website, which includes an updated corporate presentation, and are invited to follow the Company on LinkedIn and Twitter for ongoing corporate updates and helium industry information. Helium Evolution also provides an extensive, commissioned deep-dive research report prepared by a third party whose background includes serving as a research analyst for several bank-owned and independent investment dealers. In addition to recent media articles, HEVI maintains a profile on the Investing News Network platform, where further information, editorial pieces and industry reviews are available. About Helium Evolution Incorporated Helium Evolution is a Canadian-based helium exploration company holding the largest helium land rights position in North America among publicly-traded companies, focused on developing assets in southern Saskatchewan. The Company has over five million acres of land under permit near proven discoveries of economic helium concentrations which will support scaling the exploration and development efforts across its land base. HEVIs management and board are executing a differentiated strategy to become a leading supplier of sustainably-produced helium for the growing global helium market. For further information, please contact: Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this document include statements regarding the anticipated spud date of Joint Well #2, the cost to drill Joint Well #2, the Company's expectations regarding the Company becoming a leading supplier of sustainably-produced helium, the Companys strong working capital position, the Company's beliefs regarding growth of the global helium market and other statements that are not historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, among others: NAH may be unsuccessful in drilling commercially productive wells; drill costs may be higher or lower than estimates; NAH may defer, abandon or accelerate the drilling of Joint Well #2; new laws or regulations and/or unforeseen events could adversely affect the Companys business and results of operations; stock markets have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the performance of companies and such volatility may adversely affect the price of the Company's securities regardless of its operating performance; risks generally associated with the exploration for and production of resources; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to expenses and the Companys working capital position; constraint in the availability of services; commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations; adverse weather or break-up conditions; and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. When relying on forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and risks other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraphs will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Source: Helium Evolution Incorporated PASCAGOULA, Miss., Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HIIs (NYSE: HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has delivered national security cutter Calhoun (WMSL 759) to the U.S. Coast Guard. Delivery documents signed Friday mark the official transfer of the ship from HII to the Coast Guard. Our shipbuilders are honored to deliver our 10th national security cutter to the Coast Guard, Ingalls Shipbuilding NSC Program Manager Amanda Whitaker said. The entire NSC shipbuilding team has worked hard to prepare this ship for the broad range of missions that will be accomplished by the crew from this day forward. Our shipbuilders will follow the Coast Guard Cutter Calhoun with great pride as it joins the Coast Guard cutter fleet. Ingalls has delivered 10 Legend-class national security cutters to the Coast Guard, including Calhoun, further enabling their important missions around the globe. For over two decades, Ingalls Shipbuilding has designed and built the Coast Guards Legend-class national security cutters. These ships are capable of embarking and supporting a wide range of Coast Guard, Navy and NATO missions. National security cutters have proven to be ideal platforms for drug interdiction, global illegal fishing, disaster relief and defense support operations. Photos accompanying this release are available at: https://hii.com/news/hii-delivers-national-security-cutter-calhoun-wmsl-759-us-coast-guard. NSC 10 is named to honor Charles L. Calhoun, the first master chief petty Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard. Calhoun served in the U.S. Navy for three years during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1946 as a torpedomans mate petty officer 2nd class. He enlisted in the Coast Guard that same year and held varying positions of leadership over the course of his career. For more information about the national security cutters built at Ingalls Shipbuilding, visit: https://hii.com/what-we-do/capabilities/national-security-cutters/. HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HIIs mission is to deliver the worlds most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world. As the nations largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HIIs workforce is 43,000 strong. For more information, visit: HII on the web: https://www.HII.com/ HII on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamHII HII on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/WeAreHII HII on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WeAreHII Contact: Kimberly K. Aguillard 228-355-5663 [email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bb262f67-7738-4e9f-af2a-53df8310d55d Hong Kong, China, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recently, the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Award Ceremony, hosted by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, was held at the branch venues in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macao. The event was supported by the local governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, the Liaison Offices of the Central Peoples Government in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region, major chambers of commerce in Hong Kong and Macao, the Guangdong Federation of Industry and Commerce, and academic institutions. John Lee ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Cai Guanshen, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and founding chairman of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, attended the event and delivered a speech. Ji Kun, the co-founder and president of Linklogis, was recognized as an Outstanding Young Entrepreneur in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The event recognizes the contributions and achievements of young entrepreneurs to the economic development of the society, enhances the cohesion and influence of youth in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and promotes innovative development in the region. The event has attracted over a thousand entrepreneurs competing for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Awards. The winners include well-known founders and executives from various industries. Promoting Exchanges in the GBA, A Hundred Young Entrepreneurs Received the Honor The selection of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Awards aims to discover vibrant and promising young entrepreneurs in the region, and recognizing their outstanding contributions and achievements to the industry and socioeconomic development of the Greater Bay Area. John Lee ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said that since its establishment, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union has been promoting exchange and cooperation among enterprises in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, and facilitating work in various areas such as technological innovation and youth entrepreneurship. John Lee ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region This year, the award received more than 1,300 applications from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. After a professional and rigorous selection process, as well as independent evaluation by academic institutions and invited experts, about 100 young entrepreneurs from the Greater Bay Area stood out from over a thousand candidates, receiving awards such as the Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs of the Greater Bay Area, Best Entrepreneurship Award, Best Technology Innovation Award, Best Business Service Award, Best Social Responsibility Award, and Best Cultural Creative Award. The majority of them are well-known founders and executives from various industries such as innovative technology, healthcare, cultural creativity, and architecture design. As one of the winner of the Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs in the Greater Bay Area, Ji Kun, the co-founder and president of Linklogis, has many years of work experience in finance. He has conducted in-depth research and accumulated rich practical experience in marketing management and supply chain finance for corporate business. He has pioneered a technological innovation model that deeply integrates supply chain finance with the internet and industrial financing in China, and has gained successful practice experiences in the field of supply chain finance technology. Centering around the Greater Bay Area, Linklogis Continues to Deepen its International Business Linklogis, as a growing company deeply rooted in the Greater Bay Area, was established in Shenzhen in February 2016. In 2019, Linklogis established a branch in Hong Kong and launched the first blockchain-based cross-border supply chain financing platform in China, marking the initiation of Linklogis internationalization strategy. The open and pluralist global expansion strategy also signifies a broader development prospects of Linklogis in the future. Benefiting from the innovative atmosphere of the Greater Bay Area, Linklogis has experienced rapid growth. In April 2021, Linklogis was successfully listed on the main board of HKEX in April 2021, becoming the first supply chain finance technology SaaS enterprise listed in China. In 2022, Linklogis was recognized as MNC Regional Headquarters in Shenzhen by the Shenzhen government. Adhering to the vision of being the leading supply chain finance technology solutions provider, Linklogis strives to maintain its leading market share domestically while continuously expanding its international business. In the first half of 2023, Olea, the joint venture set up by Linklogis and Standard Chartered, successfully entered the Vietnamese market, expanding local and cross-border trade financing businesses in Vietnam. Besides, Linklogis participated in an innovation project led by the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, jointly developing prototypes with partners including Standard Chartered to explore the digital trade token solutions for SME financing. In the first half of 2023, the total volume of supply chain assets processed by Linklogis Cross-border Cloud was RMB5.7 billion, up 23% year-over-year. The boundless potential of the Greater Bay Area has attracted numerous enterprises to take root here. Capitalizing on various opportunities, enterprises have created one remarkable achievement after another, while the young entrepreneurs growing alongside them are also continuously improving their cohesion and influence, jointly driving the innovative development of the Greater Bay Area. Ji Kun, the co-founder and president of Linklogis Ji Kun said, I am honored to receive the award of 'Outstanding Young Entrepreneur in the Greater Bay Area.' This award is not only a recognition for Linklogis contributions to the supply chain finance technology industry, but also an affirmation of our efforts in the economic development of the Greater Bay Area. As a leading supply chain finance technology solutions provider in China, Linklogis will continue to actively participate in the construction of the Greater Bay Area. We will leverage cutting-edge technologies and rich experiences to drive innovation in supply chain finance technology, bringing more vitality to the supply chain ecosystem and the socioeconomic development. Gloria Zhou PR Manager Linklogis zhoushiqian-at-linklogis.com Source: Linklogis Salisbury, MD, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perdue Farms, named one the most trustworthy companies in America by Newsweek, hosted its eighth annual Animal Care Summit this week near its Salisbury, Maryland headquarters. The annual event plays an integral role in the companys animal care strategy, with this years summit focused on reaffirming the importance of, and Perdues commitment to, No Antibiotics Ever (NAE) practices. In 2002, we listened to consumers and made the decision to transform our company in order to remove all antibiotics from Perdue products. To accomplish that, we needed to enhance our animal care practices, ultimately benefitting the health, environment and quality of our chickens, said Dr. Bruce Stewart-Brown, Perdues Senior Vice President of Technical Services and Innovation and veterinarian who is helping guide Perdues approach to animal care. Using antibiotics for preventive care can be a crutch, and we firmly believe a better, more sustainable approach is to provide better care, and stop covering up poor environmental conditions and bad practices. At Perdue, our annual Animal Care Summit allows us to share our latest progress and challenges, including the balance of advancing animal care practices while leveraging our vertical integration to improve environmental impacts across our supply chain, said Drew Getty, Vice President of Environmental Sustainability at Perdue Farms. Were proud of our long legacy of animal care, which dates back to the companys founding in 1920. Its not always the easy way, but its the Perdue way. This year, summit attendees including farmers, retailers, and animal advocates experienced an interactive farm tour for an inside look at how Perdue is investing in the future, including: A first-ever look into the future of chicken house enrichments , an innovative advancement that shows how enrichments can provide space improvements, giving chickens the opportunity to move beyond the floor of the chicken house. , an innovative advancement that shows how enrichments can provide space improvements, giving chickens the opportunity to move beyond the floor of the chicken house. A deep dive into on-farm hatcheries , showcasing the positive benefits of this unique practice and the interesting research behind Perdues strategy. , showcasing the positive benefits of this unique practice and the interesting research behind Perdues strategy. An interactive chicken feed demonstration, transparently explaining the benefits of the nutritious, all vegetarian, no-antibiotic-ever feed that is given to every Perdue chicken. Dr. Stewart-Brown, Dr. Lance Price, professor at George Washington University, and Dr. Michelle Kromm, principal at FoodForward LLC, offered an in-depth look at the state of antibiotics in livestock, including roadblocks to curbing unnecessary use and the implications of overuse, from diminished efficacy of antibiotics for humans to lessened ability to treat sick animals. The panel also emphasized the importance of working closely with veterinarians to bring solutions to the broader animal agriculture industry. In addition, attendees heard from experts on a variety of topics, including the Better Chicken Commitment and our research into slower growing breeds. Perdue presented the results of a 26-flock trial involving side by side houses comparing the current commercial breed compared to a GAP/BCC compliant slower growing breed. This trial also included a Life Cycle Assessment comparing the carbon footprint of these two breeds. A worldwide expert on Avian Influenza, Dr. David Swayne, helped the audience understand the current state of avian influenza. His comments included the diseases history as well as what might be expected in the coming year. Perdues annual Animal Care Summit exemplifies the companys transparency in its practices to key stakeholders by showing its progress to its Commitments to Animal Care program established in 2016, which includes: Chickens : Based on the Five Freedoms, Perdue will go beyond just the needs of its chickens to also include what its chickens want. : Based on the Five Freedoms, Perdue will go beyond just the needs of its chickens to also include what its chickens want. Farms : Perdue will recommit to relationships with farmers who raise its animals. : Perdue will recommit to relationships with farmers who raise its animals. Trust : To build trust, Perdue will be transparent in its programs, goals, and progress. : To build trust, Perdue will be transparent in its programs, goals, and progress. Continuous Improvement: Perdue will continue to build an animal care culture within the company through continuous improvement. Watch this video to learn more about Perdues Commitments to Animal Care journey of continuous improvement. About Perdue Farms Were a fourth-generation, family-owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services. The premium protein portfolio within our Perdue Foods business, including our flagship PERDUE brand, Niman Ranch, Coleman Natural, and Yummy, as well as our pet brands, Spot Farms and Full Moon, is available through various channels including retail, foodservice, club stores, and our direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com. Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. Now in our companys second century, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey, pork, beef, and lamb, and in USDA-certified organic chicken and beef. Learn more at Corporate.PerdueFarms.com. Attachment Libby Foxman Perdue Farms [email protected] Source: Perdue Farms October 13, 2023 Animations, colors, and shapes help to improve poor situational awareness, which is responsible for 81.5% of anesthesia-related errors Amsterdam, the Netherlands Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced the launch of Visual Patient Avatar , a revolutionary new monitoring solution that translates critical, yet complex patient data into a straightforward visual design as an easy-to-understand avatar display. In todays operating rooms (ORs), time constraints and information overload contribute to poor situational awareness, which is responsible for 81.5% of anesthesia-related errors [1]. In the past, monitors in the OR told the patients story by displaying vital signs and numbers that took time to interpret, potentially affecting the caregivers ability to absorb information and make timely clinical decisions. Visual Patient Avatar is designed to improve situational awareness with ground-breaking elegance by visualizing vital information through animations, colors and shapes. By glancing at a monitor with Visual Patient Avatar, anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists can recall and process critical data more quickly, efficiently and confidently ultimately helping to save lives. This new view has the potential to provide clinical teams with the peace of mind to concentrate on what matters most and prepare for what may come next. A uniquely inspired design to improve situational awareness Visual Patient Avatar was designed in partnership with two clinicians at the Visualization Technology Research Group at the Institute of Anesthesiology, University Hospital of Zurich. The inspiration for Visual Patient Avatar came from a hobby of the two clinicians, flying airplanes. During flights, an airplanes dashboard uses synthetic vision technology to share straightforward illustrations that mirror flight environments. This visual representation of what is going on around them has been found to help pilots confidently make flight-related decisions. The clinicians saw the benefit of deploying a similar visual approach to patient monitors, believing that presenting data and information in a simple, visual way that has a logical commonality to the patient could help reduce human error in the OR. Created by anesthesiologists for anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists, the intentionally simple design of Visual Patient Avatar is having a profound impact on clinical confidence and addressing cognitive overload, said Christoph Pedain, General Manager, Hospital Patient Monitoring at Philips. By helping clinical care teams make timely decisions without losing their cognitive focus, they can prepare for what may come next improving patient outcomes and saving lives. Proven results in the real-world setting The launch of Visual Patient Avatar is the latest example of Philips long-standing commitment to providing clinicians with reliable clinical decision support. To ensure the design of the Visual Patient Avatar would provide clinicians with the support they need in their daily roles, Philips and University Hospital of Zurich together conducted studies with over 150 clinicians in two Swiss hospitals to validate and refine Visual Patient Avatar using a range of proven methods. Key findings include: Compared to the identical conventional monitoring scenarios, Visual Patient Avatar more than doubled the number of vital signs participants could recall after 3- and 10-second looks at the monitor. [2] Visual Patient Avatar increased the percentage of perceived vital signs by 57% when viewed for 10 seconds, and the perceived workload for the task decreased by 12%. [3] During the first use of Visual Patient Avatar, 73% of all vital sign information was correctly identified. [4] Both flying planes and caring for patients involve continuous evaluation of critical parameters in high-stakes environments, agreed David Tscholl, MD and Christoph Nothiger, MD, consulting Anesthesiologists at University Hospital of Zurich. As licensed pilots and anesthesiologists, we know the impact that situational awareness has on the successful outcome of our tasks and the safety of those who are affected by our work. In the air and in the OR. We had a vision to simplify the way critical information is presented in clinical settings and working with Philips to help bring this vision to life is sure to help revolutionize care. On Sunday, October 15 from 12-12:30 pm PST at the exhibit hall Center Stage, the co-creators of Visual Patient Avatar, Drs. David Tscholl and Christoph Nothiger of University Hospital of Zurich, will present data highlighting Visual Patient Avatar's effectiveness at the American Society of Anesthesiologists conference in San Francisco (October 13-17, 2023). Visual Patient Avatar will be available as an option on select IntelliVue patient monitors in 185 countries. For more information on Philips Visual Patient Avatar, please visit www.philips.com/visual-patient-avatar . [1] Schulz et al. BMCA. 2016, Anesthesiology. 2017. [2] MC Anesthesiol. 2016;16(14) doi: 10.1186/s12871-016-0172-7 2 Tscholl DW, Handschin L, Neubauer P, et al. Using an animated patient avatar to improve perception of vital sign information by anesthesia professionals. British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2018;121(3):662-671. doi: 10.1016/j.bja.2018.04.024 [3] Garot O, Rossler J, Pfarr J, et al. Avatar-based versus conventional vital sign display in a central monitor for monitoring multiple patients: a multicenter computer-based laboratory study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making.2020;20(26). doi.org/10.1186/s12911-020-1032-4 [4] 6 Wetli DJ, Bergauer L, Nothiger CB, et al. Improving Visual-Patient-Avatar Design Prior to Its Clinical Release: A Mixed Qualitative and Quantitative Study. Diagnostics (Basel). 2022;12(2):555.5. doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics12020555 For further information, please contact: Meredith Amoroso Philips Global Press Office Tel.: +1 724-584-8991 E-mail: [email protected] About Royal Philips Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Philips patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, image-guided therapy, monitoring and enterprise informatics, as well as in personal health. Philips generated 2022 sales of EUR 17.8 billion and employs approximately 71,500 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter . Attachments Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is leading to "corrosion of the entire world sport." The diplomat is convinced that the IOC does everything solely under pressure from Washington. ADVERTISIMENT "The double standards and deliberate segregation based on nationality by the IOC leadership are blatant infringements on the rights of Russian athletes, and ultimately a violation of basic human rights," Zakharova hysterically stated. The Russian Foreign Ministry representative accused the IOC of political bias, promising to "use the necessary international legal instruments to defend the rights of domestic athletes, establish mutually respectful communication, and bring peoples closer together." Zakharova's pathetic speeches provoked gloating comments from Russian fans. ADVERTISIMENT The 47-year-old official is reminded of her alcohol addiction, calling her statements "verbal diarrhea." As OBOZ.UA reported earlier, the IOC reacted to the illegal inclusion of Olympic councils from the occupied territories of Ukraine in the ROC by suspending Russia from the IOC. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Stockholm, Sweden and Cambridge, MA, USA 13 October 2023 - Sound Bioventures, a venture capital fund investing in about-to-be clinical or clinical stage private companies in Europe and the USA developing specialty therapeutics, today announced that Fredrik Lehmann, Ph.D., MBA has joined the company as its first Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Fredrik will lead our efforts to identify promising clinical, or soon to be clinical candidate drugs from academic or industry sources (where they are considered to be non-core) and create new companies around them, providing capital, development expertise, and access to additional resources within our extensive network. Johan Kordel, Ph.D., Managing Partner of Sound Bioventures, said: We are very pleased to welcome Fredrik to the team. We are keen to support exceptional people who share our passion to build companies seeking to develop new therapies that can make a significant difference to the lives of patients. Fredrik brings a wealth of experience including as an entrepreneur and venture partner, and we look forward to him playing an active part in growing and developing our investment portfolio. Before joining Sound Bioventures, Fredrik was a venture partner at Swedish venture capital fund Industrifonden. Prior to this, he worked in a variety of biotech industry executive and operational roles including as CEO, Head of Research and CMC Director for several biotech companies, including Oncopeptides (as Head of Research and CMC), Recipharm (General Manager) and EpiEndo (CEO and CMC Director). He also founded several life science companies, including OT Chemistry, which was acquired by Recipharm in 2015. Fredrik gained his Ph.D. from Goteborg University and an executive MBA from Stockholm School of Economics. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and been responsible for more than 25 international patent applications. Fredrik Lehmann, Ph.D., MBA, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, added: I have been impressed by the commitment of the Sound Bioventures team to back innovative companies where they can really make a difference. The company has a robust investment process, a great team and company values that really resonate with me. I am excited to be working with them and look forward to contributing my expertise to the growth and development of existing and new investments. *** About Sound Bioventures Sound Bioventures is a specialist life sciences venture capital fund investing in about-to-be clinical or clinical stage private companies in Europe and the USA developing specialty therapeutics in areas of significant clinical unmet need. The founding team has an active, hands-on approach and brings considerable operational and VC investment experience, including working together on over 40 investments over the past 15 years. Sound Bioventures operates from key locations in Copenhagen (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden) and Washington DC (USA). Sound Bioventures Fund I AB is a registered alternative investment fund, under the Swedish Alternative Investment Funds Managers Act. For more information see our website Sound Bioventures Venture Capital Fund Contacts Sound Bioventures [email protected] Vancouver, British Columbia, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spirit Blockchain Capital Inc. (CSE: SPIR) (the Company or Spirit), a leading digital asset investment firm, reports that, further to its press release dated February 6, 2023, it has reached a mutual agreement with InvestDEFY Technologies Inc. (InvestDEFY), a full stack AI platform that powers unique structured products for the digital asset space, to settle the cash component of the consideration in common shares of the Company (the Common Shares) in order to increase InvestDEFYs equity position in Spirit. Accordingly, the Company will issue an aggregate of 4,275,000 Common Shares to InvestDEFY at a price of $0.05 per Common Share on October 20, 2023 in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. All Common Shares to be issued are subject to a statutory four month hold period in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange and applicable securities laws. None of the securities to be issued have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act), and none may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act. On Behalf of the Board of DirectorsLewis BatemanChief Executive Officer About Spirit Blockchain Capital Spirit Blockchain Capital is a leading investment company at the forefront of the blockchain industry. Through our operational business line and asset management business, we provide investors with a range of opportunities for capital appreciation. With a strong focus on innovation, strategic investments, and operational excellence, Spirit Blockchain is poised to unlock the potential of the digital economy. To learn more about Spirit, please visit: https://www.spiritblockchain.com Media Contact: Lewis BatemanChief Executive OfficerEmail: [email protected] Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections, or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct, and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Companys public filings under the Companys SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law. The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release. Source: Spirit Blockchain Capital Inc. Vaughan, ON, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Todays Supreme Court ruling is welcomed news for building critical infrastructure in Ontario. It reaffirms the provinces clear mandate to build and manage critical infrastructure in its own jurisdiction." Ontario is a growing province and needs to build new critical infrastructure, including Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass, and transit projects across the province to realize the more prosperous society that renews the promise of Ontario for future generations. Removing duplicative regulations and unnecessary impediments provides clarity for labour, industry and investors on the requirements and opportunities to build for our provinces future. RCCAO Executive Director Nadia Todorova is available for interviews. Background on RCCAO: The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) is a labour-management construction alliance. Since its formation in 2005, RCCAO has been a leading industry advocate for infrastructure investment. It has commissioned 61 independent, solutions-based research reports to help inform decision makers. Attachment Dominic Stewart Conaptus Ltd. 416.639.6090 [email protected] Source: RCCAO Program honors the most forward-thinking teams in data management and analytics. SEATTLE, WA, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TDWI, the leading provider of education and research for data and analytics professionals worldwide, is pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 TDWI Best Practices Awards . The awards recognize commercial and nonprofit enterprises that have demonstrated excellence and innovation in implementing advanced analytics, business intelligence, or modern data management. The program was open to organizations of all sizes and all industries, and winners were selected by a panel of experts in the field, including esteemed TDWI analysts and faculty members. The 2023 awards recognize achievements in two categories: analytics (including self-service, advanced analytics, and data science) and data management strategies. The judges evaluated dozens of submissions across four criteria: business impact, maturity, relevance, and innovation. Winners exemplify best practices that other enterprises can adopt and showcase innovations in the data management and analytics space. In the Analytics category, TDWIs Best Practices Award was given to Emirates Group, an international aviation holding company headquartered in Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for its analytics work. Emirates implementation was a model for other organizations; the judges appreciated the amount and diversity of source data Emirates group deals with, including reservations, website, loyalty, and baggage data as well as customer feedback. Emirates is succeeding with self-service analytics as well as more advanced analytics and has shown measurable impact. Emirates Group has also implemented a Proof of Value framework as part of its process to get programs started that the judges found insightful. The Best Practices Award in the Data Management Strategies category was won by PETRONAS, a global Malaysian energy group with presence in over 100 countries. The judges appreciated the companys notion of data transformation and liberalization and were impressed with the development and deployment of their Enterprise Data Hub platform and how PETRONAS managed to integrate hundreds of data sources at high volume. The judges also cited the PETRONAS Data+ self-service portal and the ENIGMA platform the company developed to address unstructured data as evidence of a mature deployment. "The 2023 Best Practices Awards program recognizes organizations that are leveraging data to drive business value and competitive advantage," said Meighan Berberich, president of TDWI. "The awards program showcases innovative solutions and best practices and illustrates how organizations have tackled challenges using data and analytics. Its a great inspiration for applying some of the same principles to an organizations own environment. Were pleased to shed light on Emirates Group and PETRONAS for their achievements." In addition to Emirates Group and PETRONAS, TDWI is also giving special awards to Bangor Savings Bank for its data literacy work and ChenMed for its innovative use of predictive analytics. Emirates Air also received an honorable mention in the data management category. More information is available about the 2023 awards at tdwi.org/awards . Winners will be honored at an awards ceremony at TDWIs conference in Orlando , Florida, being held November 510, 2023. About TDWI For over 25 years, TDWI has provided individuals and teams with a comprehensive portfolio of business and technical education and research about all things data. TDWIs in-depth, best-practices-based knowledge can be quickly applied to develop world-class talent across your organizations business and IT functions to enhance analytical, data-driven decision making. TDWI offers major conferences as well as topical seminars, onsite education, membership, certification, live webinars, resource-filled publications, industry news, and in-depth research. See tdwi.org or follow us on LinkedIn at tdwi.org/linkedin . About 1105 Media 1105 Media, Inc., is a leading provider of integrated information and media in targeted business-to-business markets, including specialized sectors of the information technology community; industrial health, safety, and compliance; security; environmental protection; and home healthcare. 1105's offerings span print and online magazines, journals, and newsletters; seminars, conferences, and trade shows; training courseware; and web-based services. 1105 Media is based in Woodland Hills, California, with offices throughout the U.S. ### Attachment Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the New Civil Liberties Alliances Relentless Inc., et al. v. Dept. of Commerce, et al. lawsuit challenging the Chevron precedent and an unconstitutional federal rule requiring fishing companies to pay for at-sea government monitoring of their herring catch. The case will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court during the January 2024 argument session in tandem with the case of Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Gina Raimondo, which challenges the same at-sea monitor rule. NCLA thanks the Court for granting a writ of certiorari in Relentless, which presents an important opportunity to sweep away the fatally flawed Chevron doctrine and vindicate fishermens fundamental rights. The U.S. Department of Commerces National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) implemented a Final Rule in 2020 to force fishing companies like Relentless Inc., Huntress Inc., and Seafreeze Fleet LLC, to pay for human monitors aboard their vessels. This would be like forcing motorists to pay for ride-along state troopers to monitor their speed. Not surprisingly, Congress never gave the agency authority to launch such a program. NCLAs clients are small businesses that commercially fish for Atlantic herring (as well as mackerel, Loligo and Illex squids, and butterfish). Paying for monitors would cost them more than $700 per day, substantially cutting intoor even exceedingtheir daily fishing profits for herring. The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), which governs U.S. fisheries, does not support such a rule. In Relentless and Loper Bright, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to overrule Chevron. It might instead take the lesser step of saying that statutory silence does not create an ambiguity to which Chevron deference may be applied. The U.S. Supreme Court already granted certiorari earlier this year in Loper Bright, which had unsuccessfully challenged the same at-sea monitor rule in the D.C. Circuit. By arguing the same question in Relentless, NCLA will fully brief two core problems with Chevron deference that NCLAs founder, Philip Hamburger, is famous for first positing. Namely, when a federal judge defers to an agencys interpretation of law, doing so denies due process of law to the entity opposed to the government in that litigation. Employing such deference also abandons a judges Article III duty of judicial independence. The logic of Chevron deference cannot withstand this devastating dual critique. Neither the doctrine nor NOAAs unconstitutional rule should survive. NCLA released the following statements: Our clients have persevered in this suit relentlessly, you might say, and we are eager to reverse the error of the lower courts and remove the unfair and unnecessary thumb on the scale for bureaucracy against citizens that Chevron deference inflicts on them when they face their government in court. John Vecchione, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA For nearly 40 years Chevron has violated judicial independence and denied due process of law for people litigating against the government. When litigating against the United States, no one should face a judge who is forced to defer to the government's interpretation of the law. NCLA was founded to right this wrong, and we look forward to doing so at the U.S. Supreme Court for our clients and all Americans. Mark Chenoweth, President and General Counsel, NCLA For more information visit the case page here and watch the case video here. ABOUT NCLA NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights. ### Joe Martyak New Civil Liberties Alliance 703-403-1111 [email protected] Source: New Civil Liberties Alliance Sign up for StreetInsider Free! Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more! Top industry executives in the copper industry say the market should prepare for a long-term supply squeeze of the red metal. Even though copper prices have softened in recent weeks and the market is expected to see a surplus in 2024, top executives predict supply shortfalls thanks to the limited number of copper mines that are under development. Copper producers have been warning about a reduction in ore quality and quantity for several months now, stating that the world currently doesnt have Read More>> NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Arizona Metals Corp. (TSX: AMC) (OTCQX: AZMCF) are available in the companys newsroom at https://ibn.fm/AZMCF About MiningNewsWire MiningNewsWire (MNW) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on developments and opportunities in the Global Mining and Resources sectors. It is one of 60+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, MNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in todays market, MNW brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. MNW is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge. To receive SMS alerts from MiningNewsWire, text BigHole to 844-397-5787 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only) For more information, please visit https://www.MiningNewsWire.com Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the MiningNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by MNW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.MiningNewsWire.com/Disclaimer MiningNewsWire Los Angeles, CA www.MiningNewsWire.com 310.299.1717 Office [email protected] MiningNewsWire is powered by IBN Activision Blizzard Said It Completed Merger With Microsoft From the company: On October 13, 2023 (the Closing Date), Activision Blizzard, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Company), completed the previously announced transaction with Microsoft Corporation, a Washington corporation (Parent), pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of January 18, 2022 (as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, the Merger Agreement), by and among the Company, Parent and Anchorage Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (Merger Sub). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the effective time of the Merger (the Effective Time), Merger Sub merged with and into the Company (the Merger), with the Company surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. By Amy-Jo Crowley, Oliver Hirt and Anousha Sakoui LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) -A bidding war appears to be heating up for multi-billion Swiss franc software firm SoftwareOne Holding AG, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. SoftwareOne, which helps companies manage software purchases from vendors such as Microsoft, Adobe and IBM, received non-binding bids this week from private equity firms Bain Capital and Apax Partners, two people said. The Swiss software manager has been holding management presentations this month as part of a strategic review run by JPMorgan, a third person said. Non-binding bids were due on Oct. 11 and at least four parties submitted proposals, one of the people said. SoftwareOne, which went public on the Swiss exchange in 2019, declined to comment. The bidding revives takeover prospects for the Stans-based company after it rebuffed two approaches by Bain this summer. Bain's proposal this week values SoftwareOne at up to 3.2 billion Swiss francs ($3.55 billion), with the 19.5-20.5 Swiss franc per share range in line with an offer it made in July, a second person said. Bain, Apax and JPMorgan declined to comment. Bain had also made a 2.9 billion Swiss franc offer for SoftwareOne in June with the support of founding shareholders Daniel von Stockar, B Curti Holding and Rene Gilli, who together held 29.1% of the company. SoftwareOne said at the time the offer "materially undervalues" the company and was not in its best interest or that of the majority of its shareholders. It said Bain had made an all cash offer of 18.50 Swiss francs per share to take the company private, representing a 33% premium to the closing price on May 31, when it was presented to SoftwareOne's directors. Bain also promptly rejected Bain's second offer in July, instead opting to launch a strategic review. It said it was open to "proactively discuss options that substantially reflect the fundamental value of the company, including with Bain Capital", while also exploring other options to create value. Most recently, SoftwareOne in August said a strategic review to maximise shareholder value was ongoing, as it reported a 1.7% drop in adjusted earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first half of 2023 to 111.7 million Swiss francs. ($1 = 0.9050 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley, Oliver Hirt and Anousha Sakoui; Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Akwaaba Mining Ltd.(TSXV: AML) ("Akwaaba" or the "Company") announces the consolidation of its common shares on the basis of 1 post-consolidation shares for every 20 pre-consolidation shares issued and outstanding as of the close of business on October 12, 2023. The shares are expected to begin trading on a consolidated basis on the TSX Venture Exchange on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. The share consolidation was approved by the Company's shareholders at the annual and special meeting held on March 31, 2023. The Company's shareholders will receive 1 post-consolidation common share for every 20 pre-consolidation shares held by them. No fractional shares will be issued as a result of the consolidation. Fractional interests will be rounded to the nearest whole number of shares without any consideration payable therefor. The consolidation affects all the Company's common shares outstanding on October 12, 2023. As a result, the number of issued and outstanding shares will be reduced to 10,259,374 from 205,187,470, subject to treatment of fractional shares. Each shareholder's percentage ownership in the Company and proportional voting power will remain unchanged, except for minor adjustments resulting from the treatment of fractional shares. The new CUSIP number for the post-consolidation shares is 01021L205 and the new ISIN number is CA01021L2057. The Company's common shares will continue to trade under the symbol "AML" and the Company's name will not change. Shareholders who hold their shares in brokerage accounts or in "street name" are not required to take any action to effect an exchange of their shares. Registered shareholders will receive a letter of transmittal from Computershare Investor Services Inc., the Company's transfer agent. The letter of transmittal will contain instructions on how registered shareholders can exchange their share certificates representing pre-consolidation shares for new certificates representing post-consolidation shares. Until surrendered, each share certificate representing pre-consolidation shares will represent the number of whole post-consolidation shares to which the holder is entitled as a result of the consolidation. The consolidation will not have any effect on the number of issued and outstanding common share purchase warrants of the Company. However, as a result of the consolidation, the number of shares issuable upon the exercise of each warrant will be reduced and the exercise price increased, the whole in accordance with the terms of the instruments governing the warrants. Management believes that the share consolidation is necessary to provide the Company with a share structure that will better attract capital financing and that will provide for future growth opportunities. The share consolidation is subject to final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange. On behalf of the Board of Akwaaba Mining Ltd.: "Iyad Jarbou" Chief Financial Officer Tel: 604.362.7685 Email: [email protected] FORWARD-LOOKING AND OTHER CAUTIONARY INFORMATION Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain 'forward-looking information' and 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This release may contain statements that are forward looking statements and are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183905 The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the DIU still has no evidence to confirm the death of the leader of the Russian Wagner PMC, a war criminal Yevgeny Prigozhin. However, the picture that Russia has shown is favorable to Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT First of all, there was a significant weakening in Wagner after his alleged death. When this structure acted as a PMC, it was a serious adversary for the Ukrainian army, Budanov said in an interview with UP. "I don't know whether he died or not. But what was the impact of what was shown? It is quite clear that there has been a certain weakening within the PMC. This is good for us, there is nothing to hide. "Wagner was a very serious opponent when it acted as a PMC," he said. Now, a small percentage of Wagner's employees sign contracts with Rosgvardia individually. The probable death of Prigozhin, according to the head of the DIU, gives a huge chance that the Wagner PMC will no longer fight in Ukraine as a single organism. "This was a huge problem for Ukraine. No matter what anyone says, they know how to fight," Budanov added. ADVERTISIMENT He also answered a question about the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who, as previously reported, is very ill and almost at death's door. According to Budanov, he does have health problems, with kidneys in particular. Kadyrov was very ill but recovered. "He has kidney problems. There was a threat to his life but he has overcome it," the head of the DIU added. In late August, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin officially confirmed Prigozhin's death. The Kremlin leader called him a talented businessman and a man of "difficult fate." Later, the Russian president revealed that the leader of the Wagner PMC blew himself up on the plane. According to him, he could have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs. ISW believes that Putin almost certainly ordered the military command, represented by the Ministry of Defense, to shoot down the plane belonging to the Wagner PMC. The plane crashed in the Tver region of Russia on August 23, and Russian media have already confirmed the deaths of the leader and deputy of the private military company in the crash. ADVERTISIMENT In September, it was reported that the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, was in a coma. He was flown to Moscow, but doctors there were unable to help him, and then Kadyrov was returned to Chechnya. Then he was probably transported to the UAE for treatment. As reported by OBOZ.UA, Vadym Skibitskyi, a representative of the DIU, said that the news about Kadyrov's coma and serious condition was not an exaggeration, let alone a fake. However, the odious politician is still alive and continues to perform his duties. Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - iPark, New York's largest family-owned parking company, continues to expand their portfolio with the addition of 10 new parking garages throughout the city. This growth initiative, pioneered by CEO Billy Lerner, involves the establishment of an allotment of new parking facilities, strategically positioned to meet the evolving parking demands of New Yorkers. iPark expanded 2023 locations in New York City With nearly one million people commuting daily to New York City for work, of whom 42% travel by car, the demand for parking facilitates is at an all-time high. This demand places pressure on the parking industry to provide accessible and convenient spaces for workers and residents alike. iPark and Billy Lerner are answering this demand by strategically establishing parking facilities in areas that experience parking congestion, surrounded by businesses and residential developments. This expansion aims to alleviate the parking challenges faced by commuters and residents, providing much-needed relief in the city. Commuter Statistics for New York City iPark and Billy Lerner's expansion plan extends across Manhattan and Queens, featuring new parking garages in key locations such as Midtown, Upper East Side, Murray Hill, Tudor City, and two facilities each in Battery Park, Queens, and Hudson Yards. Selected based on the growing need for accessible parking in these areas, iPark's facilities will allow for a more seamless and stress-free driving experience. Notably, the Battery City Park location, positioned opposite the Davits Centre, is designed to provide parking convenience for theatergoers while the Tudor City location is strategically situated to address the pressing parking needs of NYU Hospital patients. This expansion reflects iPark's dedication to supporting the community and ensuring hassle free access to essential services. At the core of iPark's expansion strategy lies the commitment to enhancing urban mobility and providing convenient parking solutions. These new locations are poised not only to ease the parking challenges experienced by residents and commuters but also to make a substantial contribution to reducing traffic congestion and supporting the community. President and CEO of iPark, Billy Lerner iPark and CEO Billy Lerner remain steadfast in their mission to make parking more accessible, efficient, and stress-free for New Yorkers. These new locations are a testament to the company's dedication to the city's continued growth and development. Published in partnership with iPark. Email: [email protected] 855-472-7569 Website: https://ipark.com/ SOURCE: iPark NYC. Article Sources: New York City Government (2019) Ins and Outs of NYC Commuting: An examination of recent trends and characteristics of commuter exchanges between NYC and the surrounding Metro Region. Available at: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/planning-level/housing-economy/nyc-ins-and-out-of-commuting.pdf To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183892 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Scope Carbon Corp. (CSE: SCPE) (OTCQB: SCPCF) (FSE: VN8) ("Scope" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to 1,250,000 units ("Units") at a price of $1.60 to raise gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one half of a common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional common share at an exercise price of $2.25 for a period of two years upon issuance. The Company does not anticipate paying any finder's fees in connection with the Offering. The Company intends to use the aggregate net proceeds of the Offering in connection with its ongoing acquisition of Farm Flight, Inc. as well as for general working capital purposes. About Scope Carbon Corp. Scope is a technology company located in Vancouver, British Columbia and is focused on the commercial development of its AI-driven image software, which the Company intends to use for the identification and estimation of carbon-based lifeforms and carbon emissions, both key components in the identification of carbon credits. The Company is currently focused on the commercial development of its technology (the "Scope Analysis Platform") through its research and development program, to expand its capabilities of the Scope Analysis Platform and provide a one-tool solution in carbon mapping. For more information please visit Scope Carbon Corp., or follow along on social media. LinkedIn: @Smarter Markets Facebook: Scope Carbon Corp. Twitter: @scopecarboncorp Contact Information James Liang, Chief Executive Officer [email protected] (604) 683 0911 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements that constitute forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical statements of fact are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, future, strategy, objectives, goals and targets, and more specifically any expectations with respect to the Offering, the use of proceeds of the Offering and the completion of the Offering. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable and reflect expectations of future developments and other factors which management believes to be reasonable and relevant, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "aim", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, including, but not limited to, those risks and assumptions described in the Company's prospectus dated August 10, 2022, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. While Scope considers these assumptions to be reasonable, based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. In addition, forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions, continued satisfaction of Canadian Securities Exchange requirements, product safety and recalls, regulatory compliance and risks associated with the Company's business. For more information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause anticipated opportunities and actual results to differ materially, please refer to the risk factors set out in the Company's prospectus dated August 10, 2022, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, unless required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Canadian Securities Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the business of the Company and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof. Not for distribution to United States news wire services or for dissemination in the United States To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183945 Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - TheSecurities and Exchange Commission today adopted new Rule 13f-2 to provide greater transparency to investors and other market participants by increasing the public availability of short sale related data. Congress directed the SEC in Section 929X of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 to promulgate rules to make certain short sale data publicly available. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Congress directed the SEC to enhance the transparency of short selling of equity securities, said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Todays adoption will promote greater transparency about short selling both to regulators and the public. This rule addresses Congresss mandate and improves upon existing sources of short sale-related data in the equity markets. Given past market events, its important for the Commission and the public to know more about short sale activity in the equity markets, especially in times of stress or volatility. Specifically, Rule 13f-2 will require institutional investment managers that meet or exceed certain thresholds to report on Form SHO specified short position data and short activity data for equity securities. The Commission will aggregate the resulting data by security, thereby maintaining the confidentiality of the reporting managers, and publicly disseminate the aggregated data via EDGAR on a delayed basis. This new data will supplement the short sale data that is currently publicly available. Relatedly, the Commission today also adopted an amendment to the National Market System Plan (NMS Plan) governing the consolidated audit trail (CAT). The amendment to the NMS Plan governing the CAT (CAT NMS Plan) will require each CAT reporting firm that is reporting short sales to indicate when it is asserting use of the bona fide market making exception in Rule 203(b)(2)(iii) of Regulation SHO. The adopting release for Rule 13f-2 and related Form SHO, as well as the notice of the amendment to the CAT NMS Plan, will be published in the Federal Register. The final rule, Form SHO, and the amendment to the CAT NMS Plan will become effective 60 days after publication of the adopting release in the Federal Register. The compliance date for Rule 13f-2 and Form SHO will be 12 months after the effective date of the adopting release, with public aggregated reporting to follow three months later, and the compliance date for the amendment to the CAT NMS Plan will be 18 months after the effective date of the adopting release. Colorado City, Colorado--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Grief is an overwhelming emotion. It is a natural response to loss, and in the midst of its turbulent waves, words can have the extraordinary power to be a source of solace, understanding, and healing. Words offer a lifeline to those who are navigating the often treacherous waters of loss, providing comfort in ways that are both profound and transformative."The Birthing House"by Kathy Taylor is one such tale of a remarkable woman who finds strength and comfort in writing as life puts her through trials and tribulations. The Birthing House The book seamlessly weaves together elements of healing, discovery, and the complexity of the human experience. It is a tapestry of friendships, memories, dreams, layers of history, philosophy, and language that will leave an indelible mark on readers. Spanning two decades, "The Birthing House" explores the life of Clare Muller, a woman whose journey of self-discovery and transformation takes center stage. In 1980, following a recent miscarriage, Clare, along with her husband and son, embark on an adventure to Marburg, Germany. This charming and scenic town is where Clare faces the challenges of adapting to a new language and culture while dealing with the complexities of a new pregnancy. Fast forward to the year 2000, Clare and her husband return to Marburg as mid-career professors, following the sudden loss of Clare's beloved father. It is in this second chapter of their lives that they find themselves living in a house with a unique history. The house, once belonging to a midwife, had served as the birthing place for many in the surrounding area. As the walls of the house gradually release the stories and memories embedded within, it becomes a place of refuge and inspiration for Clare, prompting many entries in her personal journal. "The Birthing House" is not just a story; it is a testament to the magical power of writing. Through the medium of her words, Clare Muller embarks on a profound journey of self-discovery. It is within these written narratives that Clare begins to explore the depths of her own heart, mind, and body. Her writing becomes a sanctuary, a place where she can confront her grief, fears, and desires. When Clare first settles into the former birthing house, she is still numb and adrift from exhaustion and grief. As she writes in a journal her father had given her, she begins to make sense of her feelings and "rewrite" herself. And so, the process of healing begins. As the novel unfolds, readers are invited to witness the transformative effects of Clare's writing. Her grief gradually recedes, making space for a world of newfound possibilities and understanding. Through her words, she paints a vivid picture of her experiences, emotions, and the enchanting world around her. Each page of her manuscript becomes a step toward healing and her journey illustrates the therapeutic nature of storytelling. Marburg, Germany, serves as the enchanting setting for Clare's journey. Taylor's evocative descriptions transport readers to this medieval town, where cobblestone streets wind through centuries-old buildings, and the air is steeped in history and tradition. The town becomes more than just a setting; it becomes a character in itself, infusing the narrative with its unique charm and mystique. As Clare navigates the adventures and challenges of living in a foreign land, readers are immersed in the wonders of Marburg and what it has to offer. Taylor's meticulous attention to detail brings the town to life, making it a place readers will long to visit. The house that Clare and her husband inhabit plays a pivotal role. Once the birthing place for countless lives, it becomes a symbol of rebirth and transformation. As the walls of the house whisper tales of the past, it becomes a repository of memories, a witness to the lives of generations gone by. Clare's connection to the house deepens as she explores its history and listens to the stories it holds. It becomes not just a physical space but a sanctuary for her creative spirit. The house, with its rich history and secrets, bears witness to the enduring power of place in literature. It underscores the idea that their surroundings can carve their path to self-discovery and healing. "The Birthing House" by Kathy Taylor is an ode to the resilience of the human spirit and its capacity for growth and change. Clare Muller's story serves as a reminder that life is a continuous evolution. As she confronts grief and loss, she also discovers the beauty of resilience, the importance of self-expression, and the potential for new beginnings. Clare's words encourage readers to think about their own journeys of healing and discovery. The novel serves as a mirror, reminding them that, like Clare, they have the power to shape their lives and find strength and inspiration in unexpected places. Kathy Taylor is a retired professor of Spanish literature, linguistics, and creative writing, Taylor has published in English, Spanish, and Papiamentu, and her body of work includes poetry, short stories, essays, translations, and even a bilingual ethnographic novel on Mexican taxi drivers. Her recent short story collection, "Trees and Other Witnesses," delves into themes of migration, struggle, cultural conflict, and adaptation, garnering recognition as a finalist for the Colorado Author's League award in the category of literary/mainstream fiction in 2022. Taylor currently resides off the grid with her husband in the mountains of Colorado. Kathy Taylor's "The Birthing House" explores the depths of the human experience. It is a story of healing, discovery, and the enduring power of the written word. Through Clare Muller's journey, readers are transported to a fairytale town, immersed in the healing process of writing, and reminded of the transformative nature of place. Company Name: Amazon AudioBook Publishing Author Name: Kathy Taylor Contact Email: [email protected] Contact Number: 708-334-2425 Website: https://catalinawrites.com/ Location: Colorado City, Colorado To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183676 London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Unlocking potential in an evolving business landscape is challenging. Achieving next-gen processes, customer experience, product management and more in an evolving world relies on the ability to apply AI/ML technology, break down organisational silos, and build partnerships - all whilst navigating turbulent times. Next month, over 350 of your peers from leading organisations across Europe will be heading to the must-attend, exclusive and senior event of the year - Reuters Events: The Future of Insurance Europe 2023 (28-29 November, Amsterdam) is the leading destination for senior executives to set their future strategy. Access the full details of the #FOIEurope agenda and audience profile here! The importance of industry collaboration and peer to peer learning has never been more urgent. That's why Reuters Events are bringing you THE leading speaker line-up of industry giants - ready to help you achieve unparalleled success: Amelie Breitburd, CEO , Lloyd's Europe , Henrik Ryden, CEO Nordics , Marsh McLennan , Steve Hardy, CEO , Policy Expert , Ian Thompson, Group Chief Claims Officer , Zurich , Cyril Steffen, Chief Claims Officer, Europe , AXA , Dominick Hoare, Chief Underwriting Officer , Munich Re Specialty Group , Imre Sztano, Chief Digital Officer , NN International Insurance , Colin Masson, Chief Claims Officer , Munich Re Specialty Group , Olivera Boehm-Ryback, Chief Corporate Business Officer, UNIQA Ramune Sabaniene, Chief Data Officer , If Insurance Baltic , Raphal Gusdorf, Chief Digital Officer , AG2R La Mondiale , Philippe Knepfler, Chief Innovation Officer , Covea Affinity , Danilo Raponi, Group Head of Innovation , Generali , Karol Dobias, Global Head of Multinational Transformation, Allianz Commercial Marc Mathis, EVP Group Product & Market Management , Swiss Life , Florian Hamel, Head of Global Technology Delivery , AXA XL Hanbing Ma, Head of Innovation & Digital Transformation , ERGO Group AG , Michael Gregory, Director of Underwriting Strategy , RSA , Izu Atsushi, Head of London Innovation Lab , Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company , Firas Ben Hassan, Lead Data Scientist , Allianz Technology , Fredrik Thuring, Head of Operational Analytics , Tryg , And 20+ more senior thought-leaders& Wondering what they'll be exploring in their presentations and panel discussions? Here's a look: Panel: Embed Innovation at the Heart of Your Culture with Policy Expert, Generali, ERGO & Solera Case Study: Nurture a Future-Ready Workforce by Zurich Fireside Chat: To Automate or Not to Automate? with Munich Re Specialty & QBE Discussion-Based Workshop: Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI / GPT Investment in the Insurance Industry by IBM & Allianz Panel: Five Centuries of Insurance Behind Us, Infinity Left to Go - What's Next? with Lloyd's Europe & Generali For full event information including the full speaker line-up, session and topic details and of course who else is attending& you can find everything in the link below. See what these leaders will be speaking about in Amsterdam via the Event Programme here. If you're interested in attending please do get in touch directly. Best, Nuriya Powell Event Director [email protected] To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183879 Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - October 13, 2023) - Thanks to the visionary efforts of QazTrade JSC, a Trade and Economic Mission is set to take place in Dubai from October 15 to 17, 2023. This mission is poised to serve as a transformative platform for more than 30 Kazakhstan companies to showcase their products and services, fostering closer ties with investors and importers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The mission aims to fortify existing trade relationships and establish new ones, leading to a promising future of economic growth and collaboration. Photo: Kazakhstan and UAE flags. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/183980_f77af3e8343f19a8_001full.jpg Networking Opportunities and Knowledge Exchange: One of the central goals of this event is to foster meaningful connections among attendees. The Trade and Economic Mission provides the perfect platform for individuals to network with like-minded peers. It's an avenue for attendees to exchange ideas, strategies, and insights, setting the stage for lasting business partnerships. Business Matchmaking Sessions: Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of this mission is the exclusive business matchmaking sessions in the speed dating format. These sessions are a direct path to making deals and forging partnerships that can shape the future. It's a unique opportunity for Kazakhstan companies to find their ideal partners in the UAE and vice versa. Every participating company will be given a table, meticulously designed to showcase their unique offerings. These tables will serve as a vibrant canvas where attendees can not only sample the products but also peruse through detailed catalogs and explore the terms and conditions of potential collaborations. Within this diverse assembly of 30 participants, a rich tapestry of industries is represented. Among them, numerous food companies stand ready to tantalize taste buds with their offerings, including exquisite sunflower oils, delectable meat products, indulgent cookies, flavorful ketchups, and savory croutons. The array of culinary delights promises to be a feast for the senses, a testament to the gastronomic diversity of Kazakhstan. In tandem with the culinary treasures, the mission also hosts a stellar contingent of high-caliber IT companies. These tech-savvy innovators specialize in data and software analytics, offering cutting-edge solutions that promise to redefine business intelligence. Furthermore, they venture into the immersive worlds of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), creating transformative educational experiences that are set to reshape the landscape of learning and engagement. Photo: B2B matchmaking session To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/183980_f77af3e8343f19a8_002full.jpg Kazakh IT Companies at the Forefront of Innovation: Showcasing Excellence at Exhibitions in Dubai 2023 Right after the Trade and Economic Mission Kazakhstan's brightest IT talents are gearing up to make a significant mark on the global stage. Companies will be attending world's renowned IT exhibition in Dubai, which is poised to host an array of visionary Kazakh IT companies, who are eager to demonstrate their cutting-edge solutions, unparalleled expertise, and unwavering commitment to technological excellence. Parqour: A Leading Innovator in Tech A significant highlight of the Trade and Economic Mission is the participation of Parqour, a renowned software developer of smart parking systems. Parqour specializes in streamlining parking operations and enhancing the customer experience. Parqour is already operating in US, UK, Switzerland, Central Asian and Middle East region. Parqour is visiting Dubai to showcase its smart parking technologies that are set to revolutionize the way people interact with parking facilities. This addition to the event promises to be a game-changer, demonstrating how technology can open new doors for business growth and customer satisfaction. Photo: Parqour features To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/183980_f77af3e8343f19a8_003full.jpg Positive Impact on Export Potential: QazTrade JSC specialists have carefully assessed the potential of this event and are confident that it will have a profound impact on Kazakhstan's export potential. The event paves the way for flourishing partnerships between Kazakhstan and UAE companies, opening doors to exciting opportunities for both nations. The Trade and Economic Mission in Dubai is more than just a conference; it's a platform for Kazakhstan companies to embark on an international journey. With a focus on networking, knowledge exchange, and business matchmaking, it's poised to take Kazakhstan's export potential to new heights. As Parqour and other innovative companies visit Dubai for exhibitions, the future of trade and economic collaboration between Kazakhstan and the UAE looks brighter than ever. Contact QazTrade Amina Ismagulova +7 708 978 7776 [email protected] To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/183980 Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) October call option implied volatility is at 48, November is at 32; compared to its 52-week range of 20 to 51 into the expected release of quarter results before the bell on October 17. Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation. In a poignant and reflective piece of writing on Substack, David Espana, author, essayist, social critic, activist, and member of the X Town Square (XTS), formerly known as Twitter Town Square (TTS), shares his personal experiences and thoughts on Alzheimer's disease. He begins by describing a meaningful conversation with someone who taught him the fundamentals of living. This person's questions about love, life changes, and gender expectations (societal norms) made him reflect deeply on these topics. As the conversation unfolded, it became clear that the person he was speaking to was his grandmother, whom he lovingly refers to throughout the piece. Espana's grandmother's curiosity about his opinions and her reminiscences about family members, including her sister, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, left a profound impact on him. Her advice to take care of himself is a gentle reminder of the importance of health, especially in the face of the decline of a loved one due to Alzheimer's. The article takes a reflective turn as Espana discusses the influence his grandmother had on his life. He acknowledges how her wisdom and encouragement have led him to reevaluate his own beliefs and perspectives. Her memory has become a guiding force in his life, influencing his thoughts and decisions. Espana's connection to his grandmother's memory is beautifully portrayed through his choice of music, which accompanies his writing and helps him delve deeper into his thoughts. Espana incorporates research findings related to Alzheimer's disease, shedding light on its historical context and the progress made in understanding its pathology and clinical symptoms. He emphasizes the increasing prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, particularly in minority communities, underscoring the urgent need for awareness and support. The article discusses the challenges faced by Black Americans in seeking treatment for Alzheimer's disease due to historical distrust of the medical establishment. Espana highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing this distrust to ensure that affected individuals receive the care and support they need. Espana then delves into the clinical aspects of Alzheimer's disease, describing the impact on memory and cognitive function. He emphasizes the emotional and behavioral challenges faced by both patients and caregivers, emphasizing the need for comprehensive care and support. The article concludes by discussing the limitations of current Alzheimer's treatments and the importance of early diagnosis and intervention. Espana highlights the demand for better diagnostic approaches, increased access to emerging therapies, and the growing desire among individuals to know if they have early-stage Alzheimer's to seek treatment. Throughout the piece, Espana weaves together personal reflections, research findings, and a compassionate tone to create a heartfelt and informative article. His narrative effectively conveys the emotional and practical challenges of Alzheimer's disease while also emphasizing the importance of awareness, early diagnosis, and support. By sharing his personal connection to the disease, Espana brings a human element to the topic, making it relatable and deeply moving for readers. To read the topic in-depth, please subscribe to David's Substack. Contact Info: Name: David Espana Email: Send Email Organization: David Espana | Decentralized Protocol News Website: https://davespana.substack.com Release ID: 89109839 In case of identifying any errors, concerns, or inconsistencies within the content shared in this press release that necessitate action or if you require assistance with a press release takedown, we strongly urge you to notify us promptly by contacting [email protected]. Our expert team is committed to addressing your concerns within 8 hours by taking necessary actions diligently to rectify any identified issues or supporting you with the removal process. Delivering accurate and reliable information remains our top priority. Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation. Leading digital marketing innovator GreenBanana introduces a comprehensive guide on Geofence Marketing, illuminating location-based advertising's transformative potential. Discover real-time engagement, personalized messaging, and the future of this dynamic field. GreenBanana, a leading innovator in digital marketing, has officially unveiled an extensive and informative guide on Geofence Marketing, shedding light on the latest advancements in location-based advertising technology. Titled "Geofence Marketing - Everything you ever wanted to know about geofence campaigns." This comprehensive resource offers businesses and marketers an in-depth exploration of the dynamic world of geofencing and its transformative potential. What is Geofence Marketing? Geofence Marketing is a cutting-edge location-based marketing technology that leverages GPS, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification), Wi-Fi, or cellular data to establish virtual boundaries or "fences" around specific geographic areas. When mobile devices enter or exit these predefined areas, it triggers customized actions or notifications. Originally designed for perimeter security, Geofencing has rapidly evolved to become a multifaceted tool applicable in various fields such as marketing, security, and automation. Unlocking the Power of Geofence Marketing for Businesses GreenBanana's guide delves deep into the world of Geofence Marketing, offering invaluable insights into its mechanics and outlining strategies for successful implementation. From the basics of location-based targeting to real-time location tracking, the guide elucidates how businesses can harness the power of this technology to connect with their audience like never before. Real-Time Engagement and Customer Satisfaction Imagine a world where businesses can engage with their customers in real-time, delivering personalized messages and offers based on their precise location. With Geofencing Marketing, this becomes a reality. By utilizing location-based data, businesses can gain critical insights into their customers' movements and behaviors, enabling them to provide targeted promotions at the right time and place. Real-time location tracking empowers businesses to increase customer engagement and boost loyalty, expanding their reach beyond conventional boundaries. Enhancing Foot Traffic and Competitive Edge One of the standout features of Geofence Marketing is its ability to drive foot traffic to physical stores and establishments. By strategically targeting potential customers within specific geographic areas, businesses can send them personalized notifications, enticing them to visit and take advantage of exclusive deals or discounts. This real-time engagement not only enhances the overall customer experience but also provides a competitive edge by differentiating businesses from their competitors. Personalized Messaging and Higher Conversions Personalization is the key to capturing the hearts and wallets of customers. Geofence Marketing allows businesses to leverage location-based data to send tailored messages to customers within specific geographical areas. By delivering messages that align with a customer's location, interests, or past behaviors, businesses can capture their attention more effectively, resulting in higher conversion rates. Customizable Geofence Parameters for Precision Targeting GreenBanana's guide emphasizes the importance of customizable geofence parameters. By setting specific boundaries, such as a radius around a store or a particular neighborhood, businesses can create invisible fences that trigger location-based advertisements on mobile devices. This level of customization enables businesses to deliver timely and relevant ads, driving foot traffic and expanding their brand's reach. The Future of Geofence Marketing As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, Geofence Marketing is poised for further advancements. Future developments may include improved location accuracy, augmented reality integration, and even more personalized messaging based on user behavior. GreenBanana's comprehensive guide serves as a valuable resource to keep businesses at the forefront of this ever-evolving field. Get Started with Geofence Marketing Today For businesses looking to elevate their marketing strategies and embrace the future of advertising. GreenBanana's guide on Geofence Marketing, available at https://www.greenbananaseo.com/geofencing-marketing, provides the knowledge and insights needed to get started. Whether you're a local business seeking to attract nearby customers or a national brand aiming to engage with specific communities, Geofence Marketing offers the flexibility and precision required to target your audience effectively. About Us: About GreenBanana GreenBanana is a digital marketing powerhouse known for its expertise in location-based advertising and geofencing solutions. With a track record of delivering exceptional results for clients across various industries, GreenBanana continues to lead the way in innovative digital marketing strategies. Contact Info: Name: Kevin Roy Email: Send Email Organization: GreenBanana Website: https://www.greenbananaseo.com/geofencing-marketing Release ID: 89109998 In case of identifying any errors, concerns, or inconsistencies within the content shared in this press release that necessitate action or if you require assistance with a press release takedown, we strongly urge you to notify us promptly by contacting [email protected]. Our expert team is committed to addressing your concerns within 8 hours by taking necessary actions diligently to rectify any identified issues or supporting you with the removal process. Delivering accurate and reliable information remains our top priority. Workers Demand Amazon Address Low Pay and Dangerous Working Conditions LOS ANGELES , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon drivers picketed an Amazon warehouse in Riverside today as the company ships orders from its busy Prime Day promotion. The picket at the DJT6 warehouse is just the latest in a three-month strike by drivers from the company's DAX8 delivery station in Palmdale, Calif., over the company's unfair labor practices. "We are the reason that Amazon is a trillion-dollar corporation, but we have to pinch pennies to pay the rent and provide for our kids. We will continue this unfair labor practice strike as long as we have to in order to win the fair wages and safe jobs we deserve," said Jessie Moreno , an Amazon driver from Palmdale . The Amazon drivers and dispatchers began their unfair labor practice strike on June 24 . They have picketed 19 Amazon warehouses around the country, including warehouses in California , New Jersey , Connecticut , Michigan , Georgia , and Massachusetts . "These workers are directly challenging Amazon's exploitative business model and its violations of the law that are driving down standards across our industry," said Victor Mineros , Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 396 in Los Angeles . "Amazon executives are getting rich by underpaying and overworking their employees, but Amazon workers are fighting back. With the support of their local communities and over a million Teamster members across the country, these workers are going to win the good jobs that they deserve." In April, the 84 workers in Palmdale organized with the Teamsters, becoming the first union of Amazon drivers in the country. As members of Local 396, they bargained a contract with Amazon's Delivery Service Partner (DSP), Battle-Tested Strategies (BTS). Despite the absolute control it wields over BTS and workers' terms and conditions of employment, Amazon refuses to recognize and honor the union contract. Instead, Amazon has engaged in dozens of unfair labor practices in violation of federal labor law, including terminating the entire unit of newly organized workers. The workers' growing unfair labor practice strike will continue until Amazon remedies all of its unfair labor practices, meaning it reinstates the unlawfully terminated Palmdale employees, recognizes the Teamsters Union, respects the contract negotiated by workers, and bargains with the Teamsters to address low pay and dangerous working conditions. Amazon drivers in Palmdale organized with the Teamsters to protect their safety in extreme temperatures, which regularly exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit during Palmdale summers. Their Teamster contract guarantees the rights of workers to drive safe equipment and refuse unsafe deliveries. Making the contract's protections a reality will require an overhaul of Amazon's exploitative labor practices. Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S. , Canada , and Puerto Rico . Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters. Contact: Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amazon-teamsters-extend-strike-to-riverside-warehouse-during-prime-week-301956568.html SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to deprive the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) of its membership. Thus, the organization responded to the illegal inclusion of Olympic councils from the occupied territories of Ukraine in the ROC. ADVERTISIMENT This is reported by the official website of the IOC. The committee said that Russia's inclusion of representatives of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions into its Olympic Committee is unacceptable. The aggressor country was accused of violating the Olympic Charter and encroaching on the integrity of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. The IOC Executive Committee has suspended Russia's membership until further notice. The ROC will not only be unable to participate in IOC activities but also to receive funding. "The IOC reserves the right to decide on the participation of individual neutral athletes with Russian passports at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in due course. The IOC Executive Board also reserves the right to make any further decision depending on the development of this situation," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, it was reported that Russia had filed a lawsuit against the IOC demanding almost nine million dollars for one of its marketing programs. As reported by OBOZ.UA, the President of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov accused international federations of "sports genocide " because of the suspension of Russian representatives from the competition. In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, angrily demanded that the IOC help Russia "get away with" the war against Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! LOS ANGELES , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Musick Peeler LLP Partner Dan Woods has been highlighted in the 2022 edition of Benchmark Litigation as a 'California Litigation Star.' Benchmark Litigation is a publication focused exclusively on litigation. "Dan is an strategic lawyer and skilled litigator who continually provides the firm's clients with the highest degree of service," said Managing Partner R. Joseph De Briyn. A partner in the Firm's Los Angeles office, Woods has been honored by The American Bar Association, California Bar Association, Inner City Law Center, Chambers USA and Los Angeles Daily Journal. Two recent cases highlight Woods' ability to obtain significant results on behalf of clients in a variety of cases. In one, he recently defeated a patent infringement claim brought by an international law firm against his client, MacSports, at the International Trade Commission. In another, he defeated a $300 million antitrust claim brought by a prominent litigation firm. The case involved an Indian yarn spinner filing a $300 million Sherman Act Section 1 antitrust lawsuit against Woods' client, cotton-grower J.G. Boswell Company. Woods won the arbitration with the three-judge panel ruling in J.G Boswell's favor on every point and also awarded it over $2 million in fees and costs. Benchmark Litigation provides state firm rankings, national firm rankings, lists of top litigation stars, and special designations. Benchmark also provides, where possible, detailed editorial analysis of key law firm activity including important, recent case work and analysis and client feedback on top litigators. Research is conducted through extensive interviews with litigators, dispute resolution specialists and their clients to identify the leading litigators and firms. During these interviews, the organization examines recent casework handled by law firms and asks individual litigators to provide their professional opinions on peers and practitioners within their jurisdiction or practice area. About Musick Peeler Founded in 1954, MusickPeeler has offices in five major commercial centers across California with over 100 attorneys practicing in 16 disciplines. For more information, visit MusickPeeler.com. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/benchmark-selects-musick-peeler-partner-dan-woods-as-a-top-litigator-301956516.html SOURCE MusickPeeler Gelato Truck Offers Free Scoop for National Dessert Day and Donates Portion of Sales to Humanitarian Relief Efforts LOS ANGELES , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cherlato , Cher's premium gelato truck, which has quickly become one of the city's most celebrated dessert destinations and a must-visit experience for both Angelenos and tourists alike, today announces the release of its two new fall-inspired flavors: Spiced Pumpkin and Heavenly Hazelnut, just in time for National Dessert Day on October 14th . The first new flavor, Spiced Pumpkin, combines the rich and creamy taste of gelato with the warm and comforting flavors of locally-sourced, sun-kissed pumpkins and aromatic spices. This unique blend creates a perfect balance of sweet and spicy, capturing the essence of autumn in every spoonful. For those looking for a vegan option, Cherlato presents Heavenly Hazelnut. Made with hazelnuts sourced exclusively from Hopville Farm, this plant-based flavor offers a smooth and velvety texture that rivals traditional gelato. Each bite is a heavenly experience, with the rich nuttiness of the hazelnuts shining through. "Giapo and I love dreaming up new flavors, particularly for special seasons like Halloween and Christmas.These two new autumn flavors are especially creamy and delicious. I think Cherlato fans will love them," commented Cher. "Fall is a time of warmth, comfort, and togetherness, and our Spiced Pumpkin and Heavenly Hazelnut gelato creations are a reflection of that," said Cherlato Chef and Co-Founder, Giapo Grazioli. "We wanted to capture the essence of autumn in every spoonful, offering a taste of nostalgia and a moment of delight in every bite. It's our way of spreading joy on National Dessert Day and throughout the fall season." Cherlato is celebrating National Dessert Day ( October 14th ) by offering visitors a free scoop of Spiced Pumpkin with any gelato purchase, all weekend long. Also, a portion of all proceeds on October 14th and 15th will be donated to The International Committee of the Red Cross to provide humanitarian support to those affected by the Israel-Hamas crisis. For more information about Cherlato, its menu, or to view the truck's upcoming locations, please visit www.cherlato.com and follow us on social media. ABOUT CHERLATO: Co-founded by Cher and esteemed gelato artisan, Giapo Grazioli, Cherlato delivers Angelenos classic Italian-style Gelato with a modern New Zealand spin. Cherlato is a novel taste experience on wheels. This Los Angeles -based gelato truck is committed to delivering the freshest, daily-made, artisan gelato using locally-sourced, regenerative ingredients. Featuring iconic recipes and novel concoctions inspired by Los Angeles culture, every spoonful from Cherlato serves the spirit of innovation, quality and art of gelato in its finest form. Media Contact: Cherlato Press Team [email protected] 310.694.0895 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chers-gelato-truck-cherlato-releases-two-fall-flavors-just-in-time-for-national-dessert-day-301956528.html SOURCE Cherlato Changes designed to better align leadership strengths to the needs of a rapidly expanding organization John A. Smith , Conversant founder and former CEO, assumes the title of chief security officer. Mark Grazman , former Conversant president, moves into chief executive officer position. Maria Chachas Mastakas , former Conversant chief of staff to Grazman, transitions to chief operating officer. CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Conversant Group, an innovative provider of "Secure First" infrastructure and cybersecurity services, today announced a senior leadership restructuring driven by Conversant Group's extraordinary growth. At founder John A. Smith's direction, this reorganization allows Smith to double down his focus and efforts on the vision of "Securitas Summa" (security above all else), which has led to dramatic growth, while bolstering operations and infrastructure to support that growth. As part of the restructuring, Mark Grazman has been named CEO. Grazman most recently served as Conversant's president as well as CEO of Fenix24, a Conversant Group company (or "battalion"); he will continue as CEO of Fenix24 in addition to his new leadership capacity. "We recognize that we are in a battle every day with cyber criminals who threaten jobs and even lives that is why we call ourselves the world's first civilian cybersecurity force," said Smith. "I am so excited to have more opportunity and time to tell the world and develop tactics and strategize on exactly how companies can protect themselves from these criminals. At the same time, our dedication to fighting threat actors has led to tremendous growth, and this change will better allow us to build the infrastructure and operational capacity to continue that growth. As a technical leader engaged in breach recovery for more than 10 years and security and infrastructure for more than 30, this change will allow me to focus more of my efforts on developing defensive strategies and tactics, which has been and is my true passion. This is the right time to transition the Conversant CEO role to Mark, who has demonstrated to me and our team that he is the right leader to continue and accelerate the organizational execution required to bring effective defensive strategies, which I have been and will continue to be at the center of, to more companies globally. I have great confidence in Maria as well, and together, they will provide the operational focus we require at this stage of growth." In addition to being founder, Smith assumes the role of CSO of Conversant Group and its three battalions. He founded Conversant Group in 2009, driving the company to its position as one of the top cybersecurity services providers in North America in multiple categories including assessments, remediation and restoration. The realignment is a direct response to rapid growth; it is designed to allow Smith to focus on the companies' defensive and offensive technological excellence and continued evangelism and education of the business community, while enabling the organization to tap into Grazman's leadership skills, including negotiating strong partnerships, expanding the business infrastructure, and leading increasingly global teams through the stages of rapid growth. Since Grazman joined Smith's leadership team as President in March 2021 , the organization has grown its revenue and team by more than 300% and launched Fenix24 as the leading ransomware restoration incident response provider. Prior to joining Conversant Group, Grazman was CEO of email security company MessageControl (where he led the company through a successful exit to Mimecast) and senior vice president of CBZ, an NYSE-listed professional services firm. Grazman has helped launch and lead multiple venture capital funds, including Banque National de Paris ' Emerging Markets Private Equity Division and the Israeli high-tech fund, Omega. Maria Chachas Mastakas , former chief of staff to the president, has been named COO of Conversant Group and its battalions to provide further leadership expertise on operational excellence. Prior to joining Conversant Group, Mastakas was COO for Cymulate, a security posture management platform, and chief revenue officer of Digital Shadows, a security threat intelligence company. She has also had extensive experience as a senior technology sales and operations executive, driving sales effectiveness and results. About Conversant Group Conversant Group is changing the IT services paradigm with our relentless focus on "Secure First" managed services, IT infrastructure and consulting. Conversant has been a thought leader for over 14 years helping over 500 customers and entire industries get answers to the security questions they may not even know to ask. We are the world's first civilian cybersecurity force, with three time-tested battalions: Fenix24 / Ransomware rapid response, remediation and recovery Athena7 / IT security assessments, strategy and planning Grypho5 / Ongoing, security-based management Learn more at ConversantGroup.com. Media Contact: Lindsay Smith [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/conversant-group-announces-leadership-transition-positioning-company-for-continued-growth-301956625.html SOURCE Conversant Group SILVER SPRING, Md., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is providing an at-a-glance summary of news from around the agency: The FDA Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) in conjunction with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will host a Conversations on Cancer public panel discussion October 19, 2023 , addressing the experience of living with metastatic breast cancer. The panel will feature speakers with a range of perspectives on breast cancer and, for the first time, will be an international collaboration with our colleagues at the EMA with the hope of highlighting the day-to-day, year-to-year experience of patients living with metastatic breast cancer (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SGF5FCP). "The FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence is excited to join with the EMA for this important discussion on cancer survivorship and the varied global experiences of people living with metastatic breast cancer," said Richard Pazdur , M.D., director of the FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence and acting director of the Office of Oncologic Diseases in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research . "Cancer survivorship continues to be an issue of growing importance that we see highlighted through science-led projects like Cancer Moonshot in the U.S. and the EU beating cancer plan in EU. Given our new collaboration with the EMA, we hope to learn from any commonalities as well as distinctions amongst patients and providers in U.S. and Europe ." (OCE) in conjunction with the (EMA) will host a Conversations on Cancer public panel discussion , addressing the experience of living with metastatic breast cancer. The panel will feature speakers with a range of perspectives on breast cancer and, for the first time, will be an international collaboration with our colleagues at the EMA with the hope of highlighting the day-to-day, year-to-year experience of patients living with metastatic breast cancer (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SGF5FCP). On Wednesday, the FDA approved encorafenib (Braftovi, Array BioPharma Inc. , a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer) with binimetinib (Mektovi, Array BioPharma Inc. ) for adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a BRAF V600E mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test. The FDA also approved the FoundationOne CDx (tissue) and FoundationOne Liquid CDx (plasma) as companion diagnostics for encorafenib with binimetinib. If no mutation is detected in a plasma specimen, the tumor tissue should be tested. The most common adverse reactions (25%) were fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, vomiting, abdominal pain, visual impairment, constipation, dyspnea, rash, and cough. View full prescribing information for Braftovi and Mektovi. , a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer) with binimetinib (Mektovi, ) for adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a BRAF V600E mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test. The FDA also approved the FoundationOne CDx (tissue) and FoundationOne Liquid CDx (plasma) as companion diagnostics for encorafenib with binimetinib. If no mutation is detected in a plasma specimen, the tumor tissue should be tested. The most common adverse reactions (25%) were fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, vomiting, abdominal pain, visual impairment, constipation, dyspnea, rash, and cough. View full prescribing information for Braftovi and Mektovi. On Tuesday, the FDA posted the list of guidance documents it intends to publish Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). Feedback is critical in shaping CDRH's guidance development plans. CDRH invites the public to submit comments on any or all the guidance document topics at www.Regulations.gov under docket number FDA-2012-N-1021. On Friday, the FDA authorized marketing of the HistoSonics Inc. Edison System for the non-invasive destruction of liver tumors, including unresectable liver tumors, using a non-thermal, mechanical process of focused ultrasound. This type of ultrasound generates cavitation, a process in which the static pressure of liquid is reduced below the liquid's vapor pressure, creating small, vapor-filled cavities without the use of heat. This method differs from high-intensity focused ultrasounds which use heat to destroy tissue and avoid cavitation. Non-thermal focused ultrasound should only be considered in patients with a sufficient amount of functional liver reserve to withstand the destruction of the planned volume of liver tissue. Additional Resources: Media Contact: FDA Office of Media Affairs, 301-796-4540 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fda-roundup-october-13-2023-301956393.html SOURCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration Tour Hosted by American Egg Board and Outward Farms; Provides Firsthand Egg-ucation Celebrating Decades-Long Collaboration with White House and America's Egg Farmers RAYMOND, Ohio , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- First Lady Jill Biden today celebrated America's egg farmers on World Egg Day by visiting and touring the facilities at Outward Farms, a family-owned egg farm in Raymond, Ohio , that produces USDA Certified Organic cage-free eggs. Dr. Biden learned firsthand from third-generation egg farmer Sandra Lausecker, founder and CEO of Outward Farms, about what it takes to produce eggs, get them to market and feed America's families. First Lady Jill Biden celebrated America's egg farmers on World Egg Day by touring the facilities at Outward Farms . The tour was hosted by the American Egg Board with Outward Farms, and it celebrates U.S. egg farmers' decades-long support of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. During the 2023 partnership with the American Egg Board and the White House Easter Egg Roll, America's egg farmers donated more than 5.5 million eggs to food banks across the country in the weeks leading up to Easter and Passover . The donation was part of the "Fighting Hunger by the Dozens" egg drive. "This is a big day for egg farmers across the country. We are honored and absolutely thrilledon World Egg Dayto offer the First Lady of the United States a front-row seat to experience the amazing dedication that egg farmers, like the Lauseckers at Outward Farms, give in their daily work to annually produce the 100 billion wholesome, nutritious eggs that Americans count on and love," said Emily Metz , president and CEO of the American Egg Board. The tour offered the First Lady and guests an in-depth look at Outward Farms' operations from spending time with the hens and understanding what goes into keeping them strong and healthy, to learning about the stringent on-farm measures taken to ensure food safety, to seeing how eggs are washed and inspected before being delivered fresh to stores. Importantly, the tour also acquainted Dr. Biden and guests with the rigorous and comprehensive biosecurity protocols egg farms across the country have implemented to protect their flocks from avian diseases like highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu. "The opportunity to showcase our innovative approach to egg farming, sustainability efforts such as renewable energy and a unique manure management program, feature an overview of our future Education Center, and share the incredible work that U.S. egg farmers do each day to bring nutritious, high-quality eggs to Americans makes me very proud," said Lausecker. "We take the health and safety of our birds and disease prevention extremely seriously, and worked to ensure that this very special tour could be accomplished while maintaining the highest levels of biosecurity and disease prevention." The tour took place on World Egg Day 2023, an annual event when egg lovers worldwide recognize the remarkable nutritional, environmental and societal benefits of eggs, and celebrates the exceptional contribution eggs make in supporting people globally. The 2023 World Egg Day theme is "Eggs for a healthy future" and highlights the unmatched nutritional power of the incredible, invaluable egg and its potential to combat common nutrient deficiencies across the world. About the American Egg Board (AEB) Home of the Incredible Egg, the AEB supports America's egg farmers in its mission to increase demand for eggs and egg products through research, education, and promotion. The AEB is located in Chicago, Ill. For more, visit IncredibleEgg.org About Outward Farms Outward Farms is a third-generation, family-owned egg farm committed to honoring the history of responsible farming in new and intentional waysby designing a farm that connects customers and communities and ensures sustainable production practices with unmatched transparency. Learn more at www.outwardfarms.com . Photos available on request. Contact: Marc Dresner American Egg Board [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-lady-jill-biden-celebrates-americas-egg-farmers-with-visit-to-ohio-egg-farm-on-world-egg-day-301956577.html SOURCE American Egg Board SAN DIEGO , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics NASSCO, a subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today it was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy for the maintenance, modernization and repair of USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) and USS James E. Williams (DDG 95). The contract for an initial $15.6 million includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $753.8 million . "NASSCO and our industry partners are looking forward to executing a pair of successful availabilities and are thankful the Navy has sole-sourced the contract to us to lead this effort," said Dave Baker , vice president of Repair for General Dynamics NASSCO. "Much like our recent success with the modernization on USS Pinckney, our repair team is ready to tackle another opportunity with our Navy partners and get these ships back to the fleet in a timely manner." Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia , and San Diego, California . If all options are exercised, work will continue through November 2030 . General Dynamics NASSCO specializes in the design and construction of ships for the U.S. Navy and commercial markets, as well as repair services for the U.S. Navy, with capabilities in San Diego , Norfolk , Mayport, and Bremerton. General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $39.4 billion in revenue in 2022. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/general-dynamics-nassco-awarded-ship-repair-contract-valued-at-up-to-754-million-301956392.html SOURCE General Dynamics NASSCO NEW YORK , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global X ETFs, the New York -based provider of exchange-traded funds, today announced the scheduled liquidation of four ETFs (the "Funds"), based on an ongoing review process of its product lineup to ensure it meets the evolving needs of its clients. The Funds scheduled for liquidation include: Fund Ticker CUSIP Global X Founder-Run Companies ETF BOSS 37954Y681 Global X Education ETF EDUT 37960A719 Global X Emerging Markets Internet & E-commerce ETF EWEB 37960A693 Global X China Innovation ETF KEJI 37954Y210 Based upon the recommendation of Global X Management Company LLC, the Trust's adviser, the Board of Trustees determined on October 12, 2023 that it was in the best interests of the Funds and their shareholders to liquidate each of the Funds. The Funds represent less than 1% of the assets of Global X ETFs. Shareholders may sell their holdings in the Funds prior to the end of the trading day on Friday, November 10, 2023 , and customary brokerage charges may apply to these transactions. The Funds will cease trading at the end of the trading day on Friday, November 10, 2023 . The Funds will liquidate on or around Friday, November 17, 2023 . Any person holding shares in the Funds as of the liquidation date will receive a cash distribution equal to the net asset value of their shares as of that date. Global X Management Company LLC, the adviser to the Funds, will bear all fees and expenses that may be incurred in connection with the liquidation of the Funds and the distribution of cash proceeds to investors, other than brokerage fees and other related expenses. About Global X ETFs Global X ETFs was founded in 2008. For more than a decade, our mission has been empowering investors with unexplored and intelligent solutions. Our product lineup features over 100 ETF strategies and over $50 billion in worldwide assets under management.i While we are widely recognized for our Thematic Growth, Income, Commodity and International Access ETFs, we also offer Core, Risk Management, and other solutions to suit a range of investment objectives. Explore our ETFs, research and insights, and more at www.globalxetfs.com. Global X is a member of Mirae Asset Financial Group, a global leader in financial services, with more than $550 billion in assets under management worldwide.ii Mirae Asset has an extensive global ETF platform ranging across the US, Australia , Brazil , Canada , Colombia , Europe , Hong Kong , India , Japan , Korea , and Vietnam with over $80bn in assets under management.iii Important Information Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The investable universe of companies in which the Funds invest may be limited. Narrowly focused investments will be more susceptible to factors affecting that sector and subject to more volatility. International investments may involve risk of capital loss from unfavorable fluctuation in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles or from social, economic or political instability in other nations. Emerging markets involve heightened risks related to the same factors as well as increased volatility and lower trading volume. The Funds are non-diversified. Shares of ETFs are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Carefully consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses. This and other information can be found in the fund's full or summary prospectuses, which may be obtained at globalxetfs.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. Global X Management Company LLC serves as an advisor to Global X Funds. The Funds are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co. (SIDCO), which is not affiliated with Global X Management Company LLC or Mirae Asset Global Investments. Media Contact Naomi Sussis AVP, Communications Manager [email protected] i Source: Global X, as of October 2023 ii Mirae Asset, as of October 2023 iii Mirae Asset, as of October 2023 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-x-etfs-to-liquidate-four-etfs-301956566.html SOURCE Global X Management Company LLC MCKINNEY, Texas , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Globe Life Inc. (NYSE: GL) announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Evry Health. Founded in 2017, Evry Health is a business-to-business health insurance company that differentiates itself from traditional PPOs and HMOs by lowering the cost of healthcare through software automation with a mobile-first experience. The company's expansive benefit plans encourage access to care and preventative health by offering no copays or deductibles for in-network care. "Globe Life is trusted for keeping generational promises. We are excited to build a future together where we can serve to deliver a digital-first experience in the group health market. Globe Life accelerates Evry Health's mission of bringing humanity to health insurance," said Chris Gay , Evry Heath's Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited about the addition of Evry Health to the Globe Life family of companies," said Globe Life Co-Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers, Matt Darden and Frank Svoboda . "Evry Health has been on a mission to use today's technology to build a better health insurance platform for mid-size employers and their customers. Through the strength of the Globe Life brand, we look forward to creating new opportunities to support Evry Health as they strive to improve healthcare access and benefits." Evry Health is located in Dallas with innovative group health insurance plans also available in Austin , Houston , and San Antonio that provide a nationwide network for health coverage in addition to tailored wellness plans at no cost to employers or employees. About Globe Life: Globe Life (NYSE: GL) is headquartered in McKinney, TX , and has more than 15,000 insurance agents and 3,000 corporate employees. With a mission to Make Tomorrow Better, Globe Life and its subsidiary companies issue more life insurance policies and have more policyholders than any other life insurance company in the country, with more than 16.8 million policies in force (excluding reinsurance companies; as reported by S&P Global Market Intelligence 2022). Globe Life's insurance subsidiaries include American Income Life, Family Heritage Life, Globe Life And Accident Insurance Company, Liberty National Life , and United American. More information is available at GlobeLifeInsurance.com. About Evry Health: Evry Health is bringing humanity to health insurance making healthcare high-quality with expanded benefits, more transparency, more access to care, and a personalized, human approach. Evry Health strives to ensure members live happier, healthier lives. Health plans are dually accredited for medical quality by the NCQA and the URAC. More information is available at EvryHealth.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/globe-life-acquires-evry-health-301956623.html SOURCE Globe Life Inc. Home sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and Lennar PENSACOLA, Fla. , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Helping a Hero, a non-profit providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror, Bass Pro Shops and Lennar, one of the nation's leading homebuilders, today broke ground on a Lennar home for Corporal Corey Dingman USA (Ret.). Corporal Dingman and his family were greeted by special guests from Helping a Hero, including Founder, Meredith Iler , retired Marine Staff Sergeant Daniel Gilyeat , as well as Lennar Southeast Regional Vice President, Matt Devereaux and Lennar Associates. The new adapted home is part of Lennar's Saddle Ridge community located in the Beulah area of Pensacola, Florida . The groundbreaking is part of Helping a Hero's 100 Homes Challenge, which was launched by Johnny Morris, Founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops. Lennar has joined the effort and committed to building 10 homes for Helping a Hero as part of the 100 Homes Challenge. Homes by Lennar are being built in Texas , Arizona , Florida and Colorado with more homes to be added. Lennar worked with Helping a Hero to build the new home a Trevi floorplan encompassing 1,943 square feet with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and spacious family gathering areas. Saddle Ridge is located in Beulah which is in close proximity to the NAS Naval Base . Corporal Corey Dingman knew at an early age he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfathers and join the military. He started visiting with Army recruiters at age 14 and in October 2005 , he joined the Army. Corporal Dingman served in the Army for 7 years as a gunner and a sniper. During his second deployment, he was injured by an IED and was MEDIVACed to Landstuhl, Germany where he then was sent to recovery at the Warrior Transition Battalion for the next 9 months. During his 3 deployments and later service as a contractor in Afghanistan , he suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury with exacerbating injuries to his hearing, elbow, leg, right hip, and burns. After surviving all that he faced in the military, he was sitting at a red light when he was hit and sustained injuries including the loss of his leg. Through this adversity, Corporal Dingman made the decision to live and to help others. He and his wife, Michele, look forward to moving into their Lennar home which will have an open floorplan, wider doors and hallways, and provide the ability for Corporal Dingman to move more easily inside the home. As an amputee, it has been more difficult taking a shower and admitting that I can't wear my prosthetic for all of my waking hours. I am grateful to Lennar for designing a home that will provide the ability to do daily tasks like taking a shower safely and alone," said Corporal Dingman. "It is an honor to partner with Lennar and Bass Pro Shops to build this adapted home for Corporal Corey Dingman. During his two tours of duty in the Global War on Terror, he was a leader who always looked out for his fellow soldiers. Today, he still finds time to serve others even while he struggles himself to overcome the wounds of war both physical and unseen. This home is a new beginning for the Dingman family and we look forward to him finally having the opportunity to have wider doors, a roll in shower and other adapted safety features to help him when he is in his wheelchair," said Meredith Iler . "We are honored to have the opportunity to partner with such an outstanding organization as Helping A Hero and we're proud to build a comfortable home for such an extremely deserving American hero who sacrificed so much," said Devereaux. "We hope this home provides Corporal Dingman and his family a happy place to enjoy life and make family memories." About Helping a Hero: Texas -based Helping a Hero is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror. Our principal activity is to provide specially adapted homes for qualifying service members as well as engage the community to provide services and resources for our wounded heroes and their families. Home recipients include veterans whose permanent injuries from combat have left them paraplegics, quadriplegics, amputees, blind, with severe burns and other injuries. Helping A Hero provides additional support programs including marriage retreats, caregiver retreats, recreational activities, and emergency needs support. Helping a Hero Outdoors has expanded to serve our heroes through hunting and fishing outings. About the 100 Homes Challenge: Johnny Morris , founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops and noted conservationist, launched the 100 Homes Challenge and committed to fund 25 percent of the cost of the next 100 Helping a Hero homes. Helping a Hero invites the public to join Johnny Morris in the 100 Homes Challenge by making a donation, however large or small, to help to fund the other 75 percent of the cost of these homes. Helping A Hero is accepting applications from Post 9-11 wounded warriors needing a specially adapted home due to their combat injuries to become part of the 100 Homes Challenge. We also invite the public to Nominate a Hero. Both the home application and the Nominate a Hero form are available on our website at www.helpingahero.org. About Lennar Corporation Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builders of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title and closing services primarily for buyers of Lennar's homes and, through LMF Commercial, originates mortgage loans secured primarily by commercial real estate properties throughout the United States. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. LENX drives Lennar's technology, innovation and strategic investments. Media Contact: Danielle Tocco Vice President Communications Lennar Corporation [email protected] Direct Line: 949.789.1633 Mobile: 949-648-1823 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/helping-a-hero-bass-pro-shops-and-lennar-break-ground-on-home-for-wounded-veteran-corporal-corey-dingman-usa-ret-in-pensacola-fl-301956613.html SOURCE Lennar Corporation DUBAI, UAE , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At UBBF 2023, Richard Liu , President of Huawei's Carrier BG Marketing & Solution Sales Dept, delivered a keynote speech titled "Embracing New Opportunities with Premium Intelligent Connectivity". He explained that there are five capabilities of premium intelligent connectivity and noted that carriers need such connectivity to seize new opportunities in the era of digital intelligence. The five capabilities are as follows: Ubiquitous gigabit: As smart home and home cloud services are becoming more and more popular, carriers' network shall be ready for ubiquitous gigabit connectivity and the capability to evolve to 10G. Huawei's FTTR solution provides home-wide Wi-Fi coverage, and its XGS-PON solution meets the requirement of symmetric upstream and downstream gigabit connect for home cloud services. Furthermore, Huawei's 50G PON solution helps carriers smoothly evolve their access networks to 10G access, delivering better home service experience. Firewall: Cloud access and Internet access services offered to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) require carriers to provide cloud, network and firewall convergence services. Huawei's Cloud-Network Express+ solution provides one-stop ICT services including private line + firewall and + Wi-Fi management services to meet the SMEs requirements for ultra-broadband connectivity with firewall. Elastic ultra-broadband: As more and more enterprises are migrating their core production systems not just office automation systems to the cloud, elastic ultra-broadband ranging from 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps and up to 10 Gbps is required. Huawei's Multi-Cloud Backbone and OTN Private Line solutions can offer more than 100 thousand network slices and extreme-large bandwidth, helping carriers realize multi-cloud access networks and guaranteeing enterprises' cloudification. Low latency: Applications such as live streaming and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) promote edge service innovation, driving carriers to re-architect transport networks for low latency assurance. Huawei provides 400G + OXC technologies to assist carriers rolling out low-latency DC-centric ultra-broadband networks which is able evolve to 800G and realize 10ms-based latency services for fueling development of innovative services. Intelligent lossless transmission: In the intelligent computing era, the coordinated development of transmission and computing power requires carriers' computing networks to offer intelligent lossless transmission. For intra-cloud connectivity, Huawei solution of AI Network Turbo can enable the load balancing intelligently. And for inter-cloud connect, Huawei provides end-to-end 400G transport network capabilities that is ready for seamless 800G evolution, and accelerates the large-scale commercial use of computing services. The momentum of Industry development needs to be sustainably generated by both technology and business. In terms of technology, Huawei keeps working with carriers and industrial standards institutes to advance 5.5G industry standards and 5.5G-oriented target networks. Through this, it will be possible to meet the requirements of 100G mobile backhauling and 400G/800G network transporting which are brought by ubiquitous 10Gbps access. And in terms of business, Huawei cooperates with carriers together to deploy premium intelligent connectivity, ramp up commercial use in key scenarios, and ultimately unlock the value of digital intelligence transformation in industries. Richard emphasized Huawei's ability is capable to rollout premium intelligent connectivity, and lots of its cutting-edge solutions are already commercial provisioned worldwide. "From Extreme to Excellence", Huawei is ready to work with carriers to build premium intelligent connectivity for mutual prosperity in the era of digital intelligence. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huawei-working-with-carriers-to-build-premium-intelligent-connectivity-for-business-success-in-the-era-of-digital-intelligence-301956179.html SOURCE Huawei One could see nothing but a passionate red color in dozens of collections of the fall-winter 2023 season. Some designers, such as Ferragamo, showed red in completely different variations. Other brands, such as Tibi, used it as an accent in the form of a bright cardigan or pointed-toe ballet flats. ADVERTISIMENT Marie Claire magazine claims that red has overtaken pink in popularity, despite the huge success of the Barbie movie. Red will make any outfit more interesting, becoming a bright highlight of the look. This color can be easily combined with brown, beige, blue, or gray. "I believe that red is a fashionable fall variant of the pink Barbiecore, as people want to continue to feel a sense of dominance, power, and enthusiasm in their wardrobe," says Shakayla Forbes-Bell, a fashion psychologist. Red and health "Red is a long-wavelength color,'" she continues, "and when we are exposed to long-wavelength colors, the neurons in our autonomic nervous system (ANS) are activated. This means that activity in the parts of our body that are affected by the ANS increases, such as the liver, stomach, heart, or lungs. This, in turn, has an impact on our behavior, as we become more "attentive or active". ADVERTISIMENT Forbes-Bell points to studies that have shown that "people get more aroused when their partner wears red makeup or clothing. It has also been found that athletes are more aggressive when they wear red uniforms." Thus, if you're feeling strong in red, there may be a scientific reason for it. Red and luck "For me, it's a color that symbolizes good luck," says Caroline Maguire, Fashion Director at Shopbop, "It has great energy and is perfect for the fall 2023 season. What to combine red with ADVERTISIMENT "Red is a versatile color," she says. "It goes well with neutrals like khaki, olive, gray, or even ivory, but you can also be bold and combine red with other bright hues like hot pink. Adding one red piece to a neutral look is also a super easy way to update your wardrobe for the new season. You don't have to wear this shade from head to toe to look fashionable. Sometimes one accessory can instantly change your look. Accessories If you're looking to wear red for the first time, start by adding bright accessories like scarves, sunglasses, or handbags to your fall outfits. They add a pop of color without overwhelming your look, The Gray Details writes. Another way is to get a bold red manicure to start! ADVERTISIMENT Monochrome Feel the boldness of red with a monochrome outfit. Try mixing different shades to create a chic, eye-catching ensemble. Combine items like a red sweater with a red skirt to add depth to your look. Accent Make red the centerpiece of your outfit with a striking red coat, pair of boots, or handbag. It's a great way to instantly transform a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt into a stylish fall look. Neutral shades ADVERTISIMENT Balance red with neutral colors such as black, white, or chocolate brown. For example, a red skirt with a white blouse and chocolate brown boots will create a timeless and balanced look. Layering Use red for layering. A red cardigan over a neutral top or vest will keep you warm this fall. Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote about 10 things that the most stylish fashionistas in London are wearing this fall. Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! WASHINGTON , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- First Lady Jill Biden hosted a delegation of Italian American leaders Thursday evening at the White House to highlight a bellwether of cultural progress that has taken shape within the community. Dr. Jill Biden hosted the delegation of leaders who are reshaping the scope and vision of the Italian American culture. Dr. Biden , the nation's first-ever Italian American First Lady, met with Basil M. Russo president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) and his peers to recognize the sacrifices and celebrate the contributions Italian Americans have made to our country. "Our heritage is much more than our hospitality and food, isn't it? It's the Sicilians who were dragged from their cells and killed in New Orleans by an angry mob, it's 'Italians Need Not Apply,' it's people like my dad who was never quite accepted by my mom's family because he was Italian. It's a history of those who led movements, who wrote our laws and penned our poetry; of men and women who were courageous, even when they were most afraid," the First Lady said in her address to the delegation. The historic meeting comes in the wake of a growing and influential slate of initiatives spearheaded by COPOMIAO, including the launch of a visionary film platform with Hollywood's The Russo Brothers in 2024, the creation of a nationwide young leaders fellowship, cementing strategic and commercial ties with Italian and Vatican leaders overseas, and the grass roots preservation of Italian American history. "When I was appointed president of COPOMIAO in 2020, Italian American leadership was fragmented and ready for a new direction," said Russo. "In three years, we have united hundreds of Italian American organizations, collectively amassed over a million social media followers, partnered with Hollywood leaders, appeared on Capitol Hill and collaborated with Italian dignitaries. All our efforts have culminated into this watershed meeting with the First Lady, which is the first-ever delegation to be invited to the White House in celebration of Italian American Heritage Month." Russo and his colleagues began their collaboration with the Biden administration last year, by working to develop the 2022 and 2023 Columbus Day Presidential Proclamations. ABOUT COPOMIAO Formed in 1975 and based in NYC, The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) is a collective of the most influential, cultural, educational, fraternal and anti-defamation groups in the nation. https://copomiao.org View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/in-watershed-moment-first-lady-jill-biden-welcomes-italian-american-leaders-to-the-white-house-301956292.html SOURCE The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations VAN NUYS, Calif. , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As the third quarter of 2023 draws to a close, LoanMart is pleased to share key industry data regarding the most popular makes and models for car title loans across the country. Many different vehicles can be used to secure title loans, but some vehicles have been consistently favored among American consumers, and it comes as no surprise that these high-demand vehicles make it to the top of LoanMart's list of newly serviced loans. The list of the top 15 most popular vehicles is as follows: Ford F-150 Toyota Camry Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Honda Accord Toyota Corolla Ford Fusion Nissan Altima Honda Civic Honda CR-V Chevrolet Malibu Ford Escape Ram 1500 Jeep Wrangler GMC Sierra 1500 Chevrolet Tahoe The Ford F-150 is not only the best-selling truck in America for the past four decades, but it also ranked #1 in terms of most funded loans against a vehicle serviced by LoanMart during the first, second, and third quarters of 2023. Out of more than 500 different vehicle models used to secure a loan, this popular truck so far has accounted for more than 3% of loans this quarter, with an average loan amount of $6,082 . Another popular American truck, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, is tied for second on this list with the Toyota Camry at 2.8% of total funded loans in all three quarters of 2023. From Q1 to Q3 of 2023, LoanMart saw a 36% growth in newly serviced loan volume for these 15 popular vehicle makes and models. About LoanMart Although LoanMart's headquarters is based in California , our mission is to provide unparalleled customer service to individuals across the nation. From humble beginnings in Sherman Oaks, California , to success in providing convenient title loans and informational resources to consumers throughout the U.S. , LoanMart is proud to offer financial support to qualified Americans from various credit backgrounds who own all different kinds of vehicles. Learn more about car title loans serviced by LoanMart online today by visiting www.800loanmart.com . Contact Information: [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/loanmart-announces-the-most-popular-makes-and-models-for-car-title-loans-301952687.html SOURCE LoanMart Trilogy to Open New Support Center to Address Growing Crisis in Chicago's Black Neighborhoods CHICAGO , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Studies show suicides have increased among young Black people across the United States in recent years. The reasons for this are not much of a mystery Chicago's South Side is a mental health service desert and the stigma surrounding mental health in Black communities keeps many from seeking services. Trilogy is ready to change these startling statistics but needs the community's help now. For more than 50 years, Trilogy has provided people across Chicago and beyond with support to recover from mental illness and move toward stability. Its clients receive an array of essential services so that they can live independently and thrive in their community. The nonprofit organization is reinforcing its commitment to fighting historic inequitable access to life-saving mental health support for Black Chicagoans. Trilogy recently purchased a 24,000-square-foot building in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood and has invested in additional upgrades to the space totaling $3.3 million . Now, Trilogy is turning to the community to raise the final $1.7 million that will make it possible to complete critical renovations and open the new space. This marks a huge step in a major expansion of mental health access on the South Side where statistics show residents face higher rates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, yet do not receive the support they need. Trilogy invites you to a wall-breaking at the new site, 8541 S. State Street in Chicago , on October 25 at 11:00 am as the organization prepares for the "Breaking Down Walls for Mental Health" gala on November 2 , which signifies the launch of a capital campaign to fund continued improvements to the building. "With support and investment, this new center will blossom into a hub of healing and recovery. This is an opportunity to help meet an urgent need and help people heal now. But we can't do it alone," said Trilogy President & CEO Susan Doig , LCSW, LPHA, CADC. Recent community health needs assessments by the University of Chicago and Mt. Sinai Hospital, as well as resident focus groups, consistently point to the fact that increased access to mental healthcare is the single greatest need reported by residents of Chicago's South Side to make communities healthier, happier, and stronger. Kimberly Casey , Trilogy Board Member and South Side resident, said there are huge disparities in access to mental healthcare in Chicago . "This is especially true on the South Side . There are many reports about how a lack of access to mental healthcare is harming people on the South Side ," Casey said. "Trilogy is breaking down walls for mental health and increasing access. We need everyone who believes in mental health access and equity to lift up and pitch in. Together, we can create access!" A drop-in program called Ujima Point is currently open within the new building. Named by Trilogy clients, Ujima is the third principle of Kwanzaa and refers to a collective responsibility and togetherness. Trilogy's Chatham location will offer a variety of programs including intensive community outreach services, individual and group therapy for children, teens, and adults, outpatient and recovery services, case management, and on-site pharmacy. We are grateful to our sponsors for helping to break down walls for mental health: Garcia Hamilton & Associates, L.P., AssuredPartners, Eleos Health, MADO Healthcare, Tapestry 360 Health, USI Insurance Services, West Monroe, and Wintrust. ABOUT: Trilogy's mission is to provide comprehensive integrated care that enables people in mental health recovery to build meaningful and independent lives. We envision a society where everyone impacted by mental illness is valued, embraced, and supported holistically, systematically, and culturally; where the stigma of mental illness is eliminated; and where quality of care is not determined by socioeconomic status. Contact: Cat Donovan Email: [email protected] Phone: 773.277.3214 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/local-nonprofit-working-to-end-south-side-mental-health-crisis-301956475.html SOURCE Trilogy $100 million , five-year initiative targets improved vaccine technologies through prize competitions. NEW YORK , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Luminary Labs, a leader in accelerating innovation on behalf of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, today announced its partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Luminary Labs will design, promote, and administer two prize competitions in support of Project NextGen's goal to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and enabling technologies. The two international prize competitions will focus on: Catalyzing the development of patch-based vaccine delivery technologies with an emphasis on the collection of clinical evidence with a path toward regulatory approval and commercialization. The prize competition is expected to launch in 2024, with up to $50 million in prizes. in prizes. Reducing the number of doses needed to achieve an effective immune response against a novel coronavirus or pandemic influenza. Current vaccination strategies for novel viruses typically require two doses for full protection. The prize competition is expected to launch in 2026, with up to $41 million in prizes. "As the COVID-19 pandemic transitions out of an emergency phase, there is an opportunity to assess alternative vaccine technologies for improved pandemic responses in the future," said Luminary Labs CEO Sara Holoubek . "We are honored to partner with BARDA to reimagine vaccine delivery technology and help our nation prepare for known and unknown threats." In addition to providing strategy and innovation consulting services to the private and nonprofit sectors, Luminary Labs has more than a decade of experience designing and producing large-scale open innovation programs that have helped federal agencies, corporations, and foundations accelerate effective, scalable solutions. Through a contract with NASA, Luminary Labs has designed and produced prize competitions on behalf of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Through separate contact vehicles, the company has provided similar services to the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Engagements across Luminary Labs' future of health portfolio have helped life sciences and health clients rethink what's possible by identifying where business priorities, emerging technologies, and customer needs meet. This project has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under OT number 75A50123C00059. About Luminary Labs Luminary Labs is a New York City -based strategy and innovation consultancy established in 2009. The company's work covers a broad cross section of topics across four focus areas the future of work and education, the future of health, scientific discovery, and infrastructure on behalf of Fortune 500, government, and nonprofit clients. Luminary Labs is a certified woman-owned small business. Media contact [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/luminary-labs-awarded-barda-contract-to-launch-project-nextgen-vaccine-innovation-prize-competitions-301956320.html SOURCE Luminary Labs BARR Center ( Building Assets , Reducing Risks) announced today that 18 additional Minnesota schools have been selected to implement its evidenced-based system. The 2023 Minnesota legislature approved $5 million for the expansion of the BARR system which focuses on improving school culture and student outcomes. The BARR system is used in 40 schools in Minnesota and over 300 schools in the nation. MINNEAPOLIS , Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Funded through Minnesota's 2023 K12 Education Finance bill (HF 2497) and working with the Minnesota Department of Education in the selection process, the following schools were awarded three-years of funding to roll out BARR's system: I am so grateful to the Minnesota legislature for allocating this funding. Elementary Schools: Brookview Elementary School, Stillwater School District; Ellen Hopkins Elementary School, Moorhead School District; North Metro Flex Academy Charter School, North St. Paul ; Northport Elementary School, Robbinsdale School District; Roosevelt Elementary School, Detroit Lakes School District; Southview Elementary School, Marshall School District; Wilshire Park Elementary School, St. Anthony New Brighton School District. Middle Schools: Detroit Lakes Middle School, Detroit Lakes School District; Marshall Middle School, Marshall School District; North Junior High School, St. Cloud School District; Oak-Land Middle School, Stillwater School District; South Junior High School, St. Cloud School District. High Schools: Apple Valley High School, Rosemount- Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools; Crookston High School, Crookston School District; Eden Prairie High School, Eden Prairie School District; Jordan High School, Jordan School District; Mankato East High School, Mankato School District; Two Rivers High School, ISD 197 West St. Paul and Mendota Heights . Highly competitive, more than 50 schools applied. Schools selected are geographically distributed and priority consideration was given to schools with a concentration of black, indigenous, and students of color, and those experiencing poverty. Educator training is underway as schools begin implementing the BARR system during the 2023-24 school year. These schools will form a statewide network and also join the national network of BARR schools. " BARR's mission is to create equitable schools where every student, regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status, has access to high-quality education where adults know them, recognize their strengths, and help them succeed," explains Angela Jerabek , founder and executive director of the BARR Center . "I am so grateful to the Minnesota legislature for allocating this funding so more educators and students can experience the BARR system, a true evidence-based school success system. I am very excited to have additional schools entering BARR's system." Now more than ever, in this challenging, post-pandemic period, educators need support addressing school climate and student mental health issues. Using existing resources, the BARR system focuses on building meaningful relationships capitalizing on the strengths of every student and leveraging student data to truly transform a school's culture. In every school implemented it has proven to be a successful way to meet the social and emotional needs of all students while simultaneously increasing student achievement and teacher satisfaction and effectiveness. The BARR system stands alone as the most consistently proven school improvement model in the country. Through rigorous studies conducted by the American Institute for Research (AIR), the BARR system has demonstrated statistically significant results in 20 areas, including increasing math and English achievement scores, improving student credit attainment, reducing course failure, closing the achievement gap, and reducing chronic absenteeism all while improving the school environment for both students and staff. About BARR Center BARR Center ( Building Assets , Reducing Risks) delivers the expertise and resources required for a school to implement the BARR system, an evidence-backed system designed to nurture a collaborative and strengths-based culture of support and success for every student through intentionally deepening relationships and improving the use of data. For more information, visit, https://barrcenter.org/ . The contents of this press release do not necessarily represent the policy of the federal Department of Education or the state Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the federal or state government. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/minnesota-schools-awarded-funding-to-implement-evidence-based-barr-system-301955641.html Mission First has accessed more than $15 million in grants in support of affordable housing from four Federal Home Loan Banks PHILADELPHIA , Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1999, Mission First Housing Group ("Mission First") was awarded its first Affordable Housing Program ("AHP") grant from a Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLBank") receiving a $465,000 grant from FHLBank Atlanta to help build 78 affordable apartments in the Fox Chase neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia . In the nearly 25 years since, Mission First has established additional partnerships with FHLBanks of New York , Pittsburgh and San Francisco , working with the cooperative wholesale banks' member financial institutions to successfully apply for more than $15 million in AHP grants that have been put to work creating and preserving safe, sustainable and affordable homes in Pennsylvania , New Jersey and Maryland. Today, ahead of Mission First's " Welcome Home 2023" annual fundraiser event, leaders of these four FHLBanks joined with Mission First to tour the Parkside Preservation and New Market West developments to see the positive impact this partnership has had on residents and the Philadelphia community, and to congratulate the organization on passing the $15 million funding milestone. "Our decades long partnership with the FHLBanks has resulted in providing homes for thousands of people in need throughout our Mid-Atlantic portfolio," said Thomas Queenan , Chief Executive Officer for Mission First Housing Group. "I was pleased to showcase our most recent projects in West Philadelphia this morning to the FHLBanks and their stakeholders, and provide a glimpse of how valuable our partnership with the FHLBanks is to our residents." "Mission First is a prime example of the direct and long-term impact the FHLBanks are able to have through our commitment to housing and community development," said Winthrop Watson , president and CEO of FHLBank Pittsburgh. "Since its implementation in 1990, AHP has grown to become a large and reliable source of grant funds for affordable housing. Each FHLBank funds its AHP directly from earnings and housing developers across the country have access to AHP in all economic cycles. We see that clearly in our partnership with Mission First, a relationship which spans four decades, crosses four FHLBank districts, and has leveraged more than $15 million in grants to provide nearly 1,700 affordable homes that allow our neighbors and communities to thrive." Every year, as mandated by Congress when it created the AHP in 1989, each FHLBank commits at least 10% of its private net income to fund its AHP grants. In total, the 11 FHLBanks have awarded more than $7.6 billion in AHP funds since the first grants were distributed in 1990. AHP provides grants for the acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of affordable housing to offer households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income a place to call home. FHLBank members, working in partnership with community-based housing sponsors or developers, compete for AHP grants by submitting applications for specific projects. AHP-funded projects represent a wide range of strategies and solutions, from historic preservation and adaptive reuse to new construction and rehabilitation. Where AHP projects are developed, local economies also get a boost, as these projects create jobs, increase construction and consumer spending, and generate new tax revenues. AHP grants are awarded annually through a competitive application process to FHLBank members working in partnership with housing developers and community organizations. "The FHLBanks' Affordable Housing Program stands as a reminder that our ability to execute on our foundational liquidity mission delivers more than funding to our nation's local lenders and stability to our financial system: we provide real, tangible support for vital housing initiatives across each FHLBank district, and beyond," said Jose R. Gonzalez, president and CEO of FHLBank New York. "In meeting our mission to deliver liquidity to America's local lenders, we position ourselves to make an even greater impact each year with our AHP and other initiatives through our partnerships with dedicated organizations such as Mission First." "While the AHP is the FHLBank System's flagship grant program, each FHLBank offers a wide range of programs and products to support housing and community development that are tailored to its specific region," said Teresa Bryce Bazemore , president and CEO of FHLBank San Francisco. "In all of these initiatives, it is the participation of each FHLBank's members, who are active and involved local lenders committed to growing and strengthening the communities they serve, that drive the success of our efforts. These regional and local lenders develop and build strong relationships within these communities, working in partnership with local housing organizations to directly address local housing needs and we are proud to provide a whole host of other community investment products and programs in addition to AHP grants." "Reliability is central to the value proposition that the Federal Home Loan Banks offer," said Kirk Malmberg , president and CEO of FHLBank Atlanta. "Our members know that they can rely on their FHLBank to be there with funding in a variety of economic environments, whether in times of stress like we saw in March 2023 or for everyday funding needs during calm periods. And for more than 30 years, our housing partners have benefited from millions of dollars in grants available across the nation each year through the Affordable Housing Program, as well as additional support through the individual products and programs each FHLBank offers in its region. Through our reliability, we help foster stability for our members, for the financial markets, and in the communities our cooperatives have proudly served for more than nine decades." The FHLBank System is comprised of 11 regional banks that are privately capitalized and cooperatively owned by their members, which include approximately 6,600 of America's banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions. This regional structure enables each FHLBank to focus on the distinct needs of the communities its members serve. While only financial institutions may belong to an FHLBank, people everywhere benefit from them: each year, the FHLBanks provide access to billions of dollars in low-cost funding to America's local lenders, expanding consumer access to credit. By executing on their foundational liquidity mission and providing members with a reliable source of funding in all market environments, the FHLBanks play a key stabilizing role in the U.S. financial system. The FHLBanks are critical during times of crisis, stable during calm markets, and dependable during all economic cycles. Mission First Housing Group Mission First Housing Group develops and manages affordable, equitable, safe, sustainable homes that support residents and strengthen communities. Mission First currently provides affordable housing and services to more than 5,500 people in nearly 4,000 apartments across the Mid-Atlantic region, serving populations in need, such as veterans, survivors of domestic violence, seniors and the disabled. Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta FHLBank Atlanta offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to help member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank's membersits shareholders and customers-are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, community development financial institutions, and insurance companies located in Alabama , Florida , Georgia , Maryland , North Carolina , South Carolina , Virginia , and the District of Columbia . FHLBank Atlanta is one of 11 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Since 1990, the FHLBanks have awarded approximately $7.6 billion in Affordable Housing Program funds, assisting more than one million households. Federal Home Loan Bank of New York The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is a Congressionally chartered, wholesale Bank. It is part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, a national wholesale banking network of 11 regional, stockholder-owned banks. As of June 30, 2023 , the FHLBNY serves 335 financial institutions in New Jersey , New York , Puerto Rico , and the U.S. Virgin Islands . The mission of the FHLBNY is to provide members with reliable liquidity in support of housing and local community development. Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh FHLBank Pittsburgh provides reliable funding and liquidity to its member financial institutions, which include commercial and savings banks, community development financial institutions, credit unions and insurance companies in Delaware , Pennsylvania and West Virginia . FHLBank products and resources help support community lending, housing and economic development. As one of 11 Federal Home Loan Banks established by Congress, FHLBank has been an integral and reliable part of the financial system since 1932. Learn more by visiting www.fhlb-pgh.com. Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco FHLBank San Francisco is a member-driven cooperative helping local lenders in Arizona , California , and Nevada build strong communities, create opportunity, and change lives for the better. The tools and resources we provide to our member financial institutions propel homeownership, finance quality affordable housing, drive economic vitality, and revitalize whole neighborhoods. Together with our members and other partners, we are making the communities we serve more vibrant, equitable, and resilient. CONTACT: Brian Finnegan Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (212) 441-6877 [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mission-first-housing-group-recognized-by-federal-home-loan-banks-for-passing-15-million-milestone-301955578.html SOURCE Federal Home Loan Bank of New York NEWARK, N.J. , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, October 6th the Newark School of Fashion & Design (NSFD) held a special ceremony to honor the promotion of its inaugural class of students to the Junior level. These students were recognized for their exceptional commitment and accomplishment of 20 fashion credits and were presented with emblazoned black lab coats to signify their transition to upperclassmen. It was a momentous occasion for all involved. During the ceremony, Principal Pitts of Newark Fashion & Design highlighted the incredible journey the school has been on since its inaugural year in 2020. The event celebrated the students' academic achievements and commitment to furthering their education in the fashion industry. It's worth noting that all the students in the junior class have managed to complete the challenging requirement of earning 20 fashion credits. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of both the students and faculty. At NSFD, first- and second-year students proudly don white lab coats, while the distinguished junior class now wears black coats. These lab coats have come to symbolize not only a mark of distinction, but also serve as a rite of passage for the exceptionally talented students of the Newark School of Fashion & Design. Superintendent Roger Leon emphasized, "We are dedicated to creating an environment in our schools where students can confidently express their unique creativity and make meaningful contributions. Newark School of Fashion & Design remains steadfast in its mission, partnerships, and integral role within our community." Board President Hasani Council shared, "Our goal is to educate and inspire Newark students to explore their academic and creative potential, to envision and realize their dreams." Powered by the Parsons School of Fashion, the Newark School of Fashion & Design places a strong emphasis on partnerships to enrich student experiences. Through these dynamic collaborations, students gain access to hands-on learning opportunities, including internships at the Blueprint Denim Wash House in Jersey City , participation in the transformative "Look Good, Feel Good" program, and immersive experiences at the Misa Hylton Fashion Academy. Students also have the privilege of customizing sneakers with the innovative Dirty Soles footwear group. At the end of the ceremony, Principal Pitts expressed gratitude and acknowledged the unwavering support that has helped the school succeed over the past three years. She encouraged all students to seize every opportunity that comes their way and instilled the belief that determination and dedication can help them achieve any goal they set their minds to. For media inquiries, please contact: Nancy J. Deering , Acting Communications Director [email protected] About Newark Public Schools The Newark Public Schools is the largest school district in New Jersey and dates back to 1676. The District currently enrolls over 39,000 students in 63 schools. After more than two decades of state operation and upon return to local control in 2018, the District has opened 9 new schools under Superintendent Leon's leadership with an additional portfolio of new options to be announced in the coming months and years. The Newark Board of Education serves as a beacon of educational excellence, dedicated to nurturing the potential of every student. With a commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and fostering a love for learning, the District continues to shape future generations and make a positive impact within the community. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newark-school-of-fashion-and-design-celebrates-junior-students-with-prestigious-black-lab-coat-ceremony-301956459.html SOURCE Newark Board of Education FORT WORTH, Texas , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc. ("Next Bridge," "our," "we," or the "Company"), a private oil and natural gas exploration and production company with interests in Texas and Oklahoma announced today that, effective October 6, 2023 , it entered into and closed the transactions described in twenty-five separate Participation Agreements (the "Participation Agreements") pursuant to which the investor participants party to such Participant Agreements (each a "Participant" and collectively the "Participants") collectively funded the cost of drilling, $7,000,000 , which will be used to (i) acquire the rights to drill on the Johnson Prospect and (ii) finance the drilling of five (5) vertical wells in the approximately 17,000 acre Johnson Prospect in Hudspeth County, Texas , which is a portion of the Company's Orogrande Prospect, in connection with the Company's 2023 drilling program requirements under its University Lands Drilling and Development Unit Agreement. Each Participant will have the right to participate in the drilling of additional wells on the Johnson Prospect in the future, including an additional five (5) vertical wells in locations determined by Hudspeth Operating, LLC, the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary (" Hudspeth "), in its sole discretion, in 2024. Each Participation Agreement provides for an initial allocation of the working interests and net revenue interests among each Participant and the Company and then a re-allocation upon payout or payment to such Participant of drilling and completion costs for each well drilled. Following payout, the Company will own 25% of working interest as described below and 18.75% net revenue interest in each well. Hudspeth will be the operator of the Johnson Prospect pursuant to a joint operating agreement (the "Operating Agreement") entered into in connection with the Participation Agreements. The Participation Agreements and the Operating Agreement require, among other things, that Hudspeth and the Company drill and complete at least five (5) vertical wells by December 31, 2023 , unless the term of the Participation Agreement is extended. The Company reserved a twenty-five percent (25%) back-in interest, which shall automatically revert to the Company following the date that each Participant first recovers 100% of the costs attributable to the drilling and development of the wells in which such Participant has participated. Further, within a specified period following drilling of the initial five (5) wells, pursuant to the Participation Agreement each Participant may elect to transfer and assign all of its interests to the Company in exchange for the issuance of shares of common stock of the Company at a value of $1.20 per share. Commenting on the transaction, Clifton DuBose , Jr., Next Bridge's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very pleased with this transaction, which allows us to satisfy our 2023 drilling obligations by assigning only a portion of our 134,000 acres while retaining a 25% back-in interest on the assigned acreage." About Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc. The Company is an independent public reporting energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation and/or development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States . Our primary focus has been the development of interests in an oil and gas project consisting of 134,000 contiguous gross acres we hold in the Orogrande Basin in West Texas in Hudspeth County, Texas . In addition, we have minor interests in the Eastern edge of the Midland Basin in Texas , and two minor well interests in Oklahoma . Please visit www.nextbridgehydrocarbons.com for more information. Next Bridge is a private company insofar as its shares of common stock are not traded on a public stock exchange of any kind. The Company is expected to update its shareholders about certain operational and financial updates related to the Company's business. To receive timely emails with respect to these corporate developments, please visit www.nextbridgehydrocarbons.com/ and complete the Email Alert/ Investor Form. You may also choose to follow our social media channels at @nbhydrocarbons on Twitter and "Next Bridge Hydrocarbons" on LinkedIn. Contact: Dennard Lascar Investor Relations [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/next-bridge-hydrocarbons-inc-enters-into-participation-agreement-to-fund-johnson-prospect-drilling-program-301956260.html SOURCE Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc. Lawyer Oleh Horetskyi, who, along with former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniazev, is accused of taking $2.7 million in bribes, was sentenced to 5 years in prison without confiscation of property. The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) released the defendant from serving his sentence with a probationary period of three years and approved the agreement between the prosecutor and the defendant. ADVERTISIMENT According to the agreement, Horetskyi is obliged to transfer UAH 21 million to the Army of Drones project, cooperate with the prosecution, and provide incriminating evidence. About UAH 29 million seized during the investigation will also be transferred to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was reported by the press service of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP). The HACC panel of judges approved the plea agreement on October 12, the statement said. Thus, the court found Horetskyi guilty of aiding and abetting a bribe to an official holding a particularly responsible position and a third party, as well as giving such a bribe, and fraud (Part 5 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 369, Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). ADVERTISIMENT "The court sentenced him to 5 years of imprisonment without confiscation of property. Based on Art. 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the court released the person from serving the sentence with a probationary period of 3 years," the SAP said. Under the terms of the agreement, Horetskyi is obliged to cooperate with the investigation and testify, as well as donate UAH 21 million to the joint project of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the State Special Communications Service, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Army of Drones. About UAH 29 million will also be transferred to support the Armed Forces. In addition, $350,000 is being seized as a special confiscation, the SAP said. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA: - On May 15, the NABU said that they detained a Supreme Court judge while receiving a bribe together with the SAP. According to the investigation, the management and ordinary judges were involved in a large corruption scheme. - According to media reports, Kniazev received a bribe for a decision in favor of oligarch Kostiantyn Zhevaho. - In court, the former Supreme Court chief said that the money allegedly belonged to his wealthy friends, and he was allegedly given it for safekeeping. The court remanded him in custody with the possibility of posting UAH 80 million bail. - On October 4, the NABU and the SAP announced that the investigation of Kniazev's case was complete. He faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. Only verified information on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes CAMBRIDGE, Mass. , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nona Biosciences, a global pioneer of technology innovation and antibody discovery and development solutions, and INGENIA Therapeutics, a preclinical-stage biotech company with a breakthrough technology to restore defective blood vessels, announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement. By harnessing the immense expertise and resources of both companies, the collaboration aims to accelerate the development of innovative therapeutics for immunological disorders with highly unmet needs. Jingsong Wang , MD, PhD, Chairman of Nona Biosciences, said, "We've accumulated rich experience in immunological disorders, and by leveraging our proprietary Harbour Mice HCAb technology, we will effectively empower INGENIA's innovative pipeline for the benefit of patients around the world." Sangyeul Han, PhD, CEO of INGENIA Therapeutics, commented, "We're very pleased to partner with Nona Biosciences to advance INGENIA's pipeline. By utilizing Nona's strong research and development capabilities, we are confident to find new innovative solutions for multiple diseases." About Nona Biosciences Nona Biosciences (a wholly-owned subsidiary of HBM Holdings Limited, HKEX: 02142) is a global biotechnology company committed to cutting-edge technology innovation and provides a total solution from "Idea to IND" (I to ITM), ranging from target validation and antibody discovery through preclinical research. The integrated antibody discovery services range from antigen preparation, animal immunization, highly robust antibody screening, to antibody lead generation and engineering, developability assessment and pharmacological evaluation, leveraging advantages of Harbour Mice technology and the experienced therapeutic antibody discovery team. Harbour Mice generate fully human monoclonal antibodies in a traditional two heavy and two light chain (H2L2) format, and a heavy chain only (HCAb) format. Integrating Harbour Mice with highly robust antibody screening platforms, Nona Biosciences is focused on driving global inventions of transformative next-generation drugs. For more information, please visit: www.nonabio.com. About INGENIA Therapeutics INGENIA is a privately held biotechnology company specializing in a proprietary microvasculature protection technology aimed at offering a means to rehabilitate and safeguard defective blood vessels against a spectrum of microvascular destabilizing factors, including VEGF, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and elevated blood glucose levels. This innovative technology possesses attributes such as anti-inflammatory, anti-leakage, and anti-angiogenic properties, thereby affording advanced therapeutic solutions across diverse vasculitis-related diseases. For more information, please visit: www.ingeniatx.com. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nona-biosciences-and-ingenia-therapeutics-enter-into-collaboration-agreement-301956322.html SOURCE Nona Biosciences BETHESDA, Md. , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwest Biotherapeutics (OTCQB: NWBO) ("NW Bio"), a biotechnology company developing DCVax personalized immune therapies for solid tumor cancers, provided an update today about its progress toward submission of a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)(the equivalent of the U.S. FDA) in the U.K. for commercial approval of the Company's DCVax-L treatment for glioblastoma. The Company reported that the majority of the MAA has been completed, and all but one of the key sections of the MAA have been delivered to the publisher. The publisher is an independent party who does the final step of the preparation for the submission: formatting, checking references and the like. The Company and its consultants are working intensively to finalize this last key section of the MAA, after overcoming an unexpected delay in that regard. The Company strongly believes that after so many years of work on the DCVax-L program, taking some additional time to help ensure that the full MAA package is as strong as it can be is especially important since the Company plans to submit applications to multiple regulators. An additional factor in the timeline is that certain expert consultants who are key to this remaining section will be temporarily unavailable during the next two-week period, returning the week of October 30 . The Company anticipates that the remaining section of the MAA package will be delivered to the publisher within about two weeks after the consultants return. The Company further anticipates that once this last section of the MAA is delivered to the publisher, they will need about two to three weeks to complete their work on both the last portion and the integrated whole. With this timeline, the submission of the MAA to the MHRA would take place between mid and late November. The Company plans to provide updates when the delivery is made to the publisher and when the MAA is submitted. About Northwest Biotherapeutics Northwest Biotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing personalized immunotherapy products designed to treat cancers more effectively than current treatments, without toxicities of the kind associated with chemotherapies, and on a cost-effective basis, in both North America and Europe. The Company has a broad platform technology for DCVax dendritic cell-based vaccines. The Company's lead program involves DCVax-L treatment for glioblastoma (GBM). GBM is the most aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer, and is an "orphan disease." The Company has completed a 331-patient Phase III trial of of DCVax-L for GBM, and the results have been presented in scientific meetings and published in JAMA Oncology. The Company has also developed DCVax-Direct for inoperable solid tumor cancers. It has completed a 40-patient Phase I trial and, as resources permit, plans to pursue Phase II trials. The Company previously conducted a Phase I/II trial with DCVax-L for advanced ovarian cancer together with the University of Pennsylvania. Disclaimer Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts, including statements concerning plans for DCVax are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expect," "believe," "intend," "design," "plan," "continue," "may," "will," "anticipate," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. Readers should not rely upon forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation, risks related to delays or uncertainties in regulatory processes, risks related to the Company's ability to achieve timely performance of third parties, risks related to whether the Company's products will be viewed as demonstrating safety and efficacy, risks related to the Company's ongoing ability to raise additional capital, and other risks included in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings. Additional information on the foregoing risk factors and other factors, including Risk Factors, which could affect the Company's results, is included in its SEC filings. Finally, there may be other factors not mentioned above or included in the Company's SEC filings that may cause actual plans, results or timelines to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or developments, except as expressly stated or as required by securities laws. CONTACTS Northwest Biotherapeutics Dave Innes 804-513-4758 [email protected] Les Goldman 240-234-0059 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/northwest-biotherapeutics-provides-update-on-near-term-plans-for-submission-of-marketing-authorization-application-301956184.html SOURCE Northwest Biotherapeutics GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Global Cat Day, October 16 , Alley Cat Allies is making a stand to prevent cats from being killed on the Cayman Islands in the western Caribbean Sea . As the government of the Cayman Islands pursues its devastating policy to round up and kill cats, Alley Cat Allies , the leading advocacy organization for cats, is working to launch a humane, nonlethal program to address the community cat population. Starting on Monday, October 16 , Alley Cat Allies will be on the ground to begin providing spay and neuter surgery for up to 100 cats on Grand Cayman Island , while also distributing hundreds of pounds of cat food to caregivers in need of assistance. This work is to be done in collaboration with the Cayman Islands Humane Society, and is an approach that starkly contrasts against the deadly government plan already underway. In the Cayman Islands , the local government has initiated a plan to kill cats, under the misguided rationale of protecting local species. However, killing cats is a failed policy that has never proven to be successful. While removal may briefly reduce the number of cats, it never lasts. Other cats will be attracted to resources such as food and shelter and move in to fill the space, quickly bringing population levels back up. This phenomenon is known as the Vacuum Effect, and it is well established in research. Alley Cat Allies also advocates for more people to understand that killing is not the same as conservation, and killing one species in favor of another is morally indefensible. Leading biologists, climate scientists and environmental watchdogs agree that climate change, habitat destruction and development are the leading causes of species loss. Attempting to pin the blame on cats conveniently ignores the reality that solutions to species loss rest squarely in our hands. Alley Cat Allies will continue working in the Cayman Islands on future initiatives to protect cats from being killed. About Alley Cat Allies Alley Cat Allies believes every cat deserves to live out his or her life to the fullest. Founded in 1990, Alley Cat Allies is the leading advocacy organization for cats with a mission to transform and develop communities to protect and improve the lives of all cats and kittens. Together with our more than 800,000 supporters, we work toward a world where all cats are valued and every community has humane and effective programs and policies to defend them. Through our fearless advocacy, humane care, education and outreach, and law and policy activism, we empower and mobilize citizens, advocates, grassroots groups, shelters, veterinary professionals, and elected officials across the United States and around the world to improve their communities for cats through nonlethal, evidence-based approaches. Our website is www.alleycat.org, and we are active on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Linkedin and YouTube. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/on-october-16---global-cat-day---alley-cat-allies-makes-a-stand-to-prevent-cats-from-being-killed-on-caribbean-islands-301956597.html In SoftwareReviews' latest Data Quadrant report, the firm reveals the five top-performing robotic process automation (RPA) software solutions that users say best help organizations unlock digital transformation. TORONTO , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - SoftwareReviews, a leading source for insights on the software provider landscape, has published its 2023 Data Quadrant report on the top enterprise and midmarket providers as leaders for 2023. RPA leverages low-code implementation to automate routine and clearly delineated business tasks based on set guidelines. Using RPA bots, enterprises can efficiently execute automated functions such as calculations, transaction reconciliations, and the issuance of transcription exception notifications. The software also interfaces seamlessly with both structured and unstructured data sources via application user interfaces (UIs). RPA technology empowers staff to rapidly automate business processes and applications, even with limited coding expertise. Nevertheless, potential adoption hurdles may arise, underscoring the importance of choosing a platform that provides robust training and resource support. "In today's intricate business and IT landscape, robotic process automation emerged as a pivotal tool for enhancing productivity and fostering deeper insights. This is just the starting point," says Andrew Kum-Seun , research director, Info-Tech Research Group and SoftwareReviews. "Strategically integrating RPA with business process management systems, low-code platforms, artificial intelligence, and other advanced workflow automation tools can substantially amplify its return on investment, thereby cultivating a more potent and effective workforce." SoftwareReviews' survey data from 1,326 end-user reviews was used to identify the top RPA software providers. The insights are intended to support organizations who are considering options to streamline their robotic process automation strategies. The 2023 Robotic Process Automation Software leaders for the enterprise market are as follows: UiPath Platform, 9.2 CS, ranked high for business value creation. Automation Anywhere, 9.0 CS, ranked high for quality of features. Blue Prism, 8.8 CS, ranked high for exemption handling. The 2023 Robotic Process Automation Software Leaders for midmarket are as follows: G1ANT, 8.6 CS, ranked high for ease of implemenation. ElectroNeek, 8.3 CS, ranked high for customer support. User assessments of software categories provide an accurate and detailed view of the constantly changing market. SoftwareReviews' reports are informed by data from users and IT professionals who have intimate experience with the software throughout the procurement, implementation, and maintenance processes. The full report is now ready to access on the firm's website, which is updated in real time to reflect new reviews and ratings. For more information about SoftwareReviews and the Data Quadrant, or to access resources to support the software selection process, visit softwarereviews.com. About SoftwareReviews SoftwareReviews empowers organizations with the best data, insights, and advice to improve the software buying and selling experience. For buyers, SoftwareReviews' proven software selection methodologies, customer insights, and technology advisors help maximize success with technology decisions. For providers, the firm helps build more effective marketing, product, and sales processes with expert analysts, how-to research, customer-centric marketing content, and comprehensive analysis of the buyer landscape. SoftwareReviews is a division of Info-Tech Research Group, a world-class technology research and advisory firm. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/softwarereviews-publishes-2023-robotic-process-automation-data-quadrant-report-revealing-the-top-five-providers-in-the-market-301956630.html SOURCE SoftwareReviews FREDERICK, Md. , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle , James Oberman is acknowledged as a Top Pinnacle Professional for his contributions to the field of Otolaryngology. Dr. Oberman began his educational journey at Boston College where he excelled as a student earning the designation of summa cum laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Sigma Nu. After graduation, he attended Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA in 1996 where he earned a medical degree. The doctor continued his education at Quantic University obtaining an Executive Master's in Business Administration (EMBA) degree in 2022. In addition to his professional medical career, Dr. Oberman is also a leader in the military, completing training at the Naval Undersea Medical Institute (NUMI) in Groton, CT and the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, FL in 1997. The medical officer had numerous operational tours for the US Navy including Submarine Squadrons SIX; EIGHT in Norfolk, VA ; and Senior Diving. He was a medical officer for He explained that he completed a Pediatrics Internship/General Surgery Internship and Otolaryngology residence training at Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA . He also completed two tours as a staff Otolaryngologist in Okinawa, Japan , and Jacksonville, FL. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group TWO in Little Creek , VA. He also served as the Tidewater Regional Diving Casualty and Clinical Hyperbaric Expert Consultant; covered for the SUBLANT Senior Medical Officer; established a SCUBA training program for submarines on the waterfront; was deployed on the USS Narwhal submarine receiving his submarine medical officer qualification; and performed underwater explosive surveillance during OPSAIL 2000 in NYC Harbor during the summer of 2000. Also a recognized leader in the medical field, the doctor has chaired numerous hospital committees and served a two-year term as the President of the Medical Staff from 2010-2012 at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, FL as well as serving as their Communication in Healthcare Course Director. Board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Oberman was an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences from 2011-2017 and was selected by the USN Surgeon General to be the US Navy Otorhinolaryngology Specialty Leader who is responsible for all decisions affecting the 100 ENT surgeons across the globe. He earned the rank of Captain and received a scholarship grant in September 2013 from the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO/HNSF) recognizing him as a "young physician leader." He was recognized by Jacksonville Magazine as "Best of Otolaryngology in 2011;" was Region Otolaryngology Product Line leader from 2015-2016; and was clinical faculty at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital from 2014-2017. The doctor is a national faculty member for the Institute for Healthcare Excellence (IHE) and recently collaborated with national healthcare leaders generating a white paper targeting physician burnout and provider resiliency. Excelling in both the military and private sector, Dr. Oberman was named National Capital Region Medical Directorate's Inaugural Clinical Quality Officer and subsequently authored the five-year quality action plan for the National Capital Region which included piloting a communication in healthcare curriculum. The doctor notes that the success of the program ultimately led to market-wide expansion in 2016 and he continued to serve as the Clinical Champion and Course Director for the program. Touted as a highlight in his career, this program is cited often as an innovation/best practice throughout the entire Military Health System. Dr. Oberman's illustrious career includes many accolades and prestigious positions, including his role on the staff of the USN Medical Corps Chief's Office as the Medical Corps Career Planner serving as the principal mentor and advisor to over 3,700 Navy Medical Corps Officers of which he was hand-selected by the Navy Admiral in 2015. Serving in this capacity for two years, his responsibilities included providing counsel on all aspects of professional development and career progression; focusing on talent management; and serving as a staunch advocate for USN physicians. The doctor retired from the US Navy in 2017 and joined the Becker ENT practice, an affiliate of the University of Pennsylvania System in Princeton, NJ . He was appointed as the inaugural Medical Director for the Patient Experience at the Princeton Health System Campus of the University of Pennsylvania. He explained that he transitioned closer to family in 2018 and joined the Frederick Health Medical Group where he was instrumental in establishing their inaugural Otolaryngology department. He is co-owner of the Frederick Breathe Free ENT Center, an affiliate of the National Breathe Free Sinus and ENT Centers; operates as the only surgeon, supervising three Physician Assistants and a staff of 16 personnel; and is credentialed at Holy Cross Germantown Hospital in Germantown, MD . When reflecting on his accomplishments, the doctor considers being honored by ZocDoc as a TOPDOC for 2022 and 2023 based upon the top 1% national google patient satisfaction surveys as a highlight of his career as well as being recognized as the USN-wide "Undersea Medical Officer-of-the-Year for 1999." Dr. Oberman is married to Margaret (Meg) Ann Perusse Oberman , MD, MPH, FACP of Litchfield, CT . They currently reside in Poolesville, MD and have three children Connell (age 23), Aidan (age 21), and Bridget (age 17). Contact: Katherine Green , 516-825-5634, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-inner-circle-acknowledges-james-oberman-as-a-top-pinnacle-professional-for-his-contributions-to-the-field-of-otolaryngology-301956467.html The fundraiser to support Israeli hospitals raised $50,000 in the first few hours and will run through Monday, Oct. 16 . LOS ANGELES , Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tieks, a Los Angeles -based shoemaker, launched on Tuesday a week-long virtual fundraiser featuring several of its most exclusive ballet flats to raise funds for hospitals in Israel that have been overwhelmed following the horrific attacks by Hamas in early October. The fundraiser, " Tieks for Israel ," raised more than $50,000 from some 600 participants within the first few hours of going live. "As a proud Jew and Israeli, the recent attacks by Hamas hit close to home," said Kfir Gavrieli , CEO and founder of Tieks . "I am honored to see the Tieks community stepping up and showing solidarity with Israel in such a meaningful way. Through the proceeds, we will be able to help support the overwhelmed Israeli hospitals and healthcare workers treating the victims of Hamas' barbaric attacks targeting innocent men, women, and children. I hope that other brands will follow suit and show their support for Israelis, who are mourning after this horrific mass murder the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust." Tieks for Israel features eight of the brands' most unique and collectible flats, including the Magick, Midnight Blue, Sapphire Croc, Tiek Blue Classic, Black Ostrich, Tyrian, Seafield Check, and Arabian Night styles. These limited-edition Tieks, some of which are the first of their kind, are typically only released on rare occasions like Black Friday and routinely sell out within hours, making the fundraiser an exclusive opportunity to win some of Tieks' most coveted styles. The fundraiser will run through Monday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. PDT ., and all proceeds will be donated to hospitals in Israel . Tieks organized a similar virtual auction last year to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees following Russia's invasion. The #TieksForUkraine auction sold a collection of rare Tieks flats and raised nearly $90,000 to support World Central Kitchen's work helping war-affected Ukrainians. Thanks to #TieksForUkraine, World Central Kitchen was able to provide tens of thousands of meals to individuals in Ukraine and all eight border crossings - from Poland to Hungary . To participate in the Tieks for Israel fundraiser, visit https://tieks.com/tieksforisrael . About Tieks : Stylish, comfortable, durable, and foldable, Tieks are the most versatile flats in the world. Tieks is committed to women's empowerment and, through the Gavrieli Foundation, has become the largest individual lender in the world on Kiva, sending over $10,000,000 to women entrepreneurs living in poverty around the world. Learn more here: https://tieks.com/ View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tieks-offers-rare-flats-to-fundraise-for-hospitals-in-israel-following-hamas-attacks-301955615.html SOURCE Tieks by Gavrieli JERSEY CITY, N.J. , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Veris Residential, Inc. ("Veris Residential") (NYSE: VRE), a forward-thinking, environmentally and socially conscious REIT that primarily owns, operates, acquires and develops Class A multifamily properties, today announces that it will host its third quarter 2023 financial results webcast and conference call on Thursday, October 26, 2023 , at 8:30 a.m. , eastern. The Company will release its results after the close of market on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 . The webcast can be listened to via the Internet by accessing the Company's website at http://investors.verisresidential.com/corporate-overview. The conference call is also accessible by dialing (877) 451-6152 (domestic) or (201) 389-0879 (international) and requesting the Veris Residential third quarter 2023 earnings conference. It is recommended that participants log on or dial in to the call approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Replay: Audio replay from the conference call will be available on Veris Residential's website at http://investors.verisresidential.com/corporate-overview. About Veris Residential, Inc. Veris Residential, Inc. is a forward-thinking, environmentally- and socially-conscious real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily owns, operates, acquires, and develops holistically-inspired, Class A multifamily properties that meet the sustainability-conscious lifestyle needs of today's residents while seeking to positively impact the communities it serves and the planet at large. The company is guided by an experienced management team and Board of Directors and is underpinned by leading corporate governance principles, a best-in-class and sustainable approach to operations, and an inclusive culture based on equality and meritocratic empowerment. For additional information on Veris Residential, Inc. and our properties available for lease, please visit https://www.verisresidential.com/. Investors Anna Malhari Chief Operating Officer [email protected] Media Amanda Shpiner / Grace Cartwright Gasthalter & Co. 212-257-4170 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/veris-residential-inc-announces-dates-for-third-quarter-2023-financial-results-and-webcast-301956601.html SOURCE Veris Residential, Inc. TOLEDO, Ohio , Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) today announced it will release third quarter 2023 financial results after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, October 30, 2023 . The Company will host a conference call and webcast on Tuesday, October 31, 2023 , at 9:00 a.m. ET to discuss these results. The Company's earnings release will be available in the Investors section of the Company's website. Investors and other interested parties may access the conference call in the following ways: At the Company's website: www.welltower.com. Via webcast: https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/550652848. A webcast replay will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the conference call and will be available for 90 days. Joining via webcast is recommended for those who will not be asking questions. By telephone: The participant toll-free dial-in number is (888) 340-5024. The international dial-in is (646) 960-0135. The conference ID number is 8230248. All phone participants are asked to dial in 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to ensure connectivity. A replay of the conference call will be available beginning at approximately 1:00 p.m. ET on October 31, 2023 and ending on November 7, 2023 . The dial-in number for United States participants is (800) 770-2030. For international participants, the replay dial-in number is (647) 362-9199. The replay conference ID number is 8230248. About Welltower Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL), an S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. The Company invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers, and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower, a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing, post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties. More information is available at www.welltower.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/welltower-announces-date-of-third-quarter-2023-earnings-release-conference-call-and-webcast-301955648.html SOURCE Welltower By Pietro Lombardi MADRID (Reuters) - Australian fund IFM Investors will bring major international investors to Madrid next week as it hopes to expand its presence in the country in sectors tied to the green energy transition, it said on Friday. The fund, which has around $131 billion under management, has invested 8 billion euros ($8.4 billion) in Spain in the past five years, including a 14.5% stake in power utility Naturgy. IFM will hold the event from Monday to Wednesday in Madrid "due to the growing strategic importance of Spain for its portfolio of infrastructure assets," it said. IFM Chief Executive David Neal, as well as its global and regional infrastructure chiefs, Kyle Mangini and Deepa Bharadwaj, will be at the meeting. Jaime Siles, who represents the fund on Naturgy's board, will also attend. The presence of the IFM's top brass in Madrid comes as Naturgy is considering changes that could reshape the company and after some tensions over the potential appointment of a chief executive. IFM's delegation will meet Naturgy's top management and visit some premises, a person familiar with the planning told Reuters. ($1 = 0.9503 euros) (Reporting by Pietro Lombardi Editing by Inti Landauro and Mark Potter) U.S. President Joe Biden participates in a roundtable with Jewish community leaders regarding the Palestine-Israel conflict, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, U.S. October 11, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Erns WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden has spoken with family members of 14 Americans unaccounted for after attacks by Hamas militants on Israel, the White House said on Friday. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the president and his team told the families U.S. authorities would do everything they could to return these people back to their families. "They are American citizens. They belong home with their families," Kirby told reporters. The White House has confirmed the deaths of 22 Americans in the Hamas attacks on Israel that began on Saturday. Kirby said U.S. authorities were still working to get more information on how many Americans were among the hostages taken by Hamas. "We still believe it's a very small number," he said on Friday. "I think I described it as less than a handful. That is still our estimate right now." (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason, Doina Chiacu; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Russian propaganda, despite Google's denials, is found in Discover on Android. Information from the Kremlin is displayed as a content feed in the Chrome browser. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by Bloomberg. Google said that it had made a lot of efforts to deprive Vladimir Putin's government of the opportunity to use its services to spread disinformation after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "On October 6, a link about a 'quiet, great victory' of the Russian air force with an image of Sukhoi fighter jets flying in formation over the Kremlin led to the website of Tsargrad TV, a channel notorious for its far-right content. Once there, readers will find blatant lies and disinformation, including an article blaming Ukraine for a recent Russian strike that killed 52 civilians in the Kharkiv region, as well as an article claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is recruiting fighters from the Islamic State," the article says. It is noted that in September, Google received an average of more than 200,000 daily hits on Tsargrad TV. It is run by Kostyantin Malofeev, a Russian businessman and Kremlin ally who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for his role in fomenting pro-Russian violence in Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT Other pro-Kremlin media publications, such as the Komsomolskaya Pravda, also appear on Discover regularly. "Moscow has used the full spectrum of the MoD - from open, state-backed media to covert platforms and accounts - to shape public perceptions of the war," Google said in a report on September 26. It added that Google interrupted 1,950 cases of Russian IO activity on its platforms in 2022. Other actions included refusing to include Russian state-owned publishers, including RT, in its materials at the beginning of the war and stopping paying them for content. As part of the Kremlin's wartime crackdown on the media, the government is now blocking Google News in Russia, although other Alphabet Inc. services, including YouTube and Google Search, continue to operate. Android is used on more than 80% of mobile phones in Russia, along with Discover, which covers Putin's media publications regularly. ADVERTISIMENT Although Discover is positioned as a search product, not a news product, the vast majority of its recommendations, which are visible whenever you open a Chrome window on a mobile device, are articles making a news feed. The service has about a billion monthly active users worldwide. "This content comes from the open web but we strive to display content that demonstrates expertise, credibility, and reliability. We have strict rules that publishers must follow to appear on Discover," the company added. As reported by OBOZ.UA, last year, the Russian representative office of Google, Google Russia (Google LLC), declared bankruptcy. The company filed such a statement with the Moscow Arbitration Court. The fact is that the Kremlin authorities are demanding that Google in Russia pay 7.2 billion rubles ($113.5 million) in fines. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! By Ana Mano SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A severe drought is disrupting barge traffic on the Tapajos river in the Amazon rainforest, shipping agencies told clients this week as Brazil enters the final months of 2023's corn export season. "Due to the dry season in the Amazon River, the current situation of barges' navigation at the Tapajos River is getting restricted," shipping agent Alphamar said in a note to clients, seen by Reuters. The barge convoys are smaller than usual and in some cases barges are reducing their loads by about 50% in order to safely navigate on some parts of the Tapajos, it added. Cargonave, another agent, told clients the vessel MV Bravery, which was supposed to anchor at Santarem port to load corn in Para state, was affected. "The improbability of loading due to lack of logistics to supply the ship is something real and relevant," Cargonave wrote. According to Cargonave data, the MV Bravery was shown as due to arrive at Santarem on Oct 10. It will now berth on Oct. 25, when it is due to take almost 56,000 metric tons of corn to Iran. Cargonave said the draft of private ports on the banks of the Tapajos river is at the lowest levels ever. Amport, a group representing Amazonian private port operators including Cargill and Louis Dreyfus Company, said barge convoys are reducing their loads by 50% on the Madeira river and 40% on the Tapajos, respectively. Reducing loads is normal during the dry season but by a smaller proportion, Amport said. The Madeira river's mouth region remains 70 cm (27.56 inches) above levels reached during a historical drought in 2010, while the Tapajos is 25 cm (9.84 inches) above its 2010 minimums, Amport said. Barge operator Hidrovias do Brasil acknowledged "a critical and rapidly changing scenario." But the company reiterated its barges are running with about two-thirds of capacity on the Tapajos, which is enough to ensure navigability at this time. The main seaports receiving grain cargos from inland rivers are Itacoatiara, Santarem and Barcarena, and they are operating normally, Amport said. Despite the effects of the drought, Amport still projects moving around 25% more vegetable bulk in 2023 than in 2022 through Brazilian Amazonian river and seaports. (Reporting by Ana Mano; editing by Jonathan Oatis) FILE PHOTO: Smoke from wildfires in the Amazon is seen in the port of Manaus, Brazil October 12, 2023. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File Photo SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's government told ranchers and farmers on Friday to stop setting fire to the Amazon rainforest as clouds of dense gray smoke make the air increasingly unbreathable in the northern city of Manaus, threatening sanctions if they do burn areas of land. "Fire is not natural in the Amazon, it comes from criminal actions or deforestation," Environment Minister Marina Silva told reporters. "There are people criminally setting fire to public and private areas." The world's largest rainforest is facing a historical drought worsened by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Rainfall below average is increasing the polluting effects of the region's annual burning season. This is the time of year when fires tend to spike in the Amazon as rains subside, making it easier for ranchers and farmers who use fires to clear land, raise cattle and grow commercial crops. According to the Brazilian government, 60 of the 62 cities in northern Amazonas state have declared a state of emergency because of drought and wildfires, and the month of October is expected to be "challenging". Silva said the government would send more than 300 firefighters and two aircraft to help put out the fires. Those who deliberately set fire to private areas will have their properties embargoed and no longer be able to obtain funding, according to the head of environment agency IBAMA, Rodrigo Agostinho. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has staked his international reputation on reversing environmental back-sliding under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, when Amazon deforestation soared. In the first nine months of 2023, deforestation in the region fell 49.5% on a yearly basis, according to preliminary data from space research agency INPE. "If we hadn't reduced deforestation by almost 50% we would be living through the Apocalypse," Silva said. "Right now we're in a climate emergency in Brazil." (Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; editing by Grant McCool) LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said it planned to step up its military presence in Northern Europe, including deploying 20,000 troops to the region next year, to help protect critical infrastructure at a time of growing concern over Russian sabotage. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier on Friday met fellow leaders as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) defence cooperation summit on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Britain said in a statement it would send 20,000 soldiers, sailors, marines and air men and women plus eight Royal Navy ships and a group of fast jets and military helicopters to help police and deter threats from Russia. Britain said they would take part in large-scale, multi-country exercises, and carry out air policing and cold weather training JEF, a defence cooperation group between the Nordic and Baltic states, the Netherlands and Britain, was meeting days after a pipeline and a data cable in the Gulf of Finland were damaged due to "outside activity", stoking concerns about security in the wider Nordic region. "This week, we have seen yet again that our security cannot be taken for granted. It is vital that we stand united against those with malign intent," Sunak said in a statement. (Reporting by William James, editing by Sarah Young) By Mohammad Yunus Yawar KABUL (Reuters) -A suicide bombing ripped through a Shi'ite mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least seven worshippers, a government official said. "A blast has taken place at a Shi'ite mosque," Baghlan province official Mawlawi Hashimi said. Seven people were killed during prayer and 15 injured in the attack in the city of Pul e Khumri in Baghlan, he said. All of the casualties were Shi'ites, he said. Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration has faced an insurgency by IS militants, who have claimed a series of deadly attacks on civilians, foreigners and Taliban security forces in recent months. Sunni Islamist militants consider Shi'ites to be heretics. (Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Asif Shahzad; editing by Christina Fincher, Mark Heinrich and Grant McCool) FILE PHOTO: China's official app for digital yuan is seen on a mobile phone next to 100-yuan banknotes in this illustration picture taken October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File photo SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese foreign exchange regulator official said "programmable features" of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) could help enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy tools, state media reported on Friday. China is among a host of countries developing their own CBDCs - digital tokens issued by central banks - although adoption is still in its early stages. Currently, CBDCs are mostly being positioned as M0 currency, or cash in circulation. Lu Lei, deputy administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) told a forum on Thursday that central banks could make CBDCs M2 currency, which includes some deposits and savings, based on its programmable features, Shanghai Securities News reported. Programmable features in a CBDC are settings that can be changed. For example, money can be programmed to have an expiration date or be restricted for certain uses. Lu said he expected the People's Bank of China (PBOC) could explore the features to adjust rates of CBDC, which could also be used manage the macro economy. Lu also said cross-border payments based on CBDCs can make transactions safe, convenient and inclusive. Chinese state-owned banks participated last year in a trial focused on cross-border transactions developed by the Bank of International Settlements. Transactions using China's CBDC, the e-CNY, hit 1.8 trillion yuan ($249.33 billion) at end-June. Still, e-CNY in circulation accounted for only 0.16% of China's M0 money supply. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom. Editing by Sam Holmes) A sign for 5G is seen at the World 5G Exhibition in Beijing, China November 22, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee/ File Photo SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rican officials are undermining economic ties with China after authorities from the Central American country deemed Chinese companies a cybersecurity threat to the development of 5G networks, the Asian nation's embassy said on Friday. Earlier this week, Costa Rica's science, technology and telecommunications minister told lawmakers that China represents a security threat for the emerging digital network, while another senior ministry official labeled its government "totalitarian." The Chinese embassy in San Jose criticized the remarks in a statement. "These comments gravely affect the confidence and expectations of Chinese companies to undertake economic-trade activities in Costa Rica and they erode the good energy to develop bilateral relations," the embassy wrote in a statement. The statement went on to say China deemed the comments "irresponsible and unfounded." In August, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves approved a decree aiming to regulate 5G mobile network development and banned firms from countries that have not agreed to an international cybercrime convention. The decree's ban applies to tech companies from China, South Korea, Russia and Brazil, among others. Chaves issued the directive shortly after Laura Richardson, a senior U.S. military commander, visited Costa Rica, where she questioned growing Chinese investment in Latin American infrastructure development including ports and 5G networks. (Reporting by Alvaro Murillo; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) KINSHASA (Reuters) - A Congolese journalist appeared in court on Friday on charges of spreading false rumours about the killing of a prominent opposition politician, according to his lawyer and court records seen by Reuters. Stanis Bujakera, who also contributes to Reuters, has been in detention since Sept. 8 in connection with an article published by French news magazine Jeune Afrique about the circumstances of the death of Cherubin Okende, a former transport minister whose body was found in Kinshasa on July 13. On Friday, he was brought before a judge for the first time, and charges were read out to him, his lawyer, Charles Mushizi, told Reuters. The charges include that he "knowingly spread false rumours with the intent to alarm, worry or incite the population against established authorities," according to a court document dated Oct. 3. He is also accused of transmitting unlawful messages, forgery and counterfeiting state seals or symbols, the document says. Bujakera was not asked to enter a plea to the charges, which he denies, Mushizi said. The judge adjourned the trial until Oct. 20 following a request from Bujakera's lawyers for time to prepare his defence. The reporter could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all charges, Mushizi said. The accusations relate to an article published on Jeune Afrique's website on Aug. 31 that said an internal report by the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) had accused military intelligence agents of possible involvement in Okende's killing, the magazine said in September. The Congolese authorities dispute the authenticity of the report, Jeune Afrique said on its web site. It said further that the article in question did not carry Bujakera's name, and he could not be held responsible for its content. "We can only regret this worrying development in the proceedings targeting our correspondent Stanis Bujakera, who is being prosecuted for an article of which he is not the signatory," Jeune Afrique's managing editor, Francois Soudan, said of the trial. Democratic Republic of Congo's communications minister, Patrick Muyaya, and spokespeople for the police and state prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi told journalists in September that he was "a great supporter of press freedom", but it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the case or intervene in a judicial matter. Muyaya has also previously declined to comment on similar grounds. Local and international rights groups have expressed concern about Bujakera's detention, calling it an attack on press freedom. "Reuters opposes the detention of journalist Stanis Bujakera in Congo and calls for his immediate release. Journalists must be free to report the news in the public interest without harassment or harm, wherever they are," a Reuters spokesperson said. Bujakera's lawyers have submitted an appeal for the journalist's provisional release, Mushizi said. The judge is expected to issue a ruling next week. (Reporting by Reuters newsroom; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Alexandra Zavis and Alistair Bell) FILE PHOTO: The tail fin of a parked Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) airplane is seen on the tarmac at Copenhagen Airport Kastrup in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management is seeking to join the consortium that Scandinavian airline SAS last week picked to take it through bankruptcy proceedings, according to a source familiar with the matter. Long-struggling SAS, ravaged by the pandemic and pressured by low-cost rivals, sought bankruptcy protection last year. SAS announced last week that Air France-KLM and U.S. investment firm Castlelake would become new major shareholders alongside the Danish state. Apollo, which last year granted SAS a $700 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan to fund its restructuring, had been seen as a likely winner in the bidding round by the airline to raise equity as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. Apollo could convert the loan into equity at the end of the process. "Apollo is still an active bidder," the source said, adding that the U.S. company was seeking to inject additional cash into SAS on top of what the winning consortium said it would invest. It was unclear how big a stake Apollo would seek or how much it would invest. Total investments by new shareholders, which also include Danish investment firm Lind Invest, in the reorganized SAS would amount to 12.9 billion Swedish crowns ($1.18 billion). SAS, Castlelake, Air France-KLM and Apollo all declined to comment. The Danish finance ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. ($1 = 10.9555 Swedish crowns) (Additional reporting by Tim Hepher and Greg Roumeliotis; Editing by Josie Kao) Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, holds a media conference after casting his vote in the general election in Auckland, New Zealand, October 2, 2023. REUTERS/David Rowland/File Photo By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealands election has turned into a battle of the two Chrises. According to recent polls, Chris Hipkins, New Zealands current prime minister and leader of the Labour party, looks likely to lose power to Christopher Luxon, leader of the National Party. But under New Zealand's mixed-member proportional electoral system, surprises are possible. Here are some details about Hipkins and Luxon. CHRISTOPHER LUXON * A former airline executive and 53-year-old father-of-two. * Has only been in parliament since 2020 and took over as leader of the National Party and head of the opposition in November 2021. * Educated in New Zealand but spent much of his corporate life out of the country working in Australia, North America and Britain for global consumer goods company Unilever. * Returned to New Zealand in 2012 to run Air New Zealand. * In a largely secular country, he has defended his Christian faith and his anti-abortion stance. Has committed to abortion law reform which saw abortion legalised in 2020. * A millionaire with several homes across the country. CHRIS HIPKINS * A career politician and 45-year-old father-of-two * Took over as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party in January when Jacinda Ardern stepped down. * Elected to parliament in 2008, became a household name fronting the government's response to the pandemic. * Has faced criticism for his handling of some of the strict COVID measures including protracted lockdowns. * Nicknamed Chippy, he is known around parliament for his sense of humour. * Outdoor enthusiast and keen cyclist. (Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Stephen Coates) FILE PHOTO: Maria Corina Machado, candidate of the Vente's party in Venezuela's opposition primaries, and Freddy Superlano, candidate of the Voluntad Popular party, attend a debate with other candidates, in Caracas, Venezuela July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Leonar By Vivian Sequera CARACAS (Reuters) - Former lawmaker Freddy Superlano on Friday withdrew his candidacy in Venezuela's opposition presidential primary, throwing his support behind front-runner Maria Corina Machado and further narrowing the field of competitors just over a week before the vote. The often-fractious opposition is seeking a unity candidate to run against President Nicolas Maduro, who has yet to officially announce his candidacy, in 2024. Superlano, who was polling with about 5% support, is, like Machado and fellow opposition figure Henrique Capriles, barred from holding public office, in decisions the opposition has said are arbitrary and unfair. Capriles also withdrew this week from the Oct. 22 primary, which has 11 remaining candidates. "We are supporting Maria Corina," said Superlano, a 47-year-old engineer, during a joint event with Machado. "On the street everyone is convinced that she is the winner of this primary." Machado, taking Superlano's hand, said the two "were in the same fight." Machado, 56, an industrial engineer, has said there is no back-up plan if she wins the primary, though she would be barred from registering her candidacy with the electoral council. "We're not worried about the bans. I'm going to register and that's that," said Machado. Washington has said it is willing to loosen sanctions in exchange for concrete steps by Maduro's government toward free and fair elections, including setting a date for the vote and lifting candidate bans. At least one additional foreign oil firm could be allowed to take Venezuelan crude oil for debt repayment if Maduro resumes negotiations with the opposition in Mexico, sources with knowledge of talks between the U.S. and the Venezuelan government said this week. The primary is being held without state backing, after the opposition rejected a request by the electoral council to delay the vote until November. The council took until September to respond to a June request to assist with the primary. (Reporting by Vivian Sequera; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Richard Chang) Abbas Ganbay Azerbaijani Ambassador to Mexico Mammad Talibov has delivered a lecture to students of the International Relations Department of the Ibero-American University located in Leon, Guanajuato, Azernews reports. This university is considered the most prestigious and well-known higher education institution in the country. At the meeting, which was held with the participation of the management and teaching staff of the mentioned university, Ambassador Mammad Talibov informed the participants of the event about the history of Azerbaijan. It was noted that the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which was proclaimed in 1918 and today Azerbaijan is the legal successor, was the first democratic republic in the Muslim World in the East. Detailed information was also given about Azerbaijan's rich culture, the difficulties it faced in the first years of regaining independence in the 1990s, and the successful path of development in a short period of time. The Azerbaijani diplomat also spoke about the new realities in the region after the end of the former conflict, the history of the Armenian aggression, the difficulties that Azerbaijan faced during 30 years of occupation, double standards, and then the 44-day War and its consequences, the ongoing peace process, the large-scale reconstruction and restoration works carried out in the liberated territories, the measures taken for the safe return of former IDPs. The Ambassador also filled the participants in on bilateral ties between Mexico and Azerbaijan, recent mutual visits, expansion of cooperation opportunities between the two countries in culture, tourism, and other spheres, as well as educational opportunities, internships, and scholarship programs for foreign students in our country. The People's Self-Defense of Lviv Region NGO sent a request to the Movement to the Future charitable organization to finance an aid package for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Rukh Foundation and its founder, Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi, responded to the military's request and donated UAH 3.7 million to purchase equipment and vehicles for the Zakhid military-industrial complex. Thermal imagers, night vision devices, vehicles and equipment for them, laser pointers, sights, etc. were purchased for the Ukrainian military. ADVERTISIMENT Hryhory Kozlovsky said that FC Rukh and the charitable organization responded to the initiative of the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration Maksym Kozytskyi and the acting head of the Lviv Regional Council Yuriy Kholod to create a tactical air defense system similar to the Iron Dome system in Israel to protect Lviv and the region from Shahed drones. "Today, when the world is shocked by a new war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group, we have seen once again how terrible the consequences of military attacks on cities and infrastructure can be. Ukrainians have been living in a state of war for almost two years now, and our defenders are doing everything they can to drive the enemy from Ukrainian soil. Every day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine make great efforts to protect both Ukrainian lives and critical infrastructure from enemy attacks. In winter, energy infrastructure facilities became the main target of the terrorist country. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, more than 260 such attacks have been recorded. Critical infrastructure ensures important functions of the state. That is why today we need to increase our support for our soldiers. We help with the purchase of thermal imagers, vehicles, drones and other necessary equipment that will ensure our military can further protect Ukrainians from enemy attacks. After all, our critical infrastructure is now under the aggressor's sights," Kozlovskyi said. ADVERTISIMENT The Lviv Regional Military Commissariat has purchased equipment and gear that will help the Armed Forces of Ukraine defend the region from enemy attacks on critical infrastructure during the heating season. "The list of what needed to be purchased was compiled by the Zakhid Production Company. We worked through the list and determined what we could and could not buy. After all, there are dual-purpose devices that are on the market, but there is also equipment that cannot be found on the market. Socially responsible business, in particular FC Rukh, paid for some of the equipment and machinery that the Zakhid military-industrial complex will receive by transferring funds," said Taras Hren, advisor to the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration. The philanthropist is actively helping the Ukrainian military. Hryhoriy Kozlovsky personally handed over 6 military trucks, an excavator, nets and 20 radios to two Lviv brigades. Before that, Hrygoriy Kozlovskyi's funds were used to purchase 250 artillery tablets, 2 multifunctional training complexes, 70 radio stations, 50 generators, about 2,000 sapper blades, hundreds of grinders, laptops and tablets, a minivan, and to overhaul 15 vehicles for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi added, "FC Rukh has helped and will continue to help with drones, anti-Lancet systems, and other necessary equipment to bring the day of Victory over Russian evil closer." By David Shepardson and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first U.S. State Department-organized charter flight taking Americans out of Israel during the conflict in Gaza landed in Athens, the Biden administration confirmed on Friday, as U.S. airlines ramped up connecting flights to help people get home. White House spokesman John Kirby said the government is exploring departure options by sea as well to help Americans in Israel. "We're just trying to add to the options," Kirby told reporters, adding that the flights will continue. Reuters reported the first flight on a U.S.-based charter company from flight records, and was first to confirm it had landed. Additional charter flights are scheduled between Athens and Tel Aviv through at least Oct. 19, a separate source said. More than 400 Americans were signed up for the first flight but that figure includes an assumption that some would not turn up for it, a different source said. On Friday, United Airlines said it would add a fifth roundtrip flight between Newark, New Jersey, and Athens through Oct. 19, to help Americans trying to return home from Israel, and Delta Air Lines said it would add three flights from Athens to New York starting on Monday. American Airlines on Friday said it would fly larger planes from Athens to New York beginning Saturday to accommodate more Americans looking for a way home. United, American and Delta all temporarily halted direct flights to Israel. More than 30 U.S. lawmakers on Friday wrote the three airline CEOs urging them to resume flights to Tel Aviv "as quickly as possible." The letter called on the carriers "to prioritize resuming flight operations" to Tel Aviv, and said the Congress members "stand ready to assist you in any way necessary to get the job done." American declined comment, while United did not immediately comment. Delta, which has suspended flights through Oct. 31, said it was continuously monitoring the rapidly evolving security environment. Delta CEO Ed Bastian on Thursday said the airline did not "have any plans to be flying into Israel. It's considered unsafe for a U.S. carrier to operate in that airspace currently." The State Department said this week it "will take some period of time to schedule everyone seeking to depart." Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma told earlier airlines this week them the U.S. government had received roughly 17,000 inquiries about travel assistance leaving Israel. (Reporting by David Shepardson, Phil Stewart, Doina Chiacu, Jarrett Renshaw, Trevor Hunnicutt and Jeff Mason; Editing by Franklin Paul and Bill Berkrot) FILE PHOTO: General view of an entrance of the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Britain March 13, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) - Five Bulgarian nationals accused of being part of a Russian spying network in Britain appeared by videolink for a brief hearing at a London court on Friday. The three men and two women are accused of conspiring "to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state" between Aug. 30, 2020 and Feb. 8, 2023. Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, Katrin Ivanova, 31, Ivan Stoyanov, 31, and Vanya Gaberova, 29, all Bulgarian nationals who lived in London and Norfolk, were arrested by counter-terrorism police in February this year. They appeared briefly at London's Old Bailey court, speaking only to confirm their name and age. They were remanded in custody until Nov. 20, when there will be a hearing to decide whether to join a separate case involving Roussev, Dzhambazov, and Ivanova, who have also been charged with identity document offences. Prosecutors accuse the five defendants of being part of an organised network which had carried out surveillance and hostile action on behalf of Russia against specific targets, including for potential abductions. (Reporting by Michael Holden, Editing by Kylie MacLellan) GENEVA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday that humanitarian organisations would not be able to assist more than a million people in Gaza who Israel has given 24 hours to evacuate to the south of the enclave. "With a military siege in place, humanitarian organisations including the ICRC will not be able to assist such a massive displacement of people in Gaza," ICRC said in a statement. "The needs are staggering, and humanitarian organisations must be able to increase aid operations." ICRC said Israel's call for the population to relocate south in 24 hours - coupled with a blockade that denies them access to food, water, and electricity - was "not compatible with international humanitarian law". The ICRC's office in Gaza City received instructions to relocate south, just like the population there. "We are extremely concerned for our colleagues in Gaza and their families," the ICRC statement said. (Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; editing by Alex Richardson and Mark Heinrich) FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via video link from a penal colony in the Vladimir Region during a hearing at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia April 26, 2023. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova/File Photo By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) - Russian investigators on Friday detained three lawyers who have worked for Alexei Navalny, allies of the jailed opposition leader said, in what they called a move to deepen his isolation and deprive him of legal support. Navalny aides said lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser were being investigated on suspicion of belonging to an "extremist group". Later on Friday, a Moscow court remanded all three in investigative custody until Dec. 13, according to a statement posted by the court on Telegram. The video published by the court showed Kobzev and Sergunin in courtroom cages listening to the ruling. The detentions came as Navalny, 47, awaits transfer from the penal colony where he has been held to a harsher "special regime" establishment, after being convicted of a range of new charges relating to "extremist" activity. Navalny, the best-known domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, was sentenced in August to an additional 19 years, on top of 11-1/2 years he was already serving. One of the lawyers, Kobzev, had been due to appear with Navalny on Friday in the latest of a series of lawsuits Navalny has filed against the IK-6 penal colony, about 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow, where he is currently held. "Information has just arrived that, of course, perfectly characterizes not only my proceedings but also the state of the rule of law in Russia." Navalny told the judge on learning of the investigations against his lawyers. "As in Soviet times, not only political activists and political prisoners but also their lawyers are being persecuted." Navalny has been in prison for two years and nine months since being arrested on his return from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with a nerve agent in Siberia. The Kremlin denied trying to kill him, and refuses to comment on his case or his treatment by prison authorities. It has sought in the past, without providing evidence, to portray him as a puppet of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Despite his imprisonment, Navalny has been able through his lawyers to post on social media and file frequent lawsuits over his treatment in prison, where he has endured long spells in solitary confinement for trivial misdemeanours like failing to fasten the top button of his uniform. He rejects all the charges against him as politically motivated and designed to silence his criticism of Putin. Navalny aide Leonid Volkov posted on the X social media platform that the three lawyers faced up to six years in prison if found guilty of belonging to an extremist group, "just for being Navalny's lawyers". "This is an act of intimidation with a clear intention to strengthen Navalnys isolation from the outer world," Volkov said. He said it would mean that after Navalny's expected transfer to the new penal colony, "his lawyers will not be able to visit him there or even to find out his whereabouts if theyre locked up themselves", a prospect that Volkov described as "terrifying". (Additional reporting by Alexander Marrow and Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Peter Graff and Diane Craft) (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on a Shi'ite mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, according to the Sunni militant group's Telegram channel. A suicide bombing ripped through a Shi'ite mosque in northern Afghanistan, killing at least seven worshippers, a government official said. (Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray; editing by Mark Heinrich) An Israeli soldier is silhouetted on a road near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's Economy Ministry on Friday said dozens of imported products would be exempt from inspection and other approvals to facilitate their entry into Israel and help to prevent shortages during the war with Palestinian militant group Hamas. Importers, it said, will be exempt from producing a certificate of compliance with the conditions of the standards to which they are routinely obliged that typically allow for the release of a shipment from customs supervision. However, the exemption from official approval does not exempt the importer from the obligation to comply with the requirements of the standard, but only from the obligation to produce a standard approval upon importation, it added. The list of goods included in the exemption are those with a high import priority for release. It includes clothing, civilian protective equipment, emergency drinking water, storage containers, rechargeable and backup batteries, optical products and others. The ministry said it could add more items if needed. (Reporting by Steven Scheer, Editing by Louise Heavens) JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's foreign ministry on Friday said it expressed "deep disappointment" in a call with the Chinese envoy to the Middle East over China's lack of condemnation of Hamas's weekend attack. "The ambassador expressed Israel's deep disappointment with Chinese announcements and statements about the recent events in the south, where there was no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organization Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza," the statement said. (Reporting by Henriette Chacar; editing by Christina Fincher) Jordanians gather to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Amman, Jordan, October 13, 2023. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordanian riot police on Friday forcibly dispersed hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to reach a border zone with the Israeli-occupied West Bank as thousands held anti-Israel demonstrations across the country, witnesses said. Jordan is worried that a regional widening of violence arising from the war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza could have repercussions for itself given that a large percentage of its population are Palestinians. Jordan lost the West Bank including East Jerusalem to Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and the Palestinian territory was seeing a rise in violence between Palestinians and the Israeli military and settlers even before the Gaza conflict erupted. Witnesses said police fired tear gas to halt about 500 demonstrators who had reached a security checkpoint outside the capital Amman on a highway leading to a main border crossing. The interior ministry had issued a ban against holding anti-Israel marches in the sensitive border area, where it said the Jordan river valley was closed to protesters but that licensed protests elsewhere would be allowed. The outpouring of Arab anger against Israel over its siege and bombardment of Gaza retaliating for a devastating cross-border Hamas attack also fuelled a large rally on Friday in downtown Amman and in many of the kingdom's main cities. Several thousand protesters near downtown Amman chanted slogans in support of Hamas and demanded the government close the Israeli embassy and scrap the 1994 peace treaty with Israel. In the cities of Irbid and Zarqa, thousands took to the streets carrying Hamas flags, vowing revenge against Israel and calling on the militant movement, which rules Gaza, to escalate strikes. The peace treaty remains widely unpopular among Jordanians who see normalisation with Israel as a sellout of the rights of their Palestinian brethren seeking to establish a state in Israeli-occupied territories. The Israeli embassy, where protesters gather daily, has long been a flashpoint of anti-Israel protests at times of turmoil in the Palestinian territories. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; editing by Mark Heinrich) Rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from near Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen By Jack Kim and Josh Smith SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea denied on Friday its weapons were used by Hamas in the attack against Israel, saying the claim made in some media reports was a bid by Washington to divert the blame for the conflict from itself to a third country. Military experts said this week that photos from the conflict showed Hamas militants may be using North Korean weapons, including possible F-7 rocket-propelled grenades. There have been reports of Hamas using the F-7 for several years, said Bruce Bechtol, a professor at Angelo State University in Texas, who has done research on North Korea's arms sales. "This could be new supplies or from previous shipments going back as far as 2009," he said, adding that in any case the weapons likely took an indirect route to Hamas from North Korea through Iran or Syria. The North's official KCNA news agency called the claims of its weapons being used in the attacks "a groundless and false rumour". "It is nothing but a bid to shift the blame for the Middle East crisis caused by (the United States') wrong hegemonic policy onto a third country and thus evade the international criticism focused on the empire of evil," it said. According to European researchers Joost Oliemans and Stijn Mitzer, the F-7 is easily discernible from similar RPGs by the red band around the warhead. Such red bands are visible in photos shared by the Israeli Defense Force, and other social media accounts. The F-7, as well as small numbers of North Korean Bulsae-2 anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), were seen in use by Hamas in 2021 clashes as well, the researchers said at the time. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday said he could not confirm the reports about the source of the rockets being used by Hamas. The United States' security strategy elsewhere in the world including the Korean peninsula will not be affected by the Israel-Hamas crisis, Kirby added. North Korea's state media earlier this week blamed Israel for causing bloodshed in Gaza. The latest Israel-Palestinian conflict began on the weekend with a surprise attack by Hamas, the deadliest by Palestinian militants in Israeli history. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Michael Perry) FILE PHOTO: Barbados-flagged bulk carrier Super Martinelli arrives at the sea port of Odesa after restarting grain export, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Ukraine May 21, 2023. REUTERS/Serhii Smolientsev/File Photo KYIV (Reuters) - Russia has destroyed almost 300,000 metric tons of grain since July in attacks on Ukraine's port facilities and on ships, the Ukrainian government said on Friday, underscoring the war's threat to global food security. In summer, Moscow quit a U.N.-brokered deal that had allowed exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea safely. Since then, Russian forces have hit six civilian ships and 150 port and grain facilities during 17 attacks, destroying crops headed for export, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a statement. "This is Russia's attempt to deepen the food crisis in the countries which depend on Ukrainian products," Kubrakov said. The damage on Ukrainian ports reduced the country's grain export potential by 40%, he said. Russia has attacked port facilities on both the Black Sea and Danube River. Ukraine is one of the world's largest wheat and corn exporters. The Russian Defence Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment. Kubrakov said 21 grain-loaded vessels have already used a new "humanitarian" grain corridor in the Black Sea that Kyiv established in August. He said that under the previous U.N. Black Sea Grain Initiative, Ukraine had exported 33 million tonnes of grain, with 60% of that shipped to African and Asian countries. (Reporting by Olena Harmash; editing by Ron Popeski and Rod Nickel) Russian long-range aviation did not launch missile strikes against Ukraine from September 21 to October 13, i.e. 21 days. This may be an indication that the aggressor country is stockpiling missiles for massive air attacks in the winter, targeting critical infrastructure. ADVERTISIMENT This is the assumption made by British intelligence. The report was published on Friday morning on the X (Twitter) of the British Ministry of Defense. Foreign experts characterized such a rather long break in Russian missile attacks as "something unusual." It is noted that the last such pause was from March 9 to April 28, 2023, lasting for 51 days. Intelligence officers explain that the Russian Federation has almost exhausted its stockpile of combat-ready missile munitions after the winter campaign of strikes on Ukraine's critical infrastructure. In particular, it is long-range X-101 air-to-ground cruise missiles. "It is likely that Russian long-range aviation is maintaining its existing stockpile of missiles and is also using this pause to increase its usable stockpile in anticipation of further heavy strikes on Ukraine in the winter," the British intelligence report said. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, also warned that the enemy is stockpiling missiles to strike Ukraine in winter. This is evidenced by the fact that Russia carries out massive attacks mainly with kamikaze drones. As reported by OBOZ.UA, the aggressor country Russia has managed to increase missile production despite the sanctions imposed by Western countries. As of September 2023, the Russians exceeded the pre-war level of production of such weapons. Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong attends "Google for Singapore", an event celebrating the company's 15th year in the country, at Google's office, in Singapore August 23, 2022. REUTERS/Edgar Su WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Singapore's deputy prime minister said on Friday he hopes for substantial progress in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) discussions in time for next month's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. "We are working on how we can add substance to the different pillars of IPEF ... We hope there will be something to announce by the time of the APEC summit," Lawrence Wong told Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies after talks with U.S. officials this week. "In areas like supply chains, green economy, digital economy; these are things that we are pursuing, and we hope certainly that there can be some substantial progress." U.S. President Joe Biden launched IPEF as part of efforts to step up economic engagement with Asia to compete with China after his predecessor, Donald Trump, pulled out of a pan-Pacific trade pact, but it lacks the market-access provisions Asian states want. Wong, who is also Singapore's finance minister, said that given it may be difficult in some instances to get consensus among all 14 IPEF members, Singapore had said its bilateral cooperation with the United States could be a "pathfinder" for others to follow. "We set high standards, it can be a pathfinder, it can be a test-bed that we do together before it is expanded to the broader region," he said. Sources familiar with plans for IPEF discussions at APEC say there is hope countries could agree to language around the third and fourth pillars of the framework, which deal with clean energy and decarbonization as well as anti-corruption. The first pillar on trade could prove too far a bridge for a November consensus, they say, and talks on the second pillar, involving supply chains, were largely agreed in May. The summit meetings of the 21-member APEC forum will take place in the week of Nov. 11-17 in San Francisco. Wong said Singapore would like to see more far-reaching agreements with the United States, including market access and trade liberalization, but recognized "there's no mood to talk about these issues" at the moment in the U.S. given its domestic political environment. "But I think we should maintain high ambition and hopefully down the road, in years to come, the conditions may change." (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Sandra Maler) FILE PHOTO: A cartoon soldier is depicted on part of a warning sign on barbed wire on the Chinese side of the border between Russia, China and North Korea near the town of Hunchun, China, November 24, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea said on Friday it had protested to China over the suspected forced repatriation of a large number of North Koreans, who rights groups say face imprisonment and abuse at the hands of North Korean authorities. Any forced repatriation of North Koreans goes against international norms and South Korea viewed it as regrettable, Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, told a media briefing. "It appears to be true that a large number of North Koreans in China's three northeast provinces have been repatriated to the North," Koo said. South Korea had been unable to determine the number of people involved and whether there were defectors among them. "The South Korean government regrets the situation and raised this matter with the Chinese side in a serious manner, emphasizing our position," he said. Former North Korean diplomat Tae Yong-ho, who is now a member of South Korea's parliament, issued a statement calling on the foreign ministry to summon the Chinese ambassador to South Korea as a form of protest. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday there were no "so-called defectors" in China, when asked about a report Beijing had deported about 600 North Korean defectors this week despite an appeal by South Korea. On Friday, the same spokesperson said China would "continue to appropriately handle" the matter according to humanitarian principles as well as domestic and international law. China has never recognised fleeing North Koreans as defectors and instead calls them "economic migrants". South Korea's government and international rights organisations have said defectors who are deported back to the North face harsh punishment including detention at labour camps where they are subject to dangerous treatment and conditions. Human Rights Watch said Chinese authorities had forced back more than 500 North Koreans, most of them women, and it called on governments to denounce the expulsion by Beijing. The North Koreans were taken in vehicle convoys on Monday night over five separate border crossings into the North, the rights group said, citing a missionary with contacts in the North and China who worked to help defectors. A North Korean who defected to South Korea in 2001 said a cousin of his, who had lived in China for 25 years, and had a daughter with a Chinese man, was believed to be among those deported this week. The defector, Kim Hyuk, told Reuters his cousin, Kim Cheol-ok, was detained by Chinese authorities in Jilin province in April and had in recent days called her daughter from prison to say she was about to be sent to back to North Korea. (Reporting by Jack Kim, Ju-min Park and Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing;Editing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel and Miral Fahmy) Bangladeshi Muslim activists wave Palestinian flags as they protest against Israel's actions against Palestinians after Friday prayer at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, October 13, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and in parts of Asia, Europe and the United States on Friday in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas assaults. Jewish communities in the U.S., France and elsewhere also held rallies in solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack from Gaza, the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country's 75-year history. There has been strong support and sympathy for Israel from Western governments and many citizens over the Hamas attacks, but the Israeli response has also prompted anger, particularly in Arab and Muslim countries. In Turkey, crowds gathered outside mosques chanting against Israel and saluting Hamas. In the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, 46-year-old business owner Mikail Bakan said: "All the Muslim world needs to be one against Israel." In Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, youths set fires on the streets and clashed with the Israeli military. A huge Palestinian flag was passed overhead at a protest in Rome, and demonstrations took place in other European cities including in Braband in Denmark and in Berlin, where some protesters were detained by police. Germany and France had banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations and several Western countries said they had stepped up security at synagogues and Jewish schools fearing that protests could lead to violence. Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged Palestinians to rise up in protest against Israel's bombardment of the blockaded enclave, calling on them to march on Al-Aqsa Mosque. The compound in East Jerusalem's walled Old City is Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, and the most sacred to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. By 1700 GMT, no major incidents had been reported there. Last weekend's assault by Hamas - designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, European Union and other governments - on Israeli communities killed at least 1,300 people. Most were civilians, including women and children. Israel has since been hammering Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire and more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed. A ground invasion appears to be imminent. U.S. demonstrators showed solidarity with both sides in the conflict as major cities from New York City to Los Angeles reinforced their police presence in Jewish and Muslim neighbourhoods. In Washington, a rally supporting Israel and the American Jewish community drew about 200 people at the city's Freedom Plaza, in view of the Capitol complex, where police had erected protective fencing the night before. In New York, throngs of protesters assembled near Times Square, demanding Palestinian independence and decrying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. PAIN ON BOTH SIDES In Baghdad on Friday, tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in central Tahrir Square, waving Palestinian flags and burning the Israeli flag while chanting anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans. "We are ready to join the fight and rid the Palestinians of the Israeli atrocities," said Muntadhar Kareem, 25, a teacher. He was dressed in a white shroud, like most of the protesters, to symbolise their readiness to fight to the death. State-organised rallies were held across Iran - whose government is Hamas' main backer and one of Israel's principal foes - in support of the militant group, state TV reported. "Death to Israel. Death to Zionism!" shouted demonstrators, many carrying Palestinian flags and those of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told a protest in Lebanon, the group was "fully ready" to contribute to the fighting. The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border in the past week. In Indonesia, Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the suspected mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, joined dozens of people in a march against Israel in the Javanese city of Solo. In the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, activists protested against Israel's actions after Friday prayers at the main mosque. Members of Japan's Muslim community demonstrated near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo, holding signs and chanting "Israel, terrorist" and "Free Palestine". In Sri Lanka, protesters held up signs saying, "Palestine you will never walk alone". Protesters also took to the streets in Bulgaria, Yemen, Cape Town, India's Kashmir region, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt. PRAYERS FOR PEACE Jewish people were also due to hold vigils and rallies in support of Israel. In Warsaw, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, was scheduled to lead a multi-confessional prayer for peace. Members of France's Jewish community were to gather at the largest synagogue in Paris for the Sabbath. On Thursday night, French police had fired teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in Paris in support of the Palestinians. The government banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were likely to lead to public disorder. In the Netherlands, Jewish schools were closed for safety reasons, as were two Jewish schools in London. Police in Britain's capital said thousands of officers were carrying out extra patrols, visiting schools, synagogues and mosques. The boost reflected a significant increase in hate crime, particularly antisemitism, a police statement said. Thousands of people were expected to take part in a March for Palestine on Saturday. In Germany, activists from the radical youth environmentalist group the Last Generation cancelled protests they had planned, saying they did not want to distract police from their task of protecting Jews and Jewish institutions. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus; writing by Angus MacSwan; editing by Mark Heinrich, Andrew Heavens and Alistair Bell) Switzerland's Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis addresses the closing session on the second day of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, Britain on June 22, 2023. Henry Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo GENEVA (Reuters) - Switzerland's foreign minister said on Friday that Israel had the right to defend itself following a deadly attack by Hamas but said its response should be "proportionate", at a briefing where he also confirmed the death of a Swiss-Israeli national. "What we are doing is calling for international humanitarian law to be respected while recognising Israel's legitimate right to defence," Ignazio Cassis told a news briefing in response to a question about a possible ground invasion of the Gaza strip. "They need to find a proportionate response," he said. Cassis opened the briefing by announcing the death of a Swiss dual national aged nearly 70 in the violence. He did not give details beyond saying the individual was killed by "terrorists". Switzerland, which sometimes acts as a neutral intermediary between parties to a conflict, does not have any contact with Hamas, he said. "It is not the time now for good offices. It is now a time of war," he said. He added that Switzerland's ruling Federal Council, of which he is a member, views Hamas as a "terrorist organisation". It is currently exploring whether and how to make that legally binding, possibly by banning the group. (Reporting by Emma Farge and Tomasz Janowski, editing by Rachel More) Kittipong Chaiyako, 34, who worked at an avocado farm in Kibbutz, Israel, is blessed by his family members during a traditional blessing ceremony to welcome him home after repatriation from Israel, at his house in Bua Lamphu province, Thailand, October 13 By Juarawee Kittisilpa and Artorn Pookasook NONG BUA LAMPHU, Thailand (Reuters) - Thai farm worker Kittipong Chaiyako watched six of his friends shot dead when Hamas militants attacked the Israeli kibbutz where he was working and said it was the "scariest day" of his life. The 34-year-old had been working for a year at an avocado farm at the Kissufim kibbutz in southwestern Israel, next to the Gaza Strip, when sirens forced him to take cover in a bomb shelter last Saturday. After about an hour of waiting, Hamas fighters arrived and started shooting people in the kibbutz. "It was the scariest day of my life because I saw the soldiers and militants shooting at each other... They were fighting and I had to duck and crawl to escape," Kittipong told Reuters in northeastern Nong Bua Lamphu province where he was greeted on Friday with a traditional home-coming ceremony in which loved ones tied threads to his wrist. "The fighting was happening right in front of me. As Hamas came, the Israeli soldiers fired more rounds at them. I witnessed it all, the smoke billowing from the vehicles while the spent ammunition ricocheted against our camp. "Those images didn't really affect me, but the faces of six of my friends who were killed in the attack have never left my heart. I can't even describe the loss." Kittipong said he left behind all his possessions, including his passport, and fled with only the clothes on his back and a mobile phone. Kittipong's mother, 62-year-old Noopan Chaiyako, hugged her son and cried. "We sent our son to work abroad to earn money to improve the family and then the war erupted," she said. "If my son had been killed, how would I be able to live?" Kittipong was among the first batch of Thais repatriated from Israel who arrived home earlier this week. There are some 30,000 Thais, mostly from the rural northeast, working in Israel's agriculture sector, according to government data. At least 21 Thai nationals were killed, 14 injured and at least 16 taken hostage on Saturday, the Thai foreign ministry said on Friday. More than 6,700 Thais are looking to be repatriated. Kittipong said he would not be returning to Israel after seeing his friends killed in front of him. "We ate together, we joked around together, we worked together and had great times," he said. "Then this happened, I can't wrap my head around it." (Reporting by Juarawee Kittisilpa, Artorn Pookasook, additional reporting by Panu Wongcha-um, editing by Nick Macfie) Palestinians flee their houses heading toward the southern part of Gaza Strip after Israel's call for more than 1 million civilians in northern Gaza to move south within 24 hours, amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza City October 13, 2023. REUTER By Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Friday that Israel's call for Gazans to move south in 24 hours ahead of its planned ground offensive was inhumane and a violation of international law. Israel called on Friday for all civilians in the northern half of the Gaza Strip, more than 1 million people, to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks for an expected ground assault in response to an attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas. "Forcing the Gaza population of 2.5 million, who have been under indiscriminate bombing and deprived collectively of electricity, water and food, to relocate in an extremely small area is a blatant breach of international law and inhumane," Turkey's foreign ministry said. "We expect Israel to give up on this serious mistake and put an end to brutal and indiscriminate actions towards the civilian population in Gaza immediately," it said in a statement. Turkey, which has historically had contacts with Hamas but is working to repair its ties with Israel after years of acrimony, has launched diplomacy seeking to mediate the conflict. President Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkish authorities were continuing contacts to secure the release of civilians held by Hamas as well as to find a solution to the crisis. Speaking at an event in Istanbul, he also urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through Egypt's Rafah crossing. Two A400M Turkish military aircraft with humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza have arrived in Egypt's Al Arish airport, Turkey's defence ministry said on Friday. Footage shared by the defence ministry showed boxes covered with the logo of Turkey's AFAD disaster management authority. The shipment included food and medical supplies. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday that humanitarian organisations would not be able to assist more than a million people in Gaza. (Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) Counterterrorism unit patrol in Times Square, as the city takes security precautions ahead of planned demonstrations, in New York City, U.S., October 12, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Joseph Ax and Julia Harte NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. law enforcement agencies stepped up security measures on Friday to safeguard Jewish and Muslim communities amid global protests over Israeli-Arab bloodshed in the Middle East, as thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in New York City. Throngs of protesters assembled near Times Square in Manhattan, demanding Palestinian independence and decrying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government intensified its strikes on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the wave of surprise attacks in Israel by Hamas. The protesters, many wearing masks to conceal their identities out of what they said was concern for their own safety, chanted such slogans as "Free Palestine," and "Netanyahu, what do you say? How many kids have you killed today?" The rally came as police in New York and other U.S. cities said they escalating patrols around synagogues, mosques and other Jewish and Muslim institutions, though authorities insisted they were unaware of any specific, or credible threats. Israel in recent days has intensified its strikes on Gaza in response to assaults on southern Israel last weekend by gunmen from the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas, which rules the crowded coastal Palestinian enclave seized from Egypt by Israel in 1967. The Hamas rampage killed at least 1,300 Israelis, marking the deadliest Palestinian attack on the Jewish state in its history. Israel has killed at least 1,900 Palestinians in an aerial bombardment of Gaza and gave more than 1 million residents in the northern half of the enclave 24 hours to flee to the south to avoid an onslaught. As well as demonstrations in the United States, tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and in parts of Asia and Europe in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel. WHITE HOUSE COORDINATION U.S. national security officials met at the White House on Friday to discuss preparations for protecting Jewish and Muslim communities across the country, as well as diplomatic facilities in Washington and cities where Israeli consulates are located, including New York and Los Angeles. "At this time, none of our intelligence agencies have any specific intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel," White House spokesman John Kirby said. "That said, we continue to remain vigilant to any and all possible threats." New York City police were out in force, keeping a highly visible profile behind barriers at the edge of the boisterous but peaceful rally in Times Square, as thousands shouted, beat on drums and waved Palestinian flags and signs. Earlier, a pro-Palestinian crowd of hundreds of university students marched from Baruch College in Manhattan to the main gathering in Times Square, holding signs that read: "Resistance is not terrorism!" and "End Israeli apartheid." The only counter-demonstration immediately visible on Friday was a very small group waving Israeli flags across 42nd Street from Times Square. The New York rally coincided with protests in support of Gazans across the Middle East and in parts of Asia and Europe. By contrast, Germany and France - which have sizeable Arab populations - banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The New York Police Department's chief of patrol, John Chell, had told reporters on Thursday that every NYPD officer would "be in uniform" on Friday, ready to quell any disturbances, warning, "We will not tolerate any hate, any acts of disorder." Mayor Eric Adams said his office had directed police to "surge additional resources to schools and houses of worship to ensure they are safe and that our city remains a place of peace." Extra police patrols were being deployed in Jewish and Muslim communities alike, he said. Governor Kathy Hochul ordered New York state's National Guard to patrol vital transportation hubs. Across the country, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement saying its officers would assume a higher profile around Jewish and Muslim communities. PRO-ISRAELI RALLY In Washington, a rally supporting Israel and the American Jewish community drew about 200 people at the city's Freedom Plaza, in view of the Capitol complex, where police had erected protective fencing the night before. Ron Halber, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, blasted calls for a cease-fire and addressed criticism that Israel was using disproportionate force. Halber said Saturday's attacks had shown that using "equal force" against an enemy like Hamas was ineffective. "Those used to be the days but don't expect the Jewish people (to) ever accept that type of situation ever again," he said. Protests erupted at several U.S. college campuses on Thursday after a national pro-Palestinian group declared a "day of resistance" and called for its 200 college chapters to hold demonstrations. The protests occurred amid reports of assaults against students on both sides, and some chapters canceled them for safety reasons. The FBI said it was aware of the calls for global action that may lead to demonstrations in U.S. communities on Friday and encouraged members of the public to remain vigilant. Rabbi Yoni Fein, who heads a large Jewish day school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Brauser Maimonides Academy, said on Thursday that extra security was in place in anticipation of global protests on Friday. He said the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other federal authorities had held online security sessions with Jewish institutions around the country. But Fein said the school was seeking to reassure students they are safe and to go about their routines. (Reporting by Joseph Ax and Julia Harte in New York City; Additional reporting by Mike Segar in New York, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Kanishka Singh and Patricia Zengerle in Washington and Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell) KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine struck a Russian missile carrier and a patrol ship in separate attacks this week involving sea-borne drones carrying experimental weapons, a Ukrainian intelligence source said on Friday. The source gave no details of the damage but said the "Buyan" missile carrier was attacked on Friday and the "Pavel Derzhavin" missile carrier was attacked on Wednesday in joint operations carried out by the Ukrainian Security Service and naval forces. "After the first detonation, Russian minesweepers and divers were unable to discover our know-how," the source told Reuters. "The Buyan missile carrier... was struck today on the Sevastopol route by experimental weapons on 'Sea Babies' (naval drones)." Reuters could not immediately verify the reports independently. Tensions in and near the Black Sea have escalated since Russia withdrew in July from a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports. Russian drones and missiles have repeatedly struck Ukrainian port facilities and grain silos on or near the Black Sea and on the Danube River since then. Kyiv has launched several successful missile and naval drone attacks on Russia's Black Sea fleet in and around Crimea peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukrainian officials have said such attacks are intended to deny Russia control of the Black Sea and regain control of vital shipping routes. In a separate statement, Ukraine's Special Operation Forces said they had on Friday morning blown up a railway line in the Russian-occupied southeastern city of Melitopol. "As a result of the explosion, the railway track and the train delivering ammunition and fuel to Russia's army was damaged," the special forces said. Ukraine began a counteroffensive in early June to try to recapture territories taken by Russia. Kyiv has reported some gains on the southeastern front in a drive towards the Sea of Azov. (Reporting Tom Balmforth and Yuliia Dysa, Writing by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage) ODESA, Ukraine (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, visiting the Black Sea port of Odesa, vowed on Friday to improve Ukraine's air defences and to increase the security of a "humanitarian corridor" for grain exports. Zelenskiy said Kyiv was working to strengthen its position in the Black Sea so that it can continue grain exports, which are vital to ensuring budget revenues following a surge in defence spending following Russia's invasion last year. "We are working with partners to protect properly these corridors, and strengthen our positions in the Black Sea, and it also applies to the protection of Odesa's skies and in the region as a whole ...," he told a joint press conference alongside Rutte. Ukraine's government outlined details of Russian attacks on infrastructure and the results of the alternative "humanitarian" corridor organised by Ukraine since Russia abandoned a U.N.-backed accord on safe Black Sea grain shipments in July. It said Russia has destroyed almost 300,000 metric tons of grain since July in attacks on Ukraine's port facilities and on ships. Russia's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ukraine's allegations. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that since that deal ran out, Russian forces had hit six civilian ships and 150 port and grain facilities during 17 attacks, destroying crops headed for export. Kubrakov said 21 grain-loaded vessels had already used the new grain corridor. The Odesa region has came under frequent Russian missile and drone attacks, and Zelenskiy and Rutte visited a damaged port. Ukraine has sought safe shipping routes as air strikes inflicted damage on its port and grain export infrastructure near the Black sea and on the Danube River. Rutte said the Netherlands would provide more Patriot air defence missiles to help Ukraine defend itself in the winter. The Netherlands would also help Ukraine acquire patrol boats, he said, to help keep the grain export route safe. The Netherlands has provided Ukraine with financial aid and weapons during the war, and has led efforts to help train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. Ukraine's humanitarian corridor was initially announced to release ships that do not carry grain, were not covered by the grain deal and had been trapped in port for more than a year, but vessels seeking to load grain have also used the corridor. Zelenskiy also said Ukraine was nearing an agreement with some partners on insurance for ships using the corridor, but gave no details. (Reporting by Iryna Nazarchuk; Writing by Olena Harmash; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Ron Popeski and Alison Williams) FILE PHOTO: Prime Minister and Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins speaks at the New Zealand Labour Partys election campaign launch event in Auckland, New Zealand, September 2, 2023. REUTERS/David Rowland/File Photo By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand's centre-right National Party led by Christopher Luxon will form a new government with its preferred coalition party ACT, as Prime Minister Chris Hipkins conceded his Labour Party could not form a government after Saturday's general election. The National Party, now in opposition, had 39% of the votes with 92% counted, while the ACT party had 9%. That would give the two parties enough seats to form a government, according to the Electoral Commission. "On the numbers tonight National will be in the position to lead the next government," Luxon, a former executive who once ran Air New Zealand and entered politics just three years ago, told supporters in Auckland. "We will make this an even better country." National won over voters by promising relief for struggling middle-income New Zealanders, and to bring historically high inflation under control while reducing the country's debt. "The overwhelming driver was dissatisfaction with the (Labour government)," said political commentator and former National staffer Ben Thomas. Under former leader Jacinda Ardern, Labour in 2020 became the first party to capture an outright majority since New Zealand switched to a mixed member proportional system in 1996. But Labour has since lost support, with many New Zealanders disgruntled over the country's long COVID-19 lockdown and the rising cost of living. Hipkins has tried to re-engage with those voters, focusing on what he termed "bread-and-butter issues", but was unable to gain traction in the polls. The National-ACT majority is slim and the two parties may need support from the populist New Zealand First Party to form a government. Coalition negotiations between National and ACT are expected to begin in the coming days. There are normally 120 seats in parliament but because the Te Pati Maori's four seats from constituencies exceeded its share of the national popular vote, the electoral system calls for creating additional proportional seats to even out representation. This will alter the final seat tally. In addition, the final vote count, which includes overseas and special votes, is not due until Nov. 3. Special votes have historically made slight changes to the outcome, adding seats for the left at the expense of the right-leaning bloc. Gareth Hughes, a political commentator and former Green Party strategist, said it might not be clear until after the official vote count is returned whether National and ACT will need the support of New Zealand First to form a government. "It's a change election but the actual detail of the change is still to be seen," he said. Labour's losses were significant, with some high-profile members of the party failing to hold onto their seats. Nanaia Mahuta, the foreign minister, lost her constituency seat and will not be returning parliament. (Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Edmund Klamann) Traitor to Ukraine Oleksandr Khodakovskyi, a former SSU officer who now commands the occupiers' Vostok battalion, called for Russian troops to "freeze" the front line. He explained this initiative by the need to replace the exhausted mobilized personnel with fresh forces - contract soldiers - and then launch a new offensive. Such statements confirm the aggressor's intention to take advantage of any pause on the battlefield. ADVERTISIMENT This is stated in a report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on October 12. Analysts noted that the day before, Khodakovskyi said that Russian troops could conduct a "deliberate final phase" to end the war after replacing "tired" units with contract soldiers. "This is consistent with ISW's long-standing assessment that Russian forces are likely to take advantage of any short- or long-term freeze to refresh their forces and resume fighting later," the report said. Khodakovskyi also noted that Russian troops are likely to face effective Ukrainian defense and resistance if the occupiers try to move further west in Ukraine, ISW added. ADVERTISIMENT The analysts also recalled that another terrorist, the now-imprisoned Igor Girkin, has consistently stated that a certain faction of the Russian government, of which Khodakovskyi is apparently a member, has long advocated freezing the current front line in Ukraine. On October 9, Girkin said that Russian troops would continue to conduct strategic defense to freeze the front lines ahead of the March 2024 presidential election in Russia. As a reminder, collaborator Khodakovskyi was formerly the commander of the SSU's Alpha special forces unit in the Donetsk region. In 2014, he supported the terrorist "DPR" and subsequently held senior positions there, including the "DPR Security Service" and even the "DPR Ministry of State Security". Khodakovskyi participated in the blockade of Mariupol on the side of Russian terrorists. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA: - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the world to prevent Russia from having the opportunity to freeze the war. "The aggressor uses the pause to build up its military potential, and then not only Ukraine will become its target," he warned. - Earlier, the head of the OP, Andriy Yermak, emphasized that freezing the war is out of the question. Russian troops must be withdrawn from Ukraine, which is the formula for peace, and this is the only way to do it, he said. Only verified information on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday it has not seen any indications that other actors were considering joining and widening the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. "We haven't seen any other external actor that has indicated a willingness or readiness to widen and deepen this conflict," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. The comments came hours after Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Friday that the group would not be swayed by calls for it to stay on the sidelines of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, saying the party was "fully ready" to contribute to the fighting. (Reporting by Phil Stewart, Doina Chiacu, Jarrett Renshaw, Trevor Hunnicutt and Jeff Mason) 0001918694 false 2024 Q2 0001918694 2023-03-01 2023-08-31 0001918694 2023-08-31 0001918694 2023-02-28 0001918694 2023-06-01 2023-08-31 0001918694 2022-06-01 2022-08-31 0001918694 2022-03-01 2022-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2023-02-28 0001918694 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2023-02-28 0001918694 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2023-02-28 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-02-28 0001918694 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2022-02-28 0001918694 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2022-02-28 0001918694 2022-02-28 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2023-03-01 2023-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2023-03-01 2023-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2023-03-01 2023-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-03-01 2022-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2022-03-01 2022-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2022-03-01 2022-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2023-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2023-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2023-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2022-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2022-08-31 0001918694 2022-08-31 0001918694 2022-02-10 0001918694 MEDE:VariousSoftwareMember 2022-02-10 0001918694 MEDE:MetaMovementAndRelatedPropertyRightsMember 2022-02-28 0001918694 MEDE:DanceMotionPictureMember 2022-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-02-08 2022-02-28 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-08-01 2022-08-31 0001918694 us-gaap:CommonStockMember 2022-09-01 2022-10-31 0001918694 MEDE:MrKennethMember 2023-06-01 2023-08-31 0001918694 MEDE:MrKennethMember 2023-08-31 0001918694 MEDE:MrKennethMember 2023-02-28 0001918694 2022-03-01 2023-02-28 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares iso4217:USD xbrli:shares xbrli:pure Table of Contents UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-Q Mark One QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the quarterly period ended TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from ______ to _______ Commission File No. 333-264308 MEDIES (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Wyoming 7812 98-1651594 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or Organization) (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) (IRS Employer Identification Number) 2100 Geng Road , Suite 210 , Palo Alto , CA 94303 ( 650 ) 719-5286 (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrants principal executive offices) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock MEDE OTC Markets Indicate by checkmark whether the issuer: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the past 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T ( 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one) Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer Non-accelerated filer Smaller reporting company Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. Indicate by checkmark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes No Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuers classes of common stock, as of the most practicable date: Class Outstanding as of August 31, 2023 Common Stock: $0.0001 6,666,500 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED) Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm Board of Directors and Shareholders Medies Inc. Cheyenne, Wyoming Results of Review of Interim Financial Statements We have reviewed the accompanying balance sheet of Medies Inc. as of August 31, 2023 and the related statement of operation, stockholders equity, and cash flows for the three-months then ended, and the related notes collectively referred to as the interim financial statements. Based on our review, we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the accompanying interim financial statements for it them to be in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Basis for Review Results These interim financial statements are the responsibility of the entitys management. We conducted our review in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB). We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB. A review of interim financial statements consists principally of applying analytical procedures and making inquiries of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters. It is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB, the objective of which is the expression of an opinion regarding the financial statements taken as a whole. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. /s/ Bush & Associates CPA LLC Henderson, Nevada October 11, 2023 3 MEDIES BALANCE SHEETS AUGUST 31, 2023 (Unaudited) FEBRUARY 28, 2023 (Audited) ASSETS Current Assets Cash & cash equivalents $ 426 $ 1,862 Total current assets 426 1,862 Non-Current assets Intangibles (net) 21,653 28,183 Equipment (net) 26,831 30,725 Total non-Current assets 48,484 58,908 TOTAL ASSETS $ 48,910 $ 60,770 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY Current Liabilities Accrued expenses $ 4,820 $ 1,001 Loans from related parties 58,917 55,467 Total current liabilities 63,737 56,468 Non-Current Liabilities Note Payable - RP 12,500 12,500 Accounts Payable 25,500 25,500 Total non-current liabilities 38,000 38,000 Total Liabilities 101,737 94,468 Stockholders Equity (Deficit) Common stock, $ 0.0001 par value, 90,000,000 shares authorized: 6,666,500 shares issued and outstanding as of August 31, 2023 & February 28, 2023 respectively 667 667 Additional Paid-In-Capital 26,899 26,899 Accumulated Deficit ( 80,393 ) ( 61,264 ) Total Stockholders equity (deficit) ( 52,827 ) ( 33,698 ) TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY (DEFICIT) $ 48,910 $ 60,770 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. 4 MEDIES STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) Three months ended August 31, 2023 Three months ended August 31, 2022 Six months ended August 31, 2023 Six months ended August 31, 2022 Revenue $ $ 1,598 $ $ 1,598 Gross Profit 1,598 1,598 Operating Expenses Legal & professional 7,255 7,950 General and administrative expenses 5,366 7,237 10,835 17,176 Total Operating expenses 12,621 7,237 18,785 17,176 Other Income / (Expense) Income 48 48 Interest Expense 172 344 Total Other Income / (Expense) ( 172 ) 48 ( 344 ) 48 Income (Loss) before provision for income taxes ( 12,793 ) ( 5,591 ) ( 19,129 ) ( 15,530 ) Provision for income taxes Net income (loss) $ ( 12,793 ) $ ( 5,591 ) $ ( 19,129 ) $ ( 15,530 ) Income (loss) per common share: Basic and diluted $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) $ ( 0.00 ) Weighted Average Number of Common Shares Outstanding: Basic and diluted 6,666,500 4,034,456 6,666,500 4,017,228 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. 5 MEDIES STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY (DEFICIT) FOR THE PERIOD ENDED AUGUST 31, 2023 & 2022 (UNAUDITED) Number of Common Shares Amount ($) Additional Paid-In-Capital ($) Accumulated Deficit ($) Total ($) Balance at February 28, 2023 6,666,500 $ 667 $ 26,899 $ ( 61,264 ) $ ( 33,698 ) Net loss for six months ended August 31, 2023 ( 19,129 ) ( 19,129 ) Balance as of August 31, 2023 6,666,500 $ 667 $ 26,899 $ ( 80,393 ) $ ( 52,827 ) Balance as of February 28, 2022 4,000,000 $ 400 $ $ ( 639 ) $ ( 239 ) Shares issued at offering price 0.01 1,195,000 120 12,071 12,191 Net loss for six months period ended August 31, 2022 ( 15,530 ) ( 15,530 ) Balance as of August 31, 2022 5,195,000 $ 520 $ 12,071 $ ( 16,169 ) $ ( 3,578 ) The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. 6 MEDIES STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) For the period ended August 31, 2023 For the period ended August 31, 2022 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net loss $ ( 19,129 ) $ ( 15,530 ) Adjustment as of non-cash items; Amortization 6,530 4,446 Depreciation 3,894 3,894 Changes in operating assets and liabilities Increase in accrued expenses 3,819 Net cash provided by (used in) Operating activities ( 4,886 ) ( 7,190 ) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Purchase of Intangible & non- current assets ( 12,500 ) Net cash provided by (used in) Investing activities ( 12,500 ) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Proceeds from sale of common stock 12,191 Proceeds of loan from shareholder 3,450 9,185 Proceeds from Note Payable - RP 12,500 Net cash provided by Financing activities 3,450 33,876 Increase (decrease) in cash and equivalents ( 1,436 ) 14,186 Cash and equivalents at beginning of the period 1,862 400 Cash and equivalents at end of the period $ 426 $ 14,586 Supplemental cash flow information: Cash paid for: Interest $ $ Taxes $ $ The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. 7 MEDIES NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED AUGUST 31, 2023 NOTE 1 ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS MEDIES. (the Company) is a corporation established under the corporation laws in the State of Wyoming on February 08, 2022. The company intends to commence operations concerning a unique motion picture streaming service in the domain of visual arts and metaverse. The Company has adopted February 28 fiscal year end. NOTE 2 GOING CONCERN The Companys financial statements as of August 31, 2023 have been prepared using generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America applicable to a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and liquidation of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company has not yet established an ongoing source of revenue sufficient to cover its operating costs and allow it to continue as a going concern. The Company has accumulated losses from inception (February 08, 2022) to August 31, 2023 of $ 80,393 . These factors among others raise substantial doubt about the ability of the company to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. In order to continue as a going concern, the Company will need, among other things, additional capital resources. Managements plan is to obtain such resources for the Company by obtaining capital from management and significant shareholders sufficient to meet its minimal operating expenses and seeking third party equity and/or debt financing. However, management cannot provide any assurances that the Company will be successful in accomplishing any of its plans. These financial statements do not include any adjustments related to the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern. NOTE 3 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of Presentation The financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America. New Accounting Pronouncements There were various accounting standards and interpretations issued recently, none of which are expected to have a material impact on our financial position, operations or cash flows. Cash and Cash Equivalents For the purposes of the statement of cash flows, the Company considers all highly liquid instruments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Stock-Based Compensation During the quarter ended August 31, 2023, no stock-based compensation was issued. Stock-based compensation is accounted for at fair value in accordance with ASC 718, when applicable. To date, the Company has not adopted a stock option plan and has not granted any stock options. 8 Use of Estimates and Assumptions The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Due to the limited level of operations, the Company has not had to make material assumptions or estimates other than the assumption that the Company is a going concern. Fair Value of Financial Instruments ASC 825, Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments, requires disclosure of fair value information about financial instruments. ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. Fair value estimates discussed herein are based upon certain market assumptions and pertinent information available to management as of August 31, 2023. The respective carrying values of certain on-balance-sheet financial instruments approximate their fair values. These financial instruments include cash, accounts payable and related party loans payable. Fair values were assumed to approximate carrying values for these financial instruments since they are short term in nature and their carrying amounts approximate fair value. Income Taxes Income taxes are provided in accordance with ASC No. 740, Accounting for Income Taxes. A deferred tax asset or liability is recorded for all temporary differences between financial and tax reporting and net operating loss carry forwards. Deferred tax expense (benefit) results from the net change during the year of deferred tax assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax assets will be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted for the effects of changes in tax laws and rates on the date of enactment. Foreign currency translation Transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional currency are translated into the functional currency at the exchange rates prevailing at the dates of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the functional currency are translated into the functional currency using the applicable exchange rates at the balance sheet dates. The resulting exchange differences are recorded in the statement of operations. Revenue Recognition We adopted Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, and all related interpretations for recognition of our revenue from services. Revenue is recognized when the following criteria are met: - Identification of the contract, or contracts, with customer. - Identification of the performance obligations in the contract. - Determination of the transaction price. - Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and - Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy performance obligation. Recent Pronouncements The Company has evaluated all the recent accounting pronouncements and determined that there are no other accounting pronouncements that will have a material effect on the Companys financial statements. 9 Fixed Assets Fixed assets are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses, if any. The cost comprises purchase price, borrowing costs, if capitalization criteria are met and directly attributable cost of bringing the asset to its working condition for the intended use. Any subsidy/reimbursement/contribution received for installation and acquisition of any fixed assets is shown as deduction in the year of receipt. Capital work- in progress is stated at cost. Subsequent expenditure related to an item of fixed assets is added to its book value only if it increases the future benefits from the existing asset beyond its previously assessed standard of performance. All other expenses on existing fixed assets, including day-to-day repairs and maintenance expenditure and cost of replacing parts, are charged to the Statement of Profit and Loss for the period during which such expenses are incurred. Gains or losses arising from de-recognition of fixed assets are measured as the difference between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the assets derecognized. The Company utilizes straight-line depreciation over the estimated useful life of the asset. Office Equipment 5 years Earnings per Share ASC No. 260, Earnings Per Share, specifies the computation, presentation and disclosure requirements for earnings (loss) per share for entities with publicly held common stock. The Company has adopted the provisions of ASC No. 260. Basic net loss per share amounts is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted earnings per share are the same as basic earnings per share due to the lack of dilutive items in the Company. NOTE 4 EQUIPMENT (NET) Company acquired equipment as on February 10, 2022 for $ 38,930 . The Company depreciates its property using straight-line depreciation over the estimated useful life of 5 years. For the quarter ended August 31, 2023 & 2022 the company recorded $ 1,947 in depreciation expense. From inception (February 08, 2022) through August 31, 2023 the company has recorded a total of $ 12,099 in depreciation expense. NOTE 5 INTANGIBLE ASSETS The company acquired Intangible consisting of various software for $ 1,180 as on February 10, 2022 while Intangible consisting of website (Meta Movement & related property rights) of $ 25,500 was purchased as on February 28, 2022. As on August 31, 2022, Company acquired licensing rights to the dance motion picture entitled The Architect of $ 12,500 . The Company amortize its intangibles using straight-line depreciation over the estimated useful life of 3 years. For the quarter ended August 31, 2023 & 2022 the company recorded $ 3,265 & $ 2,223 in amortization expenses respectively. From inception (February 08, 2022) through August 31, 2023 the company has recorded a total of $ 17,527 in amortization expense. NOTE 6 CAPITAL STOCK The Company has 90,000,000 shares of common stock authorized with a par value of $ 0.0001 per share. In February 2022, the Company issued 4,000,000 shares of its common stock at $0.0001 per share for total proceeds of $ 400 . In August 2022, the Company issued 1,180,000 shares of its common stock at $0.01 per share for total proceeds of $ 12,041 . In the month of September 2022 & October 2022, the Company issued 1,486,500 shares of its common stock at $0.01 per share for total proceeds of $ 14,858 . As of August 31, 2023 & February 28, 2023, the Company had 6,666,500 shares issued and outstanding respectively. 10 NOTE 7 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS In support of the Companys efforts and cash requirements, it may rely on advances from related parties until such time that the Company can support its operations or attains adequate financing through sales of its equity or traditional debt financing. There is no formal written commitment for continued support by officers, directors, or shareholders. Amounts represent advances or amounts paid in satisfaction of liabilities. During the period ended August 31, 2023, Mr. Kenneth loaned the company $ 3,450 to pay off company professional fee. As of August 31, 2023 & February 28, 2023, the amount outstanding was $ 58,917 and $ 55,467 respectively. The loan is non-interest bearing, due upon demand and unsecured. As on August 31, 2023, $ 12,500 stands as Note payable to Mr. Kenneth under long term liability with interest 5.5 % per annum and is payable on August 31, 2025. Interest accrued over this loan as of August 31, 2023, is $ 745 . NOTE 8 INCOME TAXES The reconciliation of income tax benefit at the U.S. statutory rate of 21% for the quarter ended August 31, 2023 & for the recent fiscal year ended February 28, 2023 to the companys effective tax rate are as follows: Schedule of income tax expense August 31, 2023 February 28, 2023 Tax benefit at U.S. statutory rate $ 4,017 $ 12,655 Change in valuation allowance ( 4,017 ) ( 12,655 ) Income tax expense $ $ The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the net deferred tax assets at August 31, 2023 & February 28, 2023 are as follows: Deferred tax assets: August 31, 2023 February 28, 2023 Net operating loss $ 4,017 $ 12,655 Valuation allowance ( 4,017 ) ( 12,655 ) Deferred tax assets, net $ $ The Company has approximately $ 80,393 of net operating losses (NOL) carried forward to offset taxable income, if any, in future years which expire in fiscal 2041. In assessing the realization of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. Based on the assessment, management has established a full valuation allowance against all of the deferred tax assets relating to NOLs for every period because it is more likely than not that all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. NOTE 9 - SUBSEQUENT EVENTS The Company has evaluated subsequent events to the date these financial statements were issued and has determined that there are no items to disclose. 11 ITEM 2. MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATION FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Statements made in this Form 10-Q that are not historical or current facts are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 (the Act) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements often can be identified by the use of terms such as may, will, expect, believe, anticipate, estimate, approximate or continue, or the negative thereof. We intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors for such statements. We wish to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Any forward-looking statements represent managements best judgment as to what occur in the future. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and important factors beyond our control that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from historical results of operations and events and those presently anticipated or projected. We disclaim any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statement or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. Employees and Employment Agreements At present, we have no employees other than our officer and director. We presently do not have pension, health, annuity, insurance, stock options, profit sharing or similar benefit plans; however, we may adopt such plans in the future. There are presently no personal benefits available to any officers, directors or employees. Results of Operation Our financial statements have been prepared assuming that we will continue as a going concern and, accordingly, do not include adjustments relating to the recoverability and realization of assets and classification of liabilities that might be necessary should we be unable to continue in operation. We expect we will require additional capital to meet our long-term operating requirements. We expect to raise additional capital through, among other things, the sale of equity or debt securities. Three and Six Months Ended August 31, 2023 & 2022: During the three months ended August 31, 2023 & 2022, we have generated $0 & $1,598 in revenues respectively. Our net loss for the three months ended August 31, 2023 & 2022 was $12,793 and $5,591 respectively. Operating expenses consist of mainly legal and professional fees, depreciation and amortization expenses & other administrative expenses. During the six months ended August 31, 2023 & 2022, we have generated $0 and $1,598 in revenues respectively. Our net loss for six months ended August 31, 2023 & 2022 was $19,129 and $15,530 respectively. Operating expenses consist of mainly legal and professional fees, depreciation and amortization expenses & other administrative expenses. Liquidity and Capital Resources As of August 31, 2023, our total assets were $48,910 consisting of intangibles $21,653, equipment $26,831 and cash and cash equivalents of $426. As of August 31, 2023, our total liabilities were $101,737. Total current liabilities were $63,737 consisting of accrued expenses $ 4,820 and related party loans $58,917. While total non-current liabilities of $38,000 comprises of notes payable to related party $12,500 and accounts payable of $25,500. Cash Flows from Operating Activities We have not generated positive cash flows from operating activities. For six months ended August 31, 2023 & 2022, net cash flows used in operating activities were ($4,886) & ($7,190) respectively. 12 Cash Flows from Investing Activities As of August 31, 2023 & 2022, net cash flows used in investing activities were $0 & ($12,500) respectively. Cash Flows from Financing Activities We have generated $3,450 cash flows from financing activities in August 31, 2023. For six months ended August 31, 2023 & 2022, we generated net cashflows of $3,450 & $33,876 respectively. Cashflows generated on August 31, 2023 were the proceeds from related party loans. Cashflows generated on August 31, 2022 were the proceeds from related party loans, stock issuance and note payable. Plan of Operation and Funding We expect that working capital requirements will continue to be funded through a combination of our existing funds and further issuances of securities. Our working capital requirements are expected to increase in line with the growth of our business. Existing working capital, further advances and debt instruments, and anticipated cash flow are expected to be adequate to fund our operations over the next three months. We have no lines of credit or other bank financing arrangements. Generally, we have financed operations to date through the proceeds of the private placement of equity and debt instruments. In connection with our business plan, management anticipates additional increases in operating expenses and capital expenditures relating to: (i) acquisition of assets; (ii) developmental expenses associated with a start-up business; and (iii) marketing expenses. We intend to finance these expenses with further issuances of securities, and debt issuances. Thereafter, we expect we will need to raise additional capital and generate revenues to meet long-term operating requirements. Additional issuances of equity or convertible debt securities will result in dilution to our current shareholders. Further, such securities might have rights, preferences or privileges senior to our common stock. Additional financing may not be available upon acceptable terms, or at all. If adequate funds are not available or are not available on acceptable terms, we may not be able to take advantage of prospective new business endeavors or opportunities, which could significantly and materially restrict our business operations. We will have to raise additional funds in the next twelve months in order to sustain and expand our operations. We currently do not have a specific plan of how we will obtain such funding; however, we anticipate that additional funding will be in the form of equity financing from the sale of our common stock. We have and will continue to seek to obtain short-term loans from our directors, although no future arrangement for additional loans has been made. We do not have any agreements with our directors concerning these loans. We do not have any arrangements in place for any future equity financing. Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements As of the date of this Quarterly Report, we do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that are material to investors. Going Concern The financial statements have been prepared assuming that we will continue as a going concern, which contemplates that we will realize our assets and satisfy our liabilities and commitments in the ordinary course of business. Critical Accounting Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Due to the limited level of operations, the Company has not had to make material assumptions or estimates other than the assumption that the Company is a going concern. 13 ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK. As a smaller reporting company as defined by Item 10 of Regulation S-K, the Company is not required to provide information required by this Item. ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES Disclosure Controls and Procedures Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer have reviewed the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rules 13(a)-15(e) and 15(d)-15(e)) within the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and have concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that material information relating to the Company is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported in a timely manner. Changes in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting There have been no changes in the Companys internal control over financial reporting during the nine months period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Companys internal control over financial reporting. 14 PART II. OTHER INFORMATION ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS Management is not aware of any legal proceedings contemplated by any governmental authority or any other party involving us or our properties. As of the date of this Quarterly Report, no director, officer or affiliate is (i) a party adverse to us in any legal proceeding, or (ii) has an adverse interest to us in any legal proceedings. Management is not aware of any other legal proceedings pending or that have been threatened against us or our properties. ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS None. ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES No senior securities were issued and outstanding during the three-month period ended August 31, 2023. ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES Not applicable to our Company. ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION None. ITEM 6. EXHIBITS 15 SIGNATURES In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. Dated: October 13, 2023 Medies. By: /s/ Kenneth Tindall Kenneth Tindall, Chief Executive Officer and Founder Dated: October 13, 2023 Medies. By: /s/ Kenneth Tindall Kenneth Tindall, Chief Financial Officer and Founder 16 ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS CERTIFICATION CERTIFICATION CERTIFICATION CERTIFICATION XBRL SCHEMA FILE XBRL CALCULATION FILE XBRL DEFINITION FILE XBRL LABEL FILE XBRL PRESENTATION FILE IDEA: R1.htm IDEA: R2.htm IDEA: R3.htm IDEA: R4.htm IDEA: R5.htm IDEA: R6.htm IDEA: R7.htm IDEA: R8.htm IDEA: R9.htm IDEA: R10.htm IDEA: R11.htm IDEA: R12.htm IDEA: R13.htm IDEA: R14.htm IDEA: R15.htm IDEA: R16.htm IDEA: R17.htm IDEA: R18.htm IDEA: R19.htm IDEA: R20.htm IDEA: R21.htm IDEA: R22.htm IDEA: R23.htm IDEA: R24.htm IDEA: R25.htm IDEA: R26.htm IDEA: R27.htm IDEA: medies_i10q-083123_htm.xml IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx IDEA: FilingSummary.xml IDEA: MetaLinks.json 0001778129 false 00-0000000 NONE 0001778129 2023-10-13 2023-10-13 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): TerrAscend Corp. (Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter) Canada 000-56363 Not applicable (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 77 City Centre Drive Suite 501 Mississauga , Ontario , Canada L5B 1M5 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) Registrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code: 717 610-4165 (Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report) Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions: Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered N/A TSNDF N/A Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 ( 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( 240.12b-2 of this chapter). Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. Item 2.02 Results of Operations and Financial Condition. In connection with a presentation to be made at an investor day event on October 13, 2023, TerrAscend Corp. (the Company) disclosed that as of the third quarter of 2023, its Michigan business had a gross margin of over 40%, representing a 1800-basis point year-over-year improvement. The following information should be considered in connection with this preliminary result: the Companys unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the period ended September 30, 2023 are not yet available. Accordingly, the information presented above reflects the Companys preliminary estimate, subject to the completion of the Companys financial closing procedures, and the preliminary estimate may differ from the actual results that will be reflected in the Companys unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the period ended September 30, 2023 when they are completed and publicly disclosed. This preliminary estimate may change, and that change may be material. Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure. On October 13, 2023, the Company issued a press release (the Operations Press Release) announcing that it raised its guidance for full year 2023 Net Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations. A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and incorporated by reference herein. The information in this Current Report on Form 8-K (including Exhibit 99.1) is being furnished and shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that Section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing made by the Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing. Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits. (d) Exhibits Exhibit No. Description 99.1 Operations Press Release, dated October 13, 2023. 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document). SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. TerrAscend Corp. Date: 10/13/2023 By: /s/ Keith Stauffer Keith Stauffer Chief Financial Officer ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS EX-99.1 XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA DOCUMENT XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE DOCUMENT XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT IDEA: R1.htm IDEA: tsndf-20231013_htm.xml IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx IDEA: FilingSummary.xml IDEA: MetaLinks.json U.S. airmen complete post-flight procedures on an A-10C Thunderbolt II during exercise Cope Thunder at Clark Air Base in the Philippines on July 16, 2023. A-10s from the 354th Fighter Squadron are heading to the Middle East, U.S. Central Command said Oct. 12. (Benjamin Cooper/U.S. Air Force) A U.S. Air Force attack jet known for close air support in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is being deployed to the Middle East as Israel ramps up operations in Gaza in response to the invasion by Hamas. The arrival of the A-10 Thunderbolt II Warthog jets will support the U.S. increased posture in the region, a statement Thursday from U.S. Central Command said. The statement did not say where the A-10s, belonging to the 354th Fighter Squadron, will be located or how many were sent. They join counterparts from the 75th Fighter Squadron already in the Middle East as part of a detachment sent in late March to Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to the 75th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron takes off from Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates on Sept. 27, 2023. A-10s from the 354th Fighter Squadron also are heading to the Middle East, U.S. Central Command said Oct. 12. (Alex Echols III/U.S. Air Force) The U.S. has rushed military forces to the region after an eruption of fighting beginning Oct. 7, when Hamas agents crossed the border, massacring and kidnapping Israeli civilians. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The U.S. could soon deploy a second aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, defense officials said Tuesday. The presence of an American aircraft carrier is meant to deter groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Iran-backed groups from escalating the conflict with Israel, defense officials said Tuesday. A unit of U.S. Marines also ended a military exercise in Kuwait early in response to the conflict, a spokeswoman for Marine Corps Forces Central Command said Friday. The Marines, part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), left the exercise as a prudent measure, Capt. Angelica White said. Analysts say the U.S. and Iran have been locked in a shadow war, with Washingtons allies clashing with militant groups backed and funded by Tehran. Iran has backed Hamas for many years, but U.S. officials say there is no smoking gun implicating Tehrans involvement in funding or planning the attacks. Israels military said more than 1,300 people in Israel have been killed in the attacks, according to an Associated Press report Friday. At least 27 of the dead are American citizens, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday. The U.S. does not intend to put American boots on the ground in Israel and Gaza, Kirby said earlier this week. But the U.S. military said it is committed to getting Israel what it needs to defend itself, with no special restrictions on how weapons being delivered can be used against Hamas, Austin said Thursday. The statement came prior to a likely ground offensive by Israel in Gaza. The Israeli response has so far included an aerial bombardment campaign that has left 1,537 people in Gaza dead, health authorities in Gaza said Thursday. Seaman Alli Rambo carries a mattress off the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego on June 2, 2022. Sailors aboard Navy ships are still sleeping on uncomfortable mattresses, and that is one of the factors hampering the service's efforts to reduce fatigue in the fleet, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report. (Leon Vonguyen/U.S. Navy) The Navy still hasnt addressed two of the biggest contributors to shipboard fatigue more than six years after two deadly collisions in which exhaustion played a role, according to an analysis by the Government Accountability Office. Inadequate crewing on ships keeps sailors working longer hours, limiting their available sleep time. And when personnel do get some sleep, they must contend with uncomfortable mattresses, a GAO report released Wednesday said. Without fully addressing the root causes of fatigue such as high workload caused by under-crewing and mattress problems the Navy may better manage fatigue but not eradicate it, the report authors said. Workload and mattresses not conducive to restful sleep were the two leading causes of fatigue cited in a 2022 Navy survey, the GAO noted. Overwork was highlighted in a Navy report to Congress in March that showed shipboard sailors on average had just 6.26 hours a day available for sleep, according to the GAO. Those sailors ended up getting an average of 5.25 hours of sleep, well below the minimum 7.5 hours required by policy, the government watchdog agency said. While the Navy is working to fully crew its ships within the next 15 years, the service hasnt committed to putting that intention into policy, the GAO noted. Even if the Navy achieves this goal, there would remain a 15-year period where the surface fleet will experience operational risk and sailors will experience health risk from ongoing crew shortfalls, it said. Seamen Jacob Gaudin, left, and Patrick Morel move mattresses aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Atlantic Ocean in 2019. Uncomfortable mattresses and overwork remain an issue for the Navy as it seeks to resolve the ongoing problem of sailor fatigue, according to a new report by the General Accountability Office. (Lauren M Deal/U.S. Navy) Rear Adm. James Shannon, former commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, inspects the cushioning for shipboard mattresses during the Denver Navy Week in 2011. (Gary Ward/U.S. Navy) In regards to the mattresses, officials had permission to replace them every three years. But no Navy department was willing to fund mattress improvements across the fleet or review the problem further, so the issue remains unresolved, the report said. It follows a GAO review in 2021 of the fatigue management policy the Navy implemented after collisions in 2017 between commercial vessels and the destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS John McCain that killed seven and 10 sailors, respectively. In that report, the GAO found that the Navy wasnt consistently implementing the policy and routinely assigned an inadequate number of crew members for safe operation of ships. The Navy agreed to the eight recommendations the GAO gave in 2021. In Wednesdays follow-up report, the service received credit for fully implementing four of those recommendations, most of which focused on revising or establishing policies or guidelines. The GAO also said the service had made progress on three other recommendations, including using data to identify, monitor and evaluate why sailors arent getting enough sleep. But the applicability of the data was limited by the Navys reliance on voluntary surveys of sailors at sea twice over a three-year deployment cycle. The service also established two programs related to wearable devices that collect biometric data and could help reduce fatigue, but a lack of dedicated funding prevented expansion of those programs, the GAO said. Capt. Danielle DeFant was relieved of command of the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. (U.S. Navy) The U.S. Navy has removed the commander of the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie for unspecified performance issues. Capt. Danielle DeFant was relieved by Rear Adm. Christopher Alexander, commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, due to a loss of confidence in her ability to command, Naval Surface Force said Thursday in a news release. Navy commanding officers are held to high standards of personal and professional conduct, the release said. They are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards. The U.S. military regularly uses loss of confidence as a catch-all term when publicly announcing a commanders removal, but the precise circumstances are rarely disclosed due in part to federal privacy laws. She is at least the eighth Navy officer relieved this year for loss of confidence. The commander of the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, seen here returning to San Diego in November 2019, was relieved of duty on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. (Woody Paschall/U.S. Navy) Naval Surface Force spokesman Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson said only that DeFants removal was related to the performance of duties while serving as the Lake Eries skipper. The relief of Capt. DeFant will not impact the ships readiness, he told Stars and Stripes by email Friday. The Lake Erie, homeported in San Diego, completed a nearly two-year maintenance period in September 2022. The ship is assigned to Carrier Strike Group 9 around the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. DeFant is being transferred to an unspecified position within Naval Surface Force, according to the news release. Capt. Brandon Burkett, who commanded the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay, will fill in as the Lake Eries skipper until a permanent replacement is chosen. The Mobile Bay was decommissioned Aug. 10 after more than three decades of service. The 30-year-old Lake Erie may be retired in 2025, according to the Navys proposed shipbuilding plan for fiscal year 2024. DeFant, of Oceanside, Calif., enlisted in the Navy in 1991. She holds a bachelors degree in political science from Old Dominion University; as an enlisted sailor, she served aboard the submarine tender USS Hunley and the destroyer tender USS Shenandoah. She was commissioned in 1999 through the Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla. Since then, she has served in several roles, including as the executive officer and commander of the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton. Members of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 prepare to disembark an F/A-18D after landing at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Sept. 24, 2023. (Bryant Rodriguez/U.S. Marine Corps) MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan The first contingent of Marine legacy fighters from California rolled to a stop at this base south of Hiroshima late last month with a dozen aircraft sporting newly upgraded radar. The Red Devils of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar will operate their F/A-18C and F/A-18D Hornets from MCAS Iwakuni as part of a six-month unit deployment, squadron commander Lt. Col. Michael McMahon told Stars and Stripes by phone Wednesday. Were the first F/A-18C squadron to get this new, active electronically scanned array radar, [its] very similar to what the Super Hornets have, he said. This radar has definitely increased our capabilities in all aspects of what we do. Raytheons APG-79(V)4 provides Hornet aircrews with improved situational awareness, better ability to track targets nearly instantaneously and improved capacity for tracking many targets, according to MilitaryAerospace.com in September 2022. The improved radar is built with open system architecture and commercial-off-the-shelf parts that deliver an increased air-to-air and air-to-surface targeting and tracking capabilities, according to Raytheons website. Its definitely an edge over the rest of the F/A-18, the legacy charlies and delta fleet thats out there, McMahon said. Marine Corps Cpl. David Rarrick, a mechanic with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232, guides an F/A-18D at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Sept. 24, 2023. (Bryant Rodriguez/U.S. Marine Corps) The radar upgrade is a big deal that will help keep the Hornets relevant toward the end of the decade as the Marine Corps looks at downsizing its aging aircraft, he said. Every single day, almost every sortie we went on, we were integrated with the F-35s, he said, referring to the fifth-generation stealth fighter flown by the Marines, Navy and Air Force. [The F/A-18] is a multi-role fighter; we do air-to-air, air-to-ground and anti-maritime. Pairing the Hornet with the F-35 complements each aircrafts capabilities, McMahon said. The anti-maritime weapons and the number of strike weapons [and] the number of air weapons we can carry, in comparison to the F-35B, we can carry a little bit more, he said. Were commonly called a weapons truck for those folks. MCAS Iwakuni also has two squadrons of permanently assigned F-35Bs, the variant designed for short takeoffs and vertical landings. Flying with those guys, especially with the new radar, seeing, no kidding, when you get to debrief face-to-face and see their capabilities and what they bring to the fight and how you can complement them and how they can complement ours, its a great experience, McMahon said. This is the Red Devils seventh deployment to MCAS Iwakuni, he said. We came over to show the Japanese we are here to support, he said. Its also just part of putting forces out here in the Pacific to train and create those relationships, not just with foreign partners but also its a good time for us to work with the Air Force. The Navy has placed 40 air-monitoring stations in areas near the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Honolulu, in preparation for the sites final defueling that begins Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (U.S. Navy) FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii The Navy has installed 40 air-monitoring stations on and near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam as an early-warning system in the event of a spill as it empties the Red Hill fuel storage facility starting Monday. The stations will remain in place for six months, after which the Navy will reevaluate their need, Capt. Mark Sohaney, commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, wrote in a letter Tuesday to military housing residents to clarify the purpose of the stations. Joint Task Force-Red Hill, a Defense Department entity, is handling the three-month process of emptying 104 million gallons of fuel from the World War II-era tanks. Leakage from the tanks in 2021 contaminated one of three wells used by the Navy for distributing water to military housing communities on and adjacent to the joint base. Late that year, residents complained about tap water smelling of petroleum, leading to thousands being temporarily relocated to area hotels as the Navy cleaned up the distribution system. Some were sickened by exposure to the tainted water, and more than 1,000 residents and former residents have joined a federal lawsuit seeking compensation. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in March 2022 ordered the facility to be emptied and permanently closed. The idea of millions of gallons once again flowing through Red Hill pipes to awaiting tankers at the joint base has left some residents of military communities uneasy given what they believe was an inadequate response by the Navy in the initial wake of water contamination. The installation of the stations is an application of lessons learned from Red Hill, according to a Navy fact sheet sent to residents. While air quality monitoring is not a regulator-mandated prerequisite for defueling, these stations can provide an early-warning indicator that improves response time in the unlikely event of an incident, the fact sheet states. Ultimately, this reduces risk for the operators and public during Joint Task Force-Red Hills defueling and Navys closure of Red Hill, the fact sheet states. The stations will monitor air for volatile organic compounds, which have a high vapor pressure, such as fuel oil, gasoline and paint, Sohaney wrote in his letter. They will also collect atmospheric data such as air speed, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. The site for each station was chosen based on wind, weather patterns and thorough coverage of all communities, Sohaney wrote. The air monitoring stations are part of the Navys plan to establish a baseline of current air quality conditions and will be used to identify potential future changes in air quality, the fact sheet states. The Navy will issue a comprehensive report on the findings of the stations at the end of six months, but data will be collected periodically during that half year and made available on jbphh-safewaters.org, he wrote. Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen speaks to reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes) TOKYO Israeli and Palestinian diplomats appeared before reporters in Japans capital to speak about the conflict their countries are engaged in and state their respective cases for war-weary Gaza. Israels ambassador to Japan compared Hamas militants attacking his country to Islamic State, a brutal military group considered terrorists by the U.S., during a press conference Friday at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. Ambassador Gilad Cohen talked about his countrys plans to respond to atrocities reportedly committed in Israel by Hamas, the governing Islamist party in Gaza, as grotesque images of those atrocities flashed across screens. We are at war that was imposed on us and waged on us by the Hamas terrorist organization, he said. Hamas militants erupted Oct. 7 from Gaza, a coastal strip of land between Israel and Egypt thats home to 2 million Palestinians. The weekend attack killed more than 1,200 people. Hostages, including women, children and the elderly, taken to Gaza by Hamas are being tortured and raped, Cohen said. This horror is worse than ISIS, he said, referring to Islamic State, which ruled over wide swathes of Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2019. The modern world has never seen this type of brutality. Palestinian diplomat Waleed Siam speaks to reporters at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes) Following Cohen at the correspondents club Friday, Palestinian diplomat Waleed Siam said he doesnt represent Hamas and condemned the killing of civilians by Hamas and Israeli troops. The conflicts roots lie not in religion but in Israels military occupation of Palestinian land, Siam said. This violence has to stop on both sides, he said. We respect the Israeli state, but they have not recognized the Palestinians, he said. Without a Palestinian state, believe me, there will never be any stability. More than 1,500 Palestinians have died in the conflict, more than half of them women and children, he said. Cohen during his address praised messages of support for Israel this week from the United States, Japan and other countries. If we surrender now it will come to the doorstep of Japan, Australia and Europe, he warned. We are going to win this war because we dont have any other choice. The international community should treat Hamas the way it treats ISIS, Cohen said. Defeating the militants in Gaza, where theyre surrounded by civilians, may resemble the challenge faced by a U.S.-led coalition that defeated ISIS in Iraq and Syria, he said. The Islamic State going into the population and trying to hide there and how do you uproot them (while) trying to minimize hurting civilians? Cohen asked. We are considering all options. We are looking at these kinds of things. Israel doesnt see Palestinians or people living in Gaza as enemies, but Hamas is using them as human shields, he said. Siam later countered that Japan and some countries in Asia and Europe can play a neutral role in the conflict but not the United States. The U.S. Navy has positioned the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in the Eastern Mediterranean in response to the conflict. The carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower may deploy there by Tuesday. How can they want to stabilize peace in the area when they are sending war carriers to the Mediterranean and theyre sending specialists in urban conflict helping the Israelis to learn how to fight in the urban fight, which is fighting the Palestinians? Siam asked. South Korean soldiers march in the 75th Armed Forces Day parade in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 26, 2023. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes) SEOUL, South Korea South Korean military leaders this week proposed to suspend the inter-Korean military agreement designed to lower tensions on the peninsula, citing ongoing provocations by the North and a weakening of security at the border between the two countries. The 5-year-old North-South military agreement was a disguised peace offensive that compromised the countrys security, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, army Gen. Kim Seung Kyum, told lawmakers Thursday in Seoul. The military agreement has affected our surveillance and reconnaissance, training and current operational readiness, he said during a televised hearing. North Korea has violated the agreement 17 times since its inception in 2018, including in December, when the communist regime flew at least five drones into the Souths airspace for the first time since 2017, according to Kim. South Koreas military responded to the incursion by flying three reconnaissance drones north of the border to surveil the Norths buildings, the Ministry of National Defense said at the time. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told reporters Tuesday he would seek to suspend the military agreement that limits real-time monitoring of signs of North Koreas provocations on the front-lines, the Donga-Ilbo newspaper reported that day. The agreement between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in was signed during their summit in Pyongyang on Sept. 19, 2018, when the leaders appeared to make headway in thawing the stalemate of the 1950-53 Korean War. Under the deal, Kim and Moon agreed on a host of deconfliction measures based on the common understanding that easing military tension and building confidence on the Korean Peninsula is integral to securing lasting and stable peace. Those measures include establishing a no-fly zone for all types of aircraft above the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas; depending on the type of aircraft, this no-fly zone extends up to 25 miles from the peninsulas east and western borders. Shin reportedly told reporters the no-fly zone clause in the agreement greatly limits South Koreas optics of imminent threats from North Korea. The defense minister also compared North Korean forces to Hamas militants who launched an attack against Israel on Oct. 7. Shin said the military threat from North Korean troops would be greater than Hamas and that Israel may have benefited from non-stop surveillance using drones and other aircraft. The agreement also requires the two sides to withdraw from guard posts within 1,093 yards from the Demilitarized Zone. Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang have since frayed. North Korea has fired 21 ballistic missiles in 14 separate days of testing so far this year and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed to respond to the regimes actions with military drills and regular deployments of strategic U.S. assets to the country, such as the USS Kentuckys port call to Busan in July. The notion of suspending the agreement is unfortunate but also not surprising given the state of inter-Korean relations these days, said Jenny Town, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and director of 38 North, a Washington, D.C.-based North Korea monitoring group. The kind of optimism, goodwill and cooperation that existed when the agreement was negotiated is gone and both sides have violated the agreement multiple times, she told Stars and Stripes in an email Friday. Maintaining the agreement despite the current state of relations would reflect some notion of getting back to negotiations in the near or midterm future, Town added. The active offensive of the Russian occupation army in the area of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region pursues two goals. One of them is an attempt to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk region. ADVERTISIMENT The enemy may have made some progress in this direction, but they may also have trouble holding their positions. This was said in an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA by Oleksiy Melnyk, co-director of foreign policy programs, coordinator of international projects at the Razumkov Center, and military expert. "The Russians set out to capture the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions within the administrative borders from the very beginning of the large-scale invasion. They have been trying to solve this problem for almost two years," he noted. According to the expert, Avdiivka is valuable from a purely military point of view, as it is "a rather powerful defense line. It was this line that held back the first wave of the enemy's offensive and several subsequent ones. ADVERTISIMENT According to Melnyk, the enemy is pursuing two goals when attacking Avdiivka. The first is related to the military value of this settlement. "If you read Russian channels, they even say that it is about to be surrounded. It seems that if they achieved this goal, they would stop for a while," he suggested. The second goal is to try to pull the reserves of the Ukrainian Defense Forces from certain parts of the front. "But, according to our official sources, this was not such a surprise, and it is unlikely that the enemy will be able to impose the initiative here," the expert noted. He added that the occupation forces could have made some progress in the Avdiivka direction. "But it's one thing to have some tactical advantages, to reach the frontier, and another thing is whether they will be able to stay there and, most importantly, whether they will be able to develop some tactical achievements into operational success," the expert emphasized. ADVERTISIMENT As OBOZ.UA previously reported, according to the head of the Avdiivka city Military Administration Vitaliy Barabash, on October 11, Russian occupation forces began a massive offensive in the area of Avdiivka. The occupiers' assault resulted in civilian casualties. And shortly after Musk took over X, the worlds richest man tweeted: The bird is freed. Within hours, Breton responded that in Europe, the bird will fly by our rules. (Photo by Jurvetson/WikiMedia Commons) The European Commission is investigating Xs handling of illegal content related to the Israel-Gaza war, marking the most significant action the bloc has taken to date under a landmark social media law that requires tech platforms to address illegal content and disinformation. Thierry Breton, a European commissioner, announced on Thursday that the European Union had sent a request for information to X, the company formerly called Twitter, under the Digital Services Act. The demand marks an escalation from earlier this week, when Breton pressed X owner Elon Musk earlier this week on whether the platform was being used to disseminate illegal content & disinformation related to the Hamas attacks against Israel. The #DSA is here to protect both freedom of expression & our democracies including in times of crisis, Breton wrote. The European Unions law, which came into force for large platforms in August, could pose a significant check against Musk and the hands-off approach he has taken to policing misinformation and other harmful content on X. The E.U. has built a reputation as Silicon Valleys top cop, and Xs handling of terrorist content and other posts related to the war pose an early test of how the law may be enforced. The EU decided to open the probe into Xs handling of content regarding the Israel-Gaza war after Breton said that X responded to his Tuesday letter, which said the European Commission had indications that the platform was being used to disseminate illegal content. He told Musk that the company needed to be transparent about what content was permitted under its rules and that the company needed to be timely in taking action when it receives notices of illegal content in the EU. Breton also told the company it needed proportionate and effective mitigation measures to tackle the risks to public security and civic discourse stemming from disinformation. He cited media reports that repurposed old images of unrelated conflicts and footage from video games was being used to mislead the public about the Israel-Gaza war. Musk responded publicly to Breton in a post on X on Tuesday. Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent, an approach that I know the E.U. supports, he said. Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that the public can see them. Merci beaucoup. Breton sent warnings to multiple social media companies about their handling of illegal content and disinformation related to the Hamas attacks against Israel under the Digital Services Act. On Thursday, he sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, saying that the company has a particular obligation to protect children and teenagers using the social network from violent content depicting hostage taking and other graphic videos. In a Wednesday letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Breton asked him to be very vigilant to ensure strict compliance with the DSA rules. Earlier this summer, Breton traveled to Xs headquarters in San Francisco to test whether the company was prepared for its obligations under the DSA. And shortly after Musk took over X, the worlds richest man tweeted: The bird is freed. Within hours, Breton responded that in Europe, the bird will fly by our rules. A general view of the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (Virginia Mayo/AP) BRUSSELS NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday pressed Turkey to quickly ratify Swedens membership in the military organization, three months after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would help hasten the process in the Turkish parliament. Many allies would like to see speedy progress on this ratification, Stoltenberg told The Associated Press after chairing a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. Sweden has delivered on what they promised, and now we need the ratification of Swedish membership. Sweden and its neighbor Finland turned their backs on decades of military non-alignment after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Their aim was to seek protection under NATOs security umbrella, and Finland joined in April. All 31 NATO allies must endorse Swedens membership. Turkey and Hungary are dragging their feet. Erdogan spent months publicly saying he was withholding his countrys approval because he believed that Sweden had been too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that he considers to be security threats. Many allies doubted that. Turkey also was angered by a series of Quran-burning protests in Sweden. At a NATO summit in Lithuanias capital in July, Erdogan relented and said he would transmit Swedens accession protocol to the Turkish parliament for ratification, the final step for Turkey to endorse its candidature. Stoltenberg said he welcomed a commitment Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler made during Thursdays meeting which made it clear that Turkey would stand by the agreement. But it remains unclear when Ankara will do so. Erdogan dropped his opposition in July after the Biden administration signaled it would let Turkey buy 40 new F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits from the United States. Ankara also received assurances from Sweden that it would help revive Turkeys own quest to join the European Union. Under the deal, NATO as an organization agreed to address Turkeys concerns about terrorism. Stoltenberg said Thursday that he had appointed Assistant Secretary General Tom Goffus will serve as his special coordinator for counter-terrorism. It demonstrates that NATO, Sweden, we have delivered on the agreement from Vilnius, and now we should also see that Turkey ratifies the Swedish accession, Stoltenberg said. It had been hoped that the long-awaited ratification would come soon after Oct. 1, when Turkeys parliament resumed work following a summer recess. But on the same day, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the interior ministry in Ankara. Another would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police. Two officers were wounded. The attack prompted Turkey to mount airstrikes against suspected Kurdish militant sites in northern Iraq, against Syrian Kurdish militia in Syria, and to launch a series of raids across Turkey in which dozens of people with suspected links to the Kurdish militants were rounded up. Hungarys objections are not entirely clear. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly said that his country would not be the last to endorse Swedens membership. That stance has left Stockholm and some allies perplexed, as no public demands have been made to win his approval. Some vague allusions have surfaced. Orbans government has alleged that Swedish politicians have told blatant lies about the state of Hungarys democracy and that this has left some lawmakers unsure about whether to support the accession bid. Last month, Orban said he was in no hurry. He told lawmakers that nothing is threatening Swedens security, and that Hungary was therefore in no rush to ratify its membership. I havent heard anything new about that from the Hungarian side, Stoltenberg told the AP. Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed. A video screen grab shows French President Emmanuel Macron urging the populace not to give in to any form of hatred. (Facebook) A teacher was killed and two people seriously injured in a stabbing at a French high school Friday morning - an incident that is being investigated as a potential terrorist attack. The stabbing took place in Arras, a city in northern France about 30 miles from the Belgian border. The perpetrator was arrested, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. French President Emmanuel Macron later joined Darmanin at the school, lamenting that an educational establishment had been hit once again by the barbarity of Islamic terrorism. Witnesses said the attacker shouted Allahu akbar, or God is greatest, in Arabic. Several French media outlets, citing unnamed sources, said that the suspect was a man of Chechen origin who was under active surveillance by French intelligence agencies, raising questions about whether there had been an intelligence or policing failure. The suspects brother was detained near another school, according to Le Parisien. The attack immediately recalled the case of Samuel Paty, a history and civics teacher who was decapitated in a Paris suburb nearly three years ago by a Chechen refugee, sparking a national debate about the influence of radical Islam. Three years after the assassination of Samuel Paty, horror once again strikes the educational community, tweeted Laurent Brosse, mayor of the town where that previous attack took place. The terrorist act in #Arras brings back painful memories to us. Martin Doussau, a philosophy teacher at the Gambetta high school in Arras, said the attacker asked him specifically if he was a history teacher Friday. Thats when I understood it was a political act, he told BFM television. Fabien Dufay, a physical education teacher at the school, told BFM television that he recognized the attacker as a former student at the school, describing him as calm and an average student. Macron lauded the courage of a teacher who intervened and undoubtedly saved many lives, as well as the responsiveness of the police, who arrived four minutes after the call and prevented the episode from becoming even deadlier. The French Council of Muslim Faith condemned the murderous and abject attack, adding that the Allahu akbar expression erected by some as a slogan of cowardice and terrorist barbarity, has been dangerously overused, whereas in the Muslim spiritual tradition it is the symbol of the humility of Man before God. After a spate of high-profile terrorist attacks that put France on high alert and led to expanded powers for police, France has seen relatively few incidents in recent years. Earlier this year, a Syrian national stabbed four toddlers and two adults at a playground in southeastern France, an attack that Macron described as an act of absolute cowardice. A screen grab from a video released on July 21, 2023, shows Russian warships taking part in naval drills in the Black Sea. According to reports on Friday, Oct. 13, two Russian military vessels were damaged by naval drones, as Ukraine continued a series of strikes against Moscows Black Sea Fleet. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) KYIV - Experimental naval drones damaged two Russian military vessels - the Buyan mission carrier and the Pavel Derzhavin patrol boat - over the past two days, Ukrainian intelligence officials said Friday, as Kyiv continued a series of strikes against Moscows Black Sea Fleet. The attacks on the Black Sea Fleet, which is based in occupied Crimea, have demonstrated Ukraines ability to operate in Kremlin-controlled waters but do not appear to have seriously reduced Moscows capabilities. An official with Ukraines State Security Service, the SBU, said a joint operation with Ukraines navy had damaged the Buyan missile carrier on Friday in the port of Sevastopol. The Pavel Derzhavin patrol boat was hit two days earlier. The Russian submarine Alrosa came under attack on Thursday but escaped damage, the official said. The official said that a new unmanned sea drone called a Sea Baby was used in the strikes. The official did not provide any further details. After the first [attack], Russian minesweepers and divers were unable to discover our know-how, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. [The SBU] warns Muscovites that there is no need to go through Ukrainian waters if you want to preserve at least some remnants of your fleet. On Friday, a pro-Moscow military blogger, Rybar, reported that the Pavel Derzhavin was attacked in the morning as it was leaving Sevastopol, suffering damage to its propeller. A tugboat sent to evacuate that boat was also attacked. The ships remained afloat, but the extent of the damage is unknown, Rybar wrote, adding that the epicenter of the explosion was underwater indicating the use of fully submersible unmanned attack boats. The Black Sea Fleet is based in Sevastopol, located on the southern tip of Crimea, which Russian forces occupied and illegally annexed in 2014. Moscow has used Crimea as a springboard for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and as major hub for supplies and reinforcements. The Russia military has launched waves of deadly missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure from its sea-based missile carriers. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have retaliated with their own effective campaign of missiles, self-destructing aerial drones and sea drones which have damaged or sunk several ships, Ukrainian officials said. Satellite images indicate that Moscow has relocated part of its naval forces to Novorossiysk, a Russian port on the eastern side of the Black Sea, and to other safer locations. In September, Kyiv carried out its most successful strike, hitting the headquarters building of the Black Sea Fleet reportedly during a meeting of top commanders. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, said in a report published Sunday that while strikes on Black Sea Fleet assets are degrading its role as a combined arms headquarters, they have not defeated it as a naval force. Ukrainian strikes generate outsize morale shocks among Russian commanders and in the Russian information space, ISW said. Kamila Hrabchuk in Kyiv and Natalia Abbakumova in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report. Two injured children are carried toward a medical complex Wednesday after an Israeli strike on a neighborhood in the Gaza Strip. (Loay Ayyoub/The Washington Post) TEL AVIV Israels army said Thursday that it would seek the end of Hamas in Gaza as airstrikes on the besieged enclave targeted the groups senior leaders and caused widespread civilian casualties. The intensifying conflict with Hamas comes as a shaken Israel wrestles with the aftermath of an attack that saw the groups militants stalking civilians and soldiers throughout Israeli border communities Saturday, killing more than 1,000 people and kidnapping scores more, in one of the deadliest attacks in Israeli history. The unprecedented incursion has left the region reeling, upending a years-long stalemate between Israel and Hamas, which effectively rules the Gaza Strip and its population of more than 2 million civilians. Israeli leaders are foreshadowing a ground invasion aimed at permanently changing the status quo in marked contrast with past incursions that left Hamas in place. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said in a televised briefing Thursday that Israel would no longer allow Hamas to exist as an entity next door. Unlike other operations, we are collapsing the governance and sovereignty of the Hamas organization, he said. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists in recent days, and armored divisions are massing near the border with Gaza. The toll in Gaza from six days of airstrikes has reached 1,537 killed, including 500 children and 276 women, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry rapidly approaching the more than 2,000 killed in the 2014 war even before the start of the ground invasion. More than 338,000 people have left their homes in search of safety, but there is little to be had. Both of the territorys exits, into Israel and Egypt, are closed. Humanitarian groups are issuing increasingly dire warnings about the consequences of a military campaign in a densely populated urban area already throttled by an Israeli and Egyptian blockade that prevents many goods from entering the territory and most people from ever leaving. Doctors Without Borders described conditions in Gazas hospitals as catastrophic. As local authorities said that the enclaves main power plant had run out of fuel, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned, Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues. We know what it was like in 2014 and in 2021, thousands died. Each time, our medical colleagues go to work, not knowing if they will see their homes or their families again, Matthias Kennes, the head of the mission for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, said in a statement. What can people do? Where are they supposed to go? U.N. officials say crucial supplies such as fuel, food and water must be allowed into Gaza. The Norwegian Refugee Council called for humanitarian corridors or pauses in fighting to be introduced immediately, to allow the passage of aid workers and supplies into Gaza. Israel has not let any goods into Gaza since airstrikes began, describing the intended conditions as a total siege a tactic forbidden under international law. On Thursday, Israels energy minister, Israel Katz, doubled down on that threat, saying there would be no pause in the siege unless Hamas releases the hostages who are believed to be in Gaza. Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be lifted, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home. Humanitarian for humanitarian. And nobody should preach us morals, he posted on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter. An IDF mobile artillery fires toward Gaza, near the Israeli town of Sderot, in southern Israel, on Wednesday. (Baz Ratner/The Washington Post) Hagari said Thursday that the army had notified the families of the 97 Israelis being held captive by the militants. Relatives said that the group which includes women and young children had been abducted from their homes and from a music festival and driven into the Gaza Strip. Most families learned the news not from officials, but from the internet. Some recognized their loved ones in videos circulating on social media. Others tracked their journeys from southern Israel across the border into the Gaza Strip using cellphone location data. The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it stood ready to help. We have people on the ground, and we are ready to play our role of neutral intermediary and contribute to release of these people, regional director Fabrizio Carbone told reporters. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday in a show of support for Israel. The message that I bring to Israel is this: You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to, he said in Tel Aviv, where he stood side by side with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The United States is working closely with Israel to secure the release of the men, women, children, elderly people taken hostage by Hamas, Blinken said. Twenty-seven Americans have been killed by Hamas militants. Fourteen remained unaccounted for as of Thursday, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. Biden administration officials have also spoken with their Israeli counterparts about the continued need for aid to the Palestinian people, who are victims of Hamas as well, Kirby said at a White House briefing Thursday when asked about humanitarian access to Gaza. The Israeli air force on Thursday said it had dropped 6,000 bombs against Hamas targets so far a staggering number over the course of six days, according to warfare experts. Israel is dropping in less than a week what the U.S. was dropping in Afghanistan in a year, in a much smaller, much more densely populated area, where mistakes are going to be magnified, said Marc Garlasco, a military adviser at the Dutch organization PAX for Peace and a former U.N. war crimes investigator in Libya. He helped plan airstrikes for the Pentagon during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The highest number of bombs and other munitions dropped in one year during the war in Afghanistan was just over 7,423, Garlasco said, citing U.S. military records. During the entire war in Libya, the NATO alliance reported dropping more than 7,600 bombs and missiles from planes, according to a U.N. report. Questions also emerged Thursday after video footage appeared to show Israel using white phosphorus in a strike on Gazas harbor. A video verified by The Washington Post that was filmed Wednesday shows the firing of two artillery shells, following by white strings of smoke. The controversial munition can cause severe harm when used against civilians. Human Rights Watch said it had verified videos of the strike on Gazas harbor and another along the Israel-Lebanon border that it said appeared to show Israels use of white phosphorus. Netanyahus office on Thursday published photos that purported to show the corpses of babies shot and burned during the Hamas incursion into Israel, part of what appeared to be a broader push to build diplomatic support for a ground invasion of Gaza. Palestinian media channels, meanwhile, aired photos described as showing the corpses of babies and young children, some unrecognizable, being pulled from rubble. Heba Timawi and her family fled their neighborhood in the al-Karama district in northern Gaza on Tuesday just before heavy airstrikes began demolishing buildings. Rubble was falling from the sky on our car as we drove away, she said. I was looking back and I couldnt see the sky. It was all gray. As they drove toward the center of the city, she said, she could no longer recognize some of the streets, because they were littered with so much debris. Timawis family had received a warning to leave, but the information was garbled and confusing. The message used an incorrect name for her neighborhood. Many of her neighbors didnt receive the same warning. At first, they didnt know what to do, she said, but decided to stay with extended family to be safe. Friends have told her entire swaths of their neighborhood were destroyed, including part of her home. Timawi said she doesnt know how many people were killed in the strikes, because phone reception is so poor and information is so unclear. But she heard that in some houses multiple family members were killed. It was horrific, she said. Unable to return to her home, she said she now fears another evacuation order will come. But this time, she said, her family has nowhere to go. Any ground operation now is expected to be longer, bloodier and larger than the last one, in 2014, and would probably be aimed in part at destroying Hamass extensive underground tunnel network. In that war, troops just focused on the outskirts of urban areas. But the Israeli military insists this time that the soldiers will not hesitate to enter even the most densely packed areas, where the hostages are believed to be held. Airstrikes have already been more widespread than in the past, and the Israeli military has abandoned engagement rules such as roof knocks, a tactic by which the Israeli air force delivers warnings by firing nonexplosive or low-yield devices on buildings before destroying them. During past conflicts, Israel has proclaimed repeated successes in assassinating leaders and bombing training grounds, rocket factories, and other facilities associated with Hamas and other militant groups in the enclave, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad. But after the cease-fires, it has also watched as those groups rebuilt their reserves and new leaders arose. Even if an invasion unfolds, Israel wants to avoid the reoccupation of Gaza, which promises to be costly and prolonged, said Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence. Israel has superior weaponry, but Hamas has knowledge of the dense urban landscape and a sophisticated tunnel system that it has been digging for years. Yadlin said that Israel would attempt to remove Hamas from Gaza and then transfer the territory to the Palestinian Authority or another Arab entity. But Israel would retain its right to counter any buildup of Palestinian militants there, as it does in the West Bank, he said. Whoever wants Gaza will get it, he said. We dont want to rule 2 million Palestinians. Hamas, which is widely believed to have sought this conflict in an effort to stymie the regionwide process of Arab countries normalization with Israel and raise its profile, has welcomed a ground war despite the untold suffering it would cause. Were actually waiting for [an Israeli ground invasion] because we cant confront the American fighter jets from the skies, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook said in an interview with the Economist on Wednesday. But we have tough men on the ground; they can confront any threat. Loveluck reported from London. Schmidt reported from Bogota, Colombia, and George reported from Jerusalem. John Hudson in Tel Aviv, Karen DeYoung and Meg Kelly in Washington, and Leo Sands and Ellen Francis in London contributed to this report. A number of Palestinian families evacuate their homes Friday. (Loay Ayyoub/Washington Post) GAZA CITY - Maha was at home when she heard that Israel had given Gaza Citys 1.1 million people a 24-hour deadline to evacuate. At first, her neighbors dismissed it as a rumor. But when the leaflets came raining down from Israeli warplanes Friday morning, she knew it was time to go. You can die anywhere here, Maha said in a phone interview, speaking on the condition that she be identified by her first name to protect her safety. But if theyre telling us to leave, that means they are going to be doing bad things to people. Her brother refused to leave, so she packed his five children in the car and drove south to a friends house. People moved by donkey carts, auto rickshaws called tuk-tuks, and cars, loaded with bags of clothing, mattresses, even a pair of cows. A tuk-tuk would be carrying 15 people, she said. People are running red lights, no one is stopping. Eventually, they reached Khan Yunis, taking refuge in a two-story house with more than 30 other people. The unprecedented Israeli evacuation order, delivered Friday by fliers, voice messages and on social media, has set off a desperate and chaotic scramble across this besieged territory. Israeli has dropped more than 6,000 bombs on Gaza since Saturday, and they are still falling, even as hundreds of thousands of people try to flee. In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday, adding that Hamas militants were hiding in tunnels beneath civilian homes and in heavily populated areas. Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields. Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls the strip and killed at least 1,300 people in a surprise attack on Israel last weekend, declared the evacuation order psychological warfare and called on Palestinians to remain steadfast in their homes. The United Nations urged Israel to rescind the evacuation order, saying it could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. James Elder, spokesman for UNICEF, the United Nations childrens agency, described agonizing conversations with staff members in northern Gaza: The word impossible was used so many times, in terms of, Its impossible for us to do this, they are asking the impossible. I was talking to people through tears. These are resilient people who have been through a lot but are absolutely out of options. A 33-year-old woman in Gaza City, who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity for her safety, is staying with some 50 members of her family, including her elderly mother and father. She doesnt know how she would evacuate them, even if she could find a vehicle. There are no cars to take us anywhere, she said. There is no gas in cars. Cab companies dont have cars anymore. The streets are so, so, so, so crowded, its like its the Day of Judgement. More than 400,000 Gazans have already been displaced, many from communities near the Israeli border. They have sought shelter in U.N. schools, crowding into classrooms and sleeping on desks. But those too have been hit by airstrikes in recent days. The bombing has been relentless around Mahas Gaza City home. A building just 100 feet away was destroyed, rocking her with the shock wave. If Im going to die, thats fine, but I dont want to live and see this, she said. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, was packing to leave Gaza City with his wife and five children when The Post reached him by phone. People are evacuating but they have no place to stay, its total chaos, he said. Their neighborhood of Rimal has already been almost completely destroyed by airstrikes. Still, Abusada had been planning to stay. I was hesitant to go, and I didnt want to, but my family wants to leave, he said. I dont really care what happens to me. But you feel for your family. Theres nowhere to go. Israel sealed its land borders with Gaza after the Hamas attack Saturday, and the Rafah border crossing with Egypt - the last remaining exit - has been closed for days after a series of Israeli strikes in the area. When it does reopen, only a small number of Gazans are likely to be able to cross to safety. People have been calling me all morning asking if I can help them find a place to stay, said Wesam Amer, a university lecturer who lives in Khan Younis and is already hosting extended family members. He doesnt know of a single building in the area that has space for more. And the people keep coming. There is nowhere, he said, and nowhere is safe. More than 1,500 people in Gaza have been killed since Saturday and more than 6,600 have been wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Medical facilities are on the brink of collapse. Ten hospitals have been damaged since Oct. 7, including Gaza Citys al-Shifa hospital. Northern Gazas only health-care facility in Beit Hanoun, which fully suspended services after repeated airstrikes on Oct. 9. Outside al-Shifa, the injured are rushed into the emergency room covered in thick layers of dust. A young girl lifted out of an ambulance had deep shrapnel wounds running up her right arm and shoulder, suggesting that she tried to shield her face from an explosion. Inside the hospital, doctors say they are running out of resources and fear they could soon be plunged into darkness. Israel has imposed a total siege on Gaza, cutting electricity and deliveries of fuel. Airstrikes have also destroyed ambulances and killed at least 16 health-care workers, Palestinian officials say. Medical supplies are rapidly running out as the demand for treatment has surged, according to a medical worker inside the enclave who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity to protect his safety. Some suppliers are still able to deliver material, but are not willing to travel into Gaza City and other areas under heavy bombardment. Health officials are scouring warehouses for discarded beds and other broken equipment that might be usable. They dont have enough rooms, the ICUs are completely full, the medical worker said. Doctors will have to make decisions on who lives and who dies, said Elder, the UNICEF spokesman. When youre talking about moving children with wounds of war or in the ICU - they cant be moved, and thats the demand. Israels military has vowed that its coming land invasion will destroy Hamas, saying the groups attack last weekend had unleashed the floodgates of hell on Gaza. If this is the first phase, we are terrified of what the next phase will be, Amer said. George and Hendrix reported from Jerusalem and Dadouch from Beirut. Claire Parker in Cairo contributed to this report. On the morning of Friday, October 13, Russian terrorist forces struck the center of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. Several buildings were destroyed, one person was killed and at least 12 were injured. ADVERTISIMENT The enemy is believed to have launched a missile attack. Ihor Moroz, acting head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, spoke about the consequences. "The morning in Pokrovsk began with enemy shelling. The Russians struck the center of the city. At least one dead and 13 wounded are already known. Two buildings were damaged," he noted. According to him, the type of weapon used by the aggressor and the final consequences of the strike are currently being established. Specialists of all emergency services are working at the scene. The victims are being provided with the necessary medical care. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, the head of the Pokrovsk city Military Administration, Serhiy Dobriak, said that two explosions occurred in the city around 08:30 on Friday. This happened during an air raid alert when the Ukrainian Air Force warned residents of the eastern regions about the activity of Russian aviation and the threat of the enemy using ballistic weapons. According to the State Emergency Service, there are 12 injured and one dead as of 10:00 a.m. The strike partially destroyed two administrative buildings. ADVERTISIMENT Rescue operations were immediately launched at the site of the impact. Rescuers helped three people get out from under the rubble. As reported by OBOZ.UA, on August 7, the Russian Federation launched two strikes on Pokrovsk with Iskander missiles, hitting a high-rise and other buildings. As a result of the actions of Russian war criminals, ten people were killed, including a rescuer (who died in hospital), and about 90 people were injured. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! An F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Oct. 11, 2023. (Triniti Lersch/U.S. Navy) WASHINGTON Twelve senior military positions that help lead U.S. forces in the Middle East are caught in Sen. Tommy Tubervilles hold on military nominees, and some lawmakers fear the understaffing will impact U.S. support to Israel. The posts in U.S. Central Command, including the deputy commander and the commander of the Navys 5th Fleet, are either being held by temporary commanders, junior officers or officers doing two jobs at once, said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. As we reposition our own forces and support our ally Israel with intelligence, logistics and other assistance, we need U.S. leadership to be as strong and focused as possible, Kelly, a former naval aviator, said Thursday. This hamstrings our regional military leadership during a crisis. Period. Kelly is the latest lawmaker to lash out at Tuberville, R-Ala., for retaining his hold on more than 300 general and flag officers as Israel goes to war against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in retaliation for the deadliest attack on Israel in more than 50 years. Tuberville instituted his block in February to push the Pentagon into dropping its abortion access policy for service members. He said Sunday that he will not back down even as the U.S. surges warships and aircraft to the Middle East to back up Israel and prevent the fighting from spiraling into a broader conflict. The holds are not affecting our military readiness and they are certainly not affecting the readiness of other countries, Steven Stafford, Tubervilles spokesman, said Thursday. Stafford did not comment on whether Tuberville will try to force individual votes on any of the affected Central Command positions when the Senate returns from recess next week. Tubervilles attempt to bring the nomination of Gen. Eric Smith, the Marine Corps commandant, to a standalone vote last month prompted the Democrat-led Senate to confirm Smith and two other positions on the Joint Chiefs of Staff individually in a process that spread over two days. The Senate typically speeds through groups of military nominations via unanimous voice votes. The Middle East-related positions affected by Tubervilles hold include the CENTCOM deputy director for strategy, plans and policy, the deputy commander and reserve vice commander of U.S. Naval Forces in CENTCOM, the deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central, the commander of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, the commanding general of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, the commanding general of the 1st Sustainment Command, the assistant division commander of the 1st Marine Division and the defense attaches to Israel and Iraq, according to Kelly. Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East security program at the Center for a New American Security, a centrist Washington think tank with ties to the Pentagon, said the positions are all important for maintenance, logistics, readiness and sustainment of U.S. forces and for planning military operations. These are all critical roles on any given day, but with the U.S. supporting Israel in this moment of crisis with a whole host of possible contingencies that could stem from that, this is not the time to be understaffed, he said. John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesman, said Thursday that there are no plans to put American troops on the ground as Israel prepares a likely ground invasion of Gaza, where a handful of Americans are believed to be held hostage. Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford steams alongside USNS Laramie during a fueling-at-sea in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Oct. 11, 2023. (Jacob Mattingly/U.S. Navy) But the U.S. military has shored up support for Israel in other ways, deploying the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean a day after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Saturday. A second U.S. carrier strike group bound for the region is set to depart Friday from Norfolk, Va. A small group of American special operations forces are also assisting Israels military with planning and intelligence, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said CENTCOM officers who should be helping the U.S. military response are unable to do so as a result of Sen. Tubervilles one-man political blockade. It has never been clearer that he is singlehandedly threatening our militarys readiness and global stability, Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot, said in a statement. As has been true for months, he must lift his hold immediately so that our military can wield the full range of our nations capabilities as it works to support our Israeli allies. It is not clear if the Senate will act on any of the CENTCOM nominees next week, though Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said pressure is mounting to break Tubervilles hold. Two positions on the Joint Chiefs, the chief of naval operations and the Air Force chief of staff, are included in the stalled nominations. When we get back, I think youre going to see this ice jam break and were going to start to confirm our military, Kaine said this week in an MSNBC interview. Lord, a former staff member for the House Armed Services Committee, said it will be difficult for the public to discern the effects of Tubervilles hold on the Middle East though that does not mean the military is not having to navigate hurdles and obstacles as a result of the block. The U.S. military is going to overcome and adapt to provide everything it needs to our close partner Israel, he said. It is unclear to me that from the outside looking in, youre going to see any deficiency, but that is a testament to the U.S. military and not to the unimportance of these holds and the damage that theyre doing to the processes and the leadership of the force. President Joe Biden speaks with Utah leadership Gov. Spencer Cox (left), Mayor Erin Mendenhall (center), and Mayor Jenny Wilson (right), on Aug. 9, 2023 at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard base. (Nicholas Perez/Air Force) (Bloomberg) -- The US wants to tighten sanctions on Russia and Iran. Doing both at once would carry significant political risks for President Joe Biden as he heads into the 2024 election. In the wake of Hamass surprise attack on Israel on Saturday US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said new measures against Iran were possible. The Islamic Republic supplies Hamas with funds and training but has denied involvement in the operation. She made no mention of oil flows, the most obvious way of hurting the Iran, and its easy to see why. Anything that materially cuts the flow of resurgent Iranian oil exports would only heighten demand for barrels from rivals such as Russia - where the Treasury is starting to ratchet up enforcement of existing measures. It would also tighten the global market. A barrel is a barrel, Mark Finley, a fellow in energy and global oil at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy, said in an interview. All other things being equal, if you take a barrel out through policy actions, through trying to tighten these sanctions, you need another barrel to come from somewhere else in order to avoid a spike in prices. Between them, the two nations a pumped about 13% of global oil supply in recent months, and Iran has gone a long way to replacing lost output from OPEC+ countries - including both Russia and Saudi Arabia - whore withholding supply to boost oil prices. Irans exports have been booming. In August and September, they were about 40% higher than during the first quarter of the year, according to data from TankerTrackers.com. US officials privately acknowledged back in August that they had gradually relaxed some enforcement of existing sanctions on Iranian oil sales as part of a wider efforts at a diplomatic rapprochement. Speaking to reporters at the annual meetings for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank this week, Yellen rejected the idea that a softer line has been taken. Either way, the reality is that Irans flows are soaring and have been the second-largest source of extra supply to the global seaborne market this year, behind only the US itself, meaning cutting them would be risky for oil prices. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts including Callum Bruce and Daan Struyven said that a scenario where Irans oil exports fall due to increased Western scrutiny could reduce flows to year-ago levels and see Brent prices rise beyond $100 a barrel next year. Irans representation to the United Nations has rejected claims that Iran was involved in Hamas attacks on Israel. As for Russia, a Group of Seven price cap was designed to keep barrels moving in the face of planned European Union sanctions that would have barred carriage on EU ships, or the provision of services by companies in the bloc. UK sanctions mirrored those of the EU. In recent times, it has appeared as though the cap was being flouted extensively. Even the discounts at which Russian barrels traded shrank relative to international benchmarks, suggesting Moscow was working around the restriction. The nations crude and fuel prices surged well above the Western-imposed thresholds, often still with the help of western service providers. On Thursday, the Treasury Department reacted by imposing the first sanctions for violations of the price cap. While they appear designed to have minimal immediate impact, they nonetheless spooked some shippers, mindful they themselves could be next. The so-called shadow fleet of mostly aging tankers thats been amassed to carry Russian oil outside of the price cap may still not be big enough to handle the whole trade, so the US needs to tread carefully if it wants to keep western service providers involved. Almost a third of the fleet moving Russian barrels is using some form of western service - be it European owned ships or insurance routed through London. In short, hitting Iran and Russia simultaneously in the oil market wont be easy without risking higher fuel prices. With Saudi Arabia and Russia reaffirming their close cooperation in the oil market with a public show of unity at a major industry event in Moscow on Thursday, the US cant count on Riyadh filling any void with tens of millions of extra barrels either. With assistance from Christopher Condon. As of October 13, the Israeli Defense Forces surrounded the Gaza Strip, depriving the enclave of water, electricity, and gas, and calling on 1.1 million Palestinians to leave the territory. In this way, the IDF continues to carry out intense strikes against Hamas, seeking to eliminate the terrorist group's cells. ADVERTISIMENT On the seventh day of the war, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for a cessation of hostilities and the creation of a humanitarian corridor out of the Gaza Strip, warning that the health care system there is "at its limits." The UN criticized the Israeli military's warning. At this point, hundreds of thousands of people have already left the territory. OBOZ.UA is reporting on the key events of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (to see the photos, scroll to the end). IDF issued a warning to the Palestinians At midnight on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces notified the United Nations that the entire Palestinian population north of Wadi Gaza must move to the southern part of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. The report indicates that the IDF may be ready to launch a ground invasion after six days of aerial bombardment in response to a massive Hamas offensive last Saturday. ADVERTISIMENT According to the UN, approximately 1.1 million Palestinians are living north of Wadi Gaza. The military warning also applies to UN staff and others who remain in shelters in these areas. As of Friday morning, Israel has surrounded Gaza; water, electricity and gas have been cut off; Israeli border crossings in the enclave have been closed; and the bombing of the Egyptian Rafah crossing continues, which has also temporarily made it inoperable. Israel's goals Ordering Gaza residents to evacuate, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari emphasized that Israel does not want to harm Palestinian civilians. "We are fighting a terrorist group, not the people of Gaza. We want civilians to be safe, but we cannot live under the rule of Hamas and ISIS near our border," he said. ADVERTISIMENT The military official said that the order to evacuate Palestinians from the area is intended to provide "freedom of action and increase the damage" to the militants, who "committed one of the most horrific acts the world has ever seen." Thus, the IDF realizes that the evacuation process will take several days, but at the same time warns that "anyone who does not heed these recommendations is putting their family in danger." According to him, there were several clashes between the Israeli military and terrorists along the border fence in the Gaza Strip the day before, but there were few such incidents in Israel. The IDF believes that they have managed to identify most of the militants who infiltrated last weekend and that no new terrorists have managed to infiltrate their territory in recent days. ADVERTISIMENT Hagari also said that the IDF continues to focus its efforts on killing high-ranking Hamas members. Israeli Ambassador criticises the UN Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan has lashed out at the UN over its response to the IDF's warning to evacuate all Palestinians. The Organization called it "impossible to carry out such a movement without devastating humanitarian consequences." In response, the Israeli ambassador said that the Organization had "turned a blind eye for years" to Hamas' arming and use of civilians and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to kill and amass its weapons. "Now, instead of supporting Israel, whose citizens have been killed by terrorists and who is still trying to minimize harm to civilians, the UN is 'teaching' only Israel. It would be better if the UN now focused on returning prisoners, condemning Hamas and supporting Israel's right to self-defense," Erdan said. ADVERTISIMENT WHO warns of humanitarian catastrophe "Time is running out to avert a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and vital medical and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip under the full blockade," the WHO said. It said that hospitals in the enclave are forced to ration fuel supplies, which are running low, and rely on generators to maintain essential functions, but even these will have to cease in a few days when supplies run out. According to the organization, last Saturday it documented 34 attacks on medical facilities in the sector, killing 11 medical workers on duty, injuring 16, and damaging 19 facilities and 20 ambulances. Against this backdrop, the WHO called for "a cessation of hostilities and the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor for the besieged enclave." ADVERTISIMENT The Egyptian president refused to accept refugees from Gaza the day before, saying that they "should stay on their land". As reported by OBOZ.UA, amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and the intensification of hostilities in Israel, the United States said it would be able to provide military assistance to both countries. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted that Washington would provide Tel Aviv with opportunities to fight Hamas terrorists and at the same time would not stop sending Kyiv weapons to defeat Russia. Only verified information on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The court heard that the accused arrived at Dublin Airport from Spain and presented a false PCR test certificate purporting to show a negative result A DUBLIN man is accused of forging Covid-19 test results during the pandemic lockdown so he and friends could travel around Europe to festivals, concerts, and sports events, a court heard. Jamie Corrigan (30) Cullenswood House, Northbrook Ave, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 appeared at Dublin District Court. Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) Detective Joe Gavin said the investigation started in July 2021 during the pandemic. The court heard that the accused arrived at Dublin Airport from Spain and presented a false PCR test certificate purporting to show a negative result. The GNIB detective alleged the accused made 22 fake PCR tests, which allowed him and eight friends or family to travel around Europe to sporting events, festivals, concerts and music events. It was alleged the accused "forged" the tests from genuine PCR certificates when strict travel rules were in force. The preliminary hearing to decide his trial venue was told that the GNIB identified nine people, including the accused, "who benefited from this while people in Ireland were in lockdown". Detective Garda Gavin added that it was not alleged there was any financial advantage; however, the accused worked for a company that provided equipment to the HSE, and he knew about the restrictions. Judge Nicola Jane Andrews noted the Director of Public Prosecutions directed summary disposal at the District Court level. Mr Corrigan faces two charges for using false PCR test certification at Terminal 1 on July 11, 2021, contrary to section 26 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001. He was also charged with forgery by allegedly making false PCR test certificates in other names at an unknown location. That offence is under section 25 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 on various dates. However, after hearing the outline of the alleged facts, Judge Andrews refused jurisdiction, saying there were very serious travel restrictions at the time to protect public health. The ruling means the case will be sent to the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers. The accused, who has still to enter a plea, was remanded in continuing bail to appear again on November 24 to be served with a book of evidence and returned for trial. The incidents are alleged to have happened while Ms McSherry O'Connor worked as a student teacher at a school in Dublin A secondary school teacher accused of indecently assaulting a male student 40 years ago told gardai he fantasised about her and had a crush on her, her trial has heard. Jacintha McSherry O'Connor (63) told gardai nothing untoward happened between her and the boy, whom she said she thought of as a little brother, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today. Ms McSherry O'Connor of The Mullins, Donegal Town, Co. Donegal, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting a child on dates between June 1 and September 1, 1985. She was aged 24 at the time, and he was 13. The incidents are alleged to have happened while Ms McSherry O'Connor worked as a student teacher at a school in Dublin. It is alleged that Ms McSherry O'Connor indecently assaulted the boy on two occasions in his home when she gave him grinds. These are the charges the jury must decide on. It is alleged there was also sexual contact between the boy and the accused on a holiday she attended with his family in Spain. Garrett McCormack BL, prosecuting, read out the transcripts of garda interviews with Ms McSherry OConnor in March 2022 to the jury. In a prepared statement she brought to the garda station, Ms McSherry OConnor said she remembered the boy as being earnest, intense and driven. She said he was extremely helpful and offered to carry her books when she had a lot of materials to carry, and she said it became apparent to her that he had a crush on her. She said she was asked to give him grinds and that the boy admitted to her that he had asked his mother to arrange these grinds. Nothing untoward ever happened when I was giving him grinds in his house, Ms McSherry O'Connor told gardai, the court heard. She said they did have some tough conversations in which the boy told her he was being bullied. She said that after she had an unwelcome encounter with a senior teacher in the school, she told the boy what had happened to her. After that, he became more obsessed with me, she said. I thought of him as a little brother. In relation to the holiday in Spain, Ms McSherry O'Connor said she and her friend were staying in the same building as the boy and his family, but it was a separate holiday, and she only saw them a handful of times, including a one-day excursion to a water park. Ms McSherry O'Connor said that after the holiday, the boy continued calling to her house. She said he would sometimes stay for Top of the Pops, and her mother occasionally gave him dinner. She said she was hoping his feelings for her would fizzle out. Ms McSherry O'Connor told gardai that one day, the boy called to the house and told her he wouldn't be calling anymore. She said her father then commented that the boy had finally got over his crush and knew nothing is going to happen with a woman twice his age. When asked by gardai if anything untoward happened between them on holiday, Ms McSherry O'Connor replied: Absolutely not. When asked if she performed oral sex on the boy when they were on holiday, she replied: Oh my God, no way. No, no, no, no, no. She told gardai she didn't know why he was now making these allegations. I know he sort of fantasised at the time. He might have blown it up in his head, I don't know. When asked by gardai how it came about that, the boy was comfortable enough to say he was fantasising about her; Ms McSherry O'Connor said they got on and the boy could say anything to her. She said she brushed the fantasising comment aside. When asked if she didn't think it was weird that the boy would call to her house, she said that it was probably the bullying and that she was a support for him. The complainant, now aged in his fifties, has told the jury he was infatuated with Ms Sherry O'Connor as a child and thought he was in love. But he said the alleged sexual incidents started eating away at him as time went on. He told the court he confided in his girlfriend about the alleged abuse when he was 19 but didn't go to gardai until more recently. Under cross-examination from defence counsel Patrick McGrath SC today, the man agreed that the alleged sexual abuse took place over a relatively short period of time. But the manipulation lasted almost a year, he said. He said he couldn't remember various details that the defence was putting to him, such as an afterschool club or a ride in a waterpark on holiday, because it was almost 40 years ago. What I remember is her actually sexually abusing me, he said. They are the things that are burnt on my mind that I remember. Mr McGrath put it to the man that his contact with Ms McSherry O'Connor came to an end because she was finishing up in school, and he cycled to her home to say goodbye. The man disagreed, saying, I didn't want to see her again. She left me shattered, he said. My whole teenage years were shattered because of her manipulation and abuse. Mr McGrath put it to the complainant that he was not telling the truth in relation to these matters at all. She never inappropriately touched you or did any of the sexual things that you have said here today and yesterday. The man disagreed. The man's former girlfriend also gave evidence briefly. She told the court that the man told her he had been sexually abused by his teacher, Ms McSherry O'Connor when he was 13. She said he was 19 when he told her this and that he was very upset, crying and embarrassed. The trial resumes on Monday before Judge Elma Sheahan and a jury. A forensic engineer Lloyd Semple told the court he had found a large hole big enough to facilitate the entry of vermin just above the skirting board in the sitting room wall A mother and her two children have been living in a Dublin City Council flat that is unfit for human habitation, a judge has ruled. Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain heard in the Circuit Civil Court Friday that Sinead Moran had been forced to throw out clothes that were covered in black mould in her bedroom wardrobe as well as having to dump her bed mattress because of her damp and unventilated flat. Ms Moran told her barrister Peter Maguire, who appeared with Thomas Loomes Solicitors, that the Oliver Bond House complex in Dublin 8 where she lives was also rat-infested. Forensic engineer Lloyd Semple, of David Semple and Associates, told the court in a special report on behalf of Ms Moran that he had found a large hole big enough to facilitate the entry of vermin just above the skirting board in the sitting room wall. He told the court the black mould and damp was being caused by the lack of ventilation throughout the flat. Ms Moran several times a year had to wash down the black mould and repaint the areas, but the mould kept coming back. There were other necessary repairs that should be seen to. Judge Ni Chulachain said she accepted that Ms Morans flat was unfit for human habitation and directed the local authority to carry out a detailed inspection within the next three weeks and prepare a schedule of repairs and refurbishments. She said the renovation work had to be carried out quickly as the weather was turning as winter approached. Judge Ni Chulachain said that on several occasions in the past Ms Moran had failed to facilitate agreed inspections by council staff, but she accepted this was due to the ill health of her father and that her mind had been elsewhere. Council inspectors will have to be allowed onto the premises to carry out their work and I direct that they are, she said. The judge told Mr Maguire that she would not assess damages due to Ms Moran at this stage and said that in any event arrears of almost 4,000, which Ms Moran conceded was due to Dublin City Council would have to be allowed under a counter claim by the local authority. She adjourned the assessment of damages until mid-November when the court should be brought up to date on a renovation schedule. The man and the girl, whose age was not stated during the hearing, were not known to each other, the court heard A MAN accused of sexually assaulting a Dublin girl after approaching her on a street and putting her in a headlock has been granted bail. The accused, in his 20s, who cannot be identified due to a court order, was charged over the incident in a residential area in Dublin on a date earlier this month. The man, a non-national living in asylum accommodation, appeared at Dublin District Court, which heard his reply to the charge was I didnt have any sexual intention. The investigating garda asked for the usual reporting restrictions, which automatically protect the complainants right to anonymity, to be extended to not naming the accused due to the sensitive nature of the charge. The man and the girl, whose age was not stated during the hearing, were not known to each other, the court heard. The girl had been walking home when a male crossed the road to approach and began speaking to her. The court heard she felt uncomfortable and went across the road, but the male joined her. The girl told gardai the man claimed to be a hotel worker and they should get a room at which she told him she had a boyfriend and he said, Thats fine, we can still get a room. It was alleged, The male put his hand over her left shoulder, putting her in a sort of headlock and groped her left breast. The girl took out her phone and attempted to take a photo of the male, who allegedly said, No photo, no photo and removed his hands. The court heard the girl jogged to her home, followed by the accused. The garda said when she arrived, her father was waiting at the front door, and the male walked past her house staring at her while she hid behind her father, crying. The officer said the accused, who listened to the hearing with the aid of an interpreter, was a flight risk. The court heard he left his passport in the UK, where he had lived previously. The garda also had witness interference concerns. Defence barrister Ciara Murray told the court that her client identified himself on CCTV footage during his Garda interview. He told gardai that he spoke to the girl, hugged her, and believed that she was warm to his approach. Counsel said her client had no prior convictions and still enjoyed the presumption of innocence. Gardai are seeking further directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether the case would be heard at the District Court level or in the Circuit Court, which has greater sentencing powers. The defence submitted that the court had yet to hear direct evidence from the complainant or witnesses. The accused, who gets a 38-a-week welfare payment but also does casual work, had been provided accommodation away from Dublin. The court granted bail and ordered him to stay out of Dublin except for court appearances, provide gardai with his phone number, have no contact with the complainant and sign on regularly at a Garda station. He will appear again in December. A detective said Reece Carley allegedly told the terrified father: The big boys want paid by Friday or the house is getting burnt. A Co Antrim man accused of demanding 10,000 from the father of a cocaine addict told him big boys would burn his house down if he didnt settle the drugs debt, it was claimed in court. A detective said Reece Carley allegedly told the terrified father: The big boys want paid by Friday or the house is getting burnt. Ballymena Magistrates Court heard claims that Carley (22), who police believe is a member of a large organised crime gang, telephoned the victim and called at his house to issue blackmail demands. It was also claimed that Carley had been paid 13,000 two months beforehand to cover an earlier drug debt. Carley, from Adair Manor in Ballymena, appeared in the dock handcuffed and wearing a police-issue grey tracksuit. He confirmed that he understood the four charges against him, all alleged to have been committed between September 30 and October 6 this year. Carley is charged with blackmail by making demands for 10,000 with menaces; harassment of the alleged victim; threatening to damage property; and being concerned in the supply of class A cocaine. Giving evidence during a contested bail application, a detective constable said police were objecting to bail over fears of witness interference and further offences. He said the alleged victim contacted police to report he was being blackmailed by the defendant over a drug debt owed by his son, who is a cocaine addict. The injured party had previously paid 13,000 of his sons drug debt in July/August by using savings, borrowing from family and taking money from his pension, said the detective, adding that, at the time, he told the defendant that that would be the end of any payments. Reece Carley However, the complainant said Carley contacted him on October 1 to say his son had bought more cocaine and now owed another 10,000. The officer said that when the man confronted his son, he confirmed that the defendant had provided him with 70 grams of cocaine on tick to be paid later. During a phone call from a withheld number but with the alleged victim recognising Carleys voice, the defendant told him he had to pay 10,000. Despite the father protesting that it was not his debt, Carley allegedly told him he had until Friday, October 6 to pay. The officer added: Ten minutes later he got a further phone call to say that he [Carley] was at his front door. He spoke to the defendant at the front door and he [Carley] told him [the complainant] that the big boys wont wait for the money. The officer said Carley told the complainant that the big boys want 7,000 and 3,000 was due to him. He said the defendant allegedly threatened: The big boys want paid by Friday or the house is getting burnt. When Friday arrived, Carley was told there was no cash. He allegedly told the complainant he had until Monday to get 4,000, who again was threatened with the big boys. The officer added: The injured party is terrified of the consequences of not paying the drug debts but felt he had no option but to come to police as he cannot pay it any more. Highlighting police fears if Carley were to be freed, the officer told the court theres a large amount of money owed and the accused is believed to be a member of a large organised crime gang. Due to repeated threats and demands being made of the injured party, police were concerned about witness interference and further offences. Carley was arrested at his home on Wednesday and, during police interviews, refused to answer questions. Applying for bail, defence counsel Seamas MacGiollaCheara said the alleged extortionist denies the charges in their entirety. He argued Carley could be freed with a package of bail conditions to address concerns raised. District Judge Nigel Broderick said, while the defendant was entitled to the presumption of innocence, he had to take the prosecution case, as it stands, at its height. Describing the offences as serious and sinister, Judge Broderick said he was not satisfied that conditions would address the genuine concerns he shared with the detective and so he refused bail. He remanded Carley into custody, adjourning the case to November 9. Alcino Soares was denied bail last week after he appeared at Dungannon Magistrates Court This is the teenager accused of being one of two males who allegedly raped a woman in an underground car park four weeks ago. Alcino Soares was denied bail last week after he appeared at Dungannon Magistrates Court charged with rape, sexual assault, and twice aiding and abetting a male to rape. The 18-year-old denies the charges and has said he had consensual sex with the woman. On Friday, a teenager appeared in the same court charged with the same offences. The youth who cannot be identified because of his age appeared by video-link with his hands clasped and apparently praying while the case details were disclosed. A detective constable told Dungannon Magistrates Court all charges could be connected. During Soaress hearing, the court heard he and his co-accused both raped the woman, with a police officer telling the hearing she appeared limp and ragdoll-like on CCTV footage. Details of the allegations were disclosed as Soares, of Braeside, Dungannon, made an application to be released on bail, which was refused. A detective constable said the complainant reported being raped by two males on September 9. After she had been out with friends in Dungannon, she alleges the males approached her and walked her to an empty underground car park. The court was told she was taken to a rear corner and raped by one of the males. This court hearing took place before the youth was charged. CCTV was trawled, which showed the unknown male with his arm around the complainants waist, before placing her against a pillar, the court was told. The detective said Soares paced up and down, apparently keeping a lookout. He laughed on a number of occasions while the unknown male appeared to be raping the injured party. The detective added: She was unable to hold up her head and appeared ragdoll-like. The officer claims footage shows the woman stumbling away, but Soares is accused of approaching before allegedly raping her. The unknown male reappeared and seemingly took a photo or video of the ongoing rape on his phone. The court was told Soares walked away, leaving the complainant lying on the ground. The unknown male helped the complainant to her feet, before allegedly subjecting her to another sexual assault. Both males then walked her from the car park, the detective said. Soares was arrested on September 23 and he allegedly provided officers with false details, although later corrected this, the officer told the court. A search of his home recovered clothing police believe he was wearing at the time of the alleged sexual attack. More than 10 mobile phones were also seized and it later emerged that DNA matching the defendant was found on the complainants trousers. After caution, he said: I didnt rape anyone. No way, man. That wasnt me. During interview, Soares denied rape, insisting all sexual activity was consensual and that the complainant wanted it and was 50/50 drunk. Defence counsel said the balance in favour of bail must be tipped in favour of the accused. Refusing bail, Judge Michael Ranaghan said: If convicted, the defendant faces a significant period in custody. I have concerns he may abscond. The woman was previously threatened by the gang who carried out the fatal shooting after she spoke out against the murder. Gardai are investigating an arson attack in which a car owned by an innocent female relative of a gangland murder victim was destroyed at her home. The BMW was owned by a woman related to father-of-two John Gibson (28), who was shot dead in Tallaght six years ago. The woman was previously threatened by the gang who carried out the fatal shooting after she spoke out against the murder. She moved away from her home in the Lucan area of Dublin following the shooting and now lives in the Hollystown area of west Dublin with her partner. It was at this property that her vehicle was destroyed in the driveway at around 2am on Wednesday last week. The fire also caused significant smoke damage to the house. The incident is being investigated by gardai in Blanchardstown, who have made no arrests to date. It is understood two males were seen acting suspiciously in the area following the arson attack. The woman has no involvement in crime and has previously called for all those involved in Gibsons murder to be brought to justice. The gang responsible for the shooting in September 2017 are connected to jailed gangster Peader Keating (42), who gardai suspect has been ordering violent acts from behind bars in Portlaoise Prison. Keatings gang has been involved in a long-running feud with associates of Clondalkin gunman James Nellie Walsh (36), to whom John Gibson had close links. The arson attack on that innocent womans car in Hollystown could well be related to the very close relationship she had with John Gibson, who was a sworn enemy of Keatings crew, a source said. There are now fears the feud is spreading out of Clondalkin. Last month, a separate arson attack was carried out on an innocent familys home in an attempt to get at Walsh. The property, in the Buirg an Ri cul-de-sac in Balgaddy, was set alight at 1.30am on Friday, September 8. There were four people inside at the time. Three members of the family managed to escape, but a woman in her 50s had to be rescued by gardai after she became trapped in an upstairs bedroom. Days earlier, Walsh, who has survived gun attacks as part of the feud, shared posts on TikTok in which threats were made against Keating. Keating is serving an 11-year prison sentence for directing the activities of a Kinahan cartel cell in a plot to murder Hutch associate James Mago Gately in 2017. Walsh was released from prison in July last year after serving a 10-year sentence for a botched hit on gang rival Michael Frazer. Last December, Walsh survived an assassination attempt in a Carlow estate. Six weeks earlier, he had survived a machine gun attack in Tallaght. The investigation into Gibsons murder remains open. In July 2021, the High Court refused an application by Gibsons partner Marlene Walsh to freeze more than 92,000 in bank balances and cash and it was declared the proceeds of crime. Mr Justice Alexander Owens said: John Gibson was a drug dealer who was involved in organised crime in west Dublin. While his convictions were minor, garda intelligence associated him with significant drugs-related activity and with major criminals. Investigations of Gibsons financial affairs disclosed no plausible legitimate source for the money seized. A total of 174 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of 3.5 million was discovered during a raid in Fairview yesterday A 42-year-old man has been charged after cannabis worth 3.9 million was seized during two raids in Dublin. The man will appear in Court no 1 of the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) at 4.30pm this evening, Friday, October 13 Gardai initially discovered 21 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of 420,000 after stopping a vehicle in Drumcondra on Wednesday. The man was arrested at the scene and detained at a garda station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, . Following this seizure, a second search operation was carried out at an industrial premises in Fairview yesterday. During this search, a further 174 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of 3.5 million, analysis pending, was discovered. The search was conducted by gardai from DMR North attached to Drugs and Detective Units from Raheny and Clontarf Stations, supported by the Garda National Dog Unit. Investigations are understood to be ongoing. The operation was carried out as part of Operation Tara the national anti-drugs strategy launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in July 2021. The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels - international, national, local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs. 174 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of 3.5 million was discovered during a raid in Fairview yesterday. Cannabis seized by gardai in Dublin. Photo: An Garda Siochana A 42-year-old man remains in garda custody this morning after cannabis worth 3.9 million was seized during two raids in Dublin. Gardai initially discovered 21 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of 420,000 after stopping a vehicle in Drumcondra on Wednesday. A man was arrested at the scene and detained at a garda station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, . Following this seizure, a second search operation was carried out at an industrial premises in the Fairview, Dublin on Thursday. During this search, a further 174 kilograms of cannabis with an estimated value of 3.5 million, analysis pending, was discovered. The search was conducted by gardai from DMR North attached to Drugs and Detective Units from Raheny and Clontarf Stations, supported by the Garda National Dog Unit. A garda spokesman said the arrested man remains in custody where he is being questioned in connection with the seizure. He said: Investigating Gardai continue to detain the man (42) arrested on Wednesday under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996. "He can be held for up to seven days. All of the drugs seized will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) for analysis. Investigations are ongoing and further updates will follow. The operation was carried out as part of Operation Tara the national anti-drugs strategy launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in July 2021. The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels - international, national, local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs. After the news emerged today, Tinas sister paid tribute, describing her as a beautiful angel. Pathologist Margaret Bolster arrives at the search of a house in Youghal, Co. Cork in connection with the dissappearance of Tina Satchwell. Tina Satchwell, 45, was last seen in 2017 (family handout/PA) Gardai have until 8pm to either charge or release a man arrested on suspicion of murdering Tina Satchwell who went missing in Cork in March 2017. The man in his 50s was arrested for the second time yesterday at a bus stop in Youghal. Its understood a decision is due to be made later today after the suspect availed of a break overnight, extending his period of detention. He was originally arrested on Tuesday in relation to Tinas murder and released without charge on Wednesday before being rearrested on Thursday. Moment man arrested over murder of Tina Satchwell after suspected remains found The arrests took place as an extensive search of Tinas home was underway in Youghal. Earlier today, gardai confirmed skeletal remains found in her home on Wednesday night were that of the 45-year-old woman. After the news emerged today, Tinas sister paid tribute, describing her as a beautiful angel. Gardai found skeletal remains by a walled-in area and concrete floor underneath a stairwell in the house. Tina Satchwell, 45, was last seen in 2017 (family handout/PA) DNA samples had been obtained but it is understood dental work allowed the remains to be identified as those of the woman who vanished in March 2017. Tinas family had never gave up hope of finding her and today, her devastated sister Teresa paid tribute. Writing on Facebook, Teresa said: RIP to my beautiful sister Tina u can rest now luv we found you. I live and miss you. You are now with mum fly high my beautiful angel. Teresa also shared a photo of Tina with her late mother. Ms Satchwells sister has previously said her family will never stop seeking answers over her disappearance. They have made several appeals for help over the years and urged anyone with information to contact gardai. The latest dramatic developments come days after workers trying to clear a blocked drain found suspicious material which was brought to the attention of authorities. Human remains were found as garda technical experts excavated the interior and exterior of the property in Youghal. Search area Yesterday, we revealed the moment a man was rearrested over the murder of Tina Satchwell who disappeared from her home over six years ago The man in his 50s was apprehended by officers at a bus stop in Youghal on Friday morning. The video showed the man speaking with gardai before he was taken away in a garda car. The scene in Youghal Its understood the man was arrested across the road from the Walter Raleigh Hotel, which is about 200 yards from Youghal Garda Station. He was held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be held for up to 24 hours at a Garda station in Cork. Its the second time the man has been arrested in relation to the murder of Tina, who was last seen in March 2017. The latest developments in the investigation came several days after utility workers trying to clear a blocked drain in the area brought suspicious material to the attention of gardai. The human remains were found as garda technical experts excavated the interior and exterior of the property on Grattan Street in Youghal, which has been sealed off since Tuesday. Particular attention was paid to the kitchen, landing and an exterior area near a drain or culvert. The remains, understood to involve an almost complete skeleton, were found in an area underneath the stairwell. Gardai had to carefully excavate the space, which appeared to have been walled-in. A detailed analysis of the remains have been conducted at Cork University Hospital (CUH), as forensic tests, including DNA sampling, took place in Dublin. Superintendent Adrian Gamble had said gardai are liasing with the Satchwell family. Tina was last seen by her husband, Richard, when she asked him to leave their Youghal home to go on an errand to nearby Dungarvan. The couple had met in the UK where Ms Satchwell had gone to work as a teenager. Mr Satchwell was from the East Midlands area, but had returned with Tina to Ireland where the couple lived in Fermoy before relocating to Youghal. Ms Satchwell was not at their home when her husband returned a few hours later from his errand. He later said he presumed she had gone to stay with her family in Fermoy. He reported her missing four days later when he said he realised she was not in Fermoy. Ms Satchwell did not have a passport and there was no indication she had purchased tickets to travel overseas by either plane or ferry. Pathologist Margaret Bolster arrives at the search of a house in Youghal, Co. Cork in connection with the dissappearance of Tina Satchwell. In an interview five years ago Mr Satchwell said there was nothing out of the ordinary on March 20, 2017 to indicate his wife was about to disappear, on the eve of their 26th wedding anniversary. It was the same as any other morning. She got up and I made her a cup of tea and a slice of toast. It is something I will never forget, he said. It wasnt unusual for her to turn around and ask me to go shopping. I thought nothing of it at the time. When I came back, the keys were on the ground. When she didnt come back I thought she was gone to Fermoy (to visit her family). He said he raised the alarm four days later when he realised that his wife had not gone to visit her relatives in Fermoy. He has repeatedly insisted that he believes his wife is alive and has appealed to her to make contact with him or her family. Israel has demanded that residents of the Gaza Strip "distance themselves from Hamas" and evacuate from north to south of the enclave "to ensure their safety." The IDF gave the population 24 hours to evacuate. ADVERTISIMENT The UN is alarmed by the "devastating humanitarian consequences" that the displacement of more than a million people will have, and insists on canceling the order. The New York Times writes about it. On the morning of October 13, Israel officially confirmed the order to evacuate residents of the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The IDF called on people to move closer to the border with Egypt before the Israeli Defense Forces "begin to act with greater force." People should do this "to ensure their safety". "The IDF is calling on all civilians in Gaza City to evacuate their homes to the south for their own safety and security and to move to the area south of Wadi Gaza, as shown on the map," said Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus in a video message to Palestinians. ADVERTISIMENT The UN has already said that such an evacuation would displace more than a million people and provoke "devastating humanitarian consequences." On its behalf, the United Nations representative, Stephane Dujarric, called for the order to be canceled so that the tragedy that has already occurred does not turn into a catastrophe. "The same order applied to all UN staff and those in UN facilities, including schools, medical centers and clinics," Dujarric said. On October 13, the UN Security Council will convene an emergency meeting in the format of closed consultations on the situation with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, Israel imposed a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, cutting off electricity and water supplies, as well as preventing the supply of food, fuel, essential goods and any humanitarian aid to the region for the population of about 2 million people. "The only power plant in the Gaza Strip stopped generating electricity on Wednesday due to fuel shortages, everything has come to a standstill and there is no running water in a large part of the region. Hospitals are overwhelmed with the wounded and running out of vital supplies; fuel for generators and vehicles is rapidly running out; food and water are becoming scarce; and it is unclear when humanitarian aid might be allowed in," the NYT writes. ADVERTISIMENT Israel promises to lift the blockade after Hamas militants release the hostages they have taken: about 150 Israelis and citizens of other countries who were kidnapped and taken to Gaza by terrorists on the first day of the attack on Israel, October 7. The UN has called the situation after the blockade a "huge disaster." Israel also continues to carry out massive strikes on Hamas-related targets in the Gaza Strip. On the night of October 12-13 alone, according to the IDF, 750 military targets were struck. As a result of the IDF's counterattacks, more than 423,000 people left Gaza, according to the UN. The evacuation is complicated by the fact that a significant part of the roads in the enclave were damaged by Israeli air strikes, becoming impassable. ADVERTISIMENT Earlier, it was reported that the IDF had struck the homes of Hamas terrorists, with hundreds of thousands of people leaving the Gaza Strip. It also became known that Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin denied fears that American support of Israel in the war would affect the level of American aid to Ukraine. He assured that the United States would be able to provide military assistance to Ukraine and Israel simultaneously. Smoke is visible in the area but firefighters in breathing apparatus are on scene dealing with the incident Emergency services are responding to a fire in a car park off Jervis Street in Dublin city centre this evening. Members of Dublin Fire Brigade in breathing apparatus are dealing with the incident, a spokesperson said. In a photograph shared of the scene, dark clouds of smoke are visible from the street. We have firefighters responding to a fire in a car park off Jervis Street. Smoke is visible in the area but firefighters in breathing apparatus are on scene dealing with the incident pic.twitter.com/Z0jCTZafhf Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) October 13, 2023 "We have firefighters responding to a fire in a car park off Jervis Street, a spokesperson for Dublin Fire Brigade said on X/Twitter shortly before 6.30pm. Smoke is visible in the area but firefighters in breathing apparatus are on scene dealing with the incident. Dublin City Council Traffic Management Centre have advised motorists to avoid Jervis Street as a result of the incident. It comes as Luas red line services are not operating between Smithfield and The Point/Connolly due to the non-Luas related incident at Jervis. A spokesperson for the Luas operator informed commuters on social media that red line services were only operating from Tallaght/Saggart to Smithfield only. More to follow.. A man armed with a knife has killed a teacher and wounded another and a security guard at a high school in northern France French president Emmanuel Macron has cancelled a meeting tonight with the Taoiseach at the Elysee Palace. The abrupt move came after the President travelled to Arras, scene of a bloody terror attack. The president will, however, return to Paris for a meeting later tonight with the Sultan of Brunei. The developments left Irish officials scrambling to re-schedule the meeting, with reports that an encounter between the two men could still happen tomorrow, Saturday. A man armed with a knife has killed a teacher and wounded another teacher and a security guard at a high school in northern France - an attack being investigated as potential terrorism. Mr Macron said police later thwarted an "attempted attack" in another French region after the teacher's fatal stabbing. Anti-terror prosecutors said they were leading the investigation into the attack at the Gambetta high school in the city of Arras, some 115 miles north of Paris. They said they were investigating charges including terror-related murder and attempted murder against the suspect, who was arrested. National police said the suspected assailant was a Russian national of Chechen origin. A colleague and a fellow teacher identified the dead teacher as Dominique Bernard, a French language teacher at the school. The French intelligence services said the suspect had been closely watched since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that found no wrongdoing. Sliman Hamzi, a police officer who was one of the first on the scene said the suspected attacker, a former pupil at the school, shouted: "Allahu akbar", or: "God is great", in Arabic. Mr Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer who was passing in front of the high school and called in. He "was shouting: 'Someone is attacking with a knife,'" Mr Hamzi said. He rushed to the school and saw the victim who died lying on the ground outside the school and the alleged attacker being taken away. "Colleagues arrived quickly but unfortunately couldn't save the victim," Mr Hamzi said. School attacks are rare in France. President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the school hours after the attack, said the victim "stepped in and probably saved many lives". Mr Macron also said that police thwarted an "attempted attack" in another French region after the teacher's fatal stabbing, but he did not provide details. The government asked authorities to heighten vigilance at all schools across the country. Co Down native Tony Brown came forward to support Brands accusers Russell Brand at 16, who attended the prestigious Italia Conti Performing Arts School in Central London with Tony Brown of Belfast Actor Tory Brown at 16 at the prestigious Italia Conti Performing Arts School in Central London Russell Brands Co Down schoolmate has been attacked by trolls from around the world since he spoke out about sex assault allegations against the comedian. Tony Brown came forward to support Brands accusers after Brand was accused of rape and sexual assault. The pair met at 16 at the Italia Conti Performing Arts School in Central London and Tony, from Bangor, Co Down, says he saw Brand regularly grope classmates his own age and younger. He believes the youngest girl was 13. After watching Channel 4s In Plain Sight documentary he spoke up to support the women who alleged Brand had assaulted them. The comedian has denied all the allegations against him. Tony is among just a handful of named individuals who have come forward. From the world of showbiz, only comedian Daniel Sloss has openly addressed Brands behaviour. Russell Brand. Photo: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire But Tony, who was a victim of paedophile teacher Lindsay Brown, has revealed his bravery has led to attacks from Brands conspiracy theorist followers and social media trolls across the globe. Ive been accused of being a predator enabler because I didnt come forward at 16 about Russell. The messages have come from people from Alaska to New Zealand, says Tony. Trolls have said I should be arrested myself, that I seem like the type of person who would get off on watching Russell touch younger girls, that Im a piece of work. The fact they are slagging me and the victims off is not going to help people come forward. Shaming victims is one of the reasons people dont speak up. The more bizarre comments are that Tony doesnt exist, or that he has been paid by pharmaceutical firms to make disparaging comments about Brand. He says he regularly witnessed Brand grope the breasts and bottoms of young girls under a long coat he called his cloak of love. Since 2014, the comedian has grown an online following with far-right conspiracy theorists. This increased dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic. Actor Tory Brown at 16 at the prestigious Italia Conti Performing Arts School in Central London Brand has spread misinformation about Covid treatments and vaccines, blamed the US government for 9/11 and claimed the recent Hawaii fires were started deliberately by a global investment company. Those conspiracy theory people have said Im in the pocket of the mainstream media and big pharma. Im not in anyones pocket, says Tony. The idea that billionaires in big pharma are sitting around a table saying, oh my God, Russell Brand has got millions of viewers and hes slagged us off. What are we going to do about it?. Thats laughable. But the 48-year-old has a theory of his own that Brand knew a day of reckoning was coming and created a following who would fight back against any accusers. Hes a highly intelligent person and always has been, he continues. He knew this day was coming, with Harvey Weinstein and [Jimmy] Savile and #MeToo. He knew hed need a defence. Hes bragged about his behaviour with women in his book and in his stand-up comedy. I think hes been clever enough to encourage the conspiracy theory following so he can now say the media are out to get him. Its a lot of nonsense. The dad of five an actor and former showbiz agent says the people who are attacking him are simply making it easier for abusers to stay in the shadows if victims fear the fallout for coming forward. As a survivor of abuse himself, Tony knows its possible for predators to live in plain sight. Russell Brand at 16, who attended the prestigious Italia Conti Performing Arts School in Central London with Tony Brown of Belfast His abuser, Lindsay Brown the Bangor Grammar School teacher who attacked kids for years died recently, aged 83. Teachers and pupils joked that Brown was a pervert but he was promoted to vice-principal, taught swimming lessons and took scripture classes. Tony suffered his abuse from the age of 12 to 14, and says people should understand why victims dont come forward before sitting in judgment. My father had been a sergeant major in the army and then a prison officer with a weapon, and the thing that worried me was that hed blame himself or he would kill this man. Then I felt guilty for not coming forward when other people were. I felt I had no excuses any more when I had a solid partner and the children were older. I was prepared to make that leap, and now that man has died and I will never get justice. So I can understand why people dont come forward, and I hate that theyre shamed when they do. I dont think weve learned anything when were shaming victims. Hes had counselling from Nexus and says the support of friend and former client Eamonn Holmes has helped him tell his story. I would still be close with Eamonn and I asked him for a bit of advice about speaking out. He told me you havent done anything wrong. Its your story own it, says Tony. Lisa Mulcahys sensational psychological thriller Lies We Tell hits screens on Friday, October 13. An award winning film maker who has just finished working on a hit TV series with Jamie Dornan has urged budding directors and writers not to give up on their dream. Dubliner Lisa Mulcahy has worked her up way through the industry and is currently wrapping on season two of The Tourist, starring Dornan, for HBO in the US and the BBC. However, she says the path to success was far from easy. "It is difficult to get funding when you are starting out. There are very good regional schemes, which I would recommend. I saw a really beautiful film recently from a scheme in Offaly, she said. Lisas astonishing new feature film, Lies We Tell, premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh where it received numerous awards and played to packed audiences. The hotly anticipated movie is set to hit screens nationwide on Friday 13. Lisa offered some words of encouragement to new writers and directors. "Screen Ireland is your first port of call. There is lots of interesting stuff happening there for emerging writers and directors. "The Writers Guild is very informative about what is going on. Absolutely hunt around. Experienced directors can become mentors for new mentees through Screen Ireland, too, Lisa said. Lies We Tell The Guardian newspaper has described Mulcahys latest offering, Lies We Tell, an atmospheric, gothic drama edited by Weronika Kaminska and scored by Aza Hand, as a "discovery. "Director Lisa Mulcahy clears the paths and lets them rip with confident, clear-sighted direction, the paper writes. The amazing reaction to the film by critics is notable and this is not lost on the IFTA winning director. "There was something about that review, it was really lovely. Well composed and thought out, it was really moving to read it, Lisa said. "They connected all the elements of the film together really well. The title of 'Lies We Tell is meaningful for the film, a tail of a young heiress whose uncle comes to be her guardian because she is orphaned- and instead of loving and protecting her, he sets out to deceive and destroy her. Ms Mulcahy gave an insight into the feature which is based on the nineteenth century novel, Uncle Silas. "I would describe it as a thriller, it doesnt hang around for very long. The tension gradually racks up between the characters in the film. Elisabeth Gooch who is the writer, loves Victorian literature, she loves delving into that period. "So the trials and tribulations of what the people endured at that time. This young girl, Maude, is put in untenable situations and we see how she deals with it. "In the original book she is written in the first person, and a quite infuriating character. Elisabeth was determined to pull Maude out of her shell much earlier than in the novel. "I read the script ages before I read the book. You are reading a book in the year your film is set so the tone is really interesting. I was working on developing the visuals well in advance. Lisa Mulcahy So how did Lisa begin her career in a the movie and TV industry? "Perseverance and tenacity would describe my journey. "I did a course but there were very few editing companies in Dublin. I went and knocked on all the doors and said how do I become an editor? "One of them, I knocked on the door, and this man answered- he was so surprised that somebody would do that, he gave me a job. Within six months I was editing programmes on my own. "I went to London after a year, at a time when you couldnt get a job without a union ticket. But you couldnt get the union ticket without work. "So, I got all the names of all the production companies and knocked on the doors of all of them again. I think most of them threw my CV in the bin, but I got to meet one person who liked me, she said. After that Lisa worked her way up to become an assistant director. She said she loved working with actors and knew then this would be her path in life. So I did my own shorts to try to break into the tv drama industry. People put their faith in me and I continued from there. "I think a small bit of nervousness is useful in life. It forces you to do your best, to grab it and go for it. If I ever became complacent I would stop doing it. And what is next up for the successful Dubliner? "I am finishing on season 2 of The Tourist with Jamie Dornan and Danielle MacDonald. Im also working on my next feature film, a contemporary tale based on a true story. So scheduling, budgets, casting, all of that," Lisa added. Lisa Mulcahy will be in the IFI in Temple Bar on Friday for a Question and Answer session after the 18.20 screening of Lies We Tell, with tickets on sale here. Yazmin plays Nikita Murphy in the hit RTE crime series A star of RTE crime drama Kin says having to work a regular 9 to 5 job is the reality for a lot of actors. Yazmin Seky, who plays Nikita Murphy in the hit series, says people are surprised by the fact she is still working in her day job in a bank. Ill get recognised in Tesco when Im getting three Cadbury bars for 2. People will ask why Im there, she said. With a show as big as Kin, theres that expectation that youve filmed, youre now in Hollywood and youll be on the next big Netflix show. Thats not the reality for a lot of actors, especially for me, Im only starting out. Im still working in the bank, still auditioning. The writing strike had a bit of an effect on everybody. It was pretty quiet, a lot of auditions stopped. A lot of productions are only starting to come back now. If youre someone who works nine to five, having the option to audition when it suits you, the only real time you have to go in person is if you get a recall. Sam Keeley (Viking) and Yasmin Seky (Nikita) in crime drama Kin Most of the time theyre in the UK so its only one flight over, she added. Kin follows the fortunes of a fictional Dublin crime family, the Kinsellas, embroiled in a gangland war. The first season aired in September 2021 and starred big names including Aiden Gillen, Charlie Cox, and Ciaran Hinds. Season two premiered in March and, according to Yazmin, season three is yet to be filmed. Many have questioned whether the show represents the glamourous side of crime, a conversation Yasmin believes needs to be had. Theres always been that question of does it represent the glamour side of crime? Thats such a privilege point of view to see it from, she said. If you look at that show, and you only see glitz and glam then maybe the reflection should be on yourself. Its weird to see something so Irish, when people are having conversations about Irish film and TV, they talk about The Banshees of Inisherin, Love/ Hate and Kin. I get to be a part of that conversation. Theres still a lot of the story to be told. I think people are really into it, she added. Welcome Bay School is set to build community spirit brick by brick this weekend! Tomorrow, Saturday, October 14, and Sunday, October 15, Bricks of Plenty will bring their eye-catching and intricate Lego displays to Welcome Bay School for an exciting Brick Show event. Crowds can expect to see anything from Harry Potter, Star Wars and pirate-themed Lego displays, to entire Lego cities with a mix of houses and buildings. The school students have also been creating their own displays, with winning creations featuring at the show. Welcome Bay School principal Jamie De La Haye says its great to hold events such as these. Its just nice to have a real community building event to raise a bit of money for the school but to also put on something for our whole community as well. Fundraising from the show will go towards purchasing new shade sails for the school, which can range anywhere from $15,000-$30,000, says Jamie. Living in New Zealand we want to be sun-smart. Its an important element to try add to our schools. The show will have a sausage sizzle, raffle, coffee cart and the schools playgrounds for people to enjoy at the event. Jamie gives special thanks to Bricks of Plenty and the PTA for making this awesome event happen. Welcome Bay Schools Brick Show fundraiser runs 10am-4pm both days this weekend. Tickets cost $5 per person, children aged under four gain free entry. Eftpos and cash available. Street parking available on Welcome Bay Rd, with additional parking on the field via Esmeralda St. Four new police patrol dog teams are now trained up and ready to go after graduating from the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre in Trentham this week. Four different districts benefit from this newly graduated cohort and the graduates will be heading to four different regions throughout New Zealand. With eight years front line policing experience Constable Mike and his 20-month-old patrol dog Fawn are heading back to Whangarei for work. Mike has been involved as a member of the Tactical Dog Teams as part of the new Police Tactical Response Model. Mike has been lucky enough to have Fawn since she was eight weeks old. Receiving a police puppy at the age of eight weeks makes it a long road to becoming a handler, but its been enjoyable and a real eye-opener to the amount of work that is put into our dogs. Passing the course with Fawn, feels like even more of an accomplishment from having her from such a young age until now, he says. Constable Ben from Canterbury District graduated alongside his dog Welles. Ben has six years front line policing including specialist squads and he and three-year-old Welles will be based in Timaru. Welles is a great dog, loves going for rides in the ute and enjoys swims in the river hes just part of the family, says Ben. Constable Chelsea graduated with three-year-old Helo. Chelsea has six years experience, predominantly in Counties Manukau before choosing Wellington and Dog Section as a career progression. Helo and Chelsea should hit the ground running when they start next week. I was fortunate to pick up an operational dog and Helo is a pro; she knows what shes doing and has taught me a lot, says Chelsea. Four New Zealand Customs dog teams graduated also alongside their police colleagues today; Justin and Koha, Taylor and Kahu, Cheryl and Kiwa and Jodie and Tane. On top of the newly graduated teams, two Wellington Dog teams were recognised for their good work over the last year. Receiving the Erridge Cup was Constable Jordan Steegh and Patrol Dog Manaia - Dog who were nominated and won the award for Best Performance by a Patrol Team in their first operational year (2022-23). And winning the Overton Cup was Constable Andy Rutherford and Patrol Dog Webb. They were nominated and won Best Trainee Dog Team for 2022-23. Chris de Wattignar, Deputy Commissioner: People, Leadership and Culture congratulated the new Police teams, plus the cup winners saying all teams have a key role in some volatile, challenging and dynamic situations. My sincere congratulations - its a proud day for you all and thank you for your commitment to what is such an integral part of our style of policing in New Zealand. We talk about patrol dog teams being at the front of the frontline and thats very much the truth of the teams role. You will be called on to take a lead role at the frontline, day and night. You will work in situations where you will encounter challenges and risks, where you will be called on to use all your training and your highly trained dog to resolve or help resolve those situations. I know you have a passion for working with dogs and a real drive to be successful in that work, he says. Inspector Todd Southall, National Coordinator Police Dogs, says the new teams have worked hard in their districts and on formal courses to qualify as operational. This event marks the end of your formal training to become an operational team and heralds the next step in your duties, he says. Being a dog handler brings 24-hour seven days a week responsibilities - looking after the care and wellbeing of these fantastic canine assets. All the teams have worked very hard for this, and they will be real assets in their districts and the communities they serve, he says. The graduation was attended by whanau and friends of the graduates as well as Andrea Conlan, Deputy Chief Executive: Strategy & Performance, Jill Rogers, Assistant Commissioner Leadership, Talent & Development and Superintendent Warwick Morehu, Director of Training, Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC) and representatives from New Zealand Customs Service. At just 32 years old, Catherine Wilks is making an impact on the avocado industry at a global level. The Tauranga resident has spent the last three years as the industry systems associate for NZ Avocado, and presented at the Avocado World Congress in front of representatives from all across the globe earlier this year. Catherine says delivering her presentation on arthropod pests of avocados grown in New Zealand was a true honour. The audience included avocado industry experts, scientists, policymakers, and fellow professionals from around the globe. A total of 1200 delegates attended the congress with representatives from 33 different countries. Avocado journey Catherines journey in the avocado industry began with a passion for agriculture and sustainable farming practices, which fit in perfectly with her love for the delicious and environmentally friendly avocado. After completing my education at Massey University a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Zoology and Physiology, I started my career with a focus on applied entomology at Plant and Food Research. I eventually moved into the horticulture sector for both kiwifruit and avocados after returning to the Bay of Plenty, working for Eurofins. I was drawn to the potential of the avocado industry after attending some conferences and learning a bit about the industry, and then I was presented with an opportunity to join NZ Avocado in a more diverse role. I was interested in the AvoGreen programme that NZ Avocado manages, as this is a more sustainable approach to pest management with a structured programme in place. Catherines current role at NZ Avocado is allowing her to gain hands-on experience and specialised knowledge in avocado cultivation, production and post-harvest processes, which have led to opportunities for advancement within the industry. She is also responsible for AvoGreen pest monitoring programme, which she says ensures quality standards, managing compliance, R&D support, and reporting. I also provide support to our valued avocado growers, and other industry stakeholders. Catherine says the feedback she received from her speech at the World Avocado Congress was overwhelmingly positive. Many participants expressed interest in the comparison of NZ and their own country. Although we have the same fruit, we have some very different (and some similar) practices to our neighbouring market competitors, and they were eager to learn from our experiences. The exchange of knowledge and ideas with other industry leaders at the congress was both inspiring and enlightening. New outlook Catherine says young people are bringing fresh perspectives and a drive for innovation across the avocado industry. They are quick to adopt and implement advancements in agricultural technology, contributing to increased efficiency and sustainability. The industry is very fortunate to have many experienced and knowledgeable people who have been in the industry for a while and this provides an amazing opportunity for younger people to learn from this abundance of experience. On the current state of the industry, Catherine says although recent weather events have impacted avocado production in some regions, the industry is overall optimistic about the future and overcoming the recent challenges. The demand for avocados and their incredible health benefits is due to the fact that they are nutrient dense and contain at least 19 vitamins and nutrients, plus they taste great. Reports are coming in of a crash on State Highway 29. A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says there is a crash on the bridge between Poripori and Ruahihi roads. "The highway looks to be completely blocked." People are being advised to avoid the scene. Google Maps' live reporting shows traffic is stalled in both directions on SH29. SunLive is working on getting more information and will provide an update when we can. At the scene? Call 0800 SUNLIVE or email photos to newsroom@thesun.co.nz Two youths have been arrested following an assault that was filmed and shared on social media. The asasult happened near a restaurant on Queen Street in Cambridge on Wednesday, September 27. The victim suffered facial injuries, requiring surgery, says a police spokesperson. "The video of the assault was posted to social media and a concerned member of the public brought it to the attention of the Cambridge Police. "Cambridge Police identified those responsible, and two local youths are due to appear in the Hamilton Youth Court charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. "Unfortunately it is becoming more common for youth offenders to film themselves committing offenses and post them to social media. "This is inexcusable and offending of this nature will not be tolerated in our community. "Cambridge Police are committed to holding offenders accountable and ensuring public safety." Police urge anyone who sees any violent offending or suspicious activity of any kind to report it to Police on 111 if it is happening now or 105 if it is after the fact. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution recognizing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a dictator and the aggressor country itself as a dictatorship. The organization also called on all countries to comply with the order of the International Criminal Court and arrest the Russian leader. ADVERTISIMENT The decision was supported by all 43 participants at a meeting on Friday, October 13. This was reported by MP Oleksiy Honcharenko. According to him, the PACE also called on all countries to consider Putin an illegitimate leader and stop all contact with him after his presidential term ends in March 2024. "This decision was made unanimously! Thus, you can understand the mood in PACE! Putin, you are a murderer, a criminal, and a dictator. Happy birthday, *sshole. Back to work!" Honcharenko commented. He added that his amendments were submitted to the resolution, and all of them were voted on in PACE. They included the fact that there is no political culture in the Russian Federation, which has led to passivity and the actual absence of civil society. The MP also pointed to the limited reaction of the international community, which became a clear message to countries that do not have a stable practice of democracy that dictatorship is normal. ADVERTISIMENT "This is very dangerous. This happened in Belarus when self-proclaimed President Alexander Lukashenko retained power in 2020," he said in the amendments. In addition, he emphasized that Russia uses acts of aggression against sovereign nations as a strategy to enhance the leader's internal image, including the Chechen wars of the late 1990s, Russia's influence in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, and its aggression against Georgia in 2008. "A very important decision has just been made in PACE! It once again shows that nothing will be forgotten and dictators will have to answer for everything," Honcharenko summarized. As reported by OBOZ.UA, the day before, on October 13, PACE recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide of the Ukrainian people artificially organized by the Soviet authorities. President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the decision, calling it another step towards restoring historical justice. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! SUR in English Gibraltar Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram On Trafalgar Day (21 October) veterans and civilians will take part in a 12-hour relay run on the 1,398-foot-high Rock of Gibraltar for the veteran support charity Waterloo Uncovered. This year more than 20 runners take on the gruelling challenge, including Commonwealth Games competitor Arnold Rogers, who serves in the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, and Commodore Tom Guy, who took up the post of Commander British Forces Gibraltar in 2022. In addition to raising vital funds for veterans and serving personnel, the Rock Relay Run team will give back to the local community by spending the day before the run working in the Gibraltar Clubhouse, a local mental health charity hub that provides work-based programmes where individuals with a history of mental illness can develop to their full potential. Trafalgar Day commemorates the anniversary of the Royal Navys most famous triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar, 218 years ago. The team of 20 taking on the challenge will include local Gibraltarian business owners, and personnel from the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, and Army. Waterloo Uncovered's unique veteran support programmes combine archaeology with veteran care to support those who have served their country when they need it the most. The challenge will also support the charitys groundbreaking archaeological excavations of the Waterloo battlefield, which have made headlines across the world. Mark Evans, CEO of Waterloo Uncovered, said: Gibraltars connection with the British Armed Forces goes back 300 years, and the Rock is an iconic part of the experience of being stationed there climbing it is a rite of passage. We cant think of a better way for veterans to give back to other veterans than by climbing the rock to raise funds for our life-changing veteran support programmes which help veterans find recovery through discovery. Were extremely grateful to the runners and to all the businesses and individuals who have stepped up to support the event. The organisers of last year's event. SUR The Rock Relay Run team will be led by REME and Royal Signals veteran Ben Mead, who was previously stationed in Gibraltar and has completed tours of the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Ben first joined the Waterloo Uncovered team in 2018 as a participant on the charitys flagship Excavation Programme, and has since worked his way up to become a valued staff member, serving as the charitys Quartermaster for their annual excavations. Ben said: The first Rock Relay Run was a fantastic event, and this year is set to be even better! We have more runners, who come from all walks of life, and more plans to give back to the local community. All the runners, whether they are civilians or veterans themselves, are committed to raising funds to help veterans find peace from war. The support from the people and businesses of Gibraltar has been incredible so far, and were really excited to be heading back in just a few short months. The Waterloo Uncovered Gibraltar Rock Relay Run will start at the Pillars of Hercules and end at OHaras Battery, with pairs running up and down in turn. The team will start the relay at 6am and will continue the challenge for the next 12 hours for an estimated 6pm finish. Donations are being collected through JustGiving: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/gibraltar-2023. Picardo's GSLP Liberals win a tight general election in Gibraltar The alliance goes into its fourth term of office with nine of 17 members of parliament SUR in English Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Fabian Picardo's GSLP Liberal Alliance has won the Gibraltar general election by a narrow margin, gaining nine out of 17 seats in parliament with 49.9% of votes. The GSD, led by Keith Azopardi, who appeared slightly ahead of the alliance in some pre-election polls, will remain in opposition, with eight seats, after securing 48% of votes. The result takes Picardo and his alliance into their fourth term at the helm of the Gibraltar government. The turnout was just over 76%, with some 19,256 Gibraltarians casting their vote. Nuria Triguero Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram In 2015 when 15-year-old Enrique Martin went to a computer science event on a Friday afternoon with some classmates and a teacher from his Malaga school, he did not quite know what he was going to find. As he liked computer science, he had been told to go and listen to a talk on cybersecurity. And there he met Bernardo Quintero, founder of Virustotal, telling his life story: how he learned to programme by himself at the age of 10, how he decided to become a hacker after watching WarGames, how he set up two companies and sold one to Google, and how he managed to continue managing his team, within Google, from Malaga. By the end of the talk, Quique, as Enrique is known, already had an idea of what he wanted to be in life. Seven years later, on 28 September 2023, Quique was picking up his prize in the BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT-sponsored category at the Young Software Engineer of the Year award ceremony in Scotland where he had studied thanks to a grant. This is a major competition in which all the universities in Scotland compete (his is Strathclyde University in Glasgow). His final year project ('The use of autoregressive language models in the classroom'), which won the prize for the best individual paper in the computer science department at his university, dazzled the judges. It is an artificial intelligence platform that is designed to make teaching in schools more fun and personalised. A 'chatbot', similar to ChatGPT, allows students to talk to Napoleon or receive mathematical problems tailored to their interests. Quique has also tested it in two Spanish schools, comparing the learning results between students who use this innovative tool and those who use traditional methods. Quique, collecting the Young Software Engineer of the Year award in Scotland. SUR After receiving the prize of 2,000 and celebrating with his family, who travelled to Glasgow to support him, Quique Martin reflected on that afternoon in 2015. "I approached Bernardo to ask him a couple of questions: I don't even remember what they were; I was super nervous and I'm sure it was nonsense, but he listened to me patiently and advised me that, if I liked programming, I should go for it. He was the one who motivated me to study computer science; I wanted to be like him," he said. The award has brought Quique another added joy, because Twitter has allowed the young engineer to connect with his idol. He expressed his gratitude to Bernardo Quintero on Twitter for "the time he dedicates to education". "It was very important to have someone to look up to from the age of 15. Today, with less hair but with a prize, I want to thank you for this," he said. And Quintero replied: "We'll have to meet after so many years, but this time you give me the talk." Signed up by Aston Martin Scotland's new 'young software engineer of the year' finished his degree earlier this year and started working for Santander Bank (with the added bonus of being back in Malaga), but two months later, he got an offer he couldn't refuse: Aston Martin wanted to sign him up for their Formula 1 team. Quique, who is passionate about the sport, moved back to the UK and now works at the team's factory at Silverstone. "I work as a software engineer developing the car's analysis tools. When there is a race, my colleagues and I take it in turns to do the monitoring from the factory; I volunteer whenever I can. I hope that one day I will have the opportunity to be on the track," said the Spaniard, who explained that he is "learning a lot" from this opportunity. Studying abroad is an experience that Martin "100%" recommends. "I am very grateful for all the people I have met and who have helped me here in Scotland," he said. In the medium term, however, his intention is clear: he will return to Malaga one day and start a business. Tony Bryant Mijas Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Popular Costa del Sol resident Bill Anderson has recently published his latest novel, Peanuts Don't Grow on Trees, a satirical look into politics "that comes with a warning because it is not overly politically correct". Many expats will know Bill as a councillor in Mijas, a position during which he endeavoured to help English-speaking residents better understand the workings of local government. Bill, who is also a presenter on Expat Radio, retired from politics "for good" in June in order to concentrate on his writing. Known for his caustic sense of humour, he had already published two novels, and two memoirs based on his time in local politics. He says that he left politics with a degree of "disappointment", but claims that he did not have too many regrets, as he feels he achieved much of what he set out to do: this was to work as a "bridge between the foreign community and the bureaucratic process", a process, he says, "where no one listens to anyone". "When we moved to Spain, I began to teach myself Spanish, because I cannot live in a country and not be able to speak the language" Bill's story Born in Edinburgh in 1962, the former university lecturer, who has lived in Mijas for more than 20 years, spent many years working as a policy advisor to the UK and then the Scottish governments, and to several local authorities. Bill and his late wife purchased a property in Mijas during the 1990s to use for holidays, and due to his wife's failing health, the couple decided to "make the break" and move to the countryside surrounding Mijas in 2002. "Spain was a different place to what it is now, but we always loved Mijas. We kind of have the best of both worlds here, because, although our house is away from the crowds, it is only a few minutes away from La Cala, and the motorway, so it's ideal for work. We lived in a small rural village in Scotland, so once you have lived in the countryside, it is difficult to live in a town centre," Bill explains to SUR in English. A flair for languages Once settled in Mijas, Bill endeavoured to integrate into Spanish life, and one of the first things he decided to do was to learn the language. "I have a background in languages. I have a degree in German, I studied Russian for six years, and I also studied old Greek and some Persian. When we first decided to move to Spain, I immediately started teaching myself Spanish, because I cannot live in a country and not be able to speak the language," he says. A literary journey begins After stepping down from politics, into which he says he was "arm wrestled", Bill found he had more time to concentrate on his true passion, writing novels. Even though he ventured into the literary world in 2013, publishing the first two instalments of a trilogy, he found he "just did not have the time or the energy" to dedicate himself to writing. "I have now finished the third part of the trilogy and it will be published in due course. The series is a little bit of magical realism and is based around how we are all connected through time and space," Bill explains. His latest offering is part of what is going to be another series, and although it is a politically themed comedy, Bill says that it is wholly fictional. It was his second wife, Vicky, who gave him the idea for the latest novel, which, she said, he should base on his time in the "political circus". "Peanuts is a satire set in an imaginary white village that is pretty much isolated from the rest of the world. The village is called Calapene, which means penis cove, because it has a penis-shaped rock that creates a natural harbour around the village. Even though it is basically taking the piss out of the workings of local politics, there is a serious side to it. It is about the random, and often ridiculous, decisions that local authorities make, especially concerning things as important as climate change. Once they have made a declaration, they haven't a bloody clue what they are going to do about it," he says, bursting into laughter. The sequel is already in its final draft, and Bill is now looking forward to embracing his new life as an author, which he says is going to be more fun than playing "cat and mouse" with politicians. Alba Tenza Alhaurin el Grande Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram The Alhaurin el Grande-based La Asociacion Aprodal, an association that has dedicated more than 20 years to working for the integration of disabled people, has launched a pilot dog therapy project. The organisation announced that the project will be run through a series of workshops to promote the integration and socialisation of the participants, since it believes that working with dogs is relaxing and stimulating. The first two dogs to participate in the sessions are Elsa and Rex, a golden retriever and a German shepherd. Both dogs belong to the Therapeutic Footprints Association, which is carrying out the therapy sessions, and they say these sessions will hopefully provide a ray of hope to those who perhaps need a four-legged friend to improve their quality of life. The president of Aprodal, Inmaculada Estirado, said, Contact with these animals can have a positive impact on motor skills, which promotes greater independence in daily activities. The sessions are expected be held at least every 15 days, covering children in early care and adults. The first day will focus on establishing a bond between the users and the dogs, and as that bond is consolidated, more complex activities will be developed. In addition to motivation, socialisation and increased self-esteem, this therapy provides an opportunity to develop motor and emotional skills. Dog therapy is presented as a powerful tool to strengthen the emotional and physical well-being of those who need additional support on their path to overcoming challenges. The next session is scheduled for October 30, and there are still places available for those who wish to join. Chus Heredia Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram The sale of electric cars is beginning to see significant increases in the province of Malaga, including the Costa del Sol. However, the cost and logistics of actually recharging them is continuing to hold back sales of pure, 100 per cent electric cars. There is a sense within the industry locally that, while dealerships are marketing electric cars for today, the consumer still sees them as something for the future. Of the 17,299 vehicles registered this year in the province, 8,185 qualify for zero emission or eco stickers, which represent almost half. There are no more new sales of B-sticker cars, and certainly none without a label, unless they are on the secondhand market. However, Juan Pena, vice-president of the Malaga Automotive Association (AMA) explained to SUR that all electric cars are still a long way from mass-market success. In order to increase the popularity of these, Pena highlighted several significant improvements that the industry would like to see. The first is key: more public charging points. "We have a very poor public charging network. Far behind even countries like Portugal," he said. Financial aid The second complaint of Malaga dealers is about public aid and how quickly it can be accessed. The government's Moves incentive plan, to get more people switching to electric, offers both financial aid for buying a vehicle and for installing the recharging point needed at home or in their garage. But Pena is critical that the payout is only made up to two years later. There are also deductions of up to 15% in personal income tax for hybrids and electrics, which the vehicle owner will only see in the following year's tax return. "It is vital to link any subsidy to the moment of purchase and not afterwards. That would really help boost the electric car market," he explained. According to latest figures from the National Association of Car and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac), the number of cars with zero and eco stickers has risen by 28% so far this year. Specifically, in the first nine months of the year, 8,185 cars have been registered with these labels with the DGT, the government's traffic authority. Restrictions The feeling there are still too many restrictions is one of the factors most influencing the electric vehicle market, especially in terms of the rollout of low-emission zones in the centres of cities and towns with more than 50,000 people. Malaga city has requested an extension to the rollout deadline until the end of December 2024 and is awaiting a government response. Meanwhile, Marbella expects to approve its low-emission boundaries during October. According to Anfac data, when we include vehicles in the C category - which can enter low emission zones but cannot be parked on public roads unless they are residents or have a special permit - the total number of registrations this year in the province is 17,299, 4.5% more than last year. However, both diesel and petrol type C sales have fallen by 38.4% and 3% respectively. Nonetheless, the C type is currently the most popular car in the province. The type of cars that have seen the greatest growth are electric cars and petrol plug-in hybrids, both zero category, with 53.5% and 51.2% increases respectively. However, one in three cars in Malaga province would still not be allowed inside the low emission zones. There are still 249,957 cars with no sticker and 289,953 eligible for a B sticker in the province. SUR Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram A record-breaking exhibition by a Malaga artist is thought to have raised about 190,000 euros for childhood cancer support and cat shelters. More than 63,000 people from 70 different nationalities visited Javier Calleja's exhibition at the Centro Cultural Fundacion Unicaja in Malaga. The Mr. Gunter, The Cat Show exhibition was on show from 4 March until 6 September. In keeping with the charitable philosophy of the museum and the artist's studio, people were asked to donate three euros to access the exhibition. That money will now be split evenly and go towards the Malaga Association of Children's Oncology Volunteers (AVOI) who help children with cancer, and animal shelters El Gato Garduno and La Guarida. Solidarity The money is expected to help out with three social projects: one dedicated to caring for children with cancer and other chronic illnesses in Malaga, and two other animal protection projects, one in the Malaga municipality of Alhaurin de la Torre and the other in Puente Genil in Cordoba province. The financial aid to AVOI is in addition to Unicaja Foundation's recent support for the organising of a trip to Disneyland Paris which 60 children with cancer and other children with chronic illnesses were treated to. The money towards the animal shelters El Gato Garduno and La Guarida will strengthen their work in caring for abandoned animals and promoting responsible ownership. Founded in 2019, El Gato Garduno is responsible for the management and care of cat colonies in Alhaurin de la Torre. In these four years, more than 520 cats have been adopted through this shelter and about 480 cats have been sterilised. Meanwhile La Guarida currently looks after 100 dogs in its shelter that are looking for forever homes. Nearly a hundred have already been adopted so far this year. Juan Cano Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram A young female student was seriously injured and rushed to Malaga Regional Hospital after falling from a third floor flat. National Police officers, after thoroughly investigating the incident, have now come to the conclusion that the young woman suffered a hallucination after eating a marijuana brownie. It happened at a student flat in Malaga city in the early hours of 30 September, although it was only this week that the force's homicide group completed its reconstruction of the events and ruled out, at least for now, the involvement of third parties in the young woman's fall. The alarm was first raised with the Local Police force in Malaga and it began with a kidnapping alert. The 092 room received a call alerting them that a girl was being held against her will, so, given the seriousness of the report, the nearest patrols were mobilised. When the officers arrived at the scene, they found a young woman lying badly injured on the ground outside the building, bleeding from the nose. Three floors up, leaning out of a window, there were some people screaming. One of the officers stayed with the victim, requesting urgent medical assistance, while his colleague went upstairs to clarify the situation. YouTube video Inside the student flat there were three young men and three young women in a state of shock. They were screaming, crying and very nervous. When they calmed down, they told the police that they had made a brownie cake with three grams of marijuana following instructions they had found in a YouTube video. According to witnesses, the young woman who fell ate a piece of the cake and immediately afterwards began to feel sick. She first went to the bathroom to vomit and then locked herself in the room. Her friends tried to get in, but she had bolted the door, according to their version of events. When one of them forced the door open and entered the room, he saw the window open. When he looked out, he saw that she was badly lying badly injured on the ground below. Before the fall, the young woman sent a message via WhatsApp to another friend who she told that she had been kidnapped. It was the latter friend who phoned the 092 room to report the situation. Intensive care unit When health services arrived at the scene, they stabilised the victim and transferred her to Malaga's Regional Hospital, where she was admitted in a very serious condition. She had suffered fractures to an arm and a leg, as well as abdominal and thoracic trauma. She was taken straight to the intensive care unit, where there were fears for her life in the initial hours. Meanwhile, back at the scene, police officers sealed off the bathroom, and the area where she landed, so that forensic experts could carry out a visual inspection. They also seized the remains of the marijuana cake that were still on a tray and which are still being analysed in a laboratory to determine if it could be contaminated with any other substance. Officers from the homicide unit of the National Police continued the investigations and took statements from each of the young people present in the flat. After several days of investigation, the officers have come to the conclusion that, so far, there is no evidence of the involvement of third parties in the victim's fall. The police theory is that the young woman, after eating a piece of the cake, went into a kind of "trance" that turned into persecution mania, and wanted to slide or hang out of the window to try to escape. The young woman spent several days in the hospital's ICU, although her condition is now said to be improving favourably. Tony Bryant Fuengirola Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Fuengirola town hall has joined forces with the Spanish cancer association (AECC) to host an exhibition of large-format photographs to highlight breast cancer awareness. Under the banner of Green Hope, the display will be installed on the Paseo Maritimo in Los Boliches (next to the Roman monument) and will consist of images that make up the AECC 2024 charity calendar, which was launched this week. The initiative was announced by councillor Rodrigo Romero, along with AECC representative Belen Izquierdo, and Antonio Martin, one of the photographers who has collaborated on the exhibition, which will be inaugurated at midday on Thursday 19 October. The charity produces the calendar, which costs seven euros, each year to raise awareness and also to finance the multiple activities it organises, and services it offers, throughout the year. Izquierdo said, We started working on the calendar in March, and now in October we see the result. It is the work of 13 photographers from Fuengirola who have participated altruistically to create twelve photographs plus the cover, based on an optimistic and vital vision of a group of 60 model-patients who have overcome the disease. The exhibition can be viewed until the first week of November. SUR Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Locals already know that Malaga province in the Andalucia region in the south of Spain is beautiful and full of incredible landmarks and attractions, but it always sparks much debate about which are everyone's favourites. This summer, SUR's expert on walking routes and monuments in the province, Javier Almellones, listed and wrote about the 50 best and most-interesting places to visit across the whole of the area. That list has now been narrowed down after SUR readers were asked to vote for what they believe are the seven wonders of the province. Results of the online poll, which opened on 3 October and closed on 10 October, have now been revealed. These are the seven 'treasures' as chosen by the voters: The gorge and 'new bridge' in Ronda, Caminito del Rey and Desfiladero de los Gaitanes (Ardales and others), Jardin Botanico de la Concepcion, El Torcal de Antequera, La Alcazaba de Malaga, the Roman Theatre and, finally, the Pinsapar de la Sierra de las Nieves (Tolox, Yunquera, El Burgo, Ronda and Parauta). These are the 'gems' that made it into the final of the SUR readers' vote: Irene Quirante Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Colleagues have baptised him the "scourge" of the SAS (the Andalusian health service). Francisco Damian Vazquez, a lawyer specialising in healthcare law, has been in charge of the legal services of the patient defence association (Defensor del Paciente) in Malaga for almost three decades. Rarely a week goes by without a new sentence in which the organisation achieves justice in cases of medical negligence. -I understand you are called 'the scourge of the SAS'; how do you feel about that nickname? -Yes, there are many clients and colleagues who call me that because we have won many cases of claims against the Andalusian health service. I am proud of this nickname because through the association I defend people who are going through real tragedies, in many cases involving death or patients who suffer very serious effects of medical negligence. I have been specialising in this area for more than 30 years and for 25 years as a legal collaborator of the patient defence association, with cases that are not so easy to prove; it is a great satisfaction to see justice done, even if the damage is irreparable. -What led you to specialise in this type of litigation? -It was as I was beginning my professional work that I spoke to the patient defence association, created by Carmen Flores. She is the president and a woman who is a great fighter and selflessly devoted to the cause of healthcare negligence, precisely because of the great lack of defence that existed at the time for victims and which she experienced firsthand with the death of her son after several cases of medical negligence. They were looking for a collaborating lawyer in the area of eastern Andalucia. And here I am still today. -Which fields are the most complained about in Malaga? -There are many, but we generally receive complaints about gynaecology, related to care during childbirth; about accident and emergency departments, related to wrongful discharges and omission of tests and controls, with cases in which the patient has been discharged and has died within hours of arriving home. There are also complaints related to cosmetic surgery, especially in the Costa del Sol area; and many situations related to diagnostic errors in traumatology. Another problem we are seeing, especially in recent times, is the delay in the diagnosis of cancer cases, with deaths and serious complications. These tests cannot be delayed as happened in the case of a patient who died that went to court recently; it took about ten months to carry out the tests, despite his insistence and the complaints he made. By the time he got the result he was already stage four. This is what cannot be allowed. -Are there times of the year when these complaints increase? -In Malaga there are problems that are endemic, such as waiting lists and overcrowded emergency departments. As soon as January and February arrive, with the flu, the emergency rooms will be overcrowded again; in summer the same thing happens because of the lack of doctors. I have been doing this for more than 25 years and it seems like the eternal Groundhog Day; it always happens again and again. This happens especially in the public health system, where there is a shortage of rooms and professionals cannot cope with the volume of patients, which is a trigger for serious negligence. -Are we suffering from the consequences of the overloading of healthcare provision? -The workloads of professionals are a breeding ground for this. Lack of resources, lack of time, haste, wrongful discharges, failure to examine a patient properly and not keeping investigating until a diagnosis is found.... We have seen it this summer, which has been very bad, with deaths within hours of leaving hospital due to wrongful discharges. We have even received complaints from professionals denouncing this lack of resources, warning that, in this scenario, something could happen. This is unacceptable when we are talking about health and human life, one of the fundamental rights of Spain's Constitution. -Are these cases becoming more and more common? -Much to our regret, they are progressively increasing year after year. In Andalucia we had in 2022 a total of 2,671 cases of alleged medical negligence and Malaga province is behind Seville, in the lead, with 725 complaints. Unfortunately, we are also in the ranking of the hospitals with the most complaints at Andalucia level, with the Virgen de la Victoria in second place and the Regional Universitario in third. This is data from the latest report of the patient defence association and I worry that, from what we are already seeing, next year will be worse. We have filed many complaints about Covid, among other issues, and we are noticing that the standstill caused by the pandemic has led to many misdiagnoses and delays with very serious consequences. In terms of rulings, we are also seeing that there are more and more cases of convictions, or claims against medical insurers that we are taking through civil proceedings. -So in short, you don't exactly have much free time. -Well, not much, but I'm happy. It is a very vocational job, which I love and which gives me a lot of satisfaction when the cases turn out well. I am proud to be part of an organisation that, by fighting for all these causes, has achieved important milestones and helped bring in procedures that were really needed. Our motto is that we must demand that the negligence suffered by a person and, in turn, by those around them, does not happen again. And there should be no fear of reprisals when you see that things have not been done properly. -What cases would you highlight? -There was a very sad case we had of a man who went to the casualty department in Antequera and was left in a waiting room for hours. Supposedly they called him over the loudspeaker and marked him down as voluntary discharge. It turned out that this person, whose name was Angel, had been suffering a stroke for five hours and had been left waiting. He was taken to another hospital but it was too late and he died. As a result, we managed to change the SAS procedure and establish the Angel Code to identify and monitor patients in the emergency department. We also managed to get a section included in the civil procedure law so lawyers can access medical records in preliminary proceedings before filing a civil lawsuit. SUR in English Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Specsavers Opticas in Spain is urging people to get their eyes regularly tested to mark World Sight Day which was marked on 12 October. Fuengirola store director Judith Borland said: "Taking care of your eyes is important to ensure good sight throughout your life, but many people dont think about their eye health as much as they should". "Many problems with the eyes have no symptoms, so you should have a check-up with your optometrist every two years from the age of three," she added. While many people are aware that a routine eye test can identify sight-related illnesses such as glaucoma and cataracts, the same eye test could help detect serious medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and brain tumours. The Specsavers Opticas teams from the Marbella and Fuengirola stores revealed two examples on how crucial eye tests can be. In one case study, 68-year-old Carolyn Thompson noticed patchy and blurred vision after lifting weights at the gym. Specsavers Opticas in Fuengirola discovered she had a bleed behind her left eye and referred her to a nearby hospital for treatment. Following an injection in her eye to disperse the fluid and being put on medication to control her blood pressure, her vision returned to normal. Kerstin Boddenberg, optometrist at Specsavers Opticas in Fuengirola explained, When Carolyn came to us for an eye test, we were able see a branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) when we took pictures of the back of her eye. This was affecting her macula, thereby causing the blurry vision." Carolyn said, "Thankfully, the team at Specsavers Opticas in Fuengirola and at the Universidad Clinico hospital in Malaga were absolutely brilliant. I had a comprehensive eye test, using a wide range of checks and technology, including a camera to take a picture of the back of the eye. It was this that was able to see the bleed and the optician explained the issue and told me to go straight to the hospital and gave me a referral letter to take in. The team at the hospital were really efficient too and I got treatment and follow up very quickly and within a week my vision was back to normal. I am now on medication to control my blood pressure and have the all clear. The specialist told me that it could have been caused by the strain of lifting weights, probably the chest presses." Meanwhile, Lynda Woodin has been going to Specsavers Opticas in Marbella for regular eye tests since the store opened 10 years ago. But at her latest appointment, she was urgently referred to hospital after the optometrist suspected she was developing cataracts due to a large change in her prescription. She was operated on just in time on both her eyes and her vision has now significantly improved. "Both the specialist and I have been delighted by the results. Theyve said my vision is almost perfect!" Lynda said. "I can see so much better and it has really improved my quality of life, particularly when driving at night," she added. There are two Specsavers Opticas on the Costa del Sol, in Marbella and Fuengirola and comprehensive eye tests are free. Visit www.specsavers.es to find your nearest store and book an appointment. Cristina Pinto Malaga Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Marisa Gonzalez was in her thirties when she read a newspaper article that triggered a lifelong transformation of her artistic and activist side. "It described the violence suffered by women; it was torture like nothing I had ever heard of," she said. That moment in 1975 left a profound impact on the Bilbao-born artist and is now being remembered through the exhibition La Mulata y sus Mascaras (The Mulatto and her Masks) at the Isabel Hurley gallery until 10 November. Several photographic sequences from the Violencia Mujer project provoke contemplation from the gallery walls. Marisa Gonzalez told SUR: "I had a studio mate in Washington, Liz Williams, who had all the features of a black woman: full lips, coarse hair, and a broad nose. But her skin was completely white, which posed an identity problem in her life. She felt out of place. Her father said they preferred to live in the black neighbourhood because in the white one, they were completely discriminated against. So, she used this lack of identity in her work, creating masks of her own face with various mediums, concealing herself, and questioning her true identity. I took photographs, and I wanted to call it La Mulata." These photographs were first exhibited at Tabacalera in Madrid in 1975. "This discourse still resonates well with current events and now everyone is asking me for these works," she said. The artist has just turned 80 but still remembers her first feminist series titled La Violacion (The Rape) and projects in which she addressed gender -based violence, women's identity, and even industrial dismantling, as she did with her photographs of the Lemoniz nuclear power plant. And there is still much to denounce, just as in those projects from nearly 50 years ago. That's why the art world and galleries continue to request these works from the Bilbao-born artist, who, through her memories and her art, still looks at the world through the eyes of a feminist from 1975. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. New York states top export in 2022 was precious gems, according to a recent list from Stacker. Stacker compiled a list of the 30 biggest exports in the state last year using trade data from the Census Bureau. Syracuse, N.Y Caz Tortilla Co., which brought fresh-made versions of the Mexican and southwest staple to shops and restaurants around Central New York, is closing. The company, owned by Casey and Katie Masters, started in 2021 and made its flour and corn tortillas and whole wheat wraps in a factory at 1622 Burnet Ave. in Syracuse. They sold the product at the factory, and also distributed them to stores like Price Chopper, the Syracuse Cooperative Market, Green Hills, Nojaims and others. They also sold tortillas through a stall at the Central New York Regional Market and the Off the Muck food delivery service. Caz Tortilla also supplied tortillas to restaurants and food trucks, including Ponchitos, Mad Tacos, XO Tacos, Mamacitas, Alto Cinco and more. See current vendor list. Caz Tortilla is the only locally based wholesale supplier of tortillas in Central New York. The company announced the closing via a Facebook message Friday morning: Tomorrow (Oct. 14) will be our final day at the CNY Regional Market as we begin the process of closing permanently, the message read. Thank you, CNY, for all the support and encouragement we enjoyed along the way. Special thanks to @xo_taco , @madcotacos , @alto5cinco , @mamacitas_kitchenandfoodtruck , @ponchitos01 , @pricechopper , @syracusemets , @syracuseu @ghfarmscny , and @20.east for supporting local business and giving us the opportunity to become a part of the Central New York food scene. Casey Masters told syracuse.com today that despite the many local outlets for the tortillas it was difficult to make enough to sustain the business. Essentially, we found that making tortillas is a business that only gets profitable at scale, he said. We were at an inflection point and would need some pretty significant investments to get where we need to be. Caz Tortilla will continue cooking them up through the middle of next week, and may have some for sale at the Burnet Avenue location, he said. (There will be a sandwich board out front if they are available). Wednesday will be the last day to get a Caz Tortilla, he said. Casey and Katie Masters are Air Force veterans who moved to Central New York from New Mexico. They live in Cazenovia, and looked there for a location before settling on the space on Burnet Avenue in Syracuse. They ran the business with their neighbor and operations manager, Drew Merkel. Central New York Magazine: The Good Life featured Caz Tortilla in a profile earlier this year. Utilizing the Masterses technical know-how and Merkels food production experience, the team approached recipe development, operations standards and testing with military precision, the magazine feature reported. The science behind finding the right hydration levels, cook speeds, mix times and other variables is quite technical, but the results are flavorful tortillas earning rave reviews. Margaret McCormick, who writes about food at her Eat First blog, had this to say about Caz Tortilla earlier this year: One local food that recently rocked my world and makes me want to eat a breakfast taco every day is the tortillas made by Caz Tortilla Company. ... If your only experience with tortillas is grocery store tortillas, youre in for a pleasant surprise. The local tortillas taste fresh, contain no sugar or artificial ingredients and have more heft to them than flimsy (and tear-prone) mass-produced tortillas. Casey Masters said its possible they will try to get back into business in Central New York in some way. Weve loved being part of the food business here, he said. Everyone made us feel welcome, so thats an incentive. More CNY food and drink news: New mochi donut shop opens in Destiny USA. A second location in suburbs is coming Two new vendors to take spots in downtown Syracuses Salt City Market A Central New York craft brewery is closing. It was challenging and rewarding, owners say Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. Syracuse, N.Y. A 72-year-old Fayetteville man was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday for lying on a Federal Aviation Administration form to renew his pilots license. The man, Noah Felice, has had a colorful history that includes saying he was rescued by aliens after a fatal plane crash. Hes also lied on a pistol permit, made up a residency to run for town judge and lost his private investigators license for repeatedly lying. U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby sentenced Felice to one month in prison and three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of New York. He was ordered to surrender Nov. 22. Felices lawyers filed court papers Thursday to appeal the sentence. Prosecutors said Felice in 2017 failed to report four misdemeanor convictions and that he was receiving medical disability benefits. At the time, he was getting a disability check the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for post-traumatic stress disorder. Felice was charged with making a false report in 2022. After a three-day trial, it took a jury less than three hours to find him guilty. Felices lawyers argued in court papers filed late last month that Felice should be sentenced to probation. They argued that time in prison could disrupt treatment for his serious health problems, which include spinal fragmentation, hip failure and Alzheimers disease. His pilots license has been revoked, he has no intentions of ever flying a plane again, wrote public defender Gabrielle DiBella, one of Felices lawyers. He wants only to live out his last days in peace. Felice once claimed a beam of light caused him to crash a plane he was flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1980. The crash killed his cousin, and Felice later told the History Channel that he was rescued by aliens. He later moved to Central New York and was convicted in 2010 for lying about his criminal history on a pistol permit. Felice also ran around that time for a town judges seat in Oswego County by setting up what appeared to be a phony home address in Constantia. He dropped out of the race after The Post-Standard published a story about his residency. Felice had a private investigators license revoked in 2013 by New York state for repeatedly lying about his past. He got in trouble the same year on charges of having unregistered, loaded handguns in his home. Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at jmoss@syracuse.com or @mossjon7. Syracuse, N.Y. -- A proposed law that the Syracuse city auditor requested, legislators approved and the mayor vetoed will soon be in the hands of the final decision makers voters. In addition to a dozen elected offices and two statewide propositions, Syracuse ballots this year include a citywide referendum that advocates say will more precisely define the powers of the city auditor, an elected office charged with conducting independent reviews of city government operations. The current auditor, Nader Maroun, said hes discovered since taking office in 2020 that the city charter, which outlines the scope of the auditors work, needed an update. Specifically, he believes the office should have the power to issue subpoenas if needed to secure testimony or documents. Along with that power, he said, it needs the ability to employ outside legal counsel because the citys corporation counsel would be representing the mayors administration in such matters. Mayor Ben Walsh agrees that updating the charter would be a good idea, but he has concerns about wording of the proposed local law. The Syracuse Common Council unanimously approved Marouns proposal on April 10. Walsh vetoed the councils approval a month later, but the council unanimously overrode the veto at its May 22 meeting. That cleared the way for the ballot proposition to be included for the Nov. 7 election. Maroun said his office has experienced difficulties obtaining information from administration officials for a few of their audits. We kept hitting the wall, in terms of getting information in a timely fashion, Maroun said. What that led to was, Well, what does the charter say? Looking at the charter, it became clear to me that there was some ambiguity that was surfacing. Maroun said he researched other cities in crafting his proposal. He also attempted to mirror other sections of Syracuses charter that provide subpoena power and the ability to hire outside legal help to other city bodies: the common council and the Citizen Review Board. Maroun provided his proposal to the mayor, who had the city corporation counsel office review it. The office provided some suggested changes but Maroun and the council didnt include them. I didnt think they were in keeping with the spirit of what we were trying to accomplish, Maroun said. The key change the Walsh administration wanted was language that would require the city auditor to follow municipal auditing standards that are established by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The veto was just the mayors second since taking office in 2018. While I support a Charter change, such change must be tied to applicable municipal auditing standards to ensure the efficient operation of the City audit process and comport with best practices, Walsh wrote in his veto message. Unfortunately, the proposed Local Law fails to account for either of those objectives. Maroun said those federal standards apply to certified public accountants conducting detailed financial reviews, something the city hires external auditing firms to do. His office reviews a wider range of matters, such as the police departments COVID policies, the management of city parking garages and the use of mobile communication devices by city staff. Our audits are performance audits; theyre not accounting audits, he said. Walsh also raised concern about the legal counsel provision, especially in the absence of the lack of language regarding auditing standards. He said the proposed law was increasing the risk of unnecessary litigation between municipal officials and increased costs. Greg Loh, the citys chief policy officer, said the Walsh administration continues to oppose the ballot question. Regarding Marouns concerns about being able to get information for audits, Loh referred back to the need to adopt the GAO accounting standards, which he said would clarify how auditors can operate. (The lack of standards) leads to disagreement, Loh said. The referendum wont resolve that. Syracuse city resident ballot question for the 2023 election. The wording of the ballot question, which must be succinct in order to fit, does not get into subpoena powers or accounting standards. Instead, it states the following: Shall the electors of the City approve Local law entitled: Local Law - of the City of Syracuse to amend Sections 5-503 entitled Scope of Audits and Section 5-505 entitled Legal Counsel, of the City Charter as detailed in the legislation. Adopted by the Syracuse Common Council on 4-10-23. Which Local Law will increase transparency and accountability between Governing bodies and the Citizens of Syracuse, by clarifying the scope of audits conducted by the City Auditor and, subject to Common Council approval, permitting the City Auditor to retain Independent legal counsel? Syracuse Common Councilor Jimmy Monto, whos a member of the councils charter committee that brought Marouns proposal to the full body, said hes heard from about 50 constituents asking for clarity on the proposition. Hes eager to tell them why he supports the measure. It gives the auditors office a clearer definition, he said. Its just a move toward better government. The person who is likely to be Marouns successor also supports the charter change. Alexander Marion narrowly defeated Maroun in a Democratic primary for auditor held in June, and hes not facing any Republican opposition. I think its important for the auditor to have a big toolkit, Marion said. The more tools we can get in the box, the better. Marion also emphasized that establishing productive, professional relationships with other city offices will be a priority. When you have that, youre going to get a lot more done, he said. The general election takes place Tuesday, Nov. 7. Early voting this year runs from Oct. 28 through Nov. 5. RELATED Onondaga County voters should not expect many choices in 2023 election Elections 2023: Dell vs Essi in Onondaga County Clerk race Election 2023: Whos on the ballot in Onondaga County McMahon, Kinne face off in first forum of the race for Onondaga County executive Republicans wont run for Syracuse Common Council seats in 2023 election Former lawmaker seeks to unseat Marty Masterpole in Onondaga County comptrollers race Ryan McMahon builds campaign fund to $427,000 heading toward 2023 county exec race Christine Varga trounces Chuck Keller in Conservative primary for Onondaga County DA City reporter Jeremy Boyer can be reached at jboyer@syracuse.com, (315) 657-5673, Twitter or Facebook. I am very proud to be in Baku. President of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar said during his speech at an exhibition organized within the Days of Culture and Presentation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in Baku, Azernews reports. President said his visit to Baku was of great importance for the further development of relations with Azerbaijan: "Northern Cyprus is still continuing its struggle. The Turkish people of Cyprus have been sanctioned in all fields. The resistance shown by our people to these Sanctions is commendable. Azerbaijan has also given many martyrs for its independence. It has fought many battles. The victory in Garabagh once again showed the strength of our brothers to the whole world". To the Editor: We write today, as mayors of the villages of Fayetteville, Manlius, Minoa) , in strong support of the request made by the Immaculate Conception Elementary School to hire a school resource officer through the town of Manlius Police Department (Manlius says it cant put a cop at a private school. So how is DeWitt doing it? Sept. 27, 2023). As you are likely aware, the Immaculate Conception parish has over 2,000 families with the great majority from the town of Manlius. A good number of those families live in our villages. The church and school are located in the town and are very good neighbors to those of us in our villages. The school is the educational home of over 300 children. Parents are happily involved in school activities. Though smaller than the Fayetteville-Manlius public schools, it is a vibrant institution with a 70-year history. Over the past few years, the parish has invested heavily in physical security. Improved and hardened doors, entrances, foyers, electronic surveillance and electronic lock systems have been built and installed. They have retained consultants to guide them with these investments and there are more planned. On March 27, 2023, six people were killed at a school in Nashville, Tennessee three 9-year-old children and three adults. This event motivated Immaculate Conception parents and administration to create a security committee to review options in light of the growing violence on school grounds around the United States. Over 85% of current parents expressed their interest in hiring security officers to add to the layers of physical security that already exist. After much discussion, the parish community decided to request the towns assistance. Some four months ago, the town was approached with a request to work with Immaculate Conception in hiring a school resource officer, similar to those the F-M district has in every school. The parish committed to covering all costs. The parish committed to working with the town to address whatever issues might arise. After many weeks, only recently has the board communicated that such an arrangement is illegal. Holy Cross School has made the same request of the town of DeWitt. Recent media coverage has highlighted Manlius claiming it is illegal while DeWitt is publicly expressing their willingness to work with the school, hold public hearings and write a local law to accommodate the need. Why are we weighing in? Because the children and their parents are our constituents, our friends, our neighbors and they have hopefully come to us asking if there is anything we can do. Since this is a town issue, there is no direct governmental action for us to take. We can, however, express our deepest interest in the town providing a safe and secure learning environment for all students in our schools. Relying on what appears to be either a legal contrivance or at best a legal convenience to deny security to these children is an inexcusable breach of our duty to govern, serve and protect. Mark Olson Mayor of Fayetteville Bill Brazill Mayor of Minoa Paul Whorrall Mayor of Manlius On the afternoon of Oct. 3, a 34-year-old from Brooklyn fell while hiking the Escarpment Trail near Newmans Ledge in the Catskills, which overlooks the Hudson River Valley. The hiker injured her ankle and shoulder, so her partner went to look for help, taking their two dogs with her. Meanwhile, the injured hiker called 911. A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest ranger hiked approximately 1.5 miles to the injured hiker and provided first aid while coordinating her evacuation. Four other rangers marched in with a wheeled litter and rope gear to assist with the carry-out. The rope gear proved critical in navigating four areas of steep terrain, and rangers cleared the woods at 10:15 p.m., after which the hikers partner took her to the hospital. The following reports are excerpted from DEC: Rangers ticketed a man for illegally camping in Beebe Hill State Forest Two rangers patrolling Beebe Hill State Forest on Oct. 6 discovered a tent just off trail with rubbish strewn nearby. The tent was unoccupied, but a propane space heater was still lit. On Oct. 7, three rangers returned to check on the site and discovered someone walking to the camp who to be living out of the tent for more than a month. Rangers issued three appearance tickets for camping within 150 feet of a trail, failure to maintain a neat and sanitary campsite, and camping for four nights or more without a permit. The illegal camper was advised to clean up the campsite and move out. A 90-year-old with dementia wandered into the woods in Constantia on Oct. 3, prompting their caretaker to call for help. A ranger assisting state police found the person and guided them out of the woods to a Brewerton Ambulance. A 70-year-old from New York City injured her ankle on Oct. 8 while hiking the Hemlock Trail in the Mountain Top Arboretum. Two rangers, and other rescue personnel, went into the woods and found the hiker, splinted her ankle, and wheeled her out in a litter to a waiting ambulance. Rangers rescued three hikers who got stranded behind waterfalls at Indian Falls while descending Street Mountain on the afternoon of Oct. 7. Three hikers got stranded behind waterfalls at Indian Falls while descending Street Mountain on the afternoon of Oct. 7. Eight rangers using an inflatable rescue boat pulled the hikers to safety before helping them to their vehicles. A 35-year-old from Minnesota activated an emergency beacon in the Adirondacks on the night of Oct. 4 indicating that he was having a diabetic emergency. The hiker self-administered insulin but could not test his blood sugar. Rangers accompanied by a paramedic reached the patient at 11 p.m. between Basin Mountain and Little Haystack. They helped him and his hiking partner back to their vehicles, and shortly after midnight the patients blood sugar was back to a normal. A 62-year-old fisherman from Tivoli struck a rockpile on Great Sacandaga Lake on Oct. 8. Rangers rescued the angler and recovered his boat. A 62-year-old fisherman from Tivoli struck a rockpile with his boat on Oct. 8 on Great Sacandaga Lake, near the shoreline of Sinclair Point. Two rangers along with members of the Northville Fire Department waded out to the stranded boat and guided the angler back to shore. Rangers then coordinated efforts with staff from Reets Boat Works to recover the rapidly sinking boat and transport it back to its owner at the Northampton Campground boat launch. On the evening of Oct. 8, a dozen hikers ranging in age from 14 to 75 got lost on Owls Head Mountain. The group had hiked a hunters trail into a beaver pond but veered off on the way back. They had minimal clothing and food and no headlamps. Dispatch located the groups coordinates a couple of hundred yards east of the trail. Two rangers hiked two miles and reached the group after dark, gave them extra clothing and headlamps, and safely walked them out. Sign up for the CNY Outdoors Newsletter Enter your email address to get weekly updates on CNY outdoors news delivered to your inbox: READ MORE Forest rangers conduct seven wilderness rescues in Adirondacks and Catskills - syracuse.com Rangers rescue elderly hiker who smashed face on rock in Adirondacks - newyorkupstate.com Rangers uproot pot plants growing in Upstate NY forest - newyorkupstate.com Catskills hiker injured while escaping Predator is rescued by forest rangers - newyorkupstate.com Rangers find Upstate NY man with medical condition who went missing for five days - newyorkupstate.com Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors. By Alex Gault | Watertown Daily Times Albany, N.Y. State Senate Republicans are calling for the expulsion of a group of three of their Democratic colleagues who are part of the Democratic Socialists of America. Its one part of the firestorm that has grown over the New York City chapters decision to promote a pro-Palestine rally in the wake of Hamas attacks on Israeli communities over the weekend. In Congress on Thursday, a coalition of New Yorks Republican representatives including Claudia L. Tenney, Canandaigua, Elise M. Stefanik, Willsboro, Marcus J. Molinaro, Tivoli, and Nicholas A. Langworthy, Jamestown, joined onto a resolution written by Michael V. Lawler, Pearl River, to condemn the NYC DSA chapter over its promotion of the protest. There are three Democratic state senators who campaigned as members of the DSA; Julia Salazar, Brooklyn, Jabari Brisport, Brooklyn, and Kristen S. Gonzalez, Queens. All three were elected as Democrats and Working Families party members. In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Andrea A. Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, the Senate Republicans requested that the leader immediately strip the three senators of their committee assignments and leadership roles. Salazar serves as the chair of the Majority Steering Committee and chairs the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections. Brisport chairs the Senate Committee on Children and Families, and Gonzalez chairs the Senate Internet and Technology Committee. Additionally, the Senate Republicans requested that Stewart-Cousins call a special session and vote to expel the three senators from the Senate entirely. It is our conferences opinion that these individuals have disqualified themselves by standing in support of war crimes, terrorism and a terrorist group, over our allies, the nation of Israel, the letter reads. Their unwillingness to condemn the rally and the DSA shows a lack of moral judgement at best and anti-Semitism at worst. The letter was signed by every Republican state senator in New York. ___ (c)2023 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.) Visit Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.) at www.watertowndailytimes.com Manlius, N.Y. Immaculate Conception Elementary School has come up with a temporary solution that will put a police officer on its campus, according to Jonathan Karp, a lawyer and Immaculate Conception parent whos been working on the issue for the school. Karp, who also is a Cicero town councilor, said an off-duty Cicero police officer will start serving as a School Resource Officer, or armed cop, at the school starting Monday. The decision comes after school officials and parents have been lobbying the town of Manlius for weeks to allow a retired Manlius police officer to serve as an armed school resource officer inside the school. The town has said no, that its against municipal law for the town of Manlius to contract with a private entity, such as the school. The school will pay the Cicero off-duty officers salary, which will be $50 an hour. We are very happy to have this temporary solution and very grateful to Cicero, said IC Principal Nancy Ferrarone. The towns collective bargaining agreement allows Cicero police officers to work off-duty security. The police officer filling the role will be off duty for the town when he or she is working for the school, and that person may change, Karp said. Karp said its a temporary solution due to issues with insurance and liability with the Syracuse Diocese. He said incidents at the Jewish Community Center have heightened the parents desire for extra security at the school. Earlier this week, a 14-year-old vandalized Jewish flags at the center. Parents and school officials plan to continue asking for Manlius to allow a retired officer to fill the role. Ferrarone said they still hope to work out a long-term solution with the town. Manlius Town Supervisor John Deer has said New York municipal law and an Attorney General opinion from 1974 prohibit the town from contracting with a private school for police protection, even if the school is willing to pick up the tab. Plus, doing so would violate state constitutional rules that say a town cant give a loan or a gift to a private entity, such as a private school, he said. The town of DeWitt is about to consider creating a constable position which would allow the person to provide security at Holy Cross Elementary School in DeWitt. Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com Duanesburg, N.Y. A man claims psychosis sparked by Covid-19 led him to stab his wife and young son to death in Upstate New York, according to reports. Jury selection is underway in Schenectady County Court for the murder trial of Nelson Patino, a man who stands accused of brutally attacking his family in their Capital Region home in December 2021, reported WNYT. His wife, Alexandria Bustamante Gomez, and his older son, 5-year-old Jacob Patino, died; his younger son, who was 2 at the time, survived. During the trial, Patinos attorney plans to undertake a novel defense: Michael McDermott argues short-term psychosis brought on by Covid led him to attack his family in their Duanesburg home, reported the Times-Union. It appears to be the first time the defense strategy has been attempted in the United States since the pandemic struck, the newspaper said. Observations dating back to the Spanish flu pandemic have linked epidemics to increased reports of psychosis, according to an article in the National Library of Medicine. Although the same concerns were raised during the Covid-19 pandemic, the authors wrote that there is so far relatively limited evidence that connects psychosis to the virus. By Friday morning, nine jurors had been selected for Patinos jury, WNYT reported. Patino stands accused of first-degree murder. If hes found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. READ MORE Bob Costas saves friends life at Syracuse restaurant, performs Heimlich maneuver Upstate NY man charged with murdering father after 911 call for cardiac arrest Family of woman who died in Main Street Armory concert stampede sues venue Man trying to sexually abuse kid in Upstate NY instead meets troopers, state police say Follow NYUp.com on Instagram and TikTok for beautiful Upstate New York views and more content. A Taste of Things to Come! Teagasc has established a new apple research orchard at its crops research centre in Oak Park, Carlow. This new research programme represents a fundamental step in developing the apple sector in Ireland. Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pippa Hackett recently visited the orchard as the first harvest of Apples were being gathered. Pictured from L to R: Dermot Callaghan, Head of Teagasc Horticulture Department; Alberto Ramos Luz, Fruit Research Officer, Teagasc and Senator Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity on her recent visit to the new apple research orchard at Teagasc Crops Research Centre in Oak Park, Carlow. It is hoped that this research could be the catalyst for the development of the dessert apple (eating apple) sector in Ireland. The domestic retail market for dessert apples is worth 135 million with over 90% currently filled by imports, so the potential for import substitution with locally grown apples is there. The Irish climate is suitable for growing apples, and there are new varieties and technologies available for evaluation and adoption in an Irish climate. The consumer has a positive perception of Irish apples, and there is favourable consumer behaviour towards healthy eating and short supply chains. If the sector is to develop then, the right choice of variety, rootstock and training system will be fundamental to achieving high yield efficiency, high fruit quality and consequently good profitability for existing and new fruit growers. The research programme is expected to deliver essential preliminary data for the future recommendation of apple tree genotypes with high productive potential and fruit quality under Irish conditions, as well as to future proposal of a modern and high-efficiency production model to achieve high yields, high fruit quality with reduced labour costs. With this, the development of the apple sector could: Be increased by approximately 30 million per annum at farm gate Substitute substantial imports with Irish eating apples Offer diversification options for other horticulture and crop producers Provide potential for offsetting CO 2 emissions. Speaking during the visit, Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Senator Pippa Hackett, welcomed this new research saying; This new apple research project at Oak Park will help to underpin future potential development in a sector worth 135 million, the vast majority of which is currently taken up by imports. It is a small part of the larger horticulture sector which is a key focus of mine. I am delighted to have secured a total package of 14.35 million for the sector for the year ahead. We continue to progress the delivery of the National Strategy for Horticulture setting out a vision for the sector for the next five years. Director of Teagasc, Professor Frank OMara said; There are no short cuts when it comes to developing the apple sector. We start at the beginning where the science behind modern apple varieties and production systems are evaluated in an Irish context so that we can play our part in creating an enabling environment for the sector to expand. We have recruited a new research officer, Alberto Ramos Luz to run the programme and invested resources in the orchard, lab facilities and equipment and I am looking forward to seeing the fruits of this new research programme. This new apple research programme will provide opportunities for the sector to develop value added opportunities in juices, fermented beverages, prepared consumer foods and waste valorisation. Fruit Research Officer with Teagasc, Alberto Ramos Luz said; a study with high scientific rigor is necessary comparing all possible training systems, considering planting density, cultivars and rootstocks, in order to identify the best options for Irish conditions. While we are at the beginning in terms of building the research programme, I am excited to unlock the potential of new varieties and technologies for Irish apple production systems. Cresterk Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Kerala Posts: 1,288 Thanked: 4,204 Times Re: Global NCAP crashes Argentine Peugeot van into European namesake to show Stellantis' double stan Quote: V.Narayan Originally Posted by Safety standards are good, better safety standards are better but a safety standard which means fewer can afford it and are therefore compelled to ride 2-wheelers are counter productive. Quote: The first second and third safety criterion with a car is your driving, your driving and your driving. The 4th criterion are wearing seat belts. The fifth criterion are all the safety devices and electronics and structural technical details we go ga-ga about. All this rating business is for that last 20% - even less in my opinion. At least that is my view - clocking 45 years of driving next month. I believe everyone has the right to decide how much risk they want to take in life. Someone wants to go sky diving? Someone wants to live in a remote area that is a hundred km away from any hospitals or clinics? Someone wants to go rock climbing with no ropes? Someone wants to go swimming right out into the deep ocean? Someone wants to buy a car with no airbags and an unstable bodyshell? All should be completely up to them as long as they know the risks involved. None of these are guaranteed to end up with death or injury. They do have higher risks compared to the alternatives. But in the end, the person is free to choose what he wants because he is only causing risk to himself. What does irk me is selective laws about what is and isn't allowed. Why is it that not wearing a seatbelt or helmet is illegal with penalties if you do not comply? The only person being put at risk for not doing so is the one who chose not to wear it. The only harm it causes will be the harm to that person, not harm to any innocent bystanders or 3rd parties. Does this mean that putting ourselves at increased risk is illegal? In the same vein, why is it that selling cars with very poor safety ratings is legal with no penalties to the manufacturers? Is putting ourselves at increased risk okay then? Can I also skip wearing seatbelts in a 0 star rated car? I always wear my seatbelt. Not because it is what the law requires, but because it is proven to keep people safer during crashes and I care about my safety. Just because I wear my seatbelt or drive a car with high safety ratings does not mean that I am planning to get into crashes. Only that in the unfortunate even of a crash due to circumstances beyond my control, I want the risk to my health to be as low as possible. Agree with this. Any kind of car is safer than a 2 or 3 wheeler which is what the majority of the population uses for transport, especially considering the traffic situations here.I believe everyone has the right to decide how much risk they want to take in life.Someone wants to go sky diving?Someone wants to live in a remote area that is a hundred km away from any hospitals or clinics?Someone wants to go rock climbing with no ropes?Someone wants to go swimming right out into the deep ocean?Someone wants to buy a car with no airbags and an unstable bodyshell?All should be completely up to them as long as they know the risks involved.None of these are guaranteed to end up with death or injury. They do have higher risks compared to the alternatives. But in the end, the person is free to choose what he wants because he is only causing risk to himself.What does irk me is selective laws about what is and isn't allowed. Why is it that not wearing a seatbelt or helmet is illegal with penalties if you do not comply? The only person being put at risk for not doing so is the one who chose not to wear it. The only harm it causes will be the harm to that person, not harm to any innocent bystanders or 3rd parties. Does this mean that putting ourselves at increased risk is illegal?In the same vein, why is it that selling cars with very poor safety ratings is legal with no penalties to the manufacturers? Is putting ourselves at increased risk okay then? Can I also skip wearing seatbelts in a 0 star rated car?I always wear my seatbelt. Not because it is what the law requires, but because it is proven to keep people safer during crashes and I care about my safety. Just because I wear my seatbelt or drive a car with high safety ratings does not mean that I am planning to get into crashes. Only that in the unfortunate even of a crash due to circumstances beyond my control, I want the risk to my health to be as low as possible. Last edited by Cresterk : 14th October 2023 at 01:23 . Something to look forward to: Croatia has discovered a superhot underground lake that meets all the requirements for a 16 MW geothermal plant. The country hopes to construct one or more geothermal plant facilities at this site within two years, with more exploration and the potential for installing more renewable energy sources on the way. Croatia's state-run energy company, Bukotermal, has discovered a superhot underground lake at Lunjkovec Kutnjak field, in the Varazdin County, which meets all the requirements for a 16 MW geothermal plant that could supply clean electricity to tens of thousands of homes across the country's north. The lake is at a depth of 2.4 kilometers with an average temperature of 142.03 C, and its discovery is the culmination of a two-year study by the power company seeking to find suitable locations for geothermal power exploitation. 2.5 million Euro has already been invested in the venture; however, according to Bukotermal's CEO, Alen Pozgaj, around 50 million Euros would be required to build the plant. In recent years, Croatia has been eager to exploit its geothermal resources to end its overreliance on imported energy. The Balkan state is based in a geologically active region known as the Pannonian region, including the Czech Republic, parts of Slovakia, all of Hungary, and Romania. In this region, water gets hotter as the wells get deeper. According to the Croatian Hydrocarbon Agency (CHA), the geothermal gradient in the Croatian Pannonian area is 60% higher than the European average, making it a perfect area for the developing geothermal business. In the grand scheme of things, a 16 MW geothermal plant might seem minuscule, but it could be just the beginning for Croatia. Within the EU, Italy is the top geothermal energy producer, boasting a capacity of approximately 915 MW. Globally, the United States takes the lead with an installed geothermal generation capacity of 3,794 MW, which is roughly equivalent to 82 million barrels of oil annually. CHA believes Croatia's geothermal energy potential exceeds 1 gigawatt (GW). However, the country's geothermal energy capacity is still much lower even though there are already projects for pumping underground hot water to heat entire towns. The government believes that clean electricity can be supplied to one-third of the country by harnessing the energy from hot water pools. Geothermal energy provides consistent 24/7 power, offering greater reliability than wind and solar sources, as it is less affected by varying weather conditions. However, the expense of drilling wells can be prohibitive, and there's no guarantee that a drilled hole will yield the desired energy output. To address this challenge, Croatia currently utilizes existing wells, which reduces costs and is more attractive to investors. Bukotermal has six months to figure out how to exploit the discovery, in hopes of building one or more geothermal plant facilities at this site within two years. Croatia imports up to 40% of its energy and aims to produce 60% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. In recent months, the Croatian government has granted five geothermal exploration licenses with the potential to build as many as 21 geothermal wells. The total value of the exploration and project realization amounts to over 400 million Euros. What just happened? Microsoft has cleared what appears to have been the final hurdle in its protracted $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given its approval for the deal to complete, just as the October 18 deadline loomed large. Having initially blocked the deal over fears it could alter the fledgling cloud gaming industry, the CMA has now officially approved Microsoft's restructured deal having given it the provisional green light last week. The altered version includes the transfer of cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft. "The CMA has decided to give Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft) consent to acquire Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision) (the Parties) excluding Activision's cloud streaming rights outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) (the Merger) subject to the condition that the sale of Activision's cloud streaming rights completes prior to completion of the Merger," the CMA wrote in a statement. We've cleared the new deal for Microsoft to buy Activision without cloud gaming rights. In August, Microsoft made a concession that would see Ubisoft, instead of Microsoft, buy Activision's cloud gaming rights. Read more: https://t.co/Z4scLEJFy0 1/2 pic.twitter.com/gmqwZsOOFi Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) October 13, 2023 The watchdog added that the new deal will stop Microsoft from stifling competition in cloud gaming as the market starts to take off. It added that Microsoft's concession will ensure cloud gamers get more competitive prices, better services, and more choice. "We are the only competition agency globally to have delivered this outcome," said Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA. Microsoft Vice Chair and president Brad Smith said on X/Twitter that the company was grateful for the CMA's decision and that it believes the acquisition will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide. We're grateful for the CMA's thorough review and decision today. We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide. Brad Smith (@BradSmi) October 13, 2023 There was more good news for Microsoft and Activision this week when it was reported that the European Commission would not carry out a new probe into the deal. The Commission had cleared the takeover earlier this year but warned that it might need to conduct another review into the alterations, which would have caused even more delays. Microsoft still has to contend with the FTC. The US agency recently said it would be resuming its in-house trial against the takeover after pausing the process over the summer. However, while the FTC can technically continue to challenge the deal after it closes, it has no preliminary injunction in place to stop the acquisition from completing. It now looks as if Activision Blizzard's recent prediction will happen. The company said that it expects to begin adding games, including Modern Warfare III and Diablo IV, to Game Pass sometime next year if the deal closes. In brief: Do you spend a disproportionate amount of time drafting emails, many of which will be ignored completely by the recipient? A new study by Slack found that employees lose up to eight hours and 42 minutes each week on this futile endeavor, and yet, as one executive put it, "Email is the cockroach of the internet it simply won't die." Slack surveyed over 8,000 small business employees as part of its research. It found that workers are drafting 99 emails on average each week. Not only is this taking huge amounts of time, but it also seems quite pointless when two in five people admit that they don't bother reading emails that are longer than eight sentences. The study also showed that the average employee ignores six emails per day based on the subject line alone, while 48% said they miss emails due to spam or junk folders. A further 44% admitted that their inboxes are full of irrelevant emails. All of this means that a third of workers aren't seeing important details as the messages are being ignored, deleted, or missed. Another problem that 55% of respondents have with emails is that it's easy to misconstrue their tone. It's no surprise that 27% of people believe that email is an "outdated form of communication." The email problem is impacting productivity, with two-fifths of workers saying that related menial tasks are making them feel bogged down, while almost half say checking their inboxes constantly is making it difficult to succeed in their roles. Deirdre Byrne, Head of UK and Ireland at Slack, gave a fairly damning summary: "Email is the cockroach of the internet it simply won't die. Yet when it comes to business communication, the research reveals this 50-year-old tech isn't fit for purpose. Employees at small businesses are losing a working day each week to drafting emails which often go unread at the expense of productive work." For all the complaints about AI and its potential to replace human jobs, 51% of those surveyed said its ability to perform manual and repetitive tasks, which in this instance would presumably be drafting emails and scanning them for important details, is an appealing element of the technology. This isn't the first time Slack has criticized email. It did the same last year, highlighting many of the issues brought up in the recent study. The company suggested workers use other, more efficient ways to collaborate and communicate, including, of course, Slack. h/t: UC Today, center image: Maksim Goncharenok Something to look forward to: Major CPU manufacturers are continually engaged in developing new chip architectures and products. The rumor mill is ceaseless, and a recent Chinese source has now divulged detailed business plans for three of the world's largest chipmakers. A Chinese content creator has unveiled a comprehensive roadmap for future CPUs from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. The roadmap provides details about upcoming chip architectures, some of which were already known, and additional information, possibly from unofficial but well-informed sources. Starting with Intel, the video from "Golden Pig Upgrade Pack" outlines Intel's CPU lines and architectures planned for 2024 and 2025. These plans include a Raptor Lake refresh for slightly faster desktop CPUs, and laptops that'll feature Meteor Lake. Intel-based portable systems will also receive updated Raptor Lake (Core Gen 13th) processors, although the inclusion of Meteor Lake CPUs in gaming laptops may be an exception. In 2025, Intel will introduce the new Arrow Lake architecture to replace Raptor Lake-H and HX portable chip models. A refreshed "U-series" option will be retained for low-end systems. The Chinese leaker has also presented an updated roadmap for AMD. Lisa Su's company is currently developing two new APU chips, informally referred to as Strix Halo and Strix Point. Strix Halo is built on the new Zen 5 microarchitecture and will feature traditional ("Classic") Zen cores on the new "FP11" socket. Strix Point appears to have a more intricate design, with two different types of Zen 5 cores: "Classic" and "Dense." Support for DDR5 and LPDDR5X memory is exclusive to the Halo chip, while both Strix Point and Strix Halo incorporate AMD's RDNA3.5 GPU architecture with 16 Compute Units (Point) and 40 CUs (Halo). AMD will also provide refreshed Zen 4 APU options (Hawk Point, Phoenix) and the "Zen3+" based chip Rembrandt-R for the low-end market. Finally, we have some updated information about "Hamoa," the first Snapdragon X mobile SoC created by Qualcomm. Hamoa will feature either 10 or 12 CPU cores and an Adreno 740 GPU with support for an additional discrete GPU for graphics processing through a PCIe Gen4 x8 interface. The Hamoa SoC also offers features for high-speed storage (UFS4, PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe), LPDDR5X memory support with speeds up to 8533 MT/s, and fast video encoding capabilities (4K60). Qualcomm appears to be developing a mobile chip that could perform effectively in both next-gen smartphones and Arm laptops. Now it's up to OEM manufacturers to seize the opportunity and create computing devices based on this technology. Forward-looking: Dust is one of the most significant factors complicating human operations on the moon's surface. As NASA and other organizations ramp up increasingly ambitious lunar projects in the coming years, researchers have proposed a novel method for building roads and landing pads to mitigate dust dispersal. Researchers have devised a process for paving roads and landing pads on the moon using powerful lasers. The technique could help build the foundation for permanent lunar infrastructure while requiring minimal resources from Earth. Whenever lunar rovers drive along the moon's surface or when spacecraft land and lift off, they kick up large amounts of dust. Due to the moon's feeble gravity, that dust remains in the air for far longer than it would on Earth, causing significant damage to landers and other equipment over time. Landing objects and moving them on paved surfaces could help tremendously. The method involves mirrors and lens-like devices concentrating sunlight to melt the dust into a glass-like state. Engineers would cast the molten rock into triangular shapes and arrange them into lattice-like patterns to form pavement. Researchers successfully tested the process by substituting the sunlight magnifier with a 12-kilowatt carbon dioxide laser and using it on simulated lunar soil. While the device would need transportation from Earth, it could provide an efficient method to help build permanent lunar bases using material already there, thus minimizing costs. Space organizations will try to develop ways to utilize the moon's natural resources to increase sustainability while undertaking future lunar missions. Multiple missions have occurred this year with varying levels of success. Two, by the Russian government and a Japanese private company, failed as each lander crashed on the surface. The Japanese attempt could have been the first-ever landing by a non-government entity. Meanwhile, India became the fourth country to land an object on the moon in August, following Russia, the US, and China. While India's Vikram Lander failed to wake up after powering down on the surface, the mission's measurements confirmed sulfur in the lunar soil, which could expand future exploration efforts. Within the next few years, NASA's Artemis program hopes to bring humans to the moon for the first time since the 1970s Apollo missions. Furthermore, NASA and China have plans for nuclear-powered moon bases before decade's end, and 3D printers could build homes on the lunar surface by 2040. Legacy applications are a cornerstone for many organizations but can bring challenges that hinder growth. They can slow down productivity, impacting profit-driving operations. Outdated systems also expose companies to cyber threats. So, why modernize legacy systems? Legacy software modernization upgrades these apps to match modern technology advancements and evolving business needs. As a business evolves, so should its applications. Modernizing legacy apps streamlines operations, enhancing team efficiency for higher productivity. It bolsters security, reducing vulnerability to cyber threats that harm finances and digital assets. Modern systems offer enhanced functionality, improving user experiences and enabling better services for the market. Legacy software can become a hindrance if it fails to support the operations of businesses. Choose from the top 5 legacy software modernization services in 2023 outlined below: 1 Software Mind Overview Software Mind is a global software development company that offers scalable solutions for businesses of all sizes across all industries. It has a team of over a thousand talented experts operating throughout Europe and the Americas and delivering measurable results. Features Software Mind includes legacy software modernization under its digital transformation services. It drives transformation through cloud-native development, cloud migration, AI & machine learning, data science, and embedded software. Initially, it conducts workshops to understand the goals and business environment to design a digital transformation strategy that matches the client's needs. It employs teams of specialists with the skills to accomplish legacy software modernization. They work according to Agile principles, providing as much value as possible and implementing changes based on a short feedback loop. Software Mind has extensive experience with digital transformations. For over 20 years, it has established ways of maximizing technologies to modernize outdated systems so clients gain a competitive edge in a dynamic business landscape. It creates a tailored strategy to address all business areas to ensure the success of the legacy software modernization that drives business continuity. With proven experience, top talents equipped with world-class skills, and tailored scalability, clients can leverage Software Mind for its agile approach to legacy software modernization. The company can deliver consistent product innovation in a shorter amount of time. 2 Goodcore Overview GoodCore develops applications to improve business efficiencies and build competitive advantages for its local and overseas clientele. It is a leading custom software development company based in the UK that follows an agile development process to fast-track the SDLC. It prioritizes the clients and their needs, aligning every decision and strategy to surpass expectations and develop bespoke applications. Features For over 16 years, GoodCore has developed future-proof business applications that cater to numerous industries. From custom portals to legacy system integration and software modernization, the applications it builds can streamline the unique process workflows of businesses. The company aims to understand the client's operations and workflow pain points to identify the gaps in existing systems. GoodCore focuses on meeting specific user requirements in modernizing legacy systems and developing ultra-modern applications. It begins by understanding the objectives of the envisioned application to design technical architectures that enable secure and scalable business apps that are easy to enhance and maintain in the future. It develops according to the best practices in the industry, following code conventions and the highest standards of quality assurance to deliver a bespoke business application. GoodCore also provides user guides, system documentation, and training for the adoption of the new and improved enterprise application. With support and maintenance arrangements, clients can fully depend on its business application development for legacy software modernization. 3 Saigon Technology Overview Saigon Technology is a global software outsourcing company highly experienced in the international IT sector. It has a team of 400 highly proficient software developers who are experts in Agile Mindset, providing quality and professional services to customers in Europe, Australia, Singapore, and North America. Features Saigon Technology includes legacy application modernization under its enterprise software development services. It breathes new life into outdated systems to align with the industry's latest technologies and business methodologies. The company harnesses its deep insights and technological prowess to transform legacy applications. Its advanced technologies are artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud, Internet of Things, image analysis, big data, and data science. It follows a rigorous agile methodology for iterative development, ensuring any changes in requirements are seamlessly incorporated into the application to fit the client's vision and market needs. With its vast experience and continual training, Saigon Technology guarantees state-of-the-art solutions that are both innovative and efficient. The outsourcing company also has received its certifications from the International Organization for Standardization, signifying its dedication to providing secure and quality solutions for its clients. Equipped with unparalleled expertise and access to the latest technologies, clients can leverage Saigon Technology for cutting-edge enterprise software development. 4 Blackthorn Vision Overview Blackthorn Vision is a custom software development company founded by a team of engineers who are focused on delivering quality products and supporting clients at every stage of the project's life cycle. It has experts in legacy software modernization that can incorporate new features and improve performance while keeping business data safe with the latest security updates. The company chooses the best-fit approach based on the requirements and budget of the client. It tailors its services to ensure smooth migration, causing no interruptions to business operations. Features Blackthorn Vision has over 13 years of experience in application development and modernization. The service covers every aspect of the legacy system. It updates the codebase, frameworks, and libraries and even revamps the visual appearance of the outdated application. It uses the best practices and latest tech stack to improve the performance, security, and usability of the app, ensuring easy maintenance and scalability for future upgrades. The custom software development company collaborates with the stakeholders firsthand to understand the pain points and the workflows of the team to identify how to customize the app to support the operations of the business, streamlining the processes to enhance user productivity. It implements automated testing and continuous integration to detect issues early, ensuring stability and full functionality before product deployment. Blackthorn Vision also provides training and knowledge transfer to the in-house developers. Clients can leverage its legacy software modernization to minimize costs, future-proof applications, and have stronger security against potential threats. 5 SEVEN Overview SEVEN is a custom software development firm boasting extensive experience tackling intricate software challenges. They employ distinctive approaches to deliver tailored solutions, catering to startups and businesses across diverse industries, including vital sectors like healthcare and education. Their wealth of expertise not only ensures success for partners but also shields them from unfavorable financial and technological outcomes. Within SEVEN, a team of experts comprehends the profound impact of technology on businesses. They adeptly align their objectives to foster sustainable growth and profitability. As designated IT partners, they conduct in-depth analyses encompassing required technology, client business models, relevant competitors, and more. This analysis forms the foundation for tailored approaches to achieve long-term success and longevity. Their services cover the full software development life cycle (SDLC). They maintain a commitment to transparency, providing clarity from the inception of services and products to release and maintenance. The custom software development company's mission is to tackle technological challenges that positively impact people's lives, particularly in the context of their clients' businesses. Since 2007, SEVEN has nurtured enduring client relationships by prioritizing economic and social value. In software development, SEVEN offers a wide array of services, spanning from maintenance to localization, including audit and issue resolution. Being tech experts, they recognize the critical importance of modernizing outdated software systems and legacy applications. Clients can leverage the company's legacy software modernization service to prevent the loss of functionality and delayed progress. Features Comprehensive Methodology SEVEN rigorously follows a unique methodology to define the objectives of its software modernization services. The company collaborates closely with clients to establish desired outcomes like enhanced performance, scalability, maintenance, and alignment with business strategies. A comprehensive assessment of legacy software is conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, and complexity levels. This includes: Business impact analysis Functional assessment Cost and ROI analysis Technical assessment Security and compliance assessment Modernization strategy development By conducting diverse evaluations, SEVEN determines the most suitable approach based on business needs, initiating the modernization project once the approach and technique are finalized. Legacy Software Modernization Approaches SEVEN offers three distinct legacy software modernization approaches, each with its own advantages and limitations. The choice depends on specific client challenges: Migration & Enhancement : This approach is focused on migrating the company's system and the database to a cloud solution while enhancing the performance of the legacy software. Correction & Growth : This approach is recommended if the technology stack is relatively modern. It aims only to improve the software architecture and its performance, including code refactoring, functionality reworking, and UI/UX updates. Complete Software Reengineering: This approach involves identifying the critical features that should be kept and incorporating modern technologies and scalable architecture to create a new functionality. Replacement Strategies SEVEN provides several replacement strategies for modernizing legacy software, considering client business goals, budget, timeline, and technical considerations: Architecture-Driven Modernization SABA Reverse engineering model Visaggio's Value-based Decision Model DevOps contribution WMU (Warrants, Maintenance, Upgrade) Renaissance Model Cloud Migration Legacy Software Modernization Techniques SEVEN employs various techniques for legacy software modernization, each addressing different application aspects and issues. These techniques include encapsulation, rearchitecting, refactoring, replatforming, replacing, and rebuilding. SEVEN acknowledges the potential risks and challenges associated with legacy software modernization, ensuring a thorough evaluation of the most suitable solution before proceeding. With its rigorous methods, comprehensive assessment, varied approaches, strategies, and techniques, SEVEN offers more than just modernization; it provides industry partnerships to enhance its software modernization services and welcomes collaborative opportunities that bring mutual benefits. SEVEN takes pride in its ability to find technical solutions to help the business grow and prosper. Clients can leverage its expertise, access to the latest technologies, and comprehensive approach for a successful legacy software modernization. Conclusion Modernizing legacy applications and systems brings numerous benefits to clients, including enhanced performance, flexibility, and cost savings. Outdated systems can pose significant challenges that hinder a company's growth. Choose from the top 5 best legacy software modernization services in 2023 to boost user productivity and ensure business continuity. Google Research teams have been studying the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and driving trends from Google Maps to optimize traffic flows and reduce emissions. Traffic congestion is not just a source of frustration. It also poses environmental challenges, and a recent study highlights the significant role of road transportation in global greenhouse gas emissions. Urban intersections emerged as particularly problematic, with pollution levels as high as 29 times those on open roads. (Photo : Google's Official YouTube Channel) Stop-and-go traffic in urban areas causes 29 times more emissions than on open roads. Google Aims to Reduce Traffic Emissions Through AI The primary culprit is vehicles' frequent starting and stopping, resulting in increased fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. But could we harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize traffic lights and mitigate these emissions? This is precisely what Google Research's "Green Light" initiative strives to achieve. Interesting Engineering reported that Green Light utilizes AI and insights from Google Maps driving data to model traffic patterns and provide recommendations for enhancing current traffic light sequences. The key advantage is that city engineers can swiftly implement these changes using existing infrastructure, often in as little as five minutes. Green Light's groundbreaking approach isn't limited to optimizing individual intersections. It fosters coordination among multiple adjacent intersections, orchestrating synchronized waves of green lights. This innovative strategy empowers cities to enhance traffic efficiency while significantly curbing the environmental impact of frequent stops and starts. Numerous cities have already joined Project Green Light, and local authorities are encouraged to register on our waiting list. The influence of Green Light extends across 70 intersections in 12 diverse cities, spanning from Haifa to Rio de Janeiro to Bangalore. In areas where Green Light is already operational, it can translate into significant fuel savings and a marked reduction in monthly emissions for up to 30 million car journeys. Read Also: Google Bard: Gmail, YouTube, Docs, and MORE Gets the AI Chatbot Addressing Challenges City traffic engineers often face significant challenges accessing reliable data for optimizing traffic lights, a process traditionally considered complex and expensive. Consequently, many traffic signals continue to operate with outdated configurations. Before embracing Green Light, city partners struggled to enhance traffic light efficiency, resorting to costly sensors or labor-intensive manual vehicle counts. Unfortunately, these methods failed to provide comprehensive insights into the crucial parameters required for optimization. To address this challenge, Google Research teams have delved into the potential of AI and harnessed driving trends extracted from Google Maps to model intersections and traffic dynamics. Their approach involves crafting AI-driven models of individual intersections, encompassing structural attributes, traffic behaviors (such as start-stop patterns), light scheduling, and the intricate interplay between traffic and signal timing. Furthermore, the research teams have devised models that encapsulate the interrelations between various traffic lights. Leveraging these comprehensive models, the teams have developed AI-based optimization techniques and offered recommendations to city engineers via the Green Light platform. Wired reported that Green Light can concurrently evaluate a multitude of intersections, subsequently enhancing traffic flow across numerous points within the city. Importantly, the AI-driven recommendations integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure and traffic systems. City engineers can swiftly gauge the impact of these recommendations, observing tangible results within a matter of weeks. According to Google, collaborating with cities worldwide can yield substantial benefits for both humans and the environment. Green Light has already demonstrated its effectiveness in cities like Seattle and Hamburg, with even greater potential in urban areas that may have limited access to advanced technology. The team is collaborating with partner cities to extend its reach to additional intersections in each locality. Related Article: Google's AI-Driven Growth Surpasses Analysts' Estimates in Q2 Earnings Report 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has joined forces with Raytheon to advance the development of a groundbreaking air-breathing rotating detonation engine called Gambit. Unlike traditional engines, this innovative design boasts no moving parts, potentially leading to lighter, cost-effective missiles with extended ranges. Raytheon is among the world's largest aerospace and defense companies. The Gambit Program of DARPA, Raytheon Under a contract from DARPA, Raytheon is tasked with spearheading the development of the Gambit program. It is a first-of-its-kind engine development program that could support future weapons systems for multiple military services. This rotating detonation engine is more compact and provides a higher efficiency propulsion source than traditional missile propulsion. This breakthrough technology holds the promise of lower costs while enhancing missile capabilities. Colin Whelan, president of Advanced Technology at Raytheon, lauded the project, referring to it as a "revolutionary propulsion system." He emphasized the use of existing digital design tools and extensive cross-sector experience within RTX to expedite the prototyping of this next-generation strike weapon and to mature the underlying technology. The contract involves a rigorous iterative development process that relies on performance models fortified by empirical data from incremental system tests. According to Raytheon, this approach accelerates the learning curve, leading to more conclusive flight test outcomes and resulting in considerable time and cost savings. Future phases of the Gambit program will shift towards the construction of hardware for conducting a flight weight free-jet test, marking a significant milestone in the application of rotating detonation engine technology. "This is a revolutionary propulsion system. We're leveraging existing digital design tools and experience from across the entire RTX business to rapidly prototype this next-generation strike weapon and mature the technology," Whelan said in a press statement. Read Also: DARPA, General Atomics' LongShot Missile-Firing Drone Ready for Flight Testing Hypersonic Interceptor Prototype In a related development, DARPA has chosen Boeing to lead the charge in developing and testing technology crucial for creating a prototype capable of intercepting hypersonic missiles in the upper atmosphere. This initiative is a pivotal component of DARPA's Glide Breaker program, spanning four years. Boeing affirmed its commitment to conducting comprehensive analyses, wind tunnel testing, and assessing aerodynamic jet interaction effects during flight trials. According to Gil Griffin, Executive Director of Boeing Phantom Works Advanced Weapons, addressing hypersonic threats is of paramount importance, as they represent one of the most rapidly evolving and dangerous challenges to national security. The Glide Breaker program focuses on enhancing the nation's counter-hypersonic capabilities by gaining essential technological insights. The development and testing phase led by Boeing is envisioned to establish the foundation for operational glide-phase interceptors capable of defending against these complex and rapidly advancing hypersonic threats. Griffin highlighted that this program phase is dedicated to comprehending how hypersonic airflow and firing jet thrusters impact the system performance in an extremely high-speed and high-altitude digital environment. "We're operating on the cutting edge of what's possible in terms of intercepting an extremely fast object in an incredibly dynamic environment," he noted. Related Article: NASA, DARPA to Bring $300M into Nuclear-Powered Rocket Project, Hoping to Launch by 2027 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ford's joint venture partner, SK On, has announced plans to increase wages in its two upcoming electric vehicle (EV) battery factories in Kentucky and Tennessee, aiming to address concerns of striking autoworkers. The joint venture, known as BlueOval SK, is offering higher wages for maintenance technicians and associate maintenance technicians, with pay ranging from $24 to $37.50 per hour based on experience. These positions are currently open at BlueOval SK's battery plants in Stanton, Tennessee, and Glendale, Kentucky. BlueOval SK Announces New Higher Wages Neva McGruder Burke, the Human Resources Director at BlueOval SK, stated, "These new, higher wages are more competitive and in line with the current market." She expressed excitement about providing competitive wages and excellent benefits to all employees. The decision to adjust salaries stemmed from a comprehensive benchmarking study conducted by BlueOval SK to determine employee compensation and benefits. Various hourly positions are available, including associate maintenance technician, maintenance technician, and production operator, with starting pay rates as follows: Maintenance Technician: $28.50 to $37.50 per hour based on experience. Associate Maintenance Technician: $24 to $27.75 per hour based on experience. Production Operator: $21 per hour. Tyler Stegall, Talent Acquisition Manager at BlueOval SK, highlighted the creation of the associate maintenance technician role as an opportunity for individuals without the requisite experience for a maintenance technician position. Stegall emphasized that employees could gain the necessary experience to advance to a maintenance technician role after working as an associate. Hourly employees will have the opportunity to receive regular pay increases every six months. The human resources team will also periodically evaluate pay raises to ensure competitiveness once an employee reaches the top wage range. Furthermore, hourly employees may be eligible for bonuses of up to 5% annually, depending on their position and performance. Employees can also anticipate benefits such as low-cost medical premiums, 401(k) matching, vehicle discount benefits for Ford friends and family, as well as vision and dental insurance. Read Also: Musk Removed X Blue Check Verification on United Auto Workers Due to Strike Against Ford, GM, and MORE Career Trajectory Stegall reiterated the commitment to providing affordable, exceptional benefits, enabling employees to envision a long-term career trajectory at BlueOval SK while maintaining a high quality of life for their families. The onboarding process for maintenance technicians, associate maintenance technicians, and production operators will commence in Tennessee in October, with the process already underway in Kentucky. Construction is progressing as scheduled at BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, Kentucky, and the BlueOval SK battery plant at BlueOval City in Stanton, Tennessee, with production expected to commence in 2025. Related Article: Union Autoworkers Launch Simultaneous Strikes Against Big 3 Automakers Ford, GM, and Stellantis 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a settlement with the bankrupt cryptocurrency company Voyager that will permanently prohibit it from handling consumers' assets. The FTC is also filing a lawsuit against the former CEO of Voyager, Stephen Ehrlich, for allegedly making false claims about FDIC insurance coverage for users' accounts. The complaint has been filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. FTC's Complaint Against Crypto Company Voyager Digital According to the FTC's complaint, from 2018 until it declared bankruptcy in July 2022, Voyager allegedly promised that consumers' deposits would be "safe" to persuade their clients to hand over their funds to the company. However, when the company faced financial difficulties, consumers experienced losing access to significant assets they had saved, including salary deposits, tuition funds, and home down payments. Apart from being locked out of their cash accounts for more than a month, consumers also reportedly lost over $1 billion in crypto assets. "Consumers reported over $1.4 billion in losses to cryptocurrency scams in the last year, and the FTC continues to crack down on those who lie to consumers about these risky assets," said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The proposed settlement with Voyager and its affiliates will permanently prevent them from promoting any products or services related to depositing, exchanging, investing, or withdrawing assets. The companies also agreed to a judgment of $1.65 billion, which will be suspended to allow Voyager to return the remaining assets to clients during the bankruptcy proceedings. Ehrlich has yet to agree to a settlement. Thus, the FTC's case against him will continue in federal court. The complaint alleged that Voyager falsely claimed that customers' assets were particularly secure on their platform. Marketing materials included direct statements about the safety of deposits, such as "YOUR USD IS FDIC INSURED." However, the FTC noted that Voyager is not a bank or financial institution, and the FDIC does not insure cryptocurrency assets. Instead, consumers' deposits were held in an account at a traditional bank on behalf of Voyager, offering protection only in the event of the bank's failure. The complaint further noted that Voyager was aware that its claims could be misleading. A bank representative alerted the company in 2021, stating that the claims were "potentially misleading" and that a reasonable consumer might assume their USD Coin held with Voyager was FDIC-insured. Read Also: Caroline Ellison Testifies: Alameda Took Money from FTX Under Sam Bankman-Fried's Direction Voyager Alleged Deceptive Advertising The FTC noted that despite making some adjustments, Voyager continued with alleged deceptive advertising until receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the FDIC. In June 2022, Ehrlich reassured Voyager customers of the company's stability, claiming it was "well-capitalized" and that funds were "as safe with us as at a bank." However, according to FTC's statement, consumers' access to their accounts was frozen shortly after that. The FTC further claimed that Voyager and Ehrlich violated the FTC Act's prohibition on deceptive practices and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act's ban on obtaining financial information through false statements. Additionally, the complaint asserted that Ehrlich transferred millions of dollars to his wife Francine, including money that can be traced to the alleged unlawful conduct. The proposed settlement also prevents Voyager and its affiliates from misrepresenting the benefits of any product or service and disclosing consumers' nonpublic personal information without their explicit consent. Related Article: Hackers Steal $200 Million Worth of Cryptocurrency From Hong Kong-Based Firm Mixin 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Since 2022, the world has witnessed a surge in the popularity of Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Bard, prompting substantial investments from companies in their development and sparking an AI race. It must be noted that these AI tools are frequently integrated into chatbots, and they scour the extensive expanse of the internet to learn and generate responses to user prompts. However, researchers from the AI security startup Mindgard and Lancaster University caution that sections of these LLMs can be replicated in a matter of days for a mere $50. The acquired information could be exploited for targeted attacks, posing risks such as exposing confidential data, bypassing safeguards, providing inaccurate responses, or enabling further focused attacks, TechXplore reported. Their findings, to be presented at CAMLIS 2023 (Conference on Applied Machine Learning for Information Security), demonstrate the feasibility of cost-effective replication of critical aspects of existing LLMs. Model Leeching in Large Language Models The researchers employ a tactic known as "model leeching," wherein the LLM is engaged with specific prompts, divulging insights into its functioning. In their study, centered on ChatGPT-3.5-Turbo, the team reported replicating key elements of the LLM in a model one hundred times smaller. This replicated model served as a testing ground to uncover vulnerabilities in ChatGPT, resulting in an 11% increased success rate in exploiting these vulnerabilities. Dr. Peter Garraghan of Lancaster University and Mindgard's CEO expressed fascination and concern regarding their discovery. He highlighted the significance of their work in demonstrating the transferability of security vulnerabilities between closed source and open source machine learning models, particularly given the widespread reliance on publicly available models. "What we discovered is scientifically fascinating, but extremely worrying. This is among the very first works to empirically demonstrate that security vulnerabilities can be successfully transferred between closed source and open source Machine Learning models, which is extremely concerning given how much industry relies on publicly available Machine Learning models hosted in places such as HuggingFace," Garraghan said in a press statement. Read Also: OpenAI to Launch Major Updates to Make AI Software Development Cheaper and Faster, Luring Developers Latent Weakness in AI Technologies The research underscored the existence of latent weaknesses within these AI technologies, possibly even sharing common vulnerabilities across models. While businesses are poised to invest heavily in creating their own LLMs for diverse applications like smart assistants, financial services, and enterprise solutions, the researchers stressed the importance of acknowledging and addressing the associated cyber risks. Despite its transformative potential, Garraghan emphasized the necessity for careful consideration of cyber risks when adopting and deploying LLM technology. "While LLM technology is potentially transformative, businesses and scientists alike will have to think very carefully on understanding and measuring the cyber risks associated with adopting and deploying LLMs," Garraghan noted. Related Article: Scientists Develop 'Electric Tongue' That Mimics Human Taste Buds, Introducing Emotional Intelligence to AI 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A team of fifty scientists has introduced an annual "Climate Countdown Clock," aimed at amplifying the urgency of climate action ahead of the United Nations climate talks set to commence in Dubai on Nov 30, Phys.org reports. This initiative responds to growing concerns about the extended time frames between major Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, which often lag behind the rapidly evolving climate crisis. The project, driven by leading IPCC contributors, offers concise and policy-relevant updates on key climate metrics, providing a more immediate and actionable perspective on climate change. Climate Talks in Dubai In a year marred by a barrage of extreme weather events, the forthcoming UN negotiations in Dubai hold significant weight as world leaders seek to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and address the climate impacts developing nations face. The IPCC has traditionally been at the forefront of summarizing climate research, with its comprehensive assessments appearing once every five to seven years since 1988. However, this gap in reporting has raised concerns that the science presented may not fully address the rapidly evolving climate crisis. Peter Thorne, a professor of physical geography at Maynooth University in Ireland and co-author of the new report, emphasized the urgency of having up-to-date information, saying, "If we are flying blind without information, we're going to make bad choices." Alarming Findings The first peer-reviewed report in this series, published in the journal Earth System Science Data in June, presented a startling revelation. It disclosed that human-induced warming reached 1.26 degrees Celsius in 2022 and accelerated at an "unprecedented rate" of more than 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade from 2013 to 2022. These findings were crucial updates to the IPCC's report released just a year earlier. Additionally, the report indicated signs that greenhouse gas emissions were slowing down, potentially paving the way for a change in direction in future updates. The "Climate Countdown Clock" serves as an annual reminder of the climate crisis, acting as a wake-up call after the initial surge of attention following IPCC findings, which tend to be more comprehensive and less frequent. Chris Smith, co-author and researcher at the University of Leeds, pointed out, "We have a much more COP (UN climate talks) and policy focus than the IPCC." The initiative brings more immediate policy relevance by monitoring key climate metrics coordinatedly. Smith emphasized the project's significance in providing real-time data for policy decisions and negotiations, saying, "In a rational world, it should be ringing alarm bells." To make this data accessible to the broader public, web engineers have developed an interactive online dashboard. Unlike the extensive IPCC reports, which can be daunting, this user-friendly interface aims to engage a wider audience. Smith acknowledged that criticism regarding geographical diversity and broader engagement with the scientific community is "fair" and will be addressed in future reports, ensuring a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to climate research. Stay posted here at Tech Times. Related Article: Powering AI Could Soon Need as Much Electricity as a Small Country, Expert Warns 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After nearly two years of regulatory scrutiny, legal hurdles, and strategic negotiations, Microsoft has successfully sealed its landmark acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard in a historic $68.7 billion deal, Engadget reports. The acquisition adds a treasure trove of beloved video game franchises to Microsoft's arsenal, such as Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch, and more. Regulatory Battles and Concessions The journey to this acquisition was far from smooth, with the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially blocking the deal in April, citing concerns over competition in the cloud gaming market. In response, Microsoft made a pivotal concession, agreeing to sell the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles to French video game publisher Ubisoft. This move, which ensures that Activision Blizzard's games will land not only on Xbox Game Pass but also on Ubisoft+ and other gaming platforms, helped the CMA greenlight the merger. Microsoft further solidified its position by signing 10-year agreements with Nintendo and several cloud-gaming providers, securing approval from the European Union. Notably, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's attempts to halt the deal on competition grounds were unsuccessful. Leadership and Financial Implications Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will stay on until the end of 2023, overseeing the transition. Meanwhile, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer expressed excitement about integrating Activision, Blizzard, and King franchises into platforms like Game Pass. CNBC tells us that the acquisition bolsters Microsoft's gaming portfolio with franchises that generated $7.5 billion in revenue during Activision Blizzard's latest fiscal year, a fraction of Microsoft's colossal $212 billion in sales. This financial clout demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to expanding its presence in the gaming market. Read Also: Xbox: Two Renowned RPG Titles to Be Exclusive, Warns PS5 Owners-What Games? Impact on the Gaming Landscape This acquisition significantly altered the gaming industry's landscape, further establishing Microsoft as a dominant player. It places the company ahead of Nintendo and in contention with Sony, the owner of the PlayStation console and market leader Tencent. The deal not only bolsters Microsoft's Xbox console but also enhances its Xbox Game Pass service, where subscribers access a vast catalog of games through downloads or streaming. It grants Microsoft ownership of a studio specialized in mobile games, paving the way for greater success in the mobile gaming market. Exclusivity and Future Prospects While Microsoft has committed to delivering Call of Duty games on PlayStation, thanks to a 10-year pact with Sony, other Activision Blizzard titles may remain exclusive to Microsoft platforms. This strategy mirrors Microsoft's approach with previous acquisitions, such as ZeniMax/Bethesda titles. It is a move that could influence the gaming market's dynamics in the future. Addressing Workplace Culture Issues In addition to the gaming industry's dynamics, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is expected to impact the workplace culture within the company. Activision Blizzard has faced allegations of fostering a "frat boy" culture and workplace misconduct, with ongoing lawsuits in progress. Observers hope that Microsoft will address these concerns and work towards a more inclusive and respectful work environment. Stay posted here at Tech Times. Related Article: Microsoft Faces Potential $28.9 Billion Tax Bill as IRS Targets Back Taxes 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Several Israeli and Jewish schools are advising parents to delete Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) from their kids' phones in response to mounting worries over the Israel-Hamas war's impact on children. According to reports, the effort aims to protect young users from gory and violent imagery and videos of the ongoing battle. NBC reported that the parents' organization of a Tel Aviv school expressed concern about the likely publication of unsettling footage depicting hostages being "begged for their lives" by Hamas gunmen. The difficultyif not impossibilityof limiting such information on social media platforms was underlined in their message. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that Jewish schools in the United States have also issued similar cautions. Even though it's unknown where the information about potential hostage footage came from, it has led some schools to take action. The Frisch School's principal in Paramus, New Jersey, wrote parents an urgent email urging them to remove Instagram and TikTok from their kids' smartphones. Hamas to Spread Disturbing Content Online On social networking sites like X and Meta's Threads real-time messaging service, many people have also posted school announcements that warn of the likelihood that pupils might come across unpleasant information using these programs. One such alert, posted by Aviva Klompas, co-founder of the charity Boundless Israel, highlighted the impending release of Israel-Hamas war videos showing hostages pleading for their lives and advised parents to take the TikTok and Instagram applications out of their kids' smartphones. Journalist Joanna Stern published tweets referencing "graphic and misleading information" on social networks, as well as tweets from her Jewish high school and a nearby Jewish Community Center. The messages also emphasized Hamas' ambitions to flood social platforms with prisoner recordings, emphasizing the necessity for parents to talk to their kids about these applications' risks. Read Also: OpenAI Plans Developing Its Own AI Chips Amid Global Shortages Jewish chat rooms were inundated with chain messages alerting people about Hamas' impending distribution of upsetting information and pleading with parents to shield their kids from it. One message reads, as quoted by Bloomberg: "IN A FEW HOURS, HAMAS TERRORISTS WILL BE POSTING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF HOSTAGES AND TORTUE ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. ABSOLUTELY PREVENT YOUR CHILDREN FROM WATCHING THEM; THEY ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN AND WILL BE TERRIFYING." TechTimes recently reported that social media firms, including Elon Musk's X, have stepped up their efforts to battle false information and remove anything related to Hamas as the Israel-Hamas war progresses. X CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed the deletion of hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and the correct labeling or removal of thousands of pieces of content related to the terrorist group's assaults on Israel. The Israel-Hamas war has also affected Israel's technology sector, a vital economic sector. Due to a large number of employees being called up for military duty, IT companies have been forced to reschedule conferences, which could disrupt fundraising and dealmaking. Conflict Impacts Israel's Tech Sector Tech companies have also aggressively supported the war effort, temporarily putting aside whatever differences they may have with the government on suggested judicial reforms. They have contributed their knowledge in areas like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) by helping to secure vital supplies for soldiers and by assisting in the search for the missing. Hillel Fuld, a journalist and startup consultant, stressed the importance of technology sector cooperation. "The country is more united than it's been in a very long time," he said, as quoted by CNN. However, many think that the tech sector's tenacity will triumph because of backing from overseas investors and aid from global tech behemoths like Microsoft and Google during this trying period. Despite challenges, the Israeli IT industry continues to serve clients and innovate. Related Article: First-Ever TikTok Ban, Questioned by US Judge 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. TikTok has strengthened its publishing features by partnering with Disney for Pulse Premiere, its premium ad offering. The agreement is a component of Disney's endeavors to commemorate The Walt Disney Company's 100th anniversary with a spectacular social media event. When TikTok's Pulse Premiere was first introduced this year, major media behemoths including NBCU, Conde Nast, DotDash Meredith, BuzzFeed, and others joined in. This strategy lets marketers display ads in brand-safe venues with quality video content. With a dedicated content center made just for Disney fans, this agreement is poised to transform the landscape of brand collaborations on TikTok, per TechCrunch. The recently added Disney location within the TikTok app has a lot of fun features. Disney lovers may watch Disney movies, create content with Disney music and special effects, play Disney quizzes, and collect "Character Cards" of their favorite Disney characters. This agreement creates what is being called a "first-of-its-kind" content platform that goes beyond Pulse Premiere, making TikTok one of the most significant Pulse Premiere publishers. Asad Ayaz, Chief Brand Officer of The Walt Disney Company, justified the partnership with the social media colossus. He emphasized that TikTok's enormous reach played a key role in their choice. With over 240 billion views on TikTok for Disney's varied portfolio of brands and experiences, TikTok has become the go-to platform for Disney fans to create, connect, and interact with their favorite Disney movies, characters, and experiences. https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktoknewsroom/video/7289410618774392106?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7289472005588665857 What to Expect from the TikTok-Disney Partnership? With 48 Disney account handles spread throughout 24 different locations around the world, the Disney engagement on TikTok will be a massive global event. This massive campaign will launch on October 16 and include material from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, ESPN, National Geographic, and Disney Parks, among others. Over 150 million users follow the Disney-owned TikTok accounts together, and it is anticipated that the celebration will increase this already outstanding viewership. Read Also: Rare 'Ring of Fire' Eclipse Set to Amaze the Americas: All You Need to Know TikTok users can look forward to daily reminders of the Disney characters, franchises, movies, and memories that have endeared them, encouraging them to produce and share more Disney-related content on the social media platform. Moreover, Disney and TikTok will launch the Disney100 Playlist, which includes well-known songs from Disney's vast collection, to improve the user experience. TickerTV News reported that Pulse Premiere will help marketers by guaranteeing that advertisements follow "suitable videos" from TikTok's high-end publishing partners. Comparing this positioning to other video platforms, there is a noticeably higher level of user involvement. TikTok to Proactively Address Issues in Malaysia Separately, TikTok has proactively addressed the Malaysian government's concerns over its adherence to local laws. The government said TikTok had not done enough to combat defamatory or misleading information. To show its dedication to fixing these problems and abiding by local laws, TikTok has planned talks with Malaysia's communications authority, according to Reuters. Due to a prohibition on social media e-commerce, TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has drawn criticism across Southeast Asia. Most recently, Indonesia halted transactions on its site. As a result of the platform's difficulties in the area, Vietnam has also started looking into hazardous content on the app. Related Article: Microsoft Finally Inks Historic $68.7 Billion Purchase of Activision Blizzard 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have implemented a policy change that removes the lifetime limit on amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) scans, a critical diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease. This change lets patients to undergo non-invasive tests to qualify for new Alzheimer's medications like Eisai's Leqembi and Eli Lilly's donanemab. Amyloid PET scans are essential for spotting amyloid plaque clusters, a deteriorating illness that impairs memory and cognition and is an early indicator of Alzheimer's. These scans were formerly primarily used in clinical trial settings. A Crucial Policy Change The Alzheimer's Association's Chief Science Officer, Maria Carrillo, stressed the value of amyloid PET scans. "Amyloid PET scans are a tested technology that can play a significant role in the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease," she said, as quoted by Reuters. Additionally, Carillo pointed out that easier access to these scans will enable an earlier and more precise Alzheimer's diagnosis, enhancing care coordination and health outcomes. Amyloid PET scans have advanced Alzheimer's research, diagnosis, and patient treatment, according to the Alzheimer's Association. For instance, the Imaging Dementia-Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) Study and the New IDEAS Study, both of which were conducted in conjunction with CMS, had significant participation from the Alzheimer's Association. These studies aim to improve our understanding of how PET scans help diagnose and treat Alzheimer's in diverse and marginalized communities. According to the IDEAS Study, 63.5% of patients with dementia and 60.2% of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) had different patient care strategies. The association stated that it is committed to working with CMS to further our understanding of the value of an accurate diagnosis and the use of PET as a biomarker, particularly in underrepresented populations in the US. Read Also: US Military Must Embrace AI to Stay Ahead, Says Former Army General Mark Milley "In the new era of treatment, amyloid PET scans have become even more valuable as they are used to determine diagnosis and eligibility for FDA-approved treatments. Additionally, recent clinical trial results tell us it is also useful to track changes in a person's level of beta-amyloid throughout the course of treatment because it may be possible to pause treatment as the amyloid beta levels decrease," Carillo said, as quoted in a news release published by Cision. Amyloid PET imaging assists in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by separating it from other dementia causes and guaranteeing appropriate therapy. Experts Urge Swift Implementation of the New PET Scan Policy A nationwide data-gathering registry run by CMS is necessary to demonstrate the presence of amyloid in the brain to qualify for government funding for therapies like Leqembi. Previously, an invasive lumbar puncture-based cerebrospinal fluid test was the sole procedure approved by CMS for measuring amyloid in the brain. Local Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will decide whether to fund PET scans under the new policy. The Alzheimer's Association has requested that the MACs quickly adopt full and equal coverage for all Medicare enrollees. This CMS policy change after years of review shows the FDA's trust in the technology and advances Alzheimer's disease detection and therapy. According to CNBC, a single PET scan for a Medicare patient is estimated to cost around $313. Related Article: Defining Brain Death: Medical Groups Set New Guideline to Standardize Evaluation 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Microsoft, in the Form 8-K filing on Wednesday, disputed the claims made by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that the company owes them an additional $28.9 billion in unpaid back taxes in addition to penalties and interest. The Redmond giant has been issued a series of Notices of Proposed Adjustment (NOPAs) by the IRS claiming that the company misrepresented its revenue amounting to a total of $28.9 billion among subsidiaries in different countries and taxing jurisdictions for the years between 2004 to 2013. The staggering figure of $28.9 billion was arrived after the companys corporate returns were audited for the years 2004 to 2013. As of September 30, 2023, we believe our allowances for income tax contingencies are adequate. We disagree with the proposed adjustments and will vigorously contest the NOPAs through the IRSs administrative appeals office and, if necessary, judicial proceedings, Microsoft states in its Form 8-K filing. Daniel Goff, Microsofts Corporate Vice President for Worldwide Tax and Customs, in a separate blog post, wrote that the IRS disagrees with the way the company distributed profits internationally through intercompany transfer pricing. The main disagreement is the way Microsoft allocated profits during this time period among countries and jurisdictions. This is commonly referred to as transfer pricing and the IRS has established regulations that allow companies to use a specific arrangement for transfer pricing, called cost-sharing, Goff wrote. Many large multinationals use cost-sharing because it reflects the global nature of their business. Because our subsidiaries shared in the costs of developing certain intellectual property, under those IRS cost-sharing regulations, the subsidiaries were also entitled to the related profits. Goff claims that Microsoft has made changes to both its practices and its corporate structure in the years since the years covered by the IRSs audit. The issues raised by the IRS are relevant to the past but not to our current practices, he added. In addition, he also claims that the IRSs proposed adjustments do not represent a final determination, as it has not taken into account taxes that Microsoft paid under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). According to him, this could decrease the final tax owed by Microsoft under the audit by up to $10 billion. Goff notes that Microsoft will appeal the decision within the agency, a process that is expected to take several years to complete. The company hopes to work with the IRS to reach a mutual resolution to this issue over the coming years. However, if they are unable to come to a direct agreement with the IRS, Microsoft will then contest any unresolved issues through the courts. Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Friday across the Middle East in support of the Palestinians and against the intensifying Israeli bombardment of Gaza, underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion. From the typically sedate streets of downtown Amman in Jordan, to Yemen's war-scarred capital of Sanaa, crowds of Muslim worshippers poured into the streets after weekly Friday prayers, angered by devastating Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that began after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel last Saturday. At the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, Israeli police were permitting only certain older men, women and children to enter the sprawling hilltop compound for prayers, afraid of potential protests. Only 5,000 worshippers made it into the site, the Islamic endowment that manages the mosque said. On a typical Friday, some 50,000 perform the prayers. An Associated Press reporter watched police allow just a Palestinian teenage girl and her mother into the compound out of 20 worshippers who tried to get in, some of them even over the age of 50. Young Palestinian men who were refused entry gathered at the steps near Lions Gate, eyes downcast, until police shouted at them and shepherded them outside the Old City ramparts altogether. We cant live, we cant breathe, they are killing everything that is good within us, said Ahmad Barbour, a 57-year-old cleaner, red-faced and seething after police blocked him from entering for prayers. Everything that is forbidden to us is allowed to them, he added, referring to the Israelis. The mosque sits in a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and conflicting claims over it have spilled into violence before. Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest site in Islam and stands in a spot known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. Hundreds of young Palestinian worshippers who had been turned away from the Old City threw down small prayer rugs on the street in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz and prayed in the open. When some of the men started shouting, Israeli police charged into the crowd with batons and fired rounds of tear gas at the worshippers, wounding at least six people, said the Palestinian Red Crescent. Jerusalem prayers passed peacefully until a few Palestinian teenagers set off firecrackers from the roofs of buildings in the heart of the Old City, prompting dozens of Israeli officers to flood the alleys with their automatic rifles pointed in the air. A few gunshots rang out. No one was hit. Outside Al-Aqsa Mosque, the mood was somber. One worshipper, 67-year-old Alaa, who declined to give her last name for fear of reprisals, stared at her phone, searching for news of her brother who she said was hospitalized late Thursday when their Gaza City home was bombed. In Beirut, thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group waved Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, chanting slogans in support of Gaza and calling for death to Israel. The Iranian-backed militant group in neighboring Lebanon has launched sporadic attacks since the Hamas assault, but largely stayed on the sidelines of the war. However, Hezbollahs deputy secretary-general warned that it would be on the lookout for the United States and British naval vessels heading to the Mediterranean Sea. U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, have repeatedly warned Iran and the regional militias Tehran backs to stay out of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Your battleships do not interest us, nor do your statements frighten us, Naim Kassim said at a rally in a southern suburb of Beirut. When the time is right to take action, we will do so. In Baghdad, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square the protest hub of Iraq's capital for rallies called by the influential Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr. May this demonstration ... terrify the great evil, America, which supports Zionist terrorism against our loved ones in Palestine, al-Sadr said in an online statement. Across Iran, a supporter of Hamas and Israel's regional archenemy, demonstrators also streamed into the streets after prayers. In Tehran, they burned Israeli and American flags, chanting: Death to Israel, Death to America, Israel will be doomed," and "Palestine will be the conqueror. The Palestinian people are fed up, now your idea is to destroy Gaza, the houses of the people," Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi said in a speech in the country's southern Fars province. The people of the world and Palestine will cause trouble for you. In the Syrian capital of Damascus, protesters including Palestinians from the Yarmouk refugee camp formed after the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation also rallied. I tell the people not to leave their homes otherwise they will be like our grandparents who left Palestine and came to Syria but never returned, Ahmad Saeed, a 23-year-old Palestinian living in Syria, said, referring to the 1948 war. In Yemen's Sanaa, held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels still at war with a Saudi-led coalition, demonstrators crowded the streets waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. The rebels' slogan long has been: God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse of the Jews; victory to Islam. In Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, some worshippers trampled on American and Israeli flags. International media and international courts turn a blind eye to the injustices with the Palestinians. But they only notice the actions that the Palestinians take to defend themselves," said Faheem Ahmed, a worshipper in Karachi. "They call it terrorism. Search Keywords: Short link: If Israel does not stop its destructive war, "there will be an expansion of the current events in Gaza to other areas of the region," Iran warned. On Friday Morning, the Israel military fired two missiles over Lebanon's southern village of Naqoura and surrounding areas, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. Israel also fired flare bombs overnight over Lebanon's villages adjacent to the Blue Line. Reconnaissance aircraft of the Israeli army made flights over villages adjacent to the Blue Line. Most residents near the Blue Line were displaced to safer areas. At the same time, public and private schools remained closed according to the education minister's decision. The Blue Line, established by the United Nations in 2000, spans 120 kilometers and serves to verify the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. It is a temporary demarcation line until the two countries officially establish their land borders. Israel now has used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, putting civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries. White phosphorus causes excruciating burns and can set homes afire. Its use in populated areas is unlawful. - Human Rights Watch pic.twitter.com/GSErs0f61u Jackson Hinkle (@jacksonhinklle) October 12, 2023 The situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border escalated after the firing by Hezbollah on Oct. 8 of missiles toward military sites in Shebaa Farms in support of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation launched by Hamas on Oct. 7, prompting the Israeli forces to respond the same day by firing heavy artillery, targeting several areas in southeast Lebanon. On Thursday, Lebanese officials called on the international community to interfere and pressure Israel to stop its provocations on the Lebanese-Israeli border. During a visit to Beirut on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdolahian assured that it is "important" for his country to maintain "calm" in Lebanon, where he met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Abdolahian also called for a meeting with the different regional leaders to address the current situation and warned that if Israel "does not stop its destructive war" there will be an "expansion of the current events in Gaza to other areas of the region." According to the study, sperm are proficient in different swimming styles As a result of a violent collision, the Earth's mantle could still contain remnants of the primordial planet YouTube is cracking down on ad blockers and making its subscription more expensive As a result of a violent collision, remnants of the primordial planet could still be found in the Earth's mantle A restaurant in Chengdu was accused of infringement and claimed 8,<> yuan for infringement on its display board printed with "sad cold powder". A woman in her 60s was attacked by a bear and injured in a field beside her home in a residential area Niigata Nagaoka Ceremony for the Parent of the Order of Culture: Kyogen master Mansaku Nomura and 7 others receive the medal at the Imperial Palace The Shandong Provincial Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party went to colleges and universities to carry out 100 public welfare and health activities to pay attention to women's physical and mental health New American study: Young people want to see less sex on screen One body is a man in his 1s or a storage request because he can't find a taker Aichi Okazaki Young bloggers on both sides of the strait "check in" giant pandas in Chengdu-Chinanews video The Chinese women's football team faces three choices Whether Shui Qingxia's team will be retained is to be determined Shohei Ohtani voted best fielder in the league in player vote, missing out on Player of the Year Bellingham, Bale, Herrera... The manias and the reality of the pressure of football socks: "The calf is a structure that needs slack" The story of the 'fake' Atletico de Madrid crest on the UD Las Palmas emblem: "There could be sympathy, but no direct relationship" After 12 years, the Chinese women's football team missed the Olympic Games again, where does the Chinese women's football team go? "Double standards are obvious": Russia was outraged by the IOC's call to prevent discrimination against athletes from Israel Rosa Kafaji ahead of the series finale: "Not to be affected lots of Bajen fans" These are the new simplified language notices of the Treasury: "This document is a requirement of..." Walk into the market to see confidence: all regions and departments have solidly promoted the integrated development of urban and rural areas (The 6th CIIE) the first domestically produced large-scale cruise ship Aida Modu will recently open the "delivery season" and appear at the National Pavilion of the 6th CIIE Who did the "lowest price on the whole network" melee fat? What will the acceleration of the iteration of the domestic large model bring? Seven major listed airlines achieved collective profitability in the third quarter and made efforts to ensure full-year results in the new season Actual investigation of gold stores: the counter is hot and the rise in gold prices has not affected the enthusiasm for buying Credit update: the Russian government has expanded the terms of preferential loans for the purchase of cars The Minister of Economic Hotspots talks about an exclusive interview with Zheng Shajie, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the National Development and Reform Commission Twitter purchase: Musk's lawyers are said to have taken on US Securities and Exchange Commission Despite the war in Ukraine, French imports of Russian gas have increased by 40% The U.S. Supreme Court of the State of Alabama approved the use of nitrogen to execute a prisoner Foreign Ministry: Closing the Baltic Sea to Russia Means It Will Be Closed to Everyone "We are forced to fight in a very difficult situation": the Israeli military announced the penetration into the territory of the city of Gaza City More than 200 euros discount to grab on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 at Cdiscount What is the curse of the "eighth decade" that Ehud Barak feared and Abu Obeida waved? Matthew Perry's Estate: His Parents and Five Siblings, the Possible Heirs to His Million-Dollar Fortune Habeck stands up to German anti-Semitism from both the right and the left Ethan Hawke: "I must have done something good in life if Pedro Almodovar called me" Communities 2019 - Privacy The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. Antoinette Frank, the infamous New Orleans police officer and the only woman facing execution in Louisiana, will argue for mercy along with four condemned men on Friday as the Louisiana Board of Pardons weighs clemency hearings for the first in a historic batch of pleas from death row. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is trailed by reporters as he arrives to meet with the House Republican Conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. A majority of Republicans have chosen Scalise as their nominee for speaker, defeating Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, but he is still short of the votes he will need on the floor to win the gavel. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ORG XMIT: DCSA106 ORG XMIT: BAT2310121159421043 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 He might not be prepping PowerPoint slides yet, but Chance the Rapper is anticipating his keynote address at SXSW Sydney celebrating hip-hops 50th anniversary. Im excited to be talking about it, the musician, real name Chancelor Bennett, says while driving (super anxiously, I must say) through the streets of Chicago. For us to be 50 years into what a lot of people consider the dominant art form in the world, and on the other side of the world talking about it, its a big deal. Landing the artist who won the Grammy for best rap album in 2017 for his seminal mixtape Coloring Book he was the first independent artist to claim the honour is a coup for the festival, not least because Bennett brings an idiosyncratic perspective to hip-hops journey. The genre officially born at a Bronx block party in New York City on August 11, 1973 also owes its growth to Bennetts sweet home Chicago. My experience of the industry is that its predatory: Chance the Rappers DIY journey to hip-hop acclaim might feel familiar to local artists. Stretching back to proto-rappers Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets in the mid-70s, through backpack icons such as Common and Kanye West, to Chief Keef and King Louie, pioneers of the drill rap thats become the citys most enduring (and controversial) global export, Chicago has long been one of hip-hops most fertile playgrounds. Bennett, 30, has always recognised the citys impact on his art. I dont know if I would have been an independent artist if I wasnt from Chicago, he says. Because of the lack of industry support, you had to be your own artist, be your own label, be your own everything. When I was growing up, we used to call Chicago the city of hella hate, he adds. Theres this big streetwear fashion company here called Leaders that everybody wears, and their most popular shirt for a long time said, Chicago hates you. It was always this feeling of, you know, F them, theyre not us. Local rappers might understand Bennetts grassroots hustle. Traditionally ignored by institutions and the wider industry, Australias hip-hop boom has been largely DIY and independently driven, with local artists building massive followings through Soundcloud and YouTube to the point where they cant be ignored. It echoes Bennetts experience. Advertisement Chance performing on Jimmy Fallons late show in March this year. The rapper is also celebrating the 10th anniversary of his breakthrough mixtape, Acid Rap. Credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images Totally, he says. Back when I first started, music venues wouldnt book hip-hop, unless you were from out of town. Me and my friends rented out a spot called Reggies Rock Club in 2011 and sold it out. It was only 500 tickets but it was a big deal for the city. Once its drill scene attracted international attention, suddenly it was all Chicago, Chicago, Chicago, Bennett says. We created an industry, basically. With such a spotlight landing in the city, how did he understand he could remain independent? Show and prove, basically, he says. I was just willing to wait it out. I was getting really bad offers which I didnt know were bad offers when I first was getting them, but I knew they werent what I wanted. But in 2012, every label and not just in America, in the world was coming and offering deals to artists in Chicago, so much so that people started rapping just so they could get a deal. Bennett says he was taking those same meetings with record labels, getting flown out to New York and LA, but logistics, as much as his constitution, decided his fate. I just didnt have the money for the legal fees that came with it, he says. Every time they send a contract, your lawyer has to redline it and send something back so I was getting billed for all these contracts that were coming in so I just fired the lawyer and told the labels not to send me any more contracts until I dropped my mixtape. I figured by doing that I would get a better offer, you know? But then, after I dropped Acid Rap [his breakthrough 2013 mixtape], I went on tour with Mac Miller and I got to see my power. And then I got picked to do a few dates with Eminem and I got to see my power. And then I did my own headline tour and once I did that, I just knew, like, I can probably do this on my own. Like Chances own journey to industry acclaim, the 50-year journey of hip-hop has not been without its uncomfortable digressions. Even now youll find older heads complaining about those kids and their mumble rap, or the young stars provocatively boasting how they dont care about 2Pac. Whats Chances view on those unending discussions? Advertisement Look, Ive come to realise its all cyclical and that its just a part of the culture, he says. He recalls the infamous beef between veteran rapper Ice-T and then newcomer Soulja Boy of 2008 with a dry laugh. Do you remember this? he asks. It was probably when I was in eighth grade or something. Ice-T comes out and says hip-hops dead and its because of Soulja Boy. And Soulja Boy made a famous viral video response where he was like, I cant believe you hate me, Im 17 years old! Bennett laughs. That was how people talked about [Soulja Boy] when he first came out, and now were in 2023 and hes viewed as the visionary that he is: he had a Guinness world record for the most ringtones ever sold, he revolutionised streaming and synchronised dance challenges, he was the driving force behind Limewire and file sharing. Theres so many things he pioneered that not only pushed the genre forward but pushed the whole music industry forward. Im pretty sure him and Ice-T are cool now but thats an example of something that happened 15 to 20 years ago, and its gonna happen more and more because thats how big the movement is. Fifty years is a big thing. Chance, with partner Kirsten Corley, at the 2021 Met Gala. Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP In 2023, Bennett is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Acid Rap and working on a new album Star Line Galaxy that extrapolates ideas hes explored in his Black Star Line Festival series, promoting collaboration across the African diaspora and influenced by the concepts of Marcus Garvey. In the US, Bennetts generous energy has also translated to TV: hes a judge and mentor on TV singing contest The Voice, a role he previously inhabited on the Netflix reality competition Rhythm & Flow. Its all a way of paying forward the early career support he gained from late community activist Mike Hawkins, a mentor in Chicago who started a free after-school program teaching writing, performance and production techniques to young artists (the program also helped launch the careers of rappers Noname and Vic Mensa); and Donald Glover, the Hollywood actor and writer, who under his guise as rapper Childish Gambino, took Bennett on his first major tour. Being black and being in the music industry? My experience of the industry is that its predatory, says Bennett. Its predatory in any genre, but especially in rap because hip-hop is the first genre made by fully free black men. Wed been in jazz and rock n roll, but we were still dealing with the effects of Jim Crow and so many other oppressive forces so hip-hop was the first thing that was created by free black men, in the park, just making something from scratch. It being so new and so foundationally black, it was immediately preyed upon as soon as it became a mainstream commodity, he adds. And so all the relationships you end up making in the industry, even if its not intentional, they end up becoming predatory relationships somebody wants to sign you to their label, or have you create a sub-label, or they want to use you for a quick hit or a quick beat; its just all bad practices. Advertisement Advertisement Eating outJust open What happens when three fine-dining chefs open a bakery in Darlinghurst? Prepare for pastries unlike any youve seen before pretzel croissant Reuben sandwiches, anyone? Bianca Hrovat October 13, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share As featured in the November hit list. See all stories . Mandarin and macadamia croissants, custard tarts, pandan coconut brioche and Vegemite avocado and chilli scrolls at Shadow Baking. Supplied Three chefs from Gelato Messina will open Shadow Baking in Darlinghurst on Friday, October 27, following the sell-out success of their September pop-up. Customers queued for up to two hours at the one-off event at Messina HQ in Marrickville to try the teams innovative interpretations of classic viennoiserie, which included eggs benny tarts, coconut and pandan brioche, and a Reuben sandwich with house-made pastrami on a salty pretzel croissant. It was such a huge, insane response, says Tom Mitchell, co-founder of Shadow Baking and executive chef at Messina. We werent expecting that at all. Shadow Baking began as a monthly market stall run by Mitchell and Messina head chef Florian Fritsch. Advertisement 1 / 4 Croissants. Supplied 2 / 4 Custard tart danish. Supplied 3 / 4 Blueberry tart, with baked cheesecake, blueberry jam, vanilla cream and blueberries. Supplied 4 / 4 Leek, potato and ricotta tart. Supplied Previous Slide Next Slide The post-lockdown passion project combined the culinary prowess of two colleagues with skills honed in fine-dining restaurants, who were later joined by Messina Creative Restaurant head chef Remi Talbot. Mitchell was once the head chef at Adriano Zumbos now-closed patisserie; Fritsch has worked in acclaimed kitchens such as Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Rockpool Bar & Grill; and Talbot spent eight years as the pastry chef at Den, a Tokyo restaurant with two Michelin stars. The experience the three of us have in working in different places shines through to each item we create, Mitchell says. Theres a bit of Australiana, a bit of nostalgia, and a big French influence. Advertisement At the Cannery Markets, where theyve appeared for the past 18 months, the trio developed a strong following for signature pastries, such as twice-baked mandarin and macadamia croissant, stuffed with macadamia frangipane and mandarin marmalade, and topped with vanilla cream and toasted macadamias. The Reuben pretzel croissant with Russian dressing, house-made pastrami, gruyere, sauerkraut and pickles. Supplied Now, in partnership with Gelato Messina, theyre moving into the small space beside the gelato shop on Victoria Road. It will be a multisensorial experience, with two ovens in front of the counter baking treats throughout the day. We want our customers to be able to watch everything being baked, and when something is ready, the baker can open the oven door, and theyll be hit with the heat and the smell, Mitchell says. When someone grabs a croissant and its still warm, their face just lights up. Theyre like, Oh my god, and thats a feeling we want to replicate. Advertisement Vegemite, avocado and fermented chilli scroll. Supplied The menu will be much the same as at the markets, with batch-brewed coffee and new additions such as blueberry tart (layered with baked cheesecake, blueberry jam, vanilla cream and fresh blueberries). As is Messina tradition, customers can expect a series of weekly rotating specials, and therell be plenty of Messina products in the mix (including their dulce de leche, milk and scoops of gelato). Due to the size of the space, it will be takeaway-only, although there are plans to install outdoor tables, pending council approval. The team plan to open Friday to Sunday, with Talbot as head baker and Mitchell and Fritsch retaining their respective positions at Messina HQ. Advertisement Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Influencing factors include sunshine, temperature, rainfall, humidity, latitude and altitude, aspect, slope and soil fertility. And so a wine with terroir is a wine that has character specific to the place where it was grown. No, Itll taste like a Californian wine because of terroir. Essentially, it means that a wine will taste of the place where the grapes were grown, reflecting the unique combination of geology, topography and climate that affects the growth of any plant in any given location. Comparing Champagne with Australian sparkling wine is a vivid example. Australian makers of sparkling wine use the same grapevines, similar viticultural methods and identical winemaking techniques to those in Champagne, but the wines taste different. This applies whether the wine is produced in Tasmanias Pipers River region, Victorias Yarra Valley or South Australias Adelaide Hills. The question, Why do Californias Napa Valley reds taste so distinctive? has the same answer. Its a very different place in terms of climate and soil (to name two factors) to any other winegrowing region. We shouldnt expect its wines to taste like Coonawarra, Margaret River, Bordeaux or anywhere else. New World winemakers are gradually accepting that they should be proud of the individuality of their wines and stop comparing them to the classics of the Old World. That is, we should stop comparing our chardonnays and pinot noirs with Burgundy, our cool-climate shirazes with the Northern Rhone, our rieslings with Alsace or the Rhine Valley and so on. A famous American oenologist visiting Australia back in the 1970s a time when cultural cringe was alive and well was asked what he thought of Australian wines. His reply? Australia makes the best Australian wines in the world. We should, perhaps, be content with that. Got a drinks question for Huon Hooke? thefullbottle@goodweekend.com.au Loading In July last year at the Garma Festival, Albanese committed to a referendum in 2023 to recognise Indigenous people in the Australian Constitution and enshrine their right to a Voice to parliament and released his draft wording. The detail, he said, would come later. The Australian people would be asked to endorse the principle, then Indigenous people consulted about the model, then a vote on legislation in parliament. Two months later, the Resolve Political Monitor put public support for the Voice as high as 64 per cent. 2. The Jacinta effect Days before Albaneses Garma announcement, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the freshly minted Country Liberal Party senator for the Northern Territory, gave her first speech to parliament. In it, the firebrand conservative railed against the proposed Voice to parliament, saying the government had failed to demonstrate how it would deliver practical outcomes and unite the country rather than drive a wedge further between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. She said it was paternalistic of the government to try to empower her, and called for individuals to be defined by the content of their character rather than their racial heritage. Loading Prices speech foreshadowed the massive role that she would play in the No campaign, first within the Nationals party room and later for the whole Coalition. It was a turning point in the campaign because it promoted the No argument that Indigenous people dont back the Voice, and it is being imposed on them by the elites. Polling consistently suggests the majority of Indigenous Australians do want the Voice. Price recently gave a Press Club speech in which she made the incendiary claim that Indigenous people had benefited from colonisation. 3. The Nats make their call In November 2022, Nationals Party leader David Littleproud said his party would oppose the Voice because it wanted to empower Aboriginal people at a local level, not create another layer of bureaucracy here in Canberra. He made his announcement flanked by most of the Nationals party room, but there was disunity bubbling under the surface and NSW Nationals MP Andrew Gee quit the party room over his colleagues stance. Nationals leader David Littleproud, flanked by senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, announces the partys stance on the Voice on November 28. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Former leader Michael McCormack suggested the partys position could change if Albanese released more detail. Only a month later Littleproud quashed that notion, saying Albanese had since released more detail, but this had only confirmed the Nats position, which was now final. The ructions in the Nationals were the precursor to similar problems in the Liberal Party and the Australian Greens as each party finalised their stance. 4. Blak sovereignty As parliament returned for the new year, tensions finally boiled over in the Australian Greens. The party platform endorsed by members was to support the Voice, despite preferring for treaty to happen first. But the partys Indigenous affairs spokeswoman at the time, Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe, was not keen on it. Loading Things came to a head in February 2023 when Thorpe quit the Greens to sit as an independent and lead a so-called progressive No campaign that advocated for Indigenous or Blak sovereignty, treaty as a priority, and dismissed the Voice as a powerless advisory body that didnt go far enough. Indigenous Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox took over the portfolio and the party continued to campaign for Yes. However, tensions remained; in October, the Australian Greens First Nations Network, also known as Blak Greens, endorsed a letter to members urging a No vote. Within the broader community, the progressive No case has added to the perception pushed by the conservative No side that Indigenous people dont want the Voice. 5. Dutton confirms his stance Loading It was no surprise when Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced in April the Liberal Party would oppose a Voice. He had spent most of the previous eight months raising continual doubts calling for more detail, accusing Albanese of wanting a blank cheque, and questioning whether more bureaucracy would help Indigenous people. Bipartisan support had seemed unlikely, though some Liberals hoped for a conscience vote. The partys position prompted Julian Leeser who held the shadow attorney-general and Indigenous Australians portfolios to quit the front bench so he could campaign for Yes. Former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt the first Indigenous Australian elected to the House of Representatives, to serve as a minister and to join cabinet left the party altogether in protest and has decried Duttons Trumpian tactics. 6. The end game June marked the point when the enabling legislation for the referendum passed parliament. It was also when polls showed the No vote in front for the first time. In August, while visiting the swing state of South Australia, Albanese declared the referendum would be held on October 14. This marked the start of the campaign proper. Yes23 had a couple of surprises up its sleeve, including John Farnham agreeing they could use Youre the Voice as a campaign song. But all public polls were pointing to No as the campaign entered its final days. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the current approach has failed and voting No to the Voice means more of the same. Leading Yes campaigner Noel Pearson says the problems wont be tackled without a constant voice in the ear of the government. But Indigenous voices already inform and design all policymaking. Thats the current approach. Entrenching it in the Constitution wont make it succeed. Pearson says theres no Plan B if the referendum fails. But his Plan A the Voice provides no plan at all. This is the referendum we did not have to have. No campaigner Warren Mundine. Credit: Trevor Collens Ive travelled across the country speaking with both supporters and opponents of the Voice and with undecideds. They all want to see better lives for the most marginalised Australians. Regardless of the result, all sides of this referendum debate must come together on Sunday to harness this goodwill, enthusiasm and momentum for change. We need a new plan based on four priorities: accountability, education, economic participation and social change. Only one regional Victorian local government area has recorded a fall in rents over the past year, while all others either held steady or rose. But the once booming pace of rent rises has slowed as city workers are called back to their offices instead of working remotely from their temporary tree-change home, new data shows. Hepburn was the only LGA where asking rents for houses fell over the year to September, by $10 a week, or 2.2 per cent, to $440, Domains latest Rent Report has revealed. The central Victorian shire with easy access to Melbourne was previously running at double-digit rent growth, even after lockdowns ended. The Israeli military pulverized the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said Thursday its complete siege which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine would remain in place until the Hamas militants that rule the territory freed some 150 captives taken during an unprecedented weekend incursion. A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of U.S. weapons, were a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas deadly attack on civilians and soldiers, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gazas 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces are preparing for a ground maneuver should political leaders order one. A ground offensive in Gaza, where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Hamas assault on Saturday killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. The relentless barrage on Gaza 6,000 munitions dropped since the conflict began, the military said left Palestinians running through streets with what belongings they could carry, looking for a safe place. A strike Thursday afternoon in the the Jabaliya refugee camp collapsed a residential building on families sheltering inside, killing at least 45 people, Gazas Interior Ministry said. At least 23 of the dead were under the age of 18, including a month-old child, according to a list of the casualties. Ministry spokesman Eyad Bozum said dozens were wounded and the death toll was likely to rise as rescue workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble. The home, belonging to the al-Shihab family, was packed with relatives who had fled bombing in other areas. Neighbors said a second house was hit at the same time but the toll was not immediately known. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike. The Jabaliya camp has seen non-stop bombardment for days, said one neighbor, Khalil Abu Yahia. We cant flee because anywhere you go you are bombed. You need a miracle to survive here, Aby Yahia said. The number of people who fled their homes reached 340,000 people by Wednesday night roughly 15 percent of Gazas population. Most crowded into U.N.-run schools while others are staying with relatives or even strangers. Families were cutting down to one meal a day to conserve supplies, said Rami Swailem, a 34-year-old lecturer at al-Azhar University, who has 32 members of his family sheltering in his home. Water stopped coming to the building two days ago, and they were rationing whats left in the tank on the roof. Alaa Younis Abuel-Omrain has been staying in a U.N. school after a strike on her home killed eight members of her family -- her mother, aunt, a sister, a brother and his wife and their three children. She said food supplies were running out. Most bakeries stopped producing bread for lack of electricity. Even if there is food in some areas, we cant get to it because of strikes, she said. On Wednesday, Gazas only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators. Hospitals, overwhelmed by a constant stream of wounded and running out of supplies, have only a few days worth of fuel before their power cuts off, aid officials say. Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues, said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Newborn incubators, kidney dialysis machines, X-rays, and more, are all dependent on power, he said. Ambulance crews carrying bodies from the rubble of demolished buildings to the morgue at Gazas biggest hospital, Shifa, found no space left. Dozens of bodies in body bags were lined up in the hospital parking lot. Fourteen health facilities have been damaged in strikes, health officials said Thursday. The situation is very critical, said Shifa hospital director Mohammad Abu Selmia. Weve never seen days in Gaza like what we see now. With Israel sealing off the territory, the only way in or out is through the crossing with Egypt at Rafah. Egypts Foreign Ministry said it has not officially closed Rafah but airstrikes have prevented it from operating. Egypt has been trying to convince Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas after the militants stormed into the countrys south on Saturday and killed hundreds of people. Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza. Four previous conflicts ended with the group still firmly in control of the territory it has ruled since 2007. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists, massed additional forces near Gaza and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities. A new war Cabinet, which includes a longtime opposition politician, was sworn in on Thursday to direct the fight. A high-ranking Hamas official, Saleh Al-Arouri, warned on Thursday that any Israeli invasion of Gaza will turn into a disaster for its army, saying the group was prepared to respond. Blinkens visit underscored American backing for Israel's bloody retaliation against Hamas. You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to, Blinken said after meeting with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. Blinken said he told Netanyahu its so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. Blinken is to meet Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority is confined to parts of the occupied West Bank, and Jordans King Abdullah II. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in a 1967 war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state, but there have been no peace talks in over a decade. In Gaza, the Israeli military said overnight strikes targeted Hamas elite Nukhba forces, including command centers used by the fighters in Saturdays attack, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative that it said was used to store unspecified weapons. Other airstrikes killed commanders from two smaller militant groups, according to media linked to those organizations. Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership, Hecht, the military spokesman, said of Hamas. Israel is employing a new tactic of leveling whole neighborhoods, rather than just individual buildings. Hecht said targeting decisions were based on intelligence and civilians were warned. Even with the warnings, Palestinians say some are unable to escape or have nowhere to go. The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on Thursday when Israeli settlers sprayed bullets at a funeral for three people killed in a settler rampage the day before. Footage showed Israeli settlers in their cars swerving into the funeral procession and cutting off the road before stopping and opening fire. The Health Ministry says more than two dozen Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and two in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem since Saturday, most when police fired on Palestinian protesters. *This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: There would be few nations in which historical grievances play such an influential role as Israel. Its very raison detre is to provide a haven for a cultural and religious people that have been subjected to a long history of persecution, including discrimination, expulsion and the horrors of the Holocaust. What became painfully evident last weekend, with the horrific cold-blooded killing by Hamas of more than 1200 Jewish citizens, including women and children, was that the simmering tensions that have plagued Israel since its birth are still far from settled. Benjamin Netanyahu faces some tough decisions. Credit: Reuters Under the prime ministership of Benjamin Netanyahu, who first came to power in 1996, Israel has enforced a hardline security-focused strategy involving the construction of fortress-like ramparts surrounding the occupied Palestinian territories in a bid to protect its citizens. Within the Middle East region, Netanyahu pursued warmer ties with select neighbours, most recently in 2020 with a series of agreements that normalised relations between Israel and several Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. In Netanyahus mind, it was a win-win scenario, with Israel able to incrementally fortify its position in the region while offering few concessions towards a two-state solution as Arab nations tired of the ineffectual Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the extreme leadership of Hamas in Gaza. if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... Azerbaijani community organized a peaceful protest action in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands: "We want peace!" Azernews reports. The action, organized by the Azerbaijan-Netherlands-Belgium Coordination Council, was in protest against Armenia's absurd claims and anti-Azerbaijan campaign. Speakers at the action, which started with the singing of the National Anthem of Azerbaijan, recalled the policy of usurpation, aggression, ethnic cleansing, genocide, acts of vandalism, and mine terrorism carried out by Armenia against Azerbaijan and our people for almost 30 years. Protesters demanded that the International Court of Justice reject Armenia's false claims and respect the territorial integrity of multicultural and peace-loving Azerbaijan. During the rallies "Garabagh is Azerbaijan!", "Respect the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan!", "End Armenian separatism!", "Stop the anti-Azerbaijani campaign!", "Azerbaijan wants peace, Armenia wants war! ", "Don't forget Khojaly!", "Ganja terror is a manifestation of Armenian terrorism!", "Ruben Vardanyan is a financier of terrorism!", "The world is silent about Ganja terror!" and other slogans were chanted. It should be noted that the action was organized on the basis of Armenia's appeal to the International Court of Justice during the public hearings on the abolition of all forms of racial discrimination (Armenia v. Azerbaijan). AARP Wyoming is hosting a free Shred Event at Hilltop Bank on Country Club Road in Casper from 1-4 p.m. on October 14. The event is free and drive-ups are welcome, but registration is encouraged. Click here to register. You can also call 877-926-8300 to register. Stay one step ahead of identity thieves by shredding personal and financial documents. Bring up to two large boxes of paper for shredding. Shred fests are drive-through contactless shredding events. To avoid having your sensitive information compromised, security experts recommend shredding of the following types of materials: Old Documents: Papers that carry your Social Security number, birth date, signature, account numbers, passwords or PINs. Banking: Canceled or unused checks. Shred deposit slips and ATM and credit card receipts, once you receive your monthly statements. Credit Cards : Pre-approved credit card applications and incentive/gift checks from credit card companies. Medical: Unneeded medical bills. Investments : Investment account statements. Obsolete ID Cards : Expired drivers licenses, medical insurance cards, and passports. ShredFests are one component of AARPs commitment to fighting fraud. The AARP Fraud Watch Network launched in 2013 as a free resource for people of all ages. Consumers may sign up for Watchdog Alert emails that deliver information about scams, or call a free helpline at 877-908-3360 to speak with volunteers trained in fraud counseling. The Fraud Watch Network website provides information about fraud and scams, prevention tips from experts, and an interactive scam-tracking map. Batavia, NY (14020) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High around 55F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. If people vote for BJP, real beneficiary would be Adani Staff Reporter RAIPUR, Pawan Khera, Chairman of Media and Publicity in the Communications Department of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), expressed serious concerns about the potential implications for Chhattisgarh if voters opt for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in upcoming Assembly polls. Addressing a press conference at the state Congress party office in Rajiv Bhawan Pawan Khera unveiled a striking poster that conveys a stark message: Button Kamal Par Dabega To VV Pad Se Adani Niklega (If you press the lotus button, Adani will emerge from the voting machine). The poster highlights the fears that natural resources such as bauxite, iron ore, cement companies, power plants, and Hira Khadan of Devbhog might be transferred to the Adani Group if the BJP secures power in the State. In a detailed explanation of the Congress partys stance, Khera emphasised that a vote for the BJP could lead to a significant shift in control of Chhattisgarhs resources. He urged voters to consider the consequences of their choice carefully. When asked about the potential outcomes of voting for the Congress in the assembly polls, Pawan Khera asserted that the relief would come to the people of Chhattisgarh if they once again place their trust in the Congress party. The poster released by the Congress party enumerates 22 points outlining their concerns about a potential BJP victory, especially regarding the Adani Group. Khera also highlighted the welfare schemes implemented by the Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government, which have benefitted various sections of the society. Responding to questions regarding the Congress poll promise to ban the sale of liquor, Khera clarified that while the Congress government had closed 100 liquor shops during its five-year rule, it did not intend to abruptly ban liquor sales across the State, drawing a comparison to the Prime Ministers announcement of demonetisation. The press conference was attended by Political Advisor to Chief Minister Vinod Verma, Chairman of the Communication Department of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee Sushil Anand Shukla, AICC Media Coordinator Radhika Khera, Pooja Tripathi, R P Singh, and other party leaders. Birla Group walks out of Rs 27,000 cr mining contract By Mukesh S Singh Raipur, Coal Indias efforts to achieve a billion-tonne production mark continue to face roadblocks due to uncertainties in Chhattisgarh, the countrys largest coal producer. In a latest development, Essel Mining & Industries (EMIL) of Aditya Birla Group, has decided not to proceed with Rs 27,000 crore mining contract from Coal India in Chhattisgarh. Reasons behind this being fathomed are unfavourable policies of the State Government. Coal India Limited (CIL) subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) acknowledged Essel Minings successful bid in December 2022 with the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) for the mine development and operation (MDO) contract of Madannagar Coal Block. However, to date, Essel Mining failed to complete the mandatory formalities, such as furnishing a Performance Security Deposit (PSD) and executing the Mining Agreement to formalise the contract. EMIL is one of the countrys leading diversified natural resource companies having mining operations in the states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. EMIL holds a leading position in the Indian mining industry for adoption of modern mining technology in its operations. According to well-placed sources, SECL recently terminated its Letter of Acceptance and also has withheld Essel Minings earnest money deposit after waiting and following up for about eight months. With this, now the fate of Madannagar Block hangs in balance since SECL lacks the expertise and ability to develop this block on its own and needed the support of the private player, the sources averred. Sources recalled that the SECL had floated a tender in August 2021 to select MDO contractor for its Madannagar coal block in Bhatgaon Area in the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. Madannagar coal block would have produced 12 million tonnes of coal annually, which would have contributed immensely in achieving Coal Indias one billion tonne coal production mark and Chhattisgarhs exchequer. This is yet another withdrawal of a big-ticket project by a large industrial house in Chhattisgarh. Due to uncertain government policies coupled with a high level of politicisation on coal blocks mining in Chhattisgarh, investors are shying away from investing here. Chhattisgarh governments abrupt decision to expand the size of Lemru Elephant Reserve fourfold has jeopardised the fate of close to 40 coal blocks, said an office-bearer of a trade body in Chhattisgarh, requesting anonymity. The mandarin added that the people of Chhattisgarh would have benefited immensely had the Congress government not increased the size of Lemru Reserve from 450 Sq. Km to 1996 sq. km without offering any plausible explanation. Despite having abundant potential due to advantages of its geographic locations and natural resources, Chhattisgarh is not on the radar of serious investors, he asserted. Incidentally, this is yet another big-ticket project facing uncertainty in Surguja district which is represented by veteran Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister T S Singhdeo. Despite repeated requests from his senior party colleague and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has not allocated additional land to Rajasthans state-owned power generation utility for the next phase of its captive mine. Expanding Rajasthans PEKB Block coupled with the development of SECLs Madannagar Block would have proved a boon for backward Surguja district with thousands of job opportunities, said a community leader of Surguja. The fate of the Madananagar Block is also further jeopardised since Congress-led Chhattisgarh has launched an aggressive campaign against SECLS MDO contract with Adani Enterprises for Pelma Block in the past few days. Citizens raise the pitch for removal of NIT skating rink By Kshitij Udar NAGPUR Improvement Trusts (NIT) international standard skating rink at Daga Layout and Corporation Colony, was a centre of attraction for citizens till a few years ago. Today, however, the same skating rink has become a sort of threat to the citizens. The rink was constructed on a 99.49x42.07 metre area over the Naag River at a cost of around Rs 3 crore in 2001. This carelessly constructed rink was a major cause for the recent floods that brought so much destruction. The rink restricted the flow of excess water into the Naag river during the floods and the water gushed into the nearby residential areas. Poor maintenance of the rink in the past few years, encroachments, and illegal parking over is the main reason residential areas were flooded. The residents of these areas, who were the worst sufferers, are now up in arms against this skating rink which, they allege, is illegal in the first place. A delegation of the flood-affected citizens met Union Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a few days ago, and presented their demand to get the sakting rink over the Naag River removed. Fadnavis assured to take appropriate steps to fulfill their demand. He instructed officials concerned to stop the tendering process for repair work of the rink. Mahendra Chandak, a member of the delegation, who has been the resident of Daga Layout for 62 years, told The Hitavada, The skating rink was constructed by erecting pillars in the Naag River. The pillars obstructed the flow of the river due to which the flood water entered into Daga Layout and Corporation Colony. It has been around 20 days since the flooding, but the victims are still recovering from the disaster. The floods caused a lot of trouble and are still waiting for the compensation. We want the illegal construction over the water body removed with immediate effect, said Chandak. I have been a resident of this colony for the past six decades. I have never seen such a disaster. There are many other reasons why we want this rink to be shut, Chandak added. Crackdown on drug traffickers Staff Reporter The Bhopal Crime Branch arrested a drug peddler with a seizure of cannabis worth over Rs 2.50 lakh, on Thursday. The 53-year-old accused, Rajesh Sharma was on the run after a case was registered against him. He is a habitual offender facing several charges in different police stations of the State capital. Additional DCP of Crime Branch Shailendra Singh Chouhan said that they received a tip about Sharma who was standing near a public toilet in Kolar on Thursday early morning. A team reached the scene and held the accused, he said. The cops also seized cannabis worth over Rs 2.50 from his possession which he had brought from one Mohammad Tahir of Shahjahanabad, said Chouhan. The accused was taken on police remand after being produced in the court. Chouhan added that the accused will be quizzed about his associates and also his customers. The police are running a special campaign against drug peddling in the city ahead of elections. Several other criminals are arrested recently during these operations. Staff Reporter The infighting in city Congress came to the fore in the partys review meeting held on Thursday at Mahakalkar Sabhagruh. Old rivals Narendra Jichkar and partys city President Vikas Thakre had a face off at the start of the meeting. Looking at the ruckus, former minister Sunil Kedar and Leader of Opposition in State Council Vijay Wadettiwar left the meeting midway. A district-wise review meeting of Congress Nagpur Division was convened on Thursday at Mahakalkar Sabhagruh. The Congress Committees of Nagpur City, Nagpur (rural), Wardha, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Chandrapur city, Chandrapur (rural) were to be reviewed district-wise under the chairmanship of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole. The review of Nagpur City Committee began first. Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, ex-Union Minister Vilas Muttemwar, State Working President MLA Kunal Patil, City President and MLA Vikas Thakre, ex-minister Dr Nitin Raut, ex-minister Sunil Kedar, ex-minister Satish Chaturvedi, ex-minister Dr Anees Ahmed, MLC Adv Abhijit Wanjarri, State Women Wing President Sandhya Sawalakhe, State Coordinator Nana Gawande, State Spokesperson Atul Londhe, State Social Media Head Vishal Muttemwar, Atul Kotecha, and others were seated on the stage. Initially, Patole briefed the audience then Thakre addressed the gathering. After his speech, he declared that the review of City Committee was over. Suddenly, Narendra Jichkar, MPCC office-bearer rose, took the podium and expressed his wish to speak. Thakre opposed and allegedly pushed him away. This was unexpected for Jichkar. He tried to stand up, but a lot of party volunteers gathered near the stage and dragged him to the other end of the stage. He lost his balance and fell down. This triggered a heated squabble and supporters from both sides came to blows. Nana Patole, Satish Chaturvedi, Anees Ahmed, Prashant Dhawad, Atul Kotecha, Bunty Shelke, Youth Congress leader Wasim Khan tried to calm down both the groups. But the fighting took an ugly turn as somebody tore Jichkars shirt. No worker was in a mood to listen to even Patole, the MPCC President. The chaos continued for nearly 20 minutes. It is visible in the video that went viral on social media, that some Congress workers were hitting each other after a heated argument. Narendra Jichkar later told media that as per Udaipur Resolution, nobody should remain on one post for more than five years. Probably, my demand was taken otherwise and I was attacked by our President. I got an information that goons were hired in a planned manner and planted at the meeting venue. They were not party workers. Some of my supporters came to my rescue, else I would have been hurt badly. By organising various social programmes to mark our leaders birth anniversaries, I am trying to send a good message to the masses. I respect all our senior leaders, including Nana Patole, so I did not have any bad intention, explained Jichkar. In response to the allegations of Jichkar, Thakre said, Jichkar has lost mental balance. Why should I bring goons? Being the partys city President, I was responsible for the good conduct of the meeting. As far as his allegations about my long tenure as President are concerned, I have already submitted my resignation. I have been recommending since long that somebody should be given the baton. I am myself not interested to stay as the city unit chief. In the same meeting, Wadettiwar too was not allowed to speak. According to sources, some Congress leaders and workers raised slogans when Wadettiwar came on the podium to speak. Recent remarks of Wadettiwar about Rahul Gandhi was the reason behind the anguish of the workers. HOLOCAUST MOMENT:Agonises President Biden By Lalit K Jha WASHINGTON, TERMING the brazen terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, US President Joe Biden has said that it has brought back painful memories of millennia of anti-Semitism and genocide against them. The United States continues to monitor the situation in Israel very closely, Biden said. We continue to monitor the situation in Israel very closely, and the Vice President and I and the bulk of my security team spoke with the (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, again this morning, Biden told reporters on Wednesday. This attack has brought to the surface the painful memories and scars left by millennia of anti-Semitism and genocide against the Jewish people, he said. Over 1,200 people have been killed in Hamas surprise attack on Israel, which has countered it with airstrikes in Gaza killing around 1,100 people. Biden also stopped by a roundtable with Jewish community leaders and reaffirmed his unwavering support for Israel over the terrorist attacks. The attack was a campaign of pure cruelty ... Not just hate, pure cruelty against the Jewish people. And I would argue it is the deadliest day for the Jews since the Holocaust. One of the worst chapters in human history, Biden said. I mean silence is complicity. It really is. And I want you to know, I think youve already figured it out, I refuse to be silent, and I know you refuse to be silent as well, he told Jewish leaders gathered at the White House. It has been hard to find that light during the darkness of these past few days, when terrorist groups like Hamas brought not only terror but sheer evil to the world, the evil that echoes the worst, and matches, in some cases, exceeds, the worst atrocities of ISIS. More than 1,000 civilians (have been) slaughtered in Israel. Biden said he has been speaking with a number of Israeli leaders, a number of leaders around the world, and leaders in the region as well. Among those who have been victimised by this evil and have been killed, are at least 22 American citizens. This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty, not just hate, but pure cruelty against the Jewish people, he said. India dubs Hamas strikes on Israel as terror attacks NEW DELHI, INDIA on Thursday described the strikes by Hamas on Israeli cities as terror attacks but at the same time reaffirmed its long-standing position, advocating negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine living side-by-side at peace with Israel. In first detailed comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing that there was a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law as also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Bagchi was responding to questions about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza in view of Israels counter-attacks following Hamass surprise strikes and US President Joe Bidens message to Tel Aviv to operate by the rules of war. The spokesperson also said Indias focus has been to bring back from Israel the Indians who wish to return in view of the current situation. On Indias position on Palestine, he said it has been always consistent. Our policy in this regard has been long-standing and consistent...India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side by side at peace with Israel. That position remains the same, Bagchi said, reiterating New Delhis position favouring a two-state solution to the Palestine issue. The multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza since Saturday and the subsequent Israeli retaliation have left around 2,600 people dead. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks by Hamas. The sudden escalation in hostilities between Israel and Palestine has triggered global concerns. Leading powers like Germany, the US, France and the UK emphasised the importance of preventing the situation from further escalation. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that the people of India stand firmly with his country in this difficult hour, expressing strong and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Before Thursdays comments by Bagchi on the conflict, Indias response to it was limited to the MEAs readout on the phone conversation between the two prime ministers as well as Modis tweets. I think the Prime Ministers comments stand on their own and they do not require any clarification, Bagchi said. Asked how India sees Hamas, he said the designation of a terrorist organisation under Indian laws is a legal matter. I would refer you to the relevant authorities on this. I think we have been very clear that we see this as a terrorist attack. But on the designation part, the relevant authorities are best placed to respond to it, he said. There is a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law. There is also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. I think that accurately sums up how we look at the issue, Bagchi said when asked specifically about the overall situation. Before Thursdays response by the MEA, there were some criticisms against the Government for not commenting on the situation of the Palestinian people in Gaza. To a question, Bagchi said India has been maintaining contact with all relevant stakeholders. Asked whether the crisis will impact the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative, Bagchi did not give a direct reply but said it is an initiative with long-term significance. Mothers Cry: Samrat is just a child... By Kartik Lokhande Time throws more questions than answers at society. While the society is grappling to find possible solutions to de-addict young men, time has thrown another challenge to face -- addiction in children! Children? Yes. Children. Here is the case of Samrat, son of a single mother, now studying in Class XII. Following divorce of his parents, Samrat is staying with his mother. Both are staying at her fathers place. The woman is a teacher. She is busy serving the commitments to her job besides her son and her father. When she was gone for the job, her son stayed at home with his grandfather. Sadly, Samrat watched his grandfather consuming liquor and overheard that he was drinking to forget the woes. A few years ago, when he was an innocent child, he first tasted beer. Then, secretly, he tasted his grandfathers brand of liquor. Initially, he found it repulsive. But, his emotional state made his resistance to liquor weak. Due to hyperactivity disorder, Samrat always got scolded by his mother who wanted him to be a disciplined guy. But, she could not manage to give him enough time. In the process, Samrat felt that even when he did good, he was not getting appreciation. So, he started finding company that could offer him appreciation. He got such a company in Class IX. But, the friends were kind of bold. They enjoyed being wild, secretly having alcohol sometimes, and exploring new things. They did not mind talking about sex. On one occasion, one of his friends brought a mobile phone handset. They collectively watched a porn movie on it. Still, he appeared for Class X examination and managed to score 85 per cent marks. But, in the next class, his performance dropped fast. Meanwhile, his mother found her fathers alcoholism at intolerable levels. So, she took him to a counsellor. A counsellor treated the old man. The counselling worked, so she broached the subject of her son too as she had observed him bunking classes. Besides, his performance was dropping. To top it all, money started disappearing from their house. As she suspected that her son was engaged in something for which he required money, she confronted him. But, she was shocked to get an angry response from her child. Later, it came out that the boy was lying and stealing money from home to meet the requirement of contribution that his friends were supposed to make to have stuff for enjoying vape. Name, address of printer, publisher must on campaigning material Staff Reporter The district administration has convened an important meeting of publishers and printers of the city in regards with ensuing Assembly elections at the Collectorate, on Thursday. During the meeting, senior administrative officials informed that the Election Commission has issued directives for ensuing elections in accordance with which, it is mandatory to have the name and address of the printer and publisher on campaign materials such as pamphlets, posters and leaflets. Likewise, serial number must be printed on printed material. Violation of these guidelines will result in legal action, including up to six months of imprisonment or fine of up to Rs 2,000 or both. During the meeting, officials stated that printers and publishers must strictly adhere to Section 127(k) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the directives issued by the Election Commission of India. Failure to comply with these rules will result in legal action against violators. To ensure fair elections, it is mandatory for all publishers and printers to prominently display name, address and serial number of printed and published campaign materials. Officials also highlighted requirement for printers and publishers to submit four copies of printed material to the District Election Offices accounts branch within three days of publication, along with a declaration letter. Expenditure related to printed and published material will be accounted for in candidates expenditure ledger. They said publishers and printers are strictly prohibited from publishing any material that violates model code of conduct, promotes hatred, incites religious sentiments or contains objectionable content. The meeting also provided directions for providing information to the District Election Office in the prescribed format. Those who attended the meeting were Deputy Collector Monica Baghmare, Assistant Director of Public Relations M S Uike, Assistant Commercial Tax Officer Astha Soni, printers and publishers. ONE FAMILY IT IS only natural that in times troubled by war and violence, the United Nations felt the need to discuss the Indian concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One World One Family). When certain elements in the global community show an extreme eagerness to wage war, the importance of waging peace is felt all the more. This urge for international peace got reflected well in the International Conference on Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam at which the President of the United Nations General Assembly insisted upon the importance of a peaceful co-existence for all the nations of the world. Unfortunately, however, the concept of One World One Family is being not just ignored but also trampled upon by several elements around the globe. These elements appear trigger-happy and rather waiting for opportunity to pick up arms to inflict damage upon others. Against the background of the Hamas attack on Israel, the UN Conference assumes a special significance that nobody can afford to ignore. But then, the humanitys effort to ensure lasting peace is going to be an all-time affair, in the sense a continuous commitment to peace will be needed accompanied by non-stop endeavour to dissuade nations from thought of war to settle issues. As a civilisation that gave birth to the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, India has often insisted -- at least since its Independence 75 years ago -- upon negotiated settlement as the only way to sort out differences. Though most nations give much lip service to the idea, their actions are not in line with the practical application of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Hence all the trouble. This is also the case with the scourge of terrorism. Though every nation agrees that terror is one menace that needs a collective response, most nations follow their respective geopolitical interests and make a saddening distinction between their friendly nations and others and redraw their definition of terrorism as per that expediency. This is what India has often been stressing. It asks all the nations not to indulge in partisan definitions of terrorism but treat the scourge as a common problem that cuts across national boundaries and petty interests. However, the world has not found enough motivation to treat terror as a common enemy no matter who is indulging in it. Instead, many nations think about terror only through the lens of political convenience. What applies to terrorism also applies to other issues of violence by one State against the other. The Hamas issue mixes both these elements -- and therefore attracts much global concern, which is indicated by the number of nations standing up to support Israel. True, there also are some nations -- mostly Islamic -- that support Hamas and Palestine. That is exactly the point the UN Conference on Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is discussing. The concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is deeply embedded into the thought-process of India for thousands of years. It is the core idea of globalisation -- which became a fashionable term the world over a few decades ago. But the general experience is that many nations use the term only as a matter of political lip service but take several concessions for themselves to protect their perceived self-interests. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi had talked about this lacuna in his speech at the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland in his first term. In fact, Indias consistency of thought and application of the concept should be treated as a model for other nations to emulate when the world is troubled by war. That is the actual message from the UN Conference on Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Weak demand for edible oil to keep prices in check Business Reporter Here is a good news for consumers bearing the brunt of skyrocketing prices of pulses like tur dal, moong mogar, masoor dal and other commodities as prices of edible oil are showing no signs of hike. The edible oils that are maintaining the price levels for the past few weeks are expected to give much relief to the consumers ahead of the festive season. The edible oils prices, excluding groundnut oil, seem to be under pressure on account of lower demand and good supplies in the wholesale market, said Rajesh Thakkar, Director of Shantilal Oils Pvt Ltd, Itwari and President of Oil Merchants Association while speaking to The Hitavada. Thakkar further said that there are various factors for the decline in the soyabean oil prices like scanty demand in the domestic market coupled with steep drop in edible oil prices in the international market. At present, the soyabean oil is imported in bulk quantities from major soyabean producing countries like Argentina, Brazil and US to meet the shortfall in domestic demand. Similarly, palm oil is being imported in huge quantities from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In the wholesale market, the edible prices of various varieties like soyabean oil are being quoted at Rs 1,510 to Rs 1,520 per 15 kg tin; rice bran oil at Rs 1,480 to Rs 1,490 per 15 kg tin; palm oil at Rs 1,400 per 15 kg tin and sunflower oil at Rs 1,500 per 15 litre tin. At the current levels, the edible prices are at their lowest levels and oil merchants are saying that there is no scope for further downside. There could be a marginal rise in edible oil prices considering the heavy festive season demand. Besides this, the groundnut oil prices are being quoted at Rs 2,610 to Rs 2,620 per 15 kg tin. Their prices have not budged from the past one year on account of huge exports of groundnut crop mostly from Gujarat and other states to China. On the other hand, the prices of pulses tur dal medium quality is being quoted at 155 to Rs 160 per kg, tur dal best quality at Rs 165 to Rs 175 per kg, moong mogar at Rs 110 to Rs 116 per kg, masoor dal at Rs 84 to Rs 90 per kg and other commodities are showing significant hike in the Kalamna wholesale market for the past few weeks, said Ramesh Umate of Pratik Trading. Why Digvijay Singh feeling pain due to action on PFI? asks Rameshwar Sharma Staff Reporter Senior leader and MLA of BJP Rameshwar Sharma slammed Congress party for supporting the Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel by maintaining silence on their cruelty and barbarity said while addressing a press conference at the State Media Centre on Thursday. Rameshwar Sharma said that when the Government takes action against the terrorists of the banned organisation like PFI, former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh starts having stomach-ache. After all, what is the connection between Congress party and terrorism and Muslim fundamentalism? Looking at the statement of the Congress party and the reaction of its leaders like Digvijay Singh, it seems that the entire Congress has become the spokesperson of terrorism and advocate of Islamic fundamentalism. He questioned why Congress is silent on the brutality of Hamas. They raped girls and women. After killing them, they humiliated their dead bodies by crushing them. Throats of small children were cut. He said that this barbarity of Hamas terrorists has been criticised even by Muslim countries. The Government of India has also expressed solidarity with Israel against this barbarity. But the Congress, in its statement issued in this regard, did not say a word against this naked dance of cruelty. On the other hand, Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh are giving statements against the Governments action against the banned organisation PFI who gives respect to terrorists and adds Ji to their names. He said that the way organisations like Hamas and PFI are being supported by the Congress party and its leaders is unfortunate. He said that Congress wants to poison the atmosphere of the country and the peace of Madhya Pradesh by supporting terrorism, but we will not allow such naked dance of fanaticism to happen in the country and the state. Sharma said that we demand from the Congress leadership to immediately expel Digvijay Singh from the party and apologise to the people of the country and the State. Otherwise it will be understood that the Congress has become an advocate of Jihadi fanaticism. Wildlife experts apprehensive about Ken-Betwa Link Project By Ankita Garg Though Ken-Betwa Link Project of Madhya Pradesh has got final approval of authorities after 18 years of battle, but the wildlife experts are raising question over the project. An independent committee of the Supreme Court of India has also said that the project is harmful for the environment. Experts said that the project would have its serious impact on biodiversity of Ken River and habitat of tigers, vultures and Ghariyal in Panna Tiger Reserve. Ken Betwa Link Project was in limbo for past 18 years. The project got approval on certain conditions. Local of Panna are also annoyed with the construction of dam on Ken River. A big portion of Panna is situated in lower area of Ken River (other side of the dam). Locals are scared that after construction of dam, larger amount of water would be sent to Bundelkhand through link channel. According to report, during year 2016, Supreme Court had formed a centre empowered committee (CEC). The committee suggested that any conserved or sensitive eco-system should not be destroy because of development projects especially in a significant tiger habitat. The committee said such steps would not be in favour of human being or wildlife. The committee also asked about water availability in Ken River for further irrigation in various parts of Bundelkhand. In order to give clearance to the project, an expert appraisal committee was formed. There were five meetings from August 2015 to June 2016, but project could not get environment clearance. After that expert appraisal committee was dissolved. A new committee was formed in December 2016 and in its first meeting, the committee gave clearance to the project. Karan Rai, local resident of Panna, says, In lower area of the river there will be only stones and our entire farms will be destroyed. Animals and human being will remain thirsty. Only locals of Panna will bear the loss due to the project. Panna Tiger Reserve got notification of National Park due to significant contribution of former forest secretary M K Ranjeet Singh Jhala. Even he has important role to bring Cheetah in India after 70 years. He has given recognition to the beauty of Panna and now he is unhappy with the Ken-Betwa Link Project. M K Ranjeet Singh Jhala, wildlife expert, says, In wildlife board meeting I asked about the low pressure of water in lower area. I did not get satisfactory answer. The project would provide loss of water and park will also be destroy. Himanshu Thakkar, a petitioner against the project said, Forest advisory committee raised concern over destruction of 46 lakh trees during forest clearance meeting but in response it was said that this is the only option to end up the dryness of Bundelkhand. He further said that there is no proper assessment of Ken River water to check the water sufficiency for supply to the Betwa basin. Director General of NWDA Bhopal Singh says, Ken River has water for only three months and after that river remain almost dry. We can store its water only during Monsoon. We would ensure to provide sufficient water to the people having first right on it. Wildlife experts said that 53 per cent buffer area of Panna Tiger Reserve is not appropriate to the tigers. There are 7 species of vultures in PTR and they are around 1,500 in count. This is endangered species. There are 40 spots recorded in the reserve where vulture are setting up their nests. After the Ken Betwa Link project, their nests would be destroyed. In list of animals, tiger and vulture (bird list) and ghariyal (water aquatic animal) are on top of the food chain and their presence keep the balance in environment. BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust (NYSE:BMEZ Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 479,200 shares, an increase of 1,518.9% from the September 15th total of 29,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 361,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust Stock Down 0.6 % BMEZ opened at 14.10 on Friday. BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust has a 12 month low of 13.76 and a 12 month high of 17.05. The firms fifty day simple moving average is 15.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is 15.84. Get BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust alerts: BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust Cuts Dividend The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 16th will be issued a $0.093 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 13th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.91%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust Company Profile Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 69,130 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 9,413 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust by 37.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 23,480 shares of the companys stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 6,407 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust by 8.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 86,674 shares of the companys stock worth $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654 shares during the last quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd grew its position in BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust by 448.0% in the first quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd now owns 69,600 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 56,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. now owns 218,424 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,376,000 after buying an additional 68,452 shares during the last quarter. (Get Free Report) BlackRock Health Sciences Trust IIs (BMEZ) (the Trust) investment objective is to provide total return and income through a combination of current income, current gains and long-term capital appreciation. The Trust seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its total assets in equity securities of companies principally engaged in the health sciences group of industries and equity derivatives with exposure to the health sciences group of industries. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR Free Report) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,460 shares of the business services providers stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement Systems holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $5,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BR. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,155 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,625 shares of the business services providers stock worth $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 126.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,384 shares of the business services providers stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1,851.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 527 shares of the business services providers stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 12,722 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.36% of the companys stock. Get Broadridge Financial Solutions alerts: Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Down 0.6 % NYSE BR opened at $181.22 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.31. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $131.35 and a one year high of $189.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26 and a beta of 0.98. Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend Broadridge Financial Solutions ( NYSE:BR Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.11. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 42.09% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. This is an increase from Broadridge Financial Solutionss previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Broadridge Financial Solutionss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.49%. Analyst Ratings Changes BR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $183.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadridge Financial Solutions currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $173.67. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Broadridge Financial Solutions Insiders Place Their Bets In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, President Christopher John Perry sold 10,118 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.57, for a total value of $1,827,007.26. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 69,365 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,525,238.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, President Christopher John Perry sold 10,118 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.57, for a total transaction of $1,827,007.26. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 69,365 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,525,238.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 2,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.40, for a total value of $446,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,322 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,019,844.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,035 shares of company stock valued at $34,423,247 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Broadridge Financial Solutions Company Profile (Free Report) Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Broadridge Financial Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Broadridge Financial Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA Free Report) by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,301 shares of the companys stock after selling 116,211 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Funds holdings in Corteva were worth $3,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 237.4% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 263,847 shares of the companys stock worth $15,289,000 after acquiring an additional 185,658 shares during the period. Arlington Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 6,704.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 3,062 shares of the companys stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the companys stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Corteva by 0.6% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 399,313 shares of the companys stock valued at $22,881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Corteva by 0.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 113,483 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,503,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Corteva alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Corteva In related news, CFO David J. Anderson acquired 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The shares were bought 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 $3,459,364.76. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the companys stock. Corteva Price Performance Shares of NYSE:CTVA opened at $49.45 on Friday. Corteva, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.59 and a 1 year high of $68.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $35.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.79. Corteva (NYSE:CTVA Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. Corteva had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 5.26%. The businesss revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Corteva Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. This is an increase from Cortevas previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Cortevas payout ratio is presently 49.61%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms recently commented on CTVA. Redburn Partners lowered shares of Corteva from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Corteva from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Corteva from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Corteva from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $63.00 to $67.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group restated an outperform rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, August 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Corteva presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $70.35. Read Our Latest Research Report on CTVA 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. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CTVA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Corteva Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Corteva and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. NETSTREIT (NYSE:NTST Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at KeyCorp from a sector weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, October 11th, MarketBeat.com reports. KeyCorp also issued estimates for NETSTREITs Q1 2024 earnings at $0.28 EPS and Q2 2024 earnings at $0.28 EPS. NTST has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on NETSTREIT from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 15th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of NETSTREIT in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. They set an outperform rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research lowered shares of NETSTREIT from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 5th. Bank of America cut NETSTREIT from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded NETSTREIT from a d+ rating to a c rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NETSTREIT has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $21.17. Get NETSTREIT alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on NTST NETSTREIT Price Performance Institutional Investors Weigh In On NETSTREIT Shares of NTST stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $14.60. The companys stock had a trading volume of 103,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 677,989. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.46 and a 200-day moving average of $17.40. NETSTREIT has a twelve month low of $14.49 and a twelve month high of $20.64. The stock has a market cap of $978.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 146.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.93. Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NETSTREIT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NETSTREIT by 557.1% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,886 shares of the companys stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in NETSTREIT by 103.2% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 2,056 shares of the companys stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in NETSTREIT by 62.4% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the companys stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in NETSTREIT in the 1st quarter worth $64,000. About NETSTREIT (Get Free Report) NETSTREIT Corp. is an internally managed real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Dallas, Texas that specializes in acquiring single-tenant net lease retail properties nationwide. The growing portfolio consists of high-quality properties leased to e-commerce resistant tenants with healthy balance sheets. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for NETSTREIT Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NETSTREIT and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Free Report) by 74.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 55,959 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after selling 160,901 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Funds holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $3,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.6% during the first quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,790 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.8% during the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.3% during the second quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 4,205 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.7% during the first quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.54% of the companys stock. Get Occidental Petroleum alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 5,100,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $127,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 185,181,578 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,629,539,450. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on OXY shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a sell rating on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $70.41. View Our Latest Research Report on Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 0.2 % OXY opened at $63.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $55.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $63.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $55.51 and a 1-year high of $76.11. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.02). Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 21.36% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The business had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 37.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year. Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Occidental Petroleums dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.22%. About Occidental Petroleum (Free Report) Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding OXY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Occidental Petroleum Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Occidental Petroleum and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,593 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 6,096 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the companys stock valued at $21,248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,324 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the companys stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the companys stock valued at $141,690,000 after purchasing an additional 89,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $498,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.94% of the companys stock. Get Altria Group alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $40.40 to $39.20 and set a sell rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $47.60. Altria Group Stock Down 0.8 % NYSE:MO opened at $42.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $74.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.91 and a fifty-two week high of $51.57. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $43.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.55. Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $1.31. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.43 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 27.40% and a negative return on equity of 225.61%. The firms revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year. Altria Group Increases Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.28%. This is a boost from Altria Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 102.89%. Altria Group Company Profile (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. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Baby who died in hospital was brought in with bleach on her, police say That release could not be found. Gusau, Zamfara - October 12th, 2023: The 4-month mentorship program organized for female students at Federal College of Education, Technical (FCET) Gusau, Zamfara state has ended with a closeout ceremony in the College. This program, which the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative organized (ASR Africa) and the Federal College of Education, Technical (FCET) Gusau, is aimed to advance the course of the girl child in STEM education and Entrepreneurship. The program which focused on 3 thematic areas including career, personal, and entrepreneurial development, brought together renowned global female mentors, as facilitators, drawn from the United Nations, the Middle East, business professionals, media experts, and ASR Africa development specialists. Centre Right: Dr. Ubon Udoh, MD, ASR Africa, Hajiya Hurriya Dauda-Lawal, the First Lady of Zamfara StateDr Mrs. Hauwa Muktar Abdulkarim, Provost of the College with mentees of the ASR Africa Mentorship Programme at the Close-out Ceremony. Speaking at the event, the Provost of the College Dr Mrs. Hauwa Muktar Abdulkarim, commended the Chairman of BUA Group and ASR Africa, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, for his support to Tertiary Institutions in the country. Being a beneficiary of the 250 million naira grant of ASR Africa Tertiary Education Grant Scheme 2022/2023, the Provost of Federal College applauded the management of ASR Africa for the technical support also given them and prayed that the mentorship program will not be the last of such gestures. Cross section of mentees and guests at the ASR Africa Mentorship Programme at the Close-out Ceremony held at Federal Collection of Education (Technical), Gusau, Zamfara State. In his response, the MD/CEO of ASR Africa, Dr. Ubon Udoh, thanked the institution for giving ASR Africa the platform to impact the lives of the mentees and also to support the College. According to Dr. Ubon, I want to commend the Provost, Dr. Mrs. Hauwa Muktar Abdulkarim, and the entire management of the college for creating an enabling environment for the ASR Africa Mentorship Program. He added that such initiatives fit into the vision of Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, the founder and Chairman of BUA Group and ASR Africa for the educational sector in Nigeria. He affirmed that ASR Africa would continue to engage with them to further improve their skills and employability even after the mentorship program. L-R: Dr. Ubon Udoh, MD, ASR Africa presenting and award plaque to one of the mentees of the ASR Africa Mentorship Programme at the Close-out Ceremony.. The First Lady of the State, Hajiya Hurriya Dauda-Lawal, who was the Special Guest at the event congratulated the mentees for undertaking such a prestigious program. She added that mentorship is essential for women and girls as they continue to face the numerous challenges peculiar to their gender. She appreciated the College for considering and accommodating such an impactful extracurricular program. Whilst adding that the government of Zamfara will continue to support every initiative that promotes the empowerment of children and women in the State, she also extended her appreciation to the founder and Chairman of BUA Group and ASR Africa for his numerous educational interventions across the country. The mentees expressed their appreciation to ASR Africa for partnering with the college to ensure they were beneficiaries of the mentorship program. They also thanked the facilitators who devoted their time and resources to educate, motivate, and inspire them to greater achievements. Mentees were presented with Certificates of Completion, award plaques and gifts at the end of the program. ABOUT ASR AFRICA The brainchild of African Industrialist, Philanthropist and Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) was established in 2021 to provide sustainable, impact-based, homegrown solutions to developmental issues affecting Health, Education and Social Development within Africa. It is not in doubt that Nigeria is afflicted with perennial leadership haemorrhage. It is equally a statement of fact that many Nigerians believe that the nations leadership crisis, particularly at the Local Government Council levels, was aggregated by successive deficiency in leadership vision and in some cases made worse by public officials understanding and interpretation of problems with clarity but lacking in political will to see or implement solutions. Despite these protracted failure, there are however, indications that all hopes may not be lost. Supporting the above assertion is a recently articulated commentary on achievements of Innocent Ifeanyichukwu Esewezie, the Executive Chairman, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta. Aside from the recent comment credited to former Governor of Delta State, Sen Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, during the commissioning of Illah Modern Market Project Illah, 80 open shops and 20 locked up shops and Oshimili North LGA Model School Ibusa with creche and modern facilities, where the former among other remarks noted that Innocent Ifeanyichukwu Esewezie, assisted his administration to succeed, the Oshimili North Council boss cumulative scorecard has more than anything else convinced Nigerians that leadership challenge in the country significantly has nothing to do with cluelessness. But largely depends on the understanding that their vision and agendas are at odds with the general inspirations and motivations of the population. Take as an illustration, before the coming of Innocent Ifeanyichukwu Esewezie, the Executive Chairman, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta, Nigerians particularly those at the grassroots tend to think that they have not been lucky with good leaders. That is, people who pilot the affairs, lack good leadership qualities, therefore, they fall short in delivering the fruits of good leadership. The general feeling is that these sets of people in government were clueless. But looking at his harvests of achievement through people focused project delivery; there is a veiled agreement among Nigerians that no local government chairman in Nigeria particularly in Delta state is clueless. Rather, for Council bosses whether outgone or serving, that failed and disappointed their subjects, such orchestrated failure is in the opinion of this piece a product of choice. Their failure was not a function of their geographical location or lack of resources to promote democratized infrastructural development within their Council but because they took decisions that engineered poverty, promoted powerlessness and hopelessness among their people. Comparatively, from Innocent Ifeanyichukwu Esewezies impressive and exemplary testimonial, it is glaringly evident that what is lacking among the non performing local government bosses in the state is lack of political will and gross inability to recognize that power well understood is the ability to affect positive social, economic, political and changes among the people. This is the only possible explanation. As someone who is neither ruled by emotion nor allows sentiment to blur his judgement, I must underline that I am not from Oshimili North Local Government Area but the truth must be told to the effect that Oshimil North Local Government Local Government Area, has never had it this good since its creation. I am not alone in this line of belief. Separate from the fact that the Local Councils landscape is presently dotted with legacy projects that enhance the lives of residents, the recent double traditional Chieftaincy title by first, the Ibusa Community and secondly, by the umbrella traditional Council body within the Local Government Area says something new and different. For me, it is an affirmation of the fact that the Local Government Chairman has done well for the entire towns, communities and villages within the Local Government Area. The facts are there and speak for it. The achievements include: remodeling of Council secretariat gatehouse, Akwukwu-Igbo, Construction of modern executive compex, Akwukwu-IgboFurnishing of Legislative Complex, Akwukwu-Igbo, General renovation at Council Secretariat, Akwukwu-Igbo Construction of Illah Modern Market, Construction of Ugbolu International market, Atuma-Iga community water project, Okpanam Provision of new transformer, Okpanam. Others include; remodeling and reconstruction of Oshimili North Liaison Office, Ibusa, beautification, landscaping and construction of drainage at Ibusa entrance, renovation of Oshimili North Model school, Ibusa, Construction of town halls, Grading of farm roads across the LGA, Free medical and surgical missions, Provision of medical equipment to heath centers, Engagement of sanitation stewards, among others. Also worth mentioning is the new awareness that Hon. Esewezie prioritizes the security of lives and property within his jurisdiction, through collaboration with law enforcement agencies and continuous training of security personnel reflects his unwavering dedication to safety. Indeed, as a forward-thinking politician who champions innovation and improvement, his legacy and focus on youth engagement and development is without doubt worthy of emulation by other Local Government Chairmen within and outside the states of the Federation. As the Local Government and of course Delta state celebrates Hon. Esewezies transformative leadership, it is equally imperative that such feat achieved was not solely anchored on luck as evidence abound that he came prepared for the present position. Take as an illustration, it was well documented that his journey towards greatness led him to the University of Port-Harcourt, where he obtained his First Degree in Micro-Economics. This was just the beginning. With a deep commitment to fostering peace and resolving conflicts, he pursued a second Degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution from the National Open University in Asaba. Innocent's early years were marked by humble beginnings at Ezemese Primary School in Ibusa, later culminating in his education at the renowned Urhobo College in Warri. These formative experiences instilled in him an unshakable belief in the power of education. But it was his return to Ibusa after his first University Degree that set his destiny in motion. His passion for community service, exemplary representation, and effective governance ignited his journey into mainstream politics. As one just cutting his teeth in the murky terrains of the political world, he steadily worked his way up the ladder in politics having served as Political Aide; Special Assistant; duly elected Ward 5 Councillor; Oshimili North LGA Transition Chairman; Senior Special Assistant; Director General and Executive Assistant to past Governors of Delta State and political stalwarts. From the grassroots, he steadily ascended the political ladder, leaving an indelible mark at every level.His charisma, pragmatic leadership, and open-door policy resonate with people of all backgroundsboth young and old, indigenes and non-indigenes, traditional leaders, youths, students, traders, and artisans. His dedication to quality representation, good governance, and service excellence has earned him numerous accolades.Hon. Innocent Ifeanyichukwu Esewezie is not just a leader; he is a visionary who sees the future through a different lens. His leadership philosophy centers on innovation and improvement, driven by a deep sense of responsibility to his community.As the current Executive Chairman of Oshimili North LGA, Hon. Innocent Esewezie's administration, though only two years old, stands as a testament to visionary leadership. His achievements in infrastructure development are a testament to his commitment to progress. He understands that quality infrastructure is the backbone of a thriving community. Utomi Jerome-Mario is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), Lagos. He could be reached via;[email protected]/08032725374 . Empowering Democracy in Nigeria: Revealing the Truth About Free Speech - Confronting Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and Drawing from History to Overcome Censorship and Embrace Intellectual Freedom In a recent Arise News article dated October 10, 2023, titled Agbakoba: Lawyers Must Stop Debating Tinubus Alleged Certificate Forgery, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, vehemently criticized the public debates surrounding President Bola Tinubus alleged certificate forgery. Agbakoba expressed his dismay at lawyers engaging in televised debates, urging them to respect professional ethics and cease making the issue a public spectacle. Agbakobas call for silence raises significant questions about the core principles of free speech and democracy. Who possesses the authority to curtail public discourse, particularly on matters of paramount public interest? While his intention to maintain the integrity of legal proceedings is evident, it prompts concerns about stifling open dialogue, a foundation of democratic societies. Analyzing Agbakobas statement highlights its potential impact on the legal systems integrity and the democratic values fundamental to Nigerian society. Is his plea to silence discussions an attempt to shield specific individuals from scrutiny, or does it genuinely aim to uphold the sanctity of legal proceedings? These questions necessitate a thorough examination of free speech boundaries and the pivotal role of informed public discourse in shaping a transparent, accountable, and vibrant democracy. In the annals of democratic history, the art of debate has always been a cornerstone. From ancient Greece, where citizens gathered to discuss matters of the state in the Agora, to the parliamentary debates of modern nations, the free exchange of ideas has consistently propelled societies forward. Democracy, as we understand it today, not only allows but encourages diverse opinions and dissenting voices. It is a system founded on the belief that through dialogue, informed decisions are made. Freedom of expression, a bedrock of democratic societies, grants individuals the right to articulate their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs without fear of retribution. This freedom is not just a legal tenet but a societal ethos, fostering an environment where people can express their grievances, voice their concerns, and challenge the status quo. However, the history of freedom of expression is also marked by periods of censorship and suppression. Throughout centuries, various governments and entities have attempted to stifle dissenting voices, fearing the power of public discourse. Yet, in the face of such challenges, societies have persevered, recognizing the crucial role of open debate in shaping public opinion, holding leaders accountable, and driving social progress. In the context of Africa, Nigeria especially, the vibrant traditions of storytelling and communal discourse have long been integral to cultural identity. Griots, the traditional African storytellers, have passed down knowledge through generations, ensuring that wisdom endures. This tradition mirrors the essence of democratic dialogue, where ideas are shared, challenged, and refined, leading to societal enlightenment. The history of free speech also includes dark chapters of censorship and suppression. The burning of books during various historical periods exemplifies attempts to control knowledge and stifle dissent. However, these acts of censorship only fueled the flames of curiosity and resistance. For instance, during the Renaissance, banned books circulated clandestinely, giving rise to secret societies of intellectuals who defied censorship. Television, a powerful tool of modern communication, has played a pivotal role in shaping public opinion. Televised debates, akin to the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858, provide a platform for leaders to articulate their visions and engage in intellectual jousts. In the context of Africa, televised debates have the potential to bridge gaps in understanding, allowing citizens to explore complex issues collaboratively. It is vital to reject condescension towards Africans, Nigerians included, honoring their capacity for robust intellectual discourse. African thinkers, including lawyers, artists, and activists, have made significant contributions, dispelling stereotypes and inspiring generations. Encouraging intellectual freedom nurtures the essence of democracy, fostering an environment where ideas flourish and societies evolve. By embracing open debate, Africa, especially Nigeria, can continue the legacy of enlightenment. Valuing diverse perspectives and celebrating open discourse can harness the boundless potential of its people, ushering in an era of enlightenment, unity, and societal transformation. In democratic societies, public discourse serves as a mechanism for transparency, accountability, and understanding. It allows citizens to follow important issues, question decisions, and contribute to the larger societal dialogue. Restricting discussions on significant matters simply because they are in court would indeed stifle the very essence of democracy. Embracing open debate, even during legal proceedings, reflects a mature democracy that trusts its citizens to critically assess information and form their own opinions. It's through such dialogue that societies grow, learn, and progress, making informed decisions that shape their collective future. Democracy, as we understand it today, not only allows but encourages diverse opinions and dissenting voices. It is a system founded on the belief that through dialogue, informed decisions are made. Freedom of expression, a bedrock of democratic societies, grants individuals the right to articulate their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs without fear of retribution. This freedom is not just a legal tenet but a societal ethos, fostering an environment where people can express their grievances, voice their concerns, and challenge the status quo. In the modern era, the importance of public debates has been underscored by the rise of mass media, especially television. Multiple TV outlets and diverse programming have become essential tools for educating the public and encouraging dialogue. In democratic nations like the United States, televised political debates have become pivotal in shaping electoral decisions, providing citizens with the opportunity to assess the competence and integrity of their potential leaders openly. In Nigeria, where there may be concerns about the trust in the judiciary, public debates serve as a crucial avenue for citizens to engage with complex issues, including legal matters. These discussions not only promote transparency but also empower people with knowledge, enabling them to make informed judgments about the events and decisions that impact their lives. It is disheartening to witness such a regressive stance on public discourse from someone of Olisa Agbakoba's stature. His call to silence debates, especially in the context of legal matters, not only undermines the essence of democracy but also stifles the intellectual growth of a nation. This narrow perspective dismisses the vibrant history of democratic nations like the United States and Britain, where public debates, even on active court cases, have been instrumental in shaping societies and strengthening the fabric of their legal systems. Agbakoba's call for silence is a disservice to the very principles he should be upholding as a legal expert. Instead of encouraging enlightenment and empowering citizens through knowledge, he attempts to suppress voices and curtail the spirit of inquiry. It is a reminder that education in ethics, democratic values, and the art of open debate should be a continuous journey for all Nigerian lawyers, regardless of their professional achievements. Certainly, open discourse and informed debate, especially concerning legal matters in a democratic society, are indispensable. Lawyers, as experts in the field, play a pivotal role in elucidating complex legal issues for the general public. Their engagements through various media outlets such as TV, newspapers, radios, and social media are vital. These platforms provide essential insights that help citizens comprehend the intricacies of ongoing legal cases. In the case of Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu, lawyers engaging in public discussions act as educators, breaking down legal complexities, explaining nuances, and presenting different legal viewpoints. This open dialogue enriches public understanding, fostering transparency and accountability in the legal process. Restricting lawyers from debating these legal points would hinder the flow of information, preventing the public from fully grasping the complexities of the case. Informed citizens are fundamental for a healthy democracy; they can critically evaluate information, form opinions, and actively participate in the democratic process. Lawyers, as facilitators of legal knowledge, ensure that the rule of law is not just a concept but a shared understanding in society. This active engagement of lawyers in public discourse parallels the responsibility of newspaper editors disseminating important news to the public. Lawyers' discussions ensure that legal proceedings are not shrouded in mystery but are instead subject to scrutiny, discussion, and understanding by the very people affected by the outcomes. Embracing these debates reinforces the principles of democracy, upholding the values of openness, dialogue, and the dissemination of knowledge. Such discussions empower citizens, enabling them to make well-informed judgments, fostering a society where the rule of law is upheld not just in courts but also in the hearts and minds of the people. Lawyers' discussions serve as beacons of enlightenment, guiding the nation toward a future where informed debates are celebrated, ensuring a vibrant and robust democracy for all. Furthermore, lawyers, with their specialized knowledge, have a unique responsibility to educate the public about complex legal matters. In cases like Atiku and Tinubu, where intricate legal arguments are presented in court, lawyers simplify these arguments for the average citizen. By breaking down legal jargon and explaining the implications of various legal strategies, lawyers help citizens comprehend the nuances of the case. This education empowers individuals, enabling them to engage in discussions from an informed standpoint. Transparent legal proceedings are the foundation of any democratic society. Lawyers, by engaging in public debates, significantly contribute to this transparency. When legal experts openly discuss the case, it demystifies the judicial process, showcasing that legal arguments are subject to scrutiny and discussion. This transparency fosters trust in the judiciary, reinforcing the democratic principle of accountability. Public debates led by lawyers encourage citizens to think critically. Hearing different legal perspectives prompts citizens to analyze these arguments, question assumptions, and evaluate evidence. This process of critical thinking is essential for a thriving democracy. It equips citizens with the skills to assess complex information critically, empowering them to make reasoned judgments. Lawyers, through their debates, nurture a culture where thoughtful analysis is valued, contributing to a more intellectually engaged citizenry. Historical parallels, like Watergate with Richard Nixon and the Monica Lewinsky scandal with Bill Clinton, that emphasizes that intense discussions about presidency, legality, and ethics are not signs of a broken system but demonstrations of a healthy democracy in action. Citizens actively participate, form opinions, and shape the societal narrative through scholarly and open debates facilitated by lawyers and others in various media outlets. Encouraging debates on current issues, such as the Atiku and Tinubu case in Nigeria, is imperative. These discussions, even as the case goes through the court setting, shape the societal narrative regardless of the side one is leaning towards. Reflecting on cases like Bush vs. Gore in the United States in 2000 underscores how open debates surrounding legal matters enhance democratic understanding and transparency. In this landmark case, scholars, journalists, and lawyers engaged in vigorous debates broadcasted on national television, demonstrating the strength of the democratic system. In essence, embracing open discourse and informed debate facilitated by lawyers is not only a testament to the robustness of a democratic society but also a pathway to an enlightened, engaged, and empowered citizenry, ensuring a vibrant and flourishing democracy for all. In the intricate tapestry of democratic societies, the cornerstone of true progress and enlightenment is the freedom of speech. This fundamental right, woven into the fabric of democracy, grants individuals, including lawyers, the power to express their thoughts, opinions, and concerns openly. It is the lifeblood of vibrant public discourse, nurturing a diverse exchange of ideas that propels societies forward. In the budding democracy of Nigeria, the recognition and protection of this right are paramount, essential for the nation to evolve into a thriving democratic society. In the slow but steady progress toward becoming a democratic nation, Nigeria, like other burgeoning democracies, holds its public officials, including legal professionals, accountable for their actions and statements. Lawyers engaging in public debates, even on ongoing legal cases such as the Atiku and Tinubu matter, are not exempt from this scrutiny. Their arguments and interpretations are subject to intense examination, ensuring they adhere to ethical standards and accurate legal principles. However, their freedom of expression in the public arena must not be curtailed. This accountability serves a noble purpose: to promote responsible public discourse. In the crucible of open debate, statements are scrutinized, not to restrict free speech, but to ensure they are backed by facts and legal expertise, thereby upholding the integrity of the legal profession. Lawyers, as guardians of legal expertise, contribute significantly to preserving democratic values by fostering open dialogue and robust debate. Beyond the legal realm, the active participation of lawyers in public debates has far-reaching effects. It encourages civic engagement by enlightening citizens about legal issues, empowering them to question, think critically, and participate actively in public discussions, rallies, and peaceful protests. Informed citizens become the torchbearers of justice and transparency, advocating for these fundamental values within the democratic framework. Lawyers, by disseminating their legal knowledge, kindle a sense of civic responsibility, creating an informed and active citizenry. At its core, the active involvement of lawyers in public debates safeguards essential democratic values. Freedom of speech and expression, cornerstones of democratic societies, allow lawyers to voice their opinions openly. When exercised responsibly, these rights bolster the democratic fabric. Lawyers, with their expertise, actively contribute to preserving these values by nurturing open dialogue and encouraging robust debate. Crucially, debates like those surrounding the Atiku and Tinubu case fulfill a civic duty. They enhance public understanding, promote transparency, encourage critical thinking, hold individuals accountable, foster civic participation, and, above all, preserve the democratic ideals upon which society is built. The diverse perspectives offered by legal experts enrich public understanding, breaking down intricate legal concepts for the general populace. These discussions emphasize the importance of the rule of law, demonstrating that even high-stakes legal cases can withstand public scrutiny. As Nigeria strides forward, let the spirit of healthy debate be embraced, not as a threat to justice but as a cornerstone of democracy. The call for continuous education, particularly in ethics and democratic principles, is not a demand directed solely at individuals like Agbakoba; it is a collective call for societal progress. Our advancement as a society hinge on our ability to engage, challenge, and learn from one another, fostering an environment where ideas flourish, and democracy thrives. It's time to cast aside archaic notions and encourage lively discussions that propel us toward a future founded on knowledge, inclusivity, and an unwavering commitment to the principles of democracy. In the grand needlework of history, Nigeria, like all nations, has been shaped by various forces, including colonialism. Britain, as a colonial power, exerted its influence on the legal and political systems in many African countries, including Nigeria. While the adoption of American constitutional principles was a step toward embracing democratic ideals, the implementation hasn't always been as effective as desired, underscoring the need for continuous discussions and reforms. In this context, it becomes imperative for Nigerians to engage in open dialogues and debates. Recognizing that the roots of legal and political systems often trace back to colonial times highlights the need for continuous discussions and adaptations. By openly discussing these historical influences, societies can better understand their origins and work toward adapting these systems to serve their unique needs and aspirations. Let us reject condescension towards any African and embrace the principles that have historically propelled societies forward: openness, dialogue, and the unwavering belief that informed citizens are the cornerstone of a thriving democracy. In doing so, we empower democracy, nurture freedom of speech, and ensure that the voices of every citizen, regardless of the context, are heard, respected, and valued. In this journey toward a robust and inclusive democracy, the call for open debates stands as a beacon guiding Nigeria, and indeed all democracies, toward a future that cherishes knowledge, inclusivity, and the unwavering commitment to democratic principles. Nigeria, standing on the precipice of democratic progress, must staunchly uphold these fundamental principles that breathe life into its democratic ideals. In the echoing halls of open dialogues, societies find their voice, their progress, and the fortification of their democratic bedrock. The legacy of a nation isn't merely etched in its laws and institutions; it resides in the collective wisdom and enlightenment of its people. Thus, let the debates reverberate, for in the clash of ideas, within the realm of open discourse, lies the truest path to an empowered, enlightened, and democratic Nigeria. In the heart of Africa, particularly in Nigeria where democracy is a fledgling flame, open debates serve as potent catalysts for growth. They don't just educate the populace about their rights; they inspire questioning minds, fostering active participation in the intricate tapestry of democracy. Picture it as a classroom where democracy itself is the lesson, and every debate forms a chapter, laden with historical depth and contemporary relevance. Within the mosaic of diverse opinions, lies the exquisite beauty of democracy. It's not merely about tolerating differences; it's about celebrating them, recognizing that in the vibrant tapestry of perspectives, true democratic strength resides. In closing, the call for open debates during legal proceedings isn't just a plea for free speech; it's an impassioned demand for a robust, thriving democracy. It's a fervent plea to acknowledge the intelligence and discernment of the citizens, trusting them to engage critically and constructively with the complex issues that shape their nation's destiny. Open debates aren't a menace; they are the very essence of a democracy that values its people and their inherent right to knowledge and understanding. Oga Agbakoba, cease this assault on open dialogue and robust debate, and refrain from treating fellow lawyers with condescension. Freedom of expression, in any forum, by anyone, including lawyers, is an inalienable right that fuels the flames of democracy. Professor John Egbeazien Oshodi, who was born in Uromi, Edo State, Nigeria, to a father who served in the Nigeria police for 37 years, is an American-based police and prison scientist and forensic, clinical, and legal psychologist. A government consultant on matters of forensic-clinical psychological services in the USA; and a former interim associate dean and assistant professor at Broward College, Florida. The Founder of the Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological Health and Behavioral Change in African Settings. In 2011, he introduced state-of-the-art forensic psychology into Nigeria through N.U.C. and Nasarawa State University, where he served in the Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. He has taught at various universities and colleges including Florida memorial University, Florida International University, Broward college, Lynn University, and a contributing faculty member at the Weldios university in Benin Republic, Nexus International University, Uganda, Nova Southeastern University and Walden University in USA. He is a Human Rights Psychologist with a focus on African related environments. [email protected] The Nigeria Police Force has announced the commencement of the recruitment process for qualified individuals into the rank of Police Constables in the General Duty and Specialist Cadres. ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer, said the recruitment board would open the application portal on October 15th, 2023. In a statement issued on Friday, ACP Adejobi said the online application portal will be opened for the period of six weeks from 15th October to 26th November 2023, where prospective applicants are required to complete the online application forms and submit same within the specified period via www.apply.policerecruitment.gov.ng. He added that, Applicants shall be of Nigerian origin by birth and must possess the National Identification Number (NIN) with a minimum of 5 credits in not more than 2 sittings in WAEC/NECO or its equivalent with credit passes in English and Mathematics, and aged between 18-25 years for General Duty, and 18-28 years for Specialists; medically, physically, and psychologically fit and must not be less than 1.67m tall for male and 1.64m tall for female, with not less than 86cm (34 inches) expanded chest measurement (for male only). Applicants must be free from any financial embarrassment and not convicted of any criminal offence. The available Specialised Fields include Medical Assistant (Junior Community Health Extension Workers (JCHEW), Veterinary Assistant (Relevant Certificate in Animal Health/Livestock), Band Section, Communications/Info-Tech Specialist, Driver/Mechanic, Marine, Plumbers. Masons, Painters, Tilers, Electricians, Welders and Carpenters. Meanwhile, IGP Olukayode Egbetokun, Inspector-General of Police, warned applicants, against falling into the hands of fraudsters, urging them to exercise vigilance and caution throughout the application process. He warned against the activities of fraudsters and individuals who may attempt to exploit the recruitment process for personal gain. The IGP assures that the Police Recruitment Board comprises dedicated and disciplined individuals who will ensure a transparent and merit-based recruitment process devoid of corrupt and other sharp practices. He emphasized that the application and selection process is FREE, and will be carried out through official channels and that unscrupulous activities should be promptly reported to the authorities for necessary action, the statement concluded. Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested one Chinonso Eze and Victory Ebomuche, as suspects in connection with a case involving criminal conspiracy, identity theft, and computer-related fraud. It was disclosed that the suspects, who aged 18 and 24 years respectively, were arrested at their residence in Agua Marina Estate, Apo, FCT Abuja. ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer, said the arrest is a testament to the culmination of exhaustive investigative efforts and staunch commitment to upholding the highest standards of professionalism in combating cybercrime. It was learnt that the arrest was championed by team of the Nigeria Police Force - National Cybercrime Center. ACP Olumuyiwa said the team of investigators meticulously gathered evidence and conducted comprehensive inquiries, resulting in the apprehension of these suspects. This operation exposed a complex web of cybercriminal activities, primarily revolving around romance scams and fraudulent online investments. Such activities not only exploit individuals but also pose a significant threat to our nation's cybersecurity. The Force PRO added that, We have identified potential victims associated with the suspects and are actively working to mitigate both immediate and remote cyber threats. The Inspector General of Police while commending the Director of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center, DCP Uche Ifeanyi Henry for the significant successes, underscored the critical importance of vigilance and caution when engaging in online interactions. He urged the global cyber community to verify the authenticity of online acquaintances, exercise discretion in financial engagements, and promptly report any suspicious online activity to the authorities, the statement read. The Force harped on the importance of reporting such activities, suspicions, or any other cybercrime or cyber-related crimes through the Center's dedicated e-reporting portal at incb.npf.gov.ng or via email at [email protected]. Another Siam Paragon shooting victim dies BANGKOK: A 30-year-old woman, one of the five people injured in the Siam Paragon shooting by a 14-year-old boy on Oct 3, died early on Friday (Oct 13) morning, ten days after the incident, according to media reports. deathcrime By Bangkok Post Friday 13 October 2023 05:03 PM Police escort forensic officers into Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkoks Pathumwan district after a 14-year-old shooter was arrested on Oct 3. Photo: Nutthawat Wichieanbut / Bangkok Post The 30-year-old woman, who died on Oct 13, is the third fatality in the shooting, reports Bangkok Post. In the Oct 3 incident, a 14-year-old boy opened fire with a modified blank gun in the luxury shopping mall in the centre of Bangkok. The boy had bought the gun via a Facebook page, and on Oct 5 three men were arrested for supplying him the weapon and ammunition. Three other suspects were arrested the following day. The teenager was brought to the Pathumwan police station for questioning but was in a confused state, saying he had heard voices telling him to shoot people, according to Gen Torsak Sukvimol, the national police chief. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital on Oct 6. Two people were killed in the shooting a female tourist from China and a female employee at the shopping mall from Myanmar and five others injured. One of the injured was Penpiwan Mitthampitak, 30. She was hit two times in the head and two times in the rib cage, and was admitted to the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital for the. Penpiwan died at about 2am on Friday (Oct 11), after ten days of treatment. Maj Gen Nakharin Sukhonthawit, commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 6, said there would be no change in legal proceedings against the teen shooter because police investigators have already pressed premeditated murder charges against him. The investigators would add updated details of the deaths and injuries to their probe report. They would include autopsy results of those who were killed in the shooting in the investigation report, added Maj Gen Nakharin. Big Cleaning Day in Rawai to honour King Bhumibol PHUKET: More than 200 people joined a Big Cleaning Day at the sea gypsy village in Rawai yesterday (Oct 12) held to honour the late King Bhumibol (Rama IX) and clean the area. culture By The Phuket News Friday 13 October 2023 09:24 AM Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat led the occasion, which was joined by Royal Volunteers, government officers and members of the public Governor Sophon gave words of appreciation for King Bhumibols grace, noting the adage We do good deeds with our hearts, with the hope that all groups of citizens will have unite, cooperate together, conduct public activities for the benefit and happiness of the public without expecting anything in return, said an official report of the event. The event was held to offer royal merit and bow in remembrance of His Majestys grace and with gratitude for His Majestys grace that His Majesty has for the Thai people by continuing His Majestys wishes with loyalty by adhering to good practice, preserve the nation and create benefits for the nation forever, the report added. The volunteers joined together to clean the area, collecting trash and doing some minor landscaping, ahead of the village being doused with Abate larvicide to eliminate mosquito larvae to help prevent the spread of dengue in the community. Free Smart Bus shuttle in Phuket Town for Veg Fest PHUKET: The Phuket Smart Bus, an electric vehicle, will be providing a free shuttle service in Phuket Town during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, which starts on Sunday (Oct 15). If the pilot project is deemed successful, the bus might be called on to continue to operate in Phuket Town. tourismtransport By The Phuket News Friday 13 October 2023 12:04 PM The news was jointly announced at the offices of the Phuket City Development Foundation (PKCD) yesterday (Oct 12). Present to make the joint announcement were Phuket Town Deputy Mayor Prasit Sinsaowaphak; Montree Manator, Deputy Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket Office (TAT Phuket); Kongsak Khuphongsakorn, President of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce; and Waitha Upatisaring, Chairman of PKCDs Executive Committee. This project will start with Phase 1, from Oct 15-24. The bus will operate from 10am to 1opm each day, operating along a circular route throughout the town. The bus will serve the following bus stops: Opposite the main Thai Post Office (on Montri Rd) Opposite the Pearl Hotel (on Montri Rd) Bang Neow Intersection (Phuket Rd and Ong Sim Phai rd) UOB Bank (on Phuket Rd) Coffee Talk (on Ratsada Rd) Islamic Bank (on Yaowarat Rd) Wat Mongkol Nimit (on Thepkrasattri Rd) Limelight Phuket shopping centre (on Dibuk Rd) There are a large number of tourists traveling to the Phuket Old Town area during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. This causes heavy traffic in the area. This project is to relieve traffic congestion, Deputy Mayor Prasit said. If this project receives good response, it will be expanded to Phase 2 for tourists to ride electric buses during Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 10am to 8pm, he added. Deputy Mayor Prasit explained that the objectives of the pilot project were five-fold: To relieve traffic congestion problems in the Phuket Old Town area To help alleviate the problem of insufficient parking in the area. Additional parking spaces will be created for those who want to park in the Phuket Old Town area; To promote traveling with clean energy vehicles; 4.To promote environmental protection and reduce the number of cars in the Phuket Old Town area, which will help reduce air pollution as well; and To promote tourism in the Phuket Old Town area The Phuket City Development Foundation (PKCD) is a local-private consortium. Formed in 2016 by a consortium of 25 investors, driven by key people from prominent Phuket business families, PKCD at its launch vowed to bring a Singapore-style network of buses to Phuket within five years. In turn, PKCD launched the Phuket Smart Bus into public service in less than 18 months. The Phuket Smart Bus made history in 2018 when it started rolling from Phuket International Airport, marking the end of the services extended trial period and becoming the first public bus service in action along the islands west coast. The service is operated by Phuket Smart Bus Co Ltd (PKSB), an affiliate of the Phuket City Development Group of companies (PKCD). Two wild elephants electrocuted SURAT THANI: A woman has been charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act after two wild elephants were electrocuted by a live wire stretched around her durian plantation to protect her fruit trees. animalswildlifeland By Bangkok Post Friday 13 October 2023 01:11 PM National park officials inspect the bodies of two elephants electrocuted near a durian plantation in Kanchanadit district of Surat Thani province. Photo: Supapong Chaolan The plantation is located at Moo 9 village in tambon Khlong Sa in Kanchanadit district, inside the boundary of Tai Rom Yen National Park, reports the Bangkok Post. Chaiyaporn Chaiyos, the park chief, went to the plantation with veterinarians and local leaders yesterday morning (Oct 12) to investigate after local residents told them they had seen two dead elephants. They found the elephants lying dead in the middle of a laterite road alongside the durian plantation. One was about 30-35 years old and the other about 20-25 years. The first elephant had a deep wound from a burn on its trunk. The officials believed it was electrocuted after touching the wire and fell on the ground, and the second elephant died from trying to help its companion. The authorities found a live electrical wire stretched around the plantation, which belonged to a woman identified as Suwannee. The woman was charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2018, causing the death of the two elephants. If found guilty, she would be liable to up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine up to B1 million. Mishaps involving elephants have been on the increase in recent years as their population is rising while their habitats are under threat from human activity. In the past five years, there have been about a half-dozen reports of elephants being electrocuted, either through contact with power lines or electrified fences put up by farmers. Ngaranmi Shimrays reasons for exclusion of Meitei in the ST list are misleading and incorrect | K Yugindro Singh, Sh Janaki Sharma & M Manihar Singh (Independent Researchers) Apropos the article under the heading Kalelkar Commission Report of 1956: Meitei exclusion from the ST list is by their own choice which appeared in the editorial page of the esteemed English local daily, The Sangai Express in its publication dated 10th October 2023 The assertions and claims of the author, Ngarami Shimray may be refuted as being misleading and devoid of truth for the following reasons: 1. During the days when the British ruled India, the British administrators identified and classified the people of India based on the definitions of caste and tribe enshrined in the Imperial Gazetteer of India published by H Frowde, Oxford University, London (1907) and other authority books such as the Census of India, 1901 Report by HH Risley & EA Gait (1903), and The People of India by Hebert Risley & W Crook (1915). The anthropological devices used for the purpose were ethnography, ethnology and anthropometry which are well described in authority books such as The Tribes and Castes of Bengal by HH Resley (1891). 2. Based on the ethnography of Meitei as provided in the book Annual Report of the Munnipore Political Agency for 1868-69 by Dr R Brown, the then Political Agent of Manipur, the British Government of India identified and classed Meitei as a primitive hill tribe of the erstwhile Assam Province. (For instance, see AM Meerwarths book Ethnographical Gallery, Guidebook No. 2 (The Andamanese, Nicobarese and Hill Tribes of Assam) (1919)). As such, during the days when the British ruled India, the then British Government of India enlisted Meitei as a primitive hill tribe right from the year 1872 when the noted ethnographer ET Dalton published his famous book Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal printed by the office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta. 3. In all census reports right from the census of India 1881, various books and research articles authored by contemporary British ethnographers, linguists and administrators during the British rule of India, described Meitei as a primitive hill tribe. For instance, in the book Census of India, 1931 Volume III Assam Part I Report, by CS Mullan, MA, ICS, published by the Superintendent, Assam Government Press, Shillong in 1932, the author listed a series of 12 (twelve) primitive hill tribes of Assam viz., Meitei, Mikirs, Garos, Naga Tribes of Manipur, Kacharies, Lushai-Kuki, Khasis, Angami Nagas, Lhota Nagas, Ao Nagas, Thado Kukis, Lakhers, along with authority monographs on the ethnology of the tribes (pp.205). In case of Meitei, the monograph The Meithei authored by TC Hodson was acknowledged. 4. Although the self-claim made by the contemporary Meitei as Kshatriyas of the Hindu Caste System, the British administrators rejected their claim of Hindu origin. In his book History of Assam, EA Gait (1906) wrote about Meitei (Manipuri) as follows: They pretend to be Kshatriyas, and are supported in their claim by the degraded Brahmans who serve them, and who, after giving the State its present name and identifying it with the Manipur mentioned in the Mahabharat, have invented a legend that the people are descended from the hero Arjun by a Naga woman, with whom he cohabited during his 2 alleged sojourn in this neighbourhood (pp.264). HH Risley, and EA Gait in their book The Census of India, 1901 Volume I, Part I Report stated categorically : Although they have become thoroughly Hinduised, they have not adopted any Aryan tongue (pp 270). The Hindu origin of Meitei was rejected by all frontier British officers including RB Pemberton, William McCulloch, R Brown and TC Hodson. 5. With the lapse of paramountcy of the British, India became a free Nation on 15th August 1947 and adopted its Constitution wef 26th January 1950. Clause (25) of article 366 of the Constitution of India defines Scheduled Tribes as those tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of the Constitution. As required by Clause (1) of Article 342, the Central Government asked the then Chief Commissioner, the Rajpramukh of Manipur sometime in 1950-51 to recommend a list of tribes of Manipur for inclusion in the first Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur in the Constitution Order to be notified by the then President of India. Himmat Singh Maheshwari, the then Chief Commissioner did not recommend Meitei for inclusion in the ST list of Manipur. At that point of time, an atmosphere of public unrest, confusion, chaos and desperation prevailed in Manipur subsequent to its forced merger into India on October 15, 1949. Himmat Singh Maheshwari was found arrogant and antagonistic towards Meitei people as he dismissed a number of Meiteis from Government jobs, curtailed freedom of press, among others. 6. Vide SRO 1427-A dated 20th September 1951, the Government of India, Ministry of Law published the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) (Part C States) Order 1951, made by the President under the Constitution Order, CO 32. No community from Manipur was listed as Scheduled Caste under the said Constitution Order, CO 32. However, the SCHEDULE to that Constitution Order provided room for inclusion of any community in the Scheduled Castes list of Manipur. The SCHEDULE to the Constitution Order, CO 32 reads as: PART VIII MANIPUR Throughout the State: - Castes, races or tribes, or parts of, or groups within, castes or tribes specified as Scheduled Castes in relation to the State of Assam. On the other hand, vide SRO 1427-B dated 20th September 1951, the Government of India, Ministry of Law published the first Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Part C States) Order, 1951 made by the President under CO 33 and the said list consisted of three tribe names given below: Part VI. MANIPUR Throughout the State 1. Any Kuki Tribe 2. Any Lushai Tribe 3. Any Naga Tribe 7. The non-inclusion of Meitei in the first Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Part C States) Order, 1951 dated 20th September 1951 3 would be an administrative blunder of the then Indian Administrators including local authority because Meitei was a primitive hill tribe already approved and recognized by the British Government in the pre-independence era. 8. The reason for being an adherent of Hinduism cannot be the ground for exclusion of Meitei Tribe in the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes)(Part C States) Order, 1951 dated 20th September 1951. Religion was not a criterion for inclusion/exclusion of a tribal community in the list of Scheduled Tribes as per Article 342 of the original Constitution of India, 1950 which was in force at that point of time. On the other hand, there are many Hindu tribes which are included in the Scheduled Tribe list of India eg, Meena of Rajasthan. 9. The First Backward Classes Commission of India under the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar was set-up by a Presidential Order dated 29th January 1953 under Article 340 of the Constitution of India. The mandate of authority assigned to the Kaka Kalelkar Commission, as directed by the President of India, is enshrined in para 1 of Chapter IX of the Kaka Kalelkar Commission Volume-I (pp. 154) which reads as: The President of India was pleased to direct the commission to examine the lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as already published under his order and to suggest any revision of those lists, if on enquiry it was found that such a revision was necessary. In the context of Manipur the lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as already published by Presidential Order mentioned in the above quoted statement are: (i) the list of Castes of Manipur scheduled to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) (Part C States) Order, 1951 dated 20th September 1951 under CO 32 and (ii) the list of Tribes of Manipur scheduled to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Part C States) Order, 1951 dated 20th September 1951 under CO 33 viz., (i) Any Kuki tribe, (ii) Any Lushai tribe and (iii) Any Naga tribe. 10. Since Meitei had not been included in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Manipur published by the President of India under CO 33, the Kaka Kalelkar Commission neither had the authority to examine the case of Meitei tribe for inclusion in the revised list of tribes of Manipur nor had the authority to recommend the Meitei tribe to the President. On the other hand, the Commission had powers for consideration of communities, if any of Manipur including Lois and Yaithibi who have close affinity to Meitei, for inclusion in the Scheduled Castes list of Manipur, as no community from Manipur was listed as Scheduled Caste under the Constitution Order, CO 32. 11. A team of the Kaka Kalelkar Commission visited Manipur during 29th November to 1st December 1953 and met representatives of some unions/bodies of hill tribes. No representative-body of Meitei tribe was invited for interaction with the team for considering inclusion of Meitei tribe in the revised list of Scheduled Tribes of Manipur. The Kaka Kalelkar Commission submitted its report to the President of India on 30th March 1955 and it recommended 27 tribes by their own names for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur. The list of the 27 tribes recommended by the Commission is enshrined in Volume II, pp. 231-232 of the Commissions report. Through a letter dated 30th November 1955 communicated to the Central Government, one Kuki officer named T Kipgen, the then Secretary (Home & Development), Govt of Manipur, added two more tribe names viz. Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes and Zou which 4 were not mentioned in the report of the Kaka Kalekar Commission. The Government of India published the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Lists (Modification) Order, 1956 made by the President on 29th October 1956 and the said Presidential Order listed 7 Scheduled Castes of Manipur and 29 Scheduled Tribes of Manipur including Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes and Zou added by T Kipgen. 12. A major blooper had occurred while notifying the 29 ST list by the Presidential Order, 1956 as evident from the facts that (i) The two tribe names Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes and Zou were not recommended by the Kaka Kalelkar Commission and (ii) The ambiguous name Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribes was contradictory to the recommendation of the Kalelkar Commission because, on Page 205 in Volume-I of its report, the Commission recommended that All the tribes should be listed by their own particular names in the hilly areas of Assam and Manipur, apart from giving an observation on Chapter IX of Volume I, pp. 155 that In these circumstances, we are of opinion that it would be more convenient to list all the tribes by their own particular names in the hill areas of Assam and Manipur. The fruits of the blooper have been taken by the Kukis of Manipur whose population has increased from the 1881 Census figure of 25,384 (ie 11.48% of total population) to the 2011 Census figure of 4,81,455 (ie 16.86% of total population). They have now claimed more than half the geographical area of Manipur including the hill areas surrounding the Manipur valley and have even started demanding a separate homeland of Kukis in the name of Central Zalengam by dismembering Manipur. ST demand : Alibi for the May 3 rally Make it a poll call | The ST card. The All Tribal Students Union used this as an alibi to solicit support from all those who come under the ST tag to organise the May 3 Tribal Solidarity March against the directive of the High Court of Manipur to the State Government to send the report or recommendation to include the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution of India. The Sangai Express has been consistent in its stand that the reason for the said rally was just an eye wash, a ploy to garner support from the Naga community and this has been more than proved right by the developments after the May 3 rally. This however should not be taken to mean that the Meiteis should give up on its demand that they be included in the ST list of the Constitution. Such has the wrong narrative taken root that the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur, the World Meetei Council, the Meitei Tribe Union and others who back the ST for Meiteis demand have been lying low but this should not mean that the demand is dead and gone. At the most, ATSUM has only managed to mute the voice of the ST advocates for the time being, but the facts are out there in the open and no degree of misinterpretation can bury the rightfully raised demand. Let it be very clear, the Meiteis have as much right as the existing STs of Manipur to be included in the scheduled list of the tribals of the country and it was only the folly of history that the Meiteis were left out of the ST list. No reason why one should keep sticking to the wrongs of history and the ST demand should be seen without blinkers. Or if the Meiteis do not fulfil the criteria to be included in the ST list then why should ATSUM and the others raise such a strong opposition to the directive of the High Court of Manipur to just send the report, as sought by the Centre ? The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) and the Kuki Inpi, Manipur and obviously ATSUM should answer this question. And are these organisations aware of the fact that it is not the job of the Judiciary to decide whether Meiteis fit the bill to be included in the ST list but Parliament ? No answer is expected but these are facts which cannot be swept under the carpet and this should call out the grand bluff to camouflage the May 3 rally in the first place. Enough has already been said about how the Meiteis fulfil the criteria to be included in the ST list of the Constitution and the task now should be to give it a political dimension. Let those which have been at the forefront of raising the ST for Meiteis banner, particularly the STDCM, WMC, MTU and others put in their best foot forward and make this a major agenda ahead of the coming Parliamentary election. Try to reach out to all the political parties, particularly the big two-BJP and the Congress and see where they stand on the issue. Once it features in the Lok Sabha election, then the next step should be to take it to the Assembly election. Manipur goes to polls only in 2027, and time is definitely on the side of the ST votaries and now is perhaps the time to start the spadework of taking everyone along. Giving more teeth to the ST demand can also be taken as one way of blunting the teeth and stand of the narco-terrorists, who struck the first match stick at Torbung and Churachandpur under the pretext of ganging up against the ST for Meiteis demand. The population of the Meiteis including the Meitei Pangals is pegged at just 53 percent of the total population of Manipur, which is about 30 lakh. A pathetic minority in India. As a wit put it in a post on the social media, A case of Manipur being for all if the Kukis choose to settle in Imphal or the valley and a case of land grab if the Meiteis want to settle in the hills ? The Azerbaijani community living in Australia has appealed to New South Wales (NSW) MPs Susan Carter, Matt Cross, and Hugh McDermott demanding an impartial and balanced approach to the Garabagh issue, Azernews reports. According to information provided by the State Committee for Diaspora Affairs, in the letters addressed to the MPs, Mikail Oytan, head of the Azerbaijanis Association of Australia and coordinator of the Coordinating Council of Azerbaijanis of Australia and Oceania in Sydney, stated that the Azerbaijani public had violated the impartiality of the parliamentarians on the Karabakh conflict during their recent visit to Armenia The petitions tell the history of the Garabagh conflict and the fact that Armenia is pursuing a policy of usurpation, aggression, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, and vandalism, accompanied by special cruelty against our country and our people, ignoring the norms of international law for almost 30 years, which led to the implementation of 24-hour anti-terrorist measures in September 2023 in the Garabagh economic region. Detailed information was given on the causes and that no ethnic cleansing had been carried out against the Armenian population. It was emphasized that the UN mission confirmed the fact that during the anti-terrorist measures no damage was caused to the civilian population and infrastructure in the Karabakh region, and no complaints were received from the Armenian population. It was noted that politicians should be based on accurate facts and evidence when talking about sensitive issues, and the MPs' positions on the Garabagh conflict contradict the official position of Australia, which supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The association's MPs called for an impartial, unbiased, and more informed approach to the Garabagh issue, to make efforts to establish peace in the South Caucasus region and to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Azerbaijani community. Thick fog on the airport road on Thursday caused a mass pileup that killed two and injured 63. Among the injured in the pileup involving more than 100 cars were 18 foreigners from China, Japan, the Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand and Vietnam. One Vietnamese and one Japanese were seriously hurt. The bridge where the accident happened is part of a freeway that leads to Incheon International Airport, the nation's main air traffic gateway. Policemen and rescue workers sift through the wreckage on Yeongjong Bridge in Incheon on Wednesday. The bridge was cordoned off for five hours as police and emergency rescue workers sifted through the twisted wreckage. The pileup is believed to have been caused by a collision of two taxis. One of the cabs veered into the second lane following the collision and crashed into an airport shuttle bus, which in turn caused scores of cars behind to crash. The bridge was blanketed in thick fog with visibility of less than 10 m when the accident happened. It leads over a stretch of ocean and is often blanketed by fog. Police suspect speeding was the main reason so many cars crashed. Crashed vehicles pile up on Yeongjong Bridge in Incheon on Wednesday. New Airport Highway, which operates the freeway, set up no electronic bulletin boards on the bridge alerting drivers to frequent fog, claiming the bridge could not withstand the weight of the massive signs and heavy winds might knock them over. Instead, the operator said it had up three bulletin boards along a 7 km stretch of the freeway warning drivers of fog or other risks. It said warnings were posted on the morning of the disaster. Officials in Incheon also failed to install fog detection devices on the bridge. Instead, the Korea Meteorological Administration operates sensors on the rooftop of its Incheon branch. A KMA spokesman said, "Due to the high price tag of the visibility meters, which cost W10-20 million each, we are operating only 98 across the nation and it is not easy to install them in some locations that are prone to fog (US$1=W1,100)." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will skip it, as Yerevan's relationship with Moscow has frayed amid mutual accusations. It is the first time this year that Putin has traveled outside Russia and Russian-held territories of Ukraine. Earlier this year, he visited the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson, as well as the annexed Crimean Peninsula. Putin met with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and was to take part on Friday in the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, which Kyrgyzstan is hosting. Leaders of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will also attend the summit. President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday on a rare trip abroad for the Russian leader who was indicted earlier this year by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine. In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the deportation of children from Ukraine. Countries that have signed and ratified the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, are now bound to arrest the Russian leader if he sets foot on their soil. The move caused Putin to skip an economic summit in South Africa in August and further strained Moscow's ties with Armenia after it moved to ratify the Rome Statute earlier this month, even as Armenian officials sought to assure the Kremlin that the Russian leader would not be arrested if he entered the country. The Kremlin has said that Russia doesn't recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and considers the warrant null and void. Kyrgyzstan is not a signatory of the Rome Statute. In Central Asia, only Tajikistan is. Putin traveled to both countries last year after the invasion of Ukraine and amid increasing international isolation. He also visited other Central Asian nations in 2022, as well as Armenia, Belarus, China, India and Iran. Later this month, Putin is expected to travel to China again. Last month, he also accepted an invitation to visit North Korea, although it remains unclear when that might happen. Bengal BJP headquarter at Salt Lake on Thursday witnessed an unprecedented scenes when a section of violent party workers were found throwing shoes at photos of their state leaders. They were also found stamping on the photos and banners of state leaders of Sukanta Majumder, Bengal BJP president Amitava Chakraborty, general secretary (organization), central leader Amit Malaviya and others lying scattered on road in front of the office. Their grievance is that the state leadership is ignoring their old-timers and instead showing more importance in the newcomers. State BJP leadership felt that the incident was unheard of at a time when they claimed the saffron party is the most regimented political organization in the country. The trouble started this afternoon when an army of dissident BJP workers from districts like Birbhum, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Hooghly and Howrah assembled at the party head office to take part in the prescheduled save BJP programme. No BJP leaders were present when the agitation was on. The agitating workers shouted slogans saying, We wont allow the party to sell itself to others. The state BJP leadership, headed by its president Sukanta Majumder has pathetically failed to lead the party properly to fight against the ruling party. In districts, Trinamul leaders are being given space in BJP with importance. Advertisement We cant tolerate this and want save our party through save BJP programme, said Dipak Kumar Sarkar, a dissident BJP leader from Basirhat in North 24-Parganas. We are ready to offer space to the new young activists in BJP but that does not mean that party should be sold out to others. The state leadership is making political nexus with Trinamul Congress. We will continue our protest programme save BJP against the state leaders. We want to see Narendra Modi as a Prime Minister again for third time in 2024, said Abhoy Shankar, a BJP leader from Rampurhat in Birbhum Chief minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated five community Durga puja in north Kolkata and 836 pujas across the districts virtually from her Kalighat residence this afternoon. She urged the puja organizers to light lamps and put flowers at the feet of Maa Durga on the day of Mahalaya which falls on Saturday. She noted that UNESCO has bestowed the Intangible Heritage tag to the Durga Puja, which will bring many foreigners and requested the puja organizers to welcome them. Miss Banerjee regretted that because of a problem with her leg she could not attend the inaugural programme physically. Though, I am not physically present, my heart is always with you. During my foreign trip, I hurt my leg at Barcelona and the pain which I had received in north Bengal got aggravated. There was pain in my knee but I completed the trip as programmes were held to showcase Bengal. The infection still persists and IV injections are pushed during the course of treatment. The doctors have advised me to rest. Advertisement However, I will attend the Durga Puja carnival on 27 October. Miss Banerjee reiterated that religion is personal but the festival is for all. In Durga Puja people from different communities take part. This is the long-cherished culture and tradition in Bengal, she said while inaugurating the Durga Puja at Entally Matribhumi which is celebrating its 75th year. After inaugurating the Durga Puja at Sreebhumi Sporting Club in Lake Town, which is organized by Trinamul Congress MLA Sujit Bose, she urged the organizers to cooperate with police to maintain traffic flow along with that of pandal-hoppers. She inaugurated Hatibagan Sarbojanin in north Kolkata. She appreciated the idol of Ahiritola Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samity and said the image would be preserved at the museum at Rabindra Sarobar after the carnival. She also inaugurated the Durga Puja of Tala Pratya in north Kolkata. Miss Banerjee inaugurated 836 community pujas across the districts. Of these pujas, 35 were in Cooch Behar, 19 in Alipurduar, 63 in Jalpaiguri, 8 in Kalimpong, 40 in Darjeeling and 40 in Uttar Dinajpur. She inaugurated 57 pujas in North 24-Parganas, 50 in South 24-Parganas, 51 in Howrah, 35 in Nadia, 31 in Murshidabad, 37 in Purba Burdwan and 32 in Paschim Burdwan, 37 in Hooghly, 33 in Birbhum. In East Midnapore she inaugurated 39 pujas, 41 in Paschim Medinipur and 36 in Jhargram. Miss Banerjee during the cabinet meeting which was held at her residence instructed the police to maintain law and order and provide easy passage to the pandal hoppers. The RBI has slapped a Rs 5.39 crore fine on Paytm Payments Bank for not complying RBI guidelines related to know your customer (KYC) norms and not reporting incidents of cyber security breaches in time. The RBI said that a special scrutiny report and a comprehensive system audit report has revealed non-compliance with norms by Paytm Payments Bank on the following grounds: The bank failed to identify beneficial owner in respect of entities onboarded by it for providing payout services. Advertisement It did not monitor payout transactions and carry out risk profiling of entities availing payout services. The bank breached the regulatory ceiling of end of the day balance in certain customer advance accounts availing payout services. Reporting a cyber security incident with delay Failure to implement device binding control measure related to SMS delivery receipt check, and Paytm Banks V-CIP infrastructure failed to prevent connections from IP addresses outside India. The RBI also said that the action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power is bidding to remodel an aging nuclear power plant in Romania. KHNP said on Thursday that it joined a consortium with Canada's Candu Energy and Italian turbine and generator designer Ansaldo Nuclear to remodel the Cernavoda power plant in Bucharest for Romanian operator SN Nuclearelectrica. The deal comes amid promises of orders for major nuclear power plant projects from Egypt and Poland since the Yoon Suk-yeol administration reversed the nuclear pullout of the previous government and prioritized exports for the nuclear power plant industry. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a settlement with bankrupt crypto company Voyager that will permanently ban it from handling consumers assets. The Commission said late on Thursday it is also filing a lawsuit against its former CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, for falsely claiming that customers accounts were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and were safe, even as the company was approaching an eventual bankruptcy. The complaint also named Stephen Ehrlichs wife, Francine Ehrlich, as a relief defendant. Advertisement Consumers reported over $1.4 billion in losses to cryptocurrency scams in the last year, and the FTC continues to crack down on those who lie to consumers about these risky assets, said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection. This action reminds companies and individuals: dont play fast and loose with claims about FDIC insurance, he added. Voyager used promises that consumers deposits would be safe to entice them to hand over their funds. When the company failed, consumers lost access to significant assets they had saved, including ongoing salary deposits, college tuition funds, and down payments for homes, according to the complaint. The consumers were locked out of their cash accounts for more than a month and lost more than $1 billion in crypto assets. The proposed settlement with Voyager and its affiliates will permanently ban the companies from offering, marketing, or promoting any product or service that could be used to deposit, exchange, invest, or withdraw any assets. The companies also agreed to a judgment of $1.65 billion, which will be suspended to permit Voyager to return its remaining assets to consumers in the bankruptcy proceedings. Stephen Ehrlich has not agreed to a settlement and the FTCs case against him will proceed in federal court, said the Commission. In a parallel action, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission separately charged Ehrlich with fraud and registration failures. Aam Aadmi Party workers staged a protest near BJP headquarters here, on Friday, against the arrest of party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and demanded his release in connection with the now-scrapped new excise policy. Hundreds of AAP workers assembled outside their party headquarters and then they marched towards the BJP headquarters, where they held a protest demanding Singhs release. There has been no evidence against Sanjay Singh, but only because he is a big opposition leader and speaks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he has been arrested. The protests will continue until Sanjay Singh is released, AAP spokeswoman Reena Gupta said. Advertisement Carrying placards, the AAP workers raised slogans, like Sanjay Singh ko riha karo (release Sanjay Singh). The AAP workers also demanded for the release of former deputy chief minister and senior party leader Manish Sisodia in connection with the case. However, the Delhi Police detained the AAP workers after they tried to cross the barricades placed near the BJP headquarters and took them away to the police station. The AAP have been protesting in several parts of India demanding Sanjay Singhs release. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Singh on October 4 in connection with the alleged liquor scam case following daylong searches at his residence. The ED had arrested Sisodia in March this year, days after the CBI arrested him in connection with the same case. Makers of the upcoming highly anticipated biopic film Sam Bahadur on Friday unveiled the films official teaser. Taking to X, director of the film Meghna Gulzar shared the teaser which she captioned, Zindagi unki. Itihas hamaara. #SamBahadur Teaser out now. In cinemas 1.12.2023. The film is based on the life of Indias First Field marshall and military might, Sam Manekshaw. Helmed by Meghna Gulzar the film stars Vicky Kaushal, Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh in the lead roles. In the teaser, Vicky is seen as the Field marshal and leading his team of soldiers, motivating them to fight for their country. He also delivered some powerful dialogues like Ek soldier ke liye uski jaan se zada keemti hoti hai uski izzatuski wardiaur ek soldier apni wardi ki izzat ke liye apni jaan bhi de sakta hai. The teaser also featured a glimpse of Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh. At the end of the teaser Vicky as Sam Manekshaw said, Soldiers ki duty hai desh ki raksha ke liye dushman ki jaan lena. Soon after the director shared the teaser, fans flooded the comment section with red hearts and fire emoticons. Vicky on playing the lead role in the film said, Playing the role of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw is an immense responsibility and a huge honour. Weve poured our hearts into bringing to life one of Indias great heroes on screen. Im humbled to be a part of this project that is so inspiring. The teaser is just a short glimpse of the legend and the story will surely touch the hearts of the audiences. Meghna Gulzar, said, I feel blessed that I was chosen to tell this story and work with this incredible cast. Sam Manekshaw is an ideal, a hero. And has lived his life fearlessly and righteously. I hope that our effort to present his momentous life and his admirable qualities will resonate with the audiences. He is a role model everyone should know more about. Producer Ronnie Screwvala added, Its not often that one gets to make a movie on an Icon and a true patriot. And its not often that one partners with the perfect Director to bring this story to life and Meghna does that and much more. But it IS often that one gets to work with Vicky and just about every time we do come together its for a special reason and on this one his performance is going to leave the audience awestruck. From all of us A 21 gun salute to Sam Bahadur. Sam Bahadur is all set to release worldwide on December 1. It will face a big Bollywood clash with Ranbir Kapoors upcoming action film Animal. nion home minister Amit Shah said the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots started getting justice only after the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in the year 2014. He said this addressing an event organized here by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, on Friday. Shah said Modi formed an SIT and reopened 300 cases pertaining to the 1984 riots, and the process of sending the guilty to jail started. Shah stressed that he called it a start because several cases were still on, adding that the government will ensure that justice is delivered soon in the remaining cases. Many inquiry commissions were formed in this regard before 2014, but were all in vain as they did not yield any result, he added. Advertisement He said it was after many years, the process of extending compensation of Rs 5 lakh to next of kin of the 3,328 victims was also being done now by the Modi government. In the last 9 years, the government led by PM Modi has taken historic initiatives for the welfare of our Sikh sisters and brothers, he added. Shah hailed the contributions of the Sikh community and paid glowing tributes to them for their service towards the nation, society, and humanity, saying that the country will always be indebted to the sacrifices made by the Sikh gurus. Shah said be it the countrys fight for freedom, fight against Mughals or fight against the British, Partition or sacrificing for securing the borders, the Sikh community has always been leading from the front. The home minister also said the whole world today is following the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev at a time of religious strife. Shah also praised the Sikhs for moving ahead, equally taking both religion and karma along. He also mentioned that under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Modi gave citizenship to those Sikhs, who wanted to come here from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. BJP national secretary and former DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the overwhelming presence of the Sikh brethren to felicitate the home minister sends out a loud and clear message that Sikh community stands for peace, progress, and prosperity of the Sikh community and country. He also expressed gratitude towards Shah for his encouraging words. Delhis Rouse Avenue court on Friday adjourned the hearing of the arguments on charges against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler. The counsel for the accused told the court that the certified copies of the case file had not been supplied. This case pertains to the killing in Pul Bangash Gurudwara in 1984. Special CBI judge Vikas Dhull adjourned the hearing after hearing submissions of Defence counsel Manu Sharma and CBIs Counsel till November 21, 2023. Advertisement Advocate Manu Sharma submitted that he has not received certified copies of certain documents related to the case. He also requested the court to verify whether the entire record of the CBI investigation as well Delhi police investigation has reached the court or not. The ACMM court had summoned the entire record from Karkardooma Court. CBIs counsel Amit Jindal submitted that the record of the case after 2007 reached the court. The court said that it would get it verified whether the record of the Delhi police investigation reached the court. The CBI filed a supplementary charge sheet against former congress MP Jagdish Tytler in May this year. This case pertains to the alleged killings of three Sikhs in the Pul Bangash area in 1984. On August 5, Tytler appeared before the court against the summons issued by the court after taking Cognizance of the supplementary charge sheet. Thereafter, he appeared through video conferencing. Earlier, he was granted anticipatory bail on August 4 by the sessions court after hearing his bail application. The CBI filed the supplementary charge sheet on May 20. This case is connected with the killing of three persons in the Pul Bangash area on November 1, 1984. The Central Bureau of Investigation on May 20 filed a charge sheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a case related to anti-Sikh riots in 1984 following the assassination of the then Prime Minister of India, on 31 October 1984. Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, then Member of Parliament has been named as accused in the chargesheet. In a statement, CBI mentioned that the agency had registered the instant case in November 2005 on an incident wherein Gurudwara Pul Bangash at Azad Market, Bara Hindu Rao, Delhi was set on fire by a mob and three persons namely Sardar Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Gurcharan Singh were burnt to death on 1 November 1984 near Gurudwara Pul Bangash. Justice Nanavati Commission of Inquiry was set up in the year 2000 by the Government of India to enquire into the incidents of anti-Sikh riots of the year 1984 in Delhi. After consideration of the Commissions report, the Ministry of Home Affairs (Government of India) issued directions to the CBI to investigate the case against the then Member of Parliament and others. During the CBI investigation, evidence came on record that on November 1, 1984, the said accused allegedly instigated, incited and provoked the mob assembled at Gurudwara Pul Bangash at Azad Market, Delhi which resulted in the burning of Gurudwara Pul Bangash and killing of three Sikh persons by the mob, apart from burning & looting of shops. Three Indians have been reported missing after Hamas attack in Israel last Saturday, according to the Israeli Embassy in India. The identities of the missing Indians have not been revealed so far. It is not yet clear if they have been kidnapped or killed in the attack as rescuers continue to extract bodies from under the rubble. More than 1,300 people, including foreign nationals from more than 35 countries, were killed in the deadly Hamas attack in Israel on October 7. According to news agency ANI, 7 Nepalese were also killed in the Hamas attack. The details of missing Indians emerged after Israeli Embassy in India put out a list of missing and killed foreign nationals. Advertisement When it comes to terrorism, Hamas spares no one. This is a list of foreign nationals killed and missing at the hands of the Hamas terrorist organization. 3 missing Indians are also included in this list, the Israeli Embassy said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi had Thursday told reporters that they have not received information about any Indian causality in the Hamas attack so far. Addressing a press conference in Delhi on Indias rescue mission, Bagchi said that there are around 18,000 Indians in Israel, a dozen in West Bank and some 3-4 people are in Gaza. India has launched Operation Ajay to bring back Indians stranded in war-torn Israel. The first flight under the rescue mission brought back 212 Indians stranded in Israel to New Delhi earlier today. More such flights have been planned to bring back Indian citizens who want to return in view of the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant outfit Hamas. Confident of winning the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh with a clear majority, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday asserted that the injustice, atrocities and misrule of the BJP government will come to an end. Mallikarjun Kharge made the remarks after a meeting of the Central Election Committee (CEC) convened to discuss the choice of candidates for the Madhya Pradesh elections. In Madhya Pradesh, youth, women, Dalits, tribals and backward classes are going to get justice in a few days. There will be a complete end to the BJPs injustice, atrocities, and misrule of the last 18 years, the Congress president wrote on X while briefing on the CEC meeting. Advertisement In a subtle referring to 2020 political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, in which the Congress government was toppled in the state after Jyotiraditya Scindia, the partys trusted leader, switched his allegiance to the BJP, along with over a dozen MLAs, he said, This time, the public wont allow an undemocratic BJP government to come to power in Madhya Pradesh through the back door. This time around the traitors will get a befitting reply from the voters. The Congress party is heading for a full majority, added Kharge. Notably, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi predicted that the party will win 150 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh on the lines of the Karnataka polls held in May this year. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath, who was also present at the CEC meeting, informed that they deliberated on the names of candidates for the 60 Assembly seats. Talking to reporters at the Congress headquarters, Nath said, We held discussions for 60 (Assembly) seats. A list of candidates will be announced after the shradh (season for mourning the dead). We are running against time to meet the October 15 deadline for the release of the list. Elections to 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly will be held in a single phase on November 17. The counting of votes will be held on December 3 along with four other states Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. The Assembly polls are expected to witness a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, the BJP won 109 seats against the Congresss 114. The ruling party is hopeful of retaining power in the state. Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly and senior Congress leader VD Satheesan on Friday termed Chief Ministers Pinarayi Vijayans statement that the opposition was behind the cash-for-job scam allegations against the Health Ministers office as ridiculous. Speaking to media persons here, Satheesan said that all the accused in the cash-for-job scam allegation against the Health Ministers office are connected with the Left Front. Akhil Sajeev and Basith, whom the police arrested for conspiring against the Health Minister, are your own accomplices, said Satheesan. Wasnt the first accused in the case Akhil Sajeev the office secretary of CITU Pathanamthitta office, Sathessan asked. Advertisement Didnt the Chief Minister know that he had cheated the CITU office as well? Didnt your leaders themselves complain that funds were stolen by him from the CITU district committee office, Satheesan further asked. He said that Vijayan should remember that he sits on the Chief Ministers chair and not on the party secretarys post to shout whatever comes to his mind. Pinarayi Vijayan should not degenerate into a Chief Minister who repeats lies at the expense of his position, Satheesan said . Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has on Thursday accused the opposition Congress of orchestrating the cash-for-job scam allegation against the Health Ministers office. He said that the opposition is trying to discredit the Health Ministers office which is functioning cleanly by spreading fake news. The Chief Minister also criticised a section of the media for propagating false news against the Health Minister. The opposition leader further asked whether the Chief Minister forgot that Basith, the other accused in the case is the former Malappuram district secretary of AISF, the student wing of the CPI. If Basith, who has now been arrested, is behind the job fraud, the question is whether he himself would be ready to file a complaint with the ministers office. Dear Chief Minister, the information released by your police is still questionable. Many links do not fit together. If you tell a lie, it takes many lies to cover it up, Satheesan said. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20) at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi today. The summit is being hosted by the Parliament of India under the broader framework of Indias G20 Presidency with the theme of Parliaments for One Earth, One Family, One Future. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister welcomed the dignitaries to the G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit on behalf of 140 crore citizens of India. The Summit is a Maha Kumbh of all Parliamentary practices from across the globe, the Prime Minister remarked. Underlining that all the delegates present today hold the experience of the Parliamentary framework from different countries, Shri Modi expressed great satisfaction with todays event. Referring to the festive season in India, the Prime Minister said that G20 kept the festive fervor going throughout the year as G20 festivities pervaded many cities where G20-related events were organized during Indias presidency. These festivities were augmented by events like the moon landing of Chandrayaan, a successful G20 summit and the P20 summit. The biggest strength of any nation is its people and their will power and this summit is a medium to celebrate that, he said. Advertisement The Prime Minister emphasized that the P20 Summit is taking place on the land which is not only known as the mother of democracy but is also the largest democracy in the world. As representatives of different Parliaments from around the world, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of debates and deliberations as he mentioned accurate examples of such debates from history. He informed that assemblies and committees have found a mention in the five-thousand-year-old Vedas and scriptures of India, where collective decisions were made for the betterment of society. Speaking about Rigveda, Indias oldest scripture, the Prime Minister recited a Sanskrit shloka which means We must walk together, speak together and that our minds must be conjoined. He informed that issues related to the village level were resolved by indulging in debates which became a source of great amazement for the Greek ambassador Megasthenes who wrote about it in great detail. The Prime Minister also touched upon a 9th-century inscription in Tamil Nadu which elaborates upon rules and codes of village legislatives. The 1200-year-old inscription also mentions the rules for disqualification of a member, he added. Speaking about the Anubhav Mantappa tradition which has been going on since the 12th century in India, and years before the Magna Carta came into existence, the Prime Minister informed that discussions were encouraged where people from every caste, creed and religion were free to express their thoughts. The Anubhav Mantappa initiated by Jagatguru Basweshwara makes India proud even today, the Prime Minister remarked as he underlined that the journey of India from 5000-year-old scriptures till today is a heritage of Parliamentary traditions not just for India but the entire world. The Prime Minister touched upon the constant evolution of and strengthening of the parliamentary traditions of India with time. He informed that 17 General elections and more than 300 state assembly elections have taken place in India since Independence. Peoples participation is consistently increasing in this largest electoral exercise. He said the 2019 General election where his party was elected to power was the biggest electoral exercise of human history as 600 million voters participated in that. At that time, he said, there were 910 million registered voters, more than the population of entire Europe. 70 percent turnout among such a large electorate shows the deep faith of Indians in their parliamentary practices. The 2019 election witnessed record participation of women. Referring to the expanding canvas of political participation, the Prime Minister said that more than 600 political parties participated in the last General Election and 10 million government employees worked in the conduct of the elections and 1 million polling stations were erected for voting. The Prime Minister also dwelled on the modernization of the election process. The use of EVMs since the last 25 years has brought transparency and efficiency to the election process as election results come within hours of the start of counting. He informed that 1 billion people will participate in the general election next year and invited the delegates to witness the elections. The Prime Minister informed the delegates about the recent decision of reserving 33 percent seats in the Parliament and the state assemblies for women. He also told them that out of more than 3 million elected representatives in the local self-government institutions, almost 50 percent are women. India today is promoting womens participation in every sector. The recent decision taken by our Parliament will further enrich our parliamentary tradition, Prime Minister Modi added. The Prime Minister highlighted the unwavering faith of the citizens in the parliamentary traditions of India and credited its diversity and vibrancy. We have people of every faith here. Hundreds of types of food, ways of living, languages, dialects, the Prime Minister said. He informed that India has more than 900 TV channels in India in 28 languages to provide real-time information to the people, more than 33 thousand different newspapers are published in about 200 languages, and about 3 billion users on different social media platforms. Shri Modi emphasized the huge flow of information and the level of freedom of speech in India. In this world of the 21st century, this vibrancy of India, unity in diversity, is our greatest strength. This vibrancy inspires us to fight every challenge and solve every difficulty together, Prime Minister Modi added. Referring to the interconnected nature of the world, the Prime Minister said that a world full of conflict and confrontation is in no ones interest. He continued, A divided world cannot provide solutions to the major challenges facing humanity. This is the time of peace and brotherhood, a time to move together. This is a time for growth and well-being of all. We have to overcome the global trust crisis and move forward with human-centric thinking. We have to look at the world in the spirit of One Earth, One Family, One Future. Underlining the importance of wider participation in global decision-making, the Prime Minister said that it was behind the proposal to include the African Union in G-20 which was accepted by all the members. The Prime Minister expressed happiness over the Pan Africa participation in the forum of P20. Speaking about the Lok Sabha Speaker giving a tour of the new Parliament to the delegates, the Prime Minister took the opportunity to highlight the cross-border terrorism faced by India for decades killing thousands of innocent people. Shri Modi recalled the terrorist attack on the Parliament of India about 20 years ago when it was in session and the terrorists were prepared to take the MPs hostage and eliminate them. India has reached here today after dealing with many such terrorist incidents, he emphasized as the world is also realizing the huge challenge of terrorism in the world. Shri Modi continued, No matter where terrorism occurs, for whatever reason, in whatever form, it is against humanity as he stressed the need to be uncompromising when dealing with such a situation. The Prime Minister also drew attention to the global aspect where no consensus regarding the definition of terrorism is achieved. He underlined how the International Convention on Combating Terrorism is waiting for a consensus in the United Nations even today. He stressed that the enemies of humanity are taking advantage of this attitude of the world as he urged the Parliaments and representatives around the world to come up with ways of working together in this fight against terrorism. Concluding the address, the Prime Minister underlined that there can be no better medium than public participation to deal with the worlds challenges. I have always believed that governments are formed by majority, but the country is run by consensus. Our parliaments and this P20 forum can also strengthen this sentiment, the Prime Minister said and expressed confidence that the efforts to improve this world through debate and deliberations will definitely be successful. Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shri Om Birla and President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Mr Duarte Pacheco were present on the occasion among others. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Dr. Mohan Bhagwat arrived here on Friday on a three-day visit to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Local leaders of the RSS received him at the Jammu Airport. After his arrival, Dr. Mohan Bhagwat straightway reached Keshav Bhawan at Ambhpalla. During his three-day stay at Jammu, Dr. Bhagwat will discuss various issues with the top leadership of the J&K RSS during various meetings. On Saturday morning, he will address a meeting of RSS workers at Jammu to get first-hand information about the centenary celebrations of the formation of the RSS in the year 2025. Advertisement Swayamsevaks from Kishtwar, Rajouri, Udhampur and Jammu will participate in Saturdays meeting. On Sunday, Dr. Mohan Bhagwat will address a meeting of various oranizations of the Sangh Parivar. He will get feedback about various projects initiated by the RSS in the Union Territory in the fields of village development, service (Sewa), public awareness, health, ecology, water conservation, social equality, education, etc. On October 15, he will address a gathering of Swayamsevaks at Kathua Stadium in which Swayamsevaks from Kathua, Samba, Basholi and Billawar will participate. The sarsangchalak will pay floral tributes at the statue of Dr. Shyama Parshad Mukherjee at Kathua. Later, he will unveil the statue of Bharat Mata at Jakhbar village of Kathua and interact with villagers. As per the tradition of the RSS, the sarsanghchalak and sarkaryavah travel all the provinces of the country as part of organizational work and to interact with prominent persons. Since its formation, sarsanghchalak visited every province in connection with the organizational work. Earlier, sarsanghchalak visited Jammu in the year 2021. Korea's national debt has surpassed W1.1 quadrillion for the first time (US$1=W1,339). According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the government's cumulative debt increased by W76.5 trillion from January to August to reach W1.11 quadrillion, already exceeding the projection until the end of the year of W.1.102 quadrillion. Treasury bonds accounted for W1.02 quadrillion, up W77.8 trillion from the end of last year. But the finance ministry said it repaid W24 trillion in treasury bonds in September, which means the national debt should decrease to the projected amount by the end of the year. The government's total earnings in the first eight months of the year stood at just W394.4 trillion, down W44.2 trillion from a year earlier. Tax revenues dwindled by W47.6 trillion as income tax takings fell W13.9 trillion and corporate tax W20.2 trillion amid the depressed economy. Over the same period, fiscal spending shrank by W63.5 trillion to W425.8 trillion, but that was not enough to offset rising debt. Government spending declined mainly because coronavirus-related outlays and compensation payments for small businesses stopped as the pandemic ended. The Supreme Court on Friday asked the medical board at All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi, to examine the expectant mother, seeking to terminate her 26-week-old pregnancy, whether the fetus is suffering from any serious abnormality posing substantial risk if the child was born, as provided by subsection 2(b) of Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act). The subsection 2(b) of Section 3 of the MTP Act provides for the termination of pregnancy if (i) the continuance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or of grave injury to her physical or mental health; or (ii) there is a substantial risk that if the child were born, it would suffer from any serious physical or mental abnormality. Stating that they have the earlier report of the AIIMS medical board stating that the fetus is normal, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud heading a bench also comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said that nonetheless, in order to place the matter beyond doubt, they are seeking further report on whether fetus is not suffering from any abnormality. Advertisement The bench also asked the medical board to examine Whether the continuance of the pregnancy of the petitioner pregnant woman to full term would be jeopardised by the drugs she is taking for the treatment of Postpartum psychosis which she is allegedly suffering from. The bench further asked the medical board to apprise the court if the pregnant woman is found to be suffering from postpartum psychosis and whether any alternate administration of medication consistent with the pregnancy would be available so as to neither jeopardise her well-being nor that of the fetus. The bench noted that the petitioner pregnant woman was married on December 3, 2017 and gave birth to first child on September 30, 2019 and her second child too was born on September 30, 2022. Within a week of the delivery of second child she was diagnosed to be suffering from the post-partum psychosis. Since then she has been taking treatment for it. It is because of this condition that her two children are being looked after by her mother-in-law, her lawyer Amit Mishra told the bench. The bench posted the matter for hearing on October 16, with Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati placing before it the report of the medical board. The bench directed the petitioner pregnant woman to appear before the medical board at 02.00 pm today itself. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Centre, told the bench that they were not able to persuade the woman not to go for termination of pregnancy. ASG Bhati said that the woman is oscillating on her decision. The ASG Bhati urged the bench to separate the determination of law and the womans case as she is still vulnerable. ASG Bhati took the court through the MTP Act stating that India has a pro-choice legislation and hence womens autonomy is important. However, she said that pro-choice option should not result in the extermination of the life of the unborn child. CJI Chandrachud said that MTP Act seeks to strike a balance but is weighed in the favour of pregnant women. The Womans lawyer Amit Mishra told the SC that the woman is 26 years old and got married in Dec 2017. Womans lawyer told the bench that she had heavy symptoms of postpartum psychosis after her second delivery and complained of abnormal behaviour. Lawyer submitted to SC that her treatment started in Oct 2022. The Union commerce ministry said the UK delegation will be in India for FTA negotiations, and high-level engagements at various levels are ongoing to iron out differences. The majority of the chapters are either closed or are at an advanced stage of negotiations. 134 rounds of negotiations have been continuing since 18th September. Negotiations cover 26 policy areas/chapters, the ministry said on Friday. According to reports, the bilateral pact, which missed an earlier deadline of Diwali 2022, is likely to be signed when the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, visits New Delhi, possibly in the last week of October. Advertisement The matter of mobility of Indian professionals to the UK is currently being negotiated. Some media reports also say India has been pushing for short-term visas for skilled professionals who go to the UK for a limited duration to work on specific projections. At the FTA talks, areas of contention for the Indian side have been the rules of origin for goods, intellectual property rights, and facilitation of professional mobility. As per the rules of origin provision, minimal processing should happen in the FTA country so that the final manufactured product may be referred to as goods originating in that country. The rules say that a country which has inked an FTA with India cannot dump goods from some third country in the Indian market by just putting a label on it. It must undertake a prescribed value addition in that product to export to India. In 2022-23, the bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to $20.36 billion (1,695.82 billion or 16.72 billion) from $17.5 billion (1,457.61 billion or 14.38 billion) in 2021-22. According to official UK business and trade department figures, the UK-India bilateral trade was worth an estimated 36 billion (3,650.60 billion or $43.83 billion) in 2022. We live in a time of untrammelled and footloose capitalism. Free market capitalism has hardened into a dogmatic and monolithic creed that brooks no opposition. The high priests of capitalism on the couch argue that it works well for most of the people most of the time. Despite her policy being despotic, antisocial and an economic cul-desac, Margaret Thatcher boasted there is no alternative to capitalism. That has prompted many to believe we now live in the age of what political and cultural theorist Mark Fisher calls capitalist realism. But has socialist realism died? That may not be the case. However, one thing is clear ~ that the left is yet to posit a coherent alternative political and economic model to capitalism. Given the proliferation of right-wing governments and the marginalisation of left forces in Europe and elsewhere, some analysts have begun to believe that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. Advertisement That doesnt mean one should assume that social democrats, Keynesians and Marxists would be living endlessly as historys permanent losers. The 2008-9 economic crisis which threatened the new liberal order was a defining moment. While the lazy left failed to capitalise on the crisis, the right-wing parties and groups forged a new narrative in nativist, sovereigntist, illiberal, populist and far-right civilisationist terms. The far-right parties also took full advantage of the rise of transnationalism, liberalisation of international trade as also of deep structural and technological changes that reshaped European society. In Europe, nativism is being whitewashed into populism. The right-wing is using it as a fuzzy blanket to camouflage its failure. The identity politics and nativism have dealt a lethal blow to the left parties. It has created political cleavages and cut into the voting share of the left. The rise of radical right populism has shifted political competition from the traditional left-right schism to a new cleavage opposing centrist parties to populist parties from the right and the left. Francis Fukuyama has written how right-wing populism has articulated issues like rejection of globalisation, hostility to immigration, Euroscepticism and Brexit to capture power. While there has been a decline in the voting share of moderate parties like social democrats, Christian democrats and liberal parties, there is a perceptible increase in the voting share of the radical right and the Greens. According to one analyst, the traditional economic leftright dimension has been replaced by a new cultural leftright conflict called GALTAN (green-alternative-libertarian versus traditional-authoritariannationalist). The right-wing tide across the world seems nowhere close to ebbing. Latin America is the only region that has bucked the trend. The situation in Latin America is different from Europe. In recent decades, social movements have acquired a new momentum. Some of the leftwing governing parties have their origins in social movements and they certainly bank on their support and mobilisation. Social movements have created new terrain of struggles in Latin America. The new left views developments in a new cultural and political economy context. As Argentine sociologist Ronaldo Munck explains, revolutionary currents ~ from feminism to ecology and from indigenous to post-structuralist thinking ~ have enriched the theory and practice of social transformation, nowhere more so than in Latin America. Julia Cage and Thomas Piketty argue in their forthcoming book, A History of Political Conflict: Elections and Social Inequalities in France, 1789-2022, that the potential strength of the lefts electoral base remains strong. To assume that the working classes have entirely abandoned the left is equally misleading. They assert in their recent article in The Guardian that not only is this working-class switch away from the left not the case, but it has never been the case. What should the left do? Marx himself had theorized a time when capitalism will morph into its opposite. Is precariat the new proletariat? The proletariat today has become what sociologist Carlos Forment calls those who hold plebian citizenship. Today the urban slum dwellers fall in the same category. French philosopher Alaine Badiou now talks of nomadic proletariat. Today the ideological spectrum has become compressed. The far-right parties have forged salad bar alliances by reaching out to groups with ideological differences. The left groups also need to resort to salad bar ideologies to win votes. In last years elections, Brazils Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva did precisely that by reaching out to several centre-right groups including the Social Democratic Party. The left seems to lack its imagination for the future, or the same hasnt been articulated eloquently. Another world is possible or other possible worlds are at best catchy slogans. These need to be theorised. The left must realise that the welfare state is getting worn out under the weight of economic globalisation. As sociologist Manuel Castells argues, if new ideas are not developed, social democracy will lose its essence. If welfare state and its relationship with trade unionismis abandoned, [social democracy] will be liquidated. Today, neither the proletariat nor the trade unions can claim to hold a powerful base, as they did in the 20th century. The need of the hour is to build a new broader coalition that includes LGBTQ+, antiracist and feminist collectives, among others. Capitalism has triumphed, explains philosopher Laura Llevadot, because it has understood how to appropriate narcissistic desire, while the moralistic left has limited itself to lecturing people. The left also needs to clarify its ideological positioning. It must re-examine its position towards inequality and social justice and formulate its stand on the future of work, basic income and economy for the many. Political scientist Adam Przeworski suggests that the left focus more on mobilising the middle classes to remain relevant in view of the rapid decline of the working class. In his essay, what should the left propose?, Brazilian philosopher Roberto Unger says that the question should not be how much globalisation? but rather what manner of globalisation? Political scientist Wendy Brown believes the left needs to set out its own vision. That vision must be broadly compelling, and not iterate grievance but a better, more livable world. Will the left re-invent itself remains a million-dollar question. The battlelines are drawn for the General Election in Poland which, many would argue, is not really that consequential for the world. Or is it not? For, when Poles head to voting booths on 15 October in what is widely characterised as a choice between four more years of a populist government or the chance for their country to restore its democratic institutions and international reputation, they way they vote will impact the Ukraine War and the European Union. That, in turn, has significant policy implications for the rest of the world. According to scholar Anna Grzymala-Busse, as a key supporter of Ukraine, the largest post-communist country in the European Union, and a staunch US ally, Polands parliamentary elections will have farreaching consequences. Warsaw has been one of Ukraines biggest backers after the Russian invasion; Poles warmly welcomed over three million Ukrainian refugees in 2022, and the government has steadfastly supported Ukraine with military and humanitarian supplies, and in various international organisations. But this strong relationship has recently come under fire domestically because Ukraine is now selling grain in Poland. It is within its rights to do so as the European Unions embargo on Ukrainian grain sales in Europe has ended but the timing is, electorally speaking, disastrous. The rural, agricultural electorate is critical of the incumbent Law and Justice Party or PiS which has been in power since 2015 and Ukrainian grain flooding the market had sent prices plummeting earlier in the year. So, the PiS leadership is choosing its voters over its commitment to Ukraine and is criticizing Kiev very robustly indeed. Polish President Andrzej Duda referred to Ukraine at the United Nations as a drowning man who is dangerous because he pulls his saviours into the water, while Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that Poland is not transferring new arms to Ukraine because it needs to defend itself. Advertisement Grzymala-Busse says that these statements, which have been highly controversial within Poland itself, may be more indicative of anxiety over the electoral returns than a fundamental volte-face. That, at least, is the hope in the rest of Europe. Poland has had a difficult relationship with the EU. On the one hand, the illiberal Warsaw government relies on EU funding to survive; on the other, it has repeatedly criticised the EU for infringing upon Polands sovereignty. Brussels has also regularly been upbraiding Warsaw. Some experts argue that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shifted the EUs centre of power more towards the east of the continent and Poland will play a greater role in European affairs. The counterargument is that while Poland was right about Russias aggressive intentions towards its neighbours, Warsaw has neither developed a vision for the future of the EU nor been successful in building a coalition within the EU to support its ambitions. The results of the parliamentary election will tell us how that pans out. Elon Musks social media platform, X, formerly Twitter, has taken action against numerous accounts linked to Hamas. This move came in response to a request from the European Union (EU) aimed at countering the spread of disinformation. The EUs call for action aligns with the recent implementation of stringent regulations concerning social media content in the EU, as outlined in the Digital Services Act. Failure to comply with these regulations would have carried significant consequences for Musk, the owner of X. Possible penalties included a substantial fine amounting to 6% of Xs revenue or even the prospect of a complete EU-wide blackout. Moreover, the EU has issued a warning to Mark Zuckerberg, addressing the issue of disinformation spread through Metas social media platforms, particularly in the wake of Hamas attack on Israel. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was given a strict 24-hour deadline to respond and align with European law. Advertisement Xs swift response can be attributed to a direct ultimatum from Thierry Breton, the EUs industry chief, who urged Elon Musk to combat the dissemination of disinformation on the platform and ensure compliance with the EUs newly enacted online content regulations. Breton expressed apprehensions about the alleged involvement of the platform in the distribution of unlawful content and disinformation within the EU. The recent crisis erupted when the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, involving hundreds of gunmen infiltrating communities near the Gaza Strip. The conflict has led to a significant loss of life on both sides. In Israel, at least 1,300 people have lost their lives, and there are reports of dozens of soldiers and civilians, including women and children, being held as hostages in Gaza. On the Palestinian side, more than 1,300 individuals have been killed due to multiple air strikes carried out by the Israeli military in response to the attacks. Israel has also imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza territory, leading to shortages of essential resources like food and fuel. The situation in the region is marked by ongoing violence and a humanitarian crisis, drawing attention from international bodies and prompting actions such as the EUs call for regulating online content to address the spread of disinformation. The Indian Army and Air Force today evacuated a total of 284 persons till 12 pm from two places and dropped them off in different locations in Sikkim. Evacuation operations were suspended due to bad weather since mid-day today, Army sources said. A total of 203 persons including 76 women were air lifted from Chaten. Similarly, 81 persons including 39 women were air lifted from Lachung. On the other hand, in collaboration with the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and other organisations, VikRun Foundation organized a Disaster Relief Medical Camp to address the urgent healthcare needs of the Teesta-affected communities at a local High School located in Teesta Bazar, a badly hit region, in Kalimpong. The Disaster Relief Medical Camp offered a comprehensive range of vital services to address the urgent healthcare needs of the Teestaaffected community. Highly skilled healthcare professionals conducted thorough medical consultations, providing health assessments, consultations, and essential guidance to individuals seeking medical assistance. Advertisement Additionally, the camp facilitated the distribution of essential medicines, baby food, and sanitary napkins tailored to the specific medical requirements of each individual. Israel Ground Assault in Gaza: The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have asked civilians in Gaza city to evacuate their homes in the next 24 hours and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza ahead of their ground assault in the Hamas controlled region. In a statement released on Friday, the IDF said that it calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, as shown on the map. According to the United Nations, around 1.1 million Gazans around half of their total population will be affected by the evacuation order. Israel-Hamas war: 10 points The military said that Hamas waged a war against Israel and that its military operations are going to take place in the Gaza City area from where the Palestinian militant organization operates. The Israeli military said that civilians of Gaza are not their enemy and the relocation announcement is for their own safety. This evacuation is for your own safety, the IDF message read. The Israeli military also urged the civilians in the Gaza to not become human shields for the Hamas militants and return to their homes only after the announcement permitting it is made. Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians. Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields, the message added. The development has come amid local media reports of a likely ground assault in Gaza in less than 48 hours. More than 300,000 military personnel have already been sent near to the Gaza border and IDF said they are ready to execute the mission given to them by the Israeli government. Israeli military has been pounding Hamas targets since October 7 when the militants fired thousands of missiles towards Israel and invaded the Israeli territory, killing over a thousand people, including babies, children, their mothers and fathers. The IDF has said that it will continue to operate extensively in the Gaza city in the coming days and the evacuation warning was part of its efforts to avoid civilian causalities. Meanwhile, the United Nations has warned the Israeli military of devastating consequences of the ground assault and called on the Israeli government to take back the relocation order. The UN considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, it said. Advertisement Israel-Hamas war: The barbaric October 7 Hamas attack in Israel brought wrath upon thousands of innocent people in Israel and Gaza. First Hamas militants ravaged Israel with rocket barrages, followed by a massive ground assault, killing babies, their mothers and in some cases babies inside their mothers and many more civilians. In response, Israel has been been pounding the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip with air strikes in which more than 1,500 Gazans have lost their lives. Israel is now ready to launch a ground assault to root out Hamas from the Gaza. The Israeli military has asked Gazans living in the north of the region to flee their homes within 24 hours and move to safer areas south of the Wadi Gaza. Soon after, Hamas officials asked people of Gaza to ignore the Israeli militarys warning and urged them stay inside their homes. Hamas has long been accused of using civilians as human shield to protect its militants from Israeli attacks. As the Gazans are caught between Israeli warning to leave ahead of an expected ground assault and Hamas saying not to pay heed to the IDFs fake propaganda, below is whats latest in the Israel-Hamas war. Advertisement Gazans leaving their home People living in the northern parts of Gaza are fleeing to the south of the Gaza Strip after Israel gave them a 24-hour deadline to evacuate their homes for their safety and protection ahead of a military operation. The United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have both criticized Israels order, warning devastating humanitarian consequences. The Israeli military has reportedly said that it understands evacuation could take longer but it is not clear if it plans to delay the ground assault. Meanwhile, Hamas officials are trying to convince Gazans that the warning is just a fake propaganda and that they dont leave their homes. Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israel: Even as Israel prepares for a likely ground assault, Hamas continues to fire rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. According to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), Hamass military wing the al-Qassam Brigades have fired rockets at Ashkelon. According to local media reports, Hamas has fired more than 150 reports since Friday morning. Hezbollah says ready to join Hamas: In a statement that could give Israeli government officials sleepless nights, Lebanon-based militant outfit Hezbollah has said that it was fully prepared to join Hamas in its war against Israel. Earlier today, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian visited neighbouring Lebanon and met with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. Earlier this week, Hezbollah projectiles fired from Lebanon targeted an Israeli military post. The Nasrallah-led group had said that the attack was in solidarity with Hamas militants. Like Hamas, Hezbollah is also backed and funded by Iran. Pro-Palestinian protests: In other updates, thousands of pro-Palestine supporters have gathers in Iraq, Jordan and Indonesia to protest against Israels attack on Hamas targets in Gaza. Hamas has called on Islamic nations and Palestinian resistance fighters across the world to join the battle. Security has also been beefed up around Jewish establishments and Israeli Embassy in national capital Delhi in view of potential protests. Rallies in solidarity with Israel: Besides pro-Palestinian protests, people around the world, including India, are holding rallies in support of Israel after the brutal Hamas onslaught last week. Indians in Delhi held placards and raised slogans in support of Israel. The Israeli Embassy has even said that they have received such an overwhelming support from Indians that an army of volunteers could be raised. Diplomacy at works: As Israel and Hamas continue to be locked in a deadly conflict, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan. While Blinken appeared to be extending full US support to Israel, he asked the Jewish countrys Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to operate by the rules of war. Blinken had visited Israel and met Netayahu in Tel Aviv, where he was also shown the pictures of babies allegedly killed by Hamas savages. Gazans found themselves in a dilemma after Hamas, the militant group having control of the Gaza, asked them not to respond to the evacuation order issued by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ahead of their expected ground assault. According to the international media reports, Hamas officials have asked citizens of the Gaza Strip to ignore the Israeli militarys order to relocate to the south, terming it fake propaganda. Hamas has long been criticized for using civilians as human shields to protect its fighters from Israeli attacks In a direct message to the civilians in north of the Gaza earlier today, the IDF had asked them to evacuate to the area south of the Wadi Gaza ahead of their military operation in the Hamas controlled region. Advertisement Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields, the IDF said in a message and gave a 24-hour deadline. While people in Gaza started leaving their homes soon after Israeli warning, the message from Hamas to not leave has put them in fix. The Gazans are now caught between Israels warning ahead of an expected ground invasion and Hamas officials telling them to ignore the fake propaganda Israeli military. Meanwhile, the United Nations has also asked Israel to withdraw the mass evacuation order, warning devastating humanitarian consequences. According to the United Nations, around 1.1 million Gazans nearly half of the Hamas-controlled regions total population has been affected by the Israels order. Experts believe the evacuation of 1.1 million people in 24 hours is nearly impossible as it would involve 40,000 people per hour. The evacuation of children, women, elderly and people already in hospitals will bring chaos, they said. In France, a tragic incident unfolded on Friday, leaving one teacher dead and two others gravely injured in a knife attack that occurred on the premises of a school in Arras. The attacker was subsequently apprehended by the police, and the nations Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron, is scheduled to visit the scene of the attack. Law enforcement reports that the assailant, of Chechen origin, has registration details in the national security database. This distressing event reportedly transpired inside Gambetta high school at 11 a.m. on Friday. The attacker is said to have uttered Allahu Akbar during the assault. The anti-terrorist division of the prosecutors office has taken control of the investigation into the attack. More knife attack incidents in France: This knife attack incident brings back haunting memories of a school attack that transpired three years ago in the suburbs of Paris when a Chechen extremist beheaded a teacher. France has been on high alert recently following a shocking attack by Hamas on Israel, resulting in the loss of over 1,200 lives and the kidnapping of numerous individuals into Gaza. Consequently, French authorities have deployed police forces to safeguard Jewish schools and places of worship, given the surge in antisemitic acts. Advertisement In the previous attack, the police swiftly shot dead the perpetrator, an 18-year-old Russian Muslim refugee named Abdullakh Anzorov. The incident is a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges faced by authorities in maintaining public safety and preventing acts of violence. The attack also underscores the need for vigilance and security measures, especially in places vulnerable to potential threats. As Prime Minister Macron prepares to visit the scene of this latest tragedy, the nation mourns the loss of a teacher and prays for the swift recovery of the injured. The efforts to address this challenge remain ongoing, emphasizing the need for vigilance and coordinated responses to maintain the safety and well-being of all citizens. Seoul will commemorate last year's deadly Halloween stampede in Itaewon with a series of events marking the first anniversary of the tragedy. According to groups representing the victims' families, events include prayer meetings, a memorial march and a rally in Gwanghwamun. At 2 p.m. on Oct. 29, they will hold prayer meetings in front of exit No. 1 at Itaewon subway station near the alley where the incident occurred. At 3 p.m., they will begin marching from the station to Gwanghwamun where a memorial gathering takes place at 5 p.m. In Paris, the police took action, deploying teargas and water cannons to disperse a prohibited pro-Palestinian rally. This occurred as President Emmanuel Macron called for unity among the French people. He expressed concerns about potential spillover effects from the Israel-Hamas conflict in a nation housing Europes largest Jewish and Muslim communities. President Macron, in a televised address during prime time on Thursday, urged his countrymen to stand together following the Hamas attack on Israel, which tragically claimed the lives of 13 French citizens. Macron emphasized the need to avoid exacerbating national divisions amid the existing global strife. He cautioned against succumbing to any form of hatred and disclosed that the number of French casualties in the Hamas incursion had risen to 13. Additionally, reports indicated that 17 French nationals, including four children, were missing following the attack. Advertisement Shortly before President Macrons speech, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin took the step of prohibiting pro-Palestinian demonstrations, citing their potential to disrupt public order. Despite this ban and action by police, several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators congregated in central Paris on Thursday night, forming separate groups. To maintain order, the police resorted to teargas and water cannons in an effort to prevent these groups from converging. As the Israel-Palestine conflict escalates, diplomatic missions worldwide are heightening their security measures to preempt any unforeseen incidents. In the Indian capital, Delhi, there has been a notable increase in security around Jewish religious sites, the Israeli Embassy, and various other key locations. This heightened security is in preparation for Israels anticipated ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, aimed at eradicating Hamas militants in response to their brutal attacks on October 7. The United Nations (UN) has called on the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to take back their mass evacuation orders in Gaza, warning it could lead to devastating humanitarian consequences. The IDF has given a 24-hour deadline to the Gazans living in the northern part of the Hamas-controlled region to evacuate to the south as Israel is expected to launch a ground assault into Gaza to destroy the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas. The UN considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, the United Nations said in a statement asking Israel to withdraw the evacuation order. Advertisement According to the UN, the evacuation order will affect around 1.1 million Gazans roughly half the total population of the Hamas-controlled region. Israel has defended the mass evacuation order, saying it was trying to minimize the civilian casualties and termed the UNs response shameful. Also Read | Israel-Hamas war: Israel asks Gazans to flee north within 24 hours | 10 points Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting on Israel-Hamas war later today. US state secretary Antony Blinken, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, is likely to hold a separate meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Besides, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is also expected to land in Israel soon. Israel has declared a war against Hamas after the militant group launched an unprecedented ground assault in Israel last week. Hamas militants killed babies, their mothers and fathers, soldiers and even foreign nationals in the brutal attack. They also kidnapped nearly 150 people, including toddlers, women and IDF soldiers. In response, Israel has been pounding Gaza, from where Hamas operates and attacks. The Israeli military is expected to launch a full blown ground assault to target the underground tunnels and bunkers being used by Hamas. Israel has called upon the civilian population in Gaza City to relocate to the southern region, setting a deadline of 24 hours. This move by the military in Israel has raised concerns globally, particularly within the United Nations (UN). The UN expressed its skepticism regarding the feasibility of such a massive displacement, involving approximately 1.1 million Palestinians. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric conveyed the organizations apprehension, describing it as an impossible task, one that could result in dire humanitarian consequences. The United Nations is deeply concerned about the potential ramifications of this directive and has urged Israel to reconsider it. The fear is that this order may escalate an already tragic situation into a catastrophic one. This call from the Israeli military doesnt spare UN personnel or those taking refuge in UN-administered facilities, which encompass schools, health centers, and clinics. The UN has made it clear that they stand against the violence inflicted upon civilians in Israel and indiscriminate attacks on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They also condemn the tightening of the blockade. This is viewed as illegal and predicted to have devastating effects on the entire civilian population. Advertisement The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and matters pertaining to Palestine have long been subjects of contention at the United Nations. These issues have led to extensive debates, resolutions, and the allocation of resources within the organization. Since its establishment, the UN Security Council has adopted a substantial number of resolutions directly linked to the Arab-Israeli conflict. These resolutions had reached a total of 79 by January 2010. The UNs stance on the Israeli militarys evacuation order is clear. They consider it an impractical and potentially calamitous move that could worsen the already dire situation in Gaza. As the situation unfolds, the world watches, hoping for a peaceful resolution to this longstanding conflict. Have an interesting bit of news youd like to see mentioned in the Along the Way column? Email it to Natasha Connolly at news@thesunchronicle.com. An untitled image from the book 'New York Memories', published by Ivorypress, in which the memories of writer Bob Colacello combine with the photography of David Jimenez to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths When the first version of artist and writer Joe Brainards I Remember hit New York bookstores in 1970, it quickly sold out. The singular publication was not exactly a memoir or a book of aphorisms but rather a series of disordered memories, of lost thoughts charged with great poetic magnetism, each of which began with I remember. Paul Auster described it as a masterpiece: With simple, forceful sentences, it maps the human soul and permanently alters the way we look at the world. Over the years, that repetitive formula has inspired different publications (Georges Perecs I Remember and Marcello Mastroiannis I Remember are among the most outstanding ones). The most recent addition is New York Memories (Ivorypress), a collaboration between the writer Bob Colacello, and Spanish photographer David Jimenez. An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez An untitled image from the book New York Memories, published by Ivorypress, in which writer Bob Colacellos memories combine with David Jimenezs photography to provide two complementary visions of a city built on myths. David Jimenez At the age of 23, native New Yorker Colacello was already a privileged observer, and participant, in New Yorks vibrant creative and social scene from the vantage point of Interview (the magazine founded by Andy Warhol, which the writer edited for thirteen years). Among that motley circle, Brainards publication was striking for its freshness and forthrightness, achieved through a mixture of triviality and frank revelations, the minor thrills that serious authors often eschew. It was funny, intelligent [and] light, but it had a lot of substance between the lines, Colacello, now 76, says during our telephone conversation. But it was also a furious publication. The most furious works can be the funniest, and vice versa. Seriousness alone is boring and difficult to navigate. As F. Scott Fitzgerald said, the true sign of intelligence is the ability to entertain two contradictory ideas at the same time. In a way, New York Memories demonstrates that with its juxtaposition of the writing of the native Colacello pleasant, concise and full of anecdotes with the often more aseptic vision of the Spaniard, Jimenez, who employs a more enigmatic and silent approach, expressed in black and white images. Without losing sight of the essential, the sharp contrast sometimes becomes more abstract and gives rise to dramatization and lack of definition. It is the piece that was easiest for me to write, the author says. Not so much because of its brevity, but because once I decided to make a kind of homage/parody of I Remember, everything fell into place. I could have written a thousand more I forgets, he adds, referring to his decision to replace I remember with the much less melancholy I forgot. Perhaps he remembers that he had forgotten what Fereydoon Hoveyda, Irans former representative to the United Nations, told him: Nostalgia is a sign that a society fears the future. Even so, throughout its chronological approach, moving from the authors childhood in the suburbs of the city to the present day, the book exudes a longing for the past. I believe in the nostalgia of maturity, the writer concedes. Its important to have a sense of history, to learn from it. History is full of great characters, great leaders, civilizations that rise and then fall, incredible stories. However, I believe that the problem today is not so much an excess of nostalgia, but the tendency to look at history through the ideology of the present, he emphasizes. In terms of nostalgia, yes, of course I miss Studio 54, although if I could go back, I certainly wouldnt. The only thing I really miss is my typewriter. I wish I were brave enough to throw my computer into the Atlantic Ocean, the author says. An untitled image from the book 'New York Memories. David Jimenez History also plays an important role in Jimenezs work. The author of Infinito [Infinite] considered a pioneering Spanish photobook explains that all of a sudden, New Yorkthe city on which the author has focused his work in recent yearsstrikes him as a new Rome. While Rome is shown as an amalgam of layers of Western history, perhaps New York contains the greatest diversity of elements of our time, a whole amalgam of people and typologies, of social and economic strata, layers that overlap in a smaller and more contemporary space of time. It was a challenge to look for new aspects, the unsuspected, in the citys most iconic places, David Jimenez admits. New York Memories is a book that seduces as much for its simplicity and elegance as for the substance of its pages. Its small format is conducive to generating the degree of intimacy that each memory entails, and its verticality contributes to conveying the different sensations of passersby as they wander among the citys skyscrapers, through timeless images. It was a challenge to look for new aspects, the unsuspected, in the citys most iconic places, the photographer admits. I forgot that Truman Capote told me, Dont listen to Andy. He doesnt know the important thing about love! writes Colacello. In a narrative created through memories, the recollections transcend the author and, similar to Brainards book, become collective memory, where everything has a placeglamour, feminism, crime and the ups and downs of the artistic world. It is a portrait of a city that is always reinventing itself. But it is also the story of a moment and, especially, a spirit, in which the coexistence of the underground and celebrity culture gave rise to a fruitful encounter. When the Vietnam War ended, my generation left protests behind and started dancing to the disco music coming from black clubs. Then we went to the gay clubs. Later, we all started dancing together. No barriers, no labels, the writer recalls. Another factor that has made the situation worse, and not just in New York, is the political correctness that surrounds us, as well as cancelation culture, laments Bob Colacello AIDS and 9/11 changed everything. Since then, it hasnt been possible to be as frivolous or decadent as in previous decades. But another factor that has made the situation worse, and not just in New York, is the political correctness that surrounds us, as well as cancelation culture. Today, people are much more afraid: afraid every time one goes to the airport, and they practically strip one naked, afraid of having to measure every word one uses in a public debate. Fear does not lend itself to joie de vivre. Still, young people keep coming to the city, and, although life is much harder and more expensive, there is a lot of creative energy. New things are always happening. However, I dont know if it will ever be possible to reach that place of near ecstasy that was achieved in the late 1970s and early 1980s. An untitled image from the book 'New York Memories.' David Jimenez I forgot that Diana told me that my job as the editor of Interview was not to give people what they want, but to give them what they dont know they want yet, Colacello writes. The advice of legendary editor Diana Vreeland reverberates in the readers head, sadly familiar with the precepts of the current vacuous, predictable, tyrannical age of likes on social media. Im sorry to say that its the masses who rule, not the elites, the writer observes. Vreeland was there to open peoples eyes. She familiarized middle-class readers in a very provincial America with what was happening elsewhere. She improved their lives instead of boring them with the same old formulas. When Andy hired me as editor, I had no experience. We didnt know where we were going. So, we did something different, something new. More than a memoir, New York Memories opens a door to the city. I forgot that no matter what happens, New York moves on [with its] feet on the ground, head held high, with an open heart and mind. New York Memories. Bob Colacello and David Jimenez. Ivorypress, 2023. 120 pages. 32.25. You can follow BABELIA on Facebook and X, or sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter. WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST: Point: United States must stand by Israel in its hour of need Things to do in the Attleboro area and beyond A caravan of striking United Auto Workers from the Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, drive past striking Ford UAW members in solidarity outside the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, Sept. 19, 2023. The United Auto Workers union significantly escalated its walkout against Detroits three automakers, shutting down Fords largest factory and threatening Jeep maker Stellantis. In a surprise move Wednesday night, 8,700 members left their jobs at Fords Kentucky truck plant in Louisville. And Thursday morning, union President Shawn Fain hinted at further action against Stellantis. Heres to hoping talks at Stellantis today are more productive than Ford yesterday, Fain wrote on X, formerly Twitter, without saying what might happen. Fords truck plant makes heavy-duty F-Series pickup trucks and large Ford and Lincoln SUVs, the companys most lucrative products. The vehicles made at the plant generate $25 billion per year in revenue, the company said in a statement. Fain said in a statement that the union has waited long enough but Ford hasnt gotten the message to bargain for a fair contract. If they cant understand that after four weeks, the 8,700 workers shutting down this extremely profitable plant will help them understand it, Fain said. The strike came nearly four weeks after the union began its walkouts against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on Sept. 15, with one assembly plant from each company. The company, however, called the strike expansion grossly irresponsible and said it has made strong wage and benefit offers to the union. It said the move puts about a dozen other Ford facilities at risk, as well as parts supply plants that together employ over 100,000 people. Anthony Spencer, who has worked at the truck plant for eight years, said the surprise walkout would get Fords attention. We know its going to hit them. We lose a lot of millions of dollars every day that we dont run, said Spencer, who is the local unions recording secretary and helped organize the walkout. This is a historic moment, Spencer said on the picket line Thursday morning, adding that the local hasnt been on strike since 1976. Weve got people thats got 30, 35, 40 years theyve never been on strike. So the morale is good. He said there were a few sticking points with negotiations that prompted the strike, including the unionization of Fords electric vehicle workers and employee raises. We all know if we ever go EV, were going to lose a lot of members that build engines, transmissions, and they got to have a place to go, Spencer said. A Ford executive said the union called a meeting at the companys Dearborn, Michigan, headquarters Wednesday afternoon where Fain asked if the company had another offer. High-ranking Ford executives responded that they are working on possibly bringing electric vehicle battery plants into the UAW national contract, essentially making them unionized. But they didnt have a significantly different economic offer, the executive said. Fain was told the company put a strong offer on the table, but there wasnt a lot of room to increase it and keep it affordable for the business, the executive said. Fain responded by saying, if thats the companys best offer, You just lost Kentucky Truck Plant, said the executive. The meeting only lasted about 15 minutes, he said. In a video, Fain said the union moved because Ford didnt change its offer. Weve been very patient working with the company on this, he said. They have not met expectations, theyre not even coming to the table on it. Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University who follows labor issues, said the union is turning up the pressure on Ford. But the automakers have made concessions, raised wage offers and may have reached their resistance points to varying degrees. Executives, he said, have bottom line positions they cant cross in terms of staying competitive with other automakers. The unions move doesnt leave him optimistic for a quick end to the strikes, Masters said. I think the issues that remain on the table are quite thorny, he said, pointing to union demands that all workers get defined benefit pensions and health insurance when they retire. The UAW expanded its strikes on Sept. 22, adding 38 GM and Stellantis parts warehouses. Assembly plants from Ford and GM were added the week after that. The Kentucky strike brings to 33,700 the number of workers on strike against the three automakers. Thus far, the union has decided to target a small number of plants from each company rather than have all 146,000 UAW members at the automakers go on strike at the same time. Last week, the union reported progress in the talks and decided not to add any more plants. This came after GM agreed to bring joint-venture electric vehicle battery factories into the national master contract, almost assuring that the plants will be unionized. Battery plants are a major point of contention in the negotiations. The UAW wants those plants to be unionized to assure jobs and top wages for workers who will be displaced by the industrys ongoing transition to electric vehicles. Since the start of the strike, the three Detroit automakers have laid off roughly 4,800 workers at factories that are not among the plants that have been hit by the UAW strikes. Striking workers are receiving $500 a week from the unions strike pay fund. In some states, laid-off workers could qualify for state unemployment aid, which, depending on a variety of circumstances, could be less or more than $500 a week. Separate companies that manufacture parts for the automakers are likely to have laid off workers but might not report them publicly, said Patrick Anderson, CEO of the Anderson Economic Group in Lansing, Michigan. A survey of parts supply companies by a trade association called MEMA Original Equipment Suppliers found that 30% of members have laid off workers and that more than 60% expect to start layoffs in mid-October. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The killing of Shahid Latif, key Jaish-e-Mohammed commander and handler in 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, by unidentified attackers, has brought into focus the presence of wanted terrorists in Pakistan and inaction by Lahore in helping India lay hands on perpetrators of the terror strike. India sent Letters Rogatory (request for assistance in probe) to Pakistan on February 24, 2016, barely a month after the terror attack. Supplementary Letters Rogatory were sent again on May 11 of the same year, but Pakistan did not respond to them, top security officials said. The National Investigation Agency chargesheet in the case explains the kind of assistance sought from Pakistan, which included the arrest and interrogation of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, his brother Rauf Asghar and two handlersKashif Jan and Shahid Latif. New Delhi had also asked Pakistan to get their voice samples in order to match them with the voices of handlers which were recorded when they were talking to the four suicide attackers during the attack. The NIA also sought DNA samples of the family members of the dead attackers and details of the Internet Protocol (IP) address used by the accused persons. The agency also wanted Pakistan counter-terror officials to verify the food items recovered from the dead attackers. The NIA got Interpol Red Corner notices issued against Masood Azhar, Rauf Asghar and Shahid Latif, but Pakistan didnt execute the notices of Interpol, despite the presence of all the accused on its soil. Latif, designated as a terrorist under the UAPA, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Daska town of Sialkot in Pakistan recently. It has not only exposed the fact that Latif had been hiding on Pakistani soil, but also drawn attention to the fact that several most wanted terrorists of the NIA are taking shelter in Pakistan. This has been a matter of concern for security agencies. Some of the cases cannot progress till the time the security agencies lay their hands on the accused or masterminds of the terror attacks, said an official, whether it is the Pathankot Airbase attack or even the 26/11 terror strike. Intelligence agencies have inputs of some of these most wanted terrorists being lodged in safe houses in Pakistan while victims of the terror strikes await justice and investigations drag on. The first flight under Indian government's Israel mission 'Operation Ajay' landed in New Delhi on Friday morning. The flight, carrying 212 Indian citizens, took off from Ben Gurion airport in Israel on Thursday evening. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar was present at the Delhi airport to welcome the Indians home. The Union Minister reassured the passengers, stating Indias commitment to the safety of every Indian is unwavering. "Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them and bring them back home safely. We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the flight crew of this Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly and back home to their loved ones," Chandrasekhar told reporters. The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed the arrival on X. "Welcome to the homeland! 1st #OperationAjay flight carrying 212 citizens touches down in New Delhi," posted Arindam Bagchi, official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs. Indians from Israel with Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on arrival at New Delhi | X External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed the charter of the flight on Thursday night, sharing pictures of Indians from the Ben Gurion airport. Those who were evacuated included students. There was a festive mood among the returnees who raised chants of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Matram' on the flight, reported PTI. The passengers were chosen on a "first come first serve" basis after a drive launched by the Indian embassy for all Indians to register at the mission's database. The government is bearing the cost of their return. Meanwhile, those who arrived in Delhi recounted their horror at the situation in Israel. "On the first day, we were sleeping and at around 6.30 there was siren...so we ran towards the shelter and it was very hard but we managed," an Indian national, carrying an infant, told ANI. Another Indian national Vishesh, a student, said the situation was scary. "It was very scary. Thanks a lot to the Indian government for evacuating us," he added. Another passenger told ANI that this was the first time that they were facing such a situation over there. "We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as possible so that we can go back to work as earliest as possible" he added. Another student said that things were normal and he was attending his lab as usual in northern Israel but packed his bags after an email from the embassy. "I couldn't handle the pressure from my family and friends and even though things were quite normal. I am happy to go home but sad to see the problems here," he said. Close on the heels of the grand success of G-20 Summit in New Delhi under Indias Presidency in September, New Delhi is hosting the Parliamentary outreach of P-20 under its rubric. Presiding officers which includes Speakers, chairmen and their deputies play a very important role in international relations and public diplomacy supplementing and complementing the role of the executive. Parliaments and their presiding officers occupy a very exalted position in the warrant of precedent in the packing order immediately below the position of the head of the state or the government. The conference which begins from 12th of October will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13th at the newly built India International Convention Centre in the sub-city Dwarka. Besides, the Presiding Officers of the G-20 countries, ten other countries and entities and the President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have also been invited to the Summit. The two-day Summit will have brainstorming sessions on topics such as sustainable development, energy transformation, women for development, transformation in Peoples livelihood through public digital platforms, areas in which India has excelled and which can be showcased to the world with the theme Parliament for one earth, one family, one future. This international conference of Speakers is taking place at a very critical juncture in world politics with the fieriest fighting in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinians and the ongoing war in Ukraine. In such a grim scenario of geo-politics causing great human tragedy and suffering, the Summit can hardly be oblivious to the human catastrophe notwithstanding its structured agenda for deliberation. If the Delhi Declaration of G-20, could articulate a cogent stance with regards to the vexed Ukraine issue, it is generally expected that the P-20 summit will allude to the burning Middle East issue in passing and it will be certainly reflected in its deliberations by the participating presiding officers. As Prime Minister Modi has already voiced Indias support to Israel in unequivocal words, it is expected that he will also allude to the situation and urge for immediate cessation of hostilities. Prime Minister Modi has the unique distinction of having visited both Israel and Palestine and as such he may like to avail the Summit platform to articulate his concerns in his inaugural address. It is unfortunate that due to ongoing stalemate in US Congress following the resignation of the Speaker, there may not be any representative from the US. Notwithstanding the fact that the ambit of Parliamentary Summits like P-20 have a very limited role to impact geo-politics, they do exercise symbolic, if not substantive, influence and salience. It is worthwhile to recall what the late lamented Mikhail Gorbachev of Glasnost and Perestroika fame said in this context. He said, Parliament along with the government are becoming increasingly active participants in international contacts, and this was an encouraging development. It points to a trend towards greater democracy in international relations. These kind of summit diplomacy is a variant of Parliamentary diplomacy which facilitates defining problems, exchanging views and working cooperatively finding solutions to common problems. As a mechanism for the conduct of international relations, it cannot, however, guarantee agreement. Its salience, however, should not be trivialised as mere rhetoric. Presiding officers of Parliaments and Parliamentarians sometimes play quasi diplomatic roles. The role the US Congress played in the military withdrawal of the United States from the quagmire of Vietnam was an eloquent testimony to the triumph of voice of sanity. While the traditions of executive diplomacy demand nuanced treatment of issues, deliberations between and among parliamentarians are usually more frank and can go beyond the parenthetical grammar of executive diplomacy. Such summits and conferences provide a venue to put across the views of member states as well as groups of citizens whose opinions may not necessarily be reflected by their countries before the world. Yet another important derivative of such summits and conferences is the utility of the informal meetings on the margins of the conferences. It is not widely known that at least technically, the Presiding Officers are independent of the executive which affords them a unique position to engage in diplomacy without supplanting the role of the executive. This needs to be leveraged thoughtfully. Two illustrations which have a bearing on Indias foreign policy amply demonstrates the salience of parliamentary outreach. First is at a time when India-Canada outreach has reached its nadir and efforts are afoot to repair them. It is not clear if the Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada will be participating in the Summit. If he is, then the opportunity can be availed to engage with Canada on the vexed issue of Khalistani militancy in Canada. Similarly, perhaps the Speaker of Maldives Parliament who has shown some positive overture in a recent media interview towards India perhaps could have been thoughtfully invited as an observer to the Summit. Of course, the new regime in Maldives will be formally sworn on 17th November. India should also consider reviving the SAARC Speakers and Presiding Officers Conference to reach out to their Speakers and legislators, particularly at a time when Chinas footprints in South Asia including in the island nation Maldives is increasing. New Delhi should adopt a bipartisan approach to reach out and engage with Parliamentarians in South Asia. Domestically also Parliamentarians in India should adopt a bipartisan approach on foreign policy issues having a bearing on national interest. The opposition parties may be in Opposition today, who knows they will be on the other side of the fence tomorrow. A binary approach to foreign policy will be only detrimental to the countrys national interest and national security. The writer is a former senior fellow of Monohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Indian Council of Social Sciences Research. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK. At least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, militant group Hamas said on Friday, according to reports. In a statement, Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed that six of the hostages were killed in strikes on two separate locations in the northern district and seven more died in strikes that hit three locations in the Gaza district. Hamas did not give the nationality of the foreigners, and there has been no confirmation from Israel, AP reported. The Israeli military which pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, and is preparing for a possible ground offensive, had said that the complete siege of the territory will remain in place till Hamas frees the hostages. Even amid warnings by the United Nations and international aid groups, Israel halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gaza's 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt. Over 150 people, including older adults and children, were taken captive by Hamas militants after the stormed across the border and staged a surprise assault on Israel on Saturday. Foreign media reports suggest that some of the hostages were taken from ther homes in the border regions, while others were most likely taken captive from the music festival which the militants attacked. It was anticipated that the Hamas will use the hostages to bargain for a prisoner swap with Israel. Earlier on Monday, the Hamas had threatened to execute a hostage every time Israeli airstrikes hits Gazans in their homes without warning. Though there are no public details of the specifics of the identities of those held hostage, several countries including the US and France have been trying to ascertain if their citizens are among the kidnapped victims. Hamas' assault earlier this week killed more than 1,300 people in Israel and over 1,500 people have died in the Israeli retaliation in Gaza. Raising concerns of a widespread ground offensive, Israel's military demanded the evacuation of over 1 million Palestinians living in the north of Gaza. With beds strapped on top of cars and taking rest of the belongings, Gazans have started fleeing the city to south of Gaza river after Israel sounded warnings of attack. The Gaza residents were asked to evacuate the city ahead of Israeli ground offensive. Meanwhile, United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Israel on Friday for meeting with senior government officials and also to oversee the security arrangements in place that Washington provided after Hamas launched its attack on Israel. Ahead of Israels warnings, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed establishing safe areas in Gaza where the civilians could relocate. A senior state department official confirmed on Friday that the need to protect civilian areas was discussed during Netanyahu-Blinken meet on Thursday. With Austins arrival, it is the second high-level US official to visit Israel in two days. Austin met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spent nearly two hours with Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. Austin reassured Netanyahu that "We have your back...We do stand with you Mr. Prime Minister." Even though the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has issued warnings to Gazans, Hamas rulers directed the residents to remain where they are and stand firm against Israel. Going all out in support to Israel, US has already given the war-hit nation small diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome system, rest of the ammunitions are expected to arrive on Friday. Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the US moved warships and aircraft to the region. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing on Friday from Virginia. US is also providing intelligence and other planning assistance to the Israelis, including advice on the hostage situation. Diplomatic efforts In order to prevent conflict from widening, Blinken is visiting Middle-East nations and seeking diplomatic support. Blinken had visited and held talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II. Hamass attack on Israel and efforts to release hostages captured by the militants was discussed with the king. Measures to prevent further escalation of conflict was also discussed with the king. According to a palace statement, Abdullah stressed the need to open humanitarian corridors for medical aid and relief into Gaza while protecting civilians and working to end the escalation of the conflict. The king also appealed against hindering the work of international agencies and warned against any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza. Later on Friday, Blinken will stop in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is a key player in the Arab world that has been considering normalising ties with Israel, reported the Associated Press. He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend. As Israel Defense Forces rain bombs on the Gaza Strip pummelling buildings and killing thousands, a Human Rights Watch report has claimed that Israel was using white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. White phosphorus is an incendiary weapon, which means it can spread fire along with its destructive explosive power. Since it has legal uses, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions. Many countries use it in battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings. It can cause serious burns and start fires and cause life-long suffering for people. According to Human Rights Watch, verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, show multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border. The organisation also interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza. Both of them, from al-Mina area in Gaza City, reported observing strikes consistent with the use of white phosphorus. "One was in the street at the time, while the other was in a nearby office building. Both described ongoing airstrikes before seeing explosions in the sky followed by what they described as white lines going earthward," the report said, adding that both reported a strong and stifling smell. One of them recorded a video, which was reviewed by the Human Rights Watch, which identified that the munitions used in the strike were airburst 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles. Other videos posted to social media and verified by Human Rights Watch show the same location. "Human Rights Watch also reviewed two videos from October 10 from two locations near the Israel-Lebanon border. Each shows 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles being used, apparently as smokescreens, marking, or signalling," it added. "The white phosphorus can burn people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone as it is highly soluble in fat and therefore in human flesh. White phosphorus fragments can exacerbate wounds even after treatment can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure. Already dressed wounds can reignite when dressings are removed and the wounds are re-exposed to oxygen. Even relatively minor burns are often fatal," it said. It added that the use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life. This concern is amplified given the technique evidenced in videos of air bursting white phosphorus projectiles. However, the Israeli military said it was "currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza." It opted not to comment on the rights watchdog's allegations of their use in Lebanon. Israel has not signed the Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which prohibits using incendiary weapons against military targets located among civilians. When Uganda enacted its anti-homosexuality law in May this year, Clare Novia, a transgender woman, decided to keep a low profile. The 25-year-old, who was working as a sex worker in the northern Gulu city at the time, decided to quit her job and began running a retail shop to make ends meet. But one evening, while hanging out with her friends, two police officers approached her and began confronting her. The police officers began questioning what I was wearing and why I had earrings, Novia narrates. As I was about to respond to them, one of the [police] officers began slapping me and kicking me repeatedly, saying why are you behaving like them [queer people]? Are you one of them? At that moment, Novia remembers, one of her friends began pleading with the police officers until they had to pay them to stop assaulting her. Novia, who still has a sprained neck from the assault, has since relocated to the village to live with my mother because of the trauma and fear that was eating me up. Novi is not alone. In recent months, there has been an increase in reported cases of queer people accusing police officers of using blackmail, harassment, and torture under the pretext of enforcing the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Uganda has one harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world, where one can face life imprisonment for sexual acts between persons of the same sex, aggravated homosexuality with the death penalty and promotion of homosexuality with up to 20 years in prison. The Ugandan Public Prosecutors Office (DPP) does not keep track of the number of people who have been charged or arrested under the anti-homosexuality law. When EL PAIS contacted Ugandan police spokesman Fred Enanga to ask for this number, he too was unable to provide the figure, but assured that the final tally will be shared in the polices annual crime report. However, a recent report, shows that over 300 human rights violations and abuses 180 evictions from housing, 159 instances of discrimination, and 176 incidents of torture, and cruel and degrading treatment have been committed by state and non-state actors against LGBTQ+ people. The report adds that there has been an increase in reported cases of mental health problems and school dropouts among LGBTQ+ Ugandans. One clinic cited by the authors of the SRT report claims that more than 70% of LGBTQ+ people who sought the centers services had recently experienced suicidal thoughts. The arrests and abuses of queer people have increased to such an extent that the DPP was forced to intervene by ordering that all files of charges related to the anti-homosexuality law be referred to its headquarters, along with a legal opinion to provide them with additional guidance before charges are filed. It has come to [our] attention that a number of charges of homosexuality and aggravated homosexuality are now being [filed] by some [police] officers without internalizing some crucial aspects of the law, said Janes Frances Abodo, director of DPP. It is important to note that the Anti-Homosexuality Act only criminalizes offenses where a sexual act has been performed [] To avoid doubts, a person who is suspected of being a homosexual and has not committed a sexual act with another person of the same sex does not commit the offense of homosexuality. Jacqueline Okui, spokesperson for DPP, revealed in a telephone conversation with this newspaper that a plan to sensitize all police officers and prosecutors in the country is underway, adding that it is meant to prevent erroneous charges under the law. Rampant abuses Frank Mugisha, a human rights lawyer who has brought cases related to the anti-LGBTQ+ law, explains that the act needs to be repealed because it is deeply problematic and contradicts numerous national and international human rights conventions ratified by Uganda. The queer community has been facing profound hardships when dealing with police, who frequently apprehend and detain individuals based on mere suspicions, he says. The law is fueling homophobic sentiments, compelling fairly, friends and the community to isolate and down these individuals. This new law is blatantly unconstitutional and should be nullified by the Constitutional Court as soon as possible, said Pepe Julian Onziema, one of the reports authors and leader of the Strategic Response Team (SRT). Our research clearly shows a massive escalation in serious abuses against LGBTQ+ Ugandans who previously were working, caring for loved ones and living as productive citizens. Now many have been evicted, fired from their jobs, unable to access healthcare, all while facing increasing risks of arrest, mob justice and public humiliation simply for living their lives. This new report shows how LGBTQ+ people in Uganda are living every day in fear, uncertainty, and risk of violence, added Clare Byarugaba, from the Chapter Four Uganda organization. Our inherent rights as Ugandan citizens should never be up for debate. Ugandan activists are now seeking to overturn the law enacted by President Yoweri Museveni. On October 2, lawyers who have challenged the law met with Constitutional Court judges to discuss the matter, and October 12 was set as the date for the hearing. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition With Israel sounding warnings and gearing up for ground assault, hundreds of Gazans along with their families are taking the main road from north to south Gaza. Meanwhile, mosque broadcast messages were put out urging the residents to stay at their homes. "Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land," said the messages. The leaders of the Hamas also urged Palestinians to ignore Israelis call and stay put at their homes. With many Palestinians fleeing the land, authorities fear second Nakba. Nakba is an Arabic word for catastrophe and in this context it refers to the 1948 war of Israel that led to a mass dispossession claiming over thousands of lives and displacing millions of people. Evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told civilians. With almost all the borders closed, Gazans are left with very limited options to seek safety. Gaza, a tiny coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt to the southwest. Since Hamas took over control in Gaza in 2007 all the borders were closed for the Palestinians. The most obvious exit for the Gazans would be Egypt, which Cairo is not very keen to entertain. Egypt is already giving refuge to over 3,00,000 Sudanese migrated due to economic crisis. According to authorities, accomodating Gazans too would be too much to bear. Egypt has been always in the forefront for mediations between Israel and Palestine. They have always insisted on the two sides to resolve conflicts within their borders. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said at a military academy that: "This is the cause of all causes, the cause of all Arabs. It is important that the (Palestinian) people remain steadfast and present on their land. We will expend all efforts to alleviate (the burden) on them. Meanwhile, Egypt has discussed plans with United States and others to provide humanitarian aid through its border but rejects any move for refugees fleeing the enclave. Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman that he "rejects the forced displacement" of Palestinians in Gaza. He said such an event would constitute a "second Nakba". Egypt fears a mass exodus of refugees Hoping to avert a mass exodus into Sinai Peninsula, Egypt has been desperately trying to negotiate with the entry of humanitarian aid through its crossing. However, mediations so far was no successful as Israel has not responded to its efforts. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Cairo over the weekend and Egyptian officials are expected to discuss the entry of aid with him. Since Israel has sealed off the Gaza Strip, stopping all entry of food, water, medicine and fuel, Egypts Rafah crossing is the only way out for the Palestinians. Meanwhile, the repeated airstrikes by Israel led to the temporary closing of the crossing. Egypts Foreign Minister had said that aid trucks from the Egyptian side was stopped due to the airstrikes close to the border. Though Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called for access through Rafah in a speech on Thursday he also pushed back against letting in large numbers of Palestinians. He also pointed out that Egypt already hosts some 9 million refugees. The US focus on Egypt has been on getting Palestinians with dual nationality out through Rafah if they wish, reported the Associated Press. Though promises were made that Gazans would be allowed to be back after the war is over, it is definitely to put pressure on Egypts border. Following the United States, Britain has decided to deploy its military assets in the Mediterranean to assist Israel in the ongoing clash against Hamas. After the United States deployed its largest aircraft carrier Gerald R.Ford to assist Israel in the ongoing clash against Hamas, Britains defence secretary has ordered the deployment of the UKs military assets in the Mediterranean sea to deter escalation of the ongoing clash. UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said, The monstrous terrorist attacks committed by Hamas in recent days have proven why the UK must support Israels absolute right to self-defence and deter malign external interference. No nation should stand alone in the face of such evil and todays deployment will ensure Israel does not. Shapps added, After Saturday's terror campaign and rampage by Hamas in Israel, I have authorised the deployment of UK military assets to the eastern Mediterranean The Royal Navy task group, RAF patrols, and wider support will bolster regional security, deter escalation and aid humanitarian efforts. According to reports, the UK will be deploying P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft and two Royal Navy ships the Royal Fleet Auxilary (RFA) Lyme Bay and RFA Argus. Three Merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines will also be on standby to deliver practical support to Israel and partners in the region, and "offer deterrence and assurance", the Independent reported. Called Tzahal in Hebrew, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday morning asked Gazans to move from the north to the south and south of the Gaza river indicating that the northern part which includes the thickly-populated Gaza city will bear the brunt of the expected Israeli ground assault. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said in an audio-visual presentation: The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made. Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians, he added. The IDF consists of the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and the Israeli Navy. More than half of Gaza Strips 23 lakh population stays in the area where the evacuation order has been issued. Meanwhile, the UN has requested Israel to rescind the evacuation order saying it would be impossible to implement it in a short time. Various reports have quoted Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general: The UN considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. The Gaza-headquartered UNs relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) has already moved its headquarters to the south. The IDF declaration follows a massive bombing operation in the six days since October 7 when a meticulously-planned assault by hundreds of heavily-armed Hamas fighters attacked Israel from land, air and sea. A shocked and surprised IDF hit back with its fighter aircraft and 150 mm artillery guns bombarding the narrow Gaza Strip with about 6,000 bombs totaling about 4,000 tons explosives with a 150mm artillery shell whistling off to the Gaza Strip every 30 seconds. For the sake of comparison, in 2019, the US dropped 7,423 bombs and other munitions while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistanthe most in a year. Till 11:30 am (2 pm IST) on Friday morning, the IDF reported more than 1,300 Israeli deaths and more than 3,200 wounded while 120 families of hostages had been informed. The total number of targets struck in Gaza was 2,687, while the number of rockets fired from Gaza by Hamas and others totaled more than 6,000. According to the Palestinian health ministry update on Thursday, 1,537 Palestinians had been killed in the Israeli attack since October 7. The dead included 500 children and 2,760 women. The total wounded comprised 6,612 citizens including 1,644 children and 1,005 women. About 13 Israeli and foreign hostages were reported to have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, militant group Hamas said on Friday. Meanwhile, on Friday, Hamas rocket attacks continued in Ashkelon and its surrounding areas. While the intensity of the attacks had significantly reduced, several clashes between Hezbollah and IDF were reported from the West Bank area. It may be so that Hamas may be trying to store its rocket arsenal after a continuous barrage since Saturday. But a report quoting the Hamas-affiliated al-Qassam commander said his brigade bombed enemy crowds east of Beiri with a missile attack The enemy is too weak and cowardly to expel our people from their homes twice. Since this morning, we have directed 150 rockets at Ashkelon and 50 rockets at Sderot and bombed Ben Gurion Airport, it said. As Israel rallied support against Hamas, the state released blood-curdling images of slain children, including one lying in a pool of blood and the charred body of another. Israel's government also showed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defence ministers these graphic images. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released what it said were "horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters". "Hamas is inhuman. Hamas is ISIS," comparing the Palestinian group to the Islamic State, which was notorious for its brutality and gory execution videos. A spokesman for the PMO office told local media that the images were shared "so that the world will see just a fraction of the horrors that Hamas carried out." Blinken, who arrived in Israel on Thursday, confirmed that he saw the images of a baby riddled with bullets, soldiers beheaded and young people burned alive in their cars or hideaways. "It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way," Blinken told a news briefing. "Images are worth a thousand words. These images may be worth a million." "Its impossible for me to look at the photos of families killed such as the mother, father, and three small children murdered as they sheltered in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and not think of my own children," said Blinken. "This was just one of Hamass countless acts of terror in a litany of brutality and inhumanity that, yes, brings to mind the worst of ISIS. Babies slaughtered. Bodies desecrated. Young people burned alive. Women raped. Parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents," he added. The veracity of the images, which we chose not to publish due to their gruesome nature, has not been established. These images were released after accusations emerged in Israel's media that children were beheaded. It was initially confirmed by Israeli officials but some, critical of Israel, had cast doubts on the claims about the atrocities carried out by Hamas. U.S. President Joseph Biden suggested on Wednesday that he had seen images of children beheaded by militants but the White House later clarified that U.S. officials had not seen any evidence of this. MUMBAI, India, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This World Investor Week (October 9th to 15th, 2023) HDFC Mutual Fund is pleased to present Nukkad Natak a captivating street play to be held across the length and breadth of India, to drive home the importance of creating wealth by moving cash savings into more efficient investment vehicles. This investor education & awareness initiative is part of their highly successful #BarniSeAzadi campaign, launched on 15th August 2021 to financially empower Indian households and encourage healthy investing habits. The initiative is particularly targeting women across all strata of society. Against the backdrop of India completing 76 years of Independence in August 2023, HDFC Mutual Fund will be conducting 76 events of Nukkad Natak across 6 cities during the World Investor Week (9th Oct to 15th Oct, 2023). This captivating street play will deliver thought-provoking performances across 6 cities viz Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore. The Nukkad Natak aims to empower people with essential knowledge about investment options like Mutual Funds, which could help them grow their wealth over the long-term. Navneet Munot, MD & CEO, HDFC AMC, stated, "As we strive to build a nation of endless possibilities in our Amrit Kaal, we want to raise the bar on what is being done today to encourage wealth creation for every Indian. Over the last two years, our mega investor education & awareness initiative, #BarniSeAzadi has touched the lives of countless households. The campaign has a specific focus on women across all strata of society. This year, on the occasion of World Investor Week, we are proud to present our highly impactful and relatable Nukkad Natak series across the country as we strive to continue empowering the masses." The #BarniSeAzadi campaign has been instrumental in transforming how people look at investing. Through this initiative, they urged the audience to free their money from traditional savings methods and invest them productively in investment vehicles like Mutual Funds (MFs), to give their hard-earned money a chance to grow. Ahead of World Investor Week, through Nukkad Natak, they aim to deliver this message even more impactfully and continue this mission of financial empowerment of masses. To be part of this unique initiative and witness the performances, stay tuned to HDFC Mutual Fund's social media channels for updates on upcoming events. To know more visit: bit.ly/BarniSeAzadi To watch the Nukkad Natak video visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfdphi8YQC0 About HDFC AMC HDFC Asset Management Company Limited (HDFC AMC) is an Investment Manager to HDFC Mutual Fund, one of the largest mutual funds in the country. It was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, on 10th December 1999 and was approved to act as an Asset Management Company for HDFC Mutual Fund by SEBI on 3rd July 2000. It has other SEBI licenses viz. PMS / AIF. HDFC AMC manages a diversified asset class mix across Equity and Fixed Income/Others. It also has a countrywide network of branches along with a diversified distribution network comprising Banks, Independent Financial Advisors and National Distributors. An Investor Education & Awareness Initiative by HDFC Mutual Fund. Know Your Customer (KYC) Visit https://www.hdfcfund.com/information/key-know-how to know more about the process to complete a one-time Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to invest in Mutual Funds. Investors should only deal with registered Mutual Funds, details of which can be verified on the SEBI website (www.sebi.gov.in/intermediaries.html). For any queries, complaints & grievance redressal, investors may reach out to the AMCs and / or Investor Relations Officers. Additionally, investors may also lodge complaints on https:cores.gov.in if they are unsatisfied with the resolutions given by AMCs. SCORES portal facilitates investors to lodge complaint online with SEBI and subsequently view its status. MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO MARKET RISKS, READ ALL SCHEME RELATED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY. (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 NEW DELHI, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Azure Power Global Limited (the "Company" or "Azure Power"), a leading sustainable energy solutions provider and renewable power producer in India, today announced that Mr. Alan Rosling has resigned as Chairman of the Board and as a member of the Board of Directors of Azure Power Global Limited and Azure Power India Private Limited, effective October 11, 2023, ending his term with the Azure group. The Company also announced today that Non-Executive Director, Mr. M.S. Unnikrishnan, has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Azure Power Global Limited and Azure Power India Private Limited with immediate effect. Mr. M.S. Unnikrishnan joined as a member of the Board of Directors in August 2020 and has made an immense contribution during his tenure. He has over 30 years of experience in the energy and environmental sector. In his earlier role as Managing Director and CEO of a leading power systems and equipment company, he implemented a strategy to accelerate growth and establish a culture of strong corporate governance. He has received numerous accolades for his leadership including Asia Innovator of the Year award by CNBC Asia, one of the best CEOs in India by Grant Thornton, and India Innovator of the Year by CNBC India. He is actively involved with various industry bodies to help in policy making and technology development for India. Mr. M.S. Unnikrishnan holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from Visveswaraiya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur and has completed an Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School. "We are honoured to have Mr. M.S. Unnikrishnan lead the company as it embarks on its next stage of growth. With his strong insights about Engineering and Energy industry, impeccable corporate leadership track record and active partnership with various Government policy making and consultative bodies, Mr. Unnikrishnan is an extraordinary resource for the company" said Sunil Gupta, CEO of Azure Power. About Azure Power 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. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/819565/AzurePowerLogo.jpg For more information: Investor Contact ir@azurepower.com Media Contact pr@azurepower.com (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 New Delhi, October 13, 2023 London & Partners (L&P), in collaboration with the Dubai World Trade Centre and the Global Growth Hub, is leading a delegation of 33 companies, comprising 14 from London, 14 from India, and 5 Indian venture capitalists. The visit opens up an incredible opportunity for the Indian companies at the forefront of innovation to showcase on a global stage, as they look to expand internationally. The companies participating at the Summit are innovators across diverse industry sectors such as Enterprise Tech and Software, Sustainability, and Fintech. The companies from India are Intangles, Quidich Innovation, Knorish, Simform, Bootnext Tech Ventures, Network Science, Vajra Global, (x)cube Labs, Readleaf Technologies, Open Financial, EinNel Technologies, TekMindz, Finlabs India and Data Sutram. The companies will have an opportunity to participate in the Supernova pitching contest, which offers prize money. Concierge matchmaking services will connect companies with potential partners and investors of their choice, while invitations to multiple receptions and networking events will provide unparalleled opportunities for networking and collaboration. Some of these offers are tailored exclusively for companies working with London & Partners, setting them apart from regular attendees and showcasing businesses. Mr. Hemin Bharucha, Country Director, India, London & Partners, expressed his enthusiasm for this initiative, saying, "There is tremendous potential in India's burgeoning tech and startup ecosystem. Expand North Star Summit, offers an unparalleled opportunity for Indian companies to make the most of what the strong international business ecosystem has to offer. At London & Partners, we are delighted to play a pivotal role in supporting Indian innovators in this delegation as they look for opportunities to grow their business internationally. The Expand North Star Summit, strategically positioned at the crossroads of India, Dubai, and London, endeavours to create a dynamic nexus for trade and investment among these three influential global players. With a focus on elevating the international profile of Indian companies, the summit seeks to provide a platform for them to showcase their innovations and expand their global reach. Moreover, the event's core mission is to foster invaluable partnerships and collaborations between Indian enterprises and their counterparts in London, fostering a synergy that propels innovation and growth on a global scale. This strategic initiative represents a remarkable opportunity for businesses to thrive in an interconnected world. About London & Partners London & Partners is the business growth and destination agency for London. Our mission is to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable, and inclusive. We are a not- for-profit company and operate as a social enterprise, half funded by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and half from other sources including our portfolio of commercial ventures. For more information, visit: www.londonandpartners.com About Expand North Star Summit The Expand North Star Summit is a flagship event at GITEX 2023, showcasing India's innovation and collaboration with Dubai and London. Spearheaded by London and Partners, this platform empowers Indian companies to access global markets, connect with potential partners, and elevate their global presence. For more information, please visit https://www.expandnorthstar.com/home. About GITEX GITEX, the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition, is one of the world's largest technology events that connects business leaders, innovators, and futurists. GITEX offers a platform for the world's biggest tech companies, startups, and governments to come together and share their visions for the future. For more information, please visit https://www.gitex.com/. (Disclaimer: The above content is a press release and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR Chandigarh, Oct 13 (PTI) Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that there is no expectation of any disruption in supply lines for crude oil so far. Asked if the conflict can have an impact on oil supplies, Puri told reporters here, ".. so far, no expectation of supply lines being disrupted". "I am reasonably confident that both on issues related to availability and affordability that we can navigate forward. "I am confident that we will be able to manage and this for a variety of reasons. We have diversified our sources of supply. Earlier, we used to import from 27 countries, today we import from 39 countries," Puri said. Replying to a question, he said normally, the country consumes five million barrels per day. "Our imports from the Americas have increased. We buy USD 20 billion worth energy from them," he said in response to a question. Replying to a question if further reduction in fuel prices can be expected with festive season around, Puri said that during the past two years when fuel prices went up around the world, in our country these dropped by 5 per cent. Explaining how oil prices don't depend on any single factor, he said on these things we don't speculate. Puri was speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of attending a Youth Festival at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College. Asked about the conflict, Puri, a former diplomat, said, "What has happened in the Middle East, if you are referring to the attacks which were undertaken by Hamas on Israel... I used to chair the counter-terrorism committee of the UN Security council, so I just want to put on table two or three broad points," he said, while adding India does have zero tolerance for terrorism. "The mainstream opinion today is that acts of terror cannot be justified no matter what the cause.. so separate the political cause. You cannot go and kill innocent civilians. And we are a country which has been a victim of that form of terrorism," he said, while adding that terrorist takes away the most fundamental right of all--the right to life. His remarks came against the backdrop of a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend which triggered fresh tensions in the region. Terrorism anywhere in the world and any form is against humanity and conflicts do not benefit anyone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and asserted that "this is time for peace and brotherhood" as a divided world cannot provide solutions to big global challenges. While the Prime Minister did not mention any specific conflict or issue, his remarks come amid a raging war between Israel and Hamas which has already seen a large number of casualties. MUMBAI, October 13, 2023: Sealmatic India Ltd, listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE: BOM: 543782) has announced a strong partnership with Habshan (HTC) in the UAE, a company with a strong local presence and a deep understanding of the region's industries, Sealmatic aims to cater to the varied needs of customers in the UAE by offering its global standards of excellence. Sealmatic & Habshan (HTC) have partnered for selling, repair and refurbishment of Sealmatic mechanical seals in Abu Dhabi to serve customers in the oil and gas, petrochemical, power, water, desalination, chemical and other process industries. Sealmatic recognizes the immense potential within this market and is eager to bring its expertise, cutting-edge and tailor-made solutions to the UAE. Sealmatic has tremendous global experience with great success in supplying high performance mechanical seals to the oil & gas, power generation and water sectors. The partnership between Sealmatic and Habshan (HTC) heralds a new chapter in the field of mechanical seals in the UAE region. It is a synergy of global expertise and local insight, driven by a commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction. As Sealmatic's presence in the UAE strengthens, so too does the bond between the UAE and India, demonstrating the enduring spirit of cooperation and growth that unites these two nations. As of 2022, the United Arab Emirates was the one of the largest crude oil producer and the fourth-largest producer of petroleum liquids in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The oil and gas sector is critical to the United Arab Emirates economy, contributing significantly to the country's revenue. In November 2022, ADNOC announced an investment of USD 150 billion over the next five years to enable an accelerated growth strategy for oil and gas production. Thus, this creates a strong demand for high-quality mechanical seals. Habshan Trading Company (HTC) is a 100% locally-owned company which was established in 1975 by the Al-Mazrouie family. HTC is one of the major suppliers of industrial equipment to the Oil & Gas and Power sectors of the United Arab Emirates. The next step will be to extend the benefits of the Sealmatic/Habshan alliance to our customers in UAE, explains Umar A K Balwa, Managing Director of Sealmatic India Ltd. Together, we are even faster and can precisely respond to our customers needs 24/7, offering a high level of availability, 365 days a year. Classic, personal, local and global, digitally connected. Further to the above Mrs Sada Salmanova of Habshan (HTC) added by explaining the Sealmatic/Habshan alliances plans for the future: We have joined forces to offer our customers a service package that can be tailored to all applications while at the same time progressively expanding our joint global service presence. Top-quality service will be ensured through continuous training of technical personnel. Concluded Mrs Sada Salmanova that we are here to get a significant portion of the USD 60 Million mechanical seals market in UAE. India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) enjoy strong bonds of friendship based on age-old cultural, religious and economic ties between the two nations. UAE is home to Indian expatriate community of more than 3.5 million the largest expatriate community in the UAE. The Indian community has played a major role in the economic development of the UAE. The UAE is now Indias third-largest trading partner, behind only the economic giants of China and the United States. And simultaneously India is the second-largest trading partner for the UAE, worth US$ 42 billion, excluding oil. (Disclaimer: The above content is a press release and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR PWR Panaji, Oct 13 (PTI) More than 150 innovations from India and international innovators will be on display for the upcoming edition of India International Innovation and Invention Expo (INEX) 2023 scheduled to be held next month in South Goa. Goa State Innovation Council Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said innovators from across India and also from other countries, including Poland, Malaysia, Iran, England, Russia and Cyprus, will be participating in this event that will be held on November 9-11, 2023. Goa State Innovation Council is one of the organisers of the event. Goa government's Department of Science, Technology and Waste Management, the Indian Innovators' Association and a Polish company IBS Global are co-organisers of the event. Noronha said participation from other countries like Kazakhstan, Macao, Thailand, Portugal and the US is also expected. "As a part of the knowledge exchange amongst the Innovator community, the top 150 innovations will be exhibited and published during the expo," he said, adding that innovations from Goa will also be on display. Noronha said the innovations cutting across all the sectors would be on display. The event would be held at Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda in South Goa, he added. The European Unions High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, landed in China on Thursday with an unusual number of open fronts: in addition to the already strained relationship between Brussels and Beijing, marked by Europes risk reduction strategy against the Asian giant and the differences over the war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East now threatens to become another divisive wall in the polarized theater of world geopolitics. The head of European diplomacy is expected to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday to discuss these thorny global issues, co-chair the strategic dialogue between the EU and China, and iron out details ahead of a high-level summit between Brussels and Beijing scheduled for the end of the year. An important visit to discuss EU-China relations and the main regional and global challenges with government authorities, academics and business representatives, said Borrell on social media as soon as he landed in the morning [local time] in Shanghai, the financial capital of the Asian giant. There he met part of the EU business community, which has been denouncing the difficulties of conducting business in an environment of growing uncertainty, in addition to the lack of reciprocity accessing the Chinese market. The former Spanish foreign minister also attended the Shanghai International Studies University, where he exchanged world views with Chinese academics. Borrell was expected to leave for the Chinese capital on Friday, when he is scheduled to deliver a talk to students at Peking University and meet with his counterpart, Wang Yi. Topics on the agenda include possible progress towards peace talks in Ukraine after China offered itself as a possible facilitator of dialogue with the presentation in February of a document for the political solution to the crisis, to which the EU responded coldly at first due to Beijings proximity to Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to make an official visit to China next week. Borrell and Wang will also address, in all likelihood, the critical situation in the Middle East following the attack by the Islamist group Hamas on Israel and the response of the Israeli army with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and the blockade of the territory. The new war has already claimed the lives of some 2,700 people. Beijing, unlike Brussels and Washington, did not immediately come out to condemn the Hamas attack. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday without express condemnation, in which it called on the parties to immediately put an end to hostilities, denounced the paralysis of the peace process and stressed that the answer involves implementing the two-state solution and establishing an independent state of Palestine. On Tuesday, the Chinese special envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, said that his country opposes and condemns acts that harm the civilian population and offered Beijings mediation for a ceasefire. In June, during an official visit to China by the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Peoples Republic, Xi Jinping, assured that justice must be done for Palestine as soon as possible and proposed an independent Palestinian State as a solution based on the 1967 borders. At the same time, Beijing has cultivated its ties with Israel. In July, Xi conveyed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his intention to receive him in the Chinese capital later this year. Borrells trip comes at a turbulent time, but it comes at last, after two previous attempts were canceled: the first, scheduled for April, was suspended after the head of European diplomacy tested positive for Covid; the second, scheduled for July, was postponed by the Chinese authorities when the then foreign minister of China, Qin Gang, went missing for a few days; he was fired shortly afterwards and his whereabouts remain unknown. The visit by a high-ranking EU official adds to a diplomatic offensive by Brussels, which has sent several European commissioners on official trips to China in recent weeks despite a risk reduction strategy implemented by Brussels to avoid dependence on the Asian giant in critical sectors. In September, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the start of an investigation into Chinas alleged state subsidies for its electric vehicles. Beijing called the move pure protectionism. Borrell has defended on numerous occasions the definition that the EU has agreed on for China as a partner, a competitor and a systemic rival, a triple condition that Brussels must calibrate based on the Chinas own behavior, according to an article he wrote in May. New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The CAG on Friday denied any malfeasance in the transfer of auditors connected with reports that unearthed alleged irregularities in the Centre's flagship Bharatmala and Ayushman Bharat schemes, saying transfers and postings are a matter of administrative convenience, and attaching ulterior motives to these is highly presumptuous. In a statement, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said audit reports went through multiple hands before being approved by the highest authority for tabling in Parliament. "To set the record straight, matters of transfer and postings are a matter of administrative convenience and to read ulterior motives into these is highly presumptuous," the auditor to the government said. The statement came after the Congress criticised the government for reportedly transferring auditors Atoorva Sinha and Dattaprasad Surkayant Shirsa who were in charge of audit reports scrutinising the Dwarka Expressway project, and Ashok Sinha, who had initiated the audit of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. CAG said audit reports are prepared by an extensive team over a prolonged period, comprising officers entrusted with fieldwork, central processing and finalisation at the highest level. The audit reports, it said, also went through multiple hands before due approval, and subsequent tabling in the Legislature, and hence cannot be attributed to any one officer. "Furthermore, both referred reports have been presented to the President after approval at the highest level, and laid before the Parliament, and are in the public domain. To attribute any malfeasance to these routine transfers driven by administrative requirements is completely incorrect," the apex auditor said. The CAG reports, which were tabled in Parliament in August, highlighted alleged irregularities in some aspects of the Bharatmala project, a 1,400 per cent increase in cost and inconsistencies in tendering for the Dwarka Expressway project in the national capital and lakhs of claims under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance being made by beneficiaries lined to a single mobile number. The CAG officials were reportedly transferred last month. The opposition Congress accused the government of intimidating CAG officers who had exposed "corruption" within various schemes. Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the Modi government of threatening and removing individuals who expose corruption. CAG in the statement dismissed contentions that it was not signing or approving any fresh reports and verbal orders have been issued to stop all fieldwork, saying it "is categorically and unequivocally rejected". The auditor said the number of audit reports approved by the CAG G C Murmu has been on a sharp ascent over the past three years, attaining an all-time high of 173 audit reports in 2022-23 (Union and states). Of these, 29 Union audit reports and 78 state audit reports were tabled in Parliament and State Legislatures in 2022-23. In the current financial year to date, 43 audit reports have been approved by the CAG. CAG had approved 165 reports in 2021-22 and 123 in the preceding year. Mumbai, Oct 13 (PTI) A pro-active approach by the civil aviation ministry, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as well as Airports Authority of India (AAI) has led to significant decline in flight cancellations and flight diversions during the fog period, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday. This is despite a 22 per cent increase in the number of aircraft movements in the past two years, the Minister for Civil Aviation said at the Consultative Committee meeting of his ministry on Friday. The period between December 10 and February 10 each year is usually considered as the fog period in India. The meeting chaired by Scindia was also attended by his deputy V K Singh, members of Parliament, and officers from Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA, AAI and other related organisations, according to an official release. In 2021-22, 124 flights were cancelled out of 1,36,374 total aircraft movements, which amounted to 0.09 per cent rate of cancellations, which declined to 86 cancellations for 1,66,927 total aircraft movements in 2022-23, or 0.05 per cent, as per the release. Similarly, in 2021-22, a total of 58 flight diversions took place from the eight main fog-prone airports, which declined to 14 in 2022-23, the ministry said. The minister said fog is a weather phenomenon generally confined to a few thousand feet above the ground level, contributing to poor visibility below 1,000 metres, mostly but not limited to northern parts of India during winter and affects flight operations. During fog conditions, visibility deteriorates due to presence of water droplets and dust in the layer of air close to the ground. Scindia said every year DGCA undertakes an exercise to ensure that airlines and aerodrome operators take actions to prepare themselves for fog conditions well in advance so that disruptions and services in terms of flight cancellations and diversions are minimised. Towards this end, DGCA engages with all stakeholders to check on the readiness of the required support systems on ground and the operators in terms of aircraft availability and trained crew for operations in CAT II/III conditions. The minister said as on date, 4,804 flight crew qualified for CAT II/III are available with various airlines, including 2,979 captains and 1,825 co-pilots. He said there are six airports that have CAT III landing facility and the flights are able to land with low runway visual range, adding that CAT I capability will be enabled in eight airports while facilities will be upgraded from CAT I to CAT II in four airports. The minister said during the fog period airlines are directed to bring changes in their flight schedules to eliminate non-CAT II/CAT III-compliant aircraft from operation. The airlines are also directed to ensure scheduling of CAT II/CAT III qualified crew suitably, he added. Washington, Oct 13 (PTI) The US has announced it will provide employment authorisation cards to some non-immigrant categories, including those waiting for green cards, for five years, a move that would benefit thousands of Indians living in the country. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it was increasing the maximum validity period of Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) to 5 years for initial and renewal EADs for certain non-citizens who must apply for employment authorisation. These include applicants for asylum or withholding of removal, adjustment of status under INA 245, and suspension of deportation or cancellation of removal, the federal agency said. Increasing the maximum EAD validity period to 5 years is intended to significantly reduce the number of new Forms I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, it receives for renewal EADs over the next several years, contributing to its efforts to reduce associated processing times and backlogs, it said. However, whether the noncitizen maintains employment authorisation remains dependent on their underlying status, circumstances, and EAD filing category, it said. For example, if an individual received an EAD under the category based on a pending adjustment of status application for the maximum validity period of 5 years, and the adjustment application is then denied, their ancillary employment authorisation may be terminated before the expiration date listed on their EAD, it said. According to a new study, more than 10.5 lakh Indians are in the queue for an employment-based Green Card and 4 lakh of them may die before they receive the much-sought-after legal document of permanent residency in the US. A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently. The per-country caps are numerical limits on the issuance of green cards to individuals from certain countries. The employment-based Green Card backlog reached a new record of 1.8 million cases this year, according to the study by David J Bier of the Cato Institute, an American libertarian think tank. About 1.1 million of the 1.8 million cases in the backlog are from India (63 per cent). Another nearly 250,000 are from China (14 per cent), it said. Mumbai, Oct 13 (PTI) Bollywood star Vicky Kaushal on Friday said it was a "massive" responsibility to portray the character of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in Meghna Gulzar's "Sam Bahadur". The biographical drama chronicles the life and times of Manekshaw, one of Indias greatest war heroes. "It is a massive responsibility firstly to wear an Indian Army uniform and to have a name plate like Sam Manekshaw. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the ADGPI (Additional Directorate General of Public Information) and Indian Army for their support. "Every time I would meet them, they would tell me, 'Dhang se karna, he is our best guy' (Do it properly). So, that pressure is always there. I would be like, 'Hum apni puri jaan laga rahe hai' (We will try to do our best). Fingers crossed, we have really worked hard. The responsibility is the most as an actor when you are wearing the uniform of Sam Manekshaw," Kaushal told reporters at the teaser launch event of "Sam Bahadur". The 35-year-old actor said playing the war hero's younger self required a lot of nuance, and the Manekshaw family helped him. Kaushal said most of the reference material available online like video interviews are of the time when Manekshaw was in his 70s. "But when I had to play his young and mid years, there were not many references. There are some pictures documented but not that many. So, to crack how he was during his younger days, we met his grandson a lot of times. We sat on the text, to understand how he would be talking, walking and his body language. That process was stimulating for me as an actor." Gulzar said she stayed true to the story of Manekshaw without taking too much creative liberty. "For historical facts we have relied on our research, we have not taken any liberty in that area. I believe you should not tweak history. For instance, how Sam Manekshaw would be talking to his wife in his house, we had to imagine that and understand certain things from his family... We have remained as faithful as possible to history because that is something that can't be distorted," the director said. The upcoming film marks the second collaboration between Gulzar and Kaushal after 2018 Raazi". Kaushal praised the director for pushing him to do his best. "When you work with directors like Meghna Gulzar she doesn't let you stop at the skin of the character, she makes you meet the soul of the character. I'm glad I had Meghna Gulzar guiding me for the role of a lifetime, which is of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw." Gulzar said she was confident that Kaushal, who won critics with his portrayal of a sensitive Pakistani Army officer in "Raazi", will be able to pull off the role of Manekshaw. "I love Vicky as a person and as an actor and then you put him in the role of Sam Manekshaw, who I really adulate. I knew he will make him his own. And he will get it," she said. "Sam Bahadur" stars Sanya Malhotra as Manekshaws wife Silloo and Fatima Sana Shaikh as former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Malhotra said she was thrilled to be working with Gulzar. "I am conscious of picking up scripts (where women are playing powerful roles). I have seen women who have inspired me, so I pick up such films where other girls can get inspired and motivated. All this is purely based on luck and destiny. "I got it because of luck and my good kismet that I got a call from Meghna ma'am. When she told me, read this (script), I was like, 'I don't even want to read it, I want to do it'. I read it one go so that I can call her immediately and say, 'I'm on it, call me on the sets as soon as possible'," the actor said. Fatima said the film will enlighten the younger generation about India's history. "The younger generation, when they see the film, they will get to know what all has happened in our country." "Sam Bahadur" is produced by RSVP Movies. New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The sixth edition of the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) India started here with the screening of legendary screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto's upcoming venture "We Made a Beautiful Bouquet", directed by Nobuhiro Doi. The four-month-long touring festival, organised in association with PVR INOX, will take place in seven cities across the country between October 2023 and January 2024, a press release said. The opening ceremony was attended by Koji Yoshida, the Director of the Japan Information Centre, the Embassy of Japan in India, and Koji Sato, Director General of the Japan Foundation New Delhi, film critics, and members of the Japan Foundation and Japan Embassy. "We are glad that the JFF, which began in 2017, is now in its sixth edition and has become an annual event for the people of India. It goes without saying that anime is very popular in India, but we hope that through this film festival, people will also discover the appeal of the latest Japanese feature films," Koji Sato said in a statement. Influencers and Delhi-based cosplayers attended the "We Made a Beautiful Bouquet" screening along with the members of the Delhi Anime Club and Delhi Film Club. After wrapping up in Delhi on Sunday, the movie gala will take place in Hyderabad and Chennai between November 2 and 5. It will be followed by Mumbai and Bengaluru from November 7 to 10. The last leg of the JFF India 2023 will take place in Kolkata and Pune between November 18 and January 21. We congratulate Japan Foundation on the successful opening of the sixth edition of the Japanese Film Festival in India. We are confident that the relationship between the two countries will continue to grow through the medium of film," Koji Yoshida said. The highlight of this years JFF India is the screening of the popular anime from the "Detective Conan" universe and the 4K remastered edition of "Lupin The 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro," the first anime film directed by filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki in 1979. The sixth edition will also showcase 10 masterpieces, including "A Man", "Anime Supremacy!," "Intolerance," "MONDAYS: See you 'this' week!", "Father of the Milky Way Railroad", "Detective Conan: Episode ONE Detective Conan the Movie: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital," and "Detective Conan the Movie: The Last Wizard of the Century". Gautam Dutta, Co-CEO, PVR INOX Ltd, said the team is pleased to host the sixth edition of the JFF. Japan Foundation and PVR have shared a long association since 2017 and there has been no looking back ever since. We have taken inspiration from this new emerging trend of film festivals from Japan Foundation and our recent film festivals based on legends of Indian cinema have met with huge success," Dutta said. Lahore, Oct 13 (PTI) Most of the suspects behind the killing of a key aide of JeM terror group chief Masood Azhar and his two associates have been arrested, the police chief of Pakistan's Punjab province said on Friday, days after the trio were shot dead at a mosque in Sialkot city. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group's leader Shahid Latif, the mastermind of the 2016 attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, and his security guard Hashim Ali were shot dead by three gunmen while they were offering prayer in a mosque in Daska city of Punjab province, over 100 km from Lahore, on Wednesday early morning. Prayer leader and close associate of Latif, Maulana Ahad was also hit by bullets and was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to his wounds on Thursday. Without naming the country, the Inspector General Police (IGP) Punjab Dr Usman Anwar said a "rogue nation and its hostile intelligence agency are involved in executing the terror attack in Pakistan." "All three shooters involved in this case have been identified and arrested. Other arrests have been made in Sialkot, Lahore, Pakpattan, Kasur and other districts of Punjab," he said. This attack was planned outside Pakistan. A hostile intelligence agency sent a person to Pakistan. We have all the records about who is the person who came here, who he met, and even his geo-location. They came here between October 6 and October 9 and executed the plan on October 11. He further said that Pakistan's security agencies worked jointly to identify "facilitators, perpetrators, and executors" of the attack and arrested most of them. They will soon be presented before the court with evidence, Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Hasan Iqbal said this was a "targeted killing" and an "incident of terrorism". Latif, who was arrested in India in 1994 on terror charges, was then put on trial and eventually jailed. He completed his sentence in 2010 after which he was deported to Pakistan. Shahid Latif, 50, belonged to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and for many years he served as the administrator of Noori-e-Madina Masjid, Daska. Jaish-e-Mohammad has been blamed by India for multiple past attacks on its soil, including the Pathankot attack which left seven soldiers dead at a base in the north Indian town. Gaza City, Oct 13 (AP) The morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital overflowed Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them on the sixth day of Israel's heavy aerial bombardment on the territory of 2.3 million people. With scores of Palestinians killed each day in the Israeli onslaught after an unprecedented Hamas attack, medics in the besieged enclave said they have run out of places to put remains pulled from the latest strikes or recovered from the ruins of demolished buildings. The morgue at Gaza City's Shifa hospital can only handle some 30 bodies at a time, and workers had to stack corpses three high outside the walk-in cooler and put dozens more, side by side, in the parking lot. Some were placed in a tent, and others were sprawled on the cement, under the sun. The body bags started and just kept coming and coming and now it's a graveyard, Abu Elias Shobaki, a nurse at Shifa, said of the parking lot. I am emotionally, physically exhausted. I just have to stop myself from thinking about how much worse it will get. Nearly a week after Hamas militants crossed through Israel's heavily fortified separation fence and killed over 1,200 Israelis in a brutal rampage, Israel is preparing for a possible ground invasion of Gaza for the first time in nearly a decade. A ground offensive would likely drive up the Palestinian death toll, which already has outpaced the past four bloody wars between Israel and Hamas. The sheer volume of human remains has pushed the system to its limit in the long-blockaded territory. Gaza's hospitals are poorly supplied in normal times but now Israel has stopped the water flow from its national water company and blocked electricity, food and fuel from entering the coastal enclave. We are in a critical situation, said Ashraf al-Qidra, the spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry. Ambulances can't get to the wounded, the wounded can't get to intensive care, the dead can't get to the morgue. Lines of white body bags soles of bare feet sticking out from one, a bloodied arm from another brought the scale and intensity of Israel's retaliation on Gaza into sharp relief. Hospital officials asked stricken family members to identify their loved ones. Some peered into the body bags, then collapsed into tears or screams. Israel's campaign on Gaza has levelled entire neighbourhoods, killing over 1,400 people, more than 60 per cent of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 3,40,000 have been displaced 15 per cent of Gaza's population. Israeli airstrikes on Thursday pummeled the heart of Jabaliya refugee camp, killing dozens of people including 45 members of the same extended family, Gaza's Interior Ministry said. The Israeli military says it is striking Hamas militant infrastructure and aims to avoid civilian casualties a claim that Palestinians reject. The deaths, and over 6,000 injuries, have overwhelmed Gaza's health care facilities as supplies dwindle. It is not possible, under any circumstances, to continue this work, said Mohammad Abu Selim, Shifa's general director. The patients are now on the streets. The wounded are on the streets. We cannot find a bed for them. With resources stretched thin, clinics understaffed and ambulances taking hours to get victims to medical care because airstrikes have ravaged the streets, some say it's not worth the trip. We know that if a case is critical, they just won't survive, said Khalil Abu Yehiya, a 28-year-old teacher whose neighbour's home was bombed in Thursday's airstrikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp. When more heavy bombardment hit the Shati refugee camp just north of Gaza City along the Mediterranean coast, a new wave of wounded streamed into the hospital complex toddlers with bruises and bandages, men with makeshift tourniquets, young girls with blood caked on their faces. Because Shifa's intensive care unit was full, some lay in the hospital corridors, pressed up against the walls to clear aisles for staff and stretchers. I've been to many places and seen horrors and shelling. Not this level of insanity, said 36-year-old local photojournalist Attia Darwish as he watched the wounded pour into the hospital. Among those killed in the strikes on the Shati refugee camp was Yasser al-Masri, whose body arrived along with those of his wife and infant daughter. Medics circulated photos of al-Masri and his daughter, covered in filth in the same body bag. His friends shared his final Facebook post before Israel's warplanes struck. I only have a few hours before my phone dies because we're without electricity, he wrote. There is no light at night except the moon. Please forgive me. I forgive all of you. Gaza's sole power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday. Shifa and other hospitals were desperately trying to save whatever diesel remains in their backup generators, turning off the lights in all hospital departments but the most essential intensive care, operating rooms, oxygen stations. Abu Selima, director of Shifa, said the last of the hospital's fuel would run out in three or four days. When that happens, a disaster will occur within five minutes, said Naser Bolbol, head of the hospital's neonatal department, citing all the oxygen equipment keeping infants alive. Hospital authorities said there wouldn't be electricity left to refrigerate the dead, either. (AP) SKY SKY Kathmandu, Oct 13 (PTI) A group of 254 Nepali students rescued from the strife-torn Israel and led by Foreign Minister N P Saud arrived in Kathmandu on Friday. A Nepal Airlines flight that took off from Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport on Thursday landed at Tribhuvan International Airport here this morning after a stopover in Dubai. Speaking to the media at the airport, Foreign Minister Saud, who flew to Israel a day before to facilitate the rescue mission, said the remaining Nepalis who have requested repatriation would be rescued soon. The minister said 557 Nepalis had provided their details in response to a request from the Embassy of Nepal in Tel Aviv to those wishing to return to Nepal or relocate to safer places. "Out of the 557 Nepalis, 503 had applied to return to Nepal and among them 254 have returned home today with us," he was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times newspaper. Minister Saud also said that 54 Nepalis who had requested to be relocated from risky areas have been shifted to safer zones in Israel. Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel on Saturday which killed 10 Nepali students. Six students were rescued and one went missing. "A search continues for Bipin Joshi who has gone missing following the attacks. We will share the information as soon as we get additional information on this," Saud said. "The Israeli side has stated that it will take some time for handing over the bodies as it is required to complete the legal process and keep separate details of each and every deceased, and the number of bodies in Israel is currently very high," he said, requesting the families and relatives of the deceased Nepalis to have patience. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were 265 students from Nepal studying under the Israel government-funded 'Learn and Earn' scheme in different parts of Israel, and about 4,500 Nepali citizens working in various professional fields. Jerusalem, Oct 13 (AP) Hamas says Israel's heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed 13 hostages, including foreigners, held by the group. Hamas' military wing said in a statement Friday that the 13 were killed in various locations over the past 24 hours. It did not give the nationality of the foreigners. There has been no confirmation from Israel. (AP) MRJ MRJ Tel Aviv (Israel), Oct 13 (AP) U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived Friday here to meet with senior government leaders and see firsthand some of the U.S. weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel in the first week of its war with the militant Hamas group. Austin is the second high-level U.S. official to visit Israel in two days. His quick trip from Brussels, where he was attending a NATO defence ministers meeting, comes a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region on Thursday. Blinken is continuing the frantic Mideast diplomacy, seeking to avert an expanded regional conflict. Austin is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and the Israeli War Cabinet. His arrival comes as Israel's military directed hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza City to evacuate for their own safety and protection, ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. Gaza's Hamas rulers responded by calling on Palestinians to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm" against Israel. Defence officials travelling with Austin said he wants to underscore America's unwavering support for the people of Israel and that the United States is committed to making sure the country has what it needs to defend itself. A senior defence official said the U.S. has already given Israel small diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome system and more will be delivered. Other munitions are expected to arrive Friday. Austin has spoken nearly daily with Gallant, and directed the rapid shift of U.S. ships, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and the region. Within hours after the brutal Hamas attack across the border into Israel, the U.S. moved warships and aircraft to the region. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing Friday from Virginia, also heading to the region. Austin declined to say if the U.S. is doing surveillance flights in the region, but the U.S. is providing intelligence and other planning assistance to the Israelis, including advice on the hostage situation. A day after visiting Israel to offer the Biden administration's diplomatic support in person, Blinken was in Jordan on Friday for talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who has a home in the Jordanian capital of Amman. The monarch rules over a country with a large Palestinian population and has a vested interest in their status while Abbas runs the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank. Later Friday, Blinken is to fly to Doha for meetings with Qatari officials who have close contacts with the Hamas leadership and have been exploring an exchange of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for the release of dozens of Israelis and foreigners taken hostage by Hamas during the unprecedented incursion of the militants into southern Israel last weekend. Blinken will make a brief stop in Bahrain and end the day in Saudi Arabia, a key player in the Arab world that has been considering normalizing ties with Israel, a U.S.-mediated process that is now on hold. He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend. (AP) NPK NPK The face of Israel has changed due to the state of war following the attack launched last Saturday by Hamas on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip. With more than 1,300 dead, the vast majority of them Jews, it is being described as the most tragic attack since the Holocaust. The usually bustling streets of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa densely populated areas appear deserted, evoking the desolate landscape of the first weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. With schools, factories, offices and businesses closed, commercial activity has collapsed in vibrant spots as Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, which still retains the colonial charm of the era of the British mandate over Palestine (between 1922 and 1948). What we make each day has dropped by more than 50%, my wife has asked for unpaid leave to take care of our three children at home and at 5:00 p.m. there is no longer a soul left in this area. Usually, we open at 6:00 a.m. and close at midnight, says Lazard Garmish, 40, at the bar of the Coffee Cake cafeteria, at the entrance to the Russian Quarter from the same street in Jaffa. I still open because we are next to the central police station, otherwise it wouldnt be worth it, he adds. He is resigning himself, like many other self-employed businesspeople, to suffering the economic consequences of the war against Hamas. Before we served about 3,000 coffees a day, now we hardly make 500. The tram runs from time to time in Jerusalem, but city buses from the western part of the Holy City no longer travel through the streets, which have been taken over by police vehicles, motorcycles from the anti-terrorist unit and patrols of the militarized border police. In the eastern part of the city, the transportation system for the Palestinian population remains partially operational, while its inhabitants seem to have disappeared amid the prevailing tension. The young pharmacist Fatima, who prefers not to reveal her last name, works with a hijab at the chain Superpharm. They bring me here by car from my house in East Jerusalem, and then they come to pick me up, she explains reservedly. Its better not to walk through the empty streets. The police deployment has also reinforced by Jewish Israeli civilians who visibly carry pistols, and even M-16 assault rifles. Israeli army tanks and vehicles deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 13, 2023. JACK GUEZ (AFP) Trains seem to running as usual, although their main occupants are now the more than 350,000 reservists who have been called up in what is shaping up to be the largest mobilization since the Yom Kippur War, which took place 50 years ago. On the journey between Jerusalems Isaac Navon station and Savidor station in central Tel Aviv on Tuesday, most of the passengers were in military uniforms. Almost all of them were between 30 and 40 years old. They traveled with an air of poise and indifference, compared to the recruits aged between 18 and 21, who were nervously preparing for their first large-scale armed conflict. In the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, the train occasionally stopped or moved slowly as rocket alerts blared on cell phones. While used to emergency situations, Israelis are now experiencing one of the tensest moments in at least a decade, since Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 war between the Israeli army and militants in the Gaza Strip. That conflict lasted for more than two months and killed 2,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 73 Israelis, nearly all soldiers. In the first six days of the current conflict, both sides have already registered more than 1,300 fatalities. The high tension is leading to false alarms. When surveillance radars detected the alleged infiltration of a dozen paragliders into Israeli airspace from the north, an alert was launched for all towns located next to the Lebanese border. That was the official explanation. After verifying that there was no threat, General Rafi Milo ordered the alarm to be lifted. But there was a misunderstanding and a soldier pressed the national alert button, so that the entire population of Israel rushed to air raid shelters. Highway 2, running along the coast from Tel Aviv to Haifa, is dotted with checkpoints where occupants of Arab-looking vehicles were systematically identified. The deep emotional shock left by last Saturdays Hamas attack is palpable in the atmosphere on the streets. Only a few people over 60 or 70 can recall a similar situation of tension and fear in Israel, which has been deeply traumatized. In Jerusalem, air raid alarms sounded on Monday afternoon. Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israels Iron Dome missile defense system, although others caused seven injuries, three of them seriously, when they hit the outskirts of the Holy City. So far, only one Palestinian protest has been recorded in Jerusalem in the Silwan district of East Jerusalem, where groups of young people threw stones and fireworks. In the clashes, two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli security forces, according to Spanish news agency EFE. A Palestinian also opened fire on Thursday night against Israeli officers at a police station in Jerusalem, according to EFE. Two police officers were injured, and the assailant was killed. Not all Jerusalem merchants take a dim view of the outbreak of the war. At the Sol chain supermarket on Rabbi Kook Street, in the center of Jerusalem, Jose Huspa, 65, boasted about business. The manager of the establishment, a Mexican Jew who immigrated to Israel in 1988, said that his daily earnings had doubled. People have gone crazy, and are hoarding food as if it were the end of the world, he said. But supplies are arriving regularly and all the shelves are full, he added, while four Palestinian employees from Jerusalem worked to restock the shelves. Am I afraid? Who cares about war? Not having a job would be worse, said one of them, who preferred not to give his name. Four out of five Israelis consider that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for the offensive carried out by Hamas, according to a survey by the Dialogue Center. Some 86% percent of Israelis and 79% of supporters of the most conservative government coalition in the countrys history believe that the incursion of the Palestinian armed group represents a failure for the government. And 94% think that the Israeli government is responsible given the lack of preparation in terms of security, according to the study, which was published by the newspaper Jerusalem Post. More than half of those surveyed (56%) believe that Netanyahu should resign once the war is over. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Jerusalem, Oct 13 (AP) Israel's military told some 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza on Friday to evacuate the north, according to the United Nations, an unprecedented order for almost half the population of the sealed-off territory ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group. The UN warned that so many people fleeing en masse would be calamitous, and Hamas, which staged a shocking and brutal attack on Israel this week, dismissed it as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes, adding to widespread panic. The evacuation order, which includes Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, sparked confusion among civilians and aid workers already running from Israeli airstrikes and contending with a total siege and a territory-wide power blackout. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you'll make it, if you're going to live, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, breaking into heaving sobs. The week-old war has already claimed over 2,800 lives on both sides and sent tensions soaring across the region. Weekly Muslim prayers later Friday could bring mass protests at a flashpoint holy site in east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and elsewhere. Israel has traded fire in recent days with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, sparking fears of an ever wider conflict, though that frontier is currently calm. Israel has bombarded Gaza non-stop since a weekend attack in which Hamas fighters stormed into the country's south and massacred hundreds of people, including killing children in their homes and young people at a music festival. Militants also snatched some 150 people and dragged them into Gaza. Hamas said Israel's bombardment has killed 13 of the hostages, including foreigners. It did not give the nationality of the foreigners, saying they were killed over the last 24 hours. There was no immediate Israeli comment. The Israeli military sent one evacuation order directly Friday morning, warning the residents of Gaza City to flee south in the narrow coastal territory, which is just 40 kilometres (25 miles) long. Israel said it needed to target Hamas' military infrastructure, much of which is buried deep underground. Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the military will use significant force while making extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians. The United Nations said it received a separate directive from the military, giving all 1.1 million civilians of northern Gaza 24 hours to flee south. The Israeli military did not immediately confirm the broader evacuation order. The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded, avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Hamas militants operate in civilian areas, where Israel has long accused them of using Palestinians as human shields. A mass evacuation of civilians, if carried out, would leave their fighters exposed as never before to punishing Israeli strikes. The flurry of directives was taken as a further signal of an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though Israel has not yet announced such a decision. On Thursday, the military said it was prepared for a ground operation if one was ordered. A ground offensive in densely populated and impoverished Gaza would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting but the Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas. The group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, called on Palestinians to stay in their homes, saying the (Israeli) occupation is trying to create confusion among citizens and harm the cohesion of our internal front. It called on Palestinians to ignore what it said was psychological warfare. This is chaos, no one understands what to do, said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City, while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags as the panicked shouts of her relatives could be heard around her. She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah. Farsakh, of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said there was no way so many people could be safely moved especially those with ailments. What will happen to our patients? she asked. We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals. Farsakh said many of the medics were refusing to evacuate hospitals and abandon patients. Instead, she said, they called their colleagues to say goodbye. Beyond the immediate fear and logistical difficulties, the order has deep resonance in Gaza, where more than half of the Palestinians are the descendants of refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, when hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from what is now Israel. That exodus is deeply seared into their collective memory. Already, at least 423,000 people nearly one in five Gazans have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the UN said Thursday. The UN said the broad evacuation warning it received for all of Gaza's north also applies to all UN staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in UN schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock airstrikes Saturday. Another UN official said that the United Nation is trying to get clarity from Israeli officials at the senior-most political level. Neighboring Egypt has meanwhile taken unprecedented measures to prevent a breach of its border with Gaza, a senior Egyptian security official said. He said a potential ground invasion would be a grave mistake. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. Egypt, which made peace with Israel decades ago and has long served as a regional mediator, is staunchly opposed to resettling Palestinians on its territory, both because of the costs involved and because it would undermine their quest for an independent state. The Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt, the only one not controlled by Israel, has ben closed because of airstrikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas. A visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, along with shipments of US weapons, offered a powerful green light for Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation. Hamas' unprecedented assault last Saturday, and days of heavy rocket fire since, have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers a toll unseen in Israel for decades and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service. On Thursday, Israel said its complete siege of the territory which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during their grisly weekend incursion. Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media. (AP) FZH Jakarta, Oct 13 (AP) In Muslim communities across the world, worshippers gathered at mosques for their first Friday prayers since Hamas militants attacked Israel, igniting the latest Israel-Palestinian war. CLERICS IN PAKISTAN GIVE EMOTIONAL SERMONS IN SUPPORT OF THE PALESTINIANS In the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, a cleric at the pro-Taliban Red Mosque pleaded with God to send special help to the Palestinians. Oh Allah destroy Israel! Break it apart into pieces, urged Abdul Aziz in an emotionally charged sermon in a packed mosque, where around 900 worshippers had congregated for Friday prayers. The mosque has links to the Pakistani Taliban and is known for backing calls to help the Afghan Taliban across the border. In July 2007, government forces laid siege to the mosque in a deadly military crackdown that killed at least 100 people. In his special prayers and sermon, the Aziz asked God to help all those who wanted to join the jihad, or holy war, in the Palestinian territories. Oh Allah make it easy for them to reach there, and bless us with the death of a martyr, he declaimed, his voice reverberating through the mosque's loudspeakers. Similar sermons were held at mosques throughout the country, including the major urban centres of Karachi and Lahore. Radical Islamist parties held anti-Israel rallies after Friday prayers. People prayed for a Palestinian victory and clerics used their sermons to motivate worshippers to keep Palestinians in their prayers even if they couldn't join the fight against Israel. Pakistan has no diplomatic relations with Israel because of the issue of Palestinian statehood. MALAYSIANS RALLY IN KUALA LUMPUR IN SOLIDARITY Some 1,000 Muslims rallied in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, after Friday prayers to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Chanting Free Palestine and Crush the Zionists, they burned two effigies draped with Israeli flags. This Israeli-Palestinian issue is more than a religious issue, it's a humanitarian issue, said Yasmin Hadi Abdul Halim, a student. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, 98, was among those attending the event. Seventy-five years ago, they took away Palestinian land to establish Israel. Not satisfied, they continued to take more land, Mahatjir said. It's not just about seizing land. The people of Palestine are subjected to torture, murder, imprisonment, and long detentions. Hamas did what they did due to decades of oppression (by Israel). Dozens more people attended a smaller rally outside the US Embassy that shut its doors to visitors as a security precaution. The rallies ended peacefully. IN INDONESIA, PRAYERS FOR GOD'S PROTECTION AND FOR THE ABSENT Islamic leaders in Indonesia appealed to all mosques in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation to pray for peace and safety for the Palestinian people. The chairperson of the Indonesian Mosque Council had urged all mosques to perform the Qunut Nazilahto prayer, one made for protection, to ask for God's help so that the conflict in the Gaza Strip would end quickly. The appeal from the nation's former Vice President Jusuf Kalla is in line with most Indonesian Muslims, who stand with Palestinians. The prayer was held along with the Salat Al-Ghaib, or prayer for the absent. In a sermon at Abu Bakar Al Shidiq, one of the most conservative mosques in Jakarta, a cleric called for mobilising our power and efforts to help the Muslims in Palestine. Prayer is a weapon for devout Muslims, he added, For those of us who have not been given the opportunity by God to take up arms to defend the honour and religion of our Muslims brothers, then we can take up our weapons by raising our hands asking God for His blessings." More than 200 people also rallied in front of the National Monument in Indonesia's capital on Friday, waving banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinians. (AP) PY PY Jerusalem, Oct 13 (AP) Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Friday across the Middle East in support of the Palestinians and against Israeli airstrikes pounding Gaza, underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict erupting as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion in the coastal strip. From Amman, Jordan, to Yemen's capital of Sanaa, Muslims poured out onto the streets after weekly Friday prayers, angered by the Israeli strikes in a war that began after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel last Saturday. At Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Israeli police had been permitting only older men, women and children to enter the sprawling hilltop compound for prayers, trying to limit the potential for violence as tens of thousands attend on a typical Friday. An Associated Press reporter watched police allow just a Palestinian teenage girl and her mother into the compound out of 20 worshippers who tried to get in, some of them even over the age of 50. Young Palestinian men who were refused entry gathered at the steps near Lion's Gate, their eyes downcast, until police shouted at them and shepherded them out of the Old City altogether. We can't live, we can't breathe, they are killing everything that is good within us, said Ahmad Barbour, a 57-year-old cleaner in a clean white thobe, seething after police blocked him from entering for prayers. Everything that is forbidden to us is allowed to them, he added, referring to Israelis. The mosque sits in a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and conflicting claims over it have spilled into violence before. Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam and stands in a spot known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. Police later fired tear gas in the Old City and east Jerusalem. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its medics treated six wounded people, with at least one beaten up by officers. In Beirut, thousands of Hezbollah supporters waved Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, chanting slogans supporting Gaza and calling death to Israel. The Iranian-backed militant group in neighbouring Lebanon has launched attacks since the Hamas assault, but largely hasn't entered the war. However, Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general warned that it will be on the lookout for the US and British naval vessels heading to the Mediterranean Sea. US officials, including President Joe Biden, have repeatedly warned Iran and the militias it backs in the Mideast to stay out of the conflict. Your battleships do not interest us, nor do your statements frighten us, Naim Kassim said at a rally in a southern suburb of Beirut. We as Hezbollah follow the steps of the enemy and have full preparedness. And when the time is right to take action, we will do so. In Baghdad, tens of thousands gathered in Tahrir Square in the center of Iraq's capital for protests called by the influential Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr. May this demonstration ... terrify the great evil, America, which supports Zionist terrorism against our loved ones in Palestine, al-Sadr said in an online statement. Across Iran, a supporter of Hamas and Israel's regional archenemy, demonstrators protested. In Tehran, the country's capital, they burned Israeli and Ameircan flags, chanting: Death to Israel, Death to America, Israel will be doomed," and "Palestine will be the conqueror. The Palestinian people are fed up, now your idea is to destroy Gaza, the houses of the people," Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi said in a speech in the country's southern Fars province. The people of the world and Palestine will cause trouble for you. In Yemen's Sanaa, held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels still at war with a Saudi-led coalition, live television footage showed demonstrators crowding streets and waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. The rebels' slogan long has been: God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse of the Jews; victory to Islam. After prayers in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, some worshippers stepped on American and Israeli flags, in a sign of disrespect. Protests there broke up peacefully, though other larger ones were expected later in the day. International media and international courts turn a blind eye to the injustices with the Palestinians. But they only notice the actions that the Palestinians take to defend themselves," said Faheem Ahmed, a worshipper in Karachi. "They call it terrorism. Today, on Friday, we beseech Allah to help and raise Palestine and destroy Israel. (AP) FZH Islamabad, Oct 13 (PTI) Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif performed the Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and is expected to meet top leaders before his scheduled return to Pakistan on October 21, ending a four-year "self-imposed exile". The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo left London for Pakistan via Riyadh and Dubai on Wednesday, Geo News reported on Friday. Sharif is set to return to Pakistan on October 21, ending his self-exile in London, where he has lived since 2019. He is expected to lead his PML-N party in the general elections likely to be held in January next year. The 73-year-old former premier performed Umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca) on Thursday, accompanied by his son, Hussain Sharif and other close aides. Sharif's close aides, Mian Nasir Janjua, Waqar Ahmed, his friend Karim Yousaf and a few others also accompanied him on the Saudi Arabia visit. Sharif would hold important meetings with top Saudi officials during his stay in the country, including the royal family, The Nation newspaper reported. The three-time prime minister would then leave Jeddah for Dubai on October 16 or 17 to meet with the top officials of the UAE, The Express Tribune newspaper reported, quoting party sources. He is also likely to make a short visit to Qatar, the sources said, adding that following the possible visit, Sharif will arrive in Dubai again. In the final phase of his journey, the former premier would leave for Pakistan on October 21 by a special plane. The flight carrying Sharif will have the name "Umeed-e-Pakistan" and will land in Islamabad from Dubai before proceeding to Lahore, where he will address the gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan. There are question marks on his fate as he had already been declared an absconder and could be arrested after arriving in Pakistan. However, the PML-N has planned to secure a protective bail so that he can address the rally before going to jail. Former finance minister and PML-N senior leader Ishaq Dar said there is no chance of Sharif being arrested on return to Pakistan. He said that transit bail and protective bail would be obtained from the court. "Nawaz Sharif will follow the standard legal procedures." Sharif stepped down as the country's prime minister in 2017 after he was disqualified for life from holding public office by the Supreme Court for not declaring a receivable salary. He has been living in London since 2019 after the LHC granted him a four-week permission allowing him to go abroad for his treatment. He was serving a seven-year imprisonment at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail in the Al-Azizia Mills case before he was allowed to proceed to London in 2019 on "medical grounds". In 2020, an accountability court declared him a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana vehicles case. He is also accused of obtaining luxury cars from the treasury house by paying just 15 per cent of the price of these vehicles. Sharif was convicted in the Al-Azizia Mills and Avenfield corruption cases in 2018. Jerusalem, Oct 13 (AP) Israel's military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate Friday ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory's only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was set to visit on Friday, a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7. Here's what's happening on Day 7 of the latest Israel-Hamas war: 3 MORE PALESTINIANS WERE KILLED IN THE WEST BANK, DEATH TOLLS RISES TO 39 As tensions flare in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported Friday that two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops in Tulkarem and a third was shot dead in Nablus, bringing the death toll in the territory to 39 since the start of the war. GERMAN PRESIDENT CALLS FRIDAY A DAY OF FEAR FOR JEWS Germany's president has visited a synagogue to show his solidarity on what he called a day of fear for Jews. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke on Friday at the Fraenkelufer synagogue in Berlin, the first in the city where an official service took place in 1945 after the Holocaust. Steinmeier was flanked by community members, including some holding posters depicting people missing in Israel. He said that Hamas had called for violence against Jewish communities worldwide on Friday, and this Friday is a day of fear for German Jews, as well. He added: So my place today is among you. At this time, I represent our whole nation at the side of our threatened compatriots, at the side of all Jews in Germany. WHO SAYS FORCED EVACUATIONS WOULD BE A DEATH SENTENCE FOR SOME HOSPITAL PATIENTS The World Health Organisation says the forced evacuation of severely ill or badly injured people from hospitals in northern Gaza would amount to a death sentence for some. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told a UN briefing in Geneva on Friday that the two major hospitals in northern Gaza have already exceeded their combined 760-bed capacity, and warned of a shortage of blood in hospital blood banks across Gaza. Furthermore, several medications are in short supply, including for diabetes, seizures and asthma, as well as painkillers and dialysis solution. In general, hospital corridors are overflowing. Dead bodies are piling up as there is no more space in morgues, he said. Jasarevic said some patients many of whom are children were on life support systems like mechanical ventilators, so moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel. BEDOUIN VILLAGE IN WEST BANK IS LATEST TO EVACUATE An entire Bedouin village in the West Bank packed up and evacuated their home Thursday, a leading Palestinian rights group said, amid a wave of violence from Jewish settlers that Palestinian residents say has escalated dramatically since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. With the evacuation of Wadi Seeq, six villages in the West Bank have entirely pulled up stakes since 2022. Dror Sadot, a spokesperson for the rights group Btselem, said that many more villages are in danger of leaving. The settlers are going crazy and receive active backing from the army, now more than ever before, said Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Torah of Justice, an Israeli human rights nonprofit. Ascherman said that in recent days, Jewish settlers from nearby outposts descended from hilltop outposts to brutalise Palestinians in the village, even as they packed up. Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests to comment. HEZBOLLAH'S DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL REITERATES SUPPORT FOR HAMAS Hezbollah's deputy secretary general on Friday said that the Iran-backed militant group will be on the lookout following news that the United States and United Kingdom will send military barges to the Mediterranean Sea near Israel in its ongoing war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Naim Kassim reiterated Hezbollah's support for Hamas, and while the group has clashed with Israeli troops along the border for almost a week, the group has not declared its involvement in the war. Your battleships do not interest us, nor do your statements frighten us, Kassim said at a rally in a southern suburb in Beirut, Lebanon. We as Hezbollah follow the steps of the enemy and have full preparedness. And when the time is right take action, we will do so. Thousands of Hezbollah supporters waving Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah chanted slogans supporting Gaza and Death to Israel. ABBAS SAYS DISPLACEMENT OF PALESTINIANS WOULD AMOUNT TO SECOND NAKBA Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently in Jordan, emphasized his complete rejection of displacing people from Gaza, saying it would amount to a second Nakba, or catastrophe. That's the term Palestinians use to describe their mass displacement from what is now Israel during the 1948 Mideast war surrounding its creation, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out. The fate of the refugees and their descendants, who now number nearly 6 million and are scattered across the Middle East, is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict. EGYPTIAN NEWS OUTLET SAYS ISRAELI FORCES ATTACKED ITS CREW An Egyptian TV news station said Israeli forces attacked its crew in Jerusalem. The state-owned Al-Qahera News, which is close to security agencies, said some Israeli forces pointed their weapons at its crew filming the firing of sound bombs on Palestinians in the holy city. The station said Israeli troops forced them to leave the area. FIRST ROUND OF HUMANITARIAN AID FOR GAZA ARRIVES IN EGYPT, TURKISH GROUP SAYS The Turkish Red Crescent said Friday that its first planeload of aid for Gaza had arrived in Egypt. The organisation included photographs in a social media post of a cargo plane being unloaded at El Arish airport, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Gazan border. TURKEY IS ATTEMPTING TO SEND AID TO GAZA, ERDOGAN'S OFFICE SAYS Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey is attempting to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza and condemned human rights violations against civilians, his office said. In a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Erdogan discussed efforts for peace that are increasing in intensity day by day, according to a statement on social media from the Turkish presidency. Erdogan told Macron that especially Western countries should take steps to reduce tension and keep away from efforts that do not serve peace, the statement added. ROMANIA CONFIRMS DEATHS OF 2 ROMANIAN-ISRAELI CITIZENS Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that two dual Romanian-Israeli citizens have died since Hamas launched its attacks against Israel a week ago. The ministry said that the Israeli authorities confirmed the death of the second citizen on Friday, a day after they were reported missing by family members. The ministry had confirmed the death of the first person on Monday, and said both of those who have died resided in Israel. The ministry sent its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and expressed its firm condemnation of terrorism in all its forms. CZECH EVACUATION FLIGHTS FROM ISRAEL RETURN 228 CITIZENS HOME The Czech Foreign Ministry said Friday the country has completed evacuation flights of its citizens from Israel, which is at war following the Hamas attacks on October 7. A total of six flights transported 228 people between the ages of several months to 93 years in what was one of the most logistically demanding events, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said. Czech diplomats still remain in Israel, the ministry said. The Czech government planes also transported, from Prague to Israel, 73 Israeli nationals who wanted to return home to help their country. The Czechs offered the flights to the Israelis at the request of the Israeli side. (AP) FZH Jerusalem, Oct 13 (AP) Israel's military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate Friday ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours. Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory's only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza's biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was set to visit on Friday, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7. Here's what's happening on Day 7 of the latest Israel-Hamas war: WEST BANK DEATH TOLL RISES TO 44 WITH 9 PALESTINIANS KILLED FRIDAY JERUSALEM The Palestinian Health Ministry reported Friday that 44 Palestinians have been killed in West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, with nine Palestinians killed today. BIDEN TO SPEAK WITH FAMILIES OF U.S. HOSTAGES HELD BY HAMAS WASHINGTON U.S. President Joe Biden told CBS' 60 Minutes that he would speak Friday to families of U.S. hostages held by Hamas. They have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what's happening. Deeply, Biden said. We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behavior. It's pure barbarism. And we're going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them. The meeting is expected to take place virtually. JAPAN TO EVACUATE ITS NATIONALS FROM ISRAEL ON SATURDAY TOKYO Japan will send a charter flight to evacuate its nationals from Israel as the clashes between Israeli military and Hamas intensified, officials said Friday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that the charter flight will transport evacuees from Israel's commercial airport of Tel Aviv to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. The government is arranging the flight based on survey results that showed Japanese citizens in the region wanted to evacuate, Matsuno said. The Japanese Defense Ministry said Friday it is preparing to dispatch a Self-Defense Force transport plane to nearby Djibouti in eastern Africa to have the aircraft on standby in case escalating conflict makes a charter flight difficult. FLAGS IN COPENHAGEN TO FLY AT HALF-MAST ON SATURDAY COPENHAGEN, Denmark Flags in Copenhagen will fly at half-mast on Saturday, the capital city's mayor said Friday, to show the capital's sympathy for all civilian victims in Israel. Sophie Hstorp Andersen said it is important that we show the people of Copenhagen that we stand together across all parties. Denmark's Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard previously said that the Danish flag will be lowered Saturday on the parliament building, the ministries of defense, finance and foreign affairs following the cynical terrorist attack in Israel. HAMAS SAYS IT'S LAUNCHED 150 ROCKETS TOWARD ASHKELON AND SDEROT JERUSALEM A Hamas official said Friday that Hamas had launched 150 rockets toward the southern cities of Ashkelon and Sderot. Israel's rescue service reported no major injuries. 3 MORE PALESTINIANS KILLED IN THE WEST BANK, DEATH TOLLS RISES TO 39 JERUSALEM As tensions flare in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported Friday that two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops in Tulkarem and a third was shot dead in Nablus, bringing the death toll in the territory to 39 since the start of the war. GERMAN PRESIDENT CALLS FRIDAY A DAY OF FEAR' FOR JEWS BERLIN Germany's president has visited a synagogue to show his solidarity on what he called a day of fear for Jews. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke on Friday at the Fraenkelufer synagogue in Berlin, the first in the city where an official service took place in 1945 after the Holocaust. Steinmeier was flanked by community members, including some holding posters depicting people missing in Israel. He said that Hamas had called for violence against Jewish communities worldwide on Friday, and this Friday is a day of fear for German Jews, as well. He added: So my place today is among you. At this time, I represent our whole nation at the side of our threatened compatriots, at the side of all Jews in Germany. WHO SAYS FORCED EVACUATIONS WOULD BE A DEATH SENTENCE' FOR SOME HOSPITAL PATIENTS GENEVA The World Health Organization says the forced evacuation of severely ill or badly injured people from hospitals in northern Gaza would amount to a death sentence for some. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told a U.N. briefing in Geneva on Friday that the two major hospitals in northern Gaza have already exceeded their combined 760-bed capacity, and warned of a shortage of blood in hospital blood banks across Gaza. Furthermore, several medications are in short supply, including for diabetes, seizures and asthma, as well as painkillers and dialysis solution. In general, hospital corridors are overflowing. Dead bodies are piling up as there is no more space in morgues, he said. Jasarevic said some patients many of whom are children were on life support systems like mechanical ventilators, so moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel. BEDOUIN VILLAGE IN WEST BANK IS LATEST TO EVACUATE JERUSALEM An entire Bedouin village in the West Bank packed up and evacuated their home Thursday, a leading Palestinian rights group said, amid a wave of violence from Jewish settlers that Palestinian residents say has escalated dramatically since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. With the evacuation of Wadi Seeq, six villages in the West Bank have entirely pulled up stakes since 2022. Dror Sadot, a spokesperson for the rights group Btselem, said that many more villages are in danger of leaving. The settlers are going crazy and receive active backing from the army, now more than ever before, said Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Torah of Justice, an Israeli human rights nonprofit. Ascherman said that in recent days, Jewish settlers from nearby outposts descended from hilltop outposts to brutalize Palestinians in the village, even as they packed up. Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests to comment. HEZBOLLAH'S DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL REITERATES SUPPORT FOR HAMAS BEIRUT Hezbollah's deputy secretary general on Friday said that the Iran-backed militant group will be on the lookout following news that the United States and United Kingdom will send military barges to the Mediterranean Sea near Israel in its ongoing war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Naim Kassim reiterated Hezbollah's support for Hamas, and while the group has clashed with Israeli troops along the border for almost a week, the group has not declared its involvement in the war. Your battleships do not interest us, nor do your statements frighten us, Kassim said at a rally in a southern suburb in Beirut, Lebanon. We as Hezbollah follow the steps of the enemy and have full preparedness. And when the time is right take action, we will do so. Thousands of Hezbollah supporters waving Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah chanted slogans supporting Gaza and Death to Israel. ABBAS SAYS DISPLACEMENT OF PALESTINIANS WOULD AMOUNT TO SECOND NAKBA' AMMAN, Jordan Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently in Jordan, emphasized his complete rejection of displacing people from Gaza, saying it would amount to a second Nakba, or catastrophe. That's the term Palestinians use to describe their mass displacement from what is now Israel during the 1948 Mideast war surrounding its creation, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out. The fate of the refugees and their descendants, who now number nearly 6 million and are scattered across the Middle East, is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict. EGYPTIAN NEWS OUTLET SAYS ISRAELI FORCES ATTACKED ITS CREW CAIRO An Egyptian TV news station said Israeli forces attacked its crew in Jerusalem. The state-owned Al-Qahera News, which is close to security agencies, said some Israeli forces pointed their weapons at its crew filming the firing of sound bombs on Palestinians in the holy city. The station said Israeli troops forced them to leave the area. (AP) AMS Beijing, Oct 13 (AP) A 50-year-old Israeli man who works at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing was stabbed Friday in front of a supermarket, Chinese police and the Israeli government said. Beijing police said they had arrested a suspect, a 53-year-old foreign man. They described the victim as a family member of an Israeli diplomat. No motive was given for the attack. The employee was transferred to hospital and he is in a stable condition, an Israeli government statement said, without giving additional details. The stabbing occurred as Muslims across the world took to the streets in large protests after Friday prayers over Israel's intense bombing campaign in Gaza, following the unprecedented and deadly incursion by the militant group Hamas into southern Israel last Saturday. A video posted on social media showed a man with a knife grappling with another man on the ground and stabbing him several times, leaving a trail of blood stains on the sidewalk. People working in the area said they heard the victim shouting as police cars and an ambulance arrived. A police cordon was set up and the blood later washed away. Also Friday, Israel sharply criticised China's statement about the initial Hamas attack. Israel's Foreign Ministry said Ambassador Rafi Harpaz had expressed his country's deep disappointment to China's envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun. The two diplomats talked by phone on Thursday. There was no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organisation Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza, the Israeli statement said. The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society. Asked about the Israeli statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that China opposes acts harming civilians and violating international law. China will continue to work unremittingly for de-escalation of the situation and the resumption of peace talks, he said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking at a joint news conference with the EU foreign policy chief, said that China's Mideast envoy would travel to the region soon to work toward a ceasefire and de-escalation. China has supported the Palestinians in their demand for an independent state. Israel has the right to establish a state, and so does Palestine, Wang said, saying the failure to create a Palestinian state is the root cause of the conflict. In Beijing, about half-a-dozen plainclothes police were stationed outside the Israeli Embassy in addition to the normal contingent of uniformed officers. Some 2 kilometres away at the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing, plainclothes officers were also on hand and one was tightening wires on a fence. Since the war broke out, antisemitic remarks have surged on Chinese social media. Bombarded with hostile messages, the Israeli Embassy in Beijing is filtering comments on its Chinese social media account. The embassy selected a comment that said, Support Israel! Destroy the terrorist organisation! the remarks got 5,700 likes. Chinese state media have blamed the United States for fanning tensions in the region. The Chinese government has always propagated a narrative that places the blame squarely on Israel, a key US ally, because this aligns with a key objective of (the ruling Communist Party's) propaganda: to undermine the US in the international community," said Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Freedom House. This time, it is no exception. While the United States remains Israel's top ally, China in recent months had tried to reach out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government as tensions had risen with Washington over Netanyahu's planned overhaul of the country's judiciary, which sparked months of protests. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin were in the region Friday in support of Israel while President Joe Biden also has spoken out against the Hamas attack. America also has sent additional arms to Israel, deployed one aircraft carrier group and plans to send another to discourage a regional escalation as Israel prepares for a possible ground offensive in Gaza. The US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, tweeted on X that we are shocked by today's attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing and said the embassy had offered its full support to the Israeli Embassy and the Israeli community in China. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing earlier this week, voiced dissatisfaction over the initial Chinese statement on the deadly Hamas incursion. Schumer later said he was gratified when a Foreign Ministry spokesperson later added that China is deeply saddened by the civilian casualties" and "opposes and condemns acts that harm civilians. (AP) GRS GRS Aizawl, Oct 13(PTI)Mizoram chief minister and Mizo ational Front (MNF) president Zoramthanga on Friday claimed that a wave in favour of the ruling party is growing as assembly polls draw nearer. The chief minister was addressing the MNFs campaign kickoff programme in south Mizoram's Lunglei town. Addressing party workers, Zoramthanga said the MNF is confident of retaining power as the party's influence is steadily increasing over the past few months and a "wave was discernible" in its favour. "There are people who pray more than us that the MNF retains power," the chief minister said. The MNF president said that his party stands for the unity of all Zo ethnic tribes irrespective of their domicile and works for their well-being. He said that MNF government has objected the Centre's directive to deport refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh. On the state's financial condition, Zoramthanga, who also holds the finance portfolio, said that the state has been greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of which development projects could not be expedited as planned. He said that Mizoram also did not receive its share of taxes and grants from the Centre and its own tax collections were lower due to the pandemic. Despite these financial constraints and other hurdles, development projects were not halted, he said. The chief minister also said that the state also currently hosts over 50,000 refugees and internally displaced people from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur. Diphu/Guwahati (Assam), Oct 13 (PTI) Large quantities of heroin worth a total of Rs 5 crore have been seized and three persons arrested in separate incidents in two districts of Assam, police said on Friday. Acting on a tip-off, police launched a search operation in Khakrajan area in Karbi Anglong district and intercepted a vehicle coming from Dimapur in neighbouring Nagaland on Thursday night. During the search of the vehicle, police seized 726 gm of heroin concealed in secret chambers in the vehicle's doors, a police officer said. The value of the seized drugs was estimated to be over Rs 4 crore. Two occupants of the car were arrested, he said. In another incident, a team of Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police opened fire on a drug peddler who tried to escape on his vehicle upon seeing the law enforcers. He was later nabbed in Fancy Para in Jalukbari police station area in Kamrup district on Thursday. While searching his vehicle, police seized 170 gm of heroin hidden in 12 soap boxes. During further search at his rented residence in Guwahati, the STF team seized 100 gm of heroin, another police officer said. The total value of the seized drug was estimated to be more than Rs 1 crore, he said. Ranchi, Oct 13 (PTI) The Jharkhand High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, challenging issuance of summons by the ED to him in a case of alleged money laundering. A bench of Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen observed that the period of appearance in the summons has already lapsed and hence, there is no merit in the case. The Enforcement Directorate had sent summons to Soren to depose at the federal agency's office in Ranchi on August 14 and on a later date to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Soren had stated in his petition that the summons issued to him by the probe agency were unwarranted. The chief minister moved the high court after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea on the summons. A bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi, however, had granted him the liberty to approach the Jharkhand High Court for relief in the matter. I understand how difficult it is for a speaker to prepare a speech under such incredible pressure. We have talked about this topic in previous discussions. Thirty years ago, one million Azerbaijanis were ethnically cleansed and 20 percent of our territory was occupied. Azerbaijanis in our occupied territories had only two choices: to flee and become refugees or IDPs or to die. This was expressed by the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov during the discussion of the report "Humanitarian situation in Garabagh" within the framework of the autumn session of the organization, Azernews reports. "Those who decided to flee, saving their lives, became IDPs and still live in camps for displaced persons. Because their homeland in the Garabagh region is full of Armenian mines it is difficult to return home. Those who decided to stay, including more than 600 children, women, and old people, were brutally killed by Armenians in one night in Khojaly. With this pain, this problem, this tragedy, we came to the Council of Europe and made a commitment to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. However, we made this commitment not alone, but also together with Armenia. For 20 years we have been asking Armenia and the Assembly to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. What have the Armenians done? They occupied a large territory. They said, "No, we will never give these territories back." Have you heard the wailing about the killing of hundreds of children, women, and old people? You never heard about that. As the head of the Azerbaijani delegation, I say that we are sorry that Armenians left Garabagh, but their brains are poisoned, they have been poisoned by the propaganda "we cannot live together" for 30 years. But we can live together, we are capable of it, and that is why we are here," Seyidov said, protesting against some European parliamentarians for their views that do not reflect reality. It was noted that their approach in the Assembly was an unfounded accusation of "ethnic cleansing". The head of the Azerbaijani delegation rejected the unfounded accusations against our country and said: "However, we did everything we could, opened our doors, created a registration portal, and invited Armenians to stay. The UN Commissioner also stated this, these are his words. We invited representatives of the Council of Europe institutions to Azerbaijan. We are doing our best to restore justice, human rights and democracy. However, despite this, we have been criticized. We are under fire! We are criticized for the lack of democracy in this Assembly, go back to your values. You must realize that Azerbaijan has done important work to restore the territorial integrity of Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia that you want, and I am proud of that" Henrique Capriles began swimming against the tide years ago, and now he is unexpectedly doing it again. Just four days ago, the Venezuelan opposition leader surprised everyone by announcing his withdrawal from the primaries scheduled for October 22. It wont change the primaries much, as Maria Corina Machado leads all opposition candidates by a wide margin. However, Capriles is still a key figure in an opposition movement with squabbling factions trying to unite against the ruling regime. In his first interview following the announcement, Capriles explained his reasons for withdrawing after being disqualified by Venezuelan electoral authorities. He offered his opinions on Machado (also disqualified), the primaries and his expectations for the presidential elections in 2024. Question. You withdrew from the primaries unexpectedly a few days ago. Does your decision undermine the entire process? Answer. I believe it will simplify things. My objectives were twofold: first, to amplify the voices of vulnerable Venezuelans; and second, to emphasize the importance of electoral participation to nominate a competitive candidate to run against Maduro in 2024. Even the most extreme voices say we need to participate in the 2024 elections. This has always been one of my priorities, and not participating in the primary doesnt mean Im no longer committed to our cause. Q. What should voters who were considering voting for you do on October 22? A. Everyone should make the decision that seems best to them. Were fighting to win an election against an undemocratic regime, and I feel we shouldnt avoid discussing the electoral disqualifications with voters. Im leaving this process to facilitate that discussion. I have been disqualified for six years, and despite my hope of someday regaining my political rights, Im still disqualified. The country needs a candidate who can do more than just win a primary. While Ill support and fight for my candidate, its important to acknowledge the reality that we have all been disqualified. I cant expect a dictator like Maduro to lift the disqualification. Ignoring reality and believing that we can force Maduro to do anything is unrealistic. No one here accepts Maduros disqualifications, unconstitutional acts and atrocities. Lets accept reality and find the best way to face it. Q. Do you think the rest of the disqualified candidates should also withdraw? A. My message was not intended for any of the disqualified candidates. Its a personal decision to enable another candidate who is not disqualified to run. I think that will help Venezuelans choose a candidate. Unfortunately, I cant run since Im disqualified. My hopes were raised by the earlier negotiation process that received international support, but thats beyond my control. What I can do is help a candidate who has a chance of beating Maduro, and clearly I cant be that candidate. Q. If you were leading the polls, would you have still withdrawn? A. Thats what my detractors are saying, that I withdrew to avoid certain defeat. But no, politicians win and lose Im not afraid of losing. No, I wanted to shake things up so we could discuss whats most important to me bringing about change in 2024 for Venezuela. Personal ambitions must be put aside if favor of the vast majority of Venezuelans who hope for a viable opposition candidate. If someone else has a better chance than me of being that person, go for it. Q. The Maduro regime has used disqualifications to undercut the opposition. Dont you think that anyone who starts getting some support will ultimately be disqualified? A. Well, take a look at the 2021 elections in Barinas state. The opposition candidate for governor was disqualified after winning the election. When his wife was put forth as a substitute, she was disqualified. Then her substitute was also disqualified. Finally, a fourth candidate became governor in a state that had been controlled by the [Hugo] Chavez family for the last 20 years. I dont think Maduro has the power to disqualify 28 million Venezuelans. However, we shouldnt count on a messiah to save us. Maduro can certainly keep on disqualifying candidates, which is why the elections dont end on October 22. Its crucial to establish clear rules on how to handle potential disqualifications. I hope politicians can prioritize common interests over personal ambition, develop some rules to follow so we can have a strong candidate to defeat Maduro. Q. Do you think Maria Corina Machados candidacy will be viable if she wins the primary? A. I want all the disqualifications lifted. It doesnt matter what I think is viable or not. My message is not directed at any one individual. I think its time for me to step aside, and thats a personal decision. Im not harming anyone. I still believe that the most powerful weapon Venezuelans have is the vote. I was among those who criticized all the artificial and unrealistic policies of the interim government [after Maduros illegitimate election in 2018]. What has been the impact of those policies? Completely negative. Q. Which candidate do you endorse? A. My candidate is the primaries and unity. Q. What if Machado wins? A. Then Ill support her. But my candidate will always be free and fair elections. I dont believe in shortcuts or coercion. Venezuela needs fewer extreme voices on both sides. Q. Do you think Maria Corina Machado is one of those extreme voices? A. I have significant disagreements [with her] on social issues and on how to approach a transition. I have always focused on fostering dialogue rather than conflict. But her approach is confrontational, and I think achieving change in Venezuela requires acknowledging the adversary and moving away from the all-or-nothing mindset that has crippled us. Q. Why has Machados approach connected with so many people? A. Venezuela is experiencing a period of anti-political sentiment, of distrust in traditional politics. Its not the first time weve been here. Thats why I am so worried that anti-politics will lead us to a dead end. Q. What should be done if she wins the primary but cant register to run for president? A. Ill support whoever wins the primary, but were still unsure if the disqualifications will be lifted. If theyre not, Maduro will win every time. I think we should discuss every scenario with the primary winner and develop responses. This way, if Maduro doesnt lift the disqualifications, the opposition will still have options to pursue. Q. The primary will be self-managed by the opposition parties how will that work? A. Its a huge challenge, I hope it turns out well, but its not easy. I dont know exactly where Im supposed to vote yet. I always thought the primary should be conducted with the assistance of the National Electoral Council (CNE), but in the end we decided it would be self-managed. Q. What do you think about the recent news regarding the potential resumption of opposition talks in Mexico? A. I hope it happens. Im a Venezuelan who seeks agreement, not just for political stability, but also to address the economic and social recovery. Venezuelans are worried less about the political conflict than about the dire economic and social situation the monthly minimum wage is a paltry four dollars. We wont be able to fully exploit our abundant oil until an agreement is reached. Q. Despite your withdrawal, are you optimistic about 2024? A. To achieve true change in Venezuela, its crucial to approach the situation pragmatically. Negotiation plays a vital role, as the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy cannot be achieved solely through an election. Many things have to happen before the regime will accept a democratic transition of power. Some want to completely eliminate the regime and the Chavista movement. But the focus should be on enabling democratic recovery rather than indulging in empty rhetoric. Lets prioritize practical actions over words, despite the potential political ramifications. Q. Do you plan to retire from politics? A. No, this is my calling, I am a social advocate. I will keep fighting for the most vulnerable, for social justice, and for PDVSA [the national oil company] to remain a company that benefits all Venezuelans. Some want to sell it, but what will that do for us? Are we going to sell our countrys primary source of income? How will the people afford water and electricity? This goes beyond ideologies it affects the whole nation. Q. Do you think the Maduro regime is celebrating your withdrawal? A. Of course and the first one was Diosdado Cabello [a member of the National Assembly and a captain in the armed forces]. Q. Arent you then playing into their hands? A. No I am one of their biggest threats, which is why I was disqualified. Q. Have you thought about leaving the country? A. No, my three children are Venezuelan and theyre going to grow up here. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Chaibasa (Jharkhand), Oct 13 (PTI) An encounter between security personnel and members of the proscribed CPI (Maoists) took place on Friday in a forest in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, police said. During an anti-Maoist operation in the forest near Haathiburu-Kuira villages, the red rebels opened fire at security personnel, forcing them to retaliate, a senior officer said. The Maoists triggered an IED blast in an adjacent forest between Bamiaburu and Tiliyabeda villages while making a retreat from there, West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar said. "No one was injured in the IED blast," he said, adding that the operation is going on. The security personnel had recovered three Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) during the anti-Maoist operation a day before. Kolkata, Oct 13 (PTI) The West Bengal government will encourage sharing of institutional resources and infrastructure among educational institutions, from school up to the higher educational level, Education Minister Bratya Basu said on Friday. Basu attended a virtual meeting with all district magistrates to discuss the 'hub of learning through cluster approach for schools and higher educational institutions" project of the state government. He told reporters that the project aimed at facilitating collaborative learning and capacity building for both students and teachers. "As part of the project, there will be teacher exchange programmes and collaboration in teaching-learning on various components like computer education, latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science," the minister said. College and university teachers will lecture on different subjects outside the curriculum to school students as guest faculty, he said. The state government seeks to revamp its existing education system starting from pre-primary to higher education level as envisaged in the new State Education Policy, Basu said. In April, the School Education Department issued the "Guidelines on Hubs of Learning'' through cluster approach for the government and government-aided schools. Basu said the higher education department, after consultation with all stakeholders, has decided to form composite clusters consisting of schools, general and technical colleges and universities. Students will be encouraged to participate in exposure visits, seminars, career counselling sessions, vocational courses, imparting soft skills, and training for competitive examinations, he added. An education department statement said that 20 composite clusters across 17 districts have been formed in the first phase. "It is one of its kind of initiative taken through cluster approach in the entire country and will help students and teaching faculties to learn from each other through various exchange programmes," the minister said. The higher education department will be organising a symposium in collaboration with CII on November 4 to highlight the role of higher education in realising sustainable development goals. On the issue of the 'satyagraha' by officiating Vice Chancellor of Jadavpur University Buddhadeb Sau on Thursday to protest against the "unruly behaviour of some students during an Executive Council meeting and his appeal to all stakeholders to end the standoff, Basu said, "It is for him (Sau) to decide who is his higher authority." Sau and other university officials held a sit-in for over 15 hours outside the administrative building of JU. Kolkata, Oct 13 (PTI) Following are the top stories from the eastern region at 5.30 pm. CAL18 JH-HC-LD SOREN Jharkhand HC dismisses Soren's petition against ED summons in money laundering case Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, challenging issuance of summons by the ED to him in a case of alleged money laundering. CAL17 AS-HIMANTA-CONGRESS Congress should make coalition governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Himanta Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said the Congress, which had passed a resolution in support of Palestine regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, should make coalition governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. CAL15 WB-HC-PANCHAYAT-SEC-CONTEMPT Calcutta HC orders issuance of contempt rule against state poll commission Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered issuance of contempt rule against the West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) over deployment of central forces for holding free and fair rural body elections in the state. CAL10 OD-JAGANNATH-DRESS Jagannath Temple to discourage entry of devotees in revealing dresses, torn jeans Bhubaneswar: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri has decided to discourage people coming in shorts, transparent and revealing dresses, torn jeans and other inappropriate costumes from January 1, 2024. New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The Congress leadership on Friday discussed the candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections at a key meeting of the party's Central Election Committee, and asserted that the party is moving towards securing a full majority in the state. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the meeting which was attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary in-charge for Madhya Pradesh Randeep Surjewala and former chief minister Kamal Nath. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal also attended the meeting. "In Madhya Pradesh, youth, women, Dalits, tribals and backward classes are going to get justice in a few days. There will be a complete stop to the BJP's injustice, atrocities and corrupt misgovernance of the last 18 years," the Congress chief said in a post in Hindi on X. "This time the public will not allow the formation of an undemocratic BJP government in Madhya Pradesh through the back door," Kharge also said while sharing pictures of the CEC meeting. "This time the traitors will get a befitting reply.The Congress party is moving towards a full majority," he claimed while noting that an important meeting of the Central Election Committee was held regarding Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 17 and the results will be declared on December 3. New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The NHRC and state-level rights panels can share best practices and collaborate in some areas such as ensuring rights of workers engaged in cleaning septic tanks and proper functioning of drug de-addiction centres, officials said. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday held a national conference here of SHRCs, Special Rapporteurs and Monitors on advancing human rights. The NHRC in a statement also said that the commission and the state bodies can also collaborate on rehabilitation of those displaced due to the impact of climate change. NHRC chairperson justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra during the conference said that SHRCs (state human rights commissions) can play a significant role in ensuring the implementation of NHRC advisories and other judicial orders by pursuing them with state authorities. They need to own up the various NHRC advisories which have been prepared after wide consultations with experts and stakeholders on various issues concerning the rights of some vulnerable sections of society, the NHRC chief said. He also said that the NHRC may explore the option of hosting joint seminars and conferences with SHRCs, besides, the training of staff. Mishra also invited suggestions from SHRCs on the areas in which they can collaborate with the NHRC, particularly in matters where there are gaps in the legal provisions and implementation thereof. The NHRC chairperson said the SHRCs also need to have exposure to international forums and participate in conferences and workshops organised by global human rights bodies. Their presence at such forums can enhance the understanding of human rights mechanisms in India, he said. He also said that governments do respect the intent of the commission's interventions and recommendations. All that is required to "pursue the matters with them", the NHRC chief said. In this context, he cited the example of the Bihar government deciding to compensate the victims of hooch tragedies since 2016 after the NHRC's intervention. However, he reiterated that joining of HRCnet portal of the commission by SHRCs is key to eradicating the duplication of interventions, the situation of contradictory directions and the wastage of human resources. Mishra also said there is a need to increase coordination between Special Monitors and Special Rapporteurs of the NHRC with SHRCs. Special Rapporteurs and Monitors visit several places in states for on-the-spot assessment of human rights situations particularly with regard to prisons, shelter homes, mental healthcare institutions, observation homes, hospitals, juvenile justice homes, old age homes, and various government establishments. SHRC teams also visit such places and they can coordinate with the NHRC's Monitors and Rapporteurs to ensure more effective implementation of the legal provisions, social welfare schemes, and NHRC advisories in close coordination with their respective state authorities, the NHRC said in a statement. Mishra also said that the NHRC and SHRCs, despite being independent of each other, can still work in tandem to ameliorate the cause of various human rights across the country. He said that the NHRC and SHRCs are the product of the Protection of Human Rights Act, and the SHRCs are equally important institutions for the protection of human rights. Paris, Oct 13 (AP) France's interior minister on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend. President Emmanuel Macron urged French people not to allow the war in the Mideast erupt into tensions at home. Soon before Macron spoke in a televised address to the nation about the Mideast conflict, Paris police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had defied a ban and demonstrated Thursday against the Israeli government. "Let us not bring ideological adventures here (to France) by imitation or by projection. Let us not add national fractures ... to international fractures,?" Macron pleaded. "Let us stay united." With several French-Israeli citizens believed held hostage by Hamas, Macron pledged that France would protect its Jewish citizens and be ''ruthless toward all those who bear hate" and noted concerns about hostility toward France's Muslims too. Fighting in the Middle East in the past has led to tensions in France, which is estimated to have the world's third-largest Jewish population after Israel and the U.S., and the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. Thirteen French citizens in Israel have been killed in the current fighting, Macron said, with 17 people missing. Many are believed held hostage by Hamas. The Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation Thursday into the killings and suspected kidnappings. The French government has reported 24 arrests for more than 100 antisemitic acts in France since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday, including verbal abuse, people caught with knives near Jewish schools and synagogues and a drone equipped with a camera spotted over a Jewish cultural centre. More than 2,000 cases of antisemitic speech have been reported to an online watchdog force. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin sent a directive to local prefects on Thursday, seen by The Associated Press, calling for a further tightening of security around Jewish schools, synagogues and other sites. It said pro-Palestinian demonstrations should be banned and those who defy bans should be arrested, 'because they are susceptible to disrupt public order.'' Pro-Palestinian associations decried the move. The National Collective for a Fair and Lasting Peace between Palestinians and Israelis said it 'denounces this threat to freedom of expression,'' and pledged to continue holding actions to support the Palestinian people. At the banned Paris protest Thursday, protesters wearing Palestinian flags draped around their shoulders sprayed 'Free Palestine' on the monument underpinning Republic Plaza in eastern Paris. Many chanted chanted We are all Palestinians.'' Earlier this week, thousands of people marched in Paris in support of Israel, and the Eiffel Tower was lit up with a Star of David and the blue and white of the Israeli flag. Other European cities have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent days as well as pro-Israeli gatherings. Denouncing Hamas as a terrorist group, Macron called for peace efforts that would ensure both Israel's security and a Palestinian state. "Those who confuse the Palestinian cause with justifying terrorism are committing a moral, political and strategic error," he said. Macron also sought to address the concerns of French-Israeli families whose loved ones have disappeared and are believed kidnapped or killed by Hamas. Struggling to speak as they sobbed or choked back tears, family members of missing French citizens pleaded Thursday at a news conference in Tel Aviv for help from Macron. ''We will do everything so that these hostages, regardless of their nationality, are freed," Macron said. France's government organised an evacuation flight Thursday to bring French citizens in Israel to Paris, and other flights are planned in the coming days. (AP) SKY SKY New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to interfere with the arrest and subsequent police remand of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and portal's human resources department head Amit Chakravarty in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA. Dismissing their plea challenging the police action, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said, The court does not find merit in both petitions. Purkayastha and Chakravarty were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3. They subsequently moved the high court challenging the arrest as well as the 7-day police custody and sought immediate release as an interim relief. On October 10, the trial court sent them to judicial custody for ten days. A case has been lodged against the two under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly receiving money to spread pro-China propaganda. According to the FIR, a large amount of funds to the news portal allegedly came from China to "disrupt the sovereignty of India" and cause disaffection against the country. It also alleged that Purkayastha conspired with a group -- People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) -- to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL challenging Darwin's theory of evolution and Einstein's theory of special relativity that expresses the equivalence of mass and energy. A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said there cannot be a writ petition under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution to challenge scientific beliefs. "The petitioner wants to prove that Darwinian theory of evolution and Einstein's equation are wrong and he wants a platform for the said purpose. If that is his belief, then he can propagate his own belief. "This cannot be a writ petition under article 32 of the Indian Constitution, which has to deal with the issues of fundamental rights," the bench said. The Theory of Evolution, proposed by the English naturalist Darwin, explains that all living beings evolved through natural selection. Einstein's famous equation E = mc2 says that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable. As the PIL came for a hearing, Raj Kumar, who came to the courtroom clad in saffron clothes, said he had studied in his school and college about Darwin's theory and Einstein but he has found that whatever he studied was wrong. The bench then remarked, "Then you improve your theory. What is the Supreme Court supposed to do? You say you studied something in school, you were a science student. Now you say that those theories are wrong. If you believe that those theories were wrong, then the Supreme Court has nothing to do. What is the violation of your fundamental right under Article 32?" Ludhiana (Punjab), Oct 13 (PTI) A court here on Friday convicted 13 police personnel in a 2003 corruption case and sentenced each to five years in prison. The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Ajit Attri pronounced the order of conviction for the accused -- most of whom held the rank of head constable and one sub-inspector. It also slapped a fine on each. Subhash Kaitty and Bittu Chawla, who has since died, lodged a corruption complaint against the cops in 2003. According to the complaint, the police personnel posted at Division No 6, Ludhiana, were accused of taking a bribe of Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 each. Kaitty, the complainant, said he and Chawla used to run a lottery business. The convicted cops used to harass them routinely and take money from them. This forced them to install CCTV cameras in their shops that recorded the police personnel taking money. This footage was also presented in the court. During the trial, the accused police personnel claimed to be innocent and said they were being falsely implicated. After detailed hearing and arguments, the court pronounced the order. It also slapped a fine on the guilty. New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) Experts worldwide are calling on governments and health systems to acknowledge that male infertility may be increasing worldwide. They have provided a first-time roadmap for urgent, global action to address the common yet serious medical condition in a consensus report that includes recommendations and is published in the journal Nature Reviews Urology. The team of scientists compiling the report was led by the University of Melbourne, Australia. The report highlights that patients have a right to meaningful diagnoses and targeted treatments, but owing to inadequate funding, research gaps, and non-standard clinical practices, they are currently unavailable in most cases. The report's recommendations include a global "biobank" of tissues and clinical data from men, and their partners and children to help researchers understand genetic and environmental causes of infertility; genomic sequencing and better diagnostic tests routinely offered to men to help them understand why they are having difficulties fathering a child; rigorous tests of the impacts on men and boys of compounds such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals in everyday consumer products, the workplace, and the general environment. Other recommendations include regulations and policies to protect men and boys from disruptive compounds, and development of safe alternatives and better training to help healthcare workers promote male reproductive health across the lifespan. Evidence was mounting in Australia and worldwide that male reproductive health has declined over recent decades, but further research was needed, according to lead author Moira O'Bryan, Dean of Science at the university. "Decreasing semen quality and increasing frequency of testicular cancer and congenital defects in the urogenital system indicate that, globally, male reproductive health has declined over recent decades. Research is needed to understand why, and how this trend can be reversed," said O'Bryan. The Male Reproductive Health Initiative - a working group of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology - commissioned 26 experts from Australia, Argentina, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US to produce the evidence-based roadmap that identifies key knowledge gaps, barriers, and opportunities for researchers, governments, healthcare systems, and public education. O'Bryan said the report also highlighted that men and their partners deserve more support. "By the time they seek medical advice, men experiencing infertility are often in emotional distress, which is made worse when their doctor can't determine the cause nor offer any treatment," she said. Men are currently designated 'infertile' based on family history, physical examination, hormone profiles and semen analyses. "For most infertile men, the cause of their infertility is unknown. When it is known, few targeted treatments exist. Globally, the huge economic and social burdens of male infertility are not well appreciated. The cost of treatments and the impacts of infertility on mental health, relationships, and productivity are enormous," said O'Bryan. Medically assisted reproduction, often the default response to male infertility, fails to address the cause and pushes the burdensome and invasive procedures and associated risks onto women, according to study co-author Robert McLachlan. "Compared to fertile men, infertile men appear to experience a higher rate of a range of chronic health disorders and even a shortened lifespan. We need more research into these issues and whether their offspring may inherit these characteristics," he said. The World Health Organization estimates that infertility now affects one in six couples of reproductive age globally, according to a news release dated April 4, 2023. Gaza has been devastated. Residents dont even recognize their own homes, because the neighborhoods have been so badly destroyed that they have lost all their reference points. This is the first thing that Raquel Marti, executive director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Spain, denounces from her office in Madrid. She is closely following every development in the Gaza Strip, where the bombings by the Israeli army in retaliation for the attack by Hamas have killed at least 1,400 people in six days, including 12 humanitarian workers from UNWRA. The numbers of victims are overwhelming; the damage and urgent needs are endless. Marti says that her organization is having enormous problems supplying the 220,000 Gazans who have taken refuge in the 92 UNRWA schools spread across the Gaza Strip. Given the current resources and the blockade that Israel has imposed on the Gaza with all border crossings closed and no news of humanitarian corridors opening Marti estimates that in 11 days, at most, they will have no supplies left. Time is running out even faster for the nearly two million Palestinians who are not receiving humanitarian aid. The population is not receiving everything they need because we are rationing, since we do not know how much longer we will have. If the crossings are not opened, in 11 days we will stop distributing water, food, hygiene products and medicine, she says. Question. UNRWA is sheltering 220,000 people in 92 schools. Thats sounds very crowded. Answer. The schools are absolutely overcrowded, with women, children and entire families. But there are a total of 340,000 displaced people throughout Gaza, sleeping anywhere they can. The population is very afraid because the attacks are coming left, right and center. Scenes of people digging with their hands to remove victims from under the rubble are constantly seen. Q. Meanwhile, the International Red Cross warns that hospitals are going to become morgues. A. Hospitals have already become morgues, there is no more room for dead people in cold storage rooms. Bodies are piling up at their doors, there are not enough ICU beds and the injured are dying because doctors cannot cope, there are no essential medicines or supplies. Q. How long can hospitals last for? A. It depends on each one. Generators are running out of fuel because there is no electricity left in Gaza. The power plant has closed and hospitals have emergency generators for patients who need respirators or dialysis, for operating rooms or incubators for babies. But if there is no electricity or fuel, these people will not survive. Q. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Gazans to leave the GazaStrip if they wanted to save their lives from the attacks of the Israeli army, but where can they go if Israel has closed the crossing? A. Gaza has been besieged by land, sea and air since 2007. No one can leave without Israeli authorization, and they have to do so through Israeli crossings or the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt. What Netanyahu has said is that they leave through there, but this crossing has a capacity of 1,000 people a day, and we are talking about 2.2 million people. In other words, it would take about 2,200 days to evacuate all of Gaza; its ridiculous. In any case there are no humanitarian corridors, people cannot go through areas that are being bombed to get there and find out that they have to wait 2,200 days to leave. Israel has to open the crossings. Q. Egypt says that the Rafah crossing is open for essential medical supplies to enter. Isnt it coming in? A. Israels Kerem Shalom crossing is gigantic, like an airport terminal, with huge conveyor belts to load tons of food in every day. Rafah does not have this capacity, it is a door to the desert. Very little food can enter there, but it has also been bombed twice by Israel. They have to agree on humanitarian corridors not only for people to leave, but for aid to come in, because all the infrastructure has been bombed, and many roads in the Gaza Strip continue to be attacked. Q. If Israel does not agree to open the border crossings to create aid corridors, what is the prognosis for Gaza? A. People do not have electricity or water because the power plant is closed, and the desalination plant does not work. The water in the aquifer is not drinkable, the wastewater is not treated and this is going to cause a lot of diseases, and the markets are being left short of food. If the people of Gaza do not die from the bombs, they will die from starvation. Q. What is UNRWAs response to this scenario? A. We have made an emergency call because we need 100 million [$105 million] to help some 250,000 people with food, medicine and cash for 90 days. We are starting to appeal to donors. Although all the crossings are closed now, the moment they open we need to have all humanitarian aid ready. Q. We have been talking about the 250,000 people that you can help. But the total population in Gaza right now is 2.2 million inhabitants. What about everyone else? A. Within our appeal, we have a chapter to distribute aid to another 200,000 homeless Gazans who cannot be housed in the shelters. But, in addition, since Saturday we have had to close all our food distribution centers, with which we served 1.2 million people. These people have no way of getting food. Q. Survival for those who cannot access humanitarian aid is even more complicated. Is this the most extreme situation you have seen in Gaza? A. No. It is very similar to the situation in 2014. In that offensive there were 2,200 dead, half a million displaced, 11,000 injured... That was the most disastrous. But what the population in Gaza is saying is that this is the worst, because the degree of destruction is much faster than the other time. If this continues, we are on track to surpass the record we saw in 2014. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Chennai, Oct 13 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu government will strongly fight for the release of 14,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water by Karnataka to the state, Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said on Friday amidst the travails of farmers in the delta districts in saving standing paddy crops. Farmers dependent only on the water from the Mettur dam have taken up Kuruvai crop (short-term) cultivation in the delta districts and in certain pockets in Thanjavur district, anticipating steady discharge of Cauvery water from neighbouring Karnataka have taken up the Samba (long-duration) paddy crop. However, their hopes of realising a good yield appears bleak owing to the water level in the Mettur reservoir nearing dead storage. Besides agriculture, water from the dam caters to the drinking water requirement in the districts. Tamil Nadu will present its case at Fridays meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and strongly contend for the release of 14,000 cusecs of water to save the standing crops in the delta districts, Duraimurugan told reporters here. On Wednesday the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu from October 16 to 31, he said. To a question, the Minister ruled out the scope of releasing water from Mettur dam. "There is hardly 10 TMC water in the reservoir. So, we can't release water. Though the catchment areas are receiving rain we have to wait and see if the situation would improve," he added. The sudden rain in the catchment areas of Thoppaiyaru and Palar triggered a meager rise in the Mettur dam water level. Though the inflows increased to 18,974 cusecs on Thursday evening from 2,528 cusecs on the previous day, the inflows however, decreased to about 12,606 cusecs today, a Public Works Department official said. According to the secretary of Federation of Tamil Nadu All Farmers Association C Nallasamy, the water level in the dam decreased to 32 feet for the first time in the last seven years due to the failure of the southwest monsoon. He claimed that if the current situation continued there would be a crisis not only for agriculture but also drinking water in the districts dependent on Cauvery. Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Oct 12 (PTI) A 21-year-old man was shot at and injured by two robbers in a village here on Thursday evening, police said. The robbers made off with the man's motorcycle and mobile phone, they said. Kuldeep, a resident of Rorian village, was seriously injured after two unidentified robbers opened fire at him in nearby Pungian village. He was admitted to a local government hospital and later referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh, police said. Efforts are being made to nab the robbers who fled with Kuldeep's motorcycle and mobile phone, said Inspector Karnail Singh, Station House Officer of Model Town police station. Coast Guard records show that a historic sailing vessel on which a passenger was fatally injured by a broken mast was involved in three previous accidents in recent years when the schooner was under different ownership Federal prosecutors have rewritten their indictment against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife to charge them with conspiring to have him act as an agent of Egypt and Egyptian officials. The superseding indictment, filed in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, accuses Menendez of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register with the U.S. government if they are acting as an agent of a foreign principal. As a member of Congress, Menendez was prohibited from being an agent of a foreign government, even if he did register as one. Messages left with Menendezs Senate staff and attorney on Thursday were not immediately answered. The indictment says the conspiracy occurred from January 2018 to June 2022. It alleges that in May 2019, Menendez, his wife and a business associate, Wael Hana, met with an Egyptian intelligence official in Menendezs Senate office in Washington. During the meeting, they discussed an American citizen who was seriously injured in a 2015 airstrike by the Egyptian military using a U.S.-made Apache helicopter, the indictment says. Some members of Congress objected to awarding certain military aid to Egypt over that episode and the perception by certain lawmakers that the Egyptian government was not willing to fairly compensate the injured American citizen, according to the indictment. Shortly after the meeting in Washington, the Egyptian official texted Hana that if Menendez helped resolve the matter, he will sit very comfortably. Hana replied: Orders, consider it done, the indictment says. The new charge comes just weeks after the Democrat and his wife were accused of accepting bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator to help and influence over foreign affairs. The couple have pleaded not guilty. Hana, the business associate, pleaded not guilty last month to charges including conspiracy to commit bribery. In both the old and new indictments, prosecutor said Menendez, after meeting with an Egyptian official, lobbied then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to increase American engagement in stalled negotiations involving Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to build a dam over the Nile River, a key foreign policy issue for Egypt. The indictments said that while Menendez was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he took several steps to secretly aid Egyptian officials. That included ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt. He was also accused of passing along information about employees at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt and transmitting nonpublic information to Egyptian officials about military aid. Menendez, 69, has insisted that he did nothing unusual to assist Egypt and that prosecutors had misunderstood the work of a senator involved in foreign affairs. Authorities who searched Menendezs home last year said they found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars and over $480,000 in cash much of it hidden in closets, clothing and a safe. The new charge against Menendez comes as more than 30 Senate Democrats including his home state colleague, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker have called on him to resign. Menendez has remained defiant, telling his colleagues in a closed-door luncheon two weeks ago that he will not leave the Senate. Menendez has not said whether he will run for reelection next year. At least one Democrat, New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, has already jumped into the primary, and the head of Senate Democrats campaign arm, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, has called on Menendez to resign, signaling that he may not receive campaign assistance traditionally available to incumbents. (AP) With the death count over 1,200, thousands injured, over one hundred taken hostage, and soldiers on the front lines, the Israel-Hamas war is unparalleled in our generation. Horrifying pictures and videos of hostages, soldiers, victims, and those injured are circulating on social media and news sites. Much of this information is being distributed by Hamas and pro-Palestinian social media accounts with the abhorrent and traumatic goals of weakening the morale of Jews worldwide, and to show contempt to their victims. We anticipate that this disturbing material will only increase in the days to come, Hashem yeracheim, G-d forbid. Please understand that exposure to this gruesome material can be extremely damaging emotionally. Therefore, anyone with social media accounts should refrain from using them, and to delete the apps from their phones to prevent seeing graphic images that can cause long-lasting psychological trauma. It is all the more incumbent upon us not to share these pictures or articles with our children. While we never recommend that people should be on social media, at this time it is important to be especially vigilant. We request that anyone who sees any disturbing images not forward, share, or repost them in any way. We call upon responsible news outlets to be sensitive to these concerns as they consider how they are covering the war in Gaza. May our continued tefillos help bring a yeshuah. Agudath Israel of America Torah Umesorah (YWN World Headquarters NYC) City Council Member Inna Vernikov found herself in custody on Friday morning, facing charges of criminal firearm possession following her presence at a rally where a visible firearm was photographed on her waist. Vernikov voluntarily turned herself in at the NYPDs 70th Precinct in Brooklyn, and she subsequently surrendered her gun license, as confirmed by an NYPD spokesperson to POLITICO. Photographs circulating on social media, including X (formerly known as Twitter), depicted Vernikov with a firearm holstered on her hip while participating in a counterprotest during a pro-Palestinian rally outside Brooklyn College on Thursday afternoon. The NYPD spokesperson specified that the firearm in question was identified as a black Smith & Wesson 9 mm. Despite having a concealed carry license, attorney Ali Najmi raised concerns on X, suggesting that Vernikov may have violated state laws by possessing a firearm during a protest. Vernikov, a Republican, has been an advocate for Israel and voiced concerns about the impact of the rally on safety at CUNY campuses. Early Friday, an NYPD spokesperson informed POLITICO that there were no reported arrests or incidents linked to the protest. Although Vernikov did not respond to requests for comment, she shared a video from the student protest, where she stated, If you are here, standing today with these people, youre nothing short of a terrorist without the bombs. Criminal possession of a firearm in a sensitive location carries the designation of a Class E felony. Elon Musks social media platform X has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and taken down or labeled thousands of pieces of content since the militant groups attack on Israel, according to the CEO of the company formerly known as Twitter. Linda Yaccarino on Thursday outlined efforts by X to get a handle on illegal content flourishing on the platform. She was responding to a warning from a top European Union official, who requested information on how X is complying during the Israel-Hamas war with tough new EU digital rules aimed at cleaning up social media platforms. So far since the start of the conflict X has identified and removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts from the platform, Yaccarino said in a letter posted on X. The platform is proportionately and effectively assessing and addressing identified fake and manipulated content during this constantly evolving and shifting crisis, she wrote in response to the request from European Commissioner Thierry Breton, the digital enforcer for the 27-nation bloc. Under the EUs Digital Services Act, which took effect in August, social media companies have to step up policing of their platforms for illegal content, under threat of hefty fines. There is no place on X for terrorist organizations or violent extremist groups and we continue to remove such accounts in real time, including proactive efforts, Yaccarino said. X has taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content and pointed out that Community Notes a feature that allows users to add their own fact-checks to posts is visible on thousands of posts, generating millions of impressions. Since billionaire Musk acquired Twitter last year and renamed it, experts say the platform has become not just unreliable but actively promotes falsehoods, while a study commissioned by the EU found that its the worst-performing platform for online disinformation. Rivals such as TikTok, YouTube and Facebook also are coping with a flood of unsubstantiated rumors and falsehoods about the Middle Eastern conflict, playing the typical whack-a-mole that erupts each time a news event captures world attention. (AP) Within hours of the horrific attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needs to respond. A second U.S. carrier strike group departs from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday. Scores of aircraft are heading to U.S. military bases around the Middle East. And special operations forces are now assisting Israels military in planning and intelligence. The buildup reflects U.S. concern that the deadly fighting between Hamas and Israel could escalate into a more dangerous regional conflict. So the primary mission for those ships and warplanes for now is to establish a force presence that deters Hezbollah, Iran or others from taking advantage of the situation. But the forces the U.S. sent are capable of more than that. The U.S. is also expediting the shipment of munitions and interceptors for Israels fight against Hamas. A look at what weapons and options the U.S. military could provide: WEAPONS AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES The U.S. is providing some personnel and much-needed munitions to Israel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that a small cell of special operations forces was now assisting Israel with intelligence and planning. They have not been tasked with hostage rescue, contrary to some reporting, a defense official said, but could if they were requested to do so. The U.S. is also getting U.S. defense companies to expedite weapons orders by Israel that were already on the books. Chief among those is getting munitions for Israels Iron Dome air defense system sped along. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that resupplying Iron Dome munitions and air defense systems was an immediate priority. Were surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome, Biden said. Were going to make sure that Israel does not run out of these critical assets to defend its cities and its citizens. Iron Domes missiles target rockets that approach one of its cities. According to Raytheon, Israel has 10 Iron Dome systems in place to protect its cities. Beginning with Saturdays attack, Hamas has fired more than 5,000 rockets at Israel, most of which the system has been able to intercept, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Raytheon produces most of the missile components for Iron Dome in the U.S., and the Army has two Iron Dome systems in its stockpile. NAVY SHIPS AND PLANES One of the most visible examples of the U.S. response was the announcement Sunday by the Pentagon to redirect the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to sail toward Israel. The carrier had just completed an exercise with the Italian Navy when the ship and its crew of about 5,000 were ordered to quickly sail to the Eastern Mediterranean. The carrier provides a host of options. Its a primary command and control operations center and can conduct information warfare. It can launch and recover E2-Hawkeye surveillance planes, recognized by their 24-foot (7-meter) diameter disc-shaped radar. The planes provide early warnings on missile launches, conduct surveillance and manage the airspace, detecting not only enemy aircraft but also directing U.S. movements. The Ford carries F-18 fighter jets that could fly intercepts or strike targets. The carrier also has significant capabilities for humanitarian work, including an onboard hospital with an ICU and emergency room and about 40 medics, surgeons and doctors. It sails with helicopters that can be used to airlift critical supplies in or victims out. On Friday, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group will leave its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, and sail for the Mediterranean, potentially doubling the Navys Israel response. The Eisenhower had already been scheduled to deploy to the Mediterranean on a regular rotation, and the Ford is near the end of its deployment. But the Biden administration may decide to extend the Fords deployment and keep both strike groups out there, White House spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. AIR FORCE WARPLANES The Pentagon has also ordered additional warplanes to bolster existing squadrons of A-10, F-15 and F-16 squadrons at bases throughout the Middle East and is ready to add more if needed. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Tuesday at an Atlantic Council event that the service was doubling up by directing units that were about to come home to remain in place and stay there along with their replacements. The U.S. Air Force already has significant airpower in the region to conduct manned and unmanned operations, most notably in Syria where an Air Force F-16 last week was ordered to shoot down a Turkish drone that was posing a threat to U.S. ground forces operating there. Kendall also said U.S. Air Force C-17s have landed in and departed from Israel since the attacks. The transport planes were picking up U.S. military personnel who were there for a military exercise that hadnt started yet when the attacks began, the Air Force said in a statement. Neither the Air Force nor Central Command would comment on what additional missions U.S. airpower might take on in response to the conflict. (AP) Germany is offering military help to Israel and promising to crack down on support for the militant Hamas group at home following the groups attack on Israel. Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday underlined Germanys historical responsibility for Israels security. The Defense Ministry said it agreed to an Israeli request to use up to two of five Heron TP combat drones that are currently leased by the German military and were already in Israel for the training of German servicepeople. And Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Brussels that Israel has requested ammunition for warships, a request that will now be discussed. Scholz told the German parliament that he has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform Germany of any needs, for example the treatment of wounded. At this moment, there is only one place for Germany the place at Israels side, he told lawmakers. Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the state of Israel. Scholz noted that thousands of people have demonstrated in support of Israel in recent days, but said that there were also other, shameful pictures from Germany last weekend. On Saturday, a small group handed out pastries in a Berlin street and dozens of people later demonstrated in celebration of the Hamas attack. Scholz said that Germany will issue a formal ban on activity by or in support of Hamas, which is already listed by the European Union as a terror group. He said groups such as Samidoun, which was behind the weekend pastry action, will be banned. Scholz said there will be zero tolerance for antisemitism. The chancellor also questioned the lack of a clear condemnation of the Hamas attack by the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying that their silence is shameful. Germany has suspended development aid for the Palestinian areas, though it is keeping up humanitarian help. Scholz also assailed Irans role in the region. We have no tangible evidence that Iran gave concrete and operative support to this cowardly attack by Hamas, he said. But is clear to us all that, without Iranian support in recent years, Hamas would not have been capable of these unprecedented attacks on Israeli territory. Several German citizens were among those kidnapped in Saturdays attack. (AP) The Israeli military has warned that the more than 1.1 million residents of the northern portion of the Gaza Strip must evacuate to the south within 24 hours, said the United Nations in the early hours of Friday. The U.N. has been informed by Israeli liaison officers that half the population of the Palestinian enclave, where 2.3 million people live in overcrowded conditions in a 25-mile (40-kilometer) long strip of land, must be moved southwards immediately. The Israeli militarys warning also instructs Gazans not to approach the separation fence with Israel. The message could signal an impending ground invasion by the Israeli Armed Forces in response to the Hamas attack last Saturday that claimed the lives of 1,300 Israelis and concluded with the kidnapping of more than 100 people. Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said in an official statement from New York that the measure affects the entire population located north of Wadi Gaza. This includes Gaza City, capital of the Palestinian coastal territory. Dujarric considers it is impossible that such a massive movement of people could occur without devastating humanitarian consequences. The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians. Following the warning, Israels ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, stated that the U.N.s response to Israels prior warning to residents in Gaza is shameful. A spokesman for the Hamas organization has urged the Gaza population to ignore the Israeli alert. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs told residents of the north of the territory to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation, according to Associated Press. Day of Jihad Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal has called for protests across the Muslim world on Friday in support of the Palestinians and for the peoples of neighboring countries to join the fight against Israel, Reuters reported. [We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday, Meshaal, who currently heads Hamass diaspora office, said in a recorded statement sent to the news agency. Tribes of Jordan, sons of Jordan, brothers and sisters of Jordan... This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you, you all know your responsibility, Meshaal said. In a press briefing on Thursday at the White House, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby addressed reporters questions about the risk of any potential activity against Americans on the alleged Day of Jihad, saying that we are constantly in touch with local law enforcement, state and state and federal officials across the country to to make sure that we are as as vigilant as we can be to be able to identify and disrupt any threats to the American people. Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka told a Russian TV station that the dastardly attacks carried out by its terrorist members this past weekend in Israel had been planned for more than two years. The zero hour was kept completely secret. A limited number of Hamas leaders knew it. The number of people who knew about the attack and its timing could be counted on one hand, Baraka said. In the past couple of years, Hamas has adopted a rational approach. It did not go into any war, and did not join the Islamic Jihad in its recent battle, Baraka said, noting that it was simply a ruse to allow Hamas to prepare for this attack. We made them think that Hamas was busy with governing Gaza, and that it wanted to focus on the 2.5 million Palestinians [in Gaza], and has abandoned the resistance altogether, the blood-stained murderer said. The Israelis are known to love life. We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs. The thing any Palestinian desires the most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah, defending his land, he said, in a stark illustration of the difference between Israel and the terrorists. We have been preparing for this for two years. We have local factories for everything. We have rockets with ranges of 250 kms, 160 kms, 80 kms, 45 kms, and 10 kms, he added. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) The first group of Thai workers evacuated from Israel after the past few days bloody events in southern Israel and Gaza arrived Thursday in the Thai capital of Bangkok, greeted by anxious relatives and senior officials. Hamas terrorists stormed through a border fence Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival. The Israelis have responded with airstrikes and preparations for a possible ground invasion. The conflict has claimed at least 1,300, including some Southeast Asian workers living in Israel. The 41 Thais who returned home on a commercial flight of the Israeli airline El Al included two men wounded in the violence who had to use wheelchairs to exit the aircraft. Farm laborers from Thailand seek work in more developed countries where there is a shortage of semi-skilled labor at wages considerably higher than they can earn at home. Tens of thousands of workers in Israel from nations including Thailand and the Philippines send their earnings home to support their families. That money also helps to fire up their native countries economies. But the appearance of Thais and Filipinos on the lists of dead, wounded and missing in the past few days is a reminder that foreign workers toil in peril of their lives. About 30,000 Thais are working in Israel, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry, and about 5,000 of them live in the southern area near the border with Gaza. One of them, Katchakorn Pudtason, said his employer at the farm where he worked initially herded all his workers into a bunker when Saturdays attacks took place, but after they left it for lunch they could still hear shooting. As they were being driven back to their workplace, Katchakorn heard more gunshots and felt something hit his knee, he said. I thought it was a rock but it went through. So I hit the truck and told the driver to drive away, he said. He added that he was one of four people in the vehicle who suffered injuries that day. He was one of the two returnees who had to use a wheelchair. Thailands Cabinet ministers for labor, defense and foreign affairs were at Bangkoks international airport for the evacuees arrival. The government has vowed to look after the evacuees physical and mental well-being. Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said 5,990 Thais have registered to be evacuated and officials are working around the clock to accommodate them. We need a Plan B to take out as many people as possible, said Defense Minister Suthin Klangsaeng. We will use military aircraft to evacuate people from the high-risk area to a third country, such as (the United Arab Emirates). The number of Thais affected by the tragedy stood out in lists of non-Israeli nationals affected by the violence: Thailands foreign ministry Thursday said 21 Thais are believed dead and 14 wounded. Sixteen were believed to have been taken hostage. Survivor Chatree Chasri left his home in northeastern Thailand in 2019 to work in Israel as an agricultural laborer to pay off debts and provide for his wife and two children back home in Nakhon Phanom. Foreign work is a common path for Thais from the countrys economically disadvantaged rural areas, especially the northeast. Working under a government-to-government agreement, the 38-year-old has been farming tomatoes and cauliflower for the past four years in the southern Israeli town of Mivtahim, less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) away from Israels border with Gaza. Despite the occasional shelling and rocket attacks that sent him running for cover, his life at the farm had been OK until Saturday, he said from Israel in a phone interview with The Associated Press. Now he says he wants to come home, and never go back to Israel. Chatree was shot several times in his hip shortly after Hamas launched its rocket attacks and shock ground offensive into southern Israel, killing hundreds of people and capturing more than 100 who were hauled back to Gaza as hostages. Chatree was using a bathroom at the farm where he works with other foreign laborers when he suddenly heard gunshots. The sounds came closer and bullets went through the wall of the bathroom, he said, recalling the moment he was hit. He then saw two terrorists making their way into the workers living quarters and open fire, so the workers fled outside to hide. Vibhavadi Vannachai, a Thai expatriate who has lived in Israel for nearly two decades and is coordinating with Israeli authorities to help the Thai workers, fears the number of victims may rise. Vibhavadi, originally from Nong Bua Lamphu province in Thailands northeast, works as an interpreter in a legal office whose cases mostly involve resolving disputes between Thai workers and their employers. Vibhavadi helped find temporary accommodations for Chatree and Padoong Bootmo, a 26-year-old Thai worker shot on Saturday who said the potato and yam farm where he works in Yehuda and Shomron was raided twice by gunmen and then burned down. Padoong said in a phone interview he had been able to send 40,000 baht ($1,100) home each month. He might under the best of circumstances make less than half that doing the same job in Thailand, but he said he doesnt want to stay in Israel anymore. The murder of at least two Filipino foreign workers underscored the threats also faced by those workers in Israel. About 30,000 Filipinos live and work in the country many as caregivers who look after the elderly, the ill and those with physical disabilities, according to the Philippines foreign ministry. The huge income they send back home, which last year amounted to an all-time high of $36.14 billion, has helped keep the countrys fragile economy afloat. One of the two Filipinos killed Saturday was a caregiver who was shot with her employer inside their house by Hamas gunmen, according to the Philippines Embassy in Israel. The other was killed under still-unclear circumstances. At least three Filipinos remain missing, embassy officials have said. Still, Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said Wednesday that no Filipino has asked to be repatriated from Israel. Jeremiah Supan, a 34-year-old Filipino caregiver in Israel, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday that he made it clear to Philippines officials he did not want to return home. As the family breadwinner, he sends his earnings home to enable his 10-year-old son to remain in school and sustain other loved ones. The rocket firings continue Supan said. But if I leave, all that assistance that I send to my family back home will be lost. (AP) In yet another iteration of the awe-inspiring Achdus that Yidden across the globe have demonstrated since the awful Hamas attacks in Eretz Yisroel, more than 100 Yidden who became stranded in London after their flight to Israel was turned back just prior to landing were put up at hotels and provided warm, nourishing food by local Jews. The passengers, who had been looking forward to land at Tel Aviv before their flight was ordered back to Londons Heathrow Airport just before the flight was to touch down on Israeli soil, were tired and starving by the time they returned to the United Kingdom. But waiting for them were local Askanim, who spent hours running around to restaurants picking up food and booking rooms at various hotels. Nobody knew each other, but they were bonded by thousands of years of shared history and an inextinguishable love for their fellow Jews. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) The Palestinian owners of a pizza shop in the West Bank town of Huwara apparently found the recent Hamas attacks and abductions of Israelis into Gaza quite humorous, so much so that they had an ad created featuring one of the hostages. The ad, shared by the pizza shop on Facebook, shows an elderly Israeli woman being held captive in Gaza next to one of their pizza pies and urging people to come buy them. The IDF wasnt amused. On Thursday evening, an armored bulldozer showed up at the pizza shop and promptly leveled it to the ground. The pizza shop owner was also arrested by security forces and is now facing charges. Not such a funny joke now, right? (YWN World Headquarters NYC) US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at IDF military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Friday, emphasizing the need for a clear stance regarding Hamass attack on southern Israel and the IDFs response. He stated, this is no time for neutrality or false equivalence. Highlighting the distinction between Israels self-defense actions and the malevolent nature of Hamas, Austin underlined that comparisons between the two should never be made. He went on to say, I know ISIS very well, and what weve witnessed here is even worse than my experiences with ISIS. Furthermore, Austin condemned Hamas, describing the group as having nothing to offer but zealotry, bigotry, and death, and he noted that the previous Saturday had been the bloodiest since the Holocaust for Jews worldwide. In a resolute statement, Austin affirmed, I came here to make something clear: American support for Israel is unwavering. He also issued a stern warning to potential instigators, saying, For anyone contemplating exploiting this tragedy to escalate the conflict or cause more bloodshed, we have a single word: dont. The world is watching, and so are we, and we will not back down. Austin emphasized the United States capability to support both Ukraine and Israel concurrently, stating, The US can address multiple issues simultaneously. Reflecting on the challenging week and condemning the actions of the terrorist organization, Austin, who played a pivotal role in planning the war on ISIS, reiterated, I know ISIS very well, and what weve seen here is even worse than my experiences with ISIS. A suspected terrorist attack occurred on Friday when an Israeli diplomat in China was stabbed. The diplomat, employed at Israels embassy in Beijing, was assaulted in a location distant from the embassy itself. Israels foreign ministry has verified the incident, reporting that the diplomat was promptly taken to a hospital for medical treatment and is currently in stable condition. Sponsored Content As Shabbos approaches, let us provide assistance to the communities in Southern Israel and beyond. We know the enormity of what is happening in Israel. We understand the gravity of this crisis. And we must respond. We must cry. We must pray. We must share in their pain, their grief, their suffering. And now, must step up and step in and help In Every Way, On Every Front. Chabad Israel has created a United Front to assist in every way and on every front. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. They are Supporting the devastated families of terror victims and of hostages. 2) Caring for the injured and wounded as medical facilities are overwhelmed. 3) Providing assistance and encouragement for our chayalim as they fight for our Nation. 4) Aiding the communities of Southern Israel who are locked indoors and under attack. They need us to help them, to support them, to inspire them during this time of crisis and uncertainty. Shipments of various supplies are already in motion, but theres still much to accomplish. Chabad of Israel urgently requires YOUR BACKING before Shabbos to ensure it can deliver all essential support on every front. This is where YOU become a part of the equation! We grasp the enormity of the situation in Israel. We comprehend the seriousness of whats going on. We must unite, step forward, and assist in every manner, on every front. Join the campaign. Contribute generously. Here are three ways you can support our brothers and sisters for Shabbos: Adopt a Shliach for Shabbos 1. Backing the Shluchim on the front lines who are aiding the families of victims, tending to the injured and wounded, and extending assistance to our soldiers as they protect our nation. Adopt a Soldier for Shabbos 2. Supporting the Soldiers on the front lines as they defend our people. Adopt a Families 3. Aiding the Families across the Israel who need a place to stay or food for Shabbos. As we prepare for Shabbos in our own homes, donate to those who need it most: charidy.com/united4israel Wealth manager St James's Place's shares tumbled after reports emerged that it could be forced to revamp its fee structure. St James' Place shares closed down 21.8 per cent, or 178.4p to 640.2p, making them the worst performer on the FTSE 100 Index by a considerable distance. The dive sent the stock to its lowest level since 2013 after St James' Place, which has come under fire for high fees, said that it was conducting an 'assessment' of what it charges customers. The Financial Times said the British investment giant was in discussions with regulators concerned that the wealth manager is not adequately abiding by new Consumer Duty rules. Decline: St James's Place shares tumbled on Friday morning after reports emerged that the investment manager could be about to revamp its fee structure Since July, all firms overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority have been required to provide consumers with 'timely and clear' information, better customer service, and products and services offering 'fair value'. SJP, Britain's largest wealth manager, has been accused by critics of operating an unfair fee structure, charging high amounts for financial advice and making early withdrawals. Currently, withdrawal fees for new clients go up to 6 per cent and gradually drop to 1 per cent over six years. Just before the Consumer Duty rules came into force, SJP declared a cap on annual management charges for clients who had invested in bond and pension investments for over a decade. But, according to the FT, this has not sufficiently satisfied regulators, who have asked bosses to justify maintaining exit fees for current customers while abolishing them for new ones. In addition, it reported that the FCA was considering whether customers were best served by significant upfront advice costs and finding it difficult not to pay advice fees in the distant future. However, SJP is worried that abolishing exit fees for existing clients could cause substantial damage to its balance sheet. Approximately 30 per cent of the firm's assets under management - 47billion - had been subject to exit penalties as of June 2023, the FT calculated. In a statement to investors, SJP said it was reviewing its fees and charging models to create 'a simple and scalable charging platform for the long term'. It added that although the evaluation had not yet been finalised, the firm is 'confident that all the options under consideration will ensure value for clients and a strong, secure, and sustainable business for all stakeholders'. SJP said: 'We naturally continue to engage with all of our primary regulators during this process.' SJP's announcement comes less than a fortnight after former Prudential boss Mark FitzPatrick became its chief executive-designate. He is replacing Andrew Croft, who will stand down in December following a three-decade career at the company, including 13 years as finance chief and five as CEO. The City watchdog is under mounting pressure to investigate the Barclays board over how it appointed and then stood by former chief executive Jes Staley during the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Figures in the City and Westminster said the Financial Conduct Authority should look into the conduct of the board and why it failed to interrogate Staley deeper about his relationship with the convicted sex offender during his six year tenure at the head of the bank. Particular focus is on Barclays chairman Nigel Higgins, who took over in May 2019. Higgins was chairman when a letter was sent by Barclays to the regulator in October 2019 which contained a number of 'misleading' statements about Staley's relationship with Epstein. In the letter, Barclays stated that Staley did not have a close relationship with Epstein and that his last contact had been well before joining Barclays in 2015. Probe: Figures in the City and Westminster said the Financial Conduct Authority should look into the conduct of the board In reality, Staley considered Epstein to be one of his 'deepest' and 'most cherished' friends, and he was in contact with the sex offender three days before his appointment to the top job at Barclays. Fining Staley 1.8m this week and banning him from working in the City for life, the FCA branded the letter 'misleading'. Higgins and the rest of the Barclays board are now facing questions as to why they did not probe Staley harder. MP Harriett Baldwin, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said: 'The Barclays board has questions to answer.' Higgins is also under pressure for standing by Staley despite persistent warning signs. In December 2019, Barclays launched its own internal review which concluded that Staley was sufficiently transparent with executives. That same month Higgins was summoned to see Mark Carney, Bank of England governor at the time, who told Higgins to consider Staley's position. And Barclays was still sticking by its chief executive in February 2020 when the Financial Conduct Authority began its investigation into Staley. Staley did not leave his post until November 2021. There are also question marks over Staley's appointment. The American was hired in October 2015 by Barclays chairman John McFarlane and head of the nominations committee Sir Michael Rake. Three days before he was officially named chief executive, the Mail on Sunday revealed that the known paedophile Epstein was backing his bid to get the top job. The Bank of England is keeping an eye on X the app formally known as Twitter as it seeks to guard against further banking collapses, governor Andrew Bailey has revealed. It comes in response to crises such as the demise of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year, which have been exacerbated by the speed at which information can spread on social media and cash can be pulled out online. 'There's an interesting question about how we monitor Twitter X because we have to find ways to know whether this sort of thing is breaking out because obviously we have to react very quickly now if we see evidence that it is,' Bailey said. SVB's UK division was rescued by HSBC in a deal overseen by the Bank of England and the Treasury after it lost 30 per cent of its deposits in one morning. Bailey told a meeting of the Institute of International Finance in Marrakech, Morocco, that the Bank had to recognise that the rapid spread of information was 'the world we live in'. Watching brief: Crises have been exacerbated by the speed at which information can spread on social media and cash can be pulled out online 'There's no point railing against it and saying can't we go back to a world where people couldn't communicate as quickly,' he said. 'They do, it happens and we have to monitor it.' Bailey said the Bank's tools for dealing with a banking collapse 'do work'. But he added: 'We now have to respond to the fact that banks can in extremis lose proportions of their deposits quickly.' Luis Alfredo Garavito, who is responsible for killing and raping the highest number of children in Colombias history, died Thursday at the age of 66. The news was confirmed by Colombias National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC), which said in a statement that he had died at Santo Tomas clinic in Valledupar, where he was being treated for cancer. The Monster from Genova as Garavito was nicknamed was guilty of sexually abusing and murdering at least 189 minors. He confessed to the crimes, which took place in the 1990s, during a span that lasted less than a decade. A few months ago, it was revealed that Garavito had been diagnosed with cancer. Garavito was sentenced in 2000 to more than 1,800 years in prison for killing and sexually abusing 189 children aged between eight and 16. However, he was only sentenced to 40 years in prison, which was the maximum sentence allowed by Colombian law at the time. He was still serving his sentence when he died on. Garavito who was also known as The Beast was captured in April 1999 and imprisoned on charges of violent sexual intercourse, violent carnal access, homicide, arson and kidnapping. In 2021, he asked for parole on the grounds of good behavior, but was denied his request. In May of that year, the TV program Los Informantes published a letter issued by INPEC certifying the prisoners good behavior. However, the following November, the then director of INPEC, Mariano Botero Coy, announced that Garavito would not be released under any circumstances. The criminal a native of the municipality of Genova (Quindio) was serving his prison sentence in the maximum security prison of La Tramacua, in the capital of the department of Cesar. The self-confessed serial killer committed his crimes in at least 11 of Colombias 32 departments. He also committed some crimes in neighboring Ecuador. To get close to his victims, he disguised himself as a homeless person, a monk or a disabled person and approached foundations that worked with children, which were often of humble origin. Sometimes he would also lure children with sweets or promises to gain their trust and take them to less crowded areas. Throughout his incarceration, Garavito gave several interviews to various national and international media outlets. In them, apart from confessing to the crimes and indicating where he buried his victims, he claimed to be repentant and to have embraced the Christian faith. The possibility of Garavito being released on parole has always been roundly opposed by Colombia, which lived in fear before he was arrested in the 1990s, which was already a very violent time for the country. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition TORONTO, October 12, 2023 Thomson Reuters (NYSE/TSX: TRI), a global content and technology company, today announces it has been awarded the Intel Oracle Global Leaders Award for ISV (independent software vendor) of the Year in the Americas region for 2023. The accolade, announced at this years Oracle CloudWorld conference, was awarded in recognition of Thomson Reuters contributions in utilizing Oracle database cloud technologies to drive innovation and deliver outstanding solutions to customers around the world. Offering customers secure, fast performing, and reliable tax solutions is at the center of a strategic partnership between Thomson Reuters and Oracle. The ONESOURCE suite, which leverages Oracle cloud technology, was highlighted as an example of excellence as part of the award recognition. Together with Oracle we are delivering increased value to our mutual customers, providing world-class solutions to support them in doing business with confidence, said Chris Carlstead, Head of Partnerships & Alliances, Thomson Reuters. This award is testament to our commitment to staying at the forefront of technology with the support of our partners. The Intel Oracle Global Leaders Award is an industry-leading recognition that celebrates champions for their outstanding accomplishments and success in deploying Oracle Data platform solutions. It is awarded for remarkable achievements and dedication to embracing the latest Oracle Database, such as Autonomous Database, and other cloud technologies to offer innovative services to their customers. Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters (NYSE / TSX: TRI) (TR) informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. The company serves professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Its products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news. For more information, visit tr.com. Media contact Kirsty Bennett Director, Customer and Product PR kirsty.bennett@thomsonreuters.com Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC lowered its position in McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD Free Report) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,567 shares of the fast-food giants stock after selling 51 shares during the quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLCs holdings in McDonalds were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in McDonalds by 103.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 413 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in McDonalds by 7.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $17,266,000 after buying an additional 5,007 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in McDonalds by 4.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 516,408 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $127,697,000 after buying an additional 23,643 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of McDonalds in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,108,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of McDonalds by 59.7% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 9,338 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 3,490 shares during the period. 67.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get McDonald's alerts: Insider Activity In related news, EVP Heidi B. Capozzi sold 688 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $194,387.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,019 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,656,168.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 5,606 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $1,569,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 29,031 shares in the company, valued at $8,128,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Heidi B. Capozzi sold 688 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $194,387.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,656,168.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,443 shares of company stock worth $6,916,994 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. McDonalds Stock Performance NYSE MCD traded down $2.89 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $248.03. The companys stock had a trading volume of 682,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,572,739. The companys 50-day moving average is $275.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.49. McDonalds Co. has a fifty-two week low of $234.46 and a fifty-two week high of $299.35. The stock has a market cap of $180.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.65. McDonalds (NYSE:MCD Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The fast-food giant reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.40. McDonalds had a net margin of 33.06% and a negative return on equity of 139.57%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that McDonalds Co. will post 11.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. McDonalds Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a boost from McDonaldss previous quarterly dividend of $1.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. McDonaldss payout ratio is 55.93%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms have weighed in on MCD. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on McDonalds from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of McDonalds in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of McDonalds from $315.00 to $330.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded McDonalds from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on McDonalds from $346.00 to $383.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $321.50. View Our Latest Analysis on McDonalds About McDonalds (Free Report) McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises McDonald's restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company's restaurants offer hamburgers and cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches and nuggets, fries, salads, shakes, frozen desserts, sundaes, soft serve cones, bakery items, soft drinks, coffee, and beverages and other beverages, as well as breakfast menu, including muffins, Sausages, biscuit and bagel sandwiches, oatmeal, hash browns, breakfast burritos and hotcakes. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MCD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for McDonald's Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McDonald's and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD Free Report) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,440 shares of the fast-food giants stock after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. McDonalds makes up approximately 1.4% of LMG Wealth Partners LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. LMG Wealth Partners LLCs holdings in McDonalds were worth $4,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonalds by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 218 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonalds by 2.4% during the first quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,436 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Bremer Bank National Association increased its stake in shares of McDonalds by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bremer Bank National Association now owns 8,385 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Day & Ennis LLC raised its stake in McDonalds by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Day & Ennis LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the fast-food giants stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in McDonalds by 3.2% in the first quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,135 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.60% of the companys stock. Get McDonald's alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 4,487 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.87, for a total value of $1,336,542.69. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,399,292.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 4,487 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.87, for a total transaction of $1,336,542.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,412 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,399,292.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.52, for a total value of $868,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,605 shares in the company, valued at $464,679.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,443 shares of company stock worth $6,916,994 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades MCD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on McDonalds from $319.00 to $343.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of McDonalds from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of McDonalds in a research report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of McDonalds from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on McDonalds from $317.00 to $283.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $321.50. View Our Latest Report on McDonalds McDonalds Stock Down 1.2 % McDonalds stock traded down $2.89 on Thursday, hitting $248.03. The companys stock had a trading volume of 682,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,572,739. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.49. The firm has a market cap of $180.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.65. McDonalds Co. has a one year low of $234.46 and a one year high of $299.35. McDonalds (NYSE:MCD Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The fast-food giant reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.30 billion. McDonalds had a net margin of 33.06% and a negative return on equity of 139.57%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that McDonalds Co. will post 11.52 EPS for the current year. McDonalds Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This is a boost from McDonaldss previous quarterly dividend of $1.52. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. McDonaldss dividend payout ratio is presently 55.93%. McDonalds Profile (Free Report) McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises McDonald's restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company's restaurants offer hamburgers and cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches and nuggets, fries, salads, shakes, frozen desserts, sundaes, soft serve cones, bakery items, soft drinks, coffee, and beverages and other beverages, as well as breakfast menu, including muffins, Sausages, biscuit and bagel sandwiches, oatmeal, hash browns, breakfast burritos and hotcakes. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MCD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for McDonald's Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for McDonald's and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 30.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 883,927 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 204,811 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $414,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the first quarter worth $107,000. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 2.6% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 2,056 shares of the companys stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the first quarter worth about $210,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 9.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 53,052 shares of the companys stock worth $15,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,774 shares during the period. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $561,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company In related news, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of the companys 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,586,004.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eli Lilly and Company news, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,760 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,586,004.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 600 shares of the firms 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,378 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,939,130.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 693,246 shares of company stock valued at $20,948,820,977 in the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 0.7 % Shares of NYSE:LLY traded up $4.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $609.42. 1,017,884 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,021,775. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $549.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $467.65. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $309.20 and a 1 year high of $612.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $578.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.33. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.13. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.83 earnings per share for the current year. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of brokerages have issued reports on LLY. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $375.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Monday. Finally, 22nd Century Group restated a maintains rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $540.09. Get Our Latest Analysis on LLY 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. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LLY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Trane Technologies (NYSE:TT Free Report) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $195.00 to $190.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports. Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Trane Technologies from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $210.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Trane Technologies from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $191.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Trane Technologies from $218.00 to $237.00 in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Trane Technologies from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Trane Technologies from $210.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Trane Technologies presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $204.29. Get Trane Technologies alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on TT Trane Technologies Stock Down 2.1 % Shares of TT opened at $206.86 on Monday. Trane Technologies has a one year low of $139.07 and a one year high of $211.71. The company has a market cap of $47.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.01. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.53. Trane Technologies (NYSE:TT Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Trane Technologies had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 31.22%. The companys revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Trane Technologies will post 8.87 EPS for the current fiscal year. Trane Technologies Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Trane Technologiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%. Insider Transactions at Trane Technologies In other news, SVP Keith A. Sultana sold 3,964 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total transaction of $784,872.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 42,116 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,338,968. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Keith A. Sultana sold 3,964 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $784,872.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 42,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,338,968. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Linda P. Hudson sold 3,100 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $634,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,760.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,172 shares of company stock valued at $2,672,865 in the last 90 days. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trane Technologies Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Trane Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $200,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Trane Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,691,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems purchased a new stake in Trane Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,787,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Trane Technologies by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,025 shares of the companys stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Trane Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.66% of the companys stock. Trane Technologies Company Profile (Get 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. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Trane Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Trane Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Evercore ISI from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports. VNO has been the topic of several other reports. Compass Point initiated coverage on Vornado Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, September 26th. They set a neutral rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vornado Realty Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Vornado Realty Trust from a buy rating to a hold rating and upped their target price for the company from $22.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Vornado Realty Trust from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.36. Get Vornado Realty Trust alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on Vornado Realty Trust Vornado Realty Trust Stock Down 3.2 % Institutional Inflows and Outflows Shares of NYSE VNO opened at $21.56 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.45. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.54 and a beta of 1.45. Vornado Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $12.31 and a 12-month high of $26.76. The company has a current ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 4.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Vornado Realty Trust by 39.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 8,627 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Vornado Realty Trust by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,522 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vornado Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $208,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of Vornado Realty Trust by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 23,245 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 4,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Vornado Realty Trust by 24.1% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 43,587 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,975,000 after acquiring an additional 8,459 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.86% of the companys stock. Vornado Realty Trust Company Profile (Get Free Report) Vornado is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) with a portfolio of premier New York City office and retail assets and the developer of the new PENN DISTRICT. While concentrated in New York, Vornado also owns the premier assets in both Chicago and San Francisco. Vornado is a real estate industry leader in sustainability, with over 27 million square feet of LEED-certified buildings and over 23 million square feet at LEED Gold or Platinum. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Vornado Realty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vornado Realty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP Free Report) had its price target reduced by Evercore ISI from $177.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports. Several other equities research analysts have also commented on EGP. Wedbush started coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. They issued a neutral rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $195.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $186.64. Get EastGroup Properties alerts: Read Our Latest Report on EGP EastGroup Properties Stock Performance EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend NYSE EGP opened at $165.72 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.31. The company has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.19, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. EastGroup Properties has a 1-year low of $138.04 and a 1-year high of $188.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.01 and a quick ratio of 0.01. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be issued a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. This is a boost from EastGroup Propertiess previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. EastGroup Propertiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 135.47%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, SVP Richard Reid Dunbar sold 1,600 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.25, for a total transaction of $290,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,450. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.6% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,973 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 45,630 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $7,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,528,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 2.0% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,434 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $4,534,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.7% during the first quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 26,180 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.69% of the companys stock. EastGroup Properties Company Profile (Get Free Report) EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP), a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for EastGroup Properties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EastGroup Properties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM Free Report) had its target price decreased by Susquehanna from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report released on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports. TSM has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $106.67. Get Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing alerts: Read Our Latest Report on TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Trading Up 0.5 % Shares of NYSE:TSM opened at $92.42 on Monday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $110.69. The stock has a market cap of $479.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.63. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The semiconductor company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 43.31%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.52 billion. Equities analysts predict that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 4.8 EPS for the current year. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Cuts Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a $0.4724 dividend. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturings dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.26%. Institutional Trading of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,239,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 4.5% in the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 24,100 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $2,094,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 80.7% in the third quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 26,989 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $2,345,000 after acquiring an additional 12,050 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 13.8% in the third quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,037 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birch Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 58.4% in the third quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 8,909 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 3,283 shares during the last quarter. 16.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (Get Free Report) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, packages, tests, and sells integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices in Taiwan, China, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, the United States, and internationally. It provides complementary metal oxide silicon wafer fabrication processes to manufacture logic, mixed-signal, radio frequency, and embedded memory semiconductors. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $615.00 to $650.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, August 9th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $560.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Monday, October 2nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $540.09. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:LLY opened at $610.51 on Monday. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52 week low of $309.20 and a 52 week high of $613.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $579.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.91, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $553.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $468.64. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.13. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Buying and Selling at Eli Lilly and Company In other Eli Lilly and Company news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 37,660 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546,751.75, for a total transaction of $20,590,670,905.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,275,279 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $54,825,684,274,988.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.98, for a total value of $678,445.04. Following the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 37,660 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546,751.75, for a total transaction of $20,590,670,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,275,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,825,684,274,988.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 908,246 shares of company stock valued at $21,078,990,577. Company insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,878,417 shares of the companys stock worth $15,888,300,000 after purchasing an additional 642,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,324,267 shares of the companys stock worth $6,979,760,000 after purchasing an additional 314,349 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 533,336.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 19,056,108 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,205,501 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,111,568,000 after acquiring an additional 338,077 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,059,204 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,411,740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691,436 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock. Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile (Get 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. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW Free Report) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $250.00 to $235.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports. Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $256.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $281.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $236.73. Get Illinois Tool Works alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on Illinois Tool Works Illinois Tool Works Price Performance Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $233.73 on Monday. Illinois Tool Works has a one year low of $180.46 and a one year high of $264.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $238.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.15. Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 94.14% and a net margin of 19.30%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 9.73 EPS for the current year. Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This is a boost from Illinois Tool Workss previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 28th. Illinois Tool Workss payout ratio is 55.39%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 41.6% in the first quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 7,547 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216 shares during the period. Core Alternative Capital raised its position in Illinois Tool Works by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 11,364 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,843,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 73,596 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $18,440,000 after buying an additional 22,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, One Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the first quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Institutional investors own 79.56% of the companys stock. About Illinois Tool Works (Get 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. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Illinois Tool Works Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Illinois Tool Works and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Opinion articles written in the style of their author." These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. shall feature, along with the author's name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed Following the Al Aqsa Flood operation carried out by Hamas, Israel has launched a devastating air offensive against the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the West Bank, a territory under the control of the Palestinian Authority, remains tightly sealed with no mobility allowed between the different cantons where the Palestinian population is confined. To a minimally seasoned observer, the contrast between the relative calm in which the West Bank lives and the desperate situation in Gaza might seem paradoxical, but this paradox is due to a deliberate strategy by the Israeli authorities. It is well known that one of the strategies implemented by all colonial powers throughout history has been divide et impera (divide and conquer). It has not gone unnoticed by anyone that a divided rival is always better than a united rival. Hence, Israel has tried to divide not only the Palestinian population that is distributed between the occupied territories and the surrounding countries, but also its different political formations. Applying a carrot-and-stick policy, the Labor governments that signed the Oslo Accords drew a clear dividing line between Fatah, which defended the peace process, and Hamas, which bet all its cards on the armed approach. The failure of the Oslo process took a heavy toll on the Labor Party, which today has a residual weight in the Israeli political scene, paving the way for the Likud (and its Kadima franchise) to take power. Ariel Sharon first and Benjamin Netanyahu later were elected prime ministers precisely to sabotage the negotiations, destroy the Palestinian Authority and prevent, in the near future, a sovereign state from emerging in the territories occupied by Israel. Since then, Netanyahu has tried to undermine Fatahs authority by ignoring its president, Mahmoud Abbas, whom he does not recognize as an interlocutor, just as Ariel Sharon did in the past with Yasser Arafat. Punishing the moderates and rewarding the radicals has proven to be a highly risky strategy. In this scenario of the worse things are, the better, Hamas is Netanyahus ideal enemy, since it continues to defend a maximalist program. The fact that this organization is branded as terrorist by the United States and the European Union allows the Israeli government to continue pushing for punitive measures instead of complying with international resolutions that demand an end to the occupation and the creation of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state. But it should not be forgotten that Hamas did not exist when the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip were occupied during the Six-Day War of 1967. Hamas was born in 1988 after the outbreak of an Intifada that opened the worlds eyes to the brutality of the occupation and, for several years, benefited from clear favorable treatment by the Israeli authorities, who saw it as a counterweight to the Palestine Liberation Organization. The main reason for Hamas electoral victory in 2006 was precisely the continuous sabotage of the Palestinian Authority by the Israeli governments. Hamas would hardly have a dominant position on the political scene today if colonization had not intensified to unimaginable extremes and if the Palestinian Authority had been able to show some success, no matter how small, in its commitment to the negotiated route. Despite being aware of this situation, the Israeli authorities chose to undermine the credibility of Mahmoud Abbas until he made him practically irrelevant and, today, he is strongly rejected by Palestinian society. Khalid Qadumi, one of Hamas spokespersons, has tried to justify the barbaric acts perpetrated by his group as a response to the atrocities committed in Gaza, against the Palestinian people and against our sacred places such as the Al Aqsa Mosque. The unjustifiable cold-blooded murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians hardly benefits the Palestinian cause, but rather serves on a silver platter to the Israeli government the long-awaited pretext to deepen its colonizing policies and, what is more dangerous still, to bury, perhaps definitively, the two-state solution. Ignacio Alvarez-Ossorio is chair of Arab and Islamic Studies at Madrid's Complutense University. Piper Sandler restated their overweight rating on shares of Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC Free Report) in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $399.00 target price on the software makers stock. Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Paycom Software from $361.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Paycom Software from $350.00 to $294.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Paycom Software from $443.00 to $427.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Paycom Software from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Paycom Software from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $381.24. Get Paycom Software alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on Paycom Software Paycom Software Stock Down 3.4 % Shares of NYSE PAYC opened at $268.54 on Thursday. Paycom Software has a 12-month low of $252.12 and a 12-month high of $374.04. The company has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 49.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firms 50-day moving average is $279.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.47. Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The software maker reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.22). Paycom Software had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 20.28%. The company had revenue of $401.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.20 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Paycom Software will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year. Paycom Software Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 28th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 25th. Paycom Softwares dividend payout ratio is presently 27.52%. Insider Transactions at Paycom Software In other news, EVP Christopher Gene Thomas sold 320 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.05, for a total value of $92,816.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,154 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,585,967.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Jason D. Clark sold 130 shares of Paycom Software stock in a transaction on Friday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.36, for a total transaction of $37,356.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,970 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,179.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Gene Thomas sold 320 shares of Paycom Software stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.05, for a total value of $92,816.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,585,967.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 14.50% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paycom Software by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,535,044 shares of the software makers stock valued at $1,917,229,000 after buying an additional 73,414 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Paycom Software by 59.6% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,146,132 shares of the software makers stock valued at $689,423,000 after purchasing an additional 801,539 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Paycom Software by 2.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,911,316 shares of the software makers stock valued at $581,056,000 after purchasing an additional 43,991 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Paycom Software by 73.4% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,629,628 shares of the software makers stock valued at $495,423,000 after purchasing an additional 689,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Paycom Software by 8.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,359,073 shares of the software makers stock valued at $470,756,000 after purchasing an additional 108,505 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.69% of the companys stock. About Paycom Software (Get Free Report) Paycom Software, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solution delivered as software-as-a-service for small to mid-sized companies in the United States. It offers functionality and data analytics that businesses need to manage the employment life cycle from recruitment to retirement. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Paycom Software Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Paycom Software and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The transportation company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.08, MarketWatch Earnings reports. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 59.56% and a net margin of 5.36%. The business had revenue of $15.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Delta Air Lines Price Performance Shares of NYSE:DAL opened at $35.12 on Friday. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $40.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.32. 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 12 month low of $28.52 and a 12 month high of $49.81. Get Delta Air Lines alerts: Delta Air Lines Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 11th. Delta Air Liness dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.62%. Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delta Air Lines In other news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 3,350 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,330,129.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . In other news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 3,350 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,330,129.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . Also, EVP Peter W. Carter sold 7,056 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $317,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,286,120. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders have sold 40,479 shares of company stock valued at $1,839,353 in the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at $69,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Delta Air Lines by 293.7% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 2nd quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Delta Air Lines in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.29% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 29th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Delta Air Lines from $64.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. TheStreet upgraded Delta Air Lines from a c rating to a b rating in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $54.41. View Our Latest Stock Report on DAL 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Delta Air Lines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Delta Air Lines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ Get Free Report)s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $119.00 to $96.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. MasTec traded as low as $65.75 and last traded at $65.75, with a volume of 107520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.50. MTZ has been the subject of several other reports. Craig Hallum downgraded MasTec from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on MasTec from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 4th. B. Riley decreased their price target on MasTec from $138.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on MasTec from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on MasTec in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $116.82. Get MasTec alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MTZ Insider Transactions at MasTec Institutional Investors Weigh In On MasTec In related news, CFO Paul Dimarco sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.35, for a total value of $95,038.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,620 shares in the company, valued at $1,185,837. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link . In other MasTec news, CFO Paul Dimarco sold 1,332 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.35, for a total transaction of $95,038.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,620 shares in the company, valued at $1,185,837. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Also, CAO Timothy Michael Love sold 1,095 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.46, for a total value of $78,248.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $752,116.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the companys stock. A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTZ. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MasTec by 2.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,616,160 shares of the construction companys stock worth $489,168,000 after buying an additional 134,201 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MasTec by 8.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,519,211 shares of the construction companys stock worth $480,724,000 after buying an additional 447,376 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of MasTec by 7.8% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,640,698 shares of the construction companys stock worth $429,493,000 after buying an additional 264,646 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MasTec by 1.1% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,372,108 shares of the construction companys stock worth $169,985,000 after buying an additional 25,878 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MasTec by 7.0% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,919,492 shares of the construction companys stock worth $181,277,000 after buying an additional 125,309 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.90% of the companys stock. MasTec Stock Performance The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of -415.56 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.85. MasTec (NYSE:MTZ Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The construction company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.01 billion. MasTec had a positive return on equity of 6.93% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. Analysts expect that MasTec, Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year. MasTec Company Profile (Get Free Report) MasTec, Inc, an infrastructure construction company, provides engineering, building, installation, maintenance, and upgrade services for communications, energy, utility, and other infrastructure primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through five segments: Communications, Clean Energy and Infrastructure, Oil and Gas, Power Delivery, and Other. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for MasTec Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MasTec and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Uwharrie Capital Corp (OTCMKTS:UWHR Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 100 shares, a drop of 66.7% from the September 15th total of 300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days. Uwharrie Capital Stock Performance Shares of UWHR remained flat at $7.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.34 and a 200-day moving average of $7.20. Uwharrie Capital has a one year low of $5.76 and a one year high of $9.75. Get Uwharrie Capital alerts: Uwharrie Capital Company Profile (Get Free Report) Read More Uwharrie Capital Corp operates as the bank holding company for Uwharrie Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in North Carolina. The company accepts personal and commercial checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. Receive News & Ratings for Uwharrie Capital Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Uwharrie Capital and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS Get Free Report) had its price target cut by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $64.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the casino operators stock. Morgan Stanleys target price would suggest a potential upside of 41.47% from the stocks current price. Several other research firms have also commented on LVS. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $69.73. Get Las Vegas Sands alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on LVS Las Vegas Sands Price Performance Shares of LVS traded down $0.71 on Friday, reaching $45.24. The stock had a trading volume of 349,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,553,493. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $33.38 and a twelve month high of $65.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.58 billion, a PE ratio of 645.57, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.64 and a 200 day moving average of $55.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.57. Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The casino operator reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 0.75%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.34) earnings per share. Las Vegas Sandss revenue was up 143.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 1.87 EPS for the current year. Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,537,902 shares of the casino operators stock valued at $1,381,358,000 after acquiring an additional 519,620 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,298,767 shares of the casino operators stock valued at $1,338,514,000 after buying an additional 330,221 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,898,679 shares of the casino operators stock worth $540,242,000 after buying an additional 394,616 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.5% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,567,353 shares of the casino operators stock worth $554,906,000 after buying an additional 325,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,391,096 shares of the casino operators stock valued at $482,068,000 after acquiring an additional 666,588 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the companys stock. About Las Vegas Sands (Get Free Report) Las Vegas Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates integrated resorts in Macao and Singapore. It owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, the Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip, and the Sands Macao in Macao, the People's Republic of China; and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Las Vegas Sands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Las Vegas Sands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO Free Report) by 8.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,545 shares of the mining companys stock after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.s holdings in Rio Tinto Group were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 12,265 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Ambassador Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Ambassador Advisors LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,731 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 66.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 397 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 15,118 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 10.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Rio Tinto Group alerts: Rio Tinto Group Stock Performance Rio Tinto Group stock opened at $62.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.99. Rio Tinto Group has a 52-week low of $52.25 and a 52-week high of $80.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.03. Rio Tinto Group Increases Dividend Analyst Ratings Changes The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a positive change from Rio Tinto Groups previous semi-annual dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. This represents a yield of 6%. A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RIO shares. Liberum Capital upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Argus cut their target price on shares of Rio Tinto Group from $80.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rio Tinto Group has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $72.00. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Rio Tinto Group Rio Tinto Group Profile (Free Report) Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company operates through Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper, and Minerals Segments. It offers aluminum, copper, iron ore, diamonds, gold, borates, titanium dioxide, salt, silver, molybdenum, and lithium. The company also owns and operates open pit and underground mines, refineries, smelters, and concentrator facilities, as well as power stations, research, and service facilities. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Rio Tinto Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rio Tinto Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI Free Report) by 93.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,703 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 12,873 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLCs holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 5,501,775 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 12.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 7.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 190.3% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,911,046 shares of the companys stock valued at $242,716,000 after purchasing an additional 4,530,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 102.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,621,654 shares of the companys stock valued at $97,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.56% of the companys stock. Get British American Tobacco alerts: British American Tobacco Stock Down 3.8 % British American Tobacco stock opened at $30.09 on Friday. The stocks 50 day moving average is $32.31 and its 200 day moving average is $33.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a one year low of $29.60 and a one year high of $42.36. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In BTI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus lowered British American Tobacco from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on British American Tobacco in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on British American Tobacco in a research note on Monday, September 25th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BTI 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. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BTI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for British American Tobacco Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for British American Tobacco and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Nikulski Financial Inc. cut its position in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF (NYSEARCA:BKLN Free Report) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,462 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 4,084 shares during the quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc.s holdings in Invesco Senior Loan ETF were worth $1,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 3,084.2% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 7,641,955 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $158,953,000 after purchasing an additional 7,401,962 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 142.1% in the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,519,410 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $30,798,000 after acquiring an additional 5,127,335 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its stake in Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 75.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 9,128,184 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $189,866,000 after acquiring an additional 3,912,291 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 296.0% during the 1st quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 4,950,003 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $102,960,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700,000 shares during the period. Finally, MESIROW FINANCIAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Fixed Income purchased a new stake in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $73,328,000. Get Invesco Senior Loan ETF alerts: Invesco Senior Loan ETF Price Performance Invesco Senior Loan ETF stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.98. The stock had a trading volume of 898,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,543,774. The stocks 50 day moving average is $21.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.93. Invesco Senior Loan ETF has a 1 year low of $20.33 and a 1 year high of $21.27. Invesco Senior Loan ETF Company Profile The Invesco Senior Loan ETF (BKLN) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in high yield fixed income. The fund tracks a market-value-weighted index of senior loans issued by banks to corporations. BKLN was launched on Mar 3, 2011 and is managed by Invesco. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Invesco Senior Loan ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco Senior Loan ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,470 shares of the companys stock after selling 820 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $1,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 75.0% in the first quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 350 shares of the companys stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 127.0% in the first quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 370 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 79.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Philip Morris International Trading Down 1.4 % Philip Morris International stock opened at $91.87 on Friday. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.00 and a twelve month high of $105.62. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $94.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.71. Philip Morris International Increases Dividend Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.10. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 127.84% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $8.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 26th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.66%. This is an increase from Philip Morris Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. Philip Morris Internationals payout ratio is presently 100.58%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms recently commented on PM. Citigroup upgraded Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $117.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $111.00 in a report on Friday, September 29th. Barclays cut their target price on Philip Morris International from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Philip Morris International from $118.00 to $113.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $109.92. Read Our Latest Analysis on PM Philip Morris International Company Profile (Free Report) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Nikulski Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF (NYSEARCA:SPHQ Free Report) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,105 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF accounts for approximately 3.1% of Nikulski Financial Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Nikulski Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF worth $7,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new stake in Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF in the first quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 44,610 shares of the companys stock worth $2,226,000 after acquiring an additional 2,226 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,421 shares of the companys stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 3,463 shares of the companys stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF by 44.5% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,505 shares of the companys stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,618 shares during the period. Get Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF alerts: Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF Stock Up 0.3 % Shares of SPHQ traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.93. The company had a trading volume of 124,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,117. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.14 and a 200-day moving average of $49.64. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.94. Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF has a 12 month low of $40.09 and a 12 month high of $52.83. About Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF The Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF (SPHQ) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P 500 Quality index. The fund tracks an index of US large-cap stocks selected by return on equity, changes in net operating assets and financial leverage. Stocks are weighted by these quality factors, scaled by market cap. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SPHQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF (NYSEARCA:SPHQ Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. 1600 was a stellar year in the history of science. Tycho Brahe, a Danish nobleman obsessed with accurately measuring the motion of the stars, met in Prague with Johannes Kepler, a German of humble origins with a penchant for mysticism and science that seems contradictory today. Inspired by Copernicus, Kepler intuited that the solar system made more sense with the sun at the center, but he needed data to corroborate his model. At that time, astronomers made charts and astrological predictions from crude observations collected centuries earlier; few felt it necessary to collect precise measurements. Brahe had accumulated such measurements, but he put the Earth at the center of his solar system and hid his observations from Kepler, who could only access them after the Danes death in 1601. That data allowed Kepler to mathematically describe the motions of the planets around the Sun and paved the way for Isaac Newton to explain why they move the way they do with the concept of gravity. Four centuries later, researchers aspire to a scientific revolution that is equally if not more significant than the one led by those who discovered the Earths position in the cosmos. Despite the progress in neuroscience since Santiago Ramon y Cajals day, much remains unknown about the brain and how it generates consciousness and memory, as well as the cures for many neurological diseases. Today, the journal Science published a series of articles that show work being done to obtain the data that will form the basis for any significant advances in knowledge. The work is part of the Brain Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN), a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) project launched in 2017. The initiative involves hundreds of scientists using the latest technologies to locate cells in human and animal brains and characterize them one by one according to gene expression, shape, and other traits. Scientists have already accomplished this with over 3,000 types of human cells, revealing aspects that distinguish them from those of other primates; that will make it possible to identify, for example, which cells are more prone to specific mutations that cause neurological diseases. One of the Networks findings is that, as in cooking, the same ingredients can make different dishes. Although there are cells specific to some brain regions, many differences between regions occur because they have different proportions of the same type of cell. As Alyssa Weninger and Paola Arlotta, of the University of North Carolina and Harvard University, respectively, explain in one of the articles, there are exceptions to this general rule. For example, the primary visual cortex contained specific types of inhibitory neurons. The data shows that evolution has not caused the emergence of new types of brain cells that account for different brain functions, but rather that distinct brain circuits are created by small variations within the same cell types and changes in the amount of these cells in a region. There is no prototypical human Juan Lerma, a researcher at the Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante [Alicante Institute of Neuroscience] in Spain, points out that the huge amount of data obtained with the new techniques is not going to give us the solution to the problems of understanding the human brain and reveals things that were already known, but this is the way to demonstrate that this knowledge is solid. One of the highlights for Lerma is the great variability found among brains, which had been observed in noninvasive brain imaging tests in humans. This tells us that it is important for human studies to include a large number of cases, because you can have a study with 500 brains that gives you some results, and then you do an analysis of 30 of those brains and the results are different, he says. In a study led by Nelson Johansen of the Allen Institute in Seattle, Washington, researchers analyzed the gene expression of individual cerebral cortex cells from 75 individuals and only found small differences that could be explained by factors such as age, sex, ancestry and whether they came from healthy or sick people. There is no prototypical human, Weninger and Arlotta summarize. The knowledge derived from these studies will be essential for answering some classic questions in neuroscience, such as what the fundamental differences are between the human brain and that of our closest relatives, like chimpanzees, says Ignacio Saez, a researcher at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. In one of the papers published in Science today, lead author Nikolas Jorstad of the Allen Institute analyzes the gene expression of cells in the medial temporal gyrus, a region critical for language comprehension in humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, macaques and marmosets. The researchers observed that all these primates share mostly the same cell types that appeared at one point in their evolution and have been retained with the emergence of new species. Only a few hundred genes showed expression patterns that are seen only in humans. These data suggest that the obvious differences between a marmoset and a human stem from a few molecular and cellular changes. The articles in Science also include research that analyzes cells at key moments in brain development before and just after birth. Learning about these moments can help to produce better models for studying the human brain, which is very difficult to do with flesh-and-blood volunteers, and to better understand which animal models can be useful for advancing our knowledge of the brain. Arlotta is a leading international expert in constructing organoids, which are three-dimensional models created from stem cells that simulate the brains structure. Javier de Felipe, a Spanish National Research Council researcher who has participated in major international research collaborations such as the Human Brain Project, believes that this type of initiative helps to improve communication between scientists, enabling them to define precisely how many types of neurons there are in the brain; that is something we do not know [yet]. It also allows us to see the relationship between the cells genetic and morphological characteristics and the functions they perform. These types of projects give us a lot of data that we will then have to begin to make sense of, he explains. Juan Lerma agrees that this project, like the sequencing of the human genome, is a map. He adds that when you have a map of a territory, the next thing you have to do is start exploring that territory. As in the case of Brahe and Kepler 400 years ago, the data, and the expensive and precise tools needed to obtain it, will precede the great discoveries that change our vision of the world, even for those who do not understand transcriptomics or planetary movements. Now as then, a tycoons money is funding this project to learn all of the cells of the brain, their location and their functions. In 2003, Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft who died in 2018, established the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which is the organization that is leading the initiative alongside the NIH. However, unlike the Danish nobleman, the Allen Institute will make the data obtained in this project available to all the scientists who want to use the information to learn about reality. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL Free Report) by 10.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,031 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.s holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $5,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at $14,787,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 1,275.0% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 110 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Estee Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Finally, General Partner Inc. grew its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 186.9% during the 1st quarter. General Partner Inc. now owns 175 shares of the companys stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Estee Lauder Companies alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Estee Lauder Companies In other Estee Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 12,661 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.75, for a total transaction of $1,933,967.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,523,450. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Estee Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.93, for a total transaction of $272,866.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 48,845 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,421,020.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jane Lauder sold 12,661 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.75, for a total value of $1,933,967.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,523,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is owned by insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Berenberg Bank lowered their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $243.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Redburn Atlantic raised Estee Lauder Companies from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $162.00 to $137.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $265.00 to $225.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $200.22. View Our Latest Report on EL Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance Shares of EL traded down $1.09 on Friday, reaching $138.53. The stock had a trading volume of 96,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,056,871. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a PE ratio of 50.22, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $153.54 and a 200 day moving average of $188.56. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $136.43 and a twelve month high of $283.62. Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.48 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 6.32%. The companys revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year. Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 30th. Estee Lauder Companiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.96%. About Estee Lauder Companies (Free Report) The Estee Lauder Companies Inc manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Estee Lauder Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Estee Lauder Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. XY Capital Ltd decreased its position in iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:FXI Free Report) by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,500 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 49,500 shares during the quarter. iShares China Large-Cap ETF accounts for approximately 0.2% of XY Capital Ltds holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. XY Capital Ltds holdings in iShares China Large-Cap ETF were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 224.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 7,392,215 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $218,292,000 after purchasing an additional 5,110,583 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,728,760 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $139,641,000 after buying an additional 1,704,281 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,607,500 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $135,986,000 after buying an additional 800,000 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,448,981 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $123,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GMT Capital Corp increased its position in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. GMT Capital Corp now owns 4,202,700 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $124,106,000 after acquiring an additional 953,900 shares in the last quarter. Get iShares China Large-Cap ETF alerts: iShares China Large-Cap ETF Stock Performance Shares of NYSEARCA FXI traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.52. The company had a trading volume of 5,186,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,413,625. iShares China Large-Cap ETF has a 52 week low of $20.87 and a 52 week high of $33.38. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $27.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.79. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.44. iShares China Large-Cap ETF Company Profile iShares China Large-Cap ETF (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 FTSE China 25 Index (the Underlying Index). The Funds portfolio of sectors include Financials, Telecommunication, Oil & gas, Technology and Consumer goods. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FXI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:FXI Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares China Large-Cap ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares China Large-Cap ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank of New Hampshire raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report) by 21.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,820 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Bank of New Hampshires holdings in Altria Group were worth $128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in Altria Group by 100,097.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,100,359,981 shares of the companys stock worth $49,846,307,000 after buying an additional 1,099,261,791 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 108,222.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the companys stock worth $849,763,000 after buying an additional 18,573,146 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,302,349 shares of the companys stock worth $1,896,798,000 after buying an additional 2,178,596 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,132,929 shares of the companys stock worth $1,121,431,000 after buying an additional 1,926,492 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Altria Group by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,105,285 shares of the companys stock worth $781,883,000 after buying an additional 1,531,337 shares during the period. 58.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Altria Group alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several analysts have issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Altria Group from $40.40 to $39.20 and set a sell rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Altria Group from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $47.60. Altria Group Stock Performance Shares of NYSE MO opened at $42.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $75.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.91 and a 52 week high of $51.57. Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.31. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.43 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 225.61% and a net margin of 27.40%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5 EPS for the current year. Altria Group Increases Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.23%. This is a boost from Altria Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 102.89%. Altria Group Company Profile (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. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD Free Report) by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,497 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after selling 1,399 shares during the period. Middleton & Co. Inc. MAs holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New Hampshire grew its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 8.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 13,223 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. grew its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.9% in the second quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. now owns 26,150 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.6% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 832,435 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $21,935,000 after purchasing an additional 13,010 shares during the period. EA Series Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the second quarter valued at about $1,392,000. Finally, Quantum Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 3.3% in the second quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,337 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.54% of the companys stock. Get Enterprise Products Partners alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a neutral rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Pickering Energy Partners assumed coverage on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. They issued an outperform rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $32.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Enterprise Products Partners presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $30.75. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, Director William C. Montgomery purchased 50,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.60 per share, with a total value of $1,330,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 114,758 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,052,562.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 32.60% of the stock is owned by insiders. Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance Shares of EPD stock opened at $27.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firms 50-day moving average is $26.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.45. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 12 month low of $23.14 and a 12 month high of $27.77. The company has a market capitalization of $59.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.06. Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.02). Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 10.39%. The firm had revenue of $10.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Enterprise Products Partnerss revenue for the quarter was down 33.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year. Enterprise Products Partners Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 30th. Enterprise Products Partnerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.97%. Enterprise Products Partners Profile (Free Report) Enterprise Products Partners L.P. provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products. The company operates through four segments: NGL Pipelines & Services, Crude Oil Pipelines & Services, Natural Gas Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EPD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Enterprise Products Partners Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Enterprise Products Partners and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW Free Report) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,448 shares of the medical research companys stock after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLCs holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $1,363,000 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. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,556 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $5,127,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 1.0% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,487 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $1,033,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Geller Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 6.5% during the first quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,015 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 8,639 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 79.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Edwards Lifesciences alerts: Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance NYSE EW opened at $69.92 on Friday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $74.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.83. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $67.13 and a 1 year high of $94.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.05. Analysts Set New Price Targets 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 analysts consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 24.56%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com lowered Edwards Lifesciences from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Thursday, August 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edwards Lifesciences currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $91.50. Read Our Latest Report on Edwards Lifesciences Insider Activity In related news, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total value of $393,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 34,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,737,772.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were 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 $1,623,568.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 5,000 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total value of $393,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 34,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,737,772.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 170,699 shares of company stock worth $12,861,072. 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. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Edwards Lifesciences Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Edwards Lifesciences and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bank of New Hampshire trimmed its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU Free Report) by 20.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,565 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. Bank of New Hampshires holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PRU. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 104,987.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,450,633 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $243,740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448,301 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 8,350.2% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,219,790 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $26,828,000 after buying an additional 2,193,521 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 98,060.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,968,118 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $173,627,000 after buying an additional 1,966,113 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $172,363,000. Finally, Cowa LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 9,930.2% during the 1st quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 771,824 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 764,129 shares during the last quarter. 54.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Prudential Financial alerts: Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.9 % Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $94.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $34.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.05. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.37 and a fifty-two week high of $110.96. Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement Prudential Financial ( NYSE:PRU Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.04 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $12.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.68 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 15.73%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 11.83 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 22nd were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 21st. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. Prudential Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 166.67%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research analysts recently commented on PRU shares. Morgan Stanley restated an equal weight rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Friday, September 8th. StockNews.com started coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $102.91. Read Our Latest Stock Report on PRU Prudential Financial Profile (Free Report) Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Annuities, Individual Life, Assurance IQ, and International Businesses segments. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PRU? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Prudential Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Prudential Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lessened its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK Free Report) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,148 shares of the asset managers stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plcs holdings in BlackRock were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in BlackRock by 98,608.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 96,772,169 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $66,883,117,000 after acquiring an additional 96,674,131 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,174,621 shares of the asset managers stock worth $2,249,634,000 after buying an additional 129,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,664,331 shares of the asset managers stock worth $1,778,039,000 after buying an additional 41,280 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,326,618 shares of the asset managers stock worth $1,777,933,000 after buying an additional 310,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of BlackRock by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,915,197 shares of the asset managers stock worth $1,463,536,000 after buying an additional 15,290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.01% of the companys stock. Get BlackRock alerts: BlackRock Trading Down 1.1 % BlackRock stock opened at $635.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $675.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $680.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.21 and a current ratio of 4.21. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $503.12 and a one year high of $785.65. The stock has a market cap of $94.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.29. BlackRock Announces Dividend BlackRock ( NYSE:BLK Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 13th. The asset manager reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $8.87 by $2.04. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 29.90%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.55 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.15 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $5.00 per share. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 7th. BlackRocks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.41%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total transaction of $14,989,208.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 464,125 shares of the companys stock, valued at $344,399,315. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the companys stock, valued at $4,520,331.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 464,125 shares in the company, valued at $344,399,315. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets BLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised BlackRock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $770.00 to $835.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Bank of America dropped their price target on BlackRock from $921.00 to $868.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $888.00 to $836.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $820.00 to $720.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $764.83. View Our Latest Research Report on BlackRock BlackRock Profile (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. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BLK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,715 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $3,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.98% of the companys stock. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BMY. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. They issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. SVB Leerink reissued a market perform rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. HSBC assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They issued a reduce rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $69.29. Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance NYSE:BMY traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.46. 528,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,015,263. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $55.69 and a 52-week high of $81.43. The firms fifty day moving average price is $59.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.87. 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 company has a market cap of $117.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.81 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.42 EPS for the current fiscal year. Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors 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 yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is presently 60.64%. Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the companys stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares in the company, valued at $402,545.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,915. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. 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. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,020,884 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 20,689 shares during the quarter. Bristol-Myers Squibb makes up approximately 0.9% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $129,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% during the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,001 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.0% during the first quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.9% in the first quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 3,955 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.5% during the first quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 10,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westshore Wealth LLC grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Westshore Wealth LLC now owns 3,658 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 74.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research analysts have weighed in on BMY shares. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They issued a reduce rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, SVB Leerink reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $69.29. Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the companys stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb 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 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 is accessible through this link. Also, 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 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. Company insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock. Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.2 % NYSE BMY traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $56.37. The stock had a trading volume of 617,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,015,263. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.87. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $55.69 and a 12-month high of $81.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.24). Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 50.51%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. Bristol-Myers Squibbs quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.42 EPS for the current fiscal year. Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement The firm 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 $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 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. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK Free Report) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 116,931 shares of the asset managers stock after selling 7,215 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.08% of BlackRock worth $80,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLK. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock during the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in BlackRock by 158.3% in the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 62 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 77.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get BlackRock alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets BLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $781.00 to $754.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of BlackRock from $888.00 to $836.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $780.00 to $770.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 3rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on BlackRock from $921.00 to $868.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on BlackRock from $814.00 to $800.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $764.83. Insider Buying and Selling In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total transaction of $14,989,208.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 464,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,399,315. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,331.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 464,125 shares in the company, valued at $344,399,315. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the companys stock. BlackRock Trading Down 0.5 % NYSE:BLK traded down $2.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $633.22. The companys stock had a trading volume of 279,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 630,090. BlackRock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $547.59 and a twelve month high of $785.65. The stock has a market cap of $94.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 4.21 and a quick ratio of 4.21. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $675.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $680.61. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 13th. The asset manager reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.87 by $2.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 29.90%. BlackRocks revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.15 EPS for the current year. BlackRock Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $5.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. BlackRocks dividend payout ratio is presently 58.41%. BlackRock Profile (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. See Also Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Alicia Rojas at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose, in November 2022. Diana Rojas There were three options: study piano, architecture, or microbiology. The last option did not completely convince Alicia Rojas, 35, only because she knew that she would have to learn parasitology. The young woman, who was 17 years old at the time, was not attracted to the idea of spending hours examining feces in a laboratory. Eighteen years later, however, she is one of Latin Americas top experts in the area. Parasites are fascinating, they live for years outwitting the hosts immune system, she says over a video call. Recently awarded the Anneke Levelt-Senger Award, Rojas is concerned about the lack of funding in her specialty and the brain drain of Latin American scientists. Research can change the lives of a billion people, she says, referring to those affected by parasitic diseases in the world. Mostly people from low socioeconomic backgrounds and indigenous people. Thats why not so much is invested in it. Rojas, however, has dedicated his entire career to it. She studied in her native Costa Rica and in Israel, diving into the world of worms that mainly inhabit and infect animals, and trying to simplify and improve the diagnosis of these pathologies. She discovered a new species, spirocerca vulpis, and is also one of the most important voices in research into the DNA of parasites and their variants depending on geography. A month ago, she came across an investigation that went viral across the world. Live worm measuring eight centimeters found in the brain of an Australian woman, the headlines ran. This parasite, common in pythons, was found for the first time in the brain of a human. I found it very curious that this case became so viral, because there have been similar cases of other parasites in humans, she says. In any case, I like that it has attracted attention because all publicity is good publicity, especially in the area of parasites, which is not discussed that much. It has been less than half a century since parasites stopped infecting humans in urban areas in the way they once did. Sewage and water purification made life difficult for these pathogens. But they continue to affect very low-resource areas as well as pets and livestock. Before, parasites that invaded the gastrointestinal system were very common, causing diarrhea, intestinal pain or anemia This was remedied in the cities, but there are forgotten areas where it is still common. Costa Rica is no exception. In her native country, Rojas collaborates in a social action program led by doctors Alberto Solano and Javier Mora in which, together with students from various areas of study, they visit Indigenous, migrant and socioeconomically vulnerable communities to raise awareness about parasites, diagnose those affected and provide treatment. This is not a problem that is only happening in Africa or Asia. In the tropics of Latin America, one in three people is affected by parasites, she adds. The treatment of intestinal parasites is extremely simple. A dose of tablets and follow-up consultation. You start to think If its so affordable and so simple, why do cases continue to occur around the world? In addition to affecting vulnerable populations, there is also poor management of the diagnosis. The solution to both problems is the same: more research. Although the doctor rules out the possibility of a pandemic due to a parasite (the mode of infection is much slower), she says that it is more than likely that outbreaks or even epidemics will begin to occur in places where these pathologies are not endemic. She puts this down to global warming, explaining that rising temperatures mean that more and more areas have the conditions for parasites to spread, i.e., warm temperatures. As a result, we will see in a few years time, many more cases of malaria and Lyme disease, explains Rojas. Climate change is already expanding malaria to temperate areas of the United States. In June, U.S. health authorities confirmed five cases of malaria in Florida and Texas, the first locally acquired cases in 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Theres an upward trend, because weather conditions are changing rapidly. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Spains Canary Islands, located off the northwestern coast of Africa, are once again featuring prominently in the global immigration scene. The increase in arrivals from Africa since the beginning of summer has exceeded all forecasts and records are being posted in October, with up to 1,000 arrivals in a single day. Senegal has been the main departure point in recent months and the small island of El Hierro, the spot with the most arrivals. The figures for 2023 will exceed those of 2020, the second most intense year along this route after 2006, which was the year of the so-called Cayuco Crisis, so named after the type of traditional canoe used by smugglers. But the current scenario is very different from that of three years ago. What is happening in the Canary Islands? After a somewhat quieter 2022, the Canary Islands route is once again emerging strongly. Arrivals have grown exponentially since June, coinciding with the social unrest in Senegal, where a two-year prison sentence for opposition leader Ousmane Sonko led to violent protests and several deaths. Spanish Interior Ministry figures from January to August show arrivals declining by 11.3% compared to the previous year, with a total of 8,508 people. But there was a sharp change in September, and the month ended with more than 6,000 new arrivals, for a nine-month total of 14,976. And October has brought an acceleration of the trend: by October 6, at total of 19,507 people had arrived in the Canary Islands by sea (52% more than the previous year). Adding to this the approximately 1,600 people who have arrived between Sunday and Thursday; so far this month there have already been as many arrivals as in the entire month of September. The figure is already about to exceed the total for 2022 (22,819 people), and will almost certainly exceed the number for 2020 (23,716 people), the second busiest year since the Canary Islands immigration route was opened in 1994. So far, the year 2006 still holds the record, with 31,678 migrant arrivals by sea in the Canary Islands. A group of migrants in the port of Arguineguin (on the island of Gran Canaria), this Thursday. BORJA SUAREZ (REUTERS) What islands are they reaching? The small island of El Hierro, with just over 11,400 inhabitants, has become an unexpected destination along this route. Located at the westernmost point of the archipelago, it had received more than 5,000 people to the first week of October, almost half of them in the first week of the month. The records for the entire year, however, place the island of Lanzarote, the closest to the African continent, as the main port of destination, with some 5,300 arrivals. According to official data that is not public, Gran Canaria (4,026), Tenerife (3,169), Fuerteventura (3,169) and La Gomera (36) follow. La Palma and the tiny La Graciosa are the only islands where no migrant boats have arrived. A canoe with 280 migrants, on October 3 near the coast of El Hierro. Salvamento Maritimo (EFE) Why do so many cayucos head to El Hierro? Until recently, the route usually took migrants to the islands of Lanzarote, Gran Canaria or Tenerife, while El Hierro, notwithstanding a few isolated spikes, was a rather exceptional destination. Arrivals here were generally due to the fact that the boat had accidentally gone off course or gotten lost. And indeed, tragedies have occurred near El Hierro, with dozens of people dying aboard drifting canoes, on the verge of being lost in the Atlantic Ocean. But the pattern seems to have changed. Several sources explained that the boat skippers are now setting a clear course to the island of El Hierro on their GPS navigation systems. This more western trajectory takes Senegalese migrants further from their own coasts, but above all further from the Mauritanian and Moroccan coasts, thus making it more difficult for the security forces of those two countries to intercept them in the middle of their journey. Dozens of immigrants lining up inside the Las Raices reception center in La Laguna (Tenerife), on Tuesday. Alberto Valdes (EFE) Why has the route been reactivated again? After the crisis of 2020 and 2021, there was a decrease in activity on the Canary Islands route. The reason was mainly greater collaboration by Moroccan authorities who, after reconciling with Spain in March 2020, worked more diligently to stop the vessels leaving the Saharawi and Moroccan coasts, the main departure points. Now, beyond the good sea conditions, typical of this time of the year, there is a key factor in the rebound: the situation in Senegal. Since June, the country has been plunged into a political and social crisis that is calling into question the democratic quality of a country until now considered stable. To the structural situation nearly 40% of its 12.5 million inhabitants live below the poverty line there is now added social discontent, especially among young people. This unrest has translated into violent protests triggered by President Macky Salls attacks against the main opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, a reference for a large section of Senegalese youth. Sonko has been sentenced to prison on charges of calling for insurrection and plotting against the state. His party, the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF), has been dissolved by decree. The Senegalese youths who are arriving in the Canary Islands report, in addition to economic hardships, repression by the security forces for their political positions. Crowds of migrants at the port of Arguineguin (Gran Canaria), in November 2020. Quique Curbelo (EFE) What is the difference between now and 2020? A surge in arrivals does not have to be synonymous with a crisis and depends, to a large extent, on how the authorities manage the flow. Some issues are key to differentiating this scenario from that of 2020, which led to a crisis that unleashed social unrest. A key factor that differentiates one moment from another is the Covid pandemic. The reactivation of the Canary Islands route took place in the midst of the outbreak of the coronavirus. The boats were a way for migrants to escape the economic blockade of their countries, but upon arrival they found a collapsed system. Added to the lack of space to receive new arrivals were the demanding health protocols that required even more resources to guarantee quarantines. In the end, the hotels, empty of tourists, ended up being used as emergency reception centers, with the subsequent social rejection. In 2020 and 2021, not only were there a lack of reception centers and health spaces, but also facilities for the police. More than 2,000 people were crowded into the Gran Canaria port of Arguineguin because the National Police did not have a place to identify and interview the new arrivals. The images of these crowded facilities made world headlines and became a symbol of improvised management. Another factor to take into account is the way that migrant transfers from the islands to the Spanish mainland have been managed. Of the 20,000 people who arrived, just over 3,000 adults and about 3,300 minors remain on the islands. The rest have already gone to the mainland in transfers organized by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Some of those migrants remain in reception centers, while others have moved in with relatives and yet others are on their way to another European country. This transfer policy was barely applied in 2020 and 2021. The blocking strategy was even applied to migrants who had their passport and enough money to buy a plane ticket out of the islands. With the mobility limitations of the pandemic in place, the Interior Ministry justified a police presence at airports that in practice prevented migrants from getting on a plane, until several court rulings questioned this practice. The current transfer strategy has taken some strain out of the reception centers, allowing the mobility that migrants seek, and avoiding the kind of protests staged in 2020 by part of the Canary Islands population. Transfers are being made between the islands and the mainland with unusual agility. They are also being done without providing any official data and without any publicity, because the Interior Ministry holds that facilitating the journey to the continent will serve as an incentive for thousands more people to emigrate. The challenge now, however, is how to prevent the reception centers in the Spanish mainland from overflowing, a situation that is already developing. Finally, there has been a significant rollout of reception centers on the islands in recent years. In 2019, a year that ended with 2,723 arrivals by sea, the Canary Islands did not have even 500 beds for migrants. The chaos that ensued in 2020 led Spanish government officials to announce the so-called Canary Islands Plan on November 20, 2020. Three years later, there are around 30 facilities operating in the archipelago, especially in Gran Canaria and Tenerife and, to a lesser extent, in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura with a total of 3,500 spots available, which can be doubled if necessary. A good many of these resources are in fact rental apartments and hotels, but there are also large camps, such as those in Las Raices or Las Canteras, in Tenerife. A member of the Red Cross escorting two minors in the port of La Estaca in El Hierro, on September 11. Gelmert Finol (EFE) What happens with minors? Many of the boats that arrive in the Canary Islands carry minors traveling without their parents and whose responsibility and guardianship falls to the regional government. The Canary Islands administration currently has 3,321 children and teenagers in its care, according to an official spokesperson for the regional executive. In order for them to enter the care system, it is first necessary to confirm that they are under 18 years of age through bone tests, but there are doubts in approximately 50% of cases, according to official sources. Despite the experience of recent years, the system continues to fail and there are adults in juvenile centers and very young children in spaces intended only for adults. When it is certified that they are minors, these children are integrated into the educational and health system. The Canary Islands government has asked other regions of Spain to show solidarity by agreeing to take some of the minors. But these have not stepped forward, as there are no laws that oblige them to do so. Last year an agreement was reached that the archipelago authorities consider insufficient. The deal involved sending 400 minors to the mainland 2022 and a commitment to transfer another 374 this year. U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey faced a new charge Thursday that he conspired to act as an agent of the Egyptian government, a remarkable accusation against a Democrat who had a powerful role in U.S. policy as head of the Senates Foreign Relations Committee. The superseding indictment, filed in Manhattan federal court, accuses Menendez of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register with the U.S. government if they act as an agent of a foreign principal. As a member of Congress, Menendez was prohibited from being an agent of a foreign government. The new charge comes just weeks after Menendez and his wife were accused of accepting bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senators help and influence over foreign affairs. The new indictment said the conspiracy occurred from January 2018 to June 2022, when Menendez was alleged to have promised to take and took a series of acts on behalf of Egypt, including on behalf of Egyptian military and intelligence officials. It said he conspired to do so with his wife, Nadine, and a business associate and fellow defendant, Wael Hana. According to the indictment, Hana and Nadine Menendez also communicated requests and directives from Egyptian officials to Menendez. Messages left with Menendezs Senate staff and attorneys on Thursday were not immediately answered. The indictment further alleged that in May 2019, Menendez, his wife and Hana met with an Egyptian intelligence official in Menendezs Senate office in Washington. During the meeting, they discussed an American citizen who was seriously injured in a 2015 airstrike by the Egyptian military using a U.S.-made Apache helicopter, the indictment said. Some members of Congress objected to awarding certain military aid to Egypt over that episode and the perception by certain lawmakers that the Egyptian government was unwilling to fairly compensate the injured American, according to the indictment. Shortly after the meeting in Washington, the Egyptian official texted Hana that if Menendez helped resolve the matter, he will sit very comfortably. Hana replied, Orders, consider it done, the indictment said. In an email, Hanas attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, said the new allegation that Wael Hana was part of a plot concocted over dinner to enlist Senator Menendez as an agent of the Egyptian Government is as absurd as it is false. As with the other charges in this indictment, Mr. Hana will vigorously defend against this new and baseless allegation, he wrote. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the charges lodged against them last month. Hana pleaded not guilty last month to charges including conspiracy to commit bribery. After Hanas company was granted a lucrative monopoly by the Egyptian government to certify that all meat imported into that country met religious requirements, prosecutors said, Menendez urged U.S. agriculture officials to stop questioning the deal. Menendez was accused of trying to interfere in two criminal cases, pushing prosecutors to either drop an investigation or give leniency to friends of his associates. In return, prosecutors said, one businessman, Jose Uribe, bought Nadine Menendez a $60,000 luxury car. Uribe has pleaded not guilty. In both the old and new indictments, prosecutor said Menendez, after meeting with an Egyptian official, lobbied then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to increase American engagement in stalled negotiations involving Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to build a dam over the Nile River, a key foreign policy issue for Egypt. The indictments said that while Menendez was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he took several steps to secretly aid Egyptian officials. That included ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators encouraging them to lift a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt. He relinquished the chairmanship of the committee after the earlier indictment against him was unsealed last month. He was also accused of passing along information about employees at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt and transmitting nonpublic information to Egyptian officials about military aid. Menendez, 69, has insisted that he did nothing unusual to assist Egypt and that prosecutors had misunderstood the work of a senator involved in foreign affairs. Authorities who searched Menendezs home last year said they found more than $100,000 worth of gold bars and over $480,000 in cash much of it hidden in closets, clothing and a safe. The new charge against Menendez comes as more than 30 Senate Democrats including his home state colleague, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker have called on him to resign. Menendez has remained defiant, telling his colleagues in a closed-door luncheon two weeks ago that he will not leave the Senate. Menendez has not said whether he will run for reelection next year. At least one Democrat, New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, has already jumped into the primary, and the head of Senate Democrats campaign arm, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, has called on Menendez to resign, signaling that he may not receive campaign assistance traditionally available to incumbents. The Justice Department in recent years has stepped up its criminal enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law enacted in 1938 to unmask Nazi propaganda in the United States that requires people to disclose to the Justice Department when they advocate, lobby or perform public relations work in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government or political entity. The statute made headlines during President Donald Trumps administration when federal prosecutors accused multiple aides close to the Republican, including the chairman of his 2016 presidential campaign, of failing to register as foreign agents. Last year, Trumps inaugural committee chair, Tom Barrack, was acquitted of using his personal access to him to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates. And in 2019, lawyer Greg Craig, a Democrat, was acquitted of making a false statement to the Justice Department about work for Ukraines government. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Former President Donald Trump has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of betraying him just before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in 2020 and is questioning the countrys intelligence prowess as it responds to Hamas deadly attack. Trumps comments at a West Palm Beach, Florida, rally on Wednesday were quickly denounced by one of Netanyahus allies, the White House and by several Republican presidential rivals, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Most American leaders, including the Republican presidential contenders, have lined up behind Israel after the Hamas invasion that President Joe Biden said was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. At least 2,500 people have died on the Israeli and Palestinian sides. But Trump, the early front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination who has long tried to paint himself as a fierce defender of Israel, offered stark criticism Wednesday night. He told the rally crowd that his prayers were with Israel and again vowed to stand by the country and back efforts to destroy Hamas before he went on to describe a bad experience with Israels leaders that he had never shared before. Israel was going to do this with us, and it was being planned and working on it for months, he said about the coordination to kill Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Irans Quds Force. We had everything all set to go, and the night before it happened, I got a call that Israel will not be participating in this attack. Nobodys heard this story before, Trump said. They didnt tell us why. Ill never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down, he said. We were disappointed by that. Very disappointed, he said. But we did the job ourselves, with absolute precision and then Bibi tried to take credit for it. Trump also pointed to intelligence failures ahead of last weekends onslaught, which caught Israel by surprise, saying the country had to strengthen themselves up. Theyve got to straighten it out because theyre fighting, potentially, a very big force, he said. Theyre going to have to step up their game, and the United States is going to have to step up its game. He further criticized Israels defense minister, calling him this jerk for warning Hezbollah not to attack Israel from the north. Netanyahus office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the governments communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, told Israels Channel 13 that it was shameful that a man like that, a former U.S. president, abets propaganda and disseminates things that wound the spirit of Israels fighters and its citizens. We dont have to bother with him and the nonsense he spouts, Karhi said. Asked if Trumps comments make it clear that he cant be relied on, Karhi replied, Obviously. While Trump and Netanyahu were close allies during Trumps time in office, the former president turned on the embattled Israel leader after he congratulated then-President-elect Joe Biden for winning the 2020 election while Trump was still trying to overturn the results. In interviews for a book about Middle East peace efforts, Trump, according to its author, used an expletive to describe Netanyahu and said he believed the Israeli leader never really wanted to make peace. Trumps rivals quickly seized on his new comments. DeSantis posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for president, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, and criticized Trump for calling Hezbollah very smart in his remarks. White House spokesman Andrew Bates also said on X, Calling an Iran-backed terrorist group smart especially at a time like this is unhinged and sickening. He added, Why in Gods name would any American do that? Trump, in his remarks, suggested that information about the raid could potentially be classified, though it wasnt immediately clear if that was the case. Theyll say, Oh, its classified information. Well, maybe it is, but I dont think so, he said. Trump is currently under federal criminal indictment, accused of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club and refusing to return them to the government. Trump and other Republicans have tried to lay blame on the Biden administration for the Hamas invasion, particularly citing the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen assets to Iran, a supporter of Hamas. Biden administration officials insist that money has not been spent. The Democratic presidents campaign said Trump has been pushing dangerous misinformation about the crisis in Israel when the countries should stand together. While Trump continues to lie about his record, President Biden is laser-focused on providing steadfast support for Israel and leading on the global stage, Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said. Trump has long said that he did more to support Israel than any previous president, pointing to his decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition A move to increase the Garda entry age limit could be followed by an increase to the retirement age for gardai, the justice minister has indicated. Helen McEntee said she was in discussions with Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe about pushing up the current retirement age of 60. Her comments came after she announced plans to increase the age limit to join An Garda Siochana from 35 to 50. Minister McEntee will now seek cabinet approval for the new entry age threshold. The move comes as Garda management continue to face difficulties attracting sufficient numbers of recruits to Irelands police service. Ms McEntee was joined by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris at the latest Garda graduation ceremony at Templemore College in Co Tipperary on Friday for 126 newly trained recruits. Really, what I hope to see with this is a much more diverse workforce, but also people bringing different skills that they have acquired throughout their lifetime to this career, which is extremely rewarding, she told reporters at Templemore. The minister said nothing was off the table in regard to Garda recruitment and retention. She denied increasing the entry age limit was an act of desperation to sustain Garda numbers. Absolutely not, I think we live in a different world, he said. People are living longer, theyre healthier for longer, but also people change careers in the way that they havent before. Somebody might have gone into a particular role and stayed there forever. Its not the case now, people change multiple times. And this gives us an opportunity, particularly where we have such specialists and diverse units within An Garda Siochana, for people to actually bring a level of expertise that we maybe havent seen before. The minister also acknowledged that her ambitious target of securing 1,000 recruits this year will fall short, with between 700-800 new gardai set to pass through Templemore by year end. She said 2.3 billion euro of funding for the Garda outlined in Budget 2024 included provision for the recruitment of between 800 to 1,000 new gardai. Ms McEntee said increasing the weekly training allowance for Garda recruits by 66% to 305 euros would help when it came to attracting people aged over 35, who may have more financial commitments than younger colleagues, to sign up to the force. The entry age limit of 35 has been in place since 2004, when it was increased from 26. Commissioner Harris was previously opposed to raising the limit further. We looked in closely at what the optimum age should be, he said on Friday. And weve decided upon 50 in terms of the training investment that we make and then the return on that investment in terms of the work that they will be doing as gardai. So they have to go through obviously their training and their probation and we want them to get a return on that investment around being able to go out and patrol, conduct all their duties effectively, and really work with the rest of us in terms of protecting the people of Ireland. Mr Harris said he did not have concerns about bringing in an older cohort of recruits and dismissed suggestions the Garda could become a handy number or a type of Dads Army. The process of application and then the training here is rigorous, and it isnt for the faint-hearted and does require a certain physical competence, he said. All of our training standards here are very rigorous and that includes a physical element. [October 12, 2023] Nokia delivers industry's first 25G PON sealed fiber access node designed for cable operators Tweet Press Release Nokia delivers industrys first 25G PON sealed fiber access node designed for cable operators Nokia broadens availability of 25G PON to cable operators with industrys first sealed fiber access node. New 25G PON solution for cable operators opens door to new services including true symmetrical 10Gb/s enterprise services, mobile transport and network wholesaling. New Nokia Lightspan 25G PON cable solution can be installed anywhere and supports various power options, including power-over-coax. 12 October, 2023 Espoo, Finland Nokia has today announced availability of its 25G PON technology on the Lightspan SF-8M sealed fiber access node. The sealed remote Optical Line Terminal (OLT) also concurrently supports both GPON and XGS-PON. This enables cable operators to quickly respond to increased bandwidth demand or competitive threats, by simply activating 10G or 25G on their existing PON network. As the first 25G PON sealed remote fiber access node available, the Lightspan SF-8M delivers unmatched capacity to address growing bandwidth demand. But more than just future proofing the network, 25G PON opens immediate commercial opportunities including true symmetrical 10 Gb/s enterprise services, mobile transport, and network slicing/wholesaling. PON networks can provide these services more cost effectively than point-to-point Ethernet networks, The Lightspan SF-8M has an IP67 rating, offers an array of installation options anywhere in the outside plant on a strand, inside or outside a cabinet, or on a pole or wall and supports various power options, including power-over-coax. All these features make the Lightspan SF-8M particularly well-suited for cable operators. Small, remote Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) can also facilitate a more targeted approach to Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) upgrades than large centralized OLTs, allowing FTTP upgrades only where necessary and potentially saving costs. Mark Klimek, North America Business Center Head for Fixed Networks at Nokia, said: Gigabit speeds are becoming the new normal, and operators are realizing that their fiber-to-the-home networks can be used for more than residential broadband. The ability to quickly deploy aremote FTTH node, and deliver GPON, 10G PON, and 25G PON based services over the same network allows operators to nimbly go after new opportunities and beat competition. According to DellOro, Nokia was the 2022 market share leader for XGS-PON equipment, todays gold-standard for fiber broadband. Currently seven out of ten fiber broadband connections in North America are made through Nokia equipment. Nokia will be providing a live demonstration of the 25G PON Lightspan SF-8M sealed fiber access node at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo located in Denver, CO, October 16-19 in Booth 1215. Additional Information on Nokia Lightspan SF-8M Based on the Nokia Quillion chipset, the Lightspan SF-8M high-throughput, power-efficient, low-latency remote OLT is perfectly suited to support residential, business, and mobile transport services. Lightspan SF-8M supports eight GPON, XGS-PON, or multi-PON ports, or four 25G PON ports. It features flexible powering options including power-over-coax, AC, DC, or RFT-V. The Lightspan SF-8M is part of Nokias market-leading, high-performance fiber broadband SDAN-based portfolio which also includes the Lightspan FX, MF and DF families for various deployments, along with an extensive range of ONTs, and professional services. Resources and additional information Webpage: Fiber Broadband for Cable Operators | Nokia Webpage: Lightspan SF fiber access nodes | NOKIA About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future. Media inquiries Nokia Communications, Corporate Email: [email protected] Follow us on social media LinkedIn Twitter Instagram TikTok Facebook YouTube [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 12, 2023] Real Estate Mavericks David Attias and Christopher Rassam Join Nest Seekers International's Burgeoning Office of Global Wealth Tweet Nest Seekers International celebrates the arrival of two stellar luxury real estate experts, David Attias and Christopher Rassam, to its rapidly expanding Office of Global Wealth, which is redefining luxury advisory services for ultra-high-net-worth clients around the world. David and Christopher join the esteemed office newly founded and led by real estate luminaries Loy Carlos, President, Global Wealth, and Kenneth J. Moore, Managing Director. "David and Christopher are stars in their own right, each possessing exceptional backgrounds and unique skillsets that align perfectly with the vision of the Office of Global Wealth. We are honored to partner with both David and Christopher and look forward to supporting their continued growth and success on the world stage." - Eddie Shapiro, Founder, President, and CEO, Nest Seekers International David joins the Office of Global Wealth with a roster of A-list clients and massive success in the luxury real estate market over the better part of two decades. With an unblemished track record representing a staggering $1 billion in sales to date, David's unwavering dedication to his clients and extensive knowledge of the global luxury market reinforces the Office of Global Wealth's commitment to providing unparalleled advisory for its clients across all luxury verticals. "I have known David and Chris for a very long time, and I am extremely pleased to welcome them to the family of Global Wealth. I cannot wait to see them realize their full potential and be the first in line to celebrate their successes." - Loy Carlos, Founder and President, Office of Global Wealth Reaffirming his commitment to and involvement with all aspects of luxury real estate and entrepreneurialism, David Attias also joins the Office of Global Wealth as founder and CEO of the wildly successful staging company The Staging Group, which services he will continue to offer to his clientele. "I am thrilled to join Nest Seekers International's pioneering Office of Global Wealth. With 22 years under my belt serving international high-net-worth individuals, I have concentrted on marketing some of Manhattan's most sought-after properties. My expertise, insights, and savoir faire have always been assets to my clients, whether they are in the market to purchase their dream home or sell a property that no longer aligns with their needs. My global perspective, proficiency in five languages, and meticulous attention to detail fuel my passion for success." - David Attias, Director, Office of Global Wealth Christopher Rassam joins the Office of Global Wealth with a 15-year background in hedge fund accounting and operations and a successful real estate sales background to match. Armed with a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the management and governance of private family offices and some of the most sophisticated financial institutions in the world, Chris brings a rare perspective and foundational understanding to the operation in ways most others cannot. "I'm incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work alongside the visionaries at the Office of Global Wealth who are building a team strategically designed to offer the highest level of service to our clientele. Loy and Kenneth's vision and track record of success firmly place us on the trajectory to establish ourselves as a dominant force not only in real estate, but in expanded luxury markets and all associated verticals." - Christopher Rassam Nest Seekers International's Office of Global Wealth is strategically based in New York City, recognized as the epicenter of global capital. With all eyes on New York in the post-pandemic era and the continuous evolution in the preferences of UHNWI driving demand for luxury properties and experiences, the Office of Global Wealth is not only poised to meet the needs of this very specific demographic, it is already delivering bespoke solutions from the epicenter of wealth and luxury. "It takes a unique and visionary perspective to understand the mission and objectives that the Office of Global Wealth is implementing and fulfilling. David and Chris, both equipped with cunning intelligence and an intimate understanding of the textures of wealth, not only grasp the office's ethos, but live it every day. I welcome them both with excitement and a shared appetite for the future of the business." - John Carbone, Managing Director, Nest Seekers International About the Office of Global Wealth With billions of dollars' worth of property, aircraft, yachts, and fine art under advisement, the Office of Global Wealth at Nest Seekers International provides high-context, best-in-class advisory to global ultra-high-net-worth clientele. Beyond facilitating luxury property transactions internationally across every major metropolitan avenue, the Office of Global Wealth is built to ensure reliable and creative advisory service to its clients and their every need. Embracing a multifaceted approach that resonates with art enthusiasts, luxury connoisseurs, family offices, and astute investors, the Office of Global Wealth is not only committed to curating bespoke luxury properties and developments, but also to championing philanthropic initiatives that align with our clients' values. About Nest Seekers International Nest Seekers International is the fastest-growing privately held real estate brokerage in the world. Over the past 20 years, Nest Seekers has established itself as a power player, boasting a wide network of offices in top markets worldwide. The company's technologically advanced platform and global media exposure attract discerning clients from prestigious markets across the globe, further solidifying its position as a trusted industry leader. Nest Seekers' in-house production company is behind multiple successful television series airing on Netflix, HBO, and the BBC, providing unparalleled global exposure. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012600069/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 12, 2023] Amidst Rising Outsourcing in Medical Device Manufacturing, New Research Report Illuminates the Global Electronics Contract Manufacturing Landscape Tweet DUBLIN, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a world where precision is paramount, the manufacturing of medical devices leaves no room for error. Recent observations from Neal Walters, partner in the Strategic Operations Practice of Kearney, highlight the growing reliance of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on outsourcing due to disruptions like COVID-19. It's evident that the medical device industry's trajectory mirrors that of the electronic components sector, where outsourcing design and production tasks to specialised third parties is a long-standing norm. It's within this growing significance of contract manufacturing that the "Electronics Contract Manufacturing and Design Services: The Global Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. For business entrepreneurs and managers looking to navigate this ever-evolving landscape, the new report provides an essential guide. Anchored with data from 2022 and boasting revenue forecasts until 2028, this comprehensive report offers a segmented analysis based on application provider, type, application, and geography. Why is this report indispensable for your business? Unparalleled Insights into Competitive Dynamics: The report does a deep dive into the competitive landscape of the electronics contract manufacturing (ECM) and desgn services market. This includes an examination of key dynamics like research and development capabilities, market presence, brand strength, and the synergies created through ecosystems and partnerships. The report does a deep dive into the competitive landscape of the electronics contract manufacturing (ECM) and desgn services market. This includes an examination of key dynamics like research and development capabilities, market presence, brand strength, and the synergies created through ecosystems and partnerships. Up-to-date Market Trends and Forecasts: It provides analyses of global market trends, underpinned by historical market revenue data from 2022, with forecasts up until 2028. Understand how the ECM market is evolving, the opportunities that arise, and the challenges that lie ahead. It provides analyses of global market trends, underpinned by historical market revenue data from 2022, with forecasts up until 2028. Understand how the ECM market is evolving, the opportunities that arise, and the challenges that lie ahead. COVID-19 Impact Analysis: The pandemic has caused seismic shifts across industries. Gain a clearer perspective on its implications for the electronics contract manufacturing and design services market, including the resultant challenges and opportunities. The pandemic has caused seismic shifts across industries. Gain a clearer perspective on its implications for the electronics contract manufacturing and design services market, including the resultant challenges and opportunities. Holistic Overview: From an in-depth industry value chain analysis that offers a comprehensive look at key intermediaries, to Porter's Five Forces and PESTLE analyses that provide macroeconomic insights, our report ensures a well-rounded understanding of the market. From an in-depth industry value chain analysis that offers a comprehensive look at key intermediaries, to Porter's Five Forces and PESTLE analyses that provide macroeconomic insights, our report ensures a well-rounded understanding of the market. Spotlight on Key Players: Stay abreast of the major vendors in the global ECM market. The report includes recent developments, key financials, and segmental revenues, equipping you with information crucial for strategic decision-making. Stay abreast of the major vendors in the global ECM market. The report includes recent developments, key financials, and segmental revenues, equipping you with information crucial for strategic decision-making. Emphasis on Sustainable Practices: In today's global marketplace, the importance of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) practices is undeniable. Discover consumer attitudes, assess risks and opportunities, and understand the ESG practices pursued by industry stalwarts. In today's global marketplace, the importance of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) practices is undeniable. Discover consumer attitudes, assess risks and opportunities, and understand the ESG practices pursued by industry stalwarts. Thorough Stakeholder Analysis: Know the key stakeholders, understand the competitive landscape, and stay updated with recent mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the industry. The product doesn't just present data; it empowers decision-makers with actionable insights, facilitating informed choices in an industry that's becoming increasingly intertwined with contract manufacturing and design services. For more information and to purchase "Electronics Contract Manufacturing and Design Services: The Global Market" please visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/s3qedn About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amidst-rising-outsourcing-in-medical-device-manufacturing-new-research-report-illuminates-the-global-electronics-contract-manufacturing-landscape-301955233.html SOURCE Research and Markets [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 12, 2023] Huawei and IUCN to Expand Global Impact of Nature Conservation in Tech4Nature Phase 2 Tweet GLAND, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2023 /CNW/ -- Huawei and IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, signed a strategic cooperation agreement to launch Phase 2 of the Tech4Nature partnership. Aligned with Huawei's TECH4ALL initiative and IUCN's Green List, the launch of Tech4Nature in 2020 marked the first time that either Huawei or IUCN had established a major partnership spanning the ICT and nature conservation sectors. A key output of Phase 2 will be to facilitate further collaboration between the two sectors. "Technology allows us to bridge the gap between science and action," said Dr Grethel Aguilar, Acting Director General of IUCN. "Conservationists can harness the power of big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to analyse vast datasets and ecological trends. This invaluable information aids in the identification and protection of critical habitats, guides ourefforts, and can leverage necessary resources to protect threatened species." Phase 2 will expand the global impact of the Tech4Nature partnership and scale-up the use of digital technologies to drive the effective and equitable management of protected and conserved areas. Together, IUCN and Huawei will develop technology-based solutions for pilot projects in at least five countries, including Brazil, Kenya, Turkey, Mexico, and China. The Tech4Nature partnership will also contribute to the implementation of the 30x30 target defined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which calls for 30% of the Earth's land and sea areas to be conserved by establishing protected areas and effective area-based conservation measures. The partners plan to support the implementation of the GBF through knowledge-sharing and capacity-building, including supporting the Global Species Action Plan (GSAP) online knowledge platform and developing knowledge products. "We believe that the Tech4Nature initiative will build on the success of the first phase and expand its global impact," said Peng Song, Senior Vice President of Huawei and President of ICT Strategy and Marketing in his speech during the signing ceremony for the launch of Phase 2. "We also believe that more partners will join the Tech4Nature initiative, embrace digital technology, and contribute to the sustainable development of the planet." Marking the beginning of the second phase of the partnership, was the launch of the Tech4Nature - A Partnership for Our Planet publication. This flagship publication draws together the best practices and experiences of the first phase of the partnership between Huawei and IUCN, which piloted the use of ICT for nature conservation in five protected areas across the globe. It also features guidance on how technology can help different protected and conserved areas achieve the IUCN Green List Standard, and the role of technology in the GBF implementation. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huawei-and-iucn-to-expand-global-impact-of-nature-conservation-in-tech4nature-phase-2-301955247.html SOURCE Huawei [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 12, 2023] The company Dynasty Global AG from Zug, Switzerland, will participate in events in Asia with a focus on expanding to the region Tweet The company's CEO, Eduardo Carvalho, will be present at events in Dubai and Hong Kong with the aim of acquiring assets, expanding the distribution network and bringing in strategic investors. SAO PAULO, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The first global crypto asset issuer to operate in the payment token market with reference to the real estate market, the company Dynasty Global AG from Zug, Switzerland, continues on track with its expansion plan for the Asian market. To this end, the company will be present at two major global events in the sector, the Future Blockchain Summit Dubai, which takes place between October 15th and 18th in the United Arab Emirates, and the Hong Kong Fintech Week, between October 30th and November 5th - when the corporation will have a stand and will be responsible for representing the consolidated Swiss cryptocurrency market. According to Eduardo Carvalho, CEO and co-founder of Dynasty, the participation in the events aims, in addition to distributing DNs - the name of the brand's digital asset - to networking with the aim of increasing proximity to possible investors and strategic partners for the brand. "For he coming months, we intend to expand into the Asian market due to the high level of innovation in the region, combined with the movement towards mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. Given this context, one of our business plans is to boost the company's visibility through frequent participation in meetings with major leaders and stakeholders in the segment," he explains. In practice, Dynasty's planning is already bearing fruit, as the possibility of participating in Asian events emerged after the good reception of the corporation's business model at the CV Summit 2023, the largest meeting of the blockchain ecosystem in the Crypto Valley, Switzerland, held in September. Founded in 2018, Dynasty is precisely based in the European country, which is globally recognized as the birthplace of this technology due to its strong jurisdiction and local regulatory security. Pioneering In order to succeed in its growth plan, Dynasty Global AG invests in its unique and market-first concept of uniting the power of real estate and cryptocurrencies through its payment token. In other words, the company uses real estate market assets as a value reference. With this, the company makes DN act more stable compared to other cryptoassets on the market, especially in periods of instability, as the company has the income from property rentals to use in a discretionary way to repurchase DNs in the market. Thus, the currency acts with two mechanisms of its own, one for scarcity and the other for protection against crisis, since the resources raised by the enterprise are used to purchase new assets. With 21 million tokens issued, DN is currently listed globally via Probit, P2PB2P and Exmarkets. About Dynasty Global AG Dynasty Global AG is the first cryptoasset company in the world to use the real estate market as a reference for issuing payment tokens. Through DN, the issuer manages to simplify financial transactions at a global level and provide a decentralized experience, in addition to greater stability, since it has a reference value of a real asset. With a strong presence in the European, Asian and Brazilian markets, the company is based in Crypto Valley, Switzerland, known as the "Silicon Valley" of cryptocurrencies. With 21 million tokens issued, DN is listed on several global exchanges and in Brazil it is available at FlowBTC. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/the-company-dynasty-global-ag-from-zug-switzerland-will-participate-in-events-in-asia-with-a-focus-on-expanding-to-the-region-301955278.html SOURCE Dynasty Global AG [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 12, 2023] Deal Box Platform Simplifies $867 Trillion Tokenization Opportunity Tweet San Diego, CA, Oct. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A 100-page report issued by the World Economic Forum estimates the tokenization market to be worth $867 trillion with an expected 80x growth rate by 2030. A 100-page report issued by the World Economic Forum estimates the tokenization market to be worth $867 trillion with an expected 80x growth rate by 2030. Recent indicators seem to be pointing to the beginning stages of a recovery in the crypto market, largely due to the filing of a Spot Bitcoin ETF by the bluest of all the blue chips BlackRock. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink was recently quoted as saying that tokenization will be the next generation for markets. Tokenization, for those new to the term, is a process that converts real-world assets, such as stocks, bonds, art, luxury watches, real estate, or just about anything that holds intrinsic real-world value into digital tokens. These tokens, traded on blockchain networks, represent ownership or rights to the underlying assets. They can be transferred and traded in a secure and transparent manner, much like passing a baton in a relay race, but in the digital realm. The potential of tokenization to disrupt traditional finance is massive, a tectonic movement that could revolutionize the financial industry. To get some deep insight on the current state of affairs we caught up with Thomas Carter, veteran entrepreneur and thought leader in the area of tokenization and digital securities. From predicting cryptos $1T crypto market cap to being one of the earliest pioneers of security tokens, Carter has been pushing innovation in this space for over seven years. As the Founder of Deal Box , a blockchain and AI powered security token issuance and investment platform, and the CEO of True I/O ( recently raised $9M ) Carter has been instrumental in guiding the development of asset tokenization. His expertise and vision in these areas have made him a sought after mentor. Along with creating one of the first security token issuance and investment platforms (Deal Box), Carters contributions to the tokenization ecosystem include creating user-friendly fintech solutions that enable broader adoption. For example, as founder of TNS (recently merged into True I/O) he developed a domain naming service that simplifies the complex process of blockchain transactions by creating user-friendly IDs in place of lengthy blockchain addresses called Digital Names . His acumen extends beyond tokenization and includes the field of cybersecurity and supply chain management as the driving force behind True I/O . True I/O is an ecosystem of blockchain/AI/VR enabled solutions that enhance password security, secure sensitive data, and fortify cybersecurity infrastructure as well as supply chain security for mobile or embedded devices that is, IoT (Internet of Things). One of True I/Os flagship products is the Universal Communications Identifier (UCID) , a cross-network security solution for any device connected to any network. True I/O and Deal Box recently partnered with Fireblocks, a platform that secures digital assets. Fireblocks provides a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets, enabling businesses to securely scale their digital asset operations. Recently, Carter has expanded his expertise in digital securities to include tokenization of Real World Assets (RWAs). RWAs refer to tangible assets that exist in the physical world, such as real estate, precious metals, commodities, artwork, private equity, etc. These assets have inherent value and can be tokenized using blockchain technology, which involves representing ownership rights as digital tokens on a distributed ledger. The tokenization of RWAs presents a generational opportunity in the finance industry. By tokenizing real-world assets, individuals and institutions can gain fractional ownership and access to these assets, which were previously limited to a select few. Tokenization enables the democratization of asset ownership, allowing smaller investors to participate in traditionally exclusive markets, enhanced secondary market liquidity and cross-border transactions. In a recent interview Carter had this to say about the BlackRock ETF and Finks remarks on tokenization Ive always felt that tokenization was the bigger story here, not cryptocurrencies, albeit an important part of the crypto ecosystem. After 20 years in traditional finance I realized early on that the genie in the crypto bottle was the transparency, universal access, and reduced frictional costs made immutable by cryptography. By bringing traditional assets and financial products on-chain we are unlocking trillions worth of liquidity that is expected to be anywhere from 10-40% of global GDP by 2030. Those are staggering numbers. I think the timing of the BlackRock ETF is brilliant in that it coincides with a Bitcoin halving event which is a deflationary algorithm programmed into Bitcoin that reduces the available supply and the GWTH (Greatest Wealth Transfer in History). The Boomers are transferring that wealth to a generation that grew up with blockchain tech. Not only does the ETF cash in on the $30+ trillion dollar retirement market but it also sets itself up to be a likely preferred investment vehicle for the incoming generation. Despite the fact that scores of previous Bitcoin ETFs have been rejected by the SEC, I think given the size and gravity of BlackRock, that they wouldnt place the bet unless they had good reason to expect a win. That win I believe is and will be the catalyst for the next bull market in crypto which if I had to speculate will take us somewhere into the vicinity of a 10 trillion dollar crypto market cap before 2025. The crypto market has been waiting for an incremental buying trend and this is it. Now is the time to act. One area of tokenization in particular deserves particular attention. The tokenization of private equity, Carters forte, and the core offering of Deal Box . Tokenization of Private Equity Private equity tokens are a digital representation of ownership in private equity investments on the blockchain. These tokens enable fractional ownership, improved liquidity and simplified management of private equity assets. A recent study found fund managers in France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, collectively responsible for around $546.5 billion in assets under management, found that 73% of the participants identified private equity assets as the most likely first to see significant tokenization. Moreover, the World Economic Forum has estimated that up to 10% of global GDP could be stored and transacted via distributed ledger technology by 2027, with crypto-asset custodian Finoa reporting that tokenized markets may be worth as much as $24 trillion by the same year. The Benefits of Private Equity Tokenization Private equity tokens shine in their promise of heightened liquidity. Historically, private equity investments have been hamstrung by extended lock-up times and scarce exit strategies, deterring certain investors. Tokenization, however, transforms these assets, facilitating their trade on secondary markets, and presenting a more fluid investment option. This revamped liquidity simplifies the process for investors to buy and sell, and unveils the worth of previously hard-to-move assets, appealing to a more diverse investor base. Moreover, private equity tokens usher in an era of transparency in a traditionally guarded sector. Rooted in blockchain technology, these tokens enable public monitoring of both ownership and transaction history. This immediate and open view into assets can elevate trust and diminish risks linked to deceit and poor oversight. Lastly, these tokens revolutionize accessibility to the private equity realm. They lower the entry barrier for everyday investors by offering pieces of ownership in private entities or funds. This fractional ownership invites modest-scale investments, widening the door for more people to invest in and benefit from private sector growth. Such inclusivity not only enriches investment portfolios but also spurs innovation and economic expansion by channeling more funds into the private domain. To learn more about how the process of private equity tokenization works visit Deal Box . About Thomas Carter Thomas Carter is a leader and evangelist for enterprise-grade FinTech and blockchain technology adoption. He was an early pioneer of Security Token technology and brings 30 + years of proven traditional capital markets acumen to the nascent field of tokenization. He is the founder and Chairman of Deal Box, a capital markets consulting firm focused on helping entrepreneurs and investors by leveraging automation, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technologies. Carter is also the CEO of True I/O whose mission is to help traditional financial and capital services realize the promise of transparency, universal access and reduced costs that blockchain tech offers. Thomas can be reached via: Thomascarter.io True.io LinkedIn http://trueio.io Thomas Carter thomas-at-tnscorp.io [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 12, 2023] ORIX Japan: Multiple advantages made us finally choose Qingdao QINGDAO, China, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 10, the fourth Qingdao Summit of Multinational Company Leaders officially opened. On October 10, IFENG Qingdao had an exclusive interview with Yoshinori Ogawa, CEO of ORIX (China) Industrial Holdings Co., Ltd. Mr. Ogawa said that the superior geographical location, rich industrial structure, positive cooperative attitude and service efficiency were the main reasons for ORIX to choose Qingdao. "The establishment of Orix China Industrial Holdings Limited took only a few months from the formal negotiation to the full landing. Qingdao is very enthusiastic, and the negotiation process is very efficient. Both at the government level and partners in other fields have shown a very positive attitude towards cooperation." Yoshinori Ogawa also recognised Qingdao's service quality and attitude in the later stages of the service process: "After the company was formally established, we faced some challenges in new areas, and we received not only co-financing from Qingdao Haifa State-owned Capital Investment and Operation Group, but also policy advice and support from Qingdao Municipal Government. Qingdao also helped us to connect with major enterprises in Qingdao and Shandong." View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/orix-japan-multiple-advantages-made-us-finally-choose-qingdao-301955635.html SOURCE IFENG Qingdao Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin discussed a number of issues including the situation in the South Caucasus with the Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, citing the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Azernews reports. "A number of relevant international and regional issues have been discussed. The importance of resuming rhythmic work of the Consultative regional platform 3+3 was stressed in the context of considering the situation in the South Caucasus," the statement reads. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said earlier that Yerevan is ready for talks with Baku within the 3+3 format. This regional format of cooperation with the participation of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, and Turkiye was suggested after the 44-day war. Only one meeting has been held since that time - in late 2021, without Georgia's participation. Steve Scalise announces to the press that he is giving up running for the position of speaker of the House of Representatives, this Wednesday in Washington. The Republican Party and with it, the U.S. House of Representatives and the country itself became a little more ungovernable Thursday night with the resignation of Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise in his race to become House speaker, a post in which he aspired to succeed Kevin McCarthy, defiantly ousted last week by the motion of Matt Gaetz, one of his own. Scalise had defeated Jim Jordan (Ohio) on Wednesday in an internal party vote by a margin (113-99) that ultimately proved too slim. Since then, the Congressman tried to convince his fellow Republicans behind the scenes to support him before calling for a floor vote, in which he was counting on the Democrats to speak out against him. He needed 217 yeses among the 222 seats that the conservative party has in the House of Representatives. In the end, it appears Scalise gave up his candidacy stood down from the race because he was unable to secure the votes. Several Republicans with a high media profiles, such as George Santos (New York) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia), had announced that they would not support him. In view of the fact that he did not have the numbers, the Congressman, who announced in August that he was suffering from multiple myeloma for which he is being treated with chemotherapy, set aside at the end of the day his aspirations to occupy the post of the third-highest authority in the country and second in line for the presidency. Until October 3, Scalise was Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives. He was also second to McCarthy, who was speaker for only nine months after his election last January, when it took him 15 votes to overcome resistance from the hard-line wing of his party. Gaetz, one of its most conspicuous members, last week promoted a motion to vacate to wrest the speakers gavel from him. He was supported in his destabilizing mission by seven other Republicans and all the Democrats (208) present that day on the floor. It was a historic day: never in the 234 years of the Capitol had the chair of Speaker of the House of Representatives been vacant. That vote plunged Capitol Hill into chaos and the United States into legislative paralysis. The House cannot approve new military aid for Israel. In this context, the attack by Hamas on Israel has added further pressure to the institutional crisis in Washington. Congress can do nothing, not even the most symbolic of gestures, until a speaker is elected. Funding for Ukraine is also frozen. Meanwhile, November 17 the date when the temporary spending bill will expire is fast approaching. That stopgap measure to avoid a government shutdown cost McCarthy his job. Nobodys going to use me as an excuse to hold back our ability to get the House opened again, Scalise told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday night after he announced he was dropping out of the race. Asked if he planned to endorse Jordan as a candidate for speaker, Scalise said: I cut no deals with anybody. There will be a lot of people that look at it [running for House speaker], but its got to be people that arent doing it for themselves and their own personal interests, he added. When announcing his decision to withdraw, Scalise made reference to the fact that the Republican Party remains deeply divided. In a letter he sent to colleagues, he wrote: Our conference still has to come together and is not there. There are still some people with their own agendas. And I was very clear. We have to have everyone put their agendas on the side and focus on what the country needs. This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a Speaker and we need to open up the House again. But clearly, not everybody is there, and there [are] still schisms that have to get resolved. In 2017, the thwarted speaker hopeful starred in a tragic chapter in Washingtons history of political infamy when he was shot by a fanatic who opened fire on several members of Congress who were participating in a league baseball game that pits sports-loving lawmakers against each other each year. It took him months to recover from his injuries. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition [October 12, 2023] Minnesota Schools Awarded Funding to Implement Evidence-Based BARR System Tweet BARR Center (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) announced today that 18 additional Minnesota schools have been selected to implement its evidenced-based system. The 2023 Minnesota legislature approved $5 million for the expansion of the BARR system which focuses on improving school culture and student outcomes. The BARR system is used in 40 schools in Minnesota and over 300 schools in the nation. MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Funded through Minnesota's 2023 K12 Education Finance bill (HF 2497) and working with the Minnesota Department of Education in the selection process, the following schools were awarded three-years of funding to roll out BARR's system: I am so grateful to the Minnesota legislature for allocating this funding. Elementary Schools: Brookview Elementary School, Stillwater School District; Ellen Hopkins Elementary School, Moorhead School District; North Metro Flex Academy Charter School, North St. Paul; Northport Elementary School, Robbinsdale School District; Roosevelt Elementary School, Detroit Lakes School District; Southview Elementary School, Marshall School District; Wilshire Park Elemenary School, St. Anthony New Brighton School District. Middle Schools: Detroit Lakes Middle School, Detroit Lakes School District; Marshall Middle School, Marshall School District; North Junior High School, St. Cloud School District; Oak-Land Middle School, Stillwater School District; South Junior High School, St. Cloud School District. High Schools: Apple Valley High School, Rosemount- Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools; Crookston High School, Crookston School District; Eden Prairie High School, Eden Prairie School District; Jordan High School, Jordan School District; Mankato East High School, Mankato School District; Two Rivers High School, ISD 197 West St. Paul and Mendota Heights. Highly competitive, more than 50 schools applied. Schools selected are geographically distributed and priority consideration was given to schools with a concentration of black, indigenous, and students of color, and those experiencing poverty. Educator training is underway as schools begin implementing the BARR system during the 2023-24 school year. These schools will form a statewide network and also join the national network of BARR schools. "BARR's mission is to create equitable schools where every student, regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status, has access to high-quality education where adults know them, recognize their strengths, and help them succeed," explains Angela Jerabek, founder and executive director of the BARR Center. "I am so grateful to the Minnesota legislature for allocating this funding so more educators and students can experience the BARR system, a true evidence-based school success system. I am very excited to have additional schools entering BARR's system." Now more than ever, in this challenging, post-pandemic period, educators need support addressing school climate and student mental health issues. Using existing resources, the BARR system focuses on building meaningful relationships capitalizing on the strengths of every student and leveraging student data to truly transform a school's culture. In every school implemented it has proven to be a successful way to meet the social and emotional needs of all students while simultaneously increasing student achievement and teacher satisfaction and effectiveness. The BARR system stands alone as the most consistently proven school improvement model in the country. Through rigorous studies conducted by the American Institute for Research (AIR), the BARR system has demonstrated statistically significant results in 20 areas, including increasing math and English achievement scores, improving student credit attainment, reducing course failure, closing the achievement gap, and reducing chronic absenteeism all while improving the school environment for both students and staff. About BARR Center BARR Center (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) delivers the expertise and resources required for a school to implement the BARR system, an evidence-backed system designed to nurture a collaborative and strengths-based culture of support and success for every student through intentionally deepening relationships and improving the use of data. For more information, visit, https://barrcenter.org/ . The contents of this press release do not necessarily represent the policy of the federal Department of Education or the state Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the federal or state government. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/minnesota-schools-awarded-funding-to-implement-evidence-based-barr-system-301955641.html SOURCE BARR Center [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 12, 2023] Nagad led by Sadaf takes women's financial inclusion to 49% Tweet DHAKA, Bangladesh, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nagad, Bangladesh's leading digital financial service provider, has reached a significant milestone in empowering women and promoting financial inclusion, thanks to the relentless efforts of its Co-founder and Executive Director Sadaf Roksana. With an easy account opening process, facilitated by e-KYC and USSD *167#, using mobile phones, and a range of convenient services, the mobile money carrier has now contributed to raising the financial inclusion ratio among women to an impressive 49 percent. According to Nagad's internal data, the gender gap in financial account holders is now only 1 percent. The journey of the world's fastest-growing MFS company towards achieving this remarkable goal has been marked by a series of initiatives that have effectively bridged the financial gender gap. One of the key programs implemented by Nagad is the disbursement of primary education stipends to students' mothers a strategic move that recognises the vital role women play in the education of the nation's future leaders. The impact of this initiative cannot be overstated, as it not only supports women but also encourages families to invest in education, ensuring a brighter future for generations to come. Furthermore, Banglaesh's fastest unicorn startup has become a lifeline for many social safety net beneficiaries, with a significant majority of those receiving allowances being women. These allowances are essential for the welfare of vulnerable members of society, and the state-owned MFS operator's role in disbursing them ensures that women have easy access to the financial support they need, promoting their economic independence and well-being. Sadaf Roksana, co-founder and executive director of Nagad Ltd., has been the driving force behind these transformative initiatives. Her dedication and unwavering commitment to improving the financial landscape for women have paved the way for Nagad's success in this endeavour. Under her visionary leadership, the company has not only accelerated financial inclusion for women but has done so at a rate that is on par with men, making a profound impact on the nation's economic development. Commenting on this significant achievement, Sadaf said, "At Nagad, we believe in empowering women and enabling them to access financial services conveniently. Our commitment to supporting women through education stipends and social safety net allowances has been instrumental in reaching the 49 percent financial inclusion ratio for women." "We are proud of our accomplishments, and we will continue to work tirelessly to create more opportunities for women in the financial sector," she said. About Nagad Ltd (https://www.nagad.com.bd/) Nagad Limited is one of the leading MFS operators in Bangladesh's payment industry with 80 million registered customers and an average daily transaction of about USD 112 million. The digital payment platform, known as a successful public-private partnership between Bangladesh Postal Department and the private sector, was inaugurated in 2019 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the people's republic of Bangladesh. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/nagad-led-by-sadaf-takes-womens-financial-inclusion-to-49-301954775.html SOURCE Nagad Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] 6G Market Expected to Reach $1,293.19 Billion by 2035 with a CAGR of 103.35%: BIS Research The 6G market is set to grow in response to increasing reliance on technology, diminishing tolerance for speed latencies, and shifting to higher consumption of low-latency networking applications. FREMONT, Calif., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BIS Research published a report titled, "6G Market - A Global and Regional Analysis, Focus on Product, Device, Communication Infrastructure, End-Use Application, Consumer Application, Industrial and Enterprise, Material, and Region - Analysis and Forecast, 2029-2035." According to the report, the 6G market is projected to be $1.58 billion in 2028, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 103.35% and reach $1,293.19 billion by 2035. 6G Market Drivers The 6G market gets a push from today's tech-reliant world. Even a millisecond of lag can disrupt tasks, particularly in critical systems such as autonomous vehicles. Advances in internet technology now support interactive applications, such as online gaming and financial trading, which demand minimal latency, often under 100 milliseconds; for instance, effective video conferencing needs at least 8 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload speeds. This growing emphasis on responsiveness is driving a surge in demand for low-latency networking applications, especially in sectors such as finance. Download the Sample report here: https://bisresearch.com/requestsample?id=1547&type=download Report Coverage and Details Report Details Forecast Period 20292035 Base Year 2028 Market Size in 2029 $1.58 Billion Market Size in 2035 $1,293.19 Billion CAGR 103.35 % No. of Pages in Report 314 Segments Covered By End-Use Application: Consumer Application and Industrial By Product: Device and Communication Infrastructure By Material: Plastics and Resins, Ceramics and Composites, Glass, and Semiconductor Materials and Others Drivers High Emphasis on Low Latency Network for Specific Applications Growing Adoption of Internet Services and Edge Computing Devices Growth of Smart Technologies Challenges Slower Transition from Older Communication Generation Very Large Investment Requirements Data Security and Privacy Threats Opportunities Use of Holography in Communication 6G in Growth of loT, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence 6G Market Challenges The key challenge to the adoption of the 6G market is lower adoption from the previous generation technologies. The telecom sector is evolving with the introduction of advanced network technologies, such as 5G, launched in 2019. While its features, such as enhanced broadband and low-latency communications, have been adopted in nations such as Finland, South Korea, and Japan, many regions are yet to embrace it. Current devices may not be 5G-compatible, necessitating upgrades that could hinder swift adoption due to associated costs and device availability. 6G Market Opportunities 6G has the potential to greatly advance blockchain, IoT applications, and AI usage. Over recent years, the integration of AI and IoT in communication systems, especially with 5G, has surged. These tech tools create and decode data to derive valuable insights. Yet, they've struggled with slow data speeds, causing lag in responses. The upcoming 6G technology aims to tackle these limitations, improving peer-to-peer connectivity. With 6G, IoT devices can relay vast data quantities faster, facilitating immediate data interpretation. View Tables of Content: https://bisresearch.com/requestsample?id=1547&type=toc Key Players The key players operating in the 6G market include Apple Inc., AT&T Inc., China United Network Communications Group, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Intel Corporation, MediaTek Inc., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Nokia Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SK Telecom, T-Mobile US, Inc., Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Verizon Communications Inc., ZTE Corporation, Reliance Industries Limited, Keysight Technologies, amongst others. These companies are focusing on strategic partnerships, collaborations, and acquisitions to enhance their product offerings and expand their market presence. In conclusion, the market for 6G is projected to grow and evolve significantly because of factors such as the use of holography in communication, the role of 6G in the growth of IoT, blockchain, artificial intelligence, UN SDGs, and mobile communications. Key Companies Profiled: Reliance Industries Limited Keysight Technologies Nokia Corporation Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Apple Inc. China Unicom ( Hong Kong ) Limited ) Limited AT&T Intellectual Property MediaTek Inc. SK Telecom Co., Ltd. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Verizon Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Intel Corporation ZTE Corporation T-Mobile USA , Inc. , Inc. Resonac Holdings Corporation Solvay DuPont DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, Ltd. Geographies Covered North America : U.S., Canada , and Mexico : U.S., , and Europe : Germany , Finland , Sweden , Switzerland , and Rest-of- Europe : , , , , and Rest-of- U.K. China Asia-Pacific and Japan : Japan , South Korea , India , Australia , and Rest-of- Asia-Pacific and Japan and : , , , , and Rest-of- and South America : Brazil and Rest-of- South America : and Rest-of- Middle East and Africa : U.A.E. and Rest-of- Middle East and Africa Recent Developments in the 6G Market In June 2023 , Keysight Technologies introduced PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) 2024, which can accelerate 5G mmWave product design and foresee requirements for 6G wireless communications development. , Keysight Technologies introduced PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) 2024, which can accelerate 5G mmWave product design and foresee requirements for 6G wireless communications development. In April 2023 , Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and the government of Canada announced plans to invest around $350 million in research and development centers in Ottawa, Ontario , and Montreal, Quebec facilities. , Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and the government of announced plans to invest around in research and development centers in , and facilities. In March 2023 , Resonac Holdings Corporation announced plans to start the development of new semiconductor materials for 6G at the newly opened innovation base. , Resonac Holdings Corporation announced plans to start the development of new semiconductor materials for 6G at the newly opened innovation base. In February 2023 , Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation announced a collaboration with Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Keysight Technologies for the expansion of 6G. , Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation announced a collaboration with Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Keysight Technologies for the expansion of 6G. In February 2023 , Nokia Corporation announced that the company had achieved two key technological milestones in 6G, with partners NTT Corporation and NTT Docomo, Inc. How 6G Market - A Global and Regional Analysis Can Add Value Product/Innovation Strategy: The product segment outlines 6G applications based on device, communication infrastructure, material, and end-use application. Given the rising demand for swift data transfer and low latency for enhanced user experience and industrial tasks, the 6G sector is set to be lucrative. Growth/Marketing Strategy: The 6G market, currently in its conceptual phase, is poised for rapid growth. Opportunities abound for both existing and new players, with strategies ranging from mergers and acquisitions to partnerships and product launches. Partnerships and product development are the dominant approaches for market strongholds. Competitive Strategy: The study profiles key 6G market players involved in the development and marketing of 6G solutions. Competitive benchmarking provides a clear market overview. It can be used to conduct a 6G SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces analysis for the 6G market, and more. Further, strategies such as partnerships and collaborations hint at potential market opportunities. USP of the 6G Market - A Global and Regional Analysis Report The following are some of the USPs of this report: A dedicated section focusing on the current and futuristic trends adopted by the key players operating in the 6G market Extensive competitive benchmarking of the companies operating in the ecosystem, offering a holistic view of the 6G market landscape Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the 6G market at the region and country level and granularity by application and product segments Transitioning from 5G to 6G Technologies supporting 6G Ecosystem/ongoing programs Supply chain analysis Demand by material type for 6G market and company profiles Stakeholder analysis Patent analysis Related Reports Satellite 5G New Radio (NR) Market - A Global and Regional Analysis 5G Satellite Communication Market - A Global and Regional Analysis 5G Substrate Materials Market - A Global and Regional Analysis Global Thermal Interface Materials Market for 5G About BIS Research: BIS Research is a global B2B market intelligence and advisory firm focusing on deep technology and related emerging trends, which can disrupt the market dynamics soon. We publish over 200 market intelligence studies annually, focusing on several deep technology verticals. Our strategic market analysis emphasizes market estimations, technology analysis, emerging high-growth applications, deeply segmented granular country-level market data, and other important market parameters useful in the strategic decision-making for senior management. BIS Research offers syndicate as well as custom studies and expert consultations to firms, providing them with specific and actionable insights on novel technology markets, business models, and competitive landscapes. Contact: Head of Marketing Email: [email protected] BIS Research Inc. 39111 PASEO PADRE PKWY STE 313, FREMONT, CA 94538-1686 Visit our Blog @https://bisresearch.com/insights Get Expert Insights @ https://community.insightmonk.com Connect with us on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/company/bis-research Connect with us on Twitter@ https://twitter.com/BISResearch Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/495163/BIS_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/6g-market-expected-to-reach-1-293-19-billion-by-2035-with-a-cagr-of-103-35-bis-research-301955824.html SOURCE BIS Research [October 13, 2023] SES Appoints Adel Al-Saleh as CEO Tweet Regulatory News: This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012234351/en/ Adel Al-Saleh (Photo: Business Wire) SES, a leading provider of global content connectivity solutions, today announced that Adel Al-Saleh has been hired as the company's Chief Executive Officer, effective February 2024. Since January 2018, Al-Saleh has been CEO at T-Systems International GmbH, the integrated IT services provider and subsidiary of telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG (DT), and he has served as a member of the Board of Management at DT throughout this period. In his time at T-Systems, Al-Saleh led the transition from a classic information technology and outsourcing business to an integrated IT services and digital solutions provider while driving growth initiatives to optimise operations, improve efficiency, increase customer satisfaction, expand employee engagement and maximise profitability. Interim SES CEO Ruy Pinto, who served as SES's Chief Technology Officer from 2019 to 2023, will continue to lead SES through January 2024, after which Pinto will remain as a member of the executive team until June 2024 and then will assume the role of strategic advisor to the CEO. Milton Torres, who succeeded Pinto as CTO on an interim basis, will continue in that capacity going forward. Frank Esser, Chairman of the SES Board of Directors, said, "We are delighted to welcome Adel Al-Saleh as our new CEO. Adel brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm from a range of dynamic, technology-based industries and has a track record of creating value by improving competitiveness and driving efficiency wherever he has been. This makes Adel the ideal person to lead SES into the next phase of our journey and deliver success." Esser continued, "On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Ruy for his continuing leadership. Ruy stepped in at a critical time and has provided the kind of leadership to allow SES to perform at a high level on behalf of our customers. We look forward to SES continuing under his direction for the balance of this important year and benefitting from hi experience and knowledge as we transition to Adel in 2024." Prior to his time with T-Systems, Al-Saleh led a number of organisations with a track record of achievement. He spent nearly 20 years with IBM in multiple senior leadership roles, culminating in 2006 as Vice President and General Manager, Sales and Industries, IBM Northeast Europe Integrated Operating Team, where he was responsible for IBM's sales across all industries and products. In 2007, Al-Saleh joined IMS Health as President, EMEA, and eventually was named as the company's President, United States. In 2011, KKR-owned Northgate Information Solutions (NIS) Group appointed Al-Saleh as CEO, where he led the transformation of the strategy, portfolio and operations of the NIS Group. "I am excited and honoured to be joining SES. The business is well placed for the future with world-class customer solutions, differentiated capabilities and an industry-leading financial position. I am looking forward to working with a strong team of colleagues to drive SES forward and create value in an exciting and rapidly evolving market environment," Al-Saleh said. Al-Saleh is a citizen of the United States of America and the United Kingdom. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, and he received his Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University. Follow us on: X | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram Read our Blogs > Visit the Media Gallery > About SES SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the world's only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the world's leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SES's video network carries ~8,000 channels and has an unparalleled reach of 369 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012234351/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Petal Ads unveiled game-changing solutions for entering the Chinese market at DMEXCO 2023 Tweet COLOGNE, Germany, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Huawei's mobile advertising ecosystem, Petal Ads, had a productive time at DMEXCO 2023, unveiling cutting-edge solutions for crafting effective digital campaigns. The event drew 800 international speakers, 40,000 international trade visitors, and 650 exhibiting companies. Petal Ads hosted a masterclass and booth to showcase their strategies and services and participated in a panel organised by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) on engaging high-value audiences. Jaime Gonzalo, VP of Huawei Mobile Services Europe, said, "Petal Ads was thrilled to feature their two key business priorities at DMEXCO: helping brand advertisers craft compelling digital campaigns, while imbuing them with the tools to connect with high-value international audiences, mainly from China." Petal Ads Masterclass Helmed by Jaime Gonzalo, the Petal Ads Masterclass emphasised the need to target high-quality users, and highlighted industry leaders across sectors, including retail and automotive, who successfully blazed trails into China. He explained that Petal Ads can help companies enter the Chinese market, given Huawei's deep understanding of it, exclusiv ownership of a large amount of high value users, and significant influence in this market. Huawei commands top spot for popularity in China according to YouGov Global Best Brand Ranking 2022, features a 47.4% market share in foldable smartphones, and offers exclusive access to over 500 million active users in China monthly. Furthermore, the platform offers comprehensive support with a dedicated team in Europe, from language and visuals to setup. MMA Panel The MMA panel featured industry experts who discussed the value of connecting with high-value audiences, explaining that using first-party data is crucial for achieving a highly granular segmentation. Petal Ads was represented by Alessandro Schintu, the Director of Ecosystem Development & Operations at Huawei. Petal Ads Booth The Petal Ads booth buzzed with expert discussions on branding, app campaigns, and overseas expansion tactics, attracting hundreds of visitors. Guests experienced Huawei's latest innovative devices and learned about their successful partnerships with top global brands. Watch the Highlights video here and the Petal Ads Masterclass here . About Petal Ads? Petal Ads is a fast-growing and industry-leading mobile ad platform powered by Huawei Technologies for publishers, advertisers and marketers who want to drive growth and extend their audience. ? This is achieved through its extensive platform of over 360,000 publishers globally and advertisers coming from a diverse range of over 200 industries, with agencies and businesses reaching over 730M new customers.? Petal Ads provides first-class targeting solutions harnessing hardware, software, and service insights, and using knowledge gained from first party data and through an intelligent system of user tags to help advertisers with audience calculation, insight analysis, and retargeting. The award-winning, cost-effective advertising platform is perfect for those who want to reach untapped and valuable new audiences. Chosen by well-known partners, Petal Ads is committed to security and user privacy, coupled with local and global support teams offering customised solutions.? For more information on Petal Ads, visit: ads.huawei.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2244621/PetalAds_DMEXCO23.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/petal-ads-unveiled-game-changing-solutions-for-entering-the-chinese-market-at-dmexco-2023-301955925.html SOURCE Huawei Consumer Business Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] TUV Rheinland Holds "All Quality Matters" Solar & ESS Congress 2023 in Hangzhou to Foster High-quality Growth of Industry Tweet HANGZHOU, China, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 8, 2023, TUV Rheinland Group held the "All Quality Matters" Solar & Energy Storage System (ESS) Congress 2023 and "All Quality Matters Award" Ceremony in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The event gathered nearly 200 experts, scholars, and enterprise representatives from the photovoltaic and energy storage sectors. The congress featured various segments, such as keynote speeches, a white paper release, strategic cooperation agreement signings, leadership forum, and "All Quality Matters Award" ceremony, aiming to explore new opportunities and solutions for the challenges in these fields and to facilitate high-quality development of the industrial chain. Frank Piller, Global Vice President of Solar & Commercial Products at TUV Rheinland, delivered the opening speech. He stated, "With a proven track record of over 40 years in the PV industry, TUV Rheinland has always been committed to building a communication platform for the entire industry. As the global energy storage market ushers in a burgeoning era, the industry is facing higher requirements for safety and quality control. TUV Rheinland is committed to providing one-stop comprehensive services for the upstream and downstream industry chain, and working with eco-partners to promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the energy industry." "Green Low-carbon and Sustainable Development of the PV Industry" white paper and "Key Technical Data on High-precision Measurement of Photovoltaic Modules" released As many countries have been increasing requirements for low-carbon products, PV enterprises need to reduce environmental impact in the production process, improve resource utilization, and ensure that products conform to the relevant environmental standards and certification requirements, thus achieving enviromental friendliness and sustainability. To address this industry need, TUV Rheinland launched a white paper entitled "Green Low-carbon and Sustainable Development of the PV Industry." The publication covers various aspects of green and low-carbon transition for PV enterprises, such as products, organizations, projects, supply chains, personnel, and carbon markets. It also provides guidance on how to conduct carbon management. In addition, TUV Rheinland released "Key Technical Data on High-precision Measurement of Photovoltaic Modules." Highly precise measurement of PV modules is crucial for the healthy development of the entire PV industry chain, and a complete traceability chain, scientific measurement methods, and standardized operations are key underpinnings for precise PV module measurement. TUV Rheinland, as a global authority on PV module power measurement, is dedicated to improving the precision of PV module measurement within the industry, and will publish relevant data periodically. Multiple cooperation initiatives to promote sustainable development At the Leadership Forum themed "Green and Sustainable Innovation for a New Era of Solar & Energy Storage," a segment of the congress, TUV Rheinland experts, and key opinion leaders from various PV and energy storage companies shared their insights and experiences on green transformation, contributing wisdom and strength to the sustainable development of the industry. As well, at the congress, TUV Rheinland, together with the Building Research Establishment (BRE), signed strategic cooperation agreements with Astronergy and RCT Power to build net-zero-carbon factories and net-zero-carbon industrial parks by leveraging their respective expertise and technological advantages in the new energy, construction, and green and low-carbon fields. Furthermore, Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) officially announced TUV Rheinland to be the first MCS product certification body outside of Europe. This partnership will help guarantee the quality of PV products, increase the number of certified products, and promote the accessibility, credibility, and application of sustainable energy technologies across the UK. Benchmarking solar & energy storage companies got together to witness the "All Quality Matters Award" winners Congress participants also applauded the winners in the "All Quality Matters Award" presentation, which is one of the most highly anticipated segments of the congress every year. The "All Quality Matters Award" competition this year had 16 categories, and recognized 20 outstanding companies. TUV Rheinland has successfully hosted the "All Quality Matters" Solar & ESS Congress for nine consecutive years, showcasing its influence and technical expertise in covering the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry chain. Weichun Li, Global Head of Power Electronics Business Segment and General Manager of Greater China Solar & Commercial Products at TUV Rheinland, stated: "We have been part of the development of China's PV and energy storage industry, and have always followed the principle of 'winning with quality' to drive the high-quality growth of the industry. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on the quality and safety of products and services, keep up with new trends in the global market, and assist companies in proactively addressing new opportunities and challenges in their energy transition. We are excited for next year, when the congress will celebrate its 10th anniversary." View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tuv-rheinland-holds-all-quality-matters-solar--ess-congress-2023-in-hangzhou-to-foster-high-quality-growth-of-industry-301955983.html SOURCE TUV Rheinland Greater China [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] The Opening of the 2023 China Changzhou International Forum on Science and Technology & Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Tweet CHANGZHOU, China, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 China Changzhou International Forum on Science and Technology & Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation opened on October 8, marking the 18th consecutive year of this event. The forum's theme this year is "Opening Up and Unleashing Our Energy for Greater Innovation". It aims to connect domestic and international economic, technological, industrial, and talent resources to accelerate Changzhou's transformation into a capital of new energy. 12 fund projects were signed; 18 industrial and technological innovation projects were signed, with a total investment of nearly 55 billion yuan, among which 10 were related to the new energy industry, with a total investment of 31 billion yuan, according to the Organizing Committee. Changzhou has set its sights on becoming the "Capital of New Energy" and has actively developed the new energy industry, unleashing new green potential. From January to July, large-scale enterprises in the new energy manufacturing sector achieved a total output value of 404.22 billion yuan, marking a 23.3% year-on-year growth. From January to August, more than 200 new energy projects were initiated, with a total investment exceeding 90 billion yuan. Exports of "New Three"products, including electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells, reached 21.61 billion USD, a 17.1% increase. Changzhou has also established a 5-billion-yuan New Energy Industry Investment Fund to attract investments in all aspects of the new energy industry chain, innovation chain, talent chain, and capital chain. The 10 new energy projects signed during the opening ceremony will play a pivotal role in advancing the direction of photovoltaic development, with a focus on new energy storage, boosting the overall scale and quality of industries in fields like new energy vehicles and core components, intelligent connected vehicle software and hardware products, and high-end automotive electronics. These efforts will further drive the continuous growth of Changzhou's industrial clusters. A group of leading companies in the field of new energy have accelerated the growth of a number of new energy projects, extending the "longboard" of the new energy industry in Changzhou. Over the years, Changzhou has vigorously promoted all-round and high-level opening up to enhance its level of international development. During the opening ceremony, more than 300 domestic and foreign business guests attended in person, with the number of foreign guests exceeding 30% of the total attendees. Among them were executives from Fortune Global 500 companies, multinational corporations, and renowned companies. Throughout this year, more than 60 CEOs from multinational companies have visited Changzhou. Their actions, including inspecting factories, assessing project operations, attending new project and production line launch ceremonies, and discussing capital increase and production expansion, have demonstrated their trust in Changzhou through practical actions. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-opening-of-the-2023-china-changzhou-international-forum-on-science-and-technology--foreign-trade-and-economic-cooperation-301956005.html SOURCE China Changzhou International Forum on Science and Technology & Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Organizing Committee [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Wells Fargo Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results Tweet Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) has released its third quarter 2023 financial results. The financial results are available online at https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/investor-relations/quarterly-earnings/ and on a Form 8-K filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 13, 2023, and available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012576561/en/ Facade of a Wells Fargo bank branch in Manhattan (Photo: Wells Fargo) Conference call The company will host a live conference call on Friday, Oct. 13, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. You may listen to the call by dialing 1-888-673-9782 (U.S. and Canada) or 312-470-7126 (International/U.S. Tol) and entering passcode: 7928529#. The call will also be available online at https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/investor-relations/quarterly-earnings/. A replay of the conference call will be available from approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 13 through Friday, Oct. 27. Please dial 1-800-510-0118 (U.S. and Canada) or 203-369-3808 (International/U.S. Toll) and enter passcode: 3625#. A webcast replay will also be available online at https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/investor-relations/quarterly-earnings/. About Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is a leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 47 on Fortune's 2023 rankings of America's largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a low-carbon economy. News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories. Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wellsfargo News Release Category: WF-CF View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012576561/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] UM Commerce Hosts Grand Opening of "Marva's," Industry-First 360 Commerce Experience Tweet Marva's Showcases Latest Innovations in Commerce Media Across Key Pillars of Tactics, Strategy & Content NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UM, a global media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, today announced the grand opening of "Marva's," a first-of-its-kind multifaceted commerce experience located at the agency's Midtown Manhattan headquarters. Named after UM's long-standing receptionist Marva Sealy, "Marva's" is an exploration and education space on all things commerce, a research hub for clients and partners, and a re-imagined version of the traditional employee store. "Marva's will be the birthplace of many new ideas, products, and strategies in the years to come." - Amie Owen , UM "At Marva's, we showcase the power of commerce media across all touchpoints through a never-before-done, immersive experience," said W. Joe DeMiero, US CEO, UM. "We're excited to bring clients, partners and UM's experts together to test and learn on all things commerce by leveraging the experience of a real-world convenience store as a real-world laboratory. We can observe how people shop, identify emerging trends in behaviors, and test new approaches in real time, with the goal of supercharging our clients' and our own commerce efforts now and in the future." Marva's is strategically designed to support four current trends driving the future of commerce media: convenience on the go, continuous availability, loyalty-driven sales, and the concept of "retail is media." Employees and visitors can take a self-guided tour that follows the evolution of Commerce, starting with media offered in-store, online and then at checkout and delivery. UM US Head of Commerce, Amie Owen, says, "Much like the commerce media landscape, ur vision is to have Marva's continually evolve, always highlighting the latest innovations and predictions in the space. Marva's will be the birthplace of many new ideas, products, and strategies in the years to come." The launch of Marva's reflects the agency's commitment to collaboration, innovation and a multi-pronged approach that optimizes brands' commerce media ROI: "Commerce as a tactic" drives sales online and in-store through 400+ global media retail networks, identifying consumers most likely to covert and connecting the dots on their consumer journey to reach point of sale. Created out of the merging of data, tech and retail media, "Commerce as a strategy" customizes each pathway to a specific user journey, using the latest data and advancements in shoppable tech to reach audiences where they are, with the right messages, at the likeliest moments of purchase. "Commerce as content" engages shoppers with a personalized advertising experience through curated content based on their own media consumption and behaviors. To outfit the store, UM Commerce partnered with Cooler Screens, Aki, Inmar and Flowcode to showcase both in-store and digital media offerings; Grocery TV and Instacart's AI-powered Caper Cart for retail/commerce media tactics; Amazon's Astro robot to deliver goods and exclusive drop merchandise to employees right to their desks; and iHeartRadio, on an in-store station and future podcasts live from the space. UM clients like Behr also contributed to the remodeled space. The announcement is the latest in first-to-market media and product launches by UM Commerce, which is responsible for more than $2B in billings globally. Building upon a decade of AI- and Machine Learning-powered technology offerings that drive new business and organic growth, UM most recently launched Shoptimizer, a retail budget allocation and optimization tool that delivered a 12-15% increase in incremental sales for brands that participated in the test phase. UM was also the first agency to create comprehensive tools for planning and buying commerce media such as ShopSmart, a dashboard housing hundreds of solutions sorted by KPI and retailer. The agency was the first to use data-led recommendations in journey-orchestrated, cross-channel commerce media plans. UM Commerce's track record of innovation and success contributed to this year's Campaign Media Agency Global Network of the Year win. About UM UM is a global media agency committed to Futureproofing our clients' businesses for the now and the next. We leverage the transformational power of rich business analytics and real-time intelligence to maximize growth and activate the full consumer journey across content and connections. Our consultative approach and agile model, rooted in diversity, equity and belonging, drive better business outcomes for brands. As the leading global media network in IPG Mediabrands, UM operates in over 100 countries, with more than 3,000 people innovating on a roster of global clients including Accenture, American Express, GoPro, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss & Co, Mattel, Sony and Spotify. For more information, please visit https://www.umww.com/. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/um-commerce-hosts-grand-opening-of-marvas-industry-first-360-commerce-experience-301956034.html SOURCE UM [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] mdf commerce announces the date of the conference call for second quarter of fiscal year 2024 financial results Tweet MONTREAL, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- mdf commerce inc. (TSX: MDF), a SaaS leader in digital commerce technologies, will hold a conference call to discuss second quarter of fiscal year 2024 financial results. Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2023 Time: 9:00 a.m. - Eastern Standard Time Attendance: Registration online Click here Dial-in: 1 833 630-1956 or 412 317-1837 (for international) Please ask to be joined into the mdf commerce inc. call. A relay of the webcast will be available for a year, until November 8, 2024, at midnight Eastern Standard Time, through the same link, following the conference call. Please visit the Investor Relations section on our website to view the earnings release prior to the conference call. About mdf commerce inc. mdf commerce inc. (TSX: MDF) enables the flow of commerce by providing a broad set of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions designed to optimize and accelerate commercial interactions between buyers and sellers. Our platforms and services empower businesses around the world, enabling them to generate billions of dollars in transactions on an annual basis. Our eprocurement, ecommerce and emarketplace solutions are supported by a strong and dedicated team of approximately 650 employees based in Canada, the U.S., Ukraine and China. For more information, please visit mdfcommerce.com, follow us on LinkedIn or call 1-877-677-9088. For further information Brigitte Guay, Director - Corporate Communications Toll-free: 1 877 677-9088, ext. 5123 Email: [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] KYODO NEWS - Oct 13, 2023 - 10:31 | World, All, Japan The foreign ministers of Japan and Thailand agreed Thursday that the two countries will enhance economic cooperation, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said during a meeting with her Thai counterpart Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara in Bangkok that Japan will collaborate with Thailand to address challenges posed by the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas after Thai nationals were caught up in the violence, according to the ministry. It was their first talks since Kamikawa assumed her post in September, while Parnpree, who doubles as deputy prime minister, took office following Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's inauguration the same month. The two ministers confirmed the importance of cooperating to promote Japanese investment in Thailand based on a five-year joint action plan adopted last year, which ranges from digital trade and e-commerce to quality infrastructure development. At the outset of the talks, which were open to the media, Kamikawa conveyed her condolences over the deaths of Thai nationals in Israel during a surprise attack by Hamas last weekend. She said Japan condemns the "terror assaults." Many Thai citizens live in Israel for work purposes and dozens were killed, injured or kidnapped after the militant group stormed into Israel on Saturday, according to Thailand's Foreign Ministry. Parnpree said that Srettha and he hope to make an official visit to Japan next year. Kamikawa is on a trip to four Southeast Asian nations from Sunday and also visited Brunei, Vietnam and Laos. She is set to return to Japan on Friday. Related coverage: Japan, Vietnam top diplomats vow to realize free, open Indo-Pacific Japan's top diplomat to visit, promote ties with 4 ASEAN states Japan foreign minister to visit 4 Southeast Asian nations from Oct. 8 [October 13, 2023] LZG International Inc, dba FatBrain AI ($LZGI), Announces Putting Systems in Place to Automate International Audit Compliance Tweet NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc., OTCQB: LZGI) (the "Company," or "we"), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use AI solutions for enterprise stars of tomorrow, today announced putting systems in place to automate international audit compliance. FatBrain AI has realized 130% Q/Q average revenue growth during FY2023, including from the strategic international acquisitions during that time. While these acquisitions had accounting processes and audit firms in place in their ordinary course of business, FatBrain's consolidated year-end reporting has required new processes under the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB") regime. These complexities have posed the main hurdle to complete the year-end filings. To overcome this, FatBrain AI has initiated a number of safeguards to be put in place, including automating systems and adding team members at the international facilities. The financial reporting automation efforts are being led by Mr. Niyaz Salybayev, CPA, co-founder of EasyTax SaaS and a 20-year audit and automation veteran with Arthur Anderson, Ernst & Young, and PwC, including his decade and a half tenure as PwC's CFO for its Eurasian operations. "We see the revenue and customer growth trends continuing in the fiscal year 2024," said Peter B. Ritz, Co-Founder and CEO of FatBrain AI. "While we did not anticipate international accounting hurdles and late filings, we are now on a path to fix and manage through these issues systematically. Automating our international systems will ensure that future filings will be timely, and the Company is confident in its current financial reporting. We are grateful for our shareholders' patience and are delighted to deliver an exciing future boosted by AI solutions." About FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc., OTCQB:LZGI) FatBrain AI provides powerful and easy-to-use AI solutions to empower the enterprise stars of tomorrow to grow, innovate, and drive the majority of the global economy. FatBrain's AI 2.0 technologies and advanced data services transform continuous learning, narrative reasoning, large language models, and cloud and blockchain technologies into auditable, explainable and easy to integrate AI solutions. FatBrain's subscriptions allow all companies to deploy its advanced AI solutions quickly, easily, and securely behind their firewalls or via cloud. FatBrain's global delivery includes 600+ team across design, development centers in the US, UK,?India, and Kazakh Republic. For more information, please visit:? https://www.fatbrain.ai Forward Looking Statement This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity. This release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on?September 13, 2022. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," and "would" or similar words. All forecasts provided by management in this release are based on information available at this time and management expects that internal projections and expectations may change over time. In addition, the forecasts are based entirely on management's best estimate of our future financial performance given our current contracts, current backlog of opportunities and conversations with new and existing customers about our products and services. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact Brokers and Analysts: Chesapeake Group 410-825-3930 [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lzg-international-inc-dba-fatbrain-ai-lzgi-announces-putting-systems-in-place-to-automate-international-audit-compliance-301956104.html SOURCE LZG International, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Dremio Announces Subsurface LIVE in NYC, May 2 - 3 Tweet Dremio, the easy and open data lakehouse, today announced the dates for Subsurface LIVE, the premier lakehouse event focused on the latest trends and innovations in data analytics and data lakehouse technologies. The event will take place on May 2 - 3, 2024, and it will be available both virtually and at Convene 237 Park Avenue, in the heart of New York City. Subsurface LIVE is a must-attend event for data professionals, engineers, analysts, and data decision-makers across industries and the tech sector looking to unlock the full potential of their data. Last year's lineup included keynotes by Tamas Kerekjarto from Shell, Deepika Duggirala from Transunion, and Tomer Shiran from Dremio, as well as powerful sessions with astronomer Julien Le Dem, Shopify's Marc Leforet, Tabular's Ryan Blue, Morgan Stanley's Supreet Kaur and Russell Spitzer from Apple. Speakers from leading technology companies like Apple, Uber, Bloomberg, AWS and Microsoft addressed breaking trends in the open data lakehouse ecosystem. This year, hot topics include the rising adoption of lakehouses and how they're redefining data access, movement and analysis, Apache Iceberg's soaring popularity, ETL evolution, the continuing transformation of cloud data lakes and warehousing, and AI's impact on data innovation in the enterprise. Attendees will gain insights into cutting-edge technologies, best practices, and real-world use cases from industry leaders and experts. Call for Speakers Dremio is now inviting passionate individuals from the data community to contribute their knowledge and expertise by participating as speakers at Subsurface LIVE. This is a unique opportunity to showcase your insights, share success stories, and engage with a diverse audience eager to learn and collaborate. If you have a compelling story or expertise in data analytics, data engineering, building data lakehouses or open source technologies like Apache Iceberg, Arrow, and Spark, or in related fields, we encourage you to submit your speaker proposal. Accepted speakers will have the chance to present their ideas, connect with industry peers, and contribute to the vibrant discussion shaping the data ecosystem. "We're excited to present the 6th Subsurface LIVE and bring thousands of data engineers, architects, analysts, and executives together to discuss how lakehouse architectures, open table formats like Iceberg, and new tools and practices are fundamentally changing the way businesses interact with data. Subsurface is a great connection point for everyone in the data community to learn, address today's and tomorrow's challenges, and have a lot of fun," said Read Maloney, CMO at Dremio. More than 7,000 global data experts and 3,000+ companies registered last year and Subsurface will host multiple keynotes and 45+ Breakout Sessions in 2024. Stay tuned for more details, including the event agenda, featured speakers, and registration information, which will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information about Subsurface LIVE, please visit: https://www.dremio.com/subsurface/. About Dremio Dremio is the easy and open data lakehouse, providing self-service analytics with data warehouse functionality and data lake flexibility across all of your data. Use Dremio's lightning-fast SQL query service and any other processing engine on the same data. Dremio increases agility with a revolutionary data-as-code approach that enables Git-like data experimentation, version control, and governance. In addition, Dremio eliminates data silos by enabling queries across data lakes, databases, and data warehouses, and by simplifying ingestion into the lakehouse. Dremio's fully managed service helps organizations get started with analytics in minutes, and automatically optimizes data for every workload. As the original creator of Apache Arrow and committed to Arrow and Iceberg's community-driven standards, Dremio is on a mission to reinvent SQL for data lakes and meet customers where they are on their lakehouse journey. Hundreds of global enterprises like JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Regeneron, and Allianz Global Investors use Dremio to deliver self-service analytics on the data lakehouse. Founded in 2015, Dremio is headquartered in Santa Clara. CNBC recognized Dremio as a Top Startup for the Enterprise and Deloitte named Dremio to its 2022 Technology Fast 500. To learn more, follow the company on GitHub, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, or visit www.dremio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013863968/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Linklogis' President Ji Kun Was Recognized as Outstanding Young Entrepreneur in the Greater Bay Area Tweet Hong Kong, China, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recently, the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Award Ceremony, hosted by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, was held at the branch venues in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macao. The event was supported by the local governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, the Liaison Offices of the Central Peoples Government in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region, major chambers of commerce in Hong Kong and Macao, the Guangdong Federation of Industry and Commerce, and academic institutions. John Lee ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Cai Guanshen, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and founding chairman of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, attended the event and delivered a speech. Ji Kun, the co-founder and president of Linklogis, was recognized as an Outstanding Young Entrepreneur in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The event recognizes the contributions and achievements of young entrepreneurs to the economic development of the society, enhances the cohesion and influence of youth in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and promotes innovative development in the region. The event has attracted over a thousand entrepreneurs competing for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Awards. The winners include well-known founders and executives from various industries. Promoting Exchanges in the GBA, A Hundred Young Entrepreneurs Received the Honor The selection of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Awards aims to discover vibrant and promising young entrepreneurs in the region, and recognizing their outstanding contributions and achievements to the industry and socioeconomic development of the Greater Bay Area. John Lee ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said that since its establishment, the Guangdng-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union has been promoting exchange and cooperation among enterprises in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, and facilitating work in various areas such as technological innovation and youth entrepreneurship. John Lee ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region This year, the award received more than 1,300 applications from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. After a professional and rigorous selection process, as well as independent evaluation by academic institutions and invited experts, about 100 young entrepreneurs from the Greater Bay Area stood out from over a thousand candidates, receiving awards such as the Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs of the Greater Bay Area, Best Entrepreneurship Award, Best Technology Innovation Award, Best Business Service Award, Best Social Responsibility Award, and Best Cultural Creative Award. The majority of them are well-known founders and executives from various industries such as innovative technology, healthcare, cultural creativity, and architecture design. As one of the winner of the Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs in the Greater Bay Area, Ji Kun, the co-founder and president of Linklogis, has many years of work experience in finance. He has conducted in-depth research and accumulated rich practical experience in marketing management and supply chain finance for corporate business. He has pioneered a technological innovation model that deeply integrates supply chain finance with the internet and industrial financing in China, and has gained successful practice experiences in the field of supply chain finance technology. Centering around the Greater Bay Area, Linklogis Continues to Deepen its International Business Linklogis, as a growing company deeply rooted in the Greater Bay Area, was established in Shenzhen in February 2016. In 2019, Linklogis established a branch in Hong Kong and launched the first blockchain-based cross-border supply chain financing platform in China, marking the initiation of Linklogis internationalization strategy. The open and pluralist global expansion strategy also signifies a broader development prospects of Linklogis in the future. Benefiting from the innovative atmosphere of the Greater Bay Area, Linklogis has experienced rapid growth. In April 2021, Linklogis was successfully listed on the main board of HKEX in April 2021, becoming the first supply chain finance technology SaaS enterprise listed in China. In 2022, Linklogis was recognized as MNC Regional Headquarters in Shenzhen by the Shenzhen government. Adhering to the vision of being the leading supply chain finance technology solutions provider, Linklogis strives to maintain its leading market share domestically while continuously expanding its international business. In the first half of 2023, Olea, the joint venture set up by Linklogis and Standard Chartered, successfully entered the Vietnamese market, expanding local and cross-border trade financing businesses in Vietnam. Besides, Linklogis participated in an innovation project led by the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, jointly developing prototypes with partners including Standard Chartered to explore the digital trade token solutions for SME financing. In the first half of 2023, the total volume of supply chain assets processed by Linklogis Cross-border Cloud was RMB5.7 billion, up 23% year-over-year. The boundless potential of the Greater Bay Area has attracted numerous enterprises to take root here. Capitalizing on various opportunities, enterprises have created one remarkable achievement after another, while the young entrepreneurs growing alongside them are also continuously improving their cohesion and influence, jointly driving the innovative development of the Greater Bay Area. Ji Kun, the co-founder and president of Linklogis Ji Kun said, I am honored to receive the award of 'Outstanding Young Entrepreneur in the Greater Bay Area.' This award is not only a recognition for Linklogis contributions to the supply chain finance technology industry, but also an affirmation of our efforts in the economic development of the Greater Bay Area. As a leading supply chain finance technology solutions provider in China, Linklogis will continue to actively participate in the construction of the Greater Bay Area. We will leverage cutting-edge technologies and rich experiences to drive innovation in supply chain finance technology, bringing more vitality to the supply chain ecosystem and the socioeconomic development. Gloria Zhou PR Manager Linklogis zhoushiqian-at-linklogis.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Why is the BRI welcomed as a global public good? Tweet BEIJING, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by China.org.cn on the Belt and Road Initiative: It's been ten years since Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A few days ago, the white paper "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future" was issued. So far, over 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations have participated in the BRI. Why was the BRI able to survive and thrive, and even grow into a public good and cooperation platform welcomed by the international community? The BRI has identified the common interests of all parties and met their development needs. Here's a handy example: As early as the 20th century, some Asian countries brought up the idea of building a "Pan-Asia Railway Network." The launch of the China-Laos Railway marks a critical step for this blueprint to become a reality. The railway has drastically shortened the original two-day journey from Vientiane to Boten, a town on the China-Laos border, to three hours. What's more, over 2,000 varieties of products have been traded between China and Laos via the railway. Data has shown that in the past decade, China and the BRI partner countries have collaborated in their national development schemes, spurring investment of nearly a trillion US dollars and creating 420,000 jobs./p> Southern Africa's Lesotho , there is a popular folk song in praise of China's Juncao (fungus grass) technology. Lesotho is a country that suffers from severe soil erosion. Back then, when this technology which uses grass instead of wood to cultivate edible fungus was introduced to Lesotho , people acquired a new way to get rid of poverty while protecting the environment. What's also impressive is the promotion through live-streaming by the Ambassadors of African countries. In recent years, the ever-prevailing digital commerce has made local African products like coffee from Ethiopia and white wine from South Africa more accessible to Chinese households. Poverty reduction, disaster mitigation, green development, and digital technologies have been important cooperation areas for building the BRI, which has helped bring global development into a balanced, coordinated and inclusive new stage. The BRI has truly stuck to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. Before the construction of the MombasaNairobi Railway, Chinese construction teams and local animal protection authorities have jointly done research into the local conditions, and designed a path of cutting out a railway route that wild animals can cross, in a bid to mitigate the impact of the railway on animal migration. During construction, more than 300 local companies joined the project with more than 90% employees being non-Chinese. The BRI allows the partner countries to negotiate on an equal stance while playing to their respective strengths, which sought ways to improve the global governance system. The prosperity of the millennia-old silk routes has demonstrated that by upholding solidarity and mutual trust, equality and mutual benefit, inclusiveness and mutual learning, and win-win cooperation, different countries could share peace and achieve development together. Now, it is clear that the ultimate goal of the BRI is to help build a global community of shared future, and that will no doubt forge more consensus and drive greater progress. China Mosaic http://chinamosaic.china.com.cn/index.htm Why is the BRI welcomed as a global public good? http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-10/13/content_116744945.htm View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/why-is-the-bri-welcomed-as-a-global-public-good-301956000.html SOURCE China.org.cn [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Lincoln Investment Planning, LLC and BNY Mellon's Pershing Announce a New Custodial Relationship Tweet FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lincoln Investment Planning, LLC (Lincoln Investment), and BNY Mellon's Pershing are expanding their long-standing clearing arrangement as Lincoln Investment transitions its self-clearing business onto a single custodial platform. The company has also selected Pershing X's Wove wealth management platform to provide a suite of technology solutions to its financial professionals. Lincoln Investment's conversion of its Solutions assets to a single custodial platform, supported by BNY Mellon's Pershing, will be a transformative step in the company's 55-year history. The new clearing arrangement addresses the company's need for enhanced technology and product solutions to meet financial professional and consumer demands, as well as supports Lincoln Investment's ability to deliver on strategic enterprise initiatives in the future. Until now, Lincoln Investment has maintained dual clearing arrangements. BNY Mellon's Pershing is a leading provider of clearing and custody services, with over $2 trillion in global assets under custody. The firm's Pershing X business unit unveiled the innovative new Wove platform in June. Wove is designed to seamlessly integrate all the technology tools advisors use into a single, data-driven platform. Lincoln Investment will also use BNY Mellon Pershing's NetX360+ custodial technology platform to help support its clients with market data, news, research, financial planning and reporting tools. Additionally, Lincoln Investment will have access to BNY Mellon Pershing's NetXInvestor portal, which offers clients of broker-dealer and registered investment adviser firms a wide range of resources and easy access to account information in a digital and secure manner. "The character, commitment and capabilities of BNY Mellon Pershing's leadership and relationship management services teams assured us they are the ideal partner for Lincoln Investment's unprecedented transformation," said Ed Forst, CEO and President, Lincoln Investment. "BNY Mellon Pershing's state-of-the-art, full-service Wove wealth management platform is the solution we need for our financial professionals and clients and for the future of the company. We feel confident that we have fund a partner for the long-term who can provide the right service model." "We're thrilled to expand upon our more than 25-year relationship with Lincoln Investment," said Jim Crowley, Global Head, BNY Mellon's Pershing. "The decision to completely transition their clearing services to us, as well as adopt Wove as their wealth management platform of choice for their advisors, speaks to the mutual trust we have cultivatedand the impact that Wove is already having in the marketplace after debuting in June. We look forward to helping Lincoln Investment grow their business and best serve their clients." Media Contacts Lincoln Investment Linda Heist Email: [email protected] Phone: 215-881-4611 BNY Mellon's Pershing Liz Ozaist Email: [email protected] Phone: 347-528-3559 ABOUT BNY MELLON'S PERSHING BNY Mellon's Pershing is a leading provider of clearing and custody services. BNY Mellon | Pershing is uniquely positioned to help complex financial services firms transform their businesses, drive growth, maximize efficiency, and manage risk and regulation. Wealth management and institutional firms outsource to Pershing, or one of Pershing's affiliates, trading and settlement services, investment solutions, bank and brokerage custody, middle- and back- office support, data insights and business consulting. Pershing brings together high-touch service, an open digital platform and the BNY Mellon enterprise to deliver a differentiated experience for every client. Pershing LLC (member FINRA, NYSE, SIPC) is a BNY Mellon company. With offices around the world, Pershing has over $2 trillion in assets and millions of investor accounts. Pershing affiliates include Pershing X, Inc. and BNY Mellon Advisors, Inc., an investment adviser registered in the United States under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Additional information is available on pershing.com, or follow @Pershing on LinkedIn or Twitter. ABOUT PERSHING X Pershing X, Inc. is a technology provider focused on delivering the most interoperable and data-driven suite of advisory tools in the wealth management industry. Pershing X technology, including the Wove platform, is designed to create an effortless and intuitive experience that allows for integration with multiple leading custodians. This allows wealth management professionals to focus their time on the business of advice, not technology, in order to maximize efficiency and optimize the experience for every client. Investment advisory solutions, if offered, may be provided by BNY Mellon Advisors, Inc., an investment adviser registered in the United States under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 or one or more affiliates of BNY Mellon. Pershing X is an affiliate of Pershing LLC, each BNY Mellon companies. Pershing and Pershing X do not provide investment advice. Additional information is available on pershingx.com. ABOUT LINCOLN INVESTMENT With over 55 years of proven industry leadership and experience in delivering investment strategies, Lincoln Investment is a leading broker-dealer. Its network includes over 1,000 financial professionals nationwide. The company serves the diverse financial needs of over 355,000 clients representing $49 billion in assets. Lincoln has been voted one of the Top Workplaces in the Delaware Valley for the 14th consecutive year. For more information, visit www.lincolninvestment.com or follow on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lincoln-investment-planning-llc-and-bny-mellons-pershing-announce-a-new-custodial-relationship-301956161.html SOURCE Lincoln Investment [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Udao Achieves Great Success Raising Over $100,000 in First Presale Stage and Sets Sights on Stage 2 Tweet Zug, Switzerland, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Udao, the driving force in the Web 3.0 environment dedicated to improving the skill-based economy, is thrilled to announce the triumph of its First Presale Stage. Within a mere 10 days, the Udao community came together, propelling the platform to soar beyond the impressive milestone of $100,000 USD, in total already over $2 Million. With the second stage of the presale swiftly approaching, scheduled to run from October 12 to October 22, 2023, the exceptional outcome of the first stage undoubtedly ignites anticipation for the next chapter of this remarkable journey. Surprising Figures about Skill Gap In our ever-changing world, the growing disparity between the supply of skills and the demand for them intensifies, especially within the dynamic labor market. To offer a holistic viewpoint, consider these statistical revelations: The World Economic Forum (WEF) highlights the pressing need for reskilling, affecting approximately 1 billion individuals globally. Astonishingly, WEF projects that half of the skills currently at our disposal will soon face automation. McKinsey's research underscores a striking statistic: 87% of companies worldwide confront skill deficiencies within their workforce. Quote from Udao CEO, Selim Kangeldi: "Two out of three of my children will enter a job that does not exist yet. I want a solution that is of value for all the coming generations, including my children's. Web 3.0 Apps are not just the future they are happening now. In a year, they will be the topic everyone understands far more deeply than today." About Udao Udao is a sustainable Web 3.0 Skills Economy AI-driven Platform, driven by a market-oriented skill development ecosystem that focuses on market-relevant skills and assessments. Operating under stringent Swiss regulations ensures transparency and legitimacy. Udao proudly holds membership in the Swiss Crypto Valley Assciation and boasts several key partnerships, including the European Academy for Executive Education (Eurac). The UDAO token empowers a community-owned skills ecosystem, bestowing governance rights, platform rewards, and exclusive features upon holders, all while offering financial incentives for user contributions. Core Objectives Promoting lifelong learning, regardless of formal qualifications. Bridging the skill supply and demand gap in a dynamic job market. Addressing the urgent need for a skills economy platform. Smart Solutions A global AI-driven platform that empowers users to acquire new skills and connects them with job opportunities. AI-driven skill matching and assessments for learners. Prioritizing practical skills and real-world knowledge. Staying attuned to global market needs and trends. Profound Impact Tailored courses to cater to the needs of hiring organizations. Addressing skill gaps and upskilling inequality. An innovative business model where every user contributes to success. Udao envisions a world where skills empower individuals and organizations to thrive, shaping a future where innovation and progress are celebrated, and everyone's contributions are valued. This vision fosters a community guided by courage, curiosity, transparency, and trust, steering us toward a brighter tomorrow. Joining the Movement Anybody can become part of the transformation of the skill-based economy, master the skills of the future, and help shift the landscape of education and work to the Web 3.0 World, where the power of skills, knowledge, and collaboration is celebrated. The second stage of the presale is set to unfold from October 12 to October 22, 2023. For more information, one can visit the official website or connect with Udao on social media: https://udao.org/ Zug, Switzerland Twitter - https://twitter.com/udao_official LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/udao-official/ Telegram - https://t.me/udao_official Discord - https://discord.gg/7cXcPbG8yx Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, or intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended that you practice due diligence (including consultation with a professional financial advisor) before investing in or trading securities and cryptocurrency. Udao Selim K support-at-udao.org [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Medisca Takes Additional Steps to Protect Its Innovative Technologies Tweet Medisca has taken another step in protecting the strategic research and development (R&D) investments made decades ago that ultimately led to the industry-leading Medisca MAZ mixer. The Medisca MAZ mixer provides an efficient, uniform, and high-quality solution for compounding hundreds of formulations and is protected by a robust portfolio of patents across the globe. While Medisca has taken significant steps to inform the industry about its patent portfolio, a few companies continue to offer products that infringe Medisca intellectual property. To protect its valuable rights and ensure that companies compete fairly, last month, Medisca filed suit against Fagron B.V., HiperScan GmbH, and Gako Deutschland GmbH for infringement of the Medisca German counterpart of European patent number 3,538,071. That suit was filed in the Munich district court of Germany and requests as relief, an injunction and monetary remedies. Today, Medisca's enforcement efforts have extended to the U.S., with a patent infringement suit filed in the District Court of South Carolina against FlackTek for infringement of Medisca U.S. patent numbers 10,420,705, 10,765,600, 11,090,224, 11,096,864, 10,231,903, and 10,993,876. Similar to the earlier filed German action, this U.S. proceeding requests as relief, an injunction and monetary remedies. It also includs allegations that PCCA's use and sale of FlackTek's SpeedMixer and related components infringe Medisca's patents. "We are committed to ensuring a fair and competitive global marketplace, where innovation and intellectual property are respected," said Panagiota Danopoulos, SVP Global Strategy & Innovation at Medisca. "So, in addition to our recent lawsuit in Germany, we are now taking further action to ensure our patents are upheld worldwide." Medisca hopes today's filing will serve as another reminder to all competitors of the importance of respecting Medisca intellectual property. The compounding industry (e.g., pharmaceutical and Cannabis) has come to rely on the quality and efficiency offered by the Medisca MAZ mixer. Medisca's ongoing R&D and IP strategies will continue to ensure that all compounding companies receive the high-quality products they deserve. About Medisca: Medisca is a global corporation with locations throughout North America, Australia, and Europe that contributes to healthcare by leveraging strong partnerships that deliver customized solutions with an unwavering commitment to quality and innovation. Backed by 30+ years and a strong foundation in pharmaceutical compounding supply, Medisca is a business-to-business company that delivers comprehensive offerings by providing value, consistency, responsiveness, and loyalty. As Partners In Wellness, Medisca offers an unfailing devotion to improving lives across a multitude of needs and people. For more information, visit www.medisca.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013323238/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Government of Canada greening operations and supporting Indigenous businesses through clean electricity infrastructure in Canada Tweet CALGARY, AB, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is taking meaningful action on its Greening Government Strategy commitment to power federal buildings with 100% renewable electricity and support Indigenous business by encouraging renewable electricity projects. We are leading by example by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and aiming towards a low-carbon, climate-resilient and clean growth economy. Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, announced the Government of Canada has awarded a $4-million contract to a joint-venture between South Head Energy and Switch Power for the supply of 6,400 renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually from a new clean electricity solar farm, for a period of 20 years. The facility will support the Government of Canada's commitment to investing in renewable energy and achieving the goal of net-zero emissions. The companies will build a solar farm which will supply clean electricity to the Alberta electricity grid. 6,400 RECs associated with this project will be attributed to federal operations in Canada. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2024 and the solar farm will be operational by December 31, 2025. The Government of Canada is committed to purchasing clean electricity and RECs to help stimulate new clean renewable electricity infrastructure development across Canada. Furthermore, this project will foster Indigenous business capacity in the clean electricity sector, green the electricity consumed by federally operated facilities, create new jobs and contribute to the growth of the clean electricity sector in Canada. South Head Energy is an Indigenous-owned business, and the joint venture is registered with the Indigenous Business Directory. Quotes "As Canada advances towards a more sustainable, equitable and prosperous future, we are taking meaningful action to green our operations across Canada. This project ensures Indigenous businesses thrive while helping to protect our environment by investing in renewable electricity, fighting climate change, generating jobs and creating a healthier environment for future generations." The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos Minister of Public Services and Procurement "In the era of reconciliation between Canada and Indigenous Peoples, this joint venture is proof that finding common ground is not only possible, but also demonstrates that an equalit of opportunity now exists for Indigenous entities like South Head Energy Corp that wish to participate in the green energy economy." John Sheppard President and Chief Executive Officer, South Head Energy "Switch Power is thrilled to formalize our partnership with South Head Energy through the creation of an Indigenous-owned company, as we target participation in several renewable energy projects across the country. South Head brings capacity, experience, and knowledge as a sustainable energy and Indigenous organization, which aligns with our mandate around reconciliation, Indigenous and community partnerships, allowing us to strategically collaborate while generating own-source revenue for Indigenous organizations." Trevor White President and Chief Executive Officer, Switch Power Corporation Quick facts Since electricity generated from RECs is indistinguishable from energy produced by any other source, RECs are how the generation and consumption of clean renewable electricity is tracked across the world. One REC is issued per one megawatt hour (MWh) and represents the environmental, social and economic attributes of the electricity generated. Currently, close to 80% of electricity consumed by the Government of Canada comes from clean energy sources supplied by provincial and territorial utility grids. comes from clean energy sources supplied by provincial and territorial utility grids. This contract is part of the larger procurement strategy to secure the equivalent of 128,000 MWh per year worth of RECs linked to new clean energy generation in Canada . This will allow the federal government to apply environmental attributes to electricity consumption in jurisdictions where new clean renewable sources are not yet available. Related products News release on powering federal operations in Alberta and Saskatchewan with clean electricity Associated links Government of Canada's Greening Government Strategy Greening Government Strategy Greener federal buildings Clean energy initiatives Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act The Government of Canada takes action to fight climate change and grow the economy takes action to fight climate change and grow the economy Indigenous business and federal procurement Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook SOURCE Public Services and Procurement Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Chinese Scholars: Diverse Economic Forms and Cultural Exchanges in Xinjiang Based on Archaeological Relics Tweet Urumqi, China, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xinjiang, as a crucial hub on the ancient "Silk Road," has been a center of cultural exchange and diverse economic activities. Recent archaeological discoveries in the region shed light on its rich history, according to an article by Zhang Guowen and Wei Wei from Nankai University. Shichengzi Site in Xinjiang (South-North) [Sourced: Report of Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology on the excavation of Shichengzi Site in Qitai County, Xinjiang in 2018. Archaeology, 2020 (12): 21-40] In this article, Zhang and Wei claimed that Shichengzi Site in Qitai County, Xinjiang, is a unique Han-dynasty archaeological site. Phytolith analysis suggests the ancient Shule residents relied on millet and highland barley. Stable isotope analysis of shows correlations between crop farming and livestock, revealing an integrated economy. While studying on the Tongtiandong Site in Jimunai County, which dates back more than 45,000 years, they said the Caronized wheat, highland barley, and millet remnants highlight Xinjiang's role as a granary of crops from West Asia and China. According to Zhang and Wei, Xinjiang served as a cultural bridge between East and West, fostering cultural exchange. Xinjiang's history reflects China's inclusive approach to cultural and economic development. The Silk Road facilitated cultural interactions between China and the West. Diverse economic forms in Xinjiang laid the foundation for a unified Chinese nation. In this article, they provide numerous examples to support their viewpoints, which they said Xinjiang is home to 56 ethnic groups, fostering a diverse cultural landscape. The Chinese government emphasizes the preservation of traditional cultures. Xinjiang boasts World Heritage Sites and cultural relics under state protection. Various ethnic groups in Xinjiang celebrate their unique cultural events. Folk festivals and traditions are inherited, promoted, and cherished. Xinjiang serves as a hub for intercultural dialogue and understanding. As they pointed in conclusion, Xinjiang's history reflects its role as a bridge for cultural exchange and economic diversity. The region's inclusive approach to development and cultural preservation has contributed to the harmonious coexistence of diverse cultures. Today, Xinjiang continues to be a vital center for intercultural dialogue in China and beyond. Company: Huanqiu Website: https://english.huanqiu.com/article/4EKuBm042rG Contact: ViviBota TEL: 09914235689 Email: ViviBota-at-huanqiu.com City: Urumqi [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Colibri Real Estate Unveils New Continuing Education Courses for Real Estate Agents and Brokers in North Dakota Tweet Colibri Real Estate, the leading provider of real estate learning solutions nationwide, today announced the release of new online continuing education (CE) courses for real estate agents and brokers in North Dakota. "We are so excited to announce the launch of Colibri Real Estate continuing education, the newest addition to our unmatched learning solutions for real estate professionals," said Jennifer Dixson Hoff, General Manager - Professional Portfolio and Partnerships, Colibri Real Estate. "Our CE simplifies and streamlines learning for real estate agents and brokers, with a focus on practical knowledge to maintain their real estate license and get back to business." Colibri Real Estate online CE courses offer flexibility for agents and brokers to learn at their own pace. With comprehensive CE offerings, real estate professionals in North Dakota can now meet their state requirements with Colibri Real Estate for their upcoming November CE renewal cycle. Colibri Real Estate provides CE course options for salespeople and brokers to renew their license. Available courses include: A New Look at Contract Law: Gain valuable insights on the least understood (and most-used) document in real estate: the contract. Learn how to create a vali contract, explore contract types, Statutes of Fraud, breaches, contract history and definitions. NAR: May the Code Be With You: This course covers the National Association of REALTORS Code of Ethics, ethical practices, and decision-making in real estate. Educating Homebuyers: This course provides tools, techniques, and insights needed to guide buyers through the homebuying process, from finding homes in the current market to preparing finances, negotiation, and more. Taking the Distress Out of Distressed Properties: Learn from experts who have worked closely with distressed property transactions on how to expand your business while serving the needs of sellers, buyers, and lenders. Agency Law: A Broker's Perspective: Examine the many facets of agency law by reviewing its history, common law, key elements of fiduciary responsibility, consequences of failing to carry them out and different ways an agency relationship may be formed and terminated. "We have been working efficiently to bring CE to our customers, and North Dakota is one of the first states we prioritized for our launch," said Andrew Robinson, Head of Product, Content, and Innovation, Colibri Real Estate. "With our CE, you have one login, one dashboard for all of your learning needs, one place for all of your CE and one number to call for help." For more information and to enroll in North Dakota CE courses, go to: https://www.colibrirealestate.com/real-estate/north-dakota/continuing-education/. ABOUT COLIBRI REAL ESTATE Colibri Real Estate empowers aspiring and seasoned real estate professionals to start or advance their career through unmatched learning solutions. Colibri Real Estate is part of the Colibri Group, an education company composed of elite brands that provide learning solutions to licensed professionals. For more information, visit https://www.colibrirealestate.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013509135/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] KYODO NEWS - Oct 13, 2023 - 16:29 | All, Japan A Japanese court on Friday held its first meeting with lawyers and prosecutors to prepare for the trial of the suspected murderer of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid tightened security, after the delivery of a suspicious package led to the cancellation of the original June proceedings. The defendant, Tetsuya Yamagami, 43, did not attend the closed-door pretrial procedure at the Nara District Court in western Japan. His first trial hearing is expected to be held next year at the earliest, according to sources familiar with the matter. The pretrial proceedings allow court officials, prosecutors and lawyers to narrow down issues, review evidence and set the trial's schedule. Friday's meeting ended after about 20 minutes, according to Yamagami's defense team. Yamagami stands accused of fatally shooting Abe with a handmade firearm during an election stump speech in Nara in July last year. The assassination of Japan's longest-serving prime minister shocked a nation where gun violence is rare. According to his lawyers, Yamagami was planning to attend the pretrial procedure slated for June 12, but the furor over the suspicious package made him "think hard" about whether he should make an appearance on Friday. Metal detectors were used during security checks at the Nara District Court on Friday. On June 12, a cardboard box delivered to the court set off a metal detector alarm, which led to the building being cleared and the preparations for the trial that were planned for the day being canceled. The box was later found to have only contained paper for a petition seeking leniency for Yamagami. Yamagami has attracted sympathy among some of the public, who see him as a person whose life was ruined as one of the many victims of the Unification Church, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and known for its aggressive fundraising tactics. Yamagami's mother, who was a follower of the church, is believed to have made donations totaling 100 million yen ($670,000), which Yamagami has said during investigations financially ruined his family. He has also told investigators that he targeted Abe due to perceived connections between the Unification Church and Abe's grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. According to his lawyers, Yamagami has shown interest in the government's decision to seek a court order to dissolve the Unification Church, which, if issued, is expected to lead to the South Korea-founded group losing its religious corporation status in Japan and deprive it of its tax benefits. But his lawyers did not disclose details of the exchanges. Related coverage: Abe shooter spends time reading, awaits unscheduled trial 1 year on, Abe assassination leaves controversial issues unresolved Japan police to test lone actor spotting scheme after Abe shooting [October 13, 2023] KBRA Launches Leading Voices in Credit Podcast Tweet KBRA announced today the launch of a new podcast series, Leading Voices in Credit, which showcases monthly interviews with credit market thought leaders hosted by KBRA Chief Strategist Van Hesser. The wide-ranging discussions will cover topics across the credit spectrum from investment grade to high yield, public to private, and unsecured to asset-backed. For the inaugural episode, Van spoke with Symon Drake-Brockman, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Pemberton Asset Management, one of the largest private credit managers in Europe. In the 25-minute episode, the two discuss the growth of alternative lenders, competition between public and private markets, and opportunities in private credit. The full episode can be streamed here and the transcript can be found here. Van also hots KBRA's popular 3 Things in Credit podcast, where he digs into and provides perspective on issues credit-market participants care about. Tune in every Friday for the latest episode. Related Links Van Hesser's 3 Things in Credit Podcast and Newsletter Leading Voices in Credit: Pemberton's Symon Drake-Brockman on Private Credit About Van Hesser Van Hesser is a Senior Managing Director and Chief Strategist at KBRA responsible for generating thought leadership in credit markets and cultivating relationships with the firm's external clients and constituents. He previously served as a senior managing director and head of KBRA's Financial Institutions and Corporates ratings groups, where he leveraged over 30 years of experience as an institutional investor, sell-side research analyst, investment banker, and regulator. Over the course of his career, Van was named to Institutional Investor Magazine's All-America Fixed Income Research Team rankings 10 times across three categories and has served as an expert witness in important industry litigation. About KBRA KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered in the U.S., the EU, and the UK, and is designated to provide structured finance ratings in Canada. KBRA's ratings can be used by investors for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013869223/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 13, 2023] Slide Acquires Renewal Rights for Farmers Insurance Homeowners Policies in Florida Tweet Slide Insurance, the full-stack insurtech providing effective homeowners coverage for the Florida market, today announced it has acquired renewal rights for 86,000 Florida homeowners insurance policies from Farmers Insurance. The transaction does not include Farmers Insurance renters, auto, or umbrella policies. "We remain bullish on Florida's insurance market and believe the market is ripe for an innovator like Slide," said Bruce Lucas, Founder and CEO of Slide. "The recent reforms are working and the Florida insurance market is stabilizing. This transaction would not be possible without the efforts by CFO Patronis, who worked tirelessly to find a solution for all policyholders. CFO Patronis' leadership gave us the confidence to offer every policyholder a guaranteed renewal. The transaction with Farmers will provide all policyholders a seamless transition and ongoing coverage." Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said, "The fact that Slide is picking up 86,000 policyholders is great news for those who were getting dumped by Farmers. It also demonstrates that carriers are finding more opportunities, in Florida's insurance environment, after the reforms we enacted. The coverage that Slide will provide will make policyholders' lives easier - and we'll continue working to attract more carriers to Florida." Farmers agents in Floria will be offered an appointment with Slide. Renewals issued by Slide will begin for February 2024 effective dates. As part of this transaction, Slide will bolster its big data advantage and market-leading focus on underwriting technology and predictive analytics. Following the acquisition of renewal rights to over 91,000 policies from UPC Insurance earlier this year, Slide has continued to emphasize building strong financial stability. In July, the company finalized its second $100 million catastrophe bond. In June, Slide secured $35 million in additional capital through a senior credit facility with Regions Bank. The company placed an oversubscribed reinsurance program protecting Slide to the 200-year return period in May. About Slide Slide is a full-stack homeowner's insurtech that makes it easy for modern consumers to choose the right coverage for their unique needs and budgets. Slide's cutting-edge technology leverages artificial intelligence and big data to hyper-personalize, optimize, and streamline every part of the insurance process. Based in Tampa, FL, the company was founded by Bruce and Shannon Lucas, insurance insiders with a deep understanding of how technology can be applied to achieve better underwriting outcomes. Slide launched operations in February 2022 and has quickly grown to become the largest full-stack homeowners insurtech in the country by premium. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231013500372/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The latest local killing early this morning adds to the KCMO homicide count that had endured a welcomed pause. This latest killing adds to 11% spike over last year's pace YTD and puts us closer to record-breaking 2020 numbers that totaled 151 at this date on the calendar. Here is the first report . . . Homicide 5200 block College Ave This morning just after 2:30am, officers were dispatched to the 5200 block of College Avenue on a reported EMS call. Upon arrival, officers were summoned to a nearby residence where they located an adult male victim, lying inside of the home unresponsive. The victim appeared to be suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Officers immediately began rendering medical aid until EMS declared the victim deceased. The circumstances leading up to this incident are actively being investigated. Police were notified that multiple sounds of shots had been heard in the area by a person in the nearby area. Homicide detectives and crime scene personnel have responded to begin gathering evidence and collecting witness statements. Roselyn Temple with KC Mothers in Charge has also responded to assist friends and family of the victim through this difficult time. Detectives do not currently have any persons of interest in police custody and this investigation is considered on-going. If anyone was in or around the area at this time and saw or heard anything they are asked to contact Homicide detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS there is a reward of up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS hotline. We are committed to assisting victims of violent crimes through use of Missouris Protection Program for Victims/Witnesses of Violent Crime. Funding for temporary, or even permanent relocation, may be available but is subject to pre-approval by the States administering agency. We are working with Partners for Peace in all our homicide investigations to monitor risks for retaliation and provide social services to affected residents. ################# Developing . . . Two Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-18s will perform a flyover before the Toronto Argonauts matchup against the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, Oct. 14. The RCAF aircraft are from the 425th Tactical Fighter Squadron of 3 Wing-Canadian Forces Base Bagotville in Quebec and will fly over BMO Field in Toronto, as part of the Argonauts Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Game, the National Defence branch of the Canadian Armed Forces stated in a press release. The flyby will take place at around 7 p.m., following the conclusion of the national anthem. The CF-18s will fly over the stadium at an altitude of at least 500 feet above the highest point of its route. To ensure public safety, RCAF aircraft flybys are subject to careful planning and close monitoring, the release stated. They are also dependent on weather and flight conditions. For details on the Royal Canadian Air Force and its aircraft, visit canada.ca/en/air-force.html. Police are looking for a man in connection with an assault at a downtown Toronto subway station earlier this year. Toronto police said a man assaulted a TTC collector at Queen subway station, near Queen and Yonge streets, on April 4. The suspect is described as being 5-foot-9 with a medium build. He was wearing a black jacket, black pants, black boots and a green toque, police said in a Friday morning news release in which images were released. Anyone with information is asked to call 51 Division at 416-808-5100 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477). The Bath Institute book club in Kingston is a lot like any other. Its members make time to bond over their shared love of books and to hash out their feelings and often wildly varying opinions about that months selection. A quick glance at the sixteen members seated in a rough circle inside the makeshift library reveals the differences. The wine and canapes have been replaced with Styrofoam cups of coffee, the members are all men, and they all dress alike, in a casual uniform of blue T-shirt and black or blue pants. A lot of tattoos are visible, some professional, others names and symbols scrawled on bare flesh with a pin and pen ink. The members of this book club are all men, all serving time in a medium-security prison; the club itself is one of over 40 set up by Book Clubs for Inmates (BCFI), a charity that organizes and assists volunteer-led clubs in federal penitentiaries across the country. And today is a very special day at Bath: celebrated novelist Heather ONeill is here to talk about her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, which the club chose as their September title. The club started nine years ago, with Eric, an inmate, serving as the Book Club Ambassador since 2018. He is also the editor of the clubs newsletter. Eric is enthusiastic about the clubs transformative power. Book club gives us much-needed emotional and intellectual freedom, even if its only for a little while. At book club, members are free to explore their reactions to books strictly as readers, not incarcerated individuals. We dont want to know what youve done [on the outside], Eric says. Youre welcome to share background and life stories, but only those you choose. Eric works with BCFI, the Bath Librarian, and two volunteer co-ordinators, Eleanor and Beth, who regularly host the meetings. Today, Eleanor introduces this months book and its author. Before handing the stage to Heather, she urges the newbies to share their opinions and insights, telling them, I learn more about the books from you guys than I pick up from my own reading. As the men begin to talk, another difference about the book club becomes clear: the members have all obviously read this months book. Not everybody loved Lullabies for Little Criminals, but they all deeply engaged with its bittersweet stories of life on the mean streets of Montreal. ONeill opens up about the experiences of homelessness, abuse, parental addiction and time in the foster-care system that marred her childhood, experiences she mined for the novel. She tells the men that she wrote Lullabies in her twenties when she was struggling to get by as a single mother in Montreal. When I was writing it, I felt like I was singing myself a lullaby to help me see the beauty in the world Id grown up in. The novels cast of traumatized children and parents clearly resonates with the men. We can all relate to dysfunction here, Ted jokes. You dont often read about people who are down and out. People in books are usually affluent. One member admits that he found the novel hard to read at times. Another was so enraged at an abusive male character in the novel that he threw his copy against the wall before picking it up again later. A conversation opens up around the circle, with the men sharing tales of their own experiences in abusive homes and foster care and on the streets. They are just as forthcoming about their own failures as husbands and fathers. Im so scared for my eight-year-old daughter, Joe admits. I try to protect her, but shes out there and Im in here. It was an interesting book to talk to them about, ONeill says after reading. Because its a book about childhood, we were all talking about that period of life. It was the time before they committed their crimes. It was a time when everyone in the room was in a state of grace. So I was relating to them street-kid to street kid. What they did to get into prison happened later. We just stayed in the time when we were unloved and perfect. Mike, the Chief of Education at Bath, sees the book club as an important aid in boosting literacy and sociability skills. He points out that over 75 per cent of offenders admitted into federal custody lack a high school diploma. If they can leave custody with a Grade 12 diploma, he says, their chances of re-offending drop significantly and theyre more likely to find a job. Tom Best, the CEO of BCFI, agrees. Reading books and getting access to authors can help inmates cultivate positive connections inside and outside of the prison setting. This area of personal growth helps prepare them for release back into society. As the meeting draws to close, Jake, one of the newbies, raises his hand. Struggling for words, he says that Lullabies, with its stories of children cut off from family and community support, resonated for him as a prisoner. It really showed how critical support systems are to all of us. Part of our reintegration process is to learn how to align ourselves with support groups on the outside that have our best interests at heart. Book club may only meet once a month, but its an important step toward that realignment of the heart. Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE): The Dubai Desert Safari is one of the most anticipated indulgences locals and tourists enjoy. October to April is the preferred and best time for the grand desert expedition. The Dubai Desert Safari is synonymous with Dubai among local and international travelers. It would be unthinkable not to explore and experience the Arabian Desert landscape and feature in exotic experiences and entertaining adventures such as dune buggy rides, camel rides, sandboarding, falconry, desert campsite experiences, and the best of traditional Bedouin hospitality with a delightful dinner buffet under the star-studded sky. Another key highlight of the Dubai desert safari is the exploration of the raw nature of the desert, the wildlife, and the Bedouin population still surviving the harsh desert landscape. The increasing demand for adventure travel experiences is visible in the rising popularity of Dubai desert safari packages among all tourist and visitor demographics. MyDesertSafariDubai.com has announced price cuts on select safaris, including the Evening Desert Safari and Dubai Dune Buggy Adventure. The company spokesperson stated, www.mydesertsafaridubai.com is looking to redefine the Dubai desert safari experience for guests. Our portfolio brings a host of new experiences and amazing memories for tourists and locals alike while allowing them to embrace the Emirati culture and bask in the glorious past of the Bedouin population. Choose from our all-inclusive desert safaris with a BBQ dinner or a heart-racing dune buggy session, all at unbeatable prices. About www.mydesertsafaridubai.com MyDesertSafariDubai.com offers various types of desert safari packages that match the tastes and preferences of all age groups globally. They include evening desert safaris, morning desert safaris, overnight safaris, dune buggy Dubai, dinner in the desert, and sunrise desert safaris. The best thing is that each of them is customizable as per guests requirements. The guests enjoy the heart of the grand Arabian Desert and get a sneak peek at primitive desert life in their natural habitat while accessing all adventures, including the dune bash, dune buggy Dubai, and other exhilarating desert experiences covered in your itinerary. MyDesertSafari.com is a part of Rayna Tours and Travels, committed to following the utmost health and safety protocols for all its guests. It combines two decades of combined experience in the travel and hospitality industry. With the right expertise and deep knowledge in this sector, the staff uses all its experience to cater to the dynamic travel needs of their customers. Rayna Tours facilitates an advanced online reservation system backed by a secured payment system and instant confirmation features. ### Adorable Safari and Tours has carved a niche for itself in the realm of Zambian travel. (TRAVPR.COM) ZAMBIA - October 13th, 2023 - Adorable Safari and Tours a leading travel and tours company in Zambia is excited to introduce its latest service the Book Livingstone Airport Transfers. This new feature is designed to simplify airport transportation for both locals and visitors, showcasing our dedication to top-notch service and our enthusiasm for ensuring seamless journeys. Catering to the rising demand for efficient airport transfer services between Lusaka and Livingstone, Adorable Safari and Tours have crafted a transfer service that guarantees comfort, reliability and punctuality. Their well-maintained fleet of vehicles and trained chauffeurs ensure that travelers experience the beauty of Zambia without the stress of transportation logistics. The addition of the Book Livingstone Airport Transfers to our range of services reiterates our commitment to making travel in Zambia hassle-free and delightful, said Benos Munasimumba, Director of Adorable Safari and Tours. We want to be the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of dependable and luxurious transfers with a focus on both Lusaka - Livingstone Airport Transfers and beyond. Key Features of Adorable Safari and Tours' Airport Transfer Service: 1. Online Booking System: An easy-to-navigate platform for hassle-free bookings. 2. Punctual Pick-ups and Drop-offs: They ensure theyre there when you land with real-time flight tracking. 3. Safe and Comfortable Rides: Each vehicle is thoroughly cleaned, properly maintained and operated by skilled drivers to ensure a seamless journey. With tourism in Zambia on the rise, services like Book Livingstone Airport Transfers are essential in enhancing the overall visitor experience. Adorable Safari and Tours invites travelers to experience the best of what Zambia has to offer, starting with a seamless journey from the airport. For more details, visit https://www.adorablesafariandtours.com/ or reach out to the dedicated customer service team at +260976259425. About Adorable Safari and Tours: Adorable Safari and Tours has carved a niche for itself in the realm of Zambian travel. The company prides itself on offering memorable experiences that showcase the natural beauty and cultural richness of Zambia with a suite of travel-related services. ### KYODO NEWS - Oct 13, 2023 - 22:32 | All, Japan, World Japan will send a Self-Defense Forces aircraft to its operating base in Djibouti as part of efforts to evacuate its nationals in Israel, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday, amid the fierce conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. Kishida told reporters that the SDF aircraft will leave "swiftly once it is ready" for Djibouti, an eastern African nation around 2,000 kilometers south of Israel, and will be on standby there to transport Japanese citizens staying or living in Israel if such a need arises. "We will take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals, including closely collaborating with relevant countries," Kishida added. As Japan plans to evacuate its citizens on a civilian charter flight Saturday from Tel Aviv to Dubai, evacuating them using the SDF plane will be a backup measure in case the crisis further intensifies and the contracted plane becomes unavailable, according to a government source. Earlier on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced the evacuation using a charter flight at a press conference, saying that many commercial flights to Israel have been suspended since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel last Saturday. The assault by Hamas has triggered global concern about the growing humanitarian crisis. In Japan, it has also sparked concern about oil supplies from the Middle East, given the country is highly dependent on crude oil imports from the region. Over 2,800 people have been reportedly killed in Hamas attacks and retaliation by Israel, which is said to be preparing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip controlled by the militant group. Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told a separate news conference that a C-2 transport aircraft will be on standby in Djibouti, but fell short of saying how many planes will be dispatched in total. Kihara also said his ministry is set to send 22 liaison officers to the Middle East on Saturday, and suggested that evacuating Japanese citizens in Israel by land may be an option depending on the situation. The SDF has am operating base in Djibouti for an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. On Thursday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa condemned the weekend "terror attack" in Israel by Hamas during a telephone call with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen, her ministry said. In their 15-minute call, the first since Hamas struck Israel, Kamikawa told Cohen that the "brutal, indiscriminate attack" and abductions of civilians by the militant group "cannot be justified on any grounds," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. "It is obvious that Israel has a right to defend itself and its people in accordance with international law," said Kamikawa, who was on a six-day tour of four Southeast Asian nations from Sunday and spoke to Cohen from Bangkok. After returning to Tokyo on Friday, she talked with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki by phone. The two agreed on the necessity of improving humanitarian access, according to the ministry. Kamikawa asked Cohen and Malki, respectively, to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals in Israel and Palestine, and expressed Japan's hope that calm will be restored as soon as possible, the ministry said. Kamikawa has also held telephone calls with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during her overseas trip. In Tel Aviv on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington will fully support Israel. They also discussed the possibility of establishing a safe corridor for Palestinians fleeing Israeli strikes. Related coverage: Japan, Thailand foreign ministers vow to boost economic ties U.S. says capable of focusing on Asia despite Israel-Hamas war Japan to ensure safety of nationals amid Israel conflict KYODO NEWS - Oct 13, 2023 - 16:51 | All, Japan The Japanese government on Friday filed a request with a court for an order to dissolve the Unification Church in a move that will deprive the group, known for its aggressive donation solicitations, of its tax benefits. The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the decision to pursue a court order Thursday after a nearly yearlong investigation into the religious organization, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. The request was filed with the Tokyo District Court. Given the group has been found to have inappropriately solicited large donations from its followers since around 1980, some analysts have criticized the government for its failure to swiftly address the issues surrounding the Unification Church. Following the filing of the request on Friday, culture minister Masahito Moriyama, who is in charge of religious issues in Japan, expressed regret about the government's delayed response, saying, "There are many aspects to reflect upon." If the court accepts the government's request, the Unification Church, founded in South Korea by a staunch anti-communist in 1954, would lose its status as a religious corporation that enjoys tax advantages, although the organization could still continue its activities in Japan. The Unification Church came under scrutiny after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot during an election campaign speech in July 2022 by Tetsuya Yamagami over his perceived links to the group. Abe was allegedly targeted partly because his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, helped bring the church to Japan in the 1960s. Yamagami said his mother's massive donations to the Unification Church severely impacted his family. Under Japan's legal system, relevant authorities are allowed to ask a court to revoke the status of a religious corporation if it "commits an act which is clearly found to harm public welfare substantially." Since last November, the Cultural Affairs Agency has exercised its right to question the organization and obtain documents from it seven times, while also collecting statements from victims who were pressured into making huge donations. As a result, the government said it has found repeated malicious and illegal acts within the Unification Church at an organizational level. So far, only two religious groups have received a dissolution order from a Japanese court due to legal violations. One was the AUM Shinrikyo cult, which carried out the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and a number of other serious crimes. Related coverage: FOCUS: Japan's legal step against Unification Church unlikely to be case closed Japan decides to seek court order to dissolve Unification Church Japan gov't aims to seek Unification Church's dissolution on Oct. 13 UjENA FIT Club 2016 Men's Performance Top Performing Male Runners (View More) Mens's Ranking Click here for Women's Performance Mens's Performance (All Time) Double Road Race Men 's Member Performance Men's Ranking Women's Ranking The WMA Age-Grading scoring system developed by Howard Grubb is being used to compare runners of different ages and races of different lengths. (Note: course terrian/hills and weather conditions are not factored into the calculated score.) For UjENA FIT Club ranking, 750 points are given to top age-grade performance, and 1 point given to 750th best. In addition to these points, members are given 100 points for each race completed and 20 points per each mile raced. The runner with the most points at the end of the year will be honored as the UjENA FIT Club 2016 Male Runner of the Year. Click here for 2011 Runner Ranking 2012 Runner Ranking 2013 Ranking 2014 Ranking 2015 Ranking. The Lithuanian Cabinet of Ministers has approved the implementation of three new reconstruction projects in Ukraine with a budget of almost 1 million. This was reported by Ukrinform citing the national broadcaster LRT. "The projects implemented by Lithuania are very well perceived both by Ukraine and its partners, because we are actually doing things on the spot, they are happening, they are successful, they are opening, children are going to kindergarten or school, so all this work is really very tangible," said Government Chancellor Giedre Balcytyte at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The three-year project '3D tool for digital spatial planning for municipalities in Ukraine' worth 426,000 euros will be implemented within three years, the half-million euro project 'Arrangement of a kindergarten building and improvement of external infrastructure in Borodyanka' will be implemented in five months, and the 68,000 euro project for the reconstruction of a school in Snihurivka is being prepared in six months. Read also: Zelensky thanks partners for aid announced at Ramstein meeting According to the Chancellor, a long-term concept is currently being prepared that will help "stop overloading the government with each specific project." At the same time, priority will be given to those projects where Lithuania can make the most effective contribution. As reported, Lithuania has already built a mobile home for 36 families in Borodyanka worth 940,000, rebuilt a kindergarten in Irpin for 4.9 million, reconstructed the Borodyanka Lyceum for 7.9 million, and implemented other projects. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Canadas Minister of National Defence Bill Blair discussed support for Ukraine and ways to strengthen the Alliance's eastern flank. Blair said this in a post on the social network X, Ukrinform reports. "I touched base with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on our ongoing support to Ukraine, and plans to scale up Canadas presence on the Alliances eastern flank, he wrote. Blair stressed that our commitment to the Alliance is steadfast and well continue to step up for Allied security. Read also: Canada announces new military donations for Ukraine As reported, Canada has led a multinational battle group in Latvia for six years, which includes more than 1,000 soldiers from several NATO countries. Due to Russias aggression against Ukraine, the country pledged to double its military contingent in Latvia. In addition, Canada announced that it would urgently purchase modern anti-tank weapons and air defense systems for it, including for combating drones, as well as deploy a tank squadron of 15 Leopard 2 main battle tanks. Photo: twitter.com/BillBlair The German government has sent a new military aid package to Ukraine. The list of equipment provided was updated on Friday and published on the German government's website, Ukrinform reported. It is noted that in addition to the previously announced assistance, Ukraine received: four Bandvagn 206 (BV206) multi-purpose all-terrain vehicles; 82 SatCom satellite communication terminals; four vehicles for border guards; 50 drone detection systems; two HX81 tractors and two semi-trailers; 100 thousand first aid kits; 27,477 backpacks. As reported, on October 10, Germany announced a 1 billion military aid package to Ukraine aimed at strengthening Ukraine's air defense. It was noted that Germany is providing additional air defense with Patriot, IRIS-T SLM and SLS, as well as three Gepard anti-aircraft tanks. By the end of 2023, it is expected that 10,000 Ukrainian military personnel will be trained in Germany. Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said on Friday that the Netherlands would supply Ukraine with missiles for Patriot air defense systems to help defend against Russian airstrikes. This winter, Russia will try to hurt Ukraine as much as possible. So the Netherlands will supply extra Patriot missiles, so that Ukraine can defend itself against Russias barbaric airstrikes, Rutte posted on X. He thanked President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky for inviting and welcoming him to Odesa and underscored that the terrible events in Israel and Gaza will not distract the Netherlands from Russias war against Ukraine. After visiting the Odesa port, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands also announced his country's intention to help Ukraine acquire patrol boats. The Netherlands will help Ukraine acquire patrol boats which can help keep the shipping route for grain exports safe, Rutte added. KYODO NEWS - Oct 13, 2023 - 15:49 | All, Japan A group of youths barged into a police station in Tokyo earlier this month and one of them briefly snatched a firearm from a police officer, investigative sources said Friday. The weapon was quickly retrieved by the officer at the Ayase police station in the capital's Adachi Ward in the incident between the late evening of Oct. 3 and the early hours of the next day, according to the sources. The group is believed to have gone to the police station after officers broke up a fight involving the group in a park in Adachi Ward on the evening of Oct. 3, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said. An 18-year-old man was arrested on the spot for entering the police station without a just cause, while three male high school students aged 16 and 17 were arrested Friday on the same charge. Related coverage: Car hits pedestrians near Tokyo's iconic Shibuya scramble crossing Russian fake: European institutions presidents ask that children of Ukrainian elite be granted Spanish citizenship The Kremlin media and pro-Russian accounts on the social network X spread a request by the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, to Spain's King Felipe VI, which allegedly asks that Spanish citizenship be granted to the children of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, ex-Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov, current Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, MP of Ukraine Davyd Arakhamia and other well-known Ukrainian politicians. This is a fake. There is no such "request" on the official websites of the European Council, the European Commission or the office of King Felipe VI. It is faked with the help of graphic editors. The basis for this was the original letter of the European Council members to Moroccos King Mohammed VI, which was published on the website of the European Council on September 9, 2023 and on the account of Charles Michel on the social network X. The propagandists simply changed the date in the header of the letter from the eighth to the ninth of September, removed the words "press" and "press release" and added the necessary text and signatures of the leaders of the European Council and the European Commission from other documents that are publicly available. In addition, the forged letter in English does not even refer to Spanish citizenship, but to a "residence permit. As of August 31, 2023, according to Eurostat, more than four million Ukrainians who fled the war are living in the EU, including almost 185,000 in Spain. There is European Council Directive 2001/55/EC of July 20, 2001, according to which a "residence permit" is any permit that, in accordance with its national law, can be granted by an EU member state. In particular, in Spain, a temporary residence permit to Ukrainians who fled the war is granted under a simplified procedure and without obtaining a Spanish visa. This does not require a special "letter" to the King of Spain. To obtain Spanish citizenship, one must live in the country for at least five years. It should also be added that the names and surnames given in the fake letter are transliterated from Russian (Alexander, Alexey, etc.), not from Ukrainian. This is not the first fake by Russian propaganda about representatives of the Ukrainian government who allegedly "constantly flee" abroad or have citizenship of other countries. For example, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian media spread a fake that President Volodymyr Zelensky had allegedly fled Ukraine. They also spread a fake about the Israeli citizenship of the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. Earlier, a Nigerian publication created a fake claiming that Olena Zelenska purchased over a million dollars worth of jewellery in New York. Andriy Olenin Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis has called on the international community to maintain its focus on Ukraine and its fight against the Russian invasion, despite the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Ukrinform reports this with reference to LRT. As we focus on Israel and Palestine, it is extremely important to stay committed to Ukraine as it continues to stand against Russias aggression. While geographically this war rages in the European continent, it has an immense global impact, Landsbergis said during a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart in Egypt. By destroying grain depots, ports and dams, Russia aims to block Ukrainian grain supplies to the most vulnerable parts of the world, Landsbergis said, In my view, these deliberate actions amount to crimes against humanity, he said, adding that Russia aimed to spread instability beyond Europe, in Africa and parts of the Arab world through its mercenaries and vicious propaganda. At the same time, there are other actors who are far less interested in stability and whose goal is to spread division and profit from suffering. We cannot let these forces take the upper hand, he said. As reported, Lithuania announced that it would transfer two NASAMS units to Ukraine and purchase 155 mm ammunition. The G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have met in Moroccos Marrakech and issued a joint statement, condemning Russian armed aggression and reiterating their unwavering support for Ukraine. The relevant statement was published by the European Council, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. We reiterate our unwavering support for Ukraine and are united in our condemnation of Russias illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, the document reads. The G7 Finance Ministers mentioned that Russias war had caused tragic loss of life, destruction of property and infrastructure, increased global food insecurity, and exacerbated global economic challenges. We remain determined to foster international cooperation to address the global economic hardships caused by Russias war against Ukraine and its weaponization of food and energy. In this context, we urge Russia to end its attacks on Ukrainian grain supplies and infrastructure and to expeditiously restore the Black Sea Grain Initiative to improve supply to the global market and reduce food price volatility. We call on Russia to immediately end its illegal war against Ukraine, which would clear one of the biggest uncertainties over the global economic outlook, the G7 Finance Ministers stressed. According to the document, the G7 Finance Ministers will continue their efforts to ensure that Russia pays for the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine. They will also explore all possible avenues to aid Ukraine, consistent with their respective legal systems and international law. In this regard, the G7 Finance Ministers welcomed the initial effort by the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force to account for Russias sovereign assets immobilized and held in REPO member jurisdictions, which is at this stage estimated at around USD 280 billion, and expect the REPO Task Force to refine this initial effort over the coming months. We recall and reaffirm our Leaders Statement that, consistent with our respective legal systems, Russias sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine. We reiterate our unwavering resolve to impose and enforce sanctions and other economic measures to further undermine Russias capacity to wage its illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression, the G7 Finance Ministers emphasized. They expressed readiness to remain committed to countering any attempts to evade and undermine the sanction measures. Additionally, they will continue to strengthen coordination in monitoring cross-border transactions between Russia and other countries, take further action directed at the Russian financial sector as necessary, and closely monitor the effectiveness of the price caps on Russian crude oil and petroleum products to ensure the measure delivers on its objectives, and take any necessary and appropriate enforcement actions required. We reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes. We remain strongly committed to supporting Ukraines urgent short-term financing needs, as well as assisting its neighboring and other severely affected countries. Building on the successful completion of the first review of the IMF program for Ukraine, and looking ahead to the second review, we will continue our joint efforts to help address Ukraine's 2024 financing needs, the G7 Foreign Ministers noted. They expressed hope for the implementation of structural reforms by Ukraine and successful completion of the upcoming reviews, which will promote macroeconomic and financial stabilization, enhance governance and strengthen institutions, contribute to longer-term economic sustainability and post-war reconstruction. We will continue to support Ukraines repair of its critical infrastructure, recovery and reconstruction, including through the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine, the G7 Finance Ministers added. They are also expected to explore how any extraordinary revenues held by private entities stemming directly from immobilized Russian sovereign assets, where those extraordinary revenues are not required to meet obligations towards Russia under applicable laws, could be directed to support Ukraine and its recovery and reconstruction in compliance with applicable laws. Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the diplomatic, military and financial support for Ukraine and the consequences of the Hamas attack on Israel for global security. The Ukrainian minister wrote this on the social network X (formerly known as Twitter), Ukrinform reports. During our call, Secretary Blinken reaffirmed: the US remains focused on helping Ukraine counter Russian aggression. Diplomatic, military, and financial support will last. We both condemned Hamas attack on Israel, discussed the conflicts dynamics and implications for global security, the minister noted. As earlier reported, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assured that the United States intended to stand by Israel in its war against Hamas at the same time as continuing to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. The Netherlands allocates more than 100 million in aid to Ukraine, in particular for restoring and ensuring energy security ahead of winter. "We are allocating more than 100 million which will be included in this year's aid package for Ukraine. 60 million will be directed to support our companies that will contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine. Also, to help Ukraine survive the winter, the disbursed funds will be used to purchase gas and materials for electricity supply," Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte told a briefing in Odesa, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. As reported, Rutte previously wrote on X that the Netherlands would supply Ukraine with missiles for Patriot air defense systems to help defend against Russian airstrikes. This photo taken on Oct. 11, 2023 shows boxes of China-aided dengue kits at a hospital in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 1,109 people have died of dengue fever, out of 228,779 cases reported across Bangladesh so far this year, Bangladeshi health department figures showed. (Xinhua) DHAKA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- China will provide anti-dengue aid to Bangladesh, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen announced Wednesday while addressing the donation ceremony of China-aided dengue kits to a major hospital in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka. A total of 1,109 people have died of dengue fever, out of 228,779 cases reported across Bangladesh so far this year, Bangladeshi health department figures showed. Yao expressed his sympathy for those who died of the disease and his condolences to their family members. Bangladeshi State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md. Enamur Rahman, who was present at the ceremony, said China is a development partner and longtime friend of Bangladesh. "It is a great day today," the state minister said, adding, "We are very grateful to the Chinese government and Chinese people," said the Bangladeshi official. This photo taken on Oct. 11, 2023 shows the donation ceremony of China-aided dengue kits at a hospital in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 1,109 people have died of dengue fever, out of 228,779 cases reported across Bangladesh so far this year, Bangladeshi health department figures showed. (Xinhua) Sensitization Workshop for TF Stakeholders on Use of Cryptocurrencies & Darkweb 13 October 2023, Karachi - The Pakistan Terrorism Prevention Programme of UNODC Pakistan, funded by the U.S. Embassys Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), organized a two-day Sensitization Workshop on the use of Cryptocurrencies & Darkweb. The workshop took place on 9-10 October 2023 in Karachi. This workshop came at a crucial time as the use of Cryptocurrencies and the Darkweb is a relatively new area for Counter-Terrorism officials in Pakistan. The emerging trends in digital assets and online platforms pose both opportunities and challenges. Participants included various stakeholders such as law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, prosecutors and Judges from Sindh and Balochistan. The workshop aimed to equip participants with the knowledge and tools to understand the complex landscape of cryptocurrencies and the Darkweb, especially in the context of terrorism financing (TF). The workshop started with introduction to Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology session aimed to explain Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology, outlining their legitimate uses as well as their potential for misuse in terrorism financing. Second Session covered the Darkweb to look into the hidden parts of the internet, focusing on how illicit activities, including terrorism financing, could be conducted anonymously. During the second day, a detailed presentation on the current laws and regulations surrounding Cryptocurrencies was presented. Challenges in enforcing them was also discussed in detail. During the second part of day 2, case studies were shared with all the participants. Real-world examples were provided to demonstrate how Cryptocurrencies and the Darkweb have been used for terrorism financing. At the end of the workshop, participants engaged in hands-on training sessions where they learned how to trace cryptocurrency transactions and identify suspicious activities. The workshop served as an eye-opener for many participants, shedding light on the pressing need for a multi-agency approach to tackle the challenges posed using Cryptocurrencies and the Darkweb in terrorism financing. Participants also gained practical skills that will enable them to contribute more effectively in their respective roles. Workshops concluded with closing remarks by UNODC to expressed gratitude towards INL for extending financial support. The workshop was formally closed with a distribution of certificates for the participants. Special Envoy of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General for Jammu and Kashmir Ambassador Yousef Muhammed Saleh Aldobey on Friday visited Chakothi (Line of Control) and Muzaffarabad ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2023) Special Envoy of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General for Jammu and Kashmir Ambassador Yousef Muhammed Saleh Aldobey on Friday visited Chakothi (Line of Control) and Muzaffarabad. He was accompanied by a high level delegation from brotherly Muslim countries including Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Upon arrival at Muzaffarabad, the delegation laid wreath at J&K Monument. The delegation members also visited Mankpiyan Refugees Camp Muzaffarabad where they were briefed on elaborate measures taken for socioeconomic well being of the inhabitants who fled from Indian atrocities in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). The delegation interacted with the victims continued ceasefire violations (CFV) and was briefed on situation along the LOC. The dignitary assured OIC's support for Kashmir cause and expressed his desire to visit Kashmir twice each year. Besides, he supported Pakistan's stance on Kashmir issue and reiterated that OIC endorsed Pakistans stance which was principally based on the UN resolutions. Later, the delegation also met Senior Minister Colonel (Retired) Waqar Ahmed Noor on behalf of PM AJ&K besides meetings with representatives of various political parties and members of civil society. The delegation thanked the Government of Pakistan for providing them an opportunity to visit LOC/AJ&K and get an eye witness account of situation along the LOC. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Friday commemorated International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) 2023 in Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to honour the resilience of the communities in the face of climate-induced disasters such as Glacial Lake outburst Floods (GLOFs) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2023) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Friday commemorated International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) 2023 in Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to honour the resilience of the communities in the face of climate-induced disasters such as Glacial Lake outburst Floods (GLOFs). The day highlights the significance of disaster preparedness and showcases the strength of communities in mitigating disaster risks and losses, said a press release issued here. The event garnered active participation from a diverse background of professionals including government officials, implementing partners, representatives from NGOs/INGOs, members of the civil society, academia, and the media. In an effort to enhance disaster risk reduction and the significance of preparedness, a series of awareness sessions and mock drills were conducted in Ghizer, Ghundus, Ghulkin, Barah, and Parashing valleys of Gilgit Baltistan. These sessions entailed briefing the community members on safeguarding procedures and mechanisms, followed by a practical demonstration of these methods through mock drills. The Primary objective was to increase community cohesion in reducing disaster risks and stress the importance of being prepared ahead of any potential calamity. Panel discussions in Gilgit and Skardu delved into disaster risk mitigation strategies and community-driven measures for climate adaptation. The discussions highlighted the critical link between disasters and their adverse effects on poverty, inequalities, and discrimination. By understanding how these factors increase community vulnerability to climate-induced disasters, the panels aimed to reinforce the importance of proactive action to build resilience and protect vulnerable populations. Speaking at the occasion, Najeeb Alam, Commissioner of Baltistan Division, highlighted the susceptibility of the region to various disasters, primarily attributing this to the escalating impacts of climate change. "A disaster may strike at any time, especially owing to the melting of the glaciers; disrupting lives and causing massive destruction. With the GLOF-II Projects climate-adaptation mechanisms, such as the installation of Early Warning Systems, we will be more prepared to safeguard our lives and habitations than we have been before. This is what this day stands for to be better prepared to reduce disaster risks," the Commissioner said. In Peshawar and Chitral (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), the events entailed Resilience For All themed Essay Writing, Art, and Speech Competitions for students. These dynamic initiatives included Essay Writing, Art, and Speech Competitions, meticulously crafted to captivate and educate students. The overarching objective was to impart a profound understanding of climate adaptability and underscore the pivotal role that disaster preparedness plays in preserving lives and reducing environmental damage. A disaster changes everything from the way we live our lives, to our surroundings. Nothing remains to be the same. This is what I learned through the declamation. I want our voices to be stronger so that our resilience can be strengthened, and so that we remain prepared. said a student, following the end of the speech competition. UNDPs GLOF-II project works in 16 valleys of Gilgit Baltistan and 8 valleys in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It empowers communities to identify and manage risks associated with GLOFs and related impacts of Climate Change, strengthen public services to lower the risk of disasters related to GLOF, and improve community preparedness and disaster response. The project also supports the development of sustainable options for livelihoods in project areas, with a particular focus on the participation of women in ensuring food security and livelihoods. by Xinhua writer Ye Shan BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- During the past 10 years since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed by China, the wisdom and insight that are at the heart of the initiative have greatly contributed to the peaceful development and common prosperity of the world. Since its launch, the BRI has evolved from ideas into action, from a vision into reality, and from a general framework into concrete projects. It has been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform. According to the white paper titled "The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future" released on Tuesday, by June 2023, China has signed more than 200 BRI cooperation agreements with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations across five continents, yielding a number of signature projects and small-scale yet impactful projects. Over the past decade, BRI cooperation has delivered real gains to participating countries. It has helped to resolve global development challenges, uphold world peace and improve the global governance system. The BRI has become a catalyst for peaceful development. Faced with huge challenges in the international community, China facilitates world peace and development under the framework of the BRI, without interfering in other countries' internal affairs or playing geopolitical games. Through policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people exchanges, the initiative has promoted the joint efforts of countries to safeguard world peace and advance common development. It has become a just way to uphold peaceful development in accordance with the principles of the United Nations. In war-ravaged Iraq, rebuilding homes and boosting the economy are top priorities. In 2015, China and Iraq signed a cooperation document on jointly promoting BRI cooperation. In recent years, a large number of projects, including a huge power plant in Wasit Province and a sewage treatment plant in Babylon Province, built by Chinese enterprises, have been successfully implemented. These projects have promoted local economic and social development, and the improvement of people's lives has fundamentally eliminated the root causes of instability, consolidating the security situation that has improved in recent years. The BRI has brought opportunities for regional peace and stability and created a model for achieving common development, said Abdulla Al Saleh, undersecretary for foreign trade at the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy. The deepening of BRI cooperation has strengthened the driving force for global development and laid a more solid foundation for all countries to pursue common prosperity. China has hosted the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation twice, providing an important platform for participating countries and international organizations to expand exchanges, increase mutual trust and strengthen ties. The BRI cooperation has also overcome difficulties in infrastructure connectivity and made new progress and breakthroughs in international trade and investment, as well as industrial and financial cooperation. By the end of June 2023, China has signed agreements on industrial capacity cooperation with more than 40 countries. These countries have expanded cooperation in traditional industries, and explored cooperation in emerging industries. Meanwhile, China has signed 21 free trade agreements with 28 countries and regions, and a total of 13 Chinese-funded banks have established 145 first-tier offices and branches in 50 BRI partner countries. In the process of BRI cooperation, China has dispatched more than 2,000 agricultural experts and technicians to over 70 countries and regions, helping reduce rural poverty in Asia, Africa, the South Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean by developing modern agriculture and increasing farming incomes. China has also aimed at achieving common prosperity by helping participating countries construct industrial parks and providing guidance for Chinese enterprises to create jobs for locals through high-level industrial cooperation. The World Bank has estimated that by 2030, BRI-related investment could lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty. As a key pillar of building a global community with a shared future, the BRI has brought concrete benefits and inspired hope worldwide, and will continue to pave the way for the peaceful development and common prosperity of the world. Baghdad, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2023) Iran's foreign minister, whose government supports Hamas, said on Thursday opening a "new front" against Israel would depend on Israel's actions in Gaza. Although Tehran has been a long-term backer of Hamas, Iranian officials have denied their country's involvement in the Hamas attack against its arch enemy Israel on Saturday. Nevertheless, the United States fears the opening of a second front on Israel's northern border with Lebanon if Hezbollah, another heavily armed group, were to intervene. "Officials of some countries contact us and ask about the possibility of a new front (against Israel) being opened in the region," said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani. "We tell them that our clear answer regarding future possibilities is that everything depends on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said, according to a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry. "Even now, Israel's crimes continue and no one in the region asks us for permission to open new fronts." Later on Thursday, Abdollahian arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut, where he was received by Hezbollah and Hamas among other pro-Iran groups. He is scheduled to meet Lebanese officials on Friday before heading to Damascus. Speaking from Beirut's airport, the top diplomat said that Iran's regional allies, known as the "axis of resistance", could respond if Israel's Gaza offensive escalates. "The continuation of war crimes against Palestinians and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axes," he told reporters. At least 1,200 Israelis, foreigners and dual citizens were killed by Hamas during its attack on Saturday. In Gaza, health officials reported 1,417 Palestinians killed by Israel's retaliatory barrages against the coastal enclave. Pakistan Friday called "unacceptable" the collective punishment of Gaza's entire Palestinian population by Israeli Occupation forces, saying it amounts to "war crimes and crimes against humanity" UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2023) Pakistan Friday called "unacceptable" the collective punishment of Gaza's entire Palestinian population by Israeli Occupation forces, saying it amounts to "war crimes and crimes against humanity." "Major crimes against humanity are being committed even as we speak, in Palestine, in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and in other situations of oppression, occupation and violence," Pakistani delegate Rabia Ijaz told the General Assembly's Sixth (legal) Committee). Ms. Ijaz, a second secretary at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, was speaking in a debate on Crimes against Humanity in which speakers spotlighted the need for a universal instrument on preventing and punishing those crimes in the midst of geopolitical confrontations, including the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Pakistan, she said, was deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza due to the indiscriminate aerial bombardment, including of civilian and even protected UN targets." In addition to those actions, the Pakistani delegate said that the "inhumane blockade of food, fuel and medicines, as collective punishment of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza by Israeli Occupation forces, were unacceptable". "The current cycle of aggression and violence is a sad reminder and a direct consequence of over seven decades of illegal Israeli occupation, aggression, and disrespect for international law, including UNSC (Un Security Council) resolutions that recognize the inalienable right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.," Ms. Ijaz said. "The international community must work together for a just, comprehensive and lasting two-state solution with a viable, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. "Peace in the middle East will remain elusive in the absence of such a solution," the Pakistani delegate added. In her remarks, Ms. Ijaz also underscored the necessity for global cooperation to eradicate impunity for culprits and to ascertain justice for victims. While the International Law Commission's draft articles serve as an instrumental kick-off point on this issue, she emphasized that it is too soon to establish any solid conclusions regarding their essence and layout. Discussions on their content like those held during the April resumed session are valuable but show that a certain degree of disparity between viewpoints remains. APP/ift Beijing, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2023) EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Friday that trust between the bloc and China had been eroded, blaming the trade imbalance between the two on "difficulties" faced by European companies in the world's second-largest economy. Borrell arrived in China on Thursday, looking to manage the bloc's "de-risking" strategy with its largest trading partner while laying the foundations for a planned summit this year. "Trust is at the core of any human relationship, and... common trust has been eroded," Borrell told an audience at Peking University in the Chinese capital Friday. "We have to work to rebuild this trust," he said. "It will not come back miraculously," he added. "It has to be restored. " He stressed that the trade imbalance between the bloc and China -- 400 billion Euros ($423 billion) -- "is not only quantitative, but also qualitative". "It affects sectors in which we enjoy a comparative advantage... we believe that the problem is not rooted in a simple difference in productivity," he said. "To my mind, to our mind, the cause is the result of persistent difficulties experienced by European companies when they want to gain access to the Chinese market," he said. Borrell's trip, which was postponed twice this year and is expected to last until Saturday, started in Shanghai with a meeting with European companies on economic and business challenges, described by Borrell as an "inspiring exchange". BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2023) The Palestinian-Israeli conflict poses an extremely serious threat to peace and stability in the middle East. This was stated by Cheng Xizhong, Researcher, Southeast Asia Research Center, National Regional Research, National Civil Affairs Commission, Southwest University for Nationalities here on Friday. At present, due to the urgent provision of armed equipment by the United States to Israel and the strong support of the United States, Israel is carrying out indiscriminate carpet bombings on the Gaza Strip, including refugee camps, causing new and more serious humanitarian disasters. In view of this, the United Nations and the international community should strengthen their efforts to force the warring parties to cease fire immediately, otherwise, the situation will get out of control and the consequences are unimaginable. Now, Palestine has expressed its willingness to armistice and peace talks. The key party to the armistice is Israel. As long as the international community can stop Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip, there will be hope for peace and peace talks. Therefore, the international community should mainly exert strong pressure on Israel to force an immediate truce, he added. At present, the situation in the Gaza Strip is very serious. Israel's blockade of Gaza has caused residents in the area to face water, electricity and material shortages. Under such circumstances, the Egyptian people reached out to the Palestinian people on foot with supplies on their backs, and their actions reflected the conscience and faith of mankind. He opined that as a major power in the Middle East, Egypt can play an important role in promoting a ceasefire and ending the war. APP/asg Manila, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2023) Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. dropped a public holiday marking the anniversary of a revolution that ousted his dictator father, an official document showed Friday, reigniting accusations he is trying to whitewash his family's past. A military-backed "People Power" revolt in February 1986 ended the brutal rule of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and forced the disgraced family into exile in Hawaii. Critics have described the Marcos dictatorship as a dark period of human rights abuses and corruption that left the country impoverished. February 25 was declared a "special national holiday" in 2000 by then-president Joseph Estrada. Rights activists typically hold rallies on the day to commemorate the restoration of democracy. Marcos Jr. was elected to the presidency in 2022 following a massive social media misinformation campaign that attempted to paint his family's history in a more positive light. Many had expected Marcos to abolish the public holiday after taking office. Instead, he moved the date for the "EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary" holiday to February 24 this year, which was a Friday. Beirut, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2023) A Reuters journalist was killed Friday and six others from AFP, Reuters and Al Jazeera were wounded while working in southern Lebanon, the three news organisations said. A group of journalists from different media outlets were near Alma al-Shaab close to the border with Israel when they were caught up in cross-border shelling, one of the two wounded AFP correspondents said. A Lebanese security source had told AFP that initial Israeli shelling followed an infiltration attempt by a Palestinian faction from the Lebanese side of the border. "We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," Reuters said in a statement, adding he "was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon". AFP photographer Christina Assi was with her AFP colleague video journalist Dylan Collins working in the area. Both were taken to a hospital in Tyre for treatment. Two other Reuters reporters, "Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care," Reuters said in a statement, adding it was "urgently seeking more information". Al-Jazeera said two of their reporters were among the wounded, blaming "Israeli bombing on their vehicle". They named them as Carmen Joukhadar and Elie Brakhya. "We are deeply concerned that a group of journalists who were clearly identified have been killed and injured while doing their job," said AFP's global news director Phil Chetwynd. "We send our deepest condolences to our friends at Reuters for the loss of Issam and we are all pulling for our injured colleagues in hospital." AFP correspondents had reported shelling targeting the villages of Dhayra, Alma al-Shaab and Adaysseh, with smoke billowing from the area. The Israeli army had said in a statement not long before the journalists were hit: "A short while ago, a blast occurred on the border fence in Hanita (Western Galilee)," referring to a point in Israel just across the border from Alma al-Shaab. USM, Port of Gulfport celebrate Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise with Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Fri, 10/13/2023 - 12:24pm | By: Melissa Scallan A ribbon-cutting was held on Friday, Oct. 13 to formally dedicate the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise. (Photo by Kelly Dunn, USM Photo Services) Federal, state and local officials stood at the waters edge Friday morning and celebrated the completion of the University of Southern Mississippis (USM) Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise at the Mississippi State Port Authority (MSPA) at Gulfport. The facility will serve as the centerpiece of research and development in the Gulf, creating a unique maritime technology environment on the Mississippi Coast. The Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise is appropriately named and ideally located, Gov. Tate Reeves said. This facility will strengthen Mississippis growing Blue Economy by charting new pathways for technological innovation from right here in Mississippi. Congratulations to USM on this amazing accomplishment, and I can't wait to see all the good things that come out of the Center. The Center for Ocean Enterprise connects the states major research universities, federal partners and private companies to expand the Blue Economy. U.S. Sen. Roger F. Wicker addresses the attendees during the ceremony. (Photo by Kelly Dunn, USM Photo Services) "It has been an honor to work alongside so many Mississippians to bring resources to the impressive work our business, technology and educational leaders are conducting, Senator Roger Wicker said. This Center will support the innovative work that has put Mississippi's Blue Economy on the cutting edge of ocean technology. I am eager to see all of the great partnerships and developments that USM will launch from this site." The Centers 62,000-square-foot location at the Port allows maritime operations to have private and secure access to the Gulf of Mexico for ocean exploration, forecasting and data collection. It also promotes investment in high-end engineering and development of advanced technology. The facility is located near the Port of Gulfports North Harbor site and includes administrative offices, classrooms, laboratories and storage areas. U.S. Sen. Roger F. Wicker, left, and USM President Joseph S. Paul. (Photo by Kelly Dunn, USM Photo Services) The opening of this Center allows Southern Miss to be involved in cutting-edge ocean science and positions us as the research, innovation and economic growth gateway to the Gulf of Mexico Blue Economy, USM President Joe Paul said. The work done here by USM researchers will transform and advance the states Blue Economy. We want to thank our local, state and federal partners, and especially Senator Wicker, for helping us to make this Ocean Enterprise Center a reality. Port CEO and Executive Director Jon Nass agreed and said the Center will be a significant addition to the Port. The MSPA Board of Commissioners and I are thrilled to reach this important milestone as Gulfport advances to the frontlines of innovation and leadership in the Blue Economy, he said. The Wicker Center joins other Port-built assets providing a diverse group of jobs. We are incredibly thankful for the support of our elected officials. Officials joining Gov. Reeves for the ceremony included Senators Wicker and Hyde-Smith, Nass, Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes, USM President Joseph S. Paul, USM Vice President for Research Dr. Kelly Lucas, and Port Board of Commissioners President John Rester. The building was designed by Eley Guild Hardy Architects of Biloxi and constructed by Wharton Smith, Inc. Learn more here about the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise and its various research along the Gulf Coast. Since the companys founding in 2017 by professional dancers Andrea Guajardo and Martin Rodriguez, Ballet Nepantlas shows have enjoyed universal acclaim for exploring artistic boundaries and exposing modern audiences to Hispanic traditions and ancestral history. The name Nepantla is an Indigenous term from the Nahuatl dialect, and it roughly translates to in-between space, or an in-between-ness, said Guajardo, referencing the space between cultural and historical borders that Ballet Nepantla explores in all its works. Mistica commemorates the traditions of Dia de Los Muertos and uses the stage productions' unique elements to honor Mexico's Hispanic, African and Indigenous roots. The shows performers wear colorful costumes that reflect Hispanic traditions and ancestral heritage, including depictions of skeletons and of Mexicos Indigenous people. One of the show's most notable features is the use of blacklight to transport the audience into the afterlife. Expect the unexpected ... its like no other Dia de Los Muertos show youve ever seen, Guajardo said. The UTSA School of Music was established in 2022 with a drive to become one of the top music schools in the nation. The school offers academic programs at the bachelors and masters levels as well as masters certificates in instrumental performance and music pedagogy. Graduates of the school are teaching in public schools and universities, attending prestigious graduate schools, conducting professional ensembles, performing in major orchestras, producing television programs and winning prestigious performance competitions. The UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts created UTSA Arts last October as an organized unit dedicated to community arts education, public-facing performances and exhibitions, and arts-based research and partnerships to enhance the accessibility of the arts for the general public. The unit complements the academic programs housed in the School of Music and the School of Art. Travis Yeik, a UW graduate from Veteran who received his bachelors degree in geography, was a WyomingView intern during 2009-2010. Here, he analyzes crop growth using aerial images. Of his experience, Yeik says he learned how to classify the productivity of agricultural land -- through multiple years of production -- for management use by the farmer. (UW Photo) This past summer, the WyomingView program crossed a major milestone. The program, which trains the next generation of remote-sensing scientists and experts, passed 100 student interns. Since the first cohort of WyomingView interns was trained in 2004-05, the program has seen 103 student interns, most of whom have been University of Wyoming undergraduate students, says Ramesh Sivanpillai, a senior research scientist from UWs Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC). I recruited almost all of these students from the remote-sensing classes I taught at UW, says Sivanpillai, who directs the WyomingView program. They have worked on a range of topics, including crop growth, rangeland monitoring, tracking changes in water bodies, and mapping wildfires and floods. WyomingView focuses on remote-sensing data and technologies in support of applied research, K-16 education, workforce development and technology transfer. WyomingView is part of AmericaView, a national program aimed at promoting remote-sensing science and applications. WyomingView is funded annually by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and AmericaView. Over the years, Sivanpillai says most of his student interns have come from rural counties in Wyoming as well as in 14 other U.S. states. That rural aspect is important to the lessons Sivanpillai teaches. For example, for his fall semester class projects, Sivanpillai asked his student interns whether they had access to any crop or rangeland owned by their parents, relatives or friends. Sivanpillai gave those students Landsat and other satellite images for tracking changes in the crops or rangelands. They applied the concepts from the class and related them to how changes in management practices, or damages to crops, were captured in those images, he says. Another group of students worked with the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other federal and state agencies fighting wildfires before enrolling in Sivanpillais class. After learning how satellite images can be used for mapping wildfires, some of the students contacted their supervisors and obtained specific information about the wildfires to map the impact on trees and other vegetation. For a brief period of time, I was able to obtain field data from a BLM field office for two students and provided them with suitable satellite images, he says. For those who did not have access to farms, ranches or wildfire sites, I gave them data for water bodies and inundated areas. During the spring semesters, some of these students returned and conducted independent research with Sivanpillai. The students expanded their understanding and use of satellites for mapping and monitoring the earths surface. These student interns came from 20 UW academic majors and programs, demonstrating the applicability of remote-sensing technology and applications in several areas. Having students from diverse academic backgrounds has helped the students, the WyomingView program and himself, Sivanpillai says. This was such a rewarding experience for me because students were able to better relate what they were learning in lectures and labs, he says. Any time they had questions, they would call their parents, relatives or supervisors and ask for additional details. In several projects, the entire family was involved. In addition to Wyoming, student interns also have worked on projects in other states, including California, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington. Sivanpillai says he has received letters and emails from parents describing how the information their children or relatives generated was useful to them. One of the parents of an intern from northeast Wyoming says, The satellite image maps have shared some valuable information concerning our 40 acres. The colored images help to confirm what we have been hoping to achieve on this acreage. I have been collecting such letters and passing them along to AmericaView and the USGS. Year after year, our congressional staffers in D.C. were keenly interested to know how many students I trained and on what topics, Sivanpillai says. Recently, Sivanpillai has been contacting previous students and asking them how they are using the skills gained through their WyomingView internships. Abigail Gettinger, who graduated from UW in 2020 with her masters degree in rangeland ecology and watershed management, worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a biological science technician in soils during 2021. During that time, the native of Merom, Ind., participated on a wildfire as a burned area emergency response specialist in soils trainee. Knowing common remote-sensing terminology and having a background in remote sensing enabled me to act as a spokesperson for the team in pursuing an expert to better understand what factors could be influencing the map classifications, Gettinger says. Having the vocabulary and an understanding of the data and common practices allowed me to ask relevant questions, deepen my own understanding and share pertinent information with my team. Cameron Sloan, a UW graduate from Cheyenne who received his bachelors degree in energy resources in 2016, is now working as an environmental scientist at Herrera Environmental Consultants in Lander. Previously, he was a natural resources analyst at the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in Lander. Sloan says remote sensing has become a large component of his professional career. Through the skills that I developed with the WyomingView internship program, I am equipped with the abilities to better use satellite imagery for detecting land use changes related to mining activities, he says. As an instructor, it is an absolute joy to train these undergraduate students, mostly from rural counties, on Earth observation applications using satellite data, Sivanpillai says. These skills are in high demand, and more companies and agencies are using these images as part of their decision-making. With WyGISCs recent move to the UW School of Computing, future WyomingView interns will use machine learning methods to detect patterns and track changes across different landscapes. I look forward to training students in advanced methods and computing technologies, Sivanpillai says. For a historical snapshot of the 103 WyomingView interns, go to www.wyomingview.blogspot.com/p/interns.html. To learn more about a dozen former WyomingView interns and what they are doing now, go to the Then & Now section at www.wyomingview.blogspot.com/p/then-now.html. This aerial photo taken on March 24, 2021 shows container vessels unloading at night at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) This aerial photo taken on Oct. 3, 2023 shows the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) This aerial photo taken on Oct. 3, 2023 shows the night view of the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) This file photo taken on Jan. 16, 1994 shows the first container vessel arriving and unloading at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua) This combo file photo shows the fishing village, where Qinzhou Port locates, before construction in the 1990s in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua) This combo photo shows a wharf for energy transportation under construction on July 24, 1997, (upper) and the aerial view of the wharf for energy transportation on Aug. 28, 2022, (below, photo taken by Xinhua photographer Zhang Ailin) at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua) This photo taken on April 10, 2014 shows a wharf at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 13, 2022 shows a view of Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) This file photo taken on May 18, 1992 shows the first electricity pole at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua) This file photo taken on Aug. 1, 1992 shows a view on the first day of the construction of the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua) This aerial photo taken on Oct. 9, 2023 shows the automatic container terminal at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) This aerial photo taken on Aug. 8, 2017 shows a wharf at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) Workers upload cargos for exportation at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 9, 2004. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Chen Tianhu) This aerial photo taken on Oct. 9, 2023 shows container vessels waiting in line to unload at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) This photo taken on Oct. 27, 2009 shows a storage tank under construction at the Qinzhou Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Started as a small fishing village in 1992, the Qinzhou Port of south China's Guangxi has been constructed into a modern international pivotal hub along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor after 30 years of development. An automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal services has been constructed in Qinzhou Port, along with the industrial cluster thriving at the Qinzhou Port section of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone. At present, Qinzhou Port has realized the daily operation of container trains and kept its connection with the China-Europe freight trains. It has opened more than 60 domestic and foreign container routes, which cover 61 cities in China and reach 393 ports in 119 countries and regions around the world, for the transportation of over 940 kinds of goods. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin) Vietnam Briefing has developed into a premium source for insight on doing business in Vietnam. It publishes business news concerning foreign direct investment into Vietnam, including the most important tax, legal and accounting issues. The Vietnam Briefing Magazine was first published in 2009, and is contributed to by investment professionals based in Vietnam. MOSCOW, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the country's economy is expected to grow by around 3 percent in 2023, noting that it is a good result. The president made the remarks at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States that is being held in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The Russian economy is currently quite stable and GDP growth would be close to 3 percent this year, Putin said, adding that the country's unemployment rate also remains low at 3 percent. "In general, Russia is implementing all its economic plans, all its social development plans. It is very important that the structure of the Russian economy is changing, and we have not seen such structural changes for a long time," Putin said. The oil and gas sector accounted for 3 percent of the growth, while industrial production accounted for 43 percent, the president added. The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, has announced $12 million in immediate humanitarian aid to assist victims of a week of repeated deadly earthquakes in western Afghanistan. In a statement released on Thursday, the USAID said the funding would support its partner agencies to reach earthquake-affected Afghans with urgently needed supplies, including emergency shelter kits, cooking and water collection materials, blankets, solar lamps, clothing, and other household items. The Taliban government and the United Nations say more than 1,000 people mostly women and children have died and many more injured since the first 6.3 magnitude quake struck Herat and surrounding areas on Saturday. "We mourn the loss of life from these earthquakes and stand resolutely with the people of Afghanistan as they recover from these crises," Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, said in a post on social media site X, sharing details of the USAID aid. The United States is Afghanistan's single largest humanitarian donor, providing nearly $2 billion in humanitarian assistance for Afghans since mid-August 2021 when the Taliban seized power and all U.S.-led international troops withdrew, ending after almost 20 years of presence there. Meanwhile, the Afghan Red Crescent reported Friday that it had halted all humanitarian services in the quake-hit areas in Herat due to a severe storm that began overnight. The aid group said on X that the camp it had set up for rescue, sanitation, and shelter purposes had been demolished, prompting it to relocate 256 families to safety. Unfortunately, some Afghan Red Crescent employees were injured while rescuing individuals impacted by the heavy windstorm and have been shifted to the hospital for medical treatment, the agency said. Taliban officials say Afghanistan's immediate neighbors and regional countries, including China, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, have already dispatched urgent relief aid and pledged cash donations to assist the Taliban in carrying out relief work. The disaster zone is located close to the country's border with Iran. However, the Taliban have refused to accept aid from their long-time supporter Pakistan over what they say was an "irresponsible" social media post by the neighboring country's leadership. Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on X earlier in the week that his country was immediately dispatching a "medical team, field hospital, 50 tents, and 500 blankets" to Herat at the request of the Taliban government. The details were minuscule compared to the massive package the National Disaster Management Authority announced. Moreover, the Taliban have, to date, yet to formally ask foreign nations to send relief goods. A Taliban official confirmed to VOA on Thursday for the first time that Kakar's "irresponsible" and "humiliating" tweet forced them to block the arrival of Pakistani relief package in the country as their detractors were already using it to criticize the Kabul administration. "Although no such request was made and our government was ridiculed for it, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Neither Pakistani nor Afghan officials have officially discussed the reasons for the delay in sending the aid to Herat, nor has Kakar removed his post. China's state media reported Thursday that it is transporting more than $4 million worth of emergency humanitarian aid to assist the victims of the relentless Afghan quakes. The aid supplies reportedly include tents, rollaway beds, thick blankets, down and cotton-padded jackets, quilts, and family first-aid kits. The U.N. Children's Fund, or UNICEF, launched a $20 million appeal Thursday to support children affected by the devastating earthquakes. "Over the next three months, life-saving humanitarian assistance will reach over 200,000 people including 96,000 children living in the most devastated and vulnerable areas of Herat province, the agency said in a statement. UNICEF noted that more than 90% of those reported killed were women and children. It added that at least 11,500 people saw their homes completely flattened in Zinda Jan alone, naming a Herat district close to the epicenter of the first earthquake, The World Health Organization has reported damage to 21 health facilities in 10 districts, with half of the damage caused by the latest tremors on October 11. The calamity has compounded an already dire humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan blamed on years of war and prolonged drought. Aid workers say hospitals across the country are severely underequipped and underfunded. They say the Taliban's decision to ban Afghan women from working for aid groups has compounded the crisis. "Even before the earthquake, these communities were already suffering the effects of conflict and insecurity, migration, drought, displacement, and poverty," said Rushnan Murtaza, the acting UNICEF representative in Afghanistan. United Nations agencies Friday appealed to Israel to rescind its demand that 1.1 million civilians leave northern Gaza and relocate to the south within the next 24 hours, saying this was impossible and would have devastating consequences. "This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into abyss," said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA. In a statement, Lazzarini described the scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis as "bone chilling" and warned that "Gaza is fast becoming a hell hole and is on the brink of collapse." Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Lazzarini noted that more than 423,000 Palestinians have been displaced, with more than 270,000 of them taking refuge in UNRWA shelters, "where basic food, medicine and support is provided to retain dignity and a glimmer of hope." The World Health Organization has joined the U.N. appeal for Israel to reverse its evacuation order, noting that "with ongoing airstrikes, civilians have no safe place left to go." WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said the Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed WHO that it is impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients from the north of Gaza. "Vulnerable hospital patients include those already critically injured, and adults, children, and newborns depending on life support in intensive care. The health system in the Gaza Strip is at a breaking point," he said. "Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel, water, food and lifesaving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade." Israel has vowed not to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip until Hamas has freed all the estimated 150 hostages it seized during its deadly attack on Israeli civilians. The World Health Organization reports hospitals in Gaza have almost depleted the fuel they need to run their generators. The U.N. agency says there is a shortage of blood, and that medicines and medical supplies to treat the sick and wounded are in short supply. WHO is calling for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to allow these and other desperately needed trauma and emergency care drugs into the territory. "We have a logistical hub in Dubai, and we are ready to move as soon as we get a signal that supplies can move forward," said Jasarevic. UNICEF is calling for an immediate cease-fire, noting that children comprise nearly half of the 1.1 million people warned to move out of the way ahead of what is expected to be an Israeli ground assault in Gaza. "Hundreds and hundreds of children have been killed and injured," said James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson. "The images and stories are clear, children with horrendous burns, mortar wounds, and lost limbs. And hospitals are utterly overwhelmed to treat them. Yet the numbers keep rising." He said international humanitarian law must prevail. "Israeli children being held hostage in Gaza must be safely and immediately reunited with their families and loved ones," said Elder. Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that "civilians must never be used as bargaining chips." "The taking of hostages and summary executions of civilians by Hamas is obviously prohibited under International Humanitarian Law, and these also amount to war crimes," she said. "The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of a civilian population of goods essential for their survival including food, medical supplies and electricity are prohibited under international humanitarian law," said Shamdasani. "Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and depriving them of objects essential for their survival is defined as a war crime." U.N. rights chief Volker Turk has called on the parties to the conflict to immediately implement a humanitarian corridor to ensure safe and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid. "We should not look back and regret that we did not do everything in our power to avoid a disaster," he said. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, has just launched a flash appeal for $294 million to provide emergency food and other essential aid for 1.2 million people mainly in Gaza, with a small portion allotted for people in the occupied West Bank. OCHA noted that the most urgent priority was to de-escalate the crisis. It stressed the impossibility of carrying out the order it received from the Israeli military to relocate so many people from northern Gaza to the south. "Asking people to relocate in the middle of a war zone when people are at the end of a rope how is that going to happen," asked Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson. "There is only one solution, and that is to rescind this order and allow access for humanitarian agencies to do what they do, which is to save the lives of civilians," he said. A Reuters journalist was killed Friday while reporting from southern Lebanon, and several others were injured, including two from the same news agency. We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, a Reuters spokesperson told VOA on Friday. Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon who were providing a live signal at the time of the strike, the spokesperson said. The video has since been removed. We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issams family and colleagues. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time, the spokesperson said in the statement. Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also were injured and are seeking medical care, the spokesperson added. The broadcaster Al Jazeera said that two of its journalists, Karmen Jokhadar and Eli Brakhia, were injured at the same time. Agence France-Presse also reported that two of its team were injured and that the shelling took place after an attempted push into Israel from Lebanon by a Palestinian faction. The AFP named its injured crew as Christina Assi and video journalist Dylan Collins. Details of the incident were not immediately clear. The Israeli military has carried out strikes on its border with Lebanon in response to rocket and militant attacks. The Reuters journalists are believed to have been hit by one such strike, according to Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera. VOA could not immediately verify if that was the case. The Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan said Friday he had just learned of the attack and that Israel will "always try to mitigate and avoid civilian casualties." Saying that Israeli forces would never want to "kill or shoot any journalist that is doing the job," Erdan said: "We were in a state of war, things might happen. We regret them, we feel sorry. And we will investigate it. Right now, it's too early to call what happened." The conflict playing out in a densely packed region has already led to media casualties. At least 10 other journalists have been killed while reporting from Gaza since Israel declared war on Hamas following the militant groups bloody incursion into southern Israel last week, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday the U.N. is concerned by reports of explosions in the U.N. Peacekeeping Mission area of South Lebanon and the distressing reports of a journalist being killed and others injured. Journalists need to be protected and allowed to do their work, Dujarric said. A 50-year-old Israeli man who works at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing was stabbed on Friday in front of a supermarket, Chinese police and the Israeli government said. Beijing police said they had arrested a suspect, a 53-year-old foreign man. They said the victim is a family member of an Israeli diplomat. No motive was given for the attack. "The employee was transferred to hospital and he is in a stable condition," an Israeli government statement said, without giving additional details. The stabbing occurred as Muslims across the world took to the streets in large protests after Friday prayers over Israel's intense bombing campaign in Gaza, following the unprecedented and deadly incursion by the militant group Hamas into southern Israel last Saturday. The stabbing occurred as Muslims across the world took to the streets in large protests after Friday prayers over Israel's intense bombing campaign in Gaza. A video posted on social media showed a man with a knife grappling with another man on the ground and stabbing him several times, leaving a trail of blood stains on the sidewalk. People working in the area said they heard the victim shouting as police cars and an ambulance arrived. A police cordon was set up and the blood later washed away. Also Friday, Israel sharply criticized China's statement about the initial Hamas attack. Israel's Foreign Ministry said Ambassador Rafi Harpaz had expressed his country's "deep disappointment" to China's envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun. The two diplomats talked by phone on Thursday. There was "no clear and unequivocal condemnation of the terrible massacre committed by the terrorist organization Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza," the Israeli statement said. "The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society." Asked about the Israeli statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated that China opposes acts harming citizens and violating international law. "China will continue to work unremittingly for de-escalation of the situation and the resumption of peace talks," he said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking at a joint news conference with the EU foreign policy chief, said that China's Mideast envoy would travel to the region soon to work toward a ceasefire and de-escalation. China has supported the Palestinians in their demand for an independent state. "Israel has the right to establish a state, and so does Palestine," Wang said, saying the failure to create a Palestinian state is the root cause of the conflict. In Beijing, about half-a-dozen plainclothes police were stationed outside the Israeli Embassy in addition to the normal contingent of uniformed officers. Some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) away at the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing, plainclothes officers were also on hand and one was tightening wires on a fence. Since the war broke out, antisemitic remarks have surged on Chinese social media. Bombarded with hostile messages, the Israeli Embassy in Beijing is filtering comments on its Chinese social media account. The embassy selected a comment that said, "Support Israel! Destroy the terrorist organization!" the remarks got 5,700 likes. China: US fueling tensions Chinese state media have blamed the United States for fanning tensions in the region. "The Chinese government has always propagated a narrative that places the blame squarely on Israel, a key U.S. ally, because this aligns with a key objective of [the ruling Communist Party's] propaganda: to undermine the U.S. in the international community," said Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Freedom House. "This time, it is no exception." While the United States remains Israel's top ally, China in recent months had tried to reach out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government as tensions had risen with Washington over Netanyahu's planned overhaul of the country's judiciary, which sparked months of protests. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were in the region Friday in support of Israel while President Joe Biden also has spoken out against the Hamas attack. America also has sent additional arms to Israel, deployed one aircraft carrier group and plans to send another to discourage a regional escalation as Israel prepares for a possible ground offensive in Gaza. The U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, tweeted on X, formerly Twitter, that "we are shocked by today's attack on an Israeli diplomat in Beijing" and said the embassy had offered its full support to the Israeli Embassy and the Israeli community in China. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing earlier this week, voiced dissatisfaction over the initial Chinese statement on the deadly Hamas incursion. Schumer later said he was gratified when a Foreign Ministry spokesperson later added that China is "deeply saddened by the civilian casualties" and "opposes and condemns acts that harm civilians." The first night following Hamas' incursion into southern Israel, news editor Amy Spiro was live blogging for The Times of Israel. It has been all hands on deck at the newspaper since then. "At this point in time, every reporter we have is a war reporter. There's nothing else. There's no other story. There's no other news," she said. "Everyone's a war reporter." Spiro said she feels a responsibility to report on what's happening. "Everyone's working, essentially, around the clock. It feels like it would be wrong to do anything else," she told VOA from Jerusalem. But, less than one week since Israel declared war on the militant group Hamas for invading and killing more than 1,300 Israelis, the journalist added that the emotional toll is already weighing heavily on her. Reporters in Israel and Gaza who are covering the conflict are grappling with an array of challenges ranging from safety threats and the emotional fallout to erratic electricity access and spotty internet connection. "All are consistent with journalists on the ground being the most vulnerable, even though they are the most needed right now to tell the story of what's happening," said Sherif Mansour, who covers the Middle East at the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. The CPJ reported in May that over the past 22 years, members of the Israel Defense Forces have killed at least 20 journalists 18 of whom were Palestinian. No one has been charged or held responsible in the deaths. The CPJ is in the process of verifying reports of Israeli journalists killed since the invasion, Mansour said. In response to the killings and kidnappings perpetrated by Hamas, Israel has declared war and placed the already blockaded Gaza Strip and its population of over 2 million people under siege. A nonstop barrage of bombs has led to the killings of more than 1,500 people in Gaza, according to officials in the enclave. Among the dead in Gaza are at least seven journalists who were killed in the first five days of fighting, according to CPJ. Others have been injured or are missing. It's unclear whether they were targeted for their work. Physical safety is the primary concern for journalists in Gaza right now, said Yousef Hammash, a Norwegian Refugee Council advocacy officer in Gaza. Hammash previously worked as a freelance journalist for outlets including the BBC and Channel 4. "There's no safety for anyone on the ground," Hammash told VOA from Gaza. In addition to the safety risks, Hammash added that journalists are forced to constantly move around in order to find electricity and an internet connection to do their jobs. The Palestinian press freedom group MADA has condemned the threats facing journalists in Gaza. Since Israel placed Gaza under siege, and with no foreign journalists able to enter the territory, Hammash has turned to social media to report on what's happening on the ground. "I need to tell the story of my own people," he said. "It's a matter of duty toward my people." A similar sense of duty is driving reporters in Israel to cover the fallout that has gripped the region and the world's attention since the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas attacked Saturday. Even in Jerusalem, which Spiro said is relatively secure, it feels like "there's really nowhere that's 100% safe." "Emotionally, it's really challenging. It's a complete roller coaster," Spiro added. "It is so hard to go about business as usual, when all you want to do is curl up in a ball and scream," said Linda Dayan, a Tel Aviv-based reporter for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "Everyone, I think, is just trying to get through the day. And we won't understand the toll that it's taking on us until a bit later." The sense of duty felt among many reporters also means prioritizing providing accurate information to the public in the face of disinformation that has proliferated online. "Everyone's working, essentially, around the clock. It feels like it would be wrong to do anything else." Dayan said she asked her editors to let her do a ride along with ZAKA, an Israeli first-response group that often collects bodies from the sites of terror attacks. "My editors were just telling me, 'Linda, no, this is going to be a long war, and we need you whole. We need you emotionally whole,'" she said. "There's the question of, do I go for the most hard-hitting story, or do I save myself?" Israel is a small country with a population of less than 10 million people. That means "everything is felt so immediately," Spiro said. "Nobody isn't affected by it," Dayan said. That means covering the war is particularly challenging because it's so personal, she added. "Everything here is firsthand," Dayan said. "And whether it's biased, or whether it's the reality of the situation, we don't, unfortunately, get the privilege of being able to separate that." For many of these reporters, covering the conflict is the best thing they can do and it's certainly better than doing nothing, they said. Spiro, for one, is regularly at the helm of The Times of Israel's live blog on the crisis. "On one hand, you're absorbing every single thing that happens, which is a lot," she said. "And on the other hand, you're too busy to even think about reality." Israel has intensified airstrikes on Gaza after Hamas attack sparked a war in which more than 1,200 people in Israel and 1,400 people in Gaza have been killed. As an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza looms, Russia and China have seized on the United States promise to help long-time ally Israel defend itself. Both Moscow and Beijing blame the U.S. for the conflict and undermine U.S. support for Ukraine, with state-owned media spreading a disinformation narrative focusing on the alleged U.S. inability to aid both Israel and Ukraine. Cartoons are a popular tool the state media in China uses for anti-U.S. propaganda. One recent cartoon published in Chinas state-owned Global Times depicts Uncle Sam bound at the waist by ropes. The ropes are attached to trucks one labeled Ukraine aid, the other Israeli aid moving in opposite directions. The caption reads: Stretched too thin. That is misleading. Reports indicate there is not yet a significant overlap between Israeli and Ukrainian needs, and U.S. officials maintain aid to Israel wont come at Ukraines expense. On October 11, the U.S. announced a new military aid package for Ukraine that includes additional air defense capabilities, anti-tank weapons and other equipment. Analysts concur that Ukraines and Israels most pressing military needs differ. Israels most urgent needs are air-launched precision-guided munitions and interceptor replenishments for [the] Iron Dome and there is little to no current competition between Israel and Ukraine for those capabilities, said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Center on Military and Political Power. Israels Iron Dome missile defense system is not designed to fire the same interceptor used by the U.S.-made Patriot or other missile defense systems the U.S. and its allies have supplied to Ukraine. If we see an extended ground war, the weapons Israel needs from the United States may begin to overlap with some of the weapons Ukraine needs. But some overlap in the weapons needed by Ukraine and Israel could certainly be managed. Assertions that the United States cannot support Ukraine and Israel at the same time do not withstand scrutiny, Bowman said. Ukraine has also asked for tanks and armored-personnel carriers. Israel already has large stocks of such vehicles, some produced domestically. Ukraine also needs anti-ship, anti-tank and anti-air missiles targeting military ships, aircraft and vehicles that Hamas does not have. While successive tranches of U.S. aid to Ukraine have included millions of rounds of small arms ammunition, Reuters reports that Israel is unlikely to have depleted its stocks of small arms ammunition thus far. Still, NATO officials warn that Western ammo stocks are diminishing. Ukraine, and likely Israel, both need 155-millimeter artillery shells. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and others have criticized the U.S. decision to transfer 300,000 rounds of 155-millimeter artillery shells from Israel to Ukraine. Were on track to deplete our munitions & other stockpiles with dual conflicts in Ukraine & now in Israel. Its zero-sum which paves the way for China to invade Taiwan as the U.S. reaches a nadir in our capacity, Ramaswamy posted on X. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz estimated Israel used at least 32,000 artillery shells during the 2014 Gaza War, which lasted one month, two weeks and four days. Ukraine uses an estimated 6,000 artillery round each day, less than the 10,000 per day its military wants. At its height, Russia hammered Ukraine with 60,000 shells and rockets a day. Amid concerns over diminishing Western ammunition stocks, the U.S. has roughly doubled its monthly production of 155-mm artillery shells to 28,000 and is aiming to produce 80,000-100,000 rounds per month by late 2025. So far, the U.S. Congress has provided more than $113 billion in aid to Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress for an additional $24 billion in Ukraine aid on August 10. Rajan Menon, a political science professor at the City College of New York, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a VOA sister organization, the U.S. can meet the requests of both Israel and Ukraine, considering the $800 billion allocated in the annual budget to the Department of Defense. On a broader scale, the U.S. government spent $6.27 trillion in fiscal year 2022. The U.S. national debt now exceeds $33 trillion dollars, driving calls for spending cuts. The issue, Menon and others argue, is one of political will, as U.S. support for Ukraine aid is declining while support for Israel is unwavering. The Biden administration has mulled providing additional support to Ukraine by bundling assistance to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. Some Republican lawmakers say they will resist any such funding request. Meantime, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said Moscow has already used and will likely continue to use Hamas attacks on Israel to promote information operations aimed at reducing U.S. and Western support and attention to Ukraine." Iran's foreign minister warned Friday that if Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip don't stop immediately, the violence could spread to other parts of the Middle East. Hossein Amirabdollahian is on a tour that took him to Baghdad before Beirut, and later in the day he was scheduled to travel to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Iran heads the so-called "axis of resistance" that includes powerful militant groups in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq. Amirabdollahian spoke to reporters in Beirut after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, during which the two officials called for an end to Israel's attacks on Gaza. He also met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the speaker of parliament. There have been concerns that the war could spread to Lebanon's border where Hezbollah fighters have been on alert following Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Saturday that left hundreds of people dead. On Thursday, Israel's military struck two of Syria's main international airports, in Damascus and Aleppo, putting them out of service. Flights were diverted to an airport in the coastal province of Latakia. The strikes came after shells were fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Sporadic acts of violence along the Lebanon-Israel border over the past days left three Hezbollah fighters dead on Monday. Israel's military said one Israeli soldier was killed in an anti-tank missile attack on Wednesday. U.S. President Joe Biden has warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict, sending American warships to the region and vowing full support for Israel. "What is funny is that at a time when America is calling on parties for self-restraint, it is allowing the criminals in the fake Zionist entity to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza," Amirabdollahian said. He warned that "if these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity don't stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility." He did not elaborate but it was an apparent hint that Iran-backed groups could join the war. Senior Hamas official Ali Barakeh told The Associated Press this week in Beirut that allies like Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah "will join the battle if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation." Amirabdollahian said: "America cannot send weapons and bombs to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza and at the same time calls on all sides for self-restraint." Amirabdollahian called on the foreign ministers and the leader of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a grouping of 57 countries with important Muslim populations, to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. After meeting Mikati, Amirabdollahian said the aim of his visit to Beirut is to preserve security in Lebanon amid regional tensions. "What is important for us is security in Lebanon and how to preserve calm," Amirabdollahian said. He added that what Hamas did over the weekend was in response to the policies of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum and the Uzbekistan State History Museum have signed a MoU on the sidelines of the "Carpet as a Symbol of the Turkic World" international conference. The signing ceremony took place at the National Carpet Museum as part of the 2nd Meeting of Museums of the Turkic World, Azernews reports. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked by the Carpet Museum director, chairman of ICOM Azerbaijan National Committee Shirin Malikova and director of the Uzbekistan State History Museum Jannat Ismailova. The document envisages the study and protection of cultural heritage, scientific exchange and cooperation, joint exhibition projects, as well as holding of academic symposia and seminars. The MoU is an significant contribution to the development of Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan cultural ties. Uzbekistan State History Museum is one of the first museums in Central Asia. Founded in 1876, the museum displays over 250, 000 exhibits, which provide insight into the history of the peoples of Central Asia who inhabited the territory of Uzbekistan, from the Stone age to the present day. Founded in 1967, the National Carpet Museum holds more than 14,000 exhibits of the finest Azerbaijani carpets. Initiated by eminent carpet artist Latif Karimov, the museum is beautiful inside and out. The museum's new building is designed in the form of a rolled carpet. Now, the museum hosts multiple events, including international symposiums, conferences and various exhibitions. In 2019, the museum received national status for its significant contribution in popularizing and promoting the Azerbaijani Carpet Weaving Art. In 2020, the Carpet Museum enriched its collection with a beautiful pile of carpets purchased by the Culture Ministry at the Sartirana Textile Show in Italy. The 19th-century Guba carpet "Ugakh" was donated to the Carpet Museum, while the Garabagh carpet "Chelebi" enriched the collection of the museum's Shusha branch. Moreover, the Carpet Museum won Travelers' Choice Awards for the fourth time in a row last year. The award proves once again that the professional activity of the National Carpet Museum is highly appreciated by visitors from all over the world. Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday called for an immediate halt of the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict and the revival of the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Iran, Hamas' major supporter, has warned that Israel "could receive a response" from Tehran's allies amid growing fears the conflict between Israel and Hamas could spiral into a regional Middle East war. Israel responded to Saturday's cross-border attack by Hamas by dropping over 6,000 bombs on what it described as Hamas targets in Gaza. Authorities there say more than 1,500 Palestinians have already been killed in the retaliatory strikes, including over 500 children. Israel's military Friday told all civilians in northern Gaza more than 1 million people to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks and troops on the border ahead of an expected ground invasion. Arriving in Beirut on Thursday for talks with his Lebanese counterpart, Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned that Tehran's allies in the region could take action against Israel. "The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis. And naturally, the Zionist entity and its supporters will be responsible for the consequences of that," Amirabdollahian said. He added that the displacement of Palestinians and cutting water and electricity to the Gaza Strip are considered war crimes. Israel has said it will continue a complete siege of Gaza until all the hostages kidnapped by Hamas are freed. Amirabdollahian did not specify which groups belonged to the axis. Tehran's other allies and proxies in the region are Syria, Palestinian militant groups such as Islamic Jihad, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and Houthi rebels in Yemen. "If Israel is going to mount a ground invasion of Gaza, I think there is real concern that these other groups that have gotten Iranian support and that share Iran's goals and share Iran's animosity toward Israel, that they might get involved as well," said Barbara Slavin, a Middle East analyst at the Stimson Center in Washington. Hezbollah is better armed than Hamas. Israeli forces have exchanged sporadic rocket fire with Hezbollah fighters in recent days and three Hezbollah fighters were killed in cross-border clashes. Any attack on Israel by Hezbollah would be coordinated by Iran, said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington. "There is a lot known [about] the relationship of each proxy to the patron Hezbollah to Iran, Palestinian Islamic Jihad to Iran, the Houthis to Iran. But there is not much known about the relationship between each spoke," he said. Israel could seek to expand its strikes against Iran's allies and proxies beyond Gaza, Taleblu added. "I think certainly if there is more than one front active at the same time, it would be the beginning of treating this as a larger regionwide war phenomenon," he told VOA. "But you know, there's always the potential for Israel to strike elsewhere, of course, not just Lebanon, which would invoke a third Lebanon war but potentially the widening of what is already underway between Israel and Iran indirectly, which is the war between the wars, the cyber element, the maritime element." Meanwhile Syria accused Israel of carrying out missile strikes on airports in Damascus and Aleppo on Thursday, damaging their runways. Israel did not comment on the reports. It has previously accused Syria of facilitating arms shipments from Iran to militant groups in the region. Unity government could give foes pause In the wake of the Hamas attack, Israeli politicians, riven by bitter internal divisions, have formed a unity government. That may give pause to the country's foes, former U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross said. "I don't rule out the possibility there'll be an all-out war, although, because Hezbollah was counting on divisions in Israel, and I think [Hezbollah have] seen what they were thinking about Israel in terms of divisions is no longer the case, so that may also temper their interest in all-out war," Ross told Reuters. "And as I said, Iran may have an interest in keeping Hezbollah in reserve in the event that they think they may be attacked [by Israel]." Israel is unlikely to attack Iran directly, analyst Lina Khatib, director of Middle East Institute at SOAS University of London, told VOA, "because this would already stretch resources that this war [against Hamas] has shown to be stretched in Israel, at the level of intelligence for example." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is touring the Middle East in an effort to prevent the conflict spreading. Following his visit to Israel this week, Blinken arrived in Jordan on Friday for meetings with King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He is also due to visit Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The United States has sent an aircraft carrier fleet to the region. President Joe Biden said Wednesday it was intended as a warning to Tehran. "We're surging additional military assistance to the Israeli Defense Force, including ammunition, interceptors to replenish the Iron Dome. And we moved the U.S. carrier fleet to the Eastern Mediterranean; are sending more fighter jets there in that region and made it clear, made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful," Biden said during an address at a roundtable with Jewish community leaders at the White House. The latest Israeli Defense Forces says civilians should leave Gaza City for their own safety and protection Israel vows no end to siege of Gaza until hostages are freed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel has a right to defend itself, highlights need to protect innocent civilians in the conflict as he meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu NATO condemns Hamas attacks, expresses solidarity with Israel U.N. says 340,000 people displaced in Gaza Israel says 1,300 killed in Hamas raid; Gaza says 1,500 killed in retaliatory strikes Israel Defense Forces on Friday called on civilians to leave Gaza City "for their own safety and protection." In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said, "IDF calls for evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City from their homes southwards, for their own safety and protection, to move to the area south of wadi Gaza, the river Gaza." "You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made. Do not approach the area of the security fence with the state of Israel," he said. The statement follows a United Nations statement late Thursday that Israeli military officials had informed it that the entire population of northern Gaza, about 1.1 million people, should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours. "The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. "The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation." Dujarric said the order also applies to all U.N. staff and those sheltering in U.N. facilities including schools, health centers and clinics. The population of Gaza is already living under a complete siege imposed this week on the Hamas-controlled territory, in retaliation for Saturdays deadly attacks on Israel that killed hundreds of civilians. Palestinians living there are without electricity, water and fuel. The directive comes as Israel ramps up preparations for a ground invasion of Gaza, including positioning 300,000 reservists near the border with Gaza, but has said no decision had been made on moving forward with an offensive. Israel launched new attacks Thursday, vowing there would be no letup in its bombardment of Gaza until Hamas militants release the estimated 150 hostages they are holding. "Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be lifted, no water hydrant will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home," Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz posted on X, formerly Twitter. "Humanitarian for humanitarian. And nobody should preach us morals." On Thursday, Human Rights Watch said that Israel used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza on Wednesday in what constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law. White phosphorus can cause severe burns and long-term health issues. "There was no use of white phosphorus in the Gaza Strip. Period,: IDF spokesperson Lt. Colonel Amnon Sheffler told reporters Thursday. A campaign of Israeli airstrikes that began hours after Saturday's Hamas incursion has killed at least 1,500 people in Gaza. Israel says it has dropped 6,000 bombs over six days of bombardment. Conricus said Friday that Israeli casualties had reached 1,300 civilians and soldiers killed and more than 3,000 wounded. "The numbers of casualties are increasing every hour," Bashar Murad, director of the humanitarian group the Palestinian Red Crescent, told Alhurra, an Arabic language satellite TV sister organization of the Voice of America. "The number of dead and injured that arrived to the hospitals is much more than the capacity of these hospitals." The U.S. said that 27 Americans were killed in the Hamas attack and 14 are missing. The United Nations said nearly 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in Gaza, with more than two-thirds of them taking shelter in U.N. schools. It launched a humanitarian appeal Thursday for $294 million to meet immediate needs in Gaza and the West Bank. Humanitarian organizations have expressed alarm about the fast-dwindling supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine in Gaza amid an Israeli blockade of the narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, "The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis. And naturally, the Zionist entity and its supporters will be responsible for the consequences of that." Amirabdollahian was speaking through a translator upon his arrival in Beirut. Iran and Israel are enemies, and Iran supports Hamas, but Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the recent Hamas rampage. Meanwhile, the chief of staff for Israel's military, Herzi Halevi, acknowledged Thursday that the military had failed to protect people living near Gaza when Hamas launched its attack. He said the Israel Defense Forces are "responsible for the security of the country and its citizens, and on Saturday morning in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, we did not," Halevi said. "We will learn, we will investigate, but now is the time for war." Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi highlighted the need to "ensure the regularity of humanitarian and relief services, as well as aid to the people in the Gaza Strip." Sissi's office said in a statement that he told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a phone call Thursday that Egypt is pushing for calm to prevent "sliding into a bloody path" where civilians will pay the price. The World Health Organization said it has documented 34 attacks on health centers in Gaza since Saturday that have led to the deaths of 11 health care workers on duty, as well as 16 injuries. Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented at least seven journalists killed in Gaza since Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself following the Hamas attack, while also stressing the need to take precautions to prevent harm to innocent civilians. "We know Hamas didn't commit its heinous acts with the interests of the Palestinian people in mind," Blinken said as he spoke to reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Hamas has only one agenda: to destroy Israel and to murder Jews." Netanyahu thanked the United States for its support and vowed to crush Hamas in the same way that Islamic State group was defeated. "There will be many difficult days ahead, but I have no doubt that the forces of civilization will win," Netanyahu said. "We must stand tall, proud and united against evil." The U.S. has provided more military assistance to Israel to defend itself, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin saying the U.S. is placing no specific conditions on how Israel uses the American-provided munitions. Blinken is also due to visit Jordan, where a U.S. official said he will meet Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II. Also Friday, the U.N. Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting to discuss developments. NATO said defense ministers meeting Thursday in Brussels condemned the Hamas attack, expressed their solidarity with Israel and called on the militants to immediately release all hostages. "Israel does not stand alone," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed the NATO defense ministers by video conference to update them about the conflict. The United Kingdom, meanwhile, said Thursday that it will send surveillance aircraft and two Royal Navy ships to the eastern Mediterranean in plans "to support Israel." At the White House, President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington's support for Israel and assured a group of Jewish leaders Wednesday that his administration was "working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel." Netanyahu created a war Cabinet with former defense chief Benny Gantz, a centrist opposition National Unity Party leader, along with Gallant, so they can solely focus on combating Hamas. The unusual arrangement, with other Cabinet members from Netanyahu's right-wing government apparently remaining in place, pieces together a degree of unity after years of bitterly divisive politics. Netanyahu has vowed to end Hamas' rule in Gaza so that the militants can no longer threaten Israel. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell and United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Hamas tells civilians to ignore an Israeli Defense Forces call for 1.1 million civilians to evacuate to northern Gaza for southern areas within 24 hours for their own safety." The United Nations says 423,000 people displaced in Gaza. Russia circulates U.N. Security Council draft resolution calling for a humanitarian cease-fire. The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7. Palestinians living in the northern Gaza Strip scrambled Friday as the clock ticked down on an Israeli order to evacuate to the southern part of the Strip within 24 hours, ahead of what many fear will be a major Israeli ground offensive into the Hamas-controlled territory. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed early Friday that it had notified residents in Gaza City to leave for "their own safety and protection." "You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made," IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said in a live-streamed briefing on the social media platform X. Hamas has called for everyone to "remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation," according to The Associated Press. Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters Friday that Israel's evacuation order amounts to "ethnic cleansing" of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have nowhere to flee. "We don't know what's happening at this moment in the northern part of Gaza where the Israeli occupying forces told people to evacuate people don't know where to go," Mansour told reporters. "There is no safe place in the Gaza Strip." In Tel Aviv, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee told Alhurra, an Arabic language satellite TV sister organization of the Voice of America, "In every sense of the word, we are escalating our raids and attacks on Hamas' hideouts in the Gaza Strip, and this is what is actually happening, after we targeted geographical areas that Hamas exploited to establish its hideouts there, such as Al-Rimal neighborhood, Beit Hanoun, and so on. "We are now warning the residents of Gaza City and calling on them to leave those areas because they are being used by Hamas to lead and direct military operations against Israel. Therefore, as we said and announced clearly, Israel will intensify its strikes in this region," Adraee said. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to reporters on his way to a closed-door meeting of the U.N. Security Council Friday afternoon. "Moving more than 1 million people across a densely populated warzone to a place with no food, water or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous and in some cases, simply not possible," he said. Israel put Gaza under a "complete siege" Monday, in response to Saturday's deadly Hamas attacks, which killed more than 1,300 Israelis. Palestinians are currently without electricity, water and fuel, making a mass evacuation even more risky and complex. Israeli strikes have killed about 1,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. Russia circulated a draft resolution to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, proposing an immediate humanitarian cease-fire and the unimpeded provision and distribution of assistance, including food, fuel and medical treatment. It also calls for the secure release of all hostages. The text, seen by VOA, condemns "all acts of terrorism" but does not condemn Hamas's attacks or the state Israel's right to self-defense, which are likely to be points of contention among some council members. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said he hopes the council can discuss it and vote on it quickly. Chaos in Gaza "This is chaos, no one understands what to do," Inas Hamdan, an officer at the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, told the AP, adding that U.N. staff are evacuating northern Gaza. Dujarric said the order also applies to all U.N. staff and those sheltering in U.N. facilities including schools, health centers and clinics. The U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees the United Nations Relief and Works Agency says it has relocated its central operations center and its international staff of about 300 to southern Gaza to continue its humanitarian work. UNRWA has about 13,000 staff in Gaza, the overwhelming majority of whom are Palestinian. "They are U.N. facilities. They must be protected... and must never come under attack in accordance with international humanitarian law," UNRWA said in a statement. Military build up Israel has positioned 300,000 reservists near the border with Gaza but has said no decision has been made on moving forward with an offensive. In the meantime, it continues heavy bombardment of Gaza, vowing there will be no letup until Hamas releases an estimated 150 hostages. Israeli and Lebanese media reported clashes Friday along the countries' mutual border. A Reuters videographer was killed there Friday. The news agency said Issam Abdallah was killed and two of their other journalists were injured in an Israeli artillery strike. Reporters from AFP and Al-Jazeera were also injured. Reuters says it is "urgently seeking more information." Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented at least seven journalists killed in Gaza since Saturday. Blinken and Austin in region The United States has said that 27 Americans were killed in the terror attack and 14 are missing. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman, a day after holding talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. In Amman, Blinken also met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian leader has been reluctant to condemn the Hamas attacks despite no love between the two Palestinian factions but appeared to take a step in that direction Friday. "We reject the practices of killing civilians or abusing them on both sides because they contravene morals, religion and international law," the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, quoted Abbas as saying according to Reuters. From Jordan, Blinken traveled to Qatar, for another meeting with top leaders. At a news conference Blinken was asked about the fate of Palestinians Israel ordered to evacuate from northern Gaza, he said the situation is complex because Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields and is reportedly blocking roads so people cannot flee. "Our focus now is on helping to create safe zones," Blinken said. "We're doing that with the leading international organizations; we're doing that by engaging with Israel; and we're working with other countries." Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel Friday for meetings with senior government leaders and to see firsthand some of the U.S. weapons and security assistance that Washington has rapidly delivered to Israel with more to come. VOA White House Correspondent Anita Powell, State Department Correspondent Cindy Saine, U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer and Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report. Some information for this article came Alhurra, as well as from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. "I saw the video of Hamas people taking away my 12-year-old brother. Is he even alive?" asked a 21-year-old Israeli woman whose father, younger sister, cousin and grandmother went missing after Hamas militants attacked their hometown kibbutz on Saturday. Gaya Kalderon woke up at 6 a.m. Saturday to the sound of sirens buzzing all around Tel Aviv. She said she called her family in the small town of Nir Oz to find out if they were OK. "When I called my mother and father, everything was fine. My father, younger sister and younger brother had gone to a safe place, as mother and elder brother were in their separate house," Kalderon told VOA Urdu while speaking from Tel Aviv. Nir Oz is one of the many sleepy rural areas of kibbutzim, small farming enclaves, that bore the brunt of the Hamas militants ground assault on Saturday. "But then a message came from my younger sister saying that she was hearing gunshots nearby and she was scared, before disappearing in a few seconds," Kalderon said. She said at the same time, she began calling her grandmother, who along with a cousin with special needs, lived around the same area. Kalderon said her grandmother told her that Hamas fighters were in her house, throwing things away. Then her grandmother stopped responding. Her mother and elder brother are safe, but her father, younger sister, brother, cousin and grandmother are still missing. Kalderon begged, "Please bring my family. I need help. I dont want anything else." At least 150 hostages, including children, women and elderly people seized by Hamas gunmen from southern Israel last Saturday are now being held at secret locations inside Gaza. Their future is unknown. At 8 a.m. Saturday, Osher Sitton and three friends managed to reach a safe house in southern Israel after escaping Hamas gunmens attack on the Nova music festival. "I thought it was my last day, as gunshots started coming from a close range. I didnt tell my parents about going to the party, and I thought to myself, 'OK, this is it,'" said 22-year-old Sitton, speaking to VOA Urdu from the city of Shoham. He said, "Every momentary sound, loud or quiet, makes me rattle fearfully, like the gunshots and rockets from Saturday morning. Now, Im afraid to sleep alone at night, like a 10-year-old." At least 1,300 people have died in Israel because of the Hamas militant attacks, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said in an update Wednesday. A campaign of Israeli airstrikes that began hours after Saturdays incursion has killed 1,500 people in Gaza. The United Nations said nearly 340,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Gaza, with more than two-thirds of them taking shelter in U.N. schools. "Every hour, every minute, every moment, we hear explosions coming from the air, land and sea. We were forced to leave the house to seek shelter at a safe place for the third time," said a young Palestinian artist speaking to VOA Urdu from Gaza. Another resident said the streets of West Gaza are unrecognizable after Israels recent strikes. A 22-year-old Palestinian woman, Plestia Alaqad, told VOA Urdu from West Gaza, "Its hard to breathe. The sky is dark day and night because of the gunpowder. I have been living in Gaza all my life, and right now, I dont recognize the streets." She said, "The number of wounded people, the number of injuries and the number of martyrs, is so crazy. It's just crazy. Water, electricity, food, all necessities are running out." The International Committee of the Red Cross warned Thursday that hospitals in Gaza are at risk of turning into morgues without electricity as they lose power during Israel's bombardment of the enclave. Gaza's only power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday, and backup generators could stop working in hours, ICRC said in a statement. Medical centers have been overwhelmed after Israel imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza and pounded the territory with air and artillery strikes. Israel said it will not restore electricity or allow basic resources and humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas releases the 150 hostages it abducted during Saturdays attacks. An Italian journalist was found guilty of libel Thursday for insulting Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a television interview and received a sentence that has alarmed some free speech advocates. Roberto Saviano, a prominent anti-mafia author, was handed a suspended fine of 1,000 euros, which he will have to pay if he repeats the offense. The prosecution had asked for a 10,000-euro penalty. Savianos legal team said they would appeal the verdict. In December 2020, before Meloni became prime minister, Saviano criticized the politician and her fellow far-right leader Matteo Salvini for their comments on migrant rescue charity vessels, referring to the pair as bastards. Saviano told reporters outside the court that the government had tried to intimidate him, Agence France-Presse reported. Melonis lawyer, meanwhile, said Savianos words were an insult, not a criticism, according to Agence France-Presse. The free-expression group PEN International condemned the verdict. That the lawsuit was initiated by Giorgia Meloni, Italys prime minister, is of the utmost concern, and sends a dangerous warning to writers and journalists across the country that their words could see them on trial for years, financially burdened, emotionally damaged, and possibly sent to jail, PEN International President Burhan Sonmez said in a statement. Meloni has filed similar lawsuits in the past, according to the BBC, including against editors of the Domani newspaper. Saviano has lived under 24-hour police protection since the release of his 2006 bestselling book Gomorrah about the Naples mafia. In May, he won a civil defamation case against Italy Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano. In a separate, ongoing case, Saviano is facing up to three years in jail on charges of defaming Italy Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, according to PEN International. The case is over a 2018 speech in which Saviano described Salvini as Ministro della Mala Vita, or Minister of the Underworld, in reference to the 20th-century anti-fascist Gaetano Salvemini. Under Italian law, some defamation cases can be criminal and carry a custodial sentence of up to three years in prison. Italy must urgently repeal all criminal defamation laws. We stand with Saviano and call for all remaining criminal defamation charges against him to be dropped, PEN Internationals Sonmez said in a statement. Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Recent clashes between residents and police on Indonesias Rempang Island demonstrate growing tensions between the central government and local people over Chinas massive infrastructure investments, analysts said. The government plans to make the island the site of a new industrial park dubbed Rempang Eco-City that will host a giant Chinese-owned glass and solar panel manufacturing facility. The factory will be part of a joint project between the Batam Indonesia Free Zone Authority; PT Makmur Elok Graha, a local Indonesian company; and Chinas Xinyi Glass, which wants to take advantage of the islands quartz sand, a component of glass and solar panels. Ariastuty Sirait, spokesperson for the Batam Free Trade Zone Authority, told VOAs Indonesian Service the total investment is predicted to reach $24.6 billion and produce 306,000 jobs by 2080. Xinyi plans to invest some $11.6 billion to build the factory, according to a spokesperson who told VOA Indonesian during a phone interview that not all island residents oppose relocation. The plan requires the eviction of some 7,500 residents of the 17,000-hectare island, which is located about 44 kilometers from Singapore. Many of its residents belong to Indigenous communities. Rempang Island investors, including PT Makmur Elok Graha, did not respond to requests for comment on the relocation tensions. In August, the government told residents to leave the island by the end of September, sparking protests in which at least 20 people were injured and 43 were arrested for alleged violence and vandalism, according to Reuters. The last protest was three weeks ago. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets against the protesters, which critics denounced as an excessive use of force. In a Sept. 22 statement, Indonesias National Commission on Human Rights said it found evidence of human rights violations carried out by joint forces of the police, military and public order officers. Indonesian President Joko Widodo struck the Rempang Eco-City deal in July during a visit to Chengdu, China. In August, the Indonesian government named Rempang Eco-City a "national strategic project." Analysts say the Indonesian leader sees securing investment from China, Jakartas biggest trading partner, as critical to his countrys economic development. But land disputes and forced evictions have often been a source of conflict between the government and residents in Indonesia, and the Renpang dispute appears to add a new dimension to the tensions, given the governments eagerness to secure a portion of Chinas massive investment in overseas projects. "I would say that the main concern Indonesian officials should focus on are the potential impacts on the environment and local population," said Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow in the Southeast Asia program at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, in an email to VOAs Korean Service. An Indonesian news site, iNews.id, has quoted Ministry of Investment official M. Pradana Indraputra saying the new factory will create an estimated "35,000 jobs" without providing a specific timeframe. But if most of those jobs go to imported Chinese workers, Rahman said, "this will create domestic resentment, as the locals will see little or no benefits from the investment, besides losing their ancestral homes." At the strategic level, the project is consistent with the governments focus on internal economic development, according to Rahman. "More than 50% of Indonesians are between 18 to 39 years old, and economic development is critical as it leads to jobs for young Indonesians, and jobs lead to domestic stability. Indonesia must insist that the investors should hire local workers as much as possible and monitor closely the projects impact on the environment," he said. Andreyka Natalegawa, an associate fellow in the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOAs Indonesian Service that the planned eviction of thousands of Indigenous residents from the island "raise serious concerns about the governance of the project and its impact on human security, human rights and the local environment." In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, the government announced at a Sept. 25 press conference that it would ease the evacuation deadline and offer incentives to those who are willing to be relocated. "The president has directed me to hear the aspirations of the local residents, ensure their rights and prioritize their needs in line with existing laws, and conduct ourselves in a cordial manner," said Bahlil Lahadalia, Indonesias minister of investment. Lahadalia said the government will move residents who object to the development of Rempang Eco-City to another part of Rempang Island instead of moving them to nearby Galang Island. Each family member will be given $78 per person per month, in addition to $78 for rent per month, while they wait for their new homes to be built, according to the investment minister. Indonesia's average monthly earnings in December 2022 were $192, according to government figures. Families will be given a freehold lease of 500 meters of land and a 45-square-meter home. The government will also provide compensation for the loss of property that generates income, such as fishponds. Authorities have agreed not to move the community cemetery. The compensation plan, however, has not satisfied the residents. Nine civil society organizations and religious groups criticized authorities for prioritizing investment over the interests of the people, according to BBC News. Of the 2,600 families the project will displace, only about 300 have so far signed up to move, said Investment Minister Lahadalia. In a written statement to VOAs Indonesian Service, residents of 16 villages refused any form of forced eviction and demanded the government recognize their ancestral land rights. The villages are populated by native Malay, one of Indonesias Indigenous people, and Orang Laut, a seafaring ethnic group. "We urge the Indonesian President to give us our legal rights to own ancestral land and acknowledge our Heritage Homes," the statement said. "These rights have never been recognized since our country gained independence in 1945." Christy Lee of VOAs Korean Service contributed to this report, which originated in VOAs Indonesian Service. A Kenyan court has dismissed a case challenging the importation of genetically modified foods, letting stand an earlier court ruling allowing the entry of so-called GMOs. The Law Society of Kenya, the nations premier bar association that petitioned the court, argued that genetically modified food was unsafe for humans and that lifting a ban on its importation was unconstitutional. But in a decision handed down Thursday, High Court Justice Oscar Angote ruled that the petitioners failed to prove that such food was harmful for human consumption. Last October, the Kenyan government lifted a ban on the importation of genetically modified foods because of growing food insecurity and the inability of farmers to produce enough food to feed the population. Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are produced using scientific methods, including recombinant DNA technology, which involves using enzymes and various laboratory techniques to manipulate and isolate DNA segments of interest. In animals, it requires reproductive cloning making a genetic duplicate through somatic cell nuclear transfer. Angote ruled there was no evidence to show that the modified food can harm human beings. He also said there is a need for the population to trust the institutions set up to check the quality of food. There is skepticism on that point. Cidy Otieno, the national coordinator of Kenya Peasants League, a lobby group acting on behalf of peasant farmers, said the country's regulatory bodies cannot be trusted. In Kenya, for over one year, there was a product that was found on the shelves, Aromat, he said. It was being sold in Kenya from South Africa, yet it had GMOs, yet the country has not allowed for GMOs. So, he said, we realize that we have very weak regulations in Kenya. Agriculture accounts for one-third of Kenya's gross domestic product, and farming lobby groups have expressed concerns about the future of agriculture in the country. They argue that U.S. farmers who use sophisticated technology and have government financial support could kill Kenyas agriculture sector. Kenya's acceptance of GMO products also worries its neighbors Tanzania and Uganda, which do not allow them. Tanzania said it would be vigilant against importing genetically modified food to its country. The East African region has an agreement through the regional bloc, the East African Community, which allows the free flow of people and goods. Nason'go Muliro, a Kenyan international relations and diplomacy lecturer, said the importation of GMOs into the region threatens trade relations between Kenya and its neighbors. "There will be a return to the nontariff barriers because now it will not be about customs, but it will be about standardization, Muliro predicted. For instance, he said, Tanzania might say, We may not even accept the cereals from Kenya because of fear of GMO. And that will bring friction." Otieno, of the Peasants League, said the planting of GMO seeds could also bring legal battles among farmers in Kenya and its neighbors. Those are some of the issues that we are raising, because a farmer in Busia, Kenya, and a farmer on the Busia border, how will they ensure that there's no cross-pollination? he asked. [What] if I'm on the border and I'm growing GMOs and somebody's in Uganda and is not growing GMOs and there's pollination? We are exposing our people to companies so that they can be charged hefty penalties. The lobby group said it also has challenged the lifting of bans of GMO products and cultivation in the country, but that case is to be determined later this year. The U.S. space agency, NASA, launched a rocket Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket carried a probe designed to study a metal-rich asteroid that scientists think might be the remnants of small planet or planet-like object. The rocket, built by the private space company SpaceX, took off early Friday, starting NASAs Psyche probe on a 3.5-billion kilometer, six-year journey to the asteroid of the same name, orbiting between the planets Mars and Jupiter. Using Earth-based radar and optical telescope data, scientists hypothesize that the asteroid Psyche could be part of the metal-rich interior of a "planetesimal," a building block of a rocky planet that never formed. NASA scientists say Psyche may have collided with other large bodies during its early formation and lost its outer rocky shell. Examining such an asteroid could provide unprecedented insights into the history of violent collisions and the accumulation of matter that created planets like Earth. The probe is powered by a pair of massive solar arrays which unfurled after the craft reached space and was released from the launch vehicle. Its unique solar electric propulsion system creates thrust by creating electric and magnetic fields, which accelerate and expel charged atoms, or ions, of a propellant called xenon at a high rate of speed. Xenon is a gas used in automobile headlights and plasma televisions and will emit a blue glow behind the probe as it travels through space. The voyage to Psyche marks the first mission to use the propulsion system known as Hall-effect thrusters in deep space. NASA expects the probe to reach its namesake asteroid in 2029. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Veteran firefighter Daniel Medrano got out of his truck somewhere in the barren outskirts of Sunland Park, New Mexico, where a vast expanse of yellow sand is dotted by stubby bushes. Under one, he found a body. Medrano wrapped a black scarf around his nose and mouth as he looked closer: Black sneakers, green hat, dark hair in a braid. Empty water bottle at arm's length. The August 17 afternoon was around 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), and Medrano believed the woman had died days before another migrant killed by scorching heat while entering the United States. "You can see the body is right up against the mesquite bush, probably trying to get some shade," said Medrano, fire chief for Sunland Park, a city on the Mexico border next to El Paso. He gestured with both arms to the seemingly endless desert, admitting even he didn't know his exact location. "We're maybe about three to five miles away from the city, and this is what happens," he said. This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Click to reveal This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing - Click to reveal The body of a dead migrant lies in a desert area outside Sunland Park, New Mexico, on Aug. 17, 2023. In the last 12 months through September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, logged 60 migrant deaths due to heat in the El Paso sector, triple the same period a year ago. The sector spans the Chihuahuan Desert through New Mexico and parts of Texas along 431 kilometers (268 miles) of the border. It has been the busiest area for migrant crossings into the U.S. southwest at a time when overall border apprehensions are on track to match or surpass record levels. Migrant advocates and academics have said for years that policies such as increased fencing and checkpoints, intended to deter those aiming to cross illegally into the U.S., push migrants to take increasingly perilous routes to evade detection. That includes ever-longer treks through remote stretches of desert where they are prone to exhaustion and dehydration. Migrants can also be abandoned by human traffickers without water or jammed into sweltering truck trailers. The 2022 death toll at the U.S.-Mexico border prompted the United Nations migration agency to deem the area the world's deadliest land migration route. As weather extremes are expected to worsen due to climate change, these journeys will likely only become riskier. "Now it's going to be even worse because of the weather ... it's an additional traumatic factor," said Fernando Garcia, head of the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, stressing that tougher border policies were still the main cause of the increase in deaths. Danger of dying Heat-related deaths accounted for just under half the total migrant death toll in the El Paso sector over the last 12 months. Including other causes such as car accidents and drowning, the total number of migrant deaths doubled from the prior year to reach a record of 148 fatalities. That number could be well below the true figure, with migrant advocates and Congress' own investigative arm contending CBP undercounts migrant fatalities. CBP said last year in response to the report to Congress that it was working to improve its data, which comes from law enforcement, fire departments and first responders, including Border Patrol agents. Its website states that it aims to "track this information as fully and accurately as possible," while recognizing "these data are not all encompassing." In response to questions from Reuters, CBP said it urges migrants to use lawful pathways and noted illegal crossings are "inherently dangerous." Although final data was not yet available for migrant apprehensions in the El Paso sector this year, the uptick in deaths appeared to far outpace the increase in border crossings. "We had a very hot summer, so that incremented the dangers out in the Chihuahuan Desert," CBP spokesman Fidel Baca said in an interview at the Sunland Park border wall. New Mexico and Texas both registered above average temperatures throughout the summer. El Paso logged a record streak of 44 days above 100 degrees F (38 C). Dehydration to disorientation to heatstroke Migrants do not expect the severity of the dry heat, said Ramiro Rios, battalion chief for Sunland Park's Fire Department, who covered his neck with an American flag bandana as he accompanied Medrano to examine the body in Sunland Park. "Then they start getting disoriented and can't find their way out of the desert, then they're sweating a lot, and they go into severe heat exhaustion, and then eventually into heatstroke," he said. For years, CBP data shows, heat exposure has been one of the main causes for migrant rescues along the border. But migrants can be reluctant to seek help because they fear deportation. CBP over the last two years has installed 20 "rescue beacons," similar to electrical towers, in remote areas of the El Paso sector where migrants can press a red button to call for help. Signs in English and Spanish warn: "You cannot walk to safety from this point! You are in danger of dying if you do not summon help!" CBP's control center can assess the situation via cameras while sending out officers a drive that can take up to a couple of hours, Baca said. CBP's El Paso sector officials did not respond to questions about how often the emergency stations have been effective but said agents made 597 rescues in the last year. "Out here, all you have are Border Patrol agents," Baca said. "There's no ambulances, there's no hospitals." A year ago, Peng Lifa draped protest banners from Beijing's Sitong Bridge. They unfurled to reveal exhortations against China's zero-COVID policy, calling it a violation of freedom of expression and demanding real elections and political reform. One banner criticized Xi Jinping as a "national traitor" and another said "We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns. We want respect, not lies. We want reform, not a Cultural Revolution. We want a vote, not a leader. We want to be citizens, not slaves." Peng Lifa further challenged Xi on Oct. 13, 2022, by shouting through a loudspeaker, "We want to eat. We want freedom. We want votes!" Quickly arrested that day, Peng Lifa, whose online name is Peng Zaizhou, remains in detention at an unknown location, and his close family members remain under government watch, according to sources familiar with the case who did not want to be named for fear of attracting official attention. Authorities have yet to deliver to his family any legal documents related to his case, the sources told VOA Mandarin, and his relatives and friends haven't been able to hire a lawyer to provide him with legal assistance. VOA Mandarin contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington for comments on Peng Lifa's case and the allegations made by VOA Mandarin's sources but didn't receive any response by the time of publication. Peng Lifa's wife, Han Yang, and their two underage daughters remain in Beijing. Authorities have arranged transportation for their daily commutes to work and school. They are accompanied by government personnel wherever they go, the sources told VOA Mandarin, describing an upended family. Because the government confiscated the mobile phones belonging to Peng Lifa's wife and daughters to "protect" them, they must use ones issued by the authorities. Peng Lifa's father-in-law, Han Yueci, who used to run a small business, has been assigned by the Public Security Bureau to work and live at a small factory and is under surveillance. Peng Lifa's mother-in-law, who used to live in Beijing, now lives with her eldest daughter in Jilin Province in northeastern China, bordering North Korea and Russia. She is likely under surveillance. Peng Lifa's brothers and sisters are farmers in their hometown of Tailai in Heilongjiang Province near the border with Inner Mongolia. They were all summoned to the local police station for questioning after the banner incident. His parents have passed away due to illness. Han Yang has two sisters. One sister and her husband work in public schools, and the other sister works in a state-owned power plant. After the Sitong Bridge incident, investigators questioned all three at their workplaces. Liang Shaohua, formerly a human rights lawyer in China, now lives in Los Angeles, where he volunteers as a rights advocate. He told VOA Mandarin there is no basis under Chinese law for restricting Peng Lifa's family. "Peng Lifa's family members, including his wife, Han Yang, and daughters, are illegally under house arrest. It is illegal collective punishment," said Liang. "It has absolutely no legal basis and is what gangsters would do." Chinese dissident Lin Shengliang, who lives in the Netherlands and leads efforts to help and rescue political prisoners in China, said volunteers in China have taken risky trips to find Peng Lifa. He said Peng Yiping, a retired Chinese military officer, attempted to visit Peng Lifa's family in Tailai on Sept. 27 only to be arrested when he asked directions of a person who turned out to be an undercover officer who confiscated the military man's mobile phone and arrested him. Zhou Fengsuo, who was a student leader in the Tiananmen Square protests and is now executive director of Human Rights in China in New York City, said he believes Peng Lifa's protest triggered the Blank Paper Movement nationwide, which eventually led to the end of the zero-COVID policy. Zhou said, "It was because his voice spread overseas and domestically that it eventually led to the nationwide Blank Paper Movement, which, for the first time, used public opinion to force the Chinese Communist Party to change its absurd and cruel zero-COVID policy." In the Legal Opinion of the Citizens' Court Lawyers Group on the Peng Lifa case published in September in China Spring, an online magazine, Liang said, "If Xi believes that Peng Lifa has violated his reputation rights, he can file a lawsuit for reputation infringement according to Chinese civil law. Advocating ending the zero-COVID policy and removing Xi Jinping and calling Xi Jinping a 'national traitor' are not crimes. And the Chinese police had no legal basis for his arrest." Liang believes that the authorities' detention of Peng Lifa violates the provisions of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. "Peng Lifa has experienced enforced disappearance for more than a year. In China's Criminal Procedure Law, there are regulations on the length of detention and arrest and when family members should be notified," he said. "He doesn't have a lawyer. Everything is unknown. It actually violates China's own criminal prosecution laws, as well as the (United Nations') International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. It is totally illegal." CARACAS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's government welcomed a new resolution by the UN Human Rights Council condemning unilateral coercive measures (UCM) against countries. "We celebrate that the United Nations Human Rights Council approved a new resolution condemning Unilateral Coercive Measures," Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. The resolution adopted at the 54th session of HRC is "a new victory for Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy and International Law," Gil added. Sanctions unilaterally imposed on countries are "an instrument of violation of people's fundamental rights," said Gil. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters Friday that Sweden has done all it can do to satisfy an agreement with Turkey that will secure Sweden's path to NATO membership, and the matter is in the hands of Turkey's parliament. Kristersson made the comments a day after NATO's defense ministerial meeting concluded in Brussels with no further movement on Sweden's membership. The Swedish prime minister said Friday that his country had satisfied its obligations per an agreement with Turkey made in July that allowed its application to proceed. He said there is nothing further they can do. He expressed optimism the issue would be resolved soon. Sweden, along with fellow Nordic nation Finland had applied for NATO membership in 2022. But Turkey held up approval of their application, claiming Sweden had been too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups Turkey considers security threats. Membership applications to NATO must be unanimously approved by all 31 members. Following a meeting ahead of a July NATO Summit in Vilnius, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan relented after Sweden agreed to take steps to ensure the militant groups were not operating in their nation, along with an agreement with the United States to sell Turkey F-16 fighter jets. Erdogan said he would send Sweden's application protocol on to parliament for its consideration. But when Turkish lawmakers opened their latest session at the beginning of this month ratification of the Swedish application was not on the agenda. The U.S. fighter-jet agreement might now be the hold up. Some members of the U.S. Congress as of last month balked at the sale of the F-16's, citing tensions between Turkey and Greece. The Turkish president indicated last month that ratification of Sweden's NATO membership is now linked to the sale of the jets. In an interview with The Associated Press Thursday at the conclusion the ministerial meeting in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler during Thursday's meeting and he "made it clear that Turkey would stand by the [[July]] agreement." Stoltenberg said he now expects a speedy ratification of the agreement. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Presse. Despite fundamental differences between the conflict in the Middle East and a possible war across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwans National Defense Ministry announced this week that it has set up a task force to monitor the situation in Israel. At a briefing on Thursday, National Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told journalists that the sudden escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas has pushed Taiwan to enhance its ability to forecast possible threats. The initial [lesson] is that intelligence work is very important, Chiu told reporters ahead of a meeting at the Legislative Yuan, Taiwans legislature. With intelligence, many countermeasures can be made. A war can even be avoided, he said. Chiu added that Taiwans military has been monitoring the situation around the island and paying attention to any signs of Chinese military advances. China claims democratically ruled Taiwan is a part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to achieve its goal of unification with the island. U.S. military and intelligence officials assess that China's military has been ordered to be ready to take Taiwan by force, perhaps as early as 2025. Analysts note that Taiwans military routinely creates task forces to learn from conflicts. Such task forces usually focus on the potential impact of those conflicts on the Taiwan Strait and tracking new strategies or weapons that may emerge in those conflicts. Over the past year, Beijing has amped up its pressure on Taiwan, holding two large rounds of war games near the island. It has also sent almost daily sorties of dozens of fighter jets as well as naval vessels toward the island and around its north and southern tip. Drawing lessons Analysts agree that improving Taiwans intelligence gathering and analysis capabilities is one important lesson to be drawn. For Taiwan, the most important thing is whether the intelligence it has gathered can help Taipei prepare for potential military conflicts, Lin Ying-yu, a military expert at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told VOA in a phone interview. Lin said that Taiwan should also assess whether it can promptly mobilize its forces and whether its forces can react to sudden attacks swiftly. In light of Israels intelligence failure, I think Taiwans defense ministry has a good grasp of the Chinese militarys activities and capabilities, Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told VOA by phone. According to Su, Taiwans defense ministry recorded unprecedented deployment of Chinese military aircraft, naval vessels and missiles during last months military exercise near the southern province of Fujian. These discoveries show Taiwans ability to track Chinas military movements, and such information allows Taiwan to make more accurate strategic judgments, he said. Mobilization Despite Israels initial intelligence failure, its ability to mobilize more than 300,000 reservists rapidly after the initial Hamas attack has caught the attention of many in Taiwan. Some Taiwanese citizens have expressed doubt about Taiwans ability to call up reservists in the event of a war against China. It will be hard for Taiwan to draft 300,000 reservists within a short period of time, and I also have serious doubts about the combat readiness of Taiwans reservists, Jenny Chiang, a 45-year-old Taiwanese woman who lives in the southern city of Tainan, told VOA by phone. Su said Taiwan has 2.2 million reservists, at least 260,000 of whom are younger reservists who can be immediately called up in a potential war with China. Over the past years, reservists turnout rate at military training is around 98 or 99%, which is high, he told VOA. While Taiwan may be able to call up enough reservists in times of war, Tamkang Universitys Lin said it is unclear whether Taiwan can allocate enough equipment for all the reservists. When Israels reservists arrived, all the equipment was ready, he said. While I think Taiwan can mobilize enough reservists in time, theres a question about whether Taiwan can obtain enough equipment for all of them. Potential attack As the U.S. contemplates the level of its involvement in the war, some Taiwanese citizens worry China could see an opportunity to attack Taiwan if Washington were to be dragged into the conflict in the Middle East. Im worried that the Chinese government might be waiting for the U.S. and its Western allies to get involved in the war between Israel and Hamas and use the opportunity to launch some kind of attack on Taiwan, Andrew Hsu, a 31-year-old Taiwanese man in Taipei City, told VOA by phone. Despite similar concerns expressed by some people on Taiwan, some analysts say U.S. involvement in the conflict in the Middle East would not come at the expense of Washingtons support for Taiwan. The response that the U.S. is showing in the Middle East and the ships that the U.S. is sending to the region are not the same as the ones that would come to Taiwan, said Lev Nachman, an expert on U.S.-Taiwan relations at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping has reacted cautiously to the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Nachman said, it suggests that a Chinese attack on Taiwan in the coming days is unlikely. Xi has shown that he [prefers to] wait and see how the world responds to the war than trying to make a move in the middle of an [evolving] conflict, he told VOA. The Ukraine war didnt immediately lead to an invasion of Taiwan, and we wont see that happen here either. Su said that since Taiwan is separated from China by the Taiwan Strait, any movement of Chinese troops or any sign of them preparing for an invasion would be much more obvious. I think Taiwan will learn from Israel and Ukraines experiences and further strengthen the Taiwanese militarys readiness, he told VOA. Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Friday across the Middle East in support of the Palestinians and against Israeli airstrikes pounding Gaza, underscoring the risk of a wider regional conflict erupting as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion in the coastal strip. From Amman, Jordan, to Yemen's capital of Sanaa, Muslims poured out onto the streets after weekly Friday prayers, angered by the Israeli strikes in a war that began after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel last Saturday. At Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Israeli police had been permitting only older men, women and children to enter the sprawling hilltop compound for prayers, trying to limit the potential for violence as tens of thousands attend on a typical Friday. An Associated Press reporter watched police allow just a Palestinian teenage girl and her mother into the compound out of 20 worshippers who tried to get in, some of them even over the age of 50. Young Palestinian men who were refused entry gathered at the steps near Lion's Gate, their eyes downcast, until police shouted at them and shepherded them out of the Old City altogether. "We can't live, we can't breathe, they are killing everything that is good within us," said Ahmad Barbour, a 57-year-old cleaner in a clean white thobe, seething after police blocked him from entering for prayers. "Everything that is forbidden to us is allowed to them," he added, referring to Israelis. The mosque sits in a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and conflicting claims over it have spilled into violence before. Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam and stands in a spot known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. Police later fired tear gas in the Old City and east Jerusalem. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its medics treated six wounded people, with at least one beaten up by officers. In Beirut, thousands of Hezbollah supporters waved Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, chanting slogans supporting Gaza and calling "death to Israel." The Iranian-backed militant group in neighboring Lebanon has launched attacks since the Hamas assault, but largely hasn't entered the war. However, Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general warned that it will be "on the lookout" for the U.S. and British naval vessels heading to the Mediterranean Sea. U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, have repeatedly warned Iran and the militias it backs in the Mideast to stay out of the conflict. "Your battleships do not interest us, nor do your statements frighten us," Naim Kassim said at a rally in a southern suburb of Beirut. "We as Hezbollah follow the steps of the enemy and have full preparedness. And when the time is right to take action, we will do so." In Baghdad, tens of thousands gathered in Tahrir Square in the center of Iraq's capital for protests called by the influential Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr. "May this demonstration ... terrify the great evil, America, which supports Zionist terrorism against our loved ones in Palestine," al-Sadr said in an online statement. Across Iran, a supporter of Hamas and Israel's regional archenemy, demonstrators protested. In Tehran, the country's capital, they burned Israeli and Ameircan flags, chanting: "Death to Israel," "Death to America," "Israel will be doomed," and "Palestine will be the conqueror." "The Palestinian people are fed up, now your idea is to destroy Gaza, the houses of the people," Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi said in a speech in the country's southern Fars province. "The people of the world and Palestine will cause trouble for you." In Yemen's Sanaa, held by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels still at war with a Saudi-led coalition, live television footage showed demonstrators crowding streets and waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. The rebels' slogan long has been: "God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse of the Jews; victory to Islam." After prayers in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, some worshippers stepped on American and Israeli flags, in a sign of disrespect. Protests there broke up peacefully, though other larger ones were expected later in the day. "International media and international courts turn a blind eye to the injustices with the Palestinians. But they only notice the actions that the Palestinians take to defend themselves," said Faheem Ahmed, a worshipper in Karachi. "They call it terrorism. Today, on Friday, we beseech Allah to help and raise Palestine and destroy Israel." The British Defense Ministry said Friday that it has been 21 days since Russian Air Force Long Range Aviation launched a strike against Ukraine. There was a similar lull in strikes earlier this year, from March 9 to April 28. That 51-day break in strikes was likely due to a depleted stock of capable munitions after a winter campaign against Ukraines national infrastructure, the ministry said. However, the current break, according to the British ministry, is likely due to Russia preserving existing stocks of AS-23 missiles and using the time to increase useable stocks before heavy winter strikes against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Thursday that the U.S. has placed sanctions on companies that have violated globally established price caps for Russian oil, calling it important "to continue the pressure and deprive Russia of the ability to finance aggression through any energy resources." Zelenskyy also said "a long-awaited step for historical truth" was realized Thursday with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europes recognition "of the Holodomor of 1932-33 as the genocide of the Ukrainian people." The Holodomor, which means "death by starvation," was a manmade famine under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin that is thought to have killed more than 3 million Ukrainians and many in the country call an act of genocide. A Russian official on Thursday said that debris from a downed Ukrainian drone killed three people in the Belgorod region of Russia. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, said on Telegram that the debris destroyed a house and that three bodies were recovered from the rubble. Russias Defense Ministry said it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack, with air defenses downing a drone over Belgorod. Belgorod is one of the Russian regions that borders Ukraine. Ukraines military said Thursday that Russia attacked overnight with 33 drones targeting multiple regions, and that Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 28 of the aerial vehicles. One of the targeted regions was Odesa, in southern Ukraine, where officials reported damage to port infrastructure and residential buildings. At least one person was injured. Odesa has been a frequent target of Russian aerial attacks. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Under pressure from Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress to block Iran from accessing $6 billion in oil revenues made available as part of a recent prisoner exchange deal, the Biden administration signaled Thursday it is considering refreezing the funds. Several administration officials weighed in on the topic Thursday, less than a week after the Hamas militant group, which is supported by Iran, staged a violent attack on Israel, slaughtering more than 1,300 people and taking around 150 hostage, including children and the elderly. In remarks to reporters in Israel where he has been meeting with Israeli officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. may still formally block the funds from being disbursed. "We have strict oversight of the funds, and we retain the right to freeze them," Blinken said. According to multiple news reports, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, in a closed meeting with House Democrats, said the money "isn't going anywhere anytime soon," suggesting at least a temporary restriction on the use of the funds. At the White House, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby declined to address any discussions that might be ongoing as to the future of the funds. "I'm not going to talk about diplomatic conversations one way or another. So, what I can tell you is that every single dime of that money is still sitting in a Qatari bank. Not one dime of it has been spent," he said. Simple process to block access U.S. sanctions programs, like the one controlling the Iranian oil proceeds, are administered by a division of the Treasury Department known as the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Any move to restrict the use of those funds would be managed by OFAC. Though it is a U.S. agency, OFAC has a global reach because of the extent to which the international banking industry is connected to the United States. Violating OFAC requirements can render it impossible for non-U.S. banks to do business with U.S. banks, something few international institutions are willing to risk. Erich Ferrari, an attorney who specializes in OFAC-related cases, told VOA it would not be a complicated process for the agency to switch off Iran's access to the funds if the administration chooses to do so. "There's an administrative process there has to be, because it's a federal agency undertaking action. But it's not a formal agency proceeding that has to go before an administrative law judge," he said. "The administration makes a decision and then writes up a memorandum or directive to put it into effect." Origin of deal The $6 billion represents the proceeds of oil sales and had been held in a South Korean bank until recently, when it was transferred to a bank in Qatar. Under the agreement the Biden administration struck with Iran, the money was only to be used for the purchase of humanitarian supplies. No money would be provided directly to the Iranian government. Instead, it would be paid directly to pre-approved vendors of food, agricultural and medical supplies who would then deliver their goods to Iran. The Biden administration faced sharp criticism, primarily from Republicans, when the deal was announced. The arguments focused on the fact that money is "fungible" meaning if Iran received $6 billion worth of supplies as a result of the deal, that would free up money for it to spend on other things, such as support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. After last weekend's assault on Israel by Hamas, the criticism grew louder and began to include many Democrats. On Wednesday, a group of 20 Republican senators signed a letter calling on the Biden administration to block the funds. "To stand by and allow Iran access to these funds as Hamas infiltrates Israel and murders, rapes, and mutilates countless Israelis is unconscionable," they wrote. "Your administration claims these funds are only available for humanitarian use, but money is fungible, and there is a significant risk they could be used to further efforts by Iran or Hamas against Israel." While Iran and Hamas have long had a close connection, which includes financial support from the Islamic Republic, U.S. officials have said that so far, they have seen no proof that Iran helped plan Hamas' sortie from Gaza into southern Israel on Saturday. Congressional action By Thursday, multiple Democrats in Congress, particularly the approximately half-dozen members of the Senate facing tight reelection challenges in 2024, called on the administration to refreeze the $6 billion in funds. In a statement released Wednesday, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown said, "Congress's priority right now must be providing robust military, economic, and humanitarian aid to support Israel as they defend themselves against Hamas's horrific terrorist attack. As we work to hold anyone who supports terrorism accountable, the administration must freeze the $6 billion in Iranian assets." U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Josh Hawley, both Republicans, announced their intention to call a unanimous consent vote on a measure calling on the administration to refreeze the money. Under Senate rules, any member wishing to defeat such a measure would have to publicly state their opposition. Cindy Saine contributed to this report. Africa is the site of a new battle for influence as Washington ramps up efforts to build an alternative critical minerals supply chain to avoid reliance on China. Beijing dominates the processing of critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium and other resources from the continent that are needed for the transition to clean energy and electric vehicles. But at the Green Energy Africa Summit this week in Cape Town, which was held on the sidelines of Africa Oil Week, few were willing to talk about it directly. Asked whether the U.S. was playing catch-up with China, one of the panels speakers, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. State Departments Bureau of Energy Resources Kimberly Harrington, said simply that Washington was looking to "diversify." For his part, fellow panelist Chiza Charles Newton Chiumya, the African Unions director for industry, minerals, entrepreneurship and tourism, told VOA he didnt want to use the term "competing" to describe the relative approaches of the West and China but agreed there is "lots of interest" in Africas critical minerals. The Chinese Embassy in Washington was also circumspect when asked whether it sees itself in competition with the U.S. for the natural resources. "The tangible outcomes of China-Africa practical cooperation throughout the years are there for all to see," spokesperson Liu Pengyu wrote in an emailed response. "Supporting Africas development is the common responsibility of the international community. We welcome stronger interest and investment in Africa from all quarters to help increase the continents capability to achieve self-driven sustainable growth and move forward towards modernization and prosperity." Independent analysts, however, had a different take. The Chinese made it a "priority to corner the market for critical minerals about two decades ago and supported that strategy with massive public diplomacy and infrastructure investments into Africa most of which [came] via long-term debt," said Tony Carroll, adjunct professor in the African studies program at Johns Hopkins University, told VOA earlier this year. "The West woke up to this strategy too late and have been scrambling ever since." Part of that response has been the Minerals Security Partnership set up by U.S. President Joe Bidens administration last year as a way of diversifying supply chains. Partners include Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Union. "We see anywhere from three to six times demand growth for critical minerals across the world. ... So, I think our sense is that no single government, no single company, can create resilient supply chains," said Harrington at the Green Energy Africa Summit. "If the COVID-19 pandemic showed us anything...one of the primary things it showed us is that if we are too overly reliant on any one source in a supply chain it creates vulnerabilities, and so I think our approach overall on this issue is to make sure that we have diversity," she told VOA during a Q&A after the panel. "When it comes to China in general, our secretary of state has been crystal clear, we have areas in which we cooperate with China, we have areas in which we compete with China, and thats not going to change," she said. "This is a complex and consequential relationship and we see it as such." The view from Africa While he didnt want to use the word "competition" to describe the outside interest in Africas critical minerals, the AUs Chiumya stressed during the panel discussion that Africa must benefit from its mineral wealth. "This is not the first time that Africa is sitting at the frontier of having critical minerals. In the past we have lost a chance," he said, referring to the continents vast gold and diamond deposits. "This time around we want to do things different." "For a long time, our governments have not been able to effectively exploit the mineral wealth that is there and ended up effectively going into very bad deals" which have not contributed to the social and economic development of the African people, Chiumya added. Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has been among the African leaders demanding better terms from China for several years. His country produces some 70% of the world's cobalt but remains one of the world's least developed nations. Tshisekedi complained in January that the Congolese people have not benefited from a $6.2 billion minerals-for-infrastructure contract with China that was signed by his predecessor. Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, which has large lithium deposits, the government has imposed a ban on exports of raw lithium ore, insisting that it be processed at home. A Chinese company has since built a large lithium processing plant in the country. U.S. critical mineral plans Washington says environmental, social and governance standards are a key consideration for the U.S. when it comes to its dealings with the continent regarding critical minerals. "We want to do our part to ramp up our efforts with like-minded partners in Africa to promote sustainable clean energy supply chains in mining," said Harrington. She said it is also important to help countries "do some domestic processing and refining, because its really the value-added, thats how you create jobs, thats how you create local capacity." At the U.S.-Africa Summit in Washington in December, the DRC, the U.S. and Zambia another major source of minerals signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a supply chain for electric car batteries, in what was widely seen by analysts as a move to counter China. Harrington said the MOU had "the overall goal of a lot of an EV (electric vehicle) battery being processed and refined locally," even if some further refinement might need to be done in a third country. Additionally, on the sidelines of last months G20 summit, the U.S. and E.U. pledged to develop the partially existing Lobito Corridor a railway connecting the DRCs cobalt belt to Zambias copper belt and on to Angolas port of Lobito, from where it can be shipped to international markets. U.S. Homeland Security officials have yet to see indications that calls for a day of anger on Friday by a former leader of the Hamas militant group will spark violence across the United States, though they remain worried that a torrent of images and propaganda could quickly change the threat landscape. Federal and state law enforcement agencies have been increasing security around houses of worship and other sites in response to the plea by former Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal for Muslims to "to join in the fight" and deliver a "message of anger" in support of the groups fight against Israel. But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said late Thursday there is nothing pointing to imminent violence. "We, DHS and our intelligence partners do not at present have any specific and credible intelligence that would indicate any potential threat to the U.S. stemming from Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel at this time," an official said, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department. "If any information is developed that would require that we adjust our security posture to protect the homeland, we are, of course, prepared to do that," the official said. "But again, want to underscore at this stage, no specific credible intelligence indicating any potential threat to the homeland at this time." Despite the lack of intelligence, many law enforcement agencies, including those that protect the U.S. Capitol, are not taking any chances. "There will be an increased security presence and activity on Capitol grounds over the next few days," according to a memo Thursday by House sergeant-at-arms William McFarland that was obtained by Axios. "During this time of enhanced vigilance, there will be seen and unseen security enhancements to include restrictions to the Capitol Plaza," the memo said, citing the calls on social media and other platforms for "Day of Rage." Police departments in New York and Los Angeles have also ordered all personnel to be in uniform and on patrol in case of possible incidents. Even the White House is taking notice. U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to focus on support for Jewish, Arab and Muslim communities that could be at risk, due to the Hamas terror attacks that have killed at least 1,300 people in Israel and the Israeli military response, which has killed at least 1,500 people in Gaza. Additionally, DHS hosted a call with almost 4,000 law enforcement officials while pushing out additional resources to some 2,000 agencies across the U.S. "One of the things we made clear with our state and local partners was just how volatile and unpredictable the threat environment might be," the DHS official said. "The ways in which the conflict overseas or the conflict in Israel could escalate or expand beyond its current phase and the ways in which that might create additional homeland security challenges for us here." A second official, who also spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said DHS is well aware of "the fears that we see in communities nationwide." "We have been actively engaged at the direction of the secretary to work directly with Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities, law enforcement officials, state and local leaders to ensure that communities are vigilant against any potential threat of violence or disruption during this conflict," the second official added. Much of the potential threat is also hard to predict. In repeated threat assessments, Homeland Security officials have warned the biggest danger is "marked by lone offenders or small group attacks that occur with little warning." The most recent threat assessment, issued in September, further warned of "enduring racial, ethnic, religious and anti-government ideologies" that could serve as motivation. Adding to the concern are graphic videos of the Hamas attacks, pro-Hamas propaganda, images of the aftermath of Israeli military response in Gaza, and disinformation that have flooded social media platforms. U.S. officials caution it is the type of material that could push those prone to violence over the edge. "The volume and velocity of content flowing, tied to what's going on can serve as an accelerant," the first DHS official said in response to a question from VOA. "It's something we worry about," the official added. "What it does is put even more pressure on our colleagues in local law enforcement who are often the ones to first observe or be in a position to first observe or become aware of someone's move in that direction." U.S. law enforcement agencies are not the only ones worried about potential violence spilling over from Israel and Gaza into the U.S. The U.S. military and its allies have also been keeping a close watch on Hezbollah and other Iranian-linked groups known to operate in Central and South America, whose members might be sympathetic to Hamas cause. The U.S. is "watching very, very closely," the commander of U.S. Southern Command said Wednesday during a forum in Washington. "Working with our partner nations, obviously they're concerned, too," General Laura Richardson said in response to a question from VOA. DHS officials, however, said Thursday that the department was not aware of any information suggesting that individuals with some sort of connection to the terror attacks in Israel or who are motivated by the attacks are currently seeking to use migration patterns to cross into the U.S. along its southern border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, visiting the Black Sea port of Odesa, vowed on Friday to improve Ukraine's air defenses and to increase the security of a "humanitarian corridor" for grain exports. Zelenskyy said Kyiv was working to strengthen its position in the Black Sea so that it can continue grain exports, which are vital to ensuring budget revenues following a surge in defense spending after Russia's invasion last year. "We are working with partners to protect properly these corridors, and strengthen our positions in the Black Sea, and it also applies to the protection of Odesa's skies and in the region as a whole," he told a joint press conference alongside Rutte. Ukraine's government outlined details of Russian attacks on infrastructure and the results of the alternative "humanitarian" corridor organized by Ukraine since Russia abandoned a U.N.-backed accord on safe Black Sea grain shipments in July. It said Russia has destroyed almost 300,000 metric tons of grain since July in attacks on Ukraine's port facilities and on ships. Russia's Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ukraine's allegations. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that since the deal ran out, Russian forces had hit six civilian ships and 150 port and grain facilities during 17 attacks, destroying crops headed for export. Kubrakov said 21 grain-loaded vessels had already used the new grain corridor. The Odesa region has came under frequent Russian missile and drone attacks. Zelenskyy and Rutte visited a damaged port. Rutte said the Netherlands would provide more Patriot air defense missiles to help Ukraine defend itself in the winter. The Netherlands would also help Ukraine acquire patrol boats, he said, to help keep the grain export route safe. The Netherlands has provided Ukraine with financial aid and weapons during the war and has led efforts to help train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. Ukraine's humanitarian corridor was initially announced to release ships that do not carry grain, were not covered by the grain deal and had been trapped in port for more than a year, but vessels seeking to load grain have also used the corridor. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Hamas tells civilians to ignore an Israeli Defense Forces call for 1.1 million civilians to evacuate to northern Gaza for southern areas within 24 hours for their own safety The militant group also says Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours have killed 13 Israeli and foreign hostages U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman, where hes slated to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrives in Israel for meetings with senior government leaders U.N. says 340,000 people displaced in Gaza Israel says 1,300 killed in Hamas raid; Gaza says 1,500 killed in retaliatory strikes CPJ: At least seven journalists have been killed in Gaza Some residents of northern Gaza are confused about what they should do Friday. A United Nations official said late Thursday that Israeli military officials informed it that the entire population of northern Gaza, about 1.1 million people, should relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours. Then Israel issued another evacuation order for everyone in Gaza City ahead of an expected ground offensive. Hamas, however, has called for everyone to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation, according to the Associated Press. This is chaos, no one understands what to do, Inas Hamdan, an officer at the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, told the AP, adding that U.N. staff are evacuating northern Gaza. The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences, U.N. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement about the evacuation of more than a million people. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Dujarric said the order also applies to all U.N. staff and those sheltering in U.N. facilities including schools, health centers and clinics. The population of Gaza is already living under a complete siege imposed this week on the Hamas-controlled territory, in retaliation for Saturdays deadly attacks on Israel that killed hundreds of civilians. Palestinians living there are without electricity, water and fuel. The directive comes as Israel ramps up preparations for a ground invasion of Gaza, including positioning 300,000 reservists near the border with Gaza, but has said no decision had been made on moving forward with an offensive. Israel launched new attacks Thursday, vowing there would be no letup in its bombardment of Gaza until Hamas militants release the estimated 150 hostages they are holding. "Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be lifted, no water hydrant will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home," Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz posted on X, formerly Twitter. "Humanitarian for humanitarian. And nobody should preach us morals." On Thursday, Human Rights Watch claimed that Israel used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza on Wednesday in what constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law. White phosphorus can cause severe burns and long-term health issues. There was no use of white phosphorus in the Gaza Strip. Period, IDF spokesman Lt. Colonel Amnon Sheffler told reporters Thursday. A campaign of Israeli airstrikes that began hours after Saturday's Hamas incursion has killed at least 1,500 people in Gaza. Israel says it has dropped 6,000 bombs over six days of bombardment. "The numbers of casualties are increasing every hour," Bashar Murad, director of the humanitarian group the Palestinian Red Crescent, told Alhurra, an Arabic language satellite TV sister organization of the Voice of America. "The number of dead and injured that arrived to the hospitals is much more than the capacity of these hospitals. The U.S. said that 27 Americans were killed in the Hamas attack and 14 are missing. The United Nations said nearly 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in Gaza, with more than two-thirds of them taking shelter in U.N. schools. It launched a humanitarian appeal Thursday for $294 million to meet immediate needs in Gaza and the West Bank. Humanitarian organizations have expressed alarm about the fast-dwindling supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine in Gaza amid an Israeli blockade of the narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, "The continuation of war crimes against Palestine and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis. And naturally, the Zionist entity and its supporters will be responsible for the consequences of that." Amirabdollahian was speaking through a translator upon his arrival in Beirut. Iran and Israel are enemies, and Iran supports Hamas, but Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the recent Hamas rampage. Meanwhile, the chief of staff for Israel's military, Herzi Halevi, acknowledged Thursday that the military had failed to protect people living near Gaza when Hamas launched its attack. He said the Israel Defense Forces are "responsible for the security of the country and its citizens, and on Saturday morning in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, we did not," Halevi said. "We will learn, we will investigate, but now is the time for war." Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi highlighted the need to "ensure the regularity of humanitarian and relief services, as well as aid to the people in the Gaza Strip." Sissi's office said in a statement that he told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a phone call Thursday that Egypt is pushing for calm to prevent "sliding into a bloody path" where civilians will pay the price. The World Health Organization said it has documented 34 attacks on health centers in Gaza since Saturday that have led to the deaths of 11 health care workers on duty, as well as 16 injuries. Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented at least seven journalists killed in Gaza since Saturday. Blinken makes rounds U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday met with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman, a day after holding talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. Blinken, who is also scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas while in Amman, has expanded his trip from Israel and Jordan to include all of the Gulf Arab countries and Egypt, making it his largest tour of the region since taking office in January 2021. On Friday alone, the top American diplomat is set to visit Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where he will spend the night before departing for Doha. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel Friday for meetings with senior government leaders and to see firsthand some of the U.S. weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel in the first week of its war with the militant Hamas group. Also on Friday, the U.N. Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting to discuss developments. At the White House, President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington's support for Israel and assured a group of Jewish leaders Wednesday that his administration was "working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel." VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell and United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. KIEV, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine's natural gas reserves are sufficient to meet the needs of domestic consumers during the cold season, the presidential press service reported Friday. "It is very important that today we have absolutely sufficient gas stocks in storage -- 15.5 billion cubic meters," Shmyhal said during a meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Ukraine has also stockpiled about 1.2 million tons of coal ahead of winter, Shmyhal said, adding that the country continues accumulating energy resources. In the previous heating season, from early October 2022 to the middle of April 2023, Ukraine consumed 5.572 billion cubic meters of gas from its underground storage facilities. Speaking on the occasion of Russian Energy Week, President Vladimir Putin recollected that initially, in 1948, the UN had decided to create a binational state in Palestine. It is this project, and not the unilateral Israeli declaration of independence, which was ratified by the United Nations. For this reason, it is impossible to resolve the problem without the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. President Putin expressed surprise at the US decision to deploy to the Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Gaza, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group, guided missile cruiser USS Normandy, as well as destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney and USS Roosevelt. I dont understand why the United States is sending a naval force there? To do what? ". Finally, he said he was unpleasantly surprised by the search for a scapegoat. Iran is accused of the most serious things, as always, without proof, he underscored. This position does not mark a shift in the doctrine of the Russian Federation; however until now, Moscow had refrained from making it explicit. Katie Rose Clarke, Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, Krystal Joy Brown, and Reg Rogers during the opening-night curtain call for Stephen Sondheims Merrily We Roll Along on October 8, 2023. Photo: Bruce Glikas/WireImage This post is the latest edition of Vultures Stage Whisperer newsletter, recapping weekly theater news from Broadway, Off Broadway, and OffOff Broadway. Subscribe below to get it delivered directly to your inbox. Sign Up for Stage Whisperer Weekly theater news, delivered a little louder for the people in the back. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. The big news this week is that Merrily We Roll Along is back open on Broadway, and this time around, its a hit. Congratulations are due: to director Maria Friedman, whom I saw chatting with Ben Brantley at the end of a press preview as he was raving about some of the Broadway versions new and improved set pieces (specifically, the giant poster for Frank and Charleys show within a show, Musical Husbands). To Ambassador Theatre Group, as its getting away with charging an arm, a leg, and maybe another limb of your choosing for tickets to the Hudson Theatre (once ATG finishes merging with Jujamcyn, they can do this everywhere!). And to my 92-year-old grandfather, who insists hes the only person who thought Merrily was good during its initial run in 1981. If he and the other people who hold that opinion had gotten together and bought tickets back then, maybe that production would still be running. Here at Stage Whisperer, what has our attention is the kooky timing of Merrilys actual opening. On Sunday night, the show held a red-carpet celebration, where they did all the things youd expect a show to do as it prepared to open, including hosting celebrity guests and honoring Friedman at the end of the performance. Then, they asked that reviews be held until Tuesday at 9 a.m. In Merrilys case, perhaps they already knew the show could coast for a bit on the celebrity halo effect and the notices they got Off Broadway and didnt want to worry about any reviewers changing their minds or they wanted another bump of attention two days later, once the holiday weekend was over (and then the day after that, when those reviews ran in print). But that devious not-actual-opening Broadway celebration performance is a fun little trick people keep pulling. Over the summer, Back to the Future hosted a gala in honor of Steven Spielberg before opening, which drew attention away from reviews and, I heard, was also a way to make big-name talent comfortable coming to support a Universal Pictures property in the middle of a screen-acting and writing strike with the excuse that the event was more about a specific guy. Back in the day, Pretty Woman got Julia Roberts to stop by with a similar trick, a performance dedicated to Garry Marshall. Conversely, this spring, The Sign in Sidney Brusteins Window opened and then had a gala performance, though that was more about squeezing it in before the Tonys deadline. The moral of the story is people have figured out that, while you can only be reviewed once, you can have parties whenever. This is actually a gala-celebration issue of Stage Whisperer. Where is your bow tie? Jackson McHenry This Weeks Openings Gutenberg! The Musical! Opening: October 12, 2023 | James Earl Jones Theatre I Need That First Preview: October 13, 2023 | American Airlines Theatre Visit our theater calendar for a complete list of shows. Here Lies Loves Sexy Conundrum Photo: Graphic: Vulture Last weeks grosses are out. We gathered writers Rebecca Alter and Jason P. Frank, critic Jackson McHenry, and social-media editor Zach Schiffman to discuss. Rebecca Alter: Wow, Merrily is the only one that made less money than the week prior. Jackson McHenry: Ironically, that is probably because they had to do a bunch of comped tickets for the press previews and opening. Zach Schiffman: I wonder how much longer A Beautiful Noise has. Will Swenson isnt a ticket draw, but I know hes leaving soon. Jason P. Frank: Looking over the grosses for The Shark Is Broken, it seems like a classic case of should have gone Off Broadway. Im constantly reminded of Howard Ashman choosing not to transfer Little Shop of Horrors to Broadway from Off Broadway in the 80s because, even though it was a hit, it was fine where it was. I think this show would have done well enough Off Broadway and still have enough licensing pull due to the association with Jaws, that going for a smaller house rather than attempting to make a small show into a ginormous Broadway hit would have been a better choice. Playing to 58 percent capacity speaks for itself, I suppose. Jackson: To be fair to The Shark Is Broken, it cant be that expensive to run with that minimal set and not-big-name stars, and if the Golden Theatre was open for a while, no harm in having the show hang out there. Zach: Yeah, I wonder where a show like that could go, though. It feels like something that wouldnt be programmed into a season, and there are so few houses for a show like that. Like, I dont think Alex Brightman would do a show at Theatre Row? Also, Here Lies Love looks so sad and having Apl.de.Ap DJ is even sadder. Jackson: Youve gotta respect Here Lies Loves producers trying to pull out every stop to get people in there, I guess theyre also doing some sort of rewards program now? Credit-card points come to Broadway! (Nobody steal this concept from me; Im about to make so much money when I pitch it to Chase Bank.) Rebecca: Clearly theyre doing a bad job marketing it, because if anyone is the target audience for a Here Lies Love punch card, its me, and I hadnt heard of this. Zach: I am surprised Here Lies Love doesnt have Conrad Ricamora doing more publicity. Jackson: Zach, Im pretty sure he made a TikTok to promote the show. Jason: Even if hes not famous, hes very, very hot in the role, which could really draw some crowds. Jackson: I think its tough to know which angle to use when selling Here Lies Love (its a dance party! Its a David Byrne piece! Its political history! etc.), but sex appeal is maybe underemphasized. Zach: I do think Here Lies Love is a show that with the right late-night performance could hang on. Like doing Please Dont really well on Seth Meyers will certainly get my aunt asking me if Ive seen the show. Jackson: They just had David Byrne on Seth Meyers talking about it though that is the kind of thing a performance would help seal the deal. Jason: We need Rosie ODonnell back on the air to champion Broadway with the force that only a Broadway-loving lesbian can create. Jackson: Really, the industry is just clinging on until Kelly Clarkson decamps from L.A. to NYC. Zach: Kelly needs to do Kellyoke of Why Dont You Love Me? Jackson: But only after she covers Heart of Stone from Six! Kelly, let us submit some requests in advance. Zach: We can even tip to cut the line like its Maries Crisis. Rebecca: Kellyoke Broadway Week would change the world. Jason: Cant wait for her to cover Apology to a Cow from Bat Boy. Heres to Them. Whos Like Them? Damn Few. Photo: Matthew Murphy Heres a thing about the so-called classics: We may have all sorts of feelings, valid ones, about how often they come back around, what was wrong with them in the first place, whats wrong with them now, and what may or may not be worthier of a current airing; but the fact that they come back around forces us to pause and do that most imperative and unsettling of things reconsider. To look at something again really means looking at ourselves again: approaching the same mirror ready to see a different reflection, perhaps even ready to admit that we no longer agree with our past selves. In the Russian director Anatoly Efross rehearsal diaries, he returns to Three Sisters several times over the course of many years. One later entry begins, Perhaps the beginning of Three Sisters should not be exactly as I thought before. Another, still later: Obviously, our production of Three Sisters was not clear enough. The old plays that keep coming back make us confront the possibility frightening, vital of change. Four years ago, in a different world, I reviewed a production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furths Merrily We Roll Along, and in large part I blamed the book (by Furth, based on the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart) for the shows limited effectiveness. I was hardly the first: When Merrily premiered in 1981, my colleague Frank Rich, then writing for the New York Times, famously called it a shambles, holding Furths book responsible for its major dramatic failure, anticlimactic plot exposition, and unearned nastiness. A rewrite came along later, and the show has been back through New York a few times, but never at Broadway scale. Now a starry new version of this hot-take magnet of a musical rolls along, and I find myself facing the mirror, reconsidering. Perhaps Merrily is not exactly as I thought before. Merrily We Roll Along Behind the Curtain A segment in which Stage Whisperer relays the latest gossip. Weve heard talk a former paper-company regional manager is very interested in proving he has stage dramatic chops, if producers say d to having him manage a country estate this spring. Whisper of the Week Its been years and we still find confetti everywhere every day. A person handling renovations at the Palace Theatre, referring to 2017s festive SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical. More Links Shucked will tour North America in 2024. Jordan Fisher will join Hadestown as the new Orpheus. The Encores! production of Titanic, running in June 2024, will feature Tony winner Bonnie Milligan as Alice Beane. Halsey and Catherine OHara will alternate as Sally in a production of The Nightmare Before Christmas at the Hollywood Bowl. And the Award for She Lives! Goes to Photo: Devon Ivie Spotted by our very own Whisperette, Devon Ivie. OKelly Isley Jr., Ronald Isley, and Rudolph Isley. Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fameinducted group the Isley Brothers, is dead at 84. His family confirmed the news in a statement to Rolling Stone. There are no words to express my feelings and the love I have for my brother, Ronald Isley wrote. Our family will miss him. But I know hes in a better place. He was just a teenager when he and his brothers formed the group in Cincinnati in 1954. The original lineup included Rudolph, Ronald (Ronnie), Vernon, and OKelly, and together they performed gospel music until Vernons death in a bike accident the following year. After a brief hiatus, the trio signed a contract with RCA Victor and released their breakout song, Shout, in 1959, followed by the hit Twist and Shout three years later. Throughout the next decade, Rudolph would churn out smash singles That Lady and Nobody But Me, contributing to the songwriting and backing vocals for the tracks. The Isley Brothers first top-ten entry came in 1966 with Its Your Thing, the first release after forming T-Neck Records, their own label. Younger brothers Marvin and Ernie joined the family affair in the late 60s, with the band running with its original crew until OKellys death in 1986. Rudolph called it quits three years later, leaving the band to become a Christian minister. In April 2023, Rudolph sued Ronald for the federal trademark for the Isley Brothers name, requesting joint rights and a share of the revenue earned from their celebrated catalogue. UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The world body is taking action against misconduct by peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN spokesman said on Thursday. "The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC has taken robust action in response to reports of serious misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse as well as assault by UN peacekeepers," said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Dujarric said military police from the mission, known as MONUSCO, followed up on a tip that peacekeepers deployed at a base in eastern DRC were fraternizing after curfew hours at an out-of-bounds bar known to be a place where transactional sex occurs. He said the mission dispatched military police accompanied by conduct and discipline personnel to the bar to investigate. When the military police attempted to detain the peacekeepers for breaching UN standards of conduct and MONUSCO's non-fraternization policy, the peacekeepers physically assaulted and threatened the mission personnel. "There is also evidence indicating a serious failure in the exercise of command and control by senior military officials belonging to the same contingent," the spokesman said. "The relevant authorities are being informed of the allegations, including a request to deploy a national investigation officer to investigate jointly with the (UN) Office of Internal Oversight Services." He said any identified victim will be referred for assistance. While the spokesman did not identify the country of the contingent involved, there were published reports naming South Africa as the country in question. MONUSCO remains committed to ensuring the highest standard of conduct among all personnel and to enforcing the secretary-general's policy of zero tolerance toward sexual exploitation and abuse and the UN's standards of conduct, said the spokesman. Enemies List is available to stream now via Paramount+ with Showtime. It will make its Showtime debut on Sunday, October 15 at 8 p.m. ET. Bobby Axelrod just doesnt work as a supporting character. With two episodes left in Billions, Axe has finally returned Stateside after an almost two-season absence, but good God, getting him here was harder than pulling an abscessed tooth. And that was just this episode alone! In case you couldnt tell, Im conflicted by the Axe homecoming. On the one hand, Billions is infinitely better whenever Damian Lewis is onscreen. That is an undeniable fact. On the other hand, every one of his appearances this season has been little more than a glorified cameo. Even now, with Axe firmly aligned with Team Wendy-Chuck-Wags-Taylor, Im still scratching my head over why the four of them needed him so badly. Chuck giving Axe the Thank God youre here cliche? Insert eye-roll emoji. At this point, Im not impressed with how Billions turned Wendy into a damsel in distress needing to be rescued by Sir Axelrod. And it will take a lot more than Axe showing up in a Slayer T-shirt for me to feel confident that hell ultimately topple Mike Prince. Axes big save of the episode screwing with Princes dainty ego to keep Wendy out of prison isnt going to set Prince back for long. While I get why we had to wait until the end of Enemies List for Axes surprise New York reveal, these kinds of narrative setups sometimes make Billions tedious. Did it have to take the entire episode for Axe to devise a workable plan? Of course not, but whats a drama without tension? We begin at Britains Haddon Hall, with Prince, making good on his promise from the end of last weeks episode. Since he erroneously believes Axe is the mastermind between Wendy, Wags, and Taylors mutiny, Prince has flown across the pond to give his archenemy a stern warning: Dont mess with me and dont even think about contacting Wendy. Because if he does, she will be the one to suffer the consequences, not Axe. I have her tied to the railroad tracks, and I own the whole damn Transcontinental, Prince tells Dudley Do-Axe. This line is genius, considering I wanted to make a Snidely Whiplash reference in the last recap and now the Billions writers have done it for me. What a time for Chuck to literally call in that BIG favor from Axe. Though, to be fair, Chucks SOS helps Axe put Princes visit into perspective: As soon as he looks at Prince, he immediately understands why Chuck is calling. So long, Zen Axe, because Mike Prince has just awakened the sleeping giant that is Yonkers Axe. Threatening Axe is one thing, but threatening Wendy Rhoades? Big mistake, big, huge. The two billionaires then trade some Pulp Fiction references, with Axe wrapping things up by offering some foreshadow-y advice: Focus on your friends, not your enemies. Just like Bryan Connerty told Kate Sacker a few episodes ago. Hmm Speak of the devil (or is she?), the next scene has Kate ordering Wendy and Wags to comply with the new leadership structure at Michael Prince Capital (where its publicly announced that theyre on staff, albeit stripped of all authority). Im suspicious of her behavior here because while her character isnt warm and fuzzy, shes not an Uber-bitch, either. Please tell me shes a double agent for someone in the government. Shes too smart not to have a long game. Also curious is Kates recruitment of Chucks SDNY colleague Amanda Torre at a Women in Criminal Law breakfast. She hints that Amanda could take over for her at MPC when she runs for Congress along with planting a seed of doubt about Chuck and his so-called good intentions. Another character whos been unfairly stuck with the short end of the stick all season is Taylor Mason. It feels like Billions doesnt know what to do with them. Unfortunately, sending them off to Haddon Hall wasnt the answer either. Taylor is officially out at MPC, so they show up at Axes doorstep, having left their $650 million portfolio behind and determined to take that fucker down before he rises any higher. While its nice to see Axe and Taylor bonding again, their attempts to figure out how exactly Prince has ensnared Wendy and how they can circumvent his communication blockade didnt lead to any breakthroughs. With Taylor MIA and Axe constantly giving Chuck the brush-off, things arent looking too good for the anti-Prince movement. But it doesnt take long for Chuck, Wags, and Wendy to deduce why Axe is dragging his feet: Prince threatened someone he loved (*cough* Wendy). What they dont know is that obliterating Wendys career was only Princes first move. Now that Wendy is officially the CEO of Mental, she has full access to the companys financial data, and the books look a little sketchy. So she has Rian help her do a deeper dive into Mentals financials. Youve heard of boy math and girl math, right? Well, Rian says Mental has been doing Enron math. Whatever data Rian looked at during her initial research doesnt even come close to what she and Wendy are seeing now: As in a second set of books and a level of fraud that would make George Santos blanch. The trouble is, when Wendy enthusiastically signed her contract with Mental in last weeks episode, like so many of us, she failed to read the fine print: As Mentals CEO, she is personally liable for the companys financials. Not only that, but the real, fraudulent data was on Wendys tablet the whole time, making it look like she did know the company was cooking the books. Now Wendy understands why Prince was so supportive of her new job he knew she was walking right into his trap. Wendy meets with Chuck and Ira for legal advice, but even they are all, Sorry, Wend, get ready for 35 years in federal prison. But, hey, at least Chuck now understands why Axe was being so cagey all this time. During an encrypted FaceTime, Wendy pleads with Axe to return to the U.S. not for her sake, but for democracys sake. (Would someone please explain why Bobby Axelrod is suddenly Captain America?) She rattles off a bunch of Billions plotlines to help Axe better understand Princes willingness to throw friends and loved ones under the bus to serve his own needs. When she gets to The One Where Prince Hands Over the Son of a Business Partner for Expedience and The One Where Prince Let a Climber Hes Trying to Rescue for His Wife Get Taken by the Fucking Chinese for Self-Preservation, Axes eyes light up. Suddenly, Chuck is waltzing into Princes office with a gift: Documentation stating he has arranged to release Kai Huang Liu the younger (a.k.a. NFT Scammer Son from episode four), who is now on a plane back home to Taiwan. Not only that, Chuck says hes willing to take all the heat stateside while Prince gets the credit in Taiwan. Prince, the arrogant SOB that he is, thinks Chuck did this to ensure he wont get fired once hes in the White House. Chuck doesnt argue; there is no use having a fight before Princes big night tonight. At a flashy campaign gala at Lincoln Center, Prince and his entourage arrive to the strains of U2s Beautiful Day. Just in time for Axe, clad in the most Axe uniform ever (a Slayer T-shirt and leather jacket), to perform a human record scratch in front of an ashen-faced Prince. And now were about to get the full Bobby Axelrod weve missed for two whole seasons. Axe has the best plus-one ever for the evening: Derek, as in Andys climbing lover/the guy Prince had captured by the Chinese government. How did Axe secure his release? So glad you asked, Mikey! See, Chuck lied to him about Kai Huang Lius safe return to Taipei. Instead, Axe and Chuck concocted a straight-up swap Kai Huang Liu was given over to the Chinese in exchange for Dereks safe return home. (It turns out Scammer Son sold some bogus NFTs to the Chinese as well ) Prince doesnt flinch, insisting hes putting Wendy behind bars. Yeah, not so fast. Derek is more than willing to book himself onto every cable-news program and spill every depraved detail about Mike and Andy Princes very, very open marriage. Again, Prince shrugs it off. That is until Axe aims his words squarely at President Cuck: Voters dont pick the guy who cant satisfy his own wife. (I mean, they do, but Axe is on a roll here.) Axe presents a new deal to Prince: Destroy any documentation linking Wendy to Mentals shady financials and never try to ruin her life again. In return, Derek will keep his mouth shut. Oh, and Prince better not try to have Derek taken out; Axe already has his full testimony on video. One thing is for certain, though, Bobby Axelrod apparently is the only person who can make Michael Thomas Aquinas Prince shit his pants. He tried to warn him against focusing on his enemies because by doing so, Prince woke up all his enemies. And to quote Bono, Axe is now wide awake. Before going inside the gala, Prince informs Philip and Scooter that they need to clear their entire portfolio (Were going to cash) because his enemies are coming for him. Loose Change Sorry, Corey Stoll, but youre no Paul Giamatti doing Jeffrey DeMunn-as-Senior. That Damian Lewisas-Axe impression fell flatter than a pancake (eater). Bradford Luke envisioning himself as the guardrail in chief to a megalomaniac president like Mike Prince tracks with his character, disappointing as that revelation may be to Wendy. Come on, Wend, do you really want to work with a guy who likens himself to Richard Nixons advisors? All the U2 references in this episode had me ROTFLMAO: Who better to showcase Americas greatness than one of Irelands best exports? Prince wanting U2 to play Until the End of the World at his gala was a poetic choice. (The Achtung Baby tune is a fictional conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot.) Throughout the episode, I wondered if Showtime scored the band for a cameo like they did with Metallica in season one. But as soon as I heard the album track of Beautiful Day (as opposed to a live version), I knew Bono wasnt showing up. Lessons In Chemistry Little Miss Hastings Season 1 Episode 1 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * * Previous Next Previous Episode Next Episode Photo: Apple TV+ Sharpen your pencils, friends, this is Lessons in Chemistry. Surely, most of you are tuning in to this Apple TV+ miniseries because youre a fan of the source material, Bonnie Garmuss best-selling 2022 novel of the same name. The novel version of Lessons in Chemistry touched on some serious subject matter but always felt like a dramedy thanks to its peculiar main character and also a Very Good Dog that does his own narration (dont worry, the series will get to him). It may have simplified some of the complex problems women faced in the 1950s and 60s, but it was completely captivating nonetheless. But hey, maybe you havent read the novel and are here because youre a Brie Larson fan (she is perfectly cast), or maybe you just love chemistry or food! I dont know your life. It doesnt matter. Were all here now ready to go on this journey of love and science and feminism and motherhood and grief and the perils of public television together. As our flawed, prickly, and yet somehow still wildly endearing heroine Elizabeth Zott would say, Lets get started, shall we? The series kicks off by presenting us with two versions of Elizabeth Zott. First, she is a no-nonsense, quite put-together public-television cooking-show host with a killer French twist. She refers to salt as sodium chloride and changing up her lasagna recipe as experimenting with a new variable, if you want to understand her general vibe. She is the well-known and super popular host of Supper at Six, a show beloved by women all over because it finally takes womanhood, motherhood, and domesticity seriously. But we quickly jump seven years earlier to meet a different Elizabeth Zott. Shes a harried lab tech at Hastings, and while it is immediately clear she is smarter than anyone else there, she is treated like complete garbage by the chemists (and, honestly, some of the secretaries). The stench of sexism in that place is about as unsubtle as it gets: lots of sweethearts and honeys and make me coffee and oh, would it kill you to smile more? But, of course, when the other guys arent looking, the chemists will pull Elizabeth aside to ask her for help with their work, which she always and easily provides. Elizabeth puts up with it for the most part because its 1951 and she doesnt have much choice if she wants to stay employed in the field of chemistry, and because working at Hastings allows her to secretly do her own research after hours. While her late-night sessions studying abiogenesis (the theory that life arose spontaneously from non-living matter, in case youre interested) seem to have been going on without issue for a while, she quickly runs into two problems the night she breaks into famed chemist Calvin Evanss lab in order to steal from his generous stock of ribose. First, shes spotted by Fran Frask, the head of the secretary pool who is basically as sexist as all the chemists, and she snitches on Elizabeth to Dr. Donatti, who runs the place. Dr. Donatti calls Elizabeth into his office to put this pesky woman in her place. He doesnt want to hear about the research she wants to submit for the prestigious Remsen Foundation Grant, as if a lab tech with only a Masters in chemistry and not a Ph.D. would ever be considered. Obviously, what he really means is that a woman would never be considered hell, on the application form the line for your name has a Mr. in front of it. But he takes reminding Elizabeth of who she is at Hastings one step further: He tells her she needs to join the beauty pageant Fran is running at the office or shell be fired. It is humiliating. But something else happens that night Elizabeth gets caught: She winds up on the radar of the mysterious and kind of grouchy Dr. Calvin Evans. Calvin has a reputation for being arrogant and a loner. He is what one might call a strange ranger, should one be so inclined. He has wildly sensitive allergies. He loves rowing. He willingly runs to and from Hastings each day and showers in the safety shower in the middle of his lab. He only eats saltines and nuts and he rarely speaks to anyone. The only reason he is employed at Hastings is because hes a genius he recently made the cover of Scientific America, thank you very much and is consistently awarded grants from the Remsen Foundation. Now, when this guy discovers it was Elizabeth Zott who broke into his lab and stole his ribose, he finds her to chastise her and wonder aloud what the hell a secretary would need with ribose. When Elizabeth tries to explain that she is a lab tech with a Masters degree, he proceeds to call her a thief and a fibber, which I think is a word that maybe only Lewis Pullman and Lewis Pullmans face can pull off in any kind of believable way. When Calvin goes to complain to Fran about her but no, dont fire her, thats too far he says, indicating to the audience that he doesnt just have a sleeve of saltines where his heart should be he learns that Elizabeth wasnt lying about her job. He feels so guilty about that interaction and intrigued by both Elizabeths need for ribose and the fact that shes in this beauty pageant that he cant help but attend the event so he can talk to her again. You can practically see the guy falling for Elizabeth in real time. She doesnt last long on stage hearing that one department paid their secretary to show some skin during the pageant is a bridge too far and Elizabeth walks out but while shes up there, she is completely and utterly herself. Calvin seems like a person so obsessed with work that he probably doesnt notice most people, but you know hes never met someone like Elizabeth Zott. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, with how it all works out in the end Calvin gets a whiff of Mrs. Donattis perfume and those sensitive allergies act up. Before he knows it, hes barfing right at Elizabeths feet while she makes her way out the door. Instead of getting upset, she offers to drive the poor guy home. This interaction allows them to see each other in a different light, a not-yelling-at-each-other-for-being-obnoxious kind of light. She makes him tea and calls him out for having one fork. He asks her why she didnt want to get her Ph.D. (she says it was a complicated situation) and when he hears what her talent wouldve been in the show (blanching a tomato to remove the skin), he tells her she wouldve won. He is in awe of her. Next thing you know, theyre eating lunch together in the cafeteria. Well, Calvin is mooching off of Elizabeths near-perfect lunches. When these two adorable nerds discover that the other is also interested in abiogenesis, well, Im surprised they didnt just make out right there on the cafeteria table. They get to know each other over science and lasagna and eventually reach that point in their relationship so familiar to many of us, in which the woman has to explain to the man what sexism is. I dont understand. Why would anyone discriminate based on something as intellectually non-determinative as gender, Calvin responds when Elizabeth explains why Donatti would never just allow her the resources to do her own research. Again, how are they not making out already? The matter-of-factness with which he asks this, as if he truly cant comprehend how anyone, especially a scientist, would attempt a correlation between intelligence and gender, makes it both one of the dumbest and one of the hottest sentences ever uttered by a man. Calvin comes up with a plan: Hell request her as a lab tech and then shell be free to do her own research even better, they can work on their research together. EVEN BETTER, when they publish their work, hell make sure shes listed as lead scientist. And for a while, it is glorious. Sure, there is a little period of getting used to working side-by-side Elizabeth likes order and predictability, Calvin needs jazz music to concentrate but neither have been happier or more productive at work. Theyre calling each other at night to share new thoughts and Elizabeth even, in a real shock to her system, burns her dinner one night because shes distracted. Calvin reminds her that sometimes we learn the most when we make mistakes. Maybe its good for her to be a little distracted. We flew too close to the sun! One morning, after Calvin has a major epiphany about their work during a run to the lab, he bursts into the room so excited he forgets to follow the one rule she asked of him to never close the door when theyre alone in the lab. Weve seen this happen to her before: Earlier in the episode, one of her bosses closes the supply closet door to yell at her and she has flashbacks to when shes young, perhaps a student, and the flashes are quick but ominous. When her boss leaves, you see how shaken she is by just the memory. She has the same PTSD type of episode when Calvin closes the door. Hes so excited he doesnt realize shes in distress until she pushes him over and runs away. This isnt going to work out after all. Hes left looking devastated, wondering what he did wrong. Seven years in the future, Elizabeth Zott is pulling her finished lasagna out of the TV studio oven and she realizes it burned. The audience is stunned. This hasnt happened before. Elizabeth gathers herself and reminds everyone watching that sometimes, many times, things just turn out messy. In life, theres no real way to control all the variables especially the ones you never even considered a remote possibility, like say, ones that are fans of jazz and nice long runs. Lab Notes Im a firm believer in meeting an adaptation where it is rather than constantly comparing it to the original material. HOWEVER, since were just kicking things off, I do want to note that those whove read the novel will notice a whole host of differences. One of the biggest and most welcome is what the series is doing with Harriet Sloane, Calvins neighbor, played by Aja Naomi King. Even though we only briefly meet her in this episode, she already feels more fleshed out than her novel counterpart, who was more of a nosy-neighbor archetype who did help Elizabeth on her journey. Here, she feels like a real person. She and Calvin are good friends and she is gearing up to protest the bulldozing of their predominantly Black neighborhood to make way for a new freeway. Its a smart way to expand the novel for television. We also briefly meet Walter, the beleaguered producer of Supper at Six, who cares for Elizabeth while also being completely exasperated by her. Please see: Elizabeth agreeing to mention a canned soup sponsor on air but calling it chemical-filled trash and tossing it in the garbage. Played by Kevin Sussman, he seems directly pulled out of my imagination while reading and put onto the screen. Could not be more excited by this casting. Im sorry, youre telling me that man, who rows every morning, runs miles and miles every day, and lives off of saltines and nuts is that beefed up? On what planet?? Listen, Im not complaining, Im just making a scientific observation. In conclusion: God bless the fantasy of television forever and ever, I love it so much. Dear Love Is Blind readers, were just getting to know each other. Ive had a long and occasionally storied history here on this site, but you and I, were new friends. So Im going to tell you a few things about me: Ive done spoken-word poetry, I hate roller coasters, and I cry at everything. If there is a baby being born on a television program, I will weep. If someone is getting proposed to in a movie, my face will be wet. The Coming up this season on The Golden Bachelor montage? I WAS A WRECK. But this? This double-wedding finale episode? My face was parched. Not a tear was shed. Not even a hint of that tight feeling in your chest when you can feel the tears about to come on but you shove them back down. This season of Love Is Blind completely failed to deliver a satisfying or coherent or even reasonable love story, so by the time I settled in to watch this wedding episode, I didnt care if I had tissues or not. I knew thered be no tears flowing. Weve only got two couples heading to the altar this season, and quite frankly, I dont think either of them should have ever gotten this far! Going into this finale, I thought that any outcome was possible. Each couple had pros and very real cons, so the question of who would say I do at the last moment was still very much up in the air. So, I guess there was a little suspense going into the weddings, but is there a word for you feel suspense that something is going to happen but you definitely dont want it to happen? Because thats what I felt this entire episode. Wait hang on, I think the word Im looking for is dread. Existential, life-altering, terrifying dread. Lets get into it. There are only two couples, so Netflix rented this venue space for a few hours and the flowers didnt even start to wilt. They got the place for a steal! The first wedding is Izzy and Stacy. Stacy arrives and proceeds to say a series of wild things about Izzy: I love Izzy. Hes amazing, kind, and thoughtful. Hes vulnerable. Hes so exotic. Hes so hot. Hes a big ol chunk of meat. Maam, I say this as politely as I can: What the fuck? HES SO EXOTIC?? Gross. Gross. Gross. Please, white people dating people of color, DO NOT SAY THIS. Combined with Stacys nonstop comments about his big dick during the Mexico trip, its painting a pretty perplexing picture. As we look back on each of these couples, we can make some assumptions about their motives for wanting to be on Love Is Blind in the first place. My guess with Stacy is that her family and friends made fun of her for dating wealthy 45-year-olds one too many times and she wanted to prove to herself that she could choose someone age-appropriate and that she didnt care about money. And for a while, Izzy was that younger man who turned her on and she could bring around her family and say See! I can date a fellow millennial! But thats just not what she wants but well get to that. Izzy is arriving at the venue with just a backpack? How do men arrive with just nothing on their person? Izzy is still reeling from their fight about him concealing his credit score. He talks about their relationship like hes trying to remember the lyrics to Love Dont Cost a Thing by J.Lo: Love has no credit score, love has no price tag, love has no timeline. Izzy says that hes never going to run away and hes always going to stick around and hes getting up there and hes saying yes. Izzy, youre supposed to leave a little mystery going into the ceremony. Stacy sits down with her sisters and talks about how Izzy has had so many different experiences than she has and theres so much he hasnt done. For example, his favorite restaurant is Chipotle. Oh, ha ha ha! Lets all LAUGH at the man who likes CHIPOTLE. Stacy, we get it, Izzy is a pauper who has never been anywhere with anyone or done anything. And, Im sorry what would she prefer to be his favorite restaurant? What could the bougiest restaurant in Houston be? Eddie Vs? Grow up, Stacy. Izzy writes a letter to Stacy before the ceremony and it couldnt arrive at a better time, because Stacy is freaking out. Unfortunately, the note rhymes. Who taught these people about poetry? You never get complacey, youre so hot, I want to turn on the A/C, I wanna glue my hands to your boobs like a pasty. SHE READS THIS IN FRONT OF HER MOTHER! Stacy says that this is the only note Izzy wrote without her having to prompt him. She says shes a hopeless romantic. Also, Stacy is wearing those Jimmy Choo wedding shoes. Those are like $1,200 shoes. Time for the ceremony! Izzy enters the event space and says, Whats up? and does a little twirl. When Stacy comes in, she says Its a whole lotta dress, yall! and Izzy shows her off because she looks so good. What is the tone of this ceremony? Everyone is too casual. Izzys vows start with, You are tough to crack and ends with, I will be that calm, cooling man that you need. He also says that Stacy hit him like a train out of left field. How are the metaphors like a can of nuts? Because theyre MIXED. Stacy somehow repeats this truly bonkers line in her speech that absolutely sounds like shes going to say yes. She says that the whole experience has been a freakin hurricane and hes the calm in the storm. When its time to actually say I do, Izzy says yes, and Stacy says saying yes would be a disservice to their relationship and they just need more time. Izzy says that he understands and gives her a kiss. They both leave the ceremony, check in with their families, and have a chat. Izzy is very confused, and Stacy says that the timing just isnt right. They need more time to work through their issues. Izzy wonders if the time will ever be right, and if hes the one, what does it matter? They could die tomorrow! Then Izzy goes into a rant about how Stacy couldnt block out the bullshit and just focus on their relationship. The best part is, Why are you 33, single, and not married? Im 29 and I can give you everything a rich 45-year-old man that you always go for and always fail with cant give you Im sad. Unbelievable shade followed by some emotional whiplash. Thats why we turn to Love Is Blind. Its time for Lydia and Miltons big day! Theres considerably less drama because these two are (somehow) making their way toward marriage. Its very hard to discuss what Lydia says about Milton because its very generic. She basically says, He holds me every night. Im marrying the love of my life. I found love and I get to get married today over and over in slightly different words until its time to walk down the aisle. Meanwhile, Milton didnt bring a pen to write down his vows and his backpack IS FULL of those little floss picks. The main drama leading up to their wedding is Milton sitting down with his family and friends over and over again as they ask him, You sure, bro? Its here that Miltons immaturity really comes through. A lot of the fandom point to Miltons unemotional nature and insistence on logic as evidence that he hasnt matured enough to not be afraid of emotions and appreciative of them in other people. And thats definitely true and makes him a real bummer to be around, but Im more struck by how in every interaction, Milton brushes off concerns with, I know better. Miltons dad brings him some cuff links and asks Milton if hes got any questions. Milton says About what? ABOUT WHAT? Youre about to get married to a stranger, it would be very normal if you had a query or two. Miltons dad tries to offer up some marital advice from someone whos been married for 30-plus years, and Milton is like, Yeah, thats your relationship. His dad even shakes his head and goes, You got it figured out. There are plenty of reasons to not want to replicate the dynamics of your parents relationship, but to just assume that youve got it under control and youve got all the data you need is pretty silly. But I think thinking you know everything is basically what being 24 is like. Time for the ceremony! Lydias brother is crying. Hes shedding the tears I cannot. Lydia starts her vows with, I fell in love with you because you chose me. I know she means chose in a romantic way, but it does come across like, I fell in love with you because you liked me and thats all I really need. She also says he made sure she knew she was his first, and Lydia, baby, add the word choice. First choice. Milton says that he fell in love with Lydia because she challenges him and inspires him. He never had a doubt about her and he hopes it continues that way forever. They both say I do and kiss before the officiant tells them to! They did it. Hooray. They head off to their post-wedding gazebo and immediately start bickering. Milton cant pop a bottle, he chugs an entire Champagne flute like a shot, they argue about the right way to cut a cake. They will be having the same fights until they die. At one point, Lydias veil flies off and Milton puts it on with his tux and honestly? Its a fucking vibe. More men should look into this as a formal look. Aaaaah! A montage of all the people who ended up single! Taylor! JP! Uche! Aaliyah! Johnie! Chris! The lessons they learned! What a jump-scare. Lydia ends the episode by saying that Milton is her imperfect perfect relationship, and Milton says, What does that mean? Your English is so bad. Bruh, that is your fucking wife. No miscellaneous pod goss this week. There arent enough other people floating around, and we already talked about Stacys $1,200 shoes. See you for the reunion! Bring on the Lacheys! A student builds an installation system of automation production line at the Luban Workshop of Ayutthaya Technical College in Ayutthaya, Thailand, March 14, 2023. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Wang Teng) A contestant competes during a carpentry competition at China's second Vocational Skills Competition in north China's Tianjin, Sept. 17, 2023. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo) Contestants compete during a competitive event of industrial robot system operation at China's second Vocational Skills Competition in north China's Tianjin, Sept. 16, 2023. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Li Ran) A teacher (1st R) instructs students at the Luban Workshop of Ayutthaya Technical College in Ayutthaya, Thailand, March 14, 2023. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Wang Teng) This aerial photo taken from a helicopter on June 16, 2023 shows a view of the Binhai New Area in north China's Tianjin. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue) This aerial photo taken on April 27, 2023 shows a night view of "Tianjin Eye" ferris wheel in north China's Tianjin. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue) This photo taken on April 18, 2022 shows the Ayutthaya Historical Park in Ayutthaya, Thailand. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Wang Teng) This aerial photo take on May 1, 2021 shows a view of the Italian Style Area in Hebei District of north China's Tianjin. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue) A teacher (R) instructs a student to operate machines at the First Vocational School of Tanggu in north China's Tianjin, Sept. 14, 2023. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Li Ran) This aerial photo taken on June 24, 2023 shows the downtown area of north China's Tianjin. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue) A container is being loaded at the Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin, Oct. 27, 2020. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua) This photo taken from a helicopter on June 16, 2023 shows a view of the main channel of the Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue) The first Airbus A321 aircraft is produced at the Final Assembly Line Asia (FALA) facility in north China's Tianjin on Nov. 9, 2022. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo) Performers participate in a street parade celebrating the Songkran Festival in Ayutthaya, Thailand, April 13, 2022. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Wang Teng) Performers participate in a street parade celebrating the Songkran Festival in Ayutthaya, Thailand, April 13, 2022. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Wang Teng) Students walk past the Luban Workshop of Ayutthaya Technical College in Ayutthaya, Thailand, Sept. 29, 2023. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Wang Teng) This aerial photo taken on Sept. 29, 2023 shows the Ayutthaya Technical College in Ayutthaya, Thailand. Luban Workshop, initially launched by China's Tianjin, is a project named after the ancient Chinese craftsman Lu Ban to provide vocational skills training for local people, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need. In March 2016, the first Luban Workshop was inaugurated in Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College, with a building area of 2,000 square meters and equipped with training facilities. Through programs like Luban Workshop, China's vocational education cooperation has helped promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the Belt and Road. (Xinhua/Wang Teng) Now that consensus has collapsed. Republicans say that President Joe Biden is using the program to fund abortions abroad, and have threatened to block its reauthorization. US law prohibits using PEPFAR to directly fund abortions. But critics say the administration is doing so through the back door. It has asserted in PEPFAR policy documents that we cannot end AIDS if we deny peoples sexual and reproductive rights and that anti-HIV efforts should be integrated with reproductive health services, which it has defined to include termination of a pregnancy. Pro-life groups have warned legislators that a vote for PEPFAR would count against their scorecards.Earlier this month, House Republicans voted to reauthorize the program through 2024 on the condition that it adhere to the so-called Mexico City policy, which bans US taxpayer funds from going to foreign organizations that perform abortions or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning. The policy was first applied to PEPFAR under former President Donald Trump, but lifted by Biden when he took office.Democrats have rejected the proposal and insisted on a clean, five-year extension. The impasse could unsettle US partners and jeopardize future investments in anti-HIV programs, at a time when the disease remains the leading cause of death for women in Africa. More to the point, strict application of the Mexico City policy would mean denying aid to many public hospitals and clinics that operate in countries where abortion is legal and which are often the sole providers of maternal health care.Given the divisiveness of the abortion issue, Congress has for decades deferred to the occupant of the White House to determine whether and how to attach the Mexico City restrictions to foreign-aid programs. The Houses reauthorization bill, however, would enshrine the anti-abortion language into law making it difficult, if not impossible, for future administrations to rescind it.PEPFAR is too valuable to be held hostage to abortion politics. A bipartisan deal shouldnt be beyond reach. Republicans should accept that some funding will support health organizations that treat AIDS but also provide reproductive services; in exchange, Democrats should accept tougher compliance measures and stricter language upholding the long-standing ban on directly funding abortions. A shorter authorization term would also mollify lawmakers who support the program but worry about an open-ended commitment that could crowd out other priorities.For its part, the Biden administration should transition PEPFAR from an emergency relief initiative to one that fits within the broader US development agenda. Shifting oversight from the State Department to the US Agency for International Development could improve coordination with similar programs, place greater focus on building local capacity and help ensure that funds are spent prudently.Measured by its life-saving impact, PEPFAR ranks among the most successful US foreign-policy initiatives in recent history. Its in Americas interest, and that of millions around the world, that Congress save and strengthen it.More From Bloomberg Opinion: Share Comment on this story Comment Add to your saved stories Save Frances Emmanuel Macron and Germanys Olaf Scholz ended the week as it began, on a note of unity. They presented a strong show of solidarity with Israel after Hamas brutal attack on Saturday claimed 1,200 lives, and they backed sending humanitarian aid as retaliatory attacks kill hundreds in Gaza and threaten a wider regional war. Lets stay united, Macron told his nation on Thursday. It will be easier said than done. Although monuments and government buildings have lit up in sympathy with Israel in cities such as Paris, Brussels and Rome, the kind of flag-waving unity seen after Russias invasion of Ukraine will be hard to revive. Tensions are appearing in public opinion and across the political spectrum; Israeli flags have been torn down in Germany and the UK. Antisemitic incidents are on the rise in France, where pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been banned. And domestic fears may have an impact on ambitions abroad: A poll this week found just over one-third of French people opposed the idea of stronger French diplomatic intervention in the crisis, even as a majority think Hamas should be condemned. Advertisement Anxious citizens wont be reassured by squabbling in the corridors of EU power as troops amass near the Gaza Strip to wipe out Hamas. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbans man at the European Commission burst the bubble of unity when he announced a freeze on Palestinian aid worth 691 million ($728.1 million), only to see it walked back within hours after an internal backlash; Spains government called it a betrayal of European values. The aid will be reviewed instead to the relief of the US and Arab world yet a move to suspend some bilateral aid by Sweden, which has recently been cutting more arms deals with Israel, shows new fault lines appearing. Its reminiscent of the days when EU bureaucracy would send three different delegations to the same crisis zone. Were a long way from the joint support seen after the Ukraine invasion, which felt geographically closer to Europe, more existential and which changed minds about attitudes to Russia and transatlantic security in capitals from Helsinki to Paris, as Nathalie Tocci, special adviser to top EU diplomat Josep Borrell, puts it. This looks more like the EU reverting to type: 27 national and hard-to-reconcile approaches, locked in a ritual diplomatic dance, with a tendency to inaction and speechifying given a glaring lack of hard power. When it comes to Israel-Palestine, the EU has been teetering on the brink of irrelevance. The blocs commitment to a two-state solution thats withered on the vine has ultimately left it playing second fiddle to the US, while actors like Qatar a top donor to Gaza and go-to mediator play a bigger role. Marwan Muasher, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says Europeans have paid lip service to the peace process and lost influence. Advertisement Letting this situation continue would be a mistake. The EU is the No. 3 world economy, Israels largest trading partner and the biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority. It can and should be a player, not just a payer of aid, in the Middle East. At a time when the US is retreating into election mode, the bloc needs to go against the grain and be more assertive. Share this article Share Think tank ECFR reckons Europe might serve as a voice of reason by supporting Israel while reminding it of obligations under international law, attempting to prevent wider regional conflict and supporting mediators working to release hostages. In the longer term, it could re-engage with the US and Arab partners to promote a peace process. These are good guiding principles, provided the EU also realizes it needs a new strategic toolkit including better defense capabilities, intelligence cooperation and financial oversight to crack down on terrorism. When the time comes, making all that aid more conditional might genuinely be the right bargaining chip to extract concessions. Until then, as Macron suggested, its time for Europe to stay united. Advertisement More From Bloomberg Opinion: Russia and China May Be Only Winners of Gaza War: Pankaj Mishra Macron and Scholz Are Paddling in Opposite Directions: Lionel Laurent Hamas Must Be Punished, But the Palestine Question Demands Answers: Marc Champion This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist writing about the future of money and the future of Europe. Previously, he was a reporter for Reuters and Forbes. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at a symposium on advancing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). He chaired the symposium in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province on Oct. 12. He stressed the importance of fully and faithfully implementing the new development philosophy in all respects. He called for joint efforts in extensive protection of ecological environment and not engaging in excessive development, prioritizing eco-environmental protection and pursuing green development. Xi said the region's development should be led by scientific and technological innovation while environmental protection and economic and social development should be advanced in a coordinated manner. It is imperative to strengthen coordination in policies and work to make long-term plans, seek long-term solutions and lay a foundation for lasting stability, further promoting the high-quality development of the YREB to better support and serve Chinese modernization, he added. Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese premier, Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice premier, attended the symposium. Xi Jinping held this symposium during his inspection trip in Jiangxi. At the symposium, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, Yuan Jiajun, secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, Yin Hong, secretary of the CPC Jiangxi Provincial Committee, and Chen Jining, secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, gave speeches, reporting on the work on promoting the high-quality development of the YREB and proposing opinions and suggestions. Leading officials from other provinces who participated in the symposium submitted written speeches. After listening to everyone's speeches, Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. He noted that in the past eight years since the implementation of the development strategy of the YREB, provinces and cities along the river, as well as relevant central departments, have conscientiously implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee. They have adhered to the principle of jointly focusing on extensive environmental protection and not engaging in excessive development, prioritizing environmental protection and green development, concretely promoting the protection and restoration of the Yangtze River ecological environment, and actively promoting the green transformation of economic and social development in a comprehensive way. With unprecedented great determination and efforts, significant changes have taken place in the development of the YREB. A major shift in thinking has taken place, as promoting well-coordinated eco-environmental conservation and avoiding excessive development has become a consensus. Significant achievements have been made in ecological environmental protection and restoration, and the beautiful scenery of "the clean Yangtze River flowing eastward" has reappeared. Great changes have taken place in the development mode, and innovation-driven development has gained momentum. Regional integration has been significantly improved, and regional synergy has been continuously strengthened. Significant progress has been made in reform and opening up, and the momentum of all-round internal and external opening up has accelerated. In general, the YREB's achievements in development are obvious, its development quality is steadily improving, and so is its development trend. However, we should also be aware that the ecological environment protection and high-quality development of the Yangtze River Basin are in a critical period from quantitative change to qualitative change. The results achieved are yet to be consolidated, and there are still many difficulties and problems, which should be overcome through continuous efforts. Xi noted that in the long run, the high-quality development of the YREB fundamentally depends on the high-quality ecological environment of the Yangtze River Basin. He called for efforts to resolutely promote well-coordinated environmental conservation and never to pursue excessive development, instead endeavors must be made in high-level environmental protection. Ecological red lines have been drawn along the Yangtze River, which must never be crossed, and zoning control of the ecological environment must be strengthened, and the permit list must be strictly implemented. Party committees and governments at various levels must have a clear idea of the important designated local ecological spaces, give priority to their strict protection. Comprehensive measures should be taken to improve ecological environment, with strengthened measures for pollution control in key areas. Water resources, water environment and water ecology should be coordinated. Solid progress should be made in preventing and controlling air and soil pollution. More attention should be paid to front-end pollution control to reduce the total amount of pollutants from the source. The "10-year fishing ban" on the Yangtze River should firmly be implemented, and the achievements already made be consolidated. Concerted efforts should be made to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, expand green development, and pursue economic growth. The green transformation and upgrading of industries should be prioritized to accelerate the development of green and low carbon industries and actively develop green technologies and products to make the economy greener so as to strengthen the potential and resilience of development. Localities with advantaged ecological environment should be supported to transform their ecological resources into economic gains. The horizontal compensation system for ecological conservation should be optimized to incentivize all stakeholders along the river to be involved in environmental protection efforts. Xi stressed the need to adhere to innovation-driven development, and transform the region's strengths in scientific research and talents into driving force for development, actively explore new areas and new paths so as to foster new drivers and strengths for development. Work should be done to strengthen the coordination and collaboration between the optimized science and education resources and the innovation in science and technology. To upgrade industries and modernize industrial chains, breakthroughs in new areas should be planned and new paths explored for development. High-level talents in scientific and technological innovation should be attracted to improve the innovation capability in cutting edge technologies so as to expedite the pace in making breakthroughs in a batch of key technologies. Xi called for efforts to modernize industrial and supply chains and continuously promote the core competitiveness of manufacturing industry. Efforts should be made to facilitate the growth of advanced manufacturing industry, accelerate the development of strategic emerging industries and future industries, and promote the deep integration between digital economy and real economy. The coordination and cooperation of industrial chains needs to be strengthened with a view to promoting the expansion of advantaged industrial chain and the building of industrial chain for emerging industries. Xi pointed out that the YREB's advantage as an artery that links rivers to the ocean, extends from the west to the east and serves both northern and southern part of China, must be given full play. The YREB should play an active role in connecting the domestic and international market, and channel these resources to improve the endogenous power and reliability of the domestic economy and boost the appeal of the domestic market to the global economy. In this way, the YREB could provide strategic support to the building of a new development paradigm. As far as industrial development is concerned, provinces and cities along the Yangtze River should tap into their own development potential and find their own distinctive strength on the one hand, and coordinate with each other and foster connectivity between them on the other. Efforts should be made to coordinate the layout and transfer of industries along the Yangtze River, improve the distribution of major productive forces, and ensure the orderly transfer of capital, technology, and labor-intensive industries from the country's eastern seaboard to the central and western regions, and from central cities to the hinterland. Vigorous actions are needed to promote high-level opening up and explore new areas and channels for international economic cooperation. The role of the pilot free trade zones in the provinces and cities along the Yangtze River should be fully utilized, and pioneering steps must be taken in institutional innovation, thus promoting coordinated development among them, as well as accumulating new experience and exploring new paths for building an open economy at a higher level. Xi Jinping emphasized the need to focus on strengthening regional coordination and integration. Provinces and cities along the Yangtze River should keep to inter-provincial consultation and joint ecological conservation, and make sure that all localities are on board of their shared development initiatives for the benefit of all. Efforts should be made to enhance regional connectivity, consistency in policies and rules, and coordination in their implementation, so as to steadily build a community for ecological conservation and shared interests, and promote coordinated regional development. Overall planning and construction of regional transportation infrastructure is needed, and quicker steps should be taken in building multi-storey and multi-modal transportation corridors. This helps strengthen the connectivity among transportation networks and the coordination among land, water, and rail transportation, and improve the level of regional transportation integration. Market reforms for production factors should be advanced. The underlying systems for property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit should be improved, and data and information sharing and interconnection across regions, departments, and administrative levels should be enhanced. We should strengthen cooperation in government services to improve the business environment. The value of the Yangtze River's culture in the new era can be further explored, and more outstanding literary and artistic works can be introduced to showcase the value of the Yangtze River in the new era. Efforts should be made to deepen the integration of culture and tourism, build a number of riverside cities, towns, and villages with natural landscape and historical and cultural heritage, so as to turn areas along the Yangtze River into a golden tourism belt with international fame. Xi noted that the YREB is vital to China's overall development. It is imperative to ensure both development and security, and this belt should play a bigger role in safeguarding the security of food, energy, key industrial and supply chains and water resources, so that the stability of the YREB will contribute to the overall national security. All the provinces and cities along the Yangtze River must fulfill their responsibilities on food security, be it a major grain-producer, a major grain sales area or an area where agricultural production and sales are balanced. Coordinated protection of quantity, quality and ecosystem of farmland must be strengthened to gradually develop all permanent basic cropland into high-standard cropland, efforts be intensified to protect and use the agricultural germplasm resources, and major bio-breeding projects be carried out to improve the innovation capacity of enterprises in the seed industry. To increase grain production, regions along the river are urged to focus on increasing the output of unit production at a large scale, strengthen integrated promotion of good cropland, seeds, machinery and cultivating methods, and cultivate various types of agricultural operation of appropriate scale and commercial agricultural services. We must continue to advance energy cooperation among the regions in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River with coordinated efforts of the whole nation. We must strengthen the basic supporting role of fossil fuels such as coal, ensure that coal is used in a cleaner and more efficient way, attach importance to the complementarity and deep integration between advantageous traditional energy such as water and electricity and new energy such as wind power, photovoltaic and hydrogen power, speed up the efforts to develop a system for new energy resources and promote the integration of power generation, transmission, loading and storage. We must work hard to ensure a peaceful Yangtze River, rationally grasp the change of its water conditions, adhere to a simultaneous prevention and fight against both drought and flood, promote connectivity of water systems and conservation of water and soil in a coordinated manner, strengthen a coordinated and unified dispatch of water conservancy projects along the Yangtze River Basin, better manage the distribution of trans-regional water resources in high-flow and low water season so as to improve the basin's capacity for disaster prevention and mitigation. Xi stressed the importance of a working mechanism under which the central authorities coordinate, provinces take overall responsibility, and cities and counties ensure implementation. The Central Leading Group for Coordinated Regional Development must strengthen coordination and supervision, while relevant departments of the central authorities should support the projects that comply with the plan to promote high-quality development of the YREB, and promote a batch of major reform projects in key areas. It is imperative to ensure that Party committees and governments at all levels across the provinces and cities along the Yangtze River fulfill their principal responsibilities, and ensure that all work is done to the letter. We must take the theoretical study program as an opportunity to guide all officials to have a correct understanding of what it means to perform well, and improve their capabilities of promoting high-quality development. It is essential to guide all kinds of enterprises and social organizations to actively participate in the development of the YREB, increase input in human, material and financial resources, and give full play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the people. It is imperative to conduct regular inspections, evaluations and oversight of the implementation of the Outline of Yangtze River Economic Belt Development Plan, and urge local governments to identify problems and make rectifications in a timely manner. Li Qiang said in his speech that it is necessary to earnestly study, understand and thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi's important speech, and maintain the strategic resolve to promote eco-environmental protection, and continue the efforts with perseverance. It is necessary to strengthen comprehensive management and source management, improve compensation system for ecological protection, and explore ways to realize the value of ecological products. The functional zoning strategy must be allowed full play to improve economic structure. To give full play to the leading role of the Yangtze River Delta, work must be done to harness the comparative regional strengths and identify the positioning of regional functions to promote the common development of the regions in middle and upper reaches. Efforts must be made to further the construction of a unified large market, improve the "soft" and "hard" connectivity in the region, actively integrate the region into the flow of international economy, and boost the linkage effect of the two markets and two resources. Ding Xuexiang said in his speech that it is necessary to deeply study and implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the spirit of General Secretary Xi's important speech, promoting well-coordinated ecological conservation and never engaging in excessive development, prioritizing ecological conservation and green development, providing important support for high-quality development with high-level eco-environmental protection. Work should be done to strengthen the construction of major innovation platforms, promote the deep integration of innovation and industrial chains, and cultivate new growth drivers for high-quality development with high-level scientific and technological innovation. It is vital to coordinate the actions of local and central authorities and get all levels working as one, rationally determine the functional orientation and development direction, and coordinate opening up in areas along the coast, rivers, the frontier and inland, so as to form synergy for high-quality development with high-level inter-regional coordination. Li Ganjie, He Lifeng, Wu Zhenglong, Mu Hong and Jiang Xinzhi were present at the symposium. Leading officials of relevant central Party and government departments, relevant local governments and enterprises attended the symposium. People mourn their relatives killed during clashes with Israeli settlers, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus, Oct. 12, 2023. Since this round of attacks between Hamas and Israel began on Saturday, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. So far more than 1,500 Palestinians and more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the southern area of the coastal enclave ahead of a possible Israeli ground offensive. "The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians ... for their own safety and protection," read a statement issued Friday morning. "You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made," the statement said. According to the IDF, Hamas militants are using underground tunnels in the city to hide. Israel is believed to be preparing for a ground incursion on the Gaza Strip, according to media reports and analysis. Since this round of attacks between Hamas and Israel began on Saturday, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. So far more than 1,500 Palestinians and more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed. People mourn their relatives killed during clashes with Israeli settlers, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus, Oct. 12, 2023. Since this round of attacks between Hamas and Israel began on Saturday, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. So far more than 1,500 Palestinians and more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) On 13 October 2023, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, delivered a special lecture to WCO scholars studying at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, Japan. The lecture was attended by 21 scholars from the Japan-WCO Scholarship Programme, who are following the Masters Degree Programme in Public Finance at the GRIPS or in Strategic Management and Intellectual Property Rights at the Aoyama Gakuin University (AGU). Secretary General Mikuriya briefed them about the WCOs current areas of work, including supply chain realignment, fragile borders, e-commerce, digital technology, Green Customs, and organizational development. The importance of human resource development in Customs was also underscored, and the Scholarship Programme makes an important contribution in this respect. Dr. Mikuriya concluded by acknowledging the role scholars can play in Customs modernization efforts in their respective home administrations, encouraging them to demonstrate their leadership skills upon their return. The Secretary Generals visit and lecture provided a valuable opportunity for the scholars to learn about the latest WCO policies and activities and to gain an understanding of how the WCO is assisting its Member administrations in their missions. From 3 to 6 October 2023, the World Customs Organization conducted a train-the-trainer workshop on the Harmonized system for the WCO East and Southern Africa (ESA) Region within the framework of the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme), funded by the European Union. The workshop was hosted by Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA), Vice-Chair of the WCO ESA region at the Integrated Customs Clearance Centre in Plaigne Magnien, Mauritius. The train the trainer workshop aimed to develop a pool of competent trainers in the area of HS tariff classification who could further disseminate knowledge about the HS in their respective countries and region. The training brought together 32 representatives from 22 ESA countries, who are experienced experts on tariff classification in their Customs administrations. The workshop was conducted by WCO experts in the HS and in the area of training and skills development with the involvement of a recognized HS expert from MRA. In his opening remarks, Mr. Sudhamo Lal, Director General of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) and WCO ESA Vice Chairperson highlighted the importance of the HS in trade facilitation and management of customs processes while emphasizing the critical role played by the HS in streamlining Customs procedures, ensuring accurate tariff determination and facilitating the collection of correct trade statistics. He expressed his appreciation to the WCO, the EU and the HS-Africa Programme for the assistance provided to the region. In her opening remarks, Ms. Macarena Ruiz-San-Jose, Programme Manager, Directorate General for International Partnerships, at the European Commission, commended the HS Africa Programme on the great achievements made towards the implementation of HS 2022 as well as other notable results in supporting African Customs administrations and region in HS related matters. She highlighted that the EU is strongly committed to support African partners at continental, regional and national level through such initiatives as the HS Africa Programme. She extended her appreciation to the World Customs Organization on the remarkable partnership in the implementation of the EU- WCO Programme for HS in Africa. Ms. Demitta Gyang, Senior Advisor Customs, at the AfCFTA Secretariat, underlined the importance of accurate application of the Harmonized System as a key factor for successful trade facilitation and continental integration. She acclaimed the partnership between the EU, the WCO and the AfCFTA secretariat under the HS Africa Programme, and the impact it has in advancing the AfCFTA implementation agenda. The train the trainer workshop was an occasion to deepen the experts understanding of the HS as well as develop and strengthen their training skills to deliver HS related training in their respective countries and region. The workshop fostered a vibrant learning environment, offering the participants a unique opportunity to deliver short group and individual presentations in various HS related topics while taking into account the skills and tips learnt from the WCO experts. In conclusion of the workshop, the WCO experts provided general feedback to the participants with a focus on key areas that needed improvement as well as commending the notable areas where participants deployed the acquired skills in developing training materials and delivering a training. For more details, please contact hs@wcoomd.org. This undated file photo shows a student from Shenzhen University-Tencent cloud AI BEng program developing an AI goose-breeding program at Shenzhen Univeristy, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua) SHENZHEN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A team of 16 college students from Shenzhen University has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) program that helps identify sick lion-head geese for breeders, increasing the survival rate of the gaggle by 30 percent. Lion-head geese are a primary ingredient in making local marinated goose dishes in the Chaoshan area of south China's Guangdong Province, which are renowned for their good quality but quite hard to raise. For over 300 years, breeders in Chenghai District, Shantou City, relied on their experience to judge the health of geese by observing if they remained still for too long and by feeling their body temperature with their hands. While the rule of thumb is effective, it is not efficient enough in emergency situations. Diseases could devastate a farm of over a thousand geese in as little as ten days. In the winter of 2018, an unexpected outbreak of avian influenza swept through Houxi Village, leaving only five out of thousands of lion-head geese alive. As a young entrepreneur returning to his hometown, Jin Shutao, a professional goose farmer in Houxi Village, Chenghai District, thought about harnessing the power of technology. In 2022, he invited 16 students from Shenzhen University-Tencent cloud AI BEng program to his lion-head goose farming cooperative. With guidance from teachers at the university and engineers from Chinese internet giant Tencent, they aimed to tackle this hard problem. In a 500-square-meter space with over 4,000 geese closely packed together, the team faced the challenge of identifying sick geese amidst the cacophonous sounds. They decided to determine sickness by measuring the duration of a goose's stillness, and they divided the project into four groups, namely hardware, frontend, backend, and algorithm. However, the first challenge they met was to install cameras because traditional QR code-based recognition methods for animals, such as cows, sheep, or pigs, did not work for geese. To collect enough data for AI training, the students used existing farm cameras to capture images and manually label them. This labeling process involved categorizing and tagging 6,000 images of 300,000 geese. The arduous work was necessary to realize the level of detail and precision required for AI work. They needed to be 100 percent focused since even a slight error could affect the AI's training results, said Wang Yifeng, one of the team members. Moreover, they had to continuously optimize the algorithm, as different scenarios could impact accuracy. Under the guidance of Tencent engineers, they first improved the recognition algorithm to improve the identification rate of lion-head geese in crowded scenes. Then, they optimized the tracking algorithm to record the duration each goose spent in one spot, helping identify any anomalies. After dozens of model adjustments, the students learned that there is no one-size-fits-all algorithm. It must be customized based on specific conditions. As they worked, they got more acquainted with the geese. They discovered that it was challenging to measure the body temperature of adult lion-head geese due to their thick feathers. Therefore, they turned to identifying feverish baby geese as supplementary means. Some students even found through research that goose diseases were closely related to weather conditions such as typhoons and haze. Therefore, they added data observation and analysis functions to the program for optimization. Through more than a hundred days and nights and countless online meetings, the AI goose program was continually updated. Currently, the program provides real-time alerts for "listless geese" and "feverish geese," displaying temperature, humidity, PM2.5 levels, and trends in data changes on the farm. This has helped the farm increase the survival rate of lion-head geese by 30 percent. "Developing AI isn't about sitting in an air-conditioned room and writing code. It's about learning to write code in 'goose dung,'" said Shen Linlin, director of the visual research institute under Shenzhen University. Lion-head geese are seen at a farm in Houxi Village of Chenghai District, Shantou, south China's Guangdong Province, July 8, 2022. (Xinhua) This photo taken on July 8, 2022 shows a goose farm in Houxi Village of Chenghai District, Shantou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua) This undated file photo shows the interface of an AI-powered goose-breeding program developed by students from Shenzhen University-Tencent cloud AI BEng program. (Xinhua) Under the auspices of the Mauritius Revenue Authority, Vice-Chair of the WCO ESA region, the EU-WCO Programmes for Harmonized System and Rules of Origin in Africa held the annual steering committee meetings on 2 October 2023 in Plaigne Magnien, Mauritius. The high level meetings gathered representatives from the European Union, the WCO, the African Continental Free trade Area Secretariat, the WCO ESA and WCA Regional Offices for Capacity Building, Regional Economic Communities and Customs administrations from Africa, to appraise the results of the Programmes, provide guidance and orientation, and approve the work plan for the next reporting period. In his opening remarks, Mr. Vivekanad Ramburun, MRA Director of Customs underlined the importance of Customs Excellence as a driver for intra African trade and the success of the AfCFTA initiative. This excellence can only be reached through targeted, efficient and comprehensive capacity building programmes. He stressed the prominence of strengthened continental and regional cooperation among African Customs administrations and relevant partners to promote consistency and advanced application of Customs processes while addressing challenges arising from global trends. He pointed out that the EU-WCO Programmes perfectly reflect and support the inclusive and consultative approach, which brings tangible impact and benefits for the whole region. In her opening remarks, Ms. Macarena Ruiz-San-Jose, Programme Manager, Directorate General for International Partnerships, at the European Commission, expressed appreciation to the steering committee members for the excellent collaboration and shared commitment in the Programmes vision and objectives. She stated that the HS and RoO Africa Programmes relevance and added value was notable through the remarkable and concrete results achieved. She emphasized the unwavering support of the European Union while recognizing the outstanding impact of the Programmes at continental, regional and national levels, as well as the key role and contribution of the Steering Committee Members in efficient and successful implementation of the programme. In the same way, Mr. Larry Liza, Director WCO ESA ROCB commended the Programmes in his opening remarks stating that the HS Africa Programme was one of the only global initiatives fully dedicated to the implementation of the Harmonized system. He reiterated that the impact of the Programme was prominent across the ESA region with more than 80% of the members having implemented the new version of the HS 2022 by 2022. Mr. Liza called upon the Programmes to further support partners in capacity building and provision of HS publications, streamlining of origin procedures, and implementation of harmonized e-certificate of origin. Mr. Liza, Highlighted the importance of partnership and that EU funding was and remains vital in making such an impact. The Steering Committee, on a high note commended the work accomplished by the Programmes to date and the significant milestone it had played in advancing harmonized trade through the timely implementation of the Harmonized system (HS), robust capacity building initiatives as well as the implementation of advance rulings among the African partners at regional and national levels. Committee members acknowledged the important changes that the Programme was making for its beneficiaries and in Africa. The Committee expressed its appreciation to the European Union for the partnership and highlighted the paramount importance of continuity of both the HS and RoO programmes, as well as the prospects to include valuation. The steering Committee Members reviewed the progress made so far by the Programmes and examined the key areas that still needed interventions such as supporting efforts towards establishment of Customs laboratories, implementation of advance rulings, Origin adapted training materials, self-certification of origin, electronic certificate of origin, and support to the AfCFTA secretariat. The Committee adopted and validated recommendations for the way forward and concluded the meeting by endorsing Programmes annual report for 2022 and 2023. For more details, please contact hs@wcoomd.org. From 10 to 13 October 2023, the World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted an Accreditation Workshop for Technical Operational Advisers (TOAs) in the field of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for the Asia/Pacific region, in Kashiwa, Japan. The workshop was made possible with the financial support of the Customs Cooperation Fund of Japan (CCF/Japan). The workshop brought together 10 participants and was aimed at selecting candidates from the WCO Asia/Pacific region to be accredited as TOAs in the IPR field, with a view to supporting the implementation of WCO activities under its IPR, Health and Safety Programme in the region. TOAs are highly competent experts, capable of organizing and delivering capacity-building activities on behalf of the WCO Secretariat. During the four-day workshop, the pre-selected Customs officers from Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in various exercises, including presentations, discussions and role plays, enabling participants to be evaluated not only on their level of technical knowledge in the IPR field but also on their presentation and training skills. The workshop was jointly facilitated by two experts from the WCO Secretariat. In line with the new version of the WCO IPR Strategy 2020, approved by the 41st Meeting of the Enforcement Committee in March 2021, the workshop emphasized the importance of building the IPR capacity of Customs administrations through the development of a reliable pool of accredited experts. This workshop will be followed by a field mission to complete the two-phase accreditation process. Only participants who meet the expected level of technical expertise in the IPR field and in terms of their training capacities will be accredited as IPR experts. The World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted a workshop in Antananarivo, Madagascar, from 25 to 29 September 2023 to support Madagascar Customs in implementing the World Trade Organizations (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) Article 7.8 and the WCO Immediate Release Guidelines, with the objective to also strengthen systems and procedures for electronic commerce (eCommerce). The workshop took place under the aegis of the Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme, funded by the United Kingdoms His Majestys Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and is part of its multi-year partnership with Madagascar since 2021. During the opening ceremony, the Director of External Services, Mr. Soja Christophe Randriamanantena, expressed his appreciation for the technical assistance rendered in this vital trade area, which has become a more central topic for Customs in recent years. He also noted the importance of the workshop for the future endeavors of Customs in its efforts to digitalize cross-border trade. Twenty-six participants, representing different border agencies, Customs work areas and key private sector stakeholders joined the workshop. These representatives had already participated in preparatory sessions conducted virtually in the preceding weeks. During the workshop, the participants conducted a gap analysis to better understand the challenges the different actors currently face regarding Expedited Shipments and implementing the WCOs Immediate Release Guidelines. An initial analysis conducted by Customs in 2017 was taken as a starting point. In order to achieve this, a National Working Group on Expedited Shipments was created, which will report its findings to the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC). The participants also committed to drafting an implementation plan. During a visit to the Ivato International Airport, participants were able to observe operations and identify the current systems and procedures. In this context, they were also able to compare their national approach to the best practice approach as stipulated in the WCO Immediate Release Guidelines and in the WTO TFA Article 7.8. The findings of the workshop were presented to the Acting Director General of Customs, Mr. Augustin Herilala Randrianoely, as well as to Directors of the border agencies and private sector representatives. The Acting Director General underlined the importance of the technical support in order to implement the new strategies of Customs and to drive the modernization process forward. He also highlighted the need for advanced digitalization to benefit Madagascar and identified Expedited Shipments as a frontrunner in this plan. The workshop was seen as an opportunity for knowledge exchange between different stakeholders. The WCO looks forward to continuing its partnership with Malagasy Customs under the "Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme" for sustainable development and economic growth. For more information about WCO capacity building, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org. JERUSALEM/GAZA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military chief said Thursday that Israel seeks an end to the rule of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, targeting its senior leaders with days of heavy bombardment, which has caused more than 1,500 deaths in the Palestinian enclave. As massive airstrikes on Gaza killed three senior Hamas members and entered the sixth day, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar and the group's leadership "are dead men walking." The IDF said Israel would no longer allow the Gaza-ruling faction to exist as an entity with a mutual border. "Unlike other operations, we are seeking to topple Hamas," said IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari in a televised statement. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists on the border with Gaza over the past few days, raising suspicion about the possibility of a ground attack on Gaza. In six days of Israeli airstrikes against Gaza, at least 1,537 Palestinians, including 500 children and 276 women, were killed, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry. Moreover, residents in Gaza are facing worsening living conditions. The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) warned that food and water in Gaza would run out very soon, plunging the besieged enclave into "a devastating situation." "We are seeing shortages of fuel, water and electricity. We are seeing overcrowded shelters," the agency wrote in a post on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The International Committee of the Red Cross has issued a statement confirming its engagement with both Hamas and Israel in an effort to facilitate negotiations for the release of approximately 150 hostages who were abducted to Gaza days ago. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Thursday, pledging support and more weapon deliveries for Israel's efforts in combating Hamas. In a live broadcast statement, Blinken said more shipments of U.S. arms were "on the way." Earlier this week, the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, including an aircraft carrier, arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea "in order to deter any actor seeking to escalate the situation or widen this war," said the U.S. Central Command in a statement. A second U.S. aircraft carrier is heading to the Mediterranean for a "long-scheduled deployment," according to the White House on Wednesday, while a U.S. cargo plane carrying the first shipment of advanced weaponry had landed in the country. Lambasting that "Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the international community to cut ties with Hamas. Blinken also met with Israel's wartime cabinet, which brought Benny Gantz, Israel's former defense minister and leader of the center-right National Unity Party to Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition government. The cabinet was formed as the Hamas-Israel conflict was heightened. The Israeli Air Force carried out "a wave of strikes" targeting the Nukhba elite forces of Hamas, striking operational command centers used by operatives who infiltrated the communities in southern Israel on Saturday, according to a statement released by the Israeli military. Besides, Israeli missile strikes targeted both international airports in Syria's capital Damascus, and its northern province of Aleppo on Thursday, rendering the airports temporarily out of service. The Syrian army said in a statement that the attacks are diversionary tactics of Israel to shift attention away from its ongoing operations in Gaza. The attacks came as Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is scheduled to visit Syria on Friday, adding to the explosive situation in the region. Also on Thursday, occasional firing of rockets at towns and villages in southern Israel continued, sending hundreds of thousands of residents to seek shelter. At least four individuals sustained serious-to-moderate injuries, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service. The number of fatalities in Israel since the beginning of Hamas' surprise attack has reached at least 1,300, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported. Efforts to recover more bodies in southern Israel were underway, and, according to Israeli authorities, the identification process has been slow due to the condition of the bodies. YANGON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 268 schools were temporarily closed due to massive flooding in the Bago Region of southern Myanmar, U Kyaw Swar Thwin, a director-general from the Ministry of Education told Xinhua on Friday. Some schools that were less inundated have been able to reopen while others were still cleaning up the debris left behind by the floods, he added. The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) said that according to the observation on Oct. 12, the Bago River is about 2 feet above its danger level and may drop below the critical water level within 2 days. Switzerland-based Daphne Technology, a climate tech company, has unveiled a series of developments and enhancements for their innovative PureMetrics solution an advanced system designed to directly measure and report real-time GHG emissions. This approach eliminates the reliance on fuel consumption estimates, ensuring utmost accuracy and compliance with critical regulations such as the European Union Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (EU MRV) and International Maritime Organization Data Collection System (IMO DCS). Notably, PureMetrics achieved approval in principle from Lloyd's Register in June 2023 at Nor-Shipping, further solidifying its position as a game-changing solution in emissions management, said a statement. Innovative Advancements PureMetrics has been hard at work refining and expanding its capabilities to offer businesses an unparalleled solution for GHG emissions management. Following the successful commercialisation earlier this summer, the solution increases its value proposition and features to improve GHG transparency. Daphne's dedicated team has been working tirelessly to position PureMetrics as a leading GHG emission monitoring, reporting and optimisation solution, said a statement. New Features PureMetrics continues to evolve with the integration of established systems for reporting and verification. Users can now benefit from reporting to MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification) and DCR (Data Collection and Reporting) standards, ensuring compliance and transparency in emissions collection and reporting and enabling accurate estimation of the carbon intensity of goods transported by sea. Daphne Technology has released PureMetrics-Compare, which allows users to combine noon reporting fuel consumption with direct measurement against current factoring methods. This is of great benefit to users as they will assess the baseline of other emissions, such as methane slip, typically unknown to users and only known to engine makers. The feature provides users with the ability to align the period selection on a timeline. For maritime assets, users can also view the location of the assets and where the most emissions are present, either at port or sea, in a timeline or a heatmap. Finally, PureMetrics-Optimize provides insights on the operational regimes of the machinery that contribute most GHG, positioning it as the go-to solution in the industry to select the best abatement and operational profile to minimise these emissions. Pilot Installation on the Maran Gas Chios Daphne Technology announced the installation of its PureMetrics solution on the Maran Gas Chios earlier this autumn, marking a significant milestone. While still in the early stages of data collection, Daphne is confident that PureMetrics is on the cusp of revolutionising GHG emissions management in the maritime sector. End of September, PureMetrics achieved a momentous milestone by being honoured with a joint third place in the Standardised Data Innovation Challenge (SDIC), organised by Smart Maritime Network and ClassNK - Nippon Kaiji Kyokai. Furthermore, Dr Mario Michan, Founder & CEO of Daphne Technology, was also selected as one of Switzerland's Top 100 Digital Shapers of 2023. They both reflect Daphne's unwavering dedication to pioneering solutions with a specific focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As a young company, these recognitions are highly significant as PureMetrics represents their first venture into the world of digital solutions and already making its stand. TradeArabia News Service AMMAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that he "fully" rejected Israel's plan of displacing the Palestinian people in Gaza during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jordan's capital Amman, reported Jordan's state-run Petra News Agency. The Palestinian president also emphasized the need to urgently open humanitarian corridors to the Gaza Strip for the supply of medical necessities, and providing water, electricity, and fuel to the residents. Abbas cautioned about a looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to the suspension of vital services and urged an end to settler attacks in the West Bank, as well as "extremist actions" at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which are worsening the situation. He also condemned the killing or maltreatment of civilians on both sides, calling for the release of civilians, prisoners, and detainees. "We reaffirm the policy of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, which renounces violence, adheres to international legitimacy, non-violent resistance, and political action as a means to achieve our national goals of freedom and independence," Abbas stated. During the meeting, the Palestinian president also made it clear that for security and peace, it's essential to give the Palestinian people their legitimate rights and to work towards a two-state solution, where the Palestinians have their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the borders from 1967. The report did not reveal any remarks from the U.S. diplomat. ARRAS, France (AP) A man of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by French security services over suspected Islamic radicalization stabbed a teacher to death at his former high school and wounded three other people Friday in northern France, authorities said. France raised its threat alert to its highest level, and the attack was being investigated by anti-terrorism prosecutors amid soaring global tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas. It also happened almost three years after another teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded by a radicalized Chechen near a Paris area school. The suspected attacker had been under surveillance since the summer on suspicion of Islamic radicalization, French intelligence services told The Associated Press. He was detained Thursday for questioning based on the monitoring of his phone calls in recent days, but investigators found no sign that he was preparing an attack, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. There was a race against the clock. But there was no threat, no weapon, no indication. We did our our job seriously, Darmanin said on TF1 television. French intelligence suggested a link between the war in the Middle East and the suspects decision to attack, the minister said. The suspect, identified by prosecutors as Mohamed M., was reportedly refusing to speak to investigators. Several others also were in custody Friday, national counterterrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said. Police said the suspects younger brother was among those held for questioning. President Emmanuel Macron said France had been hit once again by the barbarity of Islamist terrorism. Nearly three years to the day after the assassination of Samuel Paty, terrorism has hit a school again and in a context that were all aware of, Macron said at the site of the attack in Arras, a city 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Paris. A colleague and a fellow teacher identified the dead educator as Dominique Bernard, a French language teacher at the Gambetta-Carnot school, which enrolls students ages 11-18. The victim stepped in and probably saved many lives but two of the wounded another teacher and a security guard were fighting for theirs, according to Macron. Authorities said the third person wounded worked as a cleaner at the school. The prosecutor said the alleged assailant was a former student there and repeatedly shouted Allahu akbar, or God is great in Arabic during the attack. Police officer Sliman Hamzi was one of the first on the scene. Hamzi said he was alerted by another officer, rushed to the school and saw a male victim lying on the ground outside the school and the attacker being taken away. He said the victim had his throat slit. Im extremely shocked by what I saw," the officer said. "It was a horrible thing to see this poor man who was killed on the job by a lunatic. The National Police force identified the suspect in the attack as a Russian national of Chechen origin who was born in 2003. The French intelligence services told the AP he had been closely watched since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that found no wrongdoing. Fridays attack had echoes of Patys slaying on Oct 16, 2020 also a Friday by an 18-year-old who had become radicalized. Like the suspect in Fridays stabbings, the earlier attacker had a Chechen background; police shot and killed him. Martin Doussau, a philosophy teacher at Gambetta-Carnot, said the assailant was armed with two knives and appeared to be hunting specifically for a history teacher. Paty taught history and geography. I was chased by the attacker, who ... asked me if I teach history, said Doussau, who recounted how he barricaded himself behind a door until police used a stun gun to subdue the attacker. When he turned around and asked me if I am a history teacher, I immediately thought of Samuel Paty." The school went into lockdown, and some children were held inside classrooms for hours while distraught parents gathered outside. My husband was in tears. There were a lot of people crying, a lot in a state of panic,'' said Celine Bourgeois, whose 15-year-old son, Louis, was inside. Prosecutors said they were considering charges of terror-related murder and attempted murder against the suspect. Macron visited the school, stopping for a moment before the blanket-covered body of the teacher, which was in the parking lot in front of the school, then met with students. He said police thwarted an attempted attack in another region of France after the teachers fatal stabbing. He did not provide details, but the Interior Ministry said he was referring to a man armed with a knife arrested coming out of a prayer hall in the Yvelines region west of Paris. The mans motives werent immediately clear, police said. School attacks are rare in France, and the government asked authorities to heighten vigilance at all schools across the country. The government also increased its threat alert to its highest level Friday, allowing for larger police and military deployments to protect the country. Darmanin said there was no specific threat that prompted the move, but cited calls by extremists to attack amid the Mideast war. He said authorities have detained 12 people near schools or places of worship since the Hamas attack on Israel last Saturday, some of whom were armed and were preparing to attack. France has heightened security at hundreds of Jewish sites around the country this week. The suspect's telephone conversations in recent days gave no indication of an impending attack, leading intelligence officers to conclude that the assailant decided suddenly on Friday to act, intelligence services told the AP. The suspect's father was expelled from France in 2018 for radicalism, the interior minister said. An older brother is serving a 5-year prison term for terror offences. He was convicted this year of involvement in a plot for an armed attack around the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris that was thwarted by the intelligence services. Other members of the radical Islamist group were also jailed for up to 15 years. He was the groups only Chechen. The older brother also was a former pupil at the high school targeted Friday, according to legal records from his trial earlier this year on terror-related charges. Investigation records show that during a school class in 2016 about freedom of expression, the older brother defended a terror attack in 2015 that killed 12 cartoonists at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Friday's attack came amid heightened tensions around the world over Hamas' attack on southern Israel and Israel's blistering military response, which have killed hundreds of civilians on both sides. Darmanin on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts. France is estimated to have the worlds third-largest Jewish population after Israel and the U.S., as well as the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. A moment of silence was held at the opening of a France-Netherlands soccer match Friday night to honor victims of the Israel-Hamas fighting and the slain teacher. Macron said the school in Arras would reopen as soon as Saturday morning, and he urged the people of France to stay united. The choice has been made not to give in to terror," he said. We must not let anything divide us, and we must remember that schools and the transmission of knowledge are at the heart of this fight against ignorance. Leicester reported from Paris and Petrequin from Brussels. Angela Charlton in Paris, Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Lyon and Michel Spingler in Arras, France, contributed. LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) Audio of 911 calls from a deadly August wildfire released late Thursday by Maui County authorities reveals a terrifying and chaotic scene as the inferno swept through the historic town of Lahaina and people desperately tried to escape burning homes and flames licking at cars in gridlocked traffic. The 911 calls were released to The Associated Press in response to a public record request. They cover a period from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 8 as the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, whipped by powerful winds from a passing hurricane, bore down on the town. At least 98 people were killed and more than 2,000 structures were destroyed, most of them homes, leveling a historic town that once served as the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom and a port for whaling ships. The pleas for help came one right after another. Overwhelmed dispatchers repeatedly apologized to callers at times showing careful compassion, working to soothe terrified callers. My mom and my baby are still out there, one sobbing caller told a 911 dispatcher at 4:44 p.m. They got out of their car and they headed up the street. The dispatcher coaxed the frantic woman to provide the street name where she last saw her mother and child. We have officers over there, OK? the dispatcher said. Dispatchers told some callers there was no one available to send to their location because everyone was working on the fire. At 3:33 p.m., a woman called from the Hale Mahaolu Eono group senior residence. She was one of four people left at the facility without any cars as the flames pushed closer, she told the dispatcher. Are we supposed to get evacuated? she asked the dispatcher, panic clear in her voice. OK maam, if you feel unsafe, listen to yourself and evacuate, the dispatcher replied. No emergency vehicles were available to help, the dispatcher said, because all available units were fighting the fire. The woman managed to flag down a passing car. It wasnt clear from the call what happened to the remaining people at the residence. Multiple people died at the senior home, authorities would later learn. In a call at 3:31 p.m., a woman said her daughter already called about an 88-year-old man who was left behind in their house and she wanted emergency personnel to know the sliding doors were unlocked. He would literally have to be carried out, she told the dispatcher. I just had to leave him because I had the rest of my family in the car. A dispatcher said they would update the fire department. Roughly two-third of those who died in the fire were age 60 or older. Many drivers became trapped on Front Street, surrounded on three sides by black smoke and a wall of flames. They had moments to choose whether to stay or jump into the ocean as cars exploded and burning debris fell around them. Hawaiian Electric, the states primary electric utility company, has acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui that morning. County firefighters declared the blaze contained and left, only to have the flames reemerge nearby. The county and the families of some victims have sued Hawaiian Electric, saying the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions. Another large wildfire was burning elsewhere on Maui, spreading resources thin as calls for help poured in. As the disaster in Lahaina progressed, frustrations increased. One dispatcher briefly chastised a man when he called to report his elderly parents were stuck in their burning home at 4:56 p.m. Why did they not call us direct? They should have called us direct, the dispatcher said, saying that would make it easier to find their location. She also said the man should have told them to leave the house sooner. Yes, weve been trying to tell them my dad was trying to fight the fire, the man said. The last words he said is, I love you. Were not going to make it. Authorities redacted names and addresses from the recordings to avoid releasing personally identifying information. Maui County's communication chief Mahina Martin said the county released the tapes to comply with a legal request for public records. Reliving the tragedy causes unimaginable pain and grief for survivors, their families and the families of loved ones lost that chaotic and heartbreaking day, Martin wrote in an email, and our hearts go out to them. She later continued, it is truly unfortunate that as people are beginning to heal they are faced with re-experiencing the horrific event over again as it replays on media. Dispatchers were also fielding emergency calls from outside of Lahaina, including report of violent crimes and other wildfires burning in a different part of the island. They received more than 4,500 emergency calls and texts that day, according to the Maui Police Department, including hundreds of calls during the time span requested by the AP. Normally, the dispatchers get about 1,600 calls a day. It was an extremely dynamic situation that day, in which our dispatchers adapted to the best of their abilities, Maui Police Department spokesperson Alana Pico wrote in an email. The audio clips echo a refrain heard from many Lahaina survivors: They were unable to escape, even by car, because of traffic and blocked roads. Some reported being routed onto roads that were blocked by gates. Others warned that a road south of town needed to be opened or people would die. One woman told a dispatcher that she was on Front Street and saw a house on fire, but couldn't advance. We're caught in massive traffic and we're covered in ashes and embers and there's a lot of people honking and trying to get out of the road, the caller said. At 5:25 p.m., more than two hours after the fire began consuming homes, it appeared some dispatchers still didnt have a full understanding of what was happening in the city. One dispatcher told a caller who was stuck in traffic that emergency workers were busy because Lahaina has a couple of house fires going on right now. If youre safe, you need to stay there. If youre not safe, you need to find some way to get to the ocean, she told the caller. High winds wreaked havoc the night and early morning hours before the fire. One downed power line sparked a fire in dry grass near a Lahaina subdivision around 6:30 a.m. Firefighters declared it contained a few hours later, but the flames rekindled some time between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. and soon overtook the town. Around that time, many had lost cellphone service. Power was also out across West Maui, rendering emergency warnings on social media or television stations largely futile. The islands emergency siren system another way authorities can communicate urgency in a time of danger was never activated. For some, emergency dispatchers were their only contact with the world beyond the burning town. Later even that connection was lost. Just after midnight on Aug. 9, Maui County announced on Facebook that the 911 system was down in West Maui. Instead, the county wrote, people should call the Lahaina Police Department directly. Lauer reported from Philadelphia and Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press writers Lisa Baumann and Gene Johnson in Seattle, Chris Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report. WASHINGTON (AP) The Biden administration has selected clean-energy projects from Pennsylvania to California for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, a key component of President Joe Biden's agenda to slow climate change. Biden called clean hydrogen essential to his vision of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 2050. His goal is to establish seven regional hubs to help replace fossil fuels such as coal and oil with cleaner-burning hydrogen as an energy source for vehicles, manufacturing and generating electricity. The seven hubs, which include projects in 16 states, will spur more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, many of them union positions, Biden said Friday at a cargo terminal in Philadelphia, where one of the hubs will be based. He called the announcement transformational and said it would help create a stronger, energy-secure economy'' and combat the existential threat of climate change.'' Its all part of my plan to make things in America, he said. The projects selected are based in California, Washington, Minnesota, Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Illinois. All but the California and Texas hubs include projects in multiple states. Pennsylvania has projects in two separate hubs. The infrastructure law Biden signed in 2021 included billions of dollars to develop so-called clean hydrogen, a technology that industry and clean-energy advocates have long pushed as a way to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions produced by fossil fuels. Some environmentalists call hydrogen a false solution because it frequently relies on natural gas as a fuel source. Energy companies say fossil fuels can by used if the projects capture the carbon dioxide produced and keep it out of the atmosphere, a technology that has yet to be produced at commercial scale. States and businesses have been competing for federal dollars in the new Energy Department program, which will create regional networks of hydrogen producers, consumers and infrastructure. The intent is to accelerate the availability and use of the colorless, odorless gas that already powers some vehicles and trains. Among those selected were the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, based in West Virginia, and the Philadelphia-based Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub. Pennsylvania, a battleground state of the highest importance to the Democratic president in next years election, is in line to benefit from both projects. Biden has made Philadelphia a regular stop for both official and campaign events, and partners in the proposed Philadelphia-area hub have labor unions that are key Biden supporters. The West Virginia-based hub includes major Pittsburgh-based natural gas companies that are active in the regions prolific Marcellus Shale reservoir, including natural gas producer EQT Corp., which expects its gas to flow through the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia. Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who muscled approval of the $6.6 billion pipeline through Congress in an unusual agreement with the White House this year, hailed the Appalachian hub. This means West Virginia will be the new epicenter of hydrogen in the United States of America, he said of the hub, which will receive up to $925 million in federal spending. West Virginia will be on the leading edge of building out the new hydrogen market.'' The Appalachian hub will extend to Ohio and includes a $1.6 billion facility under construction in northern Pennsylvania that is working to produce near-zero emissions hydrogen from natural gas. This is a big, big deal for ... Appalachia in particular, because these facilities are all based in areas where coal was king,'' said Perry Babb, president of KeyState, an owner and developer of the Pennsylvania site. The Mid-Atlantic hub, which includes New Jersey and Delaware, will receive $750 million and will make hydrogen through electrolysis splitting water molecules using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, as well as nuclear power. The two largest projects are in California and Texas; each will receive up to $1.2 billon. The Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems in California will produce hydrogen from renewable energy and biomass. The project is intended to provide a blueprint for decarbonizing public transportation, heavy-duty trucking and port operations key emissions drivers in the state and major sources of air pollution. In order to achieve ambitious climate goals, we have to address these intensive industries, including ports, aviation, shipping and agriculture, as well as large power plants and cement and steel plants, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday. The Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub will be centered in Houston, long the energy capital of the U.S., and plans large-scale hydrogen production from both natural gas and renewables. This historic investment will further cement Texas position as the national leader in energy and hydrogen production,'' said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The Minnesota-based Heartland hub, which includes projects in North and South Dakota, will receive $925 million as it seeks to decarbonize fertilizer used in agriculture and advance use of clean hydrogen in electric generation and for cold climate space heating. It also plans to offer equity ownership to tribal communities and local farmers. The Midwest hub in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan will receive up to $1 billion and will use hydrogen in steel and glass production, power generation, heavy-duty transportation and sustainable aviation fuel. The hub plans to use renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear energy. The Pacific Northwest hub, based in eastern Washington, will extend to Oregon and Montana and will use hydropower and other renewable resources to produce clean hydrogen. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the $1 billion hub great news for the Pacific Northwest," adding that it will create thousands of jobs and "make sure that Washington plays a leading role in growing the green hydrogen economy.'' Nearly every state had joined at least one proposed hub, and many have been working together, hoping to reap the economic development and thousands of jobs they would bring. Big fossil fuel companies, renewable energy developers and researchers in university and government labs are involved, too. Environmental groups are skeptical, arguing that while hydrogen is a clean-burning source of power, it takes a great deal of energy to produce. When its made with electricity from coal or natural gas, it has a bigger carbon footprint than simply burning the source fuel. We need strong guardrails to ensure that U.S. hydrogen does not create an emissions mess, and that we are not subsidizing hydrogen that is clean in name only, said Erik Kamrath, federal hydrogen advocate at Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. Anna Menke, senior hydrogen hubs manager at Clean Air Task Force, another environmental group, called the new hubs a critical first step'' to reduce emissions from carbon-intensive industries such as ammonia used for fertilizers and petrochemicals used in refining. New uses of hydrogen in sectors such as heavy-duty trucking, shipping and aviation are potential game changers, she said, adding: We must ensure the program delivers on these promises.'' Associated Press writers Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this story. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Unions representing 85,000 health care workers have reached a tentative agreement with industry giant Kaiser Permanente following a strike over wages and staffing levels, the parties announced Friday. The deal includes setting minimum hourly wages at $25 in California, where most of Kaiser's facilities are located, and $23 in other states. Workers will also see a 21% wage increase over four years. The ratification process is scheduled to begin next week. Both sides said they prioritized patient health care during their talks. Steve Shields, Kaisers senior vice president of labor relations, said the deal will not effect rates. The three-day strike last week involving 75,000 workers in multiple states officially ended last Saturday and workers returned to their jobs in Oakland, California-based Kaisers hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans. Union members said understaffing is boosting the hospital systems profits but hurting patients, and executives had been bargaining in bad faith during negotiations. Millions of Americans are safer today because tens of thousands of dedicated healthcare workers fought for and won the critical resources they need and that patients need, said Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, in a statement Friday. This historic agreement will set a higher standard for the healthcare industry nationwide. The tentative agreement also includes protective terms around subcontracting and outsourcing, as well as initiatives to invest in the current workforce and address the staffing crisis. The workers last contract was negotiated in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. We have an interest in helping build the health care workforce of the future, Shields said during a news briefing Friday with both sides. President Joe Biden applauded the tentative deal in a statement Friday, echoing his support for the health care unions. The president last month joined picketing United Auto Workers in Michigan on the 12th day of their strike against major carmakers, becoming the first known sitting president in U.S. history to join an active picket line. We owe a tremendous debt to health care workers and the hard-working men and women who make their work possible, Biden said Friday in a statement. Health care workers and support staff kept our hospitals and our nation going during the dark months of the pandemic. They had our backs during one of our nations toughest times. We must continue to have theirs. Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su participated in the negotiation sessions. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Friday night to raise the minimum wage for health care workers to $25 per hour over the next decade. Hospitals and labor unions agreed to the wage increase during the final weeks of the legislative session. Newsom had previously signed a law increasing the minimum wage to $20 per hour for fast food workers, which takes effect in April. Californias minimum wage for all other industries is $15.50 per hour. The Kaiser strike for three days in California, as well as in Colorado, Oregon and Washington was a last resort after the health system's executives ignored the short-staffing crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, union officials said. The coalition had given the company notice that another strike from Nov. 1 to Nov. 8 was possible and the Oct. 31 expiration of a contract covering the Seattle area would enable another 3,000 workers to join picket lines. Their goal was to bring the problems to the publics consciousness for support, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. Some 180 workers from facilities in Virginia and Washington, D.C., also picketed but only on Wednesday. The strikers include licensed vocational nurses, home health aides and ultrasound sonographers, as well as technicians in the radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments. No health care worker wants to go on strike, Lucas said Thursday. I hope that the last few days have helped escalate this issue. The company warned the work stoppage could cause delays in people getting appointments and scheduling non-urgent procedures. Unions representing Kaiser workers in August asked for a $25 hourly minimum wage, as well as increases of 7% each year in the first two years and 6.25% each year in the two years afterward. Kaiser, which turned a $2.1 billion profit for the quarter, said in a statement last week that it proposed minimum hourly wages between $21 and $23 depending on the location. The company said it also completed hiring 10,000 more people, adding to the 51,000 workers the hospital system has brought on board since 2022. NEW YORK (AP) Sam Bankman-Frieds lawyer did little to dent the credibility of the government's key witness in the former crypto mogul's fraud trial Thursday, meandering through a cross-examination of Caroline Ellison that at times left even the judge puzzled and impatient. During the prior two days of testimony, the prosecution presented Ellison as a high-level insider who had, at Bankman-Fried's direction, overseen the improper borrowing of funds from customers at the FTX crypto exchange run by Bankman-Fried. The funds often were used for investments at an affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research, that was headed by Ellison, Bankman-Fried's one-time girlfriend. Bankman-Frieds lead defense attorney, Mark Cohen, was expected to try to shift the blame for the problems at Alameda to Ellison, following up on his opening statement in the trial where he said Bankman-Fried didnt commit fraud and instead was trying to clean up a mess largely created by his lieutenants. Cohen, however, seemed to struggle in his questioning of Ellison, failing to knock any holes in her testimony. He repeatedly changed topics, changed dates of discussion, often seemingly at random. Several times, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had to ask Cohen where he was going with his questions or what exactly he was talking about. After Ellison finished testifying, prosecutors brought out a former software developer at Alameda who largely backed up what Ellison told the jury. I was utterly shocked, said Christian Drappi, who worked for a year at the crypto trading firm and was present when Ellison came clean to Alameda employees in November 2022 that the trading firm had been using FTX customer funds. Exchanges like FTX are supposed to segregate customers deposits from any bets they place in the markets. Ellison spent much of her testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday walking the jury through how she repeatedly had to tap into the customer deposits at FTX to solve problems at the hedge fund or at the exchange. FTX deposits would be withdrawn to pay for new investments or political donations, or to hide steep losses on Alamedas balance sheet, she testified. All of this was done at the direction of Bankman-Fried, she said. When the losses at Alameda became so big in November 2022, it became necessary to shut down the trading firm and sell FTX to potentially save the two entities from bankruptcy. Ellison held a all-hands meeting that week, which was recorded by an Alameda employee and given to government investigators. In those audio tapes played for the jury, Alameda employees asked Ellison whether the decision to borrow FTX customer funds was a YOLO decision, an acronym meaning you only live once," implying that it had been done impulsively. No, Ellison told employees, on those tapes. It was done over a period of years. Drappi testified he resigned 24 hours later after that meeting. Ellison, 28, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in December, when Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States from the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried, 31, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. Initially confined to his parents Palo Alto, California, home under terms of a $250 million bond, Bankman-Fried has been jailed since August after Judge Kaplan concluded that he had tried to improperly influence potential witnesses, including Ellison. __ Reporter Larry Neumeister contributed to this article. Allentown, PA (18103) Today Mostly sunny skies; a cold start, but a little milder in the afternoon compared to the last few days. . Tonight Partly cloudy and not as cold. BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of passenger trips handled by China's railways skyrocketed 111.4 percent year on year in the first eight months of this year, official data showed. About 2.61 billion passenger trips were made via the country's railways during the period, according to the Ministry of Transport. China's railway network also transported around 3.32 billion tonnes of cargo in the same period, up 0.5 percent over one year earlier. In the January-August period, fixed-asset investment in the country's railways rose 7.2 percent from the same period last year to 432 billion yuan (about 60.19 billion U.S. dollars), the data also revealed. Wyomissing native and Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone can finally put his worries to rest knowing his parents have arrived back in the U.S. from Israel. The player thanked everyone for their support in a tweet saying, "Thank you to everyone who has been saying prayers for my family and their safety. It's been a scary, anxiety filled several days but my parents are headed home safely. So many people to thank but I know this, God is good." "There was really nothing else I could do other than, you know, just keep in contact, pray and I knew they would make the right decisions to get home." Anzalone said in an interview. His parents, Sal and Judy Anzalone, were a part of a group of 50 people visiting Israel with a church group from Naples, Florida. They were in a Jerusalem hotel at the time Israel struck back against Hamas after the Islamic militant group's attack on the country Saturday. "I know they were in the bunker a few times on their hotel, but they only told me when they knew for sure they were getting out," Anzalone said. Since the attack, Anzalone has used social media platforms to spread awareness. He says he has also received help from various congressmen. "They were keeping track in making sure that they were going to get home safely and act accordingly if something happened," Anzalone said. The Biden administration said it will begin chartering flights from Israel to destinations in Europe on Friday to get Americans stranded in the country back to safety. READING, Pa. The Berks County Election board voted Thursday to set the dates of Oct. 12 through Nov. 7 as acceptable dates on mail-in ballots for the general election next month. If a ballot is undated, or is dated outside of that range, it will be considered void. Last April, the board determined that incorrectly dated ballots would not be accepted in the primary election. Election board solicitor Cody L. Kauffman said a case in November before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did not result in any substantive changes in the law on undated ballots. "However, we do need to define what we will consider to be an incorrectly dated ballot, which is a decision that was left to the county boards of elections within the subsequent opinions that were issued in (Supreme Court) matter," Kauffman said. The county started the process of mailing ballots on Thursday. In another matter, the board approved changing a polling place location in Precinct 6 in Muhlenberg Township to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 3344 Reading Crest Ave., from the former site at Riverview Christian Fellowship on Stoudts Ferry Bridge Road. Ballot preview The board also heard comments from Zelda Yoder, the secretary of the Berks County Democratic Committee, who submitted a letter from the committee requesting that representatives from each major party be permitted to review ballots before they are printed and distributed. "Anytime there's any kind of confusion on the rules or the dates, people call us frequently with confusion," Yoder said. "And after the confusion comes, (the voter says) never mind, I'm done." "As you are well aware, there have been errors on ballots," she continued. "We know that you must have a proofreading process in place, but we are requesting the ability of representatives from each major party to have a look at the ballot before it is printed or otherwise disseminated." "Personally, I'm a professional proofreader, but anybody just having extra eyeballs on it, who's familiar with the candidates' names, the dates, the election stuff would be a help," Yoder said. She said the request was being made to start with the 2024 primary election. The board did not discuss the request. W. READING, Pa. Route 422 East in West Reading was closed for more than an hour on Friday morning, Berks County officials said. According to Berks County Department watch officer Barry L. Katzin, the road was closed starting at the Penn Street Bridge to due to a "police incident." Traffic was diverted off Route 422 East to the Route 222 South exit in Wyomissing, Katzin said. Route 422 was expected to be closed for two to three hours, Berks County officials said around 9:15 a.m. Friday. However, Katzin said the road was reopened in West Reading around 10:15 a.m. A 69 News photographer observed a Berks County coroner van at the scene on Friday morning. UPDATE: Berks County coroner George Holmes released the following statement about the incident on Friday afternoon: ""A 37yo Hispanic male from Reading was pronounced deceased at 9:05 a.m. by Deputy Coroner Sarah Shivers. The decedent jumped from the Penn Street bridge in an apparent suicide. No additional information will be released today." ALLENTOWN, Pa. The Allentown School District Board of Directors approved the purchase of weapons detectors for ASD high schools during a special meeting Thursday night at the administration building. The vote was 6-3. The district said metal the detectors "add another level of security" and will reduce the risk of students, staff or visitors entering the building with a "gun, knife, bomb or other dangerous metallic item." "The use of metal detectors will serve as a warning because those visiting the building will have to be screened clear prior to entering," Brandon Pasquale, ASD's director of safety and security, said. "They will more than likely think twice about carrying a weapon or other dangerous object." Superintendent Carol Birks said Thursday night the district will also look at "emotional safety, not just physical safety," in an effort to provide a safe learning and working environment. "We have put various methods into place to provide students with support as it relates to their social-emotional wellness," Birks said. "We are also exploring other avenues, including a social-emotional learning task force in which we are working with community leaders and our team." The portable weapons detection system, under the brand name CEIA, is powered by an 1,800-watt, 10-hour battery. The unit will light and sound if an item is detected. In addition to the detectors, the purchase includes handheld security wands which are designed to detect the presence of metal. Thus, belt buckles, key chains and steel-toed shoes will set off the devices. Overall, ASD said the portable weapons detection system provides "fast and automatic screening." The project's total cost is $557,176. This includes 30 weapons detection systems, 30 base plates, 18 handheld metal detectors, 18 test pieces for calibrating weapons detection systems and in-person training. A total of 17 of the 30 systems will be assigned to William Allen High School, with five going to Louis E. Dieruff High School, six to Building 21 and two to J. Birney Crum Stadium. The district noted a total of 547 possession of weapons incidents during the 2022-23 school year. Between 2016 and 2023, a total of 245 knives and four guns were recovered at the district. Directors who opposed the detectors said it was a decision based on "fear," and proposed allocating more district resources to emotional and psychological research to combat the problem. Strategic plan In other business, directors advanced an agreement with a consultant to help ASD formulate a five-year strategic plan. The company, Insight Education Group, will help the school district to "outline objectives, strategic initiatives, guardrails, implementation plan and monitoring tools" which align to the district's agenda to "solve our challenges with student outcomes and experiences. The pact, for the 2023-24 school year, is worth $103,750. Equity, inclusivity audit In other contracts with vendors, the board forwarded a deal for an "equity and inclusivity audit." The audit will address a Office of Civil Rights compliance review which identified "the lack of equity and effectiveness" in implementing the language instruction education program. The pact, with The Howard Group, is worth $90,000. Tax rate During the finance committee meeting, the board advanced a resolution to not raise taxes above the Act 1 Index when comprising the 2024-25 budget. The district could not raise taxes above the Act 1 Index as it does not meet the baseline criteria to obtain Pennsylvania Department of Education exceptions above the approved Index. As such, the resolution states ASD will officially "opt out." ASD's Act 1 Index rate is 8.2%. The board of directors' regular board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 26. BETHLEHEM, Pa. The Bethlehem Planning Commission on Thursday approved a land development plan for a 96-room Hilton hotel on the city's Southside. Developer Steel9 proposes the Tru by Hilton for 1610 Spillman Drive. The site at the northeast corner of East Fourth Street and Lynn Avenue is a few blocks east of Wind Creek Bethlehem and near Lehigh University. "Good luck with your project," said Planner Matthew Malozi following the vote. Thursday's approval is contingent upon the applicant satisfactorily meeting the city requirements outlined in the plan's review letter and the engineer's requirement for repainting crosswalks at Lynn Avenue and Spillman Drive. The proposed hotel would be a neighbor to Candlewood Suites Bethlehem South and would share access points on the common property line, said Andy Bohl with Hanover Engineering. "It's just another hotel right next to an existing hotel in LVIP-7 Industrial Park," Bohl said. On Thursday, Bohl presented the plan to the commissioners and fielded questions about the proposed hotel. He said the plans propose 93 parking spaces. Of those, 14 are designated for compact vehicles and four for Americans with Disabilities Act spaces. Two electric vehicle spaces will be located on the east side of the building. The hotel would connect to existing utilities within Spillman Drive or already on the lot. Landscaping on the property would include 34 trees, 120 shrubs and 425 perennials or groundcover, Bohl said. The site covers 1.65 acres and was owned earlier by Lehigh Valley Industrial Park. According to Northampton County property records, Steel9 acquired the property from LVIP in 2022 for $1.05 million. The hotel would be four stories high and cover 11,021 square feet. Hilton describes the Tru brand as "midscale." According to Bohl, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission approved the plans, and a planning module has been submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Malozi said the site is served well by the sidewalk existing around the area. "The layout internally does a nice job of providing safe access for pedestrians north and south throughout the property. (We) appreciate that," said Malozi. "We were trying to access the intersection of Fourth and Lynn streets with sidewalks in anticipation of some of the guests going across the street to access fast food," Bohl said. That stretch of Fourth Street leading east toward Hellertown, an area once dominated by Bethlehem Steel Corp., has been drawing development proposals. A Sheetz convenience store is being built on the other side of Fourth Street. Also included in the city's comments was a call for a post-development traffic study within six months of opening. "It's only if there's a variant in the amount of predicted traffic," said Heller. Student housing proposal Commissioners also discussed a sketch plan submitted by real estate developer Dallas Basha for 608 Pierce St. The applicant listed on the sketch plans is Blakeworth out of Miami, and Packer Ave LLC is listed as the owner. "We are excited by putting together a new project in the south Bethlehem area," Basha said. Presenting a sketch plan allows planners to comment on a project in its early stages. The feedback later informs more concrete plans. "This is an opportunity to set the table for when this project comes back as a full land development application," Malozi explained. The sketch plan calls for five attached single-family homes for students in the city's student housing overlay zone. Each unit would offer five bedrooms and stand two and a half stories high. The units would be front-facing on Packer Avenue and offer 18 parking spots. Of the parking, the city's review letter says that because each unit offers five bedrooms, a third parking space is required on site. The property also includes an existing structure whose second and third floors are occupied by an apartment unit, and the first floor is for commercial use. In Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania State Police confirmed Thursday the deaths of two teens reported missing are homicide cases. The deaths have shocked the small community of New Philadelphia, where the bodies were found on Tuesday. Police are confirming one of the two victims was 18-year-old Hunter Mock. The other, a 16-year-old, is not being named by police at this time. Both were reported missing one to two days before the bodies were found. State police have confirmed those two bodies found in the wooded area of New Philadelphia are homicides. "The one is Hunter Mock," Trooper David Beohm, with PSP, told 69 News on Thursday. "He's 18 years old, from New Philly." Just days before, Mock was reported missing, along with 16-year-old Angelito Caraballo, who police said resided in New Philadelphia. "I cannot tell you the 16-year-old's name," Beohm said. Police are not releasing information on the second victim, a minor, but Caraballo's mother on social media did confirm her son's death. Pottsville Area School District posted on social media as well, saying the passing of Caraballo is "extremely upsetting since he attended Pottsville Area High School last school year." The district adds its counselors and administrators have been assisting students and families who need support and resources. Meanwhile, Hunter Mock's aunt, on a GoFundMe page, says her teen nephew "was found brutally murdered." She adds, "our family is devastated as you could imagine." The police are not confirming any relationship between the 16-year-old and the 18-year-old, or whether they were killed at the same time. "That's all part of the investigation," Beohm said. "I mean, this thing is still a very ongoing, fluid situation for the investigators." Beohm adds the two were found "around the same time," though investigators are not saying how the teens were killed at this time. Caraballo's mother said on social media the two were best friends. Police aren't saying whether they have any suspects. But 69 News has viewed an internal PSP document indicating police do have at least one suspect. That person is in custody on charges that are not homicide charges. Beohm says investigators believe this incident was isolated. However, he still advises residents to remain vigilant and lock their doors. "New Philadelphia is a very close-knit community," Mayor Terri Gibbons said during a lunch at Holy Cross Church Thursday afternoon. "There's people coming up talking, supporting each other here." Neighbors for days have been hoping for some information. And officials on Thursday finally gave out some answers. "For the community, I hope it gives them a little relief," Gibbons said. "I still know they're going to have some questions." The new information officially ties Mock's death to the two missing teens, last seen one to two days before the bodies were found. "I'm still feeling a little uneasy myself," Mayor Gibbons said. "I'm confident in what the police will do. And I'm going to allow that up to law enforcement to follow through." Social media posts indicate the families of the two victims will hold a funeral for the boys on Monday, Oct. 16. WASHINGTON, D.C. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded up to $750 million to develop a "hydrogen hub" in outheastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) announced Friday morning. Known as the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2), the project would include the City of Philadelphia and multiple partners throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Among these partners are the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) and the University of Pennsylvania, Casey said in a press release. "The Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub is a gamechanger for Southeastern Pennsylvania," Casey said. "This hub will bring good union jobs, economic growth, and clean energy innovation to the region." According to the press release, the funding comes from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in November 2021. That law created the DOE's "Hydrogen Hubs" program to support infrastructure developments that would advance the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier. PHILADELPHIA One Philadelphia police officer was shot dead late Thursday night and another was injured during a car break-in at Philadelphia International Airport. Police Commissioner John Stanford spoke during a news conference after 1 a.m. Friday, saying the two officers assigned to the airport were arriving at work, parking in the garage, when they exited their vehicles and observed a few individuals breaking into another vehicle within the parking garage area. The officers approached the vehicle to disrupt and investigate, Stanford said, when the suspects opened fire. One officer was struck multiple times in the upper torso. The other officer was struck in the arm. Both officers were transported to area hospitals. At 11:34 p.m. Thursday, the officer transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center was pronounced dead, Stanford said. His name is not being released until family members are notified, but Stanford said he was 50 years old with 22 years with the police department, where he spent a good portion in the 25th District before moving to the airport unit. "Heartbroken, devastated that their family member is not coming home tonight," Stanford said of the officer's wife and only child who were at the hospital. "A numb moment to again encounter something like this." The officer shot in the arm was taken to Jefferson Hospital in stable condition, Stanford said. That officer is 60 years old with 20 years of service. "We just had three officers shot last week and then this tonight, so you can imagine what we feel," Stanford said. "You can imagine what this department is going through, and quite frankly, how the city should be feeling to know that this has happened to two of the men that had served us for 20-plus years, and ultimately, one giving his life tonight for the city of Philadelphia." Stanford said an individual who was similar to the description of one of the suspects was transported around the same time by a private vehicle to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was pronounced dead. However, police cannot yet confirm whether that individual was indeed a suspect, as the investigation has just begun, Stanford said. The police commissioner said investigators will review surveillance video to confirm details about the vehicle and potential suspects to share with officers and the general public. It is not yet known whether either of the police officers was able to return fire during the shooting. Stanford said one of the officers was in full uniform, and the other officer was in partial uniform when the incident took place. UPDATE: Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry released the following statement about the incident on Friday morning: "Today, I join Pennsylvanians and the communities in Philadelphia in mourning the loss of a veteran police officer, who was shot and killed Thursday night at Philadelphia International Airport. Our thoughts are also with a second officer, and his family, who was wounded in the same incident. I want to offer my sincerest condolences to the family, colleagues, and loved ones of the officer who died a hero, bravely responding to a criminal act in progress. He gave his life doing what he had for decades prior to this tragic incident selflessly serving and defending his community from harm. We wish for healing and recovery for the second officer who has also devoted many years protecting and serving the residents of Philadelphia. May we stand together, humbled by these officers and their actions, and honor their sacrifices." LEVITTOWN, Pa. One of the innocents killed by Hamas in Israel over the weekend has ties to our area. Carol SimanTov was originally from Levittown in Bucks County, but she lived for many years in Israel. SimanTov, 70, and her dog were killed by militants in a town in southern Israel, according to various media reports, and we're told her adult son, his wife, and the couple's three young children were also murdered by militants in what was apparently a separate incident. Carol SimanTov has a sister in the Lansdale area of Montgomery County. 69 News Anchor Rob Vaughn spoke Thursday night with Carol's sister, Terri, from her home in Hatfield. "She was a wonderful sister; loved her children, her grandchildren," Terri said. Terri said her sister Carol as well as Carol's son Johnny and his wife Tamar and their three children lived on the Nir Oz kibbutz, only about a mile outside Gaza. Saturday morning, the attackers entered Nir Oz. People fled to their safe rooms. In Carol's home, she and her dog evidently tried to do the same. "She did not make it into her safe room in time, and she had her beloved dog, her puppy Boxer, and the dog was shot and she was shot as well before she could get into her safe room," Terri said. Meantime, Carol's son Johnny, inside his house on the kibbutz, got his wife Tamar and their kids twin daughters Shahar and Arbel, age 5 and their little brother Omer, age 2 into their safe room. But the attackers set the house on fire. Carol's daughter Ranae, in Tel Aviv, was getting messages from her brother Johnny, messages that took an awful turn. "They're here. They're burning us. We're suffocating. Him and his wife were shot through the window," Ranae said. "And they didn't want their children to be shot, or like that, so they decided to close the safe room," Terri said. They decided to stay in there as the smoke filled the safe room and not allow themselves or the kids to be turned over to the attackers, and that was the end. Carol SimanTov went to Israel when she was 20 and raised a family a simple life in a pastoral setting. The simmering tensions of the Holy Land are an ever-present reality in the background of their bucolic life. Now this. "The horror of it is unimaginable," Terri said, "and we just pray for peace on all sides." TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assured Israel that we have your back as he and Americas top diplomat met Friday with Israeli and Arab leaders. There was no indication the U.S. was trying to prevent an expected Israeli ground offensive into Gaza that could worsen a humanitarian crisis for the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped in the blockaded territory. The visits to the Middle East by Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken came as Israel escalated its war against Hamas militants in response to their shocking and brutal rampage last weekend. Israel demanded Friday that some 1 million civilians evacuate northern Gaza for their own safety in anticipation of the expected invasion. Palestinians did indeed begin a mass exodus toward the southern part of the besieged territory even as Hamas dismissed the evacuation as a ploy and the U.N. warned of potentially disastrous consequences of so many people fleeing. President Joe Biden noted the priority of aiding those trapped in Gaza. We cant lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do Hamas. And theyre suffering as a result as well," Biden said at an unrelated event in Philadelphia. He said he'd directed his administration to work with the governments of Israel, Egypt, Jordan and other Arab nations and the United Nations to send humanitarian relief urgently to those endangered by the war. But as he has throughout the war, Biden pledged that the U.S. would stand by Israel against a Hamas threat he called pure evil. Blinken voiced a similar message, saying at a news conference in Doha, Qatar, that although the U.S. continues to discuss with Israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians, it was also the case that any country faced with what Israel has suffered would likely do the same. No country can tolerate having a terrorist group come in, slaughter its people in the most unconscionable ways and live like that, Blinken said. What Israel is doing is not retaliation, it is defending the lives of its people. Blinken, shuttling among Saudi, Jordanian and other Arab leaders Friday after meeting with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv the day before, also heard Arab demands for aid corridors to be opened for the Palestinians trapped in Gaza and fears that any Israeli ground offensive could push countless Gaza residents into their countries. Besides his meeting in Doha with Qatar's foreign minister, Blinken met with King Abdullah of Jordan, who rules over a country with a large Palestinian population and has a vested interest in their status, and also with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who runs the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank. King Abdullah warned Blinken of any attempt to forcibly displace the Palestinians from all the Palestinian Territories or to cause their internal displacement, calling for preventing a spillover of the crisis into neighboring countries and the exacerbation of the refugee issue," Jordan's government said in a statement. Abdullah also stressed the need to open humanitarian corridors for medical aid and relief into Gaza while protecting civilians and working to end the escalation of the conflict. He appealed for international agencies to be allowed to work unhindered. Blinken discussed with the king the efforts to release all of the hostages the Hamas militants seized, as well as efforts to prevent the conflict from widening, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. Austin, meanwhile, saw firsthand some of the weapons and security assistance that Washington rapidly delivered to Israel after it was attacked. A senior defense official said the U.S. has already given Israel small diameter bombs as well as interceptor missiles for its Iron Dome air defense system and more will be delivered. Asked about the likelihood of civilian casualties in Gaza, Austin said Israel has the right to defend itself. He said he respects Israeli forces because he's worked with them over the years when he was in the military. They are professional, they are disciplined and they are focused on the right things, he told reporters after meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the Israeli War Cabinet. He also spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him, As the president said, we have your back. Austin has spoken nearly daily with Gallant and has directed the rapid shift of U.S. warships, aircraft, intelligence support and other assets to Israel and elsewhere in the region. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is already in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and a second carrier was departing Friday from Virginia, also heading to the Mediterranean. Austin declined to say if the U.S. is doing surveillance flights in the region, but the U.S. is providing intelligence and other planning assistance to the Israelis, including advice on the hostage situation. Biden earlier Friday participated in a virtual meeting with families of 14 Americans who are unaccounted for after the Hamas attacks. They have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about whats happening. Deeply, Biden told CBS' 60 Minutes on Thursday. We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behavior. Its pure barbarism. And were going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them. The White House said other participants included Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser; Roger Carstens, hostage affairs special envoy; John Bass, undersecretary of state; and Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East. In Doha, Blinken thanked Qataris for their efforts in trying to secure the release of the hostages. Mohammed Al Thani, prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, said Qatar was doing its best and progress will be determined in the next several days. Al Thani also said it was imperative to open humanitarian borders in Gaza to make sure aid can reach our Palestinian brothers in the Gaza Strip. He said civilians needed to be protected and that collective punishment is unacceptable." Blinken expressed condolences for the loss of Palestinian civilian lives in his meeting with Abbas, Miller said, and underscored that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian peoples right to dignity and self-determination and discussed ways to address the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza while Israel conducts legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism, Miller said. Blinken made a brief stop in Bahrain before ending the day in Saudi Arabia, a key player in the Arab world that has been considering normalizing ties with Israel, a U.S.-mediated process that is now on hold. He will travel to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt over the weekend. Lee reported from Amman, Jordan. Omar Akour in Amman, Will Weissert in Philadelphia and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report. JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Friday, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The visit came one day after the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, amidst major fighting between Israel and Hamas that has continued for around a week. "The security assistance will continue," Austin said at a joint press conference with Gallant, after meeting with Israeli senior defense officials at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Austin emphasized the continuous supply of military aid to Israel, including munitions and air defense interceptors, among other resources. The U.S. official also called for the immediate release of hostages being held by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) since last week. In addition, Austin also met Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi. Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also visited Israel on Friday and visited one of the cities frequently targeted by Hamas rocket fire. JERUSALEM (AP) Palestinians fled in a mass exodus Friday from northern Gaza after Israels military told some 1 million people to evacuate to the southern part of the besieged territory ahead of an expected ground invasion in retaliation for the surprise attack by the ruling Hamas militant group. The U.N. warned that evacuating almost half of crowded Gaza's population would be calamitous, and it urged Israel to reverse the unprecedented directive. As airstrikes hammered the territory throughout the day, families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City. Hamas media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people. The Israeli military said its troops conducted temporary raids into Gaza to battle militants and hunted for traces of some 150 people abducted in Hamas's assault on Israel nearly a week ago. In urging the evacuation, Israels military said it planned to target underground Hamas hideouts around Gaza City. But Palestinians and some Egyptian officials fear that Israel ultimately hopes to push Gazas people out through the southern border with Egypt. Hamas told people to ignore the evacuation order, and families in Gaza faced what they saw as a no-win decision to leave or stay, with no safe ground anywhere. Hospital staff said they couldnt abandon patients. Unrelenting Israeli strikes over the past week have leveled large swaths of neighborhoods, magnifying the suffering of Gaza, which has also been sealed off from food, water and medical supplies, and under a virtual total power blackout. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youll make it, if youre going to live, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, as she broke into heaving sobs. In the nearly week-old war, the Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that roughly 1,900 people have been killed in the territory more than half of them under the age of 18, or women. The Hamas assault last Saturday killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said. ISRAELI TROOPS MAKE FORAY INTO GAZA Israel's raid was the first word of troops entering Gaza since Israel launched its round-the-clock bombardment in retaliation for Hamas massacre of hundreds of civilians in southern Israel. A military spokesman said Israeli ground troops left after conducting the raids. The troop movements did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion. The evacuation order was taken as a further signal of an expected Israeli ground offensive, although no such decision has been announced. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border. An assault into densely populated and impoverished Gaza would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. We will destroy Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Friday night in a speech, adding, This is only the beginning. Hamas said Israels airstrikes killed 13 of the hostages in the past day. It said the dead included foreigners but did not give their nationalities. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied the claim. In Israel, the public remained in shock over the Hamas rampage and frightened by continual rocket fire out of Gaza. The public is overwhelmingly in favor of the military offensive, and Israeli TV stations have set up special broadcasts with slogans like together we will win and strong together. Their reports focus heavily on the aftermath of the Hamas attack and stories of heroism and national unity, and they make scant mention of the unfolding crisis in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported 16 Palestinians killed Friday, bringing the total of Palestinians killed there since Hamas' rampage to 51. The U.N. says attacks by Israeli settlers have surged there since the Hamas assault. ISRAEL URGES MASS EVACUATION OF GAZA CIVILIANS The U.N. said the Israeli military's call for civilians to move south affects 1.1 million people. If carried out, that would mean the territorys entire population would have to cram into the southern half of the 40-kilometer (25-mile) strip. An Israeli spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, said the military would take extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians and that residents would be allowed to return when the war is over. Israel has long accused Hamas of using Palestinians as human shields. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel wanted to separate Hamas militants from the civilian population. So those who want to save their life, please go south, he said at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it would be impossible to stage such an evacuation without devastating humanitarian consequences. He called on Israel to rescind any such orders. PALESTINIANS IN GAZA GRAPPLE WITH WHERE TO GO Hamas media office said airstrikes hit cars in three locations as they headed south from Gaza City, killing 70 people. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike. Two witnesses reported a strike on fleeing cars near the town of Deir el-Balah, south of the evacuation zone and in the area Israel told people to flee to. Fayza Hamoudi said she and her family were driving from their home in the north when the strike hit some distance ahead on the road and two vehicles burst into flames. A witness from another car on the road gave a similar account. Why should we trust that theyre trying to keep us safe? Hamoudi said, her voice choking. They are sick. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the strike. Hamas called the evacuation order psychological warfare aimed at breaking Palestinian solidarity and urged people to stay. But there was no sign of it preventing the flight. Gaza City resident Khaled Abu Sultan at first didnt believe the evacuation order was real, and now isnt sure whether to move his family to the south. We dont know if there are safe areas there, he said. We dont know anything. Many feared they would not be able to return or would be gradually displaced to Egypts Sinai Peninsula. More than half of the Palestinians in Gaza are the descendants of refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, when hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from what is now Israel. For many, the mass evacuation order dredged up fears of a second expulsion. Already, at least 423,000 people nearly 1 in 5 Gazans have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the U.N. said Thursday. Where is the sense of security in Gaza? Is this what Hamas is offering us? said one resident, Tarek Mraish, standing by an avenue as vehicles flowed by. What has Hamas done to us? It brought us catastrophe, he said, using the same Arabic word nakba used for the 1948 displacement. The U.N. estimated that tens of thousands had fled homes in the north by Friday night. HOSPITALS STRUGGLE WITH PATIENTS Gazas Health Ministry said it was impossible to safely transport the many wounded from hospitals, which are already struggling with high numbers of dead and injured. We cannot evacuate hospitals and leave the wounded and sick to die, spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said. Farsakh, of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said some medics refused to abandon patients and instead called colleagues to say goodbye. We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals, she said. Al Awda Hospital was struggling to evacuate dozens of patients and staff after the military contacted it and told it to do so by Friday night, said the aid group Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, which supports the facility. The military extended the deadline to Saturday morning, it said. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said it would not evacuate its schools, where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma. The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse, said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWAs commissioner general. Pressed by reporters on whether the army would protect hospitals, U.N. shelters and other civilian locations, Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, said the military would keep civilians safe as much as we can. But he warned: Its a war zone. Shurafa reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip, and Lederer from Chicago. Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss in Jerusalem, Samya Kullab in Baghdad, Samy Magdy in Cairo, and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report. JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas as the army prepares for an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu delivered the threat in a nationally televised address late Friday. Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes since Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented cross-border attack last Saturday, killing over 1,300 people in a brutal rampage. Early Friday, Israel ordered half of Gazas population to evacuate their homes. This is just the beginning, Netanyahu said. We will end this war stronger than ever. We will destroy Hamas, he added, saying Israel has widespread international support for the operation. Mass exodus as Palestinians flee Palestinians fled in a mass exodus from northern Gaza Friday after Israels military told some 1 million people to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory, an unprecedented order ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group. The U.N. warned that telling almost half the Gaza population to flee en masse would be calamitous, and it urged Israel to reverse the order. Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with blankets and possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City, the biggest city, as airstrikes continued to hammer the territory. Hamas media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people. Israels military said that its troops had entered Gaza on temporary raids to battle militants and hunt for traces of some 150 people abducted in Hamas' brutal surprise attack nearly a week ago. In urging the evacuation, Israels military said it planned to target underground Hamas hideouts around Gaza City. Separately, Palestinians and some Egyptian officials fear Israel wants to push Gazas people out through the southern border with Egypt. Hamas told people to ignore the evacuation order, but some Palestinians hesitated to leave out of fear that nowhere was safe in the tiny territory. Gaza is sealed off from food, water and medical supplies and under a virtual total power blackout. Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if youll make it, if youre going to live, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, as she broke into heaving sobs. The Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that roughly 1,800 people have been killed in the territory more than half of them under the age of 18, or women. Hamas assault last Saturday killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said. The week-old war has sent tensions soaring across the region. Israel has traded fire in recent days with Lebanons Hezbollah militant group, sparking fears of an ever wider conflict, though that frontier is currently calm. Weekly Muslim prayers brought protests across the Middle East. Israeli raid goes into Gaza Israel's raid was the first word of troops entering Gaza since Israel launched its round-the-clock bombardment in retaliation for Hamas attack, in which militant fighters massacred hundreds in southern Israel and snatched some 150 people to Gaza as hostages. A military spokesman said that after Israeli ground troops conducted their raids in Gaza on Friday, they then left. The moves did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion. But the evacuation order was taken as a a further signal of an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though no such decision has been announced. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border. Hamas said Israels airstrikes killed 13 of the hostages in the past day. It said the dead included foreigners but did not give their nationalities. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied the claim, telling Al-Jazeera Arabic, We have our own information. In Israel, the public remained in shock over the Hamas rampage and frightened by continual rocket fire out of Gaza. The public is overwhelmingly in favor of the military offensive, and Israeli TV stations have set up special broadcasts with slogans like together we will win and strong together. Their reports focus heavily on the aftermath of the Hamas attack, stories of heroism and national unity, and they make scant mention of the unfolding crisis in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported 16 Palestinians killed Friday in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total of West Bank Palestinians killed since Hamas' rampage to 51. The U.N. says attacks by Israeli settlers have surged there since the Hamas assault. Gaza pounded relentlessly since Hamas attacks Weekly Muslim prayers brought protests across the Middle East, and tensions ran high in Jerusalem's Old City. The Islamic endowment that manages a flashpoint holy site in the city, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, said Israeli authorities barred all Palestinian men under the age of 50 from entering. Israel has bombarded Gaza round-the-clock since Hamas' attack, in which its fighters massacred hundreds in southern Israel and snatched some 150 people to Gaza as hostages. A military spokesman said that after Israeli ground troops conducted their raids in Gaza on Friday, they then left. The moves did not appear to be the beginning of an expected ground invasion. Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border since last Saturdays deadly incursion by Hamas militants. Hamas said Israels airstrikes killed 13 of the hostages in the past day. It said the dead included foreigners but did not give their nationalities. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denied the claim, telling Al-Jazeera Arabic, We have our own information. Israel said Thursday it would allow no supplies into Gaza until Hamas frees the hostages. Israel urges mass evacuation of Gaza civilians The military urged civilians in Gazas north to move south an order that the U.N. said affects 1.1 million people. If carried out, that would mean the territorys entire population cramming into roughly the southern half of the 40 kilometer (25 mile) long strip. Israel said it needed to target Hamas military infrastructure, much of which is buried deep underground. Another spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, said the military would take extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians and that residents would be allowed to return when the war is over. Hamas militants operate in civilian areas, where Israel has long accused them of using Palestinians as human shields. The camouflage of the terrorists is the civil population, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Therefore, we need to separate them. So those who want to save their life, please go south. But U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it would be impossible to stage such an evacuation without devastating humanitarian consequences. He called on Israel to rescind any such orders, saying they could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. Palestinians in Gaza grapple with nowhere to go Many Palestinians in Gaza still struggled with indecision, not knowing whether to leave or stay. Gaza City resident Khaled Abu Sultan at first didnt believe the evacuation order was real, and now isnt sure whether to evacuate his family to the south. We dont know if there are safe areas there, he said. We dont know anything. Another family contacted friends and relatives in southern Gaza seeking shelter, but then changed their minds. Many expressed concern they would not be able to return or be gradually displaced to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. More than half of the Palestinians in Gaza are the descendants of refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, when hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from what is now Israel. For many, the mass evacuation order dredged up fears of a second expulsion. Already, at least 423,000 people nearly one in five Gazans have been forced from their homes by Israeli airstrikes, the U.N. said Thursday. Where is the sense of security in Gaza? Is this what Hamas is offering us? said one resident, Tarek Mraish, standing by an avenue as vehicles flowed by. What has Hamas done to us? It brought us catastophe, he said, using the same Arabic word nakba used for the 1948 displacement. The U.N. estimated that tens of thousands had fled homes in the north by Friday night. Hospitals struggle with patients Gazas Health Ministry said it was impossible to evacuate the many wounded from hospitals, which are already struggling with high numbers of dead and injured. We cannot evacuate hospitals and leave the wounded and sick to die, spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said. Farsakh, of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said some medics were refusing to abandon patients and were instead calling colleagues to say goodbye. We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals, she said. Al Awda Hospital was struggling to evacuate dozens of patients and staff after the military contacted it and told it do so by Friday night, said the aid group Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, which supports the facility. The military extended the deadline to Saturday morning, it said. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, also said it would not evacuate its schools, where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma. The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse, said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWAs commissioner general. Israel says responsibility in Gaza lies with Hamas Pressed by reporters on whether the army would protect hospitals, U.N. shelters and other civilian locations, Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, warned, Its a war zone. Hagari added: If Hamas prevents residents from evacuating, the responsibility lies with them. The U.N. had said the evacuation order it received gave Palestinians 24 hours to move, but the military told the AP there was no formal deadline. Clive Baldwin a senior legal adviser at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said ordering a million people in Gaza to evacuate, when theres no safe place to go, is not an effective warning." The roads are rubble, fuel is scarce, and the main hospital is in the evacuation zone, he said. "World leaders should speak up now before it is too late. Egypt has been alarmed by the potential of tens of thousands of Palestinians flooding out of Gaza into its Sinai Peninsula. It has moved thousands of security forces toward the border to prevent a breach, a senior Egyptian security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. At the same time, it is trying to negotiate entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Egypts Rafah crossing, the only entry not controlled by Israel, has been closed because of airstrikes. The evacuation order was taken as a further signal of an already expected Israeli ground offensive, though no such decision has been announced. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. His government is under intense public pressure to topple the group rather than merely bottle it up in Gaza as it has for years. A visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, along with shipments of weapons, offered a powerful green light for Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation. Defense Secretary Austin, who met with Israeli leaders Friday, reiterated the United States ironclad support for Israel, saying military assistance would flow in at the speed of war. Still, a ground offensive in densely populated and impoverished Gaza would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting. Israeli shelling along Lebanon border kills 1 journalist, wounds 6 An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon on Friday, killing a Reuters videographer and injuring six other journalists. An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car. We are deeply saddened to tell you that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the Reuters news agency said in a statement. The agency added that Abdallah was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon that was providing a live signal. Reuters said that two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area. Qatars Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded. Frances international news agency, Agence France-Presse, said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in a statement condemned Israel's shelling that struck the journalists during its aggression on southern Lebanon. BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Thursday talked with Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim, chief advisor of the Presidency of Brazil, on the phone, exchanging views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Wang, also director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, said that China and Brazil are both major developing countries and emerging markets, and have been maintaining communication and coordination on strategic issues of common concern. China is willing to work with Brazil to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state and jointly lift the China-Brazil comprehensive strategic partnership to new levels constantly. They also exchanged views on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Amorim said that as the rotating president of the UN Security Council for the month of October, Brazil will host an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Friday, adding that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has issued an open letter calling on Israel to stop its air strikes and protect children. Amorim added that the key to resolving the conflict is to resume peace talks, and Brazil is willing to closely coordinate with China to jointly de-escalate the situation. Noting that China is deeply saddened by the rising tension between the Palestinians and Israel and the huge civilian casualties, Wang said China opposes acts that harm civilians and condemns violations of international law. China calls on all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate regional tensions as soon as possible and prevent further expansion of the conflict, Wang said, adding that the top priority is to ensure the safety of civilians, and open corridors for aid so as to avoid a serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Pointing out that the Palestinian issue is the core of the Middle East issue, Wang said the crux of the matter is that justice has not been done to the Palestinian people. This conflict once again proved in an extremely tragic manner that the way to solve the Palestinian issue lies in resuming genuine peace talks as soon as possible and realizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation, he added. Wang said China calls for a more authoritative and influential international peace conference as soon as possible to push the international community to reach a broader consensus based on the "two-state solution" and formulate a timetable and road map for it. Noting that the United Nations has the responsibility and obligation to play its due role on the Palestinian issue, he said China supports the Security Council in holding an emergency meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, agrees to focus on humanitarian concerns, clearly calls for practical measures to a ceasefire, an end to violence, protection of civilians, and the formation of a binding international consensus. Wang stressed that China is willing to maintain communication, coordination and close cooperation with Brazil and relevant parties in this regard. Wits leads IUPAP Working Group on Climate Action Two Wits academics lead international working group on physics for climate action and sustainable development The Dean of the Wits Faculty of Science, Prof. Nithaya Chetty, has been appointed as the Chair of the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Working Group on Physics for Climate Action and Sustainable Development, and Visiting Professor Igle Gledhill from the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering is serving as its secretary. These appointments, effective for an initial three-year term, were confirmed during the IUPAP General Assembly held on 9 October 2023 in Geneva. Chetty also serves as the Vice-President of the Union responsible for membership and development and oversees the global development of physics. Both Chetty and Gledhill are previous presidents of the South African Institute of Physics. Issues around climate change are set to grow in the coming years. These challenges are intimately connected with the need for energy security and sustainability of the environment, and if not addressed will impact negatively on poverty, inequality, mass migration, and the human condition, says Chetty. These are global problems that require a global effort, and a more focused quest for the green economy. He adds: This is a multidisciplinary endeavour involving the basics sciences like physics, chemistry, mathematics, computing, engineering, human and social sciences, law and health sciences. This terrain is fraught with political influences, and it is essential to carefully differentiate between academic discourse on the one hand and political discourse on the other, and between climate action and climate activism. It is noteworthy that Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi were awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for providing the basis for current climate models and for helping sound an early alarm on human-caused climate change. This highlights the importance of basic sciences for sustainable development which has been celebrated with the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development in 2022/23 whose proposal at the UN was led by the IUPAP. Read the statement on the global green economysigned by national physical societies around the globe. Chetty says that the working group's primary objectives include promoting the distinct role of physics in addressing climate change and the energy transition. It aims to achieve this by: advocating for an evidence-based approach to climate studies and the energy transition, collaborating closely with experts from various fields, establishing robust global connections to engage the public in discussions on these vital topics, and encouraging the integration of green economy and sustainability principles into university curricula and research training. The working group, comprising of experts from around the world, will offer recommendations to the Executive Council of the IUPAP on actionable measures, tasks, and statements. Over the next three years, it plans to organise at least one significant international conference. The group is also committed to active participation in initiatives related to the United Nations' International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development, declared in August 2023, an initiative also led at the UN by the IUPAP. Amongst other initiatives, our discussions revolve around the formulation of a comprehensive programme aimed at enhancing the field of physics in the Pacific Island nations, says Chetty. It is crucial to underline that one of IUPAP's core missions is the global advancement of physics. However, we hold concerns that island nations and economically disadvantaged countries, especially African countries, will disproportionately bear the brunt of the myriad challenges confronting humanity in this coming decade. Given that physics serves as a pioneering discipline, it becomes imperative that we foster its growth in these regions. This, in turn, forms the bedrock for the advancement of science, resulting in a deeper comprehension of societal issues and a more profound commitment to collaboratively devising solutions. Prof. Rudolph Erasmus, the current president of the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP) and associate professor in the School of Physics at Wits also attended the recent IUPAP meeting, supporting the resolutions of the working group. He congratulated Chetty and Gledhill on their appointments and proffered his full support of the Institute for the working groups activities. He says: I hope to see Climate Physics as a recognised sub-field at South African universities in the near future. South Africa is a founding member of the IUPAP, having been one of only 13 countries that formed the IUPAP 101 years ago, and has a record of being a strong voice in the IUPAP for the development of physics around the globe, a matter of strategic importance for the IUPAP. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC Free Report) by 2.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,860 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 440 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plcs holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies were worth $2,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MMC. Markel Corp increased its position in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.5% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 618,800 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $105,456,000 after acquiring an additional 9,300 shares during the period. United Bank increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 7,580 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 1.9% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 37,526 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $6,395,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 43.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,188 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 8.5% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,066 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.64% of the companys stock. Get Marsh & McLennan Companies alerts: Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies In related news, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.90, for a total value of $584,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 63,012 shares in the company, valued at $12,281,038.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Marsh & McLennan Companies news, CEO Dean Michael Klisura sold 12,976 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.20, for a total value of $2,493,987.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,023,707. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Oscar Fanjul sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.90, for a total transaction of $584,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 63,012 shares of the companys stock, valued at $12,281,038.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders. Marsh & McLennan Companies Price Performance Shares of MMC opened at $190.93 on Friday. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.13 and a fifty-two week high of $199.20. The company has a market capitalization of $94.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.08. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a net margin of 15.20% and a return on equity of 33.69%. The business had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year. Marsh & McLennan Companies Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 6th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Marsh & McLennan Companiess payout ratio is currently 43.36%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts recently commented on MMC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Marsh & McLennan Companies in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. They set a buy rating and a $226.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Marsh & McLennan Companies from $197.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $198.36. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MMC Marsh & McLennan Companies Profile (Free Report) Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc, a professional services company, provides advice and solutions to clients in the areas of risk, strategy, and people worldwide. It operates in two segments, Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting. The Risk and Insurance Services segment offers risk management services, such as risk advice, risk transfer, and risk control and mitigation solutions, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking, strategic advisory services, and analytics solutions; and insurance program management services. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MMC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Marsh & McLennan Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Marsh & McLennan Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Free Report) by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,816 shares of the companys stock after selling 9,826 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the companys stock worth $21,248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,324 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.2% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the companys stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the companys stock valued at $141,690,000 after acquiring an additional 89,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $498,000. 58.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Altria Group alerts: Altria Group Stock Down 0.8 % Shares of NYSE MO opened at $42.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.91 and a 52-week high of $51.57. The businesss 50 day moving average is $43.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.55. Altria Group Increases Dividend Altria Group ( NYSE:MO Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $1.31. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 225.61% and a net margin of 27.40%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.28%. This is a positive change from Altria Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 102.89%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research firms recently commented on MO. StockNews.com began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $40.40 to $39.20 and set a sell rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $47.60. Read Our Latest Report on Altria Group Altria Group Company Profile (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. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least three Yemeni government soldiers were killed and several more injured in a Houthi drone strike in the country's northern province of Saada, a military official told Xinhua on Friday. The local military official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the drone attack targeted a military site of the government forces in the Almalaheeth area west of Saada province late Thursday night. He confirmed that the Houthi-launched attack killed three soldiers of the 63rd Infantry Brigade stationed in the region and injured several others. Over the past week, Houthi forces have intensified operations against government troops in various areas of the war-ravaged Arab country using bombs, snipers, and drones, according to the official. Almalaheeth lies near the Saudi Arabian border and was recaptured from the Houthis by government forces in May 2018. It remains an active frontline in the ongoing conflict between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the rebels. Saada province is considered the heartland of the Houthi rebel group, which has controlled the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and much of the north since late 2014. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in the conflict in support of the Yemeni government in 2015. The years-long war brought the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of collapse, causing famine and widespread suffering and leaving millions without access to adequate nutrition. Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $195.44. Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $202.00 to $192.00 in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $192.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, Colliers Securities upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $202.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Get AvalonBay Communities alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on AVB AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance Shares of AVB opened at $176.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities has a 52-week low of $153.07 and a 52-week high of $198.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.39. The company has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.93. AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $690.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $675.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 46.32% and a return on equity of 11.01%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a $1.65 dividend. This represents a $6.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. AvalonBay Communitiess dividend payout ratio is currently 74.24%. Insider Activity In related news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 3,331 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.25, for a total value of $620,398.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,558 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,177.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clarius Group LLC grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% during the second quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. BOS Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the first quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.0% in the second quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 1,250 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.9% in the second quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 3,347 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.1% in the second quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 941 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.71% of the companys stock. AvalonBay Communities Company Profile (Get Free Report As of June 30, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 294 apartment communities containing 88,659 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development and one community was under redevelopment. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. Read More Receive News & Ratings for AvalonBay Communities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AvalonBay Communities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Oppenheimer from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the auto parts companys stock. A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BWA. Bank of America raised shares of BorgWarner from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. Nomura lowered shares of BorgWarner from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of BorgWarner from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Nomura Instinet reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of BorgWarner in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of BorgWarner from $58.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $51.48. Get BorgWarner alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on BWA BorgWarner Price Performance BWA opened at $39.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. BorgWarner has a 52-week low of $31.55 and a 52-week high of $51.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.48. The company has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.42. BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The auto parts company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. BorgWarner had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 15.45%. On average, analysts expect that BorgWarner will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On BorgWarner Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BWA. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in BorgWarner by 100,784.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 260,453,189 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $12,738,765,000 after acquiring an additional 260,195,018 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of BorgWarner during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $161,247,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BorgWarner by 1,080.8% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,956,068 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $19,773,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705,713 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BorgWarner during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,430,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BorgWarner by 351.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,679,073 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $131,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.35% of the companys stock. BorgWarner Company Profile (Get Free Report) BorgWarner Inc provides solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles worldwide. It offers turbochargers, eBoosters, eTurbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, smart remote actuators, powertrain sensors, canisters, cabin heaters, battery modules and systems, battery packs, battery heaters, and battery charging. See Also Receive News & Ratings for BorgWarner Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BorgWarner and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $72.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Morgan Stanleys price target suggests a potential upside of 21.77% from the companys previous close. A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on BYD. StockNews.com started coverage on Boyd Gaming in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $76.75. Get Boyd Gaming alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on Boyd Gaming Boyd Gaming Stock Down 0.9 % Shares of BYD stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $59.13. 56,625 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 835,057. The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $63.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.24. Boyd Gaming has a 1 year low of $50.51 and a 1 year high of $73.00. Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $916.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $910.59 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 19.61% and a return on equity of 41.56%. Boyd Gamings revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. Research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.33 EPS for the current year. Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 735 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.02, for a total value of $49,994.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,212 shares of the companys stock, valued at $286,500.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 735 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.02, for a total transaction of $49,994.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,212 shares in the company, valued at $286,500.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider William S. Boyd sold 40,207 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $2,634,764.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,680,003 shares in the company, valued at $634,330,596.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 169,681 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,921 in the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the third quarter valued at about $565,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 14,627 shares of the companys stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 4,164 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $311,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.2% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 428,148 shares of the companys stock valued at $29,703,000 after acquiring an additional 21,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the second quarter worth approximately $2,976,000. 67.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Boyd Gaming (Get Free Report) Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It operates through three segments: Las Vegas Locals, Downtown Las Vegas, and Midwest & South. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Boyd Gaming Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boyd Gaming and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Limited (OTCMKTS:BDWBF Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,128,500 shares, an increase of 61.6% from the September 15th total of 2,554,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2,293.6 days. Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Stock Performance OTCMKTS BDWBF opened at $1.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.52. Budweiser Brewing Company APAC has a one year low of $1.86 and a one year high of $3.16. Get Budweiser Brewing Company APAC alerts: About Budweiser Brewing Company APAC (Get Free Report) Further Reading Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Limited, an investment holding company, produces, imports, markets, distributes, and sells beer and other non-beer beverages primarily in China, South Korea, India, Vietnam, and the other Asia Pacific regions. The company offers a portfolio of beer brands, including Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona, Hoegaarden, Cass, and Harbin. Receive News & Ratings for Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Budweiser Brewing Company APAC and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (NYSEARCA:SPLV Free Report) by 16.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 49,361 shares of the companys stock after selling 9,548 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLCs holdings in Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF were worth $3,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF by 79.0% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,458,513 shares of the companys stock worth $91,011,000 after purchasing an additional 643,711 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF by 117.2% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 79,254 shares of the companys stock worth $5,317,000 after purchasing an additional 539,472 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF by 333.2% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 525,904 shares of the companys stock worth $32,816,000 after purchasing an additional 404,517 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF in the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,142,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF by 93.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 751,388 shares of the companys stock worth $48,014,000 after purchasing an additional 363,700 shares during the period. Get Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF alerts: Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF Stock Up 0.7 % SPLV stock traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.70. The companys stock had a trading volume of 384,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,362,436. Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF has a 12 month low of $57.17 and a 12 month high of $66.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.95. Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF Company Profile The Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (SPLV) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P 500 Low Volatility index. The fund tracks a volatility-weighted index of the 100 least-volatile stocks in the S&P 500. SPLV was launched on May 5, 2011 and is managed by Invesco. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SPLV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (NYSEARCA:SPLV Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC Free Report) by 38.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,008 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 15,948 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.s holdings in Centene were worth $3,845,000 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 399,332 shares of the companys stock worth $26,935,000 after purchasing an additional 7,115 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 14,192 shares of the companys stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817 shares during the period. EA Series Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,368,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Centene by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 112,694 shares of the companys stock worth $7,601,000 after purchasing an additional 8,362 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $233,000. 90.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Centene alerts: Centene Stock Performance Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $70.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.52. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $66.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.65. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $87.84. Analysts Set New Price Targets Centene ( NYSE:CNC Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.05. Centene had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 1.83%. The business had revenue of $37.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. Centenes revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Several research firms recently commented on CNC. UBS Group began coverage on Centene in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. They issued a neutral rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Centene from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Centene from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Centene from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Centene from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the company from $79.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $83.22. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CNC Centene Company Profile (Free Report) Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. It operates in two segments, Managed Care and Specialty Services. The Managed Care segment offers health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children's health insurance program, long-term services and support, foster care, and medicare-medicaid plans, which cover dually eligible individuals, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Centene Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Centene and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Piper Sandler from $86.00 to $75.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the financial services providers stock. SCHW has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $64.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $46.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $70.03. Get Charles Schwab alerts: View Our Latest Report on Charles Schwab Charles Schwab Stock Performance Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $51.51 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.01. Charles Schwab has a 52 week low of $45.00 and a 52 week high of $86.63. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.15% and a return on equity of 27.54%. Charles Schwabs revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Charles Schwab will post 3.23 EPS for the current year. Charles Schwab Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th were paid 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 1.94%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 72,047 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.66, for a total transaction of $4,802,653.02. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,748,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,982,837,543.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 72,047 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.66, for a total transaction of $4,802,653.02. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,748,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,982,837,543.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 75,760 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $5,045,616.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,672,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,974,207,014.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,599 shares of company stock valued at $10,542,469 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cloverfields Capital Group LP increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 11.5% during the first quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP now owns 50,785 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 5,246 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 39.4% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,007 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,328,000 after buying an additional 7,073 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.0% during the second quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,729 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 372.9% during the second quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,475 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,387,000 after buying an additional 19,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,668 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 4,618 shares in the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Charles Schwab (Get 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. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. China Feihe Limited (OTCMKTS:CFEIY Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 300 shares, a decline of 40.0% from the September 15th total of 500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. China Feihe Stock Performance Shares of OTCMKTS:CFEIY opened at $5.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $6.02 and a 200-day moving average of $6.40. China Feihe has a 12 month low of $5.35 and a 12 month high of $10.27. Get China Feihe alerts: China Feihe Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.1376 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 8th. About China Feihe China Feihe Limited, an investment holding company, produces and sells infant milk formula products in Mainland China and the United States. The company provides a range of raw milk, adult milk powders, liquid milk products, and health care products, as well as soybean powder and goat milk powder. It is also involved in the retail of vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other nutritional supplements. Read More Receive News & Ratings for China Feihe Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Feihe and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Suzano (NYSE:SUZ 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 Suzano to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and valuation. Risk & Volatility Suzano has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Suzanos rivals have a beta of 1.31, meaning that their average stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Get Suzano alerts: Institutional & Insider Ownership 2.6% of Suzano shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of shares of all Paper mills companies are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of shares of all Paper mills companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Earnings & Valuation Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Suzano $9.65 billion $4.53 billion 3.25 Suzano Competitors $5.61 billion $686.61 million 29.26 This table compares Suzano and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Suzano has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. Suzano 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. Analyst Ratings This is a summary of current recommendations for Suzano and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Suzano 0 0 1 0 3.00 Suzano Competitors 113 719 474 50 2.34 As a group, Paper mills companies have a potential upside of 30.29%. Given Suzanos rivals higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Suzano has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. Profitability This table compares Suzano and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Suzano 47.44% 64.65% 17.21% Suzano Competitors 7.59% 18.89% 6.66% Dividends Suzano pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Suzano pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Paper mills companies pay a dividend yield of 4.0% and pay out 76.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Suzano has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Summary Suzano beats its rivals on 8 of the 15 factors compared. Suzano Company Profile (Get Free Report) Suzano S.A. produces and sells eucalyptus pulp and paper products in Brazil and internationally. It operates through Pulp and Paper segments. The company offers coated and uncoated printing and writing papers, paperboards, tissue papers, and market and fluff pulps; and lignin. It also engages in the research, development, and production of biofuel; operation of port terminals; power generation and distribution business; commercialization of equipment and parts; industrialization, commercialization, and exporting of pulp and standing wood; road freight transport; biotechnology research and development; and commercialization of paper and computer materials. In addition, the company is involved in the business office, production packaging, and financial fundraising activities; research, development, production, commercialization, and distribution of wood-based textile fibers, yarns, and filaments produced from cellulose and microfibrillated cellulose; and research and development of wood raw materials for the textile industry. Suzano S.A. was formerly known as Suzano Papel e Celulose S.A. and changed its name to Suzano S.A. in April 2019. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Salvador, Brazil. Receive News & Ratings for Suzano Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Suzano and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its position in shares of Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY Free Report) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,397 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after purchasing an additional 1,971 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA owned 0.30% of Getty Realty worth $4,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GTY. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Getty Realty by 145.1% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,033,521 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $73,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203,892 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Getty Realty by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,718,000 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $133,960,000 after purchasing an additional 951,649 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Getty Realty by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,424,150 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $124,802,000 after purchasing an additional 639,883 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Getty Realty by 320.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 544,680 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $5,534,000 after purchasing an additional 415,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Getty Realty during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,017,000. 83.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Getty Realty alerts: Getty Realty Stock Performance Shares of NYSE GTY opened at $27.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.88. The firms 50-day moving average price is $29.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.35. Getty Realty Corp. has a 52-week low of $26.40 and a 52-week high of $36.49. Getty Realty Announces Dividend Getty Realty ( NYSE:GTY Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $43.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $43.09 million. Getty Realty had a return on equity of 8.51% and a net margin of 39.48%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Getty Realty Corp. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 28th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 27th. Getty Realtys payout ratio is 124.64%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Getty Realty in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $33.40. Read Our Latest Stock Report on GTY Getty Realty Company Profile (Free Report) Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GTY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Getty Realty Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Getty Realty and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Foreign tea traders attending an international tea industry fair in China's Xiamen expressed optimism about the business potentials in the Chinese market. Produced by Xinhua Global Service AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its position in Denbury Inc. (NYSE:DEN Free Report) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,692 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,658 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plcs holdings in Denbury were worth $2,302,000 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 DEN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Denbury by 6.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 246,267 shares of the companys stock valued at $19,349,000 after purchasing an additional 15,895 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Denbury in the first quarter valued at about $294,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Denbury by 18.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 48,139 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,783,000 after purchasing an additional 7,639 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Denbury by 54.9% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,412 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,232,000 after purchasing an additional 10,072 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Denbury by 16.3% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,410 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. Get Denbury alerts: Denbury Trading Down 0.0 % Shares of DEN opened at $89.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.50. Denbury Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.33 and a 1-year high of $100.65. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 2.53. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Denbury ( NYSE:DEN Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.17). Denbury had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $328.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $345.83 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Denbury Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year. A number of brokerages have issued reports on DEN. Johnson Rice cut shares of Denbury from an accumulate rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Denbury in a report on Thursday, June 15th. They issued a neutral rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Denbury from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Capital One Financial cut shares of Denbury from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Denbury from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $95.50. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on DEN About Denbury (Free Report) Denbury Inc operates as an independent energy company in the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions. It holds interests in various oil and natural gas properties located in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana in the Gulf Coast region; and in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming in the Rocky Mountain region. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DEN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Denbury Inc. (NYSE:DEN Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Denbury Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Denbury and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Douglas Emmett (NYSE:DEI Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Evercore ISI from $15.00 to $13.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports. Several other research firms have also weighed in on DEI. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Douglas Emmett in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a sell rating on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Douglas Emmett from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and reduced their price target for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Douglas Emmett in a research report on Monday, September 11th. They set a sector weight rating for the company. Piper Sandler cut Douglas Emmett from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on Douglas Emmett in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. They issued a neutral rating and a $13.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $14.09. Get Douglas Emmett alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on DEI Douglas Emmett Trading Down 4.0 % Douglas Emmett Announces Dividend DEI opened at $12.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $13.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.36 and a beta of 0.99. Douglas Emmett has a 1-year low of $10.09 and a 1-year high of $18.24. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 17th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.33%. Douglas Emmetts payout ratio is 230.30%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DEI. Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Douglas Emmett by 103.8% in the 1st quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 2,981 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Douglas Emmett during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Douglas Emmett by 3,231.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Douglas Emmett by 46.6% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,675 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in Douglas Emmett by 94.7% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.37% of the companys stock. Douglas Emmett Company Profile (Get Free Report) Douglas Emmett, Inc (DEI) is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), and one of the largest owners and operators of high-quality office and multifamily properties located in the premier coastal submarkets of Los Angeles and Honolulu. Douglas Emmett focuses on owning and acquiring a substantial share of top-tier office properties and premier multifamily communities in neighborhoods that possess significant supply constraints, high-end executive housing and key lifestyle amenities. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Douglas Emmett Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Douglas Emmett and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. EA Series Trust bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 24,088 shares of the insurance providers stock, valued at approximately $3,189,000. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PGR. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Progressive by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,733 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its stake in Progressive by 3.3% in the second quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 10,644 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 183,350 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $26,230,000 after buying an additional 11,176 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,714,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.66% of the companys stock. Get Progressive alerts: Progressive Price Performance PGR opened at $143.30 on Friday. The firms fifty day moving average price is $136.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.79. The company has a market capitalization of $83.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $110.04 and a 1 year high of $149.87. Progressive Dividend Announcement Progressive ( NYSE:PGR Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 13th. The insurance provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.24 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 12.02% and a net margin of 3.12%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Progressive Co. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Progressives payout ratio is presently 13.70%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In PGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $124.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their target price on Progressive from $203.00 to $199.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Progressive from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Progressive from $163.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Progressive from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $144.21. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Progressive Insider Activity In other Progressive news, insider Daniel P. Mascaro sold 1,570 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.39, for a total value of $220,412.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,706 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,451,205.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel P. Mascaro sold 1,570 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.39, for a total transaction of $220,412.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,706 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,451,205.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew J. Quigg sold 5,070 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.50, for a total transaction of $646,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,816 shares in the company, valued at $2,654,040. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,371 shares of company stock valued at $8,464,936 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the companys stock. Progressive Company Profile (Free Report) The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PGR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Progressive Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Progressive and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC lowered its stake in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:JHMM Free Report) by 19.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,558 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,121 shares during the quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLCs holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 49.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 70,710 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,716,000 after buying an additional 23,372 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its position in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 13.7% in the first quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 57,399 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 10,577 shares in the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC increased its position in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 94.0% during the 1st quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC now owns 10,982 shares of the companys stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 5,321 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,544,000. Get John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF alerts: John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Stock Performance Shares of NYSEARCA JHMM opened at $46.76 on Friday. John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF has a one year low of $41.96 and a one year high of $51.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.08. The companys fifty day moving average is $48.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.39. 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. See Also Receive News & Ratings for John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI Free Report) by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,611 shares of the pipeline companys stock after purchasing an additional 6,955 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLCs holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its position in Kinder Morgan by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 13,066 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 34,263 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 12,837 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Capital Management raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 13,315 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 10,893 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. 62.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Kinder Morgan alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Pickering Energy Partners started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. They issued a neutral rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a buy rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Kinder Morgan from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $20.20. Kinder Morgan Price Performance KMI stock opened at $16.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $37.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.07. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.89 and a 52-week high of $19.35. Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The pipeline company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.24. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.55 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 7.79%. Kinder Morgans revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year. Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.68%. Kinder Morgans payout ratio is 101.80%. Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 7,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $135,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,219 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $219,942. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 7,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $135,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,219 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $219,942. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sital K. Mody sold 55,849 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.36, for a total transaction of $969,538.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.64% of the companys stock. About Kinder Morgan (Free Report) Kinder Morgan, Inc operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines, Terminals, and CO2. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline, and underground storage systems; natural gas gathering systems and natural gas processing and treating facilities; natural gas liquids fractionation facilities and transportation systems; and liquefied natural gas gasification, liquefaction, and storage facilities. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Kinder Morgan Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kinder Morgan and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM Free Report) had its price objective raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas companys stock. A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on XOM. Wolfe Research lowered Exxon Mobil from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 7th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. HSBC boosted their price target on Exxon Mobil from $110.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a buy rating and issued a $139.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Monday, September 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $125.61. Get Exxon Mobil alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on XOM Exxon Mobil Trading Down 0.0 % Shares of NYSE XOM opened at $106.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $426.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.05. Exxon Mobil has a 12-month low of $97.40 and a 12-month high of $120.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $112.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.42. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The oil and gas company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $82.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.80 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 25.82% and a net margin of 13.72%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil will post 9.27 EPS for the current year. Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 15th. Exxon Mobils payout ratio is 29.12%. Insider Activity In related news, Director Jeffrey W. Ubben acquired 458,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $106.93 per share, for a total transaction of $48,973,940.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,635,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $174,830,550. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Exxon Mobil news, Director Jeffrey W. Ubben purchased 458,000 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $106.93 per share, for a total transaction of $48,973,940.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,635,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $174,830,550. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 1,500 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $172,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 27,772 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,193,780. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exxon Mobil A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.7% during the first quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 12,178 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.8% during the first quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 11,282 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.4% during the first quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,555 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.2% during the second quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,928 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Financial Co increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.5% during the second quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 20,454 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $2,194,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.53% of the companys stock. About Exxon Mobil (Get Free Report) Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Exxon Mobil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Exxon Mobil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Waycross Investment Management Co reduced its holdings in Ford Motor (NYSE:F Free Report) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,922 shares of the auto manufacturers stock after selling 3,121 shares during the quarter. Ford Motor makes up 1.2% of Waycross Investment Management Cos portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Waycross Investment Management Cos holdings in Ford Motor were worth $1,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Snider Financial Group raised its position in Ford Motor by 100,345.2% in the first quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 219,805,167 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $3,717,000 after purchasing an additional 219,586,336 shares during the period. Newport Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Co now owns 153,594,790 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $1,935,294,000 after buying an additional 6,048,371 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ford Motor by 243.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 81,406,673 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $1,025,724,000 after acquiring an additional 57,689,209 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ford Motor by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 70,775,476 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $889,831,000 after acquiring an additional 863,591 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 7.5% during the first quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 51,251,409 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $645,768,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592,076 shares during the period. 52.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Ford Motor alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms recently issued reports on F. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Friday, October 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ford Motor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Wednesday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Ford Motor from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $14.50. Ford Motor Stock Down 0.9 % Shares of Ford Motor stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $11.89. 6,105,939 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 58,632,422. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.76. Ford Motor has a twelve month low of $10.90 and a twelve month high of $15.42. The stock has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.20. Ford Motor (NYSE:F Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $44.95 billion during 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 firms revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ford Motor will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year. 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. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Ford Motor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ford Motor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH trimmed its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,020,884 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 20,689 shares during the period. Bristol-Myers Squibb makes up approximately 0.9% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.10% of Bristol-Myers Squibb worth $129,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 51,715 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $3,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 12.4% during the second quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC now owns 4,348 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 4,839 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 72,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $4,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,472 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.98% of the companys stock. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total value of $44,754.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at $402,545.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the businesss 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,545.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the companys stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance NYSE:BMY traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $56.37. 617,962 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,015,263. The firm has a market cap of $117.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.87. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $55.69 and a 52 week high of $81.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.42 earnings per share for the current year. Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors 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 4.04%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 60.64%. Analyst Ratings Changes BMY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a reduce rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. SVB Leerink reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Atlantic Securities reduced their price objective on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $69.29. Check Out Our Latest Report on Bristol-Myers Squibb 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. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG Free Report) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,113 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.08% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $38,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,219 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,016 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. EA Series Trust acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $381,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 39,628 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $8,701,000 after acquiring an additional 3,386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the companys stock. Get Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 3,300 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.14, for a total value of $746,262.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $2,445,930.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Christopher E. Mead sold 3,300 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.14, for a total value of $746,262.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,816 shares in the company, valued at $2,445,930.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 30,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.99, for a total transaction of $6,779,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 164,371 shares in the company, valued at $37,146,202.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,688 shares of company stock worth $17,388,097 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Up 1.0 % AJG traded up $2.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $235.70. 48,940 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 832,175. The stock has a market cap of $50.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.69. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a twelve month low of $169.01 and a twelve month high of $237.63. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $228.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 12.11% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.7 EPS for the current year. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.88%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several brokerages have recently commented on AJG. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $231.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $262.00 to $266.00 in a report on Friday, October 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $212.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday, June 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $220.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $233.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $241.07. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Free Report) Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party property/casualty claims settlement and administration services to businesses and organizations worldwide. It operates in Brokerage and Risk Management segments. The Brokerage segment offers retail and wholesale insurance and reinsurance brokerage services; assists retail brokers and other non-affiliated brokers in the placement of specialized and hard-to-place insurance; and acts as a brokerage wholesaler, managing general agent, and managing general underwriter for distributing specialized insurance coverages to underwriting enterprises. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC Get Free Report) have received an average rating of Hold from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $173.00. Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Genuine Parts from $190.00 to $184.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Stephens cut their price target on Genuine Parts from $172.00 to $168.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 21st. Truist Financial cut their price target on Genuine Parts from $191.00 to $172.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Genuine Parts in a report on Thursday. They issued a neutral rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Genuine Parts in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. They issued a buy rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Get Genuine Parts alerts: Read Our Latest Report on GPC Institutional Trading of Genuine Parts Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.3 % Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Genuine Parts during the 1st quarter worth $60,850,000. Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its position in Genuine Parts by 16,507.5% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,611,194 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $261,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,595,471 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Genuine Parts by 388.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,241,510 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $119,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,577,514 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in Genuine Parts by 99,476.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,768,474 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $299,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,698 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter worth $239,384,000. 77.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Shares of Genuine Parts stock opened at $147.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Genuine Parts has a 1 year low of $139.66 and a 1 year high of $187.73. The company has a market capitalization of $20.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $150.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.70. Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.10. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 32.43% and a net margin of 5.30%. The firm had revenue of $5.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Genuine Parts will post 9.25 EPS for the current fiscal year. Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Genuine Partss payout ratio is 44.44%. About Genuine Parts (Get Free Report Genuine Parts Company distributes automotive replacement parts, and industrial parts and materials. It operates through Automotive Parts Group and Industrial Parts Group segments. The company distributes automotive replacement parts for hybrid and electric vehicles, trucks, SUVs, buses, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, farm vehicles, small engines, farm equipment, marine equipment, and heavy duty equipment; and accessory and supply items used by various automotive aftermarket customers, such as repair shops, service stations, fleet operators, automobile and truck dealers, leasing companies, bus and truck lines, mass merchandisers, farms, and individuals. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Genuine Parts Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Genuine Parts and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. GAZA/JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 hostages captured by Hamas were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said Friday. "Foreigners and Israelis were killed during the intense Israeli attacks in northern Gaza and inside Gaza City during the past 24 hours," it said in a press statement. Six were killed in the northern Gaza Strip, while seven were killed in separate places in Gaza City, according to the statement. The Israeli army announced that it attacked about 750 targets Thursday night in the Gaza Strip, including underground tunnels, military compounds and sites, homes of officials, weapon depots, and communication rooms, in addition to eliminating activists. - - - - The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the southern area of the coastal enclave ahead of a possible Israeli ground offensive. "The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians ... for their own safety and protection," read a statement issued Friday morning. "You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made," the statement said. According to the IDF, Hamas militants are using underground tunnels in the city to hide. Israel is believed to be preparing for a ground incursion on the Gaza Strip, according to media reports and analyses. - - - - The Israel military on Friday morning fired two missiles over Lebanon's southern village of Naqoura and surrounding areas, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. The NNA also reported that Israel fired flare bombs overnight over Lebanon's villages adjacent to the Blue Line. Reconnaissance aircraft of the Israeli army flew over villages adjacent to the Blue Line. The agency noted that most residents near the Blue Line were displaced to safer areas. At the same time, public and private schools remained closed according to the education minister's decision. The Blue Line, established by the United Nations in 2000, spans 120 kilometers and serves to verify the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. It is a temporary demarcation line until the two countries officially establish their land borders. - - - - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said human rights violations aimed at innocent civilians in Gaza were "unacceptable" in a phone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Friday. According to Turkiye's Presidential Office, Erdogan said that his country is providing aid to people in need and Western countries should do more to reduce tensions and avoid actions that do not promote peace. The Turkish president told Macron that Turkiye suggests resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict permanently based on a two-state solution, and if all parties approach the issue with sincerity, a solution can be found to bring peace to the region and the world. Also on Friday, Turkish military aircraft landed in Egypt, carrying medical and relief aid that will be delivered to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. Seizert Capital Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF Free Report) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,407 shares of the companys stock after selling 8,499 shares during the quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLCs holdings in Herbalife were worth $1,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 150.0% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,900 shares of the companys stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Herbalife by 50.0% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,243 shares of the companys stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in Herbalife during the 4th quarter worth about $121,000. Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife during the 1st quarter valued at about $256,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,593 shares of the companys stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Get Herbalife alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms recently commented on HLF. Mizuho raised their target price on Herbalife from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Herbalife in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. They issued a neutral rating and a $13.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $20.70. Herbalife Stock Down 3.1 % NYSE:HLF opened at $13.59 on Friday. Herbalife Ltd. has a 52 week low of $11.14 and a 52 week high of $22.73. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $15.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.18. Herbalife (NYSE:HLF Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 21.62% and a net margin of 4.48%. Sell-side analysts expect that Herbalife Ltd. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Activity In related news, EVP Ibelis Montesino sold 6,604 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.99, for a total value of $98,993.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 139,224 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,086,967.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.66% of the companys stock. About Herbalife (Free Report) Herbalife Ltd. provides health and wellness products in North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, and rest of Asia Pacific. The company provides products in the areas of weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports, and fitness; outer nutrition; and literature and promotion items. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HLF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Herbalife Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Herbalife and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $41.00 to $35.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a neutral rating on the stock. Piper Sandlers target price points to a potential upside of 11.96% from the stocks previous close. Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $40.88. Get Hormel Foods alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on Hormel Foods Hormel Foods Stock Performance Shares of Hormel Foods stock traded down $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.26. 1,509,654 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,110,338. Hormel Foods has a one year low of $31.14 and a one year high of $49.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.54. Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 31st. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 7.20% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The business had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The companys revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods In related news, SVP Pierre M. Lilly purchased 1,454 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $37.25 per share, for a total transaction of $54,161.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,161.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HRL. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at approximately $248,000. G&S Capital LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 7.6% in the third quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 12,870 shares of the companys stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth $386,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at $863,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,780 shares of the companys stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. 41.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Hormel Foods Company Profile (Get Free Report) Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Grocery Products, Refrigerated Foods, Jennie-O Turkey Store, and International & Other. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Hormel Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hormel Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Humana (NYSE:HUM Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $580.00 to $586.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the insurance providers stock. A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HUM. Barclays decreased their target price on Humana from $620.00 to $585.00 in a research report on Monday, June 19th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Humana from $555.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $597.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Humana from $615.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Humana from $637.00 to $594.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Humana has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $593.10. Get Humana alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on HUM Humana Trading Up 1.3 % NYSE HUM opened at $499.81 on Monday. The businesss fifty day moving average is $484.47 and its 200-day moving average is $486.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.63. Humana has a one year low of $423.29 and a one year high of $571.30. Humana (NYSE:HUM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The insurance provider reported $8.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.88 by $0.06. Humana had a net margin of 3.42% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The business had revenue of $26.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.67 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Humana will post 28.29 EPS for the current year. Humana Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. Humanas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.21%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Humana in the first quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Humana during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Humana by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 69 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 69 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Humana by 81.0% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 76 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. About Humana (Get Free Report) Humana Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health and well-being company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Insurance and CenterWell. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It also has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Humana Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Humana and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ivanhoe Mines (TSE:IVN Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Scotiabank from C$15.00 to C$14.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock. Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Eight Capital raised their price target on Ivanhoe Mines from C$18.50 to C$19.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Ivanhoe Mines from C$15.50 to C$15.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of C$16.67. Get Ivanhoe Mines alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on IVN Ivanhoe Mines Stock Performance Shares of Ivanhoe Mines stock opened at C$11.00 on Thursday. Ivanhoe Mines has a 12 month low of C$8.51 and a 12 month high of C$14.01. The stocks fifty day moving average price is C$11.87 and its 200-day moving average price is C$11.96. The firm has a market cap of C$13.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.93 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a current ratio of 4.37, a quick ratio of 20.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.16. Ivanhoe Mines (TSE:IVN Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported C$0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$0.11 by C($0.02). On average, equities research analysts expect that Ivanhoe Mines will post 0.6128134 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Ivanhoe Mines Company Profile (Get Free Report) Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. engages in the mining, development, and exploration of minerals and precious metals located primarily in Africa. It explores for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold, rhodium, zinc, silver, germanium, and lead deposits. The company's projects include the Platreef project located in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; the Kipushi project located in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Kamoa-Kakula project located within the Central African Copperbelt. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Ivanhoe Mines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ivanhoe Mines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Squarespace, Inc. (NYSE:SQSP Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,008 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $568,000. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Squarespace by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,839 shares of the companys stock worth $1,257,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Squarespace by 3.4% in the second quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 2,378,406 shares of the companys stock worth $75,015,000 after acquiring an additional 77,177 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Squarespace during the second quarter worth $177,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new position in Squarespace during the second quarter valued at $368,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Squarespace by 4.6% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 24,620 shares of the companys stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.73% of the companys stock. Get Squarespace alerts: Insider Transactions at Squarespace In other news, Director Atlantic (Sqrs) Lp General sold 5,750,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.84, for a total value of $160,080,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,627,824 shares in the company, valued at $462,918,620.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Atlantic (Sqrs) Lp General sold 5,750,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.84, for a total transaction of $160,080,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,627,824 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $462,918,620.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Courtenay Oconnor sold 1,749 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.18, for a total transaction of $51,035.82. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 38,384 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,120,045.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,023,704 shares of company stock worth $168,474,571 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 47.14% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group began coverage on Squarespace in a report on Friday, September 22nd. They issued a buy rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley assumed coverage on Squarespace in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. They issued a buy rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Squarespace in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. They issued a buy rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Squarespace from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Squarespace from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $34.50. Get Our Latest Research Report on Squarespace Squarespace Stock Performance Shares of SQSP stock opened at $29.78 on Friday. Squarespace, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.86 and a fifty-two week high of $34.38. The stocks fifty day moving average is $29.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.38, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.42. Squarespace (NYSE:SQSP Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $247.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.34 million. Squarespace had a negative net margin of 23.60% and a negative return on equity of 2.24%. Squarespaces quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Squarespace, Inc. will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current year. Squarespace Company Profile (Free Report) Squarespace, Inc operates platform for businesses and independent creators to build online presence, grow their brands, and manage their businesses across the internet. Its suite of integrated products enables users to manage their projects and businesses through websites, domains, e-commerce, marketing tools, scheduling, and hospitality services, as well as tools for managing a social media presence. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SQSP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Squarespace, Inc. (NYSE:SQSP Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Squarespace Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Squarespace and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX Free Report) by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 187,087 shares of the companys stock after selling 17,615 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of L3Harris Technologies worth $36,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in L3Harris Technologies by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,499,913 shares of the companys stock worth $3,041,703,000 after acquiring an additional 480,610 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in L3Harris Technologies by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,691,190 shares of the companys stock worth $1,705,558,000 after purchasing an additional 339,806 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in L3Harris Technologies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,556,352 shares of the companys stock worth $696,145,000 after purchasing an additional 34,726 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in L3Harris Technologies by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,604,895 shares of the companys stock worth $511,184,000 after purchasing an additional 485,268 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in L3Harris Technologies by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,332,482 shares of the companys stock worth $457,726,000 after purchasing an additional 41,845 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.33% of the companys stock. Get L3Harris Technologies alerts: Insider Activity In other news, President Edward J. Zoiss sold 30,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.84, for a total transaction of $2,725,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 31,923 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,899,885.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.82% of the companys stock. L3Harris Technologies Stock Performance NYSE LHX opened at $173.80 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.25 and a 12-month high of $255.10. The firm has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.71. L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.03. L3Harris Technologies had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that L3Harris Technologies, Inc. will post 12.3 EPS for the current year. L3Harris Technologies Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $1.14 per share. This represents a $4.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 1st. L3Harris Technologiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.57%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In LHX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded L3Harris Technologies from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Citigroup initiated coverage on L3Harris Technologies in a research note on Monday, September 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $193.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut their target price on L3Harris Technologies from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on L3Harris Technologies from $162.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered L3Harris Technologies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, L3Harris Technologies has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $226.87. Read Our Latest Stock Report on L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies 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. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for L3Harris Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for L3Harris Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB Free Report) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,150,229 shares of the pipeline companys stock after selling 61,264 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Williams Companies worth $37,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 32.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 10,414 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1,001.1% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 101,026 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $3,375,000 after purchasing an additional 91,851 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Williams Companies by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 98,677 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 29,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $319,000. 85.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Williams Companies alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a neutral rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. CIBC started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 17th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.17. Williams Companies Stock Up 0.3 % WMB stock opened at $34.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.33 and a 200 day moving average of $32.07. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.80 and a twelve month high of $35.46. The firm has a market cap of $42.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.16. Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 23.07%. The companys revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year. Williams Companies Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 11th were issued a $0.4475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 8th. This represents a $1.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. Williams Companiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.11%. About Williams Companies (Free Report) The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises Transco and Northwest natural gas pipelines; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region, as well as various petrochemical and feedstock pipelines. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Williams Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Williams Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Prologis (NYSE:PLD Free Report) had its price target decreased by Evercore ISI from $132.00 to $125.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports. PLD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Prologis in a report on Thursday, July 20th. BNP Paribas raised Prologis from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $141.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Mizuho reissued a buy rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Prologis in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. BTIG Research increased their price target on Prologis from $152.00 to $154.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Prologis from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $140.83. Get Prologis alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Prologis Prologis Stock Down 2.4 % Shares of NYSE PLD opened at $109.67 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $118.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.79. The stock has a market cap of $101.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Prologis has a 52-week low of $98.03 and a 52-week high of $136.67. Prologis (NYSE:PLD Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.72 billion. Prologis had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 42.52%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 95.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Prologis will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year. Prologis Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 15th. Prologiss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.58%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, Director George L. Fotiades sold 10,711 shares of Prologis stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.98, for a total transaction of $1,327,949.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prologis A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Prologis by 0.5% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 16,292 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Prologis by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management grew its holdings in Prologis by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 1,885 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Prologis by 1.5% during the second quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Destination Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Prologis by 4.4% in the first quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 1,949 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 90.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Prologis (Get Free Report) Prologis, Inc is the global leader in logistics real estate with a focus on high-barrier, high-growth markets. At June 30, 2023, the company owned or had investments in, on a wholly owned basis or through co-investment ventures, properties and development projects expected to total approximately 1.2 billion square feet (114 million square meters) in 19 countries. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Prologis Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Prologis and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC raised its stake in Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO Free Report) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,334 shares of the mining companys stock after buying an additional 361 shares during the quarter. Rio Tinto Group makes up about 0.8% of Cravens & Co Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Cravens & Co Advisors LLCs holdings in Rio Tinto Group were worth $915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Rio Tinto Group by 66.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 397 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rio Tinto Group during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Rio Tinto Group by 297.2% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 433 shares of the mining companys stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan Co. grew its position in Rio Tinto Group by 555.4% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 426 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 10.03% of the companys stock. Get Rio Tinto Group alerts: Rio Tinto Group Stock Performance RIO stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.10. 689,517 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,126,414. Rio Tinto Group has a 52-week low of $52.25 and a 52-week high of $80.51. The stocks fifty day moving average is $62.40 and its 200-day moving average is $64.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Rio Tinto Group Increases Dividend Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 11th were issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 6%. This is a positive change from Rio Tinto Groups previous semi-annual dividend of $1.10. A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Rio Tinto Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Argus lowered their target price on Rio Tinto Group from $80.00 to $72.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Finally, Liberum Capital upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, July 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $72.00. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Rio Tinto Group About Rio Tinto Group (Free Report) Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company operates through Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper, and Minerals Segments. It offers aluminum, copper, iron ore, diamonds, gold, borates, titanium dioxide, salt, silver, molybdenum, and lithium. The company also owns and operates open pit and underground mines, refineries, smelters, and concentrator facilities, as well as power stations, research, and service facilities. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RIO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Rio Tinto Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rio Tinto Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 12th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, November 20th will be given a dividend of 0.71 per share by the transportation company on Friday, December 15th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Ryder System has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 18 consecutive years. Ryder System has a payout ratio of 23.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Ryder System to earn $11.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.0%. Get Ryder System alerts: Ryder System Stock Performance Ryder System stock opened at $102.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Ryder System has a 1-year low of $72.48 and a 1-year high of $107.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 1.53. The companys 50-day moving average is $100.93 and its 200 day moving average is $90.47. Insider Buying and Selling at Ryder System Ryder System ( NYSE:R Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The transportation company reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Ryder System had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 23.98%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ryder System will post 12.74 EPS for the current year. In other Ryder System news, insider Thomas M. Havens sold 9,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $902,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,008 shares in the company, valued at $3,110,722.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ryder System news, insider Thomas M. Havens sold 9,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $902,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,008 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,110,722.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert E. Sanchez sold 93,415 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.13, for a total transaction of $9,353,643.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,383 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,246,409.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 171,634 shares of company stock worth $17,271,137 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.00% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 2,716.7% during the first quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ryder System during the first quarter worth $63,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 175.2% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 732 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ryder System during the second quarter worth $122,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Ryder System during the second quarter worth $172,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.62% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ryder System in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ryder System from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ryder System from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Ryder System from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ryder System from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $106.83. View Our Latest Stock Report on Ryder System Ryder System Company Profile (Get Free Report) Ryder System, Inc operates as a logistics and transportation company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), and Dedicated Transportation Solutions (DTS). The FMS segment offers full-service leasing and leasing with flexible maintenance options; commercial vehicle rental services; and contract or transactional maintenance services of trucks, tractors, and trailers; access to diesel fuel; and fuel planning and tax reporting, cards, and monitoring services, and centralized billing, as well as sells used vehicles through its retail sales centers and www.ryder.com/used-trucks website. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Ryder System Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ryder System and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CARACAS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. "unilateral coercive" measures against Venezuela are part of a system of "sanctions, extortion and blackmail," Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said Thursday from Moscow, according to Venezuelan media. "It is a system of sanctions ... that sought to asphyxiate the Venezuelan economy to pressure the Venezuelan people to change their political course," Rodriguez said during her speech at the international forum of the sixth Russian Energy Week. "The 930 unilateral coercive measures, that are illicit and illegitimate, are still intact against Venezuela," said Rodriguez. She argued that the sanctions have caused extreme damage to the Venezuelan oil industry, which historically generates the highest percentage of foreign currency for the South American country. "The impact on the Venezuelan economy is brutal," she said. Although since 2021, the country "has been experiencing a process of economic recovery and growth." Rodriguez said that the "geo-strategic" targets of U.S. sanctions have been oil exporters such as Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. She warned that the strategy of sanctions plus wars has become the "central axis" of U.S. foreign policy. Seizert Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,397 shares of the industrial products companys stock, valued at approximately $435,000. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MYE. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Myers Industries by 124.2% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,417 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Myers Industries in the first quarter valued at $41,000. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Myers Industries by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,621 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Myers Industries by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,494 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in Myers Industries during the 4th quarter worth $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.57% of the companys stock. Get Myers Industries alerts: Myers Industries Price Performance MYE stock opened at $17.57 on Friday. The stocks 50 day moving average is $18.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.22. Myers Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.33 and a 52-week high of $26.49. The company has a market capitalization of $646.75 million, a PE ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Myers Industries Dividend Announcement Myers Industries ( NYSE:MYE Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $208.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $222.80 million. Myers Industries had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 5.86%. Analysts predict that Myers Industries, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 12th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Myers Industriess payout ratio is 39.42%. Insider Buying and Selling In other news, CEO Michael Mcgaugh acquired 2,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.47 per share, for a total transaction of $46,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,296 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,163,837.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Myers Industries from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, September 29th. View Our Latest Research Report on Myers Industries About Myers Industries (Free Report) Myers Industries, Inc engages in distribution of tire service supplies in Ohio. It operates through two segments, The Material Handling and Distribution. The Material Handling segment offers pallets, small parts bins, bulk shipping containers, and OEM parts, as well as storage and organization, and custom plastic products; and injection molded, rotationally molded or blow molded products, consumer fuel containers and tanks for water, fuel, and waste handling. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MYE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Myers Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Myers Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT Free Report) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,738 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 1,071 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLCs holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $2,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AIT. Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $350,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,779 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Applied Industrial Technologies by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,014 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new stake in Applied Industrial Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $2,149,000. 92.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Applied Industrial Technologies alerts: Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance AIT opened at $161.67 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.51. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.51 and a 1 year high of $163.61. The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.05 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Applied Industrial Technologies ( NYSE:AIT Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 10th. The industrial products company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 25.62%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.13 earnings per share for the current year. Several equities analysts recently commented on AIT shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $162.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating for the company. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Applied Industrial Technologies from $161.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on AIT Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 30,000 shares of the businesss 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 302,307 shares in the company, valued at $46,455,516.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 30,000 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were 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 $46,455,516.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 9,889 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.16, for a total transaction of $1,524,488.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 292,307 shares of the companys stock, 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 company insiders. Applied Industrial Technologies 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. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AIT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Applied Industrial Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Applied Industrial Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN Free Report) by 338.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 213,018 shares of the energy companys stock after buying an additional 164,379 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLCs holdings in Southwestern Energy were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southwestern Energy by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,222,158 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $919,352,000 after purchasing an additional 9,410,861 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Southwestern Energy by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,933,972 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $401,047,000 after purchasing an additional 9,882,224 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Southwestern Energy by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 25,513,925 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $127,570,000 after purchasing an additional 9,729,900 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Southwestern Energy by 4,550.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,735,368 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $108,678,000 after purchasing an additional 21,268,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC increased its holdings in Southwestern Energy by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 21,025,014 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $105,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,287,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.00% of the companys stock. Get Southwestern Energy alerts: Southwestern Energy Trading Up 0.2 % NYSE SWN opened at $6.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.36. Southwestern Energy has a one year low of $4.57 and a one year high of $7.48. The firms fifty day moving average is $6.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.78. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Southwestern Energy ( NYSE:SWN Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Southwestern Energy had a net margin of 48.82% and a return on equity of 23.55%. Southwestern Energys quarterly revenue was down 69.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Southwestern Energy will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year. Several equities analysts have commented on SWN shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Southwestern Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Southwestern Energy from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Southwestern Energy from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Southwestern Energy from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southwestern Energy from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $7.89. Get Our Latest Stock Report on Southwestern Energy Southwestern Energy Profile (Free Report) Southwestern Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production, and Marketing. The company focuses on the development of unconventional natural gas and oil reservoirs located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Louisiana. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Southwestern Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southwestern Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM Get Free Report) is one of 17 public companies in the Paper mills industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Sylvamo to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations. Insider and Institutional Ownership 89.1% of Sylvamo shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of shares of all Paper mills companies are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Sylvamo 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 endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Get Sylvamo alerts: Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Sylvamo and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Sylvamo 0 1 1 0 2.50 Sylvamo Competitors 113 719 474 50 2.34 Earnings & Valuation Sylvamo presently has a consensus target price of $52.50, indicating a potential upside of 26.72%. As a group, Paper mills companies have a potential upside of 32.39%. Given Sylvamos rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sylvamo has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. This table compares Sylvamo and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Sylvamo $3.63 billion $118.00 million 6.09 Sylvamo Competitors $5.61 billion $686.61 million 29.26 Sylvamos rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Sylvamo. Sylvamo is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Profitability This table compares Sylvamo and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Sylvamo 7.87% 55.02% 12.80% Sylvamo Competitors 7.59% 18.89% 6.66% Risk & Volatility Sylvamo has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sylvamos rivals have a beta of 1.31, meaning that their average stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Dividends Sylvamo pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sylvamo pays out 17.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Paper mills companies pay a dividend yield of 4.0% and pay out 76.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Summary Sylvamo rivals beat Sylvamo on 8 of the 15 factors compared. About Sylvamo (Get Free Report) Sylvamo Corporation produces and markets uncoated freesheet, cutsize, offset paper, and pulp in Latin America, Europe, and North America. The company operates through Europe, Latin America, and North America segments. The Europe segment offers copy, tinted, and colored laser printing paper under REY Adagio and Pro-Design brands; and high-speed inkjet printing papers under the brand Jetstar; as well as produces uncoated freesheet papers. This segment also operates paper and pulp mill. The Latin America segment focuses on uncoated freesheet paper under Chamex, Chamequinho and Chambril brands, as well as produces HP papers. This segment also operates integrated mills and nonintegrated mills. The North America segment offers imaging, commercial printing, and converting papers, as well as uncoated papers under Hammermill, Springhill, Williamsburg, Accent, DRM and Postmark brand names. It distributes its products through a variety of channels, including merchants, e-commerce, agents, resellers, and paper distributors. The company was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Receive News & Ratings for Sylvamo Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sylvamo and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:AGG Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,945 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $386,000. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 80.4% in the second quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 359 shares of the companys stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. boosted its holdings in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 697.9% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 375 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 83.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF alerts: iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Trading Up 0.5 % NYSEARCA:AGG traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.72. The companys stock had a trading volume of 918,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,476,015. The businesss 50-day moving average is $95.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.37. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF has a 52-week low of $92.37 and a 52-week high of $101.15. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Company Profile IShares are index funds that are bought and sold like common stocks on national securities exchanges as well as certain foreign exchanges. iShares are attractive because of their relatively low cost, tax efficiency and trading flexibility. Investors can purchase and sell shares through any brokerage firm, financial advisor, or online broker, and hold the funds in any type of brokerage account. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AGG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:AGG Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (BATS:USMV Free Report) by 9.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,023 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 17,307 shares during the period. iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF accounts for about 2.2% of Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLCs holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF were worth $14,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USMV. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 7.8% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,253 shares of the companys stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 95,612 shares of the companys stock worth $7,417,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,348,690 shares of the companys stock worth $104,618,000 after buying an additional 57,434 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 88,779 shares of the companys stock worth $6,887,000 after buying an additional 18,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 12,575 shares of the companys stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Get iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF alerts: iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Stock Performance Shares of BATS USMV traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.74. 2,127,782 shares of the companys stock were exchanged. iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF has a 52-week low of $47.44 and a 52-week high of $55.45. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $74.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.75. iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Profile The iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) index. The fund tracks an index of US-listed firms selected and weighted to create a low-volatility portfolio subject to various constraints. USMV was launched on Oct 18, 2011 and is managed by BlackRock. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Susquehanna from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports. A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on TSM. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com raised Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $106.67. Get Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Up 0.5 % Shares of NYSE TSM opened at $92.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $479.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $110.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.63. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The semiconductor company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.52 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 43.31%. Equities research analysts forecast that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Cuts Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4724 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturings payout ratio is 24.26%. Institutional Trading of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSM. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 1,333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 258 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 334.8% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 287 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 16.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (Get Free Report) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, packages, tests, and sells integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices in Taiwan, China, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, the United States, and internationally. It provides complementary metal oxide silicon wafer fabrication processes to manufacture logic, mixed-signal, radio frequency, and embedded memory semiconductors. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO Free Report) by 4.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,701 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.s holdings in Southern were worth $1,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,651 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 4,528 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its stake in Southern by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,642 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the companys stock. Get Southern alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Southern from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a sell rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Southern from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $72.67. Insider Activity In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $99,904.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,756 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,878,289.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $348,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,284 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,801,994.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $99,904.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,756 shares in the company, valued at $4,878,289.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,911,455 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Southern Trading Down 2.1 % Shares of SO stock opened at $65.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.83. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $58.85 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.53. Southern (NYSE:SO Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 9.86% and a net margin of 11.17%. The companys revenue was down 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current year. Southern Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Southerns dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.94%. Southern Company 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. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Southern Company (NYSE:SO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Southern Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,715 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $3,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BMY. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 1st quarter valued at $332,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $12,075,000 after buying an additional 57,444 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $24,725,000 after buying an additional 68,018 shares in the last quarter. 74.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 0.4 % Shares of BMY traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $56.46. The stock had a trading volume of 528,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,015,263. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.43. 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 50-day simple moving average of $59.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.87. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $55.69 and a 12-month high of $81.43. Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.81 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 50.51%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.42 EPS for the current year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is presently 60.64%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth BMY has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $87.00 to $79.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $80.00 to $66.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial restated a buy rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $69.29. Get Our Latest Report on BMY Insider Activity 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 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 owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,915. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on 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 owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total value of $44,754.48. Following 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. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company 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. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 73,781 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $3,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 18.6% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 51,551 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 8,075 shares in the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1,705.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC now owns 61,065 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,606,000 after acquiring an additional 57,682 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the second quarter worth $209,000. Selway Asset Management lifted its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 46.8% during the second quarter. Selway Asset Management now owns 54,600 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 17,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 26.2% in the second quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,604 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts: Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 4.0 % WFC stock traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.34. 4,075,455 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,741,084. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $35.25 and a 1-year high of $48.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.42. Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend Wells Fargo & Company ( NYSE:WFC Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 16.18%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Companys previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Wells Fargo & Companys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.00%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research analysts recently weighed in on WFC shares. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a buy rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Thursday. VNET Group reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wells Fargo & Company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $48.13. View Our Latest Research Report on Wells Fargo & Company 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. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WFC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Wells Fargo & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wells Fargo & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CARACAS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela denounced U.S. sanctions as "extortion and blackmail" at an international forum Thursday, as the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted on the same day a new resolution condemning the negative impacts on human rights of unilateral coercive measures (UCM). "It is a system of sanctions ... that sought to asphyxiate the Venezuelan economy to pressure the Venezuelan people to change their political course," Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said during her speech at the international forum of the sixth Russian Energy Week in Moscow. "The 930 unilateral coercive measures, that are illicit and illegitimate, are still intact against Venezuela," said Rodriguez. She argued that the sanctions have caused extreme damage to the Venezuelan oil industry, which historically generates the highest percentage of foreign currency for the South American country. "The impact on the Venezuelan economy is brutal," she said. Although since 2021, the country "has been experiencing a process of economic recovery and growth." Rodriguez said that the "geo-strategic" targets of U.S. sanctions have been oil exporters such as Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. She warned that the strategy of sanctions plus wars has become the "central axis" of U.S. foreign policy. Also on Thursday, Venezuela's government welcomed a new resolution by the UN Human Rights Council condemning unilateral coercive measures (UCM) against countries. "We celebrate that the United Nations Human Rights Council approved a new resolution condemning Unilateral Coercive Measures," Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. The resolution adopted at the 54th session of HRC is "a new victory for Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy and International Law," Gil added. Sanctions unilaterally imposed on countries are "an instrument of violation of people's fundamental rights," said Gil. Hector Constant Rosales, permanent representative of Venezuela to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the resolution adopted Thursday is a "new victory for International Law." The Resolution A/HRC/54/L.26 "Human rights and unilateral coercive measures" was submitted by Azerbaijan on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and was adopted by the HRC with 32 votes in favor, 13 against, and 2 abstentions. The Resolution also extends for a period of three years the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON Free Report) by 1.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,195,843 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 23,210 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $129,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 321.8% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 502 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Sonoco Products by 316.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 795 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Sonoco Products in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.20% of the companys stock. Get Sonoco Products alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $80.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Argus downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $61.00 to $55.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Sonoco Products in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Sonoco Products from $69.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $61.67. Sonoco Products Trading Down 2.9 % SON stock opened at $52.40 on Friday. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $52.03 and a 1-year high of $64.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The businesss 50 day moving average is $55.39 and its 200-day moving average is $58.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.69. Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 26.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. Sonoco Productss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.80%. About Sonoco Products (Free Report) Sonoco Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells various engineered and sustainable packaging products in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates through two segments: Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SON? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Sonoco Products Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sonoco Products and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co cut its position in State Street Co. (NYSE:STT Free Report) by 9.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,534 shares of the asset managers stock after selling 1,045 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Cos holdings in State Street were worth $771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STT. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of State Street in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of State Street in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of State Street during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of State Street during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of State Street in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. 89.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get State Street alerts: Insider Activity at State Street In other news, CFO Eric W. Aboaf sold 11,886 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.13, for a total transaction of $797,907.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 145,974 shares in the company, valued at $9,799,234.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the companys stock. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on State Street from $92.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut State Street from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $73.00 in a report on Sunday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of State Street from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of State Street from $100.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Sunday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of State Street from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the company from $90.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $75.58. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on State Street State Street Stock Down 1.8 % STT stock opened at $64.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. State Street Co. has a twelve month low of $58.62 and a twelve month high of $94.74. The companys 50 day moving average is $68.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.98. State Street (NYSE:STT Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.09. State Street had a net margin of 16.99% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. State Streets revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that State Street Co. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. State Street Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 2nd were issued a $0.69 dividend. This is an increase from State Streets previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 29th. State Streets payout ratio is presently 37.30%. About State Street (Free Report) State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody, accounting, regulatory reporting, investor, and performance and analytics; middle office products, such as IBOR, transaction management, loans, cash, derivatives and collateral, record keeping, and client reporting and investment analytics; foreign exchange, and brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding STT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for State Street Co. (NYSE:STT Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for State Street Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for State Street and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co decreased its holdings in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX Free Report) by 32.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 667 shares of the companys stock after selling 326 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Cos holdings in Clorox were worth $106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Clorox by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,685,046 shares of the companys stock worth $2,041,661,000 after buying an additional 185,012 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Clorox by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,463,011 shares of the companys stock worth $1,497,427,000 after acquiring an additional 195,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Clorox by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,725,410 shares of the companys stock worth $430,349,000 after acquiring an additional 100,920 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Clorox by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,583,847 shares of the companys stock valued at $408,878,000 after purchasing an additional 124,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Clorox by 1.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,931,351 shares of the companys stock worth $268,515,000 after purchasing an additional 21,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.98% of the companys stock. Get Clorox alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several brokerages recently weighed in on CLX. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Clorox from $170.00 to $135.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Clorox from $160.00 to $120.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Clorox from $127.00 to $116.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Clorox from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $120.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $140.00. Clorox Trading Down 1.9 % Shares of CLX stock opened at $120.09 on Friday. The Clorox Company has a fifty-two week low of $119.51 and a fifty-two week high of $178.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stocks fifty day moving average is $145.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.92, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.33. Clorox (NYSE:CLX Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.48. Clorox had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 163.56%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Cloroxs revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Clorox Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 24th. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Cloroxs payout ratio is 403.36%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Clorox news, CFO Kevin B. Jacobsen sold 3,346 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.82, for a total value of $538,103.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,224 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,734,883.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Clorox Profile (Free Report) The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CLX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Clorox Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Clorox and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 347,335 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 7,198 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Cos holdings in Pfizer were worth $12,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFE. Front Street Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pfizer by 4.3% during the first quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,168 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Madison Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the first quarter. Madison Wealth Management now owns 42,810 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,747,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.3% during the first quarter. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,844 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 17,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $730,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,890 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.05% of the companys stock. Get Pfizer alerts: Pfizer Price Performance Shares of NYSE PFE opened at $32.92 on Friday. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $34.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.61. Pfizer Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.77 and a fifty-two week high of $54.93. Pfizer Dividend Announcement 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 for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 54.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 9th. Pfizers payout ratio is 43.62%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Credit Suisse Group downgraded Pfizer from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Pfizer from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $45.88. View Our Latest Research Report on PFE 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. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Pfizer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pfizer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB Free Report) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,590 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Cos holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $86,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,514,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 20.8% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 21,314 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $1,731,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 86,048 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $4,573,000 after buying an additional 4,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.40% of the companys stock. Get U.S. Bancorp alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth USB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 15th. Odeon Capital Group cut U.S. Bancorp from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, June 23rd. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $45.73. U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance NYSE:USB opened at $32.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $27.27 and a fifty-two week high of $49.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.27. The company has a market capitalization of $49.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.99. U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 16.59%. The businesss revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year. U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.95%. U.S. Bancorps dividend payout ratio is currently 53.19%. Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Timothy A. Welsh sold 13,816 shares of the firms stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 119,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,737,317.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was 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 owns 166,992 shares in the company, valued at $6,637,932. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy A. Welsh sold 13,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. About U.S. Bancorp (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. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding USB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for U.S. Bancorp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for U.S. Bancorp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL Free Report) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,990 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Cos holdings in Aflac were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,941 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 6,369 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Aflac by 6.8% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,268 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 210,634 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $13,563,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $428,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,142 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. 66.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Aflac alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 16,040 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.86, for a total transaction of $1,216,794.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 53,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,090,750.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 16,040 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.86, for a total transaction of $1,216,794.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 53,925 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,090,750.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Virgil Raynard Miller sold 2,626 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.08, for a total transaction of $202,412.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,111.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,170 shares of company stock worth $2,289,435 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several brokerages have issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Aflac from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $79.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $76.36. Get Our Latest Analysis on Aflac Aflac Trading Up 0.1 % NYSE AFL opened at $79.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $56.26 and a 52-week high of $80.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.75. Aflac (NYSE:AFL Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $5.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 24.48%. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.01 EPS for the current year. Aflac Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Aflacs payout ratio is 22.46%. Aflac Profile (Free Report) Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. It operates in two segments, Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Aflac Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Aflac and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,830 shares of the payment services companys stock after selling 142 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Cos holdings in American Express were worth $841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 4,169 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Caliber Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,408 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $2,162,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH grew its position in shares of American Express by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 28,053 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $4,887,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 4,124 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 304.2% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 81,161 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $14,138,000 after acquiring an additional 61,082 shares in the last quarter. 83.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get American Express alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $149.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 29th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on American Express from $203.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. 58.com restated a reiterates rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, June 30th. 22nd Century Group reissued a reiterates rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Friday. They set a buy rating and a $181.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $173.33. American Express Price Performance Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $151.32 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $130.65 and a fifty-two week high of $182.15. The companys 50-day moving average is $157.27 and its 200 day moving average is $161.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $111.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.19. American Express (NYSE:AXP Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 21st. The payment services company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.08. American Express had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 29.26%. The firm had revenue of $15.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year. American Express Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. American Expresss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.42%. About American Express (Free Report) American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides charge and credit payment card products, and travel-related services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Global Consumer Services Group, Global Commercial Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. Its products and services include payment and financing products; network services; accounts payable expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AXP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Express (NYSE:AXP Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for American Express Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Express and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kenya has strengthened bilateral cooperation with China in the fields of arts, culture and sports, demonstrating a commitment to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a senior Kenyan official has said. Produced by Xinhua Global Service How to help humanitarian efforts in Israel and Gaza Emirates Global Motor Electric (EGME), the UAE-based electric vehicle and energy storage solutions provider, signed an agreement with SANY, a Chinese multinational heavy machinery and truck manufacturing company, to obtain exclusive distributorship for the latters light and heavy-duty electric trucks. The agreement aims to promote sustainable mobility solutions across the UAE and lay the groundwork for a cleaner mobility sector. EGME, a member of Al Fahim group, offers complete electric mobility solutions with the aim of promoting sustainable mobility options across the region. The strategic partnership between the two parties will allow EGME to expand their product line and SANY to introduce electric trucks in the UAE, with the first batch of light and heavy-duty electric trucks. The agreement was signed by Ahmed Alfahim, Chairman of Al Fahim group, and Liang Linhe, Chairman of SANY, on September 18, 2023, in the presence of Hany Tawfik, Head of EGME, and other senior executives from both companies. Ahmed Abdeljalil Alfahim, Chairman of Al Fahim group, commented: We are excited to announce our agreement with SANY, which is in line with our shared goal of promoting electric mobility solutions in the UAE. As an innovation-driven company, we hope to become the nation's top provider of electric mobility solutions, charging infrastructure and energy storage by 2030. This vision will be further advanced by our partnership with SANY, Chinas largest and the worlds third-largest heavy equipment manufacturer, allowing us to expand our product lineup in order to accommodate the UAE's evolving EV needs. Hany Tawfik, Head of EGME, said: Our strategy is centred on offering complete EV solutions, with the goal of becoming a global leader in mobility solutions, from the UAE to the rest of the world. We have an ever-growing range of electric vehicles which have been tested extensively in the UAE. We are continuously on the look-out for the right products from around the globe to serve our market. In the future, we look to manufacture products locally, further enhancing sustainability and contribute to the development and diversity of the UAE economy. One of EGME's most significant advantages is the ease of operation, particularly for commercial fleets, provided by its EV Hub model. The companys EV Hub offers a comprehensive range of electric vehicles, including passenger cars, vans, trucks, and buses, as well as charging, maintenance, and other services. Additionally, the company can set up EV Hubs for commercial fleets at clients' locations upon request, further enhancing customer satisfaction. TradeArabia News Service GAZA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 hostages captured by Hamas were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said Friday. "Foreigners and Israelis were killed during the intense Israeli attacks in northern Gaza and inside Gaza City during the past 24 hours," it said in a press statement. Six were killed in the northern Gaza Strip, while seven were killed in separate places in Gaza City, according to the statement. The Israeli army announced that it attacked about 750 targets Thursday night in the Gaza Strip, including underground tunnels, military compounds and sites, homes of officials, weapons depots, and communication rooms, in addition to eliminating activists. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise talks to reporters in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill on October 11, in Washington, DC. The islands that went from whale hunting to whale watching People rescue the injured at buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Oct. 12, 2023.(Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Gaza's only power station has stopped working after the fuel needed for generating electricity ran out on Wednesday, Gaza officials said, sparking great concern over the humanitarian situation in the enclave as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages on. "The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities; now it will only deteriorate exponentially," United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned early this week. INTENSIFIED CONFLICT The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday launched a surprise attack on southern Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif said the attack was in response to Israel's blockade of Gaza, its frequent raids on the West Bank over the past year, its storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound -- a site holy to both Muslims and Jews -- Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinians and the expansion of Israeli settlements. In response to the attack, the Israeli military launched the operation "Swords of Iron," carrying out dozens of airstrikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. As of Thursday, the death toll of Palestinians from the ongoing Israeli airstrikes has reached 1,500 while about 6,600 Palestinians were wounded by the Israeli army, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. On the Israeli side, the number of fatalities due to the Hamas attack has reached at least 1,300 and the number of injured in Israel surpassed 3,000, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported Thursday. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement on Wednesday that 11 of its employees have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Saturday. DIRE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION Shortly after the Hamas attack, Israel enforced "a complete siege" on the Gaza Strip, cutting off the water, electricity and fuel supply to the enclave. Those moves coupled with the ongoing airstrikes have made the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza even worse. The number of people displaced across Gaza has topped 263,000 with more than 175,000 of them taking shelter in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday. More than 1,000 housing units in Gaza have been destroyed, and some 560 have been severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable. All 13 hospitals and other health facilities in Gaza are only partially operational due to supply shortages and fuel rationing, said the OCHA. The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distributing food for up to 100,000 internally displaced people in Gaza, who are seeking refuge in UNRWA shelters, with fresh bread and canned food, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General. "Civilians must be respected and protected at all times. Civilian infrastructure must never be a target," said Guterres, adding that medical equipment, food, fuel and other humanitarian supplies are desperately needed, along with access for humanitarian personnel. Israel needs to respect international humanitarian law when it comes to defending itself on the ground during the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said. BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Friday urged certain countries to cease using bilateral alliance treaties for military coercion against a third country. Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a media inquiry regarding the United States' recent comments on the U.S.-Japan alliance and security issues involving the Taiwan Strait and the Diaoyu Island. China has always advocated that defense and security cooperations between certain countries should not target a third country, nor should they undermine regional peace and stability, Zhang said. Zhang stressed that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times. Whatever the United States and Japan say and whatever they do cannot alter these absolute facts or shake China's strong resolve and will to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhang said. While responding to another media inquiry regarding Japan's record-hitting military budget for the 2024 fiscal year, Zhang said Japan should stop heading down the path of military expansion. Over recent years, Japan has relentlessly breached its pacifist constitution and its exclusively defense-oriented policy, Zhang noted. By hyping up so-called threats from neighboring countries, Japan has substantially increased its military expenditure and gone further down the expansionist path, Zhang said, adding that this poses a grave challenge to regional peace and stability as well as to the post-WWII international order. The Chinese side calls on Japan to faithfully draw its lesson from history, and contribute to regional peace and stability, not the other way round, Zhang said. Australian governments, led by the Labor Party, are overseeing the most significant crackdown on the right to protest in the country since World War II. With the support of the entire political establishment, and a media that is cheering on the evisceration of civil liberties, they are moving to outlaw all demonstrations opposing Israels genocidal bombardment of Gaza and defending the Palestinian people. Protesters at the Sydney Town Hall rally, October 9, 2023. In the starkest development, the New South Wales (NSW) Labor administration and its state police have effectively banned a demonstration in Sydney this Sunday, proclaiming it to be unauthorised. The move has been carried out on an explicitly political basis. NSW Police moved against the demonstration after state Labor Premier Chris Minns declared on Wednesday morning that supporters of Palestine would not commandeer our streets. Labors police minister had stated on Tuesday: I dont want to see protests on our street at all, from anybody. I dont think anybody really does. The statements underscore that this is not a one-off. As Israel continues to bomb densely-populated civilian neighborhoods and its fascistic Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks the language of genocide, public displays of opposition will be forbidden. That is entirely in line with declarations by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and many other senior politicians that protests should not occur. It is in keeping with similar measures in Germany, France, Britain and a host of other imperialist countries, where protests have also been banned. The NSW Police are making menacing threats, clearly signaling that if the protest proceeds, as organisers have said it will, they will be met with draconian measures. What is being prepared is a massive show of force that threatens to become a police rampage in support of the Israeli war. Police have stated that 1,000 or more officers will be dispatched to the central business district, where the demonstration is to take place. In a statement today, acting NSW Police Commissioner David Hudson said that extraordinary powers may be deployed. Hudson stated: [P]owers we are considering authorising will include any person who attends Hyde Park on Sunday with the intention to assemble and perhaps protest [they] will be subject to searching powers where we dont need reasonable cause to search. We will also be demanding that they provide us with their identity, and if they fail to do so it is an offencethese are extraordinary powers. These are police state measures aimed at terrorizing anyone inclined to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people. The police are threatening to harass and violate anyone in the vicinity of Hyde Park, one of Sydneys busiest landmarks. Inevitably, such measures will also involve racial targeting. Anyone who can read between the lines knows that NSW Police will be stopping and searching everyone who appears to be of Middle Eastern ancestry. Today, Amnesty Australia issued a statement, warning that the powers deployed could include sweeping anti-protest measures that were passed by the NSW parliament last year with bipartisan support. They were introduced at the behest of the mining and other fossil fuel corporations to crack down on actions by climate activists but can be used much more broadly against social opposition. Amnesty stated: By denying Palestinian activists a permit for their planned demonstration, people who attend could face $22,000 in fines and up to two years in prison under amendments to the Crimes Act made in 2022/NSWs harsh anti-protest laws. The organisation said it was deeply concerned that people peacefully expressing their right to protest could face such severe penalties. NSW Police have already established a specific task force aimed at monitoring, i.e., spying on, those who support the Palestinians. At the federal level, the Labor government has activated a trigger for closer coordination between federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeill has declared that Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization in Australia, and anyone providing support to Hamas could be committing a crime. Her statement did not specify whether that had to be material support or could cover statements of support for the Palestinian uprising and resistance. The scale of the police threats explodes the claims that the crackdown is aimed at protecting the public or preventing expressions of anti-Semitism. As is the case internationally, people are not demonstrating because they are anti-Semitic. They are signalling their opposition to the murderous levelling of Gaza that is underway. What occurred over the weekend, moreover, was not terrorism but a legitimate uprising by a population that has been subjected to the longest colonial occupation in modern history. Students demonstrate in Melbourne, the Victorian state capital, in defence of Palestinians in Gaza. The Australian Labor government has given carte blanche to Netanyahu, continuously proclaiming Israels right to defend itself, and refusing to condemn any of the war crimes underway, including the shutting off of electricity, water and food to Gaza. While banning pro-Palestinian demonstrations, senior members of the federal Labor government, along with Liberal-National leader Peter Dutton and Premier Minns attended a pro-Israeli event on Wednesday night. That gathering, organised by Zionist groups, was packaged as a vigil for those who died in the Palestinian operation. It had, however, the character of a rally in support of the Israeli state and its bombardment of Palestine. While repeatedly claiming that Australian Jewish people are under threat from supporters of Palestine, the governments and their media mouthpieces have come up with remarkably little proof. A Palestinian solidarity protest in Sydney on Monday evening was momentarily gatecrashed by an unrelated group, which has yet to be identified. They briefly shouted despicable anti-Semitic slogans, which were immediately condemned by the organisers and by all well-known Palestinian solidarity organisations. The footage that was captured, however, has been replayed endlessly. The condemnations have largely been ignored. The handful of individuals have been depicted as emblematic of all Palestinian supporters. Where backwardness and stupidity end and police provocation begins is hard to know. In any event, the fight against anti-Semitism will not be conducted by governments that are backing a genocidal onslaught on an oppressed Palestinian population that recalls nothing so much as the crimes of the Nazis. As the WSWS has noted, the Palestinians had nothing to do with the Holocaust. It was a product of the European ruling elites in their war against the working class and the socialist movement. The very European powers responsible for the crimes of the 1930s are returning to the same path, including arming, funding and training Ukrainian neo-Nazis in the proxy war against Russia. The conflation of Israel and Judaism is itself anti-Semitic, falsely identifying all Jewish people with a reactionary and fascistic regime that does not represent their interests and that many oppose. While hypocritically declaiming against the threat of anti-Semitism, the governments are stoking anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism. Dutton stated that those who chanted the anti-Semitic slogans at the Monday evening rally should have their visas revoked, i.e., be deported from Australia. But there is no reason to assume that they are not Australian citizens, except for the fact that some appeared Middle Eastern. Duttons remarks have not been explicitly condemned by any Labor leader. An atmosphere is being created that recalls that which was whipped up by Labor and Liberal politicians in 2006, prior to racist riots against Middle Eastern people in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla. One need only look at prominent right-wing social media accounts, to see a stream of racist filth against people of Middle Eastern descent. These right-wing forces, while they may solidarise themselves with the genocidal actions of Israel, are also saturated with anti-Semitism. The banning of protests goes far beyond the current situation in the Middle East. Governments are exploiting the crisis to institute long planned measures of a police-state character. The target is growing social opposition in the working class. That underscores the fact that workers, students, young people and all supporters of civil liberties must oppose and fight the current crackdown. On Thursday evening, thousands gathered at the Place de la Republique in Paris in opposition to the Israeli onslaught against the Gazan population and the French governments support for these horrific crimes. Protesters gathered despite a ban and the systematic intimidation of perceived protesters by heavily armed police in the surrounding area. An initial notice banning the planned protest was received by the Solidarity for Palestinians in France on Wednesday. On Thursday a judge ruled against an appeal lodged by the association absurdly stating, the prefect of police, by prohibiting the demonstration in dispute, did not cause a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the freedoms of expression, assembly and demonstration. At Thursday evenings protest, Paris police kettled protesters before dispersing them with tear gas, water cannon and charges. Ten people were arrested, and 24 received 135-euro fines. BRAV-M units, which played a central role in the violent repression of the protests against Macrons pension cuts, were also deployed in Paris on Thursday evening. As throughout the repression of protests following the police murder of Nahel Merzouk and during mass strikes against Macrons pension cuts, BRAV-M officers charged protesters and obstructed journalists reporting on the clashes. BRAV-M officers also stormed a restaurant to arrest suspected protesters. In a memo to French police chiefs, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin declared, Pro-Palestinian demonstrations, as they are likely to generate disturbances to public order, must be prohibited, adding that the organization of these prohibited demonstrations must give rise to arrests. However, local prefectures had already taken the initiative to outlaw protests earlier in the week. The Interior Minister justified his crackdown order on France Inter on Thursday, citing 100 antisemitic acts and adding that 24 people have been arrested. Without providing further details, it is not clear how many of the acts are racially motivated attacks against French Jews and how many are political opposition to the crimes of the Zionist state mischaracterized as antisemitic to justify Macrons crackdown. Justice Minister Eric Dupont Moretti warned on Wednesday that statements hailing the attacks, presenting them as legitimate resistance to Israel constitute antisemitic crimes. A protester holds a Palestinian flag during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, in Paris. [AP Photo/Thibault Camus] It is now illegal in France for organizations or individuals who oppose the Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which has already claimed 1,500 lives including those of 500 children, to gather and publicly express so. As the police assaulted protesters in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his total support for Israels right to defend itself in a televised national address. The French police states repression of the Paris protest on Thursday night took place amid an anti-democratic crackdown on opposition to the Israeli onslaught in France and throughout Europe. Earlier in the week a protest organized for Wednesday by the Palestine Action Comittee was banned by the Gironde prefecture. A protest planned for Monday evening was banned in Lyon. In Marseille, 200 people gathered at the citys old port on Tuesday despite a ban imposed by the prefecture. Protests in defence of Palestinians have also been banned in Britain and Germany. Like its counterparts across Europe, the Macron government is deeply hated by French society for its attacks on living standards, its construction of an ultra-violent police state and its racist attacks against the democratic rights of Frances eight-million strong Muslim population. Without a majority in parliament and widely despised, Macron governs against the will of the French people. In April, 62 percent of the population wanted a prolonged general strike to defeat Macron after the president forced through his unpopular pension cut with the anti-democratic 49.3 provision of the French constitution. Whilst in August 40,000 police officers were deployed throughout the country to put down youth riots following the police murder of Nahel. The banning and suppression of pro-Palestinian protests is a continuation of Macrons brutal repression of opposition protests in France throughout the year. Before this weeks arrests, over 8,000 people had been arrested in the repression of mass protests that followed his pension cuts and anti-police violence protests following the police murder of the 17-year-old Nahel in July. Dozens have been gravely injured by police assaults and the use of flash grenades. Its crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters reflects the Macron governments fear that domestic opposition to its support for the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians could reignite the massive social struggles that took place in France in spring and summer. Workers and youth must oppose Macrons anti-democratic attempt to strangle opposition to the Israeli regimes oppression of the Palestinians. The keynote speech by Sir Keir Starmer to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool this week left no doubt that an incoming Labour government would only deepen the Conservative governments imposition of austerity and war. For months the trade union bureaucracy has sought to smother opposition to the Tories with promises that a Labour government would soon come to the rescue of embattled workers. Nothing Starmer and his right-wing lackeys said has shifted the likes of Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) workers union General Secretary Mick Lynch, Communication Workers Union (CWU) Dave Ward and Unites Sharon Graham to abandon this lienot the endorsement of Shadow Chancellor Rachael Reeves by former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, not Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting saying Labour wont waste money we dont have on the National Health Service (NHS), and certainly not the numerous declarations of support for Israels bloody repression of the Palestinians. Mick Lynch (left) and Dave Ward addressing the launch of Enough is Enough, London, August 17, 2022 Lynch and Ward instead doubled down on the relentless boosting of Labour they pioneered in their Enough is Enough campaign to oppose demands to link the struggles of rail, post, health workers and many others in a general strike to bring down the Tories. Likewise Graham, who once threatened to end Unites funding and affiliation with Labour if it didnt start representing workers. What passes for their criticism of Starmer as an individual is framed entirely as friendly advice to the leader of a government they will loyally support. And as far as their members are concerned, the message is that all roads lead to a Starmer government. Labours naked pro-capitalist and pro-war agenda, wrapped up in the Union Jack and the invoking of country first nationalism, is a blueprint for deeper social spending cuts and a clampdown on strikes and democratic rights. Lynch at a fringe meeting of the the Trade Union Coordinating Committee was obliged to make some noises about how Labour has been embraced as the favoured party of big business, with corporate attendees outnumbering party delegates and afforded pride of place. But this was only while repeating the lie that Labour will implement a New Deal ending casualisation and low pay. His bluster was restricted to only those companies at the conference directly associated with outsourcing, stating they should be called out for super-exploitation by Starmer and his deputy leader. Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer have said it in front of me and everyone else at this top tableWe're going to have the biggest wave of insourcing in the history of British industry. Well, that's exactly what we need because the outsourcing model is what is degrading our working-class communities. At another fringe meeting Lynch claimed that Starmers Labour should not be backsliding over pledges to renationalise the national railwaysLabour should be shouting from the rooftops that the era of privatisation is over. He knows full well that the call for Starmer to sound the death knell for privatisation is a pipe dream. Policy and manifesto pledges count for nothing. The only constituency Labour is accountable to is the City of London. Reeves, who predictably dubbed herself the Iron Chancellor, ruled out nationalisations in July of the rail, water, postal and energy companies, stating, To be spending billions of pounds on nationalising things, that just doesnt stack up against our fiscal rules. Lynch speaks as someone who has driven the national rail dispute waged by 40,000 RMT members since last June into the ground. The first instalment of this came with a sellout deal imposed on 20,000 RMT members at Network Rail in March last year, followed by an agreement to suspend further strikes at the 14 train companies since early September on the pretext of awaiting the outcome of the public consultation over the closure of around 1,000 ticket offices which he himself described as a sham. The union executive had already signed a dispute resolution agreement in January, which was rejected by the membership because it accepted the entire framework for closing and repurposing ticket offices, inferior terms for new entrants and brutal restructuring. Ward, for his part, is a hate figure among CWU members thanks to the betrayal he inflicted on the year-long dispute by over 100,000 workers at Royal Mail in July. Barely able to show his face before the membership, he still had the gall to move the motion at conference on what was described as the flagship New Deal policymore window dressing for deepening the pro-company collusion of the union bureaucracy against the working class. The same fire and rehire measures the New Deal is supposed to end are being policed by the CWU in its agreement with Royal Mail. A central feature of what workers have dubbed the surrender document is the implementation of a two-tier workforce with new entrants on inferior pay and terms, with long serving postal workers forced out by crippling workloads and management bullying. Wards speech won a standing ovation from the party faithful, who at best know nothing and at worst dont care about his betrayals. But as soon as the video was posted on the CWU Facebook page it met with instant derision from postal workers, with one dubbing him Dave Fraud. Ward appealed to Starmer to take a leaf out of the book of Joe Biden and show up at a picket line. His attempt to spread the US trade union bureaucracys lie that Biden is the most pro-Labor US president in history is a warning about how Ward and company will function as apologists for every rotten action by a labour government. The White House has used collective bargaining with the union apparatus to strangle strikes and to enforce substandard contracts in the oil industry, ports and at major logistics giant, UPS. And when this has failed, the workers friend Biden and his left apologists such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not hesitate in banning a strike by 100,000 railroad workers last year. Bidens solitary visit to a picket line was to back the United Auto Workers (UAW) bureaucracy vetoing the 97 percent mandate for strike action by 150,000 workers at the Big Three car manufacturersGM, Ford and Stellantis. This has kept 80 percent of car workers on the job four weeks into the dispute, pumping out profits while the UAW negotiate behind closed doors how to sellout the fight to reverse decades of attacks. It is this full integration of the unions into the apparatus of the state and corporate management to discipline workers and facilitate Bidens war against Russia and blood curdling support for Israel that Ward wants to emulate with Starmer. Grahams performance was made up of more hackneyed phrases about holding Starmers feet to the fire. But this has not stood in the way of Graham continuing to bankroll Labour from her members dues to the tune of more than 1 million in the first quarter of 2023. In a speech before conference Graham declared the big question for the next government is who pays for the crisis? Because it cant be everyday working men and women who paid for the last. But since winning office in August 2020, she has made sure that her own members have already paid the price. With a membership of over a million in the private and public sector, Graham has performed the role of chief industrial fire fighter in preventing strikes on the buses, in warehouse and supply chains, local government and the docks from merging into a national action. Graham cynically urged Labour to be more bold and place its arms around the working class. This after Labour-run Coventry council last year mounted a 4 million scabbing operation against a strike by its refuse drivers. Graham agreed a de-escalation of the dispute through ACAS, which naturally ruled in favour of the council. The union bureaucracy has presided over the sabotage of the largest strike wave in the UK since the 1980s, with the last remaining national disputes in the NHS and on the rail facing sellouts. This betrayal is now being transferred to the political arena with the attempts by Lynch, Ward, Graham et al to hand the working class over to Starmer as Labour seeks to outflank the Tories in its commitment to austerity and war. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) opposed the propaganda of pseudo-left groups such as Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party that a rebirth of the British labour movement was being led by the trade unions and issued the call for the formation of rank-and-file committees to open an independent path of industrial and political struggle. As has been the case with the resurgence of the class struggle internationally, the strivings by the working class to unshackle its tremendous social power has brought it into direct conflict with the bureaucratic agents of capital committed to the suppression of the class struggle and defence of the capitalist profit system. The SEP initiative has won significant support through the formation of the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee. But this must now be extended throughout the working class, coupled with a political break from Labour and the building of genuine socialist leadership. Amid the campaign surrounding the October 14 referendum to insert an indigenous advisory body, the Voice, into the Australia constitution, nothing has been said about the 2007 police/military intervention into scores of remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (NT). The NT intervention initiated by the Coalition government of John Howard, with the bipartisan support of the Labor Party, demonstrates all too clearly the regressive agenda of both the Yes and No camps in the current referendum. John Howard and Kevin Rudd [Photo: US Department of Defense] The Howard government announced the NT intervention in June 2007 amid a lurid, sensationalist media campaign about child sex abuse in Aboriginal communities involving paedophile and drug-running gangs. No evidence was produced at the time and the huge police operation resulted in no arrests. With Labors support, the government rammed through a 500-page package of legislation that included the suspension of the Racial Discrimination, Land Rights, Native Title and Social Security acts and various UN human rights conventions signed by Australian governments. The Northern Territory, Howard declared, was a failed state because it had failed to stop the alleged crimes and that an immediate emergency national response involving the military, police and scores of highly paid government bureaucrats was necessary. The $587 million interventionestimated at $1 billion in todays moneyhad nothing to do with overcoming child abuse, alcoholism and other horrors, and was not designed to. In line with the demands of big business think tanks, such as the Centre for Independent Studies, its real purpose was to slash welfare, break up so-called uneconomic Aboriginal communities and take control of Aboriginal land. Aboriginal residents in the NT were used as guinea pigs to trial welfare quarantiningsocial control and welfare cutting measuresto be used in the future against other sections of the working class. That it had nothing to do with addressing the social crisis in Aboriginal communities is demonstrated by the fact that over 600 military personnel, police and criminal investigators were deployed into 73 targeted Aboriginal communities. Some 800 government officials were sent to take over community land and facilities, and to enforce welfare cuts. Highly paid business managers were appointed to displace the elected councils. Nothing was done to address the lack of decent housing or improve medical services and schools. We republish below the statement issued by the Socialist Equality Party in June 2007 condemning the NT intervention, exposing the lies and warning that similar measures would be extended to the working class more broadly. When the Rudd Labor government took office in November 2007, it expanded the NT intervention. By the end of 2008, welfare quarantining had been forced on 15,000 Aboriginal people and the proportion of income quarantined was increased from 50 percent to 70 percent. In 2012, Labor rebadged the Howard governments program as Stronger Futures, extending the measures for another ten years. $3.4 billion was committed over 10 yearsor just $340 million a yearthat was subsequently slashed by the incoming Coalition government from 2013. The emphasis remained on policing and compulsionmore police, punishment for parents if their children did not attend school, welfare quarantining, and greater government control over Aboriginal communities. While the legislation underpinning Stronger Futures was allowed to lapse by the current Labor government last year, the punitive approach remains and living conditions and social problems in Aboriginal communities have only worsened. Whether the Voice is established or not, the response of the Labor government to the social crisis facing Aboriginal people, will not be to provide the billions needed to fund proper housing, schools, health care and other services, but to further slash funding and boost repressive measures. Any Coalition government will do the same. Particularly telling is the fact that leading indigenous advocates of the Voice such as Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton were vocal defenders of the NT intervention as opposition welled up in Aboriginal communities to their vilification and trampling of basic democratic rights. Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton [Photo: National Press Club] Pearson, a right-wing lawyer, declared that the NT intervention represented a valuable step towards ending the scourge of sit-down welfare in Aboriginal communities. Langton, a well-paid academic, berated Aboriginal people speaking out against the take-over of their communities, saying that were being influenced by ridiculous conspiracy theories. Langton later appealed to the incoming Rudd government to maintain the intervention, absurdly describing it as the greatest opportunity we have had to overcome the systemic levels of disadvantage among Aboriginal Australians. Pearson and Langton are advocates for expanding Aboriginal businesses and slashing welfare in the name of encouraging individual responsibility. They are representatives of a narrow layer of indigenous elite that has been deliberately fostered over decades and that views the Voice as the means to further enhance their influence, privileges and wealth. The support of Pearson and Langton for the NT intervention is a sharp warning of what the Voice will do should it be established. It will aid and promote the agenda of demolishing limited welfare programs and fostering Aboriginal businesses, hand-in-hand with big business and government. The SEPs campaign for an active boycott is opposed to the racialist politics of both the Yes and No campaigns that can only divide workers and cover up the real agenda of war and austerity of the entire political establishment. We reject the hypocritical claims that an indigenous advisory body to government and parliament will address the disastrous social conditions facing Aboriginal working people. Only by uniting workersindigenous and non-indigenouson the basis of a socialist perspective can the historic crimes of capitalism against the Aboriginal population be redressed and the social crisis facing the working class as a whole be ended. *** Australian government imposes military-police regime on Aborigines Socialist Equality Party statement 23 June 2007 Under the cynical guise of protecting indigenous children from sexual abuse, the Howard government announced on Thursday a national emergency plan to take control of dozens of Aboriginal communities throughout the Northern Territory and impose virtual martial law conditions. Over coming weeks, police and troops will flood into as many as 60 towns and camps to enforce a series of draconian measures. Welfare and family payments will be halved, with the seized portions transferred to food and clothing vouchers. All payments will be cut off if children fail to attend school or are considered at risk. Forced labour will be imposed, via work for the dole programs, to clean up communities. In prescribed zones across the Northern Territory, all children under the age of 16 will be subjected to compulsory medical checks for sexual abuse. Alcohol and X-rated pornography will be banned, with individuals as well as suppliers facing imprisonment. At the same time, the existing permit system, which allows indigenous communities to restrict access to their lands, will be scrapped. Business managersso-called tsarswill take charge of all public housing and government enterprises. These people will function as modern-day versions of the administrators and protectors who exercised complete authority over Aboriginal reservations in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Aboriginal father with his grandchildren at Alice Springs town camp, Northern Territory, Australia, April 2008. [Photo by WSWS/John Hulme] Federal parliament will be recalled for a special mid-winter session to pass extraordinary, yet-to-be-seen legislation to authorise the takeover. The proposal was immediately endorsed by the Labor Party, whose leader Kevin Rudd pledged to give Prime Minister John Howard whatever support he needed. Howard insisted that the catalyst for his governments hardline approach was a recently released Northern Territory government inquiry report, Little Children are Sacred, which found that child sexual abuse was serious, widespread and often unreported. But Howard and Minister for Indigenous Affairs Mal Brough have brushed aside the reports findings and recommendations, which called for better education and family support services, together with empowerment of Aboriginal communities. The report concluded that most Aboriginal people are willing and committed to solving problems and helping their children. Aboriginal people were not the only perpetrators of sexual abuseit existed throughout Australia and internationally. In indigenous communities, the roots lay in social problems that had developed over many decades: the combined effects of poor health, alcohol and drug abuse, unemployment, gambling, pornography, poor education and housing, and a general loss of identity and control. Above all, Improvements in health and social services are desperately needed. On the contrary, Howards package includes not a single cent for health care, education, housing or social services. Such is the acute shortage of medical staff throughout indigenous communities, the government is asking doctors to donate their services to implement the mandatory medical checks. While the myth is routinely peddled that millions of dollars have already been squandered on Aboriginal welfare, every available statistic points to decades of chronic under-funding. Less than three months ago, Oxfam Australia condemned Australias health gapthe fact that the federal government spent approximately 70 cents per person on the health of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders for every $1 spent on the rest of the population. The Close the Gap report ranked Australia as the worst among wealthy nations at improving the health of indigenous people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders still died nearly 20 years younger than other Australians, and infant mortality was three times higher. Dr Paul Bauert, head of pediatrics at Royal Darwin Hospital, denounced the government for ignoring the huge medical challenge produced by poverty-related illnesses. The indigenous children he had seen suffered pus coming out of their ears, rheumatic heart disease, pus in their lungs [because] theyre living in a house with 20 other people, with three bedrooms and one bathroom and one toilet. He said existing resources were minimal, with the Northern Territory having only a quarter of the doctors needed to conduct regular visits to remote townships. Far from addressing this social catastrophe, Howards measures will deepen it. What will happen to the families whose welfare payments are cut off? What will be done with those children who fail the medical checks? How many more Aboriginal men will be jailed, when the indigenous imprisonment rate is already 30 times the national average? According to Aboriginal health specialist, Dr Ben Bartlett, conducting forced medical examinations would be traumatic and could, in itself, constitute sexual abuse. Another expert insisted that the inevitable result of the governments knee-jerk military response would be increased suicide and violence. There will be greater feelings of despair, said Southern Cross University professor Judy Atkinson, the author of three previous reports on child sexual abuse in indigenous communities. Child welfare workers are warning of a new Stolen Generation of children placed in institutions or foster homes. Already, figures released this month by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that the number of children aged between 12 and 17 removed from their family in 2006 rose to 9,276, up one-third since 1998. Of these children, 1,170, or about 13 percent, were indigenous, although indigenous people make up just 2 percent of the population. Howards political agenda At Thursdays media conference, Howard declared that constitutional niceties had to be cast aside for the care and protection of young children. In the first instance, the new regime will be imposed in the Northern Territory, which operates under a different legal framework than the states. But Howard has called for urgent meetings with the six state Labor governments to adopt similar blueprints. The prime minister claimed he detected a new mood among average Australians who felt shame and anger about the sexual abuse of indigenous children and expected governments to respond. With the enthusiastic assistance of the media, he is seeking to divert legitimate public outrage at the terrible conditions in remote Aboriginal townships away from those responsiblesuccessive federal, territory and state governments. Howards claim to be concerned for the plight of poor indigenous children is contemptible. In reality, he is using the social distress caused by decades of official neglect and deprivation, on top of two centuries of massacres, dispossession and forced separation of children, as the pretext for a new form of state repression. Alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence and sexual abuse are symptoms of deep and longstanding social problems: poverty, deprivation and denial of essential infrastructure and services, including health care and schools. The governments turnwith full bipartisan supportto punitive police-state measures against the most disadvantaged layers of the Australian population has far-reaching implications for the lives, social conditions and basic democratic rights of all working people. During his media conference, Howard revealed that federal cabinet is drawing up similar measures for all welfare recipients. Precedents are being established, using the most vulnerable members of society, that will be extended throughout the country. At the centre of the new scheme is a massive land grab. The Howard government will override the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act and the 1976 Land Rights Actwhich granted land tenure to Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territoryin order to take over land, initially through five-year leases. No compensation will be paid to the current landholders, despite a constitutional requirement to do so. Instead, they will be paid in kindthrough government servicesa proposal reminiscent of the days when cattle station owners gave Aboriginal workers rations of tea, sugar and flour in lieu of wages. To enforce these deeply anti-democratic measures, police will be mobilised from across the country, backed by military units. According to Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough, a former army officer, the police will arrive in military vehicles and the army will provide logistical backup for frontline policing. Brough likened the situation to a community being struck by a cyclone or flood. Certain things have to be put aside. Certain normalities have to be discarded. But the epidemic of ill-health and abuse among indigenous children is not a natural disasternor has it emerged overnight. It is a social disaster, which is now being exploited to radically extend the domestic role of the armed forces. While Labor is marching lockstep with Howard, and a whole layer of privileged Aboriginal leaders is collaborating with the government, significant voices of opposition have already emerged among health professionals, scholars, lawyers and local Aboriginal leaders. Among them is the winner of the 2007 Miles Franklin literary award, indigenous writer Alexis Wright. She accused the government of riding roughshod yet again, trampling heavily, bringing down the sledgehammer approach. This opposition will grow and broaden as the true character of the governments takeover becomes clearer. As numbers of commentators have observed, there is an element of desperate election politics in Howards announcement. Facing the prospect of defeat at this years election, according to opinion polls, Howard is anxiously seeking another reactionary diversion, like the 2001 children overboard refugee accusations or the 2003 weapons of mass destruction fabrications. But the plan is part of a wider agenda. Throughout his political career, Howard has made a point of whitewashing the genocidal policies carried out during the past 200 years against Australias indigenous population. His government has dismantled representative Aboriginal bodies, such as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and consistently blamed Aboriginal people for their own plight. He has also sought to abolish native and communal title. Under the Northern Territory takeover, entire communities are likely to be dispersed and their land cleared for unfettered exploitation by mining companies and pastoralists. Virtually every media outlet, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, has adopted the governments line. The Murdoch media, in particular, has hailed Howards announcement. According to Nicolas Rothwells analysis on the Australians front page, Howard moved with rapier speed and devastating force to sweep away a generations worth of political assumptions and impose a completely new pattern of surveillance and control on indigenous people. While this assault has a distinctly racist component, it is directed against the entire working class. As the social polarisation produced by more than two decades of free market policies intensifies, the Howard government is erecting the scaffolding for a police state. At the same time as it turns to militarism abroadin Iraq, East Timor and the South Pacificto realise its economic and strategic agenda, the Australian ruling elite is trampling over basic civil liberties and democratic rights at home. The Socialist Equality Party calls on the working class as a wholeindigenous and non-indigenous aliketo oppose Howards deeply reactionary plan and make a political break with the entire official political apparatus, including the Labor Party. What is required is the unification of the working class on the basis of a socialist program to completely reorganise economic and social life to meet human need, not corporate profit. Such a program must include the allocation of billions of dollars in resources to overcome the social disadvantage suffered by Australias indigenous population, and to rectify the historic crimes perpetrated against it. 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 Striking nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) in New Brunswick, New Jersey The sudden flurry of negotiations between Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) and the United Steelworkers (USW) suggests that the months-long strike of 1,700 nurses in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is in imminent danger of being betrayed. After months of infrequent meetings, representatives of RWJUH and the USW recently held three negotiating sessions within one week. Another session is scheduled for Sunday. This burst of activity signals a renewed effort by both parties to end the strike quickly on the hospitals terms. To prevent their hard-fought struggle from being defeated, the nurses must take control of their strike by forming a rank-and-file committee that is independent of the USW leadership. The nurses must break the impasse and end their isolation by expanding the strike to other RWJUH facilities and other sections of the working class. On August 4, the nurses at RWJUHs New Brunswick campus walked out to demand increased staffing, safe nurse-to-patient ratios, better wages, a cap on healthcare costs and healthcare benefits in retirement. Although the economic demands are justified and necessary, the nurses have consistently emphasized the urgent need for safe staffing, without which appropriate patient care is impossible. Nurses in the hospitals emergency rooms and intensive care units have sometimes been responsible for as many as nine patients each, nurse Louise Gurgui told News 12 New Jersey. For comparison, California law (which is poorly enforced) mandates nurse-to-patient ratios of 1:4 in the emergency department and 1:2 in the intensive care unit. A shockingly high 1:9 ratio would increase the risk of potentially fatal errors and adverse events. Its too frustrating not to be able to give the care that we really want to give to our patients, a medical-surgical nurse told the World Socialist Web Site on condition of anonymity. If a nurse is drowning, how can we help our patients? she asked. The strike at RWJUH takes place amid an expanding rebellion of healthcare workers. Last week, 75,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente waged a strike that the trade unions limited to three days. Pharmacists, technicians and support staff at Walgreens stores across the country struck for three days this week to protest poor working conditions. On Tuesday, nurses at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle picketed to fight for better staffing and protection from workplace violence. And more than 1,300 healthcare workers voted to authorize a strike at two PeaceHealth hospitals in Washington. Everyone is having these strikes, said the medical-surgical nurse, who expressed support for the workers at Kaiser Permanente. The main problem is that the CEOs are earning lots of money while the workers are struggling every day. If everyone went on strike, theyd have a hard time finding nurses. From the beginning of the New Brunswick strike, the administration of RWJUH has played hardball. To date, it has spent $76.2 million on travel nurses to keep the facility running. In a recent statement, hospital spokesperson Wendy Gottsegen has claimed that the nurses want more than any health care organization would ever agree to and are advancing untenable outlier positions. In addition, RWJUH persuaded a superior court judge to issue a temporary restraining order against the striking nurses. The order forbids the workers to block entrances and disrupt traffic. For now, the order also has prevented the nurses from playing music and limited the size of the groups in which they can gather. A hospital security guard was filmed pushing one of the nurses, even as the hospital blames the nurses for being hostile. Last month, the hospital issued an ultimatum to the nurses: either accept the last offer that the hospital made before the strike began or return to work and agree to binding arbitration. By a vote of about 90 percent, the nurses courageously rejected both options and vowed to continue their strike. This result is exceptionally significant considering the length of the strike and the fact that the hospital has cruelly cut off the nurses health insurance. The vote underscores the nurses determination to win the staffing and ratios that they need to maintain reasonable workloads and provide the highest quality care. In contrast with the hospitals ruthlessness, the USW has show complete passivity. Instead of striking real blows against management, the union has kept them isolated so that they can be worn down and defeated. Although the union has $1.1 billion in net assets, it is not paying the nurses strike pay. For the past two-and-a-half months, the nurses have had to find second jobs, file for unemployment or rely on donations to make ends meet. The lack of strike pay is not an oversight, but an attempt to starve workers into submission. Nor has the USW made any attempt to strengthen the nurses position by broadening the strike. In addition to its New Brunswick Facility, RWJUH also has campuses in Somerville and Rahway. But the USW has not appealed to the nurses at these hospitalsor to any other healthcare workersto join the strike. Meanwhile, Judy Danella, president of USW Local 4200, has been trying to persuade the techs and pharmacists in New Brunswick to join the union, according to an anonymous nurse. Danellas immediate concern is not to win the strike but to gain more dues-paying members for the local. Instead of expanding the fight, the USW has held various rallies and protests that the RWJUH administration has ignored. Recently, the USW sent the nurses to the Newark campus of Rutgers University to demand that Mark Manigan, CEO of RWJBarnabas Health, be removed from the universitys board of governors. In the unlikely event that the board granted this demand, it would have no effect on conditions at RWJUH. The USW has also diverted the nurses energy into futile appeals to Democratic politicians such as New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. Though Murphy claims to be pro-labor, he intervened in the first-ever faculty strike at Rutgers in April to impose contracts on the workers that did not meet their fundamental demands. At the national level, the Democratic Party has tried to suppress the growing strike movement using both the support of the corrupt union bureaucrats and anti-strike laws. The nurses at RWJUH in New Brunswick have shown admirable courage for 10 long weeks. But the hospital and the USW are conspiring to end the strike and impose concessions, and nurses must not allow their struggle to be defeated. The only way to break the impasse is to expand the strike. To do this, the nurses must take control into their own hands and form a rank-and-file committee that is independent of the USW leadership and of both capitalist parties. The urgent task for RWJUH nurses is to appeal to workers at the other two RWJUH campuses and to healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente and elsewhere. Healthcare workers everywhere are rebelling against the same attacks, which are rooted in the system of for-profit medicine. These struggles must be united in a fight to replace capitalism with socialism, which will provide healthcare to all as a basic right. In the lead-up to polling day on October 14, the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) reiterates its call for workers, students and young people to support an active boycott of the entire Voice referendum to enshrine an indigenous advisory body to parliament in the Constitution. Reject the official Yes and No camps, which represent rival sections of the ruling elite, hostile to the interests of workers! Take a stand and signal your support for an independent perspective for the working class against Labor, the Liberals and the entire political establishment! Because of Australias anti-democratic electoral laws, which make voting compulsory, an active boycott can only be registered at the polls by casting an informal ballot. We urge workers and young people to do so. However, the SEPs campaign for a boycott goes far beyond voting. Its aim is to develop an independent movement of the entire working class against the pro-business racialism of the Yes and No camps, and the entire ruling class program, supported by both factions, of war, austerity and growing authoritarianism. As the SEP warned at the outset, the referendum campaign has been an exercise in debased racialism, diversion and lies. The Yes campaign has nothing to do with improving the conditions of oppressed indigenous people. It is a cynical attempt to capitalise on mass sentiment in favour of redressing the crimes against Aboriginal people. The aim is to put a progressive gloss on the right-wing Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, which is committed to escalating Australian involvement in US plans for a war against China and forcing the working class to pay for the crisis of capitalism through austerity. The No camp, headed by the Liberal-National Coalition and its leader Peter Dutton, is based on a defence of the status quo and thinly-veiled racist dog-whistling against indigenous people. Both sides defend the anti-democratic 1901 Constitution, which does not guarantee a single democratic right. Both defend the interests of Australian capitalism, that is, the domination of the banks and big business over working people and the economic order responsible for the oppression of most of the Aboriginal population. Both have declared that they will cut federal spending on indigenous programs as part of a broader onslaught on healthcare, education and other social necessities. The Yes campaign has touted the Voice as a means of spending less, not more, on indigenous services! The underlying unity between the two camps and the fraud of the whole referendum has been exposed by the crisis in the Middle East over the past week. Labor and the Coalition have joined hands to denounce the courageous uprising of the Palestinian people against their decades-long occupation and to solidarise themselves with the bombing of Gaza by an Israeli regime that is speaking the language of genocide. Albanese and the Yes campaign falsely claim that the referendum will give a voice to oppressed indigenous people, the victims of British colonisation. But in the last week of the campaign, they fully support the bombardment and mass murder of oppressed Palestinians, subject to the most prolonged colonial occupation of the 20th and 21st centuries. Moreover, Labor oversees a crackdown on any expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians. The state Labor government in New South Wales has effectively banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Sunday, the very day after the referendum. While the imperialist warmongers supporting the Israeli bombardment are permitted a voice, that of growing mass anti-war opposition among workers and young people is forcefully suppressed. These developments only underscore the utter sham of the entire Voice proposal. As the SEP explained in its major statement calling for an active boycott on September 7, the Voice has several aims, all of them reactionary. They include: * To integrate a layer of the indigenous elite more directly into the corridors of political and corporate power. This layer, represented by figures such as Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton, has supported state attacks on oppressed indigenous people, including the Northern Territory intervention, with its military-police occupation of Aboriginal areas, and welfare quarantining. * To divide the working class along racial lines. Amid the greatest cost of living and social crisis in decades, with workers of all backgrounds finding it increasingly impossible to make ends meet, the Voice aims to place race, not class, at the centre of political discussion. * To revamp the image of Australian capitalism. The Labor government, with the full support of the Coalition, is functioning as the chief attack dog of US imperialism in its confrontation with China. Labors continuous diplomatic missions throughout Asia and the Pacific, aimed at bullying states in the region into aligning with the war drive, are complicated by Australian capitalisms brutal history of oppressing the Aboriginal people. * To strengthen the state apparatus. The Voice, through its connections to parliament and the government, would collaborate with and assist the military, the police and the other institutions of the capitalist state, all of which are committed to the defence of the corporate elite and the suppression of the working class. Strengthening this apparatus is viewed as crucial by the political establishment, amid growing social opposition and anti-war sentiment in response to the eruption of militarism. As the campaign progressed, the Yes camp entered a deepening crisis. Opinion polls are not infallible. But all of them suggest that Voice is headed for defeat. Proponents of the Voice have responded with a hysterical campaign, claiming their flagging support is a result of mass racism. But this is a slander against the population and, above all, the working class. Labor called the referendum to cynically exploit the mass anti-racist sentiment and sympathy for the plight of indigenous people that it knows exists among working people. Polling from the beginning of the year showed that the Voice enjoyed support from up to 65 percent of the voting population. The shift is not the result of a sudden development of racism. It is because growing layers are rightfully doubtful that the Voice will do anything to improve the conditions of oppressed Aboriginal people or any other layer of the working class. They are, moreover, increasingly hostile to the Labor government, the entire political establishment, and its policy of austerity and wage cuts amid the worsening cost-of-living disaster. Significantly, polling indicates that despite the collapse in support for the Voice, Peter Dutton, who heads the official No camp, remains one of the most unpopular figures in Australian politics. The Voice is in shambles because it was always a top-down initiative, not a grassroots movement of indigenous people or any other section of the working class. The origins of moves towards indigenous Constitutional recognition lie in a 2015 meeting convened by then Liberal-National Prime Minister Tony Abbott with indigenous leaders to try and diffuse widespread opposition to his governments sweeping budget cuts, including to Aboriginal services. The Uluru Dialogue of 2017, which proposed the Voice, was attended by carefully selected representatives of the indigenous elite without any broader participation. Notably, in the days before the referendum, polling was released, showing that among Aboriginal people, support for the Voice is as low as 59 percent, compared with the 80 percent figure falsely claimed by the Yes camp for most of the campaign. Given that the polling likely excludes most regional and remote communities, that figure could be even lower. As the SEP has insisted, the oppression of most Aboriginal people is not a result of racism, and it will not be resolved by establishing an elite indigenous Voice to parliament. In our September 7 statement, we explained that an independent line for the working class must begin with an understanding that the oppression of Aboriginal people is a product of capitalismthe private ownership of societys resources by a tiny financial elite. It cannot be resolved by augmenting, altering or reforming the existing state structures which are dedicated to defending that private ownership. The SEP stressed: The struggle to end the oppression of Aborigines, and the struggle for the social rights of the working class, are one and the same. They require a unified movement of the working class, regardless of race, gender and sexuality, against the capitalist profit system itself. This means the fight for socialism, placing societys resources under public ownership and democratic workers control, thereby guaranteeing the right of all to free education, health care and all the fundamental necessities of modern life. The course of the referendum itself has fully born out that position. The development of an independent socialist movement of the working class worldwide is more urgent than ever, as underscored by the bombardment of Gaza, the ongoing US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the preparations for a US war against China that could end humanity. Such a movement, moreover, is the only means of defending democracy, as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests demonstrates. It is the sole way workers can fight for their fundamental social rights to high-quality and free education, healthcare and services, jobs, and decent wages against the austerity onslaught of governments and corporations. Take up the active boycott, and above all, join the Socialist Equality Party and help to build it as the new mass revolutionary leadership of the working class! 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 Over the past few weeks, Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom has made headlines for vetoing more than 100 bills that arrived at his desk for signature, many of which have been backed by unions such as the Teamsters and Writers Guild of America. Most of the bills vetoed by Newsom had wide popular support and would have won easily if put on the ballot for a referendum vote. California Govenor Gavin Newsom gives a speech in front of SEIU Local 721 members on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. [AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes] These included a bill to cap insulin payments at $35 per month per patient, one to allow the free distribution of condoms and other contraceptives to high school students and another to provide unemployment insurance to workers on picket lines who largely receive no strike pay from their respective unions. An additional bill vetoed by the governor would have prohibited caste-based discrimination in the workplace. The vetoes are all the more significant given Newsoms prominent position within the Democratic Party nationally. He is often put forward as a hypothetical replacement for the elderly and befuddled President Joe Biden should the latter not be able to run for reelection. Democrats have presented Newsom as a foil to fascistic governors in the Republican Party such as Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida. In contrast to those two, Newsom, appearing on Fox News, has utilized his public prominence to falsely posture as an ardent defender of abortion, immigrant and gay rights and environmental protection. With the latest vetoes, the California governor, whose career was launched by the largesse of the Getty oil family, is adopting a deliberately right-wing stance in order to distance himself from any shred of liberal reformism and position himself as a more mainstream, i.e., pro-corporate, Democrat, in preparation for a future presidential campaign, either in 2028 or even next year. Regarding the insulin bill, State Senator Scott Wiener, who sponsored it, called Newsoms veto a major setback that will keep thousands of diabetic Californians trapped in the terrible choice between buying insulin and buying food. A 10-millimeter vial of insulin now costs between $170 and $400 and, with a typical diabetic needing up to three vials a month, the uninsured could expect to pay up to $1,200 each month for these life-saving medications. Moreover, even for the insured, the treatments can still be prohibitively expensive, with many insured expected to pay expensive deductibles each year before their medications are even covered, with such deductibles sometimes running into the thousands of dollars. According to the American Diabetes Association, around 3.2 million people, or 10.5 percent of Californias adult population, have been diagnosed with diabetes, underscoring the scale of the human cost of Newsoms veto. The governor rationalized his veto claiming that the states partnership with Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug company, would ensure the production of low-cost insulin, making the bills price cap unnecessary. The nonprofit was created in 2018, and the $50 million deal it made with the state for low-cost insulin was made only in March 2023. The companys claims to provide low-cost insulin are as yet completely unproven. Justifying his veto of the bill to provide free distribution of condoms to high schools, Newsom claimed that the program couldnt be funded due to the states $30 billion budget shortfall. The bill would have also covered the cost of human papillomavirus vaccinations for children under 18 and prevented retailers from verifying age of identification when minors attempt to purchase contraceptives. Newsoms veto will have a devastating impact on the states youth, particularly in impoverished rural and urban areas alike. It comes as the rate of sexually transmitted infections soars in California. Data has shown that young people aged 15 to 24 account for more than half of the recent rise in sexually transmitted disease across the state. Five in 10 chlamydia cases in the state are among young people, and young people account for a troubling reemergence of syphilis in California and across the country. By vetoing the bill, which would cost a fraction of the costs of treatment for STIs, not to mention the costs of unwanted pregnancies, the governor is providing a major gift to the far right and its attack on science and public health. In the wake of the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision overturning a womans constitutional right to an abortion, the right to contraception is under sustained attack by religious obscurantists in the Christian right who often find ready-made allies in the judicial system. On April 7, to cite only one example, US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an anti-abortion fanatic appointed by Donald Trump, overturned the approval of the early term abortifacient drug mifepristone, which provides hundreds of thousands of women with safe abortions each year. As in his veto of the contraceptives bill, Newsom claimed that the state did not have sufficient funds for a bill providing unemployment benefits to striking workers. The governor alleged that the states unemployment fund was already $20 billion in the red, an announcement that will likely presage calls for either paring down or eliminating state unemployment benefits in general. Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt, Newsom wrote in September 30 statement on his veto. Responding to the governors announcement, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, remarked, This veto tips the scales further in favor of corporations and CEOs and punishes workers who exercise their fundamental right to strike. These are crocodile tears, however, since the unions ardently backed Newsoms election and reelection, and care nothing about the actual financial position of workers who go on strike. On the contrary, they favor the maximum possible economic stress on their own striking members, since that will help the bureaucrats in one of their primary missions, blocking or suppressing strike action. The unions had also been hoping for the bills passage to relieve them of any possible obligation to provide strike pay out of their multi-million-dollar strike funds while their members were on the picket line, preferring to use the funds to pay bureaucrats salaries and boost Democratic Party election campaigns. In fact, the unions regularly advise their members to contact charitable organizations and take advantage of debt forgiveness programs while on the picket lines while the union bureaucrats continue to collect their regular salaries. In any case, the bill would have only provided unemployment insurance to those workers who had been on strike for more than two consecutive weeks. In pushing the measure, Democratic State Senator Anthony Portantino argued that the impact on the states unemployment insurance fund would be minimal given only two strikes that took place over the past 10 years lasted more than two weeks, due to the efforts of the trade unions to keep strikes under their control limited and ineffectual. The governor also vetoed several anti-discrimination bills in addition to the anti-caste discrimination bill mentioned earlier. These included a bill that would have banned employment discrimination based on family caregiver status. Another, Assembly Bill 1645, would have barred insurers from imposing copays and other cost-sharing arrangements for certain preventive services and screenings such as the drugs used for HIV prevention, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. Assembly Bill 1432, also vetoed by Newsom, would have required out-of-state insurers to provide plans for Californians to cover abortion and related services along with gender-affirming care. The Committee for Public Education (CFPE), the rank-and-file network of education workers, parents and students in Australia, met online on Wednesday night and unanimously supported the Socialist Equality Partys active boycott campaign against the October 14 referendum for an indigenous Voice to the Australian parliament. Striking NSW teachers at Sydney rally in May, 2022. The meeting was attended by primary, secondary and tertiary teachers, as well as other education workers, parents and students. Their resolution said successive governments, Labor and Liberal-National alike, were responsible for the appalling conditions facing most Aboriginal people. The resolution condemned the racial identity politics promoted by a privileged layer of indigenous business operators, academics and media personalities fostered by Labor and the Coalition over decades. It called for a unified struggle by the working class, indigenous and non-indigenous against the racialist policies of both the Yes and No camps and their pro-capitalist agendas of austerity and war. The opening report to the meeting was delivered by Patrick OConnor, a leading member of the CFPE and a member of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP). Before addressing the issues raised by the Voice, he denounced the Israeli assault on the people of Gaza. OConnor said the Netanyahu government had seized upon the uprising by the occupied Palestinian people in Gaza to prepare a massive onslaught on Gaza which had already begun. He condemned the aggressive war fever being promoted by the mainstream media, and the response of the ruling elite in the US and Australia proclaiming unlimited support for Israels actions. The report reviewed recent experiences of education workers in Australia and internationally, the auto workers strikes in the US and the increasing role that rank-and-file committees are playing in the growing struggles of the working class, against the betrayals of the trade union bureaucrats. OConnor said rank-and-file committees should not be restricted to workplace or industrial issues but should discuss the pressing social and political matters confronting all working-class people. That is the basis on which we are seeking to develop a discussion here this evening on the question of the Voice. OConnor outlined the SEPs call for an active boycott of the referendum. He noted that the SEPs active boycott statement made it clear that the Yes and No campaigns did not represent the interests of working-class people, including working-class Aboriginal people. OConnor concluded by quoting from the SEPs statement: The struggle to end the oppression of Aborigines, and the struggle for the social rights of the working class, are one and the same. They require a unified movement of the working class, regardless of race, gender and sexuality, against the capitalist profit system itself. This means the fight for socialism, placing societys resources under public ownership and democratic workers control, thereby guaranteeing the right of all to free education, health care and all the fundamental necessities of modern life. The report led to an extended discussion on a range of issues, including the developments in Gaza, the referendum and the conditions in public education. There was extensive discussion on the CFPE intervention into the recent Australian Education Union state conference in Victoria, including the outright hostility of the union bureaucracy to rank-and-file teachers raising any criticism of the union. A brief report was also given on the New South Wales Teachers Federation council meeting that endorsed a sellout agreement. The discussion on Gaza included the impact of the aggressive pro-Israel media barrage on children and young people. A parent noted that she received an email from her sons school about setting up counselling to help support students who were affected by the mainstream media reporting. She added: I feel for the Palestinian students who will have to deal with Australia taking sides and lighting up the Opera House [in the colours of the Israeli flag], which was disgraceful. On the Voice referendum, a CFPE supporter said she had already decided to do an informal vote, then read our statement and was very pleased with the position it advanced. She noted that two prominent Yes campaigners, Marcia Langton and Noel Pearson, were proponents for major mining company Adani. A teacher posted in the chat: I think the statement is very important, as it clearly demonstrates that the Voice is a sham which will not offer any help to the indigenous working class. A retired teacher spoke on the terrible conditions in public schools in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, which was reported on the WSWS. He explained that the educational outcomes in these schools were the result of decades of neglect by both Liberal and Labor governments. The CFPE urges education workers across Australia to support its resolution on the Voice referendum, printed below, share it with fellow workers and on social media and contact us: Email: cfpe.aus@gmail.com Facebook: facebook.com/commforpubliceducation Twitter: @CFPE_Australia CFPE resolution on the Voice referendum Wednesday, October 11, 2023 This meeting of the CFPE endorses the Socialist Equality Partys stance of an active boycott of the Albanese Labor governments Voice referendum. The appalling conditions facing Aboriginal people are the result of deliberate policies of successive governments both Labor and Liberal. Policies that are driven by the interests of the ruling class. The ideological basis for the Voice is racial identity politics promoted by a tiny privileged layer of indigenous business operators, academics and media personalities fostered by Labor and the Coalition over decades. The SEP insists that the fundamental division in society, including in the indigenous population, is class, not race. The Voice is a means of further incorporating into the capitalist class and the state apparatus a wealthy indigenous layer. According to the blueprint drawn up by indigenous Professors Marcia Langton and Tom Calma the Voice would be a thoroughly anti-democratic institution. It would be an unelected body chosen by acknowledged leaders and subject to character tests and vetting by an equally unelected ethics council. In education, funding cuts and the implementation of regressive policies have done nothing to close the gap. Many schools with large numbers of Aboriginal students are not receiving adequate support. Often these schools are in remote and very remote locations. This is a breach of the basic social right that every child has access to free, high-quality education. The Socialist Equality Partys advocacy of an active boycott is to expose and oppose the whole referendum throughout the working class. This is not passive abstention but a form of collective action to advance the independent interests of the working class both indigenous and non-indigenous alike. That is essential to prepare for the momentous class struggles aheadregardless of whether the referendum passes or failsagainst the agenda of war and austerity. 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 Students and young people in Australia have denounced the fraud of the Labor governments claim to be giving a Voice to oppressed Aboriginal people while simultaneously declaring its support for the Netanyahu governments genocidal onslaught against Palestinians. IYSSE members campaigning for SEP's active boycott of the Voice to parliament referendum at the University of Newcastle, in Australia. As part of their campaign for an active boycott of the Voice referendum tomorrow, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), the youth wing of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), spoke to university students in Sydney and Newcastle this week. IYSSE members explained that the Voice, an indigenous advisory body to parliament, has nothing to do with improving the dreadful social conditions faced by the majority of Aboriginal people. Both the Yes and No camps have declared their intention to slash spending on indigenous programs including health and education. The phoney character of Labors professed support for the interests of indigenous Australians is starkly exposed by its denunciation this week of the struggle of Palestinians in Gaza against 75 years of Zionist oppression. As the SEP has insisted, the struggle to end the oppression of Aborigines, and the struggle for the social rights of the working class, are one and the same. In the same way, the fight for the democratic rights of the Israeli working class is inseparable from the struggle of Palestinians against Zionist oppression. In each case, what is required is a unified movement of the working class, regardless of race, religion, nationality, gender or sexuality, against the capitalist profit system itself. **** Mariam, a nursing student at Western Sydney University, said, What is happening in Palestine is the result of 75 years of occupation. The killing of Palestinian people has been happening for 75 years. No one talks about it. The media completely ignores it. When the Palestinians finally try to resist in response to what theyve been through, then they are terrorists. They are not! Mariam The Australian media is also completely ignoring what is happening. Netanyahu said hes going to cut electricity, water, food supplies, everything. The Palestinians have every right to resist. Australia supposedly supports democracy. Where is the democracy? In the referendum campaign for the Voice, the government and the media are saying we need to acknowledge Indigenous rights, but when something happens in Palestine, they ignore the rights of the Palestinians. This is hypocrisy. The Australian government claims to support human rights. If that is so, then they should act on it. They have said for years they are going to improve the lives of the Aboriginal people, but nothing is changing. Now they are banning Palestinian protest rallies, banning the right to protest. At the University of Newcastle, the IYSSE spoke to Wasan, who said she had been attacked online for opposing the criminal assault on Palestine. People have rallied in Sydney and the government declared people are celebrating death. Its not about that! No one wants to see other people dying, but the Palestinian people have been oppressed for so many years and now theyre being called the terrorists. The Prime Minister [Anthony Albanese] says Israel has a right to defend itselfhow? Theyve taken the homes and land of Palestinian people. The media doesnt show this. Wasan referred to a video she saw online in which a Palestinian lady was crying outside her home after it was destroyed: Women and children and the elderly have been killed, hospitals and schools have been bombedis that okay because theyre Palestinian? They say they dont want to support terrorism and death, then why are they supporting Israel? Ethics and morals have got nothing to do with it. The truth is very clear. She said she didnt know much about the Voice but was shocked when she heard it was promoted as a way of saving money: Theyve oppressed Aboriginal people for years and now they want to save more money. They should build hospitals and schools, but we also need jobs. The government is making the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I feel like its similar for Aboriginal people and Palestinian people. Aboriginal people were originally here, many years back, it was just them and they have been oppressed. Originally from Sydney, Wasan said she was shocked at the limited medical access available in Newcastle: If you want to go see a doctor, good luck calling every medical centre in the area, theyre all booked. They dont do bulk-billing, so if someone has Medicare they cant use it, they must pay for it. You can only imagine what its like for people who live further away. I feel like nowadays, no matter how much people are voicing their concerns its going nowhere. The government knows whats happening, they just dont care. They have the power to make massive changes. All the money they spend on war, imagine what that could be used for. We need something more. If everyone were to go on strike all at once, that could have an impact. But I heard about nurses recently who went on strike, and they were fined, so it needs to be done together. If no one says anything now and nothing changes, things are only going to get worse. Mithun, also at the University of Newcastle, is studying software engineering. He said, The conflict feels like it has reached a boiling point. The Palestinians have suffered years of oppression within Israel, it has been very one-sided if you look at the death toll. Whilst I dont condone innocent people getting caught in between, I think that Israel is responsible. Mithun A lot of people who arent aware of the history of the conflict have just been siding with the US who are calling it a terrorist attack. This is the first time it has really hit the news in a while and everything the Palestinians have gone though is completely ignored. Asked what he thought of the Labor government supporting Israel whilst promoting the Voice to parliament, Mithun replied, It is a contradiction, they are claiming to be giving the Aboriginal people some measure to be heard about their issues, and the Palestinians are being completely ignored. Right now, they are trying to suppress any pro-Palestine positions. They are trying to say that if you support the Palestinians, you support terrorists. 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 OSLO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt on Thursday called for de-escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Huitfeldt said in a statement that there is an urgent need to stop the violence and de-escalate the situation. "All actions that could contribute to a further escalation of the situation must be avoided." She said there is no military solution to the conflict and the only way to achieve peace is to restart a political process. Huitfeldt said Norway encourages the international community to continue its financial assistance to the Palestinian people. "The situation will only deteriorate further if the international community suspends or reduces its assistance at this critical juncture," she said. In a prime-time television address yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron unreservedly endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus war on the Palestinian uprising in Gaza. He demanded that the French people demonstrate national unity and rally behind his own unpopular government as it supports the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) relentless bombing of the impoverished Palestinian enclave. Before Macrons speech, his political advisers admitted to the media that his position faces deep opposition in the French people and that they are terrified that this opposition will explode. This is particularly the case if the IDF launches a widely anticipated ground invasion of Gaza and tries to act on its threats to murder every member of Hamas. Such a policy would entail massacring a substantial proportion of the blockaded Palestinian population of Gaza. Laurent Marcangeli of the Horizons Party of Macrons former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warned: We must watch what we say, have some humility given the complexity of this issue. We do not know how the situation will develop. Public opinion can start asking itself questions depending on how strong Israels reaction is. After stupor, horror and disgust (at pictures of Israeli victims), other images of innocent victims, this time on the Palestinian side, can move people. Denis Sieffert, the former editor of Politis magazine, echoed Marcangelis remarks, telling Le Monde: The risk facing the government is that spontaneous, disordered demonstrations could erupt. Macron reacted by telling his far-right Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin to ban all pro-Gaza protests and inviting the leaders of all Frances parliamentary parties to closed-door talks on the political crisis. From neo-fascist National Rallys (RN) Marine Le Pen to Manuel Bompard of Jean-Luc Melenchons pseudo-left Unsubmissive France (LFI) party, all these parties top officials met Macron. In the current context, this amounts to an endorsement by the entire French political establishment of the blank cheque Macron gave Netanyahu in his televised address. Ignoring the Israeli states oppression of the Palestinian people and its illegal 16-year blockade of Gaza, Macron instead gave a travesty of the war, presenting it as a one-sided, absolutely evil act of Palestinian terrorism against Israel. He denounced the uprising against the Israeli government that began a week ago as the most tragic terrorist attack in its history and an unleashing of absolute cruelty. Branding the Hamas party in Gaza as a terrorist movement, Macron denounced it for exposing the population of Gaza in a cynical and criminal fashion. The cynicism and criminality is, in reality, on the side of Macron. Indeed, Macron did not state that what the Palestinians of Gaza are exposed to is the threat of a genocidal IDF onslaught against an uprising driven by the intolerable conditions of the 16-year blockade of Gazaan onslaught which Macron himself is endorsing. Macron briefly mourned the death of 14 French people in the Hamas offensive against Israel and pledged to work to free the 17 French people thought to be held as hostages by Hamas, which is trying to use them to negotiate a prisoner swap with Israel. He also demanded that the fighting not spread to Lebanon, a former French colony, where the Shiite Hezbollah militia has traded fire with IDF forces across the border in northern Israel. While Macron briefly referred to his support for a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his principal concern was with justifying internal, police-state repression. He let it be known that the French capitalist state will treat sympathy with Gaza as a crime. Those who mix up the Palestinian cause with terrorism are committing a moral error, he said, pledging that the French police and army would suppress all excesses, all moral drifts, all hatreds that might find expression over the Israeli-Palestinian issue in France. Macron concluded by hypocritically praising the singular and universal voice which is that of France, demanding that the French people line up behind him to remain united to bear a message of peace and hope and be up to the standards set by our history. It is impossible to reconcile Macrons empty rhetoric, intended to be taken as references to traditions of the 1789 French Revolution, with the IDF attacks on Gaza. The 18th century democratic revolution granted religious minorities, such as Jews, Protestants and Muslims, full legal rights, based on a proclamation of the principle of human equality. Macron, on the other hand, is endorsing the IDF onslaught against the Palestinians which is unmistakably taking on a fascistic and genocidal character. Intensifying its 16-year blockade of Gaza, which the United Nations has ruled illegal, the Israeli state is cutting off all food, fuel, energy and humanitarian aid to Gaza and bombing the enclavea densely populated zone of over 2 million people, half of whom are aged under 18. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has denounced the Palestinians in Gaza as animals, as he plans an IDF ground invasion of Gaza. Macrons endorsement of the IDF offensive is inseparably bound up with the legitimization by the ruling class of the bloodiest, most reactionary traditions of French and European politics. This emerged in remarks by Marine Le Pen, the daughter and political heir of the Holocaust denier and promoter of the Nazi collaborationist Vichy regime, Jean-Marie Le Pen. Marine Le Pen, who has never condemned her fathers support for Vichy and the Holocaust, advocated murdering a large portion of Gazas population and ethnically cleansing Gaza of Palestinians. Terrorism is the worst form of cowardice and of brutality, Le Pen told the far-right C-News channel on Sunday, adding that we must allow Israel to eradicate Hamas. Le Pen then laid out a proposal for the mass murder of all Palestinians active in armed opposition to the IDF and for the expulsion of all other Palestinians from Gaza. She said, A part of the Palestinian population probably supports Hamas. But as for the others, they are hostages. So maybe the international community should ask Egypt to open an asylum to let the Palestinian population evacuate Gaza. The decision of Macron and of other French parliamentary party leaders to meet Le Pen after this fascistic outburst, which Le Pens political ancestors in the French collaboration with Nazism would have understood very well, is no political accident. Firstly, Le Pen was outlining the type of policy that Israeli ruling circles plan to carry out, with European and US support. Moreover, the French political establishment, in the years since the 1991 Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union, has agreed to legitimize neo-fascism. An explosive confrontation is brewing between the working class and the entire ruling class. The capitalist ruling elite is gripped by fear of the masses, after mass strikes this spring against Macrons pension cuts, which he imposed in a deal with the union bureaucracy in defiance of overwhelming popular opposition and mass riots this summer after the police murder of Nahel. It has not succeeded in legitimizing policies of ethnic cleansing or mass murder, which face deep, historically rooted opposition in the working class. In the new class struggles that will erupt against Macron, the working class will face the task of opposing war and halting the onslaught on Gaza. His fascistic position on the bloodshed in Palestine is a warning: There is nothing to be negotiated with Macron, whose government must be brought down in a struggle to transfer power to the working class. The World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board condemns the war crimes by the Israeli regime in its homicidal rampage in Gaza, which is being carried out with the full support of the United States and all the imperialist powers. We call on workers and youth throughout the world to mobilize protests to demand these war crimes be stopped. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make statements to the media inside The Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defense, after their meeting in Tel Aviv, Thursday October 12, 2023. [AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin] The aim of the Israeli onslaught is to kill as many Palestinians as possible and to render Gaza dysfunctional and uninhabitable. The Netanyahu regime intends to wipe Gaza off the face of the earth, a fact that is confirmed by the announcement late Thursday that Israel is demanding that the 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza evacuate within 24 hours. It is, in effect, sending Gazans on a death march. This is a genocidal project. There are 2.2 million people in Gaza, which has one of the highest population densities in the world. Half of the population, some one million people, are younger than the age of 18. Trapped from leaving with the closure of border crossings into Israel and Egypt, they face systematic starvation, constant bombardment and the prospect of an imminent invasion. Since launching its savage onslaught on Gaza Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces have dropped 6,000 bombs weighing some 4,000 tons on the enclave. According to Palestinian health authorities, 1,417 people have been killed, half of whom are women and children, but the death toll is undoubtedly far higher. The AP released video of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, with a population of 116,000 packed into 1.4 square kilometers. The AP noted that the camp had been razed to the ground by Israeli airstrikes. The Netanyahu regime has cut all electricity, water and fuel supplies to Gaza, an act of collective punishment that is itself a war crime. The International Committee of the Red Cross warned Thursday that hospitals risk turning into morgues as their fuel-powered generators run out and Israel refuses to open humanitarian corridors to evacuate the seriously ill and injured. Life support for babies in incubators and elderly patients has been turned off. Chilling remarks from across the Israeli political establishment make clear that these horrendous acts are just the beginning of what can best be described as Operation Mass Murder. Speaking Wednesday after the confirmation of an emergency government with opposition leader Benny Gantz, Netanyahu stated that every Hamas man is a dead man. The militant nationalist group that led Saturdays assault on Israel won the support of over 400,000 Gazans in the 2006 election, underscoring that Netanyahu would have to order the slaughter of hundreds of thousands to carry out his threat. Gantz was no less bloodthirsty, declaring that it was time for war, and that Israel intends to wipe Hamas off the face of the earth. These are statements that echo those of the Nazi regime in Germany, whose leaders were hanged at Nuremberg. When the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto rose up in early 1943 against Nazi occupation, followed one year later by the Polish resistance, Hitlers regime flattened the city in a manner comparable to the destruction of Gaza that is now in its early stages. The Biden administration and the media, justifying the slaughter, attempt to portray Hamas attack on Israeli civilians as an inexplicable outrage, expressing nothing else than pure evil. But the fact is that the rebellion was provoked by decades of relentless oppression by the Israeli government against the Palestinians. Just two months ago, nearly three thousand, predominantly Jewish public intellectuals from all over the world signed a letter under the headline, Elephant in the Room, which described the conditions that preceded the attack from Hamas. They referred to the direct link between Israels recent attack on the judiciary and its illegal occupation of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Palestinian people lack almost all basic rights, including the right to vote and protest. They face constant violence: this year alone, Israeli forces have killed over 190 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and demolished over 590 structures. Settler vigilantes burn, loot, and kill with impunity. The letter continued, There cannot be democracy for Jews in Israel as long as Palestinians live under a regime of apartheid, as Israeli legal experts have described it. Indeed, the ultimate purpose of the judicial overhaul is to tighten restrictions on Gaza, deprive Palestinians of equal rights both beyond the Green Line and within it, annex more land, and ethnically cleanse all territories under Israeli rule of their Palestinian population. All of this is now being deliberately suppressed. A totally false, lying narrative is being concocted, according to which Israel is the victim of Nazi-style attacks from the Palestinians, who in fact have been oppressed and subjected to repeated bombardments and massacres for decades. The Israeli government and its supporters are seeking to exploit the Holocaust to justify their own genocidal crimes. The Israeli massacre has the full support and encouragement of the imperialist powers in Europe and the United States. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu Thursday, as the invasion was being planned, to declare his full support for Israel. Asked in an interview with NBC News whether there were any red lines that Israel might cross, Blinken responded that he was not going to get into any of the operational details, and again, were determined to support them. In other words, Israel has a blank check for anything it does. In a joint press conference with Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Blinken declared: I come before you not only as the United States secretary of state, but also as a Jew. Blinkens explicit association of his personal religion with his official role as a representative of the US government exposes his indifference to and ignorance of the Constitution-based separation of church and state. His statement provides grist for antisemitic propaganda, as it falsely associates all Jewish people with the crimes of the Netanyahu regime. If he were speaking honestly, Blinken would have said, I come to Israel not only as US secretary of state, but also as an accomplice in the destruction of Gaza and the mass murder of Palestinians. Blinkens trip followed US President Joe Bidens speech Tuesday, denouncing the Palestinian uprising as the expression of pure unadulterated evil. Speaking Thursday on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministers Summit in Brussels, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that no conditions would be placed on how weapons supplied to Israel by the US are used. As the imperialist powers wage ever more openly a war against the world, even the remnants of bourgeois democracy are being dispensed with. Protests in support of the Palestinians were banned this week across Europe and North America, with participants demonized by the authorities as supporters of terrorism. On the college campuses, right-wing Zionists are attempting to create an atmosphere of terror and threats. Student groups and individuals who have spoken out against Israeli crimes have had their names and personal information released and publicized. At a rally at Brooklyn College yesterday, a member of the New York City Council, Inna Vernikov, showed up brandishing a firearm to intimidate students. To those who accuse opponents of Israeli crimes of being antisemitic, we say that the Israeli government consists of a pack of fascists. This includes Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has ordered his ministry to purchase 10,000 assault rifles to arm right-wing settler militias. Ben-Gvir had previously been convicted of racist incitement for chanting Death to Arabs and for supporting a terrorist group. As for the US and European powers, they are aligned with fascists in Ukraine, exemplified in the standing ovation given last month by the Canadian Parliament, along with representatives from all the G7 countries, for Yaroslav Hunka, a veteran of the Ukrainian Waffen-SS, which was responsible for the massacre of Jews under the direction of Nazi Germany. The Israeli onslaught on Gaza must be seen in the context of the escalating US-NATO war against Russia, the initial stage of world war. The imperialist redivision of the world will assume the form not just of conflicts between countries, but an ever more direct and violent war against masses of people. The ruling elites in all the capitalist countries, moreover, face an intersecting series of economic, social and political crises which they are seeking to divert through an explosion of military violence. The ruling class believes that the media is presenting public opinion, but support for the Palestinians is widespread among the population throughout the world, and strikes and protests by workers are on the rise in every country. Within Israel, the Netanyahu regime has confronted sustained opposition from the working class over the past year to its drive to gut democratic rights and establish an authoritarian regime. The working class must intervene to stop the massacre by demanding an immediate halt to the supply of weapons to Israel. Mass protests and demonstrations should be organized in every city and college campus to demand an end to the murderous onslaught. These demands are inseparable from the broader struggle to put an end to the intolerable conditions faced by the Palestinians and all forms of oppression around the world, which requires the development of a mass movement in the international working class for socialism. The deadlock in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives worsened Thursday, with Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the Republican nominee for Speaker, withdrawing as a candidate because he was unable to obtain the near-unanimous support of his caucus required by narrow Republican majority in the House. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., right, promote the Wuhan Lab conspiracy theory at a press conference on Thursday, June 24, 2021. Both were leading supporters of Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election. [AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta] With only a 221-212 margin of control, and all 212 Democrats committed to voting for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Republican nominee cannot obtain the 217 votes required for election if even five Republicans vote against him. Scalise won the nomination of the Republican conference Wednesday by the narrow margin of 113-99 over House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, but more than a dozen Republicans have said they will back Jordan or another choice rather than Scalise if a vote for Speaker is actually held in the full House. Before Scalises withdrawal Thursday evening, the House met in a noon session, but immediately went into recess for lack of a Speaker. The House Republican Conference then began a closed-door, no-cellphone meeting that lasted some three hours but ended without any decisions or visible progress, according to attendees. After further discussions with individual members and within the Republican leadership, Scalise announced he was withdrawing his candidacy, leaving the Republican caucus in disarray and the House as a whole unable to carry out any business. The Biden administration, the Democratic leadership in the House, and those Republicans closest to the military-intelligence apparatus have begun to voice support for a bipartisan deal in which House Democrats supply enough votes to allow a Republican to be elected Speaker. Under House rules, they need not actually cast votes for the Republican, only absent themselves from the chamber during the vote in sufficient numbers to reduce the total required for election (a majority of those present and voting) to the number of Republicans who will actually vote for Scalise. In return for gaining the vital post of Speakera constitutional officer who controls the flow of legislation, appoints members of committees, and is next in line of presidential succession after Vice President Kamala Harristhe Republicans would agree to a spending bill that would provide tens of billions in military aid to Ukraine, billions in military aid to Israel, and billions for the further militarization of the US-Mexico border. The outlines of a deal tying Ukraine military aid with a massive border crackdown have been discussed for weeks in congressional offices and floated in various forms in the corporate media. The outbreak of war in the Middle East, with Israel preparing an all-out attack on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, has added military aid for Israel to the package. For the Biden administration and the Democrats, prosecuting the war against Russia in Ukraine to the maximum extent has become the central focus of their policy. In the ongoing budget crisis, which came within hours of a federal government shutdown on September 30, their overriding concern was to prevent a cutoff of aid to Ukraine. White House officials now say that the administration has depleted virtually all the various contingency funds available for the Pentagon for this purpose. The demands of the military-intelligence apparatus are driving a section of the House Republicans as well. Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, left the Republican meeting Thursday denouncing the eight Republican traitors who had voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week and said that if they now decided to support Scalise, then theres just another eight like them. He added, The bottom line is we have a very fractured conference, and to limit ourselves to just getting 217 out of our conference, I think, is not a wise path. Any Republican candidate for Speaker would absolutely need Democratic votes to be elected. This implies a bipartisan deal along the lines being discussed. On Wednesday, Rogers (R-Alabama) and Adam Smith (D-Washington), the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, issued a joint statement denouncing the Hamas attacks on Israel and urging full US support for Israels military response. Rogers and Smith had previously backed stepped-up US military aid to Ukraine. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts), the number two Democrat in the leadership, asked if the Democrats would discuss a bipartisan deal to elect a speaker, replied, That is going to be up to our caucus to make that decision. But our door is open. Minority Leader Jeffries told reporters, House Democrats have continued to make clear that we are ready, willing and able to fly a bipartisan path forward. Asked to elaborate, he said, It means partnering to reopen the House so that we can get the business of the American people done and changing the rules that were enacted in January that empowers their most extreme members. The contours of such a deal were elaborated in an editorial Thursday in the Washington Post, which urged Scalise to avoid repeating Kevin McCarthys mistakes by turning to the Democrats for support. This would start with an agreement to extend funding authorization for the federal government and avoiding any federal shutdown. Such a deal should include emergency military support for Israel and continued military and economic aid to Ukraine which is vital to providing an embattled pro-U.S. nation with the weapons, materiel and intelligence it needs Both Democrats and Republicans would now agree with action on migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, with hundreds of thousands now seeking refuge in cities like New York, Chicago and Washington DC. The editorial cited reports that the White House is weighing a supplemental funding package that would group together these issuesIsrael, Ukraine and the border. Such a deal should be a top priority for the next speaker, along with funding the rest of the governments operations. It would represent a thoughtful balancing of the parties priorities. This is the formula for a program of militarism and attacks on democratic rights embraced by both corporate-controlled parties, without the slightest mention of any social reforms to deal with the deepening social crisis facing working people. While the ruling class seeks a consensus along these lines, a few dozen fascists among the House Republicans have become the driving force of the political crisis in Washington. They can block any nominee for Speaker, but cannot as yet impose one of their own. Jordan, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, was the closest they have come, but he fell short, despite a well-publicized endorsement by ex-president Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. As Rogers indicated, many of the eight Republican representatives who torpedoed McCarthy have declared they will support Scalise. But a new set of ultra-rightists came forward to declare their opposition to Scalise and their determination to vote for Jordan and split the Republican caucus in any public vote of the whole House for Speaker. McCarthy, the ousted former speaker, seemed to derive satisfaction from Scalises difficulties, pointing out that Scalise had predicted he would get 150 votes in the conference, but received only 113, barely more than the 111 required for nomination. He might not be able to recover, McCarthy continued. Its possible; its a big hill, though. The Socialist Equality Group (SEG) in New Zealand warns that whatever the outcome of tomorrows election, the next government will carry out historic attacks on workers living standards, slash spending on public services, and spend billions more on the police, prisons and the military. Composite image of National Party leader Christopher Luxon and Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins. [Photo: Christopher Luxon Facebook September 21/Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins Facebook September 7] For workers and young people, who are moving to the left and are increasingly hostile to capitalism, there is only one alternative in this election: reject all the parliamentary parties and take up the fight for socialism. This means joining the SEG, which is fighting to build a New Zealand section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), the world party of socialist revolution. In response to a historic crisis of global capitalism, the ruling class in every country is lurching to the right and embracing authoritarian methods as they prepare for a third world war and the suppression of the working class. The imperialist powers, led by the US, see no way to reverse their economic decline apart from the forcible redivision of the worlds territory and resources, primarily at the expense of Russia and China. The right-wing character of New Zealands election campaign demonstrates that the country is not isolated from these developments. Far from it. In the past week, Labours prime minister Chris Hipkins and opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon joined the US and other imperialist governments in endorsing the Israeli militarys murderous assault on Gaza. Repeating the fraudulent mantra of Israels right to defend itself, New Zealands political establishment is supporting the Netanyahu governments genocidal bombing campaign aimed at reducing Gaza to rubble. Contrary to the official lies and misinformation, the uprising of the Palestinian masses is the result of 75 years of oppression and dispossession of their land by Israel. The actions of the oppressed against the oppressor have been met with brutal retaliation by the imperialist-backed Zionist regime. The New Zealand establishments defence of Israels atrocities must be taken as a sharp warning of the agenda of militarism, war and attacks on the working class that is being prepared. New Zealand is deeply integrated into US war plans, which has not been discussed publicly during the election campaign because all parties are afraid of widespread anti-war sentiment in the working class. The Labour government, supported by the entire parliament, has sent troops to Britain to train Ukrainian conscripts for the US-NATO proxy war against Russia. In August, the Labour governments defence minister Andrew Little stated that the armed forces must be prepared to support a US war against China. Boosting funding for the military will require the diversion of resources from hospitals, schools, and other public services which are already in a severe crisis. These deeply unpopular measures will be undertaken by a government that will have no mass supportwhether it is led by Labour or National. The countrys political leaders and the corporate media are nervous, and even showing signs of panic, as the depth of alienation and hostility in the working class towards all the established parties has become more and more clear. After decades of austerity measures and participation in the criminal US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined support for Labour and National has fallen to an all-time low. The polls indicate that neither Labour nor National will be able to rule in its own righta major crisis of rule for the NZ bourgeoisie. Whichever party comes to power would be in a coalition with one or other of the right-wing minor parties. The Labour Party, which got 50 percent of the vote in the 2020 election, is now polling around 28 percent. The sudden resignation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in January threw the party into disarray and was followed by five more ministers resigning or being pushed out. The Labour government used the COVID-19 pandemic to carry out an historic transfer of wealth to the rich, with tens of billions of dollars in subsidies and handouts to the banks and big business, inflating property prices and corporate profits. Arderns promises to solve the housing crisis and alleviate child poverty have proven to be an utter fraud. After six years of Labour, working people are facing an increasingly unbearable crisis. According to one analysis, the average households costs have risen by $240 a week in the past three years. Charities report soaring demand for food parcels. One in 100 people are homeless, and the waiting list for public housing has exploded from 5,000 to 24,000 since Labour first came to power in 2017. Labour was re-elected in 2020 primarily for keeping COVID-19 out of New Zealand with an elimination strategyadopted to pre-empt a potentially uncontrollable mass movement by healthcare workers. The Ardern government, however, will be remembered for ending the zero-COVID policy two years ago and unleashing the coronavirus on the country. Hipkinswho contracted COVID-19 for the second time during the election campaignshamelessly declared in last nights televised debate that Labour had the best COVID response in the world. In fact, the policy of mass infectionimposed with the crucial assistance of the corporatist trade unionshas so far killed more than 3,400 people in New Zealand and led to tens of thousands of hospitalisations. This has exacerbated the crisis in public hospitals, which have been starved of funds for decades. Tens of thousands of nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers have held nationwide strikes during the past six years, only to be sold out by the union bureaucracy which has imposed agreements that failed to keep pace with living costs or address the staffing shortage. Labours murderous let it rip COVID policy, and all its attacks on working people, have pushed the political establishment further to the right and emboldened extreme right-wing parties, which are setting the agenda for the next government. The National Party, which is polling around 35 percent, would only be able to govern in an unstable coalition with the far-right ACT and New Zealand First. All three parties are promising to cut thousands of public sector jobs, attack welfare recipients, and impose tough on crime policies to increase the prison population. In a last-ditch attempt to boost its support, the National Party has publicly warned that such a coalition would be unstable and might lead to a hung parliament and even a second election, if National and ACT cannot reach a coalition agreement with NZ First. NZ First leader Winston Peters has run a Trump-style campaign, based on appeals to anti-vaccination pseudo-science, racist dog whistles against Maori, denial of climate change, and demonisation of transgender people. Peters has hysterically denounced Labours allies the Greens and Te Pati Maori as communists for proposing a modest wealth tax, and as anti-semitic for making pacifist appeals for an end to the fighting in Gaza. The Labour Partys denunciations of National for being prepared to work with NZ First, however, are hypocritical in the extreme. If Peters is once again poised to play a major role in the next government, that is largely because Labour handed extraordinary power to NZ First in the 20172020 coalition government, which also included the Greens. Ardern made NZ First leader Winston Peters both foreign minister and deputy prime minister, and made NZ Firsts Ron Mark defence minister, despite the party getting just 7.2 percent of the votes. This widely despised party, which never concealed its anti-Asian racism and xenophobia, was also embraced by the Greens, whose co-leader James Shaw declared following the 2017 election: The Green Party shares many goals and values with Labour and NZ First. In a desperate effort to revive illusions in Labour, the partys middle class supporters in the media and pseudo-left groups are promoting the Greens and Te Pati Maori, fraudulently claiming that they would push a re-elected Labour-led government in a more progressive direction. A recent article by the International Socialist Organisation (ISO), Vote Green or Te Pati Maori, and Build a Socialist Alternative, states that some Green MPs are socialists and having these anti-capitalist voices in parliament will help to popularise socialist ideas. This is a sham. The role of the Greens is not to popularise socialism but to provide a more progressive and eco-friendly veneer for a right-wing, imperialist government. Over the past six years, the Greens have supported Labours budgets that increased military spending, including funding to send New Zealand troops to Britain to train Ukrainian conscripts. The ISO has no objection to this because, like pseudo-left groups in the US and Europe, it has aligned itself with US-NATO imperialism in the bloody war against Russia over Ukraine. As well as bearing responsibility for all of Labours anti-working-class policies, the Greenswhich have held the climate ministry for six yearshave failed to meaningfully reduce carbon emissions. This is because nothing can be done without a coordinated, international effort and the expropriation of the corporations that are responsible for catastrophic climate change. The Greens capitalist program rules out any action that interferes with the ability of big business to make profits. Te Pati Maori (TPM) spent nine years as part of the right-wing National Party-led government of John Key, from 20082017, during which time it supported sweeping austerity measures including an increase to the goods and services tax (GST) and tens of thousands of public sector job cuts. The claims by the ISO and the liberal Daily Blog that TPM has moved to the left, based on its election rhetoric, are completely false. In an interview with Radio NZ this week the partys co-leader Rawiri Waititi defended his predecessors who supported National, saying they were right for their time. Moreover, TPMs central demand is for greater payments from the state to indigenous tribal businesses, through the Treaty of Waitangi settlements process. Decades of these multi-million dollar payments to the tribes, depicted as reparations for the crimes of colonisation, have created a wealthy layer of Maori committed to upholding capitalism, while doing nothing to alleviate poverty among Maori workers, who remain among the most oppressed. TPM, Labour and their supporters glorify the Treaty as a national founding document and denounce socialist opposition to Treaty settlements as racism, while the pseudo-lefts defend the settlements on the basis of racial identity politics. If Labour succeeds in forming a government with the Greens and TPM after the election, these parties will quickly abandon their demagogic calls for increasing taxes on the rich and redistributing some scraps to workers. They will behave exactly as they have when in government before: loyally supporting deeper attacks on living conditions and the militarisation of society in line with the demands of the ruling class. The next government, whoever leads it, will face a resurgent movement of the working class, which is being driven into struggle throughout the world against austerity, war, and the endless COVID pandemic. To succeed, however, this movement requires socialist leadership and perspective, and political independence from Labour and all its allies, including the pro-capitalist trade unions which the pseudo-lefts defend. The unions are not workers organisations, but bureaucratic apparatuses dedicated to the defence of corporate profits and capitalism. They have played the key role over the past six years in enforcing cuts to health, education and in private companies. They have herded workers back into factories and children back to school in unsafe conditions with COVID-19 spreading out of control. Whichever government comes to power, it will rely heavily on the unions to slash jobs and derail opposition from the working class. The Council of Trade Unions is campaigning on behalf of Labour, highlighting the National Partys planned spending cuts and attacks on superannuation and welfare. The unions, however, openly support Labours plan to slash public service budgets by up to 4 percent as a prudent move to tighten the beltas Public Service Association leader Duane Leo put it in a Radio NZ interview on August 29. The Socialist Equality Group calls on workers to rebel against the union bureaucracy and to take matters into their own hands by building rank-and-file committees in every workplace, controlled by workers themselves. This is the necessary precondition for the unification of workers across New Zealand and internationally in a real fight against austerity and to defend workers health and lives from COVID-19 and other dangers. The SEG is the only organisation which fights for the international unity of the working class, in opposition to all forms of racism, nationalism and identity politics, which are used to divide workers. The fundamental division in society is not race or gender, but the class gulf between workers and the super-rich, who have accumulated enormous profits during the pandemic. Societys wealth, which is created by the working class, must be expropriated from the financial elite so that it can be used to put an end to poverty and inequality, address climate change, and implement a scientific policy to eliminate COVID-19 worldwide. The SEG fights alongside the ICFI for the building of an international anti-war movement, which must be based on the fight for socialist revolution if it is not to end in defeat. Workers and young people should not be fooled by the hypocritical pacifist rhetoric of the Greens, TPM and their supporters, which serves to conceal the fact that capitalism and its division of the world into rival nation states is the source of war. It was the Russian Revolution of October 1917, led by the Bolshevik Party, that ended World War I. Only the revolutionary action of workers throughout the world can prevent World War Three. The Fourth International was founded by Leon Trotsky in 1938 to defend the Russian Revolution and to fight for its expansion internationally, in opposition to Stalin and the bureaucracy that usurped power from the working class in the Soviet Union. Since the ICFI was founded 70 years ago, it has defended the Fourth Internationals program of world revolution against every revisionist anti-Marxist tendency that has sought to subordinate the working class to nationalism, Stalinism and imperialism. The ICFIs program and history provides the indispensable political foundation for building powerful revolutionary parties that will unite workers in New Zealand, throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and internationally, in the fight for world socialism. We call on those who agree with this statement to share it widely, study our program and analysis on the World Socialist Web Site, and contact us today. A sign for Yellow Corp. trucking company stands outside its facility on July 31, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. [AP Photo/George Walker IV] Two months after Yellow declared bankruptcy and laid off its more than 30,000 workers, the freight trucking companys former workers are still struggling to find work. Yellow declared bankruptcy in August after more than a decade of poor management and extensive debt, totaling almost $1.6 billion. Chris Dowdey, a Yellow truck driver who eventually found work as a driver for the grocery store chain Kroger, was told by two separate companies, If you had not worked for Yellow, I would hire you tomorrow, according to the website Marketplace. He had spent a month out of work and more than that without a paycheck. Thats the thing that has been boggling my mind, said Dowdey. Because back in the day when I came in, like when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, you were fired on Friday, you were hired on Monday. Allen Buyers, who drove trucks for 23 years at Yellow-owned Holland Freight, told Queen City News in September that he and his coworkers were having difficulty finding work six weeks after Yellows closure. I had to come out and take my stuff out, he said. It was sad, knowing I would never get back in that truck and drive again. Adding to the difficulty of finding a new job, many Yellow workers never received pay for unused sick and personal leave. Buyers noted that he was still owed $2,200 by Yellow for unused vacation and sick time. I have a friend, Buyers added. He is owed 33 days, which is almost $7,000. And he is not working. The losses of Yellow workers are made even more bitter by the considerable sacrifices they made to keep the company in operation when it struggled to stay afloat after the 2008 recession. We gave over 10 years of 15 percent of our pay every week to this company. We gave up part of our pension for 10 years, and at the end, they got a $700 million bailout during COVID from the United States government, and they still put us out of business, said Buyers. Out of all of the guys I know, maybe seven or eight got jobs doing what we did. Most of them have to go doing other odd jobs or changing their craft because they cant get in the door anywhere. One older worker who spoke with the WSWS said, I am having a terrible time finding a job. However, it is my age that comes up more than anything. Insurance wont cover a driver past 64 is what I have been told three times now. Another Yellow driver from Memphis, Tennessee, who was just nine months away from retirement, said The worst thing is our insurance wasnt paid and was cut off immediately and any accrued vacation time wasnt paid. But job seekers are having tough times finding suitable or comparable work. Our contract was in force until April 2024, she added. This company failing is on management. I believe somehow that this was their plan when they realized they were too low on money. Just eliminate one more union group out of the picture. Some locals in the Northeast have really worked to get their people placed in good jobs. In Memphis, we hear nothing from the union local. Nothing at all. A former Yellow worker from Memphis said: You dont go from that kind of salary to barely nothing and not hurt. I had some put back, and planned on working another year to add to it. But the way it went down and how long it took to get needed paperwork from the company saying we were terminated and to prove dates of insurance coverage was like pulling teeth. Im sure most everyone had to get into their reserves pretty good with no notice of the impending closure. It was a nightmare. And now with Medicare and a supplement, I will probably not be able to have the quality of medical care or prescriptions that I was accustomed to. The struggle of former Yellow workers to find work, and the theft of their unused paid leave fall in the shadow of Yellows dismemberment by Wall Street. Yellows assets are worth billions of dollars, more than enough to pay off its debts and generate a comfortable profit for its creditors. A bidding war between Estes Express and Dominion, two of the largest freight companies in the country, has resulted in a leading stalking-horse bid by Estes for Yellows facilities of $1.525 billion. A stalking-horse bid sets the floor for all new bids and Yellow will likely have to pay a fee to accept a new, higher offer. This sale alone would pay for nearly all of Yellows outstanding debt, including $700 million owed to the federal government. Should Estes win the auction of Yellows terminals, it would add 170 new facilities to its existing 215. These terminals are expensive to build and because of Yellows age and prominence in the market it has many terminals in prime locations for expansion by rival companies. It is not clear if Old Dominion or another company will offer a new bid but the auction of Yellows assets is scheduled for November 28, leaving plenty of time for competitors to prepare additional offers. Also on the auction block is Yellows fleet of 12,000 trucks and 35,000 trailers. Bids for Yellows fleet will be accepted through October 18 and it will seek court approval for the sales by October 27. Yellow is taking longer to sell its real estate in order to attract larger bids for its most valued assets. Yellows bankruptcy is co-managed by Boston-based hedge fund MFN and private equity firm Citadel, which have loaned Yellow $212 million to keep it in operation during the bankruptcy proceedings. By taking control over Yellows Chapter 11 bankruptcy, MFN and Citadel have first choice in creditor payments and control over how the remaining funds are distributed. This allows MFN to give preference to itself and its majority share of Yellows stock, which it bought at a bargain price just before Yellows bankruptcy. Citadel also purchased roughly $500 million of Yellows debt from fellow private equity firm Apollo, which had been Yellows leading lender prior to bankruptcy. Altogether, the sale of Yellows assets will be a massive boon for Wall Street, which will make billions of dollars while workers struggle to survive in a tough labor market for Yellow workers. Reflecting the massive fortune Yellows sale will make, Yellows executives received $4.6 million in retention bonuses this July, just a month before declaring bankruptcy. Retention bonuses are typically paid after a bankruptcy filing to encourage high-level management personnel to stay with the company during the liquidation process. The fact that Yellows executives were paid in advance demonstrates that the company and its creditors were preparing for bankruptcy behind the backs of workers. This timing also corresponds with the refusal of Yellow to pay $50 million in benefit contributions to the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. The Teamsters threatened a strike but called it off days before Yellow declared bankruptcy, citing a deal where the pension fund would cover the cost until Yellow could make the payment, which it will never make now that it is bankrupt. The Teamsters abandonment of the strike also gave Yellow time to prepare for bankruptcy, with Yellow workers reporting that they were directed by the company to return trucks and trailers to their lots empty, a clear sign of preparation for an asset sale. Now, with Yellow workers uncompensated and struggling to find work, the Teamsters bureaucracy has limited any action to legal appeals. The Teamsters have filed a claim in court on the behalf of Yellow workers for their unpaid time. This places the future of Yellow workers in the hands of a bankruptcy court whose primary purpose is to ensure the profitability of Yellows sale for Wall Street. This has no guarantee that Yellow workers will see the money they are owed, and even if workers are awarded compensation there is no certainty that they will be paid everything they deserve. Wall Street will come first and the payment of workers stolen time will be entirely dependent on the availability of cash after all other creditors have been satisfied. This loss of unused time is ultimately the responsibility of the Teamsters, which refused to mount any struggle against the plans of Wall Street to liquidate Yellow. By the Teamsters own admission, they gave Yellow $5 billion worth of concessions leading up to the bankruptcy. And when Yellows collapse was imminent, the Teamsters bureaucracy called off strike action, allowing the company time to prepare its assets for auction. by Zhao Jiasong, Mohammad Jan Aria ZINDAJAN, Afghanistan, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- When the earthquakes occurred, Ismail rushed from Iran, where he worked, through the border back to his village in west Afghanistan's Herat Province. His wife and children were buried under the ruins with 800 other victims, as 300 adobe dwellings utterly collapsed. At the Naib Rafi village of Zindajan District, the hardest-hit area since the deadly quakes on Oct. 7, piteous wails can be heard day and night, while rescue work has never stopped. Afghan authorities said the death toll in the quake-affected western provinces, mainly in Herat, has surpassed 2,400. Even though the 72-hour "golden window" for quake-related rescues has closed, rescue workers along with villagers are still striving for miracles under the rubble. Due to limited rescue equipment, people from other villages came over to help. An excavator, dozens of shovels, hundreds of hands ... they have been racing against time. The air was filled with flying dust and gravel. The eyes of rescue workers and villagers were bloodshot. Rescuers' hands were full of blood crust. "Most of the victims were children, women and the elderly. We moved 10 bodies from one house and 11 from another," said Haji Mohammad Ismail, an elder in the village. He added that the number of victims in each house was at least four. Acting Minister of Disaster Management Mullah Mohammad Abbas Akhund told Xinhua in the village that rebuilding houses is in urgent need. "Donations of food and clothing are temporary and people need a permanent life," Akhund said. Villagers said it would take about two months to reconstruct an adobe house. So far, they are still living in tents beside the debris. However, strong night winds and the temperature about to drop significantly have posed challenges to their lives. Facing the upcoming cold winter, surviving villagers were distraught. "I have nothing left, and I don't know if I can survive this winter," villager Zahid said. Trucks loaded with relief supplies could be seen for dozens of kilometers on the way linking the village to Herat City. The returning vehicles spontaneously made way for trucks and excavators heading to quake-affected areas. As of Friday, quakes were reported each day, with the strongest one registered at a magnitude of 6.3 on Wednesday. When the quake occurred at around 5:11 a.m. local time, Xinhua reporters were still working at the hotel. Strong jolt rocked off everything on the desk, followed by a blackout. Elevators stopped working and guests ran out of the hotel through the emergency exit. Some 30 minutes later, sirens of ambulances were heard across the city. Fortunately, most residents in Herat City or rural villages had spent the past days staying in tents or cars, to keep them from potential danger. Local residents reminded reporters not to sleep indoors. "Almost everyone lives outside and no one dares to stay indoors." The villagers living in worst-hit rural areas in the quakes, however, have no choice but to sleep beside the debris of their homes, wishing aid could come as early as possible, before the harsh winter. BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's total imports and exports of goods continued to improve in September, with the trade volume reaching a new monthly high for this year, official data showed Friday. The foreign trade volume reached 3.74 trillion yuan (about 521 billion U.S. dollars) last month, registering month-on-month growth for a second consecutive month, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). China has seen its imports and exports maintain stable operation and upward momentum despite a severe and complex external environment, GAC official Lyu Daliang said at a press conference. In the first three quarters, China's goods imports and exports in yuan terms edged down 0.2 percent year on year to 30.8 trillion yuan, the data revealed. The country's exports increased 0.6 percent year on year while imports dipped 1.2 percent in the first nine months, it added. During the period, China's trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to 14.32 trillion yuan, up 3.1 percent year on year and accounting for 46.5 percent of the country's total foreign trade value. The country's trade with emerging markets such as Central Asia, Africa, and Latin America expanded 33.7 percent, 6.7 percent, and 5.1 percent, respectively, while recent trade with the European Union and the United States also improved remarkably. In the January-September period, private enterprises saw a fast growth rate as imports and exports increased by 6.1 percent to 16.34 trillion yuan, accounting for more than half of the country's total. A breakdown of the data showed China's exports of machinery and electronic products, which accounted for 58.3 percent of total exports, increased 3.3 percent during the period, with the export value of automobiles and parts surging 48.2 percent from one year earlier. New drivers are taking hold, as China saw 41.7 percent export hikes in green products, including electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and solar batteries, according to Lyu. He added that China's imports have continued to maintain sound momentum, with the volume expanding quarter by quarter this year, and the quantity increasing for eight consecutive months. Specifically, China's imports from Latin America, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union registered quarter-on-quarter growth of 8.5 percent, 6.3 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, in the third quarter. The sixth China International Import Expo is scheduled to take place in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10. The GAC has introduced multiple facilitation measures that cover exhibition access and customs clearance to provide convenience for more countries, enterprises and products. Overall, China's foreign trade is expected to maintain stable development with improved quality and efficiency as the country continues to strengthen endogenous impetus and make the best of various practical measures, said Lyu. BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) will send a message of solidarity and win-win cooperation of countries around the globe, and add positive energy and stability to the world, a Chinese official said. In an interview with Xinhua, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu briefed on the preparations, highlights and expected deliverables of the third BRF, which will be held in Beijing from Oct. 17 to 18. "The Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is the most important diplomatic event hosted by China this year, and the most significant celebration for the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative," Ma said. Apart from the opening ceremony of the third BRF, three high-level forums will be held simultaneously for in-depth discussions on connectivity, green development and the digital economy, and six thematic forums will be conducted in parallel under the topics of trade connectivity, people-to-people bonds, think tank exchanges, clean silk road, subnational cooperation, and maritime cooperation. A CEO Conference will also be held during the BRF. Ma said a Chair's Statement will be issued at the BRF to capture the consensus reached by participants and lay out the future direction and key areas of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. A List of Multilateral Cooperation Deliverables and a List of Practical Projects will also be released to present the outcomes reached under the framework of the three high-level forums and six thematic forums. During the CEO Conference, Chinese and foreign businesses will negotiate and sign a series of cooperation projects. "So far, representatives of over 140 countries and 30-plus international organizations, including state leaders, heads of international organizations, ministerial officials and representatives of the business sector, academia and nongovernmental organizations, have confirmed their attendance," said Ma, adding that more than 4,000 delegates have registered for participation. According to Ma, the third BRF is expected to produce substantial outcomes, both in the forms of cooperation documents, initiatives and mechanisms, and in terms of projects, funds and measures. The total number of deliverables is likely to exceed those of the previous two forums. "The participants all come to the BRF for cooperation, for supporting the BRI, and for promoting common development," Ma stressed that the third BRF will showcase how the BRI, a Chinese initiative with international support, has delivered benefits to all, and present the new progress China has made in advancing major-country diplomacy on all fronts since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. He said China looks forward to working with all parties to use the opportunity of the forum to take stock of the valuable experience of Belt and Road cooperation in the past decade, draw a new blueprint for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in the new stage, inject new dynamism into realizing the aspiration for the common development of all countries, and make new contribution to building a community with a shared future for mankind. Noting that the BRI is an open and inclusive initiative, Ma said China will continue to pursue equality and friendly consultation, and work actively to synergize the BRI with the development strategies of other countries. "Together with our partners, we will advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation on a broader scale, at greater depths and on higher levels, to make continued advances toward the goal of common development and prosperity," he said. CAIRO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi urged on Thursday the Palestinian and Israeli sides to exercise utmost restraint while expressing Cairo's willingness to mediate to end the ongoing deadly conflict. "Egypt is prepared to harness all its capabilities and efforts toward mediation, in coordination with all effective international and regional partners, without restrictions or conditions," said the Egyptian president when delivering a speech at a military academy. He called on the Palestinians and Israelis to "listen to the voice of reason and wisdom, spare civilians, particularly children and women, from the cycle of brutal vengeance, and return immediately to the path of negotiation." The president also urged to "prevent the exacerbation of the humanitarian situation and avoid the policies of collective punishment including a siege on the Palestinian enclave." Sisi made the remarks as the deadly conflict between the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel entered the sixth day and took a heavy toll on both sides. Hamas launched on Saturday a surprise attack on southern Israeli towns adjacent to Gaza, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. Recently-revealed details surrounding the murder of 14-year-old Nancy Eagleson could help bring a killer to justice Ohio Attorney General Nancy Eagleson (left) and a sketch of her suspected killer A six decade-old cold case surrounding the abduction and murder of a 14-year-old Ohio girl is heating up after authorities claim that they are one step closer to identifying a suspect, per a news release from the Ohio Attorney General's office. Victim Nancy Eaglesons sister, Sheryl Eagleson, worked with the Ohio Attorney General's Criminal Intelligence Unit, utilizing forensic art to create a composite sketch of the suspect in Nancy's murder, states a bulletin from the unit. Sheryl told authorities in the bulletin that the abductor was an adult White male of medium build, but couldnt estimate his age. She also recalled that he was wearing church clothes, further describing his look as being dressed up, wearing a tie, overcoat and fedora along with black horn-rimmed glasses. Ohio Attorney General A forensic art sketch of Nancy Eagleson's suspected killer She was unable to recall specific facial features, but noted that the man had rosy cheeks as well as a lack of age lines or wrinkles. As a result, authorities created a sketch with general facial features as well as one lacking facial features. Sheryl further stated that the man was operating a dark sedan with a winged back. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost explained in his offices news release that: This man was seared into the memory of a young girl who survived a heinous crime many years ago. Now, thanks to forensic artistry at BCI, we can see the suspected killer through her eyes and hopefully discover his identity. The sentiment was echoed by Paulding County Sheriff Jason K. Landers, who also noted in the news release that he is grateful Sheryl had the opportunity to make a sketch of what she recalls the mans features looking like nearly 63 years ago. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Landers further noted that Sheryl was only 5 years old at the time of Nancys abduction, so after 63 years, its hard to clearly recall every detail, but she did great! I am hopeful this sketch will resonate with someone and will contact my office with their tip. On Nov. 13, 1960, Nancy and her then-5-year-old sister, Sheryl were walking home from a movie theater in Paulding, Ohio, when they stopped for a soda at a local restaurant, according to a case file from the Ohio Attorney General, before continuing their short walk. At the intersection of Flat Rock Drive and E. Jackson Street, Nancy and Sheryl were stopped by a White male wearing dark glasses who was driving a dark car. The individual in question asked if they needed a ride home. When Nancy told him no, it prompted him to force her into the vehicle. Sheryl attempted to jump on the man to save her sister, but he pushed her off and left with Nancy. Sheryl ran to a neighbors house for safety. The next day, Nancys body was found in a wooded area off Township Road 176, only eight miles from the location of the abduction. Authorities reported that she had been shot and sexually assaulted. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. PETOSKEY As Oct. 31 approaches, people are busy picking out their costumes for the Halloween season. At the Spirit Halloween at 1619 Anderson Road in Petoskey, displays show everything from Bluey to Barbie to Chucky. Right as you enter the Spirit Halloween at 1619 Anderson Road in Petoskey, patrons are greeted by a large clown and chainsaw-wielding display. On Wednesday afternoon, Maggie Wilp brought her two kids into the store to find their Halloween costumes. She said this is the first time she has brought them to the store to pick out their costumes themselves. Her daughter, Lincoln Wilp, 6, wanted to dress up in the Spirit Halloween Mystical Mermaid costume, while her son, Cooper Wilp, 3, was set on being a pirate. "I think he just wants the sword," Maggie joked. She said the family typically goes around Indian River and Petoskey for trick-or-treating. Cooper Wilp, 3, looks through his costume options at Spirit Halloween on Oct. 11, 2023. He wants to dress as a pirate this Halloween. Cynthia Gamez was looking at Chucky costumes for her 2-year-old son. This will be her first Northern Michigan Halloween, she said. Originally from Arizona, Cynthia Gamez is celebrating her first Halloween in Northern Michigan. Now in Boyne Falls, Cynthia and her brother, Fernando Gamez, were looking for a costume for her and her 2-year-old son. Cynthia said she had a goal of being Tiffany and to dress her son up as Chucky from the Child's Play horror series. "I heard it's (Halloween) really popular up here, so I'm excited," she said. Cynthia didn't have any issues finding the costumes she wanted, but she was nervous about keeping her son warm during a cold Michigan Halloween night. The Spirit Halloween at 1619 Anderson Road photographed on Oct. 11, 2023. Tim and Sharon Wentworth look at "Hocus Pocus" costumes on Oct. 11, 2023. Their granddaughter wants to dress up as Winifred, so they were looking for her costume while on their vacation north from Frankenmuth. On a vacation up from Frankenmuth, Sharon and Tim Wentworth stopped into the Spirit Halloween to grab a costume for their granddaughter before returning downstate. The couple is taking their three grandkids trunk-or-treating this weekend, so they were on the clock for finalizing costumes. She said they stopped into the store to find a Winifred Sanderson costume from "Hocus Pocus" for their granddaughter. "My granddaughter wanted to be Winnie for Halloween, so we're trying to find a Winifred costume for her," Sharon said. They said they've decorated at home to celebrate the Halloween season and are getting ready to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage Big Halloween fans, Gloria Loubert said she's taken her son, Damien Loubert, 4, to the Spirit Halloween multiple times this spooky season. "He thinks its the Haunted House," she said. Damien Loubert ran around the Spirit Halloween on Oct. 11, 2023 in preparation for his Halloween costume. He's dressing as Knuckles from the Sonic series. A Barbie display is set up at Spirit Halloween in Petoskey on Oct. 11, 2023. Damien wanted to dress up as Knuckles from the Sonic series this year, an apt choice for a 3-year-old that loves to run. Gloria said he picked out the costume a month and a half ago, and that every time it gets dark, Damien asks, "Is it Halloween yet?" She said they celebrate the holiday with age-appropriate haunted houses, trick-or-treating and hanging out with Damien's friends. Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN. This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Bluey, Barbie, or Chucky: Plenty of costumes on trend for this Halloween season Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron has shared an update on Bruce Willis health this week, telling the New York Post that the actor is not totally verbal amid his battle with frontotemporal dementia. Caron, a friend of the 68-year-old actor, explained that Willis still knows who he is during his visits but noted some changes to him. My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am, he said. [Willis] used to be a voracious reader he didnt want anyone to know that and hes not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet hes still Bruce. He continued: When youre with him, you know that hes Bruce, and youre grateful that hes there, but the joie de vivre is gone. Caron said hes talked with him and the actors wife, Emma Heming Willis, while maintaining a casual relationship with his three older children. I have tried very hard to stay in his life. Hes an extraordinary person, added Caron. The thing that makes [his disease] so mind-blowing is [that] if youve ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre than he. He loved life and ... just adored waking up every morning and trying to live life to its fullest. Willis family announced that the actor was diagnosed with aphasia last year prior to sharing his dementia diagnosis in February. In a recent appearance on the Today show, his wife noted the challenges that come with dementia. Its hard on the person diagnosed. Its also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. And when they say that this is a family disease, it really is, said Emma Heming Willis, who shared that its hard to know if Willis is aware of his condition. Exclusive: In honor of World Frontotemporal Dementia Awareness week, Bruce Willis wife Emma Heming Willis speaks to @hodakotb about the condition in her first interview since his diagnosis. It was the blessing and the curse, Emma said of receiving Bruces diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/VY5yhVjZIf TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 25, 2023 Caron, whose popular 80s series starring Willis hit Hulu this week, informed the actor about the shows availability on streaming. I know hes really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he cant tell me that, Caron told the Post. When I got to spend time with him, we talked about it, and I know hes excited. Related... GAZA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The 35-year-old Farid Abdul Halim Mousleh thought that escaping the fierce bombardment on his town of Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza, would spare his family from the ongoing Israeli air strikes on the coastal enclave that have lasted for six days. However, it seems that no place is safe in the Gaza Strip anymore as his new home in the heart of the Gaza City was also subjected to Israeli shelling, injuring him and his father and killing two of his elderly relatives. Struggling to come to terms with the sudden and devastating losses in grief, the man, with his head all bandaged and eyes swollen from injuries, told Xinhua that "we did not expect such a tragedy." Mousleh recalled that his family was getting ready to sleep when the Israeli attack began. Then he rushed out of the building to Jalaa Street in the heart of Gaza City with his parents, his wife, four children and some elderly relatives. The next morning, after a strong airstrike hit the place again where they had sought refuge, he woke up in a hospital bed. Mousleh is one of the thousands of Palestinians who had to flee their homes in the border town of Beit Hanoun with Israel and other neighborhoods and camps in Gaza due to the continuous and intense Israeli bombardment for the past six days. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched since Saturday thousands of rockets at Israeli cities, while hundreds of its militants infiltrated the Israeli towns adjacent to Gaza, killing and wounding Israelis. Israel, in response, launched intense and unprecedented attacks on the Gaza Strip, causing widespread destruction and sometimes wiping out entire neighborhoods. Now, the Shifa Medical Complex, a main medical center in Gaza, is overcrowded with casualties from Israeli shelling, including dozens of entire families. The injured have spread out on the hospital's grounds, with some sleeping on mats or blankets, and children without shoes cling to their mothers when they hear the sound of explosions. Facing the ever-worsening situation, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila warned of the collapse of the overwhelmed healthcare system in the Gaza Strip due to a severe shortage of medical supplies. Alkaila said in a press release that the large number of casualties exceeds the capacity of Gaza's hospitals, calling on international organizations and the Red Cross to immediately intervene and provide medical aid. According to the latest statistics from the Gaza-based Health Ministry, 1,417 Palestinians have been killed, and over 6,268 others have been injured. Meanwhile, Israel's public broadcaster Kan said the Israeli death toll had risen to more than 1,300. Israel cut off its power supply to the Gaza Strip and ordered a complete siege on the Palestinian enclave, home to over 2.2 million people. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Thursday that at least 340,000 Palestinians have been displaced since the escalation on Saturday. "The water crisis is looming in UNRWA shelters and throughout Gaza due to the lack of electricity needed to operate pumps and water desalination plants and the limited water supply in the local market," added the UN agency. An Alabama nursing student who faked her own kidnapping along the side of a highway over the summer has been convicted for misleading authorities, a verdict she plans to appeal. A judge found Carlethia Carlee Nichole Russell guilty of false reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident, both misdemeanors, according to WBRC. She pleaded not guilty to both counts in Hoover Municipal Court on Wednesday. RELATED: Carlee Russells Ex Says They Had a Little Argument Before Kidnapping Hoax Will Carlee Russell get prison time? The Alabama Attorney Generals Office recommended a total of a year in jail for the charges, as well as for her to pay nearly $18,000 in restitution for carrying out the July abduction hoax, and an additional $831 dollars in court fines. On July 13, Russell, 25, vanished after dialing 911 to report a toddler was unattended along the side of I-459 in Hoover. For more than two days, police treated her disappearance as a missing persons case, which garnered national headlines. RELATED: Carlee Russell Charged After Admitting Her Abduction Claim Was a Hoax But 49 hours later, Russell turned up at her house on foot. She told investigators that shed been taken from the side of the road by an unknown man who forced her into a semi-truck. The nursing student said her kidnapper later held her captive at a home where he made her strip naked. Russell also claimed she managed to escape but was caught again by her abductor. A mugshot of Carlee Russell Carlee Russell Photo: Hoover (AL) Police Department/Facebook In the aftermath of her disappearance, Russells family corroborated her account on social media and spoke to various reporters defending her claims. Police ultimately found her narrative not credible. At the time, investigators said Russell had acted strange and that she conducted suspicious internet searches in the days leading up to her vanishing, including searching for "how to pay for an Amber Alert," how to take money from a register without getting caught, and on the movie Taken, about an abduction. RELATED: Carlee Russell Confesses "There Was No Kidnapping" and No Toddler Along Interstate, Attorney Says Russell later turned herself into local authorities. She eventually admitted to orchestrating the entire situation through a statement from her lawyer. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road, Russells lawyer, Emory Anthony, said. My client did not leave the Hoover area when she was identified as a missing person. My client did not have any help in this incident, but this was a single act done by herself. Carlee Russell Expected to Appeal Her Conviction Russell is expected to appeal Wednesday's ruling in circuit court, particularly the jail time being recommended, according to NBC News. Her lawyers have said there is no past precedent for such a crime in Alabama. Under the circumstances, a Class A misdemeanor, a first time offense if you can find someone was put in jail I want you to bring me the file, Anthony told WBRC. We totally disagree with that. The restitution, we believe, is fair. RELATED: Carlee Russell, Who Vanished After Reporting Child on Roadside, Conducted Online Searches on Amber Alerts and Abduction Film, Cops Say Russell may also face additional charges. Prosecutors have assembled a grand jury in the case, according to WBRC. Her lawyer said Russell is remorseful for her actions. He added that his client has become emotionally vulnerable as her case proceeded through the courts. She understands whats happened, shes apologized for what transpired, Anthony said. I dont want her to have any type of breakdown. We are handling her with kid gloves. Russells defense team has two weeks to file an appeal. Russells ex-boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons, said after the alleged kidnapping was revealed to be a hoax that the couple had a small fight before the ordeal. I mean we had a little argument but it wasnt nothing to kidnap yourself over, Simmons said on the podcast 205 Boyz. Oxygen.com has reached out to Russells legal team for further comment. Cables 10G era will officially begin next week in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where Comcast will begin deploying its new DOCSIS 4.0-enabled network services. Colorado Springs Xfinity Internet users will have access to new service tiers with symmetrical speeds of 300 Mbps, 500 Mbps, 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps. The new products will be branded under a new name, X-Class Internet. (Comcast had been using the X-Class moniker to market its own smart TVs, but is now using the Xumo brand for its TV-related initiatives.) The deployment is only a start for Comcast, which aims to connect 40 million users to symmetrical multi-gig broadband services within the next several years using technology based on the latest iteration of Full Duplex DOCSIS cable-network technology. (Comcast published a cool document time-lining the evolution of DOCSIS tech, which we included below.) Also read: Comcast Just Used Its Virtualized 10G Network to Test a New Targeted FTTP Scheme Comcast has also invested hundreds of millions of dollars to virtualize its broadband network, moving the work of bulky, power-hungry proprietary appliances, such as cable modem termination systems, to server farms. The cable company said its new network tech will one day provide customers with symmetrical (upstream and downstream) speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second. This would be separate from the pricey 10 Gbps Gigabit Pro fiber-to-the-home service Comcast already offers. Comcast also said it hopes to extend its DOCSIS 4.0 rollout to Atlanta and Philadelphia by the end of the year. The ubiquity of our network, which is already accessible to tens of millions of homes, provides us with an incredible opportunity to bring multi-gigabit upload and download speeds to communities across the country with the scale and efficiency that no other provider can replicate, Comcast Cable president and CEO Dave Watson said in a statement. Our connectivity experience, powered by the Xfinity 10G Network, will allow us to deliver speeds up to 10 Gbps over our traditional network to virtually all our customers, plus even better reliability, lower latency and the best in-home Wi-Fi coverage, Watson added. Were entering the next phase of this industry leadership with DOCSIS 4.0 technology to introduce X-Class Internet products that will revolutionize the way our customers get online today and many years into the future. Evolution of DOCSIS Throughout all of October and November, with the purchase of a mixed berry scone, DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries will donate proceeds to the Free Lunch Program (FLP), which is celebrating its 40th anniversary of serving Iowa City. In the heart of Iowa City, where tradition and taste intertwine, Jamie Powers, a fifth-generation local, creates more than baked goods. DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries, located at 812 South Summitt Street, is a manifestation of a lifelong passion and a testament to the rhythm of the community. Having honed her craft in bustling kitchens across the country, from Wolfgang Puck in Chicago to the esteemed Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Powers' journey eventually led her back to Iowa City. Wed spent all of our vacations coming back to Iowa City and visiting family. We did love Denver but decided to move back to be near family, Powers said. I passed this art gallery, and I walked up and said, 'Are you selling this place?' and he said 'Yeah.' Boom. This building was originally a grocery store, then a studio, then an art gallery. That serendipitous moment initiated the birth of DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries, a beloved cornerstone of the Iowa City community. Powers wanted to bring back the neighborhood bakery, offering homemade goods and personal connections. Fast forward two decades and DeLuxe is celebrating 20 years of serving baked goods to its faithful customers. DeLuxe turns 20 on Nov. 2. Together, Jamie Powers and Heather Frost Hughes, head pastry chef and general manager work together to make DeLuxe and warm and welcoming space. More: 'Crossover at Kinnick' immortalized with special Herky bobblehead Re-inventing the neighborhood bakery In 2003, skeptics questioned Powers' vision for a neighborhood bakery. But determination and a womens business loan fueled her dream, allowing her to build DeLuxe from scratch, from crunching numbers with her mom to painting the building and designing the interiors. The process wasn't easy. Powers dealt with a bit of pushback when she first introduced her bakery. [Iowa City] didnt want to risk having a restaurant in a neighborhood, and I had lived in various cities where restaurants were neighborhoods, and there were bakeries, Powers said. I knew that it would bring the community together. I had to convince the city to let me have a bakery here. Powers culinary background in Denver, from the Brown Palace Hotel to Gateaux Bakery, motivated her to create meaningful connections with customers, developing a passion for more than just pastries. From regulars to newcomers there is something on the menu for everyone at DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries in Iowa City. [At Gateaux] I saw the relationships that they build with their staff and customers, and it was so beautiful, and I knew I wanted to serve people," Powers said. "I wanted to serve the community." Powers started by making sticky buns, cinnamon rolls and scones in addition to her wedding cakes and seasonal treats, like heart-shaped sugar cookies and gingerbread houses. DeLuxes success in the first 10 years motivated Powers to start baking her own bread, and she now regularly sells croissants, bagels, English muffins and baguettes. Establishing community support On a typical Friday afternoon, DeLuxe is busy. The bakery is a lively symphony of the five senses. The open back of the house is accompanied by jazz music, and each ingredient and action synchronizes with the beat. Guests can see culinary artistry unfold while sitting at the coffee bar. Regulars blend into the scene, as familiar faces are greeted with their first name and dont usually have to wait long. The work-from-home crowd escaping their houses, bringing their screens and routines to the outside world. Meanwhile, university students sit in the corner, filling the space with laughter and hushed gossip, sharing their wanderlust dreams of far-off places over croissants and iced lattes. More: This week's ReFocus Film Festival will honor Werner Herzog with Cinema Savant award DeLuxe is where regulars, newcomers, and students come together to demonstrate the strength of community; for Powers, that is her favorite part. Weve been able to serve people on so many life occasions, DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries owner Jamie Powers said. You become everything to everybody in a lot of ways. Youve got your pulse on the community. Weve been able to serve people on so many life occasions, Powers said. You become everything to everybody in a lot of ways. Youve got your pulse on the community. Partnering for a good cause DeLuxe is celebrating its 20-year milestone by giving back in a big way. Throughout October and November, with the purchase of the popular mixed berry scone, DeLuxe will donate all proceeds to the Free Lunch Program (FLP) for its 40th anniversary in Iowa City. The program provides free lunch to the community, no questions asked, and is an organization Powers is passionate about. The scone is DeLuxe's "crown jewel," according to a Facebook post. When people come in and realize we are celebrating 20 years, Im like yes, no gifts, nothing. Just donate here [to the FLP], Powers said, pointing to a flyer with a QR code to donate. DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries owner Jamie Powers claims the five must try items are the chocolate almond croissant, any of the baguette sandwiches, the chocolate chip cookies, a dirty chai latte with oat milk and any of the quiche options on the weekend. While customers regularly return to DeLuxe for the handcrafted goods, whether they are eating their way through the menu or ordering the same thing every time they come in, Powers' wants people to think of one thing when they visit. [DeLuxe] just does it right. With four baguette sandwiches on the menu, any is worth trying at DeLuxe. Powers said DeLuxe's five "must try" items are the chocolate almond croissant, any of the baguette sandwiches, the chocolate chip cookies (which Powers says she has at least two a day), a dirty chai latte with oat milk and any of the quiche options on the weekend. DeLuxe is open Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday for brunch from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. [Iowa City] didnt want to risk having a restaurant in a neighborhood, and I had lived in various cities where restaurants were neighborhoods, and there were bakeries, Powers said. I knew that it would bring the community together. I had to convince the city to let me have a bakery here. Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@presscitizen.com. This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Neighborhood bakery DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries celebrates 20 years in Iowa City Like many who came of age in the 1990s, Charles Wilson III was a diehard hip-hop fan, galvanized by the likes of Biggie and Busta Rhymes . But the Detroit-born piano prodigy had another, unconventional musical ace up his sleeve: He was an exceptional classical music talent. Today, performing and recording as BLKBOK thats Black Bach he has been the subject of increasing attention and acclaim, touring the country with a growing body of original piano work steeped in Black American history. Detroit-born pianist BLKBOK has just released his second album of classically infused music with hip-hop themes. His latest album is 9, named in tribute to the Little Rock Nine and released on Sept. 25 the 66th anniversary of the first full day of school for those Arkansas integration trailblazers. The date was important enough to BLKBOK that he eschewed the record industrys standard Friday release schedule to accommodate a Monday drop. We're talking about kids who were 15 years old, you know, integrating schools in America. It was a pretty brave thing to do something like that, he says. So this was definitely an opportunity to shine a light upon what they had done. And it speaks to the architecture of the album, which is togetherness, peace, love, unity. These are the things I think we need to focus on in building the world. Since 2020, following a well-traveled career as a keyboardist for several pop music A-listers, BLKBOK has been making a name with his imaginative instrumental compositions, eloquently performed and often themed with a socially conscious eye. While the hip-hop in his music comes more via the spirit than the sound, its an intriguing approach, and BLKBOK with his flashy rings, amply tattooed right arm and Detroit royal D emblazoned on his chest certainly looks the part. The cover of BLKBOK's sophomore album, "9." Having grown up on Detroits west side, BLKBOK attended Ann Arbor Trail Middle School and spent two years at Cass Tech before finishing out his high school time at the Detroit School of Arts. Hed been a piano standout since age 6, studying into his teens under the tutelage of late Lathrup Village piano instructor Toma Schwartz. Mozart, Debussy and Bach were among his obsessions, he says, but after high school, he found himself drawn to Detroits jazz scene, rubbing shoulders with influential players such as Marcus Belgrave and Richard (Pistol) Allen. These people who were influential in Motown always say there's no better city to grow up as a musician than Detroit because there's so much of it there, BLKBOK says. My history and my roots in Detroit run really, really, really deep. I still love the fact that the city has so much to offer. There's so much (musical) variety whatever you want to do, it's available. He eventually headed to Florida (I'll give you the real I was kind of getting into trouble, he says), made his way to Full Sail University and devoted his musical energies to playing with local bands. It was there that he was discovered and soon enlisted for Justin Timberlakes touring band in 2003, playing around the globe on the Justified Tour. Such work continued to pour in for the pianist, still known then as Charles Wilson, and he toured with acts such as the Backstreet Boys, Rihanna, John Mayer and Demi Lovato while honing his studio chops making beats with the likes of Timbaland. It was following a stint with Cirque du Soleils Michael Jackson production, Immortal, that the epiphany came. Honestly, when I was done with that, it was just: You know, I've been listening to Michael Jackson in my head every day. Whos next? he says. And the only answer I could get was me. So I started on that path. In late 2019, prompted by a push from his publisher, the pianist set out to create a solo album. The pandemic lockdown turned out to have a silver lining: Adopting the name BLKBOK, he composed at his keyboard for 121 consecutive days, crafting 10 pieces and landing a record deal. That debut album, Black Book, was released in summer 2021, following an EP dubbed CVRART, featuring classically infused renditions of songs by Drake, Cardi B and others. It was all an experiment for me and it still is an experiment but it worked, he says. Somehow I had mixed the right chemicals to create something that was really cool. So this (new album 9) is just the continuation. This is the second iteration of, Let's sit down and mix some chemicals and see what we get. It wasnt just the quarantine that fueled BLKBOKs creative vision: Amid the killing of George Floyd and other racially charged 2020 incidents, he found a thematic purpose. For the new album, BLKBOK traveled the South, meeting with police reform advocates and ultimately crafting a largely instrumental album of what he calls conversation starters. Song titles such as Magics Apology to Isiah, The Dissolution of Kanye West and Toddlers Don't Care About Race give a sense of the records bent. That last one, says BLKBOK, is just a reminder to us adults that, you know, this is not really what the world is all about. It's about this wonderment and understanding that everything is beautiful, and let's have fun. And that's pretty much what the album is all about just togetherness. While writing, he sits at a keyboard, digitally recording it all as he goes, playing until something feels right. Later, hell listen through, pick out the bits that speak to him, and begin filling in a song like a jigsaw puzzle. Detroit-born pianist BLKBOK has just released his second album of classically infused music with hip-hop themes. Despite his deep classical background, he says he doesnt consciously tap the style or approach of the composer greats who enchanted him in his youth. The inspiration is instead intuitive, as on What Is Truth, whose chorus melody was shaped around a four-note bird song he heard outdoors. So I'm not really leaning on anything that's been created in the past. My ideal and objective is to create things relevant to our time, he says. I think classical music very much exists around pieces that were created, 100, 200, 300 years ago. But what about what's going on right now? I think our time needs its own voice as well. BLKBOKs live shows typically find him solo at a piano, often accompanied by video and recorded poetry, performing for what he calls the most diverse, colorful audiences I've ever seen. With music like this, I believe that it allows enough space for everyone's mind to kind of travel, to create their own narrative. I'm not giving you anything to lock you into these words. And I think that's always a great experience for people. The beautiful thing after shows is that people always say, You made me cry. And I say, Well, that means I did my job. BLKBOK says hes enjoying his artistic journey as it goes (theres no final destination, he says), and while hes focused for now on the new record, his songs are being arranged for orchestra by a cousin, music scholar Bill Banfield. He hopes to perform at some point with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. And even as a seasoned piano pro, BLKBOK says his solo adventure continues to bring new lessons. I have a better understanding of art, like the fact that I'm just the vessel, sitting here with a message and using frequency and resonance to convey an idea, he says. I think that's the most important thing I've learned in the last couple of years and this vision has become more focused. Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: For Detroit-born BLKBOK, inspiration ranges from Mozart to Mos Def The supermodel, who married the actor in July, officially turned 30 on Sunday Dylan Sprouse Instagram Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin are celebrating her big 3-0! "Happy dirty 30 to my wife," the actor, 31, wrote on Instagram on Tuesday, alongside a series of photos of the couple who tied the knot in July from a trip to Napa Valley, California. "Truly, Ive never enjoyed being drunk on a locomotive before, but you really know how to keep me on my toes!" Sprouse concluded his caption. In the first image he posted, Palvin whose milestone birthday fell on Sunday held a glass of red as she stood in front of a vineyard, "Welcome to this world famous wine growing region Napa Valley," a sign behind her read. For the wine-themed trip, the model had opted for a leopard-print dress and leather jacket, which she teamed with oval-shaped sunglasses. Dylan Sprouse Instagram Barbara Palvin in Napa Valley, California The next shot captured Palvin as she flipped her hair while seated on what appeared to be a luxe-looking train. Another sweet shot in Sprouse's carousel showed the husband and wife in vineyard, with the actor embracing his wife as he stood beside her. Sprouse also included a photograph taken of Palvin as she walked ahead of him through a vineyard, the sunlight glancing off the lens of his camera. Finally, the actor celebrated his wife with a sweet smooch in the last photo in his Thursday post the snap showed Sprouse leaning in and planting a kiss on Palvin's cheek as she smiled. "If I don't have a husband like this then I don't want one," a fan wrote of Sprouse in the comments section of his post, while another teasingly said, "Man gets married and turns into the Count of Monte Cristo." Dylan Sprouse Instagram Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin Related: Dylan Sprouse Marries Barbara Palvin in Hungary: Report The couple have now been married for almost three months, following their July 15 wedding ceremony which took place at a church outside of Budapest, Hungary, the country in which the Armani Beauty ambassador was born and raised. The church where the couple exchanged vows is also where Palvin's parents got married 34 years ago. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. After meeting at a party in 2017, Sprouse and Palvin didn't officially start dating until June of the following year. The Victoria's Secret angel then made the coupling Instagram official by posting a picture of her and Sprouse on his birthday in August 2018. Taylor Hill/Getty Images Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse attend the reopening of The Landmark at Tiffany & Co 5th Avenue on April 27, 2023 in NYC Related: Barbara Palvin Says She'll 'Never Forget the Memories' of Marrying Dylan Sprouse, Shares Wedding Video "Even though it's your birthday I feel I just got the biggest present of all," Palvin wrote alongside a photo that showed her winking while Sprouse stood next to her. "Happy birthday Boss Baby ," she concluded the caption. At the time of their July wedding in Hungary, the couple told Vogue that they also plan on having a larger wedding back in California, where Sprouse grew up. Were excited to go back to L.A. to our pets and rest a bit, Palvin told the outlet, adding, before we start planning the American wedding. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. IN-THE-FIRE-1 - Credit: Saban Films Demonic possession is all the rage in Hollywood. This year alone, weve been haunted by Huesera: The Bone Woman, Attachment, Evil Dead Rise, Talk to Me, It Lives Inside, Run Rabbit Run, and The Nun II. Hell, they even rebooted The Exorcist with Ellen Burstyn and cast none other than Russell Crowe as a boozy Italian man of the cloth who locks horns with al diavolo. Now theres In the Fire, a new film from director Conor Allyn (No Mans Land). On the surface, it has all the trappings of a traditional demonic-possession thriller. In the 1890s, a young boy in a remote South American town, Martin (Lorenzo McGovern Zaini), is believed to be possessed by the devil. Strange things keep happening, from plagues to fires to murders, and the community places all blame on the tiny shoulders of the bug-eyed boy who, some time ago, trampled his mother to death on horseback. With nowhere left to turn, Grace Burnham, an alienist from New York, is summoned to assess the boy and determine if he is in fact possessed or its the townsfolk whove lost their marbles. Rather than mollify the mob, however, Graces presence enrages them further. They tear off her clothes, hold her down, and whip her in the public square while chanting Witch! and demanding she repent (for what, who knows). More from Rolling Stone And the alienist here is played by Amber Heard, who knows a thing or two about angry mobs, having been subjected to a virulent, relentless harassment campaign during her recent Virginia trial with famous ex-husband, Johnny Depp. It is not a coincidence at all that I saw in her strengths that were paralleled by the character of Grace in the movie, nor did I think it was a coincidence that she read it and closely connected with it, Allyn tells Rolling Stone. Shes been facing public backlash from her marriage to Johnny Depp since she filed for divorce. In this movie, the main character is a fearless truth-teller whose convictions get her dragged through the public square, whipped, and beaten. And that is what I see in Amber. I see a fearless truth-teller whose convictions have gotten her the 2022-2023 version of that, which is getting dragged through social media on a global, epic scale. During the trial, pro-Depp troll accounts launched daily attacks against Heard, as well as seemingly anyone who would post favorably of her, and spread selectively-edited courtroom clips on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. YouTube influencers hopped aboard the Heard Hate Train, cosplaying as amateur court reporters for clicks (and revenue). Bot Sentinel, a research group that monitors social media misinformation and molestation, called the online war waged on Heard one of the worst cases of cyberbullying and cyberstalking by a group of Twitter accounts that weve ever seen. Its very unfair and its just wrong, Allyn says of the harassment Heards faced from the pro-Depp crowd. Some of our other cast, one of whom is a gay man who has a daughter they came after him. And its fucking wrong. End of story. That shouldnt happen. We shouldnt allow that. I had no idea how big it was going to be. I think it was a surprise to everybody, Allyn adds of the trial. There are so many parallels [to the film]. We talked about it. She wasnt trying to make this movie about herself. But I do think she was able to draw upon those experiences. Amber Heard and Lorenzo McGovern Zaini in In the Fire. While Allyn co-wrote the screenplay to In the Fire back in 2014, by the time it landed in Heards hands it was 2020, and shed already been subjected to years of harassment over her domestic abuse allegations against Depp. When they met, Allyn says he was impressed by how Heard spoke fluent Spanish, had lived in Mexico City, and was an avid reader. Over the ensuing months, the two exchanged notes on Freud and other 19th century psychiatrists. Filming for In the Fire took place between late February and mid-March and consisted of a 12-day shoot in Ostuni, a tiny city in Puglia, Italy, at the very heel of the boot, and 12 additional days in Antigua, Guatemala. During the Antigua shoot, the Volcan de Fuego was erupting on a near-daily basis, so they added shots of that into the film. The Depp v. Heard trial began on April 11, just a few weeks after the movie wrapped. Despite all this, Heard turns in a strong performance as the compassionate doctor who will do anything to protect young Martin. The trial was most definitely in her mind, Allyn recalls. She left Guatemala and went straight to Virginia. I give great credit to her. It is hard to be the lead in a movie period. There are wildly long days, its hard work, and shes in every scene, so that takes a heavy physical and emotional toll. She was incredibly committed to the movie. And then shed wrap her 14-hour day, be a single mom, and go do trial prep, worrying about the looming cloud of allegations from her celebrity ex-husband. To not crumble but excel given all that is amazing. Amber Heard and Conor Allyn attend the 69th Taormina Film Festival on June 24, 2023, in Taormina, Italy. Allyn was busy editing In the Fire while the Depp v. Heard trial took place. Witnessing the ways the pro-Depp mob weaponized clips of Heard in her films against her was in the back of his mind during the cutting process. Theres a section of the movie where theres a hypnosis scene and the little boy is using his hypnosis powers against Ambers character, and hes saying, What is your lie? and she admits, Im a fraud. Even at that time I was like, Fuck, that sounds like a meme, admits Allyn. But should I cut this scene because maybe some assholes will use it on the internet? I think we just made the best version of the movie that we could. Heard ended up losing the first Trial by TikTok. When the trial was over, she phoned Allyn. The first thing out of her mouth was, Im so sorry that this has happened and that my personal baggage might hurt the movie, he remembers. She was calling me to apologize and that tells me all I need to know about her character. And it just seemed so surreal to have this person whod just gone through everything that shed gone through apologizing to me for a movie. Look, I love what I do, but this is her life being ruined, and shes still sticking up for me and taking the blame. Allyn calls Heard an excellent collaborator, and the two are already talking about joining forces again on another project he has in mind. I want it to be the start of a comeback for her so her life can be about more than a trial, he asserts. I dont think that should have to define the rest of her life, and it certainly shouldnt have to define the rest of her professional life. Shes a smart, hard-working actor, and she should be able to pursue that. In the Fire is available in theaters, digitally, and On Demand Oct. 13. Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. The victim was identified by authorities as Irina Garcia. Getty Police tape A 13-year-old boy in Florida confessed to stabbing his mother to death as she slept Thursday night, police say, according to multiple outlets. The boy, who has not yet been publicly identified, called police in Hialeah and told them he killed his mother, reported Local 10, NBC Miami and WSVN. The boys mother was identified by authorities in reports as Irina Garcia, 39. When police arrived at the scene, they found Garcia dead next to a crib where there was a two-week-old baby, who was unharmed, the outlets reported. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. NBC Miami, citing a Hialeah Police Department spokesperson, reported that the baby was the teens half-sister. According to the police spokesperson, the 13-year-old is a middle school honor student and was apologetic when officers arrived, reported Local 10. "We don't know, that's something that we're still trying to figure out," Hialeah police spokesperson Eddie Rodriguez, addressing a possible motive, told NBC. "He did not say why he did this, all he did was call 911 and advise what he did." NBC reported that the boy is likely to face a second-degree murder charge. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. For the first time since Gabby Petito was murdered and her fiance Brian Laundrie admitted to the crime in a notebook, their families met face-to-face in court this week. Laundries father, Christopher Laundrie, was deposed to appear in court on Tuesday as part of Petitos family's pending civil lawsuit against him, Laundries mother Roberta, and the family lawyer, Steven Bertolino. His deposition lasted for roughly three hours. RELATED: What's in the "Burn after Reading" Letter That Brian Laundrie's Mother Wrote to Him? The courtroom meeting was the first time the two families had met since Petitos murder rocked the country in 2021, the New York Post reported. According to Petitos family, Christopher showed no remorse while testifying this week, WFLA reported. Following the hearing, Petitos mother, Nichole Schmidt, described the first encounter with her daughters killers family as gut wrenching. It was extremely hurtful to listen to someone that has no remorse and no compassion for the girl they would call their daughter-in-law, Schmidt told the outlet. Brian Laundrie Gabby Petito Ig Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito Photo: Instagram Schmidt watched Tuesdays proceedings on Zoom. Joe Petito, the murdered woman's father, was present in court to listen to Christophers deposition, according to WFLA. Petitos body was found in Wyoming's BridgerTeton National Forest in September 2021 after driving across the country with Laundrie. The blogger was later discovered to have been choked to death, officials said. Laundrie, her fiance at the time, later killed himself. His partial skeleton was found in a remote location in Florida, according to the FBI. Laundrie ultimately confessed to Petitos murder in a notebook that was found near his remains. RELATED: Brian Laundries Mom Wrote About Baking A Cake With A Shiv In It, Gabby Petitos Parents Say The Laundrie family unsuccessfully tried having the civil suit dismissed. Petito's parents have accused the Laundrie family of neglecting to assist them in the aftermath of their daughter's disappearance, alleging his parents ignored phone calls, social media messages and texts. The Petito family has also accused the Laundrie family and their lawyer of withholding information. According to the civil suit, the Laundrie family's actions caused Petito's family intense emotional distress. I have nothing to share other than there were no surprises on our side, Bertolino told WFLA at the conclusion of this weeks deposition. Gabby Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, speaks during a news conference Gabby Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, speaks during a news conference as her husband, Jim Schmidt, looks on, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, in Salt Lake City. Photo: AP Roberta, Brians mother, was deposed on Wednesday, NBC Miami reported. The depositions are not open to the public. Her testimony comes months after Robertas burn after reading note to her son was released, in which she pledged to assist Laundrie if he ever needed to bury a corpse. It was difficult to be in the room with Joe and Nichole on Zoom asking these questions knowing how difficult it would be for them to relive it all, said Pat Reily, a lawyer representing Petito's parents. RELATED: Gabby Petitos Parents Sue Moab Police For $50M, Allege They Mishandled Domestic Violence Stop Before Her Death The civil depositions in the case are expected to continue ahead of the trials opening in May 2024. The Petito family has also brought a $50-million civil case against the Moab Police Department for alleged negligence during an interaction shortly before her death, which deprived Gabby of her safety and ultimately her life. Fox News Sean Hannity and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy got into a tense discussion about Israel Thursday after the Fox News host asked the 2024 hopeful to defend comments he made on the topic in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson. Ramaswamy accused Republicans of having selective moral outrage at the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel, and claimed that some who advocate a more forceful military response are swayed by financial incentives. The selective nature of ignoring certain other conflictswhile even more importantly ignoring the interests of the U.S. right here at homeis what irritates the heck out of me, out of the politicians in both parties, he told the former Fox News host on Monday, providing the armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan as one example. It is shameful, and I think that there are, frankly, financial and corrupting influences that lead them exactly to speak the way they do. Thats just the hard truth. Hannity mentioned these comments in regards to Ramaswamys criticism of fellow 2024 GOP candidateand perhaps Foxs preferred non-Trump competitorNikki Haley. Youre saying that her concern for Israel is driven by financial and a corrupting influence. And your explanation that there is a disproportionate focus on rape, kidnapping and murder of the Jewish people in this attack and, your quote, That there are, frankly, financial and corrupting influences that lead them exactly to speak the way they do, Hannity said, before Ramaswamy jumped in. Sean, that is a shameful mischaracterization, he said, prompting a testy response from the Fox host. Hey Vivek, stop right now, he said. Ill read the exactyou do this in every single interview: You say stuff and then you deny it. You deny your own words. So, you know, why dont you just own what you say and stand by it and stop playing these games? Sean, I am owning what I say. Im telling you, Ramaswamy insisted. The level of tension between Hannity and the biotech entrepreneur, whom Fox News seemingly trumpeted as the GOPs best hope not too long ago, would only rise. After several minutes, Ramaswamy recalled fondly his time speaking with Carlson while throwing in a dig at his current interviewer. One of the things about that interview with Tucker is we were able to have a thoughtful conversation and go deep into issues rather than this kind of political gotcha, he said. Hannity, thoroughly displeased by this point, returned to one of his earlier criticisms of Ramaswamy. Heres your problem: You go on these shows, people quote your exact words, and you deny your own words! he said, perhaps in reference to Ramaswamys debunked claim on CNN in August that he was misquoted by The Atlantic when discussing 9/11. And Im saying if youre going to be a presidential candidate either own it or pull it back! Ramaswamy even accused Hannity, who he said has for years been laughing about the fake news media, of now buying the mainstream media narrative when you know how corrupt it is. Excuse me! I am quoting your exact words! Hannity exclaimed, as some in the Fox News studio audience began to call out, perhaps to put an end to the interview. Soon after, Ramaswamy was taken off the screen. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Filipino-American comic book publisher Kwento Comics has teamed with Clover Press to launch a Kickstarter campaign for The Mask of Haliya: Heir to the Warrior Moon, a new young-adult urban fantasy graphic novel. Inspired by Philippine mythology, The Mask of Haliya: Heir to the Warrior Moon is the first release from Kwento and is planned as the first in a series of books to be published by Clover. The 200-page graphic novel comes from writer Kaitlyn Fajilan, artist Renoida Renovilla, editor/art supervisor Jenapher Zheng, and colorist Charlyn Duy. The deluxe hardcover edition features a cover by DC vs. Vampires: All Out War artist Haining. The Mask of Haliyas Kickstarter campaign is timed to coincide with Filipino American History Month and has already surpassed its initial goal of $5,000 USD. At the time of writing, the campaign has raised a total of $8,718 from 151 backers. The campaign concludes on Thursday, November 2 at 9 p.m. PT. The graphic novel itself currently expected to ship in March 2024. What is The Mask of Haliya: Heir to the Warrior Moon about? In THE MASK OF HALIYA, seventeen-year-old Marisol Reyes is in need of a do-over, the graphic novels official synopsis reads. After getting kicked out of one too many schools for strange and unsettling behavior, Maris overbearing mother sends her to the Philippines for a fresh start. The promise of a normal life is dashed, however, when Mari attends her recently deceased Lola Talias wake. For its there she discovers a mysterious wooden mask that unlocks frightening visions and terrifying abilities. So begins THE MASK OF HALIYA, where Mari must forge new allies and battle new foes, all while finding her place in a world on the brink of darkness. In the heart of Cebu, an ancient power awakens The Mask has chosen its new heir. We realized that Asian and specifically, Filipino characters, roles, and mythology were not seen in film, television, or comic books, said Kwento Comics co-founder Cecilia Lim, We wanted to be part of the solution and create stories that introduce Filipino and other Asian mythos to a wider audience. We knew that the creation of these characters starts with women who look like us, who can share our stories and shared experiences in an authentic way, and in doing so, highlight the wonderous world of Philippine and other Asian mythology in our graphic novels, added co-founder and chief operating officer Waverley Lim. After meeting the Lims and reading their comics, I knew we wanted to publish THE MASK OF HALIYA, said Clover Press publisher Hank Kanalz. Filipinos have played a huge part in comics history, and Im personally thrilled to assist in our representation on the page as well. VIENTIANE, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Fund raising of the Lao capital market is an important contribution to the country's socio-economic development, whereas this process currently faces many challenges, said a Lao central bank official. Deputy Governor of the Bank of the Lao P.D.R. (BOL) Khankeo Lamaningao made the remarks when addressing an event marking the 13th anniversary of the Lao Capital Market in Vientiane, according to a report issued by Lao Securities Commission Office. Companies registered on the Lao Securities Exchange (LSX) in 2023 have raised funds worth 38,123 billion kip (some 1.8 billion U.S. dollars), equal to 17.95 percent of GDP, from the government, state enterprises, and the private sector through sale of shares and bonds and issue of loan shares. In 2023, the Lao Securities Commission introduced and revised various pieces of legislation, created a mechanism to manage property valuation companies with the Ministry of Finance as the main manager, completed the creation of new products and issued loan shares within the country, Khankeo said. The commission also supported the issuing of securities and registration of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which saw considerable progress and enabled issuing of green development bonds. Khankeo said every relevant sector should work to improve the operations of the capital market so that it matches the country's development circumstances, especially focusing on creating conditions for SMEs which are the basis of the economy. It is also necessary to develop capital market infrastructure to meet accepted standards, and to gain the trust of fundraisers and investors, both domestic and foreign. She also advised that products traded on the stock market be diverse, of high quality, yield appropriate returns and support the country's green and sustainable economic ambitions. In the coming years, the party and government will continue to support the development of the Lao capital market by accelerating the implementation of relevant policies and measures, aimed at building the all-round strength of businesses, especially state-owned enterprises, through appropriate reform mechanisms. Steve Kueny has broken a Guinness World Record after traveling for 11 hours along the Missouri River in his pumpkin vessel KRCG 13/YouTube Steve Kueny completes 11-hour trip on Missouri River while paddling a pumpkin On Monday, autumn adventurer Steve Kueny of Lebanon, Missouri, potentially set a new Guinness World Record after an 11-hour, 38-mile journey on the Missouri River while manning a 1,208-lb. pumpkin boat. According to USA Today, Kueny traveled from Kansas City, starting at 7:30 a.m., before wrapping up at 6:18 p.m. in Napoleon. It takes a lot of planning and also a lot of flying by the seat of your pants, Kueny told local network KCTV. Im just a guy with a pumpkin and a whimsical sense of adventure out to have fun. And if the numbers pan out, the traveler would become the new record holder for longest journey by pumpkin boat, which was previously set by Duane Hansen after paddling over 37 miles in 2022, the Guinness World Records show. Related: Man Celebrates 60th Birthday by Floating Down River in 846-Lb. Pumpkin to Attempt World Record As USA Today noted, Kueny was joined by numerous Paddle KC Padding Club boats to make sure "were doing something very silly very safely" and to help him keep track of his pace along the river. In footage shared by KRCG, Kueny can be seen sitting inside the center of the pumpkin named Huckle Berry with a paddle in hand, as he wore an American flag vest and a camouflage bucket hat and kept pushing forward before giving cameras a thumbs up. Planning for the pumpkin paddling began in February. Now, Kueny must submit all his evidence from witnesses to GPS tracking to time stamps to Guinness World Records for verification. According to the organization's website, Guinness has a Records Management Team which confirms if an attempt was a success or not. The verification process determines if evidence "is sufficient enough to demonstrate that you have achieved the record title in question." Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. A spokesperson for Guinness World Records confirmed to PEOPLE on Friday that it received an application for the recent "longest journey by pumpkin boat (paddling)" attempt, and that it is awaiting evidence to review. The review process could take up to 12-15 weeks of submission, the organization said. If Kueny gets all his paperwork in, Guinness will then be tasked in determining if he beat out Hansen's current record, which is a 37.5-mile paddle on the Missouri River in a 846-pound pumpkin. "After meeting a previous record holder at a giant pumpkin seminar I decided that I wanted to try to break the record," Hansen told Guinness at the time. Before Hansen, Rick Swenson held the record for his 2018 journey of 25.5 miles. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Sehee Cho, 33, was found dead in the trunk of a car parked outside of a Georgia spa on Sept. 12. Gwinnett County Police Mihee Lee The mother of multiple members of a religious group called the "Soldiers of Christ" has been charged with murder in connection with the death of a woman in Georgia. Mihee Lee, 54, was arrested on charges of felony murder, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, concealing the death of another and making false statements Wednesday in connection with the death of 33-year-old Sehee Cho. Cho was found dead in the trunk of a car parked outside of a South Korean spa located in Duluth on Sept. 12. According to a Gwinnett Police Department press release, Cho was apparently subjected to beatings and malnourishment for weeks." Lee's children, Joonho Lee, 26, Juoonhyum Lee, 22, and Junyeong Lee, 15, are facing charges of felony murder, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence and concealing the death of another. They were arrested last month along with Hyunji Lee, 25, Eric Hyun, 26, and Lee family relative Gawom Lee, 26. Gwinnett County Police Joonho Lee, Hyunji Lee, Gawom Lee, Juoonhyum Lee, and Eric Hyun If any additional probable cause presents itself, more charges could be forthcoming, Gwinnett Police Sgt. Michele Pihera tells PEOPLE. Police began investigating Chos death on Sept. 12 after Hyun allegedly drove the car with Chos body inside the trunk to the Jeju Sauna. There, he parked the car and called a family member to pick him up and take him to a hospital to receive treatment. While in the hospital, Hyun asked the relative to retrieve a personal item from the vehicle, which is when Chos body was discovered in the trunk. The family member then called 911, police said. Authorities went on to search a home in Lawrenceville, Ga., and now authorities believe the basement of this home was where the crime took place, police said. Attorney Says His Client Was Victim of Other Suspects In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, an attorney for Eric Hyun said Hyun and Cho were both victims of the group. Hyun and Cho, said attorney David Boyle, were allegedly recruited by Joonho Lee, and subjected to torture in the Lee's basement at the same time. After Ms. Cho arrived in Georgia in July of this year, the Lees kept Ms. Cho in their basement for weeks and physically tortured her under the guise of a religious ritual to provide her entry into their church, Boyle's statement said. He added that Hyun was also subjected to the groups religious extremism. Eric was physically tortured, Boyle's statement says. He was beaten with a belt in his genitals and face until he was knocked unconscious. He was stripped naked and shot with an airsoft gun all over his body, causing over a hundred wounds. The Lees used a sanding block to sand the skin off his chest, to indoctrinate him into their religious extremism," says the statement, which adds: "Eric can barely walk." According to the statement, the Lees allegedly coerced [Hyun] to wire tens of thousands of dollars to Korea, they maxed out his credit cards, and used his credit to purchase a house in Suwanee for their church. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Police said Cho moved to Atlanta from South Korea in the summer to join the Soldiers of Christ. When police found her in the trunk, she weighed around 70 lbs. The Medical Examiners Office believes malnourishment could be a contributing factor to her death, the Gwinnett police said in a press release. According to Fox5, Joonho Lee is a student at Emory University. He is being held without bond. Eric Hyun was granted bond. Juoonhyum Lee, Gawom Lee, and Hyunji Lee remain in custody. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Shayda ( Zar Amir Ebrahimi ) and her daughter, Mona (Selina Zahednia), are fleeing domestic violence in "Shayda," the debut feature by Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari. Photo courtesy of Busan International Film Festival BUSAN, South Korea, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Shayda, the debut feature by Tehran-born, Australia-based Noora Niasari, tells a deeply moving story based on the director's own childhood experience of fleeing domestic violence with her mother in a foreign country. The film, which screened in competition this week at the Busan International Film Festival, won the audience award at its Sundance premiere in January and has made the rounds of fests including Locarno and Melbourne. And while Shayda is a personal story set within the Iran diasporic community in Australia, it has resonated with viewers around the world to a degree that has surprised the director, Niasari told UPI in an interview in Busan. "I didn't want to make a film that was just for an Australian audience," Niasari said. "The biggest reward for me has been sharing the film with [global] audiences because of how deeply people have connected with the film, in all different contexts." Title character Shayda (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) is an Iranian woman living in Australia who has escaped to a women's shelter with her 6-year-old daughter Mona, played with remarkable emotional range by first-time actress Selina Zahednia. Director Niasari said the film has resonated with audiences at screenings around the world. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI Shayda is seeking a divorce from her abusive husband, Hossein (Osamah Sami), a medical student who intends to bring the family back to Iran after his graduation. Niasari herself spent eight months in a shelter with her mother in 1995, and the film is "emotionally autobiographical" about the experience, the director said. She approached her mother with the idea of the project six years ago and asked her to record her experiences in a memoir. "Shayda," which was executive produced by Cate Blanchett , is Australia's nominee for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards. Photo courtesy of Busan International Film Festival The director's own memories of the time are "quite fractured," she said, a blend of confusion and fear tinged with flashes of happiness. "It was a very stressful time, but it was also lovely to be embraced by the social workers and the other women and children," Niasari said. "It was the first time that we felt really safe and held by a community." In a pitch-perfect performance by Ebrahimi, who was awarded Best Actress at Cannes in 2022 for Holy Spider, Shayda herself also manages to find joy and resilience in the midst of displacement -- whether going out clubbing with some of the younger moms at the shelter or giving herself a new haircut with a pair of kitchen scissors. "It was really about that balance of light and dark, because I didn't want the film to be steeped in victimhood," Niasari said. "Even in the darkest times, you still have those moments of joy, and you need them to survive." The film is set during the lead-up to Norwuz, Persian New Year, which Shayda is determined to celebrate with Mona despite the mounting dangers of being found by her estranged husband amid the diasporic community. (And despite the fact that the holiday of springtime renewal takes place as fall is arriving in Australia's Southern Hemisphere.) "It's about Shayda reclaiming her cultural identity," Niasari said. "She's able to celebrate Persian New Year and pass on these beautiful traditions to her daughter. That's an act of defiance in itself -- she's taking the beauty and the light in a way that serves her." While the film is illuminated with these sparks of hope, Shayda also moves with the beats of a suspense thriller. In every scene that Shayda lets her guard down, there is a mounting sense of dread that Hossein -- whom we do not meet for a long time -- will appear. The film also leaves space, for a while at least, to question whether Shayda is even making the right decision. "For women after an escape, life is moving on but there is always this undercurrent of fear," Niasari said. "And society has a tendency to tell women that all it's in your head, or it's paranoia. I wanted to put the audience in that position as well." One of the film's earliest champions was two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett, who executive produced Shayda with her company Dirty Films. Niasari said that the partnership with Blanchett has helped raise the worldwide profile of the film, which opened in theaters in Australia earlier this month and is the country's official entry to the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars. And everywhere it has traveled, from Sundance to South Korea, Shayda has made a connection with viewers, many of whom have approached the director to share their own experiences of domestic violence. "I wanted to make something from a female point of view with all of the layers and sensitivities that go with that -- something that's more hopeful and gives women strength," Niasari said. "I didn't expect it to have such a profound impact with audiences." Daniela Perez was found dead in her car Oct. 10. Conner Fry, the man suspected of killing her, later shot himself, as authorities surrounded the shed where he was hiding GoFundMe Daniela Perez After Daniela Perez, 24, was reported missing along with her car earlier this week, law enforcement located her vehicle in a school parking lot in Ontario, Ore., Tuesday night. Officers found Daniela dead inside her car in what the Malheur County District Attorneys Office vaguely described as circumstances that suggested a criminal homicide. And the man investigators identified as the priority person of interest, who had been seen on surveillance footage leaving the parking lot with a pink backpack in hand had been spotted again soon after, playing video game poker in additional nearby surveillance footage that the office released. By the following evening, law enforcement had obtained a warrant for the arrest of that man, Connor Fry, whose cell phone pinged near a local shed. As local law enforcement and the Oregon State Police SWAT team surrounded the area, officers saw him burst from the shed, ducking into dense vegetation nearby, the district attorneys office said in a later press release. Then officers heard a single muffled gunshot. Ontario City Police Department Conner Fry playing video game poker shortly after law enforcement believes he killed Daniela Perez The team confirmed over the radio that no member of law enforcement had fired any type of weapon, the district attorneys office said, adding that not knowing what possible threat remained, officers spritzed the area with pepper spray, and when Fry did not emerge from the bushes, they fired not deadly bullets trying to make Conner Fry come out of the vegetation. Fry still did not move, and officers surrounded his body, zip tied his wrists and checked for a pulse, the district attorneys office stated, noting that officers determined he had no signs of life and appeared to have died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound. Fry also had additional rounds of ammunition in his clothing, the district attorneys office said. According to CBS 2, law enforcement does not believe Fry knew the SWAT team was nearby at the time of his death. It was a tragic double-death ending in a murder case between two people who reportedly did not know each other, in what may have been a burglary gone wrong, CBS 2 reports. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Daniela Dani to her friends was described on a GoFundMe campaign raising money so that her family can bring her body to Mexico for burial as a person of love, light, and compassion. In posts of remembrance in English and Spanish, friends and family recalled her beautiful bright soul whose laughter could bring a smile upon anyones face and a smile that always lit up the room. You truly were a blessing to everyone, another wrote. More than $21,000 had been raised by the first day of the campaign. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Philanthropist John Paulson, center, at the announcement of his $27 million gift to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is flanked by university vice-president Yossi Gal, left, and president Asher Cohen. When John Paulson makes it rain, it's never a trickle. More like a downpour. Ask the folks at The Hebrew University in Givat Ram, Israel, which recently received $27 million from his Paulson Family Foundation. The gift, announced on Sept. 28, will fund the construction of the fourth building within the Rachel and Selim Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering, expanding and upgrading the schools learning spaces and research laboratories. The Benin complex is located on the Edmond J. Safra Campus in Givat Ram. Israels quality higher education is largely responsible for the countrys technology boom and rapid economic development," said Paulson. "This gift will ensure that the Hebrew University has the resources to meet the growing demand for computer science and engineering education. The university's students and researchers are in high demand in the Israeli and international high-tech industry. The Benin school is the birthplace of many high-tech companies, including Mobileye and Lightricks. The new building will feature state-of-the-art facilities including approximately 75,000 square feet of special laboratories, teaching rooms, office space, and computer stations in the labs and open areas. Over the last decade, we have increased threefold the number of students at the School of Computer Science and Engineering," said Professor Asher Cohen, president of the Hebrew University. "The current complex, which comprises three buildings, will be at full capacity by the end of 2024. Construction of this fourth building will enable us to meet the huge demand for the outstanding hi-tech personnel that the university produces. The Paulson Family Foundations generous donation will allow us to continue supporting the Israeli hi-tech industry in the best possible way. We are immensely grateful to the Paulson Family Foundation for this generous donation," said Professor Sara Cohen, dean of the School of Computer Science and Engineering. "The new building will provide these sharpest of minds, who are on campus around the clock, with modern learning and research spaces to the highest international standards. It will also be the home of an AI (artificial intelligence) research center that we are in the process of establishing." Joshua Rednik, CEO of the American Friends of the Hebrew University, described the gift as "transformational." "(Paulson's) contribution to developing the next generation of computer scientists is a worthy endeavor that will advance the industry at a global level and especially within the State of Israel, Rednik said. The American Friends of the Hebrew University is the institution's U.S. fundraising arm. Its major event, The Scopus Gala, takes place annually in Palm Beach. The 2024 gala is scheduled for March 23 at The Breakers. The Paulson Family Foundation was founded in 2009 by John Paulson, president of Paulson & Co., a global investment company. The foundation invests in education, science, health, culture and the arts. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem teaches more than 23,000 students from 80 countries and produces nearly 40% of Israels civilian scientific research. Among its faculty and alumni are eight Nobel laureates. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beacher John Paulson gives $27 million to Israel's Hebrew University The Good Doctor actress Lisa Edelstein told TheWrap that until she signed on to play a Holocaust survivor who adopts a native Canadian girl in the PBS drama Little Bird, she had no idea about the government program called the Sixties Scoop. It was a really horrible system. Everybody knew about it [at the time]. It was just considered the normal thing to do and its horrific, she says of the thousands of indigenous children who were taken from their families in the 1960s. Edelstein was able to talk about the six-part Canadian series, which premiered on Oct. 12, because PBS productions are considered non-struck work during the SAG-AFTRA strike. Without directly addressing the harrowing Hamas attacks on Israel this week, she added, Even in this horrific time period that were in right now, theres something about storytelling and understanding each others trauma and trying to be human beings. This is very profound right now. In the series, Esther Rosenblum (Darla Contois), who was cruelly ripped away from her mother, father and siblings when she was 5 years old, begins searching for her birth family in her 20s. Her adoptive mother Golda (Edelstein) has always discouraged her from finding out more about her past, having been told that Esther, whose given name was Bezhig Little Bird, had been rescued from a neglectful family. Edelstein talked to TheWrap about the historical underpinnings of Little Bird and more. TheWrap: Were you aware of this chapter in Canadian history before you took this series? Lisa Edelstein: I didnt know anything about it. And then when I was in Canada, for the show that will remain not mentioned because we cant mention shows, I started learning about indigenous issues because everything was starting to burble up. Around that time, there was a big story about all the missing indigenous women and that their disappearances go unsolved. And they had also started finding mass graves of children from the residential school so there were all kinds of stories that were coming to the surface. But I only learned about the Sixties Scoop from doing this show. Its just devastating to see how this plays out in this one family alone. It ruined all their lives. Although the series does end with some hope and healing. That is the hope, right? The hope is healing. I met an indigenous man who had been adopted at 5, I think, to a family in Pittsburgh. They adopted this kid because they needed a farmhand. And so they moved him into the barn, which is similar to the story in Little Bird. He grew up in the barn, he was not allowed in the family house. And he eventually descended into depression and addiction. And when he turned 18, his birth mother found him because at that time, they were allowed to be told where their children were when they turned 18. So every child that had been stolen from her she waited and waited and the minute they turned 18, she found them. He went back to Canada to meet his family, got sober, he learned his language, learned his culture, and the day I met him he was becoming chief of the tribe. Wow. Thats amazing. Can you talk about working with Darla, who plays your adopted daughter? Shes such a treasure. She hadnt done any films before, so it was a huge undertaking for her and I thought she handled it with incredible grace. Her father is a Sixties Scoop survivor and she told me her family history. I learned a lot of family history from a lot of people and I felt very honored to be a witness to that. Its really interesting because people who come from a traumatized background are reserved in welcoming others. It makes sense that trust has to be earned. And I felt like I was welcomed by a group of people that deserve the right to not welcome me. I was really grateful that I could just be there and hear their stories and represent mine and to have that kind of cultural exchange. Did you base your portrayal of Golda on anybody in particular? Not a specific person. My family came from Poland to New York, so its a slightly different accent. But what was similar was about having extreme trauma. Golda was a teenager when she lost her real family. I think my character was moved to adopt what she thought was an abandoned child because she viewed that child as somebody who also lost their whole family. I think on some level she thought they were partners in that pain. They both suffered a great loss. Because she didnt know that her daughter actually had a family that loved her. She didnt understand they were stolen. And then when something tragic happens, Behjigs two families sort of blend their traditions and its really beautiful. It makes me cry just thinking about it. Even in this horrific time period that were in right now, theres something about storytelling and understanding each others trauma and trying to be human beings. This is very profound right now. Whats next for you? This month I was shooting a movie that had an interim agreement. So its very fortunate to actually be working every day. Its a low, low, low, low, low budget. But it was just nice to be working. So as soon as Im done, Ill be able to go back to the picket lines. Little Bird is streaming now at PBS.org and on the PBS app. The post How PBS Indigenous Drama Little Bird Relates to Todays Very Profound Real-World Conflicts appeared first on TheWrap. Were probably not going to face off against the razor-sharp dream-walker Freddy Krueger or battle supernatural evil like Ash Williams in the Evil Dead series. But these horror flicks will look and feel distressingly a bit familiar to Iowans, either due to the subject matter or their settings. Binge these flicks this Friday the 13th or anytime youre looking for a good scare. Children of the Corn Stephen King, the legendary American author of horror, supernatural and suspense novels, has sold more than 350 million copies. Many of his novels been adapted for movies and TV. Stephen Kings classic transforms corn into something nefarious in Children of the Corn. Adults become the victims in the fictional Nebraska town Gaitlin, where a dangerous cult and an evil entity rule. The 1984 movie was filmed in Whiting, Hornick and Sioux City, the Des Moines Register reported in 2014. The Crazies George A. Romeros 1970s film The Crazies got a remake in 2010, and this time, it was set in a fictional Iowa town. The story follows a group of survivors who attempt to flee their small town when its inhabitants are infected and become bloodthirsty killers. One of the filming locations includes Lenox in southwestern Iowa, according to Travel Iowa. The Axe Murders of Villisca The attic of the Villisca Axe Murder House. The movie The Axe Murders of Villisca is based on the true Iowa crime that took place more than a century ago in the southwest Iowa town Villisca. In 1912, eight people were bludgeoned to death in their sleep at their home. The case remains unsolved. More: Get into the Halloween spirit. Here's the best of what's going on around Des Moines. Signs M. Night Shyamalans Signs doesnt take place in Iowa, but its rural farm setting will feel familiar for many. The 2002 flick follows a family dealing with mysterious crop circles and other inexplicable events. Can you guess whos arrived at their farm? The film stars Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and Abigail Breslin. It In 1980, serial killer John Wayne Gacy was convicted of sexually assaulting, torturing and murdering 33 boys inside his Illinois home, but he has a connection to Iowa. That includes living in Waterloo prior to moving to Illinois, and serving time in Iowa prison in 1968. Gacy would also spend time dressed as a clown to entertain, making Stephen Kings evil Pennywise the clown feel far more grounded in reality than whatd we care to believe. Watch the original miniseries from 1990 that stars Tim Curry or the 2017 remake starring Bill Skarsgard, Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader. More: From John Wayne Gacy to the 'I-65 Killer,' how these 11 serial killers are connected to Iowa The best Halloween movies in Iowa for kids Avoid losing sleep later with these movies. The little ones, and adults, will have fun so that no one is pulling an all-nighter with the lights on. Hotel Transylvania at Flix Brewhouse "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania" (Jan. 14, Amazon Prime): Johnny (voiced by Andy Samberg, center) cuddles up with father-in-law Drac (Adam Sandler) and wife Mavis (Selena Gomez) in the fourth and final installment in the animated monster-comedy franchise. Follow Count Dracula try to keep teen daughter away from a human at his hotel that serves only monsters in the animated hit. Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez lend their voices to Hotel Transylvania, the first of four movies. When: Oct. 14 at 11 a.m. Location: Flix Brewhouse, 3800 Merle Hay Road, Suite 1300, in Des Moines Hocus Pocus at Varsity Cinema Get spellbound by the Sanderson sisters, the trio of witches who are accidentally resurrected by a teen boy three centuries after their deaths. The 1993 film directed by Kenny Ortega has become an October classic. When: Oct. 21 Location: Varsity Cinema, 1207 25th St. in Des Moines The Nightmare Before Christmas in Ankeny Jack Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon) takes on the role of Santa Claus in Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Tim Burtons classic follows the great Pumpkin King Jack Skellington, whose boredom in Halloweentown leads to the discovery of the dazzling Christmastown and his nightmarish efforts to take over Christmas. This showing is part of Ankenys Outdoor Cinema Halloween Series, with "Ghostbusters" playing on Oct. 14 and Casper playing on Oct. 21. When: Oct. 28 Location: 417 S.W. Third St. in Ankeny Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: These are the best Halloween movies to watch in Iowa Matthew Taylor Coleman is charged with killing his 2-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter in Mexico on Aug. 9, 2021 Instagram Matthew Taylor Coleman Matthew Taylor Coleman, a California surf instructor who is accused of killing his two young children with a spearfishing gun in Mexico, has been deemed incompetent to stand trial. An online docket entry reviewed by PEOPLE confirms that U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo on Oct. 11 ordered Coleman, 42, to be committed for treatment. His competency hearing is scheduled for March 8, 2024. The judge's decision suspends the criminal proceedings against Coleman, who was facing trial on two counts of foreign murder of United States nationals stemming from the Aug. 9, 2021 deaths of his 2-year-old son Kaleo and 10-month-old daughter Roxy in Mexico. He has pleaded not guilty. According to charging documents previously reviewed by PEOPLE, he allegedly told police he was motivated by the conspiracy theories of QAnon believing that his kids had "serpent DNA" and needed to be killed to save the world. Coleman was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2021 and has undergone psychological testing to determine his state of mind. In February 2023, federal prosecutors decided not to pursue the death penalty, the docket entry states. Related: Dad Accused of Killing His Kids with Spear Gun over QAnon Theories 'Had No Warning Signs,' Says Friend Police said Coleman drove from his Santa Barbara, Calif., home with his children Kaleo and Roxy into Mexico on Aug. 7, 2021. Two days later, authorities allege, he took the kids to a ranch, where he killed them with a spearfishing gun and returned to his hotel a few hours later. He was arrested when he attempted to cross the border back into the United States, PEOPLE previously reported. Matthew Taylor Coleman/instagram Matthew Taylor Coleman and family In a 10-page criminal complaint that was filed in the U.S. District Court at the time, FBI special agent Jennifer Bannon said that Coleman detailed how he killed his children. "M. Coleman stated that he knew it was wrong," Bannon wrote, "but it was the only course of action that would save the world." Related: Matthew Coleman's Wife Wants to Meet with Him and Get Answers About Children's Alleged QAnon-Inspired Murders Coleman allegedly told police he was motivated by an outlandish conspiracy theory that alien, reptilian humanoids are masquerading as people to overthrow humanity. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. In an affidavit reviewed by PEOPLE in 2022, authorities allege that his wife Abby "explained that she and her husband were researching QAnon, and that [Matthew] became significantly more paranoid that people around him were involved in a conspiracy." Matthew Taylor Coleman, left, and Abby Coleman. The couple exchanged text messages the morning of the kids murders, PEOPLE previously reported, citing an affidavit. Hours after the time officials think the children were killed, Abby texted her husband to take care of the children. Coleman was arrested later that day as he tried to enter California and after Abby called police to report her husband and kids missing. Related: 'Crazy Thoughts': Inside the Text Exchange Between Matthew Coleman & Wife on Morning of Kids' Murders Authorities said that a farmer stumbled across the childrens bodies in a remote part of a ranch in Baja California, a Mexican province about 60 miles south of San Diego, just hours after they were killed. PEOPLE has reached out to Colemans attorneys with the federal public defenders office in Los Angeles for comment. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission. For some Republican voters, Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arent at the top of their list for the GOP nomination in 2024. There are conservative Americans who are looking to support a different candidate in the presidential race, including Sen. Mitt Romney , who isnt a fan of the former president. Thats where Nikki Haley enters the chat. More from SheKnows The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador is starting to see her star shine for what The Atlantic describes as her chance to consolidate the anti-Trump support in the GOP. Shes currently trailing behind Donald Trump (naturally) and DeSantis, but she is showing signs of pulling ahead of the Florida governor, which is not good news for his campaign. Haleys no-nonsense approach in the debate has been one of her strong suits and while she is fine with criticizing Donald Trump, she isnt swallowed up by the one-note message like Chris Christie is. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley waves to supporters while arriving ather first campaign event on February 15, 2023 in Charleston, South Carolina. The other crucial detail she has benefited from is DeSantis dramatic flameout. Instead of Donald Trumps heir apparent being a charismatic, crusading figure, DeSantis has turned into a major disappointment. His robotic speeches and Florida politics do not translate well to the national stage even though theyve tried to use his wife, Casey DeSantis, as his secret weapon. The voters and the donors are starting to move away at a brisk pace. With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace by Nikki Haley Click here to read the full article. Price: $29.99 $8.17 Buy On Amazon Haleys massive hurdle is trying to overcome Donald Trumps astonishing lead. It would take a miracle right now to beat him unless his legal challenges finally sideline him. For some Republicans, the effort to support Haley is worth it because they dont see much of a future with Donald Trump or DeSantis in the White House. Before you go, click here for more Trump family tell-all books. Best of SheKnows Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. SAG-AFTRA announced that all pickets scheduled for Friday in New York City and Los Angeles are canceled, citing potential safety concerns that are unrelated to our ongoing strike. The actors union added in its post on social media Thursday, Stay safe and see you on the picket lines next week. More from The Hollywood Reporter Its unclear what the threat to safety is, specifically, but it comes after media reports that the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas urged supporters to take to the streets in a day of action Oct. 13 in support of the terrorist attacks in Israel. Nearly a week ago, the terrorist organization Hamas launched attacks on southern Israel. As of Thursday, the escalating conflict has led to a rising death toll that has surpassed 2,700 victims on both sides, according to the Associated Press. Both the New York Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department have issued statements, saying there are no specific or credible threats to either city at this time but that they are continuing to assess the situation. Both departments also said they will increase patrols out of an abundance of caution. There are no specific, credible threats to New York City, a statement read on NYPDs official X (formerly Twitter) account. We are aware of the concern that postings circulating online have cause, and we have increased our uniform deployments at large gatherings and cultural sites to ensure public safety out of an abundance of caution. NYC Mayor Eric Adams also wrote on X that he has directed the police department to send additional resources to schools and houses of worship to ensure they are safe and that our city remains a place of peace. LAPD shared in a statement on its social media, The Los Angeles Police Department is aware of recent statements made calling for action as it relates to the conflict in the Middle East. We have no information of any specific or credible threats to the City of Los Angeles but we are continuing to assess the situation for any potential impact to our communities. We are closely monitoring these events and are coordinating with Federal, State, and local partners on information sharing. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Click here to read the full article. Bhutan marked World Tourism Day 2023 (September 27) by releasing new passport entry visa and permit stamps that incorporate Bhutans new national brand Bhutan Believe. The stamps, released by Bhutans Department of Tourism in collaboration with Bhutans Department of Immigration, prominently feature a dragon, symbolising its association with the legendary creature that is deeply rooted in the countrys cultural and religious traditions. The objective was to create a passport stamp design that becomes a collectable item, that celebrates the start of a travellers journey at the moment they step into the Kingdom, said Dorji Dhradhul, the Director General of the Department of Tourism. "Each stamp is not just an entry mark, but also a reflection of Bhutan's rich tapestry of tradition and culture, and an invitation to experience the heartbeat of our nation's soul, said Tshering Wangmo, the Director of Bhutans Department of Immigration. "With every imprint, we hope to share a piece of 'Bhutan Believe' with the world." In Bhutanese folklore and mythology, the dragon is a revered symbol that represents protection, strength, and the spirit of Bhutan. Bhutans traditional name is Drukyul, which means land of the thunder dragon. The stamps also feature uniquely Bhutanese ornaments that reflect hand-painted architectural decoration, one of the 13 traditional crafts (or Zorig Chusum) that represent Bhutanese cultural identity. Bhutan launched its new national brand in September 2022, coinciding with the reopening of the kingdom after the Covid-19 pandemic. The new brand and identity were designed to inspire a new vision of the future for its citizens, while reflecting Bhutans character and landscapes, history and ambitions: bold, vivid, richly storied and distinctive, a statement said. It offers a rallying cry to believe in the nations capabilities, its values, its global contribution, its responsibilities, and its future, the statement added. Using traditional colours, a completely new graphic identity system was created, which draws on traditional Bhutanese iconography such as hand-painted architectural decoration, mythical animals, folklore and symbolism all reimagined with boldness, sharpness and dynamism. The vibrant brand identity has already been rolled out across public and private sectors. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, talks with villagers at a village in Wuyuan County, Shangrao City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) NANCHANG, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has called on east China's Jiangxi Province to write its chapter in Chinese modernization by tapping into its strengths and improving its weak points. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection of the province from Oct. 10 to 13. Xi stressed the importance of emancipating the mind and making pioneering efforts. Jiangxi should firmly adhere to its positioning in creating a new development pattern, tap into its characteristics and strengths, and focus on a high-quality, green and low-carbon development, Xi said. He also called on the province to consolidate its foundations while developing new strengths, strive to lead both the promotion of high-quality development of old revolutionary base areas and the rise of the central region, and make sound efforts in advancing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. During the inspection tour, Xi visited the cities of Jiujiang, Jingdezhen and Shangrao. He inspected the shoreline of the Yangtze River, local enterprises, a historical and cultural block and a village. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) On Tuesday afternoon, Xi visited a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang. He walked in the rain to inspect the landscape along the river embankment and asked about the water level, water quality and the work including flood control. After listening to briefings by local officials on the progress of relevant work, Xi called the Yangtze River "the bond" of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and underscored that all work to protect the river must be undertaken from a perspective of a community of life featuring harmony between humanity and nature and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects Sinopec Jiujiang Company in Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi then inspected Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about the enterprise's efforts to build green and intelligent factories as well as promote energy conservation, and reduce pollution and carbon emissions. He stressed continuous efforts to push forward digital and intelligent transformation to build a world-leading refining and chemical enterprise that is eco-friendly and intelligent. The petrochemical industry is an important economic pillar, Xi told the company's staff, calling on them to make new contributions to China's energy security while advancing the high-quality development of the industry. On Wednesday morning, Xi visited the city of Jingdezhen, known as the "porcelain capital." At a historical and cultural block, Xi learned about the craftsmanship and procedures of porcelain making, and the efforts to maintain the inheritance, innovation and foreign exchanges of ceramic culture. Noting that fine traditional Chinese culture has survived uninterrupted since ancient times, Xi stressed that porcelain is both a treasure and calling card of the Chinese nation. He underscored that talent from various sectors should aid design and R&D innovation across the porcelain industry to further amplify the name of the "millennium porcelain capital." Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) Then Xi went to AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd., where he inspected a helicopter general assembly workshop and a pilot station. Noting that aviation equipment forms an important part of China's manufacturing development, Xi asked the corporation to pursue an innovation-driven approach, invest more energy in independent R&D in key and core technologies, strive to establish an advanced manufacturing system and develop itself into a first-class global helicopter company. On Wednesday afternoon, Xi visited a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao City, which is situated in the center area of the national wetland park for the source of the Raohe River. There, he learned about the park and its wildlife conservation efforts. Xi also talked with teachers and students of a fine arts college painting at the village square, encouraging them to study hard to hone their craft. Learning that remarkable progress has been achieved in advancing local signature tourism, the tea industry and rural revitalization, Xi voiced delight, and noted that the beautiful natural environment is in itself high-quality natural endowments for advancing rural revitalization. The key to rural revitalization lies in strong primary-level Party organizations, he said, calling on such organizations to play a leading role in increasing rural incomes and ensure the solid implementation of the policies formulated by the Party for the benefit of people. Chinese modernization encompasses the modernization of both urban areas and the agricultural sector and rural areas, Xi told villagers. He expressed the hope that they would effectively protect nature while integrating the traditional image of the village with modern elements to make the village more beautiful. During his inspection, Xi was also briefed about the work of the CPC provincial committee and the provincial government of Jiangxi, and he lauded the achievements that the province has made in various fields. He called on Jiangxi to actively prepare for the next generation of industries and build a modern industrial system with the region's distinct features and strengths. Jiangxi should nurture a number of high-tech industries, foster nationally influential industrial clusters and develop the digital economy while firmly following the path of ecological protection and green development and pursuing all-round green transition, he said. Xi stressed that Jiangxi should become a pacesetter of reform and opening-up in the inland areas, develop the port economy, promote the construction of key cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and nurture regional logistics hubs and commercial centers. He asked Jiangxi to coordinate with and serve the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and get deeply involved in joint efforts to advance the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi urged Jiangxi to deepen reform in key areas, improve the business environment, and expand institutional opening up with regard to rules, regulations, management, and standards. Priority should be given to the development of the agricultural sector and rural areas, which should be modernized at a faster pace, he said, calling for firmly maintaining the bottom line of food security and further industrializing the agricultural sector. The fruits of reform and development must be shared by the people in old revolutionary base areas, which is a bottom-line task in realizing common prosperity for all, Xi said, stressing efforts to strengthen the implementation of the employment-first policy, and improve public services and the social security system. Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi on the inspection tour. Before the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers abruptly walked away from negotiations with SAG-AFTRA on Wednesday, the guild had no indication there were any serious problems, chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told TheWrap Thursday. We wrapped up our scheduled bargaining session on time and with no indication of problems. Then a couple of hours later, I started getting phone calls that they had decided to walk away from bargaining. They canceled the session for today and were not planning to return to negotiating at this point, he said. When asked what went wrong, Crabtree-Ireland sighed and said, I guess Id love to know the answer to that. AMPTP cited what it described as irreconcilable differences over a revenue-sharing scheme the guild proposed, when it announced talks were paused. But speaking to TheWrap by phone, Crabtree-Ireland called the studios move disappointing and frustrating and inexplicable, because theres no way to move parties forward without further talks. Particularly, he says, because SAG-AFTRA had offered a revision to its streaming revenue-sharing proposal specifically to address studio concerns. After reading the press release issued on behalf of the AMPTP, Crabtree-Ireland said it seems that they were not happy with the changes we made to our streaming share proposal changes we made to address their concerns and moved in their direction. He explained that the guild realized that the studios were never ever going to agree to anything that involved attachment to their revenue stream. Our committee did some soul searching and came up with a revised proposal not attached to revenue stream, but attached to viewers and subscribers. I thought it was going to be more palatable to them, he said, adding that he fully expected them to accept the new, more studio-friendly model. They have either intentionally or non-intentionally misconstrued the cost of the proposal, he said. I told them how and why last night and they decided to leak that incorrect evaluation in their press release. The correct valuation is about $500 million a little bit less than 57 cents per subscriber per year. Less than a postage stamp per year per subscriber is not that much of an ask. He added that the streaming residuals proposal has been part of SAGs package since June 7. We discussed it multiple times before the strike and since the strike and since returning to bargaining, he said. Crabtree-Ireland called out studios heads like Netflixs Ted Sarandos for attending Thursdays Bloomberg conference instead of meeting again with SAG. Their walking away from the table has come out of nowhere, he added, saying that the guild had moved hard to move the structure in a direction that fosters agreement. While he is discouraged, he said even though both sides were still far apart on a number of issues, progress had been made and they were not back to square one. If someone changes terms to accommodate your concerns, your response [shouldnt be] Im not going to talk anymore. That does not indicate good faith, especially when so many lives are on the line, he continued. He said that the AMPTP had yet to respond to the guilds counterproposals to AI that were offered on Monday. My concern is more about timing than anything, he said, because I feel very deeply that our members are out of work and it is causing real economic harm to them and other people in the industry. Duncan-Crabtree said he is still hopeful that they will ultimately make a deal, but that delaying longer than necessary is not fair to workers in the industry. When they come back to the table, I hope and believe we can find a path forward, he said. For all of TheWraps Hollywood strike coverage, click here. The post SAG-AFTRAs Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Says Studios Decision to Halt Talks Is Inexplicable appeared first on TheWrap. Amidst calls for a day of protest by Islamic leaders, SAG-AFTRA has canceled plans to picket on Friday in Los Angeles and New York. Federal and local law enforcement officials have warned the public to be wary after Hamas has urged its supporters to create a day of action in the streets on Friday. What form that takes is unclear, but law enforcement is stepping up its watches. More from Deadline Reuters reported Wednesday that former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for a Day of Jihad on Friday the 13th. The LAPD has since announced an uptick in patrols especially in Jewish and Muslim communities for Friday. New York police are also on high alert. This is being done out of an abundance of caution for our members, said a well-positioned Guild member to Deadline. In light of potential safety concerns that are unrelated to our ongoing strike, there will be no SAG-AFTRA pickets in New York City or Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 13. Stay safe and see you on the picket lines next week. #SagAftraStrong #SagAftraStrike pic.twitter.com/dpCyM0PTvh SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) October 13, 2023 Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher made an appearance on the Today show Friday morning to share her perspective on why the unions talks with the AMPTP broke down. It really came as a shock to me because what does that exactly mean and why would you walk away from the table? Its not like were asking for anything thats so outrageous, Drescher said. Its so wrong. And its so unfair that they walked out of the meeting, and so disrespectful I mean, they talk at you. They really dont want to hear what you have to say or why youre saying it. More from Variety On Wednesday night, the AMPTP announced that talks with SAG-AFTRA had been suspended, saying the gap between the two sides is too great and that conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July, joining the Writers Guild of America on the picket line. But whereas the writers strike ended on Sept. 27, the AMPTP has yet to strike a deal with the actors, though things felt hopeful when the two resumed discussions on Oct. 2. In an interview with Variety, SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said that the studios rejected the unions request for a 2% share of streaming revenue. So on Wednesday, the actors proposed that they instead be paid a set rate per subscriber of all the major streaming platforms. But the two parties disagreed on just how much that would cost, with SAG-AFTRA estimating $500 million per year and the AMPTP countering that it could be as much as $800 million. At a Bloomberg conference on Thursday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos elaborated on why that proposal contributed to negotiations coming to a halt. We had very productive talks going, then what kind of happened last night they introduced this levy on subscribers, on top of historic highs in terms of increases across the board, Sarandos said, adding that it just felt like a bridge too far to add this deep into the negotiation. Watch Dreschers interview on Today below. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. A new study from Oregon State University researchers finds that the deaths may be related to Arctic conditions Natalie Fobes/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Gray whale lies on the beach of Kodiak Island in Alaska. A new study from Oregon State University researchers has looked into why gray whales have continued to be found dead in North America in recent years, and they think they've "cracked the case." Published on Thursday in the journal Science, the study looks into why gray whales have washed up or been found dead at an alarming rate, and notes that population booms and busts may be a result of Arctic conditions. Weve kind of cracked the case of these big die-offs, and weve found they happen more frequently than we expected, said lead author Josh Stewart, who told NBC News that the population of the whales appears to be connected to how long sea ice blocks their feeding grounds, and the shifting access they have to their prey. Gray whales feed on benthic amphipods crustaceans, which feed on algae grown under sea ice. But recently, climate change has impacted the growth of the algae, with rising temperatures prompting a decline in sea ice, per NBC News. And while that decline allowed more access to the algae, the outlet also notes that it's reduced the food quality. Theyre not making as good a living, Stewart, assistant professor at the school's Marine Mammal Institute, told the outlet noting that this decline has greatly impacted the whales' food. When you have less sea ice and fewer days of sea ice, you don't get that algae reaching the sea floor to create that productivity that the gray whales need, he told local NBC affiliate KGW. We know that the resources that gray whales are relying on to feed, to make a living, to reproduce are already heavily impacted by climate change and will continue to be increasingly impacted by climate change. Related: Gray Whale Gives Birth in Front of Boats Filled with Amazed Onlookers in California Watch! According to the study, two mass death events for gray whales could also be linked to sea ice variability, including one event in the late 1990s, per NBC News. For the study, Stewart's team looked at long-term monitoring programs over the last five decades, and compared data from the species' boom and bust cycles to their access to food. Gray whales, who feed in the Arctic during the summer after migrating from the coast of Mexico, only do so for about four months before fasting for much of the remainder of the year. And as Stewart explained, the animals "really have to gorge themselves for those four months." The most recent "unusual mortality event" for gray whales, which is how the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration classifies it, is different than previous events as those "only lasted a couple of years," per Stewart. The most recent mortality event has slowed and there are signs things are turning around, but the population has continued to decline," he told KGW. "One reason it may be dragging on is the climate change component, which is contributing to a long-term trend of lower-quality prey. They're resilient animals. They're adaptive, he added. They can change the areas that they feed in. So I'm not worried about them going extinct. Still, Stewart told the outlet that fans of the species should get used to seeing less of them. We're going to be increasingly living in a world where we're going to have to deal with these impacts that are hard to reverse and have really significant effects on species that we care a lot about, he said. And that's a hard thing to stomach. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Donald Trump may be looking down the barrel of 91 felony charges that could potentially carry a prison sentence of 641 years, but that doesnt mean he cant take a moment to admire Rep. Jim Jordans (R-OH) impressive physique. According to Seth Meyers, thats just one of the many ways the former president has weirdified the Republican party. On Thursday, Meyers dedicated the bulk of his A Closer Look segment to the utter chaos that is the GOP and their ongoing and increasingly messy search for a new House Speaker. While it took nine days and a secret ballot vote for House Republicans to declare Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) their choice to replace the recently ousted Kevin McCarthy, that decision flew directly in the face of Trump, who heartily endorsed Jordan for the gigand Meyers thinks he knows why. In the past, Trump has praised Jordan for the weirdest reasons, Meyers explained. Case in point: Jordans disdain for suit jacketsa seemingly random sartorial choice that Trump is reading a lot into. Way back in February 2020, when Trump was still actually president, he shared that When I first got to know Jim I said, Huh. Never wears a jacket! What the hells going on? Rather than hold that choice against the congressman, the then-POTUS instead decided that Jordans tendency to treat every day like its Casual Friday must be because hes proud of his body. I know everybody stopped caring about hypocrisy years ago, Meyers said, after being briefly stunned into silence by Trumps hot bod hot take. But just imagine how conservatives would react if Joe Biden was out on the stump talking about the body-positivity of the men in the Democratic party. Ill tell you, our caucus right now is just one Gosling after another. Ultimately, none of it seems to really matter. Despite Trumps blessing, Jordans fellow Republicans selected Scalise as their next leader who promptly dropped out of contention for the role. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. CANNES Germanys Story House Pictures, producer of the Beta Film/RTL mega-hit Sisi, sold to 120 territories, has optioned what looks like one of the biggest and most ambitious projects coming onto the market at this years Mipcom: The Book of Longing, a six-part English-language series with an international cast based on the international bestseller of the same name by Sue Monk Kidd . The novel has been translated in 17 languages and will be the third adaption of one of Kidds bestselling works. Her 2001-novel The Secret Life of Bees sold 8 million copies and was turned into a major award-winning motion picture starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning , and Jennifer Hudson. More from Variety Andreas Gutzeit, co-founder of Story House Pictures, the international studio of the Bavaria Film Group, and producer and showrunner on Sisi, will serve as showrunner leading an international writers room. Now in development, The Book of Longings is set in 20 A.D. in Galilee, an official Roman province for the last 25 years: Ana is the daughter of a high-ranking Jewish scribe at the court of the Rome-appointed Herod Antipas , her fathers profession and influence of her aunt instilling in her a deep love of words and a daring spirit. Refusing marriage arranged by her father to an old landowner, she incurs the wrath of Herod, but is saved by an enigmatic stranger. They form an instant connection unlike anything the young woman has ever known. His name is Jesus of Nazareth. The Book of Longings is inspired by arguably one of the best-known stories and biggest IPs ever. Yet it delivers a take which most people would never have imagined. That take is grounded, however, on double historical deduction, Gutzeit argued. Jesus was Jewish. In order to be a Jewish man, [at that time] you had to take a wife. That is the essential argument that many historians make today of Jesus, the historical figure, said Gutzeit. At the time of Jesus execution, there were a dozen of other messiahs active in Judea. What marked Jesus apart was that he did not say: Im coming to save the Jews from the Romans, but rather Im coming to teach you about love. It is perfectly fine for writers in our industry to assume that love is something that you experience,Gutzeit observed. He said he is excited by the story of Jesus so-called lost years being told from the point of view of a woman, Ana. What particularly excited him is that the story turns on values which resonate down to this day. Ana lives in a palace, has access to a library, has things that are impossible for almost any other Jew in Judea. She loses everything. Her journey teaches her that these material riches are not important. The ideas that she develops throughout her journey are the same that are important to be communicate today: Brotherly love; compassion; an understanding of different perspectives and poverty. They are at the core of any religion, are basic values that we share as humans, Gutzeit added. At Mipcom, Gutzeit will engage in talks with potential co-production partners. The Book of Longings has a bible that breaks down a first season and the beginnings of a script, both his work and that of Swantje Oppermann, a staff writer on Dignity and a Story House development executive, who will potentially join the project. He hoped that the international writers room will include writers with a deep understanding of Jewish history, potentially from Israel. Were telling a Jewish story before this becomes one of Christianity. Casting will be authentic: Its not going to be one of those old sandal flics with white American stars. That would just not be timely, not in the 21st century. Locations used could be in Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan or Southern Spain. This is a story where two people realize what is wrong, what is right, how love can save people and thats the heart of it. And theyve experienced exactly that, Gutzeit concluded. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. There are still some people that have their own agendas, and I was very clear we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs," said the Louisiana Republican Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise withdrew himself from consideration for the House speakership on Thursday evening. The congressman announced his decision after a growing group of Republican House members made clear they would not help elect Scalise, eliminating his path to victory. Scalises removal from the ballot follows the recent historic ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was recalled from the nation's third-highest post on Oct. 3. A GOP conference vote to nominate a new House speaker candidate on Wednesday narrowly favored Scalise 113-99 over Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. But to formally be elected as speaker, a nominee must secure a majority of votes during the formal election that meant Scalise would need 217 votes, if everyone in the House participates. Mark Wilson / Getty Images Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks during news conference at the U.S. Capitol on February 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Related: Kevin McCarthy Ousted as House Speaker in Unprecedented Recall Vote Scalises attempts to recruit those who voted for Jordan were made in a private closed-door conference where he tried to sway the opposers to his side, reports CNBC, but efforts were unsuccessful. Anna Moneymaker/Getty The Washington Post also reported that Jordan remained silent during the closed-door conference on Thursday. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Representative Jim Jordan, during a hearing on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Related: House Names Temporary Speaker Pro Tempore After Kevin McCarthy's Historic Ousting As a result of Scalises withdrawal, the House Republicans are set to meet to discuss the next steps on Friday morning at 10 a.m., reports NBC News. If you look at where our conference is theres still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together and is not there, Scalise added, per CNN. There are still some people that have their own agendas, and I was very clear we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. As the House of Representatives remains in limbo with a looming government shutdown, the congressman noted how vital it is for the representatives to fill the position. This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a speaker and we need to open up the House again, but clearly not everybody is there, and theres still schisms that have to get resolved, said Scalise, CNN reported. Ahead of Scalises withdrawal, his opponent, Rep. Jordan, shared he would be voting for the Louisiana representative due to the legislative branchs necessity to return to a functioning House of Representatives, according to CNBC. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In addition to Jordan voicing concerns about the current state of uncertainty, former Speaker McCarthy said, I just think the conference as a whole has to figure out their problem, solve it, and select their leader, reports CNN. Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Representative Patrick McHenry during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. However, ahead of the vote between Scalise and Jordan, the Republican representatives were considering granting additional privileges to McCarthys current replacement, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who is serving as temporary Speaker Pro Tempore, according to CNN sources. They shared with The Washington Post that many Republicans are considering Jordan as the next option for the speakership, which could be decided in a vote during the Friday morning conference. Scalise has no plans to endorse another speaker candidate at this time, reports Axios. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Tom Skilling , the longtime WGN-TV chief meteorologist, announced his retirement Thursday during the evening news. An always sunny presence, whatever the weather in Chicago, Skilling delivered a stormy fall forecast and then hit loyal viewers with the news that hes reaching the end of a prodigious weathercasting career. Ive watched people do this before and theres no formula for this, Skilling said. Im going to retire at the end of February, after a marvelous 45 years at this incredible television station. Skilling, 71, who started at WGN-Ch. 9 on Aug. 13, 1978, has been a familiar and congenial presence on the Chicago airwaves for decades, expertly and calmly navigating the citys often unpredictable weather situations for generations of TV viewers. On Thursday, he discussed the decision with a montage of clips tracing his career in the background, from a fresh-faced and hirsute rookie weatherman delivering a forecast in a Channel 9 blazer to a beloved personality hamming it up with Bozo, the stations longtime star clown. Its been a great career, Skilling said. An expert meteorologist, Skilling brought both authority and amiability to his forecasts, explaining the science behind the weather with graphics, details and a genuine enthusiasm. After a Skilling forecast, viewers not only knew when they needed a raincoat, but why. There was a time when weather forecasting was seen as a not-serious profession, WGN-TV News Director Dominick Stasi said in a news release. But Tom has taken it to a much higher level. He carefully explains complex meteorological concepts in laymans terms, supported by graphics often featuring isobars and upper-airs charts. Nobody was doing that when he started. An Aurora native, Skilling started his broadcasting career as a 14-year-old high school student at WKKD Radio in his hometown. He studied meteorology and journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while continuing to work in radio and television. After stops in Madison and Milwaukee, where he was a meteorologist at WITI-TV, he landed at WGN, where Skilling became synonymous with Chicago weather for more than four decades. Over the years, he has covered every major weather event to hit the Chicago area, from the 1990 Plainfield tornado to the Groundhog Day blizzard of 2011. Skilling also went on location to distant climes such as Alaska, Las Vegas and an icebreaking ship in Lake Huron. He even outran a tornado in Oklahoma. You name it, hes covered it, Stasi said. In addition to his TV duties, Skilling hosted nearly 40 years of severe weather seminars at Fermilab in Batavia. Skilling also became a fixture on the Chicago Tribunes weather page in 1997, explaining daily forecasts to readers for more than 25 years. Tom Skilling is a Chicago institution, Paul Rennie, WGN-TV vice president and general manager, said in the news release. There isnt another meteorologist in the history of the city, or the country for that matter, who has been more impactful doing what he does. Thanking viewers and colleagues on Thursdays broadcast, Skilling said knowing when to retire was among the toughest decisions he had to make. Thursday, however, was far from his last forecast on WGN he will be on the air through much of the long Chicago winter until the end of February, giving him and viewers the opportunity for a very long goodbye. Come March, Skilling will join the ranks of notable former Chicago TV weathercasters such as Harry Volkman, Jim Tilmon and John Coleman. For many viewers, Skilling will be at the top of that list. Skilling said he wants to do some traveling and he plans to remain in Chicago after retirement. Beyond that, his future remains up in the air. I dont know what Im going to be doing when I get done with this except I wont have deadlines, Skilling said. rchannick@chicagotribune.com Last-Podcast-on-the-Left-Kissel - Credit: Photo illustration by Matthew Cooley. When Sara Benincasa first met Ben Kissel in 2010, she was smitten with him almost immediately. Tall and handsome with boyish features, a six-foot-seven-inch frame, and an aw-shucks Midwestern mien, Kissel was working as a stand-up comic in New York City, just like she was at the time; they both spent a lot of time at the Creek and the Cave, a now-defunct comedy club in Queens. She found him charming and funny, with a quick wit and a willingness to say anything to get a laugh, an edgelord sensibility that was trendy on the comedy scene at the time. Comedians love to heighten, to take the piss out of each other by trying to go farther and farther, she says. And he was somebody who really could do that. Benincasa and Kissel started dating in late 2011, though she says they were seeing other people throughout, as Kissel did not want to be monogamous. We were in what would be characterized now as a situationship, she says. More from Rolling Stone It was, she says, understood that they were both seeing other people. So when Kissel asked her, one rainy night that winter, if she had slept with somebody else, she answered honestly in the affirmative, naming someone who was also on the New York City comedy scene. She was shocked, she says, when Kissel, whom she alleges had been drinking heavily throughout the evening, became irate. As Kissel got angrier and angrier, and drunker and drunker, Benincasa says, she tried to figure out what to do. She tried calming him down, ushering him to go to bed. But he was still furious, she says. [I said], Those are the rules you set. I dont understand why youre so mad, she says. And he said, Well, never do that again. Thats when, Benincasa alleges, Kissel slapped her across the face. Its weird that I dont remember it hurting, because I think it must have hurt, she says. But I remember freezing, and inside my head, thinking, That just happened. And it could get worse. You need to get out of here. Benincasa tried to get out of bed, she says, but Kissel pulled me back in firmly and said, No, stay here, she says. She tried to get up again, and she alleges he pulled her back down. I said You hit me, she says. And he said, No, I didnt, and passed out. She recalls feeling trapped by the weight of his frame. (Kissel denies ever slapping Benincasa.) So she made a decision: She was going to stay as still as she could and wait it out until morning. I tried not to take deep belly breaths, because I didnt want him to feel the movement with his arm. Because it seemed like the thing that triggered him to wake up was me moving, she says. I remember watching the darkness turn to that sort of blue light of New York morning after the rain. The next morning, Benincasa says, she tried to broach the subject with Kissel again. I said, You hit me last night. And he said, No, I didnt. I said, Yes, you did. You slapped me across the face, she recalls. [And] he looked at me and kind of patted me on the head, like a little kid. And he said, Well, Im very sorry if that happened, but it didnt. And then we probably went and got food or something. Benincasa continued to casually date Kissel for a few months, breaking up in the spring of 2012, and they occasionally hooked up for a few years afterward. Throughout that time, she told herself a lot of stories about what had happened: that Kissel was drunk, that he truly may not have remembered allegedly hitting her, that it wouldnt happen again. (She says it did not, and that was the sole alleged instance of him hitting her.) She was also struggling with alcohol abuse herself at the time. I would pretend it didnt happen for quite a long time, she says. If the feelings got so bad and started coming up, so that I couldnt ignore them, I would find a reason to go to a party, go out to drink. Benincasa told a few people in her circle about the incident: two close friends a few months after she and Kissel stopped seeing each other, and a former member of the New York City comedy scene in 2017, all three of whom confirmed details of their conversations with her with Rolling Stone. She also referred to it multiple times, without naming Kissel, once in 2014 for a Glamour interview and once in a chapter of her 2016 book, Real Artists Have Day Jobs. It was a trauma, she wrote in the chapter, and I do myself and my reader no good service by pretending otherwise. For years afterward, she says, she had nightmares and flashbacks about that night. But she told herself that what happened with Kissel was an isolated incident. They remained cordial over the years, even friendly, occasionally emailing about various job opportunities. (A person familiar with the situation says that Kissel and Benincasa continued to socialize as friends and colleagues after their breakup.) I so desperately wanted to live in a world where it had been my fault, and it was over and he never did that to anybody else, she says. That was the fairy tale I had told myself for a long time. FOR THE PAST DECADE, Kissel has been best known as part of the enormously successful true-crime/comedy podcast Last Podcast on the Left. Co-hosted by Kissel, Henry Zebrowski, and Marcus Parks, it fused together raunchy humor and grisly recountings of stories like the Ted Bundy case and the Jonestown Massacre, showcasing compelling if dark stories alongside the palpable chemistry of the trio, making listeners feel like they were having a weekly conversation with their closest friends. It struck a chord with fans it has more than a billion listens and has expanded to an entire network, with 14 shows under the LPOTL umbrella, spawning numerous fan communities on Reddit and Facebook with tens of thousands of members. On the podcast, Kissel played something of a lovable Everyman role, seemingly coming to stories with less information than his co-hosts, thereby serving as a stand-in for the listener. Among the diehard fans of LPOTL, Kissel was considered something of an unlikely sex symbol. Though he was not necessarily the funniest or best-informed of the hosts, his teddy-bear persona endeared him to listeners, particularly female fans. So many women were trying to get his attention and constantly DMing him, says Taylor Moon, an adult content creator who had a long-distance relationship with Kissel from the spring of 2022 to July 2023. Its evident all over his social media. If you scroll through Instagram, there are hundreds of girls comments. In late August 2023, shortly after Moon and Kissel broke up, Moon published a post on her Instagram alluding to their split, writing, Youll never get to drunkenly pin me to the bed and call me a pathetic fucking loser or stupid fucking bitch ever again. Though she did not explicitly name Kissel, LPOTL fans, well-versed in the art of solving mysteries, figured out who she was referring to, prompting intense speculation within the LPOTL fan community. Moon later described her allegation in further detail in a September livestream of the Friends With Davey podcast, hosted by her friend, comedian Davey Jackson. Since Moon went public, Rolling Stone has spoken to three other women, including Benincasa, who have come forward with their own allegations against Kissel, ranging from inappropriate behavior to physical abuse. Ben Kissel performing at the 2017 Outside Lands Music And Arts Festival in San Francisco, California. Initially, Moons allegations led to the LPOTL team saying in a Sept. 13 episode that Kissel would be going into treatment for his mental health and physical health, assuring listeners that Kissel will be back. Weeks later, LPOTL reversed course, saying in an Oct. 5 Instagram post that Kissel would be leaving the network. Many fans in the LPOTL community were confused by this about-face, wondering if the allegations against Kissel were true, or if there were any others the network was not addressing. According to the four women who spoke with Rolling Stone, as well as nine other people close to the New York City comedy community and the Last Podcast network, Kissels issues with alcohol have long been a topic of discussion among those in his social circle, and may have played a role in his alleged misconduct. Kissel denies all of the allegations of physical abuse and inappropriate conduct against him, particularly those leveled by Moon. I had a long-distance relationship with Taylor [Moon] over the course of about 15 months. We never lived together. Our connection mostly consisted of text messages and phone calls followed by brief in-person visits, all of which were marred by frequent arguments instigated by Taylor, which is why I ultimately chose to end the relationship, he said in a statement sent to Rolling Stone. While the unhealthy nature of our relationship took a toll on my mental wellbeing, I want to make it clear that I have never been physically or verbally abusive with Taylor or any other woman in my life. (Kissels statement is reprinted in full at the end of this story.) Though Kissel could also be, according to Benincasa, loving, cuddly, affectionate, and funny, that changed when he was drinking, according to four sources formerly associated with the Creek and the Cave, the comedy club where LPOTL got its start. These individuals say that Kissel was well-known for being angry, aggressive toward women, and occasionally violent when drunk, at one point in 2015 getting thrown out for hurling a bottle, according to one source. (A person familiar with the situation refutes this, saying Kissel was never expelled from the Creek and the Cave on any occasion.) It was common for people at the club to be like, When Ben is drinking, stay away from him, says another source, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of professional reprisal. Rolling Stone has found that reports of Kissels alleged drunken and combative behavior go back more than a decade, to the point of it being an open secret within the podcast and comedy communities. Mackenzie Joy Brennan, an attorney and former occasional contributor to the SPUN podcast on the Last Podcast network, says he was known for going on frequent benders and she often saw him exhibiting very angry, very mean behavior on the turn of a dime, both toward herself and Kissels former girlfriend, who did not return a request for comment. There was this level of anger that would come out, just this blank look, dead in the face, of hatred when he got angry, Brennan says. At that point I was like, I dont want to spend time with him. A person close to the situation denies that Kissel, who is currently in rehab, ever went on benders or experienced blackouts while drinking. In a statement, Kissel conceded, however, he often used alcohol to self-medicate, which contributed to him entering unhealthy relationships. Through weeks of intense therapy at an in-patient facility I have realized that I use alcohol as a way to try to cope with childhood trauma, he says in a statement to Rolling Stone. A former Last Podcast network contributor refers to Kissel as the missing stair in the true-crime podcast community. Perhaps more to the point, the allegations against Kissel have raised lingering questions about how much other members of the comedy and podcast scenes were aware of his alleged behavior, particularly his co-hosts and network co-owners. Brennan refers to Kissel as the missing stair in the true-crime podcast community one dangerous person that everyone on the inside just knows is dangerous, covertly warns their own about or knows to avoid, but never fixes. Multiple sources close to Kissel and the network have alleged that Zebrowski and Parks were well aware of Kissels struggles with alcohol abuse, and have questioned why they did not intervene prior to Moon coming forward with her allegations. They should just say they fucked up and theyre sorry, they didnt know what to do, says one source close to the New York comedy community. They have a sick friend, [who] needs a lot of fucking help. (A source close to the Last Podcast network says that Zebrowski and Parks did make attempts to help Kissel get treatment, saying Kissels alcohol use was addressed on several different occasions.) Additionally, one source close to the New York City comedy community tells Rolling Stone that Benincasa and another female comics allegations of forceful conduct by Kissel were also well-known within the community, particularly at the Creek and the Cave, as early as 2015. Its common knowledge, the source says. Has been for years. LAST PODCAST ON THE LEFT emerged from the New York City comedy scene in 2011, with the trio recording and hosting live shows at the Creek and the Cave. From its beginnings, LPOTL has become one of the most successful true-crime podcasts in history; within the past year, it has been ranked one of the top all-time podcasts on Spotify in the U.S., according to Chartable, as well as at Number 13 on Apples top podcast charts in America. I think they were right place, right time, says Brennan, the former contributor to the LPOTL podcast network. Podcasting had just become a thing but not an oversaturated market yet, and it just kind of worked. Fans of the show admired how deftly it balanced outrageous comedy with nitty-gritty true-crime details while still centering victims perspectives, something of a rarity in the true-crime podcast world. One of these fans was Amber Rose, a filmmaker and true-crime buff who was then pursuing a degree in forensic psychology and started listening to the show in 2015. There are some podcasts where the hosts are all men, and they make a lot of jokes at the expense of women and fans and queer and trans people who have gone through horrible things, she says. LPOTL didnt feel like they were making fun of the victims. They were making fun of the perpetrators. In 2017, Rose says, she met Ben Kissel in Los Angeles at the El Rey Theater, where he was judging a Halloween costume contest. She had dressed as Jeffrey Dahmer (a costume choice she now regrets), and though she did not win the contest, she claims that afterward, he whispered, you had my vote into her ear. It was then, she says, that he came in for a kiss: I wasnt expecting it and I moved a bit, because I didnt want to be kissed on the lips. And it ended up being kind of, a little bit on my lips and on my face, she says. It was just a very strange situation. The second time she met Kissel, Rose alleges, she was looking for apartments while visiting her now-ex boyfriend in Milwaukee and decided to go to a Last Podcast network show, followed by a screening for Kissels 2019 film documenting his failed run for Brooklyn Borough President, Hail Yourself, America! They attended an afterparty at a bar, where Rose alleges a LPOTL fan grabbed her breasts without consent in full view of Kissel, prompting Kissel to berate the fan and speak on Roses defense. The next day, Rose says, she ran into Kissel at a bar in the Milwaukee airport, where he appeared to be noticeably drunk. The conversation was polite, she says, until his mood shifted, and he made a comment alluding to the incident the night before: He basically was like, It sucks that I cant just grab your breasts like that, she says. Shortly afterward, she says, he got up to leave for his flight, hugging her and kissing [her] very sloppily on the mouth. I felt like Id been manipulated. I felt violated kind of on two fronts, she says, referring to her interaction with Kissel at the airport and her encounter with the fan the night before. Rose and Kissel exchanged a few short texts shortly thereafter, with Rose offering to talk to him if he was struggling because, she says, she felt bad for him. In my interactions with him, it was pretty clear that he had problems with alcohol, she says. A close family member confirmed to Rolling Stone that Rose had told them about both incidents, shortly after each happened. A person close to the situation says Kissel never kissed Rose, characterizing her as an infatuated fan who attempted to seduce him. This person also denied that Kissel was ever inebriated at the Milwaukee airport. Though she did not directly witness the incident with Rose, Kissels former roommate, Jazzy, who requested that her last name be withheld, and who has spent time with Kissel and members of the Last Podcast network, says she has never seen Kissel be inappropriate with a female fan. Moon, Kissels ex, also first encountered Kissel in early 2022 as a fan, attending an LPOTL live show in her home state. (Moon requested that Rolling Stone withhold her location to protect her privacy.) She posted a photo on her Instagram Stories of herself getting ready for the show, tagging the hosts; a month later, she says, Kissel DMed her out of the blue. For three months, she says, they had an extended long-distance flirtation, chatting late at night over the phone and via text. In August, she went to Las Vegas with Kissel and the LPOTL hosts for one of their tours, along with Zebrowskis wife, Natalie Jean, who also hosts a podcast on the network, Spun. According to Moon, Kissel had been drinking heavily that evening. He was on a bender, she says. (A source close to the Last Podcast network says that Zebrowski and Jean knew Kissel was heavily drinking, but Henry did not know to what extent, and that they left the other couple early in the evening to go to a concert.) When Kissel told Moon he wanted to continue barhopping, Moon recalls, she said she was going to bed. Late at night, she alleges, he walked into the room drunk, prompting a verbal argument. At one point, she alleges, Kissel got on top of her and pinned [her] down on the bed. He pressed his forehead into mine and pinned me down on the mattress, she says. And I told him that he was hurting me. (Kissel denies this.) The next day, Moon told Jean about details of the alleged confrontation, including that he had been drunk and verbally abusive, according to text messages shared with Rolling Stone. Jean, she says, was irate, saying she was going to get Kissel removed from the network. (A source close to the Last Podcast network denies this, saying, Natalie doesnt have the power to take Ben off the network.) For this reason, Moon says, she did not tell Jean that Kissel had been allegedly physically abusive toward her in the hotel room, though she did tell a friend a few months afterward, who confirmed the conversation to Rolling Stone. According to Moon, and according to a source close to the Last Podcast network, Jean and Zebrowski stood in line with Moon to get her a separate hotel room from Kissel for the following night. But all rooms were booked, and Kissel ended up booking a room at a neighboring hotel, Circus Circus, instead. The next day, Moon and Kissel texted about the incident. You were so abusive to me when youre drunk, Moon texted Kissel on Aug. 21. Im not, Kissel responded, adding that he was trying to avoid confrontation. Moon does not reference the alleged physical abuse in these texts, because, she says, she was scared of how angry he would get: I was having a hard time just for him to admit he was calling me names. Kissel denies that he was physically or verbally abusive toward Moon, and Jazzy says that she has never seen Kissel berate or yell at Moon, saying he was always trying to diffuse the situation and characterizing the relationship as rocky and toxic. Kissel referenced the incident to her once, and while he did not go into details, he seemed shook by what had happened in the hotel room, as well as a little scared of Moon, Jazzy says. LPOTL didnt feel like they were making fun of the victims. They were making fun of the perpetrators. On Aug. 22, Moon says, she met Kissel at the hotel lobby, and they rode up the escalator together back to the room. While they were on the escalator, she says, he told her he loved her for the first time, and that, like this escalator, our relationship can only go up from here. After that, she says, he acted like nothing had ever happened. Moon continued to date Kissel for another year. The relationship ultimately ended in July. Moon says it was mutual; Jazzy says Kissel ended things with her. About a month later, Moon posted her Instagram reel, prompting fans to start harassing her. I start getting reports and my Instagram account is deleted, she says. Moon alleges that her Instagram was deleted twice due to LPOTL fans brigading, a harassment tactic trolls use to mass-report peoples social media accounts and get them removed. People are bragging on Facebook and Reddit, calling me a clout goblin, she says. The allegations prompted an immediate divide within the LPOTL fan community, with some questioning why the LPOTL team did not immediately respond to Moons allegations, or immediately issue a statement condemning fan harassment. (The team did ultimately post such a statement on Instagram Stories discouraging fans from harassing Moon, though the post did not name her or address her allegations in any detail.) Finally, in an Oct. 5 Instagram post, LPOTL announced that Kissel would be leaving the show. We know how much our fans care for this show and how much it means to them, the post read. Thats why we promise that we will still produce and perform these shows at the level youve come to expect, with the sensitivity these stories deserve. The post came as a tremendous shock not just to fans, but to Kissel himself, according to Jazzy, Kissels roommate. Jazzy tells Rolling Stone that after Moon initially came forward, Kissel told Jazzy he had made an agreement with his co-hosts to go to rehab for 30 days and then return to the podcast. Jazzy says that according to her conversations with Kissel, his co-hosts had not expressed concerns about his alcohol use prior to Moons allegations, with him characterizing it as a surprise that there were all these thoughts that were happening, she says. The Oct. 5 statement saying he would not return to the podcast has left Kissel feeling slighted, she says: He really feels lost. Nobody has reached out to check up on him, nothing. A source close to the Last Podcast network insists that Parks and Zebrowski made attempts to discuss Kissels drinking with him, and tried to intervene to get him help on numerous occasions. The source tells Rolling Stone, Bens substance issues were addressed on several different occasions over a seven-year period it had come to the point where the working relationship was tarnished. The source also tells Rolling Stone that weeks before Bens departure was announced, Marcus and Henry had a lengthy discussion with Ben about the future of the show and the need to go their separate ways. Now that Kissel has been formally dismissed from the show, lingering questions remain about how much his LPOTL co-hosts knew about his issues with aggression and alcohol abuse. Brennan alleges that Kissels LPOTL co-hosts were well aware of his issues with substance abuse, categorizing their attitude toward him as one of willful blindness. It was an open secret and kind of a joke, she says. Benincasa says theres absolutely no way that Zebrowski and Parks were unaware of Kissels drinking. We all [knew]. It was happening in front of us all the time, she adds. Marcus Parks, Ben Kissel, and Henry Zebrowski (from left) at the 21st Annual Webby Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in 2017. A source close to the Last Podcast network disputes this characterization, saying: No one adopted a willful blindness to Bens drinking, nor was it denied or hidden it was openly spoken about on the podcast. Ben never showed up to work intoxicated and he never missed a live show while on tour. Text messages shared with Rolling Stone between Brennan and Jean, the host of the Last Podcast network podcast SPUN and wife of LPOTL cohost Henry Zebrowski, appear to indicate that, at the very least, his alcohol abuse and alleged belligerent behavior had been a topic of discussion for some time. In the texts, dated from Sept. 15, 2023, Jean says Zabroski has been a victim of Bens selfishness for a long time now, framing his stint in rehab as a move that was being discussed for a long time and are giving him an ultimatum to fix this or hes out. In additional text messages shared with Rolling Stone dated Sept. 16, Jean also recounts witnessing the aftermath of the alleged incident in Las Vegas, saying that while she did not know Kissel had been allegedly physically abusive, what he did was sick and I stopped considering him my friend after that night. According to Brennan, she and Jean got into an argument over text after Brennan made a supportive comment on Moons livestream. After Jean suggested that Brennan take a break from the podcast and wrote that she was extremely uncomfortable to have you on my show while youre interacting with strangers, Brennan told Jean she would no longer be doing the show until/unless there were a little more values-alignment reflected. The text exchange prompted Brennan to post a video on Instagram supporting Moon and stating she would be parting ways with SPUN. Brennan tells Rolling Stone she was blindsided by Jeans response, and is coming forward because, she says, I have nothing left to lose. She found it particularly galling in light of Jeans podcasts focus on victims rights. I feel like theyre ill-equipped to handle the subjects that they do, she says of the Last Podcast network. Saying that you support the victim of the person that you elevated, and then being silent behind the scene [I] dont know. It just bothers me. Through a representative for the Last Podcast Network, Jean did not respond to any of Rolling Stones questions about the contents of her texts. But in a Sept. 22 video on SPUNs Instagram, she denied firing Brennan due to her support for Moon, saying, I as a human being would never in a million years, ever, suppress or hide or silence or threaten or menace somebody from telling their story, ever. Jean also urged her audience not to harass Moon, saying, I believe Taylor. I hurt with Taylor. Although Jean may not have been aware of allegations of physical abuse against Kissel, Rolling Stone has found that whispers of misconduct were well-known on the comedy scene for almost a decade prior to Moon coming forward. Three people close to the Creek and the Cave, the club where LPOTL got its start, allege that Rebecca Trent, the owner of the club which currently only operates a location in Austin, Texas specifically warned them about Kissels behavior toward women on two separate occasions in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, according to a source close to the Creek and the Cave, Trent became aware of a specific allegation that Kissel had been forceful with a female comic. (The comic in question did not respond to a request for comment.) [She] confided in me that, Fuck, this show is blowing up, [and] I might have to kick him out, the source says. A source close to the Last Podcast Network says that Zebrowski and Parks were never made aware of this allegation, and that Trent had never discussed it with them. In response to a request for comment, Trent told Rolling Stone via email, I have not thought about or seen Ben Kissel since before 2016. I think I speak for most of us when I say we thought he would have died in a fire by now. Life is full of disappointments. IN ADDITION TO RAISING QUESTIONS about how much the Last Podcast network knew about Kissels alleged behavior prior to Moon coming forward, the allegations have also prompted discussion as to whether the true-crime podcast community in general, including both fans and creators, is as supportive of victims as they claim. Though the true-crime community has been accused of exploiting victims, defenders say the genre provides a service by telling survivors stories and raising awareness of violence against women in particular. The shaming of Moon within the LPOTL fan base, combined with what some fans perceive as the podcasts failure to quickly respond to her allegations, appears to contradict that. If people want to advocate and tell victims and survivors stories, they have the right to do so, says Celene Beth Olsen, a true-crime documentarian and former podcaster. Olsen came forward in a July 2022 Instagram post with her own allegations that Kissel had behaved inappropriately by accompanying her uninvited and block[ing] her in the bathroom of her hotel room at the Watergate in November 2019, at the Death Becomes Us festival. (A person close to the situation denies this.) But there really is a code of ethics that comes into play. In response to specific questions about LPOTLs fan base, and its reaction to the allegations against Kissel, the Last Podcast network denied that its community is toxic: With over a billion listens in 12 years, it would be impossible to have a fan base that is completely pure, especially considering the inherent vitriolic nature of social media itself, the statement says. We do not take abuse, harassment, or any other kind of bad behavior lightly and we address these issues when they come to our attention. But the ongoing fan harassment makes me scared, says Moon, who says that it is still happening on her social channels. It makes me wonder: Why are they listening to this horribly gory show? Do they like to hear for the justice of the victims? Or because they want to hear a woman get ripped apart to shreds? Sara Benincasa is also terrified of harassment from fans as a result of coming forward. Her life has changed exponentially since the end of her relationship with Kissel: She long ago moved out of New York City, and has been sober for about five years. Recently, after years of experiencing nightmares, panic attacks, and a fear of the dark, she was diagnosed with PTSD, which she attributes largely to the alleged incident with Kissel. (This diagnosis was confirmed to Rolling Stone by Benincasas psychiatrist.) When Benincasa first heard about the allegations against Kissel, she was reluctant to speak out. What prompted her to do so, she says, was the thought that the Last Podcast team or Kissel would try to spin Moons allegations against him as an aberration, or as a relatively recent development. My experience, which I had really hoped was isolated and had blamed on myself for many, many years, clearly was not an isolated incident, she says. As someone who has been through a 12-step program herself, she has sympathy for what Kissel is likely going through right now. But that sympathy is intermingled with fury, and heartbreak, and perhaps above all else, disappointment. I wanted this person to get better, she says. [I] have to acknowledge that I had hopes and dreams for this person who hurt me. And they didnt come to fruition. Because my biggest hope for Ben would have been that he dealt with some of the things that hurt him. The fact that he didnt, she says, and allegedly went on to mistreat other women, made Sara very angry, she says. And very sad. Ben Kissels statement: Through weeks of intense therapy at an in-patient facility I have realized that I use alcohol as a way to try to cope with childhood trauma. In addition, I tend to gravitate towards relationships with other trauma survivors, which, of course, can make for a toxic combination. I had a long-distance relationship with Taylor [Moon] over the course of about 15 months. We never lived together. Our connection mostly consisted of text messages and phone calls followed by brief in-person visits, all of which were marred by frequent arguments instigated by Taylor which is why I ultimately chose to end the relationship on July 22nd. While the unhealthy nature of our relationship took a toll on my mental wellbeing, I want to make it clear that I have never been physically or verbally abusive with Taylor or any other woman in my life. Thank you all so much for your support during this turbulent time as I focus on and prioritize my mental health. As fans who have listened to me over the years know, I encourage everyone to spread love even in the midst of adversity. Update Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, 1:07 p.m. The description of the texts between Brennan and Jean have been updated to more accurately reflect the circumstances of Brennans departure from SPUN. Correction Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, 1:19 p.m. An earlier version of this story said Kissels film was released in 2017. It was released in 2019. Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. As an award-winning choral conductor, Julie Yu is used to commanding attention from performers and audiences alike when she takes the podium. As an Asian-American woman conductor, she also knows that it's not just her skill with the baton that ensures that all eyes are on her during performances. "If there was something that I could choose to imprint or make any kind of difference on in the future, it would be that some ... person looks up on stage and goes, 'Hmm, I've ever seen a person that looks like her, or conducts like her or is like that on stage' and that brings out a unique sense of how they feel about what they're experiencing," Yu said. "Every time I do an honor choir 200, 300 kids at some state that I've never been to I have kids always come up and say, 'I've never worked with XYZ conductors. You're the very first THIS that I've ever seen,' or things like that. ... So, representation absolutely matters." A rarity herself in the choral music world, Yu accepted a rare opportunity earlier this year to return to Oklahoma in the dual role of director of choral activities at the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University and artistic director of Canterbury Voices, the state's nationally recognized symphony chorus. Canterbury Voices' members rehearse with new conductor and artistic director, Julie Yu on Oct. 2, 2023 in Oklahoma City, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman] New Canterbury Voices artistic director returns to Sooner State after 16 years at Kansas State Yu succeeds Randi Von Ellefson, who retired in May after 19 seasons of leading Canterbury Voices and OCU's choir program. "It's important to really have different types of people representing your organization. We did have a female conductor earlier on before Randi, Constantina Tsolainoui she was fun and was here for a few years and we're just so excited to have Julie here and switch things up," said Canterbury Voices Executive Director Pam Mowry. "The search committee, the deans, our board, we all feel like rock stars for having brought her here because she really is that well known in the United States. ... We had so many people who auditioned this year just because Julie is our new artistic director. So, I think that speaks volumes: We had record numbers for auditions." A graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, Yu is taking on the dual OKC role after 16 years of co-directing Kansas State Universitys choral studies program with her husband, Joshua Oppenheim, who is now leading the KSU choirs as the sole director. "There's not a lot of us who have this opportunity to get to work with a group like Canterbury, so for me, it was like a true once-in-a-lifetime experience," Yu said. Canterbury Voices' members rehearse with new conductor and artistic director, Julie Yu on Oct. 2, 2023 in Oklahoma City, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman] Ahead of her debut three-concert season with Canterbury Voices it will launch Oct. 22 at the Civic Center with a program titled "Modern Masters," featuring selections composed by Leonard Berstein, Ralph Vaughan Williams, R. Nathaniel Dett and Ariel Ramirez Yu talked with The Oklahoman about her new gig: Q: Can you talk about taking on this two-in-one job? Yu: There aren't too many people who get to conduct a symphony chorus and I'm using that term in that it's a large chorus that collaborates with a symphony orchestra where the conductor who helps prepare them for all the concerts also has the opportunity to conduct them in concert. This is one of the few jobs in the country that I'm aware of and maybe even further beyond because usually the symphonic chorus director prepares. And then the symphonic orchestra conductor comes in and does the performance. ... I already knew of Randi Von Ellefson and have known of his wonderful work for so many years. So, I thought, 'Wow, what a gig, to get to do that.' So, I can't believe I'm doing it and especially as a female conductor. I don't know a lot of my colleagues in the choral conducting world who have the opportunity that I do to prepare and perform with the chorus. So, that's really unique, and I count my blessings every day and don't take that for granted. Then, a lot of people do a university job as well. But to have that partnership that's actually linked like it is here ... I think is really, really smart. I don't understand why more organizations don't do that, because then the talents and the resources and just the minds (are) coming together. Canterbury Voices' members rehearse with new conductor and artistic director, Julie Yu on Oct. 2, 2023 in Oklahoma City, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman] Q: So, I take it you're here in Oklahoma now, and your husband is still in Kansas? Yu: Yeah, I'm here with the kid, and my husband's still running the program at Kansas State and thriving. They're doing amazing. ... We met in doctoral school; that was at UNT (University of North Texas) ... and we taught together for 15 years. Then, when this opportunity came open, and I spoke to Pam and and the deans here and things, I thought, 'Oh, I'll give it a look.' You don't have too many opportunities where you and your spouse can be co-directors of anything. In fact, as far as I know, we're the only people in the whole country to do what we did do. Our offices were right next door to each other, and our kid was born in Manhattan, Kansas. So, to come here, I was thinking, 'I don't know that the stars will align for this.' Canterbury Voices' members rehearse with new conductor and artistic director, Julie Yu on Oct. 2, 2023 in Oklahoma City, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman] But then I came for the interview, and it was just too magical. So, I had to have the conversation with the family and say, 'I'd really like to make this work if possible.' My husband being a choral director and being, in my opinion, the best one out there he said, 'Yeah, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; you have to go for it.' Q: Can you talk about how this job is like a homecoming for you? Yu: I lived in Oklahoma when I graduated high school. So, I consider myself an Okie most, but my father was (in the) military, a career Army guy. I was actually born in Korea, and my father and mother are Korean. He was stationed there after he joined the U.S. military so we could all get citizenship. ... I went to OSU for my master's; my undergrad was at UCO go Bronchos. ... Then, I taught at Norman North High School somewhere in the middle there for three years. Canterbury Voices' members rehearse with new conductor and artistic director, Julie Yu on Oct. 2, 2023 in Oklahoma City, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman] Q: Tell me what you had in mind when you programmed your introductory season at Canterbury Voices. Yu: Well, we knew that 'Messiah' was going to happen this year (at Christmastime). So, that was set beautifully. Then, as far as the fall concert went, I personally chose music that I love myself that I couldn't wait to do again with orchestra. So, (Bernstein's) 'Chichester Psalms' was definitely at the top of my list, and then the 'Serenade to Music' (by Vaughan Williams) because it's just such a lovely testament to music and art and how we all create magic. ... One thing that came up a lot in our interview and things like that was just what are my philosophies about where we see Canterbury going in the future. And one of those things was to highlight and celebrate more diversity: I think we want to do that not only within the ensemble ... but a diversity in our audiences and programming and things like that. So, on our first concert, we have four composers who, I think, really honed in on music from their own cultures and their own countries and sought to preserve the music the folk music of their own cultures. ... Then, in the spring, our concert falls on March 14, and that's right around St. Patrick's Day. So, what better thing than to have a Korean-American conductor conduct Irish music? It's very authentic, and I did take Irish dance lessons when I lived in Edmond. So, I feel like I have a little bit of background, and it's going to be fun. Hopefully, it will be like stepping into a pub. CANTERBURY VOICES 2023-2024 SEASON Where: Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker. Information: https://canterburyokc.com. 'Modern Masters': 3 p.m. Oct. 22. 'Handel's Messiah': 7 p.m. Dec. 3. 'For All the Saints (Especially Patrick)': 7:30 p.m. March 14. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Acclaimed Asian-American conductor Julie Yu back in OKC for unique gig Photo taken on Oct. 12, 2023 shows a cell phone screen with TikTok App outside the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in Missoula, Montana, the United States. A court hearing on social networking platform TikTok's lawsuit against the western U.S. state of Montana over the state's ban on the app was held in Missoula, Montana, on Thursday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) MISSOULA, the United States, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A court hearing on social networking platform TikTok's lawsuit against the western U.S. state of Montana over the state's ban on the app was held in Missoula, Montana, on Thursday. The hearing started Thursday morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in Missoula. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy heard arguments filed by TikTok and five Montana content creators against the state's ban. Attorneys for TikTok and the content creators argued that the state has gone "completely overboard" in trying to regulate TikTok and is essentially trying to implement its own foreign policy over unproven concerns. Molloy questioned the state's evidence supporting its national security concerns, and if it should make the decision on whether users share their data with the app. He voiced doubt over Montana's "paternalistic" ban of TikTok during the hearing. Molloy also questioned the attorney representing the state of Montana how the state plans to enforce the law on Native American reservations in Montana where the state does not have criminal jurisdiction. The hearing lasted for about an hour. At the end of the hearing, the judge said he would offer a preliminary resolution on the matter as soon as possible. Attorneys for both sides did not respond to reporters' questions after the hearing. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed an act on May 17 banning the operation of TikTok throughout the state starting Jan. 1, 2024. The act made Montana the first U.S. state to prohibit the use of or access to the social networking platform. To enforce the ban, the legislation imposes a 10,000 U.S. dollars penalty for each "discrete violation," defined as any time an individual in Montana accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok, according to the company. TikTok filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court on May 22, arguing that Montana's ban abridges freedom of speech in violation of the First Amendment, violates the U.S. Constitution in multiple other respects, and is preempted by federal law. Another lawsuit against Montana was filed by five TikTok content creators. The plaintiffs, including businesswomen, a rancher, a student and a veteran, all create, publish, view, interact with and share TikTok videos with "significant audiences." The content creators argued that the ban violates free speech rights and could cause economic harm for their businesses. People enter the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in Missoula, Montana, the United States, on Oct. 12, 2023. A court hearing on social networking platform TikTok's lawsuit against the western U.S. state of Montana over the state's ban on the app was held in Missoula, Montana, on Thursday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) People walk by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in Missoula, Montana, the United States, on Oct. 12, 2023. A court hearing on social networking platform TikTok's lawsuit against the western U.S. state of Montana over the state's ban on the app was held in Missoula, Montana, on Thursday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) Media members wait outside the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in Missoula, Montana, the United States, on Oct. 12, 2023. A court hearing on social networking platform TikTok's lawsuit against the western U.S. state of Montana over the state's ban on the app was held in Missoula, Montana, on Thursday. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) The famed local weatherman, who will turn 72 in February, will appear in his final broadcast on Feb. 28, 2024 Chicago Tribune/Getty WGN-TV chief meteorologist Tom Skilling Tom Skilling, a beloved meteorologist in the Chicago area whos been on the air for more than four decades, has announced his retirement. The 71-year-old weatherman revealed the news of his retirement on Thursdays broadcast of WGN Evening News. His last day on the air will be Feb. 28, 2024. Skilling, who will also turn 72 in February, said the last 45 years on the air have been marvelous. The decision to retire was a difficult one, he added. It was tough, the chief meteorologist said, but it was reached and it just feels right. Related: CBS New York Meteorologist Elise Finch Honored at Celebration of Life Service: 'We All Love You' Skilling has been on WGN-TV in Chicago since August 1978, according to the station. He also hosted severe weather seminars at Fermilab for almost four decades and has led talks about climate change across the United States. In addition to his numerous Emmys from the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Skilling received the Illinois Broadcasters Association Broadcast Pioneer award in 2018. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Related: California Meteorologist Says She's 'Going to Be OK' After Fainting During Live Broadcast During his on-air announcement, Skilling looked back on some of his favorite moments with the station, including chasing tornadoes, dogsledding in Alaska, participating in Chicago Weather Day at Guaranteed Rate Field and much more. Skilling is explaining his decision to retire from his lengthy and illustrious career. We all get to the point where you have to make a decision. Is it time to retire? And its the toughest decision I can tell you about, he said Thursday. Related: Iowa Meteorologist Resigns Due to PTSD from Threats Made Over His Coverage of Climate Change Skilling still plans to stay in Chicago after his retirement but hopes to do some traveling as well. Still, he doesnt plan to go away entirely. I dont know what Im going to be doing when I get done with this, except [I won't] have deadlines! he exclaimed. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. The day after Fox News host Sean Hannity unceremoniously dumped fading GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy following an astonishingly heated exchange, Ramaswamy used that disaster to beg his supporters to give his 2024 campaign money. That so-called interview with Sean Hannity last night was a disaster, the anti-woke billionaire sneered in an Instagram video on Friday. It is the epitome of what the establishment is trying to do. Ramaswamy, who has been a ubiquitous presence on Fox News and other cable networks over the past year, claimed that the clash was proof that they dont want you to hear from me. In his opinion, the reason why the media supposedly wants to silence him is hes speaking the truth about the topics youre not supposed to talk about. Turning to the topic of conversation that sparked the blowup with Hannity on Thursday night, the biotech entrepreneur said a main point of contention was the Super PAC puppet-masters in the Republican Party wielding their puppets. In particular, he took aim at fellow Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Making money off her time in government, he exclaimed. No, I dont think a commander-in-chief of this country should be able to lead the United States if youre in the habit of making money off of your time in public service. I dont care if thats Biden. I dont care if thats a Republican. Thats a basic principle. Claiming hes relying on the grassroots to lift us up, Ramaswamy then made his pitch for campaign cash. Its not even about the money, its about the signal we send, he stated before urging viewers to go to his campaign website. Make sure youre lifting us up. Im counting on you. Maybe its $25, maybe its a dollar, it doesnt matter. Its the signal that we send, and Im counting on you. In what some media observers labeled a masterclass, Hannity relentlessly confronted Ramaswamy over his propensity to deny his own words, repeatedly throwing the candidates quotes back in his face while not letting up on the media-savvy Republican. Ramaswamy, meanwhile, attempted to filibuster and dodge Hannitys questions, only making the Trump-boosting Fox News star increasingly annoyed. Amid the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict, Ramaswamy appeared on former Fox News host Tucker Carlsons podcast this week and claimed that his 2024 GOP rivals were ignoring the interests of the U.S. right here at home by focusing on foreign wars and engaging in selective moral outrage. He also told Carlson that it was shameful that financial and corrupting influences led politicians to express support for these conflicts, including Haley in that group. Youre saying that her concern for Israel is driven by financial and a corrupting influence. And your explanation that there is a disproportionate focus on rape, kidnapping and murder of the Jewish people in this attack and, your quote, That there are, frankly, financial and corrupting influences that lead them exactly to speak the way they do, Hannity said on Thursday night, prompting Ramaswamy to object. Sean, that is a shameful mischaracterization, Ramaswamy said. Hey Vivek, stop right now, Hannity shot back. Ill read the exactyou do this in every single interview: You say stuff and then you deny it. You deny your own words. So, you know, why dont you just own what you say and stand by it and stop playing these games? After several minutes of a heated back and forth, which also featured Ramaswamy trying to take a dig at Fox by complimenting the ousted Carlson, an incensed Hannity eventually dropped Ramaswamy after Ramaswamy finally agreed that Hannity was accurately quoting his words. Thank you. Goodbye, Hannity fumed before taking an inadvertent shot at the ex-president. I think people that never held public office, like you, maybe theyre not qualified to be president. Ramaswamy turning on Fox News (and vice-versa) is a stunning reversal since it was just two months ago when he appeared to be the right-wing networks preferred non-Trump competitor for the GOP nomination. Following Augusts Republican debate, which featured Haley directly confronting Ramaswamy over his lack of experience, the conservative cable giant seemingly shifted its support behind the former South Carolina governor. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. The European Union is cranking up the heat on Elon Musk-owned X. Late Thursday, the Commission sent the company a formal request for more information -- after issuing a public warning Wednesday about reports that illegal content and disinformation targeting the Israel-Hamas war is circulating on the platform, and Twitter's CEO sending a high-level (non specific) response to that warning. The move could prefigure the opening of a formal investigation of X under the bloc's content moderation rulebook, the Digital Services Act (DSA). If the Commission moves ahead on that, it will be the first investigation opened under the DSA since a compliance deadline for so called "very large online platforms" (aka VLOPs) kicked in this summer. Non-compliance under DSA rules, meanwhile, could trigger fines of up to 6% of annual turnover, plus potential blocking of a service for repeated infringements. X owner Elon Musk last projected revenues of about $3 billion for this year. It's anyone's guess if that's accurate now, but as an example, that would result in a fine of up to $180 million. Indirectly, an investigation will also be a key way for the public to have significantly more transparency around how X is being used (and abused): since Musk took Twitter private, the company no longer produces quarterly earnings reports and is not held to account as closely as a result. EU officials confirmed to TechCrunch that an investigation has not been taken at this point. Clearly, though, yesterday's development (and the pace at which regulators are moving) is a strong indication of the bloc's direction of travel. The Commission said it is looking at X's compliance with the DSA across a number of areas -- including with regard to its policies and practices regarding notices on illegal content; complaint handling; risk assessment and measures to mitigate the risks identified. On Wednesday, in an "urgent" letter to Musk, the EU's internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said the bloc had seen indications from "qualified sources" that X is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU following Saturdays attacks -- before reminding X of the DSAs very precise obligations vis-a-vis content moderation. When you receive notices of illegal content in the EU, you must be timely, diligent and objective in taking action and removing the relevant content when warranted, Breton also warned then. In its latest press release, the EU said it has sent X a formal request for information under the DSA. "This request follows indications received by the Commission services of the alleged spreading of illegal content and disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech," it wrote, adding that the ask also addresses other aspects of DSA compliance. The pan-EU regulation puts a series of governance obligations on digital services and platforms with the aim of ensuring companies are responding to reports of illegal content. They must also clearly communicate their T&Cs to users and be able to demonstrate proper enforcement. Larger platforms like X also have additional obligations to identify and mitigate systemic risks such as disinformation, gender-based violence or negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights. Additionally, the regulation includes a "crisis response" mechanism (Article 36) which enables the Commission to adopt rapid-fire measures on larger platforms in situations of "serious threat", such as war. Since Saturday's attacks in Israel, posts identified as false have been spotted circulating on X -- including, in one example, a clip that purported to show Hamas missile attacks on Israel but was actually footage from a video game. Meanwhile X's ability to respond internally to reports of content problems have been drastically pared back after Musk's takeover last year -- which saw major layoffs, including in content moderation and human rights as part of the new billionaire owner's bid to improve the platforms profitability. In response to the EU's warning earlier this week, X CEO Linda Yaccarino released a letter saying that a leadership group had been convened to consider Xs response and tens of thousands of pieces of content had been removed, along with thousands of posts and hundreds of accounts linked to terrorist groups, violence or extremism. She also said the company formerly known as Twitter is responding to law enforcement requests but claimed it had not received any requests from Europol at the time. Today @lindayaX responded to @ThierryBretons letter detailing our work in response to the terrorist attack on Israel. pic.twitter.com/yZtaOVGpHG Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) October 12, 2023 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js In further remarks via X's safety account, the company reported that there had been more than 50 million posts globally over the past two days that referenced the weekends terrorist attack, underlining the scope of content generated. X has been pushing a so-called Community Notes feature -- which crowdsources additional context to add to questionable tweets -- as its main response to disinformation risks. By Thursday afternoon, Hamas attack had killed more than 1,200 people, per the Israeli Military, and at least 1,537 people had been killed in Gaza by Israels retaliatory strikes, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Returning to the EU process, X has until October 18 to provide the bloc with information about the activation and functioning of Xs crisis response protocol; and until October 31 to respond to its other requests. "Based on the assessment of X replies, the Commission will assess next steps," the Commission wrote. "This could entail the formal opening of proceedings pursuant to Article 66 of the DSA." It also noted the regulation includes powers to impose fines for "incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in response to a request for information". "In case of failure to reply by X, the Commission may decide to request the information by decision. In this case, failure to reply by the deadline could lead to the imposition of period penalties," the EU added. Earlier this year, Musk pulled out of the EUs Code of Practice on online disinformation. In a response to X leaving the voluntary Code, Breton warned: Obligations remain. You can run but you cant hide. In recent days, TikTok and Meta have also been warned by the EU over disinformation related to the Israel-Hamas war. But back in September, a study commissioned via the EU's Code of Practice suggested X is the worst of the major platforms when it comes to spreading disinformation. This report was substantially revised to clarify a number of aspects, including -- most saliently -- that the EU has sent a formal request for information to X at this point. This could prefigure a formal announcement of an investigation but is not, yet, that formal technical step. We also clarified the scale of financial penalties possible under the DSA if a breach is confirmed; and added details of the regulation's crisis response mechanism. We also fixed an error in the original report which referred to Interpol, rather than Europol. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whos already trailing Donald Trump by a lot in the GOP run for president, lost a voter on Thursday after a conversation about the Israel-Hamas war. (Watch the video below.) You had my vote, but you dont now, Ron Lahout, an Arab American Republican local ski shop owner, told DeSantis at a market in Littleton, New Hampshire. DeSantis had just recounted the Hamas rampage that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and criticized Palestinians in Gaza for aligning with the militant group, The New York Times reported. Thats when Lahout chimed in during an exchange shared by CBS News Aaron Navarro. Well, Ron, what do you think about the annihilation and the decapitation of all the Palestinians in Gaza right now? Lahout, 65, asked. They are not decapitating babies heads, DeSantis said of Israels forces. They are not intentionally doing that. (Unconfirmed reports of Hamas beheading Israeli babies have made the rounds.) They are blowing up entire residential buildings, Lahout said of the Israeli retaliation in Gaza. DeSantis argued that the Israelis warned civilians in Gaza to leave before the shellings and that Hamas has told them to stay because Hamas wants them to be human shields. How many other armed forces give warnings to get out? DeSantis asked. Lahout, who mentioned he worked in Gaza refugee camps in the 1980s, countered that he didnt condone the killing of any innocent civilians. And I dont condone what Hamas did in the kibbutzes, he continued. But Israel is doing the exact same thing with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a radical, right-wing, crazy person. And I see hundreds of Palestinian families that are dead, and they have nowhere to go because they cant leave Gaza because no ones opening their borders. DeSantis replied: Why arent these Arab countries willing to absorb some of the Palestinian Arabs? DeSantis talked over Lahout as the local man tried to answer with historical context. Finally, Lahout informed DeSantis that he had lost another supporter. Littleton, NH - While chatting w/voters, DeSantis has a back & forth on Israel's airstrikes in Gaza and its borders. "Why aren't these Arab countries willing to absorbe some of the Palestinian Arabs?" DeSantis said The man walked out saying, "You had my vote, but you don't now" pic.twitter.com/L0tayIEuyU aaron navarro (@aaronlarnavarro) October 12, 2023 DeSantis trails GOP frontrunner Trump by dozens of points in the polls, and hes apparently trying to make up ground by attacking the ex-president for his criticism of Netanyahu and praise of Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, DeSantis wrote on social media, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as very smart. Israels counter-offensive in Gaza in advance of a possible ground assault has pushed the death toll on both sides into the thousands. Related... That copys going to stay out of circulation, Larchmont librarian Caroline Cunningham said Larchmont Public Library The book was returned nearly 90 years after it was borrowed. A book that was nearly 90 years overdue has been returned to a library in suburban New York state. The book Youth and Two Other Stories by Joseph Conrad was checked out to a Larchmont man in 1933. The mans stepdaughter recently mailed the book back to the library after finding it in his belongings in Virginia, the Larchmont Public Library said in a Facebook post. Now, I know what you are all thinking, the library wrote in a post. I wonder how much that would be in overdue fees? At twenty cents a day, it seems like the fine could easily have reached over $6,400. The library added, But no, the real answer is only $5! Related: Overdue Library Book Checked Out in 1927 Returned by Mystery Man After Almost 100 Years Since the book was eventually returned, the overdue fine has been reverted back to a maximum of $5, library officials said. After Morgan found the book, she contacted the library to confirm whether it was overdue, according to Patch.com. She also wrote a letter to the library, explaining its backstory. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Related: Couple with Dyslexia Surprise Staff of Bookstore Their First-Date Spot! After Getting Married "My stepfather, Jimmie Ellis (James H.S. Ellis, Jr. 1893 - 1978), was an advertising executive, working in New York City and living in Larchmont at the time he and his first wife were raising their two sons," Morgan wrote, according to Patch.com. "Their house was about two blocks from Larchmont Public Library. She continued, And since Jimmie, a writer and avid reader himself, no doubt encouraged his boys to read, they most likely borrowed books from Larchmont Public on a regular basis." Conrads book was published in 1925, one year before the library opened, per Patch. It was originally due back at the library on Oct. 11, 1933, the Larchmont Public Library said. Related: Book Returned to Pa. Library 50 Years Late With $20 & Funny Note on Family's 'Running Joke' Librarian Caroline Cunningham told The New York Post that getting the book back was quite a surprise. But, she added, patrons shouldn't expect to encounter it on the shelves anytime soon. That copys going to stay out of circulation, Cunningham told the Post. And will probably have it just to keep because its a funny story. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. When Olivia Jordan stepped on the set of her 2018 SI Swimsuit feature, she didnt just want to have a good shoot, she wanted it to be [her] best shoot ever, she told the team. It was her initial appearance with the magazine, an opportunity she earned through the brands Swim Search open casting call. The trip took her to a tropical destination on the coast of Belize with photographer Yu Tsai. The former Miss USA 2015 earned her spot along with four other finalists in the years competition. Jordan was so honored by MJ Days call to join the ranks of the SI Swimsuit talent. This is insane, she gushed over the phone to Day after the editor in chief broke the news. Im so excited, she said at the end of the call, looking forward to her first feature. The Oklahoma native didnt disappoint when she took to the set of the Caribbean beaches, stunning a series of photos on the bright sand and in the vibrant blue waters. Today, were throwing it back to her incredible feature in the 2018 SI Swimsuit Issue, and highlighting some of the stunning photos she posed for. Below are just a few of our favorites from the day. Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated Yu Tsai/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. Shop Now and Make a Difference MILAN Aspesi is accelerating its expansion in Asia Pacific, planning the opening of 35 points of sale in Korea by 2026. Five new doors will open by the end of the year with Shinsegae, Hyundai and Lotte Department Stores in Seoul and Daegu. We were attracted by one of the most influential retail groups, such as Hyundai, for its reputation in the sector but also for its capacity to have an innovative vision of retail, said Carlos Pellegrini, vice president global sales and marketing at Aspesi. We have appreciated their understanding of our fundamental values and their ability to offer a very loyal representation of the DNA of the brand to a Korean public that is increasingly more trendsetting and looking for authenticity. More from WWD The shop-in-shops in Korea will further expansion in the Far East and Asia Pacific, where the brand has already established a strong business in Japan. A 2,153-square-foot flagship opened in Tokyos luxury Aoyama district in 2020, further contributing to the brand awareness in the market. At the same time, fueling the ambition to expand internationally, Aspesi is strengthening its presence in Europe, leveraging the openings at El Corte Ingles in Spain and Portugal, for example, and a new menswear corner at Rinascente in Italy. While keeping details under wraps, an exclusive capsule with an e-tailer partner is expected in February 2024, as well as marketing alliances with key regional players. The brand is available in 16 stores around the world and distributed through more than 600 points of sale. A brand historically connected to art and design, Aspesi will also announce two exclusive lifestyle collaborations and launch a hospitality project next year. Focused on a very precise look, essential and unfussy, Aspesi is known for its discreet take on urban wear, high-quality wearable pieces with a refined color sensibility and minimal chic design. Lawrence Steele was named creative director of Aspesi in 2021. After working at Moschino and Prada and in 1994 launching his namesake line, now discontinued, the American designer landed at Aspesi in 2004 with a job as a creative consultant, which he retained for 13 years until 2017. Following a stint as associate creative director at Marni, Steele made his debut as creative director of Aspesi with the spring 2022 season. In May, Aspesi partnered with niche Italian brand Retrosuperfuture for an eyewear capsule, combining both brands quintessentially Milanese roots. The capsule comprised two sunglass styles and a jacket. Retrosuperfutures signature Milano sunglasses, inspired by the sleek frames of the 50s in a black acetate frame, came with a quirky touch, a third eye-shaped enamel in the eyewears internal bridge. Last year, after signing its first license in 2021 with Il Gufo for a childrenswear line, Aspesi continued to expand its product category by signing an agreement with Area B for beachwear. In 2024, Aspesi will present its first sustainability report. The company is a founding partner of Ethicarei, the first ethical production supply chain made in Italy and guaranteed by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). The Aspesi store in Hyundai Pangyo. As reported in January, Pellegrini was named to his role, a new one for the company, tasked with strengthening and accelerating its commercial and communication expansion and strategic development. Pellegrini was previously commercial director of Missoni and has more than 15 years of experience in fashion in executive positions in companies including Karl Lagerfeld. Alberto Aspesi founded the company in 1969 as a shirt brand. At the end of the 70s, he began to create mens and womens ready-to-wear collections, collaborating with designers including Walter Albini and Franco Moschino. Italian private equity fund Armonia SGR acquired Aspesi in 2017. Best of WWD Click here to read the full article. Think 98.6 degrees is the norm when it comes to body temperature? Not quite so, according to a new study. Stanford Medicine researchers say body temperatures range from person to person. Factors that influence body temperature include sex, age, weight and height, to name a few. It also goes up and down throughout the day, the researchers say. Most people, including many doctors, still think that everyones normal temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact whats normal depends on the person and the situation, and its rarely as high as 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, said Julie Parsonnet, MD, a professor of medicine and of epidemiology and population health at Stanford. She authored the research that came out on Sept. 5 in JAMA Internal Medicine. What is the current average body temperature? Every decade since the 19th century, the average Americans body temperature has declined from 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit by 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats probably because we have better living conditions now than in the past, which reduces inflammation, and therefore body temperature. Nowadays, most people have an average body temperature closer to 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit. So, where did the 98.6-degree figure come from? Data published in 1868 from a German doctor who collected temperatures from about 25,000 people. He reported a range of temperatures in the group saying that men and older adults had lower readings than women and young adults. Temperatures tended to run higher in the afternoons. But the average was 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and here we are. In future studies, Dr. Parsonnet said shes interested in examining personalized definitions of fever and whether having a consistently higher or lower normal temperature affects life expectancy. Theres a lot of temperature data in the world, so theres a lot of opportunity to actually learn something about it, she said. What temperature is classified as a fever? Its important to know what constitutes a medical-grade feverthats anything over 100.4 F, naturopathic doctor Leah Gordon, ND, tells Motherly in a separate interview. Anything below that temperature is not considered to be a true fever. Its also good to know that not all fevers need to be treated with fever-reducing medication, especially if you or your child are still sleeping and eating relatively normally. The following body temperatures suggest a fever in adults: at least 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit is a fever above 103.1 degrees Fahrenheit is a high fever above 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit is a very high fever The average body temperature in a newborn is about 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The average body temp for a child is about 97.52 degrees, and a temp above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit is a fever. If your baby is younger than 3 months old and has a fever over 100.4 F, or if your child of any age has a fever reaching 104 F or a history of febrile seizures, call your childs pediatrician for advice. The Israel-Hamas war has already impacted air cargo logistics, as well as retailers on the ground. But for global ocean freight titans, business is largely operating as usual. Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) and Maersk, the biggest largest container shipping companies by cargo volume, told clients theyll continue to accept bookings to and from Israel. More from Sourcing Journal Israels major ports continue to function, including key terminals in Ashdod and Haifa, the companies said in separate advisories to customers. In Thursdays update, MSC noted congestion at Ashdod due to increased security checks and labor shortages that were driving up wait times. Inland services via road and rail are fully operational in and around the country. Circumstances are subject to change at very short notice, both advisories said. Restrictions on vessels carrying hazardous materials remain in effect at the Port of Ashdod, just 30 miles from the Gaza Strip. MSC said it cant create new bookings for restricted cargo. Where affected cargo is already in transit, contingency plans are in place to discharge at alternative locations and we will keep customers well informed of any changes to their cargos destination, the service alert said. According to a report from container logistics platform provider Container XChange, missile threats are keeping the Port of Ashkelon, just 10 miles from the Gaza border, from operating as usual. Vessels can only discharge cargo while moored at sea buoys. In contrast, the ports of Haifa, Eilat and Hadera are largely unaffected by the conflict. But security at Haifa is risky, according to the Container XChange report. In light of recent developments in the Middle East, including the outbreak of war in Israel and its vulnerability to missile attacks and the incursion of opposing militias, the security of transporting goods through the port of Haifa has become uncertain, said Hossein Norouz Fashkhami, a senior marketing expert Container XChange cited in its report. The transit of containers, especially hazardous materials, and the arrival of commercial vessels greatly emphasize the importance of security on this route. Such insecurity or potential terrorist attacks could lead to a shift in the transportation of goods. Israel-based container shipping company ZIM is directly impacted by instability in the country. While the firm continues to operate and accept bookings to and from Israel, a new war risk premium charge applies to new bookings and on-water cargo. They range from $50 to $120 per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU). In light of the war situation, insurers have imposed an additional insurance premium of war risk on all vessels calling Israeli ports, which we are now obligated to pay to maintain service to and from Israel, ZIM said in a customer advisory. Israeli authorities may issue safety updates on short notice that could interrupt service, ZIM said. Israel represents a relatively small market for container shipping on a global scale, with the ports of Ashdod and Haifa accounting for just 0.4 percent of global throughput, according to Container XChange. This means theres a limited threat of disruption to container trade flow through the Mediterranean region. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is marked by uncertainty, according to Christian Roeloffs, co-founder and CEO of Container XChange. IMEC is a proposed economic corridor aiming to improve economic development and strengthen trade ties between India and Europe via railways, ports and green energy. According to Roeloffs, the plan aligns with the G7s vision to mobilize $600 billion by 2027 for global infrastructure investments. Roeloffs aired concerns about the Suez Canal, the primary trade route for goods from India to Europe. In the case of the conflict in Israel, any expansion of the hostilities beyond the countrys borders could introduce risks to two vital shipping choke points, Roeloffs said. The Suez Canal, a critical waterway for various commercial vessels, including container ships, may face disruptions. Similarly, the Strait of Hormuz, a backbone for oil and gas shipping, could be affected. However, the extent of these effects will largely depend on the conflicts expansion and duration. Click here to read the full article. The route will launch on March 28, 2024. Heading to Tulum, Mexico just got easier thanks to a new direct flight launching in 2024. On Friday, Delta Air Lines announced a nonstop service to the popular destination will launch on March 28, 2024 from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The flight will operate from Tulums yet-to-be-opened Tulum International Airport, also known as Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport (TQO) which is scheduled to open in Dec. 2023. SL_Photography/Getty Images Tickets will be available for purchase on Oct. 16, 2023. "We know Tulum-bound customers will enjoy the elevated experience Delta consistently offers and now without a two-hour drive from Cancun as we grow our footprint in Mexico and throughout the Yucatan region, Deltas SVP of Network Planning Joe Esposito said in a statement. Delta will use a Boeing 737-800 aircraft for the route, which can accommodate 160 passengers. The announcement of the new route comes a day after the airline shared a "record September quarter revenue and a double-digit operating margin," Thursday on its most recent earnings call, despite its announcement of changes to its SkyMiles program. Acknowledging in September that the changes may have went "too far," Ed Bastian echoed the same sentiment in a CNBC interview on Thursday. "We're going to have to recalibrate," CEO Ed Bastian said. "We're going to have to find he best way to accommodate getting the service levels to where we need to be, at the same time making these modifications where people understand them better." The new Tulum route as well as the September quarter reported earnings come after the airline suspended its flights to Israel through October amid the ongoing conflict. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the 13th meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the 14th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) will convene its sixth session from Oct. 20 to 24 in Beijing. The decision, announced Friday, was made at a meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, which was presided over by Zhao Leji, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. According to the proposed agenda, lawmakers will review draft revisions to the Marine Environment Protection Law and the Charity Law, a draft law on patriotic education, and a draft law on food security. The Standing Committee session is expected to review bills on draft revisions to the organic law of the State Council and the infectious disease prevention and control law, a bill on a draft tariff law, and a bill on a treaty on the transfer of sentenced persons between China and Colombia. Documents to be submitted at the session also include a report on financial work, a report on the management of state-owned assets, as well as personnel appointments and removals, among other reports and bills. Here's where Americans most want to move for work. Jorg Greuel/Getty Images Moving abroad takes a lot of work. I should know. I moved from the United States to Portugal in 2021 to complete my PhD work in journalism. It was a process filled with google searches, speaking with friends, and friends of friends, and second cousins twice removed from friends of those friends to find many of the answers I was looking for. While I wouldnt exactly say moving abroad was easy, I will always say the juice was well worth the squeeze. And it appears Im not the only one to fall in love with the Iberian nation. According to a new report by Givetastic, a website that helps people collect money for group gifts, Portugal ranks as the 10th most popular country to emigrate to for work. So, where else are people looking to move right now? As the results showed, the No. 1 choice for Americans is Canada. Related: How to Move to Another Country 15 Key Steps After conducting our thorough research, Canada came out on top, the findings explained. To come to this conclusion, the team analyzed the average monthly google search volume for up to 164 countries, using the Keywords Explorer tool, including the words jobs and work in up to 35 different languages. And Canada didnt just come in first for Americans. It was also the top search in 56 out of 164 countries. Canada is a great option for people looking to emigrate, the findings added. It offers ample employment opportunities, free health care, and an excellent education system. Whats not to love? Germany came in as the second most popular nation to emigrate for work, followed by Qatar, the U.K., Switzerland, Australia, Spain, the United States, Malta, Niger, and once again, Portugal rounding out the top 10. As for the most popular city to move to, Dubai came out on top. It was the No. 1 searched city to move to for work for a whopping 68 countries. It was followed by Quebec in second place, and Singapore, Moscow, Miami, London, New York, Melbourne, Barcelona, and Dubrovnik rounding out the top 10. If youre seriously thinking of moving abroad to work, take a look at the full list of dream work destinations. Then send me a DM on Instagram. Happy to be your friend of a friend of a friend, and share all my advice for how to pack when the time comes to move abroad. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) NANCHANG, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has called on east China's Jiangxi Province to write its chapter in Chinese modernization by tapping into its strengths and improving its weak points. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection of the province from Oct. 10 to 13. Xi stressed the importance of emancipating the mind and making pioneering efforts. Jiangxi should firmly adhere to its positioning in creating a new development pattern, tap into its characteristics and strengths, and focus on a high-quality, green and low-carbon development, Xi said. He also called on the province to consolidate its foundations while developing new strengths, strive to lead both the promotion of high-quality development of old revolutionary base areas and the rise of the central region, and make sound efforts in advancing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. During the inspection tour, Xi visited the cities of Jiujiang, Jingdezhen and Shangrao. He inspected the shoreline of the Yangtze River, local enterprises, a historical and cultural block and a village. On Tuesday afternoon, Xi visited a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang. He walked in the rain to inspect the landscape along the river embankment and asked about the water level, water quality and the work including flood control. After listening to briefings by local officials on the progress of relevant work, Xi called the Yangtze River "the bond" of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and underscored that all work to protect the river must be undertaken from a perspective of a community of life featuring harmony between humanity and nature and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Xi then inspected Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about the enterprise's efforts to build green and intelligent factories as well as promote energy conservation, and reduce pollution and carbon emissions. He stressed continuous efforts to push forward digital and intelligent transformation to build a world-leading refining and chemical enterprise that is eco-friendly and intelligent. The petrochemical industry is an important economic pillar, Xi told the company's staff, calling on them to make new contributions to China's energy security while advancing the high-quality development of the industry. On Wednesday morning, Xi visited the city of Jingdezhen, known as the "porcelain capital." At a historical and cultural block, Xi learned about the craftsmanship and procedures of porcelain making, and the efforts to maintain the inheritance, innovation and foreign exchanges of ceramic culture. Noting that fine traditional Chinese culture has survived uninterrupted since ancient times, Xi stressed that porcelain is both a treasure and calling card of the Chinese nation. He underscored that talent from various sectors should aid design and R&D innovation across the porcelain industry to further amplify the name of the "millennium porcelain capital." Then Xi went to AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd., where he inspected a helicopter general assembly workshop and a pilot station. Noting that aviation equipment forms an important part of China's manufacturing development, Xi asked the corporation to pursue an innovation-driven approach, invest more energy in independent R&D in key and core technologies, strive to establish an advanced manufacturing system and develop itself into a first-class global helicopter company. On Wednesday afternoon, Xi visited a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao City, which is situated in the center area of the national wetland park for the source of the Raohe River. There, he learned about the park and its wildlife conservation efforts. Xi also talked with teachers and students of a fine arts college painting at the village square, encouraging them to study hard to hone their craft. Learning that remarkable progress has been achieved in advancing local signature tourism, the tea industry and rural revitalization, Xi voiced delight, and noted that the beautiful natural environment is in itself high-quality natural endowments for advancing rural revitalization. The key to rural revitalization lies in strong primary-level Party organizations, he said, calling on such organizations to play a leading role in increasing rural incomes and ensure the solid implementation of the policies formulated by the Party for the benefit of people. Chinese modernization encompasses the modernization of both urban areas and the agricultural sector and rural areas, Xi told villagers. He expressed the hope that they would effectively protect nature while integrating the traditional image of the village with modern elements to make the village more beautiful. During his inspection, Xi was also briefed about the work of the CPC provincial committee and the provincial government of Jiangxi, and he lauded the achievements that the province has made in various fields. He called on Jiangxi to actively prepare for the next generation of industries and build a modern industrial system with the region's distinct features and strengths. Jiangxi should nurture a number of high-tech industries, foster nationally influential industrial clusters and develop the digital economy while firmly following the path of ecological protection and green development and pursuing all-round green transition, he said. Xi stressed that Jiangxi should become a pacesetter of reform and opening-up in the inland areas, develop the port economy, promote the construction of key cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and nurture regional logistics hubs and commercial centers. He asked Jiangxi to coordinate with and serve the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and get deeply involved in joint efforts to advance the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi urged Jiangxi to deepen reform in key areas, improve the business environment, and expand institutional opening up with regard to rules, regulations, management, and standards. Priority should be given to the development of the agricultural sector and rural areas, which should be modernized at a faster pace, he said, calling for firmly maintaining the bottom line of food security and further industrializing the agricultural sector. The fruits of reform and development must be shared by the people in old revolutionary base areas, which is a bottom-line task in realizing common prosperity for all, Xi said, stressing efforts to strengthen the implementation of the employment-first policy, and improve public services and the social security system. Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi on the inspection tour. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects Sinopec Jiujiang Company in Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects Sinopec Jiujiang Company in Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects Sinopec Jiujiang Company in Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects Sinopec Jiujiang Company in Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspects Sinopec Jiujiang Company in Jiujiang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2023. Xi inspected the city of Jiujiang in east China's Jiangxi Province on Tuesday. Xi inspected a section of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park located in the urban area of Jiujiang and also Sinopec Jiujiang Company, where he learned about local efforts in the construction of the park, the ecological restoration along the Yangtze River shoreline, and the petrochemical company's transformation and upgrading toward green development. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a historical and cultural block in Jingdezhen City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a historical and cultural block in Jingdezhen City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a historical and cultural block in Jingdezhen City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a historical and cultural block in Jingdezhen City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a village in Wuyuan County, Shangrao City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a village in Wuyuan County, Shangrao City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, talks with villagers at a village in Wuyuan County, Shangrao City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, talks with villagers at a village in Wuyuan County, Shangrao City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 11, 2023. Xi inspected Jingdezhen City and Shangrao City in east China's Jiangxi Province on Wednesday. Xi visited a historical and cultural block and AVIC Changhe Aircraft Industry (Group) Corporation Ltd. in Jingdezhen, as well as a village in Wuyuan County in Shangrao. He learned about the preservation and inheritance of ceramic culture, enterprise technological innovation, wetland park ecological conservation, and rural revitalization. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) Sign up for CNNs Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Classical Greek marble sculptures today appear crisp and white. But they werent always that way, according to a new study, which found the famous 2,500-year-old Parthenon sculptures were colorful, painted with floral patterns and other elaborate designs. By using a noninvasive imaging technique, researchers at the British Museum where nearly half of the sculptures reside and Kings College London found traces of paint on 11 out of 17 figures and from a section of frieze on show in the museum, according to a study published this week in the journal Antiquity. Paint often does not survive on archaeological finds, particularly in cases such as the Parthenon sculptures that date back to between 447 and 438 BC and were continuously exposed to the environment, said lead study author Dr. Giovanni Verri, a conservation scientist at the Art Institute of Chicago who previously was a fellow at the British Museum. Researchers found microscopic traces of paint by using infrared light that is absorbed by the blue paint and appears on camera as a glowing white (right). - The Trustees of the British Museum These are just thin paint layers at the very, very top of the surface of these objects, and so they are at the interface between everything that happens. (The paint) is the first to get the impact of the environment, Verri said. Its also possible that during conservation treatments restoration treatments these small traces that looked like dirt effectively, were inadvertently removed. Greece has repeatedly called for the return of the sculptures that British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the imposing Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which then ruled Greece. Infrared light detects traces of long-lost paint The technique used to find the paint was created in 2007 by Verri and is known as visible-induced luminescence imaging. The process uses infrared light that finds microscopic traces of paint that the eye cannot see, Verri said. By illuminating the sculptures with the red light, a pigment known as Egyptian blue absorbs the light and appears on camera as a glowing white. Egyptian blue was a popular pigment of its time that was made using calcium, copper and silicon, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. The bright blue was highly valued for its rarity and was commonly saved for royalty or depictions of gods and goddesses. The researchers found traces of paint on 11 sculptures. Within the statue of Dione and Aphrodite, the forming of flower petals was found (bottom right). - The Trustees of the British Museum The distinctive blue was found in several places in the marbles, including the serpent tail on the sculpture of mythical king Kekrops, within the background space of statues Demeter and Persephone and on the garment worn by Dione, mother of Aphrodite, where the forming of two flower petals was found near the bottom of the cloth, according to the study. The interpretation of these very small traces is always complicated, Verri said. So, we make suggestions (of these patterns) through comparisons with other works of art. The researchers also detected a purple color that was not found through the imaging process but by the human eye, Verri said. The hue, which they named Parthenon purple, is particularly unique, the study said, because researchers found that it was not made using shellfish the common ancient Mediterranean recipe. Shellfish-based purple can be detected using a technique called X-ray fluorescence, Verri said, but that color was not present in this case. Classical texts refer to an elusive purple color, the study added, but the ingredients werent disclosed because the color was deemed so valuable. This recent study gives more proof that colorful decoration was common in ancient Greek art, said Michael Cosmopoulos, a professor of archaeology and Greek studies at the University of MissouriSt. Louis, via email. He was not involved in the study. This is a big deal because it challenges the traditional Western idea that classical art was just plain white marble and shows how important color was to ancient Greek artists. These findings help us understand the creative process behind, as well as the meaning of the Parthenon and its sculptures. At this stage, a reconstruction of the sculptures original appearance is not really possible, Verri said, since the imaging technique only detected blue paint, and because reproducing in modern terms one of the greatest masterpieces of mankind is not something that can be addressed lightly, Verri added. The study also found that there were no signs of keying or abrasion to the sculptures that are typically seen to help paint adhere. What we were able to really demonstrate is not specific surfaces for the application of paints, but rather that both carving and color were conceived as part of the same objective, said William Wootton, an author of the study from Kings College London. Extreme care and attention in the production of sculpture both its carving and its color actually was visible across the ancient world to a level which we are still only beginning to understand. The study points to earlier instances when Greek sculptures were found to be colored, such as in 2008 when conservators at the Acropolis Museum in Athens found a greenish pigment on the West Frieze featuring a horseman. Verri said he hopes that further imaging will soon be developed to find other colors present on the sculptures. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Maybe youre amazed at the way the 1972 Wings tour bus defied time. Maybe youre afraid of the way it could evade you. For whatever reason, you want it. And you can have it. The legendary double-decker Paul McCartney and his Wings bandmates took across Europe in the 70s will go under the gavel at Juliens Auctions next month, with bidding expected to reach between $200,000 and $300,000. More from Robb Report Christened WNO 481, the converted 1953 Bristol KSW bus is distinguished by a psychedelic exterior that reflects the colorful hippie style and free love attitudes of the era. Indeed, Martin Nolan, executive director and co-founder of Juliens, describes it as a caravan of pure magic and love. The bus features a technicolor exterior inspired by a Beatles album cover. Perhaps more importantly, the four-wheeler represents a pivotal moment in Sir Pauls unparalleled career, as he moved on from arguably the worlds biggest band to begin Paul McCartney and Wings, also known as Wings. The former Beatle, his wife Linda McCartney, and bandmates Denny Laine, Henry McCullough, and Denny Seiwell embarked on their first tour in the summer of 72. The bus carried the band and their families more than 7,500 miles through nine European countries, including France, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The tour was a resounding success and saw the commercial explosion of Wings. The weathered vehicle was discovered a few years ago in Spain and brought back to the U.K. Over 16 months, it was meticulously restored at a workshop in Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. The makeover was completed in 2022, after which the revamped ride was unveiled at the NEC Classic Motor Show in Birmingham. The members of Wings on the tour bus. The bus is steeped in more than 50 years of rock n roll history but looks fresher than ever. The paint job, which was inspired by the Beatles Yellow Submarine album cover, remains in top-notch condition. The bus still features bunkbeds, as it did for the 1972 tour. It is also equipped with an original trunk that the Wings drummer donated. The upper deck, which was once home to beanbags, mattresses, and a playpen for the children, now folds down to become a mobile stage. Tour buses have been a part of rock and roll music lore for generations and there is no other one quite as famous and remarkable as Paul McCartneys 1972 Wings Over Europe Tour bus, Nolan said in a statement. The best part? Members of the public have the opportunity to jump aboard the bus for a Magical History Tour through London on Tuesday, October 17. To win the ride, like this post on Instagram, tag a friend who would like to join you, and follow both @juliens_auctions and @hardrockcafelondon. The contest closes today (Friday, October 13). The bus will then be auctioned off at Juliens Played, Worn, and Torn: Rock n Roll Iconic Guitars and Memorabilia sale. The auction will take place at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville from November 16 to 18. Best of Robb Report Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Players Circle Theater's $20,000 neon sign lights the way to its new McGregor Boulevard location. Bob Cacioppo's getting used to this sort of thing: Another theater in yet another location in Southwest Florida. The Florida Rep co-founder opens his fourth Lee County theater in four decades this Friday on busy McGregor Boulevard in south Fort Myers. And he can't wait for people to see the new Players Circle Theater. "Of all our theaters, I think this is the most elegant," he says, sitting with wife and Players Circle co-founder Carrie Lund Cacioppo in the new theater's red-and-grey lobby with a collection of antique playbills on a nearby wall. "I really feel like we are home." Technically, this isn't a brand-new theater. Cacioppo and Lund Cacioppo have simply moved their Players Circle from North Fort Myers to a new location: The old New Phoenix Theatre in the same plaza as The Melting Pot and First Watch. But this 5,000-square-foot storefront marks a dramatic improvement over Players Circles' former home at The Shell Factory, Cacioppo says. A publicity photo for Mafia comedy "Breaking Legs" at Players Circle Theatre in south Fort Myers. It's twice the size, for one thing. And the ceiling is about 32-feet high three times what it was at The Shell Factory so now they can build two- or even three-level sets. Plus there's an expanding lighting grid that combines Players Circle's and New Phoenix's lights into one big, $140,000 system. "There's no finer lighting system," Cacioppo says. "It's great." Then there's the location: What Cacioppo calls the "sweet spot" situated roughly halfway between their two earliest theaters in Fort Myers (Florida Repertory Theater) and Sanibel Island (Pirate Playhouse). There are many bustling neighborhoods within a two-mile radius, he says, and the new theater is surrounded by popular businesses such as Spada Salon & Day Spa, The Melting Pot, First Watch, Sweet Bean Cafe and Norman Love Confections. Theyre already getting lots of love from theater goers in surrounding neighborhoods, including The Landings, Whiskey Creek and Gulf Harbour Yacht & Country Club, Lund Cacioppo says. A series of recent sneak-peeks at the theater sold out with people wanting to know more about the theater and buy subscriptions. "The welcome that weve had is overwhelming," Lund Cacioppo says. An upgraded Players Circle Theater in south Fort Myers Players Circle moved into the new space in May and quickly started renovating the place. The includes a new $20,000 neon sign out front and a theater-in-the-round-style stage on the floor surrounded by seats on all four sides. That new stage required knocking down New Phoenix's "old-fashioned" raised stage, Cacioppo says, but audiences love the theater-in-the-round style something he did both at Florida Rep's secondary Artstage StudioTheatre and Players Circle. Previously: After tumor, Florida Rep founder Cacioppo feels blessed, 'lucky to be alive' A rough start: Cacioppo's Players Circle Theatre finally opens in Shell Factory space, eight weeks later Players Circle Theater co-founders Bob Cacioppo and Carrie Lund Cacioppo show off the theater's new home on McGregor Boulevard in south Fort Myers. "There's just something about the proximity," Cacioppo says. "And now we have a theater where not one seat is more than 5 rows from the action. And I know that people love that." Other upgrades: New Phoenix Theatre's pre-existing dressing rooms (something they didn't have at the former location), a rehearsal space, a new shop for building sets, more parking and 145 seats surrounding the stage which can be expanded to 180, if needed. What to expect at Players Circle Cacioppo first opened his 2,400-square-foot Players Circle Theater in January 2020 after being fired as Florida Rep's artistic director two years before. And they've slowly grown a dedicated audience and artistic team there. The new theater has 10 part-time and full-time employees, including new associate artistic director Ted Wioncek. Cacioppo calls Wionceck the "heir apparent" his planned successor when he and his wife retire from theater. He says he wanted to create an arts organization that like Florida Rep could survive long after theyre gone. "I think we are at an age that, if we would've stayed in North Fort Myers, we probably would've retired in a year or two," Cacioppo says. "But now it's like Al Pacino: 'They pulled me back in!' (laughs). "So now I'll be here. We've committed to five more years." Players Circle Theater reopens Friday with the Mafia comedy Breaking Legs. Other upcoming shows include: The return of the holiday music revue Ho! Ho! Ho! The Christmas Show (Nov. 28-Dec. 24, 2023) Romantic comedy-drama Butterflies Are Free (Jan. 2-28, 2024) Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play Proof (Feb. 6-March 3, 2024) International hit Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (March 12-April 7, 2024) And classic rock musical Godspell (April 16-May 12, 2024) A publicity photo for the Mafia comedy "Breaking Legs" at Players Circle Theatre in south Fort Myers. Lund Cacioppo says they plan to offer programming year-round. And they're also hoping to attract a younger audience through savvy social media and younger-skewing shows like "Proof." "And we have some great ideas for that extra programming," she says. For tickets and more information about Players Circle Theater, call 800-3292 or visit playerscircletheater.com. Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him at crunnells@gannett.com. Follow or message him on social media: Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), X (formerly Twitter) (@charlesrunnells), Threads (@crunnells1) and Instagram (@crunnells1). This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: New Fort Myers theater opens on McGregor: All about Players Circle Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had enough. The parents of two royal toddlers see the writing on the wall, and they arent waiting for little Archie and Lili to make it to their teen years to find out just how the social media/mental health disaster will play out. They called out social media companies, demanding change, at a panel discussion by their Archewell Foundation in New York City, as part of a second annual mental health awareness festival hosted by Project Healthy Minds, AP reports. They listened to parents who had lost children due to social media-related mental health challenges, and Harry let everyone know theyd been uniting these parents to have community through Zoom as part of the foundations work. Our kids are really young but social media is not going away, Meghan told the audience, according to videos posted online. I think by design, there is an entry point thats supposed to be positive and creating community. And something has devolved, and theres no way to hear that and not try to help these families have their stories be heard. For us, the priority here is to turn pain into purpose, Harry said, adding that he and Meghan wanted to support and spotlight the families to encourage collective grieving and change. Theyve spoken to tech executives at major social media platforms about creating better controls and additional resources for parents who arent sure how to help their kids navigate their new digital possibilities, and dangers. Harry issued a call for social companies: Please stop sending children content you wouldnt want your own children to see, he said. I think its a very simple request and its an easy fix. In Dedham, Massachusetts, theres a missing dog which local authorities believe highlights a broader concern. The root cause of missing dogs believes these authorities is the lack of dog walker regulations in the area. Deni Goldman, Dedhams dedicated animal control officer (ACO), has voiced her concern regarding pet care providers. According to NBC Boston, she firmly believes that further compliance regulations should be implemented to guarantee responsible pet care. In addition to this, owners should also educate themselves about their pets welfare, ensuring they place their animals in the care of responsible and trustworthy individuals. Hunt for missing Labradoodle, Lola A five-year-old Labradoodle named Lola has been missing for over a week after being under the supervision of a local dog walking company. During a trip to the Wilson Mountain dog park, Lola and five other dogs were allowed to run off-leash in defiance of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) rules. DCR has oversight of parks and establishes guidelines for acceptable dog park behavior. Dedham Animal Control urges anyone with any information regarding Lolas whereabouts to call 781-751-9300. Missing dog is part of a larger pattern of events As per WBZNewsRadio, Goldman notes that the lack of dog walker regulations seems to be putting out pet dogs in unsafe situations. For the past four months, Dedham Animal Control has dealt with a string of unfortunate dog incidents. In each case, the animal in question was under the care and custody of a dog service provider whether it be a dog walking service or a boarding facility. All of these incidents were 100% preventable, ACO Goldman stated. At a minimum, there are two critical steps to combatting this recurring issue. The first is instilling a sense of compliance and responsibility with these business practitioners. She continued, The second is educating dog owners on how to ensure the person or business caring for their dog is providing ethical, trained and responsible services. Legislation for doggie daycares and boarding facilities Beacon Hill has been in discussions about Ollies Law, a bill that intends to create guidelines for doggie daycare and boarding facilities. However, its worth noting that the legislation has not included dog walkers as of now. Despite the Massachusetts SPCAs efforts to raise awareness, there is currently no statewide regulation for breeders and dog boarding facilities. The MSPCA further asserts that kennel regulations vary from one town to another. While the fate of the lost pup remains unknown, Dedham is rallying behind its community of dog lovers to establish much-needed regulations to prevent similar incidents in the future. In November, ACO Goldman intends to conduct an informational training session at the Dedham Public Safety Building. The event is specifically designed for local businesses in the dog industry. During this session, Goldman will cover topics such as dog walking safety, community awareness, local rules, and responsible reporting. close-up of Border Collie dog News 6 hours ago German Shepherd dog receiving IV drip at vet News 9 hours ago dog drowning in water News 1 day ago pit bull dog sleeping on floor News 2 days ago Woman carrying a filled, biodegradable dog poop bag and walking along a footpath in a semi-rural area with a pet dog in Cornwall. Less responsible dog owners are the reason for Poo Dog sculptures. News 4 days ago The post Recent Case of Missing Labradoodle Highlights Urgency of Dog Walker Regulations appeared first on DogTime. Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion. This epitaph is inscribed on a memorial to Anatoli Boukreev at Annapurna base camp, about five thousand feet below where the Kazakh mountaineer died in an avalanche in 1998. He wasnt the first to perish on the Himalayan mountain, nor will he be the last. As weve written about in our article on the world's most dangerous mountain, if youre lucky enough to ever stand before Boukreevs memorial on your attempt to summit, your odds of surviving your expedition stand at just 70 percent. Hiking and mountaineering are, by their very nature, dangerous, with falls, weather and avalanches among the many hazards that can turn your passion into a death sentence in an instant. This week alone, another two mountaineers were declared dead after an avalanche on the Tibetan mountain Shishapangma. Navigational skills, satellite messengers and hiking gear made with high performing fabrics are all a vital of keeping yourself safe on the mountain, but theres another element thats often repeated in the mountaineering community, yet overlooked in the push to reach the summit and thats three little words that could save your life: respect the mountain. Many tibetan prayer flags are set up at a memorial for died Respect the mountain My friend Ellen Miller is a celebrated mountaineer based in Vail, Colorado. In the spring of 2002, Miller summited Everest for the second time, becoming the first American woman to reach the worlds tallest peak from both the north and the south sides in a single year. Previously, she had climbed several of the Seven Summits Denali, Mount Elbrus and Kilimanjaro and all 54 of Colorados 14ers. Those are just some selected highlights from her illustrious climbing career. When I met her in 2009, she had just climbed Lhotse and was on her way to summit Manaslu the following year. She went on to climb Nuptse in 2013, then started to spend more time at home, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where she led a trail running group twice a week. Over the years, as we gathered at the foot of the mountain in our trail running shoes, I cant recall how many times I heard her recite the phrase, respect the mountain. To her, a climber who had lost many friends to the mountains, it was like a mantra. Respecting the mountain is perhaps the most important piece of wisdom anyone who owns a pair of hiking boots can adhere to. Treating the mountain with reverence comes naturally to indigenous cultures. If youve seen climbing films like Sherpa and 14 Peaks, youll know that to its native people, Everest isnt just a pile of rocks. In the language of Tibet, it is known as Chomolungma, which means goddess mother of the world. Sherpas believe that the summit of Chomolungma is home to the Buddhist goddess Miyolangsangma and when climbers die on the mountain, it's because she is angry. Mount Kailash, or Mount Meru in ancient texts, is considered sacred in four religions. Incas have long left ritual sacrifices atop the tallest mountains in the Andes. For westerners, however, mountains have come to bear a different meaning. Theyve become, in the quote often attributed to Boukreev, stadiums where we satisfy our insatiable ambitions to achieve recognition. And the result can be deadly, even for those who claim to respect the mountains, like Boukreev. Mount Everest Whether youre attempting an eight thousander or a Colorado 14er, you might not be able to escape the jaws of nature when the time comes, but venerating the mountains rather than seeing their summits and faces as trophies to collect can not only save your life, it might give you a renewed sense of appreciation when youre hiking. This was true for Nan Shepherd, author of The Living Mountain, who wrote, often the mountain gives itself most completely when I have no destination, when I reach nowhere in particular, but have gone out merely to be with the mountain as one visits a friend with no intention but to be with him. Respecting the mountain can be expressed in a number of behaviors, from basic hiking etiquette to knowing when to turn back, but if the concept is new to you, read on for some ideas to get you started with a new way of approaching hikes and treks. man hiking in mountains 1. Plan, prepare, dont push Respecting the mountain means understanding what it could chuck your way and being ready. Nine years ago, a member of my community went up a Colorado 14er, North Maroon Peak, unprepared but for an admirable sense of adventure. Without a map or compass, he became lost and never made it off the mountain alive. That night, a storm blew in and nearly claimed his hiking partner too. Hiking isnt just about bravery or fitness, though those things are part of it. You need to know how to read a mountain weather forecast and if its poor, dont push. Research your route and if its beyond your capabilities, dont push. Learn to be self-sufficient so that you dont endanger the lives of others in your pursuit of a peak. 2. Leave nothing behind Respecting the mountain means not leaving anything but your footprints. Everest is a great example of a huge conflict in this regard. The very Sherpas who worship it must lead westerners up it in order to survive; as a result its so covered in human trash its been nicknamed the worlds highest garbage dump. Respect the mountain as you would respect a friends house on a visit, and pack out all your rubbish. Even the orange peels. Tents and prayer flags at Everest Base Camp 3. Take nothing away The principles of Leave No Trace go beyond not littering. To truly leave no mark of your presence, you must also leave everything as you found it. Dont pick wildflowers, stack rocks or take home pinecones. Those structures are all homes for tiny organisms that live on the mountain. 4. Support the locals Unless youre trying to set a new record, hiking isnt a team sport. In fact, though we recommend hiking with others for safety, hiking alone can be a beautiful experience and help you enjoy the more meditative aspects of being in nature. But when we get lost in striving for the summit, we can become overly solitary, and unconsciously take from a mountain community without giving anything in return. Indigenous cultures pay their respects to mountains with sacrifices, but we can do so by supporting the local economy. Hike with local guides, visit locally-owned businesses like hotels and restaurants and in doing so, youll support the community that lives off the mountain. Then of course, youve got the local wildlife, on whose land youre trespassing. Walk quietly, stay on the trail, enjoy animals from afar with your binoculars, dont feed the wildlife and observe wildlife safety. when does a hill become a mountain: snowy hills 5. Be humble Finally, the biggest aspect of respecting the mountain is to recognize that, in comparison, youre a mere mortal. Be humble. Even with all the technology in the world, youre no match for avalanches, rockslides and blizzards. Know when its time to cancel or change your plans, even if youve spent a lot of money getting to the trailhead. Forget about the stadium show and let the mountain be the cathedral where you practice your religion, quietly and with humility. Rhubarb isn't just meant for pie, brownies, and jam. As culinary celebrity Gordon Ramsay has discovered, pairing the tartly sweet ingredient with meat, such as slow-roasted pork, offers an unexpectedly delicious dish that won't be easily forgotten. On a Reddit Ask Me Anything, the famed chef and restauranteur recalled the pairing and admitted that the unique recipe not only worked but truly shone as a dish. "Now rhubarb is something we literally eat with desserts, but this dish was incredible," he gushed. "It was in Spain. It was a double pork chop that had been slow-roasted over an open pit fire with rhubarb. Absolutely delicious." Ramsay describes the gastronomic occurrence in which a friend tried to demonstrate superb cooking skills at a backyard party in Spain. Ramsay was filming Kitchen Nightmares at the time and admits, I didn't think it was going to work, to be honest." To his surprise, however, his friend knocked it out of the park with the rhubarb-enhanced meal. Read more: 13 Underrated Cuts Of Meat You Should Be Grilling When Unexpected Pairings Yield Delicious Results pork chops with rhubarb in pan - AS Foodstudio/Shutterstock Ramsay certainly isn't the only one who advocates for this pairing. A Canadian chef replied to Ramsay's AMA thread, touting his own use of the ingredient combination in the kitchen, while other commenters shared similar recipes to strengthen the cause further. Olive Magazine combines the two ingredients in the form of a traybake, and EatingWell recommends spooning a sauce made with rhubarb and onions on top of roasted pork tenderloins for an aromatic dinner that hits all of the right tasting notes. Are you not sold on the idea of serving your prized pork dishes flavored by an ingredient more commonly associated with pie? Fair enough. You can still present a rhubarb cinnamon crumble cake after your next meal of pork chops. The one-two setup may inspire you to boldly mix the ingredients at your next supper, and after one taste, you may be confidently preparing pork chops with rhubarb at your own backyard parties. Read the original article on Tasting Table. Several stories over the past few years have shown some patients have been victimized during medical exams. Here's how to protect yourself. (Getty Images) (Getty Images) Its easy to view your doctor's office as a safe space and, in the vast majority of situations, it is. But several stories over the past few years have shown some patients have been victimized by the very people who are supposed to keep them healthy. The latest is former Columbia University ob-gyn Dr. Robert Hadden. As a recent joint ProPublica and New York magazine story detailed, the 65-year-old was sent to jail after horrifically sexually assaulting several patients. More than 245 patients have alleged that Hadden abused them, and he was sentenced in July to 20 years in federal prison. Columbia University also agreed to pay $236.5 million to resolve lawsuits from 226 of Haddens victims. Haddens story is eerily similar to that of Larry Nassar, a former doctor for the American gymnastics team who was sentenced in 2018 to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 150 young women in his care, including several Olympic gymnasts. There have been countless stories of patients being assaulted by doctors, including pediatricians. With that, doctors say its important to be aware of whats normal and not when it comes to doctors visits. Heres what you need to know. What can you expect during a medical exam? What will happen in a doctor's visit can vary by specialty, practice and even doctor, Jeffrey Levine, a physician at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, tells Yahoo Life. The American Medical Association has a code of ethics and a lot of it is practical when it comes to patient care, he says. But there can be a lot of variation. Still, Levine and other doctors say there are some things you can expect during common doctor's visits. General practitioner If youre seeing your general practitioner or family medicine doctor for an annual exam, you may or may not be asked to put on a gown. Some providers feel that, in order to do a non-genital exam, you still need the patient undressed because you need to see their skin and listen to their lungs its easier when theyre in a gown, Levine explains. But there are other providers that dont feel it's necessary. If your doctor prefers to have you in a gown, you should be given one to change into and left alone in a private space to get undressed, Levine says. A nurse will typically instruct you if you should leave your underwear and/or bra on, depending on what exams you may be having. Levine notes that the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) no longer recommends screening for testicular cancer, so the traditional test of having a doctor give a rectal exam and having a patient with a penis cough while their doctor cups their testicles is no longer advised. If someone comes in with a [testicular] complaint, thats different, Levine says. But for routine screening in average-risk people with a penis, that is no longer standard of care for most organizations. Some women will have a gynecologic exam as part of their annual exam with their provider but, if you already see an ob-gyn for these, it should not be a part of your exam, Levine says. Pediatrician Children have regular check-ups as they grow, and it's a good idea to let them know in advance what to expect, Danelle Fisher, a pediatrician and chair of pediatrics at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Life. A checkup is to measure growth and development, and to check on general health as well, she says. Children will have their height and weight measurements taken, and will be asked along with their parents to answer questions about their family history and health in general. Then there is a physical exam. Many patients get into gowns, but some pediatricians dont have children take their clothes off, Fisher says. Kids should be prepped in advance that their bodies will be checked and that their parents will be there. Pediatricians will often explain to children what is going on. I use a constant narration of what Im doing, Fisher says. When we get to more sensitive exams, I really want to make sure that they understand that there are safe exams and unsafe exams. I tell children before I check the downstairs area that the people who are allowed to look down there are mom, dad and a doctor but, when a doctor is looking, mom or dad has to be in the room with them. Fisher says it's important that parents remain with children during doctors visits. Some older patients do not want their parents in the room they are allowed to have a non-parent chaperone, Fisher says. That means Im not going to be performing an exam in a room with a child alone. Typically someone like a nurse will be there, and that is for the patients safety. Its important that they always understand that. She adds that, every once in a while, shell have a child who doesnt want her to examine their genitals during an exam. If the child declines, I will just document that in the chart, she says. Overall, Fisher says that patients should always know what to expect and should always have appropriate supervision. Ob-gyn Annual exams at your obstetrician or ob-gyn typically involve a pelvic exam, Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, a clinical professor of reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. During a typical yearly gynecological exam, women will undergo a breast exam, an abdominal exam and a pelvic exam, where the provider will look into the vagina with a speculum and then palpate the pelvic organs with a bimanual examination one or two fingers in the vagina, one hand on the abdomen, she says. But everyone does this a little differently, Dr. Lauren Streicher, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. You can expect that you will be asked to change into a gown and that someone will leave the room while youre changing, she says. Medical staff will also often give you a drape to cover your lower body, unless the gown is roomy enough to do the same thing, she says. This means that you should not be seated with your breasts or vagina exposed before the physical exam. They should always explain to you what theyre doing prior to doing it, Streicher says. During a breast exam, typically one breast will be exposed at a time and the provider will use fingertips to press down on different areas of the breast. There is never a time when youre cupping the breasts with a full hand, she says. When your provider does a pelvic exam, they should be wearing gloves, Minkin says. If you are coming only for a breast examination, you do not need to have a pelvic exam presuming you are up to date on your annual exams, she says. (If not, your provider may suggest you also have a pelvic exam and, she says, its up to you to decide if you want to have it during the same visit.) What isn't normal during a medical exam? In terms of a pediatric visit, its not normal for parents to be asked to leave the room (unless a child requests it and a chaperone is provided), Fisher says. In a general practitioners office, the door to the exam room should be closed and secured, and there should not be cameras on, Levine says. During a gynecological exam, Streicher says you should see your provider's head. There should never be a time when the persons head disappears, she says. They shouldnt be hiding behind or under the drape. You can talk to the person when theyre examining you because you can see their face. How to protect and advocate for yourself All practices should have a trained chaperone, and thats different from a medical assistant, Streicher says. A medical assistant may be in the room but have their back to the patient or arent paying attention because they're taking notes, she says. A chaperone is a patient advocate who is there to make sure everything is above board. Some practices will even have a chaperone automatically built in. In many offices, particularly these days, women are asked if they would like a chaperone, or a chaperone will automatically come into the exam room when the provider is ready to do the exam, Minkin says. If you would like a chaperone and youre unsure if one will automatically be provided, Levine recommends asking for one when you check in for your appointment. Every patient has the right to request a chaperone, he says. You can also ask your doctor about the exams theyll be performing during the appointment so youll know what to expect and why you need them. And if anything feels uncomfortable or worse, inappropriate, ask them to stop. (The Bioethics Research Center has a list of what types of behaviors are sexual misconduct, including touching genitals for any purpose other than appropriate exam or treatment, especially without wearing gloves, or when the patient has refused.) If youre the victim of an assault, doctors say you should absolutely report it to the police. But if you just get a weird vibe from your doctor, they also recommend no longer seeing them. If you dont feel comfortable with your provider, by all means find someone else, Minkin says. You need to be comfortable. BERLIN (AP) A vehicle apparently packed with migrants left a highway in southern Germany at high speed on Friday and crashed as the driver tried to evade a police check, killing seven people and injuring 16, authorities said. The accident happened near Ampfing, east of Munich on the A94 highway, which leads to the Austrian border. The van left the road and overturned. Police described the van, which had 23 people on board, as a suspected smuggler vehicle. They said prosecutors had opened a homicide investigation. Bavarias top security official, state Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, said that the dead included a young child. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals. A vehicle apparently packed with migrants left a highway in southern Germany at high speed on Friday and crashed as the driver tried to evade a police check. A vehicle apparently packed with migrants left a highway in southern Germany at high speed on Friday and crashed as the driver tried to evade a police check. The Austrian-registered van was designed to carry nine people, and it wouldnt have been possible for many of the people on board to use seat belts, German news agency dpa reported. Police said the vehicle was carrying Syrians and Turks, while the driver was a stateless man resident in Austria. The inhuman behavior of the smuggler, who was injured in the accident and wanted to evade being stopped by the federal police just to save his own skin, makes one speechless, Herrmann said. Germany has seen large numbers of migrants arriving in recent months. The A94 is known as a smuggling route and the site of the accident is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the border with Austria, through which many migrants transit en route to Germany. Herrmann, whose conservative party belongs to Germanys main opposition bloc, told dpa that Fridays incident shows how important it is to further strengthen immediate border controls in order to stop smugglers already at the border. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) Carlee Russell, a nursing student who made international news when she faked her own kidnapping in Alabama over the summer, was found guilty of the false report. During a municipal court hearing Wednesday, Judge Brad Bishop found Russell guilty of filing a false police report and falsely reporting the incident, where she reported seeing a child walking along I-459 before she went missing on July 13. On July 15, she walked back to her home in Hoover, Alabama, where she told police that she had been abducted. Timeline of Carlee Russells disappearance, return and the investigation However, after a days-long investigation by police, Russell admitted she had made the whole thing up. In a statement released through her attorney, Russell said she acted alone and apologized for her actions. There was speculation during the police investigation after authorities uncovered several text messages from Russell in the day leading up to her disappearance, such as You have to pay for an Amber alert, a search for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville for July 13, as well as the plot to the movie Taken, which involves the abduction of a girl. What made you do that?: Ex-boyfriend of Carlee Russell talks about kidnapping hoax Russells ex-boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons, spoke about the incident on a podcast last month, saying he doesnt understand why she faked her kidnapping. Im confused, like what happened? What made you do that? I dont understand, he said. Bishop has ordered Russell to pay $831 for each misdemeanor charge, as well as over $17,000 in restitution. Russell, who pleaded not guilty in the case, is set to appeal the decision to the circuit court. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com. With openness and inclusiveness, China's "porcelain capital" Jingdezhen is gaining new vitality amid the preservation and inheritance of the ceramic culture. Join Xinhua's Wu Yao as she explores the tradition of ceramic craftsmanship which has thrived in the city for over 2,000 years. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Alexander Sobolenko, co-founder of Releaf Paper, has steered the company through the war in Ukraine. Photo: Releaf Paper Releaf Paper is the first in the world to manufacture paper, packaging and bags from fallen leaves. Launched during the pandemic by businessman Alexander Sobolenko and biotechnologist Valentin Frechka, 21, Releaf then made a move to export sustainable packaging in Europe despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It currently produces 10,000 tonnes of paper per year, while Fast Company listed Releaf as one of the worlds most innovative companies for 2023. In 2010, I was a young manager in consumer electronics and decided to change company to Lenovo (0992.HK), the Chinese technology company. At the time it wasn't that well known in Europe. XuePeng Wang came to Ukraine to interview me for a service operations manager role. I understood him to be a very professional manager but he realised and trusted my expertise of the Eastern Europe market. Read More: My first boss: Hannah Lewis, Amex UK country manager There was no structure; I like to build from scratch and XuePeng gave me the opportunity to do this. Working in an international company brings benefits and challenges. He was close to me in good and bad times when big changes came around. Releaf Paper was winner in the Alternative Materials category at ThePackHubs inaugural Packaging Startup Awards 2023. Photo: Releaf Paper Yet, XuePeng told me to continue doing my job no matter the circumstances and this experience helped me in running later companies as well as during the war in Ukraine. He later told everyone in my team that, one day, I wont be 'Alexander the Ukrainian but the international Alexander.' Read more: My first boss: Hugo Barclay, Affordable Art Fair UK director It was kind of prophetic when I left Lenovo after six years as all my business focus was now with an international focus. For Ukrainians its hard to move to external markets. But I work without borders and XuePeng changed my mindset. He never taught me this but I always analysed what he said. He gave me direction and it was always passive learning. He made me think confidently about going global and seeing new opportunities which big corporations couldnt implement. I absorbed it all and it was a powerful form of teaching. Watch: Ukrainian student turns leaves into paper In a challenging environment its hard to stay positive, I motivate myself with some small wins. We are doing lots of things at Releaf Paper and its hard to get significant achievements, especially with start-ups. Leadership for me means to be the example and to motivate the team. For six months, all we heard was that no one wants to work with a Ukrainian start-up especially with the war. But Google awarded us a start-up nomination and that was a success. It was instant recognition and it gave us energy. Despite several achievements we are still experimenting with our multi-functional business. We are always testing production in paper, cellulose and packaging. We are learning every day and feedback from the likes of Nestle (NESN.SW), LOreal (OR.PA) or McDonalds (MCD) is crucial for our direction. XuePeng Wang, middle, was Alexander Sobolenko's influential first boss when he changed career direction. Photo: Releaf Paper Leaf paper is fully recyclable and has a biodegradation period of only 60 days. Secondly, carbon dioxide emissions when using such raw materials are 78% lower. And thirdly, Releaf Paper contributes to forest conservation by saving 17 trees for every ton of its paper produced. In 2022, we beat more than 6,500 competing companies and received coveted funding of 2.5m (2.2m, $2.6m) from the European Commission. We know that one big customer will help to increase the volumes several times. Now we're on our way to build the first pilot production line in Europe that is financed by the European Commission. Read More: My first boss: Anna Lundstrom, CEO of Nespresso UK&I It's always crucial to have someone like XuePeng guiding you. I invited him to my wedding and he turned out to be the best dancer of the night. All the attention turned to him and I later asked him to be godfather to my first daughter. As a wise man, I knew he would take responsibility. He took one month to consider, asking me lots of additional questions before he said yes and he came over to Ukraine with all his family. Watch: Is it financially worth going to university? Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Alan Gore wants to know why Amtrak is almost always late for him. Not just a little bit late, but ridiculously, absurdly, preposterously late. Like the time he tried to catch an Amtrak train from Phoenix to Los Angeles. He and his girlfriend arrived before their scheduled 7 p.m. departure. And they waited. And waited. And waited. The train finally pulled into the station at 5 a.m. the next day. They connected with the Amtrak Surfliner and arrived in San Luis Obispo, California, their final destination, a full day later than planned. Check out Elliott Confidential, the newsletter the travel industry doesn't want you to read. Each issue is filled with breaking news, deep insights, and exclusive strategies for becoming a better traveler. But don't tell anyone! "One of the conductors told me that being twelve hours late is perfectly normal," said Gore, a photographer who lives in Sedona, Arizona. "I didn't even bother asking for compensation." Anyone who travels by train in the U.S. knows that feeling. In the latest quarter, Amtrak trains were delayed by 1.42 million minutes, up 9% from the previous quarter and an increase of 10% from 2022. It's particularly bad on Gore's route, the Sunset Limited. Over the last year, passengers have been delayed by a total of 11 weeks and only 28% of trains are on time, according to Amtrak. "That record is even worse than those numbers indicate because each of those long-distance trains is given a 30-minute grace period before it is officially designated as late," explained Jim Loomis, author of All Aboard: The Complete North American Train Travel Guide. No babies on flights, planes? Why we should rethink how the little ones travel How to stay safer on your trip: 'No one plans on security issues' while traveling Why is Amtrak often so late? It's complicated. Amtrak does not have dedicated tracks outside the Northeast and parts of Michigan and Indiana and uses the same rails as freight trains. But essential consumer protection rules are missing, too. And the sad fact that most Americans don't care about trains isn't making it any easier to fix the problem. Joel Sutherland, a professor of supply chain management at the University of San Diego and a former CSX Railroad official, said America's rail network is set up to favor freight trains. "Amtrak must share the rail lines with freight trains, and freight trains tend to get priority," he said. "This is especially true west of the Mississippi where the rail infrastructure is lacking compared to the East Coast." Waiting for freight trains is the largest cause of passenger train delays, according to Amtrak. America's rail network is set to favor freight trains, even though, by law, passenger trains should get priority. As a practical matter, the law is difficult to enforce. A proposed bill would allow Amtrak to begin directly enforcing the rules, but the law is stalled in Congress. Amtrak has also called for an investigation, which is now in progress, into how Union Pacific Railroad favors freight over people on the Sunset Limited. Union Pacific did not respond to questions about delays on the route. But the problem is bigger. American train passengers lack some basic consumer protections that might motivate rail carriers like Amtrak to fix the problem faster. Waiting for his train Does Amtrak compensate you for delays? Believe it or not, Amtrak doesn't have to compensate delayed passengers. There is no federal law that requires even a partial refund if your train is late. (In Europe, you get a 25% refund of the ticket price if the delay is between one and two hours and a 50% refund if the delay is two hours or more under EU regulations). Amtrak's customer service commitment does not promise compensation for delays, either. As a practical matter, Amtrak sometimes offers compensation in the form of credits for future travel to passengers who experience a long delay. "We always encourage customers to let us know about their trips, what went well and what did not," Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. "For the most part, we work with them individually on whether credit for future travel or a refund is appropriate." Amtrak has been experimenting with automatically awarding Amtrak Guest Rewards points to customers on Acela trains based on the length of their delay. Amtrak would not give any specifics since it's still a pilot program. But Magliari said passengers are welcome to contact Amtrak and complete a trip report, which could lead to policy changes or additional compensation. Still, the fact that U.S. rail carriers don't have to compensate their passengers for delays may give them less incentive to fix the delays. Revenge travel was sweet, but what happens next could turn your vacation sour Hidden costs: Airlines are hiding the cost of air travel. Now the government wants to help them. What will it take to fix the delayed trains? Rail experts say nothing less than a massive new investment in passenger rail infrastructure new trains, high-speed tracks, generous government support can fix this mess. But a little more involvement from passengers might help too. What does it take to make you care about trains? A lot, apparently. The last Amtrak story to gain widespread national attention was the "train ride from hell" back in January. That's when an Amtrak Auto Train from Washington, D.C., to Orlando, Florida, was delayed by almost 20 hours because of a freight derailment. Some passengers reportedly called 911 and claimed they were being held hostage on the train. The experience prompted an outcry from Congress, which demanded answers from Amtrak. But maybe we're looking in the wrong place for the solution. Consider the other big rail story of the year, the opening of Brightline, a private rail service from Miami to Orlando. The high-speed train can travel between the two Florida cities in under three hours. Brightline also plans a high-speed train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 2027 on new tracks without freight trains. Brightline might be enough to make Americans fall in love with trains again. And here's what I mean by love: I recently spent two months in Japan, which has one of the best rail networks in the world. Its shiny bullet train, called the Shinkansen, is faster and more efficient than flying and often less expensive. Veteran tour guide Joe Okada, who at 94 is the oldest tour guide in Japan, said in the 1950s Japan dreamed of a transportation system that was better, faster, cheaper and safer. "Shinkansen made our dreams come true," he said. But there is also a sense of national pride in these superfast trains, which whisk you from Tokyo to Kyoto in about two hours, or five hours less than it would take you to drive. "Have you been on the Shinkansen yet?" people asked me. And when I said yes, they gave me a knowing smile because the Shinkansen is pretty spectacular. No one said that about Amtrak, except maybe ironically. Amtrak is trying to reverse the trend with new overnight trains, station upgrades and improved meals. But it's not enough. We could fix Amtrak by enforcing the law that gives it the right-of-way and strengthening consumer regulations and by thinking bigger, when it comes to trains. "It's past time to have a national conversation about rethinking, funding, and fixing America's rail infrastructure," said Bill McGee, a senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. "The delays will only worsen the longer we wait." Some do it on purpose: How airport line cutters 'are tearing the fabric of society apart' Dogs aren't people: Why we need to keep pets out of planes Elliott's tips for avoiding a train delay Sign up for delay alerts: You can do that on the Amtrak site. The sooner you know about a delay, the sooner you can make alternate plans, like driving or flying. For long distances, take Amtrak only on reliable routes: Amtrak's City of New Orleans, between Chicago and New Orleans, is the most punctual (if you can use that term) long-distance train in the most recent quarter, with a 79% on-time rating. It's followed by the Capitol Limited between Washington and Chicago (74%) and the Lake Shore Limited between Boston/New York City and Chicago (68%). Avoid chronic laggards, like the Sunset Limited between Los Angeles and New Orleans, which is on time only 19% of the time. Avoid the train entirely: While a train might be faster for some routes (notably where Amtrak owns the tracks in the Northeast), you can often get there faster by driving or taking a bus. For longer distances, flying is almost always more cost-effective and convenient if theres an airport at or near your destination. Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishes Elliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and the Elliott Report, a news site about customer service. If you need help with a consumer problem, you can reach him here or email him at chris@elliott.org. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: America's trains always running late: How do you fix them? This story is developing and the Carlsbad Current-Argus will provide more information as it is made available. It remained unclear Friday if charges were to be filed against a man who allegedly shot and killed an Artesia man outside the Artesia Public Safety Complex Thursday. Mark Rommel, 42, of Artesia was found dead at the scene, read a news release from New Mexico State Police. The shooter, whose identity was not released to the media, was shot by Sgt. Christopher Gallegos with the Artesia Police Department at the complex while responding to the incident. More: Artesia police shoot and injure man riding bicycle during attempted traffic stop Gallegos was immediately placed on leave, said Artesia Police Cmdr. Pete Quinones, and sent to speak with a psychiatrist. Its in our policy to do it, Quinones said. I dont know how long it would be until we bring him back. They are under investigation by the New Mexico State Police. They need to take care of that first. We make sure everything is good and well to come back to work. New Mexico State Police was investigating the incident as an officer-involved shooting. The shooter was transported to a nearby hospital with injuries not believed life-threatening, read a State Police news release. More: Police shoot Carlsbad man after foot chase through Artesia alley Police said the incident occurred at about 9 a.m. Oct. 12 when the two men had a dispute in the parking lot of the public safety complex. More: One killed, another injured in Artesia police shooting outside public safety complex Rommel was shot multiple times by the shooter who first brandished a firearm, police said. Gallegos fired at least one round at the shooter, injuring him, State Police said. State Police were working with the Fifth Judicial District Attorneys Office to investigate the incident and determine if any charges would be filed against the officer involved. More: Artesia man runs from police, tracked to Albuquerque and arrested a week later During the initial, on-scene investigation the Artesia Public Safety Complex was closed to the public. The complex houses the Artesia Police Department, Eddy County Sheriffs Office, Artesia Fire Department, Artesia Municipal Court, New Mexico State Police and the New Mexico Probation and Parole. The complex was reopened at 8 a.m. on Friday. This was the second police shooting reported in Artesia in about a month, after Brandon Sevier, 23, was shot and injured after police said he fired at them during a foot chase on Sept. 28 in an alley near Dallas and 7th streets. 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: Police identify man killed in Artesia shooting. Officer on leave Two not-so greasy spoons are duking it out for bragging rights on whos worthy of being the Best Breakfast Place in Central Massachusetts. Sharing the inherent philosophy that breakfast isnt just for morning consumption anymore, Brodys Diner in Shrewsbury and City Line Diner in Worcester both serve eggs, bacon and other morning favorites all day. And now its do or dine time for these two popular diners the finalists in the Telegram & Gazettes search for the top breakfast restaurant in the region. Like the eggs they serve, the heated competition will not be over easy until 6 a.m. Tuesday, when readers can rise before the sun to be one of the first to find out who will end up scrambled or triumphantly sunny-side up. Be sure to cast your vote at telegram.com. The competion is based on reader voting, with the original field of 16 narrowed down in bracket format. Weeklong rounds cut the field to eight, then four, now two. More than 110,000 votes were cast by readers in the Final Four round that saw Brody's top Tiny Tim's of Auburn and City Line outdo 122 Diner of Holden. While both are piping hot as the fresh coffee they brew, only one can be the toast of the town. Brody's Diner in Shrewsbury The restaurants: Brody's It feels great, Suzanne Panarelli of Shrewsbury said about Brodys Diner making the final two. She's part-owner. Im excited. I cant believe it. Its awesome. Along with fellow owners Christina Gonzalez of Millbury and Frank A. Youkstetter of Shrewsbury, the three took over Brodys Diner back in November. Prior to that, they all worked for Bob Ricker, Brodys previous owner for 15 years. Panarelli and Gonzalez work six days a week, tending tables, while not-so-silent silent partner Youkstetter does much of the behind-the-scenes work including manual labor and outside maintenance. While one of her co-workers carries a buttermilk pancake thats as big as a hubcap, Panarelli, who says she knows many of her regulars by their first name, insists its the atmosphere of the place that makes Brodys Diner one of the top places for breakfast in Central Massachusetts. When people come in here, they know us. They feel comfortable. Its warm and inviting, Panarelli said. The coffee is awesome. The breakfasts are huge. And, were fast in delivering your breakfast. People love Brodys. They love coming back here. Rick, 77, and Gerri Cayer, 78, of Northborough enjoy breakfast at Brody's Diner. April 30, 2014, Brodys Diner became quasi-famous when Jerry Seinfeld and Parks and Recreation comedian Aziz Ansari stopped by to tape a season 4 episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. When the breakfast trio took over the business from Ricker, they tweaked the menu a little but generally kept the place as it was when the two standups stopped by to sip java and make jokes. We didnt change anything from Bob (Ricker), Panarelli said. Everything he did, we kept. Why would we? People loved him. He would joke around with them. Give them jokes when they went out the door. Brody's Diner owners, from left, Christina Gonzalez, Frank Youkstetter and Suzanne Panarelli. Panarelli explains who (or who isnt) Brody and how the name came about. Its Bobs daughters name (Jody) and her husbands name (Brad) together. Despite starting off as a breakfast truck-stop on a busy tractor-trailer route, the restaurant gets very few truckers (and less men) coming in for breakfast. We have more women coming in here now. We have a mix of young kids in here and older people, Panarelli said. These are people, local, or theyre traveling or they come a great distance to get breakfast here. If you want to celebrate breakfast in a time and place where Tom Brady still plays for New England and the Patriots dynasty is alive and well, Brodys Diner is the place for you. Despite the Pats miserable season, the Patriots Plate menu featuring tasty dishes adorned with the ordering numbers 12 (for Brady), 87 (for Rob Gronk Gronkowski), 11 (for Julian Edelman) and, finally, 54 (for Donta Hightower or Tedy Bruschi, if you prefer), reminds patrons of a time before Bill Belichick got too big for his britches. Panarelli reassured me that there would be no Mac Jones breakfast special anytime soon. They dont want their patrons to lose their appetite. City Line Diner owners Bill Athanasiou and George Gidopoulos. The restaurants: City Line It feels good, George Gidopoulos, co-owner of City Line Diner, said about his fine-eating establishment making the final two. Im glad were there. Im glad that the publics reception is that we do a decent job. And we sure appreciate our customers. Serving up their first breakfast in fall of 2018, Gidopoulos and his business partner Bill Athanasiou opened City Line Diner at the very spot where a Friendlys restaurant once stood. My business partner saw the property for sale over here in Worcester, Gidopoulos said. My wife and I have been in Worcester since 2006. My business partner has basically grown up here his entire life. Its his hometown, raised in Worcester. We saw the property, kind of, close to home. We saw potential for some sort of restaurant over there and purchased the property, renovated it out and just went the direction of a diner and everythings been well, I guess. Both men have families deeply rooted in food service. Gidopoulos is originally from Sturbridge, where his father, Bobby Gidopoulos, owned Village Pizza Restaurant and Bar in the Fiskdale section. In 2008, the younger Gidopoulos left the corporate world and followed his fathers footsteps with the opening of Village Pizza in Spencer, which he owned and operated for several years prior to City Line Diner. Athanasious father, Archie Athanasiou, also owned A & P Pizza in Bedford for more than 30 years and his grandfather, Vasilios Athanasiou, co-owned and operated the former Howard Johnsons in West Boylston in the early '90s. City Line Diner server Jamie Evans carries a plate of giant buttermilk pancakes. The concept and inspiration for the name of the business are based on Athanasious fondness for diners. City Line Diner seemed like a good fit, he previously told longtime T&G food columnist Barbara Houle, especially since its located near the Leicester line. My number one rule in this business is that it doesnt matter what you did the day before. Every days a new day, Gidopoulos said. We pride ourselves on consistency in customer service and customer experience. Im sure glad the public sees that and I hope that we continue to do that. While he said his kitchen and serving staff are stellar, Gidopoulos gives high marks to his friendly (but reporter shy) head waitress, Jaime Evans, for keeping the place shipshape and to chief cook, Gianni Brown, whose tasty dishes make patrons want to come back for more. Gidopoulos said its the personality and dedication of his staff that makes the customer experience second to none. At the end of the day, I credit our staff a lot for our customer experience and being able to deliver what mine and my business partners expectations are, Gidopoulos said. Having been in this industry and having to work in it in every job from dishwasher to busing to catering to working in the kitchen, I know the hardest part of running a restaurant is employee turnover and we try to differentiate ourselves in creating atmosphere for the employees that makes them want to stay, which, in turn trickles over to the customer experience. And City Line Diner has its share of regular customers. We have customers that come sometimes daily. We have customers that might come twice a week. We have weekend customers who are there on the weekends, Gidopoulos said. We have day customers, those who are retired tend to come everyday during the week. And we also have the kid customers when school is a half-day and college kids come in on break. As the perfect complement to cinnamon apple crisp or corned beef hash, Gidopoulos recommends a piping hot cup of coffee to wash it down. We have outstanding coffee. We get a lot of compliments for it, Gidopoulos said. I have a customer who, actually, requested that our coffee brewer make them bags of coffee (for home consumption). Not to be outdone by Seinfeld showing up at Brodys Diner, City Line Diner had British popstar John Waite, whose single Missing You topped the Billboard Charts in late 1984, chomp down breakfast at Table 10 two days in a row. Everyone is welcomed. Everyone feels welcome, Gidopoulos insists. And, thats what we try to do on our end try to make sure that its an inviting, warm environment when our customers walk in. City Line Diner In Worcester. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Brody's and City Line seek title of Best Breakfast Place in Central Mass. President Biden on Friday spoke for over an hour with families of 14 Americans who are missing following Hamas' attack on Israel. At an event in Philadelphia, he spoke about his conversation with them. "They're going through agony not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children, are," he said. "You know, it's gut-wrenching." "I assured them of my personal commitment to do everything possible to return every missing American to their families," he continued. "We're working around the clock to secure the release of Americans held by Hamas, in close cooperation with Israel and our partners around the region. We're not going to stop until we bring them home." President Joe Biden participates in a zoom call with relatives of American citizens who are being held hostage or missing in the Israeli Hamas conflict Friday, October 13, 2023, in the Oval Office of the White House. / Credit: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz The president was joined on the phone call with the families by special envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Undersecretary of State John Bass, and National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk, the White House said. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the president told the families they've been in his prayers, and expressed the United States' commitment to doing everything possible to bring their loved ones home. "We're working round the clock to secure the release of Americans held by Hamas, in close cooperation with Israel and our partners around the region," the president said Friday afternoon during an unrelated speech in Philadelphia. "We're not going to stop until we bring them home." White House and State Department officials tried to answer questions from families on the call. The U.S. believes Americans are among the scores of hostages being held by Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group. Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that has killed at least 1,300 people. Israel has retaliated with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip that have killed at least 1,900 people and wounded over 7,600, according to health officials. President Biden spoke with CBS News' Scott Pelley, in an interview for 60 Minutes, before his meeting with the families. "I think they have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what's happened to them deeply," Mr. Biden said. "We have to communicate to the world this is critical. This is not even human behavior. It's pure barbarism. And we're going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them." According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, at least 27 Americans have been killed in the latest violence. How one child inspired a possible medical breakthrough Rescue at the Kibbutz | Sunday on 60 Minutes Eye Opener: Teen arrested after Morgan State University shooting MUNCIE, Ind. A Yorktown woman faces felony charges over allegations she burned her child. Taylor R. Hammond, 29, was charged Friday in Delaware Circuit Court 1 with battery on a person less than 14 years old and neglect of a dependent, both Level 6 felonies carrying maximum 30-month prison terms. According to an affidavit, Yorktown police were contacted by an Indiana Department of Child Services caseworker on Sept. 19 after employees at a local childcare facility observed burn marks on the child's right thigh and two of his fingers. Hammond reportedly told the DCS worker she was changing the boy's diaper when ashes from her cigarette fell onto his leg. Asked about the burns on the child's fingers, the Yorktown woman said he had touched a candle. A Yorktown police officer tried to set up an interview with Hammond, but she did not show up, the affidavit said. More: Hartford City man faces 26 battery, neglect charges in abuse of infant son A nurse practitioner "expressed concern that the severity of the burns did not match the mechanism description provided by Taylor," the officer wrote. Hammond already faced a total of 14 charges in five cases pending in local courts four counts each of neglect of a dependent and driving while suspended, along with intimidation, interference with the reporting of a crime, criminal mischief. leaving the scene of an accident, resisting law enforcement and public intoxication. In other crimes news: Battery on juvenile: A Muncie man was arrested Thursday after he was accused of battering his girlfriend's three-year-old daughter. Khalil Ahkeem Lewis, 28, is preliminarily charged with battery resulting in bodily injury to a juvenile, a Level 5 felony with a maximum six-year sentence. City police were notified by Indiana Department of Child Services officials on Wednesday that employees at a local childcare facility had noted the child had bruises on her buttocks , thigh, left and right cheek bones, forehead and elsewhere on her face and head. The child reportedly told investigators that "Daddy beat me." Lewis acknowledged the victim referred to him as "Daddy," but suggested the bruising had been caused by a two-year-old child. Another child, however, told a DCS investigator that the victim had been given a "whoopin'" for defecating in her diaper. Lewis continued to be held in the Delaware County jail on Friday under a $5,000 bond. Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Yorktown mother faces battery, neglect charges over child's burns CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) The Clarksville Police Department is asking for the publics help finding a woman who hasnt been seen since she left her residence nearly two weeks ago. Rosemary Christensen, 48, recently moved to Clarksville from Louisiana with her adult daughter but left their home on Hornbuckle Road on Sept. 29, authorities said. She has not been seen since that day. Clarksville police searching for missing man with medical conditions Rosemary Christensen (Courtesy: Clarksville Police Department) According to her family, Rosemary doesnt know anyone in the area and does not have a phone, money or car. They believe she may be trying to return to Louisiana. She is about 5-feet, 2-inches tall, weighs 175 pounds and was last seen wearing a black and white striped shirt, black pants and sneakers. Her hair is about shoulder length and her natural hair color is a brownish blonde with a bit of gray. | READ MORE | Latest headlines from Clarksville and Montgomery County Anyone with information regarding Rosemarys whereabouts is asked to call 911 so officers can check on her status, or contact Detective Smith at 931-648-0656, ext. 5695. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. The long-awaited third trial of Dana Chandler , the former Topeka woman accused of killing her ex-husband and his girlfriend more than two decades ago, has been postponed again. Jury selection was set to start Monday in Pottawatomie County District Court in Westmoreland, after Chandler successfully argued for a change of venue from Shawnee County last fall. Chandler's third trial had originally been scheduled to begin in February but was postponed to this fall. However, Shawnee County District Court Judge Cheryl Rios on Thursday granted a last-minute request from prosecutors to again delay the trial, this time to July 2024. Court staff confirmed Rios' postponement of the trial on Friday morning but were unable to provide further details due to a network outage that has affected Kansas courts' electronic file and database systems. Dana Chandler, the former Topeka woman who has faced a faulty original trial and second mistrial from a hung jury, won't see her third trial until summer 2024. Chandler is accused of the 2002 killings of her ex-husband Mike Sisco and his girlfriend Karen Harkness. Dana Chandler accused of 2002 killings of Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness Chandler is accused of shooting to death her ex-husband Mike Sisco and his girlfriend Karen Harkness in the basement of a Topeka home in July 2002. No physical evidence, however, tied Chandler, who had been living in Colorado at the time, to the scene. She was arrested about a decade later after prosecutors decided to bring a case built largely on circumstantial evidence, such as Chandler's inability to corroborate her whereabouts during the 48 hours she could have driven the roundtrip to Topeka from Colorado. She also made questionable purchases, such as buying two empty canisters of gas and replacements for clothes she claims to have bloodied from menstruation. A jury in Chandler's original 2012 trial had convicted her of both killings, and a judge later sentenced her to 100 total years in prison. Dana Chandler's third trial for double murder has had long leadup The Kansas Supreme Court, however, later heard an appeal from Chandler that prosecutor Jacqui Spradling had erred in introducing faulty arguments against Chandler that were not backed up by admissible evidence. The court agreed and in 2017 overturned Chandler's original conviction. Spradling was later disbarred by the Supreme Court, who agreed with a disciplinary panel's finding that she had made inexcusable errors at the cost of justice in overzealously prosecuting Chandler and another defendant in a separate case. Still, the Shawnee County District Attorney's office pushed for a second case against Chandler, who remained in custody up to the August 2022 retrial. More: Dana Chandler must stand trial a third time but not in Shawnee County After weeks of testimony and almost a week of deliberations, a jury deadlocked on the charges against Chandler, and Rios declared a mistrial. Prosecutors announced less than a month later they would seek a third trial. Rios later granted Chandler's request to move the trial out of Shawnee County, given the case's notoriety over nearly a decade of court hearings and proceedings. Chandler was also released from jail for the first time since her 2011 arrest while awaiting her trial under $350,000 bail. She is living with her nephew and is subject to court-ordered location monitoring services. Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at 785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia. This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Dana Chandler trial in 2002 Topeka shootings delayed to July 2024 An investigation led by Eugene Police determined a Lane County Sheriff's deputy was justified in the deadly shooting an 18-year-old man on Sept. 14. A deadly force investigation has determined officers were justified in the Sept. 14 shooting death of an 18-year-old who charged at an officer after the stolen vehicle he was driving was cornered in the parking lot of an condominium complex at Coburg and Harlow roads. A Lane County Sheriff's deputy arrived at the parking lot to find two Oregon State Police troopers and a Coburg Police officer on the ground with Lucas Jansma, fighting for an object and yelling about a gun, said the report released Thursday. Sheriff's Sgt. Ryan Lane, who fired a single round into Jansma's head, feared one of the officers might be shot and killed if he did not stop Jansma from gaining further control of the gun, according to the investigative report led by the Eugene Police Department with help from Springfield Police detectives. "He knew, based on his twenty-four years of experience and training that this scenario was a deadly force situation, and the best way to stop Jansma from continuing to be a threat to all of the officers and general public was deadly force," the report said. Investigators said they determined the casing from the round Jansma fired from Coburg Sgt. Mike Lee's duty-issued .45 caliber Glock pistol into his buttocks did not eject because the pistol was still inside the holster. "That is the only thing that prevented Jansma from continuing to fire the gun inside the holster," the report detailed. "The holster was turned by Jansma to an upward position as he fought to remove the gun from the holster or continue firing the gun from within the holster." The Lane County District Attorney's Office released the report and did not immediately respond to requests about questions from The Register-Guard. Report of a stolen Subaru from Seattle being tracked on I-5 Oregon State Police received a call about 9:11 a.m. from a Seattle resident who said he was tracking a stolen 2022 Subaru Crosstrek via GPS, traveling south on Interstate 5 in Oregon. The following is what occurred after that, according to the report. During the call, the man explained that his home in Seattle had been burglarized and his car, which was registered under his father's name, was stolen. OSP entered an "Attempt to Locate" call for service to troopers in the area of Interstate 5 in Linn County. The vehicle was located near a McDonald's on East Pearl Street in Coburg. Lane County Sheriff's dispatch informed Lee, who tried to stop the driver. Jansma drove away and eluded officers as he drove southbound on I-5 toward Eugene. Troopers, Lane County Sheriff's deputies and Lee tracked the vehicle as it came into Eugene and drove west on the Beltline Highway and onto the Delta Highway before making a loop east to the Coburg Road exit. Lee initiated a brief pursuit until the Subaru reached speeds of 90 miles per hour. Minutes later, the Subaru was located turning into the Viking Condominiums. This embedded content is not available in your region. An altercation, an officer shot and a struggle for the weapon As Lee responded to the area, two OSP troopers described as Luquin and Burger turned into the apartment complex, followed by Lane. The investigative report and audio recording detailed the following sequence of events. All four officers followed Jansma as he drove into a dead-end parking area on the east side of the complex. Lee stopped his car behind Jansma, who got out and threw a backpack at the windshield of the patrol vehicle, walked directly toward the officer and challenged him, saying "What's up." "Sergeant Lee stepped out of his patrol car, activated his body camera, and engaged Jansma to arrest him, and was immediately forced to fight due to Jansma's aggressive response." In an audio recording from Lee's camera, which was knocked from his uniform, Lee can be heard telling Jansma that he's under arrest while engaging in a physical altercation. During the struggle, Jansma grabbed Lee's holstered pistol, wrenched it into a firing position and shot a round that struck the officer in his buttocks. Lee can be heard calling out that he'd been shot and "he's got my gun." Trooper Burger tackled Jansma and Lee to the ground. The fight continued with Jansma's hand "in a firing position" on Lee's holstered pistol. Multiple people in the audio recording can be heard shouting commands to Jansma to "let go of the gun." Lee struck Jansma in the head with a "hammer fist" and told Burger he had been shot. Trooper Luquin grabbed Jansma's left hand, which was "tightly gripping" Lee's holstered firearm with his finger on the trigger. "Trooper Burger said during his interview that he feared Jansma would try to kill any one of the four officers in the fight and could not let go of Jansma's right arm for fear of Jansma having both hands available to fight, and eventually gain control of the gun." None of the three officers were able to remove Jansma's hand from the gun. As Lane arrived, he saw the three officers fighting over an object while yelling about the gun. Seconds later, Lane, who did not turn on his body camera, fired "two, unsighted, close-range rounds" approximately 2 seconds apart, at Jansma's head. The first shot missed and struck asphalt. Trooper Luquin's taser can be heard on the audio deploying simultaneously to the two shots fired by Lane. Jansma was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital - Riverbend where he was pronounced dead at 11:13 a.m. Lee was treated by medics on scene. Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@registerguard.com This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Investigators clear officers in death of 18-year-old in Eugene A bicyclist pedals across the lift bridge and over the algal boom near the Menasha lock. Reader question: Why doesn't the city of Menasha remove all the algae and dead fish that are clogging the waterway near the Menasha lock? The stench is unbearable. Something has to be done. Answer: The smell of decaying blue-green algae and floating fish in the Menasha navigational canal is simply awful and has stirred up some lively threads on social media. More than one commenter said the city reeks like an outhouse. The stink has caught the attention of Common Council president Stan Sevenich, who noticed the odor in the downtown as well as by the lock. He requested the issue be discussed Monday by the Board of Public Works. Sevenich also reached out to Neenah-Menasha Fire Chief Kevin Kloehn to determined whether firefighters could spray streams of water to break up the algae and push it downstream. Firefighters tried doing that in the channel at Doty Park in Neenah last week without much success. "The stuff looks like it disappears, but it's so heavy and thick, it actually sinks, and when you stop flowing water, it just rises back up into the channel," Kloehn said. A mat of algae in Menasha is both beautiful and disgusting. Gina LaLiberte, statewide harmful algal bloom coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said the north and northwest shores of Lake Winnebago have seen robust blooms of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) since mid-September. The blooms are tracked by satellite images. LaLiberte listed several reasons for the concentration of algal blooms: South and southeast winds have pushed algae toward Neenah and Menasha; The lack of rain has limited the flow of water from Lake Winnebago; Warm temperatures have contributed to the algal growth; and Lake Winnebago has ample nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen for algae to thrive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cyanobacteria blooms can produce toxins that make people and animals sick if ingested. LaLiberte advised the public to avoid coming in contact with the algae. Watchdog Q&A: Duke Behnke answers your local government questions The algal mat is particularly bad in the Menasha canal because the DNR ordered the closure of the Menasha lock in 2015 to block the spread of the round goby. The closure limits the flow of water through the canal, creating stagnant conditions. The Fox River Navigational System Authority has been working with the DNR to a build a low-voltage electric barrier in the water below the Menasha lock to stop invasive fishes like the round goby from swimming upstream to Lake Winnebago's prized fishery, but that's still years and millions of dollars away. The closure of the Menasha lock leaves stagnant water in the navigational canal, which is ideal for algal growth. Sevenich said the DNR, at a minimum, should build a spillway near the lock to increase the flow in the canal. "Instead of sitting on their hands for the last eight years worrying about a goby, we now need to start worrying about the health and welfare of the residents in this community," Sevenich said. Menasha historian Steve Krueger said this year's algal bloom on Lake Winnebago is the worst in memory but reminded residents that algal blooms long have been a part of life on the shallow, nutrient-rich lake. "The lake is called Winnebago because it stinks," Krueger said. "The French translation of it is putrid-smelling lake." Forecasted rain, cool temperatures and changes in wind direction should help the situation in the coming days and weeks. Post-Crescent reporter Duke Behnke answers your questions about local government. Send questions to dbehnke@gannett.com or call him at 920-993-7176. SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: Our subscribers make this coverage possible. Click to see The Post-Crescent's special offers at postcrescent.com/subscribe and download our app on the App Store or Google Play. This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Decay of blue-green algae stinks up Menasha, prompts call for action BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Xiaopei, former vice chairman of the Jilin Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has been indicted for receiving bribes, China's top procuratorate announced Friday. According to the announcement released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Zhang's case has been filed by the People's Procuratorate of Heze, Shandong Province, to the city's intermediate people's court. Prosecutors accused Zhang of taking advantage of his various posts to seek benefits for others and accepting large sums of money and valuables in return. The prosecutors had informed the defendant of his litigation rights, questioned him, and listened to the defense counsel's opinions. A Gulf Coast woman walking her dog got into an argument that turned dirty, according to Florida authorities. A police report says that at around 8:30 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a disturbance near a retirement community in Pinellas Park, just north of St. Petersburg. READ MORE: Florida firefighter arrested after being told how to clean a skillet The 28-year-old suspect told city officers that she became upset with her 76-year-old neighbor who would always speak to her while she walked her dog. As the dispute escalated, the suspect admitted to taking an unsecured bag of her pets feces and pushing it into the victims face, leaving him smeared with excrement. READ MORE: Florida woman arrested for driving unregistered school bus A waste removal bag in the womans possession matched the half-empty bag on the ground, and an arrest was made, according to the report. She was charged with battery on a person over 65 years of age and released on $2,500 bond. Statement: "Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden administration. Donald Trump In the early hours of Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, former President Donald Trump released a statement critical of the Biden administration. "These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force," Trump said in a statement released on X, formerly Twitter. "Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration." The Biden administration and its critics have engaged in robust debate over whether any of the administrations policies might have made the attacks more likely. But Trump went a step further by saying U.S. taxpayer money was involved. Thats not the case. The biggest issue in the debate has been whether $6 billion in Iranian money made its way to Hamas after the U.S. unfroze it in a hostage-release deal. Trump referenced this sum in a subsequent Truth Social post, saying in part, "Crooked Joe Biden must take back and freeze the 6 billion dollars right now, before it is too late." We reached out to the Trump campaign to see if it was standing by its characterization that taxpayer funds were involved in the attack, but we did not hear back. Where does the $6 billion figure come from? In August, the U.S. announced an agreement with Iran to secure freedom for five U.S. citizens whod been detained in the country, in exchange for allowing Iran to access $6 billion of its own funds that had been frozen in South Korean banks. But where did that $6 billion come from? As president in 2018, Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that had been reached under former President Barack Obama. The deal restricted Irans nuclear development in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Trumps exit from the agreement meant that prior sanctions against Iran snapped back in place, and this left open to punishment any country continuing to do business with Iran. However, the Trump administration gave waivers to a handful of countries that relied on Iran for imported oil, notably South Korea. Under the Trump-era rule, these countries could keep buying Iranian oil as long as they showed that they were working to reduce their dependence. A few months later, the Trump administration decided not to renew the waivers. This meant that countries caught conducting business with Iran found themselves vulnerable to sanctions. At the time, about $6 billion in Iranian oil sale proceeds were being transferred from South Korea to Iran. But the renewed fear of sanctions prompted banks involved in those transfers to freeze the transactions. The Biden administrations August 2023 agreement let Iran access the $6 billion in exchange for freeing five Americans detained in Iran. The agreement included a key restriction on how the money could be withdrawn: Iran could use the money only to pay for humanitarian items, such as medicine and food. Did any of that $6 billion go to Hamas? In a literal sense, none of the $6 billion could have gone to Hamas in time to aid the attacks on Israel. Even before Hamas Oct. 7 attack, the hostage agreement was politically divisive, with Biden supporters praising the hostages' return and critics saying the payment amounted to a ransom that would encourage future hostage-taking. After Hamas attack on Israel, rhetoric about the deal intensified. The Biden administration countered its critics by saying Iran had not withdrawn any of the money prior to Hamas attacks, so the U.S. actions couldnt have played any role. When the freed Americans arrived mid-September in the U.S., the Iranian money was deposited into a restricted Qatari bank account. Qatar's central bank is overseeing the funds, and Iran has not accessed the money, U.S. officials said. But Hamas could indirectly benefit from money that Iran will eventually be able to secure from the hostage deal, Bidens critics argue. The money is fungible. "The safeguards in place are surely good enough to make sure only legitimate goods are purchased using those funds," said Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank focused on the Middle East. "But nobody can say whats then done with those goods." Foreign policy analysts told PolitiFact that fungibility is a legitimate concern in this case. "If you had a large end-of-year bonus payment coming your way, might you start spending more money in the meantime? Of course," said Matthew Kroenig, a Georgetown University professor of government and foreign service. This is especially true in a country with a highly centralized economy and government, Levitt said. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an influential military branch within Iran, "controls so much of the Iranian economy, theres no way to have comfort (that) the goods arent sold and some funds go to underwrite militancy." Despite the possible risks of future fungibility, none of this supports the notion that the $6 billion came from U.S. taxpayers. A final note: $6 billion is a fraction of the annual amount of oil sales by Iran. In 2022, the last full year for which data is available, Iran took in $54 billion in revenue from oil sales, meaning that other countries purchases are providing lots of cash to the Iranian government every year. Our ruling Trump said, "Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden administration." It appears Trump was referring to $6 billion in Iranian money unfrozen as part of a hostage deal struck between the Biden administration and Iran. One school of thought says that this money could one day allow Iran to spend money on other things, including aid to Hamas. But this much is clear: No U.S. taxpayer dollars make up that $6 billion. It was entirely money that South Korea paid to Iran. Amid sanctions, the money became frozen in banks on the way to Iranian coffers. We rate the claim False. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: PolitiFact: Donald Trump wrong that US tax dollars went to Iran, Hamas A voter drops off a ballot at a Lane County drop box. Voters will get their ballots for the Nov. 7 election starting Oct. 18. Local elections are scheduled for across the state Nov. 7. Here are five things you need to know. How to register to vote in Oregon To register to vote in Oregon, you must be a resident of the state and a U.S. citizen and at least 16 years old. (If you are not yet 18, you will not receive a ballot until an election occurs on or after your 18th birthday.) The deadline to register for this election is Oct. 17. To register or for more information, visit sos.oregon.gov or call 503-986-1518. Check your registration status any time at Oregonvotes.gov/MyVote. What's on my ballot? November elections in odd-numbered years often primarily include city or district bonds and levies. Your ballot will vary based on where you live. Eugene voters will select a new city council member to represent Ward 7. In Lane County, ballots may also include: Five Pleasant Hill Goshen Rural Fire Protection District director positions, along with proposals to dissolve the Pleasant Hill Rural Fire Protection District and the Goshen Rural Fire Protection District and create the Pleasant Hill Goshen Rural Fire Protection District with a permanent tax. A five-year renewal of a local option tax to maintain general operations for the River Road Park and Recreation District. Renewal of a five-year levy for Siuslaw School District school operations. Where to find out more Find a full list of items on your ballot on your county's elections website. Lane County: lanecounty.org/government/county_departments/county_administration/operations/county_clerk When will I get my ballot? Ballots are mailed out to all registered voters living in Oregon starting Oct. 18. When/where must I return my ballot? Ballots in Oregon must be postmarked by election day. Ballots deposited in an official drop box must be received by 8 p.m. on election day. Lane County drop boxes: Lane County Elections, 275 W. 10th Ave., Eugene. Enter from Lincoln Street. Juvenile Justice Center, 2727 MLK Jr. Blvd., Eugene. Lane County Public Works, 3050 N. Delta Highway, Eugene. Amazon Pool, 2600 Hilyard St., Eugene. Pearl Street, 777 Pearl St., Eugene. On Pearl Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues. Walmart, 4550 W. 11th Ave., Eugene. North side of the parking lot. Bethel Library, 1990 Echo Hollow Road, Eugene. River Road Park and Recreation Center, 1400 Lake Dr., Eugene. On south island in parking lot off Lake Drive. City of Creswell, 13 S. First St., Creswell. North side of parking lot at corner of South First and C streets. Florence Police Department, 900 Greenwood St., Florence. Old Lowell City Hall at Paul Fisher Park, 107 E. Third St., Lowell. Springfield City Hall, in drive-through under building between Fifth and Sixth streets off A Street. Splash! At Lively Park, 6100 Thurston Road, Springfield. This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Election Day 2023: How Lane County voters can cast ballots A former U.S. attorney spelled out how special counsel Jack Smith is forcing Donald Trump s hand and making him put his money where his mouth is with his latest move in the former presidents election interference case. Smith this week asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to order Trump to provide formal pre-trial notice of any intent to rely on advice of counsel as a defense, Barbara McQuade wrote in an essay for MSNBC published Thursday. Trump has so far been able to have it both ways by protecting testimony and documents from disclosure as privileged, while also claiming that his conduct was lawful because he simply relied on what his lawyers told him, wrote McQuade, who was the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2010 to 2017 and is now a law professor at the University of Michigan and analyst for MSNBC. Trump will now have to decide whether he wants to rely on that defense at trial and, therefore, disclose the communications between himself and his lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani , which may open him up to further scrutiny, she said. Regardless of whether Smiths motion succeeds, at some point, Trump will have to decide whether asserting what may be a flimsy defense is worth sharing his trove of secrets, added McQuade. Read the full essay here. Related... A father and son lost their way during a hike back from a popular Hawaii waterfall, fire officials said. The two called for help at 1:58 p.m. Oct. 10 from the Lulumahu Falls Trail on Oahu, the Honolulu Fire Department said in a news release. Rescuers reached the hikers by foot and prepared a landing zone nearby for a helicopter, rescuers said. The pair had no injures, and they were airlifted from the area, fire officials said. The Lulumahu Falls Trail takes visitors through a bamboo forest, across a stream, up concrete steps and along the Nuuanu Reservoir before reaching a 50-foot waterfall. But the 1.6-mile out-and-back hike is on private government property, according to AllTrails. This is part of a priority Oahu watershed where no access is allowed so that the area can return to a more pristine state, according to the outdoor travel app. Visitors can be fined or cited for trespassing in this area without permission or a permit. What to do if you get lost while hiking If you think youre getting lost, experts say its best to stop where you are and not panic. You should go over how you got to that point and if youre able to see any landmarks around. Do not move at all until you have a specific reason to take a step, officials with the U.S. Forest Service said. You should come up with a plan but stay put unless you are very, very confident in the route. There are steps hikers can take to avoid getting lost and be better prepared for the unexpected: Have more than enough food and water with you. Take a compass that you know how to use, or have a GPS device on hand. Dont rely solely on your cell phone. It probably wont work because of a lack of signal or a depleted battery. Study the terrain and your route, and you should know how youll return. Have the right clothing. Sturdy hiking boots and layers can help you be prepared for rapidly changing weather. Pack a blanket, flashlight and matches. Check with a local ranger for special warnings. They can tell you about fires in the area, bear sightings, flooding, trail or road closures. Runner vanishes on 28-mile trek through national park. Two weeks later, clues elusive Nurses call for help and tend to hiker who fell off trail in Washington, rescuers say 68-year-old hiker got lost in remote wilderness. How his phone helped crews reach him NEW PHILADELPHIA Four residents are competing for three open seats on the New Philadelphia Board of Education in the Nov. 7 general election. The candidates are Amanda Fontana, Audrey L. Mattevi, Kelly M. Ricklic and Jennifer Schrock. Information on candidates Amanda Fontana Name: Amanda Fontana Age: 41 Occupation: Independent provider through Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Why should the voters elect you to the New Philadelphia school board? For nearly two decades I have been using my skills as a social worker, special needs mom and advocate to assist students and families while being a voice for those whose voices often go unheard. My dedication to those in our community has allowed me to break down barriers, hold systems accountable and create compelling and positive change. I am now and will always be motivated and determined to helping our community thrive. What is the most pressing issue facing the district and what would you do to help address it? Currently, there is a tremendous need for providing safe and secure environments where all of our students have the ability to grow, learn and reach their full potential. Addressing this issue means enhancing the relationship between the district and the community and we do this through transparency and teamwork. Audrey Mattevi Name: Audrey Mattevi Age: 33 Occupation: Director of Operations at Pageantry Innovations Why should the voters elect you to the New Philadelphia school board? New Philadelphia has always been my home. I am a third generation Quaker and I now have the privilege to send my daughter to preschool in New Philadelphia. I take pride in our community. Every single student matters here. I am a consumer of information, I tend to look outside the box when an answer is not obvious, and I will always act with my daughter's and every students best interests in mind. What is the most pressing issue facing the district and what would you do to help address it? Our school district has phenomenal teachers, amazing staff members and outstanding kids working and learning in subpar spaces. The state of our buildings is scary. Our district does its very best with the situation at hand, but our kids and educators need safe, secure, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant facilities. I know that levies and financial talk can put community members on edge, but I believe in this community and our dedication to the wellbeing of our youth. Kelly Ricklic Name: Kelly M. Ricklic Age: 66 Occupation: I am retired, however I am helping the Conotton Valley Union Local School District as their school representative on a building project. Why should the voters elect you to the New Philadelphia school board? I have 24 years experience in budgetary management. I have overseen revenue and expenditure tracking as a former water superintendent for the City of New Philadelphia, Buildings and Grounds/Maintenance Supervisors for the New Philadelphia school district and Buckeye Career Center, and as a councilman-at-large in New Philadelphia. My involvement in these areas will help me be a fiscally responsible board member. I am passionate about the community I live in and welcome the opportunity to partner with the school district and community to give our students a quality education. What is the most pressing issue facing the district and what would you do to help address it? A pressing issue our district faces is the aging infrastructure of our buildings. Investments in maintenance and repairs to these structures assures our youth a safe and secure environment to learn. I would address this issue by encouraging the community to become actively involved in how their tax dollars should be spent. Great schools make great communities. The students of the New Philadelphia school district deserve a learning environment conducive to helping them achieve their full potential. Jennifer Schrock Name: Jennifer Schrock Age: 40 Occupation: Co-owner of Harrison Auto Parts (NAPA Sugarcreek) Why should the voters elect you to the New Philadelphia school board? I will bring my hard work ethic, enthusiasm and advocacy skills to the board. I am a parent of two young Quakers and am committed to the academic success and safety of the entire student body. I will be proactive in addressing the problems facing our district and will encourage more community engagement. The students are my priority and will be the deciding factor when I cast a vote. What is the most press issuing facing the district and what would you do to help address it? The most obvious issue is our disgraceful school buildings. They are unsafe, inaccessible and uncomfortable. Ill use this platform to talk about the issue we cant see: the bullying plaguing our district. As a board member I will advocate for the development of a committee of board members, educators and mental health professionals to support administration in handling this problem. I will bring to the board 12 years of mental health professional experience. Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com. This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Four vying for three seats on New Philadelphia Board of Education Greta Thunberg is among dozens of activists protesting outside the office of Europes largest onshore wind farm operator in Norway today. It doesnt sound like the most likely place for the famous young Swedish climate campaigner. But Thunberg has been unwavering in her support for the indigenous Sami people, who have been fighting the turbines for years. In October 2021, the Supreme Court of Norway ruled that the construction of the turbines had violated the rights of the Sami, who have used the land to herd reindeer for centuries. But the 151 turbines in central Norways Fosen district (about 450 kilometres from Oslo) are still standing tall, despite the ruling and repeated protests by activists to get them taken down. Dozens of activists in Norway blocked the entrance to one of the main operators of a wind farm they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer. - Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP "Indigenous rights, human rights, must go hand-in-hand with climate protection and climate action. That can't happen at the expense of some people, Thunberg said during a previous protest this year. She travelled back to Oslo today after receiving a 400 fine in Swedens Malmo District Court yesterday, for refusing to leave a Swedish oil terminal protest in July. Utility firm blockade follows Norwegian parliament protest Activists wearing traditional Sami costumes demonstrate inside the central hall of Storting, the Norwegian parliament, in Oslo, 11 October 2023. - Hakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB/AP On Thursday, the activists sat down on the ground outside the building in Oslo of Statkraft, a state-owned company that operates 80 of the wind turbines at Fosen. We expect to block all visible entrances, activist Gina Gylver told the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen. Police spokesman Sven Martin Ege told Norwegian news agency NTB that around 100 protesters have said they want to prevent employees of Statkraft from entering their workplace after which it was decided that they will work from home. Demonstrators are carried out from the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, 11 October 2023. - Frederik Ringnes/NTB/AP Late on Wednesday, a group of about 20 Sami, many dressed in traditional garments, staged a protest in a central hallway inside the Norwegian parliament. They were removed by police after refusing to leave the premises. Hundreds more had gathered on the main street leading up to Norways parliament, the Storting. How has the Norwegian government responded? Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre has acknowledged ongoing human rights violations and the government has repeatedly apologised for failing to act despite the Supreme Court ruling. But Energy Minister Terje Aasland has said that the demolition of all wind turbines at Fosen now, as the protesters demand, was not relevant. Activist Mihkkal Htta wears a traditional Sami outfit as he sits in protest outside the entrance of Statkraft, a state-owned company that operates 80 of the wind turbines. - Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP We cannot have renewable energy that violates human rights," Thunberg said, according to NTB. "Statkraft and other owners must step forward and demand a solution to the Fosen case, so that green energy is developed in the right way in the future without violating the rights of Indigenous people. In June, activists protested outside Gahr Stres office. They occupied the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for four days in February, and later blocked the entrances to 10 ministries. Educators, students and civil rights groups challenging Oklahomas law against critical race theory are urging a federal judge to take action in their two-year-old lawsuit, saying teachers are in their third year of self-censoring and students are being deprived of a culturally inclusive education. In a motion filed in late September, the groups suing the state said the request for an injunction blocking enforcement of the law, known as House Bill 1775, had been pending for nearly two years and all written arguments from both sides regarding the injunction had been filed 19 months ago. Moreover, a request in August for a conference to discuss the status of various motions has gone unanswered, they said. Meanwhile, state leaders and education officials continue to investigate school districts and enforce HB 1775 for activities such as training teachers on how to avoid being racially biased against students, attorneys for the students and educators said. These actions have put educators on notice that the State will continue to enforce HB 1775 to its fullest extent and educators must tread lightly or else face losing their licenses. As a result, Oklahoma students continue to be deprived of access to curricula reflecting diverse perspectives, ideas, and lessons related to a culturally inclusive education, and information that is crucial for building analytical skills and fostering cognitive development. What to know about US District Judge Charles B. Goodwin, overseeing critical race theory lawsuit U.S. District Judge Charles B. Goodwin is overseeing the case in Oklahoma City. Goodwin, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump , was confirmed in 2018 despite receiving a rare rating of unqualified from the American Bar Associations judicial rating committee. A former chair of that ABA committee said Goodwins work habits as a federal magistrate, including his frequent absence from the courthouse until mid-afternoon, raised doubt for a majority of the standing committee's members with respect to Magistrate Judge Goodwin's ability to fulfill the demands of a federal judge." More: Why you should read these 51 banned books now Goodwin told the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017, when he was a magistrate, that he often worked from home when he was writing opinions and that he was shocked and disappointed by the ABAs rating. Goodwin was defended at the time by others, including his former boss, District Judge Joe Heaton. In their motion last month urging Goodwin to act, the parties suing the state said they had two choices at this point ask him to move the case along or go to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Accordingly, Plaintiffs are seeking relief from this Court before raising this issue with the Tenth Circuit, they said. What does House Bill 1775 ban? House Bill 1775 was approved by the Oklahoma Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2021. The law bans the teaching in public schools of eight concepts taken verbatim from an executive order issued in 2020 by former President Donald Trump. Among the prohibited concepts are: One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex: An individual, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously; An individual, by virtue of their race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex; Any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of their race or sex, and: Meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race. U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin is being urged to take action on the two-year-old lawsuit over House Bill 1775. The state Board of Education adopted emergency rules to implement the law, which includes the right of a private citizen to sue over perceived violations. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU Oklahoma and attorneys for other groups filed the federal lawsuit in Oklahoma City in October 2021, saying it was the first legal challenge to laws targeting so-called critical race theory. At the time, the groups said, eight states had approved similar laws. The challenge claims the law violates the First and Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution by stifling speech and discriminating against minority and LGBTQ+ students. More: Black history is under attack across US from AP African American Studies to Ruby Bridges In their latest motion to get the case moving, attorneys for the students and educators said the need for clarity on this law remains as great as ever. Without this clarity, Oklahoma teachers and professors are obligated to self-censor their instruction, removing lessons related to racism, sexism, and implicit bias for fear of incurring the harsh penalties of the laws implementing regulations. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is defending the law. His solicitor general told the judge earlier this year that he should dismiss the case because the law is succinct, straightforward, and narrowly phrased. It does not impede academic freedom, and it is not overbroad. This Court should decline Plaintiffs invitation to overturn Oklahomas democratic and representative political process. It should instead dismiss the case for failure to state a plausible claim. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lawsuit on critical race theory ban in Oklahoma stalled, advocates say A Jewish state lawmaker said she was disappointed in her fellow Democrats for failing to release a public statement quickly about the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists. The dispute highlighted divisions in the Democratic Party between Israel supporters and those who sympathize with Palestinians. At the same time, Arizona's Republican officials took the opportunity to complain about the Biden administration in their own statements on the attack. Democrats in the state House of Representatives put out a news release Oct. 10 saying they "unequivocally condemn the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on innocent Israelis, as well as any and all actions that target civilians." But they wouldn't have put out anything until Tucson Democrats Rep. Alma and Consuelo Hernandez urged them to, according to Rep. Alma Hernandez . "I am just disheartened and really frustrated that it took this long," Alma Hernandez said. "It took me sending a not-very-nice email for us to even see anything." Hernandez praised fellow Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, however, for announcing on Oct. 9 that the Executive Tower next to the state Capitol which houses her offices and those of other officials would be lit in blue light in solidarity with the people of Israel. In comments to reporters, Hobbs condemned the horrific terrorist attack by the Hamas militants and said Arizona supports Israels right to self defense. The state of Arizona stands with Israel, and we'll continue to do that, she said. Arizona politicians offer condolences Attorney General Kris Mayes announces actions that Arizona is taking to stop fraud against the Medicaid system and exploitation of AHCCCS members during a news conference at the Arizona state Capitol in Phoenix on May 16, 2023. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes joined a dozen attorneys general in other states in condemning the violence. We are aghast and outraged at the wanton, calculated attacks on civilians going about their daily lives, the statement reads. The carnage, perpetrated by Hamas and its supporters, has directly led to the loss of hundreds of innocent lives and horrific kidnappings. We grieve with our Israeli siblings, and with the loved ones of all those innocent lives lost in Israel and Gaza because of this surprise attack. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, also a Democrat, said on X he supported the democratic nation of Israel against the terrorists who have taken the lives of innocent men, women and children," adding that he continued to "pray for peace." Republican Treasurer Kimberly Yee used the event to tout her opposition to boycott movements targeting Israel, inviting her followers to join me in praying for protection over the people of Israel against these evil Hamas terrorist attacks. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. Tom Horne, the Republican superintendent of public instruction, who's Jewish, said he "firmly" stands in support of Israel and believes "Hamas should be destroyed. Arizona Sen. Frank Carroll, R-Sun City West, blamed the Biden administration for foreign policies that "have enabled and encouraged our enemies to act out aggressively against our allies. Democrats at the federal level have been denying the obvious about the intentions of dictators and terrorists." While the Middle East's political situation is "complex," terrorist acts "have no place nor excuse," he wrote. Both Carroll and Senate President Warren Petersen, in his own statement Oct. 9 on behalf of the Senate GOP, worried that Biden's border policies weren't restrictive enough to prevent terrorists from entering the country. House Speaker Ben Toma issued a statement Oct. 10 on behalf of the House GOP, saying they "stand unequivocally with our Israeli brothers and sisters and grieve with those who have lost loved ones to these unprovoked atrocities." Senate Democratic Leader Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, also issued a statement on Oct. 10, saying it was "paramount that all captives Israelis and Americans be released immediately without inflicting additional harm." Jewish Democratic lawmaker blasts Dem leaders State Rep. Alma Hernandez. Yet Democrats in both the state Senate and House waited too long to speak out in the first days after the attack, Alma Hernandez said. After asking Democratic leaders to put out a statement, the caucus sent several drafts of a statement to her and her sister that they didn't find acceptable because they discussed the difficult politics of the region and the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestinians. "All we were asking for was just an acknowledgement that as the Democratic caucus, we don't support terrorist acts," she said. "It was never meant to be political." She shared a mordant letter she sent to Democratic leaders ripping their hesitation. "It truly feels terrible being a Democrat and part of this caucus right now," she wrote to them. "I never knew that it would be so difficult for you all to denounce torturing innocent women, children and elderly ..." Democratic leaders also allowed Rep. Athena Salman, D-Tempe, who has publicly condemned Israel for its actions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, to review the drafts, Hernandez said, questioning whether leaders would seek her opinion if Salman was asking for support for "her community." Salman, who's of Arabic descent, and her husband, state Sen. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, have long supported the Palestinian community here and abroad, helping to open the Palestinian American Community Center in Phoenix in 2020. Salman said in a 2019 post on x.com, "My father was beaten in high school by the Israeli military for attending a demonstration against the occupation. Things have only become worse since then." The political couple's anti-Israel stance is echoed by other progressive Democratic politicians across the country. In Congress, Reps. Cori Bush, D-Missouri, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, were flamed by Republicans and fellow Democrats after making negative remarks about Israel in the attack's aftermath. House Democratic leaders Reps. Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, and Oscar De Los Santos, D-Laveen, didn't return phone calls for this article. Neither did Salman or Mendez. Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern. Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669. Follow her on X @sbarchenger. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Democrats' split over Israel shown by delay in public comment Two men charged with conspiring to kill an undercover police officer were denied bond Thursday and ordered to remain in jail until trial despite the officer admitting that he couldnt identify the person who shot him. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Alberto Milian couldnt be swayed to release the men, Atiba Moore and accused shooter Steve Gallon IV. Gallon is the son of long-time Miami-Dade School Board member Steve Gallon, who was in court Thursday looking on from the gallery. Their defense attorneys argued from that Gallon wasnt aware that the victim, Miami-Dade Police Officer Darrion Washington, was actually an undercover cop, that investigators had concocted numerous untrue allegations and that Washington could not identify his assailant. In denying the men bond, Milian said he couldnt overlook Moores failure to abide by three pre-trial agreements in at least two separate cases. And, the judge said, even if Gallon wasnt aware Washington was a cop when he was shot him, Gallon had still tried to kill someone. In a courtroom packed on one side by police officers and union representatives and the other by Gallons family and friends, Milian said he believed the state met its burden in finding enough probable cause to keep the men jailed until trial. Doubt my judgment, the judge told those attending the hearing. But dont doubt my integrity. Gallon IV, 33 and Moore, 30, have both been charged with the first-degree attempted murder of Washington, who works mainly on undercover narcotics stings. . Police believe that Moore was part of an operation that supplies drugs to Miami-Dade jails. They were following him the afternoon of March 8 when a sting went awry and Washington ended up being grazed by a bullet in back of his neck. According to testimony from Washington, officers began tailing Moore that day from his home in Broward County and followed him to a barbershop at Northwest 17th Avenue and 82nd Street. Steven Gallon IV, son of Miami Dade School board member Steve Gallon and charged with shooting an undercover Miami-Dade police officer, signals to friends and family during a court hearing in which he was deneid bond on Thursday. There, they believe he set up some type of drug deal. With a helicopter helping him track the suspect, Washington tailed Moore south. On the radio with other members of his team, Washington admitted to scuttling a plan for patrol officers to turn on their sirens and lights and pull Moore over. But Washington, in an unmarked white Toyota Camry, kept following Moore towards a home near Northwest 46th Street and Fifth Avenue. He told defense attorneys that he followed Moore three times around the block at about 35 mph, before someone suddenly jumped out in front of his car, forcing him to swerve and crash into Moores parked car. Then, Washington said, he put his badge on around his neck, got out of the car and said police, before ordering Moore to the ground. Moore, he said, kept walking. Washington said he then got back into his car and drove towards Moore before he caught up to him and ordered him to the ground. By then he realized hed been shot so he took his shirt and badge and chain off and threw it into the car and made his way down the street. At one point a Miami police officer told him to stop before he explained who he was. Police said they later found several of Moores cellphones on the grass beside his car and that one of them had a 14-second phone call between Moore and Gallon IV about a minute before the shooting. Though they had no way of knowing what was on the call, they believe that Moore called Gallon IV and said he was being followed and that Gallon was waiting for and shot the officer outside a home where Moore had stopped his car. Police also found video surveillance footage of Gallon IV in an alley near the home after the shooting, holding what appears to be a gun. He was arrested at 4 a.m. the next morning when he walked outside of the home. At one point Thursday during testy questioning, defense attorney Roderick Vereen asked Washington if he had a clear look at the man who shot him. I dont know who shot at me, Washington responded. Washington also failed to explain how there was no blood on the chain holding his police badge, despite his neck area being covered in blood after he was shot. After I was shot, I took the badge off. I ordered Moore to the ground. I was bleeding a lot from my head, said the officer. I took off my shirt and badge and threw it into the vehicle then ran down the street. A trial date has not yet been set. UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israeli strikes that have crippled two Syrian airports are extremely worrying, said a UN spokesman on Thursday. Reports of Israeli strikes on Aleppo and Damascus airports are extremely worrying, especially in light of the warnings and the concern of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an escalation of the tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman. Guterres strongly condemns all violence in Syria and urges all parties to respect their obligations under international law, recalling that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected under international humanitarian law, said the spokesman. "We're at a time where these heightened tensions, where any miscalculation could lead to broader violence in an already volatile region," he told a daily press briefing. The fact that the two airports are not functioning will have a temporary halt on the UN Humanitarian Air Service, which operates out of both airports to service the Syrian humanitarian programs, he said. Syria's SANA state news agency reported Thursday that Israeli missile strikes have put the international airports in Damascus and Aleppo out of service. A Mississippi man was looking for a business opportunity and he found one right under his feet. Well, actually, he found it on his feet and after years of work, designing and travel that opportunity became Double B Boot Company and they're being worn by the likes of Morgan Wallen and Olivia Dunne. "I was always outdoors," said Ben Bowen of Randolph, Mississippi. "I was always riding horses. "Boots were something I wore all the time. That's what I always chose to wear." Bowen grew up as the fourth generation in his family to farm at Double B Farms and while he enjoys farming, he wanted to do something different. After high school he attended Ole Miss where he studied marketing and corporate relations. "I guess I always wanted to be in the business school, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do," Bowen said. "I always thought marketing was a huge part of business. You can have a great product, but if nobody knows about it, it doesn't matter." After graduating, he went to work for relatives and got a taste of business outside the agricultural world. Ben Bowen of Randolph started Double B Boot Company to offer comfortable, high quality Western boots that won't go out of style. The path to his own business "I worked in the furniture industry," Bowen said. "I was in sales and would travel to Vietnam and China. "I would take our customers to where the furniture was being made. I was kind of a liaison between the factories and our customers." Bowen said it was an enjoyable experience and made him want his own business even more. Eventually, he realized there was an opportunity in something he wore every day boots. "It kind of just made sense," Bowen said. "There was a gap in the market for an affordable, comfortable boot. "I thought there was room for a really comfortable boot that was less expensive. I wanted to create timeless boots you can wear for any occasion, gorgeous boots you can wear for years and years and they're never going out of style." In addition to men's boots, Double B Boot Company offers a selection of high quality women's Western style boots. From an idea to a product Starting a company is easier said than done, though. Bowen said it was a two to three year process of designing the boots, choosing materials and finding a manufacturer that was a good fit. He said he second-guessed himself at times. However, he was determined. "Knowing your product and believing in the Lord; it helps you persevere, be confident and push through," Bowen said. Bowen said sales launched in November 2022 with both men's and women's models in Western and farm styles. Price tags range from $345 to $395 and can also be custom branded. "I do custom initials and things like that on the boots," Bowen said. "I can brand numbers and states." Bowen said his boots can be purchased directly from Double B Boot Company online or at MLM Clothiers in Tupelo and Hinton & Hinton in Oxford and more locations are coming. The styles, comfortable cushioning in the soles and durable, soft leather are winning over customers. Mississippi flavors: Experience history, culture and great food on the Mississippi Delta Hot Tamale Trail Double B Boot Company in Randolph has celebrities such as Morgan Wallen and Hardy wearing its timelessly styled Western boots. Customers enjoy style, comfort and service "The customer service was awesome," said Barton Ramsey of Guntown. "I ordered them with my custom logo and they had them to me in three days. "I'm a big fan of how comfortable they are. They also have a real old-school classic look to them." Mary Landrum Pyron of Crystal Springs also talked about the comfort. "They're great quality boots," Pyron said. "I can work in them all day." The styles are a great fit for Pyron, too. Pyron makes custom felt Western and fashion hats at her business, ML Provisions. So, the two Mississippi brands compliment each other. "My sister wears them, I wear them it completes the look of the hats," Pyron said. "I'm glad he brought boots to Mississippi. Our brands align." Celebrities are buying Double B boots, too. Bowen said musical artists Morgan Wallen, Ernest and HARDY have purchased boots as well as Louisiana State University gymnast and model Olivia Dunne. "I think it's awesome," Bowen said. "I take it as a huge compliment when artists and musicians who have access to any brand in the world choose to wear Double B." Inspired by the West, made in the South: Mississippi woman makes custom western hats Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi's Double B Boot company offers comfort and timeless style Meghan McCain decried on social media Arizona State University students marching in support of Palestinians as the conflict between Israel and Hamas stretches into its seventh day. McCain asked ASU's leadership to condemn the rally, which she described as "support of Hamas," invoking the university's recently announced library in honor of her father, the late six-term Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz. "No entity that condones such behavior on their campus has any business hosting my fathers library in his name. Full stop. I severely encourage the heads of Arizona State University @ASU to come out and condemn this support of Hamas immediately," McCain wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Hamas is the Islamic militant movement that governs the Gaza Strip, and was responsible for the surprise attacks against Israel. Most Palestinian civilians are not members of Hamas. In the video, a crowd of students can be seen walking past ASU's Memorial Union building, waving Palestinian flags and chanting "Free Palestine." Two signs visible in the video read: "End Israeli Apartheid, End Capitalism," and "No occupier outlives the occupied." No entity that condones such behavior on their campus has any business hosting my fathers library in his name. Full stop. I severely encourage the heads of Arizona State University @ASU to come out and condemn this support of Hamas immediately. https://t.co/CZAanptOpO Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) October 12, 2023 Meghan McCain's husband, the conservative commentator Ben Domenech, previously criticized the library on different grounds. Domenech said that the library's funding, which in part draws on a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package passed earlier in President Joe Biden's tenure, goes against McCain's longstanding opposition to "earmarking," in which lawmakers secure federal dollars for specific projects in their home districts. McCain crusaded against the practice for years. "John would never have approved using taxpayer dollars, let alone Covid Rescue Plan funds, to pay for his library," Domenech wrote on X when the library was first announced. Biden, who was a friend and longtime Senate colleague of McCain's, visited Arizona last month to announce the library, which university leaders said will serve as a solutions center and gathering spot to learn more about leadership, democracy and national security. Biden is paying special attention to Arizona, which he narrowly carried in 2020 because it's considered one of the four most competitive states in the upcoming presidential election. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Meghan McCain wants ASU to condemn pro-Palestine march Michael Cohen, the archenemy of Donald Trump, was set to be the star witness at the ex-presidents ongoing bank fraud trial. But Cohen has surprised the New York Attorney Generals office by potentially canceling his court appearance next weekciting a medical issue, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Cohen, once Trumps trusted legal adviser, took the fall for the former presidents hush money payoff to porn stars Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, among other things, and spent a combined three years in federal prison and under house arrest. Trump Dismisses $500 Million Lawsuit Against Michael CohenFor Now The disbarred lawyer has since flipped against Trump, spending recent years publishing books, hosting a podcast, and helping prosecutorsall in the service of exposing his former boss. Because Cohen was due to appear in this high stakes court case pursuant to a subpoena, he cant get out of his scheduled testimony so easily. Hell have to provide a doctors note, according to both sources who spoke to The Daily Beast. The last-minute switcheroo has forced both Attorney General Letitia James and Trumps defense team to scramble to figure out how to keep this marquee trial moving forward on pace, according to one of those sources. Its also unclear if Trump, whose presence is not required at this civil trial, will still move forward with any potential plans to show up in court. The Messenger this week first reported that Trump planned to head back to Justice Arthur F. Engorons courtroom next week to stare down his former lawyer while he gets cross-examined by a woman whos essentially Cohens replacement: defense lawyer Alina Habba. I cant imagine Trump is interested in Donna Kidder, one source said, naming another upcoming prosecution witness who worked at the Trump Organization. Unfortunately I need to attend to a pre-existing medical condition that impedes my ability to testify this upcoming week. Rest assured, I will testify at the earliest opportunity, Cohen told The Daily Beast. The 57-year old New Yorker has previously discussed ongoing health issues that have worsened in recent years, particularly after his stay at the federal prison in Otisville, New York. In his first book, he described serious hypertension problems and preexisting blood clotting conditions that resulted in multiple hospital visits. In conversations, he has also cited a heart condition. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Hey, everyone! Drew here. TGIF! Is it over? Its not totally over: There are more Prime Big Deal Days deals - heres where to find them. | From Our Partners Heres your news. Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, left and center Nick Richards, right, relax along the sideline during the teams Purple and Teal scrimmage at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, October 7, 2023. Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges turned himself in to authorities this morning on criminal charges in Charlotte. An active warrant for Bridges was issued in Mecklenburg County for violation of his ex-girlfriends domestic violence protection order. Bridges ex-girlfriend told police he was violating a domestic violence protection order because he continually contacted her by phone and on social media, the arrest warrant states. Anna Douglas continues to update this story. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police responded to a reported threat at Ashley Park Elementary School Friday morning, Oct. 13, 2023. Police in Charlotte and Fort Mill in South Carolina responded to reported threats at schools this morning. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police havent disclosed the specifics of the reported threat coming from Ashley Park Elementary School. A school in York County was placed on lockdown and later given the all clear after police responded to a reported bomb threat. Joe Marusak and Andrew Dys share the latest. Monroe and Forest Hills High Schools discuss what to do after a series of fights broke out during its Sept. 29 football game at Monroe. Union County Public Schools has since issued new safety guidelines for events. Late last month, during a game between Monroe High School and Forest Hills High, a series of fights broke out in the stands. At least 25 people were charged by the Monroe Police Department, The Charlotte Observer reported. The incident was one of a series of fights at area high school sporting events in recent weeks, including at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools games. Kendrick Marshall reports on whats been done to prevent further violence at high school sporting events. 4. Some more stories to read --- Thats it for now. Thanks for reading! If you dont already, subscribe to the Charlotte Observer here. If youre already a subscriber (thanks!), download our iOS or Android app to stay connected. Find more updates at charlotteobserver.com, and follow along on Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok to see more from us. Enjoy your day! Did someone forward this newsletter to you? You can sign up here. Drew Nantais is a Senior Growth & Engagement Producer for the Charlotte Observer. The grounds of Portage County's historical societies, as well as private homes, are being transformed into the Italian countryside as film producers shoot a historical action drama in Portage County. Director Matt Zaleski acts out a scene with fellow actor/producer Chuck French and actress Ella Stec in the film Quarter Given, being filmed locally in Mantua and in other places across the region. "Quarter Given," the story of a pair of unlikely allies who come together to help a young girl during the Italian surrender of World War II, is currently being filmed across Portage County. The movie uses several locations as a backdrop, including the Portage County Historical Society in Ravenna, the Shalersville Historical Society and private homes in Mantua. "Quarter Given," a historical drama focusing on the events in Italy during World War II, is being shot in Portage County, including on this property in Mantua. Chuck French, an actor and producer of the movie, said the movie takes place in southern Italy in the months leading up to Italy's surrender in the war. French portrays Armando Marciano, a Blackshirt captain from the Italian fascist army. He meets Alan Layne, an American captain with the Office of Strategic Services portrayed by Matthew Zaleski, an actor and director. Director Matt Zaleski, left, acts out a scene with fellow actor and producer Chuck French, center, and actress Marianna Alacchi on the set of the new World War II film Quarter Given, being filmed locally in Mantua and other places across the region. The two men are at odds but come together when they meet Sofia Brandini, a 13-year-old girl they find in a house they go into while dodging an air raid. Sofia is portrayed by 16-year-old actress Ella Stec. The unlikely allies find common ground by making sure the girl is safe in the events leading to the surrender. Director Matt Zaleski gives actress Marianna Alacchi some notes before shooting a scene on the new war film Quarter Given, which is filming in Mantua along with other places across the region. French said he wanted to focus on Italy because most World War II movies overlook what happened there for example, most people don't realize Italy was embroiled in a civil war at the time. He said the goal is to make a movie that is entertaining but also educational. Actor and producer Chuck French on the set of the new war film Quarter Given, which is filming in Mantua along with other places across the region. Zaleski said he appreciated that he got to film some of his own stunts, including jumping out of a C-47, a military transport plane. "I had to get certified to jump out of the C-47 so it would be safe," he said, adding that he spent a week in Florida training to do the jump. Actress Ella Stec, 16, on the set of the war film Quarter Given, which is filming in Mantua along with other places across the region. The cast and crew is small, with many taking on multiple tasks. In addition to portraying a woman who gives the trio shelter, Marianna Alacchi helped with casting. Mike Trivisonno serves as assistant director as well as a camera operator, along with Dustin Nowlin, a camera operator, while Mike King, a key grip, tends to technical aspects such as lighting. Chelsea Gregor serves as the location manager and also helps as a production assistant. Gregor also helped in the production of another movie filmed and set in Mantua called "The Hunting." Director Matt Zaleski checks out the framing in camera by director of photography Dustin Nowlin on the set of the film Quarter Given filming on location in Mantua. (Credit: Nick McLaughlin, Special to the Record-Courier) "I only have one requirement, and that's that they have fun," French said. French said he has contacts who provided tanks, guns, military equipment, uniforms and flags for the movie. The Nazi uniforms, used in a recent scene filmed at the Portage County Historical Society, were so authentic that the historical society got calls wondering if a protest was being staged, he said. Camera operator Dustin Nowlin films a scene in the film Quarter Given being filmed locally in Mantua. (Credit: Nick McLaughlin, Special to the Record-Courier) In addition to Portage County, scenes were filmed in Defiance, Conneaut and the Cleveland area, as well as a speakeasy in Akron. French said he is thankful that so many people have been trusting and let the crew have full access to their homes and property. "It has been the most heartwarming experience I've had in my movie career," he said. Because the movie takes place from August through October, the crew is working to shoot outdoor scenes as quickly as possible before switching to indoor scenes. They hope to release the film by spring of 2024. Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com. A tank is shown doing live fire in a still from "Quarter Given," a World War II drama set in Italy. The movie was filmed in Portage County. A soldier fires a weapon in a still from "Quarter Given," a World War II film that was filmed in Portage County. A still from "Quarter Given," a World War II movie that was filmed in Portage County, shows the two main characters, a captain in the Italian army and an American Army captain, walking through the countryside. The two men make an unlikely alliance to save the life of a young girl. This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Crew filming new WWII movie 'Quarter Given' across Portage County MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) Detectives with the Murfreesboro Police Department are investigating after a shooting Thursday night reportedly left one man dead and another seriously injured. Christopher Jones-McClean, 26, died at approximately 10:19 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12 after being shot at a home in the 2000 block of Cason Lane, according to the department. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime news from Middle Tennessee Another victim, a 25-year-old man, was also shot. Authorities said he survived but is in critical condition. According to detectives, the preliminary investigation shows the two men were standing in the garage of the home with the door open when they were shot. (Courtesy: Murfreesboro Police Department) A witness reportedly told police two masked men approached the victims and demanded money, indicating that the motive behind the shooting may have been a robbery. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective David Miller at 629-201-5662. The investigation is ongoing and no further information was immediately released. Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox. Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee. This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. HOUSTON (KTVX) If you can get a scientist to say wow, then youre in pretty impressive territory. According to NASAs OSIRIS-REx asteroid researchers, theyve been saying wow quite a bit since their asteroid sample landed on Earth. This is only the beginning. They havent even opened the canister with the actual asteroid sample yet, said Sample Analyst Dr. Daniel Glavin. We picked the right asteroid, and we brought back the right samples, Glavin said. This stuff is an astrobiologist dream. NASA held a press conference on Oct. 11 from the Johnson Space Center, in Houston to show samples from the OSIRIS-REx Mission. OSIRIS-REx continues to surprise scientists with sample collection On Sept. 24, OSIRIS-REx ended its nearly 4 billion-mile journey, exploring the solar system and gathering samples from near-Earth asteroid Bennu by releasing its sample capsule. The capsule made its way to the Utah desert floor. The sample canister was then removed and whisked from Dugway Proving Grounds to Johnson Space Center in Houston. The samples taken from the outside of the actual sample canister are astonishing scientists, and preliminary analytics show the samples are 4.7% carbon-based. This is part of what is causing the wow factor since its the highest abundance of carbon in extraterrestrial samples that have ever been measured, according to NASA. Scientists expected to see some particles from the asteroid on the outside of the sample collection head, called a TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism), following its removal from the sample canister. They were surprised by just how much they found. As expected, the samples are carbon-rich and show an abundance of water in the form of water-bearing clay fibers. There is also the presence of sulfide and iron oxide. All the elements present are needed for life, and scientists are hoping the samples can answer some of the questions surrounding life on our planet. Asteroid samples collected by NASA. (NASA) (NASA) The sample has been held in a nitrogen-rich environment in a unique glove box inside a new laboratory at Johnson, designed specifically for the OSIRIS-Rex mission. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson showed off the first pictures of the samples during the conference. He said that by having the first asteroid sample ever in the United States, We are going to have answers to questions that we dont even know what the questions are. Scientists anticipated getting a cupful of the black dust and rubble but are still unsure exactly how much was grabbed. The expected cupful is far more than the teaspoon or so that Japan brought back from a pair of missions. They are carefully curating these samples before opening the canister, as they are as valuable as the ones contained in the TAGSAM. This sample return mission is an important part of an integrated planetary exploration strategy answering fundamental questions on the formation and evolution of our solar system, said Eileen Stanbery, Chief Scientist at NASA Johnson Space Center. MAP: Where, when and how to get the best view of the 2023 annular eclipse NASA currently has 40 space missions exploring our solar system. Seven of them are studying asteroids. The exploration of this can answer questions about life on Earth and give insight into how to avoid collisions with near-Earth asteroids. Once the samples are archived, the team will dole out particles to researchers around the world. They will also save a fair amount for future analysis when better technology should be available. NASA has another asteroid-chasing spacecraft on a Florida launch pad ready to blast off later this week. The destination will be a rare asteroid made of metal named Psyche. No samples will be coming back. The Associated Press contributed to this report. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A judge sentenced a Nevada man to two years and four months in prison Thursday after he fraudulently obtained over $500,000 in COVID relief funds and laundered it through his friends and family to buy a house. According to court documents, Brandon Casutt, 52, of Henderson, submitted multiple fraudulent applications to the Small Business Administration and four of its lenders under the CARES Act on behalf of two different entities. The Department of Justice said he was attempting to obtain more than $5.7 million. Henderson man accused of using COVID-19 funds to buy $400K home Two of his applications received funding: a Paycheck Protection Program loan for approximately $350,000 in the name of a business called Sky DeSign and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan for approximately $150,000 in the name of a charity called Skylers CF Foundation, which is supposedly devoted to raising awareness about cystic fibrosis. While the loan applications said that each entity had numerous employees, payroll expenses, and revenue, neither had employees or paid any wages. After receiving the PPP money, Casutt laundered it by writing dozens of fake payroll checks to himself, family members, and friends, officials said. On the checks memos, Casutt falsely wrote that they were for pandemic pay or back pay. He would then cash or deposit the fake paychecks, and the money was diverted back to a bank account under Casutts control. He then used the money to buy a $400,000 home in Henderson in June 2020 that he and his family moved into, according to the Department of Justice. In August 2020, Casutt pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of concealment money laundering. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. EXETER, N.H. Americans need to stand behind Israel and that includes former President Donald Trump , Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Thursday. While we have their back now that theyve been hit, whats more important is that we have their back when they hit back, Haley said at a New Hampshire town hall sponsored by the USA TODAY Network. The former ambassador to the United Nations said Hamas must be eliminated, and we need to remember who the true backer of all this is: Iran. Haley, who served under Trump, also went after her former boss who, at a rally Wednesday, called Hezbollah an ally of Hamas very smart. And Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let us down just before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in 2020. Haley said such comments are why its time for a new generation of leaders to leave the negativity and chaos and the baggage in the past. We cant have someone who is so clouded with the past that they cant see the future, she said to whistles and applause. Donald Trump was the right president at the right time. I dont think hes the right president now. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley greets supporters during the Seacoast Media Group and USA TODAY Network 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Town Hall Forum held in the historic Exeter Town Hall in Exeter, New Hampshire. The former Governor of South Carolina and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations spoke to prospective New Hampshire voters about issues during the hour-long form. After strong performances in the first two GOP debates, Haley has jumped in the polls, including in a USA TODAY/Boston Globe/Suffolk University survey of likely New Hampshire voters. She surged ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who lost the standing he once held as the dominant alternative to Trump. But the 19% of likely New Hampshire voters who backed Haley is still far behind the 49% supporting Trump. Still, Trump has shifted his focus from attacking DeSantis to going after Haley. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during the Seacoast Media Group and USA TODAY Network 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Town Hall Forum held in the historic Exeter Town Hall in Exeter, New Hampshire. The former Governor of South Carolina and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations spoke to prospective New Hampshire voters about issues during the hour-long form. 'Has what it takes' Janet Jenkins, a retired teacher from Southbridge, Massachusetts, drove two hours with her husband to Exeter to hear Haley speak. I just think she has what it takes, said Jenkins, who has read two of Haleys books. I like her demeanor, the way she talks. What both Janet and her husband, Bob, most wanted to hear from Haley was how she thinks she can win the nomination. Trump is so far ahead, Bob Jenkins said. Haley has recently expanded her operations in Iowa and New Hampshire. She has stood out from the field with aggressive debate appearances that included criticizing Trump for adding to the national debt and telling entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy that every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say. In a party that hasnt unified beyond a position on a national abortion ban, Haley argues the focus should be on areas where Democrats and Republicans can find common ground. Stop demonizing this issue, she said. We have to humanize it. She also went after both parties for not addressing major problems facing the country. Minutes into her remarks, she said her party shares some of the blame for the federal debt. You dont fix Democratic chaos with Republican chaos, she said later in the town hall. "We need stability. We need focus. We need discipline." That message appealed to Dixy Scott, 78, an independent from Raymond, who has been turned off by Republicans since Trump came on the scene. "She's given me hope," Scott said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nikki Haley in N.H. town hall: Leave the Trump 'baggage' in the past EXETER, N.H. Doug Burgum is among the least known of the many long-shot candidates vying to be the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential race. The North Dakota governor is stuck in the primary's basement, where he typically polls at 1%. Worse yet, he has struggled to gain much attention or have a breakthrough moment during the two national GOP debates, where White House hopefuls have largely clawed at each other rather than knocking former President Donald Trump, who is the undisputed front-runner. But Burgum's campaign maintains that he has a window once actual voters, not TV viewers, plug into the race. The North Dakota governor is joining a series of town halls in Exeter, New Hampshire, hosted by Seacoastonline and the USA TODAY Network to speak directly with those Americans at 10 a.m. Friday. Here are five things to know about Doug Burgum ahead of the event. Doug Burgum, North Dakota governor, during the FOX Business Republican primary candidates debate at Simi Valley, Calif. on Sep 27, 2023. Doug Burgum has been a major underdog before Polling shows that most Americans don't know who Burgum is, and those who do hold a slightly more unfavorable view of him. But when Burgum, 66, first entered politics as a gubernatorial contender in 2016, he was a long shot most people hadn't heard of before. At that time, he trailed by 49% in the GOP primary against a popular attorney general in North Dakota. During the state's 2016 Republican convention, the party held a series of votes to endorse a candidate. Burgum finished last in each of those ballots. But when it came time for the voters to decide, he won his election by 20%, largely running as an outsider in the year that Trump first captured the Republican nomination for president. Doug Burgum is a software entrepreneur, largely self-funded Born in Arthur, North Dakota, a small town northwest of Fargo, Burgum attended Stanford University, where he earned a masters degree in business administration. In the 1980s, he and his relatives including his grandparents, who owned an agriculture business bought Great Plains Software, a software company that eventually was purchased by Microsoft for $1.1 billion in 1997. Most of Burgum's fundraising comes from his own pocket. He has loaned his campaign more than $10 million. Energy, carbon neutrality is his favorite subject One of the reasons Burgum hasn't broken away from the pack is how little oxygen is given to this favorite subject: energy. In a sober delivery style that stays away from culture war or social issues, he has tried to shake the public consciousness about energy's role in America's domestic and foreign policy. During an August event in Iowa, for instance, Burgum touted his state's pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030, and how they're "doing it with zero mandates, zero regulations." The U.S. should be committed to alternative fuels, he said, such as ethanol and carbon pipelines. He also supports America having a "homegrown" energy agenda that would leverage a combination of renewable, fossil fuel and nuclear power. Doug Burgum warns of a Cold War with China Besides energy, foreign policy is a space Burgum has a wider vision, and he's criticized President Joe Biden's approach to countering America's competition around the world, particularly China. "We're already in a cold war with China, we're in proxy war with Russia," he said in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. Leaders are supposed to learn from history. But since day one, Joe Biden has been implementing a Neville Chamberlain approach to foreign policy: appeasement. The world is less safe as a result. pic.twitter.com/i1yrhMbSQa Doug Burgum (Text "DOUG" to 70177) (@DougBurgum) October 11, 2023 China being America's chief rival in the 21st century is one of his biggest concerns. The first campaign ad Burgum launched focused on the foreign country's communist leadership, and he has been stark in saying that the U.S. is engaged in a cold war with Beijing that must be won economically and through democratic values rather than military might. Culture war, social issues aren't taking center stage North Dakota passed one of the nation's strictest abortion bans that blocks the procedure at all stages of pregnancy after six weeks, with the exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies. And, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, many White House hopefuls on the GOP side have had to answer whether they support Congress establishing a federal ban on abortion, which some conservative voters and candidates have been demanding in recent months. Burgum told USA TODAY he would not support such a move, however. "It absolutely belongs to the states," he said. "What would fly in New York would never fly in North Dakota. Those are two very different things." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Doug Burgum: 5 things to know about the governor as he meets NH voters AMMAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- King Abdullah II of Jordan underlined on Friday the need to open humanitarian corridors to allow medical and relief aid into the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by the Royal Hashemite Court. The king made the remarks during a meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jordan's capital Amman on Friday, where he also stressed the importance of protecting civilians and working to end the conflict in Gaza and urged efforts to prevent a spillover of the ongoing crisis into neighboring countries. The king also noted that the international community should work to prevent the violence from spreading into the West Bank, calling for the protection of innocent civilians on all sides, in line with shared human values and international law. He also underlined the need to create a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution and prevent more cycles of violence and war in the region. The U.S. diplomat also held a meeting with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, during which the Jordanian diplomat emphasized the necessity of immediately delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The two sides also looked into efforts aimed at addressing the humanitarian repercussions of the ongoing conflict, and the danger of further escalation in the region. The Royal Hashemite Court did not reveal any remarks of the U.S. diplomat. Blinken arrived in Amman Friday amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas that has killed more than 2,000 on both sides. The U.S. diplomat also held a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman. Oklahoma County seeks to buy this land near Will Rogers World Airport. Oklahoma County's Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to offer to buy about 51 acres of land near Will Rogers World Airport where it wants to build a county jail for $2.5 million. The land the county seeks to buy partly makes up a larger 192-acre piece of land Oklahoma City offered as a potential home for the jail, board Chairman Brian Maughan confirmed. The property the city offered is bordered by MacArthur Boulevard on the west, Newcastle Road on the north, SW 54 on the south and a creek bed that runs through the middle of a larger, triangle-shape piece of land. The airport's car rental center, which fronts Meridian Avenue, is located on the other side of the creek bed. Commissioner Carrie Blumert's motion to buy 50-acre piece of land includes about 30 acres located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Newcastle Road and MacArthur, within what the city offered. The motion also declares the county's intent to buy additional land the airport owns on the adjacent corner on MacArthur's other side. What needs to be done before the Oklahoma County jail can be built Neither of those pieces of land have ties to federal funding that would require any type of environmental study, county officials say. It also would have to be rezoned by Oklahoma City to permit construction of a jail on the property, Blumert's motion stated. Oklahoma County on Oct. 2 chose the 192 acre site as its preferred location for a replacement for its long-troubled jail. But Oklahoma City's airports director expressed apprehension about the county's choice, despite offering both it and a second location near Will Rogers World Airport as potential spots where a jail might be built. The entrance to Will Rogers World Airport is pictured in this 2019 file photo. Oklahoma County on Wednesday approved a possible purchase of land near the airport for the construction of a new county jail. Airports Director Jeff Mulder also said the city's airports board was not interested in selling the county any land, but could lease it "at a market rate." Maughan said Wednesday, however, that he and his colleagues are being told by attorneys working for District Attorney Vicki Behenna that Oklahoma County can't legally build a jail on land it does not own. "While I understand the airport authority wanted to offer the property through a lease agreement, that won't work," Maughan said. "We are expressing our interest in actually purchasing the property, and we are hopeful the city will sell it to us." The county is growing short on time, both to use federal dollars to build a mental health behavioral unit as part of a new detention center and county bond funds to build the jail itself, Maughan said. Oklahoma City's Airports Trust offered this piece of land as a potential spot where a new county jail could be located. Securing a piece of land matters, because its layout likely would impact how the jail is designed. "We can't actually finalize designs for the jail until we have the land purchased. That's another reason we need to get on with this," Maughan said. New county jail a recommended solution to troubled current jail The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council recommended the county build a new jail in November 2021. The trust currently operating the jail and sheriffs have dealt with housing and public safety issues involving its staff and detainees since the current jail near downtown opened in 1991, including a July health inspection that found bedbugs again and more failures to check on inmates regularly. A state multicounty grand jury in March called for control of the jail to be returned to the sheriff because of a high number of detainee deaths that happened since the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority began operating it in July 2020. The jail has had seven inmate deaths so far this year. The last one was in late September. Oklahoma County voters authorized the sale of $260 million in bonds to build the new jail/mental health center in June 2022. Ballot language called for the county to spend 85% of funds raised through a given bond sale connected to the project within three years of when that occurred, and the remaining funds within five years. Oklahoma County so far has sold about $45 million in bond funds, with proceeds from the first sale used to hire project designer HOK, to conduct preliminary design work and to develop a proposal seeking to hire a contractor to build the new jail. County commissioners also have set aside $40 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward building a mental health facility as part of the new jail. Some of those dollars must be spent before the end of 2024, while the remainder must be spent by the end of 2026. Wednesday's action seeks to accelerate serious talks between the city and county about the site's suitability as the jail's future home, Maughan said after the vote. Oklahoma County's offer will be delivered to city officials as soon as possible, he said. "Somebody has to take the first step, and so we did that today to hopefully advance this process in a timely fashion," he said. Stacey D. Hamm, Will Rogers World Airport's public information officer and marketing manager, declined to comment about the county's offer on Wednesday. The next meeting scheduled for the Oklahoma City Airport Trust, which typically considers agreements involving airport lands, is at 9 a.m. on Oct. 26. "The Airport Trust has not received a formal offer from the county yet," Mulder said late Wednesday. "The next step is to review the details of the proposal." This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma County offers $2.5 million for land for new jail The Phoenix City Hall lit up in blue and white on Tuesday night to show support for Israel after the country was attacked by Hamas militants over the weekend, sparking a war that has killed over 2,300 people, including at least 22 Americans, as of Wednesday. It was unclear how long officials planned to light up the building, located downtown on Washington Street and Third Avenue, with the colors of the Israeli flag. Starting tonight, Phoenix City Hall will be lit in blue and white in support of our friends in Israel. pic.twitter.com/nUdCRLhv6e Mayor Kate Gallego (@MayorGallego) October 11, 2023 Another government building showed a similar display on Monday night. "To the people of Israel: Arizona stands with you," said Gov. Katie Hobbs in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, as she announced the state Capitol Executive Tower, located on Seventh Avenue and Jefferson Street, would display blue lights in solidarity with Israel. The governor wrote in her post "Am Yisrael Chai," a sentence in Hebrew that translates to "The people of Israel live" in English. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego also previously expressed her support for Israel on the same platform. "Im proud to stand with Israel and condemn Hamass attacks on innocent people in the strongest terms," she posted on the day the attacks started. She also announced Phoenix police would patrol near the city's synagogues to protect members of the community from potential attacks. Phoenix District 6 councilmember Kevin Robinson said he attended a Monday evening event at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale, where members of the Israeli community in Arizona joined in prayer and support for Israel. My wife and I were humbled to attend The Greater Phoenix Gathering Monday evening at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus. It was a powerful display of unity and unwavering support for Israel. One people. One voice. Thank you Paul and @JCRC_Phoenix for this event. #ADL pic.twitter.com/KQW6Bybspl Phoenix District 6 Councilman Kevin Robinson (@phxdistrict6) October 10, 2023 At least 3,000 people came together, according to organizers. "My wife and I were humbled to attend," Robinsons said in a post on X. "It was a powerful display of unity and unwavering support for Israel. One people. One voice." The board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix as well as other leaders said they aimed to provide messages of hope, resilience and perseverance to those in attendance on the campus's field. Many of those who gathered in Scottsdale had family or friends who had been directly impacted by the attack. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix City Hall lit up blue and white to show support for Israel Close up of the NYPD logo on a police car. Close up of the NYPD logo on a police car. NEW YORK (AP) A New York City police officer lost his left ring finger up to the first knuckle when a reckless driving suspect bit him, prosecutors said Wednesday. Lenni Rodriguez Cruz, 28, could be sentenced to 25 years in prison for leading police on a wild car chase, crashing into several vehicles and biting a sergeant who was trying to put him in a holding cell, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. The episode started shortly before midnight on Sept. 20. A police officer patrolling in the Jamaica section of Queens spotted Rodriguez Cruz driving a car with license plates that werent registered to the vehicle, Katz said in a news release. The officer tried to pull Rodriguez Cruz over, but he sped off, mounted a sidewalk and drove through a park, scattering parkgoers as they ran to safety, Katz said. Rodriguez Cruz kept driving and hit four vehicles including an unmarked police car that was part of a barricade set up to stop him, Katz said. The driver of one of the cars that was hit was treated at a hospital for several injuries, she said. When officers finally pulled Rodriguez Cruz out of his crashed car, his breath smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred and there was a cup containing an alcoholic beverage inside the car, Katz said. Officers took Rodriguez Cruz to the local police station, where he spit on the sergeant and bit the sergeants finger tip off, Katz said. Rodriguez Cruz was arraigned Wednesday on charges including assault on a police officer, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving without a license. A phone call to his attorney was not immediately returned. Related... The author's weekly dose of testosterone cypionate. The author's weekly dose of testosterone cypionate. Read. Initial. Read. Initial. Read. Initial. Read. Sign. Six pages of information about the effects of hormone replacement therapy acknowledged and endorsed by 17-year-old me. It was early 2017, and by that point, itd been nearly a year since I first came out to my family as transgender. As I sat in the clinic exam room looking through the informed consent document with my mom and doctor, I felt both relief and mounting anticipation that the start of my medical transition was within reach. What I didnt know at the time was that between prolonged back-and-forths with insurance companies, issues with my initial bloodwork, and lengthy wait times for gender-related appointments at the childrens hospital, it would still be another two months before I would actually be able to inject myself with my first dose of testosterone. Its details like these that are rarely brought up in conversations about gender-affirming care today. Much more common are sensationalized tales of young trans kids being mutilated and groomed by influential adults in their lives or of rampant regret and detransitioning later in life. In fact, Republican lawmakers in more than 20 U.S. states, oftentimes using rhetoric like this, have passed a host of legislation over the past two years to restrict or ban gender-affirming health services for trans individuals under the age of 18. In places like Missouri and Oklahoma, conservative legislators have gone even further, arguing that age restrictions on gender-affirming care should be raised to 25 or 26 far older than the states legal ages of majority. With many bans on gender-affirming care now in effect and others making their way through the courts, the Human Rights Campaign estimates that over half of transgender youth in the U.S. ages 13 to 17 are at risk of losing access to what organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association have deemed evidence-based, best-practice care. It was this same care that I first brought up to my parents in the spring of 2016, shortly after coming out to them as trans. More specifically, I told them about hormone replacement therapy and top surgery a procedure for removing breast tissue and creating a flat, more masculine chest. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was a rather tough sell at first. My parents, both loving and open-minded people, were still adjusting to the fact that one of their children was openly transgender. While they were more than willing to let me explore new names, pronouns, hairstyles and clothing options something that Im still grateful for today they were much more reluctant to give the green light for nonreversible, medical forms of gender affirmation. Far from being coerced or pressured into gender-related health services, I was the one trying to convince the adults in my life that these kinds of care would benefit me. Whether it was sending my parents YouTube videos about the effects of testosterone or writing detailed lists of pros and cons to review with my therapist, I quickly realized that as a teen, there would be elements of my gender transition that were fully beyond my control. Even once my parents agreed to schedule a visit with my pediatrician in January 2017 to discuss options for gender-affirming health care, I remember being met with blank stares from my physician and the sinking realization that she was unfamiliar with current guidelines for treating transgender patients. Luckily, fearing that this might be the case, I had done some digging online before the appointment to find locations in the area that specialized in such care for adolescents. This led me to the gender health program at the local childrens hospital, for which my pediatrician was thankfully willing to write me a referral. Around a month later, my mom and I attended my first appointment at the hospital. The visit started out like most others with a new doctor: stepping on a scale, having my height measured, and having my temperature and blood pressure taken. A while later, a doctor came into the room and introduced herself, sharing that she would be taking the lead on my initial evaluation and any gender-affirming services I might need. Together, we reviewed my family, medical, and mental health history covering everything from anxiety and depression to exercise-induced asthma and flat feet. We also discussed my gender identity development, all the way back to when I was a child. The author in 2001 at around 2 years old (left), and in 2004 around 5 years old (right). The author in 2001 at around 2 years old (left), and in 2004 around 5 years old (right). I shared that growing up in the early 2000s, despite being a visibly masculine and tomboyish child, I hadnt had the language needed to come out as transgender for most of my life. Though I often expressed that I wasnt a girl even as young as 3 or 4 years old there were not the same resources and awareness around gender diversity in childhood that exist today. Instead, it wasnt until I hit puberty and began learning more about LGBTQ+ identities that I found the right words to describe the disconnect in mind, body and social role that I had experienced since I was young. In addition to the past, my new doctor also talked to my mom and me about the future, including my embodiment goals and overall hopes for medical transition. I reiterated my desires for testosterone and top surgery, describing the physical changes I was most looking forward to: a deeper voice, increased body and facial hair, no more menstrual cycles, fat redistribution, muscle growth and a flat chest. She shared that under the current standards of care published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a phased approach to gender-affirming care was recommended for adolescents and adults alike. In my case, this would mean taking hormones for a minimum of 12 months before I would be considered a candidate for top surgery. Though this was somewhat disappointing, I also knew that most local surgeons and insurance companies wouldnt approve me for surgery before turning 18 anyway, which helped to lessen the blow. We then talked more about my thoughts and expectations around testosterone for example, how long I had been interested in starting the medication, the rate of changes I was anticipating, and if there were any changes I was worried about or did not desire. Given that the effects of testosterone on later fertility can be difficult to predict, my doctor also asked about desires for future biological children and my feelings about fertility preservation services like cryopreservation. Knowing of several trans men and transmasculine people who had become pregnant after starting testosterone, even without freezing their eggs beforehand, I was content to take my chances, and I declined referrals for additional fertility counseling or fertility preservation services. At the end of the clinical interview and educational portion of the visit, there was a brief physical exam to ensure that I was in good health and at an appropriate stage of development to begin hormones. Now 17, I had already reached the final stages of natal puberty, which meant there would be little to no benefit from initiating something like gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues, also known as puberty blockers, prior to starting hormone replacement therapy. With all parts of my initial assessment complete and having discussed the benefits and risks of hormones at length with both of my parents, my therapist, and multiple doctors everyone was in agreement: Starting testosterone would be my best next step, given my goals for the future and long-standing experiences of gender dysphoria. That day, my mom and I chose to sign the needed consent forms, and passed along a copy to my dad for him to do the same. We then scheduled a follow-up visit to do baseline bloodwork at the hospital lab and receive a nurse-guided lesson on proper self-injection techniques. At that visit, we would also have the chance to re-review the informed consent paperwork, ask any questions that may have come up between visits, and reaffirm my desire to continue on in the process. Finally, on April 24, 2017, my first prescription for testosterone was filled and ready for pickup at the pharmacy. Nearly bursting with hope and excitement, I retrieved my box of injection supplies and, upon arriving home, asked my mom an experienced medical professional herself to come supervise my first go-around with the process. I uncapped the vial, sanitized the top, and drew the thick, oily liquid up into the syringe. After picking out a colorful Band-Aid and cleaning a small circle on my thigh, I gently inserted the needle and pushed down the plunger. Knowing there would be no instantaneous transformation, I expected the shot to feel somewhat anticlimactic. Just as I would need to wait at least a few more months for the physical changes to become noticeable, I anticipated a similarly slow burn in the mental and emotional changes too. To my surprise, though, some changes did start that day. Like turning off the incessant whir of a white noise machine or enjoying the calm dawn after an intense night of storms, there was a quiet peace that washed over me that afternoon something I hadnt felt since I was a young child. While I obviously knew that it would take time for the hormones to go into effect physically, I also realized in that moment that I was as far away from a home in my own skin as Id ever be again. In the more than six years that have passed since that day, I have blossomed inside and out reveling in small changes that most people who are not transgender would probably take for granted. Whether it was growing my first dark beard hair, being called young man for the first time at a restaurant, or singing my favorite songs an octave lower than I used to, I felt like I was finally experiencing the joys of puberty that I had missed out on before. The author graduating college in 2021 at age 21 (left), and celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility in 2023 at age 23 (right). The author graduating college in 2021 at age 21 (left), and celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility in 2023 at age 23 (right). With growing older came other milestones. I graduated high school. Shortly thereafter, I had my 18th birthday. I purchased a ticket to my first R-rated movie, voted in my first election, and went to college. Eventually, in May 2018 then approaching my 19th birthday I had the long-awaited privilege of receiving top surgery as well. While there were some unexpected delays in my path toward medical transition, as well as certain emotional benefits that I had not anticipated, the biggest surprise in the past few years has been the stark contrast between my experiences and the current backlash against gender-affirming care for youth. Far from detransitioning or even questioning if Id made the right choice, the only regret I have now regarding my transition, even as I reach my mid-20s, is not starting it sooner. Knowing how content, satisfied and whole I feel in my body and life today, there will always be parts of me that wonder how things would have looked if I had come out at an earlier age or been eligible to start hormone blockers before progressing through puberty. What later difficulties might I have spared myself? What permanent changes associated with puberty might I have avoided? In what ways might adolescence have been easier for me socially, emotionally and physically? Before taking the word of pundits, politicians or random folks online who rant about protecting kids from the irreversible harms of gender-affirming care, my hope is that more people will start turning directly to the adolescents and young adults like me who have received it as well as the researchers, mental health providers and medical professionals who have dedicated their careers to providing it. In the discourse around gender-related care for youth, the true harm that needs to be addressed is ultimately not gender affirmation. Instead, it is the lack of bodily autonomy for trans, intersex and other gender-diverse youth that should be raising alarm bells across the country. In a world where government officials are criminalizing empirically supported medical decisions between young people, their families and their health care providers, defending young peoples say in what happens to our own bodies is not the problem. Its the solution. Grayson Stevens (he/they) is a transgender community advocate and psychologist in training who is pursuing his doctoral degree in counseling psychology at Springfield College in western Massachusetts. In his free time, Grayson enjoys fishing, watching new documentaries, and spending time with his close friends and family. To stay up to date with Graysons online content and advocacy, follow his Instagram account at @transgender_together. Do you have a compelling personal story youd like to see published on HuffPost? Find out what were looking for here and send us a pitch. Related... As news continues to come out about the atrocities committed in Israel, Utah Rep. Blake Moore says urgent action is needed to overcome the House GOPs paralysis and provide aid to the Jewish nation. In an interview with the Deseret News, Moore spoke about how a year-and-a-half ago he stood in one of the villages that is now at the epicenter of Hamas bloodshed. It would be horrifically tragic whether Im a congressman or not, but the fact that I was in one of these kibbutzes that got terrorized less than 18 months ago? It makes it real, Moore said. I dont get to just say I stand with Israel. In this role, I get to vote for Israel, and I will. But Moores vote will have to wait. The U.S. House of Representatives has been all but incapacitated for the last two weeks after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy narrowly avoided a government shutdown by passing a bipartisan funding extension, leading a small group of Republicans to side with Democrats to oust him in response. The move created an uproar among the majority of House Republicans who wanted McCarthy to keep the position during what they saw as a crucial time for domestic spending and foreign policy issues. There is no stronger voice for Israel than Kevin McCarthy. And for this to happen two days after he was removed really frustrated people, Moore said. The days since McCarthys removal have seen Republican Party infighting reach new lows, with conference members threatening to expel each other and failing to unite around the nominee who won Wednesdays GOP election to replace McCarthy, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise . But among a majority of House Republicans there is a sense of urgency to settle on leadership and address the issues that are currently being delayed, said Moore, who represents Utahs 1st Congressional District. We dont want to make a rushed decision on something as important as speaker of the House, but weve got to find a way to move forward, he said. Moores experience in Kfar Aza That sense of urgency is all the more acute for Moore, who remembers being on a bipartisan trip to Israel speaking with the residents of Kfar Aza, a small southern Israeli town two miles from Gaza, and the site of some of the most unspeakable crimes from Saturdays massacre. I literally was just standing in some of these areas that children have been beheaded, burned. The most egregious and the most horrific acts done to other humans is happening in a place that Ive recently been, Moore said. A widely repeated report from an Israeli journalist alleged around 40 babies were found murdered, some beheaded, in Kfar Aza following Saturdays attack. While the Israel Defence Forces has not confirmed the finding, The Jerusalem Post said that they had verified the truth of the reports and that photo evidence of the killings was shown to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday. During Moores visit to Kfar Aza in 2021, he recalls touring the towns bomb shelters and being shown explosive devices disguised as toys that were dropped near the town to target children. Moore said he and other members of Congress were briefed by both Israeli government officials and Palestinian leaders to better understand the conflict. A paralyzed House Moore said he and many of his Republican colleagues feel frustrated about the conferences inability to act in support of Israel. The Middle Eastern country has requested supplemental funding and missile ammunition for its days-old war to eliminate Hamas from Gaza and defend against terrorist incursions from Lebanon in the north. We shouldnt be in a situation right now where we cant do anything. Were completely paralyzed right now in the House of Representatives because of the actions of a tiny few, Moore said. As of Thursday afternoon, it appeared unlikely Scalise, who won Wednesdays internal GOP nomination, could secure the 217 needed votes to become speaker. Several House Republicans have declared they will never vote for the Louisiana congressman, saying he is part of the same problematic House leadership as McCarthy. This has made a full-House vote for speaker this week unlikely. Some GOP members have floated the idea of approving additional authority for speaker pro tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., to preside over the next several weeks of must-pass legislation, including advancing spending bills before the Nov. 17 government funding deadline and allocating funding for Israel and Ukraine. Theres still frustration, but I think theres been good healthy discussion over the last couple of days, Moore said. But I dont see it being a quick cut and dry one vote in conference and then we go to the floor and everything falls into line. What does Congress need to do? Moore says once the House has a speaker, hopefully sometime next week, the first order of business should be to pass an aid package that includes humanitarian relief and armaments to replenish Israels missile defense system, the Iron Dome, something Israeli officials have requested. If something happens that requires urgent action from the House before a speaker is selected, like an attack on American soil, Moore said the House will have to decide whether to give more authority to McHenry to bring bills to the floor. Symbolic gestures in support of Israel are already underway in the House. A proposed resolution reaffirming Americas solidarity with Israel and condemning Hamas attacks has been signed by an unprecedented 400 members of Congress. Moore said President Joe Biden must prioritize rescuing American citizens being held hostage by Hamas and that Congress must get to a place where it can support those efforts. He also said he appreciated Bidens move to send an aircraft carrier strike group to the region. I look forward to the chance to soon exercise my congressional influence and show my support for (Israel), Moore said. And I hope we can do that sooner than later. GOP lawmakers have been scrambling to pick their next House Speaker. In a secret ballot held Wednesday, House Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana. Scalise learned Thursday that he does not have enough votes to successfully secure the role, per AP. Rep. Steve Scalise is withdrawing his run for the House Speaker position, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, just a day after House Republicans nominated the Louisiana representative for the role at the GOP conference. The decision came after Scalise failed to secure enough votes to win the Speaker role on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. Congress was thrown into chaos on October 3 after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his shortlived role as the speaker, leaving a question mark around who will take up the position amid a looming deadline for a government shutdown. Many names were thrown into the ring, including Donald Trump. There are no rules that necessarily dictate who could be the speaker. But on Wednesday the pick came down to Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. Scalise, who is the current majority leader, narrowly beat Jordan in a secret ballot among Republican lawmakers. A spokesperson for Scalise did not immediately return Insider's request for comment. Scalise's abrupt withdrawal leaves Republicans back in the same position they were in after McCarthy was pushed out of the role fractured and leaderless. About 16 Republicans have said that they would not back Scalise, according to CBS News, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace. Mace said she wouldn't back Scalise because of his previously reported comments about being similar to Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Scalise would have needed 217 votes to be elected on the House floor and could only afford to lose four Republican votes if Democrats remained unified in their opposition. The Republican majority "still has to come together and it's not there," Scalise said Thursday, according to The Associated Press. "There are still some people that have their own agendas. And I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs." Read the original article on Business Insider Republicans on Wednesday appealed a district judges verdict last week in the GOPs gerrymandering lawsuit against Democrats, which sought to overturn redrawn congressional districts, seeking a hearing before the New Mexico Supreme Court. The redistricting process, which concluded in December 2021, was in response to population changes from the 2020 Census. It notably split portions of Eddy and Lea counties in the oil-rich, and deep-red southeast corner out of the Second Congressional District, normally a Republican stronghold. More: Judge finds gerrymandering in CD2 redraw but says maps can remain This was why, the GOP contended, Democrat U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez was able to defeat incumbent Republican Yvette Herrell for the seat in the 2022 election, which was won by a razor-thin margin of 1,300 votes. Vasquez declined to comment for this story, and Herrell did not return a request by the Carlsbad Current-Argus to comment on the outcome of the case. Ninth Judicial District Judge Fred Van Soelen ruled Oct. 6 that the new maps did constitute some gerrymandering, but not to a level that was egregious and thus unconstitutional under New Mexico statutes. He cited the closeness of the 2022 race in rendering the verdict, which came after a three-day bench trial held in Lea County District Court in Lovington. The Republican Party of New Mexico filed a notice of appeal to the verdict in the New Mexico Court of Appeals Wednesday, which certified the appeal to the Supreme Court for review. More: New Mexico gerrymandering trial concludes, judge has a week to rule on congressional maps On Wednesday, New Mexico Sen. David Gallegos (R-41), who is listed as a plaintiff in the case, said he hoped to get a hearing before the New Mexico Supreme Court in the coming weeks and ahead of the next election for the Second District. He pointed to Van Soelens admission that gerrymandering did occur, questioning the judges distinction that it did not happen to an egregious level. More: GOP says Democrats diluted oilfield votes in first day of New Mexico gerrymandering trial I was very disappointed, Gallegos said of the verdict. My biggest thing was that the judge found gerrymandering did occur but not to an egregious extent. Im hoping well be able to get them (the Supreme Court) to look at it. New Mexico Sen. David Gallegos testifies during a gerrymandering trial, Sept. 27, 2023 in Lea County District Court. Over the three days of the bench trial, Gallegos of Eunice and Rep. Jim Townsend (R-54) of Artesia both testified that Republicans were largely left out of the redistricting process which led to passage of an amended version of Senate Bill 1. SB 1 added portions of the urban, left-leaning Albuquerque area to the Second District, and moved the northern areas of Lea and Eddy counties into the Third District where Democrats had a comfortable margin, plaintiff attorneys argued. More: GOP, Democrats clash over election data in final day of New Mexico gerrymandering trial They argued this constituting cracking areas of GOP majority, and stacking Democrat votes in their place, leading a predetermined victor for the party in the election. The judge found that the race between Vasquez and Herrell was close, but there was some skewing of the numbers, Gallegos said. How do you break the law, but not enough to matter? When you break the law, you break the law. We want to hold everyone accountable. Townsend also voiced disappointment in the ruling, arguing the new map was designed for one-party rule. More: 'Gerrymandering' lawsuit against New Mexico Democrats delayed ahead of trial We know one thing is certain: the redistricting was done in a way that favored their candidate, Townsend said. Even with that done, it was still a competitive district. Had it been left alone, the GOP would have won. What they did was affect the redistricting process to predetermine the outcome of the election. New Mexico Rep. Jim Townsend testifies during a gerrymandering trial, Sept. 27, 2023 in Lea County District Court. Upon hearing the verdict, Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce, himself a former congressman representing the Second District, said the ruling struck at the heart of our Republic, the form of government that allows all beliefs to have a voice. More: Steven McCutcheon tapped by Lujan Grisham to replace Gay Kernan in New Mexico Senate He pointed to text messages from Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-17) presented at trial as evidence, Pearce said, of the partys intent to unfairly ensure its victory. Our legal team presented a clear case that the legislature intended to and, in fact, did egregiously gerrymander the congressional maps to shift the second district by 18 points in favor of Democrats, Pearce said in a statement. The Republican Party of New Mexico believes the fight is too important to accept this setback without contest. The New Mexico Democratic Party called the lawsuit bogus and maintained that the redistricting process was bipartisan and led to a more competitive election. It is no surprise that the New Mexico Republican Party lost its bogus lawsuit attempting to throw out competitive, fairly-drawn maps, read a statement from the party. In fact, these districts were intentionally crafted to be less partisan and more competitive than the previous ones. 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: Republicans plan to appeal verdict in New Mexico gerrymandering case As thousands of Israelis and Palestinians grieve their loved ones this week, Republicans saw an opportunity: to attack Joe Biden s climate and energy policies. Ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused the White House over the weekend of being too lax in enforcing sanctions on oil-rich Iran, which has historically backed Hamas, the Islamist political party that controls the Gaza Strip and executed last weekends attacks on military targets and civilians in southern Israel. Theyre making billions of dollars, McCarthy said of Irans government. Theyre using that wealth to fund terrorism. Meanwhile, Arizona Congressman Steve Scalise, whos running to replace McCarthy, tweeted on Sunday that the administration must be held accountable for its appeasement of these Hamas terrorists, including handing over billions of dollars to them and their Iranian backersa reference to the $6 billion of Iranian funds the U.S. unfroze last month as part of a prisoner-release deal. Wyoming Senator John Barrasso similarly growled over the weekend that Bidens payment of $6 billion to Iran last month paved the way for deadly terrorist attacks against Israel today, While Tehran and Hamas have a long public relationship, there has been no evidence that Iran was behind last weeks attacks. None of the $6 billion in questiondesignated for humanitarian aid, not government coffershas been spent. The U.S. and Qatari governments will now, however, reportedly stop Iranian agencies from accessing those funds, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. Republicans, it seems, are relying on an old playbook: trying to portray Biden and the Democrats as tree-hugging hippies more concerned about allegedly immaterial issues like climate change than national security. Rather than focus on his Green New Deal, [the president] should be focused on protecting Americans, McCarthy added on Monday. The reality is that the Biden administration has more in common with Bidens Republican predecessor on foreign policyand on energythan the GOP would care to admit. Instead of encouraging Tehran to fund attacks on Israel, the Biden administration has in reality been preoccupied with brokering a mega-deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, meant in no small part to contain Iran. Its an expansion on the Abraham Accords initiated by the Trump White House, wherein several Middle Eastern governments agreed to formally recognize Israel. Few details of this prospective deal have been released as of yet. What we do know is that, in exchange for formally recognizing Israel, Saudi Arabia could receive expanded arms sales from the United States, support in developing a civilian nuclear program, and assurances that the U.S. will treat an attack on Saudi Arabia like an attack on its own soil. Thats a major shift from Bidens earlier pledge to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and treat the kingdom as a pariah over (among other things) its governments extensively documented record of human rights abuses, as well as the killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. In reference to Saudi Arabias brutal war in Yemen, Biden promised on the campaign trail to end the sale of material to the Saudis where theyre going in and murdering children. To date, airstrikes carried out by the Saudi and United Arab Emiratesled coalition in Yemen have killed more than 19,200 civilians. That coalition has allegedly committed war crimes. Human Rights Watch reported this summer that Saudi forces have killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants, including women and children, attempting to enter the kingdom from Yemen. After the Pentagon administered at least $54.6 billion of military support to Saudi Arabia and the UAE between 2015 and 2021, Biden announced in February 2021 that the U.S. would end its support for offensive actions in Yemenbut military support for the war effort continued. Just after the Saudis announced progress in normalization talks, the White House last month approved a $500 million arms sale to the kingdomthe first in over a year. The first crucial factor explaining the shift in the administrations stance on Saudi Arabia is the price of oil and the price of gasoline, said Gregory Brew, an analyst with Eurasia Groups Energy, Climate, and Resources team. The Biden Administration woke up to this issue last year during the energy crisis, and that was a major compelling factor in getting the White House to change its tune on Saudi Arabia. While the U.S. is the worlds largest oil producer, its government has very little ability to control production. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is the worlds largest oil exporter and has more leeway to toggle production both on its own (via state-owned Aramco) and as the most influential member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Americas push for the mega-deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel is animated much less by petro politics than by a larger set of geopolitical concerns: limiting Chinese influence in the region, containing Iran, and providing security guarantees for Israel. Even so, domestic worries about keeping prices down at the pump have been a factor in the negotiations. Late last month, White House officials visiting Saudi Arabia emphasized that itd be difficult to secure a deal amid higher-than-usual gas prices in the U.S., often blamed on the kingdoms recent decisions to limit oil output. Reports emerged last Friday that the kingdom was prepared to raise oil output in the event of high prices as a sign of goodwill toward Washington. Hours later, Hamas militants broke through the border between the Gaza Strip and southern Israel. The mega-deal rumored to have been just months away before then will now take longer in light of the war. Still, The New York Times reports that diplomatic circles in Washington remain optimistic. Unlike the Abraham Accordswhich mostly sidestepped Palestinea Saudi-Israel agreement would reportedly be premised on the idea of accepting some modest gestures from Israel regarding its treatment of Palestinians. No Palestinian leaders have been directly involved in these talks, though, and demands from Saudi Arabia are likely to focus on narrow quality of life improvements. The White House has been eager to put Palestine on the back burner. The U.S., says University of Richmond political scientist Dana El Kurd, has endorsed a conflict management outlook on the Palestinian issue. They want it to no longer be an obstacle to regional coordination, on security or otherwise. Theres no possible outcome of these normalization talks, she adds, that would resolve the underlying conflict either in Israel-Palestine or between Israel and other Arab countries. These normalization deals could be very harmful for future stability because they maintain the status quo or even exacerbate it on the ground in Israel-Palestine, which has the potential for the kinds of mass violence and destabilization that were seeing now, El Kurd told me. As this past week has shown, the status quo in Israel-Palestine is untenable. For 16 years, Gaza has essentially functioned as an open-air prison. Routes in and out of the tiny, densely populated strip of land are heavily restricted, and just 4 percent of residents have access to clean water; 45 percent are unemployed. In the occupied West Bank, far-right settlers engage in regular pogroms, having received the blessing of members of Netanyahus Cabinet and a typically hands-off approach (or worse) from Israeli Defense Forces. Palestinian civil society groupsalongside international NGOs including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watchdescribe the situation as apartheid. While Biden has in the past several months issued mild criticisms of the far-right Netanyahu governments plans to kneecap the countrys independent judiciary, it has never raised the question of placing conditions on the $3.8 billion in military aid the U.S. gives to Israel each year. The White House has strongly condemned Hamass attacks on Israel, which have so far claimed 1,200 lives. It has barely acknowledged the more than 1,500 Palestinians now killed as Gaza remains under siege, cut off from electricity, food, and water and awaiting a ground invasion. A U.N. commission has found evidence of war crimes committed by both Hamas and the Israeli government. U.S. officials, meanwhile, have refused to set any firm red lines on whether the additional military support the U.S. is providing Israel can be used to carry out war crimes or ethnic cleansing. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the right has continued to try and paint Biden and the Democrats as somehow soft on foreign policy. Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum, for instance, grilled National Security Council spokesman John Kirby over the weekend over Bidens comments last month that climate change represents an existential threat to humanity. Contra Fox, the most troubling thing about this moment is just how united the two parties are in their desire to green-light a fanatical governments thinly veiled pledges to commit war crimesif not genocide. The United States has a moral obligation to be in lockstep with our ally as they confront this threat, Democratic Senator John Fetterman wrote in a statement on the attacks. I also fully support Israel neutralizing the terrorists responsible for this barbarism. His Republican colleague Lindsey Graham called to level the place, referring to Gaza. As the GOP continues to make cynical, false claims about White House energy and foreign policy, there are more substantive questions to consider. Given that, as El Kurd noted, Israel and Saudi Arabia have for years engaged in under-the-table normalization, why is the U.S. going out of its way to forge an agreement that would see it shower Saudi Arabia with more weapons? Can any geopolitical prioritybe that cheaper oil or isolating Chinajustify looking the other way as U.S. allies commit unspeakable atrocities? If slaughtering civilians and killing young children are indeed acts of sheer evil, as Biden said on Tuesday of Hamass attacks, should the U.S. not at least question whether its own funds are being used for the same purposes? CONCORD, N.H.Ron DeSantis began a two-day New Hampshire swing Thursday by displaying a revamped campaign style that includes amped-up criticism of Donald Trump . DeSantis focused on Trump's comments Wednesday criticizing the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netahnyahu and his government over the war with Hamas, and describing Hezbollah militants as "very smart." "Now is not the time to be attacking our ally," DeSantis told supporters at the New Hampshire State House. Several Republicans noted that, after the 2020 election, Trump attacked Netanyahu for hailing Biden as the president-elect. "Its clear hes angry at Netanyahu for recognizing Trump lost in 2020," said a statement from Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis political action committee. "Trump puts himself first." What did Trump say about Netanyahu? Trump blames Netanyahu for Hamas attacks, calls Hezbollah leaders 'very smart' DeSantis in New Hampshire Oct 12, 2023; Concord, NH, USA; Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis greeting supporters outside of the New Hampshire Secretary of State offices after he filed paperwork at the New Hampshire State House to get on the New Hampshire 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY ORG DeSantis spoke after formally filing for the New Hampshire primary expected to take place in January, a contest he declared wide open despite Trumps huge lead in polls. If you want to change from Trump, I think Im the best leader, DeSantis said, adding that he gives Republicans the best chance to be able to do well in a general election. DeSantis, who has seen his support erode after months of attacks from Trump, has gradually escalated counter-criticism of the former president throughout the campaign. He has been more pointed in recent days, part of a strategy adjustment that includes more interviews with mainstream media outlets. The Florida governor plans to spend Thursday touring the northern part of the state along with members of his political action committee, Never Back Down. He is scheduled to participate Friday in traditional events, including a "Politics and Eggs" breakfast hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. DeSantis and other Republican candidates are scheduled to address the state Republican Party's "First in the Nation Leadership Summit" in Nashua, N.H. this weekend. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ron DeSantis in N.H. slams Trump for Israel comments on Netanyahu Russia appears to have launched a renewed offensive against Ukrainian troops in the eastern part of the country as the war inches closer to entering its second winter, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday. But Russian troops havent made much progress, Kirby said, adding that the new attacks are not a surprise. The Russian military appears to be using human wave tactics where they throw masses of poorly trained soldiers right into the battlefield without proper equipment, and apparently without proper training and preparation, he said. The announcement comes on the fourth day of Russias intense offensive on the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, though its forces have made little headway, CNN reported on Friday. Russian forces have launched hundreds of attacks on Kyivs troops in the city using tanks and armored personnel carriers. Kirby also said that North Korea and Russias military cooperation has been expanding. In recent weeks, North Korea has provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions, he said. We also are increasingly concerned about Russian assistance to North Korea, he said. In return for support, Kirby said, the U.S. believes Pyongyang wants to obtain fighter jets, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles and equipment to make ballistic missiles, among other materials to build advanced technologies. The U.S. has seen Russian ships off-loading containers in North Korea, he said, but didnt specify what was delivered. In response, Washington will continue to sanction those involved in the military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. Several buffaloes pass through the animal passages of the Nairobi National Park Super Major Bridge equipped with noise deflectors in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui) BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Over the past decade, solid achievements have been accomplished in promoting green development through China's fruitful cooperation with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partners. Attempts to smear and disrupt BRI cooperation on the pretext of environmental protection are nothing but a farce. Some Western media outlets have carried reports accusing this initiative of causing "pollution and ecological devastation." Are they reporting the facts? No! The truth is that BRI cooperation is high-standard and environment-friendly, helping developing countries control and reduce pollution. To put it simply, China does not transfer polluting industries to other countries, but integrates green development and quality industrial capacity into cooperation to meet the development needs of its partners. Environmental protection is always a priority in BRI projects. For instance, the China-Laos Railway, a flagship BRI project, avoided going through six natural and cultural protection areas and avoided occupying national-level protected forests in Laos. The total greening area along the whole line is over 3 million square meters. Meanwhile, many passages and bridges along the Mombasa-Nairobi railway, another key BRI project, were set up to ensure the free movement of wildlife. Such railway projects significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions compared with truck transport. On the question of whether it's good development, facts speak louder than words. Take the Smederevo steel mill in Serbia, for example. When the steel mill was on the verge of bankruptcy, China's HeSteel Group (HBIS) purchased the Smederevo Steelworks and established HBIS Serbia in 2016. Some Western media outlets alleged that the pollution levels increased after it was purchased by the Chinese company, but data released by the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency showed that the air pollution in Smederevo has been decreasing since the steelworks got its new owner in 2016. The number of days with pollutant levels above the threshold dropped by more than 40 percent in 2020 compared with 2011. Photo taken on May 27, 2021 shows the Kaposvar solar power plant in Kaposvar, Hungary. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) In fact, China's efforts on BRI cooperation have increased the green development capacity of partner countries. China leads the world when it comes to manufacturing clean energy generation facilities for wind and photovoltaic power, while it produces more than 70 percent of the world's total of polysilicon, wafers, cells and modules. China's strength in clean energy development provides a strong impetus for advancing the global green transition. China has carried out green energy cooperation projects with more than 100 countries and regions, and its investment in green and low-carbon energy in BRI partner countries has exceeded its investment in traditional energy projects there. In a boost for green finance, China's green financial products have seen rapid growth. By the end of March, the country's outstanding green loans in yuan and foreign currencies exceeded 25 trillion yuan (about 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars), and its outstanding green bonds surpassed 1.5 trillion yuan, both ranking among the top globally. In the coming decade, with its advantages in the field of renewable energy, China is poised to provide further important support and impetus for low-carbon transformation in BRI participating countries. There is a famous slogan that is often seen across China: "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." It clearly expresses China's environmental protection philosophy. Internationally, promoting green development under the BRI is in line with China's aspiration to contribute to building a clean and beautiful world. It is Chinese wisdom applied to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. The BRI was proposed by China, but it belongs to the whole world. Jointly building a green Belt and Road conforms to the green and low-carbon development trend. Green and clean cooperation under the BRI framework will bring more opportunities and fruits for people in participating countries as the long-term initiative ushers in a new promising decade. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham , a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, said the GOP White House hopefuls comments about Israel and criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week are not helpful. Instead, Trump should discuss his efforts to help Israel during this four years in office, Graham said. I would encourage President Trump to talk about what he did as president to help the Israeli government and people and criticizing Bibi now is not helpful, Graham said to reporters Friday, using the Israeli prime ministers nickname. There clearly was an intelligence failure, but we need to be behind Israel without equivocation. Graham pointed to Trump recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, declaring Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state and the signing of the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations among Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. South Carolinas senior U.S. senator is backing Trumps 2024 bid for the GOP nomination for president and has was a close ally during Trumps one term in office. Grahams comments, which he gave standing next to a group of Baptist preachers outside of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce office, on the war between Israel and Hamas come after former President Trump said at a rally Wednesday that Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that is speculated to join the fighting, is very smart and made comments criticizing Netanyahu. Trump said Netanyahu had pulled out of an operation that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Trump said Israel intended to participate in the raid but then decided to let the U.S. carry it out alone. Trump this week also said Israel and Netanyahu were unprepared for the attack from Hamas. Hamas last week attacked Israel, leading to thousands of deaths of Israelis and Palestinians between that surprise attack and the ensuing Israeli strikes on Gaza. Israel is amassing troops along the Gaza Strip preparing for an invasion in an effort to eliminate Hamas. Israel has warned people in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south. Hamas took hostages during its attack, including Americans. The U.S. has moved Navy ships in the Mediterranean closer to Israel as a show of force. Graham said if the war escalates with Hezbollah involvement, the death of hostages or if American soldiers are attacked in Syria and Iraq, the U.S. should go after Iran, which has ties to Hamas. If this war escalates, then we should destroy the ability of the Iranians to finance terrorism in the future, Graham said. Theyre an oil-based economy. Without oil revenue, they stopped being the largest state sponsor of terrorism. However, Americans may not have an appetite for another conflict after leaving the 20-year war in Afghanistan. I think to those who believe getting out of places make you safer, how much more do I have to do to convince you getting out of Afghanistan led to Russia invading Ukraine. I believe that, Graham said. I believe that the weakness we have shown toward Iran led to this. I believe giving billions of dollars to get American hostages out of Iran made Hamas think hey, maybe we should do that too. The desire to not engage evil seldom works out well. Iran is evil. I dont want a war with Iran. But I am tired of Iran financing terrorism all over the globe, Graham added. The Associated Press contributed to this article. EXETER The security firm that hired a man who fatally stabbed a Timberland marketing director he was supposed to protect has settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought forward by the Exeter woman's estate. Michael Cormier, husband of the late Catherine Cassie Heppner, filed the civil negligence suit in Rockingham Superior Court against the firm Securitas Security Services USA, which was contracted to provide security guards for Timberlands headquarters in Stratham. The 15-count lawsuit also named Cadient, the North Carolina firm that owns Securitas' online employee screening program used to weed out unfit security guard candidates, as a defendant. The suit alleged Securitas negligently hired Robert Pavao, then 20, of Berwick, Maine, with zero security guard experience and ignored red flags displayed on the job about his mental state. Robert Pavao walks into Rockingham Superior Court Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, where he was sentenced to 55 years to life in prison for killing an Exeter woman at Timberland in Stratham in 2020. Pavao was convicted of murdering Heppner, a 46-year-old mother of a young son, on Feb. 9, 2020, by stabbing her twice in the neck with scissors in a storage room he had unlocked for her. Police reported Heppner's hands showed defensive wounds and Pavao told a responding Stratham police officer, he thought he killed Heppner. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 55 years to life in prison on Nov. 3, 2021. Cormier's attorneys from the law firm Abramson, Brown & Dugan, informed the court Sept. 26 that Cormier "reached a confidential agreement" to resolve his claims against Securitas and Cadient. Attorney Jared Green's motion sought the judge's approval to sign off on the settlement under state law because Cormier received workers' compensation benefits as a result of Heppner's death. The workers' compensation carrier has a lien on any potential settlement, and according to the attorney's filing, Cormier reached a "confidential settlement" to satisfy that as well. Judge David Ruoff granted the motion after meeting with attorneys in chambers and gave the parties 60 days to file a motion to close the case. Details of the settlement are not being made public. Attorneys for Cormier and Securitas did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Death of Patriots fan from NH: Police seek to charge 3 Rhode Island men with assault Lawsuit claimed Securitas actions to blame for murder Cormier filed the lawsuit March 24, 2022, after a similar litigation was withdrawn from federal court by his attorneys. According to the lawsuit, Securitas failed to properly screen and supervise Pavao as required in its contract with Timberland. Cadient's online psychological assessment tool picked up no red flags or concerning behavior, and Securitas did not contact any of the personal references for Pavao or have him take a drug test certified by a lab as required by its contract with Timberland. Robert Pavao When Securitas hired Pavao at $13 per hour on Sept. 17, 2019, the lawsuit claimed the only onsite training he received consisted of a few shifts "shadowing" another guard and that he worked 57 unsupervised shifts at Timberland from Oct. 5, 2019, through Feb. 8, 2020. One of the guards he worked with, according to the suit, observed Pavao being "antisocial" and demonstrating "significant anxiety." He also believed Pavao smoked marijuana at work and that he used other drugs like mushrooms and LSD" but never reported it as required by the Securitas security guard handbook. The same guard, according to the lawsuit, also said Pavao once asked him if there were cameras at Timberland because "if they see me on camera, they will see me screaming." Catherine Cassie Heppner The suit alleges the guard took the statement to mean that "Pavao had a breakdown at work" and he believed the comment was a "serious red flag," but again, he did not report it as the company's handbook requests. Additionally, the lawsuit outlines dozens of instances where security guards that Securitas and Cadient "deemed trustworthy and sound" committed crimes dating back to 2001. The most notable ones included Securitas guard James Fields Jr., who drove a car into a crowd of anti-white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one in 2017. In a 2019 case, a guard was charged with the assault of an 11-year-old girl he suspected of shoplifting in Boston, Massachusetts. "Securitas's awareness of the foregoing incidents also demonstrates that it knew, and Cadient knew or should have known, before Pavao was vetted in 2019, that their screening process, pre-employment assessments and supervision efforts had been woefully inadequate for many years," stated the lawsuit. More: Seabrook selectwoman under fire for telling India-born selectman to leave town Securitas Security Services, Cadiant denied allegations Securitas Security Services USA, through its attorneys from Morrison Mahoney and Kenney & Sams, and Cadiant denied responsibility for Heppner's death in court filings. "To the extent anyone is to blame for Ms. Heppner's death, it appears to be Pavao," according to Securitas' answer to the lawsuit. Attorneys for Securitas stated Pavao's conduct "represents criminal acts for which his employer is not vicariously responsible." In its answer, Securitas denied it cut any corners in hiring, noting they contacted prior employers and conducted a background check of Pavao, "which included his absent criminal history." The company also denied Pavao was unsupervised and agreed with the complaint that no employees reported any concerns about Pavao regarding drug use or other concerning behavior. Cadient argued there was no nexus between the "screening tool and the alleged triggers for Mr. Pavao's conduct." "There is no allegation that Mr. Pavao had any pre-existing mental health, drug abuse, or criminal history that should have been picked up on a screening assessment," Cadient's attorney Lisa Snow Wade stated in a motion to dismiss. "Further, the plaintiff asserts that Securitas performed a drug screen and criminal background check on Mr. Pavao, supporting that the assessment was not designed to address those areas." I had a good run: Vetter retires from NH State police, passes baton to sons What led to settlement talks Cormiers lawsuit requested a jury trial, and compensation for damages and costs endured by Heppners estate, as well as her lost earning power due to her death. Leading up to the settlement, there were several motions filed including Securitas looking to strike the mention of other cases involving Securitas security guards engaging in criminal activity calling it "irrelevant or impertinent." Cadient also filed a motion to dismiss the case, but it was denied Feb. 17, 2023. Cormier and Securitas requested a halt in the case in December 2022, noting they both agreed to focus on "mediation rather than litigation." According to a court filing, both sides went before a mediator in May 2023. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Securitas settles lawsuit over murder of Cassie Heppner at Timberland Sen. Bob Menendez , D-N.J., was hit with new charges Thursday accusing him of accepting bribes from a foreign government and conspiring to act as a foreign agent, according to a superseding indictment. The new indictment, filed by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, alleged that he provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt. Menendez could face up to two years in prison for failing as a public official to register as an agent of a foreign power, according to a law cited in the superseding indictment. In a statement Thursday, Menendez dismissed the new allegations. "The governments latest charge flies in the face of my long record of standing up for human rights and democracy in Egypt and in challenging leaders of that country, including President [Abdel-Fattah] El-Sisi on these issues," he said. "Piling new charge upon new charge does not make the allegations true. The facts havent changed, only a new charge," he added. "I again ask people who know me and my record to give me the chance to present my defense and show my innocence." Menendez and his wife, Nadine, last month pleaded not guilty to corruption charges alleging that they used his influence to pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. Three other defendants New Jersey businessmen Jose Uribe, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana also pleaded not guilty to the corruption charges last month. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who was the first Senate Democrat to call for Menendez to resign after the initial criminal charges, said Thursday that senators should hold a vote to expel him. "We cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate," Fetterman said in a statement. It is time for every one of my colleagues in the Senate to join me in expelling Senator Menendez." Expulsion would require two-thirds of the full Senate to vote in favor of removing Menendez. Fetterman's call was backed by Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who announced after last month's charges that he was running for Menendez's seat. "Given the severity of these charges, the US Senate should vote on expulsion, Kim wrote on X. In the indictment Thursday, federal prosecutors alleged that Menendez's wife and Hana worked to introduce Egyptian intelligence and military officials to Menendez for the purpose of establishing and solidifying a corrupt agreement. The new charge alleges that from 2018 to 2022, Hana, Menendez and his wife "conspired, confederated and agreed together and with each other to have a public official" Menendez "act as an agent of a foreign principal, to wit, the Government of Egypt and Egyptian officials." It cites as overt acts a dinner Menendez, his now-wife and Hana had together at a restaurant in 2018 and a second dinner Menendez had with Hana and an unidentified Egyptian official in 2019. Hana's lawyer, Larry Lustberg, mocked the charge in a statement Thursday. The new allegation that Wael Hana was part of a plot concocted over dinner to enlist Senator Menendez as an agent of the Egyptian Government is as absurd as it is false. As with the other charges in this indictment, Mr. Hana will vigorously defend against this baseless allegation," Lustberg said. An alleged meeting in Sen. Menendezs office with his wife, Hana, an Egyptian military official and other officials where the discussion involved foreign military financing to Egypt, among other topics (USDC Southern District of NY) While additional details about Menendezs alleged conduct on behalf of the government of Egypt are included in Thursdays filing, prosecutors did not allege that the senator or his wife accepted any additional cash or gifts that werent already included in the charges issued last month. The superseding indictment noted that Menendez had sent two letters to the Justice Department in May 2022, including one letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking that they request an unnamed former member of Congress to be investigated as a foreign agent. Prosecutors said the letters, which were posted on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee website and/or Menendezs website, included the specific statutes that prohibit Americans from working on behalf of a foreign government without registering with the Justice Department. The indictment alleged that Menendezs wife was the one who advised Hana that she was dating the senator and that allegedly happened when Hanas outreach, in part to advance Egypts interests, began. An alleged meeting at a Washington D.C. steakhouse where Sen. Bob Menendez, his wife, Hana, and Egyptian Official-3 (USDC Southern District of NY) The new charges against Menendez come weeks after he and his wife were accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in return for the use of his influence to enrich the three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the Egyptian government. During his time as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez helped oversee billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Egypt. He stepped down as chair of the panel shortly after he was indicted last month. The charges in the indictment from last month included conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. In that indictment, prosecutors alleged that the couple received bribes, including in the form of cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle and other items of value." In addition to the federal corruption case, the FBI is investigating whether Egypts intelligence services might have been involved in the alleged bribery scheme described in the September indictment of Menendez and his wife, sources familiar with the matter said last month. Menendez rejected calls for his resignation from dozens of his Democratic colleagues after he was indicted on bribery charges last month. Amid those calls, Menendez had met with his fellow Senate Democrats in a closed-door meeting. After the meeting, he told reporters: I will continue to cast votes on behalf of the people of New Jersey as I have for 18 years. And I am sure when they need those votes, theyll be looking for it, for me to catch those votes. Menendez has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the case and predicted that he would ultimately be exonerated. Nadine Menendezs lawyer, David Schertler, said in a statement after the charges last month that she denies any wrongdoing and will defend vigorously against these allegations in court. In his first public comments on the charges, Menendez insisted all of the cash found in his Englewood Cliffs home was his. For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba, he said. These were moneys drawn from my personal savings account based on the income I have lawfully derived over those 30 years. The federal indictment was the second Menendez has faced since he entered office as a senator in 2006. He was charged in 2015 with illegally accepting favors from a Florida eye doctor. The case ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Federal prosecutors decided against retrying him. Menendez is the first sitting U.S. senator to face indictments on two unrelated criminal allegations, according to data compiled by the Senate Historical Office. CORRECTION (Oct. 12, 2023, 9 p.m. ET): A photo caption in a previous version of this article misstated the state Menendez represents in the Senate. It is New Jersey, not New York. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. SNOW SHOE TOWNSHIP When Cris Dush s state Senate district was redrawn to include part of Centre County last year, the Republican went door to door to connect with new constituents. Dush met with residents at a pizza shop in Snow Shoe, located just off Interstate 80, to hear more about how the rural community has lost critical businesses in the past few years, including its only grocery store, pharmacy, and medical center. An electrical fire in 2020 destroyed Halls Market, True Value Hardware, Jersey Shore Bank, and a Subway. Then, the only pharmacy closed. Later, the lone medical center also left, citing a decline in patients and revenue. And a local restaurant followed suit earlier this year. After years of hardship in the Mountaintop region, Dush, R-Brookville, and first-term state Rep. Paul Takac , D-Rush Township who vowed to prioritize the community despite winning roughly 30% of the vote in Snow Shoe are helping to deliver aid from the state. Brought together by the overlap in their districts, the pair have put partisanship aside. They see their position as lawmakers as an opportunity to secure development grants, lobby for state money to buy new equipment, and find ways to bring new businesses to the area. We work together as a team, Dush told Spotlight PA of his relationship with Takac. Weve got to get this stuff done, and we got to take care of our people when people are suffering from not having proper health care and not having access to food, especially when theyre elderly and have to travel long distances. With a population of roughly 3,000, the Mountaintop region includes Snow Shoe borough, Snow Shoe Township, and Burnside Township. Snow Shoe borough is contained within the township of the same name. All have individual local governing boards. The new representation in Harrisburg has given local leaders hope that their community is finally a priority. Weve hoped somebody would come here to try to do something, Rodney Preslovich, who chairs the Snow Shoe Township Board of Supervisors, told Spotlight PA. Before redistricting, the once-a-decade process to redraw political lines, Mountaintop residents were represented by state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, a Republican who now represents Clinton and Union Counties, and now-retired state Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman , also a Republican. Through a spokesperson, Borowicz cited a grant for drinking water infrastructure as something she helped bring to the area. She added that she worked to recruit someone into buying the grocery store to reopen it, but so far, no one has stepped in, she told Spotlight PA. The township supervisors said that calls to Borowicz went unreturned. Corman would help, they said, but only if the township reached out first. Corman told Spotlight PA that he was always there to help in Snow Shoe, citing his involvement in trying to bring more reliable medical care to the area after the center closed. Obviously, its a big district, he said. Sometimes they reach out; sometimes we reach out. Snow Shoe Fire Chief Beau Martin said he never had a problem reaching Borowicz, who secured funding for Snow Shoes fire and ambulance companies, but added that he sees the new lawmakers in the community more often. Dush and Takac have helped obtain funding for local infrastructure projects, including repairs at the Snow Shoe Township building, upgrades at the Moshannon Community Center, and a new leaf collection truck for Snow Shoe borough. For me, this is an enormous opportunity and a privilege to be able to show that there are people who are interested in wanting to help, that there are programs, there is funding, there are opportunities to improve the quality of life for the residents in those areas, Takac told Spotlight PA. And I dont think that sense of optimism was there. Mountaintop residents have dealt with water infrastructure issues for years, specifically having to conserve water and operate under boil advisories due to poor quality. In the past five years, the water authority has used state funding to install additional meters for monitoring water flow. But elected leaders said continued improvements are crucial for recruiting new businesses. Ronald Bucha, a township supervisor, thinks an industrial park would thrive in Snow Shoe. Still in the works and a top need for residents is access to fresh food. Since the fire, people have had to travel at least 30 minutes to access essentials not sold at Dollar General. Officials at every level of government, including U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Howard, are working to launch a food co-op to fill the void left by Halls Market closing. Co-ops can help fill in gaps in the food system, a need that is especially important in rural areas where residents are typically older and might struggle to travel long distances for groceries and other necessities. Theyre typically managed and used by community members. The Keystone Development Center, a Lancaster County-based agricultural co-op, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are also involved in the Snow Shoe development plans. The planned co-op doesnt have a definite timeline or distribution plan yet, but the next step is forming a steering committee of local leaders, Takac said. A meeting to discuss the committee is scheduled for later this month. We are there to assist and to help, but this is going to be a community initiative, he said. Local officials decide and direct most community development. Theyre particularly responsible for zoning decisions and applying for grants, which can be a lengthy and complex process for local governments that are run primarily by volunteers. Snow Shoe is no exception, but Dush and Takac have alleviated some of the burden. Sandra Reiter and Tauni Bowling, who serve on the Snow Shoe Borough Council, said their latest elected officials in Harrisburg have brought a new level of communication to the region by sharing grant opportunities and other resources. Takac, in particular, has established office hours, where he or a staff member sets up shop at the township building, usually every other week, to help constituents with taxes, renew drivers licenses, and answer questions. Weve never had that before, Preslovich said. SUPPORT THIS JOURNALISM and help us reinvigorate local news in north-central Pennsylvania at spotlightpa.org/donate/statecollege. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability and public-service journalism that gets results. A triple-core SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket vaulted away from Kennedy Space Center Friday morning to kick off NASA's interplanetary Psyche mission on a 2.2 billion mile journey to the asteroid belt. At 10:19 a.m. EDT, 27 Merlin 1D main engines roared to life, producing about 5 million pounds of thrust to propel the 230-foot rocket away from pad 39A. Friday's mission was NASA's first science payload to fly aboard the heavy-class rocket. The Psyche spacecraft is designed to study a metal-rich asteroid of the same name. Another SpaceX mission was slated for liftoff hours later Friday night from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A Falcon 9 rocket packed with another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites was set to fly from Launch Complex 40. Check floridatoday.com/space for live Space Team updates of the Starlink 6-22 mission to begin 90 minutes before liftoff. Rocket launch schedule: Upcoming Florida launches and landings Deep discount offer: Brevard residents save big on October admission at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Double booster landing sonic booms startled some on Friday About eight minutes after liftoff, spectators were treated to a double booster landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The center core continued on to push Psyche to an interplanetary transfer orbit, with payload deployment occurring about an hour after liftoff. The back-to-back sonic booms produced as the vehicles crossed the speed-of-sound threshold startled numerous unsuspecting Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex guests outside the shuttle Atlantis building. Some guests visibly jumped, ducked and winced from the echoing booms, which thundered from the sky. Jim and Maureen Tingwald of Branson, Missouri, secured seats at the top of the east-facing bleachers at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex launch viewing zone. Jim surprised Maureen for their 25th wedding anniversary by booking a 10-day Orlando vacation. The couple drove from their condominium to the Space Coast to watch their first-ever launch out of curiositys sake. To come experience it in person is just exciting, she said. Its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he said. What to know about NASA's Psyche mission: Friday's flight marked SpaceX's eighth of a Falcon Heavy rocket since it first began operation in 2018. What set the Psyche mission apart from the others was that it was the first dedicated to a NASA payload a billion-dollar one at that. Others have supported national security and commercial satellite payloads. "Psyches mission is to study an asteroid that may be like Earths core, composed of a mixture of rock and iron-nickel metal," NASA said in a release. "The asteroid offers a unique window into these building blocks of planet formation and the opportunity to investigate a previously unexplored type of world." According to NASA, Psyche will fly by Mars for a gravity assist just over 2.5 years into its mission. It will take the spacecraft about six years to complete the journey to its final home in the asteroid belt. Then, it will spend 26 months orbiting around the Psyche asteroid to map and study its properties. (Psyche) is a great way for us to learn about our planet," retired NASA astronaut Bill McArthur said. "The more we know about our planet, the better we will be able to protect it." When he was a kid, he enjoyed the 1959 sci-fi adventure movie Journey to the Center of the Earth starring Pat Boone and James Mason. But in reality, he said intense underground heat and pressure make it impossible to drill deep enough to approach the Earths core. He said the Psyche spacecrafts onboard instruments should help scientists learn about how planets are constructed. Its cool," McArthur said. "Psyches going to allow us to sort of look back and have a lot more understanding on how our planet formed. How was the planet Earth born? Thats important information. Because the more we understand about our home planet, the better stewards we can be to protect this really, really valuable resource, he said. All told, the Psyche mission launch marked the fourth Falcon Heavy flight this year and SpaceX's 271st launch of a Falcon family rocket Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy from its three launch pads in Florida and California. It also marked the seventh time SpaceX has pulled off its signature double booster ballet, having only once expended all three boosters to a watery grave in the Atlantic Ocean. When is the next SpaceX rocket launch? The next liftoff expected from the Space Coast is tentatively set to be a SpaceX Falcon 9 with another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station slated for liftoff Friday evening. For the latest launch schedule updates, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule. Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her on X at @AlteredJamie. Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here). Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1 Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX launched a Falcon Heavy on Friday for NASA asteroid mission Amid the volatile fight over unionization at Starbucks stores nationwide, an employee at a Nichols Hills location has joined anti-union efforts by filing a petition seeking a vote to remove the union from her store. Amy Smith filed the petition earlier this month with the National Labor Relations Board asking that 27 employees be allowed to vote on decertifying Starbucks Workers United at the Nichols Hills Plaza location. Smith is asking for a vote to take place Nov. 17. She is represented by the National Right to Work Legal Foundation, which said in a news release this week that the petition has enough employee signatures to prompt a vote. While Oklahoma is a right-to-work state, meaning SBWU bosses cannot compel Smith or her coworkers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of staying employed, SBWU is still empowered by federal law to impose a union contract on all employees of the coffee shop, including those who oppose the union, the foundation said. A successful decertification vote would strip union officials of that power. The foundation said Smith and her co-workers are the latest to join efforts to decertify the union, including Starbucks workers in New York, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City among other locations. Oklahoma City Starbucks was the first in the state to unionize Workers at 365 Starbucks locations nationwide have voted to join unions since August 2021. Last year, the Starbucks store at 132 NW 23 in Oklahoma City was the first in Oklahoma to unionize. Starbucks Workers United says employees at the Nichols Hills store and stores across the country are victims of a union-busting campaign costing millions of dollars that could be spent on employee raises. It is concerning the Right to Work Foundation claims to represent the interest of workers, while being funded by billionaires, whose larger goal is to diminish labor power, said Collin Pollitt, a union partner at the NW 23 location. "Organized workers are responsible for raising labor standards throughout history, not benevolent dictator CEOs. Labor board investigating several Oklahoma Starbucks locations over alleged union busting tactics Region 14 of the labor board is looking into complaints of unfair labor practices at the Nichols Hills store as well as one in Norman, and two in Oklahoma City, including the NW 23 location. Accusations include interrogating workers about union activity, threatening loss of pay raises and benefits if employees unionized and promising increased benefits and improved workplace conditions if employees did not partake in unionization. Starbucks Workers United has filed more than 100 cases with the labor board across the country, accusing Starbucks of refusing to bargain with the union, firing union supporters and conducting anti-union efforts in stores. Some of those accusations have been aimed at the Starbucks C-suite. More: OKC metro-area Starbucks stores face prosecution for unfair labor practices, NLRB says On Oct. 6, Administrative Law Judge Brian Gee in Los Angeles ruled that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz violated federal labor law making an illegal threat against an employee. During a listening tour among Starbucks employees in Long Beach last year, Schultz had a tense exchange with barista Madison Mads Hall. Schultz agreed with Hall that employees should earn a living wage, but went on to say, according to Gees finding: And I sense from you a little bit of anger towards the company and I just want to know why. Hall suggested they talk about open labor board charges. Schultz offered to speak with Hall one-on-one. Others in the room went silent and stared at the exchange. According to Gees finding, Schultz let out an indignant half-laugh and said: Im here to be 100% honest and transparent. Youve been with the company two years. I would just ask you to have a little bit more respect for the people who have been here more more years than you. And the fact that Ive come here, not to talk about a union issue, Ive come here to address the issues that we need to address to improve the company. And if youre not happy at Starbucks, you can go work for another company. Gee ruled that Schultz violated federal labor law by threatening or impliedly threatening employees by inviting them to quit in response to their union or other protected concerted activities. The judge ordered Schultz and Starbucks to quit threatening employees by inviting them to quit because they have engaged in union or other protected activity. In 2022, Starbucks held collaboration sessions with our partners around the country to gather input on how best to shape the experiences in our stores and we are pleased NLRB Judge Gee found those sessions both lawful and rooted in past practices, the company said in a statement. How Starbucks has responded Starbucks said it has no affiliation with The National Right to Work Foundation, and the chain respects the right of employees to decide whether to join a union: While Starbucks continues to make good faith efforts to negotiate first contracts for certified stores, partners at nearly 20 stores across the country have filed petitions to decertify Workers United as their bargaining representative. Unfortunately, in each instance where partners have appropriately filed petitions to hold a decertification vote, Workers United and the National Labor Relations Board have sought to deprive those partners of their right to choose whether they want to maintain union representation through a secret ballot election. In its news release announcing the union decertification move at the Nichols Hills store, The National Right to Work Foundation said union officials manipulate federal labor law to prevent workers from voting them out. Tactics include filing unrelated or unverified charges against management, the group says. SBWU union officials are leveraging their legal privileges and the deep pockets of their affiliate, the Service Employees International Union, to try to install union control over as many Starbucks employees as they can as quickly as they can, foundation President Mark Mix said in the news release. But as Starbucks and other coffee employees across the country continue to try to flee the unions power, its becoming clearer that the SBWUs campaign is rooted more in generating political buzz and expanding union power than actually standing up for workers interests. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 granted private sector employees the right to unionize. Last week in Midwest City, employees at the Starbucks near SE 29 and Air Depot filed a petition with the labor board to unionize with Starbucks Workers United. "After dedicating three years of my life to this company, it's disheartening to witness how our viewpoints and perspectives as partners are often overlooked in decisions that greatly impact both the business and partners, Viktoria Jekic, a barista and organizer at the Midwest City location, said in a news release. The title partner loses its meaning when we are treated as expendable commodities. Unionizing signifies a future where our voices are not only acknowledged but truly valued and embraced, and where we are genuinely regarded as partners in the true sense of the word. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Starbucks worker in Oklahoma files to vote for removal of union A former Kentucky sheriff accused of stealing money from a fund for undercover drug purchases was sentenced Friday to 13 months in federal prison. Keith Cooper, the former sheriff in Greenup County, was in jail for about three months after he was indicted in January 2022. That will count against his sentence, leaving about 10 months. U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove also fined Cooper $10,000. In addition, Cooper has agreed to pay $60,000 in restitution. That does not count the value of about $29,000 worth of ammunition Cooper allegedly kept after leaving office. Van Tatenhove will decide later on the total amount of restitution Cooper owes. Cooper, now 70, was sheriff of Greenup County from 1996 until the end of 2018, and had served two decades as a Kentucky State Police officer before that, according to court records. A federal grand jury charged that Cooper stole more than $58,000 while he was sheriff; kept ammunition bought with taxpayer money; and used his official vehicle and credit card for personal trips out of state. The account involved in the charges was one where the sheriffs office deposited money seized in investigations, such as cash taken from a drug dealer. The money was to be used for law enforcement activities, such as drug buys. In addition to the accusation that Cooper took money from the account, he also allegedly skimmed money seized during investigations without depositing it into the account. A state audit spotted a problem, which led to an investigation by the Kentucky Attorney Generals Office and ultimately the FBI, according to a court document. Cooper pleaded no contest to one charge of mail fraud, for allegedly mailing a false report to the attorney generals office, and a charge of misappropriation of funds. A no-contest plea means a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is sufficient evidence for a conviction. The effect is the same as pleading guilty. Cooper has steadfastly maintained that he did not steal any money, said his attorney, Edward Lee Metzger III. However, he decided to enter a plea because he kept such poor records he couldnt account for all the money he was responsible for, or prove he spent it all legitimately, Metzger said. The records at issue in the case included reports on drug buys that Cooper said he made while doing undercover work alone. After authorities began investigating, Cooper had a deputy draw up reports on 11 cases, showing how he had spent money on investigations, and mail them to the Kentucky Attorney Generals Office. The investigations were real, but again, Cooper didnt have the records to show that, Metzger said. However, the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew T. Boone, said in a sentencing memorandum that Cooper produced fake reports to try to head off the investigation he faced. Matt Easter, a detective for the Kentucky Attorney Generals Office, testified the reports Cooper provided did not include information that would be standard. Easter said he found no indication any of the cases resulted in referrals for prosecution and didnt find any drugs logged into evidence related to any of the cases. I would say that those were fraudulent reports, Easter said of the documents Cooper mailed to the state. Boone, the prosecutor, said Cooper stole money intended for use in drug investigations, used the sheriffs office as his personal ammunition supply and spent public money on his personal travel. Coopers crimes reflect stunning abuses of his authority and the publics trust in him, the memo said. Cooper faced 18 to 24 months in prison under advisory federal guidelines. Van Tatenhove credited Cooper for his exemplary public service as a longtime police officer in deciding on a sentence under the advisory range. A teacher stabbed to death at a secondary school in France stepped forward to protect others, said Emmanuel Macron , who described it as a terror attack. The French president said the language teacher, named by a colleague as Dominque Bernard, had without doubt saved many lives. The attack happened at City School Gambetta-Carnot in the town of Arras in the north of the country on Friday at around 11am. Two other people were injured. A former pupil of the school, aged in his 20s, has reportedly been arrested (AFP/Getty Images) French anti-terror prosecutors have taken over the investigation. Visiting the school, Macron told reporters the attack was the result of barbaric Islamist terrorism. He added: The teacher who was killed had come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives. He also said that police had thwarted an attempted attack in another French region - but did not provide any more detail. The suspect being held by police over the school attack is a man in his 20s of Chechen origin who was under surveillance by the French security services over suspected radicalization, local authorities have said. Emmanuel Macron, followed by Pas-de-Calais Prefect Jacques Billant visit the Gambetta high school in Arras (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The French intelligence services told The Associated Press the man had been closely watched since the summer with tails and telephone surveillance and was stopped as recently as Thursday for a police check that found no wrongdoing. A police officer, who was one of the first on the scene, told the news agency that the attacker, a former pupil at the school, shouted: Allahu Akbar - God is great in Arabic. Police said two other men, a second teacher and a security guard, were in critical condition. The attack came amid heightened tensions around the world over Hamas weekend attack on southern Israel and Israels military response. (Reuters) A philosophy teacher who witnessed the attack told AFP he barricaded himself inside the school until police arrived. He said: He attacked canteen staff, I wanted to go down to intervene, he turned to me, chased me and asked me if I was a history and geography teacher. We barricaded ourselves, then the police arrived and immobilized him. A PE teacher told newsoutlet BFMTV he thought the attack was an exercise. He said: The students are shocked, you can see it in their eyes. I can see very clearly who the victim was. Its shocking to hear that siren and know its for real. One pupil told outlet La Voix du Nord: We were leaving class to go to the canteen when we saw the guy with two knives attacking the teacher, who had blood on him. He tried to calm him down and protect us. Pupils are said to still be confined to their classrooms (Reuters) French police announced the situation was under control around an hour after the attack too place (Reuters) He told us to leave, but we didnt really understand, so we ran and others went back upstairs. Macron travelled to Arras along with the interior and education ministers. On his visit, he stopped for a moment before the blanket-covered body of the teacher, which was in the parking area in front of the school. Hundreds of police were deployed around the school and nearby neighbourhoods, including heavily armed units, and barricaded a wide perimeter around the site. Parents said pupils were still confined to the locked-down school more than three hours after the attack. Meanwhile, political leaders have taken to social media to share their shock and sadness, as The National Assembly in Paris suspended its session in solidarity with the victims. Yael Braun-Pivet, president of the countrys National Assembly, said: Horror has just struck a high school in Arras. My thoughts are with the victim, the injured, their families. I give my full support to the entire teaching community and to the students. Thank you to the law enforcement and emergency services mobilized. Jean-Michel Blanquer, former minister for education, said: The assassination of a professor strikes us down once again. Everything is connected. Our inflexibility in the face of the Islamist hydra is the only way. Any complicity, even intellectual, with terrorism is unbearable. The attack has also led to ministers calling for a tightening of security at schools. Gabriel Attal, minister of education, said: A knife attack occurred this morning in Arras, causing several victims. I ask you to take without delay all the necessary measures to strengthen the security of all schools and establishments. Avraham Havron's family sensed the winds of antisemitism picking up in 1930s Germany. They packed up 7-year-old Avraham and moved to a dry and sparsely populated stretch of land between Lebanon and Egypt on the Mediterranean. As World War II broke out in Europe and Nazis hunted Jews down to murder or round up into concentration camps, Avraham's vision of a peaceful community where all members contribute started to crystalize. In 1947 he and his young bride, Rina, founded the Be'eri kibbutz, a communal farming village, in the Negev desert. Three photos of Avraham and Rina Havron at Kibbutz Kibbutz Beeri (Courtesy Shira Havron) "It was built on values of equality and community and togetherness," his granddaughter Shira Havron told NBC News. Seventy-six years later Be'eri became the scene of a massacre at the hands of Hamas and 10 members of Avraham Havron's extended family would be missing, presumed to be held hostage by terrorists in the underground tunnels of Gaza manned by Hamas. Terrorists killed more than 120 Be'eri residents, including children, and kidnaped others, then torched people's homes, according to Israeli authorities and video of the carnage reviewed by NBC News. Seven of the 10 missing family members of Shira Havron hold dual citizenship with European countries and Israel. Follow live updates from NBC News here. Shira Havron holds photo of her 3-year-old niece Yahel Gani Shoham in front of EU parliament holding (Dan Soboviyz) Havron, who lives in Tel Aviv but was traveling in London when the attack occurred, was in Brussels on Wednesday meeting with European Union leaders to urge them to take action to find the hostages in Gaza. Inside European Parliament, she described being met with a warm welcome. Everybody was giving their condolences and hugging us and greeting us very warmly and taking long meetings with us," she said. "But its easy to speak and to listen, and eventually we have an expectation to see actions from that." Parliament Roberta Metsola,, right, talks with Shira Havron. (Dan Soboviyz) Havron, her father, missing aunt and cousins one as young as 3 all hold German citizenship through her grandfather Avraham. Other family members believed to be held hostage hold dual citizenship with Italy and Austria. Avraham Havron died last year at the age of 97. His two daughters, who were attacked and possibly kidnapped by Hamas, have lived their entire lives in the village he founded. The 10 missing members of Shira Havron's family. (Courtesy Shira Havron) One of them, Shoshan Haran, fights the global hunger crisis through her NGO Fair Planet. The other, Lilach Kipnis, is a social worker who supports survivors of trauma. The 10 missing family members make up roughly half of Avraham and Rina Havrons descendants and extended family. Thank God they [my grandparents] did not live to see this, Shira Havron said. The devastation to one family underscores the brutality of the horrific Hamas attack on Saturday, where terrorists who entered Beeri went door to door, spilling blood at every turn. I saw babies murdered. I saw children murdered. ... I saw children and teenagers tied together and burned to death, said first responder Yossi Landau, commander of the aid organization ZAKA South. Havron's remaining family has received no information yet from authorities. But one of the missing relative's cellphone pinged from Gaza on Saturday, leading her and her surviving relatives to believe the family is being held hostage there. Havron has seen video of the two houses her family lived in in Beeri, torched by Hamas. On Wednesday they learned that her uncle Eviatar Kipnis's caretaker, Paul Castelvi who helped Eviatar's with mobility due to his auto-immune condition was identified among the dead. The remaining members of the Havron family are holding out hope their loved ones are still alive. Family photo (Courtesy Shira Havron) CORRECTION (Oct. 12, 2023, 6:55 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the name of Shira Havrons uncle. He is Eviatar Kipnis, not Avshalom Haran. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Former President Donald Trump plans to return to the civil fraud trial against him and his company next week to watch the testimony of his former lawyer Michael Cohen, two sources confirmed. While he is in New York, Trump is also expected to be deposed in a case involving former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who, like Cohen, he has repeatedly trashed in public. Cohen is expected to take the stand in the $250 million civil fraud case against Trump and his company as early as Tuesday. His testimony is expected to take roughly two days. Its been five years since we have seen one another. Assuming I am even on to testify next week, I look forward to the reunion. I hope Donald does, as well, Cohen told NBC News, adding that Trump is "scared" and "petrified." It is expected that Trump will stay for testimony Tuesday and Wednesday, the two sources said, adding that his schedule is subject to change. The Messenger first reported Trumps travel plans. New York Attorney General Letitia James has said the probe that led to the $250 million lawsuit against Trump was sparked by Cohens testimony to Congress. In 2019, Cohen told lawmakers about Trumps business practices, saying Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes conduct that James said prompted the investigation. Previous congressional testimony by Cohen landed him in prison. He was sentenced in 2018 to three years in prison for what a federal judge in Manhattan called a veritable smorgasbord of criminal conduct, including lying to Congress about Trumps business dealings with Russia and facilitating secret payments to women who claimed they had had affairs with Trump. Trump faces criminal charges from the Manhattan district attorney's office related to the hush-money payments, and Cohen is expected to be a witness in that trial, as well. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the hush-money case and denied wrongdoing in the civil case. He has called Cohen a "rat" and made other disparaging remarks in recent years. Trump is expected to testify in the civil case in the coming weeks. Tuesday is also when Trump is scheduled to be deposed in connection with a pair of lawsuits filed by his longtime targets Strzok and Page. He is expected to answer questions for two hours. An attorney with knowledge of the situation said the deposition will take place in Manhattan after the fraud trial adjourns for the day. Strzok alleges in his suit against the Justice Department that he was wrongfully terminated, while Page, who resigned as an FBI lawyer in May 2018, has argued privacy violations in relation to the public disclosures of her text messages with Strzok. Both were involved in then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. They were removed from the probe after officials discovered text messages that criticized Trump, including a message that referred to him as a loathsome human. Trump has repeatedly trashed them since then and claimed credit for Strzoks being fired, although the Justice Department has denied Trump was responsible or involved in the decision to dismiss him. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Oil Minister Javad Owji said on Thursday that his country has seen strengthened cooperation with Russia over the past year, especially in the energy sector, despite the "unjust" sanctions imposed on the two countries. He made the remarks at the 6th Russian Energy Week International Forum in Moscow, according to the Shana News Agency affiliated with the Iranian Oil Ministry. Owji said the cooperation between Iran and Russia has not been "unimpeded," noting that the two sides have faced numerous challenges, including those brought by the sanctions. "We, however, managed to overcome the obstacles by finding innovative solutions through strong determination and persistence," the minister added. He said that, in addition to creating economic benefits, energy cooperation between the two sides helps improve mutual understanding, contributes to regional and global stability, and prepares the ground for further bilateral collaboration in other sectors. Russian Energy Week International Forum is a key international event to address the most pressing issues in the energy sector. This year's forum kicked off on Wednesday and runs till Friday. Democratic state Sen. Kathleen Riebe and Republican Celeste Maloy are facing off in the special election to fill Utahs 2nd Congressional District seat. | Spenser Heaps, Ryan Sun, Deseret News With just over a month until the special general election to replace former Rep. Chris Stewart in Utahs 2nd Congressional District, a new poll shows how the vote is shaping up. On Wednesday, the Utah Debate Commission said that only those candidates who received over 10% support in its poll are eligible to participate in the special election debate on Oct. 26 in the PBS Utah studio. The debate will be moderated by Mary Weaver, director of the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service at Southern Utah University. The poll, conducted by Lighthouse Research, surveyed 528 registered voters from the 2nd Congressional District from Sept. 26 to Oct. 6. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.26 percentage points, which allows candidates polling 5.74% or higher to qualify for the debate. Who is participating in 2nd District debate? Republican candidate Celeste Maloy, who served as counsel for former Rep. Chris Stewart for four years, garnered 42.8% of the support. She won the Republican special primary election on Sept. 6. Related Utah state Sen. Kathleen Riebe, who represents Utahs 15th District and earned the Utah Democratic Partys nomination for the special election, came in second with 34.28%. Who did not qualify for the debate? Brad Green, a Libertarian businessman, earned 5.68% support, just barely under the threshold. Meanwhile, the candidates who didnt qualify include the unaffiliated Joe Buchman, who has run unsuccessfully in a few races, as well as January Walker, the United Utah Party candidate. Both of them earned less than 3% in the poll. Enoch resident Cassie Easley from the Constitution Party and Perry Myers, the CEO of Belle Medical, a beauty spa in St. George, earned less than 2% support. Nearly 9.28% of voters said they were undecided. How does the Utah Debate Commission determine who is eligible to debate? The debate commission uses polling as a qualifying limit to allow for meaningful discussion within the time constraints set by a televised broadcast, it said in a press release. The Commission on Presidential Debates set the precedent for using poll results as a participation metric, but it uses 15%, a threshold 5 points higher than UDCs. The Utah Debate Commission did not hold a primary debate for this special election. Commission board co-chairman Wayne Niederhauser told KSL News in July that the commission didnt have enough time to prepare, plus the costs were high. Resources are always a factor like any nonprofit organization, said Niederhauser. We not only have to plan for the special election but also for an election year in 2024. [Source] An international student from Vietnam who dreamt of sunny Florida beaches when she applied for college later realized she'd mistakenly enrolled at Miami University in Ohio. Mixed-up dreams: Valerie Do, 19, took to TikTok on Oct. 4, to share the mix-up that happened in 2021 when she decided to pursue her education in the U.S. She shared that her mind at the time was filled with visions of Miami, pristine beaches and palm tree-lined streets. "When someone says 'go to hell' but I am studying abroad at Miami University of Ohio," she writes in the in-video text. "I thought it was Miami Florida and did not realize. There are no beaches here it's just cornfield and in the middle of nowhere." Trending on NextShark: Vietnamese student who dreamt of Florida move mistakenly enrolls at Miami University in Ohio Quick reality check: In an interview with Insider, Do explained that when she received an acceptance letter from a "Miami University," she assumed it was the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Her hopes of basking under the Florida sun, however, were immediately shattered after a quick Google search revealed that the university in question was Miami University, situated in Oxford, Ohio. Turning mistakes into opportunities: Do did some more digging and later found that the Ohio campus had an excellent business school. She eventually made the bold decision to move to Ohio after evaluating her financial aid options, the scholarship offer and the overall safety of the area. Trending on NextShark: S. Korean star Song Joong-ki reveals why he's had no success landing Hollywood, UK roles "Especially for international students, the most important part is obviously the money," Do explains in a follow-up video. "They gave me a lot of money, and my parents can afford the tuition. So I ended up in Ohio." TikTok fame: Do, who is now a campus tour guide at Miami University-Ohio, has become a viral TikTok sensation with her posts. Her first Miami-to-Ohio journey video has so far racked up over 1.5 million views. While some criticized her for not researching the university before applying, she generally received positive responses from viewers. "Youre not the only one. There were international students who did this too when I was there years ago!!!" a commenter wrote. Trending on NextShark: [Update] Chinese woman missing after her US tour guide found dead in California state park "I feel like mistakes like these happen to many international students like I wonder how many kids are somewhere different than they expected lmao," another reacted. "Whenever I tell people I go to Miami I always get jokes about going to the wrong school," another shared in a comment. Trending on NextShark: Constance Wu says having second baby is like going from one to 20 More on NextShark: TikToker reacts to tasting Indian food for first time: 'That should be a crime' WA hydrogen production to get a boost from share of $1B in funding If you are sending a Letter To the Editor, please be sure to follow these rules: Letters have a firm 200-word limit and will be edited for grammar, clarity and accuracy. The person who signs the letter must be the author. Anonymous letters will not be considered. Letters must address the editor, not a third party. We will not print form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or personal disputes, poetry, open letters, letters espousing religious views without reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Yakima Herald-Republic cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters. Writers are limited to one published letter per calendar month. Israelis take cover in a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel Saturday, killing over 1,000 people and taking captives. Israel launched heavy retaliatory airstrikes on the enclave, killing hundreds of Palestinians. World Spa Awards the global initiative to celebrate and reward excellence in the spa and wellness sector has announced the highly-anticipated winners of its 2023 programme. Notable winners include Switzerlands Burgenstock Alpine Spa, which claimed the coveted title for Worlds Best Hotel Spa, whilst the iconic Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy was voted Worlds Best Wellness Retreat. Mandarin Oriental collected Worlds Best Hotel Spa Brand for the second year running. Aromatherapy Associates also continued its reign by retaining Worlds Best Aromatherapy Brand. French luxury brand LOccitane made its World Spa Awards debut in 2023 by winning Worlds Best Spa Brand. The announcement follows a year-long search for the worlds top spa and wellness brands. Votes were cast by industry professionals, the media and the public. In the newcomer categories, Awaken Spa at Dubais new landmark resort, Atlantis The Royal, took Worlds Best New Resort Spa. Clinique La Prairie Longevity Hub at Qatars The St. Regis Marsa Arabia Island, The Pearl, was named Worlds Best New Hotel Spa. Lanserhof Sylt, Germany situated on a secluded island in the Wadden Sea clinched titles for Worlds Best New Wellness Retreat and Worlds Best Spa Design. The Spa at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, A Rosewood Resort, Mexico won Worlds Best Spa Signature Treatment for its Holistic Twilight Ceremony. Destination winners include Dubai, with its dazzling array of both traditional and leading-edge treatments, named Worlds Best Spa Destination and Bali heralded Worlds Best Wellness Destination. Regional destination winners include Morocco for Africas Best Spa Destination, Mexico for Latin Americas Best Spa Destination and Australia for Oceanias Best Spa Destination. Rebecca Cohen, Managing Director, World Spa Awards, said: The spa and wellness industry is experiencing sustained growth, evident in the calibre of nominees in our 2023 programme. We have seen a notable increase in first-time World Spa Awards recipients, whilst previous winners also continue to push the boundaries of excellence by retaining their titles. All winners have shown dedication to delivering exceptional spa and wellness experiences and we are excited to share these achievements with the world. World Spa Awards is the sister event of World Travel Awards, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary. TradeArabia News Service JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Friday that it had conducted "localized raids" into the Gaza Strip to strike militants. Over the past 24 hours, the IDF carried out raids in Gaza to thwart "terrorist infrastructure and terrorist cells found in the area," IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement. Infantry forces and armored forces entered Gaza territory on Friday, he said. "During these operations, there was also an effort to locate missing persons," he added. This is the first acknowledgment by Israeli military of ground assault in Gaza since the conflict began on Oct. 7, when the Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) led a deadly surprise attack on Israel, taking some Israeli civilians and soldiers as hostages into Gaza. Israel is believed to be preparing a ground offensive against the besieged Palestinian enclave. Since the conflict began, the IDF has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against targets in Gaza and bolstered troops at the border. The death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza and West Bank has totaled 1,843, while 6,638 others were wounded, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said. The Israeli fatalities have reached 1,300, while nearly 3,400 were injured, Israeli media reported on Friday, citing official sources. ISTANBUL, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said that his government would not accept the Israeli bombing of mosques, hospitals, and civilian settlement areas in Gaza, warning against the further escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Erdogan, addressing a business forum in Istanbul broadcasted live by the NTV television, criticized Israel for cutting off the electricity, water, and food supplies in Gaza, where more than 2 million people live. He added that Turkiye sent a plane that landed at al-Arish airport in Egypt early on Friday, carrying medicine, food, and medical equipment to be delivered to Gaza. "We will continue to deliver our humanitarian aid to Gaza. We invite all parties to first negotiate a ceasefire and then a permanent peace," Erdogan said. The Turkish leader also assured that the Israeli embassy and diplomatic missions in Turkiye were under protection. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. FUZHOU, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 kicked off Thursday in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, aiming to pool wisdom for fields including technological innovation, equipment manufacturing, and industrial cooperation. The four-day event, jointly hosted by the Fujian provincial government, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Transport, is themed on "Carrying the Dreams of Humanity to New Horizons." It strives to provide a high-level international exchange and cooperation platform for the marine equipment industry. A visitor takes photos of a Qiandong marine granary model at an exhibition during the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Oct. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) This photo taken on Oct. 13, 2023 shows the exterior view of the main venue of the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) People visit an exhibition during the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Oct. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) People visit an exhibition during the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Oct. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) This photo taken on Oct. 12, 2023 shows the opening ceremony of the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) This photo taken on Oct. 13, 2023 shows a model of the "Adora Magic City," China's first domestically-built large cruise ship, at an exhibition during the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) People visit an exhibition of the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Oct. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong) A model of China's deep-sea manned submersible Jiaolong is exhibited at the China Marine Equipment Expo during the World Marine Equipment Conference 2023 in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Oct. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan) Produced by Xinhua Global Service Politia de Frontiera: Zeci de infractiuni constatate in ultimele 24 de ore Traficul la frontiera in data de 02 noiembrie 2023 In data de 02.11.2023, prin punctele de froshy;ntiera de la nivelul intregii tari au efectuat formalitatile de control atat pe sensul de intrare, cat si pe cel de iesire peste 174.400 de persoane, cetateni [citeste mai departe] Romanias per capita GDP, calculated at purchasing power parity, stood at 76.7% of the EU average in 2022, surpassing the 76.6% figure for Hungary, according to final figures released by Eurostat on Thursday. Hungarys GDP per capita has gained 8.5 percentage points from 68.1% of the EU average in 2013, but Romanias progress has been even faster, rising from 54.6% in 2013. The respective figures in 2021 were 74.8% for Hungary and 73.8% for Romania. There are now only five countries in the EU with lower GDP per capita than Hungary: Latvia, Croatia, Slovakia, Greece and Bulgaria. Recent trends suggest that Hungary may soon be also overtaken by Latvia and Croatia, Portfolio adds. Chart - courtesy of Eurostat A service of solidarity was held at Budapests Dohany Street Synagogue to express support for Israel recently attacked by the Hamas terrorist organisation, on Wednesday evening. At the service, Andor Grosz, head of Hungarian Jewish federation MAZSIHISZ, said the mourning and grief of the Jewish community is shared by Hungarian society. He said the inhuman terrorist attack launched on the holiday of the Torah had not hit Israel and Jewish people only: they not only took human lives but brutally violated the Ten Commandments, a gift of the Torah to mankind. The Jews, non-Jews, Christians here want to pass a world to their successors that is not ruled by terror, Grosz said. Israeli Ambassador to Hungary Yakov Hadas-Handelsman thanked the Hungarian nation, church leaders, and politicians, for their solidarity with his country. Israel is at war, the ambassador said, but warned that it was not only Israels problem as the attacks could eventually reach Europe, too. He noted that groups supporting the terrorists had celebrated the attacks across the world. He voiced confidence that Israel would win the war. The Jewish community of Israel has a secret weapon: they have no other place to go and will protect their homeland at all cost, he insisted. Robert Frolich, the chief rabbi of Hungary, said the war was not just a cause for Arabs and Jews but for all of us that live on this planet and consider ourselves human it has not just been an attack on a country: terrorism and hatred has declared war against civilisation. The service, organised by MAZSIHISZ and the Jewish community of Budapest (BZSH), was attended by President Katalin Novak, Cardinal Peter Erdo, the head of the Hungarian Catholic Church, Bishop Zoltan Balog, head of the Reformed Church, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, United Hungarian Jewish Community head Slomo Koves, and other dignitaries. Nemeth Calls for Saving Middle East Peace Process Zsolt Nemeth, the head of parliaments foreign affairs committee, on Wednesday called for saving the Middle East peace process and preventing an escalation of violence. Speaking to MTI by phone after a debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict at the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, Nemeth said this past weekends terrorist attack had jeopardised the peace process generated by the Abraham Accords aimed at stabilising the Middle East. Nemeth said the attacks launched by the Hamas Islamist terrorist group were reminiscent of the actions of the Islamic State terrorist organisation. Hamass terrorism is so clear that it has become indisputable that it is a terrorist organisation, Nemeth said, warning that Hamas was not synonymous with the Palestinian people. The state of Israel has a right to defend itself, Nemeth said, adding that based on what we have seen, there can be no doubt about the recognition of the full enforcement of the international right to self-defence. The priority right now is to cut off Hamass financial resources and prevent them from accessing European Union funds even indirectly, Nemeth said. MTI Photo: Zsolt Szigetvary Britannica International School students and staff celebrated their swimming pool reopening with a splash this week. The school has completely renovated and refurbished its aquatic area to create a world class facility for their whole community. Swimming is a key element of the school's PE curriculum, and the new facility gives students a very special experience. The new aquatic zone contains: - 900 square meters of completely refurbished swimming pool and changing rooms - An additional Mobile platform 90cm deep, under one of the lanes to support our beginner swimmers - New high tech, sustainable lane ropes, flags and LED pool lights - Large digital display showing 'real time' water temperatures and air humidity - LED TV to support modelling and demonstrations of techniques by our swim teachers, further enhancing our curriculum swimming lessons Neil McGarry, Principal of Britannica International School said: "The new swimming pool has been 18 months in planning and implementation, so I am very excited and proud to be able to open this fantastic new facility! It looks absolutely stunning and will provide a unique experience for our students!" Click here to virtually visit Britannica International School, Budapest 1121 Budapest, Kakukk u. 1-3. Tel: +36 1 466 9794 The fate of Nebraska's controversial law providing tax incentives for donors to scholarship funds for private and faith-based schools will be in the hands of voters next November. The Secretary of State's Office announced Tuesday that county officials verified 91,861 signatures collected across a 90-day petition drive this summer enough to place the "Opportunity Scholarships Act" on the November 2024 ballot. A coalition of repeal advocates known as "Support Our Schools Nebraska" in August submitted 117,145 petition signatures to Secretary of State Bob Evnen's office. The group needed 61,308 signatures including 5% of voters in 38 of Nebraskas 93 counties to put the act (LB753) before voters next year. The overwhelming success of this petition sends a clear message to the governor and state lawmakers: Nebraskans want to vote on the issue of diverting public tax dollars to pay for private schools, Jenni Benson, a sponsor of the coalition and the president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said in a news release celebrating Tuesday's certification. This was a decisive victory and the first step to ensure public funds are used to support public schools, not private schools," Benson said in the release. Introduced by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn and signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen, LB753 would allow individuals and entities to reduce their tax liability by making donations to scholarship funds that help students attend private schools across the state. The total amount of tax credits available in each of the first two years will be $25 million, according to the provisions of the bill, with the cap set to increase to $100 million after or about one-tenth the amount of money appropriated by the state for public school education annually. Lawmakers passed the bill in a 33-11 vote in May. Opponents of the law, which include teachers unions, school board leaders, education policy organizations, advocates of individuals with disabilities and others say the policy harms students, families and schools by diverting would-be public school funding to private and parochial schools that dont have to accept every student. Linehan, who did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday, said in an August statement that the petition drive against her bill amounted to "efforts to take opportunity away from vulnerable kids, including kids from low-income families and kids trying to escape bullying." Pillen said Tuesday that the law allows families a choice in identifying the best educational environment for their kids, adding "this is not about which one is better public or private schools." Polling conducted on behalf of OpenSky Policy Institute, a Lincoln-based left-leaning think tank that poured more than $100,000 into the petition effort, indicates a majority of Nebraska voters oppose the law. The phone survey shows 55% of Nebraska voters oppose LB753 and 47% strongly support repealing the law. In his own statement in August, Pillen promised "the fight will not be over" even if the initiative were to make it onto the ballot, which has now happened. The bout ahead figures to be a costly one. Support Our Schools Nebraska had raised $1,743,633 as of Sept. 24, according to the coalition's latest campaign finance filing. Meanwhile, Keep Kids First the group of state senators, community leaders and business owners who led a campaign urging Nebraskans not to sign the petition to repeal LB753 had raised $1,448,037. In a statement Tuesday, the group reprised claims that Support Our Schools organizers had mislead petition signees in their effort to see the law repealed. "The teachers union was willing to say and do anything to take educational freedom away from Nebraska families, so it is no surprise they gathered enough petition signatures to qualify for the ballot," the statement reads in part. "Support Our Schools made a mockery of the signature petition process by consistently misleading and misinforming Nebraskans about the Opportunity Scholarships Act and the intent of their petition drive." When signature gatherers submitted the petitions in late August, the Secretary of State's Office had recieved one complaint about Support Our Schools circulators, a spokeswoman for Evnen's office said. Even as it heads to voters for a referendum, the law will take effect in January. The law's opponents, led by the State Education Association, needed about 122,000 signatures approximately 10% of registered voters in the state to suspend the law from going into effect until after the issue appears on the ballot. But the law will head to the ballot next year after officials certified about 30,000 more signatures than Support Our Schools needed, including more than 5% of registered voters in 64 counties. Officials could have certified more of the signatures submitted by the coalition, but the Secretary of State's Office instructs election commissioners and county clerks to stop verifying signatures once the statewide number of verified signatures reaches 110% of the number necessary to place an issue on the ballot. With the signatures verified, Nebraska's Attorney General will now create the ballot language for the measure. And state election staff will schedule three public hearings about the measure in the fall of 2024 and create informational pamphlets that will be available to voters at county election offices. Photos: Last day of the 108th Nebraska Legislature Akasa Air, which is facing headwinds due to pilot issues, has cancelled some flights from Bengaluru, sources said on Thursday, while the airline stated it has rationalised the network to ensure high operational reliability. Bengaluru is the hub for the carrier, which operates around 700 flights daily. Sources said the airline, which has been flying for more than a year, has cancelled some flights from Bengaluru. However, specific details could not be immediately ascertained. Also read: IndiGo Flight Cancellation, Delays Inconveniences Over 76,000 Passengers In Sep: DGCA "As we have mentioned before in the July-August 2023 timeframe when a small set of pilots abandoned their duties and left the organisation without serving their mandatory contractual notice period, we were forced to cancel a number of flights. "Since then, we have rationalised our network to ensure that we offer our customers the highest levels of operational reliability, as we did for the first 11 months of our operation," an Akasa Air spokesperson said in a statement. The airline flies to 16 cities. According to the spokesperson, with its advanced pilot planning and training programmes, the airline is "now squarely back in growth mode". "As we take delivery of several additional aircraft in the remainder of this fiscal year, we look forward to opening up several domestic and international destinations within the fiscal year 2023-24," the spokesperson said, adding that the carrier is financially strong. A 30-year-old male Australian passenger onboard a Singapore-Perth flight has been arrested over a bomb threat, and the plane was escorted back to Changi Airport here by two Air Force fighter jets. Several flights to Singapore including Singapore Airlines flight SQ331 from Paris, United Airlines flight UA29 from San Francisco, and IndiGo flight 6E1013 from New Delhi were put in holding patterns over the neighbouring Riau Islands of Indonesia, according to a report by Channel News Asia. Also read: Cash-Strapped Malaysian Airline Suspends Operations Abruptly, Leaves Passengers Stranded Eight arrival and six departure flights were delayed, including one carrying National Development Minister Desmond Lee, who was flying back from Kuala Lumpur, reported The Straits Times. The accused has been charged with criminal intimidation, police said, adding that an investigation into the matter is going on. In a statement, police said they were informed of the bomb threat on flight TR16 at about 4.55 pm after the flight took off at 4.11 pm on Thursday. The flight had departed Singapore and made a U-turn back to Singapore. The plane landed safely at Changi Airport at about 6.26pm," the police said, adding that the plane was escorted back by Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) fighter jets. The police completed security checks and arrested the man. "The police take security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against those who intentionally cause public alarm," police said. Flight operator Scoot said a "precautionary decision" was made to turn the plane back to Singapore due to the bomb threat. "Scoot is assisting the authorities with their investigations. As this is a security matter, we regret that we cannot provide further details," the CNA quoted the budget-class airline owned by Singapore Airlines. "Scoot sincerely apologises for the disruption and inconvenience caused. The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority, and we will continue to provide assistance to our customers, it said. RSAF said in a Facebook post that it activated two of its F-15SG fighter jets in response to the "suspected bomb threat". According to data from flight tracker Flightradar24, flight TR16 made a U-turn over Indonesia's Bangka Island and headed back towards Singapore about 30 minutes into the flight. It then entered a holding pattern over the South China Sea, east of Malaysia, flying in loops for about 50 minutes. The plane subsequently flew over Batam before landing at Changi Airport on Thursday evening. As of 6.50 pm, the plane appeared to be stationary near the southern end of Runway 3 and had not returned to a terminal. Flights began landing shortly after TR16 touched down. TR16 took off again at 11.41 pm and was expected to arrive in Perth at 4.22 am on Friday, Flightradar24 data showed late on Thursday. Passengers were informed about it at 5.05 pm that the aircraft was experiencing minor issues, the broadsheet reported, citing a 30-year-old system analyst. New Delhi: Zerodha Co-Founder Nikhil Kamath in his latest podcast episode of WTF is', has explained why he is averse to buying from ultra-luxury brands like Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Kamath argued on the show that ultra-luxury brands deliberately implement practices like mandating customers to establish a relationship or join their mailing list prior to purchasing their products. He further explained that the requirement isn't due to any production limitations but rather a part of their effective "strategy of being arrogant." "In the last 3-4 years, I have completely stopped buying from ultra-luxury brands like Hermes and Louis Vuitton because I feel they play you. Their entire marketing strategy seems to be to offend and get some kind of a reaction out of you and then buy from them," Kamath said. Nikhil says that these brands have found success through this deliberate approach. "That is the most offensive thing --when you go to a shop where they are marking up a product one is to 1,000 times and then say you can't buy this product until you build a relationship with us or get on a list or all of these hoops that you have to jump through," India's youngest billionaire at 37 added. Each Kamath's episode of the podcast, gives a glimpse into the lives and experience of the guests who come from diverse fields. In his thought-provoking podcast, Nikhil has hosted several famous personalities that include Bollywood Actor Suniel Shetty; , CEO of the Future Group Kishore Biyani, CEO of fitness platform Cult.fit Mukesh Bhansal; CEO of Scenes & Tech Expert Varun Mayya; Comedian Tanmay Bhatt; Co-founder of Josh and DailyHunt Umang Bedi; and Co-founder of TaxiForSure and Koo Aprameya RadhaKrishna. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, meet the press following the 12th round of China-EU High-level Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- China stands on the side of peace, justice, international law, the common aspirations of most countries and human conscience on the Palestinian issue, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when jointly meeting the press after holding the 12th round of China-EU High-level Strategic Dialogue with Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Wang said that this round of conflict has led to many civilian casualties and a sharp deterioration of the humanitarian situation. "China condemns all acts that harm civilians and opposes any violation of international law," he said. Regarding the current situation, Wang said that the top priority is to achieve a ceasefire and stop the conflict as soon as possible, abide by international humanitarian law, and fully guarantee the safety of civilians. He added that all countries concerned should maintain calm and restraint, uphold objectivity and fairness, and let the UN play its due role in resolving the Palestinian issue, with the UN Security Council coming up with practical measures. Wang said that China is in communication with the relevant parties. "We will actively participate in the emergency consultations of the UN Security Council and support UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' appeal for the protection of civilians," Wang said, adding that China will also provide emergency humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian National Authority through UN channels. Wang said that the Palestinian issue has always been the core of the Middle East issue and the root cause of this issue is that the long-cherished aspiration of Palestine to establish an independent state has not been realized, and the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people has not been corrected. Israel has the right to establish a state, Palestine has the right to establish a state as well, Wang said, adding that the two-state solution could bring peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel, and the harmonious coexistence of the Arab and Jewish peoples. Only the fully implemented two-state solution can bring real peace in the Middle East and lasting security for Israel, Wang said, pointing out that the right way to advance the two-state solution is to resume peace talks as soon as possible, and all kinds of mechanisms for promoting peace should play a positive role. The Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East issue will soon visit relevant countries in the region and make positive efforts to cool down the situation, Wang said. China also calls for the convening of a conference under the auspices of the United Nations as soon as possible to build international consensus on promoting peace and push for an early comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue, said Wang. New Delhi: The Indian government has reverted from its previous decision to impose import restrictions on Laptops, servers, tablets and personal computers which was expected to come into force from November 1. According to the Trade secretary, the government will not impose any bans, though it will keep a close eye on importers. A few months, the Central government decided to put an import ban on laptops from the October end. However, it postponed the decision after an uproar by industry players and traders. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) announced in a statement that import of these commodities will be allowed with a license, whereas some use cases have been exempted from the restrictions. Why Is Centre Hindering The Import Of Laptops & Tablets? India has a huge import percentage of electronic items including tablets, laptops, and personal computers. The import from April to June totaled around $19.7 billion which was an increase of 6l25% year-on-year. Indian government is looking to increase the domestic contribution in the overall electronic market and decrease the dependence from other countries. Restrictions of import can be the first step in the effort. Import of Laptops, PCs, and Tablets Restricted The restrictions include mailing, using couriers, or purchasing an individual laptop, tablet, desktop, or ultra-compact computer from an online retailer and shipping it to a recipient abroad. Imports under baggage rules also don't fall under these restrictions, the DGFT notification said. NEW DELHI: In light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, now in its seventh day, Indian security agencies have issued a nationwide security alert to safeguard Israeli nationals currently residing in the country. This alert, conveyed to relevant security establishments and police, emphasizes enhancing security at specified locations. Notably, states like Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Goa have been urged to exercise heightened caution. Security agencies across the nation have been placed on high alert. Security Tightened To ensure the safety of Israeli nationals, including diplomats, staff, and tourists, substantial security deployments have been implemented at locations frequented by them. This includes areas with high foot traffic, such as Kosher restaurants, museums, schools, resorts, and popular tourist spots. Cops, including local police, have been instructed to maintain round-the-clock patrolling to monitor these areas. Additional forces will be allocated to the local police if deemed necessary, further strengthening the security measures. #WATCH | Delhi Police conducted late-night patrolling at Jama Masjid area. (Source: Delhi Police) pic.twitter.com/f1yqr0yZYo ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 Focus On Securing Israeli Establishments In response to the evolving situation, a top government official has emphasized enhancing security arrangements for Israeli missions, diplomats, officials, staff, business establishments, Chabad houses, and Jewish community centres. The heightened security includes a significant police presence during Friday prayers and increased vigilance at Jewish religious establishments and the Israel Embassy. Global Security Measures Beyond India, several countries like the US, UK, France, and Germany have bolstered security around "potential Jewish targets" and "pro-Palestinian protesters" due to the escalating violence in Israel. France, for instance, has imposed a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations citing concerns for public order, a move criticized by some for potential infringement on freedom of speech and assembly. Humanitarian Impact Of War As the conflict enters its seventh day, casualties continue to rise on both sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a "state of war" and pledged to significantly impact Gaza. Meanwhile, in a humanitarian effort, India initiated "Operation Ajay," evacuating 212 Indian nationals stranded in war-hit Israel. The conflict's toll on civilians remains concerning, with a significant number of casualties and injuries reported among Palestinians. The impact extends beyond the conflict zone, affecting areas like the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson has highlighted the extensive displacement of Palestinians and the pressing need for humanitarian support. Potential Ground Invasion Looms Israel's Defence Forces (IDF) have issued a critical directive, urging the Palestinian population in northern Gaza to relocate to the southern part of the Strip within 24 hours. This move is attributed to the presence of Hamas operatives in tunnels beneath Gaza City, hinting at a potential ground invasion. The IDF has stressed personal safety and encouraged distancing from Hamas terrorists who manipulate civilians as human shields. The ongoing conflict highlights the complexities and humanitarian challenges in the region. Rising Casualties The conflict has also affected the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with 36 casualties and over 650 injuries reported. The United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, conveyed that over 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict, with nearly 218,000 seeking shelter in UN Relief and Works Agency-run schools. Growing Calls For Halting War The conflict's enduring nature underscores the need for urgent international efforts to facilitate dialogue and bring about a peaceful resolution. The escalation of violence calls for a concerted global initiative to halt the hostilities and work towards a sustainable and lasting peace in the region. Tel Aviv: Tanks and artillery of Israeli defence forces have started moving in southern Israel and maintaining positions near norther Gaza for a possible ground assault on Hamas. As Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gaza, it urged more than 1 million civilians to move south within a day. This comes after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack that killed over 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. Israels Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said it was time for war and Israeli jets kept bombing Gaza in response. The Israeli military said it would target Gaza City heavily in the next few days and civilians should stay away until told otherwise. More than 1,500 Palestinians have died in the Israeli strikes. The military said: Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields. Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians. A Hamas official dismissed the evacuation warning as fake propaganda and told people not to believe it. The United Nations said such a mass displacement of people was impossible without devastating humanitarian consequences. Israels U.N. envoy Gilad Erdan called the U.N.'s reaction to Israels warning to the Gazans shameful. Israel has sworn to destroy the Hamas militant group that started the attacks on Saturday. The Israeli military said it hit 750 military sites in north Gaza overnight, including Hamas tunnels, bases, homes of leaders and weapons depots. A ground invasion of the crowded and besieged Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million people live, is very risky, as Hamas has taken many hostages in the attack. Humanitarian Crisis In Gaza As War Continues The U.N. aid office (OCHA) said over 400,000 people had left their homes in Gaza and 23 aid workers had been killed since Israel began its strikes in retaliation for the Hamas attack. The Red Cross (ICRC) said hospitals in Gaza could lose power soon as fuel for generators ran out and the U.N. food agency (WFP) warned food and water were scarce. The human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent, and I implore the sides to reduce the suffering of civilians, ICRC regional chief Fabrizio Carboni said. The U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said it had moved its main operations centre and international staff to south Gaza and asked Israel to protect civilians in its shelters. Israel Shows Evidence Of Hamas Atrocities To US And NATO Israels government showed graphic images of children and civilians killed by Hamas in a weekend rampage in Israel to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defence ministers to gain support for its response. Blinken said they showed a baby riddled with bullets, soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. Its simply depravity in the worst imaginable way, he said. Its really beyond anything that we can comprehend. Blinken, like others around the world, urged Israel to show restraint, but he also reaffirmed Americas support, saying: We will always be there by your side. On Friday he was set to meet Jordans King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank under Israeli occupation. Blinken, trying to prevent the war from spreading, also planned to visit key allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE - some with sway over Hamas, an Islamist group backed by Iran. The foreign minister of Turkey, which has offered to mediate, spoke with his counterpart from the UAE, a Turkish foreign ministry source said. New Delhi: Are you looking to grow your money? If so, here is an investment plan, promising big returns for those who want to make their money work harder. This scheme, known as the 'Atal Pension Yojana,' offers a unique opportunity for investors to potentially increase their savings while keeping risks at a minimum. Let's dive in to explore what this scheme has to offer and how it could help you achieve your financial goals. (Also Read: Flipkart Big Billion Days Sale 2023: Discount Offers On Different Models Of Apple iPhone 13) What Is Atal Pension Yojana (APS)? The Atal Pension Yojana, a central government program for income security in old age, was introduced in the Budget 201516 and is targeted at all residents in the unorganized sector. The government is working to motivate and facilitate people's retirement savings. To address the hazards associated with longevity among unorganized sector workers and to motivate them to actively contribute to their retirement. The National Pension System (NPS) architecture is used by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to manage the program. Atal Pension Yojana (APS): How Many Monthly One Can Get from It? A minimum monthly stipend of between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 is guaranteed for subscribers under the Atal stipend Yojana. The Indian government would guarantee the benefit of the minimum pension. 50 percent of the subscriber's contribution or Rs 1,000 per year, whichever is less, is contributed by the Center. For persons who are not paying income taxes and are not covered by any statutory social security schemes, the government offers co-contribution. Atal pension Yojana: Age Limit The Atal Pension Yojana is open to all Indian nationals between the ages of 18 and 40. Atal Pension Yojana: How To Get Rs 5,000 Monthly Pension From It? First off, the earlier you begin investing under the plan, the less you need to contribute each month. Anyone who joins at the age of 18 will pay just Rs 210 per month in contributions and will receive a Rs 5,000 guaranteed monthly annuity. Tel Aviv: The White House has announced that it will provide charter flights for American citizens who want to leave Israel, as the violence between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continues to escalate. At least 27 Americans have been killed and 14 are missing in the conflict, which has claimed over 2,000 lives in Israel and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a series of air strikes on southern Israel on Saturday, prompting the IDF to retaliate with multiple attacks on Hamas infrastructure. The two sides have been locked in a fierce confrontation for six days, the worst in decades. India was among the first countries to evacuate its citizens from Israel. John Kirby, the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, said that President Joe Biden has instructed his team to assist Americans who wish to depart from Israel. Starting tomorrow, the US government will arrange charter flights to transport Americans from Israel to locations in Europe. We are still working on some of the details of this to help US citizens and their immediate family members who have not been able to find commercial flights out of the country, he said. He added that the US is also looking into other ways to increase its capacity to help Americans leave by land or sea. We are working hard on this, we know there is a high demand, and we will do our best to meet it, he said. He urged Americans who need help to fill out the form on the Travel.State.gov website. He also said that the US is doing everything it can to support and inform the families of the 27 Americans who have been killed and the 14 who are unaccounted for. He said that Hamas often splits up hostages and moves them around in small groups, but he could not confirm if that was happening in this case. US Denies Iran Allegations Kirby also denied the accusations that Iran has used the USD 6 billion of US aid that was transferred from South Korea to Qatar. Its still in a Qatari bank. All of it. None of that money has been spent, and I have no updates to provide todayWhat I can tell you is that every single penny of that money is still in a Qatari bank. Not one penny of it has been spent, he said. He said that this account was established by the previous administration for humanitarian purposes only, and that there was oversight. Weve done nothing different. It is the same process. All weve done is move that fund from South Korea where it was not accessible for some technical reasons to Qatar, where it is more accessible, he said. He said that none of that money has been accessed by the Iranians at all. TEL AVIV: Palestinian terror group Hamas has asked the residents of Gaza not to leave their homes after Israel cautioned them to move towards the southern part of Gaza as the ongoing war entered its seventh day on Friday. Hamas, the group running the Gaza Strip, said the Israeli armys evacuation warning was fake propaganda. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs also told residents in the north to remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation. Sharing a major update, the Israeli Defense Force cited CNN and claimed that the Palestinian terror group wants Gaza residents to use them as a human shield. The IDF is calling for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southward for their own safety and protection. Hamas is telling Gaza residents to ignore our safety instructions. pic.twitter.com/hKUkSJ5p0g Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2023 The Israeli Army earlier ordered the evacuation of all civilians living in Gaza City and in the north of the Gaza Strip ahead of a feared ground offensive on the besieged enclave. The directive came on Friday on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in the north of Gaza within 24 hours. The order, which comes on the seventh day of a war and total blockade declared by Israel following an unprecedented Hamas incursion and deadly attack, directed residents of Gaza City to flee deeper south into the Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal territory that is home to about 2.3 million people. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also informed the United Nations about the Gaza evacuation move and the 24-hour deadline set for them. This notification gave a strong indication of a possible ground invasion by the IDF. Approximately 1.1 million Palestinians reside north of Wadi Gaza, making this call for relocation a significant move. The IDF attributed this relocation order to the presence of Hamas operatives concealed in tunnels beneath Gaza City. They issued a statement to the residents of Gaza, emphasizing personal safety and urging them to distance themselves from Hamas terrorists who manipulate them as human shields. "Residents of Gaza, move south for your personal safety and your families. Distance yourself from the Hamas terrorists who use you as a human shield. IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days, and wishes to avoid harming civilians," stated the Israeli Defence Force. Hamas Using Civilians As Human Shields The Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Johnathan Conricus confirmed the evacuation advisory for Gaza residents to move to the southern part of the Strip and separate themselves from the Hamas terrorists, stating that "they are using them as human shields." Conricus emphasized that the IDF would maintain significant operations in Gaza City, aiming to minimize civilian casualties. He stated, "The aim here is to minimize the damage to civilians. There are significant combat operations ongoing, and we are preparing for the future and the continuance of our combat operations. Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate so that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The IDF remains fully committed to the law of international conflict. We will carry ourselves accordingly in sharp contrast to the enemies around us and to Hamas, which is in total disregard of anything related to values, norms and definitely not the laws of armed conflict." More than 1,500 people about half of them children and women have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardment on Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, in a surprise operation that killed more than 1,300 people in Israel. Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, a shocking development has come to the fore from China where an Israeli diplomat was stabbed. The diplomat suffered serious injuries and was admitted to hospital. Israel has already warned its citizens and diplomats to remain vigilant as they may be attacked as a repercussion of the war against Hamas. Today being the day for Friday prayers, the threat preception was high. The identity of the diplomat has not been revealed yet. An angle of terror attack has not been ruled out. The incident was caught on CCTV camera. So far, over 1,300 deaths have been reported from Israel with more than 3000 injured. On the other hand, at least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, said the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Even Indian security agencies have issued a security alert to safeguard Israeli nationals currently residing in the country. This alert has been conveyed to relevant security establishments and police, emphasizes enhancing security at specified locations. The security cover outside Israeli embassy has also been tightened. In the national capital Delhi, the city police conducted a late-night patrol around the Jama Masjid last night. Delhi Police said that the exercise was conducted in the wake of certain inputs they received amid the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza. Delhi Police said it has urged members of the Muslim community to offer namaz at mosques in their areas of residence and not venture elsewhere to offer prayers. Video clips shared on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, showed a squad of bike-borne police personnel patrolling the Jama Masjid area, followed by another group of policemen on foot patrol. Tel Aviv: The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have informed the United Nations of a critical directive: urging the Palestinian population in northern Gaza to relocate to southern Gaza within a span of 24 hours, as reported by The Times of Israel, referencing a UN spokesperson. This notification strongly hints at a possible ground invasion by the IDF. Approximately 1.1 million Palestinians reside north of Wadi Gaza, making this call for relocation a significant move. The IDF attributed this relocation order to the presence of Hamas operatives concealed in tunnels beneath Gaza City. They issued a statement to the residents of Gaza, emphasizing personal safety and urging them to distance themselves from Hamas terrorists who manipulate them as human shields. "Residents of Gaza, move south for your personal safety and your families. Distance yourself from the Hamas terrorists who use you as a human shield. IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days, and wishes to avoid harming civilians," stated the Israeli Defence Force. Hamas Using Civilians As Human Shields Sharing a major update, the Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Johnathan Conricus confirmed the evacuation advisory for Gaza residents to move to the southern part of the Strip and separate themselves from the Hamas terrorists, stating that "they are using them as human shields." Conricus emphasized that the IDF would maintain significant operations in Gaza City, aiming to minimize civilian casualties. He stated, "The aim here is to minimize the damage to civilians. There are significant combat operations ongoing, and we are preparing for the future and the continuance of our combat operations. Out of an understanding that there are civilians here who are not our enemy and we do not want to target them, we are asking them to evacuate so that we will be able to continue to strike military targets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The IDF remains fully committed to the law of international conflict. We will carry ourselves accordingly in sharp contrast to the enemies around us and to Hamas, which is in total disregard of anything related to values, norms and definitely not the laws of armed conflict." #WATCH | On the Israel-Palestine conflict, IDF Spokesperson Jonathan Conricus says "...The aim here is to minimise the damage to civilians. There are significant combat operations ongoing, and we are preparing for the future and the continuance of our combat operations. Out of an pic.twitter.com/1CQaNGX1rG ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 Israeli Air Force Strikes Hamas Operatives, Military Posts As Israel's counter-offensive against Hamas reaches its seventh day, the Israeli Air Force continues its operations, targeting Hamas operatives and destroying their military infrastructure. In a statement released by the Israeli Air Force, it was confirmed that fighter jets executed attacks on Hamas operatives and obliterated the organization's military posts. The strikes were aimed at houses used by Hamas operatives, including the residence of a "Nakhba" (naval commando operative). Additionally, the air force targeted a Hamas monitoring center, which monitored the activities of Israeli forces. The Israeli Air Force emphasized their personnel's unwavering determination and courage in these operations, underlining their commitment to maintaining high readiness in all units until peace is achieved for all of Israel's citizens. Operation By Flotilla 13 Elite Unit In an update, the Israeli Defence Forces shared a successful mission by the Flotilla 13 elite unit. This operation in the area surrounding the Gaza security fence resulted in the rescue of approximately 250 hostages while neutralizing over 60 terrorists, including Muhammad Abu A'ali, the Deputy Commander of the Hamas Southern Naval Division. At Least 1,537 Palestinians Killed, 6,612 Others Injured Tragically, the ongoing conflict has taken a substantial toll on civilians. At least 1,537 Palestinians have lost their lives, and 6,612 others have sustained injuries. The conflict has also affected the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with 36 casualties and over 650 injuries reported. The United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, conveyed that over 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict, with nearly 218,000 seeking shelter in UN Relief and Works Agency-run schools. New Delhi: The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shared terrifying photos of the infants and children killed by the Hamas terrorists during their surprise attack on Israeli border areas on Saturday morning. 'Murdered And Burned By Hamas Monsters Showing these horrifying pictures to visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. PM Netanyahu's office claimed that these Israeli babies and children were "murdered and burnt'' by Hamas. Here are some of the photos Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Warning: These are horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters. Hamas is inhuman. Hamas is ISIS, the Prime Minister's office posted on X, formerly Twitter. The pictures were showcased to emphasize the ruthless nature of Hamas and the gravity of the situation. (Since the photos are extremely disturbing, we can't share the tweet.) Controversy and Clarifications These revelations come amidst a growing controversy surrounding Israel's accusations of Hamas beheading infants. US President Joe Biden initially seemed to echo these claims, denouncing Hamas's actions as "sheer evil" based on what he had allegedly seen. However, subsequent statements from the White House clarified that neither President Biden nor the administration had firsthand visual evidence, instead relying on reports and Israeli officials' statements. Hamas Denies Allegations Hamas swiftly denied these grave allegations, asserting that false information was being disseminated about the Palestinian people and their resistance. Unwavering US Support For Israel During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed unwavering US support for Israel in its struggle against Hamas. However, he also acknowledged the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians that are not represented by Hamas. Amidst Conflict: Social Media Chronicles Suffering Official Israeli government and military accounts have been actively using social media to share firsthand accounts of the suffering endured by the Israeli population due to Hamas attacks. These posts include distressing videos and testimonials illustrating the impact of the ongoing conflict. Intensified Military Actions The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been relentless in their response, targeting numerous sites in the Gaza Strip linked to Hamas. The IDF aims to neutralize Hamas's resources, including war rooms, weapon manufacturing facilities, and terrorist organization members. Rising Human Toll The conflict has exacted a devastating human toll, with casualties on both sides. Israel has experienced a rising death toll and a significant number of injuries. Gaza, on the other hand, has witnessed immense destruction, with countless lives lost and substantial infrastructural damage. Tensions Mount as Conflict Persists As the conflict enters its seventh day, there are escalating fears and strong indications that Israel is preparing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. The situation remains extremely tense, with a profound impact on the lives of millions caught in the crossfire. The Israel-Hamas war has entered the 7th day with the Israeli Defence Forces saying the country aims to strip the terrorist group, Hamas, of all its military capabilities. Israeli Defence Forces said that they will continue to operate with significant force in Gaza, adding that they aim to minimize the damage to civilians. They also issued a warning for civilians to evacuate Gaza and move southwards. On the other hand, the world is seeing demonstrations in support of both - Israel and Hamas/Palestine. One such protest was held in the French capital Paris but the protestors were surely not expecting what happened next. Those protesting in support of Hamas were beaten and made to run as French Police launched a crackdown on them. The video has since gone viral on social media. According to reports, France has also banned any protest or demonstration in support of Hamas or Palestine. This is in sharp contrast to what remains silent on such protests be it in support of Hamas or Khalistan. Some protests in support of Hamas/Palestine were also held in Canada but the Justin Trudeau government did not take any action despite extending support to Israel. The Trudeau government has also failed time and again to contain Khalistani extremists despite India urging Ottawa to act against anti-India forces. BREAKING: Major riots erupted tonight in Paris. The riot police is clashing with Hamas supporters pic.twitter.com/H00uLSLk5g Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) October 12, 2023 Meanwhile, the death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 and more than 3000 have been injured. On the other hand, at least 1,537 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, said the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Photos of the Business Category Winners are listed on the website of Stevensville Scarecrow Festival, which was held in Montana, the United States, during the second week of October 2023. (Credit: Stevensville Scarecrow Festival) The annual event has grown over the past years to be one of the signature festivals in Stevensville, Montana. LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A scarecrow festival is being held in the U.S. state of Montana this week to celebrate the autumn season and the upcoming Halloween in the country. The annual event, which started in 2005, has grown over the past years to be one of the signature festivals in Stevensville, Montana, drawing lots of participating artists and visitors. Scarecrow entries made by families, individuals and organizations are lined along the bike path welcoming people into the town. Winners of the spooky and popular scarecrow festival were announced on Thursday. The event runs through this Saturday. An alleged leaked footage claiming to be of a Hamas fighter is going viral online where the militant can be seen revealing horrifying details of the Saturday terror attack on Israel. The militant was captured alive by the Israeli Defence Forces and was subsequently interrogated. The interrogation video has now gone viral. In the video, the Hamas militant revealed that during the attack, they killed everyone who came to their sight including children, babies, women and the elderly. The militant also revealed that the Hamas terrorists raped even teenage girls and beheaded babies and places their heads on the ground. He also claimed to have taught that kidnapping, rape and murder are forbidden in the religion. The video, if true, reveals the brutality carried out by the Hamas terrorists. The 21-year-old militant claimed to be from Rafah, a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. He said that his name is Muhammed Nahed Ahmad El-Arsha. #BREAKING: In leaked interrogation footage, captured Hamas fighter admits that terrorists from Gaza raped, tortured, and decapitated Israeli civilians, including children. pic.twitter.com/OwiiR9lft2 Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) October 13, 2023 The Israel-Hamas war has entered the seventh day with over 1,300 Israelis losing their lives and over 3,200 are said to be injured. The Hamas has so far fired over 6,000 rockets at Israel while the IDF has struck around 2,700 targets of Hamas. Over 1,500 Palestinians including Hamas militants have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza. On the other hand, Israel is all set to launch its ground offensive in Gaza and has asked civilians in Gaza to move soutwards. "The IDF is calling for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southward for their own safety and protection. Hamas is telling Gaza residents to ignore our safety instructions," said the IDF. TEL AVIV: The Israel Defense Forces have demonstrated remarkable valour and precision, showcasing a harrowing rescue mission undertaken on October 7th during a Hamas terror assault near the Gaza border. The elite Shayetet (Flotilla) 13 unit of the IDF was deployed to regain control of the Sufa military post, located near the Gaza security fence, in a joint operation on October 7th. The soldiers, displaying exceptional bravery, rescued approximately 250 hostages while neutralizing 60+ Hamas terrorists and apprehending 26, including Muhammad Abu A'ali, the Deputy Commander of the Hamas Southern Naval Division. The IDF shared the live video of the operation on X and informed that its Flotilla 13 elite unit was deployed to the area surrounding the Gaza security fence in a joint effort to regain control of the Sufa military post on October 7th. The soldiers rescued around 250 hostages alive. In the operation, 60+ Hamas terrorists were neutralized and 26 were apprehended - including Muhammad Abu A'ali, the Deputy Commander of the Hamas Southern Naval Division, the IDF said. The Flotilla 13 elite unit was deployed to the area surrounding the Gaza security fence in a joint effort to regain control of the Sufa military post on October 7th. The soldiers rescued around 250 hostages alive. 60+ Hamas terrorists were neutralized and 26 were pic.twitter.com/DWdHKZgdLw Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 12, 2023 Israeli Air Force Intensifies Counter-Offensive Against Hamas The Israeli Air Force has significantly heightened its counter-offensive against Hamas, with ongoing strikes targeting operatives and military infrastructure. Fighter jets executed precise attacks on Hamas operatives and obliterated their military posts, including houses used by them and a Hamas monitoring centre that tracked Israeli forces' activities. Escalating Conflict As the conflict enters its seventh day, casualties continue to mount on both sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a "state of war" and pledged to significantly impact Gaza. In a humanitarian effort, India initiated "Operation Ajay," successfully evacuating 212 Indian nationals stranded in the conflict zone. Impact Of War On Civilians The conflict's toll on civilians is a growing concern, with a significant number of casualties and injuries reported among Palestinians. The impact has extended beyond the conflict zone, affecting areas like the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson has emphasized the extensive displacement of Palestinians and the pressing need for humanitarian support. Potential Ground Invasion Israel's Defence Forces (IDF) have issued a critical directive, urging the Palestinian population in northern Gaza to relocate to the southern part of the Strip within 24 hours. This move is attributed to the presence of Hamas operatives in tunnels beneath Gaza City, hinting at a potential ground invasion. The IDF has stressed personal safety and encouraged distancing from Hamas terrorists who manipulate civilians as human shields, underscoring the humanitarian challenges faced in the region. Rising Casualties The conflict has also affected the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with 36 casualties and over 650 injuries reported. The United Nations Secretary-General spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, conveyed that over 338,000 Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict, with nearly 218,000 seeking shelter in UN Relief and Works Agency-run schools. Global Call For Ceasefire The enduring nature of the conflict calls for urgent international efforts to facilitate dialogue and bring about a peaceful resolution. The escalating violence emphasizes the need for a concerted global initiative to halt hostilities and work towards a sustainable and lasting peace in the region. Tel Aviv: The recent flare-up of violence in the Middle East, especially in the northern border of Israel with Lebanon, has intensified concerns of a larger-scale conflict. Hezbollah, a potent armed group based in Lebanon, has shown solidarity with Palestinians by firing artillery and rockets. This Lebanese faction is considered a "terrorist" organization by US-allied Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, backing Hamas and deeming the recent Hamas attack a robust response to Israel's continued presence. Hezbollah: What It Means? Hezbollah, literally translating to "Party of God," is a Shia armed and political group established in 1982. It was a response to Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon and emerged from armed groups supported by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps post the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Boasting substantial support among Shia Muslims, it stands as a significant adversary to Israel, known for its precision rockets and a formidable fighting force. Hezbollah Army And Its Arsenal In 2021, leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed Hezbollah had 100,000 fighters. The group boasts precision rockets and says it can hit all parts of Israel. Hezbollah also regularly puts on display heavy and light arms, including anti-aircraft weapons and rocket launchers as well as rocket-propelled grenades. As per various international reports, the group now has an arsenal that some say rivals that of the national army, justifying this by emphasising its role of "resistance" against the Israeli enemy. The Shiite militant group is the only Lebanese faction that kept its weapons after the end of the country's 1975-1990 civil war. A 'Terrorist' Organisation Hezbollah is labelled a "terrorist organization" by the United States and several Western nations, along with US-allied Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. However, the European Union distinguishes its military wing as a "terrorist group" while excluding its political wing from this designation. The contrasting perspectives underline the complex role Hezbollah plays, both militarily and politically. What Is The Main Goal Of Hezbollah? Hezbollah's core objective revolves around defeating Israel and expelling Western colonialist entities from the Middle East. Their sustained campaigns against Israeli forces in Lebanon and attacks on Israeli civilians in other nations underscore their commitment to this goal. They pride themselves on prompting Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, establishing a significant ideological victory. Influence, Role In Lebanon's Politics Hezbollah has a notable presence in Lebanon's political scene, with ministers in the government and lawmakers in parliament. Despite opposition accusing them of driving Lebanon into conflict, the group's political prominence increased following Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Hezbollah's continued sway in Lebanese politics remains evident, despite electoral shifts. Who Funds Hezbollah? Iran's substantial financial support, estimated in the hundreds of millions annually, plays a critical role in sustaining Hezbollah. Under the leadership of Hassan Nasrallah since 1992, the group holds a significant position in Lebanon's sectarian political system, commanding support among the Shia population, effectively functioning as "a state within a state." Hezbollah Vs Hamas Hezbollah and Hamas, while distinct entities share a common objective of armed resistance against Israel. While Hezbollah is a Lebanese organization, Hamas originated in Palestine and gained control over the Gaza Strip following electoral victories in 2006. Their recent collaboration and statements affirm solidarity against Israel's occupation and opposition to Arab countries normalizing ties with Israel. Two-Front War The recent events have raised concerns of a broader conflict, potentially involving Lebanon if Hezbollah takes a more active role. Analysts speculate on the possibility of a two-front war, dragging Lebanon into the crisis. Hezbollah's actions and responses in the coming days will significantly influence the course of events, underscoring the need for careful diplomacy to maintain regional stability. After a surprise attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel last Saturday, the Israeli security forces have intensified their response and are determined to punish the terror group. On Thursday night, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out a series of airstrikes on the Nukhba elite forces, a special unit of Hamas. The IAF targeted and destroyed their operational command centers, leaving Hamas stunned. These centers were used by the Nukhba operatives who raided Israeli settlements near the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The IAF also bombed a senior Hamas naval commander, Muhammad Abu Shamla, in the Rafah Brigade. His place was a storage site for naval weapons, intended to be used for terror attacks against Israel. Here is the video of the airstrikes. Who are the Nukhba Elite Forces? The Nukhba elite forces are among the most skilled and ruthless militants that are handpicked by the Hamas leadership. Their mission is to carry out acts of terror such as ambushes, invasions, assaults and tunnel infiltrations using anti-tank missiles, rockets and snipers. The Nukhba elite forces were behind the terror invasions into Israel, aiming to kill and harm its citizens. The conflict has reportedly resulted in at least 2,400 deaths on both sides so far. Hamas Threatens Retaliation The Hamas Interior Ministry said that Israeli strikes flattened two multi-story buildings without any prior warning. Many people were killed and injured in the bombings, mostly civilians. Hamas has sworn to kill Israeli prisoners if Israel attacks Palestinian civilians without warning. An Underground Network Of Tunnels According to Jonathan Conricus,ls a spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), Hamas has built a series of tunnels under the ground that connect Gaza City with other parts of the Gaza Strip since they seized power in the area in 2007. He said that these tunnels are currently being utilized by Hamas members, such as the Nukhba force, to carry out attacks. The IDF is now aiming at these tunnels and other Hamas facilities where high-ranking Hamas leaders are located. Air India Express, which is in the process of merging AIX Connect with itself, plans to induct 50 new B737 MAX planes in the next 15 months as the Tata Group bolsters its aviation business. Besides, the combined entity of Air India Express, also the country's first international budget carrier, and AIX Connect, formerly known as AirAsia India, will be launching its new brand on October 18. In a message to staff this week, Air India Express and AIX Connect Managing Director Aloke Singh said key milestones, including migration to a common reservations and check-in system, have been achieved in terms of integration of the two carriers. Currently, the combined entity has a fleet of 56 aircraft, including 26 B737, 2 B737 MAX, 5 A320 neo and 23 A320. "Over the next 15 months, a total of 50 new B737 MAX aircraft will join the LCC fleet, allowing us to grow our network to new destinations and increase flights on existing routes," Singh said in the message. According to him, the focus is now on the preparedness for deploying this capacity and that already, more than 800 aircrew and other operational personnel who have joined the entity are under various stages of training. Also Read - Bengaluru Metro Breaks Single-Day Ridership Record Ferrying 7 Lakh Travellers In A Day Together, the combined entity operates around 2,700 flights every week. Out of them, about 700 are operated by Air India Express and the rest by AIX Connect. They fly to 44 destinations, including 14 international ones. The combined entity will be the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) of the Tata Group that took over the reins of Air India and Air India Express in January last year. "On the integration front, key milestones have been achieved; these include migration to a common reservations and check-in system, a common website and agent portal, aligned product and service offerings, and above all, use of a common brand and domain," Singh said in the message. Meanwhile, Tata Group is in the process of consolidating its airline business. Apart from Air India Express-AIX Connect integration, Air India is merging Vistara with itself. Vistara is a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, in which the former holds a 51 per cent stake. India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and air traffic is also on the rise. The Delhi High Court Thursday permitted crisis-hit Go First's lessors to engage security personnel round-the-clock to protect their aircraft lying idle for several months. Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju also asked the Resolution Professional (RP) of Go First to share documents related to the maintenance of aircraft, engines, and airframes with its lessors. The high court passed an interim order on multiple applications by several lessors seeking maintenance of their aircraft. Also read: Akasa Air Cancels Flights From Bengaluru, Issued Clarification The interim applications were filed by the lessors in the main petitions seeking deregistration of their planes by aviation regulator DGCA so they could take them back from the airline. The high court ordered that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), through the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, shall permit duly verified security personnel to monitor the aircraft. The main matter is listed for further hearing on October 19. In an earlier interim order passed on July 5, the high court had allowed the lessors to inspect their aircraft at least twice a month and carry out maintenance. It had said there can be no denial of the fact that the aircraft of the petitioner lessors are highly valuable and sophisticated equipment and require maintenance for their preservation. It had also restrained Go First and its representatives, and the RP appointed by the NCLT, from removing, replacing or taking out any part or components, or records of the 30 aircraft except with the prior written approval of the lessor of the particular airplane. The high court had asked DGCA to permit the lessors, their employees and agents to access the airport, where their aircraft are currently parked, and to inspect them within three days. Earlier, The NCLT-appointed RP, tasked with managing Go First, had told the high court that returning aircraft to the lessors would render the airline, which has 7,000 employees to look after, "dead". On May 10, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted the airline's voluntary insolvency resolution petition and appointed Abhilash Lal as the Interim RP to manage the carrier. With a moratorium in force on financial obligations and transfer of assets of Go First in the wake of the insolvency resolution proceedings, the lessors are unable to deregister and take back the aircraft leased to the carrier. The lessors had earlier told the high court that the denial of deregistration by the DGCA was illegitimate. The lawyers for the lessors had said they had approached the civil aviation regulator for deregistration of their aircraft but it rejected their pleas. They said they have not received any communication from the DGCA, but having checked the status of their applications on the aviation regulator's website, they found their requests have been rejected. The lessors who have approached the high court are Accipiter Investments Aircraft 2 Limited, EOS Aviation 12 (Ireland) Limited, Pembroke Aircraft Leasing 11 Limited, SMBC Aviation Capital Limited, SFV Aircraft Holdings IRE 9 DAC Ltd, ACG Aircraft Leasing Ireland Ltd, DAE SY 22 13 Ireland Designated Activity Company and BOC Aviation (Ireland) Ltd. Besides, GY Aviation Lease 1722 Co Ltd, Jackson Square Aviation Ireland Ltd, Sky High XCV Leasing Company Ltd, Star Rising Aviation 13 Ltd, Bluesky 31 Leasing Company Ltd, and Bluesky 19 Leasing Company Ltd have also approached the high court. The NCLT had on May 10 allowed the voluntary insolvency resolution plea of Go First. On May 22, the NCLAT upheld the order of the Delhi-based principal bench of NCLT, which had admitted the plea of Go First to initiate voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings, and appointed the IRP to suspend the company's board. Several lessors approached the aviation regulator for deregistration and repossession of 45 planes they had leased to the carrier. As we move towards the year-end and temperatures start to dip, the air quality in several parts of the country, including Delhi-NCR, has begun deteriorating. While NCR faces a critical problem of air pollution every year, especially after Diwali, worldwide, industrialisation and urbanisation have led to poor air quality. The big cities and metropolises face the brunt of it most. And this not a mere inconvenience, breathing poor air has severe implication for health. While lung problems are a major outcome, polluted air also impacts heart health severely. Dr Niranjan Hiremath, a leading cardiovascular and aortic surgeon at Apollo Indraprastha, shares, "Breathing in today's cities is no less than a game of Russian roulette. Each gulp of polluted air not only scalds our lungs but silently chips away at our heart. The link between air pollution and heart health is more intrinsic than one might assume. The lungs and heart, two pivotal organs, share a profound symbiotic relationship. Impaired lung function, often an aftermath of inhaling polluted air, inadvertently burdens the heart. This overexertion can expedite the onset of alarming cardiac symptoms or even heart failure." How To Preseve Heart Health Amidst Growing Air Pollution Levels Responding to queries posed by Zee News Digital, Dr Niranjan Hiremath shares how air pollution can impact the heart and steps one can take. Read on. Q. How pollution and cardio health are connected? Dr Hiremath: Urban areas, especially like Delhi and Beijing, have been battling with thick smog and haze, with residents gasping for clean air. What is more concerning is how this polluted air heightens cardiovascular risks. The deteriorating air quality exposes individuals to harmful chemicals. These toxins, combined with prevalent habits like smoking, augment the chances of cardiovascular ailments. The lungs and heart share an intricate bond. As residents breathe in polluted air, chronic respiratory illnesses ensue. This, in turn, imposes undue strain on the heart, catalysing symptoms synonymous with heart attacks and heart failures. Q. What are the impacts of air pollution on heart and lungs? Dr Hiremath: Amid rising concerns over deteriorating air quality, several significant health impacts have been observed: 1. A notable escalation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) symptoms. 2. A heightened risk of cardiovascular events, with heart attacks leading the chart. 3. An increased manifestation of heart failure symptoms, raising hospitalization rates. 4. A surge in acute respiratory distress incidents, particularly among vulnerable demographics. 5. An added cardiac strain, especially evident in individuals with pre-existing respiratory ailments. 6. An exacerbated risk for individuals with habits like smoking, compounding the effects of polluted air. 7. A general decrease in lung functionality and capacity over prolonged exposure periods. Q. What are the steps that one can take? Dr Hiremath: As the global community grapples with the health ramifications of pollution, experts recommend several measures to counteract its effects: 1. Consistently monitor local air quality metrics, adjusting routines accordingly. 2. Limit exposure by minimising outdoor excursions during high pollution windows. 3. Invest in advanced air purifiers for indoor environments, aiming for HEPA standards. 4. Emphasise the use of protective wear, with N95 masks or their equivalents taking precedence. 5. Engage in routine medical check-ups, ensuring early detection of potential complications. 6. Opt for well-ventilated spaces, ensuring a steady flow of cleaner air. 7. Educate and promote community awareness, fostering collective efforts in combating air quality deterioration. Following the terrorist attack by Hamas, Israel embarked on a week-long counterterrorism campaign. In this span of seven days, Israel launched an extensive barrage of bombs and missiles targeting Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip. The impact has been so significant that the landscape of the Gaza Strip has undergone a dramatic transformation. According to reports, Israel has unleashed over six thousand bombs and missiles in its offensive, resulting in the destruction of more than thirty-six hundred Hamas targets, as claimed by Israel. In Today's DNA, Zee news anchor Sourabh Raaj Jain analysed the Sayeret Matkal, Israel's most formidable and feared special forces unit, renowned for its deadly capabilities. The lives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas are in imminent danger, and Israel is determined to rescue them at any cost. To accomplish this mission, Israel has deployed its formidable commando unit, Shayetet 13 i, under Operation Sword of Iron War. Shayetet 13 commandos have taken up strategic positions in various areas. Notably, in Suffa, these brave commandos successfully liberated 250 hostages while neutralizing 60 Hamas terrorists. Sayeret Matkal: Israel's Most Formidable And Feared Special Force Simultaneously, Israel is also mobilizing its elite special forces unit, Sayeret Matkal, in response to Hamas's threat to harm hundreds of Israeli hostages. Sayeret Matkal is renowned as one of the world's most elite and dangerous special forces, known for their precise and lethal tactics. The details of their operations are shrouded in secrecy, known only to Israel's top leaders and the unit's commander, who plan and execute these missions. Established in 1957, Sayeret Matkal's primary mission is intelligence gathering and counterterrorism operations beyond Israel's borders. Over the years, it has conducted 22 major operations, both domestically and internationally. Now, with the task of freeing hostages from Hamas's control, Prime Minister Netanyahu has entrusted this mission to the most trusted commandos within the unit. Joining Sayeret Matkal requires rigorous training and physical testing, covering a wide range of skills, from martial arts and navigation to espionage, rescue operations, and small arms proficiency. This training includes stints at the Basic Infantry Training School, Parachute School, and anti-terrorism training centers. In the final phase, candidates must complete a grueling 120-kilometer march in just four days. Sayeret Matkal has a history of successful operations during significant conflicts, including the Yom Kippur and Lebanon wars. When they embark on a mission, these commandos don distinctive uniforms and are equipped with helmets, assault rifles, smoke grenades, knives, ropes, and gloves. Their lightweight footwear ensures they can operate without impediments, even during the most challenging missions. Sayeret Matkal commandos are renowned for their ability to operate without sleep for extended periods, staying focused on a single objective: the elimination of the enemy. New Delhi: India has launched Operation Ajay to bring back its citizens from Israel, where a war is raging between Israel and Hamas. On Friday, the first flight of 212 Indians landed in Delhi, where they were welcomed by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. He praised Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar for their efforts to ensure the safety of Indians in Israel. He also interacted with the students who were among the passengers. The Indians who returned expressed their gratitude to the Indian government and hoped for peace in the region. They said they faced a difficult situation in Israel due to the conflict. The Indian Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla, said that the embassy was working continuously to help the Indians who wanted to come back. He said that another flight would take off on Saturday with more passengers. He urged the Indians in Israel to stay calm and follow the local safety advisories.hha #WATCH | Delhi: An Indian national who returned from Israel says, "This is the first time that we are facing this situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as https://t.co/XPUDlnv3Lf pic.twitter.com/Fu10lZ7DHc ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2023 The External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, said that Operation Ajay was announced by Jaishankar on Thursday and that there were no Indian casualties so far. He said that around 18,000 Indians were in Israel and that the ministry was keeping a close watch on the situation. He advised the Indians to follow the advisories issued by the embassy. The embassy has also set up a helpline for Indian citizens in need of assistance. Operation Ajay" was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday. The Indian embassy in Israel is providing assistance to Indian companies and has set up a helpline for Indian citizens in need of assistance. The MEA had set up a 24-hour control room in view of the escalating conflict. The control room will help monitor the situation and provide information and assistance. Earlier, the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar chaired a meeting to review preparations for "Operation Ajay". CAIRO, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Egypt on Friday warned of the serious consequences of the Israeli military order to evacuate the residents of the northern Gaza Strip from their homes within the next 24 hours and settle in the southern part of the Palestinian coastal enclave. In a statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the move constitutes a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law. It added that the move will expose the lives of more than one million Palestinian citizens and their families to the dangers of remaining in the open without shelters in the face of dangerous and harsh humanitarian and security conditions. Egypt called on the Israeli government to refrain from taking such escalatory steps, as they would have serious consequences on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Egypt also called on the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its responsibility to stop the Israeli plan. Cairo also called on the United Nations and international actors to intervene to prevent further escalation in the Gaza Strip. On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered residents of Gaza City to be evacuated to the southern area of the coastal enclave ahead of a possible Israeli ground offensive. Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday launched a surprise attack on Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, prompting Israel to launch retaliatory strikes on Gaza. So far 1,799 Palestinians and more than 1,300 Israelis have been killed in the conflict. An explosion occurred in a mosque in Afghanistan today claiming the lives of at least 15 people. The blast took place during Friday prayers. The explosion was reported at the Takiakhana Imam Zaman (a place of worship) in Pol-e-Khomri, located at the center of Baghlan province. The toll may rise further. The exact number of casualties and injured are yet to be known. According to Afghanistan-based TOLO news, the explosion took place during Friday prayers. Mustafa Hashemi, the director of Baghlan's Information and Culture department, confirmed that the blast resulted in casualtiessome individuals were both killed and injured. However, Hashemi did not divulge specifics about the explosion type or the precise count of casualties, mentioning that further information would be provided once initial assessments are completed. This is yet another blast that shook the Afghanistan in recent time. The country has been reeling under huge devastation due to recent earthquake and has been into turmoil since the Taliban regime took over in 2021. A blast had claimed lives of around a dozen people in Afghanistan earlier this year in June and another had targeted Talibani officials in March this year. In recent months, Afghanistan's Taliban-led administration has grappled with an insurgency orchestrated by Islamic State militants. This insurgent group has claimed responsibility for a string of lethal attacks targeting civilians, foreigners, and even Taliban security forces. TEL AVIV: As the Israel-Hamas conflict extends into its seventh day, horrifying accounts and eyewitness details of the brutal attack carried out by Hamas terrorists on the Israeli border areas on Saturday have emerged, shedding light on the sheer brutality of the assault. Disturbing visuals depicting the aftermath of the attack, including the dismembered and disfigured bodies of innocent civilians, are being documented by Israeli rescuers who are working tirelessly to restore a semblance of normalcy after what could be described as one of the most catastrophic attacks on Israeli citizens by Hamas in recent decades. Gruesome Act of Terrorism The Prime Minister's office in Israel has shared distressing photos of infants and children who fell victim to the Hamas terrorists during their surprise attack on Israeli border areas. These images were presented to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, underscoring the heinous nature of the attack and the severity of the situation. 'Her Belly Was Cut Open, Baby Stabbed Yossi Landau, an Israeli rescuer with extensive experience, shared the harrowing experience of recovering the remains of victims of this deadly assault. He described scenes of horror and unprecedented violence as he and his team diligently worked to retrieve and identify the deceased, highlighting the extent of the tragedy. Yossi Landau, a seasoned volunteer with Zaka, an organization dedicated to recovering the bodies of those who suffered unnatural deaths, vividly recalled the moment when the sirens blared, indicating incoming rocket fire. It was a sound he had grown accustomed to, a signal for Israelis to seek shelter. However, as events unfolded, he realized that these sirens were a cover for the true horror - the invasion by Hamas militants. Rushing to the scene, he was confronted with a grotesque sight: cars overturned and lifeless bodies strewn across the streets. The violence and devastation were beyond anything he had witnessed before. "A piece of road that should've taken 15 minutes, it took us 11 hours because we went and picked up everyone, put them in a bag," said the 55-year-old Landau. He narrated the heart-wrenching account of discovering a woman in a home at Beeri, her stomach ripped open, a baby lying there still connected by the cord, brutally stabbed. The horrors didn't stop there. Landau witnessed the lifeless bodies of numerous civilians, including approximately 20 children, their hands tied behind their backs before being shot and set ablaze. Some victims were even subjected to sexual abuse, he added, painting a grim picture of the brutality that transpired. Escalating Israel-Hamas Conflict The assault, which saw Hamas militants cross the Gaza border and claim an estimated 1,200 lives, left a trail of devastation. Innocent civilians, including children, were brutally murdered, and the extent of the violence is unimaginable. The situation as of now remains extremely tense, and there are growing concerns of a potential ground invasion in the Gaza Strip as the conflict continues to escalate, impacting millions caught in the crossfire. The toll on both sides is devastating, with casualties rising, and the region's stability hanging in the balance. Demonstrations in Tel Aviv In the midst of this crisis, the local populace in Tel Aviv held a demonstration on Thursday, passionately urging the Israeli government to negotiate with Hamas for the exchange of hostages and prisoners. The demonstrators called for the safe release of women, children, and civilians currently held captive. "The government of Israel should talk to Hamas to ensure that the women, children, and civilians who have been taken hostage should be released," a protester in Tel Aviv passionately conveyed. Another demonstrator emphasized the urgency of the situation, urging the government to spare no effort in ensuring the safe return of the kidnapped hostages. The death toll in Israel has tragically surged to 1,300, and thousands more have been injured, including a significant number in critical condition. The fate of approximately 150 individuals abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the Hamas attack remains uncertain, further underlining the gravity of the ongoing crisis. Following the weekend terror attack on Israel, the counter-offensive launched by Jerusalem has entered its seventh day today with Israel, Hamas and Palestine suffering huge casualties. The death toll from the Hamas terror attacks on Israel has jumped to 1,300 while over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed and 6,612 others injured in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza. Amid this all, here are 10 key developments that took place on October 13: 1. Israel has mobilised hundreds of tanks towards the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defence Forces have already surrounded the Gaza Strip blocking access to all facilities like electricity, medicine and water. 2. Israeli Defence Force today asked the civilians in Gaza to move southwards. However, Hamas asked the residents not to leave their homes. "The IDF is calling for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southward for their own safety and protection. Hamas is telling Gaza residents to ignore our safety instructions," said the IDF. The IDF is calling for the evacuation of all civilians of Gaza City from their homes southward for their own safety and protection. Hamas is telling Gaza residents to ignore our safety instructions. pic.twitter.com/hKUkSJ5p0g Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2023 3. United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin today arrived in Tel Aviv and said that US support for Israel was ironclad. 4. On the other hand, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today met Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority in Amman, Jordan. The Palestinian Authority head represents the Fatah party, a bitter political rival of the Hamas. 5. Meanwhile, the chief of Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, today met Iran's Foreign Minister and discussed the future actions amid the Israel-Hamas war. Hezbollah has earlier fired several rockets at Israel from the Lebanese territory. 6. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian today warned that fighting against Israel might open on other fronts if Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza. 7. An Israeli diplomat was stabbed in China's capital city Beijing following which he was hospitalized. The diplomat is in stable condition. A motive behind the attack, which did not occur at the embassy is being investigated, Israel's Foreign Ministry said. 8. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also arrived in Israel with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola to express solidarity with the Israeli people. 9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reiterated that terrorism is one of the biggest threats and the world's failure to secure a consensus on defining terrorism gives liberty to enemies of humanity. PM Modi also said, "A divided world cannot provide solutions to the major challenges facing humanity. This is the time of peace and brotherhood, a time to move together. This is a time for growth and well-being of all. We have to overcome the global trust crisis and move forward with human-centric thinking. We have to look at the world in the spirit of One Earth, One Family, One Future." 10. After today's Friday prayer, protests erupted in several countries in support of Hamas and Palestine. Hamas has declared Friday as the day of raze. (With Agency Inputs) TRIPOLI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah on Thursday stressed the need to increase the pace of work to provide support for the people affected by the recent deadly floods in eastern Libya. Dbeibah made his remarks during a meeting with the government's emergency response team and officials from eastern Libya to discuss the implementation of a recovery plan, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's information office. Wafaa Al-Kilani, minister of social affairs, confirmed that a set of support and assistance measures will be made in accordance with the prime minister's plan in coordination with the Social Solidarity Fund, the statement said. Mobile homes sent for displaced people would arrive in the country in a few days, said Director of the National Development Fund Yaseen al-Abyad during the meeting. Musa al-Magaryef, the Education Minister, confirmed that reinforcement of damaged schools in the stricken areas is ongoing according to schedule. On Sept. 10, Mediterranean storm Daniel triggered the largest and worst floods in decades in Libya. Thousands of people were killed and went missing, while the region's infrastructure was severely damaged. KHARTOUM, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned Thursday about the bleak reality of Sudanese people struggling to get critical medical help amid the country's deadly conflict. The conflict, which started nearly six months ago between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has pushed the country's healthcare system to the brink of collapse, the MSF said in a statement. While the organization noted that "Sudanese health staff and volunteers are struggling to respond to people's medical needs," the Sudanese health authorities have said diseases and epidemics continue to spread in the country. "Sudan's crisis epitomizes a catastrophic failure of humanity," Christos Christou, the international president of MSF, was quoted by the statement as saying. "Across Sudan, the fragile health system is struggling, emergency rooms are congested, and many hospitals have closed completely," Christou said. Frauke Ossig, MSF head of mission, complained that hospital staff are at their wits' end trying to treat patients in critical condition due to the lack of medicine. Moreover, the organization said its humanitarian efforts are being hindered by bureaucratic and administrative hurdles, listing some of them as restrictions on the movement of its staff, rejections of travel permits, and bans on specific supplies, such as those needed for surgery. In the statement, the MSF called for the removal of administrative blockages on the movement of medical and humanitarian staff and the delivery of supplies. In a statement on Thursday, Sudan's Acting Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim acknowledged the deterioration of public health in the country due to the ongoing conflict. "The deterioration in the public health sector has led to the emergence of epidemics such as malaria and some childhood diseases," said Ibrahim. Sudan has recently been witnessing the increased spread of seasonal diseases, including dengue fever, malaria and cholera. The North African country has been mired in deadly clashes between the SAF and the RSF since April 15, which have resulted in at least 3,000 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries, according to the Health Ministry. ABUJA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 suspected gunmen were killed in various operations by government troops in Nigeria's northern region in the past week, the military said Thursday. Edward Buba, the spokesman for the military, told reporters in the national capital of Abuja that 114 others were detained during the operations across the northern region within the period. The troops also rescued at least 49 victims of kidnapping in the northeastern part of the country, Buba said, adding some leaders of the Boko Haram group and the Islamic State's West Africa Province surrendered, laying down their arms due to the superior firepower of the military. Armed attacks have been a primary security threat in Nigeria's northern and central regions, leading to deaths and kidnappings in recent months. TUNIS, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia's tourism revenues in the first nine months of 2023 reached 1.82 billion U.S. dollars, local Echorouk newspaper quoted the Tourism Minister Mohamed Belhassine as saying on Friday. Revenues from the tourism sector amounted to 5.8 billion dinars (1.82 billion U.S. dollars) by September, he told a hearing at the Assembly of People's Representatives on Thursday. He said the Central Bank of Tunisia had confirmed that the tourism revenues recorded an increase of 41.7 percent compared to the same period in 2022. He added that the Tunisian tourism sector was able to help cover most of the trade deficit of the country at the end of September. The minister said that Tunisian government was working to develop tourism sector at various levels and attract investments in the sector, given that the sector represents about 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product and creates about 400,000 jobs. KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's information and communication technology (ICT) and e-commerce industry grew 14.8 percent year on year to 412.3 billion ringgit (87.12 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022, official data showed on Friday. The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that this contribution comprises the gross value-added ICT industry (GVAICT) at 13.6 percent and the e-commerce of other industries at 9.4 percent. According to the DOSM, GVAICT recorded 243.7 billion ringgit with a growth of 12.4 percent in 2022. Meanwhile, the gross value-added e-commerce registered 239.1 billion ringgit with a growth of 18.9 percent. It is noted that the contribution of e-commerce to the gross domestic product (GDP) was 13.3 percent. (1 ringgit equals 0.21 U.S. dollar) CANBERRA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has been working to repatriate Australian citizens stranded in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday said that an extraordinary logistical exercise is underway to get 1,600 Australians in the region who have registered for government-assisted repatriation. The government has organized two free flights operated by the country's flag carrier Qantas from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, the first of which will depart on Friday with more than 200 passengers on board, and has chartered a third flight. Of the 1,600 Australians who have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for assisted departure from the region, Albanese told state media the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that 19 are located in Gaza. He said that the government was in conversation with the government of Egypt to get a family of four South Australians out of Gaza through its southern border. LONDON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Rising sea levels, contributed to by Arctic ice melting, could risk 1.5 million properties in the United Kingdom (UK) flooding, a House of Commons committee said in a report on Friday. The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) also said there is growing evidence suggesting that changes in the Arctic could make weather events in the UK more extreme. Calling on the country's government to appoint an "envoy to the Arctic," lawmaker James Gray said: "Whitehall (the government) has not been paying enough attention to the Arctic. Four ministers jotted around different departments with no oversight on Arctic policy is a missed opportunity." Gray, chairman of the Environmental Audit Sub-Committee on Polar Research, added: "The fact the ministers are yet to meet indicates a lack of enthusiasm on Arctic matters at the heart of government: they must meet quarterly given the drastic changes we are witnessing in our changing Arctic." The report concluded that with much of the Arctic under-researched, more information is needed about what a changing Arctic could mean for people's way of life. In the report, the EAC pointed to research that the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the globe. The committee has urged the UK government to move the Arctic up the political agenda, calling for it to be more ambitious in reducing domestic emissions, and leading efforts to champion Arctic science globally. AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Companies should start preparing for the European Union's (EU) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, expected to be passed later this year, said a top official from the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure (RDI) on Thursday. RDI Inspector General Angeline van Dijk made the call as she delivered a speech on "A European Approach to Artificial Intelligence," at the 2023 World Summit AI (WSAI), an annual event launched in 2017 for tech leaders to discuss the latest global AI developments. The theme of this year's WSAI is "AI on the Brink: Shaping the Future of Humanity." Van Dijk provided insights into the expected timeline for the AI Act, the EU's first legislative framework on AI development and deployment across Europe. "From a market perspective, understanding the timeline of the AI Act is crucial for strategic planning," she said. Under Spain's leadership, the final text of the AI Act should be established this year, with ratification anticipated by the following spring. However, the act's standards are expected to be implemented around 2025, and full enforcement may not happen until 2026 or 2027. "The AI Act is a significant step of providing a blueprint for responsible AI development and deployment across Europe," van Dijk said. In her speech, she announced a joint initiative on AI supervision by the European Commission, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Netherlands. "Our joint initiative aims not only to enhance AI's supervisory capabilities, (but) also to support all European AI oversight bodies. And together our goal is to ensure responsible AI development and deployment across Europe," she said. The AI Act, van Dijk explained, takes a risk-based approach, strongly regulating high-risk AI practices while affording more flexibility to less risky applications. She underlined that companies should start preparing for the AI Act immediately, as the building of an AI ecosystem requires support from all sectors, including governments, scientists, and private industry. She also emphasized the need for leaders to understand and engage with AI, in order to make more informed decisions about its applications and implications. PARIS, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- "I invite everyone to go to China because it is a wonderful country with lovely people and splendid landscapes. So don't hesitate to go there," French tourist Brunette Prudent sent heartful invitations after being impressed by the country's nature and culture on a motorhome journey along the Silk Road. Prudent was among over 20 French tourists sharing her travel experiences along the Silk Road at a gathering organized by the China National Tourism Office in Paris on Sept. 22. As a devoted fan of the Silk Road tourism circuit, Gerard Coute, vice president of the International Federation of Camping, Caravanning, and Motorhoming, shared his experience as an organizer of the Paris-Beijing-Istanbul motorhome journey for French tourists since 2010. In 2005, Coute and his wife completed their first trip to China. "I fell in love with this country. I told myself I must come back and spend more time here. When I was elected president of the French Federation of Camping and Caravanning, I immediately turned this idea into reality," he explained. This Paris-Beijing-Istanbul motorhome journey crosses many provinces in China, covering a distance of over 30,000 kilometers in over 100 days. Coute said that the numerous historical sites, monuments, stunning natural landscapes and diverse ethnic cultures along the Silk Road deeply impressed French tourists. Before the pandemic, he organized several similar trips and is planning one for 2025. "Dunhuang, the evening of Aug. 2 ends with an aperitif with our Chinese fellow motorhome travelers. We gave our address to a Chinese family planning to come to Paris next year. We will, of course, welcome them to our home with pleasure on that occasion," the couple Brunette and Patrick Prudent said in a travel blog. For the Prudents, participants in the 3rd Paris-Beijing-Istanbul journey in 2014, the first impressions of the Silk Road came from The Travels of Marco Polo. "Before this trip, we had no preconceived ideas about China, and we didn't know much about the Silk Road," they admitted in an interview with Xinhua. Brunette revealed that the kindness of the people pleasantly surprised her during her trip to China. "We didn't speak Chinese, so it was complicated, but we were always warmly welcomed wherever we went in all the villages we passed through. We were greeted with smiles and hospitality. People showed us around their homes and were proud of their homes. Then, they would visit the motorhome. These people invited us into their homes, and we had tea," she recalled. In their blog, they shared another story of hospitality: "July 28 - Qinghai Lake - To reach our destination, we preferred to take the national road to pass through typical villages. This allowed us to meet very welcoming villagers. They offered to share their meal with us. We declined the invitation as we were pressed for time. We continued on our journey to reach Qinghai Lake, China's largest lake." Patrick indicated they plan to sign up for the motorhome trip scheduled for 2025. "In terms of landscapes in China, everything is indeed beautiful. We intend to return because staying in China for just one month was too quick. You would need to spend at least six months there," he said. HELSINKI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Finnish and Estonian police are set to jointly investigate the breach in the Balticconnector gas pipeline and a data cable, which took place last weekend. The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation announced the cooperation on Thursday, emphasizing the progress made in ascertaining the ships that had been in the area at the time. Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported on Thursday that the focus is now on the ships that were in the area on the surface, rather than on underwater activities. Both the Finnish navy and frontier guards have gathered data on maritime traffic and provided support to the police. NATO intelligence and situation reports have also been used for the probe, Yle reported. Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen and Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said on Wednesday that Finland and Estonia are currently investigating the matter without NATO participation. However, NATO has pledged to give support if required. WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced Thursday that he is withdrawing from the House speaker race after failing to garner enough support from the House Republicans. On Wednesday, Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, won the nomination in a 113-99 vote over Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. A win of only 14 votes by Scalise indicated the deep divisions among House Republicans. The Louisiana Republican's latest decision will throw the party into more chaos, as it struggles to find someone who would reach the required simple majority threshold in the chamber to elect a speaker, as Republicans hold a slim 221-212 majority. Christian Horner believes that it was right for Daniel Ricciardo to miss last weekends backbreaking Qatar Grand Prix, with the Aussie opting to extend his recovery period. Ricciardo is expected to return to racing next week in Austin with AlphaTauri after a nearly two-month hiatus caused by his crash last August in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix in which he suffered a fractured metacarpal in his left hand. The injury required surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation period which is still ongoing. However, ahead of last weekends race at Lusail, Ricciardo underwent several hours of training in Red Bulls simulator in Milton Keynes. However, it was decided that his physical conditions would be better served if he remained off the grid for one more race, with AlphaTauri substitute Liam Lawson filling in one last time in Qatar. We want to see him in full fitness, Horner said. I think it was right to miss the race, particularly as it turned out with the conditions that we had, it could have been very testing for him. So I think to have had that extra, if you like, 12 days, in the run-up to Austin is the best preparation for him. With Austin, its obviously going to be difficult for him to jump straight back into a sprint race weekend but Im sure hell be physically in good shape to take that on. Ricciardo was all the more willing to take his time to return to active duty as his seat with AlphaTauri alongside Yuki Tsunoda for 2024 was confirmed by the team in Japan. Of course, he [Ricciardo] wanted to come back, Horner added. But he has a contract secured for next year. In Liam, weve such a great sub, and it was also a good way of giving him another grand prix without putting unnecessary pressure on Dan and potentially causing longer-term damage. It allowed us to say Look, dont overstretch it. Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter Alpaca Surpasses 150 Businesses Launching on its Brokerage Platform and Prepares for Accelerated Growth With Strategic Partners For Each Key Region SAN MATEO, Calif., October 13, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alpaca, a global brokerage platform for stock and crypto trading that supports launches of hundreds of investing businesses worldwide, today announced a new strategic partnership with SBI Group ("SBI"), a Japan-based financial services group that has the largest online broker (the second largest brokerage firm) in Japan by revenue and has more than 400 billion yen assets under management for VC/PE investments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012426487/en/ Alpaca and Japans SBI Holdings Announce Partnership and Strategic Investment to Accelerate Alpacas Asian Business (Graphic: Business Wire) This partnership allows Alpaca to accelerate its expansion of businesses and extend its reach to enterprise financial institutions for the clearing and execution of US securities in Asia. As part of the new partnership, SBI has made a USD15 million investment in Alpaca. Additionally, SBI has agreed with Alpaca to make respective commitments to drive Alpacas future growth through collaborative business development efforts and introducing innovative products. Alpaca continues to provide resources dedicated to expanding its Asian business through a recently acquired broker-dealer license under the Japan FSA. Through this license in Japan, Alpaca can provide brokerage infrastructure for enterprise financial institutions and startups to easily offer US stock investing services to their end customers. "We are thrilled to welcome SBI as our strategic partner and to deepen our footprint within the Asian region," said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-founder and CEO of Alpaca. "This partnership will significantly accelerate our mission of opening financial services to everyone on the planet. SBIs strategic partner capital enables us to significantly increase our presence in the Asian region, accelerate serving enterprise financial institutions, and launch products and services optimized for local demands. Were very excited to unlock this tremendous potential." Story continues "Our investment in Alpaca directly aligns with our strategic vision to show our commitment to accelerate new product innovation and value creation for end customers," said Shohei Yamada, Deputy General Manager of SBI Investment. "We are amazed by the growth and innovation velocity that Alpaca has shown and are excited to support their even further expansion in the Asian region." In addition to Alpacas growth in Japan, Alpacas brokerage platform supports hundreds of businesses in close to 30 different countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand, and India. Alpaca has raised more than US$120 million in funding from top investors in the industry globally. About Alpaca Alpaca is a developer-first API brokerage platform that supports hundreds of businesses globally. Alpaca offers stock and crypto trading, real-time market data, and end-to-end brokerage infrastructure through modern APIs. Alpaca has raised over $120m in funding and is backed by top investors in the industry globally, including Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Unbound, SBI Group, Eldridge, Positive Sum, Elefund, and Y Combinator. About SBI Group Established in 1999 as a pioneer of Internet-based financial services in Japan, the SBI Group is a comprehensive Internet financial group that operates globally, encompassing five core businesses: "Financial Services Business," such as securities, banking and insurance businesses; "Investment Business," which is engaged in private equity investment including venture capital investment; "Asset Management Business," that provides various asset management related services; "Crypto-asset Business," which operates crypto asset trading and exchange services; and "Non-financial Business," which includes business activities related to biotechnology, healthcare and medical informatics, Web3, and new overseas markets. For more information, please visit https://www.sbigroup.co.jp/english/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012426487/en/ Contacts press@alpaca.markets Alpaca Marketing Team By Ismail Shakil and Nia Williams OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) said on Thursday it will make a preliminary decision on Trans Mountain Corp's proposed shipping tolls for its oil pipeline expansion project this autumn, before holding a hearing on the tolls next year. The timing of the decision aims to ensure interim tolls are in place when the pipeline expansion becomes operational, the regulator said in a statement. The 590,000 barrel-per-day Trans Mountain expansion project (TMEP) will nearly triple the flow of oil from the province of Alberta to Canada's Pacific Coast and is expected to start operating late in the first quarter of 2024. But shippers including Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus Energy are disputing the interim tolls proposed by Trans Mountain, arguing a portion of the base toll is too high. Long-term shipping contracts cover 80% of the expansion project's capacity. The final tolls will impact the value of the pipeline when the Canadian government, which bought it in 2018 to ensure the expansion got built, puts it up for sale. The CER said the hearing next year would look at issues including the "fairness and reasonableness" of existing tolling agreements with shippers and potential repercussions on Trans Mountain's financial standing. "After service begins on the TMEP and final costs are known, Trans Mountain can request approval from the Commission of the CER for final tolls," the regulator said. (Reporting by Nia Williams and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Berkrot) Carlson Capital L P, a Dallas-based hedge fund sponsor, recently expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of shares in Glatfelter Corp. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the transaction, the profiles of both entities, and the potential implications for value investors. Details of the Transaction On October 10, 2023, Carlson Capital L P added 702,6000 shares of Glatfelter Corp to its portfolio. The transaction was executed at a price of $1.8 per share, resulting in a 3.48% change in the firm's holdings. This acquisition has a 0.04% impact on Carlson Capital L P's portfolio and increases its position in Glatfelter Corp to 15.60%. Post-transaction, the firm holds a total of 702,6000 shares in Glatfelter Corp, representing 1.08% of its portfolio. Profile of Carlson Capital L P Carlson Capital L P is a hedge fund sponsor founded in 1993 by Clint Carlson. The firm believes in achieving risk-adjusted returns through thoughtful, targeted hedging strategies and diversification across multiple strategies and decision-makers. It currently invests in a wide variety of sectors, with financial services and industrials being the top sectors. The firm's top holdings include Horizon Therapeutics PLC, National Instruments Corp, Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc, Black Knight Inc, and SWK Holdings Corp. As of the date of this article, Carlson Capital L P manages approximately $1.17 billion in equity. Carlson Capital L P Adds Glatfelter Corp to Its Portfolio Overview of Glatfelter Corp Glatfelter Corp is a manufacturer and seller of various paper and fiber products. The company operates through two segments: Composite Fibers and Airlaid Materials. It has manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe, with sales and distribution offices in Russia, Italy, China, and the United States. As of the date of this article, Glatfelter Corp has a market capitalization of $74.326 million and a current stock price of $1.65. The company's GF Value is 21.42, indicating a possible value trap for investors. The GF Score of Glatfelter Corp is 66/100, suggesting a poor future performance potential. Story continues Carlson Capital L P Adds Glatfelter Corp to Its Portfolio Analysis of Glatfelter Corp's Financials Glatfelter Corp's financial strength is ranked 4/10, with an interest coverage of 0.06. The company's Altman Z score is 1.49, indicating a risk of financial distress. Its profitability rank is 6/10, with a Piotroski F-Score of 2, suggesting poor business operations. The company's operating margin has declined by 12.80%, and its growth rank is 5/10. The GF Value Rank of Glatfelter Corp is 2/10, indicating that the stock is significantly overvalued. The company's momentum rank is 4/10, suggesting a lack of momentum in the stock price. Glatfelter Corp's Performance Metrics Over the past three years, Glatfelter Corp has seen a revenue growth of 16.50%, but its EBITDA and earnings growth have been stagnant and negative, respectively. The company's gross margin growth is -8.90%, and its operating margin growth is -12.80%. The company's RSI 14 Day Rank is 55, and its Momentum Index 6 - 1 Month Rank is 284, indicating a lack of momentum in the stock price. Conclusion The recent acquisition by Carlson Capital L P has increased its exposure to Glatfelter Corp, a company with a poor future performance potential according to its GF Score. However, the firm's investment philosophy and diversified portfolio may help mitigate the risks associated with this transaction. As always, investors are advised to conduct their own thorough research before making any investment decisions. This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Benzinga Warren Buffetts unexpected decision to invest in Japan during the 2020 pandemic seems to have paid off, and no one appears more pleased than Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Vice Chairman Charlie Munger. The strategy was a departure from the companys well-known preference for American enterprises like Apple Inc., the Coca-Cola Co., Bank of America Corp. and American Express Co. The companys portfolio has often been a testament to its confidence in the U.S. market. Speaking on the Acquired podcast in O On October 10, 2023, Daren Shaw, a director at Ensign Group Inc (NASDAQ:ENSG), sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock. This move is part of a larger trend for the insider, who has sold a total of 15,000 shares over the past year and has not made any purchases during the same period. Director Daren Shaw Sells 4,000 Shares of Ensign Group Inc Daren Shaw has been a director at Ensign Group Inc for several years. The company is a leading provider of skilled nursing and rehabilitative care services. Through its subsidiaries, Ensign Group operates skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, home health and hospice agencies, and other rehabilitative and healthcare centers. The company's mission is to enhance the life of every person they serve. The insider's recent sell comes at a time when the stock is trading at $95 per share, giving the company a market cap of $5.31 billion. The price-earnings ratio stands at 22.40, which is lower than the industry median of 26.42 and also lower than the companys historical median price-earnings ratio. Director Daren Shaw Sells 4,000 Shares of Ensign Group Inc According to the GuruFocus Value, which is an intrinsic value estimate developed by GuruFocus, the stock is modestly undervalued. The GF Value is calculated based on historical multiples that the stock has traded at, a GuruFocus adjustment factor based on the companys past returns and growth, and future estimates of business performance from Morningstar analysts. With a price of $95 and a GuruFocus Value of $110.26, Ensign Group Inc has a price-to-GF-Value ratio of 0.86. Over the past year, there have been no insider buys at Ensign Group Inc, while there have been 23 insider sells. This trend could indicate that insiders believe the stock is overvalued at current prices. However, the insider's sell should not be taken as a definitive sign of the company's future performance. Investors should always conduct their own research and consider other factors before making investment decisions. Story continues In conclusion, the recent sell by Daren Shaw is part of a larger trend of insider sells at Ensign Group Inc. Despite this, the stock appears to be modestly undervalued according to the GuruFocus Value. Investors should keep a close eye on the company's performance and any future insider transactions. This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Eni SpA E, Italy's leading energy company, and Dompe farmaceutici, a leading pharmaceutical firm, collaborated earlier this week in a significant move toward advancing health research. Enis CEO Claudio Descalzi and Dompe farmaceuticis executive chairman Sergio Dompe sealed the partnership by signing a letter of intent, affirming their commitment to prioritize the health and well-being of communities where Eni operates. The collaboration builds upon the successful participation of both companies in the European Exscalate4Cov project, a critical project aimed at tackling challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, they will leverage their collective expertise in molecular modeling and high-performance computing to drive innovative solutions in the field of healthcare. As part of the agreement, Eni will provide Dompe researchers with access to its laboratories, support from the company's specialized personnel and the utilization of its HPC5 supercomputer. The primary objective is to expedite the discovery of new medications and vaccines capable of responding more swiftly and effectively to future healthcare crises. Additionally, the agreement extends to the examination of health security in relation to emerging energy supply chains, as well as the regular monitoring of high-incidence infections in regions where Eni is actively present. According to Eni, the signing marks another progression for the company in safeguarding the health and well-being of its workforce, in accordance with the principles of precaution, prevention and well-being promotion outlined in the United Nations 2030 Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals. Zacks Rank & Key Picks E currently has a Zack Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the energy sector are Matador Resources Company MTDR, Pioneer Natural Resources Company PXD and Diamondback Energy Inc. FANG, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Story continues Matador Resources is among the leading oil and gas explorers in the shale and unconventional resources in the United States. The companys prime intention is to create more value for shareholders and generate lucrative returns from the capital invested in unconventional plays. MTDR has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023 and 2024 over the past 30 days. Pioneer Natural Resources is a leading upstream energy firm with primary operations in the Permian basin, which is among the lucrative oil shale plays in the United States with fewer risks. Its total holding of more than 1 million net acres in the Permian basin will support long-term oil production growth. PXD has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023 and 2024 in the past seven days. Diamondback Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration & production company with its primary focus on the Permian Basin, where it has around 491,000 net acres. With an attractive production profile, favorable industry trends and FANGs low breakeven economics, the margin of safety on investment is very high. The company has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2023 and 2024 in the past 30 days. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Eni SpA (E) : Free Stock Analysis Report Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Matador Resources Company (MTDR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Key Insights The projected fair value for ADM Hamburg is 340 based on Dividend Discount Model Current share price of 288 suggests ADM Hamburg is potentially trading close to its fair value When compared to theindustry average discount to fair value of 26%, ADM Hamburg's competitors seem to be trading at a greater discount Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of ADM Hamburg Aktiengesellschaft (FRA:OEL) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex. Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for ADM Hamburg The Model We have to calculate the value of ADM Hamburg slightly differently to other stocks because it is a food company. Instead of using free cash flows, which are hard to estimate and often not reported by analysts in this industry, dividends per share (DPS) payments are used. Unless a company pays out the majority of its FCF as a dividend, this method will typically underestimate the value of the stock. The 'Gordon Growth Model' is used, which simply assumes that dividend payments will continue to increase at a sustainable growth rate forever. The dividend is expected to grow at an annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 0.4%. We then discount this figure to today's value at a cost of equity of 4.4%. Compared to the current share price of 288, the company appears about fair value at a 15% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. Story continues Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate) = 13.6 / (4.4% 0.4%) = 339 dcf Important Assumptions Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at ADM Hamburg 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 4.4%, 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 ADM Hamburg Strength Currently debt free. Weakness Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Food market. Opportunity Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows. Current share price is below our estimate of fair value. Lack of analyst coverage makes it difficult to determine OEL's earnings prospects. Threat Paying a dividend but company is unprofitable. Moving On: Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For ADM Hamburg, there are three essential items you should look at: PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every German 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. FILE PHOTO: A view of the British capital's twin financial powerhouses,the City of London and Canary Wharf, By Iain Withers and Kirstin Ridley LONDON (Reuters) - Big banks in Britain are preparing for any future escalation of Western sanctions on China and have shared their "scenario planning" with the British and U.S. governments, a senior banking official has told Reuters. The project involves sharing lessons learned from other sanctions frameworks, including those on Russia, and discussions about the effect any measures imposed on China might have, Neil Whiley, director of sanctions at lobby group UK Finance, said. After many companies were wrongfooted by the speed and breadth of prohibitions on Russia, banks are drawing up contingency plans in case geopolitical tensions between the West and China escalate, seven finance industry sources said. They did not expect any imminent changes to sanctions. The work by UK Finance - which represents around 300 firms, including HSBC, Barclays and JPMorgan - examines the transparency of asset ownership and control and how easily Chinese products can be traced, Whiley said. It also focuses on the extent of commercial ties between the West and China across industries, including supply chains in high-risk sectors like technology, and attempts to highlight measures that might backfire if applied to China. The work has been carried out against a backdrop of tensions between the West and China over the status of Taiwan, which Beijing claims, growing export controls, accusations of Chinese spying and a security crackdown by Beijing on companies. UK Finance convened fortnightly meetings of big British and overseas banks over several months, Whiley said, before drawing up a draft document that runs to tens of thousands of words. Reuters was not able to review the document. The draft was completed in August and shared with Western government contacts in recent weeks, he said. The U.S. Treasury Department, which runs the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Britain's Foreign Office and Barclays did not respond to requests for comment. JPMorgan declined to comment. Story continues Three senior London-based bankers, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said their boards had discussed the possibility of stronger Western sanctions on China in future. Scenarios from major cyber-attacks through to a military intervention in Taiwan could potentially trigger further prohibitions on China, one lawyer who advises banks said. "The biggest financial institutions are ... determining whether the exposure they have (to China) is tolerable given a pessimistic direction of travel for geopolitics," said one security expert, who declined to be named. TRACING RISKS The preparations have been driven in part by the unprecedented sanctions slapped on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which left some companies struggling to get assets out of the country or exit positions. One of the bankers said sanctions on Russia had "removed naivety" among businesses and prompted the industry to think more deeply about China risks. Communications between officials from the United States and China have increased in recent months, thawing frosty relations somewhat ahead of a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden next month. China, the world's second-largest economy, remains central to Western supply chains. The European Union's trade deficit with China, for example, widened to $276.6 billion in 2022 from $208.4 billion a year earlier, Chinese customs data show. British finance also has close ties with China. Two of the country's biggest banks - HSBC and Standard Chartered - make most of their profits in Asia, forcing them to straddle the geopolitical faultlines. HSBC and Standard Chartered declined to comment. SURGE IN CALLS Whiley said the UK Finance project was designed to be part of industry-wide "horizon-scanning" to assess potential risks across multiple countries, in line with regulatory guidance, and did not reflect expectations or requests for more sanctions. Nonetheless, financial firms are alive to the risks. Another banker, who works for a lender with a presence in Asia, said the bank's board was planning for more strains between China and Taiwan and likely consequences for financial markets, including currency and equity reactions. Lloyd's of London underwriters are among insurers that have raised rates and cut cover for risks involving Taiwan as concerns grow about possible military action by China, Reuters exclusively reported in August. Against that background, four lawyers in London reported a surge in calls from financial clients seeking guidance on China, from sanctions compliance and risk assessment through to how to deal with any investigations or enforcement. Demand for advice was so keen that one lawyer, who declined to be identified, said his firm last month held its first client-only seminar on Russia, China and how geopolitics were shaping sanctions and compliance. "Companies will ... want to make sure that for long-term engagements with Chinese entities, they have robust sanctions provisions in their contracts and agreements," said Leigh Hansson, a London and Washington-based lawyer at Reed Smith. Banks' concerns are being driven partly by the robust U.S.-steered approach to the semi-conductor and technology industry and foreign policy discussions, lawyers said. The Biden administration has curbed chip exports to China to deny Beijing access to advanced technology that could further military advancements or human rights abuses. China hit back with accusations of economic coercion. One lawyer said he did not expect any repeat of the Russia response and for "commercial reality" to enter foreign policy decision-making in relation to China. "(Any sanctions) will be very much targeted at specific companies, specific products and services," the lawyer said. (Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise, Stefania Spezzati and Lawrence White in London and Michelle Price in Washington; Editing by Catherine Evans) Sapna Arvind had always dreamed of having a big career in finance. My dad, when I was a child, would say, I wanna see you on CNBC, "she says. So I did my undergrad in finance at New York University with those words ringing in my ears. Arvind embarked on a career in asset management in New York City after getting an MBA in finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By her mid-30s, she was also a mother of two children under 10 years old. While shed powered through the early years as a young mother and a professional woman, by the time her younger one was ready for kindergarten, she didnt want to do it anymore commuting back to her home in the suburbs at 8 p.m. just as the kids were getting ready for bed. She decided to quit her job. Her husband, an investment banker, would be the sole breadwinner while shed be the primary on-call parent. Sapna Arvind, who quit her job as a vice president at Alliance Bernstein when her older son was 9, says mothering while working was an 'emotional rollercoaster.' Its a decision scores of college-educated women have made over the years and which, in part, explains why the gender earnings gap is wider among college-educated women compared with those without a college degree. In 2022, for example, women with at least a bachelors degree earned 79% as much as men who were college graduates, while women who were high school graduates earned 81% as much as men with the same level of education, according to the Pew Research Center. That is also a topic Harvard professor Claudia Goldin, 77, who received a Nobel Prize in economics for her groundbreaking work on women in the labor market on Monday, has spent decades studying. After collecting and analyzing 200 years of U.S. historical data to demonstrate how and why gender differences in earnings and employment rates have changed over time, she found that while historically, the wage gap could be explained through differences in education and occupational choices, recently, the differences among men and women in the same profession widens after the birth of the first child. Story continues Goldins research also finds this trend: Differences in both pay and the ability to stay in the workforce reflect differences in the division of unpaid caregiving responsibilities between heterosexual couples. Fatherhood premium, motherhood penalty Goldin's recent research has also found that while mothers make less than non-mothers because of the reduced number of hours they work, fathers make more than non-fathers over the course of their careers. Quite frankly, it's the most disturbing part of this," Goldin told USA TODAY in a phone interview on Oct. 10, a day after she won the Nobel prize. "Why is it that fathers are doing better (than non-fathers), even though they have kids? Why is the fatherhood premium growing over time?" she asks, adding that "the price of being a woman stays constant (due to social norms around gender), which is also somewhat disturbing. Goldin says women with children enable men with children to achieve more. Men are able to step forward because women step backward. It's not simply taking the shirts to the dry cleaner that women do, they are boosting their ability to do work, Goldin says. And therefore, if you are by yourself, you don't have the ability to have that help mate. The other explanation is the American notion of masculinity that places a self-imposed pressure to achieve more when you are a father. This internal sense that fathers have, that they really have to run fast because they are breadwinners, she says. Greedy work and flexible work When it comes to college-educated women, high-salary jobs with long, inflexible hours exacerbate the gender pay gap. When women take on greedy work, which pays disproportionately more when they work a greater number of hours or have less control over those hours, they tend not to last long because they opt out to raise families. The pandemic, Goldin says had decreased the cost of flexibility as firms and workers have learned to use technologies that enable remote meetings. One of the big hurdles is business travel," she says. "Its an enormous barrier to individuals with care responsibilities. But if that job now changed to, you don't have to travel to Tokyo, you have to Zoom with Tokyo clients every other weekend, you can do it. Making greedy jobs more flexible would allow more women to take them, Goldin says. When Jane Veron moved to the suburbs from New York City with two preschoolers, she worked for a Fortune 500 company that had offered her part-time work during her early days of motherhood. What part time meant was partial pay for nearly full-time work but I made the deal because it allowed me to go to the office three rather than five days per week, says the Yale graduate and Harvard MBA. Jane Veron, CEO of The Acceleration Project, a national nonprofit consulting firm that is helping small business survive in the challenging time, photographed at her Scarsdale home on Thursday, May 28, 2020. (Credit: John Meore/The Journal News) Her hard work didnt go unnoticed she was offered a promotion, but the catch was that she needed to be physically present five days per week. Despite the fact that I had excelled while working part time my hiring boss required face time, being physically present every day of the week, and was not sympathetic to the demands of motherhood, Veron says. She said that juggling family concerns was not relevant. She decided to quit her job. If shed had flexibility, things would have been very different. Without a doubt, I would have stayed in the workforce, she says. I did not want to quit my job. Her life as a Scarsdale mom, one of the most expensive zip codes in the country, landed her in familiar company: stay-at-home moms with degrees from prestigious universities and experience in the corporate world, including at white-shoe law firms, exclusive management consultancies and Fortune 500 companies. Veron established The Acceleration Project (TAP), a nonprofit consulting firm in 2012 to help small businesses that were dealing with the aftermath of the economic recession by channeling the talents of these opt-out moms with backgrounds in everything from law, business marketing and finance. The nonprofit now has more than 200 volunteers who work part time or full time with the organization. "While TAP started with moms who left their fast-paced careers, more of our consultants hold full or part-time jobs," says Veron. "They say they choose to work with us as we provide opportunities for professionals to use their skills for meaningful impact." Return-to-work community Carol Fishman Cohen, a Pomona College and Harvard Business School graduate, took an 11-year break in the 1990s to raise her four children in a Boston suburb before going back to work full time at Bain Capital. Carol Fishman Cohen In Cohens case, her husband had been working at a law firm for 20 years when she was going back to work. He had a demanding job but had little travel. This, and the fact that she had a nanny to take care of her children ages 5 to 11, enabled her to return to a high-pressure job that required travel. My husband handled things like doctor visits, sick kids, and unexpected events, she says. When considering child care costs, couples should evaluate being able to afford child care based on their combined projected income, not based on the incremental income the returning partner is making. Because initially, it can be a breakeven situation. However, this is temporary and an investment in the more profitable years to come, she says. She is now the founder and CEO of career reentry firm iRelaunch, which produces the iRelaunch Return to Work Conferences and works with companies on career reentry programs. The share of prime-age women who are employed hit an all-time high of 76% in June and experts believe the flexibility to work remotely contributed to the surge. In June, 77.8% of women ages 25 to 54 were working or looking for jobs, up from 77.6% in May and the highest in U.S. history, the Labor Departments July jobs report showed. About 35% of people who can do their jobs remotely are working from home, up from just 7% before the pandemic, according to the Pew Research Center. Will remote work narrow the gender earnings gap? It depends, given that we are seeing various degrees of in-office requirements, says Cohen. In the past, we saw expectations of facetime' in the office, 24/7 accountability and spontaneous travel, meaning jumping on a plane with little or no notice, drive out female professionals disproportionately from finance roles that were fast-paced and transactional, she says. Less travel enabled by video calls is a huge factor in retaining mothers and some fathers too. Goldin says couple equity, where each would share the on-call at home duties and each could also achieve in their career, would help narrow the gap. That would entail leaving a lot of money on the table, as each passes up the high-pressure promotion, partner track, or tenure track. Sapna Arvind with her family Arvind, who quit her job as a vice president in asset management at Alliance Bernstein when her older son was 9, says mothering while working was an emotional roller coaster. I'd feel so guilty. Like, they would call from school, and I'd be like, Sorry, I'm in a meeting, she says. I felt the call to parent even more when they were in elementary and middle school when theyd bring back so much stuff .... mental and social stuff that I just couldn't solve in the moment. I felt like I was always trying to catch up. But staying at home wasnt easy.Every three months I go through this existential angst about what am I doing with my skill set," she says. "I don't want to be doing nothing. I don't want to be called just a housewife. I want to have a title that says I'm not just mom and wife. After four years of mulling over how her life had "devolved into nothingness," and looking for and giving up on part-time jobs in finance in Westchester, Arvind decided to expand her skill set and pivot from finance to education. She went back to school for a master's degree in economics and education at Columbia Teachers College (taking more courses than required for her degree) and now works as a consultant at a firm that maps and analyzes the prenatal to five funding streams with various state governments. She also serves on the board of Child Care Council of Westchester. The consultant job offers flexibility and is a remote position. Eventually, she hopes to get back into finance as a venture capitalist in the education-tech field. Asked if the earnings gap would further narrow or even disappear in the future, Goldin says shes terrible with predictions. Im not very good at looking into the future. Ive been wrong about every piece of device that has appeared, including the cellphone." Laughing, she says she nailed one prediction: the Barbie movie. "I said, this is going to be really, really, really big. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is the housing and economy reporter for USA TODAY. Follow her on Twitter @SwapnaVenugopal This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Claudia Goldin's gender pay gap research uncovers 'disturbing' trend Close-up shot of Emmanuel Macron, France's president, during the NATO summit on July 12, 2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania. . About two years after the Pegasus scandal drew back the curtains to reveal the lengths governments can go to spy on their citizens, another investigation has revealed that the EU has a spyware problem bigger than we could possibly imagine. According to Donncha O Cearbhaill, Head of Amnesty Internationals Security Lab, Predator "is arguably worse" than similar NSO-developed software. This is primarily because the tool wasn't just used across the EU this time, but was developed, sold, and exported by EU-based firms mainly operating across France, Ireland, and Greece. Now, a joint year-long investigation by media partners from the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) and Amnesty International's Security Lab can reveal the failures of the EU in regulating highly lucrative and unethical surveillance business. A EU-based spying alliance "The Predator Files investigation shows what we have long feared: that highly invasive surveillance products are being traded on a near industrial scale and are free to operate in the shadows without oversight or any genuine accountability," said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty Internationals Secretary General. What is Predator spyware? malware Predator spyware is a highly invasive phone hacking software, designed to access all stored and shared data (such as messages, calls, photos, and passwords) while leaving no trace on the target device. It can infiltrate a smartphone via a malicious link or through tactical attacks launched on unsecure networks by nearby devices. "It proves, yet again, that European countries and institutions have failed to effectively regulate the sale and transfer of these products." The so-called Intellexa Alliance is, in fact, a group of companies among which many are EU-based and should adhere to EU laws. However, evidence suggests that this corporate spying consortium acted undisturbed for years with little or no transparency over its internal operations and business relationships. Story continues Signed-off in 2019, Amnesty explained the Alliance has evolved over time into "a complex corporate structure" with ties in many countries across the world. It comes as a commercial coalition mainly between two groups of tech companies, namely the Nexa and Intellexa group. The Intellexa group was founded in 2018 by Tal Dilian, a former Israeli army officer, and some of his associates. It appears to be controlled by Ireland-based holding company Thalestris and includes other tech firms located across Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, and Hungary. The group produced the spyware software, all while describing itself as an "EU-regulated company." The Nexa group, which mainly operated from France and the UAE, was revealed to have strong ties with President Emmanuel Macron. The company allegedly hired his former bodyguard and personal security adviser, Alexandre Benalla, to try to sell spyware to Saudi ArabiaMediaPart reporteda repressive government thought to have used Pegasus spyware to track and murder dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The group seems to have been operating since 2012 after it took over the surveillance business of the French firm Amesys. Predator spyware started making headlines back in 2021, as the new surveillance-for-hire software was used to spy on journalists, civil societies, and politicians across Armenia, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Madagascar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Serbiaa CitizenLAb forensic report exposed at that time. In 2022, an investigation around what's known as the Greek wiretapping scandal provided even more insights into state intelligence spying operations on political grounds conducted directly on EU soil. Now, new evidence has revealed that at least 25 more countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa have been using the Intellexa alliances mass surveillance products to undermine human rights, press freedom, and social movements across the globe since 2007. Their most prominent clients include notorious authoritarian regimes like Sudan, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Egypt, and Vietnam, together with European democracies such as Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. The Intellexa Alliance repeatedly claims to have "scrupulously respected export regulations" despite acknowledging the establishment of "commercial relations with far from perfect countries in terms of the rule of law," Amnesty reported. How the EU can fix its spyware issue So, how could such an intricate mercenary spying group with ties to European democratic governments have managed to conduct its shady business operations for so long? According to experts at Amnesty, the opaque and complex corporate structure has helped Intellexa avoid accountability, transparency, and government regulation. The whole truth is that the EU should have done better in the aftermath of the Pegasus Project disclosures. As Callamard explained, EU-based surveillance technology companies are subject to the EU Dual Use Regulation, a series of export controls aiming to prevent human rights harms linked with the sale of spyware and similar software. At least 25 more countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa have been using Intellexa alliances mass surveillance products to undermine human rights since 2007. Yet, "as the Predator Files investigation demonstrates, EU regulators are unable or unwilling to control and prevent human rights harms in relation to the export of spyware," she said. In March 2022, the European Parliament even formed the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA) with the scope of regulating the use of spyware technologies. However, experts lamented a lack of political will among EU member states to come up with a unified response to the issue. There's also the problem around the technical features of Predator spyware and similar software, which are designed to leave no traces and prevent any independent audits over potential abuses. Once again, this seems to show, as Amnesty put it, that "human rights abuse is a feature of the industry, not a bug." That's why a call to completely ban the use of spyware technology get stronger and stronger. Callamard said: "There is only one possible conclusion: given the ineffectiveness of the regulation, proven time and time again, the use of highly invasive spyware like Predator must be outlawed." Ideally, your overall portfolio should beat the market average. But every investor is virtually certain to have both over-performing and under-performing stocks. So we wouldn't blame long term Victoria PLC (LON:VCP) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 35% over a half decade. Furthermore, it's down 34% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report. After losing 16% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance. Check out our latest analysis for Victoria Victoria wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. When a company doesn't make profits, we'd generally expect to see good revenue growth. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size. In the last half decade, Victoria saw its revenue increase by 23% per year. That's better than most loss-making companies. Shareholders are no doubt disappointed with the loss of 6%, each year, in that time. So you might argue the Victoria should get more credit for its rather impressive revenue growth over the period. If that's the case, now might be the smart time to take a close look at it. You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image). You can see how its balance sheet has strengthened (or weakened) over time in this free interactive graphic. A Different Perspective Victoria provided a TSR of 2.5% over the last twelve months. But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it is certainly better than the yearly loss of about 6% endured over half a decade. So this might be a sign the business has turned its fortunes around. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Victoria that you should be aware of before investing here. Story continues If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on British exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. (Bloomberg) -- Group of 20 finance chiefs agreed on a communique that didnt mention the Israel-Hamas war, the latest sign of the forums struggle to address conflicts seen as threats to the global economy. Most Read from Bloomberg The statement provided late on Thursday by the G-20 secretariat, which is helmed this year by India, comes on the eve of the end of an official meeting this week in Morocco. It repeats language from a leaders summit in September crafted to address the war in Ukraine and includes generic language noting with deep concern the immense human suffering and the adverse impact of wars and conflicts around the world. For more on the Israel-Hamas war, click here. The G-20, formed in the late 1990s and representing more than 80% of the global economy, bills itself as the the premier forum for international economic cooperation and not a venue to resolve geopolitical or security issues. After failing multiple times after Russias invasion to reach a consensus, the group found various compromises to express the varied policies toward the war across its membership, from the US to Russia and China, as well as India and Brazil who have tried not to pick sides. The omission of any mention of the six-day-old conflict, after the attack on Israel by Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and the European Union, contrasts with the focus on the wars potential risk to the global economy expressed at the related International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this week, held alongside the gathering of G-20 finance ministers and central bankers. Read more: Talk of War Dominates Annual Gathering of Global Finance Chiefs Story continues Geopolitical risks are the most significant risk for the world economy now, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters before discussing the matter with Group of Seven counterparts. Geopolitical risk has become the most significant risk for growth, for development and for common prosperity. The G-7 ministers, representing the worlds richest countries, issued a statement condemning Hamas and expressing support for Israel. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during a briefing at the end of the G20 meeting on Friday that there werent many discussions about the Israel-Hamas fighting, but added that conflict in the region, oil and supply chain fragmentation were among worries of the members. --With assistance from Abeer Abu Omar. (Updates with comment from Sitharaman in final paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Microsoft's corporate customers should be on the lookout for an upgrade to Microsoft 365 on November 1. SOPA Images/Getty Images A new Microsoft AI tool could make up for the soft skills that some managers say Gen Z lacks . Microsoft 365 Copilot will us AI to help users write better emails, the company says. A group of Microsoft customers have been testing the new tech ahead of its November release. Companies that use Microsoft Outlook for correspondence are getting an AI-powered tool that will help draft emails beginning next month. Microsoft 365 Copilot might be just the artificial intelligence tool that Gen Z employees need to help them with the soft skills some of their managers say they lack. The company said Copilot would help create "polished and professional" emails by suggesting edits. Some managers have complained about their supposedly lazy Gen Z workers, who they need to be supervised all day to ensure they're keeping up with their tasks. Meanwhile, some companies, including KPMG, are offering their recruits training on how to send an email or give a presentation. ResumeBuilder.com surveyed more than 1,300 US managers in April, and most of them said that Gen Z is the "most challenging generation" to work with. Nearly half of them said it was because Gen Z lacks technological skills and experts attributed the deficiencies to having received a remote education during the Covid-19 lockdown. KPMG along with Visa, General Motors, and Lumen Technologies is among the first companies to test the ways Copilot can assist with Microsoft 365, CNN reported. Cherie Gartner, KPMG's global lead partner for Microsoft, said there's been an increase in productivity since the firm's workers have been testing the AI assistant. It's too soon to tell if Copilot has been particularly helpful specifically for young new hires, a KPMG spokesperson said. The new technology will be available to more corporate customers beginning on November 1. Read the original article on Business Insider (Bloomberg) -- Alphabet Inc.s Google has vowed to fight the European Unions threat to break up its ad business, setting the scene for an antitrust battle that could eventually rival its ongoing clash with the US Justice Department and state attorneys general. Most Read from Bloomberg In a recent letter to EU watchdogs, Google warned it wont accept the mandatory divestment of part of its services deemed by Margrethe Vestager, the blocs currently-on-leave antitrust chief, as the only way to restore competition. Google is set to formally oppose the EUs June statement of objections before the end of the year, said a person familiar with the content of the letter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Such a move could kick-start years more of legal wrangling with EU regulators who accused Google of favoring its own ad exchange program over rivals, bolstering the companys central role in the ad tech supply chain. In June, the EU said that it was concerned that Googles allegedly intentional conduct in the adtech supply chain gives its own exchange AdX a competitive advantage that may have foreclosed rival ad exchanges, to the detriment of fair competition. Read More: Googles Ad Tech in Peril as EU Joins USs Breakup Bandwagon The EU case is a direct attack on the black-box of online advertising where Google automatically calculates and offers ad space and prices to advertisers and publishers as a user clicks on a web page. The European Commission declined to comment. A Google spokesperson didnt comment beyond referring to a previous blog post in which the company said that the EUs complaint doesnt recognize how advanced advertising technology helps merchants reach customers and grow their businesses. Story continues Since the EUs complaint, Vestager has taken temporary leave from the Brussels-based commission in order to pursue the role of president of the European Investment Bank. A statement of objections sets out the EUs findings and is usually though not always a precursor for fines or orders for companies to change their business practices. Firms on the receiving end can contest the filings in writing or at oral hearings. When the EU makes a final decision, companies can then sue the regulator. Google has been in the EUs cross-hairs for years. Vestagers team has fined Google 8.3 billion ($8.8 billion) in total, including for abuses of its dominance on its mobile operating system and its display advertising operations, all of which the company is appealing. Read More: Whats at Stake in Google Trial on Antitrust Charges: QuickTake But the EUs biggest and most recent case has been overshadowed by events in the US, where Google is being sued by the US Justice Department and state attorneys general in a case that could also result in the breakup of the 25-year-old company. The US showdown focuses on agreements between the tech giant and other companies to make Googles search engine the preselected option, or default, in browsers and mobile devices. --With assistance from Stephanie Bodoni. (Updates with EU response in seventh paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Le Jeune's life provides a glimpse into the lives of enslaved people several decades before New France became involved in the slave trade QUEBEC, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Supply Canada and Member of Parliament for Quebec, unveiled a bronze plaque commemorating the national historic significance of Olivier Le Jeune during a special ceremony at the Cartier-Brebeuf National Historic Site. The unveiling was made on behalf of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. Artistic rendition of Olivier Le Jeune. Material from The Kids Book of Black Canadian History, written by Rosemary Sadlier and illustrated by Wang Qijun, is used by permission of Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto. Illustrations Wang Qijun, 2003 (CNW Group/Parks Canada) As the first documented person of African descent to live permanently in what is now Canada, Olivier Le Jeune was a person of national historical significance. From childhood, he was enslaved, forcibly transported to Europe and then to the Americas, arriving in Quebec in the early seventeenth century. There, he learned French from the Jesuit Paul Le Jeune, and was baptized a Catholic in 1633, contributing to his break with his African identity. Olivier Le Jeune's tragic life provides a glimpse into the lives of enslaved people several decades before New France became involved in the slave trade. Few details are known about the life of Olivier Le Jeune. He is thought to have been born either in Madagascar or on the Guinea coast. He arrived in Quebec during the English occupation (16291632) and was sold to a French clerk. When Quebec was returned to France by England in July 1632, Le Jeune was "given" to Guillaume Couillard de Lespinay. The latter sent him to the Jesuit Paul Le Jeune to learn the fundamentals of catechism and to learn the French language. He was baptized as Olivier on May 14, 1633. This is probably when he became known as Olivier Le Jeune. He died on May 10, 1654. The Government of Canada, through the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, recognizes the important people, places and events that have shaped our country to help Canadians connect with their past. The sharing of these stories fosters understanding and reflection on the diverse histories, cultures, heritage and realities of Canada's past and present. Story continues The designation process for Parks Canada's National Historic Commemoration Program is largely based on proposals from the public. To date, over 2,240 designations have been made nationwide. To nominate a historic person, place or event in your community, please visit the Parks Canada website for more information: https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/proposer-nominate . Quotes "This commemorative plaque solidifies the national historic significance of Olivier Le Jeune, whose experiences as the first documented person of African descent to live in what would become Canada illustrate the struggles of black Canadians. Stories like this allow us to reflect on our past and how we can build a more just and inclusive society for present and future generations." The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada "Olivier Le Jeune embodies many things. While he was the first person to be enslaved in Canada, he was also the first African to live here permanently. He enables us to understand the plurality of our past, from the beginnings of the French colony." Aly Ndiaye, (a.k.a. Webster) Hip-hop artist, activist and lecturer Nominated Olivier Le Jeune for designation as a person of national historic significance "To share the history of Olivier le Jeune is to acknowledge the first enslaved African (that we have a name for), and it underscores the reality that slavery existed on the lands we now call Canada for almost 200 years. We honour Olivier le Jeune since he represents a painful part of our past while we work towards greater inclusion and equity for all." Rosemary Sadlier Black history author, educator and former president of the Ontario Black History Society Nominated Olivier Le Jeune for designation as a person of national historic significance Quick Facts Olivier Le Jeune's Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) plaque will be installed at Cartier-Brebeuf National Historic Site. Created in 1919, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada advises the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on the national historic significance of persons and events that have marked Canadian history. To date, based on the HSMBC's recommendations, the Government of Canada has designated over 2,240 sites, events and persons as being of national historic significance. Each of these designations brings its own unique story to the larger story of Canada, helping us to better understand our country and our identity. Related Documents Backgrounder on Olivier Le Jeune by the HSMBC Related Links Parks Canada Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada SOURCE Parks Canada Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2023/13/c5872.html Hong Leong Bank Berhad (KLSE:HLBANK) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 22nd of November to MYR0.38. Although the dividend is now higher, the yield is only 3.0%, which is below the industry average. Check out our latest analysis for Hong Leong Bank Berhad Hong Leong Bank Berhad's Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions Even a low dividend yield can be attractive if it is sustained for years on end. Hong Leong Bank Berhad has established itself as a dividend paying company with over 10 years history of distributing earnings to shareholders. Based on Hong Leong Bank Berhad's last earnings report, the payout ratio is at a decent 32%, meaning that the company is able to pay out its dividend with a bit of room to spare. Over the next 3 years, EPS is forecast to expand by 20.1%. Analysts estimate the future payout ratio will be 33% over the same time period, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend. Dividend Volatility The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least one cut in the last 10 years. The annual payment during the last 10 years was MYR0.42 in 2013, and the most recent fiscal year payment was MYR0.59. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 3.5% per annum over that time. It's encouraging to see some dividend growth, but the dividend has been cut at least once, and the size of the cut would eliminate most of the growth anyway, which makes this less attractive as an income investment. Hong Leong Bank Berhad Could Grow Its Dividend With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. It's encouraging to see that Hong Leong Bank Berhad has been growing its earnings per share at 7.6% a year over the past five years. Growth in EPS bodes well for the dividend, as does the low payout ratio that the company is currently reporting. Story continues In Summary Overall, it's great to see the dividend being raised and that it is still in a sustainable range. While the payout ratios are a good sign, we are less enthusiastic about the company's dividend record. Taking all of this into consideration, the dividend looks viable moving forward, but investors should be mindful that the company has pushed the boundaries of sustainability in the past and may do so again. Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Hong Leong Bank Berhad that you should be aware of before investing. Is Hong Leong Bank Berhad not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Key Insights The projected fair value for Alaska Air Group is US$52.09 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Current share price of US$33.64 suggests Alaska Air Group is potentially 35% undervalued Our fair value estimate is 9.5% lower than Alaska Air Group's analyst price target of US$57.54 Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) as an investment opportunity by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward. Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for Alaska Air Group Is Alaska Air Group Fairly Valued? We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars: Story continues 10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$345.0m US$373.0m US$396.6m US$416.7m US$434.2m US$449.8m US$463.9m US$477.2m US$489.8m US$502.0m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x1 Est @ 8.12% Est @ 6.33% Est @ 5.07% Est @ 4.20% Est @ 3.58% Est @ 3.15% Est @ 2.85% Est @ 2.64% Est @ 2.49% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.2% US$319 US$318 US$313 US$304 US$292 US$280 US$267 US$253 US$240 US$227 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$2.8b The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.2%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = US$502m (1 + 2.2%) (8.2% 2.2%) = US$8.4b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$8.4b ( 1 + 8.2%)10= US$3.8b 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$6.6b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$33.6, the company appears quite good value at a 35% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent. dcf Important Assumptions We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Alaska Air 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 8.2%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.218. 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 Alaska Air Group Strength Debt is not viewed as a risk. Weakness Earnings declined over the past year. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the American market. Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value. Threat Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the American market. Moving On: Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Alaska Air Group, there are three additional aspects you should assess: Risks: You should be aware of the 2 warning signs for Alaska Air Group (1 can't be ignored!) we've uncovered before considering an investment in the company. Future Earnings: How does ALK's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every American stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Key Insights The projected fair value for Hotel Chocolat Group is UK2.44 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity Current share price of UK1.40 suggests Hotel Chocolat Group is potentially 43% undervalued Hotel Chocolat Group's peers seem to be trading at a lower discount to fair value based onthe industry average of 37% Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Hotel Chocolat Group plc (LON:HOTC) as an investment opportunity by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow. We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. 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 Hotel Chocolat Group Crunching The Numbers We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: Story continues 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (, Millions) UK8.02m UK10.9m UK13.0m UK14.5m UK15.7m UK16.7m UK17.6m UK18.2m UK18.8m UK19.3m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ 11.53% Est @ 8.49% Est @ 6.35% Est @ 4.86% Est @ 3.82% Est @ 3.09% Est @ 2.57% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 6.1% UK7.6 UK9.7 UK10.9 UK11.4 UK11.7 UK11.7 UK11.6 UK11.3 UK11.0 UK10.7 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = UK108m After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (1.4%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 6.1%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = UK19m (1 + 1.4%) (6.1% 1.4%) = UK413m Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= UK413m ( 1 + 6.1%)10= UK228m The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is UK336m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of UK1.4, the company appears quite undervalued at a 43% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent. dcf Important Assumptions Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Hotel Chocolat 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 6.1%, 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. Looking Ahead: Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For Hotel Chocolat Group, we've put together three further items you should further examine: Financial Health: Does HOTC have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk. Future Earnings: How does HOTC'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 British 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. (Bloomberg) -- The Israel Defense forces said they had struck outposts in Lebanon controlled by the militant group Hezbollah after unidentified objects had entered Israeli airspace hours earlier. Most Read from Bloomberg Saudi Arabia has paused diplomacy to normalize ties with Israel after the flareup in violence between Israeli forces and Hamas, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government is prepared to use unprecedented force against the group, which killed 1,300 in last weekends assault. More than 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza in retaliatory airstrikes. Palestinians in northern Gaza flooded streets in cars and on foot, heading south after Israel gave residents 24 hours to evacuate amid continued bombing and fears of a looming ground invasion against Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group by the US and the European Union. The United Nations warned of a disaster and said it would be impossible to move the million or so inhabitants of north Gaza to the south, as demanded by Israeli authorities. For more on the Israel-Hamas war, click here. (All time stamps are Israeli time) Israel Hits Hezbollah Sites in Lebanon (3:50 a.m.) Israeli forces said strikes had been carried out on Hezbollah posts in southern Lebanon in response to unidentified objects that had entered northern Israelis airspace hours earlier The objects were shot down by unmanned Israeli aircraft, the Israel Defense Force said in a statement on Friday night. Hezbollah, a militia and political party that is backed by Iran, said earlier that it was prepared to act against Israel over its war in Gaza. The US designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 1997. Story continues New York, Florida, Other States Buy Bonds (2 a.m.) Several US states have purchased Israeli bonds as the country enters a war with Hamas and looks to raise funds. The purchases include $20 million from the New York State Common Retirement Fund. New York states pension fund buys Israel bonds because we have confidence in the spirit of innovation and tenacity of Israeli people and in the strength of our investments there, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement Friday. Public finance officials in Ohio, Florida, Texas and Illinois have also announced their own debt purchases. Pro-Palestinian Protesters March in Manhattan (1:10 a.m.) A pro-Palestine rally in Times Square drew thousands of protesters, who then marched to the Israeli consulate. The event, which also drew a smaller counterprotest, had significant police presence and has so far been without major incident. Some videos posted to social media show clashes between opposing demonstrators being broken up by the New York police. Moodys Skips Israel Credit Rating Notice (12:20 a.m.) Moodys has left Israels sovereign credit rating unchanged at A1 with a stable outlook, after it decided to skip Fridays publication date and not issue a credit notice as planned, Israels Finance Ministry said in an announcement. The next scheduled date for the publication of a credit rating notice by Moodys on Israel is in six months. Earlier this week, Moodys issued a note saying that the resilience of Israels debt issuers is at stake if a conflict stretches on, impairing economic activity and policy making Biden Says US Will Surge Humanitarian Aid to Gaza (10:32 p.m.) President Joe Biden said the US is coordinating with Arab countries and the United Nations to surge humanitarian aid to Gaza as Israel has warned Palestinians to flee ahead of an expected ground attack. Biden said aides had been communicating directly with the governments of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, among others, to surge support and humanitarian assistance. Israels military toward residents in northern Gaza estimated to be over 1 million people to evacuate into the territorys south. The overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas, and Hamass appalling attacks, and theyre suffering as a result as well, Biden said. Netanyahu Says Israel Ready to Use Unprecedented Force (10:28 p.m.) Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israelis understand theyre fighting for our home after last weekends attack and vowed to use unprecedented force against Hamas. This is just the beginning, he said in a brief televised speech as the country gears up for whats widely expected to be a ground invasion of Gaza. Our enemies have only begun to pay the price. Netanyahu said Israel was receiving support from President Biden and other leaders around the world, including additional ammunition and weapons. Foreigners May Be Allowed Brief Window to Leave Gaza, Canada Says (10:05 p.m.) Foreign citizens in Gaza may have a brief window to leave through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Saturday, a Canadian government official said in Ottawa. Julie Sunday, a foreign affairs department official, told reporters there is a potential departure window between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. local time, and said the Canadian government is working with Israel and Egypt to get individuals approved to leave. She emphasized it is not yet guaranteed the crossing will be open, and said people should not go there until they are told they have clearance. Canadian officials said about 150 people in Gaza have registered with the government, though some are of mixed families. Fatal French Stabbing Linked to Israel-Hamas War by Top Official (9:40 p.m.) The assailant who fatally stabbed a teacher in France in what President Emmanuel Macron called an Islamist terror attack was possibly motivated by the war between Israel and Hamas, a top security official said. Based on our intelligence, on our information, theres probably a link between what happened in the Middle East and the decision to act, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told broadcaster TF1 on Friday. France has stepped up security nationwide with more soldiers dispatched to help police, although theres no specific threat, he said. White House Meets Lawmakers On Aid Package for Israel, Ukraine (8:05 p.m.) Officials are meeting Friday with lawmakers about their request expected next week for a supplemental aid package to arm Israel and Ukraine, the White House said Friday. The fate of the funding package remains unclear as congressional Republicans remain split over whether to continue providing support to Ukraine - and who to name as the lower chambers leader after the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Saudi Puts Normalization Talks With Israel on Hold in Blow to Biden (8:02 p.m.) Saudi Arabia has decided to pause diplomacy to normalize ties with Israel given the flareup in violence between Israeli forces and Hamas, people familiar with the matter said, in a major blow to President Joe Bidens ambitions for the Middle East. Saudi officials communicated Riyadhs position to the US in recent days, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private communications. They described the move as a pause and not as an end to the diplomacy. Suspending the talks runs counter to the Biden administrations push to proceed with normalization talks even in the wake of the latest violence. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Saudi Arabia this weekend for talks. Too Early to Say Whether Hostage-Release Efforts Will Succeed, Qatari Says (7:15 p.m.) Its too early to say yet whether diplomatic efforts to win the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas will be successful, according to Qatar, a country widely seen as a likely potential mediator. The progress will be determined in the next few days, hopefully, and we will see if there will be a positive prospect for that, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a press conference after talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. But we are doing our best, our partners are doing their best in order to get them released safely. Israel Strikes Kill Reporter, Wound 2 Others on Lebanon Border (6:49 pm) Israel airstrikes on the southern Lebanese village of Alma Al-Shaab killed a reporter and wounded two others, Lebanons state-run National News Agency said. Reuters said videographer Issam Abdallah was killed while providing a live video signal in southern Lebanon and said it was seeking more information. A reporter and a photographer with Al-Jazeera were wounded when Israel fire hit their car, the Arabic news network said. Israel Army Carries Out Local Raids in Gaza (7:21) Israel army said it has carried out local raids in Gaza in the past 24 hours in an effort to locate hostages and eliminate threats. In a statement, Israel Defense Forces said they searched and collected evidence that would assist in the effort to locate hostages. Soldiers also thwarted cells and infrastructure in the area. Biden Holds Call With Families of Missing Americans (7:16 p.m.) President Biden called family members of the 14 American citizens still unaccounted for following the Hamas-led attack over the weekend in Israel. The president was joined by top national security aides, including Roger Carstens, who serves as a special envoy responsible coordinating the US response to Americans being held hostage or unjustly detained overseas. The attacks killed 27 American citizens, according to the US. Hezbollah Says Launched Attack on Israel Army Posts Near Border (6:44pm) The Iran-backed Hezbollah group attacked four Israel military posts near the border with Lebanon in what it said was retaliation for strikes on several southern Lebanese towns, the groups Al-Manar TV reported. Israel Defense Forces said earlier theyd responded to incoming fire in the area. Hezbollah said earlier Friday that its prepared to act against Israel over its war in Gaza after its sponsor, Iran, warned the continued blockade of the Palestinian enclave could open up a new front in the conflict. We are fully prepared when the time comes for any action that we will carry out, Hezbollahs Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qasem said, according to the groups Al Manar TV station. Israeli Poll Shows Netanyahus Popularity Drops as Gantz Surges (6:00 p.m.) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus popularity has dropped while that of Benny Gantz, a former general whos now part of Israels war cabinet, has surged, according to a poll conducted by Israeli research institutes. The survey, published by Maariv newspaper on Friday and carried out by Lazar Research in partnership with Panel4All, showed opposition parties would win a crushing majority against Netanyahus coalition if elections were held now. Of the roughly 600 people surveyed, 48% said Gantz was their preferred prime minister, while 29% chose Netanyahu. World Bank to Continue Projects in Gaza, Official Says (5:45 p.m.) The World Bank is monitoring the situation and has no intention for now to suspend its programs and financing for Palestine, the lenders vice president for the MENA region Ferid Belhaj told Bloomberg in Marrakech. World Bank projects in Gaza pertain mostly to energy, water and sanitation and are funded out of the $80 million a year the lender grants the Palestinian Authority. Iran Diplomat Meets Hamas, Islamic Jihad in Beirut (5:13 p.m.) Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian discussed the situation in Gaza with senior officials from Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a meeting in Beirut, according to a statement. The visits followed an earlier meeting with the leader of Hezbollah, as Iran tries to rally regional support for Hamass attacks while denying involvement in them. Amirabdollahian said Irans diplomatic efforts to end Israeli war crimes in Gaza would continue. Explosion at Israeli Northern Border Prompts Artillery Fire Into Lebanon (4:58 p.m.) An explosion on the perimeter fence near the Israeli kibbutz of Hanita on the northern border caused limited damage, and Israel responded with artillery fire toward the source, the Israeli army said. There was also an alert that the community was infiltrated and troops are searching the area. Palestinians Flee South After Evacuation Order (4:56 pm) Previously deserted streets of Gaza City were flooded with Palestinians fleeing southward after Israel gave them 24 hours to evacuate this morning. The scale of the evacuation orderwhich covers an area holding half of Gazas populationand of the flight are unprecedented. Still, many residents remain in the north, fearing the journey under bombardment and saying they have nowhere to go. Hamas has asked people to stay put, saying the order by Israel is misinformation. JP Morgans Dimon Warns on Geopolitical Risks (4:30 p.m.) JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon warned of serious geopolitical risks amid expectations Israel will make a ground assault on Gaza. This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades, the CEO of the biggest US bank said in its third-quarter earnings statement. The war in Ukraine compounded by last weeks attacks on Israel may have far-reaching impacts on energy and food markets, global trade, and geopolitical relationships. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Italys widening bond spreads arent worrying and wont require intervention from the European Central Bank, Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said. Most Read from Bloomberg There are no signs really that it should rise in a territory that will require us to intervene, the Italian central bank chief told Bloomberg TV. If central bank intervention were needed, I think we can do so, he said Friday in Marrakech. Italys 10-year yield premium over Germany rose five basis points, breaching 200 basis points for the first time since Tuesday. Such moves will keep ECB officials on alert, fellow Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf told Bloomberg this week. The spread has been widening since Italy revealed its budget deficit is only likely to fall within European Union limits in 2026 a year later than previously envisaged. Shortfalls of 5.3% and 4.3% of gross domestic product this year and next will allow Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to cut taxes on wages and keep other promises to voters. My impression is that while fiscal prudence is necessary for the next years, there is nothing we can do really to increase our fiscal space except in better composition of expenditures, Visco said. We can grow more, and that is the main reason why I think markets are worried, the ability of the Italian economy to grow. In its latest economic bulletin published on Friday the Bank of Italy predicts that the countrys economy will grow just 0.7% this year, 0.8% next year and 1% in 2025 due to high interest rates and slowing global trade. Inflation however, is seen improving slowing to 2.4% next year and 1.9% in 2025. Story continues UniCredit Chairman and former Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, though, brushed aside the recent bad news. Im not worried about becoming a citizen of a sick man of Europe, because I know that Italy can react very forcefully and is actually reacting more than markets seem to understand in terms of potential growth going forward, he said in an interview. Investments and reforms are the way to growth and Italy has that opportunity through the use of Next Generation EU funds, he said. Its a matter of showing the markets that the effort translates into results, and if they recognize that its value making for them. Complicating matters are Italys latest budget plans, which Fitch Ratings has said represent significant loosening of fiscal policy relative to previous goals. What has happened with the increase in spreads for Italian bonds, for me, its a clear indication how we should be prudent in all the policies we implement, including the fiscal policy, Lithuanian central bank Governor Gediminas Simkus said later. I see this jump in spreads more as a reflection of the draft budgetary law and the new numbers that were revealed, he told Bloomberg TV. From our from monetary-policy perspective, thats a factor we should take into account when taking decisions. But I dont see a risk from the perspective of fragmentation. Italy isnt the only euro-area nation struggling to meet EU fiscal rules: France will have a deficit of 4.7% this year and Spain of 4.1%, forecasts compiled by Bloomberg showed. But spending and low growth arent the sole hurdles faced by Meloni. My main worry is geopolitical, Visco said. Uncertainty looms great and even before the incredible attack by Hamas to Israel, it was already visible. --With assistance from Alexander Weber and James Hirai. (Updates with new Bank of Italy forecasts in the seventh paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. QINGDAO, China, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 10, the fourth Qingdao Summit of Multinational Company Leaders officially opened. To this end, IFENG Qingdao exclusively interviewed Tetsuro Homma, Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce in China and Global Vice President of Panasonic Holdings Group. "This is my second time to attend the Qingdao Summit of Multinational Company Leaders." In Tetsuro Homma's view, compared with the third summit, the overall scale of this summit is larger, with more participants and more senior executives from companies in China.He also once again felt the open attitude of the Shandong Provincial Government and Qingdao Municipal Government. Referring to Panasonic's connection with Qingdao, Tetsuro Homma said Qingdao is a very beautiful city and a port city with a high degree of openness to the outside world, which provides foreign companies, including Panasonic, with a superior business environment. "In March this year, in order to thank the Qingdao Municipal Government for its concern and support for Panasonic over the years, we donated a batch of Panasonic rehabilitation equipment to the Rehabilitation University of Qingdao, which facilitates research and teaching and helps the school's teaching development." Tetsuro Homma said that he hopes to apply the decades of experience and solutions accumulated by Panasonic in the elderly fitness in Qingdao to the field of healthy ageing, and to make new efforts and contributions to the cause of ageing in Qingdao, Shandong and even China. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/japans-panasonic-holdings-group-work-with-qingdao-to-create-a-new-future-for-health-care-301955651.html SOURCE IFENG Qingdao Jiaming Chong Awarded as Outstanding Young Producer; Highlights Future Sino-American Film Collaborations Jiaming Chong Jiaming Chong Awarded as Outstanding Young Producer; Highlights Future Sino-American Film Collaborations Los Angeles, CA, Oct. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the Mid-Autumn Festival cruise celebration, Numerous filmmakers from both China and the United States gathered here, coming together to celebrate this grand occassion. Mr. Jiaming Chong was honored to receive the Outstanding Young Producer Award from Christine Xu, CEO of Uplive and the producer of the Emmy Award-winning series "The Bay," along with the renowned Hollywood special effects artist and film director Henry Lipatov and television show and event director Doug Ivanovich. This recognition highlights Jiaming Chong's exceptional contributions to the film industry over the years. During the event, these three passionate producers engaged in a meaningful discussion with Jiaming Chong about the future of Sino-American film collaboration. Jiaming emphasized the importance of close cooperation between young filmmakers from China and the United States in producing more Sino-American co-productions. He also shared insights into the preparations for his feature film "Pet Story" as a producer and screenwriter, which is set to bring together creative talents from both China and the United States, promising an enthralling cinematic experience for audiences. Jiaming Chong's outstanding achievements in both feature film production and short film production were pivotal factors in his receipt of the Outstanding Young Producer Award on this occasion. As he has also achieved significant success in the realm of short films. His short films "Sunset" and "Thanks for the Dance" were selected for prestigious film festivals such as the Palm Shorts International Film Festival and the Toronto Lift-Off International Film Festival. Furthermore, during his tenure at Easyfind Pictures, he was involved in the production of two documentaries, " The Foreigner's New Adobe" and "Thirty-Three," both of which were shot during the pandemic. The three esteemed producers mentioned Jiaming's dedication in continuing to create content amidst adversity. Despite challenges such as location lockdowns and transportation restrictions during the pandemic, Jiaming demonstrated his determination to complete these documentary projects. This experience not only showcased Jiaming's talent and resilience but also highlighted his outstanding performance in the film industry. Story continues During his tenure as a producer and Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at Easyfind Pictures, Jiaming led the company to receive the "Bemy Award" from the Influencer Economy Alliance, marking a significant transition for Easyfind Pictures from a traditional advertising production company to a player in the new media industry. This achievement was recognized and celebrated by Lin Guang, the founder of the Bemy Award and President of the All-American Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, who also presented him with an award certificate. Christine Xu, as the producer of the Emmy Award-winning series "The Bay" and CEO of Uplive, has achieved remarkable success in the film and media industry. Henry Lipatov is renowned for his outstanding work in special effects and directing, having received multiple international awards, including the Macabre Faire Film Festival Jury Prize, The Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards, and nominations at the London International Motion Pictures Award film festival. Doug Ivanovich, on the other hand, served as the executive producer of the 2019 American Icon Awards, which honored Al Pacino. In addition to celebrating their achievements, Jiaming Chong extended a warm invitation to the three producers to attend the upcoming Ma Jian NFT Contest, a grand event he is producing next year. This event aims to provide a platform for international filmmakers and artists to explore the intersection of digital art and filmmaking, foster Sino-American cultural exchange, and create a broader stage for future film collaborations. Media Contact: US Overseas Student Union Contact Person: Zhihao Dong Email: zhihao.d@usosu.org Website URL: www.usosu.org Disclaimer: There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this PR should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security, or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. It is your responsibility to determine whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. Consult your business advisor, attorney, or tax advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation. For more info, please contact brandnewsproject@gmail.com. Attachment Michigan Ross has released its MBA employment report showing that about 96% of Class of 2023 graduates had received job offers three months after graduation. Ross photo It would be nearly impossible for Michigan to find jobs for its graduating MBAs at a higher rate in 2023 than it did in 2022. Thats because last year nearly 100% of Ross School of Business MBAs had received job offers three months after they graduated, and more than 98% had said yes to new positions. Ross MBAs were in so much demand in 2022, in fact, that they had the offers pouring in even as they donned their caps and gowns that May, with 93.2% of U.S. citizens and 92.9% of foreign nationals in that MBA class receiving first job offers by graduation. Thats 93.1% of the class already employed at commencement, up from 90.2% the previous year. Michigan Ross set five school records in its 2022 employment report, which is a hard act to follow. Indeed, in its newly released MBA Class of 2023 jobs report, the Ross School reports a step back from three of those records, with declines in the rate of job offers at graduation and 90 days later, as well as job acceptances. But Ross and its current MBA students can find consolation in a more important number: median starting salary for the 398-member Class of 2023 saw a big leap again this year, continuing on its stratospheric trajectory of the last three years. MICHIGAN ROSS MBA JOB OFFERS AT GRADUATION 2018-2023 Student Received Job Offer By Graduation 2023 Received Job Offer By Graduation 2022 Received Job Offer By Graduation 2021 Received Job Offer By Graduation 2020 Received Job Offer By Graduation 2019 Received Job Offer By Graduation 2018 U.S. Citizen 88.9% 93.2% 90.0% 86.5% 95.9% 92.4% Foreign National 94.5% 92.9% 90.6% 75.9% 83.5% 87.5% All 90.5% 93.1% 90.2% 83.1% 92.0% 91.0% MEDIAN SALARY GROWS BY $10K TO $175K; MEDIAN TOTAL PAY GROWS 5.1% Last year, 99% of Ross Class of 2022 MBAs received job offers three months after graduation, up from 97.5% in 2021, and 98.4% of graduates accepted jobs, up from 96.1%. Already by graduation time, more than 93% of the class had jobs in hand. Those numbers were stratospheric, and Ross grads in 2023 came back to Earth a bit, with just over 90% of graduates accepting jobs at graduation and 95.9% within three months of leaving the program. The latter group is the smallest at Ross since the pandemic class of 2020. Story continues Another connection with the 2020 coronavirus class: At graduation this year, Ross MBAs who are U.S. citizens took the biggest hit, falling to 88.9% from 93.2% the lowest rate of employment for that group in three years. But those numbers wouldnt stand out much in comparison with Michigans peer schools, whether pre- or post-pandemic. And Ross has a major source of comfort: salaries and overall pay. This year Ross grads reported a median salary of $175,000, up $10K in one year, $31K in two years, and $40K since 2020. Median starting pay calculated by multiplying median salary by 100, adding to median bonus times the percentage of those reporting a bonus (this year: 90%), and dividing by 100 was up 5.1% to $202,000. Thats up nearly 18% from the $171,450 it was two years ago. MICHIGAN ROSS MBA JOB OFFERS 3 MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION 2018-2023 Student Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2023 Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2022 Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2021 Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2020 Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2019 Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2018 U.S. Citizen 96.0% 99.2% 97.3% 93.1% 97.9% 95.2% Foreign National 95.6% 98.2% 97.9% 84.5% 95.4% 90.4% All 95.9% 99.0% 97.5% 90.3% 97.2% 93.8% A CONSULTING POWERHOUSE Last year, consulting-bound Ross grads accounted for more than 42% of the class, up big from 35% in 2021, while tech slipped to 17.3%, for a combined total of just under 60%. Twenty-three percent of all 2022 graduates and 55% of consultant hires last year were made by the MBB firms of McKinsey & Co., Bain & Co., and Boston Consulting Group. The number of finance-bound grads stayed about the same at 15%. In total, 93% of the class were career switchers, about the same as the previous year. This year, McKinsey, Bain, and BCG once again rank as the top three destinations for Michigan Ross graduates, with consulting representing even more of the class: just under 45% (see table below). With tech accounting for 15.5%, the two industries drew 60% of Rosss 2023 class, with financial services (14.2%) the third-most popular industry. Amazon, Dell, and Adobe Inc. are the top tech recruiters, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citi lead the way in finance. Healthcare and consumer packaged goods round out the top five industries for the Class of 2023. Consultants made the highest median salary at $190,000, and boasted the highest upper end of the salary range at $300K. Consultants also had the highest average salary at just over $180K. The lowest end of the salary range was in healthcare ($104,631). Finance grads made the highest median bonus at $46,250, with consumer packaged goods MBAs (5.4% of the class) close behind at $40K. MICHIGAN ROSS MBA CLASS OF 2023 EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY Industry % Range Median Salary Mean Salary Median Sign-On Bonus Consulting 44.9% $108K-$300K $190,000 $181,895 $30,000 Consumer Packaged Goods 5.4% $110K-$135K $128,000 $125,800 $40,000 Energy 3.4% $115K-$170K $125,000 $131,550 $22,500 Financial Services 14.2% $120K-$225K $175,000 $161,821 $46,250 Healthcare 5.7% $104,631-$190K $135,000 $139,102 $30,000 Manufacturing 2.7% $120K-$145K $125,000 $127,143 $32,500 Real Estate 1.7% $135K-$150K $140,000 $140,000 $20,000 Retail 3.7% $125K-$175,200 $140,000 $141,130 $25,000 Technology 15.5% $115K-$194,400 $152,625 $154,988 $30,000 Other 2.7% $112,015-$215K $150,000 $156,754 $17,000 TOTAL 100% $104,631-$300K $175,000 $162,946 $30,000 MICHIGAN ROSS MBA CLASSES 2019-2022 EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY Industry 2022% 2022 Median Salary 2021% 2021 Median Salary 2020% 2020 Median Salary 2019% 2019 Median Salary Consulting 42.2% $175,000 35.1% $165,000 35.7% $160,000 32.0% $150,000 Consumer Packaged Goods 5.3% $120,000 7.9% $113,000 7.2% $110,000 8.0% $108,000 Energy 3.0% $125,000 1.5% $110,000 NA NA NA NA Financial Services 15.0% $175,000 15.5% $150,000 11.9% $150,000 15.1% $150,000 Healthcare 6.3% $140,000 5.6% $130,000 5.3% $125,000 3.6% $120,000 Manufacturing 3.7% $125,000 2.9% $132,500 4.4% $123,500 8.9% $120,000 Real Estate 1.0% $130,000 NA NA NA NA NA NA Retail 2.0% $127,500 1.8% $127,838 3.8% $120,000 4.4% $115,000 Technology 17.3% $136,000 24.9% $130,000 24.5% $130,000 21.6% $122,650 Other 4.2% $141,000 5.0% $130,000 5.0% $115,000 6.4% $120,000 THE JOB MARKET HAS BEEN CHANGING We are very pleased with the employment results for this years Michigan Ross Full-Time MBA graduates, says Heather Byrne, managing director of the Career Development Office at Michigan Ross, in a news report coinciding with the release of 2023 jobs data. The job market has been changing, especially in tech, and Ross grads continue to land jobs at great companies, showing how they are able to leverage our action-based learning curriculum, supportive alumni network, and maximize all of the resources provided to them. Last year about one-third of Ross grads found jobs in the Midwest (30.2%), mostly Chicago (18.9%), with another quarter heading to the East Coast, mostly the New York area (21.6%). The West was another big destination in 2022, with about a quarter of grads going there, mostly San Francisco (10%). This year the Ross diaspora is not radically different, with two-thirds (66.2%) of the class slated to work either in the New York Metropolitan area (24.3%), the West Coast (19.3%), or Chicago (22.6%). Notably, 94% of Ross 2023 MBAs are career-switchers, up from 93% the last two years. Seven of every eight grads this year accepted offers that were obtained through school-facilitated recruiting activities. Source: Michigan Ross See Michigan Rosss full MBA Class of 2023 employment report here. DONT MISS LAST YEARS P&Q REPORT ON MICHIGAN ROSSS MBA EMPLOYMENT REPORT and KELLOGG REVEALS MEDIAN MBA SALARIES SAW ANOTHER BIG JUMP IN 2023 The post Jobs Are Scarcer, But Michigan Ross MBAs Get Another Big Boost In Median Salary & Total Pay appeared first on Poets&Quants. PCI Biotech Holding ASA Oslo, Norway, 13 October 2023 PCI Biotech (OSE: PCIB) today announced a research collaboration agreement with the aim to address critical pain points in the manufacturing of gene therapies. The partners have signed a collaborative research agreement with the purpose of testing PCI Biotechs proprietary technology for gene therapy manufacturing in the partners pilot manufacturing process. PCI Biotech brings its novel and promising technology for viral vector manufacturing into the field testing, while the partner provides facilities and expertise, as well as feedback on performance and usability of the technology, to guide PCI Biotechs future development. The research collaboration agreement includes an option to mutually determine a potential future business transaction. The undisclosed partner is a European entity, part of an international life science group providing a range of products and services to the biopharmaceutical industry, including the manufacturing of viral vectors. Ronny Skuggedal, CEO, PCI Biotech said The ultimate goal is to develop a technology that increases yield and reduces impurities in gene therapy manufacturing. On this path, collecting feedback from potential customers is key to ensure that market needs are addressed appropriately. Working with market leaders is an important step in this direction. Further updates on the collaboration will be announced as appropriate. About PCI Biotech PCI Biotech is a biopharmaceutical company focussing on development and commercialisation of novel therapies and new technologies through its innovative photochemical internalisation (PCI) technology platform. PCI induces triggered endosomal release that is used to unlock the true potential of therapeutic modalities. PCI Biotechs proprietary technology may also be employed to enhance yield and purity of viral vectors in gene therapy manufacturing. For further information, please visit: www.pcibiotech.com Story continues Contact information: PCI Biotech Holding ASA, Ullernchausseen 64, N-0379 Oslo. Ronny Skuggedal, CEO, rs@pcibiotech.no mobile: +47 9400 5757. Forward-looking statements This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, which as such are not historical facts, but are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. These assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this announcement by such forward-looking statements. PCI Biotech disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This stock exchange announcement was published by Ronny Skuggedal, CEO, PCI Biotech Holding ASA, on October 13, 2023 at 10:15 CEST. Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. So when we looked at Perak Corporation Berhad (KLSE:PRKCORP) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw. Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It? Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Perak Corporation Berhad is: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.19 = RM57m (RM537m - RM236m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023). Thus, Perak Corporation Berhad has an ROCE of 19%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Infrastructure industry average of 11% it's much better. Check out our latest analysis for Perak Corporation Berhad roce While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you're interested in investigating Perak Corporation Berhad's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow. So How Is Perak Corporation Berhad's ROCE Trending? It's great to see that Perak Corporation Berhad has started to generate some pre-tax earnings from prior investments. While the business is profitable now, it used to be incurring losses on invested capital five years ago. In regards to capital employed, Perak Corporation Berhad is using 34% less capital than it was five years ago, which on the surface, can indicate that the business has become more efficient at generating these returns. Perak Corporation Berhad could be selling under-performing assets since the ROCE is improving. Story continues In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 44%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance. Nevertheless, there are some potential risks the company is bearing with current liabilities that high, so just keep that in mind. Our Take On Perak Corporation Berhad's ROCE In the end, Perak Corporation Berhad has proven it's capital allocation skills are good with those higher returns from less amount of capital. And since the stock has fallen 45% over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here. That being the case, research into the company's current valuation metrics and future prospects seems fitting. If you want to continue researching Perak Corporation Berhad, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered. While Perak Corporation Berhad isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets. 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. International maritime award presented Port Canaveral Commissioner Justice Port Canaveral Commissioner Wayne Justice, a retired U.S. Coast Guard rear admiral, has been named the Maritime Person of the Year by the International Propeller Club. This award typically recognizes someone outside the International Propeller Club who has contributed immense value to the worldwide maritime community; whose outstanding work of service has made a significant contribution and impact to public port authorities and/or maritime commerce; and whose life has materially exemplified a stellar maritime career overall, improving the maritime profession. Justice has served on the Propeller Club of Port Canaveral board for more than 10 years. Justice is the current Canaveral Port Authority treasurer, and previously served as its chairman. He volunteers with other community nonprofits, including Crosswinds Youth Services of Melbourne; the Cape Canaveral chapter of the Military Officers Association of America; and the Navy League, Space Coast Chapter. His service on the Port Canaveral commission is a continuation of his service to the maritime industry during his 37-year Coast Guard career. Kevin Jobes, president of the Port Canaveral Propeller Club, said: "We are so proud of all the accomplishments Wayne has received. His leadership to the club, the Canaveral Port Authority, his amazing Coast Guard career and his efforts beyond Port Canaveral are the reasons he was selected for this international honor." Eight members of the Port Canaveral Propeller Club attended the annual conference of the International Propeller Club in Charleston, South Carolina, at which Justice received the award. Joining more than 250 representatives from throughout the world, including from France, Germany and Greece, the group spent time immersed in a sea of knowledge, exploring cutting-edge technologies, sustainable practices and global trends. The Propeller Club had its start in 1922 as an informal group of maritime professionals, and became a national and international organization in 1927. Today, this international business network, with more than 70 Propeller Club Ports located throughout the world, is dedicated to the promotion of the international maritime industry and the efficient and economical transportation of global trade. Story continues Four Space Coast businesses named 'Florida Companies to Watch' Kinley Construction of Merritt Island, Mainstream Engineering of Rockledge, Martinez Construction of Merritt Island and SwiftPaws, developers of a canine-exercise, lure coursing machine, headquartered in Malabar, recently were named as finalists to GrowFLs Florida Companies to Watch honorees. Luke Crisafulli Luke Crisafulli is chief executive officer of Kinley Construction. Robert Scaringe is founder and president of Mainstream Engineering. Breann Martinez Jones is co-founder and president of Martinez Construction. Meghan Wolfgram is founder and chief executive officer of SwiftPaws. Robert Scaringe The awards program now in its 13th year honors impressive second-stage companies from throughout the state for developing valuable products and services, creating quality jobs, enriching communities and broadening new industries throughout Florida. Companies to Watch was developed by the Edward Lowe Foundation as a way to recognize and honor second-stage companies that demonstrate high performance in the marketplace with innovative strategies and processes. In addition to evaluating past growth and projected success, applicant companies are judged according to their special strengths and impact in their markets, communities and within the state thus deeming them worth watching. Breann Martinez Seventy-one finalists were announced earlier this year, and the 50 honorees were selected after a final round of judging by a panel that included past honorees, economic development leaders and corporate partners of GrowFL. Companies were judged on a number of criteria, including growth in number of employees; impact of the business in the job market; increase in sales and/or unit volume; current and past financial reports; innovativeness of the product or service; response to adversity; and contributions to aid community-oriented projects. Meghan Wolfgram GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch was designed to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and to shine a spotlight on the deserving second-stage businesses in our state, said Jennifer Taylor, president and chief executive officer of GrowFL. Second-stage companies are the lifeblood of our economy, creating jobs and fueling prosperity. This diverse group, spanning 20 different counties, representing 18 different industries, and 32% of them being woman-, veteran- or minority-owned, proves Florida is a place where entrepreneurs can thrive. We look forward to celebrating their success for years to come. More: Space Coast Health Foundation board votes in Dale as its chair Companies named to the list will be officially recognized at the 13th Annual GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch Celebration on Feb. 15, 2024, at the Hard Rock Live in Universal CityWalk, Orlando. Tickets are on sale now. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to https://growfl.com/about-growfl-flctw/. Insurance industry groups honor Orion180 officials Orion180, a provider of insurance solutions launched in 2018, announced that its top two leaders have been recognized by insurance industry organizations. Ken Gregg Ken Gregg, founder and chief executive officer, was named Insurance Luminary for technology innovation by publication/website PropertyCasualty360.com. Ryan Jesenik, chief operating officer, was named a 2023 Rising Star by Insurance Business America magazine. Ryan Jesenik Gregg, who founded Orion180, was recognized for the ability of the firms innovative technology, MY180, to be a key driver of an exceptional customer experience. Orion180 is headquartered at 930 S. Harbor City Blvd., Suite 302, Melbourne. More: Community Foundation for Brevard announces 65 grant recipients for 2023 cycle In recognizing Gregg for technology innovation, PropertyCasualty360.com notes: MY180 is Orion180s comprehensive system that seamlessly drives the entire policy life cycle. It gives independent insurance agents the power to quote and issue policies in under three minutes anywhere, any time, with its mobile app. It also empowers the Orion180 customer experience team members to provide the exceptional service and support that agents and customers seek. Policyholders also can benefit from the MY180 mobile app for Apple and Android by viewing policy documents, making payments, checking claims status and conducting home self-inspections. Gregg has more than 26 years of industry experience. He holds a bachelors degree in economics and a masters degree in finance from the University of Central Florida. He served honorably in the Marine Corps. Jesenik was recognized by Insurance Business America for his leadership and impactful contributions to the insurance sector, notes the publication. His efficiency-centric approach heightens productivity, identifies optimization opportunities and strengthens Orion180s foundation for expansion. Overseeing sales and operations, Jesenik uses analytics and process optimization to orchestrate daily operations with a focus on growth, profitability and customer satisfaction. As chief operating officer, he also manages business intelligence, focusing on rate adequacy, territory capacity and operational performance. Jesenik has more than a decade of experience in operations and corporate finance. He holds a business degree with a concentration in finance from the University of Oregon. Orion180 was named recently as No. 229 on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list of Americas fastest-growing private companies and No. 3 among insurance firms. Companies on the 2023 Inc. 5000 are ranked by percentage revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. Orion180 experienced 2,441% growth during that period. Morrison opens real estate company in Melbourne Misty Morrison recently started Misty Morrison Real Estate & Co. in Melbourne. Misty Morrison Prior to starting her own real estate venture, Morrison, a Brevard County native, was at RE/MAX, and consistently held the title of a top real estate agent on the Space Coast from 2016 to August 2023. That is based on information from the Space Coast Multiple Listing Service. Morrison represents buyers and sellers in single-family homes, condos, townhomes, waterfront, first-time homebuyers, luxury homes, relocation, investments and other properties. To learn more about Morrisons company, go to mistysells321.com If you have a Business Newsmakers item you'd like to publish, please email details to Wayne T. Price at wtpkansas@yahoo.com or contact him at 321-223-0230. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: International award goes to Port Canaveral Commissioner Justice The place for all things cold chain. Hello, and welcome to the coolest community in freight! Here youll find the latest information on warehouse news, tech developments and all things reefer madness-related. Im your controller of the thermostat, Mary OConnell. Thanks for having me! All thawed out (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Walmart has made some bold decisions. Instead of setting up a new milk processing facility in the Upper Midwest, heart of dairy country, it has decided to set up shop in Valdosta, Georgia. Bold choice. Knowing Walmart, there is a reason for the move to the South. That reason would be increased access to Walmart and Sams Club stores in the Southeast. This new facility will focus strictly on milk processing and will create 400 jobs for the Valdosta community. Its expected to service more than 750 Walmart and Sams Club stores. Its Walmarts second plant exclusively for processing milk, the first being in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Walmart is looking to take similar steps with other commodities. The company is working on two case-ready beef facilities in Georgia and Kansas in addition to partnerships with rancher-owner Sustainable Beef LLC. Temperature Checks (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Massachusetts-based Cold Chain Technologies grows internationally again. This time the acquisition is Exeltainer, an international thermal packaging company with hubs in Spain and Brazil. This is the third acquisition by Cold Chain Technologies since it was acquired by Aurora Capital in 2019. Exeltainer has developed an impressive portfolio of solutions to meet the stringent compliance requirements of its global pharmaceutical clients, Cold Chain CEO Ranjeet Banerjee said in a press release. Also growing here in the U.S. is Portland, Maines cold storage space. A year after breaking ground, construction is picking up speed on a 107,000-square-foot warehouse on Portlands coast. The project will open about a year and some change after the originally planned date. It has been stalled by issues underground and the residents. They arent the biggest fan of the project. Story continues The new facility is expected to meet demand for the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip and companies in Maine as well. It will recapture some of the almost $2 billion of seafood exported from the East Coast that doesnt pass through Portland. Food and drugs (Photo: Business Wire) The man who gave us the show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern has taken his talents to the slightly less bizarre. Zimmern has come out with his own line of frozen entrees that dont appear to be bizarre in nature. His meals focus on comfort food and the convenience of not having to wait 45-plus minutes for a meatloaf to cook. His meals include Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese, Meatloaf, Turkey Dinner and Swedish Meatballs. Personally, the Turkey Dinner intrigues me the most as I love a good roast turkey but hate waiting a few hours for a whole turkey to cook. These frozen meals are a result of years of exploration, passion, and dedication to the art of cooking, says Zimmern. Whether youre enjoying the comforting notes of Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese or savoring the rich flavors of Swedish Meatballs, each dish tells a story of authentic flavors and family. With By Andrew Zimmern frozen entrees, it is possible to enjoy chef-quality comfort food meals with all the quality and none of the stress. Cold chain lanes (SONAR Ticker: ROTVI.DSM, ROTRI.DSM) This weeks SONAR market is Des Moines, Iowa. Reefer outbound tender rejections increased 203 basis points week over week for a ROTRI of 15.84%. Rejection rates over 10% indicate that there are inflated spot rates for a market, so hitting well above that should make for some lucrative rates on the carrier front. Shippers should expect a fair amount of contracted freight to get rejected and pushed to the spot market. Is SONAR for you? Check it out with a demo! Shelf life The curse of Thawed Loadoma and managing refrigerated assets Conagra Brands focused on finding the sweet spot amid shifting consumer demands Constellation Cold Logistics entered into an agreement to acquire Colso Coldstorage California isnt banning Skittles, but four additives will be restricted Once again California tells a court AB5 isnt disrupting trucking in state Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at moconnell@freightwaves.com. See you on the internet. Mary If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you must be pretty chill. Join the coolest community in freight and subscribe for more at freightwaves.com/subscribe. The post Running on Ice: Walmart moves south appeared first on FreightWaves. SBM Offshore N.V. October 13, 2023 SBM Offshore is pleased to announce it has been awarded contracts to perform Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) for the Whiptail development project in Guyana. Following FEED and subject to government approvals in Guyana of the development plan, project sanction including final investment decision by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, an affiliate of ExxonMobil Corporation, to release the second phase of work, SBM Offshore will construct and install the FPSO. The FEED contract award triggers the initial release of funds by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited to begin FEED activities, and commits a Fast4Ward hull for the execution of the Whiptail development project in Guyana. Under the contracts, the FPSOs ownership is expected to be transferred to the client at the end of the construction period and before start of operations in Guyana. The construction costs are expected to be partially funded by senior loans which will be repaid at the time of the FPSOs transfer to the client. SBM Offshore is expected to operate the FPSO through its integrated operations and maintenance model combining SBM Offshore and ExxonMobils expertise and experience, leveraging key learnings and the operational excellence of the units currently deployed in Guyana. SBM Offshore will design and construct the FPSO using its industry-leading Fast4Ward program using the Companys seventh new build, Multi-Purpose Floater hull, combined with several standardized topsides modules. The FPSO will be designed to produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day, will have associated gas treatment capacity of 540 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of 300,000 barrels per day. The FPSO will be spread moored in water depth of about 1,630 meters and will be able to store around 2 million barrels of crude oil. Building on the experience to date of FPSOs Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, Prosperity and ONE GUYANA, SBM Offshore continues to commit to local content development in Guyana by sourcing fabrication scope locally and integrating Guyanese engineers into the execution and operational teams. Story continues Bruno Chabas, SBM Offshores Chief Executive Officer: We are proud to announce ExxonMobil Guyana has awarded the contracts for a fifth FPSO from SBM Offshore in Guyana. This project demonstrates once more the value that our industry-leading Fast4Ward program brings to our clients and other stakeholders while delivering carbon efficient energy to the world. Corporate Profile SBM Offshore designs, builds, installs and operates offshore floating facilities for the offshore energy industry. As a leading technology provider, we put our marine expertise at the service of a responsible energy transition by reducing emissions from fossil fuel production, while developing cleaner solutions for renewable energy sources. More than 7,000 SBMers worldwide are committed to sharing their experience to deliver safe, sustainable and affordable energy from the oceans for generations to come. For further information, please visit our website at www.sbmoffshore.com. Financial Calendar Date Year Third Quarter 2023 Trading Update November 9 2023 Full Year 2023 Earnings February 29 2024 Annual General Meeting April 12 2024 First Quarter 2024 Trading Update May 8 2024 Half Year 2024 Earnings August 8 2024 For further information, please contact: Investor Relations Ludovic Robino Investor Relations Manager Mobile: +31 (0) 6 15 16 50 35 E-mail: ludovic.robino@sbmoffshore.com Website: www.sbmoffshore.com Media Relations Evelyn Tachau Brown Group Communications & Change Director Mobile: +377 (0) 6 40 62 30 34 E-mail: evelyn.tachau-brown@sbmoffshore.com Website: www.sbmoffshore.com Market Abuse Regulation This press release may contain inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Disclaimer Some of the statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements based on managements current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those in such statements. These statements may be identified by words such as expect, should, could, shall and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The principal risks which could affect the future operations of SBM Offshore N.V. are described in the Risk Management section of the 2022 Annual Report. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and performance of the Companys business may vary materially and adversely from the forward-looking statements described in this release. SBM Offshore does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update any industry information or forward-looking statements set forth in this release to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise. Nothing in this release shall be deemed an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. The companies in which SBM Offshore N.V. directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this release SBM Offshore and SBM are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to SBM Offshore N.V. and its subsidiaries in general. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. "SBM Offshore", the SBM logomark, Fast4Ward, emissionZERO and Float4Wind are proprietary marks owned by SBM Offshore. Attachment It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in Revolution Bars Group plc's (LON:RBG) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders. Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. Check out our latest analysis for Revolution Bars Group Revolution Bars Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year The CEO & Director Rob Pitcher made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK48k worth of shares at a price of UK0.067 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being UK0.036). It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. In the last twelve months Revolution Bars Group insiders were buying shares, but not selling. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. 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 Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 28% of Revolution Bars Group shares, worth about UK2.4m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. Story continues What Might The Insider Transactions At Revolution Bars Group Tell Us? It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Revolution Bars Group shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Revolution Bars Group insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Revolution Bars Group you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning. 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. This embedded content is not available in your region. On todays episode of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Dooner is talking about DHL Express joining forces with four zoological institutions to fly eight manatees more than 1,000 miles back to their temporary Florida homes. Well learn from Joe Collopy at DHL and Becky Ellsworth at the Columbus Zoo the logistics of hauling manatees for rehabilitation. FreightWaves Greg Miller looks at global shippings new flash point, Israel. He lays out how shipping executives are preparing for the conflict. AIT Worldwide Logistics Angela Mancuso discusses the hiring market for freight forwarders. How hard is it to find employees, are there opportunities and whats the value of building a skilled workforce? F Staff founder and CEO Justin Clarke talks about the business of placing drivers. Well learn what the job market is like right now for truckers. Plus, Flexport cuts 20% of its global staff; two trucking companies shut down; a port tour; how not to deal with a flat tire; and more. Watch on YouTube Visit our sponsor Subscribe to the WTT newsletter Apple Podcasts Spotify More FreightWaves Podcasts The post How to ship a manatee; Flexport cuts 20% of global workforce; and the war in Israel WTT appeared first on FreightWaves. By Sarah Wu and Ben Blanchard TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's TSMC said on Friday it expects to receive permission from the United States to supply its China plant with U.S. chipmaking tools indefinitely, in an easing of Washington's restrictions on foreign chipmakers operating in China. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has advised TSMC to apply for the "validated end-user" (VEU) programme, which would allow the chipmaker to receive exports without separate approvals, the company said in a statement to Reuters. "We expect to receive a permanent authorization through the VEU process," TSMC said, noting that it did not previously need to apply for VEU status. Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said earlier on Friday that TSMC has received the waiver from the United States to supply U.S. equipment to the company's factory in China. Last October, the Biden administration published a sweeping set of export controls, including a measure to cut off China from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with U.S. tools, vastly expanding the reach of a bid to slow Beijing's technological and military advances. South Korea's government said this week that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be allowed to supply U.S. chip equipment to their China factories indefinitely without separate U.S. approvals. TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said last year it had been granted a one-year authorisation by the United States that covered its factory in Nanjing, China, that makes less-advanced 28 nanometre chips. The company, a major Apple Inc supplier, also said in the statement that it has received U.S. authorisation to continue operating in Nanjing while it applies for VEU status. However, the United States is continuing efforts to cut China off from top AI technology and plug gaps in export controls. Reuters exclusively reported on Thursday that the Biden administration is considering closing a loophole that gives Chinese companies access to American artificial intelligence (AI) chips through units located overseas. Story continues The United States last year shook relations with Beijing when it unveiled new restrictions on shipments of AI chips and chipmaking tools to China, seeking to thwart its military advances. TSMC's Taipei-listed shares closed up 0.6% on Friday, outperforming the broader market which dropped 0.3%. (Reporting by Sarah Wu and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sonali Paul, Muralikumar Anantharaman & Simon Cameron-Moore) Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about... and every practical investor I know worries about.' When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. We can see that ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) does use debt in its business. But is this debt a concern to shareholders? When Is Debt Dangerous? Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Of course, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together. View our latest analysis for ConocoPhillips What Is ConocoPhillips's Net Debt? As you can see below, ConocoPhillips had US$15.2b of debt, at June 2023, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. On the flip side, it has US$6.82b in cash leading to net debt of about US$8.43b. A Look At ConocoPhillips' Liabilities According to the last reported balance sheet, ConocoPhillips had liabilities of US$9.55b due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$32.5b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$6.82b in cash and US$4.53b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$30.7b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables. While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since ConocoPhillips has a huge market capitalization of US$143.7b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. But it's clear that we should definitely closely examine whether it can manage its debt without dilution. Story continues We measure a company's debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio). ConocoPhillips has a low net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.29. And its EBIT covers its interest expense a whopping 37.7 times over. So you could argue it is no more threatened by its debt than an elephant is by a mouse. On the other hand, ConocoPhillips's EBIT dived 11%, over the last year. If that rate of decline in earnings continues, the company could find itself in a tight spot. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine ConocoPhillips's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts. Finally, a company can only pay off debt with cold hard cash, not accounting profits. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. During the last three years, ConocoPhillips produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 72% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to. Our View The good news is that ConocoPhillips's demonstrated ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. But the stark truth is that we are concerned by its EBIT growth rate. All these things considered, it appears that ConocoPhillips can comfortably handle its current debt levels. On the plus side, this leverage can boost shareholder returns, but the potential downside is more risk of loss, so it's worth monitoring the balance sheet. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Be aware that ConocoPhillips is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored... At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. By buying an index fund, you can roughly match the market return with ease. But if you buy good businesses at attractive prices, your portfolio returns could exceed the average market return. For example, the Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (KLSE:AIRPORT) share price is up 82% in the last three years, clearly besting the market return of around 0.02% (not including dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 36% in the last year , including dividends . Let's take a look at the underlying fundamentals over the longer term, and see if they've been consistent with shareholders returns. Check out our latest analysis for Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price. Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad became profitable within the last three years. That would generally be considered a positive, so we'd expect the share price to be up. The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail). It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad's earnings, revenue and cash flow. A Different Perspective We're pleased to report that Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 36% over one year. And that does include the dividend. That certainly beats the loss of about 1.8% per year over the last half decade. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad that you should be aware of. Story continues Of course Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Malaysian exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. This article will list countries with the lowest temperatures and shed light on the heating costs borne by those living in these countries. You can skip the details and head straight to the Top 15 Coldest Countries In The World. Living in a place where your breath can turn to frost isn't merely a physical challenge; it's also a notable financial one. Residents of the coldest countries in the world daily battle with the reality of necessities, like heating and groceries, bearing a higher price tag. For instance, Alaska residents consistently experience a cost of living above the national average. In basic terms, if your grocery bill in the contiguous US averages $100, expect to spend $125 for similar goods in parts of Alaska. Accessibility significantly influences Alaska's price difference, making the state's cost of living 25.3% higher than the national average. The remoteness necessitates reliance on more expensive transportation modes like air and sea freight, subsequently elevating the prices of basic goods and essentials. Moreover, heating is not inexpensive in an environment where temperatures often linger near zero in the countries with the lowest temperatures. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), residential electricity rates in Alaska are substantially higher, averaging about 24.88 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to the US average of 15.91 cents. These expenditures elevate Alaska's average cost of living to $48,670, ranking it the 6th highest in the country, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC). On a global scale, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, some of the world's chilliest countries, also confront escalated living expenses, especially in the heating and energy sectors. Norway, despite its wealth from extensive oil reserves, imposes a substantial living cost on its residents. A Statistics Norway (SSB) report highlighted that Norwegians spend, on average, $12,407 on housing, electricity, gas, and other fuels. Nearly 11% of this household expenditure is allocated to housing energy, significantly influenced by heating needs during colder months. Story continues A similar story unfolds in Finland. According to Statistics Finland, the average household energy expenditure is particularly burdensome, especially among the lower-income population. Data reveals that household energy consumption in Finland is nearly 68,810 gigawatts per hour, with approximately 67.5% (i.e., 48,423 GWh) utilized for space heating. The frigid Finnish winters compel a significant portion of people's income to ensure homes remain warm and livable. As heating solutions are crucial for a comfortable living in the coldest countries in the world, sustainable heating solutions are equally vital for colder countries that care about the environment most. In this respect, HVAC companies like Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) serve as pillars. JCI has placed sustainability at its core since 1885, inventing the first electric thermostat, which significantly reduced wood burning for heating. According to Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) 's Q3 2023 earnings call, decarbonization remains a focus area in the company's portfolio, encompassing sustainable heat pumps, energy-efficient thermostats, and digital solutions. Some digital solutions developed by Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) assist organizations in quantifying sustainability and identifying opportunities to conserve energy by utilizing data such as energy use, duration and timing of usage, and the mix of electricity sources to transition to decarbonized fuel sources. The company's earnings call also highlighted that 55% of its revenue is derived from sustainable products and solutions, anticipating a surge in the demand for sustainable heating solutions, as their orders grew by 20% in the previous quarter. Similarly, Carrier Global Corp (NYSE:CARR) aspires to assist the countries most affected by global warming through its innovative solutions. The company's Q2 earnings call noted an unwavering goal to become the global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions. Carrier Global Corp (NYSE:CARR)'s healthy buildings pipeline (a climate-smart product range focused on improving air quality) experienced a sales increase of 2x, reaching $1.6 billion, partially driven by K-12 in the US, where orders rose over 20% in the previous quarter. Carrier Global Corp (NYSE:CARR) aims to reduce its customers' carbon emissions by more than 1 gigaton by 2030 while achieving carbon neutrality in its operations. If other corporations prioritize intelligent solutions for the world's chilliest places similarly, their living costs and climate impact can surely be reduced. Let's now move to the world's most frigid countries! Top 50 Coldest Countries In The World Top 50 Coldest Countries In The World Our Methodology We identified the 50 coldest countries in the world based on their annual average mean temperature, referring to the Climate Change Knowledge Portal (CCKP) of the World Bank. The CCKP has quantified countries' temperatures by taking the average of monthly mean temperatures (hence the term 'average mean temperature') After narrowing our search of the world's coldest climates to the country level, we selected the 1991-2020 period for our final readings. The countries were then ranked in ascending order based on their average mean temperature between those years. Based on our findings, here are the countries with the lowest temperatures: 50. Argentina (Particularly Patagonia) Average Mean Temperature: 15.11C Situated in the southernmost part of South America, the Patagonia region of Argentina is renowned for its chilling winds and icy landscapes, featuring vast plains, towering mountains, and colossal glaciers. 49. Nepal Average Mean Temperature: 14.17C Sitting between the majestic Himalayas and home to some of the world's highest peaks, including Mount Everest, Nepal experiences chilling temperatures, particularly at higher altitudes. 48. Uzbekistan Average Mean Temperature: 13.69C Uzbekistan, among landlocked developing countries in Central Asia, experiences severe cold winters, especially in its northern and central regions, with its deserts and mountain ranges contributing to its climatic extremities. 47. Afghanistan Average Mean Temperature: 13.37C Despite its arid environment, Afghanistan experiences snowy winters in its central and northern parts, partly due to its rugged terrain comprising extensive mountain ranges. As one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world, its people often lack the means to combat the brittle cold. 46. Azerbaijan Average Mean Temperature: 12.96C Azerbaijan is recognized for its oil reserves as it derives almost 30% of its GDP from it, being among the countries with the most natural resources. But its terrain varies from lowlands to the soaring Caucasus Mountains. These mountains, in particular, face harsh, cold conditions, starkly contrasting the subtler climates of the country's coastal regions. 45. Albania Average Mean Temperature: 12.44C Albania, located on the Balkan Peninsula, is characterized by mountainous terrain. While its coastline boasts a Mediterranean climate, the inland areas, particularly those dominated by the Dinaric Alps, encounter snowy winters. 44. South Korea Average Mean Temperature: 12.22C The Republic of Korea is relatively compact than other countries with the lowest temperatures, but its topographical diversity results in varying climates. Its mountainous regions comprise a significant portion of the landscape and often face cold temperatures. 43. Croatia Average Mean Temperature: 11.96C Featuring an Adriatic coastline, Croatia is also home to a mountainous interior. The Dinaric Alps, stretching across the country, experience cold temperatures, contrasting with the milder coastal climate. 42. Turkey Average Mean Temperature: 11.6C Turkey's diverse landscape, which includes towering mountains, plateaus, and valleys, can experience particularly harsh and cold winters, especially in the eastern Anatolian region. 41. Hungary Average Mean Temperature: 11.50C Located in Central Europe, Hungary experiences a continental climate, with its cold winters influenced by its landlocked position and temperatures plunging in its northern and eastern areas. 40. Serbia Average Mean Temperature: 11.40C Serbia, another Balkan nation, has a climate heavily influenced by its geographical position. The Dinaric Alps and Carpathian Mountains, which traverse the country, ensure it experiences cold, sometimes severe, winters. 39. Bulgaria Average Mean Temperature: 11.3C Located in southeastern Europe, Bulgaria, with landscapes that include the Balkan Mountains and Danubian Plain, experiences cold winters and common snowfall, particularly in its mountainous regions. 38. Moldova Average Mean Temperature: 10.89C Moldova, nestled between Romania and Ukraine, experiences a continental climate characterized by chilly winters. Its largely hilly landscape, peppered with forests and vineyards, receives ample snowfall. 37. North Macedonia Average Mean Temperature: 10.79C Situated in the heart of the Balkans, North Macedonia has a predominantly mountainous terrain. Highlands, like the Sar Mountains, endure cold temperatures, creating snowy landscapes. 36. Bhutan Average Mean Temperature: 10.38C Despite its receipt of warm currents from the south, Bhutan, significantly elevated, experiences a cold climate, with winters blanketing the kingdom in snow. Economically, it leans heavily on its partnership with India and prioritizes Gross National Happiness over GDP, emphasizing sustainable development and cultural preservation. 35. Bosnia and Herzegovina Average Mean Temperature: 10.35C The dramatic, mountainous terrain of Bosnia and Herzegovina is characterized further by the crossing of the Dinaric Alps, which bring frigid temperatures to the country. 34. Romania Average Mean Temperature: 10.18C Romania undergoes chilly winters, especially in the Carpathian Mountains region. Its economy, featuring sectors like automotive and software development, has displayed resilience in recent times, notwithstanding challenges such as corruption. 33. Montenegro Average Mean Temperature: 9.93C Montenegro endures rigorous winters in its northern highlands. While facing economic challenges like high unemployment rates, it derives vital income and economic drive, especially from tourism along the Adriatic coast. 32. Slovenia Average Mean Temperature: 9.86C In the Alpine regions, Slovenia experiences chilly winters. Possessing one of the strongest economies among transition nations, it relies heavily on foreign trade, predominantly with other EU countries. 31. Ireland Average Mean Temperature: 9.73C Influenced by the Gulf Stream, Ireland encounters milder winters but still contends with cold, damp conditions. It supports a robust economy with significant contributions from pharmaceuticals, technology, and finance sectors. 30. Germany Average Mean Temperature: 9.59C Germany, which faces cold winters and snow in the south, is Europe's largest economy. It plays a pivotal role in the EU and is renowned for its robust engineering, automotive, and manufacturing sectors. 29. Chile (Particularly Patagonia) Average Mean Temperature: 9.39C Chile, experiencing frigid climates, particularly in its southern and Andean regions, shares Patagonian weather with Argentina. Although heavily dependent on copper exports, it also maintains a reputation for its wine production. 28. Ukraine Average Mean Temperature: 9.27C The north of Ukraine can encounter harsh winters, and the temperature is usually subfreezing in its winters in inland zones. Though its economy faces challenges like corruption and conflict with Russia, it leans on its agricultural and industrial sectors. 27. United Kingdom Average Mean Temperature: 9.24C With an average yearly temperature of 9 degrees Celsius, the UK's winter is often described as not for the faint-hearted. The nation, boasting one of the world's largest economies, remains a significant player in global trade despite recent uncertainties. 26. Georgia Average Mean Temperature: 9.01C Winters in Georgia's Caucasus Mountains can be icy. Though economically smaller, the nation has been modernizing and diversifying, with emphasis on sectors like tourism and agriculture. 25. Denmark Average Mean Temperature: 8.90C Denmark, experiencing cold maritime winters, flaunts a prosperous economy and is globally recognized for its high standard of living and a robust emphasis on renewable energy. 24. Slovakia Average Mean Temperature: 8.83C Slovakia's Carpathians represent its coldest regions. The nation sustains an economy driven notably by automobile manufacturing and electrical engineering, emerging as one of the largest per capita car producers globally. 23. Czech Republic Average Mean Temperature: 8.60C Czechia, known for its notably cold winters, boasts a stable and prosperous market economy with a strong emphasis on exports, particularly vehicles and machinery. 22. Poland Average Mean Temperature: 8.58C Poland, encountering freezing winters in its southern mountains due to its geographic location, is admired for its robust economy. Characterized by a large domestic market, it has consistently witnessed growth in manufacturing and IT. 21. Lithuania Average Mean Temperature: 7.81C Lithuania, which experiences chilly Baltic winters, bears high heating bills, according to the Lithuanian National Energy Regulator. Its mixed economy involves high-tech manufacturing, agricultural production, and a developing IT sector, all substantially contributing to its GDP. 20. Armenia Average Mean Temperature: 7.8C The Armenian Plateau, with an average altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level, enjoys a highland continental climate. The country's economy relies on sectors like diamond processing and agricultural products. 19. China Average Mean Temperature: 7.59C Northern China, especially regions bordering Russia, experiences bitter winters. The economic giant exerts significant global influence with vast industries ranging from technology to manufacturing. 18. Belarus Average Mean Temperature: 7.45C Belarus has experienced economic growth in various phases since the 2000s, but its economic model still incorporates a significant degree of state ownership. The country maintains close ties with Russia, impacting its economy and geopolitics, and is known for manufacturing heavy machinery. 17. Austria Average Mean Temperature: 7.44C Austria, experiencing frosty winters mainly in the Alps, emphasizes sectors like finance and demonstrates a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, particularly in energy production. 16. Kazakhstan Average Mean Temperature: 7.11C Kazakhstan, the largest economy in South Asia with a cumulative GDP of $197 billion, is also the largest landlocked country. Its economy centers around abundant natural resources, specifically mineral exports. Click to continue reading Top 15 Coldest Countries In The World. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. Top 50 Coldest Countries In The World was originally published at Insider Monkey. (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi an insider's guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise, delivered weekly. Most Read from Bloomberg Indias largest manufacturer of solar modules is calling for the government to reinstate trade barriers to protect it from competition from the likes of China and Vietnam. The temporary relaxation of a safeguard mechanism stating a list of approved solar makers in March has ushered in a flood of cheap imports, forcing local manufacturers to idle some capacity, Waaree Energies Ltd. Chairman Hitesh Doshi, said in an interview. The reinstatement of the so-called Approved List of Models and Manufacturers, a non-tariff barrier designed to control which solar makers are allowed to enter the Indian market, is the only solution, he said. We are pleading to the government to bring it back. Delays during the pandemic led to calls for Indias solar sector to diversify its supply chains. The government is now trying to balance the need to curb cheap imports to boost domestic manufacturing, while at the same time making sure local companies can keep up with demand. Import duties are pointless, Doshi said, because key solar exporters such as Vietnam have free-trade agreements with India, and Chinese suppliers have reduced prices to levels that make their cargoes competitive despite the previously enforced 40% import tax. After the government lifted the approved list, imports kept growing despite steep taxes on foreign-bought cells and modules levied in 2022 and 240 billion rupees ($2.9 billion) of government funds to aid local output. Imports from April through August surged almost sevenfold from the same period a year earlier, according to BloombergNEF. Story continues Mumbai-based Waaree has 12 gigawatts of modules capacity in India and 5.4 gigawatts of cells manufacturing infrastructure is in the works. It is also building a 2 gigawatt modules factory in the US, which is expected to begin operations by April 2024. The company is discussing a plan for a public float, details of which should be firmed up by the end of this month, Doshi said. The Economic Times reported last week that Waaree is seeking to raise $350 million, at a valuation of $3 billion. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. The funding partner for Trump Media & Technology Group said that it will return the remaining $533 million of the $1 billion raised to finance the venture after investors canceled $467 million of commitments. Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a so-called special-purpose acquisition company, said in a regulatory filing that it has received termination notices from investors for $467 million of the funding. The remaining $533 million will be returned to investors, with DWAC CEO Eric Swider saying in a press release that the decision is a "positive development" as Trump's media group focuses on developing a "sustainable business model." The loss of funding for DWAC appears to be a step backward for the prospective merger between the company and Trump's media outfit, which runs Truth Social, a social media service with a conservative flavor. When the merger was first announced in 2021, it sparked an 800% surge in DWAC's shares, prompting comparisons to meme stocks. Since then, however, the merger has faced numerous obstacles, including regulatory scrutiny. "[D]espite how others may seek to characterize the [private investment in public equity, or PIPE] commitment cancellations, we want our shareholders to understand that these cancellations are a positive development in our ability to consummate the business combination," Swider said in the statement. Plans to complete merger DWAC had about $1 billion worth of securities purchase agreements with some institutional investors, with the company noting in the regulatory filing that those investors had sent it termination notices for about $467 million. It said it will "unwind the remaining balance" of the investment. With the loss of the funding, it's unclear how Trump's media group, called Trump Media & Technology Group, would finance its operations after the merger. The plan was that DWAC would provide TMTG with a deep pool of funds after the merger was completed. Story continues But that merger has been delayed multiple times, most recently with DWAC shareholders in September approving a one-year extension of the merger deadline between the two companies. Without that extension, DWAC would have faced liquidation last month. "Today's announcement is an important step towards eliminating the PIPE which TMTG believes would be in the best interest of TMTG's equity holders and completing our merger with DWAC as soon as possible," said TMTG CEO Devin Nunes in Thursday's statement. He did not provide details as to why the elimination of the financing would benefit his company's shareholders. However, Swider noted in the statement that Trump's media group has a "reduced need for capital" and a "commitment to growing a sustainable business model." LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's financial watchdog said on Friday it had fined consumer credit rater Equifax Ltd 11 million pounds ($13.4 million) for its role in "one of the largest" cyber-security breaches in history. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that in 2017 Equifax's parent company, Equifax Inc in the United States, was subject to one of the biggest cybersecurity breaches in history, when the personal details of as many as 147.9 million U.S. consumers were accessed during the hack. The FCA said the hackers could also access the personal data of 13.8 million UK consumers because the data was stored on company servers in the United States. Equifax Ltd had outsourced data such as names, dates of birth, Equifax membership login details, partially exposed credit card details and addresses. "The cyberattack and unauthorised access to data was entirely preventable," the FCA said in a statement, adding that it exposed UK consumers to the risk of financial crime. Equifax said on Friday it has cooperated fully with the FCA throughout the long-running investigation. "Since the cyberattack against our company six years ago, we have invested over $1.5 billion in a security and technology transformation," said Patricio Remon, president for Europe at Equifax. "Few companies have invested more time and resources than Equifax to ensure that consumers information is protected," Remon said. The FCA said the UK arm of Equifax did not find out that consumer data had been accessed until six weeks after the parent company discovered the hack, the FCA said. "There were known weaknesses in Equifax Incs data security systems and Equifax failed to take appropriate action in response to protect UK customer data," it said. Equifax's fine was discounted after it agreed to resolve the matter and cooperate to a high level with the watchdog, the FCA said. Britain's Information Commissioner's Office fined Equifax Ltd 500,000 pounds in 2018. ($1 = 0.8191 pounds) (Reporting by Huw JonesEditing by David Evans and Mark Potter) (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has received an extension to its exemption from US trade sanctions on China, allowing it to continue acquiring advanced chip equipment for its operations there. Most Read from Bloomberg The Taiwanese chipmaker expects eventually to win permanent US authorization to secure sophisticated machinery for its operations in the worlds largest semiconductor market, the company said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News. The waiver removes some of the uncertainty dogging the worlds biggest contract chipmaker, which has a modest campus in a Shanghai suburb and also operates a site in the southern Chinese city of Nanjing, making 16-nanometer chips, roughly four generations behind leading-edge technology. The Bureau of Industry and Security, part of the US Department of Commerce thats responsible for export controls, declined to comment on TSMC earlier this week and did not immediately respond to queries after the ministers announcement. Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. have both been effectively granted an indefinite waiver on broader restrictions banning the shipment of advanced American chipmaking gear to China, South Koreas presidential office said earlier this week. Sweeping US regulations announced last October struck at the heart of Beijings tech ambitions but also cast uncertainty around foreign chipmakers in China, including TSMC and its South Korean peers. All three secured one-year waivers at the time, which let them import necessary equipment, but have since grappled with questions surrounding an extension. The Biden administration in late September also removed a stringent curb on expansion in China by semiconductor companies that get federal funds to build plants in the US. Both TSMC and Samsung are expected to secure US subsidies for their new facilities in the country. Story continues --With assistance from Mackenzie Hawkins. (Updates throughout with TSMC confirmation and statement) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), a Brazil-based integrated energy company, has seen a significant surge in its stock price over the past three months. The company's stock price has risen by 14.33%, from a modestly undervalued position three months ago to a fairly valued position today, according to the GF Value. The GF Value, defined by GuruFocus.com, calculates a stock's intrinsic value using historical multiples, past performance adjustments, and future business estimates. This article will delve into the factors contributing to this impressive performance and provide an in-depth analysis of the company's operations, profitability, and growth prospects. Unpacking Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras Petrobras is a Brazil-based integrated energy company controlled by the Brazilian government. The company focuses on exploration and production for oil and gas in Brazilian offshore fields. Production in 2022 was 2.7 million barrels of oil equivalent a day (80% oil production), and reserves stood at 10.5 billion boe (85% oil). At year-end 2022, Petrobras operated 11 refineries in Brazil with capacity of 1.9 million barrels a day and distributes refined products and natural gas throughout Brazil. Why Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras's Stock Skyrocketed 14% in a Quarter Profitability Analysis Petrobras has a profitability rank of 8/10, indicating a high level of profitability. The company's operating margin of 41.90% is better than 85.23% of companies in the industry. Similarly, its ROE, ROA, and ROIC, which stand at 40.28%, 15.91%, and 18.99% respectively, are all better than the majority of companies in the industry. Over the past 10 years, Petrobras has had 6 profitable years, which is better than 59.29% of companies in the industry. Why Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras's Stock Skyrocketed 14% in a Quarter Growth Prospects Petrobras has a growth rank of 9/10, indicating strong growth. The company's 3-year and 5-year revenue growth rates per share are 28.80% and 17.50% respectively, both of which are better than the majority of companies in the industry. However, the company's future revenue and EPS growth rates are expected to decrease, with the total revenue growth rate estimated to be -10.61% and the EPS growth rate estimated to be -19.46%. Story continues Why Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras's Stock Skyrocketed 14% in a Quarter Top Holders of Petrobras Stock The top three holders of Petrobras stock are Baillie Gifford (Trades, Portfolio), which holds 0.85% of shares, Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), who holds 0.27% of shares, and Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio), who holds 0.12% of shares. Competitive Landscape Petrobras faces competition from several companies in the oil and gas industry. Its main competitors include Hebei Ruixing Gas Equipment Co Ltd, with a market cap of $66.540 million, Nanjing Tanker Corp, with a market cap of $2.13 billion, and Terrence Energy Co Ltd, with a market cap of $142.262 million. Conclusion In conclusion, Petrobras's stock performance, operations, and profitability, as well as the competitive landscape, suggest that the company has strong growth prospects. Despite the expected decrease in future revenue and EPS growth rates, the company's high profitability rank and impressive growth rank indicate that it has the potential to continue delivering value to its shareholders. This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Bill Gates 1990 Microsoft Lots of people are worried AI is going to take a bunch of jobs. Lots of people also worried decades ago that spreadsheets and ATMs would take jobs. Both technologies were job creators overall. By now I expect you've seen the predictions that artificial intelligence will replace millions of jobs. Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs predicted AI would impact 300 million jobs worldwide, triggering "significant disruption" in the labor market. There have been high-profile examples of companies big and small replacing workers with AI. IBM, for example, said earlier this year it would halt hiring for certain roles that could be replaced by the technology. And leading academics like Daron Acemoglu have been sounding the alarm on the potential impact of AI on the workforce. That's left many fearing for their careers. A recent poll found one in five college-educated workers said they're worried about losing their jobs to technology. This is not surprising. Throughout history, technology has transformed work in multiple ways, impacting the labor market in the process. In a big research report published recently, Morgan Stanley compared the rise of AI with past periods of technological innovation. And its findings offer reasons for optimism. Take spreadsheets. They first emerged in the late 70s, with the adoption of this new way of bookkeeping accelerating with the introduction of Microsoft Excel in the late 80s. Here's Morgan Stanley: "As adoption of this technology grew rapidly throughout the 1980s, especially after the introduction of Microsoft Excel in 1987, we saw a reduction in the number of Americans working as bookkeepers and accounting/auditing clerks (from ~2 million in 1987 to just above 1.5 million by 2000) but we also saw a significant increase in Americans employed as accountants/auditors (rising from ~1.3 million in 1987 to ~1.5 million in 2000) and management analysts & financial managers (from ~0.6 million in 1987 to ~1.5 million in 2000)" Story continues Spreadsheets created jobs Morgan Stanley In other words, any decline in one type of job was more than offset by the creation of new, adjacent jobs. Something similar happened with the introduction of the ATM, which was predicted to put an end to the job of the bank teller. Instead, the ATMs made it cheaper to operate a branch, while the demand for bank branches increased, creating even more jobs for tellers than before. Here's Morgan Stanley again: "During many prior periods of technological innovation, there have been predictions of tremendous job losses, and broadly what we have seen is the opposite driven by increased productivity, lower prices and also entirely new products and services." It's important to note here that these numbers show the total number of people employed. It's absolutely the case that someone might lose their job as a bookkeeper and not be able to retrain or get another job as an accountant or financial manager. And if you're that bookkeeper, it's cold comfort that there's growth in professions that aren't available to you. That makes is absolutely key to help those who do face disruption develop new skills, something Morgan Stanley notes: GenAI labor disruptions could herald unprecedented demand for reskilling. While private-public partnerships can mitigate GenAI labor disruption, we believe the extent of labor disruptions will likely require a significant ramping up in capacity to retrain large numbers of US workers Read the original article on Business Insider Chilean President Gabriel Boric is set to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Sunday for talks that will likely fortify ties between the two nations, although Boric faces domestic pressure to address human rights issues in China. In his first visit to China since being elected in 2021, Boric is expected to enhance cooperation with Chinese provincial governments and expand relations to second-tier cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu, where he will deliver a lecture at Sichuan University. Chile was the first Latin American nation to establish a consulate in the region, in 2021, seeking to foster exchanges in investment, trade and culture. 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. Boric's delegation also expects to advance several projects abandoned during the pandemic, including the so-called Asia-South America Digital Door, which would connect the Chilean city of Valparaiso to Shanghai through a series of transpacific submarine fibre-optic cables. Francisco Urdinez, an expert on Sino-Chilean relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, said Boric had a keen interest in luring investment in the renewable energy domain. Chile boasts roughly 48 per cent of global lithium reserves, primarily located in the Salar de Atacama, a vast salt flat in the nation's north. The mineral is vital to the production of batteries for electric vehicles. "Lithium mining is crucial for the energy transition, and China is a world leader in this sector. The visit represents a valuable opportunity for Chile," said Urdinez. The mineral is key for diversifying Chile's export mix. While 40 per cent of Chile's exports in 2022 were to China, a significant portion were low-value-added commodities. Santiago seeks a shift in this trend and has suggested that Chinese investors establish operations in Chile to purify the mineral. Story continues Sichuan-based Tianqi and Chile's SQM, the world's premier lithium producer, have entered into a joint venture. Photo: Shutterstock Images alt=Sichuan-based Tianqi and Chile's SQM, the world's premier lithium producer, have entered into a joint venture. Photo: Shutterstock Images> China has a joint venture in the sector with Sichuan-based Tianqi and Chile's SQM, the premier lithium producer globally. However, the alliance has stirred controversy. In 2019, indigenous communities in the Atacama Desert, proximate to the lithium deposits, protested the mining ventures, with demonstrations including roadblocks and calls to terminate the Tianqi-SQM partnership's operating rights in the area. The two companies pump lithium into huge lagoons, they said, because mining requires evaporating salt solutions underneath Atacama's salt flats. Separating the minerals in these lakes, which can span years, significantly reduces the already limited water resources in one of the planet's driest regions. "Chinese investors fear that the issue will escalate in court and hurt Chinese soft power internationally, which would bring business to a complete halt," Urdinez said. He mentioned similar challenges in northern Argentina, where indigenous communities have collaborated with unionists to obstruct road access to Jujuy province's lithium reserves, prompting a stern response from local authorities. In Chile, a prevailing strategy seems to be sharing profits with indigenous leaders. Boric also faces pressure to address rights abuses against the Uygur minority in Xinjiang, where the US and rights groups point to satellite imagery, leaked government documents and eyewitness accounts as evidence that more than 1 million Uygurs have been subjected to mass detention, political indoctrination and forced labour. Beijing denies the claim. Although the Chilean president has been vocal in denouncing human rights violations in Latin American nations like Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, he has exercised restraint regarding China, possibly fearing trade repercussions. Right-wing opposition leader, Jose Antonio Kast has sought to exploit Boric's reticence, painting him as weak-willed. A study overseen by Urdinez involving more than 1,260 voters also revealed that Boric's supporters are notably attuned to this matter and willing to accept economic repercussions in favour of condemning human rights violations in China. Jorge Heine, a former Chilean ambassador to China and a professor at Boston University, anticipates that Boric will steer clear of these contentious topics in his discussions with Xi, opting to concentrate on economic ventures. Heine underscored Boric's participation in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on October 18 and 19, marking the initiative's decade milestone. Chile will be the sole Latin American nation represented by its head of state across all three editions of the event. "We recognise the BRI's fluctuations and realise that the past couple of years, coupled with the pandemic, have impacted the Chinese economy," Heine said. "However, the BRI remains vital as a blueprint for collaborative development, championing infrastructure and mutual economic growth." 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. A popular restaurant and entertainment chain is poised to debut next month in Colorado Springs just in time for the holidays. Based in suburban Dallas and known for its food, sports watching and arcade games, Dave & Buster's plans to open in the Springs in "mid-November, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday." While Denver continues to field the largest influx of undocumented immigrants that the state has ever seen, Colorado Springs has not been asked to accept, nor is it expecting, to receive droves of people who have crossed the southwestern border, according to Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management Director Andrew Notbohm. There have not been buses arriving in Colorado Springs, and we have no information or intelligence to believe that people are coming here in buses, he said Friday. Immigrants have flooded the United States border with Mexico in recent years an estimated 1.8 million encounters from October 2022 through August of this year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Illegal crossings intensified over the summer, increasing by 36.5% from July to August, according to the agencys data. Border patrols fielded nearly 233,000 enforcement encounters in August, compared with 204,100 in August 2022. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, had declared Colorado to be welcoming and willing to accept new arrivals who enter through Mexico and seek asylum or refugee status. But now, Denvers ability to process 100 people a day is being taxed, as 250 to 300 immigrants are coming to the metro Denver area daily, Notbohm said. Nine buses of immigrants arrived in the Denver area on Oct. 1, according to city officials, with four to five buses daily being common as the month began. At its highest point, Denver has had more than 3,000 people staying in temporary shelters, Notbohm added. Were collaborating with city partners to maintain situational awareness and keep in touch with Denver, he said. Even if groups of immigrants were sent or come on their own to the Pikes Peak region, the Office of Emergency Management is not prepared or equipped to handle them, said Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade. We are not set up to receive people, he said. But we are being proactive; we are paying attention to it. No one has been able to confirm whether Colorado Springs has received immigrants directly from the border recently, the mayor added. He said he doesn't comment on whether Colorado Springs is a so-called sanctuary city, because that's a politicized term, and he doesn't get into the politics of the issue. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. "We must balance care for migrants, as these are real people with real needs and problems, with protecting and keeping our community members safe," Mobolade said. "This is my No. 1 priority as mayor." Colorado Springs will continue to abide by all federal immigration laws, he added. The best thing for people migrating to the U.S., Notbohm said, is for them to access the proper services to help them discern whether their needs can be met. Denver has created a processing center and the resources to handle the requests, he said, while Colorado Springs does not have such a setup. Its a significant effort to coordinate that, Notbohm said. Even as Denver reaches capacity, its best to have migrants as close to those resources as possible. The Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management receives many calls about the issue, he said. It has been until recently fairly contained to the city and county of Denver because it has the infrastructure to help process the migrants coming in, Notbohm said. More than three-quarters of newly arriving immigrants want to be in a community other than Denver as their final destination, Notbohm said. Theyre not intending to stay in Denver, but when you get more people in a day than you can process your shelters reach capacity, he said. And Denver has seen a significant increase in the numbers in the last three to four weeks. Notbohm is part of a network of Front Range emergency managers who meet regularly to assess all types of issues, including the situation with immigrants. If there were migrants coming here, we would want to move folks to get to Denver and get services because they have the infrastructure set up to do that, he said. Total arrivals in Colorado in fiscal year 2022 jumped to 4,918, up from 807 in 2021, and marking a new high from the previous high of 2,649 people in 2016. Those numbers include refugees, asylees, green-card holders, unaccompanied minor refugees, and certain Haitians and Amerasians, according to data from the Colorado Refugee Services Program. Last year's two largest groups came from Afghanistan, which brought 2,735 arrivals, and Ukraine, with 530 arrivals, the state's numbers show. Colorado Springs residents have two opportunities next week to offer their feedback on how the city should use federal housing grants next year. Residents can give their input to inform the city's draft 2024 Annual Action Plan, outlining the use of federal block grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on Tuesday or Wednesday at the City Administration Building, Room 102, 30 S. Nevada Ave. The Housing and Community Vitality Department will host the hearings, which residents can attend in person, online via Microsoft Teams or by phone. The federal funds support affordable housing, homelessness prevention, economic development and assistance to nonprofits as well as neighborhood and public infrastructure improvements for low- and moderate-income residents, the city said in a news release Friday. Grant funds come from the Community Development Block Grant, Home Investment Partnerships and Emergency Solutions Grant programs. More information is available on the city's website at coloradosprings.gov/project/2024-action-plan-housing-and-community-vitality. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Tuesday's meeting is scheduled 6-7 p.m. Residents can join online Tuesday via Teams at bit.ly/JoinCOS-ActionPlan24-Oct17. Meeting ID is 234 196 688 540, Passcode: 7ecour. Participants can also call in to the meeting by dialing 720-617-3426. Phone conference ID is 829 092 229#. A second public input session on Wednesday will be held from 1-2 p.m. Residents can join online Wednesday via Teams at bit.ly/JoinCOS-ActionPlan24-Oct18. Meeting ID is 213 699 051 024, Passcode: cPvYUb. On Wednesday residents who want to participate by phone may call 720-617-3426. Phone Conference ID is 203 839 274#. An Aurora police officer who was fired from the force has been acquitted by a jury in connection with the death of Elijah McClain in 2019. Former Officer Jason Rosenblatt had faced charges in Adams County of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault. Co-defendant Officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. They were the lesser included charges to the manslaughter and second-degree assault counts he faced. McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, raised her fist to a line of gathered photographers as she left the courtroom following the verdicts' reading. She did not address reporters except to say: "This is the divided states of America, and that's what happens. I'm out." She later told The Denver Gazette's news partner 9News: "No, it's not enough." "Because Roedema wasn't alone in what he did to my son. He had accomplices. He had buddies with badges who are all bullies," she said. "So it's not a victory for me at all. This is not a victory for the human race. This is not a victory for justice. This is not justice. This is a misuse of taxpayer money." The Aurora Police Department posted on the social media platform X minutes after the verdicts were read: I know many have been waiting a long time for the involved parties to have their day in court," according to Police Chief Art Acevedo. "As a nation, we must be committed to the rule of law. As such, we hold the American judicial process in high regard. "We respect the verdict handed down by the jury, and thank the members of the jury for their thoughtful deliberation and service. Due to the additional pending trials, the Aurora Police Department is precluded from further comment at this time." Rosenblatt's attorney, Harvey Steinberg, shepherded him out of the courtroom shortly after Judge Mark Warner excused him and they did not address reporters. Both he and Steinberg teared up after his verdict was read. The trial began Sept. 15. With Officer Nathan Woodyard making the first contact, the three officers stopped 23-year-old McClain on Aug. 24, 2019 as he walked home from a convenience store after buying iced tea. He wore a mask covering most of his face, which prosecutors said McClain did because he was often cold, and was listening to music. The officers had responded to a 911 call by a person who reported McClain was acting suspiciously. The officers took McClain to the ground, and Woodyard put him in a neck hold called a carotid hold that caused him to briefly lose consciousness. About 18 minutes into the struggle, a paramedic who responded to the scene injected McClain with ketamine. He went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. He died a few days later in a hospital after being declared brain dead. Prosecutors from the Colorado Attorney General's Office said the officers violated their training when they ignored McClains cries that he could not breathe while on the ground and by not monitoring his pulse or breathing. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. They also had a duty to tell paramedics called about the signs McClain was in distress, prosecutors said, but instead said he was "on something," behaving erratically and showing extreme strength. A few medical experts for the attorney generals office testified the restraint and carotid hold used on McClain led to a cycle of elevated acid in his blood as he struggled to breathe and vomiting, which he inhaled, that made him more vulnerable to the ketamine injection. But the doctors' opinions reflected mixed degrees of certainty about whether they believed the police officers' actions actually contributed to McClain's death. Roedema, the most senior of the three officers, was accused of keeping McClain facedown instead of making sure he was on his side to breathe and, at one point, yanking on his arm until a joint pops. Body-worn camera footage also shows him slamming McClains torso into the ground after McClain says, I cant fix myself. Roedema actually used less force than would have been justified because he believed McClain was resisting, his attorneys argued at trial. Roedema believed he saw McClain try to grab Rosenblatts gun, and the officers had to react to a rapidly changing situation. Rosenblatt's attorneys argued at trial he stepped away from the struggle for several minutes toward the end of the encounter. They also said that as the most junior officer on the scene, he was listening to Roedema's earnest statements that McClain tried to grab his gun. "It might have been easy for the jury to seize on the emotions and convict them both as accused by the prosecution, but they didn't do that. They followed the law," Ryan Brackley, a defense attorney and former prosecutor, told The Denver Gazette. Two paramedics, Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, also face charges and have a trial scheduled for November. Woodyard faces counts of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, and jury selection in his trial begins Friday. Former Adams County District Attorney Dave Young chose not to pursue any criminal charges in 2019, but the case was re-examined in 2020 after Gov. Jared Polis asked Attorney General Phil Weiser to investigate amid the 2020 protests over George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police. Weiser said in a statement following the verdicts he understands some may be upset with the outcomes, but said the jury process and the members' decision should be respected. He asked people to never forget McClain. "We are here today because, as the prosecutors in this case said, Elijah McClain mattered. He was only 23 years old when he died. He had his whole life ahead of him. His mother, Sheneen McClain, has relived that tragic night again and again over the last several years." The City of Aurora sent out a statement Thursday evening. "Irrespective of the outcome of the trial and the remaining two trials, Mr. McClains death was tragic and had a profound impact on all of us," Interim City Manager Jason Batchelor said in the statement. "I have stood alongside city employees and community members over the last four years in championing meaningful, measured public safety changes while simultaneously supporting our dedicated police officers and firefighters who work tirelessly to keep our community safe. None of that work will change." Roedema and Woodyard have been suspended without pay. Rosenblatt was fired in 2020 for responding "ha ha" to a photo texted to him by other Aurora officers re-enacting the neck hold used on McClain. Roedema's sentencing has been set for Jan. 5, according to a post on X by the state judicial branch. Criminally negligent homicide, a class 5 felony, can bring up to three years in prison. Third-degree assault is a class 1 misdemeanor. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Denver Gazette reporter Carol McKinley contributed this story, as did 9News. A man accused of killing a parole officer in a hit-and-run crash in Colorado Springs has been formally charged with manslaughter, vehicular homicide and other counts, prosecutors announced Friday. Justin Kula, 41, is accused of striking Christine Guerin Sandoval with his car on Sept. 28 and driving off when Guerin Sandoval and other officers attempted to contact him at West Bijou and North Spruce streets. Guerin Sandoval, 50, was taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Another officer who was hurt in the crash was treated and released from the hospital. On Wednesday, prosecutor Dave Young told a judge that he had not yet filed charges because of the "complicated" situation involving several law enforcement agencies and Kula's extensive criminal history, which influenced the number and level of charges against Kula. In addition to manslaughter and vehicular homicide, Kula is charged with leaving the scene of an accident, third-degree assault and three sentence enhancers of being a habitual criminal, prosecutors said. Court records indicate that Kula was convicted in 2020 of disorderly conduct, assaulting a peace officer and other crimes. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. He also appears to have failed to show up for court appearances throughout the years and received roughly one year in jail for a probation violation in 2020. Kula is being held at the El Paso County jail on a $250,000 bond, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 8. A Palestine flag hung from a tree and posters with such words as From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free formed the backdrop to an outdoor teach-in Thursday at Colorado College. The topic: Palestine 101. Chants concluded the lunchtime session led by members of state and local affiliates of Students for Justice in Palestine. Not a nickel, not a dime, no more money for Israels crime. From Palestine to Mexico, border walls have got to go. Red, black, green, white, for Palestine we will fight. The chants rang out across one of the campus' quads as 50 or so students who stopped to hear the groups messages were told that the chanting was in preparation for a demonstration that the organization will hold Saturday at the Capitol in Denver. Speakers who did not identify themselves and who were silenced by group leaders from speaking with The Gazette after the presentation emphasized to the audience that they believe in justice for the people of Palestine. Pro-Palestine groups have held similar rallies and events on other college campuses across the nation in the days following whats been called an unprecedented attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas, a militant Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip. The action launched the regions fifth war since 2006 and what Israelis are calling the most inhumane and brutal, with stories emerging of execution, torture, rape, beheadings and children being held hostage and used as shields by Hamas attackers. We are fighting human animals, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday, two days after the surprise Hamas incursion. Presenters at Thursdays event at Colorado College read what they said was correspondence from Palestinians on the ground in Gaza, which included a statement from one person, Even animals would not endure such treatment. Palestinian supporters such as Students for Justice in Palestine hold that Israel has been waging acts of cruelty on the 2.3 million people living in the Gaza Strip since Israel vacated the space in 2005 and imposed what is defined by many as illegal air, land and sea blockades. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. The United Nations Human Rights Office said Thursday that it condemned the actions against civilians on both sides, called for a truce and urged the international community to address the root causes of the violence in the region, which has been ongoing since the middle of last century. This amounts to collective punishment, United Nations' officials said in a statement. There is no justification for violence that indiscriminately targets innocent civilians, whether by Hamas or Israeli forces. This is absolutely prohibited under international law and amounts to a war crime. In retaliation for Saturday's attack, the Israeli Defense Force launched air strikes and has cut off deliveries of food, water electricity and fuel to Gaza. The lack of those basic necessities already is leading to dire thirst and starvation and that any condemnation of violence is vapid, one speaker said. The group called for the end of occupation of Gaza, which they say is the only way to peace. Supporters of Israel, such as Kobi Chumash, executive director of Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs and a former Israeli soldier, said Israels military has not done anything along the lines of what Hamas did last weekend. Its unbelievable, shocking and barbaric, he said. Civilians were the target in the most brutal way by slaughtering them. Its similar to what happened in the attack of 9/11 on the United States. One presenter who opened her part of the program with the words Peace be with you in Arabic, which she said is her first language and that of Palestine, cried as she said the U.S. has spent billions on supplying weapons and other military equipment to Israel. My tax dollars are paying for the killing of my siblings, she said. Chumash and other supporters of Israel say Hamas wants to destroy Israel, not free Gaza. The Students for Justice in Israel club was approved by the Colorado College Student Government Association in 2019, according to campus officials, although the club does not appear on the list of active clubs on campus, said spokeswoman Alexa Gromko. Clubs can receive funding from the school if they meet the requirements of a freedom of expression policy and follow the schools code of conduct, she said. This is an educational institution, and we support the right of everyone to learn and express themselves, Gromko said. In the spring semester this year a swastika was painted on the Colorado College campus in a public alleyway near the Interfaith House, according to campus chaplain the Rev. Kate Holbrook, who wrote a commentary on the anti-Semitic gesture. The action was "hurtful, causing harm to members of our Jewish community and to everyone who values human life and justice," she wrote. "The symbol is threatening and an affront to our sense of community and our collective values, including respecting every person's dignity and worth." Kaiser Permanente has reached a tentative agreement with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 105 and the 3,000 workers represented by the union in Colorado. SEIU announced the agreement Friday, saying the negotiations include a wage increase, protections against outsourcing jobs and funding for education. This agreement is nothing short of historic, Stephanie Felix-Sowy, president of SEIU Local 105, said in a press release. Its a massive step in the right direction towards truly addressing the crisis in patient care and reducing wait times. Last week, workers in Colorado joined more than 70,000 Kaiser employees across the country in a three-day strike the largest health care work stoppage in American history. Kaisers contract with the union expired on Sept. 30. The 3,000 union members in Colorado represent roughly half of the 6,800 Kaiser employees in the state. The health system remained open during the strike. Now, theyve won unprecedented raises and the protections and investment needed to begin safely staffing these facilities for quality patient care, Felix-Sowy said. Andrew Sorensen, a Kaiser spokesperson in Colorado, referred The Denver Gazette to the companys statement, which credited Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su for her instrumental involvement in bringing negotiations to a close. Among the provisions in the agreement: A 21% wage increases over four years and a $23 an hour minimum by 2026. Increased medical benefits for retirees. Protections against outsourcing union jobs in Colorado. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. We fought and sacrificed for our patients, and together we won, Patricia Johnson-Gibson, vice president of healthcare at SEIU Local 105, said in a statement. Johnson-Gibson added: We fought to keep health care workers from leaving Kaiser and to bring new folks in. We fought so patients dont have to wait months for a simple procedure. We fought so we can do the work we love, provide the best care we possibly can, and not just survive, but actually thrive in Colorado. Kaiser employees in Colorado have characterized the need for the strike over whats been called unfair labor practices and a staffing crisis that union members have said has led to months-long waits and delayed care. The staffing crisis is not unique to Kaiser. Colorado is expected to face a shortage of 54,000 lower wage health care workers and more than 10,000 registered nurses over the next three years. To address this, Kaiser has committed to hiring 10,000 union-represented jobs nationally, an unknown number of which will be in Colorado. The sticking point in the negotiations was pay with the union originally asking for an across-the-board 7% increase. Kaiser had offered a 3.5% increase for Colorado workers and a $21 minimum wage for employees next year. Many of the front-line workers who joined the strike earn less than $25 an hour. With 75,000 workers in five states and Washington D.C. having joined the picket line, the work stoppage has the distinction of being the largest in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The previous record was set in 2018 when 53,000 workers in California had a two-day strike, federal data shows. SEIU last authorized but did not employ a strike in 2019. Kaiser has reached agreements with the union for the past 26 years without a labor strike. Kaiser Permanente operates 30 medical offices along the Front Range, including three in Colorado Springs, that serve more than 500,000 patients annually. Unionized workers are expected to ratify the agreement next with an effective date of Oct. 1, according to Kaiser. Theyre the things that go bump in the night; beasts that may be grotesque and harmful to humans. These monsters may be real or they might be a trick of the mind. The fear is in the unknown. Its how many would describe cryptids, creatures which are known to humans mostly in stories passed down through generations, or conjured up by the imagination, but havent been widely proven to exist by modern science or factually based evidence. What is a cryptid? According to Merriam-Webster, a cryptid is: an animal (such as Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster) that has been claimed to exist but never proven to exist. Cryptids are present in everyday folklore no matter what time of the year it is. But with monsters and the supernatural at the forefront of our consciousness as Halloween approaches, heres a look at some of Colorados most famous cryptids: Navajo skin-walkers Southwest Colorado In Navajo culture, a skin-walker is a type of harmful witch who can turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal or another humanoid form. While traditional healers or shaman are seen in Navajo culture as good, skin-walkers are known as evil and must commit an evil act, such as the murder of a loved one, to transform or gain the skin-walker knowledge and abilities. Skin-walkers are pointed to by some as the cause of a string of livestock mutilation events in the 1970s which prompted Colorados then-senator Floyd Haskell to ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation to get involved. Tommy Knockers Idaho Springs Tommy knockers are a Cornish legend brought to the United States when miners first worked in Pennsylvania and then made their way west during the gold rushes of the 1800s. Tommy Knockers are dwarf-like creatures which knock on the walls of mines to warn of a cave-in, point to riches, or cause a cave-in, depending on the legend. In some variations of the story, the Tommy Knockers arent living creatures, but instead the souls of deceased miners, such as those buried within the Phoenix Gold Mine in Idaho Springs. In present day, Tommy Knockers are the de facto mascot of Tommy Knocker Brewery and Pub in Idaho Springs, one of the prime craft beer destinations in Colorado. Big Foot Various locations throughout Colorado Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Also known as Sasquatch, Big Foot is an ape or human-like creature known to be covered in hair or fur and has been purportedly spotted in remote wooded areas throughout North America. But the large creature has also been part of Colorado legends. The Big Foot legend can be attributed to as early as pre-historic times before European settlers arrived in North America. On the Tule River Indian Reservation in California, petroglyphs created by a tribe of Yokuts at a site called Painted Rock are alleged by some to depict a group of Bigfoot called the Family. One of the most notable examples of a Big Foot creature being spotted in Colorado is the Big Foot of Bailey. Believers of that legend claim this particular Big Foot is not an earthly creature but a supernatural one, who travels via an alien portal that is sourced by a sacred Native American tree in the area. The Vampire of Lafayette Lafayette In the old municipal cemetery of Lafayette lies the grave of Theodore Todor Glava, known to be a miner from Eastern Europe who died during the influenza pandemic of 1918. Little is known when the myth began, or where it originated, but Glavas grave earned the reputation of being that of a vampire over the years due to the gravestones mention of Transylvania. The region in Romania has become synonymous with Vlad the Impaler and Count Dracula. The gravestone also features the word trandofir, the Romanian word for rose. In the center of the grave, a Jupiter tree has sprouted. The legend attributes this to the stake which was driven through Glavas heart when local townspeople exhumed the body and found blood near the mouth and that the nails were still growing (now known as part of the natural decay process). Believers say that a shadowy figure thought to be Glava can be spotted at the cemetery at night. Skeptics would say hes an unfortunate victim of xenophobia and vampire hysterias which surrounded pandemics during the 1800s and early 1900s, like the influenza which caused his death. Slide Rock Bolter Southwest Colorado The slide rock bolter is supposedly a fish-like creature that lives in mountainous regions of Colorado with slopes over 45 degrees. According to legends, the animal had a hooked tail and preyed on tourists. One of the first accounts of the slide rock bolter comes from a 1910 novel, The Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods by William T. Cox. According to the legend, the creature is said to have been destroyed by an explosion after a local forest ranger tricked it into colliding into a barrel of gun powder and fulminated caps which destroyed half the buildings in Rico, Colorado. The real town of Rico still exists today in the southwest corner of the state but has a population of less than 300 according to the most recent census. After the Woodland Park School District accused a local teachers union of trying to foster hatred of America among students, both supporters and critics of recent school board policies came out in force during its regular meeting Wednesday evening. Last week, 81 district teachers and staff a portion of whom are affiliated with the Woodland Park Education Association publicly condemned recent decisions by the board to adopt the markedly conservative social studies curriculum standard American Birthright; to govern teachers' ability to post on social media or speak with the press; and to refuse $1.5 million in grants to retain its social and behavioral health workers. Superintendent Ken Witt responded forcefully in a statement released later that day, calling the gathering a "union tactic to again dredge up" previously addressed issues. Much of the division among parents and residents in Woodland Park centers on implementation of the American Birthright standard, which was created by the Civics Alliance, a conservative coalition with the stated mission of combating a new civics approach of the progressive left that it says prioritizes activism over the responsibilities of American citizenship. The Colorado State Board of Education shot down a proposal in 2022 that would have adopted American Birthright as the states standard. Those opposing the standard say it fails to prepare students to navigate the world and critically consider different viewpoints and that the district has not confirmed with teachers that the standard is an accredited standard recognized by certain collegiate organizations, like the NCAA. The district added to its pushback on Monday, calling the concerns "patently false," according to an email shared with The Gazette. "The addition of the American Birthright standard to supplement the Colorado Academic standards has improved the depth and breadth of WPSD civics and social studies instruction, to the irritation of those teachers' union affiliates bent on fostering a hatred of America in our youth," the email said. Well over 100 people were lined up outside the district administration building 45 minutes before the meeting began Wednesday, with 33 casting their name into a basket in hopes of being one of 15 allowed to address the board during the public comment segment. In multiple instances during the meeting, critics and supporters of the board shouted over each other while calling for each other to be removed from the room. Logan Ruths, a critic of the board's leadership, was removed from a June meeting after a 3-second comment. Lindsay Orellana, a teacher of 20 years with the district, told Witt that the district's statement "deeply attacked" her and her husband, who she said immigrated to the U.S. and became a citizen after enduring constant threats and attacks from gang activity as a child in El Salvador. "We have raised our children to know what it means to grow up in a place where you can say what you think ... I love my country," Orellana said. "Because of my husband's experience, I know what life can look like without these freedoms and it is my responsibility to protect them." Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Kim Morris said her family feels "survivors' guilt" after transferring her two children from Woodland Park to the Manitou Springs School District this school year. "As longtime district parents, my husband and I could no longer allow our children to be used by this board as educational guinea pigs and political pawns," Morris said. "You sound petulant, petty and perverse," Morris said about the district's email. "Let's be honest, that horse is dead, and you are fools." Woodland Park Education Association President Nate Owen, a registered Republican, said the issue is nuanced and that the board has continued to lump the local union with recent controversial views on capitalism held by the Colorado Education Association, despite the WPEA publicly breaking from the state union on such views. Others backed American Birthright and other board decisions, thanking the board for better reflecting the conservative values held by most Woodland Park residents than previous boards. "I am very proud of the new school board that we have in place that upholds the rule of law and the protection of education for our children (by) protecting their minds from wrong ideology," resident Cynthia Behr said. Aaron Helstrom, a district parent representative on the 2022-2023 School District Accountability Committee, backed the board's defense of "traditional" civics and encouraged the board to fully listen to take teachers' grievances seriously. "What you're doing with the American Birthright is the right move, our students need to know what it means to be an American," Helstrom said. "Know that we support you, but now it's time to step up and start taking the dissenting voices." Though the grievances were not heard as agenda items, board president David Rusterholtz asked frustrated teachers to meet with him in coming weeks. "I'm serving another two years on the school board, and I want to make up for deficiencies that I personally have had and would really like to hear from you," Rusterholtz said. "Thank you for your service to our kids, our community and ultimately to our nation. You're doing a good job and I appreciate it." Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and host of The Jimmy Sengenberger Show Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on News/Talk 710 KNUS. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on Twitter (X) @SengCenter. Gov. Jared Polis and economist Arthur Laffer will face Rep. Rose Pugliese and Michael Fields in a debate on Oct. 23 over the proposal to use Taxpayer's Bill of Rights dollars for property tax relief. A domed, concrete water tank Colorado Springs Utilities is building in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, visible from the Flying W Ranch on Aug. 17, 2023. The city issued a stop work order on the project Aug. 30. The timing could not be any better for those who want to see major changes in how Colorados funeral industry operates. Lawmakers will have before them in 2024 a sunset review of the states funeral home industry, which legislators hope will include strong recommendations that could prevent the kinds of problems seen in the industry recently. Should that sunset review not include those recommendations, the state's Department of Regulatory Agencies is already doing a review for funeral service professionals, which would determine whether there is a need to regulate the profession. On Oct. 4, at least 115 improperly stored bodies were found at the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose. The facility's license expired last November, according to the state's Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration. The discovery has led to investigations by the FBI, the Fremont County sheriff and Colorado Bureau of Investigation. A day later, the state regulatory agency suspended the company's ability to operate as a funeral home under the state's mortuary science code. Whether criminal charges will come for the owner of Return to Nature, Jon Michael Hallford of Colorado Springs, is yet to be determined. There are no state-mandated standards for those who work in funeral homes or crematoriums. While the situation at the Return to Nature facility in Penrose is alarming, the tragedy may have a silver lining: Colorado may finally take the steps to start licensing its funeral home directors and employees to ensure theyre professionally trained. Colorado is the only state out of the 50 that does not require its funeral home and crematorium employees to receive any kind of professional training or education. Under current state law, there are no professional standards work in a funeral home or crematorium. Those facilities must be licensed as businesses, but that does not include any requirement about the experience or education of the employees. In lieu of licensing, the Colorado Funeral Directors Association maintains credentialing. That's offered through the Colorado Funeral Service Board, which is run by the association. But thats a private matter, and the state doesnt require people who want to get into the funeral business to apply for those credentials. Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. The state does have the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration, run by the Department of Regulatory Agencies. That division regulates funeral homes and crematoriums, investigates complaints and issues disciplinary actions against businesses that violate the states Mortuary Science Code. The database shows actions taken only against businesses, not against individuals. The divisions most recent list of disciplinary actions against mortuaries and crematoriums shows that out of more than 300 funeral homes listed many with multiple locations and licenses there have been more than 140 disciplinary actions taken. They range from cease and desist orders, suspension of the states license to operate or referrals to the Office of Administrative Courts for further legal action. The lack of regulation over the operators and employees is causing lawmakers to take notice. Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Eagle, was part of a quartet of bipartisan lawmakers last year who sponsored a law to require more frequent inspections of funeral homes and crematoriums. That legislation was in response to the sale of body parts by the owners of Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors facility in Montrose. The owners, Megan Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, pled guilty to stealing and selling body parts. Hess got 20 years in prison, the maximum allowed. Koch was sentenced to 15 years. The problem of bad actors in the funeral home industry is not a new one, nor has it escaped the attention of the General Assembly. In 2006, lawmakers overwhelmingly approved legislation to require licensure and education for those who work in the funeral industry. But the bill wasnt supported by DORAs executive director, Tambor Williams, and Gov. Bill Owens applied his veto pen to the measure. Two years after that veto, Darin Barry wrote a letter to the editor, pointing out he went from being a Walgreens manager to a full fledged manager and mortician of a Colorado funeral home and was embalming, cremating and arranging funeral plans in three days with absolutely no prior experience. Barry, whose concerns also extended to the exposure to toxins for funeral home employees, added that: Colorado has more oversight for a haircut than embalming, cremation and handling of dead bodies, which can become a deadly avenue for the spread of infectious disease." Roberts told Colorado Politics on Thursday he is already seeking a bill title for the 2024 session, depending on what the Department of Regulatory Agencies recommends with regard to the industry. He noted the Funeral Directors Association is fully supportive of licensure. Roberts said the association's program could serve as a model for state regulation of the profession, adding there is no need to recreate the wheel. Funeral directors need a basic level of training and certification, Roberts said. They should have to take a test to get a license, followed by continuing education and recertification to provide a general level of professionalism, he added. Roberts pointed out 99% of the funeral homes do a good job, "but these bad apples put a stain on the whole industry. I hope DORA agrees its time to do a sunrise and formalize this, and hes happy to put legislation toward that. But if the agency doesnt make that recommendation, I will continue conversations on how to prevent another Penrose from happening. Roberts said he intends to work on that legislation with Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, who was one of the bipartisan quartet who worked on the 2022 law. Soper told 9News Monday that seeing what's happened here in the Fremont County case to me just ignites the fire to move full speed ahead in that direction. An Osage man who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in August is scheduled to be sentenced in Mitchell County District Court on Monday. Nathan James Gilmore, 24, was originally charged with first-degree murder on Aug. 22, 2022, for allegedly killing 29-year-old Angela Bradbury of Mason City. The second-degree murder charge carries a 50-year prison sentence and is a forcible felony requiring at least 70% of the sentence to be served. Court filings state a human skull was found at the Cedar River Greenbelt Trail Park near Mitchell on Feb. 4, 2022. A body was later located nearby April 5, 2022, and identified as Bradbury. Gilmore allegedly picked up Bradbury in Cerro Gordo County near the correctional facility April 6, 2021, and drove her to a home in Mason City. Bradbury later voluntarily left with Gilmore to travel to St. Ansgar where Gilmore lived. Bradbury was not heard from again. Department of Motor Vehicle records and cellphone evidence led officials to Gilmore, who also had been at the scene when the remains were discovered and had already given a statement to police. A forensic review of Gilmore's phone turned up disturbing messages in which Gilmore vaguely describe details of a stabbing death. Another search turned up what appeared to be a drawing of a satanic goat head along with a series of numbers. The drawing had blood droplets on it, and the numbers corresponded with the date Bradbury went missing as well as the latitude and longitude coordinates of the Green Belt trail. The sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Students in Mason City had the opportunity this week to learn all the work and dedication that goes into being a firefighter, along with important tips on fire safety and prevention that could save lives. While students in the earlier grades were paid a visit to their classrooms by the firefighters, third-grade students from Jefferson Elementary got to visit the fire station in person. Students, including those Sarah Mariner's class, were taken on a tour through the station, with teaching stations set up to allow the students to see the functions of the fire engines and ambulances up close, along with demonstrations of putting on protective gear, and a look at the firefighter's living and recreation areas. "They were super excited to come to the fire station; up until third grade, the firefighters come to the school, so this is the first time a lot of them have been here in-person for fire safety week," said Mariner. Firefighters Tom Wollner and Logan McGillivray demonstrated putting on each piece of the heavy equipment used when battling fires. "You wear your jackets in the winter to keep warm, but we need ours to keep cool," Wollner told the students. "Sometimes a fire can get hotter than 350 degrees, and that's the temperature that'll bake a pan of cookies." While demonstrating putting on his oxygen apparatus, McGillivray said, "I'll bet your backpacks at school don't weigh 60 to 80 pounds." The students also were able to witness firsthand the strength of the camaraderie shared by those who serve as firefighters, as the visit happened to occur on the day a former MCFD lieutenant was laid to rest. On Tuesday, the MCFD honored the late Lieutenant James "Jim" Johnson, who died earlier this month. Johnson, who served on the department from 1961 to 1981, was given a transport to his final resting place in the antique Number #2 engine, with students joining the firefighters in saluting the funeral procession as it passed the firehouse. "Although none of our current members worked with Lt. Johnson, the union members of Mason City Firefighters Local #41 are saddened to hear of his passing. May our brother be at peace and watch over us," said the firefighter's union in a condolence statement. Deputy Chief and Fire Marshal Jamey Medlin said that the department is "always excited" to welcome students for fire prevention week, and hopes that they bring home important lessons about how to prepare for and prevent emergencies. "The biggest thing has got to be smoke detectors in the house," said Medlin, about the most important tool in fire safety: early detection. "First, [the detector] obviously has to be there, but they have to be in working order. Make sure to check the battery. If it starts chirping because of a low battery, you must replace it. Don't just set it aside and forget about it. Every fire that I've ever been to, I've never had to do a rescue in a building that's had working smoke alarms." "We hope the kids take this home and talk to their parents about their smoke detectors, their escape plan, their meeting spot outside," said Medlin. "Work with your children on that, and it's not only children; adults too need to have these plans in place." The MCFD is holding its annual open house from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at the fire station, 350 Fifth St. S.W. The public is invited for tours and live demonstrations from the firefighters, along with fun activities for all ages. Close For fire safety prevention month, the Mason City Fire Department hosted and visited students from Mason City Schools, discussing all the work and dedication that goes into being a firefighter, along with sharing important tips on fire safety and prevention that could potentially save lives. Logan McGillivray of the Mason City Fire Department demonstrates putting on his ventilator mask to third-graders from Jefferson Elementary on Tuesday. Logan McGillivray of the Mason City Fire Department demonstrates putting on his ventilator mask to third-graders from Jefferson Elementary on Tuesday. Outside the Mason City firehouse, firefighters Tom Wollner and Logan McGillivray demonstrate to third-graders from Jefferson Elementary the process of putting on each piece of the heavy equipment used when battling fires. For fire safety prevention month, the Mason City Fire Department hosted and visited students from Mason City Schools, discussing all the work and dedication that goes into being a firefighter, along with sharing important tips on fire safety and prevention that could potentially save lives. Photos: MCFD instructs students on fire safety, prevention In a demonstration to third graders from Jefferson Elementary, Mason City firefighters Tom Wollner and Logan McGillivray demonstrate putting on each piece of the heavy equipment used when battling fires. For fire safety prevention month, the Mason City Fire Department hosted and visited students from Mason City Schools, discussing all the work and dedication that goes into being a firefighter, along with sharing important tips on fire safety and prevention that could potentially save lives. Logan McGillivray of the Mason City Fire Department demonstrates putting on his ventilator mask to third-graders from Jefferson Elementary on Tuesday. Logan McGillivray of the Mason City Fire Department demonstrates putting on his ventilator mask to third-graders from Jefferson Elementary on Tuesday. Outside the Mason City firehouse, firefighters Tom Wollner and Logan McGillivray demonstrate to third-graders from Jefferson Elementary the process of putting on each piece of the heavy equipment used when battling fires. For fire safety prevention month, the Mason City Fire Department hosted and visited students from Mason City Schools, discussing all the work and dedication that goes into being a firefighter, along with sharing important tips on fire safety and prevention that could potentially save lives. Across the state, monuments conveying symbols of the Confederacy still dot the landscape. While some have been removed in the years since George Floyds death at the hands of Minnesota police, many still stand. Overall, 48 Confederate memorials were removed last year across the United States, with 33 states still having at least one, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the use of the iconography and advocates for removal. Virginia led the U.S. in taking down symbols, which Rivka Maizlish, a senior research analyst for the center, said reflects momentum in Virginia. A lot of this happens when theres people on the ground really dedicated to saying this is not what we want our state or community to be about, she said. Removals in the Lynchburg and Danville regions, however, have been rare. The Southern Poverty Law Centers database of Confederate monuments lists just three for the Hill City an obelisk and street honoring Jubal Early and the Confederate monument atop downtowns Monument Terrace, but more remain tucked in cemeteries, parks and other public locales. An obelisk at Old City Cemetery, for example, was erected in 1869 as the first public monument in the Hill City and remains the oldest Confederate cemetery monument in Virginia, said Ted Delaney, Lynchburgs chief public history officer. About this series The killing of George Floyd three years ago resulted in the removal of Confederate statues and symbols in numerous communities across Virginia. In a three-part series, we look at which ones remain and what comes next. Part one: More than 100 of Virginias Confederate memorials have come down. But the process has been complex. Part two: How statues created mythological characters from Confederate generals. Part three: In the Lynchburg region, less movement towards dismantling iconography In about 1890, Early Street was named for the former Virginia state delegate who served as a major general in the Confederate States Army. An obelisk honoring Early was erected in 1920 at the intersection of Fort and Memorial avenues. In 1913, a monument to the Second Virginia Cavalry was placed at the site where the cavalry was organized, which remains in its original spot in midtowns Miller Park. But perhaps Lynchburgs most famous Confederate monument is the one atop Monument Terrace, a site dedicated to memorializing Lynchburgs war history. Erected in 1900, the monument stands above the rest at its position on Court Street looking toward the citys former courthouse. While the marker is dedicated to honoring the Confederacy, it is not of a specific person, but rather a generic soldier. In Danville, the statue of Harry Wooding, the citys longest-serving mayor who fought for the Confederacy, stands before Danvilles City Hall. An inscription installed in 1942 points to Woodings year of service to the Confederacy. In Amherst County, the NAACP branch has called a Confederate monument on the grounds of the county courthouse an anomaly and has spoken out against wording on the accompanying plaque stating the Souths cause was noble. The NAACP has asked the county supervisors to address the inscription and its presence on county property, while some have publicly defended it. The supervisors havent discussed the matter in an open meeting. In Bedford County, a large obelisk installed in 1909 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy stands before the countys courthouse. With the only notable conversation about its removal taking place in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, the statue remains a fixture in front of the judicial building. Its history The removal of such imagery has been contentious across the U.S., and several states, including Tennessee and North Carolina, have put in place preservation laws to block such moves. Over the past three years, monuments have remained in place in the Lynchburg and Danville regions with little push to remove them. Danvilles government formed the Mayors Subcommittee on Monuments in 2020 to examine whether to remove its statue, though no recommendations came, said Mayor Alonzo Jones. Vice Mayor Gary Miller, assigned to chair the subcommittee, said the topic has not been discussed lately. We never got off the ground, said Miller, a member of the Danville branch of the NAACP. Richmond served as the capital of the Confederacy during the majority of the Civil War, but Southside supported the Confederacy. Danville is known as the last capital of the Confederacy after President Jefferson Davis fled Richmond with his cabinet and arrived April 3, 1865. The Sutherlin Mansion, now home to the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, housed Jefferson for a week before he fled south. Flown there was a reproduction of a Confederate flag officially known as the Third National Flag of the Confederacy until Aug. 6, 2015. The flag was removed after Danville City Council approved an ordinance allowing only the city, state and national flags flown on city-owned property. After that, private residents began putting up Confederate flags, including an 80-foot-wide flag, the worlds largest Confederate flag reproduction next to U.S. 29 in Blairs. In Chatham stands a statue erected in 1899 to honor soldiers killed in the war, which stands between the Pittsylvania County Courthouse and Sheriffs Office. There are no plans to remove it. To me, it all goes to memorializing the war dead, said Ron Scearce, who represents the Westover District on the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors. You dont have to like the reason we went to war. These guys did fight for the cause they believed in. Pittsylvania County owns the land and the monument after the United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter responsible for it folded years ago. We are not aware of any plans to remove the monument and have never had to adopt any position on the subject, said Bill Guerrant, president of the Pittsylvania Historical Society, which is charged with its maintenance. Anita Royston, president of the Pittsylvania County chapter of the NAACP, wants the statue removed, saying it honors an act of treason and that the Confederacys cause shouldnt be honored any more than Hitlers actions during the Holocaust. There are some folks who say it doesnt matter; its history, Royston said. We may as well have statues of folks being lynched. Why not? Thats history. Royston said her chapter had been talking about getting it taken down, but other things came up and distracted us, she said. Banister Supervisor Robert Tucker Jr., the only Black member of the board of supervisors, said the idea has not come up, and he doesnt plan on proposing it. It represents heritage to some, and it also represents the past, Tucker said. But at the same time, I would advocate for some type of marker or statue to celebrate diversity, in terms of where we are right now and who we are. Pieces of concrete and steel The most prominent of monuments in Lynchburg is the Confederate soldier standing atop Monument Terrace, but its location muddles discussions over whether such monuments should remain or be removed. Monument Terrace being a series of war memorials, I think that really complicates this one here, Delaney said, noting each terrace contains a memorial to the role Lynchburg residents played in war. I think what would happen is, if it did come down, it would be obligatory to replace it with another Civil War monument, because that terrace is meant to represent the Civil War, he added. Its not just as simple as you just remove it and then you move on. Yet, its equally complicated by its positioning. Now, on the other hand, Delaney said, I have heard the people say its even more complicated in the other direction because the courts and the police department are located literally across the streets. And so by placing the monument near those spaces, you complicate it in another way. I dont want to oversimplify it, but the factors that make it complex, I think, is one of the reasons why its still here today. Ultimately, the statue survived a push for removal in the summer of 2020 amid rallies and protests at its feet, in part thanks to then-Mayor Treney Tweedy, a Navy veteran and the citys first Black female mayor, who was adamant the city had too many other concerns to worry about pieces of concrete and steel. Tweedy was unable to be reached for comment, but several community members still echo Tweedys words there are far more problems to be concerned about than monuments in public spaces. Ramona Battle, a board member of the Lynchburg Museum and The Legacy Museum of African American History, said from her perspective, I dont think people of color give it much thought now because there are so many other issues that need to be dealt with. Im not saying its a forgotten issue; its just not a priority right at this moment. We know why those monuments were created and erected, and that was at a time when people wanted to remind other folks, Hey, were still in control, she added. Battle said she feels as if the Confederate monuments stand in juxtaposition of how typical statues and monuments are erected, explaining, Monuments are erected in honor of someone who has contributed greatly in some way. But I dont believe those monuments were erected with that thought in mind. For her, the monuments have always been a reminder of a very cruel and inhumane system of forced servitude. Those who fought to keep their livelihood thought they were doing it because it was their heritage. We, on the other hand, thought the Civil War was different, and that was for freedom, she said. Owen Cardwell, one of the first two students to desegregate Lynchburgs all-white E.C. Glass High School in 1962, said the push to remove monuments in 2020 was a distraction, and the statues should remain with the proper contextualization of history. It made it very easy for those who were embracing the so-called Southern Heritage around the statues for them to speak against or disregard the statues that represented the African American community, he said. The truth of the matter, Cardwell added, I think that all of that played into the battles we have now around content, particularly around content in schools that deal with race and America. Cardwell said it comes across as if the message is white Americans living today are responsible for the actions of the past, and that perception is one that needs to change as a part of contextualization. Youre not responsible for what your fore parents did, but you have benefited from it, he said. We need to change the dialogue from denying responsibility to accepting that there have been benefits to one group of people that another group of people did not benefit from. James Coleman, who sat on the Lynchburg City School Board at the time and serves as a bishop at Providence Transformation Church International, similarly focused on the educational and contextualization aspect of the history of the monuments. Education is another hotspot of race right now, and the question is often, How much should we know about the past? he said. How can we help if we dont really understand the dynamic that various people have had to deal with? Coleman added that while the argument for many comes down to hate versus heritage, the reality is, we will never find a path to heal unless we truly know each others struggles. A lesson to teach Lynchburg Civil War historian Clifton Potter, who also is a member of the Sons of Union Veterans, spoke on the importance of the monuments as a reminder of where we came from and where we dont want to go again. We were not one people; we were separated, Potter said. This reminds us, its a lesson for us to never do it again. ... Those monuments remind us that we almost destroyed something that was so unique in world history, and we must never let that happen again. Potter, who noted Lynchburg now has as many recognitions of Union army history as Confederate, said that while the Confederate monuments first came about at the turn of the 21st century because people wanted to honor the loved ones whom they never knew, or those who never came home from war, the monuments now take on a different meaning. Im a historian, he said. You cannot change history that has happened. You cant run away from it; you cant hide it; you cant change it. And now they are not only part of memorializing the Confederate dead. They are part of the history of the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. Moving forward, Coleman said the table needs to be opened for a dialogue on heritage versus hate. Cardwell agreed. Its connected to a peoples sense of self; its very emotional and fraught, he said. If we can get past the emotions and talk on a more rational level, I think we can come to a meeting of the minds on this. I dont object to the monuments. I think they represent something, but I think that the representation, though, has to be part of a bigger narrative than the slice that piece of marble and steel represent. Lynchburgs seemingly final decision on the monuments came in December 2021, as the citys African American Cultural Committee presented to Lynchburg City Council on its recommendations on how to honor Black history. The city garnered extensive feedback through community meetings, and, in the document, the committee recommended against removing any of the citys Confederate statues, specifically the one atop Monument Terrace, due to the historical significance it plays in the community despite its controversy. While the debate may spark again, in Lynchburg, the conclusion is one that the monuments history is too deep and nuanced to tear down. As Potter says, attempting to change history is a futile effort. You cannot change history, because it has a lesson to teach, Potter said. Even those monuments that were removed or destroyed, they have a lesson to teach. Its to teach us we must never ever reach the point where we do that again, because the next time, we may not be so lucky. Maizlish, the Southern Poverty Law Center researcher, said the topic wont be going away. I think we will see more come down, Maizlish said. PHOTOS: 40 photos of Richmond's Lee Monument The Luxembourg Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, would like to recall his position on current events in Israel and Palestine, as expressed on RTL Tele on Tuesday 10 October, as well as in a tweet in the early morning hours of Sunday 8 October, just after the start of the terrorist attack: "Minister Asselborn reiterates that he condemns in the strongest possible terms the barbaric terrorist attacks and atrocities committed in recent days by extremist Hamas militants against countless innocent civilians in Israel. Minister Asselborn fully aligns himself with UN Secretary General Guterres who stated that nothing can justify these acts of terror and the killing, maiming and abduction of civilians. The Minister stands by the many victims of these heinous attacks and unequivocally reaffirms Israel's right to defend itself. He calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages. In parallel, Minister Asselborn is also calling for de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities. Like Secretary General Guterres, he is deeply distressed by the announcement of a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, with no electricity, fuel, water or food for 2.3 million civilians, which are trapped and helplessly exposed to the current air raids without shelter. The call by Israel to 1.1 million people in Northern Gaza to evacuate towards the South within 24 hours is deeply troubling. The United Nations have reacted to say that such a movement cannot take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. Minister Asselborn joins the United Nations in strongly appealing 'for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded, avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation'. Jean Asselborn appeals to Israel to act in full compliance with international law and to ensure the protection civilians. The civilian population in Gaza is not Hamas and it cannot be held responsible and punished collectively for the horrors committed by the latter. While it is paramount to ensure that no EU funding is diverted to Hamas, vital humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population has to be maintained. An estimated 220,000 Palestinians are now sheltering in 92 UNRWA facilities across Gaza, in very dire conditions. It is of utmost importance that rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access and safe passage for the civilian population be restored without delay and that fundamental international humanitarian law be respected. As Secretary General Guterres has stressed, the protection of civilians is essential and must be maintained at all times. UN premises and all hospitals, schools and clinics must never be targeted. While Israel must conduct its legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism, humanity and the values of human life and dignity should always be upheld, in accordance with international humanitarian law. As Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on 12 October at the press conference after the meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv: 'We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by striving for a different standard even when it's difficult and holding ourselves to account when we fall short. Our humanity the value that we place on human life and human dignity that's what makes us who we are.' There is a serious risk that this conflict will turn into a regional conflagration, as the United Nations has warned. The recent exchanges of fire along the Blue Line and the recent attacks reported from southern Lebanon are very worrying. Any spillover of the conflict must be prevented. This also applies to the West Bank, where the increase in settler violence and the forced transfer of Palestinian communities has reached alarming levels. Israel, as the occupying power, is bound by international law to ensure the protection of civilians, even when conducting military operations. Finally, Minister Jean Asselborn reiterates that these dramatic events underline the urgency of finding a political settlement to this conflict, which for generations has been a source of misery and grief for both Israelis and Palestinians. A comprehensive, just and lasting peace, based on the two-State solution within the pre-1967 borders, with two democratic States living side by side, while maintaining the status quo on the holy sites of Jerusalem, is the only viable way to achieve this objective. Luxembourg's Foreign Minister remains firmly committed to a peaceful resolution of this conflict that safeguards Israel's right to security, while respecting the Palestinians' right to self-determination. Only a meaningful political process can bring an end to this devastating cycle of violence and senseless loss of life." Released by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Two more members of the Working Class and Houseless Organizing Alliance (WHOA) have been banned from attending Greensboro city council meetings in person for three months, according to Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan. Vaughan said that Del Stone and Billy Belcher have been banned after a protest at the Oct. 3 meeting. The two join Luis Medina, another member of WHOA, in being banned from in-person attendance at council meetings. Stone and Belcher spoke in support of Medina during the Oct. 3 meeting and attributed their protest as a demonstration of support for Medina and outcry against Vaughans policy. Greensboro police officers will deliver notice of Stone and Belchers ban to their respective residences. If any of the three are again deemed to be disruptive by Vaughan, they will receive a longer, six-month ban from attending council meetings in person. Medina, Stone, and Belcher are still allowed to attend council meetings through Zoom or by phone. Vaughan banned Medina after he struck the microphone on the speakers podium while speaking at the Sept. 6 city council meeting. After the Oct. 3 meeting, Vaughan told the News & Record that the city council cant be bullied and that it was predictable that WHOA found a way to challenge them. Were trying to do whats best for 300,000 people. (The protesters) dont represent everyone, Vaughan said. The commotion began after Belcher directly addressed Vaughan during his public comment. Im curious, Belcher said. If I was to bring a bunch of people in here and we started chanting and interrupting your sense of decorum, are you going to send a bunch of cops to every persons house? After Vaughan said the police would indeed serve notice of any bans, Belcher slammed the podium and began chanting, Whose house is this? At least 10 people stood around the chambers, unfurled a large Communist Party USA banner and chanted Our house! for several minutes in response to Belcher, until all were removed by police and security officers. Acting as governor in Roy Coopers absence, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson on Thursday proclaimed North Carolina Solidarity with Israel Week. Robinson, the Greensboro Republican who is running to succeed Cooper as governor in 2024, also designated the hours from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday as a statewide day of prayer to support Israel following the horrific sneak attack last week by Hamas. The United States will stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and its people, said the man who has dismissed the Holocaust as hogwash, among an assortment of other antisemitic posts on social media. As could be expected, Robinsons announcement drew long-distance skepticism from Cooper. Its tragically ironic that someone with a long history of hate speech against Jewish people would take advantage of death and destruction in Israel for his own political purposes, the actual governor, who is in Japan on an economic development trip, posted on social media. Two other candidates running for governor, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, who is Jewish, and Republican State Treasurer Dale Folwell, also took issue with Robinsons nerve. As for how he squares his current sentiments with past ones, Robinson chalked it up to poorly worded Facebook posts. There is no antisemitism standing here in front of you, said Robinson, who in a 2017 post questioned whether 6 million Jews were killed by Nazis. Also, while on a podcast in 2019, Robinson endorsed the notion that Jewish bankers represent one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse China, the CIA and Muslims the other three. Yet, even if Robinsons announcement on Thursday sounded hollow and opportunistic, his calls to support Israel are still worth heeding. Last weekends attack was not an act of war. It was an act of terrorism that was cold, merciless and depraved. Civilians were shot to death while waiting at a bus stop, driving their cars and attending a music festival. Whether victims were old or young, male or female, didnt matter. Every and anyone was a target, including at least 22 Americans who lost their lives. An Israeli Army veteran struggled to grasp the scope of the inhumanity before a vigil Monday at Greensboros Temple Emanuel. Its not understandable how they can do such things, 93-year-old Zev Harel told the News & Records Nancy McLaughlin. Not babies. Not children. Not old people. These are the innocents. Whatever you may think of Robinson, there are bigger issues bigger questions, fears and concerns that are reverberating across the globe. As President Biden has made clear from the start, U.S. support for Israel is a foregone conclusion. Further, Israel has every right to protect itself and to retaliate against its attackers with decisive force. But not indiscriminate force. In the wake of atrocities like these, it is easy to be blinded by rage. Americans who lived through the horrors of 9/11 are well aware of what we felt at that time. With the wisdom of time and hindsight, were also aware of the mistakes we made in the heat of our rage and the two long and costly wars (in lives and treasure) that followed. The temptation to strike with the same brutal disregard for innocents as Hamas might feel cathartic in the moment, but in the long run would only bring only more pain and suffering for Israelis and Palestinian civilians who played no part in the attack. And while some of Israels policies concerning the treatment of Palestinians have been a growing concern, there is no justification for what Hamas has done. None. Rabbi Emeritus Fred Guttman of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro put it well on Monday: I do my best to understand the Palestinian narrative, and as far as the Israeli government is concerned, I tend to be on the left. But not this. This is absolutely horrific, evil. Finally, the crisis in Israel, as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine, underscores the urgent need for our leaders in Washington to do their jobs. The squabbling among Republicans over a new speaker of the House has frozen Congress in its tracks as the world watches and problems mount. As for Mark Robinsons proclamation on Thursday, take seriously the message if not the messenger. And pray for justice, wisdom, mercy ... and hope ... in the Middle East. Steve's Cafe, with two popular Helena locations known for serving up hearty breakfasts and tasty lunches, is for sale. When asked in an interview Oct. 10 why they decided to sell the eateries, co-owner Steven Vincelli pointed to the top of his head. "Gray hair," said Steven, who is in his 70s. He did not disclose the asking price, but said "(W)e're only asking for the amount of profit it makes. This isn't some pie in the sky number." The sale of the restaurants, located at 1225 Custer Ave. and 630 Montana Ave., is anticipated to be listed Monday. Steven and his wife, Penny Vincelli, said they hope to sell to a buyer with experience in the industry who, as Steven put it, "has the same heart for our employees." "Our current employees have been so loyal to us," Steven said. "We want our current employees to know they're secure." Penny nodded her head. "We want them to feel good and secure," she said. "We want them to know the people who come in will make it bigger and better, not smaller." She said the buyer ought to be more than one person. "That's one of the reasons we've been so successful," she said. "I don't think any one person could run both restaurants." The couple opened the restaurant on Custer Avenue in 2009, only a couple of years after they sold the Montana City Grill. "Penny likes breakfast," Steven said. "It's the ideal restaurant if you don't want to deal with booze and late nights, which we didn't." Penny said they used to serve breakfast two days a week in Montana City, and that was always popular. "We had a huckleberry theme there too," Penny said. Steven said even before the cafe days, he made his own sausage, and wanted to incorporate that into the new business. He taught his employees how to operate the equipment, and the sausage is still ground and sleeved in-house. Steven said they also saw an underserved niche in the market. "I didn't feel as though there was any great breakfast place in Helena," he said. By mixing together what they thought were good products with local demand, Steven said they found the right recipe. "We started each restaurant with 10-year leases," he said. "Not a lot of restaurants do that. We were firmly convinced it was a winning concept." The restaurants enjoyed a 13-year run as best breakfast in the Independent Record's annual Best of Helena contest. And they are on several other "best diner" lists as well. "It's a very loyal patronage," Penny said. "The people in this town are very faithful. If you do a good job, they support you." That is the one thing Penny and Steven said they would miss the most, the people, their employees and customers. "We have people who come visit us every summer," Steven said. "They have family in town and tell us it's not a visit unless they come here. That feels good." The couple is not taking their culinary secrets with them into retirement. Included in the purchase price are the recipes for every menu item. "Nothing is prepared in our kitchen without a recipe," Steven said. The idea being the next buyer can pick up right where the couple left off if they so choose. The couple said they have nine grandchildren ranging in age from 8 to 21 years they hope to spend more time with in retirement. "They love to shoot and hunt," Steven said. "I have a woodworking shop where I teach them to woodwork." They also raise Highland cattle on their ranch off Lincoln Road. "We want more time for that too," Penny said. The board of Downtown Helena Inc., a nonprofit group which aims to lure people to the citys historic urban area through events and other promotions, has announced a meeting Tuesday to consider suspending operations in order to reorganize and become fiscally sound. In an email addressed to membership and the Helena community, the board is inviting people to discuss Downtown Helena Inc. (DHI). The meeting is 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at 330 N. Jackson St., and will be held via Zoom https://bit.ly/3LYmT4N. The meeting ID is 838 4872 0784 We will discuss the future of DHI as an organization, the email states. The Board is committed to a vibrant downtown, but after years of instability, long discussions with community partners, and recent deep reflection, we recognize that big changes to the DHI structure are necessary to continue to serve Helena in a manner that helps our community grow. They said they are exploring suspending operations to allow them to assess what the community really values from a downtown organization, and to refocus energy towards creating a modern and collaborative structure. The board said it will vote on this suspension, and welcomes the public to participate in the discussion. Board President Sarah Hamblock said Friday the interests of downtown businesses and community members are at the forefront as this conversation begins. "After discussions with community partners, past board members, and downtown businesses, we see organizational change as the best way forward," she said in an email. "Suspending operations would allow us time to assess what the community values from a downtown organization and what support downtown businesses need most. We look forward to the conversation at our board meeting on Tuesday." Downtown Helena Inc. states on its website that it works with the Helena Business Improvement District to produce Spring and Fall Art Walks, the Alive at Five Summer Series, Kids Fests (spring & fall), Wedding Stroll, Fashion's Night Helena, Little Tykes Trick or Treat, Parade of Lights and Breakfast with Santa. And it joined with Point S Tire & Auto for a downtown soap box derby, which recently had its second year. The board says Downtown Helena Inc. will hold all of its remaining 2023 events as planned. And should the DHI structure change, there will still be businesses that choose to hold events and ways for the community to come together downtown, the email states. We look forward to the new chapter of Downtown Helena, Inc. and hope you will be a part of creating it. Jordan Conley, Downtown Helena Inc.s operations director, announced her resignation in an August email to membership, citing understaffing, prohibitive city regulations and dismissive city staff. She had been with DHI for nearly two years. Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins said at the time the city commission has and continues to support DHI and the citys urban core. And he said assertions that city staff have threatened to not approve future events were not true. DHI board member Megan Helton said in an interview in August the board had decided to pare down the executive directors role to a part-time position, hire a second part-time employee to manage the event planning, and scale Alive at Five down from 12 weekly concerts downtown to six. We are very unsure what the future holds, Helton said. John Dendy, executive director of the Helena Business Improvement District, said it can be confusing as there are two downtown organizations. He said they both work on the same things and share an office, phone and website. He said DHI is a business membership organization and BID represents downtown property owners. We have always worked closely together and supported each other for the benefit of downtown Helena and the Helena community, he said. Through its programs and services, the BID says it works to keep the downtown a beautiful, vibrant and safe place to work, shop, invest, explore, dine and play. No matter what the DHI board decides, the Helena Business Improvement District will continue to support downtown businesses and property owners, Dendy said in an email. Downtown Helena Inc. is a nonprofit business membership organization established in 1964. It states online that its goals are to ensure that local businesses in the Downtown Helena community thrive and have their voices heard. Conley, in her farewell letter, said the association had 164 members, the highest in recent memory. A 2021 annual report posted by Downtown Helena Inc. shows that slightly more than 25% of its income comes from membership dues with the remainder raised through events. It also notes that nearly half of its expenses are for payroll, with much of the remainder going to events and a smaller slice for administration. WASHINGTON Charlie Kirks $4.75 million Spanish-style estate is tucked away in a gated Arizona country club that boasts a guest casita, resort-style pool and striking views of the Sonoran Desert. The Make America Great Again political movement has been lucrative for Kirk, the 29-year-old CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point. The nonprofit rocketed to prominence by latching on to Donald Trumps 2016 campaign and has raised roughly a quarter-billion dollars since. The organization has also enriched Kirk and his allies, according to an Associated Press review of public records, which found top Turning Point officials collected pricey salaries, enjoyed lavish perks and steered at least $15.2 million to companies that they, their friends and associates are affiliated with. But for all that money, Turning Point has struggled to help Republicans win general elections, particularly in their adopted home of Arizona, where their slate of deeply conservative candidates lost statewide races last year. Now Turning Point's leaders are attempting to branch out, pitching a $108 million get-out-the vote campaign that would expand beyond Arizona to Georgia and Wisconsin. That's become a source of frustration for some Republicans who point to the groups limited electoral success as well as the hefty sum they now seek, setting up a potential clash that could complicate the GOPs election efforts next year. Any donor who thinks an organization needs $108 million for a three-state grassroots get-out-the-vote campaign is being taken advantage of, said Erick Erickson, a nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host and frequent Trump critic. It sounds like a grift. In a statement, Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet said none of the groups leaders have inappropriately benefited from their financial arrangements. If anything, he said, many were underpaid for their talents. If the so-called experts know what it takes to build successful ballot chasing teams, why are conservatives apparently so bad at it? Kolvet said. Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the former presidents eldest son. Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Contributions to the group skyrocketed, climbing to $79.2 million in 2022, records show. Compensation also soared, with Kirks climbing from $27,000 in 2016 to more than $407,000 by 2021, tax records show. He bought three high-end properties, all worth over a million dollars. Millions more were paid out to a cluster of companies linked to a handful of group leaders and their allies, according to tax filings and business records. Kolvet said that much of Kirks wealth was derived from his successful podcast and radio show, as well as public speaking fees, though he declined to provide earnings figures. Yet specifics about how exactly Turning Point spends its money and who benefits are often difficult to discern because the IRS does not require nonprofit groups to publicly disclose detailed accounts of their expenditures. Meanwhile, many of Turning Points biggest vendors are limited liability companies that are registered in states that do not require public disclosure of ownership. One branch, the Turning Point Endowment, held more than $55 million in reserve in 2022, while donors were courted to give more. Kolvet said the money was part of Turning Points 50-100 year plan to continue reaching generation after generation of young Americans. He added that the organizations leaders were good stewards of donor money. While building for the future, however, Turning Point has shown a willingness to spend lavishly. In 2019, the group stated that its leaders would travel first-class or by charter plane, explaining later that it was sometimes needed to ensure the uninterrupted success of the organizations mission. In 2021, Turning Point sponsored a wedding reception for Kirk and his wife, Erika Frantzve, at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess luxury hotel, which was also billed as a ninth anniversary celebration and fundraiser for the organization. Kolvet said the event was separate from the couples small wedding ceremony, describing it as an elegant and gracious way for Erika and Charlie to mark a landmark in the life of TPUSA (the 9th anniversary) while also inviting a much larger group of friends and family to celebrate a landmark in their own lives. Other expenditures defy easy explanation. A $999,000 payment was made to a limited liability company in Nevada for a research project on educational outputs, according to 2020 tax documents. The company, called Clocktower LLC, was dissolved in 2022 and the only corporate officer listed in its business filings is the president of a firm that advises on tax avoidance strategies. Any insinuation that anyone at Turning Point benefited from this is defamatory, Kolvet said. CHICAGO Under an abnormally hot October sun, a group of passengers started dancing to September by Earth, Wind & Fire and Dancing Queen by ABBA while singing along to the 70s hits they requested from the DJ during their afternoon boat ride along the Chicago River. Requesting songs and remembering the lyrics was a particularly important part of this special cruise for dementia patients and their caregivers organized by the University of Chicago Memory Center with the help of Senior Living Specialists Chicago. Dr. Kaitlin Seibert, who was a musician before becoming a doctor, works at the Memory Center and said she uses music in her practice. The part of the brain that engages music and creativity is often spared in patients with Alzheimers, she said, so those things are a really great way that patients can still connect. The two-hour Odyssey Chicago River cruise, which touched off at a Streeterville dock on Oct. 3, was assuredly wheelchair-accessible and available at a discount for anyone diagnosed with any form of dementia, as well as their caregivers. With several partner organizations, such as Great Lakes Clinical Trials and Belmont Village Senior Living, the cruise was organized in part by Mike Delaney, whose wife of 51 years, Geri Delaney, died in April after being diagnosed with Alzheimers nearly seven years ago. He said he wanted to be a part of this years cruise because he remembered the care his wife received at UChicago Medicine and how she wasnt at all just a number. Despite his tremendous loss, he said it was important to him to support the work and really give back. I was looking at it through the eyes of someone who was on this journey and yeah, the caregiving gets intense, and you get into a rut, he said. Every day begins to be like the day before. The beauty of something like this cruise is its something new. The caregiver doesnt have to go through a whole lot of planning, and its something for both the caregiver and the person who requires care to just get out and have a good time. The cruise was made dementia-friendly and also ADA accessible in a number of ways, said Tessa Garcia McEwen, licensed clinical social worker at the Memory Center. The boat had outdoor viewing decks at the same level as the indoor seating so passengers were able to see the sights from outside or inside through the glass without having to go up or down any stairs. There was extra time for check-in and boarding as well as a lot of communication with attendees leading up to the event to make sure everyone knew and felt comfortable with the plans. The onboard staff was trained on dementia-friendly practices, McEwen said, such as making eye contact and trying to be straightforward while also understanding that someone with memory challenges is likely sensitive to body language, word choice and tone. Theres so much educational opportunity in dementia care, especially out in the world with different staff, like fast-food chains, because Ive seen people get really frustrated, McEwen said. We almost have to train the world to be more compassionate. The cruise featured music, movement and arts, three things McEwen said are excellent for the brain and can help with quality of life. People on the cruise were encouraged to request their favorite songs and soon began singing along and dancing. The staff passed out adult coloring books because, McEwen said, art is an activity that keeps you calm and works the creative part of the brain that is sometimes retained during memory loss. Mike Delaney recalled that during the lockdown part of the pandemic, when you couldnt get out and do anything, he and his wife got involved with Art Is ... In, a Memory Center program that sent home weekly art kits with all the supplies for a new project for someone with memory loss to do with their caregiver. Geri and I thought it was so cool, and we always felt cared for, Delaney said. Paige Conti, 43, came on the cruise with her mother, Annette Conti, 74, and said it makes a big difference having activities and options. We never really get to do these kinds of things because of her condition, and its nice to have a dementia-friendly environment, Paige Conti said. The idea for the cruise came from a UChicago patient who told McEwen about a cruise she and her husband were going on to Alaska for people with memory changes, McEwen said. She talked to Amy Keefner, with Senior Living Specialists of Chicago, and the two decided to bring a version of the cruise to the Chicago River. The first cruise in 2018 was organized in six weeks and had about 140 people on board. It was scaled back slightly to allow for more space on board, with about 100 people in 2019 and about 115 people this year. The pandemic put the cruise on pause for a few years. In addition to patients from UChicago, there were people on this years cruise who had come from other groups, including local adult day centers and Lorenzos House, which helps families dealing with early-onset dementia. Seibert, who was also on the cruise, said its hard to find dementia-friendly activities, and people dealing with dementia are often left sitting at home. Socialization, sunshine, they get to move to the music, all of these things are really important in dementia care, Seibert said. Ravi Saxena, 50, went on the cruise with his mother, Maria Saxena, 81. She was diagnosed with Alzheimers about three years ago, and Ravi Saxena said it was wonderful to see her getting out and socializing. Maria Saxena spent much of the cruise on the dance floor pulling up almost anyone she could see to dance with her, which her son described as her having a lot of get up and go. It helps me believe that shes actually having fun, Ravi Saxena said. She goes to a day care center and even though she doesnt report back on how things are going there, you can kind of trust that shes doing good out there when you see her doing good in here. Photos: Illinois State Fair political days through the years 2012 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2007 State Fair 2008 State Fair 2008 State Fair 2009 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2005 State Fair 2004 State Fair 2003 State Fair 2003 State Fair 2006 State Fair 2007 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2018 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2021 State Fair 2021 State Fair 2021 State Fair 2021 State Fair LINCOLN After years of financial trouble, Lincoln Christian University will be acquired by Missouri's Ozark Christian College, officials said. The Illinois campus is slated to close next year. The news comes a little over a year after LCU President Silas McCormick announced major changes that included elimination of most undergraduate programs. Instead, he said, the university would offer seven master's degree programs. The changes helped, McCormick wrote in a statement published on the university's website Wednesday but not enough. LCU continued to see a drop in enrollment and donor giving. "There is no small amount of grief behind this news, but it is Christian grief of high order not without hope," he wrote. The closure is another loss for the Logan County community of roughly 13,000. Lincoln College, a private liberal arts college, closed in May 2022 after 157 years. LCU was facing an "overwhelming" $9 million in debt as of fall 2019, according to a statement from Ozark Christian College President Matt Proctor. That number is expected to reach $2.6 million by the end of the academic year, he said, thanks to the hard work of McCormick and others. "When they cease academic operations May 31, 2024, Lincoln Christian University will work to finish paying the remaining amount," Proctor wrote, "but rather than face academic closure under a massive, all-assets-swallowing debt, the Lincoln leadership has instead preserved something of great value to pass on to future generations." Several of the LCU graduate programs the Master of Divinity degree, and Master of Arts degrees in Biblical Studies and Bible and Theology are slated to continue at Ozark Christian College, a small private evangelical institution in the southwestern Missouri city of Joplin. OCC already offers a master's degree in Christian Ministry, which would be merged with Lincoln's graduate-level ministry program. McCormick and Proctor contributed separately to a joint statement published on the Lincoln university's website. The two leaders provided an overview of the situation and path forward, noting that all moves are pending approval by both institutions' accrediting bodies. Among the outlined developments: Ozark Christian College will acquire Lincoln Christian University at the end of the academic year on May 31, 2024. Ozark will pay homage to the institution by retaining its name and offering the graduate-level programs through "Lincoln Seminary at Ozark Christian College." Lincoln Seminary is set to begin operating on OCC's Missouri campus and online on June 1, 2024. OCC will not operate an Illinois campus and "with a few possible exceptions" would not hire staff from the Lincoln institution. Current Lincoln students in the programs that will transfer to Ozark can continue there with a guarantee of no increases in tuition or degree requirements. LCU will help to find new educational "homes" for its students in the remaining undergraduate programs of Christian Ministry and Biblical and Theological Studies, and master's programs in Counseling, Theology and Organizational Leadership. OCC will also take possession of a $3.8 million student scholarship along with the seminary. Lincoln's seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. Ozark's fledgling graduate studies program is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Connections between the two institutions already existed, according to their leaders. Both were founded in the early 1940s. A number of Ozark university leaders and faculty are alumni of the Lincoln seminary and former preachers in Illinois, Proctor said. OCC's undergraduate enrollment in fall 2022 was 619, and its graduate enrollment was 81, according to U.S. News and World Report. This story will be updated. Photos: Lincoln College through the years March 2018 October 2015 January 2020 February 2015 July 2015 February 2015 February 2015 February 2015 February 2015 February 2020 January 2017 THUMBS UP! To the Illinois Heartland Library System Library Crawl. Libraries throughout the state are participating in the annual event. Visitors to participating libraries get a gift, a book, or just a chance to see how libraries operate elsewhere. A map of the participating libraries is available on library websites. THUMBS DOWN! To a lack of pharmacists. Drug and staffing shortages havent gone away. Stores are starting their busiest time of year as customers look for help with colds and the flu, and this fall pharmacists are dealing with a new vaccine and the start of insurance coverage for COVID-19 shots. Many pharmacies, particularly the big chains, still dont have enough workers behind the counter. THUMBS UP! To progress on the Brush College Road grade separation project. Construction began last week and will likely continue through July 2026. Anyone following road upgrades and projects knows the extensive periods of planning and arranging funding can be a lengthy effort, so any kind of progress should be celebrated. The project is considered a necessity to unclog a major bottleneck and unlock additional economic development in the citys major industrial corridor. If you can steer clear of the area, youre going to want to Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe acknowledged traffic is going to be a bit of a mess for the next two years. THUMBS DOWN! To more missteps. Marc Smith, the most recent head of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, will be stepping down at the end of the year. Last month, he states auditor general issued a scathing report on the agency that cited significant delays in reporting abuse and neglect to required individuals and agencies. Last year, Smith was held in contempt of court a number of times for violating court orders to find children appropriate placements in a timely manner. The department continues to be an embarrassment, as it has been most of the 21st century. Smith is the agencys 15th leader since 2003. THUMBS DOWN! To the old bugaboo of gas prices. Average U.S. pump prices are still well below the record $5 per gallon seen in summer 2022, but theyre up from a year ago. Oil costs are keeping gas prices high even as driving demand drops with the end of summer vacations and plentiful gasoline stocks, according to auto club AAA. THUMBS DOWN! To another heat record. After a summer of record-smashing heat, warming somehow got even worse in September as Earth set a new mark for how far above normal temperatures were. Last months average temperature was 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1991-2020 average for September. Thats the warmest margin above average for a month in 83 years of records kept by the European Space Agencys Copernicus Climate Change Service. We mention this not because anyone reading can do anything to battle the crisis, but to continue to make people aware of what can be coming as global warming continues. THUMBS DOWN! To circumstances leading to stores closing. Nine Target stores around the country will close next week. The company cited theft and safety as the reasons. Closing stores is an extreme measure to combat crime and safety concerns, but the belief that those measures are needed sinks confidence and lends credulity to those states designing laws to crack down on shoplifting. A potential side effect is as corporations ask workers to come back to the office, it might shock those returning to see fewer services and stores. Yadkinville is losing one of its two grocery stores with the closing of Lowes Foods by Oct. 31. The store is at 948 S. State St., the Winston-Salem chain said Wednesday. Lowes didnt provide comment beyond stating that Yadkinville store employees will be given opportunities to transfer to other locations in the Triad. Yadkinville still has a Food Lion location at 616 S. State St., as well as smaller grocery stores. It saddens me to hear that the Lowes Foods in Yadkinville will be closing, said Kevin Austin, chairman of Yadkin County Board of Commissioners. I enjoy their clean store and friendly service. This has been rumored for a while and may be the impetus for the expected Food Lion expansion just north on State Street. Lowes also announced that it has sold its location in Stuart, Va., to Food Country. The Lowes news release includes news of opening a fifth store in the Charleston, S.C., market in Summerville in 2025. The Summerville store will be 50,887 square feet and anchor a new retail center between two large Berkeley County residential developments. Lowes also said it will enter Georgia for the first time with its acquisition of the Foothills IGA Market store in Marble Hill. Although the store will operate as IGA for the next few months, it is scheduled to convert to Lowes in early 2024. Lowes Foods is deeply committed to providing an exceptional shopping experience for our guests at all our store locations, Lowes Foods president Tim Lowe said. Our coming stores in Summerville and Georgia will be important areas of growth for our company, and were excited about our continuing expansion in those markets. We also are pleased that Food Country has agreed to work to retain our employees in Stuart as our store there becomes part of the Food Country brand. Lowes also has opened within the past 12 months stores in Concord, Indian Land, Kannapolis, Pittsboro and Winterville. The Charlotte-area stores doubles Lowes store presence from three to six in the 11-county Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord metro counting existing stores in Harrisburg, Huntersville and Mooresville. Yet, Lowes hasnt committed to a re-entry inside Charlottes city limits. Lowes pulled out of the market in July 2012 by selling 10 stores to rival Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc. in exchange for six Harris Teeter stores mostly outside the Charlotte metro. The metro includes Anson, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan and Union counties in North Carolina, and Chester, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina. Indian Land is in Lancaster, S.C., just south of the Ballantyne community in south Charlotte. When West Point accepted its first class in 1802, a mere 10 students assembled in a handful of haphazard buildings. New students interested in joining the ranks were admitted at any time throughout the year with few questions. Then came the War of 1812, and Congress, hungry for military success, installed Thayer to whip the academy into shape. By 1826, Thayer had done just as he was commanded. Advertisement Until Christmas Eve, that is. That's when students broke out their secret stash of liquor: about four gallons of the cheapest whiskey they could find. They'd lugged it across the Hudson River and bribed a guard to bring it onto campus, where they hid it among their personal effects. Imagine: whiskey in boots, coat pockets, under mattresses and blankets, until the moment it was hastily mixed with eggs, milk and a few spices to become eggnog the Colonial equivalent of a Jaeger Bomb. (Watch the video below for an idea of what might've been in the mix.) "There are a lot of different theories as to how eggnog came about, but there's a solid consensus that Medieval Europe played a large role in its creation," says Cyrus Roepers of Arousing Appetites, a food blog focused on recreating traditional recipes from cuisines all over the world. "Many believe that eggnog is an offshoot of an old drink called posset, which is hot milk curdled with wine or brandy, and some added spices." Originally, says Roepers, posset was the preferred drink of the Old World's 1 percenters. But it didn't take long before this beverage of wealthy nobility became popular with the average person and hopped continents. As non-nobles in the New World began owning land and livestock, they started using readily available ingredients, like milk, eggs and liquor, to whip up their own grog. "Brandy and wine remained a European luxury, however, so Americans replaced it with the much more available, cheaper rum, thanks to their Caribbean neighbors," says Roepers. And, as West Point cadets discovered, whiskey was an acceptable substitute, too. CONCORD The Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau hosted state and local elected officials prior to the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord during the second annual Legislative Reception. Co-hosted with North Carolina Sen. Paul Newton, the gathering served as a time for the CCCVB and its board of directors along with other hospitality leaders in the community to connect with representatives and showcase the significant contributions of Cabarrus Countys tourism industry. In addition to being the official destination marketing organization of Cabarrus County, the CVB also plays a role in destination management and advocates for tourism in order to grow and sustain a thriving travel industry, said Cabarrus County CVB President and CEO Donna Carpenter. Were extremely fortunate to have unmatched experiences here and we take pride in fostering a destination that will generate positive economic impact to benefit our community and our state for years to come. Recent data shared by Visit North Carolina shows that in 2022, the travel and tourism industry directly employed more than 4,410 people in Cabarrus County, total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Cabarrus was $157.8 million, and state and local tax revenues totaled $37.7 million from travel to Cabarrus. Domestic and international visitors to and within Cabarrus County spent $566.74 million in 2022, an increase of 17.9% from 2021, making Cabarrus Countys the ninth highest visitor spending growth rate in the state. We are blessed to have such a diverse economy in Cabarrus County, said Newton. Our first-in-class CVB organization did a wonderful job showcasing one of Speedway Motorsports top events. The ROVAL 400 festivities featured our local travel and tourism industry at its best! Organized through partnerships with the North Carolina Travel Industry Association (NCTIA), NC Tourism Coalition and Charlotte Motor Speedway, the reception took place as fans from all 50 states and 15 foreign countries as far away as Australia and Tanzania traveled to Cabarrus County for the pivotal playoff race on Charlotte Motor Speedways innovative 17-turn, 2.28-mile course. An outstanding visitor experience is at the core of what makes Cabarrus Countys hospitality industry so impactful, said Greg Walter, chair of the Cabarrus County CVB board of directors and executive vice president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Being immersed in that experience is the ultimate way to underscore the significance of events such as the Bank of America ROVAL 400 and it is an honor to welcome every guest, from local stakeholders to race fans from across the globe. For more information on the Cabarrus County CVB and the importance of tourism in Cabarrus County, visit www.CabCoCVB.com. The statistics above come from the Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2022, which can be accessed at partners.visitnc.com/economic-impact-studies. The study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by Tourism Economics in collaboration with the U.S. Travel Association. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released a report showing that consumer telco complaints have risen in the past year, contradicting a recent report by the TIO. Australian telcos received over a million complaints for 2022-23, representing an increase of 2.3% over 2021-22, according to figures from the ACMA. The ACMA report is in stark contrast to figures recently released by the Telecomunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), which showed a drop in complaints of 16.5%. The number of complaints that were escalated to the TIO reduced to around 64,000 from almost 78,000 the previous financial year. However, telcos are now quicker at resolving problems. It takes them 5.2 days to resolve complaints, faster than 7.4 from 2021-22. The number of complaints per 10,000 services remained steady at 58 as the number of telco services increased at the same rate over the period. Commenting on the data, ACMA chair Nerida OLoughlin said telcos must remain focused bringing down customer complaints. OLoughlin said the million complaints is an indicator that consumers expect more of their telco providers. People rely on their telecommunications services to access work, education, health, government services and keep connected with their family and social lives. High complaint numbers are an indication that consumers are still experiencing too many issues with their services. OLoughlin also lamented that telcos averaging more than eight days to resolve complaints is not good enough. The data covers the period of the September 2022 Optus customer data breach. While the ACMA does not report complaint numbers at an individual provider level, Optus has previously indicated publicly that it received a large number of complaints during that period. Internet and mobile connectivity services may soon become a utility requirement for housing developers and the properties they sell to prospective homeowners must be receptive to connection, a government consultation paper revealed. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced that the proposed change to the telecommunications in new developments (TIND) would treat mobile infrastructure in a similar way to water and electricity, which are vital services in any household. Not including mobile coverage in new developments or in suburbs risks "leaving residents in those areas behind when it comes to digital connectivity and inclusion." "In 2023, it's unacceptable that many Australians moving into new homes in greenfield suburbs don't have access to reliable mobile coverage," she said in a statement. Our current planning policies dont reflect the reality that reliable mobile service is just as important as electricity and running water." Thats why the Albanese Government is working to update our planning rules. Consultation on these possible new requirements will mean that Australians have access to the quality services they need and rightly expect." According to Australian media, the current telecommunications policy only focuses on ensuring that residents only have "landline telephone" access. "While the current policy encourages developers to consider mobile connectivity as part of the development, the focus is largely on fixed infrastructure requirements that enable voice and broadband services," the paper read. To provide mobile connection in new developments, the paper proposes amending the TIND policy to include mobile telecommunications in its scope. It listed the following expectations: - Consider mobile connectivity as part of the overall development application process, with a similar level of importance as other utilities - Engage with a carrier as early as possible to ensure mobile coverage is in place prior to the selling or leasing of a building unit. - Identify appropriate sites, or spaces, for mobile infrastructure to be deployed; and - Make all reasonable efforts to reach "fair terms" in land access agreements. The paper highlighted sorting the location and agreeing with land access with the community may simplify the job of telcos when they build new towers. Land dispute between the community and the telcos often plague the construction of towers in new areas. The paper will require developers to "identify or set aside one or more sites or spaces that are appropriate for a mobile telecommunications infrastructure." The new sites must cover 4G connection. Carriers are also required to provide the connection on the same tower. Other proposed changes include the NBN Co "amortising the cost of laying backhaul to a new residential area across multiple developments, rather than the first developer having to pay the full cost." Right now, the costs of a new backhaul in multiple developments is shouldered by the developer. This may lead it to lose business to competitors who are not required by the TIND policy to adopt this charging practice, and may also place an unfair cost burden on the first developer. COMPANY NEWS: CyberArk, the identity security company, today announced new capabilities for securing access to cloud services and modern infrastructure for all users, based on the companys risk-based intelligent privilege controls. Included are major enhancements to the CyberArk Secure Cloud Access solution, which provides just-in-time access with zero standing privileges to cloud management consoles and services running in multi-cloud environments. The new security controls enable secure access to every layer of cloud environments, while causing no disruption or change to the way developers and other users access cloud services. Research shows that 85% of organisations will leverage three or more public cloud providers in the next 12 months, yet only 9% of organisations are taking an agile, holistic approach to securing identities throughout their environments. This makes them more vulnerable to identity-related attacks. The CyberArk Identity Security Platform helps organisations gain visibility and context for identity-centric risks in their cloud environment, while moving from insight to action with easy migration of standing access policies to zero standing privileges. The remediation and removal of excessive, unneeded and unused permissions and entitlements from administrators, employees, service accounts and machine accounts are key to maintaining a posture of least privilege access, and our research shows that organisations are greatly challenged in this area, said Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) practice director, cybersecurity Melinda Marks. By combining greater automation and developer-focused user experience with its approach to zero standing privileges and just-in-time controls for the cloud, CyberArk is helping organisations reduce the exposure window while saving overworked cybersecurity teams from manual work. CyberArk Secure Cloud Access: reducing risk with least privilege and just-in-time controls Part of the CyberArk Identity Security Platform, Secure Cloud Access elevates permissions just-in-time to roles scoped for least privilege access, enabling cloud developers and administrators to maintain velocity while reducing the risks of credential theft and excessive access. New capabilities include: 1. The ability to identify IAM misconfiguration risks in multi-cloud environments. 2. New context-based, automatic approval workflows for high-risk access to cloud services. These workflows can be easily customised to meet governance objectives via no-code identity orchestration and automation capabilities within the CyberArk platform. Tight integration with IT Service Management (ITSM) and ChatOps tooling facilitates greater adoption from engineers and allows cloud security teams to rapidly and securely approve time-sensitive access requests in service outages. CyberArk is the only identity security vendor to offer this capability. 3. Additional support for delegated administration, allowing for approvals to be addressed on a team or department level. A new integration between CyberArk Vendor Privileged Access Manager and Secure Cloud Access allows third party vendors to securely access cloud services with zero standing privileges from the same unified platform. 4. Expanded coverage for just-in-time access to support short-lived infrastructure workloads in Google Cloud Platform, enabling more multi-cloud deployments. 5. Regional data centre coverage added in Australia, Canada, UK, Germany and India to meet demand for these capabilities. Secure Cloud Access enables us to secure our cloud with zero standing privileges and without impacting productivity, said Carmeuse chief information officer Jose Voisin. Users continue to access the cloud as always while security teams implement least privilege with on-demand and seamless elevation of privileges. The CyberArk Identity Security Platform features flexible, risk-based controls to secure access to different targets for both human and non-human identities. These targets include SaaS applications, workloads and cloud services by bots, service accounts, business users, IT admins, software developers, cloud engineers and third-party vendors. Cloud services have afforded organisations tremendous speed to deliver new applications, but they have also created countless new identities and new attack methods. Cybersecurity controls often lag behind the scale of these new environments contributing to cybersecurity debt. We are delivering new cloud security solutions that emphasise automation and risk reduction to help close that gap, said CyberArk CEO Matt Cohen. CyberArk is continuously investing to deliver comprehensive, innovative cloud security solutions, like Secure Cloud Access, that help dramatically improve identity security in the cloud. Additional CyberArk Cloud Security resources Webinar: Multi-Cloud Identity Security, Combating a Wide-Open Door E-book: 2024 Playbook: Identity Security and Cloud Compliance About CyberArk CyberArk is the global leader in identity security. Centred on intelligent privilege controls, CyberArk provides the most comprehensive security offering for any identity human or machine across business applications, distributed workforces, hybrid cloud environments and throughout the DevOps lifecycle. The worlds leading organisations trust CyberArk to help secure their most critical assets. Read the CyberArk blogs or follow on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. The rogue state Iran has generated approximately $80 billion in revenue from oil sales under the Biden administration, according to Claire Jungman, chief of staff at United Against a Nuclear Iran. But where is the outrage against Bidens enabling of Iranian terror? Why do we not see Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu leading the protests against the flow of oil revenues to Iran? We do hear attacks on the Biden administration for giving Iran $6 billion in a naive attempt to secure a new nuclear deal, but as Richard Goldberg, a former White House Trump administration staffer at the National Security Council (NSC) says, This isnt just about a $6 billion hostage deal, its about a $50-plus-billion nuclear protection racket thats been going on since May and that includes billions released from Iraq and skyrocketing Iranian oil exports to China. The truth is that Netanyahu cannot attack Biden nor lay the blame for the invasion at his doorstep because Israel is now itself hostage to U.S. aid to get the arms to fight Hamas. Dependent on American weapons and technology to reverse the damage Hamas has inflicted, Israel dares not to bite the American hand that feeds it. The current Mideast war is really, of course, between Iranian backed proxy terrorist groups and Israel. But Iran could not have struck Israel without the largesse of Biden-permitted oil sales. If Trump were president, Iran would never have had the financial resources to attack Israel nor would Netanyahu be squeamish about blaming Washington for the money that enabled the attack. Why is Biden so desperate for Iranians approval that he has allowed the massive sale of its oil? Much less has allowed it to go to China? The core reality is that Biden and his leftover Obama staffers see Iran as a victim of American colonialism and its war against the west as partially justified. Its not so much that Biden is weak as that he is on the wrong side. Dating from the CIA-ordered imposition of the Shah on Iran in 1947 through the U.S. support of his policy of repression and terror against his own people, Washington supported the Shahs western-backed colonial regime in Tehran right until the Ayatollah came to power. The 1979 hostage crisis did nothing to dull their backing for the Iranian theocracy nor their hostility toward what they regard as the western neo-colonial nation of Israel. So Obama and Biden have been in Irans corner as much as the political realities of Washington could permit. Now Biden has to back Israel, furnishing it weapons to win the current war. But thats not stopping him from funding Irans future attacks. The Iran nuclear deal was once intended to block it from getting the bomb. But, in is current incarnation, its a rhetorical screen to enable the flow of billions to subsidize Iranian terrorism. Under the guise of seeming to persuade Iran to come back into harness and mitigate its nuclear ambitions, the west can back all kinds of aid and subsidy to Iran, all the while claiming to restrain its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Bidens weakness and senility serve to disguise effectively his pro-Iranian bias inherited from the Obama administration. (COMMENT, BELOW) Dick Morris, who served as adviser to former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and former President Clinton, is the author of 16 books, including his latest, Screwed and Here Come the Black Helicopters. SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. Tuesday morning I, like many other Americans, awoke to the news that finally, after more than 3 days of silence, President Biden will be addressing the nation on the invasion of Israel by Hamas. He spoke briefly on Saturday, then that evening hosted a BBQ party for his staff. Then he went missing for the next 72 plus hours. Much information has come out since Saturday regarding the hundreds of atrocities that the civilian Jewish population has suffered at the barbaric hands of these Islamic terrorists. Gut-wrenching reports and videos of innocents being slaughtered, tortured, raped, and desecrated have been broadcast for three days. More than 1,000 Jews murdered including children, infants, and even pet dogs. There is no doubt, none whatsoever, that Iran masterminded the invasion and the atrocities that followed. Reliable sources including The Wall Street Journal have reported that Iran involvement and co-ordination has been in the planning for months. Now Israel will fight back, as it always does, but this time, even more so. It has been pulled into a new level of war, even considering all the other conflicts of the past 75 years of its existence. Israel is fighting for its life, actually fighting for the lives of all Jewish people. Remember, the murderous intentions of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran is not about land. It never was. It is about the extermination of Jews. When Biden first spoke last Saturday, he said that America's support for Israel is "rock solid," and that Israel has the right to defend itself. He condemned the violence on Israelis by the terrorists. He never spoke of Iran. He never got specific as to how America will help Israel. In my opinion he said only the absolute minimal of what any reasonable president could say. There were no strong words against the evil forces of Islamic terrorism conducted by the Iranian regime. So when we heard that after so many days had passed, he would be speaking again this morning, we waited to hear more. What we heard was more about the horrors. He talked about the heartbreaking deaths of so many Jews. He said once again that America will support Israel. Good words. But then he made it, as he always does, all about himself. He spoke about the time fifty years ago when he met with Golda Meir and what she said to him. Really? Considering all he makes up about his life, I think his meeting with Golda Meir is another one of his lies. Biden never gave any details on how we will support Israel. He never mentioned the 6 billion dollars that his administration gave to Iran, which undoubtedly helped fund Hamas, or if it will be taken back. He never mentioned Iran at all. He never said what will be done to rescue the 20 plus American hostages that are being held by Hamas. Biden is less than a nothing. Biden is a liar, a coward, and a person without a soul. He is a political animal and has been all of his life. It goes without saying that he is weak and corrupt. Very sadly he is not the leader Israel and America needs at this crucial time. He is absolutely the wrong person to be in that office. Furthermore, there is a case to be made that this entire thing is part of a bigger plan by the Leftist, Marxists to bring about the destruction of Western Culture. Is it a coincidence that our border has not been secure for years and that millions of migrants from dozens of countries, including Middle Eastern countries, have been streaming across while at the same time Islamic extremists attack Israel? It does look like there is a systematic design to all this. It was obvious to me a long time ago that Obama was anti-Israel. Biden, who is Obama's disciple and employs many of Obama's people in his administration, is probably just as anti-Israel as his boss was. At best he is a stupid enabling stooge. At worst he is in on it. This is not a good situation, folks. God help and protect Israel. And G od help and protect America from its enemies from within as well as abroad. (COMMENT, BELOW) CHICAGO A man pleaded guilty to charges Thursday in connection with the fatal 2021 shooting of Chicago police officer Ella French and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Eric Morgan, 25, entered the plea to charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, battery and obstruction of justice. French, 29, was slain and her partner, Carlos Yanez Jr., was wounded in August 2021 after they had stopped an SUV with expired tags on Chicago's South Side. Eric Morgan allegedly drove the SUV. His brother Emonte Morgan is accused of fatally shooting French and faces a first-degree murder charge. Emonte Morgan's trial currently is scheduled for early next year. A third man, Jamel Danzy of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last December after pleading guilty to a federal firearms charge for making an illegal straw purchase of the handgun used to kill French. In 2020, 1 in 6 Americans was age 65 or older, with the majority expressing a strong desire to age in place in their own residence. For families and caregivers facing the logistical challenges of meeting an older loved ones needs at home, adult day care centers can provide much-needed respite, therapeutic benefits and valuable opportunities for socialization. Helping seniors continue living at home A Winston-Salem fixture for more than 60 years, Senior Services Inc. has provided caring programming and support to help aging seniors continue living at home with dignity, respect and purpose. This fall, the opening of the new state-of-the-art Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness (Generations Center) will increase the organizations ability to provide services even further through new and expanded programs and partnerships. After more than a year under construction on the Senior Services campus, the 62,500-square-foot Generations Center will open its doors this fall to welcome the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house planned for Nov. 17. Adult day center In addition to spaces for multigenerational events and activities the whole family can enjoy, on-site health care services and a cafe, the Generations Center will house the award-winning Elizabeth and Tab Williams Adult Day Center. Recognized in Forsyth County as a leader in the care of people living with frailty, Alzheimers and other forms of dementia, the new location will allow the day center to serve up to 50% more people and offer more activities and programs. Nurturing and structured environment For many participants and their families, the Williams Adult Day Center is the answer to a prayer, providing seniors with the care they need in an enjoyable, structured environment. Caregivers can rest assured their loved ones are receiving the care and attention they need in a safe, nurturing atmosphere, while still being able to return to their own homes at the end of the day. With a sunny, open floor plan to maximize opportunities for socialization, the Williams Adult Day Center designates specific areas for music, arts and sensory activities to keep participants stimulated and engaged throughout the day. Other features of the new adult day center include an open residential-style kitchen where participants can engage in staff-led cooking activities, a salon, showers and jetted spa-style bathtubs for personal care needs. Breakfast and lunch are provided in a sociable dining room. Funded through the Creative Connections capital campaign, an effort that stemmed from the Senior Services Aging with Purpose Pilot, the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness intends to function as a community resource for local residents of all ages, particularly underserved local populations. Spearheaded by Senior Services, the Generations Center has been made possible thanks to collaboration and support from two major regional healthcare systems and 19 other nonprofit organizations with the hope of setting a national model for other cities and communities to replicate. For more information about the new Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness, to inquire about services or to make a donation to Senior Services, please call 336.725.0907 or visit generationscenter.org. This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com. Its Friday the 13th, traditionally a day when superstitious folks get even more worried than normal. Friday the 13th is a confluence of two superstitions, the fear of Fridays and the fear of the number 13. Though Fridays are often looked on well, since thats the end of the work week for many people, that day of the week has been associated with bad fortune at least as far back as the 14th century, when, in The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, And on a Friday fell all this mischance. References to Friday being an ominous day became even more popular in the 17th century. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions, you shouldnt marry, leave for a trip, move into a new house or begin a new project on a Friday. The number 13, meanwhile, has also been associated with trouble for centuries. The theories why that number is so bad include that there were 13 people at the Last Supper; that, in numerology, 12 is considered a number of completeness and 13 is therefore one past it; and that in Norse mythology, the god Loki caused mayhem as an uninvited 13th guest at a gathering. Some buildings even skip from the 12th to the 14th floors in the official naming. So, you combine those two superstitions and youve got a double whammy. Theres even a name for the fear of Friday the 13th, paraskevidekatriaphobia. It was coined in the 1980s by Donald Dossey, a behavioral scientist from Asheville. The more straightforward fear of the number 13 by itself is called triskaidekaphobia. Dossey, who died in 2016, told SAM back in 2009 that the symptoms of paraskevidekatriaphobia range from a nagging sense of doom all the way to not getting out of bed that day, and joked that once people learn how to pronounce the word, they are cured of it. He also joked that a Friday the 13th falling on a full moon in a month with a blue moon (two full moons in the same month) is super-duper unlucky. The next full moon on a Friday the 13th will be Aug. 13, 2049. From History.com, one reason Friday the 13th may be unlucky. On Oct. 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered hundreds of the Knights Templar arrested. The knights were a powerful and wealthy religious and military order that was formed in the 12th century to defend the Holy Land. The knights were jailed on various charges, and some were executed. Many believe that the real reason that King Philip had the knights arrested was to confiscate their money. Hamfest is coming up The Forsyth Amateur Radio Club will have its Winston-Salem Fall Fest from 7 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Robinhood Road Baptist Church, 5422 Robinhood Road, Winston-Salem. Equipment and other goods will be for sale. Experienced radio operators will be available to explain amateur radio. Admission is $5. For more information, go to www.w4nc.com or email hamfest@w4nc.com. Safe viewing of the partial solar eclipse The Department of Physics and Astronomy at High Point University will have a free viewing of Saturdays partial eclipse of the sun. The viewing will be from 11:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wanek School of Natural Sciences, One University Parkway, High Point. Telescopes with solar filters and eclipse glasses will be available for safe viewing of the eclipse. To get to the viewing, use the entrance to the university at Qubein Avenue and North Centennial Street. A major Gildan Activewear Inc. production restructuring has its first U.S. impact with the decision announced Tuesday to close its Salisbury 1 yarn-spinning plant and affect 258 job positions. Gildan, based in Montreal, said in a WARN notice to N.C. Commerce Department that the Gildan Yarns plant at 2121 Heilig Road is projected to close by Dec. 8 with its Mocksville yard-spinning facility gaining much of the production volume. As of March 31, Gildan had more than 500 jobs in Mocksville as part of expanding domestic production capacity for new and existing products for its Gildan Yarns division. Gildan said in a statement provided to the Winston-Salem Journal that it has decided to reorganize its ring spinning production and consolidate its Salisbury ring spinning capacity into the Mocksville facility as part of Gildans plan to continue to balance production and inventory levels to drive an efficient and competitive manufacturing platform. Gildan said most affected employees will be offered the opportunity to work at its remaining Salisbury operations or in Mocksville. Retaining as many of our employees is important for us, hence why we are committed to providing transportation services from Salisbury to Mocksville for employees who wish to transfer to our Mocksville location, Gildan said. The company is also offering relocation bonuses to employees who choose to continue their journey with Gildan. So far, the response from employees has been positive, and the majority of them have expressed interest in transferring to one of our other locations. In July, Gildan confirmed a major production plant in Choloma, Honduras, would close with as many as 2,700 employees affected. Gildan did not disclose the number of jobs being eliminated, but SourcingJournal.com a trade outlet devoted to the apparel industry reported 2,700 at the facility. That would represent about 5.3% of the manufacturers 51,000 global workforce. At this time, the company does not have any plans to downsize its operations in the U.S., Gildan said on July 12. Gildan has nine production facilities in Honduras, including six that are owned by the company, according to its fiscal 2022 annual report to investors. Gildan said in a statement that the San Miguel plant closing is in context of the current market environment and to more effectively respond to changes with regards to market conditions, global competition, optimization and diversification of our operations. Gildan made the difficult decision to reorganize its basic apparel sewing production. Gildan reported on Aug. 1 a 1.8% decline in second-quarter net income that was affected more by non-core financial developments. The manufacturers $155.3 million in net income was bolstered significantly by a $74.2 million net insurance gain related to the two hurricanes that damaged its operations in Central America in 2020. That gain, however, was partly offset by $30 million restructuring charges, foremost related to the Honduran plant closure. When excluding those two factors, adjusted net income was down 29.7% to $112.3 million. Second-quarter sales were down 6.2% to $840.4 million. U.S. sales fell 6.3% to $745.9 million, while Canadian sales dropped 10.5% to $28.1 million and international sales fell 2.4% to $66.4 million. Gildan said on Aug. 1 that we are seeing current market conditions unfavorably impact activewear product mix, both in North American and international markets, as customers focus on lower-priced products. Combined with near-term uncertainty related to the macro-environment, we believe it is prudent to temper our previous fiscal year 2023 expectations for revenue growth and operating margins. As such, Gildan adjusted its fiscal 2023 financial forecast: revenue growth down low single digits compared with the initial low single-digit range and adjusted earnings per share in a range of $2.55 to $2.65 a share, compared with in line with $3.11 in fiscal 2022. The workforce reduction at Wells Fargo & Co. accelerated during the third quarter with the elimination of 6,471 job positions. The bank listed in Fridays financial report that its workforce was at 233,834 as of Sept. 30 down 2.7% from the second quarter. The year-over-year reduction is 11,846, or 4.9%. Since fourth-quarter 2020, the headcount is down by nearly 41,500. The bank did not provide a workforce update by business segment for the fifth consecutive quarter. The latest quarterly workforce numbers do not reflect Wells Fargo notifying South Carolina economic officials that it will eliminate up to 525 positions as part of closing a facility in Columbia the largest reduction by an employer so far this year in that state. Wells Fargo said the affected Columbia positions were behind-the-scenes employees, while bank tellers and those working in customer service at their public-facing facilities would not be affected. Chief financial officer Michael Santomassimo told analysts that the bank remains on track for eliminating $10 billion in annual expenses that it announced in July 2020. We still have more to do to make it more efficient, Santomassimo said. I would say there are very few parts of the company that we would say are optimized at this point. Now some have more opportunity than others, some require investment in terms of automation and technology, some dont. Meanwhile, the branch count was at 4,355 as of Sept. 30 down from 4,445 on June 30 and from 4,612 on Sept. 30, 2022. By contrast, Wells Fargos 2009 acquisition of a collapsing Wachovia Corp. provided its major first East Coast presence. The purchase boosted the overall branch total to about 6,600 at that time. There have been at least 66 Wells Fargo branch closings in North Carolina, including three in Winston-Salem and nine in the Triad since July 2020. Chief executive Charlie Scharf did not provided specific comment in the third-quarter report about the $1.93 trillion asset cap ordered by the Federal Reserve on Feb. 3, 2018. Wells Fargo confirmed on Aug. 31, 2017, that there could be at least 3.53 million accounts affected by its fraudulent customer accounts scandal that erupted in September 2016, up from the 2.1 million initially announced. Retail-bank employees opened accounts for customers who did not request them, or added non-requested insurance and residential mortgage services. Those moves garnered Wells Fargo tens of millions of dollars in fees. Wells Fargo has said it cannot rule out that at least 38,722 unauthorized customer accounts were established in North Carolina and 23,327 in South Carolina. Depending on which issue is discussed, the scandal period could go back as far as May 2002, with some customers potentially affected into mid-2017. In April 2022, Scharf said it could be several more years before the bank resolves enough legal and regulatory issues to be allowed by the Federal Reserve to grow beyond the asset cap. Since September 2016, total regulatory penalties to Wells Fargo have added up to at least $11.54 billion. On Friday, Scharf told analysts that we continue to make the progress necessary to complete our work. I will repeat what Ive said in the past: regulatory pressure on banks with long-standing issues such as ours continues to grow. Until we complete our work and until it is validated by our regulators, we remain at risk of further regulatory actions. The Food and Drug Administration rejected Thursday the premarket tobacco applications of six flavored Vuse Alto electronic cigarette products by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. As a result, Reynolds Vuse is not allowed to market or distribute in the United States its three mixed-berry and three menthol flavored styles. Each flavor was being offered in three different nicotine strengths. Reynolds Vapor and parent company British American Tobacco Plc quickly announced plans to appeal the ruling, saying it will serve to deny U.S. adult smokers access to reduced-risk products. The FDA said Reynolds can submit new applications for each style. Applications for six Vuse Alto Rich Tobacco and Golden Tobacco products remain under FDA review. Vuses top market share continued to slip slightly in the latest four-week Nielsen convenience store report, decreasing 41.7% to 41.5%, while No. 2 Juul was unchanged at 24.7%. The premarket application requires the FDA to consider products risks and benefits to the population as a whole, including users and non-users. The FDA said the Vuse Alto applications lacked sufficient evidence to demonstrate that permitting marketing of the products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health. In particular, the FDA said the potential benefit of the flavored Vuse Alto styles for adult smokers determined in terms of complete switching or significant smoking reduction did not outweigh the known risks of use by those under age 21. We review each application on its own merits, and its the responsibility of the applicant to provide sufficient science to support the product theyre seeking to market, said Matthew Farrelly, director of the FDAs Center for Tobacco Products Office of Science. BAT response BAT said the ruling flies in the face of proven science and is contrary to FDA goal of reducing health effects of tobacco use. According to the FDA, the sole ground for this arbitrary decision was the absence of long-term consumer switching data for these products, said Kingsley Wheaton, BATs chief strategy and growth officer. We believe appropriately regulated flavoured vaping products including menthol are critical in supporting adult smokers migrate from combustible cigarettes. Without a properly functioning regulatory regime, illicit markets grow that endanger the public, irresponsible players flourish, responsible players are penalized, the purposes of the underlying regulations are undermined, and consequently adult smokers who would like to transition to reduced-risk products are let down. Wheaton also chided the FDA for continuing to allow the proliferation of youth-appealing vapor products like Cotton Candy and Peanut Butter Cookie, which are flooding US retail shelves. Companies in open defiance of the agency must be held accountable. BAT believes FDA should be employing its most powerful enforcement tools on the worst offenders without delay. Limited approvals The FDA said it has received applications for more than 26 million tobacco and nicotine products and has made determinations on 99% of these applications. As of Thursday, the FDA has authorized 23 tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products and devices. In May 2022, FDA approved the premarket tobacco applications for six Vuse Vibe and Vuse Ciro e-cigarette products. The FDA also issued marketing denials for multiple other Vuse Vibe and Vuse Ciro e-cigarette products. Wheaton said the rejected applications were built on the science submitted in the earlier PMTA submissions to FDA with respect to Vuse Solo, Vuse Vibe and Vuse Ciro. The science in these applications demonstrates that the continued marketing of the Vuse Alto, Vuse Vibe, Vuse Ciro and Vuse Solo products is appropriate for the protection of the public health. The FDA sees the use of any flavor other than tobacco as not being appropriate for the protection of the public health, said Scott Ballin, past chairman of the anti-smoking alliance Coalition of Science or Health, How can a manufacturer demonstrate that a flavored product is appropriate for the protection of public when they are prohibited from putting them on the market. Much also should depend on how the product is marketed. I unfortunately cant see FDA/Center for Tobacco Products reversing itself on the flavors issue as it has become the battle cry of the mainstream tobacco control community, not only at the national level but also at the state and local levels as well. Successful appeals In March, Reynolds Vapor gained an expanded stay of the FDA denying the marketing of two menthol Vuse styles: Vuse replacement cartridge Menthol 4.8% (nicotine level) G1 and the Vuse replacement cartridge Menthol 4.8% G2. The FDA issued in July marketing denial orders involving the 2.4% nicotine style of myblu Menthol, which is made by Fontem US an affiliate of U.K. tobacco manufacturer Imperial Brands Plc, which is the parent company of ITG Brands LLC of Greensboro. In August, an U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia determined that while the FDA reasonably found a lack of evidence for public-health benefit from flavored myblu products, it added the FDA did not take into account the potential benefits of unflavored products or weigh these benefits against risks to the public health. As a result, the appellate judges denied Fontems appeal for flavored myblu products, but allowed it for unflavored products. A Winston-Salem man is facing charges after he was accused of firing a shot in Reboot Arcade Bar on Thursday night, authorities said. Joey St. Christopher Hodges, 23, of Seaman Street is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, discharging a firearm within an enclosure to incite fear, and carrying a concealed gun, Winston-Salem police said. Hodges was being held Friday in the Forsyth County Jail with his bond set at $50,000, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office said. He is scheduled to appear Monday in Forsyth District Court. Officers responded at 8:53 p.m. to the bar at 534 N. Liberty St. after receiving many 911 calls, police said. Investigators determined that two people who know each other got into an argument, police said. During the argument, one of those people fired a gun. "Based on the investigation, this appears to be an isolated incident," police said. "This expedient arrest is the prime example of how we can work together as a community to solve crime in our city," police Chief William Penn Jr. said in a statement. "I would like to reiterate that if you choose violence in our city, including in our downtown area, you will be held accountable for your actions." It took multiple ribbon-cutting sessions to mark the completion of the new Forsyth County Courthouse on Thursday, as a large crowd turned out to mark the occasion and visit the interior hallways and chambers of the new building. Judges and other court officials were still unpacking boxes in their offices inside, but they were also hailing the finish of a courthouse thats almost 50% larger than the old Hall of Justice and comes with enhanced security to make working and visiting safer. The new courthouse has an underground tunnel that connects directly to the Forsyth County Jail nearby, and is designed so that different kinds of users the public, court workers and inmates have separate ways to get from place to place inside. Back in 1997 it was odd, to say the least, to get on an elevator and be riding down the elevator with the person you just prosecuted, District Attorney Jim ONeill said during the ceremony. So we are delighted with this new building. The new courthouse has consultation rooms so that people can talk privately with their lawyers instead of trying to find a corner to huddle in. State of the art technology will make it easier for lawyers to present their exhibits. The public spaces are open and admit plenty of light. Most courtrooms wont be gaveled back into session until Oct. 23, a Monday. This week and next have been moving days. Behind the scenes, in the sections of the building that werent open to the general public at the ribbon-cutting, people who work in the new courthouse were unpacking their files and setting up their offices. Its a lot of work, a lot of logistics, but we are making it through, District Court Judge David Sipprell said as he paused while unpacking items from cardboard boxes. These offices are a very nice size, and with the natural light coming in, you certainly cant complain about the offices. Its great. Among those speaking during the ceremony were Don Martin, the chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, and Gloria Whisenhunt, the vice chairwoman. Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Todd L. Burke spoke, as did Chief District Court Judge Victoria Roemer. ONeill spoke, as did Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough and District Court Judge Frederick Adams as president of the county bar association. Representatives from CJMW Architecture and joint venture contractors Samet and Balfour Beatty spoke as well. It took several ribbon cuttings to accommodate those people, plus others including the other county commissioners, state lawmakers representing Forsyth and N.C. Treasurer Dale Folwell, of Forsyth. Touring the public parts of the building, people had a chance to check out the view from judges benches in the courtrooms, explore spaces such as the large jury assembly room, and get fresh glimpses of the city through the large windows on each end of the wide central corridors. One of the selling points of the building is that the open design makes it a lot easier for people to both find out where they need to go and to get there. Although most courts are not in session during the move to the new courthouse, the clerk of courts office remains open in the Hall of Justice through most of next week. The office will close from noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, and close for the weekend at noon on Oct. 20, resuming operation in the new courthouse on Oct. 23. Built over 31 months, the new courthouse has six floors and 19 courtrooms. A connecting link to the Forsyth County Government Center next door would make future expansion possible if that were needed. Deputy County Manager Damon Sanders-Pratt said the new courthouse cost $90 million, and that a new deck for court employees cost another $13 million. The public will have 250 spaces of paid parking across from the courthouse. Officials said 28% of the work on the project was done by minority- and woman-owned businesses, and that more than 80 subcontractors worked on construction. The building has 12 elevators and 266 security cameras. It contains about 251,000 square feet of space, compared to about 172,000 square feet in the existing Hall of Justice. Portia Lakey, legal assistant to Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin, said Thursday that most of her stuff was now out of the boxes in her office in the new courthouse. It is not organized, but it is out, she said. Lakey said that each workers items were boxed, labeled and brought over from the Hall of Justice to the new courthouse by various work crews. They have worked really hard, she said. PHOTOS: Unveiling of the new Forsyth County Courthouse The contentious race for the 2024 Republican governor nomination grew feistier Thursday with state Treasurer Dale Folwell describing as a shameful publicity stunt Lt. Gov. Mark Robinsons special event as acting governor. The state Constitution allows for an acting governor when the governor is out of state, in this instance Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on a high-profile trade mission in Japan with state Commerce Department officials. Robinsons special event at the legislature proved to be a declaration of North Carolina Solidarity With Israel Week through Oct. 19. He also issued a statewide day of prayer lasting from sunset Friday through sunset Saturday in support of Israel in its declared war against the militant group Hamas. Robinson said during his 10-minute presentation that he was not upstaging the governor with the declarations, but rather I felt in this case my duty called for me to do this. According to several statewide polls, Robinson is the front-runner for the GOP nomination over Folwell and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker. Folwell was joined by Cooper and state Attorney General Josh Stein the front-runner for the Democratic nomination and who is Jewish in criticizing Robinson for his presentation. Each official cited Robinsons past comments viewed as anti-Semitic by Jewish people, particularly in questioning whether the Holocaust actually occurred. As a person who has shamefully denied the Holocaust and whose history is checkered with hateful anti-Semitic comments, you have no right to be commenting on this topic, Folwell said in a statement. You were against the Jewish people before you were for them. As the poet Maya Angelou famously said, when someone shows you who they are the first time believe them. I am saddened, but not shocked, that you are playing political games for personal benefits. Robinson comments Robinson described Hamas attack as unprovoked and unjustified, demonstrating unspeakable brutality that is truly the face of evil. He decried a radical few who would side with extremists who seek nothing less than wiping out the Jewish people and the state of Israel from the map. After initially saying he wanted to limit his remarks to the two declarations, he responded to media questions by saying there have been some Facebook posts that were poorly worded on my part, that did not convey my real sentiments. I have addressed those issues and moved on from those issues. There was never any anti-Semitism intended from those words. There is no antisemitism standing here in front of you. When Robinson was asked if he wanted to apologize for his social media posts, he said I apologize for the wording, not necessarily the content. We have full confidence that the people of North Carolina understand that Mark Robinson is definitely not anti-Semitic. Rep. Terence Everitt, D-Wake, said that Republicans are still struggling to undo years of Robinsons anti-Semitism. He said Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and House speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, should publicly condemn these statements once and for all. Folwell response Folwell said that while I strongly condemn the cowardly attack and unprecedented brutality inflicted on the Israeli nation by a terrorist state, and stand in full support of Israel to take actions necessary to defend themselves against an unprovoked attack that has shocked the world, I could not, in good conscience, accept your (Robinsons) invitation as a member of the Council of State to stand with you at your press conference this morning. Folwell said that Robinson regrettably seized the opportunity to engage in a stunt with dubious authority as acting governor during a brief interlude while Gov. Cooper is overseas conducting state business. How can you pretend to be governor when the record is clear that you havent done your job as lieutenant governor? Folwell shared a March 19, 2018, social-media post from Robinson in which he discussed how Nazi Germany benefited from gun ownership restrictions on individuals in its rise to power in the early 1930s. Robinson wrote that this foolishness about Hitler disarming MILLIONS of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of hogwash. Cooper spokeswoman Sadie Weiner issued a statement in which he said it is tragically ironic that someone with a long history of hate speech against Jewish people would take advantage of death and destruction in Israel for his own political purposes. Governor Cooper believes that Israel needs both our prayers and our support. Cooper stressed that he stands steadfast in supporting Israel and their right to self-defense and has taken action to protect houses of worship and other religious organizations here that could be targets. He has also been in communication with the Israeli government to reaffirm our partnership. Meanwhile, Stein campaign spokeswoman Kate Frauenfelder also cited Robinson calling the Holocaust hogwash, and now uses the slaughter of Israelis and Americans to perform a transparent political stunt. This is as close as he should ever get to being governor. Governors polls Although most of the statewide polls on the governor primary races have Robinson and Stein with commanding leads in their respective races, some had more participants unsure of who they are voting for in the March primary than either front-runner had support. For example, the Meredith Poll, taken Sept. 16-19, found Robinson with the support of 118 of 350 potential Republican primary voters, or 34%. None of the other four Republican candidates reached double digits in support: Folwell (13, 3%), Jesse Thomas (11, 3%), Walker (23, 7%) and former N.C. Rep. Andy Wells (11, 3%) Meanwhile, there were 155 potential voters, or 44%, said they dont know which candidate will get their vote. Poll officials said Robinson does well with all groups of Republicans, but particularly with the most conservative primary voters, older Republicans and those with less education. Former President Donald Trump has made a verbal endorsement of Robinson in June. In terms of the Democratic primary, Stein holds a 3-to-1 lead over recently retired N.C. Supreme Court justice Mike Morgan who entered the race earlier in September. Stein had 102 potential voters in support, or 33%, while Morgan had 35 voters at 11%. A near majority of Democratic voters at 141, or 46%, had not decided on a candidate. Walker has raised the temperature on the rhetoric in the Republican governors primary race during a September interview with Charlotte NPR station WFAE. Walker said he expects Robinson will avoid all Republican governor debates because his campaign team wont put him on the stage and let him trip all over himself on policy issues in particular. Walker expressed concern that Robinson would not be willing to stand up to Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, on key issues. Tom Campbell with NC Spin predicted in an April blog that North Carolina Republicans will have a Come to Jesus moment about Robinsons candidacy and ultimately support Folwell. I think the treasurer is convinced, as I have often stated, that if Mark Robinson wins the Republican gubernatorial nomination it will ensure that North Carolina elects another Democrat as governor, regardless of who that person might be, Campbell said. Theres no question the outcome will be a defining moment for the GOP in North Carolina. Many of the Holshouser-Martin-Broyhill Republicans have either left the party or have been hibernating since 2017. This gubernatorial primary will draw a line in the sand, forcing those in the party to choose sides. A Charlotte facility of US Foods is among five that have been found in violation of federal hiring practices by an office of the U.S. Labor Department. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs said Friday it has entered into a conciliation agreement with US Foods to resolve alleged hiring discrimination at four other locations across the country. The office determined US Foods actions violated Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. US Foods will pay more than $721,414 in back wages and interest to 997 female applicants. Also, US Foods will extend job offers to 46 people and retain a consultant to evaluate its hiring processes. US Foods previously entered into agreements for seven similar alleged violations between 2017 and 2021. In the late 1970s, glaciologist Lonnie Thompson watched the giant ice sheets atop mountain ranges around the world retreat, becoming one of the first scientists to suss out global warming and warn of the climate change that was being triggered by greenhouse gas emissions. More than 40 years later, Thompson, who appeared in Al Gores Oscar-winning film An Inconvenient Truth, has been forced to continue to sound the climate change alarm, which polls say is finally being heard after two decades of climate change denial funded by the fossil fuel industry. Thompson, now 75, is the subject of the very appropriately titled documentary Canary, which takes its name from the old canary in the coal mine analogy. Thats because Thompson is the canary warning of global warming and he grew up in West Virginia, where he was seemingly destined to spend his life in the mines rather than on glaciers and in laboratories. His story starting by defying teachers and expectations, with the support of his widowed mother, who appears in the movie, to go to first Marshall University, then graduate school at Ohio State is the framework for the two-pronged film that examines his overcoming-all-odds determination to pursue his groundbreaking scientific explorations as it builds a case for the need to immediately address human-created global warming. The drama, so to speak, in Thompsons story begins when, after discovering his love for the study of ice caps via a mid-70s student job, hes rejected by the ongoing polar ice coring projects. Discovering through old maps the largely unseen and never-explored mountain glaciers, Thompson proposes a project to drill ice cores, which reveal climate data and geologic events that go back thousands of years, on those glaciers. Hes again rejected by the leading scientists in the field. But a $7,000 grant, leftover money from the National Science Foundation, allows him to go to Peru, where over a decade he and his team members have to figure out how to get to the glacier, then create the equipment that will allow coring to take place. To say that the team succeeds isnt a spoiler. Canary wouldnt exist otherwise, for Thompsons discoveries were revelatory, embraced by the scientific community and set him on a lifelong series of expeditions to glaciers around the world, and his discovery, so to speak, of global warming. Canary isnt a political screed. But after Thompson receives the National Medal of Science from President George W. Bush in 2007, it dramatically dissects the efforts of the fossil fuel industry to raise doubts about the human origin of global warming. In doing so, it shows Republican politicians Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney and John McCain flip-flopping on the issue, showing each with a TV clip saying, essentially, that global warming is real, then flipping to say its causes cant be determined. That effort caused Thompson to say that he has failed in his global warming crusade If Id been successful, wed have changed the trends, but the movie shows that he hasnt stopped working, still gathering ice cores even after a heart transplant, and now, speaking out more than ever. Canary is very straightforward in its presentation, using old film clips; comments from climate scientists; core-drilling team members; Thompsons wife and collaborator Ellen Mosley-Thompson; their daughter; and interviews and recordings of his speeches and presentations to tell its story. And Thompson, whos not close to a performer, is what he is an admirable, serious, doggedly determined scientist who, as Canary effectively if somewhat dryly shows, is dedicated to his work, which is now preserving the ice from glaciers that will soon disappear and working for change to address global warming. How climate change drives hotter, more frequent heat waves How climate change drives hotter, more frequent heat waves Is climate change to blame? Understanding heat waves Analyzing the likelihood of a heat wave under climate change Protecting at-risk populations from heat waves Prosecutors have charged a third man for his alleged role in an early morning shootout that played out April 2 near the Railyard in Lincoln's Haymarket. Kendall Williams, a 28-year-old Omaha man, faces four felony charges for his alleged role in the shooting, which left nearby businesses damaged, two cars riddled with bullet holes and has been linked to a pair of rival gangs with ties to Omaha and Clarksdale, Mississippi. In court filings, investigators identified Williams as a member of the Jaynes Street Bloods and accused him of firing one of the five guns used in the shootout. Police have already arrested two other men 33-year-old Marvin B. Wright of Omaha and 34-year-old Louis Benson for their alleged role in the incident. Wright and Williams are thought to have been among a group inside a maroon Chevrolet Tahoe who fired at Benson in the 600 block of Canopy Street just after 2 a.m. April 2, according to court filings. Police found 72 shell casings in the area in the shooting's aftermath. Investigators identified Williams as a suspect months ago thanks to surveillance footage from nearby businesses, according to court filings. And in September, results from the Nebraska State Patrol Crime Lab linked the Omaha man's DNA to a Glock 19 handgun found in a Haymarket dumpster after the shootout, police said in court records. A Lancaster County judge signed a warrant for his arrest Oct. 2, charging him with four felonies, including attempted first-degree assault, use of a firearm to commit a felony and unlawful discharge of a gun. Williams was arrested and booked at the Lancaster County jail on Tuesday. Judge Timothy Phillips set his percentage bond at $500,000, meaning he must pay $50,000 to be released. Most dangerous cities in Nebraska Dangerous Cities in Nebraska 6. South Sioux City 5. Scottsbluff 4. North Platte 3. Lincoln 2. Grand Island 1. Omaha A note about the numbers The museum, 131 Centennial Mall North, will show videos and pictures of the stadium from History Nebraska Archives and you can share your favorite memories of Memorial Stadium. Museumgoers will also be able to use Legos and blocks to build a stadium and consider what it would look like if they were in charge of the $450 million renovation. A Lincoln sculptor will create the bust of Omaha native and human rights activist Malcolm X to be installed in the Capitol next year. Nathan Murray was selected from among three Nebraska-based artists to design and create the bust of Malcolm Little, who was born in Omaha on May 19, 1925, and would later become known as El Hajj Malik El Shabazz. The Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission unanimously selected Malcolm X to be added as its newest member last year after he had been passed over twice before. Malcolm X, whose family fled the Ku Klux Klan from Omaha when he was 1 year old, will be inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame next year. Murray, a 2009 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who often teaches at the Lux Center for the Arts and Nebraska Wesleyan University, said he was honored to be chosen to sculpt the first Black person to be included in the Hall of Fame. "Being a Black Nebraska artist chosen to celebrate such an incredible part of our history is an honor," Murray said. According to the commission, Murray's work explores issues of race, ethnicity and intersectionality, particularly in how those aspects of identity are expressed in people and through their stories. Meagan Dion, a public art and artist program specialist with the Nebraska Arts Council, said Murray's vision for Malcolm X aligned with the selection committee's priorities that the sculpture show the Nebraska native as "upright, confident, kind, thoughtful, disciplined, compassionate, humanitarian, dynamic, empowering, transformative and family." "All the finalists created engaging and thoughtful interpretations of Malcolm X," Dion said in a news release. "Nathan Murray's proposed Malcolm X bust stood out as captivating and iconic. Murray embraced Malcolm X in a recognizable moment, where viewers will be able to engage with him and be more curious and the impact he made for others in Nebraska and beyond." Murray said the interpretation of Malcolm X he brought to the selection committee portrayed the human rights activist as both a fighter and an intellectual, and was an extension of the "socially engaged" artist's existing body of work. Studying dozens of images of a man once deemed too controversial to be included among the most revered Nebraskans, Murray said the various angles, ages, and poses captured how Malcolm X transformed from a troubled youth into a powerful voice for Black empowerment. "It was very important for me that he have that sense of dignified strength," Murray said. "He was very much focused on doing for yourself, being strong, being moral, just that kind of self-determination and being willing to be what you need to succeed." As he shaped the bust, which features Malcolm X well-dressed in a suit and characteristic glasses with his right hand to his chin, index finger resting against his cheek as though in contemplation, Murray said he also wanted to portray his confidence. "I wanted to make sure he had a look of strength on his face," he said. "He was an incredibly intellectual and gifted speaker, so I wanted to play with the idea of him being thoughtful and intellectual." After submitting his proposal earlier this year, Murray waited while History Nebraska, the Nebraska Arts Council and the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation consulted and came up with slight alterations for the bust. Once those are finished, the clay bust will be cast in bronze before it is installed in its permanent home at the Capitol among 26 others already inducted into the Hall of Fame. Sara Crook, chair of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission, said Murray's talent and passion for the project and the man behind it elevated his work to the top. "We were very impressed with his enthusiasm for this project and look forward to unveiling the bust in the Nebraska Capitol in 2024," Murray said. And Joanna LeFlore-Ejike, the executive director of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation, said the installation of a bust of Malcolm X by Murray was "a significant point in history" and would be celebrated both at the Capitol and at a community celebration in Omaha next spring. "Nathan Murray is the right artist to help us make this installation a reality with his ongoing dedication to cultural preservation through art and activism," LeFlore-Ejike said. Murray, a nationally recognized and award-winning sculptor who won the 2022 Mayor's Art Award for Artistic Achievement and has been an artist in residence at the Union for Contemporary Art, said he wants his bust of Malcolm X to "really engage" with those who view it at the Capitol. In particular, he hopes it inspires curiosity to learn more about the life and work of a native son of Omaha, and becomes a source of pride for Black Nebraskans, who will see him as one of their own. "Representation is so incredibly important," he said. "Young children of color will be able to see someone who looks like them or relates closely to them. I think that's important." Top Journal Star photos for October 2023 A Columbus man has been fined $10,000 for election falsification for registering to vote in two counties in Nebraska in the 2020 general election. Larry Divis of Columbus was found guilty of the felony at a trial in August. On Wednesday, Colfax County District Court Judge Christina Marroquin sentenced the 64-year-old to the fine and costs, finding him not a suitable candidate for probation. He faced up to two years of incarceration on the charge. According to state prosecutors, Divis registered for and voted in an election in Richland, a village in Colfax County, despite already being registered to vote in Platte County. At trial, the Nebraska Attorney General's Office said he had voted in the Richland election because he was angry at the five members of the village board over changes to nuisance property ordinances pertaining to piled-up junk on local properties and a plan to tear down the Richland Town Hall. Divis, who is from the village of Richland east of Columbus, owned a home that his brother had lived in as well as several mechanic shops. He also owns a home in Columbus, which he said he purchased as a home for his longtime girlfriend. His attorney maintained Divis was living in Richland when he registered to vote in Colfax County. 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. NEWS RELEASE 12500 N.E. Tenth Place Bellevue, WA 98005 JPFO.org 800-869-1884 info@jpfo.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 13, 2023 Contact: James Jones Even Israeli Intelligence Didn't Spot Them In Time U.S. Border Patrol has identified and caught 150 foreign watchlist suspects trying to infiltrate the U.S. through the Mexico border last month alone. Now Hamas is calling on sympathizers worldwide to commit jihad this weekend. Our president is virtually complicitby encouraging immigrants while insisting the wide-open border is closed. Officials don't know how many "gotaways" are terrorists, and more keep arriving, using Mr. Biden's open-door border deception. Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) announced 530,000 gotaways in the past year alone. Border encounters last month hit a record 260,000. Captured known terrorists hit 659 in September. How many are Hamas? JPFO encourages American citizens to be armed, ready to prevent Muslim jihadis from doing to us what they have done to our Israeli allies. All barriers to peaceful possession of personal arms must be suspended or repealed. We can't trust Biden, a known ally of the border invaders, allowing them in, granting them papers and forgoing any serious screening or tracking. We must trust our own armed citizens needed to repel invaders if and when they act. We the people are "necessary to the security of a free state." Remember "sleeper cells"? It's more than a catch phrase. It describes what these vicious murderers dothey hide until ready to strike. 1-Sneak into America. 2-Hide in plain sight. 3-Communicate internally. 4-Wait for the command from their leadership, our hardened enemies. The only question is how deep the IranChinaRussiaNorth Korea axis runs. Three have nuclear weapons. Only Iran, backing the Gaza attacks, lacks nukes. Arm yourselves, citizens, our first and possibly last line of defense. If you're untrained or rusty in the use of personal arms, now is the time to take a class or get in some range time. Remember, If innocent life doesn't immediately depend on itdon't shoot. And if it does, don't miss. Join JPFO and stay deeply informed. ##### 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 By J. Keeler Johnson ("Keelerman") Twitter: @J_Keelerman If one reviews the list of horses who have won recent editions of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland, one might conclude that horses based in North America hold a significant edge over European raiders. After all, North American runners have dominated this race for decades. Over the past 25 years, only Together (2011) has shipped in from Europe to win the Queen Elizabeth II, even though European raiders are not uncommon in this 1 1/8-mile turf test for three-year-old fillies. And Together enjoyed a prep run against older rivals in Keeneland's First Lady (G1) one week prior to the Queen Elizabeth II. But this simplistic analysis misses some important context: in recent years at least, European challengers have pretty much run to their odds. Paris Peacock finished sixth as the fourth choice in 2022. Nicest and Cloudy Dawn finished fourth and seventh as double-digit longshots in 2021. Castle Lady ran second as the second choice in 2019. Mission Impassible finished second as the fourth choice in 2018, the same year Nyaleti ran third as the third choice. Unforgetable Filly finished tenth as a 34-1 longshot in 2017, and Hawksmoor ran third as the fourth choice in 2016. All this is a roundabout way of saying, it's rare for a European raider as talented and accomplished as #4 Mawj (2-1) to enter the Queen Elizabeth II. That's why when Mawj starts as the favorite in Saturday's renewal of the race, I'm confident she'll deliver victory for Europe. A Godolphin homebred conditioned by three-time Breeders' Cup-winning trainer Saeed bin Suroor, Mawj showed promise as a juvenile last season; at Newmarket, she won the six-furlong Duchess of Cambridge (G2) and finished a good third in the Cheveley Park (G1). But Mawj has upped her game to a new level in 2023. She spent the winter at Meydan in Dubai, where she won the Jumeirah Fillies Classic and the Jumeirah Fillies Guineas. Then she returned to Newmarket for the historic one-mile 1000 Guineas (G1) and displayed unwavering tenacity to beat Tahiyra by half a length, with the remaining 18 runners another 7 1/2 lengths behind. Tahiyra, it should be noted, is a four-time Group 1 winner with a 5-for-6 lifetime record. Her lone defeat came in the 1000 Guineas, and since then she's won the Irish 1,000 Guineas (G1), the Coronation (G1), and the Matron (G1). The form of Mawj's 1000 Guineas victory stands out like a neon sign in the Queen Elizabeth II field. She hasn't run since (bin Suroor told Keeneland that a "little chest infection" kept her from competing at Royal Ascot and prompted a break), but the Queen Elizabeth II should be the perfect spot for Mawj to get back on track. Mawj is held in such high regard that she's using the Queen Elizabeth II as a springboard to either the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) or Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), so a winning performance should be in the offing this Saturday. Beyond Mawj, there are several other talented Europeans or former Europeans in the Queen Elizabeth II field. The contingent is so strong that a trifecta or superfecta sweep might be on the horizon. First and foremost is #2 Elusive Princess (3-1), runner-up in the 2,000-meter Prix Saint-Alary (G1) during the spring at ParisLongchamp. She made her North American debut in the Saratoga Oaks (G3) two months ago and charged boldly down the homestretch to win by 3 1/4 lengths. The problem is, all of Elusive Princess's best efforts have come over soft and very soft ground; the only time she missed the exacta came when fifth over good-to-soft ground in the Prix de Diane (G1) at Chantilly. The caliber of competition may have been the bigger factor that day, but there's no guarantee Elusive Princess will find soft ground at Keeneland, so unless the skies open up on Saturday she'll have to prove she can bring her A-game over firmer turf than she usually encounters. #6 Lindy (6-1) and #7 Sounds of Heaven (8-1) are arguably more appealing alternatives. Lindy finished eighth in the Prix de Diane, but previously achieved a classic placing when second behind Prix de Diane winner Blue Rose Cen in the 1,600-meter Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (G1) at ParisLongchamp. Lindy kicked off her North American campaign with a comfortable $80,000 allowance optional claiming victory racing one mile over good turf at Kentucky Downs last month, suggesting she'll be a factor in the Queen Elizabeth II. As for Sounds of Heaven, she struggled over soft turf in the Prix Rothschild (G1) at Deauville last time out, finishing a distant sixth. But two starts back, she ran third by one length against Tahiyra in the Coronation over good-to-firm turf at Royal Ascot, a fine try hinting she'll like the footing at Keeneland. Deauville's 1,600-meter Prix de Lieurey Fonds Europeen de l'Elevage (G3) winner #8 Elounda Queen (10-1) is the final Queen Elizabeth II entrant with recent European form lines, but she's done her best work over good-to-soft ground and has yet to demonstrate she can compete against this caliber of competition. Selections 1st: Mawj 2nd: Sounds of Heaven 3rd: Lindy Now it's your turn! Who do you like in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup? ***** Want to test your handicapping skills against fellow Unlocking Winners readers? Check out the Unlocking Winners contest pagethere's a new challenge every week! (Please note: older contest entries can be found here.) J. Keeler Johnson (also known as "Keelerman") is a writer, videographer, voice actor, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. KEARNEY The Nebraska State Bandmasters Association state marching band contest will be held at 1:30-10 p.m. Oct. 21 at Kearney High School at 2702 W. 11th St. Bands from 24 high schools across the state will perform. Kearney Catholic High School will perform at 2:15 p.m. Kearney High School will be the last band to perform, stepping off at 9 p.m. Kearney has been the western site of the state competition since 2017. Other contests are being held that day in Lincoln and Omaha. Over 6,500 spectators and band students on average have attended in years past. The cost is $10 admission for adults and $7 dollar admission for students. For more information, visit kearneybands.org/music-events/2023/nsba-west-festival-october-21-2023. KEARNEY It was Nov. 5, 1957, and Reinhold Schmidt, a grain dealer, was driving on Highway 10 three miles southeast of Kearney, hunting for milo. Suddenly he saw a flash of light in the trees along the Platte River. He thought a balloon crashed. He drove toward the site, but his car battery suddenly went dead, so he got out of his car and walked toward the glow. Along the banks of the Platte, he saw what he thought was a balloon 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, standing on four stakes. Paralyzed by a light coming from the ship, he was approached by two men speaking both German and English. They invited him inside the UFO. Nathan Tye, lecturer in the history department at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, told that story Wednesday at the Brown Bag Lunch series presented by the Kearney Public Library and UNK. Tye set the scene for the packed crowd. It was 1957, and people now saw planes and other objects in the sky. he said. Russia created worldwide headlines with the launch of Sputnik II on Nov. 3, 1957. Two days later, Schmidt claimed to have seen a UFO southeast of Kearney. During Schmidts 30 minutes inside the craft, he took detailed observations. He returned to his car, which suddenly ran again, and drove away. Schmidt hurried to the Kearney police station and told his story to a deputy behind the desk. Schmidt then went back to the Fort Kearney Hotel, the site of what is now Wells Fargo bank. The word spread.. Soon the hotel is surrounded by people who want to talk to Schultz. Five hours later, its on KGFW. The story quickly appears across the country with stories on Sputnik. Crowds swarm the hotel, Tye said. A German-speaking pilot in an unknown aircraft just 48 hours after Sputnik? That raises concern, he added. Two days after the incident, psychiatrists interviewed Schmidt for two to three hours. Authorities investigated the landing site, but the craft was gone. So were footprints or any other evidence. A little background Reinhold Schmidt was the son of German immigrants. Born and raised in Kenesaw, he went to Kearney State College for a year, but his criminal history included arrests for bad checks, and he spent a year in the Nebraska State Penitentiary for embezzlement, Tye said. Soon, the FBI and Air Force personnel in Omaha heard about the story and sent in two investigators. He draws a picture of the spacecraft, but he doesnt tell us quite where along the Platte it was. It was off Highway 10, but he noted that the aliens had landed on public property so as not to violate private property laws, Tye said. In his picture, the crafts exterior looked like aluminum. Its interior was chrome. Instrument panels lined the walls. It had a conveyor belt that could move people. He said four women were working inside. It also had a lounge as a place to rest, he said. Schmidt had described the lounge as similar to a living room, but the Air Force said in the drawing, it looked like the inside of a Buick, Tye said. Schmidt told this story for decades, and over the years the story became quite different from his original one, he added. Fact or fiction? The Kearney Hubs initial headline was Space ship landing - fact or fiction? The Air Force grew suspicious. Schmidt had said the struts on the vehicle were four feet high, but no trees or shrubs were touched in the area where he said it landed. Wouldnt they have been crushed? Tye said. The Hub had a photo of the police with a mysterious green liquid they found at the site. Later, the Air Force found an oil can in the area, along with a bottle opener. Its notches matched those on the can in Schmidts car. Analysis proved that the oil residue in the cans matched the oil found on the field. The Air Force said he was foolish enough to keep the oil cans in his car, Tye said. By now, Buffalo County residents were irritated. The county mental health board committed him to Hastings State Hospital for three weeks. He was then released. There was no reason to keep him any longer, Tye said. UFO returns A few months later, Schmidt was driving on Highway 30 through Elm Creek when a UFO stopped his car again. Its crew was the one hed met south of Kearney. The crew told him theyd have staged a mass presentation with the release of flying saucers over Kearney to rescue him from Hastings State Hospital had he not been released, Tye said. Schmidt began speaking across the country about the initial incident, but on March 6, 1958, just 37 people attended his talk at the National Guard Armory. By now, people were beginning to be wary of him. By now, too, he also began to inflate his story. His drawings of the craft were much more detailed. He claimed to have ridden to the Arctic aboard a spaceship. He said he had seen underwater missile silos being built by the Soviets which were to be used against the U.S. He didnt get much attention here, so he left the grain business and went to California and became a full-time UFO expert, Tye said. He began buying property and mining rights in California. He claimed more trips to the Arctic. He said the spacecraft picked him up at a coffee shop in Oklahoma and took him to the motherships base in Montana. They also took him to the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, where he was shown the UFO of Jesus Christ," Tye said. He was told that Jesus was living on Saturn. Schmidt claimed to have seen Jesus sandals and documents, written in English by Christ. Schmidt wrote a book, The Kearney Incident. He also sold rights to his story to filmmakers Ron and June Ormond, who made a 60-minute film, The Edge of Tomorrow, documenting his encounters. He claimed it contained real footage of the Kearney incident. Fraud trial Schmidt then moved into alternate medicine. He said quartz crystals from a mine he owned in California could cure cancer, and he sold shares of that mine to wealthy widows who found hope and possibility in what he was offering. Eventually, the county held a fraud trial because Schmidt did not repay borrowed money, and affection was promised and not delivered. At the trial, Schmidt insisted that the UFO was real, and that his crystals worked. According to the story in the Kearney Hub, The courtroom was hushed. The jury was awed. Schmidt was cool. From the tone of his voice, he might have been describing a reaper sale in Lincoln, expert witness said. One surprise witness was Carl Sagan, who became a noted astronomer. He testified that the planet Saturn could not host life. The defense attorney responded, Have you ever been there? Nothing Reinhold said was true, but that didnt mean he didnt believe it, Tye said. He believed what he believed. Reinhold eventually returned to Nebraska and died in 1975. He is buried in Bridgeport. Tye noted that at the time, the space age was unfolding and Cold War perils were real. Its an unusual story, but it speaks to the terror of the Cold War, Tye said. It also represents a neat compromise between the need to believe in traditional God, and contemporary pressures to accept pronouncement of science, he added. Tye said a 150-page report on Schmidt and his UFO claims is available free through the National Archives. Tye would also be happy to talk to any Schmidt family members who are still in this area. KEARNEY Broc Anderson will speak next week about the early economic and social relationship between northwest Nebraska and the Pine Ridge Reservation. His free talk, Wounded Knee and Northwest Nebraska, begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Kearney Public Library at 2020 First Ave. Anderson, community engagement director at the Buffalo County Historical Society, is also part of the Humanities Nebraska Speakers Bureau. The program is being offered in conjunction with Humanities Nebraska. From the 1870s to the early 20th century, as settlers moved west, the U.S. military became the main proponents in displacing the Lakota from their land in Nebraska. As miners and merchants came to the Black Hills, free land opportunities in northwest Nebraska forcibly relocated the Lakota, who struggled to control their way of life. Anderson will discuss this and more. For more information, visit www.HumanitiesNebraska/ Wounded Knee. KEARNEY Threads Across Nebraska, hosted by the Nebraska State Quilt Guild, is set for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13 and 14, at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds in Kearney. Nearly 30 guilds from across the state will take part in this 18th annual event. Between 150 and 200 unique quilts will provide a colorful display featuring quilts of all sizes from miniatures to wall hangings to bed quilts. Viewers will enjoy a variety of styles and designs ranging from traditional to modern to art crafted by quilters of all skill levels from award winners to novices. Quilt show hours at the fairgrounds, 3807 Ave. N, are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $8 for adults and $4 for children, ages 4 to 12. Children 3 and younger will be admitted free. Parking is free. A concession stand will be available onsite. Vendors in the Merchants Mall will features a variety of products, such as fabric, patterns, books, notions, hand-dyed, painted fabrics, antique quilts, fabrics and sewing accessories. For those looking to purchase a long arm, a couple of vendors will have machines you can try out. A variety of classes will be available. Check the Nebraska State Quilt Guild Facebook page and website, nsqg.org, for details including instructors, class descriptions, times and costs. During the show, Quilts of Valor will have its own booth displaying quilts and handing out information about the organization. Featured quilter is Janice Lippincott, who credits the Nebraska State Quit Guild for her love of quilting. She has been a seamstress for as long as she can remember and took her first quilting class in 1990 and the rest is history. Lippincott employs many techniques including piecing, embroidery, paper piecing and applique as well as quilted garment making. She has won awards at fairs and quilt shows. J Lippincott has been the recipient of the Friendship Star Award, Silver Thimble Award, Golden Thimble Award and inducted into the Nebraska Quilters Hall of Fame. Some quilts from the classes she has taught will be on display. The NSQG raffle quilt Nebraska Rose was designed and made solely by Patricia Story and will be on display at Threads Across Nebraska. Tickets are $2 each or $20 for a book of 10 and only 2,499 will be sold. If anyone is interested in buying tickets for the raffle quilt email Linda Black- lindacoster@earthlink.com. The winner will be announced during the next state convention planned for July 27, 2024. To learn more about Threads Across Nebraska 2023 and the Nebraska State Quilt Guild, go to http://nsqg.org, like the groups Facebook page or contact LeAnne Killion at 308-440-8867 or llkillion@gmail.com. GRAND ISLAND A woman died in an explosion Friday morning at the Hornady Manufacturing plant west of Grand Island, according to Hall County Attorney Marty Klein. The explosion occurred in the chemical compound building at 8350 W. Old Potash Highway. Klein's release on the incident listed it as a Wood River address. The woman died at the scene, Klein said. Klein said he was told there were no other injuries. The Grand Island Fire Department transported one person from the scene, said Battalion Chief Phil Thomas. "We sent two ambulances out there and we transported one," he said. Klein said the woman who died was not the one transported by ambulance. The Hall County Sheriff's Office and State Fire Marshal's office remained on the scene Friday afternoon investigating the cause of the explosion. In addition to Grand Island, fire departments from Cairo and Wood River responded to the explosion. Top Journal Star photos for October 2023 WINNEBAGO Aaron LaPointe sits behind a desk in the Little Priest Tribal Colleges library basement, ready to speak to a class in a new program he helped develop diversified agriculture. Hes here, on this 100-degree August day, to show high school and college students the future of the Winnebago Tribe how Ho-Chunk Farms, the tribes farming company, is changing the face of agriculture on their reservation. When you asked a student at my high school what a farmer looks like they would tell you a white guy with cowboy boots and a cowboy hat on, said LaPointe, senior director of business operations for Ho-Chunk, Inc. They didn't see themselves as farmers, they just thought that's what the white guys do. And we just let them use our land to do that. That perception is rooted in a century of reality. The tribe only owns roughly 27,000 acres of its 120,000-acre reservation, after U.S. government actions directly or indirectly led its farmland to pass into non-Native hands mostly white farmers. But that reality is starting to change. In the past five years, three Nebraska tribes the Winnebago, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska have bought a combined 3,000-odd acres of farmland that was once theirs. These buybacks arent cheap or easy. Tribal leaders say landowners who know that tribes want the land back believe theyll pay any price. And all three tribes are paying higher-than-normal prices, according to a Flatwater Free Press analysis of data gathered by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln journalism class. The Winnebago Tribe spent nearly $10,000 per acre, on average, to buy back 340 acres of ag land. Thats about $3,000 higher than the northeast regions 2022 average. Tribal leaders think the higher prices and headaches are worth it. (Editors note: Ho-Chunk, Inc. is a Flatwater Free Press sponsor.) We want to start farming our own reservation. We want to own our reservation again, LaPointe said. Reservation, not reserved After the Civil War, the United States government tried to upend the way most Native tribes lived including the way they viewed land. The Dawes Act, passed in 1887, tried to force assimilation by splitting the previously communally owned reservation into 160-acre pieces of farmland, individually owned by tribal members. The government then sold the leftover land to non-Native settlers. At one point we owned 100% of our reservation, until the federal government thought Oh, this guy's got maybe too much land, let's take some of that from them, LaPointe said. Natives had no concept of land as property, said Ted Hibbeler, UNL Tribal Extension Educator and member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Tribes built relationships with land over thousands of years but didnt view it as a form of money or power. More reservation land was lost when tribal members grew financially desperate. One example: After the land allotment, members of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska who couldnt afford food were convinced by a White Cloud, Kansas, grocer to sign over their land as a promise to repay. They needed food, and thats just what they had to do, said Tony Fee, secretary of the Iowa Tribe. This individual got them to sign it over as collateral and they never could afford to get it back. So they lost it. Today, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska owns about half of its 12,000-acre reservation, with Native and non-Native land ownership checker-boarded throughout. On the Winnebago reservation, many families lost their land back-paying unfamiliar taxes, or sold the land to cover medical bills, LaPointe said. In 1934, the U.S. government put all remaining Native-owned allotments into an indefinite trust. By that point, an estimated 90 million acres had been removed from Native ownership, according to the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. Land ownership had gone in only one direction away from Native tribes and farmers. Until recently, when several tribes decided to change that. Sticker shock In the past few years, in addition to other larger purchases, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska bought 4 acres next to some land it already owned. The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska made a 36-acre purchase. Neither is notable, except for the price tag: More than $43,000 per acre. I don't see too many places where anything approaching that happens," said Cris Stainbrook, Oglala Lakota and president of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. I mean, $40,000 an acre is a lot. Farmland prices in Nebraska have risen across the board in recent years. According to UNLs 2022 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Report, where the Winnebago and Iowa are buying, average acre values for high-quality land are around $7,000. Those tribes often pay far more than that. In fact, every piece of reservation land the Iowa Tribe buys is priced higher than what similar land sells for, Fee said. Racism is an underlying reason for higher land prices, Stainbrook said. He has seen sales where the asking price dropped dramatically when a non-Native organization was the buyer. When we're helping (tribes) get land back there's this underlying thought that if the tribe wants it bad enough, they'll pay anything for it, or they must have a casino somewhere and therefore they can afford to pay more, Stainbrook said. Sales on tribal land are sometimes disincentivized by existing tax policies, like capital gains, LaPointe said, because the original sales happened for such little money that the taxes would be disproportionately high. But tribes shouldnt be paying more because of the current owners tax bill, Stainbrook said. Do you think they sell it to another non-Indian and tell them, Well, youll have to pay X amount more because of our capital gains? Stainbrook said. Another reason for high prices: High demand. One of the last pieces of reservation land the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska bought was offered to another individual right before the sale, Fee said, so the tribes only option was to up their offer to get the land. They got us over the barrel if we want it. I mean, then they know we want it. We want it bad enough. We're gonna pay for it, Fee said, To me, that's not the right way, but we really don't have a choice. The Iowa Tribe didnt have many opportunities to buy land four or five years ago, when values were cheaper. Now that prices have risen, sellers are offering up land if the price is right. The tribe does feel that we should do everything we can to try to get the land back, Fee said. And we're just doing what we can to work toward that. Food as sovereignty For Trey Blackhawk, manager of the nonprofit Winnebago Tribal Farm, acquiring more farmland is a way for the tribe to feed itself without relying on outside sources. The farm, founded in 2018, grows fruits and vegetables on a 40-acre plot, as well as traditional Indian corn used in ceremonies. In the next decade, Blackhawk hopes to open a food co-op for the tribe. Right now, the nearest grocery store to the Winnebago reservation is in Sioux City, Iowa. Tribe members drive up to 30 miles each way to get their groceries. I think the pandemic helped people realize that we're not very sovereign. We cant even feed ourselves, really, LaPointe said. All these shortages were happening and we're like, geez, were really dependent on a lot of people for our food sources. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 49% of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives experienced food insecurity, according to a Native American Agriculture Fund survey. Investments in Native agriculture help tribes to keep food production local so they can support their communities, said Whitney Sawney, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and director of communications and policy for NAAF. The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska farms about 4,500 acres of their land, Fee said, with the goal of food sovereignty. The tribe is moving toward regenerative agriculture, using native plant species, natural fertilizers and beekeeping to grow nutrient-dense foods. On the Winnebago reservation, LaPointe often visits classes at Little Priest Tribal College, presenting farming as a way to feed the tribe and a good career opportunity. LaPointe, 32, is the second oldest Ho-Chunk Farms employee. Young tribe members are becoming interested in agriculture. LaPointe believes they can be the next generation of farmers. That's why I say land acquisition is so important for us, because our growth is dependent on it, LaPointe said. If I'm going to create jobs for this next generation of people that are getting educated in this field, we need to be moving forward by growing our acre base. This reporting is part of a collaboration with the Institute for Nonprofit News' Rural News Network, and the Energy News Network, Flatwater Free Press, Mississippi Free Press, New Mexico In Depth, Religion News Service and Sierra Nevada Ally. Support from the Walton Family Foundation made the project possible. The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter. Bruce Wilber took the oath of office Thursday as president of the County Veterans Service Officers Association of Wisconsin at the Stella Hotel in Kenosha Thursday evening, the first Native American to serve in the position. Wilber, a member of the Menominee Tribe in Menominee County, is also the first Native American to serve as president of a state county veterans service officer association in the nation. Wilber is both the Menominee County Veterans Service Officer and Tribal Veterans Service Officer. Its taken a while for that to sink in, that Im the president, Wilber said. They chose me, it kind of surprised me. He previously served as second vice president two years ago and first vice president last year. The last president was Ali Nelson, the former Kenosha County Veterans Service Officer. Thursday marked the beginning of Wilbers one-year presidency. Wilber said he was surrounded by good people who would help him lead the association. The position was more about what the association wants, not what I want, he said. One of those supporters is Ronald Peterson, a fellow Native American and the Lac Du Flambeau Tribal Veterans Service Officer. The pair had met in the 80s, Peterson said. I hold (Wilber) in the highest regard, Peterson said. Its an honor to stand before the state of Wisconsin as the first tribal veterans service officer to hold the position of president. Although Wilber emphasized he ran and was elected as a veteran, not a Native American, he did not shy away from his ancestry. When he led the procession into the hall in Kenosha Thursday evening, he carried an eagle head staff and walked to the drumbeat of a Native American service song. DENVER (AP) Jurors delivered a split verdict against two officers charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain during the first of several trials over the Black man's fatal confrontation with police while walking home in suburban Denver, convicting one and clearing the other. A second trial began Friday with jury selection in the case of Aurora Officer Nathan Woodyard, who helped restrain McClain and put him in the neckhold that rendered him temporarily unconscious. Paramedics later injected the 23-year massage therapist with an overdose of a powerful sedative, ketamine. He was pronounced dead three days later. Paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec are scheduled to stand trial next month. Judge Mark Warner ruled in January that there would be separate trials to ensure they would be fair. McClain's death was one of several that were revisited after the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd, and his name became a rallying cry at the ensuing social justice protests. Heres what you need to know about McClains death: WHY WAS ONLY ONE OFFICER CONVICTED IN THE FIRST TRIAL? The jury convicted Aurora Officer Randy Roedema of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault but acquitted Officer Jason Rosenblatt on all counts. The officers had faced similar charges and the jury didn't explain its decisions. During the trial, Rosenblatt's attorneys pointed out that he wasn't near McClain when he was injected with ketamine. Prosecutors alleged that Rosenblatt held McClains legs when he was on the ground before Rosenblatt stepped away, while Roedema held McClain's shoulder and back. Roedema and another officer who wasn't charged restrained McClain while paramedics administered the ketamine. Roedema was the senior of the two officers. He was often visible in the body camera footage shown to jurors. At times, he seemed to be directing others what to do. Rosenblatt had only been on the force for two years when McClain died. He was fired in 2020 for making light of a reenactment by other officers of the neckhold. Former Colorado prosecutor George Brauchler said the jury seemed to be thoughtful in that it distinguished between the two officers' actions and rejected prosecutors' suggestion that there had been some complicity between them. Braucher, who prosecuted the 2012 Colorado theater shooting. said it appears the jury found there was enough medical evidence to hold Roedema accountable for McClain's death because of the distress he was in before he was injected with ketamine. In holding Roedema accountabile, though, they convicted him of the least serious charges they were presented with, he said. Roedema could get anywhere from probation to three years in prison when he's sentenced Jan. 5. WHY DID POLICE STOP McCLAIN? A 911 caller reported that McClain, who was wearing earbuds and listening to music, seemed sketchy and was waving his arms as he walked home from a convenience store in Aurora on the night of Aug. 24, 2019. McClain was often cold and wore a runners mask and jacket despite the warm weather, prosecutors said in the indictment. Jurors were shown surveillance video from the store of McClain wearing the mask and waiting to pay for three cans of ice tea. No one else in the store appeared concerned that he was in a mask, although the clerks back was to the camera. Three officers approached McClain after he left the store. Within 10 seconds, Officer Nathan Woodyard put his hands on McClain and turned him around. As McClain tried to escape his grip, Woodyard said, Relax, or Im going to have to change this situation. The encounter quickly escalated, with officers taking McClain to the ground and putting him in a neckhold, pressing against his carotid artery. Paramedics arrived and injected McClain with ketamine. He went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and was taken off life support three days later. There seems to be a shift in the willingness of juries to hold police officers accountable for misconduct in recent years, said Tracie Keesee, who co-founded the Center for Policing Equity, which focuses on improving public safety systems for vulnerable communities. However, there also needs to be changes made to how police respond to things such as traffic and pedestrian stops to try to avoid tragedies like McClains death, she said. We shouldnt even be here and the young man should be alive, she said. DID THE KETAMINE OR NECKHOLD KILL McCLAIN? The neckhold, called a carotid control hold, restricts the flow of blood to a persons brain, rendering them temporarily unconscious. Many states, including Colorado, have passed limits on neck restraints since the murder of Floyd in Minneapolis. McClain had been kept on the ground for 15 minutes when paramedics gave him 500 milligrams of ketamine. He weighed 140 pounds (64 kilograms) but received a higher dose of ketamine than recommended for someone of his size, said Dr. Stephen Cina, a forensic pathologist who peformed McClain's autopsy. Cina ultimately decided that McClain died of complications from the ketamine, noting that it occurred after the forcible restraint. However, he wasn't able to say if the death was a homicide or an accident, or whether the officers actions contributed to it. Pulmonologist David Beuther testified for the prosecution that McClain threw up repeatedly and inhaled vomit, which made it hard to breathe. Even before the ketamine was injected, McClains health had deteriorated to the extent that he belonged in an intensive care unit, he said. WHY WERE THE OFFICERS CHARGED? A prosecutor initially decided not to bring charges in McClains death largely because the initial autopsy didn't determine exactly how he died. Following the protests over Floyd's death, though, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis directed the state attorney general to re-investigate the McClain case. A grand jury indicted the three officers and two paramedics in 2021. Cina said he changed his autopsy findings to pin the blame on ketamine in 2021 after looking at body camera footage. Brown reported from Billings, Montana. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday he would still weigh impeaching liberal state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz depending on how she rules in a redistricting case Republicans say she has prejudged, despite opinions from two former conservative justices urging him against the effort. But while Vos had initially threatened impeachment if Protasiewicz did not recuse herself from the redistricting case, something she refused to do last week, his comments Thursday seem to indicate efforts to impeach the liberal justice now hinge on how she rules on the matter. If they decide to inject their own political bias inside the process and not follow the law, we have the ability to go with the U.S. Supreme Court and we also have the ability to hold her accountable to the voters of Wisconsin, Vos said. Vos comments come after two of the three former Wisconsin Supreme Court justices he asked to explore the issue conservative former justices David Prosser and Jon Wilcox told the Rochester Republican that Protasiewiczs past criticisms of GOP-drawn legislative maps were not impeachable offenses. Two former liberal justices, Louis Butler and Janine Geske, also have said impeachment is unjustified. During her campaign, Protasiewicz called the maps rigged and accepted donations from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which Republicans say requires her to recuse herself from any legal challenge to the maps. In a lengthy opinion last week, Protasiewicz said she has a duty to participate in the case, and the court voted 4-3 to hear the matter. Asked Thursday if impeachment was off the table, Vos told reporters, No, definitely not. We want to focus on what is occurring in office, Vos said. That is the reason that, even though we all agree that recusal should have happened, it would have provided a lot more confidence in the decisions of the judiciary. I think Justice Protasiewicz made a mistake in not recusing, but she has said she can be an independent jurist. Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said in a statement Vos is now backing down from immediate impeachment and moving the goalposts. Now hes saying he wants to see how she actually rules on maps, Wikler said. Threatening to impeach a justice in a case to which he is a party if she rules in ways that displease him is an outrageous attempt at political extortion in itself. Time will tell if its just an attempt to save face. But right now, its a climb-down. Vos announced on radio station 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. While Vos had refused to name the former justices, he identified the trio as Prosser, Wilcox and former justice Patience Roggensack in court documents filed earlier this week. Wilcox told the Wisconsin State Journal on Wednesday he did not see that there were any impeachable offenses at that time. In a letter obtained by liberal watchdog group American Oversight, which has sued the panel arguing the group must convene in public, Prosser wrote to Vos that there should be no effort to impeach Justice Protasiewicz on anything we know now. Impeachment is so serious, severe, and rare that it should not be considered unless the subject has committed a crime, or the subject has committed indisputable corrupt conduct while in office, Prosser continued. Roggensack has not responded to requests for comment. 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. Photos: Biden impeachment inquiry hearings EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR FRIDAY OCTOBER 13, 2023 Get Fooled Once, Shame on You. Get Fooled Twice, You Might Not Have a Third Oct. 12, 2023, (EIRNS)Over the last several days, Western governments and societies are being lined up behind the defense of Israel in a way that would make even a drill sergeant blush. As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said when he arrived in Israel today: We have the back of the Israeli people. We have their back today. Well have it tomorrow. We will have it every day. Even Blinken was outdone by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, who laid on the guilt Oct. 12, when he said: Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the State of Israel. Within at least Germany, France, Canada and the United Kingdom, any shows of pro-Palestinian sentiment have been declared illegal and violators are subject to arrest. In the U.S., while not as extreme yet, even the most modest pleas for a ceasefire and questioning of Israels infallibility are being condemned. And this while Israel conducts a full siege on Gaza, having cut off of all water, fuel, and electricity to the area in addition to a relentless bombing campaign. Assuredly, the attacks by Hamas against Israel since last weekend have been ugly, and tensions are understandably sky-high. But there is one problem with this lock-step narrative: Which Israel are we being told to support? Which domestic faction, each of which has drastically different views on resolving the crisis, is the correct Israel? As has been noted by this publication and others, there is an internal battle within Israel, and a tremendous rage against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom many blame for the deadly escalations. There are many within Israel, who do not believe it is in Israels best interests to launch a full-blown attack on Hamas and forever destroy their Arab neighbors. Why is that not being spoken to by Western diplomats? Therefore, the actual question is: Who wants to corral you into an all-out war in Southwest Asia, and whose interest will that be in? As with the crisis in Ukraine, this has veered into the domain of geopolitics. The current crisis and ensuing responses have less and less to do with the interests and actors of those nominally on the stage in front of us, and more and more other interests altogether. An unprecedented propaganda campaign is on throughout the world, pulling at peoples heart-strings in order to stampede them into support for more war. This is replete with horrific videos and footage of atrocities that accomplishes nothing other than calling forth the most knee-jerk emotions. Remember Bucha, Izyum, and Ukrainian orphans? In the same way as is now being deployed with Israel, the headlong dash into a fratricidal war in Ukraine has left that nation decimated, with hundreds of thousands of its citizens dead. Ukraines future is bleak, if it and the world even survive the escalating proxy war NATO is waging against Russia. Only a fool would imagine that this is in Ukraines actual interests. A true statesman or stateswoman is not bowled over when emotions get heated. Take the comments by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who said on Oct. 11 that an independent Palestinian state is the only solution, in our view, that will ensure that both peoples [Israelis and Palestinians] live in peace and security for the long term.... When the time comes, well have to get back to work to recreate solutions that will enable political dialogue to restore a political horizon and, if possible, bring about peace. Colonna was echoed by former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who on Oct. 12 said the two-state solution is more than ever, today, the only one, and which is, in terms of security, the best guarantee Israel could have. Villepin also emphasized that, in this, Israel has a responsibility, because it has done everything to divide. Stop and consider: How are other governments in the region responding, at whose doorstep the consequences of this war will be left? Are they going flight-forward, and trying to take sides? The Arab League convened an emergency meeting on Oct. 11, where their foreign ministers called for an immediate ceasefire, urgent humanitarian aid, and a two-state solution. In addition, a flurry of discussions between the heads of state of Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iran, and Jordan, and likely many others have ensued, all calling for a de-escalation of the conflict and urgent moves for negotiations for the interests of both sides. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking after a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Kyrgyzstan, said it is also necessary to focus on the substance of the problem. In contrast to this, and to reason, the U.S. has deployed an aircraft carrier group to the region and appears to have sent another Marine unit as well. Even more humble were the comments of Russian President Putin, who identified the need to have compassion for both sides and recognize that the endless cycle of injustices will never solve the problem. Speaking yesterday at the Russian Energy Week plenary, Putin said: We understand that the bitterness is immense on both sides, but regardless of its levels, every effort should be made to minimize or reduce to zero the losses among civilians.... You cannot solve the problem in its entirety without addressing fundamental political issues, the main one being the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, he said. However, the solution lies on a still higher plain. As Helga Zepp-LaRouche has insisted, only a new security and development architecture on a worldwide scale, which takes the interests of every nation into consideration, will work to solve these kinds of multi-generational conflicts. It will never be solved within a given region, or the currently failed framework, but only by changing the actual context within which the problem exists in this case a dying oligarchical system, of which geopolitical conflicts in the so-called Middle East are merely an effect. In a speech at Central Connecticut State University in 2009, Lyndon LaRouche addressed the problem of Southwest Asia: See the Middle East, not as having its own history, but the Middle East as something within the process of history. And ... dont look at the Israeli-Arab conflict. Dont ignore it, but dont look at it. Because the conflict is not determined by the Israelis or Arabs. Its determined by international forces which look at this region. How? As a crossover point between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, the relationship of Europe to Asia, the relationship of Europe to East Africa, and so forth. Therefore, what youre seeing is that. Now, go back and say, where did the British get this idea as they did with Sykes-Picot where did they get the bright idea of keeping the Arab population, and what became the Israeli population, at odds with each other permanently? Killing each other over land that wasnt worth fighting over, in terms of its quality. ...And you sit there with despair, and you say, are these people just going to kill themselves into extinction? Kill each other into extinction? Whats wrong here? Well, somebodys playing them. Somebodys playing and orchestrating the situation.... We have to move, therefore, from thinking about conflict among nations and regions, to the alternative to conflict, by finding that which unites us through our common purpose, as independent sovereign nations, rather than seeking resolution of a conflict we are now enjoying among ourselves. Thats the only chance we have. And when you look at the possibilities for this region, like Southwest Asia, the only chance will come, not from inside Southwest Asia. We will do, and must do, what we can, for that area, to try to stop the bloodshed, the agony, to prevent the war. But we will not succeed, until we change the history, change the world in which this region is contained. Next week begins Chinas Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, where 130 countries will be represented to discuss economic development spanning continents and civilizations. It will be a good place to start to get the world moving to that different plain. The U.S. Marines have officially begun combining men and women during their first major training exercises called boot camp. But so far, military leaders appear to be moving slowly to fully join the two sexes together during all training activities. Reporters from the Associated Press recently visited a Marine Corps base in South Carolina that combines male and female boot camp training. They observed the training exercises and spoke with leaders about the Marines current policy. During intense heat at Marine Base Parris Island, two young recruits were battling inside a training space. Circling them, a training commander shouted orders, Hit her! Punch her! DO something! Outside the space were a mix of male and female Marine hopefuls. The recruits are appointed to one of the mixed-sex companies, or large military groups. The Marine Corps is moving slowly and at times unwillingly to combine training women and men at boot camp, the Associated Press reports. Sometimes the joint training has been successful. Other times not. In the training space, men and women are together while completing timed physical exercises or practicing firing guns. But the line of recruits around the swimming pool outside presents the opposite. There, companies are broken up into smaller groups called platoons. The platoons remain separated by sex. As the recruits line up, there is a small group of women standing at the front with groups of men behind them. The boot camp training methods suggest Marine Corps leaders still intensely believe there must be some separation in training. Marine deactivated training unit It has been nearly eight years since the defense secretary at the time ordered all fighting-related jobs open to women. But the Marine Corps just deactivated a training unit at Parris Island this summer. The unit was created in 1986 to accept women. Many Marine Corps officers forcefully defend the training separation. Some leaders have strongly expressed the belief that women can grow more confident quickly if they are not directly competing with often larger or stronger males. Under pressure from Congress, the Marines Corps changed the unit for women into a mixed-sex group in recent years. It then officially deactivated it in June. The remaining recruit companies are either mixed-sex or all male. Inside the pool, men and women struggle side by side, jumping into the water and swimming to the other end. Boot camp trainers are also a mix of men and women. They stand on the edge of the pool ready to throw a float or jump in if needed. But outside, an all-male group of recruits moves through the woods. The individuals drop to move forward on their hands and knees across a stretch of burning hot sand. A second group training outside also includes no women. General Walker Field, who leads Marine Base Parris Island, told the AP he believes keeping the platoons separated by sex is an important part of forming successful Marines. Field explained that the Marine Corps has established proven training methods over the years. Part of this process involves breaking down recruits and then building them back up as successful team members. Field argued that the platoon model is especially important to that success. Field said keeping platoons all male or female permits leaders to provide exactly what is needed for each group when they are together in the evenings. He added that being the same sex at the platoon level also makes it easier for leaders to make the best training decisions at all times. Lieutenant Colonel Aixa Dones is one female Marine officer who strongly supports a continued separation. Dones served as the last commander of Parris Islands women-only unit before it was deactivated this year. She was also a recruit there and says about the experience, I cant imagine it having gone any other way. Sergeant Maria Torres is a training commander. She told the AP she thinks combining companies is a necessary, first step. But expanding it to the platoon level might have poor results, so wed have to start small, Torres added. Many disagree But many people disagree. They say keeping platoons separate only reinforces the idea that women are not considered equal and should be treated differently. Erin Kirk is a former Marine sergeant who went through the separated training in 2010. She remembers how male recruits looked down on women in the unit, with some even criticizing the females and calling them names. The split, she said, divided them into male Marines and female Marines. She believes that shaped how the men saw the women. It made it more difficult for them to work together as they moved along. It made you feel like you werent part of the team. It made it difficult to be seen as a real Marine, said Kirk, who served for five years. She believes mixed-sex platoons would be a good way for women to be seen as equals and not as other recruits. When asked about those issues, Lieutenant Dones disagreed that the separation presents problems for women. Our female platoons have been outperforming our male teams, and we have had more female company honor graduates than we have had male, she said. Some young female recruits spoke to the AP about the current recruitment process. Nicole Momura said she chose to join the Marine Corps because she thought it was the hardest military branch. This recruit was looking for something bigger than herself, the 22-year-old added. Momura is not concerned about the platoon separation, saying, Were all going to be working together in the fleet. Another recruit, 19-year-old Nubia Delatorre, said she is proud to be a member of the second female platoon in her company. But she admits the men and women do not interact very much. She said the females are not permitted to talk to the males. However, Delatorre said she believes women and men get the same training. In her case, she said she decided to join the Marines because she wanted to prove to myself that I could do something hard. Im Gena Bennett. And Im Bryan Lynn. Lolita C. Baldor reported this story for the Associated Press. Gena Bennett adapted it for VOA Learning English. _________________________________________________ Words in This Story recruitn. someone who is in the process of joining the armed forces but isnt fully trained yet confidentadj. strong belief in yourself the fleetn. full military operational units; not training proudadj. feeling very pleased about something you have done The problem of cross-country smoke, or haze, has caused a new disagreement in Southeast Asia. Malaysias environment minister wrote to Indonesias government this week calling for action to help reduce smoke across Malaysia. The letter comes just weeks after countries in Southeast Asia agreed to a haze-free area by 2030. What is going on? In recent weeks, air quality reports in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia have reached readings above 150. This puts conditions at a level where people can experience unhealthy effects. And those with existing health problems could suffer greater greater health problems. On the Indonesian side of Borneo Island, visibility was reduced to less than 10 meters. Schools are closed in both Indonesia and Malaysia to reduce the health effects on young children. Malaysia has blamed the haze on Indonesia, saying smoke from forest fires is being pushed across the border. Every few years, during the dry season, smoke from slash and burn land clearing takes over much of the area. Slash and burn is a method in agriculture to cut down and burn plants to clear land for planting. This method is used to clear land for planting palm trees. Products from palm trees include oil, pulp, and paper. But this method threatens public health, education, and businesses like tourism. How are officials dealing with the problem? Even after Malaysia called on Indonesia this week to avoid normalizing the haze, Indonesian officials have denied any responsibility. Indonesias environment minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said recently that forest fires had decreased and no haze was found moving toward any neighboring country. She said Indonesia has been dealing with the fires by dropping water bombs from helicopters. In the past, Indonesia has taken legal action against companies suspected of illegal burning. But each year fires continue with different degrees of severity. In 2015 and 2019, Indonesia saw large fires that burned millions of hectares of land. It caused record-breaking pollution and some places were surrounded by toxic yellow smoke. Why does this keep happening? Under Indonesian law, burning by small, local farmers is permitted. But it must happen on an area no greater than two hectares and necessary prevention measures must be in place. All large farm holders must follow sustainable palm oil standards, which do not permit burning. The rules mean that slash and burn methods continue to be used by small-holder farmers. Additionally, following the guidelines is voluntary. Unclear supply chains, land claims, and laws mean that large companies can sometimes avoid responsibility for illegal land clearing. The large operations are sometimes owned by companies based in countries like Malaysia and Singapore. How is the area responding? The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recently launched a center for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (known as ACC THPC). Its aim is to help members prevent, deal with, and follow cross-country haze. The center is in line with ASEANs agreement to reach a haze-free area by 2030. This week ASEAN agriculture and forestry ministers also agreed to take collective action to reduce and eventually remove crop burning. Is climate change making it worse? Environmentalists say Indonesia is home to the worlds third largest rainforest area and the government needs to take more action. The country is experiencing increased dry conditions because of a weather system called El Nino. Greenpeace Indonesia says climate warming is making forest and land fires more intense, which is adding to the climate crisis. Im Dan Friedell. Reuters reported this story. Gregory Stachel adapted the story for VOA Learning English. ________________________________________________ Words in This Story visibility n. the ability to see or be seen sustainable adj. involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources supply chain n. a network of businesses that supply the materials and parts needed to provide people with products and goods The Consul General of Germany in Hong Kong feels confident the city is attractive for German investors. Stefan Bredohl, Germanys top diplomat for the SAR, was interviewed yesterday on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of Oktoberfest Macau at MGM 2023. As the Macau government has been increasing its efforts to attract foreign tourists and investors, the diplomat was asked if the local government has approached his country or office to further improve ties. He said he had learned yesterday about some interesting ideas to further develop different sectors. I think this is a very positive signal, the diplomat said, adding that he is very sure that German companies are very interested in the opportunities that lie ahead. Having spent two years in office in Hong Kong, the diplomat regretted he had not celebrated Oktoberfest in Macau earlier. The diplomat added that after briefly experiencing the music, food and vibe of the Oktoberfest in Macau, he believes that the Macau event authentically resembles its Munich counterpart. Jamie Foxx deploys his movie star charm judiciously and skillfully as a litigator with swagger to spare in The Burial, a very entertaining courtroom drama. Foxx is one of those actors, blessed with an allure and glamour that runs so deep that its almost tempting to dismiss a performance like this as one thats natural. Its one of those compliments thats rotten at its core of course he, or Clooney, or whomever, is good at being slick and appealing, right? If it looks effortless, we assume it is, denying them the work that goes into every role. The same could be said for The Burial, which is glossy, appealing and goes down suspiciously easy. Is there a catch or did director and co-writer Maggie Betts just prove her commercial chops in her sophomore feature? (Its the latter.) Just take a look at the poster used for its marketing campaign - a little retro, a little cheesy, and a lot self-aware. This movie and everyone involved knows what it is. In a probably skewed memory of the mid-90s, these sort of mid-budget rousing courtroom dramas seemed ubiquitous, but have gone the way of the rom-com at least in big theatrical releases. The Burial will be in some theaters for a week, before coming to your living room on Oct. 13 on Prime Video. This story is a classic David vs. Goliath one, in which a Biloxi funeral home owner, Tommy Lee Jones as Jeremiah OKeefe, goes up against a billionaire, Raymond Loewen (Bill Camp). Both were children of funeral parlor owners, but OKeefe stayed local while Loewen took the so-called death care business corporate. He made a fortune acquiring funeral homes in Canada and then the United States in anticipation of a golden age of death, in which the baby boomers start meeting their ends in mass numbers. The Burial is loosely based on a true story, which was chronicled by Jonathan Harr in The New Yorker in 1999. Betts focuses her lens on Foxxs character, Willie E. Gary, a self-made success in personal injury law, who has never lost a case and doesnt plan to. Jeremiahs case is a contract one but a young associate played by the always appealing Mamoudou Athie convinces him that hes going to need a lead counsel who is Black if theyre going to have a chance. The trial has been set for a poor, largely Black area, and Jeremiahs longtime lawyer, Mike Allred (Alan Ruck, playing a character who would probably be a Con-Head), is an obvious racist. Hes working on it, he says chillingly to a team of Black lawyers. When Willie does finally agree to go out of his comfort zone and take on a different kind of case (his ego stoked by the promise that this could make him as famous as Johnnie Cochran), there is a steep and humbling learning curve and a formidable opponent in Jurnee Smolletts Ivy League-educated lawyer representing the Loewen Group. Betts shares a screenwriting credit with Doug Wright, the Pulitzer and Tony-winning playwright, who has been with the project for years, with Alexander Payne once attached to direct. Betts was coming off a promising, but small, debut the religious drama Novitiate, with Margaret Qualley and Melissa Leo. The Burial too is assured and straightforward, and faces questions about race and privilege and inequality head on. This story is about two older white men fighting about a contract, sure, but Betts and Wright expand its scope with sensitivity and nuance. Like many good courtroom dramas before it, this case is bigger than just these two guys. Smolletts Mame is the big invention of the movie, which doesnt grate the way it usually does when screenwriters add a fictional, exceptional woman to diversify a too-male story. Mame is not a one note character she is brilliant and accomplished but also keenly aware that she cant stumble, falter or lose her cool the way her male counterparts can. Sometimes you even forget that you really shouldnt be rooting for her to win, which is a shrewd touch for a movie with a pretty obvious conclusion and an easily hateable villain. But this show belongs to Foxx, and its a fun feast to see him grandstand and doubt himself and charm all kinds of jurors and make us feel empathetic for a guy who is himself ostentatiously wealthy, no matter if it was easy for the actor or not. LINDSEY BAHR, MDT/AP Film Writer The Burial, an MGM/Amazon Studios release in theaters Friday and streaming Oct. 13, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for language. Running time: 125 minutes. A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments today [Macau time] in a case filed by TikTok and five Montana content creators who want the court to block the states ban on the video sharing app before it takes effect Jan. 1. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula is not expected to rule immediately on the request for a preliminary injunction. Montana became the first state in the U.S. to pass a complete ban on the app, based on the argument that the Chinese government could gain access to user information from TikTok, whose parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing. Content creators say the ban violates free speech rights and could cause economic harm for their businesses. TikTok said in court filings that the state passed its law based on unsubstantiated allegations, that Montana cannot regulate foreign commerce and that the state could have passed a law requiring TikTok limit the kinds of data it could collect, or require parental controls, rather than trying to enact a complete ban. Western governments have expressed worries that the popular social media platform could put sensitive data in the hands of the Chinese government or be used as a tool to spread misinformation. Chinese law allows the government to order companies to help it gather intelligence. TikTok, which is negotiating with the federal government over its future in the U.S., has denied those allegations. But that hasnt made the issue go away. In a first-of-its kind report on Chinese disinformation released last month, the U.S. State Department alleged that ByteDance seeks to block potential critics of Beijing, including those outside of China, from using its platforms. The report said the U.S. government had information as of late 2020 that ByteDance maintained a regularly updated internal list identifying people who were blocked or restricted from its platforms including TikTok for reasons such as advocating for Uyghur independence. More than half of U.S. states and the federal government have banned TikTok on official devices. The company has called the bans political theatre and says further restrictions are unnecessary due to the efforts it is taking to protect U.S. data by storing it on Oracle servers. The bill was brought to the Montana Legislature after a Chinese spy balloon flew over the state. It would prohibit downloads of TikTok in the state and fine any entity an app store or TikTok $10,000 per day for each time someone is offered the ability to access or download the app. There would not be penalties for users. The American Civil Liberties Union, its Montana chapter and Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital privacy rights advocacy group, have submitted an amicus brief in support of the challenge. Meanwhile, 18 attorneys generals from mostly Republican-led states are backing Montana and asking the judge to let the law be implemented. Even if that happens, cybersecurity experts have said it could be challenging to enforce. In asking for the preliminary injunction, TikTok argued that the app has been in use since 2017 and letting Montanans continue to use it will not harm the state. Montana did not identify any evidence of actual harm to any resident as a result of using TikTok and even delayed the bans effective date until Jan. 1, 2024, the company said. AMY BETH HANSON & HALELUYA HADERO, MDT/AP Next week will see the return of two local business expos, in addition to the debut of another celebrating Chinese and Lusophone businesses, the local investment musketeer has noted. Organized by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (MIF) one of the oldest events of its kind held in and by the city will return for the 28th time between Oct. 19 and 22 to The Venetian Macao. This years theme is More than Business. With Shandong Province as this years partner province and the local governments aim to diversify the economy, the expo will feature multiple sub-exhibitions focusing on key industries such as the big health industry, modern financial services, high technology and conferences and exhibitions combined with commerce and trade, the organizer said. Events such as the Macao-Hengqin Economic and Trade Exchange Sessions will be held as a multi-venue event, combined with the effect of MICE+ tourism, to promote the appropriate economic diversification and development of Macau with the momentum of conferences and exhibitions. At the same venue during the same period, the Macao Franchise Expo 2023 (MFE2023) will be held. International and regional chains will be present in Macau to attract franchisees. Forums, symposia, sharing sessions and food tasting events will be held as part of the expo. The IPIM said a local beer brewery managed to make deals with a mainland food chain in last years expo, signaling the brands expanded presentation across China. A third expo, the IPIM noted, will also be held alongside MIF and MFE. The expo is the first China- Portuguese Speaking Countries Products and Services Exhibition (Macao) (C-PLPEX). The 4th Macau-Taipa bridge is yet to be named, the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) has said in response to an inquiry from the Times about the current status of the project. There is currently no relevant information to be released on the new bridges name, the reply from DSOP reads. The same government department also did not disclose any information about the construction status of the project. The Times has observed that only three sections of the main deck need to be completed so that the Pac On area in Taipa is linked to the Zone A of the new landfills. In response, the DSOP told the Times that construction status updates are on the Bureaus website. However, on the DSOP website, the latest update on the construction dates is from Jan. 17 this year, when the Bureau announced the conclusion of all the pillars of the main structure of the bridge. After this, the DSOP only made note of a construction incident in mid-July that occurred when a piece of the pre-fabricated structure tipped during assembly of one of the deck sections and fell, temporarily halting the works. According to information from the head of DSOPs infrastructure department, Ng Hong, provided during a media tour of the bridge construction site in August last year, the bridge construction should be concluded by the end of the first quarter of next year. RM President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kyrgyzstan yesterday on a rare trip abroad for the Russian leader who was indicted earlier this year by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine. Putin met with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and was to take part today in the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, which Kyrgyzstan is hosting. Leaders of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will also attend the summit. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will skip it, as Yerevans relationship with Moscow has frayed amid mutual accusations. It is the first time this year that Putin has traveled outside Russia and Russian-held territories of Ukraine. Earlier this year, he visited the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson, as well as the annexed Crimean Peninsula. In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the deportation of children from Ukraine. Countries that have signed and ratified the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, are now bound to arrest the Russian leader if he sets foot on their soil. The move caused Putin to skip an economic summit in South Africa in August and further strained Moscows ties with Armenia after it moved to ratify the Rome Statute earlier this month, even as Armenian officials sought to assure the Kremlin that the Russian leader would not be arrested if he entered the country. The Kremlin has said that Russia doesnt recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and considers the warrant null and void. Kyrgyzstan is not a signatory of the Rome Statute. In Central Asia, only Tajikistan is. Putin traveled to both countries last year after the invasion of Ukraine and amid increasing international isolation. He also visited other Central Asian nations in 2022, as well as Armenia, Belarus, China, India and Iran. Later this month, Putin is expected to travel to China again. Last month, he also accepted an invitation to visit North Korea, although it remains unclear when that might happen. MDT/AP Sri Lanka says it has reached an agreement with the Exim Bank of China on key terms and principles for restructuring its debt, a key step toward unlocking a second instalment of a $2.9 billion package from International Monetary Fund aimed at rescuing the island nation from a dire economic crisis. The finance ministry said in a statement issued yesterday [Macau time] that the agreement covers $4.2 billion in outstanding debt and is an important step toward Sri Lankas economic recovery. The statement said the deal provides the necessary fiscal space for Sri Lanka to implement its economic reform agenda. The Sri Lankan authorities hope that this landmark achievement will provide an anchor to their ongoing engagement with the official creditor committee and commercial creditors, including the bondholders, it said. Authorities hope this will anchor their debt restructuring program and facilitate approval of the next tranche of IMF financing of about US$334 million. An IMF team reviewing Sri Lankas reform program delayed releasing a second tranche of IMF financing last month, saying it lacked oversight on whether adequate progress was being made on debt restructuring. The economy is recovering but its foreign reserves have not been restored quickly enough due to lower-than-projected gains in tax collections, the review found. IMF officials said the government needs to improve its tax administration, eliminate exemptions and crack down on tax evasion. Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in April 2022 with more than $83 billion in debt more than half of it to foreign creditors. Its economy was plunged into crisis, with severe shortages of food, fuel and other necessities. Strident public protests led to the ouster of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Borrowing for China-funded infrastructure projects like highways, an airport and seaport that did not attract expected business opportunities have added to the countrys financial woes. The IMF agreed in March of this year to a $2.9 billion bailout package after receiving assurances from China that cleared a last hurdle in sealing an agreement. It released an initial $330 million in funding for Sri Lanka shortly afterward. The government is negotiating with creditors to restructure its tens of billions of dollars in debt, aiming to reduce it by $17 billion. Over the past year, Sri Lankas severe shortages of essentials like food, fuel and medicine have largely abated, and authorities have restored power supplies. But public dissatisfaction has grown over the governments efforts to increase revenues by raising electricity bills and imposing heavy new income taxes on professionals and businesses. MDT/AP The UK won first place in the 31st Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, followed by China and Japan. The UK played on Sept. 9, after the competition was postponed for two days due to unfavorable weather conditions. The Macao Government Tourism Office awarded the winners with USD10,000, USD6,000 and USD4,000, respectively. The contest returned to Macau skies on Sept. 9 to Oct. 11, where firework companies from 10 countries competed. Related It's been 25 years since Matthew Shepard, a gay 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, died six days after he was savagely beaten by two young men and tied to a remote fence to meet his fate. His death has been memorialized as an egregious hate crime that helped fuel the LGBTQ+ rights movement over the ensuing years. From the perspective of the movement's activists some of them on the front lines since the 1960s progress was often agonizingly slow, but it was steady. Vermont allowed same-sex civil unions in 2000. A Texas law criminalizing consensual gay sex was struck down in 2003. In 2011, the military scrapped the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that kept gay, lesbian and bisexual service STATE ASSEMBLY EVERS PROMISES VETO Transgender girls and women would be barred from participating in women's sports, and gender-affirming care for anyone under 18 would be prohibited under Republican-authored bills that passed the Assembly Thursday. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has promised to veto the divisive measures. The bills were met with considerable backlash last week from Democratic lawmakers and members of the LGBTQ community during hours of heated testimony across three packed committee hearings in the Capitol. They come amid a nationwide push by Republicans to implement legislation focused on transgender youths. All three bills passed the Assembly along party-line votes, with Democratic lawmakers opposed. The proposals now head to the state Senate. While Wisconsin Republicans have the votes to pass the measures, Evers has already vowed to strike the proposals. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Evers on Thursday described the bills as "downright dangerous." "I've said it before and I'll say it again not one of these bills will become law in Wisconsin as long as I am governor. Period," Evers continued. Despite the veto threat, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, AGRICULTURE | SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL For U.S. corn farmers, the rise of green jet fuel is their best hope of staving off an existential threat. With battery-powered cars poised to slash gasoline demand by 2040, corn-ethanol makers need to find new markets, and fast. After all, roughly 40% of the country's output of the grain is used to make the biofuel that's blended into gasoline. That's why some producers are betting on a nascent technology that promises to use ethanol to power planes. "It's a lifeline," said Patrick Gruber, chief executive officer of renewable fuels producer Gevo Inc., which is building an $850 million plant to make green jet fuel from corn. "It creates an outlet for ethanol and it's actually huge." The search for new uses for ethanol represents a pivot for an industry that has been powered by the force of the U.S. government for almost half a century. Even with disputed environmental credentials, the federal government has subsidized corn ethanol as a way to curb tailpipe emissions and promote energy security. Now, President Joe Biden is throwing his weight behind electric vehicles, prompting biofuel makers and crop traders like Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. to pursue investments in sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. If it all works out, the U.S. market for converting ethanol and other alcohols to jet fuel could grow to about $105 billion by 2050, according to Bloomberg NEF. That's because the likes of United Airlines Holdings Inc. and other major carriers are under pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But for now, ethanol has yet to be used for aviation fuel at commercial scale, and it's not even clear whether ethanol-derived SAF will be eligible for tax breaks. The clock is ticking Ethanol consumption is set to plummet 12% by the end of this decade and almost 90% by 2050, according to BNEF, mirroring a drop in gasoline demand as EVs become more popular and gasoline engines more efficient. Ethanol producers are facing a "make-or-break moment," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said at a recent forum held by ethanol lobbying group Growth Energy. "The future of this industry is in fact linked to its capacity to take advantage of this new and amazing opportunity." Some farmers are skeptical. Nick Pingsterhaus, a corn grower in Illinois, sees green aviation fuel as a promising development. But it's far from a sure thing, in his view. "It is a good thing to have another player bidding on our grains by the river, but if the government has to pay for it, is this really a profitable long-term plan?" the second-generation farmer said. Failure to seize the moment would be another blow to U.S. corn farmers, who handed the exporting crown to Brazil this year and might never get it back. Several factors are behind that shift, including rising costs, the lingering effects of former President Donald Trump's trade war with China and a stronger dollar. Huge market Still, many ethanol advocates reject the idea the industry needs saving, arguing that liquid motor fuel will be needed for the foreseeable future. Further, producers are hopeful for higher export sales and lobbyists are pushing for U.S. policy they say could help expand year-round sales of the fuel nationwide. The potential market for sustainable aviation fuel from ethanol is huge. If all the surplus supply of the U.S. biofuel were diverted into sustainable jet fuel, it would make almost 7 billion gallons of SAF, or 17% of the country's projected jet fuel demand by 2050, according to BNEF analyst Jade Patterson. Biden signaled support for crop-based SAF in a July speech, saying he expects farmers to provide 95% of all SAF in the next two decades. The White House is calling for sustainable jet fuel output in the U.S. to jump to 3 billion gallons a year by 2030, up from 15.8 million last year. Airlines are setting aggressive goals for sustainable jet fuel as they chase net-zero carbon targets. Delta aims for SAF to make up 10% of its aviation fuel consumption by 2030 and 95% by 2050. United Airlines plans to convert completely to SAF by 2046. If ethanol demand for aviation fuel takes off , the market has potential to "more than make up" for the forecast decline in motor fuel demand amid the transition to EVs, said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois. There's a long way to go. Overall, sustainable jet fuel accounts for less than 0.1% of the fuel used by major U.S. airlines. Ethanol opportunity There's also the question of whether the industry can shrink its carbon footprint fast enough to go head-to-head with rival SAF ingredients that command a premium because of their low carbon intensity, like used cooking oil. Still, ethanol supplies are more ample than rival feedstocks, according to Barry Glickman, vice president and general manager of sustainable technology solutions at Honeywell International Inc. His company, which has dozens of SAF technology licensing deals, inked its first one involving ethanol earlier this year. For industry watchers, the message is clear: Sustainable aviation fuel represents an opportunity corn farmers and ethanol makers can't afford to miss. "You have to fight for it," Vilsack said recently in a speech to ethanol supporters. "I want you to have it because it's critical to keeping small and mid-sized folks in business." There might not be a better time to read Hannah Morrisseys latest thriller, When Im Dead, than before her event with the Wisconsin Book Festival in mid-October. The book opens on a bone-chilling October night and its events unfold over Halloween. This is the third book for Morrissey, who studied creative writing at UW-Madison and lives near Milwaukee. Q: How do you describe When Im Dead? A: When Im Dead is the third book to take place in Black Harbor, a fictionalized crime-ridden Wisconsin city. (Though part of a series), it can be enjoyed as a standalone, as each book features a fresh cast of characters. This time the book is from multiple points of view, including a medical examiner and a homicide detective, who are also the missing girls parents. Q: What happens? A: When Rowan and Axel Winthorp are forced to leave their daughter, Chloes, school play to investigate a homicide in their own neighborhood, they discover that the victim is Chloes best friend. That same night, Chloe goes missing. (The questions become) Where is Chloe and Could she have anything to do with these murders? Because, of course, the body count starts to stack up. Q: You call your book Midwestern Noir. What are some of the themes in the book? A: My books are pretty grim and dark, (but) its important to offer threads of hope. In When Im Dead, I wanted to (focus) on themes of grief and how different people experience grief and intense situations. For example, Rowan and Axel are a married couple; its their daughter whos missing and while investigating her disappearance and the homicides, they cant help but have different perspectives, opinions, wishes. As terrible as it is, Rowan would rather assume that Chloe is dead, because she cannot fathom either the possibility that terrible things could be happening to her, or that Chloe could be out there, killing her classmates. Axel, on the other hand, so desperately wants Chloe to be alive that hes willing to believe shes guilty. (The book looks at) how theyre going to figure out together how to find her ... and what lifes going to look like afterward. Q: What is the state of Midwestern Noir? Is it alive and well? A: I do think that Midwest thrillers are alive and well. There is something about Wisconsin ... I dont know if its us, or its Wisconsin ... it has this allure to these dark stories. Maybe we all have a Vitamin D deficiency. Wisconsin is such a great setting for a thriller, similar to Scandinavian Noir. The characters are isolated, its dark, cold just the kind of place where monsters like to hide. Q: Are there other point-of-view characters besides Rowan and Axel? A: (Yes,) theres another point of view that I really loved writing the 16-year-old girl next door. Each character was my lens into a different branch of the investigation. Libby is the lens into the school. And since shes a POV character, she has to have a secret something she doesnt want the other characters to find out and Libby has a pretty big one. Q: Do characters from the previous Black Harbor books make an appearance in When Im Dead? A: Yes, thats one of my favorite things about writing the Black Harbor universe. The more you read, there are little Easter eggs hidden throughout it. Honestly, the Black Harbor setting is very much a consistent character throughout the series. The more areas of Black Harbor I explore, the more characters I discover. They can come and play together. Q: You originally said you wanted to do five books in the Black Harbor series. Is that still the plan? A: Im still on track with that. Im (also) on the brink of something really exciting a departure from Black Harbor. Im literally finishing it today. Its a secret project ... a passion project for me. Its a little retro. I thought about it and (decided) I wanted to write a book that I think my dad would love something darkly funny and maybe a little haunted. Madison is considering legal action against the owners of a Far East Side apartment complex where a 15-year-old girl was shot to death Tuesday evening. Five suspects sought in the shooting remain at large. City action is possible against The Harmony at Grandview Commons apartment complex if the propertys owners do not comply with recommended safety measures such as improving the security camera system and lighting, and establishing parking time limits, said Stephanie Fryer, a spokesperson for Madison police. Police have heightened their presence at the complex at 116 Milky Way off Milwaukee Street, doing extra drive-by patrols since two assailants killed a 20-year-old man outside the complex on July 13. Police patrolled the area near the complex 12 times in the hours before a squad of gunmen fired nearly 50 shots at a group of teens on Tuesday, killing the 15-year-old and wounding three others, Fryer said. But the city has yet to declare the property a public nuisance, as it did in 2020 after two shootings and a fight. The property needs to have been the site of three enforcement actions such as an arrest or citation in 90 days to be eligible for such a declaration, said Jennifer Zilavy, an assistant city attorney. The city is evaluating police responses to the apartment complex to determine whether declaring it a public nuisance is warranted, Zilavy said. If declared a nuisance, the propertys owners could face fines and other charges if they dont make an effort to improve safety and quality of life at the property. The owner of The Harmony at Grandview Commons, Royal Capital of Milwaukee, did not respond to emails requesting comment on Wednesday and Thursday. Becky Hildebrandt, president of property manager Horizon Management Services, said the company is working with Royal Capital to enhance security on the premises. Our team is working with MPD, property ownership and others to identify ways to deter future events at the Harmony, Hildebrandt said. Since the murder in July, police have responded to the complex 136 times. Since 2020, a year after the complex opened, police have responded about 1,300 times. Just before 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, four gunmen leaped out of what police think is a Lexus SUV and sprayed gunfire at the group of teens and surrounding occupied residences. Police have yet to determine a motive for the shooting, Fryer said in an email on Thursday. Three 14-year-olds sustained gunshot wounds. One boy was treated at a hospital and released. Another remained hospitalized in a stable but serious condition on Wednesday. A girl suffered a bullet graze wound. Police ask that anyone with information about the incident contact them at Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014 or P3Tips.com. A Madison man was sentenced this week in a Texas courtroom to 18 months in federal prison for impersonating an FBI agent and stalking a woman who is featured on a website that carries adult content. According to court records from U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin, Jack McQuestion, 28, pleaded guilty on Aug. 1 to charges of impersonating a federal officer and stalking, for an incident in November in which McQuestion went to the home of a woman who operates an adult-oriented page on the OnlyFans web platform and claimed that there were warrants for her arrest. McQuestion had flown to Austin from Madison to carry out what prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum was an attempted abduction. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman sentenced McQuestion to 18 months in prison, well short of the 60 months sought by prosecutors and below the advisory federal sentencing range of 87 to 96 months, according to court documents. The reason for the sentence set by Pitman was not immediately clear from court documents. The court file does not contain a transcript of the sentencing hearing. McQuestions attorney could not immediately be reached. Court documents state that McQuestion, a data scientist who worked from his Madison apartment, was arrested in April at his parents home in Hartland after investigators found he had visited the womans home in November claiming to be an FBI agent with a warrant. He fled when the woman told him she was going to call police to verify the warrant. After identifying McQuestion, police searched his Tennyson Lane apartment on Madisons North Side and found items that included pepper spray, a black tactical jacket and a garrote a handheld wire used to strangle a person. Police also learned that McQuestion had visited Austin a short time before, in August 2022. Threat implied According to a written sentencing argument by Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Henneke, McQuestion claimed that he intended only to have the woman join him outside her house and interact with him, and that he never intended to carry the woman away. One does not travel thousands of miles, on two separate occasions, plan a packing list that includes a garrote, and impersonate an FBI agent with a fake badge and a fictitious arrest warrant just to have a chat, Henneke wrote. He added it wasnt credible to believe that after making that plan and traveling that far McQuestions objective was that he just wanted to talk. The items he possessed clearly indicate that it was not just a pleasant conversation, Henneke added. Victim speaks out The woman, commenting to the Wisconsin State Journal by email, said she is pretty disappointed he only got 18 months. He seems to insist he never meant to hurt me, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty hard to explain otherwise, she wrote. Law enforcement told me he had personal information of other sex workers in his house, so my best interpretation is that he was motivated by anti-sex worker hatred. She wrote that the incident has been hard to deal with emotionally. She also wrote a blog post describing the incident in detail. I tend to be a really optimistic, resilient person, she wrote, but this has made me feel vulnerable and paranoid in ways Im not used to. At least this time if he comes after me again, Ill be more prepared. In May, McQuestions parents told a federal magistrate judge in Madison that their son is autistic and suffers from anxiety, though at that point his mother said her son had not been formally diagnosed with the condition. In a mixed verdict Thursday, a former Madison police officer was cleared of a child sexual assault charge but still faces prison time after a jury found him guilty of child enticement. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for about two hours before finding Morris A. Reid, 60, not guilty of second-degree sexual assault of a child, for alleged sexual encounters a woman said she had with Reid when she was 15 years old. Reid did not deny having a relationship with the woman but said it did not become sexual until she was 18 years old. He was 49 years old at the time and was still a Madison police officer. Reid, who was the Burr Oaks neighborhood officer starting in 2010, left the department in 2013 rather than be fired for violating department policies in a 2011 incident. With the child enticement conviction, Reid faces up to 25 years of combined prison and extended supervision when he is sentenced by Circuit Judge Ellen Berz on Oct. 24. The second-degree sexual assault charge Reid had faced carried up to 40 years of prison and extended supervision. The jury also acquitted Reid of extortion. Earlier Thursday, before the jury heard closing arguments, Berz dismissed a charge of misconduct in office, ruling that the law as written did not fit the circumstances of Reids case. Extortion and misconduct were the least serious of the felony charges Reid faced. Family friend The woman, now 29, testified on Tuesday that she got to know Reid through her grandparents, who were active with the neighborhood association in Burr Oaks on Madisons South Side. She said that as she and Reid interacted with one another, the relationship became sexual, despite Reid being 46 years old at the time. But in his closing argument, state assistant public defender Adam Welch said that while he agrees there was definitely a sexual relationship between the two, there was no evidence that any of it happened while the woman was a 15-year-old girl. The second-degree sexual assault charge required that she be younger than 16 years old when the alleged acts occurred. The child enticement charge only requires that the victim of the enticement is under 18. Welch also charged that the womans motivation in reporting the relationship in June 2019 was to get Reid in trouble because she no longer felt needed by him after he had moved to Florida and did not appear eager to move back to Wisconsin to be with her. Welch also argued that the woman, having grown up around police who worked with her grandparents, knew the system and knew what she had to do to punish Reid. (The woman) knows how police departments work. That got her this far, Welch said. But I dont think she knows how juries work. The prosecutor has not proven these charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Welch said the womans account shifted as she learned what facts were needed for Reid to be charged with felonies. He said she started out saying she was 17 when the relationship began which would have been a misdemeanor to later saying she was 13 or 14, which didnt make sense, until she settled on 15. Abuse alleged But the prosecutors, Assistant District Attorney Will Davis and Deputy District Attorney William Brown, contended that the woman always said she never intended to get Reid in trouble, that she only reported him to police because she wanted to make sure nobody else fell victim to Reid as she had. Davis painted Reid as a master manipulator who saw a girl who was struggling and, instead of finding her help, took advantage of her. Forty-six-year-old Morris Reid used this moment of need for a 15-year-old child to begin controlling her, manipulating her and then sexually abusing her, Davis said. Reid took her on ride-alongs in his squad car while on duty, Davis said, which were not documented as they should have been when involving a minor, for sexual interludes in secluded locations. In chat messages preserved on her computer, Reid told her You mean everything to me and Im your man, Davis said. While Reid claimed the relationship with the woman was not sexual until she was 18, Davis said, the evidence in their text messages is that it began much earlier. In one message, Davis said, Reid wrote, You are the only trouble I cant stay out of. (The womans) behavior as a young adult is a byproduct of Officer Reids control, manipulation and sexual abuse that dominated her life for the better part of a decade, Davis said. The last of three men charged in the 2020 murder of 11-year-old Anisa Scott while still in their teens will spend half as much time in prison as the other two. Jerry Ward Jr., 20, pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide as a party to a crime in June for his role in the August 2020 shooting death of Scott. On Thursday morning, Judge Julie Genovese sentenced him to 15 years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision. Brown and Carreon will be incarcerated until theyre in their 50s. Brown is serving a 35-year sentence with 25 years of extended supervision and Carreon is confined for 30 years with 25 years of extended supervision. While Wards sentence is for one felony charge, Brown and Carreon each pleaded guilty to two felony charges: attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting at Christopher Carthans and first-degree reckless homicide for killing Anisa, a passenger in Carthans vehicle. Prosecutors have described the three as hitmen, killing people for money. Ward was the only one of the three men who didnt fire shots that day in the car-to-car shooting on East Washington Avenue, sitting in the back seat, where he claimed hed been sleeping when the shooting started. Wards criminal record is long, including two other incidents that summer in which he fired a total of 15 rounds, as well as drug dealing, looting, threats and physical violence, according to prosecutor Valerian Powell. Ward was carrying a gun when he was arrested. Powell argued Ward needed to be imprisoned to protect the public. Really, he was terrorizing the community, Powell said. This is what defined his summer. Powell described Wards lifestyle as a video game come to life, stealing, shooting and doing drugs not as a means of survival but for fun, for thrills. While defense attorney Andrew Martinez said he didnt disagree with condemning Wards criminal past, he asked that Genovese consider Wards lack of involvement in the shooting compared with the other two men. There is no forensic evidence that Ward touched either of the guns, he said. Whether Brown or Carreon fired the bullet that struck Anisa has long been in question, but Ward, Martinez said, absolutely did not. Between deep, shaky breaths, Ashley Rios testified a third time in the aftermath of her daughters murder in an emotionally charged courtroom. During the past three years, Rios has spoken at length about the long, hard road she and her loved ones have traveled since losing Anisa. Im not sure if Ive mentioned how hard it is to find a place in this world once you lose a piece of you, Rios said. I know it wont go away, but I do hope to find some peace, some closure after today. Anija Ragland, Anisas now-8-year-old sister, dabbed gently at the tears on her mothers face with a handful of tissues. In a short video clip played by her grandmother, Anisa sings Bring Me a Little Water, Sylvie, a song that has taken on new meaning for her family. Just as Anisas family poured their love into her while she was alive, they now pour water at the base of a tree planted in her honor at Horizon Middle School, where she was a student. Anisa showered us with her love, and we will always bring water to her tree, her grandmother said. Bring my baby some water every once in a while. Genovese, who also sentenced Brown and Carreon in 2022, said Anisas death stuck with her. Every time I come in here, I just want to cry for what happened to your daughter, said Genovese, addressing Rios. Its just so sad. The judge prefaced her sentence by calling for an end to gun violence. Just two days before Wards sentencing, a 15-year-old girl was killed and three other teens were wounded in a shooting less than four miles from where Anisa was shot. We lost another girl the other day to gun violence, Genovese said. I guess Im just wondering how many more lives were going to lose to gun violence in this community. Photos: Memorial service for 11-year-old Anisa Scott TAKING FLIGHT Anisa Scott memorial Saying Goodbye Remembering Anisa Sharing the Pain One Last Goodbye Saying Goodbye Unity March Embracing Reality Prayerful Performance Crowning Ceremony A Father's Pain Funeral Procession Anisa Scott memorial Family Gathers A Last Caress Enrollment in Wisconsins public school districts continues to decline, but student headcounts in the Madison School District show little change from last year, according to data released Friday. About 799,000 students are enrolled in public school districts around the state, a loss of about 8,800 students, or about 1%, since last school year. At the same time, headcounts in private school choice programs and independent charter schools are increasing. This statewide enrollment dip is slightly more than public school districts have seen in the past two school years, but far less dramatic than the initial decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. These counts submitted by schools to the Department of Public Instruction in mid-September dont show a complete picture of statewide enrollment, either. The count excludes homeschooling and students who pay tuition in private schools, and the numbers released Friday are unaudited. In Madison, student headcounts saw little change from last school year. According to the data, 25,224 students were enrolled in the district on the count date, a loss of only two students. However, district headcounts are still far below pre-pandemic numbers. In 2018-19 school year, there were more than 27,000 students enrolled. For funding purposes, the district is using a slightly different enrollment figure of 25,581 full-time students. This figure is based on a formula, district spokesperson Ian Folger said. The DPI data reflects the number of students who were in school on Sept. 15, giving the district an idea of how many students were actually in their seats that day. Using the districts calculations, full-time student enrollment actually increased this year by 34 students. Its encouraging to acknowledge that were a growing district and a growing community and to see a significant increase in students means theres an increase in folks trusting us with their young people, board member Ali Muldrow said Monday. Either way, enrollment changes are less extreme than district administrators originally predicted. When drafting their preliminary 2023-24 budget in June, they expected a loss of 500 students. Data presented to the School Board in December 2022 projected enrollment would steadily decline for another five years. CHICAGO Tom Skilling, the longtime WGN-TV chief meteorologist whose early career included a stop in Madison, announced his retirement Thursday during the evening news. An always sunny presence, whatever the weather in Chicago, Skilling delivered a stormy fall forecast and then hit loyal viewers with the news that he had reached the end of a prodigious weathercasting career. Ive watched people do this before and theres no formula for this, Skilling said. Im going to retire at the end of February, after a marvelous 45 years at this incredible television station. Skilling, 71, who started at WGN-Ch. 9 on Aug. 13, 1978, has been a familiar and congenial presence on the Chicago airwaves for decades, expertly and calmly navigating the citys often unpredictable weather situations for generations of TV viewers. Before he was at WGN, Skilling honed his skills in Madison. He moved to the city in 1970 to study meteorology and journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. By that time, he'd already gotten his first job in the business: He was hired by WKKD in Aurora, Illinois, at the age of 14, and joined that city's WLXT-TV three years later while attending high school during the day. In Madison, he worked at WKOW-TV and WTSO radio before moving to Milwaukee's WITI-TV from 1975 to 1978. On Thursday, he discussed the decision to step down with a montage of clips tracing his career in the background, from a fresh-faced and hirsute rookie weatherman delivering a forecast in a Channel 9 blazer to a beloved personality hamming it up with Bozo, the stations longtime star clown. Its been a great career, Skilling said. A Connecticut man indicted for running scams against Wisconsin residents netted $200,000 in 5 days, authorities reported. A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday charging Matthew Ramos-Soto, 26, of Hartford, Connecticut, with conspiring to commit wire fraud against Wisconsin residents. The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Timothy OShea, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle. The indictment alleges that from Oct. 24-28, 2022, unknown conspirators contacted elderly people by phone and falsely told them that a relative had been arrested following an accident and that money for bail was needed. Ramos-Soto and his co-conspirators then traveled throughout Wisconsin to pick up cash in person from the targeted individuals, OShea said in a statement. The indictment alleges that co-conspirators impersonated attorneys or judges, provided victims with false file or case numbers, and warned them that there was a gag order in their relatives court case and their relative could face additional consequences if the victim told anyone about the situation. Victims were instructed to go to their financial institutions to withdraw the needed money in cash and to provide a false reason for the withdrawal to their financial institution, OShea said. The indictment alleges that the Ramos-Soto and his co-conspirators scammed about $200,000 during the five days of the conspiracy in October 2022, specified three incidents in Wisconsin: $5,000 from a person in Wrightstown, $17,545 from a person in Fitchburg, and $12,500 from a person in Hobart, OShea said If convicted, Ramos-Soto, who is in custody in Michigan, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Unfortunately, scams targeting the elderly or vulnerable are proliferating, OShea said. If someone demands money over the phone or internet, always reach out to a trusted advisor, law enforcement agency, or the fraud hotlines described below. My office is committed to working with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who target vulnerable individuals for financial gain. The U.S. Justice Department operates the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). It is staffed by case managers who provide personalized support to callers. Wisconsin residents can also contact their county elder abuse helpline or the Wisconsin Elder Abuse Hotline at 1-833-586-0107. The charge against Ramos-Soto is the result of an investigation led by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation and the FBI, following a statewide crime alert by the Columbia County Sheriffs Office that connected several investigations across Wisconsin. The other agencies involved in the investigation are the Outagamie, Shawano, Manitowoc, and Brown County sheriffs offices; and the New Lisbon, Wrightstown, Fitchburg, Reedsburg, Randolph, Fox Valley Metro, Hobart Lawrence, Green Bay, Oshkosh, and Fond du Lac police departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Duchemin is the prosecutor. Senate Republicans are calling for increased child care tax credits in a proposal released Friday that also includes an income tax cut Gov. Tony Evers rejected earlier this year. The proposal comes in response to the Democratic governors call for the GOP-controlled Legislature to convene in special session to consider over $1 billion on child care and workforce programs. Republicans said they would take that plan and amend it. Governor Evers has said that he would provide tax relief for the middle class in exchange for state-level investments in the child care industry, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said in a statement. We hope he keeps his word. Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback quickly dismissed the Republican effort. This is a completely unserious proposal from Republicans who are wholly out of touch with the challenges and needs of our state, she said. The dueling proposals seek to combat the ongoing child care crisis in Wisconsin. The cost of child care in Wisconsin can eat up as much as a third of a familys income and even surpass what families pay for college tuition, a Forward Analytics report found. The Republican amendment to Evers special session bill would allow a family of four with two children in child care to earn a tax credit of up to $5,200, offsetting nearly a quarter of their total average child care costs, LeMahieu said. The Republican proposal would also reduce the income tax rate from 5.3% to 4.4% for people in the states third tax bracket, a broad category covering individuals earning between $27,630 and $304,000 and married filers earning between $36,840 and $405,000. Evers vetoed the same proposed tax cut in July. The GOP amendment includes several other measures, including a new process for individuals in other states to receive reciprocal licenses, certificates, registrations or permits to work in Wisconsin. It would also reduce the examinations that substance abuse counselors, pharmacists, counselors and other medical professionals would have to complete to receive a license in Wisconsin. Democrats have consistently criticized efforts to deregulate Wisconsin industries. Cudaback called on spending more money to combat the child care crisis. We have billions of dollars in readily available state resources to make real, meaningful investments to finally address the pressing issues facing our state, including our generational workforce challenges and a looming child care crisis, she said. TWIN FALLS A judge has denied a public defenders argument questioning the legality of a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 93 this spring that yielded drugs worth with a street value of more than $1 million, records say. Another 5th Judicial District judge is in the process of hearing a similar motion regarding a drug bust two weeks later that occurred on the same stretch of highway. Twin Falls Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs said the type of motions are common as defense attorneys try to find flaws in police procedure. The motion by the public defenders office in the first case contended that the March 26 traffic stop on Highway 93 violated the constitutional rights of Jorge Morales Martinez, 29, of Mexico, who was pulled over after a Twin Falls Sheriffs Office deputy noticed two identical cars traveling north near Twin Falls. After a traffic stop of one of the vehicles, deputies found 11.7 pounds of fentanyl and about 2.7 pounds of heroin in a hidden compartment. Included in the defenders arguments were that Martinez wasnt fully proficient in English and didnt understand the deputys request to search the vehicle, the detention was based on subjective observations and unrelated factors and the traffic stop extended beyond a reasonable time period. The motion asked that all evidence recovered from the search be disallowed. District Judge Ben Cluff disagreed with the arguments, and on Thursday submitted a 20-page denial of the motion, finding that the deputy had established probable cause of possible drug activity. The search would have been legal even if Martinez had objected, Cluffs opinion stated. Seeing the identical cars aroused suspicion, the deputy wrote in his affidavit, and he began to follow them. When he put on his turn signal to get between the two cars, the vehicle in the back sped up to leave no room. Then, when the deputy activated his overhead lights, the second car swerved toward the patrol vehicle, almost causing a crash, police say. The deputy noted in an affidavit that it isnt uncommon for there to be two vehicles involved during the transportation of drugs, and for drivers of chase vehicles to try to prevent law enforcement officers from stopping the lead car which contains drugs. Once the vehicle was pulled over on a speeding violation, the deputy observed a figure of a patron saint, which suggested the car might hold drugs. Cluff rejected the argument that the defendant couldnt understand English, and noted that the deputy expressed genuine surprise when Martinez requested to have an interpreter during the hearing. Martinez is charged with three felony drug-related charges, including trafficking and intent to deliver. In another case involving a April 7 traffic stop, defense attorneys say the rights of two men were violated during a warrantless and illegal stop that led to the discovery of 24.6 pounds of methamphetamine and 4.6 pounds of fentanyl with a street value of about $1 million. In that case, the deputy was stopped along Highway 93 when he saw a car whose driver was leaning back in his as to escape detection, the deputy testified Tuesday during a suppression hearing. Wilson Fontes Mendivil, 25, was the driver of the vehicle, while Elton Loza, 23, was a passenger, and both face drug trafficking charges. Their vehicle with Washington plates was pulled over for speeding and the deputy smelled burnt marijuana on Mendivils clothes and later coming from the vehicle, and he also observed a patron saint inside the car, the deputy testified. Lozas attorney, Aaron J. Tribble, said in his motion that his client was not involved with the drugs that were found in the vehicles trunk, carried in three duffel bags that also carried clothing and personal hygiene items. Loza was simply a passenger and had zero dominion and control of the contents of the trunk, the court filing said, mentioning that Loza was also required to submit a DNA sample. Tuesdays court hearing, heard by District Judge Roger Harris, was only part way through before 5 p.m. grew near. The hearing will pick up again Thursday. Another passenger in the car, Hector Olvera, 29, has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and prosecutors will recommend a sentence of seven years fixed and eight years indeterminate. Like you, we watched the events in Israel over the past week with sadness and horror. Such demonic barbarity is a reminder of the fallen nature of mankind and the absolute necessity of resolute strength in a dangerous world. Unfortunately, the last three years of national leadership has been the opposite of strength. The Biden Administration has issued vague and contradictory statements while many of their most ardent supporters have praised brutal and heinous acts of terrorism. As Republicans, we firmly believe in peace through strength. As Ronald Reagan said, We know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when they are weak. It is then that tyrants are tempted. Tyrants worldwide are being tempted by the weakness they see in Washington, D.C. The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan just over two years ago showed the belligerent powers of the world that America would retreat in the face of aggression, cower behind platitudes, and leave our allies defenseless. The Idaho Republican Party overwhelmingly passed a resolution at last years State Convention in support of Israel. Israel, like the USA, is a country born from the aspiration for freedom and stands out among the nations as a beacon of democracy and humanity, it said. The Idaho GOP called upon Idahos congressional delegation to support the state of Israel in order to maintain its sovereignty rights, and its ability to defend itself against terror attacks. We renew that call today. The right to self-defense is the most beloved of all our constitutional guarantees, and that extends to the right of nations to defend themselves from invasion and terrorism. All Americans should appreciate Israel for showing strength and resolve in defending her people from barbarism. Unfortunately, the other images we have seen this week of Democratic Party constituencies waving Hamas and ISIS flags and celebrating the wanton murder of innocent men, women, and children are reminders of the stark differences between our parties. Republicans stand for life, for peace, and for civilization. Many on the other side want to tear those things apart. We should also resist calls for expanding the conflict to nations such as Iran. The chief duty of our government is to protect the lives of the American people, and so any direct action must come only after deep deliberation by our elected officials. Yet there can be no debate over the moral issues at hand. Hamas is driven by an insatiable bloodlust that sees no distinction between soldier and civilian, or government and people. The Idaho Republican Party stands for civilization, for a true lasting peace, and we stand with Israel. A well-educated workforce is the engine that drives our economy. Thats why Democrats in the Idaho Legislature were proud to support Idaho Launch earlier this year. Now accepting applications, Launch is a monumental step forward for our state, covering 80% of the costs for Idaho graduates pursuing in-demand careers, up to $8,000. From training nurses and welders to equipping young people with the commercial drivers licenses they need to bring our products to market, Launch will allow more Idahoans to earn family-sustaining wages while helping employers hire the workers they need. Every industry in Idaho faces a pressing need for more qualified workers with specific skills. The demands of the modern job market have evolved. Today almost 80% of all jobs require some form of postsecondary education or training. In particular, there is a growing demand for workers in middle-skill jobs positions that require more than a diploma but less than a four-year college degree like electricians, bookkeepers, and medical assistants. I was encouraged to see the broad, statewide support that Idaho Launch garnered when it was introduced in early 2023. Education leaders and every major business group in the state threw their weight behind it. They recognized the positive economic benefits for students and businesses alike. However, it was disheartening to see the unnecessary obstacles this program faced within the Statehouse. The ideological objections and the rise of far-right extremism within our Legislatures Republican caucus make it difficult for popular and much-needed investments like this to pass. Only a few years ago, the same brand of obstructionism killed an $18 million, three-year grant to support early learning collaboratives across the states by making false claims that the locally designed programs amounted to indoctrination. Similarly, certain Republican politicians denounced Launch as socialism, ignoring our economys dire need for a qualified workforce. Those views are out of touch with the majority of Idahoans who understand the importance of preparing our youth for the jobs of tomorrow. Without the unanimous support of Idaho Democrats in the Legislature, Idaho Launch would have failed. In the House, it passed by a single vote. If one Democrat representative had lost their election, Idahoans would be missing out on this smart investment to address serious workforce challenges. Sadly, far-right ideologues want to dismantle the progress were making. Thats why Idahoans must speak out to protect Idaho Launch today. Contact your legislators and tell them you support investing in our future workforce. Encourage eligible high school seniors to consider the in-demand careers that await them with Idaho Launch. Idaho Democrats remain committed to championing education investments to ensure the future prosperity of our state. Together, we can build a brighter future for every Idahoan. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to beef up its defense against cybercriminals, as he expressed concern over recent data leaks in government agencies. Yesterday, the President called up and hes really very afraid of whats happening here. And he actually told us that we should really beef up our defenses, DICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy said in an interview with Dobol B TV. Dy said Mr. Marcos wants to know the technical details of the data breach incidents in government agencies. [The President said] we shouldnt be reacting after the fact, we should be preparing before it happens, Dy said, adding that Mr. Marcos committed to help the agency to fight cybercriminals. Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday that the perpetrators of the data breach on its Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) a week ago will soon be brought to justice. In a statement, PSA said an investigation into the causes and scale of the incident is being conducted jointly with the DICT National Computer Emergency Response Team-Philippines (NCERT-PH), the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Cybercrime Group, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Cybercrime Division, and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) Compliance and Monitoring Division. The PSA and aforementioned partners are working tirelessly to prevent the further disclosure of data. Leads for the identification of the bad actors have been provided to the PNP and the NBI for further action, it said. Besides the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Dy confirmed that the Philippine Statistics Office, the Department of Science and Technology, and the PNP were hacked. According to Dy, there are some 10,000 experts data involved in the DOST hacking incident, while the PNP was an old issue. In a separate statement, Renato Paraiso, spokesperson of DICT, said the NCERT collected relevant logs from the PSA for thorough analysis and is currently probing the extent of the data breach, and if personal identifiable information may have been compromised. From the PSAs initial assessment, Paraiso said the system allegedly affected by the breach is limited to the Community-Based Monitoring System. The DICT confirms that the incident at PSA was not a ransomware attack and that it is pursuing pertinent actions to apprehend the threat actor responsible for the data leak, Paraiso said. As the DICT conducts its investigation of the logs obtained from PSA, the Department urges the public to refrain from sharing posts that contain links to the alleged PSA data samples, he added. Paraiso said the public is warned that those who click the said links could risk introducing malware to their devices, while those found guilty of sharing leaked data may face penalties under the Data Privacy Act of 2012. Further, we urge the public to implement cyber hygiene practices and remain vigilant against phishing and scam attempts, he said. Paraiso said the DICT reaffirms its willingness to continuously extend its support and provide technical assistance and advice to government agencies in addressing their cybersecurity challenges, with the hopes that said agencies would implement the recommendations forwarded by the Department. We would like to stress that individual government agencies still bear the principal responsibility of ensuring the protection and security of their computer systems, infrastructure, and sensitive data entrusted to them by the public, he added. Leave Israel warzone as DFA confirms 3rd Pinoy death from Hamas attacks The first batch of Filipinos fleeing the war in Israel will head for home on Oct. 16, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said, as it confirmed a third Filipino casualty Friday. The third Filipino killed in the surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday was a 49-year-old woman from Negros Occidental, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said. Like the first two Filipino casualties, she too was a caregiver. De Vega added that she was attending the music festival where Hamas gunmen slaughtered 260 civilians. The most pressing concern at the moment, De Vega said, were the 131 Filipinos trapped in Gaza, which has been completely sealed off by Israeli troops who are bombarding Hamas targets in retaliation for Saturdays attack. Israel has imposed a total blockade on the Palestinian enclave and looks poised to launch a ground invasion on Gaza. [President Marcos] said that the immediate concern is repatriation, but nobody right now can get in or out of Gaza so, repatriation, of course, is not yet possible at this time, De Vega said. De Vega said the government is waiting for the humanitarian corridors to open to allow the safe passage of humanitarian aid and refugees. This is a diplomatic initiative. We are in touch with other governments in the region. Of course, the United Nations will hold a session today, the United Nations Security Council and we expect them to call for a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave, he said. The government is exhausting all diplomatic initiatives to bring Filipinos home safe, he said. De Vega said about 92 Filipinos who are trapped in Gaza want to be repatriated. The Philippine embassies in Egypt and Jordan are now preparing for the repatriation of Filipinos in Gaza, with its officials already on the border to assist them once the humanitarian corridor opens. But still, there is no guarantee that Filipinos and other nationalities would be given smooth entry into Egypt from Gaza, De Vega said. They may also wait one day, two days, three days, like what happened in Sudan. So, were counting on the UNand, of course, there will not just be Filipinos; there will be other nationalities as well. Of course, we have to anticipate the possibility that only foreigners will be allowed out, he said. Our embassies in Cairo and Amman are already arranging their travel documents and passports. So they have the papers to be able to travel to the Philippines. The question is.. safe entry to Egypt. But we are working on that, in full accordance with the instruction of the President, he added. De Vega said the government is hoping that the repatriates will be taken care of once they are at the border. Im sure the international community, the Red Cross, and other organizations will find a way to provide them food and all that in case they have to stay at the border while their papers are being processed, he said. Meanwhile, about 22 Filipinosout of about 30,000 in Israelhave also opted for repatriation after fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas terrorists escalated, De Vega said. De Vega said they were not direct victims of the war, but may have lost their jobs or facing hard times because of the fighting. The first batch at the governments expense will be leaving on Oct. 16there are eight of them And as promised, once they arrive, theyll be given the proper assistance, the usual reintegration and other assistance packages provided by the DMW (Department of Migrant Workers) and OWWA (the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration), he said. The Philippine embassy in Tel-Aviv earlier said that apart from areas near the combat zone in southern Israel, the situation in Israel has largely stabilized. The surprise attack by Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel and terrorists took about 150 hostages in their surprise attack launched from Gaza on Saturday. Israel retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza for six days, claiming more than 1,400 lives. The first two Filipino fatalities have been identified as Angeline Aguirre, 32, a nurse, and Paul Vincent Castelvi, a 42-year-old caregiver. Aguirre was killed after she chose to stay with her elderly patient as gunmen shot up a bomb shelter in Israel. Castelvi, who was also killed in a bomb shelter by Hamas gunmen, was supposed to fly home for Christmas. The Philippine government earlier said that they were processing the return of their remains. The Philippines on Thursday placed Gaza under Alert Level 3, meaning voluntary repatriation could start. Alert Level 2 was raised over Israel, meaning the deployment of Filipino workers there was suspended. Israel is home to at least 30,000 Filipino workers, most of them caregivers. The Department of Social Welfare and Development said it was ready to assist Filipino migrant workers repatriated from Israel and Palestine. Meanwhile, De Vega said that in the West Bank, another Palestinian territory that is separated from Gaza, some 70 Filipinos there are doing well. They are not in danger because there are no hostilities there and the official Palestinian government is in favor of a diplomatic solution to their issues with Israel, he said. AMMAN, Jordan US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Jordans king Friday about how to address a looming humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip as Israel readies a US-supported offensive following deadly attacks by Hamas. Blinken huddled with King Abdullah II as well as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Amman at the start of a tour of six Arab countries that will also take the top US diplomat to Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The Jordanian king, a longtime US partner, called for opening humanitarian corridors to allow for the entry of urgent medical and relief aid to Gaza, and protecting civilians and stopping the escalation and war on Gaza, a statement from the royal court said. Blinken spent Thursday in Tel Aviv where he promised unwavering solidarity to US ally Israel after Hamas militants breached Israels southern border on Saturday, killing over 1,200 people and taking about 150 more hostage. Israel on Friday called on 1.1 million people to move south in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which is already under an Israeli blockade. Israel has killed more than 1,530 people in strikes in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack and has cut off food, water and electricity. Blinken spoke with King Abdullah on ways to address the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza while Israel conducts legitimate security operations to defend itself from terrorism, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. US officials are working with Egypt, which also borders Gaza and was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, on a plan for a safety corridor from Gaza. But Jordan, home to two million Palestinian refugees, warned against permanent displacement. The crisis should not be spread to neighbouring countries and exacerbate the refugee issue, the king told Blinken, according to the palace. Hamas is financially backed by US arch-enemy Iran but also has longstanding ties with US partner Qatar, which has been seen as an intermediary in freeing the hostages. AFP Well continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages, Blinken said late Thursday in Tel Aviv. Saudi Arabia in the weeks before the attacks had spoken of progress in US-led diplomacy to normalise relations with Israel a landmark step for the conservative kingdom that is guardian of Islams two holiest sites. Few expect the momentum to be maintained, with the Saudis joining Qatar in blaming Israeli policies towards the Palestinians for the flare-up in violence. The nearly 88-year-old Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority enjoys small levels of autonomy in the West Bank, is a sworn foe of Hamas, whose control of the Gaza Strip has led to a 17-year Israeli blockade. Blinken entered his private residence in Amman and shook hands next to a painting that depicted the veteran Palestinian leader superimposed in front of Islams holy Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. The United States under President Joe Biden and other Democrats has largely been supportive of the Palestinian Authority, seeing it as the best option for long-term peace with Israel. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long sought to sideline the Palestinian Authority and Abbas, saying he is insufficiently committed to stopping violence, with the hard-right Israeli government rejecting the prospect of a two-state solution. Abbas made his first public remarks on the conflict on Thursday after meeting King Abdullah. Abbas called for an immediate end to the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people and rejected practices related to killing civilians or abusing them on both sides. Blinken earlier spoke to Abbas by telephone about the attacks, urging him to condemn the violence and maintain stability in the West Bank. AFP Taguig, Philippines The Philippines first embedded finance initiative for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through the collaboration between Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) and Hungary-based fintech Peak Card Services Ltd. (Peak) and Columbus Private Equity Fund (Columbus) was announced during the series of events organized for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Hungary-Philippines diplomatic relations in Manila. The partnership would soon enable OFWs to download the Peak mobile app with RCBC embedded digital banking platform, allowing them to open an RCBC peso and Hungary foreign accounts in a single app assisting them in managing their finances while working abroad and supporting their family back home. Founder and CEO of Peak Hungary Marton Suppan, RCBC President and CEO Eugene Acevedo, RCBC Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer Lito Villanueva, and Columbus Private Equity Fund Board Member Gabor Rudas signed the Memorandum of Understanding sealing the embedded finance partnership. It was witnessed by the Ambassador of Hungary to the Philippines Titanilla Toth, Prime Ministers Commissioner for the protection of the Hungarian way of life and national values Zsolt V. Nemeth, Deputy State Secretary for External Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Katalin Bihari, and Department of Migrant Workers Undersecretary for Policy and International Cooperation Atty. Patricia Yvonne Caunan. The signing also coincided with RCBCs 63rd anniversary. With the partnership being fully supported by the Hungarian government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, OFWs will have access to a wide range of digital financial services, which include RCBCs digital lending such as salary advance, home and car loan, and personal loan. Bank account holders will also have the opportunity to transfer cash to their loved ones, invest finances into rewarding financial solutions, acquire medical insurance, and access other empowering services from RCBC, Peak, and Columbus. The pilot will kickstart in Hungary and will eventually expand to other European Union member states and the United Kingdom. The unprecedented flow of labor is presenting the world with entirely new circumstances, unfolding a series of opportunities for agile, fast-responding companies, and cross-continental collaborations. One such opportunity is to address the financial challenges of overseas workers. The quickest collaboration in our 10 years history to be established is the cooperation between Peak, RCBC, and Columbus well illustrating the immense market demand, Suppan said. In recent years, the European labor market has been expanding exponentially, drawing more and more Filipino workers to the continent, who have been recognized for their exceptional English proficiency, religion, cultural adaptability, and strong work ethic. As Hungary positions itself as a regional economic powerhouse, the new foreign direct investments the country managed to attract also lead to an increasing demand for foreign labor force. The number of OFWs in Hungary is forecasted to grow significantly. Up until today, several thousands of OFWs have been sent to Hungary. Filipino expatriates working in the manufacturing and hospitality industry enjoy generous compensation, free board, and lodging. The growing community of Filipino workers in the European country has become a considerable market of interest for banks such as RCBC and Peak, persuading the two financial providers and a private equity fund to collaborate and provide services through the power of API technology. It has been our pleasure that this partnership was realized during the Hungarian-Philippine Roundtable Discussion on Labor Market Trends, which was part of a series of events organized by the Embassy of Hungary in Manila for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Hungary and the Philippines. The cooperation agreement, which will provide new cutting-edge digital solutions to prove the close ties between our nations, emphasized Ambassador Titanilla Toth. RCBC President and Chief Executive Officer Eugene S. Acevedo highlighted the importance of such partnerships in uplifting the lives of Filipinos and the enthusiasm of the bank in partaking in a fruitful partnership. Teaming up with Peak and Columbus allows RCBC to continue serving our fellow Filipinos in Hungary. We are committed to delivering a seamless banking experience to help our customers realize their financial goals even if they are abroad, said Acevedo. RCBC believes that financial inclusion should not only be for people who work in our country but it should also include overseas workers who send money back home to build their dreams for their families, said Villanueva. The bigger picture here is that RCBC, Peak, and Columbus are redefining financial inclusion through embedded finance as a unique value proposition, thus, creating the future of digital banking empowering migrant workers achieve their short-term and long-term goals no matter wherever they are and whenever they deem it necessary, added Villanueva. A 2023 report by global consultancy firm McKinsey found that US$30.5 billion in remittances flow into the country annually, yet banks have not integrated remittances into their mainstream services and even into creation of credit profiles of Filipinos. Villanueva highlighted that these findings motivated RCBC in addressing the needs of overseas workers and their families. RCBC has been expanding its digital banking services through its RCBC Pulz, RCBC Diskartech, and RCBC ATM Go services capable of processing and accepting remittances. With the most recent partnership with Peak, RCBC is poised to become one of the leading digital-centric banks focused on making financial services accessible and possible to a greater segment of unbanked and underserved Filipinos anywhere in the world. RCBC is the Philippines 5th largest privately-owned universal bank and the most awarded for its banking innovations. Among its global and local recognitions include a four-peat award as the Philippines Best Bank for Digital by Asiamoney, back-to-back wins for Best Financial Inclusion App by The Asian Bankers Financial Technology Innovations Awards, Gartner Eye for Innovation Award, YouTube Challenger award for its viral and out-of-the-box digital ad campaigns, and Grand Champion for Digital Payments and Financial Inclusion by the Bankers Institute of the Philippines. The Stokes County Sheriffs Office in North Carolina has made an arrest in the murder of a Patrick County woman whos body was found more than five years ago. Leroy Allen Hoover, 61, of Stokes County, was arrested on Wednesday, according to a statement released by Stokes County Sheriff Joey Lemon. Sarah Hill, 33, of Patrick County, was last heard from on June 6, 2018. She had been known to stay with friends in North Carolina and on the morning of her disappearance, she called her sister on her cellphone and told her she was near Mount Airy, North Carolina, on Blue Hollow Road and needed a ride. By the time family arrived, Hill was no where to be found, police said. Investigators said based on new evidence, they began searching in the Sheltontown area of Surry County in 2020, and although they did not find Hill, they say they found evidence that Hill may have been at Hoovers home on Ashby Road in Westfield at about the same time she disappeared. In October 2022, a search warrant for Hoovers property was obtained. Specialized crews using heavy equipment to move dirt and terrain and stabilize an existing structure began work and human remains were discovered beneath the floor of a structure on the property, police said. The remains were taken to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center where an autopsy was conducted and the remains were determined to be that of Hill, but the Surry County Sheriffs Office would not say what the cause of death was or whether Hills death was being investigated as a homicide, citing any additional information would not be released in order to protect the integrity of the investigation. Lemons said last week his department finally received the official autopsy report and after consulting with the Stokes County District Attorneys Office, Hoover was arrested and charged with the murder of Hill and concealment of her death. We can only imagine how hard this has been for the family of Ms. Hill, Lemons said. Investigators from the Patrick County Sheriffs Office, Surry County Sheriffs Office, Stokes County Sheriffs Office, as well as the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agents that worked on this case have done a tremendous job, and they never gave up. Although nothing will bring a loved on back, we can only hope this helps provide some closure to Ms. Hills family. Hoover, who police say also has other charges pending in Stokes County, has been jailed in the Stokes County Jail without bond. As the nations leading biomedical research funding entity, the NIH was well aware of Stanford Medicines prowess in systems immunology: the use of genomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics and pretty much every other omics you can think of to learn how genes, cells and those highly complicated organisms called people respond to infections. So, the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital investigators teamed up with Pulendran, who is co-director of the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection and along with ITI director Mark Davis, PhD a leading practitioner of systems biology. Then came the pandemic, and the lockdown. In this isolation, flu cases fell off a cliff while COVID-19 began to surge. The scientists pivoted to a study of COVID-19 in kids. Florian Wimmers, PhD, then a postdoc in Pulendrans lab, and his colleagues got hold of nasal and blood samples collected from 54 infants whod become infected with SARS-CoV-2 before reaching age 2, and from 27 other children whod tested negative throughout the observation period. For comparison, the researchers obtained similar samples from several dozen adults. All infected children in the study were, at most, mildly symptomatic. We were desperate to find kids with severe symptoms, Pulendran said. We asked our Cincinnati Childrens collaborators to please send us samples of kids with severe disease. Try as they might, they couldnt find samples from kids with severe infection in all the four years they were collecting them. Major findings In a study led by Pulendran and just published in Cell, he and colleagues at Stanford Medicine and several other institutions discovered telling differences between infants and adults. In the blood of SARS-CoV-2-infected adults, SARS-specific antibody levels rose quickly to a robust peak, then dropped off precipitously, declining by 10-fold within six months. Infants blood-borne antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were a little slower to spike upward in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. But in stark contrast to adults, their antibody levels never dropped they either plateaued at a high level or kept on rising throughout the 300-day observation period, eventually rivaling those of the adults at peak. In no case did we see a decline, Pulendran said. This was completely unexpected. The kids antibodies, he noted, tended to be somewhat narrow spectrum: highly effective against the original invading variant, but providing less protection against other SARS-CoV-2 variants. Another difference: In the blood of adults with even mild COVID-19 cases, there was a big increase in levels of a number of inflammation-promoting signaling proteins, previously shown to be associated with more-severe symptoms. In infected kids blood, this increase wasnt seen. In kids' noses, though, it was another story. In the mucous membranes of the nasal cavity, we saw plenty of these very inflammation-promoting proteins, Pulendran said. Among them was one called alpha-interferon, which has a notable knack for shutting down viral replication in infected cells. Also absent in kids blood, but relatively abundant in the mucous membranes of their noses, was an immune molecule that calls in the thugs: That is, it recruits all-purpose pugnacious immune-cell buddies known as neutrophils to the area. This big overall dichotomy between whats going on in infected infants blood versus in their noses indicates to Pulendran that the virus may be getting nipped in the bud in the nasal tracts, which have a rapid, surprisingly effective immune response to a SARS-CoV-2 infection and deny the virus a launch pad for its spread to the lungs. Pulendran wants to see if any of this nasal magic extends beyond COVID-19 he is now collaborating with the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital group on influenza and other viruses. He suspects that his COVID-19 findings may not translate directly to other respiratory infections. Kids, after all, get severe cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza. Each pathogen has its own peculiarities, he said. But, he added, If weve indeed identified a source of infants resilience to COVID-19, we should exploit it. Pulendran envisions, for example, a nasal spray that could be given every couple of months to stimulate in adults upper respiratory tracts the same immune-response capabilities that infants routinely have in theirs, and prevent the virus from getting a foothold. Can we design a COVID-19 vaccine, or an additive to existing ones, that induces an increase in mucosal immunity in the adult nose, as occurs naturally in infants? We dont know, he said. You could say were in the infancy of this research. A researcher at the University of Tubingen contributed to the study. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01 AI048638, U19 AI057266 and U19 AI167903), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Open Philanthropy, and the Violetta L. Horton and Soffer Endowments. King Mohammed VI has hailed the sincere and spontaneous solidarity shown by all Moroccans, inside and outside the country, towards the inhabitants of the areas that were affected by a devastating earthquake on September 8 and vowed that the impacted areas shall be rehabilitated and reconstructed. This came in a Speech the Sovereign delivered this Friday October 13 at the opening of the fall session of the Parliament and that was held in the presence of President of the World Bank Group Ajay Banga, and General Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva. It was the will of Almighty God that a tragic earthquake should strike our country, leaving behind thousands of martyrs and injuring a great many people may they recover quickly, with Gods help. The Sovereign said that the tragic earthquake has been a most painful experience which has affected us all, the King and the people, from Tangiers to Lagouira, from the east to the west of our country. Earthquakes cause destruction, but we intend to rehabilitate and rebuild the devastated areas, he vowed, stressing the need to continue providing assistance to the stricken families, to speed up rehabilitation and reconstruction in the affected areas, and to make sure basic services are available. Hailing the solidarity shown by Moroccans following the tragic tremor, the King pointed out that beyond the horrific nature of the tragedy, what alleviates our suffering and, indeed, makes us proud, is the reaction of civil society and of all Moroccans in the homeland and abroad who have shown heartfelt, spontaneous solidarity with their afflicted brothers and sisters. The Sovereign also commended the Royal Armed Forces and the various emergency and security agencies, government authorities and local governments for the sacrifices they have been making to rescue and assist the people living in the stricken regions. He likewise reiterated thanks to our friends and to sister nations that showed solidarity with the Moroccan people and stood by us during those painful circumstances. This tragedy has shown that authentic Moroccan values have prevailed. They have enabled our country to overcome adversity and crises, again making us not only stronger, but also more determined to forge ahead, with unwavering confidence and optimism, he stated further. That is the spirit and those are the lofty values ingrained in our DNA. We see them as the cornerstone of our unity and of the cohesion of Moroccan society. These rallying national values are enshrined in the Kingdoms Constitution. They apply to and are embodied by all the components of our authentic Moroccan identity and are also fully in line with universal values. This is what makes Morocco a model of coexistence between Moroccans, Muslims, and Jews alike. Ours is a country in which other faiths and cultures are duly respected, explained the Monarch. He also cited the national values underpinning the Moroccan nation, and which are based on the monarchy. The latter is unanimously supported by all Moroccans; it brings together all components of the Moroccan people. Its pillar is the strong cohesion and the mutual allegiance Beia between the throne and the people. Love of the homeland and unanimity on the nations unity and territorial integrity are among Moroccos long-standing, immutable values which unite Moroccans, and which bring together all the constitutive components of our rich, diverse, yet unified identity, underlined the King. He underlined the values of solidarity and social cohesion between groups, generations, and regions, saying this makes Moroccan society closely-knit, with different segments supporting and reinforcing one another. We call for continued adherence to these values because they consolidate our national unity and family cohesion; they also preserve human dignity and enhance social justice, said the King. In line with the spirit of these national values, which deem the family and family bonds to be sacred, the Monarch said he addressed a letter to the Head of Government asking for a review of the Family Code as the family is the pillar of society. Society will not function properly if the family is not cohesive or is imbalanced. Family disintegration makes societies lose their moral compass, said the King. Therefore, I have been working to enhance our identity through major projects. Among these is the large-scale social protection project, which I consider a pillar of our social and development model, affirmed the King, saying that Morocco will begin the implementation of the program for the provision direct social assistance at the end of this year. To give concrete substance to the values of social solidarity, which are deeply ingrained in Moroccans, I have decided that this program should not be limited to the payment of family allowances. I have made sure it also includes some social segments that need support, underlined the Moroccan Sovereign. This assistance will concern school-age children as well as children with disabilities, newborn babies, and also impoverished and vulnerable families without school-age children, especially those supporting elderly people, he explained. Thanks to its direct impact, this program will contribute to raising the standard of living of target families and will help fight poverty and vulnerability, in addition to improving social and human development indicators. Society is more productive and proactive when it is deeply committed to solidarity. It also becomes more resilient to contingences and fluctuations, said the King, calling on the government to adopt a comprehensive approach for the implementation of this program, in keeping with the principles of the framework law on social protection adopted by Parliament. This program will be implemented in a gradual manner, taking into account the funds allocated, the optimal scope of the coverage, the amounts to be disbursed and how the assistance is to be managed. It should also be a model of successful implementation, based on the system for targeting beneficiaries under the unified social registry, making sure modern technology is properly leveraged, said the King, stressing the need to uphold the principles of solidarity, transparency and equity, and to provide assistance to those who deserve it. He also urged the government to give priority to the rationalization of current social benefit schemes and ensure their effectiveness as well as the sustainability of their financing. The King stressed the need to uphold the principles of good governance for the implementation of this project with the setting up of a special monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the projects continuous development and evaluation. 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: Prevalence of Acinetobacter baumannii, Carbapenem-Resistant A baumannii, and Candida auris Colonization Stratified by Type of Facility. Credit: JAMA (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jama.2023.21083 University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers conducted a statewide survey of all patients on breathing machines in hospitals and long-term care facilities and found that a significant percentage of them harbored two pathogens known to be life-threatening in those with compromised immune systems. One pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii, was identified in nearly 31 percent of all patients on ventilators to assist with their breathing; Candida auris was identified in nearly 7 percent of patients on ventilators, according to the study which was published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). They conducted the study with colleagues at the Maryland Department of Health and presented their findings at this week's Infectious Disease Society of America annual meeting in Boston. "We found patients in long-term care facilities, like skilled nursing homes, were more likely to be colonized with these pathogens than those getting treated in hospitals," said study leader Anthony Harris, MD, MPH, Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health at UMSOM and infectious disease specialist at University of Maryland Medical Center. "We were the first in the nation to get a statewide survey of all ventilated patients, and I think it points to the stringency of the infection control programs in place in the state of Maryland and the excellent collaboration between the University of Maryland and the State Health Department." Both A. baumannii and C. auris have been highlighted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as emerging pathogens that present a global health threat. C. auris is a fungus that spreads within and among local health care facilitiesusually in those hospitalized and on breathing machines (ventilators). Older people with weakened immune systems are particularly susceptible to this infection, which resists treatment with common anti-fungal medications. A. baumannii, a bacteria, also poses a threat to these same types of patients and has become very resistant through the years to treatment with most antibiotics. To conduct the study, Dr. Harris and his colleagues obtained culture swabs from all 482 patients receiving mechanical ventilation in Maryland health care facilities between March and June of this year. All eligible health care facilities, 51 in total, participated in the survey. They identified A. baumannii from at least one patient in one-third of the acute care hospitals and from 94 percent of the long-term care facilities. They identified C. auris in nearly 5 percent of hospitalized patients and in 9 percent of patients in long-term care facilities. "Testing positive, however, does not mean that patients have symptoms or active infections that are potentially life-threatening," said study co-author J. Kristie Johnson, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology at UMSOM whose lab did the A. baumannii testing for the study. "But knowing which patients are colonized with these pathogens can help contain their spread to other patients." Over the course of 2022, state and local health departments around the country reported 2,377 clinical cases, according to the CDC, nearly five times the number infections in 2019, which was less than 500 cases. Maryland alone had 46 cases in 2022. While these infections don't normally pose much of health risk to hospital workers, they pose a significant risk of death in patients with weakened immune systems. Often the infections can be spread from patient to patient by health care workers carrying the germs on their hands, equipment or clothing. "There is a need for more health care facilities nationwide to be aware of the extent of the problem through surveillance testing," Dr. Harris said. Certain measures can be implemented to help reduce spread of these pathogens including more stringent use of disposable gloves and gowns between patients and the use of chlorhexidine bathing of the critically ill to disinfect their skin. "Emerging pathogens that are resistant to available therapeutics present a growing challenge in our country, especially with a projected increased growth in our aging population entering long term care facilities," said UMSOM Dean Mark Gladwin, MD, who is also Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor at UMSOM. "Nearly half of patients who contract C. auris infections die within 90 days, according to the CDC, and this pathogen is now found in nearly 50 states. This is why it is critical for these surveillance studies to be conducted nationwide, not just in Maryland." UMSOM faculty members Lisa Pineles, MA, Lyndsay O'Hara, Ph.D., Leigh Smith, MD, and Indira French, MS, were co-authors on this study. More information: Anthony D. Harris et al, Prevalence of Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida auris in Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation, JAMA (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jama.2023.21083 Journal information: Journal of the American Medical Association 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: Russian Foundation for Basic Research A RUDN University doctor named the reasons why nickel industry workers may develop several chronic diseases at once. The authors analyzed long-term data, identified the main risk factors, and suggested how to improve the situation. The results were published in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health. Multimorbidity is a condition in which a patient simultaneously has two or more chronic diseases that are not related to each other. Industrial workers exposed to hazardous substances generally have an increased risk of multimorbidity. It reduces the standard of living of industrial workers and increases the risk of disability and premature death. A RUDN doctor analyzed 15 years of data on occupational diseases among nickel industry workers to assess the extent of multimorbidity and its main causes. "The health of production workers is one of the most important indicators of social well-being. The quality and standard of living is assessed, among other things, by the number of people with occupational diseases. However, multimorbidity has not yet attracted the attention of occupational medicine doctors and occupational safety specialists. Therefore, we set a goal to obtain data on the development, prevalence, and nature of occupational multimorbidity among workers in the nickel industry," said Denis Vinnikov, MD, Professor of the Department of Biochemistry, RUDN University. Doctors took data from the register of diagnosed occupational diseases from 2007 to 2021 in two regions of Russia. The register included data on all cases of diagnosed occupational diseases. In Russia, the list of such diagnoses includes 800 diseases. Of these, nickel compounds can cause about 15. During the study period, a quarter of nickel industry workers with diagnosed occupational diseases showed multimorbidity. Of these, 14.9% suffered simultaneously from two chronic diseases, 5% were diagnosed with three diseases at once, fourin 3.4%, and fivein 2.5%. Just under 1% of workers suffered from six chronic diseases simultaneously. The number of diagnoses during this time increased threefold. The most common diseases were the respiratory system and the musculoskeletal system. They occurred in 31.5% and 23% of workers, respectively. RUDN University doctors and colleagues from St. Petersburg also identified the most likely causes of multimorbidity among workers in the nickel industry. That is many years of work in a dangerous position, poor quality of clinical examination, and outdated production equipment. "Occupational multimorbidity occurs due to a combination of occupational risk factors, outdated technologies, and working conditions. To prevent multimorbidity, it is necessary to improve working conditions and improve the quality of regular medical examinations. It is also important not to exceed the recommended period of employment in hazardous industries. The employee's willingness to extend employment cannot be justified, because this worsens his health," said Vinnikov. More information: Sergei Syurin et al, Occupational multimorbidity in the nickel industry workers, International Journal of Circumpolar Health (2023). DOI: 10.1080/22423982.2023.2231618 Provided by Russian Foundation for Basic Research 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: Sponsored by Texas Children's Hospital, Team 11, known as Rapid Cuff, (top row, from left) Amelia Flug, Hannah Bludau and Haley Phelan, (bottom row, from left) Reagan Isbell and Naomi Brady. Credit: Texas A&M Engineering Before a baby is born, doctors hope for a safe delivery, and parents hope for a healthy child. Unfortunately, conditions such as kidney failure can only be detected after birth and require immediate treatment. These patients need peritoneal dialysis to help regulate kidney function, and although lifesaving, this treatment can lead to fluid leakage and requires a lengthy healing process. For their senior capstone project, a team of six students in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University designed custom dialysis cuffs and a T-shaped applicator sleeve to improve the peritoneal dialysis process. The team called Rapid Cuff is sponsored by Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) and advised by Dr. Daniel Alge, associate professor in the biomedical engineering department, and his brother Dr. Joseph Alge, previously with TCH and currently a pediatric nephrologist at Arkansas Children's Hospital. "Since neonates are the ones who use peritoneal dialysis most frequently and are completely reliant on it, they need a really good solution," said team member Naomi Brady. "Especially because it takes a week or two for the incision site to heal, and they can't receive dialysis until they heal. Making sure nothing goes wrong is critical for keeping them alive." Rapid Cuff set out to expedite the healing process and prevent fluid leakage for newborn babies during peritoneal dialysis, a process that helps the kidneys filter waste and toxins in the blood. This outpatient operation involves implanting a catheter through the wall of the abdomen. One end remains outside the body to pass dialysis fluid through the catheter, and the other end is free-floating inside the abdomen. "You can pass fluid through, and the waste diffuses into that fluid," Brady said. "You take the fluid out, put new fluid in and repeat that process as necessary, depending on how well the kidneys are functioning." But what causes the kidneys to fail? Sometimes the cause is genetic, passed down from parent to child, or congenital, where the bean-shaped organs fail to develop in the womb. This is especially common in premature babies. As a result, waste and toxins accumulate and diffuse over capillaries inside the abdominal cavity. Due to their tiny veins and small blood supply, babies with kidney failure must use peritoneal dialysis rather than hemodialysis because the tube that is inserted into the arm during hemodialysis can fall out easily if the patient moves around a lot. A side view of the device displays a porous polyurethane cuff outside the body to improve healing time and prevent fluid leakage when a catheter is inserted into a baby's abdomen. Credit: Texas A&M Engineering Adults know to stay still when receiving treatment, but babies wiggle by nature. To prevent the tube from slipping, the team made their double-compressed cuffs squirm-proof by creating a seal that secures the catheter more safely to the body. "The biggest thing we did was change the materials," said team member Haley Phelan. "A regular peritoneal dialysis catheter already has the cuffs on it, but they're made with polyester. We've changed that with a more porous foam filled with a hydrogel. We also added a third cuff that sits on the wound outside the body and an applicator sleeve. The sleeve better standardizes the placement of the catheters and keeps the cuffs from expanding before it is placed into the body." "The applicator was inspired by a tampon applicator," Brady said. "You can compress the cuff so that it's extra small to fit into a smaller incision. Once you stick the catheter inside, you can pull out the applicator sleeve, while the catheter remains." In the future, this device could be adapted to aid in the dialysis process for pediatric and adult patients with kidney failure. As for the future of these Aggies, the team of six is divided. Hannah Bludau plans on attending SMU Cox School of Business for an MBA and working for Texas Instruments as a full-time product marketing engineer. Amelia Flug will graduate this December and plans to work as a product marketing engineer at Texas Instruments, and Mariana Cantu plans to work in the industry. Reagan Isabell attends medical school at the Texas A&M School of Engineering Medicine. Brady also attends medical school but at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Phelan is pursuing their master's in biomedical engineering at Texas A&M before continuing to industry. "This project is really personal to me because I was born very premature," said Phelan. "I get to delve into that passion of mine as a student." Political extremists are increasingly targeting public meetings with hate speech, according to the Anti-Defamation League. At the same time, two Missoula city councilors want to make public comment a more open forum for community members. The ADL tracks antisemitic incidents and other forms of bigotry on a broad scale. The groups Center on Extremism has noted an alarming rise in disruptive dialogue at public meetings across the United States over the past year. Weve noticed a significant increase in this kind of activity, said Stephen Paolini, the Associate Regional Director for the ADLs Pacific Northwest region. Its all across the country. There really has not been any state that is spared. Paolini said the PNW, in particular, is seeing this behavior increase among white supremacist groups. Their membership which he called very fringe is coordinating organized approaches to public comment periods around the area. Their goal, Paolini said, is to discourage public discourse by making public commenters feel uncomfortable in these settings. Its a very, very small number of actors, Paolini pointed out, while also adding, absolutely, we should be worried about a systemic effect happening. Technological advances have enabled the small, decentralized network of extremists to find one another and share best practices for promoting their agendas. In many cases the ADL has tracked, the public commenters pushing hateful rhetoric do not live in the communities where they provide public comment. They often find elected officials who belong to marginalized groups and make verbal attacks against those individuals. Its just really harmful to the civic process, said Paolini. Unfortunately, its really falling on local governments to think about this. Paolini advised forming local planning groups to prepare for intrusions from extremists. Resources like muting virtual participants or kicking them out of online meetings are important to have in place, he said. He also came down heavily against a rule change being proposed by Missoula City Councilors Daniel Carlino in Ward 3 and Sandra Vasecka in Ward 6. I definitely would encourage folks not to lessen restrictions in public comment, he said. That would be a mistake. Plenty of other forums exist where fewer restrictions on commentary are in place, he added. In defense of free speech But even in light of Paolinis suggestions, Vasecka and Carlino stood firm in their commitment to changing City Council Rule 4. Its a move they believe will enable a fuller exercise of free speech if supported by others on council. People should be able to say what they want, said Carlino, a progressive first-term councilor who teamed up with conservative Vasecka on the effort. Sometimes freedom of speech is really uncomfortable. Free speech is important to me, Vasecka agreed, and I think that elected officials should allow their constituents to question their motives and voice their concerns without fear of repercussion. We may not agree with what some people say, but there should never be a rule to suppress criticism that is how a city can grow and learn. In the duos proposal, requirements that comments be truthful, based in fact would be eliminated. Furthermore, name-calling or personal attacks would be allowed, as would disrespect, ridicule and contemptuous or dismissive language or behavior. The changes include allowing comments or noises while another person is recognized to speak, impugn(ing) motives, as well as loud and indecent comments. Both councilors stressed, however, they will continue to forbid threatening, abusive, or profane language which disrupts, disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting. Hate speech is still banned, said Carlino. But he said the proposed changes are more specific and less subjective than the current parameters, making space for emotional appeals to council. I believe that hate speech falls under the category of threatening and abusive language, said Vasecka, so if folks are spewing hate speech, they are in violation of the rules. If commenters threaten councilors safety, they are impeding the orderly conduct of the meeting. So I don't think that our proposed changes will allow for those concerns to happen, if commenters follow the rules. Ask a Montanan their favorite spot to fish. Some will clam up; others scoff and mutter some NSFW response under their breath. Some are happy to help. A popular quip, whether callous or genuine, goes something like, Take out a map, find a blue squiggly line, go there and fish it. Of course. Simplicity and minimalism are part of what makes outdoor recreation attractive to Montanans and tourists alike. Generally, we all search for (simplicity), said Marne Hayes of Business for Montanas Outdoors. I think when we bring people to Montana, or we try to invite people into these experiences that were trying to share, we want them to find the same authenticity and the same value that we find. Business for Montanas Outdoors is a program arm of the Helena-based nonprofit Wild Montana. Making sure it stays that way making sure you can just go to a blue line and fish it is complicated and time-consuming. It takes collaboration, partnerships, solutions and compromise from government agencies, nonprofit groups, land managers and others. About 300 of those people along with researchers, students and lots more interested or involved parties were in Butte on Wednesday through Friday for the Montana Outdoor Recreation Summit. The summit, which set up shop at the Copper King Hotel and Convention Center, included live panels, guest speakers, workshops, field trips, a film festival Uptown at the Mother Lode and more. Hayes, who was there both as an exhibitor on behalf of Business for Montanas Outdoors and an attendee, noticed a lack of rigidness which she said was refreshing. There were times when panelists might have stumbled over their words or became short of breath midsentence, adding a layer of home state authenticity. Instead of seasoned lobbyists delivering a canned spiel, these were folks sharing their stories, ideas and what theyve recently noticed firsthand. I enjoy people who are less scripted, Hayes said. You kind of get the real story and a real interest in why people are gathering to share and convene. Panels delved into topics such as accessibility, hunting, fishing, the business of outdoor recreation, conservation and more. One panel was titled, Bridging the Divide: Exploring Equity Issues in Outdoor Recreation. The discussion was moderated by Will Rice, an assistant professor of outdoor recreation and wildland management in the Parks, Tourism, and Recreation Program and Department of Society and Conservation at the University of Montana. Equity in the context of outdoor recreation can loosely be defined as: What is fair? And there are myriad equity gaps or divides where bridges are needed. Gaps in fairness can be broad. Who receives funding and/or access? How much do they receive and when? Panelist Kayla Mosher, a recreation outreach coordinator with the Kaniksu Land Trust in Thompson Falls, said shes heard firsthand from forest service representatives that areas with greater populations receive priority for certain projects. Our small-town life matters just as much as theirs, Mosher said. Dont ignore the small communities in your region. Theyre just as important. Equity issues can create barriers. Recreation.gov is only available in English. Ive had to personally be the translator for a lot of my family, said panelist Erynn Castellanos, an education and partnership specialist with the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. Bridging equity gaps can also be more complex than securing grants or creating a bi-lingual website which can be time-consuming and difficult, but at least the goal is clear. Panelist Lauren Redmore expounded upon what she calls the overuse-diversity paradox. Redmore explained that about 92% of wilderness visitors are white, but at the same time national parks and wilderness areas are more crowded than ever. So the paradox exists as organizations simultaneously push for more underrepresented groups to recreate in these areas while also trying to protect public lands from overuse. These are really soft skills that are not taught in forestry school, said Redmore, an Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute researcher focused on advancing an understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion in wilderness and wildlands the first of her kind at the Aldo Leopold center, in fact. These problems probably do not have just one solution to satisfy all parties. Rice went on to quote Steve McCool, Ph.D., a former professor at the University of Montana. To every problem is a simple solution, and that simple solutions incorrect, Rice said. The summits schedule and complete list of panels and speakers can be viewed at bit.ly/3FeF1Uj. This year was the first time the Montana Outdoor Recreation Summit has been held since 2018. The event was co-hosted by the University of Montanas Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, and Montana Access Project. A standard summit attendee ticket was $225, which covered all sessions and workshops, the option to register for field tours, film festival tickets and meals. In election season, getting to know your candidates takes effort. Voters must ask good questions and candidates must answer them. Both tasks ought to be easy, but turn out to be tough. Last week, former No. 3 House Republican leader Liz Cheney and former Montana Republican Gov. Marc Racicot proposed some simple questions to put before candidates for federal office. In the interest of preserving American democracy, they sought yes-or-no answers to two choices in particular: Is it OK to publically call for the execution of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? Do you believe the 2020 election was stolen? A week ago, all the official and presumed candidates for Montanas two House of Representatives races were asked those questions in this space. The Missoulian followed up with emails to each of them earlier this week. The questions went to Republicans Rep. Matt Rosendale, Rep. Ryan Zinke, Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci, State Auditor Troy Downing, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen; along with Democrats Monica Tranel and Kevin Hamm. Huckleberries go to Hamm and Tranel who took a minute to answer No to both. Hamm added the fact that youre having to ask these questions is disconcerting. Not on you, natch, but because who other than the deranged thinks like that? Chokecherries go to the rest of the field, who didnt bother to reply. Perhaps they thought this was an attention-getting stunt. Perhaps they dont check their email. Or perhaps its what University College London political scientist Brian Klass calls the banality of crazy. As he told the Washington Post, the latest outrageous threat of violence from a presidential candidate who used to be president gets less media attention than the story about the current presidents dog biting a Secret Service agent. Conservative columnist Charlie Sykes added If the former president of the United States endorses extrajudicial killings of shoplifters, and we have to ask Is that newsworthy? we need to reevaluate what we regard as important. But since the elected leadership of the House of Representatives has deactivated the United States Congress in the middle of two shooting wars and a multi-trillion-dollar budget crisis, lets pivot to doing what we can where we are. After all, all politics is local. To that end, we need some better questions for Missoulas would-be mayors. Quite the opposite of their federal political brethren, mayoral candidates Mike Nugent and Andrea Davis have been accessible and forthcoming to their voters and constituents. The problem has been posing issues that define each in ways that help one make a decision on who to choose. Missoulas nonpartisan city government requires its residents to think beyond party lines. But theres no good way to measure someones intention to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars or seek innovative solutions to homelessness or work hard for Missoula. And while asking if one prefers cats or dogs provides a definite distinction, it has little predictive power. Unusual circumstances complicate this years Missoula municipal elections. Mail ballots go out on Oct. 18. The election is Nov. 7. But the Post Office has publicly announced that it may not get mailed ballots to the Missoula County Election Office if they arent mailed by Oct. 31. Thats seven days before the actual ballot due date, and time that could reveal new information voters might use to make their choice. Anyone with an unmailed ballot after that date better plan to deliver it by hand. So heres a huckleberry challenge to the Missoula voting community: What would you like to know from Davis and Nugent that would help you make your choice of mayor? How would you phrase the question to get an answer you can use? Send your proposed questions to oped@missoulian.com. All questions received by Oct. 17 will be considered for presentation to the mayoral candidates on Oct. 23. The received answers will be published on Oct. 26. Democracy requires dedication. Thank you for your service. VALDESE The town of Valdese will soon have to formally request money that has been earmarked for it to connect its water system with the system of the town of Lenoir. The recently approved state budget includes a total of $24 million for the proposed connection of the water systems between the town of Valdese and city of Lenoir. Valdeses portion of that funding is $7 million, while the city of Lenoir will receive $17 million, according to officials. The idea with the connection is for the town to sell some of its capacity to Lenoir. Both systems have the capacity to produce up to 12 million gallons of water a day. The city of Lenoirs water system is the main provider to those living in Caldwell County. Town officials have said the city of Lenoir is anticipating buying 4 million gallons of water a day from Valdese. The town currently produces 3.5 million gallons a day for its customers, according to officials. On Monday, the council approved a contract with McGill & Associates for $953,000 for design phase services, bidding and award phase services, funding administration services and construction phase services. The cost of the contract will come out of the $7 million appropriation, according to town officials. The town council approved a Request for Qualifications in early 2022 to McGill as an engineer for the towns general services department, said Public Services Director Greg Padgett. He said the town sent an RFQ to five engineering firms and received a response from two firms. They chose McGill & Associates, he said. The firm was chosen based on qualifications, not on price. R.J. Mozeley of McGill & Associates told the Valdese Town Council Monday that within the next two to three months, the town will have to submit funding documents to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to request the funds be released, Mozeley said. He said after the funds are released, the town can get started on the project. There will be a lot of permits that will be needed for the interconnection, with the most difficult of those being the responsibility of the city of Lenoir, Moseley said. Connecting the two systems will mean laying down more than 4 miles of water transmission main, a bore underneath Lake Rhodhiss, valves, hydrants, master meter, and at least one water pump station with a standby generator, according to information from the town. The project also will include upgrading older systems and improving reliability and redundancy for both Lenoir and Valdese, according to the town. The project is currently estimated to take between three to five years to complete, say officials. During the meeting, the council also approved a consent agenda, which includes a resolution approving the towns Water Shortage Response Plan; and a resolution for funding from the Federal Railroad Administration and the North Carolina General Assembly to re-establish passenger rail service for Western North Carolina. Burke County Drug Recovery Court celebrated three women Tuesday who now are proudly sober and building their lives back after struggles with addiction. Taylor Setzer Calvert, recovery court coordinator, said offenders are referred to the program when they havent had success with the traditional criminal justice system. The drug recovery court program gets them into treatment and puts them in an environment where they have peer support over the course of two years. Among the graduates was Kristie Yoder, who started using drugs when she was 21 years old. It started off as a way to have fun on the weekends, not realizing that each time she used drugs, the claws of addiction were sinking deeper into her. It gradually become where I had to have it, and then it wasnt fun anymore, she told The News Herald. She said she was in and out of jail and after one of her arrests, she was ordered to start Burke County Recovery Court. When I started this program, I was doing meth every single day and spending $100 a day on it, Yoder said. First, she was prescribed methadone to help quell opioid cravings and fight withdrawal symptoms. The methadone helps with the sickness, but I was still wanting that high, you know? she said. So then I had a hard time getting off the meth, but eventually, it was several months into the program when I finally was able to get clean and stay clean. Yoder will celebrate a year of being clean and sober on Oct. 28. Shes working with the Department of Social Services to get back custody of her daughter, and shes held the same job for the last seven months. Its possible, Yoder said. If I can do it, anybody else can do it. I mean, I was as bad as you can get the grass is greener on the other side, and you can get back to that. You get in a dark place, you know? And hopeless, but there is better days. Savannah Collins, another drug court graduate, celebrated a year of sobriety earlier this month. Her journey using drugs started at 14 drinking and smoking weed with friends on the weekend. When she was around 16, she started dating a guy who would use fentanyl. She first tried fentanyl with him, and later methamphetamine. I ended up getting hooked on both to the point where I had to use several times a day at, like, 16 years old, Collins said. Doing that, I would start stealing from stores and stuff like that. She was 16 when she went to jail for the first time, and she started getting charged and ending up on probation before long. I was pretty much a fentanyl and meth addict at like 16, 17 years old, Collins said. When she turned 18, she broke up with the person who introduced her to drugs only to end up in another relationship with the same situation. She was around 19 when her probation officer asked her if she was interested in drug recovery court. I was really scared at first, you know, because I didnt really want to get clean, but at the same time I did, Collins said. I didnt want to live my life just being a drug addict, at such a young age especially. She started the program, hating it at first. They put me in jail probably like every other week, Collins said. I hated it. I was so mad at the world, like I could not stand it. After them putting me in jail, putting me in rehab, sending me to do 90 days in prison, something just clicked. Classes through Cognitive Connections helped, she started taking suboxone to help with her recovery and she cut off everyone in her life who used drugs. She said she rarely left the house for six or seven months unless it was to go to classes or to the grocery store with her family. It really opened my eyes to realize how selfish you are whenever you are under, your mental state, being on drugs and stuff like that, Collins said. Youre just a completely different person. Youre not the same person, youre very depressed, and without using, you cant get through the day. She said shes thankful for everyone who supported her through the program. Im so thankful for this program, Im thankful for my family and everyone that actually helped me realize that I could get sober because I really never thought I was going to, Collins said. She encouraged anyone who is struggling with addiction not to look down on themselves so much. A lot of times theyre embarrassed to get help, Collins said. I was like that I didnt tell anybody for a while because I was so embarrassed that I was doing it. Youve just gotta own it. Youve just gotta admit, hey, Im struggling and I need help. She said its all worth it in the end. Just get up and put the work in it, Collins said. And I promise you itll come back to you and youll feel so much better. You wont be depressed, you wont have to do something just to get up out of bed. Youll still have your bad days, but youll learn coping skills to get through it. Recovery court is the kind of program Burke County Commissioner Johnnie Carswell had in mind when he launched his presidential initiative, One More Thing, with the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. He took the helm as president in August. The drug court here is a great example of what can be done when people care, and these people absolutely care about whats happening, Carswell said. Im just so proud to be here for the graduation ceremonies today to see these people who have worked hard if we can get 10 people to do one more thing, then weve got 10 more things and we can make things happen. District Court Judge Wes Barkley oversees drug court in Burke County. At Tuesdays graduation, he said it was one of his favorite roles as a judge. Its one of the only things I do where I feel like we have an opportunity to really make a difference and having yall and even the media in the background to understand that it doesnt have to be this way, Barkley said. It doesnt have to continue to be the rampant problem that it is, and people like yourself and people on this team are working hard behind the scenes to make sure. Savannahs mom, Tammie Collins, was in the courtroom Tuesday for the graduation ceremony as Savannah and the other graduates were recognized for their achievements. Theres no words to describe how grateful I am, she said. Its just a miracle. I cry every day when I hear someones story and what causes, what caused their struggle. This place has been a lifesaver, but ultimately the individual has to want the change something has to spark inside them. You cant force it. To people who have loved ones struggling with addiction, she said to offer as much support and prayer as they can. Give them hope, give them the courage to know there are better days, she said. Prayer. I was on my knees, I stayed on my knees just asking God to show her something different. Naome Riffle was the third graduate honored in drug recovery court this week. As she stood before Judge Wes Barkley on Tuesday, she gave the glory to God. Her message of perseverance to fellow addicts echoed Yoders and Collins. Were all beautifully broken and worth it, Riffle said. U.S. Marshals arrested a man who was wanted after a September assault in Burke County. Jonathan Robert Pearson, 34, was arrested Thursday night on charges of felony first-degree burglary and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, said Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman. The Burke County Sheriffs Office had requested assistance taking Pearson into custody after an incident on Sept. 24, Hinceman said. At that time, deputies responded to an altercation where a man was assaulted with a knife in the Salem area of Morganton, Hinceman said. The man who was assaulted had serious but not life-threatening injuries. On Oct. 5, Marshals attempted to arrest Pearson at a home on Lakeside Avenue in Granite Falls, but he ran into a wooded area near the home, evading police, according to a Facebook post from the Granite Falls Police Department. The hunt for Pearson continued over the next week until he was taken into custody Thursday evening around 7:30 p.m., Hinceman said. Pearson was released from prison June 11 after he was convicted Dec. 8, 2021, of felony attempted speeding to elude arrest and misdemeanor resisting an officer, according to records from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. He also has previous convictions of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, breaking and entering, larceny over $1,000, and multiple counts of breaking and entering vehicles and possessing stolen goods, NCDAC records showed. Pearson currently is being held under no bond, according to jail records. He was due in court Friday A new exhibit at the Historic Burke County Courthouse explores the history of chattel slavery in Burke County through the lens of the Historic Charles McDowell Jr. House. A long-anticipated display, Shadows of a Time Gone By opened with a reception and presentation on Oct. 7. The Charles McDowell House and the Quaker Meadows property that it sits on are owned by the Historic Burke Foundation Inc., (HBF). The organization has long wanted to tell more stories about life on the property as it has transformed through time from a colonial era home to a corporate rental property to a registered historical landmark. Located on Saint Marys Church Road in Morganton, Quaker Meadows is well-known for its role in the Revolutionary War. American Patriots gathered under the Council Oak tree there to go fight the Battle of Kings Mountain, a turning point in the war for independence. The Charles McDowell House, built at Quaker Meadows in 1812, is believed to be the oldest standing brick structure in Burke County. In 1813, Charles and his bride Anna moved into their home and started to raise a family. Listed at one point as the property with the highest tax valuation in Burke County, part of that valuation included owning as many as 52 enslaved people. McDowell family stories have been preserved and shared as an integral part of local history. However, the stories of the enslaved people who lived and worked on the property have been silent, largely found only between the lines of recorded history. Dr. Leslie McKesson knew that HBF wanted to interpret the experiences of enslaved people at the McDowell House. When I was offered the opportunity to create and teach a course for Appalachian State Universitys Honors College, I saw an amazing opportunity to help HBF accomplish that goal. Burke County had a higher percentage of enslaved people than most of Appalachia, so exploring the ample history of regional slavery and then focusing on what was once the countys premiere plantation provided a rare and ready opportunity for scholarship. Working with a committee of HBF members including Beth Spahn, Scott Coley, Mary Charlotte Safford, and Rebecca Heacock, a small class of students conducted a deep exploration of slavery in Appalachia. They studied scholarly texts and articles, reviewed primary resources and public records, and dug into family narratives of the descendants of locally enslaved people. The class then created seven fictional narratives to examine and interpret what life might have been like for unfree people, both as individuals and as members of groups and communities. These interpretations take the form of stories or deeply informed imaginings around enslaved people at the McDowell House and use AI generated images to help bring them to life. The goal of the interpretation was to place the enslaved people into existing historical contexts through narratives that represent them with humanity, agency and self-emancipation. Most of the exhibits components represent traditional history, and the visitor can spend a considerable amount of time engaging with texts, documents and media. One moving display lists the names of some of Burke Countys enslaved people as pulled from public and private records. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Historic Courthouses Heritage Museum from now until September 2024. Docents can provide guided tours, visitors can review copies of primary resources and texts, and additional information is available through online media using QR codes with your personal electronic device. Copies of the project report are available through the HBF Book Store. The historical record is very important, McKesson said, but this exhibit steps beyond what was traditionally thought worthy of preservation. It submits that enslaved people had their own values and desires, ways of living and surviving in the world. Their lives were as complex and as important as those of the people who owned them. They should be honored. The Historic Morganton Festival is inviting guests to the sixth annual MADE (Morganton Arts Design and Engineering) Competition on Friday, Oct. 20, at CoMMA Performing Arts Center in downtown Morganton. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., area middle and high school students will compete in an on-site design/build engineering challenge. This challenge will utilize problem-solving techniques, building and assembling skills, budgeting, creativity and teamwork. Judging will begin at 3:30 p.m., but everyone is welcome to stop by and be amazed throughout the day. MADE is an award-winning event produced by the Historic Morganton Festival and is one of the most successful collaborations between education and industry partners. It gives students a chance to experience STEAM-based activities that build skills relevant to many of the areas industries. MADE encourages students to think outside of the box while engaging them in critical thinking, design, engineering and innovation. This years lineup of competing teams competing for top prizes includes the Middle School Division with North Carolina School for the Deaf, Heritage Middle School, East Burke Middle School, New Dimensions, Walter Johnson Middle School, Liberty Middle School, Morganton Day School and Table Rock Middle School and the High School Division with North Carolina School for the Deaf, East Burke High School, Patton High School, NCSSM-Morganton, Freedom High School and Draughn High School. In addition to the excitement of the competition, spectators can visit sponsor vendor booths at CoMMA, as well as enjoy food from food trucks onsite, including Little Guatemala from 7 a.m. to noon and Hot Dogs For All and Pelicans SnoBalls beginning at 11 a.m. The first 50 visitors to Little Guatemala get free coffee. The competition is sponsored by Work in Burke, the city of Morganton, Burke County, Continental, Leviton, Opportunity Threads, Case Farms, Western Piedmont Community College, and NCSSM-Morganton with support from Burke County Public Schools, TOSS and the Historic Morganton Festival. 'Wascally wabbit' At around 1:30 a.m. Friday, police responded to reports of gunshots near the Silver Bow Homes. When questioned, Brandon A. Parrett, 22, of Butte first denied any shooting, but he then admitted he was trying to kill a rabbit with a 10mm handgun. At the same time, Keegan A. Packer, 20, of Butte was questioned about what he knew and he allegedly provided false information. Parrett was arrested for criminal endangerment and obstructing justice; Packer went to jail for obstructing justice. Aggravated DUI At 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, Katarina C. Lider, 40, of Butte, was driving a Dodge Journey when she struck two parked cars at 66 W. Park St. When officers arrived, Lider, who had a child with her, appeared to be intoxicated. She reportedly failed on-site sobriety maneuvers and a Breathalyzer at the jail showed she was twice over the legal limit. Lider was jailed for aggravated driving under the influence, careless driving, and criminal endangerment. No one was injured in the accident. Criminal contempt Candice C. Webster, 48, of Helena was arrested Wednesday on a criminal contempt warrant, along with an outside warrant, too. Sound asleep On Wednesday, Patrick P. Powell, 58, of Butte was found sleeping in a warehouse near the intersection of Holland and South Dakota streets. Police learned he had two warrants out for his arrest for privacy in communication offenses and was taken to jail. Hit and run Also on early Friday, Daniel J. Bullock, 30, of Butte, driving a Chrysler passenger car, reportedly hit a Chevy Equinox while driving in the 3000 block of Dexter. Bullock was located in the 3000 block of Irene and arrested for driving under the influence and failure to give notice of accident by the quickest means. Taken into custody An officer saw Tomas A. Andrade, 38, of Butte at a Front Street business and knew he had two outstanding warrants out for his arrest. He was taken into custody. No rear light At about 9:15 p.m. Sunday, Marc J. Arensmeyer, 40, of Butte was riding his bicycle in the wrong lane and without a rear light. An officer stopped to talk to him and learned he had two warrants out for his arrest. Arensmeyer also had suspected drugs and syringes in his possession and was also arrested for criminal possession of dangerous drugs and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. Asked to leave On Sunday, Sueann S. McGillivray, 70, of Butte was asked to leave the Butte Rescue Mission, but she refused to do so. She was jailed for criminal trespass. Sunday assault A verbal dispute escalated Sunday at a residence in the 200 block of Hudson Street and allegedly got physical. Thomas S. Anderson, 31, of Butte reportedly wrapped his arms around a womans neck, restricting her breathing. He is also accused of taking her cell phone, preventing her from calling 911. Anderson was arrested for partner or family member assault and tampering with a communication device. Stolen, recovered A 2002 Ford F-350 pickup was reported stolen Friday morning while parked in the 1100 block of West Steel Street. It was later recovered in Jefferson County. Garage hit Someone was out driving Monday in the 1900 block of Locust Street and struck a garage, putting a hole in its side. A Kenyan court on Thursday dismissed a legal challenge against the governments decision to allow the importation and cultivation of genetically modified crops as a strategy to address the countrys food crisis. The government lifted a decade-long ban on GM crops in October last year in response to severe food security concerns arising from the most severe drought to afflict the Horn of Africa region in four decades. However, the Kenya Law Society initiated legal proceedings, contending that the decision was unconstitutional due to apprehensions about the safety of GM crops. On Thursday, Judge Oscar Angote sitting at the environmental court ruled that there was no evidence indicating any harm to nature or human health. Justice Angote asserted that the country has established a robust biosafety regulatory framework with built-in structures that must be satisfied before the consideration of the use of GMOs. As a country, we need to trust the institutions that we have in place and call them to order in the event of breach of the law, Angote said. Additionally, the judge highlighted that the Biosafety Act outlines the role of the National Biosafety Authority (NBA), in collaboration with the Department of Public Health. This collaboration is aimed at ensuring consumer health through activities such as food safety and quality control, as well as the surveillance, prevention, and control of foodborne diseases. With all these institutions, we should be confident that our health and environment is in good hands, it cant be true they can all conspire to expose the population to calamities, the judge added. The government is putting in place a solid institutional framework that will protect and promote the countrys rich and diverse traditions. President William Ruto said cultural assets will be instrumental in enhancing cohesion and stimulating economic growth. He noted that focus on culture will propel cultural industries, creative economy and tourism and expand opportunities for the youth. Our Plan identifies the creative economy as well as culture and heritage to be highly promising drivers of transformation and employment creation, he said. To achieve this, President Ruto said, the Government is implementing robust legislative bills including the Culture Bill that was approved by the Cabinet last week. Others like the Creative Economy Framework, National Kiswahili Council of Kenya Bill, the Kenya Film Bill, the National Heritage and Museums Bill, are currently being developed, he said. He made the remarks during the Turkana Cultural and Tourism Festival (Tobongu Lore) in Lodwar town, which brought together members of the community from South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia. The President observed that the festival has promoted peace and security and deepened regional integration and cooperation. President Ruto said the Government will spend Ksh 800 million to enhance electricity connectivity in Turkana County, to spur economic growth. The National Police Reserve (NPR), he added, will help police officers manage the security of the region. We cannot allow a few people to cause insecurity and derail our development agenda, he said. The Head of State said three new sub-counties, Suguta, Lokiriama and Aroo, will be established in the county. Present were Cabinet Secretaries Alfred Mutua and Aisha Jumwa, Governors Jeremiah Lomorukai (Turkana), Jonathan Bii (Uasin Gishu) and Mohammud Ali (Marsabit), MPs and a host of MCAs and other dignitaries. The High Courts Anti-Corruption Division has allowed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to recover Sh11.1 million and several parcels of land from a former official at the Ministry of Education. The anti-graft watchdog won the suit after detailing how the clerical officer created a non-existent school to siphon public funds from the governments Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) kitty. Joshua Ocharo Momanyi, tasked with data entry at the Ministrys Jogoo House headquarters in Nairobi, is said to have added the imaginary school to the list of secondary schools that received funds from the government. He reportedly looted the funds between August 22, 2017, and June 18, 2018. The suspect was employed in 2010 and deployed to Khwisero Sub County- Kakamega County. EACC said Mr Momanyi listed the ghost learning institution, Mundeku Secondary School, as located in Khwisero Sub-county, Kakamega County, and accommodating 1,188 students. In its report, the EACC said the Equity Bank account which was credited with Sh.11,131,305.53 FDSE funds was opened and managed by the data entry officer. Incidentally, the clerks grand scam was unearthed after book publishers contracted by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) said they could not locate the school while distributing textbooks. How Momanyi Spent His Loot Investigations by the EACC also established how Momanyi spent the embezzled funds. The suspect transferred Sh.3.4 million into his KCB account and spent Sh1.8 million of this amount to acquire two parcels of land. One parcel of land was in Mavoko town where he paid Sh980,000, and a second parcel of land at Ol Donyo Sabuk where he paid Sh850,000. Momanyi also used Sh1.6 million from his Equity account to buy a car, a Toyota Vanguard, settling the remaining balance of Sh750,000 in cash installments. Further financial investigations revealed that he also purchased a motor vehicle Registration Number KCP 186L from Kencarz Ltd at a sale price of Sh2,500,000 payable by installments. At the time of the investigations, he had paid Sh2,350,000, read court papers. The car was repossessed by the dealer following a request by the anti-graft agency during investigations. From the vehicle, EACC recovered Sh1.9 million from the dealer due to depreciation. A sum of Sh.1,900,000 was relinquished by Ken Carz Limited, which represented a portion of the amount Ocharo had paid towards the purchase of a Toyota Vanguard vehicle, EACC said. Court Ruling Justice Prof. Nixon Sifuna has now authorized the EACC to recover millions of cash and parcels of land. Although Ocharo embezzled Sh.11,131,305.53, the Commissions case focused on the recovery of Sh.9,231,305.53, which had been unlawfully deposited into his personal bank account as a result of the fraudulent activities, EACC said. In a ruling on October 5, Sifuna declared that Ocharo had fraudulently received the said cash while decreeing that the two parcels of land he bought be handed over to the State. Land parcels L.R No. Donyo Sabuk/ Komarock Block 1/78331 and Mavoko Town Block 3/66539 are proceeds of crime having been purchased with stolen public funds, and therefore liable for forfeiture to the Government of Kenya, ruled Justice Sifuna. The defendant should pay Kes. 7,421, 305.53 being the amount that he retained after the purchase of the above parcels of land. Interest to be paid at court rates (12)% from the time of the loss. The EACC has subsequently submitted another file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). This file seeks to front five criminal charges against Joshua Ocharo Momanyi. A man accused of insulting and injuring a police officer at the Drive Inn police post in Roysambu sub-county, Nairobi, has been charged with assault. Eric Ochieng is accused of causing harm to Corporal Peter Karanja on October 8 at the police stations report office, where the officer was on duty. He faces an additional charge of offensive conduct contrary to Section 94(1) of the Penal Code from his alleged use of abusive language against the police officer at the police post following a disagreement. Ochieng had visited the station to inquire about a matter he had previously reported. Expressing urgency for immediate action, he was informed by Cpl. Karanja that the case needed to be assigned to a police officer for proper investigation before any arrest could be made. Reportedly agitated by this response, the accused allegedly became disruptive, banging on the reporting desk, and directing insults towards the officer. As Cpl. Karanja attempted to leave, Ochieng reportedly prevented his exit and allegedly pushed the door, injuring Cpl. Karanja in the process. Members of the public intervened and assisted in restraining the accused, rescuing Cpl. Maina. They collaborated in placing Ochieng in the cells. However, even from inside the cells, the suspect reportedly continued insulting Cpl. Maina and banging on the cell door before he was eventually handcuffed. The officer sought medical treatment at a nearby clinic, and the treatment notes from the clinic have been presented as exhibits in the case. Appearing before Principal Magistrate Irene Gichobi of the Makadara Law Court, the accused denied the charges. Mr. Ochieng was granted release on a Sh40,000 cash bail. The case is scheduled for mention on November 28, with the trial set to commence on March 13 next year. The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party has called on the government to reconsider the proposed deployment of Kenyan police to head the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti. In a statement released on Thursday, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna said the deployment lacks strategic geopolitical value to Kenya, deeming the decision unwise. Sifuna mentioned that the situation in Haiti does not pose an immediate threat to Kenyas national security. He further questioned why Haitis neighboring nations were reluctant to intervene. Moreover, ODM argued that Kenyas National Police Service lacks a constitutional mandate to carry out operations beyond the countrys borders. The recommended ratio of police officers to population is one for every 450 citizens. Kenyas ration is around 1 for every 1,000 citizens. We simply do not have policemen to spare. Indeed, given the current security challenges around Sondu, Lamu, the North Rift, along the border with Somalia and within the islands of Lake Victoria, only a truly insensitive and reckless government would deploy 1,000 police officers elsewhere. A poor mans philanthropy will always raise eyebrows, Sifuna said. The opposition party additionally claimed that some of the worlds most powerful countries had previously intervened in Haiti, and each time, the outcomes were disastrous. There is therefore no gainsaying the fact that the breakdown of law and order, or the instability in Haiti, are not superficial issues that require mere policing. The root causes go deeper than that, ODM said. The Raila Odinga-led party raised questions about the governments haste decision-making without seeking parliamentary approval. Edwin Sifuna pointed out that the commitment of the officers to Haiti seemed to have been made well in advance of obtaining approvals from both the United Nations and the Kenyan Parliament. For some strange reason, the Ruto regime has arbitrarily decided to send, not the military but the police, to Haiti, a country far away in the Western Hemisphere with no strategic geopolitical value to Kenya. In fact, this is not the main worry in this plan shrouded in mystery, Sifuna said. In light of these concerns, ODM urges the Ruto regime to reconsider this offer. We call upon Members of Parliament to oppose the deployment of our men and women in uniform to Haiti should the matter be brought before Parliament, said the Nairobi senator. A court in Mombasa has ordered further detention of controversial preacher Paul Makenzie and his co-suspects. The accused made their appearance at the Shanzu Law Courts on Thursday, where the court mandated their detention for an additional 7 days. The next court appearance is scheduled for October 19, when further instructions on the case will be provided. The court is expected to rule whether the 27 accused individuals will be held in custody for a period of six months as investigations into the activities of the deadly Shakahola starvation cult continue. Lawyer Wycliffe Makasembo, representing the suspects, opposed the detention, contending that continuing to hold the accused violates their rights as suspects. On the other hand, the prosecution, represented by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Jami Yamina, argued before the court that the request for additional detention was justified, considering the gravity of the case. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted the resolution "Humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh" and the consultation of the same name. Ruben Rubinyan, head of the National Assembly of Armenia delegation to PACE, announced this on Facebook. Rubinyan noted, in particular, that the resolution condemns Azerbaijan's military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19. The Assembly notes that almost the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh has left their homeland due to the threat of physical destruction and the long-standing Armenophobic policy of the Azerbaijani government. The Assembly notes that there are reasonable suspicions of Armenian ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan. The Assembly calls on the Committee of Ministers to undertake a monitoring process for Azerbaijan, informs that in case of Azerbaijan's non-fulfillment of its obligations, the Assembly will have no choice but to challenge the mandate of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE during the latters first session in the 2024. The Assembly addresses the fact that more than 100,600 Armenians left Nagorno-Karabakh in the last two weeks, and records the reasons for this. The Assembly reflects on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on September 22 regarding the application of interim measures against Azerbaijan, and calls on Azerbaijan to implement them immediately. The Assembly calls on Azerbaijan to take immediate action to ensure the return of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and to protect their rights. The Assembly calls on Azerbaijan to ensure the protection of the Armenian cultural heritage of the region. Also, Azerbaijan is called upon to release all detained representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as all Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan. The resolution emphasizes the need to assist Armenia. The Assembly calls on Azerbaijan to do everything to show its willingness to live peacefully with neighboring Armenia. The Assembly expects that both Armenia and Azerbaijan will respect each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as the inviolability of their borders, based on the 1991 declaration of Almaty. The Assembly calls for the opening of regional channels on the basis of countries' sovereignty, territorial integrity, and within national jurisdiction. In this context, the Assembly emphasizes that Azerbaijans possible link with Nakhichevan cannot be launched against the will of Armenia and to the detriment of Armenia's national interest. The Assembly expects the agreement of the Azerbaijani authorities to organize high-level fact-finding visits of international organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh. The swearing-in ceremony of the Yerevan mayor-elect Tigran Avinyan is taking place at the special session of the newly elected Council of Elders of the Yerevan Municipality. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, as well as ministers, MPs from the ruling Civil Contract Party, and representatives of international organizations are attending the event. Avinyan is greeting the guests on a red carpet at the entrance of the city hall building and inviting them inside. Earlier, Armenian News-NEWS.am reported that according to the results of the Yerevan Council of Elders elections held on September 17, the seats at the newly elected council were distributed as follows: Civil Contract Party - 24 seats National Progress Party - 14 seats Mother Armenia bloc of parties - 12 seats Republic Party - 8 seats Public Voice Party - 7 seats Tigran Avinyan was nominated as the only candidate for Mayor of Yerevan at Tuesdays first meeting of the new Council of Elders and was elected with 32 votes in favor and 5 against. Subsequently, the Civil Contract and Republic Factions of the city council signed a memorandum of cooperation, which means that they will administer over the Armenian capital city together. The Mother Armenia bloc, led by opposition ex-MP Andranik Tevanyan, and National Progress Party, led by former mayor Hayk Marutyan, had announced that they will not participate in the first session of the new Council of Elders so that there will be no quorum, and therefore the Council of Elders is dissolved and new elections are held. But the Public Voice Party, led by well-known blogger Vardan Ghukasyan, participated in the session, as a result of which there was quorum, and the session was held. However, it should be noted that the Civil Contract-Republic duo does not have a majority in the Council of Elders. Only 32 of the 65-member Council of Elders' seats belong to these two political forces, whereas the remaining 33to the opposition.